THIS IS WAR

"So was Sir "Wind" really able to read Sir Cheka's mind?" The princess asked.

"No he was just able to read his aura, that's why he lost the first two games. He had to take time to analyze his ability. The rest was just tricks he used to rattle him." "War" replied.

"What I'm more curious about is the words they used in the last game, one was Hebrew and the other was Gaelic. Those are both languages from Earth, why would people from different planets say it's their ancient languages. It doesn't make sense." "War" thought to himself.

With "Wind's" victory the 7 Elements were already guaranteed the win as they now had a 4-2 lead.

"You know the outcome of the match is already decided. You can tell your last fighter to forfeit if you don't want me to kill him." "War" said to the princess.

"I wish I could, but he's a warrior like you. He would want the chance to fight no matter the circumstances. Wouldn't you do the same?" The princess said.

"Yeah I definitely would." "War" responded.

"I wish neither of you had to get hurt, Benji has been my protector since I was young, all I ask is that you show him the honor he deserves during this dual." She said grabbing his hand.

"Of course, you don't even need to ask I show the same respect to all my opponents." "War" said.

As the two were talking the announcer was already introducing "War".

"… He has 12 wins and zero losses, he's the captain of the 7 Elements, it's…. WAR!!!"

"Um, where is he?" The announcer lady asked.

"Oh, Sir "War" you need to get out there. I apologize for keeping you so long." The princess said.

"It's no problem princess, I'll just take the shortcut down." He replied.

"Shortcut?" She asked confused.

"War" then jumped down from the balcony into the arena. When he did the crowd erupted into a roar of applause and they started to shout, "War the Indomitable!"

"Wow, now that's an entertaining entrance folks! Now for his opponent out of the western corner, he stands 6 feet tall, weighing in at 245 pounds, he's making his War Festival debut, he's the captain of the Orendish Royal Guard, it's…"

"Benji Burrow!!!"

Benji Burrow

Age: 27

Ht: 6'0

Wt: 245

Special Ability: Negative Thoughts

"Hmph, it's too bad we've already lost this match. But at least once I win I might be able to get a good deal from the empire like "War" did." Benji thought to himself. "My ability allows me to stop the movements of anyone harboring negative thoughts. During battle it's impossible to not feel some sort of negative emotion, after all you're trying to kill your opponent after all. He's going to be helpless to stop me, it doesn't matter how strong he is." Benji thought.

Just then "War" snapped a jab to Benji's face.

"Hey man I just told the princess that we'd have an honorable fight. If you just stand there staring you're going to embarrass me." "War" said.

"Ow! H-How did you do that?" Benji asked while grabbing his bleeding nose.

"Huh? Well I just snapped my wrist like this." "War" said as he cracked him with a jab again.

"Aah! I mean how can you attack me? My ability stops the movements of anyone with negative thoughts. You should be completely frozen right now!" Benji shouted.

"Oh I see, that's the problem." "War" said, "Well that's probably not going to work because I don't feel any negative thoughts when I fight. The only thing I ever feel is gratitude."

"What? That's ridiculous! How can you try to kill somebody without feeling negative emotions?" Benji asked incredulously.

"My teacher always told me to accept everything in this world with gratitude. So that's just the way I live. And also I'm not trying to kill you, I'm trying to fight you. It's just a part of my duty as an honorable warrior." "War" said.

"This is unbelievable! I've never encountered anyone who could avoid being trapped by my technique. His aura is so dark and oppressive it's hard to believe he doesn't have any malicious intent." Benji thought.

"Anyway back to business." "War" said.

Trident Form: Great Hunting!!!!

"War" extended three fingers and thrust his hand towards Benji. Benji tried to block the attack and "War" pierced his arm with his hand. Using his trident to pin Benji down, "War" brought up his sword arm to bring down the final blow. However, Benji was able to move away from the attack in time but at the cost of his right arm.

With his right arm gone and "War" being unaffected by his ability, Benji was at a loss of what to do. His ability had always been effective no matter the opponent, so it had never occurred to him to develop any kind of strategies to use as a contingency plan. His back was against the wall but he was not ready to give up. He racked his brain desperately searching for a path to victory. As "War" brought his sword arm up for the final blow, out of sheer determination Benji's ability evolved.

Negative Thoughts: Reversal!

Suddenly "War" was frozen with his arm in the air, completely unable to move.

"Hmm, that's strange." "War" said seemingly unbothered by the situation.

"Yes! It worked! I was able to reverse my ability, now I can restrict the movements of anyone feeling positive emotions. Such as gratitude for example." Benji said giving a triumphant laugh.

"That guys awfully cocky, I mean he's way more beat up than "War". He's still losing this fight." "Fire" said having just returned from the medical room he was covered head to toe in bandages and standing on crutches.

"First of all "Fire", you shouldn't even be in here right now, you need to rest and receive treatment." "Wind" said.

"Are you kidding me? No way I'm missing "War's" fight! Plus I'm fine." "Fire" said clearly bluffing.

"Anyway you're completely wrong, the damage "War" has done to his opponent is irrelevant now. If he now has the means to restrict "War's" movements, then "War" is at great risk of losing this fight." "Wind" said.

"Can't he just think of something negative to fight then? I mean pretty much everyone else does, it should be easy." "Fire" said.

"No it's not. "War" has built his entire life around his ideals and his code of chivalry. There's no way he could just abandon it now. Even if he did do that to win the match I doubt he'd ever mentally recover from that." "Wind" said.

"Ha! I've got you now? What will you do? Try to think of negative thoughts now? I hope you did because then I'll just switch my ability back and watch you break mentally as you abandoned your ideals for nothing. Either way you'll die helplessly unable to move." Benji thought very pleased with himself for overcoming such a fierce opponent.

As Benji was celebrating his victory in his head, "War" swung his sword arm down cleaving him diagonally into two pieces. Benji and the rest of the 7 Elements were completely shocked by this turn of events. They were completely shocked by how easily "War" had thrown away his ideals in order to win the fight. "Wind" then ran out of the waiting room and into the tunnel that lead into the arena floor.

"How could you do that? Your ideals and your will are what drew all of your allies towards you, how can we follow you now that you've thrown it all away? We've only known each other for a few months, but I've come to respect you greatly. I need to know! Why?" "Wind" thought as he raced towards the arena floor.

Benji was completely bisected from shoulder to waist, but he fought to keep himself alive long enough to ask one question.

"H-How? How could you throw away your ideals like that?" He asked with his dying breath.

"Huh? What are you talking about? I just swung my arm down it's your fault you got hit." "War" said nonchalantly. "I have respect for any warrior who stands to fight against me, and you were strong I'm grateful for our fight. But it is too bad you had a completely useless special ability. Oh well, rest in peace." He said as he put his hands together bowed his head and said a prayer for him, then left.

"Hahaha! I must be a fool worrying about you at this point." "Wind" said.

"Don't say that buddy. If you didn't worry about me no one ever would." "War" said as the two laughed.

"You say that his ability was useless, but if it was anyone else they would definitely have been defeated by that ability." "Wind thought.

"Now that we've lost I have to admit that I'm afraid of what will happen next." The princess said with tears in her eyes.

"Don't be afraid. You shared delicious sweets with me so I consider us friends now. I promise to do what I can to protect your home, although I admit it's probably not much." "War" said.

"I appreciate your support, Sir "War"." She said, grabbing his hands.

"Don't cry you have to be strong now, for your people. They need you now more than ever." "War" said.

"But I'm not strong like you are Sir "War"." She replied.

"You don't have to be strong like me, you need to be strong in your own way. You're a smart lady I'm sure you'll understand what I mean by that." "War" said as he wiped her tears away.

As he was leaving "War" thought to himself, "I told her I would protect her planet but there's probably nothing I can do." He thought as he clenched his fist, "It's hard to be grateful for this pain I feel in my heart right now."

With the 7 Elements' victory the planet of Orenden was conquered and became a part of the Empire. This would usually be accompanied by the planet being pillaged and devastated. However, the Emperor just so happened to watch the matches and noticed the beautiful scenery of Orenden. He declared that it would be one of his new vacation spots, so it remained relatively untouched.