Inside Takehiro's house…
Kumiko paced back and forth, her nerves racing. "Where could Mykhail be? He should have been back by now!"
"Maybe he went to visit the store?" Kurumi suggested.
"They've closed that shop down, Kurumi," Takehiro pointed out, motioning to the TV, which played the news.
"Right! Uh, sorry!"
"Maybe I should go look for him!" Kumiko proposed. "I'll be quick!"
"Okay," Takehiro agreed. "But don't get lost."
"I won't!"
She walked outside the door, leaving Takehiro and Kurumi alone. Takehiro sighed and got up, thinking to himself. "Something's definitely wrong with those two. I wonder what."
Meanwhile, underground…
"Match 1: BEGIN!"
While Mykhail, Yasuda, and Yuuma stood in the center, a large hand stretched out and punched Mykhail in the gut, sending him flying into the wall. "Oof!"
"Mykhail? You good?" Yuuma called out.
"You should worry about yourselves!"
A large fireball hit the ground near the two's feet, and they saw their opponents, a young boy with long white hair, an older man with short black hair, and a teenage girl with blonde hair, riding on the back of a large rhino, which stopped in front of them.
"Let's make this quick, fellas!" the man declared. "Run them over, Aya!"
"Will do!" the girl replied.
The rhino charged at Yuuma and Yasuda, but Yuuma delivered a powerful punch to its jaw, knocking it off balance and causing its riders to fall.
"No! My baby!" Aya cried.
The rhino slumped to the ground, unconscious. The man in charge landed on his feet, his arms stretching out. "Don't sweat it! We'll handle this ourselves!"
He tried to punch Yasuda, but Yasuda ducked under his punch effortlessly. Yuuma slammed the ground beneath their feet, but the man stretched his legs out high, kicking Yuuma in the face.
"Nice one, Mr. Goto!" the boy cheered.
Mr. Goto twisted his body into a spike and launched himself at Yuuma, who ducked out of the way. "Ryōji! Get the little boy!"
Ryōji prepped a fireball in his hands, but Mykhail quickly came and knocked him clean out with one punch, shocking both the crowd and the other competitors. From above, the black robed figure sitting on the throne appeared to take interest.
"One down," Mykhail announced. "Who's next?"
"You think you're good?" Mr. Goto shouted. "Aya! Swarm that brat!"
She clasped her hands together, and an entire wave of giant elephants spawned out of thin air, charging Mykhail. "Now we're talking!"
As the first one tried to gore him, he knocked it clean to the floor with one punch to the temple, using its body and swinging it into the next elephant.
"Whoa!" Yuuma gasped. "Yasuda, you didn't tell me he was THAT strong!"
"Haha!" Yasuda laughed.
Taking advantage of their distraction, Mr. Goto wrapped his stretchy arm around one of the elephants and tossed it at the two, but Yuuma's punch sent it flying back, causing it to crush Goto under its weight.
"Ow! Aya, get this thing off me!"
She tried to run over and touch the elephant, but Mykhail overpowered the remaining elephants surrounding him and delivered a spin-kick to the girl's chest, knocking her out as well. A bell sounded.
"That's it, folks!" the intercom announced. "Team Khail is left standing! We have a winner!"
Yuuma pumped his fist. "Yes!"
"That was easy," Mykhail remarked. "If all the fights are gonna be this much of a joke, did you really even need my help?"
"Just wait till we get to the harder rounds," Yuuma warned. "They're gonna have the BIG guns."
A man in a tuxedo came to escort them. "Come with me, match winners. I will escort you to the viewing area, where you can view the next matches until it's your turn to fight again."
He led them out of the arena, all the while the figure in robes watched them. The masked one next to him spoke in a deep voice. "Do you have any thoughts, Boss?"
"Just one," the boss replied. "But now is not the time."
Mykhail, Yuuma, and Yasuda were taken back into the lounge, this time to a private section where there was a large TV, showing the next match. "Team Peacemakers vs. Team Rebels!"
"What lame names," Mykhail scoffed. "How many more of these do we have to sit through, anyway?"
"Well, we advanced to Round Two," Yuuma explained. "There's three rounds. The quarterfinals, semifinals, and the finals. It shouldn't take too long now, as long as we can kick butt!"
Mykhail watched as the next match began, closing his eyes. "Man. I really hope I don't need my sword."
The receptionist walked over to them, holding a tray of snacks and drinks. "Congratulations on your fight! Can I offer you any refreshments?"
"Yeah, thanks," Yuuma stated, grabbing a can of soda.
Yasuda analyzed the contents before taking one himself. Mykhail held up a hand. "I'll pass."
She stepped back. "If you insist! By the way, you seemed to catch the attention of the boss back there! I've never seen him look so…intrigued before!"
"I'm sure it's nothing," Mykhail waved off.
She turned away, laughing to herself. "Child, you have no idea…"
Meanwhile, in Fuyushima…
Inside a meeting room, Serratine sat across from Mr. Sato, a laptop in her hands. She set it up on top of the table, turning it towards the Director, who could see there was a dark red X on the screen, with a face mask in the middle.
"My boss is busy at the moment," Serratine admitted. "But I'm sure he can make a window of time for you."
"That will suffice," Mr. Sato clarified.
The screen began to move suddenly, and a deep voice spoke. "Sato…"
Mr. Sato sat up, clearing his throat. "Good evening. You are the leader of the Villain Syndicate, I presume?"
"Correct," the voice answered. "Has my servant explained our situation to you?"
"Yes," Mr. Sato replied. "I would say she explained it quite well. I have a question for you, mysterious one."
He leaned closer to the screen. "What means could you possibly have that could save my son?"
The voice remained silent for a long while before responding. "Serratine. Leave the room."
"Yes, sir," she replied, exiting through the door.
Once Serratine was gone, the voice's entire demeanor shifted, becoming more eerie…more determined. "Only one thing can save your son, Sato…a mutual exchange."
Mr. Sato lifted an eyebrow. "Hmm?"
From behind the doors, Serratine tried to eavesdrop on their conversation, but she couldn't hear what was being said. After a few more minutes, Sato opened the door, handing her the laptop back.
"I've made my decision," Sato announced. "I shall help your little…Syndicate…with its plan, so long as your boss keeps his word. And be mindful, I do not like double-crossing."
Serratine nodded. "Understood. Thank you, sir."
She left the room, but as she walked, she had one thought on her mind. "I wonder what they agreed on…"
She put the thought out of her head and disappeared from the building.
Meanwhile, underground…
After several more matches, all of the contestants were gathered in the lounge as the intercom sounded. "Congratulations to everyone who made it to Round Two! Don't feel bad if you didn't make it, however. It's still a chance you might get picked! But it's a low chance, so don't get your hopes up too high!"
Some of the contestants groaned.
"Round Two will be a bracket of one-on-one matches!" the intercom explained. "Pick your fighter wisely, as you cannot change your choice afterwards!"
"One versus one?" Yuuma wondered. "They're upping the stakes!"
Yuuma looked between himself, Yasuda, and Mykhail. "I think the choice is pretty obvious. Mykhail, how would you like to go in there and show them what you're made of?"
Mykhail shrugged. "Sure."
"Let's begin!" the intercom announced. "Team Khail, Team Rebels! Please head to your respective tunnels!"
Mykhail got up and stretched. "Seems it's about time."
Yuuma gave his back a hard slap. "Go get 'em, chump!"
Mykhail walked into his tunnel, waiting for the wall to drop. The roar of the crowd could be heard, and he attempted to pump himself up. "I got this. I got this."
The wall dropped, allowing Mykhail to step inside. Once he did, the "Boss" sat up a little straighter. The other wall dropped, revealing a young man dressed like a biker, with long hair covering his eyes.
"That guy looks dangerous," Yuuma analyzed, still sitting in the lounge. "I hope Mykhail doesn't take him lightly!"
The man stopped a good distance away from Mykhail. "I saw you in the other fight. You've got quite a superpower. What is it, super-strength?"
"I guess you could call it that," Mykhail remarked.
"But it's not just that, your speed as well! Durability! Reflexes! All of your physical attributes must be far greater than the average human!"
Mykhail scanned his opponent. "Something's off about him…"
He shook off the feeling. "Yeah, so what?"
"What's your name, fighter?" the man asked. "Who's behind the mask?"
"You can call me Khail," Mykhail answered.
"Khail, is it? My name is Kazuma Kurobane," he introduced. "I hail from the country of Fuyushima."
"Why are you telling me this?" Mykhail asked.
"Because I didn't come here to fight," Kazuma explained. "I came here to destroy."
Before the intercom could even begin the fight, Kazuma waved his arm, and a large impact hit Mykhail, sending him flying.
BOOM.
"Hey!" the intercom announced. "No cheating! The fight didn't—-!"
"I'm sorry," Kazuma stated. "There will be no more fights."
Kazuma brought his hand to the ground, which caused a large impact wave that killed half the people sitting in the stands. From the lounge, Yuuma watched in horror. "Shit! Get out of there, Mykhail!"
A manager attempted to intervene, but Kazuma easily tore his body apart with one wave of his arm. From his spot, the boss just watched, an unreadable expression coming from his body. The masked one beside him stepped forward.
"What should we do, boss?" the masked one asked.
"Depart," he replied.
"Are you sure? This base will be wrecked."
The boss stood up. "We leave."
With a snap of his fingers, he disappeared just as more people in the stands died from impacts. Spectators tried to run, but they got slaughtered bit by bit. Kazuma then turned his attention to the lounge area. "Do not think you are safe."
With a stomp of his foot, an impact shot through the wall and killed a group of competitors, narrowly missing Yuuma and Yasuda.
"Crap! We gotta get out of here, Yasuda!" Yuuma exclaimed. "This guy's a maniac!"
Kazuma slowly walked over to the lounge, impacts shooting off of him like bullets. But the moment he got close enough to walk through the tunnel, a blade stabbed into the ground at his feet, making him turn around. "Huh."
Justice, fully suited up, dropped from the ground. "Mass murder? That's a long time in jail, buddy!"
"The one called Justice," he recognized. "Such a naive viewpoint. Haven't you heard?"
"Heard what?" Justice questioned.
"How can I go to jail…"
He raised his arm. "…if there's no one left to speak the tale?"
BOOM.
An impact shot straight for Justice, who blocked it with his sword. "Man, am I glad I have you! Never leaving you home again!"
Kazuma kicked the air, causing an impact to hit Justice in the side, breaking his ribs. "Ow!"
To his surprise, the pain began to stop. "Wait, I can heal fast too?"
Before he could process it, Kazuma jumped up and slammed the ground, causing a violent rumbling inside the arena, and impacts came at Justice from every direction, forcing him to jump into the air.
"This guy's legit!" Justice thought.
Kazuma brought his hand down, and a powerful impact sent Justice crashing to the ground. "Just like you did, I seek to change the world. But I won't give it a hero. I'll give it something to fear!"
Justice and Kazuma charged at each other at the same time, with both fighters sending attacks at each other that sent both flying back. Kazuma created a large impact that knocked Justice's sword from his hands.
"Now, hero. Die."
The top of the arena began to shake. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
And then it broke. BOOM.
Kazuma and Justice both looked up and noticed a figure in black and green armor, who dropped down to the ground.
"Xenova!" Justice called out.
She looked between Justice and Kazuma before getting into a fighting stance. "You wanna hurt my best friend?"
A barrage of tendrils emerged from her back as her eyes glowed green.
"I'LL give you something to fear."
—-