"Defeatist, a lowly dog, a cur..."

Alfir didn't give a damn about Zia's words. Zia doesn't have any hypnotic powers, so it's a no-problemo~ Alfir turned his back from Zia as he slowly make his way outside the stage.

"Exile, outcast... Secrets, desires..."

Alfir stopped. That caught his interest. Zia smiled at Alfir's sudden halt in his steps, but more than that is her desire to mentally break someone.

Zia has precognitive powers like the principal. She can see about 2 seconds in the future. On top of that, she possesses empathic powers that allow her to get a subtle read of Alfir's mind. This means, Zia already saw Alfir forfeiting this match. 'This lady, I am giving you a free win, and here you are... Tsk.'

Truthfully, Alfir felt threatened by Zia's words. Among the mind-reading powers he knows, Zia's mutation is one of the worst.

"That sounds like a threat..."

"A threat? Excuse me, I was simply telling you what I saw... Your parents gone, leaving you alone in this world." Parents huh? Alfir has no parents. Well, Minion #12193 does.

Oh, looks like she doesn't know— 'Yes! I am safe!'

Alfir continued to walk, but Zia just won't leave him alone.

"I saw a weakling in a box. So fragile. So weak. It must feel desolate. That claustrophobia. It must be suffocat— gasp, geukh.. huuk... hu~"

It was fast. She felt the impact of Alfir's palm hitting her throat. 'Why can't I get a complete read of him?'

This is a first for Zia. She exhaled hard as Alfir punched her in her solar plexus. She is in for a beating.

A blink in the eye is all it took. Alfir held Zia by her neck in a chokehold. Alfir is contemplating if he should kill her now. His speed is not phenomenal, Zia should have seen him, a precog empath would have dodged that, there are so many excuses in her mind that the audiences also share. The bright sun with its cheery shine has become gloomier because of the spectacle they are witnessing.

Who is this nobody?

Despite all of this confusion, Armin Kelon showed an understanding look. 'I knew it, there is something special with that kid.'

Alfir is creating simulations in his mind as to how to deal with this. he has two options ahead of him: to kill or not to kill.

In the end, he chose not to kill, since that would be too controversial and inconvenient for him.

'In the box? That was my past life. If it were only Minion #12193 and his sob story, I would have let it go... What should I do?'

The words 'In the box' is too ominous... Aaargh... Alfir felt a sudden migraine in his head.

"What is in the box again?" Confusion momentarily invaded his mind, but he persisted. Nevermind, he thought.

If Alfir won't kill her, he'll just have to make her beg for it...

...

How!? Zia asked herself. How did it come to this? She feels powerless. She didn't see Alfir coming. The grace and finesse she exhibited in the group battle can't be seen. The truth is she cannot even enter deep into Alfir's mind. Usually, she starts by unleashing a barrage of attacks through her whip, while she gets a feel of her opponent's mind.

But Alfir's mind is very murky, like the depths of a muddy swamp. This is why she started with those cryptic words, of what she initially got from Alfir's surface thoughts.

"You must be asking yourself how? Many think speed is the only counter to precognition, but I dare disagree. You just need a little creativity." Alfir whispered to Zia's ears. His legs are locked to Zia's complimenting the chokehold in the tightest manner possible.

The sight of Alfir caught the principal's attention. He saw it all. A hundred possibilities within a single thought. It was impressive. Zia didn't see it because of her lack of experience, but Armin did. Precognitive abilities are simply math on a superhuman scale using telepathic reading as a medium.

"Honestly, I simply overwhelmed you with the speed of my thoughts. So I guess, it is speed until the end." It sounds so easy. Yeah, easier said than done, but Alfir pulled it off.

Zia struggled. Her legs flailed while her lips slowly turn purple. She tried to scratch Alfir, but to no avail, he held Zia's neck firm.

Alfir saw the referee in his peripheral vision about to act, so he released Zia. Seeing this, the referee restrained himself.

She slumped there inhaling the air with greed. Alfir made some distance from Zia as he watches her suffer.

Alfir's physique is not inferior to Deron, Alfir can even surpass some of Deron's attributes if he wants to, but it's damn tiring. Half of his stamina is already a goner because of the burst of speed and strength he exerted.

"Hu— huuu— uck!"

Her breathing is ragged. She can't believe that she was humiliated to this degree.

Zia has a whip by her hand, it's a very unpredictable weapon fitting for a precog. If Alfir remembers it correctly, Zia's attributes focus on dexterity and flexibility. She also possesses relative strength given that every mutant does with or without mutant specialization.

She waved her whip in a mad fury. The sound of air swooshing is menacing, and the concrete ground cannot escape these devastating strikes. The whip slithered with chaotic unpredictability, but Alfir have no plans to dodge it anyway.

Alfir caught the whip with his left arm, undaunted. Zia's rage was icily cooled at his fearlessness. He yanked it together with its wielder, then grabbed her by the throat like a vice grip. Zia is suffocating, slowly, slowly, slowly. Alfir lifted her. She can feel her toes leaving the ground. That day, Zia learned that losing oxygen must be the pinnacle of torture.

Then he choke-slammed her.

The concrete floor cracked from the impact. Once more, Zia felt that excruciating sensation of being choked to death. She can feel Alfir's weight over her and his cold eyes gazing with hidden rage.

Mutants are sturdy, so Alfir is taking his time very carefully. It's the preliminary rounds anyway, so he can still win this and play as a nameless extra later on. Alfir expressed his nonchalance worry in his mind as he slowly devastate Zia.

After all, even Alfir needs to vent. he is already at it, so he might as well enjoy it, thus the venting.

Alfir got triggered, and no one likes it when he is triggered... From his past life, and even to this life.

...

Zia felt Alfir's grip and weight moving away.

She carried herself with her arms, crawled like a bug, and begged in her mind for all of this to stop.

"Ay... Fe-r... Keugh!"

She coughed blood.

'I forfeit' she wanted to say, but she can't, so she crawled, she wanted out— outside of this damn arena, away from this monster.

But Alfir doesn't want anything with that. He grabbed Zia by her leg, then swung her to the other side, far away from the edge of the arena. Another crack was formed on the stage.

The audience flinched. It looked more brutal than the chokeslam.

"Stand."

Zia stood limply at Alfir's words. She struggled, forced her way to stand, afraid of what Alfir will do to her if she doesn't

"What do you see?"

"..."

SLAP!

A crisp slap resounded. A drop of tear streaks on Zia's cheeks. The audience felt pity for Zia. It's funny how fickle people are... In the group battle, Zia employed heinous schemes that made the audiences yelp and curse.

"What do you see?"

"..."

SLAP! SLAP! SLAP!

Now, the audiences are feeling outraged in Zia's stead.

Zia fell to her knees from the impact of the slaps. There was no superhuman force applied to Alfir's strikes, but it hurts. More than being choked.

"Answer."

"Krr... Di-e-fil... I see a devil."

'Sigh, that was unsatisfactory. It looks like I overdid it...'

Alfir's temper got the better of him. He simply wanted to hear more of what Zia knows of him, but the trauma he inflicted will also do... This will keep her quiet for a long time, a very long time...

'I might as well play the villain. Goodbye mobsekai life... Wait, I can still pursue the mob life after this, right? Yeah, I should lose miserably in my next bout...'

Zia's beautiful pink hair was no more. It's filled with gray dust. Alfir dragged her by her hair. She winced from the pain of her injuries, but she stifled her cry. She didn't scream but the outpour of her tears is visually evident of the pain she is enduring.

Alfir stood at the edge of the arena. He pulled Zia's hair until her eyes meet his.

He whispered with a low voice—

"I am not angry really. There are just some things I don't want others to hear. So remember this, when I am in your presence, don't speak a word lest you annoy me... Or else... I will dismember you limb by limb, then put you into a box,

then send it to your prostitute of a mom..."

Finally, Zia cried her tears with a downpour of emotions. She screeches, howls, and with a guttural cry, she begged for forgiveness with a demented mind. Alfir dropped her from the stage like you would do with trash.

"Go die in a corner where I can not see you. Oh, and by the way, I know you... your secrets, fears, and the life you lead. I can torture you whenever and wherever you are... And if I want to find you, I will find you... no matter where you hide, I can reach you..." Alfir said with a malevolent smile with full sincerity, as what he said are not unfounded deceptions, but a fraction of the truth of how much can Alfir dictate her life, now and forever.

The audience booed his display of tyranny. But results are results...

"The victor... The victor is Alfir."

Alfir removed himself from the arena with apathetic eyes. He felt the impulse to destroy a while ago not subsiding. He is certain.

There is nothing/something terribly wrong with me. It's not just the mind hive and the weird ego or voices talking into my head...

He walked out, then continued to do so... Until he found himself in the park, alone and peaceful.

Sigh...

...

(Egos talking inside Alfir's head the day their contract was established.)

INFANT: And the elected president of our Mind Hive Association is OLD MAN! With a landslide vote of 2!

OLD MAN: Yes! You lot have to listen to my opinions from now on!

DUDE: That's unfair!

MASCULINE: We should have settled it with arm wrestling!

FEMININE: Or a beauty pageant!

NERDY: Shut up idiots. This is what happens when you only vote yourself.

INFANT: You also voted yourself, Nerdy! You should have copied my example. Thanks to that, I possessed the sole voting power of who to elect.