This Aegis fellow, a short thickly built man in his middle years, had a 'Mogi'. Personally, I think they look silly, but some of the odd abilities they have can cause serious harm.

I wondered just how Zan would 'face the music', as he and the Mogi stood in the arena, facing each other down. I was impressed that the Mogi still managed to keep a steady rhythm with his feet as he danced in place while Zan gave him that 'full attention' stare.

'Don't let that black 'thing' scare you Mogi!' Aegis cheered from his booth opposite mine at the edge of the arena.

Mogi seemed to puff up a little, adding another beat to his dance while we waited for the starting buzzer.

'DING!'

Mogi made the first move, taking a half pace back and mimicking a gramophone playing back and forth. The resulting resonance in the air raced towards Zan, who simply side stepped. Thankfully the waves dissipated before they reached me. Mogi, not to be daunted, rushed forward a few steps, then rolled onto his back, spinning towards Zan with impressive speed. Dodging at the last instant, Zan sidestepped then lashed a quick kick to Mogi's side, sending the pointed hatted dog rolling away. With a little difficulty, Mogi rose and sent another wave of sound at Zan. Caught a little off guard by the fast recovery, Zan took the blast, shaking in place, limbs stretched out as if he were pressed against a wall at the same time. After the wave passed, he knelt down a moment, giving the Mogi chance to send a second wave at him. Zan rolled to the side and forward, rolled again as Mogi let out a third blast, and then paused. Zan's second roll brought him within arms reach. And there he stood, looking down, and unimpressed at Mogi. Not even given a chance to step back, Zan lashed both his bladed arms down, belting the dancing monster across both sides of its head, using the slightly bulbous joint just before the blades themselves.

And like a sack of flour, down went the Mogi.

And the crowd erupted into cheers, the announcer commenting on the wondrous display of skill and tenacity.

Zan walked slowly towards me as Aegis went to collect his dazed monster. The first round seemed a breeze, I thought.

The second match of the first heat was about to start as I took a seat in the rancher's observation room. In one corner stood a huge Baku. Its lazy dog like face and thick brown fur making it look more like a dragon's teddy bear. But I knew better, Baku could crush an unwary opponent, and usually with nothing but a sneeze.

Its opponent, a Bowmew. A mew tiger cross, it was just as comical as a mew pure breed. But this one also used sound, as well as deceptively sharp claws, making the unaware opponent well versed in the ways of pain.

'DING!'

The Bowmew started the dance, literally as it screeched out a few notes. In obvious pain, the Baku danced around as the percussive noise rattled around its ears. After shaking its head to clear the ringing from its ears, the Baku took a deep breath. But before it could do anything else, the Bowmew jumped forward and slashed its claws at the flank of the huge Baku. But, not counting on the thick fur to stop the razor claws, the Bowmew flinched as the Baku turned and... Sneezed.

Taking the massive gust of air and who-wanted-to-know-what else at point blank range, the helpless Bowmew was flung backwards, out of the arena, and into the wall just next to the window I was looking out from.

Yuck.

After the applause, I was joined by the owner of the Baku. Surprised, a bookish looking girl no older than 16 sat on the bench next to me. Her summer dress was a quiet shade of blue with white, and her wide circle glasses gave more of an impression to a book reader, than a monster breeder.

'Surprised?' She said in a cheerful voice as she looked out the window, running a hand through her short brown hair. 'I get that a lot. It's my brother's monster, but he has 'better things to do than battle'. So, he raises them, I watch over them while they fight.'

I nodded in understanding as we watched the next pair of fighters enter the arena. The first monster was a robust looking Hare. Walking into the middle of the arena floor then hopping back and forth shadowboxing a bit, before doing a neat back flip and raising his hands, already claiming victory.

'That Hare is pretty good. Managed first place in the last tournament he was in. Trainer knows what he is doing.' My new acquaintance said as she looked out the window with me.

I nodded again and watched a little closer, hoping Zan was able to watch in the separate waiting room monsters were given. The separate room was larger, and kept dishonest trainers from giving their monsters any drugs before the next match.

Next on the field was a Jell. In my opinion, Jells were hard to train. They had nearly daily attitude changes, were picky eaters, and could hide really well if they didn't want to train that day. But that aside, they were great fighters. Their flexible body could easily confuse an inexperienced monster.

'DING!'

The Jell reacted first to the bell, lashing out an arm, stretching it out over the distance between it and the Hare, and giving it a healthy smack across the side of its head. A second long punch followed the first, narrowly missing as the Hare hopped backwards, and before the Jell could recover, jumped forwards again, aiming a kick at the Jell. Seeing the kick, the Jell flattened out against the arena floor and slid out of the way like a blue slick of oil. Reforming just as the Hare landed and lashing its arm out again. The Hare hopped back again, out of reach, but had had to cross its arms over its face as the Jell reformed again into a cannon. The Jell let out a blast, and the Hare disappeared in the resulting explosion. But just as the smoke started to clear, a slightly singed Hare sprung from the cloud. Unable to dodge the Jell was helpless as the Hare's foot caught fire and delivered the trade mark of the breed, the dragon kick.

'Wow.' The girl remarked as the Jell flopped backwards unmoving. 'Looks like he learned a new trick since last time. That will be tough to beat.'

I smiled, she seemed to life my spirits just by standing there, and I found myself wanting to fight again.

A third person joined us in our booth, the owner of the Hare was a kindly looking man. Made me think 'teacher' when I looked at his easy smile and neat clothing.

'Good afternoon.' He greeted us. I nodded, the girl waved politely.

'And now for the final match of the first heat!' The announcer called.

The three of us watched as a Beerock, a Beaklon Golem cross, lumbered into the arena. Despite its weight, it carried itself surely, if a little slow. A true bruiser of a monster, heavy sharp and strong. But out of the arena, really good gardeners, oddly.

Next a monster I'd never seen before entered. It walked almost like a human, but had reverse kneed legs. Its short fur was mostly black with a sort of purple crest on his chest and upper arms. Its head was white furred and wedge shaped with eye slits similar to Zan's. Another remarkable feature was its long thick tail. It looked like the end wanted to split into three. Kind of looked like a mouse, with angry looking claws and a sharp tail.

'What is that?' I asked openly. 'Looks like a deadly desert mouse.'

The educated man replied in an easy to listen to voice. "The main breed of that monster is a 'Ripper'. Newly discovered and almost unheard of until very recently. The coloration seems to be from a Joker. Looks like it will be an interesting fight."

I shivered a little at the mention of a Joker. The Ripper looked naturally agile, while the Joker I fought used high powered abilities like a Pixie. I suddenly felt sorry for the Beerock.

'DING!'

With a roar, the Beerock lunged forward, gaining huge momentum as it leveled that mean looking horn at the Ripper. Seeing the avalanche sized Beerock barreling down on it, the Ripper ran forward as well, playing an odd game of chicken it seemed. Veering off to the side at the last moment, the Ripper extended what looked like a retractable blade from its forearm, and slashed the rocky shell of his opponent with an almost nail-on-chalkboard sound. This did little more that annoy the monstrous Beerock, as it drove one of its clawed hands into the ground halfway to its elbow, executing a nearly perfect U-turn, giving the Ripper a clumsy but effective body check just before it could turn around.

"That was impressive." The teacher said quietly as the three of us watched. "The Beerock has good battle instinct"

The girl and I nodded as we watched the Beerock try to stab the fallen Ripper with his horn, but to no avail as the Ripper pushed off the ground with its large tail, and got itself back on its feet.

"So it isn't just for looks." The girl commented.

Indeed it wasn't. The Ripper started to dart forwards and back, each time slashing with its forearm blade, then retreating as the slower Beerock tried to counter. The Ripper would some times get a second hit with the sharp ends of its tail, flicking it across the Beerock's arm as it swung. Slowly though, the Ripper was losing speed, and its slower opponent got closer and closer to hitting it with those massive upper claws.

Then, a feint, as the Ripper danced in with a slash, then out again with a tail flick, the Beerock only half swung. The tail flicked at where the arm should have been, but instead went further and struck a stinging blow against the Beerocks chest. But, unfazed, the Beerock used its smaller arms to grab the tail before the Ripper could recover it.

With what looked to be the final blow, the Beerock tugged the tail as hard as it could with the small lower arms, then brought both its massive arms together in a wide arc, with the Ripper caught in the middle.

CRUNCH

I blinked at the last moment, not wanting to see the Ripper get flattened, but, the non existent space between the Beerocks massive paws was... Empty.

I watched the Beerock look up in confusion, and there was the Ripper, finishing a neat forward flip and half twist, raising a clawed hand to the sky and the other towards the Beerock.

CRACK *flash* FWOOSH!

From the near cloudless sky descended a thin stroke of lightning, the crack of thunder made me cover my ears as I watched a solid wave of frost erupt from the Ripper's other hand, obscuring the Beerock and most of the arena behind it in a bright white cascade.

The Ripper landed neatly, its eyes glowing a faint red as the snow cleared, showing the effects of his blast on his opponent.

"Wow, Beerock on ice." The cheerful girl said as she stood and got closer to the window for a better look.

I was about to comment, but the crowd broke into cheers as the winner was declared.

After the cheers faded, the announcer spoke. "Well! Wasn't that an impressive display?" The crowd cheered. "After we clear the arena floor, the semi finals will commence!"

The crowd cheered again, and I found myself looking out at the Beerock, now mostly free from the ice, shaking its head and body slowly, clearly disoriented.

And into the room, walked a tall dark lady. Dressed in tight fitting leathers that I'm sure made my face light up. Easily six feet tall, she was shockingly beautiful. Her eyes were a liquid purple, matching her raven black hair perfectly, and detracted nothing from her high cheekbones and just-shy-of-pointy nose. Her tight fitting leathers (black) clung to her every curve and angle. The only thing that stopped her attire from being completely shameless was the cloak she wore over her shoulders. A shadow gray in colour, it at least tried to hide what the leathers didn't.

Honestly, I felt intimidated by her very presence. Maybe it was her height?

"Oh, so these are the trainers." She said quietly, in a smooth voice, with just a trace of boredom, getting her a trio of 'gonna make some thing of it?' Looks from the teacher, girl, and myself.

She looked us all over, and smiled. "I heard some of your seminar last week." She said to the teacher. "Interesting. I look forward to your book on the ruins you mentioned."

This wiped the look off the teachers face and brought a slight smile to his face. But she continued, looking at the girl. "And you. I hope your brother is doing well. Looked like he had a cold when I saw you and him walk by the inn three roots over."

"He is, thank you." The girl replied, the tall lady's words having the desired effect, the younger one smiling slightly.

"But you. I've never seen you before." She approached me, making the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I felt her eyes give me a very thorough look, though I never looked up at her, feeling again, intimidated. I did how ever look up when I felt her hand on my metal covered shoulder. "Oh my. Where did you get this made? The banner and armor looks perfect."

"A friend gave it to me in Brilla." I mumbled, shifting a little on the bench and lightly brushing her hand away with my armored hand, standing up and moving away to look through the window again. I could feel her eyes on my back, and again the warning tingle on the back of my neck, but the announcer snapped my attention away.

"And now! The semi final match, first round!" A pause as the crowd cheered, "Would the owners of Zan and Baku, please take your positions!"

***************

Well, at least its been less than a month since my last installment. (sigh).

Things are in a rut around here, but I fight on! Hope you enjoy the first half of a long chapter.

(again, questions, comments, pokes in the eye, kicks in the butt are welcome (I'll try not to scream too much with the last two, even though I know I diserve it)

Some of the fighting paragraphs were a bit long, but at the same take, I felt the fights themselves should have been longer.

Personal preferance from a battle junkie. I still enjoyed the chapter, and since I've been on vacation for the last two weeks, I haven't got to work on mine.

Refreshing to get a good dose of combat, and well written at that. Thank you.

Nice Ripperization. Overall not bat. I will refrain from doing either of the last two, but instead will kick you in the gut.

Things will pick up again since the 'weak' monsters have left the building. I'll try and clean up the combat sets. Its a little hard as I've little experience from the game on most of the monster's attacks. (My monsters are usually over trained and give about two chances to the opponents.)

As for the kick in the gut. *falls over holding my gut and gasping like a fish* *has the defeated Beerock sit on Da_Mullet*

OOOOOOOH! Very nice! Forget a kick in the gut. How about a pat on the back and a high-five?Daeore, you, once again have woven another part of your tremendously wonderful yarn. As always, I will earnestly look forward to your next instalment. To Chapter 21b! (raises a glass)

My only suggestion, personal like, is to break combat into various paragraphs based on the stage of the fight.

If it is an exchange of blows (I.E. Swords clashing, punching and kicking each other), one paragraph will suffice, but when one attack tips the scales of the battle, start a new paragraph to give a revitalized feel to the newest impact that might change the course of the fight.

So, just try and break fights into a few paragraphs instead of one. I know you have the writing talent to make it work either way, this is just to help dramatic effects in combat. In my mind, anyway, it can assist in making some truly nail-biting scenes.

As for the attacks, using moves from the games gives people something to relate to, but don't relay on them. Making up attacks is the best part of writing combat in epics. I thought your techniques in this installment were great.

Bah, I ramble. Good luck with the story. I enjoy it greatly.

I have actually been finding this story very interesting.. It's funny how this story was started around Mr2/Mr3 and is now going into Mr4 (With the addition of rippers and all)

Well... *cough* I bought the game. So, I got new ideas.

And I'll give it a shot CHB. :)

oooh? Maybe it will inspire a Gitan or Ogyo appearance.... *hint* *hint*...

This is the Best epic on the site.