The second match took longer. Forty-seven seconds instead of three.
My opponent was a girl from the Scarlet Phantoms with fire manipulation. She threw heat like she'd been doing it her whole life. Probably had been. Her flames licked at my combat suit and singed the edges of my sleeves.
But fire needed oxygen. Fire needed space to breathe.
I didn't give her either.
Closed the distance before she could build momentum. Got inside her range where the flames couldn't form properly. She tried to create distance and I followed her step for step. My bat caught her in the ribs. Then the shoulder. Then the back of the knee.
She went down swinging. Literally. A wild haymaker that would have taken my head off if I'd been standing where she expected.
I wasn't.
The ref called the match. The Phantom stayed on the ground. Her teammates rushed in with medical support.
"SATORI NAKANO ADVANCES TO THE FINALS! HE WILL FACE THE WINNER OF REYNA CABANA VERSUS KIRA TANAKA!"
