High Stakes

The Cheering of a crowd could be heard from far away. It was the first time in five hundred years that the Fighting Arena had been granted permission to re-open, and all the work that had been done on it allowed for more spectators to watch the savage fights that occurred. The announcer stepped out on to the field and the crowd came to a stand-still. It had been kept a secret as to who would be in the main event fight and even though the chariot races and animal fights had kept the crowd entertained, it was the one-on-one fight that had the most hype built around it.

“Ladies and gentlemen. It is time for the main event match of tonight! The winner of this fight will be deemed the most powerful man in the whole kingdom. Many secret qualifying matches have been held to determine who will be fighting in tonight’s match.”

The announcer paused as the roar of the crowd drowned him out. He signified to the crowd to hush, and they obeyed his every command.

“Without any further interruptions, let us introduce our two competitors.”

The doors on each end of the field opened up and out of each door came a silhouette.

“Our first combatant hails from the Dark Forest Asylum, where he was incarcerated for many years due to his instability. Though nobody knows if it’s just an elaborate act, or if he is actually insane. I introduce to you, Cyrus Lumen! He also goes by the names of Arxi Luxus and The King of Casinos!” Bellowed the Announcer as both a mighty cheer and loud Boos came from the crowd.

Out stepped a young man in a white suit, holding a cane and a pack of cards in the other. One noticeable thing about him was his uncontrollable twitching and constant muttering to himself.

"Yes, hear them Cheer for us Cyrus! Listen to the unworthy scum, praising us! hehehehe. There is also a lot of people booing us Arxi. It just makes me ANGRY at the stupidity of these FOOLS!" Muttered Cyrus as he violently grabbed hold of his hair, laughing hysterically.

After Cyrus’ little breakdown, he threw his cards in the air, watching as they started to spread out and fall. He raised his arm and from it came a burst of red light in the shape of a clock face. The cards froze in mid-air, refusing to obey the laws of gravity as if time had been frozen. Cyrus waved his arm and the cards returned to his hand. Amused wit his own little trick, Cyrus burst out with an uncontrollable laugh.

“And on the other side, the only other person strong enough to make it through the qualifying rounds, Cyrus’ challenger for tonight…”

The announcer broke away as again a huge roar and loud boos started for the still unannounced combatant.

(https://ffdiscussion.forumotion.com/role-playing-headquarters-f10/hall-of-records-t26-40.htm character profile, just in case reference of sorts is needed)

Cliimbing out of the entrance was a men literally of steel. His arms, legs and all visible skin all mechanical, the only thing that made him assuringly human was his face. Clad in nothing but a red jacket, blue jeans and a white shirt, he strode out waving to the crowds with a maniacal look on his. The crowd began to gasp and jeer suddenly. He was waving, but with an arm that was not his own.

Quickly regaining his composure, the announcer began his introduction, slightly stuttering as he shouted

"A-anyway, on the other side, we have the infamous Mad Doc coming from his lab in the sky, Albas Larithos, carrying the arm of his previous combatant. You all know him, his sadistic impulses and his strange but useful inventions. Here he is today and having brought us some of the more bloody and gore filled matches since we reopened."

Waving with the arm for awhile longer despite the jeers and profanities thrown at him, he then proceeded to throw it into the crowd with a hysterical laugh before turning to face his opponent.
"You, they say you're insane huh, let me see if that's really true. Come on, I'll dissect your brain and see what's going on in there, but after we've has our duel, I need to collect information on the supposed strongest alive after all, let the experiment begin!"he laughed as he reached for his faithful bonesaw, pointing it at his opponent as if he held a sword. His arms hissed as steam began to pour forth, getting his arms cooler for the upcoming better

"Looks like with got a madman on one side and an unstable sadist on the other, oh the state of the world now truely is worrying isn't it folks," yelled the announcer as he looked at the combatants at both sides of the field

"C'mon, C'MON! What'll it be? Place your bet! hehhehe. I place mine, exactly what you see in front of you. If you win, hehehehahahaha!" Screamed Cyrus as he spread his arms out, as if playing chicken with the mad doctor.

Cyrus danced on the spot, as if to taunt his opponent, but it was just a problem he had with not being able to keep still. He continued to scream out “Hit me!” while leaving himself wide-open to Albas’ weapon. The ground beneath Cyrus faintly glowed red with the image of a clock face ticking, but the image was too feint for the audiences in the back rows to see.

The audience were starting to boo at the lack of action that was promised, yet there were those who were laughing at Cyrus and his crazy act.

“SHUT UP YOU MAGGOTS! I’LL CRUSH YOU ALL IF YOU DO NOT SHUT UP!” Screamed Cyrus, becoming momentarily distracted.

Raising an eyebrow, Albas stared at his opponent's misconduct in wonder

"My database doesn't show anything of what could cause this behavior. Looks like an update is in order."

Looking toward the small magic level detector at the corner of his visual display which replaced his eyes that had failed years ago, he noted that levels were within ordinary levels for such a arena. Dismissing thoughts of any magic in motion but still being too paranoid to get close, he sighed as he dropped his bonesaw to the floor and reached for his back.

With a little pulling and tugging, he pulled out an unidentified gun with a bonesaw insignia on it and took aim

"With technology nowadays, I'm surprised you people still put your hopes on swords and clubs like cavemen... petty humans," he sighed as he began to open fire with the automatic rifle, ignoring the screams from the crowd as the hail of bullets sprayed in a wide area, some of which were going totally off course

Cyrus had barely turned around when the first spray of bullets hit him. The force pushed him back, spinning him around in the process. The second round of bullets crashed into Cyrus as if he were made of rubber. The spray hit him hard enough to throw him to the grown, landing on his back. The crowd became silent, looking on in anticipation and amazement at the site of Cyrus’s sudden defeat. The look on Cyrus’ face was one of complete calmness, an almost gentle smile stayed on his face. There was no blood pouring out of Cyrus, yet he still looked like he was visited by the reaper.

The clock image on the ground was still there, but the hand on the clock was now rotating very slowly. The officials were unsure as to wether to call it an end to the match, or if it were the devil pulling strings.

Albas tilted his head to the side as he halted the gunfire. Keeping the gun pointed at Cyrus, he began to contemplate the meaning behind what was happening. Looking toward the confused crowd and sensing nothing, he quickly turned back to his opponent and began to scan the battlefield.

From his angle, he could barely see it but something was definitely moving along the ground. Holding the gun by the hip in his left arm, he picked up the bonesaw with his right hand.

Putting himself in a position to strike with the bonesaw, he began to fire at Cyrus in bursts simultaneously, unwilling to yield till the judges would so ask him to do so.

"Left eye, recon ops, code5679, DETACH NOW!"He hissed and with that, his left eye fell from it's hole, much to the shock of the crowd as it began to make it's way to the clock.

As Albas’ eye got close to the clock, it started to shine and as it happened, Cyrus sprang up and grabbed the eyeball.

“Hehehehe, what’s this!? Eye see you doctor! Hehehe!” Giggled Cyrus, holding Albas’ eye above his head.

As quick as he had ‘come back to life’ Cyrus hit the eyeball back to Albas with his cane. Cyrus then opened up his coat, revealing that he had been wearing a bullet-proof vest.

“Thanks for the help doctor. Your own invention is what helped me pull off that stunt, hehe.” exclaimed Cyrus as he pointed to Albas’ company logo.

"Let the games begin!" growled Cyrus, as he started to charge towards Albas.

"Tch, now that wasn't within my calculations, but it's still an acceptable mistake. Hahaha, either way thanks for your patronage. It does my heart good to see my items being used. But that dosen't mean they are 100% perfect, stuff I put on sale never are"he cackled,"Left eye, prepare assault form, code 5670, attack,"

With that the left eye began to fire tiny single laser beams at Cyrus as Albas used the time to recalculate his movements and sheath the bonesaw. Reaching into his side pocket, he removed a different ammo magazine which he slammed into the side of the gun instead of the bottom as if extending it.

"Let's go with these. Hellfire ammunition, away!" He laughed as a salvo of red bullets began to spray forth just as before. However, when as one of the bullets flew into the crowd, it hit one of the spectators, causing the impact point to blow up in a small explosion before setting the body on fire.

"Huhu, not as great as magic but it still looks great!" He laughed as he clenched his right fist, allowing the electricity to build up for the punch.

(NOte:The flames only appear if the person takes a direct hit where the bullet pierces the body. The explosion itself is just a small one which gives a pushing back feeling)

Cyrus almost tripped, trying to dodge the lasers that were coming for him. One of the small lasers left a hole in Cyrus' vest, though not large enough hole to wreak the vest. As he steadied himself, he dived to avoid the hellfire rounds coming for him. Unluckily, the blast that came from behind Cyrus tossed him through the air.

"AAARGH!" Screamed Cyrus as he landed heavily on the ground.

"He wreaked our suit Cyrus, kill him, KILL HIM!" muttered Cyrus, progressively getting louder.

With a tap of his cane against the ground, another red clock image appeared, but this time it was moving faster. Cyrus got a running start from his crouched position and started to zigzag towards the doctor at breakneck speeds. The spell he had cast was a modified Hastega spell, as to which the clock had become an opaque object and seemed like if it were controlling Cyrus' impossible speeds.

"Fast, very fast, magic? I was hoping for that, this may be my only chance since it's still in beta what with the slow recharge time but," he continued to mutter in a split second as if contemplating his next action.

Time was running out. Tossing his gun at Cyrus with an explosive attached to it, he jumped back and pointed his charged right arm, which was now emitting static charges to the surrounding at Cyrus.

"Code 11, spell devastation," he muttered as he arm began to shake wildly as an EMP pulse like charge was released, stopping all spells that were on at that second. With that, he somewhat crumpled down as he held onto his still charging right arm

"Recharge time, 30 minutes for next use. Power levels, 70% but rising... alright then," he muttered as he pointed the bonesaw at Cyrus while making his charge, "I shall give you what you want then, have at thee for I shall cut you apart this day"

In a quick second, Cyrus tossed the gun out of his way without the need of stopping. The explosive on the gun went off seconds after Cyrus deflected the weak attack. The EMP blast was a success, Cyrus was closing in very quickly but forced himself to slow down, otherwise he would have ended up with a face full of dirt without the reflexes needed.

“That’s unfair!” Cyrus yelled while stamping his foot, “Cyrus, why aren’t we as fast as a hedgehog? Don’t worry my dear Arxi, We’ll soon show him why people call us the King of Casinos!” Cyrus grumbled, drawing out his pack of card and shuffling them with one hand.

As Albas charged towards Cyrus, he readied his cane. Both men took a strike at each other, only to be met by each other’s weapons. Both became locked in a desperate struggle for power over the other, neither giving up, knowing well that the outcome of the struggle could end either man. Cyrus flicked one of his cards into Albas’ face, causing a distraction, allowing Cyrus to break the struggle and hit Albas in the head with his cane.

Cyrus took another swipe as Albas, hitting him in the back of the head. Cyrus repeatedly attacked, taking advantage of the stunned Albas. He went in for another strike, but Albas had regained his senses and reacted, blocking the attack. The two fought back and forth in close combat, both having advantages over each other, yet neither coming out as victors. Albas managed to break through Cyrus’ defence and left a deep gash in Cyrus’ left arm.

A long, piercing scream came from Cyrus and tears started forming in his eyes. The pain from the gash had obviously overridden Cyrus’ mentality, yet he fought on whereas any normal being would give up.

“YOU LITTLE SHIT! MY ARM! AAAAAHHHH! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO CYRUS’ ARM?!” Howled Cyrus, ripping at the flesh wound hysterically, opening it up more.



((Hope you don't mind the slight control over your character. Fell free to control Cyrus ))

(It's fine, I don't mind, it helps speed things up a lil)

Albas took a step back, somewhat startled by Cyrus suddenly ripping at his own arm, having never seen anything like this in his lifetime of combat experimentation. Taking a few steps back, he began to record the event, adding a few self-thoughts using his still detached left eye.

"Hey, hey, don't go killing yourself off in some weird and incomprehensible method. If you're going to claw yourself to death then claw your throat, that's more cliche. That or take some pain pills," he sighed as he watched his opponent slowly kill himself. This wouldn't do, his combat related experiments would come to a halt, especially if the champion were to kill himself on the field


Seeing how there was no comeback to his last sentence, he slowly inched forward, raising his electric charged right hand to hammer his opponent, hopefully causing a sadistic impulse burst, while swinging his bonesaw with his left hand to try and catch his opponent after the 1st strike

Grabbing his cane with his right hand, Cyrus deflected Albas’ bonesaw and attempted to throw a weak left punch. Both Cyrus’ fist and Albas’ fist came into contact. Cyrus’ arm hit the ground with a thud, and he started to writhe. The tears in his eyes were pouring out as he brought his shaking hands up to his face.

“The blood… It’s beautiful…” Whispered Cyrus, slowly closing his hands and holding them against his head, tears still pouring out, “It’s only a matter of time, before time itself catches up with you!” muttered Cyrus, turning his head at an angle, a grin forming on his twisted face.

Cyrus rose to his feet and lunged towards Albas with his cane high in the air. Albas deflected the weak attack and countered with a punch. The punch connected and caused Cyrus to release his cards, this is what Cyrus had planned as the cards momentarily blinded Albas. Cyrus stabbed his cane deep into the ground, so it would stand there by itself.

“It’s only a matter of time, before time itself catches up with you! HeheheHAHAHA!” shouted Cyrus, before swallowing a weak painkiller that was tossed over by one of the medical teams standing at the side of the fighting grounds.

Cyrus pulled out a metal ninja star, shaped like the ace of spades and threw it at Albas. Cyrus then pulled out his cane and upon doing so, a red light came from the cane and travelled up Cyrus’ arm and vanished as it came to his head. Charging towards Albas, Cyrus raised his cane again.

“So doctor, WHAT is your bet!?” Yelled Cyrus as he charged.

Albas frowned, all the talk about time irking him.Time, the ever-fleeting substance he could never control, the one thing he despised... he would have none of it.

For now, he would put that aside, for his research now. The fact that the shock punch didn't have the desired effect, looks like there was more to his opponent that meets the eye.

"To the immortal, time is something less of essence than everything else. Researching IS my life, improvement is the only way FORWARD, only then can we cheat death and time," he grunted as he allowed the star to run through his metal chest,

Internal circuitry at 94%, minor wire damage to waist. Power levels all green 99%, redirecting power supply, 49% to blade and surroudnings" called out the disembodied female Japanese voice of his AI as it constantly reported the damage and statistics- what he wouldn't give to have the voice of his favourite virtual Idol singer, Hatsune Miku as the AI for his battle system.

"The continuation of my research, the improvement of mankind, that is my wager in this battle," he yelled as he charged to meet the blow with the bonesaw which was now in both arms, charging the blade itself with enough electricity for a minor shock field to appear around the blade and a small radius around him

The two warrior’s weapons met with a thunderous clash. The shock field that was generated by Albas transferred to Cyrus and he jolted back. Albas took this opportunity to strike again, hitting Cyrus in the chest with the bonesaw, causing Cyrus to wheeze. Albas continued his assault, delivering a right hooked punch to Cyrus, then another assaulting attack with the bonesaw. By this time, Cyrus had recovered from the shock and was able to steady himself.

With a raise of his cane, Cyrus was able to deflect the bonesaw and get a couple of quick strikes at Albas’ chest, even if it did little to Albas. The two fought on strongly, though the painkillers Cyrus had taken were wearing off, and the effects it had on him were showing. Albas stunned Cyrus for a moment, which was long enough for him to jab the front of the bonesaw at Cyrus’ flesh wound on his arm. Cyrus screamed out in pain as the tears started to show in his eyes again. Cyrus backed up, with a murderous look in his eyes.

“TIME… It just flies by when your having fun, hehehehe!” Exclaimed Cyrus as a light red glow appeared around him.

Cyrus started grunting as an extra set of arms came tearing out of his suit. Cyrus’ head jerked back in pain, and as it happened, his head split into two.

“It is very painful Cyrus!” yelled the 2nd head, with a slightly childish tone to it.

Cyrus fell to the ground, but another man stood where Cyrus once stood. The mysterious copy of Cyrus looked almost exactly the same, but wore a black suit, opposed to Cyrus’ white suit. Cyrus had managed to pull off the epitome of his magic abilities, a trick he called ‘Blackjack’. Cyrus stood up next to the man and grinned. Both men began to talk at the exact same time.

“Time has caught up doctor” Both men said.

Cyrus and his doppelganger charged toward Albas, raising their canes to attack.

Albas was stunned,positively frozen in place due to the sudden twist. This caused him to be struck by the two canes, one of which actually managing to bash a crack into his armored left shoulder and the other literally destroying his left hand.

Recoiling before the second attack could strike him again, he began to distance himself, watching as the two Cyrus began to flank him. Using his detached and now hidden left eye to watch his back, he deflected the third, two-sided strike with his charged left arm and the bonesaw in his right arm. Using the momentum, he shoved both of them backward, toppling them as he shifted back.

Not yet not yet! Time will never keep up with someone like me, one who has escaped it's cruel grasp. I did not transcend it and sacrifice all I did for nothing... Technology WILL match up with magic! Know that you stand before the Messiah of Technology. There are no gods, thus I will trust in Science, IN MYSELF!

"Internal circuitry at 85%, left shoulder moderate damage, arm control all green, left hand, no input, power redirected. Power levels 90%. Drawing surrounding power and redirecting, 70% to brain, all limbs shutdown, be careful ~desu~" whispered the disembodied voice in his head once again.

Placing himself in a bullet time phase(watch the matrix if you are unsure), he stared as his now multiplied opponents, trying to comprehend what was happening.

"Re-records... no previous records of suc- such powers have been recorded so far. This man truly never fails to impress. This will be good documentation info," he mumbled to himself as he gazed blankly at the slow-motion field around him.

"The magic devastator... recharge incomplete... sending in the mutants would ruin the experiment too...I've got no choice, I'll review the info after this, the batle comes now."

"Redirecting back to defaults with more charged placed in legs and brain redirected from excess and arms, be caeful ~desu~

As time began to return and the two clones-or so he would call them for now- came at him from both side, he readied himself. Quickly picking up the now slightly heavier to feel bonesaw, he sped half-way across the arena in an instant with the re-routed power. Everything seemed slight slower now and his legs felt light... now all he needed was what lay in the black bomb mark from before.

Digging in, he pulled out his perfectly intact -though dirty- gun and removed the lower/back half and attached it to his left arm, welcoming the feeling of his new left hand. Pulling the bonesaw up in the other, he began to open fire in concentrated bursts.

“Oh, time has not forgotten about you, professor.” Said Cyrus, slowly shaking his finger from side to side.

“Hehehehe, no. It has been merely toying with you!” Snarled Arxi, readying his cane.

The two charged at Albas, but just as they reached him, he vanished in a blur. Cyrus’ cane met with Arxi’s cane and both turned to look at Albas with a look of pure hatred on their faces.

“Nobody steals our moves!” Both men yelled at the same time.

A red glow came from underneath Cyrus, while a blue one came from Arxi. Cyrus charged towards Albas, while Arxi threw an ace of spade at Albas. Albas began shooting with his altered limb, and shredded the card, which made the bullets glow blue and slow down. The bullets that came from Albas’ bonesaw were the only bullets to meet Arxi as they pierced his right shoulder and chest. Cyrus on the other hand, was able to dodge the slow bullets coming from Albas’ left arm gun. As he got close enough, he brought down his cane with all his force on to Albas, hitting his left shoulder and damaging it more.

Arxi began to scream from the pain of the bullets entering his body, to which caused distress for Cyrus as well. Cyrus grabbed hold of his head, while throwing wild punches with his other arm at Albas’ armoured body, screaming “NOT YET!” Arxi, on the other hand, reacted with rage and darted towards Albas, sticking his cane out in front of him as if it were a lance.

"Left arm damage at critical levels, circuitry to left arm at 23% functionality, advised shut down to prevent electrical backup ~desu~"

Albas grunted as he hopped backwards out of the reach of Cyrus' flurry of blows, firing at Cyrus with his bonesaw while swinging his left arm right into the way of Arxi's cane, allowing it to stab through his left arm, lodging it firmly into his arm.

"Left Arm damage near peak, arm from elbow down unresponsive, functionality from elbow up is at 8%. It's no good professor, I'm shutting it down now!" Screamed the AI in his head, her voice playing a melodious tune to him even now.

Feeling a slight tug, he fell slightly to his left after his arm, his bonesaw firing off course and once again, he fired into the crowd bringing out more screams. Pulling himself back into position, he shifted himself to swing the bonesaw to attempt a cleave at Arxi