"THEEEEEEE  BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIG MAN HIMSELF, GRIIIIIIIGORRRRRRRR THE EYE!" Shouted Gregor, which, once again, prompted much hype, hooting, hollering, and etcetera from the audience. Even when he's fighting a dude named Turkey Tim or whatever, the people but help but love the guy. That said, I imagine they'd have loved him more if he'd been up against someone more exciting, like that Dark Horse guy. 

Or Timbo.

"Timbo was robbed." I said.

"Oh yeah, 100%." Said Catface.

At this point, Grigor did his weird pointing thing again. Just pointed at Turker Thomas or whatever.

I'd preemptively covered my ears this time, so that Sis didn't have to. Which was good, because she looked quite relieved when she turned to me after the screaming started. 

"AAAAALLLLLRIGHHHHT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN... LET THE FIRST FIGHT OF THE FINAL ROUND BEGIN! COMPETETORS! TO AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRMS!"

Thus, they took arms.

And... It was mostly the same as before. 

The crowd seemed to like it, and it was certainly pretty entertaining, but, I dunno. It felt more like... Dancing, or something, than combat. I dunno.

"Y'know, I've never much liked how this guy fights." Catface mused at one point. I assumed they were talking about Grigor, because it doesn't seem like there's much to say about Turkey Tyler or whatever. "I've watched a number of 'em, but I just..."

"Dunno?" I asked.

"Yeah..." They said.

"Glad we agree."

They chuckled. "Something 'bout it I don't like. I've never had any desire to fight this guy."

"That's surprising."

"It is, isn't it?"

"That's unfortunate. I bet they'd kick your a*s." Sis said.

Which caused Catface to laugh some more. "Maaaaybe." They said sarcastically. 

Again, it was largely the same. Guy tries their absolute hardest to get in a hit, Grigor says no, and then Grigor attacks, and the fight ends fashionably. Except, this time, the fights were a good bit shorter. I think Turkey Theodore or whatever was weaker than the last guy Grigor fought. What a crappy finale.

And that's how they went. 2 short fights. Grigor won flawlessly.

And, soon enough, it was time for the closing ceremony. Just like that. I had a hard time paying attention to it. I think I might've started to fall asleep, actually, as I thought to myself.

Man, S has been gone for a while, hasn't he? Well, he did say he would be, I guess. So, I'm sure he's...

. . .

I... I can only imagine how hard it must be for him. I get that he's hurt. He's probably right to feel that way, I guess. That being said, while I know that they probably don't deserve it, I'd like for S to be able to face Catface again. Maybe not now, it probably wouldn't be right, but... Eventually. I'd like for us all to eat lunch together again. With Sis, too. 

We could all sit in a booth at the place back in Starsford, and just eat and laugh together, and just talk, talk about anything other than killing each other or blowing things up. Sis would talk about fish or about coloring, all with that bright look in her eye, no sad indifference, no going berserk whenever someone zones out or sneezes, just the joy that she deserves. S would regale us with tales of high adventure, ones where he saved a family from coyotes or fended off a giant cabbage, fun things, light hearted things, and the good guy would always win unharmed, and everyone would be happy. Catface would laugh along, we'd play together and they'd talk endlessly in their confusing yet oh so charming ways, and we'd laugh and get lost in their forest of metaphors for hours at a time. S's cousin would walk up with a smile on her face and we'd all laugh more and make small talk together...

... And things would just continue like that. Along the way, we'd meet Michaus, Zramazos, Charolette, Heremays, even Maurice, the bald guy, and we'd all just be there together.  

And things would be alright. And nobody would threaten that. And nothing would ever have to change, either.

And we'd all be-

AAH!-

"DAMNIT." I might've shouted on impulse as the screaming that surrounded me thrust me painfully out of my thoughts.

"Ah- Wha- What happened?! B-Bro, Are you okay?!" 

"I'm fine."

"A-are you s-"

"I'M FINE."

Oh, shoot, I probably shouldn't have said it like that.

Apologetically, I turned over to Sis, "Uh, s-sor-" 

Oh, wow.

I've... I've never seen her look that before.

I- I didn't mean t-

Her eyes darted from my face to my hands, and it looked almost like she was on the verge of screaming, and her eyes were wet.

My hands? Agai-

Oh

Oh No.

My hands, high up onto my arms, even, were coated in this oozing pitch blackness. Larger and darker than I'd ever seen before. It was as dark as the sun was bright.

What's worse, is that I could tell that it had already been receding by the time I'd noticed it. 

Which means it was even bigger a bit ago.

Which means it was even more noticeable.

And I quickly began to realize that there were a lot of people currently taking notice of me. Even the guys down in the arena.

Now, I couldn't quite see what most of them looked like.

But I didn't exactly stick around to ask about their feelings.

As my legs started working overtime and the world blurred, spiraled, and danced around my increasingly lighter and lighter head, I couldn't help but think back.

That look on her face, all those people, I haven't felt like that in...

. . .

Best not to think about it.

---

W- W- W- WH-

D-DAD! PLEASE, WHAT THE HELL IS-

Whu- Wh- where's Bro going? Why'd he get up?

N-no, s-stop! W-wait, I-I-I can fix this! You can't- I have to! S-stop! YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO YOURSELF!

PLEASE, I HAVE TO SAVE YOU!

"B-BRO-"

I- I have to get to him. He doesn't know what he's doing. I have to stop it.

I-I-I don't know what it is, but I have to stop it. It- I have to. I can't not- He can't- 

I-I'm running. That's good. I need to. I need to catch up to him. He'll die if I don't. He'll die. He'll die. He'll die. He'll die. 

Dad, I'm sor-

"Easy there, pumpkin."

Something was in front of me. Came from above. Don't care. It looked wet. Everything looked wet. Don't care. Don't care.

"Whoah. Oiii, girl, you're gonna wanna stop. You're not gonna be able to do anything like that."

Annoying. Annoying. He'll die. He'll die. Annoying.

"Oi- HEY! SISTER CHICK! STOP FOR A SEC, I'M TRYING TO-"

WHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHY DO YOU STOP ME? WHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHY

He'll die.

DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIE "GET THE FUCK OUT OF-"

"DAMNIT, PUT DOWN THE- HE'S NOT HERE!"

DIEDIEDI-

stop.

that

It's reasonable. He would leave. Easily.

It would know where he is.

"Geez."  It's short of breath. "And they called me crazy."

Annoying.

"Not much for dialogue like this, are you? Ah well. Here." It turned. Crouched. Hands behind. "I know it's juvenile, but it's a lot easier to fly when I can see what's in front of me. Hop on. Let's go find your brother."

. . .

"Ah, there we go! Whew. This'll be fun!"

Annoying.

"This'll be one hell of a prelude, indeed..."

Caution.