The bull beastmen called Angus walked through the door leading into the observation room. He was shirtless, with medical bandages wrapped around his chest. He wore his military jacket around his shoulders, and in his hands was his mystic sword, the double-bladed axe Rickenbaker. The large beastman had to duck to get through the door. As he did, Moon D shot a glance back from his seated position to get a look at the person entering. When he did, he smirked and made a sly comment.
"Hey, beef patty, I thought you were dead," Moon D said.
"Please," Angus responded, fully entering the room. He placed Rickenbaker down, leaning it against the wall. Then, he turned, stepping closer to the announcer.
"Do you really believe a simple flesh wound such as this would kill me?"
"Well, no," Moon D chirped back, pouting his lower lip slightly. "But I also never thought that you, out of all people, would get sliced across the chest, especially against an applicant."
Angus chuckled as he stood right next to the seated Moon D.
"That young man was no mere applicant; he had to have prior training."
"Sure, whatever you say, big guy. If you ask me, you let your guard down and let them take advantage of you," Moon D said.
Angus's brow furrowed as he let out a sigh.
"I hope you're not going to start getting on my cases. I've already had enough of that from my wife when she called."
Moon D angled his head upward, smiling from ear to ear.
"Well, well, looks like someone's in the doghouse now," the announcer said. He then stopped in complete shock retracting what he just said, "or more like a barn house", the announcer bursted out in furious laughter.
The look on the beastman's face was one of irritation.
"You know, your level of maturity never ceases to amaze me, Moondust," Angus said.
Letting the announcer laugh his socks off, Angus waited until he wore himself out, wiping away tears of joy as he settled down.
"So," Angus said, trying to move on from the previous conversation. "I was just told that I won't be needed for any more phases of the exam."
Moon D shook his head.
"Yep, this year's applicants were a bunch of suckers. Damn near all of them were dropped at the end of the last phase."
Both Angus and Moon D looked down into the auditorium, watching as applicants Amethyst and Dot made their way into the ring. Moon D yawned and put his arms behind his head in a relaxed position.
"The last match was a snooze fest. Hope this one is a bit better," Moon D said.
Angus let out a long "hmmm" as he stood there.
"The results of this match mean nothing to me, but there is one, or maybe two matches I would like to see," he spoke, looking at the ring. His mind generated images of Zack and the mysterious applicants that interrupted their battle. Leaving the viewing room and going back into the auditorium, Amethyst and Dot stood across from each other in the ring, with T.K in between the two. The opponents stared each other down, smiling as they did. After some time had passed, T.K said aloud,
"The second match will now commence."
After that, he backed up, allowing the two women some room. The first to make a move was Dot. She swung her right arm so fast it looked like the strike of a whip. As she did, something escaped her hands. It happened so fast that any normal person wouldn't have time to react, but Amethyst noticed. She was able to react swiftly, guarding against whatever was thrown her way with her rapier. The unknown object collided with, then bounced off her sword. Amethyst was able to get a good look at what was thrown; it was a knife, a small pocketknife.
As she saw it, Amethyst thought, "Really? Is that her rental weapon?" But as she was having this thought, her eyes went wide as she noticed too late that her opponent's knee was about to collide with her face. As Dot's knee met Amethyst's face, the young woman with the afro puffs smiled during her surprise attack. She grabbed her thrown weapon in the process, and as her knee forcefully shot back her opponent's head, she swung down her knife, going straight for her exposed head. She was going to end it here and now; she had a devilish smile etched on her face. "This was the perfect possession" she thought.
The force of her attack was so great that her opponent was compelled to close their eyes because of the pain. Now it would be all over in an instant. But the knife wouldn't reach its target. Dot's knife would be plunged into Amethyst's right arm, she used it to block the incoming attack even though it meant she would take damage. The purple-haired girl winced in pain from both the blade stuck in her arm and the second head injury she received in a single day. Still, through all of it, Amethyst forced one of her eyes open with her smile still on her face.
Dot said, "Wow, you're one tough cookie," Amethyst responded, chuckled as she raised her other arm, opposite to the one that swung the knife. When she did, something exited the sleeve of her leather jacket and entered the palm of her hand – it was another knife. Seeing this, Amethyst's eye filled with panic, and seeing that panic in her eye only made Dot smile more.
"So, what will you do about this one?" she said with the sinisterness of a cobra, nearly hissing each word that exited her mouth. Dot moved with the speed and grace of one as well. Amethyst had to think fast. She brought up one of her legs, then placed it on Dot's chest. With all the power she could muster, she pushed Dot away from her, luckily just in time because the second knife's trajectory was altered by the shove, only grazing her cheek.
The adrenaline in Amethyst's body was running overtime. She got to her feet and ran full speed towards Dot, thrusting her sword. Dot's movements were snake-like, so she easily dodged the attack, putting more distance between the two. But not before she got a sly little jab on Amethyst's head. Now standing, bleeding from her arm and nose, with a splitting headache, Amethyst huffed and puffed over and over again as she stared down Dot.
Amethyst forced a smile on her face as she spoke, "Two knives, huh? Isn't that like against the rules? I thought we were only allowed one rental weapon, not two." Dot smiled as she played with the knives in her hands. "Oh, my knives aren't rentals, sweetie. They're mine and mine alone."
"Is that right," Amethyst said as she slowly lowered herself down to the ground, not quickly falling to her knees – that would be too obvious. She wanted to seem gradual, planned, as if she were about to prepare an attack. But she wasn't preparing anything. Well, she wasn't preparing to attack; she was trying to rest. As Dot continued to talk on and on, Amethyst thought, 'That's right, just keep her talking. I just need some time to regain myself. Damn, my head… it feels like it's splitting in two, like there's an ice pick stabbing me in my brain.'
The surprise attack hurt, but it only did so much damage because of that attack she got from Goldie locks, referring to the blonde-haired young man she fought during phase two of the exam. As Amethyst was trying to center herself, her attention focused back on her opponent. When it did, she noticed a change. Dot was now holding numerous knives in both of her hands. While resting and allowing her to talk, Amethyst had unintentionally zoned out. She wasn't listening when Dot told her that she didn't need to register for a rental weapon because she brought her own. Dot told her that she was a skilled knife thrower and now that she would puncture her with her knives like a voodoo doll. But all these words fell on deaf ears as Amethyst rested. Now, her attention was back on her opponent, and the situation looked bad for her as Dot readied to initiate her attack.
In the observation room, the announcer, Moon D, couldn't help but smile as he sat back in his chair. "Okay, okay," he said. "Maybe this fight won't be so boring after all."