Suikoden Unique and Irenic Karma Old Xperience

Suikox Home | The Speculation Shelter | Tablet of Stars | Suikoden Timeline | Suikoden Geography |Legacies


  [ View Profile | Edit Profile | Nation System | Members | Groups | Search | Register | Check PMs | Log in | FAQ ]

034 - Round Four

 
Post new topic   Reply to topic     Forum Index -> Midnight Dawn
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Shad

Midnight


Joined: 25 Aug 2006
Post Count: 2684
Location: Lion's Maw
4252503 Potch
200 Soldiers
38 Nation Points

PostPosted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 4:06 pm    Post subject: 034 - Round Four Reply with quote Add User to Ignore List

[p:3lpor51r]Clive didn't need any special powers to recognize that the Akigiyama guards at the arena were all on edge. The stands were as noisy as ever, but back stage there was a peculiar silence. No boisterous laughing, no carrying on--preparations for the day's fights seemed to be conducted in whispers. It was a dreary afternoon. A cold front had been moving over the city all day, and a dampness filled the air, but it didn't fully explain the uneasiness Clive detected as he prepared for his next fight.[/p:3lpor51r]
[p:3lpor51r]Round four. That meant eight contestants remained, and the four fights would be spread out over the course of the entire night. Clive was well aware of what kind of hotbed Johannesburg became for these final three days of the tournament. Akigiyama's entire global reputation was at stake; everyone knew about the prior tournament mishaps, and while they made for a good show, they also indicated weakness in security. A successful, uninterrupted conclusion to the tournament meant Akigiyama were still in firm control, and they would spare no expense to present this image.[/p:3lpor51r]
[p:3lpor51r]But this wasn't just a routine tightening of security. This wasn't just a preparation for the unknown. Something really was amiss. Something serious was going on here.[/p:3lpor51r]
[p:3lpor51r]Clive's was the first battle of the night. His opponent was a rather mysterious man--so many of them were--who had fought his way to the fourth round with an impressive display of magic. He wore a black trench coat and dark sunglasses, and was known for his completely emotionless demeanor in interviews. This guy was serious. Clive didn't express nearly the same self-confidence. Asked about his "dirty move" against Nappa in the last round, it was all he could do to keep from breaking down in interviews. "I did what I had to do to win, and I played by the rules," he kept repeating, avoiding the cameras as much as possible. It was a weird sort of pressure that he'd never experienced before, being scrutinized and analyzed by the public like this. For Clive, the tournament was a purely personal matter. It was about testing his own abilities, and losing to Nappa would have meant one less opportunity to do so.[/p:3lpor51r]
[p:3lpor51r]His appearance on stage was met with relentless booing from all around. Drake Samson, his opponent, got the reverse in full, and all the cheering and applause didn't seem to phase him in the slightest. The bell rang.[/p:3lpor51r]
[p:3lpor51r]"People are beginning to catch on to you," Drake said as he walked towards Clive, beaming in controlled confidence. Clive tried to start focusing, tried to channel the crowd's hostility towards him. He nodded his head forward, and Drake was stopped dead in his tracks in an intense gust of wind. The mage progressed no further, but he stood his ground. As the booming of the audience trickled down to a hush, everyone anticipating the next move, Drake smirked. "Not this time." He sent out a barrage of ice bolts that flung Clive back into the wall. As he slumped to the ground, the earth seemed to open up under him, dirt and rocks burying him underneath the arena floor.[/p:3lpor51r]
[p:3lpor51r]Nine seconds. He heard the crowd cheering for Drake and tried to make it his own. At six the arena floor exploded, sending Drake into the air and Clive back to the surface. Now he was in the mode. He used the crowd's astonishment to send Drake, still airborne, flying backwards towards the stands. The mage sent a huge blast of lightning towards Clive as he fell, and it hit dead on. Drake slammed hard into the forcefield protecting the audience and fell to the ground, while Clive lay crumpled on the floor.[/p:3lpor51r]
[p:3lpor51r]"No draws in the fourth round gentlemen. You have to keep fighting," the announcer declared, much to the audience's approval. Both contestants rose to a knee. Clive stared down his opponent across the arena, wondering what to do next, but before he could think for long a fist caught him square in the back, and he went flying into the air with Drake still pummeling him from behind. He'd used some combination of teleportation and wind to send them both sky high, and Drake was physically pounding on him from behind the whole way. Barely conscious, he felt Drake's hand wrap around the back of his head. They were falling back towards the floor, and Drake was directing his face straight towards a pile of jagged rubble where the earth spell had torn the place to pieces. He closed his eyes and started to concentrate.[/p:3lpor51r]
[p:3lpor51r]Clive was a foot away from certain death when he unleashed the crowd's energy towards the ground, breaking his fall. At the same instant the mage pulled a similar move through magic, and with the two forces combined they again went soaring through the air, backwards this time. The mage had been bluffing; a fatality meant disqualification. Clive heard the mage's back cracking as they slammed into the other wall and fell to the ground.[/p:3lpor51r]
[p:3lpor51r]Again they both laid on the floor motionless for a bit. Clive had never been in a fight that lasted this long before. He was so tired, so delirious... his concentration was spent. Drake rose to a knee with a horrible groan. "You're pretty damn good," Clive heard him say, and then an elbow smashed into the back of Clive's head and he blacked out.[/p:3lpor51r]
[p:3lpor51r]The winner was declared, and the staff got to work replacing the arena floor for about the dozenth time that week.[/p:3lpor51r]

NDR: All my characters are now out of the tournament. I think that leaves Alex, Jet, and five no-names.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic     Forum Index -> Midnight Dawn All times are GMT - 4 Hours
Page 1 of 1

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
suikox.com by: Vextor


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group
  Username:    Password:      Remember me