Ch. 6- Yin vs Yang

“Now it’s time to test your combat abilities. So who's going to be the first two opponents?” asked Mr. Lee, facing the students again by the stadium stand.

“Me, obviously,” Pika raised her hand with a smirk.

I hope Alex fights me, she thought, that would be so much fun and we’ll get to know each other.

“Oh. Me too,” said Pico, confident all of a sudden.

Pika’s eyes widened, “What?!” she turned around and looked at him.

“No way. Weren’t you afraid to face her? I mean she’s strong after all,” said John, unable to comprehend the sudden change of heart.

What the hell? Why does he want to fight me so eagerly though after all this time? she thought, Could it be..?...No, he can’t be doing it for that.

“Well...She’s my sister after all, so I did fight her before and know her tactics,” said Pico with a smile in his geeky way that his fellow friend understood.

That, however, wasn’t the reason. The reason was obvious. He wanted to fight her just so he could ‘touch’ her, like the pervert he was. Or it could've been for something as innocent as trying to impress Luna and win her heart--Although, frankly, she wasn't into strong guys but rather innocent ones.

Looking at his smile, Pika understood that he was upto no good. However, she didn’t bother about it, because after all this was a good opportunity to crush him for sneak-peeking into the girls locker room.

“Well if that’s the case brother, then get ready to be crushed,” she hit her palm with her fist, and gave a confident smile.

“Oh...A-Alright, yeah. Hehe,” he giggled nervously.

“Why do you wanna be the first though, Pika?” asked Luna in curiosity out of her nerdy tendencies.

“Isn’t that obvious? Can’t you feel how solid my body is?” she grabbed her hand and rested it on her arm. “Now just squeeze my arm and see how strong my muscles are.”

Luna tightened her grip, “A-Alright,”

She felt her veins pulsating with the burning blood that flows energetically inside her and the unbending solid muscles.

“Wow, you really are something,” said Luna.

“Thank you,” Pika replied, “I’m a natural born fighter. My mom is a samurai. More like a ronin actually. And because of my father’s greek origins, I was taught wrestling at a young age by his neutral grandfather, especially using studded gloves,”

“Your great grandfather is a neutral?”

“Yup. And he’s the chief of the Neutralian armed forces. He was originally an ancient greek from planet earth turned immortal when he got exposed to neutral energy as it came in a meteorite. He told me that Neutrals discovered earth thousands of years before we did due to their Neutron speed, or godspeed, that allows them to travel even in space,”

“Yes. I heard that it is ten billion times faster than the speed of light,”

“That’s insane,”

“Though I don’t think they use electricity but rather something else, perhaps light.”

“Back in planet Demi, my mom told me that they have many greek cross-breeds and that they have organized greek-style wrestling tournaments,”

“Did you travel to your mother’s planet before?”

“Yep. And I entered this tournament, but failed against my cousin,”

“Wait. Were you half-naked and oiled when you fought?”

“Of course. And Pico was so happy at that time, once he saw me,” she laughed, “You should’ve seen his face. Nose bleeding and all. And that’s when we knew he was a pervert,”

“W-What?” Luna blushed and looked at her with a startled face.

“Why’re you so surprised?”

“The first round begins now. Both opponents please step out,” said Mr. Lee, recording results in his notebook.

Pika stood up and held her hips with a determined face, “Alright then, I gotta go to the showdown,”

The twins stepped into the field, each ran to one side of the spectrum, facing each other in the eyes from a long distance as the dusty breeze flew in between them.

“Now get ready…,” said Mr. Lee slowly from his megaphone.

Immediately, the two charged up their energy, glowing and emitting discharges of electricity that flowed around their bodies and spiked their golden hair in fury as they screamed like a super saiyan.

“Set. Go!”

They instantly turned to light and burst at full speed across the field, appearing as two yellow lightning flashes that struck each other.

In a fraction of a second, the Rhodes twins materialized, blasting their fists at each other’s heads, with only a meter separating them.

Hmph, you think you can defeat me, brother? Pika thought.

Pico wore a serious face but his heart was racing in fear inside his chest. Oh no, I don’t think I can do it, he thought fast, Why did I do this to myself?

Just before her punch landed on his face, he dematerialized again, running off to the side in a spark.

She stumbled, “Whoa, what happened?” she shouted to him as he halted a few feet away from her.

“You thought I would let you do that?” he said, then ran quickly to her behind.

As he did, she twirled about, stretching her fist to him, but he again disappeared in another spark and stopped two or three arms away from her back.

In her position, she immediately ionised and appeared before him, smirking as she shot a glowing fist to his astounded face. This time it made contact, and he soared away, whirling around rapidly as he did.

He wiped the sandy ground on his back, dust settling on his face. He coughed and sat up, looking at her with an annoyed expression.

Jumping in excitement and testing her moves with punches and kicks to the air, she shouted to him again, “So? You thought you were faster?”

“The hell? I thought your strong and heavy physique might’ve sacrificed some of your endurance,”

“Huh? Of course it won’t, dumbass. You know me, I’m your favorite spartan warrior,” she pointed at herself with a proud smile and held her hip. “And also came second place in the race, remember? Or did you ignore it?”

He rose up to his feet, and began charging more of his energy. Sparks emitted and surrounded him as he crouched and burst into lightning. He ran in a circle around her, forming a thunderstorm.

As her clothes fluttered and hair whipped up, she discharged her energy as well and began glowing.

He came out of the storm in a spark, trying to hit her as he appeared again by her side, aiming his fist at her head.

She dodged briskly, and he passed by, reaching the other side of the tornado in a split second.

He resumed sparking and darting in intersecting lines across the wind field he created, and she dodged endlessly and without much effort.

To break the loop, Pika had to slow him down through an energy blast. Amidst the tangled strips of light, she jumped in a short, brisk burst, flying in a lightning bolt to the skies, outside the tornado. The instant she materialized, she moved her arm to the back, charging a gleaming blue orb from her palm, sizzling with sparks. “Kronix attack form, DeathShot’s Aqua Helios!” she screamed valiantly.

The orb expanded till it was larger than her head.

In a moment, Pico paused in the middle of the storm to take a glance above, and there he saw the unexpected. His eyes widened and shone brightly from the rays of the star that heated his skin. His winds began to vanish as the orb started absorbing every bit of it. How could she..? he thought with a gasp, amazed at the sight before his eyes.

Pika quickly propelled the orb down, and it sped and hit the ground, exploding in a massive dome that sucked the winds till there was no tornado. Along with it, Pico was wailing in pain as his body burned inside. It was a life-absorber, deadly shot from hell.

Pico’s agility couldn’t outmatch his sister’s ability.

Fortunately though, in her worry, Pika gave a snap with her fingers and a second after, the blast vanished into thin air. Nothing’s left but a smoldered, smoking pit. Pico was burned to a crisp and couldn’t move an inch. She landed in front of him as the crowd clapped and cheered for her.

“Splendid!” said Mr. Lee while clapping for her. “She used an attack projection skill. The first time I’ve ever seen such a thing. Usually you would be able to project a weapon, but an attack? Perfect indeed.”

Pico’s tracksuit was tattered, and he had burn marks and bruises all over his face and body. “A-Ah” he uttered in his strained voice. He slowly began to move a little. He woke up, blinking and holding his head in pain.

Luna was gaping along with John and the others, who were sitting behind her. She immediately stood up and descended the stadium stand, approaching Mr. Lee as he stared at Pika, surprised by the results.

“Sir, may I go and see to his injuries. He might need help,” she said, feeling a bit more sympathy than she usually did.

“Me too,” said John who came behind her.

She turned her face to him, “What are you going to do?”

“He’s my friend. I wanna see if he’s alright. Speaking of which, why would you care? Aren’t you the one who rejected him?”

Luna blushed and looked away with an annoyed expression, “O-Of course I don’t care, but as a medical student and a healing mage trainee I shall try to at least show off my efforts. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“Alright. Go on,” said Mr. Lee nonchalantly as he jotted down the events of the battle on his clipboard, hitting his cheek with the end of his pen and thinking about the areas that require improvement for the twin opponents.

“Thanks, sir,” said Luna politely as she passed by along with John, and they went to the twins.

Holding her hips and smiling in pride, Pika said, “Hmph. This’ll teach you not to cross the female zone ever again.”

“I-I’m sorry...Uhh,” Pico coughed dust.

“I’m surprised you survived that blast.” She advanced to him further, and crouched beside him, “Are you alright? Do you need some help with healing?”

No shit sherlock. Of course he does!

“Yeah. Thanks, sis.” he said in a low voice, looking down with a sad expression.

She grabbed his arm and transferred some of her energy to him. Her hand and his arm started glowing in light-green.

Since the DeathShot attack absorbed a lot of his Aura or life energy, he couldn’t heal himself, so Pika channeled a bit of hers to him.

“C’mon. What’s wrong? You wanna be stronger, don’t you?” she said.

“Yeah, I wanna be like you, sis,”

Pika held his face to heal it and gave him a gentle smile. “Then don’t give up. I’m sure you will surpass me one day if you try,” she said.

He turned his head, looking at her with wide eyes and tearing up. The beads that dripped down his cheek shone in the luminescent green that emitted from her hand. “Sis,” he sobbed and sniffed.

“Pika, you don’t have to,” said Luna, approaching her side.

“Can you really balance the aura you’re using to heal him?” said John as he followed Luna.

“I’m not as skilled, but I do know a little and can heal minor wounds,” replied Pika.

“Let me handle this,” said Luna, kneeling close to her.

“Alright,” Pika released her hands from his arm and cheek, leaving him to her best friend.

John walked over and knelt by Pico’s other side. “Hey man. You alright?”

“I-I’m fine! Really! Don’t worry about me,” he said anxiously, his face flushing a little in excitement as Luna grabbed and examined his arm for any more burns or injuries. “Don’t say that. Those wounds are lethal,” she said in annoyance.

She’s a real angel, he thought, breathing heavily, and she’s gonna heal me! My goddess, she’s gorgeous. I never got to see her this close.

Luna gave him a worried stare with her aqua blue eyes, shining in the sunlight that her silver bangs couldn’t hide them from. “Where do you feel the pain?” she asked, as if she forgave him and was repenting for her actions.

He fidgeted a bit while pointing towards his burned chest before telling her, “H-Here, would be better,”

She touched his chest with her palm, emitting green light, and closed her eyes, chanting quietly a magic spell to accelerate healing. He looked at her lips moving softly, feeling elated from the mere look at her beauty. “T-Thank you,” he said nervously.

She paused and opened her eyes, “You don’t have to thank me. I’m just doing what I have to. It’s my calling. Don’t think that I forgave you yet for what you did back then. Hmph,” she said in her same old bratty voice, sulking right after.

Shock, confusion and nervousness stirred in his head. He wanted to believe what she said, but something about her didn’t seem right. For a moment, it felt like she did it out of affection, even though she didn’t admit it. She must have a crush on me! he thought with a sliver of hope. That only served to empower him even more to step out and try to make her confess. He wasn't going to give up on her yet.

“Ah, don’t listen to her.” said John in his casual tone. “She loves guys who don’t behave manly, like Larry. And you’re one of them, so I say she probably has a crush on you.” he lowered his voice so she won’t hear him, but it was still audible to her.

Her face flared instantly, “W-What!?” she screamed in anger.

John giggled nervously as she tried reaching him, “You scum! I’ll kill you. Just you wait,” she threatened him.

“Ugh!” she calmed down for a moment and folded her arms, “I swear, I don’t know what’s wrong with you. I never felt anything for this creep. I’m just trying to help for my own sake,”

Pico’s expression was a bit dismal by that last statement, but he summoned his courage and wanted to ask her out more directly this time--only if it was that easy. He held onto that sliver and it didn’t fracture nor bend at all from what Luna said. But since they were in an open field, he postponed it for later. He wore a determined face and carried on.

She sighed and resumed healing him as he felt anger on his best friend for ruining his mood by saying such a thing so brightly.

“So Pico, do you have any tips on how I should approach your sister if I ever come to fight her,” asked John.

“Why did you come anyways?” he asked in irritation.

“What do you mean? Of course I would want to, because I’m worried. We’re besties after all,”

“Yeah...Whatever.” he gave a sigh, “Well first, she’s tough obviously and you know that already. She learned this weird Kronix, that surpasses all limits of creating a weapon. Probably from mom, who herself knows martial arts and taught her how to use her fists like gauntlets by concentrating her aura in them,”

“Wow, that’s cool. I heard weapon projection but attack projection is something else,”

“Yeah. And she also taught her how to use her hands like solid, neck-piercing blades,”

“And how’s that possible?”

“By filling them with aura they become robust, able to break your neck and if she sharpened her claws she can even behead you. It’s about adapting your body into a weapon itself, using its attack to your advantage,”

“But for that, she would’ve had to analyse a weapon and it’s attack, or else it wouldn’t work,”

“Yes.”

“So why didn’t you learn that,”

“I wasn’t interested in martial arts compared to her, an athlete at heart like our ronin mother.”

“Your mom was a samurai?”

“Um-hm, and she gave up hope on me when I couldn’t master a single thing like sis did, and soon I gave up on myself too,”

“And now you wanna be like her to impress Luna like she did. Aw, you’re jealous of your sis, aren’t you? Hehe,”

Coincidentally, Luna was done healing Pico a second before he said that. She clenched her fists and was shaking in fury. Her aura turned ominous and dark almost immediately as she lowered her head before lifting it up with a daunting gaze that gave John shivers. Her eyes were turning shining red like that of a scary witch.

She stood up briskly, “You know what, John? You deserve more than just a slap,” she muttered in rage.

He rose to his feet and replied, “Are you serious? I was talking to him. It’s none of your business, brat!”

Stretching her arm towards him, she chanted quietly, then a few moments after, skeleton arms burst out of the dirt and were tugging John’s legs. A pool of necromancy surrounded him, begging him to come into the earth and absorbing him into the darkness of graves.

Luna had enough. She revealed her dark side to him so he won’t dare to interfere in her relationships again. She smiled like a maniac as he screamed.

“W-What the hell? You’re a necromancer too?” he asked.

“This is what you deserve,” she said in a cold tone.

Mr. Lee held the clipboard in his armpit, and clapped for them to return, “Alright, now’s the next round. Come back you three,”

Luna calmed down quickly. She gave a sigh with an annoyed face, and ordered her magic to settle down.

As she walked back to the stadium stand with heavy steps, John bowed, holding his chest and puffing. He felt his heart thumping inside as he stared at the ground that just tried sucking him in with wide, freaked eyes. Pico struggled to get up, so he passed his hand to him, “C’mon. Help me up,”

He looked at him for a moment and gulped, then grabbed his hand and pulled him up. The two followed Luna back.

After that, Mr. Lee turned around and announced, “Alright. Who’s next?”

John raised his hand, “Sir?”

“Yes?”

“Why don’t you choose according to the rankings? Wouldn’t that be better?”

“Well. I’m doing that. However, it doesn’t seem to be an effective way of determining perfect opponents,”

“Oh. Then it doesn’t matter. Just choose them...Even if there’s a disadvantage,”

Mr. Lee looked at the clipboard for a moment. Larry was placed at the 29th, and the one closest to him in power was a girl named Elosva Evo, an aquamancer from the Navy region, who was placed 21st. Considering the miniscule difference in power level, he wondered if Larry could defeat her.

Of course, Mr. Lee secretly turned on his detection ability—An advanced ability of electro-humans to detect electric flow and energy levels. Only masters of Electro Arts were able to do it, and Mr. Lee knew Larry had much potential in him because of that.

“Hmm…,” he held his chin, “It’s possible that Larry and Elosva would make a good match,” he said.

“W-What?” uttered Larry with an anxious face, “S-Sir.. Please reconsider,”

Not that he was nervous in nature, but he didn’t want to fight someone who’s above him, much less a girl, due to his overly nice and humble attitude.

“Ah c’mon. Don’t be shy,” Mr. Lee gave him a carefree look.

The emo nodded in agreement and stood up, lowering his face a little. He was shortly followed by the aquamarine-haired girl, giving an assuring smirk to her friends. Her hair was long and untidy, almost covering half her face.

“Go girl,” said an edgy tomboy sitting among them, as Elosva passed through the seats. She descended the stairs just as Larry reached Mr. Lee.

They stepped out of the stadium stand and headed to the testing grounds, each at their position.

“Alright. Ready...Set..Go!” yelled Mr. Lee through the megaphone.