Fan Fiction ❯ Black Orchid ❯ Opposite Armor Redux ( Chapter 25 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

New Blood: Here's the next chap, which i did today especially in celebration of another new reader, Zanisha! //007! oh yeah!this chap isn't really that great, though i needed to get some of the stuff done. The fight's actually pretty deced, though i think i need a push broom to sweep out all the corn left after the ending. That corny.Next world is gonna kick major @$$! We get to see everybody's (or at least my) favorite blonde boys duke it out next world! And, i get to twist your perception of evil all around! Hahahaha... jail rhymes with whale.well, R&R! yeah!What's happening to me now?: Why would i know?Because you're the author!: Well, it's a secret.but even I don't know what's happening to me! and I'm the one it's happening to!What the hell are you doing!? get back here!heeeeelp meeeee....: ah well, R&R people, or you may never know what happens to poor Dar'ck here.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"We made it..." panted Arc.
"Just barely..." replied Orchid, trying to catch her breath.
"You guys got the form?" asked Phil, grinning at the tired trio.
"Kupo..." squeaked Montblanc as he held out the piece of paper, all filled out.
"Good, good. Everything seems to be in order," murmured Phil as he skimmed over the registration sheet. "Okay, go ahead. You guys can get ready in one of the rooms down the hall. You'll be up first, and have to fight all nine matches if you aim to win."
"This isn't round robin is it?" asked Arc in exasperation as his breathing became normal.
"And it's not tier either, since only ten groups entered, kupo," observed Montblanc.
"It's neither," replied Phil. "It's first come, first served."
"What's that mean?" asked Orchid.
"It means, since you came last, you and the group before you fight," explained the satyr. "Then, whoever wins gets to fight the group that arrived eighth. Winner of that fights the group that arrived seventh. And so on and so on."
"That's not fair!" shouted Orchid.
"Yeah," agreed Arc, the annoyed sound of grinding stone coming from his fist. "We have to fight everyone, but whoever got here first only fights once."
"Well, you should of got here earlier," shrugged Phil. Then he muttered, "Then again, they all came in a group a few days ago. Summore a' those freaks."
"Great...Heartless," sighed the trio. They walked off down the halls and crashed in one of the rooms that had been provided. It was going to be a long day, and they needed their rest.

"Hey, Phil," said Hercules, walking over to the satyr.
"Yeah, Herc?" asked the goat man absently, busy watching the trio fight their way through the fifth match.
"Do you ever wonder what happened to the good fighters we used to have here?" question the hero.
"Sometimes," answered Phil, watching exitedly as a powerwild almost caught Arc unawares. "I mean, we know that Squall's been captured. And we just heard about Yuffie too."
"But I wonder where Cloud is?" pondered Hercules idly. "Or Sephiroth."
"Brrr!" shuddered the satyr. "That's one creep I won't miss, no matter how well he fought!"
"Hmmm..." murmured Hercules. He watched as the trio finished off the enemy and the fourth seed came trundling out to fight. "Do you think we should tell them about the last fight?"
"Why? They fought it before."
"Well, I mean, shouldn't we tell them about the change they added?"
"Nah, let 'em find out for themselves. Their surprise will be half the fun of watching."
"If you say so, Phil."

"Alright, last match!" whooped Orchid happily, throwing Nearbloom up in the air like a baton and catching it again. "Yeah, I hope this one's more challanging though," muttered Arc sourly. There was the sound of grinding stone as he stood around impatiently.
"Be careful what you wish for, kupo," cautioned Montblanc.
"Last match!" yelled Phil from the sidelines. "It's the Opposite Armor!"
"Not him again," sighed Orchid. The ground shuddered as the various armored parts of the Heartless materialized before them and the clawed feet slammed to the ground.
"And fight!"
As per usual, the Opposite Armor split off into its three units and went after each of them. The trio was sure it would be an easy fight, until a certain problem came up.
"Blizzara!" yelled Montblanc, firing off the cold spell at the bulky claws, which had chosen to chase him. The icy cold winds and shards of frozen water slammed into the boots-turned-hands, but merely frosted them over and bounced off with no apparent effect. With a surprised squeak, the moogle quickly turned and beat a hasty retreat.
While Arc was having fun wrestling the gauntlets-turned-feet, Orchid was about to encounter Montblanc's problem. The torso and head had turned diagnol, and was aimed like a cannon at her, and she could see the energy gathering inside of it, preparing for the blast. When it looked ready to explode, the Heartless finally fired off its charge, and the ball of energy came hurtling towards the girl.
"Aero!" shouted Orchid as the blast came her way. She readied her keyblade, prepared to send the blast flying back when it hit the barrier. Unfortunately, she wasn't prepared for the blast the hurl through the wall of wind as if it were no more substantial than the air it was made of. With a surprised cry, the teenage girl leapt out of the way of the missile, and was sent flying by the following explosion. She landed with an "oof" on top of something small, soft, and furry.
"Kupopo... could you get off me, please?" moaned the squished moogle.
"Ack! I'm sorry!" Orchid apologixed hastily, jumping off the squished mage, then helping him up.
"I think... the armor now has a resistance to magic..." mumbled Montblanc as he quickly healed them.
"You're telling me!" shouted Orchid as she ran away from the claws, which had just caught up with them. Montblanc ran in a different direction, and sighed in relief as he saw the torso and claws go after Orchid. He knew he would be useless to attack the Heartless, so he decided to stay back and heal his companions while they dealt with it.
"This is great!" yelled Arc as the feet burst into inky sparks of darkness.
"You're crazy!" screamed back Orchid as she narrowly missed being hit by the claws, which were performing a swirling circle of pain in the air.
"Lemme help you," grinned Arc, reaching up and catching one of the bulky claws in his own stony gauntlet. He quickly threw it to the ground and proceeded to pummel it. "I've got these two, go for the head!"
"Gotcha!" agreed Orchid as she ran off towards the torso and helmet. She said to it, "Bring it on!"
The torso took her invitation and proceed to spin around in crazy gyres, occasionally hitting Orchid, but mostly just earning itself multiple blows from Nearbloom. It finally stopped, and lowered itself, opening aimed at Orchid to fire at point blank.
"Oh, no you don't!" grinned Orchid as she leapt up, grabbing a hand onto the upper rim. She flipped herself up so that she was standing on top of the armor and ran up it to get at the head. Unfortunately, the Heartless didn't seem pleased about this turn of events, and began twisting and spinning crazily, flinging Orchid off. Orchid barely had time to yell as she saw the tiled floor of the arena closing in on her.
"Aero!" shouted Montblanc, rod pointed at the girl as he ran towards her. A blast of wind released itself from his weapon and shot out towards the falling Orchid. It made contact, but instead of striking her, it embraced her and held her aloft, then sped her back towards the infuriated Opposite Armor's head. Soon, Orchid was in reach of the baleful helm.
"Take this!" she yelled as she leapt off the gust of air and onto the armor. She landed, striking the horned helmet hard. She quickly kicked up the visor and stared down into the glaring yellow eyes, the eyes of the Heartless. "Checkmate."
She plunged the keyblade down into the inky depths of the armored feind and was rewarded as the armor began to shake convulsively. Soon, its trembling became enough to fling Orchid off, leaving Nearbloom stuck in its head.
"Hey, no dying!" joked Arc as he caught the once more falling girl in his arms. He set her down as they watched beams of light shoot out from inside the mortally wounded Heartless. Finally, it exploded into millions of particles of darkness, which then syphoned back into the keyblade. Nearbloom hung in the air momentarily, shot back to Orchid's hand as she called it, where it pulsed gently from its new energy.
"We win."

"Nice job, you guys," congratulated Hercules.
"Thanks," said Orchid.
"Well, that was fun, but we should be going," sighed Arc, his eyes smiling at the hero over his yellow tinted lenses.
"Yeah," agreed Montblanc. "If we can follow Sora's story, we should be seeing Monstro soon, kupo!"
"Probably not."
The trio turned to look at Phil.
"Kupopopo... why not?" asked the moogle.
"Because no one's seen that lump a' blubber for at least a coupla' years," answered the satyr gruffly.
"Yeah, no one knows where he went," supported Hercules.
"The arrangements of the stars and worlds have changed a goodly bit over the past four years since Sora travelled them," continued Phil. "They say there's some sort of floating fortress there now."
"Yeah, I know of at least one other world that we'll probably go to that Sora didn't encounter, if we're going back to Hollow Bastion, that is," agreed Arc.
"Well, it doesn't matter," grinned Orchid. "If it's something knew, it's just that much more exciting, right?"
"Yeah!" agreed her two companions.
"Well, take this," offered Hercules. In his hand he held a silvery ball of flashing lights, like a orb full of shooting stars and power.
"Hey, that looks like the thingy that Marche gave you," observed Arc, looking at the sphere with interest.
"What is it exactly?" asked Orchid curiously as the hero dropped it in her hand.
"It's a special attack," answered Hercules, grinning. "It'll help you attack airborne foes."
"Cool, that's always helpful," thanked Orchid as she pulled the ball of energy into her. Inside, it felt like a million stars of energy had gone off in her, and for a moment, she felt she could take on anything in the universe.
"And take this too," grumbled Phil, reluctantly holding out a ball of energy after Hercules nudged him. This one was yellow, and seemed to spark with electricity. "It's thundara, and will upgrade you guys's thunder spell."
"Thank you," said Orchid as she took the proffered magic, smiling sweetly at the gruff satyr, who turned away, embarrassed and mumbling something about getting soft.
"Well, now we should go," said Arc, eager to be off.
"Thanks for warning us about the changes, kupo!" shouted Montblanc to the two Olympians as they headed off to their gummi ship.
"I think they'll go far, Phil," smiled Hercules. "I really do."