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Stella     Stella is always exactly on time, which is yet another way to tell how perfectly boring her mindset must be. Or perhaps less boring and more entirely too task-focused, seeking to excel in everything thrust upon her.

    The MECC stage awaits, like an open-air holodeck that's yet to turn on, surrounded by countless seats and cameras, screens showing audiences from every corner of the Multiverse, and countless security measures to ensure the crowd's relative safety, not to mention the fighters', the Shrine's systems taking scan after scan in preparation for the end.

    Stella enters without a word, unarmed, wearing the usual clothes she does; her skin and dress shimmer unnaturally, like crystal trying to appear as tissue and textile but not quite managing it entirely.

    Still as a statue, she waits for her second opponent, now a bit more confident about the process. The signal lights are red, and so it isn't time to go yet. That's how it works.

    As the appointed time nears itself, the arena finally reconfigures itself into something interesting. A gladiatorial arena comes to life, with a wide aray of traps near the edges - spinning saws, caged lions, hidden spike pits, flamethrowers, rigged crossbows. There's plenty of room to operate safely in the middle, but it looks like going for the edges of the arena would be quite unwise, unless you're trying to corner your opponent in them like a tactical genius.

    The countless seats fill with holographic recreations of the real crowd, cheering for the match to begin.
Krusty     Krusty's cloak billows out behind him as he walks out to his starting point inside the arena. As he does so he wears a charming smile on his face. He waves to the crowd and the cameras as he passes by, happy to engage them before the match is set to begin.

    Krusty comes to a halt and turns his focus to Stella at the other end of arena, "Ah yes, we meet again." He recalls the past instances they've both worked together and clashed. Though there's not yet been a decisive battle between the two of them specifically, so this should prove interesting.

    Krusty swipes his fingers in the air in front of him several times, before a large two-handed sword appears with a flash on his back. He reaches back, drawing forth the weapon, spinning it over his head and slamming it point down into the ground in front of him. His expression changes to one of determination as he waits for the match to begin, saying to Stella, "I wish you luck and an enjoyable competition."

    Three. Two. One. A horn sounds. The match begins.

    Krusty charges forward at that very instant, quickly closing the distance to Stella as he shifts his large blade low and to the side. As he reaches her he swings it, starting off with a simple diagonal strike.
Stella     A brief moment of recognition. Stella searches through her memories, and then: "Oh. You are the one who was with... Misa? Her name was Misa. We fought. She could fight using music. You are her superior, are you not?" Well, normally, that would mean... "So you must be stronger."

    Right. That's how that works.

    Why wouldn't it be?

    The noise of the signal lights changing - the colors go with them. The horn. Unlike her match with Riku, she knows what to expect this time. Twin blades of prismatic crystal burst out of her hands and wrist, settling into her grip as she raises them immediatly. Krusty's blade locks with both of them, Stella forced back by his strength, one leg almost buckling under the pressure.

    The force and damage spreads across her body.

    "You must be the warrior of the team, as well. I am more suited to fighting you than a musician." That's mostly true.

    Rather than strike with the blades keeping Krusty's at bay, Stella's right foot shifts forward, kicking the ground and causing jagged crystal spikes to burst out of the sand, towards Krusty's chest.

    "I never asked. Are you a knight?"
Krusty     The spikes smash into Krusty's chest, putting a dent in his armour there and knocking him back several feet. His boots skid across the ground until he comes to a stop. He shifts his feet to regain some solid footing as he mvoes his blade up in front of him.

    He begins to slowly circle around Stella, watching her closesly as he responds, "Stronger, perhaps. But not by much. We each fill different roles, our strengths lying in different areas."

    When asked if is a knight, Krusty chuckles for a moment, then says, "I don't have any official title as such. But some have described me as one. And I like to think I conduct myself in a manner worthy of it."

    Krusty moves his large sword up over his shoulder, the blade beginning to glow with light. He doesn't charge forward this time, but still swings. As he does so the light jumps off the blade, forming a crescent shaped streak of energy. It quickly covers the distance between the two and tries to cut into Stella.
Stella     "A manner worthy of it?" Stella asks, obviously curious - it's rare her face shows much emotion, so it's not hard to tell.

    She advances - as Krusty circles, she never misses a step, trying to force him towards the edge of the arena, one step at a time. The glowing blade launches a streak of energy, and it smashes into Stella. Her opponent's aim, and strength, saw to it that it cleaved an arm right off, shattering the ridiculously hard crystal at the joint. The limb hits the ground, but Stella continues advancing, indifferent.

    "What manner is worthy of being a knight? Seifer said I had to find a sorceress to defend. What is yours?" Being a knight changes so much. The Royal Knights seemed to have their own idea of it, too. What's Krusty's?

    Stella pushes forward, the energy blade Krusty launched still reflecting off the surface of her blade as it travels behind her, eventually to smash into an arena wall. Her sword becomes energized with the same glow, but rather than swing a crescent at Krusty, she tries to slash with the energy up close, to empower the slash rather than extend its range.

    "I have not yet found what it means to me. If I ask enough people what it means to them, I might find the correct path."
Krusty     Krusty is not yet at such a point where he can be easily led around the arena at Stella's whim. Though whether that will hold true the entire fight remains to be seen.

    Krusty brings his own sword up to try and block Stella's. He mostly succeeds, the two pressing against each other. Stella is able to push back against his defense, her energized blade starting to cut into Krusty's heavy armour. While Krusty physically struggles against Stella's weapon, his expression remains remarkably calm, "Truth be told, a knight is simply a rank bestowed upon certain soldiers in the past."

    Krusty eventually pushes back enough to give him room to jump away. He lands again and brings his sword to his chest, pointing straight up, "Cool Defense." A faint aura of energy surrounds Krusty. He continues, "Much fiction throughout history has romanticized it though. Assigning traits of bravery, nobility, respect for one's opponents and those of lesser station. Whether this was the truth of reality or simply how we choose to see it now, it's still an attractive way of life for some."

    Krusty lowers his stance as he raises his blade up horizontal too himself, pointing straight at Stella. He calmly speaks, "Scarlet-" Krusty's blade glows red as he launches forward, quickly covering the distance between the two and attempting to skewer Stella with his sword.

    "-Thrust."
Stella     "Attractive. I see."

    Stella doesn't budge when Krusty transparently empowers his blade and thrusts forward. The sword pierces her chest and comes out the back, her body cracking around the wound. She glances down at it, then at Krusty again, even as her body begins patching the hole closed. Crystal regrows, slowly, a stump already replacing the arm that was broken off moments ago. And crystal regrows inside her chest, too, trying to trap Krusty's sword in there, without regards for the downsides.

    "You are suggesting it is a lie. Fiction. But I have seen men knighted for bravery, and my body has been wielded to defend. When I was blades and armor, not this, I was alongside many knights, and they were all heroes to their kingdom. Is that not the essence of a knight?"

    Jagged spikes and spines of crystal burst along her sword, and she swings for Krusty, the blade almost exploding regardless of whether or not her blow can connect, sending that sharp, crystaline shrapnel in every direction.

    And of course, she hasn't stopped walking.

    A nebulous distance behind Krusty sits an array of deadly saws up against the wall, spinning in treacherous silence. Maybe a few more steps...?

    "If it is not that, what else could it be?"
Krusty     Krusty lets go of his sword, leaving it embedded inside of Stella. He takes a few steps back. There's no way he can't be aware of how close he is to the edge, but he doesn't seem concerned. Instead he swipes his finger in the air once more and in a repeat of his entrance, another weapon manifests from light on his back. This time a large two-handed axe.

    Krusty draws his axe and swings it just in time to meet Stella's blade. The two clash and crystals explode as shrapnel. However, as they hit Krusty they bounce harmlessly off him, the protective aura still glowing around him lightly.

    He shakes his head, "I'm not suggesting it's a lie."

    Krusty shifts into a stance similar to his previous, initially suggesting the same move. But no, there are differences. Krusty moves his axe to the side, the entire weapon turning translucent. Krusty is barely a blur as he bursts fowards, Aura Saber skill activating as his axe sweeps towards Stella. But the weapon has no physical presence, simply passing through Stella should she fail to avoid it. It deals damage as it does so and allows Krusty to brush past her and reappear on the other side, skidding to a halt.

    "I'm suggesting that you shouldn't look to others for the definition. But yourself."
Stella     "Myself?"

    Stella pauses her advance. She recalls Septette and Stella kept insisting much the same thing, and at the end of the day she'd not managed anything.

    Even as Krusty phase-strikes through Stella, avoiding the defense of her skin handily, she doesn't react; and even then as a huge chunk of her abdomen shatters, she mostly keeps looking emptily ahead, turning to look at Krusty after a few moments.

    "I was not made for such thoughts. I learn by observing. I learn by being told. I learn by reading. I cannot possibly hope to grasp a concept before it has been defined for me. I merely know I endeavor to be the perfect knight. I do not know why. I do not know what it means.

    Her second arm finishes regrowing with a burst of crystaline growth, the prismatic crystal regaining skin and clothes coloration after a moment. ""But I know I must find out."

    A volley of crystal blades appear in the air over her head and her shoulders, spiked and jagged. They all launch towards Krusty, aiming for joints, weaker sections of his armor, exposed skin. They burst into countless, incredibly sharp shards on impact, and Stella uses the attack as cover to run in to strike as well.

    One blade, wielded with both hands, coming down diagonally. It's like she's defending her point of view through might, knowing her words are empty excuses for failing.

    "But I cannot do it the way you suggest."
Krusty     The crystal blades all streak down towards Krusty, who doesn't try to evade them, instead simply trusting in his high defenses to tank the attacks. A number smash off his armour, while others dig in deep and cause Krusty to wince in pain. He is also forced down onto one knee, which puts him in a perfect position for Stella to deliver a follow up blow.

    Stella's blade comes down into Krusty's shoulder, slicing through armour and drawing blood. Krusty grunts a little, but doesn't initially counter. He does shift his large axe into just one hand, saying to Stella, "That's a shame." Krusty begins to rise, despite having Stella's blade still in him. His free hand reaches out to grab the hilt of his sword still embedded in her.

    As Krusty's hand comes into contact with it, the sword's absorption kicks in once again, amplified by the time it had spent in Stella. Krusty then rips it out, no doubt doing a little damage in the process. He backs away from Stella to regain some composure, now holding a weapon in each hand as he smiles a little adly at her, "I suspect you'll be searching for quite a while, in that case."
Stella     'I suspect you'll be searching for quite a while, in that case.'

    Stella makes no effort to stop Krusty from retrieving his blade, ripping broken parts of her chest right out with it. There's no blood or organs, it's just solid crystal in there, so on the bright side, there's no gore or bloodstains. You know, silver linings. Gotta collect those. Her regeneration slows a bit, evidently affected by the sword having spent time in there absorbing energy. Life? Magic, maybe. Whatever holds Stella together.

    "It is a good thing I cannot die, then. But somehow the thought of that does not fill me with certainty. I do not think I wish to search for a long time. That is why, I must find the ideal knight and learn from him."

    It might have to be Seifer. He's rather knightly, all things considered. At least she's not been given a reason to think otherwise yet.

    But she's no better off than Krusty; even with her regenerating, incredibly tough body, her spirit is still worn down. Maybe it's the conflicting thoughts.

    A ball of crystal forms in Stella's empty hand, and she hurls it at Krusty like a grenade. Which is essentially what it is, since it bursts into knife-like edges just before it reaches him.
Krusty     Krusty has definitely slowed down. His health bar is still going fairly strong. Still only at about 50%... Ignoring the red section taking up a good quarter of it. He still hasn't shaken that penalty he acquired fighting the sky spirits. However, his stamina is quite drained, as evidence by the fact that he's switching to a more conservative fighting style.

    As Stella's crystal grenade is thrown at him, Krusty raises his sword to shield against in, most of the shards smashing against it and the remainder bouncing off his armour.

    Krusty sweeps his sword down once more, saying, "I highly doubt there is such a person. You might be better off gathering knowledge from a large collection of diverse knights and settling on the commonalities between them."

    Krusty charges forward, unleashing a quick one-two slash from his sword and then axe. Both weapons prove to have the absorption ability on them as they once more continue to drain Stella's strength, using some of it to restore Krusty's own.
Stella     "But you said it was not the correct way," Stella says, not sounding like she wants to contradict Krusty but rather legitimately confused by the statements that can't coexist. Or that she feels can't coexist, at any rate.

    The weapons come down, and Stella drops her blade, reaching up with her hands. They plant themselves firmly in her palms, cracking her hands but not shattering through them outright. This close, she takes the chance to look at Krusty in the eyes, seeking her answers.

    "If an ideal knight does not exist, and I cannot rely on others, and I cannot rely on myself...?"

    She can't end that sentence.

    Instead, spikes of crystal erupt out of her body, trying to skewer Krusty multiple times while they're this close together. But she's not especially strong, so it's not like she can hold him in place either. Withdrawing his weapons and pulling back wouldn't be especially hard.
Krusty     Krusty doesn't actually try to disengage, continuing to rely on his defenses. Though Stella's crystal spikes are able to finder greater purchase this time, breaking through weakened parts of armour and digging into Krusty. He's starting to look a little concerned, along with some pain, as his health dips even lower.

    With his weapons still entangled with Stella, he chooses a more unorthodox means of attack. He raises one of his legs to slam his armoured knee into Stella's crystal body. It probably won't do much, but it will hopefully force Stella backwards a little, closer to that edge. While also giving Krusty some breathing room again.

    He does correct Stella though, "I didn't actually say looking inside was the only way. I merely suggested it as one potential path. If that won't work for you, then you obvious have no choice but to consider others. I do not believe there is only one correct means to achieve what you desire. Though you may need to find more unusual sources. Think outside of the box, so to speak."
Stella     "I am not inside a box," Stella replies, sufficiently serious to impart the immediate wisdom that she doesn't understand those kinds of sayings. She's entirely too literal for that.

    Krusty's knee forces Stella backwards half a foot, but gained ground is gained ground. The saws buzz behind her, which causes her to look back, and then towards Krusty again.

    "I observe... for you, being a knight must mean mastering one's environment. To use every tool at your disposal as efficiently as possible, and to overpower your opponent through clever plans rather than brawn. Is that correct?"

    Stella no that's a tactician not a knight.

    But she acts upon it.

    Stella roots herself into the ground, crystals bursting from her feet and digging in. Then behind Krusty, another set of crystals just shoots out of the ground, like sharp blades trying to cage him in with the golem as they shoot straight at him. If she can just get him close enough, she'll just need to grab and hurl him into the saws, instead of trying to outmaneuver a man clearly much more in control than she is.
Krusty     Krusty smiles at Stella, "Your obsevation skills are certainly impressive."

    The crystal spikes errupt from behind Krusty, battering his armour and forcing him forward a step. Krusty glances at the spikes behind him, cutting him off. He might be able to break through, but that would leave him open to attack.

    So he does exactly as Stella wants.

    Krusty dashes towards Stella once more, closing the range between them. And as he brings his axe swinging around towards her he calls out, "Armor Crash!"
Stella     Krusty's strike shatters Stella's hold onto the ground. It pushes her back, straight into the saws. Saws that, admittedly probably weren't meant to slice through incredibly sturdy crystal from space, and so they jam their teeth into Stella and stall, more than they cut her apart. Though odds are, even in half, it wouldn't be that inconvenient to her specifically.

    But she's stuck in the saws for the moment, lacking the strength the bend the metal and free herself.

    So she adapts.

    "It was not difficult to observe I am not in a box," Stella replies, again to the wrong statement in the entirely wrongest of ways.

    Two shards of crystal, on the ground, glow with an intense orange heat, all of a sudden. As the flamethrowers in a corner of the arena go off, and the flames reflect off her body chunks here and there, they energize with fire. Stella remains motionless, like she's presenting Krusty with an opening.

    Then the chunks of crystal release balls of fire from numerous directions, all trying to converge on Krusty.
Krusty     Krusty can't help but chuckle at Stella's misunderstanding. Although he does respond, "Maybe. Or maybe we're all in metaphorical boxes of our own, built of our desires, beliefs, worries... Everything that makes us, us."

    The fireballs streak in towards Krusty and explode in flames, briefly hiding him from view. But from within that collective fireblast, something comes streaking out. It's Krusty's large axe, spinning through the air straight towards Stella.
Stella     Stella is jammed in saws and now has an axe lodged into her skull. Or, well, the mass of crystal that passes for her head. It cleaves down without trouble, splitting her body in half vertically, the crystal crumbling between the saws but keeping them clogged.

    Present an opening, and exploit it.

    "If that is so, you are a very strange-looking box."

    A bit too literal there, still.

    Stella's regeneration kicks into overdrive, her state so dire. Prismatic crystals, pristine and shimmering, burst out of every last piece of her body like a big ball of messy spikes, piercing the arena walls, shredding the saws, and with any luck, Krusty along with them, as the golem's body forcefully shunts itself together, but damages itself just as badly slamming into everything around her.

    It doesn't look like the crystal can handle blunt force quite as easily as swords, axes and saws.
Krusty     Crystals go flying all over the arena. Krusty himself is soon revealed as the flames from Stella's previous attack dissipates. There's a rather large crystal lodged in his side, blood dripping out.

    Krusty plants his sword in the ground and falls to one knee. He looks up at Stella and gives her a strained smile, "Thank... You..." Wait, was he thanking her for being called a strange box, or being pierced by a large crystal? Either way, that's a bit weird. Or maybe it was something else entirely.

    As Krusty falls forward the rest of the way to hit the ground, it seems we'll never know... Unless you ask him after the Shrine's temporal effect reverses his injuries. Which is starting now as the arean announcer calls out, "Winner: Stella!"

    The crowd cheers.
Stella     After just about half a minute, the jumbled mess of shattered crystals and spikes reforms into what's much more obviously a humanoid body; initially lacking features, it almost seems to chisel itself as pieces shrink or fall off until the mass of rainbow crystal is Stella-shaped, and in another few seconds, it regains a coloration like skin and clothes, ever unable to really dissimulate the crystaline sheen.

    The Shrine's effect largely serves to reenergize her.

    With the battle high fading, Stella regains a blank face, but doesn't seem to go for Krusty. Actually, she's already looking to leave. She needs to sit down and think. The crowd isn't helping. She can't process new information like this, or clear away confusion.