Aetheral Space

“Five!”

Atop a tower, the spark of a stun pistol.

“Four!”

In a ruined casino, a bitter defeat.

“Three!”

In a burning desert, a venomous curse.

“Two!”

In the halls of faith, a march of despair.

“One!”

In an emerald forest, a resolute command.

“Begin!”

Atoy Muzazi disappeared.

Eh?

For a moment, Dragan just continued to look at the spot his enemy had just occupied, his mind not keeping up. He had just finished blinking by the time he realized how much danger he was in -- and by then, it was nearly too late. The bite of a burning sword was already sinking into his side.

Gemini World!

Dragan vanished just before he could be fully bisected -- then reappeared a moment later, floating high in the air with recorded feet, the gash in his stomach already forming a new seal of skin. A shiver went down his spine to accompany the pain. If he'd acted a moment later, that could have been fatal. Silver hair whipping in the air around him, Dragan glared down at his adversary.

Atoy Muzazi was standing where Dragan had just been, a mist of blood rising from the Radiant he'd used to cut into the Cogitant’s body. He was looking right back up at Dragan, his good eye resolute, the pupil a pinprick of lethal intention. His red tie finally came fully loose and blew away in the wind, crawling through the air like a snake.

For a good long moment the two of them just stared each other down -- predator and prey assessing what they'd just witnessed, determining which was which.

That speed… Dragan pondered, running a hand over his restored skin. I've been watching his matches -- he hasn't gone that fast before. Why not?

More than that, dead boy. Why couldn't you eat him?

Right, Dragan acknowledged Pan’s point. No matter how fast someone is, if they fulfill the conditions for Gemini Dominion -- moving towards or away from me in a two meter straight line -- I should be able to record them. Even if my body couldn't react in time, I should have been aware that I could use the ability…

His eyes flicked around the arena, and immediately he understood.

Oh… you really are fast, aren't you, Muzazi?

Smoking footprints were burnt into the ground, a trail left by Muzazi's lightning-fast approach -- and that trail was a spiral, winding all the way into where Dragan had been standing. It seemed Muzazi had been watching his opponent's fights too -- and he'd figured out the conditions for Gemini Dominion. By moving in a curve, he could avoid being recorded.

More than that, though… Dragan could see the secret to Muzazi's speed.

Recklessness.

Atoy Muzazi opened his mouth, and a plume of smoke poured forth, drifting into the air around him.

Already, he could feel the backlash from his attack -- a distant pain pursuing him and surely catching up. His skin was reddened, and steam was rising from the pores there too. His artificial eye blinked an overheating warning, but Muzazi ignored it.

Right now, he couldn't afford to let up.

Two years ago, he had used Full Throttle to create countless tiny thrusters all over his body, accelerating all of his movements. At first, that had been something he'd used in bursts, to avoid pushing his body past its limits -- but over time, he'd acclimatized to it enough that he could keep it on constantly. It wasn't even something he thought of as a special move anymore.

But against Dragan Hadrien, that acceleration wouldn't be enough on its own. He had to push it further. So he'd developed the ability further -- more force, more push, more speed… and this time, he'd put the thrusters everywhere he could: including the inside of his body.

Full Throttle: Overdrive.

Just like Full Throttle at first, Muzazi wouldn't be able to keep up Overdrive for long. The risk came from overheating rather than an Aether burn, but if he kept Overdrive active for too long, his body would begin to fail him all the same. At that point, he would lose.

How long could he keep this up, then? Thirty seconds? A minute? He'd never even gotten the chance to test this. It barely qualified as a prototype.

No doubt he was damaging his body heavily right now, but that was fine. He had already betrayed Aclima, and he had already betrayed himself. He would be nothing but a hypocrite if he wasn’t willing to throw his life away too.

Floating in the air high above, Dragan Hadrien narrowed his brilliant blue eyes.

“So you've gotten a little faster,” the Cogitant called down, his voice booming across the arena. “Nice trick. Show me again.”

Muzazi's enemy swept an arm through the air -- and in its wake, a scattering of blue points began to blink into existence. It was as if someone had pulled a second night out of the sky. A sheet of shining stars, each and every one of them aimed at the ground below.

“Gemini Railgun.”

Muzazi moved.

The arena below Dragan exploded as the hail of Railguns slammed into it, great geysers of dust and debris shooting up into the sky. Smog poured out from the ruins of the battlefield, only prevented from washing over the audience by the shielding systems. The devastation had been absolute, a small-scale recreation of what Dragan had achieved back in the Outer Melee.

And yet he knew it wouldn't be enough.

Atoy Muzazi was skilled and fast enough to dodge those attacks, but that was fine. Once he saw that he was a sitting duck on the ground, he'd have no choice but to take flight as Dragan had -- and in the air, Dragan would hold the advantage. Muzazi couldn't make the best use of his speed without a flat plane, and Dragan was used to maneuvering his body through the air.

All he had to do was wait for that spark of silver…

There.

…and avoid the strike that followed.

Dragan flipped his body as Muzazi fired out of the smoke, barely avoiding the swerving stab that had been aimed at his head. His chin sizzled where the Radiant had scraped by, but all the same Dragan had been able to avoid the attack this time. Muzazi's speed-boost was growing more unstable by the second.

His opponent wasn't going to stop trying with just one attack, though. Keeping himself in the air with thrusters, Muzazi twisted his body, igniting another Radiant from his foot as he went to kick right through Dragan's stomach.

It's even slower the third time.

Gemini World.

Dragan recorded his body into sparks of sapphire Aether -- and as one, those tendrils zipped between Muzazi's legs and reconstituted on the other side of him. With a flash of blue, Dragan reappeared upside-down behind his adversary, palms extended out as one -- another attack already brewing between his hands.

“You mistook this marathon for a sprint,” Dragan smirked. “That's why you'll lose.”

Gemini Railgun.

This time, the attack was at nearly point-blank range -- and this time, Atoy Muzazi could not dodge.

The Railgun slammed into him from behind, spiking him back down into the arena and creating another massive explosion of rubble. Dragan landed softly atop the arena’s dome, looking down into the stadium proper with a satisfied smile. He waved the leftover steam from his hands as he watched a legion of green lights make their way up towards him.

With the track record of the two competitors this time, the Emerald Eyes had been ready to set out at a moment's notice. They surrounded Dragan from a distance, covering him from all angles, beaming his image out to every corner of the galaxy. He did his best to ignore them as they buzzed around like so many flies.

Right now, he had better things to watch out for.

He’d managed to keep Muzazi at a distance with that last attack -- but at the same time, he’d now lost sight of the swordsman. Even with his speed being reduced over time, he was still devastatingly fast. Dragan couldn’t allow the bastard to pull off a sneak attack -- he had to reacquire Muzazi’s location as soon as possible.

Where? Where?!

Dragan’s eyes flicked through the smog-covered arena, looking for a humanoid blur or even a smoking footprint. If he knew the general area Muzazi was in, he’d know where to launch his next attack, but it seemed that the Full Moon was intent on --

“Quantum King.”

-- not hiding.

The smog was blown away as a bright white sphere exploded into life, the shape of the Quantum King rejecting everything around it. Dragan raised a hand to shield his eyes from the blinding light, waves of air pressure crashing over him as he braced his body. Atoy Muzazi had certainly made quite the spectacle of himself.

It was obvious what Muzazi was doing. He’d seen the power of Dragan’s ranged attacks from that initial volley and the blow that had landed -- and he thought he’d come up with a countermeasure.

Atoy Muzazi’s replication of Quantum King was somewhat limited -- it could only push, it kept him stationary, and it was indiscriminate -- but that also meant it could push Gemini Railgun away. Muzazi would be right at the core of the rejection field, and the repulsive thrusters would divert the course of any projectiles away from him. Did he think that Dragan would see that his normal attacks were useless, and be forced to switch strategies?

If so, he was mistaken.

“I bet you think I’ve been using my strongest attacks,” Dragan grinned, pulling his hand back -- and charging up a truly atrocious Railgun. “Sorry, though. I can hit much harder and much faster -- this’ll get you before it even has time to get pushed.”

To achieve the correct projectile speed, he’d need to charge this shot for five more seconds… four… three… two… one…

Danger.

Dragan went to whirl around, but he didn’t have the time. Before he could react, a blade of white light burst out of his stomach, pushed right through his back. Blood and pain mingled into a scream that tore through Dragan’s throat, his eyeballs shuddering in their sockets as he tried to register the situation.

Down in the arena, Quantum King died -- and the Emerald Eye that had served as its core dropped to the ground, thoroughly spent. Of course. Of course. It had been a decoy -- Muzazi could activate Quantum King on things other than himself. Damnit. Damnit!

While Dragan had been distracted, Muzazi had snuck around the long way -- flying under the arena itself -- and stabbed him in the back.

Muzazi growled as he went to raise the blade up, to slice through Dragan’s chest and destroy his heart. A flare of panic burnt through Dragan’s brain -- he could regenerate, sure, but if he was killed he was as dead as anyone else. He was dying. He was losing.

No.

“Muzaziii!” Dragan screamed in pain and fury, blood spraying from his mouth as he glared wild-eyed over his shoulder.

Focusing all his Aether into his elbow, he brought it down -- and blocked the Radiant from its passage further up his body. The two of them struggled against each other, sounding more like beasts than people, growling and snarling and roaring and snapping, their feet sliding over the wet roof beneath them. Rain battered against them from above -- with him lifting the infusion from the rest of his body, it was probably the only thing keeping the Radiant from setting Dragan aflame.

Pan! Dragan called inward, desperate. Let’s do it!

Okie dokie!

With all the strength and will he could muster, Dragan twisted his body -- letting the Radiant slice horizontally through his flesh -- and thrust his fist forwards. The blow seemed to land in slow motion. Sparks of blue Aether danced across the surface of his skin… and, accompanying them, a current of orange. A wild, feral grin spread across Dragan’s lips.

Multi-infusion, he thought. Dodge this!

As the fist hurtled towards him, coursing with blue and orange Aether, Muzazi knew in his bones that this was a blow he could not afford to take unprotected. At this distance, dodging was not an option. The only option was to block.

This will hurt… he knew. But it won’t kill.

Muzazi raised his guard, pouring pinpoint Aether into his forearms -- and an instant later, the godblow struck. Immediately, he was sent flying as if a cannon had hit him, zooming off the arena and into the city-abyss below. For a good ten seconds, even his strongest thrusters couldn’t halt Muzazi’s flight -- but gradually he slowed, and gradually he stopped.

One broken arm fell limp at his side as he ignited a Radiant from the other, staring up at the distant Dragan Hadrien.

His attacker hadn’t exactly made it out unscathed either. The arm Dragan had punched Muzazi with was gone -- obliterated up to the elbow by the recoil of the attack, gristle twitching from the stump. Dragan was flying again, his floating so smooth that it looked like he was standing atop the air itself, and he was glaring right back down at Muzazi. His eyes bloodshot, his breath heaving. A string of rabid saliva dripped from his lips.

As Muzazi watched, he saw new fingers begin to push their way free from the stump, the missing arm slowly returning to existence. Damnit. It was going to be like nothing had even happened.

No… Muzazi thought, brandishing his blade. This is fine.

He wasn’t about to give his enemy a chance to rest, anyway.

Full Throttle: Overdrive!

Holographic screens surrounded Ruth and Niain on all sides, showing various angles of the battle happening outside.

More than once she’d already felt the arena shudder from the force of the attacks. Ruth’s eyes flicked from screen to screen, from scene to scene, from blow to blow. She’d known this would be a fight to remember… but she hadn’t expected to see this kind of power on display already.

“It’s fun, isn’t it?” Niain smiled kindly. “Watching such pointless battles.”

Her gaze returned to him, and returned to a glare.

“Don’t worry,” he said, seeing her sour expression. “There’s no need to give me your answer right away. We can stay here and watch for a while…”

He spread his arms wide, encompassing the room, as if the floating screens and the visages of battle were no more than his servants.

“...as the future unfurls its wings.”