A/N: This is a request by Leonlink, and I believe it may be the best battle yet. The characters go well together as complete opposites, yet have many similarities. I must warn that this contains spoilers for a few Zelda games, including the recently released Skyward Sword. Also, I've tried something new with the beginning and ending of the chapters, so tell me if you like it. So, without further ado, I present to you chapter four: Ghirahim versus Zant.
Remorsefully, the camera swung once more to the desk where the commentators usually sat. Normally containing the three lively announcers that brought flair and drama to the show, there was one major difference today.
It was empty.
Apparently, the producers of the show, Darklord Deathmatches, had decided to fire all three of their world famous broadcasters. Though the show would go on, the brave heroes who analyzed fighting styles would be no more. Rumors circulated among the usual viewers as to why the higher powers of the show would make the decision. The most common sentiment was that a certain feminine frog had completely destroyed the integrity of the position. Others stated that the show was running low on money due to poor ratings and protests over its violent nature. A few curmudgeons even argued that the analysts themselves had been the reason they no longer had jobs. Maybe, they argued, that Mario's thick Italian accent had not been perfect to a role in public speaking. Sonic and Snake were both sighted abusing Slippy Toad in the previous episode, and perhaps that had not flown well with the more civilized producers and viewers. Snake was also known for his criminal record and adult tendencies. Whatever the case, the show morphed into a more focused role, showing the fight and the fight only.
Of course, there had to be some form of a new announcer. No longer would he have a personal connection with the competitors, speak in an unusual accent, or do analysis of weapons and fighting styles. The new announcer would merely mention the two competitor's names, followed by a slightly detailed biography, and then allow the fight to continue. Unlike Mario and Sonic, he would speak in proper English, a relief to the ears of those watching. Also, the low and gravelly voice of Solid Snake would be replaced with a manufactured, stereotypical, and deep voice of a public speaker. As another change, his face wouldn't cover the screen, and his identity would remain anonymous.
Sure enough, while a picture of the typical arena showed, the announcer's voice spoke out, "Welcome, ladies and gentlemen! We'll start the fourth segment of our show, Darklord Deathmatches, by introducing our competitors! First, we have the Usurper King of the Twilight Realm, Zant! Born as a just a regular citizen of his kingdom, he had a lust for power and a vendetta against the Light Realm. He also loathed the complacence of his own people. Wallowing in a depressed state of fury and insanity, he desperately craved the destruction of the Light Realm, but lacked any power to do so. When the King of Evil, Ganon, showed himself to Zant in the guise of a god and offered him the power of the Triforce, Zant eagerly accepted. Banishing the Twilight Princess, he mutated the rest of his people into beasts of shadow, beings meant only to kill. Invading the Light Realm, he brought it to its knees, transforming all of its denizens into mere spirits and forcing its princess to bow before him. When he was eventually defeated by the reincarnation of Link, Hero of Time, he was left to die by his 'god', who had merely used him as a tool. Though Zant may appear regal and composed, he is actually highly mentally unstable. Zant was used as a pawn, but he still has access to incredible magic powers."
While to announcer's voice boomed, the background played the music of "Zant Battle", notable for its incredibly fast and erratic tempo. Zant himself stood in the spotlight, as stark and still as a stone. Wearing black robes with green streaks, he highlighted his dark nature. Zant also wore a fancy red crest covering his chest, decorated with exotic symbols of his people. The robes ended in tattered shreds that covered Zant's hands and gave the appearance of claws. The robes and crest complimented a grey and pointy helmet that resembled the head of a gargoyle. As a whole, the attire gave off a royal and ethereal vibe. Zant stood incredibly still in the spotlight for the entire introduction. Eerily, it managed to add to his menacing aura of power.
The scene shifted to another figure and the announcer called out, "Hailing from the same world that Zant hates with a passion is the Demon Lord Ghirahim. Though his true form is the sword of Demon King Demise, Ghirahim can take on a humanlike appearance of a demon in his master's court. As his attire suggests, he is very flamboyant, but he speaks in a very refined manner fitting of his title. However, he can quickly go into unstoppable rages when his plans fail, and he has been known to clean his swords by licking them. His unfailing loyalty to his master made him Demise's favorite servant, enough so that Ghirahim was chosen as the one to perform the ritual to resurrect him. When he met opposition from Link, ancestor of the one who foiled Zant's plans, and Impa, chosen servant of the goddess Hylia, Ghirahim was pushed to his limits. Even so, he managed to bring his master back to power, defeating Impa in the process. Eventually, Link defeated both Ghirahim and Demise, saving the country of Hyrule and the rest of the Realm of Light."
Now in the spotlight was a figure appearing in sharp contrast to the Usurper King of Twilight. Ghirahim was dressed in a skintight white suit patterned with grey diamond shapes. His stark white hair matched his suit and very pale complexion, which was slightly covered with purple eye shadow and white lip gloss. Wearing obnoxiously large diamond earrings in his pointed ears and a matching belt with a giant red gem, Ghirahim's flashy nature was clearly being displayed. With the organ and violin notes of "Lord Ghirahim's Theme" playing in the background, Ghirahim raised his and clicked his fingers. A large black sword appeared out of the air in front of the demon, and he grabbed it and began a series of slashing motions in the air in front of him. The blistering speed of his attacks would have been enough to overwhelm almost any opponent, but the strikes were not merely quick. Each stroke flowed naturally after the last, creating a very difficult assault to parry. They revealed that the demon was a master of the art of the sword.
"So, now that we have introduced out competitors, it is time for the fight to begin. May the battle between the flamboyant, easily infuriated Demon Lord Ghirahim and the regal, unstable Usurper King Zant fare well! Start the countdown!"
3
2
1
GO!
Ghirahim taunted, "I will allow you to make the first move. As I outrank you as a Demon Lord, it would be most unchivalrous of me to make the first move. Oh, please don't hurry to thank me, as it is only my duty as a gentleman to give you an advantage at the start. But don't think for a minute that I will go easy on you the rest of the match because of it. I can assure you that when my turn to attack comes, your begging for mercy will deafen the ears of those watching us today." The Demon Lord proceeded to turn his back to Zant and blew a kiss directly at the camera that was filming the fight.
Zant didn't react to the demon's monologue, but as soon as Ghirahim turned his back, Zant struck. He merely lifted up his left arm. The rest of his figure remained completely stationary, save his tattered sleeves that fluttered slightly due to the motion. While the attack may have seemed ineffective, it did have an effect on Ghirahim. The demon was sent stumbling backwards by a telekinetic force, losing his balance momentarily. Nonetheless, he quickly regained his footing. Suddenly, he dropped to his knees and threw his arms up into the air, letting loose a dramatic moan.
The demon spoke in a clearly staged tone, "Oh, the agony. It's too strong, someone help me!" Ghirahim smiled, showing it was all an act, and rose to his feet before continuing, "I apologize. It is not in my character to be so sarcastic. But when you attempt to hurt me, it makes me angry. Especially when you use such a weak telekinetic move... you not only try to hurt me, but you insult my power! Do you have any idea how that makes me feel inside? Furious. Outraged. SICK WITH ANGER!"
Drawing his sword, a long and black blade doubtlessly imbued with some magical properties, Ghirahim began to charge with alarming speed towards his opponent. Zant, to his credit, had not reacted in the slightest to his opponent's tirade outside of an almost inaudible grunt. Now, he raised both of his hands above his head, doing so casually, seemingly unaffected by the charging demon. A distinctive humming noise was followed by a twilight portal appearing in the air above Zant's head. A strange, flat gateway to the Twilight Realm made out of red and black tiles, these portals had been a great success with the war against Hyrule.
Two odd creatures came bursting from the portal and began to charge at Ghirahim. Completely black throughout their bodies save a glowing red emblem on their chests, and walking on four legs, they resembled a dog. However, they were larger and heavier, had the ability to walk on two legs if needed, and lacked the conventional snout. Instead, they had what appeared to be a shield for a head, leading into black hair that resembled dreadlocks. The monsters were called Shadow Beasts, former citizens of the Twilight Realm warped by Zant to do his bidding. Both dropped to all four legs and charged at Ghirahim.
The demon lord halted his charge, opting to wait until the Shadow Beasts reached him. On beast leaped up and attempted to take him from above, while the other simply charged directly at him. Ghirahim then launched a shuddering spin attack, a move he had learned in his fight against Link, striking both of the beasts in mere seconds. Both monsters crumpled to the floor and burst into nothingness upon the attack. If there were any doubts that Ghirahim was just an ordinary swordsman or that his sword was completely normal, they were now completely gone.
Even Ghirahim's skill couldn't save him from the next attack. Zant had waited until the Shadow Beasts had stolen the demon's attention before raising both of his hands and launching a barrage of flaming hot, purple energy spheres, his personal favorite move, at the demon. Ghirahim, turning back to Zant, was caught off guard as the flurry hit him directly in the chest. Ghirahim was knocked backwards and dropped to one knee under the pressure, but he quickly rose. He had taken the hit as if it was only a punch to the ribs.
Zant had not even moved his body at this stage of the fight. Merely moving his arms to launch attacks and staying otherwise stationary enhanced his menacing aura. Not reactive to the demon's previous taunts and attacks, he now decided it was time to get serious. Another twilight portal appeared directly above the Usurper King's head and he disappeared into it. Almost instantly, he appeared directly behind Ghirahim, with a short, curved dagger in hand. He lifted it up and began to stab it at the back of the demon's vulnerable head.
Ghirahim, however, had heard the noise of the dagger being raised. He knew that he had no time to spin around and match it with his own strike. Instead, he clicked his fingers and disappeared. Reappearing behind the Twili's back, he held out his sword in front of his opponent's throat and began to inflict the finishing slash.
Zant was most unprepared for this turn of events. Stabbing his dagger and stumbling forward when it hit nothing, he was left utterly bewildered. When the sword appeared at his throat, he panicked and opened another portal directly above his head. Jumping in, he felt the sword bruise his upper chest, just under his throat. It easily cut through his robe, but the chainmail he wore underneath of it saved him from everything but a light bruise. He reappeared on the other side of the arena, determined to go back to a strategy that worked. Feeling the rage that was taking him, he fought it down in an attempt to keep his cool, malicious composure. Zant knew that while he might be able to unleash more power in a blind rage, he would be unable to read the situation as well as he normally would.
Ghirahim was caught of balance by his enemy's disappearance, just as Zant had been earlier. Staggering momentarily, he was hit by another barrage of glowing purple energy from the Twili. Once more, he was blasted backwards and this time landed on his back. Rising to his feet, he snapped his fingers and five knives pulsing with a crimson energy appeared above his head. He launched them directly at Zant, who seemed prepared for the attack. Elevating his arm once more, the Usurper King launched a telekinetic attack at the knives, sending them right back at the demon lord. Ghirahim was caught by surprise as his own attack struck him, and failed to counter yet another onslaught of purple energy that followed.
Ghirahim rose somewhat shakily. As his true form was a sword, his skin was made of metal. He was resistant to most attacks, but Zant's repeated blows were beginning to tire him. Ghirahim realized that while he had the advantages in close combat, the Twili would defeat him if the space in between them was kept. Grabbing his sword, the demon lord went into a blistering charge at his opponent, much faster than he had done before.
Zant was struggling to maintain his calm. He desperately wanted to charge in and finish things off, but he knew that he had to keep up the game he had been playing so far. The conservative part of his mind won the battle, so he launched another strike of cosmic energy at his opponent. Ghirahim didn't even pause in his charge. A white haze surrounded him momentarily, and then it seemed as if he had moved two steps to the right without breaking rhythm. The attack of the Usurper King missed him to his left, and the demon moved in close. Stabbing with his sword, he caught the Twili in the side in a wound that punctured his robes and armor to inflict minor damage. Withdrawing his sword, he sent a slash at shoulder level at the wounded and screaming Zant, sending him flying backwards with another dent in his armor.
Zant desperately fought the wave of insanity that was bearing down on him. The wound had weakened his resolve, and he yelled in fury. Breathing deeply, he began to force down his temper, and succeeded. Turning to face the demon lord, who wore a very nasty smirk, Zant clapped his hands together. Immediately, the room was engulfed in blackness. Zant, being the Usurper King of Twilight, was able to see through the illusion, but Ghirahim was not.
Ghirahim was nervous. Though he could still sense his enemy's location, it wasn't as good as true sight. The shadows also did nothing to stop Ghirahim from hearing the noise of a twilight portal opening. Ghirahim also heard the three Shadow Beasts that came from it charging at him, and he decided to counter the monsters in the same way he had done the first time they had attacked: a spin attack. Unfortunately, Ghirahim had misjudged the locations of the beasts, and only one of the beasts was struck. Another tackled him and pinned him against the ground, and he stabbed it straight in the throat.
Zant smiled while watching the battle unfold by using his ability to see in the dark. He was the one who had created the beasts to serve under him, and he was quite proud of them. They were designed to work well in teams, and had a very special function. If only one was left standing while all of the others were down, it would let loose a stentorian roar with the power to revive its fallen comrades. Zant's smile grew wider under his helmet as he watched this unfold before him.
Ghirahim was unaware of the fact that two of the beasts he had defeated were back up and fighting after the roar. He merely used the opportunity of the third beast's reveal of its location to deal a solid blow through his chest. Thus, his surprise was evident when he was tackled from behind by one of the beasts he had already defeated. Quickly snapping his fingers to teleport across the arena, he hastily took notice of the current situation. Calculating that he needed to get rid of the darkness that pervaded in the arena, he raised his sword skyward and said a command in the demon tongue. All of the darkness in the room was absorbed into the blade, which cleared the arena and gave him a view of his current situation.
The remaining two beasts sprinted towards the demon, eager to obey their master and avenge their fallen comrade. In return, they each received a knife in the neck, courtesy of the demon, who was no longer blind. The demon then collapsed to his knees underneath of the power of a blast of energy from Zant. Zant then teleported to right in front of the kneeling demon, raising his curved dagger into the air in an executioner's strike as he did so. As the blade arched to the ground, Ghirahim rolled to his side, avoiding the attack. Ghirahim then followed up with a lightning fast stab to his opponent's stomach. Puncturing Zant's armor, it was a very painful wound.
The Usurper King couldn't take it anymore. Zant hopped around wildly like a man who had dropped a sledgehammer on his toe and screamed at the top of his lungs. Grasping the wound in his stomach, Zant's mind finally snapped. His mind, once clear and focused, became clouded with intense fury. The only thought in his mind was not about dignity, but about destroying his opponent. While any cunning thought had left his mind, great power that he had previously feared to use stirred within him. His new mindset could find no use in neglecting it any longer.
A sharp difference existed between the attitudes of the combatants. Ghirahim, while furious at his opponent and goaded into a fighting rage, still had much more control over his mind than the Twili. However, with this came a sense of personal limitations and intolerance to pain. Only time would tell which combatant's style would prove better.
Zant was the first one to resume the battle. Seizing his fidgeting with an ear splitting shriek, his body split into three transparent blue clones. One resumed Zant's previous motion of hopping around in circles around the demon, another remained in place and beat its chest like an ape, and the third hovered in the air above Ghirahim's head.
Ghirahim launched himself at the bouncing phantom, struck and defeated him with a slash of his sword. Upon contact, the blade morphed the phantom into a glowing blue ball, which moved into the phantom beating its chest. While growing less transparent from the rejoining of part of its soul, the copy of Zant shot a bolt of purple energy at the demon, who ducked it. Ghirahim, distracted by the copy that had launched the energy shot, was easy prey to the Zant circling above. This Zant sent a blast of energy straight down onto the head of the ducking demon lord, causing him to yelp in hurt.
Ghirahim wasted no more time, knowing that he had to lower the number of adversaries. He sent a few knives at the Zant in front of him. The knives pierced and morphed the clone into another blue ball, which rocketed towards the final copy in the air. Upon reuniting, they formed the real Zant, who let out a battle cry and drew both knives. Dropping out of the air towards the demon below him, he gave Ghirahim a devastating cut in the shoulder. Zant attempted to follow up with another cut, but the demon had teleported across the arena.
Zant, overcome with rage, teleported in close to the demon and created a fence of twilight around them. Extending only a few meters, it gave the combatants only minimum movement. If it was touched, it would surely cause pain to those that had knocked against it. Zant, with both knives drawn, went into a spin attack. Unlike the spin attack of Link or Ghirahim, he spun around over and over again. He collided with the demon, who gracefully managed to parry his blows.
Ghirahim was an expert swordsman compared to Zant, who just attacked quickly with little skill. He blocked a few blows from Zant and knocked him out of his spin attack. Zant, dizzy and unskilled with the sword, had lost his advantage of surprise. Ghirahim now advanced on him, sending blow after blow at the Twili, who desperately countered. The lightning speed and skill of the Diamond Demon was too much for Zant to handle, and he received a ringing blow across the shoulder. The force of the blow knocked Zant backwards, straight into his own wall. Despite the fact that Zant had created it, it bit into his armor, causing a great deal of pain. Zant yelped and teleported to the air above Ghirahim.
Ghirahim, searching to see where the Twili would reappear, noticed too late the barrage of energy coming from above him. Ghirahim yelped and went down to his knees not for the first time. The power of the repeated barrages was having a terrible toll on the Demon Lord. His skin, made of the metal of a sword, was overheating and he found it hard to keep his form. It was as if he was being forged by the Twili, and it was not a feeling the demon liked. He felt his skin beginning to soften, and he was determined to do something about it.
Fortunately for Ghirahim, the usurper was also stunned by the amount of power he had let loose and was taking time to breathe and regroup. In order to do so, he removed the wall of twilight from the arena in an attempt to conserve power. After doing so, his conscious thought was defeated once more and he went on the offensive again. Zant let loose a shriek and suddenly, the entire floor of the arena was covered with a thin coating of ice. Growing to the size of a giant about twenty meters high, he dropped from the ceiling in an attempt to crush his enemy beneath him.
Ghirahim immediately attempted to dash out of the way of the falling giant. For once, Ghirahim's speed worked against him as he slipped on the ice, sending his knee into a collision with the ground. Fortunately, it only slightly bruised it, so the demon wouldn't be too limited for the rest of the bout. However, it did prevent him from dashing out from under the descending Zant. In a desperate last second move, Ghirahim snapped his fingers and teleported to the other side of the arena to avoid the collision.
Zant sized up the situation when he reached the ground. He noticed that his enemy had gotten out of what surely would have been the finishing blow and was now on the other side of the arena. Zant stomped at his foe, his inflated size allowing him to crush the ice as he walked. It also served to shake the ground, resulting in a minor earthquake with each step. He approached his opponent and lifted up his foot, forcing it down in a tremendous stomp to end the match.
Ghirahim had allowed Zant to approach him. It would have been unwise to move, with the injury to his knee, the ice covering the field, the shockwaves caused by his enemy, and the lack of hiding places in the arena conspiring against him. As Zant's foot descended upon the demon lord, Ghirahim threw four knives at the sole of Zant's boot. Zant yelped, shrunk down to size, and began skipping around madly while holding onto his foot. The ice disappeared from the arena floor as quickly as it had appeared.
As Zant did an angry and painful dance, Ghirahim surrounded himself with hovering knives. With a snap of his fingers, the knives stopped orbiting Ghirahim and instead began to circle the enraged usurper. At another click of the demon's fingers, they began to blast in at the vulnerable usurper. However, they never hit him.
Zant had decided to let loose another monstrous change to the battlefield. Where he had once stood, there was now just a massive stone replica of his helmet. Stretching from the floor all the way to the ceiling of the arena, it had to be forty meters high. The knives collided with the statue and stuck in the outer layer of the rock, doing very little. Zant himself was on the inside of the helmet monument, in a small hollow opening behind the mouthpiece.
Ghirahim sized up the situation. Zant had to be inside of the helmet, as he was not visible anywhere outside of it. Also, he was sensing his presence to be somewhere in the vicinity of the statue. Ghirahim deduced that if the statue were hollow anywhere, it would be behind the mouth guard. Ghirahim charged directly at it, slashing a blow with his sword that sent cracks through the helmet. Ruefully, the demon realized that he could have broken through it in one blow if his knee had not slowed him down. Nonetheless, he launched another blow at the statue, and the mouthpiece crumbled.
The moment his shield was destroyed, Zant launched a barrage of violet energy at his opponent. Ghirahim was struck and knocked backwards, landing several feet away. Zant threw both of his arms above his head and the statue of his helmet disappeared into nothing. Now, the entire arena, save where Ghirahim and Zant stood, was covered in an extremely acidic liquid that would severely hamper movement.
Ghirahim, now stuck on a small patch of land, was actually thankful. His leg was already limiting his movement, so the acid preventing movement didn't really do much. With a click of his fingers, he was surrounded by almost two dozen knives. Ghirahim launched the knives at Zant, who was panting deeply from his action of warping the battlefield. Helpless to resist, Zant was stabbed repeatedly and blasted backwards off of his safe spot. He landed hard on the acid, and yelled in pain. Hovering off of the dangerous ground, he floated up to the area of the ceiling above Ghirahim. Preparing to launch another burst of energy at the demon, Zant noticed Ghirahim preparing to teleport to the other safe spot. Zant turned and launched his barrage of energy there instead, and Ghirahim was struck as he appeared there.
Ghirahim was sent stumbling backwards onto the acid floor, and it burned into his boots. Gritting his teeth, he teleported into the air directly above Zant and landed on his back. Both of the combatants were exhausted, and they both fell to the ground from a high altitude. Zant saw the danger of landing on the acid and manage to change the floor back to normal conditions before he and the demon collided. Even so, the collision with the floor was hard, and both combatants suffered bruising.
Both rose slowly and put some distance between each other. They both knew that the battle was coming to a close. Ghirahim was effectively hobbled. He walked with a bad limp, as his injury to the knee from the ice was worsened by the fall. His entire body was overheated from so many hits from Zant's energy blasts, and he was bruised from where the Shadow Beasts had gotten to him. Bent out of shape, he knew he had little energy to summon more knives, teleport, or exhibit superhuman strength. Much of his body was numb, a feeling that frightened the demon lord. Perhaps more frightening was his lack of mobility and utter tiredness. Ghirahim's goal was to avoid getting hit again, as he knew he might not get back up.
Zant, on the other hand, was also badly damaged. His armor was essentially broken to threads under his badly torn robes. Blood spurted from at least half a dozen cuts on his body, and his skin was rotting where he had made contact with acid and other dangers. One of his feet was absolutely deadened from his attempt to stomp the demon. His body would have been extremely sore, stiff, and tired, perhaps even unable to fight, if not for the berserker rage that kept him going. In fact, the wounds only contributed to his rage. Zant was not concerned about playing it safe at all, and was willing to take risks to overwhelm his opponent, who was clearly deteriorating.
Zant opened another portal into the Twilight Realm and called out five of the Shadow Beasts. The energy required to keep control of the portal with troops pouring through was immense, so after the portal slammed shut, Zant began to pant. As Zant recuperated, the pressure shifted to Ghirahim, who was trying to figure out how to handle five enemies in his current state. Ghirahim's face began to show worry as the enemies bolted towards him. The creatures, unlike the main combatants, were still fresh. Ghirahim realized that he would have to finish them off quickly, so he summoned and flung a bunch of knives in quick succession. Three collapsed instantly under the onslaught of knives, and two more rapidly followed. As the last two Shadow Beasts were beaten in a small amount of time, they were unable to revive the others.
Both challengers took a moment to catch their breaths and see what their opponent was going to do. Zant was obviously the first one to go on the offensive, creating a barrier of twilight matter around the demon. It effectively sealed him in a cage with no where to go. Zant had obviously overlooked Ghirahim's ability to teleport, though, and the demon lord was out of the trap in a flash. Zant's next attack was another energy blast, but Ghirahim successfully sidestepped. Zant began to breathe deeply, trying to muster up more power. Ghirahim seized the opportunity and launched a single knife at Zant's chest, where it stuck and shattered. It caused enough pain to send Zant into a charge at Ghirahim, much like a wild bull. Ghirahim regretted that he didn't have the energy to summon more than one knife.
Shortly before reaching the demon, Zant went into a spin attack with his two arched daggers. Ghirahim was tired, and was unwilling to risk taking a blow if he failed to parry, so he stepped out of the way. Zant spun around and continued his attack, but Ghirahim managed to back away. Finally, Zant could no longer keep up the twirling, and broke out of it dizzily. Ghirahim seized his opportunity and let loose a slew of attacks with his sword. Though the blows were slower than they had been at the beginning of the match, several of the blows still slipped past the usurper, who was tired and woozy. Cut at least a dozen more times, Zant threw himself at Ghirahim for one final attack.
Ghirahim cleanly blocked a hit from one of Zant's knives, but the other dagger slipped past his guard and took him in the shoulder. Ghirahim quickly wrenched backwards and Zant lost his grip on the blade, which was embedded in Ghirahim's shoulder. But, when Ghirahim stumbled backwards, his bad leg gave out slightly and Zant used the opportunity to lunge in for a killing blow. Unfortunately for Zant, his reaction speed was too slow at this point of the match. Ghirahim saw the move coming and forced himself to fight against the pain overcoming him. Ghirahim had a longer blade than Zant, and he reacted quickly enough to impale Zant in the chest before the usurper could reach him.
Zant remained standing for a moment, stunned, before he crumpled to his knees. His remaining knife dropped from his hand as he let out a low moan. Zant lifted his right arm up, as his left arm was completely crippled from a slash from the demon, and removed his helmet. With the intimidating helmet gone, it was revealed that Zant's head was a white crescent with overly large features. It gave a cartoonish and surreal look to a villain who had at first appeared ethereal and frightening. The mouth moved slowly, whispering something that Ghirahim and the audience could not make out. It opened one more time, letting out a guttural yell.
"GGGAAAAANNNNNNOOOOONNNN!" Zant's neck seemed to move on its own accord after he shouted out his god's name. It bent over suddenly, and then made an obnoxious cracking noise. The light left Zant's eyes as he fell onto his side, and was pronounced 'dead'. Ghirahim's theme began to play as Ghirahim himself collapsed to his knees, completely exhausted after the battle. The sheer difficulty of the battle was shown in that the normally flamboyant victor simply lacked the energy to show off.
The announcer's voice came across the loudspeaker. "Ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to announce that our winner is Ghirahim. His swordplay eventually proved too much for Zant to handle. Zant's rage eventually worked against him, causing him to use up too much power and repeat useless strategies. If he had realized what bad condition he was in, maybe he wouldn't have gone charging in. Ghirahim's mind was less clouded by fury, and he was able to walk out with the win. So, before you go, I'd like to give you a brief preview of what will probably be our next episode, or at least an episode in the near future."
The scene changed. Walking into the arena were three silhouettes. One character was short, stubby, and overly chubby. Strolling next to him was a tall and lean competitor. Both of these competitors held spheres in their hands that could be either magical orbs or perhaps bombs. On the opposite side of the arena was a giant form that dwarfed both of them. While much of him or her couldn't be seen, it was apparent that he or she had muscular arms and some sort of spikes, and could be mistaken for fat. The competitors walked towards each other, and the screen went blank before the words 'to be continued' appeared.
TO BE CONTINUED...
A/N: I broke 6,000 words for the first time, and I think the battle was good. I must ask a question. Do you think the new beginning and ending to a chapter, with the new announcer, is better than the old one? It is easier to write, and I feel as if the old intro was a boring waste of space. Make sure you tell me your thoughts when you review. Suggest a match, and guess what the upcoming match teased at here is. I'll start working on it soon.
