Announcement
New Volume 4 Chapter(s) Weekly. Volumes 1-3 now complete!
“It’s been a thrilling journey, folks!” Rallie once again stood at the center of the arena, as she had for every fight before. “In the past three days, we’ve witnessed hundreds of fights! The weak have been weeded out, and only the two strongest human teams remain!”
“We’ve seen military squads be shamed by street gangs, and seen professional athletes wrecked by mercenary groups. It’s been insane to see known criminals crawl out of the woodwork, putting their anonymity and protection on the line. But that just speaks to the degree of what they’re fighting for. The power of a wish can’t be understated.”
“Over the last three days we’ve had dozens of requests from various law enforcement agencies to hand over some of our competitors, and we’ve stopped four different infiltration attempts by the police to capture them. We won’t let anything stand in the way of this competition. What will happen to them afterwards? That will be up for fate to decide.”
“Who knows, one of our teams may even wish for a clean slate if they’re victorious. Let’s bring them out now. Give it up for the Shindig Mafia!” There were cheers from most of the crowd, the clear favorite to win. Even though they were known criminals, they’d still won the hearts of the audience. All of the mafiosos were well dressed in fine suits with lavish drippings, brazenly carrying illegal weapons and firearms out to the arena.
“And our second team would surely love to arrest these criminals themselves. They were nearly eliminated a few times already, but they always managed to claw out a victory. Will they be so lucky again one last time? Make some noise for Central Peace Squad E!”
There was still a good amount of cheering, a lot less than the mafia, but Squad E had won over a dedicated fanbase throughout the tournament due to their underdog nature. Of the eight CP squads participating in the human bracket, four had made it to the quarterfinals, and then only two to the semifinals. As bad luck would have it, or possibly due to some Fiendish trickery, the two CP squads were forced to face off against each other to move forward. And Squad E had somehow won over the heavily favored Squad A.
A good chunk of their support likely came from the large Central Peace presence in the audience. Over a third of the reserved VIP tickets had been purchased by CP employees. Nearly half of all active Representatives were in attendance, along with several other high ranking officials and higher-ups from the various departments.
Some were there to support the competitors they were sponsoring, others were likely in attendance just because they had so much riding on the outcome, while a few were just there to enjoy the spectacle. Despite all that, if the gambling records from those individuals were made public, the majority still heavily favored the Shindig Mafia to win.
Rallie strutted over to the leader of the Shindig Mafia first. “How are you feeling about your chances to win?”
“Heh, it’s already assured,” the woman laughed. “Look at them, beaten down, and half their members benched for injuries. They were unfortunate enough to fight last in the previous round, but even if they were at their full strength, we’d still destroy them.”
“And how are you feeling?” Rallie went to the leader of Squad E, a stoic man who looked exhausted to still be on his feet.
“I won’t lie, our squad is tired,” the man openly admitted. “But these bastards underestimate our perseverance. It would be unwise to bet against the Central Peace. We will never lose to criminal scum like this.”
“Alright, confidence on both sides, we love to see it!” Rallie returned to the middle. “Now for the obstacles, we have a split! Squad E for, Shindig Mafia against!” After a few test runs with mercenary groups, the event organizers decided that having humans fight openly with no obstacles often lead to quick matches with expected outcomes. However, some groups still preferred to fight in the open, so the decision to use them was put to a vote.
“So we go to a coin toss!” Rallie flipped a coin high in the air, a dedicated coin-cam catching every second, making sure to zoom in on the apex of the toss and add a little slow-motion. Since there were no actual coins in circulation anymore, this was a special Fiendish Coliseum coin that had been commissioned, and was another souvenir that could be purchased. “Squad E wins it. Bring them up!”
Rallie made her way off stage as the floor started to open up behind her. The obstacles were randomized, both in type and location. Some were very useful like crates to hide behind, others were more limited in their usage, like a pole with chains dangling off of it. Though it had been used already to tie someone up.
“Commentary will be provided by Xard, who has had several run-ins with the Shindig Mafia in the past, and Nachi, a former elite of the Central Peace military. Now let the match begin!”
As soon as the horn blared, Squad E immediately took cover wherever they could, but the mafia just stood still, brazenly out in the open.
《Nachi: So who do you think will win, Xard?》
《Xard: As much as I’d hate to admit it, but I think the Shindig Mafia has it cinched. They have the firepower and the numbers. Squad E would need to fight perfectly to win, but I think the exhaustion from all their previous matches has likely caught up with them.》
《Nachi: Oh I wouldn’t be so sure. I trained some of those soldiers down there myself. And while I could say the Central Peace certainly has its flaws, their military can surprise you. I don’t think we’ve seen everything yet.》
Three members of the mafia stepped forward and fired rocket launchers at the obstacles. Even before the explosions settled, more members were already loading the weapons for another round.
《Xard: If they were aiming those weapons directly at their competitors, we’d certainly be disqualifying them for attempted murder. But as long as they keep it to splash damage, we won’t intervene. As much as I’d like to eliminate them on a technicality, they’ve come too far to risk it now. And that would be a sad way to end the final match.》
After the next round of blasts, a Squad E member was sent flying out of the arena and skidded along the ground, leaving a trail of her own blood. Her leg had been partially detached, hanging on by just a thread. Immediately, the medical squad sprung into action, consisting of Farian, Ahvra, and some of Drome Coli’s best medical experts. Once her leg was realigned properly, Ahvra reversed the flow of its time, stitching it back together as if nothing had happened, and even cured the rest of her wounds, just leaving the soldier exhausted.
“Quick, deploy it!” a command was given from Squad E’s leader. One of the soldiers set down a large mechanical-looking box that they'd been lugging around on their back. After pressing a few buttons, a swarm of pocket-sized drones launched into the air.
《Nachi: Oh, is that what I think it is? Yes, I do believe that’s the Criminal Hunter. They’ve been working on that since even I was a fresh recruit at the CP, but they could never get it along far enough to actually utilize it in public. Have they finally worked out all the bugs?》
《Nachi: Essentially it scans everyone in the selected area and targets those with the highest criminal score. Against civilians, they do nothing, but against a group of criminals like this. It could be just what they need.》
The drones didn’t delay, buzzing right towards the Shindig Mafia, nimbly dodging any attempts to shoot them down. But due to their small size, they weren’t equipped with any weapons themselves. Instead, as soon as one of the drones got close enough, they stopped flying entirely. Their limbs and blades morphed into long poles that wrapped around the criminals, knocking them to the ground and binding them.
《Nachi: Ahahaha. Looks like they haven’t fixed all the bugs. For those who can’t see, a few are up here, knocking at the window of our spectator booth. They really want you, Xard. But I suppose you are a very wanted man.》
《Xard: Not just me, Nachi. It looks like one is actually targeting you.》
《Nachi: Oh, I’m so honored.》
While the mafia was busy trying to flee their aerial assaulters, Squad E poked out from behind cover and mowed down the stragglers. In just a few seconds, they’d gone from pinned down to decisive victory!
“Squad E wins!” Rallie declared into the mic and cheers boomed around the stadium. “What a wild ride, folks! I bet none of us saw that coming. The underdogs continued to surprise us to the bitter end! Squad E will receive a huge cash prize for their victory. And I feel it should be noted that it goes to them individually, not the Central Peace. Could be a good time for them to think about retirement!”
“But it’s not over just yet, we’re just getting started. And the Shindig Mafia will have a chance for redemption in the Grand Finale. However, with the human bracket complete, it’s time to give the Lessers their chance in the spotlight. You might think we’d end it here for the day, but no, that’d just be a waste of everyone's time.”
“After a brief break, we’ll be back in just one hour with the start of the Lesser bracket. Get up, stretch your legs, use the bathroom, grab some food. We’ll be back in no time with more action, and it’s only going to ramp up from here! Give it up one more time for our human winners: Central Peace Squad E!”
