Jump to content

Golden Gate Empire [IC / No Longer Accepting / PG - 16]


Dad

Recommended Posts

l4o2bCi.png

 

BGM:  Stronger

 

An uproar deafened them.  These 'survivors'.  They had been declared finalists in the tournament of the decade.  They were putting their lives on the line for a chance at the largest prize pool possibly ever seen.  It was this decision to compete that drove most, but a need for survival for others.  They were about to be paired and matched against eleven other contestants who were likely just as strong as themselves.  But before they could concentrate on the opponents at hand, the finalists had to first bask in their newly acquired fame.

 

The uproar did not cease, even as the music played.  They followed cautiously behind a balding old man, and his almost robotic assistant, down a dark, cold hallway.  The only light to be seen was the pulsating light emanating from the end of the tunnel.  It changed colors rapidly, varying from green, red, blue, yellow, purple, and white.  As they stepped out of the tunnel, the crowd grew even louder, eager to see their new entertainment.  The announcer's voice boomed with excitement, as he prepared to introduce the men, women, machines, vampires, and other entities that made up the core of the twelve finalists selected participate in this cruel display of entertainment.

 

They stepped out onto a dark black octagon shaped platform, where they were all raised high into the air by heavy machinery.  Now in perfect view of the entire underground stadium, the finalists could hear the announcer speak.

 

"LAAAAAAAAAAADIES ANNNNNNNNNNNNND GENTLEMEN!  INTRODUCING YOUR 2088 FINALISTS, OF THE GOLDEN GATE SECRET CUP TOURNAMENT!"

 

They cheered, and they cheered, and they cheered.  It seemed the applause and roaring would never end.  The frail old man before the finalists raised a hand, and the stadium fell into an almost deadly silence.  Strobe lights stopped, audience members sat, and order was commanded.  Receiving a microphone from his assistant, the old man spoke to the audience.

 

"Thank you," he said with an equally commanding voice as the announcer.  He had slightly southern accent, and it was almost intoxicating.  As he spoke, eyes followed his lips and heads turned.  "First and foremost, thank you--audience--for coming to this spectacular event.  My name is Gerald Oedipus Dillinger, and I have the distinct pleasure and honor of hosting this event.  The first, and soon to be annual, Secret Cup Tournament.  Beside me is my best friend and our official tournament referee, Steph.  And behind me, stand the brave, diligent fighters who've made it to the very end."

 

He motioned an open hand towards the finalists behind him, acknowledging their presence.

 

"As you know, we don't have many rules, but there are some.  We shall address them once now, and no more during the games.  They are as follows:  no business is to be conducted on Hotel grounds.  This means, no contestant, nor guest may do combat of any kind while staying or visiting with us here at the Golden Gate.  Second, stepping outside of the designated border of the arena during a match is an immediate disqualification, and will result in a loss, to the person who has stepped outside of the barrier.  And of course, finally, our contestants are not required to spare the lives of their opponents.  This means, should they so choose, during a match, they may execute their opponent before the match ends.  If however, they elect not to do so, the victor may instead knock the opponent unconscious, or the opponent may kneel before their victor to signal a surrender.  With that ladies and gentlemen, I will keep you no longer.  Our bracket for the tournament will be shared within the hour, and the first match of the tournament will be scheduled for tomorrow at 3 p.m. sharp.  But before we go, let's hear it one more time for our FINALISTS!"

 

The crowd exploded with excitement.  Their thunderous cheering rocked the stadium, as the music played again.  Turning to his assistant now, Gerald nodded, and the raised platform lowered again.  The finalists were led back through the tunnel from whence they came, exiting into a warm but comfortable chamber lined with chairs and a long conference table.  As the finalists followed behind Gerald, a powerful steel door sealed the tunnel behind them, and dozens of locks, whirs, buzzes, and zaps signaled that the door behind them could not be opened.  Gerald proceeded to sit at the head of the table, and instructed the finalists to sit.

 

He sighed, taking to his larger, leather black chair.  "You should be proud," he proclaimed.  "This is it.  Once you've made it past these rounds, you can only climb higher."  Pointing a finger around the table, Gerald went on.  "Eleven others stand between you and that prize money.  You are here because you are the strongest.  And so, what tactics, schemes, and lengths will you go to in order to secure your victory?" he asked aloud.  Shuffling in his chair, Gerald reluctantly stood to his feet.  "Time for my medicine," he said with a grin.  "Steph, will you have the Black Guard on alert?  I don't want our guests to be disturbed," he said with a nod.  "Of course Gerald.  I'll notify them immediately.  Is there anything else you'd like me to take care of?"

 

Gerald shook his head.  "No my dear.  Our guests are free to move about the hotel for the rest of the evening.  It's already late, but there are no bed times for champions," he said with a childish chuckle.  Pointing to two large oak wood doors beside the finalists, Gerald gave them one last bit of a talk,  "Through those doors you'll be taken back to the hotel lobby in the North Tower.  You're free to observe the buffet, the bar, the arcade, the theater, and any other pleasures that may catch your eye.  I regret that it's already 10 p.m., but the park is already closed for the night.  Oh, and um, be a dear and try to be courteous to each other.  You don't know a thing about one another.  So if you're going to make friends before you try to do away with each other, now is the time.  Have a pleasant evening my dears," he said walking through an electronic grid.  At this, several steel doors revealed themselves from behind a wall, and Gerald and Steph vanished behind them.

 

And it was now or never.  Do or die. The survivors were now plagued with a choice.  The only viable option was plain and simple, but they had to earn it.  They had been selected as the top contenders for a 100 billion dollar prize.  This was the opportunity to seize a fraction of a fortune from the richest man on the planet.  But at what cost?  They had no idea what lie in wait for them.  Their opponents were bright question marks, and their combat arenas were likely the most treacherous places they were ever going to visit. 

 

From an overwhelming five hundred thousand contestants in total, a staggering twelve remained.  Of them, who would climb the highest?  Who would steal away victory, and be crowned, Champion, of the Golden Gate Secret Cup tournament!?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 310
  • Created
  • Last Reply

She had done it. She had made it to the top twelve, this was amazing, exciting, unexpected. She was humbled to be one of...
Who was she kidding? Morgan Reaperson had known from the start she’d make it this far, there was nothing in the world that could stop her from getting her prize. And these so-called contestants had been child’s play. As was only natural of the witch extraordinaire, daughter of a powerful criminal boss, and eventual Queen of the World.

She found it amusing to listen to the old man’s words. He wasn’t anything particularly special, she had seen businessmen all her life and they weren’t interesting. The referee seemed a bit more interesting, however, as she’d never seen anything like her. But that wasn’t what amused her.

Her amusement came simply from the futility of the little speech. They all knew what they were here for, and in the end the outcome would be the same. Morgan would be on top, even if that meant she had to kill the competition. Nothing stood in her way, and she always got what she wanted. Why would this be any different?

As the cheers came she smiled ear to ear. All these people, here for HER. It was exciting. She blew kisses to the stands as they were introduced. These people were eating it up and she had them in the palm of her hand, as per usual. Simply wonderful.

Sadly the show had to end soon and they were ushered off into another room. Not anything special. Comfortable, but Morgan was used to comfort so it didn’t faze her. Gerald gave another short speech, which Morgan smiled politely during, before having to leave. Medicine? Interesting, Morgan wondered what it was he needed medicine for. Perhaps he was dying...ooooh, maybe there was some sort of mysterious ailment that afflicted him. Morgan’s curiosity was stoked, but it would have to wait for another time.

Morgan was slightly sad to hear that the park was closed, it would’ve been exciting to go on some rides this late. Maybe she would have to try and sneak some after-hours ride time later, could be a fun challenge. She let out a yawn that ended in a squeak. She must’ve been more tired than she had expected, eventually she’d have to get to bed...

Right now, though, Morgan decided to check out the “competition”. There were a lot of interesting people here and she didn’t know much about any of them. While she wasn’t too concerned about them it wouldn’t hurt to learn a bit more. Plus they could easily be dead tomorrow and she wouldn’t have a chance to find out some possibly interesting trivia.
The only question was who....

There was that girl, taller than her, with long black hair and eyes that looked like she had spent the day staring at a TV point blank. Maybe she was some kind of druggie? She looked fairly good looking. Morgan had heard people say she was the best looking one in the competition, which ticked Morgan off a bit. Pass.

Then another girl, this one with blue hair. And golden eyes, what did she think she was some kind of special snowflake? She’d better not take the attention away from Morgan. That was hers, not for some aloof b**** with a sword.

That led to the blonde girl. Probably one of the prettiest here, annoyingly. Luckily she was hiding it in that stupid cloak thing. Seriously what a horrible fashion sense, Morgan would have to go and take this girl shopping some time just so she didn’t have to look at it. Wait. Didn’t someone mention that the blonde was a boy? Morgan’s brain experienced a temporary meltdown and she was forced to move on to fix it. Though the curiosity was itching at the back of her mind.

Now that one over there, if Morgan remembered right she was around the same age. And something about her...felt...familiar. An image of her father flashed in the back of her mind, oddly enough, and Morgan felt a pull towards her. She could tell this girl had some powerful magic. And that was enough to make Morgan decide to pass on her for now. She knew magic, quite well, already and so she probably couldn’t learn anything all that interestingly new. Not yet at least.

The first male that caught Morgan’s gaze was that goofy looking man who had somehow managed to sneak a cigarette in here. When had he gotten that? Disgusting. He had the appearance of an old, cheesy, action movie. Completely ridiculous and probably just as interesting to Morgan. And that is to say, maybe good for a few laughs but nothing else.

And that little girl over there, with green hair. She looked like a character in some crappy computer game or something. There was something off about her, there was no way she was human. If it weren’t for the fact that Morgan pegged her for a total diva,  that kind of attitude from anyone but Morgan was simply unacceptable, then Morgan would be heading over to her to figure out just what it was that was different.

Morgan’s eyes lit up with some excitement. These people, even the cheesy action hero, were all very...different. With the exception of that maybe druggie girl Morgan had a feeling that she was going to enjoy finding out everything she could about them. And then stepping over their bodies to reach the top.

Her eyes continued to take in the crowd, there were a lot of them but Morgan was good at quick analysis of people.

She settled on that tiny, blue haired, thing over there. She was...well, honestly she was adorable. Morgan would be annoyed if it weren’t for the fact she was currently keeping herself from scooping the tiny girl up.
That eyepatch looked expensive, maybe this girl had some cash. Something to keep in mind, Morgan decided. If she was low on spending money  she could get some out of her. But, not yet.

Morgan dragged her gaze away from that girl only to settle on a young man, a quite handsome and friendly looking blonde boy. His spiky hair was a bit dorky and stupid looking, but other than that he looked good......That is to say, he seemed strong and easy to manipulate. He could possibly be the perfect candidate for Morgan to approach and get some information out of. There were still others in the room, though, and Morgan didn’t want to be hasty.

That large man there looked frightening. And Morgan’s father was a lich so she wasn’t one to be easily startled by appearance. But there was something about him that just made Morgan uncomfortable.
Worse than all that, though, were his eyes...glowing orange eyes were HER thing. This bastard was a total copy-cat. She hoped she wound up against him so she could grind him into dust. Morgan took a deep breath before turning away to her next target.

Oh, another shortie. This one didn’t look as adorable as the other, and so Morgan didn’t feel nearly as inclined to pick her up and hug her. Though that quite possibly could be because of the giant scissors the girl was holding. What kind of silly weapon was that? Obviously this girl had no idea what she was doing. How’d she make it this far? Maybe she had gone up against creepy old men or something and they were distracted by her child-like appearance. Morgan had heard that old men had a weird fascination for that type, she didn’t know why.
However she DID notice the girl also had orange eyes. What the hell? Morgan totally pulled it off much better.

She was about to go over to the blonde boy to begin the process of wrapping him around her little finger when the last contestant caught her eye. How she missed this was was anyone’s guess. They certainly...stood out.
Standing over there was a large raptor. There was a dinosaur in the room and she had noticed it last, somehow. She had of course seen him before, it was kinda impossible to miss, but she hadn’t been this close before. Morgan’s heart raced, now THIS was something interesting and new.
She wanted one. She had always wanted a dinosaur to ride, ever since she saw that movie about the T-Rex, and there was one right here.
Of course, they were a contestant so they must have at least somewhat human intelligence. But she wouldn’t get a better chance to live out this childhood dream. She’d love to be able to just go up and ask but she knew better than that. Slow and steady was best for now.

She marched up to it, looking up at its gloriously lizard-like face and spoke. “Hello there, I’m Morgan. Do you have a name?” She gave it a sweet smile that, to anyone but Morgan, could possibly be interpreted as flirtatious. Morgan had practiced this smile, it was one she saw a lot of women in shows use to get what they wanted and so it obviously was an important weapon.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dirk Rider - Underground Stadium - Conference Room

BGM: Sea Salt Breeze

Rushing into the air on a platform. The loud roar of an excited crowd. A quick comb of the hair. A brief light, and a long drag. So this is what it's like to be famous, Dirk thought as a cloud of blue-tinged smoke escaped from his mouth. The tournament had been long, but not really that hard until now. Sure there were a couple challenges, but most of opponents were still some suckers waiting to get the snot beat out of them. If most of the tournament were like those bozos, it was no wonder that there were only a dozen finalists out of five hundred thousand contestants. Most of those contestants must have been huge push-overs for such a small pool of finalists. Soon enough, the finalists were being lead back through the tunnel and into a smaller board room.

 

Dirk took another drag on the cigarette as he glanced around the other finalists, one hand in pocket. Kids. So many of them just kids. The tiniest of babies! Unbelievable; out of five-hundred thousand contestants and a solid chunk of the finalists end up just being a bunch of snot-nosed teens. What have I gotten myself into. A lot of the females were pretty good looking; but only like one of them were even close to an age that would be appropriate for him to hit on. Nuts. Looks like this won't be the place to hook up after all. Whatever, still worth the time to see if any of the competition looked like they knew what they were doing.

 

First up; some goth chick with red eyes. If Dirk didn't know any better, he'd say that was vampire right there; but that's ridiculous. Vampires don't exist. She looked really serious, but still didn't have enough muscle on those bones to really pose any kind of threat. Piece of cake. She was a bit of a looker, but still looked a little young. It definitely wouldn't do her any harm to ditch those colored contacts, though. What did she think, it'd make her look really cool? Kids these days. Jeeze, now I'm starting to sound old too.

 

Next up was a Dinosaur. Ummmm. Yes. A Dinosaur. Okay, whatever.

 

After that was a little kid; some dork using a giant pair of scissors. Dirk had to restrain himself from laughing at any degree. Scissors?! What a weirdo; there's no way they won anything carrying around giant slabs of metal. How would they even lift those? Crazy. And again with those coloured contacts; what was this, some kind of weird trend? Everyone wants to look like some dorky vampire? You're one to talk about weird fashion No, no. This jacket is cool, not weird.

 

Next up... another kid. Did they, like, have no age requirements in a DEATHMATCH TOURNAMENT? Crazy. This one had swords it looked like... and claws? Whatever floats your boat. Shouldn't be a problem, though. I mean, who brings swords to a gunfight? Once again, not a problem.

 

Finally, someone a little older. Legal at least, but looked like almost 10 years younger. Gross. Looked stuck-up to the sky anyways; like some sort of prissy princess. Anyways, this nerd came to contest wearing her halloween costume for some reason. Honestly, another person he had to hold himself back from laughing at. This tournament ended up just being a bunch of try-hards, nerds, and a dinosaur. Still... wondering about that Dinosaur, though. Anyways, this girl had just a broomstick with her. No weapons and a halloween costume? Piece. Of. Cake.

 

And now just some little kid. Like what, 12 years old? Dirk would almost feel bad about earning 100 billion dollars beating up some kids and performing acts of animal cruelty against an extinct species; but it was 100 billion dollars on the line and those kids are going to try and beat him up anyways so who cares, right? It'll make for a funny story sometime down the road anyways, so there's that to look forward to.

 

Next, another girl sporting those popular coloured contacts. Still kind of a kid, but at least technically an adult probably. Probably not legal to drink, which is the weird part. This one looked like they were dressed up like a librarian or something. Maybe a bit of nun in there, who knows. Either way, they looked like they were more ready to go to sunday church than to fight in a big tournament. Honestly, no wonder there are only 12 people in the finals.

 

Now probably the oldest one here, if you don't count the dinosaur. Another lady, maybe legal to actually drink? Who knows. A bit of a looker, and probably the only person here that he could hook up with without it being really weird. Well, still a little weird. Ungh; worst tournament. Anyways combat stuff, right. Ummm no weapons; just some streamers or whatever. This is going to be really easy, isn't it. Oh right, the dinosaur.

 

And now a school kid with no weapons. Pushover. Why are there so many KIDS?!

 

And another guy; around the age of that ribbon-girl. Looked like a good kid. Good looking, had an air of positivity around him, and generally seemed like a nice guy. That's good; someone gullible and stupid to take advantage of and knock out of the running super quick. No weapons either; might be good with kung-fu or whatever, but that's not going to do him any good against the real weapons. Come to think of it, why was Dirk the only one with a gun so far? Oh right, half these kids aren't old enough to even have one.

 

And now, this dude. Looked like he was only two years younger, and definitely like they just scraped him off the streets of the seediest back-alley after mugging some poor old woman. No, no that was a little too harsh; Dirk's hung out with these kinda dudes before. They can be pretty nice if you get on their good side, but ruthless if you're not. By the looks of things, this guy was packing some big heat; a Desert Eagle. Looked like it could be a .357 judging by the size, but it could also be a .44. Kind of hard when it wasn't right in Dirk's hands. Either way, this guy had an intense look in his eyes, and definitely not someone to take lightly. Between all these kids and the T-Rex over there; the finals were probably going to be Dirk and this guy. Dirk caught his eye for a moment and smirked as he took another drag on his cigarette before turning his attention back to the old man. Well, at least there will be some fun to have.

 

Dirk could hear a voice blaring from the stadium, but it was quiet in the board room; a dull roar in the background. The old man went over some formalities; nothing Dirk paid too much attention to as he kicked his feet up on the table. Dirk remained mostly quiet during this time; taunting anyone at this point would be kinda stupid anyways, but quite a few of them looked like they would get some pretty good reactions after a bit of poking. Flicking his cigarette off to the side and breathing the last of the smoke out, Dirk let out a good sigh as he smiled and waved at the crowd with one hand. One billion smackers. A man can do a lot with that kind of money.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Along with eleven others, a brilliantly dark-blue haired girl silently strode behind Gerard and his mechanical assistant as they made their way down an unlit and chilly hallway. The path was short however, and as the group walked out into a dazzling, booming, flashing array of sounds and colors, one person's voice boomed out above the rest. The girl appeared starstruck for a few moments before quickly concealing and resetting her expression to a blank slate, looking around quickly, as if to check if anyone noticed her small outburst. Thankfully, silence soon came when the leader of this tournament raised his hand, emitting an almost tangible, commanding aura.

 

Despite the uninterested look on the girl's face, she carefully tuned into the man's words, noting them down inside of her memory for future reference. No battle was to be done on the hotel grounds, exiting the arena would be instant disqualification, and mercy was not required. The last condition was something the girl felt like she would never quite get fully used to, nor would she want to. In a grand battle royale like this, with a staggering reward of one hundred billion dollars, bloodshed would be inevitable, and avoiding it would be nigh impossible, if not detrimental altogether. Gritting her teeth slightly, the explosive cheering of the crowd tuned out in her mind as she realized the tournament day was merely several hours away. Looking to each side of her, gazing over the other eleven contestants, the girl wondered who would be the last to remain standing, and whether she herself would manage to survive. One of the girls seemed to start attempting to gather favor with the crowd, boldly blowing kisses and acting arrogant. The blue-haired girl shook her head silently. She had to survive. She must survive. If not, how else would she achieve the goal that she had desired for her entire life? Nothing would be permitted to stand in her way.

 

As the twelve contestants left to regather in the conference room they had first exited from, she tensed slightly when she heard the unmistakable hissing and clicking of massive steel bolts and locks erasing any chance of escape through that door from which they just entered. When the man before them instructed them all to sit, she chose a seat as far away as she could manage from both the other contestants and Gerard himself. Despite his old age, he exhibited a raw, deadly force that was obviously not to be reckoned with, and time had done nothing to dull his wits. As the man went on to give encouragement before beginning a half-serious interrogative question about the methods that the twelve would reach to, he merely chuckled before exiting.

 

At this point, the twelve were left to their own devices. The blue-haired girl stood silently in the background, as she herself silently began to assess the competitors for the top. Judging from the flickering movements in her eyes, the witch-like attention-seeking girl from before was also doing the same. The first to immediately catch both of their eyes was apparently the raptor. Standing at a massively tall six feet with an equally large body reinforced with armors and laser claws, it was quite a sight to behold. Scanning the dinosaur's body for the weapons that it owned, it exuded a very keen sense of intelligence. The orange-haired girl who went up to approach it seemed less so, going straight up and trying to bewitch it with her smile

 

The next three she noticed were all incredibly tall, ranging from almost six feet to over six feet. A man clad in a jet black trench coat with a strongly built athletic body glared belligerently at the others, his eyes glowing. After squinting her eyes slightly to look closer, they indeed were glowing. With the four scars on the man's head, there was definitely something unnatural about this man, even if he seemed relatively human. Perhaps some hint of magic?

 

Another was wearing both a leather jacket and an arrogant smirk to accompany it as he smoked on a cigarette that emitted a disgusting fume. The blue-haired girl sighed, smoking was definitely not beneficial for the lungs and body. Judging by how he had made it to these final rounds though, there must've been some other factor however. Staying on guard, she didn't quite completely dismiss the man as she looked over him further. There was no way a completely normal human would've made it through. She predicted he either had some sort of powerful weapon on him or some sort of more secretive ability that helped him last through the thousands. The smug air he was giving off was quite repulsive though, and the girl turned to look at the next fighter-to-be.

 

A female with long, jet-black hair and crimson eyes stood at one side. Standing at just under six feet, the height gave an edge to what already seemed to be an incredibly malevolent aura radiating out from her being. Something was off, although she wasn't quite sure what it was. The skin seemed to be fair to the point of almost being doll-like, and the tall figure gave off a predatory aura, as if it were a wolf gazing upon rabbits, except this time, the fellow competitors would be the rabbits. Marking this all down, the blue-haired girl shifted her gaze.

 

A golden-haired male at practically the same height as the previous contestant that was just assessed stood at another corner of the room. Wearing casual clothes, he appeared almost entirely human except for the fact that the bottom of his legs apparently were covered in some sort of scales. He had a kind look in his eyes, which the girl appreciated, although if he really had been able to get through to becoming one of the final twelve, there was obviously more to him than it seemed. Still, with a moderate tan and a built but not overly muscular figure partially revealed by his unbuttoned button-up, the girl found her face turning hot before she rubbed her face to clear away any unneeded thoughts that might have been intruding.

 

The girl's gaze swept around the room, before lighting up on a very short, eccentric-looking girl. Standing barely over five feet, she was dressed in a yellow blouse with blue-crystals embedded inside, as well as a showy, lacy skirt and a ribboned hat to top it off. This girl's appearance would fit more in some British tea-party rather than in a battle arena like this. Like the others though, the girl already knew that appearances could easily be deceiving, and the fact that they were one of the last twelve standing was strong proof of their ability as a competitor, and not to be dismissed easily.

 

The next participant was of a more average height, and dressed in an outfit that seemed more fitting for some sort of average teenage girl, with a shopping bag and a school-uniform like dress. Her hair was a silvery-blue though, and with the contrast of her bright, red eyes, which didn't seem entirely natural, the girl made sure to note this person down as well, figuring that there'd be no reason for it to be simply a wig or dye or fake contacts. Guessing it was a hint to something supernatural, at the very least, the girl continued on surveying her fellow fighters.

 

Next was a girl so short that her vision almost skipped over for a moment. Snapping back, it revealed to be a girl wearing all sorts of gold trinkets and bracelets, as well as having an eyepatch over her left eye. Dressed in a school's sailor-outfit uniform, the other noticeable fact were the presence of dark bandages wrapped around various parts of her body. Her piercing aquamarine eye shined brilliantly, and the girl felt like this short little person had something in similar with her, although she wasn't able to figure out what.

 

The final two contestants were the ones that the blue-haired girl was most interested in however. Looking to her left, a delicate, doll-like girl standing only maybe an inch taller than the previous girl was dressed in a vibrantly scarlet-colored cloak, covering her body underneath, which had only a few very small pieces of clothing. The blue-haired girl's face burned slightly as she realized it was literally nothing but a bra, panties, and boots besides the cloak. Pink hair and translucent orange eyes peered out from under the hood, carrying a gaze that seemed unusual for a girl apparently this young. They were the eyes of a killer, but the strange thing was, they were not fully hardened yet, as fully merciless assassins' eyes were. This girl still was young, and a mixed look of naiveté, arrogance, suspicion, and curiosity was visible in her eyes.

The massive scissors she carried, with blades as equally red as her cloak, seemed to carry a much stronger presence however, with almost a tangibly freezing-cold aura emitting from it, as if it were a tool made by Death himself. Shivering slightly, she jotted that down in her memory. The girl herself might be a killer, but she was still young and subject to said whims of the young, but the blades she carried told quite a different tale. Those scissors were extremely dangerous, and who knew what might happen to those ending up at the wrong side of them?

 

Lastly, a strangely familiar person clad in a massively white bulky cloak was standing across the room, directly opposite from her. It seemed to be a girl, but something was strange. Despite the long blond hair and longer eyelashes that hinted at being a girl, something about this person was familiar, as if they had been part of a memory from times long past. There was nothing that the girl could remember this white-cloaked figure being in though, but keeping this strange feeling inside her focus, she scanned the final contestant. Also unusual was the massive, metallic pincer-like tool appearing from the person's right sleeve, instead of a hand, with a chain also extending from one sleeve's insides to another's. The cloak was far too bulky to hold such a dollish girly figure like the one that the girl was looking at, so there must be some sort of secret inside.

 

At that moment, something flashed in the girl's memory, a memory from a long time ago, from when she was still a child.

 


"Nori, this here is a Guardian." A figure with a motherly aura pointed to a sketch of a man summoning various weapons. "They are the Amakusan's fiercest enemies, and will do anything to try and conquer and take over our group. Do you understand?"

 

"Yes, Mother!" A young girl almost identical in appearance to the older adult replied back happily.

 

"Nori, we are the Amakusans, the most powerful family line of Magi that history has ever seen. We are not to fall to some petty, pathetic Guardians who dare to kill our kind and fight for our land, is that to be understood? If you see one, you are to rid the world of their existence immediately, is that to be understood?"

 

At this, the child hesitated, as she fully understood what her mother meant by those words, but she was still horrified by the concept of killing anyone, even if they really were such a mortal archenemy. Secretly, she thought that both sides were at fault, but believing that parents know best, she erased her doubts and fully trusted in her mother's words.

 

"Y-Yes, Mother..."

 


That was it! The figure she was looking at was a Guardian, the one group the Amakusan family had a long-lasting history of tensions and fights and sometimes even wars with. From what she could remember of the fights that her family had told her about, they had the ability to summon tools. So that was probably what this person's ability was.

 

Despite her resolve to have originally just sat through the ceremony before retreating to her own room, her own interests and angers had flared upon meeting the Guardian. Shaking her head to brush away her shyness and lack of will otherwise, she moved. Deftly advancing within a few steps to get closer to the feminine-looking figure, the blue-haired girl looked down at the shorter, blond-haired person.

 

"Do you know who I am, Guardian? If not, that's fine. I am Nori Amakusa, child of the Amakusan magi family lineage. And I have been taught that Guardians are my greatest enemy. What's your name?"

 

Trembling with a mix of nervousness and deteremination, Nori continued.

 

"I don't think either of us would be satisfied though, if one or both of us were simply eliminated in the beginning, correct? So what do you say we take this tournament, and add our own additional catch to it? You and I, will both aim to be the last ones standing. When that happens, we can battle it out. Whoever wins will be the child of the superior family line."

 

Clearing her throat slightly, the dark-blue haired swordbearer finished issuing her challenge.

 

"I think I should let you know though. There's no way I'm going to lose to anyone else, and I"m going to be severely disappointed if you do, too. So you better prepare yourself, since I'm going to go all out when I duel you. I'm going to win, and prove the Amakusans are superior to the Guardians."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Elspire

 

 

The stage was bright, and the applause was ear shattering.  There were too many sensory stimuli in this arena for Elspire to retain any other outside information.  After it all had died down, thanks to their glorious host Gerald, Elspire was finally able to relax and think about how far he had come in this Secret Cup.  This was his first time being away from his cave in New Zealand for much more than 2 days after all.  He had faced adversaries the likes of which he had never even thought of before, and now here he was on a stage with 11 other people who had just done the same.

 

 After the presentation of the twelve finalists, they were brought back into a rather large room with seating for all of them.  As they all sat down, Elspire took a lazier approach and placed his feet on the conference table in front of them.  The old geezer, who was hosting the tournament, had blabbed on and on about how they should be proud blah blah blah.  He left to go get his medicine soon after, as the door that shut behind him slammed shut.  Elspire could feel the strong gazes of the other opponents focus on one another as soon as the old man left the room.  It was strange though...the number of girls was frightening compared to the number of men in this tournament.  Before this moment, he winced every time he had to punch a lady who was out for his life, often apologizing after knocking them out cold.

 

These ladies were different though.  In this room were gathered large amounts of differing magical energies.  His dragon blood would be able to sense any one of their presences from miles away.  Some energies were more sinister than others though.  He looked towards the large man with orange eyes...Elspire was threatened by him the most.  He had felt magics like his before, hell he'd even dealt with the occasional hell spawn.  But this guy was on another level.  

 

Another contestant intrigued him, as he shared a similarity with Elspire.  It was a dinosaur!  What an odd group this had become with him in the mix.  Elspire looked down at his arms, which were almost the same material that coated the creatures external layer.  He smiled, maybe it was a long lost cousin.

 

He didn't want to scan the rest of the group...he was more excited to figure out each opponent on the battlefield.  However, he was interested in making new friends, Elspire wasn't a bloodthirsty contestant.  He'd rather spare his opponent's life and make a new acquaintance with a powerful ally.  He wasn't sure of how the others felt, but Elspire was how he was.  

 

Oioawhs.png

 

Zyg

 

 

This was the first time Zyg had heard applause for him for the first time since he was sent away from Mega Tech, and sent off to the United States.  It felt wonderful to have humans on his side again!  The flashing lights hadn't bothered him either.  He was used to many flashes due to people taking pictures of him all day.  But Zyg was happy, it was the happiest he had been in a long time.  He rose his robotic hand hesitantly and waved back at the audience.  Zooming in with the cybernetic enhancements of his eyes, he witnessed the childlike wonder behind the eyes of the people watching him.  Would that turn to fear if he was up close?  He didn't dwell on it.  

 

The stage sunk down, and the contestants were put into their own little corral for the time being.  Everyone had taken their seats.  Zyg wimpered...as his seat really wasn't adapted to his...specific needs.  Regardless, he hopped into his chair, crouching down, trying to make himself as comfortable as possible.  The older human, Gerald Dillinger, had taken his leave to acquire his medicine.  Humans might've been geniuses, but they were also very frail.  All eyes were on him now...It wasn't unusual.  Zyg should've been used to this by now.  A species out of his time, reliant on the genius of humanity.  He was thankful to the kind ones, but Zyg had also seen the worst that humanity had to offer.  Half of his body was a reminder to that.  Were these stares friendly though?  Or was their malice intent behind them?  

 

While they were all staring at him, he wasn't holding back.  He gazed at the room with his retinal scanners.  Most of the contestants were completely organic with no other signs of enhancement.  There were a few who's scans came up with different results.  A gruff man, tall and brutish.  Weren't they all?  Zyg's scans had found cybernetic enhancements, another project like his perhaps?  Other scans reported human, but there was no heartbeat.  This perplexed Zyg...he had never experienced magic before.  They never showed up on his scans.  Those were all just fairy tales written to entertain children, right?  He had come across some magic wielders in the tournament, and he was surprised he overcame them.  Magic versus machine was usually one-sided.  Zyg was glad that he was able to overcome them despite the odds being stacked against him.  Perhaps he instilled fear into his opponents. He had never seen magic, but they probably had never seen a raptor either.  

 

A scan came up showing a reptilian like makeup, and this contestant was male!  Odd.  The boy had scales covering his forearm, but that was about as reptilian as he was.  He was about to bark over to the boy when one of the other females approached him, wearing all black, hair more orange than a pumpkin.  What was her name?  Halloween?  Her stride showed confidence, with no trace of fear, rather wonder and endearment.

 

“Hello there, I’m Morgan. Do you have a name?” 

 

Zyg thought the woman to be mad!  Approaching a prehistoric beast such as him took some reproductive organs that she did not possess.  To make her jump a bit, Zyg shot off a cry.  Waiting for her reaction he proceeded.  His tone was robotic, but it had elegance to it.  It sounded almost like the golden robot from the archaeic space opera...what was it again?  Ah, C3P0.   "Yes...I have a name." He spoke, but his lips did not move.  "My name is Zyg," he then pointed to a brand on his pectoral, "0001, I am a project of the Mega Tech corporation.  It is a pleasure to meet you Morgan!" His head tilted playfully.  A human who would approach him was fascinating!  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The lights, the cheering crowd, the loud music, it overwhelmed her. Thousands of eyes were upon her, millions if you counted those watching the spectacle online. Fate Etheria, whose clan always walked in shadows, reached out a small hand and pulled her cloak tighter over her. Her other hand was clenched tightly on the handle of her weapon. The killing she could handle. Easily. Snip, snip, the thread of one's life was cut. She gave no second thoughts to the fallen. However, this unfamiliar experience before the crowds had made her needlessly anxious; it prod her into a shell, a trance, where she blocked everything out and finally she had silence. She returned to reality and gave a quiet relieved sigh as they were allowed to return to the tunnel.

 

The twelve of them were now in a large conference room. She noted the locking of the large steel doors, and whispered to herself that she could have such doors if she had the money. All of this, everything could be built with enough money, the power of money far exceeded her initial expectations. Her eyes rested on the old man who sat at the head of table. To her, he looked incredibly arrogant. It wouldn't be a stretch to say he could have anything he wanted. The emotion called jealousy took hold of her for a moment, until she was instructed to sit down.

 

She realized she was unnecessarily on edge. Too many new things, too many things that were outside of her range of expectation, all of this in a short span of time. Taking a few quick breaths, she calmed herself as she sat down.

 

"You should be proud. This is it.  Once you've made it past these rounds, you can only climb higher. Eleven others stand between you and that prize money.  You are here because you are the strongest.  And so, what tactics, schemes, and lengths will you go to in order to secure your victory?"

 

The fight ahead, huh? That was something she was comfortable with. Tactics, schemes, strength, power, these things were part of her ordinary life. In a few mere months, she had probably built up experience equivalent to a warrior twice her age, but even then there was an endless supply of things she still had to see and learn. She realized this in the preliminary rounds. Unlike the other fighters seated around this table, she lacked arrogance. She was unaware of her own genius. She had made into the final rounds of the greatest tournament in the world, but she still sought to improve and was constantly on edge.

 

It came to her in a moment that unlike all her previous experiences, she had an opportunity to see her opponents beforehand. She had an opportunity to learn about them here and now, find what horrible tricks they held up their sleeves. A dangerous-looking red-eyed female, an anthropomorphic cyborg dinosaur, a golden-eyed swordswoman, a witch, a white-cloaked boy, a blue-haired girl, a flashy blond-haired man, a weird green-haired girl, a black-haired girl about her size, a more normal-looking blond-haired man, and a guy whose eyes looked like they were on fire. Quite the group of oddities, Etheria's scissors didn't even seem out of place here. The assassin's blood in her was roused, there were eleven targets for her to cut down.

 

"Through those doors you'll be taken back to the hotel lobby in the North Tower. You're free to observe the buffet, the bar, the arcade, the theater, and any other pleasures that may catch your eye. I regret that it's already 10 p.m., but the park is already closed for the night. Oh, and um, be a dear and try to be courteous to each other. You don't know a thing about one another. So if you're going to make friends before you try to do away with each other, now is the time. Have a pleasant evening my dears."

 

Etheria stared at the old man as he disappeared. An unfamiliar element in his speech hit her. Make friends. She suddenly glanced around the room again. This girl with no common sense or general knowledge thought nothing of the suggestion to make friends with people she intended to kill. What was a friend, really? She had never been able to connect that word in her mind. She had never been able to understand what it truly entailed. And thus it never occurred to her that if she made friends, she may hesitate to kill them or she may be hurt if harm befell them.

 

Etheria stood up, picking up that absurd pair of scissors. She avoided those who looked particularly inhospitable to her, such as the fire-eyed man, and walked over to the black-haired one-eyed girl. If she was going to start trying out this thing called "friendship", this girl who was her size looked like her best bet.

 

"Hello... Nice to meet you."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The crowd was cheering, applause and cheers from everywhere around her! Odette couldn't adore this more! 

 

They were later taken to a room in the hotel. The hotel was lovely, all decorated and shiny, an example of pure elegance. She sat down to examine each opponent.

 

There was a witch, she seemed nice and already started talking around with a dinosaur...

 

Then there's the dinosaur, yes, a dinosaur, weird but it's a force to be reckoned.

 

There was a goth girl, black hair, goth clothing, too dark for Odette, probably a vampire.

 

Then there was a girl with blue hair, she seemed interesting, Odette detected a powerful force coming from her, she definitely was the holder to some powerful magic artifact just like Odette. "She could be a perfect ally" Odette thought.

 

There was this guy who was smoking "Ugh, smoke that's disgusting, i certainly don't want my clothes to smell like smoke afterwards" she thought.

 

There also was a black skinned boy, Odette detected powerful magic forces from him too, though his was a completely different type of force, more dark, mysterious, she definitely had to examine him more.

 

 

There were many people left in the room, but Odette was getting tired, she needed the soft and filling smell of a cup of tea to relax her. "If you'll excuse me, i'll go get a cup of tea." She said to the group as she headed to the bar. Luckily it was near. Around 5 minutes later, a cup of Earl Grey tea was smoking in front of her. "A lot of sugar, just like i like it." She then headed back to the room with the group with a smile on her face thanks to the tea. "I'll just wait 'til everyone introduces themselves and then i'll go to my room, i need to clean myself from the smell of smoke!" She thought, as she sat back down, sipping her tea while observing the group.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

“But you have to understand where I’m coming from with this, IT IS A F***ING dinosaur!” Tyson almost screamed into the far reaches of his mind as he stood among the other eleven combatants. 

 

“You’ve slayed arch-demons, mutants, and even… what had you called that lycanthrope we bested in in one of the earlier rounds?” The voice of the arch-demon, Mephisto responded almost instantly, it's tone cold and calculating as always. 

 

“You mean the Werewolf Ninja.”  Tyson thought almost too casually, as he continued to observe the raptor with childlike intrigue. His excitement reaching new heights as one of the female participants, an orange haired witch that Tyson could already tell was an attention whore strolled over and began attempting conversation with the beast. 

 

“Ah yes, how could I forget something so eloquently named…” Though sarcasm oozed from the demon’s voice, Tyson chose not to bother acknowledging it; instead opting to continue expecting the other contestants. 

 

“Yea, yea. You don’t have to tell me what I’ve killed; it’s just that I’ve never seen one before… God, you don’t always have to be such a kill joy.” 

 

“Poor choice of words.” Mephisto spoke with the smallest hint of amusement.

 

Tyson rolled his eyes, and in the process ended up meeting the gaze of the basket case with the pompadour and cigarette. He gave off the vibe of an old-school action hero, but the gun he was carrying definitely wasn’t old school in the slightest. In all honesty, he’d probably get along better with this guy, then any of the prepubescent brawlers that littered the room, but for the time being he figured he’d simply return the man’s smirk; with any luck he’d see him later at the bar, and they could chat there.

 

His gaze then danced around the other contestants. Starting at the young looking girl with the green hair. Tyson had been in the business long enough to tell that she was a non-human, but other then that her appearance gave away very little. 

 

“That one holds an artifact… but those damn Elf’s produce so many, it’s hard to discern exactly what it could be capable of.” Mephisto chimed in, following Tyson’s gaze.

 

Nodding slightly at the demon’s insight, Tyson then set his sights on the blue haired swordsman as she approached one of the other girls, a blonde who seemed to have decided to hide whatever she was packing under that large cloak. Though Tyson didn’t find either of the too to be extraordinarily fascinating at first, his interest was peaked ever so slightly after hearing what Mephisto had on them. 

 

“They’re what you hunters call “Non-humans”. Too spare myself the chore of explaining to you the finer nuances of their ability, I’ll leave it at this: The blonde is accentually a walking armory, and should not be taken lightly under any circumstance, while the azure haired one is more then likely using those blades as amplifiers for her magic. “

 

Tyson gathered to blonde haired kid to be some kind of reptilian shape shifter, and having had already killed himself a number of those in his years, chose to skip over him without hearing Mephisto’s analysis. He did the same for he more average looking girl with the gloves and the young blue haired girl with the golden eye patch, instead taking far more interest the little lady with the giant pair of scissors who chose to approach her. Even with his limited magical senses, Tyson could tell something just wasn't natural about them, and needless to say his interest was piqued.

 

He held is gaze on the girl for an excruciatingly long time, waiting for Mephisto to chime in with information on the scissors. Oddly enough the demon remained uncharacteristically silent. Tyson could sense a large amount of tension coming from the demonic entity… Did he not know anything? No. He would have simply said so… the problem had to be that he DID know something, and whatever that something was had the big bad arch-demon scared sh**less.

 

Tyson felt an hot wave of bloodlust and excitement creep up his spine. If there were something here to make Mr.Mephisto clam up, he’d definitely be in for a hell of a time! Allowing his lips to form a small smirk at the prospect of going toe to toe with something so powerful, ripped his gaze away from the scissors, though he’d definitely be keeping his eyes on their wielder. 

 

Now faced with the final combatant, Tyson couldn’t help but scoff.  The blood red eyes, pale skin, and the predatory gaze that brings fear to the hearts of men; making them painfully aware that they’re is not at the top of the food chain. Well most men anyway. Tyson recognized this woman to be a vampire almost instantly, and had to fight his immediate desire to but a bullet in her head.

 

“Well that’s pretty nostalgic…” Tyson mumbled to himself as he made his way towards the dark haired vampire. Though part of him wanted to introduce himself to the wielder of those peculiar scissors, he could feel his instincts pushing him towards this woman; he just couldn’t pass up on a chance to screw around with the undead for old times sake.  

 

"Hey, I'm sure you've probably heard this one before, but it's one of my favorites." He approached the woman as casually as possible, his gruff voice holding very subtle hints of amusement. Getting in close so that their conversation could only be heard by those who made an effort to listen in, he continued. "So a vampire and a hunter walk into a conference room..." 

Link to comment
Share on other sites


 

"Twelve people come in, and one will come out.

 

Fun fun."

 

Seeing the crowd cheering at the group, Arisu smiled a bit, though she couldn't help but feeling a bit bored at the scene. Aside from the raptor, which she'd definitely try to learn more about how the hell it could survive all into this day and actually participate in the tournament, the other participants didn't really pique her interest yet. For all that she know, they're either tiny, bratty snobs, overcompensators, or too plain to pique her interest. Sighing, she then tried to find something that could actually pump her interest up, or just at least save herself from the boredom of the opening ceremony. Looking at the raptor again, it seemed that it's now being approached by the witchy-looking young girl or something. She couldn't really be sure about anything she saw when it come to this place and this bunch, but yeah. Deciding that she didn't really find something else that could actually interest her among this bunch so far, she decided to approach the two, just as the raptor introduced itself to the witchy girl.

 

" "My name is Zyg 0001, I am a project of the Mega Tech corporation.  It is a pleasure to meet you Morgan!"

 

"...God dammit, and here I thought you're around due to magic or something.

 

Tch."

 

Couldn't really hiding her vocal disappointment of the fact that the raptor's actually a technological construct instead of being magical in some way, Arisu stopped on her way of approaching the raptor, and returned to her original position with a heavily dejected look on her face. Now with the raptor out of her "interested to learn more" list, the bluehead then decided to bring herself to try looking more to the combatants around, even if she was really not interested about them at all. After all, knowledge is power. If she could analyze the other combatants, then she'd be able to figure out a way to combat them well, and that'd mean she could win this. Not that winning would be too important for her. But the money prize could be used to make more philosopher's stone to split her soul into.

 

After that, world domination would be in sight.

 

"...What the hell am I thinking about? Focus, Arisu! Think about silly things like that later, and focus more on learning more about them!"

 

Right, back at analyzing.

 

First of all, long hair, black hair, red eyes, a brat from the looks of it. Slightly taller than her, but looked like a brat enough so Arisu immediately skipped her. Oh right, she seemed to have long sharp nails and fangs, so maybe she's a vampire. Probably. Who knows. What she knew was that she looked Japanese enough so they probably share a home country. Not that it mattered.Next up was the raptor. Being a scientific technological plebeian that it was, Arisu assumed that it'd be equipped with lasers or guns or explosives. Might be a problem, but well, shouldn't much of a headache for her since magic >>>>>> science always.

 

Next up, another bluehead, this one with long hair, golden eyes and a blue, impractical looking sword and weird gloves. Now that she looked at her more after dismissing her almost immediately earlier, she felt a bit disturbed by her nature. Not exactly sure about why, but it was that kind of feeling that would make one would want to stab the girl, grow swords inside of her, and then after that. claim her heritage as her own. That felt weird. Even for Arisu, getting that feeling felt weird.

 

Next up, a scantily clad brat with a red riding hood and scissors. What the hell was she thinking about, dressing as indecently like that in public to boot? It's as if she's intending to be a walking pedophile bait or something. At least if she was a bit more...developed and didn't look like a child, it'd be less awkward, though Arisu herself would still wince at that kind of clothing. Or maybe she's just a poor girl who couldn't afford clothing. Maybe she should donate some of hers out of pity to that girl.

 

Naaaaaaaaaaah.

 

Oh right, her scissors. Looked impractical as hell, which meant it'd be ridiculously dangerous. The fact that the girl could carry it was kind of baffling. Did she get super strength by wearing next to nothing somehow? That sounded sooooooooo anime it hurts. To be fair, most of everyone here would have super strength, and she could get one too via using her magic to empower herself. So it's not too out of ordinary. But that scissor though. She felt that the weapon could actually kill the kill or something. Whatever's the case, it's not something she'd allow to hit her stone at all cost.

 

Following the stripper, the witch. She reaaaaaaaaaaaaaally needed to wear some pants, or at least, a skirt. Arisu shook her head as she wondered why did she get surrounded by exhibitionists here. Right, she's also looking pretty bratty. Probably an inferior mage to Arisu, so she didn't look at her more. Next up was..........another girl? Or a guy? The bluehead couldn't really tell, but what she did know is that the claw looked like something she don't want to ever touch her skin. Either way, looked like yet another brat on the bunch.

 

And then, there's this girl. Not too tall and not too short, with her silvery azure hair glimmering amidst the glorious sunlight, her scarlet eyes signifying her authority, and her fair skin looking completely smooth, even smoother than silk, Arisu immediately took a liking to this person she failed to notice earlier. She would probably be an amazing mage, and well, Arisu could say that the girl would be the one to win the tournament, just from a glance.

 

Oh right, that was herself.

 

Moving on from the beautiful maiden, now we see a damn smoker. Arisu hated smokers. They're just like a sore thumb sticking out in the scenery. The guy itself was kind of tall. Oh, he looked like old action comic heroes. Arisu expected a lot of bloody brawls, firearms, and explosives. Didn't look magical enough so she immediately shifted her gaze to the next person. Greenhead brat looks almost at out of place here as the stripper brat, but Arisu could respect her decision to wear decent clothing, if not a bit too eccentric. Despite her look, Arisu felt that this kind of girl would be the one that'd pull off the most horrific kills in the tournament. Maybe a bit unhinged, and might also have a strange attachment to her silly hat. Oh, the eye thing looked a bit dangerous. Probably an ancient artifact or something if checking its magical signature. If the two ended up meeting, Arisu would probably try to steal the thing for herself.

 

And then, yet another bluehead brat. Arisu was tempted at that point to try patenting the bluehead brat shtick for herself somehow. Looked just like a middle school kid with textbood middle school teen syndrome of delusion, so not really interesting. Next one was a pretty boy. Not much to write about him. She got some sort of weird feeling regarding that guy though, so that might be a reason for her to look more into him later. Last one was a not-so pretty boy. He looked like someone who had figuratively went to hell and back, and he's kind of creepy. And it's probably just her, but she's getting the worst bad feeling from him, compared to the rest of the bunch.

 

And that's all. The analyzing session didn't give her much fruit sadly, so she'd have to deal with it and figure out other better ways to learn about them. But right now, all she could do was to wait until she could finally rest on her room for a bit before the tournament officially started.

 

Oh well

 


Link to comment
Share on other sites

Approximately 40 Floors Below the Northern Tower, Private Offices of Gerald Dillinger

 

In the far right corner of a plushly carpeted room, Gerald lay atop a lounge chair, stretched outwards like a butterfly.  He rolled his shoulders and threw up his legs to stretch them. when a loud buzz rang throughout the room.  An intercom speaker whined, and a soft feminine voice spoke through it.  "Gerald?" the voice inquired.  "I'm here, my dear.  What is it?" he asked in reply.  The room was dark.  With most of the artificial lighting turned off, the black and brown furniture was hard to see.  Gerald stood to his feet, slightly stumbling over a foot stool.  Straightening his shirt, he approached a large set of double steel doors.  A monitor rest on the right side of the doors, and it blinked to life as Gerald approached it.   A scan of the room began at the monitor, and ended at the far back wall.  Gerald was the only figure inside.  Large bolts could be heard on the other side of the doors opposite of Gerald, and an electric clicking sound finalized the mechanics of the large double doors.

 

When they opened, Steph stood outside, gently taking her hands down from a monitor similar to the one in Gerald's office.  "The others have finally arrived," she said standing aside.  Behind Steph, four other figures became known.  Gerald however already knew everything about these four that stood before him, as well as the other twelve downstairs.  A smile crossed his wrinkled face, and Gerald nodded, pleased with what he was seeing.  "I can always count on you, Steph."  Steph lowered her head, and curtsied, before taking a long, nearly blank hallway to a large elevator, and disappearing inside.  These that stood before Gerald.  They were much larger in person.  Gerald stretched out a hand to the first one standing before him.  This one wore the outdated outfit of a maid, and almost appeared pale.  This must have been Camille.  Gerald's smile did not fade as he shook Camille's hand.  "I apologize for your rather scrupulous arrivals.  I was told that the transport tubes you four chose were malfunctioning.  To be distributed to four corners of the world must have been quite the sight however, yes?" Gerald joked.

 

"Well, of course, I expected to have only three of you to retrieve," he said now walking past Camille.  He stopped just behind Camille, standing next to a man covered in red garments.  His hair was slick, and his demeanor was prideful.  He had the smell of anguish and contempt about him, and his smug smile gave away everything about him.  This was Nero.  "Mr. Nero," Gerald said having to look up just slightly.  At his old age, he had lost just a tad bit of his height, and his tired old back didn't aid this situation.  To anyone taller than he, it was quite amusing.  "I had assumed with the powers of--oop!  I almost spilled the beans," Gerald said catching himself.  He hadn't wanted to give away crucial information about one contestant to another.  "I had assumed with the, er, abilities?  Yes, abilities, at your disposal, that travel would be a non-issue!  But of course, I'm more than happy to aid with that," Gerald said as smile continued to bloom.

 

Gerald walked around to the back of the line, cane in his hand, and tapped it twice on the ground.  "This way contestants!  We'll deliver you to the conference room, just so that you get a good feel for the Hotel.  Wouldn't want you hanging around this old cook all evening.  Especially when you could be up having a drink!  Why, back in my day--" and Gerald would feed the four late contestants his tales of worldly and otherworldly travel for the next ten minutes, as they strolled what seemed like endless grey hallways.  It would be quite confusing for one unfamiliar with these halls to find their way around, what with them all looking alike.  After several minutes, they had reached an elevator similar to that which Steph had taken.  It was much larger however, with room even for the Titan to fit in.  "I do apologize for the sudden dismissal.  But I had to make sure you had all arrived safely," he said with the emphasis on 'safely' as he rose to his tip-toes, and went back flat again.  "Now that you're here, I must insist you return to the surface.  You'll have the opportunity to make use of our facilities as much as you like.  And when you're ready, your rooms are available on the top floors of the Northern Tower."

 

Gerald quickly turned his back on the four contestants, and started to hobble away.  "Enjoy yourselves!  There will be a public announcement of your starting battles early tomorrow!  You'll have just enough time to prepare."  And before them, Gerald vanished behind just another gray wall.

 

And in an eight by ten elevator, four beings were going to slowly rise nearly 400 feet in a metal container.  A pleasant jazzy tune began to play, as the elevator closed, and lead the contestants slowly to surface level.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Camille Jade Issacs was still reeling from his trip, but managed to smile back at Gerald as he talked. That had certainly not gone as expected. He had been plopped right in the middle of a gathering of penguins in the Arctic. Cam shuddered slightly as he remembered their fearsome beaks and horribly malicious waddling. Compared to them the tournament up until now had been a breeze.

But now, since he was away from their avian fury, he was safe. All that were in this room was a giant man, and a couple other males that were all likely fierce fighters. Totally safe in comparison.

 

Cam listened with great interest as Gerald rattled on about stories of his past. The man was quite interesting and Cam made sure to be a good listener. He responded with the correct reactions at the right moments and he could tell Gerald appreciated it. Which made Cam feel better about things.

Out of the corner of his eye he noticed several messes that hadn't been cleared up perfectly and his hand twitched. He had to restrain himself from rushing off to get some cleaning supplies and making everything spic and span.

 

Luckily they soon were in the elevator and Cam could let out a sigh of relief. Of course, the elevator, while being very large, was still a closed in space. Which Cam now shared with three other complete strangers. Cam drifted off towards the corner, trying to draw as little attention as possible. While not as horrifying as the penguins, these people were complete unknowns to him. Had Cam been working he could ignore that fact but as he was currently, for an unknown amount of time, off-duty, he wasn't quite sure how to react.

 

Time seemed to have slowed to a crawl with the elevator. There was complete silence for long and agonizing seconds. Cam was starting to feel twitchy, and uncomfortable, and many unpleasant things. His music device had lost its charge and he hadn't had time to fix that. And so he used the only thing he had to break the silence, his voice.

"U-um, so, that is...My name is Camille, w-what's yours?" His tone made it sound as if he was asking for dangerous government secrets but at least he managed to get it out. He kept his eyes on the floor, but they kept flicking towards the three others in the elevator, waiting for someone to respond.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


 

"Hey, hey. It won't do you any good talking like that, young boy. It's not like we're going to kill you or anything here. Just chillax." The smooth voice of the slick devil in red replied to the shy boy's question of asking the names of the people there. Looking around and deciding that it was still pretty awkward inside the room, the devil in plain sight sighed before continuing to talk with the girlish boy. "Well, kid...or should I say, Camille, right? Since you asked for our names, I guess I'll tell you.

 

This is I, Nero speaking. You should've heard about that name when the talkative old geezer called me that." The devil smiled at the boy, looking at him more and more closely, looking at every inch of his feminine, petite body. He's beautiful, that much Nero would definitely admit. His feminine, delicate frame was something he didn't really expect to see in this age of all time, and if not for the circumstances, he might-

 

"Anyway," Nero turned around to see the other two person on the lift. "Yo, blindy, you're pretty quiet it seems. Up for a talk? And hey oldie, your outfit's pretty outdated. Age of knights has kind of ended a while ago, y'know?"

 


Link to comment
Share on other sites

Saul: Elevator - Conference Room

BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgNLXG-dAKM

The old man kept rattling on. Not that Saul was one to talk; but he himself had a lot more going for him in the way of physique than this sorry excuse for a human being. Saul stood with his arms crossed; head and shoulders above the other contestants. Finally the group began to move, and Saul walked through the halls silently; tuning out Gerald's prattling as he did his best not to just kill the man where he stood now. These whole formalities were a huge waste of time; everything was so much easier when all that Saul had to do was cull the herd of humanity as he pleased. At least the preliminaries were a useful way to spend time.

 

Eventually the group entered an elevator. Thankfully, this one wasn't as cramped as the others and Saul didn't need to bend his head down to get in either. The first half of the ride was quiet; Saul leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, glancing around the room to make sure nothing dangerous was about to happen. The silence was soon broken by the weak human. Saul let out a frustrated sigh; and things were going so well. Remaining quiet, Saul let Nero do the talking until the attention was turned to the Titan.

 

Saul simply glared at Nero. Loud-mouthed and over-confident in his skills, but had a different aura around him than the usual human. If he was able to survive hundreds of thousands of other contestants, then he was nothing to simply underestimate on the spot. Saul then turned to the weak-looking human and glared down at him. "My name is Saul," He said simply and quietly; but his voice seemed to carry a sort of angry weight in the elevator space. Thankfully the doors opened soon with a light tone, and Saul stepped into the conference room; letting out an exasperated sigh as he saw the 12 others glance over and stare with their eyes wide. Taking a quick scan of the room and weighing each contestant briefly at their appearance before immediately exiting the room and making his way towards his own room.

 

Dirk: Conference Room

 

"Holy sheet!" Dirk exclaimed as the elevator door opened and a giant of a man stepped through its doors. That's crazy, how can anyone get that TALL?! Genetic enhancements? Cybernetics? Whatever it was, Dirk got the short-end of the enhancement stick! Well, except for one place. The giant left very quickly, though, after basically glaring at everyone in the room. "What's eatin' him?" Dirk wondered aloud.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Camille wasn’t sure how he felt about the man, Nero, getting so close. On one hand he was somewhat used to it. His father and his people often got just as close when inspecting him for any defects. But on the other, this wasn’t anything like that. This Nero didn’t know about his enhancements, let alone have any interest in making sure they were functioning.
It was likely he was sizing him up, for battle, but his interest felt slightly uncomfortable. He was reminded of another, similarly uncaring of personal space, person that Cam had met. Their reasons had been less than innocent, and Cam sincerely hoped this wasn’t the case. He couldn’t afford to deal with that kind of thing.

Cam backed up slightly and gave a short bow to the man. “It’s very nice to meet you, sir.” He said with a practiced smile. No matter the circumstance it would not do to be impolite.

The giant man looked angry for some reason, and Cam let out a sigh of relief when the door to the elevator opened and they entered the conference room.
Cam looked around at the group, who were all looking at them. Well, to be more accurate, looking at Saul. This gave plenty of time for Cam to check out the competition. They all seemed interesting, and strong, though nothing as intimidating as Saul.
Except.
Oh.
Panic flashed in Camille’s eyes. There, standing in front of some girl in a Halloween costume (not that Cam was one to talk) was...an animal. The fact that it was a dinosaur didn’t matter as much to Cam as the sheer fact that a large animal was standing right there.
Camille found himself backing up slowly, staring at the animal as his heart thudded violently. He wanted to run, but there were too many people in the way. So he settled with making himself as inconspicuous as possible in the hopes the hell-spawn just went away.




Morgan was delighted. The raptor replied, and positively! Her eyes had brightened at the cry he made. This was 100% and honest to goodness dinosaur. Amazing, how did he work? How was he created? These were things she just had to know, and she would learn them whatever it took.
 

"My name is Zyg, 0001, I am a project of the Mega Tech corporation.  It is a pleasure to meet you Morgan!"

“I think you and I are gonna be such good friends, Ziggy.” Morgan said happily, leaning in closer and whispering “Truth be told I’m a bit nervous around all these people, we should totally hang out sometime away from them all.” This would be the best way to learn more about this beast, and work her friend-making magic*, without any interruptions. Any other possible implications of her words were totally lost on Morgan.

More people arrived soon, but none of them were as interesting. The blind boy, Morgan couldn’t help but wonder what powers he had, but other than that it was just some man, a maid, and a large person. Strange, but a girl had to have her priorities.
And right now, priority one was befriending this dinosaur.

 

 

*not literal magic

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tyson raised an eyebrow at the woman’s response. He more then likely had already killed more of her kind than she’d had ever even met, and yet she still thought that she had any say in the matter? 

 

“Whatever you say, sweetheart. “ Tyson flashed the vampire a small smirk before turning to return to his seat. He had anticipated a far more toxic reaction from the creature, and after being disappointed, he didn’t see much reason to hang around. 

 

“You’re already going downstairs, so I think I’ll hold off roasting you…. give ya something to look forward to.”

 

Unsatisfied with his interaction with the vampire, Tyson glanced around the room to see who else was worth meeting. Once again he set his sights on the girl wielding the scissors, but just before he could make a move towards her, Mephisto’s voice echoed in his mind. 

 

“Scum…” 

 

“I thought we were past the name calling... I still had a few good ones!” Tyson responded through their mental link. 

 

“Not you. A different kind of scum…” 

 

Without warning, Tyson’s head quickly jerked to the left against his will, forcefully directing his gaze towards the four new arrivals just as they stepped off the elevator. Be it through their telepathic link, or Tyson’s newly acquired supernatural sense; the man somehow new exactly who the demon was referring to; a man, or what was supposed to look like a man, clad in red with a grimly familiar aura emanating from him. 

 

Tyson had defiantly felt this feeling before… one never really forgets what it’s like to be in the room with a demon. “Friend of yours?” His eyes narrow slightly as he tried to meet the man’s gaze. The air around Tyson seemed to grow heavy, and though he didn’t realize it, his eyes had begun to glow with a light supernatural flame. He could feel Mephisto’s essence contorting with rage, and when the demon spoke it’s words oozed spite.  

 

“Ripper, that fool is disgrace to our kind.”

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Zyg 0001

 

“I think you and I are gonna be such good friends, Ziggy.  Truth be told I’m a bit nervous around all these people, we should totally hang out sometime away from them all.”  Zyg was happy with Morgan's response!  Finally a human who wasn't afraid to approach him, but rather was entranced by his existence.  He had made a new friend in this death game...but was that necessarily a good thing?  His head twitched side to side with excitement.  He nodded after some playful yelps.

 

"I think that's a delightful idea Morgan!  I would like to study your mind as I'm not keen in the arcane ways.  I am a raptor of science after all!"  His long mechanical tail started to wag, almost as if he were some sort of dog, but it was out of pure joy.  He wasn't really paying attention to his tail.  It was then that he had detected 4 new signatures apart from the rest.  One was cybernetically, enhanced but looked to be some sort of hotel maid.  These humans...so strange.  A giant, a blind boy, and another man were standing in there as well, but again, Zyg's scanners didn't show any strange signs or warnings.  Magic was so elusive to Zyg.

 

He turned to Morgan content with his scanning.  "Where would you like to 'hang out', as you humans say, Morgan?"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 


 

Playing around with Camille was nice enough but Nero decided to stop before he went too far. The disgruntled gigantic old man's act was mainly the reason for it, really. Nero just didn't want to spill blood before the last rounds even start. Though...the old man's gigantic build reminded him that he might not really be a human. A Titan maybe? Though Nero hadn't seen one in ages, so it'd be a pleasant surprise if he was indeed one. Not that he cared much about the race though. The blind man was just standing there so far. Didn't seem to respond to his teasing, Nero decided to leave him be and focus more on the other competitors that were already in the conference room.

 

It didn't took a second for his cheerful mood to be ruined as he noticed a slight demonic presence on the air. Looking around to see the source, he immediately locked his sight onto a man in orange, who was also looking at him closely right now. The demonic signature coming off him felt familiar, and all it did was making Nero even sicker and livid. He did not need to be reminded of that part of his past, and this timing was the worst timing for him to be reminded of it. Controlling himself to not be visibly enraged by the man's presence, the former demon walked towards him as he put a forced peaceful smile at him. When he was close, that smile immediately disappeared, replaced with a serious expression that couldn't hide his exasperation.

 

"...A human, huh? I thought I sensed the presence of dear Mephy somewhere from you. Do you happen to be related to a demon, however?" Even with that expression on his face, Nero still used his best effort to make it look like he's being casual with the man. "Oh well, whatever's the case, dare to cross me and you'll be deader than disco."

 

 

iU8EggM.png

 

"Oh look there, four more challengers." Arisu said in a completely uninterested tone as she noticed the arrival of the four new adversaries that she might end up facing. A girlish...boy? of sort, a suspicious-looking guy, a blind man, and lastly, an old geezer that's way taller than he should ever be. Didn't seem to be interesting enough for her to look more to them, and with her earlier failure on actually making out useful information about the other combatants, she decided to not be bothered with that again this time. The conference room had bored her a lot, and right now, all she wanted to do was to start the brawl just so she could finally see how well these others would perform.

 

 


Link to comment
Share on other sites

The clock struck midnight.  It had been a slow but interesting start to the occasion.  The contestants had all finally been gathered in the hotel, and Gerald's staff had proven that they were able to cope with that.  As each guest had returned timely to their rooms just before or slightly after the ungodly hour of the night, they would find their individual rooms had been prepared with a plaque in their name, plastered above the door frame in the hallway of the top floor of the Eastern and Western towers.  Each room had been stock full of amenities, but if for any unreasonable mention guests wanted room service, it was available at any time of the day.  But with most of the night already being over, the sixteen varying species--you know, except for all the God damn magic people--had gone their separate ways for the evening.  As the individuals closed their doors behind them, Gerald sat alone in his office in complete darkness, staring at a series of monitors that would carefully scan each contestant.

 

The heavy clicks of metallic door locks brought a smile to Gerald's wrinkled, old face.  Sitting up straight in his chair, he pressed a small black button on the receiver beside him.  A buzz rang back at him, and Gerald spoke into a separate microphone.  "Prepare the arenas.  I want to begin as soon as possible."  Silence emitted from the other side of the receiver.  Then, a shrill of static.  A powerful buzz followed it, and then a soft click as the receiver's line closed.  "I'll never get used to that," Gerald mumbled to himself, running a finger through his ear.  He stretched out in his chair again, before electing to hop up from his seat and get himself cleaned.  Clapping his hands together, several loud thuds signaled the lights system to activate, and shed themselves on the room below.  Gerald grinned, as he thought about the brawling that was about to ensue.  It had been quite a long time since he had had much fun, and he was truly looking forward to this.  Not to mention, the profits and growth that the Hotel was about to see.  But of course, at this point, money was something he could simply burn.

 

The hour was now 1:00 A.M.

 

 

 


 

11:03 A.M., Day 2

 

 

The contestants were sound asleep in their rooms, but their time for resting was up.  In seven minutes, the tournament bracket was to be announced and shared with the world.  In order to disturb them just enough to wake and shock them into action, Gerald sent a single Black Guard to the rooms of each contestant.  In order to not frighten the guests, they were forced to keep themselves concealed as they always do.  It was very subtle, but the when a Black Guard uncloaked themselves, the very disdain they felt made their presence known.  There was something inherently wrong with these creatures.  Having them within ten feet of you for more than two minutes usually resulted in a concussion or a loss of brain matter--not brain cells, brain matter.  The contestants, regardless of how heavy they were sleeping or dreaming, were interrupted ever so softly, as the very black presence of these things if you could describe them, emanated into their rooms.  No locked door could keep them out, and no mental barrier would bar them.  The Black Guard would let out several soft but disturbing clicks from the movement of their fingers, much like snapping.  If a contestant was dreaming, the Black Guard would invade their mind, showing up in the contestant's dream and altering their thoughts until they awoke.

 

But upon awaking, they would not see or recall the Black Guard.  Instead, the remaining horror that these creatures left behind would fade over the course of several minutes, just in time for the contestants to witness the sudden fireworks erupting behind the hotel.  The time was now 11:10 A.M.

 

BGM:  Audi Famam Illius

 

Televisions in the contestants rooms clicked on, and they were greeted by the lovely face of Steph, who was standing before an animated screen with the logo of the hotel passing by.   "Good morning guests and contestants," she said with a smile.  Her voice was somewhat automatonic, but it was barely noticeable.  The excitement in her voice, however, was genuine.  "The time is now 11:10 A.M., and in just a few moments, Gerald Dillinger, our hotel owner and host of your Secret Cup Tournament, will be here to announce the official bracket of the tournament!"  A roar of applause could be heard in the background as crew clapped for Gerald's very timely arrival.  "Here he is now.  Gerald?"

 

The frail old man appeared on the television screen, holding in his hand a manilla folder along with the microphone.  "Thank you Steph," he said with a brief bow.  "Good morning, good morning, and good morning," he said with a very childlike excitement about him.  His smile only grew wider as his fingers ran over the contents of the manilla folder.  "This morning, we will waste no time in giving you the official tournament bracket.  But just before that, I'd like to remind you all watching, from the hotel, online, or even at the various arenas, that things could get messy.  We advise that those with sensitive stomachs or children, should look away."  He sprouted up onto his tip-toes for just a moment, before settling again.  "With that in mind, I will now reveal and display our tournament bracket.  After the announcements, it will be available for all to see on our website, or in the lobbies of each hotel tower."

 

A brief message with the hotel's website rolled across the bottom of their television screens. 

 

"Now, without further adieu.  The official tournament bracket, for the Secret Cup Tournament!"

 

J8EEDpw.png

 

The bracket was now on full display on television screens, and cheers could be heard as people speculated on matches.  The screen split itself in two, as Gerald appeared on the right, and the bracket remained on the left.

 

"For you more dangerous go getters, there will be a betting hall on the first floor of the Northern Tower.  Our matches are set to begin in approximately one hour!  In that time, all contestants should report to the rooftop level of their respective Towers.  From there, you will be escorted via helicopter to your arenas.  And remember, each arena is vastly different.  Keep your wits about you, and enjoy yourselves!"

 

The screen reverted to a full scale image of the tournament bracket, and Gerald disappeared from sight.  Every contestant would have a chance to review the bracket for the next ten minutes before it vanished from the television screens.  And if that was not enough, a manilla folder was slid under their doors, also containing information about the bracket, and the arena in which an individual contestant would be fighting.  Once a single contestant knew what arena they would be fighting in, their opponent knew it as well.  After gathering on the rooftops, the contestants would be greeted by the whirring of helicopter blades.  The rush of adrenaline was in the air, as fireworks continues to burst in the background of the hotel.  The first round is about to begin.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Saul: Hotel Room - Rooftop

 

The hotel room was quiet and fitted with every luxury a man could dream of. It was sickening. Saul sat cross-legged in the middle of the floor; he had not touched his bed, fitted to accommodate his height, and instead decided to sleep on the floor. This entire setup was Gerald taunting him; Saul could just imagine the old bastard seated a sea of cushions, laughing as he flaunted his wealth and status before the prince of a race driven to extinction; an exotic trophy just to add to his collection. And this entire tournament was just to show it off. Taking part in these pointless luxuries would be biting into the forbidden fruit; it would make Saul soft and weak. These luxuries were just distractions.

 

The silence in the room was then broken by the faint hum of the TV turning itself on. Gerald's assistant appeared on screen, announcing the match-ups for the contestants and instructions for where they should go. Standing himself up and dressing himself with his robe, Saul grabbed his sword, slung it over his shoulder, and made his way to the top of the tower. There a helicopter waited for him, but his opponent had not yet arrived. Saul let out another sigh; just another delay. Saul stood looking out over the top of the roof at the scenery, waiting for his opponent to arrive.

 

Dirk Rider: Hotel Room

 

"Ladies, ladies please!" Dirk pleaded, seated in a hot-tub surrounded by throes of gorgeous women. "Ladies please, one at a time! There's plenty of Dirk to go around!" Dirk laughed as the giggling gaggle of bikini-clad women surrounded him.

 

"Hey there tough guy, room for one more?" A sultry voice penetrated through the wall of bodies.

 

Dirk smiled. "Baby, you KNOW there's always room for one more!" Pushing a few women out of the way, Dirk tried to get a peak at the newcomer. "So what's your name, missaaaAUAUUAAAAUUGGHH"

 

Standing before Dirk, and clad in a bikini, was some sort of eldritch abomination, causing Dirk to yell loudly as he felt out of his bed with a loud thunk. Looking around the room in a cold-sweat frantically, Dirk spotted that the TV screen had already been turned on, handing out match-ups and giving instructions to the contestants. Dirk rubbed his eyes as he looked over the tournament tree.

 

"Oh, that was that weirdo chick with the Halloween costume, right?" He said to himself. "Piece of cake." Hopefully the match would be a piece of cake, but this chick should be one big push-over. Brooms aren't weapons!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Morgan was stirred awake by..something, some highly uncomfortable feeling that she very much didn’t like. Luckily that was over quickly. Unluckily that meant Morgan had to focus on the fact that she was awake earlier than she wanted.

She had wanted to watch movies or something with Zyg, but the moment he asked what she wanted to do, her body let loose a yawn of epic proportions. She put a rain check on that “You’d better make sure to win so we can hang out after” and headed off to bed.
But now that wonderful action known as sleep had been interrupted. Morgan never woke up before noon if she could help but, and she was feeling groggy and grumpy.

And so she watched the television turn on and show the announcements with a sour attitude. Stupid old man and his stupid words and stupid face. So stupid. She nearly nodded off until the bracket came up. At which point she gave the screen full attention.

Her eyes glazed over until she saw her name and then they riveted on the opponent she was to face.
Dirk. Who the hell was Dirk? She didn’t know any of these names, besides Zyg. Who, she noticed, she would be fighting in the Semi-Finals. That’s pretty good, she could deal with that. Just needed to get rid of the opposition on the way. Didn’t really matter who it was, the prize was hers after all.

She had to go to the roof now, that was too long of a trip. Morgan groaned in annoyance as she got into her clothing, which was similar to what she wore yesterday but a bit more of her body was covered and the material was a bit thicker.

All set, but still feeling like a zombie, Morgan shuffled out of her room, attempting to rub the sleep from her eyes and yawning practically every other breath. She knew where Zyg’s room was, having asked him before heading to bed, and went in that direction. She didn’t feel like going all the way to the roof on her own right now.
And so she knocked on his door, waiting for him to answer before asking, in a slightly slurred and tired voice, “Hey Ziggy, gimme a ride, I don’t wanna walk all the way to the *yawns* r-roof.” She was nearly dead on her feet at this moment, nodding off right then and there. She wasn’t even certain the raptor had even realized what she was asking.




The morning started out wonderfully for Cam. The moment the raptor had seemed distracted he bolted to his room, not stopping for anything. He was almost certain he knocked someone over in the process. However all that mattered was he was safe in his room, and he was able to drift off to sleep pretty easily.

And he woke up early, at exactly five AM. He was far too used to waking up at this time so it didn’t matter when he went to bed, he always woke just as the clock turned to five. His body didn’t need much sleep though, as long as he kept his mechanics maintained that is, so he was fresh and chipper as he went about cleaning the nearly spotless room. There was several spots that had been missed and Cam worked at it until they were absolutely spotless. He had been listening to music as he worked and almost missed the television turning on.

Gerald was on the screen, giving some announcements. Which Cam listened to intently. He scanned the bracket as it came up and memorized it. He didn’t know many of these names but he would be sure to find out if he could.
He was relieved to see he wouldn’t be facing Saul in his first match. He didn’t know the raptor’s name but hopefully it wasn’t anywhere near Cam.
It seemed the first match wouldn’t be against it, at very least. That was because the opponent was one that Cam actually knew the name of. Nero. Camille suddenly felt nervous. He didn’t know how this would go, but the memory of their encounter in the elevator was still on his mind.
He was certain this Nero had something up his sleeve, and Cam knew he would be put through the paces in this match. But, he could do it. He had to, if he wanted to win freedom he had to beat all of the opponents he would face.

Camille took a deep breath and exited his room. He knew the route to the roof and headed there immediately after getting into his clothing. The maid uniform wasn’t the most practical battle attire but it was the thing he was most comfortable and used to wearing.

Not long later Cam stepped onto the rooftop, to the sight of Saul and a group of helicopters. This was it, the true fight would start soon.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Odette after finishing her cup of tea returned to her room, pleased to see that it was full of every luxury.

 

~The Next Morning~

Odette woke up at around 10:20 and opened the curtains letting the sun shine right in her room. "What a lovely day! I sure hope i'll be able to relax a bit, or maybe if we are fighting not get killed..." She called room service and ordered her breakfast. Her breakfast arrived soon. A silver tray with a steaming cup of tea, a few toasts with apricot jam and a croissant was right at her door. She ate her breakfast and then went for a long hot shower. As she was getting dressed in the bathroom she felt spied. "If someone is spying me i'll call the authorities, i warned you, so if i get out of my room and find someone..." She said as she returned to her bedroom. No one was there and the strange feeling was gone. She was putting her shoes on and the television turned on. It was the tournament brackets. "Oh my, let's see who i am against... Basil Thorne, quite an unusual name, but who am i to judge unusual people? He probably is one of the people that arrived later, if i recall correctly he was the green haired one, what a coincidence. Now to judge if he's a murderous one or not..." Odette had one free hour, she put her beautiful hat on and slowly started heading towards the rooftop, while admiring the hotel obviously.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

After all the commotion and business had settled down and the three or four new entrances made their - late - appearances, Nori retreated to her room to take get a good night's rest. The number one rule was that getting safe sleep was rare, and that one should take it when there's a chance to. Although she had also practiced being able to sleep for short periods for break times and the like, when there was a chance to sleep this long and replenish one's strength and mental reserves, it would be silly to not take it.

 

Waking up at 11:00 AM sharp, Nori yawned as she stretched out, feeling that oh-so-pleasurable tingling go down her spine as she did so. Freezing mid-stretch, Nori felt an unsettling presence outside of her room. Instead of entering though, it seemed to skip past her room, and instead enter another room beside hers. After a brief moment of concentration, she realized that there was one for almost every room. Chuckling to herself as she used guesswork to predict that these were the wake-up alarms, Nori quickly showered and dressed herself, making sure everything was in place and ready for battle.

 

As she was buckling on her shoes, the television flickered on, showing the face of the robotic assistant. Listening carefully as the apparently female being went on to talk about the tournament which would take place soon, it switched to Gerard after a few moments. The tournament brackets appeared shortly afterwards, to which Nori snapped her gaze. Zyg... If I'm not mistaken, that's the name of the raptor, or at least what the witch girl called it... This should certainly fare to be interesting. Searching for the Guardian boy from before, it seemed as if he was in the complete opposite half of the bracket as she was. Sighing, Nori muttered to herself. "That kid better get through his rounds or I'll kick his ass for him."

 

Ignoring the wild betting and cheering from the crowd, Nori took heed of the instructions instead. Thinking over the mental map of the hotel in her head again which she had memorized for directions, she was about to head out when a manila folder was slipped under her door. Slicing it open with her smaller blade, Nori scanned over its contents. Within the folder that some being had slipped beneath her door, there was a long listing of information about the rest of the bracket, although nothing about the competitors - for obvious reasons. Flipping over to the back though, the information on there was what interested Nori far more, as it contained information about the Arena itself.

 

[spoiler=The Temple][spoiler=Image]JXMGVtp.jpg

[spoiler=Description]

Shan’ri Temple

Long abandoned, but overrun by native insects. You won’t find anything fatal above ground. Though, I wouldn’t go fishing. It is said that battles that take place on temple grounds will be forever remembered. Temple grounds are approximately 45.72 meters in width and 40 meters in depth. It is one of the smallest selected arenas in the tournament.

 

Traps available include:

[NONE FOUND]

 

Indigenous species include:

Koi fish

Watabi Mantis

King Crab

Zen Fly

Otopis Maggot

 

Notes:

Otopis Maggots explode with grenade-like force if you step on one.

Zen flies create Otopis Maggots.

Watabi Mantis flies, but is not dangerous. Just annoying.

 

Seriously, don’t go fishing.

 

 

Looking over the picture itself, it seemed almost a perfect fit for Nori, given how there was lots of flat areas. The water itself seemed potentially risky though, so Nori decided her first course of action would be going onto a rooftop, or one of those ornate goose-heads. A high perspective should offer her a good view as well as general protection from the raptor. Considering it's a raptor, it would most likely have keen hunting senses, so staying within cover would be a death wish in this situation. Nori was pretty sure that there was other things she didn't know about the raptor, but if she stayed on the roof and acted calmly, she should be fine.

 

At the line about explosive maggots that have the force of a grenade blast, she raised her eyes. "This old geezer sure doesn't seem to mind injuries." Sighing, she realized that foolishly running across would be silly now. Nori figured that while she could probably outrun the blast even after stepping on one if she kept a running pace, it would be silly to do so, as it would immediately give away her position. Fortunately, the raptor would probably be a lot worse off in an arena like this, so it could also work in the reverse. Going after the raptor would be a fool's plan though, so Nori aimed to stay high and fight carefully.

 

Resolving herself of doubts, Nori grimly picked up a few blue flowers from a collection she left on her table. While she'd prefer to not have to use lethal force, if there was no other alternative, she was prepared to do the deed. If she could get it to surrender or otherwise manage a win without doing so, and safely at that, Nori would certainly take it.

 

Heading to the roof following the mental map inside of her head, it seemed as if she was one of the first few to do so. Standing by herself away from the other contestants, she repeated her mantra to herself. "Forgive me, for I have sinned. Unto dust, by my hand, shalt my enemies return. And unto dust, I shalt return, in time due."

 

She was ready. She had prepared for this for her whole life, and Nori was determined to fight for it until the end. Looking up at the sky, Nori breathed slowly. The time was coming

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Zyg 0001

 

Zyg was upset that Morgan had grown tired over the course of their conversation, but understood her circumstances.  It was getting late, and she seemed to be young according to his scans.  He wasn't on the brink of tears, just slightly disappointed.  She took her leave of the conference room, and after some more time had passed, he took his as well.

 

He entered his room, and felt a familiar warmth in the air.  The room must've been turned to a more humid temperature setting, and he was pleased.  In the corner, their was a pile of tropical leaves all neatly laid out.  This must've been a sign of good will from their host, Gerald.  He was elated to say the least!  It reminded him of his old enclosure back at MegaTech.  He wasn't a sophisticated being, he liked the more simple things in life, and he was happy with this.  As he made his way over to his new bed, his metallic feet stomped on all the delicate leaves.  A sigh escaped the raptor's nostrils.  He tried his best to make himself more comfortable, balling up and laying down in the pile.

 

He was running in a field now, his body was free of any outside enhancements.  Beside him were fellow raptors, but these raptors had feathers.  Zyg knew that his DNA had to be completed by splicing various reptile sequences into his, and that as a result had become scaly instead of sporting plumage.  The other raptors however found Zyg to be an intruder in their prehistoric world, and turned on him!  The unnatural creature didn't belong in their pack, and they ripped him apart as if he were actually on the menu.

 

Zyg awoke, breathing heavier than usual, it was barely past 11 in the morning.  He could tell based on the sun's position in the sky.  His television had been turned on and was broadcasting Gerald, talking more and more about the tournament, finally revealing his first round opponent.  Nori Amakusa was it?  He pulled up scan results in his head.  She was the blue haired girl who's scans didn't bring up anything extraordinary, besides the fact that her entire genetic make-up wasn't human.  Tilting his head towards the door, he noticed a manila folder.  He reached out his big toe to stab at it and rip the top part off.  Inside were details explaining the arena that he'd be fighting in.  A temple with no large brush to aid him in stealth.  Damn...cover was the raptor's ally...but they'd be fighting in a rather large open field.  Maybe he could stalk her in a building.  The wildlife in the area weren't something to be desired either.  Living landmines sprawled across the area, he'd have to be careful!  A knock interrupted his concentration.  

 

He went to open his door to reveal Morgan dressed in a slightly different outfit, on the brink of sleepdom.  “Hey Ziggy, gimme a ride, I don’t wanna walk all the way to the" A yawn interrupted her mid sentence " r-roof.”  He didn't respond, rather ,without hesitation, he wrapped his tail around her and placed the girl in black on his back.  If he wasn't able to win this tournament, there was a shining future for him in he raptor taxi service.  With Morgan safely placed on his back, he dashed towards the elevator and pressed the button that was clearly labeled roof.  The pair were then taken to their destination, as helicopter noises filled the rooftop with a whirring that annoyed Zyg.  He tried to cancel the noise out, but there was no luck this day.  He scanned the opponents that had gathered to the roof.  Of them were his opponent, looking calm and collected.  The exact opposite of what Zyg was hoping for.  He spoke up.  "Don't lose Morgan.  I don't want to see a new human companion die here."  He purred in anticipation.  

 

Oioawhs.png

 

Elspire

 

He relived the most horrific moment of his life.  His mother slowly dying of old age while he held her enormous head in his arms.  His mother was trying to comfort him, but to no avail.  Elspire had never thought that this day would come during his lifetime, but sadly it had come.  Elspire comforted his mother, as she used her last breaths to whisper into his ear.

 

"I'm so glad you were my child Elspire...you're going to do great things....I'll still be around, so experience life in my stead."  Elspire continued to sob uncontrollably.  As tear drops fell onto her, his mother faded from this plain of existence.  

 

He woke up to what he thought was a cold sweat.  He smiled as he realized that wasn't the case, and wiped the tears from his eyes.  It was a little past eleven, and he noticed that the t.v. had been turned on.  The tournament coordinator rattled on about info that he wasn't too worried about.  His opponent was shown to him on that screen, Saul.  Elspire hadn't gotten any of those newcomer's names from the elevator, so it must've been one of those contestants.  They all seemed pretty easy pickings anyway.  He had retired earlier that night, bored out of his mind.  No one had approached him.  He didn't want to impose himself on the others though, this was a death game after all.  He could tell that some girls were flustered just by looking at him, and we wondered why.  He shrugged as he got out of bed.  

 

Today was the day!  The day where things were going to get really electrifying!  He flew out the door, not even bothering to notice the folder that had slid under his door.  He barely missed his first ride up, the raptor had stolen an elevator for himself.  He took the next one up to the rooftop.  The wind created by the rotating helicopter blades was messing up his hair, but he was sure it would retain it's messy demeanor anyways.  He looked to the blue haired girl next to him and spoke.

 

"Better than blow-drying isn't it?" he awkwardly laughed and hoped to get a response from the girl.  "I hope you don't get too hurt miss!  Good luck today!"  With that, Elspire awaited for the real stuff to get underway.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

“Oh, so you can sense him, huh?” Tyson’s tried to his best to play along with the demon’s effort to make their conversation appear casual, but Mephisto’s bloodlust had begun spilling over into his own psyche, and was now very much present in the man’s eyes. Suddenly he found himself fighting the strong urge to engage the demon in a primal bout… was Mephisto’s rage that infectious?!
 
Subtly clenching his fists, Tyson tried his best remain calm. “Yea, the bastard is freeloading in my body at the moment…” As he spoke, the man felt another wave of white-hot rage wash over him, this one causing his own killer instincts to flare. 
 
For a brief moment Tyson could think of nothing else but killing. Each and every one of his fellow contestants instantly became targets, and nothing would have made him happier then setting all fifteen of their souls ablaze. 
 
Visibly shocked by his sudden flash of murderous intent, Tyson refocused his gaze on the demon, before scratching the back of his head awkwardly. “Well he doesn’t like you very much.” Even now, Tyson was trying hardest to suppress his body’s sudden need to murder something. “And I would know, because he f***ing hates me!” He chuckled at this, before stepping even closer towards the demon. 
 
“Either way, I think me and him are both gonna enjoy ripping your smug ass out of that poor sap you’re taking for a joyride.” Tyson’s voice oozed bloodlust. 
 
“Well said, Ripper.” Mephisto’s voice cooed in the back of his mind. 
 
Satisfied, Tyson casually took a step back and exited the conference room; passing by the bar for a quick drink before retiring to his room. 
 
10:55 A.m, day 2 
 
“Ripper, it’s time.” 
 
Tyson’s eyes instantly shot open. Nothing get’s you up quite as fast as the voice of an Arch-Demon resonating from within the very depths of your very being. 
 
Not even bothering to look at the bracket as it appeared on the television, Tyson made his way towards the door; scooping up the manila folder, and skimming through it’s contents as he walked to the elevator. Honestly he didn’t know any of the contestants by name, so the bracket meant very little to him. Instead the man was far more interested in the arena he’d be competing in. 
 
[spoiler= Lacusta Castle]
 TFpISgY.jpg
Clearly, this is one of the larger arenas.  Lacusta Castle once belonged to a powerful vampire family, only to be snatched away at the fear of the common human.  They had come ranting and raving with their pitchforks, garlic, holy symbols, and stakes.  Even with their strength, the number of humans simply outweighed the few vampires that resided in this castle.  However, their over overlord, one of the Dominant 3, and last of pure bred Vampires would not let these sins against his people go without being repaid.  With some of his greatest magic, he has placed a powerful curse over the castle grounds, and much of its land beyond it.  The locals of Romania quickly became aware of it, as their poor mental statuses could not process what this curse could do.  Upon standing on the grounds of Lacusta, one’s remorse, regret, morals, and compassion would be shattered, as their bloodlust grows uncontrollable.  Humans who have entered the Lacusta Castle grounds since the laying of the curse, have quickly turned on each other, or themselves.  The Castle grounds stretch about 30km, but for the sake of the Tournament, only the first five floors, of 2km, will be used.
 
Indigenous Creatures Include:
 
Lacusta Vampires – There remain very few Lacusta in the Castle.  Even their King has not been seen in over sixteen thousand years.  However, at least ten Vampires do reside in the Castle.  Once an unfamiliar presence has been sensed, they will go into a hunt mode, not resting until they are found and drained.
 
 Traps Include:
 
Blood Well – Every floor, wall, crack, nook, cranny, edge, and inch of the castle grounds is connected to an underground chamber.  When blood is spilled, it is drained towards the underground chambers where a monster sleeps.  For many long years, he has not been disturbed.  But with a thirst this powerful, he merely stirs.  It will be nearly impossible to prevent him from waking.
 
Trick Room – Mirrors in the castle have been laced with magic from the inside out.  Looking into them will likely cause you to go mad, as you may or may not see things that are there.  Or are you even looking into a mirror at all?
 
Prepare to be Boarded – There is a torture chamber, just on the third floor.  Each tool inside of it is designed to extract blood.  There are heavy wooden tables with nasty spiked buckles and straps, syringes and hooks, and a rotating stone platform designed to have the victim stand up while being strapped to it, and whipped until they bleed.  All of it connected to the Blood Well.
    

 

 

“Oh, this ought to be good…” Tyson’s lips formed a small smirk as he read through the information on the castle, which expanded into a toothy grin as he stepped out of the elevator on to the roof.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Saul: Cavern of Sirens

BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRBvsGI5EFc&feature=iv&src_vid=zgXZh4-mUdE&annotation_id=annotation_1996560533

[spoiler= Cavern of Sirens]

[spoiler=Image]

uIFrNMY.jpg

 

 

 

Magic is a powerful thing, but it is not often found in an object that is not sentient.  In these caverns, the crystals refract a light in such a manner that they ring when they are struck by light from the sun.  The sound is unique and powerful, and often throws those inside into a daze, causing them to enter into a world that doesn’t actually exist.  Though light shines down from the surface, and the surface is visible, escaping the cavern through the holes in its ceiling is impossible.  The light refracted by the crystals in the cavern emits a powerful magic that moves the surface into a separate world, and that barrier cannot be crossed.  What is most frightening about this cavern is the creature that leaves behind these crystals.  Moving, taking, or destroying the crystals is not advised.

 

[spoiler= Occupants]

Indigenous Creatures Include:

 


Crystal Badger – A normally peaceful creature, the Crystal’s light has enlarged these beasts to six feet long and eight feet high.  They lay crystals throughout the cavern, and gain strength from them.  Their claws are enormous and razor sharp.  Not to mention their enormous mouths and heavy bodies.  These Badgers weigh more than a thousand pounds. 
 
Crystal Tortoise – Though it bares Siren Crystals, the Crystal Tortoise is not dangerous.  He only eats crystals, and his only prey is the Behemoth that resides inside the cavern.  Their shells are even more dense than the crystals themselves, often seeming to be so inherently black, that the shells absorb light.  At four feet tall and six hundred pounds, this adorable tortoise could actually be quite beneficial to those inside.
 
Crystal Ghoul – Wielding a make shift axe of crystal, the Ghoul runs on two legs, stands at five feet, and its purple skin allow sit to blend in well with the cavern itself.  They are quite aggressive, and will strike at any and every opponent, regardless of the difference in strength.
 
Crystal Dragon – Though they are very docile, the Dragons are not afraid to attack if threatened.  They reside mostly near the crystal lake, guarding the Egg of Life.  It is rare, but Crystal Dragons are the only breed of dragon that have not been killed off.  Mainly because of their additional resistance to magic, and their diamond hard skin, they have warded off those who would hunt them for many a millennium.  Their powerful breath magic stuns foes, and puts them into a similar confusing daze as if they were to hear the ringing of Siren Crystals.
 
Crystal Behemoth – The creature’s existence has been recorded three separate times.  Each time, it has revealed itself beneath the surface of the Siren’s Song Pool, in protection of the Egg of Life.  The Behemoth, to be exact, looks very similar to dragon, but has a less elongated body, in favor of a larger head, longer, more powerful horns, four legs, and powerful reflective scales.  It is invulnerable to magic, but its scaly skin is soft, and can be penetrated by a blade.  However, getting close to the Behemoth is a death wish.  It owns a ten-foot tail, dipped in magic.  Once the creature has its tail wrapped around you, your body will numb, and you will go into a trance of extreme proportions.  Your mind will wander into a utopia, and you will die a quick, painless death as the Behemoth crushes your spine.
 
Crystal Siren – A seaserpent with the head and torso of a woman, who’s skin is made of crystal, and whose tail is made of diamond hard scales.  They sing an intoxicating song in an attempt to lure the foolish into their waters, to feed the Behemoth.

 

Traps Include:

 


The Egg of Death – In the heart of the cavern, light radiates ever so differently, reflecting from the surface of the Siren’s Song Pool, and turning a dim purple.  Inside is a magical egg, rumored to grant anyone who devours it eternal life.
 
Siren Song Pool – Any creature not adapted to the magic of the Cave of Sirens will be in for a rude awakening.  Stepping in to these waters, the Sirens will only be glad.  The water is deathly cold, and will paralyze those who touch it.
 
Siren Crystals – Littered throughout the cavern, the Crystals can be destroyed, but doing so will enrage nearby Crystal creatures, excluding the Crystal Tortoise.  The Crystal Badger is especially alert to this, and will find the destroyed crystal wherever it may be.

 

Note:

Crystals are key; all creatures have been warped by them in some way, and are deeply linked to their power and presence!

 

 

 

 

The helicopter ride had been smooth the whole way; smooth enough that Saul was able to sit in peace and collect himself before the first match begun. The information provided on the caves presented a rather compelling location; one where he would need to watch his step. On the other hand, these fragile crystals and neutral beasts could prove to be rather helpful when turned on his opponent. Hopefully who he was going against is reckless enough to fall for destroying them. Saul felt gravity lose its grip on him briefly as the helicopter began to descend, before ultimately touching down.
 
"Saul, this is where you get off. Remember the rules, and be sure to keep an eye out for the transports when the match is over and you've survived." The pilot spoke plainly. Saul nodded, stepping forward and standing at the edge of the helicopter; hunched over from its low ceiling.
 
"You will see me again; don't forget it." Saul replied, leaping off the platform. The helicopter lifted off and away from the cavern. The place was dark, save for a few shafts of sunlight spilling into the stone room. Drawing his sword and lighting its heat, a faint glow illuminated the space around him as he strode through the cavern. "Now then, where is this whelp."
 

Dirk Rider: Sahill Cathedral

BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaA9ii4tE9M

[spoiler= Sahill Cathedral]

[spoiler= Image]

nPU8RQo.jpg

 

 

Despite appearances, the Sahill Cathedral is one of the larger arenas chosen for the tournament.  It has more than eight floors, seven of which are underground and expand to about the size of a football field, per floor.  While there aren’t many dangerous animals or mythical creatures lurking about, the Cathedral is as dangerous as any other arena.  It has the most traps of any arena, and more lethal natural instances that can occur than if you were to be on a Cliffside.  If you were to lay out each floor side by side, you’d have roughly 2.5 km of land to fight on.  And with each floor being a bit of a maze, it isn’t easy getting around.  And to think, this land used to belong to an insane Dutch King who went mad with magical power, only to be betrayed by his royal guard in an effort to free the land of his curse.  Crazy, right?

 

[spoiler= Occupants]

Indigenous Species Include:


Cathedral Cultists – Yes, they are insane.  Yes, they are skilled close combat fighters.  Yes, they wield rusted daggers and wear black cloaks with a blood stained symbol on them.  Yes.
 
Bats.  They’re just bats.
 
Undead – It kind of varies, but there’s a good chance that, if you stroll past the third floor, you’ll start running into a variety of undead.  Skeletons, zombies of different types (ranging from carriers and mothers to the standard walking husk), and uh, one or two that may, sort of kinda be made of a couple hundred corpses molded into a twelve-foot walking terror.  Just so you know.
 
Traps Include:

Knowledge is. . .Death? – I wouldn’t go browsing the library, or any bookshelf for that matter.  Avoiding them is impossible because there are hundreds upon hundreds of bookcases, but there’s a good chance the next book you pick up could send you below the cathedral itself.
 
Knight in Rusted Armor – There’s nothing in the armor itself of course.  But the curse of the mad King still lingers.  I would avoid the big metal guys wielding giant axes and polearms.
 
This Little Light of Mine – There are quite a few chandeliers in the lower floors of the Cathedral.  And each one of them Is accessible with a flick of a switch.  Try to pin your opponent inside of it.  The innards of the chandelier are lined with magic, and anything that interrupts that is in for a shock.  Literally.
 
Collateral Cathedral – Not much of the staircases is solid in the Cathedral.  Pushing someone over the edge isn’t an idea.  It’s gonna happen.  And falling fifty feet to the next floor is gonna hurt.
 
Broken Stones, Broken Bones – Some chunks of the Cathedral floor are also damaged.  Watch your step.  You might think it’s just a loose pallet of stone, but it’s actually a shortcut to the next floor, with concussive proportions.
 
Magical Journey – At the heart of the Cathedral, on the eighth floor, there is a chamber riddled with magic.  Stepping inside of it is easy.  Leaving it is not.  There are rumors that the mad King sleeps there, and he’s not one to just excuse trespassers.

 

 

 

 

"Alright buddy, whaddya got for me here?" Dirk casually spoke to one of the pilots as they handed him a folder with the details on the battle arena. "Alright, let's see here... eight floors... no mythical creatures, yeah no duh... lethal maze... magical? Wait, what? Zombies? Dude, this is a joke, right?" Dirk pointed at the folder as he looked at the pilot with a look of disbelief, but the pilot's face was as straight as a prairie road. "Riiiiight..." Dirk said to himself with disbelief. Those had to be jokes, right? Robots and other fake stuff to give the spooks and make the place seem spookier than it actually was? Yeah that was it, it had to all be just one big fake set-up for the TV screen.
 
Jumping on the helicopter and combing his hair, Dirk tried his best to remember anything else about his opponent. No weapons, and dressed in what looked like a costume... how likely was it that she got that far without fighting and just hiding compared to how likely it was that she had some... supernatural tricks up her sleeve? If this cathedral nonsense isn't fake (it probably is), then what if there's something else about her as well? Well hell, Dirk can make stuff out of light; that'd look like magic to anyone else who didn't know any better. Maybe she had something else up her sleeve like that.
 
Regardless, the helicopter continued on to the destination of his first fight.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...