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"I don't lose, Bella, that's one lesson everyone learns. Well, except Genesis that is. He always seems to come back for more," the silver-locked SOLDIER answered from inside the mass of water. He withdrew from the stance he had taken to begin Octaslash, and instead sent a pulse of energy from his blade, causing the water to burst.

Blaze merely watched with rapt attention at the events.

"However, I am willing to call it a draw. In other words, no one wins, but no one loses. Often times I have draws with Angeal. Genesis on the other hand, usually loses because his temper gets the better of him," Sephiroth answered. He extended his gloved right hand towards the sobbing girl, a smile on his face. His gaze turned towards the scarlet-haired adolescent standing next to Angeal.

"When you heal up, I'm interested in facing you as well. I have a feeling you've already come up with a new, more effective limit break," he said.

Sephiroth's casual statement caught Blaze off guard, and he took a step back in astonishment. "You... you want to face a 3rd Class SOLDIER? I'd be a waste of your time though!"

The man merely chuckled in response. "Nonsense... who knows, if you manage to hit me, and actually cause some sort of recoil from me, you may be brought to 1st Class straight away."

"And the only way he'll stop is if I concede, I'm guessing?" Sephiroth inquired. He casually tossed an elixir towards Blaze, who caught it, juggling it as he tried to catch. "Zack, I'm surprised you didn't laugh at him. You usually do that when someone looks ridiculous, in your eyes."

Sephiroth merely looked at the creature and closed his eyes. "Very well then... if conceding is the only way to snap him out of his rage, then here it is, for your sake and his alone. I won't do this again, however. I concede."

Blaze's mouth fell agape at Sephiroth's statement. "Did... did he just say that Bella won?" He looked at Zack, confusion in his gaze. "Though it's really only a technicality. He's just saying that to cause Mod to return to normal. I mean, we all heard him call it a draw."

A smile crossed the SOLDIER's face as the girl walked over to him. However, his gaze turned to the 3rd Class who stood next to Angeal. "Well, take that Elixir, and we can begin." His eyes flickered with amusement when he saw the boy ingest the elixir.

"Now then... we'll restart the scenario so there are no damages to the cannon. You have the first move." He restarted the scenario, the section of the cannon's barrel that fell into the sea restored. "Bella, you may stand with the others... Genesis especially, considering your relationship with him."

"I won't..." Blaze responded. He drew a different sword than the one he used against Bella, a golden blade on this sword. "This blade has saved me on numerous missions. It's aptly called the Sword of Flames. I don't use it often, however. Observe..." He stabbed the blade into the ground, lifting his hand from its hilt. His arms crossed, he observed as the metal of the cannon cracked, a wall of flame following the crack.

"Oh for the love of... I didn't use it against her because I didn't have it with me at the time! If I did, I would have used it. I guess her observational skills aren't very good. I only had one blade sheathed when I fought her, when I came back from the lounge, I had two. I left the Sword of Flames in the lounge!" Blaze quipped, frustrated. Sephiroth merely smirked, sidestepping the wall of flame as it came towards him.

"You'll have to do better than that..." the silver-haired SOLDIER remarked. A smirk drew across Blaze's visage, causing Sephiroth's eyes to narrow in intrigue. "Why are you smirking?"

"Oh... I don't know, maybe it's because you fell right into my trap?" the scarlet-tressed boy stated. He had withdrawn the blade, and caused the flames to circle around, encircling Sephiroth. "Time to take it a step further."

"You think this will keep me?" Sephiroth asked. His emerald eyes flickered dangerously, amused by the attempt.

"Not quite..." the 3rd Class answered. The ring of fire developed into a dome of flickering flames. "Can you escape?" The dome started to close in on the 1st Class. "If he gets out... I have a fail-safe," the boy thought.

"This won't work on me..." the black garbed man stated. He teleported out of the dome before brushing off his pauldrons, bored. "Please tell that wasn't the best you could do."

"No, it's not. Look up..." retorted Blaze cryptically. His left hand held his right elbow as he pointed his sword's blade up in a taunting manner. The dome had compacted into a fireball, and followed the path of the blade, falling towards the silver-haired SOLDIER at a slow pace.

"Oh come now... it's too slow, it won't do you any good," Sephiroth quipped. A lazy slash of Masamune sent a blue wave of energy at the fireball and struck it. His emerald eyes narrowed in shock as the fireball split in two, the pair moving much faster.

"Did I forget to mention that? Silly me. Everytime you attack one, two more take its place. One becomes two, two become four, four become eight, etc. They get smaller, but much faster, making them harder to evade and counter against, especially given that their numbers, if the person isn't smart enough to learn their mistake, can total in the hundreds," the scarlet-haired boy remarked. A smirk graced upon his face. "I always set up more than one trap, I use a systematic approach."

"Not unlike Genesis..." Sephiroth answered.