Chapter 74 - Sweet Deals

The Kaisuto siblings stood in the hallway, Violet biting her nail before being snapped back to reality by Tristan punching a wall.

Tristan: Dammit! He failed us!

Violet: C-Calm down now. The deal was with the Imperium as a whole, so maybe we're fine…

Tristan: Fine? Fine! Violet, his loss means that bastard Thong keeps growing in popularity! If he grows to be a noticeable name, his disappearance will be impossible to cover up!

Violet: Aaaaah!! This is awful!

???: If I may.

Violet and Tristan turned their attention to down the hall, a person walking from around the corner to reveal themselves. Violet and Tristan stared in awe as they saw the man that spoke to them.

???: I was thinking that maybe we can have a deal. I'll help you take care of that rookie, for the right price of course.

Tristan smiled as Violet backed away.

Tristan: Are you serious? Your skills would be extremely useful. A fighter that made it into this tournament would be great to have at our disposal. Let's talk business right away.

???: Perfect.

…

Nisham walked through the halls, rubbing the back of his neck as he mumbled to himself.

Nisham: Man, Magnus really talked my ear off in there. Why should I care about his match that's coming up? I've been sent to the security position since I didn't even make it to the main matches. I should've just used my killing arts to end that kid. He makes it to the second round while I'm here getting the butt end of everything.

Nisham walked through the halls before seeing long flowing hair flow from further down the hall. Nisham spun his staff before running to the hair.

Nisham's thoughts: If I didn't see that hair, I wouldn't even have noticed it. Someone was here, but why?

Nisham stood at the end of the hall, staring at what seemed to be an empty hallway. His eyes darted from side to side as he slowly walked down the hall. He eventually came to a door that was slightly cracked open. Nisham smiled before tightening his grip on his staff. He kicked the door open, aiming his staff around, prepared to attack anyone that was in there.

Nisham: No one's here…?

A figure loomed behind Nisham before one of their hands covered his mouth, Nisham tried to scream before his head was spun around 180 degrees. His dying sight caught a final glimpse of his attack before his body fell into the room. The figure closed the door before disappearing into the halls once again.

…

Magnus sat at a table, wiping a blade as Simon peeked his head over his shoulder.

Simon: Preparing for your match already?

Magnus: Yeah, the cleaning of the ring is almost done. All the cracks from the previous matches are being filled in with sand, so I'm making sure to take that into account. I also wasted some time lecturing Nisham about failing to enter the tournament.

Simon: What a guy he is. Well, at least he was given something to do while the rest of this tournament is going on.

Magnus: Every member of the Arachna has a purpose, after all. Nisham is usually a stealth operative. He's meant to deal with enemies that try to target us or our commissioners and find where they are before they get to him. He hasn't failed that once before, but it seems he's still lacking in direct confrontations.

Simon: Then a guard is a perfect position for him to play for now. If there's someone coming in here to mess with things, he'll be the first to know.

Magnus picked up his blade, aiming it up to the light fixture above him, looking at his own reflection. He placed the blade into one of his pockets before taking off his glasses and sliding a clipboard over to Simon.

Magnus: If you don't mind, can you record anything you can about myself or Angel during our match. I made sure our files are the ones on top.

Simon: Why do you have yourself on here?

Magnus: Well, I want to know if I improved, was all. I recorded how I believe I did during the preliminaries. I trained during the two days before the tournament, so I want to know if I got better after learning about my opponent.

Simon: All this to prepare for Angel, huh? He's another tricky one of the Imperium.

Magnus: Yeah, so I'll make sure I take care of him. You have a fight against Hamadeen, so feel free to check his file in there if you'd like. He's the third file there.

Shizu walked up to the last remaining fighters of the room, meeting Magnus with a smile.

Shizu: I believe you'll do great, Magnus.

Magnus: Thanks. I'm not as cut out for fighting as the rest of you, but I'll make sure to carry my weight. I'm one of the final three for the Arachna after all.

Shizu: Yes. You, Simon, and Nupan are what remain of the Arachna's final push. Daymond and Shun have gotten their victories, and Arthur left an impact in the opening match. I pray that Yussuf did something to assist Daymond in the following match.

Simon: You? Praying? That's a first.

Magnus: I took records of Theodore's injuries from their match as well as any data I collected from his movements and style. I hope I carried my weight.

Shizu: You did more than enough. I wish you luck, Magnus.

Magnus stood up, a belt around his waist and a sword hanging from his back. Magnus grabbed onto the hilt as he walked out of the room.

Magnus: I hope I don't let you down.

…

Alexander and Joan stared at one of the monitors in the hallway, staring at the final results of the left brackets of the tournament.

Alexander: Wasn't that the kid I spoke to before?

Joan: It was. His name is Thong Tran and he has an extremely limited history in the Eclipse.

Alexander: And he beat Mike? Interesting. Guess he's one to keep an eye out. Give him a business card when you can. He might be useful one day.

Joan: Certainly.

Joan looked down at her clipboard before her hair started waving.

Joan: Is there air conditioning here?

Alexander: No, it seems we have a guest.

Joan looked in the same direction that Alexander was facing, Vector standing before them, looking at a clipboard. Joan looked around her before staring in awe at Vector.

Joan: He took my clipboard.

Alexander: This tournament is full of fast guys, huh?

Vector: You hid the other files, huh? Guess I do have to work out a deal after all.

Alexander smiled, Vector throwing Joan back her clipboard.

Alexander: Where shall we begin?

…

The members of the Imperium all sat around the infirmary before Veronica entered the room, carrying a tray of tea for all.

Veronica: I hope you all enjoy.

Carrie: Your tea never fails to calm my nerves, Veronica.

Veronica: Aw, thank you, Carrie.

Gonzalez: So, you three all have matches in the upcoming block. I hope you all leave a good impression of our group.

Daniel: Yeah yeah! Daniel win! Daniel fight!

Theresa threw a cracker into the air, Daniel jumping into the air and consuming it entirely in one bite.

Theresa: I know you three will do great. This sport really does bring out the most out of you all, doesn't it?

Remy: Hehe… Sometimes a bit too much. Right, Mike?

Mike laid unresponsive as Remy nervously laughed to himself. Angel had his legs kicked up on a table before looking over at Remy.

Angel: There's nothing to worry about, buddy. We're all going to win and wear down one of those big guys.

Theodore: It is true, once you win Remy, you'll have to face either Cero or Ryan. Do you believe you're capable of that?

Remy: A-A-A… Please give me time to write my will before that fight happens.

Daniel: Remy no can die. Big stick!

Remy: I'll just calm my nerves down. Veronica, if you will.

Veronica: Of course.

Veronica walked over to Remy, handing him a saxophone as he played with one occasional messed up note.

Angel: You're worrying about all the wrong stuff. I'll show you exactly how you should approach these matches. I'm not letting my opponent scare me. I'm going to knock that guy out. Then we'll fight, Daniel.

Daniel: Fight? Yeah! Daniel wanna beat up Angel!

Angel: Welp, that's one way to put it. I'll see you guys on the winning side.

Abraham: Don't put our training to waste, Angel.

Angel: I hope your training didn't tire me out if anything!

Angel walked out of the room, the rest drinking their tea before Ziyad placed his cup down.

Ziyad: Boys seem much more rowdier this time of year. Sports really do bring out a more barbaric side to them, doesn't it?

Theodore: Sports are competitive, so might as well have a little fun, shouldn't we?

Theresa: I've gotten so many wonderful compliments from the other world leaders we've met. We should get some chocolate chocolate chip before we return home, honey.

Theodore: That sounds like a wonderful idea.