Queen watched from the dugout and squeezed her hands together tight. The battle was over, and her hero had finished off Arc with ease winning the first round. She checked to see if the others were as nervous as her. Beside her Jessy fumbled around with her gun and Dot was just staring at the opposing dugout.

“Have I carried my weight now gracious Queen?” Ryuji Bowed after returning from the arena.

With a look of pure boredom, she replied. “Wow hero good job.” On the inside, she was a tangled mess of nervous energy.

She just barely passed her test, and this would be the first time that she showed the gifts of her training to her team.

‘Why couldn’t he have lost his match? Now I have to win mine or he’ll never let me live it down.’

The announcer boomed interrupting her thoughts. “Round 2 will be Jessy versus Nike!”

Ryuji slapped Jessy on the back and smiled. “Go get em, killer!” His voice was full of mockery but she and everyone else knew it was his own way of encouragement.

‘You’ve been with us for an entire year and you still can’t express yourself, pathetic.’

Queen reached out to encourage her as well but hesitated. She didn’t want to do anything embarrassing and decided to pull back. As she did Jessy turned around and gave her retreating hand a high five.

“Yes! I have the blessing of Queen and Ryuji, I cannot lose!” Acting like someone who just got the power-up of friendship she went to the arena.

Queen felt awkward sitting with Ryuji in total silence. Usually, Dot would say something so she wouldn’t have to but at the moment she was absorbed with looking at Rosey.

Queen broke the silence with a forced sentence that sounded like she was reading off a script. “Do you think she’ll win?”

Without turning away from watching Jessy he answered matter-of-factly. “Of course.”

“Round 2 Start!”

Jessy pulled out a revolver from her holster meanwhile Nike readied her glowing spear. Nike still wore the mask of a gladiator and refused to take it off for some reason. Queen was beginning to wonder if it was maybe a fashion statement.

“Heavens Gate.” Jessy activated her magic, but nothing happened. Queen and the rest were confused. Nike on the other hand started to back away as if to avoid something. When the view angle switched, they saw why.

Jessy’s left eye was no longer normal. The pupil and iris were gone and all that remained was a purple orb with a strange vector-like white symbol in the middle. It looked as if someone took a paintbrush and made an art piece out of her left eye.

“Backing up won’t do you any good.” With a flick of her wrists, she aimed her revolver to the left instead of at Nike. “You’ve already lost.” A single blast of pure light rang out and despite the revolver being pointed in the wrong direction a hole still appeared in the center of her forehead.

“How the hell?” Ryuji's confusion peaked but decided that he could just ask later.

Jessy walked back with a swagger in her step and waving her revolver around like it was a pointer instead of a gun.

“Good work.”X2 both Queen and Ryuji said it at the same time and Jessy grinned from ear to ear upon hearing the compliment.

“Round 3 will be Dot versus Rosey!”

“Go get em ti-… eh?” Before Ryuji could turn and cheer her on, she was already standing in the middle of the arena with a look of pure frustration. Rosey also had much the same look but he figured that she had a completely different reason for being mad, namely that she didn’t get to fight him.

“Round 3 Start!”

“Well then let’s have a fair match!” Rosey backed away after happily chatting.

Dot stood still gritting her teeth together. “Shut up.” An inaudible line escaped her mouth.

“Pardon me?”

“I said shut up!” Dots raised her voice but refused to look at Rosey and continued staring at the ground.

“What’s your problem? If you hate me that bad, then fight me.” Rosey’s tone of cheerfulness didn’t let up. As she continued to talk like that Dot grew more obviously enraged this only made Rosey want to talk in that manner more. “Is it my voice? So, so sorry!” Rosey performed a two-handed clap and prayer as if asking for forgiveness from the gods.

“You’re exactly right. It's your fucking voice, it's your face, it's that attitude, it's everything about you that pisses me off!” Her voice was full of passion she raged on. “But what pisses me off the most is that I can’t fight you! Why do you have to look like her dammit!” Her passion ebbed and faded leaving behind sorrow. “Why do you have to sound like her. Why do you… have to act like her.” Her voice ended in a whisper and she left the match before it even really began. “I forfeit!”

“Wait what you can’t do that!” An enraged Rosey tried to stop the cancellation but the ref shut off the match and Dot ran.

“What is going on? I’m going after her good luck, Marie!” Ryuji hopped out of his seat and ran after her leaving Jessy and Queen behind.

Ryuji sprinted through the crowds on their way to the bathrooms and concessions. He couldn’t see her weird top hat anywhere among the crowd and kept running. He searched the entire ring around the stadium and found nothing.

‘Maybe she’s outside!’

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

Ryuji went to the nearest exit and ran around the entire outer ring of the stadium and still had no sight of her. Then when he looked up, he saw her. She was sitting on the roof of the stadium reading a manga. He made his way to the top and sat next to her. He could see now that her hands were shaking violently, and her lips were trembling. She looked like a kid bracing to be yelled at.

“O-oh hey, how’s it goin?” Her voice cracked but Ryuji was tired of pussyfooting around. He went straight for the truth of the matter.

“What is going on with you? It’s not like you to just run off without saying anything.”

“Not like me? You don’t know a goddamn thing about me.” Dot's voice turned to stone as she turned away from him.

Ryuji was fed up with her. An entire year of not answering him and now she wants to act like he never even tried. “You’re right I don’t and you wanna know why? It’s because you always dodge my questions you’ve been doing it for a whole year!” His anger reciprocated anger from Dot.

“You really want to know that bad? Do you want to know why I ran? You want to know why I won’t answer you!?” she stood up and continued to yell at Ryuji with a cracking voice. “It’s because I didn’t want you to know that I’m a terrible person! I wanted you to be my friend so I… so I…” Her rant lowered in pitch and volume and her face turned to the ground.

Ryuji felt like he was looking into a mirror. He hadn’t told anybody about what happened to his previous teams out of fear they would abandon him. The only one that might have any measure of a clue was Queen, but he never pressed her about it, and she wasn’t the type to bring it up. He understood her feelings and so he understood what she needed to hear. At the very least it was what we would want to hear.

“You’re not a horrible person Dot.” Ryuji's voice was calm and sounded as if he was simply stating a fact.

Her face contorted with rage. “What do you know? I’ve done terrible things for little purpose other than to satisfy my own greed! Do you know why I ran away? It’s because she reminded me of a girl I killed, that’s why! Does that surprise you; does it surprise you that your little Dot is a killer!?”

“Even still I don’t think you’re a bad person.”

“What are you even talking about. This wasn’t just some girl that I didn’t know. She was my best friend! I killed her! What do you know about me!?”

“And what do you know about my friend!? My friend Dot is a kind person. She never stops joking even to the point it becomes unfunny, but when everyone else is too sad or tired or angry, she’s there to lighten the mood. When I make a joke or a reference, I know that even if no one else gets it that she’ll understand them. My friend is caring, if I feel down or bad about myself, she’s right there to make me feel better. My friend Dot is like no other friend in the world.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about. If I told you how I ended up like this, you would never talk to me again.” Her anger was gone and just desperation remained.

“I don’t want to hear it.”

With shock and confusion, she stuttered out some words. “Huh? But you’ve been asking for an entire year!”

“Yeah well, now I don’t care anymore. You see I don’t care about who you were in the past because right now you’re just Dot to me. You shouldn’t get too caught up on who you used to be but rather try to improve who you are.” Ryuji stood up and looked kindly down at Dot.

“Even if my past is terrible, even if I’m terrible you won’t get rid of me? You won’t abandon me?” Dot looked less like a horrible killer and more like a freshly scolded child. He feared that if she could cry right now she would be balling her eyes out.

“As if I could ever abandon a friend like you. I’m more worried about you abandoning me you know. And If we’re going off of our pasts then I’m just as terrible as you. Now, do you think I’m a bad person?”

“…No.”

"Exactly! That's how I feel about you. You get that through your thick skull?" He looked at her tensely and waited for her response.

“If you feel that way, can you make me feel better?”

Shyly she removed her hat and looked pleadingly. Ryuji understood her plea and awkwardly started patting her head.

‘Goodbye hair virginity! Finally, something I can cross off the bucket list!’

He was surprised by how soft it was and by the fact that it wasn't staticky at all despite being under that hat all the time. As he ran his hand through her hair, he could feel how warm she was and heard her panicked breathing. He imagined that this probably her first time experiencing this too which made him feel a whole lot better himself.

“That’s enough!” Abruptly she ended Ryuji's fun and pushed him away.

"Now come on we have to make it back before we get yelled at.” Ryuji extended his hand and Dot took it. They ran back towards down the roof and into the stadium.

As they entered the arena through a side path, they saw the ongoing struggle. Queen was defending herself from Jong who seemed to be on the offensive. Queen was badly injured with bruises and blood smeared over her face.

“I didn’t think Mr. Vanilla would be this good at fighting.” With great effort, Queen took a stance without wavering and began to channel the first gate.

“I think you’ll find that I am very good at betraying expectations, Ms. Ice Queen.” Jong swept his leg even though they were standing some distance away. A portal appeared near his leg and it came out right beside the head of Queen.

A sickening crack was heard, and Queen's vision blurred. Inside she felt the mana flow complete. She showed a big grin on her beat-up face. “First Gate of Magic.” All the mana stored inside her body was injected into her blood and muscles in copious amounts. Her strength rose but it would only last if her mana reserves willed it. She needed to end this now.

“Dragon Shock.” Her right fist became a dragon and tore through the air towards Jong.

“I see.” Jong sent his entire body through a portal and exited right behind her. The smile did not break from Queen's face however as she launched her fist into the ground and created a shockwave destroying the earth around them.

“Shit.” Jong fell into the crater below them and before he could open a portal Queen's legs gripped around his head. Her grip tightened like a vice and even Jong’s hands couldn’t pry them off. While they were still falling, she flipped in a circle still clinging to his head, and at the apex launched him headfirst into the ground below.

“Dragon Shock.”

His neck made a crunch on impact and a moment later a fist with the strength of a hundred men penetrated his skull.

“Match 4 is over Marie is victorious! Their team moves on and the losers drop out! Now we move on to the next matches!”

Queen re-entered the dugout and saw the two idiots had returned. “How was your little act of rebellion? Got it out of your system?” Her tone was especially harsh, and her eyes looked like she wanted to reenact what she did to Jong to Dot.

A meek dot took off her hat and remorsefully bowed. “I’m sorry.”

“Oh, you’re sorry? Well, I guess since you’re sorry I’ll just completely and totally forget about it!” Unrelenting Queen continued to lay into her with her sharp tongue.

“Now, now why don’t we all just calm down. We still won right? So stop being such a stick in the mud Mariiie.” Jessy the voice of peace and reason started poking Queen in the cheek and when Queen showed no sign of calming down, she resorted to full-on bear hugging her.

“W-what? Get off now!”

“Ah are you embarrassed, Marie? I didn’t know your cheeks could blush like that. Cute!”

Ryuji had to agree that the sight of a shy Marie being hugged all over by a loving Jessy was the definition of cute.

“Master!” Dot returned to her joking normal self.

Ryuji flashed a smile before turning stone-faced. Acting like some bigshot expert Ryuji sternly answered.

“Yes, my student?”

“Is this the coveted thing known as Yuri!?”

With a single nod and a tear shedding down his right eye. “Yes, yes this beautiful thing is Yuri!”

Queen pried off Jessy and turned to Ryuji with a red face. “I don’t know what that means but I know I’m being made fun of! Keep it up and see what happens dammit!”

“We’re sorry ma’am!”X2 Both answered and saluted.

Jessy started giggling and then Dot then finally Ryuji. They all were having such a good time they weren’t noticing what was happening in the arena.

“Match 3 is over! The team representing Zodiac wins! Now begins the finals! The first match is Ryuji versus Luthien!”