The Final Round

And so, time and time again, one week after the previous round ended, the Chairman calls all of us Junior Slayers back to the first arena one final time, this time, to announce who will be fighting in the final round of the NYIC. Every single person in the arena, junior Slayers, senior Slayers, and audience members alike, everyone is nervous as hell.

"Welcome all, to the final round of the New York Interborough Competition!" The Chairman boomed into his mic. The crowd goes crazy, cartier than I've ever seen them during the competition. "Today, I will announce the chosen eight competitors who will be fighting in the final round, as well as their match ups. These eight competitors were chosen based on my decisions as well as the decision of the entire staff who took part in this competition. We chose these eight based on who showed the most strength, potential, intelligence, and teamwork in this competition. And who knows! Maybe… whoever wins the final round receives a promotion?!" This time, all of the competitors go crazy.

"I…I'm sure I didn't make it…" Ella stammers.

"Don't doubt yourself! I bet we all made it!" Jamie exclaims.

"Speak for yourself…" I grumble.

"There's no way that I didn't make it, not after my fight against Nick!" Grover cheers. After we told Grover how the audience was cheering for him, he's gotten quite the big head.

"The final round of the tournament is just one on one combat, so it doesn't matter too much to me if I don't make it," Austin adds.

Mikey is silent. He's probably too busy thinking about how sure he is that he made it in.

Do I think that I'll be in the final round? Eh, probably not. Not that I care though, or want to be in the final round. I'm alright just resting and watching Grover or whoever fight. I've had impressive victories and impressive losses during my time in the competition. It's not like I need to be in the final round or need the fame, either, unlike someone like Grover. As long as I'm strong enough that the people around me don't die, I'm happy. And winning competitions is not a part of that.

So then why do I feel so nervous?

"Now, I will read out the names of the eight Junior Slayers who will be partaking in the final round," the Chairman coniutes, and instantly, everyone goes silent. The Chairman reaches into the folds of his suit jacket and pulls out a small notebook. I feel a chill run up and down my spine when he does so. The Chairman opens his notebook and flips to a certain page. And after clearing his throat, the Chairman begins reading.

"August," the Chairman announces.

"Of course he's first…" I grumble.

"Slayer Kaen," the Chairman continues, causing Mikey to perk up.

"Figures," he grunts.

"Mikey is before me…" I hear Jamie mutter.

"Winter," the Chairman booms.

"I'm not surprised, she was strong…" Ella shudders.

"And, the Chairman's pet," Austin adds.

"Slayer Midori," the Chairman unenthusiastically continues, causing Grover to jump up and throw his fists into the air.

"AW YEAH, KNEW IT!" He cheers.

"Then why are you celebrating?" Mikey grumbles.

"Slayer Yajiri," the Chairman continues.

"Ah, Ralph! My trusty second in command!" Grover exclaims.

"Not too surprised by that," I add.

"Slayer Jishaku," the Chairman announces.

"Oh, Mercury! Nice!" Jamie chimes in.

"Slayer Kanpeki," the Chairman continues.

"Oh, hey, Astra, right?" I ask. "The girl who can see into the future."

"Come on…come on…just one spot left!" Jamie pleads.

"And finally…Slayer Fūjin!" The Chairman finishes.

Huh?

My eyes widen. "Wait, what?! Me?! No, there's got to be a mistake!" I cry. "I'm not-" but Mikey cuts me off.

"Take your spot like a man," he orders.

"Hey, you're in it with me, buddy!" Grover exclaims as he slings an arm around my shoulder. "You versus me in the final round, what do ya' say?!"

Still in shock, I turn to face Jamie and Austin. Austin crosses his arms and turns away from the Chairman, pretending not to care. Jamie is staring at the ground in distress, quivering.

"Guys, I-" I begin to say, but then I realize that I have no words. What do I say to these two? After I took their chance for glory away from them. "I'm sorry," I finally manage to croak out.

"Why are you apologizing…" Jamie mutters. Jamie then turns up to face me, wiping the tears from the corners of her eyes. "Don't apologize! You were better than me, and that's that! You better get used to it now, because it won't happen again! Next year I'm kicking your ass!" Jamie booms with a confident scowl.

"Luis, Grover, if one of you two don't win the tournament, I'm going to be seriously pissed off," Austin smirks as he turns to face us.

And so, my frown curls up into a smirk as well.

"Well don't you worry, because I'm going to win!" Grover exclaims. "And Luis …you can be second!"

"Right!" I reply with a small laugh.

"Congrats, you two!" Ella chimes in.

"And now, we will use a random selection to determine the matches!" The Chairman announces, and we all look up to face the scoreboard. Looking on screen in a tournament-style bracket, I can see the matches.

"Match number one: Slayer Fūjin vs Slayer Yajiri!" The Chairman announces.

"Oh crap, I'm fighting Ralph?" I ask. We faced him in the first round, but I didn't really get a chance to fight him.

"Match number two: August vs Slayer Kaen," the Chairman continues.

My eyes widen as I turn to face Mikey. "So if we both win our first matches-" I begin to say.

"Then we'll face each other in the semi-finals," Mikey finishes, as if he had read my mind.

How long ago has it been since we fought? Like a year already? Jeez. Since then, we've both fought countless strong opponents and watched each other develop new techniques. We both fought against Daniel and we've even teamed up to defeat King, with Nick's help, of course.

But since that day, we haven't traded a single blow.

"Match number three: Winter vs Slayer Mirai," the Chairman continues.

"Oh jeez, so the "number one rookie" is up against her?" Jamie sighs.

"And finally, Slayer Midori vs Slayer Jishaku," the Chairman finishes.

"Normally I hate to be last, but with Luis first, this will be good! Gives us a good chance of facing each other in the finals!" Grover exclaims.

"Take the rest of the day and tomorrow to prepare, the fights will begin after that!" The Chairman contours. The first match will take place in the first arena, the second match in the second, so on and so forth! Good luck to all, and see you in a few days!" The Chairman booms.

"Alright, time to go prepare! Austin, you're helping me!" Grover orders.

"Uhh…okay," Austin replies.

I turn to face MIkey and open my mouth to speak, but before I can say anything, Mikey turns around and walks away.

***

"Alright, Luis, you've got this!"

Currently, it's the day after the day after the Chairman announced the competitors for the final round of the tournament, and right now, through the hallway towards the first arena, that one that I'm supposed to be fighting on, attempting to amp myself up. But it's no use. I'm scared. Why do I have to be in arena one, it's the biggest arena! When people don't know who's fighting, they're just going to flock to arena one! Whatever, it's not like Ralph and I are the stars of this show, that's Mikey, Grover, August, and Winter, so I'm sure their fights are going to be packed. Speaking of which, Jamie and Austin have gone to watch Grover's fight, which I'm not surprised. At least I have Ella and Nick in my court. No one's watching Mikey, of course. Speaking of which, my pep-talk to myself is interrupted when I see a certain spiky-haired Pyromaniac standing in the hallway ahead of me, causing me to halt in my tracks.

"Mikey?!" I cry. "What are you doing here, you should be at your fight!"

"I'm going in a second, but first, I need to talk to you," Mikey replies.

Talk. Mikey and I haven't had a real conversation other than insults and grunts since that night in my room, after Mikey promised to kill me. Things have been awkward between the two of us ever since I "became" a demon, as you've been able to see.

The two of us stare at each other for a while. Time feels as if it was frozen and Mikey and I are the only two in the world. This feels just like that time back in my room after my fight against Daniel a few months ago.

After a while of silence, I finally decide to speak. "I know what you're going to say, so spare me the trouble," I begin to say. "I'm not worthy of being in the top eight, how dare I stand where you stand, blah blah blah." I continue walking to my fight, but Mikey stops me. Mikey takes a deep breath in…then out.