A/N: Hey everybody!
Round 4 officially begins now.
As round 4 begins, Artemis makes the first move, but not with an attack, but by heavily concentrating, placing her bow infront of her, as she chants.
"By the goddess' moon, I pray thee!" Artemis then makes a sudden quick motion, putting her bow to her side. When she finishes, a greenish-blue aura surrounds her eyes.
Concentration: Trueshot
"Well, this is new folks!" Heimdall comments. "Rather than attack first, Artemis has concentrated her strength into her shots!"
"As expected, dear sister." Apollo smiles. "You always were one for concentration and focus."
"As it should be." Says a woman in the stands. The woman wore her brown hair in a simple ponytail, wore a brown, thigh-length Greek dress, with matching forearm guards. "No one should expect nothing less from our mistress."
Greece's Most Skilled Huntress
Atalanta (Greece)
"I'm impressed." Jeanne smiles. "A true warrior always focuses on their aim before taking the first strike."
"I'm flattered that you think so." Artemis smirks "But you're not going to be for long. With my concentration, the only way for you to dodge would be if you were a goddess yourself!"
Jeanne's smile morphs into her own smirk. "Is that so? Well then, consider it done."
Artemis withdraws a couple arrows, before she strikes the heads against the arena ground, catching fire, before nocking them unto her bow, "I heavily detest fire of any kind, but right now, these ones will serve me well."
Searing Light
Artemis shoots the arrows, and they move quickly, sailing through the arena in a uniform fashion, leaving flame trails that scorch the ground underneath. The arrows make contact, before exploding into a light so powerful and bright, everyone is forced to cover their eyes.
Artemis smirks, satisfied with her work. "Hardly worth the effort."
"Is that so?" a voice begins. "Then you should really be more confident in your work. I think it was very impressive."
The light clears, revealing small, smoldering craters, smoke emitting from them
The gods in the arena are left speechless, when Jeanne emerges, hardly scratched, her eyes glowing a fiery aura.
"Unbelievable!" Heimdall commentates. "Jeanne has managed to dodged Artemis fiery shots."
"No!" Artemis grunt. "But how?"
"There's one thing about me that a lot of people tend to forget." Jeanne begins. "I was born with an incredible ability. I had the gift of Visionary Oversight. I could always predict scenarios and outcomes, right down to the very last detail."
Jeanne breaths for a while.
"So much so that after my death, I was given the honor of being part of the Sainthood."
The rest of humanity's audience cheers for Jeanne's reveal and power, while the gods stand there in shock.
"What? A human being a part of the gods?! That's bullshit!" cried out a god in the stands.
"Hell yeah!" A human cries out in cheer. "That's our heroine for you."
"So, you have the power of the gods on your side…" Artemis realized, before a smirk appears on her mouth. "Such a shame though. You would've been a great combatant for us gods."
"I admire your offer ma chérie, but my duty lies with humanity." Jeanne bows. "And I believe that it is my turn now."
Jeanne lowers her lance forward, then charges forward, as light energy gathers around its tip.
Angel's Blessing – Sainte Gréve
'A physical melee strike hmm?' Artemis sees. 'Sorry. But that will never work against me.'
As Jeanne draws closer, Artemis sets her bow on the ground, as several, sharp, branch-like prongs sprout out.
Actaeon's Vengeance - The Stag that Guards His Lands
As Jeanne charges, the prongs grow longer and sharper, Jeanne sees this, and stops herself immediately, digging her heels into the ground. But her reflexes were not fast enough, and found several parts of her body impaled by the prongs.
"Talk about defense being the best offense!" Heimdall comments. "Artemis' defensive shield has managed to wound Jeanne in several places!"
"YOU GOT THIS LADY ARTEMIS!" Artemis hunting party cheers from the audience.
"Mistress, I believe in you!" Atalanta shouts out loud.
"Beautiful work my dear sister!" Apollo chimes from the VIP section, as Zeus cheers on for his daughter. All the while Ares groans at his brothers' comments.
"I should congratulate you there." Artemis speaks from behind her bow. "Charging headfirst against someone who uses long range weaponry. That's very bold of you."
Artemis the loads another searing arrow. "Too bad that has made you a sitting duck for this one. Do educate me on how you plan on dodging this."
"BAHAHAHA! So much for making a comeback you pitiful humans!"
"This was barely worth the waiting!"
Artemis launches the arrow, while Jeanne is still trapped, impaled by the prongs, but is not the least bit worried.
"My apologies there, but I was not finished."
Pierre notices his sister's face, and smiles knowingly. "I've seen that look sis. You always were one step ahead."
Her hand still gripping her lance, the light charge finishes, before shooting out in a concentrated beam. The beam makes contact with the fired arrow, and with a shake, a flash, and a crackle, the two explode, launching Jeanne away.
Jeanne stumbles and rolls back, but she does a kip-up, back to her feet. Parts of her armor are scorched, but she has no fatal damage, apart from a few prongs still embedded into her skin, and scorched portions of her armor.
"Looks like I spoke to soon folks!" Heimdall announces. "Despite her situation, Jeanne was able to make a comeback!"
Hrist manifests for a while. "Heh! Pretty gutsy move back there, kid!"
"I told you Lady Hrist," Jeanne replies back. "Don't underestimate me."
"Yes! Let's go Jeanne!"
"Don't count her out just yet you spiteful gods!"
Back in the stands, the two Valkyrie sisters stood there. Goll continues to cheer on for both Jeanne and Hrist, while Brunhilde smirks.
"That is what she gets for underestimating Hrist's power. Because Hrist's name means "The Trembling One be that with Fear or Anger", Hrist's ability allows her to adapt to the situation when necessary."
Meanwhile, Outside the Arena
Sun Wukong was away from the arena, in one of the hidden gardens, lying on the grass eating some its peaches, as well as some other snacks that he had brought with him.
"Enjoying yourself there my friend?" a voice asks, prompting Sun to immediately sit back up.
The voice belonged to a tall, muscular god wearing rose-tinted glasses. His white and dark blue hair tied into a bun-like hairstyle, with a bindi on his forehead. A lollipop in his mouth, with pronounced canines.
The god wore a dark blue tank top with a rabbit design on it with the writing "USACHAN" with an orange sash around his arms, and a combination of white and purple robes around his waist, along with a pair of blue sandals.
The Enlightened One
Buddha (Nepal)
"Buddha!" Sun speaks. "Didn't expect to see you here."
"Well, that's usually my spot." Buddha simply says, as calm as ever, before he sits beside him. "But I'll allow it for the time being."
Let me guess," Buddha starts again. "Not gonna watch the rest of the tournament?"
"Nah… I couldn't give a shit." Sun lays back down, before he turns his head. "I take it you have the same feelings?"
Buddha chuckles "You know me friend, I do what I want." He finishes as he takes a fig from one of Sun's piles of food.
A brief pause
Buddha notices Sun's expression. "Still bummed about Perseus? Yeah, I get it. But there's something more now, isn't there?"
Back in the Arena
Both Artemis and Jeanne stop for a while to recover from the past attack. Jeanne carefully pulls out the last of the prongs off of her body leaving a few puncture wounds, but none were fatal.
Artemis was less harmed, but still had a few of her own prongs on her body, spilling golden ichor.
"After such an attack, both combatants are taking a much-needed breather." Heimdall starts. "From being one-sided, to anyone's game. Folks, I don't think this fight will end anytime soon."
"Damn right it won't…" Jeanne huffs, as she steadies herself.
"It better not." Artemis starts, doing the same 'She's more worth it that I thought…'
A/N: And we're clear!
Finally! I got this chapter done. I had way too much trouble fixing this chapter up. Nothing that I was writing made any sense, and had to be rewritten several times.
Also, I really need to broaden my Google searches when looking for audience members, because that is exactly how Atalanta came up. Plus, she's a devout follower of Artemis, so that was a nice bonus.
Also, also, I know Hrist is functioning differently here than she does in the official canon, but in my defense, I can see the name meaning of the Valkyries being interpreted in several ways. *cough*Gondul*cough*
Next time, Artemis' backstory. And oh boy! It's gonna be a doozy.
Anyways, until next time, BYE!
