Three days later, Marinette was in a private room at the arena with Alya where she was getting ready for her first match.
"Girl, I can't believe you're actually about to do this," said Alya.
"Honestly, neither can I," said Marinette.
"But I'm also really excited to see how far my training has brought me," she said while smiling.
"Well, here's hoping it's gone far," said Alya as a staff member came to get Marinette. Shortly thereafter, Marinette was standing before a large muscular man on a stage surrounded by hundreds of people watching from the stands.
"Hey little girl, why don't you go home and play with your dolls before you get hurt?" asked the man.
"No thanks, I would rather see if there's any strength in those muscles you seem so proud of or if they are just for show," said Marinette before the referee started the match.
"Why you!" yelled the man as he swung his sword. However, Marinette was able to dodge by ducking under the blade before she struck a blow to the back of his wrist with the spine of her blade.
"Gah!" yelled the man while dropping the weapon.
"Looks like I win," said Marinette as she held him at blade point.
"Whoa, I can't believe she actually ended it so fast," said Alya who was up in a booth for nobles with Adrien and Kagami. Other nobles were in different booths that were around the upper stands.
"But it will only work on a muscle head like him," said Kagami.
"Meaning her real fights will start in the second round," said Adrien. Meanwhile, Hawk Moth was watching from the shadows.
"This will be even easier than I had thought," said the villain.
"Yes, it will be, my lord," said a female villain who stood with him. She was wearing a red and black armor, the helmet of which had a red visor to see through while hiding her face.