Chapter 9: Laughter

Shortly after the four were separated, Evie started her attack on Gold by running toward him in an attempt to close the gap.

“A frontal assault,” he mumbled under his breath, readying his defense.

I already know that just rushing him blindly won’t get the job done, so let’s try this—20,000 volts! Evie resolved, putting her hand behind her back to obscure his view. She Transferred behind Gold and clad her hands in electricity, then lunged toward him with a palm strike. His eye tracked her, and he swiftly side-stepped, not even letting the attack so much as graze him.

Deep down, she knew something like that wouldn’t faze him, but she wanted to gauge what would work.

A shaky half smile shone on her face. How about this, then? Evie Style Lightning Release: Lightning Web!

Giving the lightning on her hands the form of a spider’s web and throwing it out in front of her, she bounced off of it, using the momentum to aim an axe kick aimed towards his head.

“Hmph,” shrugged Gold, blocking the kick from hitting it’s mark with his forearm. He was pushed back a bit, his sleeves getting singed, Even still, he kept the same cold, stoic look.

“Tanaka’s forcing Gold to actually block; amazing!”

“At the pace she’s going, we might even see him take damage!”

She flipped midair to come down even harder with another kick, knocking his arm down and staggering him.

She’s gotten better, he acknowledged, falling on his back. Even when being knocked to the ground, he didn’t seem to be distressed at all.

Evie brought out four shuriken, throwing them at his arms and legs. Gold made to move, but felt a tug, as the weapons pinned him to the ground by his clothes. Seeing a chance, she jumped over him with her hands aimed toward his chest.

“Evie Style Lightning Release: Thunderbo-!”

She was stopped mid-charge. Gold had recovered from his fall, kicking upwards with both feet, his sleeves and pant leg now ripped. “Think I’m afraid to tear my clothes...?”

Wind rushed past her ears. Shoot! He got up quicker than I thought!

She twisted her body to dodge by the skin of her teeth—but that was a mistake, as he Landed back on his feet and did a quick spin, landing a roundhouse kick to the side of her face.

“Hrk!” All of that, but was sent right back to where she was before she started the attack. The slight sting in her cheek made her hiss a bit.

“Evie’s amazing, yeah...but Gold makes her look like an amatuer.”

“Even as fast as she is—it’s like he’s reading her mind!”

Evie slowly got back up, rubbing the mark that the kick left on her face. She thought for sure that’d be her time to land a solid hit, but she ended up being baited by her own eagerness. She was already aware of his oppressive Path, but his strength lied in so much more than just that. Being able to react to her even with her blinding speed, his proficiency in karate letting him exchange blows with her without sustaining even a smidgen of damage to his person. He was like an all knowing wall. At this rate... She dwelled on her thoughts, shaking a bit.

Gold dusted himself off as he walked toward her. “Not bad,” he praised in his unchanging stoic tone. “That’d work on anyone else.”

Sweat dripped down her forehead. What can I do?...Maybe...confuse him!

She Transferred to him and continued to go on the offensive, unleashing an extremely fast series of lightning-amped palm strikes and kicks. He dodged, left then right, ducking and back stepping. Not a single time did he attack back, gracefully avoiding the onslaught with the most minimal effort possible.

She pondered how to get the edge on him. Five transfers per fight, that’s the hard limit, so I won’t be able to just throw them out whenever I want.

Even if she did end up getting a clean hit on him with one of her Transfer uses, she’d still have to use the remaining chances for another chance. And there’s no way he would get hit by the same move twice.

Evie finished her assault with a jumping reverse roundhouse kick aimed toward his head. Even after dodging blow after blow, he was unphased, ducking under the attack, and sending her spiraling away with a well timed punch to the face.

She flipped her body to stop her flight, then jumped off of the ground to assume a higher vantage point in the leaves of a rather tall tree.

Encouraging words echoed in her mind, He’s beatable. Over and over again, they thumped around in her head. But Gold only stood to prove her thinking false. Her breathing was becoming heavy and labored.

“Urk!” She grabbed her cheek, spitting out blood to the side. It’s like he’s not even trying, and I attacked several times with no sign of his movements slowing up. Normally I wouldn’t be even close to tiring out, but...

“I’m waiting...Tanaka,” he mumbled, awaiting her next move.

“Damn...” Chikara cursed from the audience. “As usual, he makes it seem so easy!”

“I can’t shake this feeling...” She muttered to herself, looking down at her shivering hands. I’m...no, there’s no time to start thinking about that again. I didn’t want to use it this early...but with the way things are going I can tell, none of my techniques will even come close to hitting their mark without him raising his guard or dodging...I’d just be wasting my charge,” she admitted.

Both Gold and her were alerted by a loud noise reverberating from the direction in which Forte and Reito had been fighting for a bit.

“Is that...from one of Tochi’s techniques?”

Gold took notice as well. “...What’s happening over there, Mayer?”

As if the noise was a wake up call, she shook her head and steeled her nerves. The simulation shut the audience’s cheers out from fighters, but even still, Reito’s shockwave was enough. What am I doing being such a downer?! Tochi’s out there doing his best while I’m just...!

She dropped down and landed on the ground with one leg spread to the side and started whispering while she wrapped her whole frame in trickling lightning.

“Evie Style Lightning Release: Fulgur Mail!”

Gold’s eyes widened a smidge. “A new technique...?”

Chikara looked on from the stands. He’d never seen her wrap her whole body in lightning, but with one look, he knew it was some sort of power up. But considering that, and the fact that she didn’t use it to start the match, there’s probably some catch to it. Chikara assumed in the stands.

Shizuka looked on, hopeful. “She’s finally using it...now she’s just gotta cream Gold before the time limit goes out. A race against the clock...you’ve got this, Evie...!” She mumbled.

Neigh observed their battle, his cocky smile replaced with a stoic stare. I see...regulating lightning all over your body to increase attributes… Not bad...but...

Evie dashed at Gold, faster than ever as she jumped into a flying kick.

“Jetspark Arrow!”

With her roar, the kick gained more and more speed by the second, nearing Mach 2. The sparks of lightning completely covered her body from view, giving her the appearance of what the attack name suggested.

Gold rolled out of the way in the nick of time, mere inches before the attack came into contact. Somehow...she’s significantly faster! As the sound of thunder cracking filled his ears, for the first time, the smallest drop of sweat sat atop his forehead.

“Screw this! Scared or not, I’m going to make you take me seriously! I don’t need to worry about the time limit if I finish it all in one go, so in those 20 seconds I’ll give him everything I’ve got!”

She landed on the ground and skid back a few meters with the excess lightning covering her frame from being visible scattered into the air. In a matter of seconds, she blitzed around a tree and back to Gold as she jumped into a two handed smash with a ball of lighting covering her fists.

“Toru!” She bellowed.

It’s an overhead strike, Gold assessed, jumping back to what he deemed a safe distance.

Evie smirked. Of course...that’s what anyone would do. Jumping back is the best option. Or at least, it would be.

“An attack from above?!” Gold fret as his eyes instinctively strolled upwards .

Out of nowhere, the lighting around her hands expanded and extended into a massive stream of lightning spanning 30 feet above her head.

“You’ve never told anyone exactly how your Enhanced Sense works, so I had to make a guess! I’m thinking it’s more like a danger sensing radar!”

Gold tried to pull out of the way, but it was too little too late as Evie’s hands brought the stream downward like a sword slash, hitting him dead on.

“Urk- Uggghh! He tried as hard as he could not to show his pained expressions as lightning surged throughout his body, the ground behind him singing.

“Gold’s been hit!”

“But you don't know how exactly you’re gonna be hit,” she explained, “when people don’t know what’s coming, they panic. And at that exact moment is when they're bound to slip up! All I needed was an attack you’ve never seen before with a wide range!

C-Can’t move... Head’s p-pounding! Gold was reeling from paralysis, smoke billowing out of his mouth.

Evie saw an opening and used her blinding speed to attack him with everything she had, circling around another tree and driving her fist into the left side of his face. As he flew from the impact, she repeated the same motion followed by a kick to the rib.

“Buuaaahh! Guh! Ack!”

Thirteen more seconds, Evie reminded herself, minding her footwork. Hit him as much as possible!

“I can’t believe it, she’s knocking him around like a sandbag… Gold, the guy’s never even been hit before!”

“Hey, Zeno’o. do you think Evie’s actually going to win?”

“Looking at it now, I’m...not exactly sure. From the look of it, she’s regulating lighting flow across her whole body to give all of speed and strength a huge boost. It’s the first time I’ve seen her do it, but it seems to have a similar concept to doping. In that case...she’s not gonna be able to keep that up without burning out...”

She continued her attack, kicking him in the rib, then zooming around to axe kick him in the shoulder while he was unable to do anything but feel each hit in their entirety.

“Uggh!” He hit the ground hard, face first.

Ugh...Guh! That’s it! Times up! She yelped, falling on the ground a safe distance from Gold.

Her Fulgur Mail subsided, leaving her in a vulnerable state.

“...Tanaka,” Gold finally spoke, trying to fight the paralysis and get up, “The s-second I get u-”

“Try as hard as you can,” she interrupted him, “the paralysis won’t last much longer, but this fight won’t, either. I haven’t just been circling trees for no reason,” she cut him off, a smirk creeping onto her face under the mask.

His pupils dilated. What?! The only way out is up?! Frantically looking around him, he saw that every tree she rounded had a slanted cut, and they were ready to topple over at any moment.

“Even you shouldn’t be able to avoid you this...and it won’t kill you either, so it’s not like I’m bending any rules. Could cause some bruising, but a Heal Capsule should take care of that.”

The trees began to crash to the ground one after another, dust flying all around them following the impact. With her remaining strength, Evie jumped straight up to avoid being buried.

“TANAKAAAA!” He raised his voice for the first time in the dust clouds, followed by the last tree taking a fall, silencing him.

“That was my Evie Style Ninpo: Shuriken Formation... and I prefer Evie, jerk,” she said under her breath, descending on top of the tree pile.

“She did it! Gold’s down!”

“She actually beat The Seer?! Amazing! Evie-san! Congrats!”

“Those two are halfway there! They’re on a roll!”

Hearing the cheers swell at her victory, Chikara tapped his foot and furrowed his brows. His face harbored a very uneasy frown. “She won...that’s what it looks like… Why did it seem so...easy then…?”

Shizuka had similar suspicions. “Is he really…?

When Evie’s feet hit one of the trunks, she collapsed to her knees, exhausted. The stress Fulgur Mail has on my body is no good, I’ve gotta get rid of that backlash for sure... Oh well...” She said, looking toward where Reito and Forte were clashing. “I’ll rest for a second before I help Tochi-”

Before she could even catch her breath, Gold rose from between the downed tree, grabbing her by the collar and holding her up with a single hand. His headband had fallen off, his tracksuit singed and in tatters. His right sleeve and lower pant leg had been torn by the branches. Evie’s earlier punch had also left a bit of a burn mark on his cheek.

“You...! You!” He growled at her, grinding his teeth together.

Something was different about him. His previous stoic and cold tone was traded for an abrasive and more frightening one. A vein popped from his forehead as he shot her paralyzing glare.

“You actually hit me...even though you’re nothing but a complete joke!”

“Like I thought, he’s not done yet! So this is what happens when he takes damage? It’s like he’s gonna pop a vein. Is this...actually his true personality?” Chikara pondered in the stands.

[Gold’s up again?!]

[The number one in Kita...guess it makes sense.]

[He was always kinda scary looking, but...doesn’t he look it in a different way right now?!]

He let go of her and proceeded to kick her in the stomach.

“Guah! She was forced away and onto her back. The impact was so strong that she spat up some blood.

“B-but, how? Y-You...you shouldn’t have been able to get back up!” She said, covering her stomach and struggling to get back up.

“Hmph! You almost figured out my Path, so I’ll tell you that much. Enhanced Sense is, as you said, like a radar. But, it doesn’t exactly tell me where an attack is coming from, as it does the correct route to avoid it. From there, I can analyze how to defend from an oncoming attack as well, with a bit more thought,” he clarified, tapping to the side of his head.

I was off! Sweat slowly rolled down her forehead. She thought his judgement would be clouded if she made it seem like attacks were coming from everywhere. But since he can see where to dodge, he must’ve just slipped through the openings in between the tree trunks. I-”

He kicked her in the jaw.

“Uggghh!! Blood gushed from her mouth once more. But he didn’t stop there, subsequently driving a back fist into the left side of her face and knocking her to the ground. “Aaughh!”

“You’ve still got enough strength to speak...that’s good,” he said to her before stepping on her right hand and grinding it into the ground.

“Arrggh- Arrrggghhh!!”

“Because I’m not done punishing you, yet. Throughout my entire time as a student in the academy, no one’s been able to touch me once, not even while sparring, but-”

He retracted his foot after he heard her bones cracking and proceeded to hold her up by her right arm, slamming her into the ground once more by her back.

“UGH! I can’t even defend myself...Fulgur Mail burned through a lot of my energy...damn it! She cursed inwardly. Come on...stand up! Stand up!

She slowly came to the point where her unbroken hand could rest on her knee, then finally stood up, although her stance was slowly faltering and a bit shaky from the damage she took. Her right side drooped a bit, looking out of shape compared to the rest of her.

“But you, a member of the Student Council that acts like a complete clown, the one who spends time getting nosebleeds and drooling over girls, you, who spends time posing as a ninja... You were the one to take that away from me...I’d built up a near godlike rep! But now, you’ve spat in my face...ruining my image. So I’m glad you can stand. You’re probably thinking, “But, why?””

She Transferred beside him to kick him around his kidney, but he wasn't fazed by it in the slightest, grabbing her foot and forcing her away from him and onto the ground once more. She looked up at him while backing away, under her mask, her lips began to curl downwards, and her eyebrows started to furrow.

“Because now, I can take my time in punishing you,” he told her, returning to his previous stoic, cold expression while animosity still remained in his tone, “A moronic jester like you, doesn’t even deserve to tread the same earth, let alone land an attack on a someone like me. Don’t worry, I’ll still play within the rules. I’ll be done with you after I’ve broken every bone in your body. A Health Capsule should be able to fix even that. Call it...God’s Punishment… What, you’re not gonna laugh at that? I thought you were a part of the duo that even God fears? Because right now, all you’ve done is anger one , and you’re the one shaking in their boots.”

He walked forward slowly, everytime he took a step, Evie backed up on the ground. In her eyes, he seemed like a demon at that moment, looming closer with a sinister aura developing around him. Cold blue eyes looming over her until a tree trunk stopped her movement.

She started to think it was hopeless, that not even her and Reito together would be able to topple him. She shook like a palm tree in the wind, “His strength aside...I didn’t even think I’d be able to face him, that look he gives...and the way he talks! He’s just like papa... A childhood memory ran through her head.

***

“Mama, I’m home!” Evie exclaimed, as she closed her house door and ran inside, she wore a silver two piece middle school uniform and her black pigtails bounced up and down with every step. “I’ve got something to show you!” A meaty fragrance hit her nose, letting her know that dinner was finished.

The house she appeared to live in was extravagant; definitely belonging to a family that was better off than most. The living room was big enough on its own, with a large white couch with a woman sitting upon it. and a flat screen occupying it. Painted sky blue walls gave it a very cheery atmosphere, along with some potted fica and aglaonema plants that were peppered around the room. There was a nice view outside thanks to the patio which had a dinner table setup sitting atop grey tiling.

The woman in a rather long red tie waist dress rose from the couch, brushing her black, straight locks to the side. “Slow down, Evie! What if you hurt yourself?!” She asked Evie, stepping into her path and stopping her with a warm embrace.

Evie rubbed her head into her mother’s chest before looking into her. “I’ll be fine! After all, I’ve got you to stop me before I can,” she gave her mother.

“What’ll I do with you?” Her mother returned the smile before smelling something funny. She moved Evie off of her to get a better look at her uniform.

Leaves were stuck in her soaked hair; her uniform was the same, like she’d been out in a heavy storm. Her face was peppered in dirt, and her left shoe was absent. She got a large whiff of dirty water, like a mud puddle after a rainstorm.

Her mother put a hand over her mouth and gasped. “Oh no... Again? Who’s doing this to you?! Every day you’ve come home for the past few days, you come home like this. You’d think a private school would be more strict with things like this. Should I have a talk with those childrens’ parents? ”

“Oh, this?!” Evie grabbed her sleeves. No, no, no,” she denied, putting her hands out and shaking her head, “I keep telling you, it’s not what it looks like!”

“But, the dirt on your fa-”

“Ninja training! I was trying to walk up trees. Falling is a part of the trial and error process,” she deflected.

“And the soaked uniform-”

“Water Release training! Although, I’ve already got a knack for Lightning Release, so I should have figured that was a bust,” she gave her mother sheepish smile.

“Then what of your other shoe,” she asked, pointing at her feet, “Let me guess...escape training?”

Evie rubbed her neck, giggling. “Wow! As usual, nothing gets past you, mama!”

“Are you sure that I don’t need to step in?”

I promise, I’m fine mam...a...chooo!” She couldn’t help but sneeze. “But I won’t be if I don’t get out of these clothes, give me one second!” She asked, while hurrying upstairs.

“Yes, yes, I won’t move a muscle,” she assured her daughter with a smile. Oh dear, it’s getting worse. Pushing her to the ground, pouring dirty bucket water, not to mention her uniform shoes cost quite a bit... I know she constantly denies it, but...maybe I should step in,” she wondered.

Evie slowly made her way back down with her hair cleaned, wearing a black dogi with a pull up mask over her mouth. She looked left and right like she was a lookout for a crime. “Papa didn’t show up while I was changing...did he?”

“Don’t worry, Evie. He told me he’d be back a bit later today. It’s fine.”

“In that case,” she said, pulling the mask up and jumping off of the stairs, “Are you sure you’re ready, it might be the last time you see anything!”

Her mother couldn’t help but chuckle. “I’ll take my chances. What’ve you made today?”

“Okay, then! Take this!” she shouted, bringing out 3 black origami shuriken and tossing them at her mother.

She was hit by all three and exaggeratedly stumbled back, pretending to be hurt, and fell slowly to her knees. “Eeek! To have my life end so suddenly, I suppose I’ve lived a good one.

“Heh!” Evie puffed her chest out. Don’t be ashamed, you’ve just been brought down by the legendary Evie of The Lightning! There’s no greater end than that, if I do say so myself!

“Although ninja usually don’t give their moniker out to targets they’ve struck down, just in case,” she pointed out.

She paused as her eyes went wide, but ended up laughing seconds after. “Whoopsie! I forgot!”

Her mother rose to her feet and came to pat her on the head. “It’s fine, Evie. fledgling ninja are usually trained for 3 years before even becoming a Genin, so considering you started only months ago, you’re already on the right track.”

Evie looked to her mother with stars in her eyes. “Really? Then I’ll keep working hard until I’ve perfected my ninjutsu!”

“If that’s what you want, then I’ll be your number 1 supporter! Go go Evie!” She cheered, pumping her fist up and down.”

“Ah, I forgot, have you seen my Samurai garb? I can’t find it anywh-”

“That’s because I got rid of it. I’ve told you time and time again, a young lady with your kind of future has no need for childish activities like playing make-believe,” a man interjected, coming through the front door. He was tall and brown skinned, with short ash brown hair.

Evie got up as soon as he finished that statement, looking straight at him while slowly stepping back. “Um...I- It-” She looked like she’d seen a ghost, sweating bullets and shivering all the while. She wasn't even able to form a single word.

“A-Aaron,” her mother stood up to shield her, sweating herself, “I thought...you said you would be late getting home…?”

He adjusted his business suit jacket and slowly walked forward. “Some things just can’t be predicted...it was a very rough estimate. But I digress,” he explained, walking forward to pick up one of the fallen origami shuriken, “good thing I came home when I did though, you’ve been encouraging her child's play again, haven’t you?”

“Y-yes, but it brings such a smile to her-”

“That’s irrelevant… Not only is researching things like that distracting her from her business studies, but it’s having a less than helpful effect on her school life. I’ve seen the disheveled uniforms and textbooks, it’s most likely because she fiddles with all of that ninja shogun crap in plain sight, probably during class.

“I’m sure it’s because they don’t take the time to get to know her, if they ju-”

“When would they, and why would they, Kaito? After she greets someone, chances are she’ll start blathering on and on about her newest costume or fake weapon. If she wants to stop being bullied, then she needs to be and act normal.”

He moved towards Kaito and peered behind her before grabbing his daughter by the arm and pulling her to the forefront while examining her outfit.

“P-Papa, I-”

“You what...purposely undermined me? You know how I feel about this. This is an entirely new era, so there’s no need to indulge in things like this. On top of that, there’s that electricity witchcraft that you can produce. Frankly, it’s unsightly, and has no place in a modern business. Do you want me to strike you again?”

Evie tried to find words to defend herself as a tear rolled down her face and her lips quivered. “B-but, t-the p-p-people i-in mama’s s-stories a-are s-so cool, w-why, c-can’t y-you j-j-ust l-let m-me t-try?!

He raised an eyebrow. “Try to be what, a relic of Japan’s past? Honestly,” he turned to Kaito, “you’ve still been filling her head with that useless dreg?”

“...It’s not “Useless dreg”...and yes,” she nodded in response, standing her ground, “because it’s one of the only times I get to see her smile… Every time she comes home from that school you made her enroll in, she comes home with a forced smile, she sits at the dinner table like the life’s been sucked out of her, only eating and not saying a word… Is that any way for a young lady to live?!

“I’ll admit, the preparations may be a bit difficult, but the reward is more than worth it, so I’ve got no doubt in my mind that she’ll be thanking me with a smile on her face by the time she’s ready to take over for me. Hell, she might even surpass me.”

“Will you just listen already?! It’s clear as day that this isn’t what she wants!” Kaito growled at him

He shot her a pointed look. “Oh…? Then inform me, Kaito, why out of the many years I’ve been over seeing her growth has she never denied that this is something she’d want to do?”

“Under that kind of pressure, do you really think she’d be able to speak up?!”

“So you’re insinuating,” his leer somehow got even colder, “That I’m scaring her into it...is that it?”

She backed up in the face of his sudden mood shift. “Y-Yes! Exactly!”

“Well...she’s right here,” he said, turning to look straight into his daughters’ eyes, “now then, your mother seems to be in a bit of a confusion. So tell us, learning for the sake of succession, is something you’ve always taken an interest in, correct?

“I-I-” Evie stammered, tears streaming down her face.

“Come now, dry those tears, you’re stronger than this,” he consoled her, his cold stare returning as he wiped her face of tears, “and speak clearly. I want to be sure I hear you, so that there are no further misunderstandings on either of our parts.

His stare sunk into her soul, speaking became a struggle for her, and in the situation she was in, if she took this one opportunity to speak her mind, she knew the punishment would be severe. After analyzing the situation, she wiped the rest of her tears and opened her mouth.

“I’m sorry papa...you’re right...this was...childish of me...”

“Evie!” The woman thought as she struggled to hold herself back from crying, to no avail.

“I don’t know what mama’s talking about… Ninjary? As if I’d be into something as weird as that...,” she lied, looking up with a forced smile, “I’m sure being papa’s successor will be loads of fun… So don’t worry, I’m fine!”

“And there you have it,” he let her go, “now, hurry and change out of those ridiculous clothes...they’re an eyesore.

His last words hit her ears like a gong and she hurried up to her room as fast as she could. Her mother however was still on the ground bawling her eyes out.

Aaron got down on one knee and gently put his hand on her face. “You as well Kaito… I understand you want nothing more than to support her, I’m the same. But this hobby of hers is something we shouldn’t allow to fester, if we do, it could hurt more than her social life-”

She slapped his hand away and wiped her face, glaring at him. “Don’t try and act like you know everything! There’s all different types of people in the world! Why should she give up on something she actually enjoys just because of a few ignorant ones?!”

He looked down with a sigh. “I never said I knew everything, but one thing I do know, is that people are cruel. Think about all the repercussions that can stem from people’s “ignorance”. She could start to doubt herself, or it may even weigh on her brain enough to self harm, or even, God forbid, worse.

“But there’s also a chance people will love her for it, she’s barely even 13, her life’s just getting started, anything could change!”

“Really, and how long will this change take to transpire, a year, maybe 2? Come on, you’re being childish. You should know that things like that aren’t guaranteed. She should strive for success and normalcy, plain and simple.”

“But being this way makes her happy!”

“Even if what you’re saying is true, how long will that happiness last? She can only get so much out of playing dress up. Can you really say that it would be something she could truly enjoy for the rest of her life?!” he rebutted, raising his voice for the first time.

They continued to loudly argue amongst themselves for minutes more, although for anyone there, it seemed like an eternity, much to the dismay of their daughter, who had been sitting at a desk in her room with her head down.

“Why...what should I do?” Evie whispered to herself, crying into her arms and bringing a fist down on her desk multiple times until she clad it in lightning it’s last descent, the resulting impact breaking and singeing the top of it. “I wanna disappear, I just wanna disappear…!”

***

I ran away then, she got up to face him while covering her broken hand, but I can’t afford to run now… If I do...then I’ll never be able to stand up to papa! She wheezed, hoping to catch her breath.”

“I won’t move from this spot,” Gold proclaimed while waiting for her next attempt to rush him, “I doubt you have any more secret weapons up your sleeve, and since I’m familiar with all of your other techniques, you’re nothing but a nuisance to me. I’ll completely break your spirit...and after that, I’m going to break your lazy, weak, useless pissant of a partner’s will before I beat him black and blue as well. That is...unless Mayer takes care of him first...”

“Gold! Damn him! If we were allowed to interfere with matches, I’d go down there and beat him to hell myself!” Shizuka muttered as she tried to stop herself from making a scene by digging her fingers into the seats before her.

Evie furrowed her brows, and grit her teeth at his confident diatribe. “What the hell did you just say...? Pissant?! Shut your mouth! You don’t know a damn thing about Tochi, talking down on him just because you’ve got some crummy God complex! If you belittle him...IF YOU BELITTLE MY FRIEND ONE MORE TIME, I’LL CAVE YOUR SKULL IN!!!”

“You? Cave my skull in...? Is that another one of your stupid jokes? Because, as usual, that wasn't funny in the slightest,” he shrugged, looking at her with an eye closed, “But I’ll admit, I’m surprised. I’ve never seen you angry, let alone a little miffed. You’re even cursing up a storm; scaaarryy. Is your blood boiling? Come at me, again, then. I’ll keep slandering that idiot any way I like, and you can’t do a thing about it.”

Having heard enough, Evie clad her unbroken hand in lightning and rushed toward him while screaming at the top of her lungs. “GOOLLDD!”