For Glory! [Zack, Lanying, Raen]

[Zack]

Zack grinned in agreement. So far they had managed to keep it all tied up. Though then Raen asked why it was getting cold and that was when Zack noticed it was colder than it had been. That couldn't be good and he had a feeling he knew what was coming. He took out his sword. "The Ice Titan!" he yeleld out. That could only mean one thing, Hades was around here somewhere too.

The crowd had left, Lanying being the only one remaining. Phil was around too, making sure to stay out of the way of the fight. He didn't look all that happy about the ice titan being here. "You guys are in over your head! Let me call, Herc in!" he yelled out. Zack ignored him for now. They needed to get rid of the titan now and not later. Raen pointed out that the titan's legs looked easy to break and said he would distract it for now.

"You got it Raen! he told him and rushed toward one of the creature's legs. He slashed, breaking pieces of the ice off, until the creature seemed to react and kneel to the ground. The titan's head was now in reach. He jumped up, and attacked the head 7 times, with a final 8th blow causing a crack to appear in its head. He landed, as the creature started to get back up. "Looks like you have to distract him a little longer Raen!" he called out as he went for the other leg.

[Zack used Octaslash four posts til next use]

[Nothingness]

Too Cold to Break a Sweat

After a good minute or two of dodging chunks of ice, Zack managed to break the Titan's legs and scar the ugly thing's face with a huge crack. Raen was pretty surprised with how aggressively Zack was fighting the Titan. In fact, he just realized that neither Zack or he, himself, had done any real fighting in a long time. The armor? That didn't count, really. He only attacked it twice. The phantom of himself? He got knocked on his ass before he could do anything. Zack had fought even less.

Naturally, while Raen had been brooding on the matter, Zack brought him back to reality just in time notice that the Ice Titan had recovered and was leaning back to break ice at him. "Oh, shit!" He scrambled out of the way of the attack, looking over his shoulder and finding the stands behind him covered in a few inches of solid ice. "Thanks for the heads up, man!" He may like the cold, but he'd rather not be a popsicle. The Titan roared again, swinging both arms and sending dozens of ice chunks at him. "Don't you have! Anything! Original to do!?" Raen yelled between parrying, jumping, and running out of the way.

[Zack]

Zack had reached the other leg fairly quickly, and was now attacking it, just like he had the other one. The titan, while powerful didn't seem all that smart, since it was falling for the same thing again. As soon as Zack broke off enough, the titan was back down, head in reach again. He jumped back up and as he did his sword glowed in his hand. He attacked that creature's head again, his attacks faster than they had been previously.

He then ready his final blow and it cause another crack to form, intersecting the other crack and forming an X shape on its head. The titan reeled back in pain and started falling to pieces, until all it was just piles of ice in the arena. However, Zack didn't put his sword down just yet. "Hades! Were are you?!" he yelled out. He knew that the Lord of the Underworld had to be around here somewhere, no one else would be responsible for the titan being here.

[Zack used Swift Blow, 4 posts til next use]

[Aerith]

Wonder what will come of this?
--------

That little punk's voice made Hades want to burn Zack's face off. Well, not so much of a kid anymore, he guessed. Didn't make him any less annoying. Monsters were so unreliable these days. If you wanted anything done right, you had to do it yourself. Time and again, he found that out.

I have got to get my hands on a better Titan next time. Could have sworn that one would've put up more of a fight.

With a snap of his fingers, he vanished from his current hiding place and reappeared just a few feet behind Zack. "Didn't anybody ever teach you not to call death? That's like bringing scissors to the Fates yourself. And running with them on the way there."

He vanished again but appeared next to Raen this time. "Hi, there. Don't think we're been properly introduced." He stuck a hand out. "Hades, Lord of the Dead, God of the Underworld, etc., etc. How ya doin'?" He grinned. "Y'know. I couldn't help but notice that you could probably give Hero Wannabe over there a run for his money."

There was more he was going to say, but something caught his eye across the arena. That woman was still sitting there, silent as ever. But she was staring right at him.
_________________________

Lanying had never seen this Hades before, but she immediately knew he was not someone she wanted anywhere near Raen. If all he wanted to do was talk, then he should say his piece and leave them alone. If she detected even a hint of malicious intentions toward him, Maelstrom's Dragon would be at his throat faster than Zack chased after anything female.

[Nothingness]

Not This Again...

Raen was glad for two reasons. First and foremost: he didn't have to play the carrot on the string anymore. Secondly: they won! He was half-tempted to think of some cheesy victory pose, but realized that there was no one to show off to, bar Lanying and Zack. Instead, he opted for a first pump, and a loud cheer of, "Yes!" He really didn't hear Zack calling out to someone until he looked over and saw some black-robed, blue-skinned guy show up.

Raen had planned to walk down to Zack and see what was up with this guy, but it seemed the guest wanted to come to him instead. The moment this guy opened his mouth, Raen already knew the pitch. Before Hades could even wait for a response, he shot back. "Dude, just get lost. I've had enough of guys like you trying to mess with us." He then noticed that Hades wasn't looking at him anymore, but at Lanying instead. That did more than enough to light a fire in Raen. "You touch even one hair on any of my friends' heads, and not even death will save you. Now get out of here." He wasn't going to turn his back until this guy was gone.

[Zack]

Zack soon heard the familiar voice of the Lord of the Dead coming from behind him. He turned around and rushed over to attack him, but Hades disappeared before he could do anything. He then appeared right next to Raen. "You stay away from him, Hades!" he yelled out.

Of course Hades would be interested in Raen. However, Zack knew Raen wouldn't listen to anything Hades had to say. All the same though, he hoped the god would just leave. Who knew what tricks he might have up his sleeve?

[Aerith]

I Say We Leave. Now.
--------

Hades shot a look back at Raen but quickly smoothed away the fury with a not-quite-friendly grin. "Hey, hey, hey. Easy there, my friend. I would like to point out, however, that you mentioned nothing about what happens if I touch one of your hairs." To illustrate his point, Hades reached out a hand and plucked a stray hair from Raen's head.

Lanying was suddenly standing on the level right above Raen and Hades. And her Keyblade was out. She had had just about enough of this "Lord of the Dead," and she was going to make sure he left them alone. Extending the blade over Hades' head, she caused water to flow out of the dragon's mouth straight onto the top of that strangely burning head.

While he was sputtering with surprised rage, Lanying grabbed Raen's hand and pulled him out of the stands. "I think it's time to leave before things get worse."

She headed for the exit. "Zack! You, too. Come on."

Fire flew toward them, and Lanying broke into a run, still tugging Raen along.

[Zack]

Unfinished Business

Zack was about to race over to get Hades away from Raen, but Lanying beat him to it. She put the flames that were on his head and while he was filling with rage, she started running with Raen in tow. Zack was about to stay and try and hold Hades off for a bit, but Lanying called out for him. He turned as the Lord of the Dead started chucking fire at them. However, he was too slow. As Raen, Lanying, and Phil went past the exit, before Zack could pillars of flame blocked his way.

"Kid, get out of there!" Phil called out to Zack from beyond the flames. "No I'll hold him off, you guys get going!" Zack told them. "You take care of them for me, Phil,"

Before the satyr could respond, Zack turned around to see the god only a few feet away from him. He had his sword out ready. "Hmm....I was hoping to catch your little dark friend there," Hades told Zack. "But you'll do just fine. We have unfinished business," Zack grinned. "If I remember correctly, our business was finished. And it ended with you beaten by that girl," he taunted to the god. That seemed to send Hades over the edge. The god had now turned a menacing shade of red. "I will send you to the underworld!"

[Nothingness]

The Hero Shines

Before he could even retaliate to the smug God's mockery, Lanying had grabbed him by the hand and was dragging him forcefully out of the arena. It was hard to laugh when she put out his hair, and even harder to run through the fiery jerk, but fighting a God didn't sound particularly enjoyable, or easy, for that matter.

As they avoided fire, Raen took one last look back to find Zack getting ready to hold his own against Hades. "Zack, now's not the time!" Raen tore himself free of Lanying's grip, but before he could even break into a run, he was stopped by an immense wall of fire. Turning his head to the side and giving the situation a disdainful "tch", Raen resolved himself to at least cheer Zack on. "Show that hot-head what a hero can do, Zack!" He knew that he was going to hate this as much as Lanying's trials from before, but it was just something he'd have to deal with.

[Aerith]

Not What I Had in Mind
--------

This was certainly not what Lanying had in mind. She had thought they could all make it back to the ship before something like this happened. She had thought Zack was faster than that. Instead, he was now facing an angry Hades alone.

Her first instinct was to help him. Fire would prove ineffectual against her. But something stopped her. Zack had not had many chances lately to work closer to that hero status he constantly strove for, and this was the perfect opportunity. Fighting against a god and winning should help propel him up whatever chain was used to measure heroic status.

So, she did nothing and simply watched the fight through the flames. "I know you can do it, Zack!"

[Zack]

Zack watched the god getting ready to attack, as he heard Lanying and Raen cheer him on. He couldn't help but smirk. While, it probably would have been better to not have been caught in this predicament, he had a feeling this was exactly what he needed after everything. "I'll finish this as quickly as I can!" he yelled back to them as he rushed towards Hades.

He didn't get far though, since soon the god of the underworld was throwing fire at his direction. He rolled out of the way of one shot, and then jumped away from another. He then barely had enough time to duck under a third one. "Stay! Still! You! Little! Squirt!" Hades yelled at him as he avoided his attacks. He seemed to keep making him angrier and angrier and that was making the god sloppy with his attacks. Soon Zack saw an opening and took it. However it looked like he took the wrong opening as soon a fireball was headed his way.

However, he still was smirking. Before he got hit, he was soon out of sight. "What?! Where did he-?!" Hades started to ask, before Zack appeared right in front of the god. "Right here!" Zack replied as he attacked. He then disappeared again and appeared behind the god, attacking again. He did this a couple more times, until he landed the 10th blow. The god had flown back a bit, turning back to his normal shade of blue. Zack stayed were he was taunting the god. "Had enough yet?"

Hades was obviously angry and didn't want to let the punk get away with this. However, he needed a better strategy. He'd let the punk have his victory for now. He'd be back and win next time for sure. "You enjoy your little victory for now! I'll be back to wipe the floor with ya!" Hades threatened and then disappeared in a puff of smoke. The flames by the entrance subsided allowing entry again. Zack had about the biggest grin on his face as he put away his sword. He knew Hades would be back, but for now Zack can enjoy the fact he had beaten the Lord of the Underworld in a fight.

[Zack used Hero's Pride]

ADMIN NOTE: Jay saw a coding error and wanted to fix it. (colot=/=color)

[Nothingness]

Proof of a Hero

If there was one thing that impressed Raen in that fight, it was that he'd never seen Zack show off a move like that before. He couldn't even follow Zack's movements before he landed the finishing blow. Hades immediately backed off after that--some god. As the flames died off, Raen ran over to him, raising a hand for a high-five. "I think you just proved yourself a true hero, there!" If that wasn't heroic, he didn't know what was.

[Aerith]

Do Not Take My Compliments for Granted
--------

It was over. That one attack had been enough to convince the god to back off. Either Hades was more of a pushover than Lanying had thought, or he was planning something else. If that was the case, they needed to get out of here as quickly as possible.

While Raen was going for a high-five, Lanying was already turning toward the exit. "We should leave now, before he returns." She paused, then turned her head to look at the other two. "That was... very brave of you, Zack."

With that, she started in the direction of the ship.

[Zack]

Zack smiled as Raen came over, giving him a high-five. He liked hearing Raen say that he had proven he was a true hero. However, he knew that wasn't the case. Not yet anyway. Phil had come over too and it looked like he was impressed. "Kid, I have to say, I didn't think you had it in you. That was really impressive," he told Zack. "But..." Zack stopped him there.

"I know, Phil. I'm not a true hero. Not yet," he said before Phil could finish. He then looked over to Lanying who was getting ready to leave. Though her telling him that was brave of him, he couldn't help but smile. If his friends thought he was a hero, that was good enough. He started running after Lanying. "C'mon, Raen! The next world is waiting!" he yelled behind him as he caught up to Lanying. Phil stood there, a bit surprised Zack hadn't claimed to be a hero after his fight. "Huh, maybe the kid's learning something after all," he said mostly to himself.

[Nothingness]

On to the Next

As much as Raen wanted to tell Phil off, he figured that the satyr probably knew what he was talking about. And Zack agreed with him, so what was the problem? Lanying was well on her way to leave, and with Zack in tow, Raen did his best to catch up with them. He wasn't really sure where they were going next, but he was hoping that for once their luck was finally going to turn around.