Sparring match (1)

"How's the cake?" Joshua asked Elena. "It's delicious," Elena answered, she knew he had worked hard to make it in a short timeframe. "I'm glad you like it," Joshua responded. As he washed off his and her plates. "Are you really going to fight Mr. Owens?" Elena whispered to him. "Yeah, you could say it's a requirement for my growth," Joshua said back, hiding the full truth. "Now, go to bed, there's gonna be something pretty cool tomorrow," Joshua told Elena, making her frown, but she decided to follow what he said anyway. 

*The next morning, in the small clearing.*

"Are you sure about this?" Owen asked Joshua as he readied himself. "I'm certain," Joshua replied, his heart beating with excitement. "Then let's begin," Owen responded. The sun illuminated the clearing really well, there were little to no shadows aside from the trees, which made it an ideal fighting ground. "Remember, do not seriously hurt each other, and for the love of god... Don't completely ruin the clearing," Fabian told them the only rules. "3...2...1...BEGIN!" Fabian yelled out as he dodged backward. 

"Spike!" Joshua yelled in his head, in response the earth shook at his request, before spewing out multiple spikes in front of Owen cutting his ankle, albeit slightly. "You've improved," Owen said to him, as he said this ice gathered around his body. Forming a shield on himself. Raising his fists, Owen charged Joshua, throwing out multiple punches. "SHIT HE'S TOO FAST!" Joshua screamed in his head. The earth seemed to call to Joshua, however, begging him to try something. 

"That's right! The fake me used a similar technique before!" Joshua remembered getting absolutely destroyed in the match, the other Joshua had thrown out 5 punches to the left, and 6 to the right, before forming a spear and stabbing him through the head. "Spike sword," Joshua thought, grabbing it from the earth, and swinging it toward Owen, slicing his cheek and side. 

"How'd he know my attack pattern?" Owen asked himself, before summoning an ice sword for himself to return the blows. "Left!" Joshua yelled in his head, barely blocking the attack, although it sent him flying anyway. *Clink! SLAM!* "Ow," Joshua muttered as he stabilized himself with his sword. *Cough!* Blood spilled from the corner of his mouth, he knew very fast he had gotten hit harder than he thought. "No, I won't lose! I CAN'T LOSE!" Joshua screamed inside. 

"Slash at his legs 3 times, then attack his side!" Joshua's mind yelled at him, it was the other him's attacks, the other him had used it before stabbing him through the stomach with a spike. So Joshua used that exact pattern, slashing through the grass and nicking Owen's leg, before using the weight of his sword to change direction. "Left foot up then throw yourself back with it!" Joshua's mind told him again, he was copying the fake him's moves.

Joshua moved up, seeing the change in footing, Owen thrust his sword at Joshua's chest. But he missed, and Joshua returned by stabbing him through the thigh with a spike. "GAH!" Owen screamed in his head. "How did he?" Owen started to ask himself before Joshua went back on the offensive. 

"Okay! Don't back down now!" Joshua yelled at himself. Joshua continued the flurry of attacks by throwing spikes aimed at Owen's feet and using his sword to attack Owen's chest. But it didn't work for long. "Ice wave!" Owen yelled out, the field turning to ice, making Joshua fall, which resulted in his sword crumbling away. "Icicle spear!" Owen yelled, throwing the manifested spear at Joshua's left leg, luckily though it missed. 

"Shit!" Joshua yelled in his head. "Spike wall!" Joshua muttered. A cocoon of spikes quickly surrounded him, protecting him from any attacks Owen threw at him, including the spear. "Icicle!" Owen shouted out, multiple spikes of ice stuck into Joshua's cocoon, but it managed to block them with ease. "That was close," Joshua muttered, the chilly air making him shiver.

"Fall," Joshua commanded to the wall he made. It crumbled away and Joshua engaged Owen again. "Spike! Spike! Spike!" Joshua yelled, spikes arose from the ground and pointed at Owen, flying at him in seconds. But they held no effect, Owen's ice armor protected him this time. 

"Should we stop them?" Elena asked in fear, watching the fight unfold. "No, just let them be," Fabian responded, paying close attention to Joshua's attacks. Fabian watched Joshua throw attack after attack, but Owen's speed only increased. Anyone could tell that Joshua was starting to struggle. "The weakling can fight?" Elizabeth muttered from behind them, but Fabian ignored her, as did Elena. Nathan stood there in shock, however. "W-When did Joshua learn those moves?" He thought in surprise. 

Joshua and Owen continued trading blows, eventually, Joshua decided to ditch the spike sword and focus more on attacking using the ground around him. "SPIKE FIELD!" Joshua shouted, destroying all the ice that Owen had covered the ground with. *CRACK! SHATTER!* "SHIT!" Owen yelled in his head, Joshua's spikes had gone through and ripped the soles of his feet. 

Blood splattered across the spike-covered ground. "When did he learn this?" Owen thought in shock. "Spike!" Joshua shouted out, grabbing the newly formed spike and using it as a sword, he intended to end this fight in that one moment. "FIGHT DAMNIT!" Joshua screamed inside his head, his body was burning up with pain. It felt like molten metal was flowing through his veins, as he forced himself to move and end the fight. 

"He might actually beat me, shit!" Owen shouted at himself, the fear made him start acting impulsively. *BAM! BAM! BAM! CLANG! SLAM!* Joshua finally managed to break all of Owen's armor and with his last ounce of strength, swung his sword down with all his might.

"Blizzard!" Owen shouted, the air becoming colder in an instant. He absorbed all the water in the air and collected it into a single blast. "I can't block it this time," Joshua thought, as the ball of ice formed in Owen's hands. Joshua couldn't dodge nor block it as he was directly on top of Owen. "JOSHUA!" Fabian and Elena screamed out in concern.