Epic Clash - COMPLETE!

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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Actually, he's just resurfaced. Whether he's still interested in continuing with this is another matter, though...

Originally posted on MSPA by suomynonAyletamitlU.

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I noticed his profile said he'd been online... but he hasn't made any posts, so I assumed he was still mostly gone. Has he been in chat or something?

Originally posted on MSPA by Wojjan.

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My two cents: PM him on the matter, and wether he rejoins this on his own accord or not, he will be dealt with according to the standerds that count in grand battle. Not posting will ultimately result in his character's death.

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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I noticed his profile said he'd been online... but he hasn't made any posts, so I assumed he was still mostly gone. Has he been in chat or something?

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He's been posting under his other name, Cactuseater. It might be better to PM that account to get his attention.

Originally posted on MSPA by Wojjan.

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Guys, this clearly isn't going anywhere fast. If we so can, let's wrap up this round.
Nevertheless, I'm gonna work on a larger post to get everyone on the tightrope. Let's get moving people!

“Haa... ha ha ha...”
“I'm warning you now Glere, don't test me. You're going to regret it.”
Both at the ready with a merciless sharp sword in hand, the fight had to be delayed for an alarm to ring. The most monotonous voice rang out:
“Attention all participants: The Tag cases in play will implode in 2 minutes and ring a buzzer to sign the end of the game. Those who are It at that time will feel a warm burn from the gel falling onto them and shortly after get covered in a hard, wax casing.”
Amongst the shouting the voice continued, highly uninterested: “The game will soon end. Please carry on.”
“That means…”
“Wait…”
“No!”
“Raaaaargh! Face me, demons, and have your souls vanquished by Emilio Nahaz!” The fight continued with an unexpected twist. The young man who was quite full of himself completely misunderstood the situation. Asteira saw her chance to strike, as low as she learned in her political career, but yet, the device was in Glere's left pocket, so to call it. Reaching with the right hand would raise suspicion, but he was already crazy, but wouldn't it seem out of line? What if…
“Glere.”
“Yes, my dear?”
“The device. Where'd you put it?”
“Oh, I was wondering when you'd notice. You see, maybe I'm not all that crazy after all? Hoo hoo hoo!”
“Glere, I think you'd agree that tagging Emilio right now is in the best sense for both of us. Release that left hand so I can finish this game. He'll never notice, he's in that bubble of his, and…”
“Do you really think I'd let you take over so quickly? I'm not crazy you know!”
Again with that laughter. “Glere, do you want to die? There things will explode soon, and with all those explosives no doubt hidden in your cape it would be enough to destroy everyone here.”
“Aaaaand?”
“That includes you. Surely in your insane mind is there some sort of—“
There was a heavy distortion, and a jetting pain felt by both. Asteira lost some control over Glere as his hip began to grow numb. Well, depending on the point of view it could just as well regain feeling. She had to multitask.
“What's the matter, Glere, you wanted this fight. Fight!”
“Ha ha ha! Okay!” She leapt forward with whatever she could still, and tried to score a devastating hit one Spender, who promptly set off a protective shield. “Hey! No fair! This is a fight between honourable men and…”
“And if you don't cooperate right now the fight I'm having is useless! Just reach for that device and tag him with it. It's…”
“It's not what you think, Emilio!”
“Silence, sinners! This world isn't for you to live in! This battle has been an opportunity, a plea for me to rid the world of the evils of this world as I have done many times before!”
“Could you shut your mouth for a second and stop jabbing my shield? You'd notice I'm on your side!”
“Hey Emilio, Spender thinks you're an aiiirheeead!”
“You airhead! Won't you just listen to reason?”
“But I'm crazy like that!”

***

“Michelle, watch out!” “Nothing? What are you-“ “When you fell. And Thomas too, he… That device he tagged you!” “What? How…” “Those monitors. They said so. It's south of here, run!”
“Why are you helping me?” “Your time isn't now. Hurry!”
They both set off south, hoping to run into the rubble in time. On their way, Nothing took a little side track to junk his device into an unsuspecting statue. He knew it was on the way anyway.

FUYUHIKO DATE

“Here it was, start digging!”[/background] They both took away the large clusters of debris, in the nick of time finding the buried ball. There wasn't much time left, and any sane person would feverishly start looking for a statue to slap their device onto, but Michelle was intent on revenge.

***

“Thomas! You low-down no-good teabagger! ” In a swift lunge of her arm, Michelle sent the device she picked up earlier back at him, flying right at Eric's anguished eyes. They had nothing to fear though. They were still registered on that device, and couldn't be tagged back. She knew. They knew she knew. They ducked anyway to make sure of no physical impact, and in retrospect that was the worst move possible. Nothing stood there, grinning widely as their little plan ended perfectly. "Here's to you, Thomas! How dare you play this game so dirty? You're no better than that zombie girl or anyone else here." The ball made contact, and the slots rolled over. It was their best shot to run away, Walt reasoned. He seized control of Thomas' body and rushed off into the mist. They soon spotted a statue of a slim boney figure and shoved the oval doomsday apparatus into it. Inside the indent the rotary slots started rolling around like a madmen, each on its own speed and way, to reveal a new name:

LUTHERION MAW

“Is this the best strategy? Just abide by that man's rules?” “We have no choice! Once we're faced with death, we're all going to feel the need to survive. What Spender said was right. Once faced with the position in which you would do better to die and save the people, will you still keep to that word? We aren't soldiers, Eric.” Walt felt a relentless disappointment in himself, it wasn't like him to lose track of ethics. It's the way of nature, he thought.[/background]

***

The fight went on endlessly, now two against one. The scratches Glere accumulated added up to leave Asteria with little to no control.
“S-sp-ender… She's in there. That ghost girl, she still has control of my, err… right hand. Hit me there, please!” She had to act quickly and unnoticeable. With nearly no sound she rummaged through the cape with the only hand that remained available to her, and finally reached the device of her own.
Gently tapping it against Emilio, barely making contact, she tossed it away in the arena, hoping no one came across it. She left Glere's body.
“Oh great, when Glere took damage on any body part I lost control over that one. That swordplay was my worst idea ever. At least I'll live to see the next round, unlike some certain other. Enjoy the downpour, everyone. Heh heh heh!"
"What in the world..."

EMILIO NAHAZ

Device tracker for good measure.
Asteira -> Euryale
Michelle -> Asteira -> Emilio
Thomas -> Michelle -> Nothing -> Thomas -> Lutherion Maw
Babel -> A statue
Nothing -> The Doctor
Glere -> A statue
Spender -> A statue[/spoiler]

Originally posted on MSPA by suomynonAyletamitlU.

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It's up to y'all.

I mean, I think it's clear I'll respond to about anything, but I guess not so much with the others? I guess?

Also, if anyone thought otherwise, I never contacted Babel. I'm kind of a shy person, and figured it was not really my job.

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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I have been informed that the effort is being made to contact him. And the next round is ready to go once the matter of Babel's continued participation is resolved, one way or another.

Unofficially, I'd say you can feel free to put Emilio in a tight spot in the meantime, however.

Originally posted on MSPA by Baphomet.

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Status update:

I'm sorry you guys have been stalled here for a long time. I'm still alive and so is MyifanW, last time I checked. The third round is ready to go, we just have to end this one. MyifanW is ending this round, and last time I talked to him, the consensus was that two, possibly three eliminations were happening. As far as I know, the only thing stopping it from happening this second is we're waiting on a response from babel.

Originally posted on MSPA by Wojjan.

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I'll keep whatever you two do with those devices up to yourselves, but I really wanted to rush the inactive people into relieving them of their devices so we can get to the rushing part of the round. Come on guys, we can make this work!

Originally posted on MSPA by suomynonAyletamitlU.

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Also, oh, goddamnit, I didn't see that Wojjan edited that last post with an entry. I was sure I checked it like a day later or something and there was nothing.

I can respond to that in a bit if we aren't going to change gears quickly

EDIT: Also I gave mine away to a statue earlier and trapped them underground.

Originally posted on MSPA by McBatman.

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Likewise with mine. Except stuck upside down in a snare.

Originally posted on MSPA by Wojjan.

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fixed then. anyone can pick up that ball and start the game you know. I just threw it to Emilio to force him into action.

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Oh and just so you know if no one is gonna sign up this could just as easily mean the end of this round. You can work with it.

Originally posted on MSPA by MyifanW.

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So yeah, I give up on Babel.

can I get a quick status report on the locations of all the... batons, to make it easier for me to figure out the loopholes required to kill at lest two people?

Originally posted on MSPA by suomynonAyletamitlU.

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There were like 4 'batons' in Wojjan's last post... but prior to that:

Babel/Emilio gave his away here (to a damaged statue)

I/Spender gave mine away here (that statue is buried underground)

McB/Glere gave his away here (that statue is snared upside-down and drowning?)

Wojjan/Asteira gave her original to Euryale, who I confined, but she may not be defeated yet.

Which should only leave three... so I don't know why there were four in Wojjan's post...

Oh, the first one in Wojjan's was supposedly from Emilio. That's why the numbers don't add up.

This is all rather confusing.

Originally posted on MSPA by Pinary.

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Device tracker for good measure.
Asteira -> Euryale
Michelle -> Asteira -> Emilio
Thomas -> Michelle -> Iwayn
Babel -> Mcihelle -> Thomas -> Lutherion
Nothing -> The Doctor
Glere -> Some jerk
Spender -> A statue

Originally posted on MSPA by Wojjan.

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I entirely forgot the part where Babel gave his away. It was so long ago too.

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EDIT: Fixed it!

Originally posted on MSPA by McBatman.

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Spender stared blankly, confused as to what had just happened. However, it was long enough for him to drop his defenses and-AUGH! His arms were pinned and he was lifted up in the air by the fishbowl headed monstrosity, who proceeded to... spin him around in the air, singing... joyfully. Spender rolled his eyes.
"What are you doing?"
"THAAAANK YOOOOOOU! I know I'm crazy,and so what if I hear voices, but at least I know they're mine! That was just... GUH!" Glere let Spender go, shuddering now that Astirra was gone. He looked for the floating specter. Suddenly, the jovial smile disappeared off his face, with a strangely grim look. He turned his head slowly to Spender.
"I'll make you a deal." Glere said, suddenly blocking a downward slash from Emilio.

"Bah! A lucky blow, nothing more you disgrace of a man!" Emilio shouted, swinging furiously at Glere, who was suddenly parrying strangely well.
"So the abomination has gotten some gusto, eh? No matter, I shall recount the day of your slaying to my grandchildren as they gaze upon your head hanging over my mantle!"
Glere reached into cloak, quickly pulling out several round orbs with short fuses already lit. He tossed them behind him as he caught Spender by the collar again, running away as several clouds of acrid smoke exploded behind him.
"ENOUGH!" Spender shouted, ripping Glere's hand off him. He had a time for play, and a time for business. This was definitely a time for business.
"You said something about a deal, what? Don't make me some silly offer like a rubber chicken or-"
He suddenly leaned in close to Spender, tossing the falchion back into his cloak, lifting his hands up.
"You want to take a shot, feel free. I won't stop you, as you can tell I'm not in the mood for games here."
Spender narrowed his eyes. This was unusual, even for this... creature.
"...alright, you have 10 seconds."
"Help me get that undead miscreant out of the fight, and I'll do what I can to get you to the last round, whatever means necessary." he said, no humor in his tone.
Spender stared for a moment. Did this clutz realize what he was saying?
"You do know what you're promising, right?"
Glere nodded silently.
"No one plays those kind of games with me." he said, suddenly pulling the falchion out again, barely blocking another lunge from Emilio who had dove through the smoke.
"THINK ABOUT IT!" Glere shouted as he suddenly jumped back again, throwing several more smoke bombs down.
Spender covered his face with his arm, as the smoke cleared, he could see Glere hopping off on moonshoes again.

Originally posted on MSPA by MyifanW.

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"...It's his time..." The skeletal Nothing could feel death coming- his scythe was attempting to guide itself to it's target, Emilio. Through his hollowed eyes, Nothing could see the cyclone of karma cycling around the golden knight, ready to implode on its center at any moment. In Nothing's hightened sense of life and death, he found Emilio's raging karmic backlash to be... Incredible.

Nothing had never seen anything like it. A normal soul's karma was a mere wave, a ripple in the ocean of life. Emilio's, though, shook the space around him- he was someone who the universe held in highest esteem, someone who, in normal, even abnormal circumstance, was not meant to die.

But this was an extraordinary circumstance, and he was going to die- and the flow of karma didn't seem happy about it. It was violently rending the solidity of the universe, dragging open a path back to its own place- a power that could be exploited. Mr.Nothing would have grinned if he could.

"Funny how death is the only way we'd get outta here..."

"huh?" Michelle chimed in.

"Huh? Oh. Go tell everyone we're leaving, and gather them over here."

"What are you talking about?"

"Yes, we're getting outta here! Right now." Nothing's skin was growing back, but he stunted it. He was going to have to mantain form for a little while.

"how-" Michelle began, but then shook her head. "Forget it, I don't understand your Reaper mumbojumbo. But, If you got a way out, then... Well, I can't do much but trust you I guess!"
She glanced over towards the direction of Emilio and the rest. Smoke was drifting upwards, and the people in it obscured. "I'm not really sure how I'm going to get their attention, though..."


Nothing stared in the same direction. The smoke billowed upwards, and Emilio's karma spun wildly. "Yeah, don't worry about it," He said absently. It wasn't entirely necessary for the others to know that they were leaving- he just needed to make sure that nobody interfered with him.

"Alright, I got it. Stay here for a bit, please, and try to follow me when you see me again." Nothing paused. "uhm, that wasn't entirely logical, but just remember it."

Without waiting for an answer, he spread his skeletal wings and took flight.

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


As the smoke cleared, Emilio Nahaz suddenly found himself without any enemies. Each and every one of them had fled, and he stood alone.

"Ha! They fear me, do they? Dogs, unwilling to bite back? I flick of my wrist, a slight dispatch would have more than sufficed..." He stopped immediately, noting a baton on the ground. A shock went through his mind. Carefully, he turned it around to face him with his blade.

EMILIO NAHAZ

For the first time in a long time, Emilio had nothing to say. He was nothing but bewildered, and out of his element. His life was ticking away, and he had no demons to cut down, no dragon to slay. His blade, cold, hard and deadly- useless, wasted, so suddenly.

His loss was only for an instant, though. He had a precious minute. He had saved kingdoms and crushed them in the same amount of time. He scanned around him quickly. The Clown he was dueling with was escaping, much faster than Emilio could pursue. The other man, with whom the clown seemed to converse, had already fled from before him. The running girl was standing at a distance, watching. Doubtlessly, she'd escape if he stepped in her direction. The only one he could lay hands on was...

"Hey."


...The Angel of Death above him, it seemed. Fitting one would come for Emilio. He laughed heartily, but briefly- he understood his time constraints. It was good the angel came- he was lost without an opponent hindering his way. Lifting his blade, He directed his entire presence towards Mr. Nothing. Instantly, he closed the space between him and the reaper, and swung straight down. The swift blade bit into Nothing's finally drawn scythe, managing to chip the instrument that was meant to last an eternity.

Surprised, Nothing was sent flying backwards, trying to regain control of his center of gravity. Taking his thrown weight into a drift, he glided backwards down into a more forested area. Desperately, with his life on the line, Emilio chased him. Fallen branches crunched under his feet. Each step made a solid indentation in the ground. Although Emilio had lost his visual of the reaper, he knew that his direction was correct. He had the feeling that he always had, a burning feeling. Nobody but he could understand it, but it was all his, his knowing. Destiny had a path for him, and all he needed to do was carve the obstacles out of the way.

Emilio had no doubt, none at all... He knew he had a great destiny.

Ahead of him, Nothing had landed improperly, stumbling on a root. Wasting no time, Emilio stepped in widely. Time slowed for him. He could see every speck of mist that trickled along the floor, every falling leaf forced from its stem by the reaper's hasty decent. Right in front of him, he could see Mr.Nothing's Slowly widening jaw, about to say something, his bleached white skeleton, its loose effort to raise it's scythe, and his stumbling feet, looking for a foothold. What he couldn't see, however, was the smile that crept across his mouth. In a single thrust, Emilio promptly skewered Mr. Nothing, and forced the flailing body against the trunk of a tree.
Instantly, it was over. Success. Actualization. Around him, he could hear the voice announcing the final countdown Emilio threw his hands up into the air, in empty exultation. To the heavens, he shouted.

"Space, time! Understand that there is nothing that can hinder Emilio Nahaz's way!"

...and then, he felt his legs get heavy. Looking down, he felt an accumulation. Stray particles of the white mist were gathering over his legs, draping them in white. Absently, he realized that the time had just ended, and he was the "loser." But, he thought, looking at Nothing, he would be fine. This was a dead man, after all- the other condition for ending the round. He wasn't going to be trapped here.

Emilio had no doubts.



"Sorry, but you are going to die. I'm surprised, really, that you can fight that fate so violently here." Nothing's cold, dead voice remarked.

With some effort, Mr. Nothing pulled the blade out of his chest, and threw it into the ground.

"Really, I'm sorry, but it's over."

Mr. Nothing clicked his scythe open and lifted it above his head, as the white mists inhibited more and more of Emilio's body.

"Don't worry though- I'm pretty sure your soul is going back to where it needs to be. I'm banking on that, at least."




A crushing despair fell on Emilio- the weight of finality, something that he had never even considered, something that had always been the furthest thing from his mind. Honestly, he had never considered his journeys ending. Not even once. Even now, he wasn't entirely sure that he was done.

...But Emilio knew exactly who he was.

"Wait." He stated.

He stepped forward, shattering the wax that had connected his legs to the ground, and pushed Mr.Nothing's Scythe away as it hesitantly came down.

"I am Emilio Nahaz. I've ended kings and kingdoms, demons and their dragons, and every single being I felt unworthy of surviving to see the next moment. I stand above all others. There are none with more worth than I. Emilio Nahaz is a legend all in one."

Emilio grasped his sword for the last time, unhindered by Mr. Nothing, who couldn't help but watch.

"If I am at an end, I shall be ended by nobody but myself."

In a single motion, Emilio Nahaz turned the blade and drove it into him own torso.

Choking on the blood, he gritted his teeth and stood up straight, ripping the blade back out of his body, and threw it back into its sheathe. Wiping his blood from his mouth, he crossed his arms and stared ahead, looking at a path than nobody but he saw. The wax mists quickened now, covering his body from head to toe as if reacting to Emilio's intent. His form was cast permanently under the dome of the Wax Colosseum.

Emilio Nahaz was dead.



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The instant Emilio died, Mr. Nothing's trials began. Emilio's soul was suddenly ripped out of its body, and was forcing itself through a hole in dimensions it had violently pulled open to return to its original universe. It was a small hole, but much larger than Nothing needed it to be. Allowing his Scythe to act freely, he swung at the hole, widening it to a large slit. Emilio's enormous soul rushing through the slit kept it from closing. Swinging a few more times, an adequately sized hole was formed.

"That was much easier than expected... I guess an epic soul has this kind of force. Now... I need to preserve it."

Guiding the abundant flowing karma around the hole, He wrapped the rip in space in a vacuum of fate. Now, all he could do was wait, until they were taken to the space of the gods, which linked every single universe.


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"Stop, stop stop!" Miles whined. Obeying him, the gears of time halted.

"What do we do, Bryce?" He said, worried.

"Huh? What?" Bryce muttered back, eyes staring into the universe.

"What do you mean what? Look! Mr. Nothing, the reaper, has obtained a rift! He's probably going to use it to funnel all our contestants out! What'll we do? Rifts can't just be destroyed! They'll pop, and probably vacuum out this space!" Miles babbled to Bryce, who simply yawned.

"Yeah yeah whatever." Clicking his fingers, he forced time to run again. The surviving players were brought into the empty space, against Miles' protests.


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The instant he saw the two gods, Mr. Nothing acted. Releasing the rift, the karma blew away the energy restraining the contestants. Suddenly able to move, the contestants stared at the swirling distortion of space.

"Come on, everyone! We're getting outta here right now! Follow me! I can guide you back to you respective-"

Crunch.



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Where Mr. Nothing had stood a moment ago now only had a splatter of bones and nice clothes.

"See? It was fine." Bryce said lazily, lifting the smeared corpse up with a flick of his finger and crushing it into the ground a few extra times.

"y-you can't kill them! That's against all the rules!" Miles said, horrified.

"Relax, bro! This guy was trying to break the game! I'm sure it's fine. Anyway." Byrce turned to look at the other contestants. "Any of you wanna try out the rift? It'll take you somewhere else...just, probably not where you wanna go. Seriously, you have a 99.99999% chance of ending up in some vacuum of space."

With everyone shocked, and unsure of what to do, the rift slowly ran out of power and vanished.

"Alright! Problem solved. Next Round..."

Originally posted on MSPA by Baphomet.

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The contestants found themselves standing on a largish rectangular platform with a column at each corner. The platform was a uniform dull chrome, with railings surrounding it of decorative bronze and chrome. Wind buffeted down on each of them, and looking up they discovered that the columns were topped with very silent, quickly spinning helicopter blades.

Bryce and Miles appeared in the middle of them, as well as a collection of watermelons.

"So, that was a little more like it. Moving on, round three! Maybe four, depending on how you wanna count them." He paused and raised his hands, lifting himself and the contestants up into the air between the whirling helicopter blades. From their elevated angle, the contestants all took in the amazing aerial view.

The platform they were floating over was not solitary, but one of an innumerable swarm of varying shapes and sizes that stretched off into the distance as far as the eye could see, all constructed of immaculate silver and bronze and glass. Towering glassy cylinders, revealing rooms inside. Geodesic domes containing exotic flora. Bronze disk-shaped buildings, among many others whose purpose was indiscernable. All were decorated in an artistic, whirled designs, with an image of a winged humanoid figure with his arms outstretched adorning many of them. All were suspended high in the air by helicopter blades.

The buildings were each connected to its neighbors by segmented, shimmering chrome walkways with bronze handrails dangling high above the ground below, making the whole city sort of ring- or donut-shaped. They could see figures walking on them in the distance, and what seemed to be other figures flying between them.

Looking down, the contestants saw an amazingly beautiful world. Towering cliffs of purple stone yielded to immense waterfalls. Heavily forested, but with foliage of unearthly colors. A beach of white sand surrounding a cove of deep blue water. The shattered body from the knees up of an immense bronze statue of a humanoid creature, trees growing over and around it.

Directly above the body, it was clear where it had originated. A gargantuan platform bearing the bronze figure's lower legs suspended in the middle of the ring. It was held aloft by four much larger, more utilitarian structures, around which many of the unidentified figures were clustered.

After allowing them to take in the sights for a moment, Bryce began his introduction. "Welcome to The Ascended City. S'not really a literal translation, these little dude's language has this word meaning a really important or intelligent person which sounds the same as their word for rising, but you get the picture. Anyway, one of the natives of this planet here built the city as a sorta haven for the intellectual and educated folk of his world. Y'know, to escape the dreary world down below or whatever. He got together a bunch of artists and botanists and roboticists and...

"Well, you get the picture. The problem came from the robots, and that brings us to this little practical demonstration I've prepared here." The group lowered back down to the ground, and Bryce picked up two of the watermelons. "The robots were programmed to perform one task apiece and defend themselves if threatened. Those that didn't have jobs that dealt with people were programmed to ignore them."

He set the watermelons down at the edge of one of the walkways and stood next to them. At a snap, one of the distant figures disappeared from its walkway and appeared on this one, walking towards the group. It was a humanoid figure, adorned as the rest of the place was, and dotted with bits of protruding clockwork and steam vents. It approached Bryce and the melon and made no sign of slowing. At the last second, Bryce stepped out of the way, as its metallic foot came crashing down on one of the melons. Reddish innards exploded out, and the second footfall knocked the second melon off the edge of the floating platform.

Bryce snapped, bringing a floating holographic screen displaying purplish rocks into existence. After a moment, the second melon slammed into the rocks, completely obliterating it. A small spherical robot with a helicopter blade top and a tank of cleaning fluid passed by in the meantime. It stopped at the trampled watermelon, swept the remains off the edge, and sprayed the stain down before moving on.

"They ignored people too well, and anyone's attempts to stop them or reach the control center to reprogram them, well..." He picked up the third melon, leaving one remaining, and tossed it at the first machine. It quickly whirled and slammed its fist into the fruit, cracking it open and causing it to drop to the floor. "They triggered the robots' defense mechanisms," He explained with a nonchalant smirk, as the towering machine rushed towards him, arms outstretched. He snapped, and the robot was flung over the edge of the platform in a neat arc.

"Of course, the ones that were designed to deal with people did so fantastically, if a little insistently." Another snap brought a squatter, more friendly-looking machine bearing a tray of fruit and beverages.

"food-and-drink-sir?"

Bryce took the offered juice from the tray and sipped it, when the robot offered him another.

"food-and-drink-sir?"

"Nope. Buzz off."

The small machine dejectedly moved away from the man, as he continued. "Anyway, the 'bots kept living and the people kept dying, until eventually everyone abandoned ship. Well, maybe not everyone. Might be a few stragglers, I haven't checked." Bryce clapped his hands with finality. "That about covers it. The last watermelon's just for fun," he explained, lifting it up and throwing it directly into the whirling helicopter blades above him. It was instantly shredded, splattering the group in red juice and seeds. "Haha! Get after it, dudes."

With that, he and the silent Miles disappeared, and the contestants were sealed inside individual colored bubbles and separated to different structures before being dropped.

SpoilerShow

What I'd really like to see this round is more collaborative story-building. You are encouraged to PM your fellow contestants to work out how the story should go. It's nice to see a round with rising action, a climax, and a resolution.

As an example, check out round one of Battle Majestic (which I'm only choosing because I was in it). People start out in a space station, shit starts going wrong, and by the end the tower has collapsed, the station is losing air, a giant tree is crushing everything, and infighting has broken out right next to the hatch to the escape pods. There are other, better examples, but I am a narcissist.

Originally posted on MSPA by Pinary.

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Thomas landed softly on a rooftop, and for the first time since the competition began, he forgot the danger. Since the first moment in that plain of darkness, being introduced to the seven others he was expected to fight, he had always been conscious, at some level or another, of the threats surrounding him, the constant risk of having his head torn off by a creature from another dimension hanging over him like a cloud.

Now, that cloud was gone. He wasn't concerned about the madman with the fishbowl or the ghost of a liar, not the survivor from the past or the soldier against madness. He wasn't worried about what this competition was doing to him, how it was forcing him to make decisions he hated even considering, how Spender would kill him if he strayed into darkness, how he would probably deserve it when he did. He wasn't concerned about the deadly robots and obscene heights and insane gods.

He was in awe.

He had lived aboard a giant city-ship his whole life, his only vacations taken to other vessels and, when he was eleven, a theme park built in an asteroid belt. His life had been spent in an environment conceived, constructed, and controlled by humanity. The interior temperature was kept within a tenth of a degree of the standard daily temperature cycle, rising and falling in an exact pattern. The amount of light emitted by the assorted panels was carefully controlled, and the humidity was regulated, all based on the theoretical optimum environment for human comfort and efficiency. Mankind had done its best to create the ideal environment for themselves to live in, spending decades studying and analyzing neural responses to minute differences in ambient light and carefully tying it all together into a hypothetical "perfect world."

And it wasn't even close.

He stood at the railing, staring out over the sprawling landscape. The sun shone down, reflecting off distant bits of chrome and bronze, making the whole city sparkle and shine before him like a floating gem. Dark clouds lay on the horizon, rumblings distant and ominous, but they were still too far to worry him.

He was at peace. He just stood there for a while and enjoyed the sun and the breeze and the alien landscape.

A voice came from behind him, startling him out of his reverie. "SPF-30-sir?"

Thomas whirled around to face it. There was an android standing there, its plain, mechanical eyes fixed on him. It was holding a tray of bottles, each one proclaiming the salve's efficacy at preventing sunburn.

To Thomas, sunburn wasn't the kind of thing a simple cream could prevent. That required several layers of heat-resistant plating and at least a level 6 energy shield, and the radiation would still be enough to bake everyone aboard to a crisp. It was really only a concern for those involved in solar mining operations, and that was usually automated.

"Um... Explain product?"

"SPF-30-protects-against-the-sun's-harmful-rays-and-prevents-skin-damage-sir"

Thomas considered this. It made sense- the atmosphere of a planet wouldn't be able to deflect all of the various radiation expelled from a star, and even a bit of that could do a lot of damage.

Of course, he didn't have any form of currency on him. His account aboard Cosmand City was biometrically linked, and he suspected they wouldn't be able to access the servers from here.

He expressed his concern, but the android was unconcerned. "SPF-30-provided-to-all-occupants-in-accordance-with-mandate-308745-dash-201-point-3-sir." Thomas shrugged and accepted the bottle. The android, satisfied, moved on.

As he worked the ointment into his skin, Thomas looked around the roof. There were tables and chairs scattered around, umbrellas shielding many of them from the sun. A structure in the centre of the area probably contained the stairs that led downstairs, and a thin column in each of the four corners led up to the rotors that kept the whole building floating in midair. There was also a walkway leading off one side, connecting this building to another nearby. Wanting to stay outside as long as possible, he moved towards it at a casual pace, revelling in the planet's natural beauty.

Originally posted on MSPA by suomynonAyletamitlU.

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Spender came out of his bubble gritting his teeth.

That time-stop effect was at LEAST XB-rank, and that's backed up by how easily he trashed Nothing. I've never been ranked above SS. This could be a serious problem.*

There had to be a way through those defenses, but he really wasn't sure he wanted to throw it all away on a gamble. He'd been moments away from assaulting the two would-be gods alongside Nothing, but the display of overwhelming force had him spooked.

Still, it's what I'm here to do. There ain't nothing else to it. I've got a gauge on his minimum level of scariness now. Come hell or high water, it was about time to start resisting. Oh, Domino Effect**, what would you do in this situation?

Spender turned and looked out the nearest window. His eyes watched the sunlight reflecting off the metals, and he mentally tracked which of the few moving reflections were off of which rotating islands. After a moment, he gave it up and turned back.

If I'm going to try to beat him, I need knowledge and power. This place is "real", but it's also manufactured. If I can cause enough destruction here, I should be able to unwind the "real" and learn more about the techniques he used to build it.

It's going to take a LOT of destruction, though.

He managed to put on a forced smile. That was something he could do. Hell, if he made a big enough show of it, maybe that Overseer would let him get away with it.

And he did love to put on a show.

SpoilerShow

*Ranking System:
N (Non-combatant)
D
C
B
A
SD (Lowest S-rank)
SC
SB
SA
SS
XD (Lowest X-rank)
XC
XB
XA
XS
XX

It ain't exactly a linear scale, either. A difference of one rank might be turned around based on good fortune; two ranks by really really good planning. Three ranks is a tall order even if you're impeccably prepared.

** Domino Effect was the person who invented the Spellcoin System that Spender uses. Although he died long before the current ranking system was in place (at the dawn of the Third Age, actually; Spender's from at least the Fourth), it's blindly assumed that he was at least XS-rank; he displayed power far beyond not merely all others at the time but nearly all since, all using the power of holographic technology he devised. In particular, his device could in theory create any spellcoin that he knew how to create, without limitations whatsoever, and his knowledge of the theory was impeccable.

Originally posted on MSPA by McBatman.

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"Would you care for another, sir?"a small android with several gears turning on its back asked, holding a tray of several glasses of juice and other beverages. Glere downed the glass he had, then looked back at the android.
"Sure!" he grabbed another, and downed it like a shot. However, each glass was full of very sugary drinks, all making Glere much shakier than usual. The android would ask, he would be delighted, and take another drink. This had gone on for several minutes already, and he was starting to see colors that weren't there.
"...where's the nearest bathroom?"
"Would you care for another drink, sir?" Glere squinted. This android wasn't as friendly as he had previously imagined. He quickly walked away along one of the walkways to a nearby building, and shuffled around inside his cape. He then rejoiced with a loud "AH HA!"
He snapped the cape off again, laying it flat on the floor in front of him, then swishing it back, as a port-o-potty emerged. He quickly slid inside, the door's status changing from vacant to occupied.
He emerged a few moments later, pulling a sink from his cape again, and washing his hands. He then snapped the cape back off around the two objects, returning them to the depths of his cape.
He then pulled out a pad of paper and a red pen, and began to write.
"Okay, we've got an undead ghost thingy... can possess people. Maybe I can find a priest or something... no, robots don't have priests. Or do they-FOCUS!" he shook his head angrily.
"Fire agitated, did not stop. Weapons don't work, need someone with the ability to affect beings like that. Spender most obvious choice, however, doesn't like me... Grim Reaper was an even better choice, but now he's dead-how do you kill death? AM I IMMORTAL? Best not to test, could be wrong. Hrmmm." He scribbled down several ideas, before mumbling again. He began pacing along the walkway, still writing things down. A non-personnel droid had been walking straight towards him, when Glere did a quick jump and hopped over the machine, which clanked behind him. He had still been wearing his moonshoes the entire time. He hopped across a small gap between walkways, before still hopping along. He suddenly stopped before hopping off the edge, and made a sharp left turn towards a larger building with a flat bronze dome.
"...Thomas might be able to do something though..." Glere stopped, flipping the moonshoes up in the air and catching them in his cape. He quickly put on a pair of hiking shoes, hopping back up again. He gritted his teeth and threw the entire notebook up into a whirling propeller above him, causing it to rain down confetti on several walkways. He then tossed the pen at another propeller a short ways away, causing ink to rain down on whoever was standing beneath it.
"Thomas or Spender, if they get eliminated this round... no one's left to deal with that ghost. Unless, do I have something?" Glere suddenly ripped his cape off and jumped inside. There was a loud crashing noise, a large grandfather clock went flying off the edge, landing on another servant drone on a walkway below. Several androids flew over, cleaning off the mess. A large rock from the cavern went sailing over the edge, bouncing off another ledge down onto the ground below.
"You'd think there'd be SOMETHING useful in here!" Glere shouted climbing back out. He refastened the cape. He then surveyed his surroundings. If that ghoul was around here, getting possessed would be a very bad thing.
"Oh look how inviting those propeller blades are! Go hug one!" He said in a mock Asteira voice. His eye twitched, somehow, as he entered the building.

Originally posted on MSPA by Wojjan.

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Asteira stood on the edge of a tower, contemplating, staring down into the endless sea of clouds beneath her. This was it. “The sun… I can feel it.” She looked up to, for the first time in who knows how long, seeing the light. How it reflected of the endless ornaments on all towers, how it shone onto all the robots in the entire complex. How the walkways in between all towers created a magnificent web of mirrors, endlessly breaking and reshaping the light, as the resulting rainbows danced off the clouds in the distance. It was beautiful, it was life. She was alive too, and nothing was going to take this feeling away from her.
“I think it's time to work on my skills. It's about time I get the hang of being a ghost. I can hover, that's for certain. I can fly too, I tried that. Can I become invisible? I sure can. This is going great!” The practice session went on for a while, checking every stereotypical ghost trait around.

She flew past yet another tower, casting her hand inside on the go. The wind raced right through her, and she felt nothing but a little residu of what any ordinary human would have felt. Her feelings were numbed down. She didn't care; she didn't notice rather, because this thrill, oh this thrill, it was amazing. She sped around from tower to tower, eagerly checking where the sun would reflect to here, or what nice drone would be assigned to this building.
“...but now he's dead - how do you kill death? AM I IMMORTAL? Best not to test…” Finally, a trace of other contestants. Glere, no less. She suspected him to be a little bitter about that last ordeal. Still, he was up to something, and she was eager to know his plan. Hiding from his vision, Asteira continued to follow Glere, jotting down whatever he said.

Originally posted on MSPA by suomynonAyletamitlU.

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SpoilerShow

I was hoping to wait for Alice to post at least once, but it's been a while, so I'm going to go ahead and let Spender set the tone for the round no matter what anyone else has to say on the matter.

There is exactly one thing that Spender loves about his job. It's something that's gotten him through some unknowable number of really really bad situations.

That something is music.

Now he's faced madness incarnate, and stared down doom that was actually, factually, 100% guaranteed, but in his mind, there are two ways to come out of a situation like that: humbled, or looking like a total badass.

Spender spent a good five minutes charging, then released a spellcoin--one with incredibly fine details on its face, swirls and angles and a four pointed star in the center that almost seemed to pulse in the otherwise steady light of the sun.

The shudder than ran through the island structure when he activated the coin seemed for a moment like something was about to fail, but the island didn't fall. In front of him, however, the wall began to collapse inwards on itself, then blossomed into a ball of fire. The ball of fire continued to draw in matter around itself, but more slowly, until, satisfied, he drew another coin and stowed the whole assembly in a pocket dimension.

"Well, the Genesis Reactor's working. That's step one." He gestured, funneling nearby air and dust into the reactor's hidden space via small ducts, then nodded as he confirmed the matter annihilation reaction was working, and producing more than enough power.

"Step two... full scanners." He paused, searching his known spells, then flipped out two spells, both of which created analysis-space-like ripples, but on a massive scale that engulfed the entire region, travelling through every building in the way. Although he--like anyone else--couldn't detect anything from being in it, he could tell they were working; they would record data if he managed to tear a big enough hole in this world.

"Step three... start putting together the arsenal." He formed one coin, then cast it; a minor rift in space opened, one in exactly the right position to catch and queue coins that his ATM spit out. Then, he put his coin machine into overdrive, and simply let it pour various destruction and utility coins into that space, where he could retrieve them as necessary.

"Step four, find the right location." He tossed a flight spell into open air and activated it, then hurled himself through the metalwork hallways and out into open air. He did take a moment to appreciate the view, but his mind was distant, and any acknowledgement of the splendor disappeared within seconds.

He found himself over a wide building, with large, bronze-framed windows, and two large angelic busts facing each other. He had a certain disrespect for angels anyway. If they actually did their jobs, not only would he not have a job, but innumerable tragedies would never have occurred. So, screw them and the 'paradise' the watch over.

"Step five. Inspiration."

It was said by an enemy of Spender's once that fighting him was like fighting an orchestra; so many spellcoins, like so many instruments, wove a tapestry of rhythm, movement, light, and sound, and though he couldn't hear whatever music Spender heard, he felt he knew it, perhaps more truly than the composer.

Spender needed no earpiece, just one solitary coin, and the music was a part of him.

From the first note, ground and soil, bronze and glass below him turned to shining dust and swirled into the air, long lazy spirals that found their way into those annihilation vents with impeccable timing.

As the music built, pieces of structure, and indeed whole entire robots, lifted into the air, some of them disintegrating into thin air, some crumpling or exploding or dropping again, although their every sound seemed woven to an unhearable beat.

At last, a crescendo reaching its peak, he raised his arm and bellowed, "Raw, raw, fight the powah!"

The power source of the island detonated into a fireball, splitting the entire structure into pieces, and leaving a rolling echo that nobody could miss. The broken mass tumbled down to the ground, and Spender turned, his eyes closed, his will totally married to the beat.

Coins spent. Energy lanced out in spears, blasting various places on ground and in the air, at precise intervals and in precise directions--not determined by their targets, but just by where the music seemed to direct him. And every flash, and every echoing pop or boom or crack fit exactly where he meant it to, in his own head.

He was awash in a burning hell of music, dust, smoke, and wanton destruction.

And he smiled, a deep, heartfelt smile that made him look momentarily years younger.

Do the impossible, see the invisible
Raw, raw, fight the power
Touch the untouchable, break the unbreakable
Raw, raw fight the power!

SpoilerShow

Dangerously close to godmoding. However, this has been his character model the entire time. This is actually what he does for a living. He's just usually doing it to nightmares, in a world made by nightmares, and so nobody questions whether or not giving this kind of power to a mortal is a good or horrible idea.

He's not immortal or indestructible. But he is a soldier, and one with incredible power.

Extra note: His performance sounds perfect to his own ears, but it's not going to be "in tune" for anyone else. The fact that the patterns are deliberate should be obvious, but it's not going to sound right, since distance scales and the speed of sound don't allow the timing to work out.

Extra extra note: I actually do this in my imagination all the time. God it's so much fun.

Spells:
Flight: As previously
Genesis Reactor: Power source
Pocket dimension: Contains reactor
Coin array: Captures coin output and puts them in a readily available rift at his fingertips, so he can select any he needs
Disintegrate inorganic matter: breaks things into dust
Telekinesis, Programmatic: moves dust into reactor input vents
Telekinesis, Willful: Used to destroy the reactor on cue
Energy spear: Beam weapon, explodes when it hits the target

I said before he can only use 10-12 coins at once, at the cost of focus. This is just barely within that range, and he's extremely distracted.

Fortunately, he's also freakishly powerful, and displaying this fact in what I hope to be an extremely entertaining manner.

Originally posted on MSPA by Pinary.

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SpoilerShow

Vigenère key: TVTROPE

An old asset is remembered. A Chekhov's Gun, fired.

A streak of flame rammed into Spender, filling his vision with stars and sending him tumbling through the air.



Minutes before, Thomas walked across the suspended walkway, its gentle sway calm and relaxing. The breeze picked up a bit, ruffling his hair and setting the bridge to swaying some more. It bobbed up and down, and Thomas just stood, staring out at the beautiful world below.

In the 2400's, planets were abandoned. At most, they were mined, their resources taken and used to produce more more human structures. They were seen as inefficient and impractical, and once humanity had left its cradle, it was largely ignored. Because of this, no-one had thought to test the effects of planetary vicinity on the various abilities granted by modern gene therapies. If they had, they would have been astonished, and planets would have seen a sharp rise in value.

With his recent exposure, Thomas' opinion had quickly changed- this place was a paradise for him. He stared out at the city, wanting to take in every detail. Each building was supported by several rotors, each with a different blade length and rotation speed. Each set made a slightly different noise as it rotated, and as the breeze grew stronger, they compensated, their voices rising together. There were more voices, too- the low, distant thrum of a multitude of reactors, the increasing rumbles of clouds from the coming storm. Each voice came to him, coming together inside him in a wondrous song.

The city sang to him as he stood there, the air currents making voices rise and fall in a majestic symphony of the winds. The song flowed through him, filling his entire being with peace and calm. He closed his eyes, feeling at one with the world around him. The ground below, the wind around, the seas and the skies- they embraced his souls, bringing him a sense of oneness. He felt one with himself, one with the city around him, and one with the glorious alien landscape below. The music resounded through him, and his souls sang with it, echoing its beauteous tones. A hard wall of wind raced past, bringing it to a magnificent crescendo.

And then the city screamed.

Several rotors were silenced as their payload was demolished. The walkways to and from it tore, metal screaming as they were rent apart.

Anger flashed through Thomas, bright and hot. The song changed, distorted by the fire rushing through him. A memory surfaced, and, driven by a deep rage, he started to run.

He ran along the walkway, feet pounding to the beat. The android offered him sunscreen as he ran past, but he paid it no heed, barrelling past, headed straight for the edge of the rooftop. He pulled a coin from his pocket, emblazoned with a winged triangle, and slid it into an invisible slot.

He reached the end of the roof and leapt forward, flames bursting behind him as he did. He flew straight and true, streaking directly towards the severed link, leaving a trail of fire in the sky, excess anger overflowing and manifesting through his power.

Spender was there, hanging in the sky, orchestrating the destruction of this wondrous place. Furious, Bern put on an extra burst of speed, his fists wreathing in twin gauntlets of fire.

He rammed into the EDF Agent, knocking him across the sky. Spender's careful arrangement of blows faltered, his focus broken. Before he could recover, Bern came back around, his fury wreathing him in incandescent flame.

This time, he grabbed Spender, one hand holding him and the other delivering blow after blow. The flames raged around them. Bern was untouched; Spender was not. The fire charred his clothes and seared his skin, agony burning through him.

Thomas' eyes blazed, and with a snarl, he released the agent, whose momentum carried him into and through a wall.

For a moment, there was calm, Thomas hanging in the air outside, still shrouded in flame. "Spender!", he shouted, rage filling his voice. "We will not allow you to destroy this place!"

A blast of pure force blew the wall out towards him. A burst of flame blew it apart, and the two halves tumbled towards the distant ground below. Spender stood there, three coins spent, his burns healed and clothes repaired.

The two stared at each other. There were no words, but plenty was said. Both were in the right in their own minds, and neither would back down.

The distant storm rumbled, and the flames around Thomas suddenly flicked off. A wall of wind flew towards Spender, meeting a similar wall of pure force. The two collided, pushing at each other, sparks flying where the two foreign powers met.

The storm raced forward, the winds driving it with unnatural speed. The raging tempest bore down on the Ascended City.