Lincoln slowly opened his eyes. He winced when his eyes weren't focused enough to handle the light escaping the window. It was seeping through the corner of the curtain.
Rubbing his eyes, he turned around and stared at the back of his new roommate. Oh yeah, he had a roommate. He was currently on the far side of the bed, snoring softly.
He blinked with his lazy eyes and yawned before sitting up and stretching.
Hopping out of bed, he walked across the room, grabbing his Inventory at the end of the room. He then went over to the curtains and peeked outside, squinting his eyes. The sky was a mix of red and orange and was starting to get dark. He looked over to the time under the television and saw nine in the afternoon. They still had some time before the brawl.
He headed straight to the bathroom next. Taking a toothbrush and toothpaste out of his Inventory, he went to work and brushed his teeth. Afterwards, he splashed some water on his face to wake himself up.
After all was finished, he realized that all Mikey had brought with him were his clothes. That meant he possibly didn't even have a toothbrush. Thankfully, he always carried an extra in case he needed it.
As he exited the bathroom, Mikey stirred awake.
"Morning." Lincoln said, sitting on the front end of the bed and looking through his bag.
"Morni-" Mikey jolted up and looked at his surroundings. It seemed he temporarily forgot he stayed the night here. "Morning." He finally managed to say.
Lincoln just smiled. "You need a toothbrush?" He asked before he forgot to mention it. "I have an extra." He pulled one out. It was the color pink. "Don't have any other colors, though."
Mikey reached out and took it. "It's fine, thanks."
"My friend was always on about keeping my teeth nice and clean." Lincoln chuckled at the memory. "He was scary at times. Always reminding me that these were the only pair I had left. But thankfully I met him right after my last baby teeth fell out, he's a great dentist. If he knew you were going around without a toothbrush he'd probably kill you." Lincoln said with a laugh.
"I'd like to see him try." Mikey thought, not caring much about the little story.
Nonetheless, he decided to go to the bathroom to brush his teeth. He might as well, right?
When he first got off the bed, he realized how comfortable it was. Compared to sleeping wherever he could find, this was like sleeping on a big flat cloud. He regretted getting off of it immediately.
As he walked to the bathroom, Lincoln spoke. "Anything specific you want for breakfast?" He asked.
"No, I'm good." Mikey said, walking into the bathroom and shutting the door.
He went over to the mirror and took a good look at himself. His medium-length curly black hair was in a mess, and when he opened his mouth, his teeth looked a bit bad.
So what? He didn't care what other people thought about his looks, and neither did he. Any bacteria was useless against him with his powers, even his teeth. They were yellow, though.
After brushing them, he noticed they still looked a bit yellow. He pointed a finger in the air with a frown and shrouded the tip in some blue energy. Then, he dragged his finger across his teeth, and the yellow color seemingly turned to white.
Minutes later, he emerged out of the bathroom, and Lincoln was at the door.
A "thank you" was heard from him, and he closed the door, bringing in two platters of breakfast.
"Well, it's here." Lincoln said, placing the platters of food beneath the television. "We got eggs, pancakes, french toast…"
He was about to go on until Mikey interrupted him. "I told you, I'm fine."
"I didn't ask if you wanted to eat or not, I asked if you wanted anything specific." Lincoln said with a smile. "Have some. It's nice and fresh."
Mikey watched as Lincoln took a slice of toast with some sunny side eggs. After a few seconds, he sighed and walked over to grab a few pancakes. "I've… always wanted to try pancakes." He admitted before grabbing some utensils to try it.
"Try it with butter and syrup." Lincoln suggested. "Makes it ten times better.
Mikey chose to try it plain and mildly enjoyed it. But after the butter and syrup, he felt his brain explode. "Wow! That's pretty good!" He said with wide eyes.
Lincoln chuckled. "You should try waffles too one day. They're equally as amazing."
The two ate in each other's company. It didn't take long for them to finish and gather their things. Well, for Lincoln, since he actually had stuff in his hotel room. All Mikey did was put on his shoes.
"Let's go." Lincoln said once they were ready, they made their way out of the room and to the elevators. He was in his dark-blue hoodie, while Mikey was in his light-blue vest jacket.
As they stepped inside and rode down the elevator, Mikey remembered that the other guy, Kenner, was also staying in this hotel. He wondered if they were going to crash into him at some point before the free for all. That man could talk for days if he had the chance. He wished they didn't.
They arrived on the first floor and made their way through the lobby.
As they passed the front desk, Lincoln gave a happy wave to the lady sitting there. "Thanks for the breakfast!" He yelled at her.
She nervously waved back.
The two boys stepped outside. It was already almost dark.
"Hm…" Lincoln looked around. "We still got some time before the brawl. Wanna see if there's anything to do before then?"
Mikey stared at him for a second before saying, "No. I'm going to wait in the waiting room." He walked off with his hands in his pockets, but before he got far, he paused and said, "Thanks for letting me stay at your place for the night."
"No problem." Lincoln said, admittedly disappointed. He thought they were going to become good friends. Oh well, he tried, he guessed. He probably wasn't ready for new friends anyway. Not after what happened with his old ones.
He walked around the streets of Fortune, passing many skyscrapers as he took in the sights.
He saw restaurants, but he wasn't hungry. There was a museum and aquarium, but it didn't interest him enough today. They could be the last resort. He came across a casino but didn't care for it. He even noticed an arcade building. But he wasn't in the mood for that, surprisingly.
Finally, when he discovered a decently sized theatre, he found something he could do.
"Wonder how good their movies are." He said to himself. Looking at his smart band, he still had two and a half hours until the brawl. So he had time for a small movie.
Lincoln would say it was a decent movie. It wasn't a masterpiece, but he enjoyed watching it.
Time passed splendidly, and now it was time for the free for all.
He made his way to the rundown shop. Going up to the tired dark lady at the countertop, she looked at him. Without a word, she moved the shelves to reveal the elevator.
He went down the elevator, through the hallways and underground lobby, and then into the locker room.
He changed out of his hoodie and into the same navy-blue uniform he wore yesterday. Folding up the clothes he changed out of, he stashed them into his Inventory and then put that into one of the lockers. He used the same password as before, locking his belongings.
He then walked into the waiting room. Lincoln immediately noticed the two others sitting quietly and waiting, Mikey and Willy.
Mikey didn't bat Lincoln an eye, but Willy looked over at him before smirking. It seemed he was confident he was going to win.
With the three of them here, that only left…
"I'm here!" Kenner shouted, entering the room in his uniform and faded sharp haircut.
He chuckled. "Sorry! I overslept a bit."
Mikey and Willy didn't say anything to that, but Lincoln laughed and fist-bumped Kenner. "Better late than never." He said.
"This is going to be a blast!" Kenner said.
He turned and pointed at Mikey and Willy. "I hope both of you are ready, I'm going all out in this!"
Mikey didn't respond.
Willy scoffed and said, "I faced you yesterday, him too." He said, pointing to Mikey with a thumb. "If there's anyone I want to fight, it's him." He pointed to Lincoln with a finger, who looked at him with a surprised expression.
Just then, the screen on the wall lit up blue. "Welcome, everyone!" Sidney said on the speakers. "The match is about to start up soon. Good luck to you all!"
Kenner grinned. "Luck? Who needs that?"
A pang hit Lincoln's stomach, only momentarily.
The man eyed his opponents for a bit, then said, disappointed. "Man, I wish Wom made it here too. It would have been the four diner guys all together again."
"Yeah, you're right." Lincoln said. "But it is what it is."
While Mikey didn't respond again, Willy gave Kenner and Lincoln a look. He remembered what Gail told him yesterday before they closed.
"I didn't get a name but he had white hair and a chipped tooth from what I recall."
He stared at Lincoln for a few seconds. The smiling white-haired boy did have a chipped tooth. He couldn't believe it was him, of all people, that blessed his store with tharite.
He would have to thank him later, not wanting the kid to go easy on him if he did so potentially. If the kid made it this far, he wasn't a joke.
"All fighters, please make your way to the arena." Sidney said through the speakers.
Willy and Mikey stood up and made their way to the door. Lincoln and Kenner followed suit.
When Lincoln went through the door, he saw that there were now four doors at the end of the hallway, unlike yesterday. Each of them had the numbers "1" to "4" on them.
Mikey walked through door 1, and Willy walked through door 4 immediately. Kenner thought for a moment and decided to take door 2.
"See you on the other side." He said to the boy, opening the door and walking.
So that left Lincoln with door 3.
He walked through it, and it wasn't long until he heard the crowd's cheers in the stadium. He couldn't help but smile.
Walking forward and toward the stadium's centre, he saw Kenner, Mikey, and Willy on the other three sides of the arena.
Stepping in bounds, he kept going until he was near the center, where all four of them stopped and stared at each other. The air was tense.
None of them noticed, but all of the previous fighters sat down and watched in the front row seats.
Wom relaxed and decided to enjoy the fight. He didn't care who would win, but he knew it would be a fierce match nonetheless. He hoped that the Big Bosses wouldn't end it prematurely like his fight with Lincoln. Beside him sat Silvey, though they weren't paying each other any mind. On his other side was Terry, and the rest of them were one row above them.
"Alright, everyone!" The announcer shouted on his platform. "This is it! The final free for all in his tournament!"
The crowd cried out, shaking the stadium with their noise.
"For one last time, allow me to introduce our fighters!"
"In the first corner, our youngest contestant today at ten years old. You know him, you fear him, it's Mikey!"
The crowd cheered for Mikey, the boy not giving a reaction to it.
When the crowd died down, the announcer continued. "In our second corner, it's the feisty and cunning man with guts and spirit. Give it up for everyone's best friend, Kenner Cox!"
The crowd screamed, some even chanting Kenner's name. The fighter in question was blowing kisses to his fans, making Lincoln chuckle.
"Our third brawler, the one who is not to be messed with. The Man with the Plan, Lincoln!"
Lincoln had to admit. It felt nice having a crowd cheering for you. Determination grew inside of him so as not to disappoint them. The name "The Man with the Plan" was his doing when he wrote it down for one of the options when he first signed up.
"And last but certainly not least, we have the food scarfing maniac. The biggest of 'em all, Willy Ryser!"
Up in the stands, Wom had a thoughtful expression. "Willy Ryser… Where have I heard that name before?" He asked himself.
"Fighters, make your way to your corner!"
After a few seconds of staring at each other, the four started their way to the four corners of the arena.
Once he was there, Lincoln noticed that the previously scattered objects across the arena were gone. It was now an empty field. He surmised that the Big Bosses wanted to see if anyone relied on them a bit too much.
To his far left was Willy, and on his far right was Mikey. Kenner was across the stage, who had his eyes only set on Mikey.
He didn't feel like interfering, so he looked over to Willy.
"Is everybody ready?!" The announcer shouted.
The crowd screamed, and the four fighters readied up.
"Let's go, everyone!"
The crowd shouted along with him.
"Three!"
"Two!"
"One!"
"Start!"
Lincoln didn't waste a second and rushed toward Willy. The giant man did nothing but stand still.
Confused, Lincoln skidded to a halt when he was closer to him. He charged some energy in one of his palms and shot an orange beam at him.
It was a direct hit and pushed against the large man, but Willy didn't move an inch.
"Just as I thought. With a body like that he's built like a tank."
Charging more energy into it, his beam doubled in size, but still, it didn't push or damage Willy.
"With my durability, you have no chance of beating me." He shouted out past the beam.
At that, Lincoln decided to use both of his hands. Bringing his other hand up, he put his wrists together, used more energy, and his energy beam pulsed before increasing in size once more.
This time, Willy laughed it off. He didn't even stumble.
Up in the stands, the Big Bosses were watching with keen eyes.
"His tenacity is still unmatched."
"Incredible. I've seen nothing like this before."
Lincoln deemed it futile to continue like this, so he stopped his energy beam and dashed forward.
He punched Willy's face multiple times, but all he got in return was a stern gaze from the man.
Trying somewhere else, he tried punching into his stomach but was shocked when his fist sank into the fat of Willy's skin.
He gritted his teeth with mild irritation, and Willy smiled. "I'm sure you've noticed now."
"Yeah…" Lincoln swiped a kick at Willy's ankle, intending to get the man off balance. But yet again, the fat absorbed his attack.
Jumping back up to Willy's stomach, Lincoln repeatedly rained blows on Willy.
He felt it. Every attack sank into the fat and bounced off, rendering his strikes ineffective.
"I told you, there's no point." Willy said.
Lincoln hopped backwards and stood still, staring at Willy. Putting his hands on his hips, he thought, "Dang, I really can't move him. But that's fine for me too since he can't attack me. If he could, he would have done so by now."
He breathed through his nose, racking his brain for any way to defeat the large man. "I could use that power. But I don't want to accidentally hurt him too badly."
Preparing to charge forward once more, he said, "Well there's nothing I can do just standing still. Might as well keep trying to overpower him."
Meanwhile, Kenner sprinted towards Mikey on the other side of the stadium.
He threw many punches, but Mikey ducked and dodged all of them while stepping backwards ever so often.
He jumped up and charged some hot-red energy. "Untamed Buster!" He yelled, throwing a fist with red energy down at his foe.
Mikey stepped to the side, and Kenner's punch hit the ground, cracking the arena floor.
"You're pretty slippery huh?" Kenner said with a grin. "Stop running and fight me!"
Mikey stared at him with a bored expression. "If you can't even catch up to me what's the point in fighting you? It would just be a complete wipe. It'd be boring."
Kenner raised a brow, looking confused.
"You said you were a ten out of ten." Mikey said, pointing to him. "So prove it to me so I can take you seriously."
Kenner smirked at that. "So cocky." He pounced forward, fist high in the air. "I like it!"
Mikey sighed. He knew this was going to be tedious. To him, it was simply a waiting game for what was coming next.
But just then, time seemed to slow down as Kenner's body started to steam.
"Boiling Blood!" He shouted, and suddenly, he was faster.
Mikey got caught off guard and took a nice punch to the cheek. He slid across the stadium and stopped after a while, still standing on his feet.
Looking over to Kenner, he noticed some steam emitting from his knuckles. However, the rest of his body stopped steaming entirely.
Kenner grinned, "How about that?"
Mikey rubbed his cheek for a few seconds, his mildly shocked expression changing into a small smile. "Fine. You got me."
Stretching out a palm, a smooth sky-blue orb of energy appeared. The orb slowly shifted into another form, and soon the energy became a long solid rod.
He twirled the rod in his hand and then pointed it towards Kenner. "Let's see how you deal with this."
Kenner's grin grew wider. "Interesting! Boiling Blood!" He charged forward, but the boy put his rod out and stopped him by the chest when he tried to get close.
When his chest hit the end of the rod, nothing much happened to Kenner other than the poke. Stepping to the side and around the rod, he went in. However, this time Mikey used the rod to deflect his punches, pushing them to the side and deeming them harmless.
"I see your style, but let's see how long you can keep this up for." Kenner said, charging in again.
Back with Lincoln, he continued to pressure Willy, but to no avail. His attacks weren't doing anything against him.
He jumped back and tried using his energy again, firing a large and powerful beam at the fat man. But once again, the energy was ineffective against his barrier of fat.
"You're persistent." Willy admitted. "But this is getting boring." He made two fists, and his body started to glow red.
Lincoln prepared himself, putting his arms up for anything about to come.
"HISSATSU TENGI: PRESSURE COOKER!"
An enormous force of light-red energy was blown from his body, pushing Lincoln away.
"What is this?!" Lincoln went low and tried to keep steady. He didn't take the chance and brought up his energy as a pseudo suit of armor. He couldn't wager how powerful this energy was.
Right now, the force pushing him back was the issue. He was about to be out of bounds.
In the stands, the audience was also trying to hold on. They covered their eyes with their arms and held onto anything they could.
"Incredible!" Wom shouted.
"We can even feel the heat from up here!" Silvey said.
Kenner stopped himself mid-engage and looked over to Willy. "There it is." He said. "Good luck, Lincoln."
Mikey didn't care enough to give a reaction. He turned to Kenner and said, "Are you finished?"
Kenner instantly looked at him with a smirk and said, "Not even close!" Before he dashed towards him once more.
Lincoln kept sliding backwards ever so slowly. He had two options but didn't want to go overboard. Besides, he knew he had a chance as is. It was more fun this way too.
He stared at Willy through the red energy, trying to come up with something. But then, he noticed something strange happening to Willy.
His body was slowly starting to shrink, along with his uniform. Quickly putting the pieces together, he realized this meant he was using his fat as a source of this power, and it would run out soon.
All he had to do was wait until the technique was finished. Then, he could quickly eliminate or knock him out with his fat gone.
He really missed his sword right now. He could have used it as an anchor if he had even one of them. But he couldn't complain. This was much more of a challenge.
Up with the Big Bosses, their clothes were flailing, and their drinks almost spilt. Other than that, they weren't affected by the storm at all. However, they were impressed by what they witnessed.
Lincoln put some energy into his feet to try and grip the floor, but Willy's move was unrelenting. He looked around for signs of an opening, but there was nothing.
But his eyes widened when he noticed something from above. During some of his past fights in the stadium, he remembered that the lights above would shake slightly. Specifically when he and Wom interchanged blows and when he was sprinting across the rails against Silvey.
However, now, during Willy's attack, they weren't shaking at all.
Lincoln bent down and jumped high in the air, putting on a smirk. He was pushed by the force of Willy's move when he did, but when he was elevated enough, he felt no resistance against his body.
Willy looked up with a shocked expression. "He figured it out?!"
Lincoln stared at the man's bald head. He realized there wasn't any fat there but debated whether he should strike it or not. But he didn't want to hit any vital points.
Diving down using his energy, he charged energy in his fist.
However, to Willy's shock, Lincoln aimed at his face rather than the top of his head.
Lincoln gave a nice punch to his face and forced Willy to stop his attack. While the large man visibly recoiled, he jumped back a reasonable distance.
He did it.
Now that the attack was over, Lincoln and everyone else could see Willy in a minor form. While he wasn't skinny, his fat had essentially been burned. The uniform he wore also shrunk to fit him perfectly. It was made out of a material that could adapt to any size. Lincoln knew that because his armor's material also had the same attribute.
From when Willy first started his attack until now, the audience had been completely quiet. Now when the dust cleared, the crowd cheered for a moment.
Willy grunted, looking over to Lincoln and saying, "I underestimated you. A little too much if I do say so myself." He glared at the boy. "You've been holding back. You could have gotten me on my skull but chose not to."
"Sorry, sorry." Lincoln said, waving his hands. "I just don't want to seriously hurt you."
"Hmph! I didn't ask for your mercy." Putting a palm out, he charged some energy. It only took a couple of seconds before the energy turned into a giant chicken leg.
No, Lincoln thought, this wasn't energy. This was magic. No one was known to be able to do that with energy alone.
This was a high level of magic as well. It was difficult to make food, not to mention food that was healthy, nutritious, and beneficial for you like regular food.
Lincoln watched as Willy ate, and the man slowly started to get bigger again. He used his magic to conjure other foods and scarfed them all down.
It wasn't long until he was back at that large size.
He looked towards Lincoln once more. "Did you enjoy your meal yesterday?"
Lincoln raised an eyebrow. "Meal? Which me-" His eyes flashed back to that restaurant with Wom, Kenner, and Mikey, and how they all had a great time eating together. "Oh! Were you there too?"
"Boy, I own that restaurant." He explained. "And I am the head chef."
That made Lincoln's eyes widen. "Wait, really?!"
Willy nodded. "And I was going to tell you after our fight, but it seems you're holding back either way."
"I mean, yeah. Don't take it personally."
Willy rolled his neck around. "One of my waiters said you were polite and kind. You even paid with some tharite. You have my thanks."
"As such, I will go all out. And I expect you to do the same!" He shouted, energy flowing rapidly around him once more.
Lincoln stared back at him with slight shock before sighing, making a difficult choice.
Willy abruptly jumped up a short distance in the air, much to the audience's shock due to his weight.
He leaned and landed flat on his back, shaking the stadium, and screamed to the skies, "HISSATSU TENGI: PRESSURE COOKER!"
The attack started once again, blowing everything away in a heat storm. Since Willy's head was facing away from Lincoln, it was harder to get to that weak point.
Lincoln stood still and sighed through his nose. Then, in what seemed like an instant, he rushed up effortlessly. With his energy surrounding his body, he jumped high and got above Willy. Flying down, he gave a piercing kick right to Willy's stomach.
Willy coughed up some spit and Life, and the large man's attack stopped instantly.
Bouncing off his stomach, Lincoln landed back on the stage gracefully.
Wom's eyes widened. "He was holding himself back to this extent?" Before, the older man was proud to say that he could beat Lincoln if he used his full power. But now, he wasn't entirely confident.
The other past fighters also looked on in amazement, save for Silvey, who pouted.
"You better show off. It'll make my loss look much better." She muttered to herself, her fingers running through her hair.
The Big Bosses all looked on in amazement. They were impressed by Lincoln's swift victory, and one even spat out their drink.
Shade, who was watching with her boss, smiled and giggled quietly. "I knew it was a good idea to bring him here."
Her boss looked intently at Lincoln, squinting his eyes. "He's good."
Willy coughed a bit, then laid there wholly silent.
Lincoln closed his eyes and started to walk away.
The announcer looked closely, moving his extended platform near Willy's unmoving form. His body started to steam again.
"Willy's down!" He shouted. "Ten!"
As he counted down, Willy's steaming body started to shrink again, and he began to think to himself. "That's… unreal. Even that other kid couldn't do anything against my fat. But he just punched through it like it was nothing. My insides hurt…"
As he almost neared average weight for an adult man his age, he began to think about his life and career as a chef riding on this fight.
"If I can get one of the Big Bosses to jumpstart my restaurant, I can become a world-renowned chef across the world. I'm so close."
His mind started to wander back to when he was a small child. When he first started to learn how to cook.
Around ten years old, a young Willy Ryser sat down with a bright smile at the dinner table in his small apartment building.
Waiting patiently, he watched a woman cook across the room in the kitchen. She was currently stirring something in a pot.
Tapping her wooden spoon on the edge of the pot, she began pouring the food into a couple of bowls sitting on the countertop. Then, she brought the food to the table, where Willy licked his lips and beamed.
"Thanks, Mom!"
The two ate happily together. The food was splendid.
Around a year later, Willy walked up to his mother and tugged on her dress. "Can I help?" He asked.
The woman looked down, giving him a kind-hearted smile after a surprised look. "Of course, sweetie. Bring a stool over."
Over the years, Willy helped his mother cook, learning things throughout their time together.
One day, she became sick—just a common cold.
Willy peeked into her room with a worried look. "Mom, what's for dinner today?"
The woman coughed and looked over at him weakly. "Find something in the cupboards, sweetie. Mom's not well today."
Willy did as told but found nothing that enticed him. But then he remembered all of the times he was sick and how his mom would take care of him.
Putting on a determined look, he went to the other side of the kitchen, where the ingredients were. He even looked at the kitchen knives. Of which his mom strictly told him not to use without her permission.
The next thing the mother knew, her son walked into the room with a steaming hot bowl of soup. She took the bowl from him with a surprised look, giving him thanks. Then, she took a spoonful of the soup. Despite her sickness, it was delicious.
After her cold washed over, they took turns cooking for each other. Willy's skills in the kitchen started to become top-notch.
When he was sixteen, he got a few small jobs. And with the money he earned, along with his mother's help, he opened his first small restaurant with only a couple of tables at the age of twenty-six.
Slowly, his restaurant started to gain traction. He began to get regular customers, positive reviews, and popularity. With the money he earned, he changed locations. It was in an area with much more traffic of people, and the building had room for many more tables.
He hired staff and more chefs and got to work.
His restaurant started to gain a reputation all over Fortune. Soon it was recognized as one of the greatest among the many in the city. But then, the numbers started to slow down. And it wasn't long until the numbers came to a steady halt.
Willy would have been fine with this, but he knew he could do better.
He was being supplied by one of the Big Bosses and has been for a while now. Although, in their eyes, he was just another restaurant doing well. He wasn't considered one of the outstanding five-star greats of the bunch.
He would watch from inside as some of the younger folks ignored his restaurant and headed straight to one of the fast-food joints next door. It always irked him when that happened, and he noticed it. His prices weren't that high. Why were the kids going after cheaply made fast food over professionally made like his?
He wanted to grow more. His mom was already proud of him, but he knew he could keep going. To become a world-renowned chef across the world was his dream.
He opened his eyes and put on a determined look. "I won't fall like this! I'm so close to my dream!"
Now in a much more regular-looking form, he flipped to the side and slowly started to push himself up.
Lincoln kept walking away but opened his eyes as if he sensed him standing back up.
Now shakily on his feet, Willy conjured some more food in his hands. This time, it was some fruits and vegetables meant to heal him.
He ate them all in one bite and then conjured some meat.
He didn't even get to take one nibble before a tiny energy beam knocked them out of his hand.
Shocked, he turned towards the culprit, who stood far with his back facing him. He couldn't see what expression he wore.
Lincoln extended a thumb over his shoulder without looking at him, which he used to fire at the food.
"I'm sorry, Willy." He thought. "But I can't use my full power against someone as respectful as you." He felt a little guilty, but nothing could be done now. Both he and Willy knew that.
Charging energy through his thumb once more, he fired another energy shot towards the slim, shocked Willy. It knocked him out of the arena and out of bounds, the man yelling. He crashed into the wall under the stands, falling to the ground shortly after.
"Willy is down and out of bounds!" The announcer shouted. "Ten! Nine! Eight!"
In his lovely little home, Gail watched on through his TV.
With a saddened look, he said, "You did amazing, Chef Ryser."
When the chef asked him to tune in on the Big Bosses tryout tournament yesterday, he was confused. He had no idea his chef was participating in it.
At first, he thought the chef was just a fan of it. And he thought to at least try it since he insisted so.
After today, he had a newfound respect for his boss. Something he never knew could increase further.
"Two! One! Willy Ryser is out!"
The crowd cheered and chanted Lincoln's name.
Some staff wearing suits in the same color scheme as his uniform approached him. The man slowly picked himself up and said, "I'm fine."
He stood and looked toward Lincoln. "I never stood a chance."
He started to make his way back to the door leading to the changing rooms, but then he heard something.
The crowd was chanting his name as well. He looked up in shock and gave a small smile before continuing to the waiting room.
Before he could, however, he was stopped by someone.
It was a tall man in a fancy suit, wearing a nice mustache. "Willy Ryser, my Big Boss would like a word with you."
Lincoln made his way back to the center of the arena. He noticed Kenner and Mikey were still in the middle of their fight.
Kenner was still trying to land a punch on Mikey. He breathed heavily and was sweating.
"You said you were a ten?" Mikey chuckled, somehow still sounding a tad bored. "Funny joke."
"Of course I am." Kenner said with spirit and a smile, wiping some sweat with the back of his hand. "Even if I'm not, without charisma I might as well give up." He sprinted towards Mikey and threw out a multitude of punches.
"Boiling Blood!" He yelled, and his body started to steam.
Lincoln slightly opened his mouth when he heard that, looking stunned.
But it wasn't enough. Mikey managed to reflect or dodge every single one with his rod. Then, with a spin, he punted Kenner with it.
Kenner skidded back but quickly steadied himself. Pumping himself up with a bunch of his red energy, he yelled to the skies. His energy dangerously flowed around him.
He took a low stance, with both of his palms flat on the floor. The ground started to shake as he began to charge his hot-red energy.
"HISSATSU TENGI: FRYING FANG!"
He shot forward, leaving a blazing red trail behind him, and his body was glowing the same shade. The energy surrounding him took the shape of sharp teeth as he approached his opponent at insane speeds.
Mikey calmly stood still as he neared him.
Lincoln watched as Kenner neared Mikey, and when he made an impact, there was a flash of blinding light. He widened his eyes.
The crowd couldn't see what happened to them through the light for a few seconds. Even Lincoln and Wom's trained eyes could barely make it out.
Once the flashes of Kenner's energy were over, it was revealed that Mikey blocked his attack, which was just a strong punch, with his free hand.
Kenner frowned, his energy still flowing around him.
He quickly escaped and leapt back, now staring at Mikey. "That didn't work either?" He asked himself.
Mikey closed his eyes, looking bored. "Well, you were a good warmup at least. But I'm done stretching."
He pointed his sky-blue rod away from him to his side, and a dark-blue curved blade extended out of its end with an electrifying sound. It made a scary but cool-looking scythe.
"This is my style."
He sliced forward in an upwards motion. For Kenner, it was instant and shocked him to the core.
He didn't even have time to put up his energy to block it. He couldn't even see it.
He stood there for a moment before he checked himself. He surprisingly found that he was unharmed. When he looked across his legs for any damage, his peripheral vision saw what had just happened.
The arena got sliced in half.
Up in the stands, Wom and the others had widened eyes. All except the dark-skinned woman, Marie, who had to face off against Mikey yesterday.
The crowd was silent, all too stunned to make a sound.
The Big Bosses were also impressed. One even whistled out.
Kenner stared at the ground in complete shock. "S-seriously?"
"It's over." Mikey said, lowering his scythe and walking away, heading in Lincoln's direction. "Leave out of bounds so you don't get hurt."
Kenner's shock disappeared, however, and he turned to Mikey with a smirk.
"You're so strong. That's just making me more excited!"
He rushed up and tried to punch Mikey.
He then saw a flash of blue in front of his eyes for a split second, making him pause.
With some sweat dripping down his forehead, he realized he couldn't feel his hands anymore.
He looked down slowly, with a shaky breath. He saw both of his hands were gone from the wrist up.
Mikey stood calmly still, with his scythe outstretched. Turning away from Kenner one last time, he started to walk towards the center of the arena again. Kenner's two severed hands dropped to the ground not far from them.
His severed arms didn't even bleed Life. It just glowed the same blue color.
The announcer gazed at Kenner for a few seconds with a look filled with pity. "You have to know when someone is done. Whether they truly are or not. That's part of the job."
He put the mic to his mouth and said, "Kenner Cox is unable to continue! He is disqualified! On the other side of the arena, Willy has run out of time and has also been eliminated. Which leaves our last two participants, Lincoln and Mikey!"
The crowd cheered.
Lincoln looked over to Kenner with a sad smile. "Nice try, buddy." He whispered.
Kenner smiled to himself. "You weren't good enough…" He whispered.
Sucking in some air, he made his way to the border of the arena. Then he turned to face Lincoln and Mikey. He had the intention of watching this fight until the end. Although, he was worried for the white-haired kid.
Wom sighed, looking at Kenner. "Well, it had to be one of them. And soon, we'll see who is next." He stared at Lincoln and Mikey. Both of them were the true outliers in this tournament. Who knew which was stronger.
Mikey stopped once he was within hearing distance of Lincoln, who stared at his scythe in wonder.
He looked at it as well. "They restricted weapons, but this isn't exactly your typical weapon, is it?"
"Is that hardened energy?" Lincoln asked in amazement.
"Yeah," Mikey answered before pointing his scythe towards him. "Can you handle it?"
Lincoln clenched his fists. "If I had my swords, maybe. But I might need to evolve for this fight."
This is it, what they've both been looking forward to this entire tournament—an opponent they didn't need to hold back against. Nothing else was going to compare to this fight.
They stared at each other. Lincoln with his fists up while Mikey kept his scythe pointed at him.
Both of their pairs of legs were positioned to move forward quickly. Any second now, one of them would start the battle. The crowd was getting anxious.
Then, they heard the buzzer.