Chapter 25: A Shadow Surprise
The long shadow tendril pulled D up by his leg and held him in suspended animation above the sandy fighting pit. Val looked up at him with a smug smile of superiority.
"This, Is no fucking fair, you cheated!" D said as he hung upside down, throwing his arms around to try and free himself.
"I don’t usually show people this aspect of my power, I like my shadow control to be a trump card if need be. We’re true friends now D." She let out a heavy sigh and dropped her fighting stance and walked over to the edge of the arena and prepared to jump out in victory when...
A large tendril exploded from the sand and grabbed her by the neck. D’s hand was outstretched as he controlled it from his upside down position.
"I-didn’t say we were done yet..." D struggled to say, all of his might going to controlling the unwieldy shadow tendril.
"I can see why you don’t like to do this, it’s a real bitch to properly control these things and keep them from dissipating on you." D said smugly as he raised her up by her neck to the same height he was at.
Val began pulling and ripping at the shadow around her neck, but to no avail. The thing about shadows is they cant exactly be touched, but with Val’s ability they could touch and even grab people or things if she put enough concentration behind it.
Val let out a choked laugh as she said, "Alright...h-how about we both just lower each other and fight with no Glow." D felt the blood from his feet beginning to rush to his head and so he nodded in agreement with her proposition.
They both slowly lowered each other back to the ground and the shadows dissipated, both combatants let out heaving sighs from all the effort it had taken them to even maintain control of the ethereal whips for a few moments.
D was the first to stand, but he did not attack. He waited for Val to regain her breath which garnered a sympathetic look from Val, a silent thank you between friends. She stood, and the fight recommenced.
Both of them went back into their boxing stances, D favored a more high handed blocking style. Whilst Val favored a more low handed style to allow her to fully see what her opponent was doing at all times.
The two of them began circling each other as the group outside began cheering a little, obviously enjoying the showy fight between the two of them.
D launched at her, bringing down a flurry of jabs right into her blocking hands. She ducked and went for a low leg sweep but D hopped back from her before it could connect. The two of them seemed to be at a stalemate.
Both we’re feeling the fight drag on in their bones and muscles, both had eaten a few blows from the other and they were starting to feel it.
This time Val launched at D with snap kick to his head, he grabbed her foot stopping its momentum before it could connect with the side of his head. He heaved her forward bringing her to the ground and prepared to launch on top of her with a flurry of strikes...
But before he could Val threw up her hands and said "I surrender!" D backed off on his assault, and pulled his friend back up to her feet. Both of them just looked at each, the silence between them being a newfound understanding for them both.
"WOOOOO" Roxanne cheered as she clapped from beyond the border, Nashoba and Max also cheered from beside her. They all congratulated both fighters and D and Val hopped out of the pit and began drinking the water bottles Nashoba had brought with him for the group.
After a few minutes to catch her breath Val stood up and said "Alright for the next fight it is Max versus Nashoba."
Max looked over to the much smaller Nashoba, and nodded in a show of good faith as he stepped over the wooden barrier. Nashoba nodded back as he climbed over the barrier. Both of them now stood facing each other with their shirts off.
Max’s large cut frame showed off his countless years of hard work in gyms back in his homeland and the awful amount of scars that laced his muscled body. Nashoba by contrast was a much skinnier, albeit still somewhat muscled from his time training on the island.
"You ready?" Nashoba said holding up his V-band, ready to play the ’Ding’ sound to signal off the beginning of their match,
"As ready as I’ll ever be." Max said, obviously a bit thrown off my Nashoba’s sure of himself demeanor. The high pitch sound went off and their fight had begun.
Max, while much bigger than Nashoba, had no real fighting training. He’d always been able to win fights purely on mass and brute force alone. He’d plan to do the same here as he charged Nashoba and went for a large right handed hook.
That’s when suddenly his fist stopped in mid air and turned to him and he punched himself in the face with his many ringed fist. Max had an assortment of rings he wore off and on to supplement his powers. Naturally he’d brought all of the ones he had to the sparring match to allow his body to transform.
What he hadn’t known though was Nashoba’s ability, he figured it was something to do with technology so if he happened to get matched against him it would be a pretty easy fight.
But he hadn’t thought that Nashoba’s ability would be something as overwhelmingly powerful as control over metal, and because of this in a way Max had already lost.
Max had no control over either of his hand was lifted up by his arms into the air with a flick of a finger from Nashoba.
That’s when Max’s body began to dissolve into a loose sandy substance and he fell from his suspended spot and mixed with the sand on the ground of the pit. Max had turned his body fully into sand...