The elevator opened once more and the hunters exitted, slightly apprenhensive. They were approaching the time where they would have to fight the elite members of the League, including the Dark Master, who only Weavel among them had seen. They hadn't yet asked him, concerned it was a touchy subject. They reached a newer room, one they somehow overlooked before.
"Hold on!" Weavel suddenly said, startling them.
"What?" Samus asked, reloading her missiles.
"The throne room is that way." Weavel replied, pointing to a small side door.
"You sure?" Noxus asked, opening a different door.
"Noxus!" Weavel suddenly yelled, knowing the danger that the other were oblivious to. There was a flash of energy, and Noxus was thrown backwards.
"It's a fake door..." Weavel finished unnecessarily.
"Very true...but there's a greater problem here!" sneered the familar voice of Ice as he appeared in the center of the room. The other hunters scowled, raising their weapons.
"This is a battle to determine your fate, Nox. You and I will fight alone, and the loser will die. Simple as that!" Ice explained as Noxus returned to his feet.
"That's sick, Ice! Even for you!" Noxus snapped in reply. Ice laughed.
"You aren't letting an old rivalry affect you this much, are you?" Ice sneered.
The Dark Master smirked coldly and focused. A small black energy circle surrounded Noxus and Ice and expanded, filling the entire circular room. The other hunters were pushed back by the barrier to a space 3 feet from the walls. Ice seemed startled by this development.
"Who's the keeper of this seal?" Servu asked. The master smirked with malice.
"They both are...aren't they?" the Dark Hunter asked him.
"Indeed, but the stakes are raised...the keeper will nearly die to unlock the seal. It appears as though one must kill the other to escape. At least we're promised a good show." the master replied. The Dark Hunter nodded. Servu looked amused and vanished.
"Where's he going?" Drek demanded.
Ice looked shocked as suddenly a black energy circle appeared, surrounding both him and Noxus. It expanded to fill nearly the entire room.
"Uh-oh!" Ice whispered.
"Huh?" Noxus asked fiercely, readying to fight.
"The master used another seal. He's preventing an escape by either of us...all the better because now neither of us can escape death if we lose!" Ice said triumphantly, all trace of worry gone. Noxus scowled again. The Dark Armor Ice wore was making him even more twisted than in the past. Noxus raised his weapon and fired. Ice dodged with exaggerated ease.
"Too easy!" Ice mocked, firing his own Judicator. Noxus dodged in time, rolling forward and firing his Imperialist instead. Ice groaned as the beam struck him in the shoulder.
"Nice shot, but not enough!" Ice sneered, charging the Judicator. Noxus fired his Judicator desperately, knowing that if Ice froze him, the battle may as well be over. Ice ignored the shots, releasing the charge at the ground, but Noxus recognized the strategy and jumped in time to avoid the Shadow Freeze.
Undaunted, Ice fired again, striking Noxus' head. Noxus staggered from the burst of icy energy and Ice snickered, firing again. Noxus leapt to the side, avoiding the bolt, which bounced off the barrier and barely missed Ice.
"Oh, come on Nox...I thought you wanted to prove that you were worthy of the League!" Ice sneered, but Noxus ignored the comment, charging his Judicator. Ice tensed slightly, charging his own Judicator.
"You must pay for your crimes, Ice!" Noxus whispered. Ice chuckled, cocking his head to the side, considering Noxus.
"My crimes? How ironic that your entire motivation is based on the past rejection. You weren't good enough so you become a hypocrite, denouncing what you originally longed for! So, who's the real criminal of the two of us? Is it me, who knows the penalties of my actions...or you, the one who was refused to availability of the same actions and now claims to be a justice avenger? You tell people all you care about is justice, but the truth is you longed for a criminal life!" Ice sneered. Noxus glared at Ice with a hatred he had never felt before. It was comparable to Servu's hatred of Trace.
"I bet I know your real problem, Nox...you fear that you will always be alone and will never amount to anything...well, you're right! Because when you die, you will have fallen to the Dark League, which you weren't good enough to join! The proof of the matter is revealed, because a mere League member destroyed your life!" Ice cackled insanely.
"You're insane!" Noxus replied coolly.
"Am I? Well, we'll see who is stronger now!" Ice retorted. Noxus fired his charge at the ground and Ice countered with his own Shadow Freeze. The icy mists collided and shattered like glass.
Trace watched with mild interest. Both Vhozons were evenly matched, although Ice clearly had the advantage with the Dark Armor.
"This is boring, let's keep going!" Trace said cheerfully. All the hunters, including Noxus and Ice stared at him incredulously.
"What is wrong with you?" Noxus asked angrily.
"Um...your fight is boring?" Trace replied.
"Shut up, Trace!" Ice sneered furiously, lunging at him. To Trace's amusement, he slammed into the barrier. "See? Boring." Trace said. Ice to Noxus again to continue their battle. Trace shrugged and went through the next door and appeared in another room, and he sensed he was nearing the throne room, as Weavel referred to it as.
"Not so fast, Tracey!" sneered an all too familiar voice. Servu appeared in the center of the room, grinning.
"What do you want?" Trace snapped in reply. Servu chuckled.
"Such a temper, Tracey. What's wrong? I thought we were friends!" Servu mocked. Trace blinked in confusion.
"We weren't friends since the day I beat you in the entrance exam like 10 years ago!" Trace responded. Servu chuckled.
"And to think I thought you weren't keeping track of our rivalry...silly of me really. You love outdoing me!" Servu said, snarling in hatred at the last words.
"You are also insane." Trace said with a bored tone.
"Well, this time I'll win!" Servu replied, raising his Imperialist. Trace equipped his Imperialist.
"Show me what you've got!" Trace sneered.
"As you wish!" Servu retorted and forcefields sealed both doors in the room. Servu fired, but Trace ducked, returning fire with his own Imperialist. Servu vanished into the shadows and emerged a few feet away. Outraged, Trace fired again, but Servu repeats the escape tactic.
"Having fun, Tracey?" Servu mocked, dodging a third Imperialist shot. Servu fires, but Trace morphs to Triskelion and lunges, but Servu leaps over the Triskelion, firing his Imperialist down, striking the Triskelion. Servu lands and fired again, but Trace lunges to dodge, returning to biped. He fired his Imperialist at Servu again, but Servu laughed as he dodged, firing his Imperialist, intending to disable the Imperialist.
Trace fired the Battlehammer as he tried to dodge, the miniature explosion causing Servu to stumble, the beam hitting Trace's shoulder. He screamed in pain, but equipped the Shock Coil and fired. Servu ignored the energy all together, instead firing at Trace with the Imperialist. Trace ducked and equipped the Volt Driver, firing rapidly. Servu blocked the weak volts with his armored hand, grinning at Trace's look of frustration.
"You can't beat me, Tracey!" Servu whispered. Trace scowled and morphed to Triskelion again, circling Servu, who watched with amusement.
"Trying that lame trick again, Tracey?" Servu hissed, and Trace lunged, Servu leaping over and firing again. Trace grunted in pain as the beam hit the Triskelion again.
"Trace...you can't be so easily irritated! I can predict your moves easily if all I have to do is insult you! Had I known you were this easy, I'd never have lost to you!" Servu mocked. Trace glowered at Servu as he returned to biped.
Noxus dodged another Judicator shot, watching the reflected bolt just in case. Ice charged his Judicator and Noxus did the same, leaping forward swinging his weapon as a club, catching Ice by surprise and knocking him off balance. He released the icy charge, freezing Ice. He fired Judicator bolts rapidly at Ice's frozen head, then smashed his fist into Ice's face moments before the ice shattered. Ice stumbled, shaking his head, trying to clear it. How could he be losing to Noxus, who was so weak that the Dark League didn't accept him?
Noxus was tiring slightly, but showed no sign of it. Ice grinned wickedly. He had a feeling he knew what Noxus was upset about, and why he was motivated to fight him so hard. It had nothing to do with simple rejection by the League, or jealousy of him. It was vengeance. Noxus must still be sore about the incident at Vho.
"So, Nox...tell me, what is it you want? Why do you fight so desperately against me? Had the League seen such talent in the past, they would have accepted you! Alas, you really are mediocre, since I know you fight for vengeance, as do I!" Ice hissed. Noxus blinked.
"What do you mean?" Noxus demanded.
"You're mad about the incident at Vho, aren't you?" Ice smiled cruelly.
"What incident?" Noxus hissed.
"Oh, well you should remember that well. Since you are rejected so often, I'm sure you're upset that I didn't pick you for the snowball fight about 15 years ago!" Ice said coldly. Noxus gaped at Ice in shock.
"I see I am correct. You hate me since I didn't pick you for my team for a snowball fight. Do you have an idea how pathetic that is?" Ice asked. Noxus was struggling to counter the accusation, but was too startled to reply.
"Interestingly enough, you were willing to join the League after me, so I assume your rejection there made you snap and hate me double. Your whole regime of justice is revenge for not being chosen for a snowball fight, and not being good enough for a criminal gang, as you called it. From where I stand, I dont see you being so pure yourself. In fact, you're more evil than the people you hunt in the name of justice!" Ice said calmly. Noxus stared at Ice in a mixture of fury and embarrassment.
"How far will you take this grudge? Will you next go after the Snowball League? Yeah, the snowball fight tournament team? The captain of your snowball team, who chose you last also? The kid that got you out during that snowball fight? How about the kid that said 'hello' without smiling? What about the little girl that mispronounced your name? How about..." Ice continued.
"SHUT UP!" Noxus raged, his eyes gleamed dangerously for a moment and Ice looked startled by the outburst. "I'm after you because you're a vile, evil twit!" Noxus said furiously.
"Ha! You lost to me in snowball fights, and now in a real battle, so bring it on!" Ice mocked.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Actually, I found that scene to be incredibly funny.