Chapter 52: The Fighting Tournament: The First of the Preliminary Rounds (Part 2)

The fight began and honestly… it wasn't very interesting. Lycanthrope ended beating Incubus somewhat easily. Several matches later, and Rulue's came up. "Here we go… Rulue will be fighting soon." I dug a hand into my sweater. "Yeah, but who is she fighting? I've never seen that person before…" Arle wondered. "Me neither…" Jarne said. Rulue walked outside without even looking at us. "Damn, what's with her…?" I contemplated. "I wanna go and talk to her after this match, but the expressions she's showing…" Arle stopped herself. "Yeah, let's not go and talk to her…" I suggested. We looked back at the screen to see the camera zoom in toward Oshare. "The next match of round one is about to take place, Folks! Over on my left is the self-proclaimed fighting queen; one who has both strength and beauty. Here she comes now, it's Rulue!" He announced. The crowd, once again, roared in cheers. "Aaaaand over on my right, is a kleptomaniac woman with the body of a dog. She may look cute and cuddly... but she's also fearsome; simply named, Scylla!" Oshare visualized for everyone. The crowd did utter out several "aw"s before they settled down. "..." "..." Neither of them said anything. "Okaaaay, that's not normal… At any rate, if you two are ready… … BEGIN!" Oshare moved out of the way. Scylla ran up to Rulue, planning out a move it looked like. "Arf! Arf! Ar-" She looked up. "Rock... Punch." Rulue countered on a dime. "...! *whimper*" Scylla got hit so hard from the one attack that she began to bleed quite a lot. She also couldn't get back up, like at all. She was still breathing, but did not look so well. "Wha-?!" My eyelids shot up. "Huh?!" Arle and Jarne had the same reaction. "U-uh… is Scylla fine…?" Oshare looked from a distance. "I-I-I… give... up… Ugh..." Scylla passed out. "G-give up?! … W-well folks, it appears as though this match was brought to the swiftest of conclusions… Rulue wins." He said. "Wh-what the hell…? I knew that Rulue was strong, but… did she give herself steroids or something…?" I could not believe the result that I was seeing.

What is this power boost of hers?! She wasn't this strong before… Combine that with how unusually dismissive she has been, I'm very worried for her now. "Woah… did you guys see that? Rulue looks even stronger than ever…" Minotauros saw us sitting down. "Minotauros… have you been noticing strange behavior from Rulue recently?" I asked him. "I… have… Rulue seemed sad and felt like she HAD to win this tournament. That's not like her… She would only go to these sorts of things for enjoyment… unless her title as "Fighting Queen" is on the line. Even then, she always had fun fighting. Here though… I didn't see one smile from her." He said. "Well, doesn't that make you feel concerned for her?" Arle brought up. "I-I-I mean, I suppose…" Minotauros stuttered. "Well, I am concerned for her… but I feel like she's just going to say "I'm perfectly fine" if you talk to her." I spoke my thoughts. "Maybe… you can talk to her when she gets into a fight here…" Arle thought about. "Yeah, that might be the only way to get something out of Ru- Ack! She's coming back! Sorry guys, I need to go to that spot behind you!" Minotauros hurried. As Rulue came back, I looked at her with major concern. She looked at me for one second, closed her eyes shut, then ran away.

Before she disappeared within the crowd of fighters, I saw a single tear of hers drop to the floor. "..." I turned back to the screen slowly. Scylla's healer frantically moved over to her side and carried her away from the ring. "Well folks... we'll be taking some more time to clean up this blood from the ring. Until then, sit by and wait patiently." Oshare announced to the audience. "God… that was such a horrible sight. I can't imagine how much pain that Scylla character felt from the one Rock Punch…" I bit my lower lip. "Uh-huh, that was scary…" Jarne wrapped herself around my arm. Arle narrowed her eyes again when she saw that. "Jarne… what do you think you're doing?" Arle spoke up. Jarne must have realized what Arle was referring to, so she let me go. "O-oh, um… I was just uncomfortable Arle, that's all." She told her. "Uh huh… Uh huh…" Arle continued to narrow her eyes. "Wh-what? Don't you believe me?" Jarne asked innocently. "Jarne, are you… finding interest in me? We… just met, you know…" I presumed. "U-uh, wh-wh-what do you mean by "interest", Dave?" She stuttered. "Jarne, do you like him? And don't lie, because I'll know when you do." Arle sighed. "Well, his eyes do look good… but that's not what I wanted to say. I don't love him Arle, I just admire his power." She admitted. "Are… you sure? It just seems like you are trying to butter me up." I doubted. "I'll have you know this fact, just in case: Dave already has three-" Arle started. "Four now." I interrupted her. "*sigh* -four girlfriends that love him. Dave, the next time you interrupt me like that, you won't hear the end of it…" Arle went on to threaten me.

Tch. I'm not scared by her threat… but if I lash back, she may not want to help me anymore. I should just apologize for now. "S-sorry." I lowered my head. "Daaaaamn, four? You must be a ladies guy…" Jarne widened up her eyes. "*sigh* Seriously…? How did we get from feeling so sorry for Scylla to… talking about this of all things?" I shook my head. "I dunno… life is an unpredictable mess." Arle said. We waited until the next match and the audience were both ready. That one, along with the one after that, were a little enticing. In retrospect, I would have said that they didn't have too much substance to them. "Mmm… Well, looks like it's my match now. Wish me luck guys!" Jarne waved to us. We did the same, then watched her leave for the ring. Me and Arle looked back at the screen a few seconds later. "Ladies and gentlemen, I feel as though we are about to experience another great match here. For this one: We have two female contestants duking it out. Coming from my left is an elf archer who loves to trick her enemies into traps. She's often to be considered quite the tomboy by those who know her, it's Archan! Uh, side note: Her arrows have been modified here so that they don't stab other fighters. In other words- they're not lethal." Oshare pointed to. "It'll be fun to make some tricks here!" She giggled. "And over on my right… is a sight to behold. She's a djinn who is described to possess great power in the form of size manipulation. Here comes Jarne!" He once again visualized for the audience. "Oh, it's great to be me!" She grinned. "That… doesn't really give me much confidence in her, Arle…" I told her. "I'd… watch if I were you, she fights in an interesting way." She insisted. "I guess I should…" I sighed. "Now… LET THE MATCH BEGIN!" Oshare initiated it. "Eat this!" Archan readied an arrow. "Just try to shove that kiddy arrow in my face! Enlarge!" Jarne made her right hand bigger. "Woah! That's weird…" My eyes jolted for a second, then I looked at Arle. "That's what she does best, Dave…" She didn't look away from the screen. Jarne was running towards Archan, blocking arrows with her bigger hand. "Looks like I have to think of a different method of attack…" Archan calmly ran away. This chase happened for another minute or so before Archan pulled out this weird-looking dart. It was quite small, so I assumed that the staff allowed it to be used.

I was thinking maybe there's poison on the dart's tip, but the staff would've found that out… So what good does it do for Archan? "Have a dose of this, djinn!" She threw it at Jarne. It successfully punctured Jarne's skin and the effects soon revealed themselves. "Ooooooough, what's happenin' to me…? Shomethin' is wroooong… oooooough, this feelin'." She stumbled. "...! What happened to Jarne?!" Arle looked like she was about to stand up, but then stopped. "I… don't know." I said to her. "Ooooh! That one is going to be hard to get over. Folks, what Jarne is currently experiencing is the feeling that one gets when they smoke drugs for the first time." Oshare explained to everybody. "What?! You mean to tell me that this djinn is now high?!" I exclaimed. "High…? Dave, I hate to ask this, but what is he talking about?" Arle wanted an answer. "... Arle, being high… I don't know how to describe it, I've personally never felt that feeling before. To put it in words you could understand… being high artificially makes an individual's mind go into a euphoric, or feel good state." I answered with a rough idea. "You mean… like Jarne's happy place in her mind?" She looked at me. "I… guess? It could promote imagination…" I put a hand up to my chin. "A-anyway, Jarne's in trouble. If she doesn't do something for herself, she'll end up losing…" She got us back on track. Gazing at the screen again, we saw the fight going downhill. Archan was physically smacking Jarne's face with a paddle.

This went on for a while it seemed. The smacks progressively got worse as time went on. In the middle of that, the little dart that Archan threw popped out of Jarne's skin. Slowly but surely, I noticed that Jarne was regaining a sense of reality. Her speech was picking back up for the better, that's how I was able to tell. "Ah-! Stop smacking me like that!" Jarne angrily slapped Archan hard with her right hand. The archer flew several feet away from the point of impact. Jarne stood up and slammed Archan with her giant fist. "Ack-!" The archer uttered. "Ouch! That's going to leave a mark for sure! Archan had better do something quick or she'll be squashed by more of Jarne's attacks." Oshare commented. "Hrr!" Archan launched an arrow at Jarne's face. "...! Ow! It hurts!" She fell to the ground. Archan proceeded to smack Jarne some more, since that's really the only other thing she could do right now. "Dammit, Archan is all over her… if only there was something that Jarne can do." I continued watching. "So, this is where you two are…" Another voice crept up to my ears, and I recognized it. "...! Hohow Bird… What do you want?" I turned around and asked him. "Hm… I just wanted to wish you just the slightest bit of luck. But then, that would mesh badly with this Jarne character." He said. "Okay, one: Me and Jarne only just met today. Two: I want to believe that she can win." I listed my problems with what he said. "But hmm… If she does end up winning this round, it'll be difficult for you if she ends up as your opponent in a match of a later round. Jarne will be nothing but a roadblock to you, Dave. You'll hesitate in winning against her because you just befriended her, hm?" He told me. "..." I turned silent. "Well, I need to prepare for my match later. See you after I win it." Hohow Bird walked away.

Seeing Jarne's match progress, it still did not look great. "Dave, can I… talk to you for a minute or two?" Arle turned to me. "... Yeah…?" My eyes turned away from the screen. "Dave, I… I know we haven't really spent time together just by ourselves, but… I feel something special coming through when I'm with you. And no, before you say that it's love... it's not. I don't love you, hell no. Besides, I'm five years older than you. I feel a special, friendly bond with you. What I mean to say is…" She stopped her words, feeling a little awkward. "Arle…?" I put my hand on her shoulder. "You… remind me of how I was when I was sixteen… in terms of sheer good will. Also… I know that you got your optimism from Amitie, but it's a spitting image of hers. Additionally, you're smart like Ringo… I feel like you're the mental combination of all three of us. Considering that Amitie and Ringo are my two best friends, it really means something to me. Dave, I feel like I can ALWAYS count on you to get the job done. Although, I do realize that you've been a little sensitive in the past… that's what I've been told anyway. At one point, you were being comforted by Rulue of all people… *sigh* *head shake* What have things turned to? Rulue being understanding of others? Satan not trying to marry me? My friends falling in love with you? And… you appearing in our lives so suddenly…? So many deviations from how my life used to be like, and I'm not entirely sure how to take it all in..." Arle lowered her head.

I understood her feeling awkward about her life changing, based on what she described. "Arle… I can understand how these changes make you feel weird. My changes in emotion and livelihood were jarring for me too. Before I met Ringo, I never physically talked to others so much. Also, I was a sensitive guy... my self-esteem was much lower, and I had a lack of mental stability. When I finally did receive a semblance of normal life, it felt odd… but I was slowly becoming accustomed to it. And now, I don't wanna let go of it." I grabbed her hands with my own, then lowered my head as well. "Why?" She wondered. "Why? Because I love it compared to my old life of solitude. In my world... magic does not exist, nor any supernatural creatures. It was as normal as you could think of a world. There were just humans, animals, and plants. The trade off was that my world stayed safe after humans established society to the highest level. S-sorry... You might not get what the hell I'm talking about, Arle." I stopped explaining. "I may not know what it is, but I'll remember what you said. I'll tell them to someone else, and maybe they can help me understand. Maybe Ringo can…?" Arle thought of her. "I suppose… *gasp* Jarne! I almost forgot about her, how is she doing? …!" I noticed. "She's still getting…" Arle stopped and frowned. "... … Wait a minute… look at Jarne, what's happening to her?" I brought to her attention. "Huh?" Arle squinted a little. "..." I stared. "*gasp* Sh-she's-!" She realized what was going on. "Wh-what's going on, Arle?!" I wanted to know. "Jarne is… gathering energy to make her entire body bigger. There! I can already see it happening!" Arle exclaimed. "...! Folks, I think it's time to hang on to your seats! Jarne is becoming bigger and quickly too." Oshare pointed out to the crowd. "Oh shit…" I sat in shock. "Woah-!" Archan leapt out of the way. The size that Jarne had become was almost colossal, like a giant. "I think it's time for me to end this." She said to Archan. "Tch. Try your best! Remember this saying well: "The bigger they are, the harder they fall"." Archan said back to her.

The archer dodged for a while, but she couldn't do anything to the larger-than-life Jarne. Finally, Jarne landed a punch on Archan, which was pretty brutal. The force of the punch caused her to fly outside of the ring area. Outside of visible range, the camera then zoomed in for a better look. Archan's face was bloody, most likely stemming from a broken nose. "Ugh… that poor archer girl got messed up badly from the punch." I grimaced. "Yeah, just look at all that blood on her face…" Arle nodded in agreement. "I-I… give up." Archan winced. "... Well… there you have it, Jarne has won over this little trickster. *cough* Let's give her a round of applause for the comeback!" Oshare composed himself. "Yay, I won!" Jarne jumped for joy after she shrunk down to her normal size. She ended up waving to the audience as they lightly cheered. The audience might not be too hyped right now… all because of that punch. It sure wasn't a pretty sight to set eyes on. A minute later, me and Arle saw Jarne return to the behind-the-scenes area, where we still sat. "So, what do you think about my win?" She sat down with us. "O-oh, it was… something." Arle struggled to find what to compliment about the win itself. "Anyway... congratulations, Jarne." I manufactured a smile. I didn't exactly feel happy about the way Jarne had won that match, but I had to fake a smile. She still deserved something good in the end. "Thanks, Dave!" She hugged. "Woah, hold on there, Jarne. Keep your hands to yourself, if you would. I don't like how you're touching him, when you two just met today." Arle pouted. "Arle, as long as it's not love she's giving me, I don't mind. Don't be so restrictive." I narrowed my eyes. "*sigh* Fine, have it your way…" She crossed her arms.

Some time passed before the next match started. I was honestly talking to Arle and Jarne more than looking at the screen. At one point, I received a text message from Ringo. "Hm?" I brought out my cell phone. "What is it, Dave?" Arle wondered. "Um, do you mind? This is kind of private for me…" I insisted for her to pay it no mind. "Hmph." She grumbled. Jarne noticed that I shooed Arle away, and didn't go to pay any mind to me either. I began to read the message that Ringo gave me. "Dave, are you better now? I could hear you screaming, all the way to where we were. Of course, I also saw you cough out blood… Is Arle treating you well?" "Yes, Ringo. I'm fine now. I'm just worried for Rulue right now… The last time that I saw her, which was after her match, she gave me a look of what seemed to be regret. Then, Rulue had shed a single tear as she ran off. Minotauros said that he would get words out of her at some point, but that doesn't make me any less uneasy. Also, did you and the other SEE how powerful Rulue became overnight? She wasn't this powerful when we were with her yesterday." I waited for Ringo to message me back, and she had this to say: "I know… Satan couldn't believe it at all. Ex was left just as shocked as he was, and we were… well, you know… flabbergasted by it. Ms. Accord reacted to this differently compared to the rest of us." I was left with a vague-sounding observation from Ringo, so I asked her to go into further detail. "Dave, Ms. Accord looked to be suspicious of Rulue's boost in strength. I don't know if that was really the case, but… bah! I'll go ask her myself. See ya later after the entire round is over, Dave." She elaborated and sent me a smiley face. "So, uh… what have I been missing?" I turned back to Arle and Jarne. "Dave, this match just ended." Arle pointed at the screen. "Oh, okay. I guess I didn't miss much…" I shrugged. "Nope, it wasn't anything special." Arle affirmed. "Yeah, it was honestly boring compared to your match." Jarne admitted. "*sigh* Mine was too close for comfort… I wouldn't say that it was awesome…" I frowned.

The remaining matches went through, one by one, until one was left. Hohow Bird had yet to fight at this point, so I assumed that he would do so here. "Ladies and Gentlemen! Now that we have gone through fifteen fights for round one, we only have one left to go. So, let's see the competitors that have yet to fight today. Over on my left is a flutist who uses the power of music to control his enemies, he is Panotty!" Oshare danced to nonexistent music. "Aaaaaw! He looks so cute up close!" Girls in the crowd shrieked. "Aaaaand, over here on my right is somebody who practically lives in Primp Town. He's our town's very own shining hero of justice; grace us with your presence, Hohow Bird!" Oshare shrieked like how those girls were with Panotty. "CAW! Citizens of Primp Town, your hero fights for you in this tournament right here! Cheer for me!" Hohow Bird showered himself with cheers. The crowd went absolutely nuts for this bird. "How can they possibly cheer for this clown of a bird?" Arle's eyes twitched. "I dunno. Besides, Hohow Bird has a screwed up view of what he thinks a hero is." I shrugged. "He sounds very egotistical with his words." Jarne stated the obvious. "Yes, yes he is very egotistical." I nodded, feeling slightly annoyed. "What the heck is all of this?" Panotty scratched his head. "Hm? Oh, don't mind my sheer popularity with the crowd, flute boy. This is just something that comes with being a hero…" Hohow Bird said to him with a smug face. "Wow, that's a shit-eating grin if I ever saw one..." I noted with irritation. "He's… really getting you, isn't he?" Arle noticed my rise in emotions. "Oh, you have no idea how much he's getting to me, Arle..." I gritted my teeth. "Now, let us begin the final fight of round one!" Oshare moved away. "I hope you're ready, flute boy… I may be a hero, but that doesn't mean that I have to go easy on you here." Hohow Bird wished him luck. "Meh. I'm not scared of you, 'cause I have my trusty flute with me." Panotty flashed. The two looked at each other silently for a few seconds. Before we knew it, a one-of-a-kind match began.

Author's Notes: Many matches came and went, some more important than others. Now, we come to the last one of round one. Hohow Bird versus a flutist named Panotty… Let's be honest here, we all know that the "hero of Primp" will win this match. But the question here is... "How will Hohow Bird win this to cause problems for Dave later?". Additionally, what is up with Rulue's increase of power? Why does she look and feel like she has to win? Next chapter, Chapter 53: The Fighting Tournament: The First of the Preliminary Rounds (Part 3).