Katai landed back in the arena, thinking, 'Xenon's watching over this tournament. Great. He might become an obstacle for me if anything goes south. My stomach hurts…I can feel something crawling on the inside of me..it must be the beast's blood. I gotta ignore it. It's natural that it's like this. My body can hold up, it's too strong to fall so easily.'
Katai started to walk off from the arena, and the crowd continued to cheer for him.
"Let's go Katai!"
"He's so strong!"
"He'll definitely win this tournament!"
"I got all my money on him! He better win!"
Sitting in the stands was Mifu and Voel. And they both were eating popcorn.
Mifu said, "Strong lad, he is."
Voel replied, "Reminds me of me when I was young lad. I never lost a fight."
"Lies. I beat you in the tournament."
"...I let you. I felt so bad for you, that I just couldn't help but give you your first win."
"SUREEE."
"I'm so serious it's not even funny."
"HAHA! OKAY PAL."
"I helped you."
Suddenly, Mifu started coughing. His cough became excessive, and it sounded clogged up.
Voel kept patting Mifu on the back, saying, "It's gotten worse, hasn't it?"
"Yeah. Every time I fight, it gets worse. That was the curse. And I ended up fighting someone that was trying to rob a damn bank."
"And you haven't told Marshy about it?"
"No. I can't. I tell her everything. But not that I'm sick, or her true origins."
"Oh.."
"But anyway! Let's enjoy this tournament!"
"Mhm, lets!"
In the bathroom of the locker rooms, Katai was in a stall that was closest to the wall. He was throwing up into the toilet, and his vomit had purple and red liquid in it.
His eyes were getting red and purple, and his veins were turning purple.
'Shit! I underestimated the power of the beast's blood. But it's okay. My tolerance for poison is high, so that means my tolerance for small things such as this wouldn't do a whole lot of damage. My father has the power to heal, after I win the tournament I'll just tell him to heal me because.'
Katai sat up, and started stretching.
A boy walked near Katai's stall, and asked, "Hey bro are you alright?"
Katai replied, "I'm fine. Just..I ate something nasty."
"Oh. Okay okay. It might be the nervousness. Good job on that fight though!"
"Yeah, thanks. Can't wait to beat your ass next."
"Ha! I'm looking forward to it. Just like all the other fighters you have to fight.."
Inside the arena, the next two fighters were blasting each other away and fighting each other as the crowd went wild.
Duri was still sitting up high, and he kept getting messages on his phone.
"The hell?" Duri pulled the phone from his pocket, and saw that he was in a group chat with Seven, Kazuma, Nine, Ren-Ren, and Jiyu.
Kazuma and Ren-Ren and Nine were spamming emojis, and Seven wasn't typing. Jiyu was typing: "Oo..I've never been in a group chat before."
Kazuma texted back: "Welcome to the club. This is my first time too."
Ren-Ren: "Losers. I'm in 50 group chats. Keep up or you'll get left behind."
Nine: "Imagine competing over group chats."
Duri texted: "Who made this group chat?"
Nine: "I did, nerd."
Kazuma : "HAHAHAH!"
Ren-Ren : "Lol."
Jiyu : "That was kinda funny haha."
Duri chuckled, and then he covered his mouth.
'Did I just laugh? At them? At the likes of them?'
Duri began walking back and forth on the light, repeating, "They're not my friends. They're not my friends. They're not my friends. They're not my friends."
Out of nowhere, Xenon was standing behind Duri, and he said, "Pretty sure they're your friends, fool."
Duri stopped, turned around, and threw a fast punch at Xenon.
Xenon caught Duri's fist, and said, "You seek death early, brat."
Duri didn't expect it to be Xenon, so he yanked his fist out of Xenon's grasp.
Duri asked, "What's the matter? I'm not supposed to be up here?"
"I don't care where you are seated, as long as it's not in the damn arena."
"Hmph. Came to watch your son?"
"You know about that, huh?"
"I know a lot of shit, Xenon."
"Enlighten me. What did Katai tell you?"
"Your family was…killed in the attack against Reborn."
"Yep. Keep going."
"You helped Katai…trained him..and adopted him like Marshy did me. Adopted an outsider."
"Keep going."
"His real father came and took him back. And you two fought?"
"...The fight against his real father was the first fight I've ever almost lost. We were tied, too evenly matched."
"Why did you fight him?"
"It's more like he fought me. After our fight, Katai's father went legal with it, and I lost that battle too. Ferrow. Ah yeah, Ferrow was his name."
"What an ugly ass chicken ass name."
"Tell me about it, brat."
Duri sighed, "...You tried to help Katai. You saw potential in him. You didn't want him ending up.."
"Like my son. My real son. My real son was an arrogant kid, thinking he could do everything on his own because his family and myself were complimenting and praising him too much. He reminded me of me. I had guidance, my father was mine. You don't have one, but Marshy acts as your mother and father. I didn't have that kind of love growing up. Marshy talks about you almost every day, letting us know your progress and well being. Yeah, you got it made."
"I guess. You want to train me because I don't have a literal male figure in my life? Is that what you're saying?"
"I don't want you ending up like my son. You are just like he was when he was alive. You've gained tons of popularity and fame, with compliments shooting at you everywhere you go."
"Why the hell do you care what happens to me? You don't even like me."
"It's true I don't like you. I don't like anyone. Everyone is an asshole. But if you get yourself killed, Marshy will fuck everything up. She's mentioned it plenty of times. You are all that's on her mind. If something were to happen to you, things could go south with Zabel and the whole Reborn and Harvest situation. Especially Marshy."
"...I get it."
"What a way to be sarcastic."
"I'm serious."
"...Hoh?"
"Marshy loves me too much. There's only so much she could do. She's been trying to help me with my attitude, but at times she can't understand the thought process of a male."
"Have you ever told her you loved her?"
"...No. I haven't. I can't bring myself to do it for some reason.
"Don't wait too long, brat. Maybe you feel that way because she isn't your real mom."
"Yeah, it would feel weird, not gonna lie."
"I'm heading back now. Don't do anything stupid. Our training starts after the exams are over."
"Oi, I didn't say I'd train with your ass!"
"Oh, I wasn't asking. You're going to do it. I'm not a nice guy, brat. I'm not gonna hold your bloody hands. I hate to see wasted potential."
Xenon vanished, and Duri rolled his eyes.
Duri turned and looked back down at the fight, and saw that there were new fighters down there fighting each other.
'Damn I missed the last fight…'
[A few blocks away]
[In an alleyway]
Tek was walking down the alleyway with chains coming out of his wrists.
A man in a business suit was running from him, pleading, "Please! Have mercy! I'm begging you!"
Tek responded, "You and your goons conducted tests on children and killed them if they failed. Trying to bond them with the mythic beasts, trying to create human and beast hybrids and to use them as puppets. And I know you know the one they call HIM. Don't ya?"
Tek slashed his chains at the man, and they went through the guys back.
He yelled, and he crashed against the wall. Tek was holding him against it with his chains.
Tek got in front of him, and continued, "You know HIM. Don't you?"
"P-please! Let me go! I'll give you anything you want!"
"Give me information."
"W-why do you wanna find HIM? It's impossible to fight him or find him."
"That man is my uncle. A manipulator, a murderer, a theif, a kingpin, and a liar. I was going to watch the tournament, but it seems like I'm going to be too busy ripping your limbs apart if you don't start spilling shit!"
"Wait! Wait! Okay!...Boys! Get him!"
Men in dark green boiler suits came from both ends of the alleyway, running at Tek with guns.
Tek kept looking the man in the eye, and his chains did the work.
All the chains coming out of Tek grabbed the heads of all the incoming enemies, and smashed them into the wall, killing them.
The man Tek had pinned up against the wall said, "You…you murderer…"
Tek responded, "Four seconds."
"Wait…! I don't-I can't snitch!"
"Two seconds."
"Wait!!"
"Times up."
[Gum-Gum tournament arena]
(45 minutes later)
Multiple fighters in each 1v1 fight were taking each other down, brutally pounding on each other, kicking each other far back, or blasting each other away with their powers.
..
Katai and a fighter named Guhu were standing in the middle of the arena, as it was the final fight of the night.
Guhu was 6 feet tall, he was wearing a robe, he had red pigtails, a red band covering his eyes, and a clean shave.
The announcers were saying:
"Well, well, well! We got a fight on our hands! Katai vs Guhu!"
"Yes! These two have been dominating the other fighters with their skill and prowess!"
"Katai and Guhu's power levels are the exact same, sitting at 550,000!"
"That's right! We're expecting to see a big lights show!"
On the big screens in the arena, they were playing the highlights of all the other fights. Showing the blood and brutality, and showing the high flying and bright power attacks from all the fighters.
Millions of viewers around the world saw these highlights, getting excited for the fight between Katai and Guhu.
Back in the arena, everyone was fully focused on Katai and Guhu. Including Duri, Seven, Kazuma, Nine, Ren-Ren, and Jiyu.
Kazuma exclaimed, "Yes! I've been waiting for this!"
Ren-Ren added, "So much waiting, so much patience for the final moment. I'm ready."
Seven said, "Can they hurry up and fight? Everyone already knew they were gonna be the last two remaining anyway."
Jiyu says, "Being down there…being around all these people…must be nerve wrecking. I'm getting nervous for them.."
Nine smirked, "I put tons of money in betting on Katai. If he wins, I'll have enough money to buy that shirt I always wanted."
Seven replied to Nine, "What did I tell you about betting, dummmmmy?"
"Just this one last time, pleeeease."
"...Whatever, whatever. That's on you if you lose your money."
Xenon was still standing up high in the birdseye view room, looking down at everything along with the other hosts.
Xenon thought, 'Mm. Something's wrong with Katai's eyes..'
The announcers yelled together, "Here we go! The force field is closing! Three, two, one…BRAWL!"
Katai got in a Tai Chi tiger stance, with his left leg bent all the way down, and his right leg stretched out. He was about to close his fists, but Guhu was already running past him at full speed.
Katai thinks, 'Huh?!'
Guhu puncheds Katai hard across the face, and Katai flew back and crashed against the force field.
Katai was already dripping blood, blood from his nose was hitting the arena.
He looked up, and he saw Guhu standing where he was before, wiping the blood off of his fist.
Guhu said, "Filthy."
Katai thought, 'I expected us to be the last two fighters…he's the main reason why I wanted the beast's blood in the first place. His speed is insane, should I take the rest of the blood? No..not yet. Too early. Damn this guy.'
Katai stood up, wiping the blood off of his face, he said, "Nice speed. Try it again."
Guhu answered, "As you wish."
Guhu took one step forward, and Katai was above him.
Katai smacked his fists together, and raised them up, then put them down, crossing both arms, crunching his fingers. Katai held that pose, and Guhu was getting punched in the face and hit in the stomach by an unseen force.
'What is this move? He's holding a position…a stance…I'm getting hit…but he's not touching me?'
Guhu was trying to run from it, but he was still getting hit.
'Maybe if I get close…'
Katai's face was red, and he was sweating blood, and blood came from his arms.
'This move takes a lot out of me. I can't hold it for long. After this, I have to hit him hard. And maybe go all out.'
Guhu sped forward to Katai's position in quick speed, but he was blown back by the unseen force, sending him crashing against the force field.
The crowd cheered, and the announcers said:
"Booom! What a move by Katai!"
"That stance of his has the crowd going crazy!"
"Yes! Crazy for more!"
Katai was getting to his feet, breathing heavily, thinking, 'That's enough of that move. Time to move onto the next.'
Guhu was getting up to his feet, thinking, 'He is formidable indeed. Mother…father..I'll try not to let you down. I know you're watching me.'