Touma's Time

Angered by the futility of his attack, veins protruded against Baskoro's forehead as he clenched his teeth.

"If you're going to claim to be at the summit, at least try not to be a bottom feeder," Adamas told him with a smile.

"You…!"

Baskoro jumped into the air, spinning around as the same dark mast of dreadful energy gathered around his leg, being sent downward towards the Overseer with a kick.

"--" Adamas looked up.

As the wave of shadowy energy crashed against the arena, a cloud of black smoke kicked up, expanding outward with a powerful shock wave.

"Heh!" Baskoro laughed.

I got him! All talk! Baskoro thought.

Just as the burly landed back down on the mat, the smoke around him was dispersed by a singular clap behind him.

"Wha–?" Baskoro whipped around.

Adamas stood behind him, having clapped his hands and now looking forward with an intense look buried in his jewels for eyes.

"Let's end this farce," Adamas said.

"With pleasure!" Baskoro yelled out, rushing towards him with a spiral of black energy engulfing him, "Gh–"

Before the man could even launch a proper assault, he lost his balance as his eyes turned white from a lack of consciousness. All at once, that howling darkness around the man dissipated in an instant.

With a flash of speed not unlike a stray lightning bolt, Adamas had chopped him in the throat with an attack unseen by most in the audience.

"It's your lucky day. I happen to be in a good mood, so I won't disqualify you," Adamas smiled, "Call it the shining benevolence of 'The King'."

[...Over!]

The crowd cheered for the Overseer, who ended the squabble flawlessly as both competitors were carried out on stretchers.

[If that was the first round of the Qualifiers, we're in for one hell of a year, folks!]

With the audience in total applause and excitement from the rousing beginning to the Qualifiers, he watched the entire thing transpire from the waiting room.

"...So, this is the 'Celestial Fist', huh? That darkness coming off of that guy…Is that what I think it is?" He mumbled to himself.

Still, despite seeing such a chaotic bout, he couldn't stop shaking with excitement even as he held his hands together.

Gento…I'm coming for you, he thought.

With over a hundred competitors, the matches flew by with many ending swiftly, and some being dragged out into gritty battles.

A match between a Canadian wrestler and a Japanese Sumo wrestler took place, ending in a bloody brawl in favor of the Canadian–

[Winner, Mitch Lorelle!]

Muay Thai against Boxing, Kung Fu against Judo, Aiki against Taekwondo–the sheer quantity of matches never got boring for him, as he watched each and every bout closely until finally–

[Onto the next match, let's welcome in a newcomer! Though, I'm sure a lot of you are familiar with his name! Touma Daigo, "The King of Brawling"! Come on up!]

He breathed out, feeling the palpable excitement surging through his blood as he smiled. A pat on his shoulder came as he turned around to see a familiar face.

"Good luck out there, kid," Michael Larusso told him.

"Yeah."

The walk through the tunnel got his blood pumping even more as he could hear the applause that accompanied the call of his name.

As he stepped out of that tunnel, he was momentarily blinded by the array of lights moving around, shining directly down on the side he entered in from as rock music played in his debut.

"Let's go, Daigo! Let's go!" Ishikawa shouted loudly.

"Touma!" Tadashi yelled in support.

"Rip 'em apart, Touma!" Chimon added in.

Despite how densely packed the extraordinary stadium was, he could hear his friends, prompting him to smile as he walked out, wearing his light-blue trunks and nothing else but the wraps around his fists.

It was a surreal feeling; all of the eyes being on him, and that shining ring awaiting him as he entered through the ropes, watching the other side for his opponent.

[Hailing from Britain, welcome Samuel Robinson! "The Crucifier"--he's one of the most fearsome heavyweights to ever step into the world of MMA!]

The man that entered from the opposing end was large enough to deem that simple description to be an understatement. He was like an iron fortress; bulging trapezius muscles, massive biceps with a build between strongman, bodybuilder, and a martial artist.

"...Well, my question about weight classes has been answered before I can ask," Tadashi adjusted his glasses.

"He's twice Daigo's size! At least!" Ishikawa let out in surprise, "How's that fair?!"

"Heh, did you both already forget?" Chimon chuckled.

"...Oh, right. He did beat you," Ishikawa said.

"Well, it was a close match…Maybe, sorta…the point is–size doesn't matter with Touma!" Chimon yelled out.

–

Samuel Robinson had short, but gelled-up, spiky blonde hair with a broad, refined chin and focused, dark-green eyes.

Stretching down from his neck down the middle of his chest and stopping just shy of his pelvis region was a crimson cross tattoo, designed with a serpent tail intertwining its form.

He watched from his side of the arena, doing some quick quad stretches with a focused expression placed on his face.

As Samuel Robinson entered the ring, the size of the man was more apparent than ever as he could feel the pale floor of the ring shake with the man's dense steps.

"You ate your vegetables as a kid, didn't you?" Touma said playfully, hopping in place to warm his body up.

Samuel only stared him down with a glare that could kill, cracking his neck side-to-side as an orchestra of joints popping sounded out. With the crowd roaring out in anticipation, stage lights shined down in a rainbow of colors before vanishing, leaving only one source of lumination focusing on the arena itself.

The rough-looking tower of muscle stood in his corner, staring him down with the mean, verdant glare with his hands down at his sides. He stayed cool with a confident smile, practicing some jabs in his corner to get his blood pumping.

"This doesn't look like a fair match at all…"

"Yeah, weight classes exist for a reason, don't they?"

"This is the Celestial Fist we're talking about! Weight classes are for amateurs! This is for the best of the best!"

"Go, small guy!"

"Gettem, Little Daigo!"

Though there seemed to be a lot of crowd cheers in his favor now, it wasn't due to any reason that made him happy as he lightly chuckled to himself.

"...I appreciate the sentiment, but you don't have to call me 'small guy'..." Touma mumbled to himself.

[Begin!]