AN:

Samurai Seven: The Zevon clan will come later. And I don't know about Euphemia and Rai yet.

DarkDremora: I already have a big payoff for Lelouch's training planned later on.

Ryuto: Rolo, Clara, Senba, Urabe, Nagisa, and Asahina. Rolo and Clara aren't anything special, but they're far better than the average pilot. While the Holy Swords aren't anything special, as their only on-screen showing of skill was really when they fought Cornelia's Glaston Knights, which is just premium fodder with names. Of course, whether he can comfortably beat them at this level is debatable, but it's something he has a decent chance of doing. I already have a plan for Lelouch and Naoto's skill track. And finally, yes. Kallen was worried she was forcing Lelouch to kiss her. And why was she relieved when she saw him blush? Well, when you do something you don't like/forced to do, are you doing it with a smile, or with a blank face? By him blushing, it showed that he was giving a genuine reaction, proving that he was reciprocating those feelings. Regardless, this is my last response, because I'm tired of trying to explain something that - honestly - doesn't matter.

Chapter 101: Soloist

Naoto and Mario clashed their blades in the center of the arena, before separating in a large cloud of dust as sparks flew in all directions. The sound of their blades reverberating throughout the stands, alongside the echoes of the crowd's cheers. The Kozuki let out a breath while thrusting his blade forward, narrowly missing his opponent's head, who strafed left. Mario smirked while preparing to stab Naoto in the torso, only to have his weapon deflected by his opponent's spinning sword, which they made possible through suddenly jerking their blade back.

While retreating, the Disel fired his slash harken, which Naoto easily backhanded, before charging forth, not relenting in his assault as he led with a downward slash. In response, Mario parried the strike and countered by delivering a light slash across his opponent's shoulder, leaving one mark.

"Not bad." Naoto mumbled while circling his opponent, "Perhaps I have to be more patient…"

While throttling his landspinners, the Kozuki got low to the ground, and launched himself forth, where Mario tried to move out of the way, only to get his leg caught by a slash harken, causing him to trip and nearly get his arm cut off - if not for his superior reaction time, allowing him to narrowly block the attack. Even so, the two Glasgows entered a deadlock as Naoto tried his best to break through. His solution was to use his second slash harken to strike his opponent's head, distracting them just long enough for him to end the duel.

However, Mario thwarted this attempt, by lifting his foot, stomping on the first slash harken's wire, forcing Naoto to face the dirt as his opponent retracted their blade. After getting on one knee, the Kozuki raised his sword, narrowly blocking his opponent's sword by the hilt, with the rest of their blade piercing his head.

Despite this, his Knightmare was still functional, since it hadn't severed the connection completely - not yet. Mario put both hands on his blade and pushed down, only for his head to get hit by a slash harken, forcing him to stumble back.

"Can you believe that this isn't even the final's!?" the announcer shouted as both Glasgows stared each other down, "These two talented pilots sure are putting on a show, folks! It's pretty much anyone's game now!"

Naoto took a defensive stance while teetering from side-to-side, keeping a close eye on Mario while panting, "This can't be it… there's no way he's still so far out of reach, especially after all that training."

For the first time, Mario took the initiative, and pushed his Glasgow forth, slashing from the right, causing his opponent to stumble slightly due to the weight. He followed this up with a slash from the right, bottom left, before ending it with an overhead slash. Naoto narrowly side-stepped the attack, and slashed his opponent's side, leaving a mark in his torso.

The Disel clenched his teeth while reorienting himself to face his opponent, who did the same. It seemed like a bad curse to them.

Whoever made the first move, would always take the most damage.

"I have to keep on the defensive - otherwise I'm finished." Naoto thought while slowly walking to the side, keeping a stern eye on his opponent.

"I can't allow Naoto to come up with a plan." Mario breathed out while clenching his blade tightly, "Otherwise, he might figure out a way to beat me." That's when he heard the faint chuckles of his opponent through the cheers and jeers of the crowd, provoking him to ask with a tone laced in suspicion, "What's so funny?"

"Nothing." Naoto responded while taking his sword into a reverse-grip, "It's just, the way I've been thinking about how to win this match, is exactly how losers think."

"What?" Mario raised an eyebrow, and prepared himself for another vicious assault.

"If I do this, I'll win. Or if I do that, I'll win. That's exactly how losers think after they've lost." the Kozuki got close to the ground and smirked, "But from now on, I'll throw those thoughts away, and fight exactly how I want to. No more made-up scenarios."

In an incredible display of speed, Naoto's Glasgow bursts forth, catching Mario horribly off guard as their swords collided, causing both of them to clench their teeth in pain as the obnoxious sound rang through their eardrums. They both recovered simultaneously, and began swinging their swords wildly, with Naoto's objective to crash through his opponent's guard, while Mario only wanted to keep up.

This would eventually lead to the latter trying to break up the pace, by parrying his opponent's slash to the left, forcing both of them off-kilter, with Naoto recovering in a near-instant. This shocked Mario as he helplessly watched the Kozuki landed a devastating slash across his body.

"Oh no!" Benio called from the stands.

"It's fine." Tamaki said, calming her down, "Mario's pride might be hurt, but he'll be fine either way. There's no shame in losing."

"Who said he lost?" Tohdoh asked solemnly, "I can see there's still some fight left in him."

Mario watched as some coolant for his Yggdrasil drive leaked out from the open cut, causing him to clench his controls out of frustration, "Damn it. He got me good. If it keeps leaking like that, my entire frame will come crashing down." his eyes narrowed, and he entered immense focus, "I have to end this now."

With incredible speed, the Disel rushed his opponent, striking them with a strong right slash, before quickly circling around to deliver a roundhouse kick, knocking Naoto onto all-fours. "Whoa! What was that maneuver!?" the announcer exclaimed, "I can't recall ever seeing a Glasgow moving like that!"

The Kozuki quickly rolled forward to recover, only to receive a kick in the face, causing him to crash into a wall. When he opened his eyes next, Mario was already on top of – and plunging his sword into – him.

Naoto gasped as the sword entered his Glasgow's torso, earning a brief grimace that made his brain run at a million miles a minute, searching for someway to escape this situation. In the end, his solution was to simply jam his blade into his opponent's chest, hoping that by some miracle their auto-eject would activate. Only, Mario was way ahead of him, and used a slash harken to knock the sword into the air, where he would grab and stab it into the Kozuki's shoulder.

At first, Naoto tried getting his slash harkens to move as the Disel took a step back, only to find his systems unresponsive, leading him to slump back and mumble, "Damn it."

"And we have a winner!" the announcer shouted with great zeal, "Folks, I'd be keeping a close eye on Domeki as he tears through the competition."

Upon finishing that sentence, Mario's Glasgow collapsed onto the ground like a sack of potatoes, with the Yggdrasil drive that once gave it life completely burnt out.

"Hey, why did Mario choose to call himself Domeki?" Kallen asked.

"It's supposed to be his father's surname." Lelouch responded casually as they scooted closer together in a booth situated toward the back corner of the concession area, "Or at least, that's what he told me."

"Well, Maya said the same thing."

The Prince sighed and turned to his girlfriend, "If you already knew the answer, then why'd you ask?"

"I just wanted to see how much progress you made in being 'bros' with Mario." the red head said while leaning back with a smile.

"Is there something wrong with that?" Lelouch asked as he noticed her lips quirk slightly, almost as if she found something amusing about the statement.

"No. Not at all. I just think it's cute."

"Cute?"

"Yeah. Cute."

The two stared into each other's eyes for a second, letting silence take hold of the conversation, before being broken, "Care to elaborate?"

"I dunno…" the red head wrapped her arm around her boyfriend's shoulder, pulling him close, "I was just thinking… since you're such good friends with Mario, why would you bet Naoto over him?"

"Oh. That's what this is about." Lelouch rolled his eyes while looking away, "Whatever, don't gloat too hard, otherwise your head will get too big."

"Is that so?" Kallen asked while forcing him to face her, "Can you really blame me for wanting to enjoy my victory?"

"No. But I can blame you for gloating."

"Big talk from someone who owes me seven favors."

Lelouch hummed while returning his eyes to the screen, where Maya and Zedd entered the arena, each wielding spears, "Perhaps."

"You know… I want to use one of my favors now."

"Of course you do."

Kallen playfully slapped the Prince's side, "I'm serious. Now, will you please listen to my idea? I swear, it's not anything bad."

"Welcome to the losers circle." Tamaki greeted Naoto as he sat beside him, "How does it feel knowing you suck?"

"There's no way I'm taking that from someone like you." the Kozuki responded with a sigh, "Besides, I performed way better than you did."

"Hm… I don't know about that. Last I checked, we got knocked out in the same round."

"You were in objectively the weaker bracket, dumbass. Both Tohdoh and I had to face off against Mario, while you were beating up a kid."

"Whoa! You make it sound way worse than it actually was!"

"By the way." Clara chimed in, "Kallen wanted to have a word about how you treated Benio down there."

"Wh-what!?" the Japanese man exclaimed, "There's no way I'm going to get in trouble for that! She shouldn't have even been there in the first place!"

In the background, Benio looked down with melancholic eyes, "I'm sorry… I just really wanted to participate. It was reckless, I realize that now, but I don't want to be useless…"

"Awe." Clara gave the little girl a hug and glared at Tamaki, "Look at what you've done. Now she's sad."

"I didn't mean to." the Japanese man sighed, before getting on one knee in front of Benio, "It's fine if you want to be more useful, but you shouldn't be pushing yourself too hard. Especially in this case where you don't have much experience." he got up, and returned to his seat, "If you want… I can teach you how to pilot a Knightmare on our downtime."

"R-really?" the little girl wiped her watery eyes, "Do you mean it?"

"Yeah, just stop cryin'. It's embarrassing."

Benio nodded vigorously before giving a wide smile and saying, "Thank you, Tamaki!"

"By the way, where's Kallen?" Naoto asked.

"She went to concessions. I think she'll be back soon." Clara answered without hesitation.

"Is that so…" the Kozuki's eyes returned to the match.

Maya zoomed behind Zedd's Burai and swung it horizontally, only to get dodged, and countered with a kick, sending her halfway across the arena, "Damn. Why's he causing me so much trouble?" she mumbled while shifting left, avoiding a thrust, "I didn't think I'd come across anyone who would give me trouble until Mario."

"Once again, the reigning Champion Zedd is putting on a stellar performance of attacking and defending! It seems our newcomer can't break through!" the announcer shouted as the Glasgow countered by thrusting its spear forth three times, only for the strikes to be avoided with the Burai leaping away.

"I hate that custom frames are allowed here!" Maya shouted while parrying a slash, and driving her opponent's weapon into the dirt. She then followed up by kicking her opponent in the chest, sending him crashing into a wall while leaving his spear behind, "It honestly doesn't make a drastic difference, but it's still annoying."

Zedd shook off the attack and drew his sword while Maya picked up his spear, and cocked it back, "Amazing. I never thought someone would give me this much trouble. Not since that time." the pilot said with a smile.

Once she saw her opponent charging forth, Maya threw the newly acquired spear at their torso, hoping that they'd slip up, giving her an opening to finish the fight. However, the Burai effortlessly ducked the attack, before catching the spear midair, and bringing it down for a heavy strike, that the Disel barely dodged. Even so, the attack still caused problems as it kicked up a large dust cloud, obscuring Zedd's moves.

This allowed him to freely burst out of the cloud, and thrust his sword forth, forcing Maya to block it with the center of her staff, snapping it in half. Though, his combo wasn't over yet, as his next move brought his spear out of the cloud, and smashed his opponent's arm clean off.

Maya clenched her teeth in frustration before desperately lunging her weapon forward, catching Zedd off-guard, forcing him to sacrifice his right arm to stay in the fight, "Not bad!" he shouted while pulling away, "And here I thought this tournament was going to be pointless!"

Both pilots pulled their weapons back, and prepared themselves for one final attack. Once the cheers peaked, they pushed their frames forward, before extending their spears to meet the other. Due to being slightly slower, Maya decided to instead direct her opponent's weapon into the dirt - and to make sure it stayed stuck, she slammed her foot onto it. Zedd clenched his teeth in anger as he tried to pull his weapon back, only to find himself narrowly dodging a slash harken aimed for his head, which still took off the top part.

"Stay still!" Maya shouted as she pulled her spear back, while firing her second harken, which her opponent easily dodged. However, she wasn't done yet. Once her first harken returned, the Disel dramatically whipped her spear around, trying to bisect Zedd through sheer force. But even with her weapon full extended, she couldn't reach her opponent, as it had been snapped in half earlier.

Zedd's entire body shook as he felt the possibility of losing cross his mind for the first time in the match. His hands moved at lightning speed while inputting the next move for his left hand to follow, which primed his fist with brass knuckle-like weaponry, specially designed to effortlessly tear through a Knightmare. With his fist now cocked back, he launched it toward Maya's torso, which she responded by stabbing her spear through his head. Despite this, the Burai's built-up momentum didn't disperse, allowing for its fist to tear through the Glasgow like butter.

The Disel slumped against the side of her frame as it crashed into the ground, utterly defeated, but not without Zedd's Burai suffering the same fate moments later. Silence filled the stadium for the first time. Everyone held their breaths as they waited for the announcer to decide the winner, "W-well. That was an exciting match! However, due to Zedd the Tiger's Burai getting knocked out a few seconds later than Garfield, that means our winner is Zedd the Tiger!"

The crowd cheered as Clara, Naoto, and Tamaki blinked in disbelief, "Wait… seriously?" they mumbled simultaneously.

"Under any other circumstance, Maya would've won." Tohdoh nodded with a smile, "She put on a spectacular fight, considering the disadvantages."

"Even so, there's no way she'll be happy about this."

Just as Naoto said that, Maya leapt out of her Glasgow, and kicked it repeatedly, before storming off the field. At the same time, Zedd casually exited his Burai, before strutting toward the exit, but not without being recognized by Tohdoh, "Wait a minute… is that…"

"You saw him too?" Naoto asked, "It's Zi Dien."

"Zi Dien? The peace mark guy?" Clara asked as the arena was cleared of all debris.

"Yup. I didn't think he was a skilled Knightmare pilot, but I guess this proves me wrong."

"Well, we don't know if it was just the frame or not." Asahina added while crossing his arms, "I suppose we'll find out with Mario."

"There's no way Mario's losing to that chump. Burai or not!" Tamaki boldly proclaimed, "You got this, Mario!" he shouted at the top of his lungs as the boy and Nagisa entered the arena. Thankfully, due to the surrounding cheers, his voice was drowned out.

"Is Kallen still at the concessions?" Naoto mumbled while looking around, "I'll go check on her, maybe something happened."

"Oh! Get me a green tea while you're at it!" Clara requested with a hand raise.

"Pretty sure they don't sell beer at these events… so just get me a pop." Tamaki added with an all too confident smile.

"Who the hell do you think I am? Your maid?" the Kozuki responded while crossing his arms.

"Oh! I want soda too!" Benio cutely shouted, dispelling the man's attitude, and replacing it with a smile.

"A water will be fine." Tohdoh said with a solemn look.

"Meh, I'm good." Asahina passed on the opportunity, same as Urabe and Senba.

"Fine. I'll be back. Just tell me how the match goes." Naoto said while walking away.

The red head let out a breath, before reaching for a burger from her small stack with a red face, and put it to her mouth. But just as she was about to take a bite, she turned around and said, "Stop moving so much."

"Easy for you to say." her boyfriend responded as she sat on his lap.

"I'm happy you agreed to this, by the way." the red head commented while taking a bite of her food and watching the match on TV, "I thought it would be too much."

"It's fine." the Prince spoke while cautiously putting his hands around her waist, trying not to startle her.

Of course, Kallen noticed, and smiled in response, before settling into his lap a bit more, "Don't say that like it's nothing. I know how you are about these kinds of things, so the fact that you're going out of your comfort zone for me is really endearing."

Lelouch smirked as she devoured her burger before tossing the wrapper to the side, leaving a bit of ketchup on her face, "Well, I'm trying to put forth as much effort as you are." he took a napkin and wiped her face as she went for another burger, "And stop eating like a slob. You're gonna get crumbs on me."

"Hm?" the red head turned her entire body, and straddled her boyfriend while facing him with a smug smile, "Is this better?"

"No. It's not." Lelouch responded with a blushing face, "Now turn around before someone gets the wrong idea."

Kallen took a bite of her burger while giving the Prince a doe-eyed look, as if in protest of his prior words, "This whole time, you've been putting in the same amount of effort in this relationship. Did you think by not being a bit more…" she scanned his body, "Dominant, you weren't trying as hard?"

Lelouch put his hands on Kallen's shoulder, and tried turning forward, only to find her thighs tighten around his waist, signifying that she wouldn't be budging any time soon, "Ugh. That's not what I meant. I've just been thinking about something lately, that's all."

"Like what?"

"Like what's going to happen after all this. I know it's very premature of me to do so, but once Britannia is gone, neither I nor the Black Knights will have a purpose anymore. We could take on a different form, but at the end of the day, I don't want to lead a military organization for the rest of my life. That's only going to add unnecessary stress." he gently grabbed her hands, and pulled them down, causing the girl to raise an eyebrow, "After this is over, I want to make sure Nunnally is safe and cared for. As long as Euphemia and Lila are around, I know that's something I'll be able to guarantee. There's no way she'll be safe if she stays with me once I reveal my identity as Zero to the Black Knights. That's why…" he leaned in, and laid a passionate kiss on his girlfriend's lips, which she gladly reciprocated by wrapping her arms around his neck, deepening it, "I want to move somewhere isolated, and live the rest of my days with you."

He pulled away with a smile, leaving the red head breathless as she asked, "What was that for?"

"Wouldn't you like to know." he simply responded, causing her to pout.

"Hey! That doesn't answer my question!"

"Does it? Gosh, you can be so needy sometimes."

"Lelouch!" Kallen grabbed his shoulders and began shaking him, "What have you been thinking of recently?"

The Prince playfully began laying light kisses on his girlfriend's lips, causing her to pull away in an effort to not get distracted. However, his affectionate assault continued onto her neck, where she froze with a blushing face, "Wh-what happened to being in public!?" she questioned while holding onto him, "Idiot… don't think you can get away from my question like this."

"Jeez, did you two even watch my match?" the two instantly broke apart upon hearing Naoto's voice, to which he sighed in response, "Ugh, you two are still such kids."

"What are you doing here!?" Kallen asked while turning to face her brother, staying on Lelouch's lap.

"Well, when I heard that my sister went to concessions, but hadn't returned yet, I got suspicious. Honestly, I should've known that you were here with him." the Kozuki chuckled as the couple blushed profusely, giving him an idea, "Just keep your eyes on the match, please. You're not married yet."

"Wh-what!?" his sister yelped with steam comically coming out of her ears, "M-married…"

"I hate you, Naoto." Lelouch hid his face in the red head's back, concealing his deep blush.

Naoto howled in laughter while walking away, clearly enjoying the reaction. Kallen began going through her pile of burgers at a rapid pace, mumbling, "It's not like I wouldn't mind getting married someday…"

"Well… at least it seems she's forgotten about the question now." the Prince leaned back with a sigh, "Time to get back to the match."

Nagisa's eyes barely kept up with Mario as he zoomed left and right, before striking her guard, breaking it in only one hit. A bead of sweat dripped down the woman's forehead as she tried her best to recover and block another hit, "So oppressive!" she thought while the boy moved behind her.

The Disel pulled his blade back, and tried to bisect her, only for the Glasgow to zoom away at the last moment. Mario released a breath while pushing forth once more, laying on significant pressure in this vicious assault as Nagisa barely kept up, with her sword cracking in each strike blocked.

The Holy Sword backed away, sacrificing a finger to avoid getting taken out for good. "I need to take a different approach." she muttered while maneuvering close to the wall, while her opponent quickly cut her off. Even so, she didn't stop, and intended to go right through him, shocking Mario as he did a last-minute backflip, leaping over the Glasgow as it kept moving as if he didn't exist.

"Reckless." he mumbled while watching them continue along the wall, "She's trying to take us both out at the same time. I never took Nagisa to be that kind of person."

In truth, the Holy Sword's plan was to tackle the boy, and overpower him while on the ground. Even she felt the need for victory while circling around the arena, before b-lining it to her opponent. The two clashed their blades once more, this time Mario was pushed dragged his feet through the dirt as he was pushed against the wall. Here, Nagisa fired a slash harken, which skimmed the top of the boy's head, as he used his own to dismember her arm.

"She's putting up a better fight than expected." Asahina commented from the stands as Naoto returned with drinks.

"Really? I thought the fight would've been over when I returned." the Kozuki commented while giving Benio her soda.

"Nagisa is no pushover." Tohdoh added while taking a sip of his water, "Though, it's more than obvious that she's outclassed here."

The duo split up, and ran the line around the arena, before meeting up on the other side. There, they clashed once more. This time, Mario used his extra arm advantage to grab Nagisa's, and toss her onto the ground. Once there, he slammed his foot onto her leg, destroying it effortlessly.

Nagisa desperately tried to roll out of the way, only to be stopped as her opponent stabbed his blade through her shoulder, ending the fight. Or so it seemed, until the woman decided to swing her remaining leg around, accumulating enough force to try and smash the boy's legs clean off. However, Mario was faster, and responded by effortlessly leaping away, before firing his slash harkens to decimate the remains of her Glasgow, leaving it completely immobilized.

"Damn it!" Nagisa shouted while slamming her dashboard.

"And moving on to face Zedd the Tiger in the finale is… Domeki! With the performance from both of these devicers, I have no doubt in my mind that this will be our most intense match yet!"

Maya groaned in frustration as her brother headed back into the staging area, where he would prepare for his last fight. She took a glance to her right, where Savitri sat with a calm expression. Clearly, she stared a second too long, as the Indian woman asked, "Can I help you?"

"Ugh. Is that all you have to say? You're not going to make fun of me for losing?"

"Why would I?"

Maya rolled her eyes and leaned back, "Clearly you don't like me. So I thought you'd take advantage of me at my lowest."

"Ah. Then there's clearly been a misunderstanding."

"Oh? Has there?"

"Yes." Savitri faced the Disel despite her hostile tone, "Firstly, I must apologize for my tone previously. I'm a very blunt person, so you'll have to forgive me for that.

After your showing today, it's clear that you're a skilled Knightmare pilot, one that has certainly earned her place among the ranks of the Black Knights."

Maya's face lit up upon hearing the praise, "That's right! And you better not forget it!" she gloated with a hearty laugh.

Naoto let out a sigh as the crowd suddenly began roaring once more, with both Mario and Zedd entering through their sides of the arena, "Wait… Mario's already fighting again? No breaks?"

"That's odd. Perhaps it was his choice?" Tohdoh asked as the boy's blue Glasgow readied itself against the opponent's purple Glasgow.

"Due to Zedd's custom Burai being damaged in his last bout, he'll be using a standard Glasgow, provided by event organizers!" the announcer explained as the aforementioned pilot spun his spear around, with a sword attached to his cockpit, "Will this affect his performance? According to Zedd himself, it doesn't matter what frame he's in, as he'll crush the competition all the same!"

"A bold statement. Do you think he can back it up?" Clara asked as Rolo returned with a calmed expression.

"Probably not. If he struggled with Maya, then there's no way he'll beat Mario." Rakshata bluntly stated while twirling her pipe, "Though, I have no doubt Dien will provide a good fight."

Tamaki leaned forward with a smile, clenching his fist as the crowd's intensity grew with each passing second, "Oh man, is this why you guys come here all the time?" he looked at Senba and Urabe, "Maybe I should watch these more often."

Maya tilted her head slightly upon noticing her brother's lack of armaments, "Wait… where's my brother's sword?"

Naoto raised an eyebrow and leaned forward, "Hey, now that you mention it… is he unarmed?"

Tohdoh's eyes widened with surprise, "Wait… seriously? Why's he being so reckless?" he stood up, hoping to get a better view, "Actually… you're right. There's not even a dagger down there."

The Miracle worker quickly sat down, avoiding being reprimanded by the previous row, "That's right, Ladies and Gentlemen! Your eyes are seeing right! Domeki has actively chosen to enter this fight with his bare-fists! This newcomer sure talks a big game, but will he be able to back it up?"

"Oh god… please don't tell me he's doing what I think he's doing…"

Maya hid her face in embarrassment, prompting Benio to ask, "What's wrong?"

The Disel sighed and said, "While Mario and I might not look like it, we're pretty close siblings despite having arguments on the daily. Though, when it comes to my safety, he can be pretty…passionate? No… that's not the right word…"

"Brotherly?" Naoto asked as the two frames prepared for battle, "Never expected that out of Mario."

"We're still siblings, you know? Sure, we fight a lot, but we care about each other in the end."

"That makes sense. I guess I just never thought about it…"

"Regardless, it's still foolish of him to enter unarmed." Tohdoh said with a solemn face.

"I don't know about that. I'm pretty sure Mario can handle it." Maya stated with the utmost confidence.

Mario calmly took a few steps to the right, circling his opponent as they spun their spear several times, "You seriously gonna fight me like that?" Zedd asked, "I can give you my sword if you want."

"I don't need it." the Disel bluntly answered while slowly approaching his opponent, "I'm just doing this to prove a point."

"What point?" the Chinese man asked while pointing his spear at the boy.

"You'll find out."

Mario suddenly lunged forward, earning a spear thrust in response, which he easily deflected with the back of his hand, before gripping it with his arm, and pulling Zedd towards him. Using his palm, the boy struck his opponent's Glasgow in the face, causing them to stumble back, while he used the same strike to snap the spear in half.

Zedd shook off the strike as he watched the broken half of his spear get tossed to the side like yesterday's laundry, "Not bad." he said while drawing his sword, "But let's see how you handle this."

The Chinese man lunged forward, thrusting his sword towards his opponent's head, only for a slash harken to hit his leg, throwing him off balance as Mario followed up with a palm strike to the chest, before using the extended sword arm to slam Zedd into the ground. However, he didn't follow this up, and instead backed away, giving the man enough time to recover.

Zedd slowly got in a stance, advancing slowly like a soldier in formation, assuming Mario wouldn't attack him due to having a weapon.

He was wrong.

The Disel fired his slash harken lazily, allowing for it to be caught by his opponent, and used to draw himself in. Zedd smiled as he pulled his sword back for a thrust, only for Mario to put a hand on the ground, and send his right leg backwards for a kick, landing a headshot that caused the man to stumble back with the slash harken still wrapped around his arm. The boy used this to his advantage, by tying his opponent up, through circling them at a rapid pace.

Zedd fell to the floor, struggling through his binds as Mario stood over him, "Is that it?" he took a step back, allowing the man to break free by cutting the wire with his sword, "I expected a lot more from someone as confident as you."

"You're right." the Chinese man tossed his sword haphazardly, not caring if it ended up in the crowd or not, "I underestimated you too much there. That's my fault." he took up a stance, and prepared himself for hand-to-hand combat, "From now on, I'm giving this my all."

"You better." Mario got in his own stance, and the two crossed arms, "Otherwise, this won't be satisfying."

Zedd slapped his opponent's arm away, only to get pushed away in response. The Chinese man shook his head while slowly approaching once more, this time he led with a front kick, followed by a left jab, which the boy easily deflected. Mario took this chance to unleash his own jab, which Zedd blocked, only to get hit by a sweeping kick, knocking him onto the floor back-first.

Of course, he wouldn't stay there for long, as he'd roll away, and got up, only to get hit by a front kick, which sent him stumbling away. Once again, he stood up, this time a decent distance from his opponent. The two circled each other, before Mario went in for a high kick, which was blocked and countered by a jab, that caused him to groan slightly, as it was followed up by a right hook, and a deadly palm strike.

"No brass knuckles?" Mario asked while putting up his fists defensively, blocking a kick.

"Oh? Did you have a problem with those?" Zedd taunted, "Too bad they were only on my Burai."

The boy's eyes narrowed as he stepped forward, ducking a punch, and grabbing the stray arm, before pinning the Chinese man to the ground, "Yeah. I had a problem with it, cheater."

"Cheater? It's fair game if it's in my own frame."

Mario pulled his opponent onto his feet, before throwing him toward the center, where he followed up with a power stomp. Zedd barely rolled out of the way, bringing his arms up to narrowly block an axe-kick, which effortlessly broke his guard, leaving him open for a right hook that knocked him to the ground.

"Oh, come on, man. You can't seriously be pissed at that." the Chinese man said while getting up, "It's in the rules."

"Don't care." Mario sent a strong right hook, which Zedd blocked, only to find himself getting hit by another sweeping kick to his side, this time causing him to stumble left, "It pissed me off, and now you're gonna pay for it."

"Talk about an upset!" the announcer shouted as Zedd began getting pushed toward the wall where he threw his sword, "Zedd the Tiger is actually getting pushed back! How will he recover!?"

Dien panicked within his frame as the blue Glasgow effortlessly broke through his guard, while simultaneously countering any hope he had of winning. First, he fired a slash harken, which managed to wrap around his opponent's arm, only to be used to real himself in, followed by a punch to the face. Though, just as he was about to pull the same trick Mario did earlier, the boy effortlessly used him like a rag doll, sending him spiraling into the wall, where his sword was sticking out of.

"Try again." Mario said, while severing the wire, and turning his back.

Zedd smirked while zooming toward the boy's back, and thrusting his sword forward. The crowd cheered as Mario turned around at the last second, causing the blade to puncture his right shoulder and, severing his arm. He blinked twice in shock, before clenching his left hand, "Really? Is that the best you can do!?"

"Don't turn your back next time." Zedd taunted while twisting the blade, intending to end the fight in one slash, "Confidence will get you killed."

In a flash, Mario ducked, allowing the blade to completely leave his shoulder as his opponent began moving horizontally. Then, he grabbed their arm, and put his landspinners at full throttle before zooming around the purple Glasgow, ripping the limb clean off through the sheer force of the motion, earning another gasp from the crowd.

Zedd clenched his teeth in frustration as he fell to the ground with red alarms blaring throughout his cockpit, signalling that his arm had been dislodged. However, just as he was about to turn them off, he felt a massive strike to his back, knocking him to the ground. Now, Mario began using the limb as a blunt weapon, beating his opponent relentlessly into submission like a caveman, before giving it one last strike that caved the Glasgow's head in.

But he didn't stop there. Mario continued to strike the lifeless Knightmare's torso for a whole minute, causing it to break in half from the sheer force of his strikes. Once he was done, he tossed the arm to the side and walked away, checking the systems of his Glasgow as the announcer proclaimed his victory.

AN: There won't be another major timeskip for maybe a few more chapters, since I still have to wrap up this tournament with Zi Dien and Mario meeting up with a few more character interactions, and other things.