Making his way through the first floor, Aurin found Club sitting on a shuttered countertop. The smell of popcorn was in the air, penetrating the shutters and reminding Aurin of the battles he’d watched here in the stadium as a spectator.

  “It’s nostalgic, isn’t it?” asked Club, turning to look at him. “In a way, it makes me long for the childhood innocence I took for granted.”

  “Were you waiting for me?” asked Aurin.

  “I was,” said Club, giving an affirmative nod. “I decided during my wanderings that I did not want to use the prizes, nor did I want to risk stumbling into a trap. I thought that it would be sufficient to battle as I am.”

  Club slid from the countertop and walked across the floor, massaging his wrist. There was a faint glint from his bracelet, but Aurin could not see the colour of the stone within.

  Club stopped and took a deep breath. “Are you ready to begin?” he asked.

  “Quetzalia,” said Aurin, nodding to the sky serpent.

  “Perhaps her evolution will see her through this battle,” said Club, “but I will not make this easy for her. Come, my friend.”

  Holding his arm out, he revealed a turquoise summoning stone embedded within his wrist. Aurin’s eyes grew wide as he saw a familiar form materialise within the orb of light cast from the stone. A bull-like creature appeared, its segmented golden belly glowing in the dim light, while its frame was surrounded in a glistening, ethereal aura. It stared at Aurin with narrow eyes, its fangs hanging from its mouth.

  “Ethruki,” uttered Aurin, stunned to see a cosmic elemental.

  “You defeated one in the National Championships, as I recall,” said Club. “But I have had a lot more practice than that girl you battled had. Steel yourself for this battle, Aurin. My Ethruki? She is something else.”

  As Club had spoken, Aurin noticed that something was different. He could not put his finger on what, but it was clear to him that Club was serious. This was not a battle for show and to grant him an easy victory, he meant business.

  With a nod to Quetzalia, she sprang into action. In an instant, she was frozen in place by Ethruki, whose eyes glowed intensely and her aura rippled. Club cocked his head to the side as he watched Quetzalia’s eyes, which were locked on his Ethruki.

  “I would have thought you had trained your Minakai to resist techniques like this, Aurin,” said Club.

  Aurin said nothing, keeping his gaze firmly on Ethruki, waiting for the right moment. While it was true he had fought and defeated cosmic elementals, he had precious little opportunity to train against them. That was why he had to play this battle very carefully or even his Breminia would be at risk.

  “Come on, come on,” muttered Aurin, clenching his fists and counting the seconds in his head.

  “You’re giving me nothing?” asked Club. “I must admit, Aurin, I am disappointed. I expected an attempt to fight back.”

  Aurin maintained his silence, preferring to focus on the battle. While he could distract Club with conversation, that was not the way he wanted to win. He wanted to win using legitimate strategy and technique, not through stirring up conversation.

  Club suddenly recoiled. “Ethruki!” he called. “Is she resisting your power?”

  “Hrumph,” grunted Ethruki.

  “She’s not?” replied Club, sounding panicked. “Release her!”

  Aurin grinned. “Strike!”

  Quetzalia unleashed a mighty gale force blast that sped through the air, sending a whoosh of air throughout the corridor. It stopped dead, inches from Ethruki, who had used her cosmic power to halt the attack. The energy was not dissipated, rather, it was frozen in place. The second she let up, the attack would continue.

  “Very clever, Aurin,” said Club. “Waste my monster’s energy while your Minakai does absolutely nothing.”

  “I thought so,” chuckled Aurin, before his face turned stern. “Spinning razor!”

  Quetzalia beat her wings and two spinning discs of air energy erupted from her. They spread in an outward arc, curving around to reach Ethruki’s sides, but she halted those attacks too.

  “I did tell you my Ethruki was stronger than the one you fought in Ludonia, Aurin,” said Club. “Get rid of them, Ethruki.”

  The bull-like cosmic elemental’s aura pulsed, spreading through the air and latching onto the stationary attacks. They were encompassed by the turquoise aura and were eaten from within, dissipating into thin wisps of energy before vanishing entirely.

  Ethruki launched itself at Quetzalia, freezing her in place as she tried to flee. Club no longer had any intention of testing Quetzalia’s power, instead opting to take her out as quickly as possible. Upon being struck by Ethruki, Quetzalia was released from her magic and tumbled backwards through the air, slamming into the ground.

  If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

  The sky serpent slithered across the floor before beating her wings and rising into the air once again. She unleashed several attacks at once, sending a tornado rushing towards Ethruki, alongside several discs of razor-sharp air, all of which were stopped in their tracks. It was no doubt taking a lot of the cosmic elementals effort to resist the attacks, which was exactly what Aurin wanted.

  He looked at Quetzalia, who knew exactly what to do next. She shot a gale force blast straight through the heart of her tornado, which had obscured Ethruki’s vision. Before the cosmic knew what had happened, the blast struck her on the face, breaking her focus. The tornado continued on its path, whipping her off her feet as the rapidly spinning discs cut into her sides.

  “I see,” said Club. “Very well played, Aurin. My Minakai is too injured to continue.”

  Aurin tried to mask his confusion, seeing that Ethruki had chosen to stay down when she was perfectly capable of standing. Club was pointedly not looking at his Minakai, therefore keeping his camera away from her. The only camera observing the cosmic elemental was on the nearby wall, and that was two dozen yards away.

  “We will battle again under better circumstances in the future, Aurin,” said Club, retrieving his card.

  He approached Aurin, shook the tamer’s hand, and handed over the Ace of Clubs, which Aurin gladly accepted.

  “I have a favour to ask of you,” said Aurin.

  “Oh?” asked Club.

  “Ruby is injured as you may have seen already. She’s resting on the ground floor near the eastern stair well. Make sure she’s not alone and, once I’ve finished this stage, get her to a hospital as soon as possible.”

  “Consider it done,” said Club, giving an affirmative nod. “No further harm will come to her.”

  “Thank you, Gray.”

  Aurin dashed away with Breminia keeping close, seeking the nearest monitor. Quetzalia followed her tamer and teammate, flying laboriously after them. She was exhausted from the battle, but there was little Aurin could do to help her right now. He did not want to find prizes; he did not want to prolong the game. He wanted to bring this whole sordid affair to an end.

  Arriving at a screen, Aurin observed Spade’s feed. He was no longer roaming the halls; he was standing perfectly still. And Aurin knew exactly where the final Blackjack was waiting for him. He approached the nearby staircase and descended, following the corridor along to the entrance hall where the stage had first begun. Standing by the front doors of the stadium, cross armed, was Spade.

  “You’re the last one standing, Jackson,” said Aurin, holding up his three cards. “Feel free to give me your card and save yourself a beatdown.”

  “Ever the cocky child,” laughed Spade.

  “I’m not the one with the overblown ego. You see yourself as the superior tamer, but you’re not even in my rearview mirror. I outclassed you when we first met and now? Well, I’m leagues away. Give up so we can all go home.”

  “Oh, you won’t be going home after this,” said Spade, raising his arm. “No matter which way our battle goes, your troubles are just beginning.”

  In two flashes of light, his Wunder and Cryoth appeared. They immediately launched attacks, sending shards of ice and streaks of lightning at Quetzalia. She tried to dodge, but was struck before she could get out of the way. Even Breminia, who had tried to shield her teammate with a bubble shield had not expected the attacks to erupt at such speed.

  “Another cheap shot,” said Aurin, his left eye twitching as he tried to supress his anger. “Breminia. Take them both down.”

  Breminia encapsulated herself in a ball of water and stormed through the air, shooting jet after jet from within her aquatic cocoon. She was met with blasts of lightning and spears of ice, which she repelled. Her attacks tore through the onslaught of attacks, forcing their way towards Wunder and Cryoth. The two flew in opposite directions, desperately seeking safety from the fired up legendary Minakai.

  Taking a two-pronged approach, Spade’s Minakai moved into flanking position. They focused their elemental powers, conjuring them up into single, laser-precision strikes. Wunder sent a charged-up lightning, seeking to break the water shield. Cryoth spat a sharp beam of ice energy from its mouth, intent on doing the same as its teammate.

  Spinning rapidly in the air, Breminia took the high-powered attacks, letting her shield absorb the brunt of them. What was left in the aftermath stung her body, but it was the difference between a punch and being flattered by a steamroller. She cast off her shield, twisting it with her mind into two powerful jets. They spread outwards, smacking her foes out of the air.

  As Wunder recovered, it heard a bubbling, followed by a crash of erupting water. It looked up and saw Cryoth being thrown into the air, pushed by an intense geyser that exploded from underground. Breminia stared with full focus at the icy moth, who was being battered repeatedly against the ceiling by scalding water.

  “What are you waiting for?” demanded Spade.

  Wunder cawed loudly, emitting three lightning bolts from its body: one from its peak and two from its wingtips. The bolt from its beak leapt straight towards Breminia while the two from its wingtips curved through the air, looking to clip her wings and bring her to the ground.

  Breminia took the attacks, continuing to ravage the pained Cryoth in vengeance. As Wunder attacked again, she finally relented, letting the unconscious insect plummet. Faster than Wunder’s lightning, Breminia threw herself aside, upon which the lightning blew a hole in the stadium’s inner wall.

  “Show it what you learned from Steambot,” said Aurin, looking fiercely at Spade, who stood with clenched fists.

  Breminia began shaking violently, building up pressure within her crystals. Wunder threw attack after attack at her, but she weathered them. As she looked to be on the verge of bursting, Breminia let loose an immense pressure cannon that blasted Wunder into the glass windows that made up the front wall of the entrance hall. The force of the attack shattered a dozen of the windows, but there would be no recovery for Wunder. It fell along with the shards of glass, revealing the swirling dome of rift magic that surrounded the stadium.

  Aurin threw back his head and grunted. “That’s it,” he said. “You’re done, Jackson.”

  “Heh,” snorted Jackson, shaking his head. “You truly have mastered her now. Training with Master Lucius paid off, Aurin.”

  “You accept defeat?”

  “I accept defeat,” said Jackson, throwing his card to Aurin. “Take it. I’ve got much training still to do. Enjoy the rest of the game. This is where I bow out.”

  Spade turned around, flicked a hand in farewell, and walked away. Aurin briefly considered chasing him down and demanding that Jackson finally stop pursuing him, but he didn’t feel the need to anymore. There was something in Jackson’s voice, escaping through the vocal modulator, that told Aurin he would not be pestering him again for some time. That was good enough for now.

  “Good job, Breminia,” said Aurin, wiping the sweat from his brow.

  As Breminia bowed her head, her attention was stolen by the flickering of the nearby screen. She squealed, alerting Aurin. The young man pivoted and saw that the feeds that had once shown The Blackjacks’ cameras now showed the joker symbol once more.

  right here.

  Aurin's Team:

  Luna's Team: