The following day came, and it was the last day of the tournament. Kai, Jace, Raina, and Lena were the only ones left, so they were the only ones in any of the dugouts.
Meanwhile, Dai and Melany simply joined the others in the audience seating, joining Luke and Aria who were sitting with Judith and Max.
"Hey guys," Dai smiled, sitting between Luke and Max.
"Hey hey," Luke smiled, "Can you believe this thing is almost over?"
"Yeah, I can," Dai shrugged, "I'm curious to see who wins."
"They're all good candidates for the win," Melany said.
"Ehm... I'm reserving my hopes for Kai," Judith decided.
Luke leaned and whispered in Dai's ear, "No surprise there."
Just then, Ms. Danford's voice boomed all across the arena.
"Ladies and gentlemen," she said, "Welcome to the final day of the 2016 New Haven Gifted Tournament! We have four competitors remaining, but one will walk away today with our solid gold medal!"
She held up the medal in question, and the crowd applauded.
In the dugout, the four remaining competitors looked at one another.
"Good luck, you guys," Kai said encouragingly, "No holding back, right?"
"Right," Raina nodded simply.
"The first battle of our semifinals will be between Raina Fray and Jace Verrater," Danford announced.
Raina and Jace exchanged a look, and the blonde girl just sighed and stood up.
"Come on, then," she said as she headed out onto the arena. Jace followed her, but before he stepped onto the arena, he turned to look at Lena. Lena just gave him a small smile, and Jace gave her a little wave before continuing to follow Raina.
Kai had watched the whole thing, and he leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, smirking.
"Jace, huh?" he asked.
Lena tensed up, annoyed, "What is that supposed to mean?"
"I mean, I'm not into guys, but he's a looker I suppose," Kai shrugged, "Fancy him?"
Lena scoffed and crossed her arms, "You wish, тупица."
Kai blinked, before shaking his head knowingly, a sly grin on his face.
Meanwhile, Jace and Raina faced each other in the center of the arena.
"As you well know, you have twenty minutes," Danford announced, "Now... begin!"
Immediately, Raina spun around and flung two fireballs. Panicking, Jace teleported out the way, transporting himself behind her.
Raina was turning around when she felt a kick in her side, forcing her back onto the sand.
Jace, realizing what he did, cupped his hands over his mouth.
Lena and Kai were shocked as well.
"Oh, he's dead," Kai muttered.
"Sorry!" Jace called to Raina as she got up.
The blonde stood up, brushing sand out of her hair.
"It's a fight," Raina replied, "Don't say sorry, lemme see hands."
She held up her fists, which sported bright pink flames.
Jace stepped back, intimidated. A brief moment later, his expression turned to determined, and lightning covered his own fists.
He ran forward, one fist raised back. Raina charged as well, flying towards him at speed.
Raina just thrusted her fist forward, when Jace teleported out of the way.
She lost her balance, and tumbled across the sand again.
She landed on her stomach, and punched the ground in frustration before she got up.
She saw Jace a few feet away, in a battle-ready stance.
Raina grunted in annoyance and started throwing fireball after fireball.
Jace ran to avoid them, teleporting a couple more times.
He then teleported behind Raina once again midair, his foot about to come down on her.
Raina then caught sight of him behind her with only a glimpse, and she grabbed his foot before he could hit her, and threw him over her head, onto the sand.
Jace groaned as Raina kept holding his foot.
"Not bad," she smiled, "But, you can't use that cheap trick twice."
Jace grunted as he struggled to free himself from her. All the teleporting tired him out already, and he was running out if options.
Suddenly, he had an idea, and electrocuted his foot, causing Raina to be electrocuted.
Raina grunted in pain, before finally letting go and stumbling back.
Jace slowly got up, chuckling slightly.
"I've got plenty of tr—" he was cut off as he felt Raina's fist hit his stomach.
He fell back onto the sand, rolling over on his stomach, clutching it.
"Alright...." he wheezed, "You win...."
Raina smirked triumphantly as Danford declared her the winner, and the crowd cheered.
She then went over to Jace's side, and helped him up.
"You good?" she asked, noticing Jace's eyes were glowing yellow, him having activated his Gift's healing ability.
"Yeah, it just... hurts a bit..." Jace managed a weak smile.
Raina guided him back to the dugout, and once inside, she sat him down on a bench.
"Jeez," Kai said, "Where's your chill?"
Raina grunted in annoyance, but it wasn't long before Danford announced the last semifinal.
"Our last battle before the finals is between Lena Prasylova and Kai Fray!" she declared.
Kai and Lena looked at one another.
"You guys best get going," Raina said.
The two then made their way out onto the sand, with Lena giving Jace one last glance.
They found themselves in the center before long, facing one another.
"Begin!" Danford announced.
Kai, like his sister, immediately began throwing fireballs. Lena formed a massive water wave and pushed it forward, the fireballs turning to steam upon hitting it.
As the wave bore down on him, Kai immediately flew upward to avoid it.
He hovered in the air for a moment, only to feel a splash of water hit his face, drenching his hair.
He looked down to see Lena flying up towards him with her water wings, throwing water balls like mad.
Kai evaded each one, flying down towards her.
Lena saw him coming and moved to the side. As he passed her, she grabbed his shirt, spun him around, and threw him downwards.
Kai landed in the sand, a cloud of dust filling the center of the arena.
Lena descended and landed a few feet away, dissipating her wings.
She saw Kai starting to step out from the cloud, fists engulfed in flame.
She couldn't help but smirk, as she formed another massive wave, this one bigger than the last.
She pushed it forward, and Kai didn't realize just how big it was.
He charged forward, but didn't realize it was for naught until too late.
The wave swept him away, tossing and turning him within it, until it finally dissipated, and he plopped back onto the sand, absolutely drenched.
He slowly stood back up, heating himself up to evaporate the water.
Lena smiled at him, and thrusted her hands forward, two ice beams firing towards him.
Kai dodged both and flew forward.
Lena continued to fire, trying to aim at the evasive fire Gifted.
Kai got hit in the shoulder, but used his Gift to melt the ice.
Kai was almost upon Lena, when in a spur of the moment decision, she raised an arm up, an ice wall popping up from underneath Kai.
It hit him in the stomach as it came up, and launched him upwards.
He fumbled through the air before landing on the sand s few feet away.
Lena took deep breaths as she dissipated the wall, and headed over to where Kai lay.
Once the countdown was through, Lena was declared the winner.
"Lena Prasylova wins!" Danford announced, "After a twenty minute break, our final battle between Raina Fray and Lena Prasylova will ensue. Thank you so much for coming out today!"
Lena leaned down next to Kai, "You okay?"
Kai groaned, his eyes glowing a red-orange as he focused on healing himself, "I'll be fine. Congrats."
Lena just smiled at him. She then proceeded to help him up and guide him back the dugout as the crowd dispersed for one last time before her final battle.
🌊
Meanwhile, a yacht was making its way towards a strange island not far from Elfen Island. Michelangelo Topal, Melany's father, was on deck.
He checked a photo on his phone of a map Melany had sent him.
"This is it," he said.
The yacht pulled up to a small dock on the beach. The island itself was very small, but was primarily forest.
Michelangelo stepped off the yacht onto the dock, followed by his captain.
As the two men descended from the dock onto the sand, they noticed a man coming towards them.
He had dark brown hair, raggedy clothes, and was clearly of Asian descent. He glared at these visitors.
"Kamado Takeshi?" Michelangelo asked.
Takeshi just glared.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"We were sent by... Irene," he said, "We have been paid to free you so you may... exact... your revenge?"
Takeshi's eyes widened for a moment, and then he scowled.
"We know this place is protected by a barrier," Michelangelo said, holding his hand out to try and activate his own Gift, though, nothing happened, "With our boat, we can take you away from here."
Takeshi paused.
"Why does Irene want me to exact my revenge all of a sudden?" he asked.
Michelangelo paused.
"Um... she said it's what you deserve, after staying here for all this time," he said nervously, "She said it's time... for you to be... The Bolt... again."
Takeshi looked surprised, and a small smile itched its way onto his face.