Chapter 18

The Searchers and The Blue Siren assembled at The Fields, full focus on the sparring. Maya has only half a day left before Red and Kharkov considered her unqualified for The Host teachings. Maya heard all the details on her elimination but there was still hope for her. Maya met with The Host and has vented all her feelings out, receiving a few advices that may prove to be significant. She was prepared to give another try on beating Red. No longer she will hold back on impressing anyone, she was driven to beat Red and proved to him that she was no average Siren.

Maya was already at the centre ring, stretching her muscles and moved around. To get the blood pumping and the adrenaline moving in the system. Red and Kharkov were discussing something outside the ring. Maya couldn't hear what the conversation was and she didn't care. While doing her warm up, she kept her eyes on Red and never looked away. Red realized her unwearied glare and act cool, keeping his focus on his dear friend Kharkov.

"What's she doing?" Red asked.

A small smile formed on Kharkov lips. "She's doing some stretching, looks like she's going to beat you Red."

"If she does, good. If she doesn't, good. There's no loss on my side." Red shrugged.

"Uhuh, you have to look at her eyes my friend, she's not going to give no quarter this time." Kharkov teased.

"Guess it's time to get back in the game." Red cracked his knuckles. "Wish Maya luck Kharkov, 'cause she needs it."

Red moved away from Kharkov and turned his body towards the circle. Red met his gaze with Maya's and the tension was building. Red raised his brow with interest, things will not be like before, and that's for certain. It was a clear sign that Red must act more cautiously. Most important, he must not underestimate Maya, even though his impression of her was already decided. He stood in front of Maya and started to prepare himself for the spar. Stretching his muscles and making quick sudden movements. Not long after, Red finished his warm up and called Maya closer to him. Maya nodded and stood the position before the spar begin.

"You ready Maya?" Red asked.

"More than ready, are you ready?" Maya confidently said.

"Don't get cocky Blue, don't want to beat that face more than I should." Red retorted, she's certainly not like before.

"Alright, same rules as before." Kharkov announced. "If things get out of control, I will stop it. You have all the chance that you need until sundown, so take your time but not too long. Touch fists when ready."

Maya raised her fist first and said to read. "Let's go Red."

"No more mister nice guy this time." Red touched his fist with hers.

The two stood on their battle stance and proceed to spar.

Red went on the offensive and give quick jabs. Maya was moved a few paces back and successful dodged the punches. She focused her power on her hand and prepared at the right time. But then a slap hit her face, pushing to the left and moved her vision away from Red just a moment. She expected a follow up attack but when she looked at Red, he stopped. Red pointed at his feet and moved to the centre circle. Maya looked down and saw both of her feet outside of the ring. She lost the round.

"Again!" Kharkov shouted.

Maya circles around Red, not wanting to get close to him. Red observed her from the centre and waited for her next move. Maya used her Siren powers on Red; Red threw a stone to the side and dodged the singularity. Maya expected Red to do such movement and had a second singularity formed, finally she caught The Searcher. Red was lifted from the ground and couldn't move. Maya was elated as she succeeded to outwit the man. She wanted to throw Red from the ring but suddenly she was hit by a rock. The velocity of the rock was a quarter of a bullet and hit Maya at the forehead, knocking her out cold. She collapsed to the ground and Red landed on his feet, the singularity had faded away just like its creator.

Red planned at it all, by throwing the rock, he anticipated he would get caught. The rock thrown was pulled by the first singularity and orbit around it just for a moment. As Red was caught, the first one disappeared and the rock was no longer being pulled. As a result, the rock trajectory was on course towards Maya. All of it happened without her noticing.

Red moved to Maya and checked on her. Everything was okay, she just needed some time off then she would be good to go. Red lifted Maya up and glanced at Kharkov. Kharkov scratched his head and released a long breath.

"Again." Kharkov said.

Maya connected three jabs to Red's face. Maya made a singularity on her hand and punched Red. Red swerved to the side and grabbed her hand. Pulling Maya's hand, he flipped her and landed her to the ground. Red moved his body and wrapped himself around Maya's arm, initiating an Arm Bar. Maya did not give in and endured the pain. Red didn't give any mercy and pulled her arm even more, giving more tension to the elbow. Maya quickly tapped out.

"Again!"

Red kicked Maya at the head and knocks her out.

"Again!"

Maya dodged all the attack that Red attempted and grabbed his arm. She pulled and attempted pushed him out of the ring. Red stopped and Maya stopped also. Maya used all her might to pull the man but Red did not budge. He pulled her instead and threw her outside of the ring. Maya landed on her shoulders then slide away farther from the ring.

"Again!" Kharkov repeated.

After many attempts, the sun was at the edge of the horizon, slowly sinking down to night. Red looked at the sun then glanced at Kharkov, signalling to him that it was timeout. Maya was at the ground, running out of energy and spirit. Red shook his head and turned to Kharkov, it seemed that even Kharkov couldn't do anything about Maya. As much as he wanted to, Kharkov can't deny reality. Red saw the shoulder slumped down, out of sympathy, Red did what a friend would. Help.

Red walked towards Maya and offered his hand. "Come on, get up."

"What?" Maya looked at Red.

"Come on Blue, one last chance." Red urged her to take his hand.

Maya took the hand and got up to her feet. "Are you sure?"

"I won't go easy, so make this last chance count. You got that?" Red pointed at her.

Maya has no words to say, she nodded and took her position. Red also moved to his position and glanced at Kharkov. The gloomy face of him disappeared; he slightly bowed his body as a thank you towards Red. Red just nodded and turned towards Maya, resuming his work.

"One last chance Maya, make it count." Red raised his fist.

Maya looked at the fist then to Red, it was her last chance and she was not going to give in. Maya took a deep breath and hit her fist with his. The spar began again and no restart would happen. It was do or die for Maya. Maya went on to the defensive, moving away from Red and created distance. Red saw her move and went on to the offensive. Charging towards her with fists at the ready. They traded blows, one punch would land but the opposite side would send another. Red gave a kick to the legs of Maya, she jumped slightly to dodge it. As she landed on her feet, Maya gave a punch to Red's torso, her fist was amplified by her Siren power. Red couldn't react faster and received the hit. The result was mind blowing as Red was sent away a few metres. Still on his feet but slides farther and farther.

Kharkov was on the outside couldn't believe what he was seeing and cheered for Maya. Maya also could not believe what she had done. She looked at her hand and empowered her hands even more. Red reacted in a stoic manner changed his strategy. With the powers such as her, Red needed to go on the defensive. He stood his ground and waited for Maya to come to him.

Maya remembered what The Host had said and should've followed it ever since the beginning. The smirk on her face showed how happy she was making Red weary. She closed her eyes and started to focus on her powers even more. This time, she wanted to end it all with a big bang. Blue energy started to emit around her body, powering up as time pass by. Maya could feel the power within her emerged, giving an invincible feeling. She felt that it was enough, it was time for her unleash it. But when she thought she could, everything went dark for her.

Red realized Maya was changing. Something was different about her. Red could feel it. When she opened her eyes, there were not normal, both of them were the colour of blue with no white in it. Red stood still for a moment and could not understand what she was attempting. She looked as if she was possessed by some demon. Suddenly everything was getting heavy. Red collapsed to the ground in seconds and couldn't move. He tried to get up but his body was too heavy. An invisible pressure was on his back; his organs were squished to ground. He could feel his lungs and heart being pressured to absurd amounts that he couldn't fathom. As if there was a big boulder on top of him.

"Kharkov!" Red glanced Kharkov. "Help!"

Kharkov did not realize how bad the situation was getting, all of it revealed when she glanced at Maya. She was not normal, she was not herself, she was out of control. The grinding of the teeth, the noticeable veins at the forehead, the pure bitter expression, it was all dead giveaway. Kharkov quickly sprinted towards Maya, with the intention of neutralizing the deadly situation.

"Maya!" Kharkov shouted. "Stop!"

Just before Kharkov could reach a close distance, Maya turned her head towards Kharkov. The pressure was lifted from Red, now Kharkov was the victim. Trapped in a bubble of gravity, he was lifted to the ground. Kharkov looked down and saw his feet no longer touching the dried soil. He glanced at Maya and the next moment he was thrown far away to the woods. Kharkov hit all the trees and he was not stopping any time soon. Red appeared in front of Maya, punching her with the strongest punch he could muster. Landed to the cheek of Maya, she did not squirm or react; she stood still and looked stoic.

Maya used her powers towards Red and he instantly fell to his knee. The gravity for him was ten times more in a matter of instance. Red shouted and pushed himself to get up no matter how heavy he was. He faced Maya, eye to eye. He punched her two times but she still did not budge. Maya put her power even more, concentrating the gravity even more. Now, his body was twenty times more heavy yet he still stood stall. His skin turned red and his veins started emerged, blood was falling down.

Red was losing his consciousness; he was deprived of blood reaching the brain. On one desperate move, Red moved his body around Maya and submitted her to the ground. Engaging a rear naked choke, Red made sure his grips on Maya's neck was firm. Maya's bitter expression changed into shock and put her hands on Red's arm. Red pressured her neck even more, pulling her neck and pushed her head down.

"Kharkov, help!" Red screamed.

Kharkov was nowhere to be seen. Maya decided to increase the gravity on Red, to a point that even the ground started to crack. Red nose started to bleed and he was on the verge of passing out.

"Akari!" Red screamed again, blood flowing out even more. "Don't make me kill her!"

The Host was not there. It seemed that Red needed to do what necessary. He closed his eyes and moved his arms. He attempted to snap Maya's neck but before he could do that, he passed out. The gravity had break him.

Akari finally appeared on the scene and stood beside Maya and Red. She quickly lowered down and put her palm on Maya's forehead. Her golden Siren marks glowed and it calmed Maya down. She fainted and all her powers were no more. The gravity that has been put on Red was finally gone. With Maya neutralized, Akari quickly moved Maya away to the side and tended to Red. She raised his head and put her hand on his face. Kharkov finally arrived back, sprinting as fast as he could. He arrived to the centre of the ring and quickly pulled Maya away from Red. After establishing the space, Kharkov helped Akari on making sure that Red would not die. Kharkov push his two hands on Red's chest and pushed down the heart, restarting the heart.

Red opened his eyes and breathed in the heaviest breath he could do. Seeing the two people at his sides, Red quickly got up and moved away from the two. Blood had stained his clothes and he was barely able to walk properly. His anger numbed the pain and he did not want to face Akari or Kharkov, especially Maya.

"Red, are you okay?" Kharkov got up with Akari.

"Don't you fucking talk to me…" Red wiped off the blood from his nose, it was still bleeding. "She's out."

"She beat you." Akari said.

"She almost killed me!" Red turned to glare at The Host and Kharkov, and then he continued his way towards The Academia. "She doesn't know how to control her powers."

Kharkov sighed and pitied his friend; he wanted to console him but was stopped by Akari. Kharkov looked at Akari and she shook her head slowly.

"I will talk to him Kharkov, please tend to Maya." The Host said. "Carry her to her room and check if there is anything worrying about her condition."

Kharkov glanced at the fainted Siren then back to The Host. "Make sure that he's okay."

"I will." The Host nodded and went to The Academia.