Choose your destiny! Flawless victory! [Inevitable Tournament Arc]

[meat_mooks]

No sooner did the Obs Deck descend to Arena Planet LXIII, and the crew allowed to disembark, than they were met by a veritable cloud swarm of cameras. Sleek, elegant things that might have been living, might have been machines, maybe were even magical... but were definitely nuisances as the swooped around to capture video of the crew at all conceivable angles, close up and far away. Their every move from this point on would be on camera.

In front of a small crowd of retainers stood what appeared to be a great circular orb whose only distinguishing features were a nose, and what appeared to be the most overblown mustache ever, which actually appeared to be supporting that two-foot-diameter orb at shoulder height to a tall man. Then the orb took a couple of steps forward,revealing that no, those were actually just really, really hairy legs. A seam cracked open on the creature, and in a voice loud enough to echo across the broad open plains without any need for amplification, it bellowed, "AND NOW! STRAIGHT FROM THE TRANSMIGRATION NINE VESSEL! OUR NEWEST COMPETITORS! FRESH TO THE STAGE OF BATTLE, BUT NO STRANGERS TO WAR--"

It went on like this for some time.

Under cover of this introduction, a small man that to all appearances seemed to be the love child of Richard Nixon and a particularly aggressive Furby stepped forward, and in a bored businesslike tone recited, "Welcome to the tournament. There will be one battle per day. The arena in which you battle will be determined by random draw. Our medical crew will perform all healing necessary and ensure no deaths so feel free to not hold back. Please refrain from accepting any bribes or favors from on-planet spectators--"

"--ARE YOU READY?!" the orb bellowed even louder than before, completely swamping the smaller man's recitation. "THEN STEP THIS WAY!"

And so saying, the orb and its procession began a clearly well-choreographed procession towards a large, medieval-looking fortress that hung dramatically just on the edge of clear vision. (Conveniently, this procession passed several large advertisements.)

Comments

[nize_hat]

"Hyu got it. And dot's de schpirit, hain't it? Much better dan vorryink about vat all dis is about. Dey probably put on de big show for us, de vay dey vant us to put on de big show for dem, hoy?"

Not that Maxim wasn't about to stop staying on his toes. He and his pack had gotten sharp by being away from the other Jaegers. Being alone? That meant getting even sharper. It could only be for the best.

[hit_girl_mindy]

"Doesn't everybody?" She liked the way this guy thought. Granted, they met in a pretty messed up way, but he was at least sensible about what he was doing and ready to lock horns with her if need be. That was all she needed to know.

"I'll enjoy this crap after my first match. Right now, I'm staying focused."

[nize_hat]

"Hyu'll do fine, Hy'm schure. Just like Hy will." Let it never be said that Maxim didn't have full confidence in himself--like every other member of his species.

"Still, ef hyu need to talk or sometink, Hy'll be around." Maybe sleeping in preparation for a fight, but that'd be easy enough to fix.

[hit_girl_mindy]

Hit Girl grinned. "I don't plan on saying die anytime soon, trust me. I'm in this thing to win until I yield or get beaten unconscious. I'm not about to let down my guard."

Talk? Well, why not? "I'll keep that in mind. Hey, I don't think I got your name."

[nize_hat]

"Maxim. Und hyu?"

He offered her a grin full of sharp teeth, which was in no way meant to be threatening--not that Maxim thought that would give this girl any fear. She had spunk. Most Jaegers liked kids anyway, and it was likely the lot of them would approve of this one.

[hit_girl_mindy]

"Hit Girl. Nice to meet ya."

Big sharp teeth. Man, he definitely looked scary enough. That was pretty cool though: no one was going to want to fuck with you if they thought you could bite their shit off in a single snap. That and the guy seemed ok. Definitely had balls pissing off a mage.

"Hey, you wanna meet up at the end of round one, exchange war stories?"

[nize_hat]

"Hyu bet! Hy'll look forvard to it." Maxim tipped his hat to Hit Girl and waved, before ducking back out the door.