“Good evening,” said Club, as calm as could be. He stared at Gorunze’s glowing yellow eyes for a few seconds before turning to Aurin. “I would appreciate it if I left here tonight without a hole being torn through my chest.”

  “Gorunze, ease off,” said Aurin, tapping the golem’s left hindleg. He gestured towards the screen attached to the door. “Am I allowed to ask the true purpose of this?”

  “Beyond permitting your progression upon being presented with the required cards?” asked Club, tilting his head to the side. “I cannot say, as I do not know.”

  Aurin nodded slowly. “If that’s the case, then that’s the case,” he said quietly. “Alright, shall we get on with things?”

  “Yes, that seems appropriate.”

  “Summon your Minakai,” demanded Aurin, staring at Club coldly.

  “In this tiny room? That does not offer me a lot of opportunities for manoeuvring, Aurin.”

  “You sought me out, and you found me. We’re fighting here.”

  Club let out a low chuckle. “Very well,” he said, the smirk behind his visor audible rather than visible. “Come forth, my friend.”

  In a flash of icy light appeared Club’s Devimusa. The frozen devil sat in his rigid, cross-legged position. Without hesitation, he conjured up a snowstorm within the small room, coating the walls, the furniture, Gorunze, and even the tamers.

  “Useless,” said Aurin. “Gorunze, you know where he is.”

  Gorunze unleashed a metal spike that flew through the storm and smashed into an instantly-erected ice wall. The wall shattered into chunks as the slowed spike continued, finding its target. While the momentum had been dampened, Devimusa still took the hit hard. His chest cracked and he let out an echoing groan of frustration, but he had otherwise kept his cool.

  “Just going to sit there?” goaded Aurin. “Come on, let’s see what you’re made of. You may have taken down my brother, but you won’t defeat me.”

  Devimusa broke form, grabbing the spike within his chest and tossing it aside. He uncrossed his legs and arose, assuming a fighting stance. Gorunze stood on his hind legs, unable to stand fully upright on account of the low ceiling. His head scraped against the ceiling, sending flakes of painted plaster falling like the snow that continued to swirl throughout the room.

  With a mechanical shout, Gorunze lunged at his foe, throwing his full weight into his ramming charge. Devimusa conjured forth the power of his element, channelling it into a punch. As he drew his fist back, he was met by Gorunze and slammed against the wall. He howled as his icy body cracked, leading to his charged attack dissipating from his fist. Several repeated strikes from Gorunze’s clawed hands later and he was curled up on the floor, trying to stave off the blows as best as he could.

  “Your Gorunze is stronger than I imagined,” said Club flippantly.

  “He’s been training hard for such an occasion,” replied Aurin, grinning with satisfaction.

  The two tamers had discussed had discussed at length how things would play out during a potential face-off during the round. While Gray said he knew precious little details about the second round, he did know that the odds of Aurin and him facing off were high. To prepare for such an event, they would have to make the fight believable. In truth, Gray’s Devimusa was capable of much more than what he had shown, but Gray had ordered his Minakai to pull punches ahead of time.

  The visor he wore in the stadium was not the same one he had been using prior to this night. There was no scanning for battle data as had been the case previously. This visor was solely for feeing audio and video back to Alfred, who displayed it across the stadium. Gray was very glad he had the foresight to inform his team of the plan ahead of time rather than during the second round. The last thing he needed was Alfred Ashmore listening to his every word during a double-cross.

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  “You are needed, Funglie,” said Club, holding out his forearm.

  A flash of green later and the mushroom-headed monster appeared, its eyes barely visible past its furrowed brow. It stood on all fours, sneering at Gorunze, who showed little emotion in return.

  “The elemental advantage won’t be enough,” scoffed Aurin. “Gorunze!”

  As Funglie reared back, taking a deep breath, Gorunze fired his lasers. The smaller Minakai dropped to the ground, and the laser clipped the top of its cap. Funglie spat a wave of spores upwards and outwards and they spread through the room, encompassing Gorunze. Aurin covered his mouth, but he saw something unusual about the spores. They were much paler than typical Funglie spores, almost grey.

  Gorunze did not seem fazed by the spores and swept his arm out, grabbing Funglie. As the fungus was lifted into the air, it summoned vines which wrapped around Gorunze’s arms. Gorunze pulled hard against them, snapping several with his immense strength and splitting the rest with his laser beams. With his arms freed, he crushed Funglie between his hands before flinging it against the far wall.

  “No!” barked Club, reaching behind his back at the same time as he banished Funglie. “This is not over, Aurin. I will return.”

  He flung a smoke bomb and disappeared, leaving Aurin and Gorunze behind.

  “We’ll get him soon,” said Aurin, giving Gorunze a reassuring nod. “He’s tough, but we’re tougher. A single Minakai? Club doesn’t stand a chance.”

  Aurin worried he may have been overselling the ruse, but he cast aside his paranoia and departed from the room. He returned to the main corridor that looped around the entire building. Upon checking the nearest monitor, Aurin assessed where each of The Blackjacks were positioned throughout the building. The nearest was Heart and she had a single Minakai remaining.

  Aiming for the stairs, Aurin braced himself for claiming his first card. He did not know what would happen when he obtained it, but he was confident that Alfred had set up this gauntlet for a reason, bizarrely elaborate as the stage was. It was not the younger Ashmore’s intent for Aurin to lose. Rather, he wanted him to obtain the cards and succeed. That would tie into whatever followed.

  Upon arriving at the top of the stairs, Aurin found Heart leaning against the wall in wait. “We meet again,” she said with a finger wiggle.

  “For the final time within these walls,” said Aurin. “I’ll be taking that card from you.”

  Heart reached behind her back and pulled out a rigid card that shone metallically in the dim light. It was printed in white with a red Ace of Hearts emblazoned on the centre and opposing corners.

  “Oh, this? Well, I suppose I can be convinced to hand it over if you can defeat my last Minakai.”

  With a flick of her wrist, Heart’s Spikruption appeared in a flash of red light. Upon taking a step forward, something clicked and a sparkling wave of dust erupted from a tiny nozzle attached to the wall. Spikruption coughed at it breathed in the particles, its eyes turning red and manic almost instantly. It turned towards its tamer, drew in a deep breath, and exhaled a wave of fire. Heart screamed in agony as she was engulfed in her own monster’s flickering flames.

  “Gorunze!” ordered Aurin, knowing that time was of the essence. He wanted to defeat her, not see her burned alive.

  Gorunze grabbed the Spikruption’s hind legs with his claws and flung it aside. He pounced on the dinosaur and began tearing into it, shooting a laser at its throat to disrupt another mouth-born flamethrower. As Spikruption beat Gorunze into unconsciousness.

  “Nothing else for it,” said Aurin, throwing out his hand. He had been planning to save this Minakai for another opponent, but he had to act. “Douse those flames, Breminia.”

  The golden Minakai appeared and immediately shot an encompassing water jet from its sapphires. The flames were gone in an instant, but Heart remained lying on the ground, groaning in pain. She pulled herself together just enough to prop herself up against the wall before banishing her defeated Spikruption.

  “Alfred!” called Aurin, looking towards a ceiling camera. “Pull her out of here, she’s injured.”

  “It doesn’t work like that,” said Heart, pulling off her mask and throwing it on the ground. She winced as she gingerly touched her left leg. “We’re stuck in here until either you’re defeated or we’re defeated.”

  “Then my Minakai will take each other out,” said Aurin, rushing over to Ruby and inspecting her leg.

  Her combat suit had staved off the worst of the burns, but the fabric around her right leg and been mostly burned away and partially melted into her skin. If she didn’t receive treatment quickly, she would be highly susceptible to infection.

  “I appreciate the gesture, but I knew this job came with risks,” said Ruby, brushing her sweaty red fringe out of her eyes. “Do you think falling from my Minakai wasn’t dangerous?”

  “At the very least, I’ll see what I can find in the first aid room,” said Aurin, springing to his feet. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  Ruby grabbed his leg, preventing him from moving. “Aurin,” she said, looking up at him guiltily. “This wasn’t a personal vendetta on my part. It really was about the money. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry for the trouble.”

  She passed him the metal card and Aurin quickly accepted it. “Thanks,” he said, jamming it into his pocket.

  Upon Ruby releasing him, he ran back downstairs with Gorunze and Breminia following him.

  right here.

  Aurin's Team:

  Luna's Team: