Private/Closed Bootleg Bros 4

[Shen: King of Digimon]

?????


The buzzing in chief's ear grew and grew. The white noise was suffocating, as if fighting through the air itself. The anxious feeling like from a appending nightmare swelled up before Cortana's statue cocked her head directly toward Chief

"҉̷͎͚͉̙̟̣̼͎͖͈D̸̥̪̗͉͙̤̺̪͔͕͇̩͚͈͈̼͔͢ͅò̘͙̯̦̪̦͙͚̤̘͓̦̮̜̮n̷̵̳̜̪̩ͅ'̡̞̠̘̥̻͇̭̝̝̣̲̲̳t̸̺̯̦͈͔̝̲̺̬͉̙͎̪̬̰͖͠ ̡͞͏̢̤͖̯̜̖͉̳͔̙̪̲̮̯̘̯ͅm̸͠͏͙͇͇̺͙̦͈̬̼̫a͏͏̀҉̦̭͕͎̗͉͉̩̘̬̟͔̯͖͔͖̝͘k̡̦͖̼͙͙̫̤͓͉e̶͇̫̞͕̯͇̙̣̘͜ ̧̛̹͔̳͈̣͕̦̰̫̥͓̺͖͈̕ͅá͘͘͏̱̗͕͈̥͙̟̭̼͕͡ͅ ̴̭̻̯̠̳̮̘͞ǵ̸̴̢͕͙̺̫i̸̶̴̖͈̫͚͙̪̞͙̲̭ͅŗ̷̷̥͇̭͙͉̟̬̫̻̞͟ḻ̷͎͈̙͖̙͈̰͖̦̗̪̠̲̙̲͈̯͢ͅ ̶̟̪̱͇̰̭̣͎͕̭̳̝̺ͅa̶̧̜̝̭̯͍͉̝̯̼̬̟͘͘͝ͅ ͏̛͚̖̜̮͖͕̤̯͈̭̬̳̞̜̳̰͞p͏̶̶̥̘̮̰͜ŕ̵̩̣͉̖̤͎͘o̕҉̘̲̟̮͇̟ͅḿ̶̡̗̰͈͚̮͔̣̪͚̥̫̪̥̗̱͟ͅí̡̠̗͉͕̲̥̪̖̤͚̰̖͟͟s̶͏̷̫̗̗̣͎̗͉̪ͅę̬̤̜͎̣̼̘͚̝͎̦̩̮͡ͅͅ ̴̬̭̳́͝ͅy͏̘͎̜̲̜̲̠͙̣̞̙̯̲̰͈͠ơ̢̰̘̮̠͔̠̹̼͜͢ư̵̡̳̘̰͙͕͎̦̫̤̦̪͇͕̟̫̫ͅ ̶̨͕̗̥̤̤̖͠ͅc̡̢̪̤͙͈͢a̡̹͔̻̭͇̹͈͇̮̳̝̲͚̯͇̕͞ṉ̶̷̮̰͖͈'̵̠̜̫̪̻͇̩͕̟̺̞͙̦̀ţ̸̵̦̲̮̘͇̪̣͎̜̟̺͚͘ ҉̨̧̟̙͈͕̼̩́͞k̸̢̫͓̞͎̭̠͍̭̝̭e̵̛͝͡͏̱̩͉̮͙̫̪̟̺̳̭̫̯̹̘̙̲e̸̡̹̹͚̟͔̻̯̜̭͎̜̜͉͙̲̤̬p̗̗͔͈̯̗͔͕̟͚̯̩͓̯̹͈͓̕͟ͅ.̵̷̶̡̩̫̙͘ͅ"͝҉̧̻̞͈͓̺̤̙̖̰̟͕͓



Suddenly, the sound of booming thunder in the room as lightning from outside the mausoleum briefly lit up the room. In that moment, a bigger figure was right behind her, holding a massive cleaver. It swung the cleaver right for her when all went to black.

In the blackness, the giggling of a small girl filled the air. The innocent laughter contrasted the bleak situation that suddenly came full on display when the faint lighting flickered on once more.

Every statue. Decapitated. The heads were on the floor, marble dust like blood splatters all across the room. In the center of it stood the figure, wielding his massive cleaver, Cortana nor the chief statue nowhere in sight. The man with the cleaver appeared to now be marble as well, tightly gripping a red, pulsating key. The key upon further inspection, was beating with the same rate as Chief's heart.

It had an hypnotic aura around it. Whispers spoke from beyond, feeling as if they were right in chief's mind or at his ears. They talked over each other, all of them saying one thing: 'Take it'.





.......



Specter



"Exactly." Specter nodded, helping her up. "Do not succumb. Carve the path for yourself. We may have a difference of opinion, but whatever you believe in: you MUST strive for what YOU want. Everyone else's wants are secondary. Others may have designated you with a purpose, but it's up to you to decide if you are more than just that purpose."

It was sad, in a way, to believe so many failed to achieve their paths in life. Succumbing to what their family wanted for them, their spouse, their society, or even their race. What was expected of them. None of that mattered. Beings don't belong to an ideology of another. Humans could not wrap their mind around such an ideal, choosing to destroy and take instead. Specter smirked, shaking his head at the inferior beings that tried to censor these ways.

"One might believe in Karma, that good things come to those who do good, and that misfortune cursed those that do wrong. I don't believe this. I believe the strong can make anything they want so long as they have the ambition to strive for it. THAT is the constant of the world. And that's why one's will, mind, and aspirations must all be unshakeable. And I believe from our battle, that you have all three of these qualities."

Specter chuckled at himself. Singing praise? He? To a human? He would never have figured as such. Bringing his floating chair to look at the screen in the bracket, his tone shifted.

"So then you realize, that if you preform perfectly through the rest of the matches...our wills must collide once more. And your will must try and snuff out mine, yes?" He asked. "Or else all your dreams and aspirations will die with you."

 

[comic]

Master Chief Petty Officer, John S-117

Her distorted voice made him shake at his very core. Not out of fear, but out of shame. He could have saved her... He should have...

But the intrusion of a vaguely familiar being, much like those around, interrupted his train of thought. What looked like a muscular man, wearing nothing but a butcher's apron and a metallic, rusted pyramid on his head, swinging a massive, bloodied knife his way, his entrance signified by the boom of thunder and the flash of lightning.

John was quick to take a surprised step back, but as the knife slashed for Cortana... all was still. All was silent.

All was dead.

The only interruption of this psychological hell was the giggling of a little girl. Once again, just like everything else, Chief felt a strike of remembrance. He had heard that laugh before.

And the world returned. No, not the lobby, but this strange, cold place. The statues returned, but Chief's copy and Cortana had disappeared, replaced by the red pyramid thing, its knife stabbed into the ground before it, slightly holding up an arm, a crimson glow emanating from a key clutched in his tight grip.

It took John a short moment to realize the being was a statue now, as well. The voices that were whispering in the back of his mind had replaced the odd buzzing. He hadn't even noticed it until the voices became louder. An urging. A command. Their voices sounded strained and desperate, as though if Chief failed to follow their demand, they would surely perish.

"Take it..."

"Chief, w-what's happening?" Kalmiya asked. John could barely hear her fearful voice. It was a little odd, hearing an AI sound scared, but she was young for one, and very expressive at that.

"Take it..."

"You can't hear them?" Chief asked.

"Hear... what!?"

"Take it...!"

John took a step toward the figure. His radar suddenly pinged a wall of red, closing in from every angle. An army of hostiles, moving in unison, just out of his vision, just in the darkness.

"Take it!"

As Chief took another step forward, the circular wall of red flashed on his radar again. They were moving in unison with him. Whatever they were, he... got the feeling he didn't want to provoke them, and they'd probably attack when he grabbed the key.

"TAKE IT!"

So he slowly brought his arm back, the hostiles drawing ever closer... before the Spartan struck, slamming his fist into the marble hand, shattering the pyramid thing's entire limb into a shower of rock and dust.

"..."

The cold became still. The world became quiet. The dark became darker...

Chief turned over his palm and looked at the key in his hand, feeling the key grow heavier and heavier and heavier until-
​

The Forward Unto Dawn was crumbling away as it soared to the surface of the strange and mysterious land, Chief's boots magnetized to its surface, flames spitting around him, flaying off his shields.

...

Revving the Warthog's engine as Chief looked toward the kid dressed in green beside him, who stared in awe and wonder at the vehicle they were both seated in. Cortana's approving chuckle in John's ear, a small, foreign smile stretching his own lips...

...

Leaping from the Egg Carrier to avoid a crushing blow, and to save Green. Tucking his body into a streamlined missile, the Spartan soared like a bullet through the air, glancing at the small blue robot he passed on the way down. Metal Sonic...

...

Passing small ear pieces toward the serious-looking white-haired boy, the small orb-like robot beside him chattering away with Cortana. Chief shook Copen's hand, both more aware of the potential dangers than the others around them. Copen was to protect them as Chief went in search of a distant key...

...

An extended hand. Chief felt Bennett grasp it, a smile stretching the boy's face. The steaming pile of flesh lay near them, their group having bested the creature it once was. Those around them were of the statues from the mausoleum. It made Chief's heart hurt as his eyes looked through his visor into Bennett's.

...

The searing vision. A split blade protruding from Chief's midsection as he sat on the ground, defeated and broken. Bodies laid around him, all bloody and lifeless. He was the only survivor. And in the distance...

His opponents. Decimus was among them. It was too late...

But... no...

The Chief who had seen all of this... he was wrong.

That wasn't Decimus.

It was Atriox, standing among a circle of others. The chair... Specter's. Eggman was there as well, and a fourth figure Chief didn't recognize. But this was an assumption... he wasn't absolutely certain.

The other, dead Chief, had thought this was his future. He was wrong.

This was the future of another Chief. Of HIM. The death around, the bodies... they had been blurry before. Now, with this knowledge, Chief could clearly see them all, no longer forced to draw conclusions.

A man was lying before him, a shattered rifle beside his shattered hand, a bloodied trench coat is what he wore.

"Chief..." he groaned, lifting his head up slowly. "Why... would you... do this to us..."

John blinked, a wave of confusion washing over him. How had... he done this...?

The man before him fell still, saying no more.

Then... the vision ended.

Chief found he was standing back in the lobby of the tournament. No mausoleum, no visions, no memories of another...

"What... happened..." Kalmiya's voice quivered. The Spartan lifted up his hand, opening his palm to find he was holding nothing... the key was gone. But the memories remained.

Chief lifted his gaze away from his hand toward Specter nearby, who was chatting with the Greek woman. Then, Chief glanced away toward Copen. An ally in another life. Did Copen remember him?

"Don't tell anybody about what happened," Chief ordered Kalmiya, "Not until we know who we can trust."

Would he be the reason everyone would die...?

Could that be stopped?​

Kassandra the Eagle Bearing Misthios

Specter was WISE. Kassandra could recall that some cultures praised monkeys for their wisdom. They were absolutely right.

Kassandra gave a small smile to Specter as she dusted herself off (needlessly too, the ground was scarily clean). "Perhaps, Specter," she replied, "you're strong as you are wise, but a rematch would be interesting, should it occur. Regardless, I... respect you."

She extended a hand toward Specter for a single, simple shake.

Regardless if Specter shook or not, the two were approached by the warrior cloaked in black, his unshaven face pulled into a rather grim expression.

"Making friends, I see," Revan commented toward Specter, his tone light, with a twinge of uncertainty to it, his eyes distant with personal thoughts.

Revan glanced about at the change of scenery, before he shook his head. He had been certain he would clash against Metal Sonic... yet perhaps his vision had depicted another time, and Revan had merely assumed it was here.

Still, if the information he'd gathered was to be believed, this mere child named Hareta was an impressive entity. Not just a child, but a commander. Revan had experience commanding others, even through the force itself.

He would not take this child lightly.​

Agent Leon S. Kennedy

...

... ...

... "Fuck," the slur escaped Leon's lips a third time as he opened his eyes, finding himself back in the lobby.

Again, he iterated to himself the desperation of his move. Maybe he would have been better off just waiting for Psyduck to come to his location, but the agent's inane desire for "chivalry" had put him at the disadvantage. Oh well, there was still the loser's bracket.

Leon's gaze flicked toward the screen to find that he hadn't yet been placed in a new bracket--and that Chun-Li had been removed...

His gaze faltered for a moment, and Leon notably winced, as though pained by something. Damn... she was an excellent fighter, and he considered her to be a trustworthy friend. Without her, he was alone here, and... more likely to die than the rest of the contestants. Those that remained were beyond impressive, and had he defeated his opponent... he would have had to fight that four-armed brute.

"Well!" the Host clasped his hands together, appearing very pleased, grinning brightly as his digital eyes twinkled. "That was a good... performance, you, uh... kids. Very good, nice, all around applause. I'm kidding, of course, a lot of those were total shit. I almost wiped out several contestants on the spot. Speaking of..."

He waved his hand.

Saurhead popped.

"He stank, and he didn't follow me on Instagram," Generic Host justified his reasoning to the pop, before he twiddled his thumbs. "We're reaching the end stretch now. Hurrah, hurray, pat yourselves on the back, showing is good and ratings are up, especially now that Twitter fish is gone, eh? You'll be wanting your new brackets;"​

Winner's Bracket

Loser's Bracket

"Cute, adorable, also I had to add in that guy into a three-way fight. What was his name... with the bandana? The uh... the fat ass? Thicker than a bowl of oatmeal, that one. Any takers? Something about turtles? Anyway, he's there,"

The screen clearly said 'Snake'.

"Tear each other to pieces-" the Host pointed a suddenly very threatening finger at Uratekumon. "And don't keep me waiting this time, I was about to disqualify you last round. Have fuuun~"​

Solid Snake

He'd caught the tail end of that fight. The armored soldier against that automaton. Imagine his mild surprise seeing that it was his next opponent, alongside "Shroom". The image indicated a small creature.

Snake found it interesting. A warrior of such small size... he knew it had to be something impressive. Slowly, the solider returned to his feet, ideas spanning across his mind as he made his way toward the recently opened gateways.

If all three picked a stage, it could get messy, though he found himself doubting the robot would. Just him and "Shroom", probably.

But what to pick?

There was any number of tactical locations, but any number of interjecting maps could interfere. That was the fairness of it, he supposed. Hopefully better than that white void. Damn, that last fight had been all over the place...

He'd need to pull a win here. Remaining in the tournament for at least two more rounds was all he required. Then he could go back.​

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

.
..
...


Far up in the sky, the wind rippled through the air. That's when the sky appeared to rumble for a split second in a small area, before a large red fracture appeared in it, around four feet long. Tiny chips of the sky rained down in an random zone of the plaza as it remained. Something was just done.




........



Specter


A look at the warrior and it was clear that she understood what he was trying to tell her. That in the end, they would try and snuff out each other. But, that doesn't mean they didn't have to respect one another.

"And I to you, human- excuse me, Kassandra."

Correcting himself to correctly use her given name instead of her race title, he accepted her hand, giving her a nod of validation. If J were here, he would have considered this an interesting game. But he? A bittersweet eventuality.

"Making friends, I see."

He couldn't sense the mind behind him, meaning it could only be one person. Specter closed his eyes, a smirk on his face.

"Welcome back, Revan. How was the fight?"



......


Hareta


"Huh? New matches already? They don't waste any time!"

Hareta looked at where he was on the bracket. There were a lot of names missing now. As dark as it was, it DID make it easier to find his name, and who he was matched up against. A black cloak wearing guy called Revan. Dark cloaked...?

"I think it was that guy that just ran away from us!" Hareta exclaimed, forgetting Death's name. "C'mon Lucario, rest up while I find 'em!"

Lucario was about to offer a protest to this before Hareta returned him in his ball. Hareta looked around, trying to see if he could find that cloak wearing soul eater. He needed to find someone that could track him down. Seeing a techie looking boy over to the side that appeared bored, Hareta thought he was perfect.

"Hey, you!" Hareta called to Merak. "Do you know where I can find that black cloaked guy?? The van guy!"


......


Uratekumon


"Kekekekeke!!!!"

Uratekumon laughed as Saurhead was smited, served him right for not using meta vivosaurs. Seeing the bracket fall in line, he saw his name match up to Master Chief, to which he gave a big thumbs down to.

"Laaaaaame. Overrated mascot from a dying game. The only thing good about them was how smexy the A.I. are, hehehehe~!"

smexyness aside, he had to learn how to play the halo games pretty heftily, as they were used in tournaments often. He knew all the best builds and best ways to win. If this Chief was even halfway decent, he'd pick the broken guns. At least THAT would make it at least a little exciting.

 

[ArmedBlue]

Copen

Another wave of eliminations went by, Copen watching as several fighters were popped one by one. The Host had destroyed one of the contestants in the winner's bracket, making it clear that those he didn't like were as good as dead. Luckily, the Host didn't seem to care much for him. Better than being popped, he supposed.

The Adept Slayer looked up at the new matches, seeing his name and picture match up against a 'Specter'. A simian, it seemed. The helmet he wore looked advanced and important, and one glance at the simian overlord made it clear that he was just as intelligent as a regular human. Perhaps even more so. Lola seemed deep in thought upon locating Specter, prompting her creator to speak up.

"Something wrong, Lola?"

"Not really." The A.I. replied. "It's just that looking at this guy reminds me of you, Boss. Red eyes, white hair, and an air of smartness..." She elaborated. Well, he could see what she meant. If the scientist were a simian, maybe he'd look similar to Specter.

"Right..." He muttered, something in the sky getting his attention. Two minuscule cracks in the fabric of reality, yellow and red in color. How long had those been there for? Something about them felt off, and Host had yet to address them in any form. Was he even aware of their existence?

Just what is going on here...?

Merak

"Huh?"

Merak was simply checking out his next opponent's picture when some kid called out to him. He wanted to know where the black-cloaked 'van' guy was. The Adept looked up at the tournament bracket, and one quick look at the matches made it clear the boy, Hareta, was looking for his opponent, Revan. Looked like a scary guy. Like the bad guy in an action film.

"You lookin' for Revan?" Merak spoke, turning to face Hareta, pointing to his left. "Dude's that way, near the monkey on a chair. Break a leg..." He told him with a yawn. Why did he have to be the one who all the annoying people flocked to? First the gamer gremlin, then the clown guy, now this kid...

Rebellio

"Nice job on that fight, Chief."

Rebellio walked up to the nearby Spartan, a glass of lemonade in his hand, taking a sip from it. It was sour, but not too sour. Pretty good lemonade in his opinion. Putting his enjoyment of the refreshment aside, he noticed his only friend here seemed a little... quiet. Not just him, but Kalmiya too. The Falcon had noticed how the screen displaying the fight had flickered briefly before fading to black at the end. Had something happened there?

"Everything alright?"

 

[comic]

Kassandra, the Eagle Bearing Misthios

Their handshake concluded, a sense of mutual respect between the two. Despite her drunken state, Kassandra was under the impression this had been something unique and different more for Specter than for herself. Admittedly, she could feel herself continuing to sober up, meaning whatever was in that wine worked fast. Or perhaps it was this place preparing her for the next round. The Host had just presented the placements, after all. Not much time wasted, she figured.

Her eyes traveled to the man called Revan, who's eyes seemed dark and clouded.

"Good luck, Specter. May the Gods continue to grant you favor," she bowed her head in a polite and rather professional manner, before she turned and began to make her way toward one of the gateways. Her next fight... against a... Rebellio. What was that, some kind of rebel? The image showed a young man, and her eyes scanned about to locate him speaking with the large armored figure.

Well, she didn't imagine this Rebellio would keep her waiting too long. Anybody who'd made it this far had to have been worth their weight in drachma. Promptly, Kassandra stepped through the gateway.

"The statue of Athena, in Athens," she was quick to tell the disembodied voice.

And the world grew around her.​

Revan, the Prodigal Knight

"Enlightening," the gray Jedi answered, his eyes piercing upon the child he was to kill, before he tore his gaze away, feeling a sudden pit in his stomach. "Our mutual friend appears to have fallen," he stated, pressing other concerns onto his mind, at least for the moment. "You seemed to think highly of him. Could it be that your approval is misplaced?" Revan cast doubt upon Metal Sonic.

Still, his mind remained elsewhere. Turner, the hare. More than that... Kumamon and Daruk. They appeared to have been eliminated. At least they had been spared the public humiliation of getting popped by their Host. Still... Kumamon's words continued to hang heavy on Revan's heart.

They had all viewed him as nothing more than a villain. A bully. Something to be hated as much as feared. Perhaps that were so, yet... Revan was not those things. Not truly, at least. The dark side had twisted him for so long, a part of him feared what he was capable of. And this Host, pulling a mere child into this?? It didn't matter if the kid was a force to be reckoned with, he was still far too young.

... Youth. One of the reasons why Revan had often found himself at odds with the Jedi Council, moreso than even his tenures on the dark side. They hated how he had not only started a family, but had started a family with one of their own, most esteemed members. Bastila Shan... how he missed her. The Emperor had taken all of that away, but this tournament? This granted him a way to strike back. To destroy the Emperor, and instill a new age over the galaxy. A galaxy his son, Vaner, could grow up in safely. Properly.

The gray Jedi's distracted mind got the better of him, and he reached inside of his cloak to conjure a small device. Even as Specter made his reply, Revan couldn't hear him, lost in his own thoughts. With the click of a button, a small hologram appeared.

His wife, confidante, and closest friend, smiling back at him. He could see the hurt in her digital eyes, his disappearance after the Emperor had claimed him clearer than ever. Despite it, she smiled, for Bastila loved the son they had shared. Vaner, his innocent gaze staring back. The image flickered as Revan felt his eyes water, comprehending his own shattering heart. The eyes of a child. His child. So innocent, pure, and carefree.

And here, he was expected to face something akin to that. It would not be his dear son, but Hareta was still somebody's child.

...

... ...

The hologram clicked off, and Revan tucked it away. How he desired to erase the Host out of existence for this, but... that being had powers Revan knew nothing of. He could not risk it, not for the life of one child, even as terrible as that was. As he tucked the small device away, he felt something else...

Conjuring it, Revan found he was holding his mask. The one he'd taken from a mandalorian's corpse. A symbol that had changed and shifted through the years. A lump formed in his throat as he stared at it for a moment--and then his face notably laxed. Emotion vanished, and Revan slid the mask back on, re-initializing it as it clicked into place with a hiss. He would need it until he won. And when he won, he would provide his wife and son a safe galaxy to thrive in. Then, with that power, Revan could expand away from his universe. He could reach them ALL. He would destroy all who dared to control others.

No more Emperors.

No more Kings.

No more Gods.

Suffering filling his heart once again, Revan's breath stilled as he came to terms with his next match. To save his child...

He would murder another.
​

Master Chief Petty Officer, John S-117

"Nice job on that fight, Chief."

John turned his head to see Rebellio approaching. He could feel the shadow of a smile grace his lips behind the visor upon seeing the kid still kicking. He was a good kid, impressive as hell, too. Though, the memories flitting through Chief's mind still distracted him. He had just relived his entire life, then experienced events he'd never before experienced. His memory was bloated with those of another Master Chief.

Rebellio seemed to pick up on this, concern etching his gaze.

"Everything alright?"

"Uh- yeah..." the Spartan nodded, "Fine."

Despite Chief's words of timid assurance, it was obvious there was little truth to them. Despite having been a bred assassin and weapon of mass destruction, classified as "hyper lethal", Chief and the other Spartans had never been socially trained like they had been with snapping necks, or torturing victims for information. He didn't know how to handle his emotions like he could handle an MA40 Assault Rifle.

Chief stood there with his arms at his sides in awkward silence, it was almost comedic.

However, upon a prompt Rebellio couldn't hear, Chief raised one of his hands, splaying his palm upward. Kalmiya appeared on that palm, a wide grin stretching across her blue face. "Hey, thanks!" she beamed. "Nice job on yours too! Sorry we didn't get to see any of it, but I'm sure you did great!"

Kalmiya raised a hand to her face as she leaned in, almost like a conspiratorial manner, her voice even a little quieter. "He's proud of you too," she jabbed her thumb at the Spartan. "He's just not good at showing emotional support."

John had no response to that. It was entirely true, of course, but still, that unfamiliar smile found its way to his face. His eyes darted back toward Copen at this, and the Spartan blinked, something connecting inside of his mind.

Chief gestured toward Copen. "Do you know him?" he asked Rebellio.​

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Specter


Specter didn't respond orally to Kassandra, electing to nod his head to her. It'll be interesting to see what will come of that one. Now for the one who stood behind him. His chair rotated in place, Specter wresting an elbow on the arms of his chair. Seemed as though Revan had started to draw doubts of Metal, who stood just a few yards away from them, judging.

"Hmmm...misplaced? Ha, take it from me, humans, while an inferior race, have diamonds in the rough occasionally. It just means that Metal will need to update with these changes in mind, and you will have to defeat what he could not."

He would have continued, but looking at Revan's whiskful look in his eyes, he was compelled to stop. That's when Revan projected a hologram in front of himself. Wife and child? So he has, or more accurately, had a family. So that's why he is acting so odd.

"The alternative could be to let the child kill you instead but..."

Revan's face turned stoic as he put on his helmet, that of a executioner.

"...Heh, I don't believe you would let that happen."



Hareta


He followed Merak's finger, which pointed at a floating chair holding a monkey, as well as...that dark cloaked guy! His face lit up as he spotted him.

"Yeah, that's the guy! Thanks headphones dude!"

Hareta's scarf fluttered behind him as he ran up to Revan, his sneakers cutting to a halt just a few feet away. He eyed Revan up and down, right as Specter spotted him as well.

"Hey, your the Revan guy, right?" Hareta asked.

Although he asked, he didn't wait for a response. He went up to him and began to sniff his cape and chest, catching the scent this guy gave off. It smelled...like an iron wolf that was on the prowl for a kill.

"That smell...Huh...? Are you that bent on fighting?" Hareta asked, his expression changing from surprise to determination. "Well, if it's a fight you want, then imma give you one! Just promise me to give it your all, okay?"

 

[ArmedBlue]

Rebellio

Rebellio's concerned expression was replaced by a warm smile as Kalmiya appeared, complimenting his performance. He chuckled nervously upon hearing her comment about Chief being proud of him. It was... nice. Chief's question seemed to catch him by surprise, the Adept glancing over at the white haired boy in the distance. No one he personally knew had ended up here, but that boy's armor... Ah, how had he not noticed before?

"So that's him..." Rebellio muttered. "Yes, I know him. Or at least I've heard of him. He's a bit of an urban legend among the Minos, those in my world that don't have powers like I do," The Adept began. "The legends talk of a warrior clad in pure white armor, saving Minos wherever he goes and marking his foes with a crimson X." He paused, taking a sip of his lemonade.

"The Luminous Avenger iX. Lone savior of the Minos, and sworn enemy of Sumeragi." Rebellio told Chief. He'd almost forgotten about how he was supposed to ambush and defeat iX before this whole tournament thing happened. Who knew he'd end up here too?

"Do you know him?"

 

[Gamingfan]

Weavile
Weavile purred proudly as it exited its battlefield, looking at the crossed out Chun-Li. After the mess that was that electric kid, this was just what the Blissey ordered. Speaking of blissey, she was totally in the mood for an egg meal...
Well, she'll keep that in mind. For now, it looked like she was against some other human called Leon S Kennedy. Bit of a mouthful that.
The dark/ice type shrugged and looked around for her opponent. She may as well see what's up with this guy.

Amaterasu
Amaterasu trotted out of the archway, her burns, scratches, and occasional dart in her fur all deleted as she was revitalized. That was...interesting. She had never met a monkey like that, nor a human like snake. Did this place have an inherently positive affect on primates? Or was something else involved?
Amaterasu's pondering was cut short by a familiar scent not very far away. She looked around and caught, speak of the devil, Snake sitting nearby, with a rather displeased look about him. Considering where they were sitting, it wasn't hard to guess why. Instead, it was a wonder what kind of monster managed to beat the mercenary.
Either way, she had her own fight. Her next opponent was "Turner".
The wolf gracefully stood up and gave Snake a "motherly" look, as if telling him not to feel bad, before moving on and searching for the aforementioned Turner. After a quick bout of trotting, she was surprised by the sight of a human-like rabbit. This place was full of surprises! She gave a short bark, announcing her presence.

Dark Matter
Metal Sonic?
Dark Matter looked at the new matchups after his own fight, squinting its single eye at the name. Well, if it were to be believed, Dark Matter was going to be dealing with some sort of metal-clad enemy. That would be an interesting change from the magic users it had dealt with.

Kirbobot
The robobot booted back up, suddenly rebuilt in the lobby. The armor looked around, internal AI running quickly to determine what happened.
Despite it's loss, the bot appeared unbothered, instead scanning the area and figuring out it's next option. Apparently there was a loser's tourney.
The armor rose from it's sitting position, and remained motionless soon after, waiting for a sign to initiate a fight.

 

[comic]

Revan, the Prodigal Knight

"It shall not," Revan confirmed, glancing toward the screens, having steeled himself. Pushed away his softer side to allow his vengeance to consume him. Not letting the dark side control him, no, but using it to ground himself. An anchor. Specter's opponent was a white-haired individual wearing armor. He looked fairly young himself.

However, this was when Revan's opponent marched up to him and began sniffing the force user. Revan wasn't used to these types of greetings, so he just sort of stood there, his blank mask glaring down at the boy, who looked up after a few sniffs, promising to give a fight.

This boy commandeered his own team of beings, who battled on his behalf. It would not be a conflict of one on one, but rather, Revan against this child's team of powered monsters. He had seen glimpses of this kid's team before, after all. Of course, Revan had an answer in-mind for this. It was one of the additional reasons why he had returned his mask to cover his face.

Briefly, the force user tapped lightly onto the surface level of the kids mind, merely seeking out terminology to assert his next words.

"Surely you've watched your friends, your Pokemon, ground into dust before, yes?" he questioned darkly, turning away. "No? I hear it's traumatic. This is my only warning."

And he departed for the gateway.​

Master Chief Petty Officer, John S-117

Copen was not somebody John had spent time with to get to know him. Well, the other Chief. It had been too chaotic, too much to do, there was little time for moments like those. But the other Chief had trusted the boy.

"We met, once," the Spartan informed Rebellio, his voice low, somewhat more quiet than usual.

He turned his gaze back upon Rebellio, but Kalmiya spoke before he could.

"Chief, you see that too, right?"

She was gesturing upward. John followed her gaze, traveling to the two cracks. One was the same shade of crimson as the key he had grabbed before. His mind kicked into overdrive as he stared at it, before he looked toward the Host, who was blinking dully, a vacant smile on his face. It didn't seem he'd noticed.

"Survive," John ordered Rebellio. "If you get killed... kill them back."

The most Chief could give outside of words was an encouraging nod toward Rebellio, before the Spartan began to make his way toward a gateway. Whatever was going on up there... well, he wasn't certain, but the recent influx of alternate memories gave him a few ideas.​

Leon S. Kennedy

A... Weavile. One look at the creature told Leon all he needed to know.

Another Pokemon. So he would have fought another one had he won or lost. Why were there so many of these things here? On top of that,t here was that kid with a whole team of the things. Was that even fair? Maybe it was, and he was permitted to bring in Ada Wong or something. Claire... Chris... somebody. He wasn't sure how he could manage that, though.

"Come on, Leon," he muttered to himself. "You've beaten Giants and building-sized monsters. Wasn't on top of your game last round, you'll manage this time..." Leon psyched himself up, taking a breath, before he proceeded into the gateway, wary of his choice this time. He was a little tired of zombies infesting his maps, so maybe he could pick something different...

"Let's go to Liberty Island," he informed the automated voice.​

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Hareta


"Surely you've watched your friends, your Pokemon, ground into dust before, yes?"

This cold phrase, the aura he presented. It was familiar. When had he felt it before? That's when a flicker of a face appeared in his brain. Cyrus. He promised to kill every living thing in existence to bring in his perfect world, no matter who he had to stomp out on the way to that goal. Revan reminded him of Cyrus. A bead of sweat came down his cheek as Hareta frowned. Cyrus was a mean dude, it took everything he had to beat him. ...But he DID beat him.

Hareta walked inside after him, this time with more apprehension than before. Once inside, he stood there, looking at Revan from behind. Before he selected the stage, he had something to say.

"Yo, Revan." Hareta called out. "I dunno what your deal is, or why you are so mad, but when we fight, when we go all out against each other..."

He looked up, grinning at the sith, determined eyes shining back at Revan's covered ones.

"...Let's do our best, and have the most fun possible!"

 

[comic]

Revan, the Prodigal Knight

"... Let's do our best, and have the most fun possible!"

His heart hurt at that. Poor kid... but this was necessary. He could not disobey the Host, so all he could do was prevail. For a moment, Revan's aura cracked, his shoulders laxed--before it returned to his hostile state. His mind's eye pictured his son, and his wife. His purpose. Then he imagined the Emperor. His motivation.

He really didn't want to do this... he elected to change his map, the images of it flashing before his mind.

"The Jedi Temple," Revan decided.​

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Hareta


Hareta was watching Revan's body language carefully, seeing his shoulders give for just a split second. There was still a chance for him to see exactly what the trainer meant. The tension he held in the air and the grim aura around him told Hareta that Revan valued victory and bloodshed over having fun and enjoying what life had to offer. Well, he'd show him what it was all about!

"Eterna City!"

The zone began to change around them. Large spires erupted with statues of Jedi perched atop them. Surrounding them were roads and buildings, a large chunk of the layout to Eterna city. Trees to the west overlooking a bridge suspended over body of water, and to the East was a small ravine, a waterfall cascading down a rocky crevice.

Dead north however was the entrance to the Temple itself, flags of the Jedi order blowing along with the breeze that the town was known for. Hareta grabbed a pokeball, pointing it toward Revan.

"I'll show you what battling is all about! Come on out!"

Hareta hurled his pokeball...which flew to the left and immediately shattered a window of a condo, the house alarm ringing. There was a moment of awkward pause, Hareta looking at the scene then back to Revan with a sheepish smile.

"Uh...imma just...get that, k?"

 

[ArmedBlue]

Rebellio

So Chief had met iX once. Interesting, considering the two were clearly from different worlds. Maybe he'd been dragged into something similar to this tournament before...

Rebellio followed Chief and Kalmiya's gaze all the way up to the cracks in the sky, the only two specks of color present in the white void they were located on. He didn't know why, but something about them felt... foreboding. Chief probably felt the same. The Falcon gave the Spartan a nod upon hearing his orders, finishing what was left of his lemonade before walking through his designated gateway leading to the arena. Lo and behold, his opponent was already there. Not just that, but she had already picked a stage.

The two were located in the middle of a massive city reminiscent of Ancient Greece, the sun harshly shining down on them. A huge golden statue depicting a woman with a spear and shield located nearby, probably some sort of god. Truth be told, he didn't know very much about history.

Grabbing his Falcon Quill from his jacket, Rebellio wasted no time transforming, drawing a magic circle in the air in front of him, quickly becoming more elaborate before collapsing on him, granting the Falcon the full extent of his power. He was now covered in black and white armor, his sclera black and irises a pure white, matching his long, fluffy hair. A halo made of his crimson thread manifested above him, the Adept sticking an arm to the side, a scythe made of the same fiber appearing in his hand. He had a feeling things would not be very easy for him in this fight, but that didn't mean he couldn't win.

"Good luck."

 

[Fraseandchico]

Axe

After the fall of Calmaramon, the rest of Axe's fight with Kohga and his Yiga troops was a blur. He remembered the tricky tactics from the remaining foes, though they were fairly weak. Kohga himself was much smarter, however, and even risked sending his bigger goons despite needing their help to stand. That was for naught, though, as the boy hero was able to get past them with his thrown shield...but he didn't remember the exact how of that. Ugh, blood rush to the head.

Soon after, he took his leave, but not before taking the phone left by Ranamon, curious about the device. Of course, as he left the arena, he found that he just won as the round ended.

"Phew..." He sighed in relief, only to flinch hearing another boom. "Monster..." Axe couldn't help but mutter under his breath.

Taking his moment, Axe decided to wait before he could go for his next match, looking over his foe. Merak...
He was sitting in a chair. In his fighter portrait. Needless to say, Axe was a little confused. For now, he decided it was best to talk to someone... If there was anyone left.

Wow, a lot of people left fast.

 

[comic]

Revan, the Prodigal Knight

The gray Jedi didn't seem to be interesting in musing with Hareta, as he comfortably raised an arm. An odd sound escaped the air between them, as though the oxygen had just been violently sucked out of a tube, and the building began to collapse on itself, walls imploding, the ceiling cascading. He was using the force to quickly implode the house in on itself, while he raised his other arm.

Another house was grasped, on the opposite end of the street, and rather than implode, it began to creak and crack as it was lifted slowly into the air, Revan's intent of throwing it at Hareta clear.

Electricity crackling along his fingertips, Revan suddenly clasped his hands together, forcefully bringing both structures together on Hareta's location.

Kassandra, the Eagle Bearing Misthios

If she had entered the arena, drunk at all, that portal had wiped all of it away. She was returned to fighting form, and her opponent? He changed before her very eyes as he stepped through, his eyes hard, and he only had two words for her.

"Very serious," Kassandra stated, "but good luck to you as well, Rebellio," she conjured up her Blade of Ares, flexing her legs as she parted them into a fighting stance. "Your move."

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Hareta


Revan wasn't interested in messing around. He instead took to the advantage, trying to crush the house. A sound was heard subtly inside before the building collapsed on itself. That's when Revan took another building, slowly raising it towards Hareta, who cautiously stepped back from them.

Right as they came down to smash, a blur was seen shooting out from behind Revan, whizzing past his side. The blur intercepted Hareta, taking him out of harm's way before the structures collided.

"Wha? Huh? Oh! Lucario!"

Lucario put Hareta down from his arms, staring directly at Revan. It seemed Lucario had evaded death in that building...maybe it that sound that was heard inside? Lucario's Extreme Speed allowed him to cross the distance in an impressive showing.

"Didn't expect that, huh?" Hareta said with a stoked smile, pointed a finger at Revan. "C'mon Lucario, Aura Sphere!"

Lucario put it's paws together, generating a blue sphere in between them, generated with it's soul. It radiates with energy similar to the force before it was discharged, sent over toward Revan. Even if it missed, it would explode wildly.

 

[comic]

Revan, the Prodigal Knight

The structures lay shattered between them, and the first creature stood between Revan and the child. It had a strong aura to it, an interesting creature. A powerful creature.

Good.

It charged up a blast, watched by Revan, before the ball was fired. The force user tilted his head to the side, and a wall of the ruined architecture erected rapidly like a ball of jagged metal, splintered wood, and broken glass, blasting into the aura sphere in a matched blow. An eruption is what took place, and Revan closed his left fist into a ball, shrapnel from the resulting explosion (the shrapnel belonging to the house ruins) pinging off of an invisible bubble around Revan, which dissipated as the shrapnel faded.

He eyed the balls hanging from Hareta's waist. The capsules that contained his fighters. He could sense life forces within them, confirming as much, if the earlier ball throw hadn't explained such already.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Hareta


"He...blocked all that??"

This was far different than his last fight. Revan appeared to use a psychic power, to halt the entire attack's damage. That made things more difficult to see what would hit the guy. Lucario looked to his trainer, who seemed to be trying to come up with a strategy.

"Okay then...let's try to overwhelm him from both sides!"

Lucario nodded at the plane, eyeing a piece of the fallen roof with a sturdy wooden plank. Chopping the plank in two before picking them up. The Pokémon hurled the wooden pieces in an arch, one flying overhead, and he darted to the right, hurling it at Revan's side.

 

[comic]

Revan, the Prodigal Knight

The force user remained planted on the spot, observing as the 'Lucario', as Hareta had called it, stared at the boy, awaiting instruction. Strategy, a commander, Hareta was their general. Revan himself had commanded armies when he waged war against the Mandalorian empire, and he had won. Strategy was not something Revan faltered at.

He was observing.

This next move was intriguing, to say the least. One wooden half arcing toward him, another being flung from the side. The Lucario, at Hareta's encouragement, seemed to be prioritizing distance, despite the fact it appeared like a melee fighter. Raising an arm, the first plank accelerated into Revan's hand, and he moved it to slam the second out of the way, before he used the force to electrically charge the wooden plank. It was the will of the force that kept the force lightning in the wood as Revan hurled it back at Lucario. Should the Pokemon dodge, the force would redirect to follow it. Should it catch the wood, the force lightning would discharge on him. Should he defend with an item, the electricity would disperse harmlessly.​

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Hareta


It seemed like range attacks wouldn't be very effective towards Revan, as this probe at his defenses was proved ineffective. Not only that, but Revan counterattacked with an electrified version of the wood. Lucario remained calm, taking a difference stands before.

*Swiiiiish*

*Slash!*

The wooden object was reduced to splinters as the lighting arced off in different directions. Instead of absorbing the lighting, it was send elsewhere, stopped by Lucario's new, glowing rod. Bone rush. The energy stick shined an amber yellow as Lucario changed to an offensive stance.

"If we can't shoot 'em, punch 'em! You know what to do!"

Indeed he did. Lucario was on autopilot. Lucario flashed forward with extreme speed, aiming to beat Revan to the ground was a momentum powered bone rush to the chest.

 

[comic]

Revan, the Prodigal Knight

Hareta's shouts gave away plenty. He wasn't the best at hiding his strategies. Having already witnessed Lucario's speed, Revan prepared himself as Hareta shouted. That bone rod looked intriguing...

The air shimmered about Revan as he applied the force to himself, and in the moment Lucario utilized extreme speed, Revan's lightsabers burst to life. Bone clashed against plasma as their attacks met, Revan pushing in a way to slide the bone rush off the sabers, before he stepped forward, using the crimson saber offensively, while the violet one he utilized defensively for counter-attacks.

With the slide of his foot on the ground, a crack opened up on the street, splitting open under one of Lucario's paws, aiming to destabilize the Pokemon quickly and give Revan a quick win against it.​

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Lucario


Lucario prepared to strike once more, not afraid of the opposing ruby and Violet blades. That's when the ground began to quake under him. His paw slipped for just a moment before his bone rush weapon hit the ground, thrusting him up several feet up in the air. He needed to stay on his toes, if he screwed up like that again he might not be so prepared next time.

He spun the club around like a fan blade toward the front facing, making his swiping direction hard to predict, before stopping and swiping to the side to crack Revan's ribs.

 

[ArmedBlue]

Rebellio

Kassandra let Rebellio have the first move, conjuring a weapon of her own before entering a fighting stance. Without a moment's notice, the Adept lunged directly at the misthios before swinging his scythe at her side, quickly transitioning into an overhead slash. Regardless of the attack's success, the Falcon would leap backwards before morphing his weapon into a spiked mace, launching it straight towards his opponent.

 

[comic]

Revan, the Prodigal Knight

As if matching the Pokemon, Lucario's time in the air allowed Revan to snap his sabers together, and he swung them in a parallel fashion, clashing against the bone weapon, then again a spin to clash against the bone as it moved to hit his chestplate, coming close. Just as fast as the Lucario had twirled his blade, Revan twirled his, taking steps forward as he moved to counter the Lucario, practiced blows coming from each angle, Revan relying on the force to help him match the Lucario's own strikes in equal step. The movement of Revan's arms allowed for seamless manipulation of the force, as shattered glass began to spin their way toward Hareta from several directions, the force user multi-tasking.

To make matters worse, another Revan had appeared, approaching Hareta from behind, blades held reverse in his grasp. This double rotated his shoulders as he approached. A force projection... or perhaps the one Lucario fought was the projection, the force aiding in lifelike qualities for either, and the force concealing the aura, as both exerted the power of the living force.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Hareta


Lucario and Revan met blow for blow, one sensing the force, the other aura. Lucario, whilst fighting Revan, felt something strange. He close hides eyes, the four black hanging organs on the back of his head rising. This allowed him to see the aura of Revan, and a ribbon of it through the air. It was connected to little glass particulates and a...second Revan?? Lucario couldn't stop fighting the one he was on, he was busy as it was! He just needed to end it quickly so he could help Hareta. He glared at Revan whilst parrying a strike, crossing blades with both of the blades. Whilst they were parrying each other, Lucario's palms began to glow before-

*Fwoosh!* Lucario's aura burst forward through the bone rush, aiming to torch Revan. This was Force palm, combining with the attack he was doing!

Meanwhile Hareta looked around for somewhere to use to his advantage over these sudden glass projectiles. But...he actually didn't need to look that far. Looking down at the roof section Lucario took his wood plank from, it made a perfect triangle shape, great for shelter!

"Umph!"

Hareta quickly ducked and rolled under roof, glass pelting the roof and shattering on impact with the shingles. As the attack began to disperse, he poked his head out, coming face to face with Revan's copy? Or maybe the real Revan?

"Huh? But- how? What? Your over there!"

 

[Psymallard]

Turner
The rabbit was plopped back in the lobby, and stumbled to his knees. One moment his blade finally tasted blood, the next, he was used as a meaty ragdoll, beat against to the floor until he was reduced to a dripping pulp. He could still taste how the forest dirt mixed with his own blood. It was traumatic to die, to say the least.
He hoped this wasn't what it was like when Rose or April died. Oh Priya, it had been so long since he'd held them in his arms, but not a day passed where he hadn't thought of them. How could he? It was his mistake for leaving them alone, even if it was only for a moment. He could never forgive himself for that, not even after this tournament and he claimed the wish to bring them back. He'd lost that first battle, and been given a second chance. That first fight had humbled him; reminded him what he was fighting for. Turner fought amongst gods, but there was a reason he was here. His absolute will would shake Priya and Khyo themselves, the only barrier was his arrogance. But a barrier no more.
Turner glanced up at the leaderboards. He was fighting a being known as Amaterasu. It looked to be a wolf... only more primative. Turner has killed dozens of wolves, most of them twice his size and built from nothing but muscle and fury, but judging by his last opponent, he could not expect this to be just another brute.
The freedom fighter rose to his feet, when his ear twitched. Something approaching, but didn't sound hostile. He waited for the bark, and glanced over his shoulder at the beast.
It was Amaterasu herself; much more impressive and elegant up close rather than on a screen. He turned around to fully face her, arms crossed. "Did you come to taunt me? Anything about the weakness of rabbits I've heard ten times over. I'd rather you witness me before any of that."
With those words, laced with venom, he spun on his heel and walked into the magical glowing gate. Before the voice could ask for his selection, he answered, "Cat City." That was the place he'd earned his freedom and killed the most prominent slave trader in his world. That wasn't why he chose it, however, with all the large-scale attacks Revan used, Turner figured that the relatively narrow corridors of the city would aid him in his fight.
And so, he was transported to the battle zone.

 

[Captain Pokémon]

MACHAMP
The large pokemon was celebrating his victory at the snack table. Conveniently, there were protein shakes available, which Machamp gladly chugged before flexing, rather proud of his latest victory.

…​

Machamp’s interception of the dinosaur’s charge was successful, his top two arms stopping the beast right in its tracks. He then punched the creature’s torso several times with his bottom two arms, a painful crack sound going off with each punch. The Paraloph roared in agony and anger, head butting Machamp square in the chest, sending him a few meters back. Machamp dragged his arms through the dirt to stop his trajectory before looking up with a grin. Now this was becoming a real fight!

The four-armed brute dashed forward at high speeds, the dinosaur doing the same. However, Machamp decided to employ a different strategy this time. As they neared each other, Machamp punched his fist into the ground, causing a cluster of large stones to emerge from the ground below Paraloph, launching it into the air. Machamp grinned, striking a quick pose, before punching the dinosaur right in the jaw, sending it propelling backwards and shattering its bones.

With a furious grunt, Saurhead recalled the dinosaur then brought out another one. This one was bigger than the other ones. Louder too. The T-Rex emitted an otherworldly screech that had enough force to send Machamp back a bit, damaging him slightly. The dinosaur then fired flames from its mouth towards the pokemon, who crossed his arms. However, the flames were fast, and protect didn’t come up in time, so his arms were forced to take the hit, getting scorched in the process. Machamp winced from the pain of the burn.

Wait…

Burn!

Suddenly, Machamp laughed out loud, cloaked in red energy. Both Rex and Saurhead were confused, but not discouraged. Rex assaulted rather frightfully, charging forward with an almost physical aura of menace, enough so to scare even Machamp. However, the pokemon wasn’t gonna back down! He punched his arm into the ground with the intent to use Stone Edge…but it didn’t work.

What—

Machamp thought to himself before being grabbed by the Dino’s jaws and thrashed around. Machamp punched the Dino’s snout, causing it to yelp and let go of Machamp, who dropped to the ground roughly. What happened to Stone Edge?

He didn’t have much time to think about it as Rex quickly shook off the pokemon’s punch. The Dino charged once again, but Machamp wasn’t going to get grabbed twice! The T-Rex attempted to bite him once more, but Machamp didn’t like that plan. He jumped up and bopped the beast on the snout, causing its jaw to abruptly close, stunning it.

Machamp then punched the creature’s skull with a fist cloaked in electricity, causing a terrible shock to flow throughout its body. Rex reared back in agony, giving the pokemon a chance to finish it off!

Machamp got under the creature and jumped up with unrealistic force, grabbing the T-Rex by the torso. They then soared impossibly high up into the air (like, super high. Miles into the air high)
before they began to skyrocket back down to the ground, Machamp pointing Rex’s body towards the ground before his, that way the Dino took the damage. They landed with a massive crash that rivaled a meteor.

And that was it.

…​

Machamp had to respect Saurhead for the great battle. Too bad he got popped by that host guy. Speaking of which, the aforementioned host had just announced the new bracket. Machamp was up against…Psyduck?

The pokemon almost laughed out loud at the thought. Psyduck were all weak! This should be easy!

Machamp walked up to the duck, towering over him, and crossed his arms, nodding his head towards the archway.
@Psymallard

Metal Sonic
Metal simply observed as Specter conversed with various other fighters, the robot’s eyes narrowing slightly as Revan expressed his doubts about Metal’s battle prowess. After the gray Jedi left, Metal’s head snapped towards Specter’s direction.

“I must admit, I do not understand what pleasure you get from interacting with the other fighters. They are possible enemies, are they not?”
@Shen: King of Digimon

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Specter


As he saw Revan out to leave towards his faithful battle, Metal protested beside him. The overlord didn't shift his head in the robot's direction.

"It's always good to assess the mindset of your adversaries, dear Metal." He spoke, putting his waving hand back on his arm rest. "To defeat a foe, you must beat them in power and ideals. So I probe their ambitions. I have not yet found one superior in goal to mine, but on the off chance I do, then I'd gladly cede."

a bold statement. He was that confident that he had the greatest goal amongst the entire roster assembled. Yet he still asked them, to make absolute certain. His eyes flew to the corner of his eyes back at Metal.

"Only your ambitions so far are undetermined. That's why I found a way to spare your fate regardless of this tournament."

 

[comic]

Kassandra, the Eagle Bearing Misthios

An attack at the side. Kassandra hadn't seen this kind of weapon before... it was exciting.

She brought up her blade, roughly estimating the trajectory, and managing to block a blow, but her opponent was quick, transitioning to bring the scythe down from above.

Kassandra slashed back in response by impulse, taken aback momentarily by his skill, but it made a grin flash over her face as she managed to barely bat aside the attack, and her opponent leaped away.

"C'mon, don't end the fu-" the mercenary began, before Rebellio wasted no time in launching another attack. He wasn't just serious, he was aiming to win, and win fast. Her past fights hadn't been quite like this. Intense, yes, all of them, but they had been moving like a dance before. Here, it felt more like a true fight, right from the get-go.​

The mace was launched at her, and her eyes widened, her sentence cut off as she instinctively raised her sword, once again barely managing to block the strike.​

...​

Alright, so this guy wasn't interested in a little back and forth. Unlike with Specter, they were not going to speak to one another. It was a fight for blood.​

She could play those too.​

Sliding out her spear tip, Kassandra's grin faded as her face steeled over, pushing away every other thought that didn't pertain to the fight.​

"Not bad," she commented, "try it again."​

Revan, the Prodigal Knight

The Lucario's paws glowed, just as it had when he launched the ball of energy. Revan answered this with a burst of the force. As Lucario met the the lightsaber with his bone, launching his altered force palm move, Revan's cloak was set alright with blue flames along one of his arms, while the force he had put into the strike had been a powerful push made to launch Lucario away.​

Following this, the first Revan slid back, and the fire eating at his cloaked arm suddenly leaped from his body, and began to grow larger, until Revan lifted his arm, and the flames transitioned into a pure white, bursting at Lucario like a flamethrower, its distance amplified greatly by the force.​

Meanwhile, the second Revan raised a hand, and Hareta could feel his little shelter creak under an invisible weight--before it began to grow heavy, rapidly doubling, tripling, quadrupling its weight in a second, and only growing even heavier as Revan made to crush Hareta underneath his defense, leaving it still unclear which Revan was pulling the strings.​

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Hareta




Lucario was launched back by the sudden usage of the force, backflipping through the air. They landed on the side of a large condo before Revan shot his flames, weaponized to attack him! Lucario thought fast, using extreme speed to dart to another building, and then another, but the flames still followed. This was going to be trickier that he thought.

The flames were hot on his tail, figuratively and literally as they begun to smoke hairs behind him. That's when he flipped around, holding his bone rush club in front of him. Spinning the club around and around him, the club began to become smaller and more condensed, whilst lessening the fire on him before the club condensed into a thick, whirling aura sphere. That's when Lucario released it, shooting through the flames that dispersed upon being shot through. The sphere aimed down at the Revan, hoping to explode right at him once more, this time aimed at the ground between his feet.

Meanwhile Hareta was in a bind. The second Revan appeared to try and crush him with the structure. The weight increasing under him. Hareta was almost out. His head stuck out and the rest of his body was a foot from h being clear. His teeth grit as he held the structure, his eyes closing in tightened concentration.

"Nggh...!" He hissed. "Ngh....Ngaaaah!"

In a burst of strength, he shattered through the shingles and light woodwork on the edge he was, small bit of the debris falling down on him like crumbs. Catching his breath, Hareta stared down the second Revan.

"If you think that I'm dependent on Lucario to win, that's where your wrong. Pokémon and trainer are equally responsible in battle, and I'll show you!"

Gripping a piece of a broken door and using the knob as a handle, he charged Revan, using his partial shield to ram into him and thrust him into the wall behind.

 

[comic]

Revan, the Prodigal Knight

The Lucario desperately maneuvered to match Revan, transforming the large bone into another explosive sphere to take the brunt of the flames. Revan pulled his hand back, ending the torrent of flames whilst the Lucario launched his attack, aiming lower than he had before. At this, the force user finally abandoned his spot on the street, tapping into force speed.

In a moment, Revan was upon the Lucario, evading the second aura sphere, spinning his blade for a slash, carefully tracking the beasts movements, coming directly between the creature and Hareta. Revan was clearly attempting to sever the Pokemon's limbs as he hacked and slashed, invading Lucario's personal space, leaving no breathing room as the force amplified his speed.​

Revan, the Butcher

"But of course," Revan replied to the boy, "you raised him from an egg, after all. How would you feel if I tore out his throat?" the question was uttered so casually, one had to assume Revan went about casually throat-tearing. As Hareta raced forward, Revan raised one arm, and the earth shifted. Two walls of rock erupted on either side of Hareta, rising and rising, forcing him into a linear path, all for Revan to raise his other hand and begin firing crimson lightning in condensed bursts while the walls began to quickly and violently attempt to trap Hareta between them--or crush him.​

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Hareta


Lucario didn't expect Revan to be on him so quickly. So out of instinct, it raised it's hands up to defend himself from the strikes. The paws gained a shiny coat of steel like sheen, so as the sabers hit the pause the cut only a bit. The brief strikes weren't enough to slice open the armor to sever the arm. Metal Claw was used to keep defending until counter attack. Regardless of though, the sabers had some penetration, managing to burn and scar Lucario's palms. In a quick movement, Lucario aimed to bat a lightsaber out of Revan's grip with a punch to the blade, while his other hand raised point blank at Revan's chest. This hand would release a force palm whilst he had little to no defense!

Hareta didn't stop to oogle the rock walls that Revan had summoned forth. He continued to charge, gaining more and more momentum. The wood of the door shield acted as an insulator for the incoming force lighting, allowing Hareta to use it to cover the brunt of the attack as electricity crackled past it.

"You won't scare me! Why are you trying to? You should just..."

He got up close to the second Revan, aiming to bad the hand out of the way with the door before bringing his fists to bear.

"-WAKE UP!"

Hareta flung his fist right for Revan's face. He aimed to crack open that helmet to see him underneath all that.

 

[ArmedBlue]

Rebellio

Kassandra's defense was solid, the misthios blocking all of his attacks with her blade, though it was clear she wasn't used to fighting an opponent like him. Very few were, anyway. Septimas were always difficult to deal with, and his Energy Wool was among the most versatile of them. No wonder he'd been conscripted as a Falcon...

The spiked mace that had been deflected by Kassandra dematerialized after rolling a short distance, the Adept holding his hands out in front of him. Crimson thread gathered in front of him, taking the shape of a Gatling gun- likely a weapon the misthios hadn't seen before, judging by her attire, weapons and stage choice. The machine gun revved up for a couple seconds before unleashing a barrage of string bullets directly towards Kassandra, the bullets just as powerful as the real thing.

 

[comic]

Revan, the Prodigal Knight

A crimson saber was sent flying, spinning away, remaining activated as it spun out of the fight, and Revan swung about his violet saber, a force aura enveloping the plasma--and it brunted the force palm, which struck and dispersed over the length of the saber.

The crimson saber remained just as relevent as ever, as Revan had willed it to spin away, snapping violently to impale Lucario from behind in a blur of color during the time he blocked the force palm. Would the Lucario dodge or block, the lightsaber would glance off and redirect back into Revan's hand, where he would continue his relentless pursuit.​

Revan, the Butcher

"-WAKE UP!"

Hareta collided, the world around them growing darker as he moved, and a figure went sprawling to the ground with a whimper, a cry of pain.

"Hareta, stop, please!"

Rather than Revan there, it was instead Mitsumi, his wood having carved a deep gash into her cheek, her eyes wide with surprise, confusion, and fear.

"WAKE UP!" Hareta could hear his voice spitting out without his input, his tone distorting, growing darker, almost as dark that had begun to envelop around him.

"WAKE UP!" he shouted again, the voice no longer his own, twisted and distorted beyond recognition, yet it still came from him, and to accompany his voice, the ground began to rumble beneath them, clammy, skeletal arms erupted from the earth to begin grappling for Mitsumi, ignoring her cries of confusion, her struggles fruitless as the arms began to yank her violently into ground, limb by limb.​

Kassandra, the Eagle Bearing Misthios

She'd started with three charges, and those blocks had given her a bonus fourth one, all out of five in total. The Falcon responded to Kassandra's shift by transforming his weapon once again, becoming something that made Kassandra frown. She wasn't sure what it would do, but he kept his distance, and she got the strangest feeling that was for a reason. Pulling out her shield, Kassandra grit her teeth as string bullets began to fire rapidly out, a few stabbing into her arms or legs before she huddled herself behind her shield, though she could feel its integrity beginning to fall apart under the onslaught. What the hell kind of weapon was this? It left holes in her body like made by an arrow.

Whatever charge she'd been building for a fifth slot had been lost at her damage taken, so Kassandra answered this by tapping into one of her charges, consuming it.

Like a bolt of lightning, Kassandra flashed forward, closing the distance with Rebellio as she attempted to use her speed to overwhelm him, aiming to thrust her sword through his middle as she would appear behind him, attempting to yank her weapon fully through his body, tapping into her Rush Assassin ability.​

 

[ArmedBlue]

Rebellio

Kassandra shot forward with impossible speed, earning a grunt of surprise from Rebellio as the misthios attempted to jab her weapon through his midsection. With what little time he had to act, the Adept adjusted his Gatling gun's position slightly- placing it right in front of his body, Kassandra's sword piercing right through it and even penetrating his armor, slowing the attack down just enough to prevent anything worse than a superficial stab wound to his gut.

His opponent was now positioned behind him, crimson thread quickly gathering behind him before it taking the shape of a large spike, similar to the ones he'd crafted during his fight with Punk. Not exactly the kind of construct that he was used to creating, but this tournament was taking him out of his comfort zone, so he'd been coming up with more and more creations on the fly. The spike he'd crafted shot out towards Kassandra in a split second, aiming to quickly impale her before she could get away.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Lucario


A block. Revan used his blade to damped the effect of the force palm without sign of direct attack in response. Now, to others, a surprise attack from behind would be near fatal as they lacked the perception to spot it. To Lucario? He sensed the Aura strand that had connected Revan to his force abilities for a good chunk now. So as he sensed Revan's force siphoning back to him, he knew it must mean only one thing.

Closing his eyes in concentration, the aura user put both of their paws together, the metal claw overlay appearing on both of them. And as the saber neared, Lucario delivered a shove downwards using both of the armored palms, just brief enough so the metal casing was the only thing damaged. As the saber spun, Lucario grabbed the hilt mid air, bringing it to him.

Holding it in both of his paws, Lucario pumped his aura into it, a bright blue sheen over taking the red, almost as if purifying it. The two energies crackled as they meta, light trials steam flowing up.



Hareta


"...Huh??"

How did Mitsumi get here?? And where did Revan go? Was...Revan a ditto?? Did he teleport here?? This started to make less and less sense the more it went on.

"Wake up!"

His own voice jolted him, as he didn't expect the loud sound so close to him. That's when reality disrupted even further. The ground quaked, skeletal hands erupting from the ground. He was about to rush over and grab her hand when his voice shouted back to him again.

Wait.

Mitsumi might be explained by teleportation...but...what was causing his voice to shout back at him? This...must be a Trick Room! Even so...this ward hard to watch. Looking away from the scene, he yelled out into the air, shutting his eyes tight to blot out the mental overload.

"You can't trick me! If you want to fight, come out and do it!!"

 

[comic]

Kassadra, the Eagle Bearing Misthios

Behind him, Kassandra turned to find a crimson spike was spinning her way, aiming to impale. She responded with the bash of her shield as it neared, forcefully pushing it out of her way as she closed the now very short distance to Rebellio. Judging from his earlier weapon, she didn't really want to let him press the distance advantage again. Sure, she had arrows, but she'd learned a while ago that those were essentially useless here when not in the Ghost form.

She began to hack and slash with the Blade of Ares, trying to stay in step with Rebellio, having no desire of letting him get away again.

Revan, the Prodigal Knight

Interesting.

He didn't like it.

Revan clashed his violet against azure, before flicking his wrist, using the force to deliver a gut-punch at the Lucario before he clashed a saber again. "Intelligent on your own. You're no mere sheep, but you're no protector either," his words were an intended distraction, as Hareta stood a couple dozen yards behind them, unmoving, but Hareta appeared to be in a trance, completely at the mercy to Revan, the force connection Lucario tracked tracing over to the boy, the gray Jedi evidently multi-tasking.

Immediately, the ground beneath Lucario mulched, pavement grinding itself apart only to quickly shoot up like sand, aiming to wrap around Lucario's legs, rising up high should he attempt to leap. Should the powdered concrete envelop his legs, they would quickly harden while Revan unleashed a volley of blows, each one accompanied by another additional slam against the Lucario with the force, concluding his match with a burst of point-blank violet lightning, traveling through his hands, into his saber, and out of his blade with a wide discharge.

Revan, the Butcher

"We didn't want to fight... Hareta..." another voice gurgled out from behind the young boy. Should he turn to look, he would be greeted with the sight of Professor Rowan, lying on his stomach, trying to lift himself up, but his skin was quite literally liquidizing, melting off of his body, his clothing gooping alongside his body, his eyes sagging, threatening to drop out of his skull. "Why did you do this to us..." Rowan begged, reaching a desperate arm toward Hareta, the arm promptly breaking away from his body and splattering with gore as it landed, and the old man collapsed, his body dissolving as though engulfed in invisible acid.

"I'm impressed," a third voice greeted Hareta, once again on the other side of him. A cold, dark voice he could easily recognize.

"You had what it took. You did as I commanded."

Cyrus had the smallest semblance of a smile. A crude look on his pale face as he stared back at Hareta, emotion lacking in the man's eyes and words. "You are a welcome addition... to Team Galactic."

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Lucario


In an instant, Lucario sensed the force punch coming his way, but his reaction time was too slow to stop it, as he recoiled back, managing to parry Revan's sword with his, sweating as the foul blow threw him off his edge. He didn't like leaving Hareta alone. But he needed to deal with this Revan...otherwise he would have to face twice the firepower.

While contemplating helping Hareta, it was revealed this is exactly what Revan wanted, as concrete formed over his legs. Lucario cringed as they were enclosed, preparing a defense. Soon, a flurry of attacks shot towards him. He parried blow after blow with his own, one of Revan's slashes slicing off his left paw spike. Then another slashed at the skin level of his right shoulder, the wound quivering in the open air.

This was bad. If he stayed out like this he would be lost within a few seconds. He channeled his inner aura, Blue energy flowing out of his ears, eyes, and hands. Suddenly, the lightsaber began to shine vibrantly. Before-

*CRACK!*

The lightsaber snapped open, revealing the pier within. A kyber crystal. The energy from the once active blade surrounded Lucario's front facing, combining with the red glow of the saber. It wrapped and warped before a voice was heard booming inside Revan's head

"Max Aura!!"

The sound of something similar to a miniaturized Death Star laser rang as Lucario combined the full power of the kyber crystal with his aura. A swirl of Red and blue energies spun at Revan, looking to devestate his entire facing! Lighting was powerful, but it couldn't top this!


Hareta


He refused to look. This was all a trick and he knew it. Revan was trying to toy with him. So as he heard Rowan's voice, he struggled to keep his eyes shut as he kept marching forward. He didn't want to look. If he did, he would just be seeing exactly what Revan wanted him to see.

"I'm impressed."

That voice. Those words. They made his eyes snap open even after his commitment. Before him stood the leader of the terrorist organization: Team Galactic. Cyrus. Anger swelled within him after what he did, his teeth grit as he held back tears of anger. Then, he could no longer control his outburst.

"I FEEL SORRY FOR YOU!"

Hareta yelled out, his form tense and unyielding. There was a distraught nature around him, but he didn't fear for himself or his safety. But for someone else.

"You enjoy inflicting pain on others, I dunno what happened to make you feel this way, but life's much more than that...! Your a really bad guy...but I believe we can still have a good battle. One where we both don't hold back, greatest battle of all time! Wouldn't it be better to have fun fighting face to face with the time we have left than torturing from the shadows?!"

That's when he felt his hair blow harshly from the wind, his scarf fluttering behind him. Yet, the hairs of the simulated people didn't rustle. Unbeknownst to him, Lucario had unleashed that powerful Max aura attack, the blurry outside world of this encounter began to gain back color as Hareta started to see through some of the illusion. As rays of light shot through the hallucination, Hareta pointed in the direction and offered a hopeful yet competitive smile.

"What do you say? How's one last battle?"

 

[ArmedBlue]

Rebellio

The Falcon turned to face Kassandra following his attack, the misthios deflecting the spike before getting closer and slashing at him with her sword. Rebellio manifested a new scythe in response, using the flat side of the blade to deflect the initial swing. Kassandra was quick to attack again, however, forcing the Adept on the defensive as she kept slashing at him, Rebellio skillfully blocking each and every attack, though he was unable to find an opening to counterattack. He had to make one himself.

The Blade of Ares headed his way again, the Adept using his scythe to deflect it to the side, Kassandra recovering in less than a second and slashing at him once more. Rebellio's crimson halo came down on top of him, the Falcon's body transforming into the same crimson thread he manifested, quickly disappearing, the misthios' blade passing right through him. Nothing happened for the next few moments...

Suddenly, a shadow was cast over Kassandra. The source was a massive guillotine blade that had materialized above her, Rebellio positioned atop it as it came crashing down!

 

[Gamingfan]

Amaterasu
The sun goddess made a surprise noise, perking up at the sudden hostility of the rabbit. Unfortunately, she didn't get the chance to talk more as Turner walked away. Shame.
Amaterasu followed suit, already having an arena in mind.
Shinshu Field
...Perhaps it was because she had bunnies in her head.

Weavile
Well, this one doesn't look very unique. These humans were getting blander and blander. Well, no matter.
As Weavile entered her gateway, Weavile decided to shake things up a bit. Try something new.
Lake Acuity was always a fun place to hunt.