The sound of drums echoed as the Grand Bout was about to start. You guys stood by the bridge as Kinro stood in the center. The final you guys wanted was now going to be the first fight.
"Here's the plan," Ginro said to Kohaku with some sweet flag still in his mouth. "Everything'll be just fine as long as you make it to the final match, you got that?"
Almost on cue a shorter man came running up, worried and panicked. This was the guy always around Magma who was basically his lackey who apparently was named Mantle. He was the one who was going to be up against Chrome in the second fight.
"No! This is horrible," Mantle yelled.
His panicked screams caught your guys attention.
"Suika went to pick herbs and fell into the river," Mantle exclaimed panicked. "I'm afraid the poor thing's gonna drown! Kohaku, you're the fastest one here, so you need to go down and help her before it's too late!"
"It's ten billion percent obvious he's lying through his teeth," Senku pointed out.
"Well duh," you said.
"No. I'm telling the truth, I swear," Mantle claimed. "I just happened to be walking by the river when I saw her, and then she fell in!"
You approached Mantle and kneed him in the chest. He groaned as he fell to the ground. Senku and Chrome then came up and put their feet on Mantle and basically stomped on him.
"If you just happened to see her fall into the river, how do you know she was there to pick herbs in the first place," Chrome said, pointing out the flaw in his statement.
"Plus if you saw her fall, why the hell would you come all the way back here instead of helping her yourself," you said. "Suika would be dead by the time you got back here."
"Come back in ten billion years if you really wanna have a battle of wits with the kingdom of science you slimy, pea-brained idiot," Senku said.
Kohaku tapped Senku's shoulder which made you guys stop taunting Mantel.
"I'm almost positive he's lying," Kohaku said. "But there's a slim chance that he's not. I can't risk it and let Suika die."
"You realize you're our last line of defense against Magma," Senku pointed out. "So if you bail on us now..."
"Look, I'm fastest out of all of us," Kohaku stated. "So I'm the only one who can save her. I know it's a little risky but I have to go see for myself!"
Kohaku looks at Mantle still on the ground. He chuckles which irritates both you and Kohaku.
"You're disgusting, Mantle," Kohaku said. "A despicable person."
Kohaku took off running to save Suika. Ginro and Chrome call out to her but Kohaku was already running.
"No way! She's leaving us," Ginro said, shocked.
You heard Mantle chuckle and you kicked him in the stomach. He groaned and you grabbed him by the hair. He whimpered a bit as you had a death glare
"You better hope Suika is drowning because I will kill with my bare hands if you lie or try anything," you stated.
Mantle gulped as it was clear you were not kidding.
"Scary," Ginro whimpered.
"She's not serious is she," Chrome asked as he was also getting scared.
Senku chuckled. "Oh, she is deadly serious. Y/n is the person who keeps her word no matter how dark or stupid. That's one of her many charms and things to love about her."
"I don't think charm or love are the right words for the case," Chrome said.
You guys go back to the arena as the first round is gonna start. The ref calls Kinro and Magma to the center of the arena. Chrome and Ginro went to tell that Kohaku wasn't here since she went to save Suika. However it didn't really do anything and it was stated if he didn't come back in time she would be disqualified.
Magma was glad to hear that the main thing standing between him and victory was taken care of. He tried to offer Kinro a deal. If Kinro sacrificed the fight right now, then Magma would make him his right hand man. Reason is because he needs a strong fighter by his side and someone who would do his bidding. Magma stomped his foot forward as he told Kinro to growl at his feet since the people still deserved a show. If Kinro did this, Magma would take it as his pledge of loyalty.
You rolled your eyes as you felt your body tense. Hearing Magma go on and on was just irritating you and it was making it hard to not just run up to him and beat him to a pulp. Senku takes your hand into his.
"Clam down," Senku said softly. "Getting worked up won't change or do anything."
"Right," you agreed softly. You lightly squeeze his hand as just his touch helped you relax.
Kinro told that he would never kneel to him even if all the stuff he was saying was true. Magma didn't like that. Kinro then said that there were many schemes in today's Grand Bout but he could only fight honestly and to the best of his abilities. He also stated that he wasn't the same man as before which just made Magma laugh.
Magma points out that Kinro has never once beaten him in a fight so what could possibly make today different. Kinro clenches his fist around his weapon as he states that this time he has to win. He had no choice since his friends were counting on him.
With that, the fight started. Kinro was the first to strike as he had a reason to win while Magma was just hungry for power. Magma was on the defensive as Kinro kept up his attacks. Magma was impressed by the display of strength Kinro was showing as he started to get some attacks in. Kinro and Magma seem evenly matched initially, which shocked some of the villagers. Kinro could actually win.
You guys were proud of Kinro and Ginro stated this was all because of the training they had to go through. Chrome didn't understand why Ginro was acting all smug about it. You gusy then noticed Mantle held a rock and was clearly going through it. You grabbed his fist with a very tight grip which made him shocked as Chrome smirked.
"Hey Mantle, Jasper's our bad referee," Chrome pointed out. "No way he's gonna let you get away with that!"
"Plus it would be a shame if we had to cut the Grand Bout short so we can hold a funeral," you stated as you tighten your grip.
Mantle chuckled nervously as he let go of the rock. You took the rocks around him and tossed them in the water. You tossed his hand away as Mantle was clearly upset his plan was foiled but also now utterly terrified of you. Now that outside inference was strictly against the rules, Senku revealed that he had a good amount of stuff to help him that he now had to get rid of. This shocked both Mantle and Chrome as you just sighed as playfully shook your head. You weren;t surprised that he would do that but you still couldn't help but be a tab disappointed.
Magma backs up creating distances between him and Kinro. This shocked everyone since this wasn't his style. You noticed that Kinro squinted his eyes as if he couldn't see.
You guys then noticed that Suika came back.
"Oh, Suika! You're back home safe," Old Man Kaseki exclaimed.
"So Mantle was lying about you drowning," Chrome stated. "What a little worm!"
"I think Kinro has the fuzzy sickness in his eyes," Suika claimed. This shocked you and Senku since that wasn't good. "He's making faces like I used to have to!"
Kinro lunged his weapon forward but it wasn't even close to hitting Magma. This made Magma laugh as he taunted him. Magma hit Kinro's weapon to the side and charges at Kinro. Magma gets a lot of clean hits, slamming Kinro into the floor.
This made you guys worried as Kinro was now laying on the ground. Magma approaches Kinro as he slowly gets up. Magma admitted he was impressed and now actually wanted Kinro to be his henchman. Magma tells Kiron to start grovelin' but Suika then throws her melon-helmet to Kinro. He puts it on which improves his eyesight. He struck a bit of a pose which made him look creepy and honestly a bit stupid.
But regardless of how he looked, the helmet helped him actually see Magam. Kinro dodges several hits from Magma, which shocked everyone by how easily he was moving. Magma was getting pissed as he went for another attack but Kinro stopped him. Kinro then started to get started repeatedly hitting Magma with a barrage of blows that had Magma on his knees.
"Learn this lesson Magma," Kirno said. "If I'd had this gift of science before... had this vision... I would have surpassed you long ago."
With Magma on his knees and Kirno standing tall, the crowd started to cheer. Kirno did it. He actually brought down Magma and won the first round. This meant the Kingdom of Science had a secure victory now.