The Tournament Part Six: Semi Final Shockwave!
“HOT DOGS! GET YOUR HOT DOGS HERE!”
“We’ll take two!”
“Toppings? Sauces?”
“Uhh, yeah, give us one with…”
Ahh, the hot dog vendor! A staple of the Japanese Stadium ever since the 20th century! Sure, there were other options like yakisoba, takoyaki, or even a simple bento box, but for some reason, nothing hit the spot for Ryusei at a stadium quite like a hot dog.
“Bit early for lunch, isn’t it?” Akagi said, as Ryusei passed her one of the bread rolls.
“Most people have been up and about for hours at this point, you know!” retorted Ryusei, making a light barb at Akagi’s habit of not waking up before noon.
She didn’t justify that comment with a response, merely glowering as she started eating. Ryusei chuckled at her pouting face; she was cute when she was angry.
For a moment there was nothing but munching sounds; both chomping down on their lunches.
“So” Ryusei said, breaking the silence, “thoughts on the Quarter Finals?”
“Mmm.” Akagi swallowed her mouthful. “I was hoping that the dragon kid was going to go the distance.”
“Were you wanting to get this signed by the kid as he won?” Ryusei joked as he squeaked the Popsy Gigan’s nose.
“…maybe.” Akaigi mumbled as she pulled it closer.
Ryusei laughed. Not a cruel laugh, but a light, jovial one, as he put a hand on her shoulder in a gesture halfway between a slap and a pat.
“Aww, don’t feel too bad! Considering how big of a fan of yours this kid seems to be, I’m sure he’d be happy to sign it anyway!”
“mrrrggh.” Akagi groaned, feeling embarrassed. She didn’t want to continue this topic, she was a grown woman, for crying out loud!
“OK then, what did you think about those matches!”
“Mmm.” Ryusei contemplated the question. He took another big bite of his hot dog, chewing as he thought.
“Well, for a start, I don’t trust that Owari kid. A fight can get out of hand, any hero knows that, but beating on a girl after she’s clearly lost and the ref’s called it? That’s a bad, bad omen.”
“You think he should be punished further?”
“Well, I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets a month of detentions, but criminal proceedings? Nah. If they’ve got a waiver like U.A’s got, then all participating students will assume responsibility for their own injuries. Classic corpo covering.” Ryusei snorted, clearly not approving of the web of legalities that surrounded quirk education.
“Well” replied Akagi, as she finished off her hot dog, “The medical services here are top-notch, better than most hospitals from what I’ve heard. Wouldn’t be surprised if she’s already up and about.”
“That doesn’t excuse his actions.” Murmured Ryusei through his last mouthful of hotdog, as he tented his fingers in contemplation.
Within the medical center of the Shiketsu stadium…
“Alright, miss, how does that feel?” asked the Doctor, as he finished patching Minerva up.
The Korean girl sat up, massaging her jaw. Sandatsu had done a serious number on her. Over 25% of her bones were broken, her lungs were pierced, and she had lost her expensive smile! She was amazed that she was even able to sit up, much less that she felt fine! She flexed her fingers experimentally before running them across her face and chest.
“How do you do it, Mister Doctor?” she asked in wonder. Like all Koreans in the 22nd century, she had gotten quirk surgery. Nothing major like some, just some dental work really. But even though her family had paid top won for top work, The Doctor’s completely eclipsed it! Was this even the work of a quirk, she wondered?
“Please miss, just ‘The Doctor’.” The older gentleman smiled as he reassured her, “And it’s really quite elementary, but I shan’t bore you with the details. Now, how does everything feel? I put all the bones back in the right places? Humans do still have 206 bones, don’t you?” Minerva chuckled at his joke, the connotations going over her head.
“I think I’m OK. At least, nothing hurts, and my quirk still works.” She responded, sending a wave of low-voltage electricity over herself in confirmation.
“Excellent. Well, if you’re fine and dandy now, then you are free to go now. Judging by the way the rest of this tournament has gone, I’m sure there’ll be someone to take the bed in a moment.” He joked, as he smiled at her. She smiled back, making to get out of the bed, when the door burst open!
“Hey, ma’am, you can’t go in ther-” a security guard protested as he was intercepted by what appeared to be a bodyguard. A woman stormed in past them.
“Silence, you, or I’ll have your job! I am her mother, and I will – JIMIN!”
“Mom?”
Minerva was somewhat stunned to see her mother here, she wasn’t even sure that she had shown up to watch the tournament, much less that she would come all the way down here!
“My baby! Are you alright? Don’t worry, our lawyers are already working on it, we’ll take this place for everything they have, and as for that nasty, evil boy, he’ll-”
“I’m fine, mom! The Doctor here is a master, he’s healed me up like nothing happened. Besides, I signed a waiver.” Minerva protested as her mother scoured over her looking for injuries, though it was clear that her mother was not listening. As she confirmed that her precious baby was safe and sound, she turned to The Doctor, eyes lit with gratitude.
“Oh, thank you, you wonderful man! Name anything you want, anything, and I’ll see to it that it’s done!”
“It’s quite all right, miss. You don’t owe me anything.” The Doctor raised a hand and waved off the prospect.
“I insist! Our family is extremely wealthy, you know. You can’t even imagine what we can give you!”
“Ironic.” Muttered The Doctor under his breath. While she didn’t hear what he said, Minerva’s mother stood firm.
“I’m not leaving until you are rewarded for saving my daughter! I don’t care what it is or how long I wait!” She stated; hands on her hips in a power posture.
The Doctor sighed. “Very well, madam. Here’s my request; please pass that silicon rod.” He said, gesturing to a desk near to her.
Confused, Minerva’s mother picked up the translucent rod and walked over to The Doctor, handing over the item.
“Thank you.” He said, as he used it to stir his cup of tea. Minerva’s mother’s jaw dropped. “Minerva, you can leave with your mother now.”
Minerva smirked seeing her mom taken off guard before taking her hand and pulling her out of The Doctor’s office. The Doctor smiled and waved them goodbye, as he took a sip of his drink, and turned back to his work. He was going to have his work cut out for him. Hopefully it would at least be limited to just the students still left in the tournament.
Inside one of the Tournament’s waiting rooms…
[Goddammit Hifumi, I swear to God that if you teleport me one more ti–]
Bobby’s sentence was cut off, as Hifumi reached out, and they both vanished. This was the third time in as many minutes that Hifumi had done this. He opened his eyes, blinking back into the waiting room. He leant against a locker and sighed.
“I can’t keep doing this, Inigo. Sooner or later, Bobby’s got to have his say to Sandy.”
Inigo, with Gigan perched on his head, turned to Hifumi with puppy-dog eyes.
“I know Hifumi, but you saw how he is, and how Minnie was! If he gets to Sandy, he’s going to try and kill him!”
Maybe he’d deserve that. Hifumi thought to himself. He considered both Bobby and Sandatsu friends, but when it came down to it, Sandatsu had done both Minerva, and by extension Bobby, a grievous wrong. Majestic had called his victory, but in the grasp of some insanity, Sandatsu had pummeled her half to death! Hifumi shuddered at how he’d react if it had been Hailey. He couldn’t lay a smackdown like Bobby could, but he had been experimenting with partial teleportation…
“…i’m sorry.”
The small, quiet voice snapped Hifumi out of his thoughts. It was Sandy. He had been stationary since returning to the room from the arena, just sitting on the bench, without saying a word until now. He began to shake; slowly at first, but faster by the second, until Hifumi and Inigo were worried he was having a seizure. Sandy began to hyperventilate, hands going up to his head and knees up to his body, as he rocked backward and forward.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I – I – I – I don’t know what – what – what happened to – to – to me, I don’t know, I don’t know…”
Sandatsu kept stuttering and rambling. He began to weep. He didn’t understand what had come over him. He didn’t know why he did what he did. He just knew that he felt awful.
Seeing Sandatsu’s despair, Gigan wrapped himself around his shaking body like a blanket, trying to provide comfort. Inigo’s brow furrowed in worry. He had never seen Sandatsu like this before. He didn’t know what to say to him. Anything that he said could make the situation worse, and everyone knew he had a habit of sticking his foot in his mouth.
“Sandy, I –”
Inigo was cut off by the far-off sound off a raving American rapidly approaching. There was no mistaking those stomps or that voice.
[I WARNED YOU, HIFUMI! DON’T YOU SAY THAT I DIDN’T WARN YOU!]
A moment later, Bobby threw open the door, eyes ablaze. Hifumi and Inigo snapped around to his direction. Sandatsu didn’t react; he simply kept rocking backward and forward.
Bobby began to walk toward Sandatsu, looking like a predator about to pounce. Inigo stood up, standing in his way, while Hifumi full-on body-blocked Bobby from barrelling in. the two shielded Sandatsu from Bobby, irking the tall American.
“Don’t stare at me like I’m the bad guy here! You all saw what he did!” Bobby growled as he continued march forward. It was looking rather dicey, until the door flew open again!
“Samson-san! You’re up in one minute! Stop running around and get to the arena!” barked an assistant with a quirk that gave him inordinately large ears. This interruption broke Bobby out of his wrathful state of mind, and turning back to Sandatsu before leaving, he said “This isn’t over, Sandy! When I get back, you’d better hope that Minnie is back on her feet!”.
With that, Bobby followed the assistant to the arena.
In a changing room on the opposite side of the stadium…
“…and remember, dear, no matter what happens, we’re all so proud of you!”
“Thanks mom, you should probably get back to your seat now, before dad gets concerned!”
“Sure sweetie, love you!”
“Love you too!”
With that, Orochi hung up, sighing and smiling to herself. Her dad adamantly refused to see or even contact her while the tournament was ongoing, believing it to be bad luck. But her mom was not bound by such superstition. She had snuck off to the ladies’ room in order to give Orochi a pep-call, otherwise her dad would never have allowed it.
“Geez, imagine believing such nonsense.” She said to herself, as she did some last-minute stretching. Her quirk made many think that such a thing would be superfluous, but she had enough experience to know that, in order to make the most of her reserves of energy, minimizing wasteful regenerative energy on a torn muscle was inexcusable. She had several minutes to spare before she was up, so this was a good use of her time. Once she felt limber enough, she decided to get ahead of the game, and made her way to the entrance to the arena.
“WEEEEEEELLLL-COME BACK EVERYONE! Weren’t the Quarterfinals incredible? Well get ready, because we’re into the endgame now! With just two rounds to go, we have a veritable shortlist of the future top heroes here, but who will get to the tippy top of that list? We have the two students who will be fighting for the last position in the final, but who will win between the power of the sun and the power of the fantastical? Both have fought hard to get here, but only one will progress, so let’s find out who it’ll be! Twenty-Ninth Round! Atsushi Orochi VERSUS Samson Bobby!”
“TWENTY-NINTH ROUND! HAJIME!” shouted Majestic, seeming to be much more uptight compared to previous matches.
Bobby stormed forward like he was a freight train! He had a hell of a lot of pent up emotions right now, and a regenerating opponent like Orochi, well, she looked like a perfect punching bag. Hands raised in front of him, he charged toward her, looking for the quick win. It wouldn’t matter how quickly she could regenerate, if he punched her straight out of the arena!
Orochi was expecting this. She wasn’t dense on the matters of the heart, and after seeing what Sandatsu did in his match, she predicted that Bobby would be apoplectic and be looking for a way to express himself. She went into a stance, lowering her center of gravity, and prepared herself. Bobby seemed to tower over her, a blazing tower of sun-wreathed muscle, with a fist that blocked out the sun descending towards her!
The Narrator spoke as quickly as he could to get everything said before the clash. “Bobby’s out of the gates and looking to end this before it begins! But Orochi hasn’t moved off her starting line! She’s demonstrated too much skill this tournament to have frozen up, so she must be readying to dodge!”
As The Narrator finished that sentence, Bobby’s fist was inches from Orochi, prompting her to make her move. With a practiced fluidity, she dove under the oncoming strike, flanking around Bobby, and moving out of range of his other fist. Not that this slowed Bobby down; he spun around, using the momentum of the spin to accelerate his attack. Orochi was barely able to get out of its path, and even then, the sheer force of the displaced air still knocked her back!
Orochi had but an instant to dodge his follow up. Fortunately, she had an advantage, or rather three! As she leapt out of the way of a vicious uppercut, her tails seemed to wave around erratically, in a seemingly random manner. But, for those in the audience with tails of their own, they recognized the style and movements for what they were.
Bobby’s fury at Sandatsu was beginning to wane. Not because he had forgiven or forgotten, of course, but that his mind was focusing on the fight in front of him. Orochi was faster than he had expected, dodging his attacks with surprising ease, and if he didn’t lock in then he would be worn down. As Orochi dodged again, he let her back off, letting her get a breather in exchange for him getting a moment to clear his head.
He’s slowing down! Orochi thought smugly to herself. She knew Bobby’s strength was dependent upon sunlight, and following his fight with Yui, noon had passed. What that meant was that with each passing second, Bobby’s power was decreasing, as the sunlight he absorbed was less than the stockpiled power lost owing to time. Meanwhile, her quirk gave her such a level of regeneration that she would be able to withstand even catastrophic damage. The longer this match lasted, the more it would go in her favor, so all she had to do was –
Her internal monologue was cut off by Bobby’s fist crashing into her face. She felt her mandible shatter and the muscles explode from the force. Her head went flying back and her body followed it through the air.
Bobby exhaled. He was on one leg, his hips twisted, to allow all his power to be put into his strike. He was not thinking about Minnie. He wasn’t thinking about Sandy. He was hardly thinking. His mind was set squarely on the fight in front of him.
Orochi was already recovering from the blow even before she landed. Her quirk was powerful, after all, worthy of the Atsushi name. Her tails flicked around, orientating themselves in preparation, as she landed back on the ground and twisted to her feet. As soon as she did, she had to raise her hands in a block. Bobby was already on top of her and he wasn’t going to let up any time soon.
“Looks like Bobby’s got the upper hand right now!” excitedly interjected The Narrator. “Orochi managed to dodge the first strikes, but once her guard was broken, she was forced onto the back foot! Will she be able to turn the tables?”
Bobby was relentless! Orochi had to use all her speed just to evade his jabs! With her muscles regenerating the damage they received from her pushing them to peak performance, she was able to keep up with Bobby, however dodging wouldn’t win her the match! Her guard was up, arms defending her head, while her tails were doing what they could to cover her torso. They lashed out, nipping at Bobby’s hands, but with their current length they couldn’t block and attack him. They vented their frustration by hissing as loudly as they could, flecks of spittle flicking from their fangs.
Bobby saw Orochi defend but didn’t let up. His mind was in the zone now; each blow led into the next, flowing like a river. He pivoted on his feet, twisting his hips, in a beautiful display of skill and power. He could tell that Orochi was taking damage from each of his attacks, the expression on those goofy little tail guys of her was proof of that. The question really was; would he be able to overwhelm her regen with his boxing, or would he have to push her out of bounds. the humor of the fact that, were they actually boxing, the ropes would prevent such a strategy barely crossed his mind. Instead, much like his buddy Shinkan, he kept powering forward like a locomotive.
Keep defending! Just wait for an opening – there!
As soon as Orochi saw Bobby launch this left hook, she knew this was her chance. Bobby wasn’t the only one with martial arts training. Rolling under the blow, she jumped forward. Pivoting around using his shoulder, she wrapped her arm around his neck in a deadly rear naked choke!
Thought so! Orochi bragged to herself. Bobby was a trained boxer, and if they were fighting by those rules then this type of grappling would not be permissible, but they weren’t playing by those rules! Orochi wrapped her arm around Bobby’s neck as quickly as she could, before grabbing her other bicep, and tucking that hand under the arm she was choking him with! This technique, an evolution of the standard choke, made it much harder for him to attempt to simply pull her arm off of him!
“Look at that, folks! Orochi managed to take advantage of how Bobby fights, and use her own style of martial arts against it! Can Bobby break out before he passes out?!” cried The Narrator!
Not enough, heads, do your thing! Orochi thought. Right now, her bare skin was pressed against Bobby’s neck, allowing the toxin that her skin excreted to seep into his body. But alone, that wouldn’t be enough to secure the win. She needed to poison him more, and fortunately, she had three little helpers!
While Bobby wasn’t filled with enough microplastics to be a satisfying target for the hydra heads, they bit down on him all the same. The three heads bit down on his back, shoulder, and thigh respectively, injecting a huge amount of venom into the American! Bobby wasn’t like Noah or Inigo; he was tough enough that he could withstand her full blast without dying. Hopefully, he’d just be laid out for a few days recovering.
“AARGH!” Bobby cried in pain! He’d been on the receiving end of Orochi’s venom before in various classes, but not like this! It felt like acid had been injected into him! The pain made his eyes water and his body spasm, but he wasn’t done yet! He’d taken the hardest hits from the strongest of his classmates and kept standing, a little injection wasn’t going to be his end! Forcing his body to move, he grabbed hold of Orochi’s arms, jumped into the air, and slammed down on his back!
Bobby is a big guy. Standing at 1.91m and weighing over 230 pounds, to have him crashing down atop was extremely painful for Orochi. Even with all her toughness and regeneration, for the briefest moment, everything went black. When she woke, she was sliding across the arena, heading out of bounds!
As soon as Bobby had felt the wind get knocked out of her, he had rolled and thrown Orochi as hard as he could. He gasped for air, not because Orochi was strong enough to choke him out, but because there was a heaviness in his lungs. His strength was flowing out of him. The venom was causing his blood to coagulate in his veins, straining even his mighty heart to pump it around his body.
Gritting her teeth, she slammed down her hands, along with her tails. The force ripped up the ground, leaving tracks craved into the stone, but it was enough. Orochi came to a stop 5 meters from the edge, and even though her hands were torn apart, her regeneration was already solving that. Such surface level injuries were unimportant. What mattered was the state of Bobby.
Bobby couldn’t stand. He could feel Orochi’s venom making his muscles sluggish, almost bloated with his own useless blood, hindering his movements. His quirk’s power was dripping away by the moment, as the peak of the day’s sunlight passed further into the past, diminishing his ability to resist the damage being done to his insides. He struggled to his feet, but even as he did, he coughed up blood and fell back down to a knee.
“It seems we’ve reached the climax of this battle! Bobby doesn’t look like he can fight for much longer; he’s struggling to stand and hacking up blood! Orochi need only walk up to him and pin him or toss him out of bounds to win!” announced The Narrator.
Orochi smiled as she got to her feet. Her plan had worked. Bobby was tough to be sure, but enough venom and even he ended up on his knees. She started walking towards him. He was still struggling, Majestic had yet to start counting him out, and he could still potentially power through his current state.
“This was a good fight, Bobby. You’re a heck of a lot stronger than my previous opponents, but this is the end. The venom running through your veins shouldn’t kill you, but you won’t be moving for a while, and now that the minute of noon is past, you’re done.” Orochi said, half to herself and half to Bobby, as she approached him. Bobby’s head was lolled down, his eyes not visible to her. She was just a few meters from him, planning to either knock him out or drag him out, when a sudden blow knocked the wind out of her!
“Wha- what?” Was all she could get out. She was more shocked than anything. The blow hadn’t been done by Bobby’s fist, but the sheer air from him punching in her direction! He looked up at her, suddenly glowing – no, blazing! – with light! It shone out of every pore, but nowhere more than his eyes. They were staring at her with fiery determination and overwhelming incandescence!
“Your venom incapacitated me? Who decided that? One minute is my limit? Who decided that?”
Inside Bobby’s body, each and every cell was beginning to glow with the light of the sun. Noon had past, and with it the peak of his daily power intake, but that was not his full peak. That peak was coming now. All the energy that he had stored over the last hour was being released. Damaged cells began to force themselves back into position, and within his blood vessels, the enzymes that made up Orochi’s venom were warped into uselessness and made inert.
Orochi was stunned! Her eyes widened as Bobby seemed to grow before her, the air around him seeming to be swallowed by his aura. His muscles were certainly growing; the seams in his shirt and pants began to stretch and give out under their swelling mass! While the lower half thankfully remained covered, Bobby was again without a shirt, the semi-nudity only highlighting how much power he was forcing through his body!
“I am the one who decides.”
Orochi’s regeneration finished healing any damage she took from his surprise strike, and leaping to her feet, Orochi prepared to attack Bobby one last time.
He’s burning through all the energy he has left! Even like this, he’s still going to be damaged, so all I have to do is push him over the edge! She thought to herself, readying her tails to bite as she lunged toward him.
“Divine Blow: Samson!”
Bobby’s fist was striking Orochi before she even realized she was hit. The force behind it was unlike anything she had yet faced! It was like being struck by a volcano! As his arm reached full extension, Orochi continued flying backward, slamming into the wall that surrounded the out of bounds area!
“SAMSON WINS!” Roared Majestic, as he looked over at the medics making sure that Orochi did not have any injuries beyond her pride.
Bobby smiled; an arrogant grin that conveyed just how invincible he felt at this moment. The moment passed, and Bobby fell back, shrinking as he did so. He landed on his back, sucking in air, exhausted, but victorious!
Walking through the corridors of the VIP area…
“PLEASE!”
“No.”
“PLEASE!”
This had been going on for the last ten minutes. Kaylee was bowing in front of Nishima in the classic sign of Japanese respect, but owing to their height difference, her head was still above the principal’s. Kaylee was pleading, begging, for Principal Nishima to allow her to face her classmate Sandatsu. Needless to say, it was not going well.
“Uurgh, no! No, Miss Suzuki, I shall not reverse Mr Koibito’s decision!”
“Please, Miss Principal! I don’t want people watching to go “Oh! She just got lucky! She didn’t earn her position! Bloo bloo bloo!”” As Kaylee spoke the final part, she put on a mocking tone while using her hands as though she had hand puppets, with her thumbs working to show their speech.
Karaburan rolled her eyes at the juvenile display. “Look, Miss Suzuki, the decision is already made. Besides, I sincerely doubt that anyone is actually making such statements.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Principal!” Kaylee exclaimed, as she pulled out her phone. Holding it up, she showed the screen to Nishima, scrolling through various screenshots. The comments stuck out.
“Great, just what I want to see! Half the tourney was pointless!”
“Roastie learned that equal rights means equal fights, and we’re supposed to support his disqualification?!”
“#bringbacksandatsu"
">Disqualified competitor mid tourney"
">just so happens to favor a certain student"
">The Principal is a Christmas cake"
"Hmm. I’m not saying that the principal is in an underage relationship with this gaijin, but…”
“WHAT?!”
Nishimi’s eyes bulged in fury. Kaylee, head still bowed as to ensure the Principal could not see her face, smirked.
It hadn’t been her idea, that honor belonged to Chris. She had gone to him to think of a way to get Nishima to allow her to fight Sandatsu. Chris, not currently the biggest fan of Sandy following his own loss, had come up with this devious plan. There were always some imbeciles online, those who didn’t actually care about whatever the topic was, who just wanted to post nonsense to annoy people.
Of course, Nishima was not the type to be so chronically online to be aware of such lowlifes. To her, these were potential viewers, and representatives of a wanted demographic! If nothing else, that last comment that insinuated such obscenities HAD to be dealt with.
“Wait here, Suzuki.” Nishima said as she took herself into a side-room, pulling her phone out with her one hand, before making a call. Kaylee didn’t say a word as her principal was on the phone, merely using her prodigious height to peek in through the door’s window, seeing Nishima pace around. She couldn’t hear what she was saying; she just had to wait.
A minute later, Nishima exited.
“You’ve got your fight, Miss Suzuki. Get down there and get ready.”
“YEESSSS! Thank you, principal!” Kaylee pumped her fist in elation, before turning to run off to her desired match.
“HOLD IT.”
Kaylee froze and turned to face the Principal. Nishima’s face was stony, resolute, showing that she was not to be trifled with. Despite being well over a foot taller than the older woman, Kaylee felt a shiver run down her spine at the sight.
“I have no desire to see Owari on the podium. If you do not aid in this, then you will share in his punishment. Do I make myself clear?”
“Uh, Y-Yeah, I mean, Yes, ma’am.” Stammered Kaylee.
“Good. Now, get going, and don’t make me regret my decision.”
Kaylee didn’t need to be told twice. The giant student took off running.
A few minutes earlier, in the same changing room as earlier…
“Get out.”
Inigo and Hifumi’s heads snapped round at the sudden voice. It was a woman’s voice, one that had forgotten what disobedience or insubordination sounded like. Sandatsu’s eyes widened in dread. Hifumi jumped up, positioning himself between this woman and the other boys, but Inigo was, of course, the first to speak.
“Huh? Who’re-”
He was cut off by sudden pain, as Sandatsu grabbed his wrist tight enough to turn his hand white.
“Argh! Sandy, wh-”
Again, Inigo was cut off, this time by the look on Sandatsu’s face. His expression was one of terror, that of a dog fearing its master. He didn’t say a word; he simply, and frantically, shook his head. Hifumi and Inigo turned back to the woman, really taking in her appearance for the first time. For a start, she was gigantic! She must have been taller than Kaylee, even with the heels the stranger had on.
Hifumi and Inigo slowly turned back to the woman, craning their necks up to see her face. As soon as they were both looking at her, she spoke again, in that crisp, authoritative tone.
“I do not repeat myself.”
“It’s OK. Go.” This time it came from Sandatsu. Hifumi and Inigo turned to face him, then turned to face each other. The woman did look like him, maybe a family member?
“We’ll…be outside.” Murmured Hifumi, as he and Inigo shuffled past the woman, into the corridor. As soon as they were out, she slammed the door shut behind them.
“Man, who is that woman?” grumbled Hifumi.
“No idea, but how about we do a little ‘reconnaissance’?” smirked Inigo, as he gestured for Gigan to slip in under the door. The little green dragon gave a thumbs up, but as soon as he flattened himself to slide through the crack, he immediately snapped back, nursing a nasty, cartoonish bump on his head!
“EEE!” squeaked Gigan, his little paws rubbing the red lump on his green scales.
“HEY!” shouted Inigo in indignation. He went to open the door, only to find that it had already been opened. Looking up, he saw the woman’s face, her eyes blazing and shooting daggers through him!
“I.. uhh…” was all he got out before the door slammed shut again, this time followed with a click.
“Now what?” asked Hifumi.
“I… guess we wait?” Inigo responded.
Inside, an angry mother tore her son a new one. Shihai was livid, but not for the reasons a normal mother would be.
“Do you understand just how much data we could have gotten from more matches, particularly against the stronger students? Not to mention the disaster that reporting this will be! To explain how a project could go off the rails like this, I’ll be lucky if the department doesn’t get its budget cut!”
Sandatsu was in an emotional typhoon; caught between the cold dread of a child disappointing their mother, and the white-hot rage of not even being considered a human, just a “project”. He was fading in and out of paying attention. Did the words really even matter? He was in the shit either way, both at Shiketsu as well as with his mother, and would be lucky if he didn’t end up at whatever disposal facility that government black projects ended up at.
Shihai inhaled. She was ranting, but the screw-up that she now had to deal with, who could blame her? She readied herself to continue chewing Sandatsu out, when there was a knock at the door.
Who fucking dares? Shihai thought to herself. She may not have any official authority here, but she was so used to being in charge, that this intrusion was basically offensive.
“Uh, Owari Sandatsu? Are you still in there?”
Shihai almost stamped over to the door in her indignation, but by the time she opened it, she had regained her composure.
The assistant was taken aback seeing Shihai be the one to open the door but kept his composure.
“Uhh, is Sandatsu still here? Last location he was at was-”
“He is here.” Shihai said, opening the door more so that this lackey could see. “What is it?”
“Well, um, word’s come down. His next match has been allowed. He’s up in 5.”
In an instant, the mask that passed as Shihai’s face changed from implacable to jubilant.
“Oh! Wonderful! Sandatsu, you heard that? Now, get up and get ready! Thank you for letting us know!”
With that, she closed the door, and turned to face Sandatsu.
“It seems you got a stroke of luck. Either way now, two more matches worth of data will be collected. Now get up and get ready.”
Sandatsu’s eyes darted between his mother and the door, back and forth, back and forth.
What…What just happened? He thought to himself.
In The Narrator’s box:
“Alright everyone, now we’ve seen who will face our established automatic finalist, we can – wait, hold on, what? My word! Ladies and Gentlemen, I have a surprise announcement! By request of the participant Suzuki, Principal Nishima has overruled the disqualification of participant Owari! It looks like there will be a second Semi-Final match after all! This is sure to be one incredible battle!”
As The Narrator spoke, the two combatants entered into the stadium’s grounds. Kaylee was floating along, almost bouncing in mid-air, her excitement palpable to all watching. The audience around her entrance cheered, although some were talking amongst themselves, querying why she would pass on an automatic advancement to the final.
Sandatsu, on the other side of the arena, did not receive such a warm welcome. Many booed as he entered, some even throwing trash at him, though those ones were swiftly caught and removed by security. He looked like a dead man walking; his jaw was slack, the whites of his eyes below the irises were visible, and his shoulders were slumped forward. He looked like a wreck, but he was still going to fight. His mother demanded it, and like every other time in his life, he obeyed.
“Now, where are we? Ah, yes! Thirtieth Round! Owari Sandatsu VERSUS Suzuki Kaylee!”
Majestic, behind his sunglasses, glared absolute daggers at Sandatsu. He was not happy to see this stain back in his arena. But he still had a role to play. “THIRTIETH ROUND! HAJIME!”
No sooner than Majestic had said hajime, Kaylee roared a kiai in both excitement and fighting spirit, as she blasted off her start line with an explosion of Ki! It looked like she was about to crash into Sandatsu, when at the last second, she juked to the right and pivoted! She slammed her foot down on the arena, cracking the tiles from the force, as she darted behind her opponent’s back. Spinning to add momentum, the back of her right hand slammed into Sandatsu’s left cheek.
Sandatsu was largely out of it, being trapped in his own thoughts. What’s going on? Why did she want to fight me? Why did I hurt Minnie? Why did my mom do this to me? This jumbled mix of thoughts were suddenly interrupted, as he found himself suddenly flying through the air. There was no pain, not yet, not until his face slammed down on the cold hard tiles of the arena. He skidded for several feet, leaving a smear of blood behind him from where Kaylee hit him and where he hit the ground.
Kaylee didn’t stop her assault. The rules of the tournament stated that matches didn’t stop until one participant was either knocked out – either of the arena or consciousness – or if Majestic called time. He was watching with an implacable expression, his arms crossed, and seemed to be just fine with how the match was progressing. After a quick confirmation glance, Kaylee charged her Ki in her left hand and threw the green sphere in an arc. It careened toward the downed student, still face-down and unresponsive, exploding in an emerald sphere!
“What a start! It seems young Kaylee saw the last match of Sandatsu and wanted to get a piece of that action! With how he’s performed throughout this tournament, I doubt this is anywhere near enough to take him out, but let’s see how easy it is for him to get up!”
Sandatsu was so out of it, that he barely felt the blast, at least until he slammed back down on the ground. The force of the blast had pushed him down into the ground hard enough to make him bounce back up. The pain flooded his system, locking his muscles in a spasm that prevented him from even screaming, until the power of Recovery kicked in and restored his vitality. It was never a pleasant experience; it somehow felt dirty, like the stain of the original quirk wielder never quite left it. As his awareness returned, he was confused. That was impossible. “M-Mom?”
“ONE!”
Majestic began counting towards the end of the match. Kaylee was furious! Sandatsu was supposed to be a better fight than… this!
“TWO!”
Her anger was overflowing! She thought about the tournament, how excited she had been, how much she was looking forward to it. Then she saw the bracket. The first match was free. The second all but free, once she knew how Edith’s quirk worked, meaning she wasn’t going to get a good fight until the third round. She had been enjoying the fight against Jugo, but then Majestic had stolen it from her by calling it early! She had had to watch her classmates get great fights; Bobby at the peak of noon, Chris with his dual quirks, Shinkan on top quality coal, Orochi maxing out her regeneration. There were loads of her fellow students that were fantastic to fight, but as the matches had progressed, her chances of facing any of the best fighters of Class 1-D got lower and lower. Now, with Sandatsu seeming to have given up and Bobby having burned through all of his stored energy, it looked like she wouldn’t get a single good fight!
“THREE!”
“Uh-oh, this doesn’t look good for Sandatsu! He just doesn’t seem to have any fight in him! Will he get up in time, or will Kaylee get an easy win?” queried The Narrator.
It’s not fair! Kaylee thought as her hands balled into fists and her eyes squeezed shut.
“FOUR!”
“GET UP SANDATSU!”
She couldn’t take it anymore! This was perhaps her only chance to have a real fight today, the only chance for her strength to be really tested, and damn it she wanted to fight! Her shout, even though it was at the top of her lungs, could not be heard by the crowd over their own roars and jeers. Only Sandy and Majestic heard Kaylee’s cry.
Sandatsu was lying face-down on the cold hard tiles of the arena. He was on the far side of the arena from Majestic, with Kaylee in between the two. He could hear the boos and taunts of the crowd, but beyond that, he heard a command. In his vulnerable, deteriorating mind, commands were one of the few strings holding things together. He opened his eyes, barely able to see straight. He could see glowing orbs in the distance, but in front of them –backlit and cast into silhouette – was the outline of a gigantic woman.
For his entire life, Sandatsu had been conditioned in an almost Pavlovian manner to respond to his mother’s commands, and with the combination of his mental degradation and current stress, that programming took control. All Sandatsu saw was someone similar enough in stature and physique to Shihai, giving him a command, that the programming responded.
“FIVE!”
Sandatsu groaned in pain as he forced himself from his prone position, rolling up to his hands and knees, coughing up spittle with the effort. He looked around, seeing the arena for what seemed to be the first time, realizing that his mother wasn’t in fact present giving him orders. His brain kicked in, recovering from the impact of Kaylee’s fist, as he processed his situation.
Come on, come on, come on! Kaylee thought as she stared at Sandatsu. Seeing him even trying to get to his feet was giving her hope. Her eyes went wide with anticipation, her fists clenched, and she glanced at Majestic, just waiting for him to give her the go-ahead.
SIX!
Sandatsu knew he had no choice but to get up, lest his mother become furious with him, or at least more furious than she already was. He was already sleeping in the forest; he didn’t need her to punish him further. With a deep breath, he got to his feet, staring up at his opponent, and the daggers glaring at him from the eyes of Majestic.
“It seems that young Suzuki won’t have such an easy fight after all! Sandatsu has gotten back to his feet! He looks wobbly, but he’s still in it, and we know how powerful he can be! Can he mount a comeback? Let’s see!” exclaimed The Narrator.
Kaylee was ecstatic to see Sandatsu getting back up, but as she stared gleefully at him, she saw his eyes. Gone was the fog and confusion that had clouded them, now he just looked…sad. Like he was hollow. That wasn’t good. A Sandatsu that would roll over and lose, and a Sandatsu that just stood there and took a beating, were functionally the same.
Right. She thought. She had an idea. She wasn’t the smartest girl, in fact by grades she was close to the bottom, but she was capable of insight, especially in the realm of combat.
“ALL GOOD, CONTINUE!”
Sandatsu had no reaction; he simply continued to look like a soaked puppy. Kaylee smiled – a kinder smile than her previous battle-grin – and started to walk towards him.
“Is this some kind of bluff? What’s her strategy here?”
Sandatsu still didn’t react, even as Kaylee came with just a few feet of him. She looked down at him, then in a flash, she grabbed him by the arms and took off into the sky!
“What?! Is she planning to do? Powerdrive him into the arena as she did last match? Well, it may be repetitive, but I guess its efficacy can’t be doubted!” The Narrator pondered aloud.
High up in the air
Sandatsu’s melancholy was rudely interrupted by his face being hurled through a cloud, the frigid water vapor shocking his system, snapping him out of his self-loathing. He looked up, seeing Kaylee staring back at him, her own body protected by an umbrella of Ki.
“What’s the matter with you?”
Her tone was surprisingly neutral. She wasn’t yelling like Bobby, or sympathetic like Inigo. Hell, her question came across more rhetorical than anything; like she didn’t expect an answer but was just stating a fact.
“You really hurt Minerva. She’s your mate’s mate, and you beat her half to death.”
Sandatsu felt his face burn from shame and embarrassment. To have his deed thrown back in his face, especially in such a blasé manner, somehow made it worse. The lack of emotion highlighted the deed.
Kaylee picked up on Sandatsu’s guilt, not that it was hard to do.
“Hey, it’s not like I like her or any of their clique. No skin off my nose, now that The Doctor’s healed her up. But if you’re just going to collapse into a pile of jelly, well, that becomes my problem.”
She stopped their ascent. They were far above the ground, with the arena looking like a model beneath them. She held Sandatsu out like a baby, looking him in the eyes as she spoke, her turquoise irises tinted with a hint of yellow.
“I don’t know what’s going on with you, and to be honest, I don’t really care. But you have pent-up emotions, and I want a fight, so either fight me properly or get out. You can decide on your way down.”
With that, Kaylee dropped Sandatsu, gravity instantly taking clutch.
Down on the ground
“What’s that? My word! It seems that, rather than driving her opponent through the ground, young Kaylee has decided to simply drop Sandatsu! Now, I doubt that this can do more damage than the inferno he withstood in the first round, but with how asleep he seems to be, let’s see if he gets the wake-up call!” cried The Narrator.
Sandatsu felt the wind rush past him, thoughts flashing through his mind as quickly as the air around his body, as he fell back to Earth. He tumbled down, seeing the shrinking form of Kaylee above him, only for the arena’s swelling shape to replace her an instant later. Had his eyes been focusing on what he was seeing, he might have been sick, but he was far too occupied with his thoughts as they crashed around inside his skull.
I want to be a hero
I want to be with my friends
I want to take the world
I want to get revenge
I want to be free
However, as he looked toward the rapidly approaching ground, one thought took over and dominated his mind.
I want to fight!
His eyes shot open, an instant before impact, as his body activated his stolen quirks.
The tiles of the arena shattered under the force, stone shattering into dust, obscuring Sandatsu from everyone without sensory quirks. Kaylee landed back down on her side of the square, her arms crossed over her chest, waiting to see if Sandatsu was going to be any fun.
Cutting through the dust, came a laugh, high-pitched and manic.
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAA!”
Sandatsu’s figure became visible. He was leaning so far back; it was a wonder that he did not fall over. His head was tilted back, his laughter screeching up to the sky. As the dust settled, his head fell back down, his eyes baring on Kaylee. She was all too happy to meet his gaze, unfolding her arms, and cracking her knuckles.
“OoooKay, that’s one creepy laugh right there! But it seems that Kaylee is on the same wavelength! I get the feeling that this fight is entering round two!” spoke The Narrator.
Sandatsu continued to laugh, relieving himself from the stress and pressure that he had been drowning in, while Kaylee continued to smile. Sure, he looked like he was having a mental breakdown, but he also looked like he was ready for violence, so who cared?
She took a step toward him, rolling her head from side to side, limbering up for the next stage of this pageantry.
“So, you finally ready?” she asked. Sandatsu’s manic laughter tapered off as he wiped his face clean of tears and saliva with his sleeve.
“Yeah, yeah I think I’m ready.” He replied. He tensed for a moment, effort palpable on his face, before the back of his shirt tore off and arm after arm erupted from his body. He smiled back at Kaylee. “Are you?”
She grinned back. “I’ve been ready since this tournament was declared.” She responded, as she spread her arms wide, ready for the fight.
For an instant, the arena was silent and still. Both contestants were caught in the moment of the Mexican standoff, waiting to see if the other would move first. But, like a bubble, the moment was fleeting.
It was impossible to tell which of them broke first, but within an instant of an eyeblink, they were flying at each other! Kaylee was a flaming spear as her Ki encompassed her, while Sandatsu looked like a statue of the Buddha, with some of his arms propeling himself forward by slamming against the ground while others reached forward, ready for the impact.
They slammed into each other with a cacophonous slam! Dust was once more kicked up, and across the stadium, the shockwave from their impact was buffeting. In the tunnels, an extremely tall woman’s hair was blown wildly as she coldly smiled, while across from her a trio of classmates struggled to keep their eyes on the match as the wind tore at them. In the crowd, a short tired-looking woman held a large green dragon plush toy close to prevent it blowing away, a gaijin woman crouched down with her arms over her head to preserve herself, and a gigantic muscled man remained immobile and frowning as the horned hat blew off of his head, not over his daughter’s loss.
The two students were in a complete lock. Kaylee loomed over Sandatsu, trying to get her hands on him and crush him, but Sandatsu had so many hands and arms out that she was struggling. Dozens were latched onto each of Kaylee’s arms, while his hands were holding back her fists. Flames of Ki were blasting out of Kaylee’s back, resisted by Sandatsu using yet more arms to prop himself up like a leaning wall.
“We’ve got one heck of a contest here now, everyone! Kaylee’s like a rocket, but Sandatsu’s standing firm, for now at least! Will he be able to hold on or will he be overpowered?” resounded The Narrator.
Kaylee’s teeth were borne as she pushed down on her foe. She was enjoying the struggle, but her desire, her drive to win was overwhelming any sense of sportsmanship in her. She dug in deeper, bringing more of her power to the surface, her Ki blazing out of her as she increased her efforts. The tiles around them shattered, along with Sandatsu’s quirk generated arms!
Sandatsu’s eyes widened as his antagonist’s strength grew and began to fully eclipse his own. He found it harder and harder to keep a grip on her fists without using Separate as his wrists were forced back further and further. The arms from Branching Grasp were overpowered, beginning to snap like tree branches, as Kaylee’s muscles and Ki simply broke them.
With a final roar, Kaylee shattered Sandatsu’s defences. His wrists popped as the carpal bones and ligaments gave way, his branching arms splintered and fell apart, as his grip gave way and Kaylee’s hands and arms were freed. As those tree trunk-like arms of hers were loosed, she brought them back down on the remains of the split arms, the sheer force behind the strike tearing them apart. Sandatsu felt no pain, at least at first, as he saw their shards fly through the air in slow motion. But before any sensation could set in, he saw Kaylee’s next attack, but too late to evade it.
One massive foot, larger than Sandatsu’s sternum, was launching straight towards him. With all her strength and weight, she kicked Sandatsu as hard as she could. She felt the satisfying crunch of bones shattering, something she had been missing from her previous three matches, as her foot sunk into Sandatsu’s chest.
“Well, that seems to settle who’s stronger! Kaylee just sent Sandatsu careening towards the edge of the arena! Will he think of something in the instant he has left before he loses this fight?”
Sandatsu’s reaped quirks kicked into overdrive. Bloodthirst was now in full swing, and thanks to that pummelling, he had enough power to take things to the next level! More arms, seemingly an endless amount of them, shot out of him. Each one clawed at the tiles, leaving massive scars in the material, each slowing him down just enough. By the time he was at the edge of the arena, he had skidded to a stop. Just in time to see the flying form of Kaylee baring down on him with all the force she could muster.
Slow-mo is such a wonderful quirk. Truly, Sandatsu thought, if he was ever foolish enough to drop it, he would never forgive himself. Not only did it provide an immense advantage in combat, allowing even surprise assaults from speedsters to be seen, but it also accelerated thinking. Enough so for an experienced fighter like him to come up with a plan to combat the beast in front of him!
Just like with the bear he thought. From his perspective, Kaylee was still slowly approaching, giving him plenty of time to position his body. Against that animal, he had used the momentum of his arm’s regrowth to impale its brain, and he could do something similar here.
Use momentum! he thought, as he began to spawn arms behind him, readying to support his weight, while yet more sprouted from his shoulder blades in preparation to grapple. By now, Kaylee was right on top of him, her outstretched fist a foot from his face. But this time, Sandatsu was ready. He re-entered the grapple, his arms latching onto Kaylee, replacing the arms burnt away by her Ki by simply summoning more. He had no intention of opposing her momentum though. He leaned back onto his extra arms, rolling backwards, pulling Kaylee along with him in a move adapted from a BJJ pulled guard. As she was above him, he planted both of his feet in her abdomen, and kicked with all the force his body and quirks would allow! Bloodthirst and Psychokinesis skyrocketed his force output as Comeback allowed the damage caused by such a strain to almost instantly heal.
“What a twist, or should I say, throw! Young Kaylee has now found herself suddenly careening over her target and towards the out of bounds!” Even The Narrator was struggling to keep up with the twists and turns of this match!
Kaylee obviously didn’t have a power like Slow-mo, but with the adrenaline coursing through her, time still seemed to slow to a stop. She couldn’t think in words, her brain was too caught in the battle for that, but the flash of confusion was replaced by a burning, overwhelming rage! She roared in anger, and with a burst of light, her Ki exploded from her!
A pillar of emerald green energy erupted from her like a volcano, illuminating the stadium in a blazing light, its power tearing through the ground below. Slowly, Kaylee levitated out of the abyss that she had blasted into the ground, from about ten feet down below ground level. Her eyes wide with surprise and fury, but there was no sign or alarm to indicate that in any of it that she had been grounded.
“Yow, I’m glad I’m not the one who has to repair that! The rules state that a ring out only occurs once a participant makes contact with the ground, so it seems Kaylee decided to lower that level! Well, it seems that the detection system says that she didn’t ring out, so the fight is still on!” hollered The Narrator.
Kaylee was engulfed in her green energy. Descending back onto the arena, she floated just above the floor, her toes barely an inch from touching it. Her hair danced in the air, animated by the whirling Ki, fuelled by her emotions.
“I didn’t take you for a coward who would go for a ring out.” She snarled, her anger at nearly losing owing to such a stupid rule palpable.
Sandatsu shrugged, his eyes never leaving Kaylee’s. “A win is a win.” He chuckled, irking Kaylee even further.
She glared down at him but did not yet repeat her mistake of rushing in like a mad bull.
That was stronger than it should have been. He was faster too. She thought to herself, processing the last moments. Sandatsu was strong, no doubt about that, but she had sparred in combat class against him even with all those arms before, and that throw had more speed and force behind it than anything he had shown before. So, either he had been holding back against everyone from the beginning, or there was more going on with him than was official.
Sandatsu saw Kaylee’s reaction and found himself delighting in her confusion. He knew what she could do, but she couldn’t know what he could do!
“Come on Kaylee! You wanted this fight! If it wasn’t for your own selfish desires, then you’d be in the finals, and I’d be in the Principal’s office or worse! So, stop thinking and fight me! It was never your strong suit anyway!”
Kaylee saw red for a moment, barely able to stop herself from charging him there and now. She forced herself to take a deep breath before continuing.
Leave the mystery solving to Inigo and Chris. They can have all the mystery adventures they want. He’s right. I wanted this fight and I’m not gonna waste it on worrying!
She shook any concerns out of her head. There was only her and Sandatsu, here and now, fighting for victory. Nothing else mattered.
“You’re right, Sandatsu. Forget everything else, let’s just go!”
As soon as she finished her sentence, she blasted off her spot. She sped straight towards him, but at the last second, she broke off and flew to the side. For an instant, she appeared behind him, only to vanish again and reappear elsewhere.
“What speed! We saw it in her fight against Jugo, but it’s easier to see on the ground than in the sky! It seems that Kaylee is trying to find an opening in Sandatsu’s defenses and get the drop on him! Will it work? Let’s see!” exclaimed The Narrator.
Kaylee was moving as quickly as she could, using both her physical strength as well as her energy projection, only touching the ground to use it to accelerate to another spot. Yet, each time she moved, Sandatsu’s eyes followed her. Each time, she felt that gnawing in the back of her mind to just go wild and attack, but she knew she had to be smarter than that. Hit and run was the name of the game here, just keep moving around, in and out of his range, while hitting him until he couldn’t regenerate in time!
She moved as fast as she could, hurling Ki blasts as much as she could, but they weren’t enough. For each one she launched, there was an arm or two there to take the hit. Each time an arm was destroyed, another was ready to take its place.
Sandatsu was laughing to himself. Kaylee thought herself fast, but Slow-mo was powerful enough to allow him to perceive Hifumi’s teleportation! She was nothing in comparison to instantaneous!
Although I’ll give it to her, her ranged attacks are stronger than I thought. Sandatsu mulled. The amount of effort he was having to exert to defend himself was troubling.
Ohhh, fffFUCK IT! Kaylee screamed in her mind. She was done with this ‘thinking’ crap! Not her style, not her scene! She was going to do what came naturally to her; charging in recklessly, and if a wall was in her way, then she’d pummel it until it broke!
She released a roar of anger and charged her Ki to propel herself straight at Sandatsu. He saw her barrel toward him and reached out with both his arms and his psychic power. Even in the slowed world of Slow-mo, he could tell that she was slowing down, despite her velocity. He grinned a shark-like smile at her, his eyes bulging out of his head. He was loving this! No mother hanging over him, no fears over being caught, no missions. All of that was gone. He could get used to this!
He was so caught up in the euphoria that he didn’t notice Kaylee reciprocate his smile.
Now!
Kaylee was not a bright girl, in fact by grades she was close to the bottom. However, she did have skill when it came to battle. Whatever secret Sandatsu had, it had clearly gone to his head, distracting him, and making him sloppy. Had he watched her previous match; he would have known not to stare so hard with eyes so wide.
“SOLAR FLARE!”
She had little experience with Jugo’s technique, but having been on the receiving end of it, it was easy enough to deduce. It traded any offensive potential for brightness, allowing for an attack that could blind and pain any that were unfortunate enough to have their eyes open! Her attempt was not as iridescent as Jugo’s, not potent enough to blind the crowd, but the same couldn’t be said for Sandatsu!
The sudden burst of light was blinding! On pure instinct, Sandatsu clutched at his face, all other thoughts momentarily burned out along with his eyes. His Comeback quirk immediately kicked in, but in the scant moments it took to repair the damage to his retinas, he felt the bone-breaking pressure of Kaylee’s embrace!
“I hope that wasn’t as bad for you at home as it was for young Sandatsu! As for me, I’m just glad I still have these sunglasses on! Kaylee used the same technique that Jugo used on her to get past Sandatsu’s defenses and get him into what looks like a nasty bear hug! We already know how dangerous her hugs can be, but how will this end?” cried The Narrator.
Even before Sandatsu’s sight returned, he was lashing out, trying to break free. Kaylee was having none of it. She squeezed as tightly as she could, before whispering to him, quiet enough so that no-one else could hear her.
“One way or another, this is the end, Sandy!”
As soon as she said those words, a green shell of Ki formed around the pair. Sandatsu’s vision returned just in time to see the wave of Ki exploding forth.
Kaylee’s Ki was contained within the sphere, concentrating its power within half its standard volume, as it swirled around her like a hurricane! Both students were being torn apart by the tempest, the only question was which would fall first!
Sandatsu may be able to recover from any injury, even from death itself, but his body simply was not as tough as Kaylee’s. On top of that, she was the one in control of the storm, allowing her to minimize the damage to her, and maximize the damage to him! Sandatsu screamed in both pain and anger, until he heard a sudden POP, and everything went black.
Kaylee wound the destructive shell down. Sandatsu was no longer struggling, having gone limp in her arms, and she was at her limit anyway. Panting, her pseudo-kamikaze completely dissipated, and Sandatsu flopped to the ground like a sack of potatoes. Kaylee herself was barely able to remain standing, her knees buckling inward in order to support her weight, as she looked down at Sandatsu.
Majestic stared for a moment to confirm that Owari was indeed no longer able to fight. As soon as he confirmed it, he yelled out “SUZUKI WINS!”. As soon as he did, Kaylee’s knees gave out, and with a thud, she too collapsed to the arena floor.
“Well, that’s definitely an explosive ending to the Semi-Finals! I don’t think anyone thought that the winner of both matches would be on the ground as well! We’ll have to give them a rinse before we continue in to the Final, but we’re so close now!” The Narrator said as he brought the Semi-Finals to a close.
In the Doctor’s office:
Sandatsu didn’t get up after the fight. His regenerative abilities were known, but even after half a minute, he was still on the ground. Unbeknownst to everyone, even Kaylee, Sandatsu had received a fatal injury in the fight. The force of her final attack had caused Atlanto-occipital dislocation, otherwise known as internal decapitation. His skull had effectively popped off of his spine, killing him instantly. If Sandatsu did not have Comeback, that would be that, game over. But this was far from the first time he had died. Psyking had torn away the majority of his flesh and he had still kept going. His body repaired the damage he suffered, but the amount of time it took for his consciousness to return was random, and this time the dice had simply rolled high.
By the time the Doctor had a chance to examine him, he appeared for all intents and purposes to simply be asleep. The scale of the damage he had received was gone, and none but Sandatsu himself would ever know of it. Not like Sandatsu cared much; he had been able to go hog wild, and for one who had lived a life as controlled by others as he, that had been enough.