Akari made a gagging sound from across the room, though her erald eyes held fondness rather than genuine disgust. "You’re all being disgustingly supportive. It’s making nauseous."
"You helped Skylar pick out her outfit yesterday," Emi pointed out with the kind of mory for details that made her such an effective healer.
"That was fashion advice, not emotional vulnerability."
"You spent two hours making sure her combat suit fit properly."
Akari’s tan skin flushed slightly, betraying the care she tried to hide behind sarcasm. "Details."
Carn laughed, the sound rich and knowing and slightly drunk. "Kids. You’re all disasters and I love it." She checked her watch, which was expensive enough to buy a small car and probably had. "Five minutes. Move your asses."
Natalia looked at the four won surrounding her. Skylar, who would fight beside her without question despite their complicated relationship and shared recognition of their own questionable judgnt. Emi, who’d probably cry if Natalia got hurt but would heal her anyway with steady hands and unwavering loyalty. Cel, who’d just given her an actual tactical advantage despite being competitors for the sa man’s attention. Akari, who talked big about not caring but had already placed ridiculous bets on Natalia winning.
This was what Satori had built, she realized again. Not through grand gestures or dramatic speeches, but through small monts of genuine care. Through seeing what each of them needed and providing it, even when it cost him sothing. Through making them feel valued not for what they could give him, but for who they were when no one else was watching.
"Let’s go murder a Siren," Natalia said, and frost spread from her footsteps as she walked toward the tunnel.
The others fell in behind her like an honor guard, their presence solid and reassuring at her back.
The tunnel to the arena stretched ahead, dark except for the volcanic sunlight bleeding in from the far end like molten gold. Each step brought the crowd’s roar closer until it beca a living thing pressing against her skin, twenty thousand voices united in bloodthirsty anticipation.
Nel’s voice whispered in her mind, unexpected and slightly amused. "Your bond with Satori is transmitting emotional feedback. He’s watching from the stands and his heart rate just spiked to ninety beats per minute."
Natalia smiled despite the nerves eating her alive. Good. Let him worry for once. She’d spent enough ti watching him throw himself at monsters and cosmic entities with reckless abandon. He could experience the terror of being on the other side for a change.
They reached the tunnel’s end, where shadow gave way to blazing light. Sunlight hit her face like a physical force, warm and blinding and absolutely unforgiving. The crowd’s roar beca deafening, a wall of sound that vibrated through her bones and made her teeth ache.
Twenty thousand people chanting her na alongside Skylar’s, the sound building into sothing that felt like worship or hunger or both.
Maximus Hype’s voice cut through the chaos like a blade through silk, his amplified enthusiasm making every word land with theatrical impact that could probably be heard in orbit.
"LADIES AND GENTLEN! OUR SECOND SEMIFINAL MATCH! THE ICE QUEEN AND THE PHANTOM BLADE VERSUS THE CRIMSON COT AND THE SHADOW DANCER!"
Natalia stepped onto the platform, her boots finding purchase on volcanic rock that had been carved and shaped into an arena worthy of gladiators. The heat rising from the stone made the air shimr, a perfect contrast to the cold she carried in her bones.
Reyna stood on the opposite side of the platform, and Natalia’s breath caught despite herself.
Crimson hair catching the light like actual fire, moving in waves that seed to generate their own heat. Erald eyes locked onto Natalia with the focus of a predator who’d found worthy prey, intelligent and hungry and absolutely unafraid. Her custom combat suit moved like liquid rcury, every line designed for maximum mobility and intimidation. She was beautiful in the way that dangerous things were beautiful—captivating and deadly in equal asure.
Behind Reyna, Kira Tanaka waited in shadows that seed deeper than they should be, her presence almost ghostly compared to her partner’s blazing intensity.
Skylar materialized at Natalia’s side, close enough that their shoulders brushed. "Ready?"
"No."
"Good. neither."
Professor Hanae walked to the center platform, her small fra sohow commanding imdiate silence through sheer presence alone. The crowd’s roar died to whispers, then to nothing, twenty thousand people holding their breath in unison.
"Standard tag rules," she announced, her voice carrying clearly despite its conversational volu. "Non-lethal force only. Match ends when both mbers of one team are unconscious or yield. No Aspect attacks to the head or spine. No killing blows. Try not to destroy my arena because repairs co from my budget and I have expensive tastes."
Reyna never looked away from Natalia during the announcent, her attention absolute and unblinking. Her smile widened into sothing genuinely excited, like she’d been waiting for this specific matchup since the tournant began.
"Been looking forward to this," Reyna called across the platform, her voice carrying that distinctive accent that mixed Spanish and English into sothing uniquely hers. "The Ice Queen versus La Sirena. Let’s see which one of us is actually worth the hype."
Natalia felt sothing ignite in her chest. Not fear or nervousness, but pure, crystalline rage that burned cold as winter and twice as sharp. The kind of anger that ca from being underestimated by soone who should know better.
She raised one hand, channeling power through the new gloves and the Cryo-Lich Ring simultaneously. Ice spread from her fingertips across the entire platform in a wave of frost that made the crowd gasp in unison. The temperature dropped twenty degrees in three seconds, her breath misting in the suddenly frigid air.
Volcanic rock beca a skating rink in the space between heartbeats.
"Co find out," Natalia said, her voice carrying across the sudden silence with perfect clarity.
Professor Hanae raised her hand, the gesture sharp and final. The entire arena held its breath, twenty thousand people waiting for violence to begin.
"BEGIN!"
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