Three years have passed since the last World Martial Arts Tournament, and this one is set to be the biggest, best one to date! This is the 50th edition of this grand competition, and to commemorate the occasion, more contestants than ever have been invited to compete, and the prize money has been more than doubled! Even still, only sixteen competitors will make it through tonight's preliminary rounds, and one of those spots is already spoken for by last tournament's champion, MICHEAL MIOCIC!!!


As always, preliminary rounds will be held behind closed doors, and the round of sixteen will be held on the main tournament stage in front of a live-crowd. Of course, not everyone can attend this prestigious event. For everyone else in the world and beyond, we will be broadcasting highlights from the preliminaries as they happen and showing a live feed for Saturday's main stage fights! And for the first time in tournament history, thanks to new broadcasting technologies, our signal will reach 100% of even our furthest stations from Earth. In other words, this will be the most watched tournament to date!!!

She had finally made it, all those days of back breaking training we're about to pay off. Angela was in her own world as she thought about how much it took to get here, day in and day out training, exercising, preparing for this moment. This tournament would be broadcast to every corner of the globe, even out into space, she'd be lying if she wasn't at least a bit nervous. Her family was watching, her mother, her little sister, even her good for nothing father. If she won this whole thing, she could turn her whole life around, provide a better life for her family, and finally get to see a genuine smile on everyone's faces.

As Angela stepped up to start her treck through the preliminary matches, she thought to herself, "How strong would her opponent's be?" The previous champion was competing, he was a real threat, and there's no telling how skilled everyone else was going to be. "No! No time to doubt yourself now! You can do this..." She thought to herself before slapping herself wide awake. She took her usual fighting stance, more likely a rough and tumble one compared to everyone else, but it was hers. She took a deep breath and...

She won. Not a glorious victory mind you, for a couple reasons. One, her opponent was just far from her equal, a simple sweep of the legs followed by a kick was all it took to knock her opponent out. And two, she could see her opponent's moves coming a mile away. She stood there, still in her stance before loosening up and stepping away. "Was that it?" She said in a rather confused tone.

Somewhere in the crowds, you find the inevitable hapening: Some guy messing with his phone. In Niko's case, it was a chatroon online. Had to be by text. Not only was it too noisy in here, but the people probably wouldn't appreciate being talked about out-loud.

Eclipse: There's alot of people here, right now.
Winger: No problem. You got this, bro.
Eclipse: You know, you could have helped me.
Winger: Hey, you were the one who wanted to get out. Besides that, I'm good, but you're better at this sort of thing. If it were a flying competition, that'd be my deal, but it's not. Now, do us all proud. Teacher's watching.
Eclipse: You told Athena?!

Athena has joined the chat.

Athena: You bet your ass. For all the work I put into you, I'd better see you standing over alot of dead-to-the-world fighters.
Niko: Uhh...yes, ma'am.

Niko has left the chat.

Fastest Logout in the West. His instructor - the one who taught many of the troops in his sector - was a woman of devastating force and technique. Truly, she scared alot of people, but what made her so fearsome was that she could also be your friend. She was very kind to people, and only leaned harder on you because she cared for those around her. The harder she fought and taught, the more chances you had to survive. This was the one who trained Niko to fight, and out of a combination of fear and admiration, 90% of her students succeed. Niko himself had a special kind of honor, one he was reliving now in his head. One day, in her class...

You've all been doing well, for the most part, but every time I teach a group of cadets, I need to do this. I have to show you the reality of things, that you can lose the fight and your life, and that you have to be mentally prepared for that. Anyone who wishes to run away may do so. This will not be reflected on your record. For those who stay, get ready to fight...

This was flashing back in his head, a master martial artist and combat expert calling people forward and swiftly taking them down. Athena's moves were unparalleled, and she only held back to not kill or seriously injure those she taught. As Niko remembered, he responded to his being called in real life the same way he did back then. He approached looking very tense and his mind working things out at about light speed. His opponent in the fighting ring was trying to toss some banter at him, but Niko didn't even hear him. He was some wrestler looking to get his name in lights. When he got impatient, he approached Niko to grab him, and...well...that poor man. Niko saw Athena's approach in his mind as the other fighter came forward, there was a sudden yell, and he simultaneously grabbed an arm while kicking into the man's stomach and pulling back, so that he was flipped and hit the mat hard with Niko landing knees-down on the diaphragm to knock the wind out of his opponent. The man could not get up.

Back then, Niko had done this to his instructor, saw the look of shock on her face, and ran. This time, he was the one confused as he stood up and looked around, saying "What happened?". The referee paused to collect himself after seeing that, and then explained that he won. Niko looked from him to the guy on the mat and went "Oh.", before excusing himself from the ring.

The preliminaries were going fast. It was now apparent that talk of more people being invited to compete in this tournament didn't exactly mean higher quality fighters. But after the first round of the preliminaries the massive crowd was now cut in half, making it much easier to breath in this giant room.

After the medics used their high speed healing technologies on the injured victors, it was time to continue.

@Darkmoon Angel
"Hello little girl." Said the large Russian man as he stepped up onto the stage, opposite of Angela. "I saw you fight. It was good. But you will loose now." The man gave off an intimidating aura as he slowly and confidently raised his fists in front of his face. It was clear by his stance. He was a grappler of some kind, and a good one at that.

Angela whistled at the sight of the massive Russian fighter that was to be her opponent, she'd be lying if she said she wasn't at least a little intimidated.

The bell rang, and he began walking forward. "You will get no mercy from me little girl." He said from behind the cover of his fists.

"Don't expect any from me, either... I'm going to win this... I have to..." She said as she took a fighting stance and prepared for her opponent's attack. He seemed slow, but if he got a hold of her that would be incredibly bad. As he finally got close enough he lunged at her. Angela managed to dodge one blow, but that one blow was quickly followed up. She took a hit to the jaw, staggering her, but no way near close enough to knock her out.

The Russian then proceeded to continue his assault, but this time Angela ducked under him and threw her foot up towards his head, a swift kick to the chin.

-Kick to the chin, using 30 power

Ivan landed on the ground with a thud, clearly caught off guard by Angel's powerful kick. She did it with such grace and ease. His vision was blurry, he could taste blood, and fragments of teeth swam around in his mouth. To his left, the referee had stepped between them, one hand held out to signal the young woman to pause.

"Do you wish to continue?" The man in black and white stripes asked. Ivan could barely make out his words through the ringing in his ears, but he got the point. Even from his siting position, the girl wasn't that much taller than him. Where did she get that much power? He wondered to himself. Then he noticed something. The blow he landed on her jaw, he could barely see any damage at all from it. Sure, some people were slower to bruise than others, but that hit would have broken the jaw of any other person he'd ever fought before, perhaps even snapped their neck. His decision was easy.

After spitting out a mouthful of blood, the large man hung his head and spoke softly. "No. There is no point. I see now."

---

Meanwhile, on Stage C...

Niko's next opponent stood across from him, a man wearing a boxer's uniform (minus the gloves). He must have been proud of his boxing prowess when he decided to come to this competition, but now his confidence was wavering.


He glanced over at an adjacent ring, just as a large Russian man hit the concrete floor with an audible thud. His opponent was a small wiry looking girl. He would not have expected that out of her. He then turned his attention back to his opponent. This young man had taken down his last opponent with one attack. Actually, "took down" would be putting it easy. He had nearly killed the man.

"Fight!" Screamed the referee, as a bell rang in time with his announcement.

Taking a nervous gulp. The boxer known as Anthony stepped forward slowly, cautiously. He would have to give it all he had, and watch out for his opponent's grappling maneuvers. Chin tucked, hands up, he inched closer and closer into striking distance.

For his own part, Niko had calmed down a little. The anxiety from his first bout had lessened to a degree and he was able to think again. Actually, he was a little embarrassed that he'd done what he did before, because now people were looking at him warily. Case in point, the man called Anthony who was called up to fight him. He was giving Niko cautious looks, like he was worried that he was gonna kill 'im. And unfortunately, there was nothing he could really do with that impression. Even if he told his opponent what happened, he'd only take it as a ploy to lull him into a false sense of security and accomplish nothing. The most he could do was fight the man fairly, and then maybe apologize later on.

So, the Ref said to fight, and Anthony was taking this very carefully, wary of Niko's next move. That was fair, but it seemed to telegraph one thing to him now: His first instinct was going to be to shy away or defend against whatever came next, and then try to retaliate as hard as possible. This man was a fist-fighter, though. At least, primarily. So, what Niko did was feign a grab and then slip on down low to sweep Anthony's legs out from under him!

-Feinting sweep kick, power 40

---

Anthony's heart skipped a beat as his opponent stepped forward, but his resolve hardened just before Anthony made his move. Watching carefully, Anthony was able to anticipate Niko's attack. Of course he would go for my legs. He thought.

Still, seeing it coming, and being fast enough to react are two different things. All Anthony could manage to do was step forward, dip low, and land a few hits on his opponent's upper thigh and abdomen. Unfortunately, this did very little to slow down his opponent's kick...

There was a little more to the fight than that. Anthony struck low and did not cancel the momentum of Niko's attack, but then as he was tripping off to the side, he still managed to grab that leg and pull him down too. Landing on it, Niko felt a sharp pain in his ankle and kicked out at the guy's face. Anthony managed to catch that leg as well, but he got no further than that. His arms thoroughly occupied, Niko bent both legs and sprung his upper-body forward, burying two fists into the man's face, getting an eye and his cheekbone and knocking him out, flat on his back, so that the young soldier could get out.

Now, my ankle's sore...

Angela rubbed her cheek as the large Russian fighter fell back onto the ground from her attack. The man seemed dazed and confused as to what had just happened to him as he sat up after hearing the referee ask if he wanted to continue.

After spitting out a mouthful of blood, the large man hung his head and spoke softly. "No. There is no point. I see now."

Angela lowered her fists as she walked over to him, she wasn't expecting him to have given up so easily. She held her hand out to him to help him up. "Hey, it was a good match... Even if it was short. Your punch had some power to it." She said trying to make the Russian feel better.

He was standing around, making sure someone got Anthony's unconscious form off of the mat, making sure he was alright.

"Well, he's out, but it's nothing serious."

"Alright, thanks."

"Just take it easy, kid. You could kill a guy with moves like that."

"Yeah, I...I understand."

Sore ankle aside, he was pretty much okay. However, Niko was again worried about his talents. He looked over to the spot where the girl fighter had forced that Russian to concede. It was a bit cleaner an action than his own. Well, some people do better than others under pressure. Niko stepped away to find somewhere to take a seat.

The evening sun had set an hour ago. A starry, moonlit sky peaked in through small open windows. The once large crowd had finally thinned down to a modest 32 people, making the large room feel that much larger. Only one round of fights remained, and only the best of the best remained. After a quickly being attended to by the impressive medics, it was time for the final round of the day...


Only about twenty percent of the contestants at the beginning of the day were female. True to that statistic, only five of the remaining thirty two contestants were female. Despite the odds, Angel found herself standing across from one of the other four women that made to this point. Her opponent was Linda, a relatively unknown fighter that had managed to win most of her battles as easily as Angela her self. Rumor had it, this woman was a trained killer, a ninja or assassin of some kind.



At the sound of the bell, Linda charged forward, one hand outstretched in a relaxed fist, while the other remained hidden behind her back. Weapons were against the rules, so why she would conceal her hand was unknown.

---

Up to this point Niko's battles had been one-sided, to say the least. He was starting to pull the attention of everyone else in the room. In fact, when they announced this final round, more than one person sighed when they revealed who his opponent would be, happy that it wasn't themself. But if Niko's opponent was scared, he wasn't showing it. Ryan was his name, and he was a brawler. His fights were never clean, and he barely won his last fight, coming out as bloody as his opponent (if not worse). But at no point did his facial expression change. He was fast, strong, and raw with his moves.



When their bell rang, he began walking forward. It was clear he had no plan; he never did. It was his greatest strength and his greatest weakness. He was unpredictable chaos in human form but also sloppy and prone to error.

Time passed, and with it, so did some matches. Niko spent his time watching those who were fighting, observing them and their styles as no doubt alot of people were of him. People were wary of what he'd done, so far, and he ddn't blame 'em, but...Niko felt kinda' bad over it. Even still, that didn't curb him from watching and appraising his potential opponents. While his leg was starting to feel a little better, it was aching a bit, but at least it wasn't serious. Serious would be, perhaps, the word for his next opponent.

Ryan had been the epitome of improvised combat and dirty play. Anything that hadn't been in the rules, rules which he must've studied to get some actual loopholes for, he was basically exploiting. Not that the rules were entirely explicit on matters. They were basic ones to keep everything fair between people. That said, because he wasn't so much as skilled as hardy as hell, he'd gotten through his last match looking like Doomguy at 10% health, and we mean classic Doom, where he has a face, not modern Doom, which was essentially Doom 4.

This was the guy that Niko had beeen called up to fight, and as much as other people were relieved not to be fighting Niko himself, HE didn't really want a piece of Ryan. The guy might do something unsportsman-like, such as make it impossible for Niko to continue, should he overpower the guy. That was why he definitely needed to overpower him, and quickly. On 'Go', Niko ran forward, dropped his hands down, and flipped so that both legs were flung first at Ryan's mid-section to foot-slam him hard enough to either down him quickly or send him right out of the fighting ring!

-Vaulting double-foot strike, Power 80

Angela breathed a sigh of relief, the preliminaries were nearly done and over with. A few more fighters and that was it. She had just finished wrapping her fists with fresh bandages when her name was called up. She went up to stage and readied herself for the fight. She was a little nervous though, this Linda had a bunch of rumors floating around her. A trained killer... An assassin... That didn't sit well with Angela despite the tournament rules being in place.

"You are strong." The young woman admitted as she took her fighting stance.

At the sound of the bell, Linda charged forward, one hand outstretched in a relaxed fist, while the other remained hidden behind her back. Weapons were against the rules, so why she would conceal her hand was unknown.

Angela was extremely cautious of this opponent. She had to knock her out before she could try anything. Angela prepared to block the strike and then would retaliate with a quick spin kick.

Spin kick counter, 50 power

With little regard for his own safety, Ryan jumped forward to meet Eclipse's double footed strike head on. With one hand he managed to knock one of Eclipse's legs to the side. Eclipse's other leg hit squarely in Ryan's torso. Ribs could be heard audibly cracking. Even so, Ryan barely flinched. Instead, he took advantage of being in close range and struck Eclipse in the kidneys.

"Is that all you got?" Ryan muttered. On the outside, he looked healthy. In reality however, the edges of his vision was going dark, and he was struggling to move. Even so, he charged forward, intent on giving all he had left to win.

Ryan attacks again with reckless abandon at 30 power.

---

Angel successfully managed to deflect Linda's frontal assault and land her spin kick counter. But instead of letting the force of the kick send her flying, Linda grabbed onto Angel's leg that had just hit her. With a practiced strike, she stuck the leg at the kneecap, intending to leave her opponent crippled for the rest of the match.

But the force of the kick could not be contained for long, and Linda fell to the floor. Bones cracked, and perhaps even more, it was all Linda could do to rise up to one knee. She knew this battle couldn't last any longer. Trying to move in this state, would only put her in unnecessary danger. Not to mention, she would have do deal with whatever Angel through at her.

Raising one shaky hand into the air, Linda admitted defeat. "I forfeit."

Urrgh! He'd screwed this up, somehow. He wasn't sure how Ryan was able to intercept that well in his bloodied condition, but since one of the man's traits was clearly the ability to power through alot of pain, he'd managed it and now they were both hurting. He'd managed to put the man on the brink, but...kidney shot! God, the pain...! Niko recoiled from it, getting a small amount of distance as that part of him felt like it was on fire. Ryan boasted, but Niko could see he was unsteady. Dammit, this was what he wanted to avoid! He was trying to take him down with him! That reckless charge wasn't exactly fast, but Niko had little time to react to it.

Why not just let the mat do the talking, then?

He tucked and rolled into the man's legs to try and force him to trip overhead, and eiher the guy would fall flat and knock himself out or he'd even ring himself out because he just can't stop.

-Tuck-and-roll, Power 40

Ryan's wild attack was a desperate attempt, as agreed on by everyone watching. His raw power and speed nearly faded, all that remained was his sloppy technique. Luckily for him, Ryan was looking worse for wear as well and not moving so smoothly. But at this point it no longer mattered.

With both combatants drained of power, Niko's proper technique made short work of Ryan. Ryan only managed to land one or two glancing blows off of Niko's back as he rolled under him and took his legs out. Crashing face first into the ground, Ryan fell unconscious... eyes still open with intensity.

"The winner is Eclipse!" Announced the judge who stood off to the side of the two fighters, as the room lit with applause and medics ran out with a stretcher to take Ryan away for treatment.

---

The preliminaries had finally came to an end. All that remained were the top sixteen combatants. By this point, only a few powerful contestants looked unfazed, but perhaps that only meant they had favorable draws. But now, with only sixteen remaining, everyone would have to give it their all.

The sixteen survivors, stood upon an elevated platform, with the announcer. While the crowd of other contestants who had lost, stood below, some still nursing their wounds. "Those that did not make it through the preliminaries, we congradulate you on making it here today." Said the announcer, using a stage voice and no microphone. "You should be very proud to have even been invited to this great tournament. For your efforts, you will be provided with free accommodations in the best hotel on this island and of course free entry to watch tomorrow's tournament."

"And for our victors, you will be staying here, in this main facility, on the second floor. Please, get yourselves a good night's rest. Tomorrow, everyone in the world, and beyond for that matter, will be watching you. You'll want to be on the very top of your game!"

The room lit up with respectful applause at the end of the announcer's speech.

Angela felt a sharp pain run through her leg after she had kicked Linda and fell onto one knee. She looked down in pain to see that Linda had tried to cripple her leg, attacking her knee before her kick could do anything.

Raising one shaky hand into the air, Linda admitted defeat. "I forfeit."

Thankfully, it looked like her kick had the desired effect. Though she didn't expect Linda to outright forfeit, she had won another fight, but it didn't sit well with her. Another forfeit... Was that really a victory? She thought that she would be fighting tooth and nail in this tournament to even have a chance of winning, but the past few fights have just been... Easy. She sighed and got up, her leg shaking a bit trying to hold itself together. She bowed to Linda and walked off with her supposed victory.

It seemed as if the preliminaries were finally over, the few who had passed were the ones who would truly fight in this tournament. Angela looked around at her future opponents, they all seemed stronger than the ones she fought. Hopefully now she will get an actual challenge.

"Those that did not make it through the preliminaries, we congradulate you on making it here today." Said the announcer, using a stage voice and no microphone. "You should be very proud to have even been invited to this great tournament. For your efforts, you will be provided with free accommodations in the best hotel on this island and of course free entry to watch tomorrow's tournament."

"And for our victors, you will be staying here, in this main facility, on the second floor. Please, get yourselves a good night's rest. Tomorrow, everyone in the world, and beyond for that matter, will be watching you. You'll want to be on the very top of your game!"

Angela listened to the applause and sighed. "This... This is where the real fun begins..." She mumbled quietly as she went to sit down. She wanted to gather her thoughts for a moment before turning in for the day.

He barely felt the impact of Ryan's final blows against the impact that was thrown against him. His body had already been on fire from the previous damage, though it'd be sore later. What bothered Niko later was, of course, that he'd let this man hurt him so. As he got upright and they were taking Ryan away, he shook his head.

Should I have been more defensive? No, that wouldn't have helped. He'd've just whittled me down and backed me into a corner, and I can't afford that. I've got to press on, really apply myself properly against my foes.

He stood up when they called his name. Well, his code name. It's what he entered himself as here. Someone might've felt it was a bit silly, some wrestlers have even weirder names, so could anyone blame him? Still, as anyone cheering died down, he looked at his fellow competitors in a manner to say 'There, see? Not so scary, am I?', followed by getting off of the arena ground.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Once things had been cleared up, the sixteen remaining fighters were gathered, and the announcer stated what was to happen from here on. Those who made it farther would be staying here in their personal facilities. The man suggested getting some rest and Niko chuckled, muttering "Good idea.". He was gonna need it. As everyone began to disperse, he noticed the punchy girl from before had made it through, as well, though she looked far less damaged. Heh... Lucky. He stepped over to where she sat, not willing to sit yet because what he wanted to do was find a whole lot of ice to lie on.

"I guess some had it easier than others. You must've dominated."

"I guess some had it easier than others. You must've dominated."

"Hm?" Angela looked up. It was Eclipse, that other fighter that had been beating the competition. "Mm... I wouldn't exactly say dominating... The ones I fought all forfeited..." She stated as she leaned back in her chair. "Meanwhile, you've actually finished your fights completely." She said looking at him.

She looked back at the ground and sighed. "I... I was just expecting there to be more formidable fighters I could test my training against..." She explained. "A-anyways... You probably didn't want to hear any of that personal junk... The name's Angela... I only know you as Eclipse, though I doubt that's your real name..." She said, trying to make conversation.