Private/Closed Bootleg Bros 4

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Discussion Thread:

https://pokecharms.com/threads/bootleg-bros-4-discussion.27155/#post-911963


...............

Out of all the toys in the toy box you were selected.

The pieces are in place on the table.

Now. It's time to play.


.
..
...
....


This voice rang inside the heads of the beings in the zone. As they had begun to come to consciousness. When they would wake up completely, they'd find themselves surrounded by concrete flooring and grass, flowing along like a park, leading to a rotunda in the center of it where there was a large TV screen that was currently deactivated, hovering over an archway.

Around them however, the park was cut short around 50 meters behind them, seeming to abruptly end into a white void with seemingly no bottom. It was like they were in a floating island in a vast sea of white.

Suddenly, seconds after this revelation, a hologram was projected into existence, only a dozen feet in front of them. He appeared mostly like your average man, donned in a business attire, white stubble on his chin, the top of his head a little grayer, with white streaking the sides. He grinned at them, staring down his large nose.

"Heyyy." He grinned. It was impossible to tell if this was awkward or next-level-confidence. "Yeah, hi, hello." He continued, showing off pearly teeth, eyes darting from one individual to the next. "Some of you here aren't new. Heh."

He waggled his fingers at Metal Sonic, pausing for a moment to let awkward silence fall over them.

"Buuut, there's some new people. Now, I'm sure most of you are confused. My name is The Host. Generic Host, if you want to get technical, but who here cares about technicalities, hm?" He paused awkwardly once again, giving out a light chuckle in the back of his throat, blinking dolefully at them.

"The tournament begins. Again. Again again, really. There's that pesky technicality again." He waggled his finger, chuckling awkwardly once more. "That little wish made by a certain little blue boy really did a number on the old levitating sentient psychic hand thingamajig, but now things are back on track. The Nexus is restored, and people have been..." His eyes flittered over them all again. "*Filtered*. So any returnees, welcome back! You're *actually* worth our time. Surprising, isn't it...?" His eyes lingered on Psyduck for a moment.

"Where was I... ah, right. Rules. Where would we be without rules? They hold everything together, keep things in check, establish order. Without order there'd be chaos, now- I'm sure most of you should know about chaos theory, I'm a big supporter of chaos theory and... hm... I'm getting off-track again. Right." He smacked his lips, chuckling in his throat a third time. "You have to fight. I mean, there's really no 'not fighting' here, alright? Don't fight, then..." His voice trailed off and his grin widened as he let their imaginations fill in the blank. "You get the picture. I feel like I'm forgetting something."


Suddenly, as if on cue, a large elongated screen appeared behind the generic host. The screen had many numbered rules on them, seemingly the ones that they had forgotten.

1. No fighting outside of predetermined matchups

2. No opting out of fights. Opting out will result in immediate termination.

3. Report to the archway to go to your designated matches. Contestants can choose the arena map.

4. The Victor of the Tournament Obtains the greatest honor of them all.


"Ah, there it is!" The Host gestured to the screen, chuckling cheekily. "Would you look at that. Let's not forget rule number five; have fun!"

He clasped his hands together, rubbing the palms against each other for a moment. "I'm sure that's clear, crystal even. Any questions? No? Good, that's always good, I hate explaining things. Now, one more thing to add." He raised a finger. "As the Host, it is my job to allow our audience an inside take on the lovely backstage drama. Spices things up, you know? You ever seen reality television? I'm sure you have. I will be interviewing each of you individually, so get your tongues wet and your memories rigid, because I'll... pick you apart..." His grin suddenly seemed a little... unsettling. "Yes... hey, maybe I'll even interview you after matches too, get your hot takes on winning, or... losing... heh heh... I think that's it." He ceased rambling, staring at them with that unblinking, awkward gaze and smile.

Without further ado, a projection appeared over the 'sky', a list of names along with a picture of each character present here. Aligned with a matchup to pair as well.

After this, the archway activated, it allowed the first two battles in order to start. Those being:

Copen Vs Tethi
And
Dark Matter Vs Gemini

 

[Gamingfan]

Dark Matter/Galacta Knight

The shadowy entity slowly floated up the steps to a pedestal. Once there, it's cape billowed, faintly reminiscent of outstretched arms as Dark Matter opened a large, dark, swirling void. Out of which fell a large crystal, hot pink and almost glowing. Dark Matter paid little mind to it.
It was what's inside that mattered.
Dark Matter focused his power, causing the silhouette in the crystal cage to twitch. Twice. Thrice.
The crystal cracked, and shattered entirely, freeing the immense power within. Dark Matter watched without emotion as a glowing white being landed in front of him, briefly downed as the remaining power of his cage fruitlessly tried to weaken it. However, with it's power now returning, Galacta Knight spread his wings, releasing the shackles weighing him down and glaring at Dark Matter.
Despite having freed Galacta Knight, Dark Matter had no friendly intentions, returning the glare.
" Bring up your weapon, warrior. Prove to me your power."
Galacta Knight did not need to be told twice, pointing it's lance and flying full speed towards Dark Matter. Weather it was complying with it's order or attacking simply because it wanted to, Dark Matter didn't know. It was rather hard to read.
Nonetheless, it brought up his sword, ready to fight...until everything went, ironically, black.

Once they awoke, Dark Mattered flew up high, bringing up its sword and almost attacking the man-hologram be dammed- before realizing what this was. A tournament? Well, this wasn't quite what it had in mind, but it would be an effective way to scout out any potential targets for possession and eliminate at threats.
It appeared Galacta Knight appeared as well, taking in the surroundings in silent suspicion. Ultimately though, it appeared neither excited nor disheartened by it's situation. It simply stood there, holding it's lance and shield as if already entering combat.
It didn't matter, however, to Dark Matter as it noticed the entrance and the bracket. Putting two and two together, it flew into it unceremoniously.

Weavile
The dark/ice type dashed towards a group of sandslash and their young, claws at the ready. The experienced pokemon managed to make quick work of the turf war, as well as gaining new food for the pack. Weavile grinned slyly, grabbing hold of the nearest sandshrew and dragging it through the snow...until everything went dark.
Weavile woke up and reacted instinctively, backflipping and holding out it's claws, before noticing no one was paying her any mind. She looked at the holo-man with suspicion.
These were some strange looking pokemon, but it appeared she was in those "league battles" humans did. There were few humans, so did that mean pokemon can participate solo? Weavile didn't give it much more though, sitting it's haunches and nonchalantly cleaning its fur.

Amaterasu
The sun god woke up with a start, looking around at the massive group of people around. She shook off her remaining drowsiness, before noticing the man. A...tournament?
On one hand, Amaterasu had better things to do than fight for honor. Then again, her praise would skyrocket if people were to hear about her winning a fighting tourney. People believe in the the gods again, and she could return to her previous strength!
Amaterasu barked excitedly, tail wagging.

Robobot Armor
A lifeless husk crashed onto the concrete, leaving a small crater as the robobot armor lay, appearing deactivated. After a second, however, the robot booped as it's internal AI awoke, sparking the bot's movements and allowing itself to stand up to it's full, massive height. The robobot armor looked around in confusion, before it's databases remembered it was previously on a joyride with it's one and only pilot: Kirby. What happened soon after seemed to be erased, but it appeared this was a test, likely to prove itself as an effective product.
The robot seemed to stand straighter after that realization. It planned on winning, in that case.
It would return to it's pilot.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Ranamon


"Go Ranamon! Go Ranamon! Go Go!"

Ranamon stood on stage with thousands of adoring fans, cheering as she took center scene. She chuckled to herself, the crowd was thirsty for entertainment, and only she could provide it. Just what would they do without little ol' her?

Right as she was to deliver a jaw dropping performance, an unusual wave hit, erasing everything around her, forcing her to appear in some kind of park...? The Water Digimon put her hands on her hips, scoffing.

"Now ain't this a few a little ditty? You know how long it took to get to that concert? Ugh, snatchin' me up like that ain't any way to treat a lady!"

Ranamon looked to the side, noticing that there was live feed of the plaza here as well as on the tournament floor they were suppose to take turns in. This...was being recorded?? Was she just picked up for a show?? She picked herself up, flicking her dangling cap like hair.

"Well! If it's for a special live broadcast show I can't forgive you for it~" she giggled. "Cause you know you NEED my face in order to boost your numbers."


........


Hareta


Arriving in the same band of light and code as everyone else, the boy fell and thumped to the ground without any semblance of grace.

"Owww...."

Rubbing his backside after the plummet, it didn't take him long to realize he wasn't in Kansas anymore. Looking at the odd announcer guy, he suddenly grew a wide grin when he realized what this was all about. A Pokémon tournament? Well, why didn't he say so!

"This is so cool!" Hareta exclaimed. "What's all this made of? What's this...."

Looking up to the celebrity impersonating announcer, he got closer, trying to poke the hologram in front of him.

"...What are YOU made of??"


.........



Uratekumon


"Up left left left right down!"

Making complex maneuvers, an odd looking monster attempted to escape the expanding void wave. It was a little gremlin which appeared to pilot a mecha that his head had interfaced with, allowing it to take him away at much faster speeds than just his person. This little miscreant was known as Uratekumon. Evading the debris that were coming forth, which was good on him, but it wasn't going to be enough. No matter what tricks he tried, it seemed like the wave would pursue regardless of his wishes.

"Tch! Is this how the game ends?" The little gremlin grumbled. "But if haven't beaten the final level yet!"

Suddenly, a light to his right caught his eye. Someone was starting to be wrapped in a golden light. A red haired kid with some kinda gadget in his hand. That light was different than the void that consumed the rest of everyone else. Did the kid have a way out? Not if he had anything to say about it!"

"Key hack: Override!!"

He put a complicated command into his controller as his mecha bounded over toward the boy. Leaping into the air, the mech suit slapped him out of the way, the gremlin cackling at the kid.

"Better luck next time boy! Kekekekeke!!!!"

With that, he vanished in a golden light, leaving everything around him to he consumed by the void. After a few moments, Uratekumon reappeared in a much cleaner looking area, lots of new characters around him. Some of them however...no wait...near ALL of them looked familiar! Gaming characters...in once place?

After listening to the long winded explanation from a man that should consider getting speech lessons, Uratekumon got a wide, mischievous grin.

"So...all I gotta do is beat a bunch of video game characters in battles to win?" He cackled. "Boss rushes are my favorite! This will be so easy!"



Kumamon


*Warp*

*Woooooosh*

*SpLaT!*

The icy Digimon splattered on the ground in icy mush, blinking in it's current state. What just happened? Wasn't he just skiing just a second ago? Reforming into his 4 foot tall self again, the bear made of snow came to, staring at awe in everyone. Apparently these would all be future foes. Kumamon couldn't help but feel a pit in his stomach. Were they...just kidnapped to be forced to fight? Moral dilemmas aside, Kumamon was a free spirit. It didn't want to be forced to do anything!

Looking around for somewhere to leave, nearly ran off the side of the cliff, teetering over the edge at he stared off into the white void below. Looks like escaping wasn't going to be that easy...



Specter


"...How curious."

Specter floated atop his chair, swishing around some wine in a glass with the his wrist. Last he recalled, he had tried to survive in some kind of hellscape. Hunkering down on what was said to be Angel Island? After his travels, he had been brought to this tourney once more, somehow surviving. But everyone else...he presumed them dead. Just what happened to everyone else before their transportation here? Surely someone here remember those events.

"Hm...seems like whatever is going on here, it vastly differentiates from the first tournament." Specter thought. "I do not like the vagueness of the reward either. Something is amiss. And there won't be a moment to where I'll allow that to pursue."

Getting his chair in gear, he had begun to investigate the roster, peered at the participants for anyone the could secretly be pulling strings in this elaborate web. Most didn't look like they could fit such a bill, but when a multiverse is considered, one couldn't be too careful to strike off suspicious characters. When looking at the roster, a familiar name was found on the list.

"...Metal...?"

 

[comic]

Master Chief
"You have one bullet... against an entire army!"
"...It's enough..."
...
"If you knew how you were going to die... how would you live your life differently..."
...
"Where's Cortana?"
"She's been deleted."
...
"Something stopped your deletion. We need to find out why."
"But... this wasn't the mission."
"The mission's changed. They always do."
...
"Where'd she take us?"
"Cortana. What is this? ...Cortana, answer me."
...
"Cortana's our concern now, sir."
"Like hell she is."
...
"John... I've waited so long to do that..."
"It was my job to take care of you."
"We were supposed to take care of each other. And we did."
"Cortana. Please... Wait..."
...
"Wake me... when you need me."
...
"You might be too late..."
"You know me. When I make a promise."
"You... keep it. I do know how to pick 'em."
"Lucky me."
...
"Don't make a girl a promise... if you know you can't keep it."
...
"Halo... it's finished."
"No. I think we're just getting started."
...

A rush of memories. Of life. Voices burning through his skull. His own, his friends, but most prominently... Hers.
"Master Chief?"
He could feel his fingers moving. Tightening his hand into a balled fist, the rubber-like material of his undersuit scrunching against his skin, though that much was difficult to discern. His armor was designed to feel like a second skin, and it succeeded.
"...Chief?"
It took him a moment to realize that it wasn't Her voice. They sounded so similar. "Copy." Chief replied with a grunt. The last thing he could remember was a burst of light before... his entire life had flashed before his eyes. Had he nearly died? Had the Banished returned to finish the job?
No. Kalmiya was here. This was enough to confirm he was still alive. "Oh thank god." The AI breathed from inside his helmet. She was connected to his brain through a neural interface drilled into the back of his skull. Cortana used to occupy that spot once. Now, it was her replacement. He could remember how Cortana had expressed her fear of this to him. How he'd told her it wouldn't happen.
Here he was, going against everything he'd said. Not by choice, not originally. Circumstance had dictated his every move for the last two years, ever since the Created had asserted their control and authority across the galaxy. Humanity had been hit the hardest. And now...

He was standing, his armor having locked in response to his mind slipping away for a moment. When this thought came across his mind, he could feel the armor relaxing itself, releasing its vice grip on him. He was now a little less concerned about what had happened, now more concerned with where the hell he was.
Surrounded by plenty of individuals, Chief frowned behind his visor, confused. A holographic figure gave them an orientation, his speech skill off-putting at best.
He'd need to process this. "A tournament?" Kalmiya spoke privately to the Spartan. "That's... odd. You mentioned how the mission's always change, was this supposed to be part of that?"
"No." John answered, still mulling this all over as two fights were forcibly initiated. He wasn't part of those, which was perfectly fine with him. That provided more time to get oriented, figure out his situation a little more clearly.
"So many strange beings... I've never seen something like this!" Kalmiya sounded excited. Chief couldn't relate. "No one has." He replied, though internally added 'not from where we're from'. He had a feeling this wasn't home. This wasn't even the milky way. Kalmiya couldn't get a location pinpoint, no star charts to scan, compass navigation was all but null. This place transcended much of what Chief would normally consider 'reality'. Truthfully, this felt almost similar to the time he'd spent with the Librarian. That strange domain. A pocket dimension, even. Could this be the same?

'Generic Host' as he'd called himself continued to stare at, chuckling at a kid who poked at the hologram, finger phasing right through him. "Stop that, it tickles." The Host grinned dolefully. "He's artificial intelligence." Kalmiya stated. "But... nothing like we've ever encountered. More advanced than anything I've seen from the Forerunner even."
That was worrying. It meant that whoever had made this AI transcended even the Forerunner. As advanced as the Spartan was, he probably seemed as primitive to these creators as a prehistoric gladiator might seem to him. The gaps in their technology was simply too vast, there was no comparison.
"Master Chief, what should we do?" Kalmiya was young, even by AI standards. Weeks old at best. Days at the earliest. She was like a wide-eyed recruit stepping into boot camp for the first time, not weighed down by the hardships of bloodshed and sacrifice, free of the bonds of family and companionship. Oblivious to war and peace. She had much to learn, but if she was anything like her older 'sister', Cortana... she'd learn fast. Or so he hoped.
"I'm not sure." He admitted, glancing to his left to see an ebony-armored knight, then to his right to notice a a kid in red with pale hair who seemed... strangely familiar... He turned away. "We wait." Chief told Kalmiya. "We observe."
"Can do, caribou!" Kalmiya replied cheerfully. She certainly had an innocent and playful personality compared to Cortana, who'd always been more mature and business-like, even back in her youth. Much like Dr. Halsey, the woman both AI were based on. The same woman who'd abducted John from his bed at the age of 6 and forced him to become humanity's greatest protector. The closest thing he had to a mother, and he supposed the closest Cortana and Kalmiya ever had to one as well.

 

[DevVoid]

Death
Over in his castle, sat on the throne of his throne room, there was Dracula, swirling blood within a wine glass in one hand, the other on his chin. The lord of darkness had been detecting a massive force quickly approaching, destroying everything in its path. Raising the glass to his mouth, Dracula waived his other hand in the air, summoning a beam of light in front of him with the flick of his wrist. Within that beam of light, his most loyal servant - Death - had appeared, bowing to Dracula's presence. " What is it you wish of me, my lord? "

Lowering the wine glass again, Dracula put one leg over the other and faced the grim reaper. " There is a wave of destructive energy rapidly approaching. I sense that it is destroying everything around it. If you happen to find yourself at another place after this wave hits my castle, I want you to do whatever you can do restore my glory and my empire. "

With those words, the wave hit the Dark Lord's castle, and Death's last words before he was taken by the wave were..

" As you wish, my liege. "

As Death re-gained vision, he appeared to have been transported to a different environment. Much brighter, much more colour.. and much less classy than the chambers of Dracula's castle. Death had ignored the overly optimistic announcer and simply focused his attention to the board of participants. It seems the Reaper was soon to face against someone of the name 'Bowie'.. from Death's experience, it was likely a human. Easy pickings.. Death had dealt with plenty of humans before.. Only clans related to the Belmonts had given him real trouble before, after all. Silently, Death remained hovering in the air above everyone else, floating around with his massive scythe hanging down, observing all the other participants. Death attempted to learn as much as he could - figure out his potential future opponents.

Frank Horrigan
It was hell in the Enclave Oil Rig. The self destruct sequence has been activated, with Frank having likened it to that one mutie having overloaded the reactors.. thinking of, Frank never figured out how this one mutie, even with the circus of misfits and freaks in tow, could've even compared to the firepower of the Enclave, never mind actually sneak into the oil rig and successfully set it up to blow. Well, it really didn't matter to Horrigan. All that Frank Horrigan was focused on now was breaking all of that mutie's bones - one. by. one. He wasn't going to let that thing get out of here. Or, so Frank thought, until a wave of unknown energy hit the oil rig, destroying everything in its path.

One moment, he was in the Oil Rig's entrance hall. The next, he seemed to be in some kind of park.. or plaza. Definitely too bright for Frank's tastes. And there was this god-awful cheery voice coming from this 'Generic Host'. Did Frank's circuitry fail and have him end up in actual hell? Well, if it did, it sure didn't do a good enough job at giving him hell, as it seems this was a tournament setting with a board of participant names and pictures. A fighting tournament? NOW Frank was interested. The cybernetic behemoth laughed out loud and smashed his fists together, gladly waiting for pre-eliminaries to be over so he could get to tearing someone apart.

The Terrarian
Already spotting it in the background with his pair of binoculars, the Terrarian used his trusty magic mirror to teleport back home and quickly get ready before it all got erased. Making last preparations such as creating potions, storing things in his different personal storage spaces, putting on his favourite armour and set of accessories, his favourite mount, hook and whatnot, the Terrarian (along with his world) was very quickly consumed by the destructive wave, and soon found himself awake in a plaza.. in a very familiar setting. As soon as the board appeared, the Terrarian realized where he was. He was back in that tournament area, but it seems there's no floating hands around this time, only.. a really cheery hologram of a man. The Terrarian, covered in Vortex Armour, flew up into the sky with his Vortex Booster, examining all the participants from above with a quick swoop. Seems like... a certain puffball that broke his precious weapons wasn't here for the tournament. With a bubble appearing next to their head, an animated face expressing joy contained within, the Terrarian landed again and awaited their first battle eagerly.

 

[ArmedBlue]

Copen

"Another one down..."

Copen looked down at a defeated, mid level Adept. A relatively weak opponent thanks to his gear and of course, his companion Lola. The Combat Pod and the P-Bits she commanded settled around the white-haired teen, the latter resuming their usual orbit around their creator.

"Way to go, Boss!" Lola cheered. "That guy didn't stand a chance!"

The Adept Slayer said nothing in return. He'd been working solo after his incident with Eden, remaining true to his belief that Adepts would doom mankind. For that very reason, he’d sworn to wipe out all of their kind in his late father’s name. Yet there was now one Adept that he wasn’t sure how to deal with…

Putting that thought aside for now, Copen put his Border II away. “Time to go, Lola.” About to head out, he suddenly heard a strange, digital-like sound coming from nearby. Another Adept, perhaps? No, this was no Septima. Some sort of strange energy wave quickly struck the teen and his companion, the entire area seemingly being erased. The two were consumed by the void…

…

An unfamiliar voice rang inside Copen’s head as he came to. Where was he? What was that strange wave? His mind was quickly filled with questions as he looked around him, finding himself on a floating plaza hovering in a white void, a few dozen people apparently in the same situation. Well, people wasn’t completely accurate, given how there were many creatures of different shapes and sizes. Hell, the Grim Reaper was hovering over them!

Then came the ‘Generic Host’ to explain things. This was a tournament. The prize? The greatest honor of them all. What was that supposed to mean? The vagueness was off-putting. There had to be more to this whole thing, right? He doubted this entire thing was solely for entertainment. He’d have to find out what that ‘greatest honor’ was, and whether or not something malicious was happening in the shadows.

But first, it seemed he had a battle to attend. No way to opt out, as the Host said. Copen took a look at the tournament bracket and the competition. His gear picked up two Septima nearby. Just his luck to end up in the same place as two of those monsters... Whatever, he'd wipe them out when he got matched up against them. If they didn't get knocked out early on, that was.

Ignoring the Adepts for the time being, he decided to focus on his opponent. "Tethi..." Reading his opponent's name, he was able to quickly identify her. He couldn't tell what her capabilities were from appearance alone, but he figured he'd find out soon enough. His fight would be the first one, after all.

Having no interest in small talk with his foe, Copen chose to head directly for the archway. "Alrighty Boss, we've got this!" Lola was energetic as ever, a stark contrast to her serious, no-nonsense partner. Not really caring about where the battle would take place, the young scientist simply walked through the archway, ready to fight.

Merak

"...huh?"

A blue eyed boy with somewhat spiky, brown hair covering his right eye slowly woke up. If he remembered correctly, he'd fallen asleep in his room after playing Realms of Robocraft all day, so... where the heck was he? Some weird island surrounded by pure white? Yep, this definitely was not Earth. Maybe he was still dreaming or something.

Barely finding the motivation to get up, Merak adjusted his Sumeragi officer uniform, taking a look at the other people shortly before the Generic Host showed up, explaining how all of this was a tournament and whatever... the Adept nearly fell asleep halfway through, but he still managed to get the gist of it. Fight until you beat everyone, get a cool reward. Basic stuff.

"Man, do I really haaave to fight all of these guys? Feels like that's gonna take forever..."

Letting out a yawn, Merak decided to lay back down, his eyes met with the sight of the tournament bracket. His fight was going to take a while to get started. At least he wouldn't have to spend his energy fighting right away. That would've been lame...Closing his eyes, he figured he might as well get some more rest while he could.

"I just wanted to play some MMOs all day..."

Rebellio

"A tournament, huh?"

A young man with long, fluffy cream white hair wearing a prison uniform glanced upon the bracket with interest. Last thing he knew, he was planning to ambush that 'Luminous Avenger iX'. He really didn't have anything against the Savior of the Minos, but it was part of his job as a Falcon. But now he found himself in a strange realm, with a strange host to boot. 'Generic Host' had organized a tournament. He wasn't sure exactly why, but this place already looked a whole lot better than his prison cell.

Rebellio began pondering about what this 'greatest honor' of a prize could be. Would it be like a wish? If he won, could he get to see his family again? He would no longer have to fight... A soft smile formed on his face, joyful at the thought of such a possibility. If he had to take down some other people to achieve that goal, he would gladly do so. That was basically what he did back home, after all.

Master Chief would be his first opponent. Looked like a futuristic soldier, with way better tech than anything Sumeragi's troops had. He also seemed pretty intimidating... Spotting the Spartan among the crowd, Rebellio walked over to him, his handcuffs clinking as he went, the Adept's Falcon jacket flowing like a cape, draped over his shoulders. He was going to be here for a while, and he certainly wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to talk to someone.

Clearing his throat to get Chief's attention, the young man offered him a smile, raising his hand up for a handshake. "You're Master Chief, right? Nice to meet you. My name is Rebellio. It looks like we're gonna be fighting each other soon."

The Knight

...

What happened?

The last thing the Knight remembered was spotting a strange wave heading towards it. Now it found itself in a strange plaza, very different from the green jungle it was in not too long ago. Or maybe it actually was long ago. It didn't know just how long it'd been out for. An odd man that introduced himself as the 'Generic Host' explained how everyone there was to take part in a tournament. The Vessel was still sort of confused about what had happened earlier, but it'd have to roll with this now.

Taking a look at the bracket, that white wolf with red markings had also ended up here. The rock beetle was nowhere to be seen, though... Hopefully he was alright. Recognizing its nickname of 'Shroom', the bug found its opponent. Kirbobot Armour...? A weird pink machine was apparently its foe. From the looks of things though, the battle wouldn't actually begin until later.

With nothing to do, Shroom simply headed towards the massive robot, staring up at it curiously. It had never faced a foe like this before... would it be able to overcome such a challenge?

 

[comic]

Master Chief
A young man, dressed in what John could only interpret as a prison jumpsuit, donning long wavy platinum-blonde hair, approached the Spartan, introducing himself as Rebellio, and he was right. They were listed as opponents. "I expected more hostility." Kaliya commented to the Chief, who noticed the kid's extended hand. Taking care to be gentle and not crush the kid's hand, Master Chief returned the offer, shaking his hand.
Rather than speak, the Spartan merely gave a nod of acknowledgement to the boy. He looked like a twig, as though he'd snap in half if the breeze suddenly changed its course. His babyish face gave him an air of innocence. Why the hell was a hyper-lethal weapon of mass destruction being pitted against this kid? It didn't seem right, and neither did it sit well with John. He was a fighter, sure, but only when it mattered. Only when it counted. He had no reason to go and try and kill this kid just because some hologram with a god-complex said he should.

He needed to get back home, or what was left of it. Whatever the Created hadn't dealt with, the Banished were assuming control. The galaxy was falling apart. Maybe it already had, and where was he? Stuck in some tournament far away from the fight that mattered. He was growing impatient, even a little anxious, but the Spartan maintained his composure.
This kid seemed relaxed. Eased even. Had he possibly been involved with something like this before, or had knowledge Chief lacked?
"Rebellio." He spoke, turning his gaze down on the much shorter figure. "Have you ever participated in something like this before?"

Leon
"...Pac-Man."
Everyone knew who the golden pizza slice was, but when Leon S. Kennedy's eyes scanned through the group of individuals, the closest he could find was a sphere with limbs and a face. Nothing like the Pac-Man Leon knew of. Of course, he hadn't really paid attention to that sort of thing ever since he began his training to join S.T.A.R.S. in the RPD. He remembered an arcade game. Now there were... many more things than arcade games. Still. He was expected to take on... that.
Hm.

Folding his arms over his chest, Leon averted his gaze from his opponent to begin looking over each of the other potential opponents. This 'tournament' wasn't exactly a new idea to him, but he was unfamiliar with... everyone here. No Phoenix Wright, no Spider-Man, no Wolverine, no Morrigan. A completely new cast from that multiversal crossover he'd had to suffer hearing about. Of course, he'd taken part of his own journey before. He'd met people like Dante, Zero, Heihachi, and Ryu, but none seemed to be here except...
Ah. Finally. A familiar face. Leon inwardly sighed, some relief coming over him at this reveal. Chun-Li. She'd fought alongside Chris before in one multiversal event, and he'd fought alongside her in another. She was certainly more experienced than either he or Chris in that regard, so perhaps she'd know better than him about what the hell was going on here.

Marching through the crowd, careful not to bump shoulders and make unnecessary enemies, Leon finally made it to the Chinese woman with thicker thighs than he felt he could ever achieve. "Chun-Li." He spoke her name, drawing her attention to him. He said nothing else, riding on the hope that she'd recognize him and they could catch up for a moment before getting down to the business of... all of this.

 

[DarkHydraT]

"That fool Cepheus, how dare he banish me?"

Gemini was floating through space, banished from his home planet for conspiring against his king and trying to take over planet FM for himself. A foolproof plan, if the child king just listened to his advice and did not let that boy, Geo Stelar, get through to him. With Andromeda destroyed and his plans thwarted, the blob of electricity was doomed to aimlessly wander through space. That being said, it didn't mean that he had nothing to worry about. The wave of energy heading his way was worrisome and although he was prepared to fight, it was not anything like he'd seen before and he was quickly sucked into the void.

...

When Gemini awoke, he was in some kind of plaza. Soaking in the information that was being launched his way like a sponge, the FM-ian chuckled. This could be his chance at the power he was denied. Heading towards the battle field, the alien looked at his adversary. "So, you're the one they call 'Dark Matter', huh?"

------------------------

"ANOTHER FLAWLESS WIN! CAN ANYONE STOP THIS MAN?!" The announcer yelled into the mic as a Carnotaurus was knocked down by a T. Rex, letting out a victorious roar. The owner of the dinosaur, Saurhead, merely growled. "I said that you were in for a world of PAIN, and Saurhead never breaks a promise!" Leaving the pitch, the masked man went back to his hotel room before a wave of energy washed over him, dumping him somewhere he had yet to visit. A tournament, interesting, and unless he was mistaken, there was going to be a VMM somewhere for him to use. This was going to be a slaughter, and he just got his butchering license.

------------------------

"Interesting....a tournament." Pandora had watched carefully, being transported to this place right after getting her internal timer reset. She had yet to see Prometheus again, but her brother was strong and clever. He'd find a way around the timer, and hers was wound up for three days. Perhaps she could use the prize to free her and her brother from their miserable lives? For them to be free from their eternal suffering, others would have to suffer temporarily, a sacrifice she was willing to make.

------------------------

Chun-Li was still taking it all in after the explanation of her situation finished. Where was she? Why her? Ryu would've loved this, and she had police work to do! Shaking her head, she crossed her arms and huffed. If she was going to have to fight to get out of here, regardless of the outcome, she was at least going to uphold her studies. As the strongest woman in the world, she was going to give everyone here a taste of just how strong a girl can be.

A voice called out to her, catching her attention. "Ah, Leon. It's been a while, glad to see a familiar face. How've you been?"

 

[Fraseandchico]

VISTRAHDA

"Thanks for the help restocking, Tethi!" A call out came from the fruit shop of the oasis as the pale skinned seedling left.

"My pleasure, Lili!" A response came as Tethi let out a sigh in relief, feeling her strength returning now that all her residents in the last Oasis were happy enough, confirming her hopes of keeping them all happy. Maybe there was time for a festival tommorrow, too! But, it was late, and Tethi was feeling sleepy. She had already talked to everyone else, including Esna, the Water Spirit who kept the place going, so...

"Alright time to head to-" Before Tethi could even finish her thoughts on heading to bed for now or leaving, or anything really, a sudden wave of energy surged through the area. Tethi blacked out.

Next thing she knew...

Tethi

Well, her new location was quite different. Her strength was still there, but where was she? Some kind of floating isle?

Before she had time to question anything, another weird being popped up and sort of explained things, though not in a very concrete way.

"Wait, what?" She was nonetheless surprised to see a tournament board in front of her. She was fighting someone called... 'Copen'. What an odd name. "Sounds like room for a pun...Copen, coping?" She guessed absentmindedly, before finding her opponent's appearance. That was once serious dude... She gulped. Tethi couldn't really help any kind of fear now, not when she felt an overwhelming urge to try and find out what this 'Greatest honor' was that was the prize. She looked out the corner of her eye and saw her foe moving to the archway, the lack of hesitance putting her on edge.

"Alright, no helping it. I'm at full strength..." She began to check her things. Feeling her back, she found Esna's Scarab, and chuckled. "Glad to see you here, friend, I might need your help." And she knew she would, stuff like water barriers would come in handy. Next, her weapons. Her trusty leafblade, a bolas, a crossbow, and a wand. No food or drinks to help heal her wounds, but that seemed fair for a fight like this.

After waiting a moment, she finally decided to step forward towards the archway, trying to catch up with her opponent.
"Hey! Wait!" She called out as she went through. "I know we're opponents, but could you be a little less serious? It's unnerving..."

-

Isolated Town

"Man...When's something gonna happen again? I don't wanna be reckless and get someone hurt again, but..." The lonely groans came from Axe, the red-haired guardian of the small town, looking over the main town from his home's roof. If his mom caught him, he was dead, guardian or not, but it was late and it was smart to keep a lookout.

It had been a while since Torren had shown up and caused so much trouble for everyone, and that had been both the best and most terrible time of his life. Fighting a huge dragon and winning? Awesome! Watching your dad die in front of you? Less awesome.

Still, peace was nice...but boring.
Axe sighed. "Might as well go see how Nelz is doing at this time, or maybe Mattock and Pasmina..." Before He could finish his sentence, however, he spotted a sudden flash of light coming from the castle. Next thing he knew, something went over him and he blacked out.

Axe

When Axe came to, a lot rushed in at once to say the least. It was darker than outside but the floor was hard. Then his eyes adjusted and woke up, and he realised it was indeed actually quite bright. And the ground beneath didn't seem entirely solid, especially not when he noticed what looked like the fog under the bridge back home, the stuff he nearly fell into. He shuddered as he remembered that and held his green stone to his chest tighter. Moments later, some weird dude named Generic Host showed up, and explained...something. Axe saw rules and then blanked out until the tournament brackets showed up. Fighting probably would be a good way to test himself, anyway, right? Also, he hoped everyone was okay, whatever had just happened didn't feel good for Axe's stomach - Evidently, given he nearly threw up after fully recovering - So, he scanned his eyes for the person who resembled this Jevil guy he'd be fighting in a while, wandering a little as he did so almost mindlessly, but with some level of excitement in his eyes...

Lorule Castle


"Alright, Yuga, the plan is foolproof, right?" The voice of the raven haired princess of the broken kingdom questioned as the Lorulian Mage approached the crack on the tablet.

"I'm positive of it, Princess Hilda. Once I gather Hyrule's Sages and it's Princess, I can unseal the mighty Ganon, take the Triforce of Power and take the Triforce of Wisdom to you, then we simply force the Hero of Hyrule to attain the Triforce of Courage and- Oh, you know the plan already, I don't need to keep going." Yuga stopped himself before he could reach any ghastly details.

"Right. Thank you, Yuga." And with that response, Yuga touched the wall to his hand, transforming into a painting-like figure and slipping into the crack, hiding a grin of planned betrayal.

However, his plan was soon thrown off-course when he was in this area between the two dimensions, and some kind of energy blast seemed to strike. Where from? He didn't know. But he blacked out before he even registered it hitting him.

Yuga

When this one awoke, he snapped to attention. That happens when you get knocked out after growing up in essentially hell.

"Who the hell are you to bring us here?" He muttered when he gathered himself as Generic Host showed up, before blinking as he heard Highest Honor...how vague. And how effective at drawing in fools he could use in schemes.

"Fine, I don't have a choice but to play in this game, anyway." He said out-loud, knowing how silly it sounded, before drawing his eye to the tournament brackets, ignoring the rules. He was near the end of round one, against someone named...Chun-Li. What an odd name. Looking at the appearance of his opponent, his opponent was female, but that didn't really discern much to him, besides she seemed too angry after spotting her to seek her out for now. For now he decided to remain calm, walking off to the side as he watched two fools run into the archways. One looked like an in-human being with no selfishness, the other looked ready to kill when slightly provoked, perfect if Yuga wanted to use either. It would have to do until he could get the Triforce again, after all.

Audrey Redheart

The 'Hero' awoke with a gasp on the Isle. What had happened? She didn't know, for sure, all she could remember was something about her killing...ah, right, the Nightmare King. There was something missing, but she couldn't quite place a finger on it. Her mind was still racing to wake when the Generic Host finally shut up, and Audrey's eyes drew themselves to the rules and then the the brackets. Something about a tournament, she guessed, and she wasn't fighting for a while. Good, she needed to relax.

"Ah..." She groaned as she put a hand to her back. Why did that hurt? It wasn't hit during the fight with the nightmare king? Ah, whatever, didn't matter now, she still had her sword and that's all she needed, since it looked like she was in a god's game, again...

 

[Gamingfan]

Dark Matter
It's cape billowed as Dark Matter turned to face its Gemini. It didn't normally engage in banter with it's enemies (Constantly being at odds with a barely literate infant makes it rather difficult), but decided to humor the being.
"I am only a fraction of our power, nothing more. I am not Dark Matter. 'We' are Dark Matter. You would do well to remember that."
With that ominous note, Dark Matter brought out it's sword, which began glowing a rainbow aura in preparation.

 

[DarkHydraT]

"Plural, huh? Allow me to try and match your amount. EM wave change!" Gemini split in half, turning into two humanoid shapes with black and white color schemes. "Now, shall we begin?" The non golden arm of both Gemini's glowed white as they transformed into swords, crackling with electricity. Without a single warning, Gemini split up and slashed at Dark Matter from both the left and the right side.

 

[Gamingfan]

Dark Matter

Dark Matter would've raised an eyebrow if he had one available. So Gemini was capable of multiplication?
Noted.
Dark Matter remained still as the Gemini...s neared. However, this did not mean he wasn't preparing. As they closed in, Dark Matter ejected five orbs made from an orange, seemingly gooey substance, which began floating around it. Though they appeared gelatinous, contact with them would result in spontaneous combustion.
With that trap laid, Dark Matter levitated upwards quickly, avoiding the blades and leaving his makeshift bombs in front of the attack.
His single eye sparked within his visor, feeling the excitement of battle.

 

[ArmedBlue]

Copen

Tethi had arrived at the battlefield shortly after the Adept Slayer, requesting that he tone the seriousness down. He understood how she felt, though his attitude didn't change at all. He saw no real reason to do so, given the tournament situation. He had a goal to achieve, and he wouldn't be focusing on anything else anytime soon. "You should be serious as well."

Luckily for Tethi, Lola was way more lighthearted than her creator. "Sorry about Boss, he's a stoic and serious kinda guy. I'm the energetic one around here!" Giggling, the A.I. readied Stellar Spark, the P-Bits beginning to gather behind Copen in preparation for the battle. The fighters found themselves in a large platform floating in space. Not exactly optimal for the teen's fighting style, but it was acceptable.

"Anyway, you better be prepared! Boss and I are gonna give it our all, so I hope you do so as well!" With that, the duo was ready to attack. Deciding to make the first move, Copen pulled the trigger on his Border II, firing a barrage of laser beams headed for Tethi. Stellar Spark was fired as well, three electric streams launching forwards, originating from an electric sphere spawned by the P-Bits.

Rebellio

"Ah, I'm afraid not. This place and the whole tournament situation are probably as unfamiliar to me as they are to you." Rebellio replied, looking around the floating plaza they found themselves in. "Though this tournament does bring me some very much welcome opportunities. Like an open space to walk around in, or the chance to have a chat with others. Someone like me rarely gets to do those things, y'know?" Bringing his attention back to Chief, he paused for a moment before continuing.

"Of course, that 'greatest honor of them all' is sure to get a lot of people wanting to take part in this competition, whatever it is. Being forced to fight is unfortunate, but I get the feeling many people here are used to doing that." With a shrug, the Adept gave Chief a question of his own. "What do you think that greatest honor is supposed to be, anyway? Don't you think it's a little... unclear?"

 

[Psymallard]

Psyduck, The Duck
It was cold. It was hot. It was dark. It was bright. Psyduck experienced all at once as the wave of destruction washed over him. As he was in this state... he missed his companions. All of them. He even missed Audrey. But these thoughts were interrupted as Psyduck felt the worst feeling a Pokémon could feel: hunger. That alerted Psyduck's senses, as he now was plummeting through the air. He landed on hard stone, and then shot to his feet in a karate stance. This place was oddly familiar... like the place he first met Dee! He looked around for his friend, but he was nowhere to be found. But, Metal was there. The Duck ran over to Metal, turning around and spanking himself in a taunting gesture, while simultaneously blowing raspberries. But before the Pokémon could continue to the next stage of his taunting act, a hologram appeared. Now, Psyduck tried to listen, but he spaced out for most of the speech. He did like how the hologram talked though, and when it looked at him, Psyduck waved like an idiot. The Duck looked over the rules and matchups the best he could, but it didn't really matter, he couldn't read.

Daruk, the Goron Champion
*smack*
A Moblin was sent into the air, courtesy of Daruk's swing of the mighty Boulder Breaker. "HA HA! Is this all you have, Ganon?" He swings again, wiping out several Bokoblins with ease. "You aren't ready for this next one!" With yet another powerful swing he starts to spin like a top and moves into the horde, dozens of monsters being flung in all directions. And then, it ended with the Champion's weapon smashing into the ground, creating a shockwave that wiped out everything still standing. The last one on the battlefield, Daruk put his hands on his hips. "Nothing like clobbering monsters to start the day." He turned around to head back to the village, but an odd-looking wave was on the horizon, and coming quickly. "What the- hmph." The Goron stood his ground, slamming his fists together and activating an orange force field. Daruk's Protection. But, as the wave washed over him, his ability didn't help at all, and he was transported to a strange place. He landed with a thud, and looked around at the cast, and orientation wasn't anything special. After hearing everything, he stroked his beard. "Huh, so you want us to fight each other just because you said so? Sounds like a load of Hinox dung to me..."

Master Kohga, Top Banana of the Yiga Clan
The self-proclaimed great and powerful master was lying around in his special napping spot. His cronies have found that pesky Hero running around again after one hundred years, but they weren't competent enough to catch him! Lord Ganon might actually take his clan seriously if they accomplish this task.
Suddenly, a wave of energy washed over him, transporting him somewhere else. He plummeted to the ground, screaming all the way down, and embedded the top half of his body into the ground while his little feet kicked and tried to get out. He eventually did so, and there was a wild cast of characters all around him. Among them being the hefty figure of Daruk. Uh oh. Quickly he clasp his hands together, both index and middle fingers raised. In a poof of smoke and Yiga talismans, there was no longer Kohga. In his place, the queen and Champion of the Gerudo people, Urbosa. These idiots wouldn't know what hit 'em! Orientation was nothing too suprising, thrashing heroes is his duty as servant of Lord Ganon. His confidence dipped as he saw his name on the brackets, though, but he'd just have to lie. And it seemed he was going up against Mipha? That one was useless without water. Kohga could take her on any day of the week! ...Except for Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, those were his rest days.

Punk, Delinquent of the Rooftops
Punk dropped the spray can. His turf marker was finished. And just in time, a police siren sounded off to his right. He jumped onto a lamppost and swung in circles, rising ever higher with each swing. Letting go, he soared into the alleyway, kicking off the wall and climbing up the adjacent building. He ran across the rooftops, but suddenly a wave of energy was behind him, and catching up fast. He ran as hard as he could, but it soon caught up.
He was teleported to the plaza and listened. Fighting these suckers 1 on 1? That sounds easy.

Turner, the Revenge-Hungry Rabbit
From the bushes, Turner peered down at a Catcher camp. There were 5 rabbits down there, too bad that wasn't enough. Turner leapt into the air...

...And then was intercepted by a wave of energy.

Landing back on his feet, he was just in time to hear the strange man's presentation. "Another tournament? Great." He didn't seem all too bothered, until of course he looked around at the cast. What were these things? Absolutely none of these species were familiar, nor a lot of their weaponry and clothing. But no matter what they could do, Turner knew he's fought stronger, faster, and more capable foes before. And so, he wasn't worried about his chances of success. Turning his attention to the matchups, he wondered out loud, "Kumatora? What poor soul is that?"

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

As Hareta poked the host, the eccentric man laughed as his finger phases through him. Gawking at the weirdness of all, Hareta poked in and out a couple more times, the boy's curiosity getting the better of him.

"Woooooah...your like a ghost!" Hareta exclaimed, pulling his hand back. "That's cool! I never met a ghost before! Well a human one anyway. Oh! What's that??"

Getting quickly distracted, the boy saw cameras that were installed in the vicinity. Hovering in places high above, attached to marble pillars, and even sticking out of poles suspended high in the air. They certainly wanted their coverage.

Hareta's first instinct was to just on top of a rock that jutted out form the ground, leaping off of it and onto a pillar. Climbing the pillar with surprising speed, he raised his head and stared directly into the camera.

"These are everywhere!" He exclaimed, looking into the device several dozen feet in the air. "They must see eeeeverything from up here!"


........



Kumamon stepped away from the edge, looking around for exit doors. None to be found. He turned around upon hearing a rather gruff voice, belonging to Daruk spoke up in protest. Running up beside the big guy, he nodded in agreement.

"Yeah! Why do we gotta fight? Maybe we can just throw snowballs instead? That would be way more fun! And less dangerous too..."



.......



"Kekekekeke! These guys are hopeless!" Uratekumon snickered. "They don't even wanna fight! Against an undefeated gaming tourney champ like me, they might as well be eliminated!"

Looking at the roster in amusement, the little imp finding little a possible threat for him. After all, what could a simple NPC do to a true player? While he did notice some Digimon in play, one look at them told him all he needed to know he was superior.

"Psssht! I can speedrun the new monster Hunter game while I'm waiting to speedrun this tourney! Gehehehe!!"

 

[comic]

Leon
Well that was a relief. Shoulders dropping slightly as some tension released from them, the Agent was glad he didn't have to go explaining some contrived bullshit now. It was the same Chun-Li he'd met before. Looking at it now, he could see time had left its subtle mark on her. The way her smile seemed just a little heavier. The smile wrinkles in her eye being just a bit deeper. She'd seen more and done more since they'd last met. He wasn't invulnerable to this change either. While the way he styled his hair remained the same, his crow's feet eyes, the frown wrinkles, a line beginning to form across his forehead and the stubble of a 5 o'clock shadow gave the clear impression that Leon too, had aged.

She was still as cheery as ever, which was a little more of a relief than anything else. Her type of optimism was always appreciated, even if he'd never admit that. He was often too altruistic these days, her company seemed to make this sort of thing level out. He could've almost chuckled, remembering his rookie days when he'd had such a similar personality. Letting out a light breath as he shifted his weight from one foot to the next, Leon folded his arms once again, offering the smallest of smiles back at her. It was one of the highest forms of friendliness he'd give out these days.

"Surviving." He answered impassively, looking at the ground for a moment, before back up at her. "I'll admit, it's good to see a friendly face too. Shame Ryu and Ken aren't around for this one." He glanced around as he said this, frowning. He hadn't seen their names on the bracket list. "Um... at least I don't see them. Are they here?"

Master Chief
So it seemed Rebellio's attitude was simply just 'chill' by default. He certainly had a lot more to say than the Spartan did, and as he revealed more about himself, that began to become clear. Rebellio, it seemed, enjoyed moments like these but didn't often get them. His last question left the air between them stale and silent for several moments. He wanted to know Chief's opinion of the meaning behind 'the greatest honor of them all', addressing how unclear of a prize for victory that was.
He could have guessed. 'Honor' was subjective, and considering the uniqueness of every individual here, the prize either wouldn't be a prize to some, and a prize to others, or it wasn't set, and the prize would be chosen based on the winner. That was his rough theory regarding the matter, at least. It was Kalmiya who spoke instead of him.

Artificial Intelligence had avatars of their liking that they could project, either through actual lights or through a strange manipulation of electrolytes and... well, John never really paid attention to that kind of science. Long story short, Kalmiya was able to appear as a small hologram in front of Chief, a foot from his chestplate, eye-level with Rebellio. She was smiling.
As stated before, AI could choose their appearance. Kalmiya... chose to appear like a younger Halsey. Younger than even what Cortana had chosen years ago and now... it was almost like a window to the past. Kalmiya looked just as young as Halsey had when he'd first met her. He'd been six, and he'd just beat some other kids up in a violent game. Without the training and discipline he was given by ONI and the UNSC, he'd have probably grown to be quite the bully. She came to him in the aftermath, wearing pearly vestments, a wide-primed hat shielding her from the sun, and she'd given him a coin to flip. If he correctly guess what it would land on five times, she would let him keep it. At the time he didn't give it much thought. Looking back, it was clear she was personally evaluating him. He correctly 'guessed' each toss. In actuality, even at the age of six, he had seen the coin when it went into the air, saw what was face up at the peak of its rise, and used logic and reasoning to deduce what it would land on, process that went through his mind in a split second. Alongside a bully, he was a prodigy. That coin was long gone now, left behind when he'd been abducted. The planet it had been left on was all but reduced to glass. Nothing was left.

"Hi!" Kalmiya waved a hand, enthusiasm bleeding through her appearance and her voice. Her voice was even a copy of Halsey, and in turn Cortana, but like her appearance, she'd modeled herself to be younger than them in this regard as well. Perhaps a teenage Halsey would have been an accurate description.
"I'm Kalmiya, the Weapon designed for the destruction of the rogue AI known as Cortana but, well uh..." She chuckled nervously, glancing up and over at Chief. "Well, I guess I'm now a personal AI companion! Anyway, it's a pleasure to meet you Rebellio!" She paused, glancing at Chief again, who still did nothing, merely listened to the exchange as he watched the scenes unfolding around them. Generic Host was striding toward the monitor, seemingly getting ready to say more.
"As for your question, I... um..." Kalmiya seemed stumped, pausing and frowning to cusp her chin in her hand, a physical show of deep reflection. "Hey hey!" The interaction was interrupted as the Host's voice boomed out, amplified somehow to go over their conversations.

The Host was grinning as he gestured to his left, where the screen was after he'd repositioned himself. "Live feed for the battles, I'm sure those of you may appreciate getting a look at what some of your potential opponents are, ah, capable of, no?" He stopped speaking, staring at the screen as Dark Matter versus Gemini appeared on it, another screen appearing on Generic Host's right. "The more battles the more screens, heh... oh, I forgot to mention." He cleared his throat. "Where those two eager beavers are fighting is the default arena for most fights. However, when passing through the gateway, you can actually select your own arena. Neat, huh?" His voice seemed to trail off as he stared at them now. "Yeah... the place we're at now is a uh... 'world between worlds' let's call it. I think that sounds cool, no? I can customize this, so it's just a uh... a cute little park right now, but it can grow and flourish into something bigger and better! It might get a little chaotic, but I'm sure you understand my disposition on 'chaos' at this point, huh? Oh, here, I'll go ahead and..." He waved his hand, and a simple plastic table appeared before the group, foam cups positioned on its surface alongside a water dispenser. "It's filled with lemonade." The Host stated, grinning. "The further we get, the uh... better refreshments I'll provide, how does that sound?" His question was rhetorical as he went back to staring at the currently on-going battle.

John's eyes lingered on that screen as well. The way the other had appeared, the refreshments, the Host's claims... it seemed beyond science as Kalmiya implied. It seemed supernatural, or a level of cosmic power. He wasn't sure what to make of it. "Ooh, refreshments!" Kalmiya pointed at the table, looking back at Chief. "Do you want any?"
"No."
"Oh." Her excitement seemed to vanish for a moments, before she regained herself. "I wish I was real. I'd love to try some lemonade."
He felt a little bad now, but it wasn't as though him drinking lemonade would translate into an experience for her.

Kassandra
Lemon... aid...?
Interesting concept. The misthios cocked her head to the side as she strode toward the refreshments table, eyes scanning over the marble cups, then at the large blue barrel. Interesting. After inspecting the barrel for a moment, she reached forward and poked it. It felt cold to the touch, and weirdly smooth.
This entire situation was weird. The creatures around her, the unique armors she witnessed, and all for some kind of tournament. It was a strange system as well. She'd fought in arenas before, but it was essentially a 'can you murder this guy and all his goons' situation. Here, it was one person taking on another. That would make things vastly easier.

Possessing an air of confidence, Kassandra grabbed one of the cups- and it crumbled in her grip. Eyes widening as she let it go, bits of foam littered the ground. That might have looked like marble at first glance, but it was as fragile as leaves! "Malakas!" She hissed, glaring down at the mess she'd made. Shaking her head, she grabbed a second cup this time, intentially being as careful as possible. This time it didn't break.
Okay, so... how did she get the lemon aid out from this barrel? Was there a corkscrew hole to... ah. Kassandra found the faucet, proceeding to grab it and rip it out. Golden liquid began to pour out from the hole she'd created. Dipping her cup under it, she filled her goblet before sticking the 'corkscrew' back in.

It didn't stick, popping out and letting more lemonade empty out. Kassandra raised a brow at it. Shitty corkscrew, it seemed. She raised the cup to her lips and took a deep gulp, swallowing it all with one swig before throwing down the cup and wiping at her lips, face reflexively scrunching as her eyes watered. "What the... blegh!" She spit at the ground. "What in Poseidon's great ocean is that!?"

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

"Certainly ain't fit for everyone, that's for sure sugar." Ranamon agreed with Kassandra's disgust. "You would think a tv production would spare no expense for their star and supporting cast's needs! Hm! Cuttin' corners in the budget won't win me over."

Eyeing the woman up and down, he wasn't sure what her deal was. Cosplay? Some kind of art addict? Whoever and whatever she was, she looked like she was a part of one of her fan circles. Offerings bemused smile, she cheerily approached her.

"I drop another album here in a few weeks, if you like, I can give you a free copy~"


.......


Ignoring the antics of those that didn't matter, Specter scanned for metal, hoping to find signs of his previous ally, but instead found that of something else: primates. More specifically; monkeys. More apes in the tournament? How fortunate for him. Getting his signature smirk, he approached them.

"Greetings comrades, this place may prove unwelcoming, but know you are still welcome under my banner: Liberation if all monkey mind over our oppressors!" He announced, cooly flipping his hair back. "Now, come with me, all of you. We have business to achieve."

 

[Psymallard]

Daruk
"Huh?" The goron turned his head in the direction of the voice- no one was there. He looked down, and there was the source. It was even shorter than a Hylian! The bulky Champion cocked his head to the side at this strange creature. From the sounds of it, it didn't want to fight. "Hey, little guy. Don't worry about it, just stay strong and your buddy Daruk will fight for the both of us!" He pointed at himself with one huge thumb, wearing the biggest grin on his face. Daruk meant it, part of the job description of being a Champion was sticking up for the ones littler than him... which to Daruk was everyone.

Turner
This 'Generic Host' guy was sly. He was awkward with words and provided luxuries to the participants, which made him seem less devious than he actually was, but anyone who kidnaps people and forces them into a tournament gets a free reservation on his hit list. But for now, Turner would play his little game. As some weird shaved cat-thing fell for the ringmaster's "lemon aid," he scoffed, crossing his arms and walking over to a space away from everyone else.

 

[Captain Pokémon]

Metal Sonic
Metal soared through the air after being blasted. What just happened? One second he was about to win the fight, the next he was blasted by what felt like a air strike at point blank range. Then, he was swept by a wave of…something that was beyond his comprehension. And just like that, everything went to the trash folder. Heat signatures were all over the place, there was no color, and there was an insufferable ringing in his audio sensors. Nothing made sense. Suddenly, an agonizing pain went through his entire body. He didn’t even think he could feel pain! He felt as if he was being torn into two, his strength leaving him. And then, the world’s most powerful robot went limp.

Afterwards, as if nothing had happened at all, he appeared on a floating piece of land in an endless white void. What…? Metal noticed that he felt…smaller. Or rather, less big. He looked at his torso and hands, and discovered the issue: he was back to normal. How is this possible?! The droid thought to himself. A hologram then appeared in front of a large screen, explaining the situation they were in. Another tournament…but this feels different. There’s something…off. The robot thought, although he didn’t have too much time to dwell on it, as the bracket then appeared on the screen. His battle was in the preliminaries, although it was one of the later ones. Looks like he had some time to kill, not unlike he would his opponent soon enough. He then noticed Psyduck taunting him, or at least attempting to. Metal glared at the pokémon with enough venom to make any poison type jealous. He was not in the mood for this right now.
@Psymallard

M O N K E E S
The monkeys were vibing in Monkey Lane. The dart monkeys were lazing around, very few of them actually doing their jobs. The engineers were relaxing on lawn chairs while their turrets and Bloonchippers kept watch. Cannons and spike factories sat still, no targets for them to shoot. A single Tech Terror rotated on top of a hill, aiming its weapons at all angles, not letting its guard down for a second. In the distance, a Sun God Temple stood proudly, a large village surrounding it. The monkeys who didn’t fight thrived in this city, their huts bustling with music and chittering. In the same general area, several tall buildings with banana logos were placed at the edge of this village, yellow smoke emerging from smokestacks, all while aviator and helicopter monkeys kept the skies clear of any pesky bloons. Suddenly, a large, digital wave swept over the serene hills. The monkeys began to panic and do different things. The dart monkeys ran away, the engineer monkeys didn’t even wake up, while the Tech Terror attempted to shoot the wave. None of this was effected, and they were all swept up.

Suddenly, the monkeys hit the ground, although not all of them went through the portal to the plaza. All that were here at the moment were: A Triple Dart Monkey, a Tech Terror, an Engineer, a Monkey Ace (plane currently absent since they’re not in battle), and a Sniper Monkey. The Triple Dart Monkey looked around, wide eyed with curiosity, chittering constantly. The Tech Terror stood tall, not making a sound, scanning its surroundings. The Engineer started placing planks and nails on the ground and putting them together like jenga pieces. The Monkey Ace climbed on top of the tech terror, sat down on its head, and made airplane noises because he was bored. The Sniper Monkey stood low to the ground, weapon at the ready. They all listened to the Generic Host for a grand total of 4 seconds before they lost interest.

After a few more minutes, the Tech Terror’s head suddenly turned to the right, causing the Monkey Ace to fly off, achieving his goal. Apparently, the Tech Terror heard Specter coming before the others did and alerted them to the intelligent simian’s presence. The Triple Dart Monkey cocked his head to the side as Specter began to speak. After the ape finished talking, all the monkeys cheered, apart from the Tech Terror. They probably had different ideas of ‘oppressors’, but they didn’t know that. For all they knew, Specter was referring to the evil bloons. The Tech Terror began to walk forward, the Monkey Ace back on its head. The Triple Dart Monkey then followed, then the Sniper and the engineer. They were ready to follow the smart simian.
@Shen: King of the Mist

Jevil
The chaotic darkner face planted onto the ground as he emerged from a portal, although he didn’t react much to it. He peeled himself off of the ground and floated into the air. He listened carefully as Generic Host-psyche! Jevil couldn’t care less. All he knew was that he was in a new place with new friends to play with.

The jester flew over to one who stood out. A tall guy in armor, most likely a lightner. The lightner seemed to be speaking with two other lighteners, one of which was rather…transparent? Eh, not the weirdest thing Jevil had seen by a long shot. The other one had rather long hair and was dressed in orange. Rather strange fashion sense in Jevil’s opinion, but he wasn’t one to judge. Jevil floated down to the two, or was it three? Two and a half? Two and a half it was. Jevil floated down to the two and a half, a grin plastered on his face. “Greetings friends!” He said, floating casually beside them, sliding himself into the conversation.
@comic @ArmedBlue

 

[Fraseandchico]

Tethi

A gulp came from Tethi at Copen's words to her, knowing there was no way to fix that problem. Luckily for her, his companion seemed much kinder in comparison.

"Right, that makes sense. Well, I'll do my best, if just to get you guys to loosen up a little- Wah!" Just as Tethi finished confirming she was ready and had put a little distance between herself and her opponent, a small barrage of lasers fired upon her.
Since they were, ya know, lasers, she didn't quite have the reaction time needed to deflect them, causing her to take a small but noticeable amount of damage and sliding back, managing to bring out her wand and charging it up with a rattle in her hand, firing off two different shots directly at the electric streams, followed by a lobbed shot that hit the third one, detonating on impact.

Finally, the wand was shaken to the floor, blasting down a burrowing root headed straight for Copen. If it were to hit, it would explode, at least from what Tethi remembered last time she used that one.

 

[DevVoid]

Death
Having had a good look at all the contestants, Death decided to watch one of the ongoing battles. Floating back down to the ground, Death vaporized his scythe and threw his arms up, then lowered them, maintaining them in an extended pose held in front of him. Then, gathering a few inches in front of his skeletal hands, dark-blue energy emerged, spiralling together to form two black/dark-blue portals. Taking a few seconds to gather in size, Death used the portals to summon his two trusted minions - Slogra, the pale-yellow bird-like demon and Gaibon, the pale-blue dragon-like demon. When the portals closed up, Death re-summoned his scythe to his right hand and waived the two minions off. " Gather information about the other participants, but do not provoke them, nor start any fights. " Was all Death ordered them to do while Death hovered into the archway and went to watch the battle between this 'Dark Matter' and 'Gemini'.

Slogra & Gaibon
Well, while provoking and attacking people were kind of their bread n' butter, Slogra and Gaibon had orders to follow and wouldn't exactly be wise to question their master. Though, out of the two, it was Slogra who was more the talkative type, since Gaibon usually just walked (or flew) around, silently following Slogra wherever the avian demon went.

Spinning his spear in his hand, then slamming the end of the handle on the ground with the spear head up, Slogra looked to all the other participants. However, his attention was briefly taken by Gaibon, who pointed out that they were in a tournament, the rules of said tournament, and the board with the participant's names and pictures on it. Someone on that list stood out to Slogra. Someone named Turner.. while the name didn't exactly sound like it, the profile shot of this participant looked like they could be a potential fellow demon. With that in mind, Slogra motioned upward with his spear, causing Gaibon to fly up, pick up Slogra by the shoulders and fly into the air with him. Slogra had a good look at everyone below, finding the one they're looking for rather easily due to the noticeable bunny ears.

Gaibon lowered down to the ground a few metres away from the humanoid bunny, with Slogra once again holding the spear handle-side down as to not seem hostile. Upon Gaibon landing himself, Slogra went to approach this bunny, Gaibon following after the avian demon.
Slogra approached with slow steps, nodding over to Turner and calling out: " Greetings. " With a hoarse, demonic voice in an attempt to get the rabbit's attention. " I am Slogra, and this here is Gaibon. Say.. are you possibly also of demonic descent? " @Psymallard

Frank Horrigan
Frank was boring himself to death. He thought this was a tournament, not a goddamn tea party, and Frank was interested in tearing people's spines out, not playing around with his prey. With no mood to talk with anyone here, Frank stomped on over to the archway with loud footsteps that left cracks in the ground and headed on through, now just spending his time watching the fight between this 'Copen' and this 'Tethi'.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Specter


Now equipped with a loyal army of monkeys, Specter went quick to work. Smirking, he darted his crimson eye to the hologram showman that appeared to run the joint.

An artificial intelligence implies the existence of a maker. Judging from the fact that they are not present here, they elect to speak through a vessel. Now a being of that intelligence to sort matter from multiverses? Quite the dangerous thing. None of these people seemed to have grasped the importance of this yet, perhaps this is a good thing. For the moment, I need an audience with this intelligence. For some reason, I feel this would only be given if we win, or if there's a weakness to exploit. For now, only one is readily attainable.

Electing to focus on the winning aspect for now, he stopped, turning to his monkeys. Crossing his legs he pointed to them, the leader of the new monkey regime spoke.

"Winning is the only way for certain to get an audience with those with do not show their face. Your first task monkeys: Spread far and wide, be my eyes and ears and discover the weaknesses in these competitors, as well as any flaws this plaza may have!"

Thrusting his arm to the side to signify the order, his cape fluttered as he spoke these words. A natural born leader--or rather a artificially made one.

@Captain Pokémon

Kumamon


Kumamon's eyes widened as he was responded to. Looking up at the large man, both in girth and height. His jolly and overall pleasant demeanor opened him up to the icy bear, who smiled back at him in turn.

"Hey, that's very nice of you! But I don't think our fancy host over there is gonna allow that..." He laughed, scratching his head with a finger. "Say, you pretty cool! Dar...uke? Right? I'm Kumamon, legendary warrior of ice! If you need a snowball fight, I'm your guy!"

@Psymallard


Hareta

After jumping down from the pillars, the wild boy trainer grinned, looking at all the competitors in the room. He had a youthful vigor in his heart, one that could tell burnt brightly just by looking at him.

"So many people...these guys are all fighters? Can't wait to beat the toughest of them all! Man, this is awesome!"

He wondered just how did all these people fight? Some looked like pokemon...some WHERE Pokémon! Others looked like they were in a costume party, while others looked like embodiments of destruction. Spotting someone amongst them: a buff man wearing a green dinosaur mask, Hareta marched forward to greet the guy.

"Hey! You in the tournament too?" He cheerfully asked, before noticing the glaring mask he wore, pointing to it. "...Are you a dinosaur??"

@DarkHydraT

 

[comic]

Kassandra
One of the strange beings, a... siren, perhaps? Her body seemed to adhere to the desire of men, and considering the completely fake friendliness, the misthios assumed she must be some kind of siren. Anyway, it was speaking of albums and casts. Folding her arms over her chest rather casually, Kassandra raised a brow. "Is that what this is?" Her Greek accent was heavy with each syllable. "Some kind of strange play, which would make you thespians." She rolled her eyes. "I'm assuming Sophacles put you up to this. Well, you can tell that tragedian that I'm not interested. I have enough tragedy to deal with in my own life, I don't have time for his fabrications of fiction."

With that, Kassandra waved a hand dismissively at Ranamon before walking away. The tub of lemonade had by now run empty, leaving a wet mess pooled on the ground, which Generic Host seemed to be staring at disdainfully.
So not a siren, Kassandra guessed. Prosthetics and make-up. Realistic, she had to give credit where credit was due, but still. She was no thespian, and unless Sophacles needed a throat slit or an urgent message delivered to an Athenian general, he could go lie with Persephone and suffer the wrath of Hades.
Kassandra approached the Host, who blinked at her with a blank smile. "I'm ready to leave." She told him. "Oh, I uh... I'm afraid I don't know what you mean." He chuckled. "You mean 'leave'?" She inquired. "Simple. You let me walk away and you live. Otherwise, take me to your boss." As she said this, she gripped onto the spear of Leonidas, narrowing her eyes.

Generic Host simply chuckled some more. "Sure, sure, you can leave. Well, you can once you beat everyone here."
"Now? Sure." Kassandra shrugged, and was about to turn around before she was stopped as the host continued. "Er- no. We have a system. Break it, and well uh... we'll have to break you."
"Is that a threat?" The misthios was growing irritated, especially at this man's stupid grin. "No, sorry, I should have uh... made it more clear. It was a promise. Now be a good, patient little person and wait your turn. Or you could uh... take the easy way out and kill yourself."
"Excuse me?"
"You're quite excused. Buh-bye."
Just like her dismissive wave on Ranamon, the host waved his hand as though sending her away. She grit her teeth, about to plunge the spear forward, before she found herself on the other side of the crowd, stabbing at nothingness. "What?" She blurted out, looking about like a deer caught in headlights, disoriented. He'd just made her appear all the way over here and...
Malakas... She was being forced to fight a tournament for a mysterious man with mysterious powers. It could only mean this was Ares, surely. If there was one thing the misthios knew, it was not to disobey the Gods. She'd simply have to... fight this out. Resigned, Kassandra's eyes flitted toward the bracket screen, spelled out in the Greek language. She was to be waiting. Not even battling in the first round... this had to be a joke.

So she looked at the bracket before her own. A 'Master Kohga' and a 'Mipha'. Now to find them and get a look at one of her potential opponents. Master Kohga sounded like it had a fair bit of mysticism behind the name. Mystical and mysterious, so it wouldn't be somebody showing their face so boldly. That eliminated a few, and her eyes immediately were drawn toward the fat man in the imposing mask.
Perhaps him, though he seemed terribly unfit for the title of 'master'.
The other was Mipha. The name had a feminine sound to it, so one of the women here. She could discount the siren from earlier, it didn't feel fitting. There was the young girl with pink hair, and it felt somewhat fitting. Maybe her... but she didn't quite think so. Master Kohga was pegged, no doubt about that, but this 'Mipha' was more of a challenge.
"Ikaros... maybe you can help me." Kassandra closed her eyes, and when she re-opened them, she was not peering through her own visage. Instead, she was staring down at the scene from a birds-eye-view. To put it simply, she was literally looking through the eyes of a bird. Her bird. An eagle named Ikaros.
It enabled her to have a greatly heightened sense of perception, and she glared down through the eyes of an eagle at the contestants, focusing on the pink haired girl a moment before concluding she wasn't the target.
"There..."
Another aquatic-like woman. Her body seemed shark-like, so she certainly wasn't a Gorgon. Perhaps... even Scylla herself? No, that wasn't probable. A sea nymph wasn't off the table, however. This was what Kassandra elected to conclude with as she closed her eyes, and returned to her own.
Mipha was clearly the superior to Master Kohga, meaning it would be Mipha she'd need to focus on. Understand to best- though the misthios was hardly worried. Both were incredibly... laughable. With that in mind, the eagle let out a cry before swooping down. Kassandra lifted an arm that Ikaros swiftly landed on, and she proceeded to stroke the underside of his beak.

Snake
"Hngh..."
The greatest soldier of all time was hunched in a dark corner. A confined space. Very little light streamed in through either end of this prison he found himself in, and through the front he glared, jaw slowly moving left then right as he watched. And listened. And waited.
In reality, he was in the cover of one of his signature cardboard boxes. Nobody had thought to lift it yet, making his hiding place an ideal spot to gather intel from.

"I am Slogra, and this here is Gaibon. Say... are you possibly also of demonic descent?"
"Blegh." Snake stuck out his tongue. He hated dealing with demons. With that, he lifted the box an inch off the ground before waddling away in it, headed for another batch to listen to.
Truthfully, he was surprised nobody had found him out yet. He'd seen the bracket, he'd seen their faces, there were plenty he recognized here, or at least had heard of. Maybe they just didn't remember him or something.
"Hm..." Snake frowned as he stopped, staring at a puddle of lemonade on the ground. He passed himself over it before he proceeded to try some of it. Sour, but not too sour. Ideal lemonade. Who could have wasted something like this? Shaking his head, he peered through his peep hole again to see a pair of blue-ish legs. He frowned. They were positioned as though the person the legs were holding up was staring right at his box. Looked feminine.
Nice.

Master Chief
Before Rebellio could so much as address Kalmiya's own questions back, a crudely-dressed, impish jester dropped in on them quite literally, grinning wildly. "Oh my goodness!" Kalmiya's eyes widened as she looked at him. "What are you? I mean- oh my gosh, I'm sorry, that was really rude. I meant what... species are you? You're clearly not human, and I just scanned your anatomy. Or... lack thereof. You're outputting a strange energy, and you seem to be made up of it. You're not... no, I don't want to say 'real' that would be rude..." Her voice trailed awkwardly off as she tried to look friendly toward the Jester.
Meanwhile, the Spartan simply stood there, having nothing to say to the imp. Kalmiya did all the talking already, anyway.

However, it wasn't long before their host was addressing them once again, voice amplified to reach them all once again. "My, this is getting boring, hm? How about we try and spice things up, might be a good idea, no? Here... how about I just..." Generic Host waved his hand again, and two more of the strange glowing gateways appeared, similar to the ones the other contestants had gone through for their fights- or viewing pleasure.
"I think uh..." The host looked at the tourney board. "You know, I think I'd like to see the four arm muscle guy and the edgy cosplayer with too much free time duke it out." He paused, before smiling and blinking slowly. "Sorry, that last bit doesn't really narrow it down... heh... Machump and Black Knight, get out there and make... someone proud. I'm sure someone will. For the other fight, how about... that Pandora lass! Yes, you. And who're you fighting? Oh, right, the Sonic OC... uh... Titanium Sonic. Head on out there!"
It was becoming clear just how little respect this guy had for any of them. Though it was hard not to notice how he didn't seem to make much fun of Pandora. A sign of picking favorites? Or maybe he just couldn't think of anything disrespectful enough in the moment.

 

[ArmedBlue]

Copen

Starting off strong with an early hit on Tethi, Copen frowned as he saw a ground-based attack headed his way. He had no idea what it could do, but he wasn't about to stay still and find out. Opting to stay on the offensive, Lola quickly switched EX Weapons to Hailstorm Blade- her body and the P-Bits becoming cyan in color- the robots spawning two swords made out of ice behind Copen. The scientist leapt forward as Tethi's attack neared, one of the icy blades slashing at the burrowing root in hopes of intercepting it or outright destroying it.

Immediately after clearing his opponent's attack, the Adept Slayer performed a Bullit Dash towards Tethi- his primary movement technique, powered by his suit's Bullit battery packs- leaving an azure trail as he propelled himself over to his opponent, closing the gap in less than a second. With that done, Copen attempted to pistol whip the girl to tag her, which would mark her with a pinkish triangle and allow his attacks to home in on her. Whether or not his tag attempt worked, the scientist would follow up with two more swings of Hailstorm Blade.

Rebellio

In just a few moments, two new characters had been dropped into the mix. The first to appear was an A.I. named Kalmiya, appearing as a small hologram projected in the image of a young lady, with a blueish tint to it. She seemed a lot more talkative and energetic than the silent, more serious Master Chief, which was a nice change of pace. Conversations weren't as fun if one person was doing most of the talking, right? Rebellio gave her a wave in return as he listened to her words, and was about to respond before another new face showed up.

The second was some sort of imp similar to a clown dressed primarily in purple and black. The Adept wasn't exactly sure what the newcomer was, and it seemed Kalmiya didn't either. From the looks of it, this was some sort of magical creature, taking part in the tournament just like everyone else. At least he seemed friendly.

"It's nice to meet you, Kalmiya. As well as... whomever you may be, floating clown guy." Rebellio spoke, waving at Jevil as well. "But hey, the more the merrier, right?" Keeping his usual smile, he took a look at the refreshments table, which apparently had lemonade available! Unfortunately, it seemed all of it had spilled onto the ground. What a shame. He wanted to add lemonade to the list of things he wished to try at this place. Oh well...

Taking his mind off of that, the Adept tried thinking of something to keep the conversation going. Not like he had too much experience doing that, anyway. "So... you guys think you have a good shot at winning this tournament thing that Host guy set up?"

 

[DarkHydraT]

Gemini Spark slashed at the orbs, causing them to explode as both Black and White Gemini recoiled from the attack. "So that's what you're playing at? Very well, enjoy yourself up there!" Both Gemini's launched their golden arm at Dark Matter, making their Rocket Fists meet at Dark Matter's face.

@Gamingfan

-----------------

"Sometimes that is all that you can do, at least you're still alive." Chun-Li sent a sympathetic smile Leon's way. She had a general idea of what he faced and compared to those horrid things, Bison was an innocent little child. "I don't think that they are, or else they would've shown up on the roster. Ryu and Ken are famous fighters after all, so that also rules out any involvement of Bison. He hosted tournaments before, but Ryu is his main target. To be completely honest, I don't know what Bison wants with 'Bowie'. He's usually more interested in kidnapping pretty young girls." The woman said, looking at the picture of Bowie.

@comic

-----------------

Saurhead looked at the boy who walked up to him and wondered if he was a dinosaur. "ROARRRR! I am no dinosaur, I am Saurhead! I will win this tournament, so prepare for a steamroller of PAIN!" The sheer size and physique difference between the two of them was almost comical, and the master fighter glared at Hareta. "Who are you, child? Tell Saurhead your name!"

@Shen: King of the Mist

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Ranamon


"Not interested? Who put me up to this?? You got some nerve hun-" That's when Kassandra turned around and walked away from her. "Hey- come back here! UGH! I swear manners are a rare commodity these days! Hmph!"

Crossing her arms, Ranamon pouted. Such a distasteful woman, unlike herself of course. At least there weren't any creepy fanboys here, ha, they'd prolly be all up in my business about now, can't leave a darling alone-

"..."

Looking down she was met with a conspicuous box, a pair of eyes staring up from in in the slit in the handle. The southern girl growled, steam coming from her head.

"I have zero tolerance for perverts! Hyaaa!!"

Suddenly, the lemonade water was bended, rushing up to the roof of Snake's box while Ranamon's hand movements controlled the flow. In one swift movement, it would jet upwards and remove the box covering him.

"Get on your hands and knees and give me a hundred bows!"

@comic

.......


Hareta


Saurhead delivered a mighty introduction from his allowing gut, giving an overwhelming presence. That kind of energy made it even more convincing he was a T-Rex, except the fact he was talking of course. His proclamation of victory pumped Hareta up, a grin forming on his face as he crossed his arms.

"I'm Hareta! And I'm gonna beat you Saurhead!"

The confidence was almost amusing, judging from how much Hareta was craning his neck looking up at the buff dinosaur enthusiast. Either Hareta was completely oblivious to threats, or he had the action to back up his gumption

@DarkHydraT

 

[Gamingfan]

Dark Matter
Dark Matter remained stoic as his attack landed. It expected better from this being, but they fell for such an easy trap. Dark Matter elegantly floated upward, avoiding the fists and spinning once to release four strange-looking star projectiles that stood in place midair.
Dark Matter was not finished, however, as it brought up its shimmering sword and slammed it down from above, releasing a dark energy wave towards Gemini.

Kirbobot Armor
The robobot armor stood in place, almost appearing inactive until it noticed a small creature staring at him. The robot stared back, retracting it's legs halfway for easier "eye" contact. It was an odd thing, not appearing like the native lifeforms on popstar or halcandra. Then again, nor did anyone else here.

 

[DarkHydraT]

"Such a shame." Black Gemini snapped his fingers and opened up a black hole underneath their feet, swallowing up Black and White Gemini before spitting them out where they were safe from the dark energy wave. It was an easy way to escape, but bigger objects were harder to transport which made him limit the usage to transport himself. . The Rocket Fists exploded, sending shrapnel flying around the arena before they reappeared on the arms of both electricity wielders. "Take this!" Gemini pressed his golden arms together and charged up electricity before firing off a beam of lighting at Dark Matter.

@Gamingfan

----------------------

"Beat me? You've got guts, kid! I am the master for the Master Rank! Those who beat me are among the best of the best, those who lose are everyone else! How do you plan on beating me, Hareta? You have no dino medals, how will you fight me without Vivosaurs? If you plan on beating me in a Fossil Battle, you'll need at least one of them! Otherwise, you're unable to even try to stop the world of PAIN!" Saurhead roared, astounded by the confidence of the child. Was he that confident or that stupid?

@Shen: King of the Mist

 

[Psymallard]

Psyduck
Having a short attention span, Psyduck wasn't focused on Metal anymore. He waddled away, looking for someone else he knew. He still really didn't understand why he was here, but he might as well socialize.
The Duck spotted some... monkeys? Psyduck loved monkeys, and started waddling towards their group as fast as his little webbed feet would take him.
@Captain Pokémon

Turner
Hearing an approach, Turner turned around. He was immediately taken aback and drew both his dagger and sword, getting into a fighting stance. "What kind of spawn of Khyo are you?" To think that Turner was starting to question religion. Either way, Priya seemed lazy as of late. He relaxed his stance, putting his weapons to his side, seeing as the spear-wielding one was intentionally approaching in a manner to not provoke him. "Sorry about that, strangers usually aren't friendly where I come from. No, I'm not a demon, but what do you want with me?"
@DevVoid

Daruk
"Yeah, I guess you're right, I'm not a big fan of this Generic Host guy so far." Daruk rubbed the back of his head. "So you like ice, huh? Can't say I'm a big fan of the cold myself. After all, I live on a volcano!" He grinned, glad to have made a little buddy that he could chat with already. "Ah, good ol' Death Mountain. I miss it already. What about you, little buddy? Where do you come from?"
@Shen: King of the Mist

 

[Gamingfan]

Dark Matter
Dark Matter dashed backwards, gaining extra distance from Gemini. It showed little reaction despite some of the shrapnel stabbing into it, with only bits dark smoke revealing damage.
Dark Matter's eye suddenly escaped his visor, becoming blank. Its cape billowed, revealing it having shifted to Dark Matter's bottom half. It charged briefly, before firing a laser of its own, only the electricity was purple and black.
As the two beams collided, Dark Matter's previous star projectiles locked onto Gemini and promptly flew at them from above

 

[comic]

Master Chief
"No point in setting expectation." Chief was the one to answer Rebellio this time, his visor glinting as it was directed toward the screens as two more had appeared to accommodate for the two new fights. The Host claimed he was bored with the first two fights, hence making sure two more would happen as well. On top of doubling the pace of this tournament thus far, it also made it just that bit more difficult to focus on the fights and get a grip on the fighting styles of each new opponent. Well, at least when they start.
"Buuut." Kalmiya added onto Chief's statement. "Master Chief here has saved the galaxy a minimum of three times. It's honestly super amazing getting to work with him. I have a lot of confidence that he'll win."
"We'll see." Was the Spartans response. While Kalmiya had the blind optimism of something akin to a fan, Chief displayed far more rational realism. Or perhaps he was just showing humility.

Leon
"Hm." Leon nodded, frowning as he stared at the ground at her feet once again, thinking for a moment. "I'd have to agree. This seems a little out of Bison's league." His eyes followed Chun-Li's to the kid she'd mentioned. Young and small with an amorphous blob at his side. Not sure what that part was all about, but it was just some poor kid roped into all of this. The agent felt that this Host was fairly distasteful.
In only 30 seconds of conversing with, he'd concluded that she knew just as much as he did about this situation. That was just great. People had begun to group up and converse if they weren't already participating in a battle, or watching one. Though there was one that stood out of interest to the ex-cop.

"I'll see you later, Chun-Li. It's always good to see you. Maybe we can catch a coffee sometime? Preferably under better circumstances." He gave her a nod before walking around her, making his way to his target; Pac-Man. The pizza slice arcade character now in 3d had yet to go about interacting with anyone. Simply standing there idly.
"Pac-Man." Much like with Chun-Li, he directed his attention to him. "My name's Leon. I'm your opponent."

Snake
"My hands and knees...?"
The moment he'd been super-soaked by ground lemonade, his box yoinked up from over him, he rose to his feet in the blink of an eye, his perpetual glare boring into Ranamon now. He'd already technically been on his hands and knees before. "Hm..." He rumbled in the back of his throat. Quite suddenly, he dropped to a single knee, bringing a hand up to his ear.

Spoiler: Codex Entry: 001

Snake: Colonel, a weird fish thing is trying to get me to worship her.
Colonel: That's Ranamon, Snake. She's a celebrity back in the Digimon universe.
Snake: Digimon, huh? What is that? Knock-off Pokemon?
Colonel: Some might say so.
Snake: So am I supposed to worship her?
Colonel: What? No. Unless you want to. I wouldn't mind.
Snake: Huh?
Colonel: Nothing, Snake. Carry on with the mission.
Snake: Wait, Colonel.
Colonel: What is it, Snake?
Snake: You're not a... fan of her, are you?
Colonel: That information is irrelevant to your mission.
Snake: Okay...

That was weird. Snake rose back up, looking back toward the aquatic digimon. "So you're a Digimon, huh? And a celebrity. Hm..." His eyes traveled up and down scrutinizingly. "I'm guessing it's your charming personality that gains you fans." Snake offered sarcastically, despite his voice remaining just as it usually did without the inflections of sarcasm.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Ranamon


Ranamon blinked in confusion as the man seemed to get down on one knee...to pray? Or was it to apologize? She didn't know if this was him being earnest in asking forgiveness or just having a panic attack like some of her fans did when she would scold them. For now, she's allow it to pass.

"So you're a Digimon, huh?" And a celebrity...hm..."

"Yes...? I say sugar, for a fan you ain't that brightest of the bunch are you?"

"I'm guessing it's your charming personality that gains you fans."

. . .

She reached toward him as if to choke him to death, only to stop herself when she remembered the rule to not harm one another outside a match. Her fingers twitching at the invisible neck they were wrapped around in front of Snake.

"YOU INSUFFERABLE DOLT-I mean, bless your heart..." She cleared her throat and collected some of herself. "I have you know, I'm the newest pop sensation, loved by millions, adored by the masses! The only celebrity that can sing, dance, act, AND fight! Nobody here has that kind of track record, I promise you THAT!"

She jabbed her index finger repeatedly at snake, almost defensively. It became obvious she wasn't used to criticism amongst her base, all of them unanimously loving her without question. Sure they wouldn't tell her why outside how she was 'pretty', but they meant all her aspects.


@comic




Hareta


Master rank? Could that be some kind of gym leader? The strongest of them all? This guy must be a big deal! So...it'll mean even more when I beat him! ...Dunno what he means by vivosaurs, but I'll beat those too! A competitive grin came across the Pokémon trainer's face as he stood proudly.

"Oh yeah? Well I got my vivosaurs right here!"

Taking a pokeball out, he tossed it up into the air. As he looked to prove that he had what it took to fight him, he felt a crushing weight on his chest...literally. Before their very eyes, a heavy, six foot tall penguin emerged: Empoleon, standing right on top of him. The sudden dramatic increase in weight had the boy gasping for air.

"Urk! Never...learned how to...rrrk! Throw right...!"

Empoleon looked down, noticing it's trainer in another predicament. It shook it's head, steeping off of him as the boy lifted himself up, dusting his pants off like nothing had happened, returning to his crossed armed state.

"See! I got my vivosaurs! This here is Empoleon!"


@DarkHydraT



Kumamon


"Death mountain eh? I dunno, that sounds kinda dangerous to me...." Kumamon sheepishly laughed, rubbing the back of his head. "Oh? Where I live? A little of everywhere actually! I've been to Forest terminal...Village of flames...The Dark Zone, heck, even a factory that makes wind! I live a little bit of everywhere."

He was never one to set roots, but more of a wanderer. The icy Digimon seemed to open up, glad that there was someone here that spoke his language!

"Though, I AM a high ranking member of the polar defense force but- SHHH! That's top secret!"

@Psymallard

 

[comic]

Snake
The aquatic digimon clearly was unappreciative of Snake's comment, appearing to get ready to try and strangle him and scream. Talk about anger issues. She managed to control herself however, and make an awful attempt at a recovery. "Sing, dance, act, and fight, huh?" Snake stroked his beard, appearing to be thinking. "I'm not known for my singing. Or my dancing. Forget acting. But I can fight. So I guess I got you beat in one of those categories."
He folded his arms across his chest, as though this settled his superiority.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Ranamon


"Just how do you mean you got me beat you scruffy thug?!" She stomped at the serpent named agent. "Your mouth FAR outmatches your Moxie, sugar. Think you can hold a candle to me? Ranamon? The darling of the deep? Queen of the seas? The prettiest Pearl in the ocean's oyster? Ha! If you think so then you got another thing comin!"

Her arrogance cut the air like a knife, the embodiment of water choosing to see Snake as worthless ingrate with little grit to himself. Truly he was in no standing to judge her. Like a worm insulting a peacock.

"I say, what CAN you do? Throw boxes at me? Please darlin', your just gonna embarrass yourself!"

@comic

 

[comic]

Snake
The man watched and listened, appearing to be completely unphased at her verbal assaults.
Many probably couldn't understand how accustomed such a stud was in a situation like this, being shouted at by a being of the opposite gender. Snake frowned slightly. She was feminine sure, but he wouldn't stoop that low for this... thing.
...would he?

He let out another of his signature hums at her conclusion, eyeing her for a moment as he thought. "I have a lot I could do." He turned his gaze to the tournament listings. "Unfortunately, we can't test anything on each other. I'm supposed to fight a duck. And you..." He paused, scanning the list before turning back to her. "I don't know who you are. I'm guessing you're not the duck."
However, an idea came to him. "We could ask to switch matches so we could fight each other."

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Ranamon


"A lot to do...? Please, you were laying down in lemonade staring at me, if anything you got too LESS to do!"

Creepy vibes aside, Snake mentioned he was to fight a duck. This confused the heck out of her. She put a hand over her eyes to block out the light, peering over to the roster. She all of a sudden urked, trying to keep in a fit of laughter...ultimately failing.

"You...gwahahahaha!! Have to fight that dumb looking beaked bozo?! My! That's the most entertaining matchup I've seen thus far! I wouldn't miss this match if I were payed! You? Humiliated and defeated by such an idiotic pipsqueak opponent? Ha! You just don't want to face the music! I'm going to revel in this!"

It looked like she was in high spirits now, getting giddy at the thought of Snake getting pummeled by Psyduck, served on a silver platter - and she didn't even need to get her hands dirty! This was the best outcome!

@comic

 

[comic]

Snake
"Hm..."
To face either Psyduck or this digimon... Ranamon, that's right. He'd almost forgotten what the Colonel had called her. Fighting either would surely result in him getting his boots soggy. "You know, they say Psyduck's a master at using water." Snake turned away from her, still unaffected by her attempts at belittling him. "The best of the best, actually. A small creature, but not one to be underestimated. I saw him scare off Metal Sonic earlier. You claim to be Queen of the Seas, right? So I guess he'd be the King."
Snake nodded, as though agreeing with this notion he presented, still turned away from her as he stared at the screens with that unabridged glare he seemed to give everything.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Ranamon


*GLOOM*

Ranamon gave a sinister glare to Snake. Her amused, playful demeanor of passive aggression quickly turned into venomous, active aggression. She went right up to his face, her sharp fangs showing.

"LISTEN HERE BRAT! THERES ONLY ONE SOUTHERN BELL OF THE SEAS AND YOU ARE LOOKIN" AT HER!" She roared. "WE ARE SWITCHING MATCHES! YOU ARE DYING SNAKE BOY!"

Ranamon immediately would try to grab Snake by the collar, giving a surprising amount of force as he'd attempt to drag him toward the host.

"HOST! We need a change! This guy needs to be an example!"

@comic

 

[Captain Pokémon]

M O N K E E S
The monkeys all nodded as Specter gave them orders, before several clouds of smoke appeared around them. Monkeys dressed in black clothing, covering most of their fur, emerged from these clouds. They all dispersed in different directions, going to retrieve intel. Meanwhile, the Tech Terror flew into the sky using thrusters on its feet, going off to do things on it’s own. The Dart Monkey remained with Specter, fascinated by the speaking simian. The Engineer also remained, fascinated by Specter’s chair rather than Specter himself. The Monkey Ace and Sniper Monkey walked off, also going to gather intel.

Metal Sonic
The robot caught on to what was going on rather quickly, not even listening to most of Generic Host’s speech. After a few minutes, the Host stated that he was bored and added two more archways in the plaza, listing the next two battles. Looks like Metal was one of them and was up against someone called Pandora. The droid flew off, leaving a smoke trail in his wake. With a birds-eye view, he was quickly able to find his opponent, landing in front of them with a loud clang! He looked them in the eye before nodding his head to the archway, getting straight to the point.
@DarkHydraT

The Champ of Machamps
The tall pokémon listened to the Generic Host as he explained what this was all about. Weird, to say the least. Machamp observed the competition. Pfft. All these shrimpy guys and girls. This would be a piece of cake. However, one less shrimpy guy caught his attention. Well, it was kind of a guy. Its head was a…Tyrantrum’s? But, like, green. Odd. Machamp was more interested in what was next to the Tyrantrum guy. A trainer and…an Empoleon! Another pokémon was here! The Superpower pokémon rushed over rather quickly, reaching his destination in under 10 seconds. “Champ, Machamp!”
Machamp spoke excitedly to the Empoleon, happy to see another pokémon.
@Shen: King of the Mist @DarkHydraT

Jevil
The darkner giggled as the transparent, half-lightner questioned ‘what he was’, stating that he was emitting a strange energy. “Hehehe, you don’t know much, do ya?” Jevil said, flipping upside down in the air. “That ‘energy’ you’re talking about is magic! All darkners have it, ya know? You lighteners should really crack open a book once in a while, it’d do ya some good.” The imp jester responded to the hologram before directing his attention to Rebellio. Waving back at the boy in the jumpsuit, Jevil pretended to ponder his query, before flipping right-side up again, his grin widening somehow. “Why of course. Nobody is better at this game than I!”
@comic @ArmedBlue

The Pac is back
The yellow sphere looked at his surroundings in wonder. He could’ve sworn he was just chomping on an army of ghosts, but now he was at some sort of…tournament. He saw a few familiar faces from Smash, although he didn’t have much time to observe, as a human adult walked up to him, addressing him by name and introducing himself. This guy knew who he was? Huh, neat. Pac-Man smiled and gave Leon a thumbs-up, not intimidated nor worried about the fact that he would be fighting this guy.
@comic

 

[comic]

Snake
A smirk tugged at his lips as his manipulation tactic had worked seamlessly, though it faded as she grabbed his collar and began to tug him along. She was shorter than him, but not by too much. By the time they reached the Generic Host, she let go, and Snake straightened his collar without much fuss.
"An example?" The Host looked at her, then looked over Snake, his awkward smile placating his face. "Well, as the saying goes... actually, I don't know any sayings for this but, if you think about it, this is an example of chaos theory and-"
"Can you switch the roster?" Snake inquired. Generic Host seemed annoyed at being interrupted, but then shrugged. "Of course, of course... so you two have 'beef' as the kids say, hm? Heh... well, things are terribly dull right now, so why not?"

The Host snapped his fingers, and the roster flickered. Psyduck was now to face 'The Thief', as Snake and Ranamon had been pitted in a match. "Have fun, kids. Oh, and try not to get swallowed by any eldritch deities, sometimes they wander into matches." The host waggled his fingers at them as a fifth gateway appeared, alongside a fifth screen over it.
Snake rotated his arms. "Ladies first."