(Fan-Fiction) Multiverse Games

[RemnantGirl]

(This is a fan-fiction i origionally posted on Deviantart when someone suggested i should post it here, so i thought i'd give it a shot. The prologue is mainly my own characters, and a couple of the contestants will be my characters, but for the most part the characters in this story will not be mine. Just a shout out)

Prologue

“All the contestants are here, as you commanded.” Spoke a small little creature, a mix of imp and satyr most likely.
“Thank you, Palin. Take your leave.” This voice belonged to a tall man with short gray hair, a streak of black in front. Golden eyes were looking out the window to the darkening sky. The demon fled.
This man was Kamai, and he wasn’t human. Sharp fangs and pointed ears showed otherwise. He was a fallen angel, his wings cut off, and he still had the scars. He wore all black, some red and gold here and there, very fancy.
Having been cut off from his former position, Kamai had since found himself his own way of running things. He’d long since formed a group of insane murderers known as the Solar Five Sisters; they were all girls. Now, he was bored yet again, thus bringing a new idea into mind. Instead of destroying worlds, why not have the important figures from different worlds fight it out.
Kamai turned from the window and stepped outside of the office at the top of the stadium he had created, the best seat in the house, at least for him with his sharp eyesight.
The people in the audience were many, more than he expected. If he was going to have fights, why not make it public? Thousands of people from the worlds of his contestants had arrived to see these people fight.
When Kamai made his appearance, they cheered. For all they knew, he was just letting people have a little entertainment. He allowed them to think that. He raised an arm to quiet them down.
“I see you are all very excited for this event.” Kamai said calmly, his voice still echoing across the stadium. “I have gathered here today a rather large number of contestants, fifty-two to be precise. All of them are ready and willing to fight.”
He gestured to one of his servants down below. The demon pulled a lever and several different platforms began to rise, filling in the holes in the enormous round stage. The stage itself was a stone brown color, with contrasting neon blue lines flowing across it in a mechanical like pattern. There was a large gap between the edge of the stage and where the walls of the first stands were.
As the different groups of contestants rose up, their friends from home cheered. The contestants themselves seemed confused. Once Kamai spoke again, their attention turned towards him.
“Welcome, my friends, to the Multiverse Games!”

(tell me what you think, and maybe i'll post the next part, though the next part is mainly introductions of all the fighters.)

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(Truthfully, you don't have to read all of this, it's mainly just introductions of the fighters and what they look like, so it has a little more detail to it as well. Enjoy)

There were sixteen different groups, some of them just a single person strong. Each and every one of them had different way of reacting to Kamai’s announcement.
“Well, I think it’s about time we got started.” Kamai was just about to signal the start of the first match, when Palin zoomed up and reminded him of something. “Ah, yes. First, some introductions for those who don’t know each other.”
He motioned impatiently to Palin, he wanted the fights to start, and the small demon produced a small pair of wings and flew down to the stage, landing in front of the first group. He turned to the audience. These people come from a world known as Gaia, a sick planet slowly recovering from hard times. Two of their number actually came from another world, a world of dragons and elves.
“Here we have Ælfwyn Greenleaf, a powerful elf who moved from her home to live with new friends.” Palin introduced.
“How do you know that?” The elf growled. She had long golden hair, the top braided in elvish style. Her eyes were a light brown, a diamond tint to them. She wore a light green shirt, the sleeves lined in blue silk, the same as the bottom of her brown skirt. Her light brown boots reached mid-calf. Attached to her green and gold belt were two separate swords, a diamond one and a bronze one.
“The master did his research.” Palin whispered to her. He turned back to the crowd. “Here, her twin sister Ralæn Greenleaf, working as a devil hunter with another member here.
Similar to Ælfwyn, Ralæn had long golden hair, tied back in a ponytail, but her eyes were a darker brown. She wore black with silver, and pants instead of a skirt. On her hip was an emerald sword. The elf scoffed at the demon, trying not to kill him. She hated demons.
“Vincent Valentine, a man of demonic power.”
Said man’s hand twitched, he wasn’t proud of his demonic powers. His black hair went past his shoulders, bangs held back by a red bandana. He wore a red cape over a black outfit. His left arm was encased in a golden claw. Blood red eyes stared angrily at the small demon.
“Genesis Rhapsodos, a man of fire.”
The auburn haired man rolled blue-green eyes. His coat was a bright crimson, underneath a black outfit. He held the hilt of his fire red sword tightly, ready for anything. He looked very regal.
“I don’t like him.” He whispered to his friend standing next to him. This man had spiky blonde hair and aqua colored eyes. He wore all black, a sleeve on his left while on his right a long glove. On his back lay his large sword, nearly as tall as he was. The imp introduced him as Cloud Strife.
“I don’t either.” He whispered back. He then turned towards the one introduced as Tifa Lockhart. She had long brown hair and sweet brown eyes. Her black fighting gloves were already on, and she had on a black vest over a white shirt, black shorts and sneakers.
“What do we do?” Tifa asked her companions.
“Just wait it out, see what this ‘master’ wants.” Genesis replied.
The demon moved on to the next group, a group of three, yet from the same world as the first. The first to be introduced was a tiny girl with short brown hair and brown eyes. Her outfit was a tight, dark blue suit with silver armor and boots, glowing aqua lines running down it. There were the hilts of saber swords on the back of her thighs. The girl was called Shelke Rui.
Next to her was a young man with shoulder length silver hair and emerald green eyes, a Remnant. His name was Kadaj, but a lot about him had changed since his first life. For one, he had some extra bits, such as silver cat ears and a tail as well. The black leather outfit was still the same though-modified to fit the tail-and he seemed much calmer than he once was.
Their final member was a pale girl covered in scars. Her past still kept her in a slight state of fear, but she had learned to better control her fear after a visit to the assassins. Her left eye was light amber, her right a light green, her platinum blonde hair stayed braided down to her waist, and her light brown ears were alert. Her outfit consisted of a black leather shirt over her chest, white fish-net over top of that. Both left the stomach revealed, showing the silvery L’Cie brand given by a Pulse Fal’Cie. Over top of her black shorts was a green and tan half skirt, the belt a dark green. She now had black leggings, with knee-high white boots. There were green gloves on what they could see of her hands, as from above her elbow were long flowing white sleeves. Last was her white hooded coat, short so as to give her light brown tail room to move.
Ruala didn’t like demons, and edged more towards Kadaj, the only person she still trusted.
Next was a lone person, a former L’Cie from Pulse. The Pulsian was tall, with dark red hair and amber colored eyes. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail, the lower half left down to hang slightly over her shoulder. She had typical Pulsian clothes, a dark blue shirt with beads hanging down, a black choker with an emerald, dark orange pants covered over by a dark furred skirt and knee-high brown boots. Her brand was on her lower back, silvery as well, and there was a wolf tattoo on her left arm. She was a tough looking woman. Her name was Oerba Gen Fralina.
Fralina looked over at the five standing next to her. It was the Solar Five Sisters, Kamai’s personal little murdering team. One of them looked at Fralina with a look of disgust.
Kamai himself introduced these girls, as they were his personal pick.
The oldest was Kazara Firemar; about as tall as Fralina with dark red hair in side buns, a black wing clip on one side, her golden brown eyes looked bored, her left had a dark purple tattoo going around it. Her armor was golden, dark blue cloth covering her chest where the armor didn’t, which was quite a bit. For skilled murderers, they didn’t need much armor. There were black tattoos on her shoulders, and she also wore long brown gloves as well as patterned brown boots. Her deadly guns were held loosely in her hands, a violet color with golden feather carvings.
Next was Korla Alivain, an archer with light purple hair clipped back, a white hair clip on her left, but left in front of her shoulders. Her eyes were an orange yellow color; around the right was a strange tattoo that went from black down to white. Her armor was silver, the covering underneath white. Her teal gloves went to her elbow and her brown boots only went mid-calf. People could see strange black cross tattoos on her stomach and both thighs, but by the look of her she definitely wasn’t a holy woman. She smiled like the devil.
Not as much as Lyrah Lafianna, a sword master with flowing white hair and blood red eyes surrounded by light green eye shadow. Her armor was blue, the top had a large feathery crest on her left shoulder, and her under clothes were a light purple. Her gloves and tall boots were a bright teal color, the tattoos on her shoulders resembled Kazara’s, but held a different meaning all together. She was a cold-blooded killer and she loved it.
Luetha Kornes was an enchantress, her light green hair tied in a bun with a silver beaded band around her forehead and purple eyes looking around at her challengers. She wore no armor, rather just a maroon shirt opened to show her scarlet bra, and a patterned maroon skirt. Hints of a black snake tattoo could be seen on her chest. Her boots were a light purple, her small gloves a light teal. She held in her hands a violet flute; she was quite the flirtatious woman.
The youngest had to be the most insane, even if she was the only human of the group, with no hints of any kind of protection, she was even halfway barefoot. Firiat Tavain could be considered a sadistic little woman, wearing nothing but a see-through crimson shirt with long flowing sleeves; it only covered a thin area below her chest, leaving her pink bra to cover the rest. Her skirt was scarlet as well. Her gloves and ‘shoes’ were a golden color. Pale pink tattoos circled here and there. Her black hair was in long flowing pigtails, and her aqua colored eyes held malice and sadistic thoughts.
No one liked these girls much.
Next was another loner, a man named Dark Mousy. His purple hair was short but wild, some bits long, and it matched his purple eyes. His outfit was black, white on the edges of his shirt. On his shoulder sat a small little white rabbit with big red eyes.
“No worries Wiz, we’ll get home in no time.” Dark said to it.
“Kyu.” Wiz shivered unhappily.
Another lone man stood next to him, his personal nemesis. Krad was opposite of Dark, with long blonde hair and golden eyes. His cloak and outfit were white, gold designs around the edge. Krad’s white wings were folded tight.
Argentine stood on his own as well, a young looking boy with messy blonde hair and cold blue eyes. His coat was red and white, underneath a pitch black. He looked unhappily at his surroundings, wanting to go home immediately. Krad paid him no attention, looking directly at Dark with eyes of hate.
Moving on, as Kamai’s patience was running out, Palin introduced a group of demon hunters, the ones Ralæn was told to be partnered with, the first being a man with short silver hair and blue-gray eyes. There was the start of a beard on his tan face. He wore a red coat over a black shirt and pants, red leather over his boots. His silver sword had a wicked skull hilt, and there were twin pistols on his back, Ebony and Ivory. Next to him stood a younger looking man wearing a dark blue coat, red underneath, along with a red hooded vest, black pants and brown boots. Nero had the same color hair and eyes as Dante, but they weren’t completely related.
The two girls next to them were total opposites. Trish had long blonde hair and silver eyes, very fair looking. Her black shirt was low cut, a lightning cut down the middle, and her black pants were tight to her skin. Trish was a demon, with power over lightning. Lady had short black hair, and one blue eye one red eye, covered by sunglasses. Her white shirt opened a tad too much, held in place by a black strap, and her shorts only covered what was important. Her belt had a multitude of pockets, and on her back, a huge cannon.
Dante looked over at Ralæn.
“Didn’t expect to see you here!” He shouted over to her.
The elf didn’t even acknowledge him. She was always frustrated with Dante.
The final loner was none other than Dante’s twin brother, Vergil. He had managed to take his katana back from Nero, though the boy could still use it when he needed to. Vergil kept his silver hair swept back, and his coat was a light blue, yellow underneath. His outfit below that was black.
Palin was about halfway through the contestants, but left were a couple large groups, as well as a few small ones.
Next in line were three people who looked like they didn’t belong together. Truly, they were each from a different world, now joined together on a single mission. The tallest was a man with jet black hair and small red eyes. He had on a black cape over his black clothes, mixed together with a red belt and headband. He growled as the demon passed. In striking contrast next to him was a thin man with messy blonde hair and deep blue eyes. His outfit had a large white overcoat, a smaller blue one edged in white fluff, and underneath a skin tight layer of a white jacket and black pants. Kurogane was the tall man in black; Fai D. Flourite was the shorter blonde man. To finish off their group was Syaoran, a small brunette boy with brown eyes. His shirt and gloves were black, his pants cream colored and his cape a dark green. The boy looked confused to be there.
Next was one of the larger groups, and they all seemed to be children. Sora was a boy with spiky brown hair and dark blue eyes. His black outfit had bits of yellow and red, and his shoes looked too big for him. His gloves were black too, and around his neck hung a small crown necklace. With him were his friends, Riku and Kairi. Riku was taller than Sora, his silver hair touching his shoulders, some hanging down in his teal colored eyes. His jacket was white over a black shirt, and his jeans were a bit baggy on him. Kairi had a short red dress on, a white shirt underneath. Her hair was dark red, her eyes a similar blue to Sora’s.
“What are we doing here?” She asked.
“Dunno. This place looks a bit like the Coliseum on Olympus.” Sora replied.
“Then we should be fine.” Riku added.
The two animals with them were Donald Duck and Goofy. The duck had white feathers, a blue shirt over top and a blue hat on his head. He held a small staff in his hands. Goofy was a dog, with short black fur and a green shirt, as well as khaki pants. On his back was a shield.
Last among their group was Kairi’s other half, her Nobody, Namine. Namine’s little white dress looked fancier than before, and now she had white boots, as well as gloves. Her blonde hair still hung over her shoulder, and her eyes matched Kairi’s.
The next group was nothing but Nobodies. Roxas, Sora’s Nobody, had spiky blonde hair to go with his blue eyes. All of them wore the Organization coat, a black coat with gloves and boots, silver ornamentation on the bottom of the hood. Axel was there too, with spiked back crimson hair and green eyes, two black marks below them. Next in line was Demyx. His ocean blue eyes looked at the crowd; he fixed his bronze hair back into a mullet. His pal Xigbar rolled his golden eye, an eye-patch over the other. This older man had scars across his face, and his ponytailed black hair had white streaks in it. It was probably stress from the woman next to him. Her short blonde hair was neatly kept, two parts sticking up like antennae, and her eyes were an electric blue. Larxene may have been the only girl, but she was cruel, second only to Saix, the blue haired man next to her. His hair spiked up a bit on top, an x shaped scar across his face between golden eyes.
The next pair was from a similar world as Gaia. Squall Leonheart had short brown hair, a thin scar between brown eyes. His black jacket had white fluff on the collar, a red belt hanging down slightly over black pants. There was a gunblade at his side. With him was Rinoa Heartily. Her black hair touched her shoulders, and she as well had brown eyes. Her blue coat lay over her black shirt and shorts, a similar gunblade to Squall’s at her side, and a strange contraption on her arm, her shield.
“We shouldn’t be here.” Squall grumbled.
“There’s no turning back.” Rinoa told him.
Next was a group of six. Lightning Farron was a tough looking woman, her light pink hair and pale aqua eyes more adding to her tough appearance than taking from it. Her white coat had several brown buckles, a red cape hanging down from the green shoulder guard on her left shoulder. Her brown skirt was short, the sheath for her sword attached around behind it, and her boots were brown as well.
Then there was Snow Villiers. This buff man was tall, a black hat over short blonde hair. He had a tan colored trench coat over a white vest and black pants, what looked like a blue and white scarf tied around his waist. He used fists to fight, so he had on black gloves, and there was a black L’Cie brand visible on his left arm, Lightning’s was hidden under her black shirt on her chest.
Beside him was a black man with a big black afro and brown eyes. Poking out of that afro was a frightened yellow chocobo chick. The man himself, Sazh Katzroy, wore a green coat over a white shirt, his L’Cie brand halfway visible on his chest, and there were gun holsters on either side of him around tan pants, which were tucked into black boots. He seemed a gentle man, grabbing the chick and whispering soft words to it to calm it down.
The young girl, Oerba Dia Vanille, was more like Fralina than her friends, her pink halter top connected to three beaded necklaces, her orange and yellow skirt adorned with more colorful beads, even the back half skirt of a fur pelt she’d made for herself had beaded decorations, as well as being where she attached her weapon. Her small yellow boots had heels to them. Also, there were a multitude of bracelets on both arms. She had pinkish red hair in twin, curly pigtails, and bright green eyes. Her L’Cie brand was located on her upper left thigh, hidden by her skirt. All in all, she seemed an innocent child, not a fighter.
Next to her was Oerba Yun Fang, a fierce looking warrior in a more tribal looking way compared to Lightning. Her messy hair was a dark brown and her eyes were a sharp green. Her outfit was mainly two large blue cloths tied around, one tied over her chest and ending behind, the other tucked under in the front. What wasn’t covered had a short black top over it. The other cloth was tied around her bottom like a long skirt, though on her left I went up short. She had tall brown boots that revealed her toes, and a brown belt with fur hanging off one side. Her L’Cie brand was the silver form, like Ruala and Fralina, on her right shoulder, a black tattoo on her left of the Eidolon Bahamut. On her back was a large red spear.
Last but not least was another child, a young boy with short silvery hair and light blue-green eyes. Hope Estheim was young and frightened, sticking close to his friends/ His outfit consisted of a yellow and white jacket over a black shirt, as well as gray pants touching just below his knees, strings hanging down. Over his shoulders is an orange covering of sorts, around his neck a green handkerchief. His gloves were black on top, white on bottom, and the yellow ribbon around his left wrist halfway hid his L’Cie brand.
They were nearing the end of the introductions. Everyone was waiting for the fights.
The three girls next were part of some kind of mercenary group, YRP. The first, Yuna, was a petite woman with short brown hair, a red attachment going all the way to her knees and ending with a white wings pendant. She had one green eye, one purple eye. Her shirt was small and white, a black symbol holding the middle, and a red hood on the back. Her black shorts were short, a long blue half skirt on her right with white ruffles. She had black boots, and on her arms were yellow armbands.
With her was her cousin Rikku, a silly young lady with crazy blonde hair in braids and ponytails, just all over the place, and her green eyes had some sort of swirl to them, showing she was an Al Bhed from her home world. She had a yellow bikini top and a brownish green miniskirt. Along her arms were a multitude of white ribbons, and there was a red and orange scarf around her neck, a blue bandana on her head. She had white sneakers as well.
The last girl was the oldest, a tough one named Paine. Her eyes were a light red, her short and spiked hair light silver. She wore complete black; shorts, folded over top; elbow sleeved gloves, and boots up to her mid-thigh. Criss-crossing over that was a variety of red buckles and silver ornaments, along with a black choker with a barbed wire pendant. In her hands was a large katana sword, a skull at the hilt. Rikku’s weapons were nowhere to be seen, making people wonder if she fought with her fists as well. Then again, she looked too small for that.
The last three led right back around the circle of contestants, with the beginning group standing beside them. The first was Rin Okumura. He had short and messy black hair, a blue-ish tint to it, and his eyes were a dark blue. He had on some kind of school uniform, a white un-tucked shirt and black pants. Strapped over his shoulder was a rectangular object covered in red cloth. It was anybody’s guess as to what it was.
Next was Rin’s younger twin, Yukio Okumura. His hair was more of a plain black, his eyes a lighter blue. Like his brother, he had slightly pointed ears and small fangs. For the moment, their tails were hiding away. Yukio’s uniform seemed more like a teacher’s uniform, hanging on like a coat over his normal student uniform. He had two pistols at his side, along with multiple ammo rounds along his belt.
The last to be introduced was Shura Kirigakure. Her red hair was tipped with blonde at the ends, and back in a ponytail, her eyes were more pink than red. Her outfit was pretty much a red bikini top, short blue jean shorts, and a short black coat, though kept un-buttoned, and boots. She, too, had no weapon. There was a red tattoo starting on her chest and running down to her stomach. No one knew what it was.
The introductions were finished and Kamai began to speak once more.
“Now that we all know who you are, it’s about time we began for the tournament. These first set of fights will be the preliminaries.”
“Fights?” Hope shivered. “He can’t make us fight.”
“Looks like he can.” Lightning huffed.
“Let me explain the rules very quickly.” Kamai’s wicked smile did not please his contestants; they had a good idea that this would be a very serious tournament.

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Preliminaries Round One: Water

“The rules are simply this: There will be two teams of two, randomly chosen, and they must destroy the elemental crystal before the other team does.”
Kamai snapped his fingers. A deep rumbling vibrated the platform, startling the contestants. On the side closest to Kamai, a tall pedestal began to rise. Floating gently on top was a sea blue crystal, glowing a light blue. Its shape was that of water flowing around a beautiful fish. This was obviously a symbol of water.
“Simple enough.” Kurogane crossed his arms.
“Its way too easy, there’s gotta be a catch.” Lightning replied to the tall man’s remark.
“Of course there is, the master never makes it boring.” Once said, Firiat laughed. “I wonder if I’ll get picked, fire versus water!”
“This one seems a bit…strange.” Ralæn whispered to her sister. The elf simply nodded.
“Of course, for every challenge, there’s a beast to guard it.”
The stage began to sink below, walls rising up around it. The contestants were pushed onto a thin stretch on the opposite end of where the crystal was. One it was deep enough, it began to fill with water. Pedestals rose up to make scattered footholds for the earth dwelling people.
“I don’t like this at all.” Vanille whimpered.
“Well, I’m not going in there.” Rin shrank away from the water.
“Ha, you’re flames wouldn’t work in there, Son of Satan or not.” Shura patted Rin’s head.
“Meet Silthio! Mind you, he’s a bit shy, so he’ll stay under the water.” Kamai’s voice grew menacing at the end.
In the walls under the crystal’s pedestal, a door opened up. All they could see was a shadow and the tip of black spines, a dark turquoise with green ringed purple spots. Then, it vanished.
Everyone backed away from the waters edge.
“Now, now, don’t be worried,” Kamai chuckled, “I haven’t chosen the two teams yet. Let me explain a bit more before I do so.”
The small waves created by the creature’s movement lapped up on their thin stretch of stone. Axel and Larxene backed off so as not to be touched.
“There will be two people on a team. Those two people must find a way to work together to get past Silthio and destroy the crystal. You can attack the other team, you can use any kind of tricks and magic you want, but you can’t abandon your partner. The first team to destroy the crystal wins, as the crystal is what keeps the creature here. It is a summoning crystal.”
“So it’s like an Eidolon.” Fralina mused.
“Eidolon?” Riku questioned.
“Nothing, nothing.”
“The team that loses will be sent home, the team that wins will be placed in the platform underneath mine, where they will wait for the other winners.” Kamai pointed down, revealing the large blank space for the contestants that make it. “I also might mention…”
He paused, and the impatient Silthio struck his tail against the water.
“…if both teams fail to pass by Silthio, they are both sent home, and the next two teams will be made to follow in their footsteps, as well as fight against their own monster.”
“How cruel.” Nero growled.
“You better watch your tongue, devil boy.” Lyrah whispered menacingly.
Sparks seemed to light up between their glares.
“Now, for the first team…” Palin brought forth a simple stone bowl, filled with wood carved with a player’s name. He chose one and read it carefully. “My dear Firiat Tavain, you’re on the first team.”
“Haha! I may be fire, but that’s not the only trick I got!” The young pyro leaped onto one of the four starting positions, a large gap between the two middle ones to show the different teams.
“And with Firiat,” He carefully drew another name. “Lyrah Lafianna.”
“Sisters on a mission.” Lyrah high-fived Firiat.
“They’re sisters?” Genesis asked.
“Not by a long shot,” This time Ælfwyn spoke. “They just kill together, so they consider themselves sisters.”
“As for the opposing team, I wish luck to…” Another name was drawn. “Oerba Dia Vanille.”
The tiny red haired Pulsian stepped forth with a skip to her step on the third pedestal.
“I’m ready!” She giggled.
“Aint she just cheery.” Lady smirked.
“And with the young lady…Goofy.”
Now it was the dog’s turn to jump on.
“A-hyuk, guess we get to work together.” Goofy smiled.
“Sounds great!” Vanille shook hands with her new partner.
“I don’t like them.” Firiat snarled.
“How about you direct that anger towards the target?” Lyrah smirked.
Gates came up around the rest of the contestants to protect them from the monster, and the pedestal rose so the water couldn’t reach them. Speaking of, Silthio’s fin tip could be seen rocketing towards his opponents. Lyrah held her sword in hand, and Firiat summoned sparks to her fingertips rather than fire. Vanille held firmly to her binding rod while Goofy peeked his head over his shield.
“Let’s begin, shall we?” Kamai laughed.
A huge purple spotted turquoise tail fin lifted out of the water, the skin on the underside of the tail pearly white, and the top the same as the fins. The huge tail slammed down, creating a large wave rocketing towards the two teams.
“Jump!” Lyrah ordered her younger sister.
With the ease of a cat, Firiat leaped high into the air and over the rushing wave, landing on a pedestal closer to the crystal, but there was still a ways to go. Lyrah landed somewhere close to her. Further back, Vanille squealed and curled in a ball while her partner braced himself behind his shield. The wave washed over them, knocking Vanille off.
“Uh-oh!” Goofy looked around frantically for the red-head.
Those two were safe for now, as Silthio was focused on his main threat, the Solar Five girls. Lyrah was leaping towards the crystal pedestal as Firiat waited for the monster to pass her by.
“Let’s light things up!”
Electricity raced through her hand, she prepared to launch it into the water.
“Wait! Vanille is still in the water!” Hope shouted.
His words were ignored.
Under water, Vanille was able to see the huge creature for what it was. The head was bigger than her whole body, eyes like opals. His mouth was similar to a beak, the nose closed up. So the thing had to come up for air some time or another. Its long body was like a snake, the top had the turquoise color with the spots, fins down its back to halfway down its tail. Its front fins had webbing near the elbow, and its back legs were small from never being used. Down its tail were two pairs of pearly white side fins.
The creature was enormous.
Then, Vanille felt a shock hit her like a hammer hitting her chest. It was Firiat’s lightning. A hand grabbed the back of her neck and Goofy managed to pull her out as the lightning continued throughout the water.
Lyrah was close to the crystal, but her sister’s attack had infuriated the beast, and part of the rule was not to leave behind your partner.
In a flurry of flying water, ear-piercing roaring and thrashing fins, Silthio managed to bring half of his body out of the water, his tail, splashing all around.
“Whoa!” Xigbar, as well as several others, backed away from the gates.
As gravity pushed the creature back down, Silthio opened his jaws wide to crash down on the fearful Firiat. Remembering Kamai’s rule, Lyrah turned to move her sister out of the way. They both went into the water to avoid Silthio’s gaping jaws.
With Silthio’s anger directed towards the girls, Vanille and Goofy began making progress towards the crystal. The latter wondered if he could just throw his shield and break it, but he thought that might be cheating.
“Think they’ll manage?” Dark wondered.
“It’s a possibility.” Kadaj replied.
“Vanille’s tougher than she looks.” Fang added.
Firiat had no weapon, only her magic, and since her lightning hadn’t worked, she had nothing to go on. It was up to Lyrah to do any damage. The blue armored girl leaped onto a pedestal and took out her sword.
“Now you’ve pissed me off.”
Silthio’s head now remained above the water as he raced towards the girl. Behind him, his tail hit the water near Goofy, making him jump in shock and slip. Vanille got him back up.
“Come on, almost there.” The girl grunted.
“I don’t think so!”
Firiat easily hit Vanille off the pedestal, landing in her place. Goofy hid behind his shield, waiting for an opportunity to attack. Firiat didn’t give him one. While Vanille pulled herself up on another pedestal, the young pyro sent a powerful fire spell his way, knocking him far back.
“Hey, that’s cheating!” Vanille spluttered as she got back on the pedestal.
“Ha! Are you deaf? The master clearly said we were allowed to hit down opponents.”
The young pyro leaped deftly onto the next pedestal.
“See ya losers!” She yelled teasingly.
Her partner, however, had her hands full fighting against the several ton monster called Silthio. The creature was clever, avoiding Lyrah’s more magical sword swipes by diving under the water. Once the attack passed, he would launch his head up and nearly hit the swords woman if she didn’t leap out of the way first. All the while, Lyrah inched closer and closer to where the crystal was.
Firiat was prepared to smash the crystal, but when she leaped for the thin staircase leading up to it, chains wrapped around her arms and pulled her back. It was Vanille’s binding rod.
“Wha-“ was all she could say before she went under the water.
“I’m tougher than ya thought! Come on Goofy!”
Now having a slight advantage, the two made their way towards the sparkling crystal. Spluttering, Firiat came above water and tried to climb back over.
Silthio had realized how close they were to his gem. With a final thrash of his tail, he aimed to send Lyrah flying. Instead, the girl leaped up high enough to avoid a hit, before plunging back down and stabbing her sword into the base of the tail. The creature roared and dove below the water, taking Lyrah with him.
“What’s going on?” Dark looked over the edge.
“In-human or not, she can’t survive that long under water.” Yukio added.
“Hmph, Lyrah’s too tough for a little trick like that.” Luetha sneered at them.
Back on the platform of the crystal, Goofy stood in front of Vanille to protect her from Firiat’s furious magic attacks. Vanille decided to throw out a little L’Cie magic, the Blizzaga spell momentarily paralyzing the pyro. Unable to use magic; Firiat had no defense or attack.
Water burst into a fountain of spray, contestants backed up again. Silthio roared in pain, somehow having the addition of several scars. Holding onto the hilt of her sword, Lyrah had the appearance of riding a bucking bronco with her position on Silthio’s neck.
“Yah!”
Pushing on her sword, she forced the creature to come crashing down where the others were. Terrified, Vanille and Goofy leaped into the water. Firiat rushed up to where the crystal was, picking it up and smashing it against the ground. Her job over Lyrah swiftly pulled out her sword and leaped off the beast.
Writhing in pain, Silthio’s skin began to crack, light coming from those cracks. They grew and spread and the beast thrashed with rage. He let out one final roar before he exploded into clear water in its purest form.
“Looks like Vanille lost.” Fang sighed. Hope and Sazh looked a bit upset by this.
“They’re pretty tough for girls.” Rin commented.
“Why do you say that?” Fralina gave him a curious look.
“N-nothing, haha!” Rin backed away carefully.
“Poor Goofy.” Sora’s shoulders slumped.
“No worries Sora, we’ll keep going forward for him.” Riku patted his friend on the shoulder.
Now that Silthio was gone, the water began to drain and the stage rose back to normal height. The platform where the contestants were lowered down and the gates were removed. The stage was flattened once more and the two teams walked to the center, facing the balcony where Kamai was watching.
Before they knew it, Kamai was standing in front of them.
“That’s…not normal.” Nero didn’t like this host.
Turning to the audience, Kamai spoke aloud.
“It seems our winners are the lovely Firiat and Lyrah!” He announced, and the crowd reacted with cheers. Truthfully, they just cheered for the good fight, the girls’ reputations were to be feared.
“As promised, I will send Vanille and Goofy back to their home worlds.”
Kamai snapped his fingers, the sound echoing. Light wrapped around the two people…and then they vanished. They were sent home.
The host had the two girls walk over to the empty platform below his balcony, and then he himself returned to his former viewing position.
“Now, let’s see who gets to go next, now that you know the rules.”
Some of them shuddered.

______________________________________________
Preliminaries Round Two: Darkness

The bowl of names was produced once more, Kamai carefully pulling out one of the pieces.
“Miss Rinoa Heartily. You’re on the first team.”
The black haired woman stepped onto one of the glowing circles, wandering why the stage wasn’t yet set like it had been the first time.
“Kurogane, you’re with her.” Kamai shouted.
Compared to Kurogane, Rinoa seemed small. The tall man held on tightly to his katana blade, prepared for the worst.
“This should be a synch.” Fai’s smile widened.
“What about the other team?” Dark asked the blonde man.
“Oh, yeah.”
The next team started with Fai D. Flourite himself, and the blonde waved to his friend on the opposite team, leaving his two large coats behind with Syaoran and wearing only the skin tight white jacket and black pants and gloves.
“You get no mercy from me.” Kurogane snapped; Fai only smiled.
“Not very nice.” Rinoa told the taller man.
“You haven’t worked with him.”
To join the wizard was Ælfwyn Greenleaf. Remembering how Palin had said she was powerful, Kurogane eyed her cautiously.
“What I’m wondering is where’s the crystal?” The elf whispered.
“Maybe he’s still getting it put in position.” Fai suggested.
Ælfwyn still looked skeptical, taking a look up at where Kamai stood smirking.
“You’re opponent is Tenamancia.” He said, snapping his fingers. “She’s one of my more favorite pets.”
The crystal pedestal rose, showing a crystal of blackest night shaped into a sinister looking shadow. Darkness.
“Not my type for sure.” Ælfwyn growled.
The contestants were backed up onto the thin stretch, and then it was moved away towards the wall where the audience sat. Around the rest of the stage, a thick clear wall rose and domed itself around the platform.
“What is this, Kamai?!” Ælfwyn shouted at their host.
“Ah, Tenamancia likes to work in darkness. The glass is one way. Inside, you will be left in darkness. As for us, we get to see the whole show as if the glass wasn’t there.” He explained.
“You seem to have thought every stage through!”
“Of course. To be at their best, my pets must be in their comfort zones. I can’t have them being weakened and making things easy for you.”
“Not just the stage set.”
Kamai seemed intrigued by this and leaned forward, a dangerous look in his eye.
“Are you accusing me, dear Ælfwyn, of rigging these matches?” He said in a dangerous tone. The elf didn’t flinch, though Fai no longer had a smile and Rinoa shivered.
“I wasn’t sure at first, but putting someone of light up against darkness seems a little too well thought out!”
“Then by all means, princess, play along!” Kamai held his arms open, inviting her to try something.
“We’ll see about your little games, you demon.” She growled.
Kamai simply laughed at the name, snapping his fingers once more. Inside the dome, the stage blackened save for the glowing circles where they stood. They heard something let loose onto the platform, saw a glimpse of light orange flame before it dispersed.
“Flame, huh? I don’t like the look of that.” Yukio said to his brother.
“Well, it’s not blue.”
“Still…”
“What’s so bad about blue flame?” Axel came over and asked them, being a pyro himself. Blue flame was hotter; he only wished he could use it.
Rin laughed nervously and refused to answer, moving away.
“Fine then.”
Back inside the dome, Ælfwyn grabbed her partner’s hand and they moved forward into the darkness.
“Wait, how can you see?” Fai stumbled a bit, finally serious.
“I can’t, but moving is better than being a sitting target for that beast.”
“Have you met Kamai before?”
“Sadly, yes. He and those Solar Five girls tried to destroy the planet I live on. We stopped them, and I thought they were dead. He seems to be trying something new now.”
“So they are dangerous.”
“More than they seem…wait.” She stopped them.
Back at the beginning, Rinoa treaded carefully forward with Kurogane, his senses on full alert. For the most part, nothing happened, and they continued on at a slow pace.
Outside, the audience and other contestants caught a glimpse of Tenamancia as she stalked around, trying to pick her targets, she was currently near Fai and Ælfwyn, hence their stop. The beast stood taller than the elf, a good six or more feet tall. She was completely covered in leathery black skin; the narrow eyes on her thin, canine like face were a dark red. She had four front legs; the clawed paws looked more like a lizard’s than a dog’s. Around her six ankles, barely burning so as to keep her secrecy, were the light orange fires, which also burned lightly behind the back two shoulders and on the tip of her long tail.
As Tenamancia stalked towards her nearest targets, she opened her mouth and hissed between her large saber fangs, small ears bending back.
“That is one tripped out beast.” Nero said.
“This one looks tough, think she’ll make it?” Tifa asked.
“Ælfwyn can handle anything.” Vincent answered defiantly.
Back inside the swirling darkness of the dome, Tenamancia’s hiss didn’t go unheard. Fai tensed and held up a hand, ready to use magic if necessary. His eyes flashed gold from his vampire blood, before returning to their bright blue.
“Wait, she’s testing us.” Ælfwyn put an arm in front of her partner.
Using her power over the shadows, Tenamancia conjured up shadowy figures of people to haunt them, and then turned her attention to Kurogane and Rinoa.
“Uh-oh.” Squall growled.
Kurogane had sensed the approaching creature, and drew his sword. Rinoa surprised him by snapping open her shield and taking a hold of her gunblade in mimic to him.
Footsteps approached them and the flames on Tenamancia grew as she stalked slowly towards her chosen victims. Slightly angered by the resistance, the flames turned a deeper red, glowing hotter.
“Come on.” Kurogane teased her.
She snarled and leapt, four clawed arms reaching right for him. A quick sword swipe and she vanished in shadow, avoiding the strike, coming up behind Rinoa. The woman turned and struck out with her blade, before blocking the deadly claws with her shield. Red eyes locked onto brown as Rinoa stared the beast down.
Back with the shadows, Ælfwyn decided to use magic instead of force. With quick words she lit up her hand in a bright, clear light. With this light Fai was able to see the shadows and he cast his own spell, light purple runes swirling around the shadows and disintegrating them.
“Nice shot.” Ælfwyn said to him.
“No problem.” Fai’s smile was back.
“Come on, we have to find that crystal.”
The wizard was pulled forward after the bright light of his partner’s hand. Further back, Tenamancia sensed her crystal was in a dangerous situation, and vanished into the shadows. Left behind was a shadow of herself. The bait wasn’t taken and with some magic from Rinoa, the shadow was gone.
“Follow me, we have to hurry.” Rinoa held a hand to her heart and bright white wings burst from her back.
“She’s getting serious.” Yuna seemed interested.
“Haven’t seen those in some time.” Squall muttered.
Other contestants were fascinated; needless to say Kurogane was as well. But when Rinoa took off, glowing white wings leading the way, he followed after her. Her wings illuminated the darkness, and Tenamancia didn’t like it. Forgetting Fai and Ælfwyn, the now blue flamed beast launched at the flying woman. She was unprepared and she hit the ground hard with four legs pinning her down, one lifting up to claw at her.
Her partner would have none of that, and Kurogane laid a gash across Tenamancia’s side with a swift swing of his sword.
“Thank goodness.” Squall sighed as Rinoa knocked the beast off and stood back up, wings folded.
“Now it has blue flames.” Rin shuddered.
Next to him, Axel was still wondering what was so bad about blue flames.
Tenamancia left Rinoa and Kurogane and raced away towards the other two.
“Fai, keep going.” Ælfwyn pushed him forward.
“What?”
“Smash the crystal, Tenamancia’s coming.”
Deciding she could handle herself, Fai raced away towards where he had seen the light glinting off the crystal. Behind him, Ælfwyn held her diamond sword in hand. Now completely furious, Tenamancia’s fire glowed white hot and bright. With a spine tingling roar she launched herself at the elf.
Light enveloped them both, expanding throughout the dome. The darkness inside evaporated, leaving Tenamancia exposed to those inside once the light dimmed.
“Now I can see you better.” Ælfwyn smirked, sword at the ready.
“She’s got this one covered, it seems.” Shelke said monotonously.
Rinoa wouldn’t be outmatched however, and flew above where Ælfwyn kept the beast at bay. Kurogane had to deal with Fai, to make sure he didn’t get the crystal before them. In the sky, Rinoa launched downwards, making Tenamancia draw back to avoid getting hit.
“Working together, or is it a three way?” Ælfwyn asked.
“The boys will work out who gets the crystal, for now let’s take care of this thing.” Rinoa answered almost politely.
Tenamancia, however, had other ideas. Fai was already reaching for the crystal. In a blur of shadows, she launched at him.
“Not so fast.” Fai’s nails elongated, sharpening. This was his vampire blood reacting.
A flick of his wrist gave the beast scars across her muzzle. Furious and now blind, Tenamancia launched her way unknowingly at Kurogane.
“What?!” The tall man stabbed his sword through the beast. The scream that came from her nearly made him deaf.
But being a creature of shadows, she wouldn’t die unless the crystal was broken. Fai was torn between smashing the crystal and keeping Kurogane from becoming monster chow. Ælfwyn solved the problem. Taking the bow and an arrow from her back, she shot at the crystal with deadly accuracy that she could only accomplish with the darkness gone. The gem was smashed into thousands of pieces.
Tenamancia roared a glass-shattering roar, which indeed broke the glass dome. She turned to smoke, but now their worry was the mass of sharp jagged glass raining down on them.
Kamai snapped his fingers and the glass turned to dust.
“Congratulations. The match is over.” He remarked, almost bored.
Tired and frightened by their near-death encounter, the two teams made their way to the center. They were joined quickly by Kamai.
“It seems a well placed shot led to Ælfwyn and Fai as our winners.” He reported to the crowd.
The cheers echoed throughout the stadium and with one final glare at Fai, Kurogane vanished with Rinoa in the same flash of light as Vanille and Goofy.
“Oh, dear, he’s angry with me.” Fai laughed nervously.
“Come on; let’s get to the winner’s platform.” Ælfwyn told him.
“Another match down, several more to go. And this is only the preliminaries!” Kamai laughed with excitement for his creativity. The audience seemed to agree.
“I really don’t like him.” Fang glared at their host, who had returned to his balcony.
Several others agreed.

________________________________________________
Preliminaries Round Three: Lunar

“Now that things are getting exciting.” Kamai sneered at his contestants. “Let’s put on a show now that the sun is going down. Wouldn’t want any sleepers in the stands.”
The sky was indeed turning a darker color, the moon beginning to show itself in the sky.
“I prefer this setting.” Saix almost purred as his powers connected to the moon began to strengthen him.
“Well, if you get picked, you should be fine.” Demyx replied.
“Wierdos.” Riku whispered. He never liked the organization.
The audience got quiet as Kamai reached for the first contestant’s name.
“Well, looks like my old foe Kadaj gets a chance to redeem himself.” The demon reported.
“Redeem myself?” The Remnant snarled, stepping onto the glowing circle. “The only result of that is me kicking your ass.”
“We’ll see, boy.”
“Looks like they have a history.” Yukio pushed up his glasses.
“He looks a lot like Sephiroth.” Sora mused.
“Because he’s part of Sephiroth.” Cloud replied.
“What?!”
“Don’t worry. He’s on our side, I vouch for him. I used to fight him, but he’s one of the best allies I’ve ever had now.”
“Not to mention he’s under…protection.” Vincent mentioned, motioning to the elf now in the winner’s stand.
The blonde just nodded.
Kadaj’s partner was chosen as Squall, who after overhearing Cloud’s conversation looked suspiciously at Kadaj. Used to such stares, he ignored it. He wasn’t just getting stares from that though, some wandered why he had cat ears and a tail.
“To go against you, Demyx.”
The water Nobody stepped proudly onto the circle, thinking if he could beat a Remnant of Sephiroth he would earn a name for himself in the organization.
“Joining him is Paine. Good luck, you’ll be fighting Lupro.”
“Lupro?” Demyx scratched his head.
They watched as the other contestants were moved away again, and the stage set into a forest like habitat. There was a low ringing howl, signaling the beast’s release.
“I get it, the Lunar element.” Kadaj said aloud.
“Where’s the crystal then?” Squall asked.
“Same spot as the other two, it must have come up with the trees so we didn’t see it.”
“Actually, boy, the crystal is hidden among the forest.” Kamai interrupted them. “This game is more like a hide and seek race.”
“Dammit.”
“What a cheat!” Snow shouted.
“Actually it’s the best idea yet. Can’t have it being too fast.” Kamai replied. “You should find yourself in an interesting fight, boy.”
“We’ll see.” Kadaj growled in a low voice, making Squall tense.
The demon snapped and the fight began. Demyx surprised them by immediately bringing out his light blue sitar and began playing. When Kadaj tried to race forward, multiple clones of Demyx trapped him.
“Clever.” Kadaj said to the musician.
“Forgotten my talents already?” Demyx smirked, the two used to know each other well. They had stopped Jenova together.
“Nope.” A swift flick of his sword and the clones were gone. Squall destroyed the rest and the boy raced through.
“I’ll get Demyx, you find that stone.” Squall shouted after him.
“Got it.”
Paine wouldn’t let that happen though. A strong leap forward and she was blocking Kadaj’s path. She attacked him with a powerful sword hit, but he easily blocked it and pushed her aside. But he was already in the fight now and didn’t feel like running yet.
“Heard you’re pretty tough.” Paine said.
“I was told you used to be a fairy.” Kadaj shot back with a smirk.
“Only in Hollow Bastion, brat.”
Paine did a feint, aiming for his neck while looking like she’d trip him up. Her faint didn’t work and he caught her blade between the two on his double bladed sword. Twisting his wrist he pulled the sword from her hand and tossed it to the side.
“Speed is always better than strength.” Kadaj turned and took off, searching frantically for the gem.
“Then I better slow you down.”
“Get him Paine!” Rikku called from the platform.
Still at the beginning, Squall fought off the hordes of watery clones trying to kill him, getting soaked in the process. He had only twenty seconds left to beat them or Demyx would be able to kill him. Said Nobody’s haunting melody kept on as he watched Squall’s progress carefully. Eventually, the clones were beat, and Squall could get to Demyx.
“Sorry buddy.” Demyx grinned and with a single note rocketed past Squall on a wave of water, heading towards Paine. Squall was forced to follow behind.
“Whatever happened to getting the monster?” Rin wondered.
“Where is it?” Ralæn added.
“Oh yeah. That could be helpful.”
Ælfwyn glanced across the stadium at Ruala. She knew that if the girl was tense, Kadaj was in trouble. From what she could tell, Ruala was a bit tight, but seemed otherwise fine. That gave the elf confidence that her adopted son would be fine…for now.
There was a sparkle to Kadaj’s left that made him pause. He wondered if that was the gem, and headed towards it. Before he could move any further, Demyx stopped him short.
“You just love getting in my way.” Kadaj growled.
“Trust me, I don’t like too.” Demyx almost shivered as he took a defensive stance. The Nobody had seen Kadaj’s abilities first hand, and wasn’t ready to go up against them.
“Then move!” Once in a competition, Kadaj hates losing. However, he did have more morality than before. When he raced up to attack, he made sure Demyx could block it before letting the sword go full swing. Demyx barely managed to get the neck of his Sitar up in time.
“You scratched it.” Demyx whined.
“Get over it.”
For once Demyx was angry, but a low howl right next to them paused their argument.
“Was that…?”
“Lupro?”
“Yeah, that.”
Glowing amber eyes moved steadily towards them. Growling echoed in their ears. Kadaj pulled his sword from Demyx’s Sitar and readied himself for the wolf. By now, Paine and Squall had heard the noise, stopping their fight to reach their partners.
A black furred beast stalked towards them on all fours, standing as tall as them. His forelegs and hind legs had scales of a blue-violet color, as well as the ones on his belly. There were huge black ram horns behind his head, and he had huge ivory fangs. The mane around his neck was dark gray, but the fur on his tail end was a silvery blue. The black spikes down his back had black fur between them.
“I hate dogs.” Kadaj growled, twitching his cat ears and flicking his tail.
Lupro seemed to feel the same about cats, growling mainly at him. He howled sharply, and stood on his hind legs, suddenly looking much more human and standing over nine feet tall.
“Oh boy.” Demyx backed away from the monster.
“Hm, what’s this?” Kamai suddenly looked interested. “It’s a full moon tonight.”
Shining silver through the trees, the moon shone down on them. Lupro’s eyes turned blood red. A deafening roar made Demyx shiver.
Vincent noticed Ruala suddenly tense. This wasn’t good.
“Forget a race, that thing is too dangerous to handle alone.” Paine panted to Squall as they neared the monster.
“Right. Once it’s dead, then we’ll find that stone.” Squall nodded.
They stopped next to their partners and readied their weapons. Paine stood in front of Demyx and snapped at him to use his water powers. However, with the Nobody frozen with fear, he couldn’t play a note.
“Demyx!” Kadaj shouted at him.
The Nobody jumped.
“Think of it as some part of Jenova. I’m here fighting too, so just play!”
Remembering the fight together against the monstrous Jenova, Demyx felt encouraged and nodded. As he played, more water clones surfaced. The three sword masters awaited the perfect time.
“Friends with a Nobody, you’re just as bad as I thought.” Squall muttered to Kadaj.
“I’m not who you think I am. You’ll see.” The Remnant snapped back.
Squall set it aside for now as Lupro clawed apart several clones at once, roaring viciously. Kadaj jumped in and struck the beast, but found the black fur to be just as tough as the scales on its arms and stomach.
Ruala began to shake. Kadaj was in serious danger now.
Squall jumped in now as well, while Paine kept to the rules and guarded her partner. Progress got nowhere as their swords couldn’t puncture the thick fur. Lupro clawed and bit, but the too barely managed to keep free of his attacks. Turning in a quick circle on all fours, Lupro got a hit on Squall, though Kadaj managed to avoid it by leaping back. One enemy down, Lupro leaped over to take Squall’s life.
“Not in your life.”
Kadaj risked the match and jumped in front of Lupro, aiming to push the wolf aside with his sword. But he hadn’t moved fast enough, and Lupro’s jaws clamped firmly onto his left shoulder. He screamed in pain.
“Kadaj!” Demyx called in unison with Ruala. The girl had to be held back by Vincent to keep her from jumping in.
Unhappy with this involvement Lupro tossed the boy aside. Squall was up by now and surprised by this event. He also noticed Kadaj wouldn’t get up.
Paine took his place, managing to find Lupro’s weak spot at the base of his neck. Lupro’s howl of pain seemed to make something clear. The Lunar gem had been in their sights the whole time, embedded into one of the trees next to their battle.
“This is intense.” Axel shifted from foot to foot.
His worry was unmatched to Ruala’s, who continued to fight Vincent’s hold to try and get into the battle.
Caught up with Lupro’s ever angrier fighting, none of them even had the chance to think of hitting the gem and ending it. If one of them so much as glanced at it, they almost lost their heads. Lupro was intent upon guarding it.
Paine struck the weak spot again, this time staying on his back as the wolf spun to get her off. New trouble stirred when Lupro began to charge towards Demyx.
“Enough!”
A double bladed sword struck the violet-blue crescent moon gem. Kadaj’s sword arm hung limp, but his right still worked. He’d managed to destroy the gem.
Paine leaped off the wolf’s back and watched as the creature howled one last time to the moon, fading out with a violet blue light and vanishing, defeated.
The forest began to vanish and Kamai clapped slowly for the fighters as they moved towards the center. Squall supported Kadaj there; he was weakened by the wound. Just like the other two fights Kamai came down to tell the winners.
“A very close match.” He said with pride. “It seems Kadaj and Leonheart are our winners this night.”
They paid no mind to the cheers and Demyx turned to Kadaj.
“Here, this should help.” He gave the Remnant a Potion. The boy took it gratefully. “Good luck with your other fights.”
“Thanks.”
Kamai wasn’t a demon of touching friend moments, and returned to his balcony after sending Demyx and Paine home. The other two made their way to the winner’s platform. Ælfwyn fussed over Kadaj and did her best to fix his arm, managing to get it where he could fight again.
“I was wrong about you.” Squall said to him. “I’m sorry.”’
“No worries, I’m used to it.” Kadaj replied.
The contestants were placed back onto the stage as they awaited the next fight.

[Damxge]

Wow, very nice. Your writing style is very unique, relying less on the tiny details of description, and more on the big picture; normally this style is crappy and ill written, but you've pulled it off quite well.

Would you mind if I post this on the website in the Featured section?

[RemnantGirl]

why thanks ^^

And no, I wouldn't mind

[Drag]

Oooh! Sounds cool! I love multi-verse things

[RemnantGirl]

Thanks ^^ It'll involve various anime and video game characters, as well as my own.

So, um, seeing as i'm still new...how do i post the next part? Do i just add it onto this?

[Damxge]

http://exrpg.weebly.com/featured-work.html

There we go, if you wanted to see it.


You post a reply with the portion you updated with, and then edit the original post (with the edit button in the top right corner of the post) and add it in there too.

[RemnantGirl]

okay, hang on. See if i can fit my head around this...So i reply with the second part, and then also add it to the prologue?? (sorry if i'm slow with this, on Deviantart you just stick up the next chapter.)

[Damxge]

Exactly.

Spoiler:

Edit button, and between the prolog and the new work, make a line
__________________________________________________________
using the underscore so people can easily go to what parts they've read.

[RemnantGirl]

okay, let's see if i get this right ^^

[Damxge]

Yupp ^_^

Whenever you update, post in the thread and say 'UPDATE!!!" so that the icon lights up for a new post when someone looks at it, as it does not show new posts for an edit.

I'll read it later, but for now, imma go watch star wars XD

[Drag]

I'll read it later, but for now, imma go watch star wars XD

Insperation! :cheers:

[RemnantGirl]

haha, cool. i gotta deal with my parents watching football.

[Damxge]

Ahh, my cousins are all hyper over the super bowl coming up, its like two weeks away and they're already freaking out XD

Also, read the story, great work, write more soon! And again, your style is great.

[RemnantGirl]

UPDATE!!

[Drag]

Sweet! Can't wait to see more!

Jolly good show, ol' chap :hat:

[RemnantGirl]

UPDATE!!!

[Drag]

You are so good at describing action!
I want you in RPGs!!!

[RemnantGirl]

haha, but id don't know if i'd be good in RPG's ^^' It's the fact that i control the action in my stories that it fits, but if anything could happen, i'd get confused and not know what to do.

[Drag]

Maybe try making your own beginner one . That way you have some controll over the start.

[RemnantGirl]

i guess i could try. Maybe once i'm done with the Multiverse Games, cuz i get easily distracted. ^^

[Damxge]

Lol okay, take your time

Great story by the way, looking great!

[RemnantGirl]

UPDATE!!! Part 3 is up

[RemnantGirl]

It seems i'll have to post the next chapter seperately from the original, cuz it's too long (that's what it told me anyway when i tried to add the next part.)

[RemnantGirl]

Preliminaries Round Four: Illusion

“Only three fights in and I finally feel like we’re getting somewhere.” Kamai clapped sarcastically. I think I’ll choose the next element before my fighters, so certain people won’t think I’m rigging the matches.” He looked below.
“You can still hand pick the fighters.” Ælfwyn grumbled.
“This fight will be against my little Illusion pet, Shimro.”
The stage hardly shifted, simply raising the pedestal with a clear colored crystal, the shape seeming to constantly change, though some could see that it was just simply a cylindrical diamond shape. The pet had yet to be released, the bridge for it to walk across from its cage moving into place.
“Before he’s released, let’s pick our fighters. Shimro is quite the sneaky creature.” Kamai reached into the wooden bowl once more.
“Miss Rikku, you’re up.” He said miss because of the fact that there were two Riku’s, though hers had two k’s.
The tanned young woman skipped happily to her spot, excited to make it up for losing Paine. She moved from foot to foot as she waited for her partner.
“Snow Villiers, please join her.”
Snow was much taller than Rikku, but he shook hands with her kindly, agreeing that they would have a good fight.
“To go against you…oh, do I sympathize. Ruala Nakryin, please take your place.”
Snow couldn’t see what he meant by that. Ruala looked nervous even stepping onto the stage, staring ahead at where Shimro was held.
“What’s so special about her?” Nero wondered.
“Who knows, could be hiding something behind that pretty face of hers.” Dante replied.
“Is that all you see?”
“Hey, I’m paying attention to the fights, not the babes.”
“Rin Okumura, please join Ruala.” Kamai interrupted them.
The older twin grinned and took the red cloth off of the object on his back, which turned out to be a fancy looking katana, and handed it to Shura when she offered to take it. He then jumped next to Ruala, who jumped from his arrival.
“Alright now, see if you can get to Shimro’s gem.”
A snap of his fingers and the gates opened. The rest of the contestants were moved away again, out of Shimro’s reach.
“Let’s see what we’ve got.” Rin gripped the hilt of his sword.
None of them expected Shimro to look the way he did. Out from the cage came a small, silver-furred panther of sorts, his neck longer than usual with feathered antennae behind his deer-like ears. The cat had two tails ending in dark gray fur, and more of the gray fur behind his elbows. The cat’s eyes were a light gray and full of mischief.
“A cat?” Rin let go of his sword in disappointment.
“Aw, come on!” Rikku whined. “I wanted something fun!”
They noticed the creature also had folded butterfly wings on his back, they could only see the dull silver side, blending into his fur.
Shimro stepped up next to his crystal’s pedestal and touched it lightly with his nose. It vanished.
“Heh, thought that would happen.” Snow’s voice had an upset tone.
“Do something, will ya guys?” Larxene was bored with the fight already.
Ruala was the first to act. Unaffected by Shimro’s innocent pose, she raced forward towards it. She figured that if she was to find the gem, she had to distract Shimro to make him reveal it. She left behind a confused Rin.
“Hey, don’t leave me behind!” He ran after her.
“Is it me, or does that kid have a tail?” Riku asked.
Rin had neglected to hide his tail and the black furred thing waved behind him as he ran. Snow and Rikku weren’t about to get left behind, but weren’t sure what to make of Shimro.
“Best be careful Ruala.” Kamai whispered only to himself. “Or memories might just catch up with you.”
Being the closest to Shimro, he saw her as his immediate threat. The panther stood and hissed, fur turning a bright orange with frustration.
“Sofia!” Ruala called out. A light escaped her chest and transformed into a large white panther with light brown paws, ears and tail tip. Sofia had a black L’Cie mark on her forehead, large white wings and violet eyes.
“Whoa, where’d that come from?” Rin was astounded, he ran faster.
Sofia ran forward and tackled Shimro, biting into his neck. Turning red with fury by this attack Shimro quickly knocked off the bigger cat and vanished into mist. In fact, the whole stage was surrounded by mist. Only those outside weren’t affected by it. Rin barely managed to get to Ruala before the mist covered them, while Snow and Rikku were left further behind.
“So Shimro has begun his games.” Kamai leaned expectantly on the railing of his balcony.
“Where did that cat come from?” Rin asked his partner.
“Sofia is…my spirit animal.” Ruala worded it carefully.
“Spirit animal? Like a familiar?”
The girl just nodded. Her nervousness was directed to the mist around her. Knowing illusion worked better when one sees their victims face, she pushed her braid into her shirt and pulled up her white hood, standing calmly and waiting for Shimro to come. There was no way to find the gem in this fog.
Rikku didn’t have a smile now, her red blades held tight in her hands. Snow held his fists up, back to back with her. They kept a careful watch while searching through the fog for any sign of a solid object.
“Snow?” A young girl’s voice called.
“Serah?” Snow lowered his fists.
The figure of Snow’s fiancée and Lightning’s younger sister stepped through the fog, her pink hair tied to the side and a white jacket over her shirt and plaid skirt.
“I…I guess I got lost.” Serah smiled nervously.
“It’s dangerous here, how’d you get on the stage?” Snow asked her.
“Who are you talking to?” Rikku asked, turning to look at him.
“It’s Serah.” Snow turned to look at her.
On the platform, Lightning had long figured out that the girl before them wasn’t Serah.
When Snow turned back, he found Shimro’s fangs opening to clamp on his neck.
“Whoa!” With quick thinking, Snow managed to give a good punch to the creature’s jaw.
As Shimro fell down, Rikku jumped in to help. Snow bent down and Rikku leaped over him with blades ready to attack the creature. He was frustrated, but the panther got up and moved out of the way, vanishing back into the mist.
“That thing’s got some cool tricks up its fur.” Rikku backed up to Snow again.
“You jumped on me.” Snow whined.
“What? Oh, that. My bad, hehe.”
Rin sensed Shimro approaching and reached a hand out to stop Ruala. When he touched her she pushed him back.
“Hey, easy!” Rin grumbled.
“…sorry.”
There was a low growl, startling the two. They turned to see a white wolf covered in blue flames. It was Rin’s turn to see things.
“No way.” The boy backed away from the wolf, which gave a wicked smile.
“Oh no.” Yukio looked horrified back on the platform.
“Hello there my boy. Daddy’s come to see you fight.” The wolf laughed hysterically.
“Did you? Fine, take this!” Finally Rin unsheathed his sword. The blade lit up with blue flames. His tail tip lit up, his ears and fangs grew longer, and he was completely surrounded by blue flames.
“That’s so cool.” Axel was fascinated by this kid.
The flaming white wolf laughed and jumped towards Rin. Sofia jumped in front and tackled the wolf, but the blue flames singed her fur, and she backed off. That meant it was more than just an illusion.
“I promise to kick your ass this time!” Rin shouted, blade ready and racing towards the wolf.
“To think he’s a half demon too.” Nero mused.
“Much like you Dante, his dad is a demon.” Trish added to his words.
“This should be interesting.”
Fangs clashed with metal as Rin tried to find a way around the wolf’s defense.
“Find the gem! I’ve got him!” Rin shouted at Ruala.
The girl bent down and whispered to her winged panther Sofia. Once done, she hit her wrists to her side, sparking a reaction and unsheathing mechanical blades along her arms. She ran towards the wolf rather than away.
“What are you doing?!” Rin shouted angrily.
Sofia shifted form, turning into a dark green dragon with brown feathered wings and violet eyes.
“Follow Felica.” Ruala said to the half demon, blades quickly blocking an attack from the blazing wolf.
“Hey, wait! The-“
He stopped short when he noticed that even though Ruala was engulfed by the flames, she was unaffected.
“Shimro has tricked you.” Ruala explained.
True to her word, the wolf shifted back to his true form, and the flames vanished. Felica pushed her head against Rin’s back impatiently, urging the boy to mount her back. He watched Ruala throw Shimro off her arms and get ready to fight before leaping on.
“Felica will take you to the stone.” She said.
“But, the rules-“
“I am fine.”
Felica didn’t give Rin any more time before taking off through the mists. She used a sonar cry like a bat’s to find the gem.
Down below, Shimro’s concentration was wavering, and the fog began to clear. Rikku could see both Ruala defending herself against Shimro, and Felica flying away with Rin.
“Hey, big guy.” She panted, they had been running for a while to find Shimro.
“Yeah?”
“Follow that dragon, I think it knows where the gem is. I’m going to get that thing and remind that kid of the rules.”
“Which rule?”
“Don’t leave your partner behind.”
Snow nodded and changed direction, running after Felica.
Both beings circled at a slow place. Ruala held tightly to the hand holds below her blades and prepared for the worst. She raised one higher up, causing Shimro to snap. Strong legs launched him forward, but he had forgotten the use of speed. Ruala sidestepped the leaping cat and sliced him down the side. He was now bleeding badly.
“Don’t leave me out of it!” Rikku jumped in and struck at the weakened cat.
Wounded and defenseless, Shimro tried one last tactic. The wings on his back unfolded, showering Rikku with brilliant colors. Blinded by the glow of his beautiful wings, Rikku stopped short, as if frozen.
“You are easily tricked.” Ruala pushed the girl aside.
Eyes hidden by her hood the glare of colors couldn’t blind Ruala. There was no stopping her advance towards him, and he was too weak to run and hide.
“Hey!” Frustrated, Rikku rushed over and attacked Ruala instead.
Her feline reflexes kept her protected as she blocked Rikku’s red blades.
With the girls fighting, Shimro escaped and moved towards Snow and Rin. The dragon had landed, pointing her head in the direction of nothing.
“I thought the gem was supposed to be here.” Rin demanded.
Grimacing, Felica stepped forward and swung her tail. Though it should have continued through nothing, her tail stopped midway with a loud crash. Shards of stone formed from nothing and fell to the ground. For a split second, Rin could see the silvery crystal.
“Oh…”
He unsheathed his blade again and prepared to strike the gem.
“Hang on kid!”
Snow stopped short of the flaming boy and panted, tired. He backed up a bit when Felica growled at him.
“Easy there. How do you know that’s not an illusion?”
“Because there’s an illusion hiding it.” Rin answered, as if the question was stupid.
“Well, alright then.”
Snow cast a Thunder spell towards the gem, surprising Rin.
He missed.
“No way you’re taking our win!” Rin snarled, turning and slicing his blade through the air. A torrent of blue flames were created. It was impossible to miss, and the gem shattered, the fog vanishing.
Rikku stopped fighting, blade inches from Ruala’s neck. Her own blade was close to slicing through Rikku’s stomach.
“Did Snow get it?” Rikku asked, backing off and running over to the two boys.
Shimro had never made it to them in time. He lay quietly on the ground, before vanishing into mist. Ruala stepped up next to where he had been, Felica turning into a smaller version of Sofia without wings and fangs and stood next to her.
“Why did she attack me?” Ruala whispered to herself, wondering about Rikku. “Is winning that important here?”
She had never been in a situation like this, and wasn’t used to it.
The four of them stepped back to the center, Rikku disappointed about their loss. Kamai joined them.
“Ruala and Rin have conquered the illusionist.” He raised his arms up to the crowd and waited for them to silence. As he waited, he sent Snow and Rikku home.
“So he didn’t make it.” Lightning sighed.
“At least he’s back home.” Hope replied.
“Let’s hope this doesn’t take up too much time. We have a job to get to.”
Ruala ran straight to Kadaj on the winner’s platform, grabbing his arm and rooting herself in place. She didn’t look ready to separate from him again. Ælfwyn just ruffled her hair. Rin simply stood on his own.
The stage was reset and the contestants returned. They waited for Kamai’s next call.

[Legotransform]

Awesome

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