Thwack


    Lift-off!


    With a satisfying dink, the kind that could only be heard via a well executed whacking of a baseball with a metal bat, the baseball had been sent rocketing over Scar''s crawling body and was now headed straight for Verv''s rear. Though Verv''s rear was very much in gear, he wasn''t travelling fast enough to outrun the ball-shaped rocket about to tap him on his backside but something interesting was happening on Verv''s back right now. The discrepancy Ares had noticed earlier was that the bottom of the sheath holding Verv''s great sword was frayed. Even Deimos and Scar hadn''t realised and they were right in the thick of things so what chance did the spectators have from this distance? Even the matriarchs could only really see it if they squinted in the right place at the right time. Just because everyone else couldn''t see it, however, that didn''t mean it wasn''t there and Verv''s own plan, which involved the damaged sheath, was about to be put into action!


    When Verv placed the great sword inside the sheath earlier Deimos had correctly spotted Verv wiggling the sword in place for a bit. This action had roughed up the sheath near the bottom as Verv kept repeatedly poking it with a fair bit of strength. It was to the point that even another, single, push from the weapon would be all it took to easily rip a hole in the sheath. Verv had also scratched the top half of the sheath too by grinding the edge of the sword against it with force meaning, if Verv wanted to, at any point, he could effectively break apart his sheath and ruin it entirely. Now what value did any of this have exactly? It was hard to tell at a glance because Verv''s actions didn''t seem to have any logical benefit but, in the span of less than a second as he pulled off his grand plan, everything became crystal clear. Deimos had ''baited'' Verv into taking the talisman and fleeing but, little did Deimos know, Verv had seen this coming a mile away. Say what you will about the revenants'' stupidity as a race but, when things actually mattered, they were hyper aware about any and all potential dangers and ploys in combat scenarios. What Verv had done in all of this was as follows; he broke apart his sheath, dropping the sword behind his feet thanks to his body being down on all fours, and kicked out like a donkey with a grudge. He''d effectively kicked his weapon and turned it into a missile with blistering speed.


    The plan was simple, while Deimos was trying to attack Verv, using whatever trick he had up his sleeve, he would be left defenceless for Verv''s backward-launched sneak attack to flat out kill him. Verv wasn''t going to try and run away with the talisman at all. His goal of killing Deimos had never been altered, retrieving the talisman was just the optimal way to go about it as it would lead to Deimos lowering his guard as he went on the attack. Deimos'' aggression would be his downfall... Maybe? The baseball travelled far quicker than the sword, and had been launched first, so it had become a Mexican standoff in which everyone shot their shot and no-one involved knew what the hell was happening anymore. Scar was still dragging himself over to Deimos. Deimos could no longer avoid the sword heading in has direction but he''d gotten the ball off. Verv was satisfied with himself thinking the sword would kill Deimos and that would be the end of it. The baseball that booped him on the butt changed his perception of matters though as he turned around and stared at the ball while tilting his head like a confused pup. The transferring of the talisman coincided with the ball hitting Verv and another second was added to the clock.


    2:29


    2:29 and the sword Verv had chucked was mere inches away from Deimos skull while Scar was equally as close, if not a little closer, to Deimos'' legs down below. Would the timer tick up? Would the sword kill Deimos? Would Scar make it in time to take the talisman? Nobody had any clue as it was genuinely too close to make any kind of definitive call on the matter. Deimos felt a tug on his leg before his vision faded to black and, before anyone knew what happened, the match was over. Only two Umbras remained inside the arena and the timer was no longer visible as it had been attached to Deimos before he bit the dust. In order to see what his timer was displaying the talisman would need to be combed over by the officials so everyone was on the edge of their seats.


    What would happen next, according to standard procedure, is that the officials would check the talisman, confirm the results, and then display a slow motion recap of the event to reveal to the public who''d won via a large projection in the centre of the arena. These matches were being recorded and would be broadcast around the world at later dates so they had the technology to do all of this. In the meantime the spectators and even the competitors could do nothing but wait with baited breath. Some of the stronger cultivators knew what happened at the very end but still couldn''t tell who''d won anyway. Scar was the first person to achieve his goal in the confusion as he successfully grabbed Deimos'' leg, stealing the talisman. Deimos then dropped the bat on Scar''s head, regaining the talisman, before he could Blink away so, in retaliation, Scar pulled Deimos an inch forward, by the leg, and thrust him headfirst into the sword. Even at the very last moment ownership of the talisman had traded two more times meaning there was a small gap in time whereby the talisman wasn''t ticking up. Would it matter? Only the officials knew at this point but they were still gathering the footage... That, and they were probably going over their rules to check and see whether Fate''s interference with the runes on the Training Field counted as tampering or not. It was entirely possible the Umbras had won but would be handed down a loss regardless thanks to their unfair methods. With so much about the match up in the air right now it was no surprise there was an atmosphere of tension as barely audible murmurs could be heard on every floor of the coliseum. Everyone was discussing their thoughts on the outcome as well as maybe even making last minute bets with the people around them.


    Up on the top floor Bellona was chowing down on some popping candy that Ares had brought along with him. She preferred it to the popcorn for sale mostly because of its refreshing taste being perfect for the relatively hot temperatures that today had brought along with it. Enyo, on the other hand, had honeycomb... At one point anyway. She''d chowed down on it rapidly near the start of the match like she was some kind of snack woodchipper. Ares did have more but Enyo was so tense throughout the match that she''d even forgotten to ask for it, that was just how invested she was. Even now she was doing that annoying thing some people do to their significant other whereby they crush the person''s hand within their own grip without realising how much pressure they''re applying. Ares grin and bore it but he really wished she would stop squishing his hand! He understood why she was so into the match but no amount of bone breaking was going to change anything! Enyo was even biting the nails on her other hand and Ares had never seen her like this before. She either had a really deeply rooted competitive side or she just really wanted the Legions to win for the sake of what it would mean for the clan in the long term. Either way, now that the C.O lady, that Ares had discussed the Isasz region team''s cheating matter with a while back, was floating towards the centre of the arena, it looked like the results of their internal discussions were about to be made public. The lady coughed into her palm and, although this action shouldn''t have logically dominated the soundscape of the coliseum, either the woman had imbued some of her cultivation into her voice or the acoustics in this coliseum were phenomenal as everyone could hear her loud and clear. Of course the correct answer was obviously the former but there were some gadgets that could amplify a person''s voice and, although the Scorched Grounds didn''t possess any, some coliseums did install such gadgets into their arenas. Now that the C.O woman had everyone''s attention, she began detailing the C.O''s verdict.


    "First and foremost, I would like to begin by congratulating both teams for a performance truly befitting of this historic venue. I imagine their fight will go down as one of the many greats and become a story of great renown in the future. Both teams fought valiantly in a commendable and... Mostly praiseworthy manner. That leads us onto the first matter regarding the Umbras'' rune interference that affected the outcome of not one, but two different duels throughout the course of the match. Normally we would be strictly against such a blatant disregard of the rules but, as of today, we have decided to view such measures in a case by case light. In today''s match, the rune was hacked mid-fight and was not tampered with before hand. Additionally, only Umbra members directly utilised this trick but there was nothing in place stopping the Legions from doing the same, they simply forgot or chose not to. Point being, it was a measure that neither strictly benefitted one team or the other despite the Umbras making the most out of it comparatively. Fate possessed the means to interfere with the Training Field herself, and did not seek external aid to enable her hacking, and no member of the crowd involved themselves in the match even after the interference prevention barrier was nullified so, after strict review, we have determined that in this specific case we will permit the methodology used to take control over the Training Field.


    The treasure used specialises in hijacking and we deemed it an appropriate use case in this instance. HOWEVER, we would recommend going forward that no team attempts to make use of this method as we will be clamping down on this circumvention of the rules heavily from now on. This was a creative example of playing around the rules we set and, while we may tolerate it once, we will not do so twice. We request that all teams do no touch the Training Field henceforth, thank you for your understanding. This message also extends to Fate as we would appreciate it if you could refrain from repeating your actions today in your next match. Working alongside Skyzo you created a very real problem that undoubtedly would feel unfair to fight against in a match with any form of integrity. The primary reason we''ve allowed your chicanery today is because Skyzo had died before he could go on a rampage with his passive art. The secondary reason is because the effect ended after you died. If any of those conditions had not been met your team would be forfeiting right now regardless of the timer on the talisman... But I''ve parroted on long enough about that issue so, instead, we will now present to you a replay of the footage we gathered. There will be no disputing the evidence we have provided and we ask that you all do not start any fights in the coliseum over the outcome. Anyone who disobeys this request will be at best kicked out and, at worst, executed by our guards. Prison sentences and detainment in the local dungeon are also possibilities so bear that in mind. That is all from me and I hope I do not need to make a personal appearance again during this tournament. I typically never have to show up and yet I''ve already come down twice for this international. Please behave yourselves going forward. That is all."


    A wordy speech but a relatively absolute one that laid down the law firmly. Basically, to summarise, ''stop being a bunch of problem children cheating fucks'', end quote. The Umbras had seemingly made it through this ordeal by the skin of their teeth but, unfortunately, their fangs had now been removed and the one measure they had to potentially deal with Mako was stripped off them. On the condition that they had actually won this match and had a chance to face him, anyway. As for the Legions, they weren''t affected by anything that was said really. If anything, they had reason to complain that the rules were not being applied consistently. If Fate wasn''t allowed to do it again, then why was she allowed to do it this time? Many like-minded individuals in the Legion clan were fuming right now because the novelty of Fate''s trick had earned her some coliseum style amnesty. The preferential treatment for creativity was an afront to justice! But they weren''t going to complain openly anyway, they had an image to maintain. A lot of the spectators in the crowd weren''t happy so they could do the complaining in their stead. It wouldn''t get anyone anywhere but it would at least soften the blow that was the Legion''s poor showing during the match. Regardless of the outcome, the Legions had been soundly wiped out and routed down to the last. Sure they were missing some star players but, at the end of the day, that was just a convenient excuse they could fallaciously attempt to chuck around that wouldn''t actually get them anywhere. They really wanted this win here so, when the projection was thrown up above the arena, wide and tall enough for everyone to see regardless of where they were seated, they all dropped their conversations and stared at the replay.


    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    Everyone who hadn''t caught the small interaction between Scar and Tyr were just now realising that the ending hadn''t been smooth sailing for either team and that a wrench had been thrown into the mix at the last second. Did Scar''s final act as captain help save the day or did it fail to make a difference? As the distance between Verv''s sword and Deimos'' head shrunk, it didn''t get any easier to tell. The timer had milliseconds visible and no matter how slow the footage was, until it was paused on the final time nobody was pre-emptively making any assumptions. By the time Verv''s sword was a mere fraction of a centimetre away from Deimos'' skull, the timer was displaying 2:29:95. 2 minutes, 29 seconds, and 95 milliseconds. Scar had already taken the talisman and Deimos had already stolen it back so it was literally just a question of how fast the sword killed Deimos. It sunk into his forehead at 2:29:96, it pierced his brain at 2:29:97. And at 2:29:98, Scar''s leg pull, dragging Deimos forward, finished the job and ran him through entirely, splattering his brain against the back wall. It wasn''t one millisecond off 2:30, it was two. Not that it made much of a difference as losing by less than a second, regardless of how many milliseconds, would always feel like highway robbery no matter how you sliced it but at least it wasn''t the dreaded one millisecond. That would have been ridiculous... Not that this wasn''t too, mind you, just not as bad.


    So that was it then, the Umbras had won. It took a split second for this information to fully circulate through everyone''s brains before a round of roaring applause took over the stadium. The crestfallen Legions were etched and burned into Bellona''s smug skull as she directly memorised everyone''s reactions and saved them into a folder in her brain. Enyo had learned the memory share art and Bellona was in the midst of learning it too, partially because sharing memories was just really useful, but also because it made keeping track of memories that much easier. It really was like saving documents on a computer and this particular memory was a good one worth keeping! Seeing the people that gave her a hard time eating dirt brought her immeasurable joy and made her giddy enough to happily lean on Ares and hum to herself. Things were not going quite so well over by Ares'' other arm, however, as Enyo was tugging at it like a madwoman as she bit her thumb in frustration. She even turned to Ares and started throttling him for some reason but Ares decided it was better not to ask and instead simply accept his fate as a scapegoat. It was his family that did the Legions dirty, not him! Still, if he told Enyo that she would likely just double down anyway so he kept his mouth shut and endured like a good husband. At the very least, the affectionate nuzzling on his other arm was pleasant. He had a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other. Of course who was which was subject to change on a moment to moment basis but, alas, such was the life of strife with more than one wife.


    Down in the arena, by the revival platforms, the Legions were mostly apathetic. Only Pele threw her fist from the side of her face down to her elbow on the opposite side of her body while mumbling the word ''drat'' under her breath. Palioxis had gotten everything she wanted out of this fight and was tightly wrapped around Phobos like a koala hugging a tree. Her face was dead serious but inwardly she was very satisfied with this outcome. Phobos was surprisingly calm about everything and not acting like a perpetually scared and lost child anymore so that was good. Deimos was double and triple checking his bike to make sure it was ok. He knew it would be fixed after the match ended but he wasn''t taking any chances with his precious baby! If there was any kind of damage he would rush back to the Legion planet like someone had lit a fire under his ass, bringing his prized possession over the blacksmith for repairs ASAP.


    Tyr was looking from one hand to the other, gazing at his two weapons and wondering how he could improve from here. Though he''d almost definitely done the most during the match, or at least tied for Legion MVP with Deimos, he was concerned about how it all went. Losing his treasures really put him in such a massive disadvantage and the weakness he felt in being unable to have any affect on the outcome was weighing on him. He needed ways to be a problem even without his personal treasures by his side. He also needed stronger attacks in general as relying on the 10% jackpot wasn''t going to get him anywhere if the opponent wasn''t directly in front of him. All in all, there was a lot for him to consider. His leadership had been fine though. Yes he didn''t bring everyone together to fight as a team but, given the circumstances with the Scar showdown, his hands had been tied from the start. What he should have done was have a pre-match plan and distribute it to his family ahead of time so they could act according to his commands without him needing to speak to them. The Legions could have come together and overcome the odds. Even just giving Pele a little more wriggle room would have exploded the teams potential... This match hadn''t been a waste, as a lot had been learned here, but it wasn''t a good outcome either. How Tyr was going to recover from this failure he didn''t yet know... Plus he was going to have to confront his father at some point who would not be pleased he lost like this. In many ways, Tyr had it the hardest of everyone despite seeming the least bothered and despite having done the best job overall. That was what it took to be a leader, shouldering burdens and failures, unfortunately, and he was about as good as they came in that regard. Thought it was rare for the Legions to stumble, when they did, you could be sure Tyr would lay the blame squarely on himself at the end of it all.


    On the flip side, the revenants had no such system. There was no top down punishment from those residing at the top of the hierarchy. Had they lost, back home all Aster would have done is laugh at them for half an hour straight, making countless jokes at their expense. They were far freer than the Legions and maybe that was why they were able to come out on top regardless of whether they won or lost. Their minds could wander without repercussion during a match which was at least 9/10ths of the reason they came up with such whacky measures all the time. They were not burdened by death, prestige, or reputation like everyone else. They felt no pressure to win which just made winning, ironically, that much easier.


    Venus was staring holes into the back Fate''s head because, yes, she did help her with the whole shooting Phobos thing but the only reason it had to happen in the first place was also because of this little treacherous brat! Fate ignored the eyeball poking at the back of her head and held her head up high with pride, placing everyone in her view beneath her chin and smug grin. As far as the Umbra MVP went it had to be... Not her! The Umbra MVP was definitely H.I.JACK but Fate was piggybacking off his success and getting cocky about it. She was the puppeteer so it wasn''t entirely unfounded but, still, it was H.I.JACK that really deserved most of the praise. On the subject of MVPs, Verv had also done an extraordinary job throughout the fight. It took him a while to chase Deimos'' Grand Prix down but it''s not like anyone else would have been able to do it other than maybe H.I.JACK with Overclock. He also managed to steal the talisman enough times to actually make a difference and he was the only family member to not suffer an injury that affected him in any noticeable way. Excluding Fate, who''s opponent wasn''t really trying, Verv had the cleanest win against his foe and didn''t even really show off much. He was taking a nap right now and would remember none of this when he woke up. Skyzo was just sighing to himself because A; he was never going to hear the end of it from Pele, that was a given, and also because B;... He was going to have to carry Verv out of here like he was some kind of sleeping puppy. Verv was hard to wake up after a berserk spree so he often relied on Scar and Skyzo to remove him from the premise afterward. Scar would at least help Skyzo lug the lug out so it wasn''t all bad. As for Scar, he was deeply concerned about his own negligence during the final stretch. Things worked out this time but, if they had lost, his mistake of losing his ankle would have no doubt been at fault. Much like Tyr, he was going over all the wrongs he could find in his own performance and there were many. A lack of arts used, the ankle thing, and his refusal to make any risky plays. Part of why Tyr had been such a menace near the end was because he threw everything at the wall to see what stuck. Scar never wanted to be in such a desperate situation that he started acting like that but maybe he should be a bit more loose and fast with his recklessness from time to time.


    And thus that was the match. Everyone was content with how it all ended, at least the competitors were anyway as some people with big bets were furious, so the two teams left peacefully with a few small waves between them. Those who were serious about cultivation knew what needed to be addressed in their own performance and those who didn''t care would just go back to whatever it was they were doing before the match started without fussing over the details of who won. These two teams that hardly cared about the result were some of the greatest contenders in the tournament, which was definitely a slap in the face to those who cared way too much, and now their match was done and relegated to the history books. There was no animosity between them and yet the animosity brewing between the Legion and Umbra elders / disciples in the crowd was not to be ignored. It was debatably for the worse having had the Umbras win because revenants were annoying at the best of times. Put the wind behind their back with a victory and it was not pleasant sailing for everybody aboard the sinking Legion ship. Many blown raspberries from across the coliseum sent more than just a few Legions spiralling into anger but they couldn''t do anything about it here in this place lest the C.O lady blast them a new one. Not everyone in the Vraizon domain was above the transition realm after all. Hell there were even some disciples / elders that Ares could take on if he needed to. No clan could do without the serfs and other such lower tiered labourers / busybodies. Then again, if you were going to be doing paper work or hard, manual labour for any clan the Legion would be a great one to pick as they would never exploit anyone for personal gain. They were great people! Not that you''d be able to tell what with Bellona laughing at her fellow clansmen''s'' agitation, Sadie drunkenly flopped over her chair, Enyo throttling her husband, and Rhea trying to pull Calla''s tail off... Although you could also argue that it was just the Legion women who were a bit crazy. It wasn''t a particularly well known stereotype but it was one that existed and, perhaps, for a very good reason...