“Ori! What’s the plan?!” Arno jumped right after me and was pulled by the gravitational force just as quickly.

“Think about it! This isn’t some battle royale in the forest! It’s a controlled area being constantly monitored by the strongest CTs of the current day! Something world ending would be taken care of by the same people testing us!”

“But that’s assuming they consider this too much for us! Wouldn’t the ideal CT be able to handle any scenario?”

“Yes Arno, but a fun fact about the cross zone finals is that it’s a public event!”

Not only is the BCT watching this, but countless civilians are in the immediate area. If this thing got any worse, there could be casualties beyond just us!

“So if you wanna trust anything, trust in that squeaky clean image the BCT wants to keep!”

Arno simply gave me a toothy grin and spoke softly “Nah. Trusting you is enough.”

“I’m trusting too! Please don’t be wrong about this of all things!” Rono was apparently following us along with his friends. Wait, is that Tomi Shimamoto?! What kind of crew did Rono build?!

Oh, forget it, Ori! It’s time to lock and load for this last stretch of the badge steal event!

Remie

It all happened so fast.

The very moment I saw my sister’s stemata turn that red color, I knew I had to react quickly. Otherwise, I ran the risk of dying immediately. I see, Natalia. This is a test! You’re assessing whether or not I can stand on the same battlefield as you! Allow me to prove my worth!

I reacted just as quickly with my very own counterattack. This technique is one I came up with for the express purpose of fighting alongside Natalia. The gem in the flashlight I owned changed color from that crystalline blue to a deep, luminous red. As I pointed it towards my sister, blinding waves of light shone in her direction. Each wave warping and concentrating into one, concentrated orb. That orb got more and more compact until it was the size of the ballpoint of a pen. This is my greatest move. A light made to shine brighter than any darkness that wishes to cast over her life! A light that’ll allow me to stand on the same battlefield as you, Natalia! Overclock: Big Bang!

An explosive wave of light encompassed the entire area. Naturally, this would cause immediate blindness for anyone looking directly at this attack. Though, not like it matters because the attack is immediately being eaten by Natalia’s black hole. Regardless, Everything was going exactly to plan. The ideal scenario would be complete equilibrium. The only way to match uncharted waters such as a black hole would be to create an oddity just as wild. The creation of the universe as we know it is odd enough, don’t you think?

Terrance

Is it a twisted thing to say I’m disappointed nobody tried to attack me?

Regardless…I see I’ll get to witness some action today.

I used a flight stem crystal I had in stock to hover over what appeared to be both Natalia and her younger brother having a back and forth of strength. It’s a good thing In was told to watch over them specifically. Otherwise, the collateral damage would’ve been world’s worse. Regardless though, it seems like a pretty standard fight…

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Oh…Natalia just overclocked her stemata…I see…

I used my communication crystal to quickly request for authorization of one of my more powerful stematas and was promptly advised to use it.

Implanted in my left eye was a stemata I would use to trap hostiles or a group of hostels in an enclosed area. It makes a transparent forcefield that isolates any given space in a space of its own. Separate from the world around it. We’ve tested the strength of this forcefield and it stood tall against the most powerful stematas we could throw at it. We’ve practically concluded that it’s indestructible. I began using the stemata to isolate and enclose that area and as soon as I did, Natalia’s brother responded in kind.

What I witnessed was the creation and destruction of that isolated area. Almost everything was immediately sucked into this tiny sphere that Natalia created. Trees, foliage, and all. And then right after, her brother releases a stemata with force just as destructive. A wave of light that compacted into a small ball that exploded immediately after everything within the isolated space was reduced to a crater in the ground. Everything except for a small island of land that held the two siblings. I suppose things for this second day are wrapping up. I suppose I should put down the forcefield—

At that moment, the several cracks instantly appeared in my left eye before the eye itself shattered. I winced in pain and quickly came to the realization that this was blowback from the clash between the siblings.

Seriously…how in the world is she not a titled CT? If it was any more dangerous, I’d have to use my right eye.

“Terror Crusher to Elizabeth control room.”

“Control room speaking.”

“I’d like to file a request for limiters on both Natalia and Remie Begnoll’s stemata after assessing the strength of their weapons.”

“Request successfully filed. Thanks again, TC.”

“No problem.”

I looked behind me at the ground floor to see a group of trainees rushing toward the crater. Should I drop in for this last stretch of the badge steal event?

No…I’ll give them a chance to perform without an outlier like me walking around.

After all, I’m somebody who shouldn’t exist.

Rono

Our entire group were getting pulled into this strange force when all of a sudden, that force stopped. We all promptly fell right back onto the ground and took off running. As we did, we heard from nearby speakers an announcement on the state of the badge steal event.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, we were experiencing quite the change in the event, but thanks to our very own terror crusher, it was swiftly taken care of. Our trainees have ten seconds to finish up their matches and collect their badges, because the event will end in that timeframe! Count down with me, everyone! 10!”

As the surrounding crowd outside of the arena could be heard counting down, all of us raced to the source of the strange force to only be met with a crater that spanned throughout the rest of the arena. I was completely speechless at the damage of an area I was just running through earlier.

“Nine!”

“Split! Look for badges!” Ori shouted to the ones that decided to follow. To Arno, Derris, Tomi, Bossman, Crystal, Anna, Gollie, and finally, to me.

We all split up and searched high and low for badges.

“Eight! Seven! Six!”

Some of us were successful, others had to take a bit longer to find anything. I was one of the “others.” No matter how high or low I looked, these badges and ultimately my chance as a CT were slipping from my grasp.

“Five! Four!”

Wait! I found one! In a nearby bush, almost uprooted by the pull of the earlier attack was a badge with a needle that got caught on one of the branches. I grabbed onto it and whipped my head around. There was something I saw earlier that I wanted to pursue, but there was such little time! I used my stemata to propel me all the way to the small island I saw at the middle of this crater. There I saw it.

“Three! Two! One!”

I couldn’t help but sigh. I couldn’t do it. Why would I ruin the moment in front of me for ten extra points?

What I saw was Natalia cuddling her little brother. WIth her arms wrapped around him, she placed her badge in his hand before passing out, it looked like. Both of them had smiles on their faces. As if they were finally getting some rest after one big play fight.

“Zero! And with that, the first day of the Cross Zone Finals comes to a close! I’d like to thank everybody for coming out! We’ll be tallying up the points and when we do, we’ll see how it shapes the finals moving forward! So stay where you are as the arena shifts, trainees!”