"And now for the brackets, champs." the announcer called, getting the attention of everyone in the break room. They looked at the wall which showed the announcer in real time as if she was in front of them. Most of the contestants, including Barr turned to look coolly at the screens.

Pink, while stuffing her face with delicacies from various planets also turned to look.

"Oh how interesting. I didn't think it would be like this but it's way cooler than what I was planning." the announcer commented as she stared at the device in her hand. "Oh those two could actually fight each other. That would be an interesting battle if I ever saw one. And also,"

She pressed a finger to her ear.

"Oh, okay." she muttered under her breath. A smile appeared on her face and her body language became more open. "Alright folks, time for me to stop hogging all the excitement for myself, don't you think?"

With no further ado, they were revealed. On the stadium walls, for everyone to see were the brackets.

"Now let me explain, before you all get confused." the announcer returned everyone's attention to her. "There are currently 16 contestants. The first preliminary round determined everyone's placement, from first to last. When somebody lost in the consecutive rounds, everyone below them was bumped ahead with one spot.

"As for how the bracket works. The first person fights the last, second fights second last and so on." she explained while making motions with her hands.

"Now," she pointed at the battle arena before her. "Will the first match contestants: Pinka Diamanta and H.T.P. please step up?"

"Wow this is going so fast, I can't believe I get to be first!" Pink said excitedly, with her hands in the air and alien foods sticking out of her mouth.

"That's the fate of a cheater I guess." Barr shrugged.

"I didn't cheat! That guy with the instructions set me up!" Pink crossed her arms and huffed. "I would've been first anyway."

"Heh. As if." Barr dismissed her.

"You'll see when I beat T.P. here." Pink pointed at where her opponent had been but there was nobody there. "Huh?"

She looked around and found him in the screen. He had already exited the lounge and was waiting for her at the arena.

"When'd he get there?" Pink ran to catch up before they could yell at her for being late.

Hey there T.P. sorry for being late, or something like that. That's what Pink would have said if the guy wasn't glaring at her like she took his Pearl and gave her a noogie.

The announcer looked at each of them in turn, both were in the center of the arena, facing each other, though T.P.'s face was uncomfortably close and was making Pink fidget nervously.

"You, you disgrace! I hauled myself from the near bottom of the pit to the top. And you. You were just late!" he yelled. His three eyes glared into hers. "And now you're late again."

"Hey there T.P., sorry for being late." she said with an awkward smile while rubbing the back of her head. She leaned over to the announcer. "Hey can I get a restraining order on this guy."

The announcer smiled.

"Sure." she said as she gave Pink a document.

"Wow, really?" said the surprised Pink.

She looked over the thing. It seemed real. Happy with the new development Pink waved the piece of paper in front of the enraged alien's face.

"Guess you can't touch me. This match is all mine." she boasted.

"Again with your trickery!" T.P. yelled as his eyes darted left and right to read the paper. "Wait a second, you idiot. Here it says "T.P." while in actuality my name is "H.T.P.""

"Eh?" Pink immediately turned to the announcer who shrugged with a smile on her face.

"Wouldn't be much of a battle if one of the contestants couldn't legally be near the other." she explained.

"Can I hit her?" H.T.P. asked the announcer. She looked at her clock.

"In about three seconds when the match begins." she said and H.T.P. cracked his neck. Pink was facing the crowd, looking for a pen to fix the broken document.

But they couldn't hear her as they collectively counted down from three to zero.

And just on time H.T.P.'s fist found itself against Pink's face. She was sent flying about thirty meters back, crashing into the wall of the arena.

"Do you know what my name stands for, cheat?" the alien asked. The two rolls of paper around his arms started rotating, releasing a very long rectangle of paper into the air. That giant piece of paper moved through the air in complex shapes, eventually making a giant sword like structure, with its base being H.T.P.'s arm.

Pink was standing a few meters in front of the wall crater like nothing had happened. She looked up at her opponent's sword. It looked light. He lowered it so that it was perpendicular to his body.

"My name stands for "Hell To Pay"" he said as he swung his sword at her. Pink saw him click a button on the device the paper had originated from. "Let me see you handle a 1000 ton sword." he yelled.

From what Pink could tell he couldn't actually lift that thing, he got momentum by swinging the light version and then he switched it to 1000 tons.

Due to her observations Pink forgot to dodge. The impact sent her flying into the arena wall again. This time the hit shook the ground near her and it demolished a large chunk of the wall behind her.

Not good. She hadn't firmly stepped on the ground and was sent flying again.

"Ha! Do you see the might of my sword, Diamanta! Soon you will perish and then you will never be late for anything again." H.T.P. laughed as he held his now light, gigantic sword to the side, ready for another swing.

Pink was on her feet again. The sword started moving towards her. At this rate she'll be sent flying.

The sword connected and,

It stopped.

"What in my name?" her opponent muttered. A lot of dust was kicked up by the sword's fast movement so he probably couldn't see.

The dust cleared and his eyes widened in shock. Her feet were buried in the hard ground up to her knees and her hand was at her side, in a position to block. She had indeed blocked the heavy sword before it fell to the ground due to its weight.

"Impossible!" H.T.P. called. Pink took a step forward, again burying her leg up to the knee. And then another similar step.

"You can't block something this heavy!" he yelled as he swung again.

The result was the same. He took a step back in shock, not believing the sight before his eyes.

"Let's see how you handle a sword double the weight of the previous!" he readied the sword to the side. "2000 ton, strike!"