Ku Ku Ku.

Her plan had worked. She made that pink chick believe she was actually that Barr fellow who she was all chummy with. Good thing she'd been oblivious enough to attack the snack table while the fight was happening.

Now she would think he had won their match while in fact she had completely obliterated the fool.

Thanks to her illusion magic Diamanta didn't stand a chance. Her mind's defenses were strong, but since she was allowing her, Sanna the Illusionist, to get so close she could gently seep her influence in the pink womanchild's mind and make her do her bidding when the time of their clash came.

That's when the question came.

"Hey, Barr, are you evil?" Diamanta asked her such an outrageous question.

Was she onto her? She definitely was. Totally onto her. Her cover was blown.

Sanna composed herself. Good thing her Barr illusion hid her wide eyes and sweaty forehead.

"Like hell I'm an evil person impersonating your friend, idiot! What kinda crazy talk do you think you're spewing here?" she reacted calmly. Didn't explode or anything. No.

"Ah sorry. It's just that you had that smile on earlier that I figured," Pink smiled apologetically without finishing her sentence.

"Well don't think. Just be the lovable brute you usually are." Sanna crossed her arms angrily and looked the other way.

The winner of the eighth and final battle for the round was retreating. This girl was in the middle of the bracket. She'd be Sanna's opponent in round three if she continued.

While they were talking she and Diamanta had walked to the rooftop of the contestant booth, overlooking the battles from the windiest place possible. Sanna was freezing up but she didn't dare mention it for fear of looking weak. Damn that Diamanta and her weird biology!

Probably couldn't catch a disease if she tried to. She turned to glare at her eventual finals opponent.

Pink was giving her a weird smile. A smile she hadn't seen before, at least not directed at her from a girl's face. Oh hell no.

"So I'm a 'lovable brute' now am I Barr?" Diamanta moved in closer to her and put her hand over hers, looking into her eyes and smirking.

Sanna briefly wondered if there'd be a splash if she jump dived down to the hard arena ground from here and then concluded that the only splash would come from her body fluids.

Instead she'd jump dive straight into Diamanta's black list.

"Yes, in the sense that the only ones that love you will be the ones that look down on your stupidity with humor and on your ugly face as cuteness and uniqueness."

Diamanta didn't move. She was frozen in place with a smile on her face.

Just when Sanna thought she saw Death, a contestant whose skin tone and clothes was all white, looming over the horizon, her mind jolted into action.

"O-On my planet that's an expression which means. It means. Its meaning is that the person before us is very beautiful. It's called Super Sarcasm." she hurriedly explained. That girl, Death that was watching them hid. Now that she thought about it wasn't she Pink's next opponent.

Doesn't matter. Pink calmed down. She laughed and pulled Sanna close into a one armed hug.

"What a weird planet you come from Barr, let's talk about it." she said happily.

Mind games. This was totally a mind game. She wanted to find out her real identity.

None of that.

"Say weren't you asking me something about being evil. What was that about?" she asked.

"Oh that, well..." Diamanta looked thoughtful as she rummaged through her thoughts.

Diversion, success.

"I was asking if you happened to be evil, since I'm also evil, I thought we could bond over our shared moral alignment." Diamanta gave her a cheery smile. Sanna blinked in confusion.

"Huh?"

But before her conversation partner could elaborate, a floating camera, flew straight up beside them and slowed its ascend about three meters above them. Its lens focused on them. The announcer flew up too, propelled by a jump, landing on their roof and looking at the two of them with her permanent smile.

"Now then, you two, as contestants who made it all the way up here, to the second round, you have this one right. Tell the public what you intend to do once you get ahold of your own planet." she said. Sanna looked around. She was their faces on all the big screens around the arena. This was a popular attraction she guessed. Had to keep the public engaged.

Not that she cared for such things. What she'd do was her business and she assumed her colleague was the same.

"Come on Diamanta," she turned away from the camera and started walking away. "Let's go-"

"I'll colonize it." Pink said with conviction. Sanna turned around and saw that the goofy smile was gone. "I'll use its resources to increase my own. Like a parasite I'll take and take and take, until there is nothing left of this pathetic world. Then I'll finally stand equal among my siblings."

Sanna grit her teeth. What in the universe was this? Who was this woman? What happened to the easygoing brute? The cotton candy haired girl that made everyone go 'awww'?

The crowd roared with laughter. Comments flew from the stands.

"Knew that pinky was insane. It's always the pink ones, you hear?"

"Poor people on the planet. I'll shed a tear while watching them get destroyed from my space ship. Ha Ha Ha!"

What was this rotten universe turning people into?

"I'll also throw huge parties on it!" Diamanta used her arms to gesture just how big the parties would be. She smiled at the spectators "And you're all not invited since my siblings won't allow it!"

No this wasn't her battle. This girl's future was not her concern beyond her defeat at her hands.

"What about you, what will you do with your newly acquired piece of land if you win it?" the announcer asked her, looking into her eyes seriously.

"What? You expect me to say something evil? Just because I'm brushing elbows with this rotten piece of candy there. Don't kid yourselves. I'll just take what I need from this planet and throw it to the dumpster. See how long it lasts before you rats catch it and throw this tournament all over again. It's not my concern what it happens to it once I get what I want from it.

"It's not my responsibility. I'll be totally neutral to it. Like picking fruit in the wild, I'll take enough for me and leave. This is what I'll do with this planet."

Saying what she had to she just stared at the camera until the crew that was manning it from afar got that she was finished. It moved back, for a wider shot of all three of them. They waited while the crowd quieted down.

"So she's just goanna up and leave it when she's done with it. Talk about easy pickings!"

"Let's mess with the people there to our heart's content!"

Sanna of course, used her illusions to mask any instance of 'she' with 'he' and to filter any other risqué comments for Diamanta's ears.

Once the shouting was done. The announcer looked at Sanna with a serious look.

"I wish you the best of luck." she said with a nod at her direction. She turned to Diamanta and smiled brightly, with her eyes closed and her facial muscles relaxed. "To the both of you!"

The announcer back flipped off the roof, leaving only Sanna and Diamanta.