When the clock struck nine, the continuation of the Official Beast Tournament was finally on its way. The commentator was back in his box, commentating along with Luke Skyrunner who only managed to reach the third round.
The matchups were then shown on the screen, and the audience cheered more zealously than usual. It was the much-awaited quarterfinals, after all, and some of them even camped outside the American Dome just so they could enter as soon as the doors opened.
"Oh, you're all here. The barbecue was fun last night, I thought you were going to drink the night away or something." Jean Grey greeted them after taking their seats right behind the row where the Midoriyamas sat. His wife and son were there as well, and they were already well-acquainted with the group since they did have a get-together last night.
"Jean Grey, good morning," Tatsuki greeted back, waving his hand toward Jean and Ash.
"Your son's still in the standings, right? We came to cheer him on." Jean continued as his gaze landed on the grand stage in the middle of the field. Even though he wasn't participating in any of the matches, he felt an incredible amount of pressure emanating from the grand stage. This was the real deal, and he was there to witness the birth of a new beast master.
Jean Grey looked up just when the matchups were posted on the large screen in the middle of the stadium right above the grand stage. He grinned, thinking that the matchups were as expected.
...
Meanwhile, back in Satoshi's waiting room.
Satoshi wasn't expecting the matchups to be predetermined since the last two rounds had random matchups. But after seeing it plastered on the screen, he too felt the pressure of the Official Beast Tournament. 'I'm really in the quarterfinals, aren't I?' Satoshi said to himself.
For some odd reason, he was on the first match along with someone he knew. While he was confident that he'd be able to win the match, he was fairly certain that they'd have a great match against each other. In terms of his opponent's life story, it's pretty cliche that he'd be fighting Satoshi, but Satoshi still looked forward to it.
"Who would've thought... out of the eight people here, we'd be fighting against each other," Satoshi muttered to himself.
The indistinct cheers of the audience as well as the muffled voice of the commentator echoed in Satoshi's waiting room, adding to his anxiousness as the match was about to be announced.
Shoyo wasn't doing any better either. Pacing back and forth inside his waiting room. Just like Satoshi, he heard the audience cheering with eager anticipation for the first match of the quarterfinals, and it gave him butterflies in his stomach. Ruffling his strikingly orange hair, Satoshi broke down on the couch, clasping his hands together in a praying stance as he pursed his lips.
Honestly, he wasn't nervous because he was pitted against Satoshi, but because he didn't want to disappoint him. By the time he saw Satoshi's name opposite his, he had already come to an acceptance that this was how far he could go. He didn't regret it at all though— going up against his teacher and all that. In fact, he was even thankful that he would be fighting him instead of some other beast tamer in the quarterfinals.
It did give him some mixed feelings though since he didn't want to disappoint Satoshi. After everything he's taught him the past two weeks, even relying on him during the third round. He wanted to give it his all so he'll be proud of him.
"He was the only one who believed in me, even back at the training center of the White Mist Faction. Everybody laughed at me, but he didn't. And he even taught me everything I needed. I've gotten this far, I can't disappoint him now." Shoyo muttered to himself as sweat trickled from his forehead.
Then the announcement came, and Shoyo steeled himself to stand up and exit his waiting room. It was time for the first match of the quarterfinals.
Satoshi, on the other hand, heaved a huge exhale before he got out of his waiting room as well. With a purposeful stride, he sauntered towards the grand stage.
The time has come.
Albeit the grand stage looked a lot like it did yesterday, Satoshi couldn't help but see it in a different light due to the choking atmosphere of the quarterfinals. Shoyo had it worse since he knew that everyone would be watching his defeat.
Gulp.
When Shoyo caught sight of the grand stage right in front of the illuminated entrance to the stadium, he felt his nervousness getting the best of him. Nevertheless, he continued to step forward, thinking that he would be giving Satoshi a disservice if he were to tuck his tail and run.
On the other hand, Satoshi was looking forward to his match with Shoyo. His anxiousness was still there, but he didn't dwell on it too much. And even though Shoyo was weaker than him, he didn't make it an excuse to go easy on him. There won't be any underestimating going on in this match, not if Satoshi can help it.
"Here we have Midoriyama Satoshi with a clean win streak up to the finals!" The commentator called out even though what he said was pretty obvious. "And on this side we have Shoyo! Just yesterday, these two are on the same side, fighting together in the third round. But now, they found themselves against each other. Oh, how the turns have tabled— er, I mean, how the tables have turned!"
"Throughout the entire Official Beast Tournament, Satoshi has been defeating opponents left and right with ease. While we don't know for sure if he's going to win this match or not, I can ascertain that he'll definitely give us an interesting match." Luke Skyrunner commented as he grabbed the mic from the commentator's hands. "Shoyo also had an exemplary performance in his previous matches. He had been lucky all throughout the Official Beast Tournament, and it looks like his luck has not run out even until now."
"His improvement is really noticeable. But the question is, will he be able to catch up to Satoshi? Or will luck play a part in his performance and snag him the win?" The commentator said, his eyes glistening.
At the same time, the referee who had been silent this whole time stepped forward and beckoned for Satoshi and Shoyo to step into the middle of the grand stage. "Please step forward and give each other a handshake." The referee continued.
This was the first time the opponents were signaled to shake each other's hands, which further commemorated the fact that they were already in the quarterfinals. Satoshi was the first one to move, and Shoyo quickened his pace after seeing that Satoshi was already in the middle of the grand stage.
"Let's have a great match." Satoshi extended his hand.
"Let's have a great match," Shoyo repeated, forcing a smile on his face before he walked back to his side of the grand stage.
"Both beast tamers, get ready." The referee called out, raising his hand.
Another gulp was heard from both Satoshi and Shoyo as the tension continued to rise up. Everyone who was watching, be it the live stream or in person, knew that once the referee brings her hand down, the match will commence.
"Ready! Let the battle begin!" The referee brought his hand down and ran toward the edge of the grand stage.
Shoyo didn't waste any time summoning his chimera-like tamed beast. "Buy me some time, all right?" Shoyo commanded as he started integrating with his chick tamed beast. Now that he was actually in a match with Satoshi, he felt his throat constricting. All the pressure was on his shoulders since he knew he couldn't fail on his beast integration.
"Don't let me down, partner," Shoyo clasped his hand as he integrated with this chick tamed beast. The chick squealed, and Shoyo successfully integrated with it.
As for Satoshi, he immediately called Ryu Ryoko (who was actually in the audience so he had to summon Ghast and teleport her to the grand stage. Satoshi also made sure that she was in her Black Winged Dragon form since everyone would be surprised if she wasn't) and she was the one who'd go up against the frankenstein/chimera tamed beast that Shoyo summoned. As for his first beast integration, Satoshi went with his Alpha Red Salamander, going back to the basics while he attacked Shoyo.
Even though Shoyo was the first one to act when it came to their beast integration, Satoshi was still a step faster than him. By the time he completed his beast integration, Satoshi was already in front of him, shooting a spire of flame at his face, point-blank.
"Aghk~!" Shoyo barely had enough time to block the attack, and his hand was burnt in the process.
"Always be ready, Shoyo, if you're beast integration is taking too long, you should have another backup plan." Satoshi pointed out, staying in place as he waited for Shoyo to get his wits together.
"H-hai~!" Shoyo called out, shaking off the attack as he prepared to counter.
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