Semifinals

"So then, what's happened here?"

The worst came to pass, and a guard was dead. Found inside the building in the early morning hours. A large scar on his neck, looked like it was from a sword, or at least a machete of some kind. But despite that, there wasn't any blood to be seen. The guard had a sword, and it was chipped in a few areas to indicate he was in a fight, but there was very little blood on either the blade or his clothes. Especially odd considering just how gory the neck was.

"So then, Arden. What do you make of this?" Rodrick looked at the corpse as he applied his gloves to his hands. Arden tried to play it cool around the body, but he wasn't certain if it was working.

"Well, I was asleep. Didn't hear anything, so maybe he got shoved out the window?"

"Well, nobody seems to have tampered with the window." Rodrick approached the window and looked outside it. Nothing out of the ordinary there, either. No blood on the floor below, and while it was high up, there didn't appear to be evidence of a fight occurring.

"Wielders. Only option." Rodrick said calmly, taking out his notebook. "And I think I figured it out."

"Already?"

"There was a man who had the power to switch people's places, remember? He got kicked out during the qualifying rounds, but that was probably to keep a low profile. Okay, tell your men to get the information on every participant, and if you can, their current location. Because if one leaks information, they all do."

Rodrick scouted the top floor. Sure enough, the fake gauntlet was still where he left it, in a random hotel room on a pedestal, practically begging to be stolen. He pulled up a photo he had printed of the fake. Sure enough again, the gauntlet was now at a slightly different angle. Someone took the bait, and it was time to figure out who.

Cassandra woke up, barely able to hold her head with how heavy it was with thoughts of yesterday. Julian was still asleep, so she didn't think to disturb him. She just went down to the kitchen, got herself some toast to fill herself, and began eating. The other three remaining were in the room. Cheng politely waved to her, and she waved back at a safe distance. Capri and Willow were discussing something amongst themselves. What exactly? Didn't really matter. She was halfway through her toast pile when she realized she didn't put anything on it. Whatever, the bread here was probably grown for optimal muscle gain and tasted good enough as is. When that was done, her and Cheng were called into the arena.

Cassandra brought a spear and a axe with her. Keep this guy at a distance. And if that fails, cut him up.

"And welcome to the semi-finals of the Fightston Games!" The announcer rang out to the cheering crowds. "We got the one girl army out for vengeance, Cassandra Torres!"

The crowds cheered as Cassandra stepped into the arena. They were practically in a frenzy, wanting bloodshed. Her or Cheng? To them it probably didn't matter.

"And her opponent, the king of mutilation with no history except the bodies in his wake, mister Cheng Tse!"

The crowd was stirred up into another frenzy, but one of pure unfiltered hatred. The arena started throwing out curses and boos, but Cheng stood still to it all. He just shrugged casually to Cassandra, who didn't feel like reciprocating.

"And… begin!"

Cassandra brandished her spear and pointed it towards Cheng. Cheng looked at the point, and then back at Cassandra. Cassandra ran and swung the spear horizontally, which Cheng ducked under. Cassandra followed with a kick to his shins, and Cheng tripped. Cassandra threw the spear over him, causing him to panic a little. Cassandra grabbed him by the legs. Pretty simple plan here. Get him out without actually hurting him. Once they were at the edge of the arena, he was thrown out of bounds. In less than half a minute, he was dealt with.

"Oh, there's no blood this time?" The announcer whispered from his booth, not realizing his mic was still on. "I mean, Cassandra takes a quick victory! And now, Capri against Willow!"

Nobody was considering the fight ending this quick, so Cassandra shuffled through the entryway on her own. She wasn't Legion. Cheng was probably Legion, and she didn't know him. She didn't like him. She had no memories of him or anything else relating to the Legion, other than the ones she killed. Which felt bad. But it shouldn't. Except it should. They're brainwashed children grown into a weird cult. But was she also in a weird cult? Cheng said divine birthrights and monarchies were bad, and like…probably? Willow was cool, but all it took was one unprepared asshat with power and the skyspace would crumble. Because if Willow was to be believed, that almost happened with Fightston once? Her head was quickly filling with thoughts, and some of them leaked out when she bumped into the wall.

"You okay?" Willow asked from in front of her.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Good luck with your fight."

Willow gave Cassandra a side-eye, which she didn't respond too. Probably thinking about saving whatever Legion members were scheming around here. She stepped out into the arena, and Capri was already waving to the fans.

"And now for the second fight! The jovial princess vs the queen of clowns! Willow vs Capri! Now, begin!"

Willow charged towards Capri, spear in hand. She thrust it forward, and Capri ducked underneath, getting behind Willow and landing a kick, sending her forwards. Willow clutched her spear, spinning it around as soon as she regained her footing. Capri calmly jumped, landing like a cat on the edge of her spear, gazing into Willow's eyes before she flicked the spear upwards. Airborne, Capri quickly changed her mallet to the size of a person and slammed it downwards. Willow got away, grabbing the mallet as the size changed enough to fit in her hands. She snatched it out of Capri's hands, throwing it at her head and following that up with a punch to her stomach. 

Capri tumbled away dramatically, which eventually turned into cartwheeling around Willow, managing to evade every swing of her spear and responding with kicks to her legs. Willow was always able to stand, but her breathing was feeling heavier. She was quickly losing steam, so she had to end this, and end it quickly. 

She held her spear upwards, spinning it above herself with one hand. When she was almost certain Capri was in front of her, she spun it slightly slower so that the point was behind her when Capri approached. As she predicted, Capri appeared in front with a devilish grin and a fist coiled and ready. Willow barely managed to retaliate, their fists colliding, and Willow hopped over the sweep she knew Capri would pull, moving her fist to an overhead swing. Capri took the hit, sticking her tongue out and falling to her back like a cartoon. Willow hesitated to react, and Capri sprung up regardless. Willow swiped the air in front of her, and Capri put her fingers on the tip of the spear. Willow then swung her spear behind her slamming them both on the floor and diving to meet Capri on the ground. She landed successfully, and Capri was unable to move. Her arms were free, so she quickly scrambled to get her hammer out of her pockets, which Willow allowed with no resistance. She was just applying pressure to not let her up. Now she was suspicious, but this was her only option. 

She got the mallet out, trying to hit her hands with it, but Willow wouldn't budge. Out of options, she increased the size, and yet Willow didn't move. She threw the mallet upwards, and Willow still wasn't moving. Surely she wasn't trying to force a tie, right? But as the mallet reached it's apex, Willow quickly flipped Capri to the top, kicking her in the stomach before crawling out from underneath her as the mallet made it's impact. Willow quickly climbed to the top and sat on the enlarged mallet as Capri struggled to breath underneath the weight. The mallet shrunk, and Willow calmly pushed Capri's head to the ground as she tried to get up.

"Well, Capri. As fun as this has been, I think we both know you got outplayed."

"Well, I guess so." Capri sighed, slightly moodily. "I quit."

"And Willow makes it to the finals!" The announcer yelled. "Be sure to tune in tomorrow for the grand finale!"