NOVEL NEXT Episode LXXX: The Chemicals and the Clovers
The Royal Gold team strutted back to the tunnel, a palpable sense of triumph in the air. "Honestly, they didn't stand a chance against us," Nuno declared. Izaki shot back, "Easy for you to say, you didn't lift a finger during that match." Ashtiani chimed in, "Yeah, all you did was cheer him on." Nuno retorted defensively, his face clouding over with annoyance. "You guys did the same!"
They re-entered the rest area as a unit and were met with unsurprised glances from others in the room. The other teams craned their necks to catch sight of any other competitors who might have accompanied them.
"Any idea what happened to the other team?" Yosuke, Juro, Kiyoshi, Jasen, Mikki and Alecto questioned simultaneously. The Royal Gold members remained silent and reclaimed their previous spots without answering.
"We're talking to you guys," Kiyoshi protested. Cloven stared back at him with an icy glare. Unfazed, Kiyoshi retorted, "I'm not afraid of you." Alecto intervened by gently pushing Kiyoshi away from them.
"Save your anger for the ring," he advised.
"All I asked was a simple question; something terrifying must have happened," Kiyoshi speculated.
"We'll find out when it's our turn," Alecto assured him.
Akira observed cynically that everyone seemed clueless about what was happening in this tournament where life and death hung precariously in balance – tempers flared and rivalries deepened.
"Yeah, we should breeze through this tournament," Yeom confidently stated.
"Don't be foolish; we still have to get past Ghost Freaks; compared to them Spirit Mark seems weak," Hoon interjected pragmatically.
"One challenge at a time boys..." Miyoki cautioned.
The intercom buzzed, and a voice announced, "Chemical Black Tips and Four Clovers of Nightmare, please come forward to the fighting platform." Both teams exited the resting area and headed towards the fighting platform. Upon their arrival, the crowd erupted into excited cheers.
Both teams lined up side by side. Hiroko commented, "The Chemical Black Tips are more of a defensive unit with their team captain Kenelm Harper leading the charge."
Kenelm had piercing dark orange eyes and elbow-length curly red hair worn loosely. His muscular body was clad in a baggy red gi with a yellow belt and a Thoth logo on its back. Next to him stood Ryeo Chanwook with soft green eyes and shoulder-length straight silver hair styled wildly. He wore an orange gi with a brown belt bearing a bear logo at the back.
Beside Ryeo was Tom Johnson – his alert bright pink eyes contrasted sharply with his short curly pale yellow hair. He donned a black gi with matching belt featuring a dragon logo on its back.
Next to Tom was Seung Jiwoo whose light blue eyes were as striking as his long curly orange hair that formed an impressive afro. He sported a purple gi with silver belt displaying Winged Lion logo at its back.
Both teams took positions at opposite ends of the arena while Hiroko called for two fighters to step into the center of the platform. The match commenced after Seung from Four Clovers of Nightmare and Theo from Chemical Black Tips bowed to each other in respect.
They didn't attack immediately but circled each other cautiously, looking for any lapse in stance or defense that could be exploited. Then suddenly, Seung lunged at Theo who managed to block most punches while trying to land some of his own.
In response, Theo executed an acrobatic flip accompanied by an attempted kick towards Seung which narrowly missed its target. The missed attack resulted in Seung's pants catching fire, to which he muttered, "That was close."
Seung retaliated with a punch that sent Theo sprawling across the platform. Hiroko commended, "Wow, what a two-piece combo from Seung."
Theo got up without any apparent difficulty and acknowledged, "Not a bad punch."
"It wasn't anything special; I didn't put much effort into it," Seung responded nonchalantly.
"Can you survive this?" Theo challenged before launching his Ultimate Move: Molten Rock Shower. Amidst the raining hot lava rocks, Seung managed to dodge most but was eventually hit in the chest causing him to collapse under the onslaught.
"What a finish from Theo," Hiroko exclaimed as Theo extended a hand towards his fallen opponent and said, "Good try man, you almost had me."
"That is what you call good sportsmanship," Hiroko commented approvingly as they both retreated to their respective corners.
"For round two we need one fighter from each team on stage," Hiroko announced. Tom Johnson of Chemical Black Tips and Kyoko from Four Clovers of Nightmare ascended onto the platform. They stared at each other silently before bowing in mutual respect.
"The match has officially begun," declared Hiroko.
"I'm not going to waste any time; let's get down to business," Tom stated firmly.
A dark aura enshrouds him, and his eyes morph into a deep black. "I am Kuro, the Black Flame Dragon!" Tom announces. He transforms into a creature that's half-black dragon, half-human. "This dragon fighter has potential," Kyoko comments to Eclipse, her spirit guardian, "but he still feels weak."
Eclipse responds with agreement, "Yes, he seems like a tough opponent - but not quite."
An ocean green aura envelops Kyoko as she begins to transform into a being that's half-human and half-Cerberus. With the transformations complete, they clash against each other. Both Tom and Kyoko are throwing heavy blows at each other but both of them block these attacks with ease.
Tom unleashes a dark firestorm blast which Kyoko easily dodges, setting up an ocean-green slime wall to block more of Tom's attacks. Kenelm observes this exchange closely.
"Tom needs to stop before he wastes all his energy on Kyoko," Kenelm advises Ryeo who asks uncertainly if Tom will win.
"I don't know," Kenelm admits, adding, "But I do see that Kyoko has way more aura than Tom." Hiroko chimes in with his observation that Tom could be in trouble if he keeps attacking Kyoko’s slimy wall.
Ignoring their advice, Tom charges headfirst into the slime wall. Seeing him coming, Kyoko punches him back into the slime wall then uses his basic slime palm attack on Tom when he bounces back out of the slime circle.
Tom recovers quickly as the slime circle dissipates but it's clear to everyone watching that he is struggling against Kyoko's defensive tactics.
"You aren’t that strong; you're only relying on cheap shots," taunts Tom as he powers up his aura for an ultimate move - something no one has seen before from him.
"Ultimate Move: Dark Fire Dragon Ball Blast!" Tom announces, a huge dark purple flame ball forming in the palm of his hands as he unleashes an overwhelming amount of aura.
"Wait, did he say 'ultimate move'? He hasn’t reached power like that before," Kenelm exclaims. Hiroko adds that Tom seems to be trying to bring out all his power just to defeat Kyoko.
However, Tom's ultimate move fizzles out and he drops to the ground, reverting from his spirit guardian mode and gasping for breath.
"You're all out of juice," Kyoko taunts. "I give you the chance to step out so I don't have to embarrass you in front of everyone."
"Never!" Tom yells defiantly but is promptly knocked out of the ring by Kyoko. As soon as they hit the ground, their bodies start to disappear.
"Why are they disappearing? This is getting old fast," Hiroko complains.
Kyoko responds with a smirk, "It looks like when you lose, you disappear; that's what I've noticed. My team will make sure we survive this beach classic."
Hoon comments on this revelation, "It looks like one team figured it out."
"But will they figure out the real picture?" Yoemi asks skeptically.
"Who knows," Hoon shrugs nonchalantly.
Suddenly Hiroko's Bluetooth buzzes with a message from Chancellor Tom: "Sir, we have to stop this disappearing act."
"Shut up and do your job or we'll find someone else who can," Chancellor Tom retorts harshly. With a gulp, Hiroko continues his announcer duties.