Chapter 24: Immovable Object
I glanced around the side of my phone as Matt wiped streaks of mud from his jeans. He mostly succeeded in smearing it across one of his fingerless gloves, too. He looked his hand over and chuckled. “I have to admit, that’s a new one.”
Lena stretched her arms behind her. Her wings brushed the pines. “As much as I’d like to act all cool about it, the truth is, the timing is hella hard to nail down. The first few times I practiced it, I dropped either the Iron backplate or the Stone projectile before I could get the explosion queued up. And a couple times, I didn’t angle it right and it, uh, didn’t go so great.”
“Let me guess,” Matt said. “Equal and opposite reaction?”
Lena nodded and rubbed her nose. She’d lost a lot more HP in practice yesterday than she had fighting Matt thus far.
“Still,” he said, “with an attack like that, you might actually be able to fight back if you had to defend yourself again.”
Lena’s smile slipped. “That’s the hope.”
I took a step toward her, but Zhizhi shook her head sharply.
Right. I was supposed to ref two more rounds, not show concern for one of the combatants. Although I had a hell of a time picturing the match going to three rounds, now that we’d all seen how devastating Lena’s new attack was.
Benji stood up. “I get that it’s for video, and it does look cool on screen, but don’t you think it’s a little ridiculous, you two throwing yourselves around like this shit is actually hitting you? You’re going to wreck your clothes.”
I chewed my lip.
Zhizhi raised an eyebrow.
Donica said, “It’s not exactly pretending.”
Benji glanced her way.
She crossed her arms. “You try seeing those visuals and hearing that audio with a pair of smart glasses on. A person could find herself doing something... rash.”
“Right.” Benji paced around the back of the bench and returned to his seat. He eyed Donica’s cast. “Sounds like a good reason to ditch the smart glasses.”
She narrowed her eyes.
“For my part,” Matt said, “I have no fear of looking ridiculous, only of losing because I threw an advantage away.”
“You do you, I guess,” Benji said. “I’m’a just enjoy the show.”
“Actually,” Lena said, “that’s a good point.”
“Is it?” I asked.
“Yeah!” She stretched her hand out. “At this rate it’s not going to be much of a show. Which is kind of what we’re here to put on, right?”
“I wouldn’t worry about it,” Matt said.
“You sure? I can put away my Super Rocket Combination for the rest of the match so you actually have time to pull off some moves.”
Matt blinked at her. Actually, everyone but me did.
I’d already heard her name for the technique when we practiced it, and anyway, it wasn’t anything unexpected from Lena.
“I am already holding back by only using Earth, rather than Water.” Matt scratched his goatee. “Considering that you’re not going to be able to draw on your full HP pool, though, I’d call it a wash. There’s no need for you to restrict yourself any further.”
“Dude.” Lena peered over the top of her smart glasses. “God knows I get bravado. It’s fun to talk yourself up. I literally one shot you, though.”
“As you undoubtedly would again,” Matt said, “if you tagged me with another... what did you call it? ‘Super rocket combination’?”
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“It’s a catchy name, right? Maybe it should be The Magnificent Ashbird’s Super Rocket Combination.” Lena mouthed it to herself, then shook her head. “Nah, it has to be short enough to shout out as an attack name when I’m on the big stage.”
“Before you take that attack to a tournament,” Matt said, “you might want to workshop it more.”
“Why?” I asked. “Because you think the name is silly?”
“Because without Earth to shape its parts,” he said, “it’s not much of a rocket.”
“Good enough to put you down,” Lena said.
Matt looked down at his phone screen. “Then stop posturing and do it again.”
Lena’s hand tightened around her phone. “You heard the man, Cam.”
“You know he’s playing you,” I said.
She gave a curt nod. “Uh-huh. You know you’re not supposed to take sides, ref?”
I sighed.
I supposed if Matt took a round, it would make for a better video.
I supposed if he had a way to, we were definitely about to learn something.
“You ready, Zhizhi?” I asked.
“I think we have more than enough pre-fight banter,” she said. “Take us away.”
Once again, I held my Iron orb suspended before me, then hurled it skyward and called out the start of the round.
Lena went straight for her combination attack. Video be damned. The fact Matt had obviously provoked her into it be damned.
Give her credit. Getting mad hadn’t spoiled her timing. When we’d practiced the Super Rocket Combination yesterday, she’d screwed up about half her attempts. Despite being provoked, though, she nailed this one just as she had the one that ended the first round. A spray of hot Stone pellets ripped through the air.
They bounced from Matt’s wide, convex Wood barrier with a deep thunk.
“Fire is undoubtedly the best offensive tool we’ve found in Third Eye,” he said. “On its own, however, it will never overcome an equivalent defense of Earth.”
“We’ll see about that,” Lena snarled. She moved as if to conjure another rocket, but at the last second, sprang forward instead, slamming a mass of Wood of her own into Matt’s shield. Both caught fire.
Matt flicked the burning Wood away. It tumbled, dragging Lena’s down as well, and Iron took its place, formed into another shield by the time the Wood was out of the way. One corner lanced out and Lena staggered back.
Her eyes flicked to where, in the corner of the smart glasses I couldn’t see, her HP would be displayed. “Twelve.”
Matt inclined his head. “Slow and steady –”
Lena aimed low and triggered an explosion at ground level.
Matt flinched. When he lowered his arm from his face, he said, “Twenty five.”
“Slow and steady,” Lena said, “needs to shit or get off the pot.”
She tried again low, but Matt’s shield extended downwards before she was done manifesting her Wood. Another corner lanced out, but this time, she had a defensive explosion ready to scatter it.
They traded four more attacks, neither landing. Each exchange chipped away at Matt’s shield, but only after all four did he discard it and conjure a new one. Lena, by contrast, had to burn a ton of MP and Materials for both attack and defense.
I saw the moment she realized it, because she abandoned defense.
Instead of shattering Matt’s next attack, she took it on the chest, shouted, “Thirty,” and lunged forward till she drew almost level with me.
So far forward that when she conjured another explosion, it was on the opposite side of Matt’s shield.
He skidded backwards and grunted. His shield fell atop the objects he’d already discarded. “Damn. Sixty one.”
“How’s that ultimate defense working out for you?” Lena asked.
“It seems it could use some revision,” he said.
“Lemme free up some time for you to work on it.” She sprang forward again.
Stopped. Grunted. Rocked backwards. Rubbed her stomach.
Matt stopped pulsing the Iron he’d conjured and flattened to an almost invisible point. “How’s your HP?”
“I got plenty,” Lena snapped. She brought her hand up and prepared to launch another attack.
“How’s your HP,” he asked, “from a hundred?”
Her arm fell to her side. She hung her head, and her wings folded over her hunched shoulders. “That damage on those was twenty five, sixteen, nineteen.”
Matt glanced at me, one eyebrow raised. “Well, ref?”
“I can count, Matt.” I pointed my phone his way and lowered my Iron sphere to signal the end of the round. “Sorry, Lena.”
“It’s cool,” she muttered. Sure didn’t sound like she thought so. She flexed her wings and straightened up. She flashed a smile my way. When I returned it, she cranked up the wattage of her own and aimed it at Zhizhi and her camera. “All good victories have to come in the face of adversity! And we can learn more about Earth or whatever, I guess.”
Judging from our live studio audience, her line landed. Miguel laughed, Benji snorted. Even Donica cracked a hint of a smile.
Lena flashed them a victory sign and sprinted back to her starting position.
Matt stepped forward to return to his.
They both looked at me, and Zhizhi trained the camera my way.
I smiled for it, tensed, and raised the orb one final time.