Chapter V: Let the Battle Royale Begin

Absolution Arc


One by one, thirty combatants transmatted onto the wilderness that was Old Tokyo, an area left alone by Lord Shaxx for Crucible use–until today. In spite of the 845 square mile city, only a section of the Shinjuku ward was to be used in this Crucible match, and that section was the entire Shibuya district. All thirty combatants appeared in the center of the woodland area, encircled around a large structure placed by Lord Shaxx. Lightning and the kazoku were the last to arrive, their capes flying about during their descent and landed with a bit of a shockwave under their feet. All five were no longer in their Guardian armor, but replaced with their own Dark Knight armor.

Lightning scanned over her competition in this match, seeing Silver, Rez, and Reaper amongst the combatants. Her gaze soon fell upon a certain three-man Fireteam, and her fist was engulfed in Darkness. The air around her changed, making ripples as if she was intimidating the competition.

"Battle Royale," the combatants heard the familiar voice of Shaxx over their comms, their HUDs engaging and showing the combatants participating in this match. "Leave no one standing! And may the odds ever be in your favor!" Soon enough, the modifiers appeared on their HUDs, marking down the allowed and banned. So far, Exposure x50, Juggler, Chaff, Trickle x10, and a brand new modifier appeared. The new one was known as 'You Only Live Once', to which Guardians in the match only have one life and if that Guardian is dead, they're out of the match until its over. However, with the multiplied Exposure and Trickle in effect it guarantees a long match. A timer appeared alongside the modifiers, counting down from sixty seconds until the Battle Royale starts.

To Lightning, she couldn't believe how it all started. It boiled her over, and after resisting the urge to beat the living daylights out of Adam and taking his Light, she might get her chance to do one of the two. Even if the Darkness was tempting her to take Adam's Light, she managed to push it aside and focused on the fight.


"You can't blame anything on me, Dark Knight!" a smug Adam yelled.

"If you think you're so slick, think again, you so-called Guardian of the Light!" Leon was restrained by both Tohsaka and Cloud, preventing him from lashing out at the Titan and potentially losing their chance to be among the Tower. Adam was held back by North and South despite having some form of distrust towards the Dark Knights.

The kazoku and Fireteam Sparta were butting heads again, this time between the two hotheads of the teams. It was starting to get under the kazoku's skin, and this time was no exception. Adam and his buddies have stepped into deep water now. In fact, Leon and Adam already had their weapons out, the glowing blade of Lionheart sparking profusely like its wielder's temper.

"Dark Knights like you are scum! You don't deserve to be here, and I'd rather see Spectre dead!"

Like before, Tohsaka snapped when she heard Adam talking to her brother like a nobody. "What is it between you and my brother?! What did he ever do to you!?"

"Taking all the glory, that's what! He thinks he can take on all the Tower's problems and become a legend himself? That's a load of bullshit! Everyone wants a shot at the glory but all Spectre does is stop us from getting a taste of glory!"

"You snooze you lose! Don't you know that saying?!"

By now, a larger crowd than the one between Dragon and Blood Gulch had surrounded the two teams just dying to see the end result. Among them was Nero Bianco and the freelancing Bladedancer. The second-in-command of Nero Bianco facepalmed at the scene and Rez started to walk away, remembering the last time he was face-to-face with the loose cannon of Sparta. But alas, Reaper caught the sight of the Nightstalker slipping away and pulled him back to the crowd by the back of his cloak. Silver hoped that this wouldn't escalate further, but if this was an equation then he forgot to factor in how irritating and unpredictable Adam could be.

"You Dark Knights think you're in charge of us, don't you?! Huh?!"

"Who said that we were acting like we're in charge of you Guardians anyway?!"

"You're still Tenno! Who cares if you embraced the Darkness, because you're just one and the same! Same thing, different name!"

"The Tenno died out because of us Dark Knights! They're extinct!"

A large commotion broke out from the crowd, disrupting the normal ambiance of the Tower Plaza with this argument. Banshee-44 stood from his shop, putting down some weapon parts and shaking his head at the scene disapprovingly. Even Master Rahool stopped analyzing some engrams that the Cryptarchs couldn't decipher and looked on. The Gunsmith and Cryptarch sensed a presence fall upon the area, and the two knew how this would end.

"That's enough!"

Everyone froze and the cacophony ceased, followed by some of the crowd dispersing to reveal the two teams close to fighting on the Tower grounds. Lord Shaxx emerged from the Hall of Guardians, clearly pissed off at the commotion that started earlier. Nobody saw Shaxx leave his position before so many assumed it to be about the fight between Adam and Leon.

"Adam of Fireteam Sparta," he started, his booming voice silencing any form of chatter. "Do you have any reason as to why you continue to torment the Dark Knights? Or Spectre?"

Adam's teammates continued to restrain him until he broke free of their hold, holding his weapon to the side and facing towards Shaxx. "I don't see as to why they should stand among us Guardians if their Vanguard caused their exile in the first place," he growled, hatred seething through his tone and words. "Dark Knights have no place here in the Tower anymore. They're no Guardians. They're the enemy. As Guardians, we should stamp out the Darkness and we're letting five of them stand with us?!"

"We have more knowledge of the Darkness than you Guardians. We fight for the Traveler even though we have no Light in us," Tohsaka stood up from the rest of her team, facing Shaxx as well. "And I don't see why we Dark Knights receive a lot of distrust and hatred. Is it because of our history that caused our exile? The fact that we draw power from the Darkness? Or is it because of how much of a threat we could be?"

Some of the Guardians started agreeing with the current Dark Knight vanguard before they were silenced. She made a valid point compared to Adam.

"I don't see why there are those that judge others based on their class's history or affiliation with the Light or Darkness. For all I know, Spectre was trustworthy even though he was a Dark Knight the whole time. He showed no signs of aggression against us," Shaxx noted, glancing between the two sides. "If there's only one way to settle this, then it's going to have to be done the Crucible way."

The crowd sparked to life upon hearing 'Crucible', many placing bets on which side would win and siding with one side. Lightning took note of the reaction when the Crucible was mentioned, then comparing it to her people's own. In her village, Dark Knights fighting each other didn't fight in a Crucible but rather a duel or in some cases, Battle Royale at an arena.

"Lightning, as the more calm and collected between you and Adam, you may request the Crucible match."

She didn't hesitate with her answer, and she knew what to say. "Clash won't help settle it, nor Elimination or Skirmish, so let's settle this the Dark Knight way. With a Battle Royale."

Just as swift as the cacophony of the Guardians started, it ended quickly. Amongst the Guardians that were around longer than the Year 1 veterans, they knew what a Battle Royale was. Shivers were sent down their spines at the mention of the Crucible match format, as they knew what happened at the last Battle Royale. It was one of the more bloody Crucible matches but it upheld a bad reputation. It was a lot like Clash but there are multiple teams fighting each other until one team is left standing. When there were combatants unaffiliated with the other teams, then the rules shift over to last man standing. Ghosts were allowed but only to heal minor wounds.

"Battle Royale? We haven't had that kind of match for twenty years. That's against my protocol as Crucible Handler, Lightning," said Shaxx, crossing his arms at the suggestion. "The last time we had a Battle Royale, over half of the combatants were unable to be revived even with their Ghosts. Even with medical supplies around the battleground, it poses a risk against Guardians' lives."

"That's why I suggested it. You really want to prepare the Guardians to fight against the Darkness, Lord Shaxx? Then they need to learn to survive if all else fails," Lightning looked at Artemis, who nodded in agreement. "However, that doesn't mean that I want Guardians to die. So here's my proposal, Lord Shaxx: if a Guardian dies in the match, have their Ghosts respawn them in a safe area where they cannot rejoin the fight. And to lower the risk of casualties, I suggest having only thirty combatants for this match including me and my team."

"You're saying that they only have one life until they're eliminated from the match."

"Yes. Throw in the Exposure modifier and you'll see how us Dark Knights are trained," like before, a sphere of Darkness manifested in Lightning's hand who brought it close to eye level. "As for the arena I want the Battle Royale to take place, I'll let Cloud take care of it. If we Dark Knights win, we don't want anything. Only to make Adam realize that underestimating your enemies can get you killed, whether it be by us or the enemies of the Tower." She crushed the sphere of Darkness in her hand, a dark mist dripping down like water.

Adam stepped in, face to face with Lightning. Both of them sent daggers towards the other, and a spark of itching for a fight shone in their eyes. "And if Sparta wins, then we want the Dark Knights out of the Tower. Including your damned brother."

Lightning's anger grew when she heard the other side's victory condition, and already she didn't want to lose to Fireteam Sparta. Nero's still in the process of recovery and still in a coma, so the prevention of pulling the plug on him just fueled her further. Her blue eyes shifted to gold once again, but her familiar didn't manifest at all. She clenched a fist. "So be it. Now the Tower will know of the power we Dark Knights carry."

"You don't scare me."

"You should be, because we Dark Knights smothered the Light before. And I'm not afraid to give you a taste of how the Tenno perished from the Darkness."


Lightning adjusted her gauntlets while the countdown continued to tick the seconds away, looking over the competition and checking the combatants from her HUD.

Fireteam Sparta, Blood Gulch, Valhalla, Nero Bianco, and nine 'Freelancers'. That makes five teams fighting against each other, including the kazoku. The Freelancers had some benefits, such as making alliances with other Freelancers or with other opposing teams. With Reaper among the combatants, it's fifty-fifty she'll ally with Nero Bianco or the kazoku.

Lightning glanced towards the large structure in the center and saw thirty packages marked with the emblems for the six teams, to which there were the combatants' weapons in them. She knew how Battle Royales worked and seeing as this arena had a similar layout to the one back home, she knew her first order of business once the match officially starts. That and the fact that the Shibuya district was practically Cloud's home turf, he'd have an advantage out here.

It was a good idea to let Cloud choose the battleground. Run through the plan and we'll win this match. Her eyes fell upon the package that held both Dawneater and Dusk Repulsor inside, the blades glowing red and lighting up the symbols. Her Empress of the Abyss, combat knife, and silenced CP99 were inside as well, further adding to her need to grab it.

Tohsaka ran one last look at the other combatants. She was willing to put them down─including Nero Bianco and Reaper─to save Sparta for last. Before the match, she and the second-in-command turned temporary leader of her brother's Fireteam met up and said that no hard feelings were intended for Nero Bianco. Silver already acknowledged it and wanted to join the Battle Royale to see Adam's ass handed to him on a silver plate.

Lightning tightened her fist and readied herself like she was going to run track, her team doing the same. Estimating how long it is from here to the weapon drop point, I might as well just tag and bag it. We got the entire district to ourselves, so no need to fight here at the park. The timer reached the last five seconds, and the time was drawing near.

A siren rang out in the area, screaming through the woodland like a tsunami hit the area. Lightning already took off, running towards the drop point with her team not too far behind. Some of the other teams had done the same as the kazoku, darting towards it at a breakneck pace. Lightning dared not to look back and focused on getting her weapons from the drop point. Already did she hear the sound of armor cracking and breaking and the screams of writhing pain in the wind.

Valhalla reached the weapon drop point before Lightning and the kazoku did, and they got their hands on weapons. Carolina was the first out of her Fireteam to grab her gear and pry it open, releasing her weapons from the case. At the edge of her HUD she caught a glimpse of a combatant headed for their weapons.

Lightning followed after the cyan Bladedancer and reached for her own package sitting on a countertop. Just as it was within her reach, it was knocked off from the countertop. Swiftly, she backflipped away and dodged thrown knives from Valhalla's Bladedancer before she caught one of them and throwing it back to sender. The knife nicked Carolina in the arm forcing her to temporarily fall back and let the rest of her team collect their weapons. But not without a surprise for the Dark Knight.

The Dark Knight saw a sphere of light bouncing towards her and she instinctively moved out of the way. A shield conjured from Darkness materialized on her arm and defended herself with it. The grenade exploded, sending Lightning skidding against the dirt a few feet with the shield absorbing some of the blast. She knew it wasn't time to lower the shield. As if to confirm it, she felt the repeated hammering of rounds bouncing off the shield and knew that it was Carolina. Out of the corner of her eye she saw her weapons package on the ground. It tempted her to pick it up right now but she resisted the urge.

Not now! Until Carolina empties her magazines on me! Her shield grew to the size of the shields used by the Cabal Phalanxes and knelt down to counter the 'weight', allowing the barrage of rounds to hit the surface. But that didn't stop the cyan Bladedancer from attacking Lightning. Throwing down her gun she raced towards the shielding Dark Knight and kicked at the shield. Just before Lightning hit the ground on her back, she lifted her shield with her strength and launched Carolina into the air.

Again, Tohsaka backflipped from the momentum of Carolina's hit and returned on her feet her shield shrinking down to its original size. Quickly, she extended an arm towards her weapons package. The package started to shake and shudder in response to the action. Soon enough, the package suspended from the ground and into the waiting hand of the Dark Knight at the speed of light. Dawneater and Dusk Repulsor vanished from the confines of the pack and reappeared on her back, Dusk Repulsor in hand and its sheath placed on her back. The cyan Huntress landed on her feet and put her fists up in a fighting stance.

"No hard feelings, Lightning. I know this match is supposed to be between you and Sparta but I'm not just gonna worry about the other combatants. They're small fry compared to the major fighters here."

"Why do you think I suggested that thirty combatants enter this Battle Royale? If I can't get to Adam, then at least I can distract myself with others," responded Tohsaka, who was repeating the same stance as Carolina albeit with a sword and shield. "No hard feelings."

"Light! What the hell are you doing?!" yelled Leon through her comms channel. "Fall back for now! You can fight her another time! We have to regroup with Cloud and Aqua!"

Lightning looked over at the Bladedancer, who was still in her stance and waiting for her to make the first move. Behind her was a rampaging Adam headed not for Carolina but for her. She sheathed Dusk Repulsor and the shield dematerialized. "…Fine. We'll fight again at another time, Carolina. Enjoy the Battle Royale until then."

Lightning turned and ran into the outer reaches of the park, clutching her weapons pack under her arm. Like a master ninja, she vanished into the vegetation of the park never to be seen again. For now. The only thing the Huntress saw the last of the Dark Knight was her cape flowing as she ran.

Carolina knew why she ran off and did the same to meet up with the rest of Valhalla in another direction. She dodged Adam's attempt to lash out at her for letting the Dark Knight get away and kept on running through the vegetation. During her escape Carolina saw the Ghosts of three…no, five Guardians hovering about where their partners died. None of them were Valhalla and she figured she owes Church for pulling them out of the area. Not Nero Bianco, not Blood Gulch, and definitely not Sparta. At least they're Freelancers. So, twenty-five are left. I'll enjoy this Lightning, and we will see each other again. And when we do, we'll see if the Dark Knights really live up to what you said.


Me: Well, here we go. Another shot at a Crucible match for me!

Prophet: Well, the previous one kinda sucked.

Me: It was for a comedic purpose. That's why it would seem like it'd suck.

Prophet: Riiiiigggght.

Me: Don't act like you know everything.

Prophet: *mockingly* Don't act like you know everything.

Me: Shut up. Right, I haven't done a response to reviews before so I suppose I'll try doing this. But before I get to that, I will say that the next few chapters will be focused on the Battle Royale. I don't know how many chapters exactly, but at least we get some action!

Zach (Guest)─ Well, you got two of the things right. However, Cloud is the only character from Final Fantasy here as a guest. Lightning in this fic is an OC and has blonde hair with red tips but shares similarities from her FFXIII namesake like her attitude for one. And Chocobo? Cloud is sometimes called 'Chocobo head' for a reason. So, no giant chicken-duck…thing here.

Also, thank you guys so much! This fic has reached over 4k views! So as a bounty, if you can guess the huge homage I paid Tribute to, then I will write a one-shot that is within Destiny: Skyfall's storyline requested by you! Just PM me your scenario and I'll do what I can to meet the scenario.

As always, take care and keep fighting Guardians!