Chapter 57: The Fighting Tournament: Opening the Pathway to the Final Round

Round three was about to begin and I felt a little anxious, for good reason. Jarne noticed my change in expression and gave me a face that assured me that things will be fine for the time being. "Folks, welcome back to this glorious tournament! Round three will begin shortly and it's the special tag team round. The eight remaining fighters will be randomly shuffled about on this match board. After the shuffling stops, a fighter will be fighting alongside another one by random choice as a team. And, let's see the results now!" Oshare snapped his finger. The results came in and my heart stopped for a second. In that split-second, I saw that Rulue and Hohow Bird were on the same team. Shit! Those two will be unstoppable for me if they're together! Luckily for me, they were going against a team that was not mine. Additionally, I had ended with Jarne as my partner. Both of these things allowed me to sigh in relief. Thank God, this is the best scenario I can possibly ask for. So, me and Jarne will fight together in the second match of this round… I know that the first match won't last long at all with Rulue and Hohow Bird fighting as a team. I'll need to have my nerves ready for when we're called in to fight. "And so, the first match will have Rulue and our glorious hero go head-to-head with Gogotte and Sasoriman! The other two teams, you know what to do: Time to wait until you're called out." Oshare said.

Me, Jarne, and the fourth team went back inside the behind-the-scenes area to wait. "This is awesome! Me and you are a team, Dave!" Jarne smiled. "Y-Yeah… this is the best thing that could have happened to us, Jarne." I pulled myself together. "Anyway, that team fighting against Rulue and that stupid bird… they'll practically lose right away." Arle knew that to be the case. "No kidding, Arle… Hohow Bird is already quite the fighter as he is; however, pair him up with Rulue... and you got yourself a seemingly unstoppable duo." I agreed. Just as we thought, the match ended almost immediately after it started. Hohow Bird had some trouble dealing with Sasoriman's scorpion-like tail; but besides that, Rulue dominated Gogotte and Sasoriman by herself. Those two certainly couldn't get back up after they got hit by her once. "Rulue just seems to be steamrolling every opponent that she comes across here. She has not taken a hit as of yet, and only needed one punch to take out each opponent. However…! With that being said: Rulue and Hohow Bird both move on to the semifinal round!" Oshare digressed. "Those two together…" Arle was still shocked. "Yeah, they kicked too much ass." I sighed. "So, I guess that means we'll fight that last team right about now. Let's do our best out there, Dave!" Jarne stretched. "Yeah." I nodded to her.

We walked onto the ring with the other team appearing on the opposite side. "Now, let us go through the other match of round three! It will be Dave and Jarne against Samurai Mole (with his non-lethal sword) and Nasu Grave. Who will come out on top in this match? Fighters from both teams have performed pretty well here in the first two rounds. Therefore, that should make this match interesting and fun to watch. Alright, are you fighters ready?" Oshare gestured to all four of us. "Yes." We all nodded. "Very well then. Let the match… BEGIN!" He jumped away from the ring. "You go after the eggplant guy, Jarne! I'll deal with Samurai Mole." I told her as I transformed. "Okay!" She nodded. I ran up to the sword-wielding mole and attempted to punch him. "Let's see how you deal with my fists! Yah! Yah! Yah!" I swung away with good speed. "It's going to take more than that to put down a warrior of my caliber." He started to parry my punches with his sword. "Heh. Not bad… I can see that you've trained your sword technique for years." I complimented him. "That's not all that my training has given me, Demonic Dragon! Take this, Air Slice!" He jumped back and swung his sword to launch pressurized air at me. "Ah-!" I dodge rolled out of the way. If I don't get close to him, he'll just keep using that to maintain an advantage.

I tried running up to him again, but that was a terrible choice to make. "Dave, look out!" Jarne alerted me. "Huh?" I looked about. "Eggplant Boomerang!" Nasu flung himself at my helmet and flew back to the area that Jarne was at. "Ow! Damn plant..." I was annoyed by him interfering with me attacking Samurai Mole. "New plan, Jarne..." I ran up to Nasu and kicked him hard. "Ouch! Not the face, you stupid potato-head!" He flew a few good feet in the air before hitting the ground. "...we both beat up Nasu Grave first to get a two-on-one advantage." I finished telling Jarne. "Sounds like a good one to me!" She agreed. "I don't think so! Both of you targeting my partner early in the match will not happen so easily!" Samurai Mole jumped to Nasu's side. Well, at least he has the bushido aspect down… He's risking his own chance to win the match for them both to protect Nasu Grave. I can admire that part about him. "Shit, this won't be so easy…" I stood still. "Dave, stand still. I'll pick you up after I grow big, then I'll throw you at that mole." Jarne thought up as she grew in size. "Hey, that sounds like a great idea… Sure!" I nodded to her.

I'll use my wings to make myself aerodynamic after being thrown. That should hopefully generate enough top speed for me to overpower Samurai Mole's parrying. "Alright, tossing you… NOW!" She threw me. "WOOOAAAH!" I screamed in fear of crashing into something. "What are those two doing...?" Samurai Mole pondered. "Does it really matter WHAT they're doing?! Save us both!" Nasu Grave pleaded. "I-I know! … …" The mole closed his eyes and focused. "C-Claw of Shadows!" I braced for impact. "Hrr-!" Samurai Mole suddenly acted. His sword and my claw were clashing fiercely as he was being knocked back by me. "Quick Withdraw!" He suddenly slipped under me. I ended up crashing to the ground after whizzing past my target. "Ow! ... Damn, you pulled a fast one..." I got back up. "I knew that I could not hold you for too much longer, so I decided to give you the slip. Good thing that my partner is still fine after that…" The mole sighed as he got back up. "Not for long! Cryogenic Bomb!" I chucked at the eggplant. "Gyaaah! I don't want to be frozen like a dead harvest!" Nasu dodged instinctively. "Tch. I didn't expect this eggplant guy to be so quick…" I chased the eggplant before Samurai Mole could react. "Leave me alone already, you stupid potato-head!" Nasu fled. "Got you!" I managed to grab him. "H-hey, let me go!" He demanded. "It looks like Dave has managed to grab hold of Nasu Grave. What will he do next, folks?" Oshare commented. "Seriously, how did YOU get this far? You're not that strong looking… you're just an eggplant that walks and talks." I flew up and brought my head closer to him. "I-I guess I must've had very easy opponents!" He answered my question quickly.

I could tell that he was scared, based on my accidental intimidation tactics. "Well, time for you both to lose! Boo-yah!" I aimed at Samurai Mole and volleyball-spiked Nasu at him. "What is that dragon warrior-?! N-Nasu!" The mole called out to his teammate. "Gyaaaaaah! Look out! I'm gonna crash into you!" The eggplant warned him. "What?! But if I dodge, you will end up hitting the base of the audience area!" The mole told him. "I don't care! You're clearly better than me, just win this for the both of-!" Nasu crashed. "Oh my God! Nasu has collided with the area near the crowd and he looks completely messed up!" Oshare was shocked. Everyone looked at the state Nasu was in and he had appeared to be knocked out. "Nasu...! ... Nasu! Nasu! Speak to me, Nasu Grave! Please, answer me!" Samurai Mole came up to and shook him. "Folks, it seems like Samurai Mole really did care about his partner… and now he's forced to fight against Dave and Jarne by himself." The skeleton stated. "D-Damn you, Demonic Dragon… Damn you! That eggplant respected me as his teammate… and you went and picked on him, because he was supposedly weak. I despise people who pray on the weak! You are despicable! I will make sure that you lose…! Air Slice! HYYAAAAAAAH!" The mole unleashed his wrath by bombarding my armor with those Air Slices. "GH- GH- GH- GH- AAAAAAAH!" I lost my flight stability and fell. "Dave!" Jarne caught me with her hand before I could land on the ground. "*sigh* Thanks a bunch, Jarne…" I jumped back to the ground. "You can thank me later, we have an angry as hell mole to deal with first!" She shrunk to her normal size.

I looked back at the mole who was now glaring directly at me. "Let's see how you like it when YOUR partner is easily knocked out, Demonic Dragon!" He dashed over to Jarne. "*gasp* Jarne, no!" I threw out my hand to her, but it was too late. Samurai Mole smacked her on the head with his non-lethal sword. This caused her to stumble to the ground and pass out. "Jarne!" I screamed. "... This was done to avenge Nasu Grave… and now, you are next to be knocked out!" The mole continued to glare at me. This caused us to fight for a little while, exchanging blows. I was never hurt too much, but I knew that a prolonged battle with him would be bad for me. "... It looks like you leave me with no other option, Samurai Mole. Your lack of instinctive urgency to follow the bushido way has caused your downfall. If only you had caught Nasu yourself without a second thought, he would have been okay. But no, you decided to listen to him... long enough for him to crash near the audience area! Should you be angry at me, or… yourself and your own actions?" I told him. "M-me and my actions…?" He stood still. "You hesitated, because you trusted him that you would pull both yourself and him through this. What you did was this: You have forsaken Nasu! Now, is that how the bushido code should go?!" I exclaimed. "N-no… A-am I in the wrong here…? ... Damn it! I should have immediately caught Nasu's fall! What was I thinking?! At least both of us would have stuck around to fight…" He looked like he regretted this outcome. "What now, Samurai Mole? Do you have any hatred for me now? The only one you should be blaming for this... is yourself." I said.

It took a bit before my single remaining opponent of this round to say something in response. "... I see… Go ahead, finish me off. I deserve it... I knocked out your teammate out of spite for you, which I had no right to possess. Plus, a samurai should never act out in blind rage and anger..." Samurai Mole dropped his weapon. "*gasp*" The crowd went. "Well folks, it looks like this fight is almost over… No one would have expected it to turn out this way. Samurai Mole is essentially giving up and wants Dave to deal the finishing blow to him." Oshare turned to the crowd. "... Very well then… If that is what you wish, then I will make that wish come true. Don't worry, Samurai Mole. After this match is over, I'll wish for Nasu to feel much better." I took off my helmet to let him see my face. "... D-Dave... ... You may be a demon from that current look, but your heart and mind are nothing like a demon's. I must thank you... for reinforcing what should be the code of honor and loyalty for samurai to follow. You have my utmost respect... Now, go and deliver your last attack to me." He insisted, putting out his arms. "Alright, here I go!" I charged at and grabbed him. After that, I took him up to the air. "... Seismic Slam!" I soon flew downward. I had his body impact the ground, where a bunch of dust settled in. "*cough cough* Is it over for Samurai Mole, folks?" Oshare tried to look at the end result. I stood up soon after and blew the dust away with my wings. "... Samurai Mole is down and out! With both him and Nasu Grave out of commission... Dave and Jarne win this match, and they both move on to the semifinal round!" The skeleton brought closure to that crazy match. "*crowd cheer*" I decided to carry back Jarne to the behind-the-scenes area. "Ladies and gentlemen, we'll be waiting for a while for Jarne to wake up. Until then, mentally prepare yourselves for what's left for the tournament." He finished speaking for the time being. "Wow, that was…" Arle looked at me as I put Jarne down by her healer. "Yeah, that match unfolded so unexpectedly, Arle. Heal me." I requested. I made my armor disappear for this moment.

Twenty minutes passed and Jarne woke up in a panic. "*gasp* D-did we win?!" She jolted to her feet. "Don't worry, I resolved everything. I talked things out with Samurai Mole as we fought. After that, he realized that he wasn't fully embracing the bushido code. And so, he basically gave up and wanted me to deal the finishing blow to him. He also thanked me for helping him come to know his own mistake. I complied with his wish and knocked him unconscious with my Seismic Slam." I told her. "Okaaaay…" She sounded like she didn't really know how this came to be. "Hey, is Jarne ready now? The crowd has been waiting a while for her to recover." Oshare suddenly came inside. "Oh, Oshare!" I noticed him walking in. "I just need a few more minutes." Jarne told the skeleton. "I see… I suppose a few more minutes won't kill the crowd's excitement." He allowed it. "Great!" She smiled. Jarne's healer did their job as quickly as they could. "Alright, I'm ready!" She pumped herself up. "Very nice, we can start the first semifinal match. You are part of that, so that's why I went to go check up on you." Oshare told her. "See ya later, Dave." Jarne waved to me and left. "Who is she going up against...? I hope to God that it isn't Rulue… she'll decimate her, just like the rest of the fighters that were unlucky enough to be one-punched." I pondered for a second. "Folks, the first semifinal round is about to commence! On my left is the djinn you just saw fighting in the second third round match, Jarne!" Oshare presented to the audience. *crowd cheer* "Aaaand on my right is the fighting queen that needs no further introduction, Rulue!" He finished. "Crap! Jarne's completely screwed!" I exclaimed. "*gasp*" Arle couldn't hold in her shock.

The two fighters stared at each other as several seconds passed by. "Now… let the match…. BEGIN!" Oshare jumped away. "I-I'm sorry to do this to you, Jarne… but I have to win. Rock Punch." Rulue came to her. "...! Oh no… Geh-!" Jarne made her hand bigger just in time to absorb a good portion of the punch's force. As a cost though, that made her go flying many feet backwards. After that, Jarne hit the ground reasonably hard. "*gasp* What happened?!" Oshare observed. "... Oooough… You've never hit me that hard before, Rulue…" She miraculously got up. "Ah-! This is incredible! Jarne managed to survive Rulue's one Rock Punch by using her own power! Look at that instant replay: Jarne made her hand bigger to soften the blow and just in the nick of time!" The skeleton presented the replay. "... I can't believe it… She saved herself?!" I stood up to look at the screen. "I must say, you have lasted better than the others I've faced… but you're still terribly weakened. Again, I'm sorry to do this to you, Jarne." Rulue dashed to her. "Wha-?" Jarne was still recovering. "Iron Fist." She targeted her stomach. "Gh-! Damn… it…" The djinn fell to the ground. "N-no..." Arle shook. "Jarne...!" I knew it was all over for her. "I… think it's safe to say… despite the surprise that Jarne gave us, she still went down easily. ... Thus, Rulue is the winner of this match and moves on to the final round." Oshare quickly declared. It was obvious to everybody that if the Rock Punch wasn't enough to put Jarne away, then it was that Iron Fist. "I must defeat Hohow Bird in my next match if I want to face Rulue… not to exactly fight, but instead, talk to her." I looked at my hands, before rolling them up into fists. "Please do so, for all of us…" Arle clinged to me. "... I will, that's what I had intended to do since the start of this..." I made her let go after saying that. "You're going now?" She assumed. "Yeah, Arle. I need to go and teach that bird a lesson or two…" I left the behind-the-scenes area.

Ringo's POV

"This does not look good…" I feared the worst after seeing that djinn go down. "Ringo, this is what we should expect from Ms. Rulue at this point." Accord told me. "... I know, but… I'm doubting that Dave can survive her onslaught. That's if he gets to the final round…" I frowned. "We just need to have some faith in him. If there's anybody that can convince Rulue to stop, it's Dave." Ex said. "Yeah! And there's no way that he'll lose to Hohow Bird! His true hero spirit is stronger than that bird's fake and ego-filled spirit!" Amitie cheered him on. "I want to see that bird get what's coming to h-!" Raffina and Schezo both yelled simultaneously before looking at each other in silence. "Kick his tail-feathered ass, Dave!" Feli cheered as well. Dave looked at us for a second and smiled briefly. "D-did he just smile…?" Lidelle noticed. "It looks like Dave intends to put an end to everything, through and through." Accord smiled. "Even with the risks…? 'Kay…" Witch sat back. "He's mentally stable, that's for sure." Yui noted. "He's the best in our class, of course he is!" Tarutaru said bluntly. "Let's just hope that things don't go to shit." Sig said. "It'll be fine, Sig. Dave's somethin' else and he won't ever lose so easily." Lemres told him. "There's that bird-brained bastard!" Raffina hated seeing his face. "Well, here it is... This is the biggest rivalry of the tournament, unbeknownst to this crowd." Ex stated.

Everyone's favorite skeleton began to speak once more to the audience. "Folks, here comes the second semifinal match, and it might just contain the most excitement out of any here! On my left is Primp Town's hero... Hohow Bird!" Oshare pointed to. *crowd cheer* "CAW! Thank you, thank you!" The bird flashed his ego some more. "Aaaand on my right is the Demonic Dragon Warrior himself... Dave!" The skeleton tossed a flower near him for some reason. *crowd cheer* Meanwhile, Hohow Bird walked over to Oshare. He talked to him and temporarily took the microphone. "People of Primp, I just wanted to say a couple of things before this match starts." He started speaking to the crowd. "What the hell…?" I raised an eyebrow. "First off, I hope you guys are seriously enjoying this one-of-a-kind tournament. I have had plenty of practice and fun fighting here for these three days. Secondly, there's one thing you guys should know about... Remember when I spoke about this one thing while fighting that flute kid? Here's what I said to him, verbatim: "If you were a villain, I would've had more incentive to defeat you here… but, I'm saving that very inspiration for when I fight a certain someone later in this tournament. I know that he's watching this right now, hoping that I'll fall; however, I have too much commitment to lose in this round! I won't bite the dust until I face him at least!". You guys were wondering who it was I was referring to at the time... and I'm here to tell you that it's Dave!" Hohow Bird revealed.

The area around us soon erupted into murmurs. "Huh? What?" The crowd went. "Don't let him fool you, he's not a good person. I've seen this guy come off as a bad influence for a girl that I captured, because she broke a rule here. Dave is only trying to make himself seem like a hero, when I'm Primp's one and only! Yes, even that last match he was in… That was just a ploy to make you, the audience, believe that he has a good heart. When you're someone called the "Demonic Dragon Warrior", how in the world could you possibly be good? Just look back at the armor that he used in all of his previous matches, it appeared to be menacing! No hero looks like that… and since he's a demon, he could very well be deceiving you all! However… he can prove himself to actually be a hero, IF he manages to beat me here in a certain fashion. So, what do you say, Dave? Will you fight me for the people's absolute trust in you being a legitimate hero?" He turned to face Dave. "... First of all, that very girl DIDN'T know that was a thing, Hohow Bird! … But, anyway... I accept. I'll show you what it takes to be a true hero! No egotistical comments, no screwed up ways of thinking, only a pure heart and mind... I'll win this match, accentuating those three things as the core of my strength!" Dave threw out his voice.

I was proud of him saying that directly to Hohow Bird. "Yeah! Do it, Dave!" I hollered. "Look at that small number of truly loyal fans of yours Dave, it disgusts me because it seems more like a cult." Hohow Bird grimaced for a second. "What?! Those are all my friends! How could you say something like that?!" Dave exclaimed. "Just look at that goth… uh… whatever girl! Doesn't she look like a creepy person that you would never go near?" The bird continued. "H-How dare you! I'm not creepy! ... A-at least not these days!" Feli lost her cool. ""At least not these days?" Pff… PA-HAHAHAHA! People, that's how you can tell that you have a liar on your hands! And what about that boy right there? The one in the glasses, you're the son of Dioge Stanford, aren't you?" Hohow Bird looked at him. "... Before you say ANYTHING: I must say that I'm nothing like that bastard of a father!" Klug became extremely angry. "Ooooh, harsh words! It is as they always say: Like father, like son! You know, your father was always quite a hot-headed individual. When things didn't go his way, he would burst like a boiling teapot. And you… the girl in the oversized sweater. Your horns obviously tie you to Dave personally, you look like a demon!" He continued to accuse. "H-huh?! ..." Lidelle freaked out and cried. This whole thing obviously bothered Dave, to the point where he couldn't ignore it. "Stop this! Your accusations are baseless! Tell me, Hohow Bird... What did YOU do to gain respect from Primp's citizens as a hero?" Dave stopped him. "... You really have no idea, huh? ... Fine. I'll show you what I have done years ago to gain such respect. Catch." Hohow Bird had a serious tone while saying that. He tossed an old-looking newspaper over to Dave .

After that, the bird came over to hand him the mic. "I want you to read this for everybody to hear. And keep in mind… this is a true story. This was no fabrication, the police can attest to that. Now… please read it for the audience, Dave." He told him. "Um… *throat clear* ... Local hero, Hohow Bird, saves a little girl from a monstrous fire in a building. None of the firefighters could stand the overwhelming heat and that's when he showed up. Hohow Bird marched inside, found the girl, and brought her to the safety of her mother without even getting singed... For this act of bravery and heroism, he was awarded with unquestionable recognition from citizens of Primp Town. Hohow Bird had been known in the past for stopping petty crimes, as well as performing smaller rescues for other people. What he has done most recently is considered to be his first large-scale good deed. After he rescued the little girl, he volunteered to help put out the fire, which he ended up doing. We were able to get a few words out of him after the operation was successful. He said: "People of Primp, you can rest easy as long as I remain. Any crime or whatever else that's bad happens, you can count on me to keep everyone safe from harm!". We hope that he is able to keep this great town safe from dangerous hazards and criminals alike for years to c-" Dave was suddenly stopped.

The bird himself had stopped him from reading on. "You can stop reading now, for I must explain something: That act I did was the second to the last one before taking a sudden absence from the job as a hero. You may wonder and ask why... Why would I take such a leave when I finally received major praise from the citizens? Well… that's the part that not many people know about." Hohow Bird took the mic back and spoke. "What do you mean?" Dave pressed for information. "The huge good deed I did about a couple months after that fire incident... it was a costly one. For a while after this one that I'm going to tell everyone here; I was not the same hero from the early days. One day, I got a call from INTERPUYO. They recognized that I had great skill and experience as a hero. The group asked me to take care of an international crime syndicate by targeting two of the leading spies: Spy Queen and Spy Gal-atea. From the information that I was told, this syndicate was preparing to make a bombing situation. And guess what place was going to be the target of the bombing…" He stopped for Dave to answer. "... Primp Town…?" Dave looked like he guessed the answer. "Riiiight. Of course, there was no way that I would've just allowed that to happen. And so... I took INTERPUYO's offer for me to help them out. I couldn't just sit back and let the town that I love be bombed. They helped me infiltrate the syndicate's base at the time. That's when I ran into the spies that planned the bombing themselves. I worked my wings off, trying so hard to render the bombs useless. I was successful with taking out the bombs, but everything else went wrong…" Hohow Bird looked solemn for that moment.

From that moment of silence, it forced out a question. "Wh-what happened?" Dave asked. "My condition... My pride... Everything that I embodied was stripped away from me on that day. ... The spies caught me by surprise, shot me in the leg with a gun... and they managed to get away before I could catch them. The people of INTERPUYO brought me back to the safety of their HQ, but I certainly didn't feel comfortable. With my gunshot wound, I couldn't do all the things that heroes are supposed to do. Additionally, even if I could… my pride was broken as a hero. Up until then, I never had any criminals escape from me. I might've saved Primp from those bombs… but I couldn't get these spies locked up in prison because of that wound I sustained. I won the battle, but I did NOT feel that way, Dave. ... What kind of hero allows him or herself to almost be killed by villains, and also let those very villains slip away? My whole emotional state became unstable, and I was cynical from that point on. And because my pride broke... my hero's spirit broke too. I didn't have the desire to help people out anymore. I spent the next four-ish years in a quiet and sad life. I would chuckle every now again from shows that I would watch on TV... but nothing ever truly brought my spirits back up to normal…"

Hohow Bird paused before going on with what was left of his story. "... That's how it was... until I saw a news report on TV a while ago. It mentioned the two names of Spy Queen and Spy Gal-atea. It stated that the duo were a murderer and an accomplice respectively in a case of murder; then, it said that they were finally behind bars for all of their crimes. I couldn't believe what I was hearing, so I paid full attention to it. The report ended with a quote from the prosecution of the court case for that murder... and I remember distinctly what that quote was. I won't say all of it, but basically... they said this: "Yes, I may have brought these two criminals down, but I couldn't have done it without that attorney and his assistant. They helped me realize a possibility that made me rethink myself… somewhat. I began to doubt the very witness, who said that her alibi was an unshakable truth. And then… all of that evidence came in from the defense; they said that it was all from her room. The witness' reaction to that had told me the real truth". It takes a special kind of person to bring down people like those spies, and I knew it. After I heard that quote... I thought that maybe there was hope for me to be a hero again, now that the spies got what was coming to them. So, I worked my body to how it was before my spirit broke... And once more, I performed small acts of good for the people of Primp. Even though they seemed to have forgotten me at first, they soon remembered who I was. And then...! My pride was back in commission, since I was fondly remembered by them. I felt like I was truly back home, enjoying my duty. I just wish that I can meet the attorney who managed to catch Spy Queen and Spy Gal-atea someday… He taught me that there are still things worth fighting for." The bird finally finished.

"Wait. ... Doesn't this sound familiar, guys?" I looked at Feli and the others. "... It does… Don't you remember? The TV report he mentioned was about the murder that happened in the Puyo Isle Resort." Ex remembered. "Oh yeah…! It was a bleak time for Draco, but you and Dave proved her to be innocent, Ringo." Feli remembered as well. "I was a witness of the crime… it was a weird thing to experience. I've never been in a courtroom trial before that time." Schezo felt that feeling again just from thinking about it. "Anyway… what about everything else that Hohow Bird has said? I don't know what to think of him anymore." I said. "I didn't know that he had a backstory, such as this one…" Raffina looked like she didn't hate the bird anymore. "I-it's sad…" Lidelle sympathized. "G-gosh, it IS sad…" Amitie frowned. "I must admit, even I had no idea…" Accord spoke. "That info must've been kept as a big secret." Lemres guessed. "I now understand where that bird is coming from... But, that doesn't mean I sympathize with him." Schezo stated. "Seriously, Dark Mage… you can be such an-" Satan's complaint was stopped. "Nevermind about that, Satan. We shouldn't have petty squabbles right now. We have something important that's about to happen." The dark mage told him. "Tch. Point taken…" Satan looked back to see Dave.


Author's Notes: Dave and Jarne managed to win their round three match against Samurai Mole and Nasu Grave. It was discovered that our djinn friend was going to face Rulue in the first semifinal match, and it wasn't a desired outcome for Dave to see. Thus... it was no surprise that the match ended up with Rulue as the winner, as sad as that may sound. Dave walked up to the ring for his semifinal match against Hohow Bird. Before the match could begin however, the bird felt a need to talk to the audience himself. This eventually led to a backstory being told, one that was a hard pill for Hohow Bird to swallow. It proved to be depressing, something that no one was expecting. How does Dave feel about all of this? How will he show Hohow Bird the true way to be a hero? What can Dave do to win his semifinal match? Next chapter: Chapter 58: Hero Versus Hero.