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A Hero Tale {Complete}

Mikey chuckled. "No, Jenso. It means the only real things, are things you can punch. I thought you'd get that."

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Mikey stepped back, slowly out of the crater, and looked down at his mangled hand. Thoughts rushed through his mind, of the Feralda Tournament, of Yzeira, of his teachings in Tech-Mo. Purple energy began to overwhelm his body. His once mangled hand was covered with his sage-mode aura again, and Mikey's body looked towards Jenso. He was silent for a few moments as Jenso got closer. "That's not me. That's.. Fake. That's a fake. The real me is here. This is real. Right now is Real..." Mikey paused and looked intently at Jenso. "But if somebody believes..." The aura around his face began to melt away, "Does that make it... Real? Just because..." Mikey reeled backwards as his face was completely revealed. The purple energy in his aura gathered around his stomach. He felt it. Solid. Like a ball of poison collecting in his gut. "Jenso," He said, his voice returning to the normal tone that Jenso was familiar with. Mikey rose his fists and got into a combat stance, identical to the one he used in the Feralda tournament. "I want that part of me to be real. I always thought, the fake part of me, always thought. It always. It always thought. Thought... Monsters, ghosts, demons, and all sorts of scary things were real." Mikey's face trembled but he managed to get his thought across. "I got over that fear... Because I couldn't punch them. They weren't there. They were fake, because I couldn't punch them."

A Hero Tale {Complete}

When Jenso Mentioned Larks name, Mikey flinched. His stance strengthened for only a moment and his body began to flash purple. "Stop it," He growled.

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Mikey Slashed, and slashed against. He grit his teeth as Jenso caught his second arm. Something about the man's movements were way more sloppy than how he'd usually fought. Mikey's sudden boost in power and speed was overwhelming, but his personality was suffering because of it. As Jenso began to spin him, the water around his form rippled violently. Waves of energy caressed his entire body, as the hand Jenso had grabbed, half of his face, and part of his torso was revealed through the liquid form. The water immediately around Jenso and Mikey flew away towards the edges of the room as Jenso built of a sphere of heated energy and force. But before Mikey's form could be torn away completely, he managed to morph his right arm back into its normal hand-like form, and grab Jenso's left arm. With a single grasp, he sent a massive shockwave of energy through his arm, forcing him to let go, which launched Mikey into the ground. A giant crater spread out around him, and the water in the air flew upwards, falling back down into puddles all around the room.

What Jenso might have realised after the exchange, is that when Mikey stood up, it was obvious that his left arm was shattered, and not coated in water anymore. Blood trickled down it towards his mangled hand, but the rest of his body, from his elbow upwards, was re-coated in his sage form. Jenso on the other hand, still had used of his left hand. But his super form's white flames no longer extended past the base of his forearm. Mikey had sealed off both his arcane, and Ki flow to his left arm. Mikey panted heavily as he struggled to keep himself on two feet at the center of his crater, slowly reorienting himself to regain his balance.

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Mikey waited patiently for the flames to subside, and when they did, Jenso was unharmed. A clear stream of air was left behind where Jenso's attack struck, and evidently, it had destroyed the water particles he was trying to detonate. He kissed his teeth and the water began to fill the small zone again. But he didn't use his flash flood ability right away, right afterwards. He expanded both of his arms into spikes, and jumped towards Jenso, slashing at him after he emerged, with one hand, and preparing to follow up with the other.

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Mikey Braced himself to dodge, but was caught off guard again by the Ki projections, sending his body tumbling backwards into a spin. He landed on his chest, bounced, and spun onto his back, before using his hands to stop himself and flip back onto his feet. With both hands he connected the base of his palms together, as if he was about to launch some kind of attack. But instead, the water in the air around Jenso because to glow, surrounding his body.

"Flicker..."

A moment later, the air around Jenso flashed with forceful energy, each water droplet expanding outwards in several hundred tiny spikes that threatened to pierce and shred everything in their vicinity.

"Flash Flood!"

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Unfortunately for Jenso, dodging was out of the question considering the close quarters. Mikey collided with him directly, interrupting his retreat and sending both of them stumbling in the direction. As Jenso's whip wrapped around Mikey's legs though, he paused and fell forwards, into a roll, past Jenso, ending up behind him. On his knees now, Mikey's legs phased through the whips, and he spun his body to face Jenso, while lashing his right hand towards him and creating a horizontal bladed wave of water that shot towards him from below.

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Mikey's arm stopped as Jenso grabbed it, and the spearhead disappeared. As the flames covered his surface however, Mikey's water-like body began to dissolve through Jenso's grasp, and expand around the spreading flames, overcoming them entirely in a short burst of water before reshaping back into the form of his arm. The effect looked as if his hand had exploded, froze in time, and returned to normal. As his foot as struck however, Mikey staggered forward for a split second, but didn't falter. He put all his weight on his left leg and charged into Jenso shoulder-first, with a full-on tackle. While that happened, a thin mist of water burst from his body, covering the entire room.

Luke finally stood up and rubbed his head, only to see Mikey and Jenso fighting. He didn't say anything, and backed away, hiding behind the rubble of the stadium.

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Mikey's left forearm began to shimmer, and he blocked Jenso's attack by shoving it in the way of his fist, at a 45 degree angle. Mikey's old Arki would have shattered against that kind of force, but this time it didn't. This time it somehow stood resolute, not only because of the superior composition, but because Mikey's power had somehow caught up with Jenso's. "Say whatever you want," Mikey spat, raising his right arm and sharpening the tip into a smooth spike, "It won't change anything." Mikey brought the spear down towards the side of Jenso's neck from his left.

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Mikey lowered his arms and watched as Jenso sped past him in a blur. "That isn't going to work," Mikey blurted, dropping his guard completely. "Let's see how long is takes for your patience to wear thin."