Arno
“Man, it’s so hard to choose between either team. Both of them has one of our friends.”
“Well it’s simple: choose the one that’s most likely to win. Or the ones you like the most.” Rono nodded as he gave me his advice. “For example: the defenders has the stunning beauty from our zone in it! Am I riiight, Gollie?” Rono put his arm around a beet red Gollie as he says “Uh, yeah.”
“What about Jack?”
“I don’t swing that way.” Rono flatly said.
Well…that didn’t help me narrow down the decision. They both worked so hard to get where they were. Anna moved across zones and repurposed her stemata while Jack is the sole survivor of the Rosarian people. Carrying their legacy through his deeds.
“Rono was right about one thing. It’ll be easier if you just cheer for the victor.” Ori said as she kept facing forward. “Jack and Remie just have too much firepower on their side. Not only that, they’re playing the roles they were given. The defenders on the other hand have Anna, who is forced to attack because she’ll get overpowered otherwise. The issue is that even with the greatest moves, she won’t be able to take on both of the attackers…”
I looked at the displays that showed both of my friends, ascending and descending the same set of steps, about to clash for their futures. Good luck, you guys!
Jack
As I ascended the steps with Remie, an entire flood of flesh came in an avalanche, blocking any chance we had of going to the next floor. I immediately turned around to dash back to the floor we came from. I discussed everything I knew about Anna’s abilities with Remie before this fight started, so he knew to follow suit immediately.
Once we returned to this previous floor—a floor that was modeled after an Acuposian bathhouse—Remie turned and used his stemata to slash and keep the raging mass at bay. While he did, I looked around for any other exits we could use to ascend. The only other exit is either a lower floor with windows or through the small slits near the ceiling…that…is that—
In one swift motion, in the small slit of the blue sky outside that could be seen, a blue gem attached with a finger could be seen flying in. I readied my axes but I had no time to ignite, only to react. The finger made it into the floor and morphed into a fully grown and able-bodied Annabelle Hotch. She came at me with a flying kick and I reacted by cutting her lower leg off. She flipped over and slid across the floor of the bathhouse.
“You’re getting more and more creative with that stemata, Anna.”
“You’re not so bad with that new one, Jack!” Anna pointed her stemata at Remie’s back and shot out a blob of flesh with her own sound effect “B lam!” Remie turned and sliced the blob, but that brief second was all the girls needed. An arm stuck out of the flesh mass. It was easily identifiable as the arm of Crystal Vex due to the stemata attached to it. She had a card in her hand that she revealed as “Iso.” It had a picture of an opaque cage with two people in it. A purple substance then attached itself to every corner of the floor and then disappeared.
“I don’t really get it…Crystal is banking the entire match on you being able to stall long enough?” I approached Anna and swung my axe directly toward her hand with her stemata on it. If I can sever her from her stemata it’ll be an instant win.
“That’s if we were two different people!”
What…does she mean by that?
Before I could react fast enough, Anna revealed a card that had a golden sword for the picture. Right in front of it, a sphere of golden light began to glow brighter and brighter. While having her very own stemata on her finger, she used another stemata in tandem. But there was no hint of stemata confliction.
“Calibur!”
Interestingly enough, every fiber, muscle, and bone in my body was contributing to figuring out how she was able to pull something like this off. She wasn’t a mutation like the Terror Crusher, so it has to be a loophole in her own stemata or Crystal’s. If I had to guess, It’s Crystal’s
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A giant hand of light separated myself and the oncoming blast. Remie worked fast to protect me from the explosion. Even with Remie’s expertise with his weapon, I was still blown back by the shockwave of the card’s power. I was launched to the opposite end of the room and landed in one of the tubs of the bathhouse. I took off my now drenched leather shirt. Come on, Jack! Think! How is she doing this—
“Two Souls Beyond!” Anna announced “Crystal can link her soul with any other human being. Crystal tested it out and through trial and error and it turns out that stematas have a ‘soul’ to attach to, they won’t conflict! With a card like that in play, I could use a card or two while fighting you guys.”
“And I can still participate to support her with my own cards!” Crystal said from outside of the field as she revealed her next card “Floor is lava!”
The soles of my feet began to heat up as I realized the floor itself was beginning to emit a heat hotter than anything I felt. A disc of light materialized and lifted me to a higher altitude thanks to Remie.
“Move wherever you want. I’ll match your pace attack as well!” Remie said as he floated up with his own disc.
“How’s your stem energy?”
“How do you think my stem energy is doing after all of this?”
I understand what he means. He’s running low and he doesn’t want to say it plainly for the enemy. We’ll have to end this quickly. Otherwise, Remie will run out of stem energy and I’ll be left to fend off these two. I looked down at Anna, who was aiming her finger like a gun and shooting blotches of flesh at me. As I cut through them and moved from panel to panel that Remie was creating, my mind was racing. The only way I can think to get out of this bind is to have Crystal drop the iso. I could do that by applying as much heat as possible, but this is all assuming that gasses get trapped in the ability as well…damn! If I don’t figure something out, We’ll lose right here in this makeshift furnace!
Dr. Archon
I am completely and utterly speechless!
The last user of that stemata was a one-off. To call the last user lightning in a bottle would be an overstatement! They were more like a slight spark that fizzled out immediately, leaving no impressive impact. I gave this girl this stemata on a whim. A complete non-factor like a similar aptitude score and she exceeded all expectations. She doesn’t only utilize the stemata for apprehending opponents, but it’s as if she’s become one with her stemata. To be able to completely materialize herself from a single point…she’s amazing! I need her!
“Um…Doctor? Your face is pressed up against the glass.”
“I’m well aware! Trickster! Get me reports of all the incidents Annabelle Hotch found herself in since becoming a trainee!”
“Listen, old man. I’m looking at the talent just as much as you are—”
“But what I’m doing is for the advancement of stematas! Besides, I outrank you…Kehehe.”
The Trickster let out a heavy sigh and left the room. Annabelle Hotch, you have caught my attention!
Jack
“Gravity alteration: Space Jam!”
Anna now had a blade that could redirect its path mid swing, and now the very gravity of the room was being altered tile by tile!
“Jack! You said Anna could create entire bodies from herself, right?”
“Right!”
I know what he’s thinking. Crystal’s deck is supposed to simulate a card game, so there has to be a condition for Iso to allow a path of victory for the enemy, no matter how small. Anna’s stalling well, but if we can beat her, that should at least drop the Iso card’s effects. So the next course of action would be putting everything we have into taking Anna down. I still have one more attack, and I know from our discussion last night, that Remie has one more too.
“Let’s use it, Remie!”
“Way ahead of you!”
I jumped off of one of Remie’s platforms and as I did, I prepared a new version of my best attack. This attack was one that I used against Enyeto himself. As I descended to the ground floor where Anna was, I grinded my blades against each other until the blazing red turned into a searing blue that made the edge of the blades glow that same color. With every motion I made to prepare for the attack blue streaks of light followed. Anna responded in kind by lowering her stance. She was going to try to dodge, but wherever she went, Remie would be waiting to obliterate almost every part of her.
But that’s not what happened at all…
A small beam of light, possibly the size of a quarter intercepted both our pathways. My eyes darted to see that it was Remie firing off the beam of light. “Overclock: Concentrated Big bang.” As soon as the light flew past us, it expanded to the size of the entire floor and engulfed Crystal in a blinding light that everyone witnessing this fight had to shield their eyes for. When we could finally open them again, it could be seen that Remie successfully broke through the iso…and left not a single thing remaining of Crystal Vex.