The Rift Games

[{STR}pride]

The day had finally arrived.

For once the nexuses both blue and red were silent, what had been the two hubs of activity now sat still, with the occasional gust of wind or critter roaming around in the shadows.  However the path to the middle of the massive forest that sat in between these two great structures was from silent, the line of champions stretched as far as the eye could see to the massive arena now erected in the middle of the forest.  As everyone slowly filed in to witness the new event that had been made by whomever controlled the world they were now apart of.  Which team would take home the prize everyone wanted?  Who would reign supreme?

It took the better part of the morning, but finally a seat had been found, or created.  For everyone that had decided to show up to watch the event, the Rift Games was no secret and nearly everyone was in attendance for it, dark team or not.  The master or masters of this world had made this zone neutral, preventing champions from attacking the other unless they were participating in the games themselves.  As such a lot of chatter had sparked between champions, but it all hushed when a announcer suddenly blared over the speakers.

"Greetings my fellow beings!  Thank you all for coming to the first annual Rift Games!  Ultimately the goal of this event is to ultimately decide who is the greatest team in this game, whether it be a dark team, red nexus, or blue nexus.  This way every year one team will have the honor of hoisting a very specific plaque on their team house to showcase they are the strongest in this game!"

"Now quite a few teams entered for the first Rift Games, as such they have to be narrowed down before we can begin.  We intend for only sixteen teams to be present once this is all said and done.  For now we will begin with a time trial to decide the sixteen!  If you think this will be easy you will be sorely mistaken, there will be any number of trials awaiting you, and opposing teams are allowed to knock the competition out of the running if they so choose too."
"Without further ado, begin!"

A bell sounded, and although the spectators couldn't watch the event the area suddenly became hushed as they waited.  Not knowing just how long this event would take to decide the last sixteen teams to participate, however after around fifteen minutes had past the first few people began talking.  Before long the entire arena was once again loud as everyone was talking to the other, whether it be from a different team or nexus, or just amongst themselves.  Time seemed to disappear until they finally heard the announcer once more.

"Greetings once more!  The trial has finished, and without further ado I will announce the top three teams to come out of this trial, the last thirteen will file in afterward behind them."

"Coming in third, we have Phalanx's Blood Ringers!  A dark team heralding from this very jungle!"

A cheer went up from the crowd as Phalanx and his team appeared, waving.

"Second will gone to none other than Darkest Hour!  Long time holder of the top spot among the blue nexus teams and without a doubt one of the strongest in the game!  Lead by Poison, they are one of the favorites for this title!"

A even bigger cheer went up when Darkest Hour came out, clearly one of the biggest fan favorites out there.

However Poison frowned once the ceremonies died down.  Who could of come ahead of us.  He thought.   Although he had a idea.

"And coming in first place... my my this is a surprise!  A team never heard of before previously though I'm sure their leader has been!  They have taken to calling themselves Immortals, heralding from this jungle as well but neither a dark nor nexus aligned team.  Lead by Splinter!  Ladies and gentleman, put your hands together for the first seed in this event!"

A massive cheer erupted from the crowd as Splinter lead his team out onto the field, ever the focused one most of his team were the ones who greeted the crowd with smiles and waves.  Once they came to a stand still Splinter looked over, and Poison and him made eye contact.  A wordless exchange happened, and both know what was to come.

"And now for the rest of the teams..."

The announcer seemed to be drowned out by the nose as he announced the rest, once he was done the teams filed out into the their dorms.  But they heard a parting word from the announcer as they did.

"In a hour the first set of match ups will begin, to kick this off we will be using a 1v1 still match up.  One of many match ups and events to take place during this event.  Good luck and remember, all of the team must be present during this event!"

Once inside their dorm, Splinter turned to his team.

"I'll be going out first, I think it'd be best if we sent a message right off the bat to everyone here.  Just because we can pass a time trial in first doesn't mean we're a fluke, we're here to win."

His entire team looking much more serious now, nodded.  Ghost especially seemed ready for this even more than he had before while helping to train.

"We know you've been waiting for this, lets show them what the Immortals are capable of."

For the first time in many months, the ghost of a smile appeared on Splinter's face.

...

A hour passed and the first match ups were announced, and much to everyone's surprise the first one was between Immortals, the first seed, and the Knights of Apathy, the fourteenth seed coming in.  Many of the audience could be seen sniggering though, they had no knowledge of Immortals so expected little to no fight from them.

"They may have passed the time trial in first, but that's easy no doubt."

"Apathy will just use Heller, that man seems unstoppable as of late."

"I suspect this will be a quick match."

All of the teams filed out into their specific area's, and then waited for the first match to begin.  As expected Knights of Apathy sent out Heller, and massive brute of a guy.  But the surprise came in the champion he was, he was a Yasuo.  What surprised everyone even further, especially Poison and Darkest Hour, was when Splinter was the one who stepped out to meet him.  The leader of Immortals was going to take on the first match up.

Splinter eyed his opponent, his right eye glowing a intense red it normally didn't.

"You seem to be everything a Yasuo shouldn't be, we don't embody strength or brute force.  We're agile and quick, yet I don't see any of that in you."  He said.

Heller just snorted.  "Talking to weaklings is beneath me."

Splinter gritted his teeth and his eye flared dangerously.  Heller didn't know it at the time, but he'd made a fatal mistake.  At that moment the announcer blared.

"Welcome to the first match up of the Rift Games!  Knights of Apathy's Heller vs Immortals Splinter!  Anything goes in this 1v1 match up including killing your opponent if you feel so inclined, good luck to you both!  Begin at the sound of the gong."

Splinter and Heller stood opposite each other, Heller drew a massive sword.  The tension in the arena was massive as the audience looked on in silence.

The gong sounded.

Heller moved so fast that if it had been anyone else they wouldn't have been able to dodge the blow, as it was Splinter barely managed to move out of the way.  He felt the tip of Heller's sword graze his cheek and draw blood, and his eyes narrowed.  He landed and settled into a better stance, but to everyone's shock he did not draw a sword.

"What is he thinking?!"

"Is he trying to throw the first match!"

Ghost just smirked, little did anyone know of what Splinter was capable of.  Not even him.

Heller moved again, but this time Splinter was ready.  Instead of dodging he just stood still, and met the blow with one gauntleted hand.  The clash of steel rang out as they met, and Heller's eyes widened as he watched Splinter grin as he casually blocked the blow.  Splinter followed it up with a powerful quick the sent Heller flying to the other side of the arena where he crashed into the wall in a thick cloud of dust.

The crowd stared in shock.

"Is it over?"

"Did Heller really fall to one single blow?"

Splinter just stood there, eyeing the cloud Heller had disappeared into.  He knew this wasn't over.

As if on cue Heller appeared with a yell, running straight at Splinter.  This time Splinter did draw one of his blades.  "I've deemed you worthy of fighting me weapon to weapon, be happy of that beast."  He was heard saying as their blades clashed, they exchanged blows rapidly as they fought throughout the arena.  Then with a flick of his wrist and a twirl of his sword, Splinter spun Heller's sword out of his grip and it went flying.  Splinter spun, swinging his blade as he did, and before the sword had touched the ground Heller's head had gone flying, free of it's bodies shoulders.

Splinter sheathed his blade.  "Weak, huh?"  He said as he walked away.

The crowd could do nothing but stare for a moment, then a loud cheer erupted from it.

The other teams just looked on, Poison swore under his breath.

"You've really become a monster, haven't you?"

He watched Splinter's retreating back, then went sent out Wicked for Darkest Hour's match.

The rest went predictably with the winner being the more favored team, by the time the day was up eight teams had a 1-0 record, while the others were all 0-1.

"That is all for todays events!"  Came the voice of the announcer.  "As this is a seven day event with ten total games, there will be plenty more to come.  Be sure to be ready for it all!"