Once and future King

Thunder cracked in some distance, indicating the coming storm. It was already dark, and the moonlight was completely covered. However, in Planet Endar, since the moon was reflecting off of 2 suns, it was abnormally bright. So much so that it illuminated even the dark clouds that were gathering.

As the contestants took to the stage for their final showdown, excitement was at an all time high. Bets were made, hawkers were selling their wares, and the noise in the pitch had reached a climax. As each of them got to the stage, all other activities died down and all that was left was the loud shouts as the clans gave a hearty welcome to their heroes on their final battle.

"This was the moment, the reason they had gone through all that." This was Arlos, talking leisurely with Badoo. By now it was pretty obvious that Bamboo was the favorite, the one fated to win in the match. Even Arlos had resigned himself to this fact, until his little star dazzled!

"So, who do you think will win?" Badoo asked with a smile on his face.

"I think you are pretty sure of your lavel, aren't you?"

"Yes I am, are you about yours?"

"She has pulled quite some surprises lately." The answer full of tact, classic example of a politician he'd come to be. This was the most difficult and argued upon point in the entire settlement. The first time around had not been anywhere near enough to rule out who was superior, and to the loser's advantage, they actually get a second chance to do over.

Many by now had already concluded that Bamboo was the victor and the next leader. To them, Krea's victory had been a sham, a moment of bad luck. It was time to set things right.

The entire crowd was so divided among the 2 competitors, as though everyone else was for show.

Indeed even the contestants themselves were also divided. One team clearly stood out. Bamboo led the entire jade team that would be taking part. Flanking him to the left and right were Hasilo and Maple. Behind them followed their squad mates. A marvelous looking team entered the battlefield in a diamond formation, the tip of the spear being Bamboo.

On the other side, as though they were mimicking their opponents, they also formed a similar shape, although it was completely uncoordinated. Krea naturally took the helm at the top, flanked by Brom and Hasel. Both felt that they had some unfinished business with the two, and they saw them as their nemesis.

Everyone else fell into place. It really was set up! All non-supers had had a tacit agreement that this was not their battle, in fact, many had opted to stay out. They were just not ready for this level of competition. So therefore, everyone on the field was actually a super.

While everyone was busy cheering or jeering their superstars, one's face was creased with worry. Krea's mother had repeatedly watched as her child went into war with monsters she shouldn't even be in the same room with, and with pride in her heart, she had seen her child prosper over and over again.

Time had come for her to end her dominant, the bubble to burst. Yet miraculously, she had not only survived, but she had come out victorious, not once but twice. Could she do it again, pull an offset that could overturn the entire settlement and indeed most of the lavels in many other settlements.

Seated next to the man that had been her lover and the father to her child, she couldn't help but feel disgusted by how he was blatantly showing off her daughter. The pig had not wanted anything to do with her, and now that she had made something of herself, he thought he could just waltz in here and claim her. While it annoyed her to no end, she knew that this was the best condition for Krea.

If she won, the pig would be put in his place, if she didn't however, the pig would be put into use. The proud lavel seated next to her did not know the absolute danger he was in, just counting his luck to have fathered such a treasure.

On the flip side, Many in Bamboo's corner had worried looks on their face. While they could go about saying that it was a sham victory, they saw what happened. Bamboo has simply been outclassed.

There were those that blamed the weather, claiming that it was the cause of her victory. They thought that with rain falling, she could use the water that was all around her in her attacks. Many had wished that it wouldn't rain that day, and the distant rumblings had broken many a heart of those maidens that were Bamboo die hard fans.

Gong! Then followed by a massive thunder. The skies lit up at the flash of lighting, and the first drops of the storm fell.

The bell was rung, the match had began.

In an instant, all hell broke loose. The entire arena was engulfed in a dust cloud. While this was a common known skill, they wondered how the lavel had managed to get so much dust especially now that it was raining.

Upon further investigation, Thea gasped in shock when she realized that the arena was actually not raining. She could feel the rain that was falling on her, and the violent winds blowing. Yet not a drop touched the arena. Looking up, she understood why.

A massive ball of water was floating up ahead. The strange part was, it kept growing and growing as more rain drops fell, and an ominous feeling swallowed up those watching.

Down below, the dust was shifting and actually clearing, on one side. The dust actually coordinated and moved around their opponents, acting as some sort of whirlwind. The vision of all the others and even those watching was cleared, and they could see the arena once more.

Watching from his perch in the clouds, Dane was positively impressed as he watched Khalia and Lisha coordinate in their attacks. Lisha provided the dust while Khalia used the wind element to lead the particles towards the enemy. Given that the 2 had never trained together, or even trained at all, seeing them organize such a strong attack together was breathtaking.

In a storm, the most influenced elements were Wind, Thunder and of course water. The water goddess, as many were calling her now, suddenly transformed all the water she had collected into ice arrows.

This was not an easy feat to achieve, and had she known that in the Universe, the spell she was casually launching was one of the most dangerous and mostly used AOE spell, she would have understood why Dane was looking at her with such curious eyes. Alas she didn't even know there was such a being called Dane looking at her.

As the ice arrows descended, Khalia, an experienced archer, used the wind to guide them to their targets. In the next moment, the entire jade team would be put out of their misery.

A stunned crowd looked on, unable to comprehend what they were seeing. Was that it, was the battle over that easily? It hadn't been more than a minute from the start of battle, and already the battle seemed all but done.

At that moment, Brom and Hasel shot furtive glances at Krea. They had thought it would be a difficult battle, and one they knew they had little chances of winning. There hadn't been any agreement or alliances formed prior to the meeting, but everyone understood. They thought they were the big guns, how wrong were they.

The jade team would come at them as a group, fight as a team. Therefore, everyone else would band together to try and eliminate the jades, and if they did finally do it, then it was every lavel for themselves. Now, seeing the jade team fall, a very pensive crowd looked on.

Of all those present, the one most joyous was Krea. It was done, finally. Before her match with Hasilo, she knew she was not champion material, so she didn't even try to go for it. Instead, she gave her all hoping to put a splendid performance, one good enough to make her father recognize her. Such was her ambition, but surely, ambitions change.

After taking down the giant, she had only hoped to survive her encounter with Bamboo. Yes, she was all powerful now, but it still had not gotten to her mind yet. She had felt her power, but everyone all around spoke of Bamboo as though he was a god, and she would be so humble to accept her defeat as a gift.

Her victory had given her a new ambition. She now had an outside chance of winning the damn thing. She could actually become the head of the settlement. The thought made her smile even as the arrows descended.

In this battlefield, the only enemy she respected was Bamboo. While she had won, she remembered that it hadn't been so easy. She just needed to get rid of him first and she could actually win this. It was her clan's destiny to rule the settlement, as it had for generations. Now it was her turn to win this for her people, and she would see it done.

The elementary particles all around him made that he did not even need to see. With his eyes closed, he could see clearly what everyone was doing. He felt the attacks, the swirling dust wind all around him. All this he could take, but that smile, that smile from someone who was about to destroy him completely, he couldn't take.

He balled his massive paws into a fist in a fit of rage. At that moment, he could feel every elementary particle around him. His element, thunder, functioned on ions, and oh what a boon Lisha had unwittingly gifted him.

In his fight with Lisha, and many other subsequent ones, Bamboo had noticed that his skill actually generated some elementary particles he could connect with. He would have felt the same, but Khalia used arrows as his main form of attack, mainly because he hadn't learnt proper wind skills or spells.

At that moment, the entire arena was charged with ion particles, with no one even noticing. Their focal point was around Bamboo and his teammates, since this is where the attack was concentrated. Wind brought in more ion particles, and just as the ice arrows were reaching their targets, the arena was fully saturated. It was like gas had been spilled, and all Bamboo needed to do was set the match.

No one saw it coming, since everyone had already ruled them out despite the many miracles. The jade teams and the clan in general was silent. Unable to understand why their win that was so close was being snatched away so ruthlessly.

While everyone waited for Bamboo and his teammate's defeat, even if someone could see through the dust clouds, no one would have noticed the slight movement made by Bamboo's 2 right claws, but they saw what the effects were.

Suddenly, the entire arena was engulfed in brilliant white light. It happened so quickly that not many got the time to close their eyes before they were momentarily blinded.

Those that could see actually saw lighting itself descend from the heavens and strike at the arena ground, merging with the light. The next moment, many contestants were blown off the arena, and those were the lucky ones.

The light dissipated soon after, and to the crowds' bewilderment, only the jades stood strong on the field, Bamboo standing majestically at the lead, stoically posed as the next leader of this great settlement!