Kade stared at his arm and then at the girl with an absolutely dumbfounded expression.
"what are you doing??"
Kade tried to pull his arm down but found that the girl was much stronger than she looked. She smiled at him and spoke.
"Why I'm trying to get more opponents of course!"
Infuriated, Kade tore his hand away but found he had already been tallied with a glance at the man on stage, who had seemingly materialized a screen that was currently generating a bracket for everyone who had volunteered. Kade was the fourth fight down.
'Fine. If I'm going to fight, I will destroy this zebra, by any means necessary.' Kade distanced himself from the girl.
Everyone who didn't want to fight was taken out through the double doors and went somewhere to the left, probably for a tour or something. Everyone willing to fight, or those who were forced by a certain zebra-haired scoundrel, went to the right towards a large structure.
The structure was a soft bronze color on the outside, it was made up of what looked to be a square base and a normal-shaped building surrounding a large dome that protruded through the roof.
Stepping through a large arch led the group of 20 people into the building. Inside it was as one would imagine. The center was a lowered circular sand floor, and surrounding it were walls with fences on top for spectators to watch from behind said fences. There were ladders on each side of the dome, opposite each other.
The man who guided them there, the same guy who was on stage, clapped his hands and got everyone's attention.
"Alright! Here we are! The rules are as follows... do your best not to kill your opponent, and do your best not to die! Also, before you jump into the ring, grab and sign one of the waivers on that table over there." He gestured to a wooden table with a stack of papers and a few pens.
Kade sighed and walked over, signing a waiver before placing it back on the table in a separate pile, then he walked to the fence, he wanted to see at least one fight before he was going to face anybody.
Soon enough, the man called two people's names, and the guy who was having the one-sided conversation earlier jumped down, his eyes widening as the loud kid from the line landed opposite him, he sighed and spoke.
"Sir, Pertis was it? I can't fight a kid."
The Organizer chuckled and spoke.
"Well, I think he can fight you, and we have no time to waste. Begin!"
The kid surprisingly said nothing before sprinting towards the talker and holding his hand out. Suddenly, a clear spade-shaped abject was in his grasp. surprised, the young man raised his arms to defend himself. Lunging, Kid raised the weapon and smashed it down on Talker's arms, Kade gasped as the glass shovel shattered, raining sharp fragments down into Talker's face. He screamed, dropping his arms and revealing a bloody head, it almost looked like he was covered in red paint with how much he was bleeding so suddenly. He yelled. "I surrender! I surrender! Stop!"
'No time to waste indeed.'
The kid stepped back, looking surprised at how much damage he inflicted, and a little bit guilty, for obvious reasons. The Organizer spoke.
"Atreis wins the first bracket! Get that man to medical."
Two paramedics rushed out from God knows where and grabbed him, pulling him out of the ring and carrying him out of the building. Kade was speechless.
'That man... is he going to live..? That was horrible."
Kade was disturbed, seeing the zebra-haired girl jump down when she was called, the man addressed her as Juna or something, he saw the girl from the one-sided conversation stand opposite her before looking away, unwilling to watch anymore.
Soon enough, the dreaded event arrived. Kade heard his name get called and sighed, looking down at his trembling hands. Walking to the edge of the wall bordering the arena, he climbed down slowly, stepping onto the hard sand. A man around his height stood opposite him, with abnormally long arms.
He grinned maliciously at Kade, clearly waiting for the Organizer to start the match. His wish came true, and the man ran towards Kade, raising his left arm. Acting instinctually, Kade also raised his arms in front of his head, feeling a light blow hit his left arm, then another, and another, and another, all in the same spot.
Surprisingly, the hits had very little force behind them, and Kade found himself letting his arms down, now he was being hit in the face, but it was more of a nuisance, it was like being hit by a toddler. He looked at the man with wonder.
'What is his ability? This is nothing.'
Kade lifted his arm and swung back at the man, feeling it connect. His opponent staggered, grinned up at Kade, and stepped back.
"Good fight."
Then, he snapped his fingers, and Kade felt the bones in his left arm and face shatter instantly. He was blown backward and smashed into the wall behind him, teetering on the edge of consciousness, it felt like he had just been hit by a truck. He soon realized he couldn't even see anything, and there was a trickling feeling throughout his body.
'What...? I.. I have to..'
Weakly, Kade pushed his right hand into his pocket, pulling out the revolver. He primed it and held it to his chin before pulling the trigger.
Then, he was making eye contact with the long-armed man, the memory of the agony he just felt searing in his mind.
'I cannot let myself be hit.'
"Begin!"
Arms ran at Kade, doing the same thing he did last time. Instead of raising his arms to defend, Kade dashed forward, ducking down and landing a blow on the man's stomach, but before he could do anything else, he felt the man's hands slam down lightly on his back, then, he heard a snap. He was on the floor, he couldn't feel his legs, and he couldn't breathe.
Kade rolled onto his back, looking up at the man who had a pained but triumphant expression. Pulling out the revolver, he did what he had already done twice, and watched the man's face contort in surprise before everything was black again.
"Begin!"
'This sucks.'