The Legendary Junkmaster

Jason settled into his room with Harry as the second day of events was about to begin. He had spent the previous night congratulating Dani and Adam while fixing up minor damages on their equipment. As the crowd filtered into the arena, exciting talks were being held while people began to place bets with each other. 

From now on, the fights would be one on one. The first fight was to feature Sam, who had been up against a guy named Caleb. As the crowd watched the two competitors come up on stage, Jason groaned. It turned out that Caleb was one of Sam's men. More specifically, he was the guy who had Super Strength.

As they both stepped onto the stage, the crowd grew excited. Many people bet on Caleb since he had to protect Sam for her to make it through the first round. Harry, sensing an opportunity, called over a bookkeeper and placed one hundred copper credits on Sam. Her odds of winning were low, so Harry excitedly held his ticket that would allow him to claim an Iron Credit if she won.

Just as the bell rang, Caleb threw up his hands. "I surrender!"

The entire stadium went silent before going into an uproar! Just like that, Sam advanced to the semi-finals without having to display her Power even once. This put her in a highly advantageous position from here on out. As she could develop plans to counter her opponents.

It took some time for the crowd to settle down again, and the next contestants entered the arena. Jason groaned again. Dani joined the stage while her opponent was Gerald. The man who could phase through skin and Sam's other lackey in this tournament. 

This was a fight that the crowd were eager to see. Harry had already run off to find a bookkeeper to claim his earnings while Jason kept his mind fixed on the fight. The bell rang, and the pair immediately rushed towards each other!

Gerald threw a fist towards Dani, who disappeared. However, Gerald had expected that and swung his other hand behind him. Gerald frowned as his hand passed through empty air. He had expected Dani to appear behind him to land a strike with her weapon. 

Instead, she reappeared near a corner of the ring, and her eyes were smiling at him. Gerald hesitated for a moment as he took stock of the situation. Dani was far more dangerous to him when she was close to an edge. One wrong move could see him disqualified by a ring out. 

However, Gerald had no means to attack from range, so he had no choice but to close the distance! Gerald charged while keeping his eyes on Dani, who stood there smiling. He threw out a kick while preparing himself to dodge the attack that would come when Dani teleported.

His eyes went wide in shock, though, as his shin connected with Dani's Storm. She grinned as she flicked the switch on the upgraded Riot, and an electrical current shot through Gerald's body, stunning him as a result!

Dani teleported behind him now and swung the Storm in its Baton state again. Gerald had managed to stay on his feet, but he was suffering. Still, he managed a smile as he activated his ability. His plan was to strike Dani when she was off balance when her attack passed through him.

His smile disappeared, though, as the Storm struck him in the ribs, winding him. Dani followed up with a swift kick to the head to topple Gerald out of the ring! The crowd went wild as Dani claimed victory in this fight! As Gerald lay on his back, it took him a moment to realise what had gone wrong. 

The lingering effects of being electrocuted prevented his body from activating his ability! He never knew of this weakness before, and he could only guess that Dani had gotten lucky. Sam, who was watching from a competitor's box for those who won, narrowed her eyes. 'That prick! He actually did come up with an upgrade!'

Sam was not the only one who developed an interest in Dani's weapon. Quite a few people in the crowd began to covet it, along with those who had bought a Primal for the tournament. They could not help but curse when they realised that Star Gear had held out on them!

Jason was unaware that as he cheered for Dani's victory, a pair of eyes had fallen on his personal box. "It seems that Highrise has some hidden talents…"

The next fight featured a woman who could summon ice and a slender man that could spit acid. Although it was pretty flashy to watch, there was no suspense as the woman just froze the acid until she finally entombed the man in her Power. Although the crowd cheered, it somewhat lacked compared to the noise they made for Dani's victory.

With that out of the way, it was now time for the final fight of the qualifiers. Adam took to the stage against a woman who could harden her skin. On the surface, this was a bad matchup for Adam, considering he used a short sword as his primary means of damaging his opponent. 

The bell rang, and Adam wasted no time in moving in to test if the Orochi could damage Shannon's tough skin. Every time he slashed at her, a metallic sound would cry out as her body deflected the blade without receiving any injuries. However, Shannon proved unable to strike Adam due to his flexibility and the acrobatics that he could pull off.

The situation devolved into a stalemate, and the crowd grew bored of that fight. Adam was sweating beneath his armour as he studied his opponent. 'I guess I have to use that for now…'

Adam suddenly backed off from Shannon, causing her to furrow her eyebrows in confusion. Needless to say that the crowd was also wondering what he was planning to do. That was until Adam performed a spinning flip through the air and swung the Orochi towards Shannon.

The blade suddenly extended on a metal wire, booming a whip with bladed sections that were separated from each other. The crowd gasped at that reveal, but they did not think it would change anything. Shannon also felt that it was a last desperate struggle on her opponent's behalf and paid no attention to the attack.

Adam was elated that Shannon underestimated him, she had let down her guard, and he could not have asked for a better response. Using his flexibility, he twisted his body quickly, and it altered the Orochi's trajectory!

The whip blade wrapped around Shannon's body, binding her arms to her sides and prevented her from moving. Of course, the edges failed to pierce her skin, but that was not Adam's objective! He flicked a switch on the Orochi's handle that would allow him to reel the weapon back in. Shannon landed flat on her face as Adam began to drag her behind him!

Her eyes went wide as she shouted for him to stop, but the audience erupted in a cheer. Adam dragged her to the edge of the arena before throwing her out! Jason laughed as he watched Adam's victory. It had been well worth giving the Orochi that gimmick since it suited Adam's ability. He doubted that anyone but Adam could use it like that. 

Jason had to admit that he could not wait to see who would claim victory in this tournament. "It would be great if either Dani or Adam wins. I just hope they're not put against each other until the finals…"