The Battle Game

Am I just seeing things? Why is she wearing long sleeves in the middle of summer? I guess her ability is ice so maybe she's always cold too. But her eyes look different, almost like they're strained, of course there originally red, so I could be wrong.

She noticed him staring at her while the new teacher gathered his notes. "Uh is everything alright Kyoto… You shouldn't stare at a girl like that you know." Her face turned a little bit red but not nearly as much as previous times.

"Something tells me I should be asking you that." He said with a serious expression on his face trying to mask the worry in his eyes.

"What do you mean? I couldn't be better." She smiled dimly at him.

"You two in the back! Pay attention, this part is important." The teacher yelled at them.

Tayo looked back at the teacher in embarrassment and Kyoto crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair as if he hadn't done anything wrong.

Everyone soon looked back and noticed they were sitting together which shocked the whole class and caused a slight burst of gossip.

"Calm down!" the teacher demanded Taking charge of the situation. "Right then, my name is Bernard, aside from the pleasantries let's get to it. Today this class is assigned for a battle test, I see you all have your second skin on so let's get started shall we. It's important you realize that this will be the last battle test before you are assigned gear by our human weapons development team."

Kyoto stared out the window zoning out like he had always done in the past. Human weapons… I guess at least there up front about what they're doing now. Actually now that I think about it that really just means society accepts it now.

"Dismissed!" the new teacher yelled marching out the door.

"Hey wait what are we supposed to do he didn't give us any instructions!" Someone yelled.

"Hey Tayo." Kyoto said looking over at her again.

"Yea… what is it?"

"What kind of battle test did he say it was?"

"I believe he said it was teams this time."

"Yea that's what I thought… In that case you should probably duck out the window quick."

"Uhm, ok." She walked over and jumped out the window landing a full story bellow.

Wait she actually did it! I knew I liked her, she didn't even hesitate. Wonder if she's ok, meh I'll find out after I take care of this.

Suddenly an aura of electricity began erupting from his body as he stood up and walked through the room zapping everyone unconscious before following Tayo out the window.

"Uhm… What just happened?" she asked brushing the dust off her skirt

"Oh I knocked them all out."

"Wait what?"

"Relax there fine."

"Ok but why'd you?"

"Oh that, follow me and I'll explain."

They walked over to a large river that was on the campus making sure to stay in places that they couldn't easily be seen.

"Hey do you think you can freeze us a path across."

"Most certainly." She strutted up to the river and put her hand in the water freezing a straight path across.

"Perfect, now then, let's get across shall we." They crossed the river and hid inside a seemingly empty building by sneaking in threw the window and siting down under it for a short break. "Ok so here's the deal, you know how they didn't give any rules or regulations, and how the teacher conveniently left out who the other participating class was."

"Oh I see, so you think that it started as soon as he left the room."

"Exactly."

"And I guess some of the classes must have been given the day off. I haven't seen any of these classrooms full of people like they usually are, and it felt like there weren't as many people here today."

"So we have no idea how many opponents we have to deal with, it could easily be more than one class this time. We have to make sure that we're careful. We should first figure out how to get to the roof, it's always locked on every building and blowing it up with lightning would probably cause too much noise."

"I can handle that, I can pick the lock."

"Oh… that makes things easy, let's go than."

They climbed up the building with relative ease until they made it to the second to top floor where they ran into some people. Kyoto checked a corner and stopped Tayo from running out into the open with his arm.

"Stay back, I'm counting 2 but there's probably at least one more."

"Ok, I'll watch your back." She whispered and he nodded before coming out from behind the corner and sneaking up on the two sentries zapping both of them.

One of them instantly dropped but the other was unaffected. "That's never happened before." He said surprised.

"Maybe you should check the batteries."

"Yea you know you're probably right." He channeled visible electricity between his hands. And cast out a hand again zapping the large man. "No I think it's just you."

"Could be user error." He said before walking up and grabbing Kyoto by the neck holding him up with one hand.

"Yea… you could be right?" he said as if unaffected before wrapping the man in an arm lock bringing him to the ground with his legs and then switching to a choke hold until he was out. "Good thing I have other methods."

"Hey Tayo you good!" he yelled right before a woman came out from behind the corner holding a knife to Tayos throat.

"That man has Power inhibiters, put them on." The strange woman said, lightly cutting Tayos throat.

"I could do that… I really don't feel like it though. Then again it might be fun to take you on without powers."

He looked down at the large man and looked back over to see the girl laying on the floor.

"You know you're really something else Tayo." He said staring at her now holding the knife. "You got a little… something, right there." He pointed to her neck which was now cut on the surface.

"Oh sorry." She wiped it off with her hand and then formed ice over the wound. "Shall we continue then?" she walked past him getting to the staircase going up to the roof.

"Yea… what do you need for the lock?"

"You know after that I need to let off some steam so I'm taking the next group out on my own." She froze the lock solid and the snapped it off the door opening it and walking out onto the roof.

Wow… she's not at all what I thought she was like, I can't seem to get any read on her personality. He thought, pausing for a second before running up the stairs after her.

He walked out onto the roof to see a man laying prone with binoculars on top of a large AC unit and a small girl standing next to him with two knives.

"Hey, we've got company." The small girl said without surprise warning her friend.

Her partner stood up and studied them carefully. "A pity, be careful, they took out the others."

"Do you really think id listen to that advice?" Without warning she was gone and suddenly Kyoto was covered in large cuts and on a knee.

"Man… you got me good." He said putting his hand to his side checking the bleeding.

"Surrender now, I don't want to kill you."

"Oh I don't think you have to worry about that, people that say those words to me usually end up going cold for a while."

"So be it."

Right before she finished talking Kyoto began to move and in an instant she was laying on the ground against a wall across from where she was.

"A pity your brain speed didn't get faster too when you got your powers." He said just as he heard a sonic boom and looked over to Tayo who now had a hole through her shoulder.

He can accelerate projectiles somehow! "I don't know who you are!" His next words came out deadly serious and felt like they caused time to stop as he spoke "But you're dead…" His words were precise and calm but had a great rage behind them as he called down a lightning bolt from the sky that grew darker. The man was jumping and the lightning struck him straight on causing him to fall and take in much of the current that had little place to go sense he was in the air.

"Tayo!" he yelled and ran over to her

"My hero…" she said making fun of him as he moved her hair out of her face.

"We need to get you to an infirmary, your losing to much blood."

No I have to treat her myself before its too late. She looks so weak. Where did all of these cuts come from…? I must have gotten so caught up in the battle that I didn't even think that girl would have been attacking both of us… I should have taken the guy out first too. How could I be so stupid, am I really just that used to working alone?

"Come one… You're going to be alright." He said picked her up trying to reassure her as much as he was trying to reassure himself.

"Hey… Kyoto,"

"Not now! just focus on breathing." He said walking towards the edge of the roof.

She coughed between breaths, "What would you do… if it was your last day?"

She looked up at him and smiled with her tired eyes and her bruised body covered in dirt and open wounds.

"If you were any worse I might just answer that." He said jumping off the roof. Tayo closed her eyes and held her breath as he used magnets in his boots and mettle in the vending Machine bellow to slow his fall enough so that he could land relatively safely. "Just hold on."

She stopped speaking now just silently moving her lips as he made it to a treatment station where he immediately began cleaning and bandaging all the wounds with the synthetic healing gel until she was stable.

"You know, you really had me worried there… It looks like you went out because you were already tired before any of this, rather than the wounds being too severe." He spoke to her as if she was still conscious taking off his over shirt and striping the lacing out of it using it to tie her somewhat to his back before making his way back to the same rooftop.

Ok, now that I'm here I should be able to tap into the security system here by using my powers to take control of the cameras, they should all be connected through the power grid so if I can just get close enough to it… ah there, a circuit box. Its time I do a little spying, they don't call me The Gadgetist for nothing.

Let's see… That's 6 people left, 2 that look like threats. There all going towards the grand hall. I should be able to let them fight it out and take on the winner, after that the medics will take care of Tayo… There's no way that they would let someone die, especially not someone as strong as her.

"Hang on Tayo, just a bit longer, I promise, I won't let you die." He set out for the great hall and managed to make it there without being seen and just in time for the showdown.

Looks like the two I was worried about are on the same team… and they've already defeated the others.

"Ok bring it on, I should make this quick even if it means pushing my powers to their limit, I can't afford to mess up now." He spoke to himself quietly before he gently laid Tayo under a stone table.

He popped his neck and cracked his knuckles as he walked up the staircase into the great hall. "I take it your all that's left." He said crossing his arms coming to a standstill at the top of the stair case.

"Sounds like you're the last one then." One of them responded.

Looks like a guy and a girl, from the marks on the ground, and Judging by their appearance the girl has fire and the guy uses ice. Not a great combination so they must just be strong and compensate for each other's weaknesses rather than combining to become stronger.

"Let's just get this over with, I have other things to worry about." Kyoto said creating a static aura around himself for defense as the woman generated fire from her body sending it straight towards him. He simply walked through it relying on his second skin for protection along with some burn gel he covered had his face with. In the end this resulted in a small burn on his face and singed hair as he continued walking forward.

The guy with ice powers took a ball of water from the nearby fountain and froze it to a javelin throwing it at Kyoto who repelled it with magnetism.

"Fun fact… The water here runs over an iron deposit." He said before expanding his electrostatic field and frying them both, before suddenly becoming very dizzy.

He collapsed to his knees coughing up blood. "Guess maybe I went overboard with that one…" He said looking at the arcs of electricity that where traveling between every part of the building.

No, I had to put everything I had into that, otherwise they might have been able to block it… Ice doesn't conduct electricity very well… If my attack was any slower, or I was any farther away, things might have ended differently.

My ears are ringing… I… can't think straight… wait, no Tayo, that's right, I've got to make sure she's ok.

His thoughts became crooked and jagged. His eyes began failing like he was seeing the world threw a choppy camera until he got to Tayo and collapsed beside her.

"I hope… I see you again soon… Tayo." He got a few words out before his brain completely shut down to try and reorganize itself and handle the shock from the large electric current that had passed through his body.