Redemption Bracket: Zerith Vs Steppenwolf Orlouge

[Silence Sei]

Battle begins tonight at 12:01 AM Central Standard Time! Time to see if Sei's big brother is just as much of a bad ass as his sibling! Will the halberdier overcome this large obstacle!? Begin!

[Steppenwolf Orlouge]

I gave the wrench one final turn, the veins in my arm bulged as the final screw was tightened in place. I placed the tool in my pocket with a smile upon my face. My finger reached out and pressed the bright green button on the electrical box before me. All around, I could hear the whirr of gears and gadgets from top to bottom. The horses moved up and down on the poles they had been bolted to, the various steeds and mares slowly moved around my form. I smiled and listened to the chorus of excited children all around me.

By doing something as simple as repairing a carousel, I had become the hero of the day.

I scratched the back of my head with a laugh. I pressed the large red button to slow the movement of the plastic steeds to a stoic stop. I stepped onto the carousel, the redwood floor began to bend under my extensive weight, so I made sure to hurry and get off of the play thing. I jumped off of the ride and shifted my eyes around the carnival; aside from the few kids who had been huddled around while I tinkered with the large toy, the fairground was relatively abandoned.

The carnies all looked like they had somewhere better they would rather be. I looked up to the sky and pursed my lips to the sky as my mind wondered about Cellar Door and how she was faring. I had taken a dive during the Magus Cup so my friend (the aforementioned Cellar Door) could advance. I had decided afterwards to spend my spare time at the local carnival that had come to town for the tournament. Several of their machines had been in severe need of repair, something that I as an inventor excelled at.

I looked downwards with a sigh while my mind tried to purge the thought of a beaten and defeated Cellar on the ground somewhere in the competition. I shook the thought from my head; tiny bits of dandruff fell from my large pink puff. I started to walk around the fair, a smile on my lips while I nodded greetings to the various workers. My run in the tournament had come to an end, so I figured now was a good time to simply enjoy life.

[Zerith]

Nice guys finish last.

Looking back at recent circumstances, a small voice in the back of Zerith's mind was telling him he should have known better. That because he buckled for a single moment, he gave up a potential victory. Yet what made things really frustrating was the fact that it was absolutely true. He had proven himself capable of fighting, besting his first opponent fairly easily, but when the moment came for Zerith to deliver the final blow he folded instead.

"You had him, completely helpless as he was throwing up all over the floor," he told himself. "All you had to do was end it. Once quick stroke and you could have been the one to move on."

Yet he didn't. Instead of killing the psychiatrist as he was hunched over, the halberdier simply turned, walked away and announced to the watching judges that he was done fighting. Maybe the onlookers were disappointed with the prince for refusing to kill and decided to give the so-called hero a harsh lesson by letting the doctor advance instead. If that was the case, then the lesson worked. Zerith wasn't disappointed at losing, he was disappointed that he allowed himself to lose.

"Maybe Sei is wrong afterall. Maybe my time in the Ixian Knights if over."

In an attempt to try and take his mind where he had fallen short, the prince decided to go to a local carnival that had come to town. With it's dazzling lights, loud music, exotic attractions and wide variety of activities, the halberdier was hoping that his loss would quickly be forgotten. Besides, he was Zerith Dracosius, Ixian General, Prince of Moriah and proclaimed dragon killer. He had no stay sulking from a single loss.

Thankfully, the carnival did cheer him up a little bit. It particularly made him think of his daughter, Siela. Although she was still just a toddler, just being able to walk through the carnival and see it's various games and rides was making him think of what it would be like to bring her to one when she was older. Hearing her laugh and seeing her point at all the lights, watching her smile when he would hand her a giant stuffed bear he would win her for knocking over a pyramid of tin cans. Even small things like eating cotton candy together excited the prince. Yet what he found himself looking forward to most was just the image of riding the carousel together. "Daddy-Daughter Time" was what he titled the mental picture.

With his red halberd in hand, Zerith continued his casual stroll through the fairground. A small breeze brushed his face, rustling through the brown curls of his hair. It didn't take long for people to begin to recognize him, he saw that by the various double-takes he received and when he noticed people whispering to each other.

"Once a hero, always a hero," he thought. He knew it was only going to be a little while longer before someone would try to approach him, and the thought of it made him cheer up a little more. Despite everything, he was still the public face of the Ixian Knights. It was nice to see he wasn't forgotten.

[Steppenwolf Orlouge]

I listened to the music from all the different rides all around me. It was odd; for a carnival, the place seemed mostly abandoned save for the stray carnie here and there. I had chalked it up to the various sights that had been advertised weeks before the Magus registration had actually opened. I shifted my eyes back and forth towards all the various snack caravans; Salvar’s Snowy Candy, Alerar Apples, and of course, my favorite, pizza from Raiaera. I could say this about those High Elves; they knew how to cook some food.

My focus was drawn away from food when I heard the ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhhs’ from a crowd not too far from me. I smiled and made my way over to where a large audience had gathered. The group of peasants had all kept their distance from the pristine form of Zerith Dracosius as he made his way down the carnival. I laughed and muscled my way through the people to hurry by Zerith’s side.

I slapped the warrior on his back in a friendly manner, and his body responded by way of stumbling forward a bit. “Zerith! Pal! It’s great to see you again? How’re Jas and the kids? Last I heard they didn’t take too kindly to Sei’s whole ‘take over Corone’ idea and split like a banana. I bet you’re relieved though, huh? Nothing exciting ever happens in Moriah, so what’s the chance that any evil mastermind is going to attack them? I mean, unless they encounter some ridiculous type of vampire or something. But that’s pretty stupid, don’t you think?”

I realized by this point that I was rambling on. It was a bad tendency I developed when I did not see somebody for a long time. Zerith, from what I heard, took on a mission for my brother’s Ixian Knights and disappeared for months. There were whispers that he returned, but I was always the kind of guy who had to see things first to believe it. I looked to the halberdier who returned the look with raised eyebrows. “It’s… good to see you Steppenwolf.”

“Same here buddy!” I bellowed loudly causing the crowd around us to give a bigger berth. I patted Zerith on the back once more, this time much softer, when an idea snuck its way into my head. “Hey Z!” I shouted excitedly, barely able to contain my enthusiasm, “How about we have a little contest! You know I love kids, and obviously you do too. What do you say the two of us have a contest to see who can win the most toys here at this carnival? Winner takes the loser out to eat!”

My eyes shifted back towards the Raiaeran pizza stand, and my stomach roared in agreement to the proposal. Even if it was just temporary, the opportunity to have fun with one of my old friends and comrades would be enough to get my mind off of Cellar Door at least for a little while.

[Zerith]

"Jasmine and Siela left because we both decided it was for the best. Besides, I wouldn't want my sons to be born in the middle of a war."

In all honesty, the halberdier didn't understand why some people seemed happy to hear that Jasmine was gone. He especially disliked the notions that either Jasmine took his daughter and left him, or that he was relieved to have them both out of Corone. The simple reality was that given the circumstances, Zerith felt it was safer for his family to not be in Corone during all the conflict. It was a lesson learned the hard way, as Zerith found himself unpredictable and at odds against everyone when Randy Orton abducted Siela months ago. Now there wasn't a day that the prince thanked Draconus that his baby girl was safe, and he promised both himself and his wife that they would never have to go through an ordeal like that again.

But the whole vampire comment really struck a nerve.

"Pretty stupid? I don't suppose Sei told you that I lost my best friend in Moriah, did he?" If only words could cut, then Steppenwolf would be sure to be bleeding at that moment. Though it probably wouldn't have slowed the man down. His enthusiasm and energy were overwhelming at times. It was like he was just a child in the body of an adult.

Zerith shrugged at Steppenwolf's idea. "I suppose it wouldnt hurt to play a few games here," he agreed. "And it bet it would make some kids really happy."

In truth, the prince was more relieved to compete in something that didn't involve bloodshed or death.Although for all he knew he could have found himself going up against the mystic and wielding only a foam bat later on. Still, the idea was a good one, it in the halberdier's mind it was for a good cause. For all he knew, this could just be the thing to help him accept his loss and cure his homesickness.

Smiling, Zerith waved at a small group of kids that were watching, probably praying to the Thaynes that the hero would agree to the friendly competition. When they realized he was waving to them, they all cheered. "Alright, you're on. Which booth do you want to go to first?"

[Steppenwolf Orlouge]

I froze when Zerith mentioned the loss of his friend. Part of me wanted to bring one of my massive hands up to smack myself in the forehead. How could I forget such a touchy subject like that around the halberdier? I blushed and stretched my face out in embarrassment at my stupidity. I walked alongside the warrior, joined now by a small group of children as Zerith accepted my offer for a friendly competition.

Zerith presented me with a simple question; which game should we play first? I shifted my eyes around in an attempt to find some sort of activity that would not give one of us a distinct advantage over the other. My strength ruled out games such as skee ball, darts, or high striker. Zerith’s precision from years of training with his pole arm made activities such as basketball, tests of skill, and the bean bag toss out of the question. I pursed my lips to the side as my mind struck out possibility after possibility.

Soon, we came across the perfect ‘arena’ for the two of us, and I pointed with a smile to my friend. The battle was to be set on a four foot by four foot square. In the square, bottles were meticulously set straight up. The competitors would stand five feet away from the square, and toss rings just big enough to envelope the bottle necks over the plexiglas barrier and onto the bottles.

“How about this?” I asked Zerith as my mind eliminated any disadvantages either of us would have in such a ‘fight’. “The ring toss is one of my favorites; it relies more on luck than anything else. Let’s say that the one who gets the most rings around their bottles wins. Savvy?” I reached for my coin purse, removed the ten gold pieces required for the game, and gave them to the vendor. My donation was repaid in the form of ten rings. There were five for me, and five for Zerith, a perfectly fair match for us.

“After you, sir.”

[Zerith]

Ring toss.

Of all the games that the two of them could have play, a simple game of Ring Toss was one that the prince didn't expect. It wasn't because he had never played it, but because it was just not normal. When he thought of carnival games, the first ones that game to mind were trying to ring a bell with a hammer or knocking over a pyramid of cans. After that he pictured the ones with water guns and trying to make your automated figure win some sort of race. Even a tiny river of numbered ducks would have have come to mind before a simple game of Ring Toss.

But then again, Zerith couldn't complain. Regardless if Steppenwolf picked the deliberately or not. The halberdier did have the advantage.

"Luck isn't exactly the biggest factor in this game." Zerith stated as he pulled his arm back and threw his first ring. The metal clanged on the top of a glass bottle and it dropped between the targets. The next three were better, each one landing on it's target and spinning down the neck of the bottle as a nice finishing touch. Any children watching cheered every time their hero scored a point, unaware that the prince was cheating slightly.

Over the past few months, the halberdier had begun to appreciate what it meant to have a form of telekinesis and the potential it had. It certainly made life easier at times, being able to pick up something from across the room and bringing it to his hand was one of the immediate benefits. But now, after weeks of practice, he learned how he could make his aim better by using his telekinesis to keep a projectile steady or ensure he hit his target. The rings weren't much different. Although he was throwing them, all it took was a little effort and he felt more like he was simply dropping rings so they would land around the neck of the bottle.

Yes, it wasn't the more honorable thing to do, and it was probably an unfair advantage. But the competition was for the children, and he would gladly bend the rules a little in order to made sure a boy or girl went home carrying something so large it could barely fit in their arms.

The real trick was making things look real, to actually make the rings look like they were be legitimately thrown instead of being placed. As a extra precaution and to make things like a little more fair, Zerith even missed his last throw on purpose. He did laugh as it skipped off a bottle, feigning surprise and disbelief.

"Wow!" he exclaimed, pointed at the three that still sat on top of the bottles. "Three! Let's see you top that!" he added with a laugh.

The effort may have been fake, but the fun definitely wasn't. It was actually the first time he was laughing with a friend other than Jensen or Zevernus.

[Steppenwolf Orlouge]

I laughed, genuinely impressed at Zeriths skill at the ring toss. I put my hands on my hip and nodded. I popped out my tongue and closed one eye as I threw one of the rings with all of my might. The small red circle sailed easily over the bottles and landed on the ground on the opposite end of the attraction. I huffed and stomped my foot as I tried again, and again my orc blood took over and sent the ring across the carnival.

“Looks like I win,” Zerith said to my dischargin.

“You do, but I want to finish this,” I said as I tossed my other two rings. The first landed right on top of a bottle, swirled around the former drink, and settled happily on the neck of the glass. I cheered, as did the children behind me, but Zerith seemed less than pleased at the display. I placed my hands on my hips once again and gave the halberdier a snide smile. “Didn’t think I’d get one, eh?”

“It’s not that,” Zerith said, pointing across from the game.

I looked towards where the warrior pointed and gasped. I had accidentally beamed a nearby vendor with my last, yellow ring. The food vendor was now on the ground, a large bruise on his head as I sucked in some air and began to whistle as if I had done no wrong. I looked towards Zerith, who seemed to be in better spirits now. I have to admit, his new jovial spirit made me all the happier to be playing these games with a good friend.

“So…. pick-a-duck?”

[Max Dirks]

This battle was surprisingly good. I wish you could have finished it.

Steppenwolf Orlougue advances to Round 2 of the Redemption Bracket!

Zerith is eliminated.