Success and Victory

I fell face-first on the ground through an open doorway as a heavy metal press smashed into the ground behind me. I was out of breath as I struggled to push myself to my knees. These traps were starting to get on my nerves.

"Great job dodging that one!" Kura, the ghost waifu, happily chirped while floating over my head. I didn't have the energy to retort. Instead, I stood up and began my walk down the hallway.

I hobbled my way to the next doorway and stopped. I swallowed and leaned out through the open passage. The hallway beyond the door turned 90 degrees and went down a long staircase. I was unable to see the bottom, but I'm sure it would lead to trouble. I pressed my back against the wall and slid down to a seated position.

"Just take a moment to rest...." I muttered.

"You're talking to yourself again."

"I don't want to hear anything from you...."

Kura shrugged and floated into the hallway that was my next destination. She was gone a moment. I could only presume that she was checking out what was coming up on this adventure we had found ourselves in.

The ghost waifu came flying back in a rush.

"Tai! Tai!" she happily yelled to me.

"What is it? I'm trying to rest here."

The waifus they are in the room just down the stairs!" She was practically yelling.

Kura didn't have to tell me twice. I jumped up to my feet and began my descent down the stairs. Not too long after I faded into darkness, I found myself reaching a large metal door. It felt cold to the touch, and I could see the light from beyond the cracks between it and the wall. I pushed the door open with all my might.

It swung surprisingly well. Before I could stop it, the door escaped my grip and made a loud clang against the wall. The sound echoed across the room, capturing the attention of everyone in it.

The room was a large open space with several desks laid out. It looked as one would expect any workplace to look; each desk was arranged with a computer and monitor. There were some fake plants set against the wall next to a water cooler and promotional posters for Waifu Labs plastered on some of the walls. There were two other metal doors on the walls adjacent to the one we had come through.

At the opposite wall of the room where we stood, one desk was turned perpendicular compared to the others. In the chair of that desk sat Marigold. She had rope tying her to the chair but otherwise looked perfectly fine. Next to her stood Vicky, who glared at me upon my entry, and a waifu I hadn't seen before.

The new waifu wore a black shirt and pants that were partially covered by a pure white lab coat. She had tangled brown hair with a pair of large round glasses on her face. On top of her head, she wore large safety glasses that looked just slightly big enough to cover her already giant glasses. This waifu turned away from us by looking at her feet.

"You sure are a glutton for punishment, coming down here. Although, it looks like you already got beat up on the way here," Vicky shouted across the room to us.

She was probably right. I had to imagine I looked terrible after my run-in with all those traps.

"There were a few traps, but nothing I couldn't handle," I shouted back.

"What are you talking about? You were cursing those deadly traps not that long ago," Kura unnecessarily interjected.

"Deadly!" the waifu in a labcoat exclaimed. She turned to a computer on the desk that Marigold sat behind and began typing. Only the sound of her fingers banging the keys echoed through the room for a moment. She gasped and put her hand to her mouth. "Oh no, I accidentally turned on the traps with an 80% survival rate!"

"What, what if some random people wandered down here!" Vicky shouted.

"I'm really sorry!" The labcoat waifu said to us with a polite bow before frantically typing on the computer.

Vicky just put her hand to her forehead and shook her head.

"So, are you willing to give Marigold back?" I decided to change the subject.

Vicky began to chuckle and flashed a smile at me.

"Sorry, but since you came all this way, I'll be having you join her."

She was across the room in the blink of an eye. A few loose papers from the desks that she passed were violently thrown in the air as she was suddenly standing in front of me and towering over me. I looked up at the intimidating vampire waifu as she gently but firmly put her hand on my shoulder.

I turned to Kura and made a pleading look for help; she just shook her head while throwing her hands up in the air. I wish my Dad had sent a better waifu....

"Any chance you could-" I started to say, but I was cut off. Vicky scooped me up and began to carry me across the room to the desk in her arms.

"Let him go!" Kura said while frantically flying around Vicky. The vampire tried to bat the ghost away, but her hand harmlessly passed through her. To do so, she released one arm from me. I didn't waste any time. I began to struggle until I was released from her grip. I fell to the floor and broke out into a sprint across the room. Kura continued to float around Vicky's head like an annoying fly.

I found myself diving behind a desk and peering out at the tall vampire. She was still swinging at Kura, but she was slowly making her way to me.

I had to think. I had been forced to binge a whole show with her character at Tanaka-san's house just before the tournament arc. Surely there was something in there that I could use to win this fight? At the very least, I needed something to let me get away from here.

She was a vampire with all the typical attributes of one. She sucks blood, has inhumane strength, hates garlic, etc. She could also use magic where she manipulated her blood into weapons. Though, I probably wouldn't have to worry about her using such measures against someone like me.

As I lacked garlic, I didn't have a counter to her vampiric abilities. Perhaps there was something in her personality? She was usually a stoic badass type character; she liked cute things but wouldn't show it; however, she did get shy around lewd things.

"Is this what Tanaka-san feels like knowing about waifus?" I said aloud as I pressed the on button for the computer at the desk I was currently hiding behind.

I was going to take a gamble. Please let this be the one computer where the employee downloaded inappropriate stuff!

The computer booted up in no time, and there was no password to get in. I was lucky. The wallpaper came up... and I saw a family picture of some kind. It was a husband and wife with two kids. There was text at the top that said, 'I love my family.' I didn't give up. I opened up the files and began frantically clicking on anything that didn't look work-related. There were family trip photos, wedding photos, pet photos, etc.

I banged on the desk.

"Damn, It's wholesome."

"What exactly are you trying to do?" Vicky was standing next to the desk, looking down at me. Kura was still trying to get her attention, but she was now being ignored.

I grabbed a stapler off the desk and chucked it at Vicky as I sprinted in the opposite direction. I think I heard it make contact, but it was not going to hurt her in any way. All I could do was run.

I found myself running into a person. I stopped suddenly and took a couple of steps back. Vicky had gotten in front of me in a flash. She just shook her head disapprovingly.

"Just stop resisting and give up. I'm only going to tie you up." She didn't give me much of an option, and before I knew it, I was lifted off the ground again. Kura tried to get Vicky's attention again, but this time it didn't work.

"Hey, let him go. If I could make physical contact, I'd give you the old one-two," she yelled at the vampire.

"Chemist-chan, can you do something about this gnat," Vicky yelled to the other waifu.

"Yes, I just finished the code." The waifu made an exaggerated press on the enter key. Kura suddenly crashed into an invisible wall.

"Hey, what is this!" she shouted as she banged against the wall. She tried to go around but found herself colliding with other walls until it was clear that she had been contained in a cube.

"The barrier system, we made a small cube around where you were floating," Chemist-chan shyly explained to the desk she stood at.

"How did you get the ability to create a barrier!" the ghost waifu exclaimed.

"None of your concern," the vampire said.

I felt flopped onto the desk in front of Marigold. Vicky's hand kept me from getting up or sliding off by pressing firmly on my chest.

"Why did you come here?" the blonde Waifu Service member asked with a concerned look.

"I came with Kioshi to save you?"

"Why did you say it like a question?"

"Enough with your banter! Chemist-chan, get me some rope!"

"Ah, right away!"

The waifu in a labcoat began to open the desk drawers in the desk I was lying on. She frantically opened and closed each door until she found the rope in the final drawer.

Just as Chemist-chan was about to hand the rope to Vicky, the sound of a banging door came from one of the sides of the room. We all turned our heads to the source of the sound.

Estouls was standing awkwardly in the doorway, looking at the situation in front of him.

"Don't you people know how to open a door without slamming it into the wall?" Vicky said solemnly while shaking her head. Estouls wasted no breath before his lance and shield appeared in his hands.

"Sorry to disappoint you..." he paused to think a moment, "Tai-kun, is there something cool I could say right now?"

"Just help us!" I shouted back.

Another bang came from the door behind us. We turned to see that Kioshi had come through the last entry.

"Ah, Kioshi! I was wondering where you got to!" Estouls chirped. Kioshi didn't respond. Instead, he rolled back his sleeves, and the armor underneath began to hum for a few seconds. It sounded soft from where I was, but I still heard it from halfway across the room with no problem.

Vicky let go of me and began walking to Estouls.

"Chemist-chan, you take care of the other one."

"eh, eh! But Vicky-"

"No buts! I won't be able to fight them both."

Chemist-chan let her head hang down for a moment. Then she took a deep breath and looked up at Kioshi. She awkwardly strode across the room; it looked like she was trying to step with confidence but instead came across as clunky until she was about a meter from him.

"I have to warn you; I am very dangerous," she said to the waifu service member.

Kioshi leaned over so that he could see Marigold and me.

I will take care of her quickly, hold on, you two, the note he held up said.

"Hey! Are you underestimating me!" Chemist-chan was suddenly fired up. She reached into her lab coat. Kioshi became on guard and took a slight step back.

The labcoat waifu suddenly poured a liquid all over the floor in front of Kioshi. He took a full step back to avoid getting wet. The liquid spread across the floor, forming a broad line between the two. When she was done, she tossed aside a small lab beaker. It smashed on the floor and dissolved into particles of light. Chemist-chan put her hands on her hips.

"How do you like that? I just coated the floor with a mixture of hydrocarbons, it is highly viscous, so if you try to walk over here, you are bound to slip!" she proudly declared.

Kioshi jumped over the liquid and landed next to Chemist-chan. He gently patted her head and began walking over to us. Chemist-chan puffed out her cheeks while making a frown. She waved her hand, and the liquid on the floor suddenly flew up into the air and collected into a spherical, swirling shape.

The sphere shot at Kioshi while changing into a serpentine shape. Kioshi ducked as the attack flew over his head. The liquid snaked around and continued to attempt striking at Kioshi. The Waifu Service kept dodging each attack as they narrowly missed him.

Meanwhile, Vicky had begun to attack Estouls. She smashed her fist into the ground where he had just been standing. Estouls attempted to strike her with his lance before she was able to move her fist. He tried to, but she grabbed the lance with her other hand as she slowly stood up.

"Nice try, but it's going to take more than that to defeat me."

"I still have a few tricks left."

Estouls let go of his lance and ran in for a tackle, except he held his shield up for the strike. Vicky let go and tried to back up, but the pink-haired husbando was able to close the distance in a flash. He slammed into the vampire before the lance was anywhere close to hitting the ground.

She bounced off the shield and went flying into the wall. She slammed into it and slid down into a seated position, with swirls in her eyes.

Chemist-chan continued to strike at Kioshi.

"Ah, come on. Just let me hit you!"

That seems like a bad idea.

"When do you write all those notes!"

Who can say.

The two opponents were engaged in a conversation as Chemist-chan continued her attacks. Estouls' lance flying across the room ended it.

The lance was on a course to fly past Kioshi and directly hit Chemist-chan. She let out a cry but didn't flinch. Instead, she flipped open her lab coat so that it swayed in the air. Reaching into the space under the coat, she produced two beakers that she chucked at the lance. The beakers shattered while flying through the air, leaving their liquids behind. The liquids began to combine as they reached the lance.

Suddenly they exploded. The blast was enough to knock Kioshi down and shake the rest of the room. Estouls' spear harmlessly fell to the floor as a burnt crisp.

Chemist-chan made a motion like she was wiping sweat from her forehead.

"That sure was close," she said.

I took a survey of the room. Kioshi was down for the count. Estouls was standing with a shock with his hand still outstretched from throwing the spear. Some of the desks where the explosion had occurred were ruined, and my ears were ringing.

Behind Chemist-chan, the liquid she had been attacking Kioshi with had collected back into a sphere.

The labcoat waifu spun around exaggeratedly, her lab coat flapping in the air behind her as she moved. She pulled out a match and ignited it. The liquid caught fire as soon as the match touched it.

She looked back to Estouls and pointed to him. The ball of fire took off with aim at the pink-haired husbando.

Estouls held up his shield to block it. The flame almost appeared like it was sucked into the shield. The gem glowed a red light before fading in color. Both Estouls and Chemist-chan looked at the shield in surprise.

"Tai-kun! I'll hold her off; you need to escape!" Estouls yelled as he began to run across the room at his opponent. He didn't have to tell me twice. I slid off the desk and began to fiddle with the rope holding Marigold.

We had to be quick about it; I knew for a fact they still had Kaeru somewhere. She was probably the most trouble of all of them.

Marigold's ropes came undone easily, at least. I saw them drop down to the floor, and she was quickly up.

"Get out of here as fast as you can," she said to me before running over to Kioshi. She began to shake him to bring him back to consciences.

"Don't forget about me!" Kura yelled from her invisible cube in the middle of the room.

"I won't; just give me a minute!" I shouted back.

I had completely forgotten about her until she said something.

I started to type on the computer that Chemist-chan had used to trap her. The screen lit up with an odd application I had never seen before. There were a number of gages and sliders. In the bottom right of the screen, a cube was showing. I started clicking and frantically typing. The cube in the screen suddenly turned into a sphere and compressed.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

I turned to Kura, who had shouted. She was contorted in a form that could not be comfortable as she was contained in what was apparently an invisible sphere now.

I looked back at the computer. I had no idea how to run this software. I could try messing around in it more and risk crushing the ghost waifu, or I could try something else. Can ghosts even be crushed? I probably shouldn't risk it.

There was only one thing I felt confident in taking a risk in. The one method for any computer issue, at least as much as I had been told.

I opened the computer's control window and clicked restart. The computer went to a screen with a spinning wheel before going black. After a moment, it began to boot back up.

Kura suddenly flew up behind me and tried to smack me in the back. It phased right through.

"Way to go! I was about to get a cramp in my back if I had to stay like that any longer."

"Do ghosts even get back cramps?"

She might have replied, but I ignored it. Across the room, Chemist-chan was slowly backing away from Estouls.

"If you don't want to fight me, could you at least tell me what you are planning here?" Estouls asked her. She didn't reply. Instead, she reached into her lab coat and created a sphere of a transparent liquid from a beaker. The liquid stretched into a long-pointed shape.

"Dihydrogen monoxide spear!" she shouted as the attack shot at Estouls.

With a sigh, Estouls batted the attack away with a swing of his shield. The liquid's form fell apart and was sucked into the shield as he swung his arm through the air.

Chemist-chan fell to her knees. Estouls awkwardly rubbed his hand on the back of his head as he looked at me.

"I think we won, but what should we do?"

I shrugged. Sure, we won, but with Kioshi out cold, we didn't have anyone who could restrain them. Vicky would have to be carried at this rate, and I'm sure she wouldn't be cooperative if she woke up.

"Looks like you are in a dilemma," a new voice said. Shards of colored glass appeared in the room and began to assemble in a form. It took the shape of a person; then, two wings appeared on the back. An angel form suddenly became clear from the constructed stained glass then with a flap of her wings; the stained-glass effect disappeared in a particle effect burst. She landed on the ground and turned to me.

She had large white, feathered wings, and a robe-like dress. White hair flowed down to her wings, and she wore a bright yellow gaucho hat.

"Jefischa!" Chemist-chan cried out. Estouls held up his shield as if he was ready for a strike. Kioshi finally woke up as well and slowly sat up. He rubbed his eyes before taking a look at the new opponent.

The angel surveyed the room and sighed.

"I guess we will have to change our base, no matter."

She didn't give us a chance to reply. Suddenly, her form took a glassy look and shattered. Chemist-chan and Vicky followed suit. The shards disappeared, and all our opponents were gone.

"They got away...." Marigold said quietly. 

The walkout of the underground was relatively uneventful. Compared to how difficult it was to get to that room, it was a walk in the park to leave. We disabled all the traps and used my map to find our way back to the elevator.

It wasn't until we had all stepped in, save for Kura, who floated, that anyone said anything.

"Ah, this is going to be so much paperwork!" Marigold exclaimed.

"Shouldn't you be worried about letting those waifus escape?" Estouls asked.

"Don't worry, Kioshi is already doing enough worrying for the two of us."

Kioshi gave a silent nod of agreement.

I sighed and relaxed my shoulders. At least it was over. The two waifu service members would make sure that the rogue waifus were found and addressed. I had nothing to do with it anymore. Now I could address something else that was pressing me.

"Estouls, why are you hiding behind me?"

He had quickly slid behind me and only leaned out enough to look at us if he wanted to say something.

"Do I even have to say it? The ghost!"

He pointed to Kura. She made an evil smile.

"Kura, don't!" I said firmly before she did anything. She crossed her arms and looked away disappointingly. I'm not sure what she had in mind, but I know it was not anything I would want to deal with while trapped in this elevator.

We stood in silence until the elevator finally came to a halt and the door opened with a beep.

What awaited us was quite a sight. A platoon of security officers was waiting in the hallway. They all, or at least the ones I could see in the front row, were wearing a weaker type of armor that Kioshi wore.

What was even more surprising was the one who paced back and forth in front of the group. Shin-san, who was decked out in similar security gear minus the armor, gave a pep talk of sorts to the group.

"Thank you for getting together so quickly. To be honest, I was worried that you wouldn't believe what I had to say," he said as he paced. The other crowd members gave each other confused looks as if to ask, 'who is this kid?'.

"Now, I know many of you may be afraid. Honestly, I am as well, but we must put that fear aside, for our close friends are trapped down in the depths of this arena. They are trapped down there with the enemy, and we must charge in to save them."

At this point, the platoon had noticed that we were awkwardly standing in the open elevator while Shin-san gave his passionate speech. However, they didn't make any attempt to stop him as he continued.

"The day may come when our friends are trapped with an opponent they struggle to best, and no matter what we try, we cannot get to them. But today is not that day. Today we fight to rescue them!" Shin-san made a motion for the crowd to cheer along with him. They didn't respond as he finally turned to the open elevator.

Shin-san's face turned red when he saw us standing at the door. Marigold made a friendly wave to him as we stepped out of the elevator. He looked down at the ground for a moment before looking back up at us with a smile.

"Tai-san! I was just telling everyone here about how well you were taking on those waifus!"

"No, he wasn't! He was worried sick!" Someone from the back of the platoon yelled out.

"Shut up, Akira, no one asked you," Shin-san snapped back.

The platoon chuckled.

"Anyway, it's good to see you both are okay." Another member of the platoon said while stepping forward to greet Marigold and Kioshi.

"Yes, we had quite an ordeal. Now... I need to make a report on it...."

I will start working on the way to track down those waifus that got away.

"Yes, that's fine, Kioshi. Since we have the whole group together, you might as well take them," Marigold said with a sigh. Then, she turned to Shin-san. "Thank you for getting this group together; you're partnered with that troublem- ahem, Junkers Ju 88, correct?"

"Yes, I am."

"I thought so; I will properly thank you later. Also, Tai Juyo, that was reckless, but thanks for helping me."

"Don't mention it."

"Well, I should be off," Marigold said with a wave as she began to walk away. The platoon dispersed as well, half went with her, and the other half went with Kioshi. Only a few of us were left in the hallway.

"I don't see that ghost now. Is it safe?" Estouls said as he cautiously began to step away from me.

"Wait, what ghost?" Shin-san asked as he began to look around. Kura had disappeared somewhere, so it was only the three of us in the hallway.

"I'll fill you in later. We need to get back before our next match." I said.

Shin-san stared at me blankly for a moment.

"Tai-kun, that match has been over for about an hour now...."

I stared at Shin-san blankly for a moment.

"What! What happened?"

"Well, you weren't there, so they fought in the match."

"Did we win?"

Shin-san smiled at me.

"We did," he confirmed.

I let out a deep breath as relief washed over me. I was worried that we had lost—still, a whole hour past the match, I had not realized. I had not realized how long we were down there.

"I need to go apologize to Milady."

"Let's go catch up to the others. They were getting ready to join our group in the search to find you," Shin-san said as he began to walk away. Estouls and I followed him.

Sure enough, the others were dressed up in the same security uniforms Shin-san had found himself in. It was astonishing that security gave those away so freely.

We finally caught up to the rest of them as they slowly and dramatically walked to the hallway where we had come up from. It was from left to right: Trash-chan, my sister, Tanaka-san, Raphine, Junkers, and Osana-chan.

"Main-kun!" Trash-chan broke away from the rest of them

"Big brother!" My sister followed suit.

"Shin-kun!" Junkers did as well.

"Estouls!" Osana-chan was the last to start sprinting, but she was the first to reach our trio as we walked their way from down the hall. "You dummy, how could you go on an adventure with Tai-kun and not have me come along!" she yelled once she reached us.

"Sorry, milady, it was a spontaneous thing."

"Hmpf," was all she responded with as she crossed her arms and turned away.

The others caught up with us, and we began a lively exchange of stories of what we had been through. The tournament for the day soon ended, and we went home without a care in the world.

That is until Tanaka-san pulled me aside.

"With everything that happened, you didn't see our match for tomorrow."

"No, I did not, is there something I should know?"

"We have one match scheduled for tomorrow; our opponents are Amplifier...." He trailed off without finishing his sentence, but I understood what he was saying. Our next match was against my mother's team, and the bet was for whichever team lost in the tournament first to be declared the losers.

I sighed and thanked Tanaka-san for letting me know. He just nodded before going his separate way.

The night was long. I tried not to worry about the coming battle, but I still laid awake and stared at the ceiling for who knows how long. Eventually, I fell asleep, but I had a strong desire not to get out of bed upon waking. If not for Trash-chan barging in and pulling me out of bed, I might not have gotten up for several more hours.

I was in a hazy state for most of the morning until I finally found myself alert enough. I yawed as I looked around. We had already walked to the arena, but I didn't remember most of the walk until this point.

"Come on, Main-kun, let's look around at the shops!"

"You go ahead; I'm going to get a coffee and head to the pod."

I parted ways with Trash-chan and found my way to the pod. It was still early enough before our match that no one else was there. I sat down and took a sip of the coffee.

"You seem tired today," the voice of a particular ghost waifu said to me.

"Hello, Kura. I'm too tired to talk right now."

"You say that, but here we are talking right now. Anyway, aren't you worried about those waifus that got away yesterday?"

"I'm sure that large security force was able to take care of it," I said as I took another sip of coffee.

"Hmm, if you say so. Well, I did some thinking about what your dad said about that key."

"Let me guess; we need to go on a treasure hunt to find it."

"No... we need to go on a treasure-finding quest!"

I ignored the specter and took another sip of my coffee. She flew in front of my face and made a frown while crossing her arms.

"Can't you just go to where my dad is and ask him for clearer instructions?"

"No can do, they'll catch me the next time I go to see him."

She spoke in an unclear way, and I didn't have the energy to get more details. I decided to let it go and finished my coffee in one last go.

"We have a serious fight today. Once that is over with, I will help you find that key or whatever," I told the ghost.

"Oh, good to hear! Well, I will look around today and see if I can find any clues!" she phased through the floor before I could respond. I let out a deep breath and leaned back on the couch. It was comfortable enough that I could almost fall asleep. Perhaps I should have gotten more than one coffee.

Someone barging through the door kept me from drifting off.

"Juyo-san, good morning!" Tanaka-san slapped me in the back.

"You seem to be in good spirits this morning, Main-kun." Raphine joined in and slapped me on the back as well.

"You two are in better spirits than I am," I said in a groggy tone.

They ignored me and plopped on the couch. I think they started discussing Raphine's bow and arrows, but I wasn't too sure. I had already begun to drift off.

The next thing I knew, my shoulder was being shaken.

"Main-kun, Main-kun," the familiar voice of a green-haired waifu sought to bring me out of my sleep. I shrugged her off. That only made her more motivated. I felt the whole couch shake like I was experiencing an earthquake. I was standing in a flash. A small chuckle caught my attention as I realize I was no longer shaking.

Osana-chan was in the corner chuckling, Shin-san was shaking his head, and Trash-chan gave me a disappointed look.

"You slept all morning, Main-kun!"

"Sorry about that." I rubbed the back of my head and looked away.

"Don't worry about it, Juyo-san, the match is going to start soon," Tanaka-san said.

"What? When did that...."

"You were asleep, Main-kun! Everyone else left already!" Trash-chan sounded angry, but she didn't look like she was that upset.

"Sorry about that... go get 'em," I gave a weak apology and cheer. She smiled.

"Let's win this thing!" she cried out. The others cheered with her. I did my best to cheer as well before Trash-chan ran out of the door.

It wasn't long before our match was ready to start. If anything, Trash-chan was pushing it a little, having waited so long before leaving. I guess that was my fault for sleeping so long.

At this point, I was wide awake and ready to watch this fight. I sat down on the couch and stared at the arena.

"We need to figure out who we will send in first," Shin-san said while sitting down next to me. He was looking at his phone, and on the screen, I could see Button, the rabbit-girl. He swiped to Hally's profile next.

"I watched some recordings of their last matches; they usually send in Button first as an opener."

"Maybe we should send Raphine in then; raccoons are predators to rabbits, right?" Osana-chan asked.

"I'm not sure if they are, but it doesn't work quite that way with waifus," Tanaka-san said.

"Perhaps someone that can fly? Like Junkers or Estouls," Shin-san suggested. Tanaka-san started rubbing his chin as he thought to himself.

I looked out at the arena. The announcer was already getting the crowd riled up. We had to pick someone soon. I looked at Shin-san's phone and swiped it so that I could see Button's profile. She had speed but not much power. If she were the opener, we would want someone versatile enough to avoid her first blow.

"Send Raphine or Trash-chan. Both are quick enough to get a feel for this rabbit-girl," I said.

"You all have good ideas, but we are basing our decision on Button coming out first. But what if...."

Tanaka-san stopped rubbing his chin and made his choice. He hit the Button on his tablet, and Trash-chan's picture appeared on the screens queue to be the one sent in.

"Not that I have an issue with it, but why Trash-chan?" Shin-san asked.

"She seemed like the best choice. Especially if Button is not sent in first."

The competing waifus entered the arena—trash-chan on our side and, surprisingly, Amplifier on the opponent's team. The sound waifu laughed when she saw her opponent.

"I thought you might be the one to come in!" she said in a booming voice that echoed all around the arena. Most likely, it was to intimidate her opponent, but Trash-chan was not one to be discouraged.

"Are you going to do that loud voice the whole fight?" I heard her ask over the earpiece.

"Trash-chan, don't try to make her mad," I shouted back.

"I don't know how well you can see her face from here, but she already seems pretty mad...."

"Just focus on winning," I said with a sigh. I don't think Trash-chan heard me. The match had already started in a flash.

Amplifier reached Trash-chan before I could even blink. She tried to hit the trash-tier waifu with a roundhouse kick, but Trash-chan blocked the blow with her arm. Amplifier slowly pulled her leg down and faced her opponent. A sudden shock wave exploded around the two opponents, and a rolling screech rushed throughout the arena.

Amplifier disappeared, and Trash-chan went stumbling forward as if she had been kicked in the back. Then she took another apparent blow from the side. Then another blast from the front. She began to stumble around, taking blows from her invisible opponent. In reality, Amplifier was now moving too fast for the audience to pick up, but the slowed-down version of the fight showed her relentless attacks on Trash-chan.

Trash-chan continued to get knocked around. She put her hands up in front of her chest as she stumbled around. It looked like she was about to catch an American football with the way she held them ready. With a snap of Trash-chan's wrists. Amplifier suddenly became visible to the naked eye.

The sound waifu's leg was caught in Trash-chan's hands, and her foot was mere millimeters away from making contact with Trash-chan's chest. The trash-tier waifu spun her opponent around before tossing her halfway across the arena. She took a moment to regain her balance while Amplifier crashed into the ground.

"Feeling dizzy." I heard Trash-chan say, though I don't think she meant to relay anything to us.

"Do you need to switch out, Trash-sensei?"

"No... no, I'll take her down."

Amplifier pushed herself up from the ground and brushed off the dirt from her arm. She continued to brush herself off with her back turned to Trash-chan. A trash-whip appeared in Trash-chan's hand, and she began to run at Amplifier.

The sound waifu turned to her opponent and put both her palms on the ground. Trash-chan didn't stop her charge but was suddenly blown back by a burst. She stumbled as she tried to catch her footing. Amplifier didn't wait; she launched forward from her pose, with her hands on the ground, and tackled Trash-chan. Trash-chan landed on her back, and Amplifier pinned her with a firm press on the trash-tier waifu's shoulder.

Amplifier tried to strike Trash-chan in the head, but her fist only collided with the dirt. Trash-chan had avoided the blow by leaning her head to one side. They stared at each other for a moment without moving. Finally, Amplifier lifted her fist. She opened her hand in a sort of claw shape.

Trash-chan didn't wait for the next attack. She snapped her wrist, and the trash-whip that she had not let go of wrapped around Amplifier's arm. Amplifier didn't seem phased by it until combustible trash appeared in Trash-chan's hand. The sound waifu tried to back up but was held in place by the trash-whip.

The combustible trash exploded, and Amplifier was thrown up a short distance into the air. Trash-chan emerged from the fiery explosion while doing a backflip. When she landed on her feet, she jumped up in the air at Amplifier.

The sound waifu tried to react, but Trash-chan was quicker. Another combustible trash exploded. This time, it was in the air next to Amplifier. Trash-chan rode the explosion into the air. She did several flips in the air before landing on her feet. Amplifier, on the other hand, crashed into the ground. She was out cold.

The crowd roared as Amplifier was teleported out of the arena. I let out a sigh of relief as the first fight was over. We just had to win one more.

"Good job, Trash-chan," I said.

"Thanks, Main-kun." She was trying to sound tough, but she was clearly tired.

"We will switch her out for Raphine next...." Tanaka-san said out loud. It was clear he was thinking to himself.

We still went ahead with his switch-out plan, and Raphine appeared in Trash-chan's place.

In Amplifier's place, Antidoton appeared. She gave a smile of sharp teeth to her opponent.

Raphine pulled her wooden bow back, and several arrows of light appeared. Then, she just stood in place. It was more than that, however. She completely froze: her hair didn't wave even as she stopped moving, nor did her light of arrows seem to make the typical effect they did. It was as if she was completely frozen in time.

Antidoton just stayed where she stood. She threw a die on the ground. It was too far away for me to see what it rolled, but Raphine suddenly unfroze when the die landed on a number. Her arrows flew across the sky. Two missed and crashed into the ground next to Antidoton; the last one hit her in the shoulder. Above Antidoton's head, a red 6 suddenly appeared and faded out. Raphine drew several more arrows and froze again.

"Tanaka-san, what is her ability?" I asked.

"DM, she has complete control of what goes on here...."

Raphine let her arrows free, except the bow snapped just as she did. The arrows fell harmlessly to the ground. Antidoton didn't give her a chance to rest. With another die roll, a giant baseball bat appeared in the pink waifu's hand. She charged forward and batted Raphine across the arena. A red 70 flashed over Raphine's head as she smashed into the arena's wall.

Raphine managed to stand up on shaky legs as her golden bow appeared in her hand and her golden quiver appeared on her back. She drew a single arrow and aimed it at her opponent.

"When I fire the arrow, switch me out," Raphine relayed to us.

Antidoton shrugged and threw another die. Once the die settled, Raphine's arrow cut through the air. Per her request, she was immediately switched out. Junkers came into the arena in her place.

The plane waifu took to the air and captured Antidoton's attention. At that moment, Raphine's arrow crashed into the pink waifu and encased her in a block of ice, save for her head.

Antidoton struggled but was unable to break free. Junkers swooped overhead and dropped a bomb on her opponent. The arena was engulfed in an explosion as Junkers soared safely in the sky above.

Then, before the smoke could clear, a figure launched out into the air above the explosion. It was the rabbit waifu, Button, but she didn't stay long. As she got close to Junkers, she was suddenly swapped out for Hally. The robotic waifu immediately grabbed the metal frame that surrounded Junkers, and she tore it in two like it was made from paper mache. As if to add insult to injury, Hally suddenly spun midair and delivered a strong kick on the now exposed Junkers. The plane waifu went crashing into the ground at a sudden speed. She was out cold.

Hally landed gracefully on the ground as Junkers was teleported out. Estouls was all that was left, and he was immediately brought into the arena. Hally tossed aside Junkers' torn mecha fuselage as it disappeared and faced her next opponent.

She did not hesitate for a moment before charging at Estouls. He was barely able to avoid the blow. His lance and shield quickly appeared in his hands, and he tried to hit Hally by swinging both through the air. She merely leaped back out of harm's way before any blow could be delivered.

"Go get her, Estouls!" Osana-chan yelled.

Estouls charged forward at his opponent. He made many rapid strikes, but Hally gracefully dodged each one. Estouls finally stopped and jumped several meters back. The opponents stared at each other a moment.

When she got tired of waiting, at least that was my guess, Hally charged at her opponent. Estouls took the opportunity and threw his lance at her. It was a surprise, Hally was unable to dodge the attack, and the lance smashed into her shoulder. It bounced off, apparently dealing no damage.

Hally tried to strike Estouls, but he blocked it with his shield. He took the opportunity to grab hold of her. She struggled, but he took her into the sky on his summoned griffin in no time flat. They flew as high as they could in the arena before Estouls finally let go.

Hally crashed into the ground like a meteor. I had once been told that her frame was made of tungsten, and it was at this point that it seemed like that could be true. A crater was left in the ground of the arena where she landed. She was officially out cold. The crowd cheered as Estouls landed on the ground. His griffin disappeared, and he took a shaky step over to his lance.

I'm not sure what I felt, but something sunk in as I realized the fight was over. The bet was over, and we were finally free. I let out a sigh of relief and plunged into the couch. I feel like I could finally relax.

Unfortunately, my chance for relaxing was cut short. A figure suddenly jumped out from the crowd and tackled Estouls into the ground. A lot of dust was thrown up.

When the dust finally settled, I could see Estouls down on the ground, and a triumphant Vicky was standing over him. She let out a loud laugh, loud enough that it echoed around the suddenly quieted arena. The crowd fell into hushed whispers.

An electrical bolt zipped behind Vicky and took the shape of a waifu. An annoyed Kaeru smacked Vicky in the back of the head before taking a deep breath.

"Hello, everyone." Her voice echoed around the arena. "Sorry to spring this on such short notice, but this arena is sealed off from the outside world." Her voice echoed again, but this time worried murmurs began to come from the crowd. "So, if you all could just wait patiently where you are, we will be done with our objective shortly." The electrical waifu finished. At this point, panic arose from the arena, but the people trying to run out first quickly found themselves blocked by an invisible wall.