For Glory! [Zack, Lanying, Raen]

[Nothingness]

A Contest in a Contest

Go For It!

Raen followed suit with Zack, drawing his sword and running into the arena. The stands were pretty full--it was kind of intimidating. Still, it wasn't as if fighting in a ring would be any different than fighting in the open, right? Just as he thought that, a large group of Heartless popped up. Tilting his head to the side a bit, he said to Zack, "Wanna see who can take out the most?" Without another word, he ran into the fray, getting noticed by three Soldiers.

Drawing his blade, he turned around, taking note of every twitch they made. As soon as one lunged towards him, Raen side-stepped and skewered the wanna-be knight through its visor. Another Soldier thought that would be a good time to take advantage of him: poor thing. Without so much a break in fluidity, he withdrew his blade from the defeated Solider, it bursting into smoke, and sliced upwards, parrying the slash. A quick thrust later, and the second Soldier was taken out, leaving one more and a slow-approaching Large Body.

Jumping back a few steps, he waited for the third Soldier to attempt a tackle before twisting his body to the side and slicing along its back, killing it. That left the Large Body as it stomped towards him. "Hate these things," he thought with disgust. The fat Heartless slapped its stomach before attempting an irritatingly slow charge towards him. Raen pretty much walked out of the way before rapidly stabbing its back. He started looking for more targets while Zack handled his fair share.

[Zack]

Soon a bunch of heartless appeared before the two. Then Raen asked him if he wanted to make a contest out of this between them. "You're on! he told him with a grin. He immediately headed for the nearest soldier and stabbed it in the chest, then took it out and sliced its neck, that one going down easy. Two more soldiers approached him and Zack dodged one that was about to kick him. He cut the thing's leg and then followed that with a quick slash or two to its chest as well.

The other solider he rushed at and attacked furiously. This one fell to pieces as it disappeared into smoke. Finally a large body approached. He attacked the thing's stomach but he just bounced off it. He dodged as the thing charged at him, exposing its back. He attacked it as fast as he was able and soon it was down. He then rushed off towards the one of the last soldiers remaining. "All tied up right now!, he yelled over to Raen.

[Nothingness]

This Is Just a Warm-Up

Zack announced the tied score as the two ran past each other. Well, hopefully that would change soon. Stopping, he found himself in front of a Soldier with a Large Body behind it. The solider ambled towards him before trying one of its claw swipes. Taking a quick hop back, he immediately lunged forward, stabbing it through the chest. That left the Large Body. This one...was just as much a simpleton as the first. "Why are these things such bumbling buffoons?"

This one was somewhat more intelligent, though,in that it didn't run straight towards him, but instead walked slowly before swinging its massive arms. Not only that, but this one kept, for whatever reason, turning around to face him and stop his advance by swinging its arms. Having had enough of this, Raen shot off a Dark Blizzard, striking its head and sealing it within ice. The giant's stubby little arms kept trying to grab its face, but instead just walked around in a circle before falling over on its front. Raen felt a little sorry for the Heartless, but had no qualms about jumping on to its back and finishing it off with a stab to the back.

[Raen used Dark Blizzard, three posts until next use]

[Zack]

Zack quickly made it to the last soldier remaining. He sliced an X onto its chest and watched it fall down as it disappeared. That just left the last Large Body. Zack jumped over it and as he did so attacked its head. Then when he landed behind it he attacked its back until it was no more. That was the last of the heartless.

"Alright! We won!" he exclaimed. He had almost forgotten how good it felt to compete in the coliseum. He then heard Phil voice yell at him. "Don't get too cocky, kid! That was just the warm up round!" Zack soon stopped celebrating afterwords. Phil was right, it was only the first round, it was only going to get harder from here.

[Aerith]

Let's get ready to rumble!
--------

Well, that went better and worse than expected. Worse, in that the two dispatched the Heartless with ease. Better, in that the two dispatched the Heartless with ease. Hades was in need of some muscle. Much more dependable muscle than he'd had in the past.

Time for round two, as that annoying goat-man had said. Another flick of his wrist called up a much larger Heartless this time: a Behemoth that nearly took up the entire arena.

[Nothingness]

Sweet Irony

The thrill of victory was certainly sweet, made even more so by the cheering of the crowd. If the life of a gladiator was like this, he might never leave. But, naturally, just as he was enjoying himself something had to come and ruin it. This time it was a massive, purple Heartless--a Behemoth. Taking a few steps back, Raen watched the creature tower over them, standing on its hind-legs for a moment to roar before crashing back down. He'd fought one of these once, but that was with about fifteen other people, and it was in the Traverse Town marketplace, not some small, enclosed arena.

"Uh, Zack? Got any plans for this?" Raen said, his voice a little shaky as he took a few steps back. When they fought it before, it was easy to take it down through sheer numbers, but it was still an arduous fight. "It's got to have a weak point somewhere that we can reach." He muttered to himself, looking over the massive beast. Back then, they found out that the horn was the weakest portion of it, but there was no way either Zack or himself could get to it. And he sure as hell wasn't getting near those feet.

[Zack]

Zack wasn't expecting the next opponent. A giant heartless had appeared in the arena, one that nearly took up all the space of it. Unlike Raen though, who was backing up, Zack stood his ground. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that Phil was just as surprised by the behemoth's appearance. "Kid, I think this one is too much for ya!" Phill yelled over at Zack. Zack just smirked. "The bigger they are the harder they fall!" he replied.

Granted he still didn't really have any ideas how they were going to handle it yet. Though he heard Raen mutter something about a weakpoint being closer to reach. "Raen do you have an idea of where to hit this thing?" he asked as the heartless slowly approached. He would just go and attack the thing, but if Raen had any ideas he'd rather here those first.

[Nothingness]

Best to Go With What Ya Know

Hearing Zack ask Raen if he knew anything about fighting this monster of a Heartless wasn't exactly the best thing, but he could work around that. "The horn is the weak point, but there's no easy way to get to it." Raen knew that he didn't have much time to come up with a strategy, especially since the beast was slowly, albeit surely, moving towards them. "Ah, hell." He groaned, resigning himself to the only option he could see. "Attack the front legs! If he kneels over, we'll have a shot!"

While his life certainly hadn't been devoid of moments where he thought, "What the hell am I doing?", this moment most certainly ranked high on his list. His first attempt at stabbing the creature's leg failed, finding the skin far too tough to penetrate. Hopping backwards as it tried to smash him underfoot, he retaliated with a few quick slashes, and while they didn't do much, they did leave a slight mark. "Worse comes to worse," he thought with a slight grin, "We try an even more foolish plan. Hopefully we aren't pancaked on the floor by then."

[Zack]

Hmm...so the horn was this thing's weak point huh? It definitely wasn't an easy spot to reach that was for sure. But if that was the spot to go for, then that's what they needed to do. Raen then said to attack its legs to hopefully get the creature to stumble, so they could reach the horn, however it wasn't working out very well. It seemed like they only shot they had was the horn.

Zack then had an idea. He put his sword away and held out his arms together. "Raen! Get over here, and I'll try and launch you up there! he yelled out to him. Yes it was a bit of a crazy idea, but there weren't many other options they could try for at this point.

[Nothingness]

I Didn't Mean THAT Crazy!

Raen looked at Zack, completely dumbfounded. THAT was his plan? Why not just run himself through with his sword? Rather that than a horn as thick as his waist. "Leave it to Zack to think of the crazier plan." Still, he knew that he had no real choice. Breaking into a sprint he ran at Zack, and, lifting one foot into Zack's hands, was overcome with an almost sickening sense of weightlessness as he was lifted into the air, flipping backwards. Looking down, he could see the Behemoth make to impale him, and twisted his body so that the horn missed to the side. "I must be crazy, I must be crazy, I must be crazy!" He repeated that mantra as he went to wrap his arm around the horn.

It worked...somehow. The Behemoth began swinging its head to and fro, trying to find out where his target went. By this point, Raen was certainly feeling a little more than sick. Reluctantly opening his mouth, he shouted to Zack, "Distract it! I'll try to stun it or something!" There really wasn't much he could do except keep his stomach where it should be, and hold on for dear life.

[Zack]

By the look on Raen's face, Zack could tell he didn't exactly like his plan. But what else were they supposed to do? If the horn was the weak spot they needed to get to it and this is what he came up with. Thankfully, Raen started running over to him and as soon as his foot was in Zack's hand he launched him up into the air. Raen almost got impaled by the Behemoth's horn but he managed to dodge it. He then heard Raen say to try and distract it.

"Okay, Raen!" he called back to him and took out his sword. "Hey, Ugly! Down here!" he yelled at the heartless waving his arms around to get its attention. The heartless seemed to take the bait and started approaching him. Zack kept jumping out of the way of its feet, while it kept moving forward. Hopefully, Raen would be able to take this thing down soon.

[Nothingness]

It's Working!

Zack distractions worked just well enough for Raen to safely stand on the Behemoth's head. Taking a knee, he drew his rapier and lifted it over his head. With a shout, he thrust his blade through the monster's horn. The Heartless roared and began to thrash about, and Raen clung on to his blade for dear life, feeling the strength drain out of him. When at last the Behemoth calmed down, Raen plunged the blade through again and the Heartless gave a loud roar before collapsing. Raen managed to rip his blade out before getting thrown off and rolling on the ground for a moment.

Staggering to his feet, he coughed a few times and laughed a bit before saying to Zack, "The next time, you're jumping on top of it." Without another word, Raen began sending blades of ice all along the ground at the Behemoth. Each hit knocked chunks off of the horn but there was still some left. A few good strokes should finish it off.

[Raen used Ice Beast, three posts until next use]

[Zack]

Zack made sure to keep his distance from the behemoth and only focus on distracting it while Raen took a shot at its horn. The first blow Raen landed, caused the Behemoth to thrash around and Zack had to dodge its feet quickly to avoid getting smashed. Raen then did it again and it caused the behemoth to collapse, the horn now in reach for him. Zack grinned at Raen's comment. "You think there will be a next time?! Can't wait!" he told Raen. He wasn't sure himself if he was joking or being serious, it might have been a bit of both.

As Raen shot ice out at the horn, Zack rushed up to it and slashed it furiously, when he was finished he turned away from it, spun his sword around as he put it away and then gave Raen a thumbs up. Behind him the horn shattered into pieces and the heartless soon began to disappear, a giant heart leaving it. "So does this one count for me or for you?" he asked with a smile

[Aerith]

New Developments
--------

Too easy, too easy. They needed to sweat a little bit more before he would decide to confront them directly. And he had just the thing. The Ice Titan hadn't had a chance to stretch its legs in a while.

The air suddenly grew a lot colder, and a large patch of the ground became covered ice. With a satisfying roar, the titan burst forth from the ground in a spray of frozen shards. This was enough to drive the entire audience out of the arena. All except that woman. It nearly infuriated Hades the way she continued to sit calmly, as though nothing even remotely dangerous was happening.

He would wipe that self-assured look off her face soon enough.
_____________________________

Zack and Raen were doing an excellent job taking down the Heartless without her, which did not do much to improve her current attitude. It only cemented the feeling that she didn't belong with them. They could fight their own battles just fine.

Although, this next one looked to be a bit of a challenge.

A giant ice creature appeared rather dramatically, scattering the crowds. She remained in her seat, however, and looked on calmly. This was nothing to become frightened over.

Though, considering that its element matched Raen's, things could get tough very quickly. She would watch for now, but if needed, she would enter the fight herself.

[Nothingness]

Something Isn't Right Here...

Taking a moment to catch his breath, Raen bent down a little, resting his hands on his knees. "I'd say that one was a tie; half-and-half, eh?" Standing up straight, he wiped his forehead with the back of his hand and looked around. The crowd was certainly cheering them on well enough, and it did quite a good job as a second wind. That, and a sudden chill in the air helped out. Raen stopped and looked around. "Why is it getting so cold in here?"

Then he saw it--the Ice Titan. The crowd began to disperse, running away from the gargantuan monster. It knocked down the pillars that held the barrier, and leaned down to roar in his and Zack's faces. "Perfect." A savage grin broke on his face, staring down the Ice Titan expectantly. "Your legs don't look so strong, buddy! Time for a switch, Zack! I'll distract; you break his legs!"

Raen ran into the stands, opposite of where Lanying was sitting. The Titan turned around and swung its arm, sending a dozen shards of ice towards him. Swinging his blade, he knocked one away before blocking the others. Since he and the Titan relied on the same element, it'd be pointless to fight each other. And luckily for Raen, he was apparently smarter than this stupid monster.

[Raen used Defensive Blow, four posts until next use]