[IC] TTG Interlude: Virtue

[Shamitako]

OOC thread

 

TTG Interlude, Exposition Phase (Three weeks for this, ending October the Third)

 

The Oracle Chamber (Hiroki, Sully, Kagari, Tai; Lord, Bear, Blink, Seeker, Oracle)

 

Seeking answers, four competitors had come to the Oracle Chamber. What that meant precisely was yet to be revealed to them. Whatever this place was, it was an important secret. The chamber, although a better description would perhaps be cavern, was very open. Scattered across the rough stone walls and ceiling were small blue lights unlike anything any of them had ever seen. It was almost as though the walls themselves were glowing. Towards the back of the chamber was what appeared to be an altar carved out of the wall itself. Standing by the altar was a woman with dark skin and black hair, tied up in a sloppy bun. She was dressed in a white suit with pants and gloves, as well as a red tie. Her eyes seemed to glow in the same blue as the lights, but that might have been a trick of the light. She seemed to have been waiting for them.

 

Four gods had accompanied the group: Lord, Blink, Bear, and Seeker. Lord now stepped ahead and of the group and turned to face them, prompting everyone to stop their advance towards the woman a few meters away. "We have a lot of things to talk about." She said, "Each of you has been promised answers and we do intend to provide them. But first, let me introduce you to Kenya Oracle. Her family discovered this place several generations ago and have been its caretakers ever since. I'll leave it to her to explain why that's significant."

Kenya stepped closer and bowed formally, placing one hand in front of her and the other behind her and lowering her head to almost waist height before righting herself. "Welcome to the Oracle Chamber." Her voice was strong and clear, echoing throughout the large room. "This cavern is the resting place of a being we call Chronos. It is a powerful entity that serves as the Plane's protector. My family serve as vessels for Chronos when the time comes for it to defend the Planes. We believe that the impending threat of the Tenth God could potentially require its interference." She paused so allow that information to process. "However, Chronos has not yet awoken, suggesting that there yet remains an alternative. The Gods believe that alternative is either one of the competitors in the tournament or the man called Arcturus." Seemingly finished, she took a step back and allowed Lord to resume speaking.

"We've been trying to deal with Nil for a while now, and while we have many possible solutions, none have yet come to fruition." Lord explained, "But to understand that, and thus in turn to understand better why we ask you to fight, you need to know more about the threat Nil poses." She sat down on the ground, Kenya and the other gods followed suit. "If you're all ready, I'll tell you what we know about the Plane of Nil, Cardinal, and the danger posed to the Planes."

 

Fancy Restaurant (Morgan; Queen)

 

Morgan sat across from Queen at a small table with a sweetly-scented candle burning between them. They had already received drinks and a plate of garlic bread to start them off while they waited for their orders. Queen seemed to be sparing no expense for Morgan. His letter had said they would be facing one another in the exhibition matches, so he wanted to get to know her a little. It hadn't made any mention of treating her to an expensive meal. "Now then, while we have a moment," Queen began, "I'd very much appreciate if you told me a bit about yourself. Where you come from, why you're fighting here, things like that."

 

Guest Room in Queen's Castle Mansion Place Thing (Mommo; Aries)

 

Aries had invited Mommo to the room he was using in Queen's castle. It was a bit remiss to just call it a room, however, as it was actually a suite with a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, and study. Mommo had been shown in by one of Queen's servants and found Aries sitting at the kitchen table eating some kind of soup. He was built rather stocky, with moderately dark skin, soft white eyes, and scraggly red hair that seemed to have been hastily combed away from his face. He wore a blue denim jacket over a red t-shirt and grey cargo pants. He lit up slightly when he spotted Mommo. "You came!" He said happily, "I saw your match, you did great. Sit down, I'll get you some soup. It's chicken, do you like chicken?" He seemed surprisingly hyper, or even nervous.

 

A Dark and Dank and Sinister Realm (Adam; Cardinal)

 

Having rejected invitations from the women in his life, Adam had decided to accept the Tenth God's invitation to meet. He wasn't sure what they wanted, but maybe he'd get a chance to take them down and prove that he deserved godhood. He had gone to a specified location, where he'd found himself suddenly transported into a pitch black space. A young woman stood in this place with him, clearly visible even in this place seemingly devoid of light. "H-Hello, Adam." She said, "I'm Cardinal, the G-God of Nil. Welcome to m-my Plane."

[Chevaleresse]

Hiroki nodded silently at Lord's statement, and sat down. She'd mostly abandoned her disguise, the voice changer and awkward platform shoes abandoned. The drab brown cloak, however, remained, wrapped around her and mostly concealing the outfit she wore underneath, save for the black stockings poking out of the bottom. The hood was pulled far enough back that one could actually see the silver hair and violet eyes that had previously lain hidden in the folds and shadows of the garment. There wasn't much point in hiding herself, anyway, and neither Kagari nor Blink had seemed to think less of her after seeing who she actually was. . .

[IntSys]

Tai

 

Tai nodded as well. In hindsight, there wasn't really anything here stopping Cardinal from listening in. Somehow, he felt like he had made a fatal mistake, simply by showing up here in the chamber.

 

... Are you still here?

His usual smile was already gone. On his mind, there was nothing but regret. Yet, maybe he was just naive, but, he expected an immediate answer here.

Perhaps, if Cardinal were listening in, she would be just as outraged as she had been last time... Or maybe, she would listen for once.

[Code: PIRULUK]

Kagari stole a glance at Hiroki. She was a bit annoyed that someone else had gotten to see that girl's face before she had, but given the circumstances, well...

 

She was cute though. Really cute. Like, super cute. So cute she wanted to grab her and hug her and-

 

No, no. Not good. Things were still awkward. If she did that kind of thing it would probably have a bad result.

 

She sighed and remained standing, crossing her arms to hide the trembling.

[Sutoratosu]

The mechanic from pride says absolutely nothing, standing there with his slate grey jacket in it's proper place for once, rather than tied about his waist. The Beast and the Goetiac Prince were equally as silent, none bringing up the near disaster that had transpired mere hours earlier. Even now, Solomon was receiving new notifications on his HUD, the messages briefly flashing through his mind, each from the same sender. But he ignored them for the time being. He could only imagine what they contained, and it most definitely would be anything but good.

 

He honestly cared nothing for this fight anymore... it had started when Seeker had come asking him questions, and taken up until his near death before he finally faced it, but face it now he would- he had been lying to himself all these years, lying about how he fought for the hell of it, lying that all of this had been for sport. Somewhere, deep within, some part had always known the truth.

 

His reason for fighting all these years had been a farce. Hmph... honor, the old ways, finding decent opponents? bullshit. complete and utter bullshit. All that had ever mattered was attaining the power he'd lacked that day, as if gaining the strength to prevent her leaving after the fact would've changed anything. As if it would've brought her back. But still he had tried anyway, always clinging to some childish hope, that maybe, just maybe....

 

But the time for childish hopes were over. Asmodeus had most likely been right, back when Seeker came to them. She was probably dead by this point, or perhaps something worse than dead, and there was nothing he could do about it. He had failed to protect her. The power he'd gained since that day was worthless to protect her.

 

All he could do now was find whatever was left, and avenge her.

 

Lord still owed him answers. That was the only reason he was still here, still willing to listen to any of this. Because without those answers, his path to destroying whatever had prevented her from coming back all those years ago, couldn't begin.

[Bfroger6]

Mommo

 

Mommo found herself feeling rather...well, clumsy was the best word to describe it, but one could also claim it to be nervousness or some form of hesitation. Lack of confidence in any way.

Still, mixed together with that, making her head and her world spin around on its axis, was an unextinguishable desire to finally meet Aries, one who she'd been looking to meet for what seemed such a long time now, so there was no way she would let her legs give out from the crumbling weight on them. She was weak, but she had to be strong now.

 

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

 

When she entered the room, nervously peeking through as it creeked open, sliver of the image washing into view, same as a wave of red crashed upon the corners of her face, shore against the sea of emotions.

She'd gotten a bit readier for him, going as far as to place a pin in her hair to hold her bangs out of her face, and wearing an actual, albeit casual, dark purple dress instead of her sleeping garments. Instead of socks, her toes wiggled helplessly, suspended only by the sandals she wore, and, of course, around her neck was the special gift Aries had gotten her through Bear. Stepping inside, she held the pillow behind her as she let her eyes fall upon the man, no, god in front of her.

 

And the only thing she could think of was how he looked almost just as positively distraught as her.

In response to the realization, her lower lip dropped but an inch in surprise, new strenght welling up, propping her to respond with a slight smile, cheeks blushing at his praise, hand moving upwards to pinch her nose. Thankfully it wasn't a dream. "I love chicken." She replied as she walked over to the table, sitting on her pillow upon the chair. She looked to the sides first, ruffling her dress under the table. "U-uhm..I'm glad you liked my match...I focused on your gift..it helped."

[Komodojoe]

Morgan

 

...Queen just gets right to it, doesn't he? Guess that's kinda fair considering what the invite he sent Morgan was for, but never did she even consider that the God would go as far as to bring her along for an expensive meal. Good thing she dressed nice for the occasion, with a nice pink dress shirt and a white long skirt. Although, it's not really all that surprising in hindsight considering the service he provided for everyone when they all got there. The only other possibility for this kinda thing would be...

 

It just dawned on Morgan that this could very well be a date. Not like she can do anything about it now, though. It's too late for that. She made her bed, and now she's gotta lie in it... metaphorically, of course. There will be no pillow talk. But she would have to talk here and now. You'd have to be a jerk to accept an invite to let them get to know you better and not say anything about yourself. Although, I guess that does say something about someone, just not a good something.

 

"W-well... I, uh..." She started. It would be quite obvious to see how nervous she was. "I-I was actually born here in Greed, but my family and I ended up moving to Pride when I was very young. One of my brothers and one of my sisters live here, so I drop by this plane often, especially since my brother's usually the one that does the changes on my mech for me." A few seconds of silence passed before she spoke again.

 

"As for why I'm fighting in this tournament, well... it's a bit hard to explain. I'm not all that interested in becoming a God. I'm really in this to try to become a better person..." Morgan paused, wondering if she should tell Queen the whole story. She opted not to, but he should at least get the general idea. "You see, I have this... I've had a bit of a jealous streak for as long as I can remember. I try to keep it in check, but there are times when I just lose control... and someone usually ends up getting hurt because of it. I entered this competition hoping to get rid of it, and I did that because..." She may have gotten a bit carried away and started to look a little depressed, Queen could probably hear it in her voice near the end. "I just... I don't want anyone to get hurt, especially because of me..." She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, but... I'd rather not go any further on that subject."

Edited September 19, 2017 by Komodojoe

[Shamitako]

Queen

 

Queen nodded and granted Morgan a soft smile. "Thank you for sharing as much as you did. Allow me to return the favor." He said, "Being from here, I'm sure you know of my late father, Jeremiah King, who ruled before me. I had great respect for him and throughout my young life have worked to be like him in the hopes of one day following in his footsteps. I took up mech combat in the hopes of securing that position by becoming the God of Greed, which as you know is what occurred. Though it is unfortunate that it had to occur so soon." Queen paused and his face darkened. "With Nil's emergence I can't help but fear for my people. There seems to be nothing I can do but wait and hope that one of you, the tournament competitors, will be able to stop her before she brings about catastrophe. I've put a lot into becoming a strong ruler like my father, but I feel so powerless now. Regardless of whether or not tomorrow's fights help reinstill faith in we gods,on this matter our hands will remain tied. I almost hope to lose. Because if I can do nothing, how can someone weaker than me hope to do anything?"

 

Lord

 

It seemed everyone was ready. "To understand what's happening, we need to go back to the beginning of this whole fiasco." Lord began her tale, "Earlier this year, a young woman began appearing to some of gods in our dreams. She identified herself as Cardinal, and asked for our help. The world in which she lived was destroyed, and she wished to come to the Planes. We did everything we could to try to bring her here, but to no avail. After a rather heated argument with myself and blink, she vanished for some time, and we feared the worst. However, as you are aware, on September the first, the Tenth God appeared. We still don't know how she did it, but somehow Cardinal acquired the power of a god. Her plane didn't exist properly, but she was able to use it to temporarily travel to the other planes. She announced herself to the public, who began to place their faith in her hoping that this mysterious tenth God would help improve their broken lives.

 

"For Cardinal to properly travel here and escape her world using this method, she would have to legitimize her power, make her plane real. This will occur eventually if enough people believe in her. But more significantly if she defeats one of us gods, or possibly if one of us simply challenges her, then she will immediately gain legitimacy. This doesn't sound all that bad, but you have to understand how delicately the planes are balanced against one another. Adding an extra would destabilize the whole thing and several would most certainly be destroyed before a new balance was achieved.

 

"Our first attempt to stop her was sending Temperance to fight her, but she was handily defeated. She was the strongest thing we had at our disposal aside from our own power, leaving us with quite the predicament. We began seeking help from other powerful entities. We attempted to contact the Princes of Magic, ancient and powerful beings who use Favor to directly increase their power, but that seems to have fallen through. Watcher remains missing, Merlin claims she cannot help, and Arcturus thus far refuses to do so." Lord shot Sully a look here, "After this we hoped that Chronos would have awakened, but sadly it remains dormant. With all of our options exhausted, we began searching for a way to create a powerful enough fighter to take on the Tenth, thus spawning the tournament. Gather the strongest fighters across the planes and pit them against one another to further increase their strength in the hopes that by the end, one would have enough power to defeat Cardinal."

 

Lord finished here, granting her audience time to take in all of this information and ask any questions they might have.

[Komodojoe]

Morgan

 

"W-Well, It's not like someone can be weaker in every way, just like no one can be stronger in every way..." Morgan began, but paused when she realized that she could've said that better. "I... I was always taught that everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. No one's the best at everything, and no one's entirely powerless either. Some people can do things that others can't. There's nothing wrong with it. Everyone's just capable of doing different things. It's all part of what makes us-"

 

She stopped abruptly when she realized what she was about to say. Remember what the Black Idol said during the first Travel Phase? The Gods became Gods by overcoming their humanity. To say, or even that they're human might be a bit insulting, or at the very least, pointless. Although, it's not like the Gods are all perfect either, so maybe it's not as bad as she thinks. Still, it was enough to make her stop in her tracks and now she would have to start back up again. Actually, at this point, it would probably make more sense to just get right to the point.

 

"...Look, all I'm trying to say is, no matter what happens in those matches, whether it's between us or anyone else... Don't count us out. Everyone here is capable of doing many things. Great things. Trust me, everyone I've fought in this tournament are some of the strongest I've seen. It's okay to have doubts, but... I'm sorry... but to me... it sounds like you're not giving us much of a chance..."

 

 

((I probably would've done the actual quote, but it's not letting me do quotes from locked topics for some reason. Oh, well. This works too.))

Edited September 29, 2017 by Komodojoe

[Code: PIRULUK]

Kagari crossed her arms and shifted her weight.

 

"So, basically, what you're saying is that this contest is a farm."

 

She sighed and scratched her head.

 

Eh, I'm not good with this serious stuff - and Hiroki being here is making me awkward. Take over.

 

Seriously? Again? Don't you think you're switching with me a bit too often?

 

...Just switch.

 

Fine.

 

Kagari's eyes closed, and when they reopened, they were a lot sharper - more calculating. Koizumi adjusted her posture, evenly distributing her weight, then spoke in an uncharacteristically emotionless voice.

 

"You said that the power balance was delicate, and that adding a new god would upset this balance. But isn't the prize for this contest ascension? If one of us wins and somehow defeats Cardinal, how could you grant us this prize without upsetting this balance? The way I see it, the most likely option would be to give us Cardinal's plane - but that would mean we would simply be illegitimate gods, no? Unless you're saying one of you gods will step down and relinquish your plane to us?"

[Shamitako]

Aries

 

"That's good to hear." Aries smiled and placed a bowl of chicken soup in front of Mommo. "I was worried for a while there, but you pulled through. It, it was really great." Aries seemed to be a bit at a loss for words and just kind of stared at Mommo for a bit.

"Just fuck already." The voice came from Aries's pocket.

The god's face flushed bright red with embarrassment. "Ram! Shut up!" He hissed.

"No, you shut up. This awkward flirting is driving me nuts." The pocket voice shot back.

Aries pulled a ruby pendant out of his pocket and glared at it. "Mommo, meet Ram. He's my mech's AI and a giant pain in the ass."

"You're the pain in the ass. What I am is the guy that keeps you out of all the trouble you try to get yourself into. Like girls."

"He is also that." Aries confirmed in a sarcastic tone. Pointedly adding, "If he keeps being a bother I'll stuff him in a drawer."

[Bfroger6]

"O-oh!" Mommo shivered in her seat when she heard Ram's voice. She turned her head away from Aries. What he was saying was really making her feel better about everything. It reassured her that someone was rooting for her. She glanced over her shoulder to look at the thing saying all these things, revealing her face was just as red as Aries's. The red pendant reflected in her eyes. Aries's mech and partner. The Giant was silent. She never bothered installing an AI that could do more than fight into it. These two were like friends, though.

 

She hadn't noticed, but she was sitting facing Aries again, resting her palms upon the chair next to herself. "Nice to..nice to meet you." She said to Ram, turning to Aries instead. "I'll let you know if you need to put him away." Mommo gave a slight smile to the man, returning to her silence. The chair was squirming under her. She didn't quite know what to do but she still enjoyed this.

[Chevaleresse]

Hiroki remained silent. One question sat at the forefront of her mind, but asking it would be an admission of weakness. If you can't beat her, how are we supposed to? We're already as strong as we could possibly get, and she would tear any one of us into ribbons. She wasn't keen on facing the monstrosity she'd seen in the ring with Tai; granted, he'd been depleted of Favor - a decent-sized chord of guilt twanged in her at the thought - but she shouldn't have been able to just rip into him like that, right? The girl shot a glance at the person in question; he still probably hated her for it. I'll just have to find some way to keep getting stronger. Right? If they did it, I can manage it too. Maybe. I hope. . .

[IntSys]

Tai

The inner silence seemed to have given Tai a comforting answer.

He caught Hiroki's glance. It was as if she wanted the man who got the first taste of Cardinal's wrath to say something, and so he did.

"She shut my mech down effortlessly, piercing through every single wire with each rift. Your competition is useless. As long as we're relying on our mechs, even if we could be trained to resist the... pain, we cannot bear a candle against her."

"That's the Achilles' Heels that I'm sure all of us share. Is there a solution to this?" He raised the question.

"If not... " He muttered the two words, with the rest of the sentence kept in his thoughts. In his mind, there was another solution - talk the mad girl out of it, be it complying to all her wishes, just to trade for her relinquishing her powers.

He did not wake up today knowing that he would have to sacrifice himself. Yet, it wasn't like he had anyone important to him left. It had always been him, alone. He had no reason to be selfless now.

Prior to Cardinal's outrage, for a moment, he honestly thought that he no longer had to be alone in his fight, even for only awhile, and that he could walk away with the sweet memories of company. And even now, he kept wondering if there was another way.

He held his breath and suppressed the pessimistic thoughts. All hope wasn't lost, maybe the Gods did have a solution that they overlooked... 

[Sutoratosu]

((so apparently that look Lord shot sully in the last update was an actual cue to spill a few beans and not just a subtle nod that they would talk about things later.... whoops? Better late than never though))

 

The mechanic's expression was unchanged as lord glanced at him, just as it remained as the other contestants asked their own questions. In the silence that followed, he spoke naught but a single phrase

 

"play it" before an actual, external HUD interface manifested in front of him for the first time in... forever really, as opposed to the purely internal one typically overlain on his sense of vision. He did not bother touching anything, nor had he voiced where to begin playing and how loud; the file simply fired to life and skipped to a specific portion near the end, as if controlled by some outside force

Spoiler

The audio was surprisingly crisp and clear, echoing throughout the entire chamber as it played. A woman's voice, clearly lord's, kicked off the portion of the conversation, the volume adjusting to compensate for the how loud her response had already been on it's own

 

"At the rate things are going, that debacle will end with us all dead!"

 

A man's voice, calm, collected, responded... almost like a father lecturing a child for throwing a tantrum

"Unlikely."

Lord's voice yet again, just as loud as before "Nil needs to be stopped!"

A sigh from the man's voice, as he replies "You are wrong. She needs help."

 

With that, the recording reached it's end, and the external interface faded away into nothing. Solomon simply stood there, seeming not surprised nor moved by... anything that had been said up till now, really. Nothing but a stone-cold mask on his face as he looked to lord.

     "That's the audio recording, cleaned up and polished," before he turned to gaze at each of the other competitors "from all this shit I'm hearing about mech shut downs and conceptual attacks though- maybe Arcturus has a point. If not even this Temperance kid you sent could stop her, and you guys yourselves are all hesitant because there's an actual chance she'll outmatch you and it'll fuck everyone over once she becomes legit- what type of chance is one of us really gonna stand in an open fight with Nil? 

     The way he talked about it, you'd think there was another way to do this besides force. A way that to him is pretty fucking obvious, given his tone at the end. What did you guys try before this tourney, after she reappeared? Did anyone actually get a chance to talk to her beyond the point the three of ya argued? or was sending in an assassin the first solution?"

 

Despite what he said, there was actually little to no accusation in his voice, more of a simple question that needed to be answered here, before any of them expended any more of their time, and potentially their lives, trying to solve this shit through sheer force of arms. Hell, if Arcturus really was right, and the gods really were wrong and trying kick the shit out of the tenth wasn't the real answer... well, there'd be no reason for this tourney to keep going. 

 

And if there was no reason for the tourney to continue...

 

"And another thing- what the hell type of world did she come from then, if not Tempest? She mention anything about what happened or how it got destroyed... or how she survived?"

[Shamitako]

Lord

 

"But at that point she was already a threat." Lord protested, but the tone of her voice and look on her face were not those of defense but of guilt. They hadn't made any attempt to talk to Cardinal, to try to find an amicable solution. She breathed deeply. "No, you're right, we'd already given up on her by then."

"We'll have to disagree there." Blink said, "That girl is not sane, I heard it for myself. She's well beyond help."

Lord was about to speak again, but Seeker, noticing HUNTER's question to go unanswered, interjected in clear voice, "One moment before we continue this train of thought. Yes, one of us would give up our Plane to the winner." She nodded to Lord to continue.

But it was not Lord that continued, rather, Bear decided it was his turn to speak up. "Defeating the gods is not impossible and has been done before." He said calmly, "Though the Tenth possesses great power, it is not unlimited."

Lord and Seeker both nodded their agreement, Blink mumbled something of ambiguous nature.

 

"Sadly, though Arcturus in his infinite vagueness seems to have solved all of our problems, there is no obvious route to an amicable solution." Lord moved to get back on track, "I fear that Blink may be right, at this point she is too far gone."

"Damn right I'm fucking right." Blink said, "Seriously when was the last time I was wrong?"

"When was the last time you were right, either?" Bear chided, "We value your strength, but your wisdom leaves much to be desired."

Blink shrugged, but something about her suggested that actually stung."

Lord cleared her throat. "Anyways." she continued, "Though I will look to contact Cardinal again, due to her mental state we may be stuck. I believe we should proceed as though the tournament is our only solution. That being the case, it should be made clear what the upcoming exhibition is about." She looked to Seeker to expand.

 

"Though it may seem sudden, this exhibition has been planned since day one." Seeker stated, "We gods need to reaffirm our strength, as many question why we send others to do our bidding. But it's more than that, it also serves as a key step towards defeating Nil. As of now, there is little chance any of you will succeed in defeating any of us. However, facing us alone will give you a glimpse of what sets us apart. You must fight with all your strength, and when you lose, you must use that loss to grow more powerful. Only then will you become strong enough to take on Cardinal." Seeker stood. "And it seems the time for you to find that strength is close, we gods must go prepare, I recommend you take this time to prepare yourselves as well."

 

Aries

 

Aries and Mommo had a relatively quiet time, as both were quiet people. Ram would occasionally say something to embarrass the god, and Aries would apologize for his partner's rudeness. But for the most part they simply traded in small talk. Aries wasn't sure how Mommo felt about the matter, but he was happy just to chit-chat with the girl. Thus the look of disappointment on his face when he checked the time and found that he needed to prepare. "Ah, it's time for us to go get ready." He told Mommo, "This has been great, I, uh... Good luck with your fight and stuff."

 

Queen

 

Queen smiled. "No, you're right of course, this tournament wouldn't exist if we didn't think you at least stood a chance." He said, "Don't let my self-doubting tear you down as well. It is my sincerest hope that you defeat me today and change everything. And even if you do not, then perhaps you'll learn something that will be the key to your future victories. Either way, I look forward to meeting you on the field." Their food arrived, and Queen proved to be much less talkative while he was shoveling food into his stomach. As such, their meal concluded uneventfully, with Queen giving a formal goodbye before both he and Morgan headed off to prepare for their battle.

 

Adam

 

Adam cackled hysterically. "You?! You're the thing everyone's scared of? Holy shit that's hilarious." He just couldn't believe that this timid little girl was the big bad Tenth God. He was pretty sure he could just beat her now and end all of this. He didn't attack though, he'd landed on his ass from charging forward enough that he decided to err on the side of caution for once in his life.

 

Cardinal

 

"Sh-shut up, I want to tell you a st-story. You'll understand h-how p-powerful I-I am when I finish." Cardinal insisted through Adam's laughter. Her facial expression hardened and her tone steadied as she began. "A long time ago, there was a place called Earth, the people of the Planes remember her as the Sphere. The Earth was the center of the universe, the place from which all life energy stemmed. Sadly, foolish people searching for power corrupted the Earth's energy and the universe began to die. Tears in spacetime appeared all throughout, first silencing the stars and later silencing the Earth's inhabitants, undoing their very existence.

 

"Faced with extinction, the Earth's inhabitants sought escape. The most powerful among them discovered the Planes and evacuated as many as they could to their promise of safety. Unfortunately, many were left behind. Though they tried desperately to survive amidst the destruction of time itself, they were eventually wiped out. With no one left to observe her, the Earth could no longer give the universe life. What little remained vanished, and with it the corruption, as the corruption could not continue with nothing to corrupt. All that remained was the Earth, and in time she would vanish as well. But the remains of the Earth were not totally empty, still there, frozen with the death of time, was a single child. This child was too young to perceive herself, let alone observe the Earth, yet in the instant the corruption finally brought an end to time and vanished from the universe, her eyes were opened to reality and she became aware of herself. So by miracle or fluke, time was reborn, free of corruption.

 

"Alone on a dead world, the child grew up with only the knowledge she could discover by reading what was left behind. As the years passed, she began to understand the power that had corrupted her world and sought a way to use it to escape to where the rest of her kind had gone. With great effort, she learned to control it far better than any before her. The Earth, as it had done many times before, bore witness to her strength and granted her its power, though the only power it had left was nothingness. With this power, she was finally able to find the Planes, though much time had passed for them. None remembered the Earth or the power it wielded, nor did they remember how to bring her across to the Planes. Growing desperate, she used her power for one last gambit, she would gain the power of the Planes as well, and use herself as a bridge between the two worlds that she could cross."

 

Cardinal sighed, and even looked as though she might cry. "I won't ask for your help, I know now that no one will grant it to me. All I ask is that, should I be defeated, you share my story so that I am not forgotten." Adam was given no chance to respond, as he was immediately returned to the Plane of Greed. Why Cardinal had chosen him to carry this burden, he couldn't know. But apparently there was something about him she thought she could trust. Whatever the case, he'd have to wait to worry about it until after the exhibition matches, it was time to prepare.

 

TTG Interlude, Combat Phase (So much for October the Third. I'll set the deadline for this once at least three fights have concluded naturally.)

 

The arena for these fights is a large, circular field with a slight slope upwards about halfway from the center. It's colored in a boring grey and while not indestructible, is a rather tough substance. Spectators sit all around the arena in seats above the walls. The competitors are well-accustomed to this type of arena as it is the standard field for tournament fights.

Lord vs. Hellfire Knight

Spoiler

 

When Hiroki entered the arena, she was met with a very different Lord than the one she had met with earlier. Before Lord had held an air of regality and confidence, one that seemed to inspire those around her. But the woman in front of her now was something entirely different. This Lord did not wear a simplistic dress, instead she was clad in a purple jumpsuit with equally purple metal gloves and boots, which glowed with a blue energy from within. Her blonde hair was tied back in a tight ponytail and her eyes held nothing but determination. She strode forward at a steady pace, not speaking a single word. This Lord emanated raw power. Her mere presence pushed against Hiroki, as though she could crush the diminutive girl without even touching her. This was the difference between gods and mortals, this was the mountain Hiroki was being asked to climb.

 

Future Seeker vs. LOLI_HUNTER

Spoiler

 

Facing Kagari in the arena was a massive, pale blue suit of armor, presumably with Seeker inside somewhere. In one hand this walking hunk of metal held a long spear, and in the other a shorter javelin. "Good luck, HUNTER." Seeker said over comms. Her voice was completely monotone, giving no hint of what she was thinking or how she felt. It simply conveyed her message and that was all. The suit of armor raised its spear and pointed it at HUNTER, taking a single step forward and waiting for her opponent to make a move.

 

Swagalicious vs. The Revenant

Spoiler

 

The humanoid mech across the arena was hard to miss. It was colored a gaudy red and had struck a ridiculous pose, with one hand resting on its forehead in a way that implied it was running its fingers through its hair and the other balancing the first's elbow while tightly hugged against the mech's stomach. But what made it truly impossible to ignore was the pair of nipple-like protrusions on its chest, they were just sitting their, yet they drew Sully's eyes in, something about them was just hypnotic. Like Lord, there was a sort of pressure emanating from Swagalicious, but rather than shaking Sully with his overwhelming might, the God of Lust simply left the mechanic dumbfounded and speechless. "Get ready to eat it." Swag taunted, or maybe he was actually suggesting something, Sully probably didn't want to know.

 

Sleeping Bear vs. Slumbering Giant

Spoiler

 

Two massive metal beasts faced off against each other from opposite ends of the arena. Sleeping Bear had lumbered forward and lay down on his side, his swarm of bees forming a yellow and black cloud behind him. This would not be a match of power or speed, but one of strategy and control. "Show me what Aries sees in you." Bear told Mommo.

 

Queen vs. Strider

Spoiler

 

Queen's combat outfit was much like Lord's, though it was colored more to his tastes. "I'm counting on you to make this a challenge." He said, "Give it your all, I'm rooting for you." He dropped into a ready stance, feet apart, knees bent, one arm by his side, and the other extended forward with the palm open.

 

Aries vs. Silent Requiem

Spoiler

 

Adam's spherical mech was met in the arena by another spherical mech of similar size. Except the opposing mech didn't rest on the ground, it was held aloft by a massive pair of wheels shaped like a ram's horns. Aries and Silent Requiem had a history, and it wasn't a friendly one. Of all those who had a beef with him, Aries probably had the biggest. This was not going to be a fun fight. "You ready to die, asshole?" Aries sneered over the comms, "Or maybe you want to forfeit now? I'll take your pride in exchange for your life if you want."

 

Ice Gryffin vs. Supernova

Spoiler

 

Supernova entered the arena opposite a half-frozen, part bird, part man, part lion thing. It was necessarily the strangest mech design, in fact it seemed pretty normal, which in term seemed strange for a god. He didn't have much time to contemplate exactly how relevant this was, as Ice Gryffin almost immediately began lauching a hail of frigid ice from its frozen wings. The arena rapidly filled with a curtain of chilling icicles, all headed in Supernova's general direction.

 

(OOC: All finished, yay)

[IntSys]

Supernova VS Gryffin

Tai wasn't exactly in the mood for opening chitchats anymore, so he was somewhat glad that Ice Gryffin had taken the initiative.

He kicked up the engines and accelerated vertically, evading the icicles' assault. As per routine, he strafed around the arena at high speed, building up heat as he took his time to observe Ice Gryffin and his icicles. The Gods were held in high regards in regards to combat; even with the God he was facing being the same little prince from the icy palace, he knew to be more careful.

[Shamitako]

Gryffin

 

Supernova was successful in getting above the towering wall of ice, but this turned out to be to his disadvantage, as the endless blizzard quickly consumed the area he had occupied moment before, preventing him from returning to the ground. Not only this, but the storm of frigid death began to slowly inch higher, further limiting the space Tai had to maneuver. Gryffin still said nothing, silently watching as his attack closed in on his foe. He still couldn't get that sticky tape thing Blink had stuck over his mouth off. He didn't know where she'd gotten it, probably stolen from one of those science groups she liked to raid, but wherever it was from, it was the most annoying thing he'd ever encountered. he just wanted to get this fight finished as fast as possible and get it off of him. Not talking was literally the worst thing ever. Because of this, where he normally would have happily talked with his opponent and given them a fair chance, he instead decided not to hold back. He raised up his main cannon and fired off a round towards Supernova, not directly towards the flying fireball, but rather towards the location he anticipated Supernova would occupy a moment later when the round actually reached him. A massive chunk of solid ice careened through the air, threatening to crush Supernova before the approaching storm could even touch him.

[IntSys]

Supernova

 

The blizzard did not halt, which was somehow amusing to Tai. His opponent seemed to be trying to corner him with ice of all things, after all. He activated his fire shield, enveloping himself in a veil of flames stemming from his accumulated heat. All that was left was to give the prince his kind regards.

He slugged the flying chunk of ice back at Gryffin with a powerful right hook and followed its trajectory at full speed, rapidly approaching him. He held his breath and anticipated a counterattack.

[Shamitako]

Gryffin

 

As soon as Supernova moved to approach, the storm of ice rapidly shifted upwards to target him directly. As his punch had shown, the heat from his Fire Shield wasn't enough to instantly vaporize Gryffin's dense ice. So while the hail would be slightly weakened, it would still deal most of its full damage. This being the case, the endless stream of ice now flying directly towards Supernova would easily batter his weak physical armor and crush his mech, preventing his approach and potentially defeating him right there. He had a quarter second to see this assault coming thanks to the returned chunk of ice momentarily deflecting the shots aimed directly at him, though his extremities would still take an immediate beating.

[IntSys]

Supernova

Tai cracked a smile. After all the ordeals, something was finally going his way. He clenched his fists tight, with his eyes flaring with the fighting spirit that he had with him.
 

With a sudden burst of speed, Tai vanished from the rear of the icy meteorite in the middle of the heavy hailstorm, and quickly reappeared behind Gryffin! He unleashed a flurry of sizzling-hot punches at his frozen wings, aimed upwards to meet the chunk of ice he had thrown in a pincer attack!

6 point Speed bonus - Teleport once per fight [Used]

[Shamitako]

Gryffin

 

Gryffin also cracked a smile, or would have if his mouth weren't taped shut. Supernova's moves were far too predictable. Obviously he would try to get behind Gryffin if he couldn't attack safely from the front. Gryffin was already prepared with his cannon, shifting it so it pointed behind him under his left arm. The instant Supernova went for his wings, the cannon's muzzle pressed directly against his abdomen and discharged, easily smashing Supernova's armor and blowing a hole straight through the flimsy mech. In addition to dealing critical damage to the mech, the attack would also be rather painful for the pilot within as the round passed through his torso on its way.

 

Firepower 6 bonus used

 

Adam

 

Adam wasn't exactly surprised to be fighting Aries, although he'd sort of been hoping his executioner would be Blink, he might be able to reason with her. The Tenth God's odd meeting still weighed heavily on him, he wasn't sure how to handle her story at all. Aries taunting didn't help that much. The whole thing was starting to tick him off. But when he thought about it, fight after fight in this tournament he'd gone in thinking he had an easy win, and fight after fight he'd been crushed like a bug. The only fight he'd won had come by the skin of his teeth and a lot of luck. and compared to Aries, those fights might as well have been a gentle breeze. He didn't stand a chance at winning, fighting was nothing more than a risk. "You know what, I'll take you up on that." He answered Aries. Instead of charging forward, he dispelled his mech and held up his hands. "I forfeit."

[Chevaleresse]

Hiroki took a few deep breaths, deep enough that they were visible even at a distance on the slight girl's frame. They continued as she called her mech, the mobile fortress of dark plating and bristling weaponry lifting her off the ground. Her HUD flickered to life - all systems green, as usual. I can do this. Low armor, glowing gloves mean she's going to be a SMO build. I destroyed too many of those to count to get here. I can do this too. She was fighting to keep herself from cracking under the pressure, not that anyone outside her mech would know; those calming inhalations were dangerously close to panting, echoing through the cramped space of her helmet. Even if she's a god, Lord is just another fighter. And I've beaten every single one I've come up against so far. The jets on her back powered up, straining to lift the Hellfire Knight off the ground. "Set attack pattern beta, modify to concentrate fire on approach vectors." The glow emanating from the mech flared up as the plasma cannons it was festooned with flared to life, bombarding the field in front of her. The spread wasn't quite as, well, spread as her previous attacks, being aimed specifically at making it difficult to for her opponent to move directly toward her. The projectiles themselves seemed to travel almost lazily, rather than with the killing intent of most of her assaults.

[IntSys]

Supernova

Whatever that was, it sent Tai flying through the arena, with a side of a pain that he was all too familiar with.

The inertia carried him all the way to the edge of the arena, with his face kissing the ground along the way. His legs fell off like flimsy sticks after the impact, rolling about just as pathetically as he was.

... And that's that.

 

If anything, he was still working with a quarter of a body and its power. A painful laugh accompanied the realization.

He wasn't sure if there was anything to learn from this, and if any of it would help at all other than repeating the message.
 

He pulled a few strings and adjusted his view to face Gryffin again, and then, as if out of subconscious, he began to crawl.

Edited November 17, 2017 by IntSys

[Shamitako]

Lord

 

Lord kept moving forward, wading into the waves of fire without a second thought. Hiroki's attack seemed to be completely ineffective, Lord didn't even flinch. She just kept walking as if nothing had happened. And though she wasn't approaching particularly rapidly, she was already halfway across the arena, it wouldn't be long before she reached Hiroki. Lord couldn't help but chuckle slightly, the laugh spilling over comms into Hiroki's cockpit. Hiroki was a powerful opponent, Lord wouldn't deny that, but the First God had faced many powerful opponents and come out the victor, this fight would be no different.