Rui had her lips puckered to take another sir or rather, glug, from one of the few remaining filled cups on the table before the crowd of men in front her started to part like the Red Sea. Rui stopped the glass smelling the pungent alcohol curl in her nostrils. A small girl with wisps of red amid the blondes in her hair. There was something familiar in her appearance that attributed itself to being from East Asia, but not as familiar as the rest of her kin. It was admirable to see more people representing their hemisphere at the tournament considering it was on the other side of the planet. She moved with a vigor that rivaled an unfettered server having gone without a tip. Short work was made of the table and the unconscious men which was no surprise given she was a nomad.
The scrolls on her back were a nice touch, something that Rui was not unfamiliar with, but had no patience or affinity for them. The sake cup reminded her of home which caused the cup in her hand to swirl before being swallowed into the throat of the drunken heiress. She should have brought hers with her had she known she would be having competition. “And where are you from?” She asked accepting the refined ceramic cup. Feeling the weight in her hand, the coolness of the cup, and the craftsmanship it endured to reach it’s chrysalis.
“Are we treating this as a preliminary match to the tournament or did you just want to burn the money in your pocket” Rui searched for a name realizing she had not asked for one, “And you are?”
The automaton didn't need her Scan Mode to tell her that Jill was not even suspicious! In her opinion, this was a great thing as she needed Jill's trust more than anything. If the superhero in the flesh couldn't help her with Oh-One, then it was unlikely that anyone would be able to! The issue came from convincing her to help her in a way that wasn't dead obvious. Oh-Seven's eyes went up and down Jill's body in the least subtle way possible as her systems processed a thousand different ways this could go. Her smile on her face remained as she said,
"I had a question for you, however," Oh-Seven said, "Are you familiar with the genius known as Gérard Delacroix?"
Dan hopped backwards when an African American man suddenly poofed into existence. It took him a moment to realize that this was Jaden, the guy who had been blaring that music out of all the speakers. The situation didn’t look great for Daniel. He didn’t like fighting almost as much as getting falsely accused of things. If he thought there was a rational explanation that would appease Jaden, he’d have spit that out right now.
"Ah, yes, you were performing.”
Sadly, the truth here sounded like an excuse to not own up to something he did. It wasn’t like Daniel had the full story either. He didn’t know if that girl was trying to set him up, or if she was an inexperienced member of the maintenance crew. It wouldn’t be right to dump all of this on her. Which really just left Dan with one option.
"And it was a great performance! You really looked alive up there. But there was something off about your sound. B-but I knew it had to be an issue with the speakers!” He reached down and picked up the wire again. "So I tried to fix it, and I seem to have made everything worse! I think there was something wrong with that speaker anyway. Otherwise, I’m sure everyone would have been dancing along.” He started to move his feet. "When you say Nin, I say ja! …Ja!... Ja!”
"Someone needs to brush up on their social studies.”
When asked where she was from, Oriko shot the woman a sideways glance. Partially because she wasn’t expecting a question, but also because the answer to said question seemed so apparent. Oriko was wearing a new year kimono, had two katanas, a kitsune mask positioned on the side of her head, marked scrolls adorning her back, and was drinking out of a sake cup. Her attire and accessories all screamed, very loudly, the place of her birth. Sure, the number of native Japanese with green eyes and blond hair were almost nonexistent. But it wasn’t like miss drinks-a-lot here had any business taking her hair color into account. Hell, her hair made her look like a lemming with a boob job, but that didn’t mean you could judge people based on appearances.
…
Regardless, it was a stupid question and Oriko wouldn’t dignify it with an answer. At least she could confirm that she wasn’t Japanese, since obviously a Japanese person would recognize a sake cup. Especially if they were into drinking as much as this one did.
Wait no, she had something for this.
"Well, if you looked closely at my outfit, you’d see that I’m wearing a festive kimono.” She grabbed her sleeve and pulled it tight. "If you really think about it, the only logical conclusion is that I’m a Brazilian native.”
When she was asked why she was drinking, Oriko scoffed. "I doubt there’s enough alcohol to-” She paused and looked between the woman’s money and the empty cups on her side of the table. "We have to pay for this?” It seemed absurd. The entry fee wasn’t cheap, and then they had to pay for the booze on top of it all. There’s a saying in Japan that bitter medicine works best, but this was something else. She doubted anything that smelled so foul would be able to cure anything. "What are they even charging for this? Well, whatever. I’m good for it.” She filled her sake cup again. "I joined a fighting tournament to test my fighting skills. I will not drink in place of a fight. But it seems like everyone is expecting a show, so let’s give them one.”
It was, admittedly, an interesting idea. Fighting people by out drinking them. While waking up from a drunken stupor was no less awful than waking up from a traditional knock out, it was at least more fun to go into. At least, she figured that was the thought process the last few men had.
"Oros the Swift is my magical girl title.” Geez this lady asked a lot of questions. It was preferable to the trash talking she was expecting. Slightly. "Would you like me to catch up to you?” She was already filling her sake cup for the third time.
It sure appeared to be stone. Now, Florian may not be the most foremost expert of stones within this hall - that would be "Gentleman" Jim Cummings, Hero Geologist, who only really brought geology into the arena by beating people half to death with a basalt pillar. No, even beyond being outclassed like that, perhaps he had simply not walked outside, touched his feet to grass enough to identify the difference between a stone and a bomb.
That is, of course, unless it was a stone AND a bomb. But that's just stupid.
Yazhu was confused at first, thinking that she was being brusquely ignored in disbelief - she had a firm reason to believe that people should be familiar with explosives in the ring, as why wouldn't you bring them if you had the opportunity, but here Florian had just up and played it as a rock and an inconvenience. Does he take her as some kind of...sneaky knave?!
Then she was shown a cool robo-glove thing and she forgot her indignation.
"Ooooooh."
It was perfectly suited for making the average resident of Tang-era China gawk in awe. I mean, who among their number had ki-powering jewelry? At most it was 1% of the population, surely. Yazhu actually reacted to this sight with tacticle intrigue, rubbing her sleeves all over the polished golden surface of his hand.
"If I had this kinda thing back when I was a kid, I would've saved soooooo much time!" Think about how many hours of quiet contemplation and kneeling and not eating it could've skipped over! "Man, to think that you invented this kind of brand new, amazing...doohickey, it's--"
Something about the word 'doohickey' reminded her of a magical that she was quite fond of. She looked down to the ground, and then, finding nothing, turned her head about with a preeminate sense of complete panic. That Dao Bomb of hers was already rolling across the carpet, cursed with movement by the incompetent architects of this building who failed to correct the slight grade!
The end result was that it was mere seconds away from rolling into the heels of a well-dressed elderly gentleman...who was "Gentleman" Jim Cummings, Hero Geologist himself!
"Oh heck."
Yazhu sprinted away from Florian's side, diving to the carpet and sticking out her foot like a couched lance in a charge - it came into contact, did not explode, and she kicked it up with as much force as she had!
The Dao Bomb flew across the room, narrowly missing the ceiling with its high arc (and travelling surprisingly far for a stone orb), but ultimately arcing towards...SOME GUY ON A COUCH?!
Yazhu gave him ample warning with a shout of "HEYMISTERTHATTHINGISABOMBTHATWILLEXPLODEIFITTOUCHESYOU!"
Jill felt her face grow warm again as Auri very blatantly looked her up and down. Things seemed to go awkwardly silent. Literally, since someone finally cut the music.
Focus, Jill! She’s just sizing you up for the fight!
But it turned out that wasn’t going to happen, for unexpected reasons.
"Are you familiar with the genius known as Gérard Delacroix?"
”Boy am I!” The young Rider felt herself getting more fired up by the second. ”I’d say I’m his biggest fan! Couldn’t tell ya how happy I was when he showed up to give a lecture back when I was in college. The stuff he had to say about compact systems, autonomous decision-making, sustainable power cores, it all rocked my world somethin’ fierce! I tell ya, it’s not often you see an engineer so good at mechanics and software all at once, what I’d give to be half as good at either! Wouldn’t have finished Pit Stop without learnin’ the stuff he had to say…”
Jill continued to go on her extremely nerdy tangent, revved up and lost in admiration. She fancied herself a lot smarter than she looked, and as far as she was concerned, Delacroix made her go back to looking like a fool in comparison. It was some time before she found her way again, perhaps a bit too long for those who didn’t share her passion.
”But it really sucks we lost him so soon, gotta wonder what else a guy like that coulda come up with…” She paused, finally slowing back down. ”Ah, sorry! Guess my mind went on a bit of a detour… Say, why’d ya wanna know? If you don’t mind me askin’, anyways.”
“Oh wow! This is amazing!” Olivia exclaimed as she entered the vast reception hall. She had arrived bright and early that morning to get her badge, before heading over to a nearby arcade for some preliminary gaming and pizza (truly the breakfast of champions). The hall had been mostly empty then, but upon her return, the bespectacled bluenette saw that it had become a veritable sea of people. Her badge, now dangling from a lanyard around her neck, swung back and forth as she made her way through the dense crowd, her slight form taking advantage of every meager opening in the multilayered wall of bodies that presented itself. Although she had never been to a major convention before, Olivia was sure that this was what being on the main floor of one probably felt like. On the main stage, she could barely make out the female announcer whose energetic voice was blasting from the myriad speakers scattered about the large chamber. “Is… Is that a worm on her head…?” Olivia wondered aloud, her eyes brightening when she confirmed that, yes, it really was. “Oh, gosh! He’s so cute!” she gushed. “Don’t you think so, Xolys?!” she inquired, turning to look at the small robot with a single glowing blue eye that was peeking out of her backpack.
“Indeed,” Xolys agreed. “Very adorable.”
“Oh, I just love his little jacket!” Olivia continued to gush. “And his green hair! And… Um, is he trying to steal her microphone…?” she wondered, her joyful smile drooping into a confused frown. “Oh gosh! Do you think he’s the real announcer and that woman’s an imposter?!” she exclaimed, her eyes going wide. “She could, like, totally be a pod person, or maybe a replicant! Maybe the whole tournament’s been taken over by nefarious extraterrestrial, or even extradimensional beings, and that poor worm is the only one who knows the truth!”
“It is certainly possible,” Xolys replied. “But not particularly probable. I would not worry about it, my dear.”
“I guess you’re right…” Olivia conceded, before quickly brightening up. “After all, you would know more about that kinda thing than me!” she added with a giggle that sounded more like a snort.
In any case, by this point, both woman and worm had already departed the stage, but that still left plenty of other interesting sights for Olivia to fix her excited attention on, like the strange trio that were floating in mid-air above the bustling crowd. So enraptured was the bluenette as she tried to get a bit closer, that she didn’t notice the photographer taking aim at the same trio until she’d crashed right into her.
“Woah!” the other young woman yelped as Olivia collided with her.
“O-Oh gosh! I-I’m so sorry!” Olivia apologized hastily, shouting to be heard over the din of the crowd, coupled with the loud rapping that was now blasting from the room’s various speakers. “I-I hope I didn’t ruin your picture…”
“Nah, it’s fine,” the other girl said, taking a look at her camera’s display. “And don’t worry about the bump,” she added with a grin. “Ya kinda have to expect gettin’ shoved around a little in a crowded place like this. I’m Kate, by the way,” she introduced herself, while holding out her hand. “Kate Carson.”
“I’m Olivia Bell,” the bespectacled bluenette replied with a big smile as she took the offered hand. “And this is my best friend, Xolys!” she added, pulling the small robot from her backpack and presenting him to Kate.
“Hey little guy,” Kate told the robot, taking one of his electrical wire tendrils between two fingers and giving it a small shake. “Nice to meet ya, you too, Olivia.”
“A pleasure to make your acquaintance as well, Miss Carson,” Xolys replied.
“Y-Yes! It’s very nice to meet you, too!” Olivia added.
Now that she got a better look at Kate, Olivia saw that the young woman was even shorter than she was, if only slightly, with short, dark hair and blue eyes. Although she was wearing shorts, her light grey hoodie and red jacket seemed a little unsuited for the hot Brazilian sun, but, then again, the same could be said of Olivia’s own choice of attire, which if anything, was even less suited to Brazil’s sweltering heat. But then, that was what the extra-large bottle of Kool-Aid (Oh yeah!) in her backpack’s side pouch was for. Indeed, the ice-cold, super sugary beverage was perfect not only for keeping her cool, but also energized. Not that she needed any help with the latter…
“Gotta say, I wasn’t expecting to literally run into the famous video game character come to life and his partner today,” Kate was noting with a chuckle, although Olivia barely heard her. Instead, she was focused on the girl’s camera, a myriad exciting possibilities sending her overactive imagination into overdrive…
“Are you a Nomad, too?!” she asked eagerly, her eyes beginning to sparkle. “Is that camera how you fight?! Oh! I bet it totally is! Like, it’s a super awesome magitech invention that was made by your mad scientist best friend, and it lets you create negative copies of anything you take pictures of with it, which can then fight on your behalf!” she rambled, eyes getting bigger and smile getting wider with each passing second. “It probably has lots of other cool abilities too, like freezing people in place and speeding up or slowing down time for anyone you aim it at! But its most simple feature is also its most useful, since any time you take a picture of someone, you get to find out everything about them!”
While Olivia continued to babble, Kate began to grow increasingly pale, and one of her eyes had begun to twitch. When the bluenette finally stopped, Kate simply blinked three times, momentarily reduced to stunned silence. “T-That’s, uh, oddly specific…” she replied in a dazed deadpan once she’d finally regained her ability to speak. “But, nope, I’m not a Nomad!” she added with a nervous chuckle. “Just a humble freelance photographer! My last job got finished waaaay faster than I was expecting it to,” she explained. “So I thought I’d take a little vacation down in sunny Brazil, and since I’m here, I figured I might as well make a little money on the side. So, yeah, just a photographer takin’ pictures for a magazine,” she reiterated, holding up her camera for emphasis. “In fact, I try to avoid gettin’ into fights if I can help it.”
“My apologies,” Xolys intoned. “My dear Olivia can get rather… carried away…”
“Gosh!” the bespectacled bluenette exclaimed, her enthusiasm worryingly undiminished. “So, do you wanna interview us?!” she asked the photographer, her jubilant face now only a few short inches away from Kate’s own. “Oh, wow! I’ve never been interviewed before! This is so exciting! Let’s see, my favorite color is eldritch blue, my favorite author is H.P. Lovecraft, and my favorite pizza topping is fried octopus tentacle, but most places don’t seem to have it, which is really strange, because it tastes so good, especially when—”
“Woah! Woah!” Kate yelped, while holding up both hands, her fingers splayed wide. “I’m just a photographer! I leave the interviews to the actual journalists.”
“O-Oh… Okay…” Olivia replied, her demeanor suddenly becoming quite sullen. “S-Sorry for getting ahead of myself….” she apologized. “It’s just that, I’ve never been interviewed before, well, except for that first time, but that one had to be cut short because they said they were having technical issues, so I was really looking forward to finally getting a chance to do my first real interview…”
“H-Hey,” Kate spoke up, feeling kinda terrible about dashing the poor girl’s hopes. “I’m sure there are plenty of other reporters here who would love to give you an interview,” she added.
“You really think so?!” Olivia asked, rapidly returning to her typical exuberance as she brought her face less than an inch away from Kate’s.
“U-Uh, y-yeah!” Kate replied with a nervous chuckle as she leaned back in an attempt to put as much space between her and Olivia as possible. “Y-You’ll probably bump into one in no time!”
“Oh, wow! I really hope so! Oh! Before we go, could you at least take our picture?!” Olivia asked as she hugged Xolys to her chest.
“Sure!” Kate replied with a grin as she readied her camera. “Like I always say, it’s the pictures that tell the story.”
Striking the best pose they could, given the circumstances, Olivia and Xolys waited for Kate to get the perfect angle, and then…
*SNAP!*
“Okay, looks great!” Kate announced after examining her camera’s display. “Welp, guess I’ll see ya around,” she added as she got ready to depart. “Good luck in the tournament!”
“O-Okay!” Olivia called to the departing photographer. “A-And thanks so much!”
“What a pleasant young lady,” Xolys commented, watching Kate disappear into the crowd as Olivia returned him to his place in her backpack. “Am I to assume we shall now be attempting to seek out a reporter of some sort?”
“Yeah!” Olivia confirmed with a nod, before setting off into the sea of bodies once more. “Y’know, I think the big food table is over this way,” she noted as she squirmed between the eclectic assortment of fighters. “That should be the perfect place for an interview!”
However, when she finally made it through the wall of Nomads and into an open space, it wasn’t the sight of a massive buffet table surrounded by dozens of journalists all eager to learn her life story that greeted her. Rather, it was something vastly more incredible by far…
“I-Is that…?” Olivia whispered in hushed awe, her jaw going slack as she beheld the pair of young women seated at the table before her. “Oh wow! It IS!!!” she cried in unbridled delight as she ran over to stand beside the smaller of the two ladies.
“O-Olivia, wait…!” Xolys advised. “I do not believe it would be prudent to interrupt them at this juncture!”
Unfortunately for all involved, Olivia was far too fixated upon the individual that had captured her attention to hear him…
“Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh! It’s really you!” the bespectacled bluenette cheered, her smile wider than ever. “Oros the Swift! I just love your videos!” she told the kimono-garbed blonde, as she leaned forward to thoroughly invade her personal space. “You’ve fought so many wonderfully intriguing monsters! Like that slimy green one with the boil-covered skin whose jaw could unhinge wide enough to swallow a skyscraper! I can’t believe it had seventeen rows of teeth! That’s just amazing! And then there was that one that looked like a giant flying stomach that vomited out all those wormy things with the flesh-eating acid spray! And then that other one that was made out of worms! And insects, and arachnids, and centipedes, too! I thought the way its body was constantly moving was really mesmerizing! I could have stared at it for hours!” she continued to ramble, her hands clasped together and her eyes seeming to fill with stars. “And speaking of staring, how about that giant floating eye with the bat wings made of bone and all the tentacles?! Wasn’t it simply fascinating how it could make smaller duplicates of itself and fire those lightning beams that phased through obstacles?! Oh! And how could anyone forget the one with the mouth on the end of its tongue?! He was just sooo adorable!” she squealed with a giggle/snort. “Oh, and your music is pretty cool, too!”
”Beret!” Beatriz snapped her fingers. ”That’s the fuckin’ ticket.” Despite all of the crazy sights in this place, for some reason this ‘painter’s hat’ had really captured Bea’s imagination. She had a small smile on her face. When it was lowered so Bea could get a look at it, she raised her hands as if she wanted to grab it, or maybe even put it on. But she didn’t, so her hands just hovered near the hat. Her hands were rough and brown, with clipped fingernails.
”Right, no, I guess not. You could just be, uh, y’know, French or some shit like that.” Beatriz nodded thoughtfully.
”Are you French?” She asked, raising her eyebrows. ”Like, from France? I’m from Brazil.” She pointed at the ground beneath them.
Beatriz stepped away from Rosie and the hat so she wouldn’t have to look up as much to keep talking. Beatriz heard yet another shout from the floating girl and briefly glanced over to see what was the matter, but mostly she was focused on her conversation with the enigmatic Rosie who had saved her day. Beatriz felt obligated to talk to her as long as Rosie wanted too. That made a thought occur to her.
”Oh, shit- I’m not- I’m not buggin’ you, am I?” She asked with a smile, scratching the back of her head. ”It’s just, uh, I’m kinda here by myself until I ring up my family.”
Despite the request made by the announcer and her wormy companion, not all was well in the pre-game festivities. While most of the nomads were behaving themselves, it was difficult for a band of powerful individuals famous for fighting each other to not make enemies.
"You dare mock the gods so?!?" spat a girl in Greco-Roman armor. "Were this not a place of merriment I would slay you on the spot, loathesome rodent."
"Don't let the company stop you sweetheart," snarled a reedy looking anthro bat, getting up in her face. "Why don't you pull that sword out and see what happens?"
"What happens is you will lose your tongue, cretin!"
"Yeah well get ready to lose your eardrums, byzie-bitch!"
"Cur!"
"Twat!"
"...don't mind me, just trying to get to the carimañolas."
The two angry nomads were shoved back a little as a shorter figure deliberately squeezed between them to get to the table. The two seemed apoplectic until the unwanted intruder turned around.
"Gah, thought I'd never get out of that script reading..." the lanky fellow complained, brushing their wild red hair back and popping the appetizer into their mouth. "Mmm, that's good. Had to skip breakfast to make it in time."
The three of them stared at one another for a moment before the two arguing nomads suddenly started to bounce excitedly on their heels.
"Oh m-my gosh!" the greco-roman girl squealed.
"You're...you're...THEM!" the bat boy revealed excitedly.
Showing off a sharp-toothed grin, Skyler Belsky lowered their sunglasses, ran one finger across the edge, and snapped the same hand, producing an electrical spark. "Radiant Lancer, ready to roll."
The two fighters delighted jumping and squeeing at seeing Skyler perform their character's signature catchphrase drew quite a few eyes, and Skyler, having just done their good deed for the day, indulged a bit in the limelight. Admittedly the nomads were far less interested in them then their usual audience, but Skyler still managed to get a couple dozen selfies and signatures out, and was in fact in the process of signing one competitors head when their phone started chirping. Finishing off their fan session by vaulting over a table to get to the lounge area, snagging another carimañola on the way, Skyler flipped the phone out of their pocket with one equally dexterous move.
"Skyler here, what's shaking out?"
"My patience, Belsky."
"Sarki!" Skyler's eyes lit up as they righted themselves. "How's the great horned one doing today? Did we hear back from Feige yet?"
"Forget Feige, what the hell are you doing in Brazil?"
"Eating." Skyler took a bite from the carimañola. "How bout you?"
"You know what I mean! That damned tournament!" the she-demon yelled through the phone so violently it made Skyler wince. "SHINING is going to pitch a fit about this. You know they're debuting a new Justice Rider right?"
"Relax, I totally cleared it already. Besides, it's just what the new girl needs, a nice big popularity boost by going up against the favorite, right? It's not like I'm gonna curb stomp her right out the gate."
"Ugh...just don't do anything rash out there, okay? SHINING is going to have both our asses over a spit if you muck this up for them."
"Don't worry, it's just going to be a little publicity tour, then we can get back to arranging that movie deal. Besides, it's all just for show."
"I'll hold you to that."
"That's why you're my agent," Skyler recounted with a grin as they hung up. Nice girl. Honestly Skyler had no idea why she tolerated them so much, but whatevs. There was a tournament to fight, and on top of that one hell of a prize to win. Funny, Skyler didn't really consider that prize until now, but if everything they heard about it was true...well, it'd be one hell of a twist for ol' Radiant Lancer if they got their hands on that! Would make a hell of a movie deal to be sure, Skyler considered as they roamed around waiting to be noticed again.
... Were the words that got Justin out of his self-pity stupor... He lifted his head and turned to see a giant ball of stone flying directly at him. His eyes shot open as he decided to act quickly - he hopped out of his chair and stuck his hand out as it glowed with a vibrant blue color. It shot a blast of blue ki and hit the stone ball and it exploded in mid-air before it could hit anyone. Justin sighed in relief... before he turned his attention onto the little creepy girl and the tall weirdo she was with.
"Hey! What's the big idea!" Justin shouted, "Tryna kill someone!?"
Jaden's eye twitched for a hot second as he stared at this goofy-ass airhead motherfucker, a lot of what he said barely even registered to Jaden. What did register was the fact that his performance was ruined - Jaden looked over his shoulder and saw people excited and happy! He needed to fix things now before things were too late! He shook his head as he said,
"There's gon' be a real "issue with my sound" when I stick my mic up ya' ass!" Jaden started before his hand out, "Now gimme the wire and stop playin' with me boy! And hope I don't get a fight with you because I'll slam you in the face with my nuts."
He grinned as he blew out a puff of weed smoke and said,
"Yeah that's right, I'll hit ya' with the ol' flyin' teabag."
If Oh-Seven weren't already smiling; she would have been smiling more and more as Jill gushed about Gerard. Oh-Seven was quite familiar with his exploits; she knows everything that man did that has an internet footprint, after all! However, there were some things that Jill didn't know that would change the very idea of that man... possibly for the worst. That smile slowly crept off her face by the time Jill finished gushing about Oh-Seven's creator and her face was flat.
”But it really sucks we lost him so soon, gotta wonder what else a guy like that coulda come up with… Ah, sorry! Guess my mind went on a bit of a detour… Say, why’d ya wanna know? If you don’t mind me askin’, anyways.”
It was finally Oh-Seven's turn to speak, and she realized that perhaps the best way to do this would be to be upfront and direct about it. "I was his assistant, you probably never heard of me because I worked strictly behind the scenes as opposed to his other assistants, and...." Oh-Seven simply spoke with a completely flat tone as her eyes drifted downwards a bit. "... MIRAGE's leader, Pariah, killed him. I don't know why, but I do know that he was working with them. But that isn't the issue."
She sighed as she took a few steps off to the side and then she continued, "He was working on a revolutionary project: the One-Hundred Series. One hundred robots were designed to uplift and assist humanity... and right before the Pariah killed him he released them - completed or not. However, there was a prototype he had shackled before working on the One-Hundreds: Oh-One, he called him. He was deemed a failure and kept as an assistant AI..."
There was the feeling that Oh-One was already here, she looked around - eyes briefly flashing red as she scanned the fighters again. There were a few robots in the crowd much like her and she was worried one might be Oh-One in disguise. "He escaped into the internet and somehow made himself a body. Which he has been using to hunt down the One-Hundreds... and he's incredibly powerful." She gently grabbed onto Jill's wrist as she looked her in the eye.
"Whoever wins or loses this tournament; I need your help to stop him. Because he seeks to "perfect" humanity... and God knows what that entails."
Already countless contestants were intermingling with each other, before the tournament proper had started. Some chatted amicably to pass the time, others were up and in each others' faces, looking like they were about to start the fight a little early. Given the small stray attacks flying about, a few actually were getting things started early. A few contestants soaked in the attention of the crowds of bystanders, striking poses and giving the reporters and hype-men a buffet of their own egos. Only a small sliver had the reserve to keep to themselves until the actual fighting began.
One such was Horizon Rider.
Even in an entire room full of martial artists and obnoxiously-colored individuals, Horizon Rider stood out due to his strange appearance, but moreover, due to his strange mannerisms. Whereas everyone else was loudly declaring their presence and hogging a nonexistent spotlight, Horizon Rider just stood there, absolutely motionless. At most, his cold reptilian eyes behind his glass helmet glanced about at all the fighters, sizing up the competition. A few reporters tried shoving their microphones in his face and asking them about themselves, any information, only for them to completely ignore them, pretending as if they didn't exist. SYM-24 had no patience for anything other than his prime objective:
Claim the power stone and crush anyone who dared stand in his way.
Above him, up in the rafters, a robotic raven eyed them, like a hawk, watching their every action.
Arena Stands
The main event hadn't even properly started, and already the arena was absolutely packed, people having traveled from all across the world to watch the greatest fighters alive lay the absolute smackdown into each other. The Carnival received only more attention abroad, being broadcast on every sports channel so that everyone back home could get a front row seat to the impending carnage.
In the stands sat two disguised figures, a man and a woman. The man was much taller and wider, and was busy gorging himself on two drumsticks big enough to beat someone unconscious with. Strapped to his back was an absolutely massive violin case that blocked the view of the poor spectator behind him, who was nevertheless too terrified of the man to protest. Next to him sat a woman, much smaller and hunched over. Both wore black coats and sunglasses that significantly concealed any personal details. The woman clutched the side of her glasses, observing the direct feed observed of their company's contestant, Horizon Rider.
"Howzit Goin'?" The man asked, his mouth full of meat.
"They're fine so far..." The woman relayed, "But definitely a bit boring. Probably would've been beneficial to hire some agents to answer all the questions people have on them and throw the reporters off. We might've made enough cash to buy the Power Stone if we just prepared some merchandise for this guy... How much longer 'till the tournament starts?"
"Not too long, should be less than an hour," the man replied.
Jaden's sour mood was not a surprise to Daniel. But that didn't mean that things were bad! Even if he sounded a little aggressive, he hadn't carried out any of his threats yet. That and everyone around him seemed to be in high spirits. He wasn't sure why that was, but at least Jaden was the only one who was upset at the moment.
"Ah, yes, the wire. Just-” He winced as some dank smoke assaulted his nostrils. "Just a moment.” He looked behind the speaker again. Nothing had changed, the wire was still in the wrong port and smoke was still coming out of the top of the speaker. The wire sparked a few times. Daniel wasn't sure how she managed to mix up the cables. The power and audio should have been two totally different ports. Though on closer inspection, it looked like the ends of the cables had been swapped. Or at least the power cable had been spliced to fit into the audio jack, while the end to the audio jack was just missing. He turned over the chicken drumstick in some vain hope it would be there, but it wasn't.
"Hngh!” With a tug, the power cable came loose. Fortunately it didn't explode. "Here you are, sir!” He offered the cable to Jaden. He debated keeping his mouth shut, but decided he had something else to say. "Can I just say that I had no idea you were so progressive? Or open about it. I don't think most people in your position would admit they want to do those things to me."
The blue moe blob erupting into conversation beside Oriko got her to turn her head. Slowly. Very slowly. So slowly that by the time she finished barfing out her whirlwind of words, Oriko had only turned her head enough to give the girl a sideways glance. She hadn't said anything herself, but she looked exhausted just listening to her. The lemming hadn't said anything yet, so pretending to ignore sonic the hedgehog was out. Why couldn't her fans just quietly stalk her from afar?
"Yes.” Oriko didn't mask her annoyance. "Those were all rather interesting opponents, and I beat them all.” Some with help, but who cared? "Though as interesting as they are in my music videos, there's a lot of content that I have to cut. It's not really stuff that most people want to see. My music would get age restricted if I included the really interesting stuff. Like the one with the mouth on its tongue? I use to have some special footage of that one.” She clinched her hand into a fist. "It gripped one of its victims in both hands. It did so in a very interesting way. The thing made sure that she had her back to us and we could all see the girl's face. She was frightened out of her mind. First she wanted us to save her, but then it started to tighten its grip on her until she couldn't even scream. And then right in front of all of us it bit off her head. Just her head, before dropping her body five stories to the ground below.” She shrugged. "I don't know, I can't see them as cute after that.”
Jill’s eyes went wide as Auri gave her a bombshell of info. An exposition, dump, even. She managed a quick and subtle glance around, looking for any SHINING staff that might have been trying to set this up. Nah, this was real. It didn’t feel appropriate, but she couldn’t help but start feeling excited again. A real adventure, a real fight, and Auri actually took her seriously enough to ask! The thought of being treated like a real hero was getting her revved up like no tomorrow. She opened her mouth to speak, practically ready to shout out how ready she was, but Auri grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her back down to the real world.
"Whoever wins or loses this tournament; I need your help to stop him. Because he seeks to "perfect" humanity... and God knows what that entails."
Jill slowed down and stared right back into her eyes. She took a deep breath and nodded.
”You can count on me.” Jill smiled, and gave a confident thumbs up. The kind you’d give for a friend, instead of the pose for TV kind.
Of course, her moment was interrupted by the sound of a boom. She turned her head back before looking all over the reception room. That wasn’t him, was it?
Isabella took one final breath of nicotine before he threw his cigarette on the ground, grinding it out under his boot. Neither Breicen sister was back yet, apparently the speakers now weren’t working at all, and he had half a mind to investigate these issues, even if it was just to see who to thank for canceling another worthless press show.
His eyes scanned the room as he walked towards the stage. His eyes momentarily settled on fellow SHINING agent Skyler Belsky, which prompted him to take a sip from his flask and move the fuck on before he got sucked into the typical vapid void of SHINING-brand ego. The second target of interest was standing so still that Isabella almost didn’t notice them, but as he got closer he knew something was off. His hair bristled as Leviathan recognized something that was no devil, but was not meant to be. He didn’t need the hint, though; he’d had enough “shows of good faith” involving cleaning up Horizon Frontiers’ occasional messes to recognize their stench in the air. He moved closer to the mock Rider, glancing sideways at him as he sized it up. When he was satisfied, he looked around for whoever was keeping an eye on their little toy. His eyes eventually landed on the mechanical bird up in the rafters. More than familiar with these kinds of surveillance tools, he stared it down, remaining silent. He knew better than to say anything: Horizon and the queen behind its throne weren’t the kind of people you wanted to mess with without a damn good reason.
But he could at least gain some satisfaction from posturing.
Of course, he was distracted by the sound of an explosion echoing through the reception room. Not too badly, but enough to break his gaze on the raven and his “fellow Rider.”
Rosie simply stood thoughtfully, taking note of the way Bea didn’t quite take the hat, as well as her rough hands. She again struck Rosie as someone who never had access to any of the finer luxuries in her short life, which was quite a shame. She was already feeling the parental urge to spoil, and might have done so in more accommodating circumstances.
Her young friend’s question froze Rosie in her tracks, which only gave itself away as a slight, considered pause. She put her beret back on and adjusted herself.
“Well, I suppose you could say I’m from around the Mediterranean, a rather religious community. I’ve been traveling away from it for quite a while though; I’ll have to admit I’m a bit older than I look.” A half-truth in a glass half empty sort of way, but it would do for now. Thankfully Bea seemed to be distracted enough by the chaos of the reception room, and changed course.
”Oh, shit- I’m not- I’m not buggin’ you, am I?” She asked with a smile, scratching the back of her head. ”It’s just, uh, I’m kinda here by myself until I ring up my family.”
Rosie laughed and shook her head.
“Heavens, no!” She smiled. “I have nothing better to do until the tournament, personally. But don’t let me keep you, either. If you want my advice, it wouldn’t hurt to scope out the competition. I suppose I’ve already given you a bit of a start, but-” She twirled her paintbrush around in her fingers until it disappeared in her bag, as if to illustrate her point, but it was thoroughly upstaged when an explosion rocked the reception hall. She gave a nonchalant glance in its direction, letting the wind of the blast wave run through her hair.
“Well, I suppose some are quite eager to show you themselves…” Rosie smiled. Of course, her smile slowly faded as it was overwritten by the type of concern unique to a parent.
“Oh!” Her eyes lit up. “But if your family is waiting on a call, you need to let them know you’re okay. Here…” The artist withdrew a sleek black cell phone in a case with a purple heart on it. She offered it to Bea, under the assumption that she might not have one of her own.
Blissfully oblivious to Oros’s growing annoyance, Olivia’s excitement only seemed to increase when the famous magical girl musician revealed that there was extra, never-before-seen footage of many of the monsters she’d fought. Obviously, Olivia was very interested in seeing such content, although she didn’t quite understand why it would cause any of Oros’s videos to become age restricted. However, before she could bombard the magical girl with a series of new questions, Oros revealed the answer with all the subtlety of a punch to the gut, causing the bespectacled bluenette’s joyful demeanor to quickly dissolve into one of shocked dismay.
“O-Oh my gosh!” Olivia cried, placing her trembling hands over her mouth. “T-That’s absolutely awful! Oh, that poor girl…” she continued, tears beginning to well up. “B-But, just because one monster does something horrible like that, it doesn’t mean they’re all bad!” she added with a raised finger a moment later, once she’d wiped her eyes with the soft sleeve of her hoodie. “A-And, like, there are plenty of other animals lots of people think of as cute that are really quite dangerous, too, like sharks, and orcas, and poisonous frogs, and panda bears! S-So, I still don’t think it’s wrong to view something as adorable, or just aesthetically pleasing, simply because it can harm people,” she concluded, while slightly adjusting her glasses.
“Please pardon our interruption of your contest,” a far calmer voice added a moment later. “My dear Olivia can become rather… overzealous at times…”
“Contest…?” Olivia echoed with a puzzled frown. “Oh gosh! Are you having a pre-tournament match?! Oh! And I’m so sorry!” the bluenette rapidly apologized. “I never introduced myself! I’m Olivia Bell, and this is Xolys!” she announced, pulling the small robot in question out of her backpack and showing him off to the two young women. “He’s my partner and best friend! Well, actually, he’s also my only friend…” she added with an awkward giggle/snort. “Oh, but what’s your name?!” she asked the lady opposite Oros. “I really like your hair!”
Yazhu didn't really get a good view of the guy who was shouting at her from all the way across the room - too many intervening tall people - so she stopped herself, walked upward in the air a few steps, and then continued. "I was TRYING to stop someone from exploding! Nobody exploded so no big issue! And, uhh, it wouldn't have killed you (probably) if it did hit you so don't worry okay?!"
She looked down to Florian, shrugging and jerking her thumb at the unexploded man with a real 'get-a-load-of-this-guy' kinda look.
Apologies and self-persecution poured forth from the mouth of Lucas Miller as he once again found himself swerving through a crowd of nomads. However his previously experienced and deft movements were now sluggish and unsure as he continued to beat himself up over how he’d performed socially. Even he wasn’t normally that skittish.
Things weren’t helped by the growing restlessness amongst the competitors eager to begin the tournament. Words and curses spat at one another, barely kept from sparking into a wildfire due to the threat of disqualification before the show had even begun. All of it contributed to the ever-weakening nerve of Lucas Miller. Striking out with a pretty girl, tempers flaring, a bomb in the air, the heat of Brazil.
Wait.
Bomb?
The explosion sent Lucas into a fearful tailspin, like a deer hearing a branch fall from several miles away. Surprisingly, few of the other nomads seemed particularly bothered as a sandy blonde young man blasted a stone bomb out of the air of the hall - no doubt wrapped up in their own megalomania and posturing - but Lucas certainly did.
He stumbled back, colliding with several nomads only to offer a mile-a-second apology while continuing to flee. At a certain point you needed to draw the line, needed to acknowledge when enough was enough. Lucas had long since drawn that line but his will had plummeted to depths even he wasn’t aware existed as he frantically began looking for the arena exit. He could feel the wind guiding him, could feel escape on his fingertips as he moved with reckless abandon.
”Sorry!” As he narrowly avoided collision with a Greco-Roman gladiator.
”SORRY!” As he dusted past the wings of a half-man-half-bat creature.
”I’M SO SORRY!” As he ducked beneath the walking armoury, equipped with enough armaments to depopulate a small town.
But there it was, freedom at last. The beckoning light of the Brazil sun peaking through the doorway. Lucas made a mad dash, mentally preparing the quickest route from the airport all the way back to Philly. But then…
Collision.
Lucas’ speed had him crash right into a short red haired fellow. While the redhead themselves seemed none worse for wear, Lucas was sent right on his ass, already spilling out apologies in a well rehearsed terror.
”I’MSORRYI’MREALLYSORRYITWASTHEREWASIWASIWASTRYINGTOI’MSORRYI-I-I-!” He paused, opening his eyes slightly which had been preemptively closed - expecting a strike of reprisal. ”Oh, hey, I know you.” His fear had briefly given way to recognition. He did know this person.
Skyler Belsky. Justice Rider Lancer. You know? Justice Rider? Like the sister of the girl Lucas had just been bombing in front of and now most certainly hated him like everybody else.
Lucas shakily got back to his feet, concern seeping back in, at least he hadn’t seemed to have hurt Skyler, but that hardly mattered to some nomads.
”I-I-I- I really am sorry, I- I was just lea-” Hm. No. Can’t just crash into them and then bow out, that would absolutely escalate to violence. ”I- I- I’m just a r-really big f-fan. heh heh. I… I c-can’t believe it’s you!” There we go. Play to the ego. Smooth things over with some terror powered flattery. Truthfully, Lucas wasn’t really a big fan of the Justice Riders show (It was a bit too schlocky, even for him. Plus the over-reliance of cgi lately had turned him off altogether.) but that didn’t matter! When motivated by an incredibly powerful persecution complex, you can bullshit about pretty much anything.
Lucas held out his hand, shaky from adrenaline and nerves. ”M-my name’s Lewi- Lucas! My name’s Lucas M-miller.”
It really was a bomb this whole time! Florian could only lament how his chums were missing out on this experience, so much he had learned in such short order!
Florian couldn’t help himself, applauding and laughing in a way that suggested enjoyment at Yazhu’s concern and Justin’s indignation but could not be further from the truth. He felt more like a learned scientist discovering an entirely new element. As, of course, opposed to a foppish twit who had seen an explosion.
He adjusted the Basilisk System - which Yazhu had so graciously, and correctly, fawned over moments ago - and went to join the hubbub.
”Come now, friends!” He began with an air of diplomatic sophistication. ”Crisis has been averted! Thanks to the craftsmanship of the delightful stone/ball hybrid and the quick skill of this man and android hybrid before us!” He could feel the words pouring forth him like spiced honey, even finding himself beguiled by his own finely bred charm!
Florian produced a small white handkerchief with “F.W” monogrammed on the corner and began lightly dusting off the scuff marks left on Justin by the dao bomb’s explosion, laughing off Yazhu’s befuddled expression and gesturing towards him in regards to Justin. Very gracious!
”Apologies are in order, however. Merely a demonstration gone awry! As the party of great stature, it falls to myself to take the blame, I do hope you’ll forgive this indiscretion.” He stood up, running his free hand through his fringe. There it was! Those damn sparkles yet again!!
”Now, with that unpleasantness hopefully behind us, let us start afresh with introductions! You likely know myself as Florian Wessington, son of Daniel Wessington and heir to distinguished weapons corporation: Minerva! This extremely talented little girl is Yazhu Kuang, immortal Taoist!” Florian’s speech never wavered, but he took a moment internally to really appreciate how much he was nailing this introduction. ”May you indulge us with your own title, my friend?”
As Justin looked up at the midget ghost girl that threw the bomb at him "by accident" (of course it would fly his direction), he couldn't help but roll his eyes. Freaks like this weren't new to him as he was quite well-versed in the world of Nomads. The only problem was that he keeps getting dragged into this crazy bullshit by idiots.
"I was TRYING to stop someone from exploding! Nobody exploded so no big issue! And, uh, it wouldn't have killed you (probably) if it did hit you so don't worry okay?!"
His robotic hands went to both sides of his temples at the audacity of this bozo! There were so many questions, the arrogance of this girl! The sheer stupidity! " So," Justin said, "My foot going so far up your ass that it comes out your mouth won't kill you, 'so don't worry..."
He laughed for a moment as he mocked Yazhu, "... okay?" Followed by yet another bout of laughter.
[quote=Florian][colour=palegreen]” Come now, friends!”The crisis has been averted! Thanks to the craftsmanship of the delightful stone/ball hybrid and the quick skill of this...”[/color][/quote]
This was when the other weirdo joined Justin and Yahzu's little thing, Justin just merely looked at him as he spoke...
”...man and android hybrid before us!”
And Justin couldn't help but wince.... most of this guy's speech went over his head as the comment dug into Justin's skin. Like it was something that he had a choice in the matter. It wasn't like he missed much, the guy sounded like a colossal douchebag. He had to resist the urge to just walk away right then and there...
”...You likely know me as Florian Wessington, son of Daniel Wessington and heir to distinguished weapons corporation: Minerva! This extremely talented little girl is Yazhu Kuang, immortal Taoist!”
... Around here Justin was snapped back into reality. So this is Florian Wessington. It was a name that Justin knew but it wasn't exactly something that he was expecting to run into. Minerva was not exactly a company that was on MAVERICK's radar at all. Not that meant they weren't up to anything shady at all - at this point it's none of Justin's concern. As for Yazhu, he never heard of her, but the world had enough immortals.
” May you indulge us with your title, my friend?”
Justin grabbed onto his bicep with his hand as he looked at Florian and answered, "Justin... Justin Haggar, sorry I ain't got a fancy title or name. I'm just a..." he shrugged as he awkwardly looked off to the side, "... Just a regular guy, nothing special."
" Can I just say that I had no idea you were so progressive? Or open about it. I don't think most people in your position would admit they want to do those things to me."
As Daniel spoke, Jaden frothed at the fucking mouth at the audacity of this scrub. This fuckin' clown. This weirdo. Jaden's right hand went into position to give him the worst pimp slapping of his life! He raised his hand slowly, fingers stuck together, and had it level with his cheek. Daniel was probably looking at the back of Jaden's hand as he said,
"... Why I oughtta,"
That was when he began to deliver the mightiest pimp hand of all time...
... However, the announcer lady slid across the stage so fast and hard and gave Jaden a bump with her hips and knocked him off the stage.
The announcer slid across the stage at lightspeed and knocked Jaden off... eliciting a chuckle from Justin.
Another smile appeared on Oh-Seven's face as she said, "I knew I co-"
That was when an explosion rang throughout the room and Oh-Seven immediately activated Scan-Mode. He can't be here yet, can he? Oh-Seven thought to herself. Unlike Jill, Oh-Seven immediately went to the source and saw Justin Haggar, the cyborg that she had eyed earlier.... and soon enough the immortal Tahzu floated over and she scanned Florian Wessington. A lot of big names here, but Oh-Seven knew she needed the Power Stone, or the odds of her stopping Oh-One were next to none.
She gently placed a hand on Jill's shoulder and said,
"It's okay, it's just the other Nomads acting like they don't have any sense." With a catty smile.
The announcer lady returned to the stage and knocked Jaden off of it.
".... FIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHTERS!"
The Announcer screamed as she slid across the stage for no reason at all and slammed into Jaden hard as she could. She was knocking the Ninja Rapper off the stage as her technicians fixed the wires that Daniel had previously messed up (along with shooing him back into the crowds). She came to a sudden stop - purple worm still on her head, attempting to reach for the mic, which was to her face as she had a broad smile on her face.
"THE TOURNAMENT IS OFFICIALLY BEGINNING! PLEASE GO TO THE STANDS TO FIND OUT WHICH ARENA YOU ARE FIGHTING IN!"
She pointed at the stands which had people scrambling to make sure the fighters get to the right place.
"GOOD LUCK, AND REMEMBER! THE POWER STONE IS ON THE LINE!"
Rio de Janeiro
"... This Ramen is cold!"
Yoko shouted as she approached the stand with her staff held with both hands - she gave the cold bowl of Ramen that she had placed on the ground a little kick that splashed some of the noodles and noodle juices and pointed her staff at the owner of the ramen stand like a statue.
"Ma'am, if you don't like it well..." The Ramen owner leaned over the counter and didn't even flinch at the stick that was shoved in his face. "... Tough luck. You're not the first Nomad to come here and complain about my Ramen! It has been passed down my family for generations!"
"Well, did it start tasting like cold piss, or somewhere did somebody replace the broth with it?" Yoko asked as she furrowed her brow.
He shrugged before he waved Yoko off, "Get lost! I got customers!" He turned away...
... TWACK!
With one hand, Yoko swung her staff and whipped the owner of the ramen stand upside the head with it. It was a loud sound as he was sent flying, destroying the Ramen stand and sending chunks of wood and splinters in all directions. The owner of the Ramen stand groaned as he looked around, the dust began to settle and he saw the shadow of this little girl through it. He raised his hand to protect himself and said, "Please, miss! I'm sorry!"
"Sorry doesn't cut it anymore!" Yoko shouted as she raised the staff over her hand with two hands and got ready to slam it down.
Then she felt a gust of wind and somebody grabbing onto the staff, Yoko turned around to see a tall, dark-skinned man with an afro that obscured his eyes grabbing onto the tip. Yoko's expression went to confusion as she turned around to face the strange man.
"OI! What are you doing?!" Yoko shouted.
"Don't you think this is a little beneath you, Hatanaka," The man said as he pushed the staff aside and threw Yoko off balance. "Bullying Ramen stands...?"
Yoko blushed as she looked over her shoulder at the man who seemed to be a mix of relieved and scared that there was now another Nomad. The stranger walked over to the owner of the now-destroyed Ramen stand and threw a bundle of reals at the man and said, "This should cover the damages..."
"H-how do you know my name?" Yoko dropped into stance, aiming her staff at the stranger, and then asked, "Who are you?" She narrowed her eyes as the stranger turned around and chuckled.
"I keep tabs on all the Nomads with potential like yourself... and who doesn't know the Hatanaka family?" He chuckled for a second as he continued. "Heard through the grapevine that you finally left Japan... didn't expect you to be here of all places."
"And your name?" Yoko narrowed her eyes.
He grinned.
"... Call me Shayton, I left behind my name a long time ago."
Yoko laid hung her hand low with the staff in her hand as she said,
"Well, I'm here to get my family's sword back from that annoying ninja." Yoko started, as he " And he's in there. So I'm going to wait for him to come out and get my sword back!"
"Jaden..." Shayton trailed off, as he rubbed his chin, "I've fought him a few times. He's an idiot, but a talented one; you're going to have to bring your A-game if you fight him.
"Wait, you asked me what was I here for; what are you here for?"
"I'm here to claim the price on Captain Cole's head." Shayton asked, then continued, "I got a question for you..."
He paused for dramatic effect before he said,
"... Have you defeated a Nomad yet? In a direct fight?" Shayton asked, "And be honest."
Yoko hesitated for a second.
"... No."
"Then I don't think you're ready to battle anyone,"
"Oi!" Yoko slammed the tip of her staff against the ground as she said, "I am Yoko Hatanaka! Legendary warrior!"
"Heh," Shayton brushed her off, "You're trained, but in the world of Nomads; experience makes all the difference." He said as he turned towards the giant stadium.
"... You're not going to catch Jaden this time, you know."
"Oi!" Yoko shouted. "I can beat anyone."
"Join the tournament, gain some experience, and you'll get him next time - but you're a big girl, you're free to make your own decision." With that, Shayton the Assassin disappeared in a burst of speed so fast the only thing that signaled that he left was the gust of wind.
"Oi!" Yoko covered her face, and raised an eyebrow, thinking to herself; Oi, oi, what a weirdo. She looked at the stadium, and maybe instead of joining the tournament for the experience; she should do it to spread the Hatanaka fame! Yes, that was a great idea. That was when Yoko walked away from the remains of the Ramen stand and began walking up the stairs to the stadium.
Which were tall.
It was stated to participate in the tournament, you had to be determined. Determined enough to climb one of the tallest flights of stairs, Yoko sighed as she walked.
And walked.
And walked.
And walked.
And walked.
... And walked.
Eventually, she reached the top of the stairs and walked into the main lobby of the building where directly across from her was the counter where fighters could sign up. She opened the door...
... And heard some heavy stomps behind her and before she could get a glance at what was approaching she was bumped into and damn near knocked over. "Oi!" Yoko shouted as all she could see was a man wearing a trench coat and a fedora. He was massive, at easily eight feet tall, and made Yoko feel tiny, and felt tough like he was made of metal or something. The man walked over to the counter, leaned forward to sign some paperwork, and walked away. Yoko just brushed it off as she walked over to the counter.
"Come here kid, you're the last person we're letting in; the tournament is about to start."
Yoko nodded her head as she signed all of her paperwork and handed it over...
"Oh, you're Yoko Hatanaka?" She asked. "Well, all your fees are officially waived. Get in there! The tournament is about to begin."
Yoko smiled as she ran through the doors to begin the tournament.
On the opposite side of the stage... there was nobody. However, the air began to ripple violently as a blue slash appeared seemingly out of thin air and the slash opened to reveal a a samurai with an Afro, and a katana in his hand covered in all sorts of energy. He smiled and looked up at Jill... pointing his katana at her as he said,
"I heard a lot about you, Jill," He said, "But, I need the Power Stone."
"JUSTICE RIDER JILL BRECIAN, VERSUS THE UP AND COMING NOMAD AAAAAAAAAAAAARON SAWYERRRRRRRRRRRR!"
The opponent of Olivia and her extra-dimensional friend walked up with her hands on her hips, packing tons of firepower as she had a cigar hanging from her lips which she tossed away... before pulling out her giant machine guns.
"THE MAIDEN OLIVIA AND THE MARVEL XOLYS VS THE AMERICAN FIREPOWER CINDY!"
Skyler's Opponent (a mysterious, tall, dark-skinned woman with a shotgun for a leg) made her appearance by delivering a series of kicks that were augmented by the weapon she replaced her leg with. When she was done, she crouched down, popped her leg open and reloaded.
"THE MONKEY PRINCE SKYLER VS THE COLE PIRATE'S ANGELA!"
“Well, I suppose you could say I’m from around the Mediterranean, a rather religious community. I’ve been traveling away from it for quite a while though; I’ll have to admit I’m a bit older than I look.”
Beatriz nodded, interested to meet fighters from around the world with different life experiences than her. ”Cool! Older than you look, huh?” She scratched her head. She wasn’t sure what to make of that, so she settled on old reliable.
”Well, y’know…yeah, cool!” She said. ”I guess that makes this my first time talkin’ to someone from the other side of the ocean.”
“Heavens, no!” Rosie smiled. “I have nothing better to do until the tournament, personally. But don’t let me keep you, either. If you want my advice, it wouldn’t hurt to scope out the competition. I suppose I’ve already given you a bit of a start, but-”
”That’s good. I didn’t really expect to talk to anyone at all. You look you have…I dunno. Fans, or some shit.” She laughed sheepishly, rubbing her arm.
Bea startled, ducking and moving her hands defensively to her head as she heard an explosion. It wouldn’t be her first time taking cover from sudden gunshots, and for a moment it showed on her face. ”Caralho! What the fuck was that? Someone throwing bombs around in here?” She brushed her hands against her shirt, chuckling nervously.
When Rosie offered Beatriz a phone, the girl raised her hands in a placating manner. ”Thank you, but-” She reached a front pocket on her bag and produced a flip phone. ”I got my own!”
”Alright, I’m gonna call ‘em, I guess. Thanks for helping me out and chattin’ and stuff, Miss Rosie.” Beatriz said. ”For some reason, I have a hard time picturin’ you losin’. She said with a tilt of her head. Gathering up her backpack she gave Rosie a casual salute and went to a quieter corner of the area, dialing the number of her home.
Bea plugged her other ear and held the phone close.
“Beatriz, my wonder child!” The voice of her father came in, speaking in Portuguese. “How are you? Are you going to fight yet? Going to bloody up some noses for us?”
”That’s the plan, Papa.” Bea responded in kind with a smile.
“Maria! Bianca! Girls! Get over here, it’s Beatriz!” She could hear her father shouting. “She’s gonna fight soon!”
“Ack, I hate it! Why!” Came the distant voice of her mother.
“Because-” Her father turned his attention back to the phone. “Bea, are you nervous? You must be nervous.”
”Ehh, a little…” Bea admitted. In truth her heart was pounding just thinking about getting onto that stage.
“Well, don’t be.” Her father said. “I don’t know much about fighting, but I know a Barro doesn’t do anything at half effort.”
“And if you lose,” Her mother began.
“She won’t lose!” Dad replied.
“And if you lose, you will be our special little girl and I have prepared dessert for you. And there is always next year. You are so very young, Beatriz, and I hate your passion but I love you so much, and I support you.”
”Thanks, Mamae-” Bea replied. Her mother’s distaste for fighting always got a good-natured wince out of Beatriz, because, really, mom was right. Bea could literally be doing anything else. If she had chosen to follow football as her athletic passion, she would probably save her mother a lot of stress. Unfortunately for everyone, nothing made Beatriz happier than fighting.
“Beatriz. Beatriz!” Came Bianca’s voice. “How about this- the Barro Barrage! You jump on them and do a SHIT ton of punches!”
“Language!”
“Language!”
”Language!”
“What- but BEA gets to swear!” Bianca whined.
“Well,” Papa said. “That is because Beatriz is a lost cause. There is still hope for you.”
”Gee, thanks.”
“Am I wrong?”
”No, but it still hurts, you know?” Bea said with a laugh. ”Let’s go back to the part where you all tell me how much you love me and how proud you are and how proud I should be. That was my favorite part.” Bea said this and then put the phone away from her ear as her family on the other side did just that. A request like that, even made in irony, would never be turned down on the side of her parents.
”That did the trick.” “Bla bla bla bla-, oh, are we done?” Bianca said with a giggle.
”Hey, yeah. Bianca. I want a new picture of me raising my hands in victory when I’m done, okay? I think I’ll put my trophy in front of yours, if that’s good with you.”
“Thhbpbpbpbpbpbpbt.” Came the eloquent response.
“Listen to me, Bea.” Papa said, serious. “I want you to go out there and show them what you are made of. You are made of tougher stuff. You have a fire in your eyes, I have seen it. I look at you, and I see someone who only gets stronger every day because she wishes it so. You have worked so hard for this- don’t think for one second you don’t deserve to be out there. Because you do.”
“I don’t want you to think things like: Oh, it’s okay if I lose, they are older than me, they are more experienced than me. Those things can wait. If you want to win, you have to WANT to win. You have to know you will win. Because your opponents will look at you and know without a doubt they can beat you. You must stand firm. As you rise, they will crack. Trust me, I know these things, I am your father. We love you, I love you, Beatriz.”
Beatriz was quiet for a moment. Clearing her throat, she turned into the corner she was standing in so the other competitors didn’t see her eyes getting wet.
”Damn.”
”Thanks, Dad.” At that moment, Beatriz winced as the loud announcer lady began to announce very loudly.
”Oh, shit- o-okay, I gotta go! Love you guys, bye!” She clacked the phone shut and shoved it back into her pack. Bouncing on her heels she slapped her head a few times and got into game mode.
Though, she couldn’t help but give the announcer another sideways glance.
”Is that- should we do something about that worm?”
—
Beatriz stepped up into the arena. Underneath her ill-fitting hand-me-downs was the body of a fighter. Her shoulders, legs, and abs were toned and not as lean as one might expect. Beatriz’s style included bursts of raw power. Her coach had given her fighting gear, and Beatriz was representing her gym in the ring. A black sports bra and black trunks with green outlines was the primary outfit, as simple as it got. Around her hands were some fingerless gloves, and her feet were bare save the ankle-supporting wrappings around them.
The previous night Beatriz had hunted down every last stray piece of body hair and eliminated it with laser precision, from her legs to her armpits. She showered religiously to reduce the chances of breaking out. Beatriz sometimes thought she was too tomboyish to be self-conscious, but all that went out the window when the eyes of the world would be on her.
The announcer called out Beatriz and Brenda.
”It- it’s BeatriZ. Not Beatrix!” She called out, trying not to let it get under her skin. When she opened her mouth, the green mouth guard lining her teeth was made visible. Thus the finer points of her consonant correcting might have been lost in all the din.
Bea bounced lightly from foot to foot, though, her heart pumping. She eyed her opponent. What is it with all these tall women today? Brenda seemed confident. Bea thought about what her father said and steeled her resolve.
”All right. All right.” She raised and lowered her fists rhythmically. ”Boxer versus boxer, huh? Right? You ready for this? I’m goin’ all out, lady.” She jogged towards the center of the ring to meet her.
Daniel liked to view himself as someone who was cool under pressure and always knew what to say, but this whole situation made him nervous. Something he often forgot when he was nervous was that it was fine to not say anything. Sometimes, keeping your mouth shut is the only thing you can do to stop a situation from escalating. Nothing made this more apparent than seeing Jaden's pimp hand rise high above his head. He winced as he anticipated the smack of his life, but it never came.
When he opened his eyes, Jaden had been replaced by the announcer lady. He could also hear a few people chuckling behind his head, but didn't bother to look and see who they were. At least someone got amusement out of this. While the technicians shooed him away, he walked backwards, nodding his head in respect at the announcer over and over again. He mouthed a thank you before turning on his heel and walking into the crowd.
He let out a gasp and wiped the sweat off of his forehead.
The series of events that had just transpired played over in his head. He wasn’t sure how any of it happened, and even wondered if it did happen or he was having a dream. Somehow that was even more nerve wracking than the idea of going to a tourney in the first place. No, that wasn’t quite true. Now he had to worry about getting tea-bagged by Jaden if they ended up in the same bracket. He could throw his match, but he worked for SHINING. Letting them pay his way into a tourney only to throw the first match would not be looked favorably upon, and threatened the safety of his family.
With a sigh, he formed up with the other fighters.
The announcement got her to turn her head. Quickly. Very quickly. So quickly that it might have been easier to describe as teleportation.
"Oh, it seems like we’re starting.” Oriko spoke over Olivia. "I suppose our little contest will have to be taken to the arena, provided you can make it to my bracket before someone else defeats you.” She pulled her cup out of Rui’s hand and slipped it into her sleeve. She didn’t so much as glance at Olivia – she had been trying to ignore her – but she did stop to look at the weird doll she was carrying around.
That thing talked, didn’t it?
She had seen things like it. Automated toys that could say a few phrases, but this one seemed like it could read the situation. Maybe it was an elaborate puppet, or even an AI interface seemed likely. It was unfortunate that the fighting had started, because she’d have liked to converse with it a bit. It seemed to be a lot less grading than the moe blob.
"Same goes for you, don’t get knocked out too quickly.”
Oros the swift departed for her arena without waiting for a reply.
Olivia was just about to mention how much the other young woman’s hair reminded her of the acid spray used by the giant worms Oros had fought, as well as the hair on the smaller worm on the announcer’s head, when said announcer slid back onto the stage and began belting out instructions. It seemed the time had come for the first round of matches to begin…
“Oh gosh! The matches are starting already?!” Olivia gasped, having completely lost track of the time.
“It would appear so,” Xolys noted. “We should probably head to the stands now,” he added, before turning his single glowing eye back towards the other two ladies at the table. “Good luck to you both,” the small robot bid them.
“Y-Yes! Good luck!” Olivia hastened to add.
Expressing a similar sentiment, Oros vanished into the crowd with a speed befitting her title, leaving her red-faced opponent sitting at the table.
"Um, it was nice meeting you!" Olivia told the green-haired young woman as she stuffed Xolys into her backpack and then set off for the stands. “Okay!” the bespectacled bluenette declared, her voice filled with determination. “Let’s go show ‘em what you can do, Xolys!”
Had there been adequate protective flooring, Florian would have fainted. While he’d only been getting a psychology degree in his off-hours for kicks, even he knew an underdeveloped sense of self esteem when he heard it. This young man, Justin Haggar, with his metallic enhancements and vaguely familiar sounding surname he was anything but “nothing special”.
Florian was about to indulge in a well intentioned but almost certainly ridiculously insensitive motivational speech before the Worm-Hosting Announcer slid back onto stage and decked Jaden off of it. The tournament was about to get underway, a noteworthy enough event to get Florian to shut up for a moment as he clapped his hands together.
”Well, unfortunately, we must cut this interaction short, my friends! I will be watching your matches with supportive interest! But I must change into my combatant attire and partake in my own preliminary contest!”
Florian flourished and bow’d before reaching into his jacket’s breast pocket and producing two small cards and all but forcing one each into the hands of Yazhu and Justin.
”My personal and professional lines - though I receive enough correspondences on my personal device that I’ve required the hiring of a screener so you’re better off calling my business number. I would very much enjoy making either of your acquaintances after I win this tournament! Nevertheless, good luck and adieu!”
With that, he spun around and sauntered off, preparing to reconvene with his unpleasantly bourgeois friends and begin his ascension to Florian Wessington I: power stone owner.
