The arena trembled as Hades raised his arms, a theatrical grin stretg across his face. “Ladies, gentlemen, aless souls, this is what you’ve been waiting for! A csh so thrilling, so brutal, it’ll make your afterlife feel like a vacation!” His fiery hair fred brightly as he turoward the two teams oform. “Two legends against two upstarts. Let’s see if the dynamic duo of doom survive Vihe Sinner and Barret the Avanche!”

  Helios summoned his keybde and shifted his grip on the Equilibrium, the weight of the on feeling heavier than usual uhe oppressive curse of the Underworld. He g Sephiroth, who stood poised and unshaken, Masamuing lightly in his hand, its bde glinting in the dim, eerie light of the Underdrome.

  “You’re ready for this, right?” Helios asked, f a grie the ay g at his chest.

  Sephiroth didn’t look at him, his gaze fixed on their oppos. “Stay out of my way,” he said coldly.

  Helios rolled his eyes. “You’re a real team pyer, you know that?”

  Across the arena, Vi and Barret stood side by side, an unspoken uanding passiween them. Barret cracked his neck, the barrels of his gun-arm spinning menagly, while Vi’s crimson eyes narrowed as he studied Helios and Sephiroth.

  “Don’t uimate them,” Vi muttered, his voice low and calm. “That one in bck... his aura is unnatural.”

  Barret smirked, flexing his meical arm. “I don’t care if he’s the devil od of the underworld himself. That sword ain’t stoppin’ a hail of bullets.”

  The arena fell silent, the air crag with tension. Then, with a snap of Hades’ fingers, the battle began.

  “SHOWTIME BOYS!” Hades bellowed, and chaos erupted.

  Barret opened fire immediately, his gatling gun r to life as a torrent of bullets screamed across the arena. Helios dove to the side, rolling into a crouch as the bullets tore into the stone floor where he’d just been standing. Sephiroth blurred into motion, telep directly in front of Barret and sshing downward with Masamune.

  Barret blocked with his gun-arm, sparks flying as metal met steel. “You’re fast, I’ll give you that!” he barked, his strength barely keeping Sephiroth’s bde at bay. But before Sephiroth could press the advantage, Vi was there, his gun leveled with precision.

  A single gunsh out, the bullet aimed for Sephiroth’s head. Sephiroth tilted his head to the side at the st possible moment, the bullet grazing his cheek. The slight distra allowed Barret to shove him back with a powerful swing of his meical arm.

  Helios seized the opening, darting in and firing a Dark Firaga at Barret. The ball of bck fmes streaked across the arena, f Barret to leap back, but Vi intercepted it, firing his gun. The bullet collided with the fireball, detonating it mid-air in a burst of shadowy fire.

  “Not bad,” Vi murmured, his eyes flig to Helios. “But you’ll have to do better than that.”

  Helios gritted his teeth and thrust his keybde forward, summoning a small whirlwind of Aero that swept toward Vi. The crimson-cloaked ma into the air, flipping gracefully over the spell, his gun firing three quick shots at Helios. Helios swung his keybde, defleg two of the bullets with the metallig of impact, but the third grazed his arm, leaving a thin line of blood.

  Sephiroth was already ba the fray, telep behind Barret and sshing horizontally. Barret barely mao block, but Sephiroth’s strength sent him skidding across the ptform. Sephiroth followed up with a burst of Shadow Fres, dark orbs swirling around him before ung at Barret in quick succession.

  Barret roared, switg his gun-arm to missile mode and firing a rocket into the oning projectiles. The explosion shook the arena, smoke and debris filling the air.

  Through the haze, Vi emerged, moving with inhuman speed. His cloak fred out behind him as he closed in on Sephiroth, his gun firing rapidly. Sephiroth blocked each shot with Masamune, his bde a blur as sparks lit up the air between them.

  “You’ll need more than a gun to take me down,” Sephiroth said, his voice calm and disdainful.

  Vi’s lips twitched into a faint smile. “Good thing I have more than a gun.”

  In an instant, Vi’s form shifted, his body twisting and t as he transformed into the Galia. A feral roar echoed through the arena as the beast charged, cws sshing at Sephiroth with brutal force.

  Helios rushed to Sephiroth’s side, swinging his keybde to intercept one of the Galia’s strikes. The force of the blow sent a jolt through his arms, but he held firm, pushing back against the monstrous strength.

  “Mind helping out here?” Helios shouted.

  Sephiroth gred at him. “You’re slowing me down.”

  Before Helios could retort, Barret rejoihe fight, firing a barrage of bullets that forced Helios and Sephiroth to separate. Helios darted to the side, raising his keybde and casting Reflect. The shield of light shimmered around him, defleg the bullets in all dires.

  As the Reflect spell faded, Helios thrust his keybde forward, summoning a Thundaga spell. Lightning crackled from above, striking Barret’s position with explosive force. The impact sent the rger man stumbling, but he quickly recovered, switg his gun-arm to a wreg ball and charging at Helios.

  Helios barely mao dodge as the massive on smashed into the ground where he’d been standing. He retaliated with a Firaga spell, the fireball exploding against Barret’s chest and pushing him back a few steps.

  Meanwhile, Sephiroth was locked in a deadly dah the Galia. The creature’s cws sshed and swiped with relentless ferocity, but Sephiroth’s speed and precisio him oep ahead. He teleported behind the beast, delivering a devastating ssh to its back, but the creature seemed unfazed, r and spinning to ter with a swipe that caught Sephiroth across the chest.

  Sephiroth staggered, blood staining his coat, but his expression remained calm. He raised a hand, summoning a Firaga Wall that ehe Galia in t fmes. The creature howled, the fire searing its flesh, but it didn’t fall.

  “Helios!” Sephiroth called, his voice sharp.

  Helios uood immediately. He raised his keybde, eling his energy into a Blizzaga spell. The icy projectile struck the burning Galia, the sudden shift in temperature causing cracks to form in its hardened hide. Sephiroth followed up with a flurry of sshes, each strike precise and deadly, and the beast finally fell, reverting to Vi’s human form.

  Vi nded hard, breathing heavily but still scious.

  “eamwork,” Helios muttered, giving Sephiroth a half-smile.

  Sephiroth g him, his expression unreadable. “Don’t get used to it.”

  Before they could catch their breath, Barret let out a roar, his gun-arm charging with energy. “Time to end this!” he bellowed, unleashing a massive ser bst that tore across the arena.

  Helios and Sephiroth leapt in opposite dires, the beam narrowly missing them but leaving a deep gouge ione floor.

  “We o finish this quickly. Soon all our strength will be gone,” Helios said, clutg his keybde tightly.

  Sephiroth nodded, his eyes narrowing as he prepared for the final phase of the battle.