Author's Note: All I have to say is please enjoy the final chapter of Troubled Days: Bronze.

Justin looked over at Wendy who was drenched in sweat. She had nothing more than her sweat pants, running shoes and red sports bra on. The two of them had just finished running their drills and training exercises. He reached over and grabbed her a water bottle whilst sitting right beside her.

He took in a deep breath as Wendy grabbed the bottle. "Kinda crazy, our fight is tomorrow."

She took a big gulp of water letting out a loud exhale. "I-I'm freaking out... I know we've gone over the plan, but don't you think you're putting a little bit too much faith in me. It's Yajima and Asteria we're talking about. I just don't want to disappoint you."

Justin grabbed his partner by the shoulders. His grip was tight and firm. "Don't talk like that! I know you're nervous and I know you're scared, but I believe we can win. If the worst comes to worst and we get an open field as our fighting stage I'm going to have to rely on you to win. My Osia is useless against Yajima and Asteria. I know you believe that you're not strong enough to win but you have more power than both Yajima and Asteria combined. You are our win condition. If we get an open field I will only drag you down."

These words resonated with Wendy. She still didn't know what to think. She didn't know why Justin had so much faith in her. She bit down on the bottom of her lip and toughed out a weak smile. "That only makes me more nervous."

Justin let out a soft laugh. He could tell how nervous Wendy was, and he didn't really know how to lighten the mood. He wasn't really too well versed in doing things of the such. However he did eventually come up with something that would hopefully calm down her nerves or at the very least put her at ease. "Oh yeah? What's something that'll make you less nervous then."

Wendy looked away from Justin crossing her arms. She thought that she must've been crazy to suggest what she wanted, but the idea did really appeal to her. She played with the idea in her head just imagining what Justin and her would do if they won. She clenched her sweaty palms and looked him in the eye. "If we win... If we win y-you have to give me... you have to give me a kiss!" There was a wide blush that spread across wendy cheek to cheek.

At first Justin was taken back by this statement. He was slightly confused but it made sense to him as if it was instincts he sort of just went along with it. "Sure no problem!"

The bright sun shone over the Vital Tournament's arena. Crowds had flooded in to see the matches that were to take place. Standing on the field was Wendy, Justin, Asteria and Yajima. Each one of their expressions were intense. It was clear that things were starting to boil down to who would become the true victor of the Vital Tournament. It had been decided that the field would take place on an abandoned city stage.

Looking at the battlefield there were many tall mock buildings a large maze of alleyways and many tight corners to fight. In the middle of the stage was a dried up fountain and a flat area that was clearly the main area for combatants fight. Wendy saw this as an advantage cause of Justin's ricochet style of combat and just how much it needed a tight space to be effective. However Justin knew that this was also heavily in Asteria and Yajima's favour since this type of battlefield was where Yajima grew up. Justin knew that Yajima would've prepared his team to deal with any form of battlefield due to his pure and utter determination to win.

The referee looked at both sides and put a bright smile on his face. "This is the start of quarter finals! Are all combatants ready?"

Everyone gave the thumbs up to get started. Everyone's classmates watched carefully deciding on what the outcome might be. Maria, Markus, Aiden, Fritz and Coraline who were watching the fight together all had their money on Yajima and Asteria. Winston was sat in a private viewing area with Lorenzo and Henri.

"Tell me boy, do you know them? You look concerned." Lorenzo said.

Winston took in a deep breath. "They're just my classmates. Wendy and Justin are my friends. I'd hate to see them get hurt, but I guess that's just the way of battling. If Justin is going to give me false lies about my skill then I guess he does deserve to feel a little pain."

Henri smiled at Winston's response. She liked that those bruiting dark words coming out of his mouth. Although in the end she minded her own business as she carefully pointed her eyes towards the battlefield. She knew quite well who Yajima was she had dealt with him in the past. She knew him as an easy target, someone who could be manipulated quite easily to her standards at least. He might've seemed skilled but in a tight fighting space his fighting style was quite linear.

On the battlefield Wendy tightened her stance. From where she stood she couldn't even see Yajima or Asteria the tall buildings blocked her view. She looked at Justin who had the same nervous expression that she had. When the horn sound was released into the stadium they both knew the fight had started.

Wendy and Justin quickly made their way into the maze of hallways and alleyways. The buildings were so tall that the alleyways were surrounded by darkness, and Justin had to use the occasional bit of flame to illuminate the way.

"This is a tight area, we've never seen Yajima or Asteria fight in a stadium like this. Yajima is a close quarters combat expert so running into him without intention is going to be bad. However being able to catch Asteria off guard would be very good since she's a ranged support fighter." Justin thought to himself.

"JUSTIN! LOOK OUT!" Wendy yelled.

Justin quickly turned around to see a massive fireball headed his way. He quickly stood in front of Wendy dissipating the fire blast. Standing there was Asteria who had a nervous look in her face. "Wendy I'll go after her you keep an eye out for Yajima. We can't stay grouped up like this or else she will destroy us."

Justin ran towards Asteria at full speed, but she quickly ran into one of the alleyways. Justin was hot on her trail, but with the quick twists and turns she made it was hard to track her down. Each time a corner would come she quickly ran around it, and Justin would follow. However with each corner she ran around the few glimpses he got of her would disappear to eventually him getting lost in the maze of alleyways.

Wendy was left there to fend for herself. She formed a blade and began to walk around the area. Her ears could only pick up the excited screams of Asteria's voice. When she looked around the corner she saw Asteria dash by and as if a ghost had appeared behind her she felt a sharp shiver run up her spine.

"Hey there Blotches!" Yajima yelled.

Wendy turned around around and saw Yajima running straight at her. His fists were glowing with red hot flames. The only thing she could was put up her arms to attempt to block. Yajima struck her wrist then her stomach pivoting on one foot to land a powerful kick to her side. The wind was knocked out of her and she could feel just how heavy Yajima's attacks were. Each one had the force of sledge hammer, and each blow sounded like a gun shot. Wendy leaped back landing on her hand and felt her back press up against a cold concrete wall.

Yajima slowly walked towards her. His eyes were glowing red and his whole body gave off an intimidating aura. Small sparks of flame were being released from his body. "I really wanted to go up Sparkles, but I guess you'll do." He menacingly said.

Wendy felt a chilling intense fear in her chest. Her hands were shaking and the hairs on her neck stood up tall. She pressed herself against the wall behind her hoping for anything. She wanted out she didn't know what to do. Her body was completely frozen in fear.

Yajima charged in once again fists covered in fire. Wendy quickly ducked but was met with a knee to the face. The impact made her ears ring, she felt Yajima grab her by her hair and tossed her along the ground. Her body was a rag doll to Yajima's assault. Just when Wendy thought she had stopped rolling there was a powerful impact that stung with immense pain her stomach. Yajima had leaped up into the air and drop kicked her stomach.

Yajima was walking circles around Wendy as she lay there gasping for air. She bit her lower lip and winced from the pain. She clenched the ground gripping the dirt between her fingers. She took in a deep breath and slowly stood up. She struggled to get up but she eventually got up. There was a nervous glint in her eye as she stared down Yajima.

"Hm? You're not finished. I was holding back on you because I know how frail you are, but if you want a serious fight then I'll give one to you!" Yajima yelled. He charged at Wendy he quickly threw out a punch.

As his fist flew towards Wendy's head what happened next was something he didn't expect. Wendy moved her head slightly to the right, she grabbed Yajima by the elbow and with all of her might formed a fist and punched him right in the gut. She kept her fist planted there pushing deeper into Yajima's stomach.

"I'm going to win. Don't you even for a second think you have the upper hand on me." She pressed her fist further into Yajima. There was still an undeniable amount of fear in her eyes but there was a determination that even made Yajima surprised.

Yajima jumped back and used the walls to his advantage. He leaped back and forth between them using them for different angles of attacks. He struck Wendy on the shoulder, and soon attacked the back of her knee with a quick low sweep. Wendy fell to the ground but soon leaped back looking at Yajima, he had become a ball of fire. She placed both hands together and a bright white light formed.

"Nope! I'm not going to allow you to form that weapon! Overheat!" A wave of flames erupted from his body spreading through the city engulfing multiple buildings. When the attack hit Wendy she was knocked down to the ground.

Wendy's hands were scorched and badly burned the pain was indescribable. Tears welled up in her eyes as she clenched her fists. She quickly looked back up and saw Yajima headed right towards her. She rolled out of the way but his impact on the ground cracked and sent a shockwave which picked her up. Yajima ran and jumped into the air quickly hitting Wendy back down.

"I don't want to hurt you any further. You might as well give up now." Yajima said.

Wendy was gasping for air. Her hands were burned and her whole body already ached from this fight, but she had to win. She knew what was on the line, and it was more than a simple kiss. Wining this match would allow Justin to go to Tsu, he needed to see his family, and she would do anything to help him. She struggled against the weight of her own body, her nose and mouth were bleeding and her limbs had gone numb. She could taste the blood filling her mouth. When she was up on two feet she put both of her hands up directly challenging Yajima. "Will win no matter what!"

"Ok then Wendy! Show me that determination of yours!"

Wendy formed both blades in her hands. Each one was the size of a katana and the formation was incredibly fast, much faster than what she had done during her time in school. She ran at Yajima her eyes were wide open and the only thing she could see was her defeating Yajima. She quickly slashed at him with each swing missing, but her timing was getting tighter, and eventually a few strikes did land on Yajima's clothing.

She threw one of the swords at the ground and it bounced up in the air. She formed a few more blades and started bouncing them around the walls of the alleyway. In her hands she formed small daggers and threw them all directly at Yajima.

"Crap!" Yajima jumped back he saw all the blades closing in. He had already used overheat, the move was on cooldown, and even so if he forced it out the heat wouldn't be enough to destroy the blades. He was running out of time as the blades flew closer and closer, he knew if he didn't do something now this would be it for him. He clenched his teeth and closed his eyes, he felt an immense amount of pressure build up within his body. Clenching both of his fists his body erupted into a pillar of flames sending out a blast destroying everything around him buildings and all. The force of the explosion was enough to flatten the whole battlefield. And the whole field was covered in a layer of smoke. The crowds eyes all shot up towards the monitor.

The referee put up his flag. "Justin and Asteria have been eliminated due to out of bounds!"

Justin had been flung up against the wall of the stadium and so had Asteria, they were both wincing in pain but Asteria felt extremely frustrated. "Yajima you knuckle head! Think before you activate your Osia, that blast knocked me out of the ring!"

As the smoke cleared the scene revealed to be Wendy running at Yajima with two swords in her hands. She was getting good hits in on Yajima, but Yajima was also landing his blows. Yajima was still a pillar of flames, but Wendy was able to keep up by dodging, however she was still getting hit and was taking damage. The surface of her skin was also badly burnt as the heat radiating out of Yajima was so immense that the rock he stepped on quickly turned to lava.

Wendy leaped back, she was completely out of breath and she could barely think with just how much pain she was in. Yajima was in the same state as her though, that last exchange he was covered in many cuts and after the explosion he made Wendy managed to throw a sword right into his shoulder. Both of them were on their knees, and both of them struggled to get up.

"Wendy, you're good. My energy is running thin thanks to you, those blades pack a punch. But forming them that fast must be exhausting you look close to passing out." Yajima muttered before falling back down catching himself with his knee.

Wendy smiled through the pain. "Heh... I'm going to have to use it aren't I. Yajima, what I'm about to do is what I was planning for my rematch against Eren, but you've left me no choice I'm going to have to use it."

Yajima was out of breath and he could feel his Osia draining away from him. It was dying down and he wasn't sure just how much longer he could hold it. He had put everything into activating it and the brawl with Wendy in the smoke had completely drained him. Each cut also stung which chipped away at his stamina even more. "Yeah? And what would that be?"

"A Grifta Attack. I've done it before in practice, but this will be the first time of me using it in a fight." Wendy said. She knew the flaws of her Grifta Attack well, as right now it took such a long time to set up. Would Yajima give her the time, no he isn't that dumb.

"You look worried Wendy. Does it take a long time to set up? Don't worry you have my respect I'll sit here and wait for it. There's no point to winning if I don't fight my opponent at their best."

"Fine! Just don't regret it when I beat you! Thousand Blades!" Wendy's body erupted with a bright while light. She clenched her teeth and closed her fists. The energy flared up wildly almost appearing likes flames. Thousands of small white orbs circled her body each one turned into a sword slowly. Wendy could already taste the blood in her mouth and she hadn't even formed one proper sword in the attack. She bit her lower lip and pushed through the pain. Her wrists, elbows and shoulders begun to bleed from the sheer amount of energy she had to build up. The pounding in her head already made her want to give up, but she needed to fight this one through.

However through the pain the struggle Yajima was greeted to a wall of swords pointing his way. He smiled and looked Wendy in the eye. Forcing all the energy he had left in his body and then some he clenched his fists and erupted into another pillar of flames.

"This is the last stand Wendy! Are you ready!" Yajima yelled.

The two of them ran at each other. Wendy sent a few of the blades flying towards Yajima, each one was getting ripped to shreds by his heat, but as they got closer and closer some of the blades were getting through. Yajima felt the stinging pain of each one, but he had to push forward. Wendy had generated such an attack for him he had to show her the proper respect she deserved.

Wendy was running out of blades she had only about five left, and Yajima's flame pillar was running low. She summoned the five blades to her hand and formed one unison katana out of them. Yajima summoned the flames around his body to only his hand. Wendy slammed the sword down on Yajima and Yajima pushed up against the blade with his hand. The impact sent gale force winds out. The wind stirred up the debris and Wendy felt the blade breaking in her hands it took all of her energy just to hold it together. Yajima felt the bones in his right arm breaking and he used all of his might not to give in.

"Wendy I have no energy left! This fight has been incredible, but it has to end! If I have no energy left then I'll just squeeze it out of TOMORROW!" Yajima yelled. The orb in his hand expanded by a small about cracking Wendy's sword by just a bit.

Wendy planted her feet and gritted her teeth. She had no energy left, but she could was the victory ahead, she just need to hold out for a little longer. Just a little longer. She just need that one push, she could feel her blade was on the edge of shattering. She clenched both of her hands and with just the tiniest bit more strength push down on Yajima.

Yajima couldn't keep it any longer and neither could Wendy. Yajima's arm just gave out and his orb completely dissipated. Wendy pushed with all of her might. Her blade shattered but the explosion forced Yajima down. Wendy was breathing so hard as she looked up into the sky. She was drenched in sweat and her head was pounding. It was as if this was a dream the referee put up his hand and said. "The Winner is Wendy and Justin!"

Wendy slowly opened up her eyes. There was a nurse to her right, but also Yajima was sitting there. He had a sad look in his eye and she couldn't tell why. His arm was in a cast and the first thought that came to her mind was, he might've been upset about the fight. Wendy pushed herself up sitting up straight. She winced as her hands were severely burned. She watched carefully as the nurse walked out of the room. There was a hint of awkward silence between the Zorua and Infernape.

Yajima scratched the back of his head. At first he couldn't think of the words to say. He wanted to say so much to her, but she just woke up so he didn't want to overwhelm her. "Hey look so you won... but you were completely knocked out for two days. You and Justin placed well as he had to go through several two vs ones."

Wendy smiled as she could feel tears welling up in her eyes. She couldn't believe it, she was having trouble getting over the fact that she beat Yajima. In that moment coming bursting through the door was her partner.

"J-Justin?" Wendy said.

"OH MY GOODNESS WENDY! You... should... have... seen the finals! It was so intense, Eren's absolute mastery over his conduit was nothing short of impressive, but his opponents Henriette and Liliana were so cool too! Liliana made a nine tailed fox out of pure psychic energy! She went on all fours and fired off massive orbs of homing psychic energy! Who knew despite the type disadvantage they could generate enough heat to damage Eren and Xavier! Some how Eren was able to pull away the energy from them with his conduit and turn the tides!" Justin was slightly out of breath whilst showing Wendy his drawings of what happened. "Well anyway I'll see you later today, I'm going to be hanging out with Maria, Coraline, Asteria, Liliana and I don't know I'll see what other sweet ladies I can find."

"W-wait what about my rew—?" Wendy wasn't able to say what she wanted to say as Justin had already left the room. She took in a deep breath and began to move her arms stretching them. There was a small amount of pain but it was more bearable.

Yajima scratched the back of his head. "So... Wendy, do you need help?"

Wendy smiled. "Uh sure." As Yajima held her hand in getting out of the bed it had finally come across her mind that the young Infernape was calling her by her name and not that silly nickname he came up with. "I just noticed this... but you're calling me by my actual name."

It was as if Yajima was caught on his own tongue as he stayed quiet for a few seconds. Then soon smirked. "I mean if you want me to call you Blotches or Short Stack I can."

"Huh!? Yajima you're mean!" Wendy said. She pulled her hand out of Yajima's hand and got out of the bed herself. Her legs were a little shaky, and she was a little nervous taking the first step.

Yajima grabbed her arm and slung it over his neck. "Here my arm is broken so I'm just going to support you with this arm instead alright. Now come on, we've got a Moonlight Ball to prepare for Blotches."

"Call me Blotches one more time and I'm shoving you down a flight of stairs." Wendy pouted.

"Ok Short Stack," Yajima laughed.

Wendy was preparing for the Moonlight Ball, she had already gone through the usual and that was take a shower and do some basic hygiene. However for a dress she chose something quite special, she was really hoping to receive her reward from Justin tonight, maybe a cute dress might catch his attention. She looked in the mirror and couldn't help but blush at what she was wearing knowing that it was by far her favourite formal wear.

She wore a tight fitting red top where the sides were red but the middle was a dark grey. Where the grey and red met it was lined with frills. Her shoulders were completely exposed and the dress had a red lip that folded over her chest. In her hair was a red rose pin, and her skirt fell down to the middle of her thighs. She wore tight fitting black pants and for shoes she wore red flats that had ribbons around the ankles.

"Awwww look at my niece! You look so cute!" Steven said.

Wendy turned her head looking at her uncle. "I really hope Justin likes it.

"I'm sure he will."

Everyone had gathered in the school gymnasium for the Moonlight Ball. Everyone had dressed up for the occasion each of the guys had a suit in a different style and the girls had dresses that really seemed to suit them. Even Mr Alan had dressed up and his hair was tied back into a neatly done ball. The roof of the gym had been opened up to allow the rays of the full moon to illuminate room. Small sparkled specs glittered in the moonlight same with the food on the side.

Of course not everyone attended, but a majority of the class was there. It was quite a scene to see Wendy desperately trying to get Justin to dance with her, and it was really cute seeing Markus trying to properly dace with Maria.

Justin who was too embarrassed to admit that he couldn't dance tried to play it off. "Wendy, I'm not really the dancing type you know. How about you go and dance with uh... Yaji... Aiden!"

Wendy gave off a bright smile. "Aww don't be silly dumb dumb. It's ok you taught me how to fight so I'll teach you how to dance. See look it's simple it's just 1.. 2... OUCH!"

"Sorry!" Justin meekly said.

As the night progressed Yajima was sat by the punch bowl he looked at the dance floor and couldn't help but feel a little bit of jealousy watching Asteria dance with Aiden. Despite the slight hint of jealousy it was overwhelmed with pride for her, and he was proud that she found someone she really connected with. In fact he could tell from the moment that he partnered up with her that he wasn't her type. Either way he still considered her to be a very good friend of his and if Aiden ever hurt her he'd give that stupid Scissor a piece of his mind.

Maria had found comfort in dancing with Markus and the two of them did occasionally switch partners on the dance floor to share the time with everyone. In fact Justin finally did eventually end up dancing with Maria, and the nervous look on his face was priceless.

Back at the punch bowl Wendy eventually made her way beside Yajima. "Wow I am exhausted. Why aren't you dancing? You're from Tsu shouldn't this be your thing?"

Yajima smiled. "Maybe it is. I'm not sure I've never tried."

Wendy soon looked at Yajima's cast. "I'm really sorry about your arm."

There was a soft giggle that left the young Infernape's lips. "Nah don't worry about it. This was my own fault I pushed myself way beyond my limit during that fight. You have my respect Wendy. So I hear Justin is moving to Tsu after this. Eren is going back to Aether, and I'm staying here. What are you going to do?"

"Wait for all my friends. While I'm waiting I'm going to keep at it and become a pro battler." Wendy said.

Yajima smiled. "Alright how about this, once my arm heals up we're having a rematch! One on One!"

Wendy smiled back. "You got it!"

As Wendy and Yajima stood there smiling at each other Coraline had oddly come up to them. She was wearing a pretty black dress. "Uhm... Yajima, Wendy have you two seen Winston? He's not here, he's not one to break a promise. He said he'd be here."

Wendy looked around and even took a quick whiff of the air around her. "You're right Winston isn't here. Have you tried calling him?"

"Yes! Like at least 15 times! It only goes to voice mail! He's been acting weird ever since his loss in the Vital Tournament. I just hope he can make it, he and I were supposed to dance together. Just let me know if you guys see him alright." Coraline said.

"Yup will do!" Wendy said.

In a small fighting ring in the shape of a small octagon lay an Incineroar Pokemorph. The light above was swinging back and forth. The young man laying on the floor was in excruciating pain, his skin had become rotten in just a few seconds and his eyes felt as if they were on fire. Lorenzo watched with a massive grin on his face, Henri watched and smiled at her new partner, and Christina watched in horror. She watched in horror as her brother stood proudly above a man with bright purple poison dripping from his hand.

Winston wasn't proud of what he had done, and truthfully he felt bad for the person he just defeated. He wiped the blood off of his cheek and let the poison from his hand drip onto the floor. He gave a quick look at Lorenzo and looked back at his opponent. He looked right back at Lorenzo.

There was a cold dead stare in Winston's eyes. With a bit of spite, guilt and anger he looked his new sponsor in the eyes and said.

"So... when's my next fight?"

Author's Note: There we go Ladies and Gentlemen! That is the last chapter of Troubled Days: Bronze! Oh boy was that a journey! I never expected for this story to come this far if I am completely being honest!

How this story came to be I was literally sitting in class and thought of this half assed idea then thought to myself "wouldn't it be funny to make this a SYOC." Turns out this story has such an awesome reader base and I thank you all so much for sticking with me and this story! It really means a lot to me and this is great as this is my first completed story on this account!

I know I didn't include a ton of the characters that were introduced and the main reason for that is I couldn't really see myself writing for them, or I couldn't take them to a place that seemed interesting to me. So I am deeply sorry that I didn't include all the characters, after all when I was originally accepting character I thought of this story as a joke. However by the end this has been by far the most fun and most miserable writing experience I have ever had. The journey to get here was awesome and I think all of you reading submitting and reviewing the story.

So now we get to the part where I ask for things like! What did you guys think of the story as a whole cause oh boy were there some forgotten plot points! Also no seriously though what did you guys think good bad terrible amazing? Who knows! What did you think of the last chapter was it a good send off! I'm really excited to see what you guys say!

Anyway it has been a pleasure as FireFoxDriver to write this story for all of you! See you guys in Troubled Days: Silver!