~*~Aftershocks: Chapter Seven- Commence~*~ ~Silverium~ Disclaimer: I don't own OMF 2097.

They loud speaker voice echoed in the stadium, packed with cheering fans. Jean-Paul didn't move an inch from his ready position until the countdown began where he, like Crystal, moved his arms back and forth slowly to get momentum built up.
"FIGHT!"
Jean-Paul jumped backwards as Crystal went down, sweeping her leg in an arc. He landed neatly and immediately countered her Jaguar Leap attack. The metal scraped against each other, sending out sparks as Jean-Paul turned and gave a heavy kick to her bot. There was a clanging sound and Crystal took a step back and then promptly resumed her fighting.
The battle was lasting longer than anyone expected. They traded blows and let the shrapnel fly but both were getting tired. As Jean-Paul used his Shadow slide to knock Crystal off her feet he seized his chance, her endurance had failed and she was now locked up and shedding sparks. Rushing over he jumped into the air then came down with a combination of furious punches and kicks, when she tried to recover he picked her up and then turned a backwards somersault, tossing her into the opposite wall behind him. When he got up she wasn't moving.
"Round one, Jean-Paul!" The voice boomed out.
Jean-Paul walked his shadow in for repairs and waited nearly two hours before Crystal was ready again. They both stepped into the arena and bent into ready position. Crystal's bot seemed to have an aura of her anger around it. Jean-Paul didn't care.
"FIGHT!"
Again Jean-Paul jumped back but this time he conjured up his shadow to rush forward and punch Crystal's bot as she lunged forward. After that one lucky blow, Jean-Paul found himself dancing to try and keep up with her superior agility. She threw him into every corner of the arena possible before he had a chance to pick himself up and counter a few blows. Her next mistake was a dear one. Her endurance was running low, while Jean-Paul's was nearly out. Had she used another Jaguar leap, or an overhead throw, she could have finished him, but she waited for her endurance to recover. When he was back on his feet Jean-Paul attacked her with ferocity. He sent another shadow, this time to grab her from behind and let him deal out the deathblow.
"Round Two, Jean-Paul!"
Again Jean-Paul had to wait for the bots to be fixed up, but this time they were both in for over an hour. When he came back out he was feeling tired, but he knew if he didn't win this he'd be feeling worse.
"You'll pay for that!" Crystal's voice shouted inside the comm. link,
"Just fight."
Jean-Paul smiled wryly, for it was what he had said to her during the previous tournaments. She hissed at him as the announcer came back on,
"FIGHT!"
Jean-Paul never knew what hit him. One minute he had been sweeping a punch, the next he was on the ground and crawling to his feet only to be picked up in a surreal state of affairs.
Crystal had taken a running leap, and now her bot sailed overhead of him, arms outstretched, catching up Jean-Paul's Shadow and picking it up. For that brief moment he could see into the Jaguar's eyes and he could feel the fury as his body left the ground and was hurled into the walls of the stadium. It was a sickening crunch that left him with no power. He reeled from the attack and dimly felt her kicking him over and over again. Shaking his head he unleashed a Shadow to slide into her, pushing her back, but it was much to late. She kicked that too and sent him back into the wall. Jean- Paul watched as his Shadow was tossed into him, the faint body crashing back into him, both of them slumping down.
"Round Three, Crystal!"
Jean-Paul suppressed a groan as his weary limbs were hauled into the repair station. Crystal was out after half an hour. For Jean-Paul it took three. He could almost feel her laughter ringing inside her head, but it was false laughter, for she now had to win two battles in a row.
The fourth round was horrible and Jean-Paul wondered if anyone found this even slightly entertaining. Although their bots were patched up and re- made, even polished to some degree, both the pilots were full of fatigue. Their movements weren't as blindingly fast, though Crystal still held the upper edge on that side, and each punch and kick was lagging, as was the block or defence against it. For every time that Jean-Paul felt a yawn come over him he would throw out a shadow to buy him some time, and he noticed Crystal would viciously use her overhead throw attack on him in retaliation. He knew both of them were soon to be beaten, the matches had steadily become more closer, both of them fighting on the same level, more so now than ever. It was almost frightening.
"Jean-Paul!"
He heard her clearly; even her voice was lacking strength,
"Fight." He whispered,
She didn't respond, only threw a punch his way which he blocked gracefully, though slowly, and then he spiralled back to her with a series of kicks and jabs that she blocked one after another. Not knowing why she had called his name, but deciding it couldn't be important, Jean-Paul pressed harder. It was when he could barely see, his vision so terrible, and when she was stumbling forward, that a piece of shrapnel falling from her bot sliced into his chest plating, knocking him down.
Crystal stared down at him for what seemed like eternity. How had she done it? Had he fallen asleep? She then noticed the spiked edge coming out of his plating. It was such a cheap way of winning. She pulled it out forcefully and ground it into the arena floor. She didn't both holding her arm in victory of the battle; it was still a draw in her mind.
"Round Four, Crystal!"

Night descended on them, but the arena was still packed, the fans now eager for the conclusion to this five-battle war. Crystal waited in her chair, eyes on the ceiling in a trance as her bot was repaired. She knew Jean-Paul hadn't left his room either; it was a feeling she held for him, that allowed her to be able to sense where he was. It was a kinship they shared, no matter their differences they would always be the same in mind when it came to battling in the HARs. Patiently like a deadly snake, Crystal rested for her final battle. She had to win it, of course, Jean- Paul might have his life on the line, but she had the deaths of her parents on hers.

Just as she had suspected, Jean-Paul was still in his chair when the men came back to tell him that the Shadow had been repaired to full strength once more. He didn't really care, he had felt more alive than ever, but now he was tired, now his mind couldn't think straight and he felt like he was in a drunken state all the time. His head rang from the loud crashes of the fights and he could still see the sparks that shot out of their bots at every meeting of fist and fist, leg and chest, however they matched it.

"Round Five! Final match! FIGHT!"
"This is a waste of time," Jean-Paul said aloud,
"What are you talking about?" Crystal grated as she slammed her leg into his arm and they both fell back a step,
"I don't care about this," Jean-Paul said after a moment's silence where both had been forced to concentrate on the other's movements,
"I thought you wanted your job back," Crystal hissed,
"I never lost it." He replied quietly.
A shadow leapt from his bot and circled Crystal holding her in place. He watched her struggle then kicked her straight in the face, punching her in the chest and then grabbing her arm and flipping her backwards with him as he completed the roll. Coming back to his feet he received a Jaguar leap immediately and it sent him reeling into the wall. Standing up again he paused and deflected a series of her blows. Sparks lit the air and created a beautiful rain of fire around them. It was almost romantic for a moment, but Jean-Paul had other things on his mind. He was barely there as Crystal leapt into the air, he didn't register her flying over top him, upside down, throwing him for what seemed the hundredth time. As she came at him his natural instincts took over and the crowd cheered as the Shadow began to force the Jaguar back with punch after punch, kick after kick, tripping her at the end yet never slowing his attacks for a moment. His strength was at one-third, and he assumed she was barely alive since she had stood up and was leaking fire all over the place. He was about to do the deathblow when he saw a familiar flash in her eyes. A concussion cannon.
The Shadow leapt into the air as the blast flew harmlessly beneath it. Just as he was landing Jean-Paul's eyes opened wide, there was another cannon headed straight for him. It was impossible, she wouldn't have had time to.
"Enhancement."
Jean-Paul smiled grimly as the cannon slammed into him. He felt his head swim and his vision blur. The last thing he saw was the third cannon striking him. As if in slow motion he fell back in the Shadow, slumping against the wall, his bot's limbs dangling at his sides.
Crystal felt elation course through her veins. She walked up as if in a dream and picked up the Shadow bot. What was she doing? She felt her legs tense and she leapt into the air one final time. She screamed into the comm. link as pieces of the Shadow ricocheted across the arena in a snowstorm of shrapnel. Why.? What.? Her weariness had gotten to her, she was no longer thinking straight. There was nothing left of the Shadow bot, and suddenly her conscious crashed and the Jaguar toppled over the remains of its enemy.

~*~R/R~*~