She stood in the middle of the field, facing her opponent, her mentor. His tall slim figure gave him a young gung-ho look, despite his age, and she knew that in those years, his fighting skill hadn't floundered one bit.
She fidgeted, brushing her hair away from her face, only to have it take refuge there once again when the wind blew. Her tank top and jeans clung to her tightly as if they were sopping wet. Her trainers seemed to shrink, and her headband somehow seemed to be getting tighter.
She continued to stand, facing him, waiting for him to say something. The wind howled, as if to emphasise the impatience she was feeling.
Finally, he spoke. "Do you actually know what materia is?"
"It allows you to use magic, and increase the chances of winning a battle."
He sighed. "So you think that using materia will make you a stronger fighter?"
"I know it will!" She studied her weapon. One of the advantages of her fighting pole was that she had intentionally given it plenty of materia slots, so one could place materia on it from one end to the other. However, this was perhaps the third time she had ever actually used materia, and so she hadn't had the chance to equip her weapon to the max.
She looked across at Cloud. Cloud hadn't got any materia attached to his sword at all, and this is what was worrying her. How can he expect to win without any materia? Is he going to teach me that I don't need materia? She smiled to herself. He's talking complete nonsense. He couldn't have defeated Meteor without using magic!
For a minute, Cloud seemed to grimace, but when she looked again, his face had once again become a mask, completely unreadable. He tightened his grip around his sword.
"Then hit me...if you can."
The second the sentence was out of his mouth, Marlene concentrated, focusing on the lightning materia she had attached.
"BOLT 3!!!"
The sky above Cloud's head suddenly darkened. Thunder roared in the distance, followed by an absolutely massive lightning bolt, which struck the ground where Cloud had been standing only a second before. Now, he was flying through the air towards Marlene. Quickly, she concentrated on the second materia she had attached.
"FIRE 3!!!"
Cloud was engulfed with flames almost immediately. The flames expanded outwards, creating a massive wall of flame in front of Marlene. I've done it! She thought. I've beaten him...
Suddenly, the figure of Cloud jumped out of the flames, and struck at Marlene. She barely managed to block in time. Despite being engulfed in flames, Cloud was only mildly burnt, and this is what Marlene found hard to believe.
"You aren't very experienced with materia," Cloud said. "That fire attack was very weak." He smiled at her, mockingly. "Materia isn't any good unless you learn how to use to properly."
He swung his sword at her again. She blocked, but Cloud had feinted his swing, and had switched to a downward slice. She didn't have time to jump out of the way, and the only choice she had was to block. The sword met the pole dead centre, becoming embedded in it. They strained against each, Cloud slowly moving his sword closer to Marlene's face.
Suddenly, he stopped pushing for a fraction of a second, and in that fraction, Marlene pushed upward with all he might, pushing the sword away from her off to one side, and shoving one end of the pole into Cloud's stomach. He gasped in pain as the breath was knocked out of him. She thrust her pole upwards, hoping to catch his chin, but he had dodged out of the way.
Immediately he was back on the offensive, launching a flurry of attacks against her, which she struggled to block. He sliced left, right, diagonally, he even lunged at her, moves that could have killed he if she hadn't have been able to block, even if Cloud wanted to stop them mid-swing.
Even in a duel such as this, Cloud would do the best he can to avoid killing me. Of course, injuring me is another matter...Suddenly, she saw it when he attempted a downward swing. His moves are clumsy, he's not giving the fight his full concentration. She sidestepped the swing. Better not worry why, I'd better just defeat him.
She flung herself at him, her pole movements becoming a blur Cloud seemed to block them with no effort at all, but she continued her attack, building up speed and momentum. Left, Right, Down, Up...
Suddenly, he seemed to lose concentration, his sword arm slowing down by a fraction of a second, and this is what Marlene took advantage of. She leapt forward before the sword could connect with her pole, and rammed her pole into his face. This had a massive effect, and Cloud cried out it pain, his sword going wild. She followed with a flurry of jabs to the midsection, driving him backward. Finally, she held her pole high up above her head and smashed it down on Cloud's skull. The pole vibrated in her hand as it connected, and Cloud collapsed to the ground.
She walked over to him, and placed on end of the pole to his neck. He was breathing heavily, his nose had probably been broken, and he had lost a couple of teeth. He opened her eyes, saw her standing over him, and sighed.
"Well done," he grunted. He pushed the pole away from him and shakily got to his feet, turning his head to one side to spit out blood as he did so.
"You're father would have been proud," he continued. His face was a look of disbelief and surprise. "Beating me, something he could never do!"
"You let me win!" she yelled at him.
"Not intentionally," he replied. "I made a mistake and..." He stopped, his face becoming a grimace. He clasped his forehead in his hands.
"Are you OK?" she leered. "Come on, I didn't hit you that hard!"
"It wasn't you..." he grunted. "I've just been having some really bad headaches for the past couple of days...ugh..." He clenched his teeth. "And they seem to be getting...worse..."
Suddenly, his body went limp, and he keeled over in the grass...
She fidgeted, brushing her hair away from her face, only to have it take refuge there once again when the wind blew. Her tank top and jeans clung to her tightly as if they were sopping wet. Her trainers seemed to shrink, and her headband somehow seemed to be getting tighter.
She continued to stand, facing him, waiting for him to say something. The wind howled, as if to emphasise the impatience she was feeling.
Finally, he spoke. "Do you actually know what materia is?"
"It allows you to use magic, and increase the chances of winning a battle."
He sighed. "So you think that using materia will make you a stronger fighter?"
"I know it will!" She studied her weapon. One of the advantages of her fighting pole was that she had intentionally given it plenty of materia slots, so one could place materia on it from one end to the other. However, this was perhaps the third time she had ever actually used materia, and so she hadn't had the chance to equip her weapon to the max.
She looked across at Cloud. Cloud hadn't got any materia attached to his sword at all, and this is what was worrying her. How can he expect to win without any materia? Is he going to teach me that I don't need materia? She smiled to herself. He's talking complete nonsense. He couldn't have defeated Meteor without using magic!
For a minute, Cloud seemed to grimace, but when she looked again, his face had once again become a mask, completely unreadable. He tightened his grip around his sword.
"Then hit me...if you can."
The second the sentence was out of his mouth, Marlene concentrated, focusing on the lightning materia she had attached.
"BOLT 3!!!"
The sky above Cloud's head suddenly darkened. Thunder roared in the distance, followed by an absolutely massive lightning bolt, which struck the ground where Cloud had been standing only a second before. Now, he was flying through the air towards Marlene. Quickly, she concentrated on the second materia she had attached.
"FIRE 3!!!"
Cloud was engulfed with flames almost immediately. The flames expanded outwards, creating a massive wall of flame in front of Marlene. I've done it! She thought. I've beaten him...
Suddenly, the figure of Cloud jumped out of the flames, and struck at Marlene. She barely managed to block in time. Despite being engulfed in flames, Cloud was only mildly burnt, and this is what Marlene found hard to believe.
"You aren't very experienced with materia," Cloud said. "That fire attack was very weak." He smiled at her, mockingly. "Materia isn't any good unless you learn how to use to properly."
He swung his sword at her again. She blocked, but Cloud had feinted his swing, and had switched to a downward slice. She didn't have time to jump out of the way, and the only choice she had was to block. The sword met the pole dead centre, becoming embedded in it. They strained against each, Cloud slowly moving his sword closer to Marlene's face.
Suddenly, he stopped pushing for a fraction of a second, and in that fraction, Marlene pushed upward with all he might, pushing the sword away from her off to one side, and shoving one end of the pole into Cloud's stomach. He gasped in pain as the breath was knocked out of him. She thrust her pole upwards, hoping to catch his chin, but he had dodged out of the way.
Immediately he was back on the offensive, launching a flurry of attacks against her, which she struggled to block. He sliced left, right, diagonally, he even lunged at her, moves that could have killed he if she hadn't have been able to block, even if Cloud wanted to stop them mid-swing.
Even in a duel such as this, Cloud would do the best he can to avoid killing me. Of course, injuring me is another matter...Suddenly, she saw it when he attempted a downward swing. His moves are clumsy, he's not giving the fight his full concentration. She sidestepped the swing. Better not worry why, I'd better just defeat him.
She flung herself at him, her pole movements becoming a blur Cloud seemed to block them with no effort at all, but she continued her attack, building up speed and momentum. Left, Right, Down, Up...
Suddenly, he seemed to lose concentration, his sword arm slowing down by a fraction of a second, and this is what Marlene took advantage of. She leapt forward before the sword could connect with her pole, and rammed her pole into his face. This had a massive effect, and Cloud cried out it pain, his sword going wild. She followed with a flurry of jabs to the midsection, driving him backward. Finally, she held her pole high up above her head and smashed it down on Cloud's skull. The pole vibrated in her hand as it connected, and Cloud collapsed to the ground.
She walked over to him, and placed on end of the pole to his neck. He was breathing heavily, his nose had probably been broken, and he had lost a couple of teeth. He opened her eyes, saw her standing over him, and sighed.
"Well done," he grunted. He pushed the pole away from him and shakily got to his feet, turning his head to one side to spit out blood as he did so.
"You're father would have been proud," he continued. His face was a look of disbelief and surprise. "Beating me, something he could never do!"
"You let me win!" she yelled at him.
"Not intentionally," he replied. "I made a mistake and..." He stopped, his face becoming a grimace. He clasped his forehead in his hands.
"Are you OK?" she leered. "Come on, I didn't hit you that hard!"
"It wasn't you..." he grunted. "I've just been having some really bad headaches for the past couple of days...ugh..." He clenched his teeth. "And they seem to be getting...worse..."
Suddenly, his body went limp, and he keeled over in the grass...