The past week was absolutely nerve-racking. We were the last fight of the teams round of the tournament, which did NOT help! We had combat practice each day, and we seemed to keep improving. Carmella improved on her swing, Violace on his striking speed, Lavender with her aim, and I had fully improved my weapons and my technique. The lasers from the Harbingers would be faster and stronger, and the blades would spin faster than ever.
"I want you all dead by this afternoon!" At this point, I was seriously reconsidering giving Carmella control over our training. It was impossible, but in less than a day, she had set up a fully-functioning death machine. Violace had already been set on fire, and Lavender looked like a pufferfish. I was the only one left besides, Carmella. My heart was pumping, and I dashed from the frying pan and into the fire.
The ground beneath me shook, and I dashed forward, barely leaping over a pit trap. Mechanized walls dispensed darts, and dodging them took contorting my body into painful shapes. Afterward, flames leapt from the very wall, and I had barely dodged them by tripping over my own feet. Spikes swung, blades sliced, and I vomited. At the end of that hellish nightmare, I lost my lunch, and yelled, "TIME!"
Carmella took out a timer, and told me I clocked in at three minutes and forty-five seconds. Afterwards, I stood up and dusted myself. I caught my breath, and headed back for my room. That afternoon, I was to take my Yang Xiao Long on a date. If you knew me personally, you would know this was nerve-racking. I wasn't a large romantic, and was more comfortable around machinery. But Yang freed me! She was funny, energetic, and was a recharge in my self-esteem.
After changing into my best suit, I had rushed to the city. As I approached the "Dust Til' Dawn", I saw her. Her golden hair was flowing, and she was wearing a kind of coat with mid-arm sleeves, a mini-skirt, boots, and leggings. To be honest, I felt slightly underdressed. All I had on was a simple tuxedo. As I fiddled with the details, I was tackled with a spine-smashing hug by Yang.
"You…look (cough) wonderful…Ow." She stepped back, as she looked at me up and down, which was quite embarrassing, due to the fact she was taller than me. Yang squealed, and in her usual cheery mood yelled, "Me? Look at you, all dressed up! That must've cost a fortune!" I shook my head, and proceeded to ask, "So, what have you planned for this afternoon?"
She grinned, and simply said, "I'll let you know after your plans." So, I took her to a fancy restaurant, called "Dust Dining". The menu was expensive, to say the least. She ordered the steak with a Strawberry Sunrise, while I ordered the Prime Rib with a Soft Drink. Waiting for the meal was probably the best part. We exchanged stories, jokes, and it was quite enjoyable. Yang was probably the best companion I had the pleasure of spending time with.
After a delightful meal, Yang brought me to a police station. She asked for a location, and we went back outside. "So, what was that for?" She stared at the paper, and spat in a curt tone, "A small gang has been stealing from an orphanage. The police just gave me their location." An attack on a gang wasn't exactly my idea my idea of a romantic evening, but if it could work in every action movie, it could work for me."
By now it was night, and Yang and I had set up outside their lair. We silently snuck our way into the base, and prepared for our battle. As one went astray, I pulled him into the shadows, and took him out. I changed into his clothes, and turned around to see Yang taking a picture with her scroll. My face turned red, and I glared at her. At that point, I snuck around the surrounding cargo crates, looking for the fuse box. Yang found it first, and executed part one. She puncjed it, knocking out all the lights.
Yang and I burst from our hiding spots, and proceeded to beat up those thugs. Have you ever seen one of those action scenes with partners who would share targets? It felt like that. When the lights turned back on, the men lay on the ground unconscious as far as we could see. We rushed to each other and, um, kissed. I'll spare you the details, but afterwards, we returned the leader to one of the police officers and went back to Beacon.
The following morning, we prepared for the oncoming battle. Carmella did a small ceremony, and the rest of us just kind of did our normal routines. We were wished luck by our friends and headed out to the coliseum. Our team stood out there, staring directly at our opponents of Team GOLD. Gothas Bane, Ollas Shiire, Lilac Planeswalker, and Dilrus Caribbean.
Gothas wore a thick weather coat with a large fur collar. He was also wearing a kind of soldier outfit with knee-pads and a dozen of war-type accesories. His weapon wasn't visible, but he did wear a form of respirator on his face that seemed to carry dust. Ollas' clothes were much more simple. He wore a green cloak, held together by an emerald leaf. Underneath the before-mentioned cloak was a velvet coat. I had to admits, it was fashionable, but I was worried about his glowing sword the size of my arm span. Lilac wore a simple white Gi, and wielded a dual-handed glowing saber. Last but not least was Dilrus, who was wearing ancient pirate getup, hat and all. Strapped to his back was a cutlass, and on his waist was a small pistol. The crowd cheered as the environments shot up. In all, he had the forest, mountain, ocean, and volcano lands.
As the people roared for the battle to commence, the buzzer sounded, and we began our attack!