BATTLE NETWORK CYBERSYSTEM: The Manic Saga

Volume 2: Pokerface

Chapter 16: The Sweet Sixteen

Manic threw on his dark blue hawaiian shirt before throwing the ninjato strap over his shoulder as he and the rest of Team Deity waited for their turn to head to the arena. They were the first team to fight today, against Team Oni. They were all to wait in an underground locker room until they were announced.

"Is everyone ready?" Ryuu asked as he quietly spun the nunchaku he received from Manic as they all waited for the tournament to commence.

Manic pulled back the chamber of the long-barrelled gun he earned from Koro's training, "As ready as I'll ever be, I guess..."

"Same with me," Kinzoku said, his katana and wakizashi resting on his hip as he meditated to put his train of thought into the fight completely. Miyuu nodded as she held her blade in front of her, examining it closely for any knicks in the blade itself. She then returned the katana to its sheath and a loud announcer's voice blared throughout the entire stadium. However, the stadium was somewhat small compared to most others, but it was completely full with criminals and such from the underworld.

-Ladies and Gentlemen, The Second Bandit's Cove Tournament is about to begin now! There was cheering from the audiences as Team Deity slowly made their way up the steps towards the arena. To refresh everyone on the rules of the Tournament, anything goes, but a team loses if a team is defeated by death or dismemberment, or a team forfeits. Also, if a fighter falls out of the ring for a count of ten, their team is disqualified, and will be killed on the spot. With that said, here is the first match of the day.- The audience now had a thirst for blood with these words.

-First up, our Electopian Bracket, starting with this decade's guests to the Tournament, invited by this decade's sponsors, Team Deity!-

As the four reached the arena, they could finally see light flood the stadium. The area they were to fight in was a large concrete block in the center of the arena with barbed wire lining it. Along the ground, surrounding the block, they were walking on small, sharp stones.

As the four made their way onto the concrete block, they could hear boos and hisses from the crowd, but they tried their best to ignore them. However, Miyuu turned around to look back at the way they came from and saw Joseph, waving to her.

"Joseph!" Miyuu yelled, happy that someone had come to cheer for them, but Joseph yelled back to her, "I'll see you guys after this is done, we're fighting in the second arena right now!"

There were four places where this section of the tournament was taking place, the northeast arena, the northwest arena, the southeast arena and the southwest arena. Team Deity was in the southwest arena for this part of the tournament, and it would be the same for tomorrow, if they were to move on.

-And our second team, straight from the shadows, they are a band of merciless killers, and they always get their job done right. From the Electopian underworld, Team Oni!-

Only two people came from the opposite end of the arena, but the crowd was ecstatic at the arrival of the two. The taller one was the one that Team Deity had confronted in the hotel lobby that morning, but the second person, shorter in stature, was unknown. The taller man stepped onto the concrete slab and faced Team Deity.

-Now, let the fight begin!-

The crowd's cheer was loud, but the fighters could hear each other clearly enough over the cheering.

"So, I get to fight the legendary deities," the man said as the four watched him carefully. "I'm going to have fun with this fight..."

Manic noticed something different about him, and took a step back into a readied stance.

"Kin, you notice something different about him?" Manic asked without turning his head away from the man. Kinzoku turned his katana to the side and put his hand near it, ready to draw. "Yeah, I know what you mean..." Kinzoku responded.

Suddenly, the man in front of them produced two narrow swords and held them in front of his eyes horizontally. Miyuu and Ryuu were prepared to fight now, but no one made a move yet. The man stood there, motionless, while the others waited for him to make a move.

"Now..." the man said as he took a step forward, then broke into a sprint, "you die!"

The man ran towards Miyuu, but Manic and Kinzoku noticed something else. There were three others behind him, all ready to strike as well.

"Watch out!" Manic yelled to the others as he and Kinzoku leapt to the side to avoid kunai that were thrown by someone. Ryuu barely dodged a pair of iron claws shot at him by throwing himself backwards and landing on his hands, but then went backwards into a flip and landed on his knee. Miyuu barely drew her sword in time to block the man's swords, but he quickly jumped away from Miyuu, along with the other men clad in black. They all varied in size and weaponry. One was kneeling on the ground, hunched over with a pair of claws connected to a chain in his hands. Another one stood up straight with three kunai in each of his hands. The last one had an enormous build and carried a large axe over his shoulders. Manic and Kinzoku had picked themselves up from the ground and faced the new team of assassins.

"This is the real Team Oni," the man said, "My Oni..."

Ryuu picked himself up from his kneeling stance and faced the team, "How about we go one on one? Each member of your team against one from ours?"

The leader of the group had smirked, "You underestimate my group... fine, one on one, but at the same time. I'd rather have this finished quickly instead of drawn out..."

"That's fine with me," Ryuu said in response as he walked forward, but then saw the hunched man glare at him. Ryuu clenched his fists, which were covered by open-fingered gloves, and glared back.

"You're mine, karate boy," the hunched man said as he slowly crawled along the ground towards Ryuu, taking distance away from the rest of the fighters.

"What do they call you around here?" the man with the kunai in his hands said as he slowly walked towards Kinzoku.

"They call me Kinzoku," Kin said as he walked just as slowly to the side, circling the man.

"Good. Those who aren't dead when they see me, I tell them my name is Hakkaido, the man who will send them to Hell."

Kinzoku smirked at this, "Long catchphrase, but I won't be so easy for you to kill..."

Hakkaido smirked as they walked away from the others slowly, keeping their distances from each other, "I think this will be the first fight in a long time that I will have fun with..."

Back at the remaining fighters, the leader of Team Oni kept his glare focused on Miyuu. "You should provide me with enough entertainment for this fight," the man said as he stepped forward, but when he stepped forward, Miyuu took a small step backwards, her katana still gripped in her hands.

"Don't underestimate me," Miyuu said, "I will kill you if I have to..."

The man laughed, "I doubt you could even scratch me." He then put his blades into a cross in front of his chest and rushed towards Miyuu again.

"Guess you're all that's left," Manic said to the axe-wielding fighter, "So let's make this quick, ok?"

"Yes, let's," the man said as he brought the axe from his shoulders and into a readied position as Manic kept his stare focused on him as he slowly walked to the side of the brute.

"Gyah!" Ryuu burst out as he had flipped sideways to avoid another of the man's chain claws. He landed in a kneeling position, but was ready just in time to dive forward and below another strike from the claws, but the chain had barely torn through Ryuu's shirt as he landed. He then picked himself up from the ground to see the man cackling at him.

"Run as much as you want, you can't defeat Shun-Tou," the man said as he laughed. Ryuu wiped a drop of sweat from his cheek as he focused on the man.

I can't get in close enough to hit him... Ryuu said to himself.

We'll have to work together against this foe, Ryuu, Gaius said.

Yes... Ryuu responded, keeping his amber eyes focused on Shun-Tou, ready to dodge if he were to strike again. However, if he kept receiving as many cuts as he was at this time, he was sure to fall soon.

"Ready or not, karate kid!" Shun-Tou cackled again as he threw his arm backwards, ready to throw the chain claws again at Ryuu.

There! Ryuu said as his eyes widened. Once Shun-Tou threw the chain claws, Ryuu already began his sprint towards Shun-Tou, holding the nunchaku handles between him and the chains. Once Ryuu finally reached Shun-Tou, he clenched his left fist and delivered a powerful punch to Shun-Tou's jaw, then a knee to his stomach, finally ending with a side kick to Shun-Tou's chin, sending his head backwards.

"Hehe," Ryuu said as he lowered his foot to the ground, "Guess you were all talk after all..."

"You think you've won this fight?" a cackling voice said as Shun-Tou lowered his head again after the kick, seemingly unharmed, which surprised Ryuu. "Yeah, I've trained my body well enough to withstand even these claws, much less your weak attacks." Finally, Ryuu noticed why he had said that and saw from up close that Shun-Tou's body was covered in callouses from fighting.

Suddenly, Shun-Tou's chains had whipped towards Ryuu and wrapped themselves around him. Ryuu held his right forearm in front of his neck to avoid being choked to death by the chain that wrapped around the back of his neck, but Ryuu couldn't move either of his legs, as they were bound at the ankles by the second end of the chain.

"Now you're mine to toy with," Shun-Tou said evilly as he hopped backwards and forcefully pulled the chains up and over his head, taking Ryuu with them, and swung the chain over his head once, then slammed Ryuu into the concrete below, forcing Ryuu to cough up blood onto the concrete slab.

Miyuu's blade was locked between the leader's crossed swords, but the leader of the team was too strong for her, and sent her skidding backwards across the concrete to the near edge of the arena. However, Miyuu kept her stance strong and recovered from it and looked at him, but he glared back at her with cold, empty eyes.

"You should know who you are fighting, Tenjou..." the man said coldly as Miyuu glared at him with more contempt.

"How do you know me?" Miyuu demanded.

"I fought alongside Amethyst as one of her generals," the man said, just as coldly, but his words brought memories back to Miyuu as she remembered who he was.

Back then, Amethyst had been the leader of the Lucavi Knights, and she had trusted generals under her command. Two of them she had seen and she had heard about a third, but Miyuu had never recognized this one except from the stories. He had been the general in charge of the stealth unit in the Lucavi, and only a select few had ever seen his face. However, now, Miyuu recognized who he was, and how he knew her.

"So, Shin Tomotsu," Miyuu said as she brought the blade up next to her ear, "Why do you decide now to show your presence to the world?"

The edges of Tomotsu's lips gave off a smile which quickly faded, "Because of my brother..." Tomotsu then glanced towards the outskirts of the arena, past the others fighting, to a short red haired kid, no older than twelve, watching the fight with a katana on his hip.

"Why..." Miyuu said in shock, "why would you bring your brother into a life of killing?"

"Because he wanted to," Tomotsu answered simply. Miyuu couldn't stand this man any more, for the cruelty of committing his own younger brother into a life of crime. Her emotion took hold of her immediately as she rushed towards him.

"Shii-ne!" Miyuu yelled as she sprinted towards Tomotsu with her katana ready to strike. However, Tomotsu was too quick for her, and dodged to the side and locked blades with Miyuu again as she struck numerous times in anger.

Manic skid back on the concrete on both his feet, his head turned to the side after receiving a blow from the large man.

"Hah, guess you're not all you're cooked up to be, are you!" the large man yelled at Manic as he held his great axe in front of him. Manic turned his eyes to face the man as he spat out a bit of blood.

"That was a free shot," Manic said with a smirk as he unsheathed the ninjato on his back, "Now I'm getting serious."

"You don't have a chance in Hell of beating me, bo--"

"What's your name?"

"What?!"

"What is your name," Manic asked harshly.

"Doubt it'll do you any good, being a dead man," the man laughed, "But the name's Bakuretsu. And now, you die!" Bakuretsu had lunged towards Manic with the large axe ready to cut Manic's waist, but Manic was too quick for the attack and hopped over the blade as it swung past him. Once Manic landed and caught Bakuretsu's glance, he immediately shot towards him with great speed and cut in a downwards diagonal strike towards Bakuretsu's hands. However, instead of the fingers being cut off, Bakuretsu's grip loosened and his axe fell to the ground, his fingers broken. He fell onto his knee from the pain and looked at Manic.

"How..." Bakuretsu said quietly. Then, he saw how his fingers were saved. Manic had inverted the blade before he struck, so it wouldn't cut through Bakuretsu's fingers. However, Bakuretsu wasn't finished by a long shot, as he picked up his axe with his other hand and swung at Manic once again. However, instead of dodging the strike, Manic decided to block the attack as he held the back of the ninjato with his free hand. Manic's ninjato was starting to cut into the handle of the axe as Bakuretsu laughed as he kept force on the axe.

"Bahahah, you can't keep that up forever, you know," Bakuretsu said while laughing.

Manic smirked, "I know." And with that, Manic pushed the axe off the ninjato with both hands and cut through the axe handle itself, letting the axe blade fall to the ground with a loud clatter. Bakuretsu looked at the fallen axe with shock in his eye.

"You brag too much, and you underestimated my team," Manic said as he snapped his wrist sideways, so Bakuretsu could see the side of the ninjato. Bakuretsu quickly crawled backwards and towards the arena exit until he felt a foot on his back. He looked up to see Tomotsu's brother keeping him from exiting the arena with his sword drawn in his right hand, his left holding the opening of the sheath.

"...Ku...mo...?" Bakuretsu said slowly as he looked at the red-haired boy, as did Manic from the corner of his eye.

However, the boy didn't respond, other than sending the katana through Bakuretsu's chest. Manic and Bakuretsu were shocked at what had happened, and watched Bakuretsu fall onto the floor, dead. Kumo then stepped over Bakuretsu and faced Manic.

"You killed your own teammate..." Manic said coldly as he turned to face the replacement fighter.

"Yes, a worthless one." Kumo said coldly, which angered Manic and Infernos even more.

"You don't get to decide who's worthless or not!" Manic yelled at the boy. "No one in this world is worthless, everyone has the right to live."

"If you would like to prove your statement," Kumo said, with the same coldness in his eyes and voice as his brother, "Then prove me wrong with your blade..."

With that statement, both Manic and Kumo ran towards each other and cut at each other, each of them deflecting the others' blows flawlessly.

"So, Kinzoku," Hakkaido said cooly, "you ever kill a man?"

Kinzoku glared at him from the corner of his eye as he walked, "Yeah... I can tell you have countless times..."

Hakkaido laughed, "You see right through me, samurai. Now, let's see if you can see through my attack!" The man then sent all his kunai towards Kinzoku, one after the other in quick succession. However, Kinzoku had rolled to the side to dodge most of them, and deflected the last one with his katana while he knelt on the ground. He then got up and glared at the man.

"You mock me," Kinzoku said coldly, "If that's all you have, then you're going to lose easily."

"I wouldn't bet on it," Hakkaido said as he quickly flicked his left wrist and the kunai seemed to come to life, jumping from the floor in a line towards Kinzoku. He received two cuts on his arm as he rolled backwards to dodge the attack, but noticed that the kunai were all connected by a clear wire, to seem as if they were all connected by an invisible force. He landed in a kneeling position, with his katana in front of him, ready to strike.

Not good... not good... Naoko said in Kinzoku's head.

Don't worry, Kinzoku said, I've dealt with worse...


-And welcome to round two of the Bandit's Cove Tournament. This is the second half of the Electopian bracket. Two teams will go in, but only one will leave successfully for the next fight. Now, to introduce the teams. As the newcoming team, their first time arriving at the Bandit's Cove, and an affiliate with Team Deity, We have the leader of the Iron-Fisted Few, Joseph Katsuya, and his Team Ironfist!-

As they were being announced, Jet, Taichi and Derek had started walking towards the concrete slab in the middle of the arena. They knew no one in the crowd or anyone watching them, but they had kept walking towards the center until Joseph had caught up with the rest of the Iron-Fisted Few, panting.

"Where were you?" Taichi asked as they all walked towards the center of the arena.

"Heh... had to... see how the others... were doing..." Joseph said between pants. However, his exhaustion was quickly overcome as they stepped onto the concrete arena, ready to fight. Jet was ready with a sturdy long-handled axe over his shoulders, while Derek and Taichi went into the arena with doubled swords. Joseph led the way onto the arena floor, his family's long sword sheathed and hanging off his hip. He looked around the arena and at the crowd. There were mixed emotions throughout the crowd, booing from some for being affiliated, while others were cheering for the underdogs of the fight.

-And the veteran team, they have been known to spread fear into others with mere statistics of fights, along with their own experimental goods. Returning from last tournament, Team ZX-One!-

However, from the opposite end of the arena, a short, balding man with long gray hair and a stout stomach walked towards the center of the arena, accompanied by two gray-faced men. Joseph and the others walked forward as well to meet them.

"Wait, why do you only have three members?" Derek asked skeptically, as the others wondered the same. The short man merely laughed.

"I pulled some strings in the main office to fight with only what you see right now..." the man said. However, while the man talked, Joseph looked behind him and around the arena.

Where's Klove? Joseph thought to himself, but then quickly shook the thought out of his head and looked towards the stubby man with a smirk on his face.

"You know, I never really liked for the odds to be uneven," Joseph said, feeling a bit cocky, "So here's the deal... You fight Jet, Derek and me, while Tai comes in if something happens to one of us, or if you get another guy on your team. Deal?"

The man laughed even more, "Deal, my boy, deal..." Joseph wondered why he was laughing so much, but then thought against it as the Iron-Fisted Few walked towards their side of the arena.

"Ok guys, this guy's a pushover, even with his two friends," Joseph said, "So we're going to rush them and get this over with. That sound good?"

Taichi nodded to this, then hopped off the concrete floor and leaned against it, while Jet and Derek nodded as well.

"Taichi," Joseph said over his shoulder, "If Klove gets here, punch him for me for being late, ok?"

Taichi smirked and nodded lightly.

-And Begin!-

"All right, old man," Joseph said with a smirk, "that next seat is ours! Attack!" At Joseph's command, all three of them had rushed towards the stubby man and his two helpers. Even though his helpers seemed weak compared to the others, they were resilient, as they picked themselves up after each attack. However, they had all gotten past the two men and ran straight for the old man with their weapons ready to strike. However, Jet and Derek stopped in their tracks, causing Joseph to run into Jet's back. Jet didn't budge an inch, but Joseph had taken two steps backwards.

"What's wrong with you guys?!" Joseph asked, keeping his focus on the old man. His arms were outstretched towards both Derek and Jet, as both of them had shocked expressions on their faces. However, their faces returned to normal quickly, and their eyes had become glazed over. Jet and Derek then turned around to face Joseph, Jet's axe over one shoulder while Derek's swords crossed in front of him.

"Hey, what's wrong, guys?" Joseph asked, backing up again. Jet and Derek had slowly begun to advance towards Joseph, while Taichi was about to get up onto the concrete slab to help him out until he was stopped by the stubby man's yell.

"Get off this arena!" the man yelled, "His team has not been killed yet, so you are not needed."

Taichi was fuming with anger now, but he got down from the concrete slab and glared at the old man. There wasn't anything he could do at this point.

"Guys, what are you doing?!" Joseph asked frantically as they advanced towards him. Both their stares were cold and emotionless, but that quickly changed, as Jet lunged towards Joseph with his axe, ready to strike. Joseph was quick enough to evade the attack by jumping backwards, but he had a gash across his chest now, through his torn clothing.

"What are you doing!?" Joseph yelled back as the two kept walking towards him.

"Hehe," the old man chuckled evilly, "They're under my control, if you haven't figured it out yet... Now, I may be a sport enough to let them go... that is, if you surrender..."

"Never!" Joseph yelled back at the man, who laughed again.

"Fine. Attack him!" the man yelled, and Jet and Derek quickly rushed towards Joseph again, attacking him. Joseph did his best to defend against most of the attacks and evade quickly without hurting them, but he was thrown back by Jet's strong axe attack and landed in a kneel. He now had a few more cuts across his arms and stomach, but he tried his best to stand back up.

"Give up now?" the man cackled.

"Geh..." Joseph glared at the man as Jet and Derek advanced upon him. Damn, I can't get to him without getting past those two... and I can't hurt those two, I'd never forgive myself for it... damn...

However, Joseph made the attempt to rush past the two fighters and go towards the stubby man, but it seemed that Derek and Jet had enhanced speed now, and quickly cut Joseph off with their attacks, and he was sent backwards once again.

"Damn..." Joseph said as he spit out blood from his mouth. He was now hurting badly, but he didn't want to give up.

"Fine, since you won't listen to me," the old man said as he snapped his fingers. Suddenly, Jet's eyes returned to normal, along with Derek's, but they were now kneeling on the ground, in searing pain.

"They will die if I don't stop their suffering," the old man said, "But I will stop their suffering... if you give up. What will it be, Joseph Katsuya?"

Joseph wanted so badly to run past Jet and Derek and slug the old man in the face, but he knew that he could kill them if he tried. He gritted his teeth as he though, but then he glared again at the man, with more hatred than anything.

"Gyahahahah!" Shun-Tou cackled as he threw Ryuu around the arena, the chains still binding him.

Damn... I can't move anything! Ryuu said to himself as he tried his best to resist the torture. However, Gaius had noticed something on Shun-Tou.

Ryuu, play dead! Gaius responded quickly.

Gaius?

Just do it! Gaius responded. Ryuu took Gaius' advice and closed his eyes and loosened his body up. Shun-Tou threw him around a couple more times until he stopped to watch Ryuu lying motionless on the ground, bound in chains. Shun-Tou cackled as he walked over towards Ryuu to see his prey.

"Guess you couldn't take the abuse for long, could you?" Shun-Tou said, his hands on his waist.

Ryuu's eye then shot open and looked towards a pale-skinned area on the side of Shun-Tou's chest.

"An opening!" Ryuu shouted as he quickly shot his legs up and over his head to send Shun-Tou backwards a few steps, then swung the nunchaku towards the pale area on Shun-Tou's body. Shun-Tou recoiled in pain as the nunchaku hit and Ryuu jumped towards him and sent a knee to that general area. Shun-Tou fell onto his knees and held his chest as he looked up to Ryuu.

"How... how did you...?" Shun-Tou said as he gripped his side.

"Everyone has his or her weakness," Gaius said through Ryuu, "And you never took enough time to roughen the side of your body, because your arms never came away from them. That was your downfall. And now, you're gone." Gaius then spun the nunchaku around his arms for a second, then kicked Shun-Tou's arm into the air and unleashed a blinding fury of nunchaku attacks towards Shun-Tou's ribs, shattering a few of them, and finished once Shun-Tou fell to the ground, paralyzed. Ryuu then kept his focus on Shun-Tou, in case he was to get back up again, but it was very unlikely.

Yosh! Ryuu said mentally, Thank you again, Gaius.

Don't mention it... Gaius responded with a laugh, I've wanted to hit that guy ever since I saw him...


Kinzoku rolled to the side once again to avoid most of the kunai from Hakkaido, but blood was starting to seep through his uniform.

"I see you're quite resilient, Kinzoku," Hakkaido said cooly as the kunai came back to his hands, "but you can't last forever... especially in your current state..."

"I've felt worse..." Kinzoku said, gripping his katana tightly as he stood up. However, he then sheathed it and stood sideways towards Hakkaido, ready to draw and strike.

"So this is what it has come down to, a match of speed," Hakkaido said, lowering himself and getting ready to throw the kunai again.

"Now!" Hakkaido yelled as he shot the kunai towards Kinzoku. Kinzoku had sprinted towards Hakkaido and ran past the kunai whip, but then quickly spun around mid-sprint and threw his wakizashi at the lead kunai at the end of the whip. The small sword hit the kunai perfectly and caused the whip to fly out of Hakkaido's hands due to the extra force to the whip. Shortly after, Kinzoku quickly turned around and rushed towards Hakkaido. In a split second, Hakkaido and Kinzoku were standing side by side, Hakkaido in extreme pain.

"I hope you see now, why I was chosen by the deity of light," Kinzoku said quietly to Hakkaido as he fell to the ground and Kinzoku shoved Hakkaido off his sword. However, the only blood that came from the attack was from Hakkaido's mouth, as Kinzoku had inverted the blade just before hitting him.

Why did you make me invert the sword? Kinzoku asked Naoko mentally as he sheathed his sword again.

Because I don't like seeing death, Naoko responded. Kinzoku held his hand on the handle of the katana after it was sheathed and closed his eyes.

Thank you.


"Gah!" Kumo let out as he fell to his knee, his sword still gripped in his hand. Manic was standing behind him, his back turned towards him.

"You should quit this line of work," Manic said to Kumo over his shoulder, "killing doesn't suit you..."

Kumo spat at this and got up from the ground. "I chose this life. Don't dictate to me what I should do!"

Damn, he's getting ready to move again, Infernos said mentally, He's too fast for you to keep up like this.

However, Manic listened as he moved the ninjato over to his left hand. I know what I'm doing...

I hope so... Infernos said.

Kumo then turned to face Manic's back, with his katana ready to cut again.

"I must do this, to prove myself..." Kumo said quietly. However, there was a brief moment of silence as Kumo faced Manic. Manic's back was still turned towards Kumo, but he could still feel Kumo's eyes piercing into him.

Then, Kumo made his move, He lunged towards Manic with great speed, ready to cut Manic in half. However, Manic turned around and unholstered the long-barrelled handgun from his side and shot at Kumo's katana, sending it out of Kumo's hands and onto the ground. Manic looked down the length of the barrel towards the motionless Kumo.

"No one should prove their worth by murder," Infernos said through Manic as Manic holstered the gun again and walked over towards Kumo, who was backing up. Kumo tripped as he backed up and landed on the ground. Manic walked over to him and looked down at him.

"Go," Manic said, "and never hold a sword to kill someone again..." Manic then switched the ninjato to his right hand and turned around, ready to walk away from the fallen boy.

Dammit... Kumo said angrily about Manic, He thinks I don't deserve to kill!? He thinks I'm some stupid kid!? However, as Manic was about to sheathe his ninjato, Kumo quickly stood up and lunged towards Manic with a wakizashi from his hip, ready to cut Manic's shoulder. However, Manic noticed this and spun around to perform a rising cut against the wakizashi. However, the ninjato's blade had been cut off by Kumo's blade, but Manic quickly kicked Kumo in the midsection, sending him backwards and the wakizashi flying off the concrete slab where they were fighting.

He never gives up, does he? Manic said mentally.

No... looks like he can never change from the way he chose... Infernos said quietly in response to Manic. Let's go... he needs time to think...

With that, Manic walked off and sheathed the broken ninjato.

Miyuu slid across the concrete floor and came to a stop, falling to a knee. Her arm was now soaked in blood from a wound and she was completely exhausted. Tomotsu was starting to tire out as well, but he kept walking towards her.

"You're strong..." Tomotsu said, "I see why Amethyst chose you..." Miyuu looked up with glaring eyes.

There's... nothing... Miyuu thought to herself.

Let me take over for a minute... Yui said. Miyuu bowed her head slightly and closed her eyes.

"So you accept your death, is that it?" Tomotsu asked, "If that is what you wish... then I will give it to you..." Tomotsu gripped his swords again and began to run towards Miyuu, ready to cut into her neck.

Now, Yui thought as she looked towards Tomotsu with her head raised slightly. She waited for him to come near until she acted.

Quickly, before Tomotsu could swipe at her, the sheath to Amethyst's katana was imbedded deeply into Tomotsu's solarplex, held there by Yui's left arm. Tomotsu gasped for air as he dropped to his knees, his swords clattering to the ground. Yui then took the sheath out of him forcefully and slowly stood up and sheathed the katana.

"Shin Tomotsu..." Miyuu said as she walked away, "Amethyst told me about you... always out of respect... and you disrespect her in this way... you have fallen."

However, Tomotsu was not ready to give up yet. As he gasped for air on the ground, he moved his hand over to pick up one of his swords and slowly stood up and faced Miyuu's back with eyes of hatred.

"What do you know about respect, foolish girl..." Tomotsu growled as he quickly ran towards Miyuu with renewed strength, ready to imbed the sword into her shoulder. However, a broken ninjato flew through the air and knocked the sword out of Tomotsu's hand while two lightning-fast men ran past Tomotsu after landing their respective attacks. Tomotsu fell to the ground, finally defeated. The entire arena was silent.

-ah...um... and Team Deity wins the fight.-

The four half-expected a riot to break out among the crowd because of their win, but they all stayed silent as they walked towards the exit to the arena.

"This is unnerving..." Ryuu said quietly as they walked.

Team Deity finally arrived at the hotel to find Team Ironfist sitting in the lobby, their heads fallen.

"Hey guys," Kinzoku said.

"What happened?" Manic asked. Joseph just looked up and motioned towards the schedule for tomorrow's events.

TOMORROW'S FIGHTS:
Electopian Bracket:
Team Deity
vs.
Team ZX-One

Netopian Bracket:
Team World Three
vs.
Team Liquid

Northern Republic Bracket:
Team Ace
vs.

Team Frost

Eurasian Bracket:
Team Ryusho

vs.
Team Thunderstrike

Manic looked at the Electopian bracket and was shocked to see who they were facing. They had lost.

"Joseph..." Miyuu said, saddened for them, but Joseph looked up at them with eyes of determination.

"I don't trust Klove any more..." Joseph said bluntly.

"Why not?" Ryuu asked.

"He wasn't there. He abandoned us." Joseph responded.

Kinzoku shook his head, "I expected something like this..."

"Oh well, doesn't matter..." Joseph said as he picked himself up, "We're not in the tournament anyways, so it's not like he can benefit from anything now... I'm going to get some sleep, I'll see you guys later..."

They said their good-byes to Joseph as he walked up the stairs. After a moment of looking at the boards, Manic yawned and walked away.

"I'm getting some sleep too... big fight ahead of us tomorrow..." Manic said as he walked towards the stairs. The rest of Team Deity decided that would be the best course of action and they all walked towards the stairs as well. Once Manic was halfway up the staircase, a blonde-haired man dressed in a bomber jacket and a hat concealing his eyes shoved past Manic, on his way down the staircase. He was fairly short, but quick to get down the stairs. Manic watched the boy leave for a second, then turned arond again and proceeded up the stairs.

However, their hotel room door was slightly ajar. Manic motioned for everyone to stop as he slowly walked towards the door and quickly pushed it open. No one was in the room, but there was a small envelope on the table. Manic and the others walked towards the table and opened the letter. Inside, there were four cards and a short note.

You know how to use these. Use them wisely.
-a fan

"Who..." Kinzoku wondered as they read the note. He looked at the cards inside the envelope. However, he noticed that they weren't conventional cards. They were datasilver cards.

V2 ch. 16 done, the longest chapter so far. Please read and review