Once Enidri landed, she raised her weapon above her head and slashed downwards at her opponent. Itzel kept both of her arms up in front of her face, angled perpendicular to her opponent’s weapon. The sword came down with tremendous speed, creating a yellow trail as it descended. From Janus’ perspective, the sparks emitted by Enidri’s weapon engulfed Itzel in light, casting a dark shadow behind her. The sound of electricity cracking through the air made Janus’ jaw drop. He took a step back and put a hand over his mouth agape. “Itzel…” he muttered under his breath, his heart nearly stopping when he saw Enidri land on the ground.

Itzel kept her arms up as the force of the attack made her slide back, creating a screeching skid her boots slid along the floor. Her posture, however, never faltered. She lowered her arms and tossed another Serrated Gale at Enidri.

Janus blinked twice and adjusted his glasses, not believing what he had just witnessed. “How did she survive a direct strike like that?” he asked Gurk.

“Blocked,” the crocodile replied, his eyes not leaving his screen.

“But I saw Eni’s weapon leave scorch marks on the tiles a few minutes ago! You’re telling me Itzel is strong enough to defend a strike from a laser sword with her bare hands? Do you know how much heat would have to come from Enidri’s weapon for it to…”

“Just watch.” Gurk pointed to the match playing out on the screen. Janus leaned his head in further and began to analyze the various bars and meters that were depicted. At the top were two long green bars and beside those were portraits of Enidri and Itzel at opposite ends. Beneath those green bars were two smaller gray meters. The one on Itzel’s side was shorter.

“Laser Waltz!” Enidri shouted.

Janus looked at the fight transpiring in the space below. Enidri performed a swift overhead slash with her weapon. Itzel kept her guard up, but her face made it clear that pain was getting through to her. Enidri continued her attack, swinging her sword in a fluid circular motion, striking Itzel’s arms twice more. That same gray bar retracted by a sizable portion, leaving it at half of its full length. Meanwhile, there was noticeable amount of Itzel’s green barn that had turned red.

“Is that showing how much Itzel can block?” Janus said with one finger pointing to the meter in question. Gurk nodded.

“And what happens if it runs out?”

“Hit.”

“Then one above it must be their energy, correct? I assume whichever one goes down all the way first loses?”

Gurk nodded again.

“Ah, I think I get it now. And what are those blue and gray segments at the bottom for?”

“E…V,” Gurk said slowly.

“EV?” Janus compared Itzel’s segments to Enidri’s. Both contained three sections. The first portion of Enidri’s was completely blue while the remaining two sections were gray. The first segment of Itzel’s was about two-thirds of its way towards being filled with the light blue color. Above the EV indicators was a small glowing yellow blip.

“You can’t block forever!” Enidri exclaimed as she swung her sword horizontally, aiming for Itzel’s left side. Itzel positioned her body and her forearm to deflect the strike. Once the weapon connected with her arm, Itzel sent out a wall of air with her right arm that sent Enidri skidding back. The two combatants now stood more than two yards apart.

“Already wasted your Defensive Technique,” Enidri said with a sinister grin. She twirled her sword in her hand as she took a moment to regain her breath. Janus looked at the screen again. The yellow blip on Itzel’s side had been grayed out. It’s in place was a clock-like timer that had just started to move in a clockwise fashion.

So that must be what it’s for. Some kind of protective maneuver. It’ll be a while before Itzel can use that again, he thought to himself. Janus continued to watch the match from the screen. Itzel had taken to her karate stance again, breathing heavily as she inched back. Her face bore a look of anxiousness as she watched her opponent advance towards her.

“Flying Cutter!” Enidri wound her arm back, and with a heave of her arm, tossed her weapon sideways towards Itzel. As it flew, the sword rotated horizontally, creating a glowing yellow disk. Sparks flew from the unstable blade and bounced across the diner’s floor as it soared towards Itzel.

“Serrated Gale!” Itzel tossed a wind projectile, hitting the sword dead center. Her attack dissipated while the trajectory of Enidri’s weapon was cut short, sending it flying back into her hand.

“I know you like to play keep away, Itzel,” Enidri moaned as she rolled her only eye. “That’s why I decided to use Flying Cutter in this Challenge. We can do this until the timer runs out if you’d like.”

“I’m more than fine with that!” Itzel replied. She lowered her fist as if she were about to throw another Serrated Gale.

“Flying Cutter!” Enidri hurled her sword once more. As the spinning electric blade closed in on her, Itzel angled her body to the side so that her shoulder was facing the soaring weapon.

“Advancing Tempest!” Itzel dashed forward, leading with her shoulder as a thick wind encompassed her body. A faint blue silhouette trailed behind her, mimicking Itzel’s pose with each advancing step. The flying weapon bounced off the air currents that had engulfed her and landed across the restaurant floor. A frown came across Enidri’s face as she tried to sidestep the attack but there wasn’t enough distance between her and her rival to do so. Itzel’s shoulder barged into Enidri’s chest, her eye closing as she felt the rush of wind knock her to the ground. The force of the attack sent her skidding on her back along the tile floor until her momentum was stopped by a table. Her side bumped into one of the legs and sent the condiments and napkins on top scattering across the floor.

“That blue shadow that Itzel had made just now,” Janus muttered as he pointed towards her. Her attack had ended, and she was getting closer to her floored opponent. “What was that?”

“EV,” Gurk said. “Stronger Special.” He raised one scaly finger and pointed at the blue bar on Itzel’s side. It was now completely empty while Enidri had one and a half segments full.

“I think I’m starting to piece it together now.” Janus analyzed the information presented to him via the screen. Itzel was winning; roughly ninety-five percent of her green bar was still green opposed to Enidri’s eighty-five. He then glanced at the timer towards the top. It was at eighty-four. That definitely doesn’t use regular Oregon seconds to count down, he thought to himself. There’s still plenty of time for Enidri to take the lead.

Enidri picked up her still active blade and rose to her feet. With a shake of her head, she returned to her original stance of holding her weapon with one hand and pointing downward from her side. “Forgot about that part of Enhanced Advancing Tempest.” With her empty hand, Enidri wiped away a strand of stray hair that obscured her eye. “But that’s the kind of trick that only works once.”