Team Mikey vs Bronx Squad, Part 3

Mikey twirls his dual pistols around his trigger fingers before sliding them back into their holsters. "Mikey three, everyone else, zero," Mikey says as he turns around and begins exiting the arena, not even batting an eye.

"We let Mikey take on that entire squad on his own and he still won?! We only inflated Mikey's ego!" Jamie cries.

Austin just stands there, growling and muttering obscenities to himself. "Mikey overshadowed the two of us so greatly…how am I supposed to get recognition for my inventions now?!" Austin snaps.

"I'll show him…I'll show them all…they all talk about becoming strong for the sake of their dreams and slaying demons…I'LL SHOW THEM THAT I'LL BE THE ONE TO SLAY WAR!" Mikey roars as he storms out of the arena. At one point, one of the Medical Slayers rush over to Mikey to check on him, but Mikey simply shoves them out of his way. It's not like Mikey really got all that injured during that match anyway.

Eventually, Slayer Iandam's Squad are carried off the field in stretches, as Medical Slayers access Jamie's and Austin's wounds.

Mikey walks out with that same pissed off expression. His eyes...they seem tired, and angry. Sunken and upset.

***

"God, that was terrible," Jamie sighs as she slumps into the seat beside us in the lobby of the Slayer Organization Headquarters.

"I knew it would be rough, but I didn't think that Mikey would be that hard to work with," Ella replies.

"I can't believe that people are saying that Mikey's the competitor to beat and not me," Grover sulks.

"Towards the end there, why didn't you two step in more," I ask Jamie and Austin.

"Mikey -of course- wasn't listening to us, so I figured that if we let Mikey run off alone and get knocked out, it'll bump his ego down a notch at least," Austin answers.

"Well that didn't work," Jamie spits.

"Oh, how I'd love to see Mikey get humbled…" Ella sighs.

"Don't worry, if I have to face Mikey later on, I'll do it," Grover grumbles.

"Mikey really reminded me of the Pyromaniac out there…" I softly say, causing Ella to nod gloomy and Austin to roll his eyes.

"Well…whatever," Grover exclaims as he hops out of his seat. "Those were our first fights in this entire competition! We'll get more chances to prove ourselves later on! What really matters is that both of our teams won our first fights with flying colors!"

"Right!"

***

"So I saw you beat an entire team all on your own, eh?" Nick asks with a smirk as he strolls over to Mikey, who's sitting in the lounge of Slayer Organization Headquarters, watching the fights over the TV. And despite what his performance in the previous round may have suggested, Mikey is taking notes.

"It's not that impressive, they were weak," Mikey grunts, not even looking away from the TV.

"You're right. You are way stronger than those three, it wasn't even close," Nick replies as he stops before Mikey. Nick then reaches out and places a hand on top of Mikey's head, causing Mikey to flinch.

"Even still, you're coming along nicely. I'm proud of you, really!" Nick says with a smile, causing Mikey to blush. Mikey then furiously shakes his head before slapping Nick's hand away.

"I'm busy, why are you here?" Mikey grunts.

"To congratulate you!" Nick answers with an innocent smile.

"No, really."

Nick's smile curls up into a sinister smirk.

"I know that you and Luis are probably looking to face one another in the final round of the tournament, but beware. The last time there was a half-demon in the Slayer Organization, when he took part in the Slayer Organization, his opponent in the final round was forced to kill him. So be careful," Nick says, causing Mikey's eyes to widen, before returning back to his scowl mere seconds after.

"Good! I was planning to kill that demon if he harmed anyone anyway, so that doesn't change anything!" Mikey spits. "I mean-"

"Just…be careful when the time comes," Nick says, cutting Mikey off before turning around and exiting the lounge.

***

"So it looks like you guys had the same idea, eh?" I ask as Ella, Grover, and myself stroll over to the bleachers of the East arena in order to watch the match between Brooklyn's Squad and Manhattan's Squad, only to be met with Mikey, Jamie, and Austin, who are entering the bleachers as well.

"How could we pass up the opportunity to watch the most popular squad face the most popular rookie?" Jamie asks with a smirk.

"Valuable research," Austin adds.

"Research my ass," Mikey grumbles to himself. "I'd kick all their asses anyway, why do I need to bother coming…"

"Oh yeah, and we forced Mikey to come," Jamie explains with an awkward chuckle.

"I don't mind that much," Mikey replies. "I gotta gauge the "greatest" squad's strength just in case I have to kill 'em, anyway. Gotta see how much stronger I am than they are, y'know."

"We know, Mikey," Austin sighs.

"Hey kids!" A voice calls out to us, and we all turn and look to where we heard the voice, seeing Nick stroll over to us. "So you both won your fights? I'm proud!"

"Of course, we have to make your squad look great, Lord Bumblebee!" Grover booms as he turns to face Nick.

"Great job, everyone, really!" Nick exclaims with a small round of applause. "Jamie, Austin, you two are going to have to be a bit more bold with a monster like the Pyromaniac on your team," Nick says as he turns to face the ladder. Jamie sulks, and Austin looks annoyed. "As for you three, great teamwork!" Nick then finishes as he turns to face Ella, Grover, and I. "After the Slayer Exams, I'd expect nothing less from you three."

A beaming grin spreads from cheek to cheek across Grover's face, and Ella looks proud too. Even I can't help but to smile.

"Oh, hey, the match is starting!" Ella squeaks, and instantly, we all turn our attention towards the arena.

***

"They've got to be around here, somewhere…" Slayer Mirai grumbles as her and the rest of the Manhattan squad climb the tall sand dunes within the Eastern Arena.

"Do you see anything?" Slayer Neko asks.

"No, nothing yet," Mirai answers. "I'm constantly checking the future with my Precognition, but I can't see anything yet…"

"Hey, look over there!" Slayer Tobu shouts, and the two girls look to where he's pointing, seeing the Brooklyn Squad emerge from over the sand dunes.

"Mirai, what happens next?" Neko asks.

No answer.

"Mirai?"

Neko turns to face her teammate, where she sees that Mirai's entire body is trembling and drenched in sweat. On top of that, every muscle under her skin is tense, and she appears pale.

"N-no…way…" Mirai whispers. Her voice is soft yet scared.

"What, what's the matter?!" Neko cries, but again, she receives no answer. "Mirai!"

"In seven seconds…" Mirai slowly begins to say.

"Uh-huh?"

"We lose. We absolutely lose."

"I don't need to be able to see the future in order to tell you that much," Slayer Sekka smirks as she makes her way over to the Manhattan squad. "Our victory will be short and sweet.

"Cat's Tongue!" Neko shouts as she crosses her hands, and her fingernails instantly extend outwards, like claws.

"Levitation!" Tobu shouts as his body slowly lifts off the ground and begins hovering mid-air.

Slowly, Sekka lets out a small cackle as she reaches a hand up to her sunglasses.

"Mirai, how do we dodge?!" Neko shouts.

"I-I'm trying…" Mirai stammers. "But…I don't see a way!"

"Everyone falls victim to my Stone Eyes!" Sekka booms as she rips off her sunglasses, revealing her creepy stone-green eyes which are bubbling with stone-gray Cursed Power. "Now…turn to stone!"

With a roar, Neko and Tabu move to charge Sekka, but they soon find that they are unable to move.

"Huh, wh-what's happening…?" Neko asks as she peers downwards, and when she does, her eyes widen. For from the feet up, Neko was turning into stone.

"What the-?" Tabu stammers as he begins turning to stone as well, and his body becomes too heavy to float. Tabu crashes to the ground, sinking into the sand as a human-shaped lump of rock.

"D-dammit!" Mirai stammers as she begins turning into stone as well, starting from her feet and moving up to her neck. And soon enough, Mirai's mouth and eyes are covered as well, leaving her fully petrified.

"There, now that was simple!" Sekka comments as she puts her glasses back on. Sekka then spins around to face her teammates, causing them to flinch. "Now then, shall we get going?"

Slayer Jishaku looks away from Sekka in fear, but once Sekka passes her by, Jishaku looks back up at the three stone statues and mouths "sorry," before turning around and hustling after her sister and their teammate.

***

The seven of us are silent.

"Woah…" Grover marvels.

"How…creepy…" Ella winces.

Strong fighters, interesting characters, and creepy Cursed Abilities. The New York Interborough Competition has all sorts of colorful things going on. Things so colorful and so complex that I can't even begin to wrap my head around this web.

That's the kind of competition that I found myself fighting in.