As the matches went on, Kichirou, Victoria, and Gray continued to win each of their matches, getting closer in between them. Eventually, though, the time when they'd need to be put against one another would come.
"The next match is… Gray Wish versus Victoria Alvarez!"
Kichirou was surprised by the sudden turn of events.
"Well, shit."
Gray looked over at Victoria and extended his hand out for a handshake.
"I've been looking forward to fighting you."
Victoria took his hand, firmly gripping Gray's hand.
"Your trickery won't work on me, Gray."
"We'll see about that."
The two both made their way down into the arena, taking their respective places at opposite corners from each other.
"Now that we've made it to the match directly before the finals, one last reminder that there are recovery pods on standby, should anybody be too badly injured, especially so since you'll be allowed to use lethal weaponry in these rounds. With that said… Begin!"
Victoria started the match by rushing forward at breakneck speed.
"I won't let you stay back away and do whatever you want! If we're to fight, It'll be on my terms!"
"Woah, woah! No need to get so up close and personal just yet darlin'!"
Just then, Gray reached into a pouch on his hip, pulling out three small balls and throwing them in Victoria's direction.
"Don't think I'll be hit by such an obvious attack!"
Victoria took the sword off her hip, slashing all 3 balls in a singular swift, sweeping motion.
Sheen!
"Gah-!"
As soon as she slashed away said balls, Victoria was hit head-on by a blinding light.
"Looks like my trickery really did work on you after all! Hahaha"
Gray took a singular shot at the blinded Victoria, but…
Ding!
The sound of clashing metal was heard throughout the stadium. A multitude of voices rang out all through the crowd.
"What was that!?"
Did she just…"
"Just like in the movies!"
When Kichirou finally finished recovering from the flashbang, he looked down to see a Victoria with closed eyes, her body leaned forward, her weight focused on one foot, and her sword pointed toward the sky. Somehow, she'd managed to sense the bullet flying at her in midair despite her closed eyes.
"Damn… I didn't know she had a thing for samurai. I guess it's kinda obvious, though, considering what she walks around with on her hip."
A surprised, yet excited look came across Gray's face.
"I guess it doesn't matter if you fall for my tricks if I can't follow up… well, whatever! Don't think just because you managed to deflect that, this is already over!"
Victoria finally opened her eyes.
"I wouldn't imagine it, Gray Wish!"
The fight continued on, with Gray firing suppressive shots at Victoria, all of which would be deflected by her katana. Suddenly, though, Gray attempted to fire a shot, but nothing happened.
"Crap!"
Gray had used all six bullets in the chambers of his gun, and Victoria managed to pick up on that.
'Now's my chance!'
In the blink of an eye, Victoria appeared right in front of Gray, less than a meter separating the two. Her sword was only a few inches away from Gray's side, and she asked the boy a simple question.
"Like you said in your first match, surrender before this has to get ugly, Gray."
Gray raised his hands in the air.
"Damn, damn, I yield, already! Now let's just put the sharp weapons away, shake hands, and go about our day?"
Victoria brought her sword away from Gray's side, putting it back into it's sheath. Suddenly, the light that normally leaves Victoria's eyes in combat suddenly returned.
"Sounds good to me!"
The referee walked his way over to Victoria, and raised her right hand into the air.
"The winner of this match is Victoria Alvarez!"
Kichirou made a quick nodding motion.
'Gray's strong, but Victoria's consistently proven herself to be on another level. Hell, even I'm shaking in my boots knowing I have to fight her soon.'
Soon enough, Gray and Victoria were both seated on Kichirou's left, chatting it up before the final match came around.
"The last match of the day, Kichirou Suzuki versus Victoria Alvarez!"
Kichirou and Victoria walked side-by-side down into the arena, and Victoria made a small comment.
"I don't exactly know what's up with you. You're not like me, but there's something there… I can't quite put my finger on it, but there's definitely something there you're hiding."
Kichirou didn't quite want to reveal it just yet, but he knew he'd need to eventually.
"Maybe you'll get to see that something during our match."
"Maybe. But even if I do, I'll never understand it."
As soon as Victoria said that, she and Kichirou walked to their respective corners in preparation for the fight to come. The speaker system finally came on, cutting through the cutting silence of the crowd.
"Kichirou Suzuki versus Victoria Alvarez. Let the match… Begin!"
The match started with neither party making a move at the other, just widely circling the other. This continued until, finally, Victoria grew impatient, lunging forward with her hand on her gripping the hilt of her sword.
'Shit… I don't have many ways to take on a blade.'
Kichirou had been practicing, mostly, hand-to-hand combat with Jane and Ramirez, so he was lacking in ways to take on a truly skilled user of the blade. Just as Kichirou was truly recognizing this, Victoria slashed at him.
"Hyaa!"
Kichirou was just barely able to move out of the way of the blow, throwing a kick at Victoria, which would easily be blocked Victoria with her left arm.
"Ngh-!"
Kichirou finally recognized what he'd felt both at that moment and back in Chen's department store. She was wearing that same suit that'd been revealed in her first match!
'What am I even supposed to do here… alright, I think it's time we put it to the test!'
Kichirou leaped backwards, before drawing the symbol, increasing his perception. Victoria caught onto the purple-blue energy coming out of his finger.
"What's that?"
Kichirou decided not to let anything on.
"What's what?"
"You playing coy isn't my favorite trait of yours, you know?"
"Well, you'll just have to get used to it then."
Tired of Kichirou's game, Victoria finally decided to end their conversation, lunging at Kichirou and holding her sword over her head, ready to slash downward at Kichirou's head.
'I'll have to try it!'
Fwoosh!
All of the power being put into Victoria's overhead slash was blocked by Kichirou's forearms, which hadn't been cut by her sword, somehow. The wind generated by the power caused both their hair and clothes to whip around in the wind.
'It worked!'
Kichirou had focused the energy in his eyes and gathered it into his arms where Victoria's sword would strike him, perplexing Victoria.
"How the hell?!"
Kichirou pushed her off of him with a quick motion, before gathering a ton of his energy into his fist and driving it into her stomach.
"Gah-!"
Victoria flew backward from the blow, crashing into the wall of the arena. Despite the harshness of the blow, Victoria stood right back up and got into a stance, however, something strange was happening. Part of the exo-skeleton-like suit she'd been wearing, had somehow managed to crawl up her neck and onto her face, covering a piece of her left eye.
"This isn't over just yet, Kichirou!"
Even faster than before, Victoria closed the distance between her and Kichirou, almost immediately overwhelming him.
'A speed increase was already trouble enough, but now she feels even stronger than before. She's even weaving kicks into her swordplay like it's nothing!'
Kichirou was barely able to keep up with the flurry of sword slashes and kicks, and he couldn't keep up a constant layer of defense with the energy, considering how much he'd invested into that singular punch.
'I can't go on for much longer…!'
Kichirou started to feel fatigued, causing him to become sloppy, until, eventually, it costed him.
Crunch!
"Uahh!"
Kichirou had lost his left arm to Victoria's sword, and only then did she realize what she'd done.
"I-I'm so sorry!"
The suit had begun to secede back down to her body only after she came to her senses. She turned to the proctor to ask the important question
"Is he gonna be okay?!"
The proctor looked over at her as though he'd seen this a million times.
"Don't worry, he'll be alright. This is what the recovery pods are for, after all. Few injuries can't be healed using them, so long as we have all the parts intact and present. Thankfully, yours was a clean cut, so we won't have any trouble re-attaching his severed arm."
Kichirou, who was whimpering in pain, felt relieved at the weird but good news.
"Ugh-"
Victoria went over to go get Kichirou's arm, and, in a moment of sheer absentmindedness, handed it to Kichirou, rather than the proper personnel.
"Here you go. Sorry about all this!"
"Eh-"
Kichirou, after getting a good look at his own severed arm, passed out from the combination of pain and shock. The referee, thinking this would be as good a moment as ever to announce the winner, shuffled over to Victoria and raised her hand in the air.
"T-The winner of our final match… is Victoria Alvarez!"
The crowd was completely silent.