Mordecai and Malakai stood facing Kojo on the training ground. The others sat and watched as the fight was about to begin. Jack was the referee.
"Okay, so before the match begins, let's do away with all formality," Mordecai said.
"It's just so boring," Malakai agreed.
Kojo blinked, surprised that they sounded so young. He honestly couldn't tell the difference between them. The only thing that was distinct was that one had a curved mark like a crescent moon under his left eye, and the other had what could be interpreted as the sun under his right.
"Um," he began.
"I'm Mal, and you can call him Mord," said Mal, the one with the sun under his eye.
"O...k...? How old are you?" Kojo asked.
"Huh? Oh, we're 23," replied Mord, the one with the moon.
"The fuck!" Kojo yelled in surprise. They were too ripped to be 23-year-olds. Sure, they were handsome with the way they were built, Kojo could have sworn they were in their thirties.
"So what do you want us to call you?" Mal asked.
"Anything that makes you comfortable."
"How about Lil K?" Mord said, pointing at him and winking at him.
"You know what, Kojo's fine," Kojo said.
"Okay, so we're friends now," Mal said.
"Ready?" Jack asked, raising his hand.
"But we won't go easy on you just 'cause we're friends," Mord added, a gleam appearing in both the twins' eyes. Kojo was wondering what that was supposed to mean. Jack lowered his hand, signaling the start of the match. The twins disappeared so suddenly even Kojo was stunned. Mal appeared behind him.
(Duck!)
Kojo's body moved on its own. Just then, Mord appeared beside Kojo and kicked him with such force that Kojo, who had barely raised his arm to block, was launched to the other side of the field.
Kojo stood up. He looked at his dislocated left arm, which hung limply at his side. It was also broken due to the force. He held it and turned to look at them as they walked toward him.
(These two are no ordinary knights.)
They were both giving off ridiculous amounts of Arcana.
"I see. It's my fault for underestimating you," Kojo said as his shattered arm reassembled and he popped his dislocated shoulder back in place.
He looked down at his open palm, claws extending, and looked at the twins, his eyes glowing. He smiled. They both disappeared again.
Accelerant.
Kojo could see their movements. They were running on either side of him. Mal tried to land a blow to his lower back, and Mord tried to connect a kick to his neck. Both attacks would be fatal to the average person.
Kojo caught Mord's leg and threw him into his brother, sending them flying. He jumped at them and tried to sink his claws into them, but they pushed each other out of the way, causing Kojo to crash into the ground. He straightened, pulling his hand out of the cracked ground. He cocked his head and looked at Mal. Kojo saw Mal's muscles twitch as he was moving to attack.
QUICKSILVER
Kojo disappeared, appearing behind Mord and landing a kick at his side. Mord took the blow and caught Kojo, preventing him from moving while Mal jumped and attacked. Kojo did a backflip, causing Mal to fly over him while at the same time throwing Mord behind him. Kojo had barely landed when the twins appeared at him on either side, ready to attack. Kojo managed to evade their combos while trying to attack. Any time he'd try landing a blow, they'd either deliberately take it for the other to attack, or they'd both attack, covering each other's blind spots.
Mal caught Kojo's clawed hand from behind as he slashed at Mord, giving Mord an opening to deliver a dropkick at the same time Mal threw him.
Kojo flipped in midair and landed in a squatting position.
"Something's off."
(I noticed it too. Their arcana is fluctuating like they're trying to keep it contained but can't hold their excitement.)
"They're also not using any weapons or magic. Meaning they've got more cards up their sleeves."
(Yeah, you should have thought about it before just charging in.)
"You're forgetting I used to be a gamer. In situations like this, you can make your opponent show their hand by revealing some of your cards."
Lightning cracked around Kojo as he shot forward and knocked Mal away, trapping him in a wall of earth at the edge of the field. As Kojo predicted, Mord hesitated, feeling the natural concern for his brother. Kojo took advantage of this and attacked using his speed to run around him and hitting his blind spots. Mal broke out of the wall and was about to charge, but a magic circle appeared under him, and a strong gust of wind threw him into the air. Kojo caught a blow from Mord and threw him at his brother. He fired lightning at them, but the brothers dodged in midair. Kojo stomped the ground, freezing the entire field and freezing them in place while he made an earth spike and engulfed them in fire before firing them at the twins. The attack exploded before reaching them.
Kojo looked on as the two emerged from the flames. Mal had two scimitars, while Mord had a great axe which was shaped like a giant crescent over his shoulder.
Kojo stretched out his hand, and Caliburn materialized. They walked slowly before charging at each other, exchanging blows, appearing only as blurs to the naked eye, sparks flying as their weapons clashed.
"Why aren't they using any magic?" Adriana wondered out loud.
"Don't know," Lin said.
"It's a guy thing; you wouldn't understand," Sasha said.
"Oh, and you would?" Koniko asked.
"Of course, I am a succubus," she said, brushing aside strands of hair that had covered her face because of a shockwave.
The male members of the royal family ogled her, though doing so discreetly.
The women sighed.
"Kojo's such a lucky guy," Rey said, looking at Sasha. He felt a hand pressing down on his shoulder.
"You're not having any dirty thoughts, are you, dear brother?" Adriana said sweetly with a sinister smile on her face.
"No, not at all," Reynolds said.
"Scary," all the guys said together.
"What was that?" Adriana asked, looking over at them.
"Nothing," they said nervously, quickly turning their attention to the fight.
"Good," Adriana said, taking a sip of tea.
"Time's up," Jack announced.
The combatants froze. They then straightened and laughed and hugged each other.
"Kojo!" Lin called out but stopped upon seeing the boys' behavior.
Koniko looked confused and looked at Sharone, who just shrugged.
Sasha sighed.
"Boys," she said, accepting a tray Keo offered and taking a sip.