Welcome to the Colosseum (Tournament Signups)

[Black☆Star]

Black☆Star's excitement was barely contained as he leapt from the carriage, echoing a loud Yahoo! as he went. He bolted, quickly reaching the crowds of people, either eager to see the participants, or signing up themselves. The assassin ducked and weaved through the throng, much to the agitation of those around him, despite his light-footed sprint, he managed to step on quite a few toes in his eagerness.

Upon reaching the registration table, the boy stood, fists planted on his hips as he looked down on the man, waiting to make his entrance into the tournament.

Another name for the- the man spoke out, before being rudely interrupted, My name is Black☆Star, I'm here to win this tournament and become the biggest man the Omniverse has seen yet! The man scoffed coyly at the boy's arrogance, as if judging him by his youthful appearance and boisterous guffaw.

"Fine, fine" he spoke, his tone a bored drawl by this point, "sign your name down and we'll see how well you do." Black☆Star snatched the quill and paper, quickly signed it, almost as if giving the man an autograph, a ridiculous grin plastered across his face as he wandered away from the desk, boisterous gait once again in full swing.

[Gamzee Makara]

The Nexus Portal spews forth a big ass robotic spider-mobile, and that’s not the strangest thing to happen today.

Gamzee has his feet kicked up on the dash, leaned back as much as he can in the cramped little arachnid vehicular unit. Adam had repeatedly told him not to get his dusty giant honkin’ feet all over the console, but is always met with replies of “Sorry bro,” and “Just a habit, man.” He’s kinda given up on it, and just lets it happen. Every now and then, Gamzee falls asleep, only to wake back up with a startled “HONK!” which in turn scares the shit out of Adam, which also in turn makes the arachnoship dip and sway worse than when Gamzee was driving.

For the most part though, it is silent as Adam drives straight for the distantly visible city of Camelot. The Tournament is almost in sight.

-----

Gamzee leans so far over the side of the spider mobile, Adam has to yank the back of his shirt to keep him from becoming a clown on the ground. “Whoooooaaaaaa…..” Is all the troll can manage looking at the fantastic carnival before him. Food stalls, games, sideshows, animals, street performers, motherfucking jesters; this shindig had it all. It almost made the High-Blood tear up. Adam rolled his eyes and kept piloting, looking for a place to touch down. Admittedly, the circus that was sprawled out around the magnificent Coliseum was pretty grand and impressive, but Gamzee’s absolute fascination with it was a little disturbing and kinda dumb.

Aha! Perfect parking place! There was a little clearing devoid of boulders, rocks, trees, or any obstruction not even a hundred yards away from the festivities. The Heir of Time makes a beeline for it.

-----

After Adam is forced to physically restrain Gamzee from diving headlong into the myriad of mirthful vices presented to them by the carnival, they start making for the registration desk.

Gamzee is still lustfully eyeing those fire jugglers though.

“It’s okay, you damn honk fiend. We can go to the Carnival later.”

Gamzee whines and moans, but Adam was having none of that shit.

“If you dragged my ass all the way out here to Camelot for a stupid tournament that I didn’t even wanna BE in and I find out we missed registration, I will NEVER be okay with you forever and Guu senpai will never notice you.”

Gamzee doesn't know what senpai means, but he shuts his motherfucking mouth.

When the duo reach the registration desk, the official looking man gives them a blank stare.

“Not the weirdest thing I’ve seen all day, but a teenager dressed in neon red pajamas and grey kid with demon horns almost takes the cake." With an almost practiced line, he spews off with, "Here for the tournament? Sign here, try to entertain, try not to die.”

-----

Gamzee is jumping up and down. God he’s excited. So excited he almost spilled an inkwell and completely ruined the entire tournament sign-up sheet. Adam’s been doing something over there for like, thirty minutes or so, but damn he's just he’s just GOSH MOTHERFUCKING DAMN HE WANTS TO GO BE A CLOWN SO BAD RIGHT NOW.

When he checks on Adam again, the boy is wielding a motherfucking lightsaber.

The troll’s eyes get big, marveling at the glows and hums and my god ITS A MOTHERFUCKING LIGHTSABER!

The hype was too much for Gamzee right now, like, there’s just so much going on and so much mirth and-

“Adam, bro, braddah, brother, motherfucker, cool motherfucking lightsaber you just all up and miracalized, but can we go get some cotton candy now?”

[Gildarts]

[spoiler]Gildarts was already in the vicinity when he strolled around the scene. He had ‘won’ in his battle against Cindy, and finally set the record straight for anyone willing to kidnap him in the future. The prime had had left the colosseum and rented a room out in Minas Tirith’s local bed and breakfast, drank some house-made mead, and recovered from the events of Dante’s Abyss, Nine Lives’ Tournament, and now he would prepare for another. This one, against willing Primes. The Prime was ready to test out his skill, his power, and his self-control. He always liked to flex his muscles against the impossible. Now, he would get the chance.

He called to mind the enjoyment he had facing everyone, however Cindy and Cal had only been the real challenge in the tournament of secondaries. He wanted a real fight. And it seemed in a few days, there would be another one coming to town. He wouldn’t mind visiting the colosseum if it meant fighting the best -all to pass the time of course.

Gildarts would take his time and recover before he would soon face some very reputable opponents.[/spoiler]

Gildarts strolled forward from the streets and sauntered into the stadium with an attitude full of levity. The Fairytail wizard greeted the onlookers with his beaming, charismatic smile. “Hi, I’m Gildarts. Sign me up.”

[Kakashi Hatake]

With the rampaging brigade of fel orcs taken care of, the journey back to the village was uneventful. Kakashi was glad to have reached a working relationship with his new worg friend as venturing back to the village with chakra levels as low as his would have been fairly difficult. The beast bounded powerfully through the forest, expertly avoiding the abundant foliage until the trio reached Mokugakure’s main gate.

The copy ninja dismounted, eyeing the dire wolf with caution. The beast responded similarly, squaring his broad shoulders and maintaining eye contact. “Do you think it’ll stay put?” Kakashi inquired, glancing down at Pakkun.

“I'll try to ask,” the pug offered. He looked up at the mammoth beast, throwing a few barks in its direction. The worg grunted a few times in response, maintaining eye-contact with the silver-haired shinobi. “He says as long as you feed him he’ll do whatever,” Pakkun replied. “He says you smell better than the orcs and you don’t weigh as much, so it doesn’t bother him.”

Kakashi chuckled. “That sounds fair. Does he have a name?”

Pakkun engaged in another exchange with the wolf before returning his attention to Kakashi. “Fenrir.”

The copy ninja smiled beneath his mask. “Fenrir it is.” He turned his attention back to the worg, “just tell him to hang tight for a while.”

“He can understand you,” the miniature pug replied, smirking. Kakashi shook his head in response, chuckling again.

“Well, I’m glad to see you’re back in one piece,” the warm, nonchalant voice of Asuma met the copy ninja’s ears. “When your ninken came back with you, we got a little concerned.”

“Sorry about that,” the scarecrow responded, scratching his head nervously. “Things didn’t go quite to plan.”

“Yeah, when the night elves showed up we gathered that.” Asuma replied, lighting a cigarette. “Let’s get to Tsunade and clue her in.”

- -

For the next day or so, Kakashi remained relatively sedentary. The Omniverse seemed to allow his chakra reserves to recovery more quickly than they normally did back home, though this could simply be chalked up to how small they now were. On the morning of his second day of food and bed rest, he was met with a familiar figure standing at the foot of his bed.

“Good morning, Kakashi,” The Morikage smiled warmly, yet snarkily. “Taking your time, huh?”
The copy ninja sat up at once, bowing his head. “My apologies, Lady First. I should be done recovering today.”

The Slug Princess chuckled. “That’s good to hear. After hearing about how well your last mission went, I’m glad you’re still with us.”

The silver-haired shinobi averted his gaze, staring out the window into the crisp morning. “My apologies.”

“You completed the mission, don’t apologize. Might not have been as clean as we wanted, but you managed to thin the giant and orc populations and save a handful of night elves.” Tsunade smiled despite herself. “In my book that will make everyone here feel a bit safer.”

“Uhh...any time?” Kakashi responded, shrugging.

“Well, funny you should say that,” the Sannin said suddenly. “I do have another mission for you. A pretty dangerous one. I’d send someone else, but I feel this would suit you pretty well.”

“What’s that, Lady First?”

“You’re to head to Camelot and participate in the Colosseum Tournament there,” the Morikage replied simply. “Sending you under our banner could help us drum up some more missions if you do well. And that could mean more money and less of my men being hired to kill each other.”

Hatake was flabbergasted. His mission was...a tournament? The premise was odd to the shinobi, but he could not fault his superior’s logic. If officials in the audience noticed the caliber of his techniques, they would be likely to hire help from Mokugakure. That was a big ‘if’, but after seeing the state that the village was currently in, he understood the reasoning. “Alright,” Kakashi finally replied. “I’ll head out at noon.”

A few hours later the shinobi again stood at the village gate, prepared to leave for his assignment. He has cleaned his armor and weaponry and summoned shuriken to replace those lost in his battles. He elected to keep his ninken in Mokugakure for the time being, keeping the summoning scroll on hand in case of emergencies. The sharingan wielder found Fenrir and hopped onto the worg’s back, handing the beast a large chunk of deer meat per their agreement. The wolf quickly devoured the treat, letting out a satisfied growl. With a quick tap of his heels on the worg’s belly, they were off in the direction of the Camelot gate.

Kakashi and his animal companion reached the gate in a timely manner, stepping through the luminescent portal without pause. As the scenery shifted from jungle to countryside, the scarecrow knew he had arrived in the right locale.

“Are you a Prime?!” a tiny voice squeaked as he entered.

The masked shinobi glanced down for the source of the noise, spying a tiny woman with short auburn hair wearing a cream colored dress. “Uh...yes?” Kakashi replied.

A huge grin spread across the gnome’s face. “That’s great! Here, I’m supposed to give these out to anyone that comes through here. It’s a map to the Colosseum.” She was smiling so hard Kakashi thought it looked somewhat painful.

“Thanks…” the copy ninja responded, taking the pamphlet.

Upon examination, the map was an extremely basic and bland sketch of how to get to the tournament from the gate: essentially a ‘You Are Here’ and an arrow leading to an ‘X’. From what he could gather, it was essentially a straight shot down the road and then around a corner. Shrugging, he pocketed the paper and departed from the gnome, urging Fenrir down the road. Just a few minutes later he found himself outside of the Colosseum, wading through the small crowd that was gathering at the entrance.

“Probably best to go the rest of the way on foot,” the masked shinobi muttered, dismounting. He turned his gaze to Fenrir. “Can you just hang around here a while? You can go hunt if you want until I come back.” The worg nodded in response, trotting proudly away from the gathering.

Without the burden of the large canid, Kakashi found it much easier to blend in with the crowd as he approached the front of the line. He preferred it this way, anyway. The line slowly worked its way through until eventually the sharingan-wielder stood before the registration booth.

“Are you interested in joining?” the official inquired. The man was dressed in a dark blue tunic over rough-looking black trousers. He looked somewhat disheveled, though the shinobi chalked this up to the craziness of the day.

“Yes,” he responded, jotting his name on the list before him. “Kakashi Hatake representing Mokugakure.”

“Ooooh, wonderful,” the man responded, grinning. “We can’t wait to see what you’ve got!”

The silver-haired shinobi nodded, bowing slightly. With that, he turned and made his way into the tournament grounds.

[Roger Smith]

"Yes, yes. Cotton candy, whatever." Adam pinched the bridge of his nose, holding back a vicious tirade of indignation and annoyance as he switched his newly-summoned weapon off. "Just...ugh, just give me a minute to go sign up real quick, ya damn...clown." He shook his head as Gamzee uttered a "yeah okay" and was practically vibrating with anticipation. "Dude seriously calm down. If you were wound any tighter you'd be choking yourself with your own damn excitement." He stowed his new lightsaber away in a back pocket and trudged his way toward the registration desk.

"Hey, just checkin' to make sure I got myself signed up and that my..." Briefly Adam turns his head to stare at Gamzee, his expression twisting into something not quite a scowl, but just as displeased. "...friend didn't put down something so stupid it makes someone's eyes bleed trying to comprehend it."

The official merely smiled in amusement. "Yes, well...I don't know about any of that, but you're welcome to sign up yourself if you don't trust your friend. Or his...well, his penmanship."

"Yeah I guess. So let me go ahead and do that."

"Very well. What name should be put down for you then, young man?"

"Adam Gaite."

A few short moments of scratching and writing later and the official nodded. "All taken care of then. Do enjoy your time."

"Yeah, well...guess we'll see about THAT." Turning away he trudged back to where Gamzee was waiting. "Okay, let's gooOOUAGH!"

Adam didn't even have time to process the action before he had been all but interrupted by the troll clown and all but yanked off his feet and tugged insistently along into the madness of the festivities.

Adam was most certainly not going to enjoy his time here.

[Mami Tomoe]

DONE. No more stress for Mammers.

[spoiler]

Entering-the-Verse-and-traveling stuff - You don't have to read this, but if you want to, you're welcomed to.~

Mami stirred for a moment in unconsciousness before waking on the other side of the gate, where she found herself yet again in the place where she had first traveled to in the Omniverse. It felt odd to return - It gave a faint feeling of nostalgia for something she only seemed to vaguely remember, but perhaps that was normal. Maybe people in this world always seemed to have an attachment to the first place they first visited in the Omniverse, however briefly that visit lasted and however uneventful it was.

Still, she couldn't shake the overbearing feeling of loneliness. It was comforting, however, that there seemed to be more than just her in the nearby area. A few people here and there walked about, wearing odd clothes like what one would have seen every day many hundred years ago, though that was clearly not entirely the case with everybody. Perhaps with some, but others wore clothes perhaps more unusual (Though certainly not more cute) than her own clothes.

A gentle breeze meandered through the area, dusting gently across the Magical Girl's skin where it was exposed to the air, gently carrying the comfortably warm air about in such a way so delicate that the direction the wind headed was not entirely clear. It lifted and brushed those with longer heads of hair and carried conversations to Mami's ears, for which she counted her blessings, as at last she had a reason to be where she was. I hear there's a tournament off that way blew with the wind to the girl's left side - She followed the sound's direction with her eyes, where she saw a woman pointing and chatting with a man a head taller than her, bearing some sort of armor and a sword over his right shoulder.

Even if the competition looked as stiff as him, it would give the pint-sized gunslinger something to do if she entered, so it was worth giving a chance.

Mami began following the direction the woman had pointed out. As she walked, a thought poked at her mind; You've done this before. You've died doing this before. Chasing after a purpose, hoping it would give her some kind of satisfaction, and dying unsatisfied. She had, rather fortunately, run into a familiar face in the Abyss, but giving that thought attention began to torment her. A painful chill filled the girl's body as she realized she had been beheaded not once but twice. She remembered how it felt the first time, teeth sinking into her neck and that numbing feeling and suddenly snap.

Mami shook her head and gulped. Suddenly she felt as if she was going to vomit. As she walked she hoped, with every step, she would be able to get off her mind the thought that she had died not only twice but three times previously by fighting. But how would she be able to get the thought of death off her mind by putting herself in its way? Fighting always seemed to have a way of getting fears and doubts off her mind, because one has no time to think of anything but the moment and the moment ahead while fighting, but the feeling of possible or imminent death looming over the act of battle never vanished. It never had and it never would, though at the very least she could distract herself from her current way of thinking with a cheery facade.[/spoiler]

After a long time spent walking, Mami had arrived at the Colosseum. It seemed like a nice enough place - People of all different types seemed keen on coming to the tournament she had heard about, so at the very least she had been telling the truth. Mentally Mami scolded herself retrospectively as she had forgotten to previously for eavesdropping, and after a short search for somewhere to sign up, she found a table near a large arch in the Colosseum wall, behind which a man sat with a parchment scroll, some ink and a quill.

"Excuse me, would this be where I would sign up for the tournament?" the Magical Girl asked, giving her best smile. The man looked fit to start laughing after a quick look at her, though he managed to cut himself off with just a smile (Though it certainly wasn't a polite smile). If he thought she looked ridiculous, or at the very least silly enough to consider laughing at, she likely wouldn't need to fight any Magical Girls here. For that alone she counted her blessings. Dropping the smile, he returned to a straight face - A less-than-welcoming face, yes, but it was better than stifled laughter. "At least there's variety," he sighed. "Fine, I'll sign you up. What's your name?"

"Mami Tomoe," she chimed in response, to which the man wrote down the name with the quill, making an oddly nice-sounding scratchy noise of the inky quill-tip on paper. All she needed to do now was wait.

[Monkey D. Luffy]

"WaAaAaHaHaAaHoOoOo!¡!¡" with audible racket, a familiarly zany and erratic shriek tore a crevice clean through the peaceful ambiance of vapid patrons shuffling from one concession construct to the next. This inexplicably dull and dank realm was far removed from the vast world of high seas and bizarre critters of whence he'd called, albeit tentatively, home, just days prior.

Flitting from left to right so as to catch a whiff of swirling ribbons of succulent, flavorful meats, sweets, and spicy treats, Luffy inflated his nostrils as wide as physically abled. Beneath the fog of delicious aroma, a vile stench lingered. Like a concoction of witch's boil and Sasquatch sphincter, he plugged his beak in utter disgust, reeling back from unbearably foul stench.

Not more than minutes thereafter, Straw Hat found himself fleeing from a mob of angry peddlers with stolen goods dangling loosely from his overstuffed jowls.

"Get back here you little thief!"

"Somebody stop that boy!"

"Grahhh! How cliché!!"

Whump!

Managing to lose his pursuers, the gluttonous freeloader smacked against a seemingly impenetrable wall with a thud. Grasping his nose and peering up, what gazed down back at him was not a concrete bulwark, yet a behemoth of a man returning a fearsome glare.

"Ah? You're huge! Mind if I hide behind ya? I've got some ticked off folks on my tail, see," The wiry pirate appealed, offering the walking tank some of his coveted produce. Scoffing the request away and swatting Luffy's offering into dry dirt, the brutish titan spun around and trudged off.

"Oi! You wasted it! Where do ya' think you're goin'??" Luffy demanded, shooting a tensed finger at the armored bastion. Staying his attention ahead, the stranger merely waved Straw Hat on.

"To the Colosseum, what else? If you're that upset, come take your revenge in the arena, young hatchling. I can sense you've got guts, kid. If your bite is as loud as your bark, come and test your might in a true trial of men!"

Left to ponder the rugged fellow's words, the stretchy pirate had a fire lit in his arse. Simply fixating his hyperactive attention beyond the crowding hoopla, he laid eyes upon the tower if infamy. A stage fit for gods, casting a shadow as vast as the sky was high beneath a baking sun cast over the horizon. He was inescapably drawn to it.

"I . . . can I wear Knight's Armor??! Wohohoah! That looks like a blast! I'll bet it has a super duper winning prize! Wait up big guy, I'm coming too! YOSH!!"

[Red]

Blitzball; what else would such a monolithic structure be created for?

Wakka saw the top of the stone arena, barely jutting out beyond the sloping landscape of short grass ahead. Eight—or nine—flags (Wakka didn’t actually take the time to count) highlighted the top of the circular amphitheater; all of them donned the same colors, which the Blitzballer presumed represented whatever realm he was in.

He harbored some remorse about abandoning Eileene, but like a leaf caught in a gust, the exhilaration of his old pastime simply carried him away; before he knew it, he was roaming the proximity of the stadium, pedaling his way through pedestrian traffic.

“Do you have what it takes to compete!? “ a man yelled from one of the commissary booths lined against the stadium’s exterior. His voice was raspy, and cracked, but he had the face of a man clinging onto middle-age.

Wakka stopped in his tracks. “You talking to me?” he asked, walking over to the booth.

“You have what it takes?” he repeated; a grin of jagged teeth opened up under his salt-and-pepper mustache.

Did he not see the sack Wakka carried over his shoulder? Or the emblem printed on his shoulder guard? Of course he balled. Best in Besaid.

Wakka chuckled. “The competition legit, ya?”

The man’s grin strengthened. “Oh, yes! Absolutely. Finest ‘cross the land.”

“What’s the teams?” Wakka questioned; unless this was a high-stake, pick-up game practice time and preparation were necessary. Even for someone as skilled as Wakka.

“No teams. Just tournament style.”

The Blitzballer furrowed a brow. “One-on-one, ya?” It had been a long time since he divulged head-to-head competition (and never in a stadium), but agreed: “I’m in.”

[Strazio Rockwell]

　　The trip to the Colosseum left Strazio in a sour mood. He travelled alone, splitting from Ganondorf and 18 as soon as he read The Rock’s message. If Gilgamesh had already left for the tournament than that meant that he had no intention of honoring Strazio’s duel. The mere thought of the golden king laughing at Strazio’s misfortune sent sparks raging across his body. Still, even as he set foot through the gate of Camelot a smirk cracked across his face. If Gilgamesh was here he would show no mercy, every ounce of his rage would be poured into making sure that the king would be pummeled into the dirt.
　　
　　Today would be a good day.
　　
　　The colosseum was surrounded by some kind of festival. Strazio scowled at the loud music and general joviality of the crowd. It seemed to him that the Omniverse loved to see spilled blood. In his world music was only played during funerals, it was a sign of passing and the upbeat carnival tunes ran counter to Strazio’s expectation of the bloody spectacle to follow. The Defender of Darkshire clutched his cloak tightly and weaved through the claustrophobic crowd. The bright colors and loud noises made the mage nauseous, he was used to the wilderness and did his best to avoid large cities. Strazio found his way to the sign-up booths and took a moment to catch his breath before speaking.
　　
　　“I’d like to sign up for the tournament please.”
　　
　　The girl that greeted him was a familiar sort, in fact she was the exact same person that registered him for the Abyss. Her hair sparkled in the evening sun, a side effect of the gaudy glitter sprinkled throughout her candy-colored hair. Flashbacks of gum-smacking and general sassiness raced through Strazio’s mind. The girl, who Strazio internally reffered to as Bubblegum, sighed and passed a clipboard over to the prime. A personal fan buzzed to life as she watched Strazio read the entry-form carefully, her eyes glared impatiently at the cautious prime.
　　
　　“Don’t I know you?” Bubblegum asked in her trademarked nasally voice.
　　
　　Strazio removed his cloak and offered an insincere smile “I’m Strazio Rockwell, I think you signed me up for the Abyss not too long ago.”
　　
　　“Oh... You” she spoke as if the white-haired mage had killed her dog “how long are you going to take to read that contract?”
　　
　　“As long as I damn well please” Strazio spit back at her spiteful comments. He turned his back to her and continued to read the contract. Extra time was spent as a tax for her rude behavior, the mage could feel her impatient eyes carving holes in the back of his head.
　　
　　“Seriously? It’s like one page long, how can you read so slowly?”
　　
　　“Bite me” sparks jumped across Strazio’s hand and singed the paper. He took a deep breath to calm the bubbling frustration, but the sound of her gum smacking echoed in the back of his head. Knots tied themselves tightly in Strazio’s gut, the smell of carnival food and his raised blood pressure made him want to hurl. Quickly he signed the contract and handed it off to the attendant. Moving like a man on fire Strazio rushed for the nearest restroom. His stomach evacuated its contents in a mess of blood and bile. His emotions had been running rampant the past two days and the tole of his magick was finally starting to catch up with him. It wasn’t just his skin being singed from his anger made manifest, but also his innards were being assaulted by the sparks born from frustration. Silently he clutched the sigil of Darkshire that hung like a burden around his neck. Strazio had to be strong for them. He stood slowly, his body shaking from vomiting.
　　
　　Nothing short of death would stop him today.

[Ruby Rose]

PAGE 1

Dear Diary,

I woke up to see some kind of colossal arena, donning flags and torches along the top. There seemed to be quite some commotion coming from the inside, but as of yet no cheering... or booing for that matter. Sitting from... wherever I was seated, I rubbed my eyes, letting them shift back into focus. How long was I out for? That was something Rin could probably tell me.

I looked around for said swordsman, and noticed him sitting on a large rock, ostensibly bored as he waited for my slumber to end. Beside him, though... there was a cat of immense proportions, with not one but TWO tails, as well as two horn kinda looking things on it's head. "Did I keep you and your new buddy waiting long?" I asked, bringing Rin's attention to me.

"Oh, welcome back Ruby!" He greeted me with a grin. He set a hand on the giant cat beside him. "This is Kuro, he was... uh... I can't exactly remember, but I know he was pretty much my pet." He informed me, and I nodded towards the miraculous animal with a beaming smile in greetings. I turned back to the arena and brushed my skirt off. I wanted to find out what was going on there...

"You wanna check that place out, right?" Rin asked from behind me. Although I knew he was there, I wasn't expecting him to speak so suddenly, so I jumped and yelped quietly as I turned back around to face him. "Y-yeah, I wanna see what's going on over there." I confirmed Rin's suspicions. The raven haired boy stood up and gave Kuro a couple of light pats, the giant cat standing up and arching his back for a moment. Rin clambered onto Kuro's back and extended a hand out to assist me in doing the same. Flashing him yet another beaming grin, I skipped to Kuro's side and took Rin's hand, allowing him to pull me upon to his pet's sturdy back.

"Hold on tight!" He called and I slung my arms around his waist tightly and pressed my head into his back... I wasn't sure if maybe I was holding too tightly... but any of those worries soon flew the coop as Kuro sprung into a run, speeding along the grass. Not exactly as fast as I could go, but certainly a much more pleasant ride. Once settled into the motion, I lifted my head from Rin's back and took a gander at my surroundings. It was like something from an old fantasy movie... to be honest I wouldn't have been surprised to see knights fighting it out and dragons soaring across the skies! I also spotted a titanic fortress kinda place, but it looked as if a city was built within... I think my choice of Verse was surely a pleasant one.

Soon enough, Kuro slowed to a stop, and I slipped off his back and into the earth below, quickly followed by Rin. "Well, let's go see what this is all about." I said in a hushed tone. I began to make my way forwards, Rin and Kuro at my rear. I passed the threshold if the arena; one of the many equally oversized doorways carved into the structure. The commotion became louder and louder, until soon enough I stepped out into open air once more, where people from possibly hundreds of backgrounds were conversing and interacting with each other. My guess; some kind of colosseum event was going on!

I began wading through the crowd, muttering things like ''Scuse me' and 'Coming through' along the way... I wondered his Rin and his rather large partner were doing, so I spun one-eighty on my heels to see Rin pushing through the fray with a small cat on his shoulder. "You never told me your pet could do that!" I complained, pressing my fists to my hips. My worries assuaged, I continued onwards, until I stumbled upon a girl, seated at a desk with what looked like the entrant list.

"If you're joining just tell me your name..." The female ordered in a monotone manner, drearily flicking a lock of auburn hair from her face, giving my a blank, green-eyed stare. I shivered slightly... this girl kinda gave me the creeps! But anyway, I spoke up as I was told to. "Ruby Rose." I told her and she drowsily scratched it down. I only hoped she spelled it right, what with her being so beaten by fatigue and all. I turned my head around to Rin. "You gonna sign up, too?" I asked the swordsman.

[Morene Fellon]

Only a few minutes had passed since the Courier walked past that lucky, old and broken down wood sign in front of the entrance to this Camelot place, and Six was already quite impressed. All around, she could see various onlooking citizens wearing no more than cheap brown and white clothing, all different shapes, sizes and colors. Especially of the like she hadn't seen before back on that dusty old rock she called Earth once.

Things seemed peaceful as she walked across the one, big road in the middle of all these carefully handcrafted buildings lining the city streets. Even a few folk riding on horseback quickly galloped through every now and again. Needless to say, it was quite the sight, considering horses were extinct where she had come from.

All of this seemed so surreal to the Courier, it was unbelievable how she managed to keep on reading those signs leading her way to yet another path of death.

The very moment she thought of such a thing, Six stopped in her tracks for a short moment, slowly beginning to realize what she put herself into. After all those horrible and heart-wrenching experiences in the Mojave wastelands, the Courier still found the time to play her part in a tournament of battle for sport. The real kicker was how fast it reminded her of the Legion's slave arenas, to which she had liberated countless times before.

Six almost gagged, had not she had been reassured by the thought of what Omni said to her so shortly before all of this even happened. If she could remember correctly, he explicitly stated she should not fear the concept of death, for rebirth was always possible. Though she had her doubts, if all he said was true, she could also count on his word that there were others like the Courier in these realms. Adding it up, hopefully killing somebody wouldn't have as much weight.

Besides, if all of this did end up looking like a Legion slaving party, then no doubt she'd turn every single last one of these twisted old-timers on their heads with a few .308 caliber bullets. People who could even try to justify doing such a thing definitely deserved their privileges of life taken away from them in the Courier's book, and no doubt she's done it before.

For now though, she continued to walk through the rowdy, music-filled streets of Camelot, letting her mind wander in the meantime.

. . .

After taking a painfully long time getting to the city hall, the only thing Six was grateful for at this moment was the fact that the destination of the Colosseum she was supposed to be signing up to was marked on her Pip-Boy, considering she even remembered passing it only a few moments ago.

Sighing, the Courier began backtracking to where she had saw that hulking structure of stone and metal, pacing herself in the process. It took a bit of time, but as soon as the Courier got to this Colosseum again, she finally saw the booth to sign up at, seeing a few rather colorful individuals lined up in front of the desk.

It was certainly a welcoming thought to note that the Courier would soon either be spilling the blood of, or would be spilling blood because of these people, all sarcasm intended. Groaning, Six slowly walked to the short line of "Primes," as she heard from the lady at the desk ever so faintly. She could only assume she looked intimidating enough, since a few puzzled eyes were already on her at the moment.

Silently getting to the back of the tiny line, Six crossed her arms, noting back to where all of this reminded her of the Legion a bit too close for comfort. If there was one thing the Courier could assure herself about it though, it was that at least the Legion pretended to be warriors in battle.

If there was anything to learn from those displays of foolishness however, it was that the Courier must treat all her opponents with at least some notion of respect. Looking at the few Primes in front of her, Six could only hope that respect was enough to convince them not to stab her in the back as soon as this tournament ended.

[Kopaka]

Kopaka emerged once more into the lush, verdant forest of Camelot. It was somewhat heartening to arrive back in this place where he had first ventured into the Omniverse proper. Kopaka idly wondered how that Ludwig creature was doing. His mission had seemed to be of significant personal importance, to say the least. No matter, there was no point in dwelling on the past when the Toa had a clear objective to carry out...the first step of which was to locate the Colosseum itself. Luckily, the Dataverse device that Kopaka had connected to his hardware was able to pull up a simple map of Camelot. More importantly, the Toa was able to follow the large bulk of foot traffic that was headed to the North East. There seemed to be quite a large deal of enthusiasm regarding the tournament, so on the occasion that Kopaka had to stop and ask for directions, he was quite enthusiastically informed of the right direction.

The sun was growing long in this verse; a welcome sight far removed from the synthetic utopia in which Kopaka had recently found himself. Distant peaks were capped with crisp snow, and Kopaka could feel the connection to his natural element growing to by a great magnitude. If it was his fate to fight other of his kind, it would be good to know he wouldn't have to conserve his elemental reserves.

...

By the time the Toa of Ice arrived at the Colosseum, his organics were in desperate need of a slight reprieve from the exertion the Toa had been placing on them. It was just as well, but things needed to be tended to first. It was good to see that the registration boot was still open; based on the information that the biomech had garnered during his sojourn, it sounded like there was a high probability that his opportunity to join the carnage may have passed already. The fact that they were still taking applicants was, in fact, a tad jarring.

Just how desperate for blood are they?

As usual, it was a question that would have to be answered later, as attendant in the booth took notice of the gleaming bionicle. She had appeared to be quite bored up until this point, rolling the singular plumage of some nameless Rahi back and forth on her wooden desk. When she saw Kopaka though, her jaw sagged open. She had seen a lot of wild looking primes so far today, but this guy took the cake! For a native Camelotian, the sight of a bright white robot with a sword and shield was a juxtaposition of themes that just didn't quite compute at first. The Toa decided to play her awe down slightly.

"This is where registration for the Tournament takes place?" Kopaka asked in a hushed tone. The attendant nodded her head vigorously.

"Y-yes sir! If you'll just sign your name here we'll get you into the brackets!"

"The what?"

"We'll get you ready for your fight! First thing in the morning!"

"Superb." Kopaka said in a flat tone. It took some effort to try and scrawl out his name in the script of the denizens of this universe, but after a minute, Kopaka finally had a legible signature to present to the woman. She seemed to be perplexed. Was this robot...illiterate? No...apparently not but...what was all that trouble he had with writing his name? Weird...

"Okay then! Feel free to enjoy the concessions inside the building, or, if you'd like, take a look around the carnival!" the girl said with an intolerable levity in her voice. Kopaka simply trudged away, his biological components screaming for a reprieve. It would be good to give them a rest.

...

Unfortunately, something quite important caught the Toa's eye. As he had been making his way to the competitor's barracks, the Toa had stopped to peruse the handiworks of the Colosseum's blacksmith. Out of all the things that could have been ensconced on the wall behind the stout man, the Kanohi Mahiki stared at Kopaka with its gleeful eyeholes. Kopaka froze in his tracks and slowly turned his gaze to regard the blacksmith, who was in the process of closing up his shop.

"See summin' ye like?" he asked with a thick, bucolic accent. Kopaka glared at him viciously.

"Did you...make that?" the Toa asked in a slow tone. The human immediately picked up on the extreme intensity with which the Prime was staring at the old dusty mask he had found in the mountains a long time ago.

"Er...no...I found it up in a little glade in the north mountains...it was settin' on some sorta carved face that wore it. If'n you like I can sell it to ye fer-"

"I'll take it."

"But I haven't even name my p-"

"I'll take it."

...


A few minutes later, Kopaka was one thousand Omnilium poorer, but it mattered little to the Toa. Yet another fragment of his old world was bound to his Mask collection. This had to be an aberration of extreme luck; Kopaka did not remember masks being so easy to come by in his old world. They were artifacts of great importance, vital to the lives of the Tohunga and Turaga that wore them. They took months to craft properly, though Kopaka was not familiar with the precise process. Kopaka shook his head and uttered a deep sigh as he climbed the long stairway to the place that had been allotted for Primes to rest in. The bedding was meager and the room was cold, but neither of these things bothered Kopaka. All he needed to do to rest was remain still for a few hours and he would be back at his full potential. He debated on whether to allow his brain's organic components to rest as well, and in the end, opted for it. He had no reason to assume he was in danger...

...yet...

[Bandit With No Name]

Tall, sweeping archways of white stone spanned over the bandit, elegant pillars lining each of the hallways that spanned the vomitorium. Hallways split from the main passage, lit by skylights that cut through the structure. Ahead, the stadium and the throngs of attendants finding their seats. The sunlight, the din of voices, excited yet constrained, the sale of food and trinkets. It was so oddly pleasant to her, especially considering the bloodsport that would soon unfold. It was, in a way, novel to them. They were having fun with their little tickets, waving their little flags, eating their popcorn.

The bandit stepped out of the way as a mother and daughter passed, and she couldn’t help but notice the child’s wide eyes staring up at the well-armored marauder. Unaccustomed to children looking at her with anything but terror, let alone with a look of wonder in their eyes, the bandit simply stared back. As the girl’s eyes lingered on her, the woman held up her hand and offered a crooked smile. The mother dragged her daughter into the seating, her bright eyes never leaving the bandit until they were out of view.

The bandit looked down at her blood-covered top and rugged, rusty armor, and for a moment she felt an odd sense of pride from the girl’s attention. It felt good to somehow not evoke an instant reaction of fear from a child. Just as the warm feeling reached its acme, a broad-framed Charr slammed his shoulder into her back, grunting, “Watch it, freak.” That was more like it.

Rolling her eyes, the bandit chose to let it go. It wasn’t the first time that some muscle-bound agro whack-job tried to start some shit with her for no reason, and she knew it wasn’t the time and place to splatter his insides on the fancy white walls.

Instead, she pulled her phone from her pocket and made her way down the side corridor, finding it much less populated. The direct sunlight from the openings above was also nice, as she was still a bit nervous about the damp coolness that permeated the Colosseum’s darker corners. She flicked through the devices screens, slowly reading through the tool-tips that popped up. Her mind caught on a few words, the less common terms challenging her limited vocabulary.

Instinctively, she squinted and tapped the screen, and a small voice chimed out, “operating,” in a pleasant female voice. Almost startled by the phone’s help, she recoiled and blinked. “Yo, I don’t remember trying to put this on here,” she said to herself. “Hey, uh, phone, can you hear me?”

The little plastic device didn’t respond, and she exhaled in relief. She shook her head, almost slapping herself for not realizing it, but she had created the phone. It would work exactly how she expected it to. All the tutorials and help boxes were things she had assumed would be there, and everything they had said so far made sense. Even the words she had stumbled over were probably things she’d expect to find on a fancy technological device, and even then she had assumed that tapping it would reveal what the word meant.

Laughing under her breath, she swept all of the helpful tips out of the way and tapped a large icon in the shape of a simple circuit, the word “Dataverse” below it. She had wondered for so long what the special verse was all about, and she was almost ore excited to explore it than she was to fight in the competition.

A simple, bland interface greeted her, a small news ticker streaming along the bottom of the screen. In the middle of the screen, two more colorful icons read, “Mail” and “Search”. She clicked on the Mail image, and read through a few of the tutorial steps. When she was sure she had it figured it out, she swept them away and began to compose a new message.

To: Caret
CC: Caret
BCC: Caret
Subject: Hey

caret i am using the dv!!!!
i went to fight in a stadium in camelot
call me when u can
u have my # rite?
c u soon
-b

When she hit send, a cascade of pride rushed through her, and she had to restrain herself from sending her companion another message about how the previous message had been her first ever message.

She looked up from the device as a few more stadium-goers passed by, watching them pass and shifting her weight on the wall. She was shocked to realize that she hadn’t noticed them until they were within a few feet, despite their heavy footsteps and light conversation. She nervously fumbled with the item, but decided to simply pay more attention rather than stop toying with it.

Backing out of the messaging application, she poked at the search function. An open field stared back at her, the blinking cursor flashing back at her expectantly. Not really knowing what to even look for, she typed the first thing that came to her mind: Camelot.

A long list of sites popped up, most of which were informational in nature. Near the top of her search bar, she noticed a convenient button which was aptly named, “Most Likely To Interest You”. She selected the feature, and the wall of text descended down into a handful of results. Laughing out loud, she praised the tool when she saw that the item at the top was, “Collosseum Tournement”.

Blazing through the forum’s brief introduction, she hurriedly slammed on the capslock and began typing.

[Kakashi Hatake]

Having successfully filled out his paperwork for the tournament, Kakashi quickly made himself scarce. The crowd was beginning to thin out as townsfolk and tourists filtered in to presumably find desirable seating. The few people whom the copy ninja presumed to be participants had found their way into the stadium as well, being ushered through a different doorway by tournament officials. The masked man wasn’t big on mingling and instead opted to take a stroll around the perimeter of the venue.

“Well, this should be interesting,” Kakashi muttered to himself, strolling casually off the dirt road into the countryside. He wasn’t too concerned with being late for the event; he never really worried himself with punctuality anyway. The silver-haired shinobi kept an ear out for the sounds of commencement, but continued his leisurely pace.

Hatake wandered aimlessly for a time, staring up at the midday sun. It wasn’t often that he found himself on an assignment that involved being out in broad daylight, though he rather enjoyed the brilliant glare of the sun and the warmth of its rays on his back. The sharingan-wielder returned his gaze to the countryside, realizing he had stumbled onto a patch of farmland. A few meters away, the Anbu captain recognized something familiar; a smile crept across his normally stoic visage at the sight of a straw man, standing sentry over his field. The ninja bowed slightly in the dummy’s direction, one scarecrow to another.

Presently he heard the rustling of something large at his side, glancing over to spy the mammoth form of Fenrir, rolling frantically in the soil. Barely evading the beast’s large mitts was a rabbit, now springing nimbly away from his pursuer and into the tall grass that bordered the farm. Fenrir snorted, plopping down reluctantly at the shinobi’s feet. Kakashi chuckled quietly, laying a hand delicately on the worg’s head. The dark gray beast did not protest, closing his eyes and letting out a low murmur. Despite what the shinobi would soon be getting himself into, he felt oddly calm.

[Black Mage]

Camelot was a place teeming with life, people, and activity. Far different than the Endless Dunes he'd traveled in just a few days ago, or the pale white Nexus he'd trekked between the two. True to the desert man or moogles word there was a Tournament of Primes to be held at a great Colosseum, with entries and advertisements from the gate into Camelot, to the signs on the side of the road, to posters and woodcuts adorned throughout the towns. He had asked around about where the best fighters were, but most all of them had already entered and were in waiting. He didn't wish to fight so soon, but if it could find him some allies, or at least some more of this "omlinium", it would have made the trip worth it.

"I'd like to enter the Tournament." The Black Mage spoke as he arrived at the sign-ups.

"Thank god." The clerk said. "We almost thought we'd have to have a three-way fight with the way the brackets were ending up." The Clerk said, excitedly getting a piece of paper and a quill pen. "Can I get you to sign your name here?" She said, and the Black Mage frowned, before seeing another contestant was written down as The Bandit With No Name. Taking the pen he scribbled down his own name before the Clerk escorted him to the waiting area.

Following wild dreams and disappearing desert men into life-or-death gladiator tournaments. If only Fighter could see him now.

[Rin Okumura]

Rin's eyes adjusted to the light of the new verse after he rode through the gate on his cat sidhe, and the sight that he was met with after they did excited him more than when he first saw the Ashen Steppes. Castles, villages, flying horses, so many things that he'd never seen before, all of it equally as exciting as the rest of it. "Whooooooooa!" The demon just couldn't resist expressing his excitement to the world, but the world didn't seem to know why he needed to. Several people were now staring at the boy for many different reasons. He suddenly started shouting the moment he came through the gate, there was a giant cat with a strange boy on top of it, this boy had an unconscious girl with him. Whatever their reason for staring, it made Rin uncomfortable, and caused him to sit back down.

"Let's go find a place to rest until Ruby wakes back up." Kuro gave a nod after this was said, and began walking to find a suitable place to take a break. The more they walked, the cooler the things that they saw seemed to become. None of these things were fake, not that he expected them to be, and the more that Rin began to realize this, the more that he wanted to shout. But to avoid being stared at even more, he had to restrain himself, at least until they found some place that they were alone. And that place came quicker than her expected, as they found a grassy hill with a large rock on it. "I Guess this'll work, let's get Ruby down." He said, before sliding off of Kuro's back and reaching up to grab the girl. The cat sidhe angled his back so that she would slide off, allowing Rin to catch her and lie her down in the grass.

After Ruby was nice and situated, the demon jumped to the top of the rock and let out all of his excitement now that no one could hear him. "COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!" The sound echoed a bit as it bounced off of buildings in the city that wasn't too far from where they were, and Rin knew that someone had to hear it, but they would have no place to stare if he wasn't someplace they could see him, so he knew he'd be fine. After finally being able to let out all of his built up excitement, the demon sat down on the rock, facing Ruby so that he'd know when she woke up, and watched as Kuro did the same, but faced the opposite direction. Now that they were finally able to relax, the cat sidhe decided it would be a good time to talk as well.

"You think I could get some of Shiro's sake for all of this?" Shiro... This was a name that sounded painfully familiar, yet Rin just couldn't remember who it belonged to. But he wouldn't ask, that was a topic that was better left until later to discuss.

"I doubt I could even find any sake in this world, but I guess we could try!" The demon said with a smile. Kuro seemed pleased by his response, and continued watching the people in the city go about their business while they waited. Thankfully, the wait wasn't long, as Ruby began stirring only a few minutes after they got to where they were. Rin decided he'd just watch to make sure she wasn't just moving around in her sleep. She took a moment to take a look at her surroundings, then spoke.

After she was done greeting the pair, Rin replied, answering her question of who his "friend" was. "Welcome back Ruby! This is Kuro, I don't remember exactly what he was to me, but I guess you could say he's a... Pet?" The cat sidhe didn't like his answer, and began glaring at him.

"I'm not a pet..." He said to Rin, but Ruby wouldn't be able to hear this, since the only way he could speak to people was by using telepathy. After Kuro was done scolding the demon, they noticed that she was looking at the colosseum that was in the nearby town. "Maybe she wants to go there? It looked pretty busy, is there something going on?" Rin shrugged at Kuro's question, and quickly focused back on Ruby.

"You want to check that place out, right?" Ruby jumped a bit at his question, but replied quickly. It was a good thing she actually did want to see it, cause now Rin did to. Maybe there was something cool going on there, it is a colosseum after all. Knights fighting mythical creatures, mages facing off against each other, it would be just like a scene out of a manga! Grabbing Kurikara, the demon quickly climbed onto Kuro's back and extended his hand to help Ruby back on. He wore a smile that said, "let's go!" and it seemed that Ruby was also ready to go. After helping the girl onto Kuro's back, he yelled "Hold on tight!", which told the cat sidhe that he should go.

The girl decided to grab Rin instead of the cat, and was squeezing a little tighter than the demon would've thought was needed. It caused him to blush a little, and he was thankful that Ruby wouldn't be seeing his face at the time, cause that would just be embarrassing. Kuro was just jogging through the grassy hills, after all, the town was right there, so there was no need to run at top speed and risk running over a few people. Even at the slow speed they were traveling at, the trio soon arrived at their destination. They had plenty of room to climb off of the beast, as most people avoided it, which caused a large opening to be in the center of the crowd.

Ruby quickly proceeded into the arena, but Rin was faced with a bit of a problem. How was his massive cat sidhe supposed to fit inside? His answer was answered immediately, as he turned around to see a smaller version of the beast that once stood there. "I forgot you could do that..." He mumbled to his familiar before picking him up and placing him on his shoulders. Now that the monster that the crowd was avoiding was gone, Rin had to push through people in order to catch up with his partner. As he finally caught up, Ruby was surprised to see that Kuro could shrink down to the size he was at. But Kuro's ego boost didn't last long, as he was reduced to a pet again soon after.

"I'm not a pet! Tell her Rin!" Kuro wanted the "pet" thing to be over, but Rin just gave the cat sidhe an awkward smile and continued moving through the crowd with Ruby. When the demon arrived at the same desk Ruby was at, the girl asked for Ruby's name if she was going to be signing up for the tournament. She gave her the name she was looking for, then turned around and asked Rin if he was going to join. After hearing the word "tournament," the demon already knew what he wanted to do, and he had a wide smile on his face.

"Rin Okumura!" He yelled. The next thing he had to think about, was where was Kuro supposed to go? "Sorry Kuro, I guess you'll just have to go..." It took him a moment to think about where the people watching would go, but he managed to figure it out. "Just follow that crowd to where the spectators sit, I doubt I can bring you into the fight." The cat sidhe gave him a "really?" looked, then began weaving through the crowd to find the place that he would sit. After watching his familiar disappear into the sea of people, he turned to look at Ruby again. "Let's do this!"

[Ms. Marvel]

Danvers exited the portal and the first thing she laid eyes on, was a grand castle in the distance. With farms, huts and other various communities sprawled out and surrounding the walled fortress, the castle's utter most peak seemed to grace the heavens; a beauty to behold.

Several minutes passed before the blonde beauty was able to make out the exact shapes of the various buildings afoot, and when she was finally came close enough to distinguish them, she became overwhelmed with the bustling going ons of the busy city.

Stuck in the middle ages, the place exuded all the novelty one could find at a resonance festival back home.

Home…

A place she barely recognized, but, home all the same. She wanted to get back there… no, she needed to get back. She had to help set things right, she just had to. Guilt drowned Carol's conscious as dreaded memories of her past taunted and mocked her.

Carnival games, food stands, fireworks displays, and quite a few demonstrations of spectacular magic Carol had never seen before penetrated her thoughts and brought her back to her surroundings. The whole place danced with a lively energy that charged the very air. Something grand was clearly taking place here.

She moved her way through the crowd toward the entrance of the grand and lavish coliseum that loomed overheard and at the double gates she found a booth being attended by someone garbed in more mid evil attire.

“What is going on here? Where am I?” Danvers questioned with uncertainty in her voice.

“Where are you? Oh my Omni, don’t tell me you are a brand, spankin' new prime arrival?!” question a man sitting behind a booth with a sign above the table that read “GLADIATORS REGISTER HERE.”

“…”

“Well, step right up! Sign up! You are looking at the most grand and spectacular event ever to be held in the Omniverse, outside of Dante’s Abyss, of course.” the man mused.

“Dante’s Abyss?”

“My, you are new! You don’t even know about Dante’s Abyss? Shoot, I took this job in hopes that I might get to meet the Dante’s Abyss champion, Sasuke Uchiha!" the man exclaimed, however his enthusiasm seem to wan as he continued, “Though… I have’t been so lucky… haven’t seen hair or tail of him… Which stinks…. But… anyway… Well, you should try out! A beauty like you ought to be a fan favorite in no time! And… With any luck you could make it out of the first round and win yourself some Omnilium!"

That’s all it took. The fair haired beauty stepped up to the registry and with a flick of her hand, she had signed the roster.

[Bandit With No Name]

There was a loud clamor as a herd of people swarmed through the front gates, loud enough to snap the marauder’s attention from the screen. Slowly approached the pushing masses and stood a few feet from the intersection of her hallway and the main vomitorium, peering around the corner to see what the swarm of humanity was interested in.

Peasants held single coins while nobles hefted heavy sacks in the air, each of them shoving for a place t the front of their slowly growing line. Putting on a mean face, the tall woman pushed into the crowd, unafraid to use the sharp metal protrusions on her armor to encourage people to get the hell out of her way.

As she made her way through the people, she walked around the top edge of the Colosseum, getting a good look at the pit where she’d be fighting. A massive thing, dirt floor, runes carved into the stones that made the walls of the stadium. She’d seen enough magic to know what it looked like, and she could only assume it would be used to protect the audience from any kind of stray attacks the contestants would be flinging around.

As she approached the lead end of the surging throngs, she saw a long series of booths, men, women and demons accepting the coins and carefully jotting down numbers on papers. “Is there betting?” the bandit asked to nobody in particular. “Holy shit they’re betting.”

Using the hand that wasn’t carrying her weapon, the woman used her amazing strength and rammed into the people that stood before her. Like a fish through water, she forced her way to the front of the line, grabbed the person who was currently talking with the tender by the head and flung him out of the way.

Holding her hand out, a sphere of glimmering omnilium blazed forth in front of the infernal book-keep’s eyes. He grinned, pearlescent light glimmering in his black sclera, and licked the tip of his quill, holding it above the paper.

“THREE HUNDRED ON THE BANDIT WITH NO NAME!” she shouted and slammed the wad of currency down.