~Chapter 4- Fathers Spectate~

Razan and Lucar watched the preliminaries from outside the pit, keeping their heads down while trying to appear as if they belong. They considered pulling up their hoods, but that would only make them look more suspicious.

Razan watched as his little girl entered the ring with a young woman wearing white fighting garbs. She was Kika, a member of Dama's Fighting Academy. She ended Corri's tenure in the preliminaries in the last tournament.

The drum was beat, and the two girls began to circle each other, throwing quick attacks. Corri kicked at the air, and a burst of yellow light pushed Kika back, but she recovered and came in strong. Corri feigned a punch from her right, only to follow up with a low kick with her left leg. It made contact, and Kika winced in pain.

"Point to Corri! Match over!"

Corri and Kika shook each other's hands respectfully after the match.

"I can't believe how much the kids have improved over the last three years. Even Corri is markedly better," Lucar remarked, "The boys might be even stronger than we were at that age!"

Razan chuckles, "Pfft, you and I know that isn't true. We were beasts at that age."

"I think they're closer than you care to admit," Lucar said. He paused for a moment before asking, "How do you think they found out about Bonnie?"

"We're not talking about her."

Lucar shrugged. "Okay, okay. Honestly, I don't care either way. But Aero and Corri will want to know."

Razan simply scowled.

The two fathers continued to watch the matches proceed when they spotted Modi, the older woman who kidnapped their kids to get to them years ago. She walked onto the stage slowly, acting as if she was a frail old lady. But as soon as the match began, she sprung into action, knocking her opponent off stage in a single strike.

"That woman will be a good test for the boys," Lucar remarked.

The two black-haired brothers felt a hand on each of their shoulders. Firm, rocky hands. If they didn't know precisely who it was in that moment, they might've lashed out.

"Emer!" Lucar greeted, turning to the green-eyed Densius standing behind them.

"It's good to see the two of you again." Emer replied with a rocky smile. The Densius slid between the two and watched the preliminary matches with them, "Did you see your children?"

Lucar winced, "Yes..."

"Didn't go well, did it?"

Razan and Lucar's silence said it all.

"I already advised you against leaving your kids like that. I won't repeat myself." Emer continued, "Will you be staying around long?"

Razan shook his head, "Unfortunately no. After the tournament we'll be leaving."

"Any chance I can know where you'll be staying?"

Lucar and Razan shook their heads, and Emer glumly nodded.

Emer nodded, "I should've known. Well, I'm glad to see you regardless."

"Efilon and Temp to stage 5!" The tournament staff called out. Temp was a friend of the kids. Razan and Lucar were mildly interested in how he would do. He took the stage against a young man wearing a hood. Razan couldn't see his face from this angle.

Their match began, and the hooded boy appeared to glide across the stage, almost as if he wasn't touching the ground. Temp fought well, but they could tell he didn't have the same skill as the boy. With a hook kick, the boy knocked Temp out cold.

The boy turned so they could see his face, and their hearts sunk as they saw the white, featureless, full-face mask he wore. They recognized it; it was only for the briefest moment that they saw it, but that memory was etched into their minds. Memories of escaping a twisted land... and abandoned friends.

"I'm sure it's just a coincidence," Razan rationalized, "Someone here could've made a mask like that."

"Yeah... Yeah. You're probably right..." Lucar said in agreement, still shaken by the sight.

The fighters of the tournament dwindled, but through all the bouts, the kids kept winning. As dusk approached, the competition narrowed down to the sixteen finalists. Cho stepped onto the stage and called them up one by one. Among them was Aero, Jirro, Corri, Nout, Ruben, Seraphi, Modi, Emil, and the Masked One.

Razan and Lucar figured their boys and Modi would make it to the finals, but they were surprised to see the others.

With the preliminaries concluded, the finalists retired for the day, getting a good rest for the bouts to come tomorrow.