Chase zoned out for a second, admiring the level of control he had just reached.
'That's better...' He thought, satisfied with his ability to adapt in battle, but it wasn't over just yet.
'I know I can beat her... I've gotten close before... And I've only gotten stronger since...'
Then...
A bright light began to burn at the center of the smokescreen.
Ivory radiance lit up from what could have only been Poppy's doing.
"Really? A cowardly move such as that from you of all people?" Poppy grumbled loudly, as a hand shot through the smoke, clearing a large amount of it with a powerful blast of ivory energy.
Chase grimaced, not bothering to stop his movement through what was left of the smoke.
He didn't necessarily care how he beat Poppy of House Aries in battle, all that mattered to him... Was the act of winning no matter what.
He slid underneath her spear that shot straight out from the dense smoke.
He shot upward, spinning and twisting around a beam of ivory energy that rippled right through the air next to him.
'What the hell is that?!' He growled internally, landing with a heavy crash, but quickly forcing his body to flip and catch himself on his feet, not even bothering to halt his momentum.
He twisted, ripping his axe into the ground to change his course, angling himself straight towards where he could only assume Poppy was in that moment.
He reeled back, preparing an attack.
And he met his mark.
His axe crashed straight into the ghostly form of...
Something that couldn't have been Poppy.
A familiar silhouette stood with the ghost of an ivory spear clashed against Apocalypse with twice the strength of Poppy.
Chase grimaced, realizing that the real Poppy was only seconds away from attacking.
He formed a disk below him, slipping straight into the ground as Poppy's presence appeared above him only seconds later.
The next thing he knew...
The both of them were descending into the chasms of the underworld.
Chase opened his eyes, allowing the sight of death to poison his true sense, but making sure that his senses hadn't lied to him.
And sure enough, Poppy was falling above him with a shocked look on her face, yet her spear was still rotating swiftly in the both of her hands as she prepared an attack from above.
Chase threw a disk below him, and prepared Apocalypse for a sturdy defensive stand.
And then.
He soared backwards out of the portal, his back crashing against one of the few standing trees around the edge of the clearing.
Poppy crashed straight into him, her spear's blade scraping against the circular staff of Apocalypse, and shooting straight towards Chase's face from the backfired attempt at deflecting the attack.
Poppy wore a look of annoyance, as her boots crashed against the same tree, and her spear only inches away from his face, embedded into the bark of the tree.
Or at least it had looked like that at first...
Until blood began to trickle down the onyx skull resting on Chase's face, as a huge gash had stopped the inevitable piercing of his skull.
Anger rose in Chase's blood as he felt another destined defeat at the hands of Poppy; however, the battle wasn't over.
Chase dropped Apocalypse, letting its weight crash down on Poppy's legs that held her to the tree.
Then he grabbed the staff of her spear, climbing up the tree swiftly as Poppy struggled to lift Apocalypse off of her legs.
"You bastard..." She growled, straining and struggling as the axe slowly began to rise off of her body.
Chase meanwhile, pressed his own boots to the tree, gripping the spear tightly as he forced Axis energy into each of his legs, before launching himself forward, bringing her spear with him.
He soared through the air, his path already designed, as he twisted his body backwards, lifting his boots into the air as he met another tree's surface.
Which of course, he used to propel himself back where had originally come from.
Meanwhile, Neo and Luna were now standing, watching with intensity as Poppy wore a violent look of bloodlust, that gave Chase a hint of Zephyr just from one glance, which of course made his blood boil even more.
This was no longer a friendly duel...
Chase was here to beat his rival...
And Poppy was here to maintain her position as the third strongest student of Phoenix Academy...
She stood, leaning with clear injuries in her legs.
Her balance was off, and yet she painfully lifted Apocalypse up, holding it with a loose grip even though it was far heavier than she was, as well causing her body to shake quite badly.
Chase had clear advantage as he soared straight at her with the spear twirling and spinning before he stiffed, pointing its blade straight at her shoulder, with the tree right behind it.
As he got closer and closer... Poppy's stance looked more and more firm.
She had tricked him with body language.
'Damn it!'
Chase couldn't stop now, as he was nearly there... Nearly ensnared in her trap.
Apocalypse spun gracefully above her as she prepared an attack.
Then her lips moved...
"Switch..."
Chase found himself standing, bearing the weight of Apocalypse as it crushed down on him, as he could only stare in shock.
SPLAT!
The spear pierced Chase's shoulder, pinning him to the tree and officially declaring his defeat as his adrenaline slowly began to run out.
The pain hit like a comet.
As his mask slowly faded away, he realized just how much blood he had lost over a stupid duel.
Even though his body was stained read and his clothing was torn and ripped, he couldn't help the terrible feeling of defeat.
He completely ignored Poppy directly in front of him who was saying something with panic beyond the vicious ringing of his ears.
Chase felt a shaky exhale leave his lips, before a jolt of energy shot through his body.
"SHIT!" He screamed as his fist crashed against the tree he was pinned to.
And suddenly, the spear that Poppy had let go of... Fell limply as it hung from Chase's flesh.
Poppy backed away slowly.
And slowly Chase's hearing came back, although his vision was still blinded by the stains of blood.
He limply fell forward, stomping his left boot into the torn up soil below, forcing his body to maintain balance.
Then he reached up, gripping the spear embedded in his shoulder, with white knuckles.
"Wait! Don't please!" Poppy held up a hand to stop him from damaging his body further, but it was too late.
In a blind rage, Chase ripped the spear from his flesh as green flames began to burn from the wound, decaying his flesh even further.
Chase wouldn't have been able to notice, but his vision was darkening and going blurry beyond the crimson haze.
And before he knew it.
His body hit the ground.