---

Arriving at their assigned arena, Olivia, placed Xolys on the floor, retrieved her neon blue controller from her backpack and moved a short distance away. With a push of the controller’s prominent “START” button, a vortex of cracking blue energy swirled around Xolys, the small robot swiftly transforming into a towering technomantic terror.

“Shift to combat mode complete,” Xolys noted.

“All right!” Olivia acknowledged with an excited grin. “Now let’s see who we’re gonna be going up against!”

They wouldn’t have to wait long.

Soon enough, a tall, fiery-haired woman with a cowboy hat and wielding a pair of heavy machine guns appeared on the far side of the arena.

“Gosh! I really like your sci-fi cowgirl aesthetic!” Olivia called. “Are you a fan of Roach Rider Rachel?!” she inquired. “That was one of my favorite shows growing up!” the bluenette added. “I just loved how cute all her giant, genetically modified insects were! Oh! And she also had some really cool guns, just like you do!”

“Indeed, those are some very impressive armaments, Miss Cindy,” Xolys agreed. “Your strength must be quite prodigious in order to wield them both single-handed.”

Cindy wasn’t even so much as reacting… just smoking a cigar. By the time Olivia was done speaking the cigar was at its end and she dropped it to the ground and stepped on it.

“I’m going to be honest with you kid,” Cindy started, “You’re in the wrong tournament.”

She pulled out her guns as she said, “Someone is offering big bucks for that power stone. So you know how this is gonna go.”

“Yeah,” Olivia agreed with a grin, her gleaming blue eyes taking on an even greater intensity, even as Xolys’s myriad trans-phasic energy scythes glowed with building power. “We do!”

Holodisplays flashing to life above her controller, Olivia’s fingers hovered over the array of buttons as she waited for the match to...



Cindy immediately barraged Olivia with a hailfire of bullets - but they didn’t seem to be right. They didn’t seem to be bullets and more of mini balls of ki.

From his position in front of Olivia, it wasn’t hard for Xolys to intercept the ki bullets with his massive body, the multiple impacts sending showers of sparks flying off the eldritch machine’s technomantic armor.

“Hey! You’re supposed to be fighting Xolys, not me!” Olivia called out, even as she instructed her monstrous partner to lash out at Cindy with one of his technomantic tendrils via a series of quick button taps.

Cindy was obviously a ranged combatant, so if Xolys could reel the machine gunner in close, then she would hopefully be vulnerable to his impressive array of melee weapons.

“You’re on the battlefield…” Cindy said as she pulled out a grenade that was painted with the stars n stripes. “… That means you’re a combatant!”

She threw the grenade and it exploded with a massive burst of red, white and blue.

“B-But…! Uh… T-That’s not…!” Olivia stammered, even as Cindy deftly dodged Xolys’s technomantic tentacle in a superhuman burst of agility, and chucked a grenade at her eldritch adversary. However, the weapon’s multicolored flashes and smoke seemed less intended to inflict harm, but rather disorient and conceal, in preparation for the fiery-haired cowgirl’s next attack.

In an attempt to counteract this, Olivia instructed Xolys to begin rapidly spinning his myriad tendrils around himself, the resulting whirlwind hopefully dispersing the patriotic-themed smoke, and perhaps even catching Cindy herself, if she had gotten too close.

By the time the smoke had dissipated, Cindy had appeared on the other side of the room with a bazooka on her shoulder. She pulled the trigger and launched a rocket (Painted like - you guessed it) at Xolys.

Not wasting a moment, Xolys charged up his head-mounted Unreality Beam, the technomantic terror’s massive eye glowing brighter and brighter, until a swirling cylinder of warped, kaleidoscopic energy shot forth mere seconds before Cindy’s missile made impact. With luck, the powerful beam would not only destroy the projectile, but also be swift enough to strike the fast moving cowgirl who launched it.

The laser exploded the missile and caught Cindy off guard, launching her backwards with a roll. She grit her teeth as she slammed her fist on the ground. “You got tricks, eh…?” She muttered as she reached behind her. “…Well so do I!”

She threw a bundle of three grenades that created actual explosions.

Seeing the incoming attack, Xolys began to spin up his techno-tendrils in an attempt to knock the grenades away, but their detonations still sent him reeling backwards and damaged the tips of several of the tentacular appendages. An instant later, he sent one of the undamaged tendrils shooting out in an effort to ensnare the feisty cowgirl once more and drag her into range of his glowing trans-phasic energy-scythes.

“Uh-oh!” Cindy shouted as she grabbed her guns. “I see where this is going.” She unleashed a barrage of bullets at Xolys.

The hail of fire battered Xolys’s armor, leaving a few deep gashes here and there, but his techno tendril was still able to wrap tightly around Cindy and zap her with a powerful electric shock, before rapidly reeling her towards his towering technomantic form.

“Gotcha!” Olivia declared with a fierce grin.

“… Is what I should be sayin!” Cindy shouted through the pain as she chucked a grenade at Olivia.

Giving voice to a startled gasp, Olivia barely had time to reposition one of Xolys’s bulky, scythe-tipped appendages to block the incoming bomb, before it detonated with a loud boom and a bright flash. When her vision cleared, Olivia saw that the badly damaged blocking arm was now hanging limply, its once vibrantly glowing trans-phasic energy scythe having become a dull gray.

Even so, Cindy was still ensnared, and had now come within range of Xolys’s other appendages. Not wasting a moment, Olivia’s fingers rapidly jabbed an intricate series of buttons in a blur of motion. This had the effect of sending her eldritch partner’s remaining trans-phasic energy scythes darting out to repeatedly jab their opponent with a series of powerful blows. Although the attacks were blunted due to the rules of the tournament, they were still more than sufficient to batter a Nomad senseless.

While they were beating Cindy, she reached down and pulled out two grenades that exploded in her face. Injuring her but should give her space.

The force of the twin detonations sent Cindy hurtling backwards and severely damaged several of Xolys’s appendages. However, the crimson-haired cowgirl was still being tightly held by a techno-tendril, and Xolys’s cyclopean, neon blue eye was beginning to glow ever-brighter…

An instant later, a churning beam of unreality lanced out to slam into Cindy with staggering power. Cindy quickly rolled to the side to dodge the beam and quickly pulled out her machine guns and cut loose on the tendril that had her bound. Such concentrated firepower was enough to sever the tendril, the part wrapped around the futuristic cowgirl disintegrating in a shimmer of blue particles. Yet, even before those particles had fully faded, three more tendrils shot out in quick succession to hold her in place, while Xolys’s eye began to glow again, clearly powering up for another blast…

When Cindy pulled out her bazooka and shot a rocket right for the damned thing.

Even as the techno-tendrils coiled around her, Cindy’s rocket shot across the arena, before being annihilated mid-flight by the eldritch energies of Xolys’s unreality beam. A moment later, each of the three tendrils holding the cowgirl in place sent a torrent of electricity shooting into her, which forced her to convulse… 
… Before letting one final attack towards Olivia - just chucking a grenade in her direction.

“Oh crap!”

Her eyes going wide, the bespectacled bluenette’s fingers flew across her control pad in a blur of motion. Even as a techno tendril whipped out to knock her out of the grenade’s path, Xolys fired another unreality beam at the convulsing machine gunner.

“Are you all right, Olivia?!” Xolys asked, his voice filled with concern.

“Y-Yeah, I’m okay,” Olivia replied shakily as she tried to catch her breath after having the wind knocked out of her. “T-Thanks, Xolys.”

Cindy was soon knocked out.


“All right! We did it!” Olivia cheered with an elated giggle, punching a fist in the air as her vibrant blue eyes seemed to sparkle with tiny starbursts. “Great job, Xolys!”

“My thanks,” the technomantic terror replied with a bow. “Although, as always, I could not have done it without your exemplary guidance, Olivia,” he added, causing a blush to color the bluenette’s cheeks.

“O-oh, uh, well, you’re always welcome, Xolys…” Olivia stammered with a dopey smile, before giving her massive partner a big hug. “Okay!” she declared after a moment. “Let’s get ready for the next match!”

---

Brenda stuck her fist out for Beatriz to bump as she smiled. She was way taller than the girl and she said, “Now that’s what I want to hear. I’m not here for the Power Stone but don’t think I’ll go easy on you…”

Brenda chuckled.

“… Beatrix.”

Beatriz was excited to fight, and reached out her hand to bump the fist of her opponent. But the last word Brenda said caused the young fighter to squint one eye for a moment. ”It- it’s Beatriz. Beatrizuh. With a Z.” She said.

She ran a hand through her hair, chuckling, “…I know,”

That was before Brenda cocked her fist back and charged Bea, sending the mother of all haymakers towards her right cheek.

”Well then why did you-” The words hadn’t even stopped coming out of Beatriz’s mouth by the time her body took over. She leaned back, dropping her leading hand and raising her leading shoulder and chucking her chin into it to protect her jaw. She stepped backwards, the haymaker plowing through the air in front. Beatriz leaned back in and fired a counter straight punch into Brenda’s mouth, stepping into the strike like she was trying to punch all the way through.

Which staggered the boxer, she quickly wiped the blood and chuckled. She countered with a series of lightning fast jabs.

”How’d you like that, RONDA- ohshit!” Bea backpedaled frantically, raising her arms in front of her face and trying to put space between her and the taller woman. Beatriz tried to go for another counter, stopping her retreat and trying to let one of Brenda’s fists slip between her shoulder and tilted head, before zipping forward and shooting another fierce punch towards Brenda’s midsection.

The strike knocked the wind out of her and she chuckled for a second. She staggered backwards before falling to her knees. Holding her stomach.

Bea couldn’t believe it. Her heart was pounding! In her mind, she was thinking that Brenda was being way too aggressive right off the bat. She also wondered what Brenda thought was so funny.

Well, regardless, it was time for a combo. Brenda was vulnerable, and Beatriz never pulled her punches. Beatriz committed to an upward swinging kick to Brenda’s midsection to pop her up, punched her once more in the belly to double her over, and then cocked her fist back for a haymaker over her own. She stepped back and her fist flashed green.

”Gr-r-r-rat!” She shouted with a roll of her r’s. She swung it down like a hammer into Brenda’s cheek to send her skidding across the ground…

“…You’re too cocky.” Brenda muttered with a smile before sliding to the side, dodging Bea’s attack completely and retaliated with an uppercut.

Bea missed her combo string and her haymaker, her eyes widening. She looked over and received the uppercut. ”Grk! Her head jerked upward. Then Brenda followed it up with two more strikes that launched her across the arena.

She had a hand on her hip as she approached, “If you want to survive in the world of Nomads, young blood - not just this tournament… ” Brenda wiped a trail of spit from the side of her lips, “… You’re gonna have to come heavier than that.”

Beatriz rolled to a stop and pushed herself to one knee, groaning. She looked at Brenda, a fire in her eyes. ”Tch.” Clearly she didn’t appreciate the advice. When she hopped up to her feet, she performed Toe Tap, creating a flaming ball of green ki. She dribbled it between her feet and ran forward, taking it with her. When she got close she kicked it towards Brenda’s face and used that as a distraction to Slide Tackle, looking to kick into Brenda’s calf and knock her off balance while getting behind her.

Brenda blocked the fireball and fell for it and fell over for a second as she whipped around and swung wildly… damn near falling over, catching herself at the last second.

This time Beatriz was set on putting Brenda on the defensive. She wasn’t going to take turns anymore. When Brenda turned to wildly swing, Bea was already bearing down on her with a downward punch to the face. The punch would come close, but would stop short. Then she went to kick Brenda’s leg, and followed up with a floating couple of Rolling Kicks to send Brenda stumbling.

”Hay-yah!” Beatriz landed right in front of Brenda and looked to keep up the pressure by sweeping her legs out from under her…. Which connected and knocked her over. The boxer quickly rolled away to get some space from Bea and got on her feet.

“Time to take the kid gloves off…” Brenda thought to herself as she cocked her fist back- it charged with ki - and then launched forward. Sending her forward so fast she was coated in flames.



Beatriz was approaching when she saw Brenda get up with a very powerful looking move. ”What’s-” Bea said before crossing her arms in front of her to try and block as much of this as possible. There was no time to dodge. The two of them were sent forward until the attack fizzed out… The flames faded, and they came to a slow stop.

“BLOCK THIS!” Brenda shouted as she sent another wild haymaker to Bea.

Anger twitched Beatriz’s eyelid. That one hurt, but she was tired of Brenda expecting to just overpower Bea with raw force. No technique, no thought! If Bea lost here she would never forgive herself. Instead of blocking the wild haymaker like her competitor demanded, Beatriz opted for a repeat performance. She ducked under the haymaker and shot up with Check It. ”Check It!” She did a mighty uppercut that flung her into the air and would send her opponent flying away, landing a painful but safe distance away from Beatriz.

”C’mon!” Bea bounced up and down, and got Hyped Up, excess green Ki emitting from her hands and feet. With a Toe Tap she created another futbol of energy.

Brenda hopped to her feet after wiping the spit and blood away. She didn’t waste any time bobbing and weaving her way to Bea and unleashing a barrage of punches hoping to get her to miss.

Beatriz guessed that Brenda was going to walk up and start punching. So she kicked her ball into the air with a backspin, sending it floating above them both. This expended Hyped Up, and the ki ball was spinning at high speeds though it moved through the air quite slowly. Then she stepped in and, despite being shorter then Brenda, used her kickboxing techniques to extend her own range. She leaned back and moved forward, kicking her leg out which Brenda blocked, but the spinning energy ball exploded against her and gave Beatriz time to follow up with a pair of Rolling Kicks to Brenda’s ribs. She dropped back onto earth right in Brenda’s face, and Beatriz did more quick jabs guessing again that Brenda would do nothing but offense…

… but this time Brenda blocked the jabs and grabbed Bea’s wrist and swung directly at her face. Bea face jerked to the side, saliva flying from her lips. ”Ugh!” She fired a knee towards Brenda’s gut in retaliation, knocking the wind out of Brenda and creating a blast of spit (that went right into Bea’s face). She grunted, gritting her teeth as she slammed her forehead directly into Bea’s.

”Ew- ouch!” Bea’s head snapped backwards. She leaned into her fall and kicked out into Brenda’s belly which knocked the wind out of her again - sending her stumbling. Bea she let herself fall over, pushing them away from the other woman and transitioning into a backroll. She wiped some blood from her lips and Brenda wiped the spit and blood from her lips and grinned.

“Gotta say, I’m impressed,” Brenda said, “Time to up the tempo a bit and see if you can keep up, young buck.”

Brenda slammed her foot on the ground so hard the ground shook and let out an entirely bestial yell out into the crowd. A flash of fire covered her for a second, before her back and shoulders ignited like a torch. The ground shook and shook and shook… until it stopped and she put her fists up and smiled as she said, “You got me whipping out my super mode, so…”

She threw a punch and it stayed static.

“... Come show me how serious you are.”

Beatriz’s eyes widened at the display, a bead of sweat trickling down the side of her face. She pushed herself to her feet and got back into a fighting stance. Her heel dug into the dirt. Power… Bea wouldn’t let herself get overwhelmed by it. She couldn’t. The young fighter would never put a limit on herself like that.

”M’kay…” She bounced on her feet and got herself Hyped Up again, her green flame-like aura looking somewhat timid in comparison. She took a defensive stance, light and ready to dodge.

As Brenda’s first attack, she raised a fist up into the air and punched the ground hard as she could- causing a tremor to disorient Bea.

Bea lost her footing, surprised. Her arms flailed in the air. ”Shit!”

“Take this!” Brenda shouted as she launched herself towards Bea with a charging punch.

Beatriz would rather fall over than take that punch- so she did. She hit the ground with an uncoordinated thud, hoping Brenda’s momentum would carry her farther than she wanted and the punch would whiff. It wasn’t a very dramatic way to avoid an attack- eating shit, that is,- but it just might get the job done. Which caused Brenda to simply zip past her… coming to a stop a few steps away.

With a somewhat embarrassed laugh, Beatriz stood up again. She was still hyped up. She looked to interrupt Brenda’s approach with Hyped Up Sidewinder. She swung her leg dramatically out to the side and then brought it in like she was trying to chop down a tree with it. A flaming green streak followed it like a comet, and it swung out after her physical foot to strike Brenda in the chest. Launched her yet again and she tactically rolled back to her knee. She grit her teeth as she punched the ground yet again to throw Bea off balance.

Bea wasn’t trying to fall for the same trick twice. Rolling Kick was her versatile move. She remembered teaching it to herself- she wanted to jump forward and do two super quick spinning kicks. But she could never get the timing down. Instead she figured out how to keep herself in the air for longer- long enough for two strong kicks. ”Rolling Kicks!” She shouted, hopping forward as soon as she saw the raised fist. The second kick would be close enough to swipe Brenda across the face, and Beatriz would attempt to follow up with a quick series of gut punches.

Brenda was whipped across the face with the kick and a cloud of spit shot out. She was caught off guard and didn’t see the gut punches coming. She quickly countered with a haymaker to get Bea off her..

Bea saw the wind up, and leaned back to cock her fist a cartoonishly far amount. The fist slammed into Bea’s chest. ”Erk- g-r-r-r-r-rat!” But she prepped for the blow and looked to slam her own haymaker into Brenda’s face, trading blow for blow to get an advantage. Creating a comical moment where Bea’s fist was stuck to Brenda’s face and Brenda’s fist to Bea’s chest. She stumbled as she created space, huffing as she wiped the sweat off her forehead.

She shouted as she launched an uppercut towards Bea assisted by flames.

Beatriz painfully absorbed the blow with her forearms, getting knocked backwards and trying to regain her balance. ”Ugh, damn it.” She swore. Brenda didn’t let up, charging Bea and throwing another punch.

Beatriz blocked, but her guard broke and she stumbled to the side, her eyes wide and her expression harried.

“Told ya’, young buck!” Brenda shouted as she threw another punch, boosted by ki to the point where Bea would get launched. “You’ll get eaten alive fighting like that!”

”Ukk!” Bea’s eyes bulged and she went flying upwards into the air with a croak. Brenda jumped into the air and punched downwards, creating a wave of fire with it.

Bea slammed into the arena floor and rolled to a stop. ”Oof!” The heat further tipped her towards exhaustion.

Beatriz rolled away from Brenda, trying desperately to create space between them. Upon her feet she dashed backwards, her hands up defensively. In the moment, she was losing her composure. She had to focus! But Brenda’s offense was so overwhelming. Spit hung from Bea’s mouth.

Brenda hit the ground and the fire disappeared… she let a sigh and wiped her face. “You’re tough, I give you that, young buck…” she said. “Is your strategy waiting for me to get tired or something?”

Beatriz steadied herself, regaining her composure, breathing heavily. Shaking her head, she wiped her lips and clenched her fists. ”Are you? Tired?” She asks. ”Cuz I’m good.”

“You sure?” Brenda asked, “Because I bet one more solid blow will give me the win.”

”Nah, nah nah nah.” Bea replied eloquently, shaking her head. ”I’ve uh…I’ve-” She tried to think of something witty. To illustrate how totally not beat-up she was. But all she could think of was: ”I’m good.”

”Let’s not talk anymore.”Then she rolled her shoulders and cracked her neck, activating Hyped Up to give herself a little boost. She had to finish this. Beatriz began to advance one step at a time, her fists by her face, her eyes on Brenda. Bea was intent on dodging and countering any more haymakers thrown her way.

“... Then let’s go!” Brenda cracked her knuckles as she mirrored Bea, slowly advancing with her fists drawn. Until the two were in punching range of each other- but instead of throwing a haymaker, Brenda launched out two jabs.

They painfully crashed against her forearms as she was too slow to dodge, expecting slower punches. Predicting that Brenda would push the advantage, Bea burned through Hyped Up immediately by doing a wild out of nowhere Check It. ”FUCKIT!” She screamed, blasting out with a mighty uppercut that sent Brenda flying and she hit the ground with a thud. It was a green blur of a strike that left Bea landing back on the ground with an unstable stumble that she followed up with a sprint towards Brenda.

… But, when she got close, Brenda sprung off the ground with an uppercut of her own, leaving behind a trail of fire.

Quick Step. A simple move Bea hadn’t had a chance to use yet. Which ended up being her advantage. Even as she sprinted forward she was guessing Brenda might try to ‘establish dominance’ with a move like this. All Brenda struck was a brief echo of an after image as Bea’s sprint stopped dead and she dipped backwards. ”Hup-”

Before Brenda could even hit the ground, Bea leapt upon her. She planted a foot on Brenda’s chest and shoved her into the arena floor, while pushing herself upward. For a moment she floated in midair, head over heels, before the top of her foot gathered green energy.

”EEEEYAH!”

She performed Bicycle Kick, doing a full backflip while ripping her foot upwards, sending a burning green ball down onto Brenda that violently exploded. Bea spun away from the impact and landed with a rolling tumble. That was it. If Brenda got up from that, Bea had no idea how she would win. Propping herself up on her elbows, she waited for the smoke to clear and bit her lower lip, praying to Jesus that she had just won it.

Brenda was launched across the room, and slammed against the metal wall with a thud… she slid down, unconscious.



The announcer screamed.

Bea stood up, feeling the hair on her body raise on end. She did it. She actually won. ”....YEAAAAAAAH!” She shouted, pumping her fists. ”LET’S FUCKING GOOO!” She put her hands on her face and ran them through her hair.

Brenda slowly came too, got up and dusted herself off and walked over to Bea, “That was some good fighting, young buck, I’m impressed,” Brenda stuck her hand out for Bea to shake. “Good luck in the tournament.”

Bea reached out her trembling hand to shake Brenda’s. ”Th-thanks. Y-you too. Good at fighting.” Bea’s eyes were wet with tears. From jubilation and exhaustion in equal measure she collapsed into a hug against Brenda, sobbing.

“... Hey now, don’t get all touchy feely on me now,” Brenda started off, “You got like four more fights!”

”Sorry-!” Bea pulled away like she had touched hot metal, wiping her eyes.

”Sorry- I just- I need to call my family. Thank you so much.” She turned away and started walking. ”Holy shit…yes! Fuck yes, dude!” She punched the air with a mighty haymaker that nearly knocked her over.

”Beatriz! With a Z!” She raised her hands into the air victoriously. Realizing she was going the wrong way, she rushed off the stage with a bit of a stagger. This would always be one of the happiest moments of her life.

SYM-24 slowed himself down just enough to look like he just "narrowly" dodged the dozenth or so fist their opponent threw at their head. Their opponent was a simple machine, a robotic humanoid with boxing gloves, likely built for this very occasion just as SYM-24 had. Yet while SYM-24's entire existence was meant to conceal his true nature, the opponent was blatantly robotic, just a slew of metal boxes welded and motored to one another. SYM-24's fighting ability was his own, yet he noticed just outside the ring the machine's creator stood, using a metal controller to relay orders and techniques to their toy. Their attire was one-dimensionally formal and fancy; a short-sleeved button up shirt, cheap shorts, and slicked back hair. A barely-cooked attempt at trying to take pride in their appearance. The very notion enraged SYM-24 to his core.

With an actual modicrum of effort, SYM-24 would have finished the fight within a minute. But after an entire morning of standing in the middle of hypersocial crowds, enduring endless torment of flashing cameras and microphones being shoved into his face, he wanted to savor this one single instance of violence that Horizon accepted as long as possible, before he went back to the corner waiting for the next round.

Now, ten minutes in, SYM-24 was beginning to get bored. He did his best to prolong the fight as long as he could, and to provide the illusion of being a good sport for the sake of the public perception. The "fight" so far was a series of dodged attacks and superficial blows. The opponent lacked any special techniques beyond just basic yet machine-precise punches. The crowd, at least, was entertained by the performance going by their cries and cheers.


the opponent announced, before beginning to beep, hum with noise, and rigidly twitch it's entire body. Given that they announced the same move just two minutes ago, it was safe to say that virtually every trick the machine could muster had been spent.

No more games, then.

After revving up, the opponent threw a barrage of bullet-fast punches at Horizon Rider, who effortlessly bobbed and weaved in between each individual strike. Out of a counted fifty punches, not a single one had made so much as physical contact with their target. With the last punch thrown, the machine's arm lingered in place for half-a-second. In that instant, Horizon Rider finally made a decisive offensive. They grabbed the forearm, squeezed hard enough to lightly crumple the metal in their arm, and then threw them overhead and behind.

The boxing robot had crashed into the iron-link wall of the arena, falling onto the soft padded mat as their creator looked on in sudden shock and anxiety. Quickly flicking switches and pressing buttons, the robot managed to flip itself rightside up again and back on it's feet into a fighters pose.


the robot announced. Behind the arena walls, their creator began to mash and flick their controller with enough speed and complexity that they began working up a visible sweat, despite being safely outside the arena and in a cushy chair. The robot began swinging their arm in a windmill pattern at incredibly high speeds, then lunged towards Horizon Rider, swinging down the full force and speed of their strike right at their skull.

Horizon Rider narrowly sidestepped the descending fist, then stomped directly on top of it, kicking it into the ground and pinning it under their three-toed foot, knocking the machine forward as their arm was stuck against the ground, struggling for freedom. The opponent's master visibly began to panick, and once-again fiddled at his controller for the next response.

The machine was now defenseless, it's only option being attempt to raise and throw a single fist with their unbound arm. SYM-24 effortlessly caught it in his palm, and crushed it. With one jerking motion, he ripped off the grasped limb, and tossed it behind him.

Horizon Rider then raised their arm, and from their wrist a brilliantly glowing red blade emerged, shimmering amid the blinding overhead lights. Focusing for a brief moment, the blade grew even larger and hummed even louder, barely outsizing his physical body. The crowd screamed with excitement. Though pointlessly uttered to a nonthinking machine, Horizon Rider mumbled one word.

"Die."

And then, the match was over. Horizon Rider swung his blade down, easily bisecting not only his artificial opponent, but the arena floor behind them, the cage fence keeping them in, and just barely extended long enough to cut the remote controller right out of their creator's hands. The opponent's handler nearly fainted, falling onto their backside in absolute shock and horror.

The crowd exploded with a mixture of cheers, screams, and even 'oooh's as SYM-24's actions had clearly stepped over the line, and came literal inches away from harming bystanders. Nevertheless, the match was over, and the reaction of the crowd was too rich to disqualify him.

Looking down one last time at the discarded and leaking remains of their opponent, SYM-24 turned around and walked off the stage, barging past the small paparazzi of photographers and reporters hoping for a word of commentary.

And just like that, he was gone from sight.

---

By the time Jill was stepping towards the stage, she was already psyched up, striding up to the plate with a smile and a confident look in her eye. As the samurai burst onto the arena, she reached into her pocket and withdrew a ring of keys that she tossed into the air. Just as Aaron pointed his sword at her, she caught them in her hand again.

“If ya need it that bad,” Jill said. “Then let’s see you fight for it!”

"JUSTICE RIDER JILL BREICEN, VERSUS THE UP AND COMING NOMAD AAAAAAAAAAAAARON SAWYERRRRRRRRRRRR!"

With well-practiced timing, a motorcycle roared as it burst onto the stage seemingly out of nowhere, stopping right at her side. She spun her keys around her finger while she withdrew her transformation device, the brightly-shining softly-glowing EX-System. A belt expanded around her waist as she attached it to her body. With one hand held forward, Jill inserted one of the keys into the device.





With a turn of her wrist, she felt a glorious energy course through her entire body as it glowed blue, quickly fading as her body was encased in silver and blue armor. A scarf shimmered into existence around her neck. Her helmet glowed as it began wirelessly linking to her gear, feeding her all sorts of data. She stepped onto her motorcycle and revved the handle.

Justice Rider Blaze was raring to go.

“So the stories are true,” Aaron said to himself as he was illuminated in a blue energy. He disappeared into a blur and then suddenly appeared righr in front of Jill. Holding the sword with both hands he tried to stab the sword into the machinery of Jill’s bike.

Jill leaned to the side, the blade just barely missing Pit Stop as it pierced through the metal. Her heads up display flashed in protest. Not great, but she built this thing to take a few hits. As for her counterattack?

“Right where I want ya!” Jill smiled as the engine roared. Blinding headlights shone ahead while Cloud Nine took off with lightning speed straight towards the samurai caught right in front of it. He was launched off by it and sent rolling - stabbing the ground to catch himself.

He climbed up to his feet and laughed, “Let’s make this even…” He slashed the air and created a blue rift and dashed into it. A few moments later he came out riding a red futuristic motorcycle

He came out skidding sideways and let his sword hang low as he revved his motorcycle. “Let’s go!” Aaron shouted as he charged Jill and slashed his sword, creating a blue trail behind.

By the time Aaron was back with his bike, she was ready too; all turned around and sailing towards the joust. She waited ‘till the last second and twisted into a sideways slide, crowd cheering and sparks flying off the arena as the samurai’s sword flew right over her helmet. She righted herself and turned around at the edge of the arena. She wasn’t sure how to deal with all that fancy teleporting, but a bike? Like heck is she gonna let anyone beat her at her own game! Time for round two!

“Even?” Jill said. “Not yet!” She pulled the handle off her bike as it charged back in, a glowing blue blade extended from it and solidified into a steel katana with the SHINING logo engraved along the flat. Her heart raced, she felt like a knight at some medieval tournament as she passed close and swung, pouring all her excitement into the swing!

The two swords clashed and lightning spewed from all directions. Aaron went in the opposite direction with a skid, he looked at Jill as he quickly sped off in the opposite direction hoping that Jill would follow. Jill, never one to disappoint, was already closing in from behind, growing closer by the moment with her sword at the ready.

As she got closer, Aaron glanced over his shoulder before he pulled his sword out and pressed some buttons on the side. He started glowing blue as he slashed ahead of him at… nothing?

A copy of Aaron appeared behind him and floated for a few seconds before appearing behind Jill and slashing at her. Her armor caught the blade as it left a noticeable gash and a forceful impact that sent her careening out of control. She just barely managed to control her landing, dropping her sword and twisting her trajectory so she could roll out the worst of it. Still hurt, though she kept herself from showing it. Her bike skidded along the arena until Pit Stop finally managed to prop it back up, and it took off on its own, trying to keep its distance. A series of beeps sounded through Jill’s helmet.

“Just keep yer distance, buddy. I gotta think this through…” Some of Izzy’s training started to kick back into her muscle memory as she struck a pose and turned the key on her belt, pieces of her armor glowing blue as they charged up with more of her ki. Obviously this guy had more than a few tricks up his sleeve, and he’d keep making a fool out of her if she just kept charging in without a second thought. If she wanted to win, she’d have to turn things the other way around! She stood up and took a ready stance; eyes and ears open.

Aaron then pressed some buttons on his sword, which glew with electricity. He left behind a blue copy of himself as he dashed towards Jill at blinding speeds - his speed reverted to normal when he appeared above her with his sword in both hands and slashed at her. Jill smirked.

“Toh!”

She leapt backwards into the air, gracefully dodging the blade by mere inches. Blue flames burst from her armor as the power she charged concentrated in her boot. She suddenly changed direction, sailing towards Aaron with her foot outstretched in a pose that was known worldwide.



By the time Aaron had time to react Jill’s flaming boot had already made impact with his face. Making a comical face, Aaron was sent sprawling across the floor. He did a few rolls before he pressed a button on his sword and teleported back onto his bike.

He whipped around towards Jill and pressed a button on his sword and activated a flash of speed so immense he was just a blue blur. It went completely past Jill and he came out of the dash in a skidding stop.

Jill dove to the side and grabbed her sword off the ground, a little surprised that Aaron didn’t end up hitting her, but she didn’t let it freeze her up. She let out a whistle, hopping on her own bike as it sped towards her, and dematerialized her blade before plugging the handle back in. She revved it up, charging up power while she waited for Aaron’s next move.

Then he just disappeared and appeared in front of her, with his sword cocked back ready to slash… but he just paused. Jill, on the other hand, set off to run him down the moment he appeared; a flicked switch sent her stored ki straight into the bike’s engine. A sound not unlike a massive gunshot rang across the arena as, for a brief moment, it raced towards Aaron far faster than any untrained eye could follow….

… which threw Aaron’s whole plan off as he was rammed by Jill - destroying his bike and launching him across the room. He came to a rolling stop and landed face down. He looked up for a second as he was coated in a blue light.

“… You’re good.” He muttered as he disappeared.

He appeared in the spot where he began the dash with only his sword. He pointed his sword at her and said, “Face me with your blade, Justice Rider.”

Jill skidded to a physics-defying abrupt stop; her ki and her suit were the only things keeping her from a self-ko via g-force. But she only needed to take a single breath as she stared Aaron down. The crowd went silent.

“Well…” She paused, before stepping off her bike.

“I’m not one to turn down a challenge, so I hope you’re ready!” Fans in the crowd cheered as she grabbed the hilt off her bike and summoned her blade. With a slap on the side, her bike raced away to give the two fighters room. She stanced up, not unlike a samurai herself, and ran forwards, meeting Aaron’s challenge with an overhead swing and the two blades clashed as Aaron quickly blocked then kicked Jill in the stomach and got her off him.

He walked a circle around Jill, blade in one hand and the other around his sheath. “On the bike your skills are unmatched,” Aaron spoke as he stopped. “But blade-to-blade…”

He charged her, holding the katana with both hands as he swung towards her core then pulled the blade back and swung upwards. Jill blocked his strikes, but each one sent her back a little bit further; she was clearly losing ground.

“Lemme guess,” Jill had a smile hidden beneath her helmet. “I’m not holdin’ up?” She tried to take back the offensive with a quick stab. Which Aaron couldn’t dodge in time and hit him in the side and he bore teeth.

He retaliated with a wide swimg using all of his strength. Jill, already fighting defensively, raised her sword to block. She could handle it.

Her sword couldn’t.

Her blade snapped in two right before Aaron’s hit her in the side. Pain shot through her body as it dug past her armor and sent her to the ground, followed by an electric tingling sensation that sent her rolling back to her feet again.

“Well,” Jill said through gritted teeth. “I tried.” She lunged forward and sent a straight punch towards Aaron’s chest. Which really caught him off guard as he lost his wind, stumbling backwards a little bit.

“... Hey, at the end of the day that’s all you can say.” He quickly spun around and delivered a reverse round-house kick towards Jill’s head. “Now you got me out of my element” Jill ducked, the swoosh of air above her head filling her with adrenaline. She clipped what was left of her sword to her belt and rushed in, but pulled her punches as she delivered a series of quick blows. For better or worse, she was also unmatched when it came to faking it for the crowd.

“Now pardon me if I’m bein’ rude…” The Rider said, starting up another flurry of punches which Aaron tried his best to block but a few slipped through. “But what do you want with that stone anyhow? Y’made it seem like you really needed it, but you’re an awful good sport for someone who’s in it to win it, y’know?” She capped off her flourish with a twirling kick which Aaron blocked but launched him off balance…

He put one foot forward as he said, “I do… but I can’t disrespect the legends.” He charged forward and threw a punch towards Jill. She leaned to the side and did a quick cartwheel to gain some distance.

”The legends?” Can’t say I’ve done that much yet…

“Well I’m flattered,” Jill turned the key on her belt. “But I didn’t come here for a cozy ride, and the fans ain’t tuning in to watch one either.” She felt her heart race as she kept charging power. Soon enough, her tanks were full, a slight crackle and hum resonating inside her helmet as that energizing power reached its peak, just waiting to be unleashed.

“If you wanna give me your respect…” The Rider struck another pose, arm confidently outstretched towards Aaron.



Aaron grabbed onto his sword and pulled it out. He braced the blade against his hand and said, “Sure!” The blade glowed blue as he spun the blade in front of him with both hands. The blue extended to his body as two blue copies of Aaron appeared behind him. He held his sword towards the sky behind him as he shouted,



He charged Jill with the copies behind him, and slashed his blade - his clones doing the same attack. Jill raised her arms and parried the first strike, turning herself ahead of Aaron, and intercepted the clones attacks with her gauntlets, blades grinding against her armor as she struggled.

“Yes,” Justice Rider Blaze chuckled. “That’s it!” her arms radiated blue flames as she found the strength to push the copies away. Even if she was having the time of her life, being surrounded was in a bad spot. Still, she let out a whistle, which was met with a quick series of beeps as Pit Stop flew away from the bike. She held out her hand and focused her ki.





The drone flew into her back and began unfolding, converting itself into segmented armor plating that distributed itself around her suit, leaving her looking like an armored samurai as heat sinks and exhausts jutted out from her armor to manage a new excess of power. She pulled the other handlebar off her bike and combined it with the one she had, whip solidifying and sword reforging, forming a mean-looking naginata. She gave it a twirling flourish, intense yet beautiful flames and arcs of lightning trailing its path.

This, as the fans would recognize, was Burnout Form.

Jill pulled the switch on her arm and charged in, sparks flying and armor clanking with every step until she made one wide swing towards all three Aarons. They blocked the attack - however it was too much for Aaron and he was sent sliding backwards. He held his footing, however the tip of the blade hit him in the bicep.

He quickly leapt into the air, augmented by a blue light - his copies followed - and slammed the blade downwards. His copies tripling the damage. Jill held up her weapon to block, feeling the strain on her legs as each hit came down so hard it chipped at the floor underneath her. Still, her increased strength held her steady, and as Aaron and his clones hit the ground, she twirled her naginata to attack them all in a graceful, powerful duet of blows. First came the blunt side, then came the blade, blue flames swirling in a beautiful tornado as they followed behind. Launching all three of them so hard they launched across the room and hit the wall. Briefly making them coalescence, as Aaron stood up on his two feet. He dropped to the samurai stance as he said,

“Come at me!”

Jill smiled, the EX-System ravenously storing away ki until it couldn’t hold any more. She leapt into the air, legs aflame as she twirled gracefully through the air. She extended her legs forward, arcs of electricity flying off her body as she put every last bit of stored ki into her next attack.



She accelerated towards Aaron with astounding speed, spinning like a drill followed by a spiral of flame.



Aaron raised his blade and blocked the kick, sliding backwards as the intense flames singed his outfit. Eventually, he managed to come to a stop, but he was struggling against the full brunt of the attack. He was groaning, trying his damnest not to get pushed back even further - his blade heating up to the point it was glowing.

“I’m…. I’m not giving up here!” Aaron shouted, before he added a key line that would change everything. “... The FUTURE needs me!”

However, he started to lose ground again… he tried using all of his strength, including his paradox - yet that just wasn’t enough. He starting sliding faster and faster, until his guard was broken - he couldn’t hold his blade any longer and was launched backwards by the Justice Rider’s overwhelming kick! His eyes shot open as it hit him square in the chest, only being able to hold onto his blade for a second before it fell out of his hand. By the time the attack was over, he was launched away, stopping with a roll as his sword landed next to him.



Jill landed gracefully, coming down off the adrenaline, then staggered ever so slightly as she rose to her feet. She flipped the switch on her suit and powered down the EX-System, Pit Stop detaching from her armor as it faded away in a beautiful blue glow. She let out a sigh as she wiped the sweat off her forehead, her face pale for a moment before the color came back to it. She made sure to give Pit Stop a fist bump before she helped Aaron to his feet.

“That was some darn good fightin’ back there,” Jill smiled, offering up a handshake and Aaron accepted. “Hope I didn’t hit ya too hard!” She smiled, but it faded into a frown as she thought about the last moments of their fight. Nomads said crazy stuff all the time, but…

“Again, pardon me for prying…,” Jill’s voice was a little hushed, like she knew that maybe this was some kind of secret. “But what you said about the future back there, did that have somethin’ to do with why you needed the stone?”

“I…” Aaron stopped himself and continued. “I come from the future where a robotic being known as Oh-One has reached a sort of godhood using the power stones and decided to wipe out humanity.”

He sighed, “I came back in time to get the Power Stone in hopes of saving the future.”

“Oh!” Jill’s eyes lit up. “Just met a lady who was tellin’ me about that robot…” Jill frowned as she thought. Maybe Aaron was playing some kind of angle, but after their fight she didn’t think he was the kind of guy to lie to her like that. No one knew how to time travel yet, as far as she knew, and she couldn’t claim to understand it any more than sci-fi anime pretended to. She knew enough to keep it from hurting her head, but the thought of a bad future like that made her sad.

“It was probably Oh-Seven, or the Pariah…” Aaron said, “Both of them were killed in the future, however, so I couldn’t pick one out of a lineup.”

“Well,” Jill rolled the ideas around in her head, trying to find the silver lining. “I guess I don’t know if all that predestination theory junk is true or not, or if you’ll end up gettin’ that rock some other way… But as of today I already know who this Oh-One is and what he’s after, and I ain’t even seen him yet. Maybe you’ve already made a difference.” She smiled. Probably not the most convincing thing to say, but she chose to have faith in it.

“Maybe… I guess I’ll see in a minute,” Aaron said, as he turned away. He pulled out his sword and slashed at the air, creating a swirling blue portal into the future. He took a few steps into it, and looked back at Jill as he gave her his parting words with a smile, “If anything, I got to say I fought Jill Breicen herself!”

The portal closed and he disappeared. He left Jill with a lot on her mind… but she couldn’t help smiling back.

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Interactions: Just an NPC

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Flying through the air with a yell, Justin hit the wall and slid down. He grits his teeth as he looks up at his opponent with her fist out. She stood straight up and smiled as she taunted,

"And you said I couldn't be a hero! You said I didn't have what it takes!" Justin's opponent said as he climbed his way to his feet.

"Look, Clementine, I didn't say you didn't have what it takes, What I said was you need to stop going around Gold City beating up every criminal you come across!" Justin grabbed the side of his head and cracked his neck.

"Oh... wait, I mixed you up with a diffe-" Clementine stopped herself as she said, "... Sergeant Haggar, just what happened to you...?"

Justin grits his teeth as he says, [color=cornflower]"This a fight or a polite conversation? We gonna fight or what, bub?"[/color] Justin sticks both hands behind him and shoots a blast of energy that launches him at Clementine - who leaped up into the air... and does a stomp downwards and lands directly on Justin, pinning him to the ground. Justin groaned - then stuck his hands out and used that same blast of energy he used to propel himself to get Clementine off of him. He sent her spiraling through the air as he launched himself up to his feet by shooting blasts of energy. Justin then jumped into the air with an uppercut that hit Clementine in her center of mass and then shouted.

"... SONIC BREAKER!" As his hands went faster than the eye could see, barraging Clementine with an assault of lightning-fast punches. He launched himself upwards again and shouted, "... "RECORD SPIN!"" He spun so fast that he transformed into a blue tornado that barraged Clementine with so many attacks that she could barely take it. When he stopped, his right hand glowed blue as he shouted, "... "RHYTHEM HAMMER!"" and punched Clementine into the ground with a blast of concussive force.

Clementine hit the ground so hard that she bounced, but Justin wasn't finished. He stuck both of his hands out and they charged with a light that grew greater and greater Justin called the attack:

"CRESCENDO!"
 "CRESCENDO!"

A massive beam of blue energy came out of his hands and hammered Clementine for a few moments before it faded... leaving her a charred mess. Justin lands and hits the ground as he doesn't even face her.

"JUUUUUUUUUUUUUSTIN HAGGAR TAKES THE WIN OVER CLEMENTINE THE SUPERZEROOOOOO!"

"Hmph," Justin scoffed as he narrowed his eyes, "I'm one step closer to you, Abel."

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Interactions: A Surprise Guest

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Humming a random song that she came up with, Oh-Seven leisurely skipped into the arena. Once she got to her spot, she put her hands behind her back and waved herself back and forth. As if she was dancing to an invisible song - as she waited for her opponent her eyes lit up as she activated scan-mode...

... Then it fell out of the sky, creating a cloud of dust that she had to cover her face. Scan mode allowed her to see through the dust, and it revealed her opponent. Oh-Seven couldn't help but tilt her head over to the left as she (very incredulously) said...

"... It's a tank."

And that it was. The dust settled and revealed the mechanical monster that the tournament had chosen as her opponent. A literal, god-damn, tank.

"AUUUUUUUUUUUUUURI AUCLAIR VS. XMB91 AND IT'S CREW!"

A man in armor popped out and stuck his fist up.

"... You gotta be kidding me."

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Interactions: Everyone Present at the Tournament

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The first round of fights was completed, and the fighters that won were shunted back into the reception room with the stage.

"GOOOOOOOOOOOOD JOB FIGHTERS ON WINNING YOUR FIRST ROUND! THE NEXT BOUT OF FIGHTS WILL BEGIN SHORTLY BUT TAKE FIVE! EAT UP AND REFREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESH!"

Then the good times continued.

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Interactions: This weird MF.

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That fool was no match for the might of Hatanaka!

The Hatanaka spawn silently gloated as she was led back into the reception room by the staff of this stupid tournament. She didn't know what that idiot Shayton was talking about - she made easy work of that fighter and she would be more than a match for that ninja! Wait... that just reminded her and the second she made it back to the reception room she darted for the match-up board.

JADEN RALDEN HAS BESTED KASUMI THE NINJA!

That means the bastard is in here somewhere! Yoko jammed his staff into the ground as she looked around - there had to be hundreds of different nomads in here. Well, Jaden wasn't gonna come to her; so Yoko turned on her heel and began walking around the room in hopes of finding him. However, Yoko didn't find that annoying ninja, instead, she found another annoyance! That bastard that bumped into her when she was walking up the stairs to the tournament. He walked across the room like a robot of some type and stood in the corner and Yoko followed him. He didn't even react as Yoko approached and looked up at him (Damn are all the Nomads this big? ).

"Oi! You bumped into me!" Yoko said but the bastard didn't even respond. "Can you hear me?!"

Again, no response. This time Yoko used her stick to "gently" tap him over the head (Well, Yoko's version of that word still hit hard as a punch).

"I'm talking to you!" Yoko gave him another whack that he just ignored. Before whacking him over the head again, and again, and again, and again...

... Until he suddenly reached out and grabbed the stick - stopping it with his hand- and lifted her by it and Yoko thrashed and resisted.

"Oi! What is wrong with you?! Put me down!"

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Interactions:

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After that fight, Justin simply threw his hoodie back over his head and sauntered his way back over to the bar (he didn't see that Ninja asshole being annoying, so that was a plus). Justin quietly ordered a glass of vodka and placed it against his lips... to feel nothing. Justin sighed as he leaned back in his chair... not noticing the hand on his forearm. He turned his head to see Oh-Seven caressing his arm and his brow furrowed.

"Are you okay, friend?" Oh-Seven asked.

Justin looked down at Oh-Seven's hand, and just sighed, "... I'm good, pal."

"Are you?" Oh-Seven asked. "You seem distraught... like something is bothering you."

"How about you tell me your name first?" Justin asked.

"Oh, where are my manners?" Oh-Seven said in a sing-song voice as she stuck her hand out, "I am Auri Auclair... and I just fought a tank. A literal tank."

Justin chuckled.

"That's funny, I got a wannabe superhero," Justin chuckled as he looked over his shoulder. "Lotta weirdos in-..." Justin was cut off by a scene taking place right next to them.

"Ma'am calm down!"

"You call this crap Oni sake?!" The Oni slammed the bottle of sake that was covered with cartoony pictures of Onis with "ONI SAKE" written across it. "Not only do you... mock my people with this bottle; this stuff tastes like warm piss! I couldn't get drunk off it even if I tried!"

"It's-it's just a bottle!" The bartender said as he snatched the bottle away. "How about this?! I'll get you a different drink al-altogether!"

"Get me your strongest drink," Aiko said as the bartender tried to pour her a glass of their strongest drink before she pulled it out of their hand and just downed the whole bottle in less than a minute. She loudly burped as she looked at the bartender. "I said your strongest." She damn near growled.

"That is our strongest."

"I just downed all of it and I don't even get so much of a buzz, is that too much to ask for?" Aiko started as she climbed up onto the table to face the bartender eye to eye. "... You think because I'm short I can't take a drink or two? Well, I'll have you know that just a sip of real Oni sake will put a human in the emergency room."

"I wasn't saying that at all, ma'am!"

"Then go get me a real drink."

"Right away, ma'am," The bartender said as he ran off to the back

"... Well, ain't she something?"

Interactions: Yoko and some weird MF

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Only a few hours ago, Selena arrived in Brazil and made her way to the hub of all the Nomads who gathered here. Wow, this was a lot of people whose asses she could hand to. The fact that she made it this far was enough proof to Selena that she could stop listening to that nagging little voice in the back of her mind saying, Turn back, and they might not be as angry when you go home. But of course, Selena wasn't listening to that, so instead she trudged on through the crowd of fighters, wizards and nerds that were congregating around this "carnival." It felt weird, being surrounded by so many people. Selena had been around large crowds, particularly the one at the magic tournament back home, but this- This felt like thousands. All she could feel was wonder and awe. Every Nomad and their mother must've been here.

Selena managed not to trip over people in the carnival, and eventually stumbled upon a rather unpleasant sight. A shorter woman was being held aloft over the ground by a man holding a stick. Like dangling a cat by the scruff, she thrashed and barked (y'know, like a cat) at the man to put her down. Instead, though, the man just looked at her deadpan. Well, that was unfortunate. Selena figured she might as well help out, and get some information from the woman before she was clobbered like a sack of potatoes. Selena closed the cloak that draped around her shoulders, and looked over to a spot behind the man. Suddenly, Selena was over there. But she hadn't moved- It was a clone. The clone held its palm up to the side of the man's face as a crackling orb of white energy manifested. The magical equivalent of holding a gun to someone's head. The fake Selena locked eyes with the man but said not a word, meanwhile the real one approached at last.

"That's rather impolite, don't you think? Set the woman down, if you would be so kind," She politely demanded, with a snarky smile on her face.

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Interactions: Selena Phoenix (@Blizz) and that weirdo.

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Even with the threats that Selena sent his way, the man did not change facial expression or even so much as flinch. He merely blankly stared at Selena for a few seconds, before he dropped Yoko to the ground, who landed with a thud and a groan. She quickly moved over to Selena, her new friend, she guessed and dropped into stand - dropping her weight down and aiming her stick at the stranger... who finally spoke,

"I was merely protecting myself from subject: Hatanaka, Yoko." He said to Selena... his voice was droning and monotone, but wrong. He had the inflection of a Text-to-speech program. "I do not aim to fight you, as that is an instant disqualification from this fighting competition."

"Oi! I was just tapping you on the head to get your attent- wait, how do you know my name?" Yoko's grip around the stick tightened as her eyebrows furrowed.

"You are of the Hatanaka Family - famous for defeating the Oni menace in ancient times," The man answered before he turned his attention to Selena and droned, "Subject: Selena Phoenix; I politely request that you remove these orbs from my presence."

There's something off about this guy...

Interactions: Two Strangers


Right now all the other fighters were celebrating and cooling off from the first batch of intense matches, back in the reception room. A few sulked off to parts unknown, too cool for sharing the same hall with their fellow round one winners.

Horizon Rider, on the other hand, sat in a small maintenance garage. One among dozens that had been bought out by Horizon for the event and placed under heavy security, if for any reason it stood out from any of the other identical storage sheds in the halls beneath the stadium. A small group of scientists made busy work in the garage-turned lab, focusing all their efforts on the restrained and sedated SYM-24.

Despite their best effort to make an effortless show in the first round, their debut match wasn't as effortless as the false Rider had made it seem. While any actual damage was superficial, their shoddy robot opponent still managed to deal some damage to the unit's armor and outer carapace. Damage that, unlike with most Nomads, couldn't heal with a short breather and a quick meal. Several plates of armor-like shell had been replaced and set aside. Replacement shells had been set into place, and were currently being drilled back in with metal bolts. The creature made no response. Despite being biological in nature, the unit was essentially offline. They also output way too much energy in the killing blow, and their reserve Ki was now well below three-fourths. A metal tube attached to their back, channeling raw extracted energy into them.

Secondly, SYM-24's back head was now wide open. The mechanical integration was fully exposed, and being manipulated and repaired by a scientist very gingerly pressing metal shock rods and relocating various parts. While the first match was a resounding success, it definitely overstepped boundaries, both damaging the arena and coming within a hairs width of killing a bystander. Now the engineers were busy on reworking his 'inhibitor unit', limiting how much he would do without proper activity.

In the middle of the wretched miracle of science, sat the two spectators from earlier. They hadn't done any actual work on the model, the hulkingly tall one simply sitting and whetting a massive blade in his hand, while the other fidgeted with the sleeve of her strange jacket.

"That was way too close of a call, even for the Fighting Carnival", the shorter woman said, "If butchering people in the crowd was an option we could've just sent you,"

"Aww, don't make me blush. How goes the half-time show?" the man responded.

The woman had a direct feed of the Reception Room a few floors above them. Again, it was a colorful storm as all the various Nomads -- The ones that hadn't been weeded out of course -- Intermingled and recovering. Her little birdie showed her quite the scene; There was a commotion at the bar, and a tall figure in a trenchcoat manhandling a small woman by the staff she held. The tall one, she had a bad feeling of... Something about them was definitely off. Mechanical, yet trying to conceal themselves in some way. Never let down by a hunch before, she started quietly through Horizon's reports and access. It might take a bit, but she had the feeling she had seen something like that somewhere before...

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Isabella sighed and took a sip from his flask. The match was exhilarating; an uplifting reminder that the dark arts were still alive in their own way, but it was over now. He couldn’t even sneak halfway to the bar for a refill before Jill managed to track him down, swerving through the crowds like she was racing through rush hour. He had to wonder if she managed to dodge the cameras, too.

“Hey Izzy…” The younger Rider stopped to catch her breath. “Good match, huh?”

The older Rider frowned.

“There’s a lot to go over-”

“You ever heard of somethin’ called Oh-One?” The look in her eyes was too genuine to defuse. He thought for a moment.

“Can’t say I have.” Isabella stared off into the distance, scanning the crowd.

“Well, this lady came up to me before the match, she was tellin’ me about this big robot that’s gonna try and change humanity, and then in the match this guy was tellin’ me about how he’s gonna get the Power Stone too! Was just wonderin’ what you thought about it all…” Jill looked expectantly at the half-devil as she spoke. He didn’t know how to look like he was as impressed as she wanted him to be. He’d seen a lot of ambitious threats in his years, seeking to take over the world or destroy it or other such nonsense. None of them ever succeeded, and those in charge of society never thought it was worth it to try and prevent the phenomenon. They were, much like the Riders themselves, an eternally recurring fad of the year. Or decade, if the stars aligned. Still, that wasn’t to imply they weren’t worth taking seriously.

“Well,” Isabella stroked his chin. “If someone’s going to try and take the stone, we’re in a good spot to defend it now. I’m gonna make a few calls. Just focus on the tournament for now, Rider.” Jill smiled, and gave him a thumbs up. Before he could stop her, she was already running off again. A book slammed shut.

“She’s barely even stopping to say hi, huh.” Jasmine held her grimoire at her side as she went back to her phone. She’d been swapping back and forth since he finished his match.

“She’s making new friends,” The Rider shrugged. “You don’t have anything better to do?” The Witch shrugged back.

“Something similar, I guess.” Jasmine said. “You seen that Lucas kid anywhere?”

“Who?”

“Uhhh… Bizbyland?” Beelzebub helpfully added.

“... Who?” Isabella was looking more confused by the second.

“Never mind. I’m gonna have a look around.” Jasmine turned to leave. Isabella took a quick look around for Horizon’s little experiment, and its little companion. He only saw one of them.

“Be careful, hija.” He said. Jasmine turned around and smiled. She liked the switch from hijo, he’d noticed.

“I’ll be fine,” The witch said. “Besides, I’ve got the big guy too, right?” Beelzebub grinned unconvincingly.

“You’ve got my number.” Isabella said. “If you don’t know how to contact me magically yet, learn.” Jasmine nodded as she left. He left as well, sneaking off towards the garages. There was a lot to follow up on.

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Interactions: Oh-Seven @Punished GN

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Jill managed to track down Auri again pretty quickly. There was a lot going on, but she had a major case of tunnel vision.

“Auri!” Jill waved hello. “Hey, you know anything about that Aaron Sawyer guy I just fought? He was tellin’ me he was from the future, which sounded kinda weird, but he knew about Oh-One too! Said he’s after the power stone, so…” Her mind began to slow down, processing the Oni angrily demanding a drink (weren’t they not supposed to leave Japan? She supposed she didn’t mind) and then everything surrounding her. She finally registered that she was already talking to someone, who probably heard everything she just said. He was wearing a hoodie for some reason… which was weird in Brazil, but she wasn’t one to judge.

“Oh…” She said slowly. “Sorry to interrupt ya, there.”

---

Interactions: ??? @KremeSupreme

---

Isabella snuck through the underbelly of the stadium with ease. Despite his size, he had the uncanny ability to escape notice and slip out of sight if you weren’t focused on him. It was part of what made him so valued for the more morally ambiguous work he’d found himself taking part in throughout his life. He snuck into Horizon Frontiers’ garage without making a sound. He looked over the room with disdainful interest. Evidently, their dog was having issues. Hopefully, there would come a time where he could make sure they couldn’t fix them, but it hadn’t come yet. He produced an SD card from his trenchcoat and tossed it towards the pair who looked like they weren’t doing anything, very deliberately choosing to do it before he even announced his presence.

“Here’s the data from the kid’s little bout.” His tone was tensely professional, mostly restraining his disregard for everything about this room and everyone in it. “She was telling me about some robot trying to take the stone… is it one of yours?”

---

---

---

Rosie slipped out of the arena with a confident smile on her face, strutting towards a secluded alley. The match was child’s play, though with a bit of dramatic flair. She’d managed to draw it out, getting into her opponent’s head and dodging every single attack they threw at her while simultaneously refusing to throw so much as a jab back at them. Right when she was at the edge of the ring, and their rage was at its peak… she simply waited for the charge, grabbed them by the hand and pulled them off the edge of the ring. A victory by ring out! You didn’t get that doing odd jobs.

Of course, this was merely spectacle in the grand scheme of things. While Rosie was out in the ring, she’d sent her shadow out to sneak about and map out the rest of the stadium, identifying security patrols, keycards, door combinations, important documents, the likely location of the Power Stone, you name it… All of which Rosie could copy and forge to complete perfection. That paintbrush wasn’t just for parlor tricks. Rosie stopped next to the familiar sight of the black limo, which was now flanked by three hooded figures.

“Afternoon, friends,” Rosie handed over her lovingly collected information. “I come bearing gifts.”

You haven’t gotten the Stone yet?” The short one hissed. They were trying to be angry, but they were clearly just clueless.

“If I’d gotten it, you’d already know.” Rosie frowned. “This is one of the most important and coveted artifacts in the world. It’s not a one devil job.”

”You promised this council that your skills were beyond measure.” The tall one mused. “You told us that you were still of use, instead of a has-been. An aimless degenerate-” Rosie glared daggers into the younger devil, sharpened by corners of Hell it had yet to see. It took a step back.

“I do not see a ‘council’ here,” Rosie said, stepping forward. “I see a party of idealogues who can’t put their money where their mouths are. You’ve got some big desires, and dear Belial has been telling you they’re exactly what the world needs. You don’t think highly of devils like me, or Beelzebub, who are not so strictly devoted to your lovely little dreams, but you forget that we have earned our keep, and when it comes time for you to act on your little plans, I find myself to be the one who has to step up to the plate. Do you resent us for being unwilling to act, I wonder? Or do you resent that we are the only ones who can?”

Rosie was met with silence. This was about as visibly angry as any devil could remember her being for centuries. Behind her back, many were willing to claim she’d gone soft, but face to face, none were willing to put that to the test.

“So, if you haven’t already found more participants in this little project, you’d better get to it soon. Understood?” Rosie sighed, anger fading as she was met with scared nods.

“And one more thing. Hooded robes? Seriously? It’s not 13XX anymore. You could at least try to be subtle.” The short one shifted awkwardly.

And with that, Rosie snuck back into the tournament hall. She’d managed to vent, at least.

---

Interactions: Justice-FUCKING-Rider Jill (@Kamen Evie)

---

“Auri! Hey, you know anything about that Aaron Sawyer guy I just fought? He was tellin’ me he was from the future, which sounded kinda weird, but he knew about Oh-One too! Said he’s after the power stone, so…”

It was no surprise that Jill made it to round two if Oh-Seven had to guess; some of these matches were... a little bit rigged. What did surprise Oh-Seven was what Jill had to say... she honestly had no clue about time travel but given the world they live in, it was not outside the realm of possibility. What was more interesting was that he knew about Oh-One as well when the only people who would know about Oh-One were MIRAGE, Jill, and the surviving One-Hundreds... Oh-Seven wanted to meet this individual. Oh-Seven had some of the most advanced scanners in the entire world, she would be able to deduce whether or not this Aaron Sawyer was from the future.

"I do not... but do you know if he's still in the stadium? I can figure out if he's telling the truth or not with..." Oh-Seven gave Jill a catty grin as she said, ".... Intuition." She chuckled for a second.

“Oh…Sorry to interrupt ya, there.”

"... Yeah, I get that sometimes," Justin calmly said with a roll of his eyes... He was lost, but interested. "Oh-One? Future? Power Stone? If someone's going for the Power Stone, then they're brave." He chuckled as he spun the drink he had in his hands from the top and then leaned in and stared at it. His facial expression was completely neutral as he said.

"I was a part of the security detail for a couple of these tournaments... there's a vault waaaaaay underground with the prize, with sentry guns, robots, and all sorts of nasty shit, just waiting for someone to be dumb enough to try and steal the prize... but, I take its even tighter now that there's a Power Stone involved."

Justin then leaned back as he finished, "Not just that, I was talking to my old MAVERICK buddy and three of their best fighters are on standby in case things get ugly."

He shrugged. "I don't know who this Oh-One is... but he's in for one helluva fight if he's after the Power Stone."

"Well..." Oh-Seven explained the situation with Oh-One.

"... I see," Justin flatly responded. Of course, MIRAGE would go and fuck something up again without fully considering the consequences. However, Justin's focus was on stopping MIRAGE, not fixing some dumbass' wannabe Skynet. That said, Justin knew that he needed the Power Stone to give him an edge and if this Oh-One is as big of a threat as Auri makes him to be, then Justin knew he had to do his part. So responded again with, "I'll keep my eye out. If you need me, give me a holler."

Auri smiled as she said, "But aren't you forgetting something?"

"Hm?"

"Innnnntroduce yourseeeeeeelf!" Auri cheerily said.

Justin offered his hand to Jill... his sleeve rolling down and revealing his cybernetics. This made him scowl as he gave Jill his name.

"Sorry about that... probably never heard of me but I'm Justin Haggar. Former MAVERICK." Justin then sighed as he said, "... Former lotta things."

Interactions: Two Strangers and a Familiar Face (@Kamen Evie)


The Demon Rider slipped into the room with little fuss, but him suddenly announcing his presence was of little concern to the small team of engineers and scientists, who paid him a brief look before turning their attention to the more precious matter at hand, finishing up the maintenance on their little project.

The flying SD card hit the poor woman right in the face, yet she managed to scramble and cup it in her hands.

"Ow! Who told you we'd be down here?!"

The tall man sat up and put aside his whetstone. He smiled warmly at Izzy, yet still notably clutched the grip of his blade. His own way of letting him know he was on thin ice being there.

“Here’s the data from the kid’s little bout.” His tone was tensely professional, mostly restraining his disregard for everything about this room and everyone in it. “She was telling me about some robot trying to take the stone… is it one of yours?”

"Robot? No," The woman answered, gently rubbing her nose, "You should know by now Horizon does not deal with robotics, Isabella. Besides, did you see the first round? That guy's opponent was a robot trying to take the stone," She said, pointing over to the still heavily-restrained Justice Rider knockoff.

"Although, I have noticed something among the contestants that definitely seems a bit seedy," She explained. She awkwardly leaned to the side of her seat, holding her arm out and twisting it to show the screen to Izzy. On it was the tall, cold and monotone figure buried in a trench coat and a hat.

"This guy here caught my eye. I don't know where I've seen him before, but I've definitely seen him. It'll take me a bit before I can prowl Horizon's database for what I need to know. When I find it, I'll tell you," She promised, pinching the SD card Izzy gave between her fingers and putting it in her pocket.

*CLICK!*

Both of their heads turned in the direction of their Superstar being released from his bindings as the successful maintenance team backed away. The creature stood up, shook it's limbs and rolled it's neck. Back in action. SYM-24 simply walked at a normal pace towards the garage door, cutting between Izzy and their two handlers.

And as they crossed, it's head cocked slightly to the side, and it shot a death glare at Izzy through it's helmet. Without a word, they lifted the garage door from the bottom, slipped to the other side, and gave the Demon Rider one last look before shutting it and walking back to the venue.

The man stared at the door perplexed, before turning back to Izzy with a stupid grin.

"I think he likes you," he muttered.

Interactions: Yoko and some weird MF

---

There was something quite weird about this guy. He was talking like a robot and saying he was defending himself, but that girl looked like she couldn’t hurt if she took his kneecaps with a shotgun… At least he was smart enough to not disqualify him. That meant this could be somewhat salvaged. ”That’s more like it. Did they fail to teach you manners back where you came from?” She asked, as snidely as she could manage. Conflict resolution wasn’t her strong suit, so she was secretly grateful this was easy to solve.

In the blink of an eye, the clone of Selena seemed to evaporate into pale purple smoke. Along with the magical orbs or light that were held to his head. Of course, she was ready to blast him if he didn’t actually cool off. ”Mind yourself from now on, alright?”

Then, Selena addressed the small woman with the stick.

”Now then… Are you alright?”

---

@Punished GN@Blizz

“That was some match, wasn’t it, Xolys?!” Olivia asked as she walked back into the reception hall, her partner once again nestled snug in her backpack.

“Indeed it was,” the small robot agreed.

“I never would have expected Cindy to attack me!” Olivia continued. “I guess I should probably move to the stands for our next match, huh?”

“A most advisable decision,” Xolys concurred. “Yet, I fear with a prize as coveted as a Power Stone in the balance, our next opponent may still be determined enough to attempt an attack upon you even beyond the boundaries of the ring. I suggest we both be on our guard.”

“Right!” Olivia declared with a firm nod, while clenching her fist in determination. “But now that we’re between matches, let’s see if we can find a reporter who’ll interview us!”

Setting out into the only slightly diminished crowd, the bluenette had only progressed a short distance when…

“Oh wow!” Olivia exclaimed, rushing over to where three individuals were having a discussion. The first was an orange-haired young woman who appeared to be a sorceress of some kind, while the second was a slightly shorter and far more pissed off lady in a leotard who was waving around a wooden staff. However, Olivia barely noticed them. It was the third individual who had thoroughly claimed her undivided attention… “You look just like Necroid 99 from Gearmantic Hearts!” she told the robotic, trench coated figure, looking up into his unsetting, glowing optics without even a hint of fear. “He’s my second favorite character, after Xolys of course!” the bespectacled bluenette explained with a giggle/snort. “I really like how his energy rifle sorta looks like an old Thompson submachine gun,” she rambled on. “Especially how its drum magazine bears more than a passing resemblance to the Discs of Dayzothoth from…” her voice trailed off as she finally became aware of the others present. “Oh gosh! I’m not interrupting anything, am I?!”

---

Interactions: Subject: Selena Phoenix (@Blizz), and Subject Olivia (@Ponn)

---

"Manners were not a prerequisite for this competition."

The stranger said, not even flinching... his mouth did not move when he spoke, and he stood there. Not emoting in the slightest. "However, I thank you for removing the orbs. Now if you excu-"

“Oh wow!”

It interrupted him, and he turned towards the far smaller girl and simply stared at her. As she went on her rant, it seemed less like he was listening and more like he was deciphering her words. Until she turned towards Subject: Selena Phoenix, and Subject: Hatanaka, Yoko. That was when he spoke.

"Describe it," The stranger started, "How does Gearmantic Hearts elicit such a strong emotion out of you? Describe the feeling in vivid detail."

He tilted his head slightly, before turning towards Selena and Yoko and then back to Olivia as he said,

---

Interactions: Selena Phoenix (@Blizz), Olivia (@Ponn) and that weirdo.

---

”Now then… Are you alright?”

"Am I alright?" Yoko incredulously parroted, then continued, "I could have handled that myself." She proudly said with one hand on her chest and tapped her staff on the ground. Though, there was something wrong with the guy-

“Oh wow! You look just like Necroid 99 from Gearmantic Hearts! He’s my second favorite character, after Xolys of course! I really like how his energy rifle sorta looks like an old Thompson submachine gun. Especially how its drum magazine bears more than a passing resemblance to the Discs of Dayzothoth from…”

Olivia caught Yoko off guard with a jolt, damn near dropped her staff, and went on a very bizarre (and nerdy) rant about...? Something. Whatever it was, the stranger was fortunately being distracted by her. Yoko could hardly care that the girl was in danger as it was a danger that she was putting herself into. Though, Yoko leaned over to Selena and whispered, "Get a load of this nerd!" Then she chuckled.

“Oh gosh! I’m not interrupting anything, am I?!”

"No, uh, no," Yoko started, with a smile on her face, trying her damnest to suppress her laughter. She grabbed onto Selena's wrist to pull her away as she whispered. "Let's let that weirdo deal with that weirdo and move on with our day."

"You, uh... hehehe... enjoy yourselves, you two!"

---

@Punished GN

To Olivia’s great relief and delight, not only was she apparently not interrupting anything important, but the skeletal, robotic fellow with the glowing yellow eyes seemed to be very interested in why she liked Gearmantic Hearts so much. Unsurprisingly, Olivia was only too happy to tell him. Indeed, sharing her interests with others was something that brought her a great deal of joy. For as long as she could remember, people had always seemed to be put off by her enthusiasm for her hobbies, often mocking her, when they didn’t simply ignore her existence entirely. They said that she was too loud, that she got too close, that her voice was painful to listen to, that her face was painful to look at. They would tell her to “fuck off”. They would call her all sorts of awful things: freak, weirdo, nut job, and even the dreadfully abhorrent “a word” (no, not asshole, although she was called that, too). Yet, even in the face of all this abuse, the love she had for her hobbies never dimmed, and neither did her love of sharing her interests with others. So if someone was curious about her favorite game, if that individual had actually asked her to share her feelings about said game, well then, she would gladly give them what they asked for…

“Gosh, well, I guess it’s kinda like there’s a fire in my chest, and this tingling feeling in my body that almost makes my hairs stand on end,” the bluenette began. “And, maybe sparks of lightning in my brain, too! I mean, there are so many fascinating characters, and I just get so excited watching them fight each other with all their special moves! Each one doing their best to get one step closer to their ultimate goal, to achieving their dreams! It really makes my heart race! And my favorite character of all is Xolys! He’s just so powerful and cool! His body is just so utterly inhuman, it’s totally mesmerizing!” she gushed, clasping her hands together. “He has the most beautiful, vibrant blue eyes, wings, and energy scythes! I could just stare at them for hours! Oh! And his tentacles! They can choke the life out of anything, but they also give the most warm and comfy hugs!” she noted with a giggle/snort, her eyes beginning to fill with star-shaped sparkles. “But those aren’t the only reasons I like him!” she clarified, adjusting her glasses, while holding up a finger for emphasis. “He’s also so very gentle and kind, and he’s always so encouraging! And then there’s his story! He’s fighting to be reunited with his soulmate! Isn’t that just so wonderfully romantic?! But no one else seems to see how wonderful he is! My heart ached so much when I saw that no one wanted to choose him, cause I knew the pain he must have felt, since no one really wants to have anything to do with me, either… So I decided that I would show him that someone did care! Even if no one was ever there for me, I wanted Xolys to know that I would always be there for him, and I felt so warm inside when I finally got to play Gearmantic Hearts for the first time, and I helped Xolys to win against every opponent! We even got a new high score! I was just so happy that I was able to help him achieve his dream, and show him that he wasn’t alone! It was one of the best nights of my life! Oh! But you must really like Gearmantic Hearts, too, since you’re dressed up as one of the characters!” she added, smiling up into the stranger’s yellow optics. “Or are you actually Necroid 99 for real?!” Olivia inquired, leaning in even closer, her smile growing even wider. “Are you who they based the character on?! Oh gosh! That would be so amazing!”

Interactions: Yoko

---

Well, that got weird. The stick girl seemed less than grateful for Selena's intervention, and she didn't have time to ask about the weird eldritch snake-looking abomination following the blue haired girl who rolled up before Stick Girl grabbed her wrist and dragged Selena away. Was that some sort of robot? What the fuck is a Necroid? That girl must've been some sort of tech Nomad, she saw a few of them on the way here- Some had robotic suits, others had weapons and even a flying creature or two. So the jagged snake thing wasn't the weirdest thing Selena had seen today. Alas, that girl seemed a little... Annoying, so Selena was grateful for the excuse to leave.

Once they were alone, Selena turned her attention to Yoko.

"What was that all about?"

The man's appearance was off-putting too- Almost like he was a robot himself like that construct the blue girl had. "Why was that man holding you by a stick?"

---

Interactions: Auri, Justin @Punished GN

---

---

Jill shrugged and frowned when Auri asked if Aaron was still around.

“I think he went through a portal?” She mumbled. She supposed he could be here somewhere. She didn’t know what Auri meant by intuition, though. Her intuition told her that he was telling the truth, anyway. Maybe Auri had some kind of magic?

---

Jill listened intently as the stranger gave his rundown on the stone’s defenses. She wasn’t sure about the guy’s vibes initially, but she perked up when he mentioned he used to be with MAVERICK. She had a lot of respect for the organization, and figured she probably would have ended up there if she wasn’t on a fast track towards SHINING from such a young age. The young Rider shook Justin’s hand with enthusiasm, clearly delighted to see and feel such advanced cybernetics, but she knew better than to ask about them right out of the gate… She was too fascinated to avoid staring for a few moments too long, though.

“Jill Breicen!” She smiled. “Current Justice Rider.” She looked between the two of them, pretty pleased with this coalition.

“So,” Jill started counting everything in her head. “We’ve got all that security, the three of us, I just told Izzy to keep an eye out earlier, too… What would ya say our chances are, Auri? You think we can take him?”

---

Interactions: ???@KremeSupreme

---

---

Isabella only shot the man a casual glance as he lit up a cigarette and listened to the woman give him Horizon’s side of the intel, holding it aside as he leaned in to get a good look at the monitor. He was surprised at how well the exchange of information was going, at least. There were few things more frustrating than when they decided to clam up.

He definitely agreed that this guy was seedy, the outfit alone was a dead giveaway. But still, he didn’t look like he was the kind of threat that could take the stone and run off. At least, not by himself…

“Got it.” The half-devil said.“I’ll stick close to him when I can. Gonna get the plane dusted off too. Got a bad feeling about this one-”

*CLICK!*

Isabella’s hair started to stand on end again as SYM-24 walked by. He stood silently, staring the false Rider down with an unflinching look of well-mixed irritation and interest. There was a grudging respect for this creature growing as he realized that it could feel.

Or more precisely, that it could hate.

"I think he likes you,"

Motion resumed the moment the door slammed shut. Isabella took a drag from his cigarette and let out a long deep breath before turning back to the man.

“Probably recognizes another dog with a longer leash.” He said cynically. He turned to leave.

“I have to wonder what you all put in that thing. Can’t tell if you know the answer, or we’re all about to find out the hard way.” And with that, he disappeared again.

---

Interactions: Justice-FUCKING-Rider Jill (@Kamen Evie)

---

“Current Justice Rider.”

"Being sarcastic there, bub? Heh." Justin chuckled.

"... Current friend," Oh-Seven smiled with her eyes closed.

“So, we’ve got all that security, the three of us, I just told Izzy to keep an eye out earlier, too… What would ya say our chances are, Auri? You think we can take him?”

"Calculating..." Oh-Seven said, face going completely blank and her eyes started glowing while staring blankly at Jill... until Justin waved his hand around in herfronte.

"... Are you okay, Auri? Justin asked while chuckling. "What are you a robot or something?"

Oh-Seven snapped back to "normal" with a smile as she said, "Oh, I'm sorry, I was just... thinking."

"Right...

"Without the Power Stone, I place our odds at 30%."

"Wow," Justin chuckled, "Why so low?"

"Oh-One has spent an entire year, traveling the globe, raiding different facilities, and reverse engineering different technologies to craft himself a powerful frame specially designed to combat Nomads." That smile came off Oh-Seven's face as she spoke. "His capabilities are immense. Laser cannon, laser blades, missiles, an electric cannon, jet boosters, a personal barrier... and he has built various robot factories around the globe. He may already have an army ready to pound down the doors of the stadium."

"Honestly, he would be reeeeeal smart to attack a place full of the most powerful Nomads on the planet - who are all here for the most sought-after artifact on the planet." Justin rolled his eyes.

"... And that's the worst part, he is intelligent. Cunning as they get. Likely, he's not even going to attack the stadium as a first resort."

"So, what do you think tin-man will do then?"

"He chooses the path of least resistance so he may just go after whoever wins the tournament and take the Power Stone from them."

"And what the hell can we do about that?"

"We can steal the Power Stone first."

Oh-Seven calmly said, with the biggest smile on her face while Justin (and probably Jill too) looked at her incredulously.

"That was a joke."

---

Interactions: Subject Olivia (@Ponn)

---

As Olivia spoke, the stranger continued to stand there, staring at her. Did not emote one bit as she went on her giant ramble, but also did not interrupt at all. When she finished, the stranger gave Olivia an answer:

"I am Necroid 99,"

Was this true? Maybe. Maybe not.

"I need the Power Stone to get back to Gearmatic Hearts... however, I do not believe I am powerful enough to win this tournament. Can you help me get the Power Stone?"

---

---

---

"AND IT'S ALLLLLLL OVER!!!!!!!"

Lucas "Killer" Miller stood there utterly dumbfounded as his opponent was placed on a stretcher and wheeled out of the painfully quiet arena.

Who the hell has a heart attack the minute before a fight!?

"YOUR WINNER AND ADVANCING TO THE NEXT ROUND OF THE CARNIVAL, LEWIIIIIIIIIIIIIS MILLEEEEEEEEEER!"

Lucas stood there, eyes darting around at the morose crowd with their heads firmly down in solemn respect. He slowly, wordlessly, raised both of his arms in victory. Confused expression still etched on his face.

"That poor man…" One of the front row audience members muttered loud enough for the microphones to pick up. Lucas took that as his cue to leave. Quietly but briskly exiting the arena and past the equally despondent crowd of reporters.

"Dad?" Lucas asked, turning up the earpiece only to be met with his Father's shrieking wail of elation. Lucas turned the earpiece back down.

So much was his confusion that he wasn't even all that anxious about his surroundings, until he looked around to find himself smack dab in the middle of the crowded arena once more.

A low, weary groan rang out from him as his head lowered and he tried finding a corner to hide in until the next opportunity to get the shit kicked out him arised.

---

---

---

"AHAHAHA! Merveilleux!"

Florian bowed over his fallen opponent, a ruffian biker who'd expected the heir of MINERVA to be little more than hot air. Roses seemed to fall from the gushing audience (even from those who weren’t paid to cheer for him), which Florian happily took and posed with. A microphone was suddenly handed to the young man.

"Thank you! Thank you! Wow! What an honour (honour)! Let's first give thanks to my excellent opponent: "Lash'' Thompson (Thompson)!

"Urgh." Was all the biker managed to retort with from his prone form.

"But, this is not just a sporting event (event)!" Florian's expression turns serious. "This is a time of great social change (change)! We must slow down the nuclear arms race (race)! Stop terrorism and world hunger (hunger)! We have to provide food and shelter for the homeless, and oppose racial discrimination and promote civil rights (rights), while also promoting equal rights for women (women)! We have to encourage a return to traditional moral values (values)! Most importantly, we have to promote general social concern and less materialism in young people (people)!”

The audience watched on, tears in their eyes at Florian’s impassioned plea. ”To that end (end)! I will continue to fight (fight)! FOR YOU! BRAZIL~!”

Thunderous applause, cascading down in a rhythm of adulation towards Florian who wiped away a single tear of his own before bowing and retreating the fighting area, waving all the while.

---

---

The high of a post-match victory was often intoxicating, Florian had to admit, but he felt little elation as he re-entered the main halls. Perhaps it was the ease with which his victory was obtained, had his ambitions reached such a height that he’d actually grown too strong?

His growing fear turned back into joy, for what greater high was there than reuniting with a new yet treasured friend?

”JUSTY!!!!!” Florian said, waving and jogging in one brilliant motion while he chuckled heartily. It was the half-android friend he’d made earlier, standing at the bar conversing with two women, one Florian knew and one he did not, his best friend must be quite the lady killer!

”Splendid to see you again my friend! I am glad to see your skills carried you further in this contest!” Florian said, grabbing “Justy”’s hand and shaking it vigorously before releasing it from his incredible clutch.

”And Ms. Breicen! Pleasure to meet you again!” a bow. ”I trust you continue to do MINERVA’s good name proud! Oh!” Another bow, this time towards Auri, grabbing and holding her hand aloft for a moment as he’d done earlier with the little girl who could fly.

”A pleasure! Absolutely!” He released her hand as quick as he’d held it, as rare and as coveted as a shooting star. ”I am Florian Wessington The First! Heir to MINERVA and, based on empirical data and breeding, destined to win this fighting carnival! Again, a pleasure to make your acquaintance mon ami!”

Like a rabbit on amphetamine, Florian’s expression and demeanour changed again. From one of over-familiar friendliness to one of embarrassment and shame. ”Apologies! I hadn’t meant to interrupt! Allow me to get us all a few drinks, something heavy with electrolytes in preparation for our next rounds! BARKEEP!”

---

@Punished GN

Olivia couldn’t help buy squeal in delight when the strange robot spoke again, the stars filling her eyes growing even lager and brighter. “Oh my gosh! That’s so amazing!” the bubbly bluenette exclaimed, standing on her tiptoes, while her smile spread from ear to ear. “You’re just like Xolys!” she added happily as she pulled the small robot from her backpack and proudly showed him to “Necroid 99”.

“Hello,” Xolys stated simply.

“I’m competing to win the Power Stone so I can help him find his lost soulmate, so of course I’d be more than happy to help you, too!” Olivia went on. “So, like, how did you leave the game?!” she inquired eagerly. “Was there, like, a freak electrical storm?! Or maybe a portal?! Oh! And are from the game itself, or an alternate universe that’s just like it?!” The bespectacled bluenette had so many questions and she was so very excited to hear the answers.