The Twenty-third Match

"Mami just wanted you all to know that Mami is Mami today," Mami announced. "Mami thought you might want to know."

"Cool," Iori muttered, watching the blonde ponytail woman step behind a tall Spanish man and snap his neck. The woman shot him a couple of times to ensure his death and then stepped back, allowing the man's lifeless body to fall to the ground.

"The winner is Nina Williams!" the announcer called. "I never get tired of watching her fight. It's incredible, truly incredible. OK! I will now announce the next match!"

Mami chuckled. "That guy died," she muttered.

"So did Miki. And Yayoi-chan. And Azusa-san," Iori snapped.

Mami nodded slowly. "Yeah, that stinks."

"The first competitor will be Ami Futami!"

Mami blinked and remembered that she and Ami were competing under Ami's name. She waved to the others and bounded down the stairs.

"She will be fighting Haruka Amami!"

Harurun? …well, then Mami will fake kill her, Mami decided.

Haruka obviously knew this, since she came running into the arena without a care in the world. "Hi, Ma—Ami-chan!" she cheered. "So…" She stepped closer and lowered her voice to a whisper. "Do you know how you're going to kill me?"

Mami looked over at the jagged rock by the edge of the arena. "Yeah. Mami is gonna…stab you with that rock. It's gonna look like she stabbed you in the heart," she answered, also whispering.

Haruka nodded. "And I just have to pretend to die."

"Mami will have the paramedics care for you, Harurun."

"Thank you!"

Mami suddenly slapped her hands onto Haruka's head and threw her to the ground. Haruka squeaked and fell to the side. Mami kicked her side. Haruka screeched and rolled over, clutching her side. Grinning, Mami bent down and grabbed her neck, lifting her off the ground slightly. Haruka looked at her and coughed.

"Listen here, you," Mami hissed, "it was a wise decision to choose Mami as the winner of this match. You're a weakling, Harurun! A bon appetit weakling!"

"You mean bona fide," Haruka told her. She coughed again.

Angrily, Mami tossed her back onto the ground. Haruka took a moment to recover and then stood. "You think you can afford to play smart with Mami, weakling?" Mami lashed. She ran over to the jagged rock and pulled it out of the ground. "Mami is going to kill you, Harurun! She's going to kill you!"

Haruka whimpered and took a step back, but Mami ignored her. She charged at the ribbon-wearing girl with a cry and shoved the sharp point of the rock into Haruka's chest. Haruka screamed.

Mami smirked. "That's right, Harurun," she muttered. "Suffer." She twisted the rock in her chest. Haruka cried out in agony, squeezing her eyes shut. She opened them for a split second and offered Mami a wink, which Mami returned. Then she closed her eyes again and slowly sank to the ground.

Mami lowered her into the dirt and pulled the rock out of her chest. "That's what you get for messing with Mami, weakling," she snapped. She stood and re-inserted the rock into its proper place, then walked out of the arena. Haruka coughed once and then fell still. If Mami looked close enough, she saw that Haruka was taking in small breaths through her nose. Mami smiled and nodded. She paused by the group of paramedics waiting by the entrance to the arena.

"Take care of her," she ordered. "Mami thinks she's suffered enough. We may as well make her body comfortable while her soul burns away in hell."

The paramedics looked at her confusedly, then shrugged and went to go get Haruka's "corpse". Mami went up to the waiting area.

"She's not dead, is she?" Xiaoyu asked.

Mami shook her head. "Mami stabbed her a liiiittle off to the side of her heart, so she missed the important stuff. Harurun's just bruised," she promised.

"And impaled," Makoto added.

"Not 'impaled'…more like 'been stabbed'." Mami shrugged. "Anyhow, she's fine."

"Good," Xiaoyu sighed. "I'm glad. She's a good friend."

"Yeah, she is," Mami agreed.

The idols nodded to show agreement. "We got lucky," Makoto said quietly.

Iori nodded slowly. "At the rate we're going, the next match won't end well," she muttered. "Stay on your toes."

"The next match will be Nina Williams against Hibiki Ganaha!"

Hibiki flinched. "That assassin lady?" she questioned.

Iori cringed. "Yeah. Good luck."

Hibiki took a deep breath. "Don't ya worry, guys. I'm prepared for this," she promised, grinning. "So just cheer for me is all, 'kay?"

Makoto ran over and gave her a quick hug. She was immediately followed by Takane.

"You be careful out there, Hibiki," Makoto ordered. "OK? Please."

Hibiki laughed. "I'll be fine. An' if I ain't, ya take care o' Takane, for me, alright?"

Makoto nodded.

Takane placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hibiki, I will be cheering for you, so do not lose heart," she said. "You will do great."

"I know," Hibiki agreed. "It'll be no problemo, guys. You'll see!"

The girls watched as the tan Okinawan girl hustled down the stairs and into the arena to meet Nina. A fear rose in their hearts as the watched Nina crack her knuckles and reload her guns.

If Hibiki made it out of this at all, she would not make it out unscathed.