Wings of the Future (Fanfic)

Tamiku's clothes had reappeared while she spoke of Erinn. "...That's how I ended up here."

Requiem held out his hand to her. "I think I can understand. You who died 72 times. Tamiku. Your truly one of a kind." He smiled in a friendly way. "To tell you the truth, if you add up the years from your stories, and compare them to my life. You are older then me."

Tamiku looked at Requiem.

"Tamiku. I fell in love with you the first moment I felt your presence. It was the first time since my mother died, that I've been able to feel that sensation. That's probably why I did such horrible things to you. Please forgive me."

"I... don't know what to say in this position." Tamiku replied looking downwards.

"I will wait forever for an answer. If you lose that body, then I'll search the endless cosmos to find you again." Requiem kept his hand out.

"Please give me some time to think then." Tamiku said taking his hand.

Requiem put his arms around her and hugged her tightly. "Take as much time as you feel you need to."

--------------

The chains began disintegrating. It was a calm scene as the gold chains turned into small golden lights. They spread across the whole of the area.

In the center was Requiem holding Tamiku gently.

"That's an interesting outcome." Vamp stated.

"That couldn't have been more then a minute. What happened in there?" Binks asked him.

"Like I said, he can will things into existence. Even if that's a area of frozen time, isolated from reality." Vamp tried to explain in simple terms.

But Binks couldn't understand. At least for now he couldn't.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the barrier is down and the two contestants seem to be embracing each other. Who is the winner?"

Requiem raised his hand. "I concede this match. Tamiku is your winner."

The crowd didn't cheer. After all, they had come for a good show, but ended up not seeing anything.

Vamp began clapping loudly, and slowly the whole crowd did the same.

Requiem looked at the girl in his arms. "I'll be watching you for the rest of the tournament. If you want to talk to me, you just have to think it, and I'll come to you."

Tamiku looked up at Requiem and nodded.

Requiem smiled, and leaned down to steal a kiss from her. Then he vanished.

Tamiku paused for a moment before heading back.

"Very interesting." Vamp laughed, as he put his hand of Binks' shoulder. "Let's get back to the others." He walked passed Binks.

Binks stared at his back for a few moments. "Vamp." He whispered to himself before following after.

"So how did your match go Gamina?" Sarice asked.

Gamina sat down next to the others. "I don't want to talk about it."

Tabita spoke up. "Her opponent got behind her and using his energy and twisting his fists, he knocked her out in one blow."

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"Weird energy exploded out, as well as a few black orbs with characters in them."

Gamina's face went red. "He was better then me. Plus I was unprepared." She tried to defend herself.

Kahiko smiled and chuckled.

Sarice laughed wholeheartedly. She stopped. "How did Nashiko's fight go?" Looking to Tabita.

"Nashiko took out Raynard in one blow. Though she was defending for seven minutes."

Tabita had watched all the matches of those in their group, well Sarice had watched matches of other contenders.

Nashiko nodded.

"So does that mean Gamina is out of the running?"

"Wrong." A voice called out.

The group turned to see a man.

"Requiem." Tamiku whispered to herself. She had been silent and hiding in the back of the group.

"Gamina is to take place in the side tournament. So you still have a chance."

"Side tournament?" Gamina pondered.

"It's a series of matches of people who lost in the tournament. The people there are given a second chance to fight the victor of the real tournament. Not every loser makes it, but it's a safety for when two powerful fighters were matched up in the prelimins." The man turned. "That's all I have to say. Good luck." with that the man slipped out the door.

"Who was that?" Sarice asked.

"Doesn't matter, at least everyone is still in the running." Kahiko quickly said.

The girls began laughing.

Two days passed as everyone was allowed to recover. During the period, the guildies hadn't seen Ako.

Vamp had brought the news of who everyone would be fighting in the second round of preliminaries. He put the paper on the table. "Here you have it."

The guildies reviewed the paper, and searched for Mjrn and Liah's names.

There were 31 matches listed on the paper.

07) Liah VS Kahiko

"So I'm fighting someone called Kahiko in the seventh round?" Liah noted. She then searched for Mjrn's name.

16) Mjrn Silverfox VS Tika Keiga

Mjrn eyes went wide. "What?"

Everyone glanced at the paper.

"Tika?" Celica said aloud. "How can that be?"

"Whose Tika?" Xiaoming asked.

"A good friend we lost a year ago." Liah explained. "How the hell can she be here?"

"Care to explain Vamp?" Binks said eyeballing him.

Vamp held out one finger and moved it from side to side. "It surprised me too. But have you ever considered the possibility that in the vastness of the universe, that there could be someone with her name? Either way, we won't know until the match comes."

"I hadn't thought about that." Liah said relieved.

Binks on the other hand wasn't satisfied with the answer. But he kept his mouth shut. Something had been bugging him about Vamp they had arrived here. Until he had proof, he couldn't say anything.

Celica looked up. "By the way. Has anyone seen Kooh?"

"She went to the washroom." Xiaoming replied.

"But that was about an hour ago." Binks semi-corrected him. He stood up. "I'm going to go look for her." With that he left.

"Well, we'll skip looking for Gamina's name, since her lost." Sarice said flatly as she reviewed the paper.

"Hey. Don't make me spank you." Gamina wasn't the best person for comebacks.

Sarice stuck her tongue out at her. "Serves you right."

Gamina gritted her teeth and fumed alone in the corner.

07) Liah VS Kahiko

"Looks like Kahiko is the 7th match, against a person named Liah." Sarice noted.

Kahiko nodded.

09) Dante VS Nashiko

"Nashiko. You're in the 9th match, fighting a guy named Dante."

Nashiko nodded.

Sarice continued down the last. "That's two for two for Tamiku. Your the last match again."

"Who is my opponent?" Tamiku asked, thoughts of Requiem were lingering in the back of her mind.

31) Tamiku VS Kimiko Inazami

"Inazami?" Sarice thought. "That's right. I watched this girl in action. She's a scythe user."

"Scythe?" Tamiku asked.

"Not a weapon when first invented, it's original purpose is to cut long grass and wheat in fields." Kahiko explained.

"She's quite skilled." Sarice explained her match and her appearance.

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"Sounds formidable in close range." Gamina said rejoining the group.

"Weren't you out the tournament?" Sarice said flatly.

Pretending to cry Gamina retreated back to her corner.

"She seems like someone I can equally with. Unlike my last match." Tamiku said.

"Well, the next prelims don't happen until tomorrow. It's not even dinner yet, so after food, make sure to get some sleep." Sarice half ordered them. She looked at them. "Where did Tabita go?"

"She was here a few minutes ago." Nashiko spoke.

Sarice was surprised by the words from the mostly silent comrade.

"I'll go look for her." Kahiko stated getting up and moving to the door, without letting them speak.

"I'll leaving it to you then." Sarice said watching her disappear. Then she turned back to Nashiko, and smiled evilly. "Let's see if I can get you to say something else."

"My name's Kooh. What's yours?" The girl asked happily.

"Tabita." The Elf replied quietly.

"Nice to meet you." Kooh smiled.

Tabita didn't really know how to respond. It had been a long time since she had met someone so positive.

"Kooh. There you are. Where have you been?" A voice called out.

Kooh turned and saw Binks walking towards them. "None of you business." She puffed her cheeks.

As Binks neared them, he saw Tabita. "Whose this?"

"Tabita. She looked lonely so I wanted to say hi." Kooh replied.

Tabita didn't looked at Binks. She felt uncomfortable.

Kooh walked up to Tabita and threw an arm around her neck. Then pulled out Tabita's ear from under her turban. "Look. She has pointed ears."

"Ah." Tabita's face went red, but her eyes remained the same.

"She's an Elf, Kooh."

"Elf? Never heard of that. What are they?"

"A race of humanoids that look closely to humans. While I cannot speak for her homeland, most elves are smart, swift, and good with nature." Binks explained in simple terms.

Kooh hugged Tabita. "Awe, your so cool."

"Who are you, and what are you doing to my friend?" A voice said calmly.

Kooh looked passed Binks, and laughed. "She's a big one."

Binks turned around slightly, to find a Giant. Then he got a look at her face, and remember who she was. "You are Kahiko."

Kahiko looked down at Binks. "So what if I am?" She walked passed him and took a knee before Tabita. "You okay?"

Tabita nodded. She brought her hand up and tucked her ear back into her turban.

Kooh stood before Kahiko. "I'm Kooh, what's your name?"

Kahiko hesitated for a second. "I'm...Kahiko."

Kooh smiled. "Nice to meet you."

Kahiko patted Kooh's head. "Your a friendly one, aren't you?"

Kooh stuck her tongue out playfully.

"Ahem." Binks said clearing his throat. "Can I have a word with you Miss Kahiko?"

Kahiko looked back at the floating man.

Kooh was talking with Tabita happily. Though Tabita didn't really show any emotion.

Kahiko looked at Binks. "What do you want?"

"I watched your match in the first round. I was surprised by the outcome."

"My opponent was all brawn. He never thought his feet were vulnerable." Kahiko explained looking away from Binks.

"A easy opening on him. But that's not what I wanted to ask. One of the people I came here with mentioned that you weren't a warrior. Yet I saw you fight very well. I just want to know if you are or not." Binks asked.

Kahiko glanced at Binks from the corner of her eye. "Not that it's any of your business. Not I'm not a warrior. Due to complications in my homeland, I chose to fight."

"Complications?" Binks asked, he was extremely curious.

"My world is in the middle of a war. If people like me don't fight, then everything could be destroyed." Kahiko said seriously. "I don't know what your world is like, but no matter what we do on my world, there is always some force on the brink of destroying it. They are not concerned for our lives, they merely want our world, and us off it." Kahiko turned away from him. "Next time you ask someone something, make sure you think before you do."

Binks took the comments to heart. But didn't press the issue.

Kahiko motioned for Tabita, that they should head back. With that the two left.

Kooh sighed. "That was short lived."

"Let's get back to the others." Binks said to Kooh, and started heading back.

"Aye ey." Kooh replied halfheartedly.

The second round of Preliminaries had been set up differently then the first.

Each area was set up to a different theme. Some were forests, while others had water. There were 31 different stages, for each fight.

07) Rocky Desert - A dry arena. Pillars and areas of solid rock, within a sandy area. very light sand, and footing is hard.

09) Plains - A grassy arena. Consisting of a large open area filled with grass and a few flower patchs here and there.

16) Town Square - A large tiled arena. The ground is covered with semi-wornout tiles.

31) Techcity - A large changing arena. It's a city section at around .5 scale of a real one. Many moving objects, including working trains. City lights fill the various places.

All matches were scheduled to take place at the same starting times.

Kahiko slid on her knuckles as she took position in the arena. She felt the heat of the arena, and reminded her of when she visited Iria.

Liah already had her gloves on. She was surprised when the stages had been changed. She wasn't used to the dry heat a desert condition offered. Though she was reminded of the time she was in Blacktoa peaks, but the air there had been at least moist.

She eyed her opponent. "A giant. Great." Liah said with a sigh. She had fought many large monsters, but those were monsters. Beings who just threw around their weight. But her opponent was at least smarter then a monster.

Kahiko looked at the flying scoreboard. There was still two minutes before the start of the match.

Nashiko readied her claymore. She examined her opponent.

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He had twins pistols, Ebony and Ivory. Dante laughed. "I was quite surprised what happened when I touched that Devil Arm. How'd you get here?"

"Wrong place, wrong time." Nashiko replied.

Dante twirled his guns before holstering them. He reached back and readied his sword, Rebellion. "The last guy didn't really have a clue how to fight. I'm hoping your better entertainment then him."

"I'll try." Nashiko replied.

"Still one more minute to go though." Dante said with a smirk.

Mjrn eyed her opponent. She was hesitant though.

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The person was wearing a thick heavy cloak. Mjrn couldn't see the person's face under the hood. "So what's your deal?" Mjrn asked.

The cloaked person, who the roster was known as Tika Keiga, just shrugged.

Mjrn glanced at the clock. "30 second remaining. Are you gonna fight in that?"

The cloaked person didn't reply.

Mjrn sighed. This person is getting on my nerves.

The scythe cut across the ground, as the girl readied it.

Tamiku looked at the person. "Your Kimiko? What kind of planet are you from?"

"A place where magic and technology work in close harmony. As well as other energies." Kimiko smiled. "What's your deal?"

"A planet on the edge of another world, where another race is trying to kill humans, giants, and elves."

"Sounds dire."

"It's fine." Tamiku said readying her daggers.

A buzzer sounded, indicated the start of the matches.

Kimiko twirled her scythe and sliced across the round lightly, before rushing forward.

As the buzzer rang, Kahiko's fist was already attacking.

"Wooh." Liah said, off guard. Barely getting her hands in front of herself, energy shockwaved out.

Kahiko raised her other fist and threw a second punch.

A second shockwave blew. Blue electricity began radiating out from the meeting point.

"In a rush are we?" Liah asked with a smile.

"Sorry if I caught you off guard. I just want to get this over with." Kahiko replied.

"Calling me weak?" Liah asked.

"One of us will win, the other will lose. I just don't want to drag it out."

"Fair enough." Liah pushed forward, and a third shockwave made both of them slid back across the sand.

Kahiko lost her footing and fell backwards into the sand. She took a few moments to get up.

Liah watched as she did. "Your wide open you know."

"I'm more suited for winter combat. Sand and snow are very different fighting surfaces." Kahiko brushed herself off, and took a few steps backward.

"Haven't really fought on either." Liah replied.

"Next time I'm open, that the opportunity. Cause I won't give you one." Kahiko turned and grabbed hold of a large rock. She lifted it it up, and threw it at Liah.

Liah readied to make a stronger punch.

The two huge swords clashed. Sparks flew out from every contact. Nashiko realized quickly that Dante was a extremely better swordsman then herself. She knew she couldn't beat him in straight blows, so her focused on defense.

Dante pushed forward, and both pushed on their swords. He brought his face close to Nashiko's. "How ya holding up kid?"

"I'm fine." She replied. Nashiko took a step back then twisted her wrist. Suddenly she spun in a full circle. Knocking Dante back a few feet.

His feet dug into the soft ground. Rebellion came to a rest on his shoulder. "Nice move, but nothing I haven't seen before."

Nashiko held out one hand and concentrated. She felt her mana. Suddenly a large fireball appeared before her. She she concentrated it began getting bigger.

Dante switched to his guns. "Bring it."

Nashiko pointed her hand at Dante and fired the ball at him.

Dante held down his triggers and cut the fireball in half with his bullets. Both halves passed him and exploded in the ground behind him. A rush of wind blowing back. "Impressive."

Nashiko ran forward.

As the buzzer rang, Mjrn went on guard, and expected her opponent to make a move.

The cloaked figure just folding their arms. Then put one hand out then waved for Mjrn to attack her.

Mjrn slid one hand down her hilt then pushed forward, and tried to skewer the cloaked person.

There was a flash, and the cloaked fell limp onto Mjrn's Nine Rings. Standing on her blade was the uncloaked figure.

Mjrn slowly looked from the feet and eyed upwards.

There were black and white runners, followed by knee high white socks. Then pink skin, followed by a red plaid skirt. Tucked into the skirt was a white and green school uniform shirt.

Mjrn's eyes continued to the face. Her eyes went wide.

Long purple haired flowed from her head, and confident eyes looked back at. Despite the person not having a tail or furry ears, she looked exactly like the Tika Keiga that Mjrn knew.

Tika's face came down as she leaned over. "Sure you can beat me with such a heavy weapon?"

Mjrn twisted her blade and swung it to the left.

Tika back-flipped off and slid back a few feet on the tiles. "Cmon Mjrn. Show me what you got." Tika was wearing gray gloves, and as she clenched her fists, a blue-fiery aura formed around them.

Mjrn felt a wave of relief. While the appearance was a match, the personality was off just enough. Mjrn began pouring her monster energy into her Nine Rings. It began glowing a faint green. "If that's what you want."

Tika smiled and took stance. "No holding back."

Tamiku found that in her arena the gravity was lighter. Allowing her to effectively ran along and up walls for extended periods.

"Gonna keep running?" Kimiko asked.

Tamiku had been on the defensive side of things since the match began. She was running up a skyscraper.

Kimiko's scythe was low and behind her, but the handle was behind her back, but positioned to easily be able to attack with a flick of her wrist. A loud scraping like a nail on chalk board could be heard from the tip of Kimiko's blade as it touched the glass.

Tamiku turned on a dime, and pushed down, using gravity and her push to accelerate herself. She attacked Kimiko head on.

Liah punched the huge rock as it came at her. It shattered into an uncountable number of pieces. But Liah realized she was wide open, from between the fragments she saw Kahiko charging her like a bull.

Liah flew back and slammed into a rock.

Kahiko came up and punched Liah.

The rock cracked as Liah went a few inches into it.

Liah coughed as she flew to the ground. She struggled to catch her breath.

"Like I said. I'm not going to hold back." Kahiko raised her foot, to stomp on Liah.

Barely able to recover, Liah rolled to the side. As she did, she threw sand at Kahiko's face.

Kahiko took a step back as she tried to get the sand out of her eyes.

Liah finally finished coughing and regained herself. She got to her feet. Liah was hoping it would be a clean fight, but she now realized her opponent was going to do whatever it took to finish the match.

Kahiko finished clearing her eyes, though her vision was still blurry. She turned to face Liah. She took stance.

Nashiko's eyes went wide as Dante laughed.

"You know. This is the fourth time I've been stabbed through the chest with my own sword." Dante's sword was impaled through his chest.

Nashiko let go of Rebellion, and stepped back.

Dante put both hands on the blade and began pushing the blade out of him. As the end came out, he flipped it up and grabbed the handle. He lift it up and let it come to a rest on his shoulder. "That was a nice move kid. Makes me think that you were actually trying to kill me."

She remained silent, her claymore was laying on the ground behind Dante. Leaving her without a weapon.

Dante glanced behind him. "Ah." He picked up her claymore and threw it to her.

Nashiko caught it and swung it in a circle and took stance.

"It's not any fun if my opponent is unable to fight." Dante said with a smirk. His stance was completely relaxed. He didn't see her as a threat.

Nashiko took note of this, and stood down. "I concede."

"Winner of match nine. Dante." The announcer yelled.

Suddenly the stage shifted, and the crowd and stands appeared. The stage itself was made of some technology that made the grassy plain they had fought on.

"Well kid. It was fun." Dante turned and walked away.

Nashiko eyed his back. She knew he had been toying with her the entire time. Turning, she headed back.

Mjrn rushed forward and made a sweeping strike to Tika's right.

Tika's hand came up and caught the blade as it neared. Fully stopping Mjrn's attack. The blue fire around her hands was getting intenser. "You'll need more then brute force to beat me."

Mjrn could see where her blade was contacting Tika's hand, was starting to turn red from the heat. She took a step forward and kicked Tika from her left.

Tika's arm blocked the kick.

Mjrn let go of Nine Rings and pulled herself forward and head butted Tika.

Tika's grip on the blade disappeared, as she slid back.

Mjrn took hold of Nine Rings and jumped back.

"That hurt." Tika said rubbing her forehead. She looked at Mjrn. "But that tells me your serious." Tika's face was happy. "Which means I can stop holding back." Around Tika, a massive torrent of flame surrounded her. It acted like a twisted of flame reaching up to the sky.

Mjrn felt intense heat even from the distance she was at. She couldn't help but wondering, if this was what Tika would have been like, if she had grown up with her family, instead of them dying.

"Let's do this teacher. I'll prove how strong I've become." Tika said happily.

"Teacher?" Mjrn whispered to herself. Could it be she knew someone with my name and appearance from her world? She asked herself, taking stance, and preparing for the intense heat.

Tika's flames began getting hotter, as she started walking towards Mjrn.

A few dozen exchanges of blows against their weapons sparked as they fell.

Kimiko flipped back and cracked the ground as she landed.

Tamiku dug her dagger into the wall, and slowed herself before landing on the ground. "What are you?"

"Just someone used to fighting." Kimiko began spinning her scythe again. She rushed forward as she attacked.

Tamiku used her daggers to deflected the strikes, but was being pushed backwards. But even so, she was analyzing Kimiko's moves.

Kahiko punched the ground and a massive shockwave of black energy rushed out.

Liah held her hand in front of her eyes as the wave sent sand into the air.

Standing where Kahiko had been, was now a larger person. Her arms and legs were covered in fur, and her hair reached to her waist.

"You can transform?" Liah asked aloud.

"Many people on my world can." Kahiko replied in a deep beast-like voice. She was preparing a new attack.

Liah took off to the right and circled behind Kahiko, she jumped towards a rock and kicked off, sending her flying at Kahiko.

Kahiko spun around and defended.

Pouring all her energy into an assault, the two began exchanging blows.

Tika raised her hand and fireballs flew at Mjrn.

Mjrn skillfully sliced through them before they reached her. "Just what kind of power is that?"

Tika glanced at her flames. "You mean my flames. On my world, there are two types of people. Normal people, and Espers. I'm the latter. Each Esper has a different power. A few have multiple powers, and rare ones have more then two." Tika held out two fingers. "My dominate power, are these blue flames. My secondary power is the ability to stop the movement of any object that makes contact with my skin."

Mjrn glanced at Tika's hand where she had caught the blade. The glove was cut, but the skin under it was free from any wound. "Should you be telling me this?"

Tika shrugged. "You seem to be a brute force type, I'm skilled just so that brute force is useless against me."

She has a point. Mjrn thought. Frankly, she had no idea how to deal with her target. The flames around Tika made it too hot to approach for extended periods, while the ability to block her blade, made a physical attack mostly useless.

"Now where was I?" Tika asked, as she sent a wave of fire at Mjrn.

Liah yelled as her fist contacted with Kahiko's stomach.

A massive wave of energy surged out as sand exploded everywhere.

From the cloud of sand Kahiko flew backwards. She smashed straight through some rocks several times.

Kahiko rolled along the ground and finally came to a stop an extremely long distance away. Blood dripping from her mouth.

Liah fell to her knees. She was tired.

"Winner, Liah."

Liah looked up to Kahiko. She struggled to her feet and ran towards Kahiko.

Kahiko coughed as she watched the sky. Blood sputtering out with each cough.

Liah took a knee beside Kahiko. "Are you okay?"

Kahiko slowly glanced at Liah. She was about to say something, when she began coughing again, and blood exploded out from her mouth.

"Hang in there!" Liah yelled, as she wiped the blood off Kahiko's face.

After a few moments, a medical team showed up. Liah went with them as they took Kahiko away.

"Looks like I have a long way to go." Kimiko said with a smile.

Tamiku stood behind her, with both daggers to Kimiko's throat. "Say you concede." She demanded.

Kimiko raised her free hand. "I concede."

"Winner, Tamiku." The announcer yelled.

Tamiku relaxed and moved her blades away from her throat. "It's nothing personal. Had I tried to fight you head on, I would have lost."

Kimiko rested her scythe on her shoulder. "Your bound to fight more powerful opponents from here on. I don't think your strategy will work with others."

"Maybe. But I still have other tricks." Tamiku turned and walked away.

Kimiko laughed and headed back.

Tika yelled as a tornado of fire surged around her. Her right arm hung limply to her side. Blood soaking her shirt near her shoulder.

Mjrn slid back, and flicked the blood off her blade. She didn't expect to inflict a wound.

Tika's eyes locked onto Mjrn.

Mjrn felt the gaze, and hesitated.

Tika held her free hand out to the side, and suddenly all of her blue fire began concentrating in that one area. A flaming blue and solid sword of fire formed.

Mjrn returned her sword to a ready position.

Tika shot forward and sliced at Mjrn.

Mjrn deflected the blow with her Nine Rings, but as she jumped back, she saw a section of her Nine Rings had been melted off. "Tch." She threw Nine Rings to the side.

Tika ran forward and attacked.

Mjrn caught Tika's sword as it came at her. The arm of her shirt, instantly exploded in flames and fell as ashes to the ground.

Tika's eyes went wide.

Mjrn looked down at Tika. "You know. Your flame is pretty hot. But I've experienced hotter." Something about Mjrn's eyes were off. Her hair suddenly shifted to an amber colour. Her skin started turning scaly.

"What.....are you?"

"I'm the daughter of a Dragon and a Phoenix." Mjrn replied glaring at Tika. "My mother's flames were hotter then yours, when she tried to kill me. I can't really say what my true powers are, because I never really had to use them." Mjrn began smiling evily. "I think it's about time to end this." She said grabbing Tika's wrist and throat. Lifting Tika off her feet.

Coughing, Tika's sword fell from her hand and dissipated with a puff.

Flames licked at Tika as Mjrn's hair began emitting heat. "I'll give you one chance. Concede." Mjrn ordered.

Tika struggled for a few moments, but found herself unable to escape Mjrn's grasp.

Mjrn smirked.

"I... give up." Tika said aloud.

Mjrn dropped Tika. Her appearance instantly returning to normal. Looking around for where she threw Nine Rings, she went over to pick it up.

"Winner, Mjrn!" The announcer yelled, as the stage faded away.

Mjrn examined the damage to her blade. "Dam, this might take awhile to repair." SHe was about to walk away, when she heard a voice call out to her.

"Wait." Tika said.

Mjrn glanced back at Tika. "What do you want?"

A few tears were dripping down her face. "I just. Want to talk."

"Then find me later. For now, get your arm checked." Mjrn replied, as she left the stage.

Tika held her arm as she stood up, watching Mjrn' back as she left.