The transportation booth used this time was way more spacious than the one used in the preliminary round. Azure noticed that there were also members from other squads inside the transportation booth.
He walked around for a while, hoping to randomly find Sticks and gave up the idea when they reached their destination. Azure assumed that they were going to the chaos abyss realm once more.
He was wrong. He walked out of the teleportation booth to behold the dome like stadium he fought in during the auditions to get into the angel squad. It looked bigger though.
They were led inside, towards a waiting room which consisted of a middle aged woman sitting on a desk situated at the left most corner, and a waiting area. The middle aged man told them to meet the lady to generate their first round opponents and wait in the waiting area until it was time for their match.
Azure quickly went towards the desk and generated his opponent. It was an unfamiliar name, considering the fact that he wasn't familiar with up to ten members, he was bound to pick a lot of unfamiliar names.
"Damon Gilbert". Azure muttered.
"You're fighting Damon?" Tamra said from behind Azure. She was so close that Azure could feel her 'watermelons' brushing his back.
He didn't freak out this time, he had gotten fairly used to her popping up at unexpected places.
He nodded faintly in response to her question. "How come he didn't participate in the preliminary round?"
Azure was fairly sure that he didn't remember anyone named Damon Gilbert participating in the preliminary. Lucky for him, his 'tour guide' was standing right behind him. Literally, right behind him. The closeness was beginning to make him feel uncomfortable but he didn't voice out his discomfort.
"Ten stared members don't participate in the preliminary rounds, they automatically enter the finals". Tamra said matter-of-factly.
"Oh…". Azure said softly. He felt stupid not knowing that.
He was about to say something when he felt a palm hit the back of his head with so much force. He turned around, about to strike down and probably kill the motherfucker that hit him when he saw a familiar face.
"You moron!" Azure screamed at the perpetrator. "Where have you been?"
"Uh… this planet, last time I checked". Sticks responded cheekily. He looked over at Tamra and bowed his head slightly in an attempt to seem… cool. "So are you going to introduce us or what?" Sticks asked in a low voice.
Azure laughed inwardly when he heard Sticks' question. His eyes rapidly moved from Sticks then to Tamra. "This is Sticks". He gestured at Sticks while looking at Tamra. He turned his attention to Sticks then gestured at Tamra. "And this is Tamra". Those words were more than enough for the introduction, but for the fun of it Azure added. "… my girlfriend".
Sticks expression was a mixture of surprise, disbelief and respect. Tamra on the other hand had a faint blush creep up her cheeks, Azure and Sticks were oblivious to it
"Your girlfriend?" Sticks echoed. He simply couldn't believe what Azure was telling him. He couldn't bring himself to voice out his disbelief so he simply said. "Wow…"
Azure laughed at how his facial expression kept changing from one emotion to the other. It was only when he saw Tamra's face turning as red as a tomato that he told the truth. "I'm just kidding, she's like my wingman but a female".
Sticks sighed in relief. He looked at Tamra with so much feigned concern. "I was beginning to get scared for you". He said. "No woman should ever be punished so much as to be that idiots girlfriend".
Azure punched Sticks' shoulder in response. It wasn't a friendly punch, it was a very painful one that might've cracked Sticks bone. Sticks was 'too cool' however, to acknowledge the pain in his hand. He shot Azure an 'I will eviscerate you, you pompous wretch' look and walked away so as to go tend to his wound.
"He seems fun". Tamra said smiling. "Way more fun than you".
Azure rolled his eyes and checked his cars again. He was going up against someone who was way stronger than anyone he saw during the preliminary round. Although he was fairly confident that he should have the entire thing in the bag due to his new 'upgtade', he still felt a bit uneasy.
After a while, it was Azure's turn to fight. He was led towards the fighting platform by the middle aged woman.
It was the same as when he auditioned to be a member. A dome like stadium with a fighting ring elevated about one hundred meters into the air.
He took slight notice of the sitting arrangement though. A section to his left had been barricaded to serve as some sort of barrier. Sitting in the barricades area was the pope wearing a black cassock and a white zucchetto. There was a black cross sign on the zucchetto.
The pope was flanked on each side by two middle aged females wearing a nun's outfit. They held a cross shaped sword tightly on their hands, he didn't notice them at the audition, Azure guessed them to be his security. He smiled. If the pope was the most powerful person on the continent then why did he need bodyguards?
Behind the pope and his guards were the three squad generals, behind them Azure could only recognize Alex. He guessed that the rest of them were probably pastors.
He turned his attention in front of him and smirked when he saw Damon.
Damon was a youth that looked about twenty years of age. He had brown hair and brown eyes. He had a fair complexioned skin and a well chiseled jawline. His facial appearance was nothing special though. His physique was nothing also nothing special. He held a short sword in his hands and was sizing Azure up.
"Azure, Damon, are you ready?" The referee that Azure only noticed when he spoke, asked.
The two boys nodded simultaneously.
"You may begin!"