"It's rare for all 10 of us to be called in, isn't it," a husky voice irritably spoke . Glowing red eyes narrowed at the sight of the other 9 beings within the room. Of course, all 10 beings weren't actually in this room, as it was the result of an astral projection.
"Rei, you're late again. Did it involve stopping Kikai from causing trouble?" A melodic female voice questioned. Rei's scowl became more vibrant at the sound of the voice. Despite being 'on the same side,' he had grudges against more than half of the members of this room. Hearing his daughter's name in this war room left a bad taste in his mouth... An elderly man's eerie cackle could be heard from one of the corners of the room, disrupting Rei Sett's thoughts of what response to give back.
The elderly man slammed his cane loudly into the ground, before he mumbled, "This is why I'm SUPER happy that I never had children." Rei and 5 of the others all gave silent death glares at the man. He simply ignored them and smiled, his golden dentures gleamed despite the dimly lit room, as if taunting the others.
"Talenhutt, nobody asked you, dearie. We know you hate everyone, including your fellow Afflictions in this room," the melodic voice from earlier replied back. Talenhutt frowned at the insinuation. He decided to click his tongue and turn away from the others. A loud laughter then quickly echoed throughout the room from the left side, and everyone turned in its direction. A blue-haired youth with his eyes seemingly closed held his sides as he continued the laughter.
"You guys are truly hilarious. Talking about trivial subjects such as children is irrelevant in our line of work. Unless we mean sacrificing them, of course. You guys are very, very good at doing that, hehehehe." Everyone flared up their auras, as if warning the youth to not continue talking. To their dismay, he continued. "Wow, you all took offense? You guys don't know how to take a joke at all. How the hell did such serious weaklings get hired by our master? Good thing I exist--"
"All of you shut up. Now." Everyone else did just that. The owner of the voice crunched on her lolipop and her lavender eyes locked on the blue hair youth. "I want to remind you all that we answer to Hooligan. Most of y'all are just coworkers, at best. Don't cross the line, especially you, Speedrun." The blue haired boy laughed again, but much more subdued. He knew that this was the one person he couldn't cross or beat up that was currently in the room.
"Empress, no, Layla... someday, I'll cut that pretty face of yours with these claws and fangs of mine," Speedrun growled. His smile grew more malicious and strained. He knew this wasn't the time or place, but he had no intention of rolling over for this woman.
"You can do that in your dreams. Oh wait, you'd lose even there, wouldn't you?" Layla sneered. Everyone else continued to look back and forth between Speedrun and Layla, waiting to see who would make the first strike.
To prevent Speedrun from any hostile actions, Hooligan finally walked into the room and said, "Come on, lads! I didn't call you all in to fight. Speedrun, you should know better since all 10 of my Dragons are here and not just you. Let's get started on current updates from the outside." Hooligan casually waved his pale hands in the air, as if to call down something for a landing. A screen then appeared before everyone, lighting up the entire room. Aside from Hooligan's silhouette, all 10 members could now see each other completely. Their focus was still on Hooligan more than the screen or each other. Half of the Dragons looked very serious and stern. The other 5 did not show any concern at the topic. Even so, Hooligan could tell they were still paying attention to him.
"Let's discuss a few key points. I obviously can't show you my fellow deities without their permission. Mentioning their names is a different story. That stickler for justice, Duanoshiki is dead. Supposedly, it's unknown for how he died. I think a certain higher-up is hiding the truth, but... I can't reveal you guys and gals to them yet." Hooligan paused to gauge his Dragons' reactions. Of them, only a single person decided to respond with words. He wasn't surprised in the slightest.
"Your guess is that this is related to the other deities who have all gone missing, right? I'll ask the question we are all thinking right now. What the hell does this have to do with us?" Hooligan's cat-like eyes narrowed at the speaker.
"Layla, my love. If you are all serious and business, how can you enjoy anything in life--"
"Somebody has to be in order to keep you from failing even more than you already have. Also, remember that I hate you." Everyone else averted their eyes. They expected a severe attack from Hooligan that they would all get swept up in like last time, but it never came. Hooligan instead chuckled.
"Okay, that's a fair point. I did trick you into serving me, but shouldn't you have let go of that grudge by now? I mean, that was eons ago." Layla crossed her arms and turned her back to Hooligan. This caused Hooligan to sigh. "I won't lie. I should be punishing you right now, if we are serious about being business only. I do have a great reason to be in a more jovial mood today. It is related to the news I just mentioned. If Duanoshiki is dead, that means his own universe will be auctioned. This will be my chance to get my hands on his treasure. Origin Pointe." Only Speedrun clapped. Everyone else groaned, and 3 of the other Dragons pleaded to Hooligan with their eyes to not push this subject further.
"Honestly, I feel like you are not going to win this auction. No offense, Lord Faelength," Rei interrupted, which drew everyone's attention to him. He waited to see if it was sage to proceed. Hooligan nodded with his smile fully intact and without any malice. "We lack the funds to participate, and you don't have a young enough person to have as a participant beyond Speedrun."
"If age wasn't a problem, I'd be more than enough by myself," Talenhutt snickered.
"As true as that would be, you're banned from participating due to killing a referee," the melodic voice chimed in.
"You also tried to kill me, for that matter," Rei groaned with a deadpan on his face.
"In my defense, you were trying to protect the enemy from me. Nobody else found that weird?" Talenhutt questioned.
"The only thing weird about it is that the referee didn't stop the match way earlier, in my opinion," Hooligan retorted.
"You bribed him to keep going on purpose, you idiot. All just to piss off Duanoshiki and Mimic," Layla countered. Both Talenhutt and Rei glared at Hooligan, who responded with a shrug. "I know you both might be mad since that was your last year to participate, but it doesn't change the fact that we do need a new youth to complete the duo. Ideally, it should be somebody who is willingly participating."
Speedrun giggled in response, then smugly taunted, "We would have somebody if you let us use your daughter. Or are you afraid of losing her like your wife in the tournament?" Everyone held their mouths agape as Hooligan quickly grabbed and tossed Speedrun into a wall. Speedrun was then disconnected from the astral plane.
"He went too far, even if I am in a good mood. Anybody else want to say something stupid about her?" Hooligan's playful, childish voice morphed into a deep, demonic snarl. This time, not even Layla spoke. Hooligan turned to Rei. "You know that I will honor the promise I made to you and Kate. Your daughter will never be selected for the tournament. Speaking of such... I did get a replacement." Hooligan clapped his hands excitedly as he spoke, and Rei started to get a bad feeling about this. "You met 'him,' right? Your thoughts, what are they? The trump card that will make this possible" Rei's expression turned pale, and not a single Dragon missed that reaction. "You are realizing now what it takes to beat the other deities, Rei. Before you ask, Lancaster is approving of this whole thing. Cross my heart and hope for eternal life," Hooligan dramatically bowed.
"Wait just a minute! You can't involve him in your schemes, Lord Faelength. He's not even remotely trained, and doesn't understand the real purpose of Flipside yet." Layla looked at Rei's expression. She understood all too well that Rei saw a younger, untainted version of themselves in whoever was being discussed. This might be her last chance to prevent Hooligan from ruining somebody else's life. It'd be nice if Layla wasn't alone in this way of thinking. Maybe her peers could actually be useful for once in a while? She casted a scrutinizing gaze upon the remaining 7 Dragons. The others avoided her gaze when she looked at them, which made their stances clear. Nobody else wanted to directly get involved.
I could get involved Layla, but only if I get to keep him, Layla heard in her head. She turned in the direction of the melodic voice, and saw the faintly visible licking of lips. The potential recruit must not go to that woman, of all people. Layla took a deep breath. This was going to be a long day. Once again, she has to carry the burden of leading the 10 Dragons to victory. Hooligan can have his cake, but he will owe her a favor. She then decided to let loose her frustrations.
"The real reason why I hate you is that you do things like this. How desperate are you to get your hands on that which doesn't belong to you? You already wagered away your 'original name' and became a laughingstock. Now you are betting on somebody who has no idea what they set themselves up for. Also..." Her lavender eyes locked on to Hooligan's, who knew he made a mistake. "I already know of your deal with Lancaster. He might live in Flipside, but he is not a Flipside resident officially. This child you refer to cannot participate in the Potato Wars."
Hooligan dropped to his knees and held his head.
"... Arrrgh! I cannot believe I forgot something so foolish! Good thing I have you here, Lovely Layla." He quickly leapt back in the air and laughed while he hovered. "There are plenty of ways to get around that. Like if somebody were willing to adopt him, if he got married, if he had a child born here and chose to participate in that child's place, et cetera, et cetera..." Layla truly wanted to bash her deity's face in right now. With the exception of Rei, who had yet to recover, all the other Dragons sensed this and set their arms in an X formation.
Damn it, Layla thought. She would end up dancing to Hooligan's tune to keep Flipside safe, as usual. Speedrun calling them cowards is starting to feel justified. "Hooligan. If I can have a moment of your time?" Hooligan stopped his fantasizing, and turned back to Layla. After she saw this, Layla reined in her frustrations, then blurted out, "Leave the education and training of this boy to me! Since not a single person wanted to address the elephant in the room about this plan!" Silence permeated the entire room only for a brief moment thereafter.
"Okay. I don't see why not," Hooligan nonchalantly muttered back. "Make sure he can get along with Speedrun, somehow too. It is a duo tournament, after all. I probably shouldn't have kicked Speedrun out before we discussed all of this, huh? I guess you'll have to talk to him later for me, right?" It was understandable to everyone when Layla immediately disconnected from the astral plane herself.