My fist cracked against his jaw with a meaty thud, and the sound of bones snapping like toothpicks filled the air. I knew something was wrong though when an intense pain flared in my hand, the numbing chill of ice consuming the wound soon after. Prett himself simply grinned, my fist still pressed against his face, twisting that grin into more of a half-smirk. 

“My~aura makes all physical attacks against me useless! The molecules making up the air around me have slowed to the point where the moment your fist made contact with me it had lost all momentum~!” The pain made sense now along with the clown being seemingly unphased by my punch. Looking down at my hand I realized that my wrist was broken, the odd angle and bone jutting to the surface of the skin sent bile rising up my throat. The visual stimulation of the sight seemed to cause the pain to flare brighter, prickling needles of ice growing on my skin as my aura flickered. 

Before I could even come to grips with the mind-numbing pain the mauve-haired man’s fist crashed across my own jaw. I didn't have any law of physics-breaking ability (at least ready) to stop his punch so I just went skittering across the floor like a flat rock across the still surface of a pond. Once again my back crashed into the icy wall of his dome, the clown hot on my heels as his leg threatened to slam down on my skull. Channeling dark aether in my non broken hand I created a swirling shield of shadow, [Black Buckler] caught the mans leg as it swallowed it. 

“Let’s see if you can freeze this!” I yelled, the portal closing around his shin like the maw of a bear trap. Prett’s eyes widened, his leg desperately trying to pull away from the closing void but it was too late. And then nothing happened, the shadowy maw seemed to freeze right as it made contact with his skin. We both stared at the strange sight with dazed expressions, it was such a letdown. 

“Well that was quite~the failure, maybe you should test these things before—!” A portal opened up behind his head as a familiar-looking dress shoe crashed into his skull. The sound of ice shattering filled the air as the man stumbled forward, his eyes widening at the sensation. His barrier of absolute zero had broken. My own body hadn't sat idly by as my broken hand released a tendril of shadow around his wrist before pulling him to the ground with me. 

“Fuck you, this was all part of my plan!” It wasn't but he didn't need to know that. My hand released the portal returning the man’s leg to normal so that it could grab hold of his other wrist. Twisting my torso I gathered leverage to reverse our position, my body now pinning him to the ground as he looked up at me with dazed eyes.

“Your plan was to pin me under you, how lewd~!” I changed my mind as my good hand left his wrist to wrap around his neck like my best impression of Homer Simpson. His teasing words turned to choking gurgles before he recast his icy barrier again. I barely had any time to pull back my hands as the light blue aura coated his throat. The stinging pain of my skin peeling off my fingers caused me to hiss, I could see my fingerprints embedded in his aura on the surface like glue. Blood dripped from my fingertips onto the man’s light blue ectoplasm, a hiss filling the air as they froze and shattered on contact. 

“You are insufferable you know that right?” I asked as I hopped back and away from the dangerously icy aura. My eyes focused on the clown as he chuckled at my words, his body rising up like a puppet being pulled by its strings. The uncanny feeling of the way he stood up was further heightened by the way his back arched, his purple hair dragging across the concrete floor while his feet remained flat on the ground.

“Oh, I'm aware. One of my pre~cious students likes to tell me that every day!” I grimaced at his grating voice as his posture finally returned to normal or at least whatever a freakishly tall flamboyant clown would consider normal. His eyes curved into crescents as a child-like smile appeared on his immaculate face. The only blemish of our fight was across his thin neck, the crimson mark of my fingers choking him really popped as a color against his ghostly pale skin. 

“What’s with the smile, like getting choked?” I teased, but my eyes narrowed as they shifted back and forth looking at the icicles forming all around me. Their razor sharp points were pointed at me, a volley of deadly projectiles ready to rain down frozen death. I had been careless of the fact that I was in a [Geist Field], his ability to manifest attacks from any angle slipping my mind.

“[Hail~Barrage],” The man purred, the icy needles flying toward me with a whistling hiss. Channeling geist into my shadow I coated myself in the familiar inky void of [Black Coffin]. The irony is not lost on me that up until this point I’ve barely used this technique for its intended purpose and have mainly used it as a defensive tool. The pelting sound of icy bullets battering across the solid shadow of the coffin sounded insufferably loud on the inside. Like hail on a tin roof, the cacophony of sound drowned out all others, and it was, for this reason, I didn't hear the mauve-haired man casting another technique.

***

(Prett Y. Crawford POV):

“[Hand of Ymir].” A giant fist made of packed ice formed in the air, the shattered shards of my icicles bouncing off of Garridan-kun’s barrier acting as the material. The pesky shield he’d gotten up wouldn’t be able to hold against this, my hand clenching in a fist acted as the trigger as the icy construct dropped. The whistling sound of it filled the air as it displaced the atmosphere before crashing onto the solid shadow of Garridan-kun’s shield. 

I grinned as I watched the purple and black marbled coffin shatter, the fist kicking up grey dust in the air as the concrete tiles of the arena shattered. The lack of movement coming from the billowing cloud of dust and icy particles floating in the air was a worrying sign. I really thought for a moment that my intuition had been wrong about the man, that he’d been nothing more than a mirage of vibrant life in a sea of endless stagnation. The thought of being forced to live amongst these sub-humans for another few centuries was a tiring concept.

“[Induresco: Lancea].” The shattered darkness of the coffin swirled around the dust filling the air and scattering it at the top.  A wicked sharp spear head grew from the remains of the the shadowy construct, a massive shaft of inky black darkness wriggling to life behind the blade like a snake. Below the giant-sized weapon floating in the air emerged Garridan-kun, a glare on his face. 

“Hohohoho~you look a little worse for wear there Garridan-kun!” His left arm having already suffered a broken wrist was knocked completely out of commission as it remained limp at his side, the shoulder dislocated and drooping. Frozen blood caked his forehead and dyed one of his eyes red, the crimson orb glaring balefully at me. A long rending tear in his tank top revealed the swelling red welt covering a majority of his left torso. His leg was covered in cuts as shards of ice peppered the wounds, and frigid congealed blood dripped slowly down his leg. 

“I will land a hit on you, bastard!” His right arm waved forward and the spear lurched with the movement, the deadly tip whistling in the air as it sped toward me like a freight train. I smiled, my hand held out as my aura flared to life. This would be easy, a simple pop fly ready to land right in my glove. 

“I really doubt that Garridan~kun if Yuto—!” The giant spear of shadow exploded in the air, hundreds of tiny umbral flechettes flying towards me as shrapnel. I needed more aura, pulling the light blue elemental energy covering my back I reinforced the front half of my body. I hadn't lost the grin on my face, my eyes narrowing at the little ant as he smirked like he’d won.

“You should really check to make sure that the person who you are busy talking to is actually real.” My eyes widened, and before my aura could shift to defend from the attacker behind a sharp pain flared in my shoulder. Blood dripped down my skin, an umbral blade jutting from my torn flesh like some sort of profane idol of desecration. Once again I was forced to flare my ectoplasm freezing the world around me. Gripping my shoulder with my other hand I yanked the shadowy blade free from my flesh with a strangled cry. My aura froze the wound to prevent blood loss with a steaming hiss.

“Damn~how long has it been? A century, maybe even two has passed since I’ve felt pain of this magnitude. I'm not naive as to how you flared your aura to prevent yourself from freezing so that's why instead I’ve frozen the atmosphere around you. Have fun dodging my attack in a circle less than six feet wide when you can't hear or see me~!” I formed several daggers of ice, the cool feeling of the frozen handles brought a smile to my face. I began throwing them, the blades freezing as they left my hand, their kinetic energy sapped waiting for the return of warmth. When I reheat the atmosphere the man who is blind to what is happening beyond his little bubble will be peppered with knives. I'm a genius~!

Hundreds of blue daggers filled the air around him. I walked amongst the maze of blades adding to it in areas where the concentration was thinner. Garridan-kun stared out at the frozen world, when even photons freeze the ability to see disappears so his confusion was probably due to this. The reason I ‘saw’ him was because he was in my field, the ability to detect his geist let me know his exact location. 

“If he survives this then maybe I can finally find someone to achieve my dream~.” I released a wistful sigh, and despite my attempts to kill him, I hoped Garridan-kun wouldn't disappoint. After all when I first saw his eyes I knew he was exactly like me, a clown who only knows how to hide behind a mask. Our desire to break free and reveal the true us to the world was something only the insane would understand as fear of revealing one’s true self kept the masses attached to their masks. 

I want to shatter my mask, I want to be free, and I want to bring her back. Until I’ve achieved these goals I will continue to press on waiting for the day someone can liberate me from my sorrow. Garridan-kun I hope you are that person.

***

The inability to see outside didn't hamper my ability to respond, a shadow puppet taking my place while I hid under the concrete using earth aura and [Hidden Geist]. The best way to defeat a time-stopper or at least in this case a pseudo-time-stopper is to think ahead of them. He's most likely set up an area denial type of attack. Probably something like the icicles he used earlier, the goal is to pepper the small kill zone his aura created.

Underneath the concrete I began to swim, the solid material turning to liquid around me. Hopefully I'm right in assuming he only froze the air around where I was standing instead of the entire area around me. The amount of ectoplasm it would require to maintain a state of absolute zero would far surpass what any human could do. As I swam under the surface of the earth I grinned, the thought of the surprise on the clown’s face spurring me to move quicker. 

As I got right behind him underneath the floor a thought entered my mind. He would expect this, wouldn't he? Using geist I created another shadow puppet, this one set to jump up behind him. My true approach would now come from the clown's front, he’ll turn to respond to my shadow puppet leaving his newly turned back exposed to me. I will have outsmarted his outsmarting, giving me the upper hand in this fight.

***

(Prett. Y Crawford POV):

“Hiding your aura are we~?” He was most likely under the ground. That’s why I moved from the last position he saw me at. Garridan-kun would pop his head up only to be skewered where I originally stood, the knives had never been pointed where he was at but where he would end up.

 The first thing I noticed when I released my [Frozen World] was that the man still stood there! Had he faked me out!? Garridan-kun grinned, his feet pressing of the ground with enough force to crack the concrete as he blitzed me. I scrambled back on my feet, my hand outstretched as I froze the atmosphere in front of me creating a wall between us.

“You may have outsmarted me Gariddan~kun but it still changes nothing. I will win because your power is too weak for me~!” I grinned, my breath coming out in ragged gasps. Beads of sweat trailed across my face smearing my makeup, my eye stinging as a bead of the salty liquid dragged across the surface of my pupil.

“You forgot I could teleport.” His voice coming from right underneath me sent a shudder down my spine. Reluctantly my eyes glanced down to see just what sort of vile thing the man had planned to do to me. He grinned at me, a devil’s smile playing on his face, and then my shadow wriggled to life underneath me. The feeling of sinking in quicksand overcame me as my world turned dark. We re-emerged at the location I had originally planned for him to arrive at.

“What’s the point of putting us here Garridan~kun, surrounding yourself with so many deadly objects isn't good for your health.” I tried to tease him, but the nervous pit welling up in my stomach along with the burbling excitement brimming at the surface made me jittery. Just what is he planning?

“For you to attack with projectiles you need space so I'm simply denying you access to any.” His voice washed over my ears but it didn't come from the Garridan-kun who had teleported me. Another carbon copy rose from the ground like a zombie, a cocky smirk plastered on his face. To make matters worse a final clone sprung up to my side to complete the total encirclement.  

A fist crashed across my face as the first Garridan delivered the devastating strike. I had barely any time to react as I froze the air in front of me. Another strike came toward my side, my arm blocking it as I wrapped my icy aura around the first Garridan to freeze him out of the fight completely. I stumbled as a kick to the back of my knee sent me sprawling, the other clone behind me lashing out with his leg. My ability to face two combatants in a hand-to-hand scenario without using my aura is incredibly difficult. If I tried to capture another one of them with my ability my hold on the frozen knives would slip or the clone I’ve already trapped would break free. Anyway, I’d end up back at square one, unable to fight against them. 

“Oi, are you ignorin’ us?” His mocking voice sounded like a delinquent, and it would be funny if his fist didn't immediately plant itself in my gut. I gagged, bile and spit flying from my lips. Before I could even recover the other clone swept my other leg out from under me. They each took turns raining a series of kicks across my body. 

My head, my back, and my arms were subjected to their heels trampling force. The aching pain in my bones didn't help the fact that I felt so helpless. For the first time since I became an exorcist all those years ago I felt genuine fear. Garridan Wraith was a monster, a young exorcist capable of becoming someone truly strong. A smile grew on my bruised and swollen face, the worry that he wouldn't live up to my expectations dying with the knowledge of his potential. With that fear dead and gone I could finally end this fight.

“Release.” The daggers of ice were unfrozen in space and immediately sent hurtling toward the three stunned Garridans. The one I had frozen and the one that had been attacking me from behind burst into shadows as they condensed around the last remaining man. A familiar black coffin covered him from the icy knives that peppered the battlefield. My own aura prevented the daggers from hitting me as they shattered across the light blue haze like glass, our fight ending in a haggard stalemate. 

“So do you want to continue?” The man asked from inside his coffin as it opened up for him. 

“No, I think I’ve seen enough of your capabilities, and now that we both know each other's secrets the fear of you snitching on me is a nonissue already.”

“Yeah I’ve had my fun too, so what’s the thing with wanting to see my capabilities though?” Garridan-kun asked as he sat down on the floor, a tired and pained groan leaking from his lips. 

“I want to propose a partnership of sorts—”

“Sorry man, I don't swing that way.”

“Ahem, very funny—anyway, I’d like to propose a partnership of equal cooperation and mutual aid.” My eyes narrowed at his smart-ass response, my hands clenching as I fought the urge to smack him. 

“You need to tell me what you want from this deal first. I'm not going to agree to something blindly.” 

“I…I want to resurrect someone special to me.” I felt choked up at the thought of my daughter, the emotion quickly turning to anger at the state of her body. Her twin sister has never recovered from the tragedy!

“You plan on fighting the Weltgeist for this persons soul?” He sounded shocked, his eyes giving me an appraising look. My intuition told me he was simulating a potential fight between me and the God of this world and I was coming up short. That was an infuriating feeling.

“No, I plan on killing the Welgeist for creating this damned cycle of misery!” I expected a long pause before a rejection, after all I’d made this offer dozens of times. What I didn't expect was for someone who understood how monumental of an undertaking it would be to kill the Weltgeist to smile and nod his head.

“I’m in.”

“Wait, what?”

“I said I’m in. I want to create a safe place for me and my future family so of course, if I can get rid of the bastard shitting out these abominations because it doesn't like icky feelings then I'm in.” He reached his hand out, a goofy grin on his face. I found myself smiling like an idiot too, my hand meeting his in the middle as we shook on it. The barrier of my [Geist Field] shattered into glittering snowflakes revealing our battered forms to the audience in the viewing booth.

“I surrender~!” I yelled for them to hear, my lips leaning closer to Garridan-kun’s ears as I whispered my next words. “Good luck, the Kyoto school’s probably going to try killing a few of our more ‘undesirable’ students.” I snickered at the constipated look that came over his face, the man just realizing why Souta-kun never actually tried fighting in our tournaments. The headache of being team captain for the Exorcist Academy Goodwill Tournament had prevented most teachers from giving it their all. Only those with a straight-lace personality or idiots fought to win the position of team captain. I really doubt Garridan-kun is straight laced considering he came in dressed in a more clownish getup than me.

“I hate you.” His words were drowned out by my snorting laughter.