When I walked out into the arena, Thetis was already there waiting for me. The crowd was large as ever, and that human king, Regent, stood watching from the balcony as I stepped forward. Foebus was up there with him, watching with his arms crossed. He hated my tenacity, but loved the results.
“Vadryn T}{uris…Time and time again you }{ave proven beyond ambitious.” Thetis said, watching me move into position. We were already standing at the paces where the fight would start - after eight previous attempts, it was starting to feel choreographed.
“Your stubbornness is uncanny for a goldblood.” She mocked, looking me dead in the eye.
“< i take that as a compliment. >” I responded with my usual nonchalance. I’d grown accustomed to taking insults as praise.
“I }{ave one question before we begin.”
“< oh? shoot. >”
“W}{at compels you to keep c}{allenging me?” she asked, “You pus}{ yourself to bring new tactics to bear, and you suffer new ways to lose eac}{ time.”
Her face shifted to a mask of cold disdain.
“W}{y do you persist?”
“< why do i do it? >” I asked, plain-faced. “< hahaha, why ELSE would i do it? >”
We both settled into our stances, and white-hot static rippled over Thetis’ fingertips.
“< i do it for the glory. >”
Thetis issued Regent a quick nod, and he began to count down.
“Five…”
“Four…”
“Three…”
“Two…”
“One…”
“FIGHT!”
The Empress made the first move, darting to the side while throwing bolts of energy at me. I sent blue and gold lancelets ripping through the air, slipping beneath her own psionic barrage. Each swing of my arm sent another arc of brilliant power at my foe, and her motions sent more bolts in my direction.
My movement was cut short for dodging a laser blast, narrowly avoiding the worst assaults, only to get my shoulder tagged by one of the lighter shots. I swung my arm across the air, raking at it with half-curled fingers, and all the silvery spheres of energy intended for me crackled and dissipated.
Thetis began steadily ramping up the pressure, sending a salvo of psychic bolts while simultaneously pushing me towards the wall. I swung my good arm wildly, shattering more and more waves of her attacks while struggling to keep my footing.
Within moments, I gave up on trying to guard against the psionic barrage, and instead impelled myself from the wall with telekinetic force. My opponent saw an opportunity, and gave me freedom of movement, allowing me to hurdle recklessly forward.
I took full advantage of the momentum, and just barely managed to slide over the ground. Thetis jumped over me, and while she was still in the air, I raised my arm, and projected a kinetic field, suspending her in the air.
“< hey thetis, >” I exclaimed, rising to my feet. “< ever wonder what happened to the condesce’s battleship? >”
I expected no answer to my taunt, and instead immediately threw my arms apart, bringing my hands together with a thunderous clap. The field collapsed on itself with immense force, sending a shockwave throughout the room, eliciting a sound of awe from the crowd.
My good arm twitched after recovering from the shock, and I could feel the cords starting to burn beneath the skin. I was surprised that even with upgrades, it still hurt to overexert like that.
And then, mere moments after catching my breath, I felt more than a burn - a swift, heavy heel in my back, and I was thrown across the room, tumbling over on the floor like a ragdoll.
As I got back up, shaking from overexertion and physical pain, I heard a cold, cruel voice.
“Your brazen ignorance surprises and annoys me, Vadryn.”
Thetis hovered in the middle of the arena, her body limned with silver light. Her eyes glowed pale, and her hands were covered in the white static she was ready to unleash.
“To taunt as t}{oug}{ you }{ad t}{e advantage, and to pretend as if your stunt would }{ave been enoug}{ to so muc}{ as incapacitate me, let alone cause me any }{arm.”
I laughed. It was a hearty, wild laugh. Thetis’ brow twitched.
“< i guess there’s just one thing left to do, huh? >”
I grabbed at the bracelet around my wrist, tugging off my amp’s output limiter. The Empress raised her arm to prepare her final assault. I tossed the bracelet aside, and, grinning like the madman I am, I stepped forward.
In an instant, there was light. White, blinding light, then blue and gold streaks dancing around the air. A hundred-thousand bolts of psychic energy rained against me, a cascade of overwhelming power. But none of them harmed me. None of them so much as touched me, and instead they became wisps of white in the ever-growing bubble of blue and gold electricity surging around me.
I walked forward, and Thetis doubled her assault. I could hear her roaring, exerting herself to some measure to bury me in silver fire. But instead, the crackle and surge of my barrier drowned her out, growing further and further. By the time I reached the middle of the arena, I had my left arm outstretched, raised into the air.
I was confident what I had was enough to best Thetis, but I fed more power into it, shooting arcs of unbridled psionic power from my arm and into the massive barrier of gold. The Tyrian took a step back, bracing herself, and I laughed, half-mad with my own display of power.
“< I FORGOT TO MENTION SOMETHING, THETIS. >” My voice pierced the roar of psychic energy that enveloped both of us.
“< I BROUGHT ONE LAST TRICK TO THIS FIGHT. >”
My arm twitched under the pressure, the immense power stored in the bubble begging to be released.
“< SO NOW, JUST FOR YOU, I’M GONNA GO ALL OUT. >”
With one swift motion, my hand was thrown to face the ground, and for a moment, there was silence.
“< i’ve been waiting for this moment. >”
After what seemed like an eternity of waiting, that had only truly been mere seconds, the gold and azure storm imploded on itself, and a great, massive arc of power obliterated the ground, sending a shockwave of pure psionic energy rippling out over the arena, knocking Thetis back against the far wall.
The arc surged through the ground, carving the sign of the Alert into the floor before completing it with one last wave of power, burning the walls of the colosseum ash-black.
I fell to my knees, and my consciousness started to fade, but as I looked up and opened my eyes, I saw Thetis standing over me, only just affected by my final attack.
“< did i…lose…again? >”
As I slipped out of consciousness, I felt something tapping against my shoulders, and then, nothing.
When I came to, I awoke in the locker room, laid down on the floor with a towel supporting my head. Regent and Foebus stared down at me, with my Emperor-to-be looking down with concern.
There was a moment of silence, before I looked up at Regent.
“< so what happened? >”
“You won.” He said before correcting himself “…But only just.”
I laughed - and groaned while I laughed. It hurt, but I laughed regardless - and then I coughed up blood.
“o)– quit it, vadryn, y()u’re ()nly making it w()rse.”
Within moments, I heard quick, light footfalls rushing into the room. Athene knelt down beside me, placing her hands on my stomach. Her hands glowed red, and the faint traceries of crimson magic darted through the air, forming an image like clock-hands ticking backwards.
“s()rry i wasn’t here faster - thetis was w()rse ()ff than i th()ught!”
Her apology was tinged with an excited panic, like she was in a rush to come mend my wounds.
“How bad?” Regent asked, leaning forward.
“harsh burns, busted ribs, and s()mething in her st()mach g()t the w()rst ()f the sh()ck.”
“And she’s okay now?”
Athene simply nodded, and focused on patching me up. Her hands moved over to my arm, then to my forehead, and down to my legs, with each moment spent on each limb reinvigorating me and repairing what damage Thetis had dealt.
“< ohh, she’s gonna kick my ass for that. >” I moaned, sitting myself upright, only to be pushed back down by my healer. I looked back up at her meekly, but, after seeing her frustrated expression, decided that I didn’t want to get on two Tyrians’ bad sides.
“Well, Vadryn, welcome to the Paragons.” the Seer said, as he stood up and moved to leave. “Get yourself some rest. You’ve earned it.”
And with those words, he was gone.
“< so, then… >” I began, gazing up into the concerned eyes of my Prince. “< after she gets finished healing me here, how about we hit the bar to celebrate? >”
The two fuchsias shared a mutual glance, before Foebus stared down at me in what I could only assume was disappointment.
“o)– abs()lutely fucking n()t.”
“< aww, c'mon. >”
Athene interjected, rising to her feet after she had finished her work.
“vadryn, y()u really sh()uld g() and get s()me rest.”
“< heh, is that an order? >” I asked confidently, finally sitting myself upright.
“o)– yes, it’s an ()rder.”
Foebus’ tone was strict, and he looked down at me with an annoyed expression. I hesitated in my response, before finally submitting to them.
“< alright, alright, you guys win. i’ll take it easy for a few days. >”
“o)– g()()d.”
With that, Foebus pulled me up to my feet, and we left the locker room, each of us going our own ways. Athene went off to catch up with Regent, Foebus left to go find Thetis, and I marched off to savor my triumph - and make preparations for the celebrations to come.
