The lights radiated the battle ground, and made the spectators go wild. Wild enough to stand up and roar with all their might.
Some placed tattoos representing themselves as true fans. Some came for the fun, while some came for money. Betting to be specific. Many wagered and deeply discussed the upcoming winner of this tournament. Such an atmosphere left Alice and Walter astonished, as they remained glued to their seats.
Soon, all the light shifted to the person who was standing at the very center of the battle ground, with a mike in his hand.
"Welcome to the underground battle arena's Battle to Death! I'm your host Avan Kroff." The crowd went wilder. They loved the host as much as the battles in the arena. Despite the slim build and his long and unusual black hair, the man never failed to excite the crowd with his knowledge and observational skills.
"Today, 170 participants are contesting and without wasting further time, let's begin the match. The winner of this tournament will win the new Dem-Potion. This mysterious potion enhances people's strength permanently! Now who's ready for some blood and gore!!" The crowd went ballistic until Avan raised his hand and quieted the crowd.
"Our first battle of the day will be one of your favorites. A battle between a man of agility and a man of strength. This man placed second in the tournament last year, crushing his foes with his twin blade gauntlets. Let me remind you again to all those who aren't aware of him. Beware of his speed and beware of his blades. His speed and his terrifying claws would strike your very heart, should you underestimate him." The crowd murmured, while some cheered for him.
"Introducing, Swifter!" The huge doors opened revealing a slim figure, as walked out with the black twin gauntlets on his hands.
The blades of his gauntlets were hidden like a silent predator. His armor consisted of a small chest plate embedded on his body, with a head armor covering the sides of his head. His black hair was tied to his back, and his azure eyes scanned for his opponent.
"Next up we have a man dedicating his whole life, seeking strength like no other. A person who spares no mercy to his opponents and has recently debuted in the battle tournaments. Please welcome, The Crusher."
A short and yet extremely muscular man walked out with ferocity in his eyes. Wearing nothing but a loin cloth and small brown gauntlets on his hands, he walked up the stairs and entered the battle arena and stared right at his opponent. His face was devoid of smile and his gaze was completely fixated on Swifter.
Stepping out of the battle arena, Avan turned towards the both of them and said,
"This will be a fight till one surrenders, steps out of bounds or loses his life. Open the cage!" Avan shouted.
'Dum'
Metal bars sprouted out from the ground as the encapsulated the battle arena, locking the two participants from within.
"Now let the battle to death, begin!"
Protruding his claws, Swifter rushed towards The Crusher and aimed them at his neck. Without moving from his spot, The Crusher dodged to the side by a hair's width, grabbed onto Swifter's wrists and threw him across the battle arena.
Regaining his balance, Swifter slid back and charged at him once again. To his surprise, no matter which angle he tried to attack The Crusher from, he always dodged it narrowly. This thoroughly frustrated him.
The Crushed finally made his move. Clenching his fists tightly, he smashed the ground with extreme force. Soon, multiple crack's formed, as the ground itself began to tremor. Not wanting to be thrown off balance, Swifter jumped in the air. However, he noticed his opponent vanish from his spot.
Sensing danger from behind, Swifter turned his body involuntarily and placed his gauntlets in an X-shaped manner. Just as he predicted, a fist appeared in his view, ramming into his gauntlets. Unable to withstand the force, Swifter was sent flying down with a boom. Crashing forcefully, he spat out blood, feeling the extreme pain from just one punch. Had he taken it directly, this match would've long been over.
Not giving him an opportunity to relax, The Crusher gathered his momentum while he was still in air, and rushed down towards Swifter with another punch. Despite the injuries, Swifter rolled to side immediately and retreated a few steps back in nervousness.
Once again the ground shook, destroying the ground even more and yet the foundation of the battle ground remained stable.
"It looks like you planned to go all out since the beginning." Swifter replied as he wiped the blood away from the corner of his lips.
Initially nervous, Swifter became elated when he realized how disadvantageous he was in. Elated because he could fight someone with all his power.
"Don't worry, it'll be over much faster than you think." Hearing his reply, Swifter retracted his claws and removed his chest plate, and threw it away. The moment it hit the ground, it sunk deeply into the ground stunning everyone, including The Crusher.
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Feeling light, Swifter released his claws back. This time however, his blade separated into two thinner blades from each gauntlet.
"There goes the twin blades everyone! We are about to see Swifter's special move. Let me tell you, this move can even crush rocks. Along with his speed, this would prove to be a very dangerous combo. Will The Crusher surprise us with something other than his fists? Will this finally decide the victor?! We're about to find out." Avan gripped his mike tightly as he continued his commentary.
Feeling the tension between both parties, the crowd turned silent as they slowly gulped in nervousness. Some were fans of The Crusher, while some were die hard fans of Swifter. Hating on each other, both fan associations had their eyes glued at their idols.
Having seen Swifter's battles before, The Crusher knew that he was ready to put an end to this.
"Fine have it your way."
The Crusher began flexing his entire body. Soon, parts of his body turned purple and a single horn protruded out in the middle of his forehead and elbows, turning him into a ruthless demon. Back at the spectators area, Walter's blood flared immensely. Fear and subservience began dominating him.
"Hey are you ok, what happened?" Alice asked.
"I don't know, I've never felt this before. My body, it's feels like it's on fire. My mind is going crazy, the more I try to resist it." He shivered, as he began coughing out blood. Alice immediately took him away from the spectators area and headed outside of the arena.
"Mystic Sense." She began inspecting the the problem in Walter's body. His purple heart was a little bigger than an ordinary human's and yet it was entering into cardiac arrest. When she noticed the severity, she quickly began healing him. Much to her dismay, Walter coughed out even more blood, and began having convulsions.
Alice was astonished! Was it something to do with him ingesting that damnable potion? Or was it some sort of disorder she was unaware of? Unable to diagnose the root problem, she tried to take out her phone from her pocket, only to find it missing.
'Darn! I handed my phone to that guard. I need to find Indra as soon as possible.' Alice thought.
Just as she was about to search for him, she halted her footsteps. All this while, she wanted to be of help to Indra and to Golden Enterprises. There wasn't a day when she prayed for an opportunity, and today was that day.
Narrowing her eyes in determination, Alice went back to Walter who desperately struggled from his convulsions. She thought of many possibilities, until she something hit her mind. Something so simple. She cursed herself for not noticing it quicker enough.
Rushing over to the ticket counter, she asked the ticket seller for any first aid kits.
"It'd be $400." The man said.
"There's a man dying, I'll pay you after it's done, please." The man shook his head as he held his hand out. Cursing him, Alice rushed over to her handbag, placed next to Walter and ran back. Handing the money over, she rushed back to Walter and began her treatment.
Taking out the hand sanitizer lotion, Alice sprayed some onto her hands and took out her small pocket knife from her bag. Before starting her treatment, she used Healing Sleep on Walter. Healing Sleep was used as a sedation which would make the person fall asleep for an hour or so. Depending on how much the caster used.
She then cut around the area near the heart and inserted her hand into it.
By bombarding his heart with multiple healing spells, the electrical malfunction would stop and the heart's pumping action would normalize. Akin to CPR. Feeling the extreme demonic energy, Alice continued to heal him, despite extreme drop in her energy reserves.
None of that mattered to her, right now he was not someone who would bring the downfall to DW-Industries, but a patient who needed treatment.
Alice's conviction and her strength rose as she continued to heal him. Several minutes later, Walter's heart returned to normal and his convulsions finally stopped.
Feeling assured, Alice took out nylon from the first aid kit to stitch him back. Much to her surprise, his body began healing on it's own. Minutes later, the area around the heart was completely healed. Devoid of any scars.
She used Mystic Sense once more to check his condition to make sure he was alright. Relieved at his condition, she finally wiped the sweat of her forehead as she panted in exhaustion.
Mystic sense not only allowed one to check for irregularities, it allowed the user to scan the blood flow and check for virulence down to the cellular level. A fascinating ability, and yet could only be used by those who were considered a prodigy at healing. A prodigy named Alice Hedenberg. That's who she truly was.
--
The moment The Crusher transformed into a mini titan, he charged at Swifter with greater speed, compared to what he displayed earlier. Swifter charged too, and exchanged blows with his opponent. The force from both sides, caused the metal bars to bend in many unusual ways.
The Crusher gathered his purple fist, imbued with pure demonic energy and punched at Swifter. Unable to dodge, Swifter was sent crashing towards the metal bars, out of the battle arena and into the wall.
The power and transformation The Crusher displayed earlier had stunned the crowd and Avan himself. Today, his information betrayed him.
"The-The-The winner is The Crusher!" Avan declared.
"The Crusher!"
"The Crusher!"
"The Crusher!"
The crowd cheered in jubilation, as they noticed The Crusher deactivate his transformation and head back to the waiting room. Avan signaled the guards to remove the body of Swifter, who's entire body was destroyed. A man who dreamt of standing on top, was nothing but a crippled mortal now. Supposedly forever.
Having witnessed The Crusher's battle from the TV in the waiting room, people's eyes displayed fear. Some maintained their distances, while some were eager to fight. The others felt indifferent to his powers. After all, this was a world where the dreams turned into reality.
--
Opening her beautiful eyes, Alice noticed her head on someone's lap. When her vision cleared, Indra appeared in her view, smiling at her. Just as she was about to get up, he pushed her back down.
"I'm fine." She replied with a hint of blush.
"No, you need to rest."
"What about the tournament?"
"My turn hasn't arrived, so I'll stay here with you until I'm called. No further arguments, you were really awesome back there." Alice smiled as she remained silent and continued to stare at Indra, who suddenly spaced out into his own world.
Unaware of her own feelings, her heart stirred wildly. She felt very comfortable when she was always around him. Feeling blissed, she closed her eyes and drifted into sleep and began dreaming. An ethereal dream with her and her golden knight.