MRVerse Episode 11

[Chapter 11-2nd Round of the NOC!]
{APR 4WK 20XX}

The NOC for Rank C's 1st round have ended with Diewelt, Grant, Solomon, and Hilbert advancing to the 2nd round. the next set of matches is Diewelt vs Grant followed by Solomon vs Hilbert. Most of the crowd was not expecting the solo Ylissian monster to get past the 1st round, much less in the fashion which he did...they wondered what kind of trainer Jalen was to get so good with his Hare...Most of all is Belkut, his next opponent.

The Nohrian duke stands in his dugout grinding his teeth as he tries his best to come up with any way to pull a win off against Jalen..But none comes to mind for Solomon, his Gali, to prevail...

"(Damnit, damnit, DAMNIT!)" He sits down and hold his head in his hands..feeling very agitated now. "(How the hell am I gonna come up with a plan to beat that damned hare of his!? Why the hell did he get so much better in such a short time!?!)"

"Belkut!!"

He raise his head and look up behind him to see a very worried Rinea coming down and lean over the banister to speak to her beloved.

"Rinea?" He starts off confused, why is she down here? "What's ails you, my love?"
"Belkut...please..what I will say comes from my love for you as a person and trainer..."

She breaths in before she sighs and look at him with a determined look.
"Please...please give up."

Those words might as well be a Durahan using Deathbringer on his heart as Belkut looks absolutely crushed..his own fiancee....his beloved...losing hope in him?

"Wh-what...Ri-rinea...wh-why?"
She gulps down, picking her words carefully..

"My love, I know you are a very strong trainer with a wonderful passion..but I don't think today is the day you can get Solomon to the next rank..especially with Duke Faraday in it."

He look down as he process what he've heard..and look up at Rinea in despair..

"I-I...I don't understand...Are you saying...th-th-that Jalen's a better man than me?"
"No-No! Not at al-"

"Then why are you bringing up the notion of me giving up?!?" He yells at her with a pained tone in his voice...he was probably considering the idea at 1st, but hearing it from his fiancee only makes it even harder for him to do it now...

"Bel-Belkut please! I'm not saying he's a better man than you..But I fear that in your blind pride, you ma-"
"MY PRIDE IS WHAT KEEPS ME GOING!!"

As the match between Diewelt and Grant goes underway with the Jelly Gaboo missing a Straight 10 yards away from Diewelt..Belkut's angry outburst goes unheard by everyone except for Rinea..

"I can't give up to that Ylissian I am a Branch! A noble of Nohr!!..I refuse to let that bastard gain another win over me!!"
"M-My love.." Rinea tries to speak up, but she gets spoken over by Belkut.

"I won't let you down! I know that you are worried about me and Solomon, but I can't sleep with the fact that he is here trying to defile our culture!" He turn back around to look at the fight with Dielwelt running the clock down after netting some attacks on Grant.
"..I won't lose.."

Rinea sighs as she stay where she's at, close to the action in the stands right above Belkut.

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Jalen watches the match before him and pay very close attention to how Diego and Diewelt fight...they tend to go for the timeout as since Blue Hares are the fastest hares around thanks to their genes mixed with Hare and Tiger..For that, Diewelt is extremely fast and a bit more accurate as well...but he's more frailer and a bit weaker in terms of physical damage.

"This is gonna be annoying, Hilbert.." He lean against the wall in his dugout as Hilbert keeps his eyes on Diewelt, having some issues with keeping up with the dodges and movement the Blue Hare is showing off. "I know, I know..having issues with his speed, huh?" He call out to his Hare who look back at him with a serious look, not liking to admit such a thing.. "And you're pretty damn fast as we both know.."

Hilbert sighs and walk back to sit down next to his trainer, who pats his head to assure him. "No need to worry,

Hilbert..they may be faster...but we're more stronger and will hit him much harder." Jalen grinned, excited about the prospect of winning here. Feeling his energy, Hilbert nods and pumps his fists.

"We gonna win here and go home advancing to Rank B!" He crosses his arms just as the bell rings out and the refs announce Diewelt winning the match.

He looks up and see his friends in the noble box waving down at him. Chrom and Lissa are smiling down as Robin is sitting next to Chrom cheering on as well...His sister Rhiannon is sporting a confident grin assured of his victory as Summer nods with a smile of her own.

...All the while, he forgets about Raven looking over to him with a calm look...growing annoyed that he's not looking over where she's at and instead is looking up where her step-sister is at...

"...Stupid-ass bitch.."
She frowns as she sees Jalen and Belkut entering the ring with their monsters, the latter looking extremely agitated by the former She knows why however, she smirks as she recall minutes ago where she saw Belkut and Rinea having some argument...

"You're nothing but stepping stone for me and Jalen's path to godhood..."
Raven look over to Beruka with a stern look.

"Fetch me some food, I want to have something to eat for Grand Finals.."
"As you will it..."

Beruka stands up and walk off as silent as she can while Raven turn her attention to the ring again...the match just about to start...

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Down on the Arena Floor with the trees and rocks along with the mist low to the ground..both Hilbert and Solomon stand before one another, ready for combat as does their trainers. Jalen have a calm and collected look that contrasts Belkut's own angry and growling look. The Nohrian crowd loudly cheering on Belkut as Rinea merely watches with a worried look..

"(Oh Gdddesses, please watch over my lovely Belkut...)" She closes her eyes and say a short prayer..

"Belkut..."
"....Faraday..."

Belkut balls his hands into fists at his side, the memories of his loss coming to his mind once again...

"This will be different, Faraday....I will prevail over you and remind you of the gap between Nohrians and Ylissians!!" At that claim, the crowd yells out in support for the duke of the Branch Manor as Jalen merely stand there with a calm look..

"So you're still angry about our last encounter..." Jalen roll his eyes.. "And you think that with the time that went by, you are on my level..."

"I KNOW that I am on a level higher than you! I told you last time that the Ylissian Tourney Format netted you the win back then!" Shouting at the ylissian, Belkut soon smirks as he crosses his arms.. "But now Solomon is rightfully rested...and he shall prove that to your little bunny now..."

"Is that so?" Jalen tilts his head and raise an eyebrow before he shrugs and smirks as he place his hands in his hoodie.. "Then prove it."

The bell rings out as Solomon opens things up with a Straight as a giant yellow astral fist comes out of its cape, Hilbert smoothly dodges that as Solomon whip up his mask off of his face for a Hashing Mask...

It flings the mask at Hilbert, enlarging it to an gigantic size that slices up the trees in the arena while Hilbert jumps over it and starts to run around within the ring as the mask chase him down. He jump through the trees with the branches getting cut off by the mask before it just goes back to Solomon just as Hilbert land on the ground some yards away.

"Lightning!" Solomon swipes the air before it and shoot stray green bolts towards the Hare who ducks and hops over them towards the Gali, the gameplan here is for Jalen and Hilbert to get as close to the Gali and wallop on it

So far, it's not working at the moment..but Jalen knows that Galis have terrible guts regen and it's only a matter of time for Solomon to run out...just like last time..

"(I don't think he've learned from last time...I'll go extra aggressive here...)"

"Hilbert! Kung-Fu Blow!"

Hilbert steps back a bit before he dashes in with his right fist prepared to punch Solomon in his stomach, but the Gali dodges it as it sways to the left of the Hare.

"FOOL! YOU HAVE WALKED RIGHT TO MY TRAP!! SOLOMON, HEAVY THWACK!!"
Solomon summons its hand once again before it grows to a size of a car as it tries to slam Hilbert to the ground...the hand comes down with great speed on him!!

A sound rings out as Hilbert simply raise both his hands up to block the attack, grunting in slight pain however...
"WH-WHAT!?!" Belkut screams with fright as Solomon tries to take its hand back, but finds it extremely difficult due to Hilbert exerting great force with his grip.

"You shouldn't had done that..."Jalen smirks as Hilbert slam the hand besides him and dash in for a fast 1-2 punch on the mask..making Solomon cry out in pain.

"Headbutt!" Hilbert grabs the cape of Solomon's and bring his head towards its mask for a strong head clash..Hilbert takes some recoil judging from his grunt, but Solomon is taking it badly as it sways back in a very pained motion..

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"Man, talk about domination.." Robin grimaced from the fight below them..It would had appeared to be a tied match with Solomon controlling the pace, but then Hilbert seems to have pulled a bait with Kung-Fu Blow and after blocking the Heavy Thwack, laid down a 1-2 Punch followed by a Headbutt..

"And this match is over, Hilbert is now in the prime position to just beat the shit out of Solomon." Rin leans back and smile with a smug look as she lock her fingers together. While Chrom and Lissa nods agreeing..Summer and Robin are confused with the former speaking up.

"I wouldn't put Solomon down just yet..there's still about 45 seconds left in the clock..."
Rin giggles a bit as Chrom shakes his head and speak up, knowing plenty of info due to him and Jalen sparring.

"You would be right if that was just another Hare down there...But once Hilbert gets his hands on you..."
They soon hear the shout of a Hare unleashing a powerful Spin Kick to Solomon's chest, knocking it through a tree and then another one as it rest against it coughing up blood..

"....Pain is all your monster will feel.."
Summer and Robin gulps, Lissa smiles to defuse the tension.

"Not to worry tho, Jalen's not the kind of guy who let his monster injure the others on purpose...He'll stop soon!"

"Geez, I hope so..." Robin slinks into her chair rather frightful of Jalen's potential...
"So...This is your brother's skill." Summer look over to Rin who nods as she watches the match below them..
"Yeah..we're pretty damn good.."

"...Interesting.."
"(I really wanna battle him then!)" Summer smiles brightly as she gets excited over the prospect..

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"(Oh....God...YES!!!)"

Raven chomps down on a Hot Dog that Beruka brought for her as she have a lap full of food including Popcorn, a nacho bowl, and 3 tacos... "(I KNEW that he was strong....but to just thrash Belkut in front of all of these Nohrians including his wife makes it ALL THE MORE BETTER!!!)" She looks around and see the crowd looking on in horror at one of the tourney's favorites getting destroyed as Hilbert dodges a desperate Straight and counters back with a Straight of his own to Solomon's belly..making it kneel over..

"(Yes, YES! LOOK ON AT THE FUTURE EMPEROR OF THE WORLD! GAZE AT THE SIGHT OF HIS SKILL AND WITNESS THE UTTER DEFEAT OF A PUNY TRAINER!!!)"

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Diego silently watches on with a stoic look..he's not impressed after getting over Hilbert's 1st match..believing that not only was that one a fluke, but so is this one since Belkut isn't that good to begin with..

"Hmph....we'll see how you fare against me and Diewelt.."

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With 30 seconds left...Hilbert and Jalen decided to end it with the latter ordering a High Kick. Hilbert crouches low and throw out his foot on the Gali's mask...sending it flying towards another tree and crashing through it and out of the ring...KO'ED.
The Crowd is silent minus Jalen's friends cheering on loudly as well as Raven chorting uncontrollably, clutching her food to keep it on her  lap..Belkut fall on his knees  as he just witnessed one of his worst defeats...He should had listened to Rinea...he should had quit, but now he had to deal with this defeat again..

"This...isn't..fair...I worked all months on getting better..I've won many tourneys...and pushed Solomon hard...and this happened again?!?!"

Hilbert watches as the medics get Solomon out of the tree and head to the medical center with a calm look before he hop back towards Jalen with the 2 of them heading back to the dugout...

"Another win...but now comes the hard part..." He spare a look at Diego who glares back.. "We gonna defeat them..."
He reminds Hilbert.

Belkut gets off the field with a look of despair as Rinea heads down the stairs from the stands to find him in the hallway...
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Soon, the refs announce a 5 min break before the finalists get inside the ring. As everyone waits patiently for it to come on...one of them receive shocking news and nods with a huge smile on his face...he inform the audience that a surprise guest will be arriving in seconds..

"Hm...Who could it be?" Chrom wonders out loud as Lissa give her guess.. "Maybe it's our parents?"
"I.." He look at her with a worried look.. "Wouldn't think mother and father would come here to watch a Nohrian Cup..."

"Least of all one without me competing..."
"So...Who could it be then?" Robin asked, making him shrug.

"...." Rin rubs her chin...as Summer opens a can of pop and begin to sip it..

Just as she does so, the doors to the arena floor opens up with a giant golem of pitch black skin walking in behind a blonde male wearing a purple tuxedo with the royal insignia of the Gotha family on his chest..his hair is neatly combed as he scans the floor for the remaining two finalists.

Jalen looks utterly shocked as Diego may be calm, but on the inside he is seething with rage at his source of anger and biggest obstacle to the throne..

"Prince Alexander Gotha..."He speaks his name to himself, rage seeping through..

"XANDER!?!?"
Chrom sits up with widen eyes as Summer spit her pop out while everyone else looks shocked as well. "Wh-wh-what's he doing here so early?!!?" Summer wheezes as she tries to recover... "Maybe he don't wanna be late and get DQ for the next Rank C Cup?!?" Robin asked with a nervous smile.

"He's the prince of Nohr, the CROWN Prince even! He can come in a hour late and no one would try to DQ him!!" Summer counters back as Robin rubs her chin, agreeing with it. "Yeah..guess you're right...But why wou-"

"He wanna see the grand finals.." Rin's answer shut them up as she have a scowl... "I bet he wanna see a Nohrian defeat a Ylissian so he can go all nationalism on us.."

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Raven frowns..but shakes her head as she smirks...

"If the prince wanna see the future emperor at work..be my guest..it will not help you in the long run..."
She look down to see Diego struggling to not go over and punch Xander on his face...She knows of his detestment of the Nohrian Royal Family and find it funny...

"Maybe Xander will take pity on you and tag himself in, Diego.." She snickers to herself..

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"I am merely here to make sure I won't be late for my tourney.." Xander speaks up for the roaring crowd to hear him.. "However, it have come to my attention that a Ylissian is in the grand finals...this is the 1st it had ever happened, so allow me to congratulate you, Duke Faraday.."

His calm voice with his stoic expression would made Jalen think he was being sarcastic, but knowing Xander he's just being as blunt as possible..

"(No need to be rude..)"
"Thanks..."

He nods at the ylissian before continuing..  "That said..Diego Brando here is one of Nohr's finest and I doubt you will find it a easy match...Diego, I expect great things from you." He call out to his fellow blonde nohrian. Diego not even bothering to look at him as he and Diewelt walk on the arena with new trees built in from the last match...

"...Thank you, my lord..your words honored me.."
With no emotion in his tone, it's clear that Diego is ready...Jalen and Hilbert share a look before nodding as they walk on the stage...

What will happen next? The whole region of Nohr is watching now....will Jalen prevail...will he lose? Find out next time!!!!!