~Chapter 8- Aero Vs Kika~

"Next up is the Phantine Chieftain Cmar versus Tyro of the Fighting Academy!" Cho announced. The two stepped out together towards the stage.

Aero noticed that young woman named Kika was watching intently as the match began, the same one who beat Corri and Emil. After this fight, she would be his opponent. Tyro and Kika wore similar fighting robes.

Aero took a seat beside her. "You and that Tyro guy are both from the Fighting Academy, aren't you?"

Kika smiled, "Yes, Dama's Fighting Academy. She taught both of us," Kika brushed her hair aside and extended her hand to Aero, "I'm Kika."

Aero shook her hand and smiled back. "Yeah, I know. I saw you fight my little sister during the preliminaries."

Kika's eyes widened. "Your sister is that little red-haired girl?"

"Yep, that's Corri," Aero smiled.

"Now that I think of it, both of you do seem to share similar stances. You're both very light on your feet. Who did you learn to fight from?"

"Our dad," Aero replied, "I noticed you and Emil had similar robes. You seemed to know him too."

Kika winced. "Yeah... He used to be a part of our academy before he stole from us. Dama took him and his sister in when they were orphans. They had nothing, but she saw potential in them. But even after caring for them for so many years, he robbed us."

Aero looked at her glumly, "That's sad."

"Yeah... but he asked for it," Kika declared. But there was a bit of hesitation in her voice.

"Point to Tyro! 2-0! Return to your starting positions!"

Aero and Kika's attention shifted to the ongoing bout. Aero was dumbfounded by the fact that Cmar hadn't scored once, but Kika didn't seem surprised.

Cmar had dark bruises on his body from the hits Tyro had given him thus far. The Phantine chief swung his tusks, and Tyro skillfully vaulted over them.

Cmar blocked a kick with his arm, but it still looked like it hurt terribly. As if he had lost some of the feeling in it. Cmar used all his strength and lunged at Tyro. He struck Tyro with his trunk and managed to make him wince slightly.

"Point to Cmar! 1-2! Return to your starting positions!"

"He's trying his best."

"I don't think it'll be enough to win though."

Tyro calmly walked back to his starting position as Cmar hobbled over to his. Tyro spoke, "You did well so far, but this match is over."

"You can do it dad!" Nout shouted from the bleachers.

Cmar readied himself.

The drumming signaled the fighters to resume their bout. Tyro flexed and lunged his fist forward. A radiant burst of light rocketed from his hand, and suddenly, Cmar was pushed off stage by the sheer force of it.

"Ring out! Point to Tyro! 3-1! Tyro takes the match!"

"He's incredible!"

Tyro hopped off the stage and helped Cmar back to his feet. Tyro's mouth curled up slightly, almost resembling a smile, "You did well."

"Thank you," Cmar said. Aero could tell he was hurt, but he walked back to Finalist's lobby while maintaining a look of strength.

"Tyro is really strong," Aero, said astounded.

"Yeah," Kika muttered, "I'm not sure if I'd be able to beat him."

"Now for the final bout of the quarterfinals, Kika of the Fighting Academy will battle the young Aero!" Cho announced.

Kika hopped to her feet, and Aero followed her out of the Finalist's Lobby. Only now did he realize she was significantly taller than him.

"We're friends outside of the ring, but I won't hold back once we begin," Kika said as they walked.

"Same here," Aero smiled.

They stood across from each other on the stage. Kika crossed her arms just as she did while fighting Emil. Aero observed her stance and copied it, crossing his arms and readying his legs to attack and defend, "If you're not going to use your arms, I won't either," Aero said aloud to her.

Kika raised an eyebrow at him. "Goofy kid."

The drum signaled the beginning of the round, and the two of them met at the center of the ring with a flurry of kicks. Aero's balance was slightly off at first without the use of his arms, but he adapted to her form surprisingly well.

Kika attacked more ferociously and broke through Aero's defense, landing a front kick directly on his chest, knocking him to the ground.

"Point to Kika! 1-0! Return to your starting Positions."

"How funny, they both fought with just their legs."

"Neither of them is taking this seriously yet."

Aero stood. "I might use my arms now."

Kika smiled, "You better. Don't make this boring for me."

The two returned to their starting positions and began again. As soon as they resumed, Aero came in strong.

Kika did her best to defend against Aero, but his movements were unpredictable and quick. He never seemed to tire. She hadn't realized it, but Aero had forced her to the edge of the ring. He drove his shoulder forward and knocked her off the stage.

"Ring out! Point to Aero! 1-1! Return to your starting positions."

"Maybe she'll stop holding back now."

Aero smiled and extended his hand to Kika. She took it and was pulled back onto the stage.

Kika took her stance, this time keeping her fists in front of her. She wasn't going to hold back against him anymore. A drum beat signaled them to resume.

They danced around the ring, parrying and dodging each other's blows with great skill and speed. Aero forced her into retreat, only for her to push him off balance and force him into a defensive position. The two ebbed and flowed with each other's movements, neither holding an advantage for long.

They managed to grab each other's wrists, keeping each other at close range. The two tried to throw each other off balance while throwing kicks to score, but neither could get a clean shot in.

They each gripped each other's wrists hard and flung their foreheads at each other. Neither expected the other to go for a headbutt at that moment. Their heads collided with each other, and both of them reeled back.

The drum was struck, signaling the fighters to stop.

"That looked painful..."

"Who scored?"

Aero grabbed his head and shouted, "That hurt!"

Kika was in the same state.

Cho reluctantly spoke into the horn, "Our mistake, everyone. Since both combatants struck each other at the same moment, neither one scored. The competitors are to carry on as they were."

The two took a moment to recover from the impact both of their noggins endured and faced each other again.

Kika delivered a hard side kick through the air, and a faint light burst from her. It struck Aero, and he skidded to the edge of the ring. Kika's breathing quickened after using such a powerful Focus Burst. Perhaps she overdid it.

Aero was keeled over on all fours at the edge of the ring. At least it appeared that way. He pretended to be hurt by the strike to lure her in.

Aero patiently waited for Kika to approach. As soon as she was close and went in for an attack, Aero circled behind her and pushing her out of the ring.

"Ringout! Point to Aero! 2-1! Return to your starting positions!"

Kika gave Aero a sly look as she stepped back onto the stage. Aero simply shrugged, grinning before taking this his place.

"Sneaky trick."

"She shouldn't have let her guard down."

The two began again, and Aero launched his own Focus Burst. Red light emerged from his fist and nearly hit Kika, and she returned a couple of her own. Aero carefully watched the light that came from her and dodged it. He noticed her breathing was becoming more labored, and he came up with a clever idea.

He punched at the air towards her, and Kika instinctively tried to dodge the Focus Bursts. But no light emerged from Aero's fists; he wasn't using Focus. But she dodged as if he were. He feigned the use of Focus Bursts to keep her at a distance and wear her out.

Kika launched a few more bursts of light came flying at him. The boy bobbed and weaved to avoid each one. She was getting exhausted. Using Focus was strenuous on the body, but Aero had been maintaining his own stamina.

One of Kika's Focus Bursts managed to hit their mark, but it wasn't a particularly strong one. Kika's legs started to wobble; she was at her limit.

Aero charged forward. She did her best to defend herself, but he landed a stern jab to her shoulder.

"Point to Aero! 3-1! Aero takes the match!" Cho announced, "After a brief intermission, we will begin the semifinal bouts!"

"Ah! That was clever!"

"What happened?"

"He was feigning the use of Focus to conserve energy!"

Kika's breathing was extremely labored, and she had trouble standing after using Focus so many times consecutively. Aero let her lean on him and helped her back to the Finalist's lobby. She took a seat on one of the benches there and tried to catch her breath.

Tyro took a seat next to her, "You have to be careful! People have died using Focus that brazenly!"

Through labored breaths, Kika managed to say, "I know... I know..."

"You feelin' alright?" Aero asked.

Kika looked at Aero, "I'll be alright. You fought great!"

"Your name is Aero, yes?" Tyro asked, his face expressionless.

"Yeah, and you're Tyro?" Aero asked. Tyro simply nodded. The two would fight in the next round.