Chapter 10

Four Matches Left

Return, Ghosts From the Past

Atsuhiro Sako, also known as the villain, Mr. Compress, gasped in pain as he was punched straight into a wall, courtesy of his surprisingly nimble and powerful opponent, the Nen-user-in-training known as Zushi.

"Oh…blast…" Mr. Compress groaned in frustration as his head slumped forward, losing consciousness.

Zushi smiled and bowed in respect to his opponent. "Osu!" He yelled.

Haika could not help but smile a little as her motherly instincts kicked up a bit. She definitely had a soft spot for kids, and Zushi was simply adorable. She looked over at Mr. Compress and noted he was not going to get up and made the call. "Mr. Compress is unable to continue, the winner is Zushi!"

Zushi waved his arms about in victory, taking in the sounds crowd cheering for him with a big smile on his face. "The little pint-sized martial artist pulled it off." Kaji complimented.

"Mr. Compress is a B-Ranked villain who earned his ranking, what with his intellect, and mastery in trickery and deception, but the problem is, that does not cut it in a tournament where you can't hide from your opponent." Daisuke pointed out.

"And because of that, a speedy little bruiser like Zushi is his worst matchup possible." Kaji noted. "And as such, the winner is Zushi."

"We've had quite the matchups leading up to this though." Daisuke noted. "For a quick recap, Pet Shop froze up Jango with his stand, Horus. The former Tower of Heaven combatant, Gido, surprised everyone when the peg-legged man took down the demon, Goki. And his comrade, Riehlvelt, in spite of his own disability as a man in a wheelchair, brought down the martial artist Pamput. And, the pawn of Riser Phenex, Mira, managed to win one for her fallen teammates, taking down one of the Eight Expendables of the Precepts of Death, Shin Nemoto."

"However, I think we're ignoring the biggest upset of this round so far. Manga Fukidashi vs. Centerfold, folks, holy crap I did not see that one coming." Kaji admitted.

"Indeed, Centerfold had been heavily favored to win, but was unexpectedly caught off guard by Fukidashi's Quirk: Comic. This Quirk gives him the power to make onomatopoeias come to life and be used for battle. When Centerfold's Stand, Hanged Man tried to stab Fukidashi from behind, he used the onomatopoeia 'boing' to bounce the Stand back. And then, to land the final blow, he used the onomatopoeia 'boom' to slam Centerfold into the ground and knock him out."

"We definitely underestimated Fukidashi in that match. Hell, I think everyone did, especially Centerfold."

Jean Pierre Polnareff grinned at the memory of watching his sister's murderer being beaten to the ground. "That was definitely more satisfying than it should be." He admitted.

"It was impressive," Jotaro Kujo noted, "a non-Stand User took down a Stand User. I've never seen anything like that."

"Of course, he wasn't exactly normal." Old Joseph pointed out. "I mean, the kid had a comic book speech bubble for a head, for crying out loud."

"I guess Midoriya was right to be confident." Jotaro remembered his conversation with Izuku. "After all, I told him that he'd need to bring everything he had against Stand Users. I guess I was worried for nothing."

"You were worried?" Polnareff was surprised.

"Not like that, it'd just be a pain to see them all lose so easily, especially against the pieces of work we've had to go up against." Jotaro immediately denied.

Everyone was then drawn to an announcement from Daisuke. "Ladies and gentlemen, we are close to the end of the first round. Out of 32 matches, we've had 28. That means, there are only four spots left in the second round and four matches to help us fill those spots."

"We've seen some crazy good matches to start things off with plenty of blood, evisceration, and all the fun stuff that makes these tournaments great." Kaji added. "But, it's time we put a close on this round by getting the final four matches going!"

"Eight people left, huh?" Issei Hyōdō brought his head back up from Rias Gremory's lap, gazing at the arena with interest. "I wonder who still needs to fight?"

"It's a shame that the only member of Brother's peerage to win was Mira." Ravel Phenex lamented. "I suppose I'll just have to cheer for her twice as much in the second round."

Then, the two names were revealed and Issei's eyes, along with the eyes of Asia Argento, went wide at one in particular. "The next match will be: Raynare the Fallen Angel vs. Yosetsu Awase of Class 1B." Daisuke announced.

"So…she is back." Asia always knew it would probably the case, but that did not mean she was okay with it. After all, Raynare had been the one who had taken her life…

Issei simply remained silent, much to the concern of Rias, who gazed at her lover with great concern. Issei…what are you thinking right now? She wondered.

Back on the colosseum floor, Yosetsu Awase took several deep breaths to keep himself calm as he stepped into the arena. He gazed out at his opponent and immediately blushed, taking note of Raynare's insanely revealing outfit.

Seriously, what the hell is that all about? Awase wondered. How the hell can a man be expected to fight when she's dressed like that? That outfit should be outlawed!

Awase shook those perverse thoughts away, literally, as he was shaking his head now. Focus, Yosetsu, he thought to himself, everyone in Class 1B has given it there all and most of them have managed to pull out a win. I can't be left behind by my classmates, because we all want to be heroes!

This match will be tough though, Awase admitted to himself, my Quirk isn't combat related like Fukidashi's. I need to come up with a plan to incapacitate this chick by welding her to something, and quick. The only question is, what?

Raynare and Awase then walked up to each other, standing 10 feet away. Raynare immediately gave Awase a big smile. "Well now, aren't you just adorable?" She noted.

Awase blushed. Did I…misjudge her?

"It's a shame I have to hurt you so badly you can't fight me anymore." Raynare added, licking her lips.

Nope, she's a bitch. Awase realized with a deadpan expression on her face.

Raynare heaved a long, dramatic sigh. "I hope you can forgive me." She said, her tone betraying that she did not care either way. "You're just a steppingstone for me, after all."

Awase looked at Raynare in disbelief, gazing at her eyes in particular. Those were the eyes of a woman who did not care what she had to do to him in order to win, and that was truly terrifying. "If both fighters are ready, I'm going to start the match." Haika cut in.

"Oh, I'm ready whenever," Raynare said uncaringly.

"Y-yeah, I'm ready too." Awase nodded.

Haika nodded. "Then, began!" She yelled.

Awase immediately tensed up, ready to run to either side and avoid Raynare's first attack. "Maybe in the end, I don't have much confidence I can win." He admitted. "But damn it, I'm going to try!"

However, before, Awase could enact his plan and make a run for it, Raynare was already in front of him. Awase's eyes widened as he felt a foreign object tear into his body and then come right out the back. He looked down to see that a spear of light, the weapon of choice for a Fallen Angel had been driven into his stomach and then out his back.

"Wh-what?" Awase coughed up blood, gazing at his injuries in disbelief.

"Like I said, nothing but a mere steppingstone." Raynare taunted, taking the spear out of Awase's body. "Sorry, darling."

Awase stumbled backwards a few steps before falling onto his back. Haika's eyes widened, knowing that would be a fatal blow unless medical personal went right to work. "Awase is unable to continue!" She declared. "The winner is Raynare."

There was no applause this time. Only dead silence. Raynare had won that match in under 5 seconds, so of course people would be too stunned to applaud. The Fallen Angel began exiting the arena. "Get some medics here right now!" Haika contacted medical personnel via telepathy. "This boy will die if you don't get him help!"

At that moment, Itsuka Kendo finally reacted from her seat with the rest of Class 1B. "Awase!" She yelled in concern. Tsuburaba may have been beaten a bit brutally by that Inmaki, but not to the point where he was near death, not like Awase.

"That bitch!" Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu growled, furious.

Haika then addressed Raynare. "And just what in the world were you thinking?" She demanded, marching up to the retreating Fallen Angel. "You know that what you just did was borderline arena misconduct, right? You could've killed him!"

"But, I didn't." Raynare brushed the matter off. "I aimed in the exact spot to cause an instant KO that would result in my victory, but also leave him alive long enough for your medical team to save him. What I just did was totally within the rules."

Raynare then gave Haika a smile that said: 'just try and come after me.' "If he does happen to die, that's on you."

Haika just glared at Raynare. She hated it when people flaunted the rules like that in front of her.

Haika sighed. "Daisuke, Kaji, you boys might want to distract the crowd with a little bit of commentary." She ordered. "I think this match might've stunned them."

"Right, well that sometimes just happens folks." Daisuke said in his usual professional, cheerful tone. "We occasionally get matches where one person is outmatched by a superior opponent. The important thing to remember is that we have a crack team of medics here to make sure none of our competitors die. Don't worry, Yosetsu Awase is in no danger of death."

"Yep, remember, we take our no-killing rules very seriously here in the Multiverse Tournament." Kaji added. "Even though Awase just got a brutal beating from one of the top 5 heavily favored fighters here, we can assure you, he is in no danger of dying today."

The medical team arrived and quickly took Awase away. "Anyway," Kaji continued, "let's move onto our final 3 matches."

The six remaining names were run through on the monitor at an even faster rate to add to the suspense. Then, they settled on two names and once again, the Gremory Peerage found themselves stunned at one of the competitors.

"Next up, we have Freed Sellzen vs. Gokumonki of the Demon Triad!" Daisuke announced. "Will Freed and Gokumonki please make their way to the arena for their match."

"Oh you have got to be kidding me!" Issei exclaimed, visibly pissed off about the idea of Freed being back too. "What were they thinking when they brought that nutcase back to compete?"

"I guess entertainment to them sometimes means bringing out the worst of the worst the multiverse has to offer." Yuto Kiba noted. "After all, bad guys bring ratings, don't they…er, this event does get ratings right?"

Issei gritted his teeth for a moment before noticing that Asia looked visibly uncomfortable at Freed coming back. He then pulled her into a hug. "Hey, it's gonna be alright," he promised, his expression softening into a look of love and concern for Asia.

Asia gave Issei a smile. "I'm not worried, Issei." She promised. "I have you, after all."

Before the two could enjoy the moment further, however, a familiar voice sent a chill up their spines. "Is that you, Asia? I honestly thought you were dead."

Issei and Asia looked to see that Raynare was entering their booth. She had a pleasant smile on her face, like she had never tried to any of them before. "Well, this is quite the pleasant surprise, isn't it? Let me guess, the Gremory Heiress brought you back too, like Issei?" She asked, clearly faking her pleasant nature.

She then noticed Issei. "Oh? Issei, you're here too. It's so good to see you again, how's life?"

Then, before Raynare could actually set foot inside their booth, the Fallen Angel noticed that she was surrounded. Akeno Himejima, Koneko Tōjō and Kiba were all glaring at her. Akeno had summoned lightning around her hand, ready to fry Raynare. Koneko had already entered her Nekomata mode and was read to claw Raynare's face. And Kiba had one of his swords trained on Raynare's throat.

In short, all three members of the Gremory Peerage were ready to end Raynare if she moved even an inch, something Akeno vocalized. "You have until the count of ten to leave this place and never come back," she said in her own pleasant tone before adding bitingly, "you detestable skank."

"Word," Koneko added.

"Don't think we care about getting disqualified." Kiba glared at her with surprising ferocity. "What matters most to us are our friends. And you won't torment them any longer!"

Raynare's haughtiness faded, a bit frightened by how fast they had all moved. Have they gotten stronger? She wondered. That is unexpected…and very unwelcome. And they're definitely not bluffing.

Then, Issei's voice broke through. "Guys, it's fine, I'll handle this." He said, getting up from his seat.

"Issei?" Asia asked in concern.

Kiba looked at Issei in confusion before moving off to the side. Akeno and Koneko both relaxed, content in letting Issei handle this. Raynare smiled, adopting her Yuma Amano persona, the same persona that had lured Issei to his first date with her, which ended up being the catalyst that made him into a devil.

"Oh Issei, you still love me after all." She said sweetly.

Issei took a deep breath and looked Raynare dead in the eye. After all this time, he still recognized that cutesy, adorable voice that had lured him into a deadly trap. "You know something, Raynare?" He asked.

At that moment Raynare found herself breaking character. He did not call her Yuma. What was going on? "I've spent quite a bit of time wondering what I would do if something happened and I had to face you again." Issei admitted. "Yeah, that sounds dumb, I mean, I saw Rias kill you. But, it's just something you can't help but wonder sometimes."

"I thought to myself: 'what would I do, what would I say?'" Issei continued. "And I never was able to come to an answer because…well, I was just never able to find the right thing to say or do."

"But now, seeing you here, trying to torment Asia and me again…I think I now know just what I need to say to you, Raynare." Issei told her.

Issei then got right into Raynare's face and said one single damning sentence that made Raynare's eyes widen. "You may have been my first date, but you sure as hell weren't my first girlfriend."

Raynare was speechless. No, her power over him…was it gone? Issei smirked and turned away. "You're nothing Raynare. You love to act like a big shot with power over people, but the truth is, you're nothing. And you're certainly nothing to me. So thanks for being my first date, but you really need to get the hell out of here."

Issei looked over his shoulder and gave Raynare the most triumphant smile she had ever seen. "Because honestly, I have neither the time nor the energy to waste on you."

At that moment, all of Raynare's haughtiness was shattered as she glared at Issei, furious at him for brushing her off just like that. Before she could say anything in response, she heard lightning crackle once more. It was Akeno, who was back to threatening her herself. "I think I'll go ahead and start the countdown again, since I was nice enough to let my darling have that time to put you in your place." She said. "1, 2, 3…"

Raynare scoffed. "I'll leave of my own volition, thank you for very much." She claimed before exiting the booth.

Issei relaxed back into his seat before being embraced by Rias from behind. "What?" Issei asked curiously.

"I'm proud of you, you know that right?" Rias asked. "How you handled that I mean."

Issei smiled. "Thanks, Rias."

Issei felt Asia rest her head on his shoulder as well. "Thank you as well, Issei." Asia told him.

"No problem, Asia," he said softly.

Then, the peerage heard a sudden announcement. "Gokumonki is unable to continue, the winner is Freed Sellzen."

The mood was suddenly diminished at the news of the psychotic stray priest, known as Freed, achieving victory. It looked like they would have to put up with their psychotic old enemy for a bit longer.

Freed laughed maniacally on the battlefield as he gyrated his hips suggestively with his sword pointed outwards from his crotch, making it look like genitalia. "Looks like I just ******* this demon hard!" Freed declared.

Freed then froze in his celebrations. "Wait…what?" He said flatly before testing a theory of his. "****, ****, oh you have gotta be ******* kidding me!"

Freed had honestly not noticed it during his fight because he had been so invested in hurting Gokumonki. "Are you telling me that I'm being censored somehow?" Freed demanded. "What the **** is this? Are you telling me that a program that shows blood and guts freely is afraid of some real dirty cursing?"

"The young should be introduced to the concepts of pain and death at an appropriate age. It makes them understand their own mortality." Haika answered him, noticing his plight. "However, they should not be introduced to such filthy language until they are mature enough to use it responsibly while growing into mature, responsible adults. At least, that's how Lord O views things."

"Oh **** that ****!" Freed complained. "Nobody censors Freed Sellzen, nobody!"

"…We already have." Haika pointed out with a deadpan expression.

Freed froze, realizing she was correct. "****!" Freed screamed to the sky.

"Freed seems frustrated," Daisuke noted.

Kaji laughed. "I think he just found out that we censor particularly naughty words on the battlefield." He said. "It looks like we just got two big curb-stomps thanks to Freed having weapons that really hurt devils and demons like Gokumonki."

"And that leaves us with two matches left." Daisuke pointed out. "Two matches before we can bring the first round of the Superhuman Tier to a close."

"Let's get right into it then! Get that monitor moving!" Kaji ordered.