Live at the Coliseum

[Zira Firestone]

Where am I?

Trumpets sounded followed by the roar of a vicious crowd as she could feel chains wrapped tightly around her hands and feet as she was forced to move forward.

Is that-?

The black sack upon her head was removed and the Firebird could now see that she was standing in the middle of a large coliseum filled with people. The soldiers behind her pushed her down to the ground and left the coliseum, not even bothering to remove the chains from her hands and feet as the gate on the opposite side opened up and a lion stalked towards her position.

They mean to feed me to lions?

Zira was trying to remember how she got here. She had just left Utopia and flew over the ocean before finding some mountains to stop by and rest at. The Firebird was attempting to learn how to control her new power so she would be able to walk in full release without burning everything she touched when-

When the lion lunged at her and broke up her line of thought. She managed to roll out of the way all while still trying to break out of the chains that she was bound to. The people at attendance and the guards surrounding the area both cheered loudly towards the fight and it was hard to tell who they were rooting for; the woman or the lion. Zira could only assumed that they were rooting for the one not in chains. The lion was just toying with her at this point, watching her as she tried breaking the chains with her strength. It confused the lion but there was no way for the lion to know that the woman in front of him was not human.

Not by a long shot.

Zira went back to the mountains in her mind, remembering being attacked by men. Men in black. They took her down in an ambush and was even able to fend off her intense flames before knocking her out. She could vaguely remember how but they must have brought her here while she was still unconscious. Brought her here to die. No, Zira wouldn't let that happen. Not today. The chains around her arms began to heat up severely as her own body temperature rise and soon the chains came off right in time as the lion came again with a second lunge but it would run right into fireball that it promptly swallowed and then exploded from the inside out. The Firebird jumped out of the way and repeated her earlier process with the chains around her legs as the pieces of the lions fell to the ground and boos soon echoed throughout the coliseum as the people were enraged they did not get to see the woman be eaten.

Sucks to be them.

Zira stood up to her feet, eyes now burning like fire as she was starting to lose control already, waiting for the next obstacle to get in her way so she could remove it. If the Firebird wasn't careful however she would incinerate everything.

[Sparda]

This wasn't supposed to happen.

The crowd were baying for blood - human blood - and had fully expected it. No one had much interest for fighters who were stubborn enough to kill their would-be executioners, especially when they made use of tricks that no one thought them capable of, much less their handlers.

The situation had changed, and now needed to be contained before it started getting out of hand. To that end, the portcullis through which the lion had been released was raised once again, and through it strode a pair of knights. Side by side, in perfect lockstep, their armour a brilliant silver that gleamed in the light, they stepped out into the arena, met by cheering from the crowd... Until they stopped in place, raised their curved halberds to attention and stepped apart, making way for a third companion who marched through between them.

The cheering resumed in earnest, for a black knight had been sent to dispose of the Firebird. He towered over his silver-clad brothers, a full seven feet tall; with a great kite shield upon his left arm, he reached to his hip and produced a sword as dark as his armour. The weapon was massive, a zweihander's length at least, yet the elite knight had it twirling about his lone right hand as if it were weightless.

He stood before Zira, daring her to come at him.

[Zira Firestone]

The Firebird started to grind her teeth, the knights in silver would have been enough but no, one of the knights clad in the same black armor like the ones that attacked her in the mountains and brought her here appeared. Looked like they weren't too happy about her dispatching the lion they sent to devour her.

Things were about to get worse.

Zira stretched her hand out in the air to her side, ripples danced through the air from the palm of her hand as her telekinesis took effect, stretching farther than telekinesis has ever been known to stretch and seen from up above in the sky was the Force Edge followed promptly by Ebony and Ivory. Zira grabbed the Force Edge as the twin pistols in their holsters made attached to her waist and she charged forward led by the tip of her blade, a mere blur to the people watching up in the stands as she closed the distance between them in seconds with a powerful Stinger aim to the black knight's midsection.

[Sparda]

The knight remained where he was, his two companions leaving the arena and the portcullis closing behind them. As Zira began her charge, her opponent's sword fell still within his hand. From inside his menacing helm, he watched her carefully, reflexes honed sharply enough to track such speed.

At the last moment, the knight stepped to the left with deceptive quickness and grace, placing the Force Edge between his torso and his foe's, and raised his right hand with his sword angled outwards towards the Firebird. The superior reach of his weapon meant that she would impale herself upon its blade before her attack found its mark if she didn't back off, but his shield was raised across his body regardless to ensure that the Force Edge would glance harmlessly away.

[Zira Firestone]

Zira blocked using the Prop Shredder as a defensive maneuver and then poured more of her energies into the devil arm, coming at the Black Knight with a ground variation of the Helm Breaker to break through his shield.

[Sparda]

Behind his careful blocking of the Prop Shredder with his shield, the knight was every bit as swift in his counter as he had just demonstrated. Just before Zira brought her sword down, he positioned himself half a step away to give himself just enough space, his own blade angled upwards; in the same movement, as the Helm Breaker came down at him, he continued his sidestep to her right and shunted his sword in the opposite direction, against his foe's. The rough parry knocked the Force Edge safely out of the way, but the continuation of Zira's powerful swing towards the ground left her balance that little bit more offset than if he had blocked outright.

Meanwhile, the knight was immediately upon the attack. His sidestep turned into a full spin to his right, within which he raised his sword, turning the momentum of his movement into a prime attacking position. He opened up out of the spin with a heavy slash from Zira's right, his jet blade aimed at the back of her neck, seeking to decapitate her and end this threat.

All the while, the crowd kept cheering him.

[Zira Firestone]

Zira staggered about after the missed Helm Breaker but managed to bend down just enough to avoid the beheading and spun around on the balls of her feet, sliding the Force Edge through the ground and kicking up thick dust into the knight's vision while at the same time coming up with a High Time that would soon turn into an Aerial Rave.

[Sparda]

She was fast, but not too fast. The knight was quick to draw his shield in against his body to take her upward swing head-on, and though her blade didn't compromise his shield, the force of the blow floated him upwards, armour and all. Impressive strength.

The knight leaned backwards a little, shield still hugged to his torso, and as the prisoner came at him with a flurry of aerial strikes, he lunged at her repeatedly with his longer sword, attempting to jab her head and torso through her swings while his shield took the brunt of her attack.

As soon as he hit the floor, knees bending to absorb the heavy shock, he lunged at her while she fell towards him. His timing was spot-on, putting him well inside her range, where he lurched towards her to delivered a devastating headbutt straight to her face with his entire weight behind it.

[Zira Firestone]

To his surprise the Aerial Strikes weren't aim to inflict damage, they were aim to parry his jabs mid-air before gravity pulled him back down to the ground and gravity would dictate that she would follow close behind.

Fuck gravity!

The Firebird kept herself afloat in the air through her telekinesis and as the knight lunged now beneath her position she switched to Ebony and Ivory and unleashed a hellstorm of bullets from above, pouring her demonic energies into the shots fire with enough force like that of armor piercing rounds in an attempt to break through the armor and cause more damage against the knight's body before landing behind him.

[Gabrielle]

Among the rowdy crowd of civilians was the God of Light, Phalis himself. In the stands near the front with his bride by his side and two guards on either side of their positions. He watched the battle with great interest in the young woman below. The will, the determination and of course the power and skill. He knew she was holding back. He knew that she could easily destroy this entire place if she wanted to yet she chose to restrain herself. Why? Why deny herself power? Did she really fear what she could do that much? Did a moral code forbid her? Phalis looked into her Life Force to see, intrigued by the hectic life the demon has lived. He made sure not to see the outcome of this match through her Life Force as even a god wanted to be surprise every now and again.

[Hekate]

Hekate sat quietly by her husband side watching the battle below. Noticing how his own eyes followed the woman fighting for her life against one of their more elite soldiers. The jealousy and rage masked only by a cold emotionless expression that she normally wore wherever she went. Causing many in Elysios to tremble in fear when in her presence. Especially those who dare make moves for her husband.

She's reading your mind anticipating your attacks and forcing her own to land.

The witch spoke in the knight's mind while at the same time creating interference so Zira would be unable to intercept and know that something was amiss. This would also allow the knight a chance to catch the demon off guard.

Clear your thoughts. Kill her now!

[Sparda]

No one home. Confused for a brief moment, the knight looked up to find himself staring down the barrels of a pair of pistols. He just about raised his shield in time to block the hail of bullets she fired at him from above, somehow levitating in the air.

Amidst the gasps from the crowd, worried that this superhuman prisoner may actually best a mighty black knight before their eyes, Lady Hekate's stern voice echoed in his mind, warning him of the fact that his tactics were being mentally read by his foe that she might steer the battle in her favour.

Clear your thoughts. Kill her now!

Beneath the helm, his face hardened.

It will be done, Your Majesty.

He took a step forward, bent his knees, and launched himself upwards at Zira. In a backward trajectory, set to somersault him across the arena, he kept his shield raised in her general direction and lashed out with an armoured foot as he passed, throwing a sweeping kick at her chin for her trouble. The towering warrior landed cleanly across the arena from his opponent, staying crouched. His posture relaxed ever so slightly, shield rotated so that he could subtly inspect the grisly damage for a moment.

He closed his eyes and steadied his breathing; what had been loud metallic rasping seconds ago was now much slower and calmer. The crowd grew quiet, a tension mounting in the air that may even stay Zira's hand.

With his mind cleared of idle thoughts and given over to sheer battle instinct, his rulers and gods looking on, the knight finally rose to his feet with a slow, deliberate grace, shield down by his side. His eyes opened, two orange lights flaring back into life behind the visor of his helm, and he fixed Zira with a deathly stare. All was silent before he raised his sword, gazing down the length of the blade at her, and flicked his wrist twice to taunt her forward, beckoning her to her death.

[Zira Firestone]

Zira immediately backed away when the knight made his advance. The fact she couldn't read his mind anymore was cause for concern and once again she was going into this blind. Her eyes noticed two people in particular in the stands. People who obviously held power and authority over this place. Were they interfering? Either way this wasn't good and she couldn't let this drag out any longer. It had to end now. Her eyes became nothing but flames as fire engulfed her entire body. She had to fight just to control herself, to keep herself from burning everything. The knight was the only thing she needed to burn. Outstretching her hands towards the knight a powerful wave of fire soon broke through the air between them and came full speed ahead to ignite the black knight on fire and incinerate him.

[Sparda]

Much of the crowd leaned back as if to escape the torrent of fire that roared forth from the blazing prisoner's hands. The knight remained in place for a moment, tilting his head back slightly... Amongst the gasps from the onlookers, his quiet laughter went unnoticed.

The flames rolled over his body and engulfed him, raging forwards unopposed and only breaking against the far wall, where they plumed outwards to the sides. The assault continued for another ten seconds, Zira making absolutely sure she had incinerated her foe, the sand underfoot almost burned to glass beneath her mighty flames.

A quiet fell over the crowd at the thought that the knight had lost. Even Lord Phalis and Lady Hekate would not help but lean forward in their seats, eager to see what was happening...

A shadow fell over the Firebird, and the cheering returned. Straight through the flames the knight charged at her, completely unharmed by the searing fire. His armour, once a shining silver, had millennia ago been charred black by the godly flames of Lord Phalis' power, and endowed with a total immunity to heat and fire damage, when the towering knight was elevated to his esteemed rank.

Smiling within his helm, bearing straight down upon Zira, the determined warrior unleashed a furious barrage of fast and powerful swings of his sword.

[Zira Firestone]

Zira was ready to sigh a sigh of relief when the flames took the knight, but almost as quickly as they had came at him he came charging out of the intense heat completely unharmed catching the Firebird off guard. Allowing his blade to hit her dead on causing massive damage and launching her body into the nearby wall before being ran through in the chest completely and more cheers erupted as Zira's eyes closed and she appeared dead before the crowd and the black knight.

The victory would be cut short however, for a moment of cheering would be met with a hush silence, the opposite of what it had been before as Zira's eyes came open and summoned Force Edge back into her hand slicing off his weapon's arm with a Drive and then ramming the demon blade through his head killing him on contact. His body falling to the ground as Zira pulled out his sword and stabbed it into the ground by his headless corpse before looking up to the crowd as her stab wound healed open.

"Please, hold your applauds..."