This is the fifth match of round 1, between famed Final Fantasy VIII introvert Squall Leonhart and S.T.A.R.S. member Jill Valentine. Furious J wrote the prep, Sir Bormun wrote the match, and StopPokingMe wrote the aftermath.

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Preshow

Squall lied on the bench in his locker room. A lot was going through his mind, when his world had been destroyed and he ended up in Traverse Town, he had been quick to start a new life, with new friends, and a new name. He thought about his friends from the Garden; Zell, Irvine, Quistis, Selphie, Rinoa... Those that had been returned to him not long after the young boy, Sora, had defeated the Heartless. And now he'd left them again… For this little tourney, this chance to show his merit. Was it worth it, in the end?

"Still brooding to yourself, Squall?" a cheerful Aeris said. "You missed a spectacular battle at the arena."

"It's not my fault they waited until right before this to start. I had to get ready for my match. Who won, anyway?"

"Oh, the wizard… Magus I think his name was. You should have come by to watch him! You might have to fight him you know..."

"Whatever."

"Squall, what were you thinking about?"

"None of your business."

"Come on Squall, I'm your friend."

"I've heard that one before."

"Ugggh!!! You're impossible." Aeris said as she stormed out.

But the more Squall thought about it the more he realized he did need help. In every situation where he had tried to go it alone, he had failed. He would need the help of his friends… Just like he always had.

"They're not my friends!" Squall yelled to no one, "My friends are gone… I'm here by myself! Just like I always used to be!"

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Jill, on the other hand, was quite calm. She simply checked over all her weapons, went through her plans for the match, made sure her tube top was on tight… She didn't want to relive that embarrassing moment. After all that time in Racoon City, fighting off hordes of undead zombies, it would be nice to have a good duel. Although, there had been some pretty nasty duels already… That monkey had gotten totaled, and it had looked like that Magus one had had to try to spare that NSA Agent.

"I know how you must be feeling," a deep masculine voice, belonging to Duke Nukem said.

"WHAT!?!? HOW DID YOU GET IN HERE!!!" screamed Jill.

"All these sinister villains, so much danger," Duke continued.

"This is the women's locker room, idiot!!!"

"What's important to remember, is the good things, like love."

"Oh...My...God...did you see me naked????????"

"I just wanted to let you know, that I understand you and I'm here for you."

"If you don't get out of here in 5 seconds... I-I can't be held responsible for what I'm gonna do to you."

"So, if you're ever feeling scared or lonely, you know where to find me." There was a loud click that sounded remarkably similar to the loading of an AK-47. "But, I have to go now, stay safe." Duke Nukem said as he walked out of the locker room.

"I swear to god, he'll pay for this!" Jill said through clenched teeth. Suddenly, as she seethed at the intrusion of the tactless Duke, her attention was drawn to the clock. "Oh great… It's already time for my match."

The Battle

The way Jill Valentine saw it; it was just one more battle against a zombie.

In her work with S.T.A.R.S., she had faced much more powerful foes than Squall Leonhart, and had defeated them all. Some of the zombies had even had more of a personality than the stoic, wordless, SeeD.

So she wasn't worried when she took out her pistol from its holster, and examined it, ready to fire a round of it at Squall when the gong sounded. But she should have been, because Squall had a weapon that set him apart from all the zombies. Zombies were simply mindless, practically dead, drones… They couldn't coordinate a plan to take out an esteemed opponent… All they could do his lurch around, and lunge at whatever humans were near… And then usually got taken out in short order when they found that human they were accosting had a gun.

But despite Squall's temperament… He was no zombie. He had been trained to plan out every fight he started before it happened, and today, everything was in order. He had obviously been heeding his training today, because inside Squall's mind, a final conversation was taking place.

Lionheart.

The words, and the following conversation, were not spoken aloud. However, Squall did not need to hear them... The telepathic link that developed between a Guardian Force and anyone who junctions it is enough that the spoken word is not necessary.

Squall had tried very hard over the course of the competition to keep this weapon of his secret. He knew that having something that others wouldn't anticipate would be his key to getting past at least his first opponent, and maybe even more... He didn't want to lose again so early, like he had last year.

Squall was fiercely competitive. He never wanted to lose to anyone... It was just in his nature. So he was determined to keep a leg up on anyone... And keeping his hidden weapon, his Guardian Force Bahamut, was what he felt would get him the win. After all, who would expect a giant dragon to come swooping out of the sky at the last minute, and flare them all over with its magic? It certainly wasn't something many would expect from the very cut-and-dry personality Squall appeared to have.

So he was smirking when he faced Jill Valentine... Even when Jill drew her pistol, and smiled at him. She'd never been all that bad at one liners, and this seemed like the perfect place for one.

"Sorry, Squall...You're a good guy. But you're going to lose just like last time."

A spilt second after the gong sounded, signaling the beginning of the match, Jill fired one bullet, straight at Squall's head. The gunblade specialist ducked, with his reflexes perfectly honed from large amounts of training over this month. Another bullet from Jill's gun missed Squall's foot when Squall jumped up, and a roll to the side caused the remainder of Jill's round to miss.

The smile was gone from Jill's face now. She had fired a full round at the gunblade specialist... And they had all missed. How had he done this? Was he psychic or something?

With that guess, Jill wasn't too far off. The guardian force in Squall's head had been enabling Squall with abilities of anticipation far beyond what a normal human had... It was just another perk of the GF system.

Squall decided that he was done defending. Picking up his gunblade with his right hand, holding it low, the SeeD lunged at the mildly shocked Jill Valentine.

Jill barely had time to dodge. She was about reload her pistol for another go at Squall, and was very caught off guard by Squall's lunge.

How did he know I was out of bullets? She thought. Jill was starting to worry. This wasn't as easy as she had thought.

Squall wasn't just another zombie.

Squall landed on his feet, even though he had missed his target. But once again, he was in trouble. Jill finished reloading her pistol, and was triumphantly pointing it at Squall's head. She placed her finger on the trigger, and was in for the shock of her life... Literally.

A huge blast of lightning hit Jill's hand, spreading electricity through her whole body. She slumped to the ground, and barely dodged another lunge by Squall in her direction.

Jill had dropped her pistol, but she knew that picking it up would prove futile. The lightning had probably thrown it all out of whack, and it was impossible that it would work now. There was a chance that even trying to use the obviously fried weaponry would electrify her further.

But she still had one weapon left. This weapon had saved her, once, in that mansion outside Raccoon City... And she hoped it could save her again.

Jill drew her bazooka, and pointed it straight at Squall.

She fired.

Flame burst out of the end of her weapon, as Squall backed away at a run... He had an inkling of what was coming. But even with Squall's enhanced instincts, it had been too late. He had avoided bad burns, but the end of the flames still reached his face, exposing his face to extreme heat.

Luckily for him, the actual fire never actually touched his face... But high temperature is as effective a burner as flame. Squall was in pain, and he couldn't fight on by himself. His left hand was immediately drawn to his badly reddened face. In fact, only years of keeping pain bottled up inside of him stopped him from screaming out in anguish.

But he had one last card to play. In his training, Squall had been taught never to go without one of the almighty guardian forces He summoned Bahamut.

The huge dragon came out of nowhere. It flapped its scaly wings at the S.T.A.R.S. gunfighter, who was still staring in shock. It was all too late once she realized that she was about to be hit with fire of her own, and ran full tilt away from the dragon.

Jill couldn't run forever... She hit the end of the arena, and there was nowhere to go. The summoned dragon that had been slowly flying after her opened its mouth, and out gushed very strong flame that hit Jill's legs. It blackened her legs on contact, and she was extremely lucky that the flame was somehow stopped before it reached much of her torso and face. Squall wasn't totally heartless. He would rather not kill a noble opponent, if it were possible.

But even though the flame stayed at her legs… It was pain she had never felt before. Even blows from zombies, or even the occasional gunshot was nothing compared to the red-hot fire pouring out of the Guardian Force.  But mercifully, it only lasted 2 seconds. Long enough, though, to force Jill to the ground, in awful pain.

It was over. The tables had turned… This year, the success that Squall had been devoid of last year had been granted, and the luck in battle that Jill Valentine had experienced was gone. But she would survive, and live to fight another day.

Squall walked over to her, his stoic expression unchanged.

"Alright?"

Jill groaned in pain. She was covered in injuries… The black pants she had been wearing for the fight were in tatters. Where the flame had gotten through to her bare skin, blackened patches were already starting to form… Jill was still lying in the same state that she had been when she was hit by the flame, and she wasn't really sure if she move at all as she was… Her eyes caught a glimpse of medical personnel, already preparing for the treatment she would receive soon.

She sighed, and stared levelly at the man that had beaten her today.

"I think I'll stick to the zombies."



Aftermath

The stadium roared as the spectators chanted the name of the victor. It didn't bring a smile to his face, didn't seem to faze him at all. Squall strode calmly toward the exit. "Congratulations!" Aeris had slipped through the cheering crowd to catch up with the victorious SeeD.

"Whatever. The real fights don't start until the next round."

"Oh, come on!" The flower girl tried out her most adorable pout. "Why do you have to be so down all the time? Listen to them. You won, and they loved it! What's the matter?"

"I'm not here for them," mumbled Squall. "I'm here for myself." And Rinoa. And Sis, he thought, although he still couldn't bring himself to say it.

"Well," said Aeris, glancing around, "Cloud and Sora are around here somewhere, and I'm sure they want to congratulate you too. We're celebrating, and you're just gonna have to come along!" She grabbed his hand and half-led, half-dragged him out the entrance to the arena.

I hope she doesn't want to dance...

"Oh! Your face! Is that what the problem is?" Aeris asked suddenly.

"I'll be fine."

"Don't give me that. Scars can be very sensitive to heat, and that blast could have fried a chocobo faster than Colonel Sanders. Let me cure that for you." She laid her hand on his brow and spoke a few words in a strange language. The burn felt cooler almost instantly, and within a few seconds the ache was gone. And that's after I cast my own cure spell on it just a minute ago.

Another of the contestants walked up to the pair, pushing past anyone in the way. "Damn, man!" He bellowed as he neared Squall. "Best eye candy in this whole bunch, and you have to go and sick your little pet dragon on her! I guess you ain't a leg man, 'cause Fido there just about put her in pants for the rest of her life!"

Duke Nukem. Much as I'd enjoy chatting with him, I've got things I'd rather do. Like book that month-long trip to a deserted island with Zell.

"Well, hello there," continued Duke, noticing Aeris. "You know, this guy ain't much of a one for the ladies. The way I figure, you deserve someone better." He unslung an enormous gun from his back and stuck the barrel under Squall's chin, grinning. "Ain't that right."

There was a swift flash of sunlight on metal as Squall's gunblade slashed between the two men. Duke's gun fell into two cleanly-cut halves. "Point that thing somewhere else next time."

Duke took a step back, and Squall and Aeris started to leave. "Don't worry, that was just my baby gun," He said. Then, with a lewd grin and a wink at Aeris, "Hell, I've got a bigger one on me right now."