GIOVANNI

A man in a white suit walked up to where the bodies had been kept. White sheets were placed on them. He knelt down beside one, ignoring the stench of rotting corpses, and lifted it, looking down at the body underneath. A look of horror was frozen on Gaston's face.

"Mr. Giovanni, sir, please calm down," one of his attendants said. A strong aura came off Giovanni, causing the walls on either side of the room to crack.

"How come I'm only being informed of this now?" he asked calmly.

"We just found the bodies an hour ago in that state. We don't know what beast could do that to a person."

Giovanni appeared in front of her and lifted her by the throat.

"Excuses are not going to bring my elder brother back," he said, saliva dripping down the side of his mouth and his eyes blazing in rage. Then it occurred to him. Memories of his brother ranting about a lowborn nobody humiliating him entered his mind.

"I see," he said, lowering the girl.

"I lost my composure. Forgive me," he said.

"No, it's fine, sir," she said, getting up. "It's my fault for being lax about security. I promise to find out what killed these men."

"No need," Giovanni said.

"Sir?"

Giovanni walked to his brother's corpse and looked down at it for a few seconds before kicking it to the end of the room, where it hit the wall and burst.

The attendant covered her mouth in shock.

"Oh, Gaston. My loving yet stupid brother. You were a hotheaded fool who had a bowl of crap where his brain should've," Giovanni said.

"Sir?" the attendant said, concerned.

"Atari Kojo."

"Huh?"

"My brother and the members of his party were killed by the player known as Atari Kojo," Giovanni said.

"How can you be so sure?" the girl asked.

"Atari is a young man who's relatively new in the scene. He's been here for, like, what? A few months? And yet he's accomplished more than veteran raiders, getting the acknowledgment of the raid chief and the Duke himself. I haven't had the chance to talk to him, but I've seen him from a distance. He's quite the handsome fellow and always surrounded by those ladies.

Gaston came to me one day, telling me how Atari and his friends humiliated him and how he wanted revenge. Atari's showings in the tournament just prove what I told him. That the kid's too strong, so he should give up. But alas, my foolish brother went ahead with his plans. I sensed a strange magic barrier had been put up but couldn't stop the match at the time because of the non-interference rule," he turned to face the attendant.

"My brother's the one who rigged the match so Atari would die, yet he somehow managed to win, so he and the members of his party decided to ambush him here, only to find that the frail and weak-looking lamb was actually a wolf in sheep's clothing."

"What are you going to do about it, sir?" the attendant asked.

"Hmm, good question. Well, Gaston did die out of his own foolishness, but," his eyes began to blaze again, "however foolish he may have been, he was still my elder brother. He sacrificed so much so I could rise in rank, opting to stay stagnant so I could spread my wings and soar. This just got personal. I'm gonna kill that bastard!!!" he yelled, releasing a powerful aura that shook the room.

"Calm down, sir, you're going to tear this place down," his attendant pleaded.

"It'd be in your best interest to listen to the young lady," a cloaked figure appeared.

"Who are you?" Giovanni said in a menacing voice.

"Oh, no one in particular. I was just passing by and happened to overhear you talking about killing Atari Kojo," he said casually.

"Well, what of it?" Giovanni asked.

"I'd like to assist you in your endeavor," he said.

"Why would you go out of your way to 'assist' me?" Giovanni asked.

"The future is full of uncertainty, and I am a man who uses that uncertainty to ensure that things turn out the way I design. Atari Kojo, however, is a hindrance to my plans, and I must do away with all unwanted variables.

That anti-magic barrier, for one, was a means to ensure his, if you will, elimination. But he's quite tenacious."

"Oh, so you're the one who put that barrier up?" Giovanni asked.

"Indeed, I did."

"And are you in any way connected to Gaston's death?" Giovanni clenched his fist, his aura's intensity increasing a bit. The hooded man stood silent for a moment.

"I was there when he was being murdered," he said.

"What?" Giovanni said, surprised.

"Atari, even in a weakened state, is a ruthless beast that must be put down. I do not believe in coincidence. Your brother's attempt to kill Atari just as my plans of eliminating him was fate. It's too bad that it was an uncertainty. If I had known, I would have ensured his survival." He walked up to Giovanni and put a hand on his shoulder.

"In his final moment, your brother called your name. He said he was sorry for putting a stain on your name."

"If you were there, why didn't you save him?" Giovanni asked.

"Atari, even in a weakened state, is a beast. I would have surely taken him on and rid the world of him if I were capable, instead of relying on underhanded tactics such as anti-magic."

Giovanni's aura disappeared.

"Alright, I'll work with you," Giovanni said.

"Excellent," the hooded man said.

"But I'll need to know your name," Giovanni said.

"Call me Cyranius," the man said.

"Alright, Cyranius, I'll work with you to bring down our common enemy." He extended his hand. Cyranius took it, and they shook hands.

Cyranius smiled under his hood. "All too easy," he thought.

"How do you propose we go about killing Atari? What happened here simply proves that he's going to be extremely hard to eliminate," Giovanni said.

"Don't worry, my associate here will take care of it," Cyranius said, looking back. "Won't you, Jattara?" A woman in a ragged cloak stepped out of the shadows. She had a black mouth guard covering the lower half of her face from her nose to her chin.

"I know you'd want to kill him yourself, but to avoid arousing suspicion, let her take care of it. You'll find that she possesses skills that are most suitable for the job."

"I am an assassin, after all," Jattara said.

"Very well, then. I leave this operation to you. Put him down, and I'll reward you handsomely," Giovanni said. He then turned to his assistant.

"Come now, Alicia, let's go."

"Right," she said, hurriedly following behind him.

"So tell me, Rey, how far with the tournament?" Kojo asked as the girls fed him.

"After your fight, Sasha beat Dexin, Polaris beat Newtt, Ohmar and Nard killed each other, and Jattara beat Zax," Rey responded.

"I don't remember who any of them are, but it's cool." Kojo took another bite.

"Why'd you ask if you didn't remember who they were?!" Reynolds yelled.

"Anyway, Jattara beat Polaris just yesterday, and with how far the games have gone on with you out of commission, you're in the finals," Rey said.

"Forget about the tournament for now and get some rest," Sharone said, feeding him the last bit of pudding.

"She's right," Koniko agreed. "Get some rest. Don't worry, we'll take care of you," she said, leaning towards him. Kojo smiled, looking at her cleavage. He suddenly felt a jolt and pushed her off the bed, instinctively calling out his sword and standing on the bed, swinging the sword to block an attack from Yukio, who suddenly appeared in the room, shaking it and knocking everyone else back.

"Even like this, you're still tough," Yukio said.