The match did not last long, as he'd expected, but not for the reasons he'd [i]suspected[/i].  Given the way their opponents fought, it seemed a long conflict was for naught.  And yet, the way it ended would make it seem the [i]rules[/i] were bended.

Or, to put it in a less-rhyming sort of way, something felt VERY wrong about this.

As he watched alongside the tournament attendant, it all started normally enough.  The two female fighters began by testing the waters on each other a bit, working out how best to attack one another, Ace pulled some kind of move that made her seem more durable, and then as they both began fighting in earnest...it stopped!  Why?  Even the [i]crowd[/i] found this a [i]little[/i] confusing, but Niko...

[i][color=92278f]Wait, something's not right.[/color][/i]

As opposed to the fluid motions that Ace had been displaying prior, Ace raising her hand looked more stiff, in comparison.  It was weird and out of place.  Once the winner was announced, Ace left the arena and Angela tried to call out to her.  Then, she left, as well.  Niko raised his hand to call her over, but the roar of the crowd was too much, and as he tried to move, the attendant took him by the arm.

[b]"I'm sorry, but the fight is over and you're going to the infirmary."[/b]

[color=92278f]"But..."[/color]

[b]"But nothing.  We agreed, and you're still wounded.  You'll have plenty of chances to talk with her later.  After all, she's your next opponent."[/b]

That's [i]true[/i].  Regardless of whatever the hell happened there, they would fight each other next.  The question was...what DID happen?  Niko had always [i]heard[/i] talk of things like hypnotic suggestion, supposed mental powers, but did something like that really just happen?  Or was he just fooling himself with this?  Well, if it [i]was[/i], he couldn't allow it to happen again.  Angela seemed like a nice girl, and she liked to fight.  Would you want to disappoint someone like that?  Once they reached the infirmary, he asked the attendant what would happen if someone interfered with a tournament.

[b]"Unthinkable!  It would disrespect the entire tournament organization, to say nothing of the fighters, themselves!  Such a person would be ejected from this place and barred from ever returning, if not jailed!"[/b]

Well, that answered that...  If there HAD been something like that going on, whoever would've done it would have to be daring...

[color=92278f][i]Watch your back, Angela.  Just in case.[/i][/color]