(Preshow) Preshow Facility

[The Future Warrior]

It was with a quick "Hey!" that she whirled around as the first book she'd picked up was yanked away. More confused than anything, but when the object of her attention was offered as replacement she was quite happy to accept it. Dictionary. This should help her out. A lot more than that other weird book. No idea what it was supposed to be about, but she was fairly certain that it didn't belong in the reference section. Unless it was supposed to be some kind of anatomy reference? But it didn't really seem like it. There weren't enough big, complicated words for it to be a textbook or anything like that. But given how mister red coat had snatched it away, she was left to assume one thing: it wasn't what she was after, at the moment. This here book, the dictionary. Merriam-Webster, whoever or whatever that was--er, they were? Whatever! This was what she was after and could help her.

She scampered off, hopping over a nearby table to reach an empty chair, pulling it out to take a seat. The book was thumped lightly down on the table, pages starting to rapidly turn. She scanned through it quickly, page after page turning in a blur, one at a time and only a quick glance down each one. It really did look like the aimless, pointless 'searching' a child would do, through something they didn't really understand. But there was a seriousness in the majin's expression — a focused, earnestly studious look — which belied her naive, excitable nature. She knew exactly what she was looking for, and now that she had the means to look it up and find it, she was taking it quite seriously.

She slowed her pace of page turning as she reached the 'B' section of the dictionary, scanning more closely. Her attention faltered, and she looked up as Jak spoke up, asking about something. Know what his world was like. "Oh, oh, know about your world?" She hadn't quite forgotten about her initial plan, and reached into a pocket, fishing out an old card — the business card she'd gotten from Grrwurlo, as she remembered. Seeing it reminded her to do something. Holding it up in her right hand, she brought her opposite hand up to her scouter, quickly bringing up a note and punching in the details and info on the card. This was going to be a tournament after all. The card was kind of flimsy. It might get damaged. The scouter was not flimsy. At all. It was tough. It should be fine, long as she didn't take any major hits to the head or something.

With the details noted down in a text file, she dropped the card into the dictionary as a bookmark and closed it, sitting up a little straighter in her seat. Hopping up onto her knees to lean over the table with her short stature, she looked curiously from Jak to Dante and then back to Jak. "So what about your world? I like learning about new stuff. What was it like?"

[Larfleeze]

DOJO

"So, we have a close-to-mid range fighter," he gestured at Bendy, "a long-range fighter," to Abyss, "And myself, a close-range fighter." he frowned, "It seems to me that most of our attacks will involve you acting as support as me and Bendy charge in first, or possibly lying in wait in liquid form, for better stealth."

"We'll need a lot of coordination for that." Abyss warned.

"We could simply create some kind of sensor, couldn't we?" Chakravartin said, after a moment's thought, he was no longer able to use his Chi Sense, to find anyone he wished at a moment's notice... but anything was possible with Omnilium, wasn't it? "Something to use to keep track of each other's position." He narrowed his eyes, and to the other two Prime's mild surprise, it was he himself that was glowing.

A few minutes of the rainbow effect, and there seemed to be no outward change.

Until one looked at the blue ring hovering just above his head. "Huh." All three said, observing the addition.

"...Does it tell you where we are?" Bendy asked sarcastically.

Chakravartin sighed, and briefly concentrated, before noticing that he could- in fact, he could sense the location of each of the Primes they had seen in the bar, as well... but not where any others might be, only those he had seen in person. If he focused even further- he could just about feel Aang, but it was nowhere near as precise, merely an indistinct feeling of stone and magic- Camelot as a whole. It seemed that wherever Dante's Abyss was, he was outside the range of sensing anything in Camelot.

"Kekeke!" the sudden laughter caught his companions off guard, "Abyss, we have no need to worry about your demon, unless we want to." he tapped his halo with a golden finger, and it let out a sound like a bell.

"What do you mean?"

"I can tell where he is- both of you should try to create a tracker of some kind! I promise, this is already opening up new possibilities!"

[Katrielle Layton]

"Ooh!" Bendy examined the halo that the god erected above his head, occasionally poking it much to Kong's chagrin. "Not the way I would've designed it, but that seems really useful. Hang on."

The demon sat down and focused, his gloved hands held above his head. Omnilium flowed into a ring above his head like a distorted halo, accompanied by eerie Latin chants. The ring eventually materialized, an upside-down star shape emblazoned into the empty space. While most of it was black in color, one of the star prongs glowed a bright red.

"Let's see..." He momentarily thought about Abyss. The pentacle spun around so the glowing part was aimed at the cephalopod. Then he thought about Kong, and the tracker shifted to point at him. Bendy recalled a few Primes he saw in the Bar, and it turned to face in the general direction of the place.

"It works!" He turned to grin at Kong, the tracker shifting to hide behind his back.

"You just copied my idea," the Saru countered. "But still, it'll be very useful."

[Tearen Wover]

Central Hallway

Tearen heaved a great sigh as he was zapped into Syntech Space by the garish portal. The first thing to hit him was a wave of stray thoughts and ponderings, excited and giddy to be amidst the company of this many Primes. The elder Prime could feel the toddling influence of alcohol in many minds, and watched as roving gangs of gawking secondaries tried to get surreptitious selfies with famous Primes. It had an atmosphere of the first Abyss event Tearen had attended a few years ago. In his previous form, the buzz of activity would have pleased his disposition for chaos, but now it was just affronting.

The Shadow looked around for familiar faces and found few to choose from. Gildarts, most notably, was milling around the foyer, but Tearen was sure that the Strongest Prime would not recognize him in his current form. No...it would be the form that had banished itself in an act of existential panic, in a world and time the felt almost insubstantial. That would change in a few moments.

"There he is! Nealaphh! Master Nealaphh!" came an eager voice from his left. Tearen lazily looked in that same direction and saw a Syntech TV crew bustling up to meet him, their camera dollies clattering loudly on the gilded tile floor. A breathless young filly of a woman pressed a microphone towards his face, her bright eyes ecstatic for the scoop of her career.

"You are the same Prime Nealaphh that slew Volvagia, yes?" she asked with a Nexus-like grin. Tearen sucked in a deep breath. If he was going to make his message to the Omniverse as visible as possible, he would have to be quite conspicuous right off the bat. As distasteful as the ensuing scene was, it was necessary. Black Glass rolled up Tearen's human face with a loud crinkling noise, and his signature green eyes flared to life. The ambient light levels flickered as the area around Tearen rumbled with telekinetic power. He rose slowly into the air, allowing black smog to ooze from his body and roll resentfully along the ground.

When he spoke, the whole room vibrated with deafening brassado.

"Indeed, it is I, Nealaphh, now calling myself Tearen Wover. Forder Headmaster of the Institute, slayer of Volvagia, and Fugitive from the Underverse. I have clawed my way from Hell to bring a dire warning to the Omniverse." Tearen boomed. Every eye in the central hallway was on him, and even a few patrons in the adjacent facilities peeked their heads out.

"...w-w-wha...um...what's that?" the Syntech reporter said, trembling. Her fear was exciting, and Tearen would be lying if he said he wasn't enjoying this a little bit.

"Diablo is not trapped in the Underverse. He sends denizens to and from his Hell freely, and at will. There he broods, growing his power, waiting for a chance to reinstate an era of terror, and blood. All people of the Omniverse would do well to be on alert. The Lord of Terror could strike, at any moment."

Silence ensued. Maybe that had been a bit much. With a mental sigh, the Shadow slowly lowered himself to the ground, and allowed his eldritch appearance to dissipate as a black fog. When the haze cleared, Tearen stood as his human form, silver-white hair drawn back in a braided tail and wearing a sharp black suit. He certainly didn't intend to upstage Karl Jak at his own show, and his message had at least been heard at this point.

"As distressing as this is..." he continued, his speaking voice a comparative whisper, "...I believe there is hope. I will take further questions in the Park." he said softly, promptly strutting off in the direction of the arboreal sanctuary. The Syntech reporter, to her credit, launched into an immediate communique to the live audiences about the excitement of the Abyss and so forth. A thousand eyes followed his quiescent footsteps, and Tearen smiled in spite of himself. Was this how Gilgamesh felt, walking the streets of Nippur? Ah, but he shouldn't let it go to his head. Being a loud man in a crowded room didn't make him a king.

But...it did make him a talking point, which was an excellent start for his overall goal in the Abyss. For now, he would try to enjoy whatever facsimile of nature this artificial pocket world had to offer. The glow of spherical lanterns and gentle shadow of foliage beckoned him into the small paradise at the end of the central hall.

(Moved to Park)

[Professor Sunshine]

GYM/DOJO, then Hallway

As Chakravartin and Bendy continued to test their halos to detect the locations of each other, Abyss was trying to focus on creating one of herself, so that she could try to locate the other members of the Golden Alliance once the main event started. As she stood in silence, she tried thinking very hardly on angels and halos and harps, so that she could get the proper image in her head that would allow her to create a halo herself. Unfortunately, the very loud sounds coming from Tearen in the hallway disrupted her focus, and as she thought on how she could hear that voice from far away, the object she was starting to form from Omnilium changed from what was beginning to look like a halo into a cell phone.

"Noooo! That was supposed to be a halo! Ugh, and I don't think I'll have enough time to try to focus on trying to create a halo! I mean, this may come in handy in later, but how in the world will I be able to find you now! Once I find out who made that loud noise, I am going to make a mental note to kill them! Chakravartin, stay here and make sure nobody is spying on us from in the Gym, and Bendy, come with me just in case." As Abyss started to get up to get out of the hallway, she started to think of what the girl was saying, and while she did not get most of what that jerk said, she understood what a fugitive was, so she guessed that this person was some sort of criminal who ran away from whatever the Underverse was.

As Abyss and Bendy walked out in the hall to look for whoever caused that outburst, Abyss saw some sort of middle-aged man at the mouth of the hallway, who she thought was the person who caused the outburst since the only other person who was in the hallway she noticed was walking into the hall. As Abyss walked closer to Gildarts with Bendy, Abyss had a grumpy look on her face as if this person was the guy who caused the outburst, then she was definitely going to try to kill the guy, even if it would kill her. Upon getting close enough, Abyss quickly told Bendy to get the halo to recognize the middle aged man.

"Excuse me, but are you Tearen Wolver?" Abyss quickly said to Gildarts as she finally approached him, now looking very mad. "If you are that jerk, then you will pay for what you did with that outburst! Because of that outburst, you caused me to create a cell phone when I was trying to create a tracking halo like the one my friend next to me, Bendy, has. When we get to the main event and after I deal with someone quickly, your next!" As Abyss finished saying that she stepped a few steps back just in case, and stomped her foot, while waiting for a response from the man.

[Dust]

He nodded to the man who excused himself, only after he left did he realize he didn't catch the stranger's name. He hated the idea of being rude enough to only think of him as his more standing out features. The greenish-yellow hair, cyan eyes, odd outfit that implied he was from a hotter climate. Googles? But there would be a seat for him here when and if he came back.

The nearly naked man kept his attention on the girl across form him, none the wiser of her internal conflict with his translations of the name she offered. As she spoke to him in sharp to the point answers, he gathered that Yuki might not be the name she chose for herself but was given. It made since, because if he was going to translate her name to something Japanese it would most likely not be anything to do with Snow, but something closer to Light. She covered her tracks - no pun intended - well though, and skipped past the awkward conversations after that by replacing it with comments about his lineage. He seemed a bit surprised by the change, but rolled with her punches with that same good humor he's exhibited this whole time. "That's strange.. Or is it? You are familiar with my countries and languages." He hasn't has a lot of stimulation beyond the locals of Costa del Sol, but he had been in contact with a Neko when he came here. They were of myth where he was from, as well were talking/walking goats and squid. He's learned to just let it happen.

Dust picked up his chopsticks and began to choice what he'd eat next. "And yet, I see food from every corner of my world here." He said, but not talking about his set up exactly. "So that must mean there are many people like you and I, maybe we are not from the same universe, but our worlds must have been parallel to each other for us to share a common language and culture. Logically, it only makes sense that there are multiple universes.. I'm not educated in the science and theories out there, but I understand it enough to come to that conclusion." Then he stopped, and looked up at her. "Unless you know anything about Hell's gate? Or even Heaven's gate?" He stopped his ramblings to watch her, she seemed to not understand. "No.. Nevermind." He pushed the topic away. His mind always trailed back to Drake and Shock when he thought of his past, he was left with a lot of unknowns and blood. "The only other language I used to know was Russian, now I speak English as well as anyone else. I can only guess that Omni implanted a language of his choosing inside us all to keep a major language barrier from becoming a problem. That's just speculation." He said, taking a bite of his food and noticing a couple of girls waltzing into the bar. He thought they were odd, no odder than the trio him and Takezo had a blast with earlier, but notable. He returned to his food though, so he didn't see them playing with the cafeteria attendents. "Still." He began after chewing through the meat dish. "Nice to have someone around that I can talk to even if his magic stops working."

[Dawnika Snow]

Dawn chuckled to herself at Dust's speculation of Omni giving a fuck if anyone here could communicate with each other. She had a clear perception of Omni: He was nothing but a power crazed god who loved using people as his play things - his chess pieces. Not that he was actually trying to win a game of chess or anything, at most he was probably playing no one in that chess game. That would explain why his pawns run around wildly doing stupid shit.

"Dust, I don't think Omni would give much of a care for anyone in this world. Granted, the powers that I've obtained here have made me feel more like I have purpose." The only problem was, she was still unaware of that purpose. From the day she had entered the Omniverse, soaring down from the sky of the Nexus into Fountain of Infinity's white water. Dust also made mention his home universe. Something about heaven and hell was all she really understood.

"This world changes you. Whether you like it or not, where you came from doesn't matter anymore. Here, men can be gods, and gods can be men. You may still have your memories, but what we knew before is nothing more than a sweet, sweet memory. Make the most of the Omniverse you can." She explained, taking another sip and wondering if she should partake in the revelry of food. It was at this moment she had realized how horribly starving she was. Throughout her time in the Omniverse, she had never gotten hungry once, or felt tired. the rules must be different in Dante's Abyss. She made a mental note of that as she grabbed a plate of untouched food and began to maul into the meat. "The foods better than what you would expect, at the least."

[Illidan Stormrage]

People. People everywhere.
 
Illidan snarled as some moronic oaf bumped into him. He seemed immediately apologetic, but as soon as he locked eyes with the night elf, he turned and beat a quick retreat.
 
It felt like he was caught in some nightmarish festival. People and creatures paraded about everywhere, from humans in mercenary hardware to humanoid creatures that shared genes with just about any animal, real or imagined. Journalists and their crews hoisting cameras and boom mics chased down various participants for interviews as excitement bubbled in all areas of the hallway. The unbridled noise of other creatures was cloying and deeply frustrating, forcing a pulsing vein to surface on Illidan's temple. He grit his teeth and endured. Patience was one of his strongest virtues.
 
His magic sight flowed around the room like water, inspecting each of his potential foes. Some were mere blips on his radar, but he supposed that most of those were employees of this tournament, or were otherwise contracted to cover the story and not actual competitors. Others warranted closer attention, but the overwhelming atmosphere made it tough for the kaldorei to focus on any one person. It was maddening, but what else was there to do?
 
While some present had formidable hidden strength, the outward appearances completely belied that fact. He had seen short, comical creatures, large, imposing ones, and a surprising abundance of humans. Many of the pink skinned combatants certainly didn't hail from his world or he would sense something about them; the way they spoke, the equipment they carried, and the calibre of their behaviour.
 
A bright flare in his sorcerous vision lit up from his side, and Illidan craned his neck. His brow furrowed as he noticed the author of that power; a red-haired human, face sharp and painted with stubble. A black, tattered cape fluttered behind him as he approached, his icy blue eyes focused on the night elf. His naked torso was wrapped in bandages, and he sported a metallic arm and leg. Illidan pondered on that. Were those prosthetic limbs, or some sort of coating around his flesh? Interesting nonetheless.
 
The human bumped past a midget creature, his gaze never leaving Illidan. In a gruff, tired voice, he said, "Gildarts Clive. And you are?"
 
Illidan cocked an eyebrow. Such forthrightness would normally perturb the Betrayer, but this Gildarts Clive appeared entertaining at the least, so he played along. "That's very presumptuous of you to ask for my name. Do you know who I am?"
 
Gildarts looked him straight in the felfire eyes. "No. That's why I asked."
 
Illidan didn't know what it was. Maybe it was the frustration of wasting his time in an overcrowded hallway filled with nobodies, or the uncertainty that came with signing up for a death tournament, but the dishevelled human's straight response brought a sudden mirth to the forefront of his mind, drowning the anger and anxiety for a moment and raising a chuckle to his lips, surprising the night elf.
 
"I am Illidan Stormrage," the kaldorei sorcerer said, unfolding his arms in a gesture as close to a handshake as he would get.
 
"Did you ... do something, just now?" Gildarts said, eyeing Illidan.
 
The night elf frowned. "Do something? I'm afraid you'll have to be more clearer than that."
 
"Well I thought I saw ... I guess it's just me," Gildarts said, his eyes falling on his steel arm. "Sometimes I tend to blow stuff up."
 
Illidan wished he still had access to his telepathy. Something seemed off about this human, but not in the normal sense. His voice was low and dejected, like he regretted something he'd done. Stormrage knew what it was like to play an event over and over again until it became second nature.
 
He decided to change direction. "Have you entered this death tournament? Should I expect to see you out there?"

[Dust]

SW-808 has always had the ability to process information rather quickly, he was sure it came with the territory. But where to begin.. Yuki, like the snow. Bitter, cold, unrelenting, and as she stated truthfully, could be deadly if you took it too likely. He probably knew that lesson a lot more litterally than she did, or thought he did. Its been a long time since he thought abou the consequences that avelanched around him that night on the mountain. How the icy wind stung against his sweat covered body, and the snow clung to his tear streaked cheeks. The treatment he receieved was close to that of a slave, he was sure of it. However, who was going to listen to a nobody when he whimpered for help? The answer was no one. 

As it were, snow tended to have other qualities though, he wondered how Dawn and yuki compared in those. He looked her straight in the eyes as she talked about her view about Omni, as if he's not only heard this speach before but maybe even agreed with her. It couldn't be further from the truth. But the look continued even as she tried to lecture him like he was some young punk with no idea about the real world; or this one. Even as she wrongly assumed his mentioning of his old home was him remenissing over long lost memories of a happy life with friends, family, and maybe someone he could actually see himself being with. She probably had a picture in her head about everyone that wasn't her, of what a normal life is supposed to be and that everyone else had that kind of life. Perhaps it was his fault, for seeming like someone who wasn't mentally damaged as well as physcially scarred. 

Then as if to punctuate that she was done with this conversation she swiped a part of his meal, and with her fingers stuffed it in her mouth and began to chew like the animal he was supposed to supposedly be. His smirk grew along his strong, until he was flashing his teeth in a grin. He tried to think about the best way to say this, without sounding cocky, or like he was trying to return her lecture with a lesson on life itself. He didn't want to upset her, despite how well it seemed to get her talking. He twisted the chopsticks so the top one spun over the flat part of his thumb. But no matter his wording he was unsatisfied. So he just creates a pair of chopsticks in his other hand as he hands them over to her. "You'd be surprised, Yuki." He left off at that, but with a tone that implied she could be wrong; doing his best to keep it light in order to keep the offense to an acceptable level.

In his hands were proper chopsticks, lacquered for multiple use. They were dark, black even, with the Kaji 'snow' on the ends, and just a basic sakura blossom design along the part where her fingers go. It was a trick that took very little to no OM to create, and he could take them back if she really didn't want them, but he hoped she would. As well, she had his unofficial permission to take whatever plate of food he had on the table for herself. It was almost familiar like a dog wanting to please everyone around him, but like he might be able to achieve that instead of coming of as conceited.

[Clownpiece]

“Ah~” Clownpiece fell backwards, laying into the grass with a contented sigh on her lips. With the warm sun bearing down on her, she closed her eyes, and basked. “Delicious... Good haul, Cirno!” She lazily lifted her right arm up, giving a half-assed thumbs up.

“It’s only natural that I’d choose right!” Her friend’s voice came from the right, even with her ears, as if she was laying down as well. Though the ice fairy had her usual, haughty tone, there was a hint of drowsiness to it. Outside of her congratulations on a job well done, there wasn’t much left for the blonde fairy to say at the moment. She simply laid there, feeling the warmth of the sun on her body and the gentle scratching of the grass on her bare arms. Coupled with the soft breeze, and the gentle murmur of the crowds around her, she was certain she’d doze off if she wasn’t too careful.

But maybe a nap now wasn’t so bad. It wasn’t like she’d have time to be napping when the event started. She’d be busy fighting people and proving her strength. For that, she would need as much energy as possible. Who knew how long it’d last, how many people she’d need to face, or how much running around she’d be doing.

Her mouth pulled down into a silent frown. She wondered if maybe she should be preparing for it somehow. Practice fighting like what Cirno had been doing? Then again, you weren’t supposed to exercise until thirty minutes after a meal, right? If that was the case, then sleeping here would be the responsible thing to do. A radiant smile crossed her lips again. Lazing around right now would be totally worth it in the long run.

Yeah, totally worth it....

[Little Ghost]

[CENTRAL HALLWAYS, Recall Teleportation Platforms]


Bright and all-encompassing LIGHT! Little Ghost almost flinched, but this light was different from the searing radiance of the gates, it was calmer and... softer? Yes, and definitely much bluer! This calmed him for some reason, and once the light diminished to such levels that one could once again see their surroundings Little Ghost quickly cast his gaze left, right, up down, and behind him as well. This wasn't the same room he had been in before! He had never been awake for such a transport before, or at least he had never been through one where he did not have to pick himself up from a collapsed and unconscious state on the floor and/or ground where he appeared. Something cleared its throat and Little Ghost's eyes immediately focused on the source of the noise, hand drifting down to the handle of his Nail. The recall-station operator responsible for this particular platform was caught eye-to-eye with Little Ghost's gaze, the short Prime's diminutive frame putting their heads at equal height and thus quite close together, taking the height of the teleport's receiver dais into account.

Oh, it was another strange bug. This one was dressed similarly but differently than the one that had caused Little Ghost to end up here, it must be another attendant-bug! Secure in this conclusion, Little Ghost relaxed and let his right arm fall inside the folds of his cloak once more. The attendant-bug still had this look assembling nervousness on its face and Little Ghost didn't quite know why. There was no reason to be nervous of him, the attendant-bug wasn't an infected one, nor was it hostile. Maybe if Little Ghost smiled at it? At first nothing happened, for with the protecting mouth-plate deployed one could not see Little Ghost's smile. At least not until the smile began to reach further on Little Ghost's face, a process made slow by lack of practice. It took another few seconds of Little Ghost directing an 'eye-smile' at the technician before the human relaxed enough to make a smile of his own, though tinged with nervousness it may be. Much better! Little Ghost walked down from the dais and out into the hallways proper, his head on a swivel as he tried to take in all the strange things around him at the same time. But there were so many things! Where should he even start?

Well, the fact that there were a lot of these strange soft-carapaced bugs around is as good a place as any. Clearly the fact that he had a carapace properly hardened for the rigours of combat would tell you something about these strange bugs? But then again, how did they ambulate like this without being shaped like the similarly soft-carapaced grubs, each of them a larvae, or the airborne spherical grubberflies? Little Ghost had no small amounts of trouble with wrapping his head around this, then again he imagined that even Monmon would have been unable to explain these circumstances off the cuff. Wait, who was Monmon?

About to delve deeper and follow this instance of small memory to its source, Little Ghost was interrupted by the hustle and bustle of people walking through the corridors, a person named Ron Burgundy in particular, who almost accosted Little Ghost with a mike and a camera the moment the reporter's eyes had fallen on the insectoid. "And here we have another one! Greetings, Prime, would you care for an interview?" The man was nigh instantaneous in how he transitioned from observing at a distance to close in questioning and Little Ghost could only do one thing in return, stare questioningly at the strange bug. Little Ghost blinked in confusion, looking first to his left, then his right, and finally behind him before facing the journalist. A hesitant hand emerged from underneath his cloak and pointed to himself, as if questioning the reporter's choice. Let it not be said that Ron Burgundy is not a consummate reporter, for this lack of rejection, this eye contact was all he needed to press further with his questions. Perhaps the man's earlier genteel and calm manners had been enforced by a drunkenness that had now transitioned into stark sobriety? "My name is Ron Burgundy, here for the Omniverse News Network. With me I have one of the contestants for this year's tournament of Dante's Abyss!" What? Little Ghost could not really follow the reporter's rapid train of conversation and instead settled on hesitantly nodding as a way of replying. "Excellent! Might you regale the viewers with your name, mister... ?" Oh, this name business again, all right, how was he going to do this? Little Ghost quickly took stock of his surroundings, trying to spot some kind of writing implement. Ron took this to be a refusal to answer his question, a slight contortion of his face as if preventing it from contorting into a grimace with near perfect success.

"Very well then, mister mystery contender, your name shall not be a part of this conversation!" Little Ghost's eyes widened and he went to shake his head in reply, but Ron was already forging ahead! "Given the nature of this contest, do you have any plans for how to last past the initial free-for-all? Or are you perhaps one of those who would take things as they come? What about your reason for joining the tournament in the first place? And now that I mention it, what are you? Man, bug, something in between? You're not human, that's for sure!" Oh come on! What was this level of beetle-dung coming out of the reporters mouth? Little Ghost was growing increasingly annoyed and frustrated by the reporter's rapid-fire questioning as the man wouldn't pause long enough for Little Ghost to find a writing implement or even begin to for a structured response through his Void Soul Imaging. Eventually the little bug grabbed the reporter's microphone which finally accomplished something the irritated insect had tried to do for the last 20 seconds at least, halt this ceaseless questioning. Meaningfully looking Ron in the eyes, eyes that were now growing increasingly nervous, Little Ghost used his control over Empty Void and Useful Soul to formulate a picture of black and white colours hovering in the air right next to his head, a slight tether of glowy white leading to his form. This picture accurately depicted a moving replica of Little Ghost's head. The replica opened its mouth and lines with notes on them, clearly depicting musi- no, vocal sounds, emanated from the opened orifice. And then a large and clearly outline cross was placed over the image, signalling that this was very much not going to happen.

Ron Burgundy, stumped and blinking, needed a few moments to actually grip the meaning of this pictogram in the air. Little Ghost took this moment to let go of the microphone, allowing the reporter to bring it up to his own human mouth. "You mean to say that you won't- can't speak? That you are... mute?" Little Ghost's countenance had hardened upon the first version of that initial question, for it was not as if he had a choice. At the change from "won't" to "can't" he nodded resolutely. He was mute, how hard was that to get? Ron was quiet now, understanding exactly how badly he had stepped into it this time. "Why did I stop drinking before the event had started?" he rhetorically asked himself, paying no heed to the microphone that was still held by his hand, perched by his mouth. A prime position to broadcast his own speech, indeed. Little Ghost shrugged his shoulder in response to the man's question. He did not see how drinking water or nectar would help this strange 'hooman'-type bug in the current situation, but he was not able to do much. Commotion erupted further down the hall as someone named Nealaphh, or Tearen Wover, announced something concerning the status of a 'Diablo' character? Ron's head snapped around, as did the cameraman behind him when the Obsidian Prime commented on the status of Diablo's seal, Little Ghost all but forgotten. The insect in question simply threw his hands up in the air, frustration evident via his eyes, as the TV-crew ran to catch up with Nealaphh.

If Little Ghost had not been mute, the words 'fuck this shit!' would surely have left his lip at this and the hollow vessel stormed off to find something else interesting, heading in the direction of some strange smell. This direction happened to be opposite that of Illidan and Gildarts, being the direction of the Bar, entering it in a huff.


New Location: [BAR, at the entrance]

[Simon]

With Mar still quietly in tow skimming over a grimoire of weapons, Tony walked after the alien. Letting her drop the book and pry it open, the red-coat let himself slump into an armchair near the reading table. He gave the lady a cursory glance of her efforts to search before just sitting back and closing his eyes. The devil hunter started to imagine his next objective, strands of prismatic aura shimmering at his fingertips, but his mind began to wander incessantly.

He couldn't exactly explain his certain fascination over the sapphire lady. Perhaps some innate desire to know about about this trigger-happy creature? Maybe a resonance with its certain child-like gusto? It's possible he was beyond all that and just wanted to make good impressions for a potential ally.

Tony was snapped from these astray imaginations by Jak, who had plopped into a seat of his own and mentioned his past. The blue alien quickly changed focus, as she bore the tendency to do. The son of Sparda's own curiosity took a more suspicious tone, though not one that meant to be apprehensive. "Oh, is it story-time now?" Redgrave prodded, leaning forward onto both feet. Dismissing the joke question, he brought up an actual one for the Eco warrior to answer, "Why bring this up all of a sudden? Something you've been holding back from me?"

Dante felt like this latter question was rhetorical as well. Jak's mere mentions of cruelty and mistakes were leaves on the wind, but only now did he bring up the tree in question.

[Cirno]

--Park--
As Cirno finished the last bites of her food she sat down in exhaustion and looked up at the sky as it started to darken. Cirno laid back and yawned and went to sleep. She hadn't had a wink of sleep since she got here and by god if she didn't get a good couple minutes in then she would be madder than a youkai.

[Larfleeze]

DOJO

"So the squid has made herself in charge, hm?" he asked himself, mildly annoyed at the sudden giving of orders. She seemed to switch between assertiveness with no quarter, and fearful following. Well, that wasn't too bad. Spending some more time around her would let him find some buttons he could press to properly manipulate her. Bendy, on the other hand, he found a strange kinship with. The creature was practically a Saru itself, as well as a very lethal Prime, something he could appreciate.

This alliance had been something just for fun, initially, but he could see it continuing its use even after the fun game of Dante's Abyss came to an end. With Abyss at the forefront of any of his future designs, anyone looking too close would only see her- and underestimate them all.

Doing as she said, because why not, he half-closed his eyes, feeling around with his Halo. It wasn't as good as Chi Sense, as it didn't tell him anything but the locations of people he had already met, but it would have to do.

...Nobody nearby the dojo, and Abyss had dragged Bendy back to the central hallway to go yell at someone for messing up her summoning.

He had the room all to himself, he supposed.

With an evil smile, he turned towards the training dummies. He delivered a punch via a Palace Hand to one of them, and felt disappointed. In terms of raw power he was better than a fool off the street, but this was a professional tournament! He needed something with more... oomph. The Spinning Death Palace Hand was always an option, but it was limited by his casual range, and while he could move- going too fast with the whirring blades nearby might mean more cuts for him than his opponent. A casual stroll forward was all he could risk using that.

Palace Splash didn't harm the opponent so much as trip them up and place them where Chakravartin wanted them to be. It had barely worked against the Dire Wolves, and though the humans here are likely to be less powerful than a beast... they were also Primes. He couldn't rely on it to save his life in this contest.

So... something else. "Fist of God!" he cried, and he felt his Chi- or whatever Omni had replaced his life energy with, begin to roil around inside him.

To be fair, his host had favored such a technique more than Chakravartin himself did. The explosive felt... too crude, for a god, in most cases. It always felt far more fitting to simply crush them with a great golden hand- show his opponents a glimpse of what they were truly fighting. But he was no longer a god, was he? That was Omni's role in this universe.

Crude would do. "PALACE TAIHOU!" Chakravartin growled, forcing Chi into his hands, a familiar sphere of roiling, sparkling, gold and gray energy began to spin into shape in one of his hands. It started out the size of a beach ball, but he knew he could make it worse! He grinned, as he focused on the energy itself.

Twenty seconds.

The Taihou was a fourth of its previous size, and he could feel the energy inside begin to vibrate explosively. As it shrunk more and more so, however, he realized that the amount of energy was far too unstable. And his own level of control was literally leagues away from what it had been.

Thirty five, thirty six, thirty seven, thirty eight-

He could see the light beginning to break free from the gray and gold- beams of pure white, sizzling hot beginning to appear inside it, and he threw. He threw with all his might, terrified at the thought of losing a hand to the broiling marble he was holding.

He aimed for the dummy, and it missed by almost a foot, to his shame.

The sphere clattered against the ground, and rolled.

It did not explode.

"Of course- no Chi." he said, irritated. Well, that wouldn't matter, all his opponents would be made of living flesh, plenty of chi to trigger his explosive. With a sigh, he drew a tiny bit of material from himself, and handed it to a Palace Hand. It was a glob of protean metal no bigger than a tooth, but as the Palace Hand dropped the mass on the Taihou, Chakravartin quickly pulled his hand away, not wanting to be crippled before the start of the contest.

The explosion was more than he had hoped for. He had to actually begin jumping away, to avoid the radius of destructive gold light. Where the Taihou had been was now a deep crater in the dojo floor, where there had been a dummy there was now a battered, ripped, and torn up frame of one.

He smiled, now, to see if he could keep Abyss and Bendy out of the Dojo, so as to keep from explaining this.

He entered the CENTRAL HALLWAY.

[Jak Mar]

Jak’s apprehension about his own mistakes made him struggle only a bit. He eyed the library for if anyone was keeping track.

“You know a lot about my past, Dante. However, I’ve had my own moments of.. Darkness”

“I’ve killed by my own reasons, I even worked for a mob boss back in my own world named Krew who only used me and Daxter, but I needed his connections to go after the guy who ruined my life.”

Erol, Praxis..

I’ve been cruel to Krimzon guards, slain by my own hands, the beast’s hands.

[Tearen Wover]

The Park

Tearen smiled softly as the sky in the park began to dim, rushing through the phases of sunset faster than such natural glory really deserved. It seemed as though this pocket dimension was fully artificial after all, but then again, the rest of the Omniverse could be construed as such as well. The eldritch human peered through his rectangular spectacles at the people milling around the idyllic enclosure. For a moment, it occurred to him that it was reminiscent of a pasture of sleep before being led to slaughter, but that was not really the case. No. No, here the sheep offered themselves. Syntech had taken great pains to explain that this year's event would not require the death of its participants, but the clause in the paperwork about explosive collars had not gone unnoticed by the Shadow. Tearen did not resent the facade; after all, Karl Jak's entire operation worked on the pretense of emotional volatility and chaos. The elder Prime was certain that no one here was really fooled by Syntech, but they were certainly capable of fooling themselves. It was a brilliant play, on Karl's part.

Only three of the people milling around the half-lit trees and grass registered as Primes on Tearen's senses. There was a pair of youthful girls, jubilant and playful as any human youth their age might be. Obviously, a moment's scrutiny revealed that they were much, much more, but then, so was Rebecca. Through his eyes, their bodies shimmered with the incandescence of a pool of Omnilium; walking figments of raw potential. Then there was the lonely girl, sitting over on a retaining wall at the far left edge of the park. The fading light in the sky caused her demure features to be illuminated by the humming Omnilium she was weaving in her lap. The ex-enigma could feel such...melancholy radiating from her, unmasked and unashamed. Within the haze of wistfulness was, however, a foundation of strength.

Though he had promised to follow up on his ominous warning in the lobby, the Syntech press had apparently been distracted by something else within the complex itself. Began to walk over to the Prime girl, but stopped himself. He should not be so presumptuous as to intrude on the girl while she was summoning. Only after Malon had finished her creation did Tearen move to make her acquaintance.

"You know, it might be to your benefit to make some friends before this all starts." Tearen said softly. Malon quirked an eyebrow at the ex-enigma.

"Uh huh. Is that what you're doing?" she snapped. The elder Prime laughed slightly and pulled his head back. He hadn't expected such a stand-offish response from this one, but perhaps he had been jumping to conclusions. Then, in the next instant, the red head seemed to catch herself.

"...I'm sorry. I tried to talk to some people already but they all seemed dangerous...and kinda mean. So..." Malon said, tilting her head to the side, indicating her decision to retreat here. He nodded knowingly. The amount of Omnilium potential in her body indicated that she hadn't been in the Omniverse terribly long, but long enough to have experience the brutal surrealities it had to offer.

"I can...relate. But to answer your previous question, yes. I suppose that is what I'm doing. Is that a problem?" he asked with a gleam in his green eyes. Was he being creepy? He couldn't tell.

[Dane Regan]

The Library. OOC note. 

Dane considered that he should probably do something besides reading books, especially when he: A, didn't bring his research notes nor paper to make notes on and B, the whole reason he'd bothered to sign up early (or, really, the whole reason Cepheya prompted him to sign up early) was to socialise. A third reason would be reading anything right now would just infuriate him, considering he was inches away from polishing up his magical implant design.

Nonetheless, after so much time spent in solitude, regardless of his original aspirations, he just didn't feel like going out of his way to talk to anyone. If he happened to bump into someone else and a conversation started, great; but it wasn't a necessity. He just felt out of place amongst the many dangerous looking individuals.

Dane scanned the library shelves and the many terminals. They were connected to the Dataverse, he knew that much. But currently lacked much knowledge of how they worked and what the Dataverse actually was, besides being a verse dedicated to information. 

Shrugging and leaving that for another time, he grabbed a thick book off the shelf, sat down on one of the nearby chairs, and opened it. It was an easy enough way to kill time. Even if he didn't understand much of it, the mechanical designs looked cool - if not fictitious. He made a mental note to look into that kind of technology when he got to Coruscant later.

[Sterling Archer]

As I touched down in the Station 17 pre-show hall in a brilliant blaze of light, I could only catch the briefest of glimpses of the staging area before I felt the world tugged out from beneath me. Tossing my hands out in front of me, I stumbling forward as I lurched off the receiving platform and fell unceremoniously onto my hands and knees. Sweat began to bead on my brow as my legs quaked beneath me, my elbows buckling as my stomach emptied its contents upon the heretofore spotless linoleum. “Teleportation,” I muttered, continuing to dry heave between words. “Not...as awesome...as I originally thought.”

A few moments of discomfort later, I finally found the strength to stagger to my feet. Thankfully, the only thing I had consumed thus far since arrival in the Omniverse was the large decanter of whiskey, the strong smell of the aged spirit covering up the reek of bile. A tear nearly formed in the corner of my eye as I stared down sadly at the amber puddle at my feet, careful to keep my still somewhat damp shoes out of its path. Ultimately I supposed it didn’t really matter; I could always summon more. “Someone should probably clean that up,” I suggested, catching the eye of a younger female Syntech employee nearby. She fixed me with a scowl, sulking off to retrieve cleaning supplies. It was good to be Omniverse Royalty.

As the crowded hall continued to bustle, entrants and staff commingled, crossing through various thresholds into the rooms Syntech had provided. The signs over the doorways informed me that there were such luxuries as a library, park, and even a restaurant and bar. I took a mental note of the location of the last of these. “So,” I muttered to myself. “Do I just start shooting people? Probably should have asked before I got here.” It didn’t occur to me that maybe the rules of the game had been within that booklet I blindly covered in my initials. “I don’t see anyone dead yet, so maybe we’re all waiting.” While I had had my fair share of underground bar fights and bloody melees to the death, it wasn’t often that I saw the fighters snacking and lounging like old friends beforehand.

“Excuse me, sir!”

My head swiveled at the call, my baby blues catching sight of a petite blonde woman striding toward me, flanked by a crew carrying film equipment. She wore an enormous smile, her face framed by thick curls that spilled past her shoulders. She produced a microphone as she neared, thrusting the instrument in front of my face expectantly.

“Uh...hi,” I muttered, taken slightly aback by her nerve.

“Could you spare some words for your adoring public?” the newscaster charmed, continuing to smile brightly. “We’d love to have a quick interview with one of our handsome contestants.”

“Sterling Archer,” I asserted, a confident smile on my face. “I’m here to kick ass and chew bubblegum. And I didn’t bring a single piece of bubblegum.”

“We’re seeing confidence in this one!” the anchor tittered, the cameraman panning quickly back to her. She oozed charisma as she poured on the questioning. “What makes you unique? What do you think gives you that edge you’ll need?”

“Oh, just years of training as a badass super spy, that’s all.” I could feel her eyes sizing me up. “Trust me, if the people at home are placing bets, put it all on Archer.”

“Would you say you owe your odds to your Sterling efforts?” she inquired, layering on the charm as she stepped closer.

“As bad as that pun is,” I returned, rolling my eyes. “Yes, that’s exactly correct.”

“Mag-nificent!” the broadcaster proclaimed, undeterred by my snark. “And are you so far worried about your competition at all? Some pretty tough customers have shown up this year.”

“Pft,” I countered, “That doesn’t even merit a response. It’s me we’re talking about.”  

“Well well, glad to hear it,” the anchor said, dripping with faux interest. “I know who I’ll have my eye on. Before we go, do you have any other words you’d like to share with the Omniverse?”

“Yes,” I smirked, taking a breath and squaring my face before the camera. “Suck it, Cyril.”

“Well, we...don’t want to keep you any longer,” the blonde newscaster replied, face turning bright red. She quickly turned her back to me and began stepping away, continuing to rattle off her script as the cameraman followed suit. “We know you need to start getting ready for the big event! We hope you have what it takes to survive the Abyss!” Before I could add another word, they disappeared into the crowd.

Content that my presence had been made clear to my soon-to-be-adoring fans, I set out toward the bar. My shoes squeaked upon the tiles as I walked the short distance, the soles still smeared with muck. I paused before entering the tavern, catching a glimpse of myself in a mirror mounted across the hall in what must have been a workout facility. My perfectly tailored and pressed bespoke suit now hung limp upon my muscled frame, a few small tears noticeable at the seams, likely from pushing through the crowd back in Darkshire. Something would have to be done about that. I took a seat on a bench against the wall and began to focus, the vision of the necessary accouterments fresh in my head.

Moments later I strode casually across the barroom floor, a vision of combat excellence. My sullied loafers were swapped out for steel-toed black combat boots, emphasizing the perfect balance between form and function. Charcoal gray slacks had been replaced by sturdy and functional black canvas cargo pants, various pockets lined with a plethora of ammunition to fit any occasion. My prized suit coat had been discarded in favor of a dark black tactical turtleneck, a mainstay of mine during excursions in the field. Across my chest I had strapped my Walther service firearm, tucked into a brown leather shoulder holster. My right front pants pocket was stuffed with a 12-gauge sawn-off shotgun, the deep and ample storage space allowing it to rest comfortable against my tight without hampering movement. I smirked for a moment at the thought of Woodhouse waking up to find his prized boomstick missing; the old dope fiend wouldn’t likely be needing it anytime soon anyway. Lastly, an MP 40 submachine gun hung against my lower back on a carrying strap.

“What can I get you?” the barkeep inquired as I approached. The boy was younger, looking to be not a day over eighteen with sandy blonde hair. His name tag read ‘BJ’.

“Vodka martini,” I replied, ignoring the opportunity to make a crass comment at the boy’s expense.

“Shaken?” BJ asked, grabbing a bottle of vermouth and a shaker.

“What the hell kind of question is that?” I snapped, cocking an eyebrow. “Do I look like I want my drink watered down?”

From Main Hall to Bar

[Oleander]

Takezo was confused. This "Yuki" and Dust were talking about something he could not even fathom. Multiple worlds? Multiple universes? What were they even saying? His brow was furrowed in thought. It was not hard to tell that Takezo was from a time long passed, what with his dirty complexion, outdated clothing and the straw sandals that so few ever wore in modern times.

He ate silently for a moment while the other two conversed. Takezo listened, gauging the value of each person at the table. After all, they were still competitors, despite how friendly they became. Though, Takezo admitted to himself that there may be some lenience to these that others would not receive.

When Dust formed chopsticks in his hand, the simple swordsman's brows rose. "Sorcery..." It was not in a hostile tone, more of awe. It was stunning that this man could create from nothing, a feat he had obviously not seen before in the Omniverse. So soon after Dawn mention how this world changes a person, Takezo peered at his own hand. Would he eventually be able to do that?

Nevermind that, for the moment. His gaze turned towards empty space. A smirk formed as a thought crossed his head. Calamari and Ink-Yokai were on the move while Bushy-Brows lingered behind. Splitting up already?

"I hate to interrupt the bonding experience, but... I would like to hammer out the details of our alliance before the games begin..." His piercing gaze flicks towards the woman who stole Dust's plate. "If you are interested... our current arrangement is teamwork till the end... at which point we duel." He could not read the woman as well as Dust could. "An honorable duel. No mercy, no betrayal, no grudge."

Takezo's eyes rest on Dust for a moment, attempting a read on the man. Mainly, he wanted to make sure the hunter was still up for such an alliance. This unnamed alliance versus the Golden Alliance, a 3 on 3 battle royal. "I suggest we make finding one another a priority..." Assuming Snow decides to join.

[Larfleeze]

CENTRAL HALL, then BAR, then LIBRARY, then PARK

Chakravartin walked through the central hallway, simply passing by competitors without saying a word. His new halo registered the signature of each new Prime that he passed by. People in armor, creatures with pointed ears, human men and women, a small buglike creature among the most noticeable.

He noticed Abyss getting pushed to the side by a tall human with red hair she was yelling at, and noted to keep track of him, in case Abyss wanted petty revenge or something like that. The particular order of who they attacked didn't matter much to Chakravartin. He subtly looped a freefloating hand around her arm, and another around Bendy's. Lightly tugging them away from the greater amount of crowd, he smiled in apology, "I got bored in the dojo." he reported, and Abyss narrowed her eyes at him for blowing off his assigned task, "There isn't much time before the competition starts anyway, if I'm reading the mood of the buildings right. I want to check out the other facilities before everything begins if that's all right." he grinned, tapping his halo, "You know, in order to keep track of all of our competition."

He quickly sped off, making sure he came just within range of every person he could see. He then backtracked his steps, he didn't want to miss any of his competitors, if it was possible.

He left for the library next, and idly walked past the green-haired fellow he had seen briefly in the bar talking with a white-haired man and a blue creature. In another hall, he found a woman unconscious on the ground. He didn't pay her any mind, as she wasn't a Prime. Two others seemed to be in the library as well.

Giving it a round, he moved on to the bar, noting with some amusement that the demon swordsman Abyss was so scared of had put together his own crew of humans. Including a woman.

Leaving them be with simply a polite nod to the swordsman, who looked at him with the same expression of amusement, noting that he wasn't walking with the other two members of the newly-named Golden Alliance. He grabbed something alcoholic, sweet, and colorful, before departing the bar and heading next for the Park.

He was pleasantly surprised with the decor at the facility. He knew that it wasn't yet evening, but the sky of the artificial park seemed to dim in anticipation for the announcement of the games. Noting the two girls who had been playing in the Dojo earlier, he also noticed another girl, as well as a humanoid creature covered in black glass.

Seeing that she was sitting on a blanket, eating something from a basket, as well as knowing that soon, the games would begin, he decided to mimic her. Within a few minutes of rainbow light, he had his own picnic cloth, and a decent-sized pile of fruit to go with his drink.

He may not have gotten everyone, but he had gotten everyone he could see. When the games began, the Golden Alliance wouldn't be want for potential targets.