Prompt: Porcupine
I tie a green ribbon quickly around my waist, and walk with my team into the dimly lit arena. The three of us stand at the doorway as a hooded man announces us.
"For the final Conbending match: The Porcupines versus the KoalaMonkeys!" he says with grandeur, waving us into the large room as the sound of applause reverberates through the space. We step onto the field, and I observe our opponents. Much more intimidating than the wimps who do all that staged "Probending", I'd say. In this underground system, there are practically no rules. It's much more thrilling when you know your life could be on the line, and it's definitely much more entertaining for the audience. We play until one team is rendered unable to bend any longer.
As the announcer counts down from ten, we arrange our stances and prepare to start bending. The other team does the same, locking eye contact with us. Finally the whistle blows and we can begin.
Immediately I bring about fifty thin, stone spikes from the ground, and arrange them along my back and arms so they're at my disposal. My teammates do the same. After all, there's no rules against having all the same element on your team. This strategy has always proved effective for us. After all, we aren't called the porcupines for nothing. This takes all of three seconds, and afterwards we make an advance on our opponents.
They seem to have two waterbenders and a firebender. They haven't moved yet, they all hold defensive stances. I make sure this doesn't have me let my guard down, because I have no idea what they could be doing. Instead I make the first move. I slash on of my "spines" at the firebender, hearing it whistle as it slices through the air. He practically incinerates it with the explosion he releases to hold it back. The heat is almost overwhelming, and I'm forced to take a step back.
But the bright orange fire is doused almost right away, presumably by the waterbenders. Smoke and steam fills the entire room, and I'm blinded. I pause for a moment before closing my eyes and feeling my surroundings. The other team still hasn't moved, from what I can "see". I slide my foot slightly on the ground to send a vibration as a signal to my teammates.
In unison, we release the spikes from our backs and hold them in the air. We know their strategy now, and we can do the same. Instead of attacking again, we form a cage around the other team, tightly packing the spikes so they can't fit through. As the smoke clears, I can see the firbender has his brow furrowed. He starts as if he's going to make another explosion, but he knows he can't if he wants him or his teammates to survive. In the meantime, the waterbenders have begun slicing through the earth with ice. It begins to crumble relatively quickly, but a little time is all we need.
I look to our earthbender on the left. He's the only lavabender of the three of us, but he knows what he's doing. He hardly has to move besides pressing his foot into the ground for the earth beneath the opposing team melts into magma. The three of them pathetically clutch the remaining spikes of their cage, unable to bend. The shrill whistle blows once more, and we've won.
A/N: This is a story written for Toza's Gym in the Probending Circuit Forum. As I do more of the prompts from the Gym I'll just add them as chapters to this story since they're so short.
Word Count: 575