The crowd cheers and applauds as the time draws near for the final round to begin, and the two pedestals slowly begin to rise into the Grand Arena.
"It's been a long and grueling Tournament, folks, but it's all been leading up to this! Our final two fighters, Antoinette and Pe- I mean, Mizholi! That's right, in a surprise turn of events, we found out that we've had a legendary Super Assassin participating this whole time! In this fight, one of two things will happen: A legend will demonstrate why it earned its status, or a new legend will be born!"
The crowd continues cheering, only stopping when the horn is blown, at which point Antoinette immediately mounts her Stand, while Mizholi prances across the sandy ground, quickly kicking Antoinette off of her Stand and into the air.
"You're a real scary opponent, y'know that? I mean that with all due respect! Everyone tends to underestimate you, and since your fighting style relies on a whole lot of stalling, they don't realize they're in danger until it's too late! But I won't let that happen!" Mizholi calls out, and, not caring if Antoinette actually heard her or not, proceeds to slam the fist of When September Ends straight into The Ants Go Marching One By One's face, with enough force to send a crack running down the front of the Stand's head. Antoinette yells out in pain as this damage is mirrored onto her own exoskeleton, and she quickly recalls her Stand before Mizholi can cause any more damage to it. Antoinette lands on the sand, and realizes just how difficult this fight will be when she isn't able to use her Stand to her advantage. However, if there's one thing that she considers herself good at, it's making the best of whatever situation presents itself to her, so rather than fruitlessly attempting to run away, Antoinette turns around and charges straight towards Mizholi, yelling out a battle cry of "HURRAH!" as she runs with her needle raised high in the air, her vision blurred due to the crack going across her face. Mizholi stares at the ant, somewhat impressed with her determination, but doesn't let this disrupt her thoughts as she brings her foot firmly down on top of Antoinette, twisting and grinding it back and forth on Antoinette's twitching body. Mizholi suddenly notices a shimmer in the air, and looks just in time to see Antoinette's Stand manifest again, right behind Mizholi's leg. Mizholi attempts to punch the Stand with her own Stand once more, but before she gets a chance, Antoinette's Stand uses its sharp horns to rip through Mizholi's leg, slicing her shin clean in half and causing her to lose her footing and fall to the ground. Antoinette stands up and staggers back and forth in a daze. She was able to survive rather easily due to the sandy ground not being a very firm surface to crush her against, but she certainly wasn't unharmed, and using her Stand for a physical maneuver like that was quite draining for her. Antoinette wobbles towards Mizholi's head, but collapses to the floor before she can get there, and Mizholi sits up, looking down at Antoinette.
"Is this what it means to not fear death? How admirable. Even I, a legendary assassin, worry about what may happen if I were to go on living without a purpose, or to meet my end before I could accomplish the purpose I had. And yet you, you run headlong into danger not because you are a fool, but because it is your best option. You'd rather go down fighting than as a coward."
Mizholi shrugs.
"Admirable, yes, but in a fight to the death, it isn't going to do you any favors. Sorry, little bug."
Mizholi goes to smash Antoinette, but finds the insect to have vanished from the spot where she collapsed moments earlier.
"Oh. I clearly have not learned any lesson about talking while fighting." Mizholi sighs, looking around for where Antoinette could have gone. After a few minutes of nothing but the sounds of murmurs from the crowd, Mizholi stands up, her leg having mostly regenerated much like a plant growing back. Try as she might, Mizholi cannot find any sign of Antoinette's whereabouts, save for the occasional ordinary ant crawling around. Suddenly, Mizholi feels the ground underneath her tremble, and jumps off of it, only to find that the effect seems to be constant throughout the entire Grand Arena. Before she can wonder what could be causing this, she gets her answer, as an enormous swarm of ants emerges from under the sand, where Antoinette had burrowed to escape further harm and allow for her Stand to build its army at an exponential rate.
"Hurrah, hurrah." Antoinette says, pointing the tip of her needle towards Mizholi, who just stares in awe, before being swarmed by the enormous horde of ants. Mizholi swats the ants off of herself, using her Stand to help, but there are simply too many, and Mizholi is overwhelmed, letting out a scream as she's shredded apart by the ants. Antoinette falls to the ground again, watching as planty bits of flesh go flying through the air until Mizholi's screaming stops and the swarm calms down. Antoinette is shrouded in glowing light, and transported to a golden chamber, where she finds herself suspended in the air, as a voice rings out around her.
STATE YOUR DESIRE.
Antoinette is a bit rattled by the voice, but the moment she gets her bearings, she speaks up.
"I wish for immortality!" Antoinette yells, and the room glows brighter, before darkening. Antoinette finds herself transported back into the Grand Arena, with the crowd cheering. A podium emerges beneath her feet, raising her into the air as spotlights shine on her.
"And with that, we have ourselves our victor! Antoinette has won the Tournament, against all odds!" Ciqufrinz announces, and the crowd continues cheering, as Antoinette is released into the main area of the Arena. Antoinette ignores the many adoring fans gathering around her, and simply smiles as she makes her way through the crowd to the exit teleporter, ready to return to business as usual, now with even less reason to fear death. As she arrives at the surface of Radius, Antoinette rubs her face, feeling the crack still there and sighing. She figures that her first order of business ought to be covering that up. After all, if she ever returns to the Arena to watch any future Tournaments, she wants to be seen for her triumphs, not for her scars. She wants to be remembered as she was in her glory days.
