Golden Gate Empire [IC / No Longer Accepting / PG - 16]

[Mr. Hyde]

 

Zyg woke up later than usual.  He hurriedly gathered himself from his leaf nest and ran to the door.  "I'm going to be late for the second round!"  Suddenly, his left leg stopped moving.  He snorted as he realized, "Oh..that is correct.  I have been eliminated..."  He laughed to himself.  Just like the first round, the t.v. had been switched onto the channel displaying the contestants and their match-ups.  

 

"Those guys must have been really something too move on to the next round.  Honestly, i'm quite jealous."  The functions in his left leg started up again, and he was finally able to make his way out of the room.  Walking down the hallway, he could see the cavalcade of fans cheering for him.  

 

"Look!  It's the Zyg!  The most interesting competitor!"  Zyg made noises that replicated laughter again.  He spoke to the crowd.  

 

"I'm not a competitor anymore dear friends.  Today i'll be watching along side you."  He waved his large raptor claws to the flashing lights.  Nothing he wasn't used to by now.  "Now if you'd excuse me, I'm going to have to go find a dear friend of mine!"  Zyg raced along the hallways to meet up with the only other person he knew around here.  Sadly, he didn't know where Morgan's room was precisely.  He would just run around until he found her.  

 

 

 

A giant rock.  Immortal..Immovable.  

A golden Helmet.  Graceful..Holy.  

 

Elspire splashed a pool of water into his face.  That was such a strange dream he had had last night.  "This is it..."  Elspire looked towards his reflection in his personal bathroom mirror.  "I've come too far to lose now.  I'm not losing 'til i get to the top!"  Determination glowed in his eyes.  He dawned his normal attire, the button up with no t-shirt under it, and white cargo shorts.  He had forgot to wash it since his fight with Ublik, and it was stained with purple splotches.  "Those aren't ever coming out..." he sighed.  A noise came from his bedroom, and a lone baby dragon had made itself comfortable on a pillow.  He had grown so big since he had emerged from his shell.  It almost made Elspire wonder where he would put him when he was even older.

 

"I gotta win this...for Stratos too!"  The sound of it's name made the baby dragon twitch it's ears and yawn.  

 

"Bormah?!"  It said tiredly, but with gusto. 

 

"Now in english!" Elspire said with a finger pointed up.

 

"Rrrrrr....Father!"  Elspire rubbed the dragon's head. 

 

"Pruzah kul...Good son."  He pointed towards the television that he and Stratos had been watching the past couple of days.  "Bormah's going to be on that today...I need you to be a good boy and stay here for a bit while I take care of some business."  The baby dragon nodded.  

 

"Bo zek das."  It said with sad eyes.  Elspire gave Stratos a thumbs up.  

 

"I will...soon!"  He had opened the door, making sure no one outside would be able to see Stratos within.  The majority of screaming came from girls from the E.F.C.  He had to plug his ears while being escorted to the elevator, his eardrums were being rocked by the shrill screeches and disturbing moans coming from the crowd.  As he entered, he nervously smiled towards his adoring fans, showing off his sharp and pearly whites.  Pairs upon pairs of underwear had been thrown into the elevator, from girl and guy fans alike.  Some of the girls had also already fainted by this point.  The trip to the rooftop took longer than usual.  His stomach was in knots, he knew nothing about his opponent, but depending on the ratio of males to females, he was most likely going to be put up against a girl.  He sighed.  "Sorry mom...looks like I have to use force against another lady."  He had defeated many to get this far.  One more wouldn't weigh down too much on his soul.  

 

He stepped out onto the rooftop, where the afternoon breeze once again blew his hair every which way.  He took in a deep breath and boarded his helicopter.  "Hello gentlemen...let's say we head off to this place then?"  The pilots smiled.  In the back of their heads, they knew having a winner from the last round aboard their flight ensured their safety.  Especially such a powerful contestant as Elspire Ferdinand.  

 

"Alright Elspire, sir!  Off to the arena!"  With that, the blades rotation was fast enough to achieve liftoff.  With a heavy in and out breath, Elspire prepared himself for his next tournament match.  

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

"Hey who's that?"
"Aww she's cute is she a, what's that called, cosplayer?"
"You're right she looks like Morgan! But what's up with those things on her legs?"
"It's cute, you're just upset because you love 'Morgan's amazingly bare legs' "
"Hey! You're the one who was going on about Tyson's 'sexy shaved head' "
"I told you never to mention that again!"

Vena Reaperson sighed with annoyance. These idiots were getting in the way. They separated her and Morgan and that was NOT acceptable. She’d have just knocked them all aside if not for the fact daddy had only let her come here on the condition she follow Gerald’s rules.
As much as she’d love to ignore these orders to sweep these fools aside, maybe break some bones while she was at it, she literally couldn’t.

But she could do...this. Vena’s leg suddenly stretched out and carried her above the crowd, who started making surprised noises as she used this to step over them and get closer to the door where her precious sister might be laying in bed all comfy and cozy and probably with bed head and and. Vena suddenly squealed in excitement and rushed to the door, right past the pair of guards who were keeping the crowd at bay.

They turned to her as she landed but she ignored them, the only thing that mattered was what’s behind this door. And so she began knocking on it. “Siiis, siiiiiiiiiiis!” She called out, halting the guards and the crowd as they all began to murmur in confusion.

---

Morgan stared at the screen, toe tapping a violent and angry beat upon the floor. She had taken a shower and had just came out while wrapped in a towel when the TV started announcing things for the second round. She was mostly ignoring it, didn’t have to do with her so why bother? But then the polls popped up.

And that’s when she went from annoyed to angry. “How the hell am I not best dressed? That stupid loser got it...and that one! Wasn’t she like, wearing nothing? How did they beat my fashion sense? Whoever voted must’ve been blind...” A slight grin replaced her anger when the results of best couple showed up. At least that was going well, though they had his name first, ugh.
“I’m not even on the LIST for appealing attacks? Are you kidding me? My moves are all sorts of appealing dammit!” She stomped her foot in frustration, very nearly frying the TV where it stood.
But then a knock and a startlingly familiar voice at the door distracted her from the farce of a poll.

She went to the door and threw it open, indifferent to the fact she was dressed only in a fluffy white towel, to see the excited face of her flesh golem, Vena. A confused second past before the tiny girl let out a shout of joy and flying tackled Morgan.
The young witch only barely managed to stay standing while the girl clung tight to her. Morgan glanced up to see the crowd, who seemed extra excited to see her for some reason.
Whatever, more publicity. Morgan waved and beamed at them, before speaking to the guards. “Don’t you worry this is perfectly okay. Just my little sister after all.” She then patted Vena’s head which made her face light up and brought an amused, but fond, laugh out of Morgan.

Morgan closed the door and took some time extracting Vena from her, putting her hands on the younger girl’s shoulder. “Vena, sweetie, what are you doing here?” She took some time to examine the girl. Vena had a tendency to get overzealous, and sometimes break something, and Morgan didn’t want her little pet sister hurt. She’d probably have to kill everyone in the hallway just in case they had something to do with it.

Luckily it seemed Vena was unharmed, and indeed looked simply brimming with energy. “Daddy said it was okay to come visit you and I was s’posed to just wait out there for you but I just had to had to had to see you right away!”

Morgan smiled and kissed Vena’s forehead, causing the girl to squirm and giggle with joy. “You probably should have just waited but...I’m happy to see you. Even if it’s after I lost...”

“It’s okay big sis! I know you just did it as part of your grand master plan!” Vena stage-whispered dramatically.

“You know it.” Morgan whispered back with a wink. “But I’m not sure what to do now, don’t want to just wait around here but...” It would be a pain to have to worry about Vena going off on one of her hunts for amusement. Usually Morgan encouraged it but here...Morgan’s eyes settled on an envelope on the floor. A red one, strange.

She picked it up and checked. While she read Vena scooted herself in between Morgan’s outstretched arms and Morgan subconsciously pulled her in a hug while still reading. “Guest commentator hmm...” Morgan looked down at Vena, who looked up at the same time, and continued. “Looks like my time in the spotlight is far from over. Let’s go sweetie looks like we found ourselves something to do.”
Morgan changed into her usual outfit, not minding Vena’s stares as she did, and then threw open the door.

She started to stroll right on past the guards but they stopped her. “Ma’am we’re supposed to accompany you to keep you safe on your way to the skybox.”

“Pfft like she needs you for that.” Vena said, blowing a raspberry at the guard. “Especially when she’s got me!” The guards looked to one another, obviously not impressed.

Morgan chuckled. “Appearances can be deceiving boys.” She patted Vena’s head, earning an “Aww” from the crowd. “Vena here is better protection for me than every guard this hotel’s got. Buuut if you’re thaaat worried I suppose I’ll just have to crank it up a notch.”

Morgan clapped her hands together and, in the usual swirl of dust and bone, Mr Bonejangles was formed right before their eyes. The crowd grew excited, half in fear, half in admiration. It helped that the skeleton wasn’t quite as large as usual and was sporting a suit made famous by a classic movie character. “You two can keep guarding my room, I’ve got all the protection I could ever want right here.” The guards seemed to know better than to argue so they just stood there while Morgan snapped her fingers and Mr. Bonejangled picked her up in both his arms.
She really needed to get a new broom, but for now this mode of transportation wasn’t bad.

And so they headed out, Witch, Skeleton, and with Flesh Golem sister skipping along happily besides them, towards the spectator box. Gerald had likely anticipated this outcome and had included a set of directions which Morgan, or rather Mr. Bonejangles, followed. “Showtime.” She said with barely concealed excitement.

[Dad]

Outside the Golden Gate Hotel

 

Saul, Vena, and Morgan had arrived on the strip of the hotel beneath a lavish awning.  Before them, a beautiful lawn stretched into the daylight, curving to the contours of the pavement that surrounded it for patrons.  In the center of the lawn was a single large landing pad, where a helicopter awaited them both, this one much different from the others.  An excited Gerald waved to them from inside the helicopter's passenger seat, with Steph waiting patiently to take the vehicle skywards.  They were greeted by an enormous crowd, who had to be held back by barricades and armed guards, as they cheered for the trio.  

 

"Morgan we love you!"

 

"Vena is too cute!"

 

"Saul, can I shake your hand!?  Will it hurt!?  I want it to hurt!"

 

The trio were whisked down a man made line directly to the helicopter, where they were ushered aboard.  Vena was sat in the middle, with Saul and Morgan on either side of her.  Gerald gave Steph the thumbs up, before turning to Morgan, Vena, and Saul.  He motioned towards headsets on the helicopter, so that they could speak with each other over the loud roar of the vehicle and the skies.  "And who's this little one?" Gerald said, despite knowing who she was.  He meant to pique her curiosity.  "You must be excited to be here, I bet!" he said with a smile.  "It's a pleasure to have you all on board.  We'll be arriving at the Skybox in a little under ten minutes.  So relax for now, and we'll be on our way to the Skybox."

 

Their trip was brief, with a fantastic view over the ever expanding city of San Francisco.  The Golden Gate bridge spanned into the horizon, the warm glow of the sun illuminating it brilliantly.  The city was alive and bustling with thousands of cars going to and from their places of work.  And ahead of them now, was the tallest structure on Earth:  The San Francisco Sky Theater.  It closely resembled the Space Needle, identical in color and shape.  However, at its mid way point, the structure split in two, continuing to rise even into the clouds.  Standing at more than fifteen thousand feet, the Sky Theater loomed over San Francisco as a giant. 

 

The helicopter would land precisely at seven thousand, five hundred feet, on a landing pad specifically made for them.  At this point, the commentators would exit the helicopter, duck beneath a long, metallic covering, and enter into the cool, but refreshingly brisk building.  An elevator lie directly ahead of them, to take them to the top floor.  

 

If anyone was to reach the top floor from the first, they would have to take the express elevator, excluded and sat aside from the Theater itself.  The express elevator is a large, extended elevator in both height, width, and depth, and reaches every floor on the Theater, right until the second to top floor.  From there, those who took the express elevator would walk out over an extended cat-walk, and into the next level.  They would climb a single flight of stairs where they would meet the entrance to the Show Room, where broadcasts for the Golden Gate Secret Cup Tournament were beginning to display.

 

As Steph, Gerald, Vena, Morgan, and Saul entered the Show Room, they were greeted by a clear glass view overlooking most of California.  The glass pane before them was incredibly powerful, enough to resist missile impact and was in fact their viewing screen.  It stretched around the room, and created a perfect circle of viewing for every perspective.  The room expanded two roughly four hundred square feet, allowing movement room, as well as accompanying a caster desk.  Equipped with smaller monitors, the caster desk had the ability to highlight any point of any particular match-up at any time, in addition to creating replays and polls.  There were four caster desks, but only three of which would be occupied.  

 

In the center of the room a large command console sat, in a half-oval shape, meant for Gerald.  Taking his place, he began flicking switches and pressing buttons.  Instantly, the glass view around Morgan, Saul, and Vena went black, as the satellites aligned to create a now static screen.  The screen flashed over the various arenas, briefly giving views of each to the casters, and now to the world.  Gerald took a seat, and instructed Steph, Morgan, and Saul to do so as well.  "We'll be live shortly, ladies and gents, so I hope you're ready!  Remember, this is not scripted.  Everything is live and raw.  It's going to be fun!  The entirety of the world will be hearing your voices.  You'll be able to either cast independently, or with others.  If you choose to cast independently, there's a switch on the far right side of your desk.  Flicking it will bring down a noise proof booth around you and allow you to cast at your own pace.  Other than that, operating the microphone is as simple as speaking into it.  It is automatic and will only pick up your voices and commentary.  Right now, they are off but I will turn them on momentarily.

 

You have the option to create polls that will move across the bottom of the various streams for viewers to participate in.  It's quite fun," Gerald said with a giggle.  "I will be turning on the microphones shortly, at which time we'll introduce the matches of the day, talk about our expected winners and thing of that nature.  Let's get situated."

[Cosmo.]

Odette was annoyed at Morgan's attitude, so she walked away giving her the meanest of looks and spent the rest of the banquet chatting with others.

 

--------------

Morning 9:00 AM

A few days passed since the banquet, she went training and her powers increased. She could feel the new energy rushing through her veins and was ready to face anyone. She got up and went into the shower, obviously looking if there were any undesired views.

 

10:55 AM

Odette was laying on her bed, eating the breakfast she ordered in her room, while suddenly the tv turned on. "Okay, yes, the usual opening with the trumpets but get to the interesting part already!" she said. Now the battles were right there, on the screen. "Odette Chrysalis VS. Nori Amasuka" "She's one of the blue-haired girls! Although, she doesn't look like the one i'm interested in, anyway, let's hope everything goes fine, and by fine i mean to be able to get to the end of the day."  Then the poll results came up, she didn't care for most of them except for one, best dressed. Odette took much pride in her outift, and when she saw that she was behind that witch, she was mad beyond any limits. "That witch over me?! She's wearing an halloween costume, for Odin's sake! I bet it's because she has bigger boobs than me!" She then noticed the time and got out of the door, ready for the second round to start. The trip of the elevator wasn't very smooth with a few assaults from the fans, but luckily not as many as other contestants.

 

She arrived on the roof an helicopter already waiting for her. The fresh breeze was moving her hair, and a stronger gust of wind almost blew her hat off. "Good day, missis Odette, good luck for your match." said one of the pilots with a smile. "Oh thank you mister. Now, let's take off, today will be an exciting day!" she said, as the helicopter started taking off from the ground.

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

 

 

"I have a bad feeling about today."

 

Arisu grumbled as she waited for her helicopter to arrive and transport her to her battleground. It seemed that she'd be facing the pretty boy from yesterday night. Perhaps it's the opportunity for her to find the truth behind his mysterious magical trace. Thankfully, she's fully equipped for it. Carrying her freshly bought sniper rifle on her back, and the rest of her grenades safely hidden somewhere behind her casual-looking dress of today. She's a bit irked that she didn't get close to even the second place in the most tactical poll, and was definitely not amused with her placement in the public most likely to die next poll. The existence of the next poll would make it seem that it's just referring to her tendency to die messily, but it being in a poll might pretty much mean Gerald was announcing her trump card to the world.

 

That definitely did not amuse her at all.

 

From the sights of it, the inferior pantsless witch had already been eliminated on the previous round. That's simple proof that pants were better than no pants. Though she didn't wear pants today. Wait, but biker shorts still count, no? But she liked this sundress since it looked so casual. She remembered saying something about not liking dresses before the banquet. But hey, she's ready to take back her words after shopping this morning. She's dressed to kill, and she would charm the pants off that pretty boy like it's no problems.

 

"...I'm really going insane, am I."

 

"Yo, miss, time to take off." The helicopter pilot's shout at her snapped her out of her thoughts. Shaking her head at her own misconduct, she immediately boarded the helicopter.

 

"Get to the scene fast, please. The readers are already dying to see the next chapter of my story."

 

"Uh...don't you mean, the viewers at home, miss...?"

 

"Wait, there's an anime adaptation of this?"

 

"...Nevermind."

 

---

 

 

 

 

"...The last battle raised my death flag to that level, eh?"

 

Nero watched the polls and matchups display before him. Some of them was humorous, and the rest was plain baffling. Him not even getting to be a nomination in being the best dressed was disappointing, to say the least. He was pretty sure that his 16th century-era coat and aesthetics would leave a good impression on the viewers, but perhaps viewers these days have different taste than back then. However, Cam being the most tactical fighter of the previous round was probably one of the best cruel joke he had heard in centuries.

 

Too bad he's not around anymore.

 

Nero didn't really understand why he got paired with another kid again, and it seemed that this one's a girl too. While that wouldn't really stop him from laying a smackdown, this tendency is pretty disturbing. Sooner or later he should complain to Gerald or something. And he'd definitely like to fight someone like that Titan he saw earlier over a kid right now. At least, he wouldn't really be hindered with his still not healing leg. It gave him an exploitable weakness, and it's just plain annoying. 

 

Probably his "buff" would help him cover this weakness, at least.

 

Seeing the helicopter closing in, Nero prepared himself.

 

Even if his opponent's a child, he definitely should not underestimate her. Though once again, he wondered. Would she have the spirit of humanity that he sought after?

 

---

[Hälō]

"A single man, standing alone in the deserted streets of Southern Razerhill waits below the Razer Bridge.  With him, a grand beast, and a great wit.  About him, a stern, passionate, and powerful aura.  Around him, death.  And he awaits you ." Mephisto's voice recited the vague warning on the paper  that Tyson held idly in his right hand. "Why must humans be so dramatic?"

 

"Who knows..." Tyson trailed off as he watched Razerhill city come into view. His opponent was Dirk Rider, the action star with flashy haircut, and the only other contestant that had brought a firearm along for the party. The man's lips curled into a small smirk at the thought of his upcoming battle.  "Hope you're ready, cowboy," Glancing down at the picture of Dirk that was stapled to his match info, he watched as the paper suddenly burst into flame. "I'm packing a totally different kind of heat..." Once the paper had been completely disintegrated, Tyson shifted his attention to the helicopter pilot. "How much longer, Jeff?" 

 

"We'll be coming down for a landing in 2 minutes, champ!" The Pilot called over the roar of the helicopter. Tyson had already assured the man that he'd take home the win, and after seeing the Ripper's performance in his last battle, it went without saying that Jeff was in exceptionally high spirits for someone who had bet their life on this match. 

 

"Ripper..." 

 

"Yea?" 

 

"I sense... a soul. Bodies... so many bodies...."

 

"hm?" 

 

"There someone down there, Ripper... a man who's taken nearly as many lives as you. His soul is tainted beyond belief... and yet there a purity about it. " 

 

Tyson raised an eyebrow at this. Mephisto had told him on multiple occasions that his soul was the cream of the crop when it came to slaying his fellow man, and to hear the demon talk about another person with such fascination made the hairs on his necks stand on edge. "Is it Rider?" Raising from his seat, Tyson made his way towards the helicopter door, slamming it open and peering down towards the landing zone. Surely enough, he could just make out two figures standing oddly still in the distance, as well as the Dirk's helicopter coming in for it's own landing.

 

"No."

 

"A single man, standing alone in the deserted streets of Southern Razerhill waits below the Razer Bridge.  With him, a grand beast, and a great wit.  About him, a stern, passionate, and powerful aura.  Around him, death.  And he awaits you ." He recalled the warning, causing a large grin to form across his lips. 

 

"We're here." The pilot announced before flashing Tyson a thumbs up. "Goodluck out there!"

[Dad]

Razerhill City

Southern Razerhill

High Noon

 

BGM:  The Spiteful Chant

 

 

It was moderately cloudy out, but even still the sun beamed over Razerhill with unrelenting power.  As the helicopters touched down on opposite ends of the elongated, widened gutters beneath the Razer Bridge, they kicked up walls of dust and sand.  It was like something out of an old western.  Two people with a reason to spit on each other would meet in the center of town, a few steps apart.  They would stare each other down, hands ready to draw upon their weapons.  Seconds later, there would be a body in the middle of town, waiting to be cleaned up.  You had to be the fastest shooter to come out alive, and there was chance you would be sentencing your entire family and crew to their graves if you lost.  At first glance, it was tough to make out his figure, as he stood, shadowed by a larger, ten foot, and much wider something to his side.  Tyson and Dirk could barely spot their opponent on the opposite side of the arena, as their shadowed foe idly loomed in the center of the gutters beneath Razer Bridge.  They could see movement now, as the smaller of the two figures of shadow took something from his counter-part, and held it up to his face.

 

Lowering the unidentified object, he smiled warmly, as if he was spotting a relative coming down from a long flight at an airport.  Through his rather odd choice of headwear, the man leaned in to the beast beside him, speaking silently.  The creature kneeled, allowing him to climb aboard.  With their helicopters having departed, Dirk and Tyson could hear nothing but the loud crack of a whip against what may as well have been steel.  And then, a burst of wind beneath the bridge, as the four legged creature stepped into the sunlight with excitement.  

 

It's red hide was scarred, burned even.  There were lines of heavily seared black flesh all along its sides and back.  A beautiful white mane covered its hooves, matching its tail.  It trotted proudly, slowly, in Tyson's direction.  With a solid black patch over its right eye, the monster of a horse took its time approaching Tyson, as per its commander.  And as it drew upon Tyson's feet, it came to a spacious stop, allowing the Ripper room to breathe.  He was completely over shadowed by the man and his horse, and looking up to them was easy as they blocked out the sun.  Patting the enormous war horse on its side, he hopped down, standing just a few inches taller than Tyson.

 

He was already aware of everything he could do, up until this point.  He was aware of his past, he was aware of his crimes.  This man was--in all senses of the word--an admirer of Tyson's.  But only because he himself wasn't the initial cause of death.  He wore an odd helmet, one that looked like it came out of a fighter jet of some kind that belonged to a pilot.  He was sporting a loose fitting white dress oxford shirt, fitted by a neat, black dress vest, over come by a second, solid black bullet proof vest, clearly visible to those who examined it.  His leggings were plain black combat pants, minus the camouflage.  They held a dozen pockets, sitting only God knows what.  Heavy black combat boots with visible weapons on either boot were a sign that this gentleman was well prepared for combat.  They were large guns, possibly handcannons, but nothing could be certain just by looking at them.  And over him was a heavy brown trench coat, its collar folded neatly around his neck.  His eyes were a solid sea-green, aged but wise.  His beard was a bit unkempt beneath his helmet, but it was nothing he couldn't address.  His wrinkled forehead gave way to his only completely bald head and thin eyebrows.  

 

He nodded his head, as a smile crossed his face beneath the helmet as he greeted Tyson by his full name and title.  In a southern drawl, he spoke with a fatherly tone; one of fervor, depth, and understanding.  "Mr. Ripper.  Greetin's and welcome.  My name is Jackson 'Howler' Gurney, and I'd like to extend to you a warm welcome to my home town, Mr. Tyson Slayer," he said only slightly muffled beneath his helmet.  "This here is my best friend and the only one I trust.  King.  Say hello King, don't be rude."  The enormous horse stepped in closer to Tyson, its cold nose against his temple.  King sniffed Tyson, before deciding that he liked the young man.  With gentle nudge, the horse politely greeted Tyson, sticking out his front right hoof, as Tyson shook it warily.  "And this," he said turning his back to Tyson and spreading his arms.  "Is Razerhill."

 

"Now forgive me, Mr. Slayer, but I don't wanna be rude to our other guest.  I'mma shoot over and introduce myself.  I already know everything about you both, but it wouldn't be much of an intrestin' battle if we didn't all gather round and chat, now would it?  King.  Down."

 

The horse kneeled in front of Tyson, allowing Howler to climb aboard him.  Patting the horse on its side, Howler rewarded King with a carrot from a side pouch.  "I'll return Mr. Slayer.  But of course, you're more than welcome to tag along.  Hyaa!"  King rose up immediately, rearing back as he neighed, and charged in the opposite direction towards Dirk.

 

The horse was less patient this time, as he roared through the dusty gutters.  Coming to a harsh stop beside Dirk, Howler recited his speech, replacing Tyson's name with Dirk's full name and title.  

 

"Now Mr. Dirk, please don't be alarmed.  You're as welcome to Razerhill as much as any other vagrant or vagabond.  But there's a price to pay when my people are put in danger, ya see.  And after speakin' with my old friend Gerald, I've been given a green light on your head," he said flatly.  "And of course, Tyson is only a prize I've been itchin' to claim since I heard he was raised from the dead," Howler chuckled.  "But now, I'm gonna lay some ground rules, and we can get this showdown movin'."  This time, Howler had not stepped down from King, but rode back immediately to the center of the underside of Razer Bridge.  He spoke up now, so that both Dirk and Tyson could hear him.

 

"I have only one request, from you gentlemen.  And that is, everything past Razer Bridge is off limits.  Now it took me quite a rasslin' with my people to get one point two million of 'em to move outta the lower side in twenty four hours.  They're all on the North Side.  You put any one of 'em in danger, and I'll kill ya before you can register that in your mind.  Understood, boys?"

 

Howler whispered something to King, causing him to raise up, and speed off past Tyson as Howler himself jumped down.  "Now we can do this one of two ways.  I can let you boys spar, and I'll take a nap on this here rafter," he said pointing above to one of the many supporting beams of Razer Bridge.  "Or we can get down to the nitty gritty, and I'll push ya harder than when you was birthed from your mommas.  Your choice, boys.  But either way.

 

Two of us are leavin' in body bags."

[VCR_CAT]

Dirk Rider: Razerhill City

 

The helicopter ride had been mostly uneventful. Dirk read through the portfolio detailing the combat location and all that would be involved; including the mysterious possibility of a third combatant. By the sounds of everything, it looked like it was going to be a fire-fight in the middle of an empty city. Unfortunately, his opponent wasn't spoiled brat and would actually be using a real gun and not some stupid special effects.

 

The city was a lot more bleak and empty than the folder had described. As the helicopter touched down, Dirk spotted a man in the middle of the deep gutter up ahead. The gutter had plenty of concrete supports and metal scaffolding for someone to hide in, and this would make for a very interesting shoot-out. The man walked away in the opposite direction, and wondering what could be happening next, Dirk planted his hand on his holstered weapon just in case, walking that direction. Eventually, the man came forward and introduced himself.

 

"Green light on my head? What'd I do? I mean, besides put a gun to a girl's back," Dirk muttered to himself as he listened. Was someone out to have him killed? Howler continued and explained the ground rules for the fight; that they would leave the civilians out of it. Dirk nodded in agreement; no reason to get the civilians involved in a fight they didn't need to be a part of. Finally, he gave the choice between doing things easy, one at a time, or hard with all three facing off against each other. Dirk weighed both options in his mind briefly, and then finally concluded.

 

"I say we do this Mexican Style," Dirk said with a smile, referencing that it would be a 3-person free-for-all.

 

 

Saul: Observation Tower

 

The walk to the observation booth had been as insufferable as any. Along the way, an apparent "fan" of his had requested to shake his hand, asking if it would hurt and somehow wanting it to. With a deep glare, Saul grasped the young man's hand and squeezed; feeling multiple pops as he felt every one of the man's fingers dislocate from the strength of his grip as he stared into the pained expression of the youth.

 

"You tell me," Saul growled under his breath as the young man gently held his hand, wincing with every movement as he walked away from the encounter; a mixture of deep suffering and great pleasure on his face. Upon arriving, Gerald was the one to greet them with insufferable cheerfulness.

 

 "It's a pleasure to have you all on board.  We'll be arriving at the Skybox in a little under ten minutes.  So relax for now, and we'll be on our way to the Skybox." Gerald explained as Saul, Gerald, some guards, and that young witch girl with an ego larger than her brain entered the tower.

 

"The pleasure's all your's," Saul muttered under his breath as they entered the tower and Gerald went through how the recording procedure would work. Saul had a feeling he would be using the sound-proof booth fairly soon, but figured that at the very least he should give them a benefit of a doubt. Not to mention he had a fairly large desire to show Morgan her place. Seating himself in front of the recording station with a loud creaking noise as the stool was just barely able to accept his weight.

 

Immediately, a feed of one of the first fights popped up on the screen, featuring that blonde-haired idiot and the bald guy who shouldn't be playing with demons. From the sounds of matters, the blonde idiot had just gone into a free-for-all willingly. Without thinking, and without even introducing himself, Saul already pounced into commentary.

 

"He's taking a big risk, but one that may pay off," Saul spoke into the mic. "Had he accepted facing against Tyson, his battle would be very straight-forward: Defeat the opponent and then face the next. Of course, he has the problem of being strong enough to fight two battles one after another. With all three fighting, he has the opportunity of foes who distracted by two opponents instead of one. A warrior with a split focus will always be an easier one to defeat. Unfortunately, this depends on whether the fool can focus on two opponents himself and whether or not they would team up on him."

 

Saul let out a long sigh.

 

"The blonde one is an idiot for taking such a big risk, but it may pay off in the end. Somehow, though, it does not seem like he actually thought this through that well. If he thinks at all."

 

Oddly enough, Saul was beginning to enjoy himself. Not only did he get to talk about fighting, battle, and strategy as much as he pleased; he also got to insult anyone he wanted who was fighting with nothing to hold him back. Maybe this opportunity wasn't so bad after all.

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

“So…what then?

 

Sadly, I don’t think I’m able to answer that now. But I think I’ll find an answer to this one day, so I don’t think I need to dwell on this much.”

 

Acertain brown-haired girl was now currently in the basement of an unused building. It was quite dark, and the only sources of illumination were only some candles distributed around the room. The faint light of each candle shown that there was some sort of red markings on the floor, and not far from the candles, unconscious bodies could be seen tied down and nailed to the floor with iron stakes. Those bodies were at their purest, having been stripped of all unnatural elements. From the fact that they were still visibly breathing, it seemed that all of them were still alive, but that’s not something that the girl was worried about. The drug mixture that the girl had them drank before would eliminate a chance that any of them would be awake during the ritual.

 

Sighing, the brown-haired girl walked towards the center of the room, dropping her glasses to the floor in the meantime to remove the last unnatural impurity on her own body. She still felt a bit guilty that she had to trick her college friends to come down there for an alleged girl’s night out then drugging them just so she could have the necessary sacrifices for what she intended to do. Greeting her at the center was a stone goblet, and inside it was an unpolished red gemstone. The girl stole it from a jewelry store before she conducted the ritual, though she couldn’t be sure whether the stone was a ruby, a garnet, or something else. For the sake of this ritual it shouldn’t matter, however.

 

When she was at the center of the room, the lines on the floor lit up, signifying that what she currently did was right on the correct track. The red markings were actually a magical circle, of course. Runes and alchemical glyphs, it was a carefully crafted circle made of her blood, and this circle was the core of the transmutation ritual. The bodies of her college friends were carefully laid down to make symmetrical corners on the circle, invoking the imagery of the sun. She had studied about this for a long time, and with all the sources she managed to find and the insight she got from her “Dream”, the girl was perfectly sure that she would be successful here. She took a ceremonial dagger that had been placed next to the goblet, and extended her wrist towards the goblet and the jewel inside it.

 

“…”

 

The girl momentarily hesitated.

 

“Would…would this be worth it, anyway? They’re my friends! Using them like this…”

 

She considered to just drop the ritual at that moment and went immediately to her backup plan of making it seem that the group had been kidnapped by a cult, but at the last moment, she had made her decision.

 

“…I’ve come too far. I’m sorry, everyone…You all will live with me from this moment onwards.

 

Hopefully you don’t hate me for this.”

 

With that, she cut her wrist with the dagger, and she silently watched as the blood from there touched the jewel.

 

The room was covered in a flash of light not long afterwards.

 

 

“Earlier this morning, a tragedy has struck this town as polices uncovered what seemed to be a remnant of an unknown, underground cult’s activity in an abandoned building near XXX. Twenty-one bodies of young women - each had been tentatively identified as students of a nearby college, had been recovered from the scene. “

 

A blue-haired young woman sipped her coffee as she listened to the breaking news on the diner’s TV. She tried her best to not care about the news, but as the newscaster started to announce the identity of the bodies, the girl started to bit her lips in frustration. When her own name was mentioned by the newscaster, she started to seriously consider storming off from the diner as fast as she could, but she stopped herself from doing so as there was still someone that she should met first.

 

“To think that cults like that still exist today…”

 

“Those girls…and it was just yesterday that I last saw them. This is a terrible day…a tragedy like this, so near to where we live…taking away people that we knew…”

 

“Some of them are our frequent customers too since they live really close to this place…hopefully the perpetrator would be incarcerated soon.”

 

The girl bit her lips harder and harder as she heard the other people on the diner talked about the news. Her hands were shaking so much that she had to put her cup to the table before she’d spill it, and the owner of the diner noticed that she was starting to act weirdly.

 

“Young lady, are you alright?”

 

“Y-yeah, I’m fine. I...I really just still can’t believe this tragedy happened. M-many of them are my friends…” The girl was barely able to hold back her tears by then. The diner owner looked at her sympathetically, and tried to calm her down. He had no idea that he was really talking to the perpetrator of the ritual killing, but even then the tears and feelings that The girl displayed were something genuine. After all, she’s still in deep regret of doing what she did, but she knew that she had no way to undo it.

 

A ringing on the door caught the girl’s attention, and she turned around to see a middle-aged woman getting into one of the empty tables on the diner. That was the person she’s looking for, and after getting herself together for now and finishing her coffee, The girl bowed at the diner owner and went towards the woman, sitting right next to her. The woman, originally not minding the girl much, was then surprised when she looked at The girl’s face, but the girl signaled her to be quiet. Seemingly not really wanting to cause a ruckus, the woman complied.

 

“You are…?

 

…Wait, then who-“

 

“It’s a long story.”

 

“That is as far away from an acceptable answer as possible.”

 

“That is the intent, yes.”

 

While both of them were still looking quite gloomy and tense due to the situation in hand, the girl couldn’t help but smile a little seeing the woman before her. She was her grade school teacher, the one who asked her a certain question years ago. That one question that continued to ring on her head from then to now kept haunting her even to this day - she thought that she would need to wrap things up first before she started to embark on what she wished to do. The girl happened to know that she had a habit of coming to this diner on this certain time each day, so she figured out that she’d like to have a final chat with her before she left the place. Maybe that’d help easing her own feeling after what she did.

 

“So uh…”

 

“I honestly have no idea on how should I react to this.”

 

“I…”

 

“And what is with your blue hair?”

 

“I…”

 

The girl tried to speak up, but she was unable to say anything towards the woman. She tried to say something about her old question, but she realized that even now she still couldn’t make a good answer to it. As seconds passed, the feelings inside of her became more and more unbearable. Without being able to say anything, the girl bowed to her former teacher, before leaving hastily through the front door, leaving the woman utterly confused on what had just happened.

 

---

 

 

An unpleasant dream forcefully woke Arisu up from her slumber. Was that something that was a part of her past, or was it something else entirely? A cheap joke her collapsing mind constructed to laugh at her expense perhaps? Somehow, it felt chilling. That person couldn’t be her, of course. No way in hell she would be that meek and awkward. Even as she found herself being disgusted at what the girl in her dream did, how much remorse the girl showed there were definitely not something that she would’ve felt.

 

It’s as if…it was simply a caricature of herself - made to guilt-trip her about her own decision.

 

“Miss, we’re here. Godstone Valley.”

 

“U-uh? We’ve arrived already?” The pilot’s voice snapped Arisu back to the world however. Realizing that those thoughts would distract her in the battle, Arisu decided that she’d just ignore whatever her dream would mean there, and just focus on nailing the pretty-boy down.

 

“Aight, I’m ready. Time to prove…ugh…just drop me down here.”

 

 

The arena was, for lack of other words to describe it, disappointing, Far more plain and small compared to what she thought, it also made her bright idea of bringing a sniper rifle bit her hard in the ass. There’s not even much place for her to hide and play things carefully.

 

“…Tch, so that’s why I get a bad feeling about today.

 

Oh well…I guess I’ll just try to make do and get used to this place anyway.”

 

---

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Morgan noticed the Titan would be sharing the job of commentating. Good, it would be nice to have some dumb oaf beside her so that she shined that much brighter. The place they were brought to was...fairly impressive. Morgan pointed out how it wasn’t as cool as her father’s place, but certainly impressive, to Gerald. She told him she was sure Gerald would love to meet her father sometime, they probably had much in common.

When they were in place for the work to start Morgan couldn’t contain her excitement, she hurried to the seat with a happy giggle like a kid that just got let off early from school.
Vena was offered a chair nearby but she decided to ignore it and sit in Morgan’s lap. Morgan shrugged to Gerald and gave him a “Don’t mind her” smile. Then she turned her attention to the screens.

It seemed people were being dropped off at their destinations now, and the games were about to begin. Dirk’s match drew Morgan’s attention first, as she had the highest stake in it. She listened to the Titan’s commentary with false interest before speaking up. “Oooh Dirk is so brave isn’t he? I hope nothing bad happens to him...” Vena looked up at Morgan in confusion, and a hint of jealousy, and Morgan leaned in right next to her ear and whispered “Master plan”. Vena smiled up at her at this and continued to watch, kicking her feet happily.
“It looks dangerous, but hey Dirk at least has, ya know, a hairstyle. That’s gotta count for something right folks?”

That’s when she remembered the polls and grinned. It’s about time to put these to use... “Alright for the first poll...” She set it up as soon as she figured out how it worked.
Who will die first?
Howler
Dirk
Other guy

Vena seemed curious about the poll-making and so Morgan gave her a shot at it. She set up the Poll but seemed to struggle with the options. So she decided, after Morgan simply shrugged, to stretch her arm over to the Titan and poke him several times to ask what the names of the contestants were. Once she got the information from someone in the room she inputted all their names as options. The poll?
“Who has the stupidest face?”

Morgan giggled as her eyes went to the blue haired magic-user at the god-thing place. That one was annoying, the fact that she made it through was infuriating. Morgan was the better at magic for sure and yet...whatever. Morgan had finally figured out, or she thought so, the girl’s secret. And why she seemed so familiar to Morgan. “That one’s interesting. Elspire versus not-as-good witch. My money’s on the boy. If I’m right about her she’s not going to have a good time in the open like that...”

[Dad]

The Skybox

 

The streams flickered to life, the faces of the day's contestants brimming brightly all over the world.  And with the flick of a switch, Gerald turned on the microphones in the broadcast room.  "Gooooood morning ladies and gentlemen.  My name is Gerald Oedipus Dillinger, your host of the most entertaining battles of this day and age, in the Secret Cup Tournament!  I'm joined today by my good friend and personal assistant Steph, as well as two extremely popular and welcome guest commentators, Morgan and Saul!  Throughout the day today, we'll be bringing you live coverage of each our separate matches, either together or solo, if we so choose.  So don't worry!  You'll get a variety of different points of view, as well as the opportunity to take part in some great polls!  Without further adieu, I'll allow Steph to announce our matches of the day!  Steph?"

 

Gerald muted his mic, and began shuffling through some paperwork he brought up from below his desk.  Meanwhile, Steph assumed control, as she spoke to the audiences now.  "Good morning viewers and listeners.  Steph here, and it is a pleasure and an honor to be working with Gerald, Saul, and Morgan on this lovely day.  Though their battles were not triumphant, their spirits are burning with passion for a good fight.  As we get into the battles, let's take a look at our active contestants.  We'll begin with an analysis of our first match:

 

Nero!  Versus.  Robert Eschalotte!  In:  The Boiling Depths.

 

Our arena for these two fighters is an underground hot-spot with tricky tunnels and twisted inhabitants.  A plume of lava awaits the loser, plunging them into a possible inevitable death.  We can determine from the previous battles that both Robert and Nero have a large arsenal of weapons to work with, with a slight edge going to Robert in over all weaponry.  However, with this in mind, Nero's flower petals have proven to be a spectacular defense, and could potentially tilt this match in his favor.  To cast your vote for Nero or Robert, go online to our website at www.goldengate.com/secretcup/match-1.  Cast your vote for your favored fighter!

 

In our second match of the day it's:

 

Arisu Itakura!  Versus.  Elspire Ferdinand!  In:  Godstone Valley.

 

Godstone Valley is possibly the smallest arena, with a mere fifty meters between the two of them.  In the center of the arena is a magical stone abundant with magic far beyond this world.  Legends tell of this holy ground being forbidden to be battled upon.  The mere fact that our contestants will be standing here is a grave intrusion upon this place.  Who knows what disturbances could come to interrupt them?  But one thing's for sure, this fight is going to be absurdly close.  Looking back at their previous rounds, both Arisu and Elspire have powerful magic at their disposal.  Dragon magic and Illusion magic.  What can become of the other is almost impossible to determine.  With many long ranged techniques available to either party, one would think that this battle could last some time.  However, due to our Arena Tech, a barrier has formed around the cusp of the top of the arena, to immediately disqualify anyone who would leave it.  So these two will be in each other's faces until one of them collapses.  To cast your vote for Airsu or Elspire, go to www.goldengate.com/secretcup/match-2.

 

In our third bout for the day, it's:

 

Odette Chrysalis!  Versus.  Nori Amasuka!  In:  the Thunderdome.

 

The Thunderdome is an underwater arena that is extremely delicate.  Perhaps not with their palms, but with enough force, the arena's glass can be broken, flooding it with millions of gallons of water instantaneously.  Fun fact!  This arena is actually a part of my old home country of Atlantis!  Sorry, we don't do well with visitors.  With our competitors previous battles in mind, this one is a hit or miss.  With Odette's previous battle coming to a rather sudden and abrupt ending, we don't know much about her strengths, leaving her the element of surprise.  However, we do know that Nori is a fierce fighter, who is well rounded and can cover many bases.  Perhaps she can be prepared for any opponent.  We'll soon find out.  To pick your winner of Odette or Nori, go online to www.goldengate.com/secretcup/match-3.

 

And, in our final and highlighted match of the day, it's:

 

Dirk Rider!  Versus.  Tyson Slayer!  In:  Razerhill City!

 

And ladies and gentlemen it seems this match is already underway!  Our contestants have already landed on opposite sides of the most bottom level of the arena.  It appears that they also have a guest combatant joining them.

 

A bit about Razerhill.  It's a rather large city, populating more than five million in total.  It is rather advanced in technology, and is home to one of the most prestigious colleges in the world.  However, for the purposes of this brawl, the arena has been limited to the most lower half of Razerhill.  Everything above the Razer Bridge is deemed out of bounds!  Reflecting on their previous opposition, Dirk has shown that he has a rather slick weapon at his side, in addition to being slick on his feet.  His speed is virtually unmatched, managing to overpower his previous opponent, and the love of his life, Morgan.

 

Oh!  She shot me a look.  I'm treading on thin ice, eh heh.

 

Er, regarding Tyson!  Tyson excels in close quarters combat.  In addition, he brings a back-up flurry of fire at his fingertips, as well as having a second mind to assist him in battle.  I heard he's an artist as well!  He's got his bases covered.  But it looks like this fight is going to be hot, hot, hot!  It could go either way, and both contestants have a lot on the line.  And now, with a closer look at the third party--oh my!  Ladies and gentlemen, our guest combatant isn't just any run of the mill fighter.  This man is a professional bounty hunter, with a name reknowned throughout the world.  He's as dangerous as he is handsome!  It's Jackson!  Howler!  Gurneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeyyyyy!" Steph said with a cheer.

 

"If I'm not mistaken, Howler's home is Razerhill.  It could very well be the reason he's there.  It appears he's going to allow Tyson and Dirk to choose how they want this fight to go.  As we listen in, I'm going to hear some thoughts from our two guest commentators, Saul and Morgan.  Saul, how are you liking this match?"

 

"He's taking a big risk, but one that may pay off," Saul spoke into the mic. "Had he accepted facing against Tyson, his battle would be very straight-forward: Defeat the opponent and then face the next. Of course, he has the problem of being strong enough to fight two battles one after another. With all three fighting, he has the opportunity of foes who distracted by two opponents instead of one. A warrior with a split focus will always be an easier one to defeat. Unfortunately, this depends on whether the fool can focus on two opponents himself and whether or not they would team up on him."

 

"That's a great point Saul.  There could be a lot of split decision making going on here," Steph replied.  

 

"The blonde one is an idiot for taking such a big risk, but it may pay off in the end. Somehow, though, it does not seem like he actually thought this through that well. If he thinks at all."

 

"Quite right.  We've seen Dirk's 'action Jackson' style and it has put him at risk.  He'll have to be careful this time around.  How about you Morgan?"

 

“Oooh Dirk is so brave isn’t he? I hope nothing bad happens to him...”

 

"Aww, the lovely couple ladies and gentlemen!"

 

“It looks dangerous, but hey Dirk at least has, ya know, a hairstyle. That’s gotta count for something right folks?”

 

"You're too right, Morgan.  Appearance does matter!  But how much of those style points will benefit Dirk against his opponents?  We'll find out soon enough!  To vote for your favorite hunk, go online to www.goldengate.com/secretcup/match-4!  Be sure to check out all of our polls while you're there, as they'll be coming in quickly!"

[Mr. Hyde]

 

"Elspire sir, we've touched down at Godstone Valley!  Good luck!"  The helicopter pilot and his co-pilot both turned around in their seats to give Elspire a thumbs up.  Elspire blushed and smiled his toothy smile, these guys seemed to be much more confident seeing as how Elspire had made it this far.  

 

"Aw gee guys...I'll do my best!"  And with that, Elspire hopped out of the helicopter.  It took off as soon as he had gotten out of reach of the helicopter blades.  He could see the other helicopter lifting off on the other side of the valley as well, rising above the stone that stood in the middle.  There was a familiar scent in the air, one he remembered strongly at that party.  He couldn't place a finger on it, but it all became clear once Elspire peaked over the side of the stone.  Not even standing a football fields length away from him was the lady that he had made eye contact with at the banquet.  

 

"So...she was a contestant after all?  Oh man...I wonder what she can do?!  She must be super strong to get her with me!"  Elspire began to feel giddy thinking that a woman could be as strong as he was.  Would he be able to beat her?  He ran up to the godstone in a matter of seconds and stood atop of it, scoping out the scene and the valley.  "Probably a barrier around here somewhere...this place is perfect for a fight though!  No where for her to run if she's the hidey and stabby type!"  He took a seat, criss-cross applesauce, on the stone.  He could feel the power that was stored in it.  The rock too had a familiar scent...Elspire knew exactly who this one's belonged too.  

 

Elspire waved towards his opponent, toothy smile and all.  "Maybe I don't have to do this with my fists...maybe I can talk this one through.  She doesn't seem to be quite as scary or vicious as Saul anyways."  Elspire cupped his hands around his mouth.  "Hey!  Name's Elspire!  Elspire Ferdinand!  Who are you!"  

 

 

 

Back at the hotel, Zyg had finally made his way to the bar, which had started broadcasting the tournament stream.  Gerald was announcing contestants and location, alongside Saul and Morgan.  "Ah, so that is where she snuck off to!  I'll catch her when the rounds over!"  The bartender made his way hesitantly towards Zyg.   

 

"What'll you have...buddy?"

 

"One jurassic swamp water if you have any!" 

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

 

 

 

"It feels like it has been an eternity..."

 

Arriving at what the announcers said as "The Boiling Depths", Nero felt like he was just at home with the environment. Reminding him of good old hell where he once belonged, nevertheless he was aware that the arena didn't really give him any advantages. Still, he might be able to survive a lava bath for a small amount of time even in this body, so that might be an ace in the hole that he could use if necessary. Though, without knowing much about the boy's abilities aside from his wide range of weaponries, Nero wondered whether he/she/whatever had enough raw determination to even survive the battle.

 

"Either way...

 

I guess there's no way I'll let myself be weak here. Whoever my opponent is, if they don't showcase enough determination to survive...

 

If they don't even put their heart into this...

 

I guess the world won't need them anyway."

 

 

 

 

"It's silent here..."

 

The arena was insultingly small, and Arisu was growing more and more impatient for the appearance of her opponent. She was still wondering about the necessary preparations that she would need to setup. Her sniper rifle was insultingly useless here, and her grenades might screw her over big time. There's the fact that the titular god stone, whatever it was, might be a danger sooner or later. She was tempted to try checking it out but she was still unsure for now. The barrier surrounding the arena glowed a faint golden hue, and Arisu wondered whether she could somehow use its existence to her advantage. She did have her illusions...that would be her strongest trump card in this match. Other than that, there's barely anything that she could use right now, so Arisu decided to go forward and start checking the god stone. But before she could do that, the helicopter carrying her opponent had arrived on the scene. And of course, it's the hunk from earlier yesterday.

 

"Hey!  Name's Elspire!  Elspire Ferdinand!  Who are you!"

 

The man called her from the distance, and Arisu, being the courteous lady that she is, waved her hands in response instead of throwing grenades at him. Since he didn't seem like something too eager to fight for now, Arisu decided that she would just approach him for now and learn more about him and his unnatural magical signature. She went ahead and approached him, and after being a while of only seeing him in a distance, she finally could see him up close.

 

Oh no, he's hot! Damn, and here I thought he's just a standard hunk.

 

Dammit Arisu...stick with the plan! You can conquer him!

 

"Uh...hello there, E-elspire, right?

 

I'm Arisu...nice to meet you."

 

Arisu's cheeks were bright red, but for her it was less due to her being smitten by the man before her and more due to her being embarrassed with her awkwardness so far that was clearly unlike how she would normally act.

 

[hr[

[Dad]

The Great Heavens

 

"They stand upon holy ground," she said softly, peering through the crystal clear waters.  Her flowing gown brushed softly by her sister, who chimed in as the first circled the large marble chalice.  "They know no boundaries," she said, grasping the chalice in irritation.  A shadow loomed over the sisters, as their brother approached.  In much brighter, opposite color from his younger brother, the golden clad armored god stood beside his sisters, his wings coming to a rest with a loud flap beside them.  "This one," he said pointing to Elspire.  "He sits upon the Godstone.  As if it were his place," he said with a scowl.  Ilgad joined them, standing opposite his three siblings.  His dark armor clouded the marble chalice, as his very touch put a dangerous frost over the waters.  His cold breath brought a fog around them, as the skies began to build a powerful storm below him.  A low growl escaped him, as he glared through the All Telling Waters.  Perhaps, they were not all telling after all.  Cracking the large chalice with his hand, he snatched at the waters as he turned his back to his siblings.  The chalice instantly reshaped itself, as the other three raised their heads.

 

"I will go," he said through his teeth.

 

The younger sister voiced her thoughts first.  "You are impatient, Ilgad."  He snapped, turning around.  "And what would you have me do, Adelfa!?" he barked.  "Would you have me sit idly by, as you did your followers two thousand years ago?  Perhaps it is a war you want."

 

"Do not raise your voice to me, little brother," she said stepping from beside her older siblings.  "Do not misplace your rage.  You know very well why we do things the way that we do."

 

"Adelfa is right, Ilgad.  Your brash ways have driven away many.  You destroyed species with no knowledge of our own.  And they hate us because of you.  Do not turn my creations against me," said the second sister.  Ilgad eyed her beneath his helm, knowing fully well how powerful his older sister was.  Despite this, his impatience with the tiny ones below seethed.  "Do you test me, Lamia?" he said stepping forwards.  "It is your creations who desolated lands and brought about the Dark Ones.  Now they strengthen a single man who has come to impossible power.  This battle is a fault all your own!"

 

"Enough!" roared the eldest.  

 

"Alastor--"

 

"I said, enough."  At his words, the sky broke open, rain hemorrhaging forth from the clouds.  "Brother.  I know your anguish, but we cannot turn against one another now.  This is a problem for us all.  And if it will draw out the truth for all to see," he said pointing a clawed hand at the golden clouds beside him.  "Then go.  But your judgment will be weighed heavily.  Do not fail us.  Again,"

 

Ilgad scowled again, walking forwards to the open skies now.  He stared down into the rains, where his eyes could clearly make out the Godstone.  "And if I fail--"

 

"Then you shall not return here.  And we will lift up another in your stead."

 

Ilgad chuckled.  "Harsh words, brother."

 

Folding his arms, Alastor watched as Ilgad fell backwards into the atmosphere of Earth.  "No brother.  Only truth."

 

Godstone Valley

 

The rain pattered down gently over Elspire and Arisu, coating them both and presenting a vulnerable state to the other.  Their clothes sagged, clinging tightly to their bodies.  Their hair sagged, hiding a left or right eye from either pair, as they looked upon their vulnerable opposite for this inevitable battle.  The ground quickly grew moist, turning the dirt around them into a mud pit.  And as the sky continued to wail, a powerful gust of wind blew over the valley, as many eyes now lurked around Elspire and Arisu.  In heavy cloaks, they stood just beyond the golden hue of the Arena's barrier, more and more of them appearing around the valley.  Over the hills they stood, their red eyes peering through the evening.  They began to turn their heads to the skies, falling onto their knees, ushering an ominous chant.

 

BGM:  Why Do We Fall?

 

The Godstone began to glow, as the sky rumbled with thunder, they continued to speak unto the heavens.  He fell, faster, and faster, becoming nothing more than a blur to the naked eye.  Elspire and Arisu watched the cloaked individuals carefully, turning their attention to the sky now.  And as the dark blue blur grew closer, Elspire was forced off of the Godstone by a powerful force of magic, expelling him backwards.  He came to a skidding halt, as the stone glowed bright white in the cloudy evening, and a beam of light erupted upwards from it, absorbing the blue blur above it.  He fell, and he fell, becoming one with its magic, as he felt himself grow stronger the closer he drew to it.  And with a resounding crash, both Arisu and Elspire were slammed to either side of the mountain surrounding them, as a powerful wave of magic erupted from the Godstone.  The cloaked ones were immediately eradicated, erupting into flames as the magic wave occurred.  Their bodies burst into ash, and they were absorbed into the Godstone.  As the light dimmed slightly, he phased through the Godstone, stepping out of it and rolling his neck.  An elegant blade in his hand, Ilgad stepped forward, only inches away from the Godstone.

 

He whipped the white sword back and forth skillfully, staring down at the now standing Elspire.  "You tread on holy ground, boy," he said through his teeth.  "But fortunately you've brought me a sacrifice," he said not looking away from Elspire, but pointing his blade at Arisu.  "Shall I stain you with her blood?"  Placing an open, clawed palm on the Godstone, Ilgad drew raw power into himself, sighing with joy.  Drawing his hand away from the Godstone, he ushered Elspire forward.  "Come.  Allow me to cleanse you of your stained soul."

[Mr. Hyde]

 

"Uh...hello there, E-elspire, right?

 

I'm Arisu...nice to meet you."

 

The Girl seemed to be stumbling over her words for some reason.  Elspire couldn't help but laugh at her for being awkward.  "I mean, I guess we're supposed to fight, but i'm not sure I want to harm a woman such as yourself...you seem really nice."  His smile was genuine, and it was bigger than before.  His legs dangled from the top of the Godstone.  There was a sudden pitter patter that made Elspire stop grinning as wide, and made him curious.  The skies were perfectly clear just a second ago weren't they?  As soon as the rain had started, a whole lot of cloaked figures made themselves appear almost instantly.  "Whatever's going on Arisu...I'm not sure I like it too much."

 

The godstone glowed beneath him, and he was blown back from his comfortable spot.  He was able to catch himself in freefall, and managed to land onto the ground that would've scored a perfect 10 from the audience.  He was sure to win most acrobatic this round.  However, with the sound of an immense boom, Elspire was thrown into the side of a mountain.  He was able to break himself out of the Elspire shaped hole that he had created, and dusted off the dirt that had accumulated on his white clothing.  "Now that was unexpected...just what is that rock anyways??"  The cloaked figures had gone now, sublimated by the magical wave emitted by that stone.  A figure stepped out, and Elspire's eye's thinned, becoming reptilian like.  Ilgad had stepped out of the stone.  "You again....crud..."

 

 "You tread on holy ground, boy,"   there seemed to be malice in his tone.  "But fortunately you've brought me a sacrifice," he said pointing his blade to Arisu.  "Shall I stain you with her blood?"

 

Elspire scoffed.  "Just who the hell do you think I am Ilgad?"  He made his way towards Arisu in a manner so that he stood in the blade's path.  "Like hell I'd let this girl be slaughtered just because we so happened to stumble upon this so called 'holy ground'."  

 

Ilgad placed his hand against the stone.  Elspire could feel the raw power flow into Ilgad himself, there was something that rock possessed that was otherworldly in terms of power.  He motioned for Elspire to come hither.  "Come.  Allow me to cleanse you of your stained soul."

 

"Stained soul huh?"  Elspire started to chuckle.  "I'm not the one committing genocide on a day to day basis.  Just like back in that cave...I'm going to stop you right here, and right now!"  Elspire placed his hands in a cross like motion, one hand had his palm raised towards the heavens, the other hand stuck out it's  pointer and pinkie fingers.  "I've been practicing for you Ilgad...just in case I'd ever come across a threat like you again!  I'm not holding back either!  I know what you're capable of!"  Static started erupting from Elspire's body.  "ARISU, GET BACK NOW!"  He roared with a ferocity that had yet been seen since the last round.  "LIGHTNING DRAGON SECRET ART: HEAVEN PIERCER!!!"  The storm clouds erupted furiously, shooting an enormous lightning bolt straight towards Ilgad's position.  

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

 

 

 

 

 "I mean, I guess we're supposed to fight, but i'm not sure I want to harm a woman such as yourself...you seem really nice."

 

This guy, Elspire, seemed to be quite a nice guy as Arisu talked to him. While she felt that she had watched a lot of people like him in TV, like, perhaps he reminded her of those protagonists from anime or something, it's still nice to talk to someone that's genuinely like one. Of course, this gave her more and more incentives to conquer him- uh, anal- uh, analyze him. Yeah, Arisu reminded herself that she mainly needed to learn more about the reasoning behind his peculiar magical signature. And well, if she's the one falling head over heels over him, she would lose her protagonist status. Most of the time, the protagonist had people fall for them, not vice versa.

 

"So, uh...may I-" Arisu's words were cut by a sudden downpour from the sky. That's weird. Earlier the sky was perfectly clear, and Arisu was sure about it. The fact that it suddenly rained was peculiar. Though, she was more concerned with the fact that the dress she was wearing got ruined by the sudden downpour. It was a nice dress, and pretty new too. That was saddening.

 

"This is weird..."

 

"Whatever's going on Arisu...I'm not sure I like it too much."

 

Suddenly the stone below him glowed, and while Arisu managed to get away from it in time, Elspire weren't as lucky, and got thrown into the other side of the arena as several cloaked figures appeared before the two of them. Of course. She remembered about the fact that gods might appear here to relax or something, as if this was their personal island resort or something. To think that her future snuggl- uh, struggle against Elspire would be interrupted by a god of all thing was annoying, to say the least.

 

"You again....crud..."

 

"Huh?" Looking back at where the stone was, Arisu noticed that a figure appeared there as Elspire looked at it fiercely. "You know about this guy or something?"

 

"You tread on holy ground, boy, But fortunately you've brought me a sacrifice, Shall I stain you with her blood?" The god-thing pointed his sword at Arisu. She was insulted.

 

"Who the hell are you calling a sacrifice you self-indulgent geezer?!" In hindsight if what he wanted was just a human sacrifice before leaving, Arisu could just let him had his way with her body or something. But that would hurt like hell, and no way in hell she'd get herself low enough to merely be used as a human sacrifice.

 

 "Just who the hell do you think I am Ilgad? Like hell I'd let this girl be slaughtered just because we so happened to stumble upon this so called 'holy ground'."  Before she was able to do anything however, Elspire had stood between her and the supposed god.

 

 "Come.  Allow me to cleanse you of your stained soul." The god merely responded by placing his hands on the stone, and Arisu could feel that he was channeling a lot of power through it.

 

"Stained soul huh?"  Elspire started to chuckle.  "I'm not the one committing genocide on a day to day basis.  Just like back in that cave...I'm going to stop you right here, and right now!"  Elspire placed his hands in a cross like motion, one hand had his palm raised towards the heavens, the other hand stuck out it's  pointer and pinkie fingers.  "I've been practicing for you Ilgad...just in case I'd ever come across a threat like you again!  I'm not holding back either!  I know what you're capable of!"  Static started erupting from Elspire's body.  "ARISU, GET BACK NOW!"  He roared with a ferocity that had yet been seen since the last round.  "LIGHTNING DRAGON SECRET ART: HEAVEN PIERCER!!!"

 

"This is seriously so anime it hurts.

 

Maybe they DO make an anime adaptation out of this after all. I should check it out after this round is over." Talking to herself as she backed away as fast as possible from Elspire, she then watched as the heavens roared and an enormous lightning bolt was fired from there straight towards the god. It felt awfully familiar to her for some reasons, but...perhaps that was another thing she watched from anime.

 

Of course though, if this was really an anime, then Arisu would need to step up her own game. And after all, that pretentious god was mocking him earlier. She couldn't let anyone get away with that easily.

 

Closing her eyes, Arisu focused her mind at her philosopher's stone, and channeled whatever she could get from the area. Being the vacation spot of gods, the magical energy there was strong and concentrated. While she was not a god, yet, of course, Arisu was still capable of taking in a portion of the magical energy into herself. Powered by this magic, the philosopher's stone started to glow, and...

 

"Earth, Hell, Heaven...bless my soul!

 

It's morphing time!"

 

 

 

 

 

BGM: Megalomania (Grandioso Ver.)

 

"Well, time to kick some divine ass." The transformation was successful, though aside from some hairstyle change, nothing actually change on her physically. No bulging muscles, no glowing things, no fancy pimped out dresses, no physics-defying hair, not much of those anime things, disappointingly. Though, she could still feeling the power boost flowing through her, so that's something. Still, she used her illusion so she would appear to have transformed into a pimped out magical girl knight's dress. Placing her philosopher's stone on the locket on her chest, she then started to think of a way to attack the god after being satisfied with her "transformation".

 

"Well...I think this would do.

 

Icicle Machine Gun!" Activating her ice magic, she created many, many icicles before her, and fired series of them as fast as she could towards the god, not wasting any time after Elspire struck him with his thunder. Turning around to Elspire's direction, Arisu smiled proudly at him.

 

"Elspire, let's roll."

 

Cheesy one liners are the best.

 

---

[Dad]

Godstone Valley

 

 

"I'm not the one committing genocide on a day to day basis.  Just like back in that cave...I'm going to stop you right here, and right now!

 

Of course.  This was all such a trivial thing to someone like Ilgad, however.  "Genocide.  Call it what you like, but the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."  He snapped his hand shut as it drew away from the Godstone, as Elspire channeled powerful magic before him.  

 

"I've been practicing for you Ilgad...just in case I'd ever come across a threat like you again!  I'm not holding back either!  I know what you're capable of!"

 

Ilgad smirked beneath his shadowed helm at Elspire's words.  "You know what I'm capable of?" he said lowering his blade.  "Then perhaps you're more fool-hearty than I believed."

 

 "LIGHTNING DRAGON SECRET ART: HEAVEN PIERCER!!!" 

 

"More lightning?  I thought we went over this, Elspire."  Ilgad walked straight at Elspire, as he unleashed his lightning magics.  They washed over his godly armor and past his exposed hands, coursing through his blade and settling into sparks behind Ilgad.  He stopped inches away from Elspire's face, as he appeared unphased by the lightning strike.  "Do you recall what I told you?" he said moving his hands faster than Elspire could register.  "All of your magics stem from me," he said palming the boy's face.  He tossed Elspire lazily away, flinging him back into the same crater in the side of the mountain from which he wrenched himself before.  Meanwhile, a pumped up Arisu posed a different threat.

 

As Ilgad eyed Elspire, he heard the girl speaking behind him, having ignored her for most of her banter.

 

"Earth, Hell, Heaven...bless my soul!

 

It's morphing time!"

 

He turned around, blade still lazily handled in his left hand.  He observed the girl carefully, as a radiant magic flowed throughout her.  One he would recognize.  He sniffed the air, as Arisu underwent her transformation.  The scent caught his nose in a powerful trance, as his eyes widened beneath his helm.  He smiled, crazily, as he was suddenly filled with lust and hunger.  "Ahh," he said softly.  "So that's where it went."  The Philosopher's Stone.  It's smell was impossible to confuse with another.  The forbidden stone made by man, coveted by gods.  If he had that, his brothers and sisters would have no choice but to submit to him.  But that would have to wait, as Arisu charged her first attack.

 

"Well, time to kick some divine ass.  Icicle Machine Gun!" 

 

Ilgad's smile changed to a frown right away, as he held up an open palm and Arisu's icicles shattered against his leathery hand.  "Magic.  Magic, magic, magic.  You're cowards.  You stand on holy ground, and you dare challenge me, with magic!?"  Ilgad's eyes glowed red beneath his helm, just enough for Arisu to see them clearly.  "Very well.  I'll show you what happens when you play with magic on holy ground."  Ilgad turned his back to Arisu and Elspire, and phased inside of the Godstone once more.  He remained inside of the Godstone for a mere moment, before he stepped out again.  And again.  And again.  Where once was Ilgad, were now two perfectly equivalent clones hell-bent on dealing with his enemies.  Each one blinked, standing beside Elspire and Arius instantaneously, and kicked them to the feet of the center, and third Ilgad.  This one raised his blade to the skies, parting them as Elspire once did.  

 

He began speaking in an archaic tongue, one that Elspire might recognize if he were fully versed in the Godly language as it was broken down over many millennium among dragons.  What happened next was both insulting and ironic.  A volatile, and wide range black lightning pierced through the sky, as Ilgad now directed his blade to Arisu.  And in his empty hand, Ilgad opened his palm to Elspire, as a cold wind began to blow.  Black icicles fired from Ilgad's palm, as the black lightning fell at Arisu.

[Mr. Hyde]

 

His most powerful attack thus far just fizzled in Ilgad's presence.  It almost made him quiver in fear, but a dragon knew not such things.  A half-dragon on the other hand was only half scared of the god's powers.  He was surprised when Ilgad was at eye level with him almost instantly.

 

 "Do you recall what I told you?"  Elspire reflexes were outsped drastically.   "All of your magics stem from me!"  

 

Elspire was again abruptly flung into the side of the crater he had previously dug out.  This time, he shoved the imprint farther into the mountain's side.  Gripping the edges and throwing himself out, he dusted himself off once again.  He snickered at the god as he cracked his neck on each side.  Rolling his shoulders, he said, "Well Ilgad...you know how stubborn us dragons can be.  Well...At least me.  My mom was pretty lenient." 

 

He looked over to Arisu, who at this point was channeling some sort of magic of her own.  

 

"Earth, Hell, Heaven...bless my soul!

 

It's morphing time!"  Arisu had changed into some sort of magical outfit that she was not wearing before.  It made Elspire stare in awe, but also revamped his vigor.  She shot out many ice projectiles aimed towards Ilgad.  "Elspire, let's roll."

 

He couldn't have agreed more.  But when the Icicles crashed against Ilgad, they merely faded away when approaching his presence.  "Magic.  Magic, magic, magic.  You're cowards.  You stand on holy ground, and you dare challenge me, with magic!?"   Ilgad had stepped back into what he had appeared from in the first place.  That giant stone emanating some sort of strange energy.  However, he had reappeared, looking thrice as strong.  The supposed clones of shadow had dispatched of the two combatants almost instantly, knocking them towards one clone that stood in the middle of both.  Elspire's ears rang as he heard the slightest hint of  draconic as he spoke some incantation.  Ilgad had launched black icy spears towards him, and black lightning at Arisu.  Elspire had to act, and fast.  He jumped to his feet to dodge the barrage of ice, and also made it so he jumped into the path of the black lightning.  He opened his mouth to consume it, but when it entered his mouth, there was nothing but pain.  

 

"GAAAAH!  What the hell is this stuff made out of....It....hurts..."  He fell to the ground in a hunched over position.  The black lightning ran through his body, causing him minor pain.  But this was lightning right?  Usually he had no problems eating lightning of any sort, magical or natural.  But this black lightning was something entirely different, and it took some time before he could recover from the slumped position that he was currently in.  He wiped his mouth in disgust.  "Damn Ilgad...your food is crap."  The lightning the ran on the outside of his body was replaced with the black lightning he had consumed.  His eyes now directed towards the stone that Ilgad had kept moving to and fro.  "I forgot to take this fight seriously...my apologies Il."  In a flash, Elspire had turned into his dragonform.  His scales almost outshined Ilgad's helmet, but they were splattered with pitch black scales in random patterns.  He took to the skies as quickly as possible.  He opened his mouth, aiming it towards the godstone, as an orb of black electricity gathered in it.  He unleashed the energy of the orb, a mixture of regular, and black lightning bolts fusing together into one singular, twisting stream.

 

"ROAR OF THE LIGHTNING DRAGON GOD!"  

[Dad]

Godstone Valley

 

The dragon-boy was quick.  He had admittedly reacted much faster than Ilgad expected.  Diving away from the icicles, he intercepted and even swallowed the black tainted lightning Ilgad how launched at a different target.  Of course, he went off into his tangents regarding the taste of the lightning.  What an odd one.  Ilgad paid him little mind, lowering his sword and tilting his head at Elspire.  This was one of the few things he knew for sure was unique to dragons alone.  Ilgad kept this feat in mind, as Elspire unveiled his powerful full dragon form.  

 

"Ahh.  Now that's what I want to see.  Give me all of your power.  Give me all of it!"

 

"ROAR OF THE LIGHTNING DRAGON GOD!"  

 

Prepared to absorb the blast, Ilgad's eyes narrowed as the blast was aimed not for him, but for the Godstone itself.  Did the boy really believe using dragon magic on a stone powered by immeasurable quantities of godly magics would have any effect?  A desperate attempt to destroy the stone, perhaps?  Ilgad watched patiently, as the blast made contact with the Godstone, and it glowed brightly as it absorbed the blast, resonating an equal color to Elspire's attack.  The stone shimmered, settling again.  And beneath his helm he smiled, approaching the stone once more.  With a palm over it, Ilgad received a shock, as lightning coursed through his veins.  And it felt wonderful.  His clones followed suit, each draining power from the Godstone, as the three Ilgad's now resonated with a static electric field.  Still, something felt odd about the Godstone.  Ilgad ignored it for now, as he grew stronger.  

 

They chuckled, each of the Ilgads in unison.  They spoke like a deafening chorus, as the next word's Elspire would hear would be like nails on a chalkboard.

 

"PERFECT GOD STORM," they bellowed, mimicking Elspire's stance in its entirety.  The clones spread out their blasts radiating from their mouths, circling the arena with black lightning blasts that were double in size of Elspire's own.  Their blasts came from three different angles, one firing at Elspire, one at Arisu, and one circling the arena.  And in the center of the arena, the Godstone glowed brighter.

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

 

 

 

“Elspire! Dammit, just let me handle it!” Arisu yelled in annoyance as Elspire appeared before her and swallowed the lightning attack the god launched at her. It was…for lack of better word, disturbingly anime. She was actually going to try handling it on her own, so it’s not like she’d need his help or anything. Nope, definitely not. Still, Arisu remembered about how the god was furious about the fact that she used magic on the place. It was something intriguing, but perhaps she could gain some more information about it if she could just…

 

"GAAAAH!  What the hell is this stuff made out of....It....hurts..."

 

More importantly, Arisu recalled what Elspire had said before he rushed towards her. Something about him being a dragon or something. Now that’s intriguing. She hadn’t been able to see a dragon during her time, and looking at what might be one of the very few remaining ones would definitely make her giddy. Perhaps she could save the race or something by becoming-

 

"ROAR OF THE LIGHTNING DRAGON GOD!"  

 

Arisu’s pleasant daydream was cut short sadly as Elspire launched another of his anime lightning attacks. No…that would be underselling what was just happening. Before her was no longer the pretty boy. Instead, a proud dragon with scales as bright as the sun itself was there, firing its attack towards the god. However, the deity didn’t seem to be fazed by it, and then Arisu realized that the dragon was actually aiming at the so-called godstone instead of the deity. She watched as the stone absorbed it completely, shining and resonating with the color of Elspire’s attack. It seemed that he had wasted his effort and powered up their enemy instead…

 

Or was it?

 

It couldn’t be just that. No, no way that was the conclusion of that. No…there must be something else happening. Arisu tried to figure out what was actually happening, and then she watched as the three copies of the god took the energy stored from the stone, powering themselves up with the electricity coming from it.

 

It was futile, wasn’t it?

 

Or maybe it wasn’t. Nothing was futile. Nothing. Nothing is meaningless. Everything has a purpose.

 

The gods proceeded to throw their attack afterwards after taking in the overflowing energy from the stone. The black lightning bolts were aimed at her and Elspire, and another blast was circling the arena, slowly coming towards the two. Rapidly thinking of a way to counteract this, Arisu then noticed the fact that the godstone was shining brightly as the attack was fired. That was what she wished to see.

 

“Damn…and I thought that I would shy away from dying in this fight.” Mumbling to herself as she started to smirk, Arisu pulled the locket she wore from her neck, and moved it towards the direction of the blast just as it was about to hit her.

 

It hurts.

 

The black lightning ravaged through her, but she stood still at where she was. The pain was utterly immense at first, but as seconds passed, her entire body started to be numb from it. The philosopher’s stone that she stored on her locket started to glow. It glowed and glowed as it slowly took the energy from the blast into itself. It glowed scarlet, and it continued to take away the energy. At that point, Arisu could barely even able to think. All that she could figure out was the fact that she had to do something to the still-glowing stone.

 

And with that in her mind, she dropped everything else, and started to run. Channeling the electricity that she partially absorbed before to move her numbed body, she ran towards the stone. She had little to no idea on why she was doing it at that point. Her body was that of a puppet, moved by the strings of the puppet master. Moved by the strings of her willpower.

 

“Perfect Freeze!”

 

Was it her voice? Arisu had no idea of knowing, as the magic from her philosopher’s stone was channeled through the environment, utilizing the raindrop and the dampness around the arena to create a miniature ice world. Would that be able to slow the gods? Doubtful. Not that she could physically care now. She was now in front of the stone, completely ignoring the fact that she was completely in range to be pulverized by the god and his copies. The girl fearlessly placed her hands on the still-glowing stone, and from it, a certain kind of chill started to be felt on the air.

 

“Glacier Crusher!” Her body was giving out, but with her last effort, ice started to envelop the stone. The stone was rejecting her touch, but the ice continued to grow and grow, enveloping the stone completely, from the inside and the outside. Just as ice breaking stone formations from the inside, Arisu aimed to break the stone completely by channeling her ice magic into its very core. Whether it was successful or not, it remained to be seen, as her body finally fell on the ground, completely motionless after taking the brunt of the god’s attack earlier. However, it was then followed by a spark, as to be expected from her. The attack was intended to be suicidal from the start, and Arisu had set so that the grenades on her would explode as soon as her body lay dying on the ground.

 

As the big explosion occurred, a faint red light was visible somewhere on the ground in the arena, away from the explosion.

 

---

[Cosmo.]

Odette arrived to the arena, it was deep underwater, and she could see all the vibrant sea life that lives in the majestic blue. The dome was made of glass and in the middle of it, stood a giant pillar made, if Odette remembered correctly, electricity. Water and electricity don't mix well, so that was probably the thing of this arena. "Good luck, Madam Odette!" said one of the pilots. "Oh, thank you!" Odette answered as she watched the helicopter fly off. "Now, let's get this started!" she said with a grin on her face. She extended her ribbons, walking using them, so she could have a better view of the dome. "Oh, where are you?! i just wanna talk!"  she said with a creepy smile. Odette wanted to get this over as quickly as possible, obviously trying to win. The girl she was looking for didn't seem to dangerous, but it's better to not underestimate anyone, after all, if she got here, she must be very powerful. "Now where could someone be in here?" she thought, while still gazing over the arena, looking for her pre.... friend.

[Mr. Hyde]

 

With Ilgad anticipating Elspire's attack to fade as it approached him, his attack was able to land on the Godstone.  It didn't seem to phase the stone, rather make it glow brighter and increase the intensity of the magic flowing inside of it.  Elspire wondered how the stone had absorbed such a strong attack...but how much could it take?  

 

"PERFECT GOD STORM," 

 

"Hey!  Cool attack names are my thing you jer-!"  The blow back from the electric blast sent by Ilgad made him soar higher into the air.  "Hah!  Magic may not affect you, but lightning sure doesn't hurt me.  Nah nah nah na boo boo!"  Elspire stuck out his lizard tongue, taunting the god.  He then realized...where the other bolt had gone.  "ARISU!"  He watched the girl get struck by the bolt, and his heart sank.  She seemed to be in extreme pain, but she managed to pull through it and rush towards the stone.  The next thing he saw was Arisu seemingly freezing the stone, and then a large explosion enveloped the stone and her limp body.

 

"NO!"  Elspire's voice bellowed throughout the valley.  He knew it would have to inevitably come down to this, but he didn't wish for Arisu's death.  He wanted her to calmly surrender...the two could be such great companions.  His soul raged in anguish.  His fists curled, and were enveloped in lightning.  "This is all your fault!"  Elspire's talons were pointed at Ilgad.  "IT'S ALWAYS BEEN YOUR FAULT!"  The lightning from his fist vanished.  He bolted towards the god, with his fist cocked back for a punch.  This time he would use his own strength against Ilgad, and not the magic borrowed from his enemy.  

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Morgan watched on as the Elspire and Arisu fight continued. She kept making vague hints about Arisu's true nature but no one but her, and apparently Vena from her giggles, would be able to piece it together if they didn't already know. The fight was taking a while to get underway. "Gawd why don't they get on with it? They realize this is a fight right? Hey Gerald should we, like, send them a message?"

 

Though it seems that wasn't necessary. Morgan froze with a sarcastic grin on her face as she watched the events unfold. Something...powerful had emerged. Something with...a very special kind of power. Morgan trembled in her seat, not from fear, but from excitement. She got to her feet, Vena nimbly getting off her lap to avoid faceplanting, and gasped. "Is...that a god?" She spoke in a hushed tone. She knew gods existed, her father had spoken of them before, but she didn't realize they'd be like this. She smiled then. "That's so perfect, Gerald did you know this was going to happen? You're the freaking best! Well, fourth best, my family are the best of course. I gotta meet him, let me meet him when this is all over, this is amazing!" She excitedly watched the god's display of power...but then...what was this?

 

Those other two had some pretty strong attacks on their side...there was no way they had such strength before this was there? That Arisu, she was obviously a weaker magic-user than Morgan how could she summon up that much strength?

And Elspire, that was quite some magic he was packing. Morgan started to wonder if she had picked the wrong guy for this. Perhaps if Elspire won this she'd have to work towards replacing Dirk...Or better yet she could take them both and have two chances at taking home the prize.

Morgan sat back down, apologizing to Vena who seemed not bothered at all, and continued to watch. "This just got interesting..." Morgan immediately pumped out another poll.

 

Ilgad: Hot or Not?

 

A god, a dragon, and now...to top it all off. "THE LESSER MAGICIAN LOSES THAT FAST? WHAT A...." She searched for the words. "SCRUB!"

Best. Fight. Ever. Of course in her excitement she had failed to notice the girl toss her phylactery.

[VCR_CAT]

Saul: Observation Tower

 

Saul let out a long sigh. "To fill in the proper commentary my apparent partner is neglecting; this fight does not bode well for Elspire." Saul sat up straighter, continuing while ignoring any mean faces Morgan shot his way. "Elspire is too naive; he's too trusting and good-willed towards others. He lacks the willingness to do what needs to be done to further his goals. If Arisu realizes this at all, she will take full advantage of Elspire's nature and steal what hopes he has at victory right from underneath him."

 

"They meddle with power beyond their understanding," Saul muttered into the mic, glaring at the feed, knowing that the power to slay Ilgad himself was now the center of a grand fight. Of course, Saul was right in suspecting how Elspire's weakness was going to play out in the fight. Saul's voice rose back to a normal speaking volume. "And here you can see Elspire's greatest weakness at play, when he decides to fight for his opponent instead of letting them die on the spot for their own foolish mistakes."

 

Saul stared at the screen, his expression unchanging. The magician had died, but there was something not right about this death. Something that feels entirely intentional and not at all just a simple loss. "This fight may not be over. However, this depends on how soon Ilgad decides to quit playing around and actually finish something for once in his pathetic, eternal life. Unfortunately, Elspire decides to follow the foolish route and simply throw all of his magic at the target and hopes it kills them. Morgan, what comments do you have on head-on magical assaults that exhaust your own abilities?" At this comment, Saul turned to Morgan with a near-complete dead-pan expression as he knew he was probably touching on a nerve of her recent defeat; but also the slightest hint of a sly smile etched on his stoic, stone-carving of a face.

[Dad]

The Skybox

 

"And this match has quickly gotten off to a rather thunderous start!  It appears our contestants are fighting on sacred ground--or so it is believed--and the one who owns it is not pleased!  From the skies he landed and ladies and gentleman, there appears to be an actual god in our midst!  We couldn't quiet capture him in our last live feed, but he has returned!  And his name is Ilgad!.  Gerald watched the stream angles change, as Ilgad was first highlighted.  "However, the forever tenacious Elspire will not be swayed by a god.  After all, he conquered a Titan, did he not?  I jest, Saul, I jest.  But now--yes!  Elspire is taking Ilgad head on!"  The boy threw magical bolts of lightning at the god, only to find his attacks repelled.

 

"It looks as though Arisu doesn't want to be left out, as she joins the fray with powerful ice magic!  Look at those intimidating icicles!"  For a few moments, Arisu was front and center, caught at various angles for her viewers.  Unfortunately, her magic was also repelled as Ilgad was up to his tricks.  "What is it that's keeping Ilgad from being phased by these magical attacks?  Ohhhhhh dear he's going on the offensive.  Elspire and Arisu are going to have to be careful here," Gerald commented as Ilgad raised his sword into the air.

 

"Gerald!  Is that a replica!?" Steph interrupted on the broadcast.

 

"Yes!  Yes it is!  Those are exact replicas of Elspire's and Arisu's attacks!  But again, Elspire interrupts and saves Arisu!  To be his opponent, Arisu sure is favored by Elspire."

 

"But how long will he continue to protect the girl?  He's putting himself at risk!"

 

"Elspire is too naive; he's too trusting and good-willed towards others. He lacks the willingness to do what needs to be done to further his goals. If Arisu realizes this at all, she will take full advantage of Elspire's nature and steal what hopes he has at victory right from underneath him."

 

"Too right Saul.  At this rate, he could lose out on his chance to partake in the semi-finals.  And we all know he's a crowd favorite.  What a disappointment that could be!  But wait a minute--look at this!  Elspire launched another attack!  But this time at the stone!"

 

"Something's happening!  Something's happening!" Steph squeaked.

 

"It's--it's--ohhh, dear!  His attack was absorbed, again!  What is going on here!?"

 

"And Ilgad!  He's taking more power from the stone!"

 

"He's up to something."

 

"What on earth is that!?" Gerald and Steph both asked at the same time, as Ilgad launched three powerful blasts of dark lightning at Elspire and Arisu.  And as Elspire swiftly dodged it, Arisu was overcome.  "No!  No, no!  Arisu is down!  Arisu is down!" Steph said cupping her mouth.  "It looks like it's down to Elspire and Ilgad now.  But in her last efforts, she's frozen the Godstone!"

 

"Is that possible?  With all of the magic there, is it a win for Arisu in the end?"

 

"Let's take a closer look."

 

 

Godstone Valley

 

The girl threw herself into his attack, but Ilgad was no fool.  He knew very well that she had the Philosopher's Stone.  He knew that scent anywhere.  However, he was too late to stop her from reaching the Godstone, and giving her body away.  But then, where was the stone?  Surely she hadn't hidden it far away.  As her body vanished, Ilgad lost track of the scent of the Philosopher's Stone, as he watched Arisu's magic cover the Godstone in ice.  In a low growl, he barged over to the stone, and placed his hand over the ice.  The stone was still resonating.  He could feel its magic, but he could not feed from its power.  He began to melt the ice with his palm, sending a powerful heat throughout it.  But this magic, atop of Arisu's, and what Elspire had already put into the stone, caused a dangerous combination.

 

As Ilgad's palm finally met the Godstone again, he felt a powerful burst of magic like nothing he had felt before.  It repelled him immediately, as a wave of rainbow colored magic burst outward from the stone, and sent him crashing into the mountainside.  A powerful beam of iridescent light burst into the heavens from the Godstone, washing past even his brothers and sisters.

 

Ilgad freed himself, eyeing the magic carefully.  He turned to Elspire, who was off in a rage.

 

"IT'S ALWAYS BEEN YOUR FAULT!"

 

"You fool!" Ilgad barked, as Elspire charged at him with a bare fist.  Ilgad met him head on, a fist of twice Elspire's size.  "I don't know what you've done to the Godstone, but I will ensure you that you will not leave here alive!"  Ilgad's copies dashed at Elspire, and at the same moment, Ilgad himself pulled Elspire towards him, and held the boy in a choke.  But before his copies could execute Elspire, they flickered, stopping, and gripped their hests in pain.

 

"What?  What's going on?" Ilgad asked watching his clones.  In confusion, Ilgad let the boy go, and tossed him away.  His copies began to fade, turning into beams of light, firing into the heavens beside the Godstone.  "What is happening!?" he screeched.  And at that moment, Ilgad was answered.  The Godstone glowed brighter, and brighter.  It was so bright now, that even his eyes could not withstand it, and Ilgad and Elspire were forced to shield themselves from the impossibly bright light.  

 

When it dimmed, Ilgad's face was frozen in horror beneath his helm.  He was no longer staring at a bright, elegant crystal that contained untold magic.  Instead, he stared at a dried, dreary boulder, devoid of life and wonder, cold, and cracked.  "No.  No, this isn't possible!" he roared.  Ilgad roared, bellowing over the valley, as he touched the former Godstone, now nothing but a mere rock.  He punched through it, watching the stone crumble at his strike.  He withdrew his fist, and turned his eyes to Elspire now.  Lowering his magic guard, Elspire would see a magic green bubble fall over Ilgad, as he was now vulnerable.

 

"You!" he said pointing to Elspire.  Ilgad had purposely lowered his magic guard, to buffer his strength.  And now, with his shield gone, magic effects would prove more effective again.  Ilgad clenched his sword, pointing it at Elspire.  "You have defiled holy ground, destroyed an ancient relic, endangered countless innocents, and have brought disgrace to my name!" Ilgad said as his voice grew deeper.  His blade began to glow, becoming quickly enveloped in flames.  "And now.  I will make you an example.  I will hang you by your intestines for your world to see.  All who defy the Eternal Flame.  Shall burn."  Ilgad's eyes glowed red beneath his helm, as he raised his sword to the skies once more.

 

The sword burned, and drew a powerful current of wind around it.  Ilgad spoke in an ancient tongue again, with hints of dragon on his voice.  Lowering his head, he let his blade go, and watched it raise high into the air.  The wind continued to soar around it, kicking up mud, dirt, and dust.  Ilgad spread his arms wide, welcoming the disaster he was about to shed upon the valley.

 

"Lament," he said suddenly, as his blade plummeted back to the ground, where the Godstone once stood.  And at his feet, the ground began to boil.

 

 

The Great Heavens

 

They watched from high, as Ilgad fought sloppily.  "Why does he toy with them?"

 

"End it, you fool."

 

"Strike them down, as you so proclaimed."

 

But they grew gradually more displeased.  As the Godstone became tainted with impure magics, it grew more unstable.  And Alastor, Adelfa, and Lamia continued to glare in disgust.  And when the Godstone became overloaded with dirty magic, it had become nothing more than stone.  Alastor clenched his fist, as his sisters held each other tightly now.  "He allowed this," Alastor said suddenly.  "Was it for his own glory!?  Imbecile!  Traitor!" he roared.

 

"Sever him," he ordered to his sisters, as he watched Ilgad channel his remaining power.

 

"Brother, you can't!  There's no going--"

 

"Sever him!  He is not worthy of our strength.  Leave him to the mortals.  We will find another to bring a stop to the Dark Ones."

 

Lamia and Adelfa looked to each other, and then to the light that held their bother to his godhood.  Alastor joined their side, stretching a hand out towards the dark blue beam of light.  Adelfa and Lamia followed, speaking softly.  "And who will we raise, brother?" Adelfa asked softly.  Alastor did not reply immediately, his head hanging low.  Finally, he looked to his sisters, seriousness in his voice.  " I have already chosen another."

 

"What?"

 

"How?  So quickly?"

 

Alastor did not respond, going silent as his sisters looked to one another again.  Turning their attention to the Holy Place of Ilgad, they began to speak.  "For your sins.  For your crimes.  For your betrayal, you are deemed unworthy.  You shall descend, into mortality."