13: Jack vs Torak

"Sachi!" Jack yells as we all check on her.

"Oww! My whole body hurts… " Sachi says weakly, as she grabs her stomach.

"Hmph, just further proof that hard work will always beat talent." Alida says as she walks away.

"You wanna repeat that?" Jack yells angrily.

"Relax boy, she'll be okay. Let me see her." Master Celine says as she sits Sachi up.

"I'm sorry I lost guys… I'm an embarrassment." Sachi says, her eyes full of disappointment.

"No need to apologize, you put up a good fight!" Mari says.

"Mardian Art: Radiant Healing!" Master Celine says as all of Sachi's injuries disappear.

"Wow, I feel a hundred percent again!" Sachi says as she gets up with ease.

"Good, now let's begin the next battle! Who's next?" Master Celine says as she walks back to her seat.

"I'm next!" Jack says as everyone darts their eyes at him.

"And who are you fighting?" Master Vokgar asks.

"He'll be fighting me!" Torak says as he sprints out into the middle of the arena.

"Alright, wish me luck guys!" Jack says as he walks away.

"Wait, don't you at least want to know his strengths and weaknesses?" Layla asks.

"Nope, that's not my style! I want a fair fight!" Jack replies.

"That idiot, he doesn't realize that this fight isn't going to be fair! Torak's attacks are all about pressuring his enemies from afar." Layla says.

"Have you seen him fight before?" I ask.

"I did a guild job with him last month, we were stopping a bandit group who was pretty strong, but it didn't matter he overwhelmed all of them within minutes." Layla says.

"Don't count Jack out. He may be a little slow sometimes, but his adaptability is incredible." Sachi says.

"She's right, ever since we've gotten here Jack has been more reliable than the rest of us." I say.

"If you say so." Layla says.

"You better win Jack! Show this jerk what you can do!" Mari yells.

"Must be nice to have a fan club half-blood! I can't wait to see their faces when I humiliate you!" Torak says with a cocky smile on his face.

"Uh oh! I'm so scared!" Jack says, sarcastically.

"You should be, your little Windian friend was a pushover when it came down to it. Seems like you Chosen Children aren't worthy of your names!" Torak says aggressively.

Immediately, Jack's expression changes. His Taqa starts emanating from his body and he looks ticked off! He clutches his sword tightly and aims it at Torak.

"You've gone too far! Don't you dare bring Sachi into this!" Jack yells.

"Make me!" Torak says as he pulls out a great sword.

"Okay! Let the battle begin!" Master Vokgar says.

Jack and Torak lunge at each other and Jack starts wailing at Torak with his sword. Torak blocks each aggressive swing, but it's clear that he's struggling. Torak kicks Jack off of him as he starts focusing his Taqa.

"Take this! Bracadier Art: Earth Blade!" Torak says, as his sword becomes engulfed in a yellow aura.

Torak bullets towards Jack like a raging bull.

"Jack watch out!" Sachi yells.

"Bracadier Art: Lumberjack Slam!" Jack says as he swings his sword at the ground.

The ground becomes cracked as Jack's attack prevents Torak from going through with his technique. Torak's sword flies out of his hand and Jack lunges immediately towards him.

"Got you where I want you!" Jack says as he's about to swing his sword.

"Ha, you idiot! Bracadier Art: Iron Body Shield!" Torak says, as his whole body literally turns into iron.

"Huh?" Jack says, as he swings and does no damage.

"It's my turn now!" Torak says as he punches Jack.

Jack barely manages to block Torak's attack with his sword and is flung back across the arena.

"Jack!" Sachi says, her voice full of worry.

"Dude's literally become a walking shield!" I say.

"Jack hurry up! He's about to attack again!" Mari yells.

"I've never seen this before, this isn't the technique he used during our job! Verrona and her little posse have been training hard… " Layla says.

"That's right Torak, beat him down!" Urmac says.

"Show them who the top dog is!" Alida yells.

"You better not lose your cool, you big oaf!" Mari yells.

"Wouldn't dream of it!" Torak says as he sprints across the arena towards Jack.

Torak throws a flurry of punches at Jack as Jack is struggling to block all of the strong hits. Each punch is starting to put a lot of stress on his sword and I notice that it's starting to crack.

"Jack, your sword!" I yell.

"Damn! Bracadier Art: Iron Arms!" Jack says as his sword breaks in half.

Torak continues his flurry of punches but Jack manages to block some of his punches with his arms which are engulfed in a yellow aura. They both enter into an all-out brawl, but none of Jack's attacks are doing any damage.

"Ugh, none of my attacks are doing anything!" Jack says, his voice full of frustration.

"Hmph, you're actually not too bad! Even still, I can't understand why Adora would choose you! The Children are supposed to be the best, but here I am giving you trouble." Torak says as he cracks his knuckles.

"Shut up!" Jack says as he starts punching desperately towards Torak.

All of his punches are now missing as Torak is getting light jabs all over Jack's body.

Jack's letting his emotions get to him, he has to calm down if he wants to stand a chance.

"Pathetic!" Torak says as he knees Jack in the gut.

"Agh!" Jack says as he falls to the ground in pain.

"Just give it up, I've won this battle! It doesn't feel good beating up on my own kind like this!" Torak says as he looks down at Jack.

"Jacob… " Jack says, as she slowly tries to pull himself up.

"Seriously man, just stop it! You can't win today!" Torak says.

All of a sudden Jack's tattoo starts lighting up like Sachi's was earlier.

"RAH!" Jack says as all of his muscles grow even larger than before.

"What the?" Torak says, his eyes full of fear.

"No way, he awakened his special ability in the middle of the battle!" Layla says as she smiles.

"It's just like what happened in training last week!" Sachi says, her voice full of excitement.

"Don't give up Jack! Make him pay!" Mari yells.

"You got this Jack!" I yell.

"Whew, didn't know Taqa could make you feel this good! I'm not going down without a fight!" Jack says, as bullets across the arena and punches Torak in the gut.

Finally, it seems like the attack is doing damage as the punch chipped away at Torak's iron shield armor.

"No way!" Torak says as he holds his stomach in pain.

"Yes!" Jack says, as his eyes light up.

Jack throws a flurry of punches as each hit starts slowly chipping away all of Torak's armor. Torak tries to keep up with attacks by blocking, but it's all ineffective.

"Ugh, this can't be!" Torak says as you can tell he's desperate now.

"No more armor for you!" Jack says, as he finally knocks off all of Torak's armor.

"No!" Torak says, as he kicks Jack off of him.

Jack and Torak are clearly tired now as both of them start breathing hard.

"I have to win!" Torak says, as his eyes roll up and a huge amount of Taqa emanates from his body.

"You'll have to get through me first!" Jack says as he lunges at Torak.

Jack grabs Torak and chucks him at least 20 feet into the air. Jack waits for him to fall back on towards the ground as he starts powering up a huge attack!

"This is it! Bracadier Art: Lumberjack Fist!" Jack says, as his right hand is now engulfed in a huge yellow aura.

"No you don't! Bracadier Art: Iron Punch!" Torak says as he descends towards Jack at super speed.

Jack tries to hit Torak, but unfortunately, he misses. Torak dodges the punch and hit's Jack at the very last second. The attack does massive damage and Jack is rendered unconscious.

"That's game! The winner of this match is Torak!" Vokgar announces.