Round 1 - Lightning vs Sephiroth

[Kadaj]

((Tournament Rules can be found here: Click for Rules!))

The roaring of the crowd was deafening! Every single seat was filled up and the entire audience were cheering and clapping for the Tournament to officially begin! Banners with all the competitors names, were being waved around, balloons were being let loose up into the sky and the sun was shining down brilliantly, giving excellent visual conditions and brightening the moods of every single person in the arena!

A small, goat-like man made his way out into the center of the raised fighting area, in the middle of the arena, and with a small cone-like megaphone, called out to the ever-more excited crowd!
"Ladies and gentleman! Welcome, to the latest Tournament in the Olympus Coliseum!!"
Phil's goat-like voice echoed around the Arena, as he turned around slowly in circles, so everyone could hear him.
"We have 16, brave and powerful warriors, both of the Light and the Darkness competing here today, for the prize of Champion of the Remnant Cup Tournament!"
Phil said, turning around some more, using his free hand to wave about before him as he spoke.
"Let us waste no more time, and allow me to introduce the sixth match of Round 1! Making her way to the ring, an ex-member of the Cacoon organization, she's out only Gunblade weilding contestant, put your hands together for, LIGHTNING!!! "

The crowd yelled and cheered loudly, the girls screaming and swooning and the men, encouraging their favourite contestant on!
"And her opponent, coming from the world of Gaia, he's the arch enemy of many people in this world, and quite possible the greatest swordsman alive, he is the son of JENOVA and bringer of Meteor, the awesome, the powerful, the fearsome, SEPHIROTH!!!"
And with that done, Phil bowed to the audience and quickly scurried out the ring, allowing each contestant to enter as they like, before the match officially begun!!

[sephiroth]

Sephiroth descended from the top of the arena, black wing extended as he landed in the middle of the ring gracefully. Intelligence told him that Cloud was going to be at this tournament and he would not miss the chance again. His sword was out and covered about half of the tournament stage, he was here once before and fought Sora so he knew of the stage's limitations. Besides finding Cloud, the tournament was also for Sephiroth to show who he was and who everyone was going to be apart of one day.

His motives and goals have changed ever since he had left Gaia, besides finding Cloud and reuniting with mother and using Gaia as a husk, he wanted to use all the planets as one. To shape the universe in his own image, in the image of Jenova. Like mother, he was going to use Gaia to take over these other planets and spread Geostigma around to help his cause, the one true ultimatum that he needed was Kingdom Hearts. With Kingdom Hearts everything would be possible and Jenova agreed. Until he could carry out his plans or fight Cloud, Sephiroth stood there and waited for his opponent.

[Lightning]

Lightning entered from her side of the stage when she heard her name called. She let out sigh hearing applause. She hated that a crowd was here. Odds are they'd cheer for her opponent as opposed to her. Nobody here knew her or anything and she didn't exactly give off much of an inviting sort of vibe. She wasn't really here to win over the crowd and be able to have the bragging rights of winning the tournament. She was here to prove herself and her strength to the person who mattered the msot in this. Herself. This was almost a test for her to see how far she was and how much longer she needed to go in comparision to other people. She wanted to know if she had gotten any stronger as she still had to work on taking down the Holy Government back on her home planet. This was not mere fun and games for her as some of her other opponents were probably viewing it.

She moved forward her eyes catching site of the man that she was going to be fighting against. He was tall and muscular and looked tough. He also had a wing on his back as he had come in flying. That was not normal. Was he a monster or something. Lightning also noted the size of his sword compared her gunblade. It was very long. This could either be a huge benefit to him or it could also have a backfire effect since it was just that big and could get harder to weild. She knew this was not going to be just combat though and she had some other moves up her sleeve as well. Once she got on the stage she stopped drawing her weapon out having it in its sword form at the moment. She could change it to shoot if she wanted and was known to do.

Lightning's expression was as serious and cold as ever. She never joked around or took any battle lightly for that matter. They were all serious and meant quite a deal to this I'Cie. Especially this one. She didn't underestimate him at all and knew that he would a very fair partner and give her a good fight should it be a loss or a victory on her part. After a moment of silence and observing him over she took the liberty of being the first to speak."Your move..." She said in her cool tone of voice. She never liked to be the first to start. She liked to plan it out at first after seeing what the opponent could do.

[sephiroth]

Sephiroth's wing stretched as he watched Lightning enter the arena. This one seems familiar. There was something that told Sephiroth that this person here was in connection with Cloud, that just made this fight more interesting to him. Another person that was like Cloud the better for him, more suffering. Perhaps this person was a failed experiment of Hojo, but he didn't care, he wanted to test their strength. The One Winged Angel slowly lifted up his sword with one hand with ease as a smirk traced upon his lips. "Your choice."

Sephiroth struck quick and powerfully, he wasn't a foe to underestimate. One from the left, then from the right! He was attacking Lightning with his sword from all over. If they connected with her Gunblade she would be able to feel the sheer power and watch the sparks just fly off the sword. Sephiroth always took the offensive and rarely took the defensive side, this fight to him meant nothing. All he knew was that each opponent he cut down, the more pain and suffering that he caused will draw Cloud towards him.

He wasn't a man of many words and it didn't even look like he was breaking a sweat! Sephiroth was a master swordsman, born with Jenova cells... the ultimate monster. Being as he was he never held back in battle, but at the same time he never uses his full strength so it balances itself out. Ever since he was revived he had newfound strength and powers that he hadn't even begun to use, he was still at the same level or, even a higher level, then when he was when he fought Cloud while he was in Kadaj's body.

[Lightning]

Lightning stood ready watching his every move. In her mind she was planning out her attacks and what she could do. She had some things up her sleeve and she was sure that her opponent did as well. Judging from the size of his sword, he wasn't one to underestimate if he would weild a weapon like that. Unless it was all just for show and he really was quite bad with it. Lightning knew to take him seriously and he was a fair match for her, if not better. She wasn't going to turn in the towel based just on appearances though. She wanted to win and be able to prove her strength to herself. She had to, if she wanted to take down the Holy Government. This battle had a lot of significance to Lightning and she was sure her opponent had some reason for being involved in it as well. Unless he was only here for the glory. That reasoning disgusted Lightning slightly.

She made the strategic move of letting him go first and he agreed to it. He attacked at her pretty quickly. Lucky for her, she was able to match his speed being just as fast. Everytime he brought his sword toward her, she matched it with her gunblade attempting to push back at it. She would admit that he was much stronger physcially in comparision to her. She could feel the intense strength he held in the sword alone. It was very impressive. Lightning knew that this battle would certainly be an interesting one. She grinded her teeth while attempting to push back a bit, struggling slightly. She frocused on both of the weapons for a moment before looking back up at him. He had such a cold expression. Almost looked evil. Lightning was pretty cold as far as her emotions went, but she wasn't evil.

Lightning knew that she wouldn't be able to hold her own in this battle for too long. She had to make it a bit long range and just get away from that sword of his for a bit. She had to get out of here for now. She quickly activated something on one of her fingers. Gravity Bomb. She didn't want to use it this early but it was the only way she felt that she would be able to get out of this constant swings of his sword. Once gravity bomb was activated, Lightning could pretty much defy gravity in ways such as attacking in midair and be able to land safely. She jumped up high in the air, flipping backwards and landed on the other side of the colusseum. She was crouched down in her landing and stood up watching the silver haired man on the other side of the ring.

She changed her gunblade into its gun form and she aimed a few bullets at him. She had a feeling that he would be able to dodge these with much ease, judging from what she had been in before. She decided to take a shot at it though, and used this time as a chance to strategize more for what her next move should be. She'd have to be thinking on her feet quite a lot in this battle.

[sephiroth]

Sephiroth's opponent was an interesting one at that, nothing really above the average ones he had fought. She was exceptional and her change in movement might of done her well if she had used it correctly. The One Winged Angel didn't need to use any other techniques to do what Lightning was doing right now, he was born with his mothers abilities. The girl was able to keep up with her blade that looked like it was fused with a gun, but it was to no avail. Her strikes on Sephiroth's blade felt like mere strikes from an inexperienced swordsman.

She had jumped over him and landed behind the man in the black coat, he did nothing but continued to stand there. Bam! Pssh! He heard bullets come out of a gun which must of been the mechanism in her sword. He quickly turned around and dispatched the bullets with his sword in swift and quick strikes. "Is that all?" Sephiroth said as he brushed himself off. "Do you wish to succeed with skills that you dreamed you had?" He raised his sword and put both of his hands on it, it was his usual stance.

"You fight for a worthless cause." He wanted to bring the anger and despair out of Lightning, he wanted to see her suffer. Quickly he brought his sword to his side like if he was putting it in an imaginary sheath and smirked. "Dodge this!" He sliced his sword forward as fast as he sheathed it and pure energy slices came right at Lightning, this was Sephiroth's Draw Slash technique.

[Lightning]

Lightning let out a growl in aggravation as her bullets were avoided with simple ease. There was no way that she was going to throw in the towel. It just wasn't happening. She didn't care how strong or powerful he was. If she should lose, she wanted to lose with honor and be able to say that she had fought against this man, with even tables. She wanted to be able to at least get to injure him back. She could tell that he had her doubts in her. Probably assumed her to be weak. But he didn't know her. He had no idea who she was and what she was capable. She was strong in her attacks and also in her mind. She was a true warrior, and she wanted the world to know about it. She heard him start to speak, and she figured she mind as well stop shooting. That attempt had just proven to be futile.

She growled in anger as he spoke to her. Who did he think he was? Telling her things like this. Did he know who she was? Did he know what she had been through? No. He had no right to tell her that her skills were weak. She didn't care about him at all...what did he mean to her? Nothing. He was her opponent. A newfound enemy. And when you had an enemy, hate would always follow behind and would fuel your actions against the person. Lightning's hatred and dislike for him were growing more and more. Even just looking at him made her get annoyed. And when he kept talking. She felt her grip on her gunblade tighten, almost as if she was resisting the urge to attack. The distance between them served as an obstacle. She just listened, waiting to speak back.

He mentioned that she was a hopeless cause, and that she didn't know what was worth fighting for. This just put Lightning over the edge in absolute anger. Was he the one that had to fight against the Holy Government? Did he live his whole life as but a mere slave to someone far up above him? Did he have to protect a girl that could easily be kidnapped and a young boy? No. He had no idea where he was coming from when he said all of this. And it made Lightning so angry. She gave him the coldest look, showing her distaste. "You have no idea why I'm in this tournament. I'm not here for glory. I'm here for a much bigger purpose. Something you could never imagine or understand. You have no right to come off and tell me who I am and what my purpose is. My cause is the farthest thing from worthless. I will not end this battle! I'd rather die then walk away from it!" Lightning said in a powerful speech, her tone loud.

Lightning noticed him raise his sword. He was getting ready to attack. She stood ready, bending her knees and her gunblade raised. Her facial expression represented her seriousness of this battle and how she was taking this battle seriously. He moved quickly almost as in the blink of an eye. Lightning was quick on her feet and tried to dodge each of his attacked with her gunblade. He was stronger in the arms then her, she would admit that. But the more she blocked, the more energy and stamina she would lose. She thought quickly and activated her lightning shield temporarily. This shield enabled attack to be blocked from touching her, and could protect her. She looked satisfied with this choice, while trying to think out her next move against him.

[sephiroth]

Sephiroth had noticed that she was going completely on the defensive while she plotted her next move. This to Sephiroth was a flaw in her battle plan, if she was to wait and then strike without formulating a plan during battle she would get nowhere. "So you would rather join the lifestream then be a coward?" Sephiroth closed his eyes for a split second and shook his head. "Just like someone that fights for a worthless cause." He admired her will to fight, but it would get her no where if she never acted upon it.

"Your life is full of despair, let me amplify it for you." Sephiroth's blade quickly acted as he dashed forward, slashing at Lightning at almost lightning speed. Each stroke of the blade was a different strike. One went towards the head while another was a stab. He slashed eight times, each slash as fast and as powerful as the last, this was his Octaslash technique.

[Lightning]

Lightning used her electric shield to protect her self temporarily from Sephiroth. She really couldn't focus on planning out her next move. His constant questions kept on clouding up her mind and making her wonder. This was apart of his plan wasn't it? To try and get inside of her head in hoppes that she would fall prey to him and worry too much about her thoughts. Lightning had been quick enough to catch on to this. She wasn't going to overthink any of his futile questions. They were beside the point. And besides. Why should she have to answer his questions? He wasn't her superior or any higher above her. No matter what he might think. He was her equal. And thats how she viewed it. Lightning didn't care how superior he viewed himself to be. He was just overconfident. And overconfidence can often be a huge flaw.

He kept on talking. Lightning wasn't even listening nor caring about what he had to say. Everything that was coming out of his mouth was just pointless to her. She didn't care. She wasn't hear to have a conversation and make friends with him. She was here to fight and prove who she was to herself. She didn't care about what he thought about her. He was her enemy. The only thing that she wanted him to see her as was an opponent. An opponent who can give up a fair fight. She didn't want him to know why she was fighting, who she was, where she came from or what she was fighting for. That was apart of HER life. And for HER to know. In the battle, your life got put aside for the moment. It was about the now and winning. Thats how she viewed it to be at least. And that was all that was in her mind.

She wasn't going to let him get to him. She had almost fallen once before. And she was ashamed looking back at that now. She had been foolish with that. She looked over at him. "How about you do a little less talking? I came here to fight. Not to converse." Lightning said in her cold tone of voice. She just glared at him with her intense blue eyes focusing on him and every move that he made. She would be ready for what he had coming for her. He came at her with quick moves. He was quick. She would admit that. But using speed against Lightning was a foolish move. She had the ability to speed herself up to almost being gone in the flash of the eye. Her name was Lightning after all.

The only thing that was her weakness was the brute strength in his arm. She was able to block his sword but she could feel her arms weakening as she did so. He felt so much stronger. She almost got hit in the head but she blocked it last minute. That could have easily been the end. She activated something on her finger. One of he speed up and gravity-defying techniques. That was her specialty. She blocked his attacks twice as fast as before, almost matching the sword before it got anywhere close to her body. She had to take the turn to attack. She slid down low and spun around quickly. She got behind him and attempted to slash hard at him from behind. Back attacks could be powerful. If the enemy didn't react quicky. She slashed her sword with all of her force, aiming it at him.

[sephiroth]

Sephiroth's attacks worked, he could see it in her eyes. "Angry? Share it with me." The swordsman smirked as he waited for her next attack. She had attacked him hard in the back, an attack that would knock down the average swordsman. Sephiroth knew the attack was coming and was hit by the attack, but barely flinched at all. "Is that the best you can do?" His words mocked and hurt at the same time. "A bigger purpose you said.. please." The One Winged Angel never holds back in a fight but at the same time he never used his full power so it kind of balanced itself out.

"Drown in darkness." He lifted his arm in the air and the hair on his shoulder ruffled. Large dark orbs started appear all over the place, about seven in total. "Give up." The orbs started to chase and follow Lightning as Sephiroth teleported high into the air and hovered there. "Descend, Heartless Angel." He started to cast a spell, if he wasn't stopped Lightning would feel very drained.

If it was going to be over it would be over if the attacks hit. Sephiroth had enough with this toy, there were others to play with. He wanted to spread darkness and despair through everyone in this tournament, he wanted the name Sephiroth to be burned into their souls, his image burned into their hearts. By spreading his propaganda he would soon release the upgraded version of the Geostigma virus throughout the universe, plauging the ones who had come in contact with him.

[Lightning]

Lightning growled in aggravation when he asked her to share the anger with him. "That'd be the last thing I do...mark my words." Lightning spat back at him. She seemed to be developing more and more hate as the battle progressed onward. She knew hate was gtood to have in a battle. Made her more dedicated to fighting in her cause. But she didn't want her emotions and hate to get the best of her. One good thing that Lightning could do was that she was able to mask emotions quite well. It was quite rare to get any emotion from Lightning. Except for annoyance or anger. Even satisfaction was a rare emotion for this woman. When she won, she didn't feel happiness or proud. She just felt...accomplished. And then she moved on to whatever the next obstacle would be. That was who Lightning was and how she acted toward things. No one could change the way that she was except herself.

When her attack failed, she knew that she had to step it up. "I'm just getting started. You have no idea what I am capable of. Don't judge your opponent before the battle is over." Lightning said. She watched as the Darkness came along. She felt intimidated. Darkness had always been an issue. She never knew where her light was or how to find it. She watched the darkness come around her and then it surrounded her. Lightning fell down to her knees and she felt so weak. The darkness...it was so strong. it was overtaking her. All of her stamina was drained out of her. She just wanted to get out of the darkness. It was so strong.

Lightning paused. She remembered something. That boy Sora...and the goddess Cosmos. They had both talked about light. Cosoms mentioned how powerful light was and how it was easy to find. She said darkness could always defeat light. Sora mentioned that light was in his heart and that with friends...he could always count on light. Lightning shut her eyes thinking of this. Both of them...they were right. Light was the way. Darkness did nothing but weaken you and make things worse. She was done in the darkness. And she was done with these games of darkness with him. It wasn't over yet. She wasn't going to let this be the end.

Lightning forced herself to rise to her feet. She felt different with these thoughts. Thoughts of light. Her power seemed to be coming back. And she felt all the more dedicated to win. Maybe to prove that light can triumph over the Darkness. Words that everyone was saying and she never actually believed it. Until now. Lightning activated her gravity bomb and with that she jumped out of the darkness, flipping backward and landing in a place of light. Her crystal blue eyes looked at him with such intensity. She felt much more powerful then before. Now that she had all of these views on light. It was...actually a good feeling to have. Only it was hard to keep it with her. She would have to try. Stay away from all of his darkness tricks. All those would do was weaken her. And she couldn't afford to be weak in this battle. She had to be strong. Strong as she could possibly be. And beyond that.

"Darkness...can be defeated by light. I now no that to be true...darkness tricks won't work on me anymore. I am going to keep my light present. And my battle is just getting started." Lightning said and with that she activated one of her speed and gravity techniques. She jumped up into the air and moved at a speed that was as quick as...well lightning. She had her sword at her side, holding a tight grip on her. When she got closer she started to shoot at him and then she changed the sword to its gun form and aimed to stab him right in the chest. Her speed and precision seemed twice what it was before.

[Larxene]

Lightning has won this battle by default!

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