Back at the arena, my team was having problems of their own. While we were busy avoiding traps, or perhaps, later on, they had to deal with the ever-approaching match we were scheduled for. I was told all about it in great detail later on.
The others showed back up to the pod one after another. As each entered, they were caught off guard by an anxious Tanaka-san who kept tapping his foot and looking at the time on his phone. He filled them in of what was going on, but the time for the match was approaching, and we were nowhere to be seen.
“Should we be worried? They’ve been gone a long time?” Shin-san finally asked as he looked at the time on his phone.
“Should we go rescue them? I’ve tried texting Juyo-san over and over, but I’m not getting anywhere…” Tanaka-san muttered to himself.
“I still can’t believe that Tai-kun went and ran off with my Estouls like that!” Osana-chan said with her arms crossed and a pouting face.
“We should trust Main-kun!” Trash-chan offered words of encouragement.
Tanaka-san sighed.
“We can’t get disqualified; we should compete with who we have…” he muttered to himself.
“Ve should be enough to vin this!”
“Maybe someone else should go look for him? Only our waifus need to fight,” Shin-san suggested.
“We shouldn’t risk anyone else getting lost at this point….” Tanaka-san answered.
“Maybe one of you should go to get some security?” Raphine said.
“But would security believe that our friends got lost chasing after some rogue waifus?” Tanaka-san asked.
“You said they had a security guard with them as vell.”
They didn’t get much more time to talk. The waifus had to leave for the match.
“We’re out of time,” Tanaka-san said while rubbing his chin.
“I’ll go find some security; you two just watch the fight,” Shin-san made a decision and ran out before the others could respond.
“I still can’t believe he took Estouls with him,” Osana-chan muttered to herself.
“Shouldn’t we be more worried about their safety?” Tanaka-san said while he slumped into the couch.
“Oh, the two of them will be fine, no matter the labyrinth or enemy waifus they fight.” Osana-chan also sat down on the couch. She reached out and turned a television closest to her on.
“Estouls is a capable fighter, and Juyo-san… is stubborn, but I still don’t see how you can be so calm.”
“There was once a time when I was little. Tai-kun’s family was over for business, so we were off playing somewhere...”
“The match is about to start; this story isn’t going to be too long, is it?”
“We decided to go down to my family’s basement that day, well actually, it was our third basement in particular. You see, we have five basement levels under our house.”
“Tomo-san, the match starts in a few minutes. I’d love to hear the story later, but we don’t have time right now.”
“While we were down there, we discovered a hidden passageway. Tai-kun thought we shouldn’t go in, but I was foolish and wanted to explore. We ended up going on a grand adventure!”
Tanaka-san looked at the time and sighed. He gave in and listened to Osana-chan tell the rest of the story. She went into depth about how we kept exploring a deeper and stranger layout.
“After a while, we found ourselves lost in some dungeon that had been built under my house. It was a bit scary at first, but Tai-kun remained calm the whole time. In the end, Estouls came to get us, and everything was okay!”
Tanaka-san sighed.
“That’s nice, but how does that apply here?”
“Well, no matter how much trouble Tai-kun finds himself in, Estouls will be there to help him!” she said with a tremendous amount of optimism.
Tanaka-san nodded to show that he understood. He didn’t say anything else, though. The only response Osana-chan got was the cheers for the crowd as the announcer hyped up the next match.
“Alright, everyone! We’re just about ready for our next match! We have an exciting one today as we see a return of a team that has won with only one fighter! We have yet to see any other members of her team!”
The crowd cheered along. Tanaka-san and Osana-chan exchanged glances.
“We are down a fighter, so we can’t afford to make any unnecessary switches,” Tanaka-san said. He drummed his fingers on the couch before speaking again, “We should send Raphine in first.”
Osana-chan just nodded in agreement.
Raphine was teleported onto the field along with her opponent. Between Tanaka-san’s and Osana-chan’s descriptions, I was able to recognize this waifu.
She had brown hair and a school uniform on. Her hair was wavy, and on her back, she had a bass strapped. She shouted something at Raphine, but no one over the crowd’s cheers made it out.
The fight began with the waifu Muse pulling her bass off her back and Raphine drawing back her golden bow.
Several arrows with different colored tips streaked across the field at the musical waifu. Muse didn’t seem to care as she placed the strap of the bass over her shoulder. The arrows exploded into various elements that engulfed Muse. For a second Raphine shoulders became less tense. As far as she could see, the waifu was taken down instantly.
“Raphine! Behind you!” Tanaka-san yelled. Perhaps due to the slight delay transferring the voice signal, or maybe due to how fast it happened, Raphine did not turn around in time.
The musical waifu stood behind her and very passionately strummed on her bass. Music echoed throughout the stadium as Raphine was blown away. She rolled several times on the ground before stopping.
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Raphine tried to push herself off the ground but looked as if she was held down under some weights. Muse kept strumming on her bass while Raphine laid helplessly on the ground.
“Raphine!” Tanaka-san shouted.
Raphine’s golden bow disappeared as she struggled on the ground. She managed to push herself so that she was on her knees and palms before she fell flat on the ground again. Muse, without missing a beat, began to walk over to the helpless raccoon waifu. One strike was all it would take to knock Raphine out in her current state.
Raphine’s wooden bow appeared in her hands. She awkwardly turned to her side with her hand outstretched. The bow was in her outstretched hand as she laid in an L shape on the ground. She reached to the string and pulled it back. Three arrows of light appeared as if they were ready to fire. However, her posture had her bow pointed to the arena’s wall and not Muse. She let the arrows fly free.
Whatever effect Raphine was under did not affect the arrows as they freely flew from her bow to the arena wall. The musical waifu paid the shots no mind as she continued her approach.
The arrows flew freely parallel to the ground. Then, before they could hit the wall, the streaks suddenly turned upward to the sky. They arced in the air and flew down over the musical waifu. Muse looked up but could not react as the arrows crashed into her, or so it seemed.
The arrows exploded into the ground in a bright flash, but Muse was standing to the side of where the collision had occurred. In her haste, she had finally stopped strumming, and Raphine took the opportunity.
She jumped up and fired a new volley of arrows at the music waifu. Muse seemed to effortlessly slide to her side in a flash so that the arrows harmlessly whizzed by. She started strumming her bass again, and Raphine fell to her knees.
Behind Muse, the arrows suddenly arced in the air and made a 180-degree turn. They struck the unsuspecting waifu in the back, and she was knocked out.
The crowd cheered as Raphine stood back up.
“That was too easy….” Tanaka-san muttered.
“Way to go, Raphine!” Osana-chan cheered.
“Can you stay in the field longer?” Tanaka-san asked.
“Sure, Otaku.”
They waited in anticipation as Muse was teleported out of the arena. In her place, Muse was teleported in.
Some of the crowd cheered, but most were hushed as they talked to themselves.
“Wait, didn’t we just beat her!” Osana-chan yelled as she jumped up from the couch.
“I see,” Tanaka-san said to himself.
“What do you ‘see’”?
“This waifu is a one-girl band. That is, she has multiple personalities that play in the group. They are considering each personality a different member….”
The Muse in the arena no longer had wavy hair and her bass. She now had long straight hair and a guitar. She strummed the guitar, and it began to transform. Its part slid around until it resembled a long two-handed ax. Muse spun the ax in her hands before lunging at Raphine.
The raccoon waifu was not prepared and was taken down with a single strike.
“Raphine!” Osana-chan shouted as Muse spun her ax again and smacked it into the ground. She maintained a graceful composure the entire time.
Tanaka-san rubbed his chin.
“We’ll send Trash-sensei next… no Junkers… I don’t know!”
Tanaka-san slumped into the couch as he became lost in thought. Osana-chan awkwardly looked around the room. They were the only two there, and Tanaka-san was taking his time to think. She took a deep breath and selected their next fighter. Trash-chan was teleported into the field.
Tanaka-san noticed that she had made a decision only after the trash-tier waifu was teleported in. He only nodded in agreement to Osana-chan’s choice before standing up and overlooking the arena.
“Trash-sensei, be careful. She is going to be a tough opponent. Right now, she is in her serene form; she wields a guitar that can transform into an ax. If she turns it back and starts playing, it will cause you to move in slow motion.”
“Got it, Otaku-kun.”
“How many forms does she have?” Osana-chan asked.
“Four in total—Mopey, Unruly, Energetic, and Serene. We just fought Unruly.”
Muse and Trash-chan stared at each other for a moment, then Muse lunged at Trash-chan with her ax readied for a strike. Trash-chan avoided the blow by taking a quick step to the side. Muse’s ax crashed into the ground where the trash-tier waifu had stood.
Trash-chan didn’t wait for Muse to lift the ax. She snapped her trash whip at the weapon. It wrapped around the ax and was pulled from Muse’s hands. The ax morphed back into a guitar and was thrown across the arena.
Muse didn’t react in any way other than by making a friendly smile. The guitar bounced on the ground many meters away from where the dueling waifus stood. Suddenly, Muse’s hair became messy and unkempt. In the distance, the guitar faded away. A keytar took its place on Muse’s back.
The musical waifu, with tears streaking down her face, leaped back. Trash-chan charged after her, but Muse had already pulled her keytar off her back and begun playing while she was in the middle of the jump.
Muse landed gracefully on her feet, and Trash-chan fell to her knees. She slid slightly from her previous momentum, but she made no further moves. Instead, she had tears rolling down her face as Muse played the keytar.
Muse morphed in an appearance again. Her hair twisted together into two twin tails. The keytar in her hands morphed into two drumsticks, and her movements changed two resemble her playing the drums.
Even though she was not hitting on any drums, the sounds echoed through the arena. Her movements sped up as she started a speedy drum solo.
Trash-chan was on the receiving end of this drum playing. Every sound of a drumbeat was akin to a punch. She was thrown up by an invisible uppercut, knocked to the left by a blow, knocked to the right by another, and then finally, attacked by a storm of invisible punches as the drum solo began. She fell onto her back as the barrage of blows rained down on her.
Still, Trash-chan did not waver. Her hands curled into fists, and she crossed her arms over her chest. In her hands, two combustible trashes appeared. She tossed them into the direction of her opponent. Muse stopped playing for a moment to back away from the objects. Her concern was valid as moments later; they exploded into fireballs.
“Otaku-kun, I’m going to need to switch here…” Trash-chan said with a heavy breath.
In a flash, Trash-chan was switched out, and Junkers took her place.
Junkers wasted no time taking to the air. Muse began drumming again to answer her. Sounds of metal clangs echoed in the arena as Junker’s metal mech suit took the invisible blows. Junkers rained down bullets over Muse. The musical waifu stopped drumming and leaped back to avoid the shots. Junkers flew past her and began to circle back around.
Muse’s drumsticks transformed into two large hammers. She banged them on the ground, and the arena responded by shaking. Junkers swept in for another strike. Muse threw one of her hammers at the plane waifu. Junkers made a haphazard barrel roll to avoid it.
The attempt to avoid the hammer threw Junker’s trajectory off course. Muse leaped into the air with her second hammer poised to strike. She was about to hit Junkers before she could regain her bearings, but the plane waifu managed to fire off her guns. Muse took a direct hit and fell back to the ground.
The musical waifu managed to land on her feet; she was unfazed by the direct strike. Junkers became steady in the air and looked down at her opponent. Muse held her hand in the air, and the hammer she had thrown previously came flying to it. When she caught it, she made a twisting motion with both her arms and smashed her hammers into the ground. She went flying into the air, way over Junkers’ head. The plane waifu looked up at her opponent in shock.
Muse went flying up into the sky. She spun gracefully so that her feet went over her head. Her feet became the first thing to contact the barrier’s ceiling. It made a slight wave effect as she pressed her soles into it. Then, with a strong push of her legs, she went flying back down to Junkers.
Junkers didn’t hesitate. As the musical waifu flew above, she made an ascent into the sky after her at full speed.
At this point, everyone in the stadium was looking up and leaning back to watch the waifus on a collision course.
Muse held out each hand. Her hammers were positioned to be swung in and smash Junkers on both her sides.
Tanaka-san and Osana-chan were on the edge of their seats as the waifus approached each other.
Muse let out a cry as she got ready to strike. Junkers responded by opening the back of her mech. She slipped out as the mech suit continued its course to the musical waifu.
Muse tried to swing her hammer to bat the suit away, but it exploded into a giant fireball as soon as she made contact. Meanwhile, Junkers opened a parachute and gently floated down out of the sky.
Muse was knocked out by the explosion. She was teleported out of the arena before she could even land on the ground. Junkers gently touched down and waved to the crowd. They cheered in response.
Tanaka-san let out a gasp.
“We won!” he said as he sunk back into the couch.
“Yay! We did!” Osana-chan added.
“Now, we just need to hope that Juyo-san is okay….” Tanaka-san added.
As a matter of fact, at the time, I was not okay. After escaping a multitude of traps, we found ourselves in even more trouble.