Chapter 257: Rowe vs Albright

The arena fell silent as the scrambler's results flashed across the massive overhead screens. LILA ROWE (ACADEMY 12) VS ADRIAN ALBRIGHT (ACADEMY 12) Murmurs rippled through the crowd. Two fighters from the same academy facing off in the semifinals? The algorithm had never matched teammates before the finals. In the VIP section, Commander Owen leaned forward, his expression unreadable. "Interesting choice." Miss Brooks beside him glanced at her tablet, concern flashing across her features. "Sir, this wasn't in the projected matchups. I know we are trying to bring the best out of them but was this part of the plan?" Owen's lips curved into a hint of a smile. "No, it wasn't. But the scrambler knows what it's doing." While he wasn't key on pitting students against each other for the sake of a phenomenal event occuring (Reawakening) he still was excited to see what some of the two most exciting fighters in this tournament had to offer. Another thing that brought him so much joy was now that they were down to the semifinals, matches didn't need to happen simultaneously across all years so they could all focus on one at a time. From the competitor's section, Adrian Albright stiffened, his knuckles whitening as he gripped the railing. His father's words from the last time he stood across Lila echoed in his mind: "Don't hold back this time. Show them what an Albright is truly capable of." Across the arena, Lila Rowe stood perfectly still, her blonde hair pulled back in a tight ponytail. Her eyes, normally bright with calculation, had gone distant. The crowd, the lights, the announcer's voice—all faded to background noise as she stared at the screen. Academy 12 versus Academy 12. Lila versus Adrian. A rematch. The announcer's voice boomed through the arena: "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, OUR SECOND SEMIFINAL MATCH IS ABOUT TO BEGIN! AN UNEXPECTED ACADEMY SHOWDOWN!" The crowd roared with excitement. Teammate versus teammate always promised spectacle. "IN THIS CORNER, THE TELEKINETIC PRODIGY, LILA ROWE!" Lila stepped onto the platform. The applause washed over her without effect. She rolled her shoulders once, eyes finally focusing on the arena before her. "AND FACING HER, THE WALKING EXPLOSION, THE BOY WHO TURNS KINETIC ENERGY INTO DEVASTATING FORCE—ADRIAN ALBRIGHT!" Adrian emerged from the opposite entrance, stretching his arms as he moved. Unlike Lila's distant calm, every line of his body radiated coiled tension. His eyes briefly scanned the screen projecting the VIP section, finding his father's stern face in the crowd. Adrian's jaw tightened before he turned his attention to the ring. The platform beneath them hummed to life, energy barriers shimmering into existence around the circumference. The floor glowed with activation patterns—reinforced to withstand even the most punishing combative forces. As both fighters took their positions, the referee stepped between them. "Standard semifinal rules are in effect. Match continues until surrender, knockout, or referee stoppage." The official glanced between them. "Are both fighters ready?" Adrian nodded sharply. Lila's lips curved into a slight smile. "Ready." The referee backed away. "Begin in three... two... one... FIGHT!" Neither moved immediately. They circled each other, measuring, calculating. The last time they'd fought, they'd battled to a draw—both knocked unconscious by the final exchange. This time would be different. Adrian flexed his fingers, heat already shimmering around his hands. "No slow zone yet, Rowe? Learning from last time?" Lila's eyes tracked his movements with laser precision. "Just waiting for the right moment. You know how this goes." Adrian struck first. He slammed his foot down, a small controlled blast propelling him forward at blistering speed. His right fist began to glow with accumulated energy, aimed straight for Lila's midsection. Lila didn't dodge. Instead, the air between them suddenly thickened, warping visibly as her slow zone activated. Adrian's momentum decreased dramatically, his explosive rush reduced to a fraction of its normal speed. But this time, Adrian was prepared. Instead of fighting against the slow zone, he detonated outward in all directions simultaneously. The controlled explosion pushed against the edges of Lila's zone, stretching it like a balloon ready to pop. BOOM! The slow zone shattered, and Adrian's initial attack resumed its intended path— Only to meet empty air as Lila sidestepped with calculated precision. Her hand shot out, telekinetic energy wrapping around Adrian's extended arm. With a sharp twist of her wrist, she redirected his momentum, sending him tumbling across the platform. Adrian rolled with the throw, coming up in a crouch, palms flat against the ground. He grinned, a hint of excitement in his eyes. "Better than last time," he acknowledged. "But not good enough." He slammed both hands against the platform. The impact sent a rippling shockwave through the entire structure, cracking the reinforced surface and destabilizing Lila's footing. Lila faltered for just a moment— And Adrian was already moving, launching himself through the air with another explosion from his feet. This time, instead of a direct attack, he detonated repeatedly mid-air, changing directions unpredictably with each blast. Left, right, up, down—his trajectory became impossible to track. Lila's eyes narrowed in concentration. She extended both hands, creating not one slow zone but multiple—small pockets of altered time positioned strategically around the arena. Adrian hit the first zone unexpectedly, his momentum suddenly dropping. He compensated with a larger explosion, blasting through— Only to hit a second zone immediately after. The crowd gasped as they watched Adrian navigate the temporal minefield. Each zone he encountered slowed him, but each time he adjusted, detonating with increasing intensity to maintain his assault. Lila stood at the center, fingers twitching as she manipulated her zones. Sweat beaded on her forehead from the effort of maintaining multiple fields simultaneously. Adrian finally broke through the last zone, appearing directly above Lila, both fists raised for a devastating hammer blow— Lila's hands shot upward. Instead of another slow zone, she caught Adrian with telekinetic force, halting his descent entirely. He hung suspended in mid-air, muscles straining against the invisible grip. "Not this time," Lila said, voice tight with concentration. With a flick of her fingers, she sent Adrian flying toward the arena barrier. His body accelerated at unnatural speed, the telekinetic push multiplying the force beyond what gravity alone could achieve. But Adrian wasn't helpless. Mid-flight, he generated an explosion from his chest, the force counteracting Lila's telekinetic push. The opposing energies canceled out, leaving him hovering in place for a split second before gravity reasserted itself. He dropped to the platform, landing in a crouch, eyes never leaving Lila. "You're stronger," he observed. "But so am I." Adrian placed his palm flat against the platform again. This time, instead of a shockwave, he channeled energy directly into the structure beneath them. The platform began to heat up rapidly, the temperature rising to uncomfortable levels. Lila glanced down as the floor beneath her feet began to glow red-hot. She immediately created a telekinetic barrier between herself and the platform, lifting her body slightly off the surface. Adrian seized the opportunity. While Lila was distracted with the superheated floor, he charged, body wreathed in explosive energy. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Each step triggered a detonation, propelling him forward with devastating speed. His approach was direct this time—no tricks, just raw power. Lila's eyes widened as she realized his strategy. She abandoned her defense against the heated platform, redirecting all her telekinetic energy forward to stop Adrian's charge. The two forces collided in the center of the arena. Adrian's explosive momentum met Lila's telekinetic barrier with a thunderous crash. The impact sent a visible shockwave rippling through the air, disrupting the energy fields around the platform. For a moment, they were locked in stalemate—Adrian pushing forward with continuous detonations, Lila holding him back with telekinetic force. The platform beneath them began to crack further, unable to withstand the concentrated energies being unleashed. Fragments of the floor lifted into the air around them, caught in Lila's expanding telekinetic field. Adrian gritted his teeth, sweat pouring down his face as he poured more power into his assault. The heat emanating from his body was now visible as distortion waves in the air. "You can't... hold me... forever," he ground out, each word punctuated by another pulse of explosive energy. Lila's response was to intensify her defense. The telekinetic barrier between them compressed, becoming denser, more focused. The floating debris began to orbit around them at increasing speeds, creating a cyclone of concrete and metal. "I don't need forever," she replied, voice strained but controlled. "Just long enough." With a sharp gesture, she directed several pieces of debris toward Adrian, accelerating them to bullet-like speeds. Adrian was forced to divide his attention, maintaining his forward pressure while detonating targeted explosions to intercept the incoming projectiles. CRACK! BOOM! CRACK! Each piece of debris that came too close was vaporized by precisely controlled blasts, but the diversion was costing him focus and energy. Lila pressed her advantage. With Adrian's attention split, she intensified the pressure of her telekinetic field, compressing it further around him like a vise. Adrian felt the crushing force begin to constrict his movements. His explosions became less controlled, more desperate as he fought against the increasing pressure. In a last-ditch effort, he concentrated all his remaining energy into his core. His skin began to glow from within, veins lighting up like molten metal beneath the surface. "Last... chance... to back off," he warned, voice strained from the effort of containing the building power. Lila shook her head, a thin trickle of blood now running from her nose as she maintained her assault. "Show me what you've got, Albright. All of it." Adrian's eyes locked with hers. "Your choice." With a roar of effort, he released the pent-up energy in a single, massive detonation. BOOOOOOM! The explosion was unlike anything he'd unleashed before—not just outward force, but a complex matrix of shaped charges that expanded in a precise pattern. Lila's telekinetic field shattered under the onslaught, the carefully orchestrated explosion finding and exploiting weaknesses in her defenses. The orbiting debris was blown outward, smashing against the arena barriers with enough force to make them flicker dangerously. The platform beneath them finally gave way completely, large sections collapsing into the emergency systems below. Both fighters were thrown in opposite directions by the force of the blast. Adrian skidded across what remained of the platform, his gear smoking and torn. Lila slammed into the barrier, bouncing off it before landing hard on a still-intact section of the floor. For a moment, the arena was silent except for the sound of falling debris and the hum of emergency systems activating to prevent further collapse. Adrian pushed himself to his knees, breathing heavily. The massive explosion had drained him significantly, but he wasn't finished. His eyes found Lila across the shattered arena, watching as she slowly pulled herself up. Blood now flowed freely from Lila's nose, and a cut above her eye painted half her face red. But her expression remained focused, determined. She wiped the blood from her eyes with her sleeve, never taking her gaze off Adrian. "Impressive," she acknowledged, voice slightly hoarse. "But predictable." Adrian's brow furrowed. "What do you mean?" Lila smiled, and there was something different about it—something sharper, more dangerous than before. "I wanted you to do that." With a fluid motion, she extended both hands toward the gaps in the platform. The broken edges began to glow with telekinetic energy. Adrian watched in growing alarm as pieces of the shattered platform rose from below, hovering in the air around them. Not just a few fragments—dozens, then hundreds of pieces, some as small as pebbles, others as large as boulders. "What are you doing?" he demanded, struggling to his feet as he assessed his remaining energy reserves. Lila didn't answer directly. Instead, she began to compress the floating debris, telekinetic energy crushing the fragments into denser, more compact forms. The process released visible waves of force, the air distorting around each compressed piece. "You know what our problem was last time?" she finally said, her voice unnervingly calm despite the strain evident on her face. "We both held back. We were afraid of what would happen if we didn't." Adrian tensed, preparing for whatever was coming. "And now?" "Now I'm not afraid anymore." With a sharp gesture, Lila sent the first wave of compressed debris hurtling toward Adrian. These weren't just simple projectiles—each piece had been telekinetically altered, compressed to unnatural density and accelerated beyond normal physics. Adrian detonated explosions to intercept them, but there were too many, coming from too many directions. Several pieces got through his defenses, slamming into his shoulders and legs with bruising force. He stumbled, crying out in pain as a particularly large fragment caught him in the ribs. The impact sent him rolling across the broken platform, dangerously close to one of the gaps. Lila didn't relent. Wave after wave of debris followed, each attack more precisely targeted than the last. She wasn't just throwing objects—she was guiding them with telekinetic precision, adjusting their trajectories mid-flight to bypass Adrian's defensive explosions. Adrian was forced into a desperate defensive posture, using increasingly smaller and more controlled detonations to protect himself. Each blast drained more of his dwindling reserves, his movements becoming slower, less coordinated. A flash of memory from their previous fight came to him—how they had both pushed to their limits and ended in mutual knockout. But this time was different. Lila wasn't just matching him; she was overwhelming him. As another wave of debris approached, Adrian made a critical decision. Instead of defending, he gathered his remaining energy for a counter-offensive. The debris struck him directly—painful impacts against his arms, chest, and back that would leave serious bruises. But he accepted the hits, focusing entirely on his next move. The moment the barrage paused, Adrian slammed both fists into what remained of the platform beneath him. Instead of an upward explosion, he channeled the force downward, destroying his section of the floor completely. As he began to fall through the gap, he twisted in mid-air, both hands aimed at Lila. Twin jets of concentrated explosive force shot from his palms, cutting through the air with deadly precision. Lila, caught by surprise at the sudden change in tactics, attempted to erect a telekinetic barrier. But Adrian's attack came at an angle she hadn't anticipated, and one of the energy beams broke through her defenses, catching her squarely in the shoulder. The impact spun her around, disrupting her concentration. The hovering debris faltered, some pieces dropping back through the gaps in the platform. Adrian continued to fall, but as he did, he maintained his attack, continuous streams of explosive energy pouring from his hands toward Lila's position. What he didn't know was at that moment, his father, commander Albright had stood up from his seat and left. The other commanders who saw him walk out so an expressionless face. He simply walked out.