NOVPUBThe stadium's roar diminished to a tense murmur as Lucas straightened, tiny arcs of electricity dancing between his fingers. With deliberate slowness, he raised his hand, pointing directly at Jayden. Brilliant white-blue sparks cascaded across his extended fingers, illuminating his face with harsh, otherworldly light.
"Guess they sent two so at least one of you might last a full minute," Lucas said, his voice carrying across the now-hushed arena.
The crowd erupted at the taunt, sensing the true battle was only beginning. Jayden's face contorted with fury, blue flames curling around his clenched fists.
From the corner of his eye, Noah noticed the medical staff standing attentively at the sidelines, equipment ready but not intervening. One of them spoke into a comm unit, receiving confirmation before nodding to her colleagues.
"They're not going in for Frost," Sophie observed, following Noah's gaze.
"Tournament rules," Kelvin explained, not looking up from his device. "Three-way match isn't officially over until there's a single winner. Plus—" he nodded toward a holographic readout above the arena showing Diana's vital signs "—neural shutdown isn't causing any permanent damage. She'll wake up with one hell of a headache in about twenty minutes."
All attention returned to the two remaining fighters as Jayden took three deliberate steps forward.
"You think you're so clever, Grey?" Jayden spat, frost forming along his left arm while his right hand blazed with blue flame. "Taking her out first? Typical Academy 12 cowardice."
Lucas didn't move, his finger still pointing accusingly. "Smart strategy isn't cowardice. But I wouldn't expect someone who preys on first-years to understand the difference."
Jayden's eyes narrowed. "Still sore about your sister? Emily Grey was practically begging for attention. Not my fault she couldn't handle it when she got it." 𝘯𝘰𝑣𝘱𝑢𝘣.𝑐𝑜𝑚
The temperature in the arena plummeted. The protective dome crackled as frost formed along its inner surface, spreading outward from where Jayden stood. Simultaneously, Lucas's aura intensified, electricity crackling in expanding circles around his feet.
"Say her name again," Lucas whispered, his voice somehow carrying to every corner of the stadium. "I dare you."
The commentator's voice trembled with excitement: "Ladies and gentlemen, we're about to witness—"
BOOM!
Jayden crossed the distance in a flash of ice and fire, his right fist swinging in a vicious arc toward Lucas's head. Lucas pivoted, electricity propelling him sideways as he countered with a lightning-fast jab to Jayden's ribs.
CRACK!
The sound of impact echoed through the arena as both fighters reeled back momentarily. A thin line of blood appeared at the corner of Lucas's mouth. Simultaneously, Jayden winced, his left hand instinctively covering the spot where Lucas's strike had landed.
First blood, drawn simultaneously.
For a heartbeat, they both stood motionless, eyes locked.
Then they erupted into motion.
Jayden slammed his palms together, creating a concentrated wave of superheated air that rippled toward Lucas. Lucas responded by dropping to one knee, channeling electricity into the metal floor. The current raced across the surface, forcing Jayden to leap upward.
"That's exactly what Lucas wanted!" Noah exclaimed as Lucas capitalized on Jayden's aerial vulnerability, launching himself upward.
THWACK!
Lucas's knee connected with Jayden's midsection, driving the air from his lungs. But Jayden wasn't Academy 8's champion for nothing. Even as he gasped for breath, he grabbed Lucas's leg, coating it with a layer of ice before hurling him toward the arena wall.
Lucas twisted in midair, electricity shattering the ice encasing his leg. He rebounded off the energy dome, launching himself back at Jayden like a human missile.
"You don't get to speak about her," Lucas growled as they clashed again, exchanging blows at speeds that had the audience struggling to follow. "Not after what you tried to do."
Jayden caught Lucas's wrist, superheating his grip. "She wanted it. Just like all the Academy 12 girls, pretending they're too good for us until—"
Lucas headbutted him square in the face, the crack of impact silencing Jayden's taunt. Blood spurted from Jayden's nose, but he responded with a headbutt of his own, catching Lucas above the eye.
"Holy shit," Kelvin whispered as the two fighters staggered apart, both bleeding now. "They're going primitive."
"It's tactical," Noah countered, eyes tracking every movement. "Lucas is disrupting Jayden's concentration. Hard to focus your abilities when someone's smashing your face in."
Sophie winced as the two collided again. "This is beyond personal."
On the arena floor, the fighters separated after another furious exchange. Jayden wiped blood from his chin, smearing it across his face. "Your sister got over it. Maybe you should too."
Lucas's eyes flashed dangerously. "After you cornered her in the equipment room? After she had to freeze your hands to stop you?"
The crowd fell silent, the entertainment suddenly taking a darker turn.
"She never told the Headmaster," Lucas continued, circling slowly. "She was too ashamed. Too afraid of what people would say. But she told me."
Jayden's face twisted with disdain. "And like a good little brother, you believed her."
"Everyone knows what you are, Smoak," Lucas replied, voice ice-cold. "Everyone knows what Academy 8 covers up."
The stadium held its breath as tension crackled between the two fighters.
Jayden struck first, channeling ice into the floor and creating a forest of jagged spikes racing toward Lucas. Lucas countered with a blast of electricity that shattered the approaching ice, sending crystal shards flying in all directions.
Through the glittering debris, Jayden charged, his right hand wreathed in concentrated blue flame. Lucas met him head-on, lightning coalescing around his fist.
KABOOM!
The impact sent both fighters skidding backward, twin furrows carved into the arena floor. The energy dome flickered momentarily from the sheer force released.
"Did you see that?" Kelvin gasped, eyes wide as he studied readings on his device. "The temperature differential between their strikes just created a localized pressure wave. Jayden's flames hit three thousand Kelvin while Lucas's electricity created a negative charge that—"
"In English, Kelvin," Sophie interrupted.
"Fire meets lightning, go boom," Kelvin simplified, still frantically logging data.
The fighters recovered simultaneously, launching into another blistering exchange. Lucas's speed advantage was evident, but Jayden's dual manipulation of heat—both fire and ice—gave him unpredictable options. When Lucas dodged a stream of flame, he found ice waiting. When he anticipated ice, fire erupted in his path.
"You're nothing but a bully with fancy powers," Lucas snarled between strikes, landing a punishing blow to Jayden's sternum that would have incapacitated a lesser fighter.
Jayden absorbed the hit, countering with a punishing uppercut that caught Lucas under the chin. "And you're nothing but a self-righteous prick who got lucky with his Reawakening."
CRACK!
Lucas's jaw snapped back, but he recovered instantly, grabbing Jayden's extended arm and channeling so much electricity through it that Jayden's hair stood on end. Jayden howled, retaliating by flash-freezing Lucas's shoulder.
They separated again, both breathing heavily now. Blood trickled from a dozen minor wounds on each fighter. Lucas's left arm hung slightly lower, frost damage evident on his shoulder. Jayden's right hand twitched uncontrollably from electrical damage to his nerves.
"Remarkable recovery capabilities," Noah observed. "I know Lucas took martial arts briefly in year one. I didn't know Jayden did too. Now I can see they both haven't forgotten their master's teachings. Right now they're both channeling chi to repair damage in real-time."
Kelvin nodded. "But it's draining their reserves. They can't keep this up forever."
In the arena, the two fighters began circling again, neither willing to show weakness. The crowd, initially stunned by the ferocity, had found its voice again, the roar building with each passing second.
"Getting tired, Grey?" Jayden taunted, though his own chest heaved with exertion.
Lucas didn't waste energy on a reply. Instead, he slammed his fist into the floor, channeling electricity outward in concentric rings of destruction.
Jayden leapt to avoid the attack, exactly as Lucas had anticipated. As Jayden became airborne, Lucas vanished in a blur of motion, appearing above his opponent. With perfect precision, he drove both feet into Jayden's chest, sending him crashing to the floor with bone-rattling force.
WHAM!
The impact cratered the reinforced floor, sending tremors through the entire stadium. In the stands, drinks sloshed over the edges of cups. People grabbed their seats for stability.
"It's over," Sophie stated confidently.
Noah shook his head. "No. Watch."
From the crater, a hand emerged, encased in ice so thick it resembled armor. Jayden pulled himself upright, blood streaking his face, his eyes burning with hatred. The ice armor cracked and fell away as he stood.
"You hit like your sister," he spat.
Lucas's face went completely blank—the calm before the storm. The air around him began to distort with electrical charge.
"Oh hell," Kelvin breathed. "He's accessing the deeper lightning wells."
Noah leaned forward. "Jayden better have something special ready or this ends now."
As if hearing Noah's assessment, Jayden's stance shifted. He placed his palms together, eyes closing momentarily. When they reopened, one glowed with blue flame, the other with icy white light.
"Thermal conversion matrix," Kelvin whispered in awe. "He's creating a heat differential engine inside his own body."
Neither fighter spoke now. Words had been exhausted. Only raw power and skill remained.
They clashed again in the center of the arena, moving so rapidly that afterimages trailed behind them. Lucas targeted Jayden's weak points with surgical precision, electricity amplifying each strike. Jayden countered with brutal efficiency, alternating between burning heat and bone-chilling cold.
CRACK! THOOM! WHAM!
The impacts reverberated through the stadium as the fighters drove each other to their limits. The arena floor, designed to withstand forces that would level buildings, began to show signs of structural stress. Fissures spread outward from impact points. Scorch marks and frost patterns intertwined in chaotic designs.
"They're going to bring down the whole arena," Sophie said, genuine concern in her voice.
Noah shook his head. "The containment field will hold. Barely."
After a particularly vicious exchange that left both fighters staggering, they separated again, retreating to opposite sides of the arena. The crowd held its collective breath. Even the commentators had fallen silent, words inadequate to describe what they were witnessing.
Jayden stood hunched, blood dripping steadily onto the floor beneath him. His combat suit was torn in dozens of places, revealing electrical burns and bruises underneath. Yet his eyes burned with undiminished fury.
Lucas straightened with visible effort. His right eye was swollen nearly shut, and his breathing came in ragged gasps. The sleeve of his combat suit had been completely burned away, revealing frost-damaged skin beneath.
"I've been saving something," Jayden called across the arena, a terrible smile spreading across his face. "Something I wanted you to see before I finished this."
The air around Jayden began to shimmer with heat distortion. His injuries seemed to pain him less as he raised his hands, palms upward. Blue flames erupted from his skin, but rather than spreading outward, they turned inward, seeping into his flesh.
"Oh my god," Kelvin breathed, his device frantically recording data. "He's internalizing the thermal energy. If he loses control for even a second—"
"He'll vaporize himself," Noah finished grimly. "This is his soul form."
