Chapter 1: Challenge
It was a bright and hot day in Bonesborough, as everyone was still trying to get used to what happened.
Belos' plan hadn't gone exactly as he expected, as instead of the Demon Realm and the Human Realm becoming one, a massive portal opened right in the middle of the castle, destroying the entire structure, killing several people in it and injuring dozens more. It was an absolute disaster. The portal also proved to be impossible to close, or at least nothing anyone tried ever seemed to work.
It has been a year since that event, Belos is nowhere to be seen, but the remaining members of the Emperor's coven insist he is alive and well. By now everyone has accepted this new reality, jarring as it still may be, and witches soon learned just how quick to action and efficient humans really were.
In a matter of months not only did they secure the portal from becoming a haven for illegal activity and organized crime on both sides, but they had filled the hole the castle used to be in with something they called "concrete", built numerous small structures all around the portal for housing security staff, researchers and multiple other human workers for various purposes, and even tried establishing a peaceful relationship with witches, although the last one proved to be quite complicated since the Emperor himself was practically out of the picture for some undisclosed reason (many presume he was either badly injured in the event and some even say he died and the EC is covering it up, but so far there is no clue as to what actually happened).
Whoever this "United Nations" were, they were a force to be reckoned with.
"Kittens? Kiiiitens. Helloooooooo"
Amity could not help to blush furiously at the excessively cute nickname her girlfriend gave her.
"What is it Luz?"
….
"Luz?"
…..
*sigh* "Luz bella"
And she blushed even harder at the even cuter (she assumes) nickname Luz insisted Amity called her, but she did get a beaming smile and a kiss back, so it's not like she can complain. She didn't really understand what was that name all about, something about a "dark prince" or something.
"Watcha thinkin' there? You were really quiet for a while."
"OH- well it's, it's just…. Humans. You are so…. Impressive"
"…. Yeah, we are really cool! But witches are awesome too!"
"I mean sure, but look at what you guys did in less than a year! Can you imagine the disaster it would have been if this "United Nations" never showed up? And not only that, they showed up immediately, almost as if they knew this was gonna happen! But they didn't! Your communication technology is just THAT good! It's just… unreal"
"Oh, well, you know, we have been working on us for like, 10,000 years or so, so it's bound to work out eventually, hehe!"
Luz felt a bit awkward at the praise Amity was giving her people. She had never really thought of it all like that. She supposed it's easy to miss the huge accomplishments of your species when you live them day after day like it's just normal.
"But at least" Amity continued "I know that if a witch went 1 on 1 with any human not named Luz, we could easily win a fight, right?"
She half-joked. While she understood this past year that humans had a terrifying military power that made the Emperor's coven look like a bunch of children merely playing at war, most of it came from their sheer numbers and weapons (I mean 8 BILLION humans is A LOT, especially against some 10,000 witches at most. And she'd rather not think of those things called "nukes"), so if it was a 1v1, magic was bound to win, right?
…..
Luz was weirdly quiet. Awkwardly quiet. Like she knew something she wasn't sure she wanted to say.
"….Luz? something you wanna say?"
"….. Nnnnnnope" she slurped her drink a bit too loudly.
"….. You think a human could beat a witch, don't you?" Amity had her pride as a witch, and she felt her pride was being insulted somehow.
"Uhhhhhhhh…."
"Luz"
"I mean, not like, ANY human, but…. You know….like some humans…. Uummmmm"
Amity was about to say something about how witches' magic was superior to humans alone until someone interrupted them.
"HOH HOH HOOOH! Well that's an interesting thing to say young witchling! Say, would you like to put that notion to the test, miss?"
Amity turned to see a really small and really old human man standing right next to her. Not a single hair on his face or head and wearing some weird type of clothes that looked like robes with neat folds and intricate designs, as well as some white socks and sandals. He wore what Luz would describe as a "shit-eating smile" on his face.
"Excuse me? Who are you?"
"OH. MR. TOKUGAWA nice to see you here! How did they let you in here?"
Luz knew this man? That felt odd for some reason.
"Hoh, hoh! Hello Luz! I haven't seen you for a while! Not since you left with Retsu to China. How have you been doing?"
She what? Who was this "Retsu"? China? AND WHO IS THIS OLD MAN?
"OH, I'm so sorry, I was talking to you right miss…."
"Blight. Amity Blight. Luz's girlfriend. And again, who are you?"
"Girlfriend? Well isn't that something! Hoh hoh! Very nice to meet you miss Blight. My name is Mitsunari Tokugawa, but most people just call me Mr. Tokugawa. I have known Luz since she was very young, we can talk about it later if you want"
He calmly bowed to her.
"But let's go back a little here, if we may. You said you were sure ANY witch could beat ANY human in a one-on-one fight?"
"…..yyyesss" Amity wasn't too sure she liked were this was headed.
"Well, then. Would you like to test that?"
"…"
"What do you propose, Mr. Tokugawa?"
Aaaaand, there is no turning back now. Somewhere in the back of her mind Amity felt like this might be a bad idea, but her pride as a witch was being challenged, and she was NOT backing down now. His smile widened.
"How about this: you pick 8 witches, and I pick 8 humans. We put them to fight 1 witch vs 1 human in a no-holds-bar street fight to see who wins! I can organize it all if you want, this is the kind of thing I do for a living after all! What do you say?"
"…."
"…."
"…."
"You're on"
The man practically EXPLODED in joy. Laughing and clapping like he had just won the lottery.
"ALRIGHT! LET'S DO THIS! A witch vs Humans tournament to see which race has the strongest fighters! A true battle of Gods and Titans, if you will! I know! Let's call it: TITANOMACHIA! Hehehehe! I can't wait! You better not disappoint miss! THIS IS GOING TO BE GREAT! Let's set the main event next week, if that's ok with you! I'll see who is available on my side-"
Before Amity could even say anything, the man left. Rambling endlessly about locations and rules and a bunch of logistic subjects he was too far away to hear. Amity then turned to Luz.
"What…. Just happened? What was ANY of that? I have too many questions right now…. Luz?"
Luz was sweating BULLETS, and she looked sick, worse than when she got the common mold. She could barely keep herself from falling to the ground.
"….. hhhhuuuuuhhhh…. A-ams."
"…"
"You should start looking for people to fight"