((Earlier...))
"IT IS NOW TIME FOR THE SECOND ROUND!" the announcer gleefully announced, and the crowd cheered on. It was deafening.
"AVINASH... VERSUS... AKIIIIRUUHHHHHHHHH!!"
Once again, Akira's eye twitches whenever he hears his name called out. He is so used to being called his name whenever he is required for some kind of duty. But this? Was entirely different. This was no duty... It was an option. He could easily just stand up and walk back home.
But he wanted to test his powers first. And he certainly did not want to disappoint Misao. She could probably understand his reasons for leaving... but...
"AVINASH!! Please report to the Battle Arena immediately!" calls the announcer, his voice a little disheartened. Akira's last battler never showed up. Hopefully this time it would be different.
"And... AKIRA!" the announcer continues. "AKIRA! Report to the Battle Arena!"
Stretching his restless limbs, Akira stands from his seat and makes his way to the arena floor, where not so much as a spot of blood remains. The clean-up crew had done their job once again.
Walking onto the stadium floor, he became a little discouraged when he noticed how many people weren't paying attention to him.
(That's reasonable, I suppose,) he thinks. (The last time I was called out, I won by a fluke... I wonder what happened to that guy, Binar...)
As they waited for Avinash, the announcer notices the fighter whom had won his judged victory. He approaches Akira, adjusting his tie, a big smile on his face.
"And here we are, people, one of two fighters for Round 2 of the tournament! Meet the lucky individual to pass Round 1 without breaking a sweat! HEEEERE'S...!
~AKIRA!"
Akira's eye twitches. That's not good.
"Akira! Come here!" a raspy voice calls from within the depths of a wooden building.
Standing alone outside, a small boy with charcoal hair straightens up immediately upon hearing his name, and races back indoors.
'I thought my chores were finished,' he thought to himself.
In the main room of a large dojo, a man garbed in white clothing is seen standing before a wooden podium.
The small boy reaches his Sensei, trying to keep calm and pretend he wasn't breathing too hard.
"Akira," the man says again, but not so gruffly. "I see you have cleaned the dojo well."
"Y...Yes, Sensei," the young Akira responds, standing as still as a statue. He gulps in fear. Could he have overlooked something?
"But," the Sensei continues, "you missed cleaning most of this area. It was wiped, but not appropriately."
"Ah..." Akira doesn't know how to respond.
The man turns around, maintaining his rigid composure. "Do not be in such a hurry next time." He hands the young Akira a bucket full of soapy water, and a scrubbing brush. But just as he's about to leave, the Sensei notices a trail Akira had brought in from being outside.
It is a trail of muddy footsteps.
The Sensei's own eye twitches. "Wha..."
Akira swiftly turns around and notices the new mess he had created, and begins to run off with the bucket and scrubber to get to work.
The Sensei is not very pleased.
"Why...!!
~AKIRA!" the announcer screams, and it instantly pulls the attention of the onlookers. A large majority respond by cheering. Some others do not cheer at all, or simply clap half-heartedly.
Misao waves, smiling brightly.
"Now all we have to wait for is Akira's newest opponent, AVINASH!"
* * *
((Present...))
(Darkness?) Akira thinks as he barely manages to escape the blast's aftermath. (Could this guy be a demon??)
Regaining his senses, Akira tumbles across the stage and leaps to his feet, his sword at hand. It is beginning to glow a faint white color...
"Ha, come now, Akira! Do you really think your puny sword is a match for my power?" Avinash taunts, forming another ball of dark energy. "Let's see how your blade fairs against THIS!"
Not wasting a moment, Avinash tosses the dark energy towards Akira. Akira holds his ground.
"AKIRA!" Misao screams from the crowd. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING! GET OUT OF THE WAY!!"
(I'm sorry, Misao,) Akira guiltily replies in his heart, as he holds his sword before him.
And then the energy and sword connect.
Jagged streams of energy begin to form in the shape of lightning bolts, as neither the sword nor the dark energy give in to one another's power. A powerful gust of wind blows now, as debris from the stage flies into a dust-like storm towards the crowd, temporarily blinding them. There are many pale faces, and many begin to wonder if Akira will be able to make it out alive.
Akira, grunting and groaning, holds back the ball with all his might. His feet press into the arena's white tiles, cracking them, and his sword begins to tremble... but so does the ball. The lightning bolts being formed by the contact begin striking at random places on the field. A stray bolt actually strikes within the crowd. Luckily, no one is injured.
Avinash, his eyes sparkling in delight, simply dodges any of the predictable bolts and allows them to make contact with the onlookers.
"Yes, yes... Continue to fight back, Akira!" he yells in pleasure. "It only fuels my hungry spirit!" He cackles aloud.
But then, to the surprise of everyone, Akira swings his sword right through the center of the dark ball, and an explosion ensues.
"What is this?" Avinash asks to himself, quite surprised. "I did not expect him to pull through..."
As the smoke cleared, the crowd gasped.
There, where Akira had been standing, was a large crater. But there was no sign of Akira anywhere. Not even his sword remained.
Avinash could hear people whispering in the background. One of them, a redhead, was beginning to cry out in anguish.
"Heh... Pity. I suppose I was wrong about him. What a waste of energy--"
Suddenly, the crowd gasps again, and fingers begin pointing towards the sky. Quickly noticing this detail, Avinash, too, turns his eyes towards the skies.
And to his horror, he sees Akira, merely a few meters above him, with his sword sending pulsing waves of Light energy towards him...
