The Unmasked: The Betrayer’s Game

Silence enveloped the battlefield.

Both Finn and the monkey lay still, battered and bleeding, both still struggling to breathe. Sitting breathlessly, their breathing shallow... yet both displaying faint movements in their fingers were an indication they had not gone into the dark night just yet. Leon, Isla, and Fanny shared anxious glances, with their eyes slowly moving back and forth from Finn, trying to gauge the situation. Fear gripped their hearts as they all thought the same thing—Finn needed medical assistance, and he needed it fast. 

"Mam!", Mam stepped forward as loud as she could say, "This match..."

"Wait!" a voice interrupted.

The three turned, it was Fanny, her face hard and serious as she stepped forward. "Mam, look closely—Finn's fingers are moving. He's trying to get up!" her voice forceful and final.

Mam squinted and peered again. Yes, indeed Finn's fingers were moving. "He needs medical attention, he's hurt badly..." she said, holding off. "I'll give him a few minutes, but just a few, he cannot stay like this for long."

Fanny nodded, her eyes remaining firmly engaged on Finn.

On the battlefield, Finn's teeth gritted against the stress of what he was asking of himself. He groaned as he pressed his hands into the dirt, pushing himself off the earth. His arms quaked with exertion. He felt his muscles screaming out in pain. Blood poured from his chin. He could not physically raise his upper body off the ground.

Across from him, the monkey came back to consciousness. It also lay there, trying to stand up. Both Finn and the monkey were at their limits. 

Finn's mind spiraled. "I can't move. I really can't move. Why can't I do it...?"

Then, like a flash of light in the dark, a memory burst through—Fanny, inside this arena, covered in blood but proud with refusal to fall. "She made it... why can't I?" 

His fingers rested in the dirt. He gritted his teeth and let out a roar, "I will not lose!!"

He pushed again, this time with everything. He lifted his torso, it was shaking. His knees buckled but locked in place. His body screamed in agony. Every breath felt like knives in his lungs. But he kept pushing. Inch by inch, he stood. 

And the crowd was still. 

And then—

He raised his hand. "I... win."

Mam's lips curled into a confident smile. "Winner: Finn!"

Leon and Isla jumped and began to cheer. Fanny stood by silently but allowed a small grin of pride to show. "That bastard... he actually did it." 

Finn had collapsed again and was unconscious.

Leon charged forward, "Finn!!" But Leon only took a few steps before Fanny moved. She cut him off by placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I'll take him to the medical office. You two stay here," she said.

"What—? You sure?" Leon asked with panic in his voice.

Fanny said nothing. She crouched down, pulled Finn up onto her shoulders, and lifted him as if he weighed nothing. Isla's eyes widened. "She is really carrying him like that…"

Leon blinked. "I don't know how Finn will react when he wakes up."

Fanny didn't respond. She carried Finn off the field as if he were not even there.

Leon and Isla slowly returned to their seats.

Mam came up again. "Next match!"

A new person stepped into the arena. Leon leaned forward. "Wait… isn't that the twin? "

Isla nodded. "Yep. He made it through the training too. Let's see what he can do." 

Mam addressed the boy again. "Are you ready?"

He nodded once. "Yes."

"Three… two… one…" Mam started to count down.

The arena's massive iron door creaked open. From the shadows ahead, a giant bird began to walk slowly but deliberately into view; its feathers were black and glistened. A sharp white marble was embedded in its forehead.

Leon's eyes went wide. "That thing is huge!"

"And that marble—its wind-type," Isla remarked.

The boy didn't waste time! He slit a line across his palm and rubbed it on his lips, blue blood dripping onto the ground. In an instant, he fired a massive blast of energy in the form of a water blast from his palm, aiming for the giant black bird.

The bird definitely had no trouble getting away, as it caught some air on its approach, swiftly avoiding the water attack. With a strong push from its wings, it created a massive gust of wind, sending the boy staggering back; the force so intense he nearly fell, as the pressure coursed through the arena. Students all the way at the back of the stands turned their backs, shielding their faces from the blast of dust and wind that poured through the stands.

The boy tried to fire another water blast but, about halfway to its target, it dissipated into thin air, consumed by the wind. Clenching his fists in frustration, he began to shout, "Dammit! I can't even aim!"

The bird, still confident, hovered above, wings whipping through the wind with powerful thrusts, preparing for another move.

Then—his eyes lit up in realization.

He had fashioned a thin, near-invisible beam of water, sharp and exact. With perfect intent, he launched it straigh to bird where its wing could be found. 

SLASH!

The bird shrieked in pain as the water beam sliced into its wing. After that, the bird began to wobble and fell hit the ground below.

The boy smiled. "Got cha, you feathered freak".

He didn't stop at that. The boy blasted the grounded bird again directly with a blast of water. The creature cried out again.

Leon gazed on in awe. "Both these brothers are monsters."

The boy smiled even bigger. Energy was starting to build up in his cramped space. The water severely whirled in the air around him. "Theres only one way to finish this!"

He blasted a gigantic amount of water against the bird. But the bird shot back into the air as if it wasn't even there. It simply dodged the attack at the last second. Then, after that, the bird flapped its wings, creating blasted wind and their wings shot out the air like nothing in the center of the arena. 

Then the sound of air roared.

The wind tornado created and began to spin with intensity, the winds wrapped higher and higher into the sky. The students gasped. Dust flew into the face of the students in the open arena stands. Leon flared his eyes wide. "What in the hell is that?!"

Isla could barely maintain her balance. "That… this is on a whole other level."

The students screamed, almost flying out of their chairs. The tornado began to widen. Mam made a gigantic wall of water, wrapping it around the students. Even her barrier began to freeze over.

The boy was caught in the tornado.

Then…a twinkling of blue. 

Someone whispered, "That's… a blue aura! Someone's using blue aura!"

In the whirlwind, the boy's eyes shone bright blue. His aura erupted, the water elevated around him.

He meerly shouted: "Let me show you what I'M made of!!"

With a whirl of his arms, he conjured a tornado of water that counter-rotated. The two tornadoes collided, ripping on tornado that became a mega-twist of wind and water into the other.

The arena shook violently.

The bird was flapping and flailing, trying to escape the water cyclone, but it was too late - the water cyclone sucked in the bird. The boy grit his teeth and flung the whole water tornado - crashing it into the wall.

The wind settled. The arena fell quiet. The bird lay unconscious, disoriented in studies and rubble.

Mam stood up slowly, shocked with a wide-eyed gaze. "The match is over. The winner: the boy."

The crowd erupted in cheers.

Leon slumped into his seat. "Goddamn. Both of those jerks are seriously something else."