What The Luck!?

While Asher walked to ring number four, Art was finding himself face to face with his first opponent. 

"Kid, are you sure you want to be here? This isn't some easy tournament. You need to be a real martial artist to take this on." The man who spoke was fairly older than Art and was clearly stronger in many ways. 

"You know. I have asked myself that a lot. But I have friends that are waiting for me to win. A brother judging from up there in that tower who needs to see me crush my opponents. And parents in the audience waiting to see just what I've become. I more than want to be here." Art spoke with steel in his voice. He had exchanged his gloves for basic hand wraps since there was no metal in them. So he couldn't be called out for using a super power. 

"Then I won't hold back and spit on your resolve." The man had much more respect for the kid in front of him after hearing this. He had at first thought that Art was some kid who decided he would have an easy win to show off to his rich friends. Now he thoiught that there was more to it and that Art would not just roll over. 

"Match start!" The referee shouted and blew a whistle prompting Art to fall in to his boxers bounce. 

The man saw this and was surprised to see such a developed boxing style stance at such a young age. He too had done some boxing to expand his arsenal of moves only to barely manage to ass the boxing bounce to his stance. Instead, he had opted for a slower style stance that moved in and around the opponent. 

Art was watching his opponent use the exact stance and round to his side. He knew that just like Jane this man was trying to use speed and foot work to gain an angle. When the man dashed forward Art could only think that his movements were slower than Janes'.

With an incoming punch, Art did what he had carved in to his muscles. He sidestepped the punch and pulled. The forward momentum caught under the opponent's shoulder and flipped him in the air. However, instead of just letting his opponent fall, Art pushed more. He and his friends never used the other half of the throw when with each other so that they wouldn't get too hurt. Now was not the time. 

In the air he used his other hand to punch downward. This made contact with his opponent's chest and pushed him toward the ground faster and harder. The force when the man hit the ground was enough to not only cause him to lose his breath but also cause a symphony of slight cracking as his ribs started to give way to the force. 

"Match End! Medics! One hit finish! Winner, ummm, nicknamed...you really thought I wouldn't realize my power wasn't just lead manipulation?" The crowd was amazed by Art's use of a single throw to take down his first opponent. But the nickname the judge yelled and hesitated on was just strange. However,m Art swore ha saw the metal frame on the judges' booth warp a little. He knew he had just dealt a blow to his brother that he had not expected. 

Art raised a fist in the air while the medic team assisted his opponent. "Hey man, I'm sorry I went a little too intense. I really need to show off my strength here. I hope you don't have any hard feelings." Art managed to speak to his opponent before he was taken away. 

Just before his opponent left the ring on a stretched Art saw a smile break the mans' face. "You got some piss and vinegar in ya, huh kid?" This was all the man said but Art knew he had just won a real martial artist's respect. There was no more underestimating happening in the future matches. 

While Art walked to the waiting room to prepare for his next match Asher was standing in a ring with twenty five different participants. "Listen here. I am your referee today. You can use any means of martial arts and super powers to knock an opponent out of the ring. The last participant standing gets the right to move on. Understand? I will intervene if any lethal force is used. When I give the shout you will be allowed to begin." 

The referee had explained all he needed to and used a super power to float in to the air. Asher had a feeling it was telekinesis since the referee was also controlling his whistle to move toward his mouth. 

Asher watched the man with the floating rocks preparing to rush to the middle and unleash a move to push everyone out of the ring. The other participants had also heard the mans' proclamation of victory. Some were looking like they regretted coming while others were preparing to rush the guy and take him out. Not a single person was focused on Asher at all. 

The referee was expecting the match to be over fast so he was quick to blow the whistle and shout. The participants had been bouncing in place waiting for this. Almost every single one but Asher charged the man that had said he would take them all out. 

The man that said he would take them all out jumped farther than expected and slammed a fist down on the raised arena. The vibration caused a wave of earth to surge up and push everyone back. No one was exempt for this blow and the stone pushed all the way back to the edge of the ring and everyone was forced out. Some were injured and medics rushed to them. Others had blocked the rock but were still pushed back.

"Ha! Like I said. Come to arena four if you want to lose!" The man raised both hands in the air to start a victorious walk around the arena as the stones returned to the earth flattening out the stage again. 

"Huh, and here I thought you were saying we would all lose. But you were really talking about you yourself coming to lose in arena number four. Thanks for the easy win." Asher had been on the edge of the circle and not moved at all. When the stones had risen and pushed back they hadn't broken the circle so Asher was left standing with the stones right in front of him. Then the stone receded leaving the distracted opponent in front of him just waiting to be beaten. 

"What!?" The man didn't even have time to use his super powers again as Asher ran and jumped in the air. Both his legs landed on the man's side and power kicked him out of the arena. Asher stood up and brushed some stone dust off his shoulder. 

"Well, that was...weird. But fun." Asher wasn't really sure what had happened but thought that it was an interesting match. He had avoided an area of effect super power just by standing still and not moving at all. It was a risk that paid off immensely. 

"Victor in ring number four! Nicknamed, the lucky jinx!" The crowd was looking on at the situation and had already pegged Asher as the lucky kid who shouldn't have survived. The replayed him standing in place as the tones stopped before him. Some argued that he was just stunned and lucky. Others argued that he was watching and planning since the man was obviously going to stop the attack at the edge of the ring. Asher earned himself fans and enemies. 

"Proceed to the benches to watch the other matches or to the waiting room. You will be given a fifteen minute break before the next selection ." The referee pointed to Asher who hopped of the risen circle and proceeded out of the arena. He wanted to check the waiting room monitors to see how Art was doing. He was just in time to see the replay of Ary brutally throwing his opponent. 

"Hell yeah! That's my brother there! Nice smash...Ha! That's the nickname you went with?" Asher was almost on the ground laughing while they showed Art pointing up at the judges' room. It was hysterical that Art had thrown all caution to the wind to directly taunt his brother. 

The television returned to show the winners so far and Asher was surprised to see a few other students from the camp participating in the underwater scavenger tournament. There were also some that were participating in the trap race. The same one that Laura was going to be participating in. 

"Don't you recognize that girl? I told you she was at camp cruel!" One boy had recognized Laura instantly. There was no way that he would forget her. 

"Holy crap. You're right. She's the one that dominated the obstacle course. How will we survive this?" The other boy was ready to admit defeat. He knew just how hard it would be to win now.

"Hey! I remember you guys. You both challenged me every morning at the obstacle course. I can't wait to race again!" Laura on the other hand was just excited to see a familiar face. "Let's see if you can keep up here." Her smile made the two boys shiver. 

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