Colosseum - Round 1, Group A - Jak Mar vs Dante

[Storyteller]

Jak Mar, or 'The Dynamite Kid,' as those who had watched his Dante's Abyss performance called him in their internet circles, glanced at the weapons that lie beneath the giant flag. If he had a gun and high-grade explosives, why the heck would he bother with axes and crossbows? With a shrug, he turned and squinted, trying to see who he was going to fight.

On the other end of the battlefield was Dante, who shrugged at the sight of the Deserters colors hanging on the cement wall behind him. Up above them, a packed crowd cheered, waiting for the signal that would commence the 'festivities.'

Someone gestured for silence, and just like that, there wasn't a sound in the building as Victor von Magnus walked onto the small platform near the center of the massive structure. With a smile, he picked up the padded hammer and smashed it into the gong, signalling the fights to commence.

Judge – Trixie

Jak Mar posts first, and he may do so anytime after 6 pm CDT/7 PM EDT.

Description of fight area and other information can be found here - <!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://omniverse-rpg.com/viewtopic.php?f=28&p=44961#p44950">viewtopic.php?f=28&p=44961#p44950</a><!-- l -->

Please refer any questions to that thread.

Word Limit: 750
Posts: 3
Time Limit: 48 hours
SP use is enabled. SP does not regenerate between rounds. Injuries may occur. Neither injuries nor SP use are factored into judgment, only the quality of writing.

[Jak Mar]

Ah, the accustomed hatred of the arena. The familiar, but sickening smell of sand of blood blended with the smell from the "fans" close up. The fans who saw him draw first blood. The man who he was hardly stood up to the monster people wanted him to be in the colosseum. Hatred was the first thing you could see in Jak's eyes if you looked close. Jak didn't want to feel it, but it was necessary to survive. He gritted his teeth as the screaming from the crowd made it clear that they wanted blood. Jak forced himself to get rid of the "no kill" rule he held over time.


Jak stared down his opponent. The man across the trench from him wore a blood-red coat. The man's white hair blew in an dramatic wind. The strange man held his arge sword out at Jak in a calm expression. This man appeared to be no pushover, either. The screams of each side was drowning out the gong ringing "RIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNG" A hint of guilt hit him in the back of his head. He made the first move. Jak eyed the sword, and would use the time to summon his Peacemaker. The saying here was "Gun beats sword in a fight". It was time to prove that theory. Jak rushed toward one of the rock like structures, hearing the swish of the white- haired man coming at him. Jak would stay back and let his Peacemaker do the talking.

Jak used Peacemaker
1 SP Used/ 1/10 Shots used

Jak's history on the Kingdom wasn't that good, but he'd do his own rendition of the "scene" placed in front of him. Jak had very sensitive hearing so he could hear from a distance. Jak, instead would play the role of Wasteland King, Damus's son, Mar.

He assumed that this guy in front of him wasn't going to wait long to start attacking the blondish green haired man.

His assumptions were right. The taller man rushed at Jak and jumped OVER the trench and ran at Jak.

"Rebel scum..." "How dare you attack "King" Mar?"

The crowd on the kingdom side, filled to the brim with "Kid Dynamite Shirt" men, women and kids were sitting and watching thinking they were "Old school". One superfan went as far as to jump on a Dante supporter and beat them up.

Just as Jak said it, a fiery flash of Dark eco blasted out of the gun ahead of him and it headed toward the "Son of Spada. " The blast would follow its target until they hit the man in question and Jak knew it.

That's why the Peacemaker in general was so dangerous.

After the nasty ball of purple hit Dante, a boom hit the white-haired man and it appeared to leave a mark ... in the man's clothing. There was a hole ripped through the man's coat and Dante felt a small burn from where Jak's peacemaker ball had hit him on the side.

"Aw man! My favorite coat! I really liked that coat too... Be prepared stranger, I'm far from finished with you. "

Jak nodded, he wasn't about to let himself get cocky now of all times. He just had to watch the sword from slamming on the ground right and swinging at him. He had to put some distance between him and the other man. The deserter was serious and wasn't going to take any shit from "King" Jak. The daring rebel would have other plans and once again had rushed at Jak. Jak would keep bouncing back until he was near the crossbow. He had a idea.

"What's your name, rebel?" "I don't think I've...never met you in the Omniverse before..."

Jak would wait and keep peppering the white-haired man as he got closer. He knew he had to get that large sword out of this man's hand before it caused considerable damage to Jak. He placed his Peacemaker strapped on his back, and ran toward the crossbow.

This was a new tool for the modern hero. But Arrows could work from a distance, and so could eco. Perhaps he could combine the two.

The crossbow was dangerous, but Jak would need some time he didn't have. He stood with the crossbow in his hand and looked at the man going at him and aimed, hoping to Omni and/or precursors that the arrow would hit.

Jak used "Peacemaker", shots used 1/10

[Simon]

Apparently, the Colosseum was a really popular thing to behold, according to the roaring and blathering of the bloodthirsty spectators. Dante himself could relate somewhat, considering his fighting style was in itself usually about two steps away from spectacular gladiatorial combat. The half-devil honestly hadn't come here to have fun, but if the crowd wanted a show, then who would he be to deny them that?

His opponent, meanwhile, was something else entirely - spiked green hair, pointed conch-like ears, and a stout, grisly face. That man was definitely here to fight, and the crowd behind him recognized that, if their hyena yells were any indication. He carried himself tall and hefty, ready to face down Dante, who himself instead relished in the thought that this first opponent would be someone who could possibly hold their own against him. Even then, who knew what tricks either man had up their sleeves?

Cloth padding on brass made the sound of engagement, and the two combatants kicked off.

A grand fissure separated the two fighters, but in the interest of not making this a shooting gallery, the devil hunter put forth a different idea: He slowed down, bending his knees to brace himself, and jumped with such incredible flourish over the earthen scar that divided the battlefield. A maneuver so impossibly daring earned a few hollers from the many astounded among the crowd.

The cone-eared combatant stepped out from behind his gray barrier, brandishing a large firearm to the blood cries of his supporters. Yet it was too apparent Dante would not be fazed - even as his opponent cried out some bullcrap about him being 'rebel scum' and 'attacking "King" Mar' - even as the firearm let loose a pulse of sinister flames that sought Dante's mark. The Son of Sparda didn't care what titles this man held, only what feats he could accomplish.

Moments later, when Dante stood none the worse for wear besides his clothes, his opponent acknowledged that - then immediately began to shuffle back.

So engaged the game of "keep away," as in, "keep myself away from the furious sword-swinging guy." To Dante, it only knocked the man's reputation down a few notches. How fitting that this man called himself a "King," if he couldn't even bring himself to fight up close and instead preserve his distance. Rather than pursue, the red-coat instead followed complacently, allowing Jak to make his next move: pulling a crossbow off the wall and attempting to charge it with the same dark energy as his firearm.

"What's your name, rebel?" The opponent probed at Dante, clearly stalling for time but undeniably curious. The question was met with a loud, judgmental hum from the devil hunter. He lifted Rebellion, inspecting his weapon as if it was suddenly foreign to him. Then, as Jak took aim, Dante suddenly pointed his sword forward and burst through the air with unexpected speed.

The cone-eared fighter only got his one shot off before he was forced to roll aside, Rebellion's wake of air whipping him in the face as he righted himself. That left Dante very vigorously stabbing the solid stone perimiter, with the addition of a bolt firmly lodged in his right shoulder. With almost casual frustration, the Son of Sparda yanked his blade free, turning to Jak. In a single pained wrench, the half-devil grabbed and snapped off the wooden shaft with little more expression than a grunt.

"Depends," Dante finally responded to the question, "Which name do you want?" Jak furiously set about winding up the crossbow for another shot, stepping back cautiously. As he opened his mouth to reply, Dante firmly interjected, "No, I have a better question. What would it take for me to see your real power? Your, full potential, say?"

The elfin-looking man had to pause to really absorb that sentence. Having clearly caught his attention, Dante began to pace forward again. Still believing he was in some sort of Shakespearean, Jak barked back, "You won't mock me, you dirty rebel! What makes you think you've any right to see my 'true power'?"

A bare hint of a smirk lit up Dante's cheekbones, and the Son of Sparda calmly sheathed his sword behind his back. "Two things," the red-coat answered, and clarified by drawing Ebony and Ivory. Jak's eyes bulged into tea-saucers and he scrambled backward, away from Dante's encroaching hail of gunfire. Without a fully loaded weapon, the "King" was forced to seriously run away to avoid being turned to bloody swiss cheese.

Wordcounter.net: 750 words, 4450 characters

[Jak Mar]

As he frowned, the rebel began to spit out mocking words, one that he wasn’t a “King” and two that he “was holding back”. Jak turned to Dante and frowned “I might not be who you think I am, pal.” The eco warrior felt his anger growing and the crowd gasped, some knew what Jak’s secret was but wasn’t willing to reveal it.

“Honestly, if you wanted a fair fight, I’d BE HAPPY TO OBLIGE! “

Dante seemed to be lifting a strange sword with a gruesome display of a ribcage and a skull on the sword and this didn’t… seem to unnerve Jak at all, instead it motivated Jak. However once the white-haired man lifted the strange sword, Jak carefully watched the man’s move which was observing what he was about to do. He’d have to match this man’s movement back and forth to keep up. Jak locked onto the man and allowed the ball to charge until it was maximum size. As soon as it was locked on the target and charged, Jak lifted the weapon up and the peacemaker ball went right by the white haired Demon hunter but the dark ball made a even-sized burn on the man’s skin on the side for what seemed like a short time. The man stopped to feel the burn for a second, giving Jak the time he needed to grab a crossbow from his side of the arena. As Jak began to pick up his new crossbow, he aimed it and a quick “Snap” sound occurred. A snap into flesh into the opponent across from him and the first blood was spilled on the arena. The crowd started to cheer just a bit but Jak wasn’t listening for the crowd approval. He watched the man not feeling ANY pain from his arrow hitting his shoulder and he just reacted like it was just another attack. Jak shook his head and frowned. This didn’t look good so far the way things were looking. But things changed as Dante pulled out two weapons, big pistols as he didn’t even wait for Jak to aim again, before his pistols started to fire at once. Jak pushed himself toward the ground and rolled toward the nearest barrier.

Jak bent down and concentrated once again, and bent down behind the barrier. As Dante’s guns were blazing, Jak once again loaded his Peacemaker, taking it off his back and carefully aiming it this time. Jak could hear the weapon having to be reloaded and he took the time to lock on to Dante again and fired straight onto Dante’s hand. He had a plan now. He wouldn’t reveal it though, as Dante tried to recoil from the pain of dropping one of his weapons, Jak could do it now.

Jak appeared to be just crouching down and staring at nothing but there was something happening.

Jak used Tier 1 Offensive Power up (Dark Jak) 1/2 sp used

Jak held his head, and felt horrible for things. But things were not as they seem. "The King's not FINISHED YET"

A growl came from Jak's mouth and Jak was no longer himself, as Jak became brutal and angry as his eyes turned pure black and his hair was piercing white. Black demon horns jutted out of Jak's head and large black claws grew out of Jak's fingers, turning him into the horrifying, alternative form of Jak. There was loud cheering from Jak's side and a awkward silence from Dante's side as the beast was on all fours, things had changed as Dark Jak's speed had made him a lot faster, as his attacks would be a bit more dangerous than before.

... ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOAR!!!! cried Dark Jak in a loud, echoing scream. The beast smelled of dark eco and blood. But this beast wouldn't stop now, once he smelled blood and tasted blood, he wouldn't stop until he quenched his bloodlust appetite.

There was a gasp from the crowd as Commander Torn couldn't help but stare at the Dark creature. He had never knew Jak was the dark creature that the Baron had experimented on. The one creature that could be extremely dangerous to anyone if he had been let loose. But Jak knew how to control the beast and the beast would be able to be used to Jak's advantage. The beast rushed at Dante, and disappeared.
[quote]
731 words 3899 characters[quote]

[Simon]

One moment, Dante had let up on his peppering Jak's cover wall to taunt him again, and next, a bolt of energy had gone and blasted Ivory out of his grasp. Biting back the pain of yet another wound to his collection so far, the nephilim wasted little time in rolling back over to collect his missing pistol. He would still be at distance, yes, but that seemed to give the armed devil hunter some advantage yet, provided all of his guns remained on hand.

As Dante stood up once more and trained both firearms on the grey barrier, the "King's" voice could be heard crying out- apparently, he wasn't finished yet. "Well, good for you," the half-devil shot back, the implication of sarcasm lining his comment.

Then some feral battle cry rang out and a demon leaped out from behind the wall, complete with vicious horns and claws. It took the barest glance at Dante, large nostrils flaring, then roared again and charged right for him. The devil hunter took aim once more, and then the beast within disappeared. Dante sighed, letting his aim fall limp and his curt expression turn into grim exasperation. This was going to be fun.

Over a hundred pounds of dark-fueled fury crashed into Dante, sending both of them into the barrier of their arena. Wicked claws dug into the man's gut, pinning him to the wall with gargling gasps from the victim. Not to be put down so quickly, the half-devil summoned his own strength and smashed the slam-pads of his pistols into both sides of the corrupt Jak's head, where the temples would hopefully be. Still nailed to the wall, Dante tucked in his legs and kicked out to push the figure off of him.

A demon, huh? The devil hunter hadn't much to say about that besides the fact that he wasn't expecting it; although realistically, he probably should've gotten the hints. Dark energy, warped appearance, unchanging determination - it all added up. Then again, Dante wouldn't be calling himself a devil hunter if he had no experience with these kinds of foes.

Dante would repay him in kind, surely enough.

He began by letting loose another hail of bullets, whittling down Jak piece by eco-dripping piece. Naturally, the demon was quick to bolt off, trying to loop around Dante's gunfire, and that's where the demon killer sprung his next trap. Letting up for a moment, Dante allowed the beast to engage his next charge, wherein he quickly countered with another dashing stab.

The sudden counter-attack left the dark-infused Jak unable to shrug out of his rush, and he ate Rebellion's blow head-on this time. His body was sent tumbling back, head over heels and wailing in pain, coming to a flop a few meters away. Growling in anger, the demonic beast dug his claws into the ground and forced himself up, rapidly enough to witness Dante's running approach. He was furious at the man's apparent tenacity, to suffer such dreadful wounds and dismiss them so easily.

Sword met claw as Jak attempted to parry, the horizontal cut skimming off his horns rather than his neck. The demon would quickly riposte, a slash at the hunter's retreating arm shredding off ribbon of red. Dante attempted to follow up, but the beast was too fast to exploit. Spiking Dante with a kick that sent him into the air, Jak leaped up and followed with several pummeling kicks. With a vicious overhead swipe, he finished and spiked Dante into the ground.

The fiend landed, collapsing to all fours. He observed the face-down limp body, crimson blood staining the red coat further. At some point, Dark Jak once more became aware of the whooping, hollering fans around him. He vaguely calmed himself - it was over, he had won. With stern victory on his face, Jak turned to face the audience who so desperately fawned over him...

Someone screamed, and crowd's disposition seemed to radically change before his eyes. The demon turned away- and found himself greeting the barrel of another firearm. A cloud of buckshot exploded from Terminator, and Jak was sent flying, dark eco trailing off of him in black wisps as his surge of power expired.

Many moments later, both men returned to their feet shakily, bloody and panting, hands clasping at their respective guns. "Now then... are you just about done?" The white-haired man seethed.

"You will not-" the green-haired man hissed back, "-kill me so easily!"

"Right back at you, punk."

Wordcounter.net: 750 words, 4314 characters

[Jak Mar]

The angered, heroic man had distinctively remembered being in his dark side not too long ago. He could smell the sand with congealed blood from him and his competition's injuries. His demon form was no side to be messed with and he had proved it. But this was a fight, and both were here to kill each other. Jak’s beast form had ripped several cuts along Dante's body, and the man was literally bleeding from what the cuts and scars he had. From the outside, Jak's clothing was starting to get tattered and the long-eared man had started to get worn out. But as the Dark creature went for the finishing blow to the devil hunter, the taller man suddenly popped up, causing a gun to appear in evil Jak's face and with a "CRACK", Dark Jak went flying. The form of dark jak had faded, and Jak found himself in the hot sand.

Blood was on Jak's hands and the crowd loved it. He had wished the demon hunter would've just stayed down so that he wouldn’t have to kill the man in cold blood. Jak gritted his teeth and remembered this was a fight, and if he had to go down, he’d take the demon hunter with him. The white haired man stood across from the hero and both were equally sweating and growling at each other. “you won’t kill- me so easy” was the words that slipped out of jak’s mouth while his opposition had spit out he was a punk, which he could live with.

As the dark eco faded from himself, Jak forced himself up and bit a piece of his shirt off his bloodstained tunic and attached whatever he could to stop the bleeding.

He was annoyed that this man kept pushing himself up, no matter what. It was a pain in the ass in fact. Jak could feel bullet wounds, and the distinct feel of buckshot in his upper body and it hurt but he couldn't imagine what the Devil hunter's hurt was like right now.

Dante crawled toward his gun again, but Jak rolled over backward to grab his gun first and loaded it giving the peacemaker time to charge. while Dante was too busy taunting the rebel hero in question. The crowds was in tension as both jak and Dante were staring at each other. Only one would or could win this, and Jak wanted to survive!

Taunting? Is this the only surprise Dante could offer him? Without Daxter here it was pointless to taunt an opponent. The distraction had given jak more than enough time to finish charging up his peacemaker as he bent down. He had to aim carefully or risk The Son of Sparda moving at the wrong time.

Jak used Peacemaker- 2/10 shots

Jak found out something, he could use sand to his advantage as well. Dante noticed him a little too late and Jak used this advantage to kick sand in the air at Dante's eyes, distracting him at the same time.

While Dante struggled to rub the sand from his eyes, Jak's attack was in place and Jak let go of the trigger. The peacemaker ball moved straight toward the devil hunter making a distinct crackling sound.


The ball pushed the bloodied devil hunter back, and Jak took a big risk. His speed was decreased and his attack was down, but he wouldn’t let Dante's mocking and taunting drag him down. Instead, he'd use it as pure motivation.

Dante worked close up, so Jak couldn't get a move in from close up, but jak could keep dante busy on his own terms with a surprise of his own.

Jak skillfully made it back to the nearest cover and once again summoned another one of his guns. This time, a grayish gun with a shiny metal and a yellow mod on top appeared in jak's hands. The sweaty hero, with his clothing and scarf tattered, would get the crowd roaring again.

jak used "Blaster" 5 shots used 295/300 shots left

Jak had to pass his "code of morals". That pesky thing that avoided heroes from utterly destroying their opponents and not feel guilty about it. Jak bent down and shot three times at Dante's hand and ducked down behind another barrier, playing "hide and shoot"

"How does it feel like to be taken... Down by a punk?"

Not very good, in fact.

742 words 3966 characters

for Final Post for Jak.

[Simon]

Stabbed, slashed, maimed, bruised and scorched, Dante's many wounds bloodied themselves easily. Rubbing the last grains of sand from his eyes with an unstained portion of his shot hand, Dante gave an almost devilish smile, that same grim determination upon his brow. Taking a bite out of his physical agony, he rushed forward again, his thrashed tailcoat whipping behind him like the king's scarf.

How could anyone push aside their wounds to fight like this? Did he have any regard for his well-being? What could drive a man to go so far?

The hunter's right hand grabbed and drew the greatsword Rebellion, joining Dante's left-hand grip on Terminator. From the shield of the stone barrier, Jak slung several more blaster shots at Dante to falter his approach. It could only be temporary, as the spry nephilim wove himself ever closer with his acrobatic twists and moves. Terminator let loose another blast of buckshot into the side of the kid hero's cover, and he was forced to fall back.

Furiously, Jak toiled with the next weapon in his arsenal, determined to re-enact his opponent's turning of the tables. Quick bootsteps plodded closer to his position, then stopped- but the Abyss's hero couldn't hear that over the rampart of his audience, cheering him on. Thus was his surprise when Dante came careening over the wall, spinning his shotgun into a firing point with a hearty click. Jak barely had time to dive from the hail of pellets that rained down on where he was, the explosion of gunpowder accompanied by a joyous whooping from Dante.

"What's so funny?" The 'dynamite kid' yelled, regaining a square stance and pulling the trigger on his Vulcan. An intense parade of bullets filled the area where Dante landed, forcing him to dodge and weave yet still adding more holes to him and his coat. A cartwheel, a backflip, a spinning jump - and then the red-coat and his sharp grin were upon Jak again, right arm poised for a swing.

In a desperate defensive measure, the machine gun met the slash of Dante's blade crosswise, the clash forcing them both back on stumbling feet. Jak himself barely managed to stay up, but the other figure's strain seemed to buckle upon himself, forcing him to one knee. The devil hunter couldn't restrain another chuckle, "Don't tell me you're not having fun!"

The cone ears pointed back a bit as Jak grimaced, almost offended. "I didn't come here to have fun, rebel," he barked back, aiming the Vulcan at Dante's head. Calmly, yet besieged by his own wounds, the stumbling half-devil hoisted himself back to his feet - but his opponent didn't fire.

"Neither did I," the nephilim admitted, letting out another hearty cough, "Doesn't it feel good, though?" With a bit of slow effort, Dante clipped Terminator back behind his belt, then lifted his head to face Jak with azure eyes. "To let loose, to fight someone as strong as you are, without the worry you're going too far?"

Jak blinked, and you could practically see him turning the question over. For a moment, all was still bar the competetors' minds - until the fans started rooting against the inactivity. The hero pulled the trigger again, but his foe was quicker, using a burst of speed to swing at the firearm, whacking it out of Jak's hands. Falling back, the green-haired fighter reached for his blaster, only to find himself stopped by Dante's voice again.

"Hey - come on, just you and me," he hailed, his sword arm wrenching itself up to sheath that weapon as well. "No more tricks or weapons. Only man," Dante turned his scarred hand to Jak, pointing in reference, "-to man."

Another moment of hesitation, then finally, the dynamite kid pushed the handgun back into it's holster. "Fine," he complied, mashing a fist into his open palm, "If that's how you want to go down."

A burst of air left Dante's nose in a silent laugh. "As long as we keep things interesting? Death is cheap." With that, his hand flipped to beckon his opponent. Jak kicked off to engage, and Dante followed suit, both raising their blood-stained fists and crying out - the fight for the finish beginning with the expectant sirens of the crowd.

Wordcounter.net: 709 words, 4103 characters.
IT'S THE FINAL COUNTDOWN

[Simon]

Just gonna turn time forward a bit to end this quick, don't mind me.

As the cheers finally began to die down, the other matches drawing to their respective conclusions, only Dante remained standing in his battle. The green-haired eco warrior was caught kneeling, sporting a profile spattered with blue bruises and red splotched of blood (not all his own, even). He attempted to get up one more time, pressing both hands to his raised knee in hopes of getting the proper leverage; the effort was quickly shut down with a round kick, Dante's ankle meeting Jak's shoulder harshly.

The elfin-looking man was barreled to the ground again, rolling and crumpling into a pile with the dust of the beaten earth clouding him. Dante shook out his reddened knuckles, failing to disperse the profuse stinging sensation of open wounds upon them. Jak, however, couldn't get up, his stamina failing him despite how hard he seemed to try.

"I think you've had enough-" the nephilim croaked up, then cleared his throat painfully. Swallowing a hunk of his own spit and blood help to wet his throat, but not his burning airway. With a bit more clarity this time, he continued, "Just give it up. I don't want to have to kill you."

Jak forced himself to look up, folding himself onto his side to at least view more than Dante's boots. It was almost strange, now, hearing the red-coat speak with such serious overtones. Perhaps that's what made the nephilim's words seem so much more genuine, that he broke his devil-may-care character to say them. The act resonated with Jak in a way, loathe as he was to admit it. He didn't want to die, and he didn't want to kill, either. Yet, the crowd would not be so compliant, he figured.

Finally reclaiming enough composure to speak a full sentence, the eco warrior cashed in on his patience and replied, skeptically, "I though you said death was cheap."

"Doesn't make it any more right," Dante promptly responded, took a breath, and responded again, "Or any less painful." Through clenched teeth, Jak let out a breath in some form of complacence.

"Just- make it quick..."

The "dynamite kid" squeezed his eyes closed, expectant to have his title and his life taken way in one fell swoop. Moments passed, turning into long seconds. The dull roar of the crowd erupted into a different tone, and some point later Jak realized it was the same disapproval of their inactivity. He dared to crack an eye open, and saw a half-gloved, bloodied hand reaching out for his own.

Silently, against his other judgements, Jak complied. Their crimson life pooled between their grip, and Dante said, "You did good, really. No hard feelings." The clasp of their hands tightened for a moment, shaking in both exhaustion and sportsmanship, and then it fell loose.

Finally feeling it was over, Jak willingly let unconsciousness claim him. The crowd burst out again, but the only one awake in their battle was Dante, and he was tuning them out. So began his painful plod toward the nearest portal out of the arena, which happened to be the side of the Kingdom. The gate opened, medics rushing out to reclaim both fighters and rush them to the infirmary.

"Good fight."