9 Chapter 8
"Begin!"
The moment the host said that, Ariella rushed straight for her opponent.
Her opponent also got himself ready although he was still shaking a little.
She eventually reached him and sent a punch towards his face. The opponent quickly dodged to the side and responded by sending a punch of his own.
Ariella quickly caught the punch and pulled him towards herself.
!
'Damn it!'
The opponent, realizing that he had been put in a compromising position, tried to shake off Ariella's grip on his arm.
Unfortunately, he was too late and received a clean punch to the face.
'Ugh!!'
But Ariella wasn't done with him yet. She immediately entered his personal space while he was still reeling from her punch and gave a sharp punch to his torso, causing him to bend over and back off.
*OHHHHH*
The crowd roared at the exciting beat down Ariella just gave her opponent.
"Ugh, that hurt."
The opponent said as he wiped the little saliva that slipped out of his mouth.
He then turned towards her and got back to his stance.
"My turn."
He said as he charged at Ariella.
The moment he reached her, he sent a punch towards her face. Ariella, predicting it, immediately ducked under his swing and tried to sweep him off his feet.
Her opponent predicted her attack and jumped back to dodge it. He then rushed towards her and gave a roundhouse kick to her face but Ariella managed to bring up an arm to block his attack.
*boom*
Unfortunately, the force from the kick pushed her away and made her arm a little numb.
"Heh, that's all you got? You're not as tough as I thought you were."
Her opponent said as he taunted her.
He had an arrogant expression on his face and you could tell he had stopped shaking.
Probably because he no longer saw her as a threat like he did at the beginning of the match.
"Tch."
Ariella clicked her tongue and rushed towards her opponent once again.
She reached him and they started exchanging several punches and kicks, trying to overpower the other and looking for weaknesses to capitalize on.
Unfortunately for Ariella's opponent, he had gotten cocky and made a terrible mistake.
And a rookie one, at that.
Ariella, capitalizing on his mistake, gave a strong punch to his torso, causing him to double over and Ariella proceeded to knee his chin, causing his head to whip back from the force.
"Ahhh!!"
He yelled in pain from the strike Ariella had given him but Ariella, not wanting to waste this chance, pressed on and punched his face twice then jumped in the air and performed a roundhouse kick to his face with all her strength.
*boom*
The attack was so strong that her opponent was knocked off his feet and sent flying towards the side of the stage.
*boom*
He landed on the ground harshly and tried to get up since he knew it would be pretty bad for him if his enemy used this chance against him.
Unfortunately, the moment he made a mistake during their fight, his fate was already sealed.
Ariella immediately rushed towards him and sent a punch towards his head to knock him out.
Her opponent, seeing her attack, quickly rolled out of the way, effectively dodging her attack.
*boom*
The attack hit the ground and caused a small vibration to occur across the stage.
Her opponent, using the momentum from his roll, managed to get back on his feet.
Unfortunately, when he got up, he was met with a strong kick coming straight for his head.
*WOOSH*
*BANG*
"Ahh!!"
His scream of pain was heard by everyone but nobody cared since this was a normal occurrence when fighting.
Ariella's kick had struck him fair and square in the face, causing his head to whip back once again and him to get thrown out of the stage.
*boom*
He landed on the ground and rolled for a few seconds before coming to a stop.
Obviously, he was knocked out.
'It seems he got knocked out immediately from that attack to his face after screaming. Not bad Ariella, not bad.'
Lor thought with a smile as he looked at her.
*OHHHH!*
The crowd cheered at the impressive display of skills by the younger generation.
"And Ariella Del-Nar moves on to the finals!!"
The host shouted as the crowd cheered even louder.
Ariella stood there panting as she watched her opponent on the ground. All through the fight, she had her guard up incase her opponent tried something unexpected.
But seeing him outside the stage, She finally dropped her guard.
She finally regained her energy and walked down the stage under the loud cheering of the crowd. She had a smile on her face as she walked back to Lor's side.
She managed to come out on top in this fight, if she had been reckless and made a mistake like her opponent did then she would have been the one outside the stage, not her opponent.
Thankfully, she never dropped her guard once during the fight.
"Congratulations."
A voice brought her out of her thoughts as she looked towards the direction of the voice.
"You did good out there."
Lor said as he gave her a small smile.
Ariella, seeing his smile, felt her day brighten considerably. She felt like the match she just fought, although hard, was worth it if she could see his smile.
She could feel a blush creeping up her face and her heart beating faster and faster, the more she saw his smile.
How she wish she could see more of it.
"T-Thank you."
She said as she turned her head away, trying to hide her blush.
"You're welcome."
Lor said and then turned back to relaxing.
"Shall we have our next contestants come out for their match!"
The host said as the audience cheered for another exciting match.
Unfortunately, they were disappointed. The match wasn't nearly as interesting as Lor's or Ariella's match.
It felt...bland. There wasn't really any suspense in it like there was in Ariella's match.
Eventually, the match ended with one of them winning and making it to the finals.
"And now we have our finalists!! It's almost time to decide who gets to be the future General!"
The host yelled as the audience also cheered.
"For the finals, we have three candidates participating. They'll fight against each other until we have a person who comes out on top. The rules are the same as the Semi finals, knock out your opponent or get them off the stage to win."
He said as Ariella and the other person who won, nodded their heads. Lor didn't say anything and just kept his eyes closed.
"Good, may the best win!!"
He yelled as the audience cheered loudly at the thought of the exciting matches that await them.
"For the first match we have!"
He yelled as the hologram floating in the air, changed to show who gets to fight first.
"Lor-Zod and Ariella Del-Nar!!"
He yelled once he saw the names and pictures on the hologram.
*OHHHHHHH!!!*
The audience yelled once more, showing their excitement for this match.
Ariella was extremely surprised that she had to fight Lor. She knew that she would eventually fight him but that doesn't mean she was prepared for it.
Honestly, the thought of fighting him somehow causes her heart to cry in pain. She could also feel distress, sadness and various negative emotions starting to form at the mere thought of going against Lor.
Why is this happening to her? She just met him not too long ago so how is it that she's already this attached to him?
'Just how? Is this normal?'
She asked as she tried to come to a conclusion on why she's suddenly feeling like this.
She didn't know why but she really hopes this is normal and hopefully, Lor is feeling the same thing too.
Because if she's the only one feeling this...
Then things could get messy.
"Hey, what are you thinking about? let's go."
Suddenly someone tapped her shoulder, bringing her out of her thoughts.
She saw it was Lor and could see people looking at her. She blushed, embarrassed at being lost in her thoughts in public.
She shook her head and decided that she'll think about it later. She then looked at Lor and replied.
"Sorry about that, i was thinking about something."
Lor nodded his head at her, understanding where she's coming from.
"Understandable. Now, lets go."
Lor then turned away from her and walked towards the stage. She also stood up and followed after him.
'Although, It's painful to fight Lor but I'll just have to push through it. After all, I have to bring glory to my family.'
She thought as she tapped her face repeatedly to get herself together. She can't back down now while she's so close to winning glory for her family.
'You got this Ariella, for your family.'
She thought, encouraging herself and ignoring the pain in her chest.
She eventually reached the stage along with Lor and stood in front of him. Not too far and not too close, just enough.
Lor smiled as he looked at her.
"Good luck, your gonna need it."
He said.
Ariella looked at him and could tell he wasn't taking her seriously at all.
"We'll see about that."
She said as she got in her usual stance.
Lor simply smirked at her response and unsheathed his sword.
*SHING*
The sound of a sword being unsheathed, echoed across the stage.
"True."
He said as he stood there, not bothering to take any stance at all.
"Begin!!"
The host said as Ariella charged straight for Lor. She reached him and gave a fast punch towards his face.
Lor simply tilted his head to the side, dodging the punch with ease.
Ariella immediately gave another punch to his face while preparing another punch should he dodge her attack.
And just like she expected, he did dodge it with ease and almost immediately, she sent another punch to his torso.
Lor, seeing her attack, applauded her skill mentally.
'Not bad. Unfortunately, it won't work on me.'
Lor thought as he side stepped her attack and used the back of his hand to hit her face, causing her to fly away from him and crash to the ground.
"Ughh"
She groaned in pain as she shakily stood up and looked back at Lor, who was suddenly in front of her.
!!
Seeing Lor in front of her, She knew she had no chance against him but she at least wanted to try and win.
No matter how impossible it may seem.
She brought up her hands again and gave a punch towards Lor face.
Lor, just as easily as before, dodged her attack and gave a sharp punch to her torso.
"Ugh!"
She doubled over and backed away from him while
Wincing in pain from his punch.
"You know you stand no chance against me so why are you still fighting? Why haven't you given up already like the others."
Lor said as walked around her, trying to figure out why she's acting like this. He had already sheathed his sword back as there was no need for it.
Ariella didn't answer and simply replied by dashing towards Lor.
She sent a punch towards his face again but Lor, using the back of one of his hand's again, directed her punch to another side, completely missing him as a result.
He then used the hilt of his blade to strike Ariella's lungs.
"Ugh!"
She bent down again and fell down to her knees while trying to catch her breath.
"You haven't answered my question, yet."
Lor said as he looked at her with a stoic face. His voice, making its way to her ears and edging her to answer him.
She felt compelled to answer him and tried resisting.
Unfortunately, she couldn't and eventually answered.
"My family, I'm still fighting to bring glory to my family."
"Your family huh. Admirable but that's nothing special. Everyone here is fighting for the same reason so what makes you different from them."
Lor said as he looked at her without an ounce of surprise on his face. His face still stoic and unreadable.
"I d-don't want to answer."
She said as she tried her best to resist.
"I see. Then you might as well lose right here."
Lor said as his face turned cold and he prepared himself to kick her out of the stage.
"I won't go down so easily!"
She yelled as she suddenly stood up and quickly attacked Lor, trying to catch him off guard.
Unfortunately for her, even if Lor didn't expect for her to get up so fast, she was still too slow to land a hit on him.
Lor quickly moved to the side and her body immediately passed right through his previous position.
Seeing that she failed in her surprise attack, she moved with the momentum from her attack and rolled away from Lor to get some space away from him.
She lifted her head up immediately to get eyes on her opponent, only to find him right in front of her again.
"Cute."
Lor said as he gave another backhand to her face, sending her flying out of the stage as a result.
*CRASSSHH*
She landed on the ground outside the ground and laid there for a few seconds before struggling to get up.
*WOAHHHHH*
The crowd cheered loudly at the exciting fight that just took place. It was a complete one sided beat down from Lor and Ariella was completely decimated.
Everyone knew she had no chance against Lor. As for why she didn't give up immediately, they didn't know neither did they care.
After all, if she fights then an exciting fight is what awaits them.
Lor seeing Ariella struggling to get up, sighed and made his way to her.
He reached her and gave her a hand.
"Here."
He said as his face still had no change of expression despite offering her help.
Ariella seeing him trying to help her, took his offer and grabbed his arm.
Lor pulled and she rose to her feet.
"Sorry about that. I might have been too harsh on you."
Lor said. Despite his expression remaining the same, you could still hear the sincerity in his voice when apologizing to Ariella.
Ariella, feeling his sincerity, smiled at him.
"It's okay, it's my fault for being so weak."
She said as she had a depreciating smile on her face.
Lor, seeing her smile, didn't like it one bit and decided to encourage her.
"Hey, believe it or not, you're very skilled for your age."
He started. His voice loud enough for everyone to hear due to them being silent.
"Even if you're not as skillful as me, you're definitely one of the best among our generation out there."
He added.
"So it doesn't matter if you're not the best. As long as you tried your best and you're proud of your efforts, then that's all that matters. Even if nobody appreciates your efforts...At least, you do right?"
He asked as Ariella unconsciously nodded her head as a response.
"Then that's all that matters."
He said as he gave a pat to her back as a sign of encouragement and left towards his relaxing spot.
Everything he said just now was heard by everyone. His voice could reach everyone because the whole stadium had silenced down to listen to his words.
The host had also used the technology he was using to amplify his voice, on Lor so that everyone would have an easier time listening to him.
Lor, of course knew his voice was being projected to everyone but he didn't stop talking as he saw it as a way to further increase his image in everyone's hearts.
This would better improve the already enormous reputation he has among the people and encourage a capable future soldier of Krypton who was drowning in self pity and depression.
Overall, it was a win-win for him.
*OHHHHH!!*
He walked back to his spot under the shouts and cheers from the people.
He sat down and then immediately went back to relaxing.
Ariella just stood there, staring at his back as he walked away.
She was thinking deeply about his words and saw that he was right.
If no one accepted or acknowledged her efforts in improving herself then forget about them.
Ignore them.
As long as she knows she tried her best, then that's all that matters.
Besides...there's someone out here who acknowledges and respects her efforts in improving herself.
'Just his acknowledgment is more than enough for me.'
She thought as she walked back to Lor's side.
But this time, not with a depressed or reluctant expression like she had previously.
But with a happy and contented one.
[Image]
___________________________________
Chapter 8 done! Yeah!!
I'm pretty happy with the ending, I finally found a place to end the chapter otherwise it would have gone beyond Four Thousand words by the time I'm done with it, lol.
Once again, this chapter felt off but I feel way better with this chapter than the last one.
I also figured out why I felt the last chapter was so off. I didn't portray the Kryptonians properly.
It seemed like the kids were cultivators and Young masters mixed together than kids in a technological world. Lol.
Sorry about that, the cultivation stories must have influenced me subconsciously when I was writing. Lol.
Anyways, this chapter was quite long, although it's nothing compared to a special chapter.
Just more than 3000 words.
Nothing special.
Also, Ariella is NOT a Yandere no matter how similar her behavior is to one.
I get that I might have made her a tad bit too similar to a Yandere but what i was actually going for was a girl madly in love with someone.
I think I did a pretty good job with that but some of y'all may say she's very similar to a Yandere or is actually the hidden one but she's not.
Only madly in love with him. That's it.
I hope that clarifies things.
Anyways, next chapter is gonna be a continuation of this tournament and then a time skip to the planets destruction.
Some of y'all are very eager to get to canon and I too wanna get there so next chapter should be it.
I think, It's either the next one or the one after it. One of those two.
Anyways, I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter as much as I did. Don't forget to comment what y'all think about the chapter, I'll like to hear what y'all think.
I'll see y'all next chapter.
Peace.✌️
