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| Episode Eighteen |
| Long Goodbyes Said Short |
| On the last episode, the battle between Axem Illusion and Axem Moonlight was finally decided, with Axem Moonlight falling unconscious to Illusion�s crippling Curse technique, gaining him the title The King of Duelists! Shortly after, the Battle Royal between all the competitors kicked off, and the competitors kept dropping one by one and begin dragged into the Contestant�s Building. Now only Axem Strife and Axem Magnum stand on the cold fighting arena. Who will win? And how will this final episode come to a close? -------------------------------------------------- BATTLE THEME: www.vgmusic.com/music/console/sony/ps1/ff9hunt.mid Strife and Magnum stare at each other on opposite sides of the ring. STRIFE: (thinking) So it�s all come down to this� Magnum grins at Strife in an evil way. STRIFE: (thinking) I have to defeat the guy that defeated me� MAGNUM: (thinking) This should be easy enough�I beat Strife once before. I can do this again, for the sake of making Midnight Blue mad! He cackles a bit and returns to reality. AXEM STRIFE: 175/500 AXEM MAGNUM: 135/700 Strife charges at Magnum with his axe raised. Magnum slowly wheels himself towards Strife while shooting a barrage of Bullets. Strife changes direction to avoid them. He then quickly slashes Magnum from behind. Magnum loses 15 HP. AXEM STRIFE: 175/500 AXEM MAGNUM: 120/700 STRIFE: Great! The only use for my axe is for a back scratcher! MAGNUM: Humor�I hate humor� Magnum spits out a Fire Bullet at Strife. STRIFE: Whoa! Strife quickly jumps to the side to avoid it. STRIFE: (thinking) I gotta be careful! Those elemental Bullets can nearly knock me out! Magnum shoots a few Ice Bullets at Strife. STRIFE: Something tells me that he knows too� Strife jumps excessively high over them. Magnum stares up into the sky. MAGNUM: Perfect! In just a few seconds, he should be descending. So I�ll wait to make my move. Magnum waits for 30 seconds and points his mouth into the sky. MAGNUM: Bob-omb Minions! Make yourselves useful! Magnum shoots a group of Bob-ombs into the air. -------------------------------------------------- Meanwhile� Strife slowly descends upon the stadium. STRIFE: This is pretty obvious, but my Jump Axe attack should be able to at least faze him. Suddenly, a Bob-omb flies right by him. STRIFE: What the- It suddenly explodes a few feet above him. AUDIENCE: Wow! Bombs bursting in air! STRIFE: Just great! He�s trying to blast me out to the stadium! Not today! Strife sees another Bob-omb and Shoots out of the way. He then spots another one and bats it back down instead. It explodes as it hits Strife�s axe. Strife loses 30 HP. AXEM STRIFE: 145/500 AXEM MAGNUM: 120/700 STRIFE: So much for that idea� A full group of three Bob-ombs fly toward Strife. Strife Shoots out of the way and keeps descending. STRIFE: In only a few seconds, I should be able to see Magnum. Strife uses an Axe Transformation to turn his axe into a sword. He then spots Magnum as a speck on the ground. STRIFE: Payback time! Strife drops at high speed with his sword extended. MAGNUM: So predictable� Magnum spits out three more Bob-ombs where he�s standing and moves away from them. STRIFE: Uh oh. I wonder if landing on those things hurt� He falls into the center of the three and they immediately detonate on Strife. He loses 90 HP. AXEM STRIFE: 55/500 AXEM MAGNUM: 120/700 JAMEY: Oh! Magnum has taken the lead after fighting an uphill battle! Will Strife be able to recover and possibly win? MAGNUM: Nope. Magnum shoots a Bullet at Strife. Strife rolls out of the way and Shoots behind him. He uses a Quick Shot. Magnum loses 50 HP. AXEM STRIFE: 55/500 AXEM MAGNUM: 70/700 MAGNUM: He�ll pay for that! I�ve come too far to be humiliated in the end! I am destined to win this battle! Magnum looks at the smiling Axem Strife. MAGNUM: And you won�t be the one to stop me! STRIFE: It�s kind of funny, Magnum. It seems that whoever makes a speech like that first loses! MAGNUM: Shut up! Why don�t you just- NOTE: The rest of that sentence is cut off for younger viewers :) STRIFE: I guess you don�t want to see me anymore. That can be arranged! Strife suddenly disappears from where he�s standing. AUDIENCE: Um� JAMEY: Hm� MAGNUM: What the�where did he go!? Magnum looks around the arena, but can�t find him. MAGNUM: Chances are he ran away to a secure location. You can always count on him to chicken out. JAMEY: (thinking) What should I do about this�leave it alone? Or should I declare the winner� Probably the only one who knows what�s going on is Axem Fast. FAST: (thinking) Axem Fast sees what Strife is doing. He stares carefully at the arena. Though it isn�t perfectly clear, a small amount of dust is kicking off the ground from place to place. FAST: (thinking) Axem Fast sees that Strife is moving so fast, it appears that he�s invisible. Axem Fast thinks, �That speed is very impressive!� Though Fast knows what�s going on, everyone else still doesn�t know what�s happening. MAGNUM: Strife! Wherever you are, show yourself! It�d be a real shame for me not to finish you off. STRIFE: (thinking) Surprise! Strife suddenly appears in front with a scary face on. MAGNUM: WHOA! STRIFE: So long, and �til we meet again! Strife does a series of Axe Swipes on Magnum until his HP drops to 0. AXEM STRIFE: 55/500 AXEM MAGNUM: 0/700 STOP MUSIC. Magnum�s power circuits shut down and he collapses unconsciously. Jamey is still stunned by what has happened. JAMEY: �The winner is Axem Strife! He has become our new Battle Royal champion! AUDIENCE: Yay. Jamey throws a Life Shroom over Magnum, thus restoring him. AXEM MAGNUM: 10/700 MAGNUM: No�how could I lose� STRIFE: When the hand is quicker than the eye, and while you should have been watching the feet. Magnum rolls off into the Contestant�s Building. STRIFE: All right! So what�d I win, Jamey?! JAMEY: Whatever the president gives to you. Fast zips from his VIP seat to in front of Strife. In his hands, he holds a closed jewelry box. FAST: Axem Fast presents you with your prize. Strife takes the box from Fast�s hand. FAST: Axem Fast wants you to know that prize was made just for you. Axem Fast hopes you will use it well. STRIFE: Uh, thanks! Strife runs off into the Contestant�s Building. -------------------------------------------------- In the Contestant�s Building� ILLUSION: I can�t believe I was the first one to be defeated� ELITE: Well I can�t believe I was the SECOND to be defeated! MAGNUM: I can�t believe I lost when I came so close! Magnum shoots a Bullet into a nearby wall. MIDNIGHT BLUE: You lost! You loser! COBALT: Hey, looks who�s talking. TETRA: Besides you, right? SNOW: (Ignoring what Tetra said) At least Strife was able to win. Magnum winning is not a pretty sight� MOONLIGHT: Yeah well, you aren�t either. Strife comes in. STRIFE: All hail the winner! Immediately, Magnum and Midnight Blue attempt to jump Strife. Strife Shoots out of the way and they hit the ground. STRIFE: Whoa! Back, loyal subjects! JKI: Let�s see what you�ve won. I bet it�s another accessory! JK ACID: It seems like it will. It�s in another one of those stupid jewelry boxes. Strife opens it up and finds a small white crystal inside. EVERYONE: Shiny� A ACID: That�s an Ability Stone. EVERYONE: Hm? A ACID: An Ability Stone teaches a new ability to whoever uses it. Just hold it over your head and it works instantly. STRIFE: Okay� Strife holds the Ability Stone above him. The Ability Stone suddenly glows brightly and covers Strife in the same light. SNOW: Um�that means it�s working right? JKI: Don�t ask dumb questions! Of course it�s working! The curtain of light suddenly stops and the Ability Stone disappears. STRIFE: Wow�strange�it feels as though I�ve remembered something. ILLUSION: Well, what did you remember, Strife? STRIFE: This. Strife suddenly shoots across the room with his axe extended at his side. He then stops and shoots back from the direction he came from and forth 2 more times. He stops moving and a housefly in the middle of the room falls to the ground in three pieces. AXEM STRIFE learns Sonic Blades! COBALT: Now there�s something new to talk about. -------------------------------------------------- Back at the arena� Jamey gets ready to give his final speech to the Audience. JAMEY: Once again, our Tournament comes to a close. We�ve had our share of good times and bad, and now� AUDIENCE: Uh oh�We feel a song coming up. The audience ducks and covers while Jamey sings the Barney Goodbye Song. JAMEY: I love you�you love me! We are a big family! FAST: (while covering his ears) Axem Fast will go deaf! Axem Fast wants Jamey to stop! JAMEY: Oh, all right. I guess I only have one more thing to say. AUDIENCE: Whew� NOTE: This is really for you, the reader. This was made since I had lots of school work coming up. JAMEY: For the past six months, I was able to show my love of writing. And like I said before, good things must come to an end. Unfortunately, the Tournament of Heroes� time is now. I�ll definitely miss this, sitting at my desk, typing line after line of what I like to call, �work.� I really will. But now, it�s time for me suspend the story�until the next sign-up sheet appears :) AUDIENCE: ZZZzzz� JAMEY: Like always�NOW WAKE UP! AUDIENCE: Fine, fine. JAMEY: I wish you all a safe trip home, while avoiding any stray dinosaurs, of course. AUDIENCE: Didn�t he say that last time� The Audience gets up and leaves. Outside the stadium entrance, we see our twelve fighters and Axem Fast staring off on the horizon. COBALT: I wonder what the future holds in store for us�what to do next... FAST: Axem Fast knows that only time will tell, and all we can do is stay in the present. As they continue staring, the sun rises slowly in front of them. A ACID: It�s the dawn of a new day� EVERYONE: Mm� A ACID: �It�s time for us to move on� In all ways, a moment to remember� END OF SEASON TWO NOTE: All prizes in this show are REAL, so if you�re still wondering if they are, well, you aren�t anymore :) |