The Organization[spoiler="Vs. Archikos"]Antnumbra:
The Sun shown with a brilliant radiance.

Beaming, Archikos laughed as she danced across the stage of the Theatre. The verdant folds of her himation flowed together as she swirled without pause. So graceful was her display, that all in attendance were completely awestruck. Even the sand beneath her feet rested in admiration as she spun over it. A veteran of the battle of Messana, even Linos found himself dumbfounded. However, his confusion was that of anger not adoration. A foolish woman like herself knew nothing of the cruelty of true combat. That, he would teach her today.

Grip tightening, he charged forward like the mad bull his unit was named after, kicking up clouds as he sprinted. Much to his chagrin, the sunlit woman continued to twirl aimlessly. Perhaps she needed to be reminded of where she was and who he was. Surely a flesh wound would be enough for her to learn her place. Linos grinned at the thought of wounding the shining sun of Megalopolis.

The loud clank of metal rung out as the golden woman caught the tip of his spear with her own dory, pulling the seasoned warrior into her tango. Once again, Linos found himself staggered. His own shield, resting against a far wall, was neglected in pride. He was sure all it would do is slow him down, but truth be told he felt it wasn’t even necessary for a fight like this.

The angry clonk of wood smashing into his helmet suggested otherwise.

Knocked off his feet, he landed a few feet from her, mouth agape and spear discarded. Smirking, Archikos ended her pirouette and faced the fallen soldier, pointing her spear to the cloudless sky. Broken from their trance, roaring applause and cheering reverberating through the Theatre as she held the two at her side.

“You’re going to have to do better than that my friend.”

As though on cue, the air between them wavered and cracked like a mad crow. A small orifice hung there for a moment, then out of it sprung a dark black shawl. Mesmerized by the floating black linen, the radiant woman took her eyes off Linos. It was a deep absorbing black that seemed to hold captive any light that was unfortunate enough to strike it.

It reflected nothing.

A hopeless horrible darkness.

Undeterred, the Sun of Megalopolis held onto the shawl, retrieving it from its ethereal throne. In her hands, it was no more than a dark silk scarf. Not worth the trouble it had given her.

A battle cry shocked her from her stupor as the mad bull refused to be ignored. Wrapping the scarf around her neck, Archikos raised her shield and braced herself. Despite its cryptic entrance, the scarf seemed to be harmless. The lost treasure of a god perhaps? Who else but a god could possess something like this?

---

[/HR]
The Sun was shrouded in clouds.

Sulking, Six continued to search the heavens for answers, only to find disparate patches of lightning. On the cold, dusty abandoned seats of the Great Theatre, the dark haired girl could let out all the feelings that had plagued her of late: curious affections, careless aggression, and ceaseless anguish.

All of this was due to her loss to the time traveler.

All of this, she prayed, would be washed away by the rain.

But it did not.

As though any god would answer a prayer of hers. The amber-eyed girl couldn’t help but chuckle.

Instead, an unyielding breeze blew across the stands. Shivering, the cold girl sheltered her neck with her hands. Her trusty scarf was nowhere to be found.

Looking down towards the stage of the old theatre, Six could see Four flaying her small arms excitedly, tracing out the huge gash within the arena walls to her extremely plain butler. For a moment, she considered dwelling on his name, but she ultimately decided that nothing of value was lost in forgetting it. The damage was impressive to say the least. It was as though something had smashed into the wall like a truck, and then ripped through it like a sheet of paper. If the gladiators of old were truly that powerful, then Six would like to kick their asses one day. After all, that stupid time traveler came from the future, why couldn't she go to the past?

The young master had mentioned something about a game, which was the stupid reason they where all here now. At least if she had her books, it wouldn’t be a total waste of time, but those disappeared before her scarf did.

Puzzling.

“Hey Six! Stop moping about your boyfriend and come check this out!”

The brown eyed girl smiled, although it was clear that her eyes told a different story.

“Don’t tell me what to do…bitch.”

She was too far for the insult to reach her, so the dark haired girl proceeded to move down from the stands into the dark tunnels that lead to the stage.

Penumbra:
Puffy white clouds slowly drifted among the Sun. The arena glittered like gold.

Broken and battered, Linos fell to his knees. The shield he had abandoned remained on the wall, chastising him for his arrogance. The spear he had carelessly wielded reduced to pieces scattered across the stage, criticizing him for his audaciousness.

“Good fight.”

The voice of golden-haired gladiator roused the fallen warrior from his defeat. Raising his head, he saw her glowing, offering her free hand to him like his comrades at Messana did long ago.

“Why are you? Have you no sense of War?”

The golden woman smiled, her hand unwavering.
“Apollo is my God not Ares. I fight for his glory, not for that of War.”

The veteran took her hand. It was soft yet hardened by battle. In one motion, she pulled him up off the ground, armor and all. Was it possible that she had gotten even stronger? Linos chuckled involuntarily at the thought.

“A valiant belief. I pray that the God’s shield you from the darkness of War. Because in the realm of Ares, that light you wield is dangerous…You cannot protect Megalopolis with just that.”

Now on his feet, Linos walked past her defeated. Thunderous praise reverberated throughout the Theatre.

“PRAISE ATHENA?!”

“GLORY TO THE GODSSS?!”

"THE LION WINS AGAIN!!!"

Despite the elation of the crowd, the sunlit woman hung her head in rumination. Linos's warning rocked her to the core. Truly, she had only known combat in the Great Theatre of Megalopolis. Never had she killed struck down another soul and even the thought of doing so was foreign to her.

But the darkness, was it coming?

Archikos drew her hand around the dark shawl that hung around her neck. It was soft and silky smooth, enticing in its seductive and inviting shade. Was this what darkness was?

The creak of the wide arena doors stole her attention.

A new challenger was approaching.

---

[/HR]
Silver strands arced through the air as the sullen heroine made her way through the murky tunnel. The Sun seemed to struggle through the cracks.

Alone with her thoughts, she continued to stride on dwelling about her prior loss. Was she not strong enough? No. No. The time traveler wasn’t strong at all despite his annoying boasts. Yes, he may have caught her off guard a few times, but ultimately he was the one who lay shattered among the sands.

And yet, she couldn’t kill him.

The thought drove her mad and the silver strands responded in kind, sparking and crackling through the air around her.

Six did not have time for dancing cobwebs however. Furiously, her hands found the door and forced it out of the way. A torrent of light and sound rushed to engulf her.

Umbra:
Shadow draped the earth as the clouds passed the Sun.

The roar of the audience died down into a pallid murmur. The golden-haired gladiator shared their confusion as she stood across from her new challenger, a young Persian girl in strange yellow and black garbs. Tipping her spear side ways, she approached the strange dark haired girl without hesitation.

“Where are you from girl, this does not seem to be the place for you. Are you lost?”

She smiled, trying to ease the stranger, but the stranger scowled in response.

“The name is Six…and this is the Theatre right?”

Archikos nodded happily, but the girl seemed to be distracted, she was looking for something or someone.

“This is the Theatre of Apollo, a place of battle. Surely, no place for a child such as yourself. Perh-“
The crinkle of sand being crushed under her bare feet resounded into a loud crack as her eyes became daggers.

“What did you just call me?”

The arena seemed to grow darker as she said this. Anger seemed to radiate from the strange girl, but Archikos stood her ground.

“This place is dangerous don’t you see? I am only offering my help.”

The girl smirked, her teeth shown wolfishly like the hounds of hell. A strange ghostly light began to string out from her body. Coalescing and twisting until pale thorns of white light coated her body.

“The only one in danger here…is you,” she snarled.

“A sorceress?” the thought raced across her mind as she crouched down behind Iliaki Aspida. The lightning clad vixen crossed the field in an instant, slamming her fist against the hardened Blackwood. The dull crack resonated through the Theatre, kicking up sand around them, as the dented shield buckled but held fast. Ripples appeared frozen in the sand as though it were a pond. The glistening woman did not expect such power from such a small frame but she also knew to never underestimate her enemies. The crowd, confused at first, began to regain its spirit at the sight of their heroine facing danger head on.

Pulling a few feet back, she easily raised the heavy shield and preemptively blocked the sorceress’s successive strikes, each one weaker than the last, knocking her farther back toward the arena walls. Archikos noted that the Persian girl had an innate sense of battle, attempting to flank her or trip her up, but she wasn’t just the champion of Megalopolis because of her beauty.

Right before they reached the wall, the dark haired girl retreated several feet. It seemed like she finally realized the futility of her actions. The bristly silvery aura shattered apart and she began to tend to her injured fists.

“You’ve got to hit harder than that girl,” goaded the golden gladiator. She had underestimated this stranger before, but it was clear that this was a new trial for the Lion of Megalopolis. She relished the challenge.

The clouds began to shift once more, pockets of sunlight breaking through the holes so that the entire stage resembled a spotted leopard.

Outstretching her hand, the young sorceress summoned a strange looking weapon that the gladiator had never seen before. It resembled a sword, but the blade was wide and full of cracks from the tip to the hilt. Before Archikos could protest, the girl pulled back and was at once covered in lightning once more. Launching it through the air it blurred and flickered, catching the disparate light, like a mad bolt of lightning flung by the god of sky.

Raising her famed shield once more she easily deflected the errant projectile. The bolt flew back for a moment only to shattered into harmless shards and mingle with the sand. It was then that she heard the loud distinctive crack of a tree being felled. Almost immediately, her shield began to vibrate in response. With gusto she flung it towards the sand, her faithful Blackwood companion burst into powdery splinters before it even touch the ground.

“Witch!”

Laughing, the Persian failed to notice the advancing lion barreling towards her. With a fury she was unaware of herself, the golden lion leapt in the air and pounced at a breakneck speed. Doru Tou Ilious had hit nothing but sand though as the vixen pirouetted away at the last moment. Roaring, the crowd became a tumult of crazed fanatics cheering for their heroine to claim victory. Deftly, she landed, knee to the ground and yanked up at the spear, sending it arching through the air. The gems embedded within seemed to come to life then, catching the sunlight, and blazing through the air like an inferno. This too the sorceress narrowly avoided, the tip of the spear passed in front of her smiling face. She seemed to be enjoying this. But the lion was not done yet.

Still in motion, the heroine relinquished her spear as it spun, pivoting and kicking off her feet launching her straight at the young girl. Sapphire and amber clashed as the lion pulled her fist back. Although their mouths did not move, their eyes spoke volumes.

You? How?

Dodge this!

As her fist collided with the Persian’s abdomen, the air seemed to rupture, the loud sound of thunder rang through the Theatre. Flying through the air, Six spun haphazardly, landing face first toward the other side of the arena and still sliding, leaving tracks in the sand. Despite their heroine’s victory, the challenger was still a child even if a witch. The crowd hung still in pensive silence.

“By…the gods…” muttered Archikos as she stared at her still trembling fist.

“You gotta…hit…harder than THAT…Old Lady!”

On her feet, the battered Persian girl was obviously on her last legs. Although, she had no visible injuries the way she was hunched over, wobbling, gasping for air, the golden gladiator knew the fight was over.

“Give it up, Pe…Six. You have fought valiantly, but it is clear we should not continue,” she argued, raising her spear to the sky.

“We’re…not finished…”

Cold ice blue eyes unwavering, the lion had made up her mind, “Yes…you are my dear.”

With a vengeance, the lightning returned, once again launching an assault of blows at the golden gladiator. Like the sky above as the storm clouds rolled in, her face grew darker, gone was the glowing sun of Megalopolis. Effortlessly, she weaved through the aimless strikes. Despite the sorceress’s boasts, her strength and speed had drastically reduced, whatever few blows did land simply glided past the armor under her himation.

“Stop it,” commanded the lion, grabbing hold of the vixen’s left hand.

“Never,” she replied, pulling back with her right.

Once more their eyes clashed, but the brilliant blue sapphires became lamentatious pools.

“Apollo…forgive me…”

Gingerly, she placed a single finger upon the poor soul’s right shoulder blade. Despite the dark clouds strangling the sky, a burst of sunlight tore through unabated. Right through the young girl’s shoulder. Flung back a few feet, she miraculously managed to stay standing, clutching her limp dangling arm. A cruel silence shrouded the Theatre as the audience held their breath, waiting for the girl to cry out. But she refused.

The wind howled.

Finger still glowing, the heroine looked down on her defeated foe. For the moment she stood, but Archikos knew it was a façade. Resting the dory of her spear in the ground, she waited, black shawl fluttering in the wind.

&

Wow, really well done both of you. Both of your stories were not only gripping to read, but both had good ways of introducing one character to the other, but good sequences of action as well.
In the end, I went with Org, cause I liked his development of Six through the story and fight.

Still, props go to you Fluffytufts, this was your first battle, and I am very much impressed!

Okay...sooo...

Language wise, I don't usually make comments unless I see what seems to be a major/recurring issue.

Both of you passed that test, so no comments there except good job.


Now to the story itself.

I decided to vote for The Org's story.


To be quite honest, I liked both of your stories a great deal, but The Org's story had an emotional quality to it, as well as a more balanced battle.


Fluffy, your story was great. I loved reading it. It didn't lose because it wasn't good...it was just a little less good than Org's.

In your story, I would have liked to see more of 6's abilities and character shown. All I know about 6 is her appearance, that she behaves erratically, is confident, and fast. 6 didn't seem so much like a fair opponent (in your story) as much as an annoyance that you could deal with without your weps almost, and could totally pwn with your power.

Contrast this with Org's story, which placed a great deal of emphasis on Archi, and had her own character (Six) losing for a large portion of the battle. Gave it more of a suspenseful edge, as did the plot enhancements.

Archi, I guess the problem in your story to me (and the ONLY problem...you're really good) is that it seemed to boil down to this:

"Girl on the seashore for some reason wants to get to Megalopolis for some reason. Meets other girl in forest randomly. Said girl knows things, randomly. Girl in forest comes to her seeming nice. Girl in forest randomly attacks. Beach-girl with the shield blocks, and blocks, and reacts, and blocks, and counters. Girl in forest uses crack-y sword to smash girl on beach's shield. Girl on beach gets angry and totally pwns girl in forest. Girl on beach goes about business as usual."

If you see what I'm saying (Hyperbole applied to help with my point), your story was great, but it had too many unexplained parts...which was such a shame. I was left asking "WHY?! WHY?! THIS IS GREAT, BUT WHY?!"

Hope this helps...you, Fluffy, are a great writer clearly, and if this is evidence of your first work....you're gonna be a kick-@$$ opponent with some more practice.