Heroes Uprising: Alternate Universe (Thread 3)

Scott smiled when Juliet said she had some tea.
"Awesome."
He followed her into the back and saw her room and the simple amenities. It was not fancy by any means, but it was functional and suited her needs.
"You're fine."
Scott had always felt more comfortable in minimalist surroundings, seeing charm where others might see only poverty.

Scott turned to Juliet and a thoughtful expression crossed his face.
"Honestly, I've thought of little but my mission here. I would love to work here."
Scott shrugged a bit.
"That being said, if I successfully avert this threat to Sandra and my superiors say I don't need to do anything else, I'll need to return home where I work as a P.I. and as the lead superhero of my planet. I wouldn't want to inconvenience Xavier unnecessarily either."

Scott thought it over a moment before turning to Juliet.
"Let me see how things turn out after I avert this crisis with Sandra. If my superiors give me the green light to stay, I'll make arrangements at home for me to be away and apply for a job here. That's the best way to keep someone from being burned that I can see."
He read that Juliet could use some help, and his body language showed that he understood her needs.
"In the meantime, I'll volunteer here as much as you need."

"Alright, that sounds reasonable." With the water boiling Juliet made a couple cups of tea and passed one over to Scott. "In the meantime I'll keep an eye out for other help. But if you ever want a position, even a part time one so you can also spend time back in your world. Then my door is always open."

It was a bit disappointing Scott was unsure, in these modern days finding people interested in swordmanship in of itself was getting rarer, and as such finding already experienced combatants to act as teachers was hard. But that said Juliet may of been young, but due to her upbringing she understood how life worked. Scott had his own affairs to attend to and Juliet could not fault him for that.

Scott took the boiling cup of tea and let it cool a bit.
"I appreciate that, Juliet. Some part time work would be nice provided that everything works out."
With much on his plate these days, and now with a new friend in this world that could use help, he supposed that it wouldn't be wrong to ask for help from those he could trust. The Shadow Force, though still new in the crime fighting business, were strong and dependable, able to help shoulder the workload. World ending catastrophes were also very rare, and would be handled by other means while he was still in training to be the Destroyer.

The biggest concern was his paid work, particularly his clientele. He was very in demand since his identity had become known, and so he never lacked for people wanting his services. Getting help with the actual investigation part was one thing, but he would need to keep a personal touch with his clients. Scott was thankful that with portals he didn't have to worry about travel expenses getting to and from jobs and home, so that would help the money situation. There were definitely ways to work this situation so that everyone did well, but he would need to have important talks with the Shadow Force and his clients after this was all over.
"You know...That Tenshi guy might actually be able to help you out, as well."

Scott finally took a sip of his tea, and his smile showed that he liked it.
"I don't know if he'll go for it since he's got that whole traveling swordsman thing going on, but it couldn't hurt to ask and see if he'd do some part-time work. He could also make it up to you this way."
Tenshi had done a bad thing, but Scott knew he wasn't a bad person. Juliet needed help and Tenshi had the skills to do it if he was willing. If Scott could come on board, he could also work things out with Tenshi so that they could all work at the dojo while still doing what they needed to do for themselves.

"Tenshi?" Juliet was so pissed initially that the thought of asking him never even crossed her mind. However he was a skilled swordsman and his help would be great. And thinking back on the whole ordeal in hindsight, he did only go about things the way he didn't know Juliet herself was a fighter, otherwise she feel like he would of challenged her face to face. "But is he even still around now? And if so, where?" Juliet couldn't deny that man would be a great help, he may even be able to teach Juliet herself a few new things. Juliet would be lying if she didn't admit that luck was on her side in that fight. But the only reason they found him before was due to the energy signal from Scott cleaning Juliet's sword. So how would they find him now?

Scott could tell that initially Juliet wasn't crazy about the idea of working with him, and for good reason. However, they both knew that people that could competently teach swordsmanship and the martial arts didn't exactly grow on trees, so he appreciated Juliet's maturity in seeing his logic without further explanation. He smiled and took a second sip of tea as she asked if Tenshi was still on Genosha and where he was.
"Valor recorded and stored his energy signature while you fought, so I know right where he is. He hasn't left Genosha yet, though he probably will soon now that he has no reason to stick around."

Scott finished his tea.
"Let's find him and talk to him."
He stood up and exited the dojo with Juliet, putting on his shoes outside the door in the traditional way. He led her to Tenshi, though he hung back to let her do the talking. It was her dojo, so it was only right that she take the lead in talking to him about it. He respectfully stood off to the side as the conversation began, tuning in but giving them plenty of space to work things out as they would.

Juliet took her sword just encase but hoped to avoid a battle this time. Scott was able to lead her straight to Tenshi who was now alone in a grassy field looking to be in meditation. Scott stepped aside and Juliet walked up to Tenshi. Not knowing what else to say she called out to the man. "Hey, Tenshi!" Tenshi opened his eyes and got to his feet, turning to see Juliet. "Young Samurai, to what do I ow the honor of this visit. Surely you are not ready to defend ownership of the Mutant Slayer again so soon?"

Juliet shook her head slightly. "No that's not why I'm here. Instead I have a offer for you." It seemed Tenshi still had a interest in her sword, but Tenshi also did sound remorseful. Juliet was feeling pretty at ease that Tenshi was not going to repeated his underhanded ways again, however future battles would certainly occur. The prospect however kinda thrilled her deep down inside, to have a friendly rival. "Here's the deal, due to my skills I've been assigned to teach a dojo here, however I'm still a student and have my own classes. As such the dojo has limited time to be open. You are clearly a master of your craft, I could tell while fighting you. I've been wondering if you was interested in applying for a job. I could use the help."

Tenshi thought about the proposal. Tenshi was generally a loner but Juliet was able to locate and take advantage of that one flaw in his fighting style. Staying could give him access to Juliet as a training partner, which was a doubled edge sword. On one hand spawning with her would close any remaining gaps in his defense, making his combat air tight. On the other hand, that same sparring would greatly sharpen Juliet's own skill's leading to a much tougher fight the next time he challenged her. Things remained silent as Juliet awaited Tenshi's reply. Tenshi would soon proceed to reach for a slowly draw his sword, Juliet followed every movement readying herself for a fight. Tenshi however would raise his sword towards the sky, in a pose Juliet would recognize, her fathers unique pose, a symbol of peace not of war. Juliet relaxed and held her sword up in a similar fashion. One had to be careful of their stance, because holding your sword high in the wrong stance meant war, so one had to be careful to use her fathers exact pose.

"I accept your proposal Ms Juliet Velaraah. I shall make my way to the school in due time and inquire to your superiors about a job." Juliet smiled "thank you."

Scott watched, interested to see how these two rivals would work out this arrangement. He was definitely nervous when Tenshi drew his sword, but was relieved that it was being held in a peaceful stance. Judging by Juliet's reaction, the stance also meant something special to her and put her at ease as she returned it. With the arrangement sent, Scott approached and shared smiles with both.
"If everything works out on my end, I'll be applying for a part time job at the dojo. I have a good feeling about the three of us working together."

"Yes having three of us there would be great. Hopefully that works out" Juliet said, putting her weapon away. Speaking to Tenshi "Are you sure you don't want to accompany us back?" Tenshi simply reassured his previous statement. "I appreciate the offer but no thank you. I will make my own way to the school." Juliet respected his choice and turned to Scott. "Well we should head back."

Scott turned his head to Juliet and nodded.
"Yeah."
He turned to Tenshi and bowed respectfully before leaving with Juliet. Back at the dojo, he poured himself a cup of tea and sipped from it.
"This is good. It reminds me of the tea that my teacher Chiang used to make for me when we would relax or he would teach me about life."
More than the martial arts and philosophy facets of his training, Chiang had taught him about the nurturing of the spirit, an essential component of stress relief and success at life. Chiang's dedicated service had been largely responsible for the mental strength and discipline Scott possessed, giving him the tools for Scott to work hard and achieve within himself.

After leaving Tenshi Scott and Juliet returned to the dojo. Scott made some more tea and complimented Juliet. "Thank you but it's really not necessary, there are no herbs or anything special. It's just basic tea with teabag, milk and sugar." Juliet wondered what they should do now. She'd taken part in the tournament, explored the festival with Scott, solved a crime with Scott, and recruited help for the dogo, yet it still seemed so early. "Wow we've done so much today and still have so much time. Is there anything else you want to do?"

Scott smiled a bit and nodded.
"Well, for being basic tea, it's still good."
After draining the cup, Scott thought about what to do next. It was hard to believe that they had such a full day already yet it was still in the afternoon.
"Well, why don't we go back to the festival? I'm sure we can find something to do there."
It had certainly been fun when he went with Kiya, but that had soured when he learned that she had been deceiving him. Since he was reasonably sure that Juliet was not deceiving him, this trip was bound to have a better ending.

Juliet smiled. "Alright, that sounds like fun." Juliet would tidy up a small bit and she along with Scott would head back to the festival. There was games to win prizes, food courts, drinks courts (or bars), just in general everything. "Well there is no lack of things to do, any preferences on what to do?"

After Juliet tidied up the dojo, the two headed back to the main campus festival. Everyone was still having a blast and excitement was buzzing about the tournament. Apparently quite a few strong contenders had been eliminated, causing general discussion and a few hits on personal bets among the rest of the student body. Scott looked around and saw some bumper cars, something he always enjoyed back in his world when he was growing up.
"I'd like to do some bumper cars. I haven't done that in a long time."

Scott went over to the bumper car area and stood in line with Juliet. He still had enough tickets from earlier to pay the admission, but he would have to get more later if he was going to be here through nightfall and beyond. After several people had their turns, Scott and Juliet were among the next group to get theirs. After handing over two tickets, Scott was told by the attendant they would have thirty minutes before it stopped. Scott got into his and lowered the safety bar into his lap. After everyone was ready, the electronics were turned on and everyone could move around, bumping into each other and having a good time.

Juliet hadn't rode bumper cars at all during her life. She lived a pretty secluded life up until her fathers life ended and while they visited small villages and towns, they never frequented theme parks or the like. She asked Scott prior to boarding what they had to do, and it seemed pretty simply. Just ride around and bump into people. Juliet stepped into a car and secured the safety bar, it seemed the time limit was going to be half a hour. "Well now, this should be a treat."

Scott smiled as Juliet got ready.
"Oh, yeah, it's really fun. I used to do this when I was a kid."
He turned the wheel and then bumped the back of Juliet's car before getting bumped himself by another person. Everyone was laughing and having a good time, and Scott and Juliet were playfully chasing each other. About halfway through the ride, the floor got more current so the cars could move faster, so as to build up speed for bigger bumps.

Mary stepped onto the ring with the same clothes as she had before. Black hoodie over her red and black uniform. The upcoming fight wasn’t one that everyone expected since both competitors were usually on par in some way, but this time it was different. Mary at least clearly realized the situation when she decided that looking at some texts on her smart phone was far more important than the fight at hand.  “Just let me know when the match starts." Tesla's smiled, trying to ignore the arrogance in front of her. Still even if she wasn’t paying attention this was likely going to be a tough fight.  

"Stay on the edge of your seats people this looks like it'll be a real close fight. Whatever happens YOU CAN’T ESCAPE FROM CROSSING FATE!!"

When the ref vanished, Tesla watched her opponent for any sign of movement, prepared for a brutal attack but there was nothing. Mary looked up from her phone briefly before looking down again “Come on girl do ya thang. I don’t have all day.” She ordered.

“Fine then.” Tesla rushed forward immediately transforming into diamond. Mary still wasn’t moving and only looked up when Tesla was only a few feet away. Tesla dropped low and swept Mary’s legs from under her in one smooth motion. The demon tripped dropping her phone and watched as a hard diamond fist was prepared to slam into her face. Mary simply raised her hand to block the strike, surprised for a moment at the strength behind it. She smiled seeing her demonic tattoos snake their way towards Tesla’s hand and even arm then kicked her off. As Tesla rolled away Mary activated her power, but nothing happened. It took but a moment to figure out what happened as Tesla’s armor disappeared showing her more human form. The diamond along with the symbols were gone.

“Surprised?” Tesla smiled then rushed at Mary again who, now agitated, rushed forward with speed similar to Roberta, but this was anticipated. She ducked into a crouch barely dodging a kick aimed at her jaw and formed diamond around her fists throwing rapid punches into Mary’s abdomen. Tesla connected blow after blow and removed armor from places she connected with Mary’s skin and then reformed it. She knew her opponent was durable so she didn’t stop her attacks. They both exchanged hits but Tesla’s defenses seemed too tough for Mary to penetrate through pure strength alone.

As Mary soon found herself on the defensive she kicked Tesla back as far as possible and  punched the ground, transferring many of her tattoos int the ring itself. As the spread towards Tesla she knew there was only way to win to this. She sprinted forward gaining momentum while running, Just before the tattoos reached her feet she jumped, launching herself a few feet into the air. As Tesla fell down she dropped kick Mary in the fact. The diamond in her body was heavy enough that the blow sent Mary nearly outside the ring. The tattoos retreated back to Mary’s seemingly limp body. There was nothing but silence for a few seconds.

“Wow she actually playing dead” Amelia said while surprised as the audience reacted to her words. “Oh shit is the mic still on?”

“Bitches gotta ruin the surprise every time.” Mary sighed and got up as if she just woke up from a decent nap. There was some blood coming from her nose, but that was it. In that moment Tesla had a feeling that the result of that entire fight only caused a few drops of blood to spill from her nose. The tattoos on her body began changing from black to red. Even the ring began to heat up completely. “So, was that all? If so…” before Tesla had a chance to react Mary moved as a blur and placed her hand on Tesla’s stomach. “My turn!” as if on contact and explosion encompassed both of them sending Tesla flying out the ring.

The diamond skin crack in several places just from the sheer force of the explosion. Of course this didn’t knock her out, not yet. She got up feeling no pain due to the diamond form and tried to reform herself to repair the damage. Still this all meant she had to start from square one. She rushed back to the ring carefully expecting to be stopped but was allowed back in.

“That girl you fought earlier should’ve ripped you a part at the start. Luckily for me we’re not friends.” Mary moved forward in a burst of speed. Tesla noticed she was slower this time and decided to try and strike first with a punch to the gut but was immediately evaded this time.

“The Fire that punches!” she grabbed Tesla immediately by the neck. The tattoos immediately snaked through Tesla’s entire body in less than a second. “CRY OUT FOR ME!” Another explosion even stronger than the one destroyed the ring causing fire to engulf the field around them. As the smoke cleared Tesla’s limp body was being held by its neck. The organic diamond cracked and broken all over. It seemed as if she would fall apart with the slightest touch. She reverted into her non-diamond form almost immediately. But even that was covered in blood with dozens of broken bones.

“Huh I thought would at least have tougher skin than the Asgardian. Oh well,” she began heating up Tesla’s body causing her to scream out. “I can have fun with this to.”

The fight had started off well for Tesla, but the tables soon as Mary revealed that she had been playing the entire fight and soon employed her strange powers, completely destroying the other girls defense and reducing her to a broken mess on the ground. The victor was clear as day, Mr.Ref enjoyed the show for a bit longer then was polite till he suddenly appeared and shoved Mary away with his pinky finger.

" Alright alright, that was a good show but it's pretty dead so......the winner is Mary!! "

The medic team was immediately on the scene, Aerokinetic doctor lifted Tesla onto the stretcher with a gentle breeze and took her away. As Mary walked out of the ring, Emmet regarded her carefully. The girl was a strong opponent, she'd bested the Asgardian Kano and now Tesla, who was strong in her own right. He sighed in annoyance, Nina and Mary, neither of them could be allowed to prevail. He looked over at Riku who'd been watching the fight in a seemingly disinterested fashion, but Emmet noticed the way the demons eyes followed his kin,he was not pleased either.

" That demoness is annoyingly fierce, to best myself and now Lady Tesla, who showed the potential of a Valkyrie. But, surely she shall meet her defeat in the next round " said Kano, looking at Riku expectantly.

Riku shrugged " Eh, most likely, too many evil bitches going into the semi-final " he shot a look towards Nina " I'll be damned, well more then I already am, if either of them is getting all that money! " clearly his priorities were well in line " But more to the point " he gestured at Emmet who nodded

" Indeed, it appears time for us to share the stage dear Lilia, let us make this a match to remember " he smiled politely but confidently at the girl, honestly it was refreshingly to have a match with someone not of low standig or with undertones of revenge, though that was likely to change in the next round.

Emmet VS Lilia

Mr.Ref declared though it was entirely unnecessary " Were at the final match of the second round, Emmet prevailed roasted Karen, literally, and Lilia put the smack down on Angelica. Both are blonde, beautiful, and total diva's, lets see who takes this match, shall we?? "

The crowd cheered wildly, a fresh wave of betting was taking place now, many favoring Emmet, but a slightly larger margin were giving Lilia the win. Kaiser pulled out one of his wooden swords and inspected it, it was vibrating in his palm, the key to the golden empire was reacting, a curious occurance.

As Emmet walked to the ring with Lilia, he pondered his chances, he was confident in all parts of his life, especially his combat. But Lilia had proven herself a strong opponent on more then one occasion. Her match with Angelica had been awe inspiring, his chances were iffy to say the least. He would have a higher chance if he called on the mysterious powers of the phoenix force, but he didnt like relying on it, his grasp on it was nebulous, his match against Karen was more luck then he wanted to admit. As Sandra showed, it was exhausting and cut out at the most inopportune times, Caprisious, yes that was good word for i.

More so then that, he wanted to use his own power, his own strength, but would his flames be enough? He felt a sudden shift, pausing mid step onto the stage, those mysterious words from before, he already had what he needed? He had recently awakened telepathy, it would be foolish to think he'd do something similar, but stranger things had happened. With each step he took into the ring, he felt lighter, different or more the same, it was most queer.

As he turned to face Lilia, shook her hand and wished her luck, telling her not to hold back against him and he would honor her with the same, they put some distance between each other and Mr.Ref yelled out " YOU CANT ESCAPE FROM CROSSING FATE!! "

Emmet immediately summoned a rush of flames around himself, a makeshift defense and hovered a few feet into the air, his body hummed with energy, his heart beating steadily. He kept his eyes on Lilia " Come " flames erupted forth, racing across the stage.

" Riku, what is your opinion of this match? Wise Emmet and Lady Lilia are opponents of high standing, I sense immense experience from both of them "

" This is gonna be good, trust, theres more to the Queen Goddess then you know " Riku said knowlingly, but not elaborating " Just keep watching and you may see something spectacular "

Kano was confused but did as said, watching the match closely.

Nina watched the fight carefully. Tesla thought she had a good plan shifting between diamond and normal to get rid of Mary's effects. However Mary would soon overcome that tactic and leave Tesla broken and unable to fight. This girl wasn't really showing many weaknesses so far and that was concerning. One thing that did seem consistent was the longer fights went the more it favored Mary. However given the girls own strength and speed, trying to put her down quickly was easier said then done. Nina's fighting style didn't help either, she was a brawler. However making contact with Mary was clearly the worst thing to do. All things considered, Mary was probably the potential opponent that could put Nina at her greatest disadvantage if they where to meet. Nina's eyes followed Mary carefully as she left the stage, the vampire realizing the threat the demoness posed to her.

Up next was a interesting fight, the fans two odds on favorites to win this whole thing, Emmet vs Lilia. Going by previous fights, Nina had to assume Lilia was the favorite. Emmet showed himself to be quite capable, but Lilia and Angelica put on a battle that was next level compared to most anything else seen in this tournament. Lilia's speed, strength, durability, use of magic. Even with the Phoenix Nina was hard pressed to believe if Emmet had any chance of overcoming such a foe. It was always possible Emmet had some tricks up his sleeve, time would tell. But if Lilia wanted to and opted to go all out instead of playing around, Nina honestly couldn't see any reason Lilia would not be able to wreck Emmet in a straight up fight.

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Juliet was enjoying the ride when it suddenly went completely dead with plenty of time still to go before the ride was supposed to be over. The confused person managing the ride was frantically fiddling with the controls but nothing was working. Other riders sitting in the dead bumper cars where starting to shout and complain as Juliet looked on, not really sure what was going on or what to do.

Scott was surprised when the bumper car ride went dead long before it was supposed to be over. Looking over at the ride attendant fiddling frantically with the controls, he could tell that it was a malfunction. After several minutes of trying, the attendant threw up his hands.
"I'm sorry, folks. This ride is out of commission for now."
Scott was disappointed, and got out of the car before meeting up with Juliet.
"Well, that didn't go as well as I had hoped. At least there are some more rides to try out."

"What do you think happened? It's not stuff generally tends to fail around here, everything usually kept in pristine like new condition." A far off camera zoomed in on the two, Kiya had been tracking Scott and Juliet anytime they returned to the school via the security system. She seemed pleased with rides failure.

Scott shrugged as he turned to Juliet.
"I'm not sure. Maybe it was just a glitch in the system. There also could have been an energy pulse from the tournament that affected it."
He got on a spinning ride with Juliet and was having fun as it whipped around. Everyone was having a great time, and Scott smiled as everything flew by him in a circle.

As the ride got to it's peak the same thing would happen again and the ride would die. Looking around Scott could see the bumper cars was now working again. Things where getting a little strange now.

Tie smiled as she bent her knees and leaped over the wave of fire " Really Emmet, I expected an opening with a bit more pizazz " she landed and immediately made a beeline for her opponent, but a burst of fire caused her to pause for a moment, she whirled around raising her arm to block a kick from Emmet " Ah, a diversion, not bad, but still " reacting just a fraction before Emmet could see, she grabbed his leg and hurled him clear out of the ring.

Emmet paused in mid air, just an inch before hitting the wall, yes that was about what he expected, he knew Lilia's abilities quite well, he'd seen her go toe to toe with Alejandro Banner and come out of it relatively unscathed and from various other scrapes, she certainly outmuscled him and seemed to have some time based spell for speed, not to mention her general magic use was on par with Riku.

He flew up, just along the lines of the limit and hovered over the stage, flames still encircling his body, a make shift defense of sorts. Tie smiled up at him and cast the path of the storm spell she'd used against Angelica before, the air became turbulent as Emmet found himself in the center of a tornado and dragged down to stage. Tie was there to meet him, the wind still moving violently around them.

Emmet was dodging for all he was worth, reading Tie's movements and predicting her next movement, his speed allowed him to just keep pace with her, he was hanging in there but this could hardly be called a fight, as he twisted out of the way of a kick, intense flames flared up between them, but Tie had cast a spell to give herself temporary immunity to the element.

Emmet yelled out as Ties fist slammed into his stomache and knocked him all the way to the edge of the ring, he clutched his stomach but remained standing, gasping for breath. He could hear Lilia asking him if that was all he was going to bring to the table, no phoenix entry? If he focused, then he could indeed summon the cosmic power, but thats not how he wanted to go about it.

The fight was getting a lot of mixed reactions, from cheers and death threats for Tie and cheers and jeering for Emmet. Kaiser was watching the fight with an unreadable expression on his face, almost like he was waiting for something. Riku was sitting back, on Kano's lap, smiling at the fight while Kano seemed more concerned " Wise Emmet is about to fall, Lady Lilia is too much, why hasnt he called on the powers of the phoenix? "

Riku laughed " He doesnt need em to be a bad bitch, just keep watching, your about to see a treat "

Tie was about to continue her attack when a chill ran down her spine an pulse of energy raced through the arena, everyone with extra senses were able to feel it. Something had changed in Emmet and she wanted to see exactly what " Spark " a jagged line of electricity sprang from her finger and towards Emmet who made no move to dodge. The bolt hit causing a small explosion, but as the smoke cleared Emmet remained in the same spot, sporting minor injuries that quickly healed.

Magic resistence? Tie thought, Emmet hadnt exhibited such a skill before, this fight was about to get interesting. Emmet stood up straight and dusted his self off, energy sparked all over his body in the form of golden flames that made Tie raise an eyebrow as she immediately recognized it " Divine power eh? "

Emmet smiled at her and launched forward at blinding speed, Tie immediately raised several barriers on instinct and jumped back, the flames burst through her shields and slammed into her " Double accel! " she just managed to dodge the brunt of the attack, but Emmet was there to meet her. His movements were not only faster, but stronger, more fluid as he cycled through various martial arts. Tie matched him blow for blow, complimenting him on his style, he was going from proficent to master with each passing exchange.

" Sparkling pebble "

Tie cast her clone spell, creating four additional dopplegangers, Emmet was non plussed, back peddaling to the other side of the stand and holding his hand out, balls of fire manifested all around the stage, each pulsating with power. Tie was getting a bad feeling, like something was hiding in the fire, it appeared she was going to have to use that trick now, she'd been saving it for future battles, but she didnt have any qualms about using it against an opponent like Emmet.

Kaiser was starring at his wooden sword again, it was giving off a faint golden glow now, making his eyes widen in shock, had Emmet subconsciously activated the gate of babylon? Cordelia meanwhile was glaring down at the battle, she'd been looking forward to watching Tie wipe th e floor with Emmet, but a little of his true self had slipped through, damnit was his breaking through her cage? Hmm not quite, his personality hadnt changed much, but he'd tapped into his powers, what that meant for the future was up in the air.

Emmet snapped his fingers, the fire balls all converged on Tie, causing a massive explosion that shook the arena. Emmet hovered in the air, his senses on fire as he felt he was able to sense everything in the immediate area, enough that he knew his attack done anything " You never cease to amaze me Miss Ashford, simply marvelous "

" Why thank you for the compliment Mr.Jones, I didnt think I needed to bring this out, but you showed me otherwise "

The smoke cleared and showed Tie standing there unharmed and holding somehint her hands, it bore the shape of a sword but had a phantasm form, not physically there " Lets call this the ultimate parry or something close, this is not something I use idly either "

Emmet smiled " Such a high compliment it is then, well then " flames swirled around his right hand and formed a sword like construct " Shall we reinact a battle of legend? "

A blade of light formed in Ties other hand " nothing else would suffice! "

The two rushed across the stage and clashed, their blades moving in perfect harmony as the two were in constant movement, each looking for an opening. Ties phantom blade allowing her to block his attacks, but Emmets own construct was helping him keep up with her, their movements like a dance that captivated all that watched. Much of the stage was destroyed now, the two swordsman breaking their swords against the others.

Emmet floated off a distance " We appear to be at the end dawling, let the next clash decide the battle! "

Tie smirked dropped into a stance " Agreed " she couldnt keep this up much longer anyway, the phantasm blade was draining " Show me your strength! "

Emmet took a breath and focused, his arms moving through slow passes as more energy poured out of his body. He was suprised at himself, at how well he'd been doing yt at the same time it seemed perfectly natural to him. Something about his flames were more then what he'd ever known and given how much he trained himself in the use of the use of his powers, that was saying a lot. But now as he decided the best course of action for his grand finale, again it came to him, he looked up at the vast sky and his power responded accordingly.

" Endless sky! "

Golden light seemed to explode from Emmet and rain down from the sky at the same time, blinding everyone and causing a large explosion. As everyones vision returned, the stage was once again completely destroyed and hovering over it was Emmet holding an unconscious Tie. Mr Rep, on a pogo stick, bounced around the remains of the stage as he looked up " Sweet niblets what a performance, quite the duet if I do so say and it apears that the winner isssssssssssssssssssssss............ssssssss EMMET!! "

The stadium exploded with applause and cheers, not to mention groans of lost wagers. Emmet gently landed on the ground, he tapped Tie's forhead light, his eyes flying open as vitality seemed to flood her whole body " That was quite a battle miss Ashford, I didnt believe I held a candle to you, but I suprised myself, it was very close near the end wasnt it? I just mangaed a win but I look forward to battling you again in the future "

He held out his hand, which Tie easily shook agreeing that she wanted a rematch in the future. As the two headed back over to the others, the stage and area was instantly returned to a clean and whole form. Kano marched over and pulled both of them into a hug

" Wise Emmet, Lady Lilia, that was an excellent battle, worthy of warriors of Asgard even! "

Emmet laughed " Such praise from a prince of Asgard, I am honored " he kissed Kano's cheek as he let them down.

Katy came up to the two. This whole tournament has shown her the flaws in really not focusing all that much on her powers and putting to much focus on combat. Katy would have to find a way to balance her training, Katy wasn't going to jinx herself by tooting her own horn, but she realized if she could become fluent in her water and ice powers like Emmet with his fire, while she may not be as good as him, given her combat training background she could be a beast. "Great effort you two. I'll admit Emmet, I did not give a chance IN HELL of winning this fight after what Lilia and Angelica went though. So good work on the... hmm, I'll be honest, great work on the upset win Emmet."

-----

Juliet spoke up to Scott. "Alright I think something has to be up now. As soon as we leave the bumper cars reactivate and now this ride died."

Mr.Ref climbed off of his pogo stick and once again stood at the center of the ring " Here we are folks, the semi finals, these four combatants have made there way through battle after battle and here they stand. I just want to say that im grateful to be here and get to watch all this bloodhsed, pain and carnage, lets go into the semi finals with the same energy!! "

Emmet, Riku, Nina, and Mary were told to stand a little apart from the others and make a show of waving at the crowd. Emmet of course did this with relish, even catching a boquee of flowers, Riku snatched a jockstrap some guy through him with his teeth. The monitor flashed names again till it stopped

Emmet VS Riku


Emmet floated into the ring as Riku entered via a void, the two faced each other as Mr.Rep looked between them " Here we have it,one of these two will be going to the finals, on this side we have the flaming hot Emmet who triumphed over Karen and Lilia, while over here is dark and slutty Riku who defeated Visgar and Noah, kinda, lets what kind of show they can give us and without further adu, YOU CANT ESCAPE FROM CROSSING FATE!! " He vanished

Neither one made a move to attack though " Penny for your thoughts? " Emmet asked mentally

Riku shrugged " Eh, kinda wanted a fight with you to be the final act, we'd each take out one of those dumb broads and have a hell of a match.....not that I deserve it "

" Hmm, if this is about your match with Noah, dont let it weigh you down "

" Ha, kinda hard not too when I lost to his sorry ass, he should be right here facing you "

Emmet shook his head " I honestly could see Noah here, he's not really the type to want to stand out, barring being in the true notes, it's easy to see that he only entered because he wanted a chance to face you, I dont imagine he would have wanted to go this far. But you did, to win that cash prize, you havent given up on that desire have you? "

Riku thought about it for a moment " No, that money is gonna be mine and......I'm happy to get to face you here as well, regardless of whoever wins "

Emmet smiled " Good, because whoever wins has to go on and face that reprehensible woman, keep that in mind as well and show me what your capable of " as he spoke, phoenix flames erupted around his body he moved into a fighting stance that Riku recognized, even if Emmet as he was now wouldnt.

" Heh, you may regret telling me that, showing mercy and holding back isnt in my nature! He stomped down dark, shadows racing across the stage from where he'd placed his foot, they grew and leaped out of the ground in the form of tendrils. Emmet launched into the air, sending a jet of flames that ate up the darkness and spread across the whole stage. A pair of bat like wings burst from Riku's back, allowing him to take to the sky.

Emmet Sent blast after blast of flames, each one taking the shape of a bird and zeroing in on Riku, he raised a magical barrier around him in the shape of a sphere and started chanting another spell, but Emmet wasnt about to give him time and instantly appeared in front of him, pressing his palm against the barrier, he flooded with with phoenix fire that quickly ate through it.

Emmet suddenly whipped around and narrowly avoided a blast of magical energy. Riku, smirking and surrounded by magical circles in the air, was floating on the other side of the stage " Just a little diversion courtesy of a ninja I know " he fininshed his spell " Grand Chariot! "

High above, a series of magic cirlces formed the star constellation Sagitarrius and five intense blast of dark light came raining down, all focusing on Emmet, two fast too dodge through, he raised his hands focused the cosmic energy into shielding him, the blast collided with his barrier. Tendrils of darkness snaked out of the ground and wrapped around Emmet. Taking him by suprised, he was blasted to the ground below.

Riku looked around, making sure he hadnt fallen for some kind of trick,he yelled out as something grabbed his left leg and looked down to see a birds talon made of cosmic energy holding onto him and dragging him down. Emmet erupted from the ground and straight towards Riku, injured but healing. Forming a sword made of flames slashed clear across Riku, cutting him from the waist dowd and sending him spiraling to the ground, just arresting his flight enough with his wind to land with a thud on his back.

Many of the audience were gasping in shock, some even vomiting as Riku's upper body layed out on the ground, his guts hanging out as his lower half was burned away " Realy dawling, do you expect me to fall for such theatrics? "

Riku smirked " Course not, takes even greater theatrics than that! " Riku's body immediatly started regenerating, bones forming and jutting out to form his legs, followed by muscle. He jumped up and floated back into the air, summoning a new pair of shorts and steel toed boots in the process " Damn sis, your brutal, I love it! "

Emmet brandish his blade, feeling it start to loose stability to and focusing to keep it solid. Using the phoenix power felt more strenous then the other power he'd summoned before, but he was having a hard time remembering what that even wasm plus he could swear he culd here some voice in his head saying " using the phoenix, make them put some respect on my name! "

He chuckled a litte as Riku flew at him, nails elongated into talons and coated in darkness, Emmet twirled out of the way and struck with a quick back blow, But Riku flew just out of reach " Breath of Cocytus! " the temperature plummeted as a blizzard started to tear through the arena, Emmet could feel frost starting to cover his body.

" This is a pretty high level spell, your resistance aint gonna save you from this " he flapped his wings and sent jagged " feathers " at Emmet, increasing their speed, Emmet burned through a few but some pierced his left shoulder and both legs, sending an even deeper chill through him.

" A curse is it? How devilish of you, I expect nothing else " He was in a bad situation now, he could feel himself getting weaker, but he was determined to not give up just yet. He looked down at his rapidly freezing over flames and focused " warm up " An intense battle over the temperature started, Emmet gradually wrestling control away till with a great push, he unleashed a wave of heat melted through the demonic blizzard and seared Riku before he could get a shield up.

Most of th skin on his face had been burned away, but he barely noticed, to caught up in the battle " If you wanna play with fire, I can oblige " he wasnt really experienced in using it much, but that wouldnt stop him. He raised his hands and summoned hellfire, blue flames with black outlines manifested in his hands.

Emmet was breathing hard, Riku's curse had been burned away but the power of the phoenix was taking it's toll but still he couldnt say he'd ever felt so exhilarated before " Such beautiful flames dawling, must be well met " he summoned more phoenix flames, manifested all around his body till they formed a vaguely bird like formed around him. He unleashed them in a massive wave of energy. Riku sent his hellfire out in a similar fashion and the two powers clashed. Many people were recoiling back in their seats as a storm formed, the wind picking rapidly as the two appeared to be locked in a stalemate.

Riku was breaking hard he could feel the flames fighting to get out of his control, to consume him and the entire arena, but he wasnt about to let that happen, got them under control and pourted out more energy. As fun as this fight was, he couldnt help but wish it was the real Emmet he was fighting, sure he would have gotten his ass laid out waaaaay at the start, but still, it annoyed him that Emmet was reduced to this, to not shine as brightly as he was meant too, that stupid bitch Goodmana and the whole bloody hellfire club was gonna pay dearly. He gritted his teeth as Emmet was gradually gaining ground, pushing him back more and more.

Emmet pointed his sword forward and shot straight through The battling flames. Riku gasped " No fucking way!! " Emmet burst through and slashed, Riku yelled out, not trying to get bisected again, Emmets cut deep across his chest, burning him badly in the process and hampering his healing. Riku crafted a blade of darkness, thankful for all the times he hung around Kaiser while he was practicing, he'd picked up more then a few tricks.

The were fighting, not only just in the air, but also touchging base on the ground, their speed incredible, ducking, dodging, and retreating back only to engage again with greater ferocity, both landing shallow cuts, nothing concrete, wounds that were gone in the next instant.Emmet smiled, he could feel the end was nearing, it was time once again for the grand finale. With a quick faint, he deftly pierced through Riku's chest, just missing the black lump that passed for a heart and flitted back.

" Time for the curtain call, I trust you have a swan song prepared! "

Riku dispelled the sword in his chest and grinned cheekily " But of course " he could see what Emmet meant and rushed towards him again, darkness seeping out from every space in the arena and zeroing in on the stage, demonic power pulsating from Riku and into the ground, making it crack and split as he ran.

Emmet smiled, a large bird like construct forming, his vision growing blurry, he powered through it and summoned all the power he could and sent it forward as Riku's attack hit. A massive column of fire and darkness rose high into the air, anyone outside at the festival was able to see it, a moment later it dissipated. Everyone was holding their breaths, staring downa t the stage, Emmet was laying on the ground unconscious while a mangled mass of flesh and bone that coud only be Riku doing something akin to standing as his body healed.

Mr.Ref, on a goat cart now, skidded along till he parked right beside them " Wowza what a fight, hey you alright over there? "

Riku's mouth reformed enough for him to say " I'm bloody brilliant mate! "

" Goody, anyway lets do the count 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 1 and the winnah is RIKU!!! "

Emmet opened his eyes, yawned, and stretched out " Hmm it appears that I lost

" Enjoy your nap sleeping beauty? "

Emmet raised an eyebrow " yes and I appear to have awoken to a nightmare " he laugh and accepted a limb from Riku, helping him stand " Well dawling I must admit that was certainly a battle worthy of a final fight, I daresay those expecting such a thing for the finals will be dissapointedted " he slightly squeezd Rikus hand, vitality filling him up and boosting his regeneration, within seconds Riku was whole again.

Riku dusted himself off and looked at Emmet " Uhh, you didnt .....uh throw the

" I suggest you not finish the sentence, if your going to imply I did something as undignafied as throw the match, what do you take me more? " Emmet said, narrowing his eyes and making Riku immediately raise his hands in surrender.

" Uhhhh nevermind, great match dude, best I had in this this thing " he held out his hand but Emmet ignored it and hugged him tightly.

" You earned that victory Riku, youve certainly come a long way from the little urchin I found, I couldnt be more proud of you "

Riku's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets, he pulled away and looked at Emmet, for a moment he saw the familiar crimson eyes, but in a flash they were blue again and Emmet was looking at him puzzled " Ha, just, just thank you "

Kano appeared out of nowhere and pulled them both into yet another bear hug " My friends, I lack the tongue to form words that would be worthy enough of you both, I've seen so many things here today, things that have inspired me to keep up with my own training, I shall not let the loss I suffered hold me back "

Emmet kissed his cheek again " Youve said more then enough sufficiently dawling, I look forward to being able to face you as well "

Riku opted to tongue kiss Kano to show his thanks, still going even as the next match was posted.

Mary VS Nina

Riku pulled away from Kano, a spit line between them and looked at the final two opponents " Alright girls, now I want you to get out there and give it your all, just remember whoever wins gets to fight me, oops let me correct that, whoever wins gets to get torn limb from by me so keep that in mind and just go out there and enjoy yourselves, i'm certainly going to enjoy myself afterwards! " he cackled madly for a moment before turning back to Kano for more kissing.

Emmet floated cross legged in the air, he had no love for either girl though he could admit to despising Nina more due to her affiliation with Fear Factor and all the problems they'd caused the True Notes, it ultimately didnt matter, debts would be settled soon enough.