The Phantom Strike

"The room may be pitch black to you. But to my eyes…everything is screaming at them.”

The arena is filled with anticipation as the two fighters prepare to face off. Alice stands across from her opponent, her rich mahogany skin glowing under the arena lights. With her deep blue eyes now changing into swirling, multicolored vortices, the world around her stripped naked as she shifted her vision from the visible light range to X-ray. The marketplace crowds dissolved into a sea of clicking white joints and pulsing ribcages. She didn’t see the opponent's cloak or his snarl; she saw the cold, dense silhouette of a steel dagger tucked behind a femur, glowing like a shard of ice against the ghost-grey of his thigh.

Her opponent, a towering figure with bulging muscles and a scowling face, sizes her up, a sneer twisting his lips.

"You think you can take me on, girlie?" he sneers, cracking his massive knuckles.

Alice remains unfazed, her face expressionless as she keeps her eyes trained on the opponent. "We'll see about that," she replies calmly, her hands clenching into fists.

The opponent lets out a deep, booming laugh. "Oh, you've got some spunk, I'll give you that. But I'm going to enjoy taking you down."

The referee shouted out excitedly: "BEGIN!!!!”

Alice's eyes focus on her opponent with intensity, and her muscles coil under her dark skin as she prepares her stance.

The opponent lunges forward, his massive fist aimed right at her throat.

In that instant, she shifts her vision to Infrared instead. She sees his lungs burn hot as he takes a breath—he's about to shout or cast.

She shifts back to X-ray, seeing the exact gap between his shoulder plates. She thrusts her hand—coated in her aura—into that gap. The foe's aura shatters like glass around him, leaving him vulnerable for a critical blow, which Alice is more than eager to take advantage of.

The opponent stumbles back as his aura shatters, surprised at the effectiveness of the attack.

He glares at Alice with anger, his voice a low growl. "Damn girl, where'd you learn to fight like that?”

The opponent grits his teeth, his face twisted in anger. "Fat chance! I've got plenty of gas in the tank, girl. I'm going to enjoy wiping that smirk off your face.”

Alice simply shrugs, a slight smirk playing at the corner of her lips. "You can certainly try."

The opponent lunges forward again, his movements even faster and more aggressive than before, while Alice shifts her vision to Infrared again to detect where his aura is concentrated in his body. 

Alice sidesteps the attack, her movements quick and agile. She continues shifting her vision between visible light and infrared and x-ray on a dime, predicting her opponent's moves and countering them with lightning-fast reactions.

The crowd watches with bated breath, stunned by the power and precision of Alice's fighting style. She fights as if she can see her opponent's very soul, predicting every move before it even happens.

"Woah! She's a telepath or something?!" Someone in the crowd shouted.

The opponent growls in frustration as his attacks all miss, his movements becoming more erratic and desperate.

"Damnit, how are you doing this?!" he yells, his voice tinged with desperation. "I can't hit you no matter what I do!”

Alice doesn't respond, her face a mask of calm determination. She continues to predict and dodge each of her opponent's attacks, never once faltering or showing any sign of stress.

The crowd watches in awe and confusion, whispering among themselves.

"How is she doing this?!" 

"Is this some kind of precognition skill?" 

"I've never seen anyone fight like this before.”

The opponent's anger and frustration continue to grow as he realizes that he's hopelessly outmatched. "Damnit, this can't be happening! I'm supposed to be the strongest fighter in this tournament!"

He throws caution to the wind and charges recklessly at Alice, hoping to land a lucky hit. That was when Alice decided to go for "The Phantom Pierce". Alice emitted a high-frequency X-ray pulse from her eyes to identify the exact nanosecond the man's muscle fibers contract to launch an attack. Because she sees the bone structure moving before the skin even ripples, she places a counter-blow that "slips" between his ribs to strike a lung before the opponent's own fist even travels six inches, sending him to the ground, unable to move after the strike.

The crowd goes wild as Alice's strike takes her opponent down, their cheers and applause deafening in the arena.

"Holy moly! Did you see that strike?!" someone in the crowd yelled.

"She straight up took him down in one hit! Who is this girl?!" another person called out.

The opponent lies on the ground, gasping for breath and struggling to move. "Wh-what...was that...?" he managed to wheeze out, his voice weak and shaky.

Alice stands over him, her stance relaxed as if she hadn't just completely dominated the fight. "That was The Phantom Pierce," she says simply, her voice cool and calm.

The opponent's eyes widen even further in shock and horror. "The...The Phantom Pierce?! But that's an urban legend! Nobody ever thought it was real!" he sputtered, his voice filled with disbelief.

Alice simply shrugs again. "Well, I guess I'm just full of surprises, aren't I?"

"And the winner is," the referee began, "...ALICE!"

The crowd roars with excitement at her response, clearly impressed by her skills and confidence.

The opponent, still lying on the ground, glares at Alice with a mix of anger and admiration. "You got me good, girlie," he grumbles grudgingly. "I gotta admit, you're the real deal.”

"I'm glad you realize it," Alice replies curtly, her voice smooth and confident. "Maybe next time you'll think twice before underestimating your opponent." 

The opponent's face twists into a grimace, his pride clearly stung. "Yeah, yeah, don't rub it in."

He slowly pulls himself up to his feet, wincing as he rubs his sore ribs. "Just you wait—the upcoming match? With the crazy ice attack-spammer guy? Oh, he'll ruin ya real good.”

Alice arches an eyebrow curiously. "Is that so?" she asks, a hint of curiosity in her voice. "And what makes you think I couldn't handle an "ice attack-spammer"?”

The opponent grumbles, his ego bruised. "Well, for starters, he can freeze an entire arena in seconds flat! And the ice he uses is in ultraviolet so no one can even SEE the crap! I'm telling ya, he's on a whole other level. There's no way you're taking him down, girlie. Not a chance in hell."

Alice blinked at hearing 'ultraviolet'. "UV, huh..." she said, her eyes flashing with those rainbow vortices for a split second. "...I'll manage.”