Roxanne was the first fight of the day. She took some snacks out of the break room before she left, taking bites out of the overly salty beef jerky as she walked into the arena. She did some shadow boxing through the halls as she walked, punching a wall by accident. Hurt a bit, but she was pretty sure a professional would also be hurt if a wall took them off guard like that.
"Alright folks, it's the first fight of the day!" The announcer boomed, standing in a podium above everyone sitting on all sides in the massive stadium. She stepped foot into the clay arena, kicking the ground to test how sturdy it is. Pretty darn sturdy by her standards, so good job to the architects there.
"The first person, one third of the Miracle Scouts. A woman who stared danger, the Legion, and a broken leg down to stand before you and present herself as a top fighter!"
The enthusiastic host was drowned out by the cheers of the audience. Roxanne just hoped she wouldn't disappoint them too hard. The announcer continued once the cheering died down.
"The next player is one mysterious player. Coming from Vannana, this player surprised all of us by getting to this round with neither an elimination nor any visible assistants. But will she be able to run from this? Give a warm welcome to miss Louise Gordon!"
The small blonde girl stepped into the arena, wearing a blue t-shirt and black tracksuit bottoms. It just looked like they took someone off the streets and put them in the tournament as a joke. There wasn't as much cheering as with Roxanne, but it was still there. Her face appeared on the screen behind the door she walked out of, and she looked outright terrified to be there.
"Here's to a fair fight, everyone! Now, begin!"
With the announcers permission, Louise started running towards Roxanne. Roxanne began walking over to her, hoping to not strain her leg so early. When they approached, Louise tried kicking her like some kind of martial arts movie. Roxanne dodged out of the way without much issue, leaving her opponent as a heap on the ground. Roxanne placed her working foot on her head, pushing it down and leaving her on the ground. Louise rolled out from under her, getting herself off the ground and chopping Roxanne in the side before she got up. Roxanne stumbled for a little, before regaining her balance and managing to land a punch to Louise's stomach. She recoiled for a second, allowing Roxanne to follow up and kick her with her working leg. Roxanne knelt down, grabbed her leg, and tripped her. Louise fell to the ground, and Roxanne used her bad leg to stand on her chest, hoping the weight on the prosthetic would keep her from getting up.
"I…I…"
Louise started spluttering.
"Go on." Roxanne said, trying to look intimidating, furrowing her brow. "Continue."
"I give up." Louise coughed.
Roxanne eased her foot, and Louise got up and slowly hobbled her way back.
Somehow, she won the first round.
Roxanne stepped back into the halls, where Cassandra, Julian and Rodrick were waiting. Julian wore a calm look of approval, while Cassandra was standing still in a fit of awfully contained excitement. When Roxanne stepped forward towards the group, Cassandra leapt towards her for a hug, which ended up as more of a headlock as Roxanne tried to loosen her grip.
"Oh my god, you killed it!" She yelled out, accidentally tightening her grip on Roxanne further, leaving Julian to intervene.
"Anyway." Julian started. "I honestly don't know how you did it, but good job. So who's up next?"
"Nobody we know, anyway." Rodrick replied. "Carola Armati from Bestiamea against Cheng Tse from ShiShi."
"What do we know?" Julian asked.
"Carola's a kickboxer. Doesn't seem to be a wielder, but does seem to have exceptional reflexes, being able to take out six other combatants during the first stage by knocking them out of the arena. Cheng on the other hand, is responsible for eight direct knockouts. But people just started falling after coming into contact with him. People just started ignoring him after a while."
"So what, he's a wielder who kills you if you try touch him?" Julian asked.
"We don't know yet, but that's my current theory."
"I see." Julian nodded slowly. "Roxanne, I think you'll need to be the test subject here."
"The what?" Roxanne asked.
"If this guy has a method of knocking people out, then we'll need you to take the fall and report back to us." Rodrick nodded.
"Hey, she has a chance to win this!" Cassandra yelled out, pointing between Rodrick's eyes.
"All the better if she does." He said. "But I'm trying to be realistic about this. Now then, should be time for him to enter the ring."
Rodrick adjusted his hat and sat in the hotel lounge, where Cheng was just about to enter the arena. She sat next to him to observe the suspicious man, and his appearance wasn't doing any favours. The man wore tiny circular glasses with streaks of unkempt greasy black hair covering his body and most of his face. His outfit was a black linen longcoat with the sleeves torn off, replaced by dirty looking bandages. Carola entered next, a tanned young lady wearing a blue tank top and worn out white shorts, waving to the crowd. When the beginning of the round was announced, Carola ran up to Cheng while he didn't move at all. She leapt up and landed a solid kick to his face, causing him to stumble back. He flicked his wrist towards her, and she responded with another kick. Her neck snapped upwards. She stood in shock for a few seconds, only for Cheng to grab her by the face and slam her to the ground. He applied his worn out leather boot to her head and began applying pressure. When he removed it, she wasn't moving.
"And Cheng wins." The announcer said, his voice wavering at what he just witnessed. "He will be fighting Roxanne in round two. Next up, Cassandra Torres against Ben Goldwasser."