Somewhere near Limbo-----

Bouncer #1 felt very out of place as he followed his small friend around. He had seen the announcement a little while back but didn't understand what kind of tournament was all about. His friend had simply guided him around and waved at a few people here and there. They'd eaten food at a small canteen on one of the walkways. The buildings around him seemed to be from all over the world with houses, apartments, a few building that looked like offices and the coup de grace, the Three stadiums and the Peak Box.

As he looked around in fascination, his mental paralysis finally started unraveling as he realized he had entered a VIP room in the club and ended up in an unknown place. He had been on autopilot for the last 2 hours as he followed his friend around the ..... town?

So he tapped his friend's shoulder and gave the small man the most intense questioning look of his life. His little friend, Jacques, simply said, "Felt like recruiting you, best time for it, go into this building, will catch up with you later......... Sorry for the surprise." Having spoken his piece, he handed the perplexed man a card and added, "Recommendation, use it in there." The he walked away.

Bouncer #1 felt miffed as he stood there dumbly holding the card and looked at the building he was to enter. The sign above the doorway said Initiate Support Center. Taking a deep breath, he entered taking a quick glance behind him as he passed through the doorway. As a sign that his mental paralysis was mostly undone, his brain finally gave the thought that would at least one of the many factors making him uncomfortable. That is, the lack of clouds and sun. Feeling like he didn't need to know yet, he put the thought away and faced the receptionist and handed her the card wordlessly.

"Ah, thank you. Hmmm, Jack Molena? And your name is?" she asked.

"Allan Menzes"

"Thank you, Mr. Menzes. Please follow me; I'll set you up with the Initiation video series. Would you like a beverage served while you watch?" she gestured for him to follow.

"..............."

Seeing the befuddled look on Allan's face, she giggled and said, "Alright, so I'll check on you in about half an hour and ask you again."

She brought him to a room with a recliner in the center and a laptop on a desk behind the recliner.

"Have a seat while I set up the video for you."

Allan sat down slowly and watched as she did something on the laptop.

"Ok. It's all set, there are five videos and once each of them is done playing all you have to do is say 'Play next'. If you want to watch the video again or rewind it by a small interval just say 'Rewind’. Let me know what you think when you get out. There's a notebook and pencil in the pouch on the side of the recliner in case you want to take notes. You can keep them after you're done with all the videos."

As she made her way out of the room, the light began to dim as the wall in front of him lit up and began showing the promised video.

"Oh, before I forget, you might be asked questions once you're done by one of my superiors chosen on the basis of your recommendation. Enjoy, I set it for surround sound" she said as she closed the door behind her.

--------------------------------

Stadium 2, Staging Area 3

"Ok all visitors need to leave now. Participants please be ready to be called up for your matches. Results for Staging Area 1 & 2 will up on the board in three minutes." announced the buff man wearing the referee's outfit.

"In case you need the reminder, the only rule is no killing. Violating this rule will not be tolerated and if you don't believe it, I dare you to try it. There are only two spots available to qualify for the finals so do your best. Don't forget to wear your NV-bands and make sure they're activated before entering the field. Failure to do so will lead to automatic disqualification. Victory by incapacitating your opponent or making them vocally confirm their forfeiture."

As several people left the room, eight people stayed back.

As he looked around at the seven other people, Tut fiddled with his NV-band and finally flipped the red switch and reversed the band on his wrist to lock the switch.

He admired the thin rubber band and the technology hidden inside it. The NV band was named the neuter video

protection device. Once the switch on the band was flipped, any video recording devices aimed at the person wearing it would find a neutral blur instead of that person. Additionally, to anybody looking at them directly, details of that holder's face and stature would also be blurred.

This device perfectly suited the anonymity required for participants of the Tournament.

Tut started his breathing exercise to help him warm up. As he got into its rhythm, he noticed one of the other participants eyeing him. He couldn't see the eyes through the blur of the man NV-band but he could feel the attention. The guy looked him up several times and then moved onto another competitor. Tut wasn't sure if his facade had been seen through.

He had prepared a different image for his debut. Under his blur, he had slicked back his usually curly hair with copious amounts of hair-gel. He'd also bought and worn a sky blue robe which he had ironed vigorously. The robe hid his very noticeable self-proclaimed 'Berserker set'. It was a set of interlocking Titan Kevlar plates designed to allow for complete freedom of movement. It did leave a few spots weak which could only be determined though examination of the insides. He had added some spike to certain part and decided it needed a paint job. So it was now various shades or orange and red and a dead giveaway.

The first time he had worn it had been in the previous tournament and the set was perceivable even through the blur. This had caused several of his opponents to prepare against him mentally and lowered his performance. Since then, he had removed the spikes and repainted it to a dull green with a streak of bright orange over the region over the spine. Now, even the meditation he was pretending to be deeply absorbed in was something he had picked up from somewhere on the net.

All of it was for the surprise of his first opponent, where he was least confident. And the reason for this was due to his passive ability. 'Lucky Streak' was a good ability but as its name suggested, it was a slow starter if it worked right and a non-starter if it did not. It was conflict based and simple at that. Every time he won a conflict with someone, his physical and mental abilities would rise. They would keep rising unless he didn't participate in a conflict for more than an hour, at which point he would return to his normal state.

So he really needed the first win to keep his streak going. Hence, the charade to look like a calm & technical combatant.

A speaker set on the walls crackled and announced, “Participants #17 and #21, please make you way to Stage A. Participant #18 and #24, please standby at Stage B."

Tut began moving towards Stage B as the guy who had been staring at everyone also move in the same direction.

Seeing his opponent, he began doing mental fist pumps as he was pretty sure the trick would work. This fellow would allow the 'calm' opponent to test the waters and he, in turn, would use the opportunity to wallop him over the head with it.

As the gong was rung for the first fight, a small smile crept up on Tut's face as he started the fight in his mind.

----5 minutes later-----

"Please give those two fighters a big round of applause. I congratulate Participant # 21 on his victory."

"Next up is Group 3, Match 2, with Participant #18 facing off against Participant #24. Both have chosen to use their weapons. And here they come now. Wow, that is sick sword! But his opponent seems to be using? .......Tonfas?"

Tut had to admit the sword did look sick. The NV bands provided had been modified so that they would not hide the weapons and the limbs of the person using the band. As he examined the sword, he noted its foot and half handle.

The blade and the handle looked very thin when compared to the thick and strong-looking hilt. But he knew that the apparent lack of width of the blade meant nothing. The blade radiated strength when #24 unsheathed it.

It wasn't much of disadvantage as his tonfas had a few surprises in them as well. One of the basic upgrades he had made to them had been to convert the base material to titanium alloy. The difference between what most others did and what he did was to make his alloy heavier. Not only would this surprise his opponents many a time but it also made his strike-force one hell of an problem for those who received any strike. Of course it hadn't been easy for him to train with them but he had recently made a major improvement with his strength and his tonfas were now a formidable threat.

Of course the trade-off had been his fights prior to the breakthrough, each of which had been a struggle.

“Well, there won’t be much more of that anymore” he thought.

As they reached the center of the arena, the announcer finally shouted, “Aaand… BEGIN!” The sound the gong being struck resounded throughout the stadium.

Tut began walking towards #24 at brisk clip, spinning the tonfas slowly. When they were about eight feet away from each other he stopped and took a stance. This was because he had noted that the edge of blade on the sword he was facing looked a bit off as though not completely smooth. The sword was in #24's left hand and pointing at the ground.

As he took another look at it, he realized that the damn thing had serrated edges. Glancing at #24, he had no choice but to acknowledge him at least for his choice of weapon. The swing would be powerful but damaging even at the slightest graze. Thinking about it more carefully, he realized that the opponent had done this to cover up for something. Tut knew that the best sword users never used such additions as they felt it took something away from the sword.

At this point, #24 finally spoke,” Forget it, you won’t be able get closer to me, and even if you do dodge a few times, by the time you get into your ‘flow of battle’, you won’t have enough strength since this monster won’t leave you with enough blood.” His arrogant tone was reinforced by the fact that he still hadn’t taken a stance.

Tut was cheering on the inside at this moron. “If I can one-shot him, maybe I can keep the trick running even into the next fight.”

Taking a deep breath so that he didn’t let his joyful concentration show, he said monotonously, “We’ll see about that.”

Visualizing the move one last time, he took a deep breath and dove forward as he kept an eye on the sword.

To his credit, #24 had relaxed his sword-wielding hand quite well, and his reactive strike was quite good. Unfortunately, Tut had anticipated the upward diagonal slash and ducked slightly to the left to get under the swing. Pushing forward, he got within striking distance and took a firm step and took aim at the neck just above #24’s right collarbone. Twisting his body as he put his all into the punch, he hit the spot perfectly just as he noticed the sword behind him burst into flames.

“Too little, too late” he smirked as he pushed his punch further in as though he was trying to punch right through the neck. Which, as everyone knows, is the best way to punch.

All of this took place within three seconds and then it was over.

#24 was now grasping his throat, while making choking and grunting sounds. Then he slowly keeled over and fell unconscious.

Tut backed up a few steps and examined the tonfa. The momentum his hand gained from the heavy weapon had enhanced the force behind the punch. He grinned and then caught himself before slowly walking off the stage amidst cheers and the victory announcement.

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Enjoy. I'm traveling for two days so no chapters till Friday but I'll try to prep for double release once I get back.

Do comment/review as that helps. a lot.

How was the first fight scene?