Hades Cup First Round: Munnie vs. Rojo

Another tournament?  What a fantastic idea!  Rojo gloriously strut into the stadium after hearing of the upcoming Hades Cup.  It was another chance to prove his exceptional skills as a combatant.  This time it seemed as if the tournament would be single elimination, and they would be confined to a small tiled ring.  Rojo wasn't exactly sure how he felt about that.  Part of the reason he excelled so well during the Mistletoe Mayhem tournament was because of his excellent use of the surrounding buildings during the preliminary round. 

Be that as it may, he still entered without a moment of hesitation, because it was also a chance for him to find his fellow Warriors of Light.  He hadn't seen any of them since the crystal plucked him from his own world and sent him wandering from world to world.  Since the Christmas themed tourney, Rojo had laid low for awhile.  He found a nice world where the bars were stocked full and the maidens needed a certain Red Mage to occupy their deepest desires.  He rather liked the Planet, or so they called it, even if the technology utterly baffled him.

The time for the tournament had begun, and Rojo was paired against an odd looking cat-like creature.  It wasn't much to look at, but Rojo would gloriously triumph over the stuffed animal looking thing.

"Quiver in fear, young cat thing!  You've had the unfortunate luck to be placed against Rojo, the victor of the last tournament.  It was there that I fearlessly took on four others in the preliminary round, including a white gorilla, and two fighters weilding oversized keys.  I went on to bravely fight for my life against a wizard who stood at least one hundred feet tall!  I add that to my already impressive title of Conqueror of Chaos, Savior of Time Itself, and, most importantly, Slayer of Women's Hearts!"

Rojo drew his sword, and pointed directly at the cat-like warrior.

"En guarde!"

Rojo waited a moment before the rabbit-cat-thingy finally acknowledged his grand entrance. He, of course, saw the grand stature he presented himself in, by calling him incredibly strong looking.  Of course he was!  Rojo wholeheartedly believed he was the greatest thing since a baker in Provoka began slicing his own bread before selling it.

Now, the creature introduced himself as Munnie.  He looked to be a mage of sorts, so Rojo decided he would do well to stick to close quarters combat and some of his white magic buffing spells.  But, of course, he would also mix in a little of his black magic to really throw the moogle off.  Rojo was, however, taken aback when he stated he was distracted from his list of titles.

"Ah, shall I repeat them for you, then?  I am the Red Wizard of Light, Rojo-"

As he began to rattle them all off again, one person from the crowd, he really couldn't tell who, yelled "get on with it already!"

"Yes, and I shall!"

Rojo immediately dashed forward and slashed twice at the moogle with his golden blade before finishing the combination with a stabbing thrust.  He then kicked backwards and snapped chanted quietly for a spell.  As he did the ground below the moogle burst upward in a pillar of flame as Fira had been cast.  Inside the barrier of the arena, the heat immediately was felt throughout the entire inside of the tiled ring.

As the red mage landed, he cast another spell.  This time a screeching sound released itself from him.  He used the barrier to his advantage this time, and hoped the sound waves would echo even louder for his Confuse spell.  If successful, it would give him a tremendous opportunity to begin this round with a distinct advantage.  Rojo was not about to lose this tournament in the first round, after his stout victory in Christmas Town.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
1. Physical combo.
2. Jumped backwards, casting Fira
3. Cast Confuse

COOLDOWNS
Fira - 2 posts

DURATIONS
Confuse - 2 posts

Things were going Rojo's way it seemed.  The moogle had dodged the physical combo, but took the full brunt of his unexpected Fira spell.  After the damage was taken, the red mage was positive he'd seen the Moogle smile after the pain he'd felt.  This felt odd.  Rojo had fought plenty of foes, but none of them had smiled from the beatdowns he'd given them.  What kind of masochistic creature was this?

Then, the thing called him pathetic.  He obviously had no clue as to the real power Rojo possessed.  He had the power to correct the timeline and beat on Chaos himself.  Of course, he wasn't pathetic!  How dare he call him, THE RED WIZARD OF LIGHT, pathetic?!

"Surely those burns tell a different story cat-rabbit man!  Go play with a ball of yarn, you're out of your league! I left my catnip in my other cloak, so you'll have to find entertainment elsewhere."

The poofy topped rabbit then cast a spell, after a lengthy incantation, and Rojo felt his feet leave the ground.  Hmm, a spell that defies Gravity...interesting.  However, the crimson-clad mage had faced much stronger magic than this and conquered. The confusion effect seemed to succeed, as well, and the creature teleported himself into the air, only to fall to the ground.

"Hah!  You'll have to focus if a beginner mage like you stands a chance against the Red Wizard of Light!"

Rojo, still floating into the midair, cast his next spell.  He couldn't much charge in for another physical assault, so a magical one would have to suffice.  Starting from the source and moving outwards, the entire arena floor was encased in a field of jagged ice crystals.  Each one erupted, one by one, in rapid succession as they attempted to make the entire floor a hazard.  Then, as the last crystal of Blizzaga burst upward, they all shattered in a beautiful icy blue dust.

Rojo would take advantage of the situation, and fire another spell as the ice was still forming.  He locked onto the moogle's position and, instantly, a bolt of lightning made directly for the Moogle. A simple Thunder spell sure, but any damage was moving him further to advantage.

Now, Rojo would soon gracefully and be able to fight physically once again.  Until then, he could simply hang in hair and cast while he felt his body face slight gravity damage each moment he was in air.  At first, it wasn't so bad, but the longer he floated in the air, the more the toll the anti-gravity spell took on his body.  He would need a Cure spell soon.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
1. Cast Blizzaga
2. Cast Thunder

DURATIONS
Confuse - 1

COOLDOWNS
Fira - 1
Blizzaga - 3
Thunder - 1

In the first round of the Hades Cup Rojo was pitted against the pom-pom adorning cat-thing, Munnie.  So far, he'd done very well by keeping an aggressive approach.  The fiery pillar of his Fira and the icy shards of his Blizzaga had both found their mark, doing decent damage upon his opponent.  The only answer the moogle had for Rojo's attacks was an anti-gravity spell and to teleport himself in the wrong direction only to fall to the ground.  The latter was thanks to the confusion spell that had also found success.

Rojo was absolutely thrilled with the progress he'd been making, even if he had taken some damage from the Zero Graviga.  That was an odd spell, for sure, and one Rojo would have to learn in the future.  Unfortunately, he couldn't get the combo with his Thunder spell, but it allowed for the anti-gravity field to lift, thus giving the red mage a chance to finally move his feet under his own will.  Seeing the cat-rabbit-mage speed up his own movements, the warrior of light decided it was time to employ another of his tactics, or he'd be faced with a barrage of spells upon his self.

"Speed up all you like, you're still no match for the Red Wizard of Light!  Try the very combination that brought an end to the vile fiend of the wind, Tiamat!"

With that, Rojo charged towards the moogle in a dead sprint.  After a few steps, he instantly vanished from sight with the help of his Invis spell.  He then immediately changed directions by leaping toward the sky and cast another spell.  This time the ground beneath the moogle erupted into a spherical molten explosion.  Bits of tile and dirt bounced off the barrier under the might of Firaga.

The heat was immense, and Rojo could already feel the small beads of sweat popping up on his forhead, but this was no time to slow down.  He would end this fight quickly and thoroughly.  Now, he dashed forward once again, from a different angle than before, and proceeded to attempt a single strike with his fine fencing skills.  He would bring his blade upon the creature's midsection, and finish this fight before he took any serious damage.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1. Cast Invis
2. Cast Firaga
3. Attempted a physical strike across the midsection.

DURATIONS
Invis - 1
Confuse - 0

COOLDOWNS
Fira - Now usable
Thunder - Now usable
Blizzaga - 2
Firaga - 3
Confuse - 3

So far, so good.  Rojo had dealt more damage with the Firaga spell, but the creature instinctively moved out of the way before his invisible slash had met its mark.  What a shame.  The red wizard had hoped to finish the fight with that attack, but he still wasn't quite sure how the creature had done it.  One second it was there, waiting to be stricken with the golden blade of the crimson mage, and the next second he was a few feet higher into the air.

The mage sent a bubble of sorts somewhat into Rojo's direction, but, due to his invisibility, it wouldn't be hard to dodge.  He simply rotated his shoulder to adjust his direction in midair.  This allowed him to dodge the sphere entirely.

Before he had time to continue his invisible onslaught, the mage cast a spell and the sky seemed to violently rip open, and would soon be releasing a ball of molten rock to descend upon the entire arena.  Several small fireballs splashed down onto the ground below.  Rojo guessed he chose a spell that would target the entire arena because he couldn't be seen. Well, the air was the last place this mage wanted to be when a catastrophic meteor decided to play tag with his face. 


Now facing a real down to earth experience, Rojo landed back on his feet.  Using his obviously superior intellect (the same intellect that allowed him to outwit Lich, mind you), he would play into psychological warfare a little, and make him feel his attempts at damage would be useless.

"HA!  You think a mediocre spell like that could harm the savior of the very timeline!  Think twice!  I've felt worse burns after that pirate I met in Pravoka!"

Rojo immediately unleashed a barrage of massive lightning bolts upon the arena.  They seemed to litter the entire battlefield with the magnitude of Thundaga.  Each one of these bolts was stronger than a standard Thunder spell, and he was certain at least a few of them would find their target, given the sheer number of bolts in the tiny arena.

The crowd was certainly in the flamboyant mage's corner.  They always seemed to like the flashy style of a caster-type fighter.  He was pretty sure he heard them chanting his name as the red mage jumped high into the air.  This time he would try to take his blade and perform a rising vertical slash through his opponent while he was busy attempting to dodge the various streaks of electricity that were lighting up the arena.  One thing was certain, the moogle could only play defense for so long before he would break, and Rojo was determined not to give him time to plan an offensive.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
1. Dodges
2. Cast Thundaga
3. Attempt a vertical strike

DURATIONS
Invis - 0

COOLDOWNS
Blizzaga - 1
Firaga - 2
Confuse - 2
Thundaga - 3
Invis - 2

It was a race against time.  Would the crimson mage, Rojo, finish off the time mage, Munnie, or would the moogle pull off Meteor and change the tide of the battle.  Rojo was certain he did not want to have a one night stand with a giant hunk of burning rock, so he would finish this battle in the most epic way possible. 


That's right, he'd practiced this finish a multitude of times with Alwyn over the years.  It was something that crowd would go absolutely bonkers for.  Rojo fell back to the ground from his rising slash, and, as he did, he cast the first spell of this combination.  With that, a blue aura overtook him.  His breathing increased, as well as his movements.  Haste would give him the speed to land the final strike.

Then he kicked off the arena floor, with an overlapping white aura.  This immediately bulked up his muscles, as if he had suddenly spent six months bodybuilding.  The extra strength gave plenty of height, way more than he even needed.  He instantly soared above the moogle's head.  The crowd reacted with instant cheers, seeing what he was going for.  Temper gave him the added strength to make this blow the finish of the match.

"You've done well to last this long, but you're no match for the man who out dueled Marilith in a six on one sword battle!"

The red wizard drew his blade, hopefully for the final strike.  Using his added speed, with gravity's added force, He attempted a series of three powerful slashes in rapid succession as he fell past the moogle's level.  This physical combo would be harder to evade with the speed of his Haste spell, and it would have an added power from his Temper spell.  Surely, this one send him to the next round to fight whatever foe deemed himself worthy of the Red Wizard's might.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
1. Cast Haste
2. Cast Temper
3. Attempted a physical combo on Munnie

DURATIONS
Haste - 2
Temper - 2

COOLDOWNS
Blizzaga - Now usable
Firaga - 1
Confuse - 1
Invis - 1
Thundaga - 2