September 19, 4021 09:40 [Matriarch 04- Sun Rock]

Kuvira watched as the spear arced towards Xiāoshī’s final line of defense. She grinned as the weapon shattered his barrier and impaled him in the shoulder, continuing to spin. He screamed in pain as it bore through his flesh, eviscerating bone, muscle, and tendon. Blood sprayed outward, painting the field in red. By the time the spear had dissipated, Xiāoshī had already passed out from a combination of pain and blood loss. He was swiftly removed from the field, and taken to the infirmary on a stretcher by two Crows standing by.

“That is it, folks! Match one is over! Kuvira wins with flying colors!”

Kuvira’s teammates had made their way down to the ground floor, waiting for her at the entrance to the pitch with wide grins. She returned a gleeful smile as Indra and Garou congratulated her, though her expression faltered when she caught a glimpse of the next two candidates being led down by the Crows.

“Nice job. I’m looking forward to seeing you in the second round. You better put up a good fight.” Prasanna smiled at her mirthlessly, maintaining a cold gaze.

“Count on it,” Kuvira replied, standing firm.

Prasanna dismissed her with a scoff, turning to Indra and addressing him warmly. “Watch me, okay?”

Indra nodded, his ears turning slightly red. He looked at Kuvira inquisitively as Prasanna left. “What’s the deal between you two? She’s not usually like this.”

“I don’t know,” Kuvira said, shrugging her shoulders. “And I doubt I’ll get a concrete answer from her.”

“Did you do something to her?” Garou asked.

“Of course not! I’m not that petty. I lost and that was that. I can accept defeat with dignity,” she huffed.

“Hmm.” Indra watched Prasanna as she walked onto the pitch, wondering what was on her mind.

They quickly returned to the announcer’s booth before the second match started, just as Grisha began to introduce the next pair of fighters.

“Next up, match two!! Our first candidate is a master of spatial manipulation and a favorite for the top spot in this tournament! Put your hands together for Prasanna!!”

The crowd roared wildly, raucous whistles coming from the stands.

“Our second candidate is a master of toxins and smoke! Don’t get too close, or else you’ll enter into a deep slumber! Please welcome, Chōuyān!!”

The cheering continued as they walked onto the pitch. Chōuyān’s eyes darted around nervously. His gaze paused momentarily on the announcer’s booth before fixating on his opponent. In contrast, Prasanna seemed relaxed, unconcerned about her immediate surroundings. She stretched her arms, yawning as she did so, making it seem like this was just a routine part of her day.

“Candidates, ready yourselves!” Grisha paused for dramatic effect. “Aaaaaaaand begin!!”

Chōuyān leaned forward, sweating apprehensively. Indra sympathized with him. Thinking back to the first time he saw Prasanna spar against Tengri, he was reminded of the level of destructive force she was capable of outputting. There was a good chance he would be facing her in the later rounds. Indra made a mental note to watch the match closely, hoping to glean some insight into her weaknesses. Who knows though? Chōuyān might pull off an upset.

“This is quite unusual folks! It appears that we have a standoff! Who will make the first move?!” Grisha stood up from her seat, eagerly leaning over the balcony, microphone in hand.

Prasanna didn’t budge an inch. Indra waited with bated breath, curious to see who would bite the bullet.

“At least take this seriously!” Chōuyān called out, releasing smoke from his hands. The acrid fumes traveled quickly across the field, reaching Prasanna in seconds. Just as the cloud of poison was about to make contact with its target, Prasanna lazily swatted away the smoke, returning the wave back to Chōuyān. A veil of repulsory particles layered over her body, so thin in its design, that Indra doubted anyone except other Homunculi could detect its presence.

“If that’s the best you got, then I won’t be needing to take this match seriously,” Prasanna taunted.

Chōuyān gnashed his teeth, his nervousness replaced with annoyance fueled by his opponent’s ridicule. He lost his cool faster than I expected. She really knows how to get under people’s skin.

Indra became momentarily distracted by Kaluza and Móhú’s loud cheering. He raised an eyebrow as they continued to jump around energetically. As abrasive as he seemed, Kaluza appeared to be genuinely rooting for the success of his teammate.

“Oh? What’s this? Clouds are forming above the stadium!” Grisha exclaimed.

Indra’s attention returned to the match. He craned his neck, watching as a thick blanket of clouds formed above the stadium, extending past the stands.

“It’s going to hit the audience!” he realized.

Grisha chuckled, a hand on the mute button. “As if he would ever let that happen.”

A translucent tarp unfurled over the crowd. A number of Crows stood above and below the audience, spreading it out and anchoring it into place. They sealed the tarp quickly, pumping tanks of oxygen into the enclosed space.

“Why not install a barrier?” Indra was perturbed by their rudimentary solution.

Grisha rolled her eyes. “We tried installing one years ago, but the pushback from the community was such a hassle. It really wasn’t worth mediating, so we left it as is when we were rebuilding this place. It’s as if they like the danger.”

“Wouldn’t you be held liable—”

“They sign a waiver—now quit bugging me for a second, I’ve got a match to narrate.”

The clouds darkened overhead, letting loose a torrent of acid rain. The droplets sizzled as they touched the field, dissolving large patches of grass. As expected, they rolled off the tarp and the Crow’s gear harmlessly. Droplets collected at Prasanna’s feet as she stood unbothered by the rain trickling over her veil of repulsion.

Taking advantage of her complacency, Chōuyān brought his arms forward, clasping his hands together. The acidic water that had collected around Prasanna evaporated, suddenly enveloping her in smoke. The smoke subsequently solidified, trapping her in a dense poisonous compound. Deadly neurotoxin seeped into her bloodstream through the exposed skin on her neck. Prasanna was caught off guard, blinking in surprise.

Indra gripped the railing tightly as he watched her struggle to break free.

“Deposition! Ha! He learned that from watching you fight, Tengri,” Jin laughed.

Tengri nodded silently, watching with piqued interest as the match unfolded.

Jin taunted Grisha, her expression turning sour. She held her tongue, refraining from letting any unsavory comments slip out while the microphone was still turned on.

“Look’s like Chōuyān’s plan has gone swimmingly! Prasanna is in quite a bind! Will she be able to get herself out of this one? Or is this the end of match two?!”

Prasanna struggled helplessly against the cement-like poison block, trying to wriggle her way out to no avail. She panted heavily. Indra couldn’t believe what he was seeing. She had displayed unmatched prowess in reading the ebb and flow of battle consistently during training. How had she made such a catastrophic blunder? To be caught so easily…

Indra’s eyes widened as he watched a smile creep up Chōuyān’s face. What if the smoke he had released was just a decoy? Some poisonous gases came in odorless and clear forms. Chōuyān must have released the poison at the start of the match, continuously feeding his opponent small amounts of gas—enough to where it stayed underneath her absolute threshold but still caused her movements to become sluggish.

Indra clenched his teeth. So easily had the tides turned without even a chance to retaliate. Chōuyān would snuff Prasanna out before she could even lift a finger.

“This was all your doing! You underestimated me and didn’t think to take this fight seriously enough! Now look at you!” Chōuyān laughed.

Indra couldn’t help but feel bitter about the ordeal. No one could argue; Prasanna would lose, not for a lack of skill, but her own hubris which had ultimately been her undoing. Strength and cunning were not mutually exclusive; one could make up for a deficiency in the other, yet a lack of either would prove to be fundamentally detrimental as Chōuyān had so clearly shown everyone.

The camera closed in on Prasanna’s face, filming the final moments of an unceremonious conclusion to the second match. She continued to struggle, her movements becoming slower and her eyelids drooping. Prasanna caught a glimpse of herself on the big screen, staring up hopelessly. The match was nearing an end, and she had failed to reveal even a single skill as proof of her growth. Indra could do nothing but wait until she finally closed her eyes. But that moment would never come to pass.

Suddenly, Prasanna grinned, sticking her tongue out.

“Just kidding!”

She broke free of the compound as if it were made of glass, repelling the debris. Her form began to shimmer as she bent the light around herself. Then, Prasanna vanished into nothing.