The field crackled with energy—steam, scorched earth, and water mixed into a chaotic battlefield.
Luna's body tensed. Her ears twitched. Through the residual mist and heat haze, she heard her master's voice—or rather, his thought—a silent, clear telepathic echo.
"Top."
That single word lit up in her mind like lightning.
She didn't hesitate. Her eyes snapped upward—and what she saw made her stomach twist.
A massive fireball, blazing orange and white, screamed down from the sky toward her like a meteorite.
Raelson had timed it well—Whisp must have launched it the moment the clones were blown away. It had been gaining momentum, descending with terrifying speed.
Too fast to dodge normally. Too wide to outrun.
But Jimmy's hand cut sharply through the air—twisting low, circling like a spiral in water. His command was silent, but clear:
Water Body. Now.
Luna's body shimmered with blue light. She plunged her paws into the slick, wet earth beneath her and merged with the remaining water, her form dissolving into a rippling wave that slithered swiftly to the left—just outside the fireball's blast radius.
BOOM!
The fireball smashed into the ground, exploding in a blast of heat and flame. The impact sent dirt, steam, and embers flying high into the air.
Luna reformed at a safe distance—but the moment she steadied herself, she saw movement.
Whisp—charging, spinning.
He twisted his body into a rotating blur, claws kicking up mud, fire licking around his feet. As he neared, Jimmy signaled again: a quick downward flick.
Charge.
Luna responded in a blink, launching herself forward like a bolt of white-blue lightning. But Boggy had predicted the clash.
At the moment they met, Boggy shifted—a hard Tail Whip arcing out from his spin.
CRACK!
The impact was loud and solid. Luna was thrown back slightly, and so was Whisp. The force created a visible space between them, the ground between torn from the raw energy of both charges.
Both landed. Panting. Tense.
Their eyes locked.
For a heartbeat, all was still.
Then—both charged again.
Luna raced forward in a straight line, her paws throwing up water and sparks.
Whisp, in contrast, darted side to side in a wild zigzag pattern, his movement erratic and unpredictable.
They passed each other—but not touching.
Suddenly—Whisp twisted.
With a surge of momentum, he pivoted sharply—one leg absorbing his full weight, spinning his body like a top. The motion created a brutal U-turn, and before Luna could even react, he was behind her.
THWACK!
The hit struck her with pinpoint accuracy—right in the back. Luna flew through the air like a comet, tumbling hard across the muddy terrain until she slammed near the edge of the arena.
The crowd gasped.
Jimmy's hands froze mid-motion, eyes wide. A pulse of panic flared—but just for a moment.
Luna tried to get up.
But before she could rise, five flame-charged clones rushed her, claws sparking, bodies flickering. They weren't waiting. Behind them, the real Whisp was charging another fireball, larger than the last.
From the edge of the arena, Jimmy's thought snapped like lightning into Luna's mind:
"Big miscalculation."
"Use Mist. Water Body. Don't move. Stay there with Water Curtain."
Luna didn't even blink. She summoned the remaining moisture in the ground—her body melted again into the water, and thick Mist burst outward, veiling half the battlefield.
She crouched low, hidden, wrapped in a spinning Water Curtain like a cocoon.
But this time… the Mist was thin.
Too thin.
Only half the field was covered—and Raelson saw it.
His red hair shimmered under the stadium lights, and a faint smile tugged at his lips.
"This is our chance, Whisp. Condense it more. Get inside. Make all the clones run wild through the Mist. Confuse her."
Whisp growled. He gave a command to his clones with a single howl.
The fire-clones broke formation, rushing into the Mist one after another—not in coordination, but wildly, recklessly, zigzagging in unpredictable patterns, each one glowing with Flame Charge. The Mist lit up in flashes of orange, distorted shadows moving chaotically inside.
Outside the field, the teacher glanced down at her stopwatch.
"2 minutes, 45 seconds passed."
Still under three minutes… and both are reading each other like veterans.
She adjusted her glasses.
This could go either way.
Inside the chaos, Luna crouched still as a statue, feeling every vibration in the wet ground.
The clones were searching. But they didn't know exactly where she was.
............................................
Inside the sparking mist, chaos reigned.
Luna stayed hidden behind her fading Water Curtain, every muscle tight, senses straining. She could hear the pounding of paws—the clones—charging through the fog in erratic paths. Her breath was quiet. Her body, still. She clung to silence like a second skin.
But Whisp was no ordinary opponent.
He could sense her. Not just see or hear—feel. Through the energy in the earth, the disruption in heat, and the echoes of motion in the mist, he narrowed in on her exact location.
Suddenly, Jimmy's signal came—a blur of hand signs, fast and sharp.
"Go—random pattern, now!"
Luna burst into motion—but too late.
Two clones missed completely, slamming into water trails and dispersing. But the other three?
One after another, they hit her.
BAM—CRACK—WHUMP!
Each strike landed harder than the last. Her Water Curtain shattered on the final impact, spraying water in all directions. A shockwave rippled across the arena floor.
She flew through the air again, her body tumbling like a rag doll across the muddy edge of the ring. Her back skidded against the boundary stones, barely staying inside the match line.
The crowd gasped.
She didn't move.
Jimmy stood silently, fists clenched at his sides. His eyes didn't blink. Not once.
Luna slowly pushed herself up, legs trembling. Her fur was soaked, scorched, and matted. Her breath was laboured. Sparks flickered weakly across her skin.
Across the battlefield, Whisp stood firm, chest heaving, eyes locked onto her.
And then—a low rumble.
Luna looked up and saw it.
A blazing flame orb, nearly 0.7 meters wide, spun above Whisp's head, crackling with violent heat. It hurt just to look at it. The ground around Whisp's paws had already turned dry and brittle from the heat waves.
The fireball launched forward.
Fast. Relentless. Final.
Luna's eyes widened, and for the first time in the match—a thought crept in.
I'm going to lose.
But then she remembered. Before the match began, Jimmy had used signs to ask her something simple—something important.
"No healing. No mercy. Do you accept?"
And she had nodded.
Yes.
And now, Jimmy's hands moved again.
Not fast. Not frantic.
Precise. Controlled. Unshaken.
He signed: Parallel Aqua Wave. Now."
Luna's legs dug into the slick mud. She positioned her two back legs near the edges of the ring. Energy flowed down through her muscles into the ground.
The water beneath her surged.
From both corners, twin Aqua Waves rose—one to a height of 0.5 meter, the other to 0.3 meters, spaced 0.3 meters apart. They surged in a parallel arch, not too far, curving in a low arc, flowing forward like twin blades.
Then—another command:
"Hide in second wave."
Luna didn't hesitate. As the waves advanced, she twisted her body, submerged into the second one, melding into its form like a ripple inside a ripple, her weakened energy perfectly disguised by the momentum of water.
In the referee's booth, the teacher's eyes widened behind her glasses.
"Bravo."
She had been moments from intervening. But Jimmy's last command—elegant, simple, daring—held her back. Even that bald teacher nodded in shock expression.
The fireball met the twin waves head-on.
BOOM.
CRASH.
SPLASH.
The explosion tore the center of the battlefield apart. Water and flame collided with violent force, filling the entire ring with smoke, steam, and glowing cinders. Visibility dropped to zero.
On the other side, Raelson grinned. A cocky smirk danced on his lips.
He turned to the referee.
But the whistle didn't blow.
His grin vanished.
He blinked once. Then again.
And in that moment, his eyes narrowed—not in anger, but in doubt.
Wait…
The smoke began to clear, revealing the scorched earth, the melted stone, and…
A lone figure.
At the far corner of the ring, battered, barely standing—but very much conscious—
Luna.
The crowd erupted.
Raelson's gaze darted to his partner.
Whisp stood in the center of the ring, legs shaking, embers flickering weakly from his paws. His breath came in ragged bursts. His fire aura was gone, burned out.
The red-haired trainer's smile faded into focused silence.
He understood.
One move left.
One final clash would decide it all.
Across the field, Jimmy lowered his hands.
He looked at Luna.
She looked back.
No signals now.
They both already knew.