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“Bullets more than slightly difficult to dodge, besides I got what I wanted.” He points towards a speck that flies over the forest before disappearing behind the mountain. “That is one of our opponents and hes being taken to Vance. You do remember that we need to kill him first right?”

[Rightful Rulers of Derika]

[ S ] As you enter the arena, you [s]marvel[/s] start whistling a tune which drops off at the monolith before you. Towering above, to the left, to the right, blocking your entire view is a large wooden structure of cataclysmic proportions. It's a mansion. Perfect. It would be best to find the most concealed area possible since a commanding view doesn't seem to be available in this map.

"Come on, it's best if we head inside the building. He can practice on furniture."
[Orion] "Don't I get a say in this?"
[Valen] "Best to leave it up to him. He apparently outsmarted my good friend."
[Orion] "Your friend?"
[Valen] "Smartest guy I know. He made himself a son."
[Orion] "A son?"
[Valen] "Made em from test tubes and circuitry. The guy was an ETG scientist, more or less mooching off their funding. One day he decided he wanted out, so he unveiled his son, had him use his card nonsense to keep everyone in his possession, then blew the place up. He was a schemer for sure, and it all wouldn't have gone down if he hadn't lost a chess game."
[Orion] "Oh really?"
[Valen] "Funny thing is it seems he's been having some issues with him. Being so mechanical and yet having his own consciousness. When his personality shines through he has a tendency to get violent."
[Orion] "I can understand his worry and lament."
[Eliza] "Focus."
[Valen] "Ohwowlookatthatshetalks."

[Eliza] You enter the manor through an entrance lit with an oil lantern hung above the doorway. It appears to be the side of the house. Instantly you are placed in a dusty room with old furniture and a complicated landscape ahead with many doors and stairways in plain sight. You remove your eye, placing it into the custody of your patron plant. and take the lead as the best close-range fighter on your team and begin to scout ahead, ignorant indignant cries coming from the only other front-liner on your team.

[S] "Okay, now try destroying that lamp over there."

[Team Potato Power]

[Nagi] "Panserg, get going. Go straight to the enemy side and wreak as much havoc as possible. Yuugen, fly overhead and scout. Report back here on our opponents and assist Panserg only if needed or if they notice you. If you can't find us, go underground, check the sewers and light the place up as much as you can so we can find you. Amber, Kayne, you come with me, we're gonna check out a building over there."

You point in the direction of the intersection up ahead, to the left. Judging by the geography, you should be fairly close to the water treatment centers and where there's water treatment centers, there's a method of undetected travel. Unused sewers.

[力]

After wandering for who knows how long, you come upon a very large colosseum that draws your attention. Given how long you've been wandering, you entertain the notion that what you're looking for could have been incorporated into a building somehow. Really, you just need an excuse to give way to your curiosity.

As you enter, you are greeted by a receptionist.
[力] "Hey, what is this place?"
[Receptionist] "This is the site of the annual faction tournament. You wouldn't happen to be entering, would you? There's not much time left for entrants."
[力] "Yes, that's right, I'm just here to see what happened."
[Receptionist] "In that case, the only slot left is team ETG 2. Hurry now, go toward the portal over here:"
She hands you a card with a crude diagram of the arena and an arrow pointing to one exit. You look to her in confusion. Something was lost in translation here and you're not sure what.
[Receptionist] "Don't waste time looking at me, hurry, hurry!"
Unsure but rushed, you do as she says, climbing the stairs and looping around the hexagonal field as fast as you can. As you were taught by Ryan, always pick the red pill.

After leaping through the portal on an act of blind faith, you find yourself in an identical arena. However, instead of cheering crowds the likes of which you ignored the first time, there are very few people in this arena. You look back at your card, turning it over and realizing there's an additional set of instructions on the other side.

Reading English would surely come in handy right about now.

Regardless, you follow the directions and find yourself in another room just as the last person in it goes through yet another portal. Shrugging, you dive into the rabbit hole only to find yourself deep, deep in a literal subterranean grotto of shrooms with a large, avatar-esque tree dead center, receiving the only light in the place, filtering down from a relatively small hole above it. You cannot believe this. Places like this exist? This is a perfect place to begin your search!~
Ignoring the four other people there, you take off to the center tree.

[Simply the Worst Patients There Are]

[Jake] "Whoa."
[Zweihänder] "It's fancy, I gotta give em that.
[Jake] "Well... Uh... We can't just stand here gawking."
[Zweihänder] "You're right."
He just stares at you. He just stops and stares at you with a grin you really wish he wasn't wearing.
[Zweihänder] "So anyway, Jake, you're better off in the open. Xiphos, go do whatever. Kira, start blasting. Catboy and Crazymcspikeyhair, go throw a party. I'm out.
[Jake] "Wait what? Where are you going!? Are you going to "take care of the enemy team" now?"
[Zweihänder] "Actually, no, I'm in the mood for a cigarette. Later."
[Jake] "WHAT"
[Xiphos] "Good luck Jake. Come on John help be choose paint colors."
[Jake] "What a mess." You look around yourself. Ven has begun using a shroom as a scratching post. Kira is looking at you expectantly with a bored expression plastered on his face, and Spikymclunatic has begun smiling. "Okay first order of business: spiky hair guy go get em."
He saunters off, devolving into a mad cackle as a bunch of those incomparably unpleasant needles begin to rise around him. You look away.
[Jake] "Kira, why don't we get to the top of the tree? We'd have a much better perspective from there."
[Kira] "Fine by me." He tosses his broom to the ground and hops on it. It starts up with an unholy stream of spark-like flames kicking out the end, propelling him forward immediately and torching the surrounding area. Rather close to torching you. You slap your forhead because my god what an idiot. Now his position is obvious. He basically painted a large target on his head and yours as soon as you join him up there. You sigh, send Ven off to play with shrooms or something as an afterthought, then teleport your way up, giving Kira a piece of your mind as you get there.

~Amber~

She runs into her preparation room, late, but just in time to hear Nagi ask what their powers were.
"Hi hi hi! Sorry I'm late! My name's Amber, and I can make energy weapons!" SHe spilled out, her words tumbling over each other like a waterfall. After she finishes she grins brightly, looking at Nagi.

<Yatsufusa>

From within the dark depths of his unconscious mind, a force could be felt through the eternal darkness, calling for one of us to answer. Someone must have been trying to wake him. I glanced over at the form of the man that was obviously out cold as it was spread out in such a relaxed position on the infinite space that could be called the ground if it were the ground. He twitched in his sleep, but it seemed that he was in no condition to get up and claim control, which was perfect. I gladly accepted the role of answering the call and was jerk forward back into the reality of things.

My eyes snapped open and I immediately searched for the person who had graciously woken me from my slumber. I glanced upward and found myself making direct eye contact with said person. He was the strong, tall, well-built man with fluffy, short, brown hair. His name was…er…L…Lionel? It did not matter. He was recognizably someone from my team. Within moments of reawakening, the pain and strain of the mortal body I was residing in flared. The muscles ached and groaned from overexertion and the bones were rattled and shifted in ways that they probably should not have been shifted. I could barely distinguish the pain of such things from the feeling of where Lionel’s hand rested of my shoulder when he tried to wake me.

I swatted away his hand from my shoulder and muttered a “Thanks” as I attempted to stand up. As I struggled to get myself up off the ground and out of that uncomfortable position, the muscles in my legs gave and I fell into the wall, cringing slightly before the pain subsided. With my dignity on the line, I place my hands on the wall and tried again, taking it slowly, as I successfully stood up. I leaned against the wall, panting. “Don’t concern yourself with me. I am just tired of waiting on everyone and everything,” I barked.

~Amber~

"Hi Panserg!" She said excitedly, waving. Ohmigod I'M SOO EXCITED! She thought, bouncing a little on the balls of her feet. Needless to say, she was a little bit hyper.

~Jake~

You curse your luck.

You are the worst team in Brinkhaven history.

It just all went downhill the moment Kira decided to fire his gigantic dumbass laser. He decided to destroy the entirety of the giant mushrooms encircling the main tree, which he lit on fire while still standing on it. He unknowingly vaporized Ven and trapped John in a burning room made entirely of wood. Of course he was shot out of the sky as you predicted and then you were left alone with Nex. When you were done with defending yourself (Shooting him between the eyes that is...) you couldn't stand the pain you were in. Considering how your entire team was dead and you were in no fighting condition, you decided to just suicide and be done with it.

Still, it wasn't as painful as you thought it would be. Might have something to do with the fact that a bullet has passed through your head before already. Still, it was pretty embarrassing, if not because of the onslaught of onlookers, then because Rigel was laughing hysterically when you got out of the arena.

Simply the best therapist your ass.

~Lì~

In a whirlwind of action you were dragged out of whatever adventure you had gotten yourself into.

Quite disappointingly so.

From what you can tell, the other team outright commit suicide. It puzzles you why they entered in the first place.

Whatever, you can accept a win by default. The sooner you can win and/or not win this tournament, the sooner you can see whether the prize is what you're looking for even though it probably won't be. Still, it's better than searching the city aimlessly.

Or maybe you're wasting time here when you could be searching the city...

Hmm...

Maybe you should go check on that guy who was out to kill you earlier. Perhaps a little investigation can aid your quest.

You recall the instructions (which you have since lost) took you from a crowded stadium to this nearly empty one. You entered from the crowded stadium, meaning you need to get back to it.

Of course, it doesn't work out how you plan and you give up on trying to keep track of where you've been after the 3rd empty stadium. As you take a step through the next door you notice Ryan is sitting in the stands, which confuses you greatly, but also makes you start thinking up a way to explain to him why entering the tournament was a good idea which it isn't dammit why did you enter in the first place?

Well, it hasn't been a week yet, so you suppose you haven't yet failed.

You begin walking up to him from behind when a patch of gold and black in the stadium catches your eye. You were positive that the only one who wears that weird haircut was Ryan, but apparently one of the competitors in a grassy field has the same hair. Despite it being on a woman, it's pretty much the same length as Ryan's hair. Curious, you move over to the next set of stands, hoping to avoid Ryan for a while and start sliding down the stairs to get a better look. As your abilities can tell you, Ryan noticed you anyway and starts following you. You suppose this was inevitable, but at least you can get a better look at this competitor first.

That was what you thought anyway.

~Ryan~

Your name is Ryan.

You don't know why you came. You know it's a waste of time and it only makes you feel worse, yet every year you come back just to watch. Sometimes she wins, sometimes she loses, but she's so much stronger of a person than you will ever be. Sure, she rips apart space-time, but that's not what makes her strong.

...You left her.
You left her to die.

You sigh, complete with the typical downcast closing of the eyes. When you open them you see Lì running straight towards the arena, which is very bad and why the hell is he even here?

You rush after him. You have to keep him away from Shou at all costs.

He seems to pick up his pace to near sprint down the steps. You call his name out loud enough for you to be sure he heard, but he doesn't stop. Dammit, he's running laps around the entire god-damn arena for this.

He keeps getting closer and closer to the arena. When he finally gets to the barrier surrounding it, he just stops and stares. You're about to grab him and spirit him away out of the place when you notice that she's staring back.

Of course.

And now she's staring into your soul.

Fuuuư͚̻̝͉̺̯͈̯̫̟̹͚͍̐͆ͨ͑ͥͫ̉ͣ̈́ͥ̅ͮͩ͆͛͌̌͘͡u̴̶̸̜̙̞̻̜̪̗͓̬̪̘̖͈͖̾̀̆͊̀ų̺̩̜̤̤̤̞̙͕̟̭͔̯͗͐̍̿͞û͑̅ͮ̍̒̈́̔̈́͑̀̋͋̅͐҉̘̪̮͉̖̬̙̯̤̬̳͔͝ư̅̌̉̉̄̉̌͌ͬ̿̋͂͐ͨ̋̑ͩ͢͡҉̝͎̫͍͓̞̥̜̖̦͚͢ͅư̷̸̦̤͍̩͕̤̤̺̔̒ͤu̾͛ͪ͛͊͐̊ͮ̏̂̈͋̆ͨ̒͛͑̚҉̨̭̼͖͎̜͇̰̱̩͚̮̱̤̹̳̫͟͡ͅų̷̺̰̟̜͙̻̰̲̟̟̻̙̩͋̌ͫ͒̿ͨ̈ͮͬ̃͗́u̴ͪ̎͒ͧ͐̄̋̄ͩ̃̂͆̓ͦ̃ͨ̇ͧ́̚͏҉̭̦͈́u͂͊̔̀̔̊ͥͫ̔̐ͦ́͡҉̳̫̣͓̀u̶̢̪̖̬̱̝͖̫͍̓̓̆̽ͥͩ̈̂ͯͤ̈́ͣͨ́ͬ̑̃̒̕ͅũ̷̗͚̟͚̫̦̼̻͖̠̬̩͓̺̤̤̏̉͆ͯ̔ͯ̔ͤȗ̊͗͊ͦ̉̉ͩ̆̇ͪ̚҉̶̧̛̠̤̮̟͈͉͎͕̭̀u͙̹̜̲̭͓͚̬ͤͧͪ̐̚͢͝͝u̸̢̡̗̻̖̜̞̬̬͉͓̳͇̬̬̜̙̰̘͋̊̐ͫ̍̋́̇͗̔̓̋̈̇̈́ͅų̆̅ͦ̊ͮ͐ͪ̔͂ͩ̌ͩ̚͏̵̧̻͔̣͙̺̮̝͔̦͇͓ų̴̟̲̥͚̣̠͖͇̺͚̖͈͙̟̥̋̿̉ͭ̋̕ͅͅu͌̓͛̈́̎̂͒ͩ̋͂͐̃̚͏̸̢̺͈̥͚̙͎̞̺̬̬̳̤̘̀u̧̖̪̠͇̰̠͉̬͉͓ͫ̑̉ͤͨ̓ͥ̔ͪ̃ͪ̔ͮͤ̇̓̌̒͟͡͝ͅu̓́͊ͫ̒͊͛̂ͦ̑̈͑̅͗̿҉̵͇͚̟̟͈̯̥͈̣ͅͅư̾̇͊̔ͬ̄͑̑̓͛̂͗ͣͣ̅̚̚҉̫̹̹̫̘͓͔͉͚͉̰͘ͅu̓͋̑͂̎͊̀ͫͬͬ͑̇ͧͯ͌ͨ͏̴̣͉̖̼̱̯̩̗̠͇̯̞͢͝u̴̴͚͇̤̳̥͚͍̖͙͓̦͍̟͂̏̄̉͒̔̕u̵̴͕̘̱̜̪ͪ̊̅̾̽̃̃ͪ̌͐̍̀̚͜͢ṳ̴̢͍̟́͆̑̒̊̔̇͗ͭ́̉̀̚̚̚uͬͧͫ͗͒͂̒̍͏̷̡҉̘̻͇̖̬̫̜̝̞̩u̮̩͚̮̣̤ͭ̇̑̐͜͢͞ư̢̰͍̺͎͇͖̣̼͈͈̰̰͕̲̙̲̎̋̂͑̂͗͗͂ͦ͛̚͞u̴̸̶̫̖̜̥̫̳̝̦̅̍̃ͭͣ̐̎̍̐̐̄̈̈́ͪ͢͝ͅͅú̵̢̯̠͇͚͔͔͓͕͐͂̌ͥ͞ų̵̷̰̲̞̰̭̦̝̣͔̟̱̳̪̟ͬ̇̓͌ͫ̒ͦ̋̍ͧ͛̾ͤ̈͑͂̅̈́̿u̧ͩ͊̑̇̐̚͏͔̥̺̠̣͕͚̠͜ͅụ͖͕͉͎̺̻̲̳͍̫̩̼̗̣͎ͧ̌̃̏͂ͯͫ̒͑ͩͬ̌̈́̓͘͘͢ͅũͪ͊͑͗͗̑̾̚̚҉͏̟̘̭͎̬͈̲̻̗ų̸̲̲͍͔͎̱̮ͭ͛͑ͧ̑̅́́u͂ͧ̄͐̈ͪ̈́̑ͩ̉ͭͩͭͦ҉͏̶͜҉̯̠̤̝̖͍̲̩̬͖̥̹̜̫͈̪͕̗ͅūͦ́ͦ̔ͤ҉̵̧̛̛͖̠͈͙̤u̷̶̢ͫ͆̒̆ͤ̎ͤ̌ͧ͢͏̺̱̙̫͔̥͍̮̩̗͎̹͖͕u̵̧̓ͩ̈ͧͫ̅͏̵̰̮͉͚̭̣͔̝̗u̷̴͗̓ͦ͂ͬ̾ͭ̾̾͘͏̭̹̠uͬͩ̐ͩ̎̈́ͫ̕͏̸̥̥̪̦̠͔̩͎̞̲̟̘̝̯̼̗̰̻ͅu̵̡̗̪̤̣͔̪̤̙͍͍̳̥̮͌̈́ͨ̎ͪ̓͌ͭ̽ͭ̀̓ͫͮͥ̇̔͒ù̴̧̦̥͚͈̞̫͖̱̝̩̠̫̹͈͓͖͂ͦ̀̏̌̂̾̒̑͢͝u̷̗̻̭̰̤͖̱̞̟̺̥͖̫̝̹͎͐ͯ̃ͫ̕u̖͈͕̙̱̺̟̗̻͈̹͕̯ͩ̇̾̄͛ͧ̏̿͂̋ͪ͋̆̾̂̆ͯ͑́́u̧̨̜̺̩̗̙͖̺̰͌͊̊̇ͦ̓́̉͗̆ͧ̒̓̈́̒̊̔̚u̸̷̻̟͚͚̤̫̰̗̪̗̹̼̭̖͍͍̔̅ͮ̑͗̃̆̎͐̆̌̌͘̕͜ų̘̩̼̘̱̻͓̙ͥ͑̎ͧ̀̍̄̄̓ͮͣ͠u̸̪̫̳͕̬͙͕̱̜͇̫̺̯͇̹͇͖ͯ̓̌̐ͩ̓̈́͒̒͊ͧ̈͜͜ü̵̜̝̟̳͚̠͎̦͓̼͓̠̞͚̇̊͐̊͒̉̓u̸̶̶̥̣̘͕̥̟̺͕̘̺̝͚̞̱̪͎̣̻̝͆̅̂̒̓̒ͨ̑̚u̴̶̢̼̮̥̞͔̗ͤ͊ͩ̎̎̎̑͢u̴͓͍̼̞̦̜̯̦̱̼̹̺̮͎̼͚̬͖͗͗̔̍̈́́ͅu̗̯̜̩͖̦̲̫̦̳̙̮̱̞͋̾̎ͫ̑͂̇͛̍͢u̶̡̡̧̨͎͍̫͈̮͈̮̖̟͕̤̗͚̞̞͕̮ͯ̀ͧͩ̑̾̌ͨͮͪͭͪ͊ų̴̥̘̙̩̞̭̍̽̃ͮ̑ͨ̋̂͗̿ͩͩ͆ͅu͚͎̫̞̠̠̪̹̰̭ͤ͂͌̒̓ͫ͜͟u͉̮̩̮̦͙̟͇͖̞͕̺̬̰̐ͪ̑̆̈ͧ̑́͢͞ü̸̬͎̱̗̟̟͍̜̘͎̘͉̣̱̥̬̼̤͑̃̋͊ͤͭͩ́ͥͩ̾̍͛̾̆̄́͢͢͝u̶ͣ̓ͥͤ̐̇̽̔̾͐ͭͮ͞͏̛̩͕̩̝̱̲͖̞̘̥̼̰̬͔͞ṳ̴̢̱͇̝̟̦̝̥̱̮ͯ̄̑̆̂ù̷͍̯̻̰̬̟̩̣͔͐̄ͦ̓ͦ̌͊̏ͮ̀͜͝u̶̜͍̙̫͖͎̯̤̼̝͙̯ͩ̂̓̃ͮͣ̃́ͅư̥̝̪̭̝̩̫̼͍̳͔̪͍͍̙̓̈͌͗̎ͩ̇̎̑͊ͦ͆̀͘͠ų̵̡͉̟̯̘̘̯͔̩͕͈̙̅̒ͭ̅͊ͬ̊̈̊ͬ͗͂ͭͩͨ̀͠u̷̶̩̻̺̩̖͖̟̣ͦ͑̃ͥ͞ư̡̳̩̬͍̥̪̪ͩ̀ͤ̉̓ͥ̌ͩ͛̔̚̚ũ̸̧͕͔͍̫͍̰̣̪̟͖̙ͨ̅̄͆̀̌̋̋̅͗̐͐ͨ̒̎̀ͦ̀̀̕ͅuͣ̀̍͛͟͏̪͖̥̤̞̖̞u̳̝̠̜̼̭̩̥̪̳̬̘̱͕̼͔̻͊̿̉̋̕͠ͅͅü̒̉͆ͫ̌̊̅̈̊͐͒̄҉̵̦̭͎̰͙̗͈̪͉̙͉̻͚̗̰̪̘͍ū̔̒̏̋͊̀̓̇̈ͭ̔̽̕҉̨̜͓̼͈̜͎̀͝ͅu̶͈͖̣̩͚̗̼̫̪̥̞̝͚͚̟͓͐ͭ̌͑̾ͣ͐̍ͩ̿̅̿̇͒ͬ̓̐ͪ̚͘ǔ̸͚̯̟̙͕͇͎͖̇̄̾̓ͥ̏͐̆̿̓ͪͭͦ̓ͨ͌̔ͥ́͘͟͡ŭ̞͎̦̮ͦ̽ͪ̇ͯͯ͆ͨͭ͟͠u̮͚̜͉͔̝̦̜͓̤̩̱͐̊͋ͥ̾̊͗̔́͒͗̿͊ͨ͒̚̚͜u̘̮̟͗ͪ̒͗̃͛ͬ̊ͤͬ̀͘͟͞͡u̒̋̃́̒̌ͭ͘͟҉̜̝̼̺̤̟͖̦̝̬̜̘̟û̵̗̩̳̯ͦͦͣ͡͡ͅu̴̷̡͙͓̫̬̲̫͇͙͙̝͇̺̞̝̒̾̔͗̿̒͊̾͐͆̽̑͌͟͞û͑͒̓ͧ̍͐ͫ̒͒́̕͜͡͏̼̰̙̪̲̳̹̖̺ụ̶̳̺̭͈̤̝͉͍͍̱̬͓͕͙͍͓̊̐ͥ̊̾́u̮͈͕͓̞̲̖̜̜̮̹̳̙̇̆̏ͪͥ̔͂̊͂̓ͤ̍͋͒ͭ̚̕͜͞uͥ̓̌̉̌̄ͦ̽͠҉͇͍͇͍͖̩͓̲̲̲̪̬̖̙̕͡ũͣ͂ͭ͋ͣ̋̈́̆ͫ̃͋͒ͯ͘͏̼̘̻̳̖̫͎͖͉̤u̧̧̩̦̲̫̞̹̩̬̼̘͇̓̌̅̍̍̋ͤ̓̀̀̚ͅǔ͊͗͗̅͑͐ͩ̂͊̏ͫ̆̓͗͂̚̚̚҉̶̶̢̤̟̥̫͉̰̻̦͉͎͡ͅü̸͙͇̥̞̣͚̯̖̜̜͛̄̓ͨ͑̇̔̽͑̆̇ų̶̷͍̩̘̰͗̑ͣͩ̒͗̈̉͞ų̸̡̘̫̱̜̟͎͕͙̘̮̠̱͔̫̗͉̜̞͓ͧ͒̈́̇̌ͥ̄ͮ̏͋̓̾͐̄̉͜u̼͙̟̭̤̝͆̾̋́̽͒̉̽ͤ͢͝u͌̾͊̍̈́ͭ̀̄҉̡͝͏̝̝̠̯͕̱͞ǔ̴̲͚̞̟͖̝̲͐͒ͪ̾ͩ̄̄̉̌͊̍̓̈́͟ụ̸̞̭̤̲̹̪̘̖͍̹͕̱̤͙̮̣̜̌͑̋̽̅ͯ̀ͅŭ̧͙̙̦̬̳̯͓̝͈̲̬̰̝̺͕̰ͬ̂͊͐ͤ̊̊̍̚ͅu̸̢̡͍͕̪̻̹̩̬̲̯ͣ̉̽̒ͫͩͣ̇͑̅͑͊̉ͭ͆̏̅͢͡ũ̂̌ͭ̀̅ͮ͋͟҉̹̫̙͍̥̣̝̘͚͖͓̜̝̺̩̝̱̲u̧͖̰̤̪̘͇͉͔̱͙̩̥ͤͣͧ̊̓ͧ͐ͫͧ͘͠͝ū̽̾̿̀͛̈́͘҉͍̬̲̟̠̣͎͢͡ų̨̬̪͕̞̣̀̑ͬ̽̐ͥ́ͭ̀ͮ̊̅̾̋̄͒̂͑̀͟͠ụ̸̶̧̞̩̭̲̹̭̿͛͗̈́̃̀u̵̧̘̣̖̪̹͍̜̣̰̩̥̰͔̾̎̄̒ͣ͗͆͋̎͌ͫ̄ͯ̏͌͗̉̚̚͘͢͝



You never finish the thought because too soon you're pulling Lì out of the way of the sharpest projectiles known to man.

Ripped straight through the unbreakable barrier they set up for these things. After all, nothing can stop reality.

You can plainly see that Shou has grown agitated at your presence.

Very agitated.

So agitated in fact that you fear for Lì's life. Not your life, no, that's just not your style. Still, things are going to get really bad.

Like, damn. You don't think she would kill everyone on the island, but she has changed ever since... you left her...

~Shou~

You were a good girl.

You marched on, rolled with the punches and kept yourself sane through everything. You built a bridge and got over it. You stopped caring. You became the unholy menace amongst your peers and the most potent offensive force Iradia had available to her, yet here you are. Breaking down again over the same damn thing.

IF HEAVEN AND EARTH COMBINED, IF HELL FROZE OVER AND THE GODS UNLEASHED ARMAGEDDON IT WOULD NOT BE ENOUGH TO SAVE HIM FROM YOUR WRATH.

You start to pull.

Simply pull. You rip, you shred, you pour all of your hatred and all of your anger into the simple gathering of reality around you.

BRINKHAVEN SHALL TAKE NOTICE OF YOUR WRATH.

No barrier can hold you. You make a way through in moments.

You start ripping, creating a path upward toward that worthless ass. No one can follow. You've ripped up most of the arena into shards by now, along with the space around all of Derika, working your way inward. He will not escape this time.

"RYAN!"

When you actually get to the window out of the barrier you've created, he's already fleeing, dragging a boy with a strange hat along with him.

He won't get away.

You launch a stream of shards at him. He evades with a ridiculous roll to the side, tossing the kid forward and letting the shards shred up the stands instead. Well, he didn't get rusty at least. Wouldn't be as satisfying if he died so fast. You're probably going to have to trap him first. Accordingly, you start ripping where he stands. But of course, he's dodging into another arena and you follow with a cloud of death on your heels.

You begin ripping the area surrounding the bottom arena. He will not escape. It is going to happen. He will die, and nothing is going to stop you!

At best you'll let Iradia keep him around so you can have something to take your anger out on. Either way he's not going to survive. There is no god damn way.

~Ryan~

After diving into the doorway you're already rushing to the next and tossing Lì in, ignoring his confused outcries. Just as well, soon you're dodging more of the shards of death Shou is throwing at you.

You really are screwed.

You dive into another doorway again, but of course you can't outrun her while avoiding the shards she takes from around you to trip you up. Tip-toeing your way through rough patches and dive-rolling through the stands, you try your best to stay as far out of her reach as you physically can. (Which is just barely enough not to have your faced ripped off forcibly)

Upon finally reaching the ground arena, Shou still right behind you, you find the entire thing enveloped in a barrier of ripped reality. Everyone in the audience is panicking and at this point you're starting to worry she'll do something rash.

At least with more people she has less opportunity to trip you up, so you take advantage of that to rush into another doorway, taking you back up into the arenas in the sky, jumping on the heads of a few people in your way in the process.

You know that breaking the heart of a gifted woman can result in some pretty bitter vengeance, but this is just ridiculous.

A few more dives through doorways and you're on the stadium second highest off the ground. With a couple of well-placed steps and a swing over the end, you find yourself jumping off of the arena. Frankly, surviving this fall is the only way you'll live. Only with your new vantage point however do you realize that she's enveloping the whole god damn island.

You don't know how the hell you're supposed to resolve this. Hell, you don't know how you're going to land safely. Especially with the stream of flaming hot death directly behind you and a wall of ripped reality below you.

On the upside, you probably look really cool right now.

~Lì~

You don't know what's happening, but it's apparently important enough to warrant Ryan using himself as a decoy for you. This irks you to no end. You went out of your way to be self-sacrificing for your guardians before, and now he thinks he can do that to you and get away with it? The greedy jerk.

You try to go back through the portal he sent you through, but of course he's no longer there. All that remains are pathways of white. The 3-dimensional holes are rather peculiar, but you have no time to waste analyzing whatever's going on. All you can do is try to chase them down and deal with whoever that woman was.

You follow the path, which leads to another arena and continues into another, then another, and another, then back into the arena you were just in, then another, and a this point you stopped counting. Eventually you come upon a scene in which the woman is over the edge of an arena with streams of odd glass-like structures collecting from everywhere and over her, downward. You've seen how the white stuff blocked off areas, so you take a hunch that Ryan jumped off the damn arena. It would be so much like him. If this is indeed how the case, you are going to punch him in the face.

Using just a bit of 巽 you propel your self upward. You lay down a foundation with 艮 to get into position, and with a touch of 巽 and 離 you spin vertically backwards.

旋轉起重機踢!

Announcing your attacks is a sure way to make them stronger. Ryan said so.

The kick connects directly with her jaw in a way you almost regret. You fail at chivalry. It's official. She staggers off of her platform only for her to create a new one almost immediately. The shards of evil disrupted themselves and she struggles to get them back into formation. You at least have the honor to let her get ready, completely ignoring whatever was going on below.

Of course she just locks you in a wall of that white stuff without a word.

Feh. Walls can't hold you. First you try punching one. It hurts your fist. After recovering you try weakening the walls with some 坤 and charging your fist with 震. It still hurts. Tired of punching walls, you take some more drastic measures. Considering that you can replenish your 乾 rather easily once out of this place your go ahead and expend your entire supply on one blast.

Heaven Sign「Expansive Energy」
You gather all of the 乾 available to you and prep it.
1, 2, 3.
You radiate it out of you, without enough room to form a complete orb with the proper size. Contrary to expectations the energy does not destroy the white walls and you essentially hurt yourself with your own energy as they bounce back at you with nowhere to go.

Once your 乾 is exhausted you can't really do anything but fall to the ground, tired and having difficulty breathing.

These aren't exactly walls are they?

~Ryan~

You don't know how it happened, but the shards above you disorganized themselves. Thankful for the platform that was supposed to stop you from reaching the forest, you roll on it to break your fall, (which hurts a lot more than you thought it would) and jump off the end to the forest a bit below, brushing off the shards landing on you, lucky that none that touched you had their sharp edges against you.

When you reach the forest floor, (the roll this time you think you're going to need either a masseuse or a doctor to fix) you're quick to hide amongst the foliage. Shou of course is down near you in a heartbeat and when she finds that she lost you is when she really loses it.

Your entire vision starts fading to white as Shou screams. The last thing you see is her screaming figure surrounded by a cyclone of pure red shards.

~Rana~
"Xheskha"
"Yes Rana?"
"You lost the bet."

~Rachael~
To be honest you fell asleep while watching the matches. You feel bad about it. Really, you do. Still, you don't think you deserved Rigel yelling in your ear only to wake up to a sky and arena quickly fading to white. You tried shutting your eyes to block out the brightness, but all you could see was white.

Then you couldn't see anything.

((Continuation here. OOC thread here.

You'll have to make an account on the Starbound forums but it's still connected to whatever site hosts both. Case in point being my profile pic somehow loaded on Starbound Forums automatically which was nice.

I hope to see you guys there!))