Season 24, Week 3
Rydia
(Final Fantasy IV) 		 
The Caller Rydia has already won one difficult battle, beating the agile and cunning warrior Rapp, and avoiding his fatal Deathsword, in her opening match. Now, in the second round, she faces a completely different foe, and it's going to be a far simpler match. Luc, the angst-ridden magus of air, is slower and frailer than Rapp, not to mention magically reliant - meaning he lacks most of the advantages Rapp held against the physically-weak mage. So this should be a simple fight, far easier than the last: calling Bahamut to her aid will result in a well-done weakling fricasse, a delightful dish by all accounts, and one that should become better-known after Rydia's makes it out of every opponent she faces as she dominates all of Heavy this season.

V

S

 Now that he's finally won a match, Luc should be excited. But that would deeply violate his strict belief system of angst, misery, and mild derangement. In any case, Luc now finds himself facing the Summoner of Mist, who should provide a much tougher battle than the Sinstral of Terror. While Luc is not unschooled in the summoner's arts, Rydia's mastery of spells like Bahamut make Open Gate's long casting time less than useful. Instead, Luc will be drawing once again on the power of the True Wind Rune, hoping to outlast his frail foe with powerful Shining Winds, or perhaps dispatch her with a single Eternal Wind. This battle will test both mages to the limit, and with the power of Wind on his side, Luc should should pass that test and emerge victorious.

superaielman
-Shrine of time-

"Yeah, you owe me. I want to see what's going to happen." Edge glared at TimeLord, some annoyance showing through. "Let me see my glorious victory.. and Rydia's, of course."

TimeLord shrugged, and waved his hand. "As you wish.."

Scenes of battle flickered forth. Rydia stood alone against the full armies of undead that Luc could summon, ending with a final, brutal staredown with Luc.. and her getting leveled from behind by the summoned Yuber. The last thing Edge saw before the scene faded was Rydia struggling to her feet after the battle, only to be met once again by Yuber's gleaming swords..

"It appears Luc asked for his summons to be legal to compensate for Rydia's on summons, and somehow the request pasted muster."

Edge grimanced. Another screen quickly popped up. The Ninja Prince stood toe to toe with Alhazad, trading blows. Edge suddely slumped over from what looked to be a sleep attack.. Edge turned away and winced, as the Metal Demon tore his image apart.

.."And wouldn't you know it. Piastol somehow managed to get on the schedule commitee. By some miracle, you and Rydia fight at the exact same time." Timelord let his TimeProphecy spell disperse. "You've got enough time to save either Rydia or yourself. Which is it going to be?"

Edge leaned into TL, and whispered. "I've got just the plan.."

----

Edge ran hard to the heavy arena. Rydia was on in a few minutes, and he only had one simple plan to hold off the assault.

"Heya." Panting, quickly filled in Rydia on what was going to happen. "You need to master a new summon.."

---

Edge stood next to Rydia. She had recluctantly agreed to Edge's idea. When Luc approached the judge, he saw Rydia's eyes widen. Luc smirked in Rydia's direction, and pointed. "Now the fight's even." With that simple statement, the fight began. Luc was quickly working on summoning Yuber and the hordes of undead, which would be Rydia's undoing.

Rydia wasted no time. "Edge!" Hitting the ring at a dead sprint, Edge leaped into the air. Landing a solid kick on the surprised Luc's jaw staggered the mage, but he held his casting even still. Edge shook his head. "No time.." Even as he spoke, unearthly creatures began floating in the space within Luc's summoning square. "Have to use the utlimate attack.." Edge took a deep breath, and prepared his strongest move."Eblan Utlimate Strike: The great equalizer!" Without further ado, Edge ran up to Luc, raised his foot, and landed a -very- solid kick.. well, below the belt.

Luc, while one of the greatest in the multiverses at holding a spell, even when facing blows that would chop him in half. Sadly for Luc and despite all appearences.. the little wind mage was a man. Like any man, Luc promptly clutched at the wounded area and staggered around the ring in epic pain, as the male part of the crowd groaned in sympathy.

The Bahamut that followed Edge's attack was almost a mercy.

Rydia: 61
Luc: 38

T.G. Nevareh
Oh, Luc, Luc, Luc. He is the master of the True Wind Rune as well as one of the most talented magicians in all of the Suikoverse. He is effectively immortal, he's highly resistant to magic, and he has the Angsty Bishounen Clone factor going for him.

Rydia is a master of the art of Calling and is one of the most talented magicians in all of the Final Fantasy universe. She is actually known for how NOT immortal she is- in fact over a period of perhaps three or four weeks (maybe less) she goes from a small child to an adult, she is highly resistant to magic, and she has the Sad But Determined Girl Who Will Not Let Others Despair factor going for her.

What's so special about this?

Yes, that's right! Two people who fit the Generic High-Profile Mage Category that pretty much goes as such:

[Name] is a master of [kind of special magic] and is one of the most talented magicians in all of the [game name] universe. [Something to do with age, usually bespeaking some kind of immortality], is highly resistant to magic, and [appropriate gender pronoun] has the [Appropriate character reference, usually talking about sulkiness or determination] factor going for [appropriate gender pronoun].

They pretty much fit exactly the same character archetype! A-MAZING!

Both of them have a weakness to physical attacks and status ailments unless provided with protective equipment. Unfortunately for Luc, Rydia can also hand them out like candy from strangers- Toad and Piggy being two effects that completely incapacitate Luc. They both do hideous damage with magic and take relatively little from it. Unfortunately for Luc, Rydia's Mega Flare ignores target defense so his wonderful defense against magic is kind of useless. They both have relatively large amounts of magic to throw at one another. Unfortunately for Luc, Rydia can MP drain, which is the most frightening thing possible with which to face a Suikoden mage since they have so few MP to begin with. Both can heal themselves to a moderate degree, but unfortunately for Luc, Rydia can drain hit points from her enemies for practically nothing (as opposed to it being one of his most expensive spells).

And, finally, if it turns into a slugfest that goes on forever, Rydia will keep her chin up and keep going while Luc retires to be gloomy.

Luc only has a chance if he embraces his PC origins and fights her in a form where he has no cast time and is effectively the fastest person around. I still don't really think this is enough, though. Rydia wins.