Find a seat.

You enter one of the doors along with Tom, Bek, and Hedi, and find you way up to a nice, high seat on the left side of the arena. Fortunately, it's all one big circle, so you'll get a nice view no matter what. You look around yourself as well, since you were told this is an area reserved for competitors who want to watch. You definitely don't see as many people as names you read that look like fighters, so it's possible a lot of them prefer to train, rest, or hide themselves until it's time for battle.

Let's see. So if that's Zakira Qurasha down there, then I'm looking for Umi, Crusher, Falcon, and the Edge. Everyone else is here, because everyone else is us. Who can I see? There's a cloaked, hooded person a couple seats down from me. That doesn't look like a commoner. Should I get their attention?

"Hey, hoodie. You a fighter?" Bek asks. "Yeah. The one wearing all black there."

Way to be subtle. To be fair, that is what you'd imagine a spy to look like. Or at least some servant of a Demon King.

The figure slowly turns. The man under the hood is pale, and he reaches up to pull back his hood to reveal long, black hair. There are bags under his vacant stare. "I am," he says with a gravelly voice. Then he whips his hair, and turns to the fight. "Don't distract me. I want to see... the blood..."

Oh great. A weirdo.

"I'm going to guess you're not called Umi, so I wonder..." Hedi thinks out loud.

Then the man rises up from his seat. He looks to Hedi with a piercing gaze and grins wide. From his sides, he withdraws a series of tiny blades that he holds between his fingers. "I told you to be quiet. My name is The Edge, and I'm excited to feel the warmth of your blood trickling down my hands, Kyle Warren."

Hedi blinks and points beside him. "That's Kyle. I'm Hedi."

"I--... I know that." His eyes turn to you next. "Warren. I bet your blood is tast--"

"Sit down! The fight is starting!" yells the man behind you.

"Excuse me? I'm The Edge."

"I don't care if you're called The Asshole. Sit down already!"

He grumbles and lowers himself back down to his seat.

Tom leans in towards you and whispers, "Think he's one of the assassins?"

You eye over The Edge, and then look to the man beside you. "Honestly? I have a feeling he isn't. That seems to be how things work. Life here just isn't that easy. I think I'm just going to be fighting a super weirdo."

"Ready? And... begin!" the announcer shouts.

The battle begins at last. Round one, Niki versus that dancer--the one that tricked you. She better be careful down there. Not only is she lacking her normal gear, but that lady is unpredictable. We don't even know what she can do. And if she tried to kill us, I bet she's someone working for the Demon King. Poor Niki having to fight her right off the bat.

Speaking of bats, Niki is ready to go. She bangs her club against the crude shield in her other hand, and in the meantime, her opponent lowers herself into a martial arts style position. It would be a good guess to say she's a monk. She's no Rabbit's Foot, however. This dark-skinned beauty is rotten at the core for having almost killed you and Niki, and if she's also willing to kill an innocent family...

"Wait are you waiting for?" Zakira asks. "Don't you want to get out of here and check on poor mommy and daddy?"

"That's it!" Niki is baited hard. She starts to run, though her vest bouncing up and down against her chest is almost impossible to control. She flushes with all these eyes on her, and can't help but feel the need to cover up. With her shield arm up against her chest, she continues running, and then swings the bat with all her might in a horizontal clubbing strike.

"Ooh. You look tasty," she teases. With ease, she ducks under Niki's blow. It's definitely her forte to be strong and not quick, though she's slowed down considerably by her tiny vest and short, tight pants. You also know how Niki can get when she's angry. This girl knows what buttons to push it seems.

More buttons are pushed immediately after. She strafes to the side and jabs out with her fingers right into Niki's unprotected body. The jabs are quick, though not overly powerful. Zakira still lands a few of them before needing to retreat and hop back away from a possible second attack--pearl necklace jingling over her bouncing bosom.

Niki tries to step forwards, but she stumbles. The girl nearly falls over.

Zakira grins. "The flow of energy. With my techniques, you'll barely be able to walk let alone fight me. Then it'll be as easy as pushing you out of the arena. Of course, that isn't until I'm finished playing. I've been given very specific orders."

Once again, Niki attempts to attack. She drops guard of her vest to try to steal a brief window of maneuverability. She still appears to be recovering from her foe's strange attack, however, and she's too slow yet again. Zakira can only land one jab this time at least, but she does so right at the tip of Niki's right tit. Immediately, Niki brings her shield hand back over her chest as she lets out an involuntary moaning gasp.

Niki looks stunned for a moment. The attack she was hit by before landing right on a very sensitive area.

"Oh-ho. There it is," Zakira says. "Your mark. I found it. I can't believe I got it on my second try."

The two exotic beauties continue to battle, and it doesn't look good for Niki. She needs to avoid getting jabbed anymore by those strange attacks. You're on the edge of your seat, and so are your friends. If she loses in her first battle, she's going to be emotionally crushed.

I wonder if Zakira has a mark too. She's a sunheart. They don't all have one, but that thing she's doing. I'm pretty sure RF can't do that. Either she's not just a monk, she's a super high level, or she has some kind of mark-gifted power.

"You can do it, Niki!" Hedi shouts.

You look to him and nod. "Yeah! Go Niki!"

Though you're not certain if she can hear you from all the way down there, she's standing strong. She's taken no real damage yet, so that's the good news. Though her opponent is fast. You can't help but think if Niki had proper clothes on, she wouldn't move around so awkwardly. You've seen her move that shield with incredible speed before to protect the party. You know she can do it.