At the Inquisitor Exam stadium.
Team 1 enters the stadium. To Don's surprise, he sees that 2 teams are missing as he thinks. 'So, we're down to 30 applicants and 6 teams.'
Duke taps Don's shoulder. "Hey, you okay?"
Don gives Duke a smile of reassurance. "Yeah, I'm sore, but nothing I can't handle."
Nina chuckles as she slaps Don's back. Don gasps in pain. "OW! Why Nina why?"
Nina skips past Don with a huge smile on her face. "Just checking if you'd be able to survive the next exam or not."
Duke smiles as if he was trying to hold back laughter. "She's a brazen one, isn't she?"
Mai walks past the three members of the group to the front where Ryan was. "Are feeling alright?"
Ryan flinches as if he was just pulled from deep thought. "What did you say sword girl?"
Mai glances at Ryan with gentle and caring eyes. "You are aware that I can sense feelings. Though I have not mastered this skill, nor do I believe that I'll ever be on the same level as Silva senpai, but even a novice can sense you are upset."
Ryan looks away with a look of annoyance. "Sword girl, what do you consider an invasion of privacy?"
Mai's widen as she thinks. 'He's right, his emotions are his own. I shouldn't haven't allowed my senses to roam toward him. I just wanted to make sure he was okay.'
Ryan peaks at Mai to see her face of disappointment. "Hey, I know you were just checking on me. There are just some things people would rather forget. I'm sorry I gave you attitude."
Mai looked at Ryan, surprised. Ryan peaked over once more to see Mai's gentle smile. Nina watching the two members of her team having a moment. Chuckles as a mischievous smile takes form on her face as she thought. 'I want to ruin that!'
Nina skips toward Ryan and Mai, before Duke grabs her collar and lifts her up similar to a mother cat picking up her kitten. "Nina, what were you bout to do?"
Nina looks at Duke nervously. "Nothing, boss man."
Duke squints at Nina with a skeptical mom look. "Nina..."
Nina sweats as she looks away. "They just looked so lovey dovey. I wanted to just give them a little scare."
Duke looks at Nina with a blank expression. "I'm not mad. I'm just disappointed."
Don lets out a loud. "OOOOH, I felt that."
Nina looks at Duke, devastated. "I'm sorry captain...."
The stadium quiets down as Sable walks through to the middle of the stadium with the knights.
Sable looks at Don's group and smiles mischievously. "I will announce the third exam."
Don flips Sable off as he thinks. 'Bastard, he didn't even check if I was okay. All I got was that stupid smile that always sits on his dumb face.'
Sable ignores Don and continues. "The next exam will be Teams V.S Knights."
Chatter fills the stadium. Don can't contain his excitement as he thinks. 'We will be fighting knights? This is awesome. I want to see the difference between us and a knight.'
Ryan's worry vanishes and is replaced with an almost monster like smile as he thinks. 'I get to fight a knight. I get to see how much I can grow when I become an inquisitor.'
Sable points to a white-clad knight behind him. "Team 1 you will be fighting first. Your opponent will be Knight Lisa Normandy."
A woman with long silver hair and green eyes walks to the front. She was wearing a white inquisitor coat and over it she wore a black bullet-proof vest. Hanging on the side was a large automatic rifle. "Nice to meet you."
Sable beckoned the rest of the applicants to the stands above. Duke observed Lisa as he thought. 'Where have I seen her before?'
Lisa notices Duke staring at her. She smiled and rubbed her fingers, making the money symbol. "We all serve something, right?"
Duke's eyes widen as sweat built on his eyebrow. "Everyone, we need to rush her quickly or we'll get obliterated instantly!"
Ryan looks at Duke with concern. "What the hell do you mean?"
Mai sensed something from Duke that she didn't sense when they fought the daemon that attacked them. What she felt from Duke was fear. She readied her blade as her eyes glowed pink. "Everyone get ready!"
Team 1 all prepared as a reaction to Mai. Lisa reached into her pocket, pulling out a stack of 100 dollar bills. Sable sat back comfortably in his chair, ready to watch the show. "Begin whenever you're ready, Team 1."
The stack of bills in Lisa's hands set on fire as her eyes glow bright violet. "Power bought from money. SOLDIER OF FORTUNE!!!!!"
Violet energy flows around Lisa, causing the entire stadium to shake. Duke pulls out his hand guns as his eyes glow orange. Don yells over to Duke. "Duke, who the hell is she, and how do you know her?"
Duke stood shocked as visions of the past race past his eyes.
2 Years ago in a CLASSIFIED location in Iraq.
"SGT Duke!"
Gun fire slices through the air. A small unit of American soldiers sit pinned down in an old brown one story building. Duke peaks out one window as a bullet whizzes past his head. "Damn it, there's no way out, sir. They surrounded us."
A blonde soldier sits above another soldier who was shot in the chest. The blonde soldier was trying desperately to preform C.P.R on the shot soldier. "Shit, don't die on me PVT!!!!"
Duke looked over at his commanding officer, who was covered in the soldier's blood. "Captain Chambers, he's gone!"
Chambers punched the ground hard out of frustration. "Damn it all! Where is that mercenary we hired?"
Duke takes another peek out the window to see the hostiles slowly closing in. "Sir, we are all kinds of a screwed!"
Then a loud smash rang through the town, followed by the screams of the hostiles. Duke, surprised, took one last look out the window, only to see a single mercenary. Her short silver hair was covered in blood. In her right hand was a large hunting knife, and in her left was a large stack of bills. She looked up to the sky and yelled. "We all serve something! It may be a god or king, it doesn't matter! Because the one I serve is a lot more powerful than anything in this world! I SERVE MONEY!!!!"
The image of a young woman covered in blood who stood in the middle of that battle field would forever stain Duke's mind. The first time in his life he saw something he could not understand, and her name was....
Lisa Normandy, the money hungry Inquisitor.