Arena fighting isn't about the results. It's not about the journey either. The only thing that matters here is proving your own strength. If you win without any flair, you're a killjoy.

I'm sorry... I'll try my best next time...

No! You're missing the point! It's not about the effort you put in. In fact, making it seem like you're not trying hard is actually cooler! Like, 20% cooler! Then again, it'll backfire on your ratings if you lose...

Wait, so w-what should I do?

Don't think of it as fighting, kiddo! Think of it as... acting! It's not real, it's just a show!


"It's just a show... just a show..."

Cammo chanted these words like a mantra under her breath, holding her knees close to her chest. She could just imagine Narcissus looking at her and laughing at how pathetic she looked, just like a kid.

There was no helping it. The sounds of scraping claws on bark set the hair on the back of her neck on end. Besides the mass of hot, fiery rage below, the air was deathly cold at this height. Was the sun setting? She had no way of knowing, what with this thick canopy.

No helping how she looked. It was the cold. It would only take a second for her to wipe out the monster horde. Drop a Dust ring and just go full ham on the closest target. If she jumped, it would be a cinch to escape. She had the tools. She had the experience. All she had to do was get up and do it.

Her toes curled in her boots, and she leaned over the edge of her perch to look beneath. A sea of black bristles, white bone and red eyes. If she jumped, this would all be over. She could pull off this daring maneuver. It would be an amazing tale to tell to Ruby later, how she evaded this near death scenario without even breaking a sweat. As she sat there, crafting the story she would be sharing, a cold liquid dripped down her brow and into the dip of her button nose. She tasted salt.

Cammo wasn't scared. This was a simple case of stage fright. She'd felt it before nearly every time she had a match, the anticipation of overwhelming applause. Once she got into her groove, it would be a silly memory. An experience long forgotten, a sensation she would never remember.

"It's just a show."

These Grimm were hardly a challenge. It was like staring at a group of props, or even bowling pins. They were here for her to knock down.

So why did she feel so weak?

The last vestiges of light faded from the already dark forest, and Cammo couldn't tell whether it was her or the world who blacked out first.


Fear is quite natural when faced with life threatening situations. The instinct of fear is a mental life preserver, ordering the body to escape dire circumstances as quickly as possible. In some cases, fear could push the human body to the limit and allow the accomplishment of terrific feats. To be afraid of fearsome things was in no way a weakness, but rather an evolutionary advantage over the brave and fearless.

Knowing all this, Eido still could not help but curse the sensation of fear.

He charged through the underbrush, breathing hard. The rush of serpentine bodies behind him made it seem as though a flood of flesh was splashing on his heels. His legs ached, his arms ached, his throat ached, his lungs ached. Every part of him that could ache was aching.

Fear was an acknowledgment of a stronger opponent, a challenge too great to confront. Fear was recognition of weakness.

His heart ached with disappointment. No one should be allowed to best him. No monster should make him feel this way. Fear, dreams, weakness, all these things which made him human, he wanted no part in them.

If he kept running, would he find what he was looking for? Would he find the solution to humanity?

No.

He was going backwards with every step. Embracing fear as an ally.

Eido had no need for yet another evolutionary advantage. There were other ways to rise above the present.

The King Taijitu were right on his tail. The two leading the charge were neck and neck, vying for the whole meal. Mindlessly, voraciously, brimming with lustful hunger.

It caught them off guard when he turned on his heel and knelt down, slipping beneath their bodies.


"Quincy~"

The giant's eyelids fluttered open, greeting a pink tinted sky with clear blue. He stood and stretched, forcing his shoulder into position, knocking a few Nevermore feathers out of the ground.

"What happened to the fight?" Quincy scanned the area for the source of his leader's voice.

"I don't really know, but I think it's-" A raucous coughing alerted the hunchback to the foot of a nearby pine. "I think it's just moved further into the forest."

"And where are the-" Quincy began, but recoiled at the sight. Ahab was lying back, limbs torn in several places by the impact of many spears over time. Some of his wounds had healed inconveniently, fusing his flesh around the thick, jet black shaft of the feather. The way he was impaled resulted in his body being suspended oddly above the forest floor, like a twisted game of Pick Up Sticks. The spear through his left lung was the likely culprit for his cough.

"W-where are the others?"

"They went deeper in the forest," Ahab said with a strained grin, watching Quincy's eyes widen. Poor guy, just woken up and already suffering from a second shock. "Say, can you lift me up from here? It's a bit difficult on my *cough* own."

Quincy gingerly wrapped his fingers around his leader's sides and tugged upwards, staining each feather red all the way up the shaft. Finally the last spear slid out of his back, and he brought Ahab down to the ground to heal once more.

"Thanks," he wheezed, keeling over and curling into a ball to cover the wounds on his abdomen. "Give me one moment."

"Of course."

The duo stood there for all of thirty seconds.

"Alright, I think I'm good to go."

"Let's."

They started off to confront the forest depths. Ahab looked nervously up at Quincy, trying not to make eye contact with the suddenly dead serious giant.

"Say, do you think they're okay in there without m-... us?"

"I wouldn't be too sure," he replied, and broke into a sprint.


Thrusting upwards with both weapons, Eido nailed his pursuers in the bellies. Their massive girth did not budge in the face of such an attack, but inertia carried their bodies clean over him and sent them coiling around the nearest trees for a quick rebound. The King Taijitu who had been bringing up the rear pounced straight on him, mouths wide and hissing gutturally.

This instinctive need to display dominance was their downfall. Eido threw a few hooks, deftly parrying each gaping maw to the side with a solid hit to the fangs. One of the snakes' teeth even snapped with a sickening crunch, lodging itself in the monster's gum.

Each move calculated to divert and disperse force. Due to the massive size of each Grimm, they couldn't mob him all at once with little attacks and had to resort to taking turns lunging at him. This was his best matchup.

When they attacked, he didn't flinch. His instinct was screaming for him to turn, run and keep on running forever.

This was his challenge. He could beat instinct. He could rise above the human condition.

Eido had no irrational fears. Every fear he felt was entirely respectable and understandable.

But he wasn't interested in being bound by reason.

He had said it himself.

He was a god.

Gods fear no beast.

Eido knocked the snout of another opponent to the side, burying it with a thud in the underbrush. Another rose up to standing position and shot towards him, it's fangs moving at bullet speed towards it's target. This was a deathblow, a ferryman to heaven.

Gods do not fear death.

Eido leaped into the beast's throat, knocking back it's teeth as it attempted to snap him in half. Pressing against the walls of it's gullet, he thought back to the fights he had witnessed in class. Lie Ren, Yastuhashi Daichi, Blake Belladonna. He could see their aura fluctuating, changing, doing amazing things through willpower alone. Mimicking their movements, he felt power well up in his arms, moving down into his palms and through his weapons.

It was at times like this that Eido truly cherished his eidetic memory and semblance. A godly combination.

The King Taijitu swelled and detonated out each side, blowing a hole through it's esophagus. Eido dropped to the forest floor, the corpse dissolving around him and taking flight on the wind like black rose petals. He chuckled, snapping his attention to the remaining slithering bodies.

Now the real question was, how many times could he perform the same maneuver?


"Faster!"

Quincy charged through the forest, tearing through underbrush without slowing down, uprooting small shrubs with each step. Vines tried to entangle his massive legs, but he ripped away with ease. The twin spotlights on his harness cut through the night, making him appear as if he were a car at full throttle, speeding ahead with its headlights on.

"Dammit, slow down!" Ahab called, his voice echoing after the giant. "We don't even know which way she went!"

"Follow the damage!"

Ahab pulled out his standard-issue pocket flashlight. With a quick glance around, he saw how true this statement was. The trees were marked with 3 inch claw marks and branches were freshly snapped and strewn about the forest floor everywhere they went. Just like Cammo to leave an impression.

Quincy stampeded forwards singlemindedly, low branches scraping across his tough. No time for thorns, no time for branches, no time for-

With one swing, he smashed a medium-sized oak to splinters.

No time for trees.

Out of the way, out of the way.

His partner was alone.

Out of the way, out of the way!

She didn't handle being alone well.

"Out of the way!"

There they were.

Grimm. A full horde of them, gathered at the foot of an enormous tree. They were waiting for something, watching the canopy for a meal, dressed in pigtails and overwhelming lime green. All kinds of creatures, from Beowolves to Creeps to Boarbatusks, ranging from the smallest to largest specimens the two had seen to date.

No time for Grimm.

"OUT OF THE WAY!"

"Hey, they're not going to respond..." Ahab said.

Quincy whipped out two hammers. The remaining two barrels on his back swiveled over his shoulders, practically hissing with anticipation.

The enemy turned to meet him head on.

And the sea of black exploded into red. Red dust flared, red eyes gleamed, red blood spilled. Even when Ahab's flashlight was put out, he could still see by the illumination of continuous dust explosions, bathing the battlefield in crimson light. Limbs flailed about, attached or otherwise, filling the air with the scent of massacre. Each flash of color was a slideshow of destruction.

Eventually the strobing died down. The forest was quiet again, and dark. Ahab was left wondering if anyone outside this forest had seen the light show. It was likely that no one would ever know of this occurrence.

They could only hope this was the last time.


"It's just a show, it's just a show..."

Quincy put a hand on Cammo's forehead as they ascended into the air. The airship had arrived quickly enough, but the giant didn't want to waste a second getting his partner to medical care. As she murmured in her sleep, passed out in his lap, her eyebrows scrunched together.

"Anxiety really doesn't suit her," Ahab said solemnly. The giant only nodded.

Eido stood over his teammate and sneered internally; he knew better than to let such emotions show on his face in front of Quincy. That was him just a short while ago, that was what fear sounded like. He could feel her aura coiling and churning, seeking an outlet, an escape. That was what fear felt like.

He remembered this pattern of tightening, jumbling movements. Then and there, he vowed to never display such a shameful emotion.

His ascension was just beginning.


I'm a filthy liar. "Once a week," I said, "Regular updates," I said. Jesus.

Well anyway, that's the end of this mission arc. I hope you derived some enjoyment from it, and have a good day.