"This is not the right time to tell this to everyone. Especially that tomorrow is the fourth Anniversary," Kate explained.
"You're right. They'll totally freak out once they know of this," I added as I placed my hands on my head.
"We will tell them," Commander Hilda looked at us seriously with her emerald eyes. "It's just that it won't be now."
"I agree. Let's focus to our work first before dealing with this," I spoke. "Umm... Maybe, it's just a coincidence."
"Look... Is it okay if the two of you do the competition organization while I deal in studying this?" Commander Hilda requested. "You don't need my advices anymore. I have a full trust with the both of you."
"Are you sure with this?" Kate asked worriedly.
"Yes I am, Kate," Commander Hilda nodded.
"If that is what you want, fine. Let us see what we can do," I patted Kate's back.
"Umm... Okay," Kate nodded slowly.
"Now good luck to the both of you," She spoke. "I know it will be hard, but have fun."
"Thanks commander and we will," I said kindly as we opened the door and left.
~~~o0o~~~
The next morning, the sun was at its peak and the heat overwhelmed the place when Kate and I handled the Dual Battle. The competition proper was held on the right side of the cemetery in which there was an open field. To serve as the arena, a small white square was painted. The venue was filled with Democrats as they carried the banners and streamers of Maria, Concepcion and Rosario to show with pride their teams that competed for the said event. The whole crowd was loud as they shouted the name of the clan they belonged.
To formally start the competition, I walked towards the center of the arena and in a loud voice, I said, "Before we begin the Dual Battle that is now on its fourth year, I will first tell the mechanics of the said game. Each clan is given the chance to participate in the said event with a sole competitor as a representative. No powers will be allowed in the said competition. Instead, attacks and defenses will be done only through a hand-to-hand combat. The reason for this is because we despise the powers we have which had been the weapons of death and self-interest for six hundred years. To make things equal, only the hand-to-hand combat is allowed to symbolize the equality of the three clans. The only way to earn a point is when the opponent goes outside the arena. The first competitor to earn two points wins. Good luck and may the best Democrat win,"
In an instant, the crowd cheered again with their loudest cries as Kate walked towards me with a paper held by her hands. Then she stood beside me and said, "Okay. Let the games begin. The first battle will be from are Brad Esber from the clan of the Marias and Nerio Aguas from the clan of the Concepcions,"
A few seconds later, a teenager on our left stepped inside of the small arena. He had worn this red shirt which was paired with black skinny jeans. He had this light skin and slanted eyes. He had this long hair that was tied on its back and a large scar was seen on his right cheek. With confidence, he stopped in front of us and in a low voice, he said, "I am honored to represent the Marias."
"I am glad to hear that," I nodded.
Moments later, another contender stepped inside the arena. He had worn this dark blue shirt which was paired with a white jogging pants. His face was a little wrinkled and his short white hair was gelled to look flat. He had this round eyes and his lips were black. He had this dark complexion with a few visible scars on his left arm. At the moment he stopped in front of us, he bowed his head and spoke, "I am deeply honored to raise the banner of the Rosarios."
"I know you are," Kate smirked.
With everything settled, I cleared my voice and shouted, "Let the first battle commence!"
Then Kate and I ran towards the edge of the arena as Brad and Nerio made their first punches. For minutes, none of the contenders gave up. Blow after blow and kick after kick, the contenders ducked and slid. Shockingly, Brad made a unique strategy towards the game when he jumped on Nerio's back and covered his eyes. Nerio on the other hand tried to punch and get the hands of Brad off his face, but this was no match from the teenager's tactic as he leaned back to control the movement of his opponent. Soon, Nerio got off balance as Brad jumped towards the center of the arena. The wrinkled fellow fell outside the arena as the teenage lad fixed his eyes on the opponent. In an instant, the crowd from the Marias shouted with joy as their contender won the first round. As made in the previous games, the next round will start, when the contender who lost stepped inside the arena. This was instantly acted by Brad who rapidly ran towards the opponent. His hands were raise towards the front, ready to push Nerio back outside the Arena. Luckily, Nerio escaped it with a duck and made a hard blow on Brad's back with his right elbow. The teenage lad's balance tipped which resulted him to fall outside of the arena. Then there went the first point for the Rosario contender. In an instant, Brad got up and ran towards the inside of the arena. He wiped the sweat on his face and with a shout, he ran towards Nerio. He gave him a hard punch on his face and this was countered by a kick from the wrinkled guy. To tip again the opponent's balance, Brad tried to kick one of Nerio's feet. But the man was too agile and jumped. Then he grabbed Brad's shoulders and carried him towards the edge of the arena. But Brad's determination was stronger as he kicked Nerio's chest with his feet, which resulted him to be free from the hands of the competitor and one of Nerio's feet out of the arena. With a clap, Kate said, "As written in the rules, any body part who goes out of the arena will be a point for the competitor. With this matter, Brad Esber is first to reach two points and wins!"
The crowd of the Marias had gone wild as they repeatedly chanted the word, "Brad". On the other hand, Brad looked at them with a smile on his dimpled face as he slowly bowed.
Then with a clap of her hand, the crowd got silent as Kate spoke, "As written in the rules, the victor of the first battle with have to face last year's winner to get the title of the Dual Battle. With this matter, let us meet Jo Jeremy Ramos of the Concepcion Clan, the Dual Battle 2017 Champion!"
In an instant, the Concepcions cheered and waved their banners as a person stepped inside the arena. His whole body had worn a black silky robe with his face completely covered with a green hood. Then, he rapidly got rid of the robe and threw it towards the crowd. Jo Jeremy Ramos was this thirteen year old child who joined the Democrats two years ago. He instantly got his fame when he defeated his muscular contender from the Rosarios and a female Wushu enthusiast from the Marias a year ago. His tactic was simple. He used his gymnast skills to push his opponents out of the arena. He had this Mohawk hair just like Alex's and had a dark skin. His eyes were upturned and his nose was a bit pointed. He had this fish-like lips which sometimes revealed a crooked smile. He had worn this white Camisa Chino which was paired with brown shorts. He gently bowed in front of his opponent and looked at us. Then in a high-pitched voice, he spoke, "I am ready to accept this challenge."
Kate gave him a nod and said, "Let the final battle begin!"
I was about to see Jo Jeremy punch Brad's face when a masculine voice on my back said, "Hey!"
At the moment I looked back, I realized that it was from Cole.
"Hey Cole! You are supposed to be with Hazel today to help her with the upcoming pageant," I spoke.
"I know," He nodded. "But I need to learn."
"Pardon?" I asked with a puzzled look.
"You know... Battling and all? I sure want to know more of that," Cole explained with his slanted eyes fixed on the arena.
"Did you ask permission before you got here?" I asked when all of a sudden, the crowd had gone loud.
At the moment my eyes were back towards the arena, I was shocked to see Brad outside the arena as he scrapped the dirt on his blue shirt.
Cole, this is not the right time for a conversation, I said to myself.
"Answering your question, I did not ask any of their permission," Cole replied. "I know that they are going to say no, because it is going to be unfair. So I just told them that I just wanted to pee and would be back in a few minutes. I just can't stop this thought that demanded me to watch this."
"Oh alright! Your point is taken," I spoke irritably as I looked at him. "Look. I am just going to chat you later. I have a competition to attend to."
"Oh alright," He nodded. "Suit yourself."
"I really admire Jo Jeremy's capabilities," Kate commended. "Have you seen his earlier move?"
"I hate to say this, but I didn't," I replied.
"You should have looked at him jump and kick Brad on the chest. Oh that blow!" Kate placed her right hand on her cheek.
"Ugh! It sucks that I have not seen that," I sighed as I saw Brad kicked Jo Jeremy's legs to let him fall.
Luckily, Jeremy escaped the said move with a jump so high and shockingly stood on top of Brad with his legs on the opponent's shoulders. With his hands crossed, Jo Jeremy bent his knees and kicked Brad's shoulders, which resulted to his opponent to stumble towards the ground. At the moment Brad tried to stand up, he had not realized that his legs stepped outside the arena.
In an instant, Kate clapped his hands and said, "Brad Esber accidentally puts his legs out of the arena. Jo Jeremy gains another point. Congratulations Jo Jeremy Ramos for defending the title! Jo Jeremy is the defending Dual Battle champion!"
The crowd of the Concepcions cheered and waved their banners as Jo Jeremy shook hands with Brad and bowed towards the spectators. Then he waved his hands with a wide smile on his face.
Kate walked towards him with a golden laurel on his hands and gently placed it on top of Jo Jeremy's head.
With a smile, he said, "Thank you."
"It's my pleasure," Kate replied. "Congratulations."
"I guess that ends my trip here," Cole giggled. "It was great!"
"Yeah it was," I nodded.
"Anyways, see you in the evening, Ger," Cole patted my left shoulder. "It's time to help Hazel back."
"Sure," I nodded as Cole sneaked against the crowd.
"Yow Gerald!" Kate spoke as she rapidly walked towards me. "We need to go. We have a pageant to prepare."
"Oh. Right," I said.
"Let them have their moment to celebrate their victory," Kate looked at the crowd of Concepcions as they waved their banners. "If only I can join them."
"Too bad we are involved with this organizing errands," I sighed. "Come on. We need to go."
Kate nodded and together we sneaked ourselves out of the crowd and towards the gymnasium. I had to admit that the pressure was on for this upcoming pageant. Especially that my girlfriend was a contestant with that "leech" on her side. I had no idea on what they were doing, because I was just too busy to help my sister organize the whole thing. Thanks to the assistance some volunteers inside that gymnasium, we successfully had hired three judges for the said event. They also helped us decorate the stage with a black-and-white theme. White Jasmine flowers were scattered around this black clothed platforms. Bundles of huge white roses were placed on big vases, which added beauty to the corners of the stage. Attached at the black clothed backdrop was a huge slanted white lettering, which was entirely made out of Styrofoam. It stated: "Mr. and Ms. Democrats 2018".
With all the job finally done, I took a nap on a bench. Due to that intense exhaustion from the preparations, I instantly fell asleep. Surprisingly, I did not realize that I slept longer than expected. As I opened my eyes, I was shocked to see the gymnasium filled with spectators from the different clans. Some of them brought banners, while the others waved some flags that represented the color of their clan.
"Oh fuck!" I beamed as I stood up and looked around.
"Oh there you are Gerald. We were looking all over for you," Scott spoke loudly as he walked towards me. "The show is about to start and you're not yet even dressed!"
"Oh really?" I widened my eyes.
"Well, yeah," Scott nodded. "The program will start at about five minutes."
"Shit," I covered my mouth with my left hand.
"With all these noise, I can't believe that you were not bothered," Scott shook his head.
"Umm... Speaking of Hazel, where is she?" I asked.
"She's already in the backstage," He replied as he pointed towards my back.
"Is she with that Baguio kid now?" I asked seriously.
"Of course not," Scott sighed. "A male and a female must not change their clothes in the same room together."
"Ah. I see," I slowly nodded.
"Hey! What do you think of them? Do you think that they are secretly having an affair together?" He giggled.
"Nope," I rapidly shook my head. "No I'm not."
"Hey bro, I already know you quite well," Scott patted my back. "I know when you are lying or not."
"Oh are you sure about that?" I snorted as I tried to hide the jealously I currently felt.
"Absolutely," He rubbed my hair. "If you can only see your face right now."
"Ugh stop it!" I said irritably as I tried to put his left hand out of my hair. "Ever since that victory over the Rosarios, you always tend to rub my hair."
"Well, you can't do anything about it, because I love doing it," He laughed.
"I honestly find it annoying," I slowly combed my hair with my hands.
"Fine," He sighed.
Suddenly, the lights from the stage turned on and a remix version of Zedd's song entitled, Beautiful Now was heard from the large speakers which were placed on both sides of the stage. Then, almost all the spectators awed at the moment the stage was slowly filled with white smoke. And from this smoke, the host came out. He had worn this white tuxedo which was paired with white pants. With that outfit, it looked like as if he was a heavenly beaning as he slowly walked along that smoky stage with pride. He had this pink dyed hair and his left ear was pierced with several silver earrings. With a microphone held by his left hand, he said, "Good evening Democrats!"
In an instant, loud cheers were heard from the spectators. Some had struck the drums they brought, while the others blew some plastic trumpets.
With a smile on his face, the host continued with the words, "Welcome! Welcome! Welcome to the first search for Mr. and Ms. Demo—"
BOOM!
Suddenly, the crowd had gone silent as we saw him disappear in a huge blast.