TN: The title says it all.
TUH: If you can't guess who it is... seriously, you can't?
TN: Yeah, but let's just get started, I have nothing else to say. How about you, Herald?
TUH: Someone will get broken here. Nuff said
TN: Enjoy and review
*DISCLAIMER AS ALWAYS!*
Chapter XV
The Olympian Cup: It's about Sending a Message
Olympus Coliseum
September 1, 2010
Everything burns. Oh burn baby burn!
"Wow, I am ready for an inferno of a match!" Mike shouted. A slight pun was made.
"Seriously?" Chris said to his co-announcer.
"What? I just think it'll get heated up is all," Mike retorted amid to the many groans of pain to the crowd. While the announcers bickered over the many puns, clear walls began to rise along the edges of the stadium, much like a hockey game. They rose high into the sky and then locked there, separating the crowd from the arena, but letting them look through into the festivities.
"Alright folks. Here is our newest feature to the rebuilt and revamped coliseum! It is a magically enhanced divider. Its sole purpose is to protect you all from some of the more severe matches," Chris explained. The crowd cheered, ready to see the rip-roarer that was about to begin.
"They make hot look cool! Let's give it up for Hades and Axel!" Mike shouted.
"Heh, ready to go down, loser?" Hades said, flaring his hands with blue flames, coaxing up his arms, through his sleeves, and up to the base of his neck. They flickered off of him violently.
"As if. You're going down, got it memorized?" Axel said, flaming up his chakrams.
"Ooh, I see some tensions flaring out there!" Mike said with a chuckle. Everyone heard, over the mic, Chris punch him as he called the match to a start.
"Firaga!" Axel said, wasting no time in pulling out the big guns.
"Pfft," was Hades' reply. A MASSIVE fireball of death and destruction hurled its way at Hades. Hades crossed his arms over his chest, ready to take the meteor head on. It blasted into Hades, causing a magnificent booming crash, a crash that echoed all over the coliseum and rattled the structure. Fire licked the barrier and scorched the ground in the arena, setting even patches of concrete on fire. Smoke furled everywhere and things began to clear up. Patches of the ground were aflame, soot and ash lay everywhere, giving the arena a hellish look. And when it finally cleared, Hades was just standing there.
"Nice try boy," Hades said, shaking ash off his shoulders. "But now. . . TRY MY LEVEL!" he shouted, fire balls forming in his hands. He began launching them in rapid succession, whoosh whoosh whoosh. Axel deflected each and every one of them, ten in all. But, in midair they swiveled around and came back at him, growing in size ever so slowly. Axel, realizing what this meant, began to move among the ashes and flames of his meteor. He turned around and tried what he could, jogging backwards at the same time.
"Blizzara!" he shouted, bringing up sheets of ice. The fireballs just passed through them like nothing, shattering them. He turned and ran. Then, his face changed into one of realization. A sudden idea.
He turned once again and dropped his chakrams. He brought his hands together and formed a ball of fire of his own. He stood there waiting for the fire balls to collide with him, all ten trailing after one another, even bigger now, bigger than beach balls. Axel brought his cupped hands up and infused the balls' energy into his spell, not yet cast. All ten flamers smashed into his palms and became absorbed into his spell. His own fireball was still the size of a baseball.
"Batter UP!" he screamed before launching it at Hades.
"Oh shi—" Hades began to say before a small earthquake was summoned by the wrath and power of Axel's overpowered spell. Blinding light effused the arena, and the heat was unbearable. A small mushroom cloud had formed and the the crowd's cheering was lost in the shock wave of thundering sound. Clearing up, they waited.
Axel was hunched over, laboring in breath and pain. Sweat pooled from him. Hades lay on the ground, his clothes slightly tattered, especially around the hem of the robe. He stood to his feet, all fire gone from him except from his head.
"Oh. . . that does it. I- I- I'm gonna. . . It's. . . OVER!" he screamed, flashing red all over and becoming a walking mass of flames. "Here I come you BASTARD!"
Pillars of flame shot from the ground underneath Axel, surrounding him and almost hitting him. It reminded Sora of Demyx's attacks in Radiant Garden. Not only were these pillars trying to kill Axel, but blades of fire sliced through the air at him. And if that weren't enough, Hades launched massive fireballs as well at him. All of this was coming at Axel, and oh did Axel run faster than the wind. Axel dodged left and right, flinging Watera spells all around, trying to douse some of the flames trying to kill him. After minutes of this, Hades had had enough. All the flames stopped and he disappeared in an explosion of smoke. He then reappeared in front of Axel. He grabbed Axel by the throat and shoved him right into the barrier, lifting him up off the ground at the same time. Axel wiggled and squirmed.
"Beg!" Hades said. Axel refused as he tried to get out of Hades' grip, but to no avail.
"I said BEG!" Hades said. His hand intensified its grip and he started to singe Axel's neck.
"I- I- Giv- give up" Axel muttered through his strangulation. Hades released him and walked away as the barriers lowered and some Nurse Joys came to Axel's aid.
"Well, folks, I. . . I don't know what to say other than that was an intense match. I feel sorry for whoever stands in Hades' way later in the cup," Mike said, almost quietly in contrast to earlier.
"Yes, now we have another match to get to. As our staff magically cleans up the arena, can we please have Leon and Merideth meet in the arena for battle," Chris said, just as smoothly. Staff cleaned out the arena of all its soot and ash so that Leon and Merideth could take the stage and fight it out. He rested his gunblade on his shoulder as she readied her bow.
"Begin!"
An arrow loosed within a second, almost too fast to see. The harmonic twang of the string followed as the arrow sped at Leon. He raised his blade nearly as fast and let go a shot from the gun. It eradicated the arrow into nothing but a plume of smoke in the air.
"Let's see you stop this one," Leon said. He shot another round at Merideth, the small fireball hurtling its way at her. She swiveled her bow in front of her and cast a Protect spell. The fireball dissipated into nothing. Before he could fire another one, Merideth decided she wasn't even going to let him breathe. She took her quiver, flung all of her arrows high into the air and readied her bow. One at a time she caught them and fired them at him, making him run and evade the entire time, giving him no chance to launch an assault. She kept up this miraculous talent until her arrows were wasted.
"AMAZING! Who knew anyone in all the worlds could do such a thing! But now what will she do? She can't take the time to retrieve all of her arrows!" Mike yelled. The crowd roared in anticipation when suddenly—
"A short sword?!" Chris yelled. Yes, she had folded her bow and reattached it to her quiver. At the same time she had drawn a sword from a sheath, also attached to the quiver. "How can her bow do that? It's not modern! It must be something special then, that's for sure!"
She rushed at Leon with her elegantly crafted short sword. She arced it at him, aiming for the neck. He twisted his body and dodged the blow, bringing his own sword around in a line, aimed at her midsection. It whistled right past as she barely moved. Her wrist flicked and it brought her own sword toward him, at the leg. Then she swerved toward his ribs. He parried it away skillfully. He brought the blade down with two hands and she brought her own up, horizontally, and caught his. They scratched into each other, sparks unseen due to the daylight.
"You're good. I'm glad we have you," Leon breathed while pushing down into Merideth's blade. She strained a little under his pressure. Her feet skidded, scraping a little on the concrete, the grainy crunch of underfoot dust and specks following her. Suddenly, they broke apart as he tried to sweep her leg just like he had with Yuffie. Merideth jumped and brought her short sword down again. He blocked it and back pedaled away from her. He shot at her again and ran around in curve to her. She spun around to avoid the fire, but was met with a rounding kick to the head. She was instantly dropped to the ground. The count rang to ten while she was up to a knee.
"And Leon ADVANCES!" Chris announced. The crowd yelled in its applause as Leon helped Merideth to her seat along the contestants. She held her hand in one hand, the other putting her sword away. Someone had gathered her arrows and returned them to her. She muttered her thanks as the next match was about to begin.
"Now, ladies and gentlemen, we have the couple of Cloud and Aerith versus the mysterious powerhouse that is ONE!" Mike yelled enthusiastically. Sora watched as Cloud, Aerith and One walked out into the arena, ready to square off. One readied her claymore against Cloud's buster sword and Aerith's rod.
"Begin!"
Aerith initiated the fight with a Fira spell, the ball of flames heading straight for One. One simply waved her hand at it, as if swatting at a fly, and it swerved away into the arena wall. The crowd gasped.
"Watch out Aerith, we need to be careful with her," Cloud muttered from the corner of his mouth, never taking his eyes off of One. She sprinted forward and slashed at him with her claymore, nearly halving him in the process. He barely even blocked when she had brought it up again and hacked at him once more.
"Aerith! A little support here!" he grunted, blocking and parrying the blinding attacks of One. She twirled her rod and cast multiple level two spells at One. Many hit her, but they seemed not to have affected her as she continued her onslaught on Cloud. Aerith ran behind One and started using her rod as a melee weapon. One realized this and turned to her side, using her peripherals to watch them. She brought the claymore into both hands and began to deflect them both with stunning speed. Both Aerith and Cloud backed off for a moment, regaining their breath. Then Cloud rushed forward and elbowed One in the face, hard. Then he kneed her in the gut, doubling her over before doing a backflip back to Aerith.
"There, that ought to keep her in her place," Aerith said loudly. The crowd half chuckled and half hissed in sympathy. Then, One stood straight, and they saw that she had a smile on her face, sick and scary. A single droplet of blood bled from her mouth. Her tongue broke her smile and licked that drop. She smiled even wider.
"My place?" she said cruelly, almost like a cold wind. Sora was shocked. It sounded like a completely different person was talking.
"My place?" she reiterated. She sped forward, dropping the claymore behind her. She grabbed Aerith by the throat. "My place? I'll show you your place, bitch!" she screamed, launching her with one hand into the stone wall of the coliseum, shattering bricks of stone in an explosion of dust and shards of rock. As she stalked—yes, not walked but stalked—her prey, she fell to her knees and slightly screamed, clutching her head in her hands. She stayed that way for a moment while Aerith was hurried out of the coliseum by Nurse Joys. Cloud just watched as One slowly rose to her feet, walked to her claymore, and lifted it off the ground.
"For your well being. . . and mine, let's finish this," One said to her.
"Oh. . . I will," Cloud promised. They raced at each other, and before they would make contact, they jumped high into the air. Ringing metal sounded as the clashed in the air, staying uplifted by the momentum of their fighting.
"It all comes down to this. They can only stay in the air as long as their stamina holds out! The first to fall will be too tired to get up!" Mike explained. The crowd arched their necks to watch the two black silhouettes, only blots in the sky. Lightning arced around the two of them as their speed and skill increased. Cloud swung around to her right side, only for his blade to rebound off of her claymore to swing to her left side. They collaborated in upstrokes and down strokes, arcs and parries. They lowered slightly. One of them was losing the heat to keep going. Cloud laced his sword with fire as she laced hers with fire. Sparks danced and the ringing sounded musical. They were masters at sword fighting but one of them had to give. They both fell as they each reared back and then lunged forward in two massive attacks. A small shock wave came from them as their bodies, electrified and smoking, crashed into the ground. Cloud and One both rolled repeatedly, leaving their smoky weapons in the middle of the arena. They both came to a standstill.
All was quiet.
"If neither gets up, it will be a double elimination!" Chris said as Mike started counting.
"One!"
Cloud fidgeted a little. One was stock still.
"Two!"
Cloud's hands reached, spreading his fingers. His foot quivered.
"Three!"
One still hadn't moved as Cloud raised his head.
"Four!"
Cloud propped an arm on the concrete, his glove burnt and holey. One lay still.
"Five!"
Cloud got to a knee and he was trembling all over.
"Six!"
He stood up and stayed there, resting his head with his eyes shut. The crowd roared.
"Seven!"
He slowly made his way to his buster sword. One still hadn't budged as she lay face down in the concrete, smoke coming off the hem of her cloak.
"Eight!"
Cloud had reached his weapon and picked it up.
"Nine!"
The wind stirred through the coliseum and breath was held tensely.
"T—"
Suddenly, One had rolled to her weapon and sprung up with immeasurable stamina and speed. Before Cloud could realize, One had swung her claymore in mid-jump at his skull, knocking him away and into the wall with the blunt of the blade. This time there was no doubt, he had been knocked out cold.
"And, I can't believe it! One made a major comeback from what seemed like unconsciousness and has proclaimed her right to move on!" Mike announced. The crowd took a moment to realize this and then went ballistic as Nurse Joys came out to retrieve Cloud. One walked to her seat and refused to have the Nurse Joys heal her or doing anything with her for that matter. The crowd quieted down as they awaited the next match. Sora stared down the line at One in awe.
"Well everyone, that was a great match! Now, let's have Kairi go against Tidus!" Chris announced. The crowd cheered and Sora gave Kairi a reassuring smile as she walked out into the arena, her Keyblade flashing to life as Tidus drew his Brotherhood sword.
"Ready, Kai?" Tidus asked her with a smile.
"Ready," she answered.
"And don't worry, I'll go easy on ya," Tidus said to her as the match was kicked off. Kairi fumed as she sped at him, meeting him in a lock between blades. He pushed, but she pushed right back until they kicked out, separating once more.
"Fire!" Tidus shouted, firing a small projectile at Kairi. She smirked at him.
"Fira!" She yelled, launching a larger one at her adversary, infusing Tidus', and then blasting into him, forcing him back and onto his bum.
"What was that about going easy on me?" Kairi said to him. The crowd let out a collective 'ooh' at him.
"Ooh, Tidus just got, ahem, burned," Mike said. The crowd groaned.
"He jumped to his feet and went at her again, launching a Fira and following it, sword raised. She reflected the spell and then parried his attack with a side swipe. She then refocused her momentum into slicing at his side. He moved in a spin and brought his sword around to meet her in the back. She twisted and bent her arm to block the blow. Metal clashed as she reached out and punched him in the gut and kicked his leg. He retreated slightly, recovered, and then dashed at her. He jumped over her and she parried a blow from over head before he landed behind her. Just before that, she iced the ground with Blizzara, making him slip and fall when he landed. She went to bludgeon his abdomen while he was down, but he rolled away from the strike as it met the concrete.
"Fira!" he yelled, striking her in the leg. She winced in the pain of the burn, but kept up with fighting him. He sprung up and did something similar to an omnislash, repeatedly hacking at her. She blocked each one deftly.
"Time to end this," he said as he hauled back for a massive sweeping blow. She barely dodged, the tips of her hair being cut, and as she rose back up, she bludgeoned his ribs, breaking a couple. He doubled over in pain and surrendered, wanting the fight to end so he could be fixed up.
"Next time, I'll go easy on ya," she said to him while she helped put him on the cot for the Nurse Joys.
"Good job, Kai," he replied.
"And there we have it!" Chris said. "Kairi beats down Tidus to secure her next place in the tournament!"
"Yes indeed!" Mike shouted. "But now, we have one that no one will want to miss: Sora is up and he's going up against his old friends, Donald and Goofy!" The crowd gasped in shock, and then they cheered in expectation.
"What?" Sora said with a big smile.
"C'mon Sora! Let's have some fun!" Donald said to him. Goofy ahyucked.
"Yeah, Sora. Gawrsh, let's fight," he said.
"Yeah! This'll be fun!" Sora said.
"Begin!"
Sora wasted no time as he ran to them and aimed a downward slice at Goofy. Goofy easily blocked the strike. On the rebound of force, Sora jumped and tried to strike Donald from above from a flip. Donald quickly blocked it with his staff and Sora landed soon after.
"Blizzaga!" Sora shouted, aiming at them. Multiple balls and crystals of ice flew at them with force and speed. Donald cast a Firaga spell on Goofy's shield a split second later and hid behind Goofy, letting the shield take all of the force easily.
"Wow! Why didn't you ever try stuff like that before?" Sora asked as he advanced for an attack on Goofy.
"We learned things," Donald said as he blocked another swipe from Sora. Sora relaunched his attacks on the both of them, picking up speed. He added slides, jumps, spells, chains of attacks, different moves and tactics, angles of attacking . . . but nothing worked. He hadn't even touched one of them. They hadn't hit him either, but he was more skilled than they were. How was it that they could take every single thing he threw at them?
"What gives!? I know you two aren't this good!" Sora struggled to say through his panting.
"Well, to tell ya the truth, we just know ya too well, Sora," Goofy responded.
"Yeah. We fought for two years together. We know and can predict everything you do. We've seen it all!" Donald explained. Sora was dumbfounded with shock.
"Well everyone! This might be Sora's hardest fight ever! How is he supposed to fight enemies that already know what he'll do?" Chris announced.
"Come on Sora! Just think!" he heard Kairi yell at him from her seat. He looked over and smiled. CRACK! His head lolled to the side from a heavy hit of Goofy's shield.
"Ahyuck! Sorry Sora. I kinda knew you'd look to Kairi!" he said while laughing. The crowd laughed at him.
I'll show them predictable alright.
He rushed at them and started the fight again, cleaving this way and that. They blocked his physical and magical attacks cunningly and quickly. Then, suddenly, all three of the weapons met in a triangular form, locked in a battle of strength.
"Hey guys," Sora said.
"What?" they answered.
"TRINITY LIMIT!" he shouted. Realization of horror spread across their faces as he did the unexpected. In a cataclysmic explosion of light, they were flown back and across the arena, into the walls, where they crashed to the earth, knocked out. Sora smiled as he had cleverly won the round, and using his friends' powers too!
"Wow! Sora took his own friends' powers and used it against them. Who would have known that!?" Mike shouted. Sora walked to his friends and helped them up.
"Sora, how did you use that power without our help?" Donald asked confusedly.
"Well, I learned it from you two. I grew strong enough to use it on my own," Sora replied, smiling at their dumbfounded faces. The crowd roared in his victory as he waved and smiled to everyone as he took his seat next to Kairi and Roxas.
"Now we have the last battle of round two! Can we please have Riku and Alexia come out and fight!" Chris said. Riku and Alexia stood up, together, and walked out into the arena. She armed her naginata while he summoned his Way to Dawn. The two new friends faced each other down.
"Fight!"
Riku unleashed a volley of light spells, all tinged with darkness. Alexia twirled her naginata and deflected all of the bolts with her staff empowered weapon. She blocked many attacks until he did a downward swipe, the force of the attack splitting her naginata in half for her. She shrugged as she readied both melee and magic. She smiled and came at him, her right hand dealing physical blows while the left contoured into twirls of spells and magic. Riku blocked her physical attacks and evaded the magic, his skill showing. He did a roundabout kick to her gut which sent her back a little bit. She coughed as she tried to regain her breath. She looked at him and smiled slightly, but he was ready for more.
Riku rushed her again; she reassembled her naginata, and began to trade blows with him, arcing her naginata with electricity. He was shocked every time they met blades, but he shrugged it off and kept going. He then did something daring, enough to end it. He forced his will through the electricity and grabbed her naginata and took it from her, brought both blades up to her neck and held them there.
"Surrender, now," he said. And she did.
"Well! How was that for fast!" Chris shouted. They walked back to their seats. "Now, our Nurse Joys will come out here and completely refresh you all, so we may continue onto round three of THE OLYPMIAN CUP!" Mike roared with the crowd.
Nurse Joy CLXXIV came to Sora and freshened him up with a special potion of some sort. He felt heat spread through all of his body, felt his wounds heal, and he felt on top of the world, ready for round three of the Cup.
"Okay, now we have Sora right back at it against Leon!" Mike announced. Sora smiled because he knew that Leon was an admirable opponent, someone he enjoyed to fight. And someone he knew he could beat. He stood up, pumped with energy and ran to the arena, summoning his Keyblade as Leon readied his gunblade. The sun was setting. It was about five past noon. It would be night soon.
"Let's get going with round three! BEGIN!" the announcers boomed.
At first, Sora and Leon faced each other and circled slowly, using their footwork to keep them in the right position. Any slight problem with footing, and the other would have an advantage. The wind howled in the hollow of the coliseum, blowing their hair about their faces.
"Firaga!" Leon shouted suddenly, aiming at Sora's feet. Sora jumped to avoid and Leon rushed forward in a thrusting lunge, sweeping his blade upward to skewer Sora. Sora, using his unique ability, glided away from him, landing on his feet and turning swiftly to see the gleam of metal slicing at him. Sora brought his blade up and blocked Leon's, stuttering backward from the force of the hit. Sora's feet scraped the ground and he lowered his body, ducking from a horizontal slash of the gunblade. Sora arced his sword underneath, aiming at the underarm of Leon. It connected in a brutal thud. Leon backed away, clutching his armpit in pain. Green tendrils swirled about him, the process of healing beginning.
"Oh no you don't!" Sora shouted, aiming his Keyblade at him and shouting different spells, all level three. Leon cut off the Cura and began to avoid the spells, his left arm hanging with a slight limpness to it, like a half-cooked noodle. He carried his gunblade with his dominant hand, luckily. Sora iced the floor with Blizzaga and then used a Graviga in Leon's path, making him stop, slip, and slide into the Graviga, crushing him into the concrete loathsomely. The crowd roared at the display of skill.
"C'mon Leon, I know there's more to you than that!" Sora taunted. Leon smiled and cured himself as he got back up. He readied his gunblade again.
He launched at Sora in a jumping attack, where Sora parried and rolled with the momentum, springing back up onto the balls of his feet and taking the offensive. With an undercarriage swipe, he uppercut Leon with the blade, sending Leon into the air, his back arched from the blow. He used the momentum to sustain a flip and face Sora from above, firing a spell at him. Sora rolled away as the propulsion from the blast made Leon flip back around and land deftly on his feet. They both breathed heavily and faced each other with heavy eyes. They rushed at each other and began a duel of magnificent swordplay, using all of the skills they could muster. Blades gleamed and flashed and then they locked, staring at each other inches away.
"I'm about to end this," Leon said, smiling.
"Bring it," Sora said with a wider grin. Leon pushed off and from point blank range:
"FIRAGA!" A major blast ensued from them, blinding everyone temporarily. When the crowd regained their vision, Sora was standing above a downed and out Leon. He looked around with a big smile as the count was reached and Leon taken away.
"Whoa! I don't know if anyone else saw it, but since we're the announcers, we see everything!" Mike said.
"Yes! What happened was, that as soon as Leon cast his Firaga, Sora cast a Reflega. And at the point blank range, the spell rebounded and took its caster out!" Chris explained. The crowd thundered with satisfaction.
"Wow! That was a great fight. But now we move onto Riku versus One! This will definitely be a great one!" Mike said. The stands quieted down in tension at seeing One again, especially up against someone closer to her level like Riku.
She stared him down from beneath her hood and he smiled in waiting, weapons at the ready.
"Begin!"
"Let me tell you now, I do not underestimate my enemies," Riku said, stepping slowly forward.
"That's good to know," One replied. And she vanished.
"Wha—?" Riku managed to say before he was vaulted forward, due to a kick from behind. One watched him fly forward and bite the dust. He grumbled as he rose to his feet.
"You're fast," he remarked with a grin. She said nothing as she launched forward, claymore cutting downward. Riku swerved to the side, and watched as the blade barely missed him and crashed into the concrete, chipping and cracking it as it did so. He took this time and elbowed her in the back, but she did not fall forward like he intended. No, she shot back up and took him by the arm and threw him into the ground with a dull slap, knocking the air out of him in the process. His eyes shot wide open as the point of a claymore nearly split his head, had he not rolled away from it. Dirt and debris sprayed him as he got to his feet, small abrasions covering his neck and shoulders.
"Firaga!" she shouted, hurling an inferno at him. He spun away from it and he felt it singe his skin some. He shot a few spells at her and dodged hers. Before he could manage to bring his blade up, she was on him again, hacking every which way. While using one hand to sword fight, she punched him in the gut with her free hand and then kicked his leg in with her own. He stumbled but regained his balance, anger burning within him. They locked blades. He exerted power and spun her blade around and into the ground, held it there, and then backhanded her across the face with his free hand.
"Bitch!" he screamed while doing this.
Then, he felt the power lessen from her blade, as if she weren't trying anymore to push back. She just swiveled her head back to face him, a smile there, and only that.
"Bitch? Me? No. I'll show you what I truly AM!" she screamed. She stuck her claymore through the ground, where it quivered to a standstill. She kicked his Keyblade and grabbed the hand that had backhanded her. Her hand moved to his forearm and picked him up and slammed him into the concrete again, and again, and again. Then she stooped low over him and laughed a shrill laugh.
"Ahh, ahh! Stop it!" he shouted. She slowly and agonizingly took his forearm and bent it backward. The crowd was silent. The only thing that could be heard was Riku's labored breathing and small screams.
"You don't know how much of a bitch I can be!" she told him, before she kept going on. Everything was silent but the wind now.
Snap.
"AHHH!" Riku screamed into the air as the crowd winced in sympathy. His arm had broken back, at a ninety degree angle. The skin was poking where the bone tried to jut out, but couldn't quite pierce the skin.
"Give up, pretty boy!" she said, standing up and kicking him with full force, sending him into the arena wall. He screamed even more as a couple of ribs broke.
"I surrender!" he shouted. Sora was shocked into disbelief. Riku never gave up. Sora watched as One was approaching him, ready to do more, as if she never heard his surrender. But then, like earlier, she changed again, and sorrow and disgust replaced her countenance of insanity. She walked over to Riku and helped him up, carrying him to the medical ward.
And that was that.
Sora ran out to the two of them, worry and fear burning inside of him.
"How could you do such a thing? You went way too far!" Sora yelled. He watched as her frame shuddered, shaking Riku as she carried him. She was plain out sobbing.
"I- I- I- don't know what came over me. I w- was controlling it so well . . . and, I- I just lost it. I can't even remember w—" she spluttered. Sora's views changed immediately. She was crying, hard, over what she had done to Riku.
"One, what are—"
"I- I'm sorry, Riku. Sora. I'm so sorry. I promise you, Riku, that I'll fix you up. I'll fix this. I'm . . . just so sorry . . ."
And she left Sora outside the medical ward.
The crowd cheered for her show of emotion, even after she had nearly murdered Riku. Sora clapped, and was excited about facing her, that would be a lot of fun. Sora had advanced, One had advanced . . . but that left—
"Hades versus Kairi!" Mike shouted. The tension that followed was thick. Hades had nearly murdered Axel, let alone what he may do to Kairi. She gulped and summoned her Keyblade before slowly walking out into the square. She looked back to Sora and he gave her a reassuring smile. She would do well, and he knew it.
But Hades isn't a pushover, Roxas remarked.
Don't remind me, Sora answered.
"Ready! And . . . fight!"
"Come on, girlie, let's play!" he shouted before tongues of flame shot at Kairi. She skillfully rolled away from them before facing Hades again. He strutted her way, showing off his swagger with a confident grin. She would have to wipe that grin away. She rushed and rolled forward as he swiped at her with a flaming hand. It whizzed above her as she stood and brought the Keyblade into his ribs. He grunted and backed off a couple paces. The smile lessened, but was still there.
"Ooh, someone's learned how to fight? Well, let me kick it up another notch!" he shouted before flaring up even more. He launched projectiles of fire at her while closing in on Kairi, tendrils of flames swirling about him. He was making it impossible to use melee. That didn't matter.
"Blizzara!" she shouted, killing off some of the flames and stopping some of the balls from piercing into her. She shouted a Watera spell and killed the rest of the flames while also weakening him. He stumbled a little and slumped his shoulders, the shock of the spells getting to him. Kairi took the opportunity and whacked him a good one to the head, as hard as she could. He fell back and into the ground, dazed. She could almost see the stars flying around his head from the impact.
"Ooh! She packed a wallop into that hit," Mike said. The crowd supported her as she advanced. He looked up to a Keyblade whistling down at him. He smiled and disappeared in a puff of smoke, her Keyblade crashing into the ground, jarring her arms and clacking her teeth from the hit.
"Nice try, doll face," he said. She looked around to see a fist connect to her cheek, sending her fifteen feet in the other direction where she rolled in the dirt. The crowd oohed in pain. She grunted in pain as she rose to her feet.
"What do you say you just give in and get this match over with?" Hades offered. She scoffed at him.
"Fat chance," she replied.
"UGH! Fine! More pain for me to dish out!" he yelled, flaring red. He hurried at her with surprising speed and clawed at her with fiery hands. She dodged out of the way and came back up to hit him, covering her Keyblade in ice. It did minimal damage before she backed away from him.
"Feel the heat!" he shouted, launching a meteorite at her. She barely moved out of the way before casting another Watera and Blizzara spell at him. It doused him somewhat and she cracked him again in the skull. He shook it off with even more anger.
"Oh, now that DOES IT!" he screamed before vanishing in a wisp of smoke and appearing behind her. She twisted around and looked up with horror filled eyes. He was scorching red as he grabbed her right leg and beat her into the ground.
"Beg for mercy, whelp!" he shouted. She did not.
"Beg, you little pup!" He set his hand on fire, scorching her leg. She screamed in pain, tears flying from her face as she crashed into the ground again, splitting her head open. Blood dripped freely.
"Beg for your life!" he screamed again, intensifying the flames on her right leg. He smacked her into the cold concrete again. Skin melted off of her flesh. The smell of burnt meat filled the air.
"I give! I give! Please stop!" she screamed through her sobs.
"Good puppy," he said quietly, launching her into the arena wall before disappearing.
All was silent.
Nurse Joys ran out to grab Kairi and take her to the medical ward. Sora jumped out of his seat, worry for her taking over his anger. He had to make sure she was alright before Aerith stopped him.
"Don't worry, they'll take care of her. You have a match soon," she said. And just as Aerith explained this to him, he was given a refreshing potion.
"I don't know what to say about what just happened folks, but let's move on and forget about it. Next we have Sora versus One! Everyone has been waiting for this one to happen! Will Sora continue on into the finals to go up against Hades? Or will One end his streak in the semifinals!? It all comes down to this!" Mike announced.
Sora, wanting to get this over, walked into the arena. The smell of Kairi's burnt flesh lingered like trash that needed to be thrown out. One had her claymore at the ready. He watched Riku walk out, fine as can be. He smiled.
"I forgive you for what you did. You healed Riku. Let's do this," Sora told her, the Oblivion flashing to existence.
"I'm ready to test your limits," she replied. And once again, "I'm sorry."
"Begin!"
*Cue some hardcore battle music, if you want*
She dashed forward with a lunge of her claymore aimed for Sora's abdomen. He sidestepped and cast a Fira spell at her exposed back. It crashed into her and she stumbled forward a bit before turning around.
"First, we start with sword and foot work," she said, launching into an incredible display of offense. The claymore arced at his neck. He twisted his foot and body to evade, bringing his own blade around to aim at where her kidney would be. She deftly parried with astonishing speed and he rebounded from her. He used this force to reapply his arc toward her thigh. She vaulted up on one leg like a ballerina, twirled around and then kicked him in the back. He rolled forward with it and sprung upward and twisted back around to see her coming at him again, already. He blocked every blow she sent his way, fast and eager. She launched high up into air and plummeted back at him. He rolled out of the way and came right back. He swung downward, only for her boot to bat the Keyblade away. She stood upside down, outstretched off her blade. She looked at him and flipped in the air, wrenching her blade from the ground. She hauled it back and continued the onslaught.
The whistling sheen of metal crashed into his blade, sending sparks into the ruddy and orange sky. The sun was setting at about seven after noon. Night was coming. They uppercut each other at the same time and began a duel in the air, just like she had earlier. He took his blade in both hands and began a battle of skill and speed. Each hit was blurred in lines and arcs of blades. Sweat sprayed off of them as claymore and Keyblade raced and danced in the air. She began to twirl in the air as they slowly descended. Each hit and attack was planned articulately, he parried each one, but with difficulty. She was good! They landed and he had to regain his breath, but she wouldn't let him. He was pushed back many feet from a hard punch to the gut. Blood dripped a tad from his mouth.
"You're better than I thought," she said.
"Same right back at ya," he replied.
"But I'm not done," she said, dashing at him with incredible speed and stamina. He looked to his friends split seconds before and saw Goofy cheering him on.
A light bulb went off in his head.
"VALOR!" he yelled. In a flash of dazzling light, he had changed his appearance and powers to that of his Valor form. The Oblivion and Oathkeeper were in his hands. One stopped in her tracks, confused as to what just happened.
"Let's go," he said with a smile.
He launched quickly at her, bringing both blades down a once. She horizontally brought hers up and blocked them, before ducking underneath a swipe and blocking another slice. He moved faster and his footwork was unmatched. He hacked and sliced and ran and battered at her. But, surprisingly enough, she kept up with everything he threw at her. He kicked it up another level. He backed up, caught himself on his toes, threw the Oathkeeper at her and then somersaulted over her, starting a sword fight with her in the air. The Oathkeeper returned to him and he battled her. She looked completely straight up to fight him as he fought at her from above, upside down, the pure force of the fight keeping him sustained. She strained a little, and he took the advantage. He brought himself down and swiped at her abdomen with both blades, sending her flying back. She coughed a bit of blood up and looked at him as he reverted back into his normal state.
"That was very good. But now, let's go for the magic," she said, throwing her claymore to the side and lighting both of her hands up with magic. Sora readied himself once she started flinging projectiles of magic and power at him, all different elements. All of them were level three! He ducked and rolled and cast many Reflera spells. He was able to bat away some pieces with his Keyblade, but that was not enough. He sent some of his own back, and they hit her. She stopped her onslaught and he took the moment to breathe. The roar of the crowd was only background noise at this moment.
"Let's kick it up," she said. With that, the dust around her blew away as an invisible force pushed it away. Sora watched as she levitated in the air and her arms laced with magic. Wind rushed around her and then Sora noticed as the protective barriers went up, the contestants being led behind it. Pieces of magic formed around her, spells sustained in the air. She levitated a bit higher and then stopped. It was like a rushing tornado in the arena, all pieces and elements of magic brimming around her. And then it all rushed his way in a titanic tidal wave of magic and power. He was hit by a lot of it, dodged a lot of it, and had to Reflect the rest. But it just kept coming. It reminded him of the first time he had ever fought Maleficent.
"Enough! WISDOM!" he shouted, driving into his Wisdom form, his Star Seeker summoned to his hand. He glided on invisible skates of magic, doing flips and loops of fun while shooting bolts of pure magic at One. Once again, she was shocked, and in that moment of shock, she was barraged by the bolts of his blade. She snapped out of it and their trading of spells became stronger. This kept up until Sora landed a hit onto her head, knocking her down. The magic faded and so did his Wisdom form.
HoL:TS
Wow, how was he so good? How can he have so many tricks up his sleeve?
Just let me take over and it will be over in a second, she said to One.
No! I'm not letting you hurt anyone else! One argued back. One lunged at Sora with her claymore, lacing it with fire as she fought him. He managed to deal a blow to her ribs and another to the head.
Leave me alone! You're distracting me.
No, I'm helping you! I'm taking over!
HoL:TS
"Enough shit, boy! I'm ending this one," One said. Sora knew that tone now. He knew this could be his end, so he had to end it first.
"MASTER!" he shouted, and in a blazing flash of yellow and gold, he turned into his Master form, ready to take her down.
"Ooh, someone grew a pair? Now we're talking!" she said as she lunged for him.
He floated into the air and started causing havoc in all ways he could think of, adding spells everywhere and adding physical hits he could get to her. The entire time, her hood stayed on, still concealing her features. She jumped up and struck him down into the concrete. He almost screamed from the pain of it before he rolled away from something that most surely would have killed him. He raised his Keyblades and fired all sorts of spells at her. She laughed maniacally, dismissing each one. She sped forward and knocked the blades away, reverting him back into a normal form. He looked up as she stood above him.
"Time to DIE!" she screamed bringing the claymore up. He braced for the impact.
"NO!" One screamed and the claymore clanged to the ground. "No! I will NOT let you hurt him!" One screamed to herself. Sora got to his knees and looked at her. He saw a gleam of violet eyes and then nothing more. Tears sparkled as she closed those eyes and stood up. She picked up her claymore and looked straight at Sora.
And with the most humble and depressing voice Sora had ever heard:
"I surrender."
And she walked away.
The crowd was in silent shock as the barriers came down. One went and sat in her seat, leaving Sora on his knees, wondering as to what just happened. The crowd then erupted into a typhoon of applause and cheering, for both him and One.
"HOLY BLEEPING DOUGHNUTS! Yes, I just censored myself! That was the best match in the coliseum's history! And it ended so anticlimactically. Now, ladies and gentlemen, we have another half hour intermission before the finals with Sora against Hades!" Mike shouted.
Sora's friends ran up to him and congratulated him, though he didn't truly win, but he didn't think about that right now. He needed to see Kairi. He ran off, leaving his friends behind, and went into the medical ward. Pink hair was everywhere, but soon enough he found Kairi. A Nurse Joy gave him a refresher before he sat down next to Kairi.
"Hey Sora! Did you beat One?" she asked. Sora told her he would talk about it later, but he was moving on and Kairi squealed with delight.
"Now I know you can beat Hades! They said I can come out for the finals. The thing is, since Hades burnt me with his own magic, they said it just has to heal over time, but it will be fine. Just a month of bandaging and medicine and I'll be good as new. But it's going to be horrible until then.
"I'm sorry," Sora replied. She furrowed her eyes.
"For what?" she replied.
"That I couldn't do anything," he told her. He subconsciously held her smooth cheek in his hand and stroked it with a thumb.
"And now you know how I felt," she told him before their friends burst in. He quickly withdrew his hand and blushed slightly, but not before seeing her do the same. It turned out that Sora did not need to tell her what had happened in his fight, because his friends did it for him. The half hour passed and they all headed back out, Kairi included. She limped, but she could walk on her own and that was a good sign.
"It's now eight o'clock! The sun is down and night is encroaching! We have the last fight of the night and the CUP! Let's have Sora and Hades fight it up!" Chris announced. The crowd was deafening, but Sora shrugged it off. A mixture of anger and resoluteness bubbled in him. He was going to win. He was going to set things right. No one . . . no one hurts his friends.
"Ah, the itty-bitty Keybrat. Let's get this show going!" he shouted, flaring up.
"You're right! FINAL FORM!" Sora shouted. In a boisterous and magnificent burst of white light, Sora emerged in his Final form, floating off the ground and Keyblades flying around him.
"Oh geez Louise, kid," Hades said, going red. And they begun.
A massive fireball was flung at Sora. The two Keyblades crossed through it, destroying it as Sora sped forward. He used his fists and fought Hades while the Keyblades flew around, either hitting Hades or blocking blows from him. They even cast spells as Sora manhandled Hades in a duel of fisticuffs. Sora zoomed with a flipping kick, sending Hades way back and onto the ground. But Sora didn't stop there. He sped forward and pummeled Hades into the dirt, kicking him, punching him, everything. Sora completely let go and destroyed Hades.
"I've beaten you three times before! What did you think would be different? What has made. You. So. Happy. All. Day?!" Sora shouted in intervals, repeatedly kicking Hades.
"Oh, hehe, you'll see. Because I quit!"
"Wait, what?!" Sora said. He reverted and dropped to the ground and the stands went insane!
"And here we have it! Hades has given up for no apparent reason and that's all she wrote! It's over! SORA WINS THE OLYMPIAN CUP!" the announcers shouted. Hades stood up and brushed the dirt from him.
"But I—"
Clap. Clap. Clap.
The arena died down as all eyes were drawn to the entrance. Everyone stared as some man had entered the coliseum gates, clapping a golfer's clap and wearing the biggest grin in the world.
"Bravo, Sora. Bravo!" he said, letting his clap die away. Everyone watched in silence as Sora moved to the center of the arena. Hades followed him.
"So, you won?! Huh? That's just great! Woohoo for the great and legendary Sora! But, and here's the kicker . . . who cares? Why does someone care so much as to win something like a hunk of metal sitting on a block of wood? No. I'll tell you what the real trophy is . . . it's your dreams. Getting what you want outta life, right Hades?" the man said. Hades only chuckled.
"Who are you and what do you want?" Sora yelled at him. He looked at Sora with that smile and brought upon his purple gloved hands.
"Well, what I want is to have FUN! I want to have fun with what's going to happen in my life. I want fun, and well, chaos, but that's just a detail to the big scene. I'm a lot like my brother, Kefka! Who I am, on the other hand, well, you can call me The Joker!" he said.
The Joker was a man, obviously, dressed in quite the snappy purple suit. A dark vest was underneath and his purple gloves accentuated with his black boots. A tie was pressed in and his green hair was something to marvel at. His white face, no doubt makeup, was crazy with a big red smile added to finish the deal. Black and smudged eyes stared down at Sora. He looked like a clown, and from what Sora remembered of Kefka's description, he was a clown too.
That was fitting.
"I came to congratulate you, Sora," he said. And he turned away, walking back out. But he stopped and faced everyone again in the horseshoe shaped arena. He was facing the bend of the U.
"I almost forgot one little thing," he said, using his hands as accentuating body language. He reached into his purple tailcoat's pocket and retrieved a small remote. "I bid you all adieu!" he said. He spun in an about-face on the heel of his black boots. And as he walked out of the stadium, directly under the arch, he hoisted his right hand and flicked his wrist, pushing the button on the remote.
And it began.
Explosions rocked the bend of the U in the coliseum. Out of instinct, the contestants ran to the middle of the arena, closely followed by the Radiant Garden gang. Some bystanders got out, but it was all too late. From the middle of the U, explosions went off, decimating the stands and killing all that stood in them. From there they arched around in sync, exploding at the same time. The announcers, Chris and Mike, were engulfed in an inferno and explosion, murdering them instantly. Screams and cries racketed off the stone as the coliseum was brought down, taking the innocent with it. Fires spewed and raged uncontrollably as debris flew everywhere. The explosions were deafening and Sora had to evade many pieces of rock from the concussive explosions. Blood splattered the ground, along with chunks of flesh and bone from men, women, and children alike. It was a slaughterhouse of explosions. Sora almost vomited. He could not bear to hear the cries of death.
"OH, and if that's not enough, this world is MINE!" Hades shouted. Heartless emerged from everywhere, devouring hearts. "Sora, you won the battle, but I have won the WAR!" he shouted. Darkness grew around them, beginning to envelope the coliseum.
"Kids, we need to go, NOW!" Merlin said. A woman accompanied him.
"What're you tal—" Sora began.
Everything became black.
TUH: Told ya it was obvious
TUH: RIP Mike and Chris.
TN: Yeah, they were brave souls to the end.
TUH: Am I the only one who smiled when Riku's Arm went "snap"?
TN: I did when I wrote it . . .
TUH: Christina is the real winner!
TN: No.
TN: Okay, some explanations concerning the next chapter . . .
The next chapter of Harbinger of Light: The Shattering will be on January 1, 2014. Before you all go crazy and murder us, this is because the next chapter will be purely I'ltorien. As you all know, Herald writes I'ltorien. But he also writes over 9000 other stories. So it'll be a while before we have another chapter. Take this time to enjoy your holidays, and who knows, read his fics?
There will be a Christmas special for Harbinger, so be on the lookout!
May the Love of Anuwëy guide you when all Hope is lost
TorNathan
The Unknowing Herald