Deadpool was currently wearing a sharp, black-and-white tuxedo over his red suit, holding a clipboard and wearing a pair of reading glasses that didn't have any lenses. He was sitting behind a mahogany desk that he had somehow dragged into the commentary booth.
"tum, if you feel a sudden, uncontrollable urge to kneel and apologize for existing, don't worry—that's just the atmospheric pressure of Ring 13!" Deadpool whispered, his voice dripping with mock-seriousness. "We've left the streets and entered the 'Corporate Hellscape.' It's the battle of the ultimate HR nightmares! We've got the Control Devil who wants a world without movies versus the Demon King who just wants to find a blue flower and stay out of the sun! It's Makima against Muzan Kibutsuji! It's 'Point and Click' versus 'Thousand-Year-Old Tantrum'! Keep your eyes open, because if you blink, you might find yourself under a permanent contract!"
Ring 13 was a shifting, non-euclidean space. One moment it was a sterile, high-rise office in Tokyo; the next, it was the sprawling, gravity-defying Infinite Castle. The air smelled of expensive perfume and ancient, rotting iron.
Heimdall was floating outside the ring on a mechanical eye, looking genuinely terrified. "Match Number Forty-Four! The High-Ranking Public Safety Officer, Makima! Versus the first and strongest Demon, Muzan Kibutsuji!"
The King's Arrogance
Muzan appeared in his tall, elegant suit, his plum-red eyes glowing with a murderous intensity. He didn't wait for a signal. His body exploded into a mass of whipping, serrated tentacles that tore through the office furniture like it was wet paper. "A human woman? You dare bring a mere puppet before the King of Demons? I will absorb your cells and erase your very memory from this world!"
Makima stood perfectly still amidst the carnage. She didn't draw a weapon. She didn't even drop her hands from her sides. A slight, enigmatic smile played on her lips as she watched the tentacles stop just inches from her face, held back by an invisible, crushing weight.
"You speak of puppets," Makima said, her voice calm and melodic. "But you have spent a thousand years hiding in the shadows, afraid of a single breath of sunlight. That isn't a King. That's a scared animal."
The Invisible Strike
Muzan's face contorted with rage. He shed his human disguise, his skin turning pale and covered in mouths as he unleashed his full demonic power. He moved faster than any human eye could follow, but as he lunged forward, Makima simply raised her right hand.
She pointed her index finger at Muzan's chest.
"Bang."
An invisible force, traveling with the weight of a freight train, punched a massive, gaping hole through Muzan's torso. Blood and viscera sprayed across the white walls. Muzan staggered, his multiple hearts and brains pulsing as they struggled to knit his flesh back together.
Up in the booth, Deadpool was hiding under his desk. "It's a battle of hax, tum! Muzan has the ultimate regeneration, but Makima has the literal power of authority! She's hitting him with the conceptual equivalent of a 'Cease and Desist' order!"
The Chains of Control
Muzan roared, his body regenerating in seconds. He sent a wave of shockwaves through the floor, shattering the foundation of the office. "I am immortal! No matter how many times you break this body, I will return!"
"Immortal?" Makima tilted her head. "I have a contract with the Prime Minister of Japan. Any damage dealt to me is transferred into an appropriate illness or accident among the Japanese citizens. To kill me, you would have to kill an entire nation. Can you do that before I decide you belong to me?"
Muzan froze. He felt something he hadn't felt since he first saw the hilt of a black nichirin sword—pure, paralyzing dread. He tried to move, but his limbs wouldn't obey. His blood, the very essence of his power, felt like it was turning to lead.
Makima stepped closer, the spiral patterns in her eyes glowing with a soft, terrifying light. She placed a gentle hand on Muzan's shoulder.
"Down."
The Demon King, a being who had terrorized humanity for a millennium, was slammed into the floor. The force was so great it cracked the bedrock of the Infinite Castle. Muzan clawed at the ground, his eyes wide with horror as he realized he was no longer the master of his own cells. He was being overwritten.
"A dog should know its place," Makima whispered.
Muzan's transformation reversed. He shrank back into his human form, his red eyes fading into a dull, subservient gray. He couldn't even scream as his consciousness was tucked away into a corner of his own mind, replaced by the absolute will of the Control Devil.
"Match Forty-Four winner... MAKIMA!" Heimdall announced, his voice shaking.
Up in the booth, Deadpool finally crawled out from under the desk, adjusting his tie. "And just like that, the Demon King is now a very expensive footstool! That was cold, tum. Absolutely sub-zero! 44 winners down, only 7 matches to go in Round One!"
The Psychic Supernovas are Next!
We're moving from the horror show to a battle that might actually delete the stadium from existence!
Match 45 (Ring 10): Tetsuo Shima vs. Saiki K. (The Psychic God of Neo-Tokyo vs. The Guy Who Just Wants to Eat Coffee Jelly in Peace!)
Match 46 (Ring 14): Raiden vs. 2B. (The Slasher Cyborg vs. The Existential Android!)