I sighed, seeing Ban fly out of the ring and soar across the sky. And after all the trouble he went to, using his power and everything...

It would do him good not to forget about Meli's trump card the next time they fight. Shaking my head, I sighed, staring in the direction of where he went flying. The fight had ended pretty quickly after Ban sapped the captain's power. He had gone in for a hit, but Meli activated his power and Ban was sent flying.

And I really thought he had a chance, too...

Sighing, I shook my head, then turned toward the ring again. The announcer was in the center of the arena (which was practically destroyed at this point), his annoying voice booming.

"WOW! THE FIRST ROUND WAS FULL OF AMAZING FIGHTS... except for one..." there was a collective snicker as people looked toward King. I giggled lightly, rolling my eyes. "ANYWAY- LETS BEGIN THE FIRST FIGHT OF THE SEMI-FINALS! MATRONA VERSUS HAUSER!!!"

The crowd roared as Diane hopped up on stage, followed by Hauser, who had mysteriously disappeared near the end of Meli and Ban's fight. I hadn't seen him until now.

"YOU GOT THIS MATRONA!" I shouted over the loud whoops of the crowd.

"DO YOUR BEST, DI- MATRONA!" King shouted, immediately correcting himself.

Hauser scanned the crowd, his eyes stopping over me, King, and Meli. He was definitely suspicious, but I tried my hardest not to be nervous. I flashed a small thumbs up at him, causing a small, short smile to form on his lips that almost immediately disappeared as he turned back to face Diane. I wonder what powers he has... He didn't use them against Taizoo- it would've been a waste if he had.

"LETS KEEP UP THE TEMPO AND GET IT STARTED! SEMI-FINALS, FIGHT ONE! BEGIN!"

Diane and Hauser stood staring at each other for a long time, before Hauser quickly turned his head, pointing discretely to his chest. Diane looked confused, then looked down to her own, where a single button was undone. It revealed a good amount of cleavage. She rolled her eyes and began buttoning up her shirt.

"WOW, WHAT A GENTLEMAN! HAUSER LET MATRONA KNOW ONE OF HER BUTTONS WAS UNDONE!" The crowd began to boo as Diane released the button. The shirt was practically bursting at the seams, but it still covered her chest. "BUT HE RECEIVES BOOS FROM THE CROWD!"

"It's a distraction!" He shouted, red-faced. I laughed, seeing King glare daggers at the Knight.

After a few moments of boos, the crowd quieted and Hauser's face returned to its usual color, the fight began. The Holy Knight attacked first, charging forward with a reared fist, which began to have circles of wind twirl around it, nearly encompassing his arm. The only way you could tell was it had a slightly tinted brown color, like it was full of dust.

"Rising Tornado!" He shouted, and Diane barely jumped out of the way. A small tornado formed where she was just standing, picking up debris off the stage and carrying it away. The crowd cheered loudly.

Man, it would suck if Diane got hit by something like that.

It would totally ruin Ellie's clothes.

This continued to repeat itself, Hauser threw an attack that resulted in a miniature tornado, and Diane continuously dodged it. The Holy Knight seemed to grow more frustrated as Diane continued to dodge, and I didn't blame him- if I was in that situation I would feel the same.

Of course, I've never been in that situation unless I've fought another one of the Sins- I don't think any of us have.

"Wow, that guy's amazing!" Meli spoke, "So many double entendres in a row!"

I laughed, seeing Hauser immediately stop what he was doing to turn toward the captain. I hadn't really been paying too much attention to what he was saying during the battle, but if Meli considered his words dirty, I'm sure they sounded like they were.

"Th-that's not..."

"Is that true..?" Diane asked, instinctively moving her hands to cover her chest.

"Hell no!" He shouted in response, "I just don't like hurting women, no matter how strong they are!"

Immediately he threw another punch, and this one was dangerously close to hitting Diane. That seemed to completely contradict his previous statement, but I'll go with it. His fist skimmed her arms, and he almost got caught in the tornado's winds as she dodged. Then the cycle repeated itself, the giantess dodged while Hauser threw tornado-punches at her.

Hauser growled before shouting something about not wanting to hurt Diane too bad, followed by forming two twisters in either side of her. I must admit, he does have pretty good control over his power for someone so young.

Diane was boxed in, she was inevitably going to get caught in a twister. I sighed- those poor clothes.

"Checkmate!" Hauser shouted, grinning as he threw a seemingly decisive hit. I shook my head, seeing Diane stop his hand mid-punch. He stared down at her hand in disbelief, and the whole crowd went silent. "B-but earlier you said.... that it wouldn't be good if you got hit..."

"Yeah!" She replied, puffing our her cheeks. She looked down at her clothes, which had several rips and tears because of how close the tornados got to her. "Because I'm borrowing these clothes and I didn't want to ruin them!" She moved her free hand upward, smacking him across the face. He fell to the floor. "Jerk!"

"Ha," Hauser laughed, "Seems like I'll be able to go all out for the first time in a while. Exciting."

"It's not exciting!" Diane huffed, putting her fists up. "And you better pay me back after this!"

I snapped my head away from the fight, and toward the distance. There was nothing, but I sensed a magical cluster coming toward. A cluster full of people with a lot of strong magical capabilities. I narrowed my eyes. Looks like Meli was right...

"Hey, isn't that the guy from earlier?" I heard a familiar voice from beside me. I raised my eyebrow, turning my head away from the horizon and to my right. Ban was there, laying on Hawk's back.

"Yup, he's the one," Meli responded, as I crouched down beside Hawk.

"Hey did you already sell all those barrels?" I asked, and he huffed, stomping one of his hooves on the ground.

"Of course! Never underestimate the mighty Hawk!" He said proudly, and I grinned.

"Nice job, dude!" I laughed, lightly patting his snout. I stood up after a few moments of congratulating the pig, and faced Ban. "You dead, man?"

"Always," he winked, causing me to laugh again. I leaned my arm on his head, causing a small grumble to escape his lips, but no physical resistance, as I turned to face the battle again.

"I wish Diane would just get this over with," I sighed, watching as the two fighters faced each other, the Holy Knight grinned and the giantess looked serious. I noticed faintly that there was a new rip on her skirt, near her hips.

"Yeah me too," Meli agreed, turning to face the fight again. I grinned, seeing Diane get into the fighting chance.

At least it's starting to get interesting.