Chapter 8: Second Round (Part 1)


Coliseum


"Welcome back, great warriors!" the man in pale blue armor asked from his usual place atop the stone mound. "Today we start the second round of this grand tournament! Now, before we get started, I have a few announcements to make."

The crowd of fighters listened intently.

"As you all know, this is the last time you will see your partner as an ally, so I hope you've said your goodbyes. Also, a slight change to the rules of combat for today's battles: remember how at the end of the first round you received your opponent's weapon? Well, if you feel the need to mix things up a little you can summon that weapon to your side at any given time. How so? Take a look at your waists."

The crowd did as instructed.

"The hell's this?" said someone from within the mass. The person pointed to a small sword handle sticking out of its sheath that suddenly appeared on their waist line.

"All you have to do is remove the hilt, and the weapon you recently gained will appear in your hand. Simply sheath the weapon to put it away. In a few moments, the battles shall begin."

With the time they'd been given, the members of the crowd said their farewells and flung insults at rivals.

"Like a bunch of small children…" Midori mumbled.

"I believe we already made that joke in the first round." noted the Arbiter.

Nearby, Rex glared in suspicion at the man in charge during the time that remained. His thoughts went back to the dream he had during the past two months. Now that I think about it, he does seem pretty suspicious. What is he up to?

"Alright, time's up." the man atop the stone said. "The battle begins now! Best of luck, warriors!"

With a wave of his hand, the crowd disappeared to their various arenas.


Las Noches


Ichigo looked around at his surroundings. He was standing next to Mikoto in a valley of sand, with tall buildings and towers all around them. He knew the area all too well.

"Las Noches." he announced.

"Is that where we are?" Mikoto asked, sword at the ready.

"Yeah, and I can already guess who one of our opponents is."

"There you are, Soul Reaper." called a man's voice, confirming Ichigo's theory.

"Speak of the devil." Ichigo grumbled as he turned toward the sound.

Standing on top of one of the towers was a blue haired man dressed in a white vest and pants, and a younger man dressed in a green tunic with brown boots a long green cap. The blue haired man had half of a skeletal jaw on his face, which seemed to add to the wickedness of his grin.

"I see you're still alive, Grimmjow." Ichigo called to the blue haired man.

"Heh, you kidding me? This is a piece of cake! I haven't even broken a sweat!" Grimmjow answered. His smile turned from wicked to ferocious. "The real battle begins here. This time, I'll kill you for sure! Ichigo!"

The number 6 espada flew from his perch on the tower at Ichigo, drawing his sword as he went. Ichigo held his sword out in front of him.

"Ban-kai!" he shouted.

In a flash, Ichigo's enormous sword had changed into a pitch black katana, and his kimono had grown longer with a battle torn trim. With a yell, Ichigo burst off the ground and into the year, readying his sword to meet Grimmjow's.


The Otherworld


Ed walked through the dimly lit halls of a partially ruined building, wrist blade already formed. Rock walked a few feet in front of him, turning her head to scan the shadows around them. They passed by a window, and Ed saw the world outside the building. Everywhere he looked was black and white, the only land formations were vast plateaus and long, jagged trenches that seemed to stretch for miles. All around it was…empty.

"Hey Rock, can I ask you something?" Ed whispered.

The pale girl didn't respond.

Ed continued anyway. "This place we're in right now, this world, is it…"

"Yes, this is the world that I come from. This is my home." Rock said suddenly.

Ed went silent at this. Looks like I was right, the world is just as dark and empty as she is. He was about to apologize for asking, but stopped when he noticed the tip of something long and snakelike disappear into the shadows.

"Rock, I don't think we're alone anymore."

As if to confirm his words, a low hissing sound came from somewhere within the darkness. Rock pointed her cannon at the shadows in front of them. Ed turned around to cover the rear. The hissing got louder and more high-pitched. Whatever was in the hall with them was getting close. The hissing suddenly stopped. Ed looked around the room. Nothing moved.

SPLOTCH!

Ed looked at the floor. A pile of something wet and translucent lay between his feet.

"Sssssssss….." hissed something above him.

Looking up, Ed found himself face to face with something inhumanly tall and pitch black. The creature in front of him had only one facial feature: a set of wickedly sharp canines in place of regular teeth. The creature opened its mouth, and to Ed's surprise a second smaller mouth sat in place of a tongue.

"Rock!" Ed shouted.

He ducked right as the smaller mouth shot out of the creature's maw. Rock turned around and fired at the beast. The creature screeched as it was tossed back into the darkness by the shot. No sooner had she done this, when a swarm of chains burst up from the floor below her. Rock leapt back in time to avoid the attack. She aimed her cannon at the floor and fired. As the ground burst, she fell toward the floor below. Landing on her feet, she looked up to face her attacker.

"You.." Rock whispered.

Standing before her was a pale skinned girl with long black hair dressed in a black dress, stockings, and high heeled shoes, glasses, and a wedding veil. Green vertebrae like horns curved inward at the top of her head, and luminescent green eyes shone through her glasses. In her claw-like green tipped hands, the girl held a large scythe with vertebrae like decorations along the top half of its handle.

"Dead Master." said Rock.

"Black Rock Shooter." said the green-eyed girl.

The two stood facing each other for a moment, neither of them moving an inch. Then, the two girls dashed towards each other with great speed. Discarding her cannon for her sword, Rock lunged at Dead without a moment's hesitation. Dead blocked the strike and swung her scythe down in a lethal arc. Rock narrowly dodged the strike as the curved sickle sliced through the air beside her. Rock then sent a murderous slash at Dead's throat. Dead arched back, allowing the blade to pass harmlessly above the tip of her short nose. Standing back up, Dead readied her scythe as Rock lashed out at her again.


Fuyuki City, Ryoudouji Temple


Saber realized with a start the place she and Rex were now standing. Memories of the 5th Holy Grail War came back to her as she looked around.

"Hey, isn't this that temple you and Shiro mentioned one time?" Rex asked.

"Yes, this is Ryoudouji." Saber answered. "It seems that this time, we have the home field advantage."

Rex stared at her in confusion. "Aren't you supposed to be a knight or something? Since when do you use modern terms?"

"I sense our enemy is near."

"Hey! Don't ignore m-"

"GRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH !" a deep voice roared suddenly.

Saber went wide eyed at the sound, for she remembered it all too well.

"Berserker!" she announced.

"Berserker?! Shit!" Rex exclaimed. He had heard from Rin and Shiro about the savage Servant, and how it had nearly claimed their lives and Saber's with its immense strength.

Sure enough, the moment Rex had finished talking the shadow of a gigantic man leaped over the temple gate and into the courtyard in front of them. Now illuminated by the moonlit sky, the man before them stood at least 9 feet tall, with immense muscles that looked as hard as a rock covering every inch of his body. The man held a massive sword with a serrated outer edge, and his right eye glowed red with fury as he glared down at his opponents.

"Hey, you two over there." said a man's voice behind Rex and Saber.

The two turned around to see another tall man, this one wearing a black and white kimono with the kanji for '11' printed on the back. The man also had black hair that stuck out in long spikes behind his head, an eye patch over his right eye, and in his hand he clutched a very long and badly worn katana. All in all, he resembled a crazed demon samurai, especially with the malevolent grin he wore on his face.

"I've got a question for both of you." said the samurai.

Rex and Saber stared in slight confusion at the man.

"Which of you is the strongest?" he said, smiling bigger than before.


Covenant Corvette, Docking Bay


"Ugh!" the Arbiter grunted as he landed with a thud. He felt a burning sensation from the long slash that had just been made on his chest. Getting back to his feet, he turned back to face his opponent. A man with silver hair, a black trench coat and a 10ft long katana stood a few feet away.

"Bastard…just who are you?" demanded the Arbiter.

"I am called Sephiroth." answered the man.

The Arbiter readied his sword and glanced off to the side. Not far away, Midori was engaged in a fierce battle with a man with golden hair and gold armor. She seemed to be holding her own fairly well, but he could tell she was just as injured as he was.

"You should pay attention to your own fight." said Sephiroth.

The Arbiter looked back toward the silver haired man. In the time he had been checking on Midori, Sephiroth had come closer to him. Now it would be very difficult to dodge the man's extremely long sword. Sephiroth swung with lightning fast speed at the elite. The Arbiter barely managed to block the attack, stopping the sword inches from his neck. Shoving the blade aside, the Arbiter then rushed forward with his own sword. Sephiroth skillfully dodged the strike and countered with another quick slash. The Arbiter groaned in pain as he felt the long sword cut through his armor and across his back.

"You have skill, but I am far above you." Sephiroth taunted.

SCHINK!

Sephiroth stared in surprise at the rod that was now stuck in his chest. Out of nowhere, the Arbiter had pulled out the spear he had won from the Predator and desperately thrown it at Sephiroth. The man simply grabbed the spear and removed it from his chest.

"Not bad, but you'll have to do better than-"

"RRRAAAAAAH!" yelled the Arbiter, grabbing a small object from his side.

The object was shaped like the hilt of his sword, but with a slight movement of his hand, a pair of blue-white plasma blades formed on either side of the hilt. With an angry look of killing intent, he charged at Sephiroth. The man swung down his sword to intercept the elite. The Arbiter swung his sword up to meet his, cutting the katana in half. Sephiroth stared in surprise as the elite plunged his energy sword into his gut. The Arbiter pulled back the blade and prepared a final blow.

"Aaah!" screamed Midori.

The Arbiter looked in the direction of the cry. Midori was lying on the floor, badly hurt. On the floor above, her opponent stood laughing. A golden light appeared behind the armored man. Midori watched in horror as the blades of countless weapons suddenly protruded from the light. The golden man raised his hand, then extended it toward her. As if obeying his command, the mass of blades flew from the light straight at her. Midori closed her eyes and covered her face with her arms, waiting for the end.

SCHINKx20!

Midori opened her eyes. She hadn't been struck by a single blade. Dark purple blood was splattered all over her clothing. Realizing who it belonged to, she looked up. The Arbiter stood in front of her, a large number of blades sticking out of his back.

"THEL!"