Will was finally ready. After nearly two weeks of constant practice, training his Condition, and raising his general power level, he was ready for the ultimate test, a match against another Nexian. Fittingly, Felix and Olivia were still around, as they hadn’t yet decided to go home. But it was their final day visiting, so Will issued a challenge to the younger sibling.

“Let’s have our rematch,” he said, approaching Felix after dinner and dropping the challenge without warning. “I want to know how far I’ve come.”

“You sure?” Felix asked, seemingly unsurprised. “You could wait until the tournament.”

Will shook his head. “I want to test it now. I’ve got a day of rest in me, so I’m at peak condition. You down?”

“Hell yeah, I’m down,” Felix said brightly, practically jumping out of his seat. “Sis! We’re doing it!”

Olivia, along with several of the Fire Nexians who’d been sitting within earshot, looked excited. Broad grins appeared everywhere. By now, of course, they’d all heard about Will’s match in Florida against the youngest child of Rachel Smith. While they weren’t enemies, they looked forward to a chance to see Will get revenge and beat his rival. They hurried out of the cafeteria to the training grounds.

“Finally, some entertainment,” Noratuk said, appearing out of nowhere. “Do us proud, Will. We can’t have a captain showing defeat.”

“Are we going to have a traditional match though?” Felix asked now. The air was chilling around them as they began walking out of the building. Will could feel it even through his heat field and knew that Felix was pumping himself up. “Or will it be some kind of unique challenge?”

“We can challenge all we want later,” Will said. “Brute challenge. First, one to be pinned or surrender wins.”

“Fine by me,” the white-haired boy agreed. “Let’s go.”

There was a short delay to the proceedings as members of the Nexus spread throughout the dormitory building, alerting others until everyone knew about the challenge. They exited the building in a flood, gathering in a wide circle that left the very center of the training field open. Felix and Will obligingly took up their positions inside this circle, leaving a respectable distance between them. Felix had already taken off the heavy jacket he’d worn. His dark skin almost shined under the sun, the direct light clearly outlining the muscles of his arms.

“Who should officiate?” Will asked, looking around at the spectators. He’d phrased it as a general question, but he knew who would volunteer. To nobody’s surprise, Noratuk stepped forward, wearing an eager grin. “Of course. You give the signal to start.”

“Alright then,” Nora said. Then, giving neither combatant time to prepare, she barked out, “Begin!”

Despite the surprising start, Will jumped forward quickly, deciding he might as well make the first move. Pivoting smoothly on his left foot, he thrust his right hand forward, releasing a compact ball of flame at his opponent. It was low-powered but fast. Felix made no move to avoid it instead summoning a small wave that shot up to cover his body, evaporating the fireball with ease. At once, he pushed off from the ground, surging forward on another small wave.

Will created a ring of fire around him as Felix charged directly for him, forcing the younger boy to veer to the side, moving in a smooth arc as he circled Will, looking for an opening. He threw two dull balls of ice that Will blasted apart with his hand. They exchanged more blows as Felix continued to flow around him, neither managing to land more than one or two light hits. Then, before Will could adjust to the momentum, Felix spun in mid-air, pulling the wave out from under his feet. It whipped around and smashed into Will, knocking him off his feet.

Will recovered quickly, planting his feet and sliding a few meters before coming to a rest, releasing a powerful jet of flames as Felix came to a stop. The boy’s feet had only just made contact with the ground when the jet connected. His hastily conjured ice shield protected him from the brunt of the blast, though he was still blown backward, catching himself last second with a new wave and mounting it.

“Nice save,” Will called, impressed with Felix’s reflexes. “You’re like a damn cat.”

“Not so bad yourself,” Felix threw back, rising higher in the air on his wave, easily clearing ten feet in seconds. “I had to try to shake your foundation there.”

He pitched forward at the height of the wave, throwing himself both forward and down in a powerful spin. Most of the wave came with him, forming a powerful disc that raced at Will, leaving its creator behind. Will avoided it with minimal movement, merely rotating his body and stepping a few inches to the side. The disc passed harmlessly by his face and splashed uselessly against the hard surface of the ground. Before it had completely vanished, Will had already retaliated, curving two large balls of fire up at Felix, adjusting for his falling speed.

Will could have either laughed or cursed, he wasn’t sure. But as Felix fell, he could still spin his body, using more conjured water to aid the movement. He spun in place and pushed back, causing both fireballs to miss him completely, and fly off into the sky, fading quickly. When Felix finally landed, he’d conjured another more powerful wave. It rushed out in front of him, leaping and crashing as it aimed directly for his target. There would be no sidestepping this one, Will thought. He crouched, putting as much strength into his legs as he could, and jumped. With a powerful explosion under each foot to boost him, he sailed neatly over the wave.

Two can play at that game, he thought, conjuring even more fire as he landed. It splashed out in all directions, with just enough reach to hit the water supporting Felix’s feet. It splashed into the Fire Nexians, who were of course unbothered, and filled the circle that had been formed. Felix had no escape avenues then and finally tumbled onto the ground. He still recovered quickly, rolling back onto his feet. But Will was there to meet him, his body surging with electricity, spinning into a powerful kick.

His heel crashed down on Felix’s shoulder, with considerable power. A definite, strong hit. Felix was knocked flat by the impact, letting out a surprised grunt. The Fire Nexus let out a roar of approval at the hit. It was the first telling blow. But Will knew it was far from over and quickly backed off to avoid any potential counterattacks.

“Oh, that’s gonna hurt for a while,” Felix groaned, hauling himself back to his feet. “You’ve gotten good at balancing yourself. I could barely follow you with my eyes, but my body just isn’t that fast.”

Will grinned at that. “Yep. Not much power, but using momentum like that has a kick. No pun intended.”

“Don’t get too far ahead,” Felix retorted, wearing a matching grin. “I can follow you with my eyes. That’s enough.”

Will arched an eyebrow, and let his flames disappear, bouncing lightly on his feet. “Unfortunately for you, you’re not fighting with your eyes.”

“Of course I am.”

Will laughed at the confident comment. “Let’s see about that, then.”

He rushed forward at top speed, fully relying on the electricity to aid his movements. As it was, it felt like Felix was standing still. The very world around Will was slowed, and he knew that Felix couldn’t avoid this next move. Pivoting neatly, he threw a powerful right hook. He was mere inches from his opponent’s face when, suddenly, a wave of water rose out of thin air, catching his fist and deflecting it upward.

A shocked gasp went through the crowd. Only his sister looked unsurprised. She called out to Will now, “His water’s more than fast enough for you.”

Will looked in shock at the hand that had been deflected, as if he wasn’t quite sure what had just happened. One instant, he’d been about to win the fight with ease. The next, Felix had countered his attack with lightning speed. He let out a nervous laugh and rushed in again. He kicked but was blocked by a powerful rush of water that surged outward, threatening to trip him up. He easily danced away from it, moving in a circle until he was behind Felix, in his blind spot. That would work, he thought confidently.

He lunged forward, turning once within range and stomping out flat-footed. Felix didn’t even bother turning to face him, yet again, mere inches from making full contact, he was rebuffed. Now a little frustrated, he picked up the pace even further. But no matter what angle he took, he was rebuffed by water. A stream of it was now orbiting Felix, moving into position at the perfect moment to block each hit.

“Damn!” He exclaimed, finally breaking away and letting the electricity fade. “How is that so fast?”

“I’ve always been fast,” Felix said. “But my water’s even faster. Once you get used to using it, it’s second nature to speed things up a bit.”

Will shook his head wearily, knowing that he’d just used up about half of his available reserves on that rush and gotten nothing out of it. He wasn’t suited for raw power after all. “Alright then. Show me just how fast it is.”

Felix took up the challenge at once and dropped the rotating sphere that almost always held him up. The air around him crackled, and the temperature dropped nearly thirty degrees in the blink of an eye. Then two surging streams of water appeared, aiming directly for Will. He ducked under them just in time, then let out a yelp as he realized that, instead of continuing, they’d wrapped around at lightning speed, and were heading directly for him again.

There was no question of minimal effort, he thought. He needed his electricity just to be able to keep up with their movements. It took a lot of concentration from Felix to maintain this blinding speed, he thought, noticing the boy’s face contorted, seeing how focused he was. Maybe if he could get close enough to strike, he could land a serious hit. But he left it too long, and one of the streams slammed into his shoulder, spinning him in place just in time for the second to slam into his chest. There would be a massive bruise there later, he thought.

He recovered his poise just in time to avoid another hammering impact and danced to the side. He did not attempt to disguise his movement or his intent and reached for Felix. He got within a few centimeters before having to duck out of the way of one of the water bullets. So close. He’d get closer next time, he promised himself. He darted away to safety, bringing the bolts of water with him.

The Fire Nexus let out a loud ‘ooh’ of disappointment when they saw how close Will had gotten, and echoed the sound a few seconds later when he got another near miss. Felix flinched away that time, narrowly avoiding full contact. He got no closer on this third pass, having to abandon the rush early to save himself. One of the water bullets caught him with a glancing blow, nearly knocking him flat. He was saved by a lucky moment of slipping concentration from Felix. They were both nearing their limits.

Will darted in again, pushing the very last dregs of his power to their absolute limits. He feinted left and then ducked down. It worked, causing both bolts to fly cleanly over his head. Felix’s eyes started to open, and the wave of water started to appear at his feet, moving up to block Will’s path. But he was faster, diving forward over the spawning wave. He caught onto Felix’s right arm with one hand, then, before he ran out of speed, pivoted neatly in place, throwing the younger boy over his hip, slamming him into the ground.

He had just enough time to pin Felix in place, pulling his arm back to establish leverage before his Condition broke completely. But he’d managed to secure his position, and it became a test of strength then. The best Felix could muster was one final weak wave that splashed over Will, not strong enough to break his grip. He struggled in vain for several seconds, trying to shift Will’s weight, but eventually gave it up and went limp.

“Will wins!” Noratuk crowed, just barely audible over the roar of applause and cheering that came from the Fire Nexus.