The Great

Aurora Maple: I didn’t know anything about Yudra….No matter where I looked, who I asked, or what I read it seemed like any information about him was either unconfirmed or just simply untrue. All the information I had about him were from rumors off of the street or simple word of mouth. Apparently he was the son or nephew of a very important military general and had been trained from birth in hand-to-hand combat. If the rumors were true, Yudra’s martial arts skills and overall knowledge of hand-to-hand combat were on a different level from anybody else in this world. It was hard to believe that…..He was just a kid like us. He didn’t look like anything special nor did he really give off an intimidating vibe like Geon or Savian. But every time I looked at him I felt an immense uneasiness come over me. Everything I had ever been taught to look for in an opponent, every feeling that had ever overcome me when facing off against an opponent, and every instinct for combat I had developed over the years seemed to be nonexistent or inapplicable to Yudra. But at the same time, he seemed so….beatable. As he fell face first into the water all my senses told me to strike.

So I did.

“Savian, Geon, go low!” They immediately dashed towards Yudra, attacking him from below while I leapt into the air, both arms laced with electric blue spears of lightning. Geon threw a kick right at Yudra’s jaw while Savian chucked a red-lightning bolt right at Yudra’s face. I hurled both of my electric spears with all my might and flipped backwards. Savain carried me out of the blast radius while Geon blasted into the sky. Yudra smiled right before the point of impact as he licked his lips and whispered softly into the water.

“Hey, Oden. One last push please.” Suddenly, Yudra was blasted right out of the explosion of death as his body was seemingly pulled to safety. Savian and my own lightning bolt combined together to form Lunar Lightning as a gigantic explosion of extreme violet light ensued around the stadium. I covered my eyes to avoid being blinded by the light as I flipped over and landed on a large marble platform. I regained my senses and opened my eyes only to find Yudra’s terrifying grin loom over my face.

“Boo!” I launched an electric net right at his face and followed up with a gigantic explosion of lightning which launched my body back. I flipped back around only to see Yudra still right with me. I grit my teeth and laced my fists with lightning. I slid to a stop and threw a hard right cross to his face. Yudra grinned even wider and finally spoke, “Yes, let's dance.” I focused on transferring all my power as I twisted my hips and pivoted my back foot while timing the explosion of my lightning all perfectly. Then the next few milli-seconds were non-processable. I felt a swift strike on my chin, then body, and finally a hard strike to the chest which dropped me to the floor and stole all of my oxygen. I tried to sweep Yudra’s leg but he swiftly jumped over it and kicked down on my face at the same time. I felt his kick hit my face with impossibly immense power. I felt my head hit the marble floor and the world went black for a second. I came to my senses and blasted myself off of the ground, far above Yudra. I chucked a giant spear of lightning at him but he jumped forward and dodged it before I could even react. He leapt up and grabbed my foot and slammed to the ground. I popped right back up to the ground and threw a high-kick right at his face.

He dropped to the ground in an instant to go for a leg sweep but I reacted quickly and leapt over his leg–bringing up my leg for one big axe-kick to his head. Yudra promptly pushed off of both hands and used both of his feet to kick me in the stomach. His strike connected and I keeled over with pain. He stood up and threw a left-jab to my stomach and another impossibly fast jab at my face. His fist connected with my chin and I felt the world go dark again but I regained my senses and–

He kicked into another gear as he let his hands fly.

Chin, hook, double–jab, upper-cut, hook, uppercut, double hook, body, face, straight right to the chin, right hook, left hook, jab to the body, face, straight right to the body… He aimed for a hook to the body as I weakly lowered my hands to protect my liver. He smiled and took advantage of the opening as he re-directed his hook to my chin. Straight right, another hook, uppercut, body, face, chin, left-right, left-right…His footwork, his head movement, the synchronization of his feet and hands, the twist of his hips, the slight nuances of every single movement that went into his strikes were absolutely perfect. His technique wasn’t just extraordinary, it was actually flawless….. He leapt up into the air and a clean roundhouse kick landed to my chin as I dropped to the ground. Geon came flying in at a sonic-speeds with a well-timed shoulder ram but Yudra did the unthinkable.He flipped over and dodged him. Savain came running across the water as he tried to run through Yudra. Yudra smiled and dropped down to the floor in an instant, sticking out his leg. Savian couldn’t stop as he tripped over Yudra’s leg and slammed his head onto the pavement. He skidded to a stop and tried his best to get up. Geon came flying in with a blast as Yudra simply dove straight through Geon’s legs and hit him with a strong spinning-hook kick to the chin. Geon pulled his head back and narrowly dodged the strike as he closed the distance impossibly fast. He threw a powerful jab–aided by the power of the winds–straight at Yudra’s head. Yudra slipped Geon’s jab which created a crater behind him. Yudra threw a left hook so fast that it created a mini-sonic boom straight at Geon’s jaw. Geon ducked it and went for a double-leg takedown on Yudra. Geon has the size and weight advantage–even if he’s too tired to use his abilities correctly he’s still Geon…He’s good at hand-to-hand combat. Yudra launched a powerful knee at Geon’s face but Geon simply shoved the strike aside with his hands. Yudra shifted his feet back and leaned forward on Geon while grabbing his neck–nullifying his takedown. A perfect takedown defense. Geon shoved Yudra’s hands aside and tried to encase him in marble. Yudra was far too fast as he danced around all of the giant, grasping marble hands grabbing at him as he found his way to Geon. Geon’s face filled with frustration as he threw a back kick at the incoming Yudra. Yudra spun around the strike and appeared behind Geon, launching another one of his deadly left hooks. Geon ducked it again but Yudra was ready for that.

He hit Geon with an uppercut which promptly landed with a giant thud. Geon staggered back and covered up. He was dazed, he definitely didn't have the strength or ability to properly use his abilities now. Geon…..Geon himself was dazed….I’d never seen it, even at this tournament he’d been fine individually. Geon was Geon, he couldn’t lose. I’d never seen him hurt, or hit, or on the defensive…. But he was now. My body couldn’t move and I realized why. Firstly, my liquor screen had shattered—I was out. Secondly, my body was quite literally frozen–I think I was temporarily paralyzed. I looked at Savain who had regained his footing and consciousness. Almost all his energy had been sapped and he could barely move. Blood ran down his face and he looked like he had been barbecued. He had Oden in his grasp as he dragged him onto the pavement and promptly hit him with a strong right hand, which shattered his liquor screen. Savian smiled. He weakly got up and ran over to Geon. Yudra ducked under Savain’s attack from behind as he simply spun around and hit him with a backfist. It connected with Savain’s chin as he hit Savian with an axe-kick that sent him to the floor. He smiled, “Sorry, I can’t catch you if I allow you to run.” Geon leapt to attack Yudra, but Yudra picked Savian up and threw him at Geon. Geon caught him and threw Savain right back at Yudra. Savain sprang into a hyper-speed combination of strikes. Yudra lowered his hands and grinned, “watch this.” He weaved, ducked, and dodged all of Savian’s speed-punches with impossible precision. I couldn’t even see Savian’s attacks but Yudra’s head-movement triumphed over his strikes. How? Yudra wasn’t as fast as Savian–Savain literally moved at superhuman speed. He was the fastest man in the world….His reaction speed was quite literally next to none….So how did this boy, who hadn’t shown any extraordinary ability at all, dodged a series of inhumanly fast strikes. Yudra’ countered Savian’s last strike with an impossibly fast jab that spattered Savian’s blood on the ground. Geon pushed Savain away to safety as he tried to hit Yudra. Savain slid under Geon's legs, as he tried to hit Yudra from under, but everything was hopeless. Yudra slipped, dodged and weaved under all of their attacks as he re-directed Geon’s strike and bumped him off his balance. Geon caught himself and threw a backfist into a leg-sweep. Yudra flipped backwards to dodge the backfist and the leg sweep and headbutted Savain. He promptly hit Savain with a bone-crushing strike to the solar plexus and palm-struck him in the face. Savain was thrown back and as his body hit the pavement, his liquor screen shattered. His body went limp as blood seeped out of his skull. Geon grit his teeth as he kicked it up a notch. He let his hands fly as Yudra dodged, slipped, or blocked his attacks. Geon threw a left hook which he turned into a feint. He threw one to the body which Yudra blocked and promptly countered with a hook to the face. Geon leaned back and Yudra threw a hard straight right at Geon. Geon blocked the punch with his front shoulder and threw a jab–imbued with all his strength–right at Yudra’s face. Yudra’s eyes went as wide as saucers as he barely dodged the jab. The force of the jab still hit Yudra straight in the face as he was blasted back at impossibly high speeds. He slammed into the marble wall and fell onto the ground with a giant gash of blood on his face. Geon could barely stand as Yudra got up and wiped the blood off his face. He smiled as if it was his wedding day and spoke with a sore voice. “It’s been a while since I’ve gotten hit with a jab–all my siblings can’t even get close anymore.” He spoke with a soft tone and genuine gratefulness as Geon simply let out a defeated laugh. He gave Yudra a thumbs up and spoke one last time, “I know–I’m pretty good” Geon lost all consciousness as he dropped to the floor–all of his energy exhausted.

Yudra turned to me, the only surviving member and gave me one of his signature grins. He sat back on one of the many rubble pieces scattered like small pebbles all through the arena. He let out a small laugh and spoke with modest confidence. “They all fall eventually, with the power of just these two hands…..I’ve taken down your friends with all their blessings and talents,” he grinned even wider. “Bow before me, people of Taegan, lower your gaze.”