Yussuf ran through the halls, holding onto the two parts of Shun's scythe as tears ran down his cheeks. He burst into Bodin's infirmary, the heads of several members of the Arachna turning to look at him.
Simon: You got those pretty quickly.
Yussuf: Where is he?
Sudu: Calm down, Yusuke. He's just laying down on that bed over there.
Yussuf turned his head, looking at Hiroto sitting next to Shun, who was bloodied and bruised. His eyes were shut, his breathing slow.
Bodin: I stabilize him rather easily. Despite what his appearance may look like, he's doing quite fine.
Hiroto: His training would make this hardly an issue. I've trained these boys to recover from nearly anything. In fact…
Hiroto stood up and stepped back, watching Shun's body closely. His eyes shot open as he sat up with a hurried breath. Daymond watched from the other side of the room as Simon and Yussuf helped put Shun back in the bed.
Shun: I can't see anything… DID I WIN?! DID I GET INTO THE NEXT ROUND?!
Magnus: You didn't… You were beaten by a kick to the face that was timed for your strike.
Shun's mouth quivered before closing, his blank eyes building up a layer of tears. No one could do anything but stare at his condition. His shoulder was heavily bandaged up to reduce the blood flowing from the stab wound. Bodin looked down at his clipboard, refusing to look at him.
Hiroto: You made several mistakes here, Shun. I think you're well aware of that.
Shun stayed silent, closing his eyes as the tears finally built up and rolled down the sides of his face. Hiroto grabbed the chair and turned it around, sitting on it so that his arms rested on the back. He placed his chin on his arms as he looked at Shun, his student well aware of his gaze.
Hiroto: You didn't fix the mistakes you made in the previous round. Your ego, or your predictability. Once someone was able to time your speed, even your Godspeed, you had no real counter. You hardly thought with your brain and simply decided to brute force it.
Yussuf: Hiroto, come on… Go a little softer on him, he tried his best.
Hiroto: And look at what his best gave him. He made a mistake and no one can deny that. You're one of my students, so I can't allow such a disappointing display to go unnoticed. From what you said, it's clear you used not only Godspeed but also Mind's Eye. Neither of which let you recognize the errors of your decisions.
Daymond: As much as I'd like to refute, there isn't much to say. But there is one thing I cannot fault him for, and that's Thong's own unpredictability.
Magnus: Yeah, I saw your interest in him. What's that all about?
Daymond: That boy is clearly an amateur, but he was able to reach this stage and had been able to beat two of our own.
Yussuf: He took out Nisham in the preliminaries… And Shun now…
Simon: You don't think he's targeting us, right?
Shizu: Very unlikely. From what we have written down in his files, he has no affiliations with enemies of the Arachna. Recently, however, he's made an interesting ally.
Sudu: Who would that happen to be?
Shizu: Gerald Azufield. He's someone we should keep an eye out for.
Hiroto: You're saying that as if he's someone of concern.
Daymond: We don't know too much about him. But from what the betting system has shown us, he has gotten every single winner correctly.
Simon: No way…
Magnus: That could potentially give him millions!
Shizu: He's very observant and clearly has intentions with his assistance of Thong.
Shizu turned to Daymond, a glint in her glasses covering her eyes.
Shizu: Could he have seen the potential that you may have noticed?
Yussuf: What does that matter?! Shun just lost! I won't accept this!
Sudu: You cannot argue with definitive results, Yusuke.
Yussuf: He totally cheated! He used rope and tonfas he never used before!
Simon: Just because he didn't use them before doesn't mean he's banned from using them now. This is a tournament where anything but firearms is allowed.
Daymond: Shun, I must thank you. Despite your loss, you have shown me one great thing. Thong Tran is still an opponent we know very little about. So I won't drop my guard for even a moment.
Shun: …His style… What is his style?
Magnus: It's Wing Chun. He uses techniques and stances best associated with Wing Chun, but he's shown to be using techniques outside of Wing Chun as well.
Daymond: One was without a doubt the Azufield Style. Jason had shown his proficiency in it, and it was likely Gerald who taught him this.
Hiroto: And not only that, he used something outside of that. Something that ties into the principles of Wing Chun, yet is vastly different.
Daymond: This tournament continues to excite me. What other surprises may come to pass?
Simon: Hey, where's Dianshi, Nupan, and Arthur? I haven't seen them since Shun left for his match.
Magnus: They left to look for the intruders we believe to be in the building. I hope they can just reveal it's just some audience members that got lost or are drunk or something.
…
Mike, Hugo, and Li followed Thong who was strolled on the stretcher by the paramedics. Mike noticed something familiar about the hallway they were going down until he noticed three figures standing at the end of the hallway.
Carrie: Yoohoo!
Angel: Took ya long enough.
Mike stopped in front of Carrie, Angel, and Veronica, who all wore smiles on their faces.
Mike: What the hell is the meaning of this?
Veronica: Let's just say that Carrie was proud your boyfriend won his match.
Carrie: Shhh!! Don't tell him I said that!
Mike: I'm going to kick your ass later, I swear to god…
Angel: Something pretty important is about to go down.
The four entered the infirmary, watching the number of people move around. Eve ran to Thong's side, preparing to set him up. She placed her hands on his face, the cut that ran down it seeming deeper than what she had hoped. Theodore sat up on his bed, Theresa holding onto his hand while they watched Eve work on Thong.
Mike: King?! You're awake?
Theodore: The strike to my neck was fierce, but I was able to raise not too long ago. Woke just in time to be able to see the end of your friend's match.
Hugo: My student is the best! He was able to beat two notable fighters from some of the biggest factions out there!
Theodore: So you trained him? That is quite impressive.
Li: He sure didn't! Oh, and hello again Queen Oneiroi!
Theresa: It's nice to see you three again.
Carrie: It's nice to see that everyone is here together!
Mike: You set this up, but why?
Theodore: She was really worried about the condition your friend was in after his match. She knew that after he joined our little ceremony a month ago, he was a reliable man.
Carrie: I wouldn't say I was worried… I just knew that Eve would be much better at helping him now. All those slashes from a scythe would be a death sentence for other people to deal with.
Ziyad: Eve is quite the skilled lady. She helped young Theodore here wake up in no time.
Theodore: Maybe I should invest in some neck gear next time…
Carrie: If you keep going with all this gear, you'll look like a football player, Terry.
Theodore: I suppose that is true.
Theodore let out a hearty laugh. Theresa released his hand as he let out a cough, rubbing his back.
Theresa: Try not to push yourself too much. You took quite the beating yourself.
Theodore: Yes yes… I am worse for wear. Pushing myself after those two blades had pierced my sides would be quite troublesome.
Carrie: I think your injuries go a bit further than that, Big T.
Mike: Just how many nicknames do you have for him..?
Everyone went silent for a moment when beeping could be heard from the opposite side of the room. Everyone turned, looking at Eve who swiped her forehead with her forearm.
Eve: I was able to stabilize him. I'll just need to stitch up that cut down his face, but he'll be fine for now.
Li: Thank goodness…
Hugo: That's great news! My student could never die!
Theodore: This does leave me with one worry.
Ziyad: What would that be?
Theodore: Thong had beaten Shun in a battle that had pushed him to his utmost limits. Meaning that Daymond has likely watched the battle closely, creating preparations of his own as a result.
Carrie: You're right! Whoever won this match would face him in the next one! You aren't fighting, so we should just leave.
Carrie closed her eyes and puckered her lips, giving as uncaring of an expression as she could.
Angel: There are still three more of us that have to fight, Carrie.
Theodore: I truly wish Daniel, Remy, and Gonzalez the best in their matches.
Carrie: Remy could lose for all I care…
Carrie's expression turned pouty as Mike glared at her.
Mike: He's up against Cero of all people. He'll need all the prayers he can get.
Hugo: Who's Cero again?
Theodore: One of the few people that I believe may win this tournament. If his potential is anything like that of Deacon's, he'll make it to the finals to finish Daymond personally.
Angel: This place is brewing with drama, isn't it? How fun.
Carrie: I wonder how Daniel and Gonzalez are doing…