“Ladies and gentlemen of the good city of Radecross! Get ready for Round 2 of the ‘Crossroads of Combat’ Tournament!”
“We’re in the Quarterfinals now, folks! The weakest among our participants have been culled from the competition! The race towards the grand prize is heating up! Which of our remaining eight warriors can punch their ticket and ride the train to victory?!”
Reina scurried back to her seat in the bleachers, arms stuffed with more candy and snacks from the concessions stand. However, it did not appear to be all for herself. As she arrived in her row, she held her arms out to a few of her regular seat neighbors, allowing them to grab their portions of the order she’d purchased. Making friends had always come easy to her. “Hey, guys! Did I miss anything?!”
The man behind her to the right shook his head. “Nah, you’re just in time. The match’s about to start.”
“Woohoo!” she hollered, finally able to settle into her seat. “Bring on the punching!”
As her eyes settled onto the battlefield, she broke out into an enormous smile. “Oh, yay, it’s Tyger! Hell yeah! Get ‘em Tyger! Whoever they are, kick their butt!”
Tyger tightened his fists. His gaze had been locked onto the entry doors on the other side of the stadium since he arrived himself. Unlike those in attendance, he was already aware of who he would be fighting. Hell, it was likely that even his opponent was in the dark.
But even if that were the case, Cain’s face refused to show it, or any other notable expression. No shock, no no satisfaction, no fear, no concern. It was the calm, composed, and focused mask he always wore.
Reina choked on her soda, spraying whatever traces of it she couldn’t swallow into the air in shock. Naturally, this resulted in a few droplets hitting the other audience members sitting around her.
Surprisingly, though, none of them seemed to mind at all; in fact, the act was met with a wave of laughs of entertainment and amusement.
One of the women in front of her spun around in her seat. “Ahaha! You okay, Reina?”
“Y-yeah, I’m fine! Sorry!”
The man directly in front chuckled. “She’s freaking out because her two buddies are fighting now. We’re betting this round, aren’t we?” The question was met with a round of affirmatives from a few of the audience members in the immediate area.
“Which one you got, Reina?”
Reina’s lips curled into a pout as she glanced back and forth between Tyger and Cain. Apparently, she hadn’t actually put much thought into this particular scenario, having somehow been convinced the entire time that they were both going to kick their opponents’ butts and win the tournament because they were her friends and they were awesome and nobody could beat them!
“Hurry and pick, Reina! If the match starts before you decide, you forfeit!”
The chameleon girl brought her hands up to the sides of her face. “Oh no! I gave them both good luck hugs! My good luck hug always pushes people to victory!”
More laughter at Reina’s antics emerged. There were only seconds remaining in the announcer’s speech to make a decision. There was no way Reina could afford to miss out on potentially winning this bet — she needed to win more cash to buy herself more snacks for the remaining rounds, after all!
Her eyes settled on Tyger. He was strong — insanely strong, and seemed to be more fit and muscular than Cain. But he had also been injured quite a bit between fighting the mech, the kaiju, and the weirdo on the roller skates. He obviously wasn’t in top fighting condition….
Cain didn’t cut as physically imposing a figure, but his performance in his first match was dominant, and far more convincing than Tyger’s own. Reina didn’t exactly have much of a bead on what Cain was truly capable of in battle, so it was hard to say how his skill set would measure up against Tyger specifically….
Her mind flipped back to the previous day, when the group stood outside of the arena upon learning that the boys would be entering this tournament together. They’d already fought once before, during the ULTRA RUMBLE preliminaries, and Cain had apparently emerged the victor….
In the last possible moment that she could provide an answer, Reina stood up tall (well, short, technically), cupped her hands around her mouth, and cried out, “Go, go, go, Tyger! Pay him back this time!”
A surge of applause rippled through the audience as the match officially started, although the circle of fans in Reina’s section of the bleachers were directing their clapping and cheering more so at the girl’s energetic declaration of her betting horse.
Or tiger, rather.
* * * *
ULTRA PULSE
* * * *
The match began the same exact way it had two years prior at the ULTRA RUMBLE.
The boys ran straight up to each other and exploded in a flurry of fists.
A jab to Tyger’s nose, a hook to Cain’s jaw, a ducked-under right cross, a deflected uppercut.
It was wild, brutal, and chaotic, and came as a shock to all in attendance, particularly those of the audience who had become fans of Cain in his previous bout. The exchange was in such stark contrast to the measured, skillful display he had put on before, but none could deny the excitement surging through their hearts as they looked on.
“Amazing! It’s as if two wild animals have been locked into the cage together! Which beast will prove itself the alpha male?!”
Cain slipped his head underneath Tyger’s wide-angle swing, leaning forward to throw a quick combination to his opponent’s chest. “Your punches are as slow and sloppy as ever!”
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Gritting his teeth, Tyger pressed closer himself, ignoring the punch that struck his chin in order to slam Cain’s gut with a compact uppercut. “And I don’t even feel yours, asshole!”
Each connection shook the floor, and each miss created a shockwave in the air. Both worked in tandem to create a rhythmic rumbling around the arena, which soon compelled the audience to join in. The crowd stomped their feet, clapped their hands, and hollered positive cheers when their preferred fighter landed a blow and discouraging boos when it was the other’s turn.
“This crowd is white hot for this bout! You can feel the entire stadium shake and tremble!”
* * * *
ULTRA PULSE
* * * *
Over in the women’s locker room, having just returned from her break, Meifang opened the locker she had rented. She hung her dark blue designer coat inside, exchanging it for a similarly-colored martial arts jacket, along with a pair of black gloves.
As she began to change back into her fighting uniform, her eyes glanced over at the monitor as Tyger and Cain blasted one another with brutal punches.
She stepped closer to the screen to get a better view, simultaneously reaching around behind her head to tie her hair into a ponytail. She’d tried watching some matches earlier when she first arrived in the locker room, but she hadn’t been impressed with the competition.
This fight, however, was grabbing her attention.
She watched as the boys held their ground, firing off barrages of punches from whatever angles they could manage. There was skill and power on display, but also plenty of amateur brawling and mistakes. A slight smile broke out on her face.
When the boys stepped back to get some breathing room, she shut the door to her locker and pulled up a chair to watch. She’d been planning to warm-up a bit since her own match was coming up next, but something told her she’d regret not sticking around and watching this fight play out.
* * * *
ULTRA PULSE
* * * *
“Think we should start heading back now?” Zeo asked.
Annabelle nodded. “Yes, I think so! I’m getting quite hungry again!”
“Ulty’s, here we come?”
“Yes! Ulty’s, here we come!”
As the pair giggled amongst themselves and led the way towards the exit, Kiria, a few steps behind, glanced down at her phone. She hadn’t gotten any messages from Reina or the boys, so it didn’t appear anything had gone wrong. She herself sent her own text, notifying that they would be returning from the pulse.
For a moment, she kept her phone out, navigating to the call app. Her mind was telling her to forget about the group’s plans of stopping Mistral and to just call the authorities instead. Sure, it’d disappoint the others, especially if she went behind everyone’s back to do it after they’d all gotten their hopes up, but this was a serious situation.
She glanced up from her phone to Zeo and Annabelle. The two were still laughing together, recounting childhood stories to one another. It was a cute sight, which pushed her even further towards making the call; they were all just kids. Previous train and kaiju heroics aside, they weren’t cut out for something like this. And what if it went horribly wrong? They themselves could get caught up in whatever Mistral was doing, which almost assuredly involved explosives. They could all wind up dead.
Her finger tapped out the digits to the police force’s number, but she was suddenly interrupted by a text notification.
Reina: Hurry! The boys are kicking each others butts!
That got a smile from her. As much as it exhausted her dealing with Tyger and Cain’s bickering, she found it quite amusing that they’d ended up having to fight one another in the tournament. She hadn’t seen Cain fight, but Tyger had proven himself quite capable in both the battle against the mech, as well as when he and Zeo took down the kaiju. It was almost assuredly an entertaining watch.
Kiria: We’re getting Ulty’s when we get back. Do you want the same order?
Reina: Yes please ^_^
Reina: Wait get me an extra cheeseburger!
Kiria: Okay.
Reina: thx Kiria ilu <3
Her smile grew wider as she shook her head.
Zeo seemed to take notice, stopping in place and looking back at her. “Wow, whoever you’re texting’s got you all happy. Is that a boyfriend, maybe?”
Pocketing her phone, Kiria playfully rolled her eyes. “No, of course not. I don’t have one.”
“That’s kinda surprising,” he responded. “You’re beautiful, you’ve got a cool job, you kick ass. I figured you’d have guys all over you.”
Giggling, Annabelle said, “Kiria’s very popular back at the manor, she just hasn’t picked someone yet!”
“I’m texting Reina,” Kiria stated firmly enough to snuff out the teasing. “It seems that Cain and Tyger are in a match right now.”
“Oh, no kidding?” said Zeo. “Who do you guys think is gonna win?”
Neither girl had an answer ready, and Kiria gave their reason. “I haven’t seen what Cain is capable of, and I only saw Tyger for a bit.”
Zeo shrugged. “Same for me, but didn’t they mention they fought before, back at the ULTRA RUMBLE?”
“Yes,” Annabelle said. “And Cain said he won that fight.”
“Why don’t we make a bet?” Zeo asked, holding his arms out wide. “Whoever’s wrong has to pay for Ulty’s?”
“That’s a pretty expensive bet,” said Kiria, folding her arms across her chest.
“I think Cain’s got this,” announced Zeo. “He won their last match, and Tyger’s still pretty injured.”
To the surprise of absolutely no one, Annabelle was quick to agree. “Yes, I think it’ll be Cain as well.”
“And what happens if I also pick Cain?” Kiria asked. “And he wins? Then none of us would have to pay, so how would we get the food?”
Grinning, Zeo answered, “Then we’ll just have whoever wins the tournament pay for it with their winnings! They’ll have plenty to spare, right?”
“That’s assuming either of them actually wins the tournament.”
“Course they will! They’re a part of Class G, aren’t they? And we’re unbeatable!”
Annabelle clapped her hands. “Yes! Class G is unbeatable!”
“That’s a little sneaky, isn’t it?” Kiria asked. The mischievous grin on Zeo’s face was all the confirmation she needed. Not wanting to have to surprise the winner of the tournament with a big dinner bill out of nowhere, Kiria decided to not make the same selection Zeo and Annabelle had. That way, regardless of the result, someone in their current trio would be responsible for paying. She had already been planning to do so, anyway, even though her mind told her Cain was the logical pick. “Very well. I’ll bet on Tyger.”
* * * *
ULTRA PULSE
* * * *
A man in the front row stood up and slammed his palms against the forcefield walls. “Knock his head off, Tyger!”
Tyger smashed his shoulder into Cain’s chest and threw his right fist in a wide arc that sent Cain’s face swiveling to the side.
On the other side of the arena, a young girl cried out, “Cain, I love you! You can do it!”
Cain caught the next incoming punch in the crook of his arm, then snapped a three-hit combo directly into Tyger’s mug.
The boys both staggered backward in unison, shoulders heaving as they attempted to catch their breaths. Neither took their eyes off the other, even as they brought their hands up to their faces to wipe away the sweat and blood.
There is always a sense of tension that permeates through the air when two fighters do battle with one another, but no fight’s atmosphere is more electric than the duel between sworn rivals.
Cain and Tyger had entered the arena as complete strangers to the people of Radecross, but in mere seconds, the citizenry had been made keenly aware of their story, and had bought into it without a second thought. These two young men clearly had history with one another, and everyone in attendance could sense that they were in for a fight far more exciting than they had been anticipating.
In perfect unison, the boys positioned their arms before their bodies: Cain to his forehead, and Tyger to his stomach. In perfect unison, their hands molded into the appropriate Force Slot shapes: Cain in a triangle, and Tyger into fists. In perfect unison, mechanical voices exploded out from within each of them, as though they were trying to overpower one another:
SUPERCHARGE!
METAL!