Season 26, Week 1
Cyan Garamonde
(Final Fantasy VI)
 
Cyan Garamonde may not be the luckiest or deadliest retainer around, but it cannot be said that he lacks the soul of a warrior. The experience, patience and wisdom that comes with age will prove invaluable against his opponent this week. The hotheaded Prophet Melody Vilente is a perfect dark reflection of Cyan's personality: vain, shortsighted, impulsive. It wasn't hard for Virginia's gang to outsmart Melody ad nauseum; certainly, a seasoned fighter like Cyan should be able to best her. That is, if his sword arts don't shut down the notoriously frail villainness first.

V

S

The dazzling scientist-turned-demon Prophet Melody Vilente returns to the Light division, blessing it once more with her beauty, brains, and power! Or so she thinks. The beauty is in the eye of the beholder, the brains could certainly use some common sense, and the power... well, this is Light. Nevertheless, Melody is a deadly Light, thanks mainly to her barrier, which drastically cuts incoming damage, especially of the weak variety. Cyan's damage certainly fits the bill: he can't cut his way through Melody's defences before Eliminate Scanner claims another victim and starts her towards a title.


Sei
(A few thousand feet above the DL Arena, aboard the Falcon, a scene straight out of a love story played out...)

Rinoa stepped out to the deck of the airship, her pristine blue dress dancing in the cool gale that whipped the hull of the Falcon. Pushing away a few stray strands of hair from her mouth, she walked over to the bow, where a man wearing a black jacket stood.

"Hello, Squall." Rinoa said, her voice bubbling like fine champagne with each word, "They said you might be out here."

Squall looked back at her, with an uncharacteristic smile on his face. He reached one hand towards the young sorceress while the other lifted a finger to his lips. "Shhh. Give me your hand. Now close your eyes."

While a little wondering and hesitant, Rinoa did so, and she felt the roguish mercenary lead her up the bow. "Go on, step up." he said. "Now hold on to the railing. Keep your eyes closed. Don't peek."

"I'm not." Rinoa responded, as she felt the full force of the fierce gales buffet her body.

Continuing to guide her with his hands, Squall gently pushed Rinoa forward. "Step up on the railing. Hold on, hold on. Keep your eyes closed." And then, after she did so, he spoke again. "Do you trust me?"

"I trust you." she said, with nary a trace of doubt in her voice.

And then Squall pushed her off the ship.

"I'm flying, Squall! I'm flyiiii..."

As Squall dispassionately watched her disappear in the clouds below, a voice spoke from behind.

"You enjoy that far too much, you know" Seifer said with a chuckle.

"Whatever." Squall responded, his usual uncaring expression back in place.

(Meanwhile, down in the DL Arena, a long, boring match was finally coming to an end.)

"Will you finally submit to my beauty and strength, samurai?" Melody laughed as she watched Cyan's struggling form. His pathetic sword techniques had been utterly useless in the face of her barriers, and while her Eliminate Scanner was unimpressive, it had slowly taken its toll upon the old man.

"Nay, foul demoness!" The Doman Knight spat out along with a glob of blood. "Whilst I admit thou art powerful indeed, thy beauty is but a false facade, hiding thine ugliness within!"

When those words were uttered, Melody snarled "Then die in misery, you wre- What the hell was that!?"

Both duellers looked up, wondering where the high-pitched sound was coming from. As they did so, they saw a tiny speck that was gradually getting bigger.

"...iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!"

And thus, Rinoa landed on Cyan with a loud crash.

A crash loud enough to wake up the sleeping judges, in fact.

Taking a quick glance at the ring, they noted the standing Melody, the knocked out Cyan, and the very illegal third dueller who was also in the ring. Having missed all of the prior events, this was obviously a clear disqualification for Melody.

And so, the judges ruled that Cyan advances, and they left the arena to catch up to their naps, leaving an exasperated and fuming Prophet.

"Ooog... what happened?" Rinoa said, woozily as she got up. "It feels like I fell off an airship..."

And with a wordless scream, Melody wailed on Rinoa, forsaking her Eliminate Scanners for a more hand-to-hand approach.

To this day, they're still trying to put Rinoa back together again.

Cyan Garamonde: 43
Melody Vilente: 34

Tide
Cyan's not known for his damage. Melody isn't known for her damage outside of poison.
Cyan can equip a Star Pendant to block Poison. Melody has a barrier that blocks most of Cyan's damage.
Cyan needs to charge in order to deal anything resembling damage. Melody doesn't need to charge using Eliminate Scanner.
Cyan's charged damage is still getting reduced by Melody's barrier. Cyan has no way of reducing Eliminate Scanner.
Match to the prophet.