Einherjar Stadium, Employee Lounge

Sipping his fourth large cup of coffee, Seth was sitting at the desk and poring over some notes; just some of many they had collected the past few days. Over on the couch, Adel was sitting with a few pages in his hand, as well. He was leaning back against the corner of the couch comfortably.

"Hmm," he said, half to himself, as he fingered his own cup of coffee; a mocha to be exact. On the table was a box of pastries purchased from the café which they had brought up to munch on. "Looking over these, there doesn't seem to be too many entrances where people can sneak in. We can pretty much have all of the entrances covered without too much issue."

"Yeah. I'm thankful for that," the agent replied, rubbing his chin and flipping another page. "Chizuru told me she's got Kisaragi basically watching the west entrance whenever the other guards aren't there, and has him hanging around that general area. No one really knows he's there. Said she's gonna put Kane there whenever he's fighting."

"And Gato's around the east side. More people there. Probably so he can scare them," the blond said with a chuckle. "Never thought some of these guys would be used as lookouts."

Seth nodded thoughtfully, but shrugged. "Well, whoever we can get. I appreciate Chizuru's help. As an old host, and someone keeping an eye on things from her own angle I can understand her wanting to get in on it."

"I think you're doing just fine," Adel said after taking another sip of coffee. "I honestly think these things run themselves." He chuckled. "Either to the end, or into the ground," he chuckled. "Seems to be the latter more often than not."

Seth gave a chuckle himself, shaking his head. "So long as I don't have to get a spontaneous trip to a goddamn space station again, I think this one will probably be an improvement."

"That's right." While Adel had only heard bits and pieces about that particular tournament, he knew that several people ended up on a space station, courtesy of NESTS' insane leader. Seth had teamed with Yagami that year.

"You missed a good one," Seth said sarcastically, draining another few ounces of his coffee and debating ordering more, as there were interns that were seemingly happy to help back here. "Anyway, having been through that, I'll definitely want to make sure this runs smoothly." He even debated speaking to Duo Lon; he knew about the clan, having teamed up with one of his fellow Hizoku during a tournament. He had sort of closed in on some of their grounds on a visit to China, even-though he wasn't sure of any headquarters or anything, and Ron had only just betrayed the clan at this point. He thought the assassin might have some knowledge that could help him in terms of this, though he did not suspect that the clan was involved. If they were, he figured the young man would have been on top of it immediately.

"I'll keep to the stories, I think," he answered in an amused tone.

"How did you deal, if you don't mind me asking?" Seth decided to ask, since they were chatting.

"I didn't mind. Just got used to it and buried myself in my training. To be honest, the old man didn't really pay much attention to me." He shook his head. "Probably for the best."

"Did you ever join other tournaments?"

"Smaller ones," the young man said. "It kept me busy."

"Well, in any case, I'm glad you're around here now." He shuffled through the papers again, glancing at a few other things he missed.

Adel smiled warmly; he liked Seth and his somehow simultaneously strict, yet easygoing ways. Flipping to another paper, he sat up for a moment. "Huh. Apparently, these cars-the black ones-were at another hotel earlier in the week."

"Really? Which one? Was it ours or the other luxury hotel?"

"Neither. Apparently it was the one business hotel further into the city. Near one of the big malls."

"Alright, then. I'll let someone know to go poke around that to see if they find anything. Might see if we can get a bit of info about who stayed there that day." He nodded at the paper. "Who saw them, anyway?"

"These were just some addresses from the old papers that we dug up from the luxury hotel."

"Huh. Guess some of their guys stayed there. One might still be. We'll go see if they're there. Might get us a step closer to figuring out who had it in for this guy."

"Let's hope so." Adel flipped to yet another paper before rubbing his head. "It's funny. Usually I don't really take stock in anything supernatural," he said. "But something about the story that had everyone spooked, somehow had me thinking about looking into it more."

"There is something to it. I hate to give it credence, but…this is KOF we're talking about," Seth snorted. "Rational reasoning can sometimes be off the table."

"I'll go ask around a little more later, then."

"Yeah. Don't waste too much time on it, but looking into the man behind the story wouldn't hurt."

Checking his watch, Adel looked around. "Alright. I'm heading down for a while. Seirah wanted a pastry," he said with a smirk. "Get in touch if you need me. I'll mostly be in the lounge."

"I'll be heading there, too. And thank you."

The blond lad shrugged as he put a couple of pastries, wrapped in a napkin, in one large hand.

"I've done this before. Least I can do."

"Well, let's not waste anymore time here, Rog! Who's up next?"

"The hits just keep coming, Jay. Coming back to the ring are the master of the legendary Sacred Treasure himself, Kyo Kusanagi, and he's going up against the Silent Soldier, known otherwise as Leona Heidern! This one promises to be blazing!"

Jay only eyed Roger, seeing how the other man decided to jump in on the puns himself, and chuckled. The older man shrugged.

Round 2, Fight 3: Kyo Kusanagi vs. Leona Heidern

Leona stood, pretty much all business. Sliding her bomber jacket off, she laid it on the chair next to her as she looked over at her usual teammates.

Ralf grinned. "Go get 'em!"

"Will do." She saluted.

"C'mon, no need to be official. We're not technically on duty. Only sort of." He patted her on the shoulder.

A ghost of a smile appeared on the soldier's face, and she relaxed. "Habit. I'll do my best." Even now, when at 'work', she would occasionally slip into her more official habits, even though Ralf was probably one of the most laid-back squad leaders in the history of the military.

"We know you will," Clark said. Ralf patted her on the shoulder as she moved toward the ring.

Leona knew Kyo Kusanagi was not an opponent to be trifled with, but she had a few plans, at least, to try to deter the man.

Kyo, meanwhile, was leaning back in his seat still when his name was called; Chizuru looked over at him and smiled.

"Good luck", she said, standing.

"Thanks. Been awhile since we've gone against the Ikari unit. Can't even remember the last time." He stretched. "I'll be back soon, though. I think I got this."

The priestess, chuckling at the man's usual cocky nature, followed to the field as Kyo jogged over to approach. Ralf and Clark had joined, as well, and Whip, who was in the VIP lounge chatting over a few things, messaged Adel to meet her on the field.

Duo Lon made his way down, folding his arms to watch. He hid the small smile on his face well.

Kyo nodded toward Leona, bowing respectfully. Leona nodded, walking forward to meet the man in a firm handshake.

"Good luck," she said. "I look forward to this."

"Same here." He walked back, taking his usual pose, as Leona focused for a moment, launching into hers. She flexed her hand, getting it ready to let loose with its lightning-fast strikes.

READY…GO!

Leona waited for a moment to see if she could find an opening; her style was quick, precise, and tactical. Usually, if not on a stealth mission, she would look for openings and utilize her speed to dash in, hit precise points, and dash on out, not letting an opponent get a bead on her.

Kyo was aggressive himself, though he knew Leona's training made her perceptive. She was capable of reading people, and he decided to play it a bit less predictable. Instead of doing his usual dash in, he moved forward, keeping his defenses up and getting ready to try to dodge anything that came at him.

"It looks like the pair are being uncharacteristically careful here, Jay," Roger said, watching the field and screen closely. "Usually you'd have expected them to jump in quickly."

"Looks like we spoke too soon! Check it out!"

As the commentators spoke, Leona had dashed in low, preparing her slicing hand to arc downward, attempting to catch Kyo before he could begin his assault. He quickly jumped back, shooting a fire arc from his hand to force the soldier to rethink her approach; he then dashed forward with a sweeping side punch which Leona dodged.

"Indeed, Jay, things kicked off fast after all!"

The two began to clash; both fighters were fast, but Leona's most notable aspect was always her blinding speed and maneuverability, able to duck out of the way on a moment's notice, only to hit suddenly with a firm, precise strike. Heidern's style was precise as well, but much more steadfast-Leona was incredibly difficult target to engage.

Adel nodded, smirking. "She is hard to hit. I can attest to that. I managed to get enough in there, but that was a chore." He had fought all three Ikaris at once and almost defeated them, but Ralf managed to drop him at the last moment with one of his gargantuan punches…before falling over himself, that was.

Neither fighter lacked experience against other types, which added to the overall entertainment. As the two continued to clash, a hit landing home now and again but the other powering through it, Duo Lon simply stood to the side silently and watched.

Shen glanced over and smirked. "Who do you think?"

The assassin only shrugged. "Leona can win, but Kyo is certainly made of something," he said. "She has an uphill battle."

"Heh. Don't annihilate him if the fight goes in his favour."

Duo Lon just smirked. "We aren't like that. She takes these in stride. And she knows. Anyone who would have to face one of the Sacred Treasures, unless they are completely full of themselves, would understand who they're facing. And you can see she does."

Indeed; Leona while fought with her usual style, they could tell she was not wasting any hits so she did not tire herself. She knew Kyo was capable of overextending, and so figured if she could stretch out the fight, landing a few precise blows at the right time could tip the scales in her favour.

Kyo knew that she was capable of bending quickly low to the ground, so was careful not to open himself up that way. He came in quickly, sidestepping a side kick and coming down with a fist before hitting a leaping kick of his own; this hit the soldier in the chest and pushed her back. She was able to recover, coming in quickly with a sweep, which almost knocked him off balance; he was able to keep it though before flicking a flame from his hand, causing the soldier to quickly power her cutting chi to try to mitigate it. A few more strikes were thrown out and dodged, everything here happening within an exciting few seconds.

"C'mon! You got this!" Ralf yelled.

"Don't let him corner you!" Clark could see that Kyo was working quickly to try to push her to the edge of the ring; he knew by cutting down her maneuvering space, she couldn't use her speed to its full advantage. A few hits wouldn't matter-Kyo was capable of tanking a lot of damage, as he sparred with Yagami, after all.

Leona did notice, and managed to dash low, getting out from the corner-but Kyo did not allow her to corner him. However, she was able to take advantage of his repositioning to hit him with a quick, blinding series of hand strikes into a sweep, which toppled him somewhat; he managed to roll out of the way of the follow up moon-shaped slasher, before rolling forward and coming in with an uppercut which the soldier narrowly avoided.

"Kyo really isn't giving an inch," Roger said. "But you can see him getting a little bit winded there trying to keep up."

"Yeah! Leona isn't letting him get a lot of solid hits in. He has gotten enough that you can see her feeling it herself, though…think she can hold out?"

"We'll have to see, Jay. These things can turn around in an instant."

After another close-quarters clash, Leona managed to back up enough to let loose with her green burst of energy; this managed to tag Kyo long enough to somewhat shred the sleeve of his jacket and force him back, long enough for her to dash in with an overhead slash that pushed him to the side. Not being any stranger to slashing attacks, he braced against it and managed to come around with a backfist that caught the soldier as she was recovering from her attack.

The crowd cheered, having quite enjoyed the length of the fight so far.

As the soldier was knocked back from that backhand-a little bit of blood from the corner of her mouth by this point-she started to focus her power into her hand, getting ready for a larger, overhead slash, concentrated with more force and energy. As he was close enough, this move was always good at catching people coming in, as this was the next best thing to her bigger blast, which she unfortunately found herself without enough time to charge.

But Kyo had a feeling he knew what was coming; having been charging on his own as he fought, his flaming hand-the sleeve still slashed open-whipped downward, the legendary Kusanagi flames penetrating Leona's moon slasher, fizzling out the energy and striking her, knocking her well back and out of the ring. It was only her first time out, but the force of the attack, along with the rough fight that had just transpired, was enough; she was clearly done. The ref called the fight, waving his arm toward Kyo.

"There we go, Rog! It looks like once again the legend comes through!"

WINNER: Kyo Kusanagi

Standing up, Kyo dusted his hands off and waved to the cheering crowd. Both fighters were well-liked by the audience, but Kyo Kusanagi was probably the most famous of them all, and the crowd certainly reacted. Not many were surprised, however, given the man's excellent track record. He still rubbed at the thin slice in his shirt and shoulder, seeing that he'd need a bit of patching up afterward.

Leona also stood, rubbing her shoulder and wiping the thin stream of blood from her mouth. She walked over to Kyo and nodded in approval. The two grasped hands in a firm shake.

"Damn. I thought that slice had me done," Kyo said. He looked at his coat, shaking his head at the tears in it. He'd have to either get it fixed or outright replaced after this. He supposed he could have been more careful.

"Looks like that wasn't the case," Leona replied matter-of-factly. "Nice dodge."

"Gonna need a stiff drink," the man said, before nodding one more time and walking off, waving to the audience.

The blue-haired soldier stepped out of the ring toward her crew; they were all standing together at this point. She looked at her friends and smirked softly.

"I know you're going to say he got lucky," she started, "But he knew what he was doing. I mistimed my slash. Should have anticipated he wasn't going to go all in. He knows better than that."

"Hey, we didn't say anything this time," Ralf grinned. "You forced him to think on his feet quite a bit, though."

"I'll take it," she said. "And now I can work."

"Always the optimist," Clark teased.

"I'm getting a quick shower," she said, rubbing her shoulder. Turning to walk off-not disappointed, but simply milling things over on what to do differently next time, she ran into the others over to the side. She smiled at them, coming up next to the assassin.

Adel, not one to really push wins or losses as they happened, pat her on the shoulder. "For a few moments there I thought you were tiring him out."

"His endurance is unreal," she said. "Whoever fights him next, I wouldn't try it." Leona's endurance was quite good herself; she could keep up her blinding speed for longer than many.

"We can all have a couple up top now," Whip said.

"Definitely, later on" She looked at Duo Lon with a small smile. In the privacy of her group, she looked around. "And I wouldn't mind getting some of this stiffness rubbed out a bit later."

The assassin gently touched her arm and nodded. "Do you want me to look at those, or the doctor?" He pointed toward the small injuries on her.

"I trust you," she said, knowing how much he stitched himself up.

The two walked off briefly, leaving Adel and Whip there to look at each other and smirk for a moment before heading up to the VIP lounge to get their drinks ready.

Chizuru was off to the side still, nodding at Kyo.

"You did well. Seemed to know what she was going to do."

"Believe it or not, I pay attention. She's a lot more careful than Ralf. She takes after Heidern in that case. But she does favour aggression…which…"

"You know how to deal with." She looked up to the VIP lounge's window above, where she knew Iori was.

Kyo only smirked. "You already know."

"Go shower. Let's meet upstairs. And go get those cuts looked at."

"Eh, I've gotten worse."

"You should keep yourself in better shape. You never know who you're going to face next. It's the top eight"

The young man sighed. Chizuru was right, as always. That fight did take a bit out of him. "Alright."

Meanwhile, at said lounge, Iori smirked up at the screen with Athena having looked over her shoulder at it. He knew Kyo would be up in the next half hour or so.

"Did you think he'd win?" Athena asked.

"Yes," Iori said, without hesitation. "I know Leona, and while she's incredibly skilled, Kyo is Kyo. There are very few out there who can truly push past him." He chuckled. "Got that nice jacket of his a bit shredded, though."

She raised an eyebrow at him, knowing who he spoke of…himself, of course, included in that. "Wonder who you're fighting this round?" she said.

"Someone who will be sitting afterward," he said.

"Confident, aren't we?" she teased, sipping her drink and touching his hand lightly. In their private area of the lounge, with very few people around them, he didn't pull away. "I thought you didn't care about the competition."

"I don't." He sipped his own drink…but spared her a tiny smile.

Athena shook her head, turning to go check out what was going down below.

While some clouds started to gather overhead, the weather held and did not start to rain, sleet, or anything else. It was chillier than some might have liked-May Lee had thrown an oversized hoodie over herself and slumped down in her seat as Jhun sat quietly next to her with his book. Kim had opted for a cup of tea as he looked at the sky.

"Feels like it's going to rain soon," he mused.

"Aww, I hope not," May Lee replied with a frown. "I'm already cold here."

"Want to go inside?" Jhun asked. "I'll need to stick around the hall just in case I get called, but we can warm up in there."

Sitting up quickly, May Lee turned around. "Yeah. Good idea."

"I might stick around here some more," Kim said. "I like to be up front during these."

"We'll see you soon, then," Jhun said, standing and saluting with two fingers as he shoved his book back in his pocket. "Afterwards, we can just spend time in the VIP lounge."

"I've been wanting to go there more. I heard the food is good."

"I think I'll even be up for that by then." Kim rubbed his chin and sipped more of his tea.

Saying their goodbyes, the three split up for a short bit of time to poke around the inside again.

Thankfully, nothing of note happened over the next twenty-five or so minutes as the crowd started to get back to their seats.

"Well, here we go with the next pair, Rog! Don't keep the crowd waiting."

"Absolutely not! Looks like we might have a bit of a…stealthy endeavour happening on the field, if these two are any indication. Eiji Kisaragi is heading back on to face down Duo Lon, a two-time KOF champion!"

Round 2, Fight 4: Duo Lon vs. Eiji Kisaragi

Leona-fresh from her very fast shower and holding a bottle of water-looked over at the assassin, who was sitting back, his long leg resting against the chair in front of him. She poked his arm lightly. She probably could have taken her time, but she wanted to get back out onto the field as soon as possible, mostly for work. She planned on taking a longer, and perhaps hotter, one that night at the hotel.

"Come back here with a win," she said. "I'd like to see one of us two move on further."

"If I am not mistaken," he said, sitting up and sliding his jacket off, choosing to go out on the field sleeveless again, "I might think you're actually into watching a competition."

She shrugged lightly, looking around her. "You look good up there," she said quietly. A smile tugged at her lips. She had found herself enjoying the first bout quite a bit.

"Well then," he said, standing and stretching. "I suppose I'll have to acquiesce your request." With a quick bow of his head, he silently slid onto the field, seemingly blending in with the field in broad daylight.

Kisaragi heard his name called in his spot; he buzzed Chizuru almost immediately.

"I heard," she said. "I'm on my way. Good luck."

"Thanks," he answered, slipping down to the field quickly himself, practically leaping from the middle bleachers down to the bottom, landing, and quickly dashing forward. He arrived in no time at the ring, leaping lightly to the top and pausing to bow for a moment.

Duo Lon responded in kind, taking his trademark pose afterward. The two didn't say anything toward each other; not out of any sort of disrespect-on the contrary. They could recognize when someone was part of 'the craft' as one might say, even though they were raised very differently and in Eiji's case, it was more of an occasional job than a true occupation like the Hizoku.

READY…GO!

Eiji Kisaragi barely had time to register the assassin practically teleporting up to him, as he was greeted with a swift series of snake-like palm-strikes, only to narrowly dodge the massive kick that followed it up. Already, he was put on the defensive and sore from the blows, and he suspected that him defending as quickly as he did prevented him from getting the wind completely knocked out of him already.

He also suspected the assassin was holding back somewhat. He wasn't really the type to try to kill someone in the ring, after all…though he wondered if he'd ever been hired to do so at some smaller tournament.

Quickly dancing off to the side, the crowd already seemed excited by the speed of which the fight took off at. Leaping to try to throw a few kicks in the assassin's direction, they were deflected by what felt like limbs of steel before he landed.

This man is not completely human anymore , he thought to himself.

On the other side, Duo Lon was simply focused on the fight. He didn't really focus on who his opponent was, so much as what they could do and what he needed to do to counter it…with the exception of his friends, of course.

Reading Kisaragi, he was certainly a skilled fighter, and trained in some of the ways he was, though much like him took it easy during a tournament. Unlike the Hizoku, however, his training was a lot more grounded and practical, not really granting much in the way of special abilities beyond the use of chi for some blurring speed that allowed him to almost teleport.

The ninja tried this, in fact; but Duo Lon was able to catch him as he passed through, as he started a bit too early. Greeting him with a shoulder block and a chop into a double palm strike, the ninja was knocked backward and almost winded from the blow. Coughing, he recovered fast enough to dodge a knee that would have winded him, and managed to come in, at least, to kick the other man in the thigh…it was a bit clumsy, however, and didn't much knock the other man off balance. It did force him to shift his weight a bit to let Eiji attempt another quick, dashing blow, the ninja trying to hit and run, attempting to find where the man's weakness was…if he even had any.

He started to wonder just how some of the strongest Hizoku trained. The announcers could barely catch up with what was going on during this one; that exchange was the closest, it seemed, that Kisaragi came to managing to make even a mark on the tall assassin. The fight, from a distance, looked incredibly one-sided; Duo Lon's beyond-human physical prowess, coupled with the fact he stood nine inches over the ninja, made this bout an incredibly uphill one. Kisaragi had beaten bigger men in South Town many times, so the size wasn't the issue at all, and he was by no means weak…but these tournaments were ones where at times someone more down to earth would draw someone less… typical as an opponent.

It all ended as quickly as it started, or so it seemed, despite the fight having gone on for a couple of minutes. Kisaragi slipped forward with a blinding speed once again, planning on coming at him from the side upon landing, leaping over the sweep that Duo Lon had thrown…but he had not anticipated the wide, sweeping roundhouse that followed, his long leg reaching his head seemingly as soon as he touched the ground.

Stars exploded in the ninja's head as he was flung off to the side like a ragdoll, turning over several times before coming to a stop. Seeing how he was not picking himself up right away, the referee blew the whistle, calling the fight right then and there.

WINNER: Duo Lon

"Good lord, Rog! Someone else knocked senseless with that right leg!"

"Indeed, Jay. He's cutting a swath through the competition with it!"

Kisaragi feared that his head was turned around on his neck by that blow; he had no doubt that had Duo Lon been fighting for keeps, it would have been-Kim himself had ended up at the other end of one of the man's heavy kicks a couple of days and several fights before it. But, he was mostly just seeing some stars at the moment, and felt like he was able to shake it off. A bit of blood oozed from the side of his head, near his ear.

"Are you alright?" a soft voice said.

He looked up at the other assassin and blinked. "Yes," he said. Seeing the hand the assassin offered, he decided to reach out and take it, deciding to swallow his pride for once.

While he would never admit it, he felt fairly good about taking a full-on roundhouse from one of the scariest Hizoku assassins out there and actually walking away with his head and neck intact and with full mental faculties.

He also had to admit that lasting longer in this tournament than any of the Kyokugenryu practitioners gave him his own level of satisfaction, even if he was knocked out in round two.

Nodding his head at the other man though not saying anything else, he turned and moved quickly from the platform, allowing the doctor to take a quick peek into his eyes and letting him go through his usual checks that one would when taking a blow to the head like that before moving toward the showers. Mostly he planned on grabbing a bite from one of the kiosks, resting in private somewhere, and then finding Chizuru to see what she wanted him to do next.

Up above, Jay and Roger looked at one another, nodding.

"Four to go, and so far, so good," the younger man said.

"Yes. Let's hope it stays that way."

"Faster fight that time," he said. "We have an extra ten or so minutes, I'd say."

"It happens. We know who's up next."

"Kinda nice getting to put a tournament together. At least the brackets. Hope we did alright."

"Judging by the crowd, we did." Roger sipped his coffee. "We have the rest of Round 2 ready, and I have to say I think our top 8 is going to turn out interesting…whoever it is."

"Agreed."

The two went back to checking a few odds and ends as they waited for the next fight.

Duo Lon had slid quietly off the stage in the meantime, heading to the side where Shen was waiting for him. He greeted him with a headlock, grinning.

"Congratulations! You made that look easy."

Duo Lon slid out, poking his friend in the forehead again, though spared him a smile. "Thank you."

Adel and Whip walked over, both of them smiling as well.

"Well then, looks like you're up in the top 8!" Whip said, giving his tattooed arm a pat.

"I think he can get further than that," Adel added.

Duo Lon, who usually did not enter these for any sort of accolades or whatnot, rubbed the back of his head. "We'll see."

"See? We'll make him enjoy fighting one day!" The brawler had a laugh.

Leona, off to the side, hadn't said much yet, but she simply walked forward and touched his back once-discreetly, yet affectionately.

"I knew you'd win," she said quietly.

He shrugged. "I just do my best every time."

"That's why I knew."

Smiling softly at her, he looked over at everyone. "I'm going to hit the shower. I'll see everyone around."

"I need to go meet with the guys," Leona said. "Will be up at the lounge later."

"We're headed to the lounge now," he said. "Going to chat with Seth again a little later, but wanted to get a snack."

"Alright!" Shen exclaimed. "I'll go grab something and wait my damn turn then," he said. "You better watch me when I get called." He looked over at the Psycho Soldiers. "I think I'm gonna buy them some more grub."

"Awww. Look at Shen being a softie."

The big man grumped before smiling and wandering off. The rest of the group split off for their respective things as well, as the hallways started to fill with folks getting their snacks and hitting the restrooms during their downtime.

Back up at the VIP lounge, the Kyokugenryu trio-Ryo, Robert, and Yuri-were sitting at the bar, with Bob and King nearby, dropping more drinks in front of them as well as a plate of wings they had ordered.

"I saw that one turning out the way it did," Ryo started, picking out one of the wings on the plate, his pint of pilsner next to him. "To be honest, I thought both fights would turn out how they did."

"Yeah," his younger sister agreed, grabbing one herself. She was drinking a cranberry-and-white-wine combination. "Sometimes they're hard to tell. But…"

Robert, whose drink of choice was usually a bit stiffer, had opted for a lager for now, given it was the afternoon. He rubbed his goatee and selected one of the very nicely deep-fried wings, opting for one of the spicier ones. "Everyone today was experienced," he said. "But Kyo…well, what more needs to be said."

"They all have different tactics," Ryo said. He rolled his eyes after a moment. "I'll say Kisaragi got lucky he got further than us, though. Gotta hit those mats harder when I get back."

Yuri chuckled. "C'mon, bro. We got thrown into the grinder this time." She rubbed her chin. "I definitely got off the luckiest, but Vanessa's got ten years of experience on me. At least."

"I did kinda like seeing that tall, scary bastard give him a thrashing, though. After what he put us through a couple of years ago. That said…it was satisfying to see him drop the old man on his ass."

Bob looked over at the others. He knew them well, as King had helped at the Pao Pao numerous times, and he had thrown in to help out with Illusion more than once, himself.

"I'll say you guys all got lucky getting off as easily as you did," he chuckled.

King snorted some laughter. "Don't tease them too badly."

"Oh, rub it in, why don't you," he said.

"I gotta say, Ryo, you're taking this much better than I thought you would."

He looked around, making sure no one was there listening. "Look, versus those monsters? I might be proud of the school, but we are only human."

"Wonder who's up next?" Yuri asked.

"Well, take a look at who's left," Robert said. "We might be able to put together a few fights."

"Damn," she said, thinking of who she hadn't seen yet today. "There's gonna be some harsh ones."

"Yeah. Bookies are probably having a field day."

"They are," Bob agreed. "Bunch of them came in, got some drinks, and were chatting up a storm."

"Jhun has to have them waking up," Robert said.

"Oh yeah. They love when an underdog starts running ahead."

"You guys betting?" King asked, wiping down another glass.

"Nah. I think we'll just sit here and watch the fun." He sipped his drink, pondering it for a moment. "At least, for now."

As they continued drinking, the VIP lounge continued to fill, mostly with fighters, but also for a few of the rich types that paid top dollar for their tickets. Some of them seemed to be just a little bit underground, but they behaved themselves; after all, you can't make betting money if you get kicked out.

Having made their way up, Adel and Whip piled into the VIP section as planned. They'd be heading back again into the employee lounge soon enough, and decided to indulge in the bar's rather excellent crispy chicken sandwiches. Served up on a brioche bun, with slightly tangy mayo and pickles, it was some of the better bar food they had eaten, but it stopped short of being 'fancy.'

"How do you think the cats are faring?" Whip asked, a smirk on her face.

"Oh, I'm sure they're driving Henrik up a wall."

"Wouldn't Rose be hanging out with them?"

"She's been pretty busy the past few days."

"That's right. Something with that lord, wasn't it?"

"Yeah. Business and a little more, that I can tell. I'm glad. She's been a lot more laid back thanks to that. But that means Henrik's been on cat duty."

"I have noticed the laid back thing. But poor Henrik," she said with a chuckle. The pair took their seats at the bar on the right-side corner near the Agents' table for now, giving them a nod before ordering two small draft beers to have with their late lunch.

"Shame you didn't enter," Vanessa said to Adel. "After what I've heard about the tournament a few years ago, you'd have cleaned up in this one."

The big blond rubbed his head as Whip grinned at him. She looked back over to Vanessa, ruffling his hair as well.

"I tried. He just wanted to take it easy, he said."

"Yeah. I enjoy these, but I've been too damn busy lately. Figured I'd take a little vacation."

"Don't worry," the boxer replied, grabbing a few chips from the table that Ramón had brought over. "I'll probably be taking one after this."

"You ought to convince Seth to, as well," the luchador chuckled.

"He likes his work, doesn't he?" Adel asked. "First time I really got to spend a lot of time with him. We've chatted before, but not to this extent."

"Oh, very much so," Vanessa said with a chuckle.

"Yeah," Whip agreed. "If it's not work, it's his family. Guy doesn't seem to be much for vacations."

"I'm sure he'd love us talking about him," Mary said, "But if he walks in on it, maybe it'll convince him to take some time off."

"We could buy him a vacation somewhere," Ramón said thoughtfully.

"Where would we send him?"

"Huh."

"...You guys are actually considering this?" Adel asked.

"I mean…we've missed a couple of the guy's birthdays," Vanessa said thoughtfully.

"Tell me how this all goes," Whip added. She caught Bob heading over as she looked, two plates served up with the VIP lounge's amazing chicken sandwiches.

"Holy shit. Those look great," Vanessa said. "Why…are there three? Waiting on someone?"

"Because of him." Whip poked Adel in the ribs. "I'm surprised he didn't get three himself."

"Want to save room for later," he said, demolishing half of the rather large-size sandwich in a single bite.

"Is…he going to choke?" Mary asked, blinking slowly.

"Oh no. This is normal," the soldier replied, an amused, yet completely unsurprised smirk on her face as she took a more human-sized bite.

The rest of the trio blinked slowly as they opted to then look at the menu themselves, deciding to refuel somewhat before starting the second half of the day's work.

Einherjar Stadium, upper level

"As always, monsieur, you were in top form."

Duo Lon turned, seeing Ash slide toward him, his red jacket open and the black tank top he wore underneath once again showing his sinewy frame. The young man stood next to him, resting his arms on the barricade.

"You're still good at finding me," the assassin said.

"Let's not kid around, you only get found if you want to be found."

The man smirked at that, giving a soft chuckle. "Thank you."

"I do wonder how the rest of this will go?" He touched the railing. "I admit, I am quite keen to take home a trophy this time. Unlike you, I am not a two-time champion."

Ash couldn't quite notice, but Duo Lon tensed up ever-so-slightly at his words. For just a moment, flashes of the last tournament he had taken home a trophy for went through his head…but it was not the trophy he thought of; it was the memories, in full, that had come flooding back some months ago. His shift was subtle, however.

"Well, you will just have to try your best," he finally said, offering him another soft smile. "As will I."

"It would be something to meet you again in the ring, Duo Lon." The man's breezy smile made him seem completely blasé to everything that had happened before.

The assassin eyed him; his expression was unreadable, as it was when he wanted it to be, but if someone could look inside, they would be able to see a broadly mixed mass of emotion.

"Time will tell," he answered, the wind outside of the stadium kicking up ever so slightly.

A/N: More fights, and the roster grows smaller! Leona might be one of my favorites, being an Ikari, but Kyo Kusanagi is a Sacred Treasure, and he's a hard, hard fight to take down that very, very few non-bosses are capable of…so I think that she acquitted herself well, myself. She takes it in stride, though-she's never in these for the glory of a tournament. There's still one Ikari left, though! It's kind of nice to see her loosening up a bit, I think.

And as for the other, let's face it, while I think Kisaragi acquits himself well enough being a skilled ninja in his own right, Duo Lon is on a whole other level; this is a guy who the stories show off as being rather frightening, from being able to restrain Shen easily to possibly being partially undead, we just don't know. It's okay, though-it looks like both of these characters can at least pull off their helpful, out-of-tournament duties easier, now.

The Kyokugens chatting: Given the Rivals(Elisabeth, Shen, and Duo Lon) won the XIII tournament, while SNK never releases official brackets, I just sort of HC'd that the team had a run-in with them and that's who knocked them out. Hence the line from Ryo about Duo Lon putting Takuma on his ass. (I'd probably adjust this if SNK ever released official brackets, but given they seem to be able to barely keep the stories in check now, I doubt this will ever happen.) I also sort of pulled an amusing bit in the sense that Eiji felt like he had gotten one up on the school by lasting until round two, but the Kyokugens likewise got to see their rival knocked out, so it was a case of each side getting a little bit of something, lol. I'll say I think Kisaragi came out a little luckier overall.

In my HCs, Adel has a *massive*, almost unnatural, appetite. The origins of which are unknown. He can eat entire large-size pizzas by himself in one sitting and chase it with dessert, and tends to terrify buffets if he walks in. Whip has grown accustomed to this.

Who's up next? Stay tuned for the next set of fights in Round 2, whittling things down bit by bit for The Top 8!

BUT WAIT!

I'm doing these now, I think? Is this another BONUS SCENE?

Hallway of Einherjar Stadium, during Match 3

The intern made his way down the hall, knowing he had plenty of time to get the pair. The third match of the day was still going on, and he held some notes for the later matches, which were no longer a secret to Jay and Roger, of course, as they put them together-but he needed to get these to a few of the other casters around so they knew what was going on.

"Hey there," a voice said behind him. Blinking, thinking that no one was supposed to be around there, the somewhat nervous intern turned around, coming face to face with a tall, black-clad man. The crowd above and his general focus made him unable to hear the man as he seemingly walked up behind him. For a moment, he wondered why the other casters were in such an out-of-the-way part of the stadium, wishing he was in a place with a bit more light at the moment, and less…alone.

"Uhh…hi?" he said, gulping.

"Mind if I see what you have there?" The large man with the slicked-back hair grinned wolfishly, holding out his hand.

"I…umm…need to get this to the desk."

"I'll give it back." He leaned forward, looking the intern in the eyes. "Promise."