I slapped Smoke out of reflex.
That seemed to have caught him off guard, and he left ahead of me.
I arrived at the arena still in shock.
Why did he kiss me?!
Hasn't he moved on?
I even met his fiancée!
"Sorry to keep you waiting," Smoke greeted Zai, but my husband's eyes were fixed on me.
He could likely sense something was off.
I didn't want to distract him during his fight, so I closed my eyes and turned away.
I can't let my eye color betray me right now.
"What the f*ck did you do to my wife?" Zai muttered in a deceptively cheerful tone.
There's no way I can hide anything from him for long... I was going to tell him what happened after the fight.
Now feels like the worst time.
"I talked to her about our past together... We are each other's first love after all," Smoke admitted, and I gasped and looked up at him and then Zai.
They were glaring at each other...
Why did he invite me here?
Wasn't it to see his brother get married and catch up?
Or did he have impure motives?
Zai's face distorted into a smile, and he tilted his head as he said,
"Let's start... who's our referee?"
Ibij then rushed in with a small crowd behind him.
I recognized two, Kara and Buba, but the others were strangers.
"I'm the ref!" Ibij announced, standing just outside the battlegrounds.
The others, a few dozen people, filled the audience stands. I sat down with them.
I feel sick.
I might puke; this is similar to what happened during my music video with Michael.
It's partly from guilt, letting my guard down, and fear of how Zai will react.
Also... I don't want to see Zai get hurt or frustrated.
Zai removed his shoes and socks, then pulled off his shirt, tossing it aside.
He rolled his shoulders and inhaled deeply. His stance was relaxed.
Smoke was already in battle clothes, so he just turned to Ibij, and they both shouted, "READY!" in unison.
"Alright! Begin!" Ibij yelled.
I didn't even see Zai move, but I did see what appeared to be an invisible force assault Smoke's face. There were several impacts. Smoke's body was jerked to and fro, and then there was a flash of light, a thunderous noise, and an incredible gust of wind. The blast filled the arena, forcing me to squeeze my eyes shut.
When I opened them, Zai's hands were dripping blood. He smirked and balled up his fist again, blurring from vision.
Smoke was struck again, but a second later, his body dispersed into a black gaseous form, surrounding the field.
When Zai became visible again, his arm was covered in dark bruises. His nails were blackened, and his veins a dark blue.
"You're fast," Smoke praised haggardly.
Zai briefly glanced over his wounded arm, but he didn't move. Only turning his head slightly to scan the area around him.
The dark gas closed in around him.
Smoke's power is rooted in poison. He slowly takes down opponents through a smoke he creates or spores his body releases.
It's a high-level poison that can take down pretty much anyone who lingers in it too long.
If he inhales any of that, I don't see how he'd win.
Zai put his hands together as if he were saying a prayer.
His body began glowing, his hair stood straight up, and then a sphere of electricity covered all corners of the arena floor.
My hair stood on end, and I could feel the charge drawing me in from the audience. The sphere shined so brightly I had to close my eyes. After 3 seconds, I could tell the light had dimmed, so I peeked out to see Smoke, tangible once again, his body full of black holes.
"Pulled yourself together just in time," Zai noted. Smoke responded by getting into a fighting stance.
"That's... impossible," Buba mumbled.
I leaned toward her and whispered,
"I missed it. What happened?"
She cut her eyes in my direction, her lips quivered as she tried to think of the words to explain what she just witnessed.
"Your husband," she began, "somehow, sent jolts of electricity through all the particles in the air. Even though Smoke should have been untouchable, he took a lot of damage and had to reform himself to heal."
Zai smiled at him, his posture staying relaxed.
Smoke exhaled as the simmering holes in his body slowly began to close.
At this point, the fight transitioned to hand-to-hand combat; at times, it was hard to see their movements.
Zai looked ecstatic as he exchanged blows with Smoke. His eyes were wide, and a huge grin was on his face.
Smoke only changed small parts of his body into gas to nullify attacks, but sometimes he wasn't quick enough and still got hit.
Zai had no trouble dodging Smoke's punches, though, even at close range. Speed was his specialty.
Catching us off guard, Smoke caught Zai's fist in his hand. He flinched from the initial force of Zai's punch, but then he closed his hand around Zai's fist.
They stood there like that for a moment.
Why isn't he moving?
That's when I noticed how frozen Smoke's face was, his teeth gritted together, his eyes were wide open, and his hair stood on end, waves of electricity buzzing from it.
He can't move.
At the same time, Zai's fist, which he was holding, had become completely black, and I could see Smoke's poison creeping through Zai's veins.
There were lots of rose-shaped purple bruises all over Zai's body, and even tears of blood streaming from his beautiful silver eyes.
They were both attacking each other stubbornly, both refusing to forfeit.
"Yield," Zai commanded, staring Smoke down.
Smoke's knees buckled, and lightning burst through Smoke's body, cracking the ground beneath him.
Smoke was foaming at the mouth, but I could tell he was continuing to inject his venom into Zai's bloodstream, while Zai was amping up his electricity to deadly levels.
Are they trying to kill each other?!
"It's a draw!" Ibij yelled.
That's when Zai clicked his tongue and retracted his fist. Zai then focused for a moment, putting his hands together and let out a deep breath. Black smoke left his body, and all the visible signs of poison on him vanished.
He'd never seemed worried in the first place, but I wasn't expecting this!
How did he do that?! I was worried sick over here, and he can just cure himself of poison?
Smoke was crouched over, catching his breath, and Zai stepped closer to him to say,
"I figured you would respect me once you realized I can kick your ass..." He knelt in front of Smoke, "You've never been beaten before, have you?" Zai whispered.
I rushed down into the arena and embraced my husband.
"I was so worried," I said with tears in my eyes.
He laughed,
"Why? It was just a friendly sparring match..." he muttered sweetly, while wiping the tears from my cheeks.
I sniffled, and Zai rested his forehead on mine.
"Yeah. There's something I've got to... talk to you about. Once we're alone," I mumbled.
"If you don't tell me now, I don't want to hear it," Zai replied.
His tone was playful, but I could hear a hint of irritation.
I glanced at Smoke, who was still recovering.
Smoke's brow was furrowed. After he had enough strength, he turned to Ibij and his other friends, saying,
"Thanks for coming, but I need you all to leave... now."
Without a question, they left immediately.
Smoke stayed behind. He seemed embarrassed and angry. He glanced at us as if he wanted us to leave too.
I feel a bit bad for talking about this right now, but... Zai said he won't hear it later.
"Smoke kissed me," I whispered. If I hold it in, I'll be filled with guilt.
"Oh," Zai paused, his smile slowly faded, "I f**king knew he was looking down on me... Now I regret holding back so much. "
Then he walked away from me and stood face to face with Smoke once again.
We weren't far away, so of course Smoke heard everything.
"Yeah... I kissed her... but don't worry. It was obvious she wasn't into it. I just wanted to see if she still had lingering feelings for me. Luckily for you, she doesn't," he admitted, in a friendly tone.
Seems it wasn't as big a deal for him as it was for me.
"If you think that's a good excuse, you're an idiot," Zai responded with his smile returning.
Oh no, I know what that smile means!
"It's just unfair; it's been much less time for her, but she's moved on completely.
Why should I be the only one still hung up on our memories together?
I just wanted to see if I was still on her mind a little. I'm honestly not trying to steal your woman. To be honest, my fiancée is my real first love... I only approached Snowe because they look alike."
Somehow... hearing that hurt less than I thought it would.
After Smoke's explanation, they started fighting again, this time without a referee.
I rushed from the fighting area and watched from the sidelines, my heart thudding in my chest.
Both of them became their elements completely, darting across the ground.
I saw flashes of light zipping through a thick cloud of black fog.
I tried to watch closely, but I could only keep up with one of them.
Their physical strength might be close, but in speed, Smoke was completely outmatched.
Zai seemed to be everywhere at once.
Smoke reformed into several clones of himself to try a different attack tactic. Zai charged through the clones, and they dispersed like dandelion seeds. It hurt my eyes to try to follow the fight.
Then the battle ended with Smoke forced back into his tangible form. Zai palmed Smoke's face and slammed him into the center of the stone arena floor. The whole area rumbled and shook.
I had to shout,
"Don't kill him!"
To stop Zai from striking again.
His eyes darted toward me, and he sighed, then he rolled his eyes. Zai stood expelling the poison from his nose before approaching me.
Once he was at my side, he grabbed my hand and teleported us to our room.
"I... wasn't trying to stand up for him! I promise it's just that if you kill someone on Infaniya, the Balancers will come for you. Especially since Smoke is a prince... I'm sorry... I should've told you before the match, but I was worried it'd throw you off," I began.
Zai kissed me to end my rambling.
"I'm going to need you to keep your guard up from now on," he scolded.
I nodded and pressed my lips together tightly. Then he kissed me again, causing me to relax and close my eyes.
"Also... I figured the reason he invited you was going to be weird. I actually don't think he would've tried kissing you if you came here alone."
Does that mean... he only kissed me because he felt like he needed to compete with Zai?
"Just so you know, he's not one of the people I wanted to see... I didn't even know he existed before we got here," Zai added.
"I'm sorry," I blurted, and he snickered.
"Fine... as revenge, we're going to be together every second for the rest of this trip," he demanded. I sighed with relief.
"That's fine, I understand."
There's not much time left before we return to Earth anyway, so he's being a lot more reasonable than I expected.
"Or maybe, I should let my ex kiss me as revenge instead," he teased.
"No! Please, anything but that," I pleaded.
Zai huffed before giving me a gentle peck.
"... I know you didn't want him to kiss you... And it pisses me off that he did. But I already punished the guilty party, so that's enough for me," he said softly, before moving in to deliver a deeper, more passionate kiss.
I feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders.