Author's Note: I do not own Final Fantasy XIII-2 or anything affiliated with it. The rights to it belong solely to their respective owners.


Notice: Jihl Nabaat has fallen, but we're not even close to being through with the Coliseum. And so, allow to reply before we delve even further into it.

Rsdk525: You are most welcome, and I hope you enjoy this fight as well.

G.S. Phoenix: Not a problem. And if you want ever better advice on how to defeat Nabaat, there's a page on Final Fantasy Wikia.

And now, here we go!


Bonus Chapter 4: Uninvited Invertebrate

Once the three of us had taken a short breather I stepped forward, saying "Arbiter! We're ready for whoever the next opponent is!" The Arbiter of Time appeared, saying "Is that so? You're next opponent is Ultros. You wish to rid me of him?" We nodded, and if I could see his face he might have smiled. "Very well. For that, I am grateful. From a dark abyss he rose, the spiteful sprite. And not by me was he summoned... A troublesome guest, uninvited and unwanted. Sliced, baked, or boiled, I care not how he meets his end. But you must remain wary! Ultros is honorless- a despicable sort. None can divine his true intent. Lower your guard, and soon you will find your neck crushed tight in his tentacled grip," he warned. "Understood," we said. The Arbiter nodded and vanished, and it began raining.

The three of us drew our weapons and waited, until off to the side I saw a wave of water appear from over the edge of the arena. We looked, and from that edge a giant purple octopus suddenly erupted from the water, landing in front of us. He looked at us, and focused on Serah. "Oh, my! What a pretty little girl! I do like them pretty!" Ultros declared. Serah frowned and took a step back, but then Ultros saw Noel and me, and his eyes widened. "But look at these boys- they're even prettier!" he said. "Wha-?!" Noel said, and I glared. "Back off!" I yelled at the invertebrate. Ultros seemed to smile, and said "I was joking! You actually thought I was serious? I hate muscle-heads like you!" I bared my teeth, and Noel said "I'm gonna fry this guy!"

"Oh, sorry, sorry! Have I been a mean octopus?" Ultros asked. As if to answer his own question, he leaped forward and swung a tentacle at Serah, trying to wrap the appendage around her. She grunted and blocked, but the tentacle grabbed her blade and ripped it out of her hands. "Oh, did you need this?" Ultros asked. Serah glared at the octopus, starting to get annoyed as well. "Yeah, but even without it I can still do this!" she said, casting Thundaga. Bolts of lightning shot down and blasted Ultros, the water covering his slimy skin just making it even more effective. He cried out in pain, and said "That hurt! I'm hurt!" I stared at him, saying "Forgive me if I don't give two shits about your pain." Ultros seemed to frown, and said "Now that wasn't nice! You'll have to pay for that!"

He threw Serah's sword at me, and I caught it with one hand, tossing it back to Serah. But when I did that I was distracted, and Ultros took that moment to hit me with Octopus Ink. A large sphere of sludge hit me in the center of the chest, and I could feel myself inflicted with Slow and Curse. My movements were slowed, and so when Ultros punched me in the center of my chest I couldn't block it, and was sent flying. "Deiru!" Serah called, and she cast Esuna on me. Meanwhile Noel charged at Ultros, using Firaga and Galestrike. Ultros screamed in pain from the flames burning his body, and swung at tentacles at Noel from either side. He jumped over the, but a third one came down from above, and he blocked it. Noel was sent back onto the ground, and another tentacle grabbed him.

Noel struggled but the monster's grip was too strong, crushing him. "So, you were going to fry me, huh? How about I just smash you instead?" Ultros said. He raised Noel into the air before slamming him against the ground, doing so a second time, and then a third. Serah aimed an arrow at that tentacle and fired, but another one batted that aside. I had landed on my side from Ultros's punch, and groaned before leaping to my feet. I charged at the sea monster and he tried to to hit me with Octopus Ink again, but I countered with Ruinga and sent it away. A trio of tentacles swung at me and I dodged left, right, right again, before running up and using Energy Arc. Instead of sending out three bands of energy I focused it all into one, and hit Ultros in the center of the face with it.

"Ow!" he yelled, and let go of Noel to slide away. Noel landed on the ground with a practiced roll and came to his feet, the three of us pursuing the octopus. Serah cast Poison and Deprotect, both of them sticking rather easily. Now that it was weakened to physical attacks Noel used just those, attacking Blitz. I slashed with Indomitus and made a cut on one of the beast's tentacles, while Serah shot another. Ultros leaped over us and landed behind, saying "You three all need to chill!" He breathed in a deep intake of air before using Frost Breath. A wave of subzero air blasted out of Ultros's mouth, hitting us. I gritted my teeth and held my ground while Serah and Noel did the same, and once Ultros was done we cast Cura on each other before attacking.

I began charging Destrudo while Noel and Serah changed, both swinging with their swords. Ultros tried to beat them back but the dodged its tentacles, stabbing and cutting at any that came close. He tried hitting them with Octopus Ink but Noel cast Aerora, drawing in the sludge and firing it back right into the octopus's eyes. "Aah! I can't see!" he said, rubbing a tentacle against his eyes. While he was blinded Noel stabbed one of the tentacles into the ground, holding it still while Serah held her sword high with both hands. With a cry she swung down and severed the end of that limb. Ultros actually screamed and jerked his tentacles away, leaping back over us. Serah charged and swung at him, and he moved away.

I finished charging Destrudo and swung, firing a barrage of projectiles at the monster. Each one hit and exploded, covering Ultros with burns. Finally getting the last of the ink out of its eyes, Ultros said "Oh dear. I might lose this...!" Then he looked up, and said "But you still haven't met my wonderful friend! Mr Typhon! It's about time you come on down!" We looked up and saw a dark hole appear, a giant monster flying out. Oh yeah, I had forgotten about that. Typhon flew down and hovered next to Ultros, growling. "He's not so great with words, but his strength will blow you away!" Ultros promised. Typhon roared, and charged while Ultros stood behind. He swung at me and I blocked, my eyes going wide as the single strike caused me to slide back a few feet. This guy was tough.

Noel charged at Typhon while Serah fired at Ultros. Said octopus was buffing up Typhon, casting Bravery, Faith, Protect, Shell, Veil, Vigilance, Haste and Enfire. The moment Serah began to deal some damage with her arrows though, Typhon spun right around and cast Renew, bathing Ultros in healing light. All of his injuries vanished completely, and the severed end of his tentacle even regenerated. "Thanks for that, pal!" Ultros said. Typhon merely snarled and turned back to us, swinging. Realizing that with Typhon here Ultros would be impossible to destroy, Serah switched targets and aimed for Typhon's back, firing a Blitz arrow. It burst on impact and the beast stopped, turning around. It glared at her and flew forward, turning around to expose its second mouth and using Gnash.

None of the monster's fangs pierced her, but one did cut along her leg and leaving an semi-deep gash, along with whatever was on the monster's teeth. Serah cried out in pain and fell back, casting Curasa on herself. Typhon followed and we moved to stop him when Ultros used Octopus Ink again. I saw it coming and ran out of range, but Noel wasn't so lucky. He grimaced as he was hit with the sludge, and I cast Esuna on him before attacking Typhon. I cast Enthunder on myself and Indomitus charged with electricity, and I swung. I frowned when I saw that the attack dealt only half as much damage as it normally would have, but it wads enough to cause Typhon to shift focus away from Serah and to me. "Yeah, here we go. Come and get me!" I said, activating my Steelguard.

Typhon used Gnash and tried to bite into me, but thankfully the aura created by the Steelguard kept from its teeth from piercing me. I could still feel every found of force per square in inch in that attack, and just barely held my ground. Typhon stopped and turned back around, wrapping one hand around the other before hitting me with a hammer fist. The hit was strong enough to knock off-balance despite being in Sentinel, and that was when Typhon decided to slash at me. I feel to the side and my Steelguard fell, he Provoke status I had inflicted going with it. Noel picked it up, calling "Hey! Try and knock me down!" and using Vendetta. Typhon answered his call and Serah stuck out a hand, helping me up. I took that hand and stood, and she cast Bravery on both of us. "Let's go!" she said, and I nodded.

We both ran for Typhon and Ultros said "I don't think so! Not when the muscle-head is bout to bite the dust!" He leaped between us and Typhon and used Frost Breath, and I cast Fira to counter it. Serah shot an arrow through the cold air and hit Ultros right above one of my his teeth. He yelled and swung four tentacles at me, coming from both sides and to the left and right above. Serah jumped over the one from the sides and blocked the tentacle on the left, and I cast Elemental Barrage and hit the fourth one, knocking it away. Ultros glared at me, and said "Come to think of it, you're a muscle-head too!" It was then that he looked back at Typhon and said "Oh, Mr Typhon! Care to give these three an example of your strength?" Typhon roared and stopped attacking, rising into the air above us.

Unsure of what was happening, we all switched to Sentinel just as Typhon unleashed Snort. A gale of wind the size of a three-story building flew out of Typhon's mouth and hit us, actually knocking us into the air despite being on guard. I cried out and tried to find something to grab, but there was nothing I could do except being thrown upwards like Serah and Noel before crashing back down onto the ground. The attack also inflicted Daze and left my head spinning, unable to focus. I managed to take out a Remedy and drank it, clearing my head enough to where I could cast Esuna and Serah and Noel. Once that was taken care of we healed each other, but oddly enough Typhon had yet to attack us after using Snort. We looked to see that Typhon had lost interest in fighting us, and had turned away.

Ultros's eyes widened in learn, and he slid in front of the beast, saying "This is you and me, pal!" Typhon growled, not interested in helping the octopus anymore. Seeing this as a golden opportunity, the three of us began unloading on Typhon, who didn't even try to fight back. "Come on! I need you!" Ultros begged. Typhon grunted, thinking about it for a moment before shaking its head. I cast Thundaga and hit them both with electricity, while Noel even cast Deprotect on Typhon before unleashing Meteor Javelin. As he did Serah fired arrow after arrow, going and going until Typhon looked like a bizarre mutated porcupine. Ultros huffed, saying "You're just going to laze around, huh?" Typhon looked up at that, growling questioningly.

"So, I guess you don't need that salary...?" Ultros asked. Typhon shook his head and roared, turning back to us. Seeing that he had gotten his employee back under control, the octopus began renewing Typhon's buffs while he attacked us again. He used Gnash on Noel while also swiping his claws at Serah from the front, hitting both of them at once. I came in from the side and stabbed Indomitus into the beast's midsection, pulling out and cast Blizzard at that wound. The flesh began freezing and turning black, and Typhon roared from the pain before backhanding me hard enough that I fell on my back. I cast Cure on myself and stood, but then I purposefully dropped back down when Typhon tried using Gnash on me again.

Ultros cast Octopus Ink and hit Serah, debilitating her movements with Slow before using Frost Breath on me and Noel. I healed both of us and hit Ultros with Firaga before focusing back on Typhon, casting Blizzaga. The spikes from the ice didn't pierce as far as I hoped, but then Noel took advantage of the punctures and cast Thundara, aiming the lightning bolts to shoot into the stab wounds. Typhon roared again and turned to Noel, swinging at him with another hammer fist. But Noel saw it coming and easily dodged, actually cutting the beast on the arm as it swung past. Typhon glared and moved back from the three of us. I thought it was about use Snort again when a massive fireball appeared in its mouth, growing larger in size and power.

I quickly cast Barfire on all off us while Noel cast Shellga, and Serah cast Vigilance. Typhon grunted before launching the fireball at us. It exploded against the ground not two feet ahead and sent both me and Noel flying, while Serah was the only one that had switched to Mediguard quickly enough. Unfortunately that also left her the only target left for Typhon, and so he targeted her with a large right hook before trying to bite her in half. I stood and Noel said "This thing is just plain tough. How do we kill it?" I thought about that. Typhon had strength that was unparallelled by the rest of us, was immune to all status ailments usually, and could hit us all with Snort and Fireball at any time. The only chance we had gotten to deal a lot of damage was when Typhon stop... being... interested...

My eye widened and I gasped, saying "That's it!" "What? What's it?" Noel asked. I smiled, saying "Okay, just follow my lead." He nodded and followed me when I ran back in, saying "Hey, Typhon!" The beast turned to me and swung, and I blocked. Managing to hold my ground, I looked up and said "So, do you really think that Ultros is going to pay you for beating us?" Typhon paused, grunting in confusion. Picking up on my idea, Noel said "Uh, yeah! He didn't even call for you at the start of battle, cause he didn't think he needed you!" Typhon frowned, or at least tried, and stopped to turn to Ultros. The octopus scoffed, saying "Are really going to listen to these pipsqueaks? I hired you, for crying out loud!" "Yeah, but you only did that because Typhon has some muscle on him so that you wouldn't lose. That's all you saw him as- a bodyguard," Serah said, looking at Typhon as she spoke.

The beast looked at her before back at his employer, unsure of who to believe. "So what if I saw him as a bodyguard. I hired him because he's good enough to be one!" Ultros countered. Typhon seemed to smile at that, but then I said "Maybe, but even they do all the work bodyguards never get the glory." Typhon froze, surprised at that. No glory...? I saw him look at me, and I nodded. "Yeah. Even the best bodyguard in the world never gets his due, because it's only the one who hired him that gets noticed. Even if you had beaten us, you would have never gotten recognized," I told him, and Serah and Noel nodded in agreement. Typhon thought about that, and I could see Ultros's purple skin start to redden with anger.

"Will you stop trying to put words in his head?! I'm his employer; I'll decide what he does!" he yelled. Seeing that we were close, I smirked. "Really? You'll decide what the mighty Typhon does? I thought he could make up his own mind?" I taunted. Typhon began nodding at that, but Ultros had close his eyes and flailed his tentacles in rage. "SO WHAT?! TYPHON'S JUST A BUNCH OF MUSCLE- LIKE HE HAS A MIND TO BEGIN WITH!" he screamed. While on the outside I gasped, as did Typhon, on the inside I was smiling in triumph. Ultros realized what he just said and his eyes snapped open, seeing his client glaring at him. "Uh-oh. Um, Mr Typhon? I didn't really mean that right there. I was just really mad, that's all!" he said, laughing nervously. But Typhon growled deep in his throat, and slowly began moving forward. Ultros began backing away, clearly frightened.

"Um, hey! How about after this fight, I triple your salary! That sounds good, right?" he suggested. But Typhon shook his head, grumbling something. "What? Code of morals? What are you talking about? We're monsters- we have no morals!" Ultros said. Again Typhon shook his head, saying something. "Oh, so the only monster here is me, huh? Very mature," Ultros replied sarcastically. But then Typhon said something else, and Ultros said "You're serious? You really don't think of yourself as a monster? I am octopus royalty- I am way higher up the ladder than you!" Typhon stopped, and I raised an eyebrow. I hadn't counted on that one. Typhon began shaking with rage and Ultros realized that once again he had said something without thinking first.

"W-Wait a minute! Mr Ty-" the octopus began, before Typhon suddenly turned and used Gnash, biting into Ultros. He cried out in pain and Typhon let go, turning back around and using Snort. The blast of wind actually picked up actually and hurled him skyward before Typhon flew up and knocked him back down. "Now!" I called, and Serah and Noel nodded. As one we charged, and while Typhon was focused on pummeling his former employer we came up behind him. Serah aimed carefully and Noel jumped onto Typhon's back, while I said "Here's a present form me!" I stabbed Indomitus into Typhon's side and he stopped, looking at me. In that moment Noel climbed up his back, stabbing Typhon in the forehead. He roared and began writhing around, but then Serah fired a single arrow and shot him in the back on the skull.

Typhon's eyes widened and and he groaned, falling forward and landing onto the ground with a harsh thud. It took all of two seconds for Ultros to realize his back-yup was gone, and he said "Not good! Not good! Time to ink and run!" With that he let out a massive burst of ink, enveloping us and blinding me, Serah and Noel. After a few seconds it faded, but Ultros had used those seconds to try and and escape, heading for the edge of the arena where he had come from. Serah aimed her arrow and fired several shots, controlling them so that each landed on a different one of the octopus's tentacles. "Ouch, that... ouch!" he protested, pinned in place by the arrows. Noel channeled a Firaga spell into each of his blades, and said "Serah! Deiru!"

We both nodded and I charged my most powerful Firaga spell possible, just for this cretin of a sea creature. Serah did the same with her bow, and we both unleashed our spells at the same time. They combined with Noel's and the single spell hit Ultros, exploding. The arrows vanished he was sent flying. "Forgive me!" he cried, turning red as he was fried, just like Noel said. He fell back to the ground his eyes rolled in the back of his head, unconscious. I grunted and cast Aeroga, picking him up with a gale of wind and throwing him over the edge, into the abyss. "And stay out!" Noel said. If he could have I'm sure Ultros would have nodded, and we out our weapons away. I was grinning- that had been a rather good plan. To defeat a honorless being that used deceit, the key was to use deceit as well. And now, we had our next opponent to fight.


Ultros has been defeated, and Typhon along with him. But can our heroes face the next enemy, which comes from the stars? The next chapter shall tell!

Please review! If you flame me Liam Neeson will look for you, he will find you, and he will kill you. (I'm just kidding... or am I?)