A/N: Sorry for the long wait… again… homework has been swamping me like crazy… had virtually NO time to do stuff this week, and I was "catching up" on my lost game time over the weekend from last week so- oh, enough with the excuses… here it is.
Chapter Eight: Showdown…
Clan Armageddon was lounging around in a pub in Cyril one day, and Christopher, their Templar, came walking back after having a small chat with the pub master.
"Asssked our little friend over there if he heard any new rumorsss, and he had a new one about thisss Clan Amor."
"Really?" Dave made no sign of recognition when he heard the name.
"Yeah… and he sssaid they're getting pretty powerful… powerful enough to take usss on, even…"
"Really?" Dave raised an eyebrow at this new information.
"Yeah… anything you want to do about it bossss?"
"Well, no. Not really… if there's another powerful clan going up in the ranks, then it'd be good to have some friendly competition now and then, right?"
"Phoenix isss the clan leader."
Dave was truly proud of his feigned shock. "Really now?"
"Yesss…"
"Well then, I suppose we should do something…"
"I have an idea."
"Kupo! Phoenix, come look at this, Kupo!"
Mack was hopping up and down, pointing to the list of mission requests at the pub. Or rather, at a particular mission request. Phoenix read it out loud, mostly for the sake of his fellow clan members who had come over to see what was getting Mack all worked up into a tizzy.
"Clan Armageddon has officially challenged Clan Amor to a formal engagement that is to take place at the Bervenia Palace. On the 15th day of the Sagemoon, come watch the two best clans in all of Ivalice face-off! Note: Special laws will be in effect."
There was a small silence that lasted for about a minute, and then Phoenix broke it with a clap of his hands, and a rubbing of his fingers together. "Well… ladies and gentlemen… boys and girls… it looks like we have no choice but to show up at this challenge, or else we'll forever be labeled as cowards."
"We are NOT cowardsss…"
"Of course not Yuwain… which is we will go… and which is why we are going to train our butts off until the 15th rolls around."
And so they did work their butts off. Phoenix more than any of them. Trying to get his Concentration up to near flawless, even when standing directly in front of the person. That would come in real handy, especially coupled with Faster.
One thing that Phoenix did for personally symbolic reasons was wear the anti-zombification armband he had that Nu Mou make for Jullianne. He wore it everywhere he went, all the time, even when he slept. By now Melanie had all of her important Assassin skills mastered, Spengler was ready for action, and Nelson was doing all he could to prevent himself from practicing his Phantasm Magic in the Sphrom town square.
Eventually, the 15th day of the Sagemoon rolled around, and Phoenix could tell things would get hectic.
By the time Phoenix and his team had reached Bervenia on the 15th, the stands around the field in use were packed. Speaking of the field, Phoenix took a closer look at where he would be fighting.
It looked interesting.
Apparently, it was a combination of the four elements of the world. A section of the map was dominated by water, with a few islands. Another section was volcanically active, with streams of lava coursing through the rock beds. A third section was a network of canyons that looked rather… deep. The fourth section seemed to be composed of clouds, going higher and higher into the sky until Phoenix was forced to crane his neck upward to see where the final platform was located. In the center of the map was a vortex of the four elements. It did not look like something Phoenix wanted to take a walk through, simply put. Oh, and the entire map was BIG.
Clan Armageddon had already deployed itself on one side of the map, the canyon side. The opposite side of the field was the water side, so Phoenix positioned them all on a island located at one edge of the field. Since the area was so massive and the two clans so far apart, he didn't really care how they were ordered.
A judge appeared before them, and Phoenix noticed a judge had appeared before Clan Armageddon as well. This was new to Phoenix: two judges for one engagement.
"Greetings Clan Amor. I will be your personal judge. It is my job to card you on any infractions made by your clan. The laws for this engagement are as follows: R7 for use of any law cards. R7 for use of any items. R7 for Inflicting Status Ailments. And finally, R7 for Status Enhancements." He looked over all of them before continuing. "Simply put. This is an all-out brawl. No clever tactics other than maximizing the damage you can inflict upon your opponents. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes sir!" Was the unanimous shout.
"Good." He turned to the other judge and gave an "all-clear" signal. Judgemaster Cid materialized in the middle of the field (well, close to the middle… he was smart enough not to materialize in the elemental vortex), and gave the whistle that started the engagement.
The three Viera went first, Jullianne, Melanie, and Euphem, each of them wisely Concealing to get in deep and do some damage. Phoenix smirked when he thought about Euphem and how much trouble she was in with the laws. Since all Elementalist abilities also inflicted Status Ailments, she would probably have to stick with her rapier and do physical damage. After the Viera had made their moves, Dave was next. He advanced forward, leaping over a canyon and Waiting for his next turn to come around. Phoenix was next. After moving forward onto the water (yes, onto… he was wearing feather boots), he was about to Boost himself when he remembered the law on Status Enhancements.
'Man, this is going to be one tough engagement.'
The first few moves were rather dull (except for Nelson's Phantasm Magic, which hit about half of them each time), because the two clans had to actually reach each other. Phoenix saw that Melanie had made her way towards the clouds, apparently trying to get an easy vantage point for cheap shots. Smart thinking on her part, although Phoenix was certain Armageddon's Sniper was going to do the same thing. Fortunately Jullianne didn't have the Last Breath ability that Melanie had…
"Ah, crap."
… But then he realized she had a ribbon, which nullified KO's… peachy.
"Guess this IS an all-out brawl…"
Dave's Templar was the first to fall, thanks to Nelson's rather excellent Illusionist Magic. However, he was starting to run low on MP, and since items were outlawed, he was starting to conserve his magic, opting instead to wait to get MP back faster.
Phoenix was starting to get closer towards the edge of the water map when he saw ripples on the water that belonged to seemingly no one. He memorized the spot carefully, and on his next turn, he fired a Concentrated Sonic Boom near where he saw the ownerless ripples. Sure enough, he heard the sound of someone getting hit, and Euphem was forced out of Concealment from the hit. Phoenix grinned, proud of his ingenuity.
The engagement continued, Jullianne and Melanie finding each other and starting their personal battle. Since they were both stealth-style Viera, they had heightened evasion, which was making it harder for them to hit one another, even with Jullianne's Concentration. Eventually, however, the Assassin was bested by the Sniper, and Jullianne, from her superb sniper spot, started taking pot shots and the people from down below. Because of her height, she was able to shoot farther with good accuracy.
Spengler was inducing total ownage with Twister and Matra Magic. Nearly KO'ed Dave when he did the HP MP reversal, but Dave cast Curaga on himself with what little MP he had picked up from his time as a White Mage.
Yuwain, injured from a Backdraft by Dave, simultaneously KO'ed Euphem while healing himself with Lancet. However, he was then KO'ed himself with a rather well-aimed arrow from Jullianne. Mack had been KO'ed early from being double-teamed by Dave and his Templar, Christopher.
So right now, the remaining combatants were Phoenix, Nelson, Spengler, Dave, Jullianne, Jack (Gunner), and Geoffry (Sage). A few Discharges from Nelson's Phantasm Magic took care of Jack and Geoffry, but then Nelson himself was taken down by the high and mighty Jullianne.
Dave eventually took down Spengler, managing to KO him before the Blue Mage could pull off an Angel Whisper. It was down to the three "core" combatants: Dave, Jullianne, and Phoenix.
Phoenix's turn. He fired an Ultima Shot at Dave, effectively taking him out of commission. He turned to face Jullianne, waiting for her shot, which would probably be Faster. You see, Phoenix had managed to improve his ability to Block Arrows, even though he had Concentrate in use. He was certain that if Jullianne fired a regular arrow, he could dodge it. He was certain Jullianne knew that to.
'Hey, maybe that's an idea…'
Jullianne's turn. It was down to her and Phoenix, and she was sure Phoenix would lose. But she decided to taunt him first. She'd fire a shot that could be easily dodged, giving Phoenix false hope that he just might beat her (she was Certain that a Hunter such as Phoenix did not have enough MP to fire two consecutive Ultima Shots). She pulled back her bow…
'Perfect…' Phoenix thought.
Release. The arrow went sailing, whistling as it went. One hundred feet.
Phoenix calmly took off his Chain Mail armor, casting it aside. Eighty feet.
Jullianne raised an eyebrow. That was odd… was he trying to mock her, saying that one shot would not kill him, even with no armor on? Sixty feet.
Phoenix got down on both knees, bow lowered and both arms at his sides. Fourty feet.
What was he doing? Jullianne was uncertain-
… Oh. Twenty feet.
Phoenix grinned. This was it. Ten feet.
Jullianne's eyes widened. The little twerp was actually going to take it. As much as she hated him, she didn't want to kill the boy. Five feet.
Phoenix closed his eyes and felt the wind before the arrow, sensing from the angle of the wind that the missile would strike him through the heart.
'I hope this is enough, Jullianne.' He thought.
Contact.
A/N: Bwahaha… I will be hiding from you readers now, since you may be annoyed at being forced to wait for FAR too long for a chapter like this. Well, here's THE chapter… The action-packed engagement chapter. I hope the ending was dramatic enough for you. But more importantly, I hope I can come up with more of the plot so the story can keep going… dunno what's gonna happen yet, other than a vague idea.
I guess we'll both have to wait to find out.
TehHealist