RP Smash [IC/Conditional Acceptance/PG-16]

[Alaina]

 

As Xia entered the mall, the girl had a rough idea of who she was looking for and what she had to do. However, she had no idea where to start in her search, as the mall was both a big and crowded place. As such, the dragon girl had resolved to start the general public around her about the cat and its supposed owner. The first few she asked seemed confused about her question, others seemed to be in a hurry as they just bolted from her and others, mostly male, were oddly nice about complementing her looks and attire. All of them, however, didn't seem to know anything about the owner of the cat. As the girl wondered about how to approach this problem, she was approached by a security guard who inform the girl that she was disturbing the public. As she was told this, Xia seemed to both be shocked and downtrodden at her apparently causing others to be sad or worried. She then perked up a bit as she realized that the man she was talking to was a security guard. 

 

"Oh, you guys know like everything right? I'm looking for this cat here," she pointed to the cat that she had been carting around, "their owner. I was told that they worked here." Xia then went on to describe the person in question. 

 

 The security guard seemed to be a bit confused at first when he saw the cat. "Why do you have...hm. Stay right here I'll bring them." 

 

Happy that progress was being made, Xia looked to the cat and smiled. After a couple minutes a different security guard approaches with a neutral expression. Their eyes on the cat mostly. The cat starts to move about in excitement. "Why do you have Snowflake?"

 

Xia looked confused for a bit by the name, before realizing that it must've been what the cat had been called. "Oh, well, I was helping clean out the apartments and stuff and this little guy here was just wandering the halls. I tried to get them back to their room but they just didn't want to go in, so I figured I'd find their owner instead!"

 

"Why were you cleaning the apartments?" They said, reaching out for the cat.

 

"Oh, because I get a list of things to do to get points and stuff and I figured I'd go do the one that seemed the most helpful!" As the girl started to reach out for the cat Xia then realized, "oooooh, is this guy yours?"

 

"You're a fighter aren't you? Yes, he's my cat...didn't you come here to find me?"

 

When Xia realized that the faces matched up, she said, "oh, you are! Here you go." She hands Snowflake over to the security guard. "And yeah! I'm a fighter!"

 

"Must be nice." The guard muttered. Then, with a shake of the head, took Snowflake. "Nevermind. Uh, thanks I guess." She then brought the kitten to eye level. "You're supposed to be waiting at home for when I get done."

 

Xia didn't quite catch the first thing, but perked up saying, "no problem! I'm always happy to help people out." As the guard spoke to the cat, Xia said, "aww, don't be mad at the little guy. He was just lonely was all."

 

"Lonely?" They responded, seeming surprised by the concept. "Well it's only me in the apartment..."

 

Xia nodded. "Well yeah, but when you aren't there, then there's no one there. And after all, one is a lot bigger than zero." She nodded as she said this.

 

"I could never have guessed." they responded. "But not much I can do, my p-roommate is off-world right now."

 

Xia's look then turned to confusion as she then asked, "off world?"

 

"Yeah...like...not this planet. One of the others in the galaxy, at school." Riley spoke slowly, eyebrow raising as she studied the girl.

 

Xia seemed entirely bewildered by this, but then only said, "whoa...that sounds awesome."

 

"Yeah it kind of is...Never got far in school mys-wait what am I doing. I need to get back to work, I can't exactly bring him with me though." She looked at the kitten and frowned.

 

The dragon girl seemed to be a bit stumped as well, before snapping and seeming to get an idea. "Oh, is there anyone here we can leave him with? Or maybe I could leave him with Gnash. Gnash seems like he does well with little ones."

 

"Gnash...maybe, he's probably busy as well...I suppose that'll work until Lia comes home." Riley sighed, trying to hand Snowflake back to Xia, made difficult by the kitten clinging to her sleeve. "Thanks, uh, whoever you are. I had no idea he'd be lonely..." The guard seemed to be downcast.

 

As Xia took the cat back she said, "oh right, names! I'm Xia! And don't worry security lady, I'll be sure to bring Snowflake back safe and sound." As she nodded to affirm this statement she said, "oh, and if he misses you that much, then that just means he really likes you."

 

The guard scratches their cheek awkwardly. "Uh, yeah, I guess...Is that all then?"

 

 Xia thinks about it for a bit before nodding. "Yep. See you around Security Guard Lady." After waving to them, she looked back to Snowflake saying, "now then, let's get you back to Gnash."

 

"Ah...Riley." She muttered before walking away, pulling her hat farther over her eyes as she continued on.

 

As the girl, Riley, left, Xia then looked back to Snowflake. "Alright you, it's time for me to get you back where you belong...again." As she nodded to herself, and looked around. She soon realized that where she was currently was definitely not where she had been when she entered the mall. With a small, "uh-oh," the girl began to wander through the mall once again, looking for a way out. 

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"It'd be 150 points."

 

"E-ehhhh?"

 

Damn, Angela realized she didn't have that much money to afford the suit. She was at loss on what to do, and her mind even went to the thought of trying to figure out ways to do favors to get the shop to reduce the price so she could afford he suit, but she resisted from voicing those thoughts. She had vowed to change her image, and she's going to prove that no matter what she'd win over Mauvache. In the end Angela decided to just let the suit go and chose another outfit for herself instead (-60 points). It took her a bit with the help of the clerk to put it on, and after placing her old one in a paper bag, she went out of the shop with her new look, looking more cheerful than before. On her way out, she noticed a familiar face wandering around. It was Xia, looking completely lost. She seemed to be quite unfamiliar with the place, so Angela decided to approach her.

 

"Oi oi Xia, nice to meet you! What are you doing here? You want to go around the place together with me?"

 

---

[Andx]

Caleb soon found himself standing in the room he had arrived to this strange world in. This time he was standing across from Tes, the cyber dragon that looked and sounded almost exactly like the Tes AI in the Hotel Atlantica systems and yet wasn't somehow. Or maybe the trip over had scrambled her brains some. Regardless this Tes didn't know him. And given they appeared to be strangers he thought he ought to attempt to introduce himself in the minutes leading up to the match. But instead they passed in silence as the dog eyed his opponent, unsure what to say after such an awkward meeting.

 

He wouldn't have to think of what to say eventually as the digital battlefield overtook them both. Half expecting a white nothing again, Caleb was surprised at how dimly lit the place he found himself in was. He quickly gathered he was inside of some sort of cave system with pretty limited moving space it seemed like. The walls were close together, the ceilings relatively low. For a few seconds he felt he had some idea where Tes was but that faded. "Sooo what... I have to go find her now?" he mumbled out loud as he looked around. The immediate space was easy to see in, but darkness filled the more distant ends of the surrounding tunnels. At last, he thought, a plus to being a dog instead of a human; better night vision. He picked the tunnel that seemed to be going in the direction he had thought he felt Tes at to start the match and began lightly trotting down, not wanting to move too quickly through the dark, confined space. He took a few turns here and there as quite frankly, he had no idea where he was going or what he was doing. This place didn't seem to lend itself much to fighting each other which he had thought was the whole point.

 

As his walk in the dark continued, the security dog started hearing noises. But in all his days around the Tes AI he didn't know her to sound anything like this. There were too many sounds for it to be the dragon walking or running, and it didn't sound anything like wings flapping. Poking his snout around the corner they appeared to be coming from, Caleb jumped back in alarm as something flew past him and stuck to the cave wall. Without any time to investigate, one of the battlefield's giant spiders lunged out from the entry way and jumped onto the dog biting it once before it was shook off. Definitely not the start to the battle Caleb wanted and so immediatly he took off in whichever direction the spider wasn't, the large creature in hot pursuit. As it so happened the duo would be running into Tes in another minute or two at their current rate.

[Tesability Black]

The dog could see her coming before she would ever enter view as the glow she gave from her aura of electricity was significantly brighter in the near-pitch blackness.

 

The fact that Caleb chose to walk allowed Tesability to maintain constant awareness of where Caleb was while keeping her claws against the ground, an active updating map in her head. Only once she saw Caleb did she pull her claws up closer to her, her lightning began to magnify, almost daring the hound to try to approach in these tight quarters. As she flapped to get closer, to get in range for her named strikes, she had the white dots of her black eyes on the hound, studying him and trying to figure out why she felt a jetpack on him, but only seeing an odd collar around the not!Netmonster's neck. She could smell the touch of magic that did not match the ambient one of the arena from the collar, a smell she had to learn fast to ignore to prevent it from messing her up, but there other smells she could catch as well. The dog also had the scent of magic on him, but the faint scent suggests that what magic the hound had was not his, but borrowed.

 

She had to resist the smell of a stun gun lurking about him, knowing full will that would not work against her.

 

The last Caleb could see of her, she had become a lightning bolt and zoomed towards him at top speed...

[Alaina]

 

As the dragon girl continued to wander around the mall, trying to figure out just where the exit she was looking for was, she then heard a familiar voice call out to her. Looking around, she saw that the voice belonged to a blue haired figure which caused her to blink at them for a few seconds before realizing who it was. Her expression livening up, she called out, "hiii Angela!" Walking over to her she said, "man, I almost didn't recognize you in that outfit, but boy you look super pretty in it." Nodding a bit, she then remembered the question she was asked and said, "oh right! Well, I was here to deliver Snowball here," she pointed to the cat, "back to their rightful owner, cause they were lonely and stuff and it's no fun being alone. But then they were busy with work and other stuff, so I get to go deliver this guy to Gnash because Gnash is good with Snowballs I think." The dragon girl then stopped to think about Angela's offer for a bit, before saying, "I'm not sure. I promised to deliver Snowball after all, but exploring this big place does sound fun." She then had a eureka moment as she said, "oh, maybe we can go have fun first and then you can come with me to deliver Snowball to Gnash. I uh, don't know how to get out of here after all...But yeah! Does that sound fun Angela? Oh and Snowball too!"

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"oh, maybe we can go have fun first and then you can come with me to deliver Snowball to Gnash. I uh, don't know how to get out of here after all...But yeah! Does that sound fun Angela? Oh and Snowball too!"

“Sure then! So this cutie’s name is Snowball?”

The two talked for a while, but then Angela came to the realization that while she did have the idea about where the exit was here, she didn’t know much about what kind of attractions were in this mall, or where to even find them. There really was only one thing on her mind at the time, and it was the “arcade” thing that Aria mentioned to her earlier.

“Hm...do you want to go to the arcade? Don’t know what it is, but it sounds pretty fun from what I heard.”

“Oooooh, never heard of those either. But it sounds fun! Leeeeet’s gooooo!”

With that decided, the two asked around about the location of the arcade, and after a while, managed to locate it. The two at first weren’t sure about what to do and simply being amazed at what they see without understanding any of it, but Angela later decided to get Xia to try out a dancing machine of some sort after seeing some people using it. Apparently the objective was to dance by pressing buttons on the floor according to the instruction on the screen and following the beat, which looked to be quite easy.

While Xia was mystified at the strange dancing machine, instantly losing the first time simply because she was looking at the screen instead of moving, her second go was...less than successful. She had all the grace and dexterity of a dying fish in a desert, and was still eliminated before the song even reached its completion. Angela’s dexterity gave her better result at it, though after awhile it looked like she was a bit too immersed on the screen and to her moves. It took one of the workers on the arcade stopping her directly for her to leave it, only to see a big line of people waiting for her to end her session.

The two would then try out several other games for a while, until on their watch it was notified that the time for their matches would soon happen. Since there’s no way Xia would be able to bring Snowball with her to attend her match, Angela ended up accompanying her to see Gnash again.

Once there, Xia gave a brief greeting to the Beholder, saying, “hiii Gnash. Sorry but I can’t keep Snowball around with me cause I got a fight and stuff. Sooo, could you please, please, please look after him until Riley comes home?” While the guard seemed to be apprehensive if he was able to watch over the cat, he promised to do his best which caused Xia to cheer. “Thanks Gnash! You’re the best!”

 

Outside of the office, Angela had been waiting for her.

“Well, with this done, let’s go to our match together. Ours are in a similar time, right? Better get to it before we’re late.”

Nodding her head, Xia said, “yeah let’s! And good luck in yours Angela, I know you’ll do awesomely!”

 

"You too, I hope your match will go well. Let's go then!"

 

Holding Xia's hand, Angela then took off to reach the place where the matches would be done. There were still around ten minutes left or so before their match would start, so hopefully they're not late there.

 

---

[👀 REP 👀]

When the two contenders entered the arena, no time was wasted in creating the environment that they would be fighting in. The room was filled with light, and as the light faded away it took the form of the vast innards of a great creature. Almost immediately upon seeing (and smelling) her environment, Aria cupped her hand over her mouth and turned a sickly shade of green.

“Really?! We seriously gotta fight in PUKE CITY?!” Aria groaned from behind her hand.

“Seriously. What the fu​ck is this place?” Cyanthrax shook his head. He snapped his fingers, spawning a small fireball from it to light up the area around him. “God I miss that weird rooftop...place…”

Mauvache introduced the fighters, and Aria couldn’t help but roll her eyes.

“Demonfire Blade? Really? Jeeze how shameless can you get,” she scoffed, stretching her arms as the countdown started.

“Hey, I didn’t pick it! My sword isn’t even a blade.” The demon shook his head. “Whatever, let’s just get to the good part!”

“Yeah, let’s dance,” Aria smirked, readying herself. “You’ll figure out why they call me the sonic crusher!” Aria sprung into a sprint right out of the gate, using her Legato Leap to help boost her speed and jump between the various platforms that were submerged in acid. She pulled no literal punches, throwing one with her signature Staccato Slam as soon as she got close enough to Cyanthrax in a vicious right-hook, aimed for his head.

The girl’s swing would be met by a shadowy black smoke, as she would find the demon repositioned a few inches away from where he once stood. “Oooh, a fast one!” He taunted, snapping his finger. The snap echoed off of the walls as a pair of flames appeared, floating above his shoulders. “These contenders really are interesting!” He thrusted his right hand forward, launching one of the fireballs at Aria’s direction.

“What the-” Aria started, ready to curse a blue storm as the familiar gunshot bang echoed loudly in the stomach, the smoke dispersed from her attack. Somehow he managed to completely dodge her attack and had already readied up his own counter. They were too close; Aria had no choice but to take the hit and however much damage that meant. Smoke roiled around her as she coughed, but wasted no time in throwing in a low uppercut towards Cyanthrax’s stomach, aiming to hit him with a Staccato Slam this time for sure.

Cyanthrax laughed as the fire hit his target, but his laughter was cut short by the sucker punch. As Aria’s fist collided with his stomach, the demon could feel the shockwave of the punch. He stumbled back as the echos of the loud strike rang in his ears. “Not bad!” He chuckled, before snapping his finger again. This time however, instead of a fireball, a black rapier seemed to spawn out of hellfire into his hand. He aimed his newly spawned sword at the girl. “This’ll be fun.” He locked his eyes onto Aria, a sort of crazed intensity in them.

“Ehhhh?!!?!” Aria’s face turned red as Cyanthrax looked her right in the eyes. “Get away, you weirdo! And jeeze, again with the swords!” Aria couldn’t fight a sword like this, not with her kit as it was. In an act of desperation she aimed her arms directly at Cyanthrax and let loose the loud, low bass waves of her Bass Batter. This wouldn’t do much damage, but at the least it would force him back and hopefully stun him enough for Aria to get a hit in.

“Huh?” He tilted his head in confusion, before quickly drawing his sword towards him in preparation for another punch. However, he was greeted by a shockwave that emitted more loud noises. The force of the wave pushed him back slightly, but kept him in his defensive position. His ears, however, were ringing from the attack. “GAH! WHAT THE FU​CK WAS THAT!?” He barked, keeping his arms crossed in front of him.

“Me dropping the bass!” Aria smirked as she went in for a straight jab into Cyanthrax’s stomach again, this time choosing not to use her Staccato Slam so she could follow it up with another right hook.

“The hell are you talking about?” He was able to block the first attack, but he had no time to block the right hook coming his way, the fist slamming into his head. As his head recoiled back from the blow, he noted that it didn’t seem at all like her first strike. “You call that a punch?” He smirked, before letting out a laugh. As the end of his laugh, he let out a short burst of flames out of his mouth and towards Aria. “C’mon, don’t hold back! That’s my job!”

“SONUVA BI-” Aria cursed out loud, her face engulfed in flames, forcing her to pat them all out quickly, smoke roiling around her again. “Holding back? I’ll show you holding back!” Aria started, getting ready to move in for another attack before pausing. “Wait, no, I’m supposed to show you the opposite of holding back, which is what, holding… front? I’M GONNA PUNCH YOU REALLY HARD!” Aria yelled, running in again and getting ready for another punch, but true to how she’s been fighting before it was a feint to first met with her Soprano Scream, emitting a short but loud burst of a high-pitched screech, to be followed up with another Staccato Slam attack.

Cyanthrax smirked as Aria went in for her punch, her fist meeting with the familiar black fog. However, as he teleported behind her to counterstrike, she seemed to explode in sound. “AUGH!” He shouted as the shriek left him immobile for a second, canceling any hope he had to attack. “WHY ARE YOU SO FU​CKING LOUD!” He shouted, the irony of his statement flying completely over his head. Luckily, it didn’t seem like she’d expected him to teleport behind her. He snapped his finger, summoning another pair of fireballs to hover around him. The largest of the group seemed to gravitated to his sword’s tip.

“Are you really that dense?!” Aria demanded, panicking because he had appeared behind her, whirling around to face him. But their fight was put to a pause as a loud rumble echoed through the stomach they were in.

“AGAIN!?” Cyanthrax complained loudly.

“That’s not me, idiot!” Aria retorted, realizing what kind of danger they were as the rumble turned to the loud roar of rushing fluid; a flood of bile and acid flooding into the stomach they were in. “WELP, CYA LATER!” Aria yelled, using her Staccato Slam below her feet coupled with her Legato Leap to help get as much life out of her jump as she could. It wasn’t much, and she was only just barely able to latch onto a tendril hanging from the ceiling and desperately try to climb her way up.

“Then what the f-” He was cut off as the rumbling shifted to the sounds of a roaring river. This, however, was no river; the acidic liquid had a sickly green tint to it. Acting quickly, he teleported above him before launching one of his fireballs below his feet. The combination of the two maneuvers had barely given him enough height to dodge the flood as he clung on the flesh-like tentacle that hung above them not moments ago. “Fu​cking hell...” He let out a sigh of relief as his feet lightly swung inches above the sickly liquid, climbing up higher.

As the acid flooded upwards, Aria had to swing her pelvis as high as possible to avoid the acid getting to her. Despite her efforts, the bile still managed to sting her rear before draining out to… wherever it was that stomach acid went in a demon’s digestive tract.

“Fu​cking hell!” Aria cursed once more, breathing a sigh of relief after feeling the strain in her core muscles for keeping her waist up so high. The acid retreated down to a more manageable level, and as any semblance of solid ground began to appear, Aria let herself down the tendril slowly, carefully dropping down and stumbling on the slippery surface.

As Cyanthrax climbed, he noticed that the bile was rising up at an alarming rate. He found himself in a rather uncomfortable position, having to pull his body upwards towards the ceiling. Even then, his back got caught by the surface of the liquid. He grit his teeth as he felt his back burn on contact. Luckily, the bile seemed to drain almost as quickly as it rose, going to god knows where. He let out a sigh of relief as he slid down the tendril onto one of the platforms, which still had traces of the liquid. He turned to Aria, who was a platform away from where he stood. “That was weird.” He shrugged, before changing into a more battle-ready stance. “Shall we resume?”

“Hold on,” Aria responded, pausing for a moment to gag and dry-heave a couple times. “Gimme a sec here.”

“Eh?” He snapped his fingers, before summon a flame. Out of the flame appeared a familiar rapier, which he stabbed onto the ground. “Whatever...” He leaned on the rapier.

Aria stood back up, steadily. “Okay, okay. This arena is f​ucking gross, but that ain’t gonna stop me!” Aria took this opportunity to take another running start at Cyanthrax, jumping into the air and throwing her weight forward with her knee extended, prepared to do another Staccato Slam in the process.

“Yeah, this place smells.” He chuckled, pulling out his sword from the ground as the girl sprinted towards him. The demon smirked as the girl lunged forward towards him, before fading into black smoke. “You missed.” He taunted, now about a foot to the right away from where he was before.

Aria growled, landing and shifting her weight, spinning on her heel to face where Cyanthrax had warped to. “Stay fu​cking STILL!” She cursed, throwing her weight and momentum into a frontal punch aimed at Cyanthrax’s center of max, throwing another Staccato Slam into the mix.

“That would be no fun though!” He continued to taunt, fading into nothingness again. This time, however, he appeared a few inches away from where he stood, behind Aria. He aimed his sword at the girl’s back before twisting the hilt. As the hilt twisted, a stream of fire erupted from the tip of the rapier. “Whoops!” He remarked as the flamethrower barely managed to reach the girl, only the edges of the fire hitting their mark.

Aria yelped as the heat washed over her body, but chose to grit her teeth. She wasn’t fast enough to best his reaction time, meaning that her melee attacks were going to work very well. But it didn’t look like his teleporting had the best range either, which meant that Aria just need to get close.

Aria spun once again, fending off a brief moment of motion sickness as she did so, and faced where Cyanthrax was. About a foot was the distance he had to work with, so she had to make this count. She used her Legato Leap to make a fast lunge at his direction, but with her arms spread, aiming to grapple his body and pull him in close. If she could get him at that proximity, she might be able to do some damage.

Cyanthrax smirked as the girl turned around. “Please, are you really going t-” He was caught off guard by the sudden burst of speed, and while he began to turn into smoke he was not fast enough. “Not bad!” He chuckled as the girl grabbed onto him, feeling her fingers dig into him. “A bit clingy though.” Suddenly, his body seemed to ignite, setting the areas where Aria was grabbing on fire. He winced as he felt the fire burn his body. “I forgot how much this sheet hurts…” He spat out.

“Yeah, maybe I’m the kinda gal…” Aria growled through gritted teeth. “THAT LIKES THE CUDDLE!” Then, at point-blank with the tight grip on Cyanthrax, Aria let out another full-blast Soprano Scream; emitting the same, piercing screech that she had used before.

“FU​CK!” He shouted, although he could barely hear himself in the explosion of sound emitting from his opponent. He glared directly into Aria’s eyes. “LET GO!” He shouted, letting out a fierce flamethrower out of his mouth as he shouted. He directed the stream of fire at the girl’s face.

Aria’s eyes shut tight as the fire washed over her face, but once it was gone she returned the glare, unable to get her face very close to Cyan’s, but doing her best despite the drastic height difference. “NO!” She yelled loudly in response, yelling in exertion as she put her whole body’s strength into lifting Cyanthrax up off the ground, then over her head, and down into the ground in a suplex. Of course, she wouldn’t have been as able to do this very well if it wasn’t for Aria’s much lower center of gravity, but she would never admit this herself.

The demon couldn’t do much but brace himself as his face slammed onto the ground. As his body crashed onto the ground, he managed to break out of her grip as he rebounded off of the ground. He stood up, wiping his bottom lip as if it had blood on it. He frowned, before turning into a grin. “Now you have my attention.” He glared straight into her eyes, which seemed to intensify. At the snap of his finger, the damp air around them seemed to become more dense, as if someone was applying pressure to the whole arena. He chuckled as a fire erupted from his hand, summon his black rapier that had been dropped earlier. “Let’s see what you’re made of” He grinned wickedly, fireball spawning on both of his shoulders.

[VCR_CAT]

Aria wasn’t sure what was going on, if it was the air in the stomach making everything harder to breath and move in, or what, but this brief confusion was all that Cyanthrax needed. Gritting her teeth, Aria moved to throw in a punch, but unlike any of her movements before she was much more sluggish and far more predictable, eyes widening with sudden realization at what was going on and what it could mean.

 

He blocked the attack with ease, grabbing her fist with his right hand. “Really?” He spoke with a disappointed tone, twisting the girl’s wrist backward. Raising his left arm, he swung his burning blade across her neck, leaving a trail of smoke and fire behind the sword. “You’re lucky you can’t die here, you know that?” He kicked the girl, letting go of her hand as he did so, sending her back. Slowly, he walked towards her. “IS THAT ALL YOU GOT?!” He shouted, a wicked grin stretched across his face. 

 

Aria glared at Cyanthrax, his words cutting into her rage and removing any ability to think straight. Despite any internal reasoning to tell herself otherwise, she began to charge her best attack. “YOU WANT EVERYTHING I GOT?!” She shouted, rage lacing every word as she strained to yell under the pressure of the air. Her hair began to rise and billow around her as she charged her attack, a loud hum beginning to fill the air. “I’LL SHOW YOU EVERYTHING I GOT!”

 

He laughed “Oh?” His slow pace suddenly broke into a sprint and, as he was dashing towards her, disappeared into black fog. When he reappeared, he was directly in front of Aria and, keeping his momentum, thrusted his sword right through the girl’s heart. Twisting the hilt, the sword suddenly erupted into flames from all directions, burning her from the inside. “That’s two times you’ve died now.” He taunted as the stream of fire continued to burn.

 

Aria yelled in response to the hit, but wasn’t backing down. To anyone it was evident how much effort she was putting into keeping this attack focused, glaring at Cyan as sweat trickled down her face. The hum was now getting to be very loud, Aria appearing to shiver as the air quaked in the sound. “I’ll show you who’s dead!” She struggled to utter out as she prepared for her attack, drawing her fist back.

 

He cackled as the girl barely managed to speak. “You know, I like your spirit kid.” As he spoke, he disappeared again, leaving his blade stuck into the girl’s chest. The flames disappeared as he did so. He appeared behind her, forcefully planting his hand on the back of her head. “Maybe one day you’ll be half as good as me. As for now, though...” With one swift movement, he pulled the girls head and slammed it into the ground, cracking it. “...you’re three for three on the death counter!” He cackled, grinding her skull onto the ground.

 

By now, Aria was too far into her ability to stop it. She wasn’t in a position to shift her aim, not that she even knew how to, and realized that she was in a culmination of many mistakes. Aria was down on her knees, head forced to face the ground, when her Crescendo Climax triggered. In an instant, everything was quiet and Aria was gone; a shockwave sending Aria flying at blinding speeds towards the wall of the stomach, a second explosion left in her wake in the process. To anyone viewing the show, the result wasn’t pretty. Aria slammed into the wall of the stomach, sending ripples through the organism’s body in the final explosion of her attack. After a second, the deafening bang filled the cavern from Aria’s attack. Once everything had calmed down, Aria’s form slid down the wall of the stomach and slumped at its base, weak from her attack. To make matters worse, the low rumble of another wave of bile, either timed or caused by Aria’s attack she didn’t know, began to rise.

 

Cyanthrax was tossed into the air slightly, feeling his arm pulled up as he let go of the girl, before flying backwards from the shockwave left behind. He tumbled slightly as he fell onto the ground before standing up on his legs. Suddenly, a deafening sound bursted from seemingly out of nowhere. He covered his ears. “GOD funking DAMNIT AGAIN WITH THE LOUD NOISES!” He screamed at no one in particular, before feeling the rumbling of the acid below. “sheet, not again!” He cursed, raising his right arm up. He launched himself upward, turning into fog onto the tendrils above before climbing up it again.

 

Aria heard the rumble, and in her dazed stupor still understood what it meant, but the best she could muster was jumping on the spot, her hand well out of reach of the tendrils above. From using her last ability, she was locked out of using her own for the little while, which wouldn’t be a problem if she hadn’t been so reckless.

 

“Jesus funking-” Aria began to curse, the wave of bile rushing in a violent wave, catching Aria up with it and throwing her in its torrent, slamming her body roughly against the far wall of the arena and keeping her pressed against it before subsiding.

 

Most of the same happened before; he lifted his body up as high as he could, but could still feel the light burn of the acid on her back. He grit his teeth as the bile subsided, sliding down the tendril. As he stood on the platform, he looked around to see if he could fine Aria. “I’m not sure where you are, but I’m almost positive you’re four for four now!” He chuckled, taking a seat on the platform.

 

The acid washed away and Aria was left slumped against the other wall, her body shaking as she pushed herself to her feet. Her head was lowered and her breathing was heavy, but thanks to her angry and stubborn self she still believed that she could win this. Cyanthrax was at the other end of the arena, and as she got to her feet, she realized that with her abilities still under lock for the next little bit, she had no means of getting close to him. And even if she got close, what then? Right now, it didn’t seem like he understood where she was, and took this as a moment to catch her breath.

 

“I’ll show you four for four,” she grumbled under her breath, making an effort to be not noticed until she was ready to keep the attack going.

 

He yawned. “Where the funk is she? I’m starting to get bored!” He stood up, taking another scan of the area. This time, however, he saw the girl on the other side of the arena. “Ah, there’s my girl!” He chuckled, snapping his finger, his sword making another flashy appearance. He cupped his right hand on the side of his mouth. “You look tired there!” He chuckled. “I guess dying four times does that to a gal, huh? Don’t worry, I’ll let you catch your breath. Wouldn’t want to kick you while you’re down!” He cackled, staring at the girl and waiting for her next move.

 

“Do you ever shut the funk up?!” Aria yelled, running forward as she felt her abilities slowly return to her. Eventually she was running full-tilt with her Legato Leap behind her, the familiar hum leaving a wake of rippling air as she ran straight in the jaws of danger, against all other reasoning. Once she got close to Cyanthrax, she planted her feet and extended her arms, attempting to do a focused Bass Batter to either stun him or send him falling over; the loud waves of low bass notes going in his direction.

 

He chuckled as the girl sprinted towards him at high speeds. “Aww? You don’t like the banter?” He broke into a sprint in the direction of the girl as she ran towards him. As she got close, however, she seemed to stop, thrusting her arms forward. Catching this, he lept into the air, although he wasn’t quite able to dodge the wave of sound. The blast crashed onto his legs, causing him to tumble forward in the air. He landed on the ground behind Aria, taking a second to regain his balance. “Oooh! Getting strategic now are we?” He grinned, turning towards her. Extending his arm, he launched a single fireball at her direction. “Let’s see how long it takes before you go five for five hun.”

 

The fireball splashed against Aria’s back, only making her more angry. She turned as fast as she could and raised her leg high into the air, bringing it down in an axe-kick in Cyanthrax’s direction, aiming to put another Staccato Slam into his stomach.

 

He raised his arm to block the attack, feeling the shockwave of the attack ripple through him. However, he did not flinch at the attack. Instead, he twisted the arm that was blocking the attack and grabbed her leg. “You should work on your technique.” He taunted, grabbing the leg with his other hand. Taking a deep breath, he turning his body and, tightening the grip on Aria’s leg, slammed her into the ground like a ragdoll. “Five” He simple said, letting go of the girl. 

 

Aria felt the wind escape her mouth in a quick, pained gasp as she was slammed into the ground. By now, she was running out of ideas; and out of means to get out of a prone position. The clock was running out, and the realization that she was going to lose this match was setting in. Fighting for time, she planted her hands on the ground and growled as she pushed herself onto her knees, and worked as quickly as she could to get back on her feet.

 

As she got up, she would be greeted by Cyanthrax’s grip landing on her throat. “Hey, don’t feel too bad there! Maybe next time I can go all-out!” His grip around her throat tightened as he raised her above the ground. Snapping his fingers on his free hand, he summoned the blade sword for what might be the last time, before aiming it at the girl. “Six.” He said, thrusting the sword into her lung. As he did, he twisted the blade, igniting it as he had before.

 

The look in Aria’s eye seemed to change as Cyan lifted her up. Before it was filled with a defiant rage, but now the look was radically different. The eyes that stared at Cyanthrax were terrified; far scared than anyone should be in that situation, especially after all they had just gone through. There was primal fear in Aria’s eyes, and despite being perfectly safe, her breathing had grown rapid as she began to hyperventilate. 

 

“LET GO OF ME!!!” She screamed in a strained, panicked, thrashing about violently with no clear direction or purpose beyond getting free. “LET ME GO!!!!”

 

He was caught off guard by the girls plea for mercy. Not because it move him or anything, but rather the girl didn’t seem to be the type to do such a thing. “If you say so.” He pulled his sword out of her lungs, before slamming her into the ground again. As he did, his hand bursted into flames, sending a wave of smoke as the girl crashed against the ground. He let go of the girl, before dropping his foot onto her spine. “I think that would be seven...” He thought about it for a second, before breathing down a wave of fire at the girl below him. “Seven or eight, but what the hell. Who’s counting?!”

 

As the onslaught disappeared, Aria didn’t seem to react too much. She pushed herself to her knees, hunched over, her hands clutched around her neck. She was shaking the entire time, her eyes squeezed shut as hard as she could; tears dropping to the ground.

 

“Stop…” she whimpered through a strained voice. “Please stop…” 

 

 

Mental stress level: 80%. Technical failsafe engaged.

 

The arena faded away in a moment and the fighters would find themselves across from each other, standing, no signs that they had been fighting obvious on their bodies except for a look of exhaustion.

 

Battle ended due to “technical failsafe”

Aria:  280

Cyanthrax: 650

Winner: Cyanthrax

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

It wasn't long before the comments on Cyanthrax and Aria's match rolled in. The match had been the highest viewed one so far.

 

"Wow he must have really taken that last lost hard."

"SAVAGE AS HELL"

"This dude's a damn menace."

"KICK HIM OUT RIGHT THIS INSTANT."

"I feel sorry for any girl HE dates."

"Well...he won, soooooo"

"Choke me harder Daddy xoxo"

 

"Was that last win a fluke or something?"
"Maybe Angela's just really bad."

"But did you SEE those hard hits? Goddamn jackhammer."

"I'm sure she'll win next time! Still #teamaria"

"Fighting a demon inside of a giant stomach, please, Aria just needs a better stage to strut her stuff!"

 

Most of them seemed to be disgust in Cyanthrax's performance, though there were a few encouraging words for Aria, along with the typical negative responses, as well as some...dark responses to Cyanthrax in general.

 

After the fighters left the room Cyanthrax would receive a message from Mauvache.

"Come to my office at the top floor of the Arena. We need to discuss your actions in today's fight."

[👀 REP 👀]

 

---

 

Cyanthrax was still confused about Aria's reaction when he got teleported back. One moment she was recklessly diving in, responding to his hot banter with spicy ones of her own. Then suddenly she's on the ground begging for mercy. "Pah, she's probably a sore loser is all. All bark and no bite - I've kicked plenty of ass like that." He told himself, although despite his best attempts to brush it off it still nagged the back of his mind. He turned to Aria, who seemed to still be completely encompassed by fear. He decided it was probably best that he didn't say anything to the girl, and quietly left the arena.
 
As he left the arena, he felt his watch vibrate and, reading it, read the flood of comments he got. Most of them seemed upset at his brutality, which managed to get his mind off of the whole Aria situation. He cracked a wide grin as he relished in the hate the comments had. "Perfect." He muttered to himself, scrolling down the wall of hate. Some of them were a lot less hateful and a lot more lustful; Cyanthrax didn't mind. "Hell I'd let me choke me." He chuckled to himself. What had caused his watch to vibrate, however, was a message from Mauvache. "She better be fuc​king praising me." He said to no one in particular, making his way to the top floor of the arena.
 

---

 

When he finally arrived at his destination, taking him into an office looking place. Mauvache was sitting behind her desk, reading something that Cyanthrax didn't know nor care about. Immediately, the demon walked into the room hastily. "So, waddaya want?" He blurted out impatiently, standing in the middle of the office. The mysterious women dropped whatever she was reading, gesturing at the chair in front of her desk. 

 

"First, you will sit when addressing me." She didn't seemed pleased with the way he presented himself. He almost wanted to bark back, but there was something about this figure and, as far as he knew it, his career was on the line. The last thing he'd want to do is miss out on all the fun, especially after that last battle! He growled, deciding that he would comply for now, taking the seat. "Your behavior in the battle today was, to put it lightly, uncouth. It was vulgar, violent, and it is clear that many people watching see you as some sort of villain. Do you understand what I am saying?" 

 

Cyanthrax shook his head, before responding. "Well, I'm a fuckin demon. What did you expect?!" His tone was a mixture of annoyed and anger. He didn't think he did anything particularly violent, before remembering his mass murder of the same person. Mauvache did not seem pleased with the demon's response, her eyes flashing as she sat upright.

 

 "You misunderstood my intent but I will just say once do not use that language to me again." Cyanthrax grit his teeth. He really wanted to tell her off then and there as he dug his nails into his palms. He took a deep breath, resisting the urge to curse up a storm, before replying to the women.

 

"What? You don't like cursing?" He chuckled a bit, although it was strained. "Sure, I mean you are the boss" He wasn't a fan of the way he had to act, but he really didn't want to lose this gig.

 

"I care not one way or the other but I do demand some level of respect towards me. At all times." She leaned a bit back on her chair. He wanted to say something, but held his tongue. "Now that's settled I can move on to the reason for this. Your actions were deplorable and I have received several petitions to have you removed from our roster. You have very quickly become very disliked, young man." His eyes lit up. He had an idea that this was happening by the comments, but hearing it officially state was something else.

 

"Good!" He exclaimed, cracking a wide grin. "Soon this strange world will understand what it means to be at the heel of Cyanthrax, Lion Sin of Pride! Fufufu!" He thought to himself, before pausing. "If I keep my funking job that is!" He shook his head. "Say, you're not thinking of getting rid of me, are ya?" He asked, chuckling nervously. It was a strange feeling; nervousness. It wasn't one he was familiar with and yet here he was, sitting in the chair. Nervously.

 

"What I am telling you is that I cannot ignore these petitions. The public demands that you be punished for these actions." She paused for what felt like a century. Subconsciously the demon leaned closer, feeling nervous for the first time in what might have been a century. "I will be releasing a statement later today condemning your actions." Cyanthrax let out a dejected sigh as Mauvache continued. "But, and this is very important Cyanthrax, do not stop." His eyes lit up, staring directly into hers. "A little controversy is good for entertainment. They don't know it themselves but they WANT this. They want someone to hate. So keep this up... only, do be sure not to actually traumatize anyone." He nearly jumped out of his seat in glee. "And do NOT mention that I told you this. Ever." 

 

Cyanthrax broke into a cackle, grinning wildly as he spoke. "I knew I liked you, chief!" He coughed, chuckling a bit more. "Don't worry, my lips are sealed!" This was not what he was expecting from this little meeting, but damn it he'll take it! He thought about the last part of her statement, about trauma. "Is that why she..." He thought about it for a second, before shaking his head. That was a problem for later; right now it was time to celebrate! Not only did he win his battle, but he also got the ok from the boss lady to continue his rampage.

 

"Good. Now. Go on I'm sure you have places to be. I have to work out this statement." Cyanthrax nearly jumped out of his seat.

 

 "Later chief!" He walked away, nearly skipping as he made his way out. Any sort of nagging doubt in his mind had been erased, or at least subdued for now. All he could think about is his new role as the villain; that was a role he was very used to playing. As he made his way into the elevator, he knew exactly where he was going to go. He hastily made his way to the bar, ready to spend his newly gained points on drinks.

[VCR_CAT]

Aria

BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gXXnrRwN2E

 

The fight concluded and the illusion of the stomach vanished. Aria remained on her knees on the floor, her arms dropping to her sides while her head was still hung, and Cyanthrax left the room without saying a word. Aria had no idea how much time passed until one of the arena attendees entered the room.

 

"Excuse me, Ms. Aria, the match is finished and we need you to exit the arena. Do you need assistance?" The attendee asked with an awkward quake to his voice. Aria slowly pushed herself to her feet, swaying to the side somewhat as she did so, her head still hung.

 

"No, I'm fine," she replied quietly, walking outside the arena, moving faster and faster the longer she went. Halfway down the hall, Aria was walking fast, Cyanthrax nowhere to be seen. She bumped into someone along the way, hearing Angela's familiar voice as she did so, but kept moving towards the elevator. The elevator reached the floor with her room on it, and the process was repeated as Aria moved swiftly down the halls, finally reaching her room, swiping her card, and entering.

 

Once inside her room, Aria practically collapsed against the wall, sinking down to her knees and hugging them close in the dim light.

[Andx]

The wonderdog had to wonder to himself what was going on. If the point of these matches was for the participants to fight it seemed a strange thing to him to throw them in caves and have to find each other, only to fail to do that and get attacked by giant monsters. One of these issues was addressed as he'd found Tes. But that wasn't particularly helpful in the given situation. There was a flash of light but next thing Caleb knew the world was spinning. As it happened he had tripped on the cave floor and gone spinning off into the cave wall on the side, out of the path of Tes' charge true, but still into a wall. A loud thud sounded through the tunnel as the dog's face made contact with the rock.

 

Now the world was spinning instead of Caleb himself and despite all this there was still the large spider charging him, apparently undaunted by the dragon taking on the form of a lightning bolt. Still dazed, Caleb turned to the sound of spider legs moving and the lasers materialized about his shoulders from the tech collar. He let three pulses off, one of the shots on course for the spider despite the poor aim. The others would fly in Tes' direction. Meanwhile he tried shaking his head some to get his focus back. Somewhat aggravated at the turn of events, the dog let out one of his supersonic barks. It stopped the spider in its tracks, it's effects on Tes he wouldn't know. However the tunnels weren't the best place for this. The echos were powereful, greatly enhacing the effects but also causing pain to Caleb himself.

 

"Goddamn magic!" he cursed to himself as he put his head down and attempted to cover his ears with his front legs.

[Yui]

---

2:00PM

Points: 57

W/L Record: 0/1

Several hours had passed since Aurora's conversation at the police station. She hadn't heard back from Angela yet about meeting up with her on the missing persons case, but what she did hear back from was the Arena. It was time for her match today. Today, her opponent was Xia. If Aurora remembered correctly, that was the dragon girl. This would be an interesting fight to say the least. Aurora never had fought a dragon before - they weren't exactly in high supply where she came from, after all - but thought about it from time to time. As Aurora showed up to her destination, ready to fight, she spotted her opponent. She was taller than Aurora remembered; the girl had nearly an entire foot on Aurora!

 

Aurora was used to people being a bit taller than her, but this was ridiculous.

 

The cryomancer cast the thought aside, stepping up to the dragon girl with an extended hand. It was better to get right into the formalities, and then right into the fight. "Good luck in the fight," Aurora said. You'll need it. I'm not going to lose two fights in a row.

---

[ChampionZero]

Elijah arrived at the TV Station and was directed to a different room from before. To his disappointment, he was not working with Spider again. Rather, a much slower, more methodical director who insisted on Elijah explaining the concept and execution of the promos he was making multiple times. At first this drove Elijah nuts because he had places to BE dammit! But he remembered one of the wise Duel Masters he'd studied under and his lessons about patience and temperament. So he calmed himself and settled in for the long haul. To be fair, the director looked rather exhausted himself already. So a little sympathy was, perhaps, in order.

 

When they eventually got to filming, each short took a few tries before both Elijah and the director were satisfied, but when watching over them, Elijah had to admit they were perfect as a result.

 

~~~~~~~

 

The first short opened with a blank white room. Elijah walked in from stage right, wearing his grey jeans, a fire-print t-shirt, goofy goggles that belonged at a rave, and his duffel over one shoulder. Looking at the camera, he walked up, held up a can of spray-paint  in each hand and began tagging the screen, his arms moving in a cartoonishly fast manner, to the point of seeming like many more than he actually had. Turning around, he grabbed the camera and spun it, turning the footage into a big white blur. When the camera focused again, Elijah was gone, replaced by a set of multicolored words on the wall behind him--

 

 

Elijah Diamond

A Man of Many Faces

 

--and a bunch of goofy, circular faces with varying expressions; Scowling, smiling, , cheering, winking, what could only be described as a brave face, and one blank circle above Elijah's name.

 

~~~~~~~

 

The second promo started off with a peaceful park scene, people enjoying the sunshine, just calm, quiet--

 

And then the camera cut to a pair of shoes running across the concrete, a skateboard dragging along beside them, and sudden rock music blaring. The field of view panned out to reveal Elijah right before dropping the board,jumping up onto a park bench, running across it while the board ran underneath, and then dropping onto it from above. The young man zig-zagged between surprised bystanders, who quickly recognized him and began running after him (their faces conveniently kept out of frame). The young man jumped onto a staircase railing and scraped along the bar until he reached the bottom. Shrieking to a halt, he stepped on the skateboard and flipped it into the air, walking away. the camera looked down at the bottom of the board, which was now facing up, where it read:

 

Elijah Diamond

A Man of Many Faces

 

~~~~~~~

 

The final commercial opened to Elijah, just standing between the camera and a wall that could be easily recognized as being the outside of Mauvache's Arena. He took the goofy goggles off his eyes and propped them onto his forehead. "Look I'll be honest. Fame and fortune? Boring. Acclaim and success?" He blew a loud, wet raspberry. "Titles? Prizes? Attention? None of that matters." He grinned broadly, just like one of the spray-painted faces from the first promo.

 

"I want to see and do everything I can, experience everything this place has to offer, to live, laugh, and love while I'm still young. I've only got once chance to make the most out of my life. And if I don't I'll always wonder, "what if?" And I'm not about "what if?" I'm about "Why not?" I'm about "here and now", not "then and there" or "when and Where," I'm about doing, instead of wishing.  I'm not here because I've got some big goal to achieve, I'm not on some mission."

 

He strapped his goggles back on.

 

"I'm here to have fun."

 

The screen blurred, and the words scrawled themselves onto the screen.

 

Elijah Diamond

A Man of Many Faces

 

~~~~~~~

 

Elijah came strolling out of the editing room talking. "Alright, you have a good day now! I've got a fight to get to!"

 

And off he ran, his bag over his shoulder and his eyes full of stars.

 

Angela, huh? So if Snowboots was Aurora, which one was... No that was Aria. Or do I have it backwards? He shrugged. Oh well. Burn that bridge when we get to it.

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

"Attention folks the last of two battles of the day. On one side the Monster-Slaying Superhero, Aurora! And the other side, the Leviathan Dragon Bruiser, Xia!"

Without further ado the virtual battlefield formed around the two fighters.

 

Battlefield: Pride Rock

The battlefield will start on a shelf of rock that sticks out thirty feet from a huge rock. It's a mere dozen feet wide and if one of the fighters falls off they will suffer damage and be teleported back to their starting point. It seems to be a fairly simple battlefield but, if one were to look, they would see there's an opening in the rock-face that leads to a staircase.

 

Xia would start the match ten feet from the end of the outcropping and ten feet from Aurora, who would herself be ten feet away from the opening. As usual there would be several seconds before they are able to move again.

In the other room Angela and Elijah were squaring off with each other. "And in this field we have the Self-Proclaimed Man of Many Faces, and the surprise victor of his previous fight, Elijah! Versus the Unconventional Whirling Warrior, Angela!"

 

As with the others the battlefield would appear around them within moments after the announcement.

 

Battlefield: Council Chamber

BGM

A rather small battlefield, only three dozen feet across, and circular, it usually wouldn't be all too exciting. Except that the room is covered in shadows and quite dark. The audience would be able to see them somewhat more clearly however all that the fighters would be able to see of each other would be a blue glow surrounding their opponent. If they got close to the walls they'd be struck by a Shade creature's claw and be dealt damage.

 

Moments after the announcement the fighters would be able to move. Though Angela would get a notice to try and stay clothed this time.

[👀 REP 👀]

 

---

 

As he walked into the bar, he noted familiar faces; the waitress that had helped him and the minotaur that seemed to visit the bar almost as much as Cyanthrax where there, doing what they normally did. "Get some of your strong s​hit, I've got a victory to celebrate!" He shouted excitedly, although it was definitely quieter than he normally shouted. There was still something nagging at the back of his mind, ever since he stepped out of the elevator. He could not stop thinking of what Mauvache had said.

 

"So keep this up... only, do be sure not to actually traumatize anyone."

 

Her words seemed to keep echoing in his mind, which brought images of Aria pleading for mercy at the end of their fight. He kept telling himself that she was just being a sore loser about it. No matter how many times he repeated this, however, he simply could not buy into his own lie; everything simply didn't add up. He barely registered his drink being placed in front of him. "This sheet better be good." He remarked, taking a swing from the cup. It definitely tasted better than whatever they were serving him earlier. He continued to let what had happen simmer in his head, quietly taking sips out of his cup. Suddenly, he slammed the cup down. "What does she know!?" He shouted at no one in particular. "Trauma? Please! Just because she was begging for mercy!? That happens all... the time..." He stopped what he was saying when a realization struck him. 

 

He still wasn't sure what exactly it was that he did, or what triggered the girl to act the way she did. However, he was certain it wasn't the same cowardliness of a sore loser, nor was it the pleas of scum caught in their dastardly act. She had pure, primal fear in her, just like the innocent who had begged for their lives on that fateful day years ago. Screams from the ones he cared about flooded in, echoing in his head after years of being silent. Memories that he had suppressed were suddenly rushing in. "fu​ck..." He cursed somberly, resting his head on his hand. It had been a while since he had thought about the place he once called home; he thought he had completely repressed what the Holy Knights had done to his home. And yet here he was, trying to hold back his tears and rage as he felt all the emotions that he had felt on that day rushing in. He turned to his drink again, remembering the first time Pearson had taken him to a bar. He sighed, remember how much he used to hate alcohol. He looked up to whoever happened to be on the other side of the bar. "Got anything stronger than this?"

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Cyanthrax

 

Tegur watched the young(?) man drinking with a reckless abandon. He had to pay attention to the others in the bar as well but...there was something wrong with that boy. Not that the people here were all fine and dandy but...

"What does she know!? Trauma? Please! Just because she was begging for mercy!? That happens all... the time..."

Yes that was not something that one said when they were perfectly fine. Tegur was nearby already when the man demanded for something stronger. "Aye, that I do. But are ye sure that's what you need right now?" The Minotaur paused and chuckled darkly. "Not that I should say anything about that."

---

Aria

 

As Aria lay in her room she'd get a message. "You have won one free pass to the Circus from our random drawing; redeemable any time." With directions, simply taking the elevator down to an underground facility after presenting said pass, under the above message.

[VCR_CAT]

Aria

BGM:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hqUxgMcA2Q

 

Aria didn't know how long she had sat in the dark of her room, staring at nothing in particular. She couldn't tell if it was minutes or hours until her watch buzzed and lit up, notifying her of a free pass to a circus that she won in a random draw she never entered. Aria's eyes looked empty, even as they glanced over at her watched and stared at the message for another minute.

 

She hated all of this.

 

She felt alone.

 

It wasn't enough to have those memories brought up once more, when she thought she was free from all of that; it was another to be embarrassed on essentially live television in front of an entire world by having an attack in the middle of a fight.

 

She was weak.

 

She was stupid.

 

Aria stared back at the message, wondering what else she wanted to do that day. She thought to Angela's fight, if she would be waiting for Aria after the match. The free pass was probably from the lady that ran this whole thing. Probably felt sorry for her.

 

Eventually, Aria got to her feet, leaving her jacket in her room and opting to leave with a slightly more inconspicuous attire, and headed to the elevator; taking it all the way to the top floor. She wasn't in the mood for a circus right away and probably wouldn't have fun. She needed some air, and looking over the tower's map a few more times found the path to the rooftop. At least she would have the view of the city there to clear her head.

[👀 REP 👀]

---

"Aye, that I do." Cyanthrax turned to the minotaur who claimed to have what he needed. The minotaur hung out at the bar almost as often as Cyanthrax, maybe even more. All the demon knew was that the stranger was almost always present every time Cyanthrax came here to get a drink. "But are ye sure that's what you need right now?" The man beast paused to chuckle a bit before continuing. "Not that I should say anything about that." Had the man overheard him complain earlier? He wondered how much he had heard, and how misinformed he was. Normally he'd yell at the stranger for getting up in his business, but maybe this one time he'd make an exception. He let out a sigh.
 
"Positive. I've got sheet to repress." He remarked dryly, pausing for a moment. "It's not the best way to go around solving things, but it works for me." He chuckled softly himself. "I've never been good at this emotional crap, ya know? Not really something demons are good at."  

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Aria

 

As the girl found her way to the elevator to the roof it would be clear to be different from the others. The elevator was smaller and only had a single button on the inside. Once pressed it would bring her up a single floor. Once the door opened a rather different from expected scene would be unveiled.

On the roof was a huge, rectangular, pool. Along the sides were beach chairs lined up at a distance to keep away from the splashes of people diving into the pool. And behind that were what appeared to be automated food stands and vending machines. In the corner to the right of Aria there was a bathroom/changing room.

There weren't many people at this time but there were some swimming as Aria entered the pool. At the far end there was a lifeguard tower with a rather unusual looking man sitting upon it, watching the swimmers with boredom on his face.

---

Cyanthrax

 

"Positive. I've got sheet to repress." He remarked dryly, pausing for a moment. "It's not the best way to go around solving things, but it works for me." He chuckled softly himself. "I've never been good at this emotional crap, ya know? Not really something demons are good at." 

 

Tegur looked at the man for a while and grunted. "S'pose I can't blame ye." and poured Cyanthrax a stronger drink than before. He slid it over to the man with slight reluctance. "Ya know...When I was lost, few years back, and looking for something...I found this group. A group of talented youngsters who needed someone to look after them. It worked a hell of a lot better than alcohol did. Though that didn't stop me from taking a nip here and there. Gwah ha ha ha ha!"

[👀 REP 👀]

---

"S'pose I can't blame ye." The man poured Cyanthrax a drink, before sliding the drink over to him. "Ya know...When I was lost, few years back, and looking for something...I found this group. A group of talented youngsters who needed someone to look after them. It worked a hell of a lot better than alcohol did. Though that didn't stop me from taking a nip here and there. Gwah ha ha ha ha!" Cyanthrax gave the minotaur a glare, taking a chug from his new drink. It was definitely stronger than any of the drinks he has had here; up to par with the stuff he usually drank.
 
He slammed his drink onto the table. "'Groups?!' You're funking joking, right!" He yelled, nothing in his tone hinting at laughter. "Let me tell ya something about funking groups! Eventually they'll break apart, leaving you lost and alone in this funked up world!" He took another swing of his drink, slamming it back down onto the table when he was done. "Even if either of my old groups stuck around, I'd just outlive them anyways." He sighed somberly, calming down a bit from his earlier outrage. "Alcohol is much better than 'friends' for someone like me. S'not like this sheet is gonna kill me anytime soon, and it sure as hell ain't gonna die either." He took another swing of his drink.

[VCR_CAT]

Aria

 

Aria blinked a few times, seeing what she certainly was not expecting. At the roof of the tower, she expected only to find air conditioning units and suicide-prevention rails. Instead, what she found was a large pool, various beach chairs, and vending machines. To Aria's disappointment, there were other swimmers in the area at that moment, though the place was fairly empty regardless. She paused to give herself a moment to consider this, before sulking back to her own room, and Aria concluded that a swim would probably be just the thing right now, even if all she was doing was floating in the water. There was only one problem. Aria walked up to the lifeguard; a guy that, had she been another race or a different woman, she would have found very attractive. However, he was just a bit too outlandish for her tastes.

 

"E-excuse me," Aria started, her voice cracking slightly and forcing her to clear her throat a bit. "Are there any, like, rental swimsuits or something? Or am I out of luck?" She did her best to hide her current mood and appear bored at the least, but any person who knew what went on today most likely wouldn't be fooled.

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Cyanthrax

 

Tegur listened to the man's rant intently. He didn't know his story but he was getting some good idea of the problem. It wasn't necessarily something Tegur could relate to. He had been part of two groups. One wanted him dead and the other were filled with people who would likely die after he did.

The bartender didn't know how much he should interfere. It wasn't his job to pry but Cyanthrax looked like he wanted to rant. And that's something Tegur knew about very well. "Well I'm not here to lecture ya. But I can tell you I appreciated having people around." He looked at Cyan a bit closer, tone much more serious. "Maybe you're different but the dark times can get heavy without someone there to help lift."

There was something in his eyes when he said this. But it was gone soon. "Well I should get going to the rest laddie, don't want to drive away my best customer with my old man rants, Gwaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahahahaha!"

---

Aria

 

 "Are there any, like, rental swimsuits or something? Or am I out of luck?"

That was an odd request...The lifeguard looked down at the girl who had asked. She looked somewhat familiar but she couldn't have been a regular here or he would know. He sighed and gestured towards the bathroom. "In the changing area, use the touch screen, but you might not get the right size it's not worked very well." He shrugged. "Thought all you land-walkers loved buying clothes though." He then turned his attention back to the pool. Though if she stayed there for more than a few seconds he would glance down at her with a look of suspicion.

[VCR_CAT]

Aria

 

"In the changing area, use the touch screen, but you might not get the right size it's not worked very well." He shrugged. "Thought all you land-walkers loved buying clothes though."

 

"Nah, clothes shopping sucks ass," Aria replied, noticing the suspicious glance. "What? It's like, I just wanna buy my sheet and go, I don't wanna spend so much time trying everything on. I'll just see what I like and get it at my size." However, she could tell she wasn't getting anywhere with this lifeguard. Man what was his deal? "Anyways, thanks for the info."

 

Aria made her way to the change room, and sure enough the lifeguard was true to his word. Cycling through the rental bathing suits, she paused between a two-piece and a one-piece, settling on the one-piece and feeling much more comfortable with the greater coverage. Aria grabbed the dispensed swimsuit and entered a stall, changing out of her clothes and into the rental suit. The lifeguard had been true to every word he had said, and the swimsuit had ended up being just a bit too tight. Not enough to make it unwearable or too uncomfortable, but enough to make Aria feel just a bit more conscious of her figure, as if she wasn't enough already.

 

On her way out, she paused at the mirror to take a look at how the swimsuit fit. To her surprise, it wasn't too bad, and she didn't look as poorly as she expected. I mean, Angela found you attractive, Aria thought to herself, but lingered on that thought for a moment. I'm not sure how much of a compliment that is, though.

 

Nevertheless, Aria exited the change room and entered the pool at the shallow end. She wasn't particularly good at the athletic end of swimming, and had actually only gone to the pool enough to learn how to swim and not much beyond that, but thankfully that's all she needed to know. Taking a breath, Aria floated onto her back and forced herself to relax somewhat, to listen to the wind whipping around the tower's rooftop and the sounds of the moving water. She hated what had happened that day, and wished she could just forget, and the feeling certainly wasn't close to going away. However, she was just now beginning to feel like it was starting to improve somewhat.

[Tesability Black]

(Sorry for taking forever to do a shorty post.)

Just as Tesability can cross half of the entire city of Prana in the form of a lightning bolt within a second, she was already a considerable distance when the barks finally struck her, albiet in a far-weakened state.

She tilted her head slightly to one side upon hearing the sound as she lifted a silver leaf that was located where an ear should be on the same side raised, a look of confusion on her lightning-illuminated muzzle. "Wha' wash dat?" she asked of herself before zipping back in the form of a golden lightning bolt once more, stopping right in front of the hound and folding her wings in.

"Who ish yu," she asked with a high-pitched snarl, the white dots of her other-wise pitch-black eyes narrowed and focused on the hound before her. "An' haw yu nawsh mai naimsh?"

Her forepaws especially was surrounded with more electricity than the rest of her, as if one wrong answer would spell out something nasty for the hound...