Five 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! Maxim vs Claude Kenni fourthdeus@netzero.net: Maxim stared into the mirror as he made last minute preparations for his upcoming fight. Using his favorite hair gel, "Narly Nash's Hair Juice", he carefully combes his hair back. The Slayer of the Sinistrals was by no means an arrogant man, but this match was important...probably the most important he'd ever had. If he could defeat his predecessor, not only would he be considered the best of the Back to Back Heavy Champs, but he would also have an opprotunity to steal the special distinction of most consecutive wins from Claude. He was fighting for, as they say, all the marbles. Finished grooming his hair, Maxim gave himself a second glance through the reflection, nodded in approval, and walked out of his room. Outside stood an Arena staff member, a short, stocky bald man who seemed almost drowned in excitement. "Hello Mr. Maxim, are you ready?" he asked giddly. Maxim saw that he too seemed overjoyed by this match. "As ready as I'll ever be," Maxim replied, glancing at his Dual Blade. "Great! Then follow me please!" The Arena employee guided Maxim through a maze of corridors, odd characters, and even odder fans, who were kept at bay by Arena security, confined to their own area as they watch their favorites walk to the arena. Maxim has seen it all before, and remembered vividly an incident when a rabid fan through a rotten tomato at him after his match with Brad Evans, accusing him of cheating. Finally, Maxim and the staff member came to the stairs to the arena floor. Maxim felt butterflies form, and multiply in his stomach. This was it...his moment to show what he was really made of. "Good luck, Mr. Maxim," said the staff member encouragingly. "Thanks, and please, just call me Max," replied Maxim with a half smile. He hated the formality of being called "Sir" or "Mr." Made him feel as though he was somehow greater than he really was. "Uhh, sure...Max." And with that the small man blended back into the sea of humanity...and others. "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" Maxim could hear the referee announce from the center of the arena. "TODAY WE BRING YOU A MATCH TO BE REMEMBERED! FOR TODAY WE BRING YOU THE ONLY TWO RPG PLAYOFFS CONTESTANTS," the referee paused to catch his breath, "TO EVER WIN BACK TO BACK HEAVY CHAMPIONSHIPS! INTRODUCING ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE ARENA, THE SLAYER OF THE SINISTRALS...MAXIM!!" That was his cue. Maxim stepped out into the arena, and was drowned in applause, and a few small boos and hisses waving "BRAD 3:16" signs. Maxim shook his head and waited for his opponent. "AND ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE ARENA, WE HAVE THE ORIGINAL BACK TO BACK HEAVY CHAMP, THE MASTER OF THE ART OF ADVANCING FORWARD, LADIES AND GENTLMEN, I GIVE YOU ENSIGN CLAUDE C. KENNI!" Maxim saw his opponent walk into the arena, he too drowned by applause and some boos (these fans were instead waving "RAY 3:16" banners). Claude waved graciously to his arouring public, and then set his eyes on Maxim. Maxim could see the intensity in his predecessors eyes and knew he wasn't going to give up the opprotunity to prove who truely was the best Back to Back Heavy Champ. Nor was he going to let Maxim have a chance at stealing his most consecutive wins distinction. Maxim knew all too well that this match had become personal. "READY...FIGHT!" The referee announced, and made a mad dash out of the arena. "Uh-oh, this looks bad!" Claude said, in a rasp...seemingly poorly recorded voice. Maxim had heard of Claude notoriously horrible voice...but he never imagined that it was THIS horrible. This made him appreciate the fact that he only spoke in text. "Prepare youself, Kenni. I will show how Godlike you truley aren't!" Maxim boasted, and charged toward his opponent. Claude too charged at Maxim...and then leaped into the air. "What?!?" Maxim shouted in disbelief, as he looked into the sky. But as he looked up, he saw Claude's sword, the Eternal Sphere, hit him right between the eyes. "HEAD SPLITTER!" Claude announced, and Maxim fell to his knees in agony, clutching his sore face. "Dragon Howl!" Claude shouted. "Brilliance!" Maxim announced, using this move by sheer reflex alone. Claude's Dragon Howl attack reflected off of Maxim and hit Claude, causing him to fly back. Maxim took this brief opprotunity to think. He used some of his IP on Brilliance. If he has any hope of using Wave Motion, he's going to have take some damage. But could he make it? Claude was quick to go back on the offense, and charged toward Maxim. CLANG! The two blades met. Maxim and Claude struggled for balance, one trying to tip the other over in this test of strength. "Ah!" Claude's poor audio voice exclaimed as he pushed Maxim off his feet and to the arena floor. Boy is he strong, Maxim thought to himself. Maxim got back to his feet, but Claude was right back to greet him, and SLASH, Claude's Eternal Sphere slashed through Maxim's armor. "Curse you!" Maxim screamed, and sliced Claude with the Dual Blade, causing the Ensign to fall back. Maxim slashed again, and again...maybe he wouldn't even need Wave Motion. "Burst Knuckles!" Claude shouted, and the ground beneath Maxim began to shake, and huge blades of dirt and rock hit Maxim repeatedly. The taste of blood and gravel polluted the Slayer's taste buds. Maxim knew he couldn't take more of this. Claude was faster than him, stronger, had a higher defense, and even had a plethora of killer attacks...one could even call them killer moves! He only needed a little more damage to completely fill his IP to the necessary length to pull off a Wave Motion.... "Ah!" Claude shouted, hitting Maxim. As he fell to the ground, Maxim felt himself give a faint smile. THUD! "WAVE MOTION!" A blur of bright lights surrounded Maxim, and he felt his health being restored, and his strength, agility, and overall power being pumped to it's MAXIMum. "Now we'll see what you've got!" Maxim charged toward Claude and slashed. CLANG! Sword kissed sword, and Claude flew back due to the sheer force of Maxim's blow. But Maxim quickly followed, his increased agility allowing him to reach Claude before he could regain his composure. "HYAH!" Maxim swung the Dual Blade, and slashed Claude in the arm, causing the Ensign to fall back. This is it, Maxim thought, victory is at last mine! Maxim moved in for the final blow. "MIRROR SLICE!" "Wha--" Maxim began to question, but he found himself unable to finish his question, and he was ingulfed in a storm of sword blows. When it was over, Maxim's health had been halved. "What kind of attack was-" Maxim began. "MIRROR SLICE!" Claude finished. Again and again, Maxim was hit repeatedly with the monstorous combo. Maxim felt his health dwindling at a disturbing rate, but the multiple hits also filled his IP meter. As the second Mirror Slice ended, Maxim's HP was all but gone, but IP was full. "WAVE-" Maxim began. "MIRROR SLICE!" Claude finsihed. After that, all went black... Maxim woke up in the Hero's Health Ward, Tia by his side. "Tia...how did I...?" Maxim didn't finish his question...for he already knew the answer. "It's okay, Max. You know you went up against a pretty fast guy." Tia consoled. "Yes...I know. But he just continued to use the same move over and over again, non-stop! How can anyone get the chance to attack him when he's constantly using the accursed Mirror Slice?" Maxim asked. "They don't...that's the whole point of the attack," Tia answered rather flatly. "I wonder why he didn't just use it from the beginning?" Maxim pondered aloud. "He was most likely toying with you," Tia answered frankly. "Umm, thanks Tia," Maxim said, somewhat annoyed by her answers. "He could have easily dispatched you in the beginning of the match with a Mirror Slice," Tia continued. "Thank you, Tia," Maxim replied, shaking his head in annoyance. "He probably wanted to see how powerful your Wave Motion really was," said Tia. "THANKS TIA!" Maxim shouted. "Well...have fun recouperating," Tia said in her normal air-headed fashion, and left. Maxim was left with his thoughts. How could anyone be able to attack non-stop like that? And with such speed...why does everyone call Hyuga Ricdeau the fastest swordsman in the RPG Playoffs? Maxim closed his eyes, and rest assured, that next time he faced the Ensign Claude Kenni, it would be him that would advance forward. Maxim: 144 Claude: 164 stefandf@aol.com Maxim and Claude exchnage blows for a while. Maxim's ip meter fills up, Maxim uses wave motion. Maxim tears Claude to pieces. MoogleEmpMog@Laguorok.org Maxim and Claude, Maxim and Claude... nicely matched records, evenly matched skills, Maxim's long-term power against Claude's solid stats, masterful weapons like the Eternal Sphere and the Dual Blade... yow! How to pick? Clearly, these warriors are perfectly matched, and their battle could last for a very long time. But in other respects, the contest appears more lopsided: Maxim had not one but two extremely attractive love interests, and actually got to marry Selan during the course of the game. Claude, on the other hand, cannot even guarantee that his relationship with Rena will be long-term when all is said and done. Maxim wins by superior romance skillz. WickeDHugh@Hotmail.com Claude entered the arena, cheered on by heavy contestants like Jowy Atriedes and Brad Evans, who had earned Maxim's wrath. Maxim and Claude charged, swords clashing, but it seemed Claude's weapon was far more insuperior. Maxim smashed him to the ground, and held his blade high. A cold smile crossed his face. Claude was too shocked to defend himself. Just then, the air around Maxim thickened and grew dark. Maxim cried out in pain before falling to the ground, limp. Claude stood up, brushed himself off, and said, "Yeah.. uh, I did that." The crowd cheered as Jowy smiled, his work had been completed. GrandmastaBrick@aol.com Maxim vs. Claude...this is probably the toughest match to call EVER. This match basically comes down to who can go first - If Claude can Death Ray and end the match fast he can do it, but if Maxim can use Brilliance first, Claude is dead meat. This is SOOOO incredibly tough, I'm still deciding on who's going to win even as I type this. I will choice Maxim though, for three reasons: 1.He was more of the classic hero. 2.He has more insanely cheap IP attacks. 3.I want him to dominate the likes of Sephiroth and Id. hellbringer@seanbaby.com Claude vs. Maxim- Maxim will fall to Claude's mirror slice. This is mostly because while Maxim can only stand still, Claude can usually move out of the way of things. tylorh@hotmail.com Claude vs. Maxim Anyone facing Maxim has to answer two questions if they hope to win. 1. Do they attack first? 2. Can they win in one shot? With his Valient Boot enhanced speed Claude can definatly answer yes to the first question, but the resiliancy of Maxim's armour and his high HP mean that he'll likely survive Claude's initial attack. An attack that might as well never have happened after Wave Motion comes into play and Maxim's durability wins him wet another match. DragoonJay@excite.com The two warriors strode to the arena, each of them counting on their primary technique to propel them to victory. The question of whether a Mirror Slice could obliterate the Slayer of Sinistrals would finally be resolved. There was just one little problem... "Wait a minute... where did Dual Blade go?" asked Maxim. "Dual Blade nothing... who stole the Eternal Sphere?" raged Claude. The two searched for the villain who had purloined their vaunted blades, but to no avail. "Well, this makes it a bit difficult to duel, doesn't it." remarked Maxim. Claude replied by taking out his Phase Gun. "Not for me. And I would suggest that you not try any of your spells, seeing as that would be against the rules. I know. I checked. Now, I suppose this will be worth about 40 points..." he said, taking aim and firing straight for Maxim's forehead. It was then that the shot bounced off, and struck the ensign down. "Obviously, your research wasn't complete." said Maxim, as the effects of Brilliance wore off. PumpkinSed@aol.com Maxim may have Wave Motion, but it does him no good when he's dead from a barrage of Mirror Slice's. ModeratorNo1@aol.com Claude and Maxim gripe their ultimate weapons of choice. Maxim gets ready to attack. But Claude uses ripper blast and knocks Maxim to the floor. As Maxim looks up to see his final moments, Claude smirks as he points the Levantine at his face and drives through for the win. ultima287@yahoo.com The battle's outcome was quickly determined when comparing the strength of the Eternal Sphere or the Leviathan coupled with a successful Killer Move against a relatively moderately-sized opponent in terms of both hit points and defense. Maxim's famed Dual Blade, Wave Motion, and his Pearl armor for that matter, did him no good as Claude simply cut him apart with Mirror Slice on turn one. apuffe42@cs.com Now here's a match I've wanted to see for a long, long time. Alas, I just realized - Maxim cannot win. He'll certainly get a turn before the Bunny Shoe-less Claude reaches him, but... what can he do? Even with Wave Motion, he can't stand against the flinch-inflicting Claude's super cheapness combos... or his Phase Gun, which is based on Claude's strength like any killer move and does 700 damage at level 1. Brilliance will save him from only the first hit of Mirror Slice. Miracle Care will keep Max alive for a little while, but Claude's real-time dodging skills and Energy Sword are enough to keep him going until it wears off. Well, this match's somewhere around eighty points! JackPower@aol.com Hmm, the Dual Blade a mightier weapon than the Eternal Sphere or the Levantein? Excuse me while I collapse on the floor in laughter. Speaking of collapsing, that's exactly what Maxim will do after Claude hit-stuns him with his normal attack and then juggles him indefinitely with Mirror Slice. Lezard Valeth vs Sydney Losstarot bluedragon667@aol.com: Lezard and Sydney pace into the ring, each with a puzzled look. The normal arena has been modified without notification to either opponent. Strange statues of golems and monster adorn the walls. Furthermore, Lezard was missing his Holy wand of Telos along with a few other pieces of equipment. He glares over at Sydney. "Let me guess, you had this ring altered to your advantage! After all, the Philosophers Stone told me of your powers." Sydney just laughs and says "Perhaps this is your fate" in a mocking tone. "Fate, you say?" Lezard smirks. "I personally like to do as I please and call it fate once the cards have settled." With that he faces the crowd. "I will win this battle in the name of my lady love... Valkyrie!" Valkyrie, who was sitting in the audience, shoots a cross look down at Lezard before disappearing. To this Lezard just shrugs his shoulders and says "Hmph! Getting the attention of a goddess isn't easy, is it?" By now, Sydney had taken the opportunity to animate every statue he could on his side of the ring. A myriad of stone gargoyles, demons, and golems now swarmed Lezard. Their swings were slow and powerful, but could not hit Lezard due to his adept illusion. With one Icicle Edge, many of the statues were now encased in ice. With a motion to his familiar, the statues shattered one by one as it flew through them. With another motion of his hand, his pet flew at Sydney and tore a large wound into his chest. Sydney only laughed as his wounds began to regenerate. Again, Lezard had been too busy to notice the demons that had been summoned behind him. Lezard was lunged upon and beaten by a number of creatures, before being thrown to the ground. Despite his fatal wounds, he gets up thanks to guts, and casts heal on himself restarting the battle. Now aware of the demons, Lezard sends them back where they came with a Mystic Cross. A look of surprise and amusement crosses Sydney's face as he begins to summon more allies. Once again the familiar digs into Sydney's chest, ex! cept this time it is holding a strange little potion. The wounds again close, but this time with the strange fluid in them. Just as Sydney is about to summon the most powerful creature he could to end this battle, he falls to the ground in great pain. His skin begins to harden and stretch as he gives an unnatural howl. Before the eyes of the audience, he has transformed into a ghoul. "How do you like my Ghoul Powder?" Lezard asks before obliterating Sydney with a Celestial Star attack. As he is pronounced the winner, he arrogantly turns his head and says, "These opponents are surprising feeble. With this competition, I will secure Godlike easily!" Lezard: 165 Sydney: 104 shibakev@earthlink.net While Sydney may be impossible to kill, he sure is easy to knock out. An easy win for Lezard. xXJowyAtreidesXx Lezard turns to Sydney and says Hi to him, Sydney dies and crys BOO HOO HUGH HOO WAAAHHHHH WickeDHugh@Hotmail.com Sydney entered the arena, laughing sinisterly. "Lezard.. I must show you somethin of your past." The sound of Lezard's heart beating filled the room. Lezard fell to the his knees, in shock, as a vision of himself in his younger days passed before him. Sydney smelled, having learned his lesson from Ashley Riot, and finished Lezard off before he came back out of his dreamy state. GrandmastaBrick@aol.com Sydney has no chance. Lezard can just summon some random Hell/Nifleheim monsters, and have them do all the work. tylorh@hotmail.com Sydney's strategy going into the match was simple. Confuse his opponent by creating images of himself all around and wait until Lezard made a mistake. Lezard, however, merely summoned a horde of contructs and sent them on the job of destroying the illusions, figuring that they'd eventually hit the real Sydney, and that such parlour tricks as illusions were below his attention. A fatal decision it turned out as Sydney then placed a similar illusion over Lezard. DragoonJay@excite.com Even before Sydney could begin his attack, Lezard collapsed, clutching his stomach. "What's wrong with him?" asked Glenn, before he too collapsed in pain. The answer was obvious to everyone then - "someone" had poisoned the Viper Churros. Sydney didn't seem to mind. "It's been far too long since I actually won a match. At last, my victory is at hand." A victory was at hand. Unfortunately, it was the shaking hand of Lezard, hurtling a Prismatic Missile at the poor Sydney. cloudfft78@hotmail.com Lezard's obsession for Valkyrie was overwhelming him. He would do anything to gain her love. If he could win a championship maybe she would come to. Lezard was ready for his match, the thing was.....Sydney was not there. Lezard's draw dropped when he saw Valkyrie walking towards him. "I have finally realized that I love you" replied Valkyrie. As much as Lezard should of been happy, he wasn't. This must of been some of Sydney's trickery. He casted a mystic cross which went through the illusion that Sydney had placed and proceeded to knock Sydney out of the arena. "I will not be fooled by someone lower than me" laughed Lezard. His grin turned to a frown when he saw Valkyrie and Lucian making out under the bleachers. "I will make her see I'm better than that pretty boy" exclaimed Lezard as he walked out of the arena. ANONYMOUS Lezard against... Sydney...? Wow, an alleged Godlike vs. a real god... OK, two words - Mystic Cross. Lezard starts with it, and it can easily rip even bosses in half if Lezard-sama is Level 99. Bottom line: Lezard has powerful magic, while Sydney is... well... not too impressive. I like Sydney, but he ain't got what it takes to stand up to a *real* God like Lezard... apuffe42@cs.com Sydney fights smart. Lezard fights stupid. Forget in-depth analysis, let's not probe this match too closely. The smart money's always on the smart man. Albert Serdio vs Bart Fatima MoogleEmpMog@Laguorok.org: Albert sat in his waiting room, uncharacteristically fuming. "What is wrong, old friend?" asked Lavitz. "Nothing," Albert snapped. And that was it. Lavitz was shocked that his chum was so quiet. "Seriously," he said, "you should not fight in this condition." "I will fight," Albert muttered, hardly seeming to notice Lavitz, "and I will destroy this pathetic excuse for a King, too." Lavitz just raised an eyebrow. Albert entered the Arena and immediately charged at Bart, spear swinging. The match was exciting, and surprisingly fierce considering the usual BEBHM comaraderie. In the stands, Lavitz asked, "Dart, what is wrong with Albert?" Dart shook his head sadly and pointed at Queen Emily Serdio, happily cheering away... for Bart. "Oh," said Lavitz. "I guess the poetry thing got old, eh?" Dart nodded. "Yeah. Seems the pirate thing really won her over. Tough luck, huh?" Albert, meanwhile, was wearing himself out. Bart continued to dodge around, avoiding his attacks, building up to a final devastating deathblow combo that left Albert flattened, never having had the chance to enter Dragoon mode. "Tougher luck, huh?" asked Dart. Lavitz nodded, and swore that one day he would upgrade to Heavy and avenge the honor of his King. Albert: 132 Bart: 153 apuffe42@cs.com For some reason, Hyuga/Citan and Lloyd are both described as having high evasion. Not a chance. Bart, now, there's high evasion for you! Albert won't get in a single one of his unimpressive hits. pixie0569@aol.com Speed + Dragoon Form + Rose Storm = Dead Bart Chaz Ashley vs Ashley Winchester DragoonJay@excite.com: "I hear that you have a special form." said Chaz. "That's right, the Knightblazer. What's it to you?" said Ashley. "I want you to transform into it." "What?! Are you crazy, pal?" Chaz shook his head. "If I cannot beat you when you're at your best, then how can I say that I have fairly won this match?" "That's easy. You can't." said Knightblazer, destroying the hero with a single Last Burst. "Wasn't that overkill?" called Brad to the gasping Ashley as the smoke cleared. "Would you like to be hit by a Megid?" asked Ashley, making his way to the exit. Chaz: 125 Ashley: 136 WickeDHugh@Hotmail.com Chaz and Ashley entered the arena. Chaz prepared to dodge, seeing as Ashley had a gunblade. But, what he didn't expect was Ashley to charge. It seemed that Ashley's normal attack was enough to finish the job. Vilmizer@hotmail.com All Ashley has to do is throw a Viper Fang at Chaz to kill him. o_O apuffe42@cs.com Somehow, whenever I see Chaz, I think "Claude Kenni wannabe," despite the obvious facts to the contrary. Still, even a wannabe Claude can kill Ashley long before he can go Knightblazer. Nina Wyndia vs Rinoa Heartilly DragoonJay@excite.com: "I don't know why I keep losing..." thought Nina. "Maybe I should ask Ryu. He'll know what to do." And so she did. "..." "You mean, it's that simple?" "..." "Wow, thank you, Ryu!" "..." "Awww, that's sweet of you. I'll see you after the match!" Within the confines of the arena, Nina put her plan into action, simply flying up out of reach of Rinoa. "Come down and fight!" wailed Rinoa. Meanwhile, Nina was casting and recasting every stat-upper spell she knew upon herself. Soon enough, her attack, defense, and speed were at a level where she could actually withstand a hit. After one strike with the Blessed Staff, that was more than could be said for Rinoa. Nina: 184 Rinoa: 126 xXJowyAtreidesXx Nina starts off the battle with a casting of frost, a spell which she has known for a game or two. Rinoa is unable to dodge, and is weakened to near death. Suddenly Rinoa laughs insanely. "I can use my limit break now", she says, "I will continue to put a dog on my arm and shoot it at you...... seriously" Nina can only stand shocked as Rinoa does, and since she can't recieve physical damage without dying, she is left lying on the arena floor. The FF victory theme plays and she gives the dog a treat. MoogleEmpMog@Laguorok.org Sorry, but I cannot vote against the lovely princess of Wyndia. It doesn't matter that Rinoa potentially has power to rival Ultimecia's, or that her limit break is a lot like Millennia's incredibly cheap magical berserk, or that Angelo comes out to help all the time. Nina would just get her BoF4 'sad look' and Rinoa would feel bad about hurting her. GrandmastaBrick@aol.com Rinoa has no skills to match Nina. None at all. All Rinoa really can do to hope for a win is her limit break, which even then doesn't guarantee a win. Nina gets this one. nemoincognito@hotmail.com Nina Vs. Riona Ha ha ha, very funny. Where's the real match? .... Your're not kidding? Nina and Riona? Riona is screwed beyond the established mortal boundries of screwed. Over the course of four (soon to be five) lifetimes Nina Wyndia has accumulated an impressive roster of spells, both white and black. Riona, on the other hand, can't even use magic under RPGP rules. As for her limit breaks she suffers the same problem as her should-be-middle boyfriend Squall - it doesn't matter how powerful your attacks are, if you can't get them off at will that has to count against you. Riona's chances of achieving Angel Wing and casting a spell appropriate to the situation (with the added factor of Nina's constant magic barrage) are about equal to the chances of Quistis Trepe stepping out of my TV screen and making wild passionate love to me. A walkover for the Wyndian wonder. ultima287@yahoo.com The eternal princess of Wyndia quickly began the battle with a Typhoon, sending the hapless Rinoa soaring into the air and crashing back down with an ear-splitting smash. However, Rinoa got back up, without a bruise, and simply whistled. After being submitted to the cosmetic horrors of Wishing Star, somebody finally explained to Nina the whole system of "junctioning" magic to one's stats, including elemental defense. apuffe42@cs.com Nina can use BOF1's AglUp on herself, take BOF3's ex turns and combo her BOF2 and BOF4 attack spells for truly massive damage. Tell me again why she's not in Godlike, or at least Heavy? JackPower@aol.com Nina definitely has the advantage at the beginning of the fight. Her arsenal of spells will bring down Rinoa to critical levels in no time. That's when it gets messy, however. Her Limit Breaks are nearly as deadly as her boyfriend's, and are sheer overkill for little Nina. Fratley vs Tsai MoogleEmpMog@Laguorok.org: Fratley, being the just yet merciful noble knight he is, offered Tsai a chance - "Fashion me a fine sturdy spear, good man," he said, "and I shall not expect you to face me in the Arena." Tsai, being nobody's fool and knowing that Fratley had been training to fight Beatrix, of all people, accepted this offer graciously. Fratley: 172 Tsai: 113 DragoonJay@excite.com "I don't know, I just get the feeling that I'm supposed to be somewhere right now..." said Fratley to Galuf, as they downed a few Bartweisers in the arena lounge. "Well, if it was really important, you would remember it." said Galuf. "Excuse me, sir." said Krelian, with a smug smile. "I would like to smoke this celebratory cigar. Do you have a match?" "No, I'm sorry. I don't smoke." said Fratley. "... I see. Well, I hear there's going to be a few great fights going on. Do you know anyone who's fighting today?" "Sorry, I don't follow the competitions that much." said Fratley. Frustrated, Krelian continued to try to jog the rodent's memory, to no avail. He returned to his own seat in time to hear Tsai declared as the winner by disqualification. "I told you." gloated Yuna. "Now pay up." Grumbling, Krelian handed over a pouch of Figaroan mint gold pieces. Suddenly, Fratley jumped up. "I remember now! Matches... fire... fighting... I'm missing the Alexandrian Fire Fighters' Bake Sale! I've got to get there in a hurry!" Fratley rushed out before he could hear Krelian bang his head on the table in frustration. herring4120@msn.com Fratly will trance and jump and rain down spears on his foe Lowe vs Doc DragoonJay@excite.com: Lowe advanced confidently. "Hah! I've got a Blast spell that will knock your socks off." "You don't have a Blast spell, Lowe. No one from our time does." said Max from the sidelines. "I don't? Well, I guess I'm in trouble, then." said Lowe. "You got that right, dude." said Doc, who used Gnarly to easily beat the healer. Lowe: 114 Doc: 157 xXJowyAtreidesXx Lowe jumps in the arena and continues into a series of backflips and jumps. He then continues to spin his staff around and jump high in the air towards Doc. As he nears Doc a flurry of staff swings occur. Lowe lands and Doc stands, seemingly unharmed. "You missed", he laughed. His laughter turned to a groan as he fell into two pieces. As he leaves the Arena, the Legend grows of Lowe, master staff ninja. cloudfft78@hotmail.com "Where are the other 29 members of the Shining Force" asked Doc. "I don't need there help" reclaimed Lowe. "Hahahahaha"!!! Lowe silenced Doc's laughter after he casted Quick on himslef and beat him down with the holy rod. Pikachu vs Chu-Chu Darkwyrm@dragonseek.com: Chu-Chu had descided her strategy at the start of her match.. she simply grew huge and sat down on the entire arena floor, Pikachu was never seen again.. where he went is a matter nobody wanted to speculate.. but many pokemon haters drunk to her victory for the next few days. Pikachu: 142 Chu-Chu: 160 ksoppy@yahoo.com The two pint sized rodents face off with each other. Pikachu is pretty confident going into it. That confidence is soon shattered as Chu-Chu grows to gear sized proportions and promptly proceeds to step on the stupid little electric rat. WickeDHugh@Hotmail.com With every single RPG character rooting against the RPG-insulting Pikachu, Pikachu's morale lowers. Chu-Chus, however, is extremely high as she manages to defeat Pikachu. GrandmastaBrick@aol.com Pikachu...versus Chu-Chu...chu...chu!! Pikachu would win because of his electrical attacks, but Chu-Chu is not nearly as hated in my heart as Pikachu is. nemoincognito@hotmail.com Chu-Chu's transformed state easily wins her this battle. Not through physical attacks, but other methods. She won't be able to hit the speedy Pikachu as a giant, but on the other hand Pikachu (miniscule in comparison) will be unable to do any damage whatsoever to her amplified defense and 30,000HP (backed up by a healing spell). Stalemate? Not so. Being one of the few people who actually bothered using Chu-Chu I know about her attack spells. Can Pikachu dodge those? The amplified damage of a gear-sized Ancient Myth or Forest Gnome can easily take out Pikachu's low HP. It helps if you read up on Chu-Chu's potential before you pass judgement on her. markmat581@aol.com Pikachu vs. Chu-Chu: God help me...I can't vote for Chu-Chu...::screams in pain:: videogamefil@aol.com Pika pika, the sound of the devil. How can you beat the dark prince? tylorh@hotmail.com While Pikachu's powers do cry out for him to be placed in light, his calculated ruthlessness and evil scheming. Tossing in the sanity which was revealed along with those other features in Jack Power's interview, a truly rare trait in evil genius, and the innocent Chuchu clearly doesn't stand a chance. DragoonJay@excite.com Rightly incensed, Chu-Chu ignored the advice of basically every single tactician and went for her Gear-sized form. "All it takes is one hit-chu, and the win is mine-chu!" That hit would never come. As soon as Pikachu entered the ring, he paralyzed Chu-Chu with a Thunder Wave, and threw her out with Seismic Toss. cloudfft78@hotmail.com This is the battle of the most annoying charcters ever. On one side you got a little rodent who is obviously retarded. If I ever hear the word Pika Pika, I will hit the person who says it. Chu-Chu is a pink doll who is horny for Fei. I give this match to Chu-Chu though because she can turn into giant chu-chu which would just squash pikachu. Either way I don'y care who wins....I just honestlly hope I never see another match like this. apuffe42@cs.com The next two matches... eh. Pikachu on Chu-Chu, eh? Ignoring all concerns about fanboyism and concentrating solely on their legal game abilities, Pikachu secures a clear win with his/her/its 100% paralysis inducing Thunder Wave and its massive damage inflicting Thunder. *runs for the hills* pixie0569@aol.com As Chu-Chu enters the Arena, Margie comes to rescue the pink ball of fluff. As she does so, Pikachu uses Thunder, which truns both of them into well done meat. As Pikachu does its victory dance, Bart is seen in the stands doing the same. Master Manipulators Match DragoonJay@excite.com: A dark meeting was held in a far corner of the arena stands. "All right, each of you will reveal what you have done to disrupt the pathetic fools. The one who has done the most evil thing wins." said Kefka, for the moment avoiding his trademark laughing in order to keep others from looking their way. Yuna began. "Let's see... besides the tampering I did on the actual matches, I locked Squall in his room with the water running and no way to turn it off. I added a dash of hemlock to the Viper Churros being sold around the stadium. That's about it." Krelian laughed. "That's it? A few small pranks and some minor entertainment fixing?" "I won some money off of you because of that 'fixing', so I wouldn't be laughing too hard, Krelian." replied Yuna. "Now what did you do?" "You will notice that there is a large deal of grumbling from the audience here. What I did was gather information about most of the competitors. Information that they would not want revealed." "So you're blackmailing them. How original." said Delita. "Yes and no, my dear Delita. You see, everyone here believes that a different person is blackmailing them. I simply paired off a list of names, and matched them. Crono believes that Magus is behind his blackmail, and vice versa. That way, animosity goes throughout the RPGP, and I win." "I have to admit, that is utterly delightful!" piped in Kefka with glee. "Something I wish I had come up with myself!" "It doesn't really matter what you did, Delita. It looks like he won, fair and unsquare." moaned Yuna. "I wouldn't be so sure about that. The first thing I did was get Kefka to broadcast this entire conversation over the P.A. system." It took a moment for the bombshell announcement to sink into the mind of Krelian."You mean..." "...that you should start running? Yes, that would be a good idea." said Delita with a coy smile. Krelian did so, followed by a rather large (and furious) mob. "Well, I'd like to thank you for eliminating my competition, Delita. Although that was a rather evil act, if that was the first thing you have done, the match is mine." said Yuna. "Not quite. I didn't see the point in running around risking my neck when I could simply bribe the referee." said Delita, walking away. "And needless to say, I allowed it. Oh, Yuna, I think there's a rather soaked SeeD who'd like to have a few words with you." added Kefka, as he left Yuna to his fate. Delita: 127 Krelian: 96 Yuna: 59 apuffe42@cs.com The Incomparable Schemer Match! A once in a lifetime event! "You can be sure of THAT", each contestant sniggered, all planning clever ways to off their peers. So the three gathered at the Arena on the designated day... and waited in vain for Kefka to show up. At last, they journeyed to Kefka's tower (not letting any member out of sight, by mutual consent), and met their overseer... well, supposed overseer. "Just what do you want me to do?" raged Kefka, furious at being disturbed from, well, whatever he was doing, we won't go there. "There IS no oversight for this match, idiots! Just get out there and HATE HATE HATE!!!!" And with a courtesy Fallen One to the backside, they were off! Or rather, Krelian was off, by a sword through the ribcage as Delita, the only schemer with actual combat experience, took advantage of Kefka's inadvertant help. Delita whipped around, intending to take care of Lord Yuna next and settle the contest right then and there, but the cowardly scientist(?) had teleported away at the first sign of trouble. As usual. The only slightly illegitimate King of Ivalice hurried back to his castle and wasted no time sending his network of spies and assassins (well, not THOSE assassins, though he would've loved the assistence of Celia and Lede) into every nook and cranny of the RPGP domain, searching for Yuna as well as spreading general mayhem and chaos. As the week rolled on, the RPG Inquisitor was rife with stories of abominable acts, treachery, black magic and tyranny of every sort as Delita grabbed his reconstituted Zodiac Demon friends from their tanks in the RPGP basement and promptly conquered the city. At least, that's what we think happened - the RPGI offices were sucked into a portal to the netherworld Thursday night. At last, Saturday rolled around. Delita chuckled in his throne, holding a blackened and tarnished Star Dragon Sword, as an awed Kefka was escorted rather roughly to him by the zombified body of Krelian, now possessed by the demon formerly known as Elmdor. "Well?" Delita sneered, "I've turned this entire city into my personal domain, in which the black arts are freely practiced and the average life span is 0.3 seconds. As for that coward Yuna, well, he's not even here! And you see what happened to poor dear Krelian..." The King grinned maliciously. "At last, I have become someone! I demand you declare me the winner and show those nobles what a little commoner can do!" Kefka opened his mouth to speak - and the doors flung open to reveal a smirking Lord Yuna! "Ah, my dear Delita, how nice to see you again!" Strangely enough, those words were uttered in a feminine voice... "What are you trying to pull, Yuna? I'm warning you, whatever it is, it won't be enough to top me! And what's with the funny voice?" snarled Delita as he drew his sword. Lord Yuna merely chuckled and gestured behind him... "Why, dearie, ready for stabbing again? But didn't you already try that?" And with those words, a hulking mass of pure reanimated malignant suffering hove into view, a monstrosity that had once been called... "Ovelia!" Delita gasped, then remembered where he was and that he was evil, and commanded the Zodiacs to let loose. But as they did, Yuna and Zombie Goddess Ovelia... dissappeared! "An illusion!" screamed Altima, showing a firm grasp of the obvious. Then a voice came out of the air, this one recognized as being Lord Yuna at last... "I just thought you should see your wife again. She's so displeased with you that she consented to unimaginable suffering at my hands instead. And now that suffering has born fruit... Look out your window." Foolishly, Delita did just that. The incoming hex obliterated Delita, the castle, the city, and about half the world, but left little doubt about who was the vilest one of all. And the truly sad thing is that about 15 minutes after that, Cray & Nina finally found Yuna's stronghold... but he wasn't there... MoogleEmpMog@Laguorok.org Yuna is definitely the most evil of the three. Killing Mami, and what he did to poor Elina, and GETTING AWAY WITH IT... the man is like pure concentrated evil. Fortunately for the fate of the world, evil alone doesn't win matches. Delita has a strong incentive to win this one for the antiheroes and show these villains what it's all about. He also has mad manipulation skillz to fall back on. A mutually beneficial partnership with Ramza would likely be in order for him, as well as a few bucks slipped to the lovely and talented Celia and Lede. Sadly, Krelian is the best of the worst. The man learns nanotechnology in his spare time, for crying out loud! Not to mention the fact that he played Cain, the Gazel, Miang, Shevat, Solaris, the Ethos, Aveh, Grahf, Kislev and even Deus for fools for 500 years. Krel's combat skills may be rusty, but if Delita tried to challenge him one-on-one, the old Nisan Templar abilities ought to bring down a mere Ivalician Holy Knight. KuliKillzAll@msn.com Yuna is definitely the most evil schemer. He'd find a way to screw over just about everyone and then get away with it totally free. He'd live to scheme again. Hail Lord Yuna!! starsickle@yahoo.com Forget it...Krelian. lynzoi@yhaoo.co.uk My vote has to go to Lord Yuna. Not only did he screw up everyone's minds, he betrayed the current emperor, messed up Fou-lu, ordered the killing of his love and created a missile out of her soul (which he promptly shot at him), and he never gave the good guys a chance to defeat him! Besides, I'm the president of the Save Our Yuna campaign! He always gets my vote for being the evil person he is! Hail Yuna-sama! Kjeldoran345@aol.com Lord Yuna is the greatest villain ever! Hmph. Yuna can manipulate ANYONE and get away with it alive. Who else can truthfully make this claim? Let us all praise his greatness by reading the sacred Yuna haiku. - Our Lord Yuna We greatly admire you Because you are cool - With your blue outfit And your funky big blue hat And your blue fox tail - Maybe you are mad But then aren't all of us too? But you went further - By making those gods And trying to kill Fou-lu Which wasn't that nice - And killing Mami Was incredibly evil We really hate that - But you are Yuna So we may just let that slide Since we all love you!! bluedragon667@aol.com The deal was set for the three. Whoever pulled off the biggest scam in the arena matches today would be the winner. There was no limit to what one could do, just so long as they were alive at the end of the matches. Krelian thought he would take the gold by tampering with the godlike matches. Before the fight, he sneaked into Lezard's quarters while he was harassing Valkyrie. He not only stole the Holy Wand of Telos, but he had several large statues brought into the ring. Knowing Sydney's powers, the tables would be turned on Lezard. So as Krelian watched the match from the shadows, an enraged Valkyrie appeared before him. She stared crossly at him, holding the wand and asked, "Are you the one that made the Sufal Mass?". To this, Krelian nodded. She drew her sword and said, "Your sins lay heavy upon you, defiler of souls! By the Holy Law, you shall be cleansed!" Krelian reeled back in shock. "But I was already forgive....." He did not even last long enough to be hit with an Nebelung Valesti. Yuna, realizing he no longer had the support of the emperor, also wanted to go for godlike competitors. His plan was to steal Dual Blade, thus making it difficult for Maxim to fight. Unfortunately for him, he stumbled upon Selan in his escape, and was destroyed accordingly. Delita smiled, knowing that he told Valkyrie where to find Krelian and told Selan Yuna's plans. With both of his competitors dead, he again proved himself the slyest character in RPG history. SimPlus@hotmail.com Bonus match: Who can beat a politician on his own game? 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. General BCp comments, comments about previous comments or multi-match comments should be directed to the BCp Visitor Forum on the main BCp site.