FanFic: The Ariel Chronicles (Chapter VI - The Beginning of

[Aurra]

This is my first fanfic. It's about me and some of my friends, like Link5, Kujin, Celisse, and one person I made up. Please post feedback, good or bad

Btw, even though "I" am refered to as a girl throughout the story since my characters Aurra and Aurrica are, I am fully male. Also, some stuff may seem out of place because it's full of inside jokes that only my friends will understand.

And now, I present without further ado,

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The Ariel Chronicles
Chapter I - Awakening
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-Prologue-

"Come on Aurra, one battle."

"Battle is retarded. I'd rather eat at Denny's than battle you."

"Fool. You're afraid you'll lose!"

"Right, how devastating that would be. Besides, I'd waste you. All you have is that Stag."

"The Stag rocks. It's about... one hundred times cooler than you are. Come on, one battle."

"If I do, will you finally shut up about it?"

"Yes."

"Alright, one battle. Then shut up."

"One battle."

-Part One-

Aurrica Romanov was as cheerful as any 11-year-old girl whose mother had left this world years ago due to a fluke coding error with one of the Pioneer 2 teleporters could be. After the tragic loss of her mother, she had been terrified of using the teleporters; eventually though, she overcame her fear and began using them as regularly as everyone else did.

She didn't have many friends her age; in fact, she only socialized with one of her peers on a regular basis. His name was Link5 the Second, son of Link5; everyone called him simply Link. He was born in a country far away, as was his father. He was a good-spirited young man, but he could be somewhat stubborn at times.

The only other person even close to Aurrica and Link's age who lived on the same level of Pioneer 2 as they did was a boy named Kujin. Kujin the Tenth, actually. He was 12 years old, but he acted much older. He never did reveal much about himself, and thus remained a somewhat mysterious character. Aurrica and Link didn't play with him quite as much as they did with each other, as he was very much into fighting. He fought nearly all the time; with people who angered him, animals that lived near the Central Dome, or just practiced his moves on the open air.

Aurrica, although normally cheerful, thought of her mother often. The girl had only one keepsake by which to remember her dearly departed guardian... a weapon, originally discovered by her friend's father, Link5 the First. It was given to Aurrica's mother as a gift, and was later passed on in the same fashion to her daughter. Aurrica didn't have much interest in using it in battle in its current state, but seldom let the item of her sight; she thought it was cute, but more than that, it reminded her of her mother.

Our story begins on a Friday evening. It had been a fairly normal day, save for a few patches of fog clinging to the Forest's ground. Today Aurrica, Link, and Kujin had decided that as soon as night fell, they'd venture further into the forest than they ever had before. Their parents had always forbidden them to use the teleporter to go past the Central Dome, but Kujin believed they were strong enough now to brave whatever could possibly lay ahead.

"You go first, Link," Kujin said and jokingly shoved his friend toward the teleporter which would bring them down to Ragol.

"Why me!? I always go first."

"Who cares? We've been to the Forest a million times."

"But... remember what happened to Aurrica's-- oh, sorry Aurrica."

"It's alright," she said quietly.

"Fine dork, I'll go first. I'm keeping all the money we find, though."

Kujin stepped into the teleporter and said "Come on, set it to Forest and get in here before it leaves without you two."

"Shh, that guard will hear us. You know, that guy with the rifle who told us to 'eat shit and die' that one time," Link whispered.

"No he won't. Plus, that guy is a moron. I'd mess him up real good if Aurrica would ever let me see that gloves thing she always carries around. I bet it could be strong, if she knew how to use it right."

"I do know how to use it right," said Aurrica. "and I'll use it on you if you don't be quiet."

The teleporter began to make the humming sound it made right before it activates.

"Get in!" yelled Kujin.

"Be quiet!" Link and Aurrica walked into the teleporter. "One of these days the rifle guy is gonna catch us... actually, I don't see him tonight. Isn't he usually up there on that little lookout tower thing?" Link asked.

"Yeah, usually. I saw him talking to Elly earlier though. He's probably either asking her on a date, or telling her to eat shit and die."

VYOOOOOOM. The three kids vanished in a flash of light and electricity. The air where they had previously been standing would have smelled like ozone, had there been anyone around to smell it.

-Part Two-

On Ragol, the sun was just settling below the skyline. Aurrica, Link, and Kujin felt the slight sensation of weightlessness they always felt coming out of the teleporter. Aurrica held her breath until it passed.

"Wow Link, way to be scared about nothing. Seems like we all made it down in one piece," Kujin said with a smile.

"Looks like you forgot your brain though."

"Link, one of these days I'm gonna--"

THUMP. The ground quaked violently.

"What was that!" Link whispered furiously.

"Probably a really big booma. I hear they eat kids who dress in green, like you do, Link! Ahahaa--" trying to listen, Aurrica covered Kujin's mouth with her hand and whispered, "shut up! Quit talking for a second."

Kujin knocked her hand away and said "Heh, you two are dorks. We've seen all the stuff that lives in the forest, and none of it can beat us. Except the dragon, but Aurrica's mom killed it like five years ago! So quit worrying!"

"Yeah, let's hurry up and get to the Central Dome. We haven't been there in a while... you think anything cool happened there since the last time we saw it?"

"Oh yeah, I bet there's a lot of dead bodies and ghosts and stuff up there," Kujin said with a heavy note of sarcasm in his voice. "The Central Dome is boring... I want to see what's past it. I bet there's lots of stuff we've never seen back there. Maybe new monsters to fight, new weapons, money, anything!"

"Yeah, whatever. I kind of want to see it too, though... but for a different reason. My mom always told me that my gloves have a secret power sleeping in them... and if I get into a situation where I need it, it'll awaken. I've always been looking for what might make that happen, and so far I've never even found anything close to it."

"Yeah, no more DragonBall Z for Aurrica," Kujin said with a grin.

"I'm serious! My mom wouldn't lie."

"Yeah, sure. Okay, let's get going before it gets dark and we have to start setting trees and stuff on fire with Foie just to see."

They walked about a quarter of a mile through the dense brush before any of them said another word. It was Link who finally broke the silence with "So you guys never answered my question."

"What?" Aurrica asked.

"My question."

"You didn't ask a question."

"Yes I did."

"...Well are you gonna tell us what it was?"

"Will you answer it if I do?"

"Might. Unless it's a stupid question."

THUMP. The sound again. All three kids jumped. Kujin said "Heh, better run, Link."

"I will not run. Maybe you should though, fool."

"Good one. Come on, it's gonna be awesome to fight that thing that keeps making that sound. Right Aurrica? You want the experience, right?"

"Sure. Maybe I'll finally get to awaken the power in my gloves," Aurrica replied.

"Yeah, that. Anyway Link, if you're scared, you can telepipe back..."

"Yeah right! I'm not afraid. This is stupid. It's probably trees falling down or something," Link said, with a touch of annoyance in his voice.

"Okay. Then lead the way, o brave, fierce leader of the Blue Rouges," Kujin said jokingly, with a sly grin.

"I will. Buttface."

With that, they set off again in the direction of the Central Dome. They could finally see its rounded top, poking over the tops of the Forest's many trees, as if keeping watch. It had looked this way for years, ever since the explosion that downed the communications link with Pioneer 1. It used to be a magnificent structure; strong enough to withstand almost anything. Anything except an earth-shattering explosion, that is. Now it was a desolate, blackened shell of its former self. The kids had gone inside several times after Aurra had killed the dragon that had been living within it, but had never found anything they considered to be worth keeping. They had never used the teleporter in it to go beyond though, mostly because Aurrica had been too afraid to go with them.

After about another mile of hiking through the Forest (and fending off a few boomas and barbarous wolves), they finally reached the Central Dome. The door was no longer attached to its hinges, as it had been the last time they had visited this place.

"What happened to the door I wonder?" Link said more to himself than anyone else.

"It probably got knocked down in that big electric storm a few weeks ago," Aurrica said thoughtfully.

"Yeah, maybe. Or maybe Aurrica punched it with her powerful super-gloves," Kujin said and started making punching motions in the air.

"Stop it. It's not funny anymore. There is something more to the gloves than any of us know. Only my mom knew what they could really do, and she gave them to me. So now it's up to me to unlock their power, and then slug you in the face!"

"Quiet, girl! I'll knock you down and... mess up your hair!"

"Oh God, not that!!"

As Kujin and Aurrica argued, they failed to notice Link staring up at the sky with a strange look on his face. It wasn't so much a look of fear, but a look of awe.

"Ooooooww! Stop it, Kuj!" Aurrica yelled as Kujin rubbed her hair around a little too roughly. Kujin released her, and then noticed Link. Aurrica looked and saw her friend staring up at the sky as well. Both Aurrica and Kujin looked up at the same time.

"It's here," said Link almost without emotion.

"But... but my mom, she killed it!" Aurrica mumbled in horror.

"No. No, that's not the same one. The one your mom killed was red, and breathed fire... this one looks black," Kujin said.

As it got closer to the ground, slowly drawing circles in the darkening sky, they all saw at once that the enormous dragon was not black, but a dark blue color. It was encircled in an aura of sparkling light, and seemed to move in slow motion. The beast let out a horrible growl, a growl which seemed to come from the furthest depths of the earth.

-Part Three-

Almost as soon as they saw it, the epic creature was on the ground before them, introducing itself with a huge crash and a mind-shattering screech. The sound boomed around the three kids and for miles beyond them, reawakening a long-forgotten terror in Aurrica's memory. She was instantly transported back to when her mother and best friend, the great hunter Aurra, had slain the dragon to save both their lives so many years ago. She could see her mother in photographic quality. Everything was as clear as day, from Aurra's famous eye patch to the legendary angel's wings she wore on her back. She could hear her mother's voice as well. Don't be afraid, Aurrica. Stand behind me, and nothing bad will happen to us.

Aurrica was suddenly returned to the present and greeted by a flash of light. She realized that this was not an illusion, but an attack by the beast that stood before them. She felt a sharp and frigid breeze, and closed her eyes out of reflex. When she opened them again, she saw that Link had drawn his saber, but had been felled. He was laying on the ground about three feet in front of her, covered in an icy, wet-looking substance.

"No... no! It wasn't supposed to be this way!!" Aurrica cried out in horror and anger.

"Aurrica, come on! We have to run!" Kujin yelled over the dragon's harsh shrieking.

"NO! I won't leave! It won't end this way. I won't let it!" Aurrica screamed more at the dragon than Kujin.

Now the animal had focused its attention on a new victim. It cocked it's head back, let out a puff of icy mist, and whipped its wing down at the virtually defenseless young boy. His scream was cut off almost instantly, and when the wing was removed he was laying in a crumpled heap.

"No... no... I won't watch this any more! You killed my friends! Don't you even care!? Don't you care that you killed them!?" Aurrica screamed at the stupid animal in desperation. It let out a sound as close to laughing as a dragon could ever hope to produce, and whipped it's clawed arm in Aurrica's direction. WHUMP!

Aurrica's vision blurred, darkened, and then she felt nothing more.

-Part Four-

Bright light. Everywhere around her. Aurrica didn't understand this strange place, or what had happened. Her eyes began to regain focus, and slowly, a silhouette of a woman appeared before her. Aurrica stared in disbelief, because this woman was no stranger; it was someone she thought she had lost years ago.

"Aurrica? Don't be afraid."

"Mom?"

"Yes, honey. I'm here."

"Why?"

"Why what, sweetheart?"

"Why? How could this happen? Is the dragon dead? Am I dead? Where did you go all those years ago?"

"Aurrica, I couldn't give you a simple answer to such complex questions. You will find out the solution to all of them, in time. Now though, there's something you cannot do. You can't give up."

"What should I do! The dragon is so strong! He killed Link and Kujin in one hit each!"

"No honey, they aren't dead. At least not yet. You can't let them down; you have to fight."

"I can't! I'm terrible at fighting!"

"Sweetheart, look at your hands."

Aurrica looked down at her hands, and for the first time, knew what to call the gift her mother had given her. She didn't know how this information had come to her, but she knew that her beloved gloves could possess no name other than Sonic Knuckle.

"The Sonic Knuckle! The power you always talked about! Is this when it will be awakened?"

"Yes, Aurrica. The intense emotion you felt when you thought you saw the dragon kill your friends unlocked the true potential of the Sonic Knuckle. Try using your fists."

Aurrica was amazed to see her hands fly at the speed of sound as she threw out punch after punch, testing her strange new abilities. Before she could say another word or ask another question of her deceased mother, the bright world collapsed upon itself as quickly as it had been created. She was now back in the forest, standing in the plain by the entrance to the Central Dome. The dragon was still there, too... waiting.

-Part Five-

"YOU!" Aurrica screamed at it. "Get up! Fight me!" she yelled. The dragon rose to its clawed feet and almost grinned.
"You'll pay for what you did to Link and Kuj. I'll destroy you with my own two hands!"

Aurrica felt a huge power surging through her limbs. Kujin would later tell her that she had a cold look of rage in her eyes, but Aurrica felt almost nothing. She wasn't one bit afraid. She ran to the dragon at a supersonic speed and began to unleash a barrage of kicks and punches upon the poor beast.

It howled in pain as Aurrica angrily dug the Sonic Knuckle repeatedly into its body, striking hundreds of blows per second. She didn't know where she had gained this sudden ability to fight, but she also didn't care. All she was interested in was making the dragon pay for the misery it had caused her friends.

It took a swipe at her, but Aurrica relied on the awesome speed of the Sonic Knuckle and effortlessly dodged the attack. The battle was over almost before it began; the dragon didn't stand a chance. As the beast lay dying, and as Aurrica stood covered in sweat and breathing heavily, she heard a voice.

"Aur... Aurrica..."

She knew it was the voice of Kujin. She ran over to him and saw that her mother had been right: he was not dead after all, and a later discovery would reveal that neither was Link. She created a telepipe, and carried her two friends back through it. The sharp, red streams of light brought on by the telepipe disappeared as she stepped into it and willed it to return her to Pioneer 2, casting the forest once again into a peaceful darkness.

At last, they were safe.

-Epilogue-

"You rocked back there, Aurrica."

A week after the battle, Link and Kujin had almost fully recovered. Kujin revealed that he had only lost consciousness for a few seconds, and saw almost the whole thing. Neither Link nor Kujin recalled seeing the spirit of Aurrica's mother though.

"Aurrica, where did you get those wings?" Kujin asked.

"What?"

"On your back, during the fight. They looked like the wings of an angel."

"I had angel wings when I was fighting the dragon!?" Aurrica asked in amazement, only half believing her friend.

"Yeah, they looked a lot like the ones your mom used to wear."

Aurrica was amazed Kujin had remembered that her mother had ever worn the wings of an angel. Aurrica herself only had brief memories of her mom's wings. However, because of what she had seen during the short time she blacked out while fighting the dragon, Aurrica didn't doubt what Kujin said.

She would later ask Link if he had seen the same thing, but he said that his last memory before waking up in the Pioneer 2 hospital was Kujin shoving him toward the teleporter and telling him to "go first."

After that night, Aurrica could never get the Sonic Knuckle to react with such incredible power again. She realized that it might have been her mother's strength, not the weapon's that had allowed her to fight with such skill and ferocity.

Although never again able to reach a state of desperation as overpowering as she had during the fight with the dragon, Aurrica came close several times. Over the course of her life, she faced many other vicious enemies, and occasionally had to again rely on the surreal powers of the Sonic Knuckle. But those, my friends, are stories for another day.

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Chapter II - Arrogance coming soon
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<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Aurra on 2003-09-14 14:02 ]</font>

[Stricker]

Not bad.

[Kujin]

that was very good, you have real talent there kid.

keep up the good work.

[Aurra]

Thanks guys. Did anyone catch the reference to the guard with the foul mouth in the V2 movie quest?

[TopWing]

Very nice. You should be a writer. If it wasn't for the inspiration of games, where would we all be???

[TopWing]

Man, I'm a rappy hunter. darnit.

[Aurra]

If you don't specify a title, and only have a few posts, you'll automatically get Rappy Hunter. It changes every so often when you make more posts, but I don't remember what the other ones are.

[Aurra]

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The Ariel Chronicles
Chapter II - Arrogance
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-Part One-

"Get up, you're really freaking late!"

Aurrica slowly awoke, still half in another world.

"What..."

"The tournament! It starts in three hours!"

As Aurrica's bright green eyes slowly focused on the face of her friend Kujin, she realized that she had only been dreaming. Like most nights, Aurrica had just relived the nightmare that took place five years ago in the forest where she had been forced to fight a Sil Dragon to save her life and the lives of Link and Kujin.

"Uhhh... yeah, whatever. I'm going to... take a shower. Yeah."

"Hell no, you're not! We have to go!"

"No, shut up. I'm not gonna be all nasty for the tournament."

Aurrica pushed her friend's face away with her right hand and dragged herself out of bed.

"Gah! Be really, really fast! And as long as you're in there, you had better brush your teeth. Your breath smells like... Link."

"Hey, shut up," the girl mumbled sleepily.

16-year-old Aurrica Romanov and her friends Link and Kujin had been training for the World Ragol Fighting Tournament for months now. The huge stadium was originally designed as a test for hunters heading down to Ragol, to ensure that they were skilled enough to handle the "wildlife." It had proved to be fairly unnecessary since the government only actually approved three or four people a year to venture onto Ragol in search of its secrets, and the facility was put to use as a sports arena for fighters from all over to test their skills against each other.

Aurrica, Kujin, and Link practiced their fighting skills in sparring matches against each other all the time, and when they heard about the annual tournament had decided that it would be fun to see how high they could place. It was naturally Kujin's idea, but he and Aurrica had managed to talk Link into joining up as well. Aurrica, although still modest, now knew the extent of the power contained in the Sonic Knuckle... or at least, that its power could extend beyond anything any one of the three friends could imagine; now she was eager to see exactly how far it could take her in an organized tournament event.

She closed the bathroom door behind her, and heard Kujin pacing back and forth in the hallway.

"If you peek I'll gouge your eyes out!" she called to her friend cheerfully.

"Damnit! Just hurry and shower. If we miss the first round we can't compete!"

"Hey, we signed up and all. Even if we're late they'll probably still let us in."

"If we miss anything, I'll gouge your eyes out!"

-Part Two-

An hour later, the three friends arrived at the front gates of Ragol Stadium. They went through the alternate entrance marked "PARTICIPANTS" and were immediately greeted by two armed guards. One was standing, one sitting at a desk in front of a computer. The standing one, clipboard in hand, asked for their names and ages.

"Aurrica Romanov, age sixteen."

"Yep, your name is on the list. You in the black?"

"Kujin, seventeen."

"Last name?"

"Just Kujin."

"Ah... yep, you're on here. Alright, and you?"

"Link5 the Second, age sixteen."

"Thank you. Please go on back."

The huge gate behind the two guards opened and the three kids stepped into a teleporter. The guard who hadn't said anything yet typed something on the terminal before him and hit Enter, and in an instant they were no longer at the front entrance but in a lounge looking area with people everywhere.

"Wow, is this like... the lobby?" Link asked in awe.

"No, this is where we fight. Duh, it's the lobby!" Kujin said and gave link a shove.

"I'm gonna laugh when we get paired up and I kick your ass, Kuj," Link said with a smile.

Aurrica noticed standing in a corner of the room two people who stood out in her mind. One was a woman, who would have been exceptionally beautiful... if not for the huge scar extending from the middle of her forehead to the edge of her right cheek. It drew a jagged line down her face, passing through the center of her right eye. She was clad in a red and black military uniform with a crimson beret and high-top boots. Standing next to her, almost motionless, was a purple and black android with her arms crossed over her chest. The woman's eyes met Aurrica's for a split second, then she motioned to the android and they both turned and left. 'Weird,' Aurrica thought for a moment, and then smacked Kujin in the back of the head.

"Oww, damn! What was that for?"

"Weren't you the one worried about being late? Now what do you do when you get here... you shove Link around and get people looking at us weird."

"Who's looking at us weird?"

"Some lady and an android were staring at me just now."

"So?"

"Well I don't know... it was weird!"

"Geez, if it bugged you that much, hand them a beat down in the tournament!"

"Kujin, you suck. You know that?"

"ALL PARTICIPANTS, TO THE FRONT DESK. ALL PARTICIPANTS, TO THE FRONT DESK. THANK YOU." echoed a huge and distorted voice over the loudspeaker.

"Hey, let's go!" Kujin said and jetted off into the crowd. Aurrica and Link walked casually up to the front desk where a huge screen was being filled with the various matches. The names quickly came onto the screen, flashing faster and faster. Aurrica spotted Kujin standing close to the screen, scanning it for their names. Suddenly he burst out laughing and yelled to Link, "Hey man! We're paired up for the first round! Sweet!"

"Oh... wonderful," said Link, rolling his eyes.

"Aurrica... you're going against someone named... Sell-iss? Sell-ees? I don't know, looks... French or something."

"Celisse Russeau..." Aurrica said thoughtfully, reading the name of her first opponent.

"Hello."

At first, Aurrica didn't know the soft-spoken greeting was aimed at her. Then she felt a tap on her shoulder, and turned slowly around to find herself face to face with the scarred woman.

"I'm Celisse Russeau. You're Aurrica Romanov, correct?"

"Um... yeah."

"Charmed. Looks like we're opponents in the first round."

Her voice was deep, but far from masculine. A crooked half-smile crossed the bottom of her face, and now with the more close-up view, Aurrica could see that her right eye was clearly blind.

"Aren't you a little young to be participating in the tournament?" Celisse questioned.

"No! I'm sixteen..."

"Heheh, well, don't expect me to go easy on you, Aurrica Romanov."

"Psh, how old are you?"

"Twenty-one."

"Well then, you're not so old yourself."

-Part Three-

"ROUND ONE, MATCH THREE: KUJIN VERSUS LINK5 THE SECOND. COMBATANTS TO YOUR CORNERS!"

Kujin and Link entered the huge arena before the legions of cheering fans, shook hands, and then turned their backs to each other and both walked ten steps to their respective sides of the arena.

"Ready, goodbuddy?" Kujin yelled over the deafening roar of the jam-packed stadium to Link.

"Anytime, goodbuddy," Link replied with a crooked grin, and then held a short, silver shaft out in front of him with both hands. He twisted it once, and two sharp red beams shot out of each end.

The crowd erupted and the disembodied voice on the loudspeaker called out "LINK5 DRAWS A STAG CUTLERY, THE INFAMOUS TWIN SABER USEABLE ONLY BY MALE HUNTERS AND RANGERS!"

Kujin closed his eyes, shook his head and smiled.

"Nice... just like your father used to wield... but you haven't seen anything yet!"

Kujin drew from his belt a silver T-shaped hilt. He closed his eyes, held it before him with one hand and yelled, "Awaken, legendary spirit of the Lavis Cannon!"

A blazing lavender beam zapped forth from the hilt with a cutting SWISH sound.

The announcer cried out "KUJIN DRAWS A LAVIS CANNON, A WEAPON SELDOM SEEN IN THIS TOURNAMENT! IT'S RARITY AND POWER ARE IMMEASURABLE!"

The crowd exploded at this revelation, many rising to their feet. Kujin rested the Lavis Cannon against his shoulder, beckoned to Link and said, "come on!"

Both boys dove at each other with such incredible speed that only the extremely aware could have seen more than a flash of light. Kujin swung the Lavis Cannon at his sides in a criss-cross motion so quickly that soon the only thing visible part of the sword was a purple aura that seemed to surround his entire being. Link swung the Stag Cutlery with such skill and form that soon a blazing red aura had surrounded him too. Suddenly the two waves of light clashed together, taking on their original visible forms again. The earth-shattering crackling of energies conflicting filled the stadium as the two warriors fired off attacks. After nearly five minutes of heated battle, Kujin jumped back.

"Time to end this!" he called out to Link and the entire stadium.

He grasped the hilt of the Lavis Cannon with both hands, positioning it by his side. He then swung it upward with such force that a white wave of energy flew out of the beam with another deafening 'SWISH!'

The wave struck Link directly in the chest, and he flew backward almost 20 feet. He landed outside of the arena on his back, with a loud "ugh!"

"VICTORY FOR KUJIN!" echoed the loudspeaker voice as the crowd went wild.

Kujin walked over to Link and helped his friend up.

"All in the wrist, goodbuddy," he said with a smile.

"Next time you won't be so lucky. A few more levels and I'll wipe the floor with you...!" Link said weakly.

-Part Four-

Celisse and Aurrica had watched the match between Kujin and Link through a live video feed in the contestant's lobby. They had become pretty good friends for only having known each other for about an hour.

"That weapon of your friend's... where did he get it?" Celisse asked dryly.

"His dad gave it to him a long time ago."

"Right. Where did his father get it?"

"Kuj won't ever give us details. He just says that his dad found it after killing a huge monster in the ancient ruins on Ragol."

"Did Kujin's father share his name?"

"Yeah."

Celisse sat up a little in her chair and brushed her black hair out of her eyes with one hand. "Never mind. Forget I said anything."

A lot of the things Celisse said made Aurrica feel like she knew a little more than she was putting on. It didn't matter though; the young woman had turned out to be really interested in Aurrica's Sonic Knuckle, and they had gotten to talking. Now, an hour later, they were at least acquaintances.

"Well Aurrica, it looks like we're up after this next match. Have you ever fought in a tournament like this before?"

"Nope."

"It's a lot of fun... if you don't get killed, heh."

"Ha, I would imagine that's true... oh hey, who was that android lady standing next to you earlier?"

"Oh. That was my friend Kestrel."

"Oh," Aurrica responded, wanting to ask more questions, but realizing that if Celisse had wanted to give more answers she would have already. The video feed crackled and had instances of static when the two combatants in the ring's sabers clashed together.

"This TV is kind of crappy," Aurrica said.

"Better than being on the balcony with them looking like ants, though," Celisse replied with a smile.

"Yeah... I wish I could have watched Link and Kujin in person, though."

"I'm sure this isn't the last time they'll be fighting."

The two young women watched as one of the fighters in the ring finally ended the match by slicing her opponent's weapon in half with her Twin Brand. The crowd went crazy and the announcer voice declared, "VICTORY FOR LUNA!"

"Hey, time to go!" Aurrica said and jumped out of her chair.

"Yep. Don't expect me to go easy on you just because you're a friend now."

"Heh, likewise Ms. Celisse."

"Just Celisse. Or even Celly, if you like."

-Part Five-

The moment she had been waiting for had finally arrived. The glare of the stadium lights, the heart-stopping roar of the crowd, everything was how she had imagined it would be. She hadn't considered the possibility that she would have to fight a new friend, though.

Aurrica wasn't afraid of losing; she believed that the Sonic Knuckle would grant her all the strength and skill she needed to defeat Celisse... and if that failed, she wasn't completely helpless by herself, either.

"ROUND ONE, MATCH FIVE: AURRICA ROMANOV VERSUS CELISSE RUSSEAU. COMBATANTS TO YOUR CONRERS!"

"Ready for the fight of your life, Aurrica?"

Fight of my life...? Aurrica thought. Her mind raced back to the day five years ago in the forest when the Sil Dragon had felled her friends and almost taken her as well. No, not the fight of her life. This battle would perhaps be hard, but it wouldn't be anywhere close to the fight with the dragon.

"Let's make this a good one! The whole world is watching!" Aurrica called out, waving her arm in a semicircle toward the jeering crowd. As Aurrica raised her arm in Celisse's direction, the spikes on the fists of the Sonic Knuckle glinted in the bright sunlight. She fired off two quick punches and winked at Celisse.

"AURRICA DRAWS A SONIC KNUCKLE, A GLOVED WEAPON ONCE BELONGING TO A FAMOUS HERO FROM ANOTHER WORLD WHO USED HIS GREAT SPEED TO SAVE WOODLAND CREATURES TRAPPED IN ROBOT BODIES!" the announcer called out. The crowd cheered loudly at the sight of this legendary weapon... but not as hard as they did when Celisse drew hers.

"Heh... nice. But you see," Celisse said, drawing a small handgun from an ankle holster, "I'm a regular here. I've competed in this tournament many for many years, and the crowd doesn't expect to see me lose."

The sun, which was now beginning to set, cast an orange glow over the entire arena as Celisse held the gun up in the air with one hand.

"CELISSE DRAWS HER FAMED HEAVEN PUNISHER, A LEGENDARY HANDGUN WHOSE SPECIAL ATTACK, DIVINE PUNISHMENT, IS BASED ON THE FLOW OF TIME!" The crowd erupted at the sight of Celisse's trademark weapon.

Aurrica ran to Celisse at top speed. Or wait... was it top speed? Aurrica stopped about half-way across the arena floor with a look of confusion on her face.

"What's wrong?" Celisse asked.

"My speed...it's my speed! I'm not going fast!"

"What?"

"Whenever I need the power of the Sonic Knuckle, I move really super fast! Like... speed-of-sound fast!"

"Heh, maybe you don't need it now then."

Aurrica was stunned; only now did she realize that she didn't need the Sonic Knuckle's power. It was only awakened in times of extreme desperation, like the fight with the dragon. This was only a silly sporting event!

"No! That's... not fair!" Aurrica cried out in frustration.

"Arrogance and over-estimation of your own abilities are two of the biggest mistakes you can make in a fighting situation, Aurrica."

"I know! God damnit!" Aurrica shouted angrily.

"Well, might as well not drag this out. Goodnight, Aurrica," Celisse said and pulled the trigger of her weapon a single time. A warm electrical feeling surrounded Aurrica, and then she looked up just in time to see a huge purple beam of energy slice open the sky and land directly on her, knocking out of consciousness, and out of the match.

-Epilogue-

Aurrica awoke in a hospital-type place. She was laying in a bed with an IV in her arm... and Kujin and Link were standing by either side of her.

"Heh, you got your ass kicked by that girl!" Kujin said gleefully.

"Shut up! And look at you, your arm is in a sling!"

"Yeah, some android named Kestrel beat me up pretty good. But hey, I got further than you!"

"Yeah well, you didn't get shot by a Heaven Punisher, loser! The only thing you had to deal with was... Link!"

"Hey!" Link said, sounding surprised.

"Oh... sorry. But also, my Sonic Knuckle didn't work! I wasn't in a state of desperation," Aurrica said sadly.

"Heh, well... I guess the Sonic Knuckle means business... or something. Can't just play around with it whenever you want. Oh, and that Celisse person said to tell you that she's sorry, and hopes you get better soon."

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Chapter III - Revelations coming soon
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<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Aurra on 2003-06-16 14:42 ]</font>

[Nerd]

I really like this fanfic

funny stuff, i like the 'fear of pipe glitches' thing...reminds me of Galaxy Quest

[Kujin]

another great peice of work.

it's really good, you use a lot of inside jokes, and you present them very well that others can understand them as well.

yet again, keep up the great work... goodbuddy