(Preshow) Preshow Facility

[Dust]

Dust managed to put the pitcher back onto the table and look up to see the figure from the bar stepping closer, removing her mask and introduce herself; When a thunderous laugh exploded out of the swordsman beside him, it sounded like a rock slide across the brittle face of a mountain after winter's grip. Suddenly he slammed his fist into the table, causing the two stacks of plates - six high - to rattle with the sudden shaking of the seat and the deep hearted laughter while the older man compared the trio in the corner to a bunch of actors. Hokori was not so out of tuned from his heritage that he did not know the man was talking about when he mentioned the art of Nagoku. Immediately, he remembered the plays his father took the family to during one summer. He relived the outrageously overt acting in an instant, but he could not tell you the name of the play they had acted out.

The man went on to do as he said they should not, mocking his competition and their foolish attempts to have some deeper meaning behind their team up. His chop sticks clattering against his own plate as he let out more laughter!! If Dust, in all of his near nakedness was a sight to see among the decked out competition around them, having an old and battle scarred sword wielding fighter dissolve from the hardened man he appeared to be and into something of a normal man with a humor who was dying from a fit of laughter at his prey's expense was especially worth pausing for. Dust brought his hand up to his head, finger tips pushing themselves in his hair as he tilted his face down and covered the one eye with the palm. His grin was a mark of how contagious the man's good mood was, how his honest laughter was effecting the younger man.

Dust was shaking his head, wondering what he had sparked in the man while he continued to go on with the joke. The poor girl who'd approached them was being drowned out by laughter and an apparent inside joke between the two Japanese men. He hoped she did not think of them snobs, even as the man began to control himself, apologizing for taking the joke as far as he did, but it was impossible to be upset when all the things Shinmen-san said were as equally funny as the older man laughing uncontrollably at the idea of the three coming to the fight in matching uniforms and probably freshly rehearsed moves between the tree. Ookami was tempted to get him going again by suggesting they also might say their fight moves out loud as they did them, but felt it was unfair to exclude their guest. A woman of plain but pretty face, who had Dust's attention right away after removing her mask. It's been a long while since he's had the pleasure of talking to a female who wasn't out to kill or capture him.

"Forgive us." He says, chuckling to himself and pushing his hair out of his face. It was just wet enough to slick back and stay in place, letting everyone see his face full now. It was handsome by most standards, but his smile is what really sold his looks. "We were just having a bit of fun, please. Join us." He said, waving her to sit at the table, and nodding to the elf man beside her to join if he'd like. "The more the merrier!" He explained, then did his best to make room for other people; after all most of the plates that still dotted the single table were his. He re-adjusted where his pitcher of water was for them to share if they were thirsty and didn't mind plain ice water. As he did, he glanced at the quickly emptying table, their 'friends' apparently not liking their 'prey' laughing in their faces - which is what the blood soaked man beside SW-808 was doing.

When the plates were moved to make room for their new dining companions, Dust replaced his butt into the chair he'd been sitting in, apparently not at all intimidated by the battle ridden solider just a seat next to him. He also openly seemed uninterested in the imagined lines drawn around people in the sand; While everyone else in the area might be sizing people up because it was a competition, the half naked man - still perhaps the strangest dressed individual in the Bar - seemed excited about the idea of socializing with everyone here instead of picking fights. It would later occur to the man who still was sure he lacked personality at all, that he in fact had a personality. And apparently he was an extrovert with a love for people and interacting with them. He might even be inclined to curse Drake for suggesting he wasn't so much a wolf as he was a dog, not because it was strongly related to the subject at hand - after all wolves were very sociable creatures themselves - but because the situation reminded him of it all.

He then looked up to the girl, who introduced herself as Dawn. "It's great meeting you, do you mind if I call you Dawn-san? I am Hoshi Hokori(Star Dust). Use whatever suffix you wish, or don't. Whatever makes you comfortable." He introduced himself with a slight grin, and then with the open side of his palm motioned to his friend who still might be wiping the tears out of his eyes from such a good laugh just now. "And this is Shinmen Takezō, we have just met." He turned to Shimen. "I hope you don't think it is rude of me to introduce you, Shinmen-san." He explained before sipping the water he'd poured earlier, giving the old sword master a playful grin. Then he realized something, and added. "Do you mind if I use, 'san'? Or do you prefer something more formal? 'Senpai'?" He asked, Shinmen.

[Oleander]

Takezo was resting with his forehead on the side of the table as Dust introduced him. Deep, calming breaths made it look as if he had just finished a hard workout. In truth, it felt like it. He leans back up, clearing his throat and taking a good look at the changing situation. The little party of childish warriors had vacated the area and instead he was met with two new faces. Almost immediately he noticed the pointed ears. They were unusually sharp for a human. The woman next to him looked to be nothing more than human - more so than that golden-robed man and... perhaps a bit more than this man with a beast's grin.

"Takezo," he replied shortly. With a last, deep breath, it would seem the fit had passed. "Just Takezo. I don't care much for titles, except for one." The faintest smirk curled his lip, but he did not say which title he strove for. "Sit. Be civil while we can." He took up a glass of water, by far the cleanest he's ever tasted. "It's always fun to meet true warriors... See who can meet your eye, when you know moments from now one will be killed by the other." That was a switch. The laughter had faded, but the humor remained. This type of humor was dark though, almost sadistic. Even as he said this, his gaze flicks from the eyes of the three here. Would they all meet his gaze? Takezo's eyes were those of a demon. Cold, uncaring and damn near murderous. His eyes were still laughing. Dante's Abyss may not require killing this year, but it was clear that Takezo was not playing this as a game of tag.

As the swordsman sipped at his water, his opposite hand took up his chopsticks once again. With the dark thoughts he had tredged up, many with weak stomachs would lose their appetite, but he stacked sweet and sour chicken, grilled leek and a Brussels sprout in quite the impressive tower. The more surprising part was he managed to pick up the tower with the utensils and fit said tower into his maw. He ate like an animal. Energy for tomorrow. Perhaps he did not expect to eat during the competition? Those who met his eyes might see it, that glimmer of knowing. This was not the first hunt the Swordsman has been on.

[Dawnika Snow]

Dawn pulled the wooden chair out from under the table, scraping against the floor of the bar, and took a seat across from the two men. She didn't even take a second to see if Jak Mar took the seat next to her. The two men were intruiging to say at the least. In the middle of a war zone they had found themselves having a good time. How that was possible Dawn will never know. On the other hand, her entire life has been nothing but misfortune, death and burn scars. Why couldn't she have a carefree nature like that? Loving most the moments of her life and actually laughing for once instead of finding herself crying? Her mind wandered endlessly until Hoshi's indroduction snapped her from the silent spell.

"Oh, it's good to meet you, uh," Dawn took a few moments before she finally she thought she remember the words, "Might I call you Dust? If you feel better with a Japanese name, I have been called Yuki before and you may use that respectively." She says taking the pitcher of water and topping of her glass of water that she had brought with her from the bar. "You're both contestants in this war game I see. If I had not know about it, I would have never guessed. You seem more like your here to partake in revelry."

[Dust]

Dust seemed unfazed by the serious tone that the previously laughing man has turned to, his words were dark and his eyes were shining with both passion and fierce, honest truth. Takezo was a man to respect and possibly fear, but the contractor beside him only seemed to respect him despite the strong scent of blood and evidence of his recent conquest on the shirt the man wore and the medal of gore that flaked off his stuble as it dried further; loosing what physical grip this poor defeated enemy still had but not the ever lasting grip it had on the killer mere inches from Hokori. "Takezo it is, then." He confirmed out loud, then listened casually as the gruff man spoke, and met his eyes willingly when they met. While Dust was finally able to enjoy the company of people other than his commanders that treated him like a hunting dog, Dust never stopped being aware of the nature of this contest. This was a competition, and if the people sitting at this table thought they could win this event, they did not plan to show him any mercy on the battle field. The best he could hope for is what he gained from Takezo, respect. Enough respect that will allow him the chance to fight back, enough respect to earn him a proper challenge. As he planned to give anyone he came across. 

But Takezo was not the only one at the table that has shed much blood in the name of something honorable or not. And Dawn was not the only person at the table with her past etched into her skin. With his clothing limited to a pair of shorts that pressed firmly to his body and dangerously tight enough to leave very little to the imagination, it was easy to see the markings of an abused solider. Many over lapped on another, most were partially healed but obviously older, some looked like they weren't older than a month or two. The story they told wasn't alwasy clear, but there were buns, cuts, and obciously lashes from a whip. And yet he managed to portray something that perhaps Dawn could not see herself being, smiles instead of a scowl, enjoying that very moment in life instead of looking at people and wondering what scar they would leave him with.

He turned from his oldest friend in this place, and looked over at Dawn while Takezo tried to meet the other's gaze. He was still looking playful in his manner as wet strands of his hair became too dry to hold their place across his crown and fell back into his face, three or so framing his temples but otherwise he could still make eye contact with her while she spoke up. When she translated his name into english, which Dust had good knowledge of before coming to the omniverse but now could say he was fluent in it, his chin tilted up in surprise. And his lips came came together to a softer smile, especially after hearing his suggestion of a name in his language. This little detail was interesting for meany reasons, without her knowing it - or perhaps she did - it formed the makings of a bridge between them. "Yuki?" He repeated, his tone soft and gentle as he spoke to her, instead of the not so subtle tones he'd used with the man beside him. "Would that be with the kaji that form the word 'snow'?" As that was the most common translation. "Or 'happiness?'" But if that did not get her wondering enough, he asked further. "Or do you break it up so that it means 'valuable reason'?"

From the outside it might seem he knew something, like maybe he was trying to teach her something, or more likely like he was suggesting something unconsciously to her. Like he could see through her clothes and read her life's story by her scars, and trying to tell her she should enjoy life. She shouldn't let her past leave her with tears on her cheeks, or dwell on the overwhelming pain, or tell her it was okay not to be depressed all the time. But it was all coiencidence if she took it that way, but Dust himself was merely making conversation. It might also look like he found the female of the group more interesting than the males for obvious reasons; and it wouldn't be entirely wrong, but in no way did he plan to ignore his company. He did hold his attention, but not only because she was pretty; Not only because she was talking to him. With he so close now, he could confirm his suspicion. If her guns were not the tip off before, the sour scent of gun powder hovering around her was his evidence. What little it meant, he could guess she was a specialist with fire arms.

[Clownpiece]

With a hydraulic hiss, the metal doors of the recall station slid open, and a small, blonde girl stumbled out of them. She clutched her head, vision spinning and a strained sigh escaping her. Not paying all that much attention to the scenery surrounding her, Clownpiece continued forward, one wobbly step at a time. The trip had not been kind on her in the least.

“I’ve teleported before...” she mumbled to herself, eyes closed, “why this?” Her feet stopped, and there she stood for a few moments, leaning against the wall, gathering herself again. Breathing in a deep breath, the star-spangled girl straightened back up, pushing herself away from the wall in renewed spirits. Her first order of business was to find Cirno, as a quick glance around the bleak hallway showed no sight of the ice fairy. Apparently she hadn’t wasted any time gallivanting off to who knows where.

There was at least one thing she could use, however. It must not have been long since she’d been through here, since although the hallway was an nice, moderate temperature, she could feel a bit of a chill to the breeze. An arrogant grin spread across Clownpiece’s face, and she started forward, almost bare feet slapping against the cool tile below. As long as she followed the cold, it would hopefully lead her to right to her chilly friend.

With nothing but her torchlight to keep her company, the hell fairy plodded along down the desolate hallways, mostly keeping her eyes straight ahead as she followed the path, but occasionally turning her head to look at nothing much. It seemed rather odd to her, she had expected it to be a bit more bustling than it was, maybe with some people milling about. Or maybe everyone was grouped up in a room or something. Voices wafted out of a door that passed on her right, and the flag-clad fairy paused midstep. She dramatically backpedalled, before leaning back and peeking through the open doorway to few the room within. It looked like her hunch had been right. The room was much livelier than the hall, with a variety of people milling about, chatting, and apparently fighting random objects. Like what Cirno was doing off to a side, punching a bag for some reason. 

“Cirnoooo!” Clownpiece dramatically called out, taking an enthustiastic hop back and side-stepping through the doorway.

In GYM

[Dawnika Snow]

Dawn's attitude changed abruptly. The mistranslation of her name on his second try hit her hard. Was it so obviously to see how much her internal scars burned? How much they yearned for release to feel the happiness of life again. It was hard to keep her cool after his third attempt to translate, and now she was wondering if he was doing it purposely. That didn't seem like the man's style, however, and Dawn was know to be a paranoid bitch sometimes. She swallowed her feelings and finally replied.

"Snow. Cold and lonely, but mostly deadly if taken lightly." She responded quickly to him so he would stop listing more meaningless translations. "You must be from Japan, I did study some Japanese back in my school years along with Latin and a few understandings of some other languages. Although my ability is quite limited with my expansive base of languages. You can only learn so much between so many sources before it becomes to much to understand."

Dawn took a drink of the cold water and sighed as she set down the glass, watching the water settle back to level after it hit the table. She knew there was more to the reason of her presence here than just the Omnilium Kuzuru was paying her. She need something to take her mind off of Rogue's death, and apparently her best idea was to go kill people: The same idea that had gotten her best friend killed in the first place. Her mind trailed momentarily, before turning back to the attention of the table. Shinmen spoke momentarily to formally introduce himself. His eyes peered through the other three like a dagger through cloth. Although his words still played jest, his tone steeled and became harsh. It wasn't his words Dawn was focused on, however, it was his eyes. She had always been good at reading a person's eyes, but this was a weird experience, much like(Damn his name to Oblivion) Koal Lynch. The only difference was, she could not see herself in Shinmen's soul, she could feel a similarity. A mutual bond between the two that couldn't be explained. How that was possible, she couldn't fathom. Her and this man seemed to have nothing in common and have easily come from different lives that don't even boast similarity. It made her feel uneasy. Her gut turned on it's side and her blood chilled for a second. Whatever this feeling was, Dawn knew it was something she would learn about soon enough.

[The Future Warrior]

Central Hallway

A flash of light was what had met her eyes. And then she was gone from Coruscant, and the momentum of her energetic bounding carried her off another, matching teleporter and into some sort of...big chamber. Hallway, maybe. It was big, and it was definitely hallway-like. She stumbled for a pace or two, coming to a stop with a hop and a skip, but not a jump. Jumping was for trying to get places, not trying to not get places. Unless that place was stopping... In which case she had no idea where she was going.

She slowly took stock of her surroundings, scanning about this way and that. There were some hallways leading off to various places, it looked like. Signs here and there labeled which way lead to what. Her reading ability wasn't great, really...but even Graowr was able to pick out enough to recognize the labeling. Library. Park. Dojo. Bar. Barracks. That last one kind of escaped her. She didn't really know what it meant, but...well, she could always look it up on the dataverse probably. But then again, there was a library here. And they were always chock full of all sorts of information! And back home, before she'd gotten pulled away to come be a time patroller and save the time stream, she'd always been really fond of trying to learn new things.

...most of her focus had been on what interested her, and the things that were cool, which had never really done much for her reading comprehension or common sense, but that was all beside the point! She had a simple objective here. Libraries had books. In all those books, there was bound to be a dictionary. Then she could find out what a 'barracks' was and satisfy her curiosity (meager as it was about this particular topic), and get in her reading for the day! It was a win-win.

That though in mind, she pulled her gloves on a little more securely, adjusted her scarf, and was off in a blur. From zero to...kind of fast in the blink of an eye, dashing down the hallway to the Library at a swift, easy jog.

Library

"....this is a lot of books." Standing just inside the entrance, one arm brought up to shade her eyes as she looked this way and that at the scope of the room and the number of books on display there, she couldn't help but have a look of wide-eyed, innocent awe, sparkling in her eyes. A place like this...she was sure to find what she was after! If...if she could find it in the first place. There was a lot of searching to do.

"Well, then..." She cracked her knuckles, looking first one way, then the other. "...book-hunting time." And she was off and moving. More slowly than before, at a quick, awkward shuffle as she rapidly scanning book after book after shelf after row, in her completely inane, childish pursuit.

[Simon]

Tony Redgrave decided he needed someplace quiet.

Ever since the devil hunter had emerged from Nebula Space, he had felt a strong sensation within himself. The feeling seemed not necessarily in his mind, but in his body, his very core. It had to be some sort of well of untapped power, and Dante very much aimed to put it to work with this battle competition. He had made the first steps on the taxi ride up to Tier 1 and the signup kiosk. For the more material concepts burning in Dante's desires, the son of Sparda would need much more time- and a lasting amount of peace, for that matter.

Combat boots clomped down the immaculate main hall of Syntech Station 17 as Dante looked over his options. Signs pointed to a gymnasium, a cafeteria, a library, an indoor park, and a set of rooms for participants. The barracks or the park seemed an obvious choice for isolation at the moment, considering the volume coming from the gym and the bar.

Occam's Razor be damned, though. If Tony just hid himself entirely before the show began, then he would have no idea of what to do or who he would be up against. As the devil hunter had learned from his experiences in the Hero's Graveyard, anyone that wasn't a friend could be expected to be an enemy. And there was safety to be found in numbers, of course.

His objective expanded threefold, therefore: learn what to expect in the competition, scope out potential allies and enemies, and summon new weapons for the event. For that, Tony's first choice would be the Library.

Someone else apparently had the same idea, rushing past the red-coat without so much as an acknowledgement. Dante's vision snapped from the fog of his thoughts, getting a glance of a deep blue streak before it darted into the passage leading to the Library. Tony Redgrave was left stunned for a moment, caught mid-stride in surprise, but quickly brushed it off with a single chuckle.

The question of the day is, "Friend or Foe?"

Library

It wasn't entirely peaceful in the archives. A lone dwarf worked painstakingly to replaced a mess of unsorted books, to the tune of his own breathless grumbling. A shadowy figure slipped out from the seas of shells and became clear, looking oddly like some sort of auto mechanic. Tony paid no mind to the odd fixer for now, hoping the man hadn't noticed the probing eyes.

What Tony had suspected to be some sort of blue alien dashed away just as he caught sight of it again, but the more defined glimpse of the figure he got revealed some detail. Mostly the strange clothes. That aquamarine blur moved to the far side of the library, most likely intent on looking for something. With the carpeted floor cushioning his footfalls, the dark knight quietly and casually made his way in the general direction of the assumed alien.

No need to rush and attract attention, Redgrave reasoned. It wasn't like a character as vibrant as the blue figure would be easily missed- at least, in anything except the ocean.

[The Future Warrior]

For almost a full minute her initial enthusiasm carried her through, shuffling down rows of books and peering at them expectantly, eagerly, as if expecting the one she was seeking would just jump out at her. Of course...they were books. They didn't jump. Much to her disappointment. They were nothing like the books in the Mad Library. She was pretty sure that place was probably from a dream she'd had once, but...it was pretty interesting. She'd have like to go to there in reality one day. Books flying off of shelves and turning into knights and stuff. Sword made of sharpened pages, shields of huge bookends. It was so incredibly silly, but it was so awesome.

Eventually she came to a halt, at the end of one row of books and in the middle of an aisle, separating it from the next row of books. To her left, the aisle went on for a fair ways. To her right, only a short distance before a wall and shelves upon more shelves of more books. This place was honestly a little overwhelming.

A hand slowly lifted up to her head, one finger lightly scratching at where the eyebrows would be on a human. Indignantly, her cheeks puffed out. A very childish gesture, and an impressive feat considering her lack of lungs to draw in so much air in the first place. "Why are there even so many books here...it's like a maze in here!" she whined aloud. Of course, almost immediately, she slapped a hand over her own mouth. This was a library. You were supposed to be quiet in a library. That was what Old Man Jeremiah had always said. He'd never really said why, just that you were supposed to. Said it would be rude to go around making too much noise, or something.

Then again...he'd also said something else. Something something...sorting system. Books were sorted into categories. Different types of books. Fiction, nonfiction...genres and such. That was what she needed to look for! The object of her current quest would be where they kept textbooks and stuff, probably, if they had those here. Things for researching. Referencing things. Reference section! Where Old man Jeremiah had actually worked!

She turned on her heel, spinning in place to take another look around. Now, where would a reference section be...? She didn't spot anything that looked like it would point her in that way, but she did spot something else. Some guy in a big, red coat. He had...wow, was his hair silver? And that big case he was carrying around... He wasn't really trying to stand out, but with how he looked he was hard to miss if you were actively looking for people. And that was how Graowr managed to spot him.

Well...that and the fact he seemed to be headed in the same general direction her directionless search had been leading her. A quick hop, skip, and another hop (not a full jump, because that would be rude to do in a library) carried her in his direction. "Heya!" she said cheerfully, once within earshot, before flinching, and bringing a hand to smack against her own face. "Jeeze...library, gotta be quiet..." she mumbled, much more quietly, before dropping her hand and speaking up again, at a much more normal volume. "So, are you here to fight in this Dante's Abyss thing, too?" Without even waiting for an answer, she went on, rattling off one question after another. "Oh, oh, wait, what's in the case? Some kind of weapon? I bet it's cool. Why do you have it in a case like that? To hide it? Make it easier to carry? Seems like it'd be tough to get it out in a hurry in a fight. Oh, oh, oh, maybe you don't carry it in there in a fight! Yeah, that's it!"

She changed topics after that with all the speed of a whip-crack. "So, uh, hey, I got a more important question. Do you know how to, like...get around a library? I was kinda looking for the reference section. And I think I got distracted by..." She gestured around at nothing in particular, with both hands. "...books."

[Malon]

The Bar => Park

Malon checked that the bandana was fixed around her head as she watched the stranger walk off to chatter with other people. She would kill them all? How could she say that so lightly? She began to worry what she had slippered into... if someone as bloodthirsty as this woman and the vampire were around, it couldn't be a good place, could it? And yet everyone who had manned that booth had looked friendly and well-dressed, and surely an illegal deathmatch of some sort would not be allowed to have its booth in the middle of a big city, would it?

She brushed those thoughts aside and turned her attention to the group of people that the woman was chattering with, while enjoying the calzones. They all wielded items that she could not help but to compare to weaponry... and the woman had remarked her sickles, which Malon now remembered that she had indeed kept on her backpack.

"Yeah, you're going to want to get rid of such a huge encumbering thing." Another Malon was sitting on the chair that the woman had previously occupied, grinning at her. She was picking her teeth with a dagger while speaking, and Malon noticed that this illusion's eyes were bloodshot, making her look rather quite insane.

"What do you want, number 13?"

"You could at least give me a nicer name. Assassin, for instance. That would be a neat one. Anyway, I'm here to tell you that if you run around with your weapons on display like you're a mobile weapons depot, you're gonna have a bad time. People will see what you have. You want the element of surprise."

"I don't want to kill anyone."

"Then you'll need surprise even more. It's a lot harder to take someone out without killing them than using lethal force, especially so if they're aware of you and your weapons."

"What do you propose that I do?"

"That bag you got yourself, you can enchant it. Number 9's abilities are starting to shine through into your noggin, aren't they?"

"Number 8? You mean the gardener that saved the Deku Tree in a time of drought?"

"Correct. She learned a great many arts from the old veggie. Such as the ability to spin magical thread that creates a Pocket of Holding." Assassin pointed the dagger at Malon's pouch. "It's pretty useful. You can store everything in there, including that mighty big axe on your back."

"Axe? What are you talking about...?" She reached over her shoulder and, true enough, found the hilt of a weapon between her fingers.

"That thing was probably Snake's. You copied it from her when you took her form. Or rather, I did. Call it a second souvenir from that hellhole." She laughed. "Anycase, you should know how to enchant that thing by now. Stick your knife, your sickles and that mighty big battleaxe in it. Oh, and... round off your Hylian ears. They're drawing a lot of attention."

Malon rolled her eyes. Altering the shapeshifted form was easy. Changing the bag however was a more difficult task. She finished the calzones and hopped off the chair, kindly thanking the employee before heading out. Somewhere quiet where she could focus... ironically, the dome at whose entrance it said "Library" was stuffed with people. No, she went elsewhere... the Park. Here was quieter, and she sat on a bench with the illusionary Malon number 13, or Assassin as she had taken to calling herself then took the pouch into both hands and focused. To infuse the threats with the magic of nature, to alter the properties of space and to change the very essence of what this pouch was, to be much more than a tiny leather bag... this would take a while.

If someone else, or a Syntech employee, came by at this time they would just see a woman in leather armor with her eyes closed and a small pouch in her hands, around which threads of Omnilium were flying. After all, Assassin and all the others were figments of Malon's imagination.

[Jak Mar]

The eco warrior stepped forward, however looked over at the battle scarred man with the sword laughing. He raised a eyebrow, slightly unsure of what to think.
 
He eyed the armored woman first named Dawn “I’d figure at least I’d meet some of the people I’ll fight over time.”  He eyed the laughing man named Shinmen and was quiet. “Laughter is hard to come by around here when Dante’s Abyss rolls around every year, one tip: always be careful on the battlefield: Your friends here could become your enemy on the battlefield.
 
“I’ve had to deal with this every year I’ve come here.”
 
“I wish i could offer some sort of joke to lighten up the mood, however.”
 
Jak could be considered strange with his bright yellow hair and greenish dye on the bottom of his hair, along with his long ears.  His clothing was darker blue and he took a breath.
 
“Good luck.”
 
"Thank you for the invite, I’ll be back later."
 
He turned and walked toward the library where he’d hopefully find some books on his opponents.
 
After the brief hallway walk, the library seemed pretty noisy and there seemed to be a few folks making their rounds.
 
It’s when he noticed the familiar silver hair of his friend from Nebula space, the same one he fought alongside.
 
"D- Tony?!”  The knife eared warrior caught himself almost changing the name
 
“Is that you?”

[Gildarts]

Mouth of the Hallway

The painful crackling of rusted squeaks grated with unsubtle ambience from his metal appendages, sounding through the hallway and causing immense agony to the closer participants and Syntech employees who were passing him by. He had stopped in place, realizing that the shrieking pitch had perturbed others based on the many eyes which had looked bug-like as they first bulged and then angled angrily at the source. Some covered their ears, others merely scowled at the red-haired wizard and scurried along. Too busy to chat, yet mindlessly going anywhere that their feet would wander.
 
Gildarts allowed his eyes to pass over the bustling crowd, most of the wayward faces blurred together in mixed shades of undistinguished gray. This particular mage had never been keen on observation, if his mind spent too long on a thought and there was always consequence. Such was the power of his cursed magic. This result could be detrimental and he could get exiled from the competition for endangering others before he’d found the treasure he sought. Breathe. He reminded himself and his eyes scoured the pristine architecture of the pleasantly sculpted hallway filled with humans, humanoids, and others with more extreme figures.
 
Only one other Prime stood still in the moving crowd, it was tall and monstrous, it had dark skin and it was likely male. His eyes were sinfully dark, not in color, but in how deep his rage filled the chasms of his soul. Flint struck metal and things seemingly normal shattered into a true, unrelenting storm of chaos.
 
The fluorescent hum of lights flickered as though an omnipresent being was cackling as the faltering light delivered pulsating flashes smearing the opaque darkness with light. A shadow had crossed the mage's mind and his blood had seemingly been transmuted into ice while a fear-born sweat accumulated on his brow. The rush of terror filling his heart and mind plunged deeper into his soul as he was submerged in the perfect picture of death. The flashing strobe from above blinked with his adjusting eyes and he scanned the scene with growing guilt.
 
Icy chills prickled his neck as his eyes darted over the scene, each time finding fresh, newly daunting details around every place his gaze settled. One where everyone who had passed him by were now far from the picturesque mirth they had been exuding, the walls had been shattered and left into mounds of cubes, a trace that it was his magic which had created this broken scene of the essence of death via travesty. Splattering the ground in thick, syrupy pools was an ankle-deep puddle of blood as though fresh out of a horror novel. But it wasn’t just on the ground… Their clothes were covered, no, smothered and drenched in pungent metallic-scented fresh blood. The Primes and Syntech Secondaries surrounding him were now corpses, surrounded by their life's blood all of which that should have been contained by their skin.
 
One clicked and chittered with chatter as its bones rubbed together, completely skeletonized yet somehow still walking as the crimson tide stained its svelte ivory shins. Others wore undead, pale gray skin, hanging off them like overly-baggy garments, for there was atrophy and decay within the gaunt skin and little muscle leftover. One person's skin was a moldy green and had a face like a ghoul's sagging in large lumpy clumps while their mouth remained open and thirsting for something more than air, while their gums glowed black with grotesque decay. The tangy taste of blood and repugnant smelling disembalmed tombs leaked on his tongue, sending a wave of nausea into his swaying, twisting stomach. The Prime gulped as his eyes hurriedly took in more of the scene, shock had tumbled within him like dominoes of horror cascading down past his flesh and embedding itself into the root of his bones, his expression twinkled with fear as he looked around the room, his eyes filling with sorrow for what he had assumed to be his folly. He’d let his own magic control him and now… He could not explain what he was seeing.
 
His neck turned to the left and a girl with her eyes gouged out was smiling at him, instead of eyes, were empty sockets as though sketched from charcoal, filled now with only hollow black shadows. Her chin and expression turned as though she could see him though, and Gildarts gulped as he took a few steps away from her, now feeling the weight of the heavy water caught on his black cape and sticking like gooey glue on the bottom of his boots.
 
The mage’s breaths deepened with an immense sense of panic, it was overwhelming, like a tsunami flooding his body with the realization that he was responsible. The title "Murderer" plastered on his forehead with great bold letters and he felt himself losing grip with reality, he reached out, bracing himself against the wall.
 
Only one creature remained still, unmoving, and unchanged. Standing in the fray of the picturesque image of death that had warped before his eyes, there was one whose chilling, near demonic image remained the same. It was the tall, dark elf standing still while the rest of the room continued to move as though nothing was wrong and their faces were not stained by death’s gruesome hand. The dark elf remained completely still, nonchalant to the death that had struck the room as swift as lightning in Gildarts’ mind’s eye, the rest of the corpses had continued moving sluggishly along, as though they had better places to get to than attending their own death. Gildarts had to have been seeing things, for the ghosts continued to wander. But why?
 
Suddenly, with the touch of the wall, the flashing of darkness intermingling with the mania of the light ceased and the light froze. A single blink cleared the vivid scene from his eyes and delivered quenching clarity. But nothing could cure him from the ghastly haunt of his still-borne memory. All was back to normal, except for the mage's racing heart and his mind which was moving at the speed of a tornado. The image of blood splattered throughout the room remained etched behind the curtain of his eyelids and made Gildarts double-take the mundane hallways with a new light. He was dumbfounded and the girl closest to him was back with her eyelids batting over her eyes, blinking at him.
 
“Did you… Just see that?” Gildarts said, his grisly voice choked out, confounded as his eyes searched her expression for the shock he was feeling embedded in his rattling cage of ribs. He hurriedly sucked in another breath seeking to tame his unruly mind. This was the first time in his life he had ever been scared nearly to death.
 
“See… What?” she blinked and looked around the room finding nothing to have changed except maybe a few primes departing and leaving.
 
Gildarts found his hand reach for his temples which were tense and constricted with abounding stress. It had been some sort of hallucination, but he hadn’t eaten any bad chicken. The source of this was unknown, but through it all, Gildarts had noticed one thing. In the mirage, the tallest man in the room's appearance had not changed a single bit despite the many other people embodying their own corpses, granted, Illidan was already terrifying enough.

A single step forward would lead Gildarts in the right direction for finding out the answer. What was happening to him? And who was this strange villainous looking creature? If the elf had a name, it would be spoken.

[Cirno]

--Dojo/gym--
As cirno punched she felt her anger slowly go out of her that was when she heard Clownpiece yell her name. Cirno stopped as she turned to the star-spangled fairy. "Hey Clownpiece, so what's the rules? First to die or get eliminated has to bear the honor of being the weaker fairy?" Clownpiece shrugged as she spun her torch around like a baton as she looked at the competition.

"Seems weak. So may I ask why you were punching a bag for no reason?" Cirno shook her head as she created a icicle. "Would you rather me sell shaved ice instead? But seriously I thought it was better than destroying all the equipment the company has so graciously provided the combatants."

The hell fairy nodded in agreement as she tipped her head. "So why exactly do you call yourself the strongest? Is there a reason for this?"

Cirno tapped her chin when a light bulb lit up. She talked with absolute seriousness that a fairy is not known to have often. "I was fighting Marisa you know the thief?" The other fairy nodded. "Well I was fighting her and I was actually warned when I beat her, that I would lose my ability to revive from death If I continued to grow in power. I guess I would become a Youkai?"

Clownpiece's grin grew a little sour at the sound of this. "Do you really want to lose your immortality? I mean is it worth being the strongest if that is the outcome?" Cirno was actualy stunned by this insight. "I-I want to be the strongest but I guess being immortal is alright?" She sounded unsure of her self as she was in deep thought. "So you want to walk around and maybe get some food if we can? Or maybe we can do something you want to since I have been dragging you along this entire time we got here."

Clownpiece smiled wider at the generocity of Cirno. "Thank you oh strongest one." Cirno laughed at that and replied. "No problem clownpi. . . Sorry that would be mean." That was when Clownpiece decided on her place to head off to with Cirno following.

[Simon]

 Library

Oh, boy. This was getting excitable real quick.

"Hey, hey- simmer down, both of you," Tony said, quietly and disarmingly, holding his hands out to shush the two verbal bombardments. They both seemed to comply for a moment, giving the red-coat an opportunity to reply. Now, who to respond to first?

"Okay. First off-" The devil hunter turned to Jak, "Why do you sound so surprised? You knew I was coming, didn't you?" The Eco warrior acknowledged this behind silent eyes, still apparently trying to get used to Dante's diehard nature. He tried to think of something suitable to say, before merely conceding the fact with a nod of his head.

"And you," Tony remarked, turning back to the blue thing with a flash of his pointer fingers, "You're going a mile a minute here. Reference section, you say?" She nodded with child-like enthusiasm, her alien hair bounding in strands atop her swiveling head. T

his creature really was unlike anything the devil hunter had seen before, which made interactions a bit... uncertain, let's say. Anyone would half a brain could reasonably guess Redgrave's carrying case to be stowing weapons, after all; that couldn't rule out the possibility that the alien's first impressions belied a potential cleverness. What seemed consistent was that almost all of her questions and guesses involved assumptions of fighting. With such an enthusiasm about that subject, this blue figure either could hold her own with confidence, or was merely a pushover acting tough.

Could be a good ally nonetheless. Don't judge a book by their cover, as they say.

"Why don't I lead the way over there, huh? I was hoping to read up about this place anyways." The alien seemed to light up at the offer, perhaps thankful for the help. Tony glanced back to Jak, prepared to offer a similar gesture. "You can come with too, if you like. I'm not doing anything special, really," he explained softly, allowing the polity to refuse. Jak's world was utterly unknown to Dante at the moment, so he had no idea yet if the Eco warrior had any inkling at all as to who or what the blue creature was. 

Tony supposed they would both find out in due time, if they did not already know.

Taking his leave from their meeting place, the red-coat trudged a path through the shelves. Dante's own knowledge of archival may have been rudimentary, but as long as he could recognizes the labels on the shelves, he wasn't concerned. Soon tracing a path up the non-fiction section, he led the way into where the reference books should be. Tony's eyes immediately met the sight of a World Book encyclopedia series re-arranged into spelling "Weird Cock".

Ugh. Vandals.

Amidst the aftermath of a certain prankster's self-fulfilling work, there must be at least a few books not displaced from their normal positions. It was just a matter of finding... what was the alien even looking for?

"So," Tony spoke up suddenly, turning away from the series of Weird Cock, "What were you looking for again?" A bit puzzled to the flustered reaction, she elaborated simply that she had been looking for a dictionary. The devil hunter stopped himself from scoffing at simple the request was- or, rather, how it should have been, considering this turn of events.

Tony looked away to search through the shelves more carefully, and managed to easily find a bright red copy of the Merriam-Webster. Yanking the book from its spot with a firm hand, he looked back to the blue creature- only to find her immediately flipping through another set of pages. The dark knight's face twisted into a nervous expression, and he slithered up behind the lady to look as what she was trying to get into.

"What's this about?" Came her inquisitive voice. A free hand reached over her shoulder and yanked the book away by the spine.

When the alien whirled around to confront the sudden swipe of the material, she was instead offered the hefty dictionary in compensation. That seemed to distract her properly, as she took the reference book off to read while Redgrave inspected the material he had confiscated. Two-hundred and fifty pages of raunchy smut.

"Disgusting crap," Tony answered her question mutely, tossing the porn novel way into the next aisle. It came to rest aside a pile of similarly discarded books, at the foot of a particularly tall stack.

[Katrielle Layton]

DOJO

Right. They were supposed to fight at some point. It figured that a little practice would do some good. Although he wasn't eager to reveal his skills yet, it could sow the seeds of intimidation into the minds of the Primes around him-- even if it was only subconscious.

Bendy stood at the far edge of the dojo, allowing his arms to stretch across the distance so he could grab two punching bags and slam them together. They connected with a loud thump, swinging in their holders even after he let go. After that display, he latched onto one of the dummies, using it as a handhold to grapple to the other side of the room at dizzying speeds. Rebounding off the wall, he wrapped himself around the target and stabbed it with his tail.

With the barbed tip stuck inside the cloth torso, he let loose the floodgates and allowed the ink to drain out of the flexible appendage and into the dummy. Eventually the dummy split into two, the ink having accumulated to the point where it couldn't be contained, and the liquid spilt out onto the floor. The demon withdrew his tail, dipping it into the fresh puddle and absorbing it back into his body.

He turned back to the group, waiting to see their reactions.

[Jak Mar]

Jak felt the lump in his throat clear as he raised a eyebrow at Tony.

“Ok, that was a stupid question. “

The eco warrior followed behind holding a book on “Omniversal weapons.”

“Anyways, you want to know what my world was like, guys?

The slight quietness of the eco warrior was only slightly more awkward than usual.

[Clownpiece]

“Food sounds good, so let's go for that” Clownpiece decided, a bright smile on her face. Neither of them had eaten since they’d gotten here, and although her memory was a bit hazy from around the time of her nap, she was fairly certain that hadn’t eaten all that much in general today. Even though she didn’t feel particularly hungry now, there was no doubt the event was starting soon, and it would be better to start on a full stomach, or at least not dying of hunger. “Follow me!” She turned around with a flourish, the flame of her torch burning a purple arc through the air as it swept along with her, and confidently marched forward. 

“Oh, you know where it is?” Her icy friend asked, and the hell fairy stopped mid-stride.

“N-no,” she answered, with a nervous giggle and smile as she spun on her heel to face her. Truth be told, she’d been planning on winging it the whole way there, but she’d already been busted. “I’m sure random wandering will get us there though! It’s what Reimu always does, isn’t it?”

“It is!” Cirno exclaimed, looking like she’d had some sort of divine revelation.

“Exactly! So let’s go!”She said, once again turning to lead the way out.

---

A pair of heads peeked around the doorway of the bar, one blonde peering out from a a good few feet up, and one blue-haired, closer to ground level. From just within they could smell the aroma of all kinds of different, delicious meals, the mere thought of which sent their stomachs growling simultaneously. Silently, the two withdrew from their reconnaissance, and Clownpiece, who had been floating above her friend, dropped back down to the ground with a soft pat.

“Hm,” with a smug grin on her face, she crossed her left arm across her chest, and tilted her torch back over her shoulder. “I told you we would find it.”

“But how do we get to it?” Cirno asked, peeking back through the doorway for a moment.

“Good question...” Clownpiece said, face falling into a frown. They certainly couldn’t just walk in there and grab something, they were fairies after all. People really didn’t like dealing with fairies, they always thought there was something up their sleeves. So they needed some sort of plan, a distraction of some sort. Her eyes briefly flicked over to the purple flame of her torch, and a mad grin creeped across her face.

“You look like you have an idea,” the ice fairy observed, shooting an inquisitive look deep into her friend’s eyes.

“As a matter of fact, I do!” She exclaimed, “So here’s what’s gonna happen. We’re going to walk in there and find a stand with food out on display.”

“Mhm...” her friend nodded along.

“I’m going to cause a little bit of madness,” she held her torch out proudly. “Use the power of this torch to make a few people fight, and while everyone’s distracted you,” she jabbed a finger out towards Cirno. “Are going to use the distraction to grab what you can, and voile, something to eat! How does that sound?”

Now at the BAR

[Larfleeze]

DOJO

Chakravartin grinned at the demon's display. "I don't doubt we'll be hell to fight together." A bit more showy than his own display, admittedly, but it wasn't like the demon could do anything a Saru couldn't. It would almost be nostalgic, fighting alongside others with protean bodies. He walked over to the remains of the dummy, his eyes glinting with interest, "This move in particular, I haven't thought of something like that. Usually, when attacking in liquid form, I just try to wrap them up and redirect their movements. It didn't occur to me to make such a thing lethal."

Chakravartin took on a more liquid form, once again feeling the discomfort of losing his vision, but he had an excellent sense of direction, and there was no mistaking the ink smell. He flowed over to the dummy next to it, and tried to replicate the move.

He reformed a finger, jabbing it through the skin of the dummy, and began trying to enter.

After about twenty seconds of struggling, he pulled free and resumed his humanoid shape, "No good on my end. I think you've got a higher pressure output, or something similar."

[Professor Sunshine]

GYM/DOJO

As Abyss watched the showings of Chakravartin, she kept a close eye on how his Palace hands moved throughout the air and how he could control them with ease, which made Abyss wonder how he could move them in the air with ease. After all, while she could create balls of water away from herself, she could only fire them in a straight line, and as he finished moving his Palace Hands around she wondered how useful these hands could be in combat, and if they could be used to surprise an opponent. "Hey those hands could be really useful for a surprise attack, but do you have anything else you can bring to the table?"

Abyss almost immediately regretted saying those words, as Chakravartin proved his malleability by lifting the top of his head away from the rest of his body, which while it was not the most frightening thing she has seen while here, it was still gross enough to make Abyss want to vomit. "Ok, I immediately regret asking that, let's go back to those Palace Hands thing. Do you think you can do anything else with them?" Upon saying that, Abyss saw Chakravartin put back on his head as he showed how he could use a sword with one of his Palace Hands and started spinning the blade at a rapid pace, which amused Abyss as she thought that could be a good move for finishing off that demon swordsman if this Golden Alliance could actually defeat him.

After Chakravartin was finished showing off his skills, Abyss signaled to Bendy that it was his turn, and as Bendy began showing his skills, Abyss was curious on how Bendy could extend his arms and use them to slam two different punching bags together, as she swore that she could see small drops of ink fall from Bendy's arms as they extended. While Bendy showed of his tail by popping a dummy with a explosion of ink, Abyss was even more curious about what Bendy was, since as far as she knew, normal beings could not be made of ink. As Bendy finished his demonstration and retracted his tail, Abyss slowly got up from the punching bag that she was sitting on, with a grin on her face.

"Wow, you all definitely have some very unique skills between you two. Kong, or at least that's what I will call you for now since I haven't got your name and I heard Bendy call you that earlier, your Palace hands should probably be very useful, especially if you use that sword to cleave into opponents. My only criticism for you is that I am not sure how you will do close range, since you'll probably need that if that swordsman gets close to you. And as for you Bendy, you seem to be pretty good both at a long and short range, though I do wonder how you made that dummy explode with ink. Eh, questions for later. Now anyway, I should probably show MY own techniques to you, so that when I am done we can try to figure out how to mix our own techniques together."

After finishing saying all that, Abyss brought the punching bag back up as she walked 11 feet away from it, before starting to focus on creating another ball of water. After a few seconds of focusing, Abyss once again created a ball of water 10 feet in front of her and then launched the ball of water at the punching bag, knocking it back down at a quick speed. After knocking it down, Abyss quickly dashed to the punching bag at very fast speeds to bring the punching bag up. "That, my friends was a recent attack I created. I call it the Balled Water technique, and while the ball of water may be small, it packs a big punch."

"Now besides that, I should show you this technique. It's one of my most powerful moves, and I call it the Coiled Tentacle Cannon, so watch this and be in awe." Abyss then started to charge energy into both of her tentacles, and as she charged she took a quick glance at the two others and smiled, before launching the coiled tentacles at full power. The resulting impact not only launched the punching bag a couple of feet into the air, but a big tear appeared on the punching bag, as it fell to the ground. As Abyss rested herself a bit to catch her breath, she turned around and looked at the two other Golden Alliance members before finally saying "And I bet you thought my tentacles were just for show. You can thank the Egg Army's Cyberization process for that. Anyway, any opinions?"

[Cirno]

As cirno thought about the plan she had to ask one question. "My attacks are mostly either locked from my use or weakened. so shouldn't we test it on some unexpecting bystander first?"

"Yes we should my icy friend, and there is one right over there." Clownpiece pointed towards a man in a suit who was playing a guitar. The two fairys walked up to him and Clownpiece waved the torch infront of him. It did the job because the next thing they knew he was throwing punches towards another musician right across the hallway.

"Yep now that we know the torch works lets get us a meal and somewhere to sit at." Cirno nodded at Clownpieces words. Not only did humans hate fairy's they did so with a passion. Reimu in particular is quite the fairy hater. The two fairy's walked back to the Bar and nodded as they both walked in like they were going to buy something.

"Clownpiece ill be fine as long as I don't look into the torch right?" Clownpiece nodded and gave a smile with a glint in her eye that she knew what they were doing.

Clownpiece walked up to a couple primes/secondarys and waved her torch right in there faces causing them to  become irritable and zone in on the hell fairy. Cirno walked over and started to pick up the plates of food before nodding towards Clownpiece and heading out only to be chased by three certain hungry primes and frankly angry. "CLOWNPIECE WHY DID WE CHOSE THESE THREE?!"

She started to run with her might as she ran off into the crowds before entering the park losing them somewhere by the barracks. finally catching her breath and she saw Clownpiece walk with ease into the park and saw Cirno was red-faced with exhaustion and slight anger.

"That was insanity. Remind me Clownpiece to not take the strong peoples food next time, though it was a good haul. Now where were we ah yes food. Since you devised the plan you get first pick of the food." There were three plates topped to the brim with food such as, bean sprouts, corn, eggs, ham, chicken, calamari, etc. And the two fairy's mouth's watered at the sight of all the food.

"Lets dig in!" and the two fairy's nodded and started to do just  that.