I own nothing, not the characters, the space where this story exists, or even the eyes that you are using to read it. This is for entertainment proposes only, no money involved.
The next day hundreds of people had gathered to witness the War Games, though when they first saw the team they started to lose hope. The oldest person on the team was the eighteen year old Nanashi followed by Dorothy at seventeen and the numbers just went down from there.
The goblin thing was back and waiting for them in the same spot as the day before. "Good morning, did you all sleep well last night?" He said in an ironic greeting.
"It was a great night." Ginta said honestly grinning. "It had been a long time since I've had a bed."
Danny of course had not slept at all. It was one of the advantages of half ghosts, they didn't need sleep unless they exhausted all of the energy in their cores. Danny had actually spent the night guarding Snow's room in case of foul play.
"That's great to hear." The goblin laughed. "Then I will now explain the rules for the War Games."
"There are rules?" Ginta asked Nanashi.
"It is a game after all, so there should be." Nanashi said with a shrug as he scratched his head.
"Battles are coordinated by teams, and the number of people is decided by a dice roll, as while as the field of battle." The goblin said and then looked over the group. "What's your name?" He asked Jack.
"It... it's Jack!" Jack said seeming like a monkey again.
"Jack huh?" The goblin repeated to make sure he had the name right. Jack nodded and tried to look cool in front of the crowd. "For example, if the dice decide that the match will be a 3 vs. 3, and jack would be one of the members on that team."
"Oh, make the others me and Dorothy." Ginta said. "That would be a good team."
The goblin nodded. "Even if Jack personally loses, as long as your team has more individual wins than your opponents, then Jack's team still wins."
"I see, so even if Jack loses, as long as Dorothy and I prevail, our team wins 2-1." Ginta said nodding. It was simple enough to understand.
"That's right." The goblin said.
"Why am I the loser in the example?" Jack complained.
"On top of that, since Jack's team won, Jack is still capable of competing in the next battle." The goblin said before adding. "Provided that he's still alive after the previous match."
"Don't say things like that!" Jack shouted angrily.
"On the other hand, even if the other team lost, the one who beat Jack in what must have been an embarrassing match can still participate in the next battle. Meaning Jack, who lost, will be given a chance to take revenge for his lose." The goblin said.
Ginta scratched his head as if he didn't understand. "All it means is that our opponents will keep showing up in matches until we beat them." Danny said crossing his arms. "So we can't just win our half of the matches and then throw the rest, because the winners would fight us again later anyways."
"So ultimately, only the strong people will remain to fight if we only eliminate the weaker ones." Snow said.
"Oh, why didn't he just say that?" Ginta said grinning widely.
"I did." The goblin said a little annoyed with the blond boy.
"Sounds like the rules are the same as last time." Alviss interjected.
"That's right." The goblin nodded.
"In that case, we'll have to decide upon a captain." Alviss said confusing Ginta again.
"What's a captain?" Ginta asked.
"Indeed. We'll have you pick a captain out of the seven of you. Even if the team wins, if the captain loses, the whole game will end." The goblin explained.
Ginta scratched his head again. "So let's say Jack was the captain... then even though Dorothy and I won our matches, since captain Jack lost, the team would lose?" Ginta summarized.
"Why... why do I have to lose in the examples." Jack mopped.
"Sorry Jack, but you don't get to be captain." Danny muttered.
"Looks like you're starting to understand. Then please decide on your captain." The goblin requested. "Six years ago, Boss of the Cross Guard was the captain of the resistance. Our captain was the Number One Knight, Phantom. So, who will you choose?"
The team looked amongst themselves. "Can you give us some time?" Alviss asked. The goblin nodded and they team went to the said to discuss what they should do.
"I think Alviss should be captain." Ginta put out. "He was at the previous War Games and understands the rules clearly."
"No." Danny said with finality. "Out of all the people here, Alviss is the last one we went as a Captain." This shocked the others on the team.
The little fairy, Belle, flew over angrily to Danny. "Are you trying to say that my Al is weak!" She said angrily.
Danny shock his head. "No, but he should know the reason why it can't be him." Danny said looking at Alviss. "I can sense it. You've been infected by an ecto-signature. Your dying slowly." Alviss looked shocked but put a hand on his chest where his Zombie Tattoo was hidden from sight. The others were also wide eyed. "An infection like that will result in one of two things. Either turn you into a living corpse and rewriting of your own emotions to turn you into a person just like the ghost that infected you. Or your body can't handle the strain and will burn itself out. And you don't have much time left, do you?"
"It's just as he says." Alviss admitted pulling a sleeve back to show a tattoo on his arms. "Once this cursed tattoo runs through my entire body, I will become a living corpse like Phantom. If we don't finish Phantom in time, then I might turn on you during the middle of the War Games. It's been six years since I was branded, but I only have a few weeks left at the most."
"Alviss..." Ginta said feeling for the man. Danny also felt bad. Back on Earth or in the GZ he would have been able to remove that tattoo with ease. But on MAR, he could do nothing for Alviss. The fairy flew back and hugged onto Alviss's face sadly.
"I think that Danny should be our Captain." Snow put forward. Didn't really surprise anyone that she did. "He's been through war before and he is clever and strong."
"But Snow... he's a..." Jack started but Snow's glare cut him off. Only Jack and Ed the dog seemed to disagree with having Danny be captain. Dorothy and Nanashi were confused. What was Danny?
"I'm afraid Jack's right." Danny said shaking his head. "If my identity got out during the middle of the War Games then it would be a huge blow to the moral of the people watching if I was captain. And sooner or later I will probably have to reveal myself for the power boost in order to win the matches."
"That shouldn't matter." Snow insisted angrily. "You're fighting to protect everyone. No one should judge you for something you can't control."
"That's just how the worlds work. It's fine, Snow. I'm used to it." Danny said showing the princess a grateful smile.
"What are you talking about? What is Danny?" Dorothy asked looking around at the members of the group that predated her. "Come on tell me."
"It's not important." Danny said shaking his head. "We still need to decide on a captain. And I think Nanashi needs to be out of the running. He might throw his match for a pretty girl. And then we would have the world come to an end just so that Nanashi could have a date."
Nanashi laughed. "You might have a point."
"While Jack shouldn't be captain either. Besides just being the weakest member of our team, no one can take him seriously." Dorothy said causing Jack to cry. "And I don't really feel like being captain."
"So that leaves just Ginta and Princess Snow." Alviss said looking across at the two. "Either one would be good for moral. Ginta is a person from another world, just like Boss was. And Snow is the Princess of Lestava, the world capital, our one day queen."
"In that cause we should probably go with Ginta." Snow said startling the boy. "Back at Vestry he really gave all the villagers hope. That's the kind of thing that we need from a team captain." Snow explain.
Ginta blinked for a few moments before realizing what hat just happened. "What!? I'm captain?" He shouted in surprise.
Dorothy walked up next to him. "It just goes to show we all have high expectations for you." Dorothy said giving him a kiss on the cheek causing the boy to blush.
"I should actually be the one, but..." Babbo said smugly. "Don't forget that I'm the reason why everyone chose you as the captain. My first servant." This sparked another pointless argument between the ARM and his user.
"So, we all agree that we don't send out Ginta into any of the fights we don't know he can win?" Danny muttered and Alviss nodded.
"So have you decided?" The goblin asked.
"Yeah, I'm the captain. Ginta Toramizu." Ginta said confidently.
"Well then I guess we can start. The War Games officially start!" The goblin shouted. "Princess Reginrave will roll the dice." The princess walked out onto the balcony and tossed out two dice, one red and the other blue. The dice fell to the ground and after a few moments they both landed on three. "The first three means that the battle will be a 3 on 3 match. And the second means that the location is here, at Reginrave Field!"
The ground up and a large square ring rose up out of the ground. "Wow, what a gadget. Good for them." Nanashi said.
"Is it just me, or does that ring look almost exactly like the normal floor that was already there?" Danny said crossing his arms, completely unimpressed.
"And where are our opponents?" Alviss asked.
"I will call them out." The goblin said. "Come out, the Chess Piece's first team. Red light appeared and three people teleported in. Two normal sized people, a girl and a boy, looking as if they were around seventeen or eighteen. The boy had on a mask and army like clothes of long sleeves and jeans, both in a shade of green. He had dark blue hair and a rook piece earring. The girl had much lighter blue hair and was wearing a blue bikini top and sweat pants. She also had a rook piece earring and was holding a long rod with a large ball attached on the end.
Behind them was a huge man, around eight feet tall, completely bold with tattoos all over his body. He seemed a lot more serious than the other two and he had a bishop earring.
"The Rodokin family!" The goblin introduced them.
"So they're our first opponents." Ginta said excited.
"Nothing but rooks and a bishop." Danny said a little grumpily. "They underestimate us."
The young man on the other team scoffed. "There's really only seven of them?" He said mockingly.
"Looks like an easy win for us, right, daddy?" The girl commented looking up at the giant of a man.
"Now, decide on your three contestants please." The goblin said to Team MAR.
Of course each of them wanted to be one of the first ones up. Not Danny though. He felt like it was best if he didn't use his ARM's powers until later. The longer they had powerful wild cards the better. But as the arguing continued he was the one that purposed a way of deciding. "How about we all just roll those dice. Largest three numbers get to go." Danny said picking up the dice. The others agreed.
Danny felt like an idiot as he rolled two sixes. 'Great, so now I have to go.' He thought miserably. The other two were Ginta and Jack.
"Damn it, I wanted to fight a girl." The son said from the Chess Pieces side. "It's so boring against just guys."
"Don't underestimate them, Leno." The father said in a voice like sandpaper.
"I'm telling you, they're nothing." Leno said waving off his father's comment.
"Do your best out there, Danny, Ginta, Babbo, Jack." Snow said to each of them in turn.
"Leave it to me!" Ginta shouted before running up to the stage himself pulling Babbo along behind him.
"So then, the Rodokin family's Leno, against Ginta captain of the Cross Guard." The goblin said.
Ginta glared. "I'm from team MAR!" He shouted at the goblin.
"Oh, right, team MAR." The goblin corrected himself.
As the match started several of the onlookers had things to say. "Wait, is that little kid really the captain? That means if he loses here than the War Games will already be over." One man said and the wave of fear passed through the watching crowd.
Ginta turned to the crowd. "Don't talk like that! I'm going to win and help save the world of MAR." He shouted catching the audience off guard.
"First match, began!" The goblin shouted.
"Wasn't that a speech, kid." Leno said before lifting up his hands and activating his ARM. "Weapon ARM; Stone Jamadhar!" He's weapon was twin claws on his arms, simular to the pawns in the qualifying rounds.
"Let's go Babbo." Ginta said grinning. "Babbo; Version 1; Hammer ARM!" He shouted as Babbo morphed into a sort of boxing glove over his right hand with a large metal ball on the end.
The two fighters went at it, but Ginta was easily pushing the Chess Piece back with the physical strength he had gained through being summoned through the Gatekeeper Clown.
Eventually Leno decided to switch tactics and used a Fire ARM to though fire balls at Ginta, but Ginta easily dodged. "It's obvious that he's better than a rook." Danny said as he watched Ginta fight. But there was one problem. Even if Ginta had a lot of power, he didn't have any grace in fighting. He left a lot of openings and used more energy than he needed to.
"Alright Babbo, lets finish this." Ginta said grinning as his magical power changed direction. "Babbo; Version 3; Gargoyle!" The entire crowd was shocked as Babbo changed into a massive Guardian, half as big as the ring itself; a red stone Gargoyle with large wings sitting on top of a large blue crystal. The Gargoyle had a form of ring in its mouth. After just one slap the rook was down for the count.
"Easy win." Ginta said happily as he got off the field. Everyone celebrated his win.
The next match was not as good for the free world to watch. After a little bit of a rocky start Jack managed to get his opponent wrapped up in some vines and was moving in for the finish. But after getting detracted by people calling him a pervert Jack got hit in the balls by the detaching head of the girl's ARM.
"She hit him in the critical point Danny told me to aim for." Snow said wide eyed as Jack was being taken off. "It really is effective."
"Danny... why would you tell Snow to aim there?" Nanashi said cringing in sympathy for Jack.
"I never said I fight fair." Danny said with a shrug. "In a fight you do what you have to. Doesn't matter if it is underhanded or disgusting. As long as you are alive at the end and your opponent is unconscious."
It was Danny's turn and he headed up into the ring. His opponent was the huge father guy of the other two. "Final match, Chess Piece, Gallon." The goblin said as the large man walked up onto the platform. "And for Team MAR, Danny!"
"I'm a little excited." Ginta admitted as he watch from the sideline. "I haven't seen Danny fight since he got his magical power. And he could already beat rooks without it."
"It's 1 to 1 and we have that little kid up against that big guy." Someone in the crowd said scared.
Snow turned to them angry. "Why don't you all just be quiet. Danny is really strong. They is no way he would ever lose." She said confidently.
"Hey, do you sense them?" Nanashi asked Dorothy.
"Yes." She admitted. Several Chess Pieces were hiding in the shadows as they watched the match. "It looks like they are as curious about Danny as we are."
"Danny was it?" Gallon asked looking at Danny who nodded. "Honestly, I feel sympathy for you. A child like you being forced to go up against me as an opponent for the fate of the world. The pressure on you must be great."
"Sorry to break this to you buddy, but your not the biggest or the brightest thing I will have put down with the fate of a world resting in the balance. And after today I probably won't even remember your name." Danny said with a cocky grin. The members of Team MAR were cheering Danny on.
"Began!" The goblin shouted.
Danny moved forward. He was surprised when Gallon didn't put up any defense, but he wasn't about to let the opening go to waste. He jumped up and punched the man hard in the face four times with each hand.
It felt like Danny was punching sheet metal and there was no damage left on the man's face. Gallon throw a punch up toward the midair Danny but Danny pivoted around it, using the arm to pull himself in for a kick to the face that he used to diving board away from the Chess Piece.
"You sure have a hard head." Danny said getting into a fighting stance. "Must come from being thick as nails."
"Not bad punches for a child. I sense a good magical power inside of you. But it is useless." Gallon said smugly. He showed the rings he had on his hands five on the right and five on the left. "The rings on my left hand harden my skin. And the rings on my right hand strengthen my punches." He said coolly. "In other words, there is no way that you can win."
Words of fear went through the gathered people until they heard Danny laughing. "Yes, but you have to keep all those ARM going don't you. And that isn't cheap. Where as I have yet to activate my ARM." Danny said showing his own Gantlet. "If it comes down to a test of endurance, I will win by default." Gallon blinked. He had never thought about that before.
"Not that I will let it become something like that." Danny said before rushing Gallon again. "I can still beat you, even with your hardened skin!"
Gallon was confused but he tried to punch Danny as he got close. Danny easily dodged. Putting a hand on Gallon's chest and hooking a foot around his leg he throw Gallon. Gallon reacted to the falling sensation and his control over his ARM weakened slightly. Then before Gallon hit the ground he grabbed his head and pushed down with all his force. The impact was enough to crack open half of the field leaving the audience slack jawed. Gallon gave a gasp of pain as some of the damage made it through his shield.
While Gallon's mouth was open Danny cupped his hand and drove it down the man's throat widening his cupped hand and pulling it out, causing an involuntary gag reflex. Gallon flipped over and vomited onto the ground. With Gallon's concentration broken, Danny kicked him hard in the stomach, knocking him to the side. Then grabbing one of the Chess Pieces arm's he lifted him up and then drove him into the ground again, this time knocking him out.
Blood was coming out of the man's mouth and his eyes were vacant. "Daddy!" "Father!" The other Chess Pieces shouted in fear as they rushed the stage to check on their dad.
The whole castle was silent as Danny started to walk away. "Call the match." He said to the goblin as he passed.
"Ri...right!" The goblin shouted. "The winner of stage one's final match is Danny of Team MAR! Team MAR wins stage one." Cheers came from the people of MAR. They had won there first stage.
Danny turned his head back to the family. "Your father will be alright. That hit to the head wasn't enough to kill him and the blood is just from his broken nose and busted lip." Danny said to the two older kids. They looked at him with wonder in their eyes. "I hope that you will all consider leaving the Chess Pieces and living a more peace lives, with the lives of yours we have spared." He said before continuing on.
"So... that is Danny's fighting style?" Nanashi said as they younger boy approached.
"He knocks his opponent off guard and then pound him into submission without giving them a chance to recover." Dorothy said equally impressed.
"Wow... that was brutal." Jack said recovering from his shot to the balls.
"Good job, Danny." Snow shouted smiling up at her friend.
"It was nothing." Danny said grinning and rubbing the back of his head.
"Good job." Ginta said grinning. "You somehow beat that bishop. I thought you were in trouble when he started using all those ARM."
"There is no somehow about it." Alviss said cutting Ginta off. "You didn't even use your ARM. As if the fight wasn't worth revealing what you can do."
All the others realized that Alviss was right. Danny had not used his ARM even once. Or his Phantom Phrost powers. He had only used his enhanced strength to beat the man into submission. Danny just grinned. "It was only a bishop. The real change comes with the knights, right?" He said a cheerfully. "I'm looking forward to a rematch with Halloween, though I guess the other Ed has first dibs."
"But what does that mean for me?" Jack whimpered. After all, he had lost to a rook.
"Congratulations on your win." The goblin said walking up behind them. "But we have to decide on the fights for tomorrow. Princess Reginrave!" The princess threw out the dice again and this time it was a five and a three. "So it will be five on five in the desert field." The goblin said.
"Wait a second!" Danny shouted angrily. "You said earlier that a three in the location dice was the Reginrave field."
"Well... I." The goblin said getting nervous as they all glared at him. "See you tomorrow." And just like that he was beamed up and out of Team MAR's reach.
"I hate that guy." Danny said angrily. "Impartial judge my foot."
Later that night, after the first stage of the War Games, everyone was at dinner... well almost everyone. Ginta and Babbo were missing and Jack went to find them. But Snow was also missing so Danny went to find her.
Of course she wasn't hard to find for the ghost boy. "You sure do like high places." Danny said as he walked out onto the empty castle walls that over looked the nearby town. The town was completely destroyed. The sun was setting behind it giving the illusion that the town was still burning. "Snow, you know none of this is your fault. You couldn't have been prepared for this." Danny said hoping they were the right words.
"But isn't it my responsibility." Snow asked her usual happy go lucky attitude replaced by the truer fear and regret that she felt. "I'm their princess. I'm supposed to protect them. I should have known that my step mother was bad. I should have been able to stop it."
"Snow, you didn't know. Nobody knew. Things have happened." Danny said leaning up against the wall next to her. "But now we are doing everything we can to make things right. So don't worry so much." Danny said looking the princess in the eyes and grinning wide.
"Am I doing everything I can?" Snow asked her eyes tearing up a little. "I just seem to be depending on others. I even forced Ginta to be the team captain because... I was scared. I was scared of having the responsibility of having everyone's hopes on my shoulders. Just like I was scare of the Chess Pieces."
"Snow, none of us were up to the job of being team captain. Ginta is probably the best for the job because he doesn't think about these things very much." Danny joked and Snow chuckled through her tears. "You wanted to fight today but you lost the dice roll. Just wait, tomorrow you'll kick butt. But don't over do it. Don't want the Chess Pieces getting scared and call off the games."
Snow giggled. Silence settled in and Snow turned towards Danny. "Danny... will you stay with me?" She asked quietly. "I want you stay, even after the War Games are over and the world of MAR is safe. Because... I love you."
Danny was shocked for a moment but then a gentle smile crossed his face. He had also had feelings for her. She was kind and strong and trusting. "I will stay with you as long as you still want me. I promise." Danny said as they lend towards each other. "I love you too, Snow."
And with those words the exiled Princess of the World of Dreams and the unwanted Prince of Lost Souls shared their second kiss in a time of war as the sky was on fire.
Once they got back to the dining room Danny and Snow shared some ice cream, to the horror of Ed the dog. "Looks like you win." Nanashi said pulling out a small ARM and tossing it to Dorothy who looked pleased with herself. "I could have sworn that it would take a few more days for them to start dating. They seemed so childish."
"You... you were betting on how long it would be until we got together?" Snow pouted angrily. But for some reason, Danny couldn't find it in him to be surprised.
"Well it was pretty obvious that it would happen eventually. So I used it as an easy way of getting a rare guardian ARM from Nanashi. The leader of Ruberia does have quite a few nice ones." Dorothy said with a shrug as she inspected her prize.
"They are a cute couple I guess." Belle said flying around and hugging Alviss cheek. "But not as cute and me and Alviss."
They could all hear some footsteps coming towards them. "Oh, that must be Jack, Ginta and Babbo." Dorothy said smiling towards the hall. "I can't wait to see Jack's face when he finds..." But Dorothy stopped talking when she saw Gaira enter.
"Gaira." Alviss said seeing his former master.
"In tomorrow's battle, I'll have you all fight without Ginta, Babbo, or Jack." Gaira said in his high and mighty manner.
The other members of team MAR were surprised by his declaration. Dorothy got out of her seat. "What did you do to Ginta and Babbo? Oh and Jack?" She said as if the last one was an after though. But she seemed pretty angry.
"I put them in the training gate." Gaira responded.
"Are you serious?" Ed the dog asked his mouth hanging open.
"So tomorrow we have to fight without them." Snow said not too concerned.
"That's ridiculous!" Ed shouted scared.
"No it's not." Danny said Leaning back in his chair. "Even with Ginta gone we still have the five people we will need to fight tomorrow. And if Ginta is our captain then he needs to spend this time getting stronger. After all, if he loses just once then it is all over. In reality we want him to train as much as possible and compete as little as possible. Just one unlucky match like the one Jack had against that Pacu girl and it could cost the whole world dearly."
"They lack serious traits required for a good fighter." Gaira said. "At Ginta's current state, he won't be able to finish the War Games."
"He's right." Snow said getting everyone's attention. "Ginta's guardian was strong, but he can't control it fully let. Things are only going to get harder and harder. They are already strong, but they will come back even stronger."
The princess's approval seemed to be all that was needed for the group. They continued to eat with the knowledge that tomorrow they would all be fighting.