(Vanta: Bold)

What despicable though he just had as he faced his current opponent. Steal the win by beating him up? It wasn't the first time someone in the competition did it, right? It wouldn't be wrong to try it again, to solidify a win to go against Miko during the next rounds, right?

That's what Vanta thought. It wasn't perfect of him to thing such things, but it would work, certainly.

Lights from all corners of the circular stage circled around the figures right at the very centre, a bright spotlight illuminating the stage as its opponents were finally under the view of the alien crowd who only cheered louder as the music started.

〔Ｒｏｕｎｄ １０〕

〔Ｖａｎｔａ ＶＳ Ａｎｔ〕

"You got me feeling like a drug~" Ant had started, voice tainted with the intensity of his poised figure, the tone of his voice almost threatening to Vanta.

"Twisted thoughts - Can't get enough!"

"I'm falling deeper... drowning slow-"

"But I need you- more than you know!~"

No no no, he wasn't supposed to be the star of this show, wasn't he? Only Vanta knew there was one king to decide their fates, one legendary figure who stood on this very stage.

"이제 내게 와..." It was more raspier than normal, a quicker pace set to fight back against Ant's feeble attempts to scare him.

"너는 내 Painkiller!"

"너와 함께라면-"

"미쳐도 좋아, oh-oh-oh~"

This time, Ant was a real competitor amongst many others he's seen perform before. Much to was he had described, there weren't a lot of promising stars amongst the line up, except for him, Miko, Luka, and perhaps Hyuna. Oh Miko... His lovely Miko ... - Someone like Ant would be considered an underdog, a champion in the rough. Vanta couldn't lie, even someone with Ant's talent and voice control was impressive.

But how much did Vanta see him as a threat to his very existence? 100 percent. There was no lying that he was certainly very triggered by the fact that he could go up against him, against Vanta with such a huge fanbase! And even then, the biggest fanbase in Alien Stage so far!

Sure, Luka was quite popular with his own fans, but over a 3 million aliens watching Luka against the 5 million watching Vanta? There was sure to be a clear winner!

"Painkiller, you're my cure!"

"Poison running through my veins!"

"Sick of waiting I want more!"

"Painkiller, you're the game."

This time, Ant was being aggressive, taking the chance to circle around Vanta with predatory like eyes. He'd never been challenged like this before, never in a million years would he have ever to be called out like this.

"눈빛이 날 흔들어..."

"두려운 그 순간에도-"

"중독처럼 빠져들어..."

"절대 빠져나갈 수 없어!~"

And just as Vanta was about to pull back, soft, slim, slender fingers slid on his cheek, Ant's sadistic smile turning ever so slightly softer as he made contact with Vanta's face.

No, no, no, no, no... what the fuck was he doing?

"이제 내게 와..."

"너는 내 Painkiller-" Vanta pushed him backwards, making Ant stumble as he tried to maintain composure.

"너와 함께라면-"

"미쳐도 좋아, oh-oh-oh!" He'd certainly wouldn't mind if he went crazy on beating the hell out of Ant for all he's worth. He had just touched him! On the fucking cheek! Only to be reserved for Miko! Why the fuck would he ever breach that?! How far would Ant go to do such a task, and why him especially?

Ant had got up against female competitors before this round, his attempt at 'touching' them was ceased. He had instead kept a great distance from them, even glaring at one whom tried to get closer to him.

With Vanta, his first male competitor he was up against, much different. He got close, up and personal, and caressed his fucking face? What was all this shit about?

Vanta was clearly pissed, you could see it by the scowl on his face, his arms clenched as his knuckles turned a sickly pale from how tight he was holding them. He hadn't shown this much emotion in a long time, perhaps many years. The shell of his mask was slowly breaking apart, hidden enclosed a disgusted look of pure hatred plastered right on his face.

"Painkiller... You're my cure..." Ant had very much noticed the shift in Vanta's demeanour, He didn't try to intentionally do it, he was just trying to show him... what he felt.

"Poison running through my veins...!"

"Sick of waiting... I want more..."

"Painkiller... you're the game!"

Vanta remembered watching Ant back at the Anakt Garden, the only reason because he had spoken to Miko and asked if they could see who were the fastest runner. He didn't know who won that day, all he was fuming about was the fact that his precious Miko was spoken to by him.

In turn, Ant remembered Vanta's distraught appearance back at the pretend royal tea party they were attending, his voice wavering as he spoke to Miko, but he had dropped the pretend tea pot which had ceased the roleplay. Ant was confused, to say the least - puzzled on why the boy made such a fuss about someone talking with Miko. Out of everyone, why her? Why couldn't Vanta see that someone was pinning him too?

So he tried something, to catch Vanta's attention. He spoke to Miko. He had only merely asked her to verse him in a race, he didn't have any sort of liking to her, only to Vanta. Of course, he'd let Miko win that race, she was impresively fast, but he wanted to see Vanta's reaction.

As soon as he had lost against Miko, he looked back behind him, watching Vanta's face turn into unbridled rage. If he could catch Vanta's attention like that, he'd have his undivided love.

No, he kept pinning Miko. Kept repeating his devotion for the blonde loner and even gave a speech to her during Round 4.

He was doing all he could to capture Vanta's heart, WHY COULDN'T HE SEE THAT?

"너 없인 살 수 없어..."

"넌 내게 마법 같아...!"

"Painkiller... 이제 널 가질래~"

"끝까지 붙잡아!"

If only those words were meant for himself... they were obviously directed to Miko - hell the only reason he helped the aliens make those songs were the soul of purpose of him singing that to Miko!

The interlude started, the sound of trumpets and other unfamilair brass instruments played in the background, to soothe the crowd of Aliens who went wild for the competitors performance.

Finally, Vanta had a chance to speak to Ant before they had to sing again.

"What the fuck was that for?!" Vanta grabbed onto Ant's colar, something Ant relished the thought of ever since he fell for him.

"I thought you would have guessed right now-"

"I FUCKING DIDN'T- TELL ME." His words were harsh, ending with Ant pulling closer to Vanta's face. He didn't mind if he was yelled at, as long as it was him. Vanta was so close to putting an end to his life with a few punches... he planned it after all.

"I'm jealous of Miko..."

"What?"

"Jealous. It's not fair."

The music didn't last long as the music lowered to accomodate the lyrics to the song, a chance to end their conversation shortly after.

"이제 내게 와!"

"너는 내 Painkiller!"

"너와 함께라면...."

"미쳐도 좋아, oh-oh-oh!!"

"Painkiller... You're my cure!"

"Poison running through my veins~"

"Sick of waiting, I want more~"

"Painkiller, you're the game!

How Vanta hated when Ant kept finishing his sentences, he wished Miko did that for him. He hated seeing Ant's smile widen, he wished Miko would look at him with that same smile.

〔 Ｖａｎｔａ：7*#3.2&^681-〕〔Ａｎｔ：5*#7.9&^321-〕

"You're my painkiller..."

"끝까지..."

"Painkiller... you're... the... game."

〔 Ｖａｎｔａ：８６ 〕〔Ａｎｔ：７０〕

Vanta fist slammed onto Ant's face more times you could count, he was furious for having shown jealousy for his beloved. He couldn't stop his unadulterated madness as those bruises became a purple bump around his eyes and cheek, cuts stemming from one punch as Ant only started laughing.

He was on the floor, smiling, laughing, even through the pain.

In a blur of mess and bruises, Ant hadn't even known the pain in his neck before Vanta was being pulled away by the guards, separating him from the one person he truly loved... Vanta.

Ant pulled a hand to his bleeding neck, his smile disappearing in an instant as he could see the guards having to place a colar on both Vanta's neck and mouth, the tiny colour beeping red.

The struggle in Vanta's eyes saddened him, even if he was the cause of his outrage.

"I want to see you again... I hope those guards don't hurt you..." He whispered, a hand over his face as he rubbed his black eye back and forth, trying to soothe the pain.

His hand fell limp on the floor.

〔Ｒｏｕｎｄ Ｔｅｎ：Ｖａｎｔａ Ｗｉｎ〕

A/N:

"Chills, literal chills."
"That guy. That guy killed Ant."
"Oh, I forgot about that-"

Hehe... You guys didn't see that coming.... :Smirks:

HOW WAS IT??? THE TENSION, THE UNSEEN LOVE, THE PAIN, THE SONG, HOW DID IT GO FOR YOU GUYS??? DID YOU AGREE ON THE POINTS??

I'M SORRY!! I was busy with lot's of assessments, and went on school camp... so I couldn't make this chapter in time... but I've gotta say, the heat in this, the DRAMA, was amazing. This would honestly be my most favourite round, for obvious reason :)) LIKE OMG I DIDN'T KNOW SOMEONE LIKED VANTA, PLOT TWIST!!

The next chapter is something you may have never expected....