Fighter's Paradise: Halimaw

The two men are seen lazing around the shop, doing nothing for now. Leonardo is still recovering. Fighting two intense battles two days in a row will mess anybody up.

"Say, you do know the day the tournament begins right?"

"Of course I do. It starts on December 3. From what I remember, it always started on December 3 ever since the organization was formed."

"Hmm, when did the organization form anyway? When I saw your match, the arena looked quite old." 

"Uhh, I think it was around the time the Philippines was colonized by the US? I'm not so sure it's been a while."

The two start eating their lunch. Leonardo eats much more than Jack. Fighting and intense exercise burns up a lot of calories.

"Say, how do you get signed to Paraiso?"

"There are a few ways to get signed. First is by invitation; The current chairman of the Paraiso personally writes hundreds, maybe even thousands of letters and then ships them off to fighters who have made a name for themselves. I wasn't invited, so I'm not exactly sure what's on it, but I heard from a friend from the organization that it contains a personal message from the chairman and a printed serial number. All fighters who were invited have a different serial number than those who went to different branches of the organization to sign up. Second is by signing up personally; Like I said, many fighters get signed to Paraiso by going to different branches of the organization."

"Wait hold on, where and what exactly are these branches?"

"The Paraiso Organization can't exactly exist without proper funding, this is where the bank company, the Great Bank of The Philippines, comes in. I'm not so sure of the exact history of the bank, but it was founded before Paraiso was. Both the bank and Paraiso are tied to each other, and it's a family business. The current head of both organizations is the son of the previous head. The airport I was talking about is also run by them. Anyway, for a fighter to get signed, they must first go to one of these branches and then must state a password to a bank teller. After that, the bank teller will hand the fighter a paper that they need to fill up. Once filled up, the bank teller assigns a temporary serial number to the fighter and then notifies the executive of the branch. From there, the executive schedules a match between the newly signed person and a person already signed to the organization. If they win or do well enough, they are allowed to join the organization and are then given a permanent serial number. The losers just get sent away. Of course, anyone is allowed to try again."

"Isn't that kind of risky?"

"What is?"

"What if the loser tries to spill the beans somewhere?"

"Oh, that won't matter. As much as it pains me to say it, rich people run the country. You would just be endangering yourself by trying to whistleblow. It's much better to hide away and keep that secret till you're dead. Also, a fighter's pride won't allow themselves to do anything that shallow."

"Hmm, I see."

Leonardo leans back in his chair, thinking about what else to ask.

"Oh, and I don't plan to sign you up for the organization yet. Rather, we will sign you up for the tournament only."

"Hm, why?"

"You're still lacking in some areas, so we'll fix that before we get to the big stages."

"Oh, okay! Thanks Mr. Jack."

"Heh, it's nothing."

"I got one more question though."

"What is it?"

"What is the process for signing up for the tournament as a non-signed fighter? I didn't really get what you meant last the other night."

"I think I should explain the whole pre-tournament process. There are preliminaries. This goes for all fighters, including those invited. Most fighters must win a lot of preliminaries to secure a spot. The preliminaries only last one day. The way to get a spot in the tournament is to first; beat two other signed fighters, and second; beat a fighter who already has a spot. Fighters are not allowed to decline a challenge. When the preliminaries are done, an executive gets the list of those who have earned a spot and shuffles them into a tournament bracket. The fighters then have a month to recover from their injuries."

"Thanks for the explanation."

"No problem."

"Also, as much as I'd like to fight two more guys, the smart option really would be to challenge the person who already has a spot."

"Yep."

The two continued to eat their lunch when a noise came from the front of the store. Leonardo and Jack came to check what it was, and as it turned out, it was Narso and Bartolomew visiting the store.

"What brings you guys here?"

"We wanna train with you." "

You see, we also want to try participating in the Paraiso tournament."

"Narso's coach is retired, and I never really got the chance to become a proper martial artist."

Jack and Leonardo took a quick glance at each other.

"Yeah sure, I don't mind training both of you. Leo could also use some sparring partners. The local boxing gyms don't have anyone as strong as you guys."

"Thank you, sir! We will also help with the shop if you need any."

"Appreciate it. You boys need to recover from your injuries first though. Leo recovers really quickly so it's no problem for him. Until then just watch Leo's training, you'll probably pick something up from that."

"Yes sir!"

"I hope you two recover quick, I needed a good sparring partner."

The two were then taken under Jack's wing. And now their six months of training begins to prepare them for the Paraiso Grand Tournament. As Narso and Bartolomew leave for the day, Leonardo and Jack go to sit back down inside.

"You've changed, in a good way!"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you're accepting new students that quick when it took a lot of convincing for you to train me. I could've sworn you'd be the type to only have one student."

"Heh, well. I always wanted to be a coach. To retire with a big sum of money and to start a gym where I can help the next generation of fighters grow. I guess you've changed me a lot. Thanks Leo."

"That's a nice goal to have, what you say after the tournament ends, we start a small gym? What should we call it?"

"Leonardo Kickboxing Gym."

"…We're going to need to workshop that name."

"I think it's perfect."

"Why's it named after me? I'm bad at teaching."

"I'll teach you how to teach."

While Leonardo and Jack chill around the shop, hundreds of invitations coming from the chairman of Paraiso are being sent to strong fighters around the world. From men who revolutionize a certain style of fighting, to professional wrestlers hailed as gods, to karateka who could break the world in half with their bare hands, and many other kinds of masters.

Meanwhile, at the chairman of Paraiso's office, the chairman sits in his seat smirking, as a muscular, short haired woman stands in front of him holding his unconscious bodyguard.

"So, will you give me a spot?"

"We've never had a woman be in a Paraiso match before, but I'm willing to make an exception, seeing as you've decimated my bodyguards." "

Heh, you really need to up the security if one little girl is enough to get to you."

"You're right, but-"

A short, muscular man sporting a buzzcut appears behind the woman.

"-You missed one of them."

The woman looks back.

"I know who you are, you're Josol Miralles. I heard you were undefeated in amateur wrestling."

"Popular, am I? And I recognize you, you're Tamar Dadiani, a master judoka from Europe."

The two have a short chuckle before getting into a fighting stance.

"Wait you two, save this for the preliminaries. We can't have a match between you two beasts where I'm the only spectator."

The two take a quick glance at each other before dropping their fighting stance.

"Heh, you're right, I do want an audience when I beat this bald little man into the ground."

"I agree, I can't wait to pummel you into an unrecognizable mush."

"Okay, with that out of the way, you get a special spot. You may exit now Ms. Dadiani."

"Thank you, Mr. Ku."

Tamar leaves the office. Josol waves her goodbye.

"What do you think?"

"She's quite strong. I don't know if I'd win or not, but I'm sure I'll suffer a lot of injuries."

The chairman chuckles.

"I'm so excited, I can tell that this batch of fighters will be the best one yet!"

"Uh, boss, I think you forgot to write letters to the other CEOs and chairmen."

The chairman blankly stares at Josol.

"…You're right let me get right on that. Thank you Josol."

"Just doing my job sir."