Chp. 9

The First round Fight.

SORRY!

I have done a pretty crappy job of explaining myself, and am sorry for last chapter's suckiness. 9 L I was really rushed. So here come some explanations.

1. The Pearlblade, n. A Gunblade similar to Seifer's, in that it requires only one hand to wield (Lionheart required 2). It is made of Admantium, but has a blade of pearl, the same material in Squall's pearl earring.

2. The reason he needs this is because while training, he injured his right arm horrendously, and when he was miraculously cured (you aren't supposed to know how) the arm was still injured badly enough to be nearly useless.

3. When Alucard told Squall "I can sense them.", he meant the chick who received Ulty's power.

Any other questions, please ask!

Alright, on with the show!

"RAAAAAAAAAAGH!"

CLAAAANG!

The broadsworded behemoth charged at Squall, sword raised above his head, ready to cleave Squall in two. Squall stared down the attack until the sword was above his head, and then raised Pearlblade to deflect the blow, then, using just the tip, lightly tapped the bigger man's face, leaving a paper thin cut.

The two separated, and then began to circle each other daring the other combatant to make a move.

This is not even worth my limited strength. He thought. Shiva, he is all yours.

Suddenly, Squall dropped his sword-hand parallel with his leg, and raised his right arm, fingers splayed. "BLIZZARD RING!" he yelled.

A ring of ice materialized out of the air, and began to race toward the larger man. When it reached him, the ring would've begun to spin, encasing him in a ball of ice. But,

Ronald had begun to brace himself, right fist out, though he looked confident. Squall saw something gleaming. A reflect ring. OH, Sh-

Squall quickly jumped out of the way, firing off a Fira to melt the reflected ice.

Crap! He thought, as the combatants resumed their circling, searching for an opening. Squall looked his opponent over again, surveying him. He was a giant, but his size and large weapon made him slow. Squall re-evaluated himself. He needed speed, which he knew he had, but not enough control to attempt an Aura induced limit break. However, he could probably full off one of the more basic gunblade speed moves.

Suddenly, Squall stopped circling, laid down his sword arm. Ronald braced himself for a spell, but the Haste spell that had been cast hadn't been intended for him.

Squall rushed at his opponent, ready to strike. He lashed out, hammering the taller man's sword furiously. Ronald could feel the shock course thru his entire being after each strike. But his sword stood strong, stopping the blows from ending the round. But the man needed full concentration, and Squall forged his win from that. He cast a Blizzard under Ronald's feet.

The man again braced himself with his ring hand, but also again, the spell wasn't meant for him. Instead, the spell turned the arena tile to ice over. Squall mercilessly continued his pounding, nut instead of staying strong; Ronald's weight and the force of Squall's attack made him slip head over heels. When the stars stopped circling him, Pearlblade was already at his throat.

"What trash." Squall muttered, as he walked away. Hoping but not truly wanting all his opponents to be as easy.

Squall walked away from his final preliminary opponent, a slightly skilled spearman. He had left him encased in a ball of ice. Squall smirked. By now, anyone who faced him would probably have a healthy supply of Reflect spells. That might make things difficult, but soon he would have the new spells powerful enough to break most shields.

He heard a bell ring, signifying that all the preliminaries were now over. Laguna came on, and the fan bases that had been kept out of the preliminary rounds, which had no knowledge of finalists, went silent. And he said!

"The preliminaries are now over! The eight finalists are as follows. Michael Ambrose," a picture of a longsworded man, about 6'6'' by the looks of him, emerged on the huge screen around the official tournament arena. His picture was put into one of six boxes that now made up the screen. The other contestants joined his image. First Squall, a woman named Haley Deacon, a man who simply gave the name Kefka, a sai wielding man named Raphael Torton, and then a katana bearing man named Edward Nigma. A short katal wearing Estharian officer came on the screen next. Laguna announced the last contestant.

"And finally, Seifer Almasy!"

Squall would have been shocked, had he not already sped away, bodyguards in tow.

Please Review! Tell me what to improve on! PLEASE!

Carpe Diem.

S.I.