Game of Blades

Chapter 1: Gathering of Champions

Unknown Location

Somewhere, a long way from any known space, a series of monitors were running simultaneously in a dimly lit room. A man stood in front of the small screens, scanning the images they displayed. On one monitor, a yellow and a blue ninja were engaged in a fierce battle. On another screen, an otherworldly hunter was admiring the skull of a beast it had recently killed. The man switched his gaze to a pair of monitors to his left. On one of the screens, a small girl was eating ramen noodles at an abnormally fast rate. On the other, an orange haired teen with a large sword was battling with a giant skull-faced monster.

"Yes, this should do just fine." the man said. "Now, it's about time I got started." the man smiled wickedly as he left the room.

Fuuka Academy Dormitory

"Mikoto, slow down! You'll choke if you eat that fast!" said Mai.

"But Mai, your ramen is the best! It tastes so good that I just can't help myself." replied the young girl.

Mikoto was 14 years old (though she looked younger), had short black hair with two braided ponytails that hung over her shoulders, and yellow cat like eyes.

"Seconds please!" she asked, holding out her bowl.

Mai let out a sigh. "Alright, but make sure you take your time eating it." she turned around and scooped ramen into the empty bowl. Shaking her head, she turned back towards Mikoto. "Well, here you g- Mikoto?"

The younger girl was gone.

"Mikoto?"

Karakura Town, the same time…

"Whew! That's gotta be the 30th hollow I've fought today." said Ichigo.

Ichigo was 17 years old, had spiky orange hair, brown eyes, and was wearing his black soul reaper uniform. In his hand he held Zangetsu, his zanpakutou.

A female soul reaper with dark hair stood nearby, staring down at a cell phone. "Well you can't take a break just yet, I'm picking up 3 more hollows not far from here." she said.

"Already? Oh well. Lead the way, Rukia. The sooner we get done the sooner I can-" Ichigo was cut off by a sudden whooshing sound.

"What was that? I didn't hear that last part, Ichigo." Rukia looked up from her cell phone. Ichigo was nowhere to be found. "Ichigo?"

Unknown Location, shortly after…

Where am I? Ichigo thought. He was standing on what felt like a metal floor. Everything around him was pitch black. Then suddenly, a bright light illuminated his surroundings.

"What the hell?!" he said.

He was standing in what appeared to be a gigantic roofed arena. In the center of the arena was a large mound of stone. A crowd of unfamiliar people stood around him, looking about in confusion. Okay, so I'm not the only one who's confused here.

"Iiiiiiichigoooooooo!" yelled a high pitched voice from somewhere nearby. It sounded oddly familiar to him.

Ichigo turned toward the voice, only to have his face wedged in between two large lumps. A pair of incredibly strong arms began to squeeze the life out of him.

"N-Nel?!" he managed to get out.

"Ichigooooo! I never thought I'd see you again!" replied the busty woman hugging him.

"That's great Nel…could you…please…let go…of me…now?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry." Nel released him.

As Ichigo gasped for breath, he noticed something odd. Aside from the fact that she was somehow in her original form again, Nel had a strange weapon at her side in place of her sword.

"Hey Nel, what's that? And where are we?"

"This thing? I think it's some kind of shuriken, even though I've never seen one this big before. As for where we are…" she paused for a moment. Then in an even more childish voice than usual, cheerfully said "I have absolutely no idea. Hey, what happened to your zanpakutou?"

Ichigo looked over to his right hand. A pitch black sword with red cloth around it's hilt had replaced his sword.

"What the? This isn't Zangetsu!"

Before he could ask any further questions, a strange flashing light appeared at the top of the mound of stone in the center of the arena. After a moment, the light vanished, leaving a lone figure behind. It was a man with short dark hair and blue eyes, dressed in pale blue armor. The man's eyes scanned the crowd of people and creatures below him. Satisfied with what he saw, he smiled.

"Welcome, great warriors." he said.

The crowd stared up at him in confusion. Then questions erupted from everywhere at once.

"What's going on here?" asked a knight with long black hair and black armor.

"Where the hell are we?" asked a woman wearing a white coat and pants.

"Who are you?" asked a short blonde kid wearing a t-shirt and jeans.

"Grrrrrr…." growled a tall grey-skinned figure.

"Now, now, settle down. I'll explain everything once you're all quiet." said the man atop the stone.

The room fell silent.

"That's better. I'm aware that you all have many questions, so I will do my best to answer them. Now, where shall I start?"

Someone in the crowd raised their hand.

"Yes, Gourry Gabriev?"

"Uh, yeah. Two questions: how do you know my name, and where are we exactly?" asked the man called Gourry.

"Good questions. I know your name and everyone else's because I have watched you all for a long time. As I'm sure you can see, you're standing in a gladiator's arena. We are currently in a dimensional rift where the only thing aside from this building is the vacuum of time and space. Next?"

"How did we get here? Have we been summoned by the holy grail again?" asked a blonde woman in armor.

"No Art-"

The woman gave him a stern look.

"(ahem) No, Saber, the holy grail is still destroyed. I am the one who brought you and everyone else here."

"For what purpose have you stolen us from our homes?" asked a woman in a skimpy blue outfit.

"Princess Kitana, you of all people should have realized that by now."

"You don't mean?" said a young teen with spiky brown hair.

"I do indeed, Sora." then looking around the arena, proclaimed "I have assembled you all here for one purpose: to fight one another."

Murmurs of surprise and confusion went through the crowd.

"Each of you here is a master blade-wielder, be it a sword, axe, spear, or otherwise. I have brought you here in the hopes that a champion will emerge from the ranks. You will all fight in a series of battles, and in the end only one of you will be left standing. The one who emerges from the chaos will be forever known as 'Grand Edgemaster', and will have a personal desire of their choosing fulfilled."

"Any desire, eh? Interesting…" said a short blonde teen with a metal right arm.

"Now, if there are no more questions, I will explain the rules."

No one spoke a word.

"Excellent! Now, it will be a fairly simple tournament. To win a battle, you must kill your opponent. But, only your blade can end the life of another." noticing some hesitation among the crowd, he added "Don't worry, it will not be a true death. When a warrior is beaten, they will simply resume their normal life, and all memories of this tournament will disappear."

He waited for sighs of relief before continuing.

"The tournament will consist of 5 rounds, each round reducing the number of players by half until only 3 of you remain. Those final 3 will duel for the grand prize."

Ichigo tried to do the math. "Let's see…if half are lost each round, and the 5th round has 3, that means there are…"

"48 warriors in all, Mr. Kurosaki." answered the man atop the stone. "To make things interesting, the first 2 rounds will be 2 on 2 team battles."

"Is that so? Well then, how about you and me, Saber?" said a man in golden armor.

"I would sooner die than be your ally, Gilgamesh." Saber answered.

"I'm afraid it's not your choice." said the man on the stone. "You may or may not have noticed, but the weapon in your hands is not your own. Whoever has your blade is the one you will fight alongside. Find your allies, and when you are all finished I shall continue."

The crowd began to shift as the combatants searched for their teammates. Ichigo walked through the large crowd and some many strange characters, some of which were most likely not human. Then he came across someone he had thought to be long dead. A frown formed on his face as he spoke his name.

"Grimmjow."

The number 6 espada turned towards him. "Heh, I was wondering where you were. You and I have a score to settle, soul reaper."

"Maybe you'll get that chance, if you survive long enough."

"Survive? Ha! I'll tear these fools apart!"

"Good luck with that. Now, I need to find whoever owns this sword."

"Hey! You'd better not die before we fight! Ichigo!" the arrancar called as he walked away.

Ichigo continued to search the crowd, but there was no sign of Zangetsu. Just as he was about to give up, he heard someone running toward him.

"Miroku!" said a moderately high pitched voice.

Ichigo turned around just in time to see a small girl leap at him like a feral cat, pinning him to the ground. Zangetsu was slung across her back.

"You've gotta be kidding me…" Ichigo said, realizing his situation. "Is this your sword?" he extended the hilt toward the girl.

The girl snatched the sword from his hand and began to cradle it like it was a newborn.

"Aw! Looks like you got the hottest guy here, Mikoto. I'm so jealous!" a woman with wild red hair tied in a ponytail said jokingly from behind the girl. "Hey, are you gonna give him his sword back or what?"

"Huh? Oh yeah." said Mikoto. The small girl held Zangetsu out to Ichigo.

"Thanks, I don't know where I'd be without Zangetsu." he said, taking the large sword. "It looks like you and I are partners." he held out his hand toward the young girl. "Ichigo Kurosaki."

The girl took his hand and shook it. "Mikoto Minagi."

"Alrighty, now I just need to find whoever this belongs to." said the red haired woman. She held up a strange looking sword with twin forward pointing blades. "It looks more suited for punching than for actual swordplay."

"That is because it was made for a warrior of Sanghelios, not a human." said a deep, commanding voice.

The redhead turned around to see a large humanoid creature with hooves for feet and four jaws lined with razor like teeth. In its four-fingered hand was a strange looking halberd.

"I believe this is yours?" said the creature.

"Sure is! This must be your sword, then?"

"Correct. It would seem you and I are allies."

"Looks like it. I'm Midori, Midori Sugiura!"

"You may call me Arbiter."

"Arbiter? Nah, too formal. How about I call you Arby instead?"

"I would prefer you do not."

"Arby it is then!"

"...(facepalm)."

"It appears that you have all found your teammates. If that is so, I shall continue with the rules." the man on the stone said. "The battles will take place in the worlds you call home. One month shall pass before the first round takes place. For now, you may return to your worlds and train with your allies. I shall instruct you further when one month has passed. Now, you may go."

With a wave of his hand, the crowd disappeared. The man then turned his attention to a panel on one of the walls of the arena.

"Let the names of the chosen be inscribed in history." Waving his hand, a list of names began to form on the panel.

The names of those 48 are:

Ichigo Kurosaki

Grimmjow Jaegerjaques

Kenpachi Zaraki

Neliel tu Odelschwanck (Bleach)

Siegfried Schtauffen

Nightmare (SCIV)

Miyu Greer

Mikoto Minagi

Midori Sugiura

Akira Okuzaki (Mai-HiME)

Zuko (Last Airbender)

Saber

Archer

Berserker

Gilgamesh (Fate Stay Night)

Predator (Predator)

Alien (Alien)

The Arbiter (Halo)

Gandalf the White

Aragorn (Lord of the Rings)

Scorpion

Sub-Zero

Cyrax

Kitana (Mortal Kombat)

Link (Legend of Zelda)

Black Gold Saw

Dead Master

Black Rock Shooter (Black Rock Shooter)

Gourry Gabriev

Zelgadis Greywords

Valgaav (Slayers)

Clare (Claymore)

Ashram (Lodoss War)

Raidriar (Infinity Blade)

Drizzt Do' Urden (Forgotten Realms)

Alexander Anderson (Hellsing)

Sephiroth

Cloud Strife

Sora (Kingdom Hearts/Final Fantasy7)

War (Darksiders)

Rex Owen (Dinosaur Hearts version, borrowed with Ekkuesuteria's permission)

Fuhrer Bradley

Edward Elric (Fullmetal Alchemist)

Hilda

Aoi Kunieda (Beelzebub)

Sayuri (Best Student Council)

Skarin (Viking: Battle for Asgard)

Skorge (Gears of War 2)

A/N: Hey guys! DarkNovelist here. I'm excited to finally start this story. It took a while to come up with all 48 fighters, since there's so many to choose from. If you don't recognize some of these characters or the games/anime/movies/books they're from, check them out. There's lots of cool stuff out there. As always, please review and enjoy! DarkNovelist out.