Side A:
Akko 191.3 x 183.2 Amanda
Diana 193.0 x 179.2 Wangari
Side B
Rita 181.4 x 181.2 Aira
Hellene 197.9 x 176.5 Sóla
After the incredible dispute between Amanda and Akko that practically showed Kagari as a potential finalist, booking her for the semifinals, against none other than Diana, while on the other side Hellene would have Rita dealing with a Rita that beat Aira in a dispute until the last point, guaranteeing the victory in one of the smallest differences between the competitors, it was getting to the part of the finals where it could be decisive for the competitors. Akko, Diana, Rita and Hellene were the four most skillful of all the championship. The championship
was coming to its last minutes, so much so that a 20 minute break was given for the finals. On the livestream there were 2234 people watching, reacting on the chat, sometimes sending donations to Ursula and Croix.
The twenty minutes passed like a rocket, the conversations between the girls about the maneuvers and how the championship was going rolled loose between the finalists.
Only when the time came the first two semifinalists were already staring at each other, the crimson eyes with the blue eyes, the two girls exchanged glances, then held hands giving a smile.
" Let's see if you can beat me on this one " Diana said.
" I will try my best, but I will manage to beat you " Akko replies.
The two signalled themselves, took their skateboards and walked through the corridors. When they arrived at the track they were greeted with applause from all the participants in the bleachers, it was also possible to notice the names Diana and Akko being shouted the whole time, they were feeling a little nervous with all that attention.
" Who will be the first finalist, of this that can be a duel of titans, only now the rules will change, will no longer be three batteries, now you no longer have the security of making a mistake in a battery, you will have only two batteries of attempts, with the same one and a half minutes of time, be creative, send the maneuvers you want to send, do this in only two attempts give your best, until the grand final! " Said Ursula.
Then starts the part where they are being chosen in starts first, Akko chooses heads, and Diana chooses tails, when the coin falls, it shows heads, which gave Cavendish a relief, Kagari was very nervous, but felt two pats on the shoulder given by the Scottish.
" Don't be nervous Akko, do your best " said the blue-eyed lass who even gave a wink to the Japanese girl who was already getting into position.
" Now we're gonna start the first heat of the semifinals... In three, two, one... Let's go! " Said Croix.
Akko with all the concentration comes out of a miniramp where dropa with all the care, at the same time will try enough, already showing what came, to send a 540 flip, which makes the skateboard fits a beautiful darkslide, sliding to the end of the line where she leaves with an impossible continuing to balance on manual, until some steps, where she releases a beautiful hardflip, engaging a noseslide to the end of the step, where is close to a ramp that is facing the stairs, seeing this the Japanese makes a slide, forcing a little to get momentum higher and thus jumping the stairs, with an Indy 360 which fits already feeling enough of the impact of skateboard.
" Woah! and it seems Akko has already shown that she is not one to be taken lightly, she has already sent a very risky line that I could feel in my legs the strength with which she cushioned herself! " Meridies said.
Atsuko from there decided to get momentum simply by reaching a Bowl where she was braking and taking a boardslide until she went down there, getting momentum, where she risked a Mctwist that almost made her head hit the walls, but she got it right in the last centimetre, which she used to get momentum, to the other side from the back, taking the skate with style and with only 51 seconds left to the end of the first heat.
" Woah! Woah! Akko sent a nice McTwist here, I even felt she could have been hurt, this girl is pushing herself to the limit to show what she's got! " Croix said.
Akko gets more momentum paddling with the skateboard, where simply on an empty stand with no steps, starts to go up sending a one foot tailslide, which alternates to noseslide and back to tail at each step until reaching the top where he repeated until descending, which ended up eating up a lot of time, leaving only 20 seconds, but it was enough to surprise.
" What an interesting climb Akko has made, that is courage and precision, this could really guarantee a good score up front.
Akko simply begins to send some Freestyle maneuvers, where he is practically supported in the Primo position, sending some flips and falling in position several times, which the crowd was delighted, until the time of that first heat simply ends, and with that Kagari had to give an end to that sequence of maneuvers to close.
" Akko surprised well in this battery, but let's see how Diana will do! " Said the Italian as Diana was leaving.
The Japanese felt quite pleased with her score which was even quite high, on the way she meets up with Diana, patting Cavendish on the shoulder twice as she went on her way to the track, while the crimson-eyed one goes to the waiting place, to observe the performance of the blue-eyed one who goes up the same ramp that the brown-eyed one had gone up.
" Three, two, one... Let's go! " Croix announces Diana's turn to start.
" (Now it's time to show Akko that I also came with everything)
Cavendish is starting by dropping the ramp, where she got momentum jumping with a varial heelflip hitting a nosebluntslide, with the momentum picked up she jumps the ladder where she did a nice 360 quad impossible, leaving the whole audience amazed, the skateboard practically spun four times on the girl's foot and she still managed to fit.
" Woah that's impressive, a quad impossible, that's a manoeuvre that can rarely be seen being done, Diana is giving it her all to get a win too " Meridies said.
The Scot picked up momentum to go get the grind on the bleachers, but unlike Akko, she chooses to do a one foot noseslide for just one whole step, accumulating some points, getting out of there with a hardflip, the one with greenish blonde hair goes on towards a ramp, where she starts to pick up momentum backwards, in that she goes in doing an inward heelflip, followed by hitting in those same stands a BS darkslide, which she narrowly misses and in that Cavendish decides to make the last seconds in the bowl.
" Woah, she was quite different to Akko on that one, but still pulled off some impressive moves! That one foot noseslide and BS darkslide are extremely complex and complicated manoeuvres! " said the Italian.
Diana goes down in the bowl, where she is getting momentum in the last seconds, with only 48 more seconds left, she decided to do the same invert as before, where she did the blunt at the 36 seconds mark, then she did the balancing movement, staying with only one foot, in a yoga position for the remaining 28 seconds, practically until the time was up, which guarantees a good score for the balance needed.
She comes down from the bowl at the end of the time still cleanly, confirming a good score as well. As she looks at the screen she notices that she has almost matched Akko's score, who had risked a little more.
" And that's Diana Cavendish, who has simply managed to keep herself in such a dangerous situation with quite a bit of poise, but there's more to come! " Comments the lilac haired one.
The blue eyed one goes back to the waiting post, waving to Akko who would be next to start the heat, Kagari was nervous but was soon up the mega ramp to try and risk gaining some good points to try and get through the final.
" (It's all or nothing now, either I win this one, or I won't make it to the final, I'll try whatever I can).
" Three, two, one... Let's go! " Croix announces Atsuko's last battery.
The Japanese woman goes down the ramp, getting as much momentum as she can, when she reaches the jump, she gets out of the air, starts to grab the board in the japan position, but instead of spinning a 900, she sends a beautiful curved mortal in the top which the board passes with the wheels scraping the ground when it fits, Atsuko almost missed the maneuver. The crowd jumped with excitement at the maneuver.
" Woah! Woah! Woah! What an incredible mortal, still sending a Japan, really Akko wants more than anything to be a finalist " comments the Italian.
Atsuko still continues in a line more of the style that always did, getting into a railing, doing a Double heelflip, hitting a darkslide, showing that he was not to be trifled with, so much so that he gets out of there with an impossible, starting to send a manual, where in the middle of the way scrapes the skateboard doing a casperslide on the ground followed by a 360 flip where he takes a railing near a small staircase a one foot noseslide. Wasting no time Akko lands a manual nose that quickly changes to a one foot, then finishes the combination.
" And Akko surprises, but what was this combo? Double Heelflip, darkslide, impossible, casperslide, 360 flip, one foot noseslide, manual nose and still ends with a manual one foot nose! Look at this incredible combo! This is certainly cementing Kagari's place at the front! How impressive! " Meridies comments.
Kagari keeps going in the line, this time she gets a lot of momentum and fits a blunt into a miniramp, but doesn't try an invert just to get more momentum, where she was facing a gap.
This time she's rowing at full speed towards a ramp, in the jump she does a 180 kickflip underflip, where she fits it practically giving a slide, with a lot of style, she kept rowing until the last seconds, she was motivated to get this spot in the finals.
Akko sees a railing and pulls an impossible, then hits a beautiful nosegrind one foot, getting out of there with a 360 flip, then pulls a manual one foot, ending the last seconds of the battery sending Freestyle maneuvers. Pogo, casper, primo, pretty much everything her foot could do, until at the one second mark she ends it all with a varial and with that ends her last attempt.
" And that was Akko, in her last heat! Let's see how she got on points " said the lilac haired one.
Akko's score was considerable, very high, satisfying for the Japanese, but she still had the other stone in her shoe, which was Cavendish. Kagari knew that, the two met, giving each other a good look, this would be the last attempt of the Scot, it was all or nothing, until then she herself needed a good score to stay ahead of Atsuko.
Diana positioned herself on the same ramp where she did the first heat.
" In three, two, one... Let's go! " Said Croix announcing Diana's last battery.
Diana takes a deep breath, starts to drop the ramp, with the momentum she came only thought to lower the speed, seeing a crate next to it is what she did, sent a nice Double impossible fitting a darkslide, getting out of there with a 360 flip, continuing the line until the ladder, where she does not risk jumping from it, instead sends a hardflip, fitting a FS crooked on the railing, which goes to the end, ending with a 540 flip at the end, showing that she is not to be trifled with.
" Woah! and now Diana wants to show she has come with everything too, impressing with the cleanliness of her manoeuvres and also the variety! " Meridies said.
Continuing the line, simply Diana goes to the bleachers, arrives giving a Double heelflip, fitting a nosegrind which she makes sure to be one foot, leaving the impossible, where she goes paddling to the same gap that the Japanese had jumped.
When she arrives there she simply pulls a 540 flip, but with a 180, in a clean way, leaving the audience impressed, but it's not over yet, the Scot goes paddling with more intensity, seeing a ramp ahead, she simply rests her hand on the iron at the top, hits a mortal, coming back from the switch, where she sends a varial kickflip on a railing on the way, hitting a BS boardslide and then getting out of there with a kickflip underflip, showing that she also has that precision.
" Woah! Woah! Woah! Woah! These disputes are with everything, you can't tell who was the best here, only really our machine, these two girls are giving everything to win and that's impressive! " Said the Italian.
With a little over 40 seconds left, Diana needed a line, she looked at a staircase shaped stand, she started to get momentum, where she was sending some varials, fitting nose and tail on each step until she reached the top, spending almost 23 seconds in this quick climb, She saw the opportunity in the last seconds, facing a staircase, she got enough momentum, jumping from there and simply doing something that would be impossible, she kicked a 720 flip, almost missed, but the skateboard hit the ground well in the last second.
" And that was Diana Cavendish's last heat! Who of the two will be the grand finalist? " said the lilac"haired one.
At this time Diana's score appears, it was very high, even a little higher than Akko in this second heat, the two soon meet, they look anxiously at the scoreboard, which is showing the numbers, both trembling and holding their hands.
Akko Score: 94.1/ 94.0 = 188.1
Diana Score: 93.2/ 94.7 = 187.9
When the final score was given it was remarkable how tight it was, by only 0.2 points Akko had qualified for the final, at this Kagari was jumping with emotion, she was euphoric, happy, she had no idea she had won, even more so because Diana's score in the second heat was a bit higher than hers, it was by the most meticulous point.
In this joy, the Japanese simply grabbed the Scot around the waist, pulled her closer, pulling her face together, celebrating with quite a kiss on her mouth and then let go, sort of doing it in anxiety.
" Woah and what a celebration Akko is? Looks like she was pretty excited to be our first finalist! And for the first time Diana Cavendish is eliminated going into the third place match, but we saw that she went on in impressive fashion, holding off Kagari until the end " Croix comments.
" I imagine Akko must be in the greatest happiness in the world right now, just to have the opportunity to have made it to the final, to beat Diana by just one point, both were in different styles and techniques, their skills cannot be left aside because they did so well " Ursula said.
In that kiss a thousand things were going on in Diana's head that practically froze for a few seconds, realizing what had happened, it was a much heavier weight than the defeat, she didn't expect this sudden reaction from the Japanese girl, as she noticed that her friend was too excited by the victory, she decided to just play oblivious. All the girls make a point of looking at her with the same malicious look, but simply Cavendish ignores it, just sitting in a more isolated place. Akko goes back to the waiting room excitedly jumping for joy, when she gets there she notices that the girls were having different reactions than she expected.
" What is it? Why the long faces? " Kagari asks.
" Looks like victory was like a kiss hahaha " Amanda said laughing.
" A victory kiss, congratulations Akko, now let's see which one of us is the best, just don't end up kissing me too hahaha " Hellene said scratching the back of her neck.
" What do you mean kiss... " said the Japanese woman beginning to realise what had happened.
She remembered and saw Diana isolated in a corner of the waiting room, a little embarrassed, she walked towards the Scottish girl that was sitting there a little shy.
" Diana? " Said the Japanese woman as the blue-eyed one avoided eye contact.
" Sis? " asks her worried younger sister.
" I'm sorry for the sudden kiss, I was so overcome with emotion that I couldn't bear it and pulled you into the kiss... " Akko barely completed simply out of nowhere who pulls is Diana who holds Kagari's t-shirt tightly pulling her into a kiss that wasn't simply a selfie but something more intense, so much so that the eyes of the two close, but then Atsuko pushes the older Cavendish back.
"That wis fur th' winch ye gave me, noo we're even, it wasn't sae ill th' winch ye gave me, bit ye made me cop a bawherr ashamed, noo ye bear this weight " Diana said with a tone of voice that was becoming more tearful, and then she got up and ran from there towards the exit.
" Diana... " Atsuko went on saying as she saw the girl leaving practically covering her face with her hands, running to the exit, which she was getting a guilty look on her face, she even tried to follow her own, but Hellene held her back.
" My sis needs some time for herself, let her reflect a little Akko, it's a lot of emotions, the fact that she has never kissed anyone also only intensifies this, Diana is very pure with these things, focus on our duel Akko, try to win for my sister, I know you two have chemistry ahead of you " Said the redhead.
Akko with much skill and battle, is the first finalist, after a duel that she so much wanted to perform, going against none other than Diana Cavendish, her biggest rival, but that still seems that these feelings of rivalry, are revealing something else, a feeling that was rooting even more and creating certainty, the love.
See you, rival witches...