Chapter 33: The End of the Preliminaries
Scar Face watched as the medics examined Beni Niro, while Gelato, Rosa, and Spauracchio came down from the balcony to check on him. They had deep frowns and worried looks, making Scar Face feel uncomfortable. He pulled one of the medics aside, and talked to him in private.
"How's the boy?" Scar Face asked.
The young male medic sighed, and looked away. "Well he's certainly not going to die, but…"
"But what? Don't hold back on me, son."
"We'll certainly be able to heal him, but he has multiple tears in his muscles, two severely fractured limbs, and his blood pressure is above normal. So he'll recover eventually, but for now, his days of being a Soldier are over."
"No…" Gelato said, surprising both Scar Face and the young medic. "He can't quit now…he still hasn't fought Voluta, or even had a rematch with Tony yet. Maybe you've made a mistake, doctor! Check him again!"
"We've thoroughly checked him, and the results would agree with my analysis," the young medic said. "I'm sorry."
"BEEEENNNNNIIIIIII!" Scar Face cried. He fell to his knees in front of the bed Beni Niro was lying on, and bawled his eyes out. "What've I done?!"
"Beni Niro," Gelato said, feeling the tears well up. "Why? Why did you have to lose? It's not fair!"
"Nothing's fair in this world," Spauracchio said, putting his hand on Gelato's shoulder. "But the best thing you can do for Beni Niro is to fight the battles he won't be able to anymore."
"Yes, prove to the world in his place that the hard-working losers can outdo the naturally talented winners," Scar Face said through a heavy throat. "Make it so that his sacrifice wasn't in vein. Will you do that for me, and for Beni Niro?"
Gelato paused, and looked over at the arena, seeing the fat kid Palermo Cammino from Squad 10 and Ecc Seta from the Suono family face off. The match began, followed by an encouraging cheer from Capriolo, while Maiale called him a 'fatty'. Upon hearing that, Palermo clenched his fists and there was a fire in his eyes that was blazing with determination.
"No one calls me a 'fatty' and gets away with it!" Palermo grumbled, and said to Ecc Seta. "I'm gonna beat you in ten seconds flat, and then settle a score with my teammate!"
"Ten seconds?" Ecc replied, then his visible eye narrowed. "Sounds intriguing. I'm game."
Palermo growled, and then he made a hand-sign. He closed his eyes as he did so, then he opened them and said, "Spriggan* Magic (Expansion Jutsu)!"
Then in an instant, Palermo was ten times his natural size, and rounder than before. Ecc Seta chuckled, remembering when Zach blasted Palermo into the sewer water. Irritated, Palermo tucked in his limbs and head, and rolled forward saying, "Human Bowling Ball (Human Bullet Tank)!"
Ecc quickly dodged Palermo as he rolled into the opposite wall. The tin walls bent outward, but Palermo didn't seem that damaged. Next, Ecc rolled up his sleeve and pressed his arm into Palermo's rear end.
"I saw that sound power of yours, but it won't work on me!" Palermo said as though talking through several layers of pillows. "My ears are plugged while I'm in this form, so I can't hear you!"
"It makes no difference whether your ears are plugged or not," Ecc said, then he punched Palermo saying, "Siren Echo!"
The sound waves vibrated from a metallic glove he wore, and Palermo's body shook in response, causing him to shrink. He lay on his stomach, dizzily rolling his head. But he couldn't move as Ecc walked over him, and grabbed him by the strands of his brown hair.
"You see, even though you couldn't hear me, your body is made up of water, which provides a good enough medium for my Siren Echo in place of your pathetic ears," Ecc said, using his other hand to tug on Palermo's ears.
But Imprevisto quickly broke things up, and declared Ecc Seta the winner. Ecc looked at Typhonragazzo, still in his disguise, and he nodded in approval. Meanwhile, Palermo was taken to the medical corner, which made things crowded, so the head medic told Gelato and the others to leave. However, Scar Face refused to leave Beni Niro's side, and so the medics agreed to let him stay in order to not cause a fuss.
"All right," Gelato said with new determination. "I will fight the naturally talented winners in Beni Niro's place, including Voluta, who I swore to defeat in the Finals."
"That's the spirit!" Scar Face said, giving Gelato a thumbs-up.
After that, Gelato and Rosa headed back to the balcony as everyone gathered around the Godfather, who was preparing to make a speech. As for Spauracchio, he went to the empty room that Tony was still in to check up on him. The Godfather cleared his throat, with his bodyguards standing next to him, and spoke to them all.
"Now that the Preliminaries are over, we will now be moving onto the second half of the Challenge of the Fist, the Finals. However, these will take place a month from now. This was set up by my predecessors in order to allow the remaining contestants to recover from their injuries, and train before their next battles, now that they've seen what the others are capable of." Then he left through a back door to his right, with his bodyguards surrounding him and holding their guns out.
The crowd was silent, and then they muttered among themselves as they slowly dispersed, heading down the stairs out into the afternoon sunset. But some stayed, like Squad 7 and Seta, with Typhonragazzo staring at the door to the room along with Gelato and Rosa. Then, Spauracchio emerged out of the room, carrying Tony who was very pale from head to toe.
"Tony!" Rosa said, rushing over to him to give Spauracchio a hand.
"You don't look so good," Gelato said, following Spauracchio and Rosa as they helped Tony down the stairs. "Are you sure this Exorcist-thing worked?"
"Do you doubt my abilities?" Spauracchio asked, but there was a hint of a threat in his words.
"Well, no, it's just that I hope it doesn't affect him in the upcoming Finals," Gelato replied.
"Trust me, it won't."
"And I believe in Tony," Rosa said, leaning close to him. "He's strong, and was able to overwhelm his opponent even though he couldn't use Alchemy. Now you've got to admit that's pretty impressive!"
"Keep it down, Rosa," Tony muttered. "You're yelling right next to my ear."
"Sorry, Tony."
The rest of the group was silent as they left the hangar. As soon as they were out of hearing range, Typhonragazzo ordered Squad Seta to leave as well, which they did without question. Then Typhonragazzo made a hand-sign, there was a flash, and the disguise came off, revealing the same face and clothes he wore back in the sewers.
"Casco," Typhonragazzo said as the door opened behind him.
"Yes, Father?" Casco replied, standing next to Typhonragazzo.
"I don't like Tony's friends. Their influence on him is too positive for my liking."
"I understand, Father."
End of Chapter 33
*Spriggans are mischievous fairies that horde treasure and can swell to enormous sizes through shape shifting.