"WINNER!" THE OUTSIDER MAC HAS DONE IT!"
As the colosseum crowd went wild, Anastasia looked at her numb hands with disbelief. Her hands were heavily calloused, proof of her lifelong journey and talent with the sword that had taken her to the heights of the kingdom's military. Yet all that effort seemed to have failed against this outsider named Mac. Looking around, still in somewhat of a daze, Anastasia located her trusted sword and shield, strewn on the arena ground.
"Hey? Are you okay?"
Instead of celebrating his victory, the outsider offered a hand to Anastasia that she rejected and got back on her feet with a sour expression. This was the first time in over 20 years she had lost a sparring match; not since she was 6 years old had she tasted the bitter taste of defeat. After both Anastasia and the outsider Mac were checked for injuries and cleared by a healer, the dreaded award ceremony started.
Walking up to the award podium, Anastasia was a tiny bit happy she wasn't the victor for once, of course it was extremely frustrating for her to lose as handedly as she had, but not having to talk with the announcer and the wider stadium to have yet another unnecessary wish made true was a blessing.
"Mac! How does it feel to win the 859th annual knight tournament?"
Speaking into a sound amplifying spell formation, the announcer addressed the outsider Mac and started the victory interview that Anastasia used to dread.
"It feels great, honestly. Save for a few… Incidents. This Kingdom has treated me great, and I am happy that I got to take part in one of its honoured and revered traditions."
(Ha! Now that he's speaking to this many people he starts being respectful…)
Remembering her first meeting with the outsider where he had been extremely rude and disgusting, Anastasia was reminded of the wager she had entered with him on that day… Whoever won this tournament could ask anything of the other person.
(Oh no…)
Noticing the colour drain from Anastasia's face, the outsider continued talking with the announcer about trivial things, but a small smirk started slowly forming on his face at the same time.
"Oh yeah, that's right. Yesterday Anastasia and I made a small wager."
"Really? Our proud and noble knight captain entered a wager? What was it about?"
Getting the announcer's and the entirety of the colosseum's attention, it seemed that the Mac was set on forcing Anastasia to do something publicly.
(As I thought, this guy is pure scum.)
Anastasia still remembered Mac asking to sleep with her yesterday, so she feared what he was about to ask her to do in front of thousands of people.
"It was a simple wager, given I had somewhat insulted Miss knight captain, I promised I would do whatever she asked if she won the tournament, and in turn her honour bound her to make the same wager."
"OOH! So, what are you going to ask of our dear knight captain!? Her family is loaded, you know!?"
Getting himself overly involved in their private matter as he whipped the crowd into a frenzy, the announcer was extremely close to being punched in the face by Anastasia who barely managed to restrain herself and put on a polite, but cracking, exterior as she responded.
"That's a private matter, we're going to discuss it at a later-"
"Now come on, you knew that's not how I do things~"
(... Of course this scum is set on humiliating me publicly… Fuck.)
Seeing Mac's disgusting smirk had returned in full force, Anastasia also dropped her facade as her eyes turned cold.
"Well, then let's get it over with. What is your demand?"
At her words, both the announcer and the crowd at large felt a chill down their spines, this Anastasia was one they hadn't seen before, and even her voice seemed like something inhuman all of a sudden. Instead of the somewhat awkward tomboy of a knight captain, Anastasia now acted like she used to on monster extermination campaigns, or leading her forces against those who would harm the kingdom.
"Hmm~ While I would've loved to ask you for your hand in marriage, or simply to sit on my fa-"
Seeing the outsider was still fucking around even when presented with the honnor of the kingdom's knight tournament, something snapped inside Anastasia as she instantly closed the distance, aiming to punt the outsider's discusting face off of his body, along with the rest of his head as she wove her fist with mana.
As her fist closed in on Mac's face, time seemed to slow down for Anastasia.
(What the hell am I even doing?)
While she knew she was about to kill this outsider with her bare hands in front of a crowd of the kingdom's residents, the very people she had tried so hard to hide this side of herself from, Anastasia couldn't seem to find a reason to care at the moment. This disgusting outsider had tarnished her pride; so he needed to die. That was all there was to it.
(Perhaps I do need to unwind a bit?... Well, I can do that after he's dead.)
Although Anastasia had fully intended to kill the outsider then and there, it didn't happen as her fist came to a stop about a centimetre away from Mac's smirk.
"I already told you, Miss Knight, you really need to calm your tits."
"W-"
As she tried to speak, Anastasia found that her entire body had a hard time moving, and she struggled to even open her mouth as it felt like she had just been cast inside a metal statue.
Taking a few steps back from the knight captain that was frozen in mid-air, Mac let his facade slip entirely, partly because the gravity engine embedded in his left arm needed cooling, but also because it worked out to reveal things at this point.
(Requesting rapid exfil; code yellow 2.)
[COMMAND ACKNOWLEDGED, ETA; 22 SECONDS.]
"W-what's happening?"
Finally catching up with what was going on, the announcer voiced what Anastasia and the rest of the crowd was thinking, one second the knight captain had lounged after the outsider Mac, but the next she was frozen in mid air, and now Mac's arm had spit open as parts of it seemed to be floating while the entire thing emitted heat like a blacksmith's furnace.
"Your dear knight captain is just in a bit of a time-out until she can behave a bit better… You can behave, right?"
Still with a smile on his face, the outsider's now free floating fingers started tightening as Anastasia felt like she was suddenly getting crushed from all sides, in just a few seconds it became hard to breathe and she started trying to nod in a panic.
"Good."
As soon as she surrendered, Anastasia was finally freed from this invisible force restraining her and she fell to her knees, that's when she finally noticed what was going on with the outsider's arm as she felt the heat from it.
"W-what's that!? Wh-what are you!?"
Studying Anastasia's face for a few moments, Mac seemed a bit hurt that she was now scared of him, but what else was he expecting when he suddenly revealed himself as something… Other.
"Me? I'm Mac, nice to meet you~... Or not, well all in time I guess."
Putting on his disgusting smirk again for just a moment, it seemed like Mac finally let his mask slip as he turned serious. Seeing the outsider as a threat to her country, Anastasia tried to charge him again, but as she tried getting up, that strange pressure returned, forcing her to stay in place.
"Anastasia Lilith Victoria XVI, my request is a meeting with your family head, David Simon Victoria XXI, and any member of the royal family, to discuss my amnesty and naturalisation into this country."
As the outsider stated his demand, some kind of black craft broke through the clouds above the colosseum and fell towards its centre like a meteor, only it spread out wings like an eagle just before impact and slowed to a hold just a few centimetres above the arena floor, all without making a sound. Opening up, a series of pure black golems started streaming out of the craft, their formation flawless they surrounded Mac in a protective envelope and let out low pitch mechanical hums in a warning not to approach as red light started glowing from their weapons.
"Let's meet in a week, I'll appear in front of the royal castle then."
The second Mac stopped speaking, his arm reassembled and the formless pressure that held Anastasia in place ceased and finally allowed her to breathe freely as Mac started leaving surrounded by his protective detail.
"Wai-"
Rushing to her feet the second she was free, Anastasia made the mistake of making herself a priority target for Mac's detail as one of the drones fired a warning shot from its helical rail rifle with a loud mechanical hum. The warning shot went right past Anastasia's head, leaving her with a cut in her cheek as the penetrator dart projectile buried itself deeply into the arena wall behind her.
The effect of the warning shot was immediate and effective, putting a damper on any and all attempts at stopping Mac as he left the colosseum and returned to orbit.