vs. Beatrice

Day 6 of The 129th Rasheul Great **** Tournament
10:06 AM

BOOM!

And the ninja bit the dust.
The destructive wave of purple energy slammed into the Black Cuckoo with devastating ****.
Throughout the match, the ninja had bounced around the Arena like a mad gadfly. The hot elf-boy himself hadn't even needed to move a muscle. All he had to do was hold out his hand right when the ninja flew at him for a swift but deadly slash. And the results?
She landed on the other side of the Arena as a smoldering heap.
And did not rise.

"Black Cuckoo has been killed! Grand-Vizier Zig-Zag is victorious!"

And there was much rejoicing in the crowd.

Poor ninja. All her training amounted to nothing against the Zig-Zagging of the Grand Vizier.
Not that I minded an early conclusion to the match though. My own fight didn't start until afternoon, and I had hoped to get a power nap in by then. Get my daily rhythm back in order.

When I woke up, I asked Max if anyone had come to see me.
She hadn't.

Well, tough luck. I had the entire morning ahead of me.
For now, it was time for the Goldfish Knight's, ahem... Match.

Day 6 of The 129th Rasheul Great **** Tournament
11:58 AM

"Laaaaaaaadies and Gentlemeeeeeeen!" Ben shouted with unrivaled enthusiasm, "No one is prouder than me to announce that the victor of this the second match of The 129th Rasheul Great **** Tournament Quarter Finals has already been determined!"

The audience cheered at full ****.

"Our hero had not needed to lift a finger to win! No! The whims of fortune saw fit to reward our favored combatant with a victory by forfeit! Give it up for the warrior that triumphed without even facing a foe! The one! The only! Sir Silvester Spartano d'Artagan!!!"

The smoke settled, revealing the Goldfish Knight in all his golden fishy glory.
He obviously hated everything about the whole ordeal.
I could tell as much, even though he didn't take off his helmet.
He glared at the audience, standing at the center of the Arena like a statue, his hands cluching the haft of the lance like a flagpole stabbed in the ground.

"Congratulations, sir d'Artagan! Most commendable! Here is to hoping that all your future victories shall be just as glorious!"
His eyes peered down at the little man, "Grrrrrr..."
PLOP!

And so he disappeared.
The celebrations of his 'victory' outlasted his golden presence on the stage by several minutes.

He wasn't that bad. Maybe he could've fit in a joke or two.

As I left the Stadium, I saw only good mood among the crowd.
Made me wonder what exactly they hoped to get out of the ticket price.

I entered my airship.
Can't stress enough how dull my room was without Estelle. But at least she was safe.
That was my one anchor point in all that misery. My rock.
I could never allow myself to forget that.

I asked Max if anyone tried to contact me while I watched the Goldfish accept his auto-win.
Once again, no.

I sank back to bed. Might as well take another power nap.
You've got no idea how staying up all night can mess with your day. But hey, at least the Wicked Witch had the same problem.

Day 6 of The 129th Rasheul Great **** Tournament
13:30 AM

Max shook me awake in good time before my match started. I needed only speak a single syllable before he confirmwd that no, no one had stopped by.

Well, that's just great.
I took a long, well-needed shower. Made up my hair and picked out my combat outfit. Went ahead with white T-shirt, black sports jacket and khaki cargo-pants. Casual yet stylish. As suitable during summer at a party as on the streets, as in a battle to ****. To top off this outfit, I attached my new keychain. It in the form of the **** Star.
Once finished up, I asked Max if anyone stopped by while I was in the shower.
He didn't even bother to answer. Just sighed.

I used the remaining time wisely. Making sure my phone was charged, and that my snail hypnosis app was working properly. And I strapped my gun to my new pants. And, of course, looked over my box.
Max walked up to me after a while.
"My Lady, it is time. Will you step into the teleporter?" He gestured to the closet.
"But what if she shows up?"
"My Lady, you are on in ten minutes."
I leered at him over the box, "Lots of things can hinge on ten minutes. Let her have some time, Max."

He sighed and let me be, but returned when only five minutes remained.
"My Lady--"
"No!" I snapped, "You don't know if she'll show up any minute! I'd be an idiot walking out there now when I could go out there with a Holy Blade!"
"The Holy Sword of Nikkou has been lost for thousands of years. I am quite confident it will be the same so for the remaining five minutes."
"Yeah--" I sighed, "But, Sanakia deserves hope..."
"My Lady, please--"
I groaned, my eyes narrowing, "Fine..."

I snatched my box from the table, made my way to the fight.
I stopped before the closet. Just to look over my shoulder one more time, towards the window Sanakia entered through.
Still wasn't there.
Looked like I really was on my own.

I sighed. Not as if there was much I could do with a sword anyhow.
The doors opened before me, and I took the final step inside before they slammed shut...

Day 6 of The 129th Rasheul Great **** Tournament

13:57 AM

"Allow me to introduce to you, from the Mage Nation of Zeth!" Ben shouted from the top of his lungs, "The **prodigious **Witch of Miracles! Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for Beatrice!"
I couldn't see the Mage Lady for all the smoke. However, I could still hear the crowd erupting in applause to match Ben's enthusiasm.

"And in the opposite corner, from a world beyond this world! Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for Genius Inventor Allison!"

The mist around me subsided, revealing the great Arena before me. Rows upon rows of people had gathered beyond its edge, their attention directed squarely at me. And my little box, of course. They exploded in thunderous applause.
For that, I couldn't help but smile.

Beatrice stood before me. The Wicked Witch of Miracles. She was not smiling. In fact, she started scowling the moment she spotted me from across the veil of smoke.
"So... You did show up, after all. I had hoped that in the end, you'd drop out." She said.
I shrugged, "I'm as surprised as you are."

"FIGHT!"

"Femto! Come to me!"
So much for getting the first shot in. I didn't even have time to lift a finger before she shouted. A cloud of dark blots appeared, converging into the shape of a sexy Devil.

The crowd gasped.
For a moment, the Witch couldn't help but smile, basking in the attention of the dumbfounded masses. The smile faded quickly though. She probably got reminded what she gave up with this move.
She flung her empty hand towards me in a dramatic gesture, "Femto-- You know what to do."

"But of course. I've been oh-so looking forward to this!" The Devil flashed her savage grin, aiming it towards me. With a flick of her wrist, clouds of dark blots surrounded me. They moved like tendrils, enclosing me in a dome of pure blackness. At first I thought they fit together like a puzzle, before I realized that they merely joined together like a black soup. Before I could take a step, the darkness engulfed me completely.

Nothing else existed.
It was just me and her.

I tried to run. Barely managed a second step when something snapped around my wrist, yanking me to a halt. It didn't feel right at all. Like, no matter what it was supposed to be, it felt wrong. Imagine a liquid tongue, and you'd get pretty close.
I glanced down-- Somehow I could discern a black tentacle in the surrounding darkness.

"Eek! Hey! Get off of me, you pervert!" I tugged at the tendril. The only response was the next tendril catching my other wrist, pulling them apart as if I was the rope in a tug o war.
Moving left didn't work. Neither did right. I could run ahead, or back. But no more than a few steps. I tried taking a running start to tug myself free from the tendrils.
It might as well have been chains I tried breaking myself out from.

Unable to move a step, I was ripe for the picking for the swarm of tentacles coming at me from all sides. Not that I could hope to dodge anything that fast, but they still saw fit to give me no chance. One by one they snapped around me, coiling around my arms and slithering across my torso. I felt myself hoisted from the ground, hanging aloft as if crucified by whatever black goo made up these appendages.

I couldn't move so much as a muscle. Kicking around worked, but amounted to nothing but hapless flailing.
All the meanwhile, the Devil soared around me. Her eyes roamed up and down my bound form, smirking with that toothy grin of hers.
"Oh, ho! Well, color me surprised, ma'am!"
She blinked away. Next thing I knew she was right next to me, way too close for comfort.
"See this? See the color, right here?" She tapped on her cheek, "That, ma'am, is the color of suprise!"
It was grey, by the way.
As usual.

"Do you know why I have that color, ma'am?" In a flash she appeared at the other side instead, "I am colored surprised, ma'am, because you keep surprising everyone with your flashy toys! But this time, ma'am, this time you surprised no one! Got yourself bagged like an animal! Wasn't even hard! No, siree! Not in the slightest!"
She disappeared again. I could no longer see her. I could feel her breath on my neck behind me though.
"And that, ma'am, is the most surprising thing of all! If you had surprised me, I wouldn't have raised an eyebrow! But look at you now! All gift-wrapped like a present! Just like every single stupid little impotent girl who imagined she was tough shit!"

I felt her clawed hand against my pants, tracing the curve of my thigh and hips. I shuddered, trying to kick her away. But she effortlessly held my leg in place.
She warped back into view, admiring me like a prize, relishing in the pitiful display, "With you ma'am, a surprise becomes what's expected! But there was nothing unexpected about the way this wrapped up at all! So color me surprised!"
She laughed triumphantly.

"Oh, but what's this?" She floated around me, exploring every angle of my bound form, "Even now, ma'am, you still have some trick up your sleeve? Some ace in your hull? Some last resort, perhaps? Oh, I see! Could it be, ma'am, it was you who really had the upper hand all along!"
Apparently she had noticed the box in my hand. It looked like an old-fashioned camera, but with a parabolic disc instead of a flashbulb.
Even through all that, I still clung on to it.

"Consider my curiosity piqued, ma'am!" She warped all up close and personal again, "What, pray tell, could that machine do in this predicament? Have you, perhaps, found some secret weakness? Looks like no Holy Magic I've ever seen."
She poofed to the other side, speaking directly into my ear, "Ah, I'm positively bubbling with excitement! How about you indulge us now, ma'am? Let's make it a show and tell! Now, ma'am! Tell the entire class what you decided to bring with you!"

"This? Oh, that's my Parastitch™. It resolves time paradoxes." My smirk widened as I explained this to the Devil of Time.
"Oh! Oh... Oh no."
Her feral grin of gleeful torment faded, turning into an inviting smile brimming with enthusiasm. Now, I know a big smile might be hard to tell apart from another big smile, so you'd think I'd not be able to tell anything had changed. But believe you me, anyone who ever dealt with a used car salesman knows exactly what I'm talking about.
"Ah, it seems mistakes were made, ma'am! Both were at fault, but hey! The past is the past! Let's not get any sadistic gloating, that concerned parties may or may not have done, in the way of blossoming opportunity! Now, do I have a deal for you, ma'am? You don't wanna do anything rash, now that..."

I clicked the button.