First off, I don't own the Tales of the Abyss characters, titles, weapons, or music. This is purely fan-made to show how much I like this series. Just so people know, bold lettering means they are having an internal thought and italic means a past memory. A combination of the two means a significant past memory. This one took a while. I was quite busy but I decided to cut it short. The third chapter will be up in about two weeks. So expect it.

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Chapter 2: The Men of Blades

Luke and Guy both charged at each other at the sound of announcer call, crossing swords in a instant. They both attacked at the same time, canceling each other's strike but Luke knew that Guy would eventually get more attacks. To counter this, the noble from Baticul backed away to avoid any more attacks from Guy. Guy was going to let up and dashed toward Luke, attacking him in a flurry of slashes. Eventually, his guard broke and he fell victim to a Final Cross. With Luke now, airborne, Guy attempted to juggle him in the air with a Severing Wind but Luke recovered and pulled out a Fang Blade Havoc to ground him.

Both of them had been fighting on equal footing so far and neither one of them were holding back. Luke clutched his fist and sent out a Demon Fist. In response, Guy threw out a Double Demon Fang. The demonic attacks clash but one Demon Fang was still coming. The red haired Viscount jumped over it and performed a Havoc Strike. Not giving Guy much time to breath, Luke attacked him while his guard was open and sent him flying with a Rending Thrust, leaving a Earth field of fonons.

Taking the full grunt of the barrage, Guy landed on his back, slowly getting up. 'He's gotten a lot stronger. But he still has the same weaknesses.' With a spin of the Jewel of Gardios, Guy dashed toward Luke, hitting him with a White Tiger Strike before he could react. Luke was stunned and couldn't move. Exactly what Guy wanted. He saw the field on fonons still on the field and went for it. "There's no escape, Eternal Quake!" Rapid stabs of the Eternal Quake, blasted Luke into the side of the coliseum walls. Coughing, he landed on his knees and dropped Ultimatus. 'Damn . . . Guy's a lot stronger and faster then before. If he keeps that I'll . . . no. I won't lose!' His hand slowly crept to the hilt of the former cursed blade and he stood tall.

The cheers echoed as Guy and Luke stood off after a heated exchange and the match had just started. Anise was now standing from her seat, was at the railing, cheering her lungs off. Luke took position and took a breath before going back to battle. He tried to catch Guy off guard with a slag assault and sonic blast combo but the fast swordsmen from Malkuth blocked them both. With a growl Luke pulled a devils inferno that was poorly executed. Guy avoided the area and sent demon fang that stunned Luke. He observed the ground and found that Luke was surrounded in three fields of fonons he created, a red, green and brown one. An idea came to the Sigmund Tactician and he put it into motion.

He let off a Beast, rolling into the red field. "Fiery Beast!" Rolling to the green field, Guy shot off a "Thunder Beast!" And finally, he dashed to the brown field yelling. "Stone Beast!" Luke was hit with all four beasts and sent to the ground, smoking and bruised. Guy kept his blade erected and pointed at the fallen noble. The crowd was silent from the amazing show of artes. Everyone surely thought that Luke had lost but they didn't know Luke's tenacity. Slowly, he got to his knees and grabbed Ultimatus. He shoved the blade in the ground and used it as a cane to raise. He was panting, he was bruised but not beaten.

Guy smiled at his rival and took position. Luke vision got blurry but he fought against it. 'Man . . . he's gotten good . . . but I know I can beat him . . . I will not lose!!' With his blade drawn from the ground, he held in a different position, raised like a samurai. Guy noticed the change in stance but couldn't remember where he saw the stance from. To test it, he decided to charge at him. Luke smirked. "Take this! Shining Dragon!" He announced and thrusts his blade, sending out five spirals of energy toward Guy. 'No way! That's . . . Van's move!!' He had little time to think much else, avoiding the five beams with rolls and quick dashes. Guy was getting closer and Luke fired a Radiant Dragon. It was bigger and more powerful but the quick Malkuth noble jumped in the air toward Luke.

Again, Luke smirked. He spun and used a Shining Blade on Guy when got close. This blasted him back in the air. "Pour forth! Icicle Rain!" The fonic arte of ice shot toward the fall Guy but he sliced the incoming ice shards coming his way. A rogue shard got him in the shoulder but, otherwise, he was unharmed from the attack. He landed on his back and saw Luke running toward him. He called a Lightning Blade and made Guy step back but the wind attack left a green field. "Heh! Feel Thunder!" Luke jumped into the air, his blade wrapped in lightning. "Lightning Tiger Blade!!" Guy grunted and decided to pull out a new move. "Fang Blade!" The two attacks collided and the Jewel of Gardios and Ultimatus were on the verge of breaking. After a while, the swords were thrown from them and landed in the dirt.

The two stood panting, as the crowd started to cheer from a low silence. The announcer shouted. "Wow! Amazing! Simply amazing! These two have put all they had into those strikes. So much so that their swords are about to break! These are true Men of Blades!" Her shouts only fed the crowd and made them yell at the top of their lungs.

Anise was grateful for the stop in the action, she was literally on the edge of her seat the entire fight. 'Man, that was intense! I've never seen those two fight so fiercely.' She thought as she took a huge breath and slouched into her seat. Guy and Luke, panting and sweating, went to grab their swords to start the fight up yet again. The match was far from over for those two. Deep within the Royal City, a rumble would seek to interrupt this battle of men. Two of the Baticul White Knights were standing guard right next to the air cart that led to the Sewer Facility. They heard a sound coming from the depths of the facility and suddenly a salamander shot a venom into one of the Knight's eyes. As he fell on his back, screaming in agony, more of the monsters below started climb or fly out of the facility. They seemed organized and headed for a single area. The people were in a panic from the sight of so many monsters that were in arms reach of them.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!!" A lower ranking knight came into the audience chamber panting.

King Ingobert rose. "What ever is the matter?"

"Your Majesty, monsters have invaded the capital!" He reported to the shock of The King and Cecille. "They came from the Sewer Facility!"

Cecille grabbed the knight by his armor. "Where? Where are the monsters headed?!"

"T-t-the Coliseum, ma'am!"

The audience in the Coliseum was unaware of the threat that was posed to them, being that their only source of light was the torches that were scattered across the stone structure. Guy was about to attack when, he felt a small rumble. Luke felt it as well and looked around. A scream came from the top rows of the audience area. The monsters were climbing the walls and some entered through the main entrance. Anise looked to her left and saw about four bats shoot from the back area. She grunted and pulled out her Arc Wand from a bag she laid beside her seat.

"Stand back, Fon Master!" Anise moved in front of Teodoro and turned back to the Oracle knights. "Protect Trithem! Keep him safe!"

She ordered and began chanting a fonic arte. "Hammer of Light, Limited!" aura surround two or three salamanders as they spilled toward them. A beam of white light shot them down, however, blasting them away. Anise guarded the Fon Master but sighed. 'This would be a lot easier if I didn't leave Tokunaga at the Inn.' Guy and Luke stepped until they were back to back. They were surrounded by bats, salamanders, slugs and a few Spirits. Guy seemed to be in good shape beside his shoulder wound but Luke was barely able to hold Ultimatus.

"Hey, Luke. You should take it easy." His eyes went to his best friend but he still faced his advisories. "You took a beating early on, so you should . . ."

"What are you talking about?" Luke interrupted him and straightened. "I'm not giving up now . . . besides . . . it would look pretty bad if a noble didn't try and defend his own capital."

He charged toward a heap of monsters and rose his blade. His hyperresonance surrounded him as he did this, stunning all of the monsters in the area. "It begins!" He shouts before slashing multiple monsters. "Arise, O Talons and Cold Blades of Destruction!" After the last one slash, he turns and uses his full hyperresonance on a spirit that tried to sneak up on him. "Last . . . Fon . . . Drive!!!" Luke finished up his assault, nearly wiping out half of the monsters that came into the Arena area of the Coliseum. Guy stood where he was, stunned at Luke's moves.

The noble of Baticul chuckled. "You see, Guy, I'm not the same as before. If there's something in my way . . . I just cut it down."

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Luke! On his way to the top! Kicking butt and stuff. I had to make him a bit more like Asch and Van. Seeing how he has grown and has been training, it only made sense to give him some new moves. The same goes for everyone. Guy and Luke are just the beginning. Just wait until the Father of Fomicry makes his appearance. Any questions, drop me a message.