Tournament of Vulcan, Part I

Finn had never before seen such activity at the entrance to the Fire Kingdom. Various fighters and warriors from across the land of Ooo were gathered at the fiery domain, making their way towards the tallest volcano in the entire area. It was in this environment that the grand event would take place, the arena where the best of the best would shine among the glorious combatants from every corner of the continent.

The cloaked flame human made his way past dozens of excited competitors, bragging about how far they'd make it in the ring. Finn paid them no mind, and they returned the favor. He was only interested in finding the entrance to the coliseum where the tournament would commence. Unfortunately, he bumped past a rather large rock elemental, who noticed and instantly grabbed the young man, smashing him against a nearby wall.

"You've got some nerve, kid. I think I'll pummel you into the ground for practice."

He released Finn, only to back away and raise a massive stone mallet over his head, planning to crush the hero into the volcanic earth. However, the moment his weapon was at its highest, a slash was heard through the air, followed by Finn having his back to the elemental, while his lava vine sword recoiled around his arm.

The smashing part of the rock being's hammer fell, striking him in the head and immediately causing him to fall over, stunned. Those who had been nearby stood shocked, watching the flame human slowly continue on his way.

Finn made it to the stadium, now hearing the cheers of hundreds of civilians, both fiery and outsider, within the walls of the structure. He was about to walk in and sign up, but was halted by a familiar voice.

"I hope you remember my words, Finn."

The hero swung around, only to see a hooded figure leaning against the wall of the stadium, his skinny mechanical arms crossed. The being's metal face was barely visible through his cover.

"Rattleballs? What are you doing here?!"

Finn strolled up to the swordsman, utterly confused. The robot grinned.

"I took special leave to watch your performance."

He placed a hand on the hero's shoulder.

"Do you remember?"

Finn thought back, then looked carefully at the knight.

"Go for the legs?"

Ree-B-Z shook his head, moving his hand to the young man's chest.

"No. Use this."

He prodded the heart beating beneath Finn's fiery skin, nodded to him. The hero looked rather conflicted.

"Right…"

Rattleballs stepped back.

"Please, Finn. Open yourself to the heart you have neglected. You'll be amazed at the power you can wield."

At those words, the robot vanished, dashing away into the volcanic rocks. Finn stared at the now empty space for a moment, then nodded and took a deep breath.

Ok. I'll try.

He briefly patted his chest, feeling the heart locket underneath his shirt. Then, the hero entered the building to give his name for the tournament.

The cheering reached its peak as the last of the competitors entered the arena, lining up in the center of the volcano's peak, which was composed of a metal platform supported by heavy chains, right above the molten pit of lava serving as the mountain's core. Finn stood near the end of the row, gazed casually at the sheer number of people witnessing the event. Many of them were non-fire elementals, strengthening PB's theory at the dual purpose of the battle.

The flame human noticed a prominent flame shielded individual walk up to the front of the king's box, where the ruler herself would watch the combat. It was Cinnamon Bun. The loyal protector waited a moment at the edge of the balcony, then raised his hand to silence the crowd. They gradually calmed, now only sending out excited whispers.

The candy person scanned the stands, until he saw all attention directed to himself. He then spoke in a powerful voice.

"Presenting, her highness, the benevolent ruler of the Fire Kingdom."

The crowd reignited their roars, as CB stepped aside to allow someone to pass in front and address the audience. Finn found himself staring anxiously at the balcony, somehow nervous about setting eyes upon her again. Soon enough, the king of the land appeared in the booth, as stunning as ever by Finn's opinion. Flame Princess let loose a brightening smile, along with a wave to the entire crowd, who cheered louder in response.

Finn tried his best to tear his eyes away from her, but knew it was useless. Not only were the fighters expected to face her, but the ache in his chest was returning slowly as he observed her beautiful face and fiery hair. He inconspicuously gripped the skin above his heart, grunting and hoping the sensation would stop. However, he halted the act as FP finished introducing to the crowd and set her rich amber eyes upon the line of combatants below.

She briefly studied each one of them, taking in their size, armament, and overall facial expression. Finn was too slow in realizing the fiery young woman may recognize his cloak from the other day, but reassured himself that that was a long time ago, and only lasted a few seconds anyway. Regardless, the flame human felt on edge as the fire elemental stopped at him. As feared, he noticed something change in her gentle features, as if something unexpected had come up.

Finn did his best to look casual, just like the rest of the fighters. The tension grew as he noticed FP was taking longer to look at him than any of the others in line. Small beads of lava were forming up on his forehead, highlighting his nerves to anyone who could see. Luckily, that was no one. Flame Princess finally let go of the vision she'd placed upon him, but it lingered for a few moments, as if caught by a hook, while she continued down the line.

At long last, she finished the inspection, nodding to Cinnamon Bun. The knightly pastry stepped to his position beside the king's seat, in standby. Meanwhile, FP cleared her throat and gazed upon the crowd and fighters as a whole.

"Citizens, visitors, brave warriors, I welcome you all to the Tournament of Vulcan."

Cheers erupted once again, as Flame Princess patiently waited for the audience's approval to die down. The fighters below also cheered, waving their weapons around in anticipation. Finn was the only one who did not partake in the rush of excitement, which caused FP to pick him out of the line once again. At least this time, the flame human wasn't looking at her. She frowned, puzzled by the strange hooded humanoid among the other warriors.

Shaking off the curiosity, she proceeded with the commencement. FP gestured to a large display board above her balcony, which displayed a brackets listing. From what Finn could see, there were a total of 32 fighters, organized to advance to the next round upon defeating an opponent. He glanced at the others while a team of fiery officials etched every competitor's name into the brackets.

All the potential foes he would face were a fair bit more intimidating than him, especially in the size category. Each also had a clear weapon somewhere on their person, unlike Finn's, which was bound to his right arm. Another characteristic that set them apart was the fact that they all openly exemplified their appearances, as if boasting and trying to impress. Meanwhile Finn just wore his slightly tattered cloak, not drawing much interest at all.

Well, except from FP.

Speaking of which, the fiery ruler began addressing the warriors.

"Here's how it will work. Each of you will be randomly paired with an opponent. The one who is victorious shall advance to the next stage. There are five rounds, and battlefield will change with each new level."

The fighters were intrigued by the idea of a shifting arena, grinning with interest. Finn just frowned as he continued listening, staring at the wall rather than the king.

"You may use only your natural abilities and weapons. No magic. And lastly, each quarrel is isolated, no other contender may witness a battle, lest they gather potentially advantageous info that would assist them later on."

A few of the guys near Finn groaned, telling him that they weren't all exactly honorable. The thought put a sour taste in his mouth, as well as the mentality that they didn't deserve the position Flame Princess was offering. A gong was suddenly rung, signaling the warriors to exit the arena so that the first two combatants may begin. As Finn was about to enter the waiting area, one of the officials stopped him, nodding back towards the arena.

Understanding, the flame human made his way once more to the suspended platform, waiting for his first opponent. A fiery being was approaching him from the opposite side of the field, wielding what appeared to be two swords composed of magma. In addition, he had a pair of backup blades sheathed on his back.

The fire elemental stopped in the center, opposite Finn, and gave the young man an amused grin.

"Looks like I'm making sushi in the next few minutes."

Finn ignored the attempted intimidation as the announcer introduced them.

"So begins the first engagement of round one. On this side…"

He gestured to the swordsman.

"We have the master of burning blades, Edge, the fire elemental!"

Cheers erupted form the audience, as the swordsman raised his hand in appreciation of the attention. Finn just rolled his eyes. The announcer motioned to him next.

"And on this side, an enigmatic and quiet young man, a fire elemental who goes by the name of Fenrir!"

Finn expected no sort of cheering, but was shown up by his own thinking when most of the crowd booed him. Luckily, no one had decided to throw anything at him yet. He and Edge stepped closer, preparing to fight.

Up on the balcony, Flame Princess and CB were anxiously waiting for the start.

"Good name, but I doubt he'll last ten seconds," the candy person stated flatly.

FP didn't respond, caught once again staring at the cloaked humanoid down below. She swore that the attire was the same as the person she'd seen a week earlier, and she was still getting the feeling that that person was someone she knew. However, she had no affiliation with any fire elementals named Fenrir. The king hummed with thought as she watched the two take combat stances.

Edge smirked at his opponent as he readied his twin molten swords.

"At least make it look good, got it, newbie?"

Finn didn't respond verbally, but instead extended his lava vine sword and raised it defensively. Edge chuckled.

"Is that it? That weak little weapon?"

The swordsman charged at the flame human, intending to burn right through the cursed blade and strike his foe. However, he had no idea how much he was underestimating his challenger.

Finn elegantly parried both swipes from the swords, then quickly kicked Edge several feet back, surprising him and knocking the breath out of the fire elemental. He, and the audience, was a bit stunned. Regardless, he shook off the expression and ran at the hero again. Finn retracted his sword and ran as well, carefully eyeing his opponent. At the last moment, he hit the ground, sliding underneath Edge's feet as the elemental sent a double slice his way.

As he got up, the swordsman turned and sent both of his blades joined together down upon Finn. Edge was sure the young man would attempt a dodge, but was shocked by the actual result. Finn caught both magma swords between his palms, causing the crowd to gasp. FP and CB were amazed as well, springing forward from their positions to lean over the balcony. Struggling against the weapons, the flame human watched as Edge ignored the incredibly skillful move and tried to cleave him in half with sheer brute force.

In that moment, Finn extended his lava vine sword, astonishing his foe as the cursed blade pierced right through Edge's two molten armaments. This time, the swordsman didn't recover fast enough, as Finn slammed his elbow down on his sword's flat side, breaking the two it was impaling in half. Edge recoiled as his fiery weaponry fell to the ground and dissolved, ruined of their elemental craftsmanship.

The audience was fully captivated by now, watching as Finn swiped the remaining bits of magma off his lava vine. Amazingly, he then retracted the sword once again, assuming a meditative pose. Edge was first confused, then angry, pulling out his secondary set of weapons.

"Are you mocking me, punk!? You'll die for it!"

Flame Princess was shocked. She had explicitly stated at the announcement a week earlier that it would be a non-lethal tournament. The fiery ruler was about to speak up, but Cinnamon Bun stopped her, holding a hand in front of her. The knight shook his head, urging the young woman to watch the fight. Reluctantly, she complied.

Edge let out a war cry as he aimed to plunge his twin blades into the hero's skull. When the enraged elemental came close, the voice of Finn's mentor drifted through his mind.

Use your opponent's movements against them…

With lightning speed, Finn slid his foot forward and ducked, tripping up his foe, who bewilderedly began sailing through the air, unable to stop his momentum. The flame human grabbed his opponent's abdomen, the used his own strength to increase the swordsman's speed, and hurled him right towards the wall of the stadium. Edge smashed into it with a painful groan, dropping his blades and then falling towards the lava below. Luckily, he managed to grab hold of side of the platform, saving himself from the long fall.

FP was about to order that some guards go help him up then escort him away, but stopped when Finn slowly walked over to the edge and knelt down, offering a hand to his defeated foe. Edge was initially stunned by the gesture, looking with confusion into the young man's eyes. He caught a glint of absolution in the flame human's gaze, which finally convinced him to accept the offered help and allow Finn to pull him up.

The swordsman stared at his better for a moment, before a pair of guards arrived to take him out of the arena.

"Th-thanks."

Finn nodded, then watched as Edge was taken away. Suddenly, the crowd cheered, filling the air with roars of praise and congrats. The announcer himself was barely containing his excitement.

"Well! Definitely don't underestimate this stranger. Fenrir is the victor!"

Finn gave a small, humble wave to the audience, then gave the expected bow to Flame Princess. He shot the king a quick glance before turning around, which she mirrored as the young man made his way back to the waiting area. Cinnamon Bun grinned and crossed his arms.

"Not just skill, but respect and consideration."

He looked to FP.

"He has a good heart."

The fiery young woman nodded absentmindedly, still bothered by the perplexing fire elemental. CB noticed and frowned.

"Is, something wrong?"

FP snapped out of her gaze as Finn disappeared into the building.

"I…I'm fine. But, he just seems so…familiar."

The ruler's knight pondered the statement.

"Hm. We'd better watch him then, see what else he can do. Maybe even discover a little more about him."

Flame Princess nodded, as the next two fighters entered the arena.

Finn walked onto the platform once again, about to begin his round two battle. The platform had indeed been altered as Flame Princes had mentioned. It was now covered by a field of volcanic pillars, a forest of rocky columns which added a new level of maneuverability to the arena. The flame human figured his opponent was waiting atop one of the towering formations, deciding he'd have to climb up to it.

However, it would take too long by hand. The young man pondered the dilemma, scratching his chin. He then noticed his lava vine sword, still tightly bound to his arm. Curious about its apparently extensive length, he ordered it to retract, but this time, he focused on making it stay as a vine. To his delight, the object did as he wanted, forming into a rope of sorts. Focusing harder, he caused the vine to join itself, creating a lasso with its end.

Grinning, Finn stood back and began swinging the lasso over his head, aiming for the top of the nearest pillar. After a good drive, he hurled the loop up, where it strongly caught hold of the column. Finn set his feet on the side of the rock, climbing quickly to the top and hopping onto the small area that the pillar supplied. After retracting the lava vine back onto his arm, he heard clapping coming from the audience, who apparently enjoyed watching the strange weapon's ability.

Finn next turned to face his next opponent, surprised to see someone familiar, but not exactly pleasant.

"Sir Slicer!?" the young man exclaimed.

The heavily armored knight bellowed a laugh as he looked upon the hero with his vicious green eyes.

"I see my reputation precedes me."

Finn glared at the man.

"Last I heard, you couldn't even support yourself in that armor."

Slicer grinned maliciously.

"Let's just say a friend of the Train owed me a favor."

Seeing that Finn was confused, the black knight motioned to his legs, shocking the flame human as he noticed they were bionic.

"Heh, heh, don't you worry, I get plenty of power to hold up this 'click-click' armor."

The arrogant man banged his metal chest a few times, still laughing, which was beginning to get on Finn's nerves. Slicer then focused, eyeing the hero with a vile grin.

"Prepare to be diced, foolish fire being."

The knight pulled out a steel broadsword, then hopped to the next stone pillar, closing in on the young man. Finn quickly produced his lava vine sword and hopped towards his foe as well. The two clashed on adjacent columns, blocking each other's blow and hopping to the next platform. The audience, along with FP and CB, watched with great tension as the two swordsmen collided again and again, constantly putting their footwork to use to jump onto the dozens of stone pillars.

The engagement lasted for several minutes, with neither opponent seeming to tire out. In reality however, Finn was beginning to lose his strength, while his mechanically equipped foe kept at it, not even breaking a sweat. Eventually, the hero made a misstep, tripping and falling on his back onto the next platform. Just as he was about to get up, a heavy metal foot crushed his chest, making him grunt from the pain.

Opening his eyes, he saw Sir Slicer standing above him, cackling victoriously. The knight began using his bionic leg to scrape the hero towards the edge of the pillar, where he would fall to the ground and lose.

Up in the balcony, Flame princess was watching with concern as the event played out, nervously holding a hand to her lips.

Slicer's smirk was really irritating Finn at this point, but he regrettably had no response to the knight's action. His armor was making it so that the lava vine sword had no effect, removing the possibility of damaging the man so he'd get off. Suddenly, the young man remembered an important lesson he'd learned over the years of his self training; a mind that is calmed can grasp the most knowledge.

Finn took a deep breath and closed his eyes, ignoring the pain in his back and chest. More of Rattleball's wisdom floated through his consciousness.

Your enemy's greatest strength is sometimes their greatest weakness…

The flame human opened his eyes, gazing at the foe holding him down. Slicer was busy self-gloating, giving him time to evaluate the situation. He spotted the bionic leg that was crushing him, about to send him plunging down to the main platform. He growled, wondering what to do. It was then that he noticed his glowing orange fist. Finn's eyes widened, as he suddenly realized he'd forgotten a valuable ability at his disposal.

The hero acted fast, placing his fiery hand over the mechanical foot keeping Slicer standing and began to focus energy into the appendage, increasing the temperature of the metal. Slowly but surely, the bionic limb was softened enough that the material began fusing to the rock beneath it. Noticing the small amount of rising smoke, Sir Slicer looked down to see what the young man had done.

"Agh! What the heck?"

He panicked, lifting his free leg off of Finn and trying desperately to pull his melted one out of the pillar's surface. While the knight was doing so, his opponent carefully hopped onto the next platform and formed his lava vine sword. This time, he focused once more and set the blade on fire, in addition to extending its length another several feet.

Slicer noticed the hero's activity, now looking quite nervous, and a touch scared. Finn narrowed his eyes at the villainous knight.

"You lose."

With one clean swipe, Finn's blade severed the pillar Slicer was stuck to, immediately destabilizing it and causing the upper half of the column to plummet to the ground, bringing a frightened yelling black knight down with it. A massive crash rang throughout the arena, before the dust settled and revealed a very disoriented Sir Slicer, half buried in rubble.

The crowd exploded into cheers again, clapping vigorously for the mysterious cloaked fire elemental who had prevailed once again. Finn gave a single wave, then the bow to Flame Princess as was customary. The king was gazing in wonder at the young man, as she always had been whenever he was out. It bothered her so immensely about the shrouded elemental's identity, that she barely registered any of the other fights that went on before her.

Cinnamon Bun placed a hand on her shoulder armor.

"Still getting a strange sense?"

FP nodded.

"Yeah. Listen, can you spectate the next few fights? I want to go get some tea to clear my head."

The noble knight bowed and gave a smile.

"Of course."

FP smiled back and turned to leave, as Finn himself turned to enter the waiting barracks once again. The two young people somehow felt an invisible tug, as if there was a rope binding them to one another, momentarily tripping them up. Both shook then their heads, and continued to their destinations.

I really wish there was more I could give than just a thank you for all the support and feedback you guys have given. Well, take the thanks for now, until I figure out how to digitize a cookie or something and send it through the internet.

Mayojar77: Heh, nice idea.

nrbuer: Indeed Betty was a much better episode, still sad, but at least heartwarming.

Guest: Guess you'll have to wait and see.

Guest: Sounds awesome.

TheMentalAdventurer: Yeah, some more maturing will definitely be in this.

Guest: It absolutely is, 100%.

Brony225: Ha, good one.

Buskola: Wow, really?

Roberto: All answers will come eventually.

Fiery Crusader: That question will be answered shortly.

I am The7: That would be kinda weird, and awkward.

Awolfx9: Thanks so much.

Guest: Agreed, completely.

Guest: Um, I don't believe so.

Guest: That's exactly what it was meant to be :)

Guest: Hm, that would be cool...

CuteFoxSage: Thanks for the extra support. I hope to see more from you too.

Holahello: It's so good to know of people who support our couple so strongly. Keep it up!

Ventus Uzumaki: Nice to have you on board.

Hope you enjoyed and thanks for any comments/reviews!