LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!

[Secondary Characters]

To say Hercules was beat was something of an understatement. A knock square on the jaw with an attack like THAT should have decapitated any mortal man. Good thing he was only half-mortal. He was, however, out like a light for the full ten-count, officially making Shego the winner of the bout. However, circumstances were... bizarre today...

As he slowly started to come to, he noticed what appeared to be a talking set of armor DEFENDING him. He blinked, shaking his head and wobbling to his feet only to fall back down to one knee. "Huh...?" he asked, his vision still swimming, little pincpricks of light dazzling his sight. "whaaa?" he asked, wobbly still. He was semi-conscious, but totally unaware of the voices that seemed like a billion miles away...

Make matters worse... they were probably pissing off Hades with these little... antics.

[Shego]

[glow=green,2,700]Shego stood there victorious, if not for just a minute, until a new voice would come to play. She turned to her side to look at the walking armor she only took a speedy glance to at the Underworld.

"You... talk?" Shego blinked, dawning on her that there was a man inside the armor, she grumbled, "Sorry, Tin Can. I did what I came here to do."

The thief crossed her arms and fully turned to face Gabranth, "I won the match, so no cookies for you."[/glow]

[MeadowSong]

[glow=purple,2,300]"Shego" called a voice coming seemingly from nowehere. But if she turned Shego would see two glowing, yellow reptillian eyes peering up at her from her own shadow. It was Maleficent, and she was grinning. Her pencil-thin smile showed up a moment later.

"You are victorious, and will now battle the Judge Magister. For reasons unknown, someone has been betrayed. I shall give you a new power. Behold, for I grant you now with Arch Thorn!"

A moment later a black-hilted, thorn-covered sword would appear before Shego, hovering in mid-air, the thorny tips a blood red, while the rest of the blade was green. Attached to the hilt, as a sort of coat of arms, was the emblem of the Black Queen.

"The Arch Thorn is a blade only suitable for an apprentice such as yourself. Your energies you wield within your palms will now be allowed to channel through this poisonous, malice-filled blade, and create far more powerful touch attacks and the occasional ranged attack by firing a beam of your plasma energies from the tip of Arch Thorn. Be grateful..."

"Fight the Judge, Shego. Watch out for his tactics...I shall deal with Hades."

And with that she was gone again, only to appear behind the God of Death again moments later.

"You fool! You ignorant, arrogant oaf! What is the meaning of calling out another opponent!? Was Hercules not enough? I have tried to be polite, Hades, but you try my patience. Know now that this will not go unpunished."[/glow]

[Shego]

[glow=green,2,700]"Eh, nothing new, fighting a Judge!" Shego grumbled, rubbing her fists together before her attention was placed on the floating sword, "Oooh... shiny."

The thief would hold out her hands, and grasp the sword firmly in her hold, watching it, a sense of power rushing to her, she could only explain in a joke, "BY THE POWER OF GRAYSKULL! I HAVE THE--"

The thief pointed the sword toward the judge, keeping him busy with her line, only to interrupt herself near the end of her sentence, " SUCKER PUNCH!" - The sword glowed for a split second, before launching a large plasma ball toward the Judge. Shego will not hand over a victory to the rude tin can. She would hold her ground, though tired she was from her fights and regenerating, she could not let him ruin her goal. [/glow]

[Hades]

Hades sat bolt upright when Gabranth entered the ring. He slammed his fists down and flared up in a bright red wave of rage. "WHAAAT?!" he roared, pointing a finger. "REF, what'reya BLIND??? That's against the rules, he can't DO that!!!"

But the match WAS over. Shego had beaten Hercules, and that was all she was required to do TO HIM. The next match was scheduled to be Hercules vs Gabranth and the deal Hades made was for Gabranth to take Hercules DOWN for good. Still, with the Judge being rebellious, he had to step in here. Snapping his fingers, he appeared in a blast between the two.

"Whoah, whoah, whoah, WHOAH, hold on here!" he said, looking first to Shego. "YOU ain't done here. Our deal was that you WIN the tournement, not just end at Herc here. And YOU-" he now turned his attention to Gabranth, flaring up again.

"We had a DEAL, gavel-slammer! You go back on it, you get a first class trip to a hot spot down below paid by yours truly!" He pointed at him, still red with his short temper. "So you FINISH the job, or kiss your skin-and-bones goodbye!"

[Sai]

Sai spotted Gabranth and began to follow him, knowing Ximar would be close behind. He stayed behind the door as Gabranth went through and challenged the green woman to a battle. How bizarre. And it looked like Hercules was beaten, though not murdered, which was a plus. However, when the great god of the dead came thundering down from on high... Sai knew better than to get involved.

"Probably best we stay out of this one..." he whispered to Ximar as he spied on the ordeal from the door. "Besides, Hercules will have to come this way after the battle, so we can ask him then... In the meantime..." he looked around, then walked over and SAT on a small pillar. He almost appeared bored! Such was the way with Sai. He had no emotional tugs to make him leap into battle, and frankly even if he did now it would be foolish with the Judge Magistrate, an obviously powerful Shego, an injured DemiGod, and a pissed-off Lord of all Death all gathered in one place.

You'd have to be an absolute idiot to go charging in there.

[Secondary Characters]

Now, you see, under NORMAL circumstances, Philoctites would be the FIRST in there, telling Gabranth to step off the mat and wait his turn. His name WAS on the roster (a pre-registration by Hades), so he was in his right to be there, but his timing was all wrong. He had to be considerate and give the winner a chance to breathe before declaring a fight. So, the goat-man was on his way to tell him "Two words- AMSCRAY!" but a blast of fire and smoke made him choose otherwise. Phil knew he didn't have the authority to put Hades in his place, so he simply ducked below eyesight and kept hidden!

Hercules, on the other hand, growled. He stood up slowly, shakily, badly injured and dog-tired. "Hades... y-you're behind this!" he grumbled, then fell back to one knee. He was in NO shape to fight... Not Gabranth, certainly not Hades. He was thankful the knight was on HIS side until... "You... work for him?" he asked, looking to Gabranth. "Why are you...?"

[Gabranth]

As Gabranth started to walk towards Shego, he sure enough saw the green plasma ball come right for his face. Braced, he was ready to unleash Hatred to nullify the blast. Before anything could happen who else would show up in the middle of his plans, none other then his nuisance Hades.

Gabranth still battle ready, sees Hades big entrance. Obviously infuriated. This was a rather unexpected surprise for Gabranth, after all Hades did want him to ENTER the ring with Hercules. Technically he did just that. But technicalities didn't seem to mean much to Hades at the moment. He took a few steps back taking on an Executioners stance, in case of some backlash from Hades. He had yet to see what Hades was capable of, and at the very least he didn't want to go after him ... yet.

Gabranth had to plan his next few moves carefully. Hades was in the ring infuriated, this Maleficent lady had ties to Shego in some way, a girl he still needed information from, as for the icing on the cake Hercules was to injured for Gabranth to use. Even as a Judge Magister, he could sense this God wasn't to be taken lightly.

Gabranth would for the second time take up arms against this God. "Hades, it is I who should question YOUR methods. What is the meaning of sending me to kill Hercules, if this girl is to do it before me?! Was it your plan from the start to have me hunt down a dead man?! To enslave me as some dog of the underworld?! I also see no honor in killing an obviously beaten man, demi-god or not. If his death is what you wish so anxiously, the man sits just over there, end him yourself ... if you can. After all Hades, you sent mortals after this man, can you not accomplish such feats yourself?" As he spoke, he walked in the line of sight between Hercules, Hades and Shego still at stance. He whispered something to Hercules. "Stay alive my friend, we must talk. I have a favor to ask of you."

Gabranth unsure of what these two would do, he prepared for a fight against a God and a beaten girl. Worst case being, he would show them the power of a Judge.

[Shego]

[glow=green,2,700]The thief was taken aback at Hades' sudden entrance, a dark eyebrow would rise in question, as she witnessed the events, "Wait-- I wasn't going to kill him. Killing is NOT my style." she grumbled under her breath, "No one seems to get that here... Hey Chief!" She now spoke to Hades, lowering her sword a moment to point at said Judge, "What's the deal with the Tin Man over there, so you did send him, huh?"

Her dark lips curled upward, " I wouldn't mind knocking him down, but I'm getting kinda tired with all this hoo Haa. I mean, I love fights as much as the next girl, but when do I get a fruity beverage around here along with some sleep?!" The girl rested the tip of the blade down against the floor and leaned on it like a cane, " and OOooh, he seems to have you pegged, Sparky... I think...he's insulting you."

-- Shego was trying to do something sly to at least have some time to recuperate, she was only human after all. The cunning thief was trying to enrage the god toward the Judge's direction now, to buy for some relaxation, if not for a little, much needed, while.

"... and infront of all these people.... oooh...that's loooow." [/glow]

[Hades]

"How... DARE YOU?!" Hades roared, his flames raising up in his rage. He gritted his teeth and took a step forward, so hot he was litterally melting the ground where he stood. "You listen to me, PUNK. The whole reason I hired the bombshell over there was because I KNEW she wouldn't kill him, and I KNEW he'd be too much for your spoiled butt to handle without a little help! As for why I'm even bothering with you two AMATEURS, it's a God-LAW that we can't directly interfere with mortals! Now you FINISH the contract, or so help me, I'll make an exception!"

With that, Hades blasted a wave of super-heated fire at Gabranth's feet, enough that he'd be able to feel the temperature straight through the metal, maybe worse so since metal does conduct heat readily. "NO soul gets a free pass, Judgey-boy! Either you finish off the hero, or I revoke your get out of jail card!" He was towering over the judge now, glowing red, in which state he couldn't be hurt. A heated finger pointed right in his face.

"Time to make a choice! You either DIE playing hero, or learn to play ball and get that second chance you want so bad! What's it going to be??" He looked over his shoulder now to Shego, glaring.

"Don't think you're off the hook yet, either! You're on till this tournement's over, and as long as Gabranth here's in the running, you ain't getting what we agreed on! I know how to play this game too!"

[Secondary Characters]

Hercules stood up, having to put a hand on Gabranth's shoulder for support. He held his stomach with the other. He glared at Hades, breathing hard. "That's right... He can't do a thing himself without calling down the wrath of my father Zeus! He fights us, he loses! You fight for him, he wins!" He looked to Gabranth, smiling as best he could.

"Everyone deserves a second chance... I'll fight to defend yours. What do ya say? Is all this really worth it?" He was hinting...

[Gabranth]

Gabranth could feel the rage within Hades. At this point a bit shaky about what he had started. He knew what his plan was, he knew from the start. Everything was set. At this point there wasn't a backing down. Though a God, he knew he would have to fight eventually, this was a bit to early for his plans. He'd have to make do.

Turning slightly to the side Hercules was using as a rest, he wondered if he was really worth the trouble of being given a second chance. This wasn't the time, living or dieing were the options here.

"Everyone deserves a second chance... I'll fight to defend yours. What do ya say? Is all this really worth it?" He was hinting...

Glancing at Hercules, he whispered. "Aye ... This Zeus, he will help us? I fear I'll only be able to hold Hades at bay for a brief time. Frost Purge could slow him, but only for a minute or two. The strain would be a bit much for me though. What is your idea?" He stood firm ready for anything Hades might throw his way. Looking at Hades he asked, "Does your hatred for the world, know no end?"

[Shego]

[glow=green,2,700]"BORING!" came a voice from above, Shego had used her dark powers to appear in mid-air over the two, sword in hand and glowing a deadly plasma green, "This is SO worth it!"

With one swift strike of the sword, she let out a wave of green plasma, heading towards the heros bellow... and Hades, but he was just in the way, "Move it or lose it, Sparky!" she growled., charging up a dark-plasma ball, ready to release it to wash away the arena like lava.

"I'm just here to finish the tournament, what are you guys here for- oh," She shoot down a powerful blast of scorching fire, "don't care!" [/glow]

[ximar]

Ximar was following Sai closely. He gasped when he saw Shego fighting Gabranth and Hercules on the floor. "Sai, that's the green woman I was talking about earlier!! That's the woman who gave me all these wounds! We have to help Gabranth! He may not be enough to beat her!" That's when Hades came into the battle. ".....oh crap. We need to get higher help."

[MeadowSong]

[glow=Purple,2,300]Ugh...I'm surrounded by buffoons, she thought, and appeared at the entrance gate from Hercules' side. She turned and walked in, but not before looking over her shoulder at the commotion, sighing in disgust.

The Black Queen made her way through the halls of the colosseum, looking here and there, in persuit of one thing she knew she could use. If you need something done, you must do it yourself. Apparently I'm going to have to do more.

After a while, she found a set of double doors with a large "H" on it, and from within could hear the voice of a woman. She grinned, her pointer finger caressing her lips in a scheming fashion, and then she carlessly walked through the doors as if they were not solid to begin with.

"You're going to have to come with me," she said. The girl, shocked, had no time to respond before the witch called on her Heartless. She laughed, her wicked caclkle echoing off the room's walls, and disappeared, her captor following behind in the grasp of her minions.

---------------------------------------------

Back out in the arena, Shego was just firing up, and she was about to call down fury on everyone.

"That is enough, Shego..." she said. Her voice rang throughout the whole of the open-air pavillion, and then she appeared in a burst of fire, several feet from where the blast would strike, another figure clutched tightly into her bosom, her long robes and sleeves masking the identity. "Hades, Shego won your tournament. Now if you wish for Hercules to end, then I have the solution. Judge Magister, I would suggest you lower the testosterone output for just a little while, and let mommy handle this." She said everything in such a condescending tone, and looked around at the audience. She could tell that a lot of people were frightened. "I have something of yours," she said, addressing Hercules. "It would be wise to just step down and accept your fate like a good boy."[/glow]