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The training studio that was reserved for the duel was the biggest one Lyn had ever seen. White cushy padding lined all around the walls for protection and soundproofing, while a luxurious chandelier hung in the middle. The challenger, whoever he was, definitely lavished on every possible expenditure for this duel.
As the team entered, Lyn noticed Cydney fidgeting with her black wristwatch. She reached her hand out and gave her a gentle squeeze on the shoulder.
"You'll be fine, Cinna. You're the best fighter I know."
Cydney merely smiled in reply.
Just then, a middle-aged man with a black bowler hat stormed into the studio.
"Hello, hello! Which one of you is the fighter?" he asked in between breaths. His eyes darted around the team as he examined everyone eagerly—everyone, except for the petite woman standing right in the middle.
Cydney lifted a timid hand up. "I- I am..."
"You? Oh." There was a slight pause of surprise before the man rushed forward to shake her hands. "That's awesome! Good to see you, good to see you! Cydney, right? I've heard so much about how elusive you are, and how impossible it is to duel you, so I'm very, very honored you agreed to this duel. I am the manager for the challenger, Master Han. He's on his way here. He takes a really long time to prepare, so I apologize for the wait."
"Master Han?" Lyn repeated with a raised brow. "What is he, some kind of royalty?"
"No," the manager said with a strained smile, "but he wants to be called either Master Han or Master Solo. He's very insistent on the 'Master' part for some reason. Well, he pays me, so I'll call him whatever he wants to be called."
"Wait," Cydney whispered, her face distorting in terror. "Han... Solo?"
"Yes, yes, have you heard of him? Han Solo is the name he goes by. I think the 'Solo' is supposed to stand for solo quester, which is weird because he's not a quester at all, he's just a challenger. But well, he's a weird dude, you'll see."
The blood seemed to drain from Cydney's face, as she staggered backward and muttered, "Lyn... I- I don't want to do this anymore."
"You'll be fine, Cinna—"
"No, I really don't want to do this anymore. Let's go, please."
Cydney's adamant tone jolted Lyn to action.
"Oh, okay, okay. Let's go." She grabbed Cydney's hands and turned to the rest of the team. "Let's go, guys."
The door slammed open, freezing them in place.
A tall, slender East Asian man sauntered into the studio. His lips were curled into a permanent smirk, while his chin was tilted upwards as if he owned the place. Under his neatly-styled pompadour hair was a pair of trendy, horn-rimmed sunglasses and an expensive-looking suit. As he stopped in front of the team, he pushed out his suit and broke into a wide, gleeful smile.
"I knew it." He took off his sunglasses, revealing a pair of small, almond-shaped eyes that bored into Cydney. "It really is you, Sīn-Sīn!"
Sin-Sin? Lyn frowned. The name, 'Sin-Ni Yen', flashed across her mind—it was the name that had appeared on Cydney's strange messaging device. Was Sin-Sin a nickname that Cydney had back home?
"You know him, Cinna?"
Cydney did not reply. Instead, her eyes were fixated on the newcomer. An unfamiliar voice—soft, trembling, filled with a level of rage that Lyn had never heard before—escaped her throat.
"Zhào Zǐ-Hán."
"Oh, no, I go by Han now, Han Solo." Han looked as if he was really pleased with himself for coming up with that name. "Just like you, eh? You gave yourself a cute little English name too, didn't you? What was it again?"
"Cydney," his manager reminded him.
"Ah yes, Cydney. Very cute name. No wonder we couldn't find you for the last three years. And trust me, we've been looking far and wide for you ever since you left."
"Is he a friend of yours from back home?" Lyn tried to ask Cydney again, but Cydney did not seem to be in a mood for questions.
Han, however, was eager to answer.
"Oh, yes, I am! Cydney and I go way back. Isn't it right, Sīn-Sīn?" His grin widened as he strolled towards Cydney. "Do you know how much I've missed you? How much the old man misses you? And our teacher? Oh, won't you come back to us, Sīn-Sīn?"
Before Han could get too close to Cydney, Lyn stepped between them and put her hand out. "I don't know if what you're saying is true, but unfortunately, she doesn't want to participate in this duel anymore. I apologize, but we'll be leaving now."
"Aw, really? Why not? I've been training so hard for our rematch. And this time,"—Han's expression darkened.— "I'm pretty sure I'll win."
That seemed to grab Cydney's attention immediately.
"Oh yeah?" she said with a dry smile. "Let's go, then."
Lyn glanced at Cydney nervously. She had never seen her sweet, gentle Cinnamon Roll with such fierce expression, and a glare that sent chills down her spine.
"D- Didn't you want to leave, Cinna?"
"I changed my mind," Cydney said curtly. Taking off her wristwatch, she transmuted it into a sword with a swing of her hand. "Let's duel."
Lyn turned to the rest of the team, who stared back in horror. It appeared that everyone else was just as startled as she was. Slowly, they backed away from the two fighters and moved to the side of the studio with Han's manager.
"Very nice." Han took out a coin from his pocket and flipped it into the air. The coin transformed into a long sword before falling back onto Han's hands.
"What the hell?" Irene blurted.
"That level of transmutation..." Millie said. "He's- He's as good as Cyd!"
Lyn was speechless. She had been so confident of Cydney's victory because she was sure nobody else in the world could ever rival Cydney when it came to enhancer magic. Who would've thought that there was yet another master enhancer mage out there and that he would be roaming about as a challenger?
"What do you think of this, Sīn-Sīn?" Han asked, swinging his sword around proudly. The sword had a strange, rod-like shape, with a mild, light blue glow. "It looks just like a lightsaber, right? Isn't this place just fantastic? You get to be a Jedi Master."
"Jedi Master? You?" Cydney snorted. "Han Solo doesn't even have the Force."
Han winked. "Oh, we'll see about that."
"What are they talking about?" Raph whispered.
"I don't—" Lyn's reply was cut short when Han lunged towards Cydney.
The duel began.
Han thrashed his sword around with speed and strength unlike any other. His wild fighting style was a stark contrast to Cydney's defensive approach. For the first time ever, Cydney was struggling with every block and parry.
After a long, painful round of duel, Han managed to break past Cydney's iron defense, landing a strike on her shoulder.
"Argh!" Cydney let out a groan as she rolled away from Han.
"Cinna!" Lyn yelled. She was about to run over to Cydney when Irene held her back.
"It's a duel, dude," the dark-skinned woman snapped. "You run in, and she loses."
Han chortled as he approached Cydney, who was moving backward and keeping her distance.
"I guess you haven't been training at all, Sīn-Sīn? Well, what did I expect, you've been wasting your time with stupid quests and stuff, while I've been training with fighters all over the world. You know, our teacher will be so disappointed with you, Sīn-Sīn."
He stopped and brandished his bright, blue sword. "Just admit it now, I am better than you. I am the elite now."
Cydney was still wincing in pain, but her voice remained cool and biting. "Congratulations on finally learning how to fight, Zǐ-Hán, but that doesn't matter at all if your magic is trash."
Han's face flushed a deep red. "What? My magic is good now!" He twirled his weapon around, changing its shape, color, and size at every swing. "Are you seeing this, huh? You're telling me this is trash?"
"Yes. Trash."
Cydney lifted her free hand. To everyone's surprise, Han's blade was torn away from his hand and flew straight into her hands.
"What the fuck?" Han stammered as Cydney started walking towards him with two weapons in her hands. His mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water; his previously cheerful and confident composure had completely disappeared.
"This is... How could you... Not again... I've been training so hard..." He held out his hand and tried to summon his sword back, but it seemed to be stuck to Cydney like glue.
On the side, the rest of the team exploded into a myriad of questions.
"Cyd can control other people's swords?" Millie asked. "Is this normal?"
"Yeah, don't enhancer mages usually take hours to study their weapons before they can even control them?" Raph added.
Irene was scowling as well. "I've never heard of anybody being able to control someone else's weapon, but with Cydney's skills, I'm not too surprised. Lyn, weren't you with her when she was making a new sword back in our sea-based quest in Portland? How long did that take her?"
"I- I don't remember," Lyn admitted. All she remembered from that night was the many pictures of Cydney that she got to see. Did Cinna even spend any time at all studying and making her sword?
Without his weapon, Han was basically helpless. The moment his manager realized that Han had no hope of regaining control, he jumped in to stop the duel.
"Alright, that's it! End of duel! Finished!" The manager waved his hands in front of the dual-wielding woman. "Master Han is weaponless now, so I think we can call it a day. Congratulations, Cydney, you've won the duel."
The tension Lyn had in her body vanished at that statement. Letting out a cry of relief, she sprinted towards Cydney and wrapped her in a tight embrace.
"Cinna, are you okay?"
"Lyn..." Cydney slumped onto Lyn's body and buried her head into her chest.
"Hey, Lyn, move aside. Let me treat her wounds," Raph said.
Lyn reluctantly let go of Cydney. Before the fighter could collapse in exhaustion, Raph held onto her and began wrapping her shoulders with a bandage.
Creeping up next to Cydney, the manager grabbed Han's sword back from her.
"W- Well, that was a really, uh, interesting duel, I must say. I've never seen anything like it," he said as he moved away. "Anyway, we will transfer you guys the remaining amount tonight, and- and we'll be leaving now. Bye!"
Han was still frozen in the middle of the studio, as if in a state of denial. As his manager began to drag him out of the studio, he glowered at Cydney and went into a frenzy.
"You may have won the duel, but you already lost when you accepted it, you know that right? You already lost, you bitch! You better start saying goodbye to your friends!"
Lyn glared at the departing duo. "What the hell does he mean by that?"
A soft cry jerked her head back to Cydney. Sitting on the floor, the poor woman was pale and frazzled, as though her worst fears in life had materialized before her. Her lips were trembling while her eyes were filled with tears.
Frightened, Lyn pulled Cydney into another hug. "It's alright, it's alright. It's done, it's done."
As Cydney burst into a full-blown sob, Lyn felt her heart crumble into a million pieces. Oh my God, what had she done? Planting a few kisses on her head, Lyn vowed to herself to never, ever, let Cydney go on another duel, ever again.
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A/N: So what do you think of Han Solo? (the Asian one in this story, not the one played by Harrison Ford, lol)
Also, if you're curious, his real name is Zhào Zǐ-Hán, or 赵子寒, in Mandarin!