The 3rd Round
ROUND 1:
I do not know what I am. I feel small and weak. There is a darkness around me. Ahead I see a light. As I enter the new space, I become aware that I have been given form. The form is that of a woman with a green grass dress that is divided by an inverted white V beginning at the navel, and a gold crown inlaid with emeralds. Another being is across from me. He is small and round and blue and wears a silver mask over his face. He holds a golden sword. I have no weapon but I know that I can defend myself if it proves necessary. A booming voice calls for us to fight and the battle begins. Orbs of flame shoot forth from my hands, sending the round figure flying. He approaches by spinning himself and his sword like a drill, only to be cut and repelled by a spinning blue diamond of my creation. He spins now as a tornado to match my diamond. I absorb the hit and wait for his next move. I am on the right edge of the small thin platform upon which we are fighting. His next move is a flying loop, aiming to stab me. But I am gone, vanished in a green wind wrapped by a yellow ribbon and I appear in the center of the platform. The figure falls down and a large pillar of light rockets upward. The round one reappears above me, faintly glowing. He quickly descends and attacks. The fight is far quicker this time. I teleport here and there, firing off orbs of flame whenever I am far enough away. He makes one wrong move. I teleport and grab him, throwing him into the ground. I feel a power well up within me and focus it in my right hand. The round figure is descending from the rebound and about to initiate another assault. My right palm strikes the figure, sending him careening to the left. He flies quickly beyond the pale and another pillar of light flashes by. The booming voice calls an end to the match. I am granted victory and am standing on clouds with my opponent wearily clapping behind me. I am again small and weak.
ROUND 2:
I do not know what I am. I know that I am small and weak. I know that I can fight. There is a darkness around me and yet somehow, it seems different than before. The familiar light appears ahead of me. The space I enter is different and yet the same. It is still a small thin platform. Its decorations have changed. Where before behind us we had cliffs and a waterfall, here there two fallen trees and in the distance great shapes which may not be mountains. My given form has changed. I am not as tall as the last time and I have a jagged tail. My ears are long and thin and my body is covered in a yellow fur. I feel overly energized, as if electricity is building up inside me. My opponent is facing me. He has not changed. He is still the round blue one. The voice booms for us to fight and we begin. My first move is to run and jump around in an attempt to confuse my opponent. He sees through this and does nothing. So I attack, releasing a small jolt of electricity. It arcs along the ground and hits him. He charges me and I dodge him. He quickly spins into a tornado, hitting me squarely. I run past him and fall off the platform. I attempt to get back on by using my acceleration move but my body fails me and jerks in the wrong direction. I plummet, looking down at the ground. A pillar of light rushes up to greet me and I welcome its embrace. I am again on the battlefield. Looking down I see my opponent. He is waiting for me to leave my small round platform. I jump down and greet him with a lightning bolt from the sky. He cannot move fast enough and is struck. I continue to blast him with lightning bolts as he fails to get past them with his flying loop. I realize that my move is becoming weaker, so I fire off a few smaller jolts to recharge. He waits for me at the left edge. I run and grab him, throwing him off. I begin to charge a ramming attack. I blast off from the ground in order to connect with the round one as he falls. He uses his flying loop to dodge and leaves me to fall. I plummet again to the ground and the light greets me once more. Now I am standing on clouds, wearily clapping behind the small blue masked figure. I am again small and weak.
ROUND 3:
I do not know what I am. I know that I am small and weak. I know that I can fight. I know that the one I face can fight just as well. There is a darkness all around me. It feels even more different than last time. When I see the light, I feel as a gladiator entering the arena. I fear for my life and I fight for glory. The space is different yet the same again. The platform is bare and what is behind us is constantly changing. My given form has changed again. I am taller than I was yet not as tall as my first form. I wear a white toga and brown sandals. My wrists have black bracers with gold rings at the front and back. Two white rings encircle each bracers midsection. My calves are covered in brown leather. I have a blue bow that is heavily outlined in gold. He is the one I have faced twice before. Even though his form has changed, I know it to be him. The same light shines forth from his eyes and he gives off the same ferocity as the round one. I can feel wings extending from below my shoulder blades. I know that they are white for I can see my opponent, and he is me. His wings are black. The mood has changed. There is a sense of finality in the air. We are called to our ultimate battle. Arrows of light and darkness fly across the stage, colliding in midair over and over. I gain an advantage by curving over his attacks and hitting him squarely. A green shield appears in front of him and sends my arrows back with increased ferocity as he fires off another volley of dark bolts. I deploy my own shield and realize that there is one behind me as well. I take advantage of the momentary ceasefire to fire off more arrows. He re-deploys his shields but I maneuver above and around, striking him from the sky with sharpened beams of light. I charge him. I pull out a small orange disk with a blue center. My arm thrusts itself forward in an uppercut. The disk blazes with flame. He strikes at the same time with a large contraption crackling with electricity. Both attacks collide and we are knocked back. An aerial battle for dominance ensues as we launch ourselves upward with wings to gain the upper ground. We dance around the stage, narrowly missing ledges and each falling to our deaths at nearly the same time. The battle of arrows begins once again. I prove superior as his arrows may be more powerful but mine can pierce him even when he shields himself in green. He maintains a solid advantage in the air, using it to dodge my charges while firing dark shots at my back when he lands. Sometimes I manage to defend myself from his onslaught. A temporary lull in the match. We are both collecting ourselves. We are both weary. We charge each other, disk vs gauntlet. Again and again, we clash, each time taking significant damage. The clashing continues for a good minute or two, taking its toll on both me and him. We retreat to opposite edges, I the left and he the right. We know this is our last move. We both rush forward and jump. The disk comes down in an arc and erupts in bright orange flame as it hits it mark. The gauntlet smashes into me, sending volt after volt of electricity into my body. He bounces off the ground and toward a light rushing to greet him. I am sent rocketing left toward a similar light. But his light disappears and he is taken to the sky. My light does not. I accept the technical loss. I know that both of us will always see that final match as a draw.
I think I now know what I am. I am a spark of consciousness. Each time I fight, I imbue my forms with a little more of myself. Soon they will know how to fight like me. They will be deadly on their own and will have no need for me, for I have nudged their own consciousnesses awake. And the three will each remember their first opponent. And they will seek him out in match after match, looking for someone who could match their every move and sometimes even outmatch them. Again and again they will fight and they will know that their opponent is not the same. And so, they will seek him forevermore. A distant rival waits, ever just out of reach, waiting somewhere, for the fourth round.