Ryo awoke the next the morning to the sound of his cellphone ringing. He yawned, stretched, and rubbed his eyes. The cellphone continued ringing, so Ryo picked it up from the table next to the bed. He opened and hit the button to acknowledge the call.
"Hello?"Ryo said in a half-asleep voice.
"Ryo, I got an e-mail about the grunty-back finals and semi-finals. It's invitation only, since there are so many players in "The World". Hurry up and log on,"the other person, obviously being Suichi, said.
"Eh, right, okay...Do I have to log on now?"Ryo asked yawning
"Hurry and do whatever you're doing then,"Suichi said.
The phone hung-up. Ryo picked his body up off the bed and slowly made is way towards his dresser. He grabbed his usual outfit, but this time went to the closet to retrieve a jacket. Ryo pulled the zipper down on the black, cotton jacket so he could pull it off the clothes hanger, then went downstairs. He figured Skyld would probably be one of the finalists. If so then Suichi would have a tough time, but Ryo wondered who the other people would be. He nodded to his mother and Hiro as he walked around the base of the stairs into the hallway.
He stopped at the bathroom and walked in. He removed what he was currently wearing and turned on the hot water in the shower. He walked inside flinching from the scalding hot water, but turned the cold water knob to even it out. Ryo had begun to think about the AIs as he stared at the wall in front of him. Everyone in the group knew of the four AIs, and most of them had at least ran into one of them, but neither of the four were the boss. Kiiro, Aqua, Jade, Pyro. Yellow, blue, green, red. Manipulator, Master, Morpher, and Manifester. They were also capable of mixing their powers, but alone there seemed to be no link in their powers to lead to what the leader would be like.
Ryo finished his shower and turned off the water. He dried off, got dressed, went back to his room, and started up his computer, then the Altimit system. He had no new mail so he logged on.
Coinchii appeared back in Carmina Gadelica, the Lambda Server. After letting out a yawn and stretching and he looked around.
"He got me out of bed and he isn't even here?"Coinchii said aloud to no one.
There was a ping sound, Coinchii had mail. He opened it up and read it. It said to go the Delta server and shout 'Gruntyback, Mohi!' at the Chaos Gate to get warped to the place for the competition. He turned around to the Chaos Gate.
"Delta server..."Coinchii said sleepily at the revolving ring. He was whisked away and appeared in Mac Anu, but only to go quickly leave again.
"Gruntyback, Mohi!"Coinchii forced himself to shout.
He appeared by a door at the end of a stone hallway. He walked down the hallway and looked around. It appeared to some sort of arena. To Coinchii it sort of resembled a cross between a medieval jousting arena and the roman Colosseum. The seats were already pretty crowded by various players.
"Coinchiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!"he heard Miryo's voice ring out.
He looked around and saw his friends waving him to come over. Coinchii sat down next to Demon and Miryo with good timing. Kain, Gyuni, Ace, and Cuoka were also there.
"Good morning, noon, evening, night, or whatever. Welcome combatants and guests to the grunty-back semi-finals and finals!"Venus began.
Cheers roared from the audience almost drowning out Venus. Coinchii looked over at the stage. He could see Mohi in a seat on the stage with the other seven combatants He expected Momiri to be the announcer, but figured she was probably busy.
"The eight people behind me are the top eight grunty-back fighters. They have trained vigorously with their grunty and show the best skills of the new grunty-back system!"
More cheers came from the crowd, including Mohi's cheering squad.
"Now let's introduce them and get some words! First up, you all know him, the legend of "The World", Skyld, the Master Knight!"Venus half shouted into the microphone. Skyld stood up and walked over to Venus.
"Hey everyone, not much to really say, but good luck to the other contestants, I hope for a good match,"Skyld said looking out of the side of his eyes at the other contestants. Venus took the microphone again.
Cheers began to drown out Venus's voice now. Coinchii couldn't make out the names of the next few fighters, but Mohi was the seventh fighter. They were still unable to hear but were shouting at the top of their lunges.
"Mohi! Go! Mohi! Go!"Coinchii and company began chanting
It was hard to tell what Mohi said, but he sat down shortly afterwards. After the last person Venus pulled out her clipboard and hit a few things with her fingers. She began to speak into the microphone again.
"If you avert your eyes to the opposite side of the arena you'll see the rankings,"Venus began. Her voice was louder now so whatever she did probably increased the sound of the microphone. "Now since I can tell you guys want to begin, we shall. Stage one, round one, Skyld verse Gama92!"
Skyld and another blademaster stood up and jumped off the stage.
"Call your grunties,"Venus order, taking the microphone off it's stand.
The two grunties appeared and combatants got on. Once they both reached opposite sides of the oval arena they were given the order to start.
Skyld withdrew his sword as his grunty began to run forward. Gama92 began forward at a slower pace. They closed in at each other, a look of determination on Skyld's face. They came within yards of each other, then feet. Skyld stood on the back of his grunty and lunged forward. He slashed at the blademaster only to be blocked. Skyld hung in the air for a second before flying forward again and landing on his grunty who was patiently waiting.
"Ready for the second go?"Skyld asked. Their grunties were turning to face each other
They ran forward again, swords out. There was a clash as the swords met and they passed each other. Skyld looked over his shoulder as Gama92 came running at him.
"Now!"Skyld shouted pulling on the reins of his grunty.
The grunty jumped up turning upside down in mid-air. The opposing blademaster was caught off guard and was knocked off. Skyld's grunty flipped back over and landed.
The crowd let out a cheer as Skyld returned back to the stage. His grunty walked away to await the next round.
"An impressive victory by Skyld, the Master Knight!"Venus shouted, motioning for Skyld to come over.
She handed Skyld the microphone. "That was nothing, I was just lucky I decided to train my grunty to jump." He bowed and walked over to sit down. The next two rounds passed with as much excitement as the first. Coinchii and his group began a thundering cheer as Mohi stepped off the stage and mounted Smoke.
"Victory! Go Mohi! Victory! Go Mohi!" the group's cheer became.
A sweatdrop fell down Mohi's head as he got in position.
"And...go!"Venus shouted.
The heavy axewomen seemed too small to ride her grunty, but charged forward.
"Turn your side to her and get ready to run,"Mohi whispered into Smoke's ears. Smoke obeyed.
"Ani Kruz!"Mohi shouted. Skulls surrounded the heavyaxe and hit her, but she remained on her grunty. Mohi attempted to cast it again, but was forced to move when the heavyaxe began to attack.
"Rue Zot!"she shouted. Chunks of ice shot out of the ground sending Mohi and Smoke flying.
He grabbed on to Smoke's saddle and positioned himself on Smoke's back. Although at an angle Smoke managed to land on his feet. Mohi ducked under an attack and ordered Smoke to run. The crowd began to cheer for the amazing recovery. Mohi began to grin, unable to resist the applause. The heavyaxe caught up to Smoke, clinging as though they were glued.
"Persistent...Ani Rom!"Mohi shouted. A dark vortex appeared slowing down the heavyaxe and damaging her.
"Rue Zot!"she shouted again. Mohi didn't wait for the spell and threw his staff at her. The chunks of ice appeared from beneath the ground throwing Smoke to his side and sending Mohi in the air. He glanced up as he suspended in the air and saw his staff catch her in the side pushing her off. Gravity began pulling on him again and began to fall to the ground. There was a thud just before he hit the ground.
Mohi sat up and listened to the applause.
"That was a very close match, but to the victor goes the spoils! Mohi moves to the semi-finals!"Venus announced.
Mohi sighed and pulled himself together. He rocked his head back and forth while humming as he stepped back up to the stage. Venus handed him the microphone as he stepped on the stage.
"Well, it was a close match. I think I just got lucky,"Mohi said, modestly.
He was rubbing the back of his head and had a nervous grin.
"Okay there will be a short intermission before the semi-finals and finals, take care of any needs you have now, this is the last break before the climax,"Venus said. She bowed and walked over to the four remaining combatants
"If you guys want, you can go and see your friends while we're in intermission."
Mohi ran up some stairs and into the audience.
"Hey Mohi is coming," Ace said leaning forward waving. The group ran down and met him half way
Coinchii laughed crazily hugging Mohi.
"Eh, hello Coinchii,"he replied trying to push Coinchii away.
"Congratulations, well played out there,"Demon said.
"Yay! Soon you'll get your hands on that prize!"Gyuni shouted clinging to the dark wavemaster.
"Well I still have to beat Skyld. He's going to be tough," Mohi said scratching the back of his head looking away.
"I'm sure you'll give him a run for his money in the least,"someone said out of nowhere. AnakinseZ stepped out of the other audience members and joined the group.
"If I even manage to do that much I'll be proud."
"You're underestimating yourself, Mohi,"Coinchii said grinning.
"He does have a point, Coinchii. Skyld is powerful. It might not be impossible to pull off a win, though,"Miryo said.
"Skyld's been playing for years, I doubt he'll lose. Not that I'm trying to be pessimistic,"Ace replied.
"Well Skyld's in this for the fun, really. Mohi, give him a good match and he may let you win,"AnakinseZ said.
"Isn't that like cheating?"Cuoka asked.
"Not really, I mean different people play "The World" for different reasons. So 'winning' in "The World" really depends on who's playing. Mohi why did you join the grunty-back competition?"
"Hmm, I guess I never really planned on winning, I just wanted to have fun and enjoy it,"Mohi replied, looking over in curiosity.
"Well, if you have fun and enjoy yourself then don't you win, whether you're the last person in the contest or not?"
"Your right...it doesn't matter if I beat Skyld or not, at least to me anyways."
AnakinseZ smirked. "That's exactly why you might beat Skyld after all. Think about what he said at the beginning."
"Hey everyone, not much to really say, but good luck to the other contestants, I hope for a good match,"Skyld said looking out of the side of his eyes at the other contestants. Venus took the microphone again.
"He said he hoped for a good match, so all he expects out of this tournament is...well...a good match,"AnakinseZ finished.
"What you're saying is he doesn't care about being the last person in the tournament and beating everyone. If I can give him a good enough match then we'd both win, and I'd take the tournament. If he let me that is."
There was a silence as Mohi thought about what AnakinseZ said.
"Back, did I miss anything?"Cuoka asked looking around. He must have left his computer to do something.
Everyone had a sweatdrop go down their head.
"The intermission will finish shortly, please finish anything you're doing,"Venus said into the microphone.
Everyone turned back to Mohi.
"Well...I guess even if I get beaten, I still win anyways. So...even if I don't beat Skyld, there are no regrets,"Mohi said looking over at AnakinseZ.
"Will combatants return to the stage before the intermission ends, we'll be starting shortly."
"I'd wish you good luck, but you don't need it. Instead I'll say: Have fun,"AnakinseZ said. He walked back into the audience.
"I guess that settles it then. Victory or defeat it won't matter,"Mohi said.
He waved to the grouped and began to run to his seat. Coinchii's group returned to their seats as well.
"It would be nice to get the prize, though,"Gyuni said, adjusting the robe by her feet.
"That was a very deep moment,"Coinchii said nodding.
Everyone had a sweatdrop go down their head.
"That's so like you Coinchii,"Miryo said, shaking her head in disappointment.
"Alright everyone the intermission is over. And the semi-finals start now!"Venus announced.
"The combatants are as follows:first Skyld, second Carrot, third AlphaWave, and fourth Mohi. First match of the semi-finals, Skyld against Carrot. Please summon your grunties." The two obeyed and got into position. "Go!"
The wavemaster, Carrot, pointed his staff into the air.
"Rai don!" he shouted. Lightning struck but was deflected.
"Nice try, but you'll have to do better,"Skyld said. He slashed down, but Carrot put his staff up in time to block the attack.
"How do you have a thunder tol?"Carrot asked, retreating on his grunty.
"It's a special item, Rai Shield, that grants thunder tol for a short while. It's not a common item. They still make them, but on average probably only eight players at a time will have one?"Skyld answered.
"I see,"Carrot replied.
The two grunties stopped and turned towards each other. They began to charge forward. Carrot seemed determined, although slightly scared. With a quick thrust Skyld managed to strike Carrot off his grunty. Skyld waited for the announcement, but after a short pause he didn't hear the announcement. He looked back and saw Carrot holding on to the back of his grunty. He was holding onto the tail with his feet and the rest of body was clinging to the grunty's side. A few chuckles came from the crowd and some applause. Skyld grinned.
However, he didn't let Carrot take advantage of the moment. Skyld ordered his grunty to run over. Carrot was unable to get up so one vertical slash knocked him onto the ground with a thud.
"Winner of the semi-finals, first round, Skyld, the Master Knight!" Venus shouted.
Carrot shook Skyld's hand and left for the crowd. Venus dragged Skyld over by the microphone when he got on the stage.
"So, Skyld, you're in the finals, anything you want to say to the two people who might be fighting you next?"Venus asked.
"Well, it's been okay so far. Hopefully whoever I go against gives me a better match then the last two. They were fun, don't get me wrong, but not what I was hoping for,"Skyld said.
He went to sit down. Mohi looked over at AlphaWave. He was a blademaster that wore what looked like typical knight's armor.
"Now for the semi-finals, second match! AlphaWave and Mohi mount your grunties and get ready."
The two obeyed. Venus announced go and they were off.
AlphaWave began running full speed towards Mohi. The speed of his grunty was amazing. It was easily faster than Smoke by at least four or five times. Trying to out run him would be impossible.
"Ani Rom!"Mohi shouted.
The ground around AlphaWave formed a giant black circle, freezing him.
"This...isn't Ani Rom...could it be?"Mohi whispered to no one.
He reached into pocket and the orb from the hunting event appeared. It was like a miniature sun about the size bowling ball.
"What's this?"AlphaWave shouted, followed by a few a grunts.
Mohi looked back up. Instead of a swirling vortex, he saw black mist shaped like arms covering AlphaWave. He was pulled down into the dark circle and the circle disappeared. There was a silence in the crowd. Skyld was even staring over surprised. Coinchii and his group was more then just 'on the edge of their seats'. There was silence throughout the arena.
"Where...did he go?"Venus said aloud into the microphone, but it was probably her more thinking it.
A large black ball appeared in the air above where AlphaWave was, everyone looked at it. It was only there for a few seconds then it faded, leaving AlphaWave and his grunty behind. They both fell to the ground with a thud. Mohi looked back at the orb, it was no longer glowing.
"Err, wow, impressive victory. The winner looks like Mohi,"Venus said, as sound began to return to the silent people in the area.
The applause started off slowly but picked up. AlphaWave pushed himself off the ground and sat up. Mohi offered a hand to help him up.
"Eh, I'm fine. That was an impressive attack, how did you do it?"AlphaWave asked, is voice seemed to be young, maybe around 13.
He stood up on his own, he seemed fine.
"Umm I think it was this item,"Mohi said, showing AlphaWave to the orb from the event.
"Ah, this is the prize from the event awhile back. Where you had to kill the golden Wizard, right?"
"Yeah, how did you know?"
"I'm pa-"AlphaWave tried to start, but Venus interrupted.
"Nice to see good sportsmanship, but come on up Mohi. We're gonna get some words then we have to the finals to do."
Mohi got onto the stage.
"Can't really think of anything to say, besides; I didn't expect that attack either,"Mohi said into the microphone.
Venus motioned for Skyld to come over.
"So, Mohi, how's it feel going up against Skyld, the Master Knight?"Venus asked.
"Umm, not any different then any other opponent. I'm having fun, that's all I really wanted,"Mohi said.
"How about you, Skyld? How does it feel going against a wavemaster with an attack like what we just saw?"
"I'm expecting a very interesting match to say the least. I already know Mohi some, I expected a good match before I saw that, but now. I'm expecting a great match,"Skyld said.
Skyld put out his hand, Mohi took it, and they began to shake for a nice match.
"One last question, before we begin. Mohi, what are your thoughts on winning?"Venus asked.
"Err, I wouldn't mind winning, but it's not my ultimate goal,"Mohi answered.
"And you, Skyld?"
"I suppose it's the same as Mohi's. Winning isn't my ultimate goal, I was just looking for a challenging opponent, and I think this will be it."
"Ah, you have to marvel at these two players. Driven not by hopes of winning, but by minor wants, non-materialist wants... I'll stop now. Anyways you two, now go mount your grunties!"Venus shouted, rubbing the back of her head.
The two obeyed. The walked to opposite sides of the arena.
"Are you two ready?"Venus asked.
They both gave a thumbs up.
"Then...go!"
The two grunties took off. Skyld's grunty began towards Mohi, but Mohi's grunty turned right and began to run.
Skyld pulled out a scroll which began to glow black. "Ani Don!"he shouted.
A mass of skull appeared above Mohi and began to lower down towards him. Mohi quickly slid up towards Smoke's neck and laid back.
"Ani Kruz!"he shouted. Skull group of skulls began to appear around Mohi and started to converge, but instead of hitting himself it collided with Ani Don spell canceling both spells out.
Mohi sat up and returned to the normal position on his grunty. He pulled out the orb as Skyld began charging. By the expression on Skyld's face Mohi knew he had noticed the orb.
"Ani Rom!"Mohi shouted. The ground around Skyld began to turn dark which caused Skyld to have his grunty jump out of the attack.
Mohi's grunty charged towards the location where Skyld's grunty was going to land. Skyld pulled out another scroll quickly
"Rue-"Skyld began before being cut off.
"Ani Kruz!"Mohi shouted.
Mohi used the orb with the spell and it began to shine again. Instead of the usual skulls they were now balls of darkness about the size of a bowling ball. The closed in and attached to Skyld. He and his grunty landed on the ground.
"Rue Zo-"
Skyld was cut-off by the black orbs. They had grown and merged into one into one larger ball with Skyld stuck in it. The ball slowly began to dissolve leaving Skyld and his grunty slightly off balance and looking very disoriented. Mohi ran forward and swung with his staff, but Skyld blocked it at the last minute. The blade of Skyld's sword went in between the two snakes on Mohi's staff. It continued in and got caught on guard of the sword. Skyld twisted the staff causing Mohi to lose grip with one of his hands, but Skyld's plan backfired and unless he wanted to lose the match he wouldn't be able to move. His sword was now pointing under his own grunty, still locked in Mohi's staff.
"Looks like it's going to be a tie. If either of us move we'll end up losing,"Skyld said. His eyes glanced over to Mohi, but not more of a curiosity than anything was in his eyes.
"Maybe,"Mohi replied.
Mohi's hand went behind his back. He had taken a scroll out of his inventory. Behind his back it began to glow green.
"But...maybe not,"Mohi said, grinning. "MeJuk Zot!"
The ground began to rumble and Skyld dropped his sword and jumped back. The trees appeared sweeping up the two grunties and Mohi. They were tossed into the air and began to fall. However the spell was a stronger form of Juk Zot so another set of trees popped out of the ground after the first sending them back into the air once more.
Skyld landed on the ground kneeling down. He looked over as the two grunties and Mohi fell on the ground. There were scuff marks on their body from the battle, but most of it was probably from the last move.
"And the winner of the grunty back tournament!"Venus began.
The cheers picked up. They were becoming increasingly loud, probably the loudest they had been the entire day.
"Mohi!"Venus's voice was barely audible.
"So after we get some more information on your character you'll get the item. Is that okay with you, Mohi?"Venus asked.
The gruntyback event had been declared closed earlier and they were discussing the prizes.
"Of course. I have no problems,"Mohi replied.
Coinchii's group, Skyld, and AnakinseZ walked over.
"You won!"Gyuni shouted, jumping on Mohi.
"Congratulations,"Skyld and AnakinseZ said, almost at the same time.
"Nice job,"Demon said his usually monotone voice.
"I told you would win,"Coinchii replied, taking his turn to congratulate Mohi.
"You deserve it,"Miryo hummed.
"Yeah, I wish I coulda competed,"Kain replied.
"Now you get to learn about the troubles famous people go through. When you need help feel free to request it,"Cuoka replied.
Mohi had a sweatdrop fall down his head.
"That was an awesome win,"Ace said, finishing off the congratulations.
"Thanks everyone,"Mohi replied.
He was grinning rubbing the back of his head. Venus bowed to everyone and warped away.
Coinchii pulled Skyld over to the side.
"I was curious, did you let Mohi win?"Coinchii asked, looking out of the corner of his eyes.
"Eh, was it that obvious?"Skyld answered with a question of his own.
"Well the last move did make it seem kind of obvious, but then again AnakinseZ said that you would've if you got a good match. That my be why it seemed obvious,"Coinchii replied. His arms were folded and he was nodding to nothing in particular.
"Well he did deserve it, and I don't like being in the spotlight all the time. I guess if anyone says anything I'll dismiss it as a mistake,"Skyld replied.
Coinchii walked over to the edge of the walkway and stared off into the far distant waters.
"Well now that the gruntyback competition is over, I guess this means there won't be as many distractions,"Coinchii replied.
"Eh, what do you mean by that?"Skyld asked, walking over also.
"In looking for those AIs,"Coinchii replied.
"Yeah, it was a nice little diversion,"Skyld said.
"What are you two talking about?"AnakinseZ asked.
AnakinseZ and Mohi had walked over.
"Nothing much,"Skyld said.
Coinchii yawned.
"It must be getting late. I think I'll call it a night,"Coinchii replied.
After saying their goodbyes he logged off.
And so ends the gruntyback competition and most of the grunty based action. This is of course if you liked the grunties, and if so, you can let me know through reviews, comments, ect. which are as always welcomed.(It's sad that's like a qoute of mine now...) And also marks the start of what I guess would be considered the lead-in to the next 'section' of the story.
Next Chapter's-
Plot Progression:Hard to say, it depends on how you look at it, I suppose.
Importance:Two words:Flashback chapter
Things to look forward to:...points at above two words
Balance:Real World only