The kids began to walk back to the gymnasium without Taro.
In his room, the boy held his head with his hands, thinking about his loss.
"All she has is smarts. How the hell did I lose?!" Taro balled his fists as he remembered the anger he felt as he hit the mat outside of the circle.
Then he froze as a memory cut through his anger.
"These are… These are my friends. Why am I so mad?" Taro's reasoning couldn't stop his hands from shaking, however. His fists clenched so hard that his palms started to burn.
He wouldn't come out of that room until after Vida and Kai's sparring match.
As the others gathered in the gymnasium for a third time, Hendrix noticed his gaze rarely leaving Vida.
He couldn't help but worry, for some reason. Even though he had seen Vida conjure manifestations multiple times, even though he had heard the story of how her and Amora took down the Officer, he had a gut feeling that if something bad didn't happen during this match, it would only lead to something worse.
Hendrix shook his head, trying to stop his train of thought before it spiraled like it always did.
Vida twisted one of her dreadlocks between her fingers as she stepped onto the mat. She couldn't take her gaze away from the floor.
Kai stepped onto the mat as well, but his mind was elsewhere.
"Should I have said that?" He thought, his mind bringing him back to the conversation he had with his brother after his match.
"Y'all ready?!" Jason yelled from the center of the mat, snapping both of them back into reality.
Both of the kids nodded towards him.
"Ready, set, go!" Jason jumped off of the mat as the two surprisingly stood still.
Both of them seemed to be waiting for the other's move.
"How did I do that again?" Vida wasn't waiting for Kai's move. Instead, she was trying to remember how she manifested the venus flytrap. "I just need to push him off the mat with it. That means placing it right."
Kai realized Vida wasn't moving, so he made the first move.
The boy turned into a blur as he ran the perimeter of the circle towards Vida.
Even though he was fast, he was still at a pace that she could react to.
Vida jumped out of his path, landing her feet near the center of the circle.
"Damn it. Too slow again." Kai silently cursed himself.
Hendrix leaned in, trying to gauge Vida's expression.
Vida was definitely channeling her Spirit into her hands, the faint light green glow around her hands was visible but still missable.
Vida spun on instinct, her hands flaring brighter green.
Three mushrooms tore through the mat, quickly exploding in a yellow cloud of spores.
Kai, along with all of their friends, put their shirts over their mouths as the cloud moved towards Kai.
The cluster of spores then unexpectedly turned towards the crowd, but Vida's friends were prepared to avoid breathing it in.
It then sank in on the teens that the Tokyo residents had no clue what was coming.
"Oh! Jason-" Amora yelled out through her shirt, but it was too late.
"What the…" Biggie said as he, Slim, and Jason began to lose their senses. Their eyes began to gloss over as they had no sight to focus on a subject.
They were dropped into Vida's senseless void, where they felt, heard, tasted, smelled, and saw nothing.
"Oh, god." Vida muttered as the three Tokyo residents tried reaching out for something to touch, not knowing that their sense of touch was also gone.
"Wait, this is my chance." Kai realized as he sped towards Vida.
She panicked, her hands returning that strong green glow.
Hendrix's eyes widened. He knew who he was cheering for, but he doubted that Vida was going to be able to react to Kai's next move.
He could tell Vida's mind was racing, but he was entirely unsure that her mind would land on a solution in time.
""I need some kind of shield-" Vida's train of thought was interrupted.
Kai swung one leg forward sending him into a backflip, which he believed made him faster.
As Kai descended into the air above her, Vida heard a strong rumbling under the ground, followed by wooden roots appearing over her just half a second later.
The roots made a wall above Vida, causing Kai to kick a barrier of wood.
He reeled in pain, grabbing his right foot as he winced from the aftershock.
Vida's eyes widened. Everyone was surprised at what just happened, including her.
"How… How did I do that?!" Vida's brows began to furrow as she realized it was yet another move that she would never be able to replicate, just like the apple tree, just like the venus flytrap.
"Every time I panic something like this happens, then I can never do it again. I need to find a way to separate my powers from my emotions." Vida thought.
Kai put his foot down, still throbbing from the pain of kicking solid wood.
At this point, Vida had utterly destroyed the sparring mat. Not only had the mushrooms torn tiny holes in the mat, but the wooden wall had practically split the mat in half.
At this point, the three Tokyo residents that had been under Vida's senseless spell were starting to gain their senses back.
"What- What happened to my mat?!" Jason yelled as his sight returned.
The two kids on the mat paused as they both turned to the red-head.
"Do… Do we stop?" Kai asked, pointing to the trench of fluff in the middle of the mat.
"Ugh. Go on, y'all." Jason rubbed his forehead as the kids returned to their combative stance.
The audience once again locked into the fight as Biggie and Slim questioned each other on what had happened to them for the last minute.
Kai sped towards Vida before stopping, realizing he didn't think of a plan whatsoever.
Vida flinched, growing another wooden wall in the direction Kai had run. That's when he got an idea.
"If I can pump fake her into a corner, then I can win this whole thing!" Kai felt proud of his plan, putting it into action immediately.
He ran towards Vida's other side, which was quickly covered by another wooden wall.
"Wait, I'm getting the hang of this." Vida was surprised at her ability to replicate the wooden wall. She tried to imprint the feel of manifesting the barrier into her head, making sure she would never forget it.
Kai then feigned towards the other direction, making it farther as to cause Vida to box herself in further.
Vida panicked, realizing her position. She ran out from behind her wall. The wall's edges were now meeting the circle's perimeter, so she had to jump to get out of her wooden prison without touching the outside of the circle.
Kai saw her foot lead the way, reacting just in time.
He dashed toward the airborne Vida, nudging her just enough to twist her landing towards the mat outside of the circle.
Vida landed on her back, hitting the mat like someone who had just tripped over her shoelaces.
"That's it! Kai wins!" Chase exclaimed, standing up from his seat.
The crowd erupted into cheer, thinking 'that was definitely the closest fight yet'.
Vida looked up to see Kai jumping up and down.
"Bro, I can't believe I actually won!" Kai laughed as he continued to jump.
After dusting her behind off, Vida put her hand up towards Kai.
"Good job, Kai!" Vida smiled, waiting for Kai to high five her.
"You were one hell of a fighter, dude!" Kai high fived her with a smile on his face.
"Take five while I go find the extra mat." Jason shook his head as he assessed the damage done to his sparring mat.
"You did great." Hendrix put a hand on Vida's shoulder as he smiled.
"Thanks!" Vida's smile had returned to Hendrix.
Vida didn't think about anything that troubled her right now. She wasn't even sad she lost. She was beyond happy that she was able to replicate her wooden wall with such ease. Her dream of fighting side by side with Hendrix had returned to her.
"Let's go get some water. I'm tired." Kai wiped his forehead as Chase threw his arm around Kai's neck.
"Dude, we're gonna be real superheroes one day. I can feel it!" Chase exclaimed as he rattled Kai around.
Kai chuckled and nodded in agreement.
They made their way to the cafeteria to grab water, chatting about the match all the while.
"Dude, I think you've gotten faster since D.C, I'm serious!" Chase grinned at Kai, who thanked him in return.
One feeling began to invade Kai's mind, however.
"I wish Taro could've seen it." Kai caught himself wishing over and over again, wondering how his brother was doing.
"That match wasn't as good as ours, right Amora?" Akilah smirked as Amora chuckled.
In the back of the group, Vida and Hendrix discussed her new ability.
"Do you know how many situations it could be used for?! It feels like I just leveled up big time!" Vida exclaimed as Hendrix smiled.
"You have. You're really amazing, Vida." Hendrix nodded.
Vida couldn't help but get a little flustered at Hendrix's comment. Then, a thought popped into her head.
"Wait, isn't your match up next?" Vida asked. She looked up at him as his expression changed from an earnest smile into a far off stare.
"Yeah." Hendrix didn't mean to be so dismissive, but his mind began to wander.
"You're gonna be alright, right? That Biggie kid can't be that strong, especially against the guy who fought an Advisor!" Vida jokingly punched Hendrix's arm, making him smirk in return.
"And the girl who fought an Officer." Hendrix punched Vida's arm back. They both laughed as they grabbed water bottles.
Hendrix couldn't help but keep his mind from racing, though.
"Did I really fight an Advisor? It didn't feel like me…" Hendrix looked at his hands, trying to recall all of the voices that spoke to him during his battle with Shezmu. "There's something inside me I still don't understand." Hendrix balled his fist.
"Hendrix!" Molly jumped into Hendrix, wrapping her arms around him.
Vida's grip on her bottle tightened as Hendrix smiled awkwardly.
"You're up next, right? I'll be waiting for you in the gym!" Molly ran down the hall towards the gym as the kids watched her disappear behind a corner.
"Man, she really has the hots for you, dude." Taro smiled as he joined the group.
Akilah gestured a cutthroat signal, trying to silently tell Taro to move to another subject. Sadly, Taro didn't get the message.
"She really is the prettiest girl I've ever seen, man. You're gonna have to be an idiot to turn her down." Taro put a hand on Hendrix's shoulder as he chuckled awkwardly.
"I'll see you guys in the gym. Good luck, Hendrix." Vida didn't speak those words like she meant them. She rushed down the hall to await the contestants in the gymnasium.
"I've got the mat up, y'all! Time for the main event!" Jason called from down the hall.