unOrdinary: An Old Friend Returns

God-Tier Combat

"Wait! I still don't get how you made the Amethyst flag appear in Cecile's hands?" Blyke said in frustration. We were now on the edges of the field and I could see Arlo illuminated by the stadium lights. Just as I had brought Isen, Blyke, and Remi to the fight so too had Arlo brought a friend. She stands behind Arlo, partially obscured by his wider frame, but I can see that she has aqua blue hair and pale skin. I believe that she is Seraphina's roommate, named Evaline or Elaine. Arlo had brought a healer to our fight.

Sensing that we are being watched I tell Remi to grab the boys and find a spot on the bleachers to watch the fight.

"Come on guys. Let's go!" she says as she drags them away.

"Will someone please tell me how she did the trick with the flag and the bouquet of flowers?" Blyke's voice fades as he gets further away.

I dart behind the bleachers, purposely taking the long way to meet Arlo. Now that he had seen me there is no reason why I can't take my time to meet him on the field. In the shadows, I move silently and activate my ability. There! While Terrence's ability makes him invisible to the naked eye, and probably to infrared as well, an aura is hard to hide. As I make my way towards him, I make sure to appear that I am merely walking towards Arlo. Then once I am two steps away, my hand strikes out like a viper, hits his pressure point and he falls, immobilized and unconscious. That hit should knock him out for at least an hour, by which time the fight will be over, and he will have missed his chance to spy on us.

Resuming my walk towards Arlo and Elaine, I see that they are looking past me in the direction of the bleachers.

"Seems like you brought an audience for your defeat, Eloise," Arlo says, his arrogance clear in his voice.

"If you thought that you wouldn't have brought a healer to stitch up your wounds when I defeat you" I retort.

His fists clench and unclench in anger and his jaw tightens.

"Elaine is here for you. Once I'm done with you, you're going to need all the help you can get."

"My, my, what a gentleman. You threaten a girl so sweetly."

Arlo is done talking, he throws out his hands and summons a barrier that wallops me, sending me back several feet.

"I guess our time for talking is over. Very well, I'll oblige."

I summon my powers, encasing my arms in the bark of the Australian Buloke, an ironwood tree that has the hardest bark in the world. Arlo calls up his barrier to defend against my blows. The barrier is strong, but I am stronger.

Crack, my fist causes a fissure in Arlo's barrier. I can tell that he is surprised at how quickly I have been able to break down his wall. His glowing eyes tell me that he is just getting started.

Suddenly, he pulls back the barrier and my bark-covered fists hit nothing but air. Taking advantage of this opportunity Arlo seeks to overpower me. He tackles me to the ground. I can feel his enhanced strength as he batters my torso and seeks to trap me in an armbar.

While I am weaker and smaller than Arlo, I am not powerless. The grass beside me rises up and joins together forming vines. Tangling up Arlo's legs and arms, I am able to slide from underneath him before he is able to call up his barrier, which slices through the vines holding him.

Both of us are now breathing heavily, covered in grass stains and dirt. Arlo uses a head flick to get his blonde locks from his eyes. We both stare each other down, sizing each other while we wait to see who makes the first move. I recover first but I wait until Arlo attacks.

My research into Arlo had shown me that he is strongest in defense, thus I must catch him off-guard when he attacks for me to land enough devastating blows to win. Coming at me, I see that he is also skilled in hand-to-hand combat. While this is not surprising given that his ability is defensive and yet he has been King for more than two years, I rethink my strategy.

So, I cannot wait to break through his attacks while on the defensive nor can I attack forever to break through his barrier, since he may lower a weakened one and replace it. I need to outsmart him, like in the capture the flag exercise.

Once I reach this conclusion, the tables turn. Grounding my feet within the terrain, my vines wrap around my legs bolstering my movement. I stop retreating with Arlo's blows and now my own returning strikes push him back. He must retreat, and his eyes widen as he trips from a protruded root. Calling out his barrier he prevents my attacks while he picks himself off from the ground.

But he is too late.

His barrier is only established around and above him. Acting on reflex, he had created a barrier that does not prevent him from experiencing an attack from below. I drop down and slam my fist into the field. As I twist, the ground gives way underneath Arlo and he is swallowed into the earth like quicksand up to his neck.

As he struggles to move his body, the weight of the earth presses down effectively immobilizing him. I rise to my feet and brush off the dirt. His eyes express his fury at having been bested again, in less than two months since he was defeated by John. The football field is totally obliterated around him. The ground is fractured, exposing dirt from beneath the lawn, the painted lines are gone, and much of the track around the field is covered in tufts of grass. This fight has left its mark.