The Death Wish Tournament [[Out Of Battle]]

[nascent]

This is the Out of Battle thread for...

It was a rare thing indeed to catch the Lord of the Dead in a genuinely good mood, yet on this particular day the typically grim Hades walked along the dark torch-lit stone corridors of the Underworld with a smile on his face. What's more, he was humming a tune.

Granted, the tune was a dirge... but that was a minor detail really.

The typically quiet caverns of unlife today seemed to pulse with anticipation, and the sounds of souls busily going about here and there was a dead (pardon the pun) giveaway that something was going on. Something big. Something that Hades, of course, was at the helm of. In fact, he'd spent months preparing for this... a day of drama, excitement, and nigh-unbridled barbarism! Once more would the harsh music of battle fill the Underdrome. Ah, but the true beauty of it was that this was no common tournament! The battles here today would be the sparks which kindled a war to end all wars... a war that would make him INVINCIBLE!

"Ah, there you are. How goes it, boys?" The blue-skinned god inquired, spotting Pain and Panic down near the boat dock.

"Everything's on schedule, your necroticness!" Pain stated, snapping into a sharp salute. The sudden motion almost knocked Panic into the water, prompting a frenzy of arms and legs from the small blue imp.

"Good, good." Hades stepped into Charon's boat, signaling the skeleton to get underway. "And I assume the gladiators are in the waiting room, like I ordered?"

"Y-Yes!" Panic assured, managing to grab hold of the boat's edge and pull himself aboard. Pain leapt in behind him, his weight causing the small craft to wobble somewhat. "Just like you ordered!"

"Excellent. I'm tasking the two of you with keeping tabs on them in-between fights, understood? Don't let them out of your sight, comprende?" He glared down at his two minions, cracking his bony knuckles. "I won't tolerate any mistakes."

The imps nodded vigorously while shrinking back in terror. Hades, satisfied that he had put the fear of at least one god (namely himself) into the two, turned his attention away from them. With a gesture and a puff of smoke a list materialized in his hands. "Now, let's just make absolutely sure that everything's in order here... Eight fighters from other worlds, check. Repairs and additions for the Underdrome, check. A sizable pack of bloodthirsty and assorted monsters, check. Two kidnapping victims, check - oh and," The god turned back to the imps. "Make sure you don't let that fuzzy little brat anywhere near them OR the Soul Cages, understood?" Upon further vigorous nodding, Hades returned to the list. "Hmm... well, that's the important stuff taken care of, anyway, so let's go say 'hello' to the lucky suckers, eh?"

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

Kassom found that he couldn't sit still or calm down, no matter how hard he tried to get his mind off his predicament. Getting dragged into fighting for some foreign god... it made him want to rip off Hades' flaming hair and stuff it into his grimy mouth! He fidgeted, shifting his position every minute or so while looking around at the others in the room.

He recognized only one person: Meiser, the quirky gunman that he'd teamed up with to take on the captain of 'The Red Corsair'. He didn't particularly like the idea of fighting the masked mercenary, but it seemed like he didn't really have a choice. The young lynx debated briefly whether he should go talk to his former teammate, maybe work out some kind of a deal -- but it was right then that Hades himself threw open the doors and waltzed in.

"Ladies and gentlemen, thanks for waiting! I am, as you know, Hades... Lord of the Dead, as well as organizer and sponsor for the Death Wish Tournament!" He held up his hands as if in glorious triumph... but was met with disappointing silence. "What, aren't you folks glad to be here? I mean, I know it's a little dank, but c'mon. Anyways," He waved his hands dismissively, walking towards where the fighters were, briefly shaking hands and making small talk. "Just figured I'd stop in and meet you all before the games. Hi, nice hair. Neat mask. Cool armor. Cute puppet."

"Oh! And before I forget..." Hades snapped his fingers, causing one of the room's bare stone walls to ignite in blue flames. "Here's the flow chart, er- rankings, tiers, thing. I always forget what that's called. Point is, this is the order of who fights who."

"Best not to touch the logo, by the way." He chuckled, pulling out a cigar and lighting it on the still-burning blue flames. "It's copyrighted, not to mention likely to leave a nasty burn."

"That said, welcome to the games, people!" Hades stepped towards the doors, then addressed the fighters. "Rules are simple: you go into the arena when it's your turn, stomp each other flat as pitas, and the last one standing becomes the lucky winner. And, since I'm a generous guy, nobody dies in the ring. Knockouts, fine. Ringouts, fine. And if someone just so happens to deliver a fatal blow, well, I've set it up so the unlucky loser just, POOF!" He blew a ring of smoke. "Pops up back in here. Also,"

Here Hades began to talk really fast.

"Bytheactofcompetinginthegames youalldo herebyandhencewithholdnotliablemyself andmyassociates foranyinjuriestraumamentalandphysicalscarringandorwars thatmayoccurasaconsequenceofthetournament. Furthermore, shouldanyoneofyounotholduptoyourdesignatedrole, suchasbyteaminguporplottingagainstme, whetherinoroutsidethearenamatches, IreservetherighttopenalizealloffendingpartiesbyloosingsuchforcesasI, Hades, see fit, suchasmonstersHeartlessorNobodies, to name a few."

"Clear? Good." He smiled, bracing his fingertips against one another.

"All right, we've got ten minutes before the first battle starts, so if you've got any questions ask them now. The first ones up will be: the lovely lady Lune de Villefort verses the sharply dressed Mitsuomi Jin. Hope you folks are ready to give us a good show out there!"





(OOC: For the curious, the fight brackets were decided using Random.org's list randomizer, just so nobody thinks I set them up or whatnot. When the first set of fighters feel ready to go, just PM me and I'll put up the In Battle thread.

A big, huge thank-you to everyone who's decided to compete! You guys are awesome!)

[Heroic Bilby]

A young man wearing red and black with long legs had been in a corner of the room stretching said appendages when Hades came in. Guy looked up from shifting side-to-side on two outstretched legs long enough to listen to the god's greetings and announcements. When the list of fighters appeared he stood of straight and took just enough steps closer to find his name and read the others.

'Man, none of them entered after all,' the youth sighed internally, scratching the back of his head. 'Unless its one of the shape-shifters using a false name with their fake face.'

Guy couldn't be too sure. He'd already seen that none of the ones gathered were any familliar faces from school, but with a gang like his classmates one couldn't always be sure. heck, one of them could be his own best friends for all he knew. Or three of them, but that was besides the point.

"Well, guess I'll just try to have some fun," the martial artist thought out loud as he rotated one arm. "But this Underworld curse sure does make the joints stiff."

[nascent]

"Ah, so you've heard about that, eh?" Hades chimed in as Guy mentioned the fabled curse. "Well, don't let it worry ya'. Once you're out in the arena, you'll feel just fine. I set it up so there's a barrier that cancels out the curse - after all, it wouldn't do to make all you guys fight with a handicap, eh?"

"Just don't go wandering off." Hades' tone was slightly more serious now. "Underworld's a dangerous place. Lots'a dead people, plus the occasional ghost or zombie shows up."

"Oh, and by the way," Hades smiled, gesturing to the two little imps nearby. "These are my minions, Pain and Panic. You need anything, let them know. Food, beverage, first aid kit, we've got it all set aside for our brave contestants."

The imps both gave a weak wave to the room full of fighters.

[meiser]

The man in maroon and black stared to the list, arching a brow as he saw one named 'Shadow'.

"Shadow? What kind of name is that? So damn cliche, I bet I could yell the name Shadow in a city and Ten thousand would answer to my call!"

Meiser grinned mischeavously, looking to the two minions he dashed over to them. He said this very fast to both of them.

"Iwantsomepopcorn, not the cheap kind! Somedr.pepperwithahotdogalongwithsomeskittles. And if you don't..."

He took both his pistols from his holsters and placed the barrels to their foreheads.

"OFF WITH YAH HEADS!"

Putting them back, he pat them back on their heads with a smile.

"We understand each other? Good. Now go!"

He suddenly turned, looking to the martial artist, he asked something about some curse.

"Curse? You talking about the curse from sparkie's ugly face? Because I'm really feeling it!"

Cackling once more, he turned around to look at him.

"Hrm...Damn, did you dip yourself in blue dye or something?"

Grinning he placed his hands on to each of the Underlord's cheeks.

"You need to have something stretch you out or something, your face is so narrow I bet I could use it as a Frisbee!"

Laughing hystericly, he turned to look at his old friend Kassom.

"Heyyy, Puppy-Boy!"

The Merc burst over to him, patting his ears.

"Eat any good bones lately?"

[High's .Valentine.]

[How fun, I get to go first…]

Hades’ warning about the sign came a little too late.

“OWIE!”

Standing in front of the wall, a lean figure snapped her hand and stuffed her burnt finger in her mouth with a startled cry, enough to garner the whole room’s attention. Turning, Lune de Villefort stared tearfully at the congregation in the stuffy room, all at the same time looking slightly guilty about touching something she wasn’t suppose to. Biting hard on her pained finger, the girl side stepped away from the wall and sat down facing away from the sign. Obviously a bit too curious for her own good, Lune pulled her finger out of her mouth and waved her red finger in front of the two imps desperately. “Ice! Ice!”

Sniffling, Lune pushed back her hood, revealing a pair of furry ears and a head of dark hair. It was way too hot in the room for the Ame-Vulpes, but nonetheless, she was here for her own sake. Not to mention the tournament sounded really interesting when the strange ghoul told her about it. However, the Underworld was damp and grimy and disgusting, not her most favorite environment. Her bones ache, and for the first time in a long time, Lune felt the years beat down on her human body.

Not to mention she was up first…Lune wasn’t feeling much up to it, with joint problems and burned finger.

“Hurrys! I’m up firstie! Need some ice!”

[nascent]

"Ice! Ice! ACK! Right away!" Panic exclaimed, the two imps rushing in a mad scramble of feet and arms for the door. The blue imp looked to his scarlet companion. "What the heck is a skittle?"

"I dunno, but the snack room's full of stuff, so we should be able to find something!"

"Well well," Kassom rose and greeted his old teammate, feigning dry surprise with a wry grin. "If it isn't Meiser. Scare any crowds lately, or been savin' that all up for today?"

The lynx's face became more serious, and his voice dropped to a near whisper. "So, how'd blue-face get you into this mess?"

"Hey, hey hey!" Hades interrupted, massaging his stretched facial muscles and trying to ignore Meiser's insults. "You two know each other? Well, that's just peachy. Whatever. Just do me a favor and don't try anything stupid, okay 'puppy-boy'? I've got a very important guest for the games today -- someone I don't want to disappoint."

"Yeah, whatever." Kassom huffed. "You'll get your fights... but I swear, if you hurt either of them -"

"Kid, kid, reeelax!" The black-robed god puffed on his cigar again before speaking. "I'm a businessman, and this is what I consider to be a fair exchange. You do your part, I do mine, we all walk away happy. Well..." He pointed the smoking end of the stick at Kassom. "You will, IF you win. Remember that. IF. So don't lose."

Kassom grit his teeth, but said nothing more. Moments later Pain & Panic returned, pushing a cart laden with ice and all the goodies Meiser had asked for.

[meiser]

Meiser sat himself beside Kassom, crossing his arms and leaning back into the comfortable seat. Watching Hades speak to Kassom about not hurting someone. He placed a hand onto his chin, scratching it gently with thought. Smirking as he came to some kind of conclusion.

"Puppy-Boy, I came searching for some kind of information, seems I got pulled into something that will give me such. And blue-skin, I still think you need some kind of face job. And-"

He was cut off when his snacks all came in, eyes brightning in fascination he took the whole tray. Lifting his mask to show his goatee he munched onto the pop-corn, throwing it into his mouth. He then pried his coke open, chugging the strong contents down his throat. Opening the skittles bag, he also dumped it all into his mouth, then chomped away at his hot-dog.

Sighing in satisfaction, he patted both the minion's heads with a smile.

"You did good kids, you did good."

[duck]

One of the competitors had elected to remain silent since his entrance into the waiting room. While not the first to arrive, the oddly dressed stranger was possible the most still. Ever since he had entered the room and found a suitable section of wall to lean again, the black-haired man hadn't moved an inch. With his face tilted down and blocked by the Stetson atop his head the only sign that he did not belong in Hades' realm was the slight rise and fall of his chest beneath his button-up shirt. Every so often the man's right hand would tighten around the hilt of the sword belted to his waist, the sapphire in the pommel glinting in the room's light. Silas didn't deign to move when the flame-haired god entered the room save for a slight twitch of his head that sent the ebony bird at the bottom of his braid into a slow spin.

Silas raised his head as Hades ended his explanation and hurried disclaimer, frozen blue eyes impassive as he eyed the logo emblazoned on the wall across from him. He didn't bother trying to identify his opponent, nor did he care. They would be an obstacle on his path to reviving Constance, nothing more. Every single person in the room fell under the same category: expendable. The disgraced bodyguard reached up to adjust the collar of his duster and reread the name of his opponent. "Guy," murmured the man in an almost inaudible voice, "What kind of name is that?"

[Shinn]

Sitting alone in the far corner near the blue flamed sign was Shadow who quickly glanced at the sign to see when and who he was fighting. He let out a quick breath of disappointment. He had hoped to be one of the first contestants so he could get the first match done and over with. Instead he was stuck in dead last with some masked comic book freak as his opponent. He had overheard the gunman's remark about his 'name', as though he had any room to be talking about peoples names. It reminded him of some kind of 1960 villain from a Christmas movie. All that was needed in that name was "Snow" or "Heat" to be placed in front of it and a theme song to make it all worthwhile.

While the others conversed with each other like they were friends instead of opponents, Shadow took this time to see into the darkness in their hearts. It was a way for him to see which would give him a better advantage in the ring. He closed his eyes and let himself link to their darkness.

"Hmm it looks to be an even spread here, about half with a average amount and the rest being very influenced with the darkness. I guess I'll just have to fix the other ones when I fight them."

He opened his eyes after he was finished and looked over at Hades. Unlike the others that were here Shadow had a very different agenda to be here. He didn't come to rescue anyone, nor to test his skills or have a wish granted. His was something far more important one that if not done right, would cause the end of this world. Shadow looked over to the sign again. It was gonna be a while.....

[Heroic Bilby]

"Well that's nice," Guy said quietly to himself as he got the information that he wouldn't have to deal with this lagging environment during the tournament. He was more or less oblivious to the other contestants and their actions and words, though he did show concern when a girl burned her hand on the fire earlier.

Luckily Pain and Panic were quick to respond with the ice she requested.

'I've got a while before my match, but I can't even loosen up properly with this Underworld curse weighing me down,' the boy groaned. Looking for some means to amuse himself Guy called over one of the little imps and then whispered something to him. The fat little pink thing looked a little confused at first but then scuttled off.

[gouki]

Jin muttered to himself, "So I'm the first one to fight?" as he looked at the blue flamed sign showing the names of the contestants. He was glad to see that he would be going up first so that way he could get it all done with sooner. As for his opponent, he didn't take the time to see who it was. It didn't matter anyways since he would encounter them in the arena. No use in saying 'good luck' or any of that stuff. Jin needed to just leave and get ready. He placed his hands in his pockets leaving only his thumbs out and walked over to one of the small imps that worked for Hades.

He towered over the tiny demon but tried not to seem hostile towards him. Jin asked, "Can we go to the arena now?"

[nascent]

"So, you kids're ready now, yeah? Alright then! Let's get this show on the road." Hades said, enthusiasm practically leaking from his voice. He gave a broad, somewhat ominous smile, then snapped his fingers.

Instantly, both Jin and Lune were engulfed in plumes of smoke... and vanished from sight. The lord of the dead chuckled, then dramatically extended one hand to those who remained. "Rest of you guys just chill here, kay? Be back later!" Thin blue fingers snapped once more, and Hades was gone.

As soon as the grim god was gone, Kassom slowly rose to his feet... only he wasn't really Kassom at the moment. Those who knew him well would be able to spot the subtle change in his eyes that came when Ilaelis, the demonic scout, decided to take the lead, but the average bystander would have no real idea... that is, until he spoke.

"Hey, you." His head turned towards the corner where Shadow sat. At first there was no expression on his face... but gradually a clever grin crept into his features. "Nice trick you did just now... but it's a bit rude to go peeking where you don't belong." The grin now became something far more serious, transforming slowly into an almost feral-looking scowl. "You might be able to sneak something like that past common mortals, but someone with my origins doesn't miss a trick. Pull something like that in the ring, and I'll cut you up for it."




(OOC: Alright, Akuma and Northie's battle can start as soon as I get the In Battle thread up, which (if my connection holds) shouldn't be long. The rest of you can feel free to wander the Netherworld if you wish until it's your turn.)

[Shinn]

Shadow looked over at the person that was talking to him. This was the one he had sensed having multiple types of darkness in their heart. He just suspected that it was yet another crazy schizophrenic running around. He still suspected this of Kassom and chose to ignore the comments that came from the lunatic. Threats were nothing big to Shadow since he heard rabble like that before numerous times, ones far more worse than his. With that Shadow slowly got up from his spot and walked over to the exit.

A part of him wanted to say something like, "Don't go spitting out nonsense when you haven't even won your first match." to the schizophrenic but lowering himself to that wasn't needed. He was here for one simple thing and no one, not even the smart asses that were competing in this tournament would prevent him from reaching this goal. He passed by Kassom not giving one glance at him and continued towards the exit. He stopped right before he reached the exit and looked over at Pain and Panic, "I'm gonna go walk around for a little bit." Shadow them left the room.

[meiser]

Meiser jumped up from his seat, looking over to Nacsent and then Shadow, arching a brow.

"Seriously, either he has a hole in his damned throat from the cigs, or he's just a poor soul."

The masked man grinned wickedly, watching Shadow exit the room he dashed behind him waving his arms.

"Hey, cliche man! Wait for me!"

He began walking besie Shadow, gazing at his motives. Maybe if he learned more about his opponent, he'd have more of a chance of winning. Besides, learning about people was his good 'ol mojo. He learned about Puppy-boy, he knows a lot about his abilities and his dark friend. So why not put himself out there to have the enemy learna bit about himself, and he'll get information in return.

"'Lo soon to be enemy, I'm Meiser. Wanna hang around the area and cause a rucus?"

[Heroic Bilby]

Kick

Kick

Kick

Kick

Kick

Amidst the goings-on Guy seemed quite content to stay silent. Ever since the tiny imp thing had returned with his request he'd been off by the left wall just doing his thing. If his two closest companions from the Guild could see him now they'd either roll their eyes or chuckle. maybe both. Still, the black-haired teenager had never failed to be calmed down and entertained by a good old round of hackey-sack.

"Hmm. What's to see around here anyway? Dead people?" he mused aloud after the two trotted off. Guy was much more interested in watching possible final-round opponents duke it out. "Hey blue dude!" he called, not stopping his hackey-ing while he did so. "Is it against the rules to watch the matches going on?"