Grudge Match

"Are you ready to rumble~~e!" Donatella yelled into her microphone.

And the audience filling the packed stands of the arena replied with, "Yea~~ah!"

"Our first match of the quarterfinals is a fated duel between two longtime rivals!" Donatella announced.

Both combatants had been asked to wait just outside the ring so that they could be properly announced before they stepped into it.

"In the south corner, fresh off his brutal murder of a songstress who'd only wanted to sing her song in the arena… he is the Prince of Treachery, the Master of Mischief, the blackest of knights… I give you," Donatella pointed to the south, "the Dusk Knight, Don Coyote!"

Despite the foul nicknames he'd just received, Don Coyote — looking quite dapper in his new blood-red armor with its crimson cape billowing behind him — stepped into the ring with a wide grin plastered on his mustachioed face. He had a hand raised, waving to a crowd who showed him some love with their standing ovation.

"Everyone loves a villain they can hate," Morgue chimed in.

"Too true," Donatella agreed. "But does his popularity trump our next challenger, I wonder."

Donatella pointed a finger toward the north side of the ring.

"In the north corner, the current number one ranked challenger of the Deathly Challenger's Cup, known to most as the Goddess of Gaming Wisdom, The Abyss' Player Number One herself… I give you," Donatella yelled announced, "the Wraith Warrior, Ath3na~~a!"

A chant of "Athena~~a!" began once more and it continued even after she'd stepped quietly into the ring with barely a wave of acknowledgment to her fans.

"Well, she looks like she's just raring to go, isn't she," Morgue commented.

It was an accurate deduction for Ath3na seemed focused only on her opponent and nothing else.

Ath3na tightened her grip on Red Death while she recalled in her mind's eye the many underhanded deeds Don Coyote had managed in the short time since the Abyss went live. Stealing her kills, spreading nasty rumors about her IRL, plagiarizing her content, spamming her comments section with nasty slurs, and worst of all, attempting to steal whoever was willing to sponsor her despite knowing just how dire her monetary situation really was.

Just before their match began, Ath3na had received a Whisper from a Gargantuan Games marketing exec who was in-game to watch the event. In the message, she admitted that her bosses were considering sponsoring Don Coyote instead of Ath3na because he seemed more charming during interviews.

"The honest truth, they just don't think a woman fits their image of the ideal gamer," the exec whispered, "Prove them wrong in this match, please… and f**k that bastard up."

And as she walked to the ring earlier, Ath3na had felt a great irritation flowing out of her. Once more, Don Coyote was trying to get in her way, and once more, she would have to put him in his place.

But now, after Ath3na stepped into the ring and Donatella had announced that the match was starting, neither combatant made a move against the other. Instead, Don Coyote had just struck up a conversation with Ath3na.

"Did you hear the good news?" he asked in a voice that dripped with sarcasm. "It looks like Gargantuan Games wants me instead of you… They've got good tastes after all."

Ath3na's grip on her halberd tightened even more. She stared daggers at Don Coyote.

"That's the look," Don Coyote's grin only widened.

To Ath3na, it seemed like she was staring into the face of malice itself.

"That's the look I wanted to see," he laughed. "The emotions exploding out of that otherwise perfect face of yours."

The creepy gaze he gave Ath3na sent a shiver down her back.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because it turns me on," he licked his lips.

Don Coyote drew his sword from its scabbard and pointed its tip at Ath3na.

"Watching people squirm under my thumb… to see the misery in their faces as they realize that they're beneath me… especially you with your pretty face," There was such ecstasy on Don Coyote's face now, "just thinking about it really gets my engine revving."

Ath3na wasn't sure how to respond to the insanity she'd just heard, but her expression did reflect the disgust she felt for the man standing before her.

"Alright… enough," Ath3na sighed. "I feel like I'll need more than a shower if I keep listening to your delusions…"

She pointed the tip of her halberd forward.

"Don Coyote, it's time to shut you up," And with that apt battle cry, Ath3na raised her other hand forward and formed a claw with her fingers, "Wraith Chain!"

The glowing blue chain exploded out of her palm and sped toward Don Coyote.

"I've already seen that trick!" he spat. "Piercing Darkness!"

Crackling energy that was as black as raven's feathers enveloped the tip of his blade and then extended outward to repel the chain. The two powers collided in a shower of black and blue sparks.

Don Coyote smiled. "You'll have to try harder, bitc—"

His smile wavered for he could see now that Ath3na had crossed the distance between them while she hid behind her chain.

"Man, you're such a turn on, Ath3na!" Don Coyote hissed as his grin returned for it seemed her coming to him was just what he wanted. "I can't wait to mess up that pretty little face of yours!"

He raised his sword high.

"Sword of twilight let me feast on my enemy's flesh, Sanguine Blade!" he roared.

But just before his spell could take hold, Ath3na yelled, "Spectral Cloak!"

The red spikes that had appeared on her body vanished instantly as her form turned incorporeal.

"You, bitc—"

Wham!

Ath3na had deactivated Spectral cloak just in time to slam her left fist into Don Coyote's gut, and the force of her punch was so violent that he'd puked spit out of his mouth.

Half a moment later, Ath3na turned her fist into a palm, and then she whispered, "Soul Pulse!"

From her open palm, a barrage of spiritual blasts exploded onto Don Coyote's armored body, lifting him off his feet.

"Godd*mm*t!" he managed to say despite his predicament.

While in the air, he swung his sword down on Ath3na's head.

"Wrathful Smite!" he roared.

Lightning exploded out of the tip of his blade and struck the ground Ath3na had just vacated.

"Sh*t!" Don Coyote hissed through gritted teeth. "Where are you?!"

He managed to land back on his feet, but Ath3na was nowhere in sight.

Wham!

Ath3na had just used [GIANT'S SWING] to smack Don Coyote in the back with her halberd.

He was flung forward with such force he would tumble and roll all the way to the center of the ring.

But quick as a cat, Don Coyote managed to pick himself off the ground. Then he launched another [PIERCING DARKNESS] back to where he'd come from but it hit nothing but air.

"I'm over here," Ath3na whispered.

And like the Life-Draining Wraith that had nearly killed her on her first day in the Abyss, Ath3na's hands clamped on Don Coyote's neck.

"Life-draining Touch," she whispered.

The audience watched with bated breath as she drained the life out of him, and as Don Coyote's strength dwindled — his sword clattering down to the obsidian floor — Ath3na leaned forward and whispered into his ear, "You're a pain in the butt, for sure, but I never thought you were in my league… You're no Black Howler."

Then she let him go.

Don Coyote stumbled back. His eyes searched for his sword. He found it lying just underneath him. His hand reached out to it. But it was a useless effort.

"Spectral Cloak…" Ath3na said.

Then she plunged her incorporeal hand into Don Coyote's chest.

His eyes widened, but he was helpless to do anything else as she'd already drained him to the point of death.

"Sorry," Ath3na said. "But someone asked me to show off… and I've been curious about whether or not you actually have a heart."

Then Ath3na did what no one besides Morgana thought was possible. She turned her hand solid and squeezed the heart inside Don Coyote's chest.

With a final gasp, his eyes rolling to the back of his head, Don Coyote collapsed dead on the ring's floor.

A moment of awestruck silence ensued before Donatella managed to reclaim her voice and scream, "Ath3na~~a!"

And the audience followed her cue.

"Ath3na~~a!" They yelled.

In the ring, Ath3na was smiling in such an evil way that Morgana would have been proud of. "I guess even creeps have hearts…"