AN: Sorry for the wait, but it's here. It ain't much, but we got more coming.
RCurrent's Review: This is going to be a slow burn story, so we probably won't be seeing the sisters for a while. This story is meant to be focused on mainly Lincoln.
Guest N.O.1's Review: Thank you so much! It feels great to hear that and I hope you stick with me until the end.
Lincoln stared at the dark-skinned woman in shock, his mouth agape and eyes wide.
She held her wound where her arm was supposed to be. Her expression reeked with shame as she sat on one of the benches.
At sight, Lincoln couldn't help but be a little upset. But before he could do anything, Mikey, who stood against the wall, spoke up. "Don't worry. They have someone who will help her arm regenerate."
"Oh. Right." This reminder seemed to calm him down, and his muscles relaxed. He didn't even realize he was so tense. He completely forgot there were magic and potions that could heal others. That included regeneration of body parts. He should know. After all, he lost an arm back at the Death Mines.
When that woman sat down, Sidney was heard on the speakers.
"We are ready for the next couple of fighters! Please make your way over to the arena!"
On the screen, the roulette went off. And this time, the blond guy Kenner faced, and the red-haired woman was up.
They walked off out the door, and just then, an old lady waltzed into the room through the other door. Her hair was slightly shaded green, and she sported some glasses with square lenses. And below her friendly face was a lovely white and green dress.
She walked over to the injured woman and knelt in front of her. After instructing her to let go of her shoulder, she placed both hands on it. Her hands started to glow green, as did the woman's injury. Lincoln couldn't see what was happening since the old lady blocked his view, but he still noticed the green glow.
Lincoln sighed.
If everyone had two fights with each other after doing some quick maths…
Well, Lincoln wasn't the best at quick math, so it wasn't as quick as one would think.
After a solid minute of math, he realized there would be eight fights in total.
With the average time of these brawls being…
Actually, he didn't know that either. Time went by fast for him when he was fighting. And during Kenner's fight, he didn't bother looking at the clock.
Slumping down on a bench, he rested his cheek on his palm. He had to sit and wait out six of the eight fights before the final part of this tournament. He couldn't even watch the other fights to aid his boredom. Today was going to be a long day.
He looked at the old lady when he noticed she started to make her way out of the room. Looking over at the injured woman, he saw that her arm got restored. He didn't even know why he was getting upset before. This world has many ways to heal people. Maybe it was just the shock of it. It wasn't normal to see someone strolling in a room with their arm severed, not on Earth anyway.
But it wasn't like this world was safer than Earth anyway, not by a long shot. Everyone who bothered had special abilities that were pretty powerful. The wildlife was much more dangerous than Earth's. And all of that was without mentioning the Other army. Fortunately for him, he could hold his own pretty well.
Unfortunately for the tournament, he had little choice but to wait. After all, he was doing all of this for that atomosinc he needed. He could deal with being bored for a day.
The old lady who healed the fighter's arm walked down a hallway, hearing cheers at its end.
Reaching the end, she entered the stands of the stadium. But not just any stands. Walking up to one of the five seats, she greeted the man sitting in the luxurious chair. He was one of the big bosses, and she was his assistant.
"I have returned, Dr. Barker." She said with a bow of her head.
"Lenora." The man greeted her back without glancing at her.
She looked towards the stadium. The blond man was firing energy blasts while the woman whipped her red hair in his direction. Both of them were trying to hit each other amidst their fight.
"Say, who do you have your eyes on right now?" She asked, turning to him.
"That kid, of course. The one who cut off the woman's arm." Dr. Barker said. "That's some real skill of his energy. It's rare to see that kind of power. But, of course, the fights have only just begun. That kid may be something fierce, but we don't need strength."
Lenora nodded, looking down towards the fight once more. The red-haired woman seemed to have the upper hand.
Lincoln sat in silence. The entire room was silent as they waited for the other two to finish.
While he hoped he was next, that would also mean he would need to wait out more fights after that. But on the other hand, he also didn't want to wait for his fight to be last.
"Bored?"
Lincoln turned to the voice, which was Mikey's. He sat down next to him on the bench and looked around the room.
"Me too." He said, not letting Lincoln answer.
Lincoln sighed. "I wish they'd let us see the fight at least." He said.
"Yeah, but what can you do?" Mikey said, leaning back and putting his arms behind his head. "So, why are you here?"
Lincoln looked at him. "Huh? Oh. I just need something from the Big Bosses, so here I am."
"I see."
The door suddenly opened. The two fighters walked out of it. This time, neither of them had any limbs cut off.
On the screen, a new matchup was chosen. It was Kenner and the massive guy.
Lincoln already knew Kenner was happy about this. And sure enough, when he looked over at him, he had a big smile on his face while punching the air.
"Alright!" He yelled.
He then looked to the other side of the room, where the fat man stood up and made his way to the door. With every step he took, he shook the room a little.
Sidney was heard on the speakers once more. "May the next two contestants make their way to the arena?"
Lincoln swore if he heard that again and it wasn't him, he would punch through a wall.
The small quakes from the fat man's steps disappeared as he did, as well as Kenner, and the room was quiet once more.
Still, he was happy Kenner was going up, at least. Hopefully, he was next.
"What about you?" He asked Mikey, turning to him and referring to his earlier question.
"Just bored I guess. Decided to come here to see what's up. Hopefully all of this Big Boss nonsense is interesting enough to help my boredom."
"Ah." Lincoln turned to the screen, which was now blank.
When Kenner and the big guy came back, Lincoln noticed that it took around five minutes.
The following two on the screen were… not him.
One of them was Wom, however.
Lincoln looked over at him. He had stopped meditating some time ago. The boy wondered if he would have noticed being called in the middle of his meditating.
The fighter he was against was the dark-skinned woman that Mikey faced. However, she seemed to keep her spirit even after such a bad loss. She punched a fist into her palm when she stood up, and the two of them left.
Lincoln audibly groaned. There were still two more fights left. Hopefully, he wasn't last. But still, he'd rather be doing anything else at this point.
He heard a chuckle beside him, making him sigh.
"Don't worry, we're gonna be up soon."
That had just reminded Lincoln that Mikey hadn't gone up yet either. So were the two of them going to face off? After seeing what happened to that woman, he didn't know what to expect if they did.
He gave Mikey his attention again when he noticed him lean back, bracing his back against the wall. "Earlier, when I asked you that question, 'How strong are you on a scale from one to ten?' You said you didn't know."
"Yeah." Lincoln replied with a shrug.
"That's the only correct answer." Mikey nodded. "No one knows how powerful they are compared to the rest of the world." He stared at Lincoln intently for a few moments before saying with his eyes closed, "When I ask people that question, the ones who say they're strong with confidence usually aren't. The ones who give me the lowest numbers are telling the truth. The ones who give a mid number are underestimating themselves." He then looked to Lincoln. "And the ones who are unsure are usually something special."
Lincoln stared back at him. "You think so?"
"That's my theory anyway. Most of the time it checks out. You are the first person I've met that was unsure. That's something interesting about you. Even as soon as the moment you first walked into the room I could tell there was something different about you."
Lincoln looked to the others in the room. None of them was paying the two any mind. "Who knows. Until anyone finds a person who's stronger than them, they'll always think they're the strongest. That's just how people are." He said.
"Yeah." Mikey agreed with a nod. "I hope I don't fight you next round." He gave Lincoln a smirk. "Because if we have to fight I want to save you for last."
With that, he stood up and walked away.
Lincoln stared at his retreating form, a bit surprised at the statement. In all honesty, he wanted to save his fight with him for the very end too. From how quickly his fight ended with that woman, he knew it would be a challenge for sure. It excited him.
Ever since he emerged from the Death Mines, it felt as if everything was on easy mode. Those Other, the Club Volcano incident, basic tasks. He felt incredible.
Now in hindsight, he found it boring. He wanted a challenge. He wanted to be pushed to his limits. He started to understand athletes a little more now. This was how they felt.
Wom and the large woman returned. This time, she wasn't missing an arm. But it took much longer than Mikey's fight with her. It made Lincoln think Wom was weaker than Mikey, or he wasn't going all out like in their fight.
The roulette started on the screen once more. The first person to show was the tall and slim red-haired woman.
He crossed his fingers as he watched the second slot go through the remaining three people.
After switching from Mikey, he appeared on the screen.
Pumping a fist with a smile, he stood up with an energetic smile.
He couldn't love the sounds of the crowd cheering any more than he currently was.
No words were spoken between the woman and Lincoln. Not when they were walking through the portal doors to the arena and not now, in the middle of the stadium. They stared at each other, not taking their eyes off each other for even a second.
"Now, everyone!" The announcer yelled, silencing the audience. "Let's get started on our second final match of the duels!"
"On one side of the arena. You've all seen him in action before! His first match was a spicy one, shaking the entire stadium with his immense power. It's the boy who lives in his forest, Lincoln!"
The crowd cheered at that reintroduction, and a few whistles could be heard. Lincoln smiled at the cheers, happy to be the center of attention.
"On the other side. Not tolerating any shenanigans. Recently moved here from the Mall Continent. The woman with the most stylish hair in the land, Silvey!"
The audience went wild following that, and it was much louder than what Lincoln received. The boy contained himself and didn't roll his eyes. The good-looking women always got the most attention. And the woman he was up against, now he knew as Silvey, was very attractive.
Silvey gave a proud hum in approval. Then, with a hand on her hip, she frowned at Lincoln.
"Are you scared, boy?" She said, standing tall and looking down at the kid.
Lincoln readied himself, closing his fists. "Scared? No. I'm excited."
Silvey put on a smile. "As all young ones are."
"Fighters! Get ready!" The announcer started, putting his hand up.
The two of them stared at each other.
"Three!"
Silvey had a bored expression on her face while she brushed some of her red hair to the side.
"Two!"
Lincoln kept his enthusiastic look. But, once again, he found himself with a tough decision. The boy didn't know what stance to take. If only he had his swords.
"One!"
The announcer dropped his hand.
"Begin!"
Lincoln dashed forward while Silvey didn't move an inch.
He threw some punches. But unfortunately, something blocked them every time.
Silvey just kept still. She looked at Lincoln in the eyes and wondered what he would do next.
He continued attacking. Throwing multiple punches, none of them seemed to pass whatever was blocking them. It was almost as if it was an invisible barrier.
Silvey giggled as he kept it coming. He tried punching in different spots to see if there were any openings.
Up in the stands, the Big Bosses were speculating.
"Some kind of forcefield? Is this a new ability?" One asked himself.
"No, that's not it." Another thought.
Lincoln jumped back and circled her. Then, trying the same strategy that worked against Wom, he rocked a punch from behind.
She laughed again, not even turning in his direction. "You really think that will work?"
He punched through her lengthy hair, aiming for her head. But once again, his attempt was blocked.
"There's more where that came from!" He yelled. He started to deliver blows from all angles around her. Then, using his footing, he rotated around her and tried to find any opening.
But once he saw Silvey roll her eyes, he stepped back.
"You finished?" She asked with a proud smirk.
Lincoln chuckled and said. "Your hair is pretty fast."
He noticed it fairly early into the fight. Every time he would attempt a punch, a small stand of hair would move to block it. It was dense and tough. To any average person, it would have seemed like an invisible barrier.
"So you've figured it out." She replied, finally taking her hand off her waist. "I don't want to make you cry, child. So just get lost already."
A much larger strand of her hair whipped to Lincoln. But to her utter shock, he caught it in the palm of her hand.
"Sorry." He said, putting on a smirk of his own. "But I could see your attacks this entire time. I was just doing some testing for a bit."
He whipped it over his head, pulling on her hair, taking Silvey along. Finally, he slammed the appalled woman on the arena floor.
Letting go, he watched as she picked herself up quickly. She blew a tiny strand of hair in front of her eyes, blazing with fury. "You little brat! Nobody touches my beautiful hair!"
Lincoln stuck his hand out and lifted two fingers towards him. "Come on."
Growling in rage, she whipped her head back and forth. Then, she sent some more sharp strands of her hair towards him with speeds that shouldn't be laughed at.
Lincoln dodged them all with relative ease. He ignored all of them except the last one that passed him, which he grabbed and pulled.
Silvey screamed in anger and ran up, trying to scratch Lincoln with her long red nails.
Holding onto her hair with a tight grip, he avoided the scratches. "I'm not one to hold onto someone's hair while fighting. I think it's dirty. But, well, you're using yours as a weapon so I think it's fair."
Silvey thought, "How can he hold my sharp hair? That shouldn't be possible."
Then she gasped, noticing the faint orange energy flowing around Lincoln's palms. His energy was protecting his hands from her dangerous hair.
"Let go, you little punk!" She yelled.
"Fine." Lincoln mockingly said. As he let go of his grip, the whiplash made Silvey lose her footing for a second. She barely had enough time to bring up her hair to block a few punches aimed at her face from the boy.
However, to her confusion, he paused, leaving a fist against her hair as he landed on the ground.
"What's wrong?" He said, cracking a smile. "You're not scared, are you lady?"
She felt her blood starting to boil. "Shut your mouth!"
Lincoln was forced to dodge a flurry of attacks. Then, leaping back, he smiled. This was actually really fun.
"I can't hit him…" She thought. "No way! Was he hiding his real speed this entire time?! He's completely different from when he was attacking me!"
She fired more of her strands. But to her surprise, Lincoln jumped back onto a block. Then he jumped backwards again, into the stands containing the audience.
The announcer didn't stutter and started counting down. "Twenty! Nineteen! Eighteen!"
Lincoln ran across the stands, weaving between people. His body seemed to blink as he did due to his speed.
"What a strategy." One of the Big Bosses thought.
Silvey brought back her locks of hair, "Tch! Now I can't attack because I'll hit the crowd and I'll be disqualified."
He traveled up to the support beams near the ceiling and then ran across them. It didn't take long until he was directly above the arena.
Silvey readied her hair, multiple stands pointing towards Lincoln.
The boy didn't hesitate, and he dove down to the arena. While in the air, the announcer stopped the count down.
"He's safe!"
Silvey pressed Lincoln with the multitude of her hair strands. But, unfortunately for her, in the middle of his descent, he twisted and turned to avoid them all.
Thanks to her quick thinking, she left one strand of hair by her side. She used it to block all of his punches successfully, managing to react to them just in the nick of time.
But just then, in complete shock to her, she was hit from behind by an explosion.
"What just hit me?"
Lincoln started to prepare another shot of energy.
Silvey was prepared to deflect this one, but she was bewildered when he concentrated and made the energy stay still.
Catching her off guard, he ran up to her, delivering solid blows around her and forcing hair strands to defend. She hardly had enough time to deflect the energy blast that suddenly approached her from behind.
"That's what you did earlier!" She yelled out in realization.
Getting irritated by the second, she wrapped her arms around herself. "HISSATSU TENGI: MANE COCOON!"
Her hair wrapped around her in a cocoon, leaving no openings for Lincoln to attack.
Before he tried anything, though, the cocoon started to glow green.
"Healing, huh?" Lincoln extended an arm and repeatedly fired heavy shots, acting like a turret.
The cocoon barely budged against the energy blasts and looked as if it didn't take any damage. "Wow, that's pretty tough." He admitted.
He kept this up for around ten seconds before pausing and saying aloud, "Are you stalling out and healing? That's kinda boring."
He dashed to the cocoon and picked it up with her inside. "I'll just throw you out of bounds then."
He heard a gasp from within and started to feel the cocoon open. Then, smirking, he threw her.
"But then I'd be a little hypocritical. That's a boring way to win too."
Before the cocoon went out of bounds, Lincoln blinked behind the trajectory. Then, in horrible timing, Silvey undid her cocoon right then and there.
With no time for her to react and a shocked expression, Lincoln punted her back down to the arena. It was a direct hit on her back.
When the dust cleared after the impact, her body was seen unmoving in the middle of the arena.
The announcer started counting down.
"Twenty! Nineteen! Eighteen!"
The crowd stared in wonder, waiting for her to get back up potentially. Lincoln landed on the arena and also stared at her form for a few seconds before turning his head and looking up at the Big Bosses. Unfortunately, he still couldn't get a good look at them, so he guessed he'd have to wait until after the tournament.
"Eleven! Ten! Nine!"
"Seems it's been decided." A Big Boss whispered to himself. "Melina. Get me a drink, please?"
"Three! Two! One!"
"Silvey is down! The match has ended due to a knockout! The winner, Lincoln!"
Test
Test
