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[color=violet]"That was [i]not[/i] a good time!”[/color]

[color=888888]— Daniel Castro[/color][/center]

[sub][@Punished GN][/sub]

Daniel liked to view himself as someone who was cool under pressure and always knew what to say, but this whole situation made him nervous. Something he often forgot when he was nervous was that it was fine to not say anything. Sometimes, keeping your mouth shut is the only thing you can do to stop a situation from escalating. Nothing made this more apparent than seeing Jaden's pimp hand rise high above his head. He winced as he anticipated the smack of his life, but it never came.

When he opened his eyes, Jaden had been replaced by the announcer lady. He could also hear a few people chuckling behind his head, but didn't bother to look and see who they were. At least someone got amusement out of this. While the technicians shooed him away, he walked backwards, nodding his head in respect at the announcer over and over again. He mouthed a thank you before turning on his heel and walking into the crowd.

He let out a gasp and wiped the sweat off of his forehead.

The series of events that had just transpired played over in his head. He wasn’t sure how any of it happened, and even wondered if it [i]did[/i] happen or he was having a dream. Somehow that was even more nerve wracking than the idea of going to a tourney in the first place. No, that wasn’t quite true. Now he had to worry about getting tea-bagged by Jaden if they ended up in the same bracket. He could throw his match, but he worked for SHINING. Letting them pay his way into a tourney only to throw the first match would not be looked favorably upon, and threatened the safety of his family. 

With a sigh, he formed up with the other fighters.

[hr]

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[color=tomato]"Was it something I said?”[/color]

[color=888888]— Oriko Ishii[/color][/center]

[sub][@Ponn][/sub]

The announcement got her to turn her head. Quickly. Very quickly. So quickly that it might have been easier to describe as teleportation. 

[color=tomato]"Oh, it seems like we’re starting.”[/color] Oriko spoke over Olivia. [color=tomato]"I suppose our little contest will have to be taken to the arena, provided you can make it to my bracket before someone else defeats you.”[/color] She pulled her cup out of Rui’s hand and slipped it into her sleeve. She didn’t so much as glance at Olivia – she had been trying to ignore her – but she did stop to look at the weird doll she was carrying around. 

That thing talked, didn’t it?

She had seen things like it. Automated toys that could say a few phrases, but this one seemed like it could read the situation. Maybe it was an elaborate puppet, or even an AI interface seemed likely. It was unfortunate that the fighting had started, because she’d have liked to converse with it a bit. It seemed to be a lot less grading than the moe blob. 

 [color=tomato]"Same goes for you, don’t get knocked out too quickly.”[/color] 

Oros the swift departed for her arena without waiting for a reply.