Ch 7 – Zell VS Chan – Round 1

Selphie and Zell walked through the crowd of fighters and spectators, families huddling over their shell-shocked boys and girls who had just died for the first time in their lives. Zell could relate to them. His first death had been a haunting experience.

They had been fighting Raijin and Fujin, and Raijin had managed to slip his huge staff through Zell's defences and smash his windpipe. Zell had fallen, choking for air, to his knees, his last action to grapple at his crushed throat vainly before everything became black.

He didn't remember much after that, save that he woke to see Rinoa crouched next to him, leaning over him, a dull green glow fading away from her outstretched hands as the concern faded from her worried eyes. He had sat up to see Raijin and Fujin just make their way out the door of the Balamb hotel, with Squall holding the door open for them.

He still didn't understand why Squall had done that… but he had forgiven Raijin. There was no use being angry with him. He was just following Seifer's orders.

Apart from the shock of not being able to breath, there had been no ill effect on Zell…he had simply died, then had been resurrected. But that didn't stop the nightmares months after…the ones where he gasped for air, but couldn't gather enough…

Selphie looked up at him. "What are you thinking about, Mr. Seroious?" She asked, smiling up at his frown.

Zell smiled and scratched the back of his neck. "I just remembered the first time I died. I know how it feels. These poor bastards have just had the shock of their lives."

"They'll get over it." Selphie replied with a shrug. "Why else would they enter in the competition if they don't know the consequences of their actions?"

Zell smiled and said nothing. Suddenly he remembered that he was still wearing his gauntlets, and he pulled them off and placed them in the back pocket from where he pulled them. The Ehrgiez gloves would need to be washed when they got back to the Ragnarok.

Now close to the stage, where the Galbadian national anthem was coming to a close, Zell looked around for Irvine, but couldn't see him anywhere. Irvine…don't do anything I would do… Zell thought to himself, remembering his outburst at the Timber TV station.

The anthem wound down to it's finale, and the crowd began to cheer and applaud as a group of men walk out from behind the stage and walked up onto it.

Looking up at the stage, Zell saw the group of men walk on. They all wore dark suits and black sunglasses, pressing their ear-pieces to their ears as they scanned the crowd for anybody charging up for a magical assault, or pulling a gun from a long coat or robe. They surrounded another man wearing a black formal suit and red tie like a swarm of mosquitos around a explorer. He had a pleasant face, with black hair with white at the temples, and looked very out-of-place in the huddle of security agents. That must be President Justice… Zell thought. He kinda looks like Gramps…

President Justice moved over to the microphone, pushing through the security detail flanking him, and gripped the mic, tapping it uncertainly. "This thing on?" he muttered into it, his voice rebounding around the fields and swarms of people coming in from the buffets. "It is? Okay…" He cleared his throat, and reached into his coat pocket, obviously looking for a speech prepared for him.

The crowd tittered nervously as the President of Galbadia frown and checked his other coat pocket, patting his pants pockets, before shrugging and smiling down at the masses. "Oh well…" he chuckled. "I guess I'll have to wing it, folks."

Zell found himself warming to the old man immediately. He was a mixture of Headmaster Cid, Laguna and his Gramps, all rolled into one. Serious to a tee, yet outgoing and warm. Not harsh and reclusive, like Deling.

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the very first Gaia Martial Arts Tournament!" He said, throwing his arms up in the air with a flourish. As if this was a signal, the crowd seemed to forget the massacre that had happened only minutes ago and applauded uproariously, the clapping and cheering deafening as President Justice smiled down at them.

"Although this is the very first tournament," he continued after the cheers died down, "I hope it wont be the last. We have gathered here some of the best fighters in the world, from all over Gaia, from the pleasant island of Balamb, to the vast lands of Galbadia, from the barren wastes of Esthar and Centra, to the icy depths of Trabia, all fighting for the title of the very best, and the chance to win twenty million Gil!!!"

At the mention of the money the crowd went nuts again, some stamping their feet and whistling, others jumping up and down with excitement. He smiled again, and Zell found himself clapping along with Selphie, who was jumping from foot to foot and whistling with the best. He raised his hands to quieten to crowd, and continued once more. "My announcer has just told me that the selection process has been done, and I will be given the names of them shortly. I must say, I was a little shocked when the idea was presented for the selection process, but we at Galbadia have a saying – 'if it's not done the hard way, then there's no other way!'. So without further ado…"

He looked to the left of the stage, where Biggs limped on, a white envelope in his bandaged hand. The crowd booed and hissed as he walked on, and he quickly handed the President the envelope before hobbling off as quickly as he could.

Opening the envelope, President Justice looked over the crowd. "Woo…feel that tension, ladies and gentlemen?" The laughter that he received generated another smile, and he pulled the list from the envelope. "The first contestant is…July Grimale! July, are you out there?"

There was a small scuffle at the end of the stage, and July burst out of the throng, panting as she took the steps two at a time, her white blouse and skirt changed for a pair of black pants and a red tank top. Brushing down her pants, she moved up to the stage and shook the Presidents hand. "Why the rush, miss?" he asked her, his voice just reaching the microphone.

"Just changed clothes, Mr. President. Didn't want to be late."

The President smiled. "We would have waited for someone as pretty as you. Now, if you could just stand over here…" He gestured for her to stand at the end of the stage and turned back to the microphone. "Now, for the next contestant…"

Zell heard a familiar clank behind him, and turned to see Irvine picking his way through the crowd. He watched as Irvine picked the guy he had collided with, apologising and trying to move on. When the guy, angry at having been pushed over so easily, placed a hand on Irvine's shoulder, Irvine swivelled on the spot, a Vincent Valentine in his hand and jammed in the guys chin as quick as greased lightening with Haste cast on it.

Zell flipped up and over the crowd, landing right behind Irvine and tapping him on the shoulder. "Come on, man. Not here."

Zell couldn't see Irvine's face, but then the handgun slipped back into its holster in Irvine's sleeve as quickly as it had greased out, and Irvine turned with a pleasant look on his face. "What? I was only kidding around."

Zell looked at him but didn't reply at first. "Come on. Selphie's over here."

They picked their way back to Selphie, who was looking intently at the procedures as Justice continued to call the names. Irvine moved up behind her and wrapped his arms around her tiny frame, which she collapsed into, looking up at him with a smile. "Where'd you disappear off to?" she asked over the booming of the microphone.

"Just needed to be alone for a few minutes, babe…that's all."

Zell watched as she shrugged and accepted the excuse easily, content that he wasn't hurt or in trouble, and snuggled into his grip.

Up in the stage, the President was struggling with a foreign name. "Hirouminous….Greyiulous?" he asked, looking out at the crowd with a 'help' expression in his wrinkled face.

Grey walked up the steps of stage slowly. He had also changed his clothes, now dressed in a black muscle shirt and black track-pants with army boots. He walked across the stage slowly, moving over to the President and shaking his hand formally. "It's Hirouminius Greyniminous…it's an Old World name. People usually call me Grey."

"Well…thank Hyne I didn't have your parents, otherwise everybody would just be calling me President all the time."

There was a small round of chuckles in the crowd, but Grey simply looked at the old man before moving to where July stood.

Justice shrugged and turned back to the crowd. "That makes contestant twenty…the next is a Zell Dincht…Zell, are you out there?"

Selphie and Irvine looked over to Zell. "Go on, man." Irvine muttered.

Zell nodded, before smirking and crouching down.

Launching from the spot, he tumbled through the air and landed on the stage next to the President perfectly, winking at the security detail surrounding the old man, the crowd gasping with surprise and awe. The guards looked at Zell with the evil eye, but the old man's eyes twinkled with joy. "Excellent, young man…I hope your head doesn't get too big for your hat, however."

Zell smiled down at the President. "I'm here to win, Mr. President…but who say we can't give the crowd a show as well? Besides, I'm not much of a hat kinda guy…"

The old man laughed out loud and patted Zell on the shoulder warmly. "I think you'll go far, young man." He pointed to the group of fighters huddling together at the back of the stage. "You can go over there now, and good luck! I hope to see you fight!"

"Thank you, sir." Zell said, before turning and joining July and Grey.

July could barely hold in her excitement. "Wow! The President of Galbadia! And he tried to hit on me! How exciting!!"

Grey rolled his eyes. He leant against a support pole. "Wonderful. Not only is he an idiot and a sadist, he's also a paedophile."

"No he's not!" July retorted passionately.

"You just said he was!"

"Oh come on!!" July turned to Zell. "What do you think about him, Zell?"

Zell turned and looked at President Justice with a critical eye. "He seems genuine…and he reminds me of my Grandpa…" He turned back to the two White SeeDs and shrugged. "I like him. I don't sense any bad juju on him, if that's what you mean."

"See!!" July stuck her tongue out at Grey, who rolled his eyes.

"Oh, grow up…"

Zell chuckled, and turned back to the announcements. President Justice was beginning to get excited. "And now I have the great pleasure to introduce the final fighters, from Galbadia itself! These four fighters have been training for almost a full year, and are ready to take on the rest of Gaia's champions. Will those men and women please come up on stage please?"

Four people, two men and two women, walked slowly from the audience and up the stage. They seemed to move as if they moved any faster, they might break something. The men were huge, and seemed to bulge out of their clothing. The women looked lean and tough. All had short hair, the girls longer then the men's. They all had cold eyes, and Zell narrowed his as they walked on. One of these guys is an assassin…Selphie, Irvine; I hope your watching this.

The group walked slowly towards the President, who stood beneath their towering forms confidently, as if he had nothing to worry about. "These are the men and women, ladies and gentlemen, who are the physical champions of Galbadia. Obviously, I shall be cheering for all of you, but even more for these four brave souls, and even more for my daughter, Clara Justice."

Zell watched in amazement as one of the girls walked over to the President and gave him a hug, which he returned equally lovingly. July snorted. "Suck up…" she muttered. Grey said nothing.

"Father…" The girl said quietly, looking down at the old man. "You must finish soon. The people have had enough excitement for one day."

"As usual, Clara, you are right." He replied, before turning back to the microphone. "Ladies and Gentlemen, that's is all from me. Let me conclude by saying, lets the Tournament begin!!"

Suddenly the sky went dark, as someone from behind the stage summoned a Dark GF. The GF flew high into the sky, and tiny rockets flew after it like remoras on a shark, before the GF and the rockets exploded brilliantly, lighting the darkened sky like lightening. Several other rockets went into the air, and exploded with great flashes of light and sound, making the crowd gasp in awe and amused amazement. The sky lit up with multifluouresant colours, and Zell swore he saw Diablo flying through the air, carrying several fiery streamers behind him.

He called out to his GF's mentally. Hey! Is Diablo here, or what?!

The dark voice replied sullenly. Yes, warrior, I am here. The…travesty you see in the sky would most probably be a projection. As you know, in this dimension, only one person can hold one GF. No one can summon the same GF at the same time if someone has him in his or her service.

Zell cocked an eyebrow in the fanfare. In this dimension?

He could sense the demon's contempt. There is more then one world then this one, Dincht. You, of all people, having experienced Time Compression, should know this.

Zell smirked. Whatever…

The President suddenly walked up to him. "Mr. Dincht? Hello?"

Zell shook his head and looked down at the President with muted surprise. "Oh! Sorry…I was talking to my GFs…I was just wondering if the Diablo up there was real, and it seemed to not be, then I found out about…stuff and…things…" his voice trailed off as he saw the look in the old mans eyes.

"I know about the side-effects of GF use, young man. Believe it or not, I used to be in the Galbadian army, and fought in the Sorceress war."

Zell's eyes widened. "Really!? But…you don't look sixty, sixty-five maximum! The Sorceress War was at least…a hundred years ago!!"

President Justice chuckled. "Yes, but it's amazing what the combinations of magic and cutting edge technology can do for you…" He smiled, before placing a hand on Zell shoulder. "Now, son, you wouldn't happen to be the grandson of Zellry Dincht, would you?"

"Yeah! He was my Grampa!!"

"Well, if you're any good at fighting as he was, then you should have no problem with some of the competitor in the tournament." He turned and waved his daughter over. "This is my daughter, Clara. She shall be competing alongside you."

True to his upbringing, Zell wiped his right hand on his slacks and held it out. "Zell Dincht, ma'am." He said formally.

The girl looked down at the hand, but didn't accept it. The President chuckled. "You'll have to excuse her, Zell. She has been training daily for the past year for this tournament, and her trainer has forced her to be a little less…social."

Zell dropped the hand and scratched the back of his neck. "To be truthful, I've also been training lots in the past few years."

Clara seemed to perk up. "What's your strategy?"

"Uhh…lose myself in the Training Centre, and not come out until I'm either too injured to continue, or until the breeders kick me out…which is when I go outside the Garden to train. Plus, Squall and Irvine helped a little…"

"What's it like, training in the Garden?"

"Well…it's a lot like fighting some of the bigger monsters…there's a few T-Rexaurs, and a lot of Grats…uh, there are some Granaldos, but they are pretty easy once you figure out how they attack…"

"So, in other words, nothing worthy of a good challenge."

The harshness of the way she said the words shocked Zell slightly, and the look she gave him was one of someone who had just lost interest completely in what you were saying. "Well…yeah…the Garden moves around a lot, so I was able to fight some better monsters…but for the daily exercises, that was about it…"

Clara snorted and moved back to the Galbadian group. President Justice looked slightly embarrassed, and waved his hands apologetically. "I'm sorry, Zell. She has been through some tough times…she just needs to warm up to you, that's all."

Zell let his upper body hang limp, defeated slightly. "Oh well. So much for first impressions…"

President Justice patted him on the back. "don't let it get to you. Tell you what. Why don't you come back to the Presidential Suite after tomorrows tournament, and we'll have dinner and catch up on some old times. I'd love to hear what Zellry did after he left the service."

Zell smiled and straightened. "I'd like that. Would it be ok if I asked some friends to come along?"

"Sure! The more the merrier! I may be old, but I'm with the times!"

Zell laughed at that one, and President Justice said his goodbyes and walked away, his phalanx of bodyguards forming the protective shield around him once more. Zell sighed and turned to see Grey standing right behind him, looking him straight in the eye.

"Getting friendly with the higher-ups, are we, Sorceress Hunter?" Grey asked coldly.

Zell smiled. "He knew my Grampa. He just wants to yak about old times, ya' know?."

"Yeah, well, tell you're new friend to watch his back a little more closely from now on. Sam isn't exactly happy to be missing an appendage. And we SeeDs would be so devastated if something would happen to the old man…especially since he'll be sitting on the sidelines…completely in the open…"

Zell narrowed his eyes, his smile melting away. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that a mis-judged magic bolt can do a lot more damage then you can think…especially if it's a Flare attack…"

With that, Grey turned and stepped off the stage, leaving Zell all alone.

He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, shaking his head in despair. Great. Now I have two assassination attempts to foil. Not to mention not getting my head caved in by those Galbadian brutes. How could it get any worse?

The dark voice rang deep in his mind. You could be impotent. That would just put the icing on the cake, you know.

"Ha, ha, Diablos." Zell muttered, before jumping off the stage to move to where Irvine and Selphie waited.

*          *            *

"Zell!"

Zell muttered something and rolled over. This dream wasn't a good one. He hated the ones when people yelled at him.

"Zell!!"

Zell rolled over again and muttered. "Mnm…go away…I don't wanna play today, Baku…"

"Zell Dincht!!" The person yelled for the third, and what sounded like the last time.

It penetrated the fog surrounding Zell's mind, and he opened his blood-shot eyes to see Selphie staring down at him, hands on his slim hips. "Hyne, Selphie…do you know what time it is?" he muttered, rubbing his face with a hand.

"Yes, as a matter of fact! Its exactly one hour before you have to compete! Remember, you and the guy from Esthar is first up!!"

Zell's eyes flew open. "What!?"

He jumped out of the bed quickly and began to pace around the room in his boxer shorts, suddenly oblivious to Selphie's presence yet babbling to her all the same. "One hour…but I haven't meditated yet…I haven't even had a shower…where are my gloves?! I need something to eat…I need more sleep…I don't wanna go out there…"

Selphie looked at the spectacle with wide-eyed shock – before bursting into peals of laughter. "If you were anybody else, I'd think you'd be worried!!" she said between giggles, but the chuckles died down as the tiny girl watched Zell walk into the bathroom and grip the basin with both hands for support, the metal basin creaking as Zell applied pressure with his massive strength. "You're not afraid…are you?" She asked the warrior quietly.

Zell looked at his reflection and sighed. "A little…you know me, Selphie. I'm always one to go out with a bang in the middle of a crowd…but fighting in front of all those people…" He lowered his head. "What if I screw up? What if I lose? What if I hurt someone in the audience?" He shook his head and looked at the mirror. "I'm telling you, Selph…I don't feel good about today. Not good at all."

Selphie walked up to him and rubbed his back soothingly. "Don't worry, Zell. You'll knock 'em dead, and the crowd will love you for it! All you got to do is do your best, ok?"

Zell nodded and looked up at her. "Yeah…yeah, you're right, Selphie." He stood up straight, then looked down at himself. "Would you excuse me? I need a shower."

Selphie smirked and crossed her arms. "Well, I thought I would stay for the show, ya' know?" She said sarcastically.

Zell grinned and turned around so his back was to her. "Okay…you say so." Dropping his boxers, he quickly jumped into the shower recess, but not before a horrified Selphie got a good look at his behind. He laughed out loud as she ran, shrieking for Irvine, out of the room, the door sliding shut behind her.

*          *            *

The day he had been waiting for.

Him and an Esthar fighter had been slotted into round number one.  Numero uno. Right off the bat. Starting the show.

The fighting arena had still not been unveiled, but wherever it was, it was going to be a good one.

Zell, now fully awake and ready to fight, walked out of his quarters whilst pulling on his gloves. Selphie and Irvine were waiting for him.

Irvine stepped forward. "You mooned Selphie?" He reached up and smacked Zell across the chops with an open hand, grinning. "Bad monkey."

Zell returned the smile and moved over to Selphie. "See anything you like?" he giggled.

Selphie looked down at her shoes shyly – before turning and lifting the short skirt of her yellow dress, mooning the both of them. She then took off in a run down the hall, giggling hysterically.

Zell and Irvine stood dumbfounded, before Irvine took off after her. "Those were white panties!!" He yelled after her. "I wanna see them again!!"

Zell shook his head and jogged after them.

*          *            *

When they reached the lake, where they had been told to meet, Zell saw the White SeeDs, and waved. July waved back, as did Sam, who was in a wheelchair. Grey was nowhere to be seen.

Zell left Irvine and Selphie to their chase and walked over to the White SeeDs, crouching next to Sam. "How y' feel, man?" He asked the crippled fighter.

"Like a bird with clipped wings – I feel like I can still fly, but it seems like I'm gonna be grounded for a while."

"Too bad, dude." Zell patted him on the back and looked at July. "So, you're the one taking his place?"

July nodded sadly. "Yeah. An official hunted us down and told us that both of the White SeeD fighters had been chosen, but since Sam has been taken out of the fight, I had to take his place." She shrugged. "It's no big deal. I've been training as much as the boys have. The only difference being that I've been concentrating on magic more then the actual fighting aspect."

"You worried? The first round doesn't allow magic of any kind."

She waved the remark off. "Nah." She pointed to a guy in the crowd. "See that guy? Some Centraian nobody, looks like he just managed to survive the selection process by hiding. He's my competitor."

Zell looked the guy up and down. He seemed to be trembling, and was sweating bullets', looking around him at all the professional fighters surrounding him. His muscle structure wasn't anything to be desired either – it looked like he was some punk off the street thinking his street-fighting would be enough to get him through a few rounds, if luck was on his side. Unfortunately, it seemed he didn't figure on being paired with a SeeD right from the mark, and was beginning to have second thoughts.

Zell turned back to July. "Go easy on the poor bugger, will ya? Don't want to humiliate him."

"The only person humiliated in this fight will be me, if he actually scores a hit on me."

Zell smirked at that and said his goodbyes and good lucks, moving through the crowd of fighters, looking for his competitor, an Esthar man by the name of Gretin Chan.

He found the man standing in a group of Estharians, talking quietly about the strangeness and difference of this green lands compared to the shiny homeland. The man was dressed in the usual long robes of Esthar, and didn't seem to be wearing any kind of protection on his hands. Zell absently realised that they were discussing some of the language differences from all the different countries, and several Estharians were awkwardly using some of the different slang of the different countries.

Zell tapped one on the shoulder, and the man turned curtly, looking down at the shorter Zell. "Uh…Gretin Chan?" Zell asked, looking up at the 6'1" man.

"Ah…you must be Zell Dincht." The man said, his voice cool and smooth, like velvet. He was pretty handsome, black hair slicked back from a cool face. "I've been searching for you. As the Galbadians say, 'Where you been, partner'?"

Zell shrugged and smiled. "Oh, you know, the celebrations…had a late night last night, needed to catch up on some sleep…" The joke went straight over the Estharian's head, and Zell doubled back. "Uh…I just wanted to say good luck, buddy, and I hope that we have a fair fight." He wiped the palm of his right hand on his shorts and held it out, which the Estharian took smoothly.

"I accept your luck, Mr. Dincht, and give you my own. I hope the fight will be an entertaining one for the audience." The smile that he gave Zell seemed genuine enough, and Zell returned it fully.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"As you Balmb people say…'go for it'."

"Are you going to be fighting in those long robes? I'd think they'd be a little constricting…"

Chan smiled. "Unlike the people in the west, we Easterners have different ways of training." He lifted a fold of the robe, which shimmered in the morning light, and held it out for Zell to grab. "Here, try to lift this."

Zell grabbed the fold – and caught his hand as it plummeted toward the ground, the heaviness of the robe taking him by surprise. "You wear weighted clothing…" Zell muttered to himself. "Interesting…"

"Yes…" Chan said, taking the fold back. "We wear these robes every day, prolonging the training experience. If I take them off, my strength and speed shall double, unrestricted by the weights."

Zell whistled. "Wow…that's a neat way to train. I'll have to use it sometime. Well, it was nice meeting you, Gretin. I'll see you at the ring."

The Estharian nodded. "Wherever the ring is…" He muttered, before turning back to his countrymen.

Zell nodded, turning away from the Estharian. Wherever the ring is… Where the hell was the ring? The only things in the field, beside the lake, were a few buffets and the seating for the audience.

Suddenly there was a growling sound, and Zell felt his stomach do another flip. He was hungry. Really hungry.

Gravitating to the closest buffet, he grabbed a plate and began to load food upon it. Pies, sandwiches, hotdogs, pasta, oranges, apples, those little folds of ham. The man serving the food looked at Zell as if he was out of his mind. Several people saw how fast he was going through the buffet and decided to move onto the next one, where there would be more food.

When he was finally finished – three plates full – he moved over to a table, delicately balancing the plates in his hands. Placing them down gently, he sat down and began to chow.

He was halfway through the first plate when he heard someone sit down next to him, and looked over the mound of food he had accumulated to see July, her own plate simply holding two sandwiches and a small serving of pasta.

"Good food, huh?" Zell said with a full mouth, cramming a ham-and-cheese sandwich into his mouth, not bothering to chew.

"Do you always eat this much before a fight?" July asked, slightly shell-shocked as she bit into her own sandwich.

"Oh, yeah! I can't fight without a full stomach!!" He looked at her as if she was the one who was crazy. "How else do you make you're body move?"

July shrugged. "Well, most of my fighting is run on adrenaline. So I usually don't eat that much. Upsets my stomach."

Zell scoffed her words and shook his head, stuffing two pork buns and a small pie into his mouth. He chewed quickly, his jaws moving like pistons, before swallowing the whole mixture as quickly as he could. Pushing plate number one aside, he pulled the second plate over.

Selphie and Irvine suddenly sat down next to Zell, the both of them giggling insanely. Zell swallowed what he had been chewing and gestured to them with a half-eaten hotdog. "July; Selphie and Irvine. Irvine, Selphie; July."

Selphie held out her hand, smiling. "Hi! How are you?"

July shook the hand evenly. "I'm fine, thank you."

Irvine tipped his hat to July in a gesture of hello, then turned to Selphie. "Do you want anything?"

"Just a soda, thanks."

Zell gasped down a mouthful of food. "Get me some too!!"

Irvine stood, smiled at the girls, and walked over to the drinks stand.

July leaned in close to Selphie, eyes wide. "Are you guys…you know, them? The Sorceress Hero's?"

Selphie giggled, before nodding curtly. July simply looked at her, her mouth wide open. "What are three Sorceress Heros doing here?"

Selphie shrugged. "Well, I'm Zell's healer and pilot, and Irvine is the bodyguard." The three Balamb SeeDs had converged before leaving, and had worked out a withstanding alibi. If news went out that they were there to stop an assassination, things would get even worse to handle. Zell had wanted to keep a low profile.

July narrowed her blue eyes, not buying it. "Come on. Three high-powered SeeDs, all coming to a major event like this at the same time? What's going on?"

Selphie smiled, but cocked an eyebrow to Zell, who smiled. "July is a White SeeD, and is quite cautious because of it."

That caused Selphie's jaw to drop, and she turned to July. "You live with Ellone, right? How is she? I haven't seen her in ages!!"

July was a bit confused at the turn of questioning. "Hang on…"

"Is she ok? Is Zone still over there? There was a really cool guy there last time I was there…Grey! Is he here too?! Ooo, this is exciting!! Living on the ocean, how romantic!!"

July looked slightly worried, and looked over to Zell for help. He simply smirked and tossed the last bit of food from his mound up in the air, catching it in his mouth and swallowing in one motion, before standing. "You guys seem to be hitting it off. I'll leave you to it."

He walked over to the drinks stands, grinning. July would be caught up in Selphie's inane babble at least until her fight – and by then she would have forgotten why they were there. He walked over to Irvine, who was just getting the drinks.

"7 Gil, thank you." The pretty soda seller said.

Irvine reached into his back pocket for his wallet, at pulled out a ten Gil note, grabbing the sodas. "Keep the change." He said to the girl with a wink, who giggled and ran the money through.

He turned to see Zell smirking behind him. "What?" He asked innocently as they walked away from the stand, Irvine tossing Zell his two sodas.

"The last I saw, these sodas were ten Gil a piece."

Irvine shrugged. "Ahhh…the benefits of being handsome and the ability to charm women, my friend…good attributes to have."

Zell laughed at that, before a call came out over the intercom rigged around the eating stands.

Could Zell Dincht and Gretin Chan please make their way to the podium in front of the lake. Their fight is about to begin.

Zell looked at Irvine. "Well. It's time." Cracking both tops of the sodas, he slammed them down in one gulp simultaneously before crushing them with his hands, the flimsy metal folding effortlessly under the brutal strength. "If I don't come back, avenge my death." He joked, tossing the two crushed cans into a bin, before turning and running for the lake.

*          *            *

When he got there, he looked around a little nervously. Gretin was already there, his long heavy robes fluttering slightly in the breeze, but the podium was facing away into the lake, as if the person speaking would be addressing the lake itself. Also, the seating had been arranged about ten meters from the lake's edge, surrounding the entire lake. The Estharian turned to Zell and smiled. "Hello, Mr. Dincht. I hope that amount of food you just ate hasn't had any effect on you're speed."

Zell smirked, shifting his weight from foot to foot, his fists pumping as he took a couple of test swings at the air. "If anything, dude, it's made me faster!!"

"That is good to hear. I do not wish to have an unfair advantage on you."

There was a fanfare from the intercom system, an attention grabbing tune emitting from the speakers set up all over the field, before a voice called out.

The first fight is about to begin. Would all spectators please move to you're seat number, thankyou.

"Here we go, dude." Zell said, still hopping from foot to foot. "You nervous?"

Chan smiled. "I am not made of stone, Mr. Dincht. I do have emotions." He turned to the lake. "To answer you're question, yes, I am slightly nervous. I have never fought in a competition as big as this one. The only thing I wish is for the fighting to be fair…unlike the selection process."

Zell smiled, and stopped moving. "Well, I'll try to fight to the best of my abilities."

The Estharian turned and smiled once more. "I'm sure you will, Mr. Dincht."

The spectators were almost seated now, and the roar of conversation was almost deafening as people began to get impatient. The mass of people cold have numbered in the thousands, if Zell had been bothered to try and count – but he was too busy trying to quell the Gayla casting Blizzard in his stomach.

The President's car drove up from Deling, and he hopped out, his human shield moving with him as he crossed the eating part of the field to get to the podium. When he finally reached the podium, the security detail suddenly peeled off, moving around the lake at regular intervals. What's going on? Zell thought to himself.

President Justice moved over to the two fighters and placed a hand on their shoulders. "I hope you two have a good fight, and I'm sure you'll get a kick out of the ring!!"

Zell cocked an eyebrow at the mysterious glint in the old man's eyes, but nodded all the same. "Thank you sir."

Chan also nodded. "Thank you, Mr. President."

Justice smiled, before moving to the podium and turning on the microphone. "Ladies and Gentlemen, if I could have your attention please." The crowd quietened down a bit, and he continued. "Since this is the first in only two ring battles, the designers of the rings decided to make it as captivating as possible. Through diligent work, their masterpiece shall hopefully not go unrewarded by you, the audience. Gentlemen, if you please."

He gestured to the men surrounding the lake, who crouched down as one. Zell senses an enormous amount of energy suddenly flow through the area, and gasped at what he saw.

Massive amounts of wind blew tiny droplets from the lake's glassy surface, making ripples in the usually calm waters, as the men drew and focused their magical energy.

Something moved underneath the surface. Something large and wide. It was like they were ripping the bottom of the lake out from under the water.

The ground shook as the men suddenly yelled, the massive flux of energy suddenly released, causing the large thing to shoot out from under the water.

"You gotta be kidding me…" Zell gasped as he watched the ring emerge from the water in a spectacular display, the big square slate spinning up high in the air, water raining down from the edges.

The crowd gasped as one as it began to plummet to the ground – before it stopped just a few feet from the lake's surface. They stared at the massive ring for a few seconds – before erupting in applause, their feets stamping, yelling and screaming in approval of the fancy show.

Zell scratched the back of his neck in amusement. "Well, you know how to put on a good show." He said to the President, who stepped off the podium and walked towards the two fighters.

"Spectacular…" Chan gasped, his cool demeanour lost as he looked at the massive limestone slate levitating over the water's edge. "The men who lifted this must have massive magical proportions!"

"Well…the rest of the show is up to you guys, now." The President said, smiling. "Up you go."

Zell and Chan looked at each other, and nodded. They both walked up to the edge of the stage, jumping on easily. The crowd went wild as they saw the fighters move to the centre of the ring, yelling and whistling as they raised their hands in welcome.

The whole ring was about the same size as the lake, which was pretty big in it's own right. Zell estimated it to be a good thirty by thirty meters – which gave plenty of room to battle. Small pools of water sat in certain areas of the ring, and the occasional fish was jumping and gulping for oxygen-rich water as opposed to the rude lifting. Zell smiled softly as he watched Chan walk to each and every fish, picking them up and tossing the back into the water.

Zell looked around the crowd, looking for familiar faces. He saw the panel of judges sitting a few meters from the lake-side, hiding behind magic measuring equipment an recording devices. Presdient Justice sat a few feet behind them, flanked by his security detail. Zell smiled as he saw Selphie and Irvine whistling and shouting encouragement, and waved to them. Suddenly the whole stand around them erupted in cheers, and Zell put his hand down meekly as the yells washed over him.

Ladies and Gentlemen, introducing the Estharian Gretin Chan, and the Balamb SeeD Zell Dincht! The loudspeaker boomed, the fighters waving to the crowd once more, before turning towards each other.

Zell began to loosen up, touching his toes before stretching his hamstrings. "I'm not going to go easy on you. You'd better loosen up."

The Estharian simply stood, watching Zell. "I am loose enough, Mr. Dincht."

"Oh well. You're funeral."

The rules are simple, folks. If someone gives up, gets knocked out of the ring, or dies, then the fight is over and the survivor gets to go onto the next round. Magic and GFs are not allowed, although a fighter may call upon a healer once in the match if he wishes. The fight may go on as long as it has to, but point will be deducted from the overall score the more time it goes on. With that over, fighters, you may begin when ready!!

Zell stood and tightened his Ehrgiez gloves, before taking his position. "Ready, dude?"

The Estharian took a long pose, his draping robes still concealing half his body. "As you say in Balamb; 'Whenever you are.'"

*          *            *

The crowd gasped as Zell took off at in a run, barrelling into the Estharian, lifting the taller fighter off the ground and slamming him back into the ground brutally.

A commentator's voice rang out over the intercom, echoing around the makeshift stadium as the fight got underway. Zell Dincht gets this fight up and running by picking up Chan like a rag doll and driving him into the ground like a football player with a vicious tackle!!

Zell lifted himself up off his opponent to take a swing, but a fist glanced off his temple, knocking him back, and he fell backwards onto his back. He rolled with the fall, coming up onto his feet – to meet a spinning kick to the face, smashing him back across the ring.

Ooo, a good kick from Chan! Zell didn't see that one coming!

The crowd's cheers reached a crescendo as Zell spat out some blood as he stagger to his feet, their screams at the sight of blood making his boil. The Estharian moved forward wearily, stepping in close to deliver a punch to Zells kidneys, before smashing a knee into his chin, knocking him back once more. Zell landed on his back, and the Estharian straddled him, his fists smashing into Zell's face, each punch making a flat thump as knuckles met flesh.

Ooo, it looks like the SeeD is in trouble! Chan just seems to be using Zell's head as a punching bag! How long can Zell withstand this kind of punishment?!

His arms pinned, Zell took a few blows, before raising the Estarian up and over his head with a supreme effort, and tossed him away, sending him tumbling over to the other side of the ring.

Wow! Zell fights back at last! The Estharian is looking a little more then surprised, folks!!

Flipping to his feet, he tested his jaw. It was a little sore, and he was bleeding freely from a split lip, but apart from that it didn't seem any more worse for wear. He felt something tumbling in his mouth, and spat a tooth into his open hand.

Is that…I think its…yes! Zell Dincht had lost a tooth, Ladies and Gentlemen! That's gotta hurt!!

The crowd cheered even more as he looked down at the tooth. Ow… he thought. I think I'd better keep this for later. He narrowed his eyes, looking from the corner of his sight as Chan got to his feet.

He gingerly put the tooth into one the pockets on his shorts…and span suddenly, smashing a fist into Chan's stomach, before brutally head-butting the Estharian and kicking him away with a door-opening stomp to the chest.

Wow! Even I didn't see that coming, folks!!

Chan span on the ground, pushing away with his hands to flip up and land on his feet, following through with the attack. He stood a little shakily, and Zell took the opportunity to wade into him, smashing his head around with some well-timed punches and jabs, his attacks barely defended as the woozy Estharian staggered back with each blow. Zell's ears were filled with the rush of his blood and the sounds of the crowd, the cheers, the screams, the yells for blood. He seemed to take a seat outside of his body, watching as a punch smashed Chan's head back, a spray of blood and sweat throwing itself free from his face.

Chan is being pummelled relentlessly by Zell, who seems to be gathering the upper hand right now!! What will Chan do?

Chan finally defended himself, knocking aside a fist and pummelling him palm into Zell's chest, the blow sending the SeeD skidding back.

Ooo, nice move!!

The two fighters assessed each other, looking at each other from across the ring. Zell's face felt like it had been smashed with a two-by-four, and his kidneys shouldn't have been aching as they were. The Estharian, Zell saw, was barely able to stand under his own weight, and his own face had been rearranged from smooth, handsome features to a mishmash of blood and tenderised flesh.

Zell smiled, running his tongue along his remaining teeth. "How you feeling, Chan?" he yelled over the sounds of the crowd.

"I'm feeling a little heavy…" the Estharian replied, and began to lift the long robes off his body.

What's this? What is the Estharian doing, folks?

Zell watched, amazed, as Chan finally lifted the heavy clothing off his body and bundled it together. "Ahhh…" Chan sighed. "That's better." He lifted the clothing up and threw it over his shoulder and out of the ring, where it smashed into the lakeside, making a little furrow in the ground as it skidded to a halt.

Wow!! Chan has been using weighted clothing during the fight, folks! Zell will have his work cut out for him now!!!

Zell narrowed his eyes, and took his position. Even without the clothing, Zell sensed that Chan was still not strong enough to defeat him…but the margin of defeat was slim. And slim wasn't good in this kind of battle.

Chan's clothing underneath the robes consisted of a pair of pants and boots, no shirt. He flexed his torso muscles, to the delight of the female portion of the audience, and let out a long breathe. "You will be defeated now, Zell." Chan said, addressing him by Zell's first name for the first time. "I must say, you are very powerful to make me not use my weights in a battle. It is rare when I do not use the in this kind of situation."

"Well, I feel privileged, believe me."

A trading of words between the fighter, folks. These guys are old school, using jibes and verbal tact to confuse and intimidate their opponent!

Chan smiled, before taking off in a run, sprinting towards Zell with unbelievable speed.

Zell barely had time to defend himself, holding his arms out and arresting the Estharian's pace almost immediately by slamming his palms into his shoulders…before he began to skid back, the momentum that the Estharian had built running across the large ring causing Zell to vainly dig his sneakers into the smooth ground.

Whoa! Chan's speed and streangth has increased at least four times ladiesd and gentlemn! Zell is trying desperately to not get knocked of the ring, but will he succeed?!

Digging his fingers into the flesh of Chan's shoulders, Zell fell backward, pushing Chan's chest up with his feet, launching him up in the air. Quickly rolling backward with the launch and moving into the Estharian's trajectory, Zell jumped and roundhouse kicked Chan in mid air, sending him flying backward and tumbling down to bounce on the ring's floor.

Whoa!! I don't know about you, ladies and gentlemen, but these guys are seriously beginning to rip it up!!

Zell sprinted to the Estharina, who picked himself up effortlessly – and rocketed himself into the Estharian, his leg extended for the perfect jump kick.

Unfortunately for Zell, the Estharian's reflexes has been sharpened by the unrestrictive ness of the clothing as well. Zell's foot came to within an inch of connecting with Chan's head – before he grabbed the foot and swung Zell around and around like a rag doll, before finally letting go and allowing Zell to crash to the ring floor face first.

Ooo, bad move by Zell. Overestimating his opponent's reflexes. That's gotta really hurt, folks!

Zell bounced a few times before he skidded to a stop, the crowd's cheers echoing in his ears, and he painfully pulled himself to his hands and knees. He could sense the Estharian walking up behind him. "Are you ready to give up?" Chan asked politely.

Zell could feel the power welling inside him, his Limit almost at Breaking point – but it needed that extra boost. Put on a show – you need to keep battling until you gather enough energy to launch the Limit Break. If you use the energy now, it wont be powerful enough to get him.

Zell smashed his fist into the ring's floor, crushing the stone underneath. "Never!!!" he screamed, stepping up onto his feet and launching himself up into the air, coming down onto the Estharian with both feet, his sneakers blowing into Chan's unprotected chest.

It was like taking off from a meat platform – Zell launched himself off the Estharian's bare chest, back flipping through the air to land on the balls of his feet. The Estharian was knocked a little off-balance, staggering back from the powerful attack.

Wow! Zell fights back with a vigour we haven't seen the SeeD show yet! This guy has willpower, folks, and I don't wanna be Chan right about now!!

Zell rushed forward, screaming like a wild man, and threw a punch, which Chan dodged, and another that he didn't. The uppercut knocked Chan's head back, but instead of falling down or crying out, he followed through, flipping onto his hands and kicking Zell on the chin. Zell fell down onto his back, his chin burning like fire, but he fought through the pain and rolled over just as a black clad knee smashed into where his head used to be.

Ooo, excellent evade by Zell!

Zell swung his legs around like a break-dancer, tripping Chan over. Zell took this opportunity to run away, rolling away until he had a chance to get to his feet.

I never expected it to be this hard… He thought to himself. I can't wait any longer. I got to finish this off right now!!

Setting his legs to shoulder width, his arms bent to right-angels, every muscle in his body burning with natural energy, he threw his head back and screamed, allowing the power to overwhelm him, envelope him, overtake him. Chan took a step back as the wave of spiritual energy washed over him, the sheer wattage of power making the floating ring shake.

What's this? Is the SeeD trying to use magic, ladies and gentlemen? If he is, then this fight is over, cause he will be immediately disqualified!!

On the side of the lake the panel of judges looked down at the magic measurers before them. "What's going on?!" One cried out. "He's giving off an huge amount of spiritual energy, but it's not registering on the charts! What gives?!"

President Justice walked over to the panel of judges. "He is using what the SeeDs call, a Limit Break, where a person, having been damaged a certain amount, is able to tap into an enormous amount of power from within themselves. Technically, it isn't magic – simply the human body's natural way to defend itself."

Wait…yes…I see…yes, well, people,. It seems that Zell is using his infamous Limit Break, which isn't actually magic derived, even if it uses magic to power itself!! This is going to get ugly, folks!! The commentator cried into his microphone as the very box in which he sat began to shake and rattle.

His words were drowned out mostly by the crowd, however, who were cheering and screaming for more. He span to see Zell bathed in red light, his screams reaching a crescendo of sound as a large shockwave blasted from him, the pure energy radiating from him knocking every standing person over, and rocking the grandstands like they were made of matchsticks.

When Zell regained enough control, the first thing he did was look at his opponent, through a haze of red. His stare pieced straight through the Estharian's cool demeanour, and Zell saw, with almost no emotion whatsoever, that he was scared.

This excited Zell, for some sick reason, but he didn't dwell on the feeling. He simply set his stance, like a long distance runner, and screamed the words "Meteor Barret!!"

What the hell? 'Meteor Barret'?! What the hell is that?!

One moment, he was standing a few meters from the Estharian – the next he was in his face, his fist buried deep in Chan's stomach, a small hump appearing in the Estharian's back from all the organs and bones squashed deep together. Chen could do nothing except gag, a cloud of blood emitting from his mouth and spraying Zell in his stone-cold face – before the laws of physics caught up with the speed Zell had shown, and launched Chan from the ring at astounding speed.

WHOA!! I've been commentating for a good twenty-five years, folks, and I've never seen such an amazing show of strength and speed in all my life! Just look at Chan fly!

The fighter flew through the air like a stunt man blown out of a cannon, and smashed straight into the lake-side, his body skipping and bounced along the ground as if he was a simple rock tossed across a lake.

Well, folks, that's about it for this fight. Zell Dincht is the winner!! Although, he seems to be having a little trouble…

Zell, the amount of energy coursing through his body not yet fully released, tried to desperately force it back down, back to the depths of his soul from where it came from. The power crackled around him as blue electricity as he bent his head and grunted, balling his fists to bone-breaking proportions, willing the power to subside…and dissipate.

Hes…no, wait, never mind, folks. He's just trying to control the power, that's all.

He needed to gulp air, sucking it in greedily as if he could never have enough, and fell to his knees as his injuries overwhelmed him. His fell to his hands and knees, his breathing becoming even more shallow as the massive quantitys of power began to slowly drain from his body, his hyperventilations causing the progress to move more slowly.

He was beginning to go into Limit arrest, where a person who draws massive amount of energy only uses a tiny portion, then tried to simply push the rest away. It was like asking a Red-Dragon to kill a puppy, then telling the Dragon to go back into it's cage. Nigh to impossible to do, and even more rare to overcome by yourself.

He fell to his side and began to twitch, the energy that was subsiding suddenly flaring up once more, blasting huge chunks from the stadium and the ring. Blue electricity laced from his body, making almost every electronic piece of equipment explode in massive showers of light. Amazingly, the pain subsided, and Zell found himself able to think clearly, calmly, as if the Limit Arrest wasn't even happening.

Whoa! WHOA!! Ladies and gentleman, if you have any electronic equipment of any kind on your person I'd advise you to throw it away! The power flux is destroying any electrical equi – The commentator's box suddenly exploded, the power lacing through all the equipment inside it destroying it utterly.

Zell could only yell at himself in his mind. Stupid! I should have used the Limit Break earlier! I over-estimated his strength to colossal proportions! Idiot! Idiot! Idiot!

All he could do was lie there; berating himself as his body tried to spend all the energy he had foolishly built up, the power lashing out without warning. Zell was almost about to give up and try to close his eyes, and allow the Limit Arrest to run it's full course, when he felt a presence beside him.

Through sheer will-power, Zell turned his twitching head to see Selphie standing beside him, her unique Barrier spell surrounding her, shielding her from the massive quantities of power that was lacing from Zell's body. She must have jumped, all the way from the stands, to the ring.

She knelt beside him, shaking her head sadly, placing her hands on his trembling body. Almost immediately, Zell's spasms subsided as Selphie drew the power from him and leeched into herself, her tiny body much more able to withstand the power levels then Zell's. She was, after all, the third powerful magic user in all of Gaia.

Her curly hair stood on it's ends as the energy was sucked from Zell into her, and finally she let go of him, falling onto her back, exhausted by the tapping of such raw energy.

Zell rolled onto his back beside her, his hyperventilations slowing to simply heavy breathing, and managed to creak his neck to look at her. "Are…are you…ok, Selph?" he managed to croak.

Her breathes were as equally heavy as his, but she managed to force one of her famous smiles. "I've…been better…Zell…"

"That…that makes…two of us…"

And with those words, Zell passed out, glad to let relief and pain wash over him like old friends invited in from a storm.