The arena floor was scarred already, the stone blackened with streaks of sparks from their opening exchanges. Helios and Kurai stood apart, blades lowered but poised, their breathing calm in contrast to the storm of anticipation roaring from the crowd.
Phil stomped from the sidelines, veins bulging. "Enough dancin'! Show 'em why this is the semi-finals!"
Helios' smirk sharpened. "You heard the goat." He lifted Equilibrium, its dual edge glowing faintly as threads of both light and dark curled along its length. "Shall we?"
Kurai's eyes narrowed, the Shadow Sovereign pulsing with a sinister glow. "Try not to disappoint me."
They moved at once.
Helios snapped his blade forward, loosing a jet of Dark Firaga. The orb screamed across the arena, black flame spitting sparks. Kurai slashed the air in response, releasing a surge of Black Ice that froze the projectile mid-flight, shards raining down in glittering chunks.
But Helios was already there, darting through the falling frost. His blade slashed low—then an Aero burst detonated from the tip, pushing her balance off mid-block.
Kurai snarled, twisting into an Umbral Step that dissolved her body into shadows. She flickered, reappearing to his flank, Shadow Sovereign descending in a jagged arc. Helios caught it just in time, but the clash rang louder, darker—because a second blade followed.
An Eclipse Mirage, a shadow-clone, struck at his back. Helios turned Equilibrium in a perfect spin, knocking both blades away, but his coat split at the shoulder.
The crowd roared at the close call.
"Cute trick," Helios mused, his voice steady. "But shadow clones are predictable. They always move in the same way as you do."
Kurai's lips tightened. "Then stop them."
She slashed again, Shadow Sovereign glowing purple as she invoked Dark Thundaga. Bolts lanced down the jagged edge, crashing with every swing. Sparks of electricity leapt across Helios' guard, searing his arm with each parry.
Helios exhaled once, calm amid the storm. He drew Equilibrium back, blade glowing with cold light. "Freezing Gale."
A spiral of Blizzaga entwined with Aero burst forth, a howling cyclone of razor ice shards and screaming wind. It engulfed Kurai, shards tearing at her defense, driving her back step by step.
The Colosseum gasped, the front rows shielding their faces as cold air lashed outward.
But Kurai's eyes blazed. She thrust Shadow Sovereign forward, a vortex of darkness erupting. Nightfall Vortex—a whirlpool of shadowed force pulled against the gale, sucking in shards of ice, dragging Helios himself toward her.
Their magics collided, air trembling as light and shadow warred, snow and lightning whipped into a frenzy.
Helios skidded forward despite himself, boots carving trenches in the stone. Kurai surged through the vortex, daggering in close, Shadow Sovereign stabbing for his heart.
Helios grinned. At the last moment, his hand flicked, and a Reflect panel materialized between them—not a dome, but a single condensed hexagon of blinding light. Her blade slammed into it—
—only for the shield to detonate. A burst of light blasted outward, staggering her with a concussive flare.
The crowd screamed, half in awe, half in terror.
Kurai slid back, smoke curling from her clothes. Her eyes narrowed, but her grip tightened, steady. "You keep laughing," she muttered. "But I haven't gotten serious yet. We'll see who's still standing in the end."
Helios flexed his scorched arm, his smirk undisturbed. "Your offense is beautiful, Kurai. But you leave cracks when you overextend."
"Then I'll drown you before you can exploit them."
Her blade whirled, jagged edges sparking with both frost and shadow. She lunged again, Black Ice shards spilling from her strikes, forcing Helios to block both steel and spell in the same breath.
Helios' answer was speed—Equilibrium flowed like water, redirecting her cuts, each block spinning into a thrust that forced her to sidestep. When she tried to flank again, a Magnet pulse snapped her pull wide, her attack redirected past his chest.
But Kurai twisted with the momentum, carving Shadow Sovereign across his arm. Blood spattered.
The crowd erupted.
Skuld screamed from the stands. "Helios!"
Zack shouted with glee. "Finally! She nicked him!"
Phil cupped his hands to his mouth. "Don't you dare lose, you smug brat!"
Helios glanced at the shallow wound, then at Kurai, smirk sharpening. "Congratulations. That makes you the first today."
Kurai's breath misted, the shadows wreathing her blade thicker. "Then bleed more."
They collided again.
Steel shrieked, magic crackled, and sparks of purple and silver streaked across the Colosseum floor. Kurai drove a Dark Firaga into melee range, forcing Helios to throw up a Reflect panel that detonated into fire and light. Helios countered with a Magnet field, dragging her blade off-line—she released her grip mid-swing, letting Shadow Sovereign spin around him, re-summoning it into her hand as it passed his throat.
The crowd lost its mind at the creativity, the duel unfolding faster than most could track.
Helios barked a laugh, even as he pivoted, a stream of Waterga spiraling from his blade to slick the ground. Kurai's feet slid, balance breaking—until she invoked Umbral Step again, dissolving and reappearing behind him.
This time, Helios was ready. He spun, slamming a Reflect panel down just as she materialized, detonating light in her face. She reeled, growling, but her strike nicked his cheek as she passed.
Both fighters staggered back, chests heaving, blood marking their clothes now.
The crowd was deafening.
Helga muttered under her breath, eyes wide. "They're tearing each other apart."
Tempest's lips curved faintly. "And neither's close to finished."
Back on the arena floor, Helios rolled his shoulders, his smirk refusing to fade. "You're full of surprises today."
Kurai's cold eyes narrowed, her blade pulsing with shadow. "And I haven't shown you a tenth of them."
Their keyblades lifted in unison, sparks of shadow and light scattering between them as they locked eyes once more. The Colosseum roared for blood.
Phil stomped his hooves, his throat straining. "This is what I'm talkin' about! This is the semi-finals!"
Helios and Kurai surged together again, their clash shaking the arena, neither giving an inch.