The instant Luz finished, they kicked off. Remi left a small crater in the ground behind her where she'd jumped, but Cal had left no such impression. Remi noticed.
Remilia held her arm back as a twisting, green-gold energy wrapped around her arm and extended outward into a blade of gold-energy grass. Cal twisted and dodged out of the way, blinking, before some of her own golden energy siphoned into her arm as well. It twisted and turned and erupted in orange-gold fire, then shaped itself into a blade of her own.
They flew at one another again, fire and grass colliding, and yet neither yielded. Cal's whole body rippled with strain; Remi didn't look the slightest bit tired. Her eyes were studying Cal. It was like a completely different Sceptile.
They pushed off of one another; Cal tripped and fumbled. Remi kicked off a tree, which toppled it over. With the thunderous boom of its slam on the ground, Remi fired a Bullet Seed volley toward Cal, whose embers expanded in panic. She opened her maw wide and countered with a Flamethrower, neutralizing the blast in an explosion of smoke.
Through the smoke, Remilia withdrew her blade and slashed at Cal's front with her free hand. The Charizard Shade had the same idea, and both Dragon Claws made parallel marks along the other's body. Cal's was deeper; Remi's was a mere scrape along the scales.
Staggering back and pressed against a tree, she saw a faint light forming in the clearing haze of their first volleys. Cal held up her hand in the same way, some strange feeling telling her that this was what she was doing. They both stared at one another as the rest of the haze disappeared... Both were gathering solar energy in their off-hand. Both recognized the plan. Neither let up.
And then, when things had fallen completely silent aside from the rising hum of their hands, they pointed at each other's chest at the same time. The Solar Beams clashed and sent all the trees in the whole radius toppling down in a single shockwave.
In the middle, two great figures rushed toward one another. Both made mirrored, swift motions--and then stopped.
Two blades, one of flame and one of gold, pressed against the neck of the other, stopped inches away. Both made eye contact with each other, and then toward the blades they'd conjured. As the final trees rolled into their final resting place, both withdrew their blades and took a step back.
They had the same smile. The battle was over.
