The arena hummed under the weight of its own exhaustion.
After Danny's fight, the entire coliseum felt like a living creature struggling to catch its breath. The stone floor still steamed, thin wisps rising from the crater where Danny had nearly lost control. Builder-bots crawled across the arena, chirping in frantic mechanical tones as they welded and patched. The barrier flickered with residual golden static, unwilling to stabilize after absorbing a partially-formed creation blast.
Spectators leaned forward in their seats, adrenaline still buzzing through them like an aftershock. No one dared stand in line for concessions yet. No one wanted to blink and miss what came next.
Danny sat alone in one of the stone staging corridors behind the arena, elbows braced on his knees, head bowed. His aura—normally soft, warm, encouraging—was a trembling flicker of gold. Not dangerous, not explosive, but fragile, like a flame caught in a draft.
He should have felt victorious. He should have felt something.
Instead, he felt empty.
His breathing was shallow. His thoughts drifted where he didn't want them to go—back into smoke-filled memories, flickering images of homes destroyed and quiet moments stolen. Faces that blurred together into grief he could never quite bury.
He didn't hear the footsteps until they were close.
"Oi," a voice rasped. "You look like a kid who's just learned Santa's a serial killer."
Danny blinked.
Jade Killington limped into the corridor, arms bandaged from wrist to shoulder, one eye slightly swollen, his movements stiff but somehow still swaggering. His expression, though, was uncharacteristically soft—somewhere between regret and the lingering buzz of a good fight.
He dropped onto the stone bench beside Danny with a grunt.
"Hope you don't mind the company," Jade said. "My fan club is tryin' to mob me with tissues and sympathy, and I'm allergic to that rubbish."
Danny didn't respond.
Jade exhaled slowly. "Right then. Business."
He was quiet for a moment, staring ahead at the opposite wall before speaking.
"Mate… I said some real nasty things in that ring."
Danny's fingers tightened.
Jade went on, voice lower than usual. "I ain't apologizin' for tryin' to push ya. That part? That's who I am. But… I crossed a line talkin' about your families." He rubbed the back of his neck. "That weren't fight hype. That was me bein' a right bastard."
Danny's jaw tensed. His aura flickered again.
Jade leaned forward, elbows on his knees. "Look… when I'm fightin', yeah? I get loud. I get wound up. It's all instinct, no brakes. But what I said—that were cheap. Cruel. And I'm tellin' ya now, I didn't mean it. Wasn't about you. Just me runnin' my mouth."
Danny finally looked at him. His eyes were tired. Hurt. Confused.
Jade noticed.
He sighed. "Danny… you ain't weak. You ain't the reason anything happened. You're just carryin' more weight than people your age should ever have to."
A beat.
"And maybe you ain't had anyone tell ya it weren't your fault."
Danny's chest tightened. His eyes stung.
Jade grinned slightly. "But I'm tellin' ya now."
Silence hung between them. The arena noise felt distant, muffled, like they were sitting inside a bubble of clarity.
Danny inhaled deeply. Then again. Slower. His aura steadied, no longer jittering with the wild, unstable edges of trauma.
"Thank you," he said quietly.
Jade nodded. "Good. Now that we've done the mushy bit, let's get back to important matters."
Danny blinked. "…Important matters?"
Jade jabbed a thumb at himself. "Yeah. Namely, you owe me a rematch someday. I'm bettin' half me savings on you makin' finals, and if you lose, I'm punchin' ya in the kneecaps."
Danny stared.
Jade winked. "Love and support, mate. Love and support."
Danny huffed something not quite a laugh—but close.
Jade pushed himself upright with a wince. "Right then. I'm off. Gonna get ice, water, and maybe flirt with one of them medbots."
Danny's brow furrowed. "Medbots don't flirt."
"You'd be surprised what they can be bribed with."
And with that, Jade limped away, waving lazily over his shoulder.
Danny remained seated, breath steadier now, aura warm rather than jagged.
For the first time since Sedge Hat revealed the truth, Danny felt the ground return beneath his feet.
He wasn't okay.
But he wasn't falling anymore.
High above, inside the announcer booth, chaos was in full swing.
Jimmy sat slumped over his desk, eyes glazed, his hair frazzled from the stress of the last several chapters. Papers were everywhere—bracket sheets, hazard protocols, medic routing forms, invoices for arena repairs, and someone's half-finished doodle of Wolf King flexing.
Julian stood beside him, rattling off damage assessment reports with the grace of a mathematician performing slam poetry.
"And due to Danny's blast, the arena's geomancy pathways will need to be rebalanced in at least three quadrants, possibly four—depending on whether we consider the third quadrant's implosion a hazard or merely an aesthetic imperfection—"
Jimmy blinked slowly.
Then he sat up straight.
"Wait."
He rubbed his temple.
"What am I doing reading hazard forms?"
Julian paused. "You took over temporary operational authority after ingesting the anomalous waffle."
"The waffle…" Jimmy whispered, eyes widening. He looked down at the plate beside him—only crumbs remained. Suddenly, his expression shifted like fog clearing. "Oh thank goodness, the waffle curse is gone!"
Julian raised a brow. "Curse?"
Jimmy grabbed a fistful of papers and shoved them at Julian's chest. "YOU handle this! I'm not built for structural analysis, Julian! I'm built for SCREAMING and EATING CARBS! The universe is back in balance!"
Julian held the stack delicately, his expression offended in a theatrical way. "Well, I happen to enjoy structural analysis. And screaming. It is important to diversify one's hobbies."
Jimmy flung his arms wide. "Then we're BACK, baby! The greatest commentary duo in the multiverse RETURNS!"
Julian flipped his hair dramatically. "Let's give them a performance."
The booth lights came alive, shining onto the arena.
Jimmy slammed a button on the console, nearly breaking it.
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, FIGHTERS OF ALL AGES AND SPECIES—THE SEMIFINAL BRACKET IS LOCKED IN!"
The arena's central hologram blazed to life.
SEMIFINALS:
DANNY vs SHADECLAW
WOLF KING vs EMBER CLAW
The crowd erupted.
"THIS IS IT!" Jimmy shouted. "THE FINAL FOUR! THE TRUE MONSTERS OF THIS TOURNAMENT!"
Julian leaned into his mic with glittering flourish. "On one side, we have a walking extinction event, a dragon with unresolved trauma potent enough to power a small sun—Danny. Opposing him, the blade in the dark, the shadow wolf whose claws have ended careers—Shadeclaw."
The crowd roared Shadeclaw's name in a rhythm that felt like a heartbeat under the earth.
"AND ON THE OTHER SIDE," Jimmy shouted, "we have a clash of ROYALTY AND REVOLUTION!"
"Wolf King," Julian purred, "the apex of lupine evolution… versus Ember Claw, whose tactical brilliance and relentless resolve may just rewrite the future of the wolf clans."
Fans screamed. Banners rose. Magical lights danced in the air.
The arena became a storm of anticipation.
In the highest balcony, the Wolf King sat with serene composure, flames drifting lazily along his shoulders. The Wolf Queen approached, her bright coat shimmering under the stadium lights.
She leaned in and kissed him.
It was not showy.
Not for the cameras.
Just… real.
When she pulled back, her voice was soft but edged with ambition. "Our clan stands on the cusp of greatness."
Wolf King watched the arena below, his gaze following Danny for a moment, then Ember Claw. "The universe grows wider every year. Laws weaken. Empires crumble."
His flames brightened. "It is time for wolves to spread beyond a single world."
Wolf Queen smiled. "Imagine it. Our banners on moon fortresses. Colonies beneath starlight. A thousand races kneeling."
Wolf King placed his hand over hers. "Together."
"Together," she echoed.
Below, the crowd continued roaring, unaware that two monarchs were planning a multi-planet conquest between rounds of entertainment.
Danny stepped back onto the arena floor, drawn by the vibrations of the celebration. The crowd's energy washed over him—and instead of overwhelming him, it steadied him.
Jake, floating in his med-tank, pumped a fist. "BRO! SEMIFINALS! GO BEAT THE EDGY ONE!"
Swift, still unconscious but stable, twitched slightly as if cheering in his dreams.
Jade, in the medbay doorway, saluted with a grin.
Shadeclaw watched Danny from across the arena, golden eyes gleaming, shadow flickering with hunger.
Wolf King looked at Danny with interest.
Ember Claw looked at the Wolf King with calm determination.
Jimmy's voice boomed:
"FOUR FIGHTERS REMAIN. TWO DRAGONS. TWO WOLVES. ONLY ONE WILL TAKE THE CROWN!"
Julian added, "And I personally cannot wait to see who survives long enough to schedule their post-tournament therapy."
The stadium lights flared.
The bracket gleamed in gold.
The crowd chanted:
"FINAL FOUR! FINAL FOUR! FINAL FOUR!"
Danny exhaled slowly.
His aura glowed steady.
For the first time in a long time…
He felt ready.