Nathan and Natasha stood at the forefront, their eyes locked in a silent challenge.
Around them, the rest of their units squared off, each member sizing up their opponent.
"You know," Nathan said, his tone light but his body tense, "thinking about it, we've never actually fought each other before. This should be fun."
Natasha smirked, her energy rifle resting casually on her shoulder. "Fun for me, maybe. You're about to find out why I'm the top of our class."
Nathan's wings unfurled slightly, the feathers glinting in the sunlight. "Not yet determined. Don't forget that part."
Natasha just smiled and rushed at him. "Oh we'll see."
The fight began with a blur of motion.
Nathan shot into the air, his wings propelling him forward as he slashed at Natasha with his katana.
She dodged gracefully, her movements fluid as she fired a quick energy blast from her rifle.
The blast narrowly missed Nathan by a millimeter, blasting off in the air.
"Ohh. You know you're gonna have to do better than that right," Natasha teased, her voice carrying over the sound of their clashing weapons.
Nathan grinned, his wings flaring as he circled around her, aiming to prevent being an easy target for her and her ability. "Oh, I'm just getting started."
Natasha didn't have a close combat oriented ability.
Sharpshooter.
That was the name of Natasha's ability. It gave her ninety nine percent accuracy.
Infact her missing was a very rare occurrence. That's why not even Nathan who could fly would be able to easily avoid her bullets.
Only reason he did earlier was because she didn't put much effort into actually hitting him then. But now...
She fired another blast, this one grazing Nathan's arm and leaving a faint burn mark. He winced but didn't slow down, his katana flashing as he pressed the attack.
She shifted her body to the side as the sword harmlessly sliced through air.
She followed up as she took aim at his forehead.
Just as she pressed the trigger, Nathan hit her hand with the butt of his sword shifting her aim elsewhere.
Ssshh!
The blast blew the branch off a tree.
Following up, Nathan kicked her away giving himself space as she fired another blast at him.
And he flew up to avoid it.
Natasha didn't let up tho. She fired off successive blasts which Nathan narrowly avoided.
For now.
Meanwhile nearby, River and Alicia were locked in their own battle.
Alicia's storm powers were in full effect, the air around her crackling with electricity as she summoned lightning bolts to strike at River.
The ground was scorched and torn apart by the sheer force of Alicia's attacks.
River, however, was no slouch. Her geokinesis allowed her to manipulate the earth, creating barriers and spikes to block and counter Alicia's strikes.
She sent a wave of earth crashing toward Alicia, forcing her to leap out of the way.
"You're not the only one who can control the battlefield," River said, her voice calm but her eyes sharp.
Alicia grinned, her expression almost manic as she unleashed another lightning bolt. "Well, let's just see how long you can keep this up!"
Marcus and Kevin's fight on the other hand was a basic clash of fire and lightning.
Marcus's electrokinesis crackled through the air as he hurled bolts of electricity at Kevin, who countered with bursts of flame.
The two elements collided in midair, creating explosions of heat and light.
"You're not bad," Marcus admitted, his voice strained as he dodged a fireball. "But still you're gonna need more than that to fight me."
Kevin smirked, his hands glowing with fire. "I guess we'll have to see about that won't we?"
Maria and Anabelle's fight was a battle of nature fighting against one of its own elements. Ice.
Maria's vines shot out from the ground, wrapping around Anabelle's limbs, but Anabelle countered by freezing the vines solid and shattering them with a flick of her wrist.
"You're going to have to do better than that," Anabelle said, her voice cold as she summoned shards of ice to hurl at Maria.
Maria grinned, her vines sprouting anew. "Oh relax, I'm just warming up."
While Lucas and Patrick's fight was the most one-sided of the bunch.
Lucas was one of the strongest first year cadets so, Patrick, despite his strength and skill with his mechanical war hammer, was no match for him.
The silver-haired cadet moved with a calm precision, his longsword flashing as he effortlessly parried Patrick's attacks.
Patrick swung his hammer with all his might, but Lucas dodged with ease, his movements almost lazy in comparison.
With a quick flick of his wrist, Lucas disarmed Patrick, sending the hammer flying. Patrick stumbled back, his expression a mix of frustration and awe.
"Give up. You're way out of your league," Lucas said, his voice calm but firm.
Just as the fights were reaching their peak, Nathan felt a chill run down his spine.
Natasha felt it too, her eyes widening as she glanced around. Before either of them could react, a massive wave of fire erupted from the trees, heading straight for them.
"Move!" Nathan shouted, grabbing Natasha and flying high into the air just as the flames consumed where they just were.
The fire spread rapidly, forcing the other cadets to scatter and abandon their fights.
From the trees emerged a group of hooded figures, their faces covered and their presence quite ominous even.
The one at the front stepped forward, his voice low and menacing. "Mind if I join in?"
Nathan's eyes narrowed as he recognized the group.
He clicked his tongue in annoyance, his grip on Natasha tightening slightly. "Fantasians," he muttered. "Just how the fuck are they here."