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Description
One Last Dream - Round 1

Out of Sight, Out of Mind

_______________________________________________________________

I hate that woman with a passion unlike any other.  Imprisoning me within my tomb for an eternity.  Every fiber of my being wants nothing more than to rip her to shreds and send her soul straight to the pits of hell.  The humiliation I must endure is worse than anything I've ever experienced.  Damn that woman!  Damn her to the seven pits of hell!  How dare she!

Worst of all, I can feel a presence like her once again.  She comes back to mock me even in my pitiful state?  I hate her.  I hate her!  I hate her and all of those meat-bags she wishes to protect!  If only I could get out of here and finish what I started all those eons ago.  Her voice still continues haunt me.  Taunting me as it echoes endlessly within my tomb.  Damn her infernal voice!

I swear, I don't know how and I don't know when, but I will have my vengeance upon that foul bitch.  When I get out, their suffering will be nothing like they have ever experienced!  It is only a matter of time.

_______________________________________________________________

"Welcome, contestants,"  announced the aquatic chimera, Sharky, as the competitors crowded around the Arch.  "And congratulations for getting this far!"

"You've all been selected from each of your worlds."  Spoke the Peter Pan copycat, Yota. "As you know-"

It was by that point that Karoline already began to tune out the judges as their own speeches bored her to tears.  Looking out amongst the crowd, she began to scan the crowd for her opponent.  This was one of those times Karoline wished she could see, since she couldn't see the board that had the tournament brackets.  She didn't want to ask Pierce or 937 since that would let them know she was blind, and her pride would not allow to have them pity her.  So that left her with her with only one option, to search for her opponent the old fashion way by going through the crowd.

Without turning around, she 'looked' behind her to see what Pierce and 937 were up to.  Pierce seemed to be listening intently to the judges as they talked, while 937 seemed to be ignoring them and had other thoughts on his mind.  Seeing the opportunity with the two distracted, she quietly slipped into the crowd.

Moving swiftly through the crowd, Karoline scanned for her potential opponent.  It wasn't an easy task to do considering the most she could 'see' was an outline with a small amount of details of each person.  As she ducked through the crowd, she passed by a short girl with a pair of will-o-wisps hovering around her which Karoline found odd that she could see the air moving around the two, and the word kin seemed to pop into her head for some strange reason.  Then she weaved by a cowboy and a woman who looked like she belonged in the military.  In her haste, she almost stepped on what appeared to be a lizard with wings and opposable thumbs, which caused her to lose her balance and fall on someone.  The unfortunate soul turned out to be a shorter girl with a staff.

"Oof!"  Both girls yelped as they hit the ground.

"Eh-heh, sorry 'bout that."  Karoline said with an embarrassed smile and picked herself up.  "You alright?"  Offering a hand to the girl.

"It is alright. You did not do it on purpose, Miss."  The girl said as she took Karoline's hand.

"Name's Karoline Faux, by the way.  You gotta name?" Karoline said as she helped pull the girl onto her feet.

"Yes, my name is Erian Eisus. It is a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Faux." Erian politely introduced herself with a bow.

"Uh, no need to be so formal around me.  Really."  Feeling slightly embarrassed at Erian's politeness.  "Just call me Karoline or Song, that's what most call me anyway."

"Very well, Ms. Karoline."

"I guess that's as good as it'll get."  Karoline sighed as she gave up on pushing the issue.  She raised an inquisitive eyebrow at the 'sight' of Erian's staff.  "A fellow martial artist, eh?"

"Why yes.  I'm a priestess-"  Erian was rudely interrupted by a gruff male voice.

"Hey, in case you two hadn't noticed, everyone else has already gone.  Unless either of you wanna get disqualified, get your asses into gear and go through the Arch!"  Akuma yelled at the two, to which both ran as fast as they could off through the Arch, but not before Karoline flipped Akuma the bird.

_______________________________________________________________

"Jeez, friggin' jerk-off."  Karoline complained as she and Erian stopped to catch their breaths.  "Could've been more polite than that.  He's a judge for cryin' out loud!"

"That's Akuma for you.  He tends to be rather grouchy most of the time."  Spoke a familiar feline.

"Snow!  Nice to see a friendly judge for once."  Karoline said with excitement.  "Miko-chan, meet Snowtrap, a judge for our tourney."

"It is nice to meet you, Miss."  Erian politely bowed before facing Karoline with a confused expression.  "Miko-chan?"

"Well, you are a priestess, right?"  Karoline said with a shrug.  "I thought it'd be an appropriate nickname."

"Nice to meet'cha,"  Snowtrap said with a smile.  "And welcome to the first arena, the Ancient Ruins!"

Having caught her breath, Karoline began to smell the roses and take in the sights of the beautiful field.  Several intricately stone pillars stood amongst the tall, untrimmed grass.  Off in the distance stood an ancient temple that towered above the grassy meadow.  Among all this were small orbs of light that floated aimlessly in the field.  The meadow would be all but peaceful if it weren't for the fighting going on in the background from the other contestants.

"Wow, helluva view.  What do you think, Miko-chan?"

"I'm afraid I cannot perceive the physical world as you do, Ms. Karoline.  I am able to find others by the aura that they give off, and apparently these gems that are embedded on our bodies."  Erian explained.

"I'd hate to cut a conversation short, but I have a match to judge."  Snowtrap intervened.

"So, who're our opponents, Snow?"  Karoline asked with confidence.

"Um, that would be you two, Karoline."  Snow gestured to Erian and Karoline.

"Wait, what?"  Karoline paused for few seconds as she processed what she heard.  The moments of awkward silence was met by Snowtrap slowly backing away, Erian standing in confusion, and Akuma haplessly walking through the portal and into the field.

"Are you shitting me!?  I have to the fight the only other blind girl in this stupid tournament?!  I call bullshit!  This is friggin' rigged!"  Karoline screamed.  Unfortunately for Akuma, Karoline took notice of him as he came through the portal.

"You!"  Karoline shouted with anger as she pointed at Akuma, catching him off-guard.  "You did this didn't you, you son-of-a-bitch!?"  She yelled as she sprinted and tackled Akuma.  "You did this out of spite, didn't you, you little prick!"  Shaking Akuma violently by the collar.

"I-I di-dn't have a-ny-thi-ing to do wi-ith it!"  Akuma yelled out as he tried to break out of Karoline's grasp.

"Karoline, calm down! He really didn't have anything to do with that."  Snowtrap explained.  "Everyone was paired at random.  It's just coincidence."

Karoline abruptly stopped shaking Akuma and let him go.  "I still say it was rigged."  She said with doubt.

"Crazy bitch."  Akuma mumbled as he got up.

"PMSing prick."  Karoline shot back.

"Both of you shut up!"  Snowtrap scolded and stepped in as the responsible adult.  "Akuma, you've got matches to judge, and Karoline, you've got a match to fight, so get going the both of you!"

"Fine."  They both said simultaneously like a pair of kids that were just punished by their parents.

Giving out a sigh, Karoline began walking back towards Snowtrap and Erian.  "Alright, I'm pissed, I wanna get this over with, and I've got some steam to blow off.  Let's get this started, shall we?"  Cracking her knuckles and began bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"I don't have a choice in the matter, do I?"  Erian solemnly asked, as she entered a defensive stance.

"Afraid so, Miko-chan."  Karoline said with a some regret.  "Now let's make this a good one, so don't you dare hold back on me!"  She yelled with excitement and a grin to instill some confidence in Erian.  Karoline quickly charged in and sent a roundhouse kick toward Erian's stomach.

"Right." Erian smiled back with a nod as she blocked the kick with her staff.  Using Karoline's halt in momentum, she pushed the taller girl back and followed up with a quick swing to Karoline's left side.

Unable to dodge, Karoline did her best to block and absorb the impact.  The pain from the blow made the nerves in her arm scream, making her let out a grunt.  Not about to let a potential opportunity pass her up, the unarmed singer firmly grabbed the staff and twisted her body around to try and disarm the priestess.

Reacting without hesitation, Erian copied Karoline to prevent her staff from being forced out of her grasp.  At the end of the twist, she sent out a kick into Karoline's shin, causing the taller girl to fall to one knee.  Not about to give any quarter, the shorter of the two yanked her staff back, making a 360 degree spin, and slammed the staff into the taller girl's chest.

The blow was strong enough to send Karoline tumbling backwards with the wind knocked out of her.  'Damn,' Karoline thought to herself as she got up. 'She hits a lot harder than I thought she would.  It's gonna be tough as long as she has that staff.  Shit.  Really hurts.'

"Not bad, Miko-chan."  Karoline praised as she hid her pain.  She began rotating her arms to loosen up, feeling a burning sensation as the blood flowed back through them.   "Been a while since I've fought someone who can make me break a sweat."

"Why, thank you. You are not so bad yourself, Ms. Karoline."  Erian responded with a small smile.

"One little burst and they're already complimenting each other.  It's like something out of a kung-fu movie."  Snowtrap commented to herself.  "Hmm? What in the world?"  She questioned as she noticed a strange phenomena happening around her.

The strange orbs of light that had once floated aimlessly around the field, had gathered around the three females in a loose circle.  Almost like a crowd of spectators, watching the fight unfold before them.  It almost seemed as if they were alive.  Then suddenly, one of the orbs shot out of the crowd and flew directly into Karoline's back and simply disappeared, as if her body had absorbed it.  Then another orb repeated the action, and then another, and the rest followed in example.  During all of this, neither of the blind girls seemed to notice what was going on, especially Karoline, whom this was directly affecting.

"What the heck is going on?"  Snowtrap quietly asked herself as she watched the spectacle unfold with fascination and curiosity.  "Gotta tell Zulani about this."  She said before she took off to inform her fellow judge.

"Let's see how you handle this!"  Karoline shouted as she charged at Erian once again.

The short blind readied herself for whatever the taller girl had planned and took up another defensive position.  Karoline jumped at Erian with full momentum, forcing the priestess to block once again. But this time, Karoline used her full momentum to use Erian like a springboard, catching her by surprise.  Karoline flew high over Erian and landing on a nearby pillar with a satisfied grin on her face.

"Didn't expect that, did ya', Miko-chan?"  Karoline smugly said.  "That's a bit of parkour for ya'.  Now, catch me if you can!"  She shouted before jumping off the pillar and taking off toward the ancient ruins.

Description
One Last Dream - Round 1

Out of Sight, Out of Mind

_______________________________________________________________

I hate that woman with a passion unlike any other.  Imprisoning me within my tomb for an eternity.  Every fiber of my being wants nothing more than to rip her to shreds and send her soul straight to the pits of hell.  The humiliation I must endure is worse than anything I've ever experienced.  Damn that woman!  Damn her to the seven pits of hell!  How dare she!

Worst of all, I can feel a presence like her once again.  She comes back to mock me even in my pitiful state?  I hate her.  I hate her!  I hate her and all of those meat-bags she wishes to protect!  If only I could get out of here and finish what I started all those eons ago.  Her voice still continues haunt me.  Taunting me as it echoes endlessly within my tomb.  Damn her infernal voice!

I swear, I don't know how and I don't know when, but I will have my vengeance upon that foul bitch.  When I get out, their suffering will be nothing like they have ever experienced!  It is only a matter of time.

_______________________________________________________________

"Welcome, contestants,"  announced the aquatic chimera, Sharky, as the competitors crowded around the Arch.  "And congratulations for getting this far!"

"You've all been selected from each of your worlds."  Spoke the Peter Pan copycat, Yota. "As you know-"

It was by that point that Karoline already began to tune out the judges as their own speeches bored her to tears.  Looking out amongst the crowd, she began to scan the crowd for her opponent.  This was one of those times Karoline wished she could see, since she couldn't see the board that had the tournament brackets.  She didn't want to ask Pierce or 937 since that would let them know she was blind, and her pride would not allow to have them pity her.  So that left her with her with only one option, to search for her opponent the old fashion way by going through the crowd.

Without turning around, she 'looked' behind her to see what Pierce and 937 were up to.  Pierce seemed to be listening intently to the judges as they talked, while 937 seemed to be ignoring them and had other thoughts on his mind.  Seeing the opportunity with the two distracted, she quietly slipped into the crowd.

Moving swiftly through the crowd, Karoline scanned for her potential opponent.  It wasn't an easy task to do considering the most she could 'see' was an outline with a small amount of details of each person.  As she ducked through the crowd, she passed by a short girl with a pair of will-o-wisps hovering around her which Karoline found odd that she could see the air moving around the two, and the word kin seemed to pop into her head for some strange reason.  Then she weaved by a cowboy and a woman who looked like she belonged in the military.  In her haste, she almost stepped on what appeared to be a lizard with wings and opposable thumbs, which caused her to lose her balance and fall on someone.  The unfortunate soul turned out to be a shorter girl with a staff.

"Oof!"  Both girls yelped as they hit the ground.

"Eh-heh, sorry 'bout that."  Karoline said with an embarrassed smile and picked herself up.  "You alright?"  Offering a hand to the girl.

"It is alright. You did not do it on purpose, Miss."  The girl said as she took Karoline's hand.

"Name's Karoline Faux, by the way.  You gotta name?" Karoline said as she helped pull the girl onto her feet.

"Yes, my name is Erian Eisus. It is a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Faux." Erian politely introduced herself with a bow.

"Uh, no need to be so formal around me.  Really."  Feeling slightly embarrassed at Erian's politeness.  "Just call me Karoline or Song, that's what most call me anyway."

"Very well, Ms. Karoline."

"I guess that's as good as it'll get."  Karoline sighed as she gave up on pushing the issue.  She raised an inquisitive eyebrow at the 'sight' of Erian's staff.  "A fellow martial artist, eh?"

"Why yes.  I'm a priestess-"  Erian was rudely interrupted by a gruff male voice.

"Hey, in case you two hadn't noticed, everyone else has already gone.  Unless either of you wanna get disqualified, get your asses into gear and go through the Arch!"  Akuma yelled at the two, to which both ran as fast as they could off through the Arch, but not before Karoline flipped Akuma the bird.

_______________________________________________________________

"Jeez, friggin' jerk-off."  Karoline complained as she and Erian stopped to catch their breaths.  "Could've been more polite than that.  He's a judge for cryin' out loud!"

"That's Akuma for you.  He tends to be rather grouchy most of the time."  Spoke a familiar feline.

"Snow!  Nice to see a friendly judge for once."  Karoline said with excitement.  "Miko-chan, meet Snowtrap, a judge for our tourney."

"It is nice to meet you, Miss."  Erian politely bowed before facing Karoline with a confused expression.  "Miko-chan?"

"Well, you are a priestess, right?"  Karoline said with a shrug.  "I thought it'd be an appropriate nickname."

"Nice to meet'cha,"  Snowtrap said with a smile.  "And welcome to the first arena, the Ancient Ruins!"

Having caught her breath, Karoline began to smell the roses and take in the sights of the beautiful field.  Several intricately stone pillars stood amongst the tall, untrimmed grass.  Off in the distance stood an ancient temple that towered above the grassy meadow.  Among all this were small orbs of light that floated aimlessly in the field.  The meadow would be all but peaceful if it weren't for the fighting going on in the background from the other contestants.

"Wow, helluva view.  What do you think, Miko-chan?"

"I'm afraid I cannot perceive the physical world as you do, Ms. Karoline.  I am able to find others by the aura that they give off, and apparently these gems that are embedded on our bodies."  Erian explained.

"I'd hate to cut a conversation short, but I have a match to judge."  Snowtrap intervened.

"So, who're our opponents, Snow?"  Karoline asked with confidence.

"Um, that would be you two, Karoline."  Snow gestured to Erian and Karoline.

"Wait, what?"  Karoline paused for few seconds as she processed what she heard.  The moments of awkward silence was met by Snowtrap slowly backing away, Erian standing in confusion, and Akuma haplessly walking through the portal and into the field.

"Are you shitting me!?  I have to the fight the only other blind girl in this stupid tournament?!  I call bullshit!  This is friggin' rigged!"  Karoline screamed.  Unfortunately for Akuma, Karoline took notice of him as he came through the portal.

"You!"  Karoline shouted with anger as she pointed at Akuma, catching him off-guard.  "You did this didn't you, you son-of-a-bitch!?"  She yelled as she sprinted and tackled Akuma.  "You did this out of spite, didn't you, you little prick!"  Shaking Akuma violently by the collar.

"I-I di-dn't have a-ny-thi-ing to do wi-ith it!"  Akuma yelled out as he tried to break out of Karoline's grasp.

"Karoline, calm down! He really didn't have anything to do with that."  Snowtrap explained.  "Everyone was paired at random.  It's just coincidence."

Karoline abruptly stopped shaking Akuma and let him go.  "I still say it was rigged."  She said with doubt.

"Crazy bitch."  Akuma mumbled as he got up.

"PMSing prick."  Karoline shot back.

"Both of you shut up!"  Snowtrap scolded and stepped in as the responsible adult.  "Akuma, you've got matches to judge, and Karoline, you've got a match to fight, so get going the both of you!"

"Fine."  They both said simultaneously like a pair of kids that were just punished by their parents.

Giving out a sigh, Karoline began walking back towards Snowtrap and Erian.  "Alright, I'm pissed, I wanna get this over with, and I've got some steam to blow off.  Let's get this started, shall we?"  Cracking her knuckles and began bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"I don't have a choice in the matter, do I?"  Erian solemnly asked, as she entered a defensive stance.

"Afraid so, Miko-chan."  Karoline said with a some regret.  "Now let's make this a good one, so don't you dare hold back on me!"  She yelled with excitement and a grin to instill some confidence in Erian.  Karoline quickly charged in and sent a roundhouse kick toward Erian's stomach.

"Right." Erian smiled back with a nod as she blocked the kick with her staff.  Using Karoline's halt in momentum, she pushed the taller girl back and followed up with a quick swing to Karoline's left side.

Unable to dodge, Karoline did her best to block and absorb the impact.  The pain from the blow made the nerves in her arm scream, making her let out a grunt.  Not about to let a potential opportunity pass her up, the unarmed singer firmly grabbed the staff and twisted her body around to try and disarm the priestess.

Reacting without hesitation, Erian copied Karoline to prevent her staff from being forced out of her grasp.  At the end of the twist, she sent out a kick into Karoline's shin, causing the taller girl to fall to one knee.  Not about to give any quarter, the shorter of the two yanked her staff back, making a 360 degree spin, and slammed the staff into the taller girl's chest.

The blow was strong enough to send Karoline tumbling backwards with the wind knocked out of her.  'Damn,' Karoline thought to herself as she got up. 'She hits a lot harder than I thought she would.  It's gonna be tough as long as she has that staff.  Shit.  Really hurts.'

"Not bad, Miko-chan."  Karoline praised as she hid her pain.  She began rotating her arms to loosen up, feeling a burning sensation as the blood flowed back through them.   "Been a while since I've fought someone who can make me break a sweat."

"Why, thank you. You are not so bad yourself, Ms. Karoline."  Erian responded with a small smile.

"One little burst and they're already complimenting each other.  It's like something out of a kung-fu movie."  Snowtrap commented to herself.  "Hmm? What in the world?"  She questioned as she noticed a strange phenomena happening around her.

The strange orbs of light that had once floated aimlessly around the field, had gathered around the three females in a loose circle.  Almost like a crowd of spectators, watching the fight unfold before them.  It almost seemed as if they were alive.  Then suddenly, one of the orbs shot out of the crowd and flew directly into Karoline's back and simply disappeared, as if her body had absorbed it.  Then another orb repeated the action, and then another, and the rest followed in example.  During all of this, neither of the blind girls seemed to notice what was going on, especially Karoline, whom this was directly affecting.

"What the heck is going on?"  Snowtrap quietly asked herself as she watched the spectacle unfold with fascination and curiosity.  "Gotta tell Zulani about this."  She said before she took off to inform her fellow judge.

"Let's see how you handle this!"  Karoline shouted as she charged at Erian once again.

The short blind readied herself for whatever the taller girl had planned and took up another defensive position.  Karoline jumped at Erian with full momentum, forcing the priestess to block once again. But this time, Karoline used her full momentum to use Erian like a springboard, catching her by surprise.  Karoline flew high over Erian and landing on a nearby pillar with a satisfied grin on her face.

"Didn't expect that, did ya', Miko-chan?"  Karoline smugly said.  "That's a bit of parkour for ya'.  Now, catch me if you can!"  She shouted before jumping off the pillar and taking off toward the ancient ruins.