Empy > Tibarn
Setzer looked from Empyrea to Tibarn and back again. The Laguz king was definately smiling, and Empyrea also seemed quite pleased with herself, though it was a bit harder to tell. "You two are nuts, you know that?"
Tibarn laughed, "Yeah, probably. So are you up for it or what?"
With a snort, the gambler shrugged, "Sure I am. But I'll have to call in a lot of favors to set this up. You owe me, both of you. And it's not my fault if you get hurt."
The godbird nodded, "Of course. But you need not worry for our safety."
"I'll get things ready then. You two just make sure you're ready for this, it's gonna be wild."
- - -
Throwing his head back, Tibarn let out a laugh, "Wild, huh? You weren't kidding. Aerial mines, flying monsters, enemy ships...hey is that the Little Jack over there? Hell, you even got Luc to set up wind hazards."
Setzer shrugged, "I take it you're satisfied?"
Cracking his knuckles, Tibarn shifted into his massive hawk form, "This is just the way I like it. The greatest aerial obstacle course ever made, and who better to fly it then the king of hawks and the one called Godbird?"
A familiar voice chuckled, catching Tibarn's attention, and a moment later the Raven King stepped into view, "Oh, I can think of someone more worthy, but somehow I doubt you'd agree with me."
Ignoring his counterpart's barb, Tibarn turned his eye on Setzer, "What's he doing here?"
The gambler grinned, "Naesala's here to fly along with the two of you and make sure everything stays above the board. No interference, on either side."
Empyrea cocked her head to the side, "You're asking a known cheater to prevent cheating?"
"Who better? He knows every dirty trick in the book and more then a few that never got written down. If anyone can slip something past him, I'll eat my own socks."
Tibarn scowled, "And if he interferes at all himself, I'll force feed you your own feet." Turning his attention away from Setzer and Naesala, he moved to stand next to Empyrea at the starting line, "Let's get this started already."
Making sure both contestants, and the observer, were ready to take off, Setzer fired the starting pistol, and was promptly blown off his feet by the back draft from three powerful avians taking wing at once.
In the air, the two racers were a sight to behold. Empyrea's larger wings let her cover more distance whenever she got some space, but Tibarn's agility was causing him to pull ahead in the denser sections, dodging mines, whirlwinds and attacking monsters, even pulling a few stunts like quickly shifting aside so a diving monster went headfirst into a mine or wind trap.
Indeed, by the time he made it out of the minefield, Tibarn had such a lead that it seemed he would have no trouble winning this match in style. But the last stretch was the Gauntlet, airships of all kinds lined up and unloading their weapons at the mighty birds.
Tibarn was fast, and had the skill to dodge nearly anything. Bullets flew past his twisting form while lasers and mightier weapons like the infamous Harpoon Cannon were expertly dodged. Tibarn was certainly living up to his reputation, barely an attack was touching him and still he moved forward, ever closer to the finishing line...
But then Empyrea finally made it out of the minefield. Quickly taking a moment to let the sun reflect off her magnificent feathers, she aimed the dazzling light right into the eyes of the men on the airships she deemed the most dangerous, completely wrecking their chances of hitting anything moving fast. And then she started flying. Unlike her opponent, Empyrea did not twirl, juke, shift or even bother with dodging of any kind. She flew straight through the bullet field, letting the hail of attacks hit her, and simply ignoring them.
Tibarn, still ahead, slid out of the way of another laser blast as he caught sight of Empyrea catching up to him. Putting on speed he pushed forward, determined to win. Another dodge and look back, and he saw her even closer. She was unfazed by the attacks he had to dodge. She just kept moving, closer and closer as she gained inertia. The Hawk king clenched his beak and powered forward himself, no longer trying to dodge the attacks coming his way, simply trying to outrun them. He knew he wasn't as tough as his opponent, but he also knew that if he kept with what he was doing, she would overtake him. This was his only change, he just had to fly through the pain.
The bullets flew. The lasers burned through the air. Explosions from heavy shells sent shockwaves through the open air, but the two birds flew through it all. Every bullet that landed, every explosion he flew through, slowed Tibarn down. He was losing ground and bleeding from a dozen wounds. Empyrea, silently staring forward, only gained speed. Nothing seemed capable of stopping her. Even before she finally passed him, not ten meters from the finish line, he knew he was beaten.
Touching down on the deck of the Falcon only seconds before Tibarn came crashing onto the ship, Empyrea finally allowed herself to feel the pain of what she'd just gone through, and promptly blacked out. Looking at the two unconscious birds on her ship, Terra got her healing spells ready and went to work, "I think Setzer went a little too far with this one..."
A sigh and a laugh caught her attention as Naesala, who had flown over all of the hazards, set foot on the deck. "My dear lady, I don't think you understand at all. This is exactly what they, well Tibarn at least, wanted. We are kings of a race where the strongest rule. There is so very little that can push the likes of us to our limits anymore, and anything we find that can is something to be quite excited about. I've little doubt he'll be talking to your friend about doing this again sometime. For him, expending all your strength and still falling short of the mark is a day to be remembered, and a challenge to be overcome."
A smile crossed the raven king's face as he turned away, "Perhaps next time I'll have the change to show these two how it's done."
