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

[youretooslow]

"Great! I'm--"

"Wait! Let her go first, Sir Knight of the Wind, it is only proper etiquette to give your opponent first strike."

And he did, looking at her and grinning. There was a playful edge to him even in such a situation.

"You heard my trusty sword, your move!"

[kaya_waterwave]

Oh, she wasn't thinking there was anything gentlemanly about this at all. She saw how fast Sonic was, and figured with a sword he would be even more deadly.

Not that she thought she didn't have a chance.

She brought her hands close, and then shifted, moving quickly, extending her sphere of influence to react where Sonic would go next. The move was not as fast as Sonic, but enough to let him know he wasn't facing a snapping turtle, and that her next move would not be a warning.

[youretooslow]

Good. The grin on his face increased, and even Caliburn seems to be somewhat impressed.

"Oh she's quiet feisty! She might pose a challenge."

"Less talking, more fighting Caliburn! Now hold on!" He looked at Kaya again and did a quick wave. "See ya later!" Quick as a blink of an eye, the Hedgehog became a bluish blur ball and buried himself into the earth, deep below.

Then it was all quiet again.

[kaya_waterwave]

Kaya blinked. Yep, she should have counted on the speed of Sonic's. He was already charging up for an attack from the ground up. In fact, his movements were quick enough that she had only just made it out.

So what to do? Kaya sat on the ground, closing her eyes, and just listened for the vibrations. An onlooker might feel sorry for the waterbender now; at the moment she seemed out of her element, limited by her eyes.

But they would that was a farce.