The Beginning of the End

Inertia activated the phone case. From the sound of the lock sliding into place and the safety clicking, I realized it was secured at the base of her neck.

My role at that moment was to wait for Fanger to trigger enough adrenaline in Inertia’s body so I could activate Versus. 

A full minute passed, and he still hadn’t made a single move.

“Hey, Inertia, you’ll die if you stay in human form! Come on, transform… or have you already started failing?” said the sharp, high-pitched voice I assumed belonged to Fanger.

She didn’t answer. Instead, she moved on to our backup plan.

I heard the rapid pounding of footsteps against the ground, like a sprint, mixed with the wind striking against the phone case.

Inertia was generating adrenaline on her own by running, allowing me to trigger the button.

A few minutes into her effort, the button finally activated, and I was able to start the battle. The transformation lasted exactly thirty seconds, and then the entire arena came into view.

The battlefield also ran on a simulated-reality system, and this time we found ourselves inside the coliseum.

Fanger, just as Lorenzo had described, was a short young man with long, fiery red hair. His special ability lay in his fingers, which could control a robot three times his size.

That combat robot took the form of a metallic crimson ronin, its main weapon a blazing sword. Its core was forged from the same material as the blade, an endless source of its flames.

As planned, my preselected physical form was Telo. Before I could even take in my surroundings, Fanger launched a sword strike aimed straight at my chest.

I dodged without the blade touching me, and at that exact instant Lorenzo’s voice echoed in my subconscious, repeating our training.

“Never let that sword touch you. One strike is enough to unravel any matter. Your biggest challenge will be finding its weakest point, which is most likely the connection between the ronin and Fanger.”

The only difference between theory and practice was that the time to think and act was absurdly short.

“When he attacks at close range, you must neutralize him with Touchdown. Keep him at a distance at all costs. One touch is all he needs,” Lorenzo’s voice continued in my head.

I released the smoke and began running in circles, but Fanger seemed to have studied Telo. He dashed toward the farthest point of the arena.

Since he was out of range, I switched to a long-range weapon: Andrea’s special ability.

A single shot from her bazooka skill was enough to leave the entire arena stunned.

I kept firing relentlessly.

“How is this possible? Are you even human? How can you steal all our best attacks? Am I your next victim?” Fanger shouted as he dodged without pause.

Everything was unfolding exactly as planned.

Forcing Fanger out of range made it easier to activate the magnetic field I had inherited from Ghedi. I gathered plasma particles at the tips of my fists and waited for the right moment to strike.

I deliberately lowered my arm to lure him in. He didn’t hesitate. Within seconds, he lunged with a precise strike at my left shoulder.

My arm melted completely and fell to the ground.

But at the very moment he struck, I drove Dom’s electrified claw through a gap in the ronin’s armor with my right fist. A single high-voltage discharge into the concentrated plasma was enough to tear apart the entire inner structure of the ronin’s body.

Magnetic field + ionized particles + an energy pulse from the electric charge fused with the flaming body = high-caliber explosions.

That meant I blew myself up in the process as well, but most importantly, my life bar still remained above half.

Fanger looked stunned by what he had just witnessed, his own defeat.

“You’re not human! How is this possible?!” he screamed, before breaking into a disturbing laugh.

“We have the winner of the first round, Inertia Nowak!” the host declared.

The entire arena erupted in cheers as her victory was announced.

“Unbelievable! Such a rare combination of abilities!

That’s the end of the battle. Now stay tuned for the highlights of this incredible fight!” the announcer continued.

But as the broadcast and replay suddenly cut off with a glitch, the arena itself began to close in. The upper levels and doors sealed shut; no one could enter, and no one could leave.

Before the gates had even finished descending, I heard the crash of shattering glass above me.

Ghedi leapt from the balcony and landed at my side. Within seconds, he activated the protective shield, sealing just the two of us inside its safety.

Suddenly, the entire audience began hurling themselves into the arena around us like mindless zombies.

“Get ready, we’re under a massive attack! This whole competition is a sham!” Ghedi shouted, struggling to keep the shield from breaking.

Even as he spoke, Ghedi released an electromagnetic wave that dropped everyone near the shield to the ground. There were nearly four thousand people in the audience. Survival was impossible.

Alba, Aziza, Dom, and Chefe took their positions on the front line, each defending a section of the shield.

Alba shot me a quick glance, and I caught the gleam of her red eyes. In that moment, I understood. We had been dragged into a circus, and we were the clowns. They had staged an illegal assault against us, forcing Alba to use her special ability to protect Inertia, which only made everything worse.

All I could see were explosions and waves of attacks, a true massacre unfolding around us.

“Ghedi, what do we do?” I shouted in desperation.

“We—”

Before he could finish, the ground beneath us gave way, and we plummeted at an impossible speed.

Darkness swallowed everything. The hole was bottomless.

I felt Ghedi clutch Inertia tightly until we finally slammed into the ground.

I forced myself up, looked around, and in the faint light I saw dismembered bodies scattered in pieces.

They were the remains of Dom, Aziza, and Chefe. Only Alba, her body forged in titanium, and Ghedi still had their torsos intact, though both were left without legs.

I could barely tell which parts belonged to whom.

Looking up, I saw a single distant point of light, and panic gripped me. There was no way back.

YOU WON.

The final victory message flashed on the phone screen. Ill-timed, far too late.

Two seconds later, the Versus app shut down.

End of Report 33