34 Chapter 17: S.E.T. Round 5: Preliminarie Finals (1/2)

Working up to the final round of the preliminaries everyone got stoked. Their feelings clashed knowing only one of their group could advance.

Gina burning with pride couldn't stand the sight of Geo. Geo, on the other hand, couldn't keep his eyes off of her.

Her sheer attitude and proportions made his mouth water, knowing he could fondle her all over during the match. Getting more excited than usual,

Geo couldn't wait any longer...

The signal screamed making them launch towards one another. Wanting to finish this before a certain someone arrived Gina rushed towards Geo. Suddenly stopping only to rupture a shockwave from the released energy. Unable to block Geo gets hurled towards the edge of the stage.

”Hmm... interesting... this might be entertaining. Show me more please!”

Geo said in excitement launching himself back to the center of the stage. Gina stood her ground and blocked Geo's strike with pride when someone seemingly important entered the arena.

Unaware of who it was, the match continued.

Gina trying to counter Geo moved in the opposite direction. Allowing her to use the created force against her opponent. Slamming the ground Geo got hurled into the air. Unable to dodge in the air Gina landed another hit-making Geo slam into the ground.

Refusing to give up, jumping back on his feet.

Geo slapped his face. Unable to conceal his wide grin of excitement.

”This is fun, no time for fooling around anymore!”

Geo rushed towards her closing the distance in the blink of an eye. As quickly as he came,

Geo buried his fist inside Gina's chest launching her off stage. Shocked by this difference in power Gina hurled through the air when finally the abrupt end of the edge of the wall stopped her dead in her tracks.

”Such a shame...”

A voice echoed throughout the arena.

”And here I was...

Thinking you could bring pride to our name...

And here I was thinking you would finally stop dragging our pride through the mud.

Het down there this instant,

come home and do what you're told or else we'll disown you unpure!!”

Shocked by the realization, tears began falling.

A feeling of guilt and shame enveloped her entire being. ”Fear...? No... this can't be...

And here I thought I had a chance to take my place in the family... but this shows me I was wrong...”

With a heavy heart, Gina jumped towards the stage,

Determined to prove her worth she once again clashed fists with Geo.

With only one thing on her mind; Acceptance.

She an orphan adopted into the clan of Ironforge...

Had finally found a way to prove her worth,

But the man in grey and gold couldn't care less...

”What am I to you, father? Am I as a woman not allowed to show my worth in this world?

Are only men allowed to show off their skills in fights like these? I don't accept that! We woman should be allowed to strive for what we long for!!

Be it life, dreams... or even the thrill of battle!!”

Gina raised her fist while finishing her argument.

Women all around her began making an uproar cheering for her with everything they had.

Gina knew she wasn't alone... not anymore...

Knowing she had a fair chance of winning,

She calmed down her mind while taunting Geo to come closer.

Unable to resist the urge he launched himself towards her.

”You are truly interesting Gina.

Know that I Geo, am giving it my all...

so there is no shame in this battle of ideas.

Still... I will do any and everything I can to win this.”

Am epic exchange of fists clashed against one another canceling out and countering one blow after the other. When finally Gina froze and collapsed onto the ground.

Furiously the old man in grey and gold approached the stage.

”YOU!! GINA IRONFORGE ARE DISOWNED FROM THIS DAY FORWARD!! DON'T YOU EVER DAY TO SHOW YOUR FACE NEAR OUR EMPIRE EVER AGAIN!!!”

The man spewed in frustration, lashing out at her one last time.

Geo jumped off stage holding back the man's fist.

”I'm sorry I cannot allow that sir...

You see, this woman has fought with every five if her being, who are you to treat her like that when she has given so much?”

Annoyed the man turned towards Geo.

”Butt out of this boy, this concerns the lady and me!”

Not taking no for an answer Geo lowered the man's fist by force. Creaking could be heard throughout the stage as the man's bones were breaking.

Quickly the man stopped his reckless approach and left frustrated and defeated. Seeing how Geo stood his ground for her Gina began to see men in a different light. But not for long as Geo ogled at her curves. Giving her the feeling he didn't take her seriously. Frustrated she kicked him in the nuts and ran offstage.

The match had ended in Geo's victory but it seemed he needed medical attention quickly.

While this problem got taken care of the second fight was about to begin.

Alessia vs Brutus.

Brutus was already on stage when Alessia stepped on. His sheer demeanor struck her to the core.

So disgusting as the man looked.

Fat, smelly... without any form of self-hygiene.

Unable to approach this menace of disgust she knew this would become a ling and difficult match.

Brutus smiled licking his upper lip when the gong ran.

”Brutus likes opponent, will take home with him when he wins! Lady will do the bidding and fetch me a pretty penny.”

The thought alone almost made Alessia hurl up her breakfast. She had to end this quickly without giving him a chance to attack.

What would happen if this ended in his favor?

Don't think about it Alessia, you're here for yourself.

Never let anyone come between your ideals.

Always strive for your goals.

Knowing what she was fighting for she danced around Brutus, tempting him to move closer.

Using one of her techniques Alessia made Brutus drop his guard.

Finally striking at his chin. His legs slowly gave in.

Slamming to the ground with the last wobble of his disgusting belly ending the match.

”Brutus will get woman for this! Brutus will not forget!!”

Brutus shouted in disbelief.

”Before our next fight begins our sponsor has a few things to say.”

A weird but wise-looking old man took the stage proudly bowing down towards goddess Helena and the crowd.

”Greetings everyone, I... Edgar has an announcement to make. You see the Egnition Industries have always proudly sponsored this event. But today...

today is special. You see, Leonardo here is my youngest predecessor, son, and disciple.

Therefore he is proud to show off his and ”our” newest inventions. I too, hope that you have enjoyed the tournament so far, as it will only prove to get more exciting.

The last thing I wanted to let everyone know is that we will give away an Egnition Tech Armor that allows the storage and usage of Magical Cores.

For whoever wins the tournament, so everyone...

Break a leg... as they say!”

Edgar left the stage allowing his son and Raiden to take the stage and start the third match.

Leonardo quickly set up his connections spheres to showcase whatever he had the chance to show.

”Hello everyone and welcome to final rounds of the preliminaries, if I am not mistaken... this is the third round. So let me showcase 3 new items for all of you.

The Keywords of today's match will be; movement, speed, and defense. And I often say that a good defense is a strong offense. So, be sure to look forward to that. In respect of my opponent, I will allow him to attack me first, all the more reason to show how good my inventions are, right?”

Leonardo said being a bit cocky towards Raiden.

This got on Raiden nerves, seeing how Leonardo reacted gave him the feeling he wasn't taken seriously.

Roaring with pride Raiden threw himself towards Leonardo.

”Oops, be careful!”

Raiden's attack seemed to have barely missed.

Leonardo seemed to have lost his footing and fell on his bottom allowing him to stay unharmed.

Reaching into his pocket, revealing something really small.

”You see, this small device is delicate,

but when I push the button...”

Leonardo pressed the button creating a translucent sphere around him. Raiden kept attacking, becoming even more annoyed by the fact that his hits weren't even coming close to his opponent.

”This small device is a pocket sphere, solely used for the defense this keeps the perpetrators at bay.

Now... moving on...”

Leonardo opened his palms and lowered his stance,

In the middle of his gloves, in the opening, something began to glow... when suddenly streams of hot air allowed him to instantly close in the distance between Raiden and him.

Caught by surprise Raiden took a fist straight to the face. Suckerpunched to the ground Leonardo continued to sell his product. The crowd loved it giving an uproar of enthusiasm.

”Want to be able to maneuver during combat like me? Dodging at a moment's notice or close in to seal the deal? Then these propulsion gloves, boots, and backpack are the set for you.

No place can't be reached within time, heck...

You could even stand your ground with this whenever needed. This set covers all the earlier names traits,

So be sure to get yours soon after the match.”

Raiden, barely able to regain his footing raised his head. He was ashamed... ashamed he got bested by

”Tools”... refusing to go down Raiden stumbled towards Leonardo when the unthinkable happened.

Raiden had gone out cold while standing firm his legs. Ending the match in Leonardo's victory.

Giving room for Ethan and his opponent.

Ethan soon found out that this would become a tough match. Seeing as how magic was allowed to be used in this final match before the finals.

He had his trusted ice magic, which was nothing to be ashamed of. Still... you might never know what my opponent would use.

Bowing down to his opponent in respect made him sport out in laughter.

”Hahaha, silly glasses! You don't have to pay your respects to me, cause I am the one advancing to the finals!”

Proud his opponent stood there when the match signaled to start.

Ethan quickly froze his opponent in an instant.

There was no time for mercy... he had to win this!

Seeing how his spell worked Ethan was released and turned his back on his opponent signaling his victory.

When suddenly of melting ice could be heard throughout the arena. Shocked... Ethan turned around. Only to see that this match-up couldn't be any worse... his opponent... was able to manipulate fire!

Slowly the ice melted away around his opponent,

Freeing his head, arms, legs eventually allowing his opponent to step outside of the ice cube.

”You thought you had me, didn't ya?

Hahaha... you should have seen the look on your face! Well... enough messing around, time to get serious!!”

His opponent balked his fists and lowered his hands towards the ground. Fire shot out of his palms,

Dancing in the heat. His opponent moved his arms behind him as the flames grew bigger.

Suddenly a small explosion created by a spark allowed him to instantly cover the distance between them.

Without a second thought, Ethan froze himself, knowing what his opponent was capable of doing...

The best course of action was to defend himself for imminent danger.

The flames were unable to break the ice,

But it was just a matter of time before its final defenses were gone.

The flame got through when suddenly small sparks created a large explosion blowing away whatever was left of the ice.

Unable to think of anything rational, Ethan was out of his wits... without a plan and even less experience, there was only the last resort.

”Pure desperation” knowing it was suicide didn't take him back down. Ethan froze his fists giving them just a bit extra impact. The last-ditch effort made Ethan rush towards his opponent. Blocking his attack with both hands now they stood there at a stalemate.

His opponent began melting away the ice on his hands to get a better grip when suddenly Ethan shot them off. All them melted ice had made the arena slippery. Knowing this Ethan's last chance of victory was to shoot his once fists out of stage while his opponent was trying to melt them.

And it looked like he had succeeded...

Almost... Because just before his opponent slipped off the stage he vaporized the entire stage leaving a dry surface with lots of grip.

His opponent had proven too strong without any means of winning Ethan pushed back his glasses.

”Knowing when you're defeated makes you a man too!”

Ethan gave the signals to the referee making his surrender final. His opponent filled with happiness left the stage making room for me

Michael Shadowfang.

Getting on stage I was excited seeing how everyone had a strong and unique opponent and wondering who would be facing off against me.

”Lady Brimstone, this way, please.”

A servant of some kind leads a woman on stage.

Taking my corner on the stage a beautiful woman made her entrance.

Long golden hair majestically waved up and down with every step she took.

Her body was slender as if she could be broken at any moment.

Her eyes pierced straight through anyone's soul with the depth of the forest.

Standing in her corner of the stage she had a mysterious air about her.

Almost like she was a higher being.

She looked at me and scoffed.

”It seems you have gotten further than I expected. But the one who will be victorious is me!”