FINAL ROUNDS.

1777, JULY 20th, WEDNESDAY 8:00pm.

Noche faced June, who was narrowing her one eye at Noche's cloak.

"You should throw the match," the blonde said.

"No."

"You're not strong enough to face Raptorman. I'm just saving you the trouble. Throw the match."

"This is the semi-finals, I think I got a chance."

"Alright. You just dialed one eight hundred collect an ass whooping."

"Begin!" Raptorman shouted.

June pulled out a compound bow made out of drivemetal and Noche dashed forward as three arrows were shot her way. The blonde dodged the arrows, but one managed to nick her; Noche's eyes widened when it drew golden blood.

"Alright, strong enough to hurt me. That's a first," she grinned.

June kept her distance as she kept firing arrows. This time her arrows were infused with glowing light. When they fired, they moved at supersonic speed – however, Noche's reflexes were faster. She summoned her Omni-oar and sliced the red arrow, but it exploded into a ball of flames the moment it was cut.

Noche took minimal damage, but the surprise lasted long enough for two arrows to thunk into her chest. They only penetrated an inch or two, but those arrows exploded a split-second afterwards. The blonde stumbled a few feet back as a yellow arrow came flying towards her. It became a blast of electricity the moment it slammed into Noche's shoulder.

"She's using telekinesis to speed up her arrows, while at the same time using Create as slow as possible to attach additional effects to her arrow tips. Not bad. Not bad at all."

The smoke from the explosions dissipated and Noche stood there, her clothing scuffed up, but otherwise fine. A few scratches and wounds here and there weren't enough to stop her.

"Earlier you asked me to surrender. Now it's my turn," June said. "I've trained years for this and I was already a natural-born prodigy. You have no idea how strong I've become."

Noche started laughing. "Bitch please, shut yo ugly ass up. Out here looking like you ate a peanut butter and meth sandwich."

June grit her teeth and scowled. She fired three more arrows and Noche didn't bother to dodge. The blonde walked forward and took the arrows to the chest. They exploded into bursts of acid, but her energy barrier kept them from dissolving her cloak.

"I'm guessing with that eyepatch you have poor depth perception. That's why you attach drive energy to your arrows instead of using create at a range. A clever little trick."

A barrage of arrows was sent flying Noche's way and she took them all. Each arrow slammed into her torso, her arms, and legs, yet none pierced enough to truly injure her. Explosions of fire, lightning, and acid surrounded the space around her, but she did not yield.

The blonde was starting to look like a pin cushion with the number of arrows sticking out of her. Still, she walked undaunted towards June, with a smile on her face beneath that hood. Prismatic energy surrounded June and it became a hundred arrows that were all launched Noche's way. She responded by raising her arms to cover her face but otherwise tanked every impact.

"I admit, you're doing more damage to me than I thought you would," Noche said. "But it's still nowhere near enough."

She raised her left arm and a compressed orb of wind began to form.

"Dead light cannon. Wind variant."

Noche aimed straight down at her feet and fired. A gigantic tornado erupted from that spot and its height reached the clouds. All the arrows June had fired her way were sucked into the vortex. Most of the audience had to hold onto their seats to resist being pulled away. June herself fired solid steel arrows into the ground and used create to attach chains to them.

With a flick of her wrist, Noche caused the tornado to disperse. The blonde was now a few feet away from June and all the arrows that were stuck in her had been ripped out. Streams of glowing gold blood gathered on her lighthouse cloak. The sight caused her opponent's single eye to widen.

"Don't expect me to bleed out before I'm done with you," Noche said.

She vanished in a blur of movement and in the next instant her fist was planted deep into June's gut. Fortunately, the archer had enough augment to prevent Noche from blowing a hole in her torso. Unfortunately, this sent June rocketing out the edge of the arena and into the nearby stadium walls. Her limp body fell off the wall and landed on the ground with a thud.

"Hope I didn't kill her," Noche muttered. "Pissing off Dharma might complicate my plans."

"Wasn't that incredible folks! Looks like the winner is Ms. Grim!"

Noche turned away and walked back to the waiting room as Raptorman continued his drivel. Loose sand crunched under her feet as she entered the hallway. The blonde paused for a moment to stare down at it.

"I hate this fucking desert. I swear, if I stay here any longer I'm gonna go insane."

She stumbled once she was back in the hallway.

"Woah – looks like I lost more blood than I expected. How did I not notice... The pain. Right. Background noise to me now. Shit. Maybe ripping out dozens of arrows wasn't a good idea," she paused. "Should I resurrect in a new body? No, too many eyes watching... I couldn't get away with it. Ehh, I'm sure it'll be fine. No one here can hold a candle to me anyways."

Noche made it to the waiting room and sat down. It was only a few minutes before the next announcement.

"The winner is Vida S. Ember!"

"Ahh shit. Forgot she was here," Noche paused. "Wait. Don't tell me."

"Get ready folks, it's time for the final battle! Ms. Grim vs. Vida!"

"Fuuuuck."

A moment later, Noche in her lighthouse cloak stood across from her blind opponent.

"Standing at five foot, ten inches, and weighing one hundred and fifty pounds, Ms. Grim!" Raptorman shouted. "Her opponent, standing an inch taller and weighing ten pounds more, Vida! Are you all ready to see a climatic battle! Get ready, it's gonna be so fast you may not be able to catch it all – fortunately, slow motion recordings will be available on Yew-Tube later tonight."

The roars of the crowd were so loud that it shook the stadium.

"Of course it would be Vida, why am I not surprised? Of all the fucking people of course it would be fucking Vida. Shit, fuck, gods damn it," Noche muttered.

They both walked towards each other at a causal pace.

"Only the weakest will fail. It's the weak who is consumed by that desert. I have to be strong. I have to win!"

They stopped once they were a few feet opposite each other.

"Hey acid eye," Vida said.

"Sup gasoline eyes."

"Whoever wins this round will get to challenge me, Raptorman, for rulership of MoveCity! Contestants! Are you ready to baaaaattle!"

Vida grinned and nodded; Noche held a thumbs up.

"Then ready, set, fight!"

The stadium exploded the moment those words were said. Faster than sound, Noche had thrown a fist and Vida had caught it. The two were so fast that only a handful of people could observe the exchange. They started trading blows at a pace that was impossible for the naked eye of a normal person to perceive.

Without a doubt, both fighters were near general level. Explosions of lightning and fire filled the arena as the two started using create. The two were tearing each other to shreds – red and gold blood splattered all over the arena. Both were beasts trying to consume each other and tear the other asunder.

It was as if an avatar of fire and a demi-god of storms had clashed. Vida was euphoric, laughing like a mad woman the whole time while Noche was full of silent wrath. The blonde charged up a dead light cannon.

"Careful Nachos, there are other people here!" Vida shouted.

"What do I care! They came here to watch someone challenge Raptorman. They should know the power needed to do that – and if they don't, they have no one to blame but themselves."

"Spicy aren'tcha!"

"I'm going to put all my power into this attack!"

"Well, I hope it kills me!"

"Me too."

A blue compass rotated around Noche's wrist, then a white ship wheel around her bicep, and finally a yellow anchor appeared behind her left shoulder. Raptorman's face went slack for a moment before he reacted. A telekinetic barrier surrounded the arena a moment later.

"Looks like the lizard sensed this could be a real threat – good."

Noche fired at Vida, who responded by creating a black hole. The storm orb exploded as it was an inch away from the hole in reality – the explosion filled every inch of the telekinetic barrier. By the time the chaos had died down the arena and floor had been disintegrated.

Most of the damage was sucked in by the black hole, but even the trace remains of the explosion had reduced everything inside to dust. Only Vida and Noche remained and both were heavily injured. However, while the blind girl was laying on the floor, the blonde was floating in the air.

The stadium was silent. Raptorman looked over the scene and spoke in hushed tones to Melody and Milkman. A moment later they spoke.

"It seems that even though the arena is destroyed, based on where both combatants are, that is outside the arena. However, seeing as how Vida is touching the ground and Ms. Grim is floating in the air, it is safe to say, Ms. Grim is the winner!"

Noche landed on the ground as Vida stood up. The blind girl started laughing as burnt patches of skin fell off to reveal raw muscle.

"Damn Nachos, you really did a number on me!" She cackled. "It's been a while since it hurt this good! This pain, the agony in my flesh and bones, it's delicious! We have got to fight to the death after this."

The blonde responded with a raised middle finger, but she couldn't suppress the grin growing underneath her hood.

"Alright Ms. Grim! After a few days of rest, we'll have our fight to determine the ruler of—"

Raptorman paused the moment the last vestiges of Noche's damaged cloak fell off. The blonde looked up at him and grinned as glowing gold blood covered half her body. In the silence there was murmuring in the crowd about the luminous yellow liquid and if the girl had some sort of rare genetic mutation to cause it.

"No need to wait!" Noche amplified her voice with create. "I challenge you right now!"

"You!"

Raptorman's scowling face vanished in a blink from all the TVs. In the next instant, he was standing before the blonde. Most of the stadium had gone silent – people murmuring about having never seen the lizard superhero look angry before.

"Yes. Me. I won the tournament. I get to challenge you for MoveCity."

"This tournament is for the citizens of this fine city," Raptorman growled through clenched teeth. "Not for a soldier of Cross. Not for the slavers who ripped us from our homes."

Noche's grin widened. "I don't remember reading that in the application. Also, your mic's still on."

Raptorman's eyes glanced down to the mic pinned to his collar.

"This tournament has always been for the people who live here. Cross is already our warden, this is our way of trying to live as free as possible while you keep us jailed here."

"Quit trying to manipulate things into your agenda. This tournament is more than your personal vendetta. Any create user can sign up. You're just being biased."

"I. Don't. Care. I will not let Cross tarnish something as special as this time-honored tradition," he said. "If you want to challenge me, then with everyone in MoveCity as witness, no with the world as your witness, say you are resigning from Cross. If you quit, then I'll consider you one of us."

Noche glared in silence at Raptorman as the cameras zoomed in on her. A moment later, Melody's voiced filled the TVs.

"Boss! I recognize her! Noche's the solder that went crazy and caused the genocide in the PLC village. She's the one that massacred a bunch of Cross soldiers in a courtroom a few years ago."

It was as if everyone found themselves at the bottom of the ocean – a place of cold and dark. Hair stood on end as goosebumps formed in the flesh. It was as if the crowd had become a gathering of minnows, and a shark had just found them. Noche's killing intent flooded the area and its oppressive aura alongside Melody's words silenced all commotion.

Raptorman was staggered for a split second, long enough for Noche to land a punch on his face. He went flying over the arena and towards the desert – the blonde flew after him. When they were a good distance away from the city, the lizard king vanished.

"What the French fried fuck?" Noche said.

Raptorman planted a fist into her side and sent the blonde flying to the ground. An explosion of sand softened her impact, but not by much. Before gravity could pull the grains down, he was standing over her.

"You have until tonight to get out of my city."

Noche grabbed his leg and squeezed – his eyes widened at the force.

"Or you'll what?" She said. "I'm not going to stop. I'm never going to stop. There are things bigger than you and I'm the only one who can prevent them."

The blonde tried to kick him, but he broke free of her grip and managed to zip a few feet away. Noche was quick to stand back up, but she paused to stare at her legs. Doing the splits wasn't as easy as it used to be. It seemed she had lost some of her flexibility. Noche hadn't been a very flexible person lately.

"You're a fast mother fucker," she spat.

"I trained in the gravity mountains while I was trying to find new purpose for my life," he said. "You know – after Cross ripped everything away from me."

He vanished, and Noche couldn't follow him even with her enhanced eyes. However, training blindfolded had sharpened her sixth sense. She dodged but was too slow to avoid it entirely. His fist clipped the side of her head, and that was enough to send her tumbling.

"You aren't going to stop me, Raptorman. I am going to beat you into submission, then I'm going to save the world," Noche said. "If I have to wade through a river of blood to prevent Edward from destroying everything, so help me, I will."

Raptorman appeared before Noche so fast that it was as if he teleported. Three fists landed on her torso before she could react, followed by a kick to the head. The blonde was sent tumbling a mile across the sands. He was waiting for her at the end of her trajectory – he slammed both fists down into her collarbone; it cracked.

"The moment I saw what you did to those protesters in the throne room. When you ripped off both arms on your opponent. Learning you're responsible not for one, but two massacres... I knew you were rotten to the core," he said. "Fortunately, superheroes are supposed to fight villains like yourself."

Noche threw a punch at him, but he dodged with such blinding speed that it threw her off guard. Another ten punches cracked all her ribs and sent her flying back – Raptorman appeared behind her and landed an uppercut that sent her into orbit.

Before she could pierce the clouds, he was there, and a drop kick sent her falling like a meteor. The crash caused an explosion in the desert that could be seen for miles and miles. Noche struggled to get up as Raptorman landed a few feet away from her.

"I knew it the moment I saw your eyes," he said. "Your evil, hate filled eyes... That'd you be a cancer for this city."

Raptorman had covered the gap faster than she could blink – his fist crashed into her face and the shockwave sent sand flying away for miles. Before she was sent flying, he had grabbed her wrist and kept her in place.

"When you wake up, get out of my city," he said. "Cause next time, I won't be merciful."

Everything faded to black; Noche woke up in Limbo.

"Son of a bitch – he knocked me out!" She stood up and kicked the ground. "That mother fucking bastard! He's fast! Too fast! How am I going to deal with that?"

She sat back down and clenched both her fists.

"Maybe I should've used Limbo. He's fast, but even he isn't instantaneous. Unlike my teleportation," the blonde let out a sigh. "He beat me this time, but now I know how he fights. I will return the favor... Slowly. I can't wait to make this city mine."