The crowd was antsy, already screaming their lungs out despite the match having yet to commence. The two New Yorkers stepped side by side at a matching pace. The best friends were so in sync, that even the pattern of their steps was perfectly synchronous. “Alright, we have Flora coming onto the stage with Lady Luck! According to my sources, these two have been running petty crimes together since Hero x Villain Online's launch! Despite Flora's face being uncovered, her identity remains anonymous as there are absolutely no records of her. The masked beauty, her partner in crime, Lady Luck, is anonymous as well!"

Meanwhile, their opponents made their presence known on the opposite side of the stage. One of the two competitors from Shibuya wore a pink and white Lolita-style dress. She almost looked like an idol, having her hair tied on both ends with bows and a cutesy smile on her face as she hopped onto the stage, posing for the crowd. Despite her cute outer appearance, there was this menacing aura about her, one especially present if one were to look directly at the white cat figurine that was perched on her shoulder. It was made of porcelain, similar to the ones found inside Japanese shops for good fortune.

"And they will be facing off against Maneki-Neko! Before Hero x Villain Online, she was nothing more than a shop owner. Now, she is a TikTok megastar with an ever-growing company that sells beauty products!"

Beside the girl was a young man wearing a black, sleeveless jean vest, showing off his tattooed arms. His black jeans were tattered, showing his knees past them, and he wore a pair of all-black platform boots to go along with everything else. Clearly, his outfit was inspired by American punk culture; he was seemingly the reverse of a weeb. The two ladies could only see those dead eyes of his as the rest of his face was hidden beneath a skull-painted mask. Somehow, despite his scary outer appearance, the menacing aura around him was only half of what was resonating off of his partner.

"And her partner... Dynamo! This mysterious beta tester is mostly unknown. He has yet to display his abilities in the tournament thus far, so look forward to it!"

Lady Luck stood beside Flora with her trusty golf club resting on her shoulder. However, everyone’s attention was on Flora as she was making her debut in the tournament, though the attention was mostly due to her looks. Her outfit was rather revealing, taking the appearance of medieval armor that was clearly missing parts in the most vital areas such as the midriff and thighs, lacking in both form and function.

“We got this, Claire.” Flora whispered as her rose-shaped irises glared directly at the opponents in front of them. Unlike her bestie, her confidence wasn't lacking in the slightest. She'd been sitting on the sideline for far too long and was ready to let loose.

“Right.” Claire pushed her mask onto her face as one would if they wore glasses. Almost instantly, Claire faded away and the facade of Lady Luck began to take over her body, metaphorically. It was just as she said when she spoke with Ky, that she was able to practically transform herself via her mask. “Let’s show the boys how it's done.”

“That cat. It’s supposed to represent good luck.” Lady Luck whispered to her partner, staring directly at Maneki-neko who still smiled sweetly at her. “Neko means cat, right? She’s definitely Maneki-neko. She must have luck-based powers as well.” Coming to this conclusion only made Lady Luck’s nervousness worse. Throughout her journey as a beta tester, she was confident, perhaps overly so, but at this moment, she was in a constant fight to push back her own fears.

“Hmph. So, I guess this guy is Dynamo. There’s only one way to find out what they do.” Flora had a smirk on her face. Her heart was racing, but she loved that feeling. It was why she decided to become a cat burglar with her best friend. That rush of adrenaline was like a drug for her, the same could be said for Lady Luck, at least, that used to be the case.

“Begin!"

Flora didn’t waste a single second and immediately went on the offensive. She outstretched her right hand, conjuring vines to begin growing out from the grass that surrounded the stage. ‘We’ll see who’s the weakest of us all now.’ she thought. She took what the boys were saying about them seriously, finding it infuriating that they were looked down on and were seen as the due who was the least likely to win.

Like sharks swimming toward their prey, Flora’s vines rushed toward Dynamo, whose hands rested in his pants pockets. These vines were twisting and turning around the stage, creating a sort of cage that would lock the two Japanese fighters inside. Meanwhile, Lady Luck was running side by side with these vines, dodging them with her luck-based agility before riding on them as if she were a surfer. This display further showcased their synchronous teamwork that's been honed throughout their friendship and time as beta testers. By the time she reached Maneki-Neko, Lady Luck leaped off of the swarming vines, raising her golf club high above her head as she began barreling down toward her opponent. That aforementioned cat on Maneki-Neko’s shoulder began raising its left arm abrasively, almost as if it were a rusty cog, and just before Lady Luck’s golf club could strike the kitten’s owner, its paw clicked into place. That cute smile on Maneki’Neko’s face, that radiant and innocent grin, shifted, growing distorted as it emitted a sinister aura.

Lady Luck threw her arms forward, slamming the golf club down onto her opponent. However, Maneki-Neko simply grabbed the driver by its end without flinching or moving a single inch. As she held it in place, there wasn't any sort of struggle. As if she'd lost every single one of her marbles, she cackled. Lady Luck’s eyes widened, ‘What!?’ she thought, seeing as this small woman had strength that seemingly matched the likes of Professor Anarchy or even Infinite.

Meanwhile, Dynamo’s face was devoid of any and all emotion, twitching slightly as Flora’s vines grew closer. As if his hands were claws, Dynamo curled his fingers and reached toward the vines, allowing them to wrap themselves around his arms. In doing so, he found himself tangled in Flora’s vines like a fly trapped in a spider’s web.

"Gotcha!"

However, suddenly, Flora’s vines began to change in hue. That bright green color began to fade and those pink and red roses that were attached to them shriveled and blackened. Dynamo’s body trembled and his eyes were consumed by black energy as he began to seemingly suck out the life energy from Flora’s vines!

His muscles began to bulge as they tore her vines apart. He then started for Flora, running at her like a blood-lusted bull. Flora acted quickly, forming a barrier of vines in front of herself, only for Dynamo to burst through it as if it were made of paper. Having no other choice, Flora placed two hands on the ground, causing it to rumble. The ground cracked and vines began to spill from said crack before lifting Flora into the air like a botanic elevator.

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Dynamo of course crashed right through it, though before it could fully break, Flora created more vines and stepped on them like stepping stones as she formulated a plan. ‘Damn it, this guy has some sort of energy manipulation ability. He’s absorbing the life out of my plants!’ she then looked over at Claire, who was still fighting Maneki-Neko.

That porcelain cat on Maneki-Neko’s shoulder acted once again, this time its right paw jerked and clicked into place. With her left hand still gripping Lady Luck’s weapon tightly, Maneki-Neko pulled the New Yorker toward her, reeling back her other hand with a clenched fist. Lady Luck’s eyes enlarged, compelling her to then release her weapon and contort her body in an attempt to avoid the oncoming attack.

Maneki-Neko’s right arm flew forward with the force of a cannon, just barely missing Lady Luck's face while displacing the air around it. The sound of her fist cutting through the air was not only heard by Lady Luck as it whizzed past her ear, causing her hair to flutter but it was also heard by the crowd and those watching at home through the livestream. It was as if she took the force that Lady Luck attacked her with and doubled it, maybe even tripled it.

‘If that would have hit me–’ Lady Luck landed on her feet, noticing her opponent was slightly off balance as her fist was still pointed outward. Lady Luck then grabbed a knife that was attached to her ankle before quickly making an attempt at her opponent’s life, driving that knife toward her heart. Maneki-Neko’s crazed eyes tracked the knife; meanwhile, the cat on her shoulder raised its left paw once more. The moment, the literal nanosecond before the knife could impale her heart, the cat’s paw clicked, and the knife deflected off of Maneki-Neko’s body as if it were made of stone.

Once more, the right paw was raised. During this second, Lady Luck found herself off balance and surprised. Maneki-Neko then used Lady Luck’s own weapon against her, swinging the golf club from left to right. Lady Luck stepped backward, avoiding the attack. However, her costume was cut around the midriff, along with her skin. The cut was deep, drawing blood and creating a gash in her abdomen. Lucky for Lady Luck, it missed anything vital.

“Lady!” Flora yelled before throwing vines from her perch and wrapping them around her partner's wound. Flora's vines weren't only made for destruction, as they had the ability to heal so long as she was conscious. However, before she could fully heal her and perhaps pull her to safety, Dynamo grabbed the vines, pulled Flora toward him, and severed their connection.

“AAAAH!” Dynamo screamed as a bright light began to emit from the inside of his throat. That light then turned into a projectile straight out of any battle anime and it was aimed directly at the plant manipulator. Flora attempted to cover her body with a shield of vines, only for this energy to completely melt through them and hit her in the chest. Flora's body was sent off of the stage and came to a rolling stop, her torso was completely charred from the blast.

Immediately, Team New York ran over to check on her as she was as good as eliminated from the competition that quickly.

“Flora!” Lady Luck called out for her partner. However, she wouldn’t have time to worry about her friend as she found herself in a two versus one-situation. Maneki-Neko was rushing her down, using Lady Luck's golf club against her as if it were a sword. With each attack, Lady Luck found herself experiencing cuts all around her body and clothes despite her and the weapon failing to make any sort of physical contact. ‘How am I getting cut by a golf club of all things!?’ she thought to herself. The driver was completely blunt, yet its attacks were as sharp as a knife.

Lady Luck continued stepping backward, weaving through slashes until Dynamo was heard stomping behind her. Lady Luck lept in the air before landing on his head, using it to springboard herself higher into the air. The crowd found it humourous, but Dynamo was rightfully pissed off. His eyes shifted almost instantly, going from dead to furious as they locked onto his only target.

She then took two more knives from her bootstraps and threw them at Maneki-Neko. Once more, the cat lifted its left paw and the knifes bounded off of her body as if they’d hit a brick wall. ‘It’s that damn, cat! When its left paw is raised, she’s immune to my attacks.'

Lady Luck landed on her feet, her eyes darting between both her opponents. Dynamo started for her while Maneki-Neko’s cat raised its right paw once more. She then swung the golf club, despite being across the stage. However, Lady Luck suddenly felt a sharp pain in her chest as if she were stabbed. She bellowed in agony before using what little bit of willpower she had left to dodge whatever the hell it was that was attacking her, feeling the air displacing around her as if knives were being thrown at her. ‘No, she’s not just deflecting my attacks. She’s absorbing them and sending them back to me!’

Lady Luck started dodging without any sense of a pattern, avoiding the invisible knives that were being thrown at her. Meanwhile, Dynamo was still hauling as behind her, trying to land just a single touch on her. All it would take is for him to grab her and he could absorb her life essence just as he did to Flora's plants.

‘I know what I need to do. She can’t attack and defend at the same time. I have to get hit her while the right paw is up!’ Lady Luck scanned the entire stadium, trying to formulate some kind of strategy until she spotted something, a piece of the stadium that Flora accidentally sent into the grass behind Maneki-Neko! ‘There!’ she thought to herself as she continued running away from Dynamo, who was then spewing blasts of energy from his mouth.

Lady Luck, with a plan in mind, began sprinting toward Dynamo with her head down as if she were a rhino running head first and an enemy. Dynamo figured that she was going to try jumping over him again, so he was ready. Once she was close, Dynamo planted his feet and readied his hands, only for Lady Luck to slide between his legs, grabbing a knife from her bootstraps. It was her final knife, this was her only chance.

She threw the knife at Maneki-Neko, and the cat lifted its left paw to deflect the attack. However, the attack missed and whizzed past Maneki-Neko and that right paw once again raised itself. Lady Luck’s momentum was unchanging, all Maneki-Neko needed to do right then was throw the perfect invisible projectile to kill Lady Luck right there on the spot. In her native tongue, Maneki-Neko screamed, “SHINE!” just before preparing to swing the golf club one last time.

However, at that very moment, Lady Luck’s knife bounced off of the debris she'd spotted a moment prior and perfectly reflected itself back at Maneki-Neko before she could know what hit her. The knife flew threw the back of her throat and it was seen poking out from the front as she gargled on her own blood. Maneki-Neko fell to her knees, holding her hand on her blood-spewing neck before falling face-first onto the ground, forming a pool of crimson life essence beneath her.

For a moment, Lady Luck felt as if he heart had sunk as she came to a sliding stop. However, that feeling was actually the feeling of her heart’s beat stopping as her body began to grow cold. She looked down at herself to find that she’d been impaled by one of those invisible daggers, Maneki-Neko got her attack off at just the right time. 'I guess...' Lady Luck took one last look at her teammates, who were all looking back at her. Infinite was holding onto Flora's body, giving Lady Luck one last look at her. '...my luck has run out.'

The last thing she saw was Dynamo approaching her, his black shoes hitting the ground with thunderous booms.