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

[Mingling]

[meat_mooks]

The castle, bleak and severe as it appeared from the outside, had every luxury of home once they stepped inside. Each of them had a room to themselves with all the furnishings they could want -- a comfortable bed, a shower, a hot tub, a stocked mini-fridge, television...

They also had access to a private lounge just for the ship's crew, as well as a larger one where all contestants could mingle (though the odds of actually seeing other contestants there were quite low indeed).

This would be their home for the next several days.

[Start threads under this post just to enjoy yourselves, talk, or whatever!]

Re: [Mingling]

[hit_girl_mindy]

So they could get comfortable? Hit Girl felt uneasy with that. If there was one thing she could count on, it was bleak surroundings: Ruffnut's castle was breezy and dusty enough she felt like it was a part of everything else on the ship that was disjointed and strange. Luxury felt wrong, like you were just waiting for the other shoe to drop. She didn't like it.

So she started on push-ups to get her mind at ease, hoping this feeling would go away. She would feel better once the fighting started.

[moves_like_jaeger]

"Hyu like dis as much as Hy do, Hy see," Maxim said. From the outside, with the way it had looked, he'd thought it would be more like Castle Heterodyne in Mechanicsburg--crazed A.I., packed with traps. A veritable death trap, to keep them all on their toes.

This...was about as far from that dark castle as could be, and to say that the monster was disappointed would be an understatement.

[hit_girl_mindy]

"I'm not going into this getting comfortable with all this shit," Hit girl replied, switching arms. "It's a tournament fight, and I'll already be counted out because I'm young. I don't have time to get comfortable."

Even if she could be, anyway.

[moves_like_jaeger]

"Ha! If dey is dat schtupid, to tink dat just becauze hyu is leedle, hyu vill be eazy peazy to beat? Hyu should use dat to hyu advantage, sveethot!" Maxim exclaimed.

"If hyu is my opponent, Hy look forward to it. Hyu a firecracker, and dot vill be a goot fight. If not? Hyu giff dem a good show. Make dem know hyu is de boss, eh?"

Just like he planned to do.

[hit_girl_mindy]

"Oh, you better believe I will," Hit girl said, grinning. "I probably have more kills under my belt than they know about. I don;t mind being underestimated. It just means my win will be all the sweeter man."

She looked over at him. "Something tells me you're going to be a tough guy to beat. Good. I wouldn't want anything less than your best, you got me?"

Like she cared if she got hurt. Well, she did, but still!

[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.

Re: [Mingling]

[electricman]

Cole, on the other hand, actually appreciated the furnishings. He had been a middle-class guy at best back before everything had hit the fan. And now, the hot tub, the beds, just the castle itself, almost made him feel him feel 100% content and relaxed.

Almost...

He wasn't a whiner, never was one. But his mind drifted back to how his world was gone, how everything he'd done had been for nothing, how his friends and loved ones MIGHT be alive, but could potentially be gone forever.

He couldn't sink into depression. He couldn't let this get to him. He needed something to distract him.

So he left his room, and wandered into the lounge to mingle with some of the other guys.

If anyone wants to talk with him, you'll probably notice that while he looks happy, there's a hidden sorrow in his eyes. He'll either be on the couch, or standing around.

Re: [Mingling]

[doctorbatman]

Couches were all well and good but the Doc had never been one to be able to sit still in arms reach of bar games. Their lounge had a pool table, ping pong, some alien version of foozeball, an arcade style pinball machine and a number of other oddities that looked like they were meant to be played by people with more limbs than him.

It was hard to play games with yourself though.

He plucked two drinks from his mini fridge and stopped by the couch to hold one out to Cole.

"I need a Player 2 for a round of pool. Want in?"

Re: [Mingling]

[electricman]

Cole was slightly taken off by the ninja/labcoat combo, but whatever.

"Sure."

Re: [Mingling]

[doctorbatman]

Doc let Cole take the can of soda then led the way over to the pool table and started fishing the balls out of the pockets and squaring them up.

"So, you worried about the tournament or just enjoying the ride? I gotta admit this is basically my dream mission."

Re: [Mingling]

[electricman]

"Figured I'd come along, figure out what exactly I've gotten myself into, see what I'm up against, and start getting involved with the crew." And find something to take some aggression out on, but only to the guys who deserve it.

Re: [Mingling]

[doctorbatman]

"Can't hurt to investigate." Doc nodded, fitting the balls into their triangular form. "Did you do much fighting back home before you woke up here or are you just kind of winging it?"

Re: [Mingling]

[electricman]

Cole, again, briefly arcs some electricity through his fingertips.

"Obviously, I was a hippie." What does "joking" mean?

Re: [Mingling]

[doctorbatman]

"Oh man EVERYBODY but me gets awesome powers around here!" Doc huffed, picking out a que but grinning wide. "I bet those clean energy groupies just loved you, right?"

Re: [Mingling]

[electricman]

"Joking about the hippie part." (OOC: Did you play the game?)

"And, let's just say that, when I first got these powers, they loved me in a 'Tear him apart for making our crappy city crappier type of way."

Re: [Mingling]

[doctorbatman]

"I thought if I played along maybe you'd have a sarcastic analogy to make." Doc shrugged sheepishly, holding out a que for him. "Sorry, everybody around where I came from is sort of smartassed like that."

He whistled low. "Jeez, exactly how crappy a city are we talking here? I mean, was that just some straight up 'kill the different person' sort of crap, or is there some kind of history among the populace regarding people with lightning fingers?"

(ooc: hahah, no, I suck at games. I am going in blind >_>)

Re: [Mingling]

[electricman]

"No, in my universe, there's no such thing as sarcasm, we ALWAYS explain the joke." (OOC: Why the hell didn't I follow-up?)

And in response to the second one.

"More like, 'got framed for causing explosion that caused powers crap."

Maybe his humor got messed-up with his powers?

Re: [Mingling]

[dragonspooker]

Man, all these people in the crew being suspicious. They had good reasons to be, but Lina still thought them a bunch of spoilsports. After all, if the people running this fight were offering the bit of luxury, they might as well enjoy it while they can, right? Being uneasy with all this could wait until there was an actual reason to be uneasy.

Lina can be found taking advantage of this place offering actual food, and is surrounded by stacks of plates on each side.