Two lucky Commenters have their work featured on this week's RPGP Winners page - send in your best Comments at the Arena, cross your fingers, and YOU could join them! TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP Team Auron vs Team Sephiroth DragoonJay@excite.com: "Bartender, give me another one." "I think you've had enough." "Darn it Tifa, I'll tell you when I've had enough. I'm the Perfect SOLDIER... or at least I was." Sephiroth grabbed another pint of whisky and downed it in one go. "I remember a time when I was feared. Now look at me... Auron, Ghaleon, Orlandu... Sixteen seasons and not a single title to show for it." For the better part of a week, Sephiroth had been drowning away the memories of a career of failures. Month after month, he had trained and improved, waiting for a chance to finally earn the title he desired. But there's only so much disappointment a man can take before his will is finally broken. "I was told you would be here." The voice was without scorn, unlike so many others who came to take away their tired, their hungry, their drunken. "Go away, Maxim." "I'm not leaving without the team captain. The battle's in half an hour, you know." "And I'm not leaving, period. What's the point in fighting if I'm just going to lose again?" With that, Sephiroth turned back to his drink. Maxim decided to try something bold. "Stop thinking of just yourself! If I didn't know better, I'd swear that it was Cloud sitting before me instead of Sephiroth." It was a severe testament to the the amount of alcohol that Sephiroth had injested that his normal stoic self was replaced by a shaking rage. "How dare you compare me to that... that... fool! If you ever say that again..." Maxim smirked. "Then prove you're better." "Fine, I will!" The Perfect SOLDIER rushed off towards the arena, leaving Maxim there to breathe a sigh of relief. "I didn't think I was going to get out of that one unscathed." "What did you say about my Cloud?! He is not like Sephiroth!" "Aw nuts." said Maxim, right before Tifa tore into him. - - - "What are you doing with Selan's purse?" asked Yumei, right before they entered the arena. "Let's put it this way." said Maxim, as he applied concealer around a now purpling mark around his left eye. "There are some things that magic can cure. For everything else, there's makeup." "And you're absolutely sure that this plan will actually work?" questioned Auron, at the other side of the arena. "As long as you can nullify Sephiroth, then yes." said Jowy. "You of all people should know how hard it is to stop it." "The question is, how can we get him down and still have enough left to..." "Don't worry, Auron. I have that planned as well." - - - "If both teams are ready to begin, then I declare this Team Championship officially begun!" said the Star Dragon Sword, relishing his job in a way that only a sentient weapon could. Sephiroth charged at Team Auron with the fury of a madman. "Vengeance will be mine!" "Stop, Seeker!" The cry from Luna had it's desired effect, as Sephiroth's semi-drunkenness removed the memory that Convergence held no sway in the Playoffs. "Althena! What are you doing here..." The Perfect SOLDIER's ramblings were 'cut' short by two well placed slashes from Auron and Elmina. He slumped to the ground. "Great. now what are we supposed to do?" asked Yumei. "I don't know, but that little Goddess is going to go!" snarled Lulu, beginning a Doublecast Flare. Noticing this, the three other members of Team Auron took cover as best they could. Luna wasn't as fortunate. "I love the smell of charred immortal in the morning." growled Id happily. "Is it time yet?" asked Auron, to which Jowy nodded. "All right then, I never thought I would be doing this..." Auron pulled out a transistor radio, set to a frequency of 120.85. "HQ, this is Auron Snake. Send the Metal Gear." The ground shook as the walking tank landed in the center of the arena, with Jowy Atriedes piloting. While it was definitely a flagrant violation of the rules, it would have been hard to find anyone at that moment who would enforce them. Maxim was puzzled. "Er, isn't your job supposed to be to DESTROY the Metal Gears?" Auron smiled. "What, and waste such a valuable vehicle that I could use myself? Anyway, it's time to finish the job." "Advance forward!" cried Jowy. "Stop stealing other people's lines already!" cried Claude Kenni. Yumei moved to face the hulking mech. "It's just a Gear of some sort. Not that hard to dest..." *insert Mermaid squishing sound here* "This is easier than taking candy from a Puny!" said Jowy, preparing a nuclear strike on the three surviving members of Team Sephiroth... three? "I will not be balked!" cried the newly transformed Safer Sephiroth. Pluto... "My wrath will not go unspent!" Jupiter... "The combatants, indeed, the very world..." Sol... "...shall once more tremble at the name of Sephiroth!" Super Nova! Not even the surge protection that Auron had installed could stop the force of Super Nova from sending Metal Gear into a shock that caused it to explode, sending both pilot and attacker into the next time zone. "Ouch... I'd hate to be them right now." said Elmina. "Well, that's a real shame." whispered Lulu as another two Flares made their way towards the Metal Demon, turning the metal in her body into molten slag. "I'm melting... meeelting!"cried Elmina, as an ensign in the audience silently fumed. At last, the final member of Team Auron prepared to make a last stand. Being the intelligent sort, the Lengendary Guardian assessed the situation quickly. "Hmmm... I know that that Maxim guy has strong healing abilities... but I know firsthand what Lulu can do. I'll have to risk it." Coming to a decision, Auron struck with a Magic Break. Suddenly, Lulu wasn't nearly as much of a lulu on the battlefield, and was quickly dispatched. Not hesitating for a moment, a Banishing Break was nailed on the monster hunter. "Hmph... let's see you do anything now..." Maxim, breathing heavily from the shock of the hit, muttered, "I do have IP attacks, you know." "I'm no fool. You'd have to take a lot more damage than what I just gave you to do... anything..." Auron trailed off, as he noticed that the makeup around Maxim's eye was starting to run. Maxim smiled, as the Wave Motion that coursed through his sinews revitalized him. "Aw nuts." was all that Auron could say as he was summarily rended by the Dual Blade. Team Auron: 118 Team Sephiroth: 193 chipstick85@aol.com Team Sephiroth begins the match by focusing all their power on everyone but Auron. "Don't let that fool and his fake Masamune get injured." Sephiroth commands as he strikes down jowy. Lulu adds "Sephiroth means that Auron's power grows as his life lowers!" Maxim throws in a comment as he destroys Elmina "You told us all this before the match,, why tell us again?" You fool, we have to tell all the viewers what we are doing or they might get confused. Auron finally manages to run over to team Sephiroth and cuts down Yumei. Maxim runs to meet him as Sephiroth finishes off Luna. Auron dispatches Maxim with a quick hit and then quick htis Sephiroth as well. "Young fools" Auron boasts "Even at full health I am powerful enough to crush you!" He turns and faces Lulu "You knwo that you cannot beat me. Even a double flare will just give me my overdrive with low HP." Lulu smiles "Turn around." Auron, not fearing a backstab from Lulu, turns to see Yuna performing an odd dance around some dead animal. "Waahh, noo!' he says as he drifts away darkknightCECIL@hotmail.com Team Sephiroth seems to be the most balanced of these two, with Team Auron having a few strong characters and a few weak ones. And I find that balanced parties are much better at combat. Youkairyuu@comcast.net Luna uses Cascade song to raise the defense and power of all here teammates. Jowy merely casts Hungry Friend while Auron uses his massive damage Tornado, boosted by Cascade, and Elmina uses her Draw Outs also boosted with Cascade song. Team Sephiroth is completely outclassed, since the best character, Maxim, can't deal with the combined damage of Tornado, Hungry Friend, and Draw Outs......Sephiroth would get his ass trashed by Luna if it came down to it. darkmaguszeal@hotmail.com The godlike championship was so close it's hard to see the disparity in power between the other team member NOT resulting in a Team Sephiroth win. angelicus85@hotmail.com Team Sephiroth has it all. Sephiroth and Lulu alone could win this match. Add in Maxim and you really have a problem if you are Team Auron. First, Sephiroth and Auron begin a rematch, Sephiroth properly prepared for Auron's Overdrive attack. Lulu doublecasts either Ultima or Flare, effectively removing Jowy. Maxim dispatches Luna, depriving Team Auron of her status enhancements and healing. Lulu, now done with Jowy, doublecasts Flare at Auron, who has been going toe to toe with Sephiroth. Sephiroth, angry at again being denied vicory, impales Lulu, along with his whole team. Now, it is a match between Sephiroth and Elmina...gee, I wonder who will win? tuahan@aol.com To begin with, Luna will begin cast her fortifying song on Auron giving him considerable extra attack and defense skills. Immediately after that, Lulu uses her Ulitma that she loves so very much. Luna may be a goddess, but she ain't a fightin' goddess, so the Ultima basically ends her dreams of being the savior of Team Auron. And Elimina's, too. Oh well. Yumei helps out with a spell, since she has nothing better to do. Sephiroth and Maxim run up to Auron and use X-Strike. (Ok, so they just attack at the same time. Same thing.) Sephiroth slashes off Auron's freaky little collar, revealing his true identity of (drumroll) Citan Uzuki! Who would have guessed? Jowy draws her knife out of Yumei's back before Yumei can exclaim "Cool! An extra knife I never knew I had!" Lulu finishes off the Frigid Damsel-weakened shrew with a severe thrashing with her weapon. Auron Breaks Sephiroth so he can't attack even if he wanted to, but Maxim drives his sword through Auron's chest cavity. So it goes. Shraifer@hotmail.com Team Sephiroth VS Auron Team> Can you say unfair?, except for Sephiroth, who barely lost, all of Sephiroth's team members won their respective matches. Auron's team doesn't stand a chance. Sephiroth's team wins. PumpkinSed@aol.com Auron is really cool...but not cool enough to defeat an entire team of RPG super-stars. Darkavenger_ix@hotmail.com Team auron's more varied and thus they're gonna win! Plus they've got Elmina! Not that I'm biased at all of course... aeris01@go.com As Lulu and Sephiroth argue over who gets the frist attack... Lulu-"My Doublecast should go first! We can win the match before it even begins..." Sehpiroth-"Forget it-I'll slice and dice them before you get a shot off!" Lulu-"Yeah right! You couldn't even win against Auron last time...I'll finish him!" Sephiroth-"In your dreams, Belt Girl!" ...Little does Team Sephiroth know that Elimina has been using her Fast Draw and Auron has already begun his Banishing Blade Limit Break. GrandmastaBrick@aol.com The two teams awaiting for the fight to start. Auron was readying his Masamune. Sephiroth was readying...his masamune. Sephiroth and Auron immediately charged at each, exchanging blows. Maxim and Jowy also charged each other. Yumei and Lulu just sat back, wait for the right time to unleash their spells. Elmina decided to interrupt the castings...only to meet a flare spell directed towards her face. Luna started to sing, but before she could hit a high note and mess stuff up, was hit by the OTHER flare spell, sending her packing. So it was Auron and Jowy versus the Sephiroth team. Jowy had a plan. He would run in between the flares and frigid damsels, so when they hit, they would cancel each other out. This would've worked, had Lulu and Yumei not talked with Marle and Lucca earlier that day, and an antipode later, it was Auron versus everyone. Auron was beating Sephy to a bloody pulp, until Maxim stepped in to lend a hand. Auron managed to get a slash in on Maxim, effectively reducing his HP into the lower teens. Fueled with IP, Maxim cast Wave Motion. Auron gasped in fear as Maxim dashed with incredible speed and strength, only to see a giant comet, two huge fireball, and a ice maiden come flying at him all at once. Maxim laughed, "I guess he was just full of hot air." Secret of Mana Melee QuietCannon@Yahoo.com: The power of Mana would obviously be a key factor in this battle. In which case, things looked bad for Boy. Though he was the best at physical combat and knew how to use a sword well, the fact that he couldn’t cast magic was likely to be a major disadvantage. There’s also the fact that he couldn’t get the Mana Sword fully charged without the other’s magic. With that in mind, Girl and Sprite saw each other as the biggest threat. Though Girl had been armed with a spear and Sprite had an Axe with him, both of them had planned on using Mana to win this match. As the match started, they just ignored Boy and focused on attacking each other. Girl started out by casting Wall on herself to reflect any magic, but that didn’t offer much protection as Sprite removed it with Dispel Magic. Girl was about to fire off a Lucent Beam when Sprite cast one of his own spells right before her: Magic Absorb. With all of her MP having been stolen from her, Girl just lost her main advantage. Quickly, she scrambled through her items to try to find a Faerie Walnut. As soon as she found one, she looked up and saw 3 fire dragons moving in to surround and consume her. With Girl having been incinerated, that just left Boy and Sprite. Boy, who had quietly been observing his two friends trying to kill each other, was quick to move in against the last one standing. With the distance between them closed, Sprite didn’t have time to concentrate and get off another magic attack. Instead he lifted his axe to deflect the attack that was coming. The clash of the two weapons sent a loud noise and shards of metal throughout the arena. Sprite was stunned when he saw the broken handle he was holding that used to be a powerful axe. He looked back at the sword Boy was holding. It was indeed the Mana Sword, and it had been fully charged, AND IT WAS COMING AT HIM. With a slash across the chest, Boy was able to take down Sprite. Despite all the pain, the thought wouldn’t escape Sprite’s mind. (How could this be happening? He couldn’t get the Mana Sword without my Mana). Lying down barely able to breathe, he just had to ask the question. “But how….?” Boy smiled. “Turns out I didn’t need your magic after all. While I was on the Internet looking up your strengths and weaknesses, I came across a glitch that I was able to use to get an ninth Sword Orb and bring it up to full strength.” Sprite couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “That’s cheating” “Actually, this is a legal weapon, and there are no rules restricting alternate ways of getting it, so there’s not much you can do about it.” “Damn” Spite couldn’t keep his eyes open any longer and lost consciousness. Boy: 129 Girl: 40 Sprite: 83 DragoonJay@excite.com Candy - 10 GP. Chocolate - 60 GP. Royal Jam - 300 GP. The ability to heal while you're in a Battle Royal - Priceless. Girl wins. blacklantern28@hotmail.com The battle starts wel for the boy. He's hacking and slashing away. The Sprite's casting Gem missle and evil gate left and right. Finally the girl (who was ignored up to this point) casts stone sword on herself and petrifies the sprite. The boy and the girl battle on for about ten minutes he with the mana sword and her with the dragon claw. The girl casts that confuse spell thingy and the boy falls down and she then skewers him with her claw. Battle won. Vilmizer@hotmail.com The Boy. Girl will run out of mp eventually and the Sprite doesn't have high enough hit points to last for more than an attack or two. MrBucket2525@hotmail.com Yes, "Boy" is unable to cast magic, and if you think about it since ALL characters can equip all the weapons, he can't equip any weapons since none are unique to him. Until, so desperate to win, he paid Lulu, Vivi, Ultimecia, Garnet, ect. (other great spellcasters) to teach him how to. Sorry sprite, not even Dark Force will beat Ultima or Flare. Victory goes to Vivi. GrandmastaBrick@aol.com Girl has healing spells, and is at least DECENT with her weapons. Avelyn143@hotmail.com Sprite...... SPPPPPRRRIIITTEEEE Mmmhhhh refreshing coolness nemoincognito@hotmail.com For the last damn time the SoM characters DO have names - Randi, Purim and Popoie. I can't remember where I first heard these but they sound about right and I've always used them. Right, back on topic I voted Popoie for this one. His offensive magic will see him through. Sure Randi has one of the most powerful weapons in RPGdom, but it doesn't matter worth a damn if he can't get close enough to use it. Not having any magic will seriously handicap him in this match. Purim goes next. She lasts longer because she can heal, but she lacks Popoie's magic firepower. Plus Popoie has a majority of the status/stat-down spells. He casts MP Absorb a few times to nullify Purim's magic and Dispell to cut out anything she may have cast on herself before laying about her with Freeze, Dark Force, Exploder and Burst. And yes, Popoie can heal. That's what HP Absorb is for. The more I think about it the more he dominates this match. Veryslightlymad@hotmail.com I'm sorry, but given the fact that he's the best spell caster, and the fact that he's the only SoM character who's allowed to use a long range weapon, I don't think the Sprite can lose this match, unless he plays very dumb. It's also worth it to note that he has the highest intelligence score. Do you want YOUR comments seen at the RPG Playoffs Online? Just send them in along with your votes and Mr. Cranbud and the RPGP staff will review them for publication! Please refrain from using vulgar or otherwise offensive language in your comments, since Mr. Cranbud will only accept such language if it is used for genuine humorous effect, and only on a good day.