"Mm...? Where am I...?" Mumbled Aria, as her eyelids fluttered open.

"Hey, welcome back, Aria. You did great out there, I-...," I began with a smile, before trailing off as she let out and incoherent mutter and grabbed my arm, pulling my down towards her before hugging my head against her chest.

"Sleepy...," She yawned groggily, still half-asleep.

About an hour has passed since the end of her match, she and Jaden had been stretchered off to get healed.

Well, only Jaden actually needed healing, Aria's injuries healed up on their own thanks to her Super Regeneration.

Both of them had been placed on beds in a medical room, Jaden was still out cold, and Aria had just regained consciousness...sort of.

I reached over and lightly smacked her cheek a few times, a grumbling mutter echoing out before she pushed my face more firmly against her chest.

"Wha...? What happened?" Jaden's voice suddenly echoed out.

I pried my head free of Aria's grasp, an annoyed grunt ringing out before I turned my attention to the other bed, Jaden sitting up with a weary look on his face, letting out a wide yawn.

"The match ended in a draw, and you two passed out," I informed him, as he glanced this way.

Aria blinked a couple of times, a glimmer of lucidity returning to her eyes before she sat up with a start, her gaze darting between Jaden and I.

Looks like she finally woke up fully.

"Wait...did you say it ended in a draw? Everything's kind of a blur towards the end," She frowned, before rubbing her eyes as she yawned.

"How long has it been since the match ended?" Jaden asked me.

"Bit over an hour," I replied, as I glanced at the time.

"Damn it...I really thought I had that. I don't know what happened...I got this strange feeling right before my attack was about to connect, and suddenly, I got teleported out," Recalled Aria, looking frustrated.

"That was a Spell I've been working on for a while, though I'm not even close to having mastered it in the slightest.

I call it Telekinetic Zone, it basically creates a telekinetic force field, within which I control everything.

I can barely control it, I've never managed to maintain it for more than a couple of seconds since it puts a strain on my heart and forcibly deactivates before that strain gets too severe, and afterwards, it takes a pretty brutal toll on my body.

Actually, the toll it takes feels very similar to the effect of that Mana Pulse Skill you use," Explained Jaden, before continuing as he stretched his arms up with a sigh, "Anyway, right at the last second, I unleashed that Spell and used it to target your heart, Ariella.

Basically, I tried to crush it inside your chest. And right in the nick of time too, if I was even a split-second slower in casting it, I would've lost."

That's...overpowered as hell, holy shit. Even with the limitations.

"Does that mean you could capture and restrain someone within that force field, and once they're frozen in place, just crush their insides?" I inquired in bemusement.

"In theory, yeah. I've confirmed that it's unblockable, but since I can't maintain it for very long, I don't know how effectively it can hold a target down, I'm not even sure how wide its range is, think it's about a two-meter radius, but I really can't say for sure. It's very much a last resort, I only used it because I didn't want to end up suffering two defeats today," He admitted with a wry smile.

"This sucks...I suppose a draw is better than a loss, but I really wanted to win. Maybe I should've just unloaded a barrage of Negative Energy blasts at you instead of trying to finish you off with a close-range attack," Aria sighed wistfully.

"Yeah, I wouldn't have been able to block for long, so that probably would've worked. Man, what a day, it's been years since I've been pushed as hard as you two pushed me, this was such a blast! Although, I gotta say, I feel like you two fight a bit better solo than you do as a duo," He mused thoughtfully.

"Wait, really?" I responded in surprise.

"Mhm, I think so...when I fought you guys yesterday, you were each attacking with less intensity than you did individually today.

I could be wrong here, but since you two clearly have a strong sense of trust with each other, you take it a bit more easy when you fight together, you're maybe a bit too conscious of trying to coordinate with each other, which slows you down a bit.

But today, both of you were a lot more aggressive and relentless, since you only had yourselves to rely on. Of course, it could just be because you were familiar with what I'm capable of this time around, so I could be wrong."

Hm, maybe...but he might also be onto something here. It's certainly a possibility.

"We're gonna have to test that out and find out for ourselves, maybe get some other opinions on the matter too," I suggested prudently.

"Yeah, good call," She nodded in agreement.

"Gotta say, now that it's over, I'm feeling pretty disappointed...it'll probably be some time before I get to have this much excitement," Jaden sighed wistfully.

"Oh, that's right...I doubt this'll be the same level of excitement as a good fight, but the others suggested meeting up tonight at a bar.

It's very possible that this could be both the first and last time all of us X-Aces are in the same place at once, so might as well make the most of it," I remarked with a smile.

"Yeah, that sounds like fun...but until then, can we go home? I wanna sleep, I feel so tired," Grinned Aria sheepishly.

"I could definitely use a bit more rest too, think I'll just doze off right here," Responded Jaden, as he flopped back onto the bed with a yawn.

I wouldn't mind a nap too, actually, it's been a tiring day.

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