"Rieka?" Hiro shouted, "Rieka!" he yelled once more, shaking her shoulders. Rieka responded with a soft snore, "Is she asleep?" he asked, a bit more calmly.
Scarlett nodded, "She used up too much energy at once, she's recovering now. And be careful calling her name...you never know who might be watching. You were lucky the mic was off."
Hiro nodded and settled Rieka with her back against the edge of the raised platform that made up the arena. His hand hovered over her shoulder wound as he prepared to heal it.
Scarlett grabbed his hand, "Save your energy," she said, "I'll take care of the wound, you're up next."
Hiro swallowed hard, "Right," he said, "Any tips?"
"Don't worry about the money," she responded, "Vaporize this one too if you need to."
Hiro blinked curiously, "But I don't have lightning powers."
"Ice can be just as effective," Scarlett stated, "Oh, and they'll probably recognize your rei-daggers, so you may want to do without them."
"Umm, Team Kabuki, we're waaiitiiing," Nao called from the stage.
"Right," Hiro said uncertainly as he clamored on to the arena.
Is it just me, Hiro thought as he faced his opponent for the first time, or is this guy a lot bigger than the last one?
This one seemed distorted. The same drooling face, but his shoulders and arms were overlarge, to the point where his knuckles scraped across the ground like a gorilla. It looked almost as if the weight of his own bulk were too much for him to handle; even standing there, each breath was a labored wheeze.
Or maybe he's just excited...or hungry, Hiro thought darkly.
"Ready?" Called the ref, one arm raised high in the air, "Begin!"
As she slashed her arm through the air, the behemoth scrambled forward on his knuckles much faster than Hiro would have thought as humanly possible for his frame. Luckily, his training in the summer with Hiei has paid off, and he was ready for him. Hiro crouched down, appearing motionless.
"Move, you idiot!" cried Kuwabara from the stands, "he's gonna crush you between those big gross feet of his!"
And truly, like an orangutan, the gargantuan creature slapped the soles of his feet together on the place Hiro was standing. Balanced on his knuckles, he separated his feet to look at his prize, as one might examine a booger in a tissue before discarding it. When he separated his feet, the creature gave a guttural, "huh?" as he realized he had clamped down on thin air.
"Alright, an after-image!" Called Yusuke, "Isn't that your trick, Hiei?"
"Yes," said Hiei tersely, "It is." He mimicked Kurama's pose of leaning forward onto his knees and resting his chin in his palms as he watched. Kurama was right, something was interesting about this team. Suspicious, even.
Hiro had reappeared behind the beast, arms stretched out behind his head to strike. He concentrated energy into his palms—
Oh crap, he thought, that's right, I shouldn't use my rei-daggers.
As a result, he slammed his fists into the back of the creature's head. It was still a blow that would have killed—or at the very least knocked out—a regular opponent, but it only succeeded in pissing off his current adversary.
The beast howled in rage as he whipped around, windmilling his arms. This time, one of the flailing arms connected to Hiro, knocking the breath out of him and sending him flying across the arena.
"Oh, you saw it, folks! Like swatting a fly, Team Kabuki is sent soaring across the arena! You know she is going to have trouble getting up from that one!"
She? thought Hiro groggily as he peeled himself off the cement. Oh, right, the mask. He had forgotten he had the geisha mask on. He felt a sharp stab of pain in his side as he got to his feet. He must have bruised some of his ribs. He clutched at them as he tried to get a hold of the situation.
He couldn't use his rei-daggers, but this guy's skin was like iron. His fists alone weren't going to break through. Ice can be just as effective, he thought. Even then, the big brute was only just realizing where he had gone to. It was fortunate for Hiro the creature was so stupid, or else he may not have had a chance to draw in his yoki.
"Yikes!" said Nao, jumping and flinging her arms across her shoulders, "I dunno if you guys can feel this in the stands, but it's sure getting cold all of a sudden!"
"Hmm, even up here the temperature seems affected," said Kurama.
"Are you kidding?" Kuwabara said, his teeth chattering, "It's freaking freezing."
Hiei's eyes remained fixed on the fight, unmoved by the sudden fluctuation in temperature. Yusuke, on the other hand, looked puzzled, "Doesn't this yoki feel familiar, somehow?"
Kuwabara, with new resolve, smacked is fist into his hand in realization, "That's it! That familiar presence I felt earlier! I know who it is now!"
Yusuke looked at him expectantly, "Who?"
"It's Touya!"
"Hmm, Touya's yoki does have a similar feel," Kurama admitted, "But why would he be here?"
Kuwabara shrugged, "Who knows? Why don't we go ask him after the match?"
"If he lives that long..." said Hiei pessimistically, "Look."
The beast did not seem to mind the sudden drop in temperature. Rather, he charged at Hiro at full tilt. Things were not looking great for Hiro, who was still gathering his yoki. Hiro maintained his concentration until the beast was 10 feet away, then five feet. The creature reached out with groping meathook hands when Hiro released a burst of yoki into the ground.
And the creature stopped.
He had been transformed into a frozen statue. Even his drooling snarl of rage remained fixed on his face from the moment Hiro had frozen him. The crowds were silent in uncertainty. It had seemed as if Hiro had won. Until he began to hear a subtle cracking noise.
The momentum the beast had been traveling at had been too great to stop by being frozen. The top-heavy monster's brittle ankles cracked, then snapped off with a sickening pop. Off-balance from his previous attack, Hiro had not had time to move before the monster's front half collapsed on top of him.
Hiro could hear Nao whistle as he moved his limbs like a dying insect under the monster's weight, "Well, it's a tough call, but it looks like Team Faustus' member is dead. Even though Team Kabuki is pinned right now, I would call this a vi---wait, hold on." Nao pressed the ear piece she had against her head, "I'm getting something from the boys upstairs, and it seems that Team Faustus is requesting their member to be named officially dead before awarding Kabuki's victory. That being said, I will start my count for Kabuki's member to remove himself from this pin. 1...2....3..."
A normal person would need a forklift to get this guy off me! Hiro thought in frustration. Nevertheless, he pushed against his weight with all his might.
"4...5..."
He was able to push the monster's weight a couple centimeters off his chest.
"6...7..."
He pushed against his weight and began to slide out from underneath.
"8...9..."
With one last jerk he pulled himself free, only to tumble off the edge of the arena and land out of bounds.
"10!" finished Nao, "and here comes the doctor now. The judges have ruled that if Team Faustus' member is pronounced dead, the win will go to Kabuki! If not, Kabuki will lose due to having a team member downed or out-of-bounds for more than ten seconds!"
"I'm sort of feeling contact embarrassment for the guy..." muttered Yusuke.
"Yeah, that doesn't seem like something Touya would do..." said Kuwabara.
"No," said Yusuke with a smirk, "But it seems like something you might do." While Kuwabara was not amused by this, Kurama and Hiei chuckled quietly to themselves.
A doctor in a white lab coat was now hurrying onto the arena, and checking the vital signs of the monster.
Hiro had never quite wished for something to be dead like this before.
The doctor shook his head, "The subject is frozen in a perfect cryogenic state. The freeze was so sudden that it didn't disrupt any of his major functions, and could in theory recover. I would not say the subject is dead."
"You heard the doc!" shouted Nao, "This win is going to Team Faustus!"