The arena of the crowd was abuzz with excitement, almost ecstatic at the thought of having the Champion of Sin go head-to-head against the man who had just sent one of the most known fighters in Spira to the hospital in Bevelle to have a prosthetic hand fitted. Tidus stepped into the ring and the crowd erupted into a frenzied cheer that Tidus was sure would have measured on the vibration meter somewhere. Tidus laughed and waved, than started adjusted the guard on his right arm.he was busying himself with that, and wouldn't have even noticed Stree step into the arena if not for the abrupt silence that followed his entrance.
"You haven't changed a bit," said Tidus. Stree stood there, a blank look on his face that Stidus found more disconcerting than any other face he had ever seen.
"Let's just start the fight," said Stree, bringing his Graviton Hammer to bear. Shrugging, Tidus grabbed out his Caladbolg, and stood against Stree. He stepped back a bit, and saw Stree move forward a bit. Then he attacked.
Rikku watched in awe as Stree and Tidus traded blow after blow, with a noise that rang throughout the stadium. "Is he always this aggressive?" she asked Kam.
"Nope, this is just the warm-up."
Stree ducked backwards from a neck high blow from Tidus, then retaliated with a lunge that Tidus dodged easily. Tidus then grabbed Stree's arm and flipped him over his shoulder. Stree landed on his feet, and started flipping around in an effort to dizzy Tidus, then stabbed at him when he wasn't expecting it. Tidus dodged it, then stopped moving.
"Just like old times, eh, Stree? Wanna step it up?" Stree almost smiled.
"Let's do it." Stree stepped back and a silver glow surrounded his body, signifying his transformation to overdrive mode. The glow grew brighter and then shot out in every direction, temporarily blinding everyone. Tidus focused and a golden glow surrounded his body as well. The glow flashed out as well, blinding everyone a second time. Then Stree started screaming in agony as adrenalin started pulsing through his body, and Tidus did the same, the glows shone around the two men again, swirling around them like a whirlwind. The cyclonic glow started going faster and faster, building up to a crescendo, then suddenly blasted out, blinding everyone for a third time. By the time everyone could see again, Tidus and Stree were already going at it, smacking their swords against each other with so much force that they were creating sparks against each other's swords. Stree jumped backwards and swung around as hard as he could. Tidus brought his own weapon up and parried the shot, then followed up with a lunging stab. He connected, and knocked Stree a couple of steps back. Stree glared, then brought his arm up and shot out a thick beam of fire from his hand. Tidus caught it full in the face, knocking him backwards. Stree was on him straight away, jumping high up in the air, ready to impale Tidus on his way down. Tidus jumped out of the way, then threw a Rikku-made grenade at him. Stree hit it away like a baseball, and threw a blizzaga at Tidus. This time Tidus dodged the attack, and was just about to retaliate when an explosion threw him sideways into a nearby wall. He grunted in pain as his world went black.
Stree was more focused than he had ever been in his entire life, so he was more surprised that anyone else when something exploded off to his right. He saw Tidus go flying off to the side, then something flashed by the side of his head. He spun around saw a fang come barreling towards him. He ducked off to the side, then impaled it neatly through the chest. He heard a growl behind him and saw another pack of five fangs advancing on him menacingly. He was about to attack, but then he notices all of the Fiends hurtling into the Stadium. Wave after wave of fang, iron giants, behemoths, and even some Fiends he'd never seen before, game rushing through the gates. He turned around and saw Tidus lying on the ground, completely unconscious. He glared at the unconscious man, then turned around to find a Blitzer, an Al Bhed woman, and a Ronso wearing the headwear of an Elder, all standing beside him, ready to fight. Stree recognized the people from the other night, the friends of Tidus.
"Everyone ready?" asked the Blitzer, Wakka. Rikku let loose with a high pitched cry, then rushed forward, closely followed by the Ronso, then Auron, who had been standing outside Stree's vision. He rushed forwards, and saw a blitzball go flying past his head, straight into one of the fiends. Stree ducked the flailing tentacle of a Malboro, and astabbed it right up through its mouth. He then drew back and spun around to cut the head right off a behemoth that was reaching down to grab the Al Bhed.
"Stree, duck!" a voice yelled from behind him. He ducked, just as three ninja stars went flying over his head. Then a black clad figure leapt over him, stabbing two sai into the face of an ochu.
"Kam! Get out of here!" yelled Stree, running towards her and pushing her out of the way, just as the Ochu fell down, almost flattening her. "Go!" he yelled as he grabbed a grenade from the belt of the Al Bhed girl and threw it into the biggest group of Fiends, launching them everywhere. The Al Bhed hmphed at him, then turned and started slashing at another fiend. Stree grabbed some of the fur of a Fang, and slit it's theroat roughly with his blade, then threw the dead body into the throng. He saw another Behemoth creeping up behind the Ronso, and jumped up onto it's back. It started swinging around wildly, and grabbed one of Stree's arm in its powerful jaws. "Get the hell off me!" shouted Stree, loosing an Ultima inside the Fiends skull, making it explode. The Ronso turned around, nodded, then jumped back into the fray, Stree close behind.
Tidus woke up with a throbbing pain the side of his head. He looked up and saw Wakka and Rikku standing side-by-side fending off all the fiends coming near him. As his mind cleared, he looked around and saw the other tournament fight and a few other people fighting against wave after wave of Fiends. Thinking quickly, Tidus jumped up, grabbed his sword, and stuck it through the neck of a Fiend that was jumping up behind Stree, who was wildly dodging the huge swings of an Iron Giant. Stree grabbed another grenade off Rikku and threw it into the helmet of the Giant, making it explode and throw pieces of metal everywhere. A pile of Fiends broke off from whoever they were attacking, and started to run right at Stree. Suddenly, Stree found himself on the bottom of a very large pile of monsters, and tried his harest to fight his way out. Tidus, without thinking, started trying to pull the Fiends off, but was thrown back when something exploded from beneath him.
"What the hell was that?" he shouted as Stree stood up, surrounded by the large group of dead monsters.
"Overdrive," replied Stree, turning away to fight more Fiends, as another group, larger this time, started at him. Suddenly, every single Fiends that was packed into the stadium was trying to get at Stree, and he quickly found himself being overpowered. He would only just kill one when another would come after him. Suddenly, after being temporarily blinded from a spray of Malboro blood, he was hit from behind by something, and as he fell, he heard a gurgling noise behind him. He turned around to see Yojimbo, one of the tournament fighters, swipe his sword through the throat of yet another fiend. Stree nodded thanks, and the fighter, started to turn away, but was thrown off to the side by a towering Behemoth, only to smack hard against the arena wall, punching through it. Yuna jumped through the hole, and a second later, both came flying back out. Stree turned around and saw the Behemoth descending on him, a murderous gleam in his eyes. Stree saw the Behemoth move faster than anything he had ever seen, and only had time to brace himself, as the monster's hand launched him through the crowd of Fiends. Stree landed on the ground and saw Tidus and his friends create a circle around him. Stree tried to stand up, but dropped back down when all the breath left his body. "...Ribs..." he vaguely heard as he groaned. He saw flashes of light off to the side, and looked over to see Yuna casting something on him.
"No," he said in a croaking voice, pushing her hand away. "Not on me." He braced himself for the pain, and stood up. He ripped off one of his sleeves and wrapped it around his ribcage to hold his shattered bones in place. He grabbed his sword, and tried to make his way to the edge of the group, but was held in place by Kam.
"We retreat," she said to him in a voice that demanded no opposition. Tidus looked back and nodded.
"Fall back!" he yelled, as the human wall started moving back. Stree let himself get pushed through one of the entrances, then dropped back to the ground as Fiends started pushing through he back. He saw someone stick some thing to the wall near them, then a voice yelled out "Take cover!" Stree threw an arm over Kam, wincing at the pain in his ribs, just as the explosives went off. Heat and rock washed over the group of fighters, knocking back several of the Fiends. With a pain, and heat filling up every ounce of his body, Stree felt like he was about to pass out. He vaguely felt himself being lifted up by the Ronso, and the then thrown through the hole made by the bomb. Stree lifted himself up and started making his way along, Kam and Auron at his sides, picking off any resistance. Suddenly, the wall next to him exploded, throwing a piece of rock straight at him, throwing him into darkness..