Disclaimer: Must I keep saying this? I don't own anything in this fic, and the plot and non-video game characters are used with permission --...flomage...

note: this chapter was again written by my bud Brendan and co-written by me. Also, PLEASE LEAVE A FREAKIN REVIEW. Now enjoy. Oh and sorry for the rehashing near the beginning. I didn't see a need to go through the Mellora battle in full detail a third time.

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Chapter 7

5:30 P.M. 6/10

Ramza

I arrived at this mansion in mid-summer. I had been sent an invitation to participate in Super Smash Bros., which I know plenty about. I was excited, I was probably one of the least likely candidates to be invited. I rode my chocobo, Boco, to the mansion. As I approached it, a strange cloaked man began probing my mind from nearby. I turned to him and pointed my sword at him.

"Who are you and why are you reading my thoughts?" I said firmly. He seemed surprised. I don't think he expected to encounter someone who knew they were being mind-probed.

"Sorry, I was just curious is all." he replied.

I lowered my sword, he didn't seem like he was going to attack me. I looked him over for a few minutes, I didn't recognise him and he looked suspicious but I had no reoson to assume he was dangerous so I merely continued riding towards the mansion. I rode over to the mansion, I said another sentence or two to the cloaked man who was following me. When I finally got near the door I hopped off of Boco. He obediently started grazing around the lawn of the mansion. I knew that he wouldn't go very far.

I went inside, first entering into the foyer. I saw several people there already. My fame had preceded me it seemed. Many people knew who I was before I even introduced myself. That made me feel great and all, but I felt a sort of loneliness. Many of my allies from my past adventures had traveled astray or died, and all I had left was Riola...

I starting thinking about Riola, she was my lover. I remembered I had met her traveling in Ivalice a few months ago, and we had become very intimate. I invited her to join me here, and she accepted, but she couldn't make it for another day or so.

It was a good thing she could not make it yet, because there was a strange woman at the mansion named Mell. She was part dragon it seemed, and I sensed an evil deep within her, dormant... While I was talking with an old friend of mine Shadow I heard her arguing with someone, and her dark side exploded from within her. She summoned many dark creatures, and they all attacked us.

The whole area was in an uproar, trying to fight the beasts. Many of us did well, but some of us struggled. A young, blonde woman was very badly wounded, and a small round creature with a mask saved her. One of the beasts had grabbed two of it's brethren, and the 3 of them all converged on me at once. Lucky for me I was used to group combat, and I drew my sword. Before they got too close, I took a rock out of my pocket and threw it at one of them hitting it in the eye. It reeled back, clutching it's eye, while the other two kept coming. I jumped up above them and came down upon it with a strong vertical slash, slaying it in an instant. The third beast also lunged at me, and it managed to knock me into a wall. I got a few minor cuts and bruises, but nothing major. I simply stood back up, and stabbed the beast through the head as it attacked again. Once again, a beast fell in front of me, and the creature I had thrown the rock at was now charging in a blind rage. It was easy to avoid it's vicious attack and swiftly decapitate it. Some of it's blood spattered onto me, but I didn't mind. I charged towards another group of monsters and continued fighting, killing sveral of them.

After fighting the beasts for awhile, Mell regained her normal form and the monsters dispersed, everyone took some time to make sure everything and everyone was intact from the battle and then most of them went to their rooms to rest and recuperate.

I had traveled far and wide, fighting all sorts of monsters and evil humans. I was branded a Heretic by the Church, which was the ruling power in my homeland. I knew I wasn't. The church was corrupt, but such thoughts branded me as blasphemous. Assassins and powerful Clergymen were constantly after my head, desperate to silence me before I revealed their horrible secret. After years of this, I finally did it. I saved the land and revealed the Church for what it really was: A corrupt and evil hell-hole.

Anyways, upon defeating the monsters, I went upstairs. I walked into my room, and heard a commotion next door. I looked inside to shush them, and realized it was one of my old friends, Shadow the Hedgehog. He was watching over the blonde girl that was injured earlier. Someone had done some patchwork on her wound, but it was still rather serious. I went into the room, and Shadow asked me some questions about where I've been or how things have been going. I told him about Riola, and he was happy for me. I glanced over at the girl again and could tell she was in critical condition. She needed more than just patchwork, so I approached her and used a healing spell on her wound. It healed partially, enough to keep her alive, but the wound was still there. I yawned, tired from the battle, and told Shadow farewell. I went back to my room and rinsed some of my own wounds out with cool water. My eyes grew heavy, and I lied down on my bed, falling asleep shortly after.

8:00 A.M. 6/11

I awoke the next morning to Riola shaking me gently. I opened my eyes, and groggily spoke to her.

"Mm...Riola? When'd you get in?"

She smiled and gave me a soft kiss.

"Hi there I just got in this morning. I came straight to you." She said, smiling.

I looked up at her pretty hazel eyes and her brown hair that draped over her shoulders. She was pretty, average height and kinda skinny. She had on a buttoned shirt, and a pair of blue jeans.

"I brought some of my friends along. I'd like you to meet them!" she said, seemingly excited.

I groaned, somewhat annoyed that my sleep was interrupted, but got out of bed anyway. I didn't want her to get angry, so I went along with her. She smiled and took my arm, leading me down into the manor's foyer. Several people were there already. I noticed the small round creature that helped the blonde girl getting some food. I also saw Shadow flirting with a woman in a pink dress, as usual. He said something I did not hear, and the woman slapped him. He rubbed his cheek and grinned, not caring that he was shot down. He wandered off, probably to find another girl. I sighed, and Riola brought me over to 5 strange gentlemen.

2 of them were in red, 2 in black, and the other in average clothing. The 4 in red and black were dressed strangely. One of the men dressed in red was very muscular and powerful looking. He wore a vest, and had 4 swords on his person. Two large swords on his back, and two katanas sheathed at his side. The other one in red was smaller. He looked like a skater, with baggy clothing and crazy hair. The one with long hair was quiet. He didn't talk much, and he wore dark clothing. He looked like a ninja or something. The 4th one wore a large cloak. The other man had some technological gadgets with him. Seeing this reminded me of Worker 8, one of my allies, and it saddened me slightly. I did not show it, since I didn't want to worry Riola.

"Ramza, these are the Deck Bros. and Armond. Boys, this is Ramza." Riola said, smiling.

The large muscular one smiled. "Hello Ramza. I'm Edgar, Heart of the Deck Bros." he said heartily.

Edgar extended his hand to shake mine, and I did the same. He seemed extremely strong, but not too bright. He had scars all over his arms, which I assumed were battle scars from past battles.

The other guy in red, with the skater outfit, spoke. "Hi there Ramza! I'm Kiaser! I'm the Diamond of the Brothers!" he said excitedly.

He had baggy clothing and various pads on his elbows and knees, all of them made of diamonds.

The cloaked one spoke. "Good day. I'm Chad, Club of the Deck Brothers" he said quietly.

He was mysterious, he had a heavy cloak over most of his body, and a hood over his head. He also had strange devices on his wrists.

The 4th one spoke, the one with long hair. "I am Drusk. Spade of the Deck Brothers" he said with no emotion whatsoever.

His eyes also seemed empty. It was as if he didn't have any emotions at all! I shook his hand, still a bit curious as to what he really was.

The 5th man spoke. "Hi there. My name is Armond, it's nice to meet you." he said. I nodded and shook his hand.

I was confused. (Deck Brothers? Diamonds? Hearts? Clubs? Spades? What does it all mean?) I thought. I decided to ask them.

"So... Why do you call yourself the Deck Brothers?"

Edgar was the first to speak. "Well, all of us represent a different suit of cards, and the 4 of us also have superpowers, but we can only use them with playing cards. Would you like to see our powers?'

I nodded. He focused for a moment, and one of his scars opened up. A card rose out of the scar, in mint condition there was no blood or anything, it looked like it'd just been made in a factory or something.! I was awestruck already, but there was still the other 3. I patiently waited. Kiaser was next. He took out a card that had the image of a sword on it. He focused on the card, and the sword materialized out of the card and became a real sword in his hand!! Chad was next. He showed the objects on his wrists. I saw that they were cardshooters. He shot several cards out and then closed his eyes. He then begun manipulating them with his mind. I was not too surprised, since telekinesis is a normal skill where I come from.

I turned to Drusk. "How about you?" I said to him.

He was silent for a moment. Suddenly, his body began to distort. He revealed himself to be made out of cards, and he shape shifted into a large creature resembling a Behemoth.

I was impressed. "Wow!" It was all I could say. Wow. Nothing more, nothing less.

I glanced over at Armond and said "So what can you do?"

He chuckled and replied, "Who me? oh I don't have any powers or nothing, I'm just a normal human being."

Drusk spoke, again with no emotion. "As you can see, Edgar can create cards, Chad can manipulate cards, Kiaser can summon things from cards, and I can use cards to change my form."

I listened to him intently. I still had one question though. "Why are you made of cards?" I asked.

He was quiet. I could tell it wasn't the right question to ask. The other three brothers seemed troubled.

"Sorry... You don't have to answer if you don't want to." I said. Drusk nodded

Riola was beaming, glad that her buddies met me, and vice versa. I smiled and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Some more people were now in the foyer, and, Shadow was no longer present. The woman in the pink dress that had slapped Shadow was now talking to a short man in red and blue overalls. He had a large nose and a moustache. There was a red and white "M" on his cap. The two were chatting, and I turned back to the Brothers, Armond, and Riola, who were also looking around the foyer.

"Well, it was nice meeting you Ramza, but the 5 of us need to find us some rooms. I'll see you later" said Edgar who was walking away with the others.

"I need to go to honey. I'll talk to you later!" Riola said, smiling. She gave me a kiss and ran off.

(Good, now I have time to make that present for her) I thought. I went into my room and locked the door, planning to make a beautiful amulet for Riola which I told Shadow about the previous night. There was a furnace, and some other smithing tools in there, which I found somewhat strange, but then again it was the reason I chose this room in the first place. Now that I thought about it, Ultima and Mell had very strange interior designing skills. I remembered when I was looking for a room to stay in, there was one that had a merry-go-round right in the center, and their were even strangers ones then that elsewhere in the mansion. I shrugged the thought off and went to work, creating the beautiful golden amulet for Riola.

10:00 A.M. 6/11

A couple hours later, I finished it, and engraved the words "Riola and Ramza, Together Forever" on it's face. I smiled, proud of my work, and walked out of the room. I started walking down the hallway, to find Riola, when all of a sudden, I was blindsided by a fist to my face. I flew back, caught completely off guard and hit the ground hard. I tucked the amulet into my pocket, and looked up at the assailant. He was huge, larger then Edgar. He had a lot of hair, all of it crazy and wild. He wore a red vest, showing his chest, and also had brown and red pants on. He wielded a massive spear-like weapon in his right hand.

"I'm Keiji Maeda, and I've been sent to kick the snot outta ya!" he said loudly.

I jumped back to my feet, in a battle position. This guy was crazy, his eyes were darting all over. I could tell that the rage and excitement on his exterior was fueled by a deep and profound sadness deep within the darkness of his heart, just by looking at those eyes. He rushed at me, attacking surprisingly fast for someone so large. I struggled to keep my defenses up. I heard some doors open up and I saw Armond, Drusk, and Riola rushing to my aid, I guess they picked rooms on the third floor as well. Armond and Drusk began attacking the man, and Riola stayed back, worried for the three of us. All three of us fought against him, yet he still had the advantage!

Armond charged and jumped at him, ready to fire a gun he had pulled out and was holding in his left hand. Keiji saw it coming, and impaled him on his spear. Riola gasped, Armond coughed up blood, and my eyes widened as blood gushed out of his wound, and he fell over dead. Drusk seemed to be unaffected by his comrade's death, and attacked. I stared at them in horror, but soon regained my power upon seeing Riola's tears as she cried for Armond.

I charged at Keiji, furious at him for killing my friend and hurting Riola's feelings. Drusk charged with me, and we both slashed downwards at him upon jumping in the air. Keiji blocked BOTH of us, and pushed us into a wall with great force, cracking it. While Drusk was still up against the wall, Keiji thrust his spear into his chest. Drusk went limp, and his body turned into CARDS! The pile of cards collapsed, and didn't take another form. I assumed he was dead. Riola was bawling now.

Keiji dropkicked me while I was up against the wall. I got slammed through the wall and hit the ground outside. Riola fell to her knees, and Keiji jumped after me. Before I was sent flying too far, I heard Riola sobbing.

"Drusk... Armond..." she said through her tears.

I managed to land on my feet outside, and Keiji rushed at me. I ran from him, knowing I had no chance. I ran as fast as I could, as if Hell itself were after me, yet he kept up. We ran through the forest, occasionally parrying each other's blows as we ran. We soon came out of the trees and ended up on a cliff far above the ocean. I knew this as the end. One of us would die here. I readied myself, my back to the cliff, facing Keiji.

Keiji smirked. "Sorry pal, boss's orders." He said, he then attacked.

We kept exchanging blows, Keiji swung his spear diagonally, and I hopped backwards to avoid it. I then jumped forward, and stabbed towards him, only to be knocked away before I could make contact. He stabbed forward with his spear, but I side-stepped it and slashed him. I landed a very small wound on him, but it seemed like it didn't hurt him to much. He slung his spear around and I jumped backwards again. It was then that I made a very startling discover. As we were battling we were moving closer and closer to the edge of the cliff, and in my last evasive manuver I'd almost toppled off. (Damn!, he was intentionally pushing me over here!) I thought. Keiji smirked and slashed forward, I countered his slash with one of my own. Our weapons locked together, and we pushed on them, trying to knock the other off balance. Keiji won the deadlock, and I was staggered, completely defenseless.

"No!" I said as he grabbed my by my head and threw me off the cliff.

"Yer outta here!" he shouted as I was thrown.

I fell over the cliff's edge. I looked down and saw the sharp rocks far below. This was it, It was over for me. I began to cry, knowing I'd never see my beloved Riola again. I pulled out the amulet I never got to give her, and looked at it.

"Riola... I'm so sorry... please forgive me..." I said through my tears.

I clutched the amulet in my hand. I glanced down again. The rocks were getting closer and closer. I glanced and saw Shadow on the beach nearby. He noticed me falling, and his eyes widened in terror as I slammed into the rocks. I barely survived the fall, but my body was broken, gashes and internal damage all over.

Shadow ran over to me, crying. "My God! Ramza! Stay with me here!" he cried out, clutching my hand.

"Shadow..." I said weakly, "I'm sorry... My body... it's shattered..."

My eyes became heavy, my whole body in immense pain.

"No!... Don't say that! You won't die! You can't!!" Shadow said.

"Riola... Shadow... Tell Riola... Give her... This amulet in my... hand..." I said.

He opened my hand and saw the amulet, now bloodstained and dented from my fall. He took it.

Riola... my beautiful Riola...my life has been filled with adventure and glory, with love and honor, with life, and now death. Tears streamed down my face, partially from pain, partially from my despair that I'll never see her beautiful eyes again. Her long brown hair. Her deep and mysterious eyes, her soft lips, Her warm touch. I won't feel any of it ever again. I won't see any of it ever again.

My life flashed before my eyes. My father's death after the war, my initiation into the academy, and the first marauder I killed. My secession from the Knights, and my initiation into Gafgarion's Mercenaries. My quest to save the Princess, my discovery of the Church's plot, my rise and fall from Fate, and my fame being spread... all of it, gone.

My eyes grew heavier now, my vision blurred. Shadow was right there, but his voice seemed far off and a long ways away.

"Ramza, please don't die... Don't leave me!" he said.

My eyes found themselves closing, my breathing slowing, my heart stopping.

...Darkness

10:30 A.M. 6/11

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The Deck Brothers and Riola, are all custom made characters.

Keiji Maeda is from Samurai Warriors 1 and 2. Remember him, cause later on he's gonna be important.

you know you want to leave a review...I can the hear the voice telling you too...because I put it there...