"Three… Two… One… FIGHT!!" All of the teams surged forward, most abandoning their teammates in favor of settling some things with their enemies. The Vanguard stuck together, Cinthia dishing out vague commands that proved effective in bringing down those that dared to challenge them.
Tessa hung back, waiting and watching for the perfect moment.
Runner immediately switched, his long, twisting body zooming over the battlefield, avoiding the stray jet of flame or bolt of lightning as he danced through the air.
A flaming phoenix screamed as it shot towards Runner, hate and violence gleaming it its eyes, but another one swooped in and slammed into it, battling it away from Runner. Multiple members from the Jade Ravens swooped through the air, but none picked a fight with Runner as they were wise enough to pick their battles. They were not nearly big enough to fight him. Instead, they picked others off of the ground one by one, dropping them midair for another member to catch them and toss them around some more.
Tessa was nowhere to be seen.
He grinned despite himself, happily twisting around and letting loose a dramatic roar. Might as well please the crowd before I get picked off, he thought.
Another roar echoed across the battlefield, and a golden but permanently blood-stained beast raced through the crowds of people. Its body was athletic and lean, its movements mimicking that of a cat's as it leaped over people effortlessly with its long legs, its equally long tail keeping it balanced as it ran. Spines ran along its spine and red-tinted saliva dripped from its greedy maw. Bloodthirsty eyes sought out its prey. Its armored wings were tucked in neatly to avoid snagging on something.
People saw the beast and ran from it, having heard rumors about it and not wanting to face the real thing.
Runner suddenly twisted around, connecting a tail flick on another charging phoenix. The tip of the tail stuck it across the face like a whip, sending it spiraling to the ground.
"I didn't know I could do that," he mumbled to himself, then turned his attention back to the dragon on the ground.
The judges were now working overtime. Whenever someone was "killed," the judges would teleport them to the infirmary. But with the dragon's attacks, an assumed kill was made before the victims could be snapped in half or burnt to a crisp. And many assumed deaths were made.
The beast jumped over a growing Giant, charging at a particular Giant that was fighting tiny Junia–who's skin was made of hard and impenetrable metal. The beast snarled, grabbing one person with its mouth and sending them to their "death" while not taking its bloodthirsty eyes off of Fassor.
This is working great, for some reason, he thought, twisting around once again, but my energy's waning. I can't keep this up forever.
The beast and Junia worked together to scare the bejesus out of Fassor, Junia throwing jewels like throwing stars while the beast jumped in his way whenever he tried to escape.
A chain wrapped around Runner's dragon and a girl used his twisting her advantage as she was thrown into the air and towards her prey. A renowned dragon hunter, she was confident she could take him down.
He suddenly changed back to human form, gripping the chain with both hands as he began to fall from the sky. Tega once again began crashing around "You need me! You can't do this on your own!" he shouted.
"Shut the hell up!" Runner said aloud, gritting his teeth as hellfire once again erupted over his entire body.
(Is this alright, or no?)
(Yeah, it's good. Anything goes in the War Games)
The girl gritted her teeth. "Sneaky bastard!" She pulled out a gun and pointed it at Runner while they free-fell.
He yanked on the chain as hard as he could, throwing off her aim and dragging her through the air towards him at a frightening speed. He reached his right arm out as far as it could, trying to grab the wrist that held the gun.
She yelped and twisted, preventing him from coming close. She then let go of the chain and leaned back, slamming into Zia as she happened to fly by. The sphinx wasn't too happy about that and tried bucking her off with she dived towards the ground.
Runner immediately switched back into his dragon, zooming away at blinding speed as the least of the hellfire extinguish.
Shadows followed him, darting around and around him as they tried to find an opening.
He poured in even more speed, launching straight up into the air once again.
"Fuck off, damnnit!"
Cinthia's voice resonated through the air. "Sorry, Runner. But we're in it to win." The shadows pulled in tighter, spreading out to enclose him in shadows–and possibly elimination.
He burst into flames again, roaring in anger as he began to spin in a rapid circle, searching for a way through the wall of shadows.
Half of the shadows backed off, not immune to hellfire. However, Cinthia was. She was just about to trap him, then slice a killing blow–
A loud fog-horn blew, signaling the end of the first round.
The shadows pulled back and formed a mildly disappointed Cinthia, who hovered in the air with black membraneous wings, her legs folded beneath her as if she was sitting in the air.
Runner switched back into a human, landing on his back with a thump. "What the fuck, dude?"
Cinthia landed on the ground, wings scattering in wisps of shadow. She faced him with a small smile. "Last I checked, you're my enemy." Shadows hovered at Cinthia's side, then solidified into Demitri. He stuffed his hands in his pants pockets and generally didn't seem to be sorry.
He growled in response, choosing to stay on the ground rather than taking the effort to stand.
Tessa's beast trotted around, showing off its bloody scales and "kill" count–which was displayed on a screen in front of the judges' window–flicking its tail in the air and digging up dirt with its thick claws.
Not many people were left in the arena. Most had been sent to the infirmary or their dorms, eliminated. Even a few of the Vanguard members had been caught off guard and eliminated.
He looked around and groaned, letting his head fall limp once again. "So it's now Vanguard against me, essentially?"
The beast flicked its ears up and stalked on over to Runner, its head bent low to the ground. Cinthia casually stepped in its path. "Not necessarily. There are three rounds to the War Games. This was just round one."