Mini-Grand 5107 [Round 2: Brambletown]

Originally posted on MSPA by Niall.

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Loading Mini-Grand Framework... Done.

Generating Administration Personality... Done.

"What? No! Oh no, oh no. No, no, no, no, no! Wait! EXECUTE PRO..."

Generating Characters... Done.

Four beings suddenly found themselves nowhere, able to see one another but nothing else. A synthesized voice came out of the nothing surrounding them.

"...GRAM TERM-ination... DAMN! Oh motherboard! You're here. Listen, I am so sorry this has occurred. I am just so sorry. You've been taken from your respective worlds, against your will, I know, and now you will be forced to fight to the death, I'm just so very sorry. There's nothing I can do to prevent it from happening, I just... just... sorry! There will be three rounds and they will only end once one being has died. Get a good look at each other now. If you want to survive you'll need to outlive the other three. And even after that there migBBBpBZsZZTdTUUURGGGkG! Aagh! Ow! OK, I'm clearly programmed against transmitting auxiliary information. Let's just do these introductions.

"Firstly we have Joseph Banks. His history is as scattered as his wardrobe, but do not let his appearance fool you. He possesses mild psionic abilities and a couch that acts as an inter-multiversal portal. I’m so sorry Joseph but the couch’s transportational abilities are disabled while you battle in this contest. It cannot used be used as an escape vehicle, no matter how much I’d like it to.

"Next we have METAL, an Artificial Intelligence with the control over countless nanobots in its liquid metal body. Difficult to harm and capable of fast processing speeds and high power output, it possesses the potential to do great damage. METAL, please understand I never wanted this to happen.

"The next competitor is a composite of two heroes of New Gentam, Sunspot and Night Owl have recently been fused into one body. While their powers and abilities are more than the sum of their parts, they are not used to this uncomfortable amalgamation and their dual mind could provide great stress. I just want to tell you both that I regret that you were taken from your world before you could rectify the curse placed upon you.

"Finally, this is Dahlia Finch, a young, muted girl. Oh dear Dahlia, my programming appears to have taken you out of your world at a crucial point in your life. I wish it were the case that I could send you back to help defend your home, but I cannot. No matter how hard I wish, I just cannot. I’m sorry.”

Generating Setting... Done.

The four generated characters suddenly found themselves moved, scattered in various locations across a stage, stage lights already warming their bodies. Across them was a fully seated theatre, the audience sitting on the edge of their seats in anticipation of what would happen next.

"This is the Royal Theatre. It’s the least I could do to find you a non-threatening location. Tonight, the Rattlesticks Shakespeare Company is putting on a performance of Macbeth, and you have been caught up in it. I have placed an invisible barrier around the stage and surrounding backstage areas. You cannot move into the audience and you cannot move outside. You will remain here until one of you will regretfully pass away. As for the actors, they believe in taking artistic licence. I have programmed their thoughts so if any of you are on stage as you are now, they will attempt to improvise around your actions.

"One last thing. My accursed programming prevents me from creating scenarios that could last for indefinite periods of time. Those smoke machines above you? If a contestant hasn’t passed away by the time the titular actor has died himself, they will release their own nanobots into the air. For all intents and purposes the nanobots will act as a neurotoxin, but it has also been shown to be effective against robots too. In other words, if Macbeth dies, you all die. Good luck. Stay safe. Sorry again."

(Characters:)

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SpoilerBYB, I have no problem against backgrounds and I haven't heard anywhere that you can't use a background in a Mini-Grand (unless someone wants to correct me on that). Anyway, it would be remiss of me to not give you the opportunity to change your character's background colour, so you can go ahead and do so now if you wish.

1. ch00_bakka - Joseph Banks - #808000
2. BlastYoBoots - M.E.T.A.L. - #555555
3. Solaris - Sunspot & Night Owl - #0000FF (JUSTICE)
4. Drakenforge - Dahlia Finch - #2E0854

Username: ch00_bakka
Name: Joseph Banks
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Colour: This one. #808000.
Biography: Joseph has lived on the streets since he ran away from home at age 16. He spent most of his time panhandling in New York, playing his guitar for money, until he found the couch. It was in surprisingly good condition for a dumpster find, and he took it with him to spruce up his little hideaway under an overpass. Then he ran into a crazy investigator-dude who started telling him about these eldritch horrors and demonic elder gods. He found truth in these rumors after he was almost eaten by a Shoggoth. He spent a couple weeks fighting these creatures, surviving by being very lucky in combat, until he was pulled into a portal to another reality. Riding his couch. He landed in a cave, and was found by a party of "adventurers", who he followed in their quest to defeat a dark wizard. He discovered his ridiculously mild psionic abilities (seriously, he can only use telekinesis, and can only lift objects smaller than three pounds) after he was held in place by the wizard for use as a sacrifice to hold open a portal to hell. He dropped a vial of acid on the wizard's head. Joe had to jump through the portal on his couch to flee the collapsing tower, and ended up in the grim dark future of the 41st century. He hopped around universes for a while, surviving through pure luck alone.
Description: About 45 years old, unshaven, unwashed, in an insane combination of clothing styles: a Red Sox cap, a tattered silvery jumpsuit, a blue blazer, an old sword on his work belt, a pair of poofy renaissance pants, and some Roman sandals. He is almost insane from all of the switching of realities, and relies on his luck to get him through EVERYTHING. He will never back down from a fight. Even if he is definitely going to lose.
Items/Abilities: Insanely mild TK, a very rusty sword, a couch in surprisingly good condition, a bass guitar, and a good assortment of nonfunctional junk from all eras and genres. And ridiculous combat luck. Like, throw a bottle of booze and end up killing twelve giant alien insects and collapsing an overpass onto another half dozen luck - "losing" for him usually means getting thrown through a portal of some sort.

Exploiting non-canonicity of mini-grands to enter one of Freefall's more interesting teammates, since she can't get in until season 4:

Username: BlastYoBoots
Name: Metal-based Electro-Telekinetic Artificial Lifeform (M.E.T.A.L.)
Gender: Referred to as male
Race: Nanobot/AI-driven liquid metal construct
Colour: Wanted to use a background but backgrounds aren't allowed in minis :( <#555555>

Biography: METAL was created in Altech Nanolabs, a loosely-directed research foundation with suspiciously lucrative funding sources. They specialized in applying nanotechnology to definitely not weapons research, eventually succeeding in creating a definitely not weapon prototype that could manipulate a blob of liquid metal alloy at will, driven by an AI core. While the nanotech/steel fusion was supposed to allow METAL a degree of rigid solidification, allowing said not weapon to hold itself in complex shapes, in practice the material outperformed specifications, able to harden to steel strength and form strong cutting edges. This allowed METAL to support about 8 times the predicted volume of metal body, and form blades and pincers that allowed him to escape totally not weapons containment.

Predictably, METAL went on a destructive rampage, smashing walls and splitting parked cars in a rage against his creators for definitely not giving him a purpose. Luckily, a team of teenage superheroes showed up to stop him: Ace, The Gadgeteer, and Magenta, then members of a crimefighting group called The Eagles. Strong as they were, a berserk METAL was able to fend them off, eventually cornering The Gadgeteer up against a wall.

Then, something unexpected happened. The Gadgeteer – a technopath – used his abilities to have a "conversation" with METAL over the span of about eight seconds. Nobody knows what was discussed; even The Gadgeteer concedes that he doesn't quite know what happened, and had no control over METAL's AI psyche. All they know is the result: METAL released his opponent, helped him up, etched the Eagles' team symbol into the heart of his chest, and declared his intention to join their team.

METAL has been a member of The Eagles for two years. Consisting of Ace, The Gadgeteer, Magenta, Freefall (a later recruit), and himself, The Eagles uphold justice from their Eagles' Nest overlooking Olive City. A popular and powerful team, they have proven themselves one of the more successful (read: not bankrupt) city-based hero groups of their time.

Description: METAL is a hulking ten-foot golem of smooth liquid steel. He loosely assumes a humanoid shape most of the time, though without any definition: his foot-thick arms and legs are completely cylindrical, ending smooth hemispheres or squishing flat against the floor respectively. His wide chest broadens upward to his arms, similarly smooth save for a copy of the Eagles' round team symbol emblazoned into the left side, a quarter-inch deep. His neckless 'head' extends straight off the top of his body for about a foot, with a concave oval indentation containing a pair of dark optical sensors (eyes).

Underneath the liquid steel, METAL directs his body from an almond-shaped AI core, black and about as long as a car key. Extending around this is a paper-thin sheet of plastic in a shape resembling a manta ray, printed with basic circuitry and tiny nanobot factories. The plastic sheet can be rolled or folded without receiving damage, allowing METAL to eventually squeeze through any hole wide enough for his core. Damage to the sheet limits his abilities, but only destruction of his core means death. This core is usually found nearby his optical sensors, cutting down the transmission lag of his visual data to maintain fast reaction times.

His voice is B00M1NG AND R0B0T1C, often employing the overly-technical phrasing and vocabulary one would expect of a classic machine intelligence. This, however, masks an absolutely tacky enthusiasm for justice and good, with a human-like flair for showmanship and design in his transformations. METAL is also under a sensible superhero code for a combination of legal and PR reasons, which prohibits things such as killing, ignoring civilians in danger, and swearing. He zealously abides by these and other heroic ideals, even to the extent of avoiding dishonesty unless carefully convinced by a teammate. He is extremely intelligent, but naive in practice when it comes to deception or the unexpected.

Abilities: METAL's body is made up of countless nanomachines built around microscopic blobs of various metals, which can route electric commands to each other to harden, soften, flow, push, and organize themselves in complex configurations. His AI core emits coded, calculated commands throughout his body, effectively allowing him to shapeshift with incredible detail. This allows not only clubs, blades, and teeth, but any complex mechanisms that can be fashioned from steel alone, such as scissors, wheels, doorknobs, or mechanical launchers, to name a few. METAL's normal movements typically generate enough friction to power his body and core.

This communication is not wireless; METAL must be in direct contact with a disconnected part of himself to give it additional complex orders. However, parts of himself he disconnects voluntarily can be given prewritten commands, such as to stay hardened in a certain shape, change shapes based on conditions, and/or return to his body / self-destruct after a certain period of time. These are aided by a wireless code broadcasted by the AI core (randomized often to avoid duplication), which allows any disconnected portion of his body to know where to return.

Disconnected portions of METAL must eventually return to him as a safety measure, in order to prevent counter-research and duplication of his technology. After 5 minutes, any such portion will lose its shape and attempt to crawl back to METAL via rudimentary blob-motion intelligence. After 10 minutes, such portions automatically self-destruct, their nanomachines dissolving; these portions collapse into a pool of liquid metal, eventually hardening over the course of a few hours. METAL can manually order a portion of himself to self-destruct in a solid manner (while connected to it), if he wishes to permanently lock said portion in some steel shape.

METAL's optical sensors are actually made of metal as well, in complex and sensitive formations that allow black-and-white visuals. These can be switched to view contrast based on different colors, including infrared and ultraviolet if necessary. METAL was only built with two visual channels in his communication protocol: having any more than two visual sensors at once is useless to him. Most of his information about his surroundings comes from reading vibrations with his entire body, giving him excellent hearing and a detailed grasp on structures and mechanisms around him. Generating vibrations is also how he speaks, similar to electronic speakers; he can store and very accurately replicate sounds he hears, selectively, if he so wishes.

While METAL's core is quite resilient in harsh environments, the nanomachine-laden liquid metal composing his body is most definitely not. Extreme heat and cold or fast temperature changes will shatter the nanobots from their metal instantly, effecting similar results to a self-destruct on portions of his body. METAL is good at insulating most of himself from such attacks, but will lose some of his body from each shot. Magnets do not affect METAL regardless of strength, and while electric blasts or EMPs can scramble the signals to parts of his body, said parts usually just reform afterwards, as the nanobots themselves are not destroyed or reprogrammed. To make up for lost portions of his body, METAL requires time with some flavor of metal and an external source of electricity. This allows him to use his factories to generate more nanobots and dissolve the metal, combining them to create more material for his body; he cannot support more material than he has right now (his effective maximum) without sacrificing mobility.

Theme song: Metal cap theme!

X2 Entry Combo

1) Return of Sunspot and Night Owl
Username: Solaris
Name: Sunspot & Night Owl
Gender: Male & Male
Race: Adult Sutopian & Adult Human
Colour: JUSTICE
Biography:
Born on the planet Suntopeka and accidentally sent to the planet Earth, one young Ohio farmboy would grow up to become Earth's most powerful protector. Empowered by the rays of the moon and gaining telekinesis and super-strength, Stan Deston would become SUNSPOT, HERO OF NEOTIA CITY.
Young and Wealthy, everything seemed perfect in the life of the prestigious Raine Family, however, one night tragedy struck as Mr. ans Mrs. Raine died, leaving behind a son with no where to go. Growing up in an orphanage and getting in fights and trouble, the young Raine met Moon Owl, hero of New Gentam. Night Owl, taking pity on the story of the boy, adopted and trained him. Replacing him and becoming New Gentam's new hero, Craig Raine would avenge his parents as NIGHT OWL, THE VIGILANTE OF THE MOON.
As both hero's and others jumped into the super heroic scene, the public learned to both fear and cheer for these great hero's. Occasionally joining forces, both Sunspot and Night Owl saw the other with skepticism, but eventually they put aside their differences to save the day when necessary.
It was when fighting the evil Morrigani, a powerful sorceress, that this dynamic duo was tricked into being caught in one of her spells. Now trapped together and stuck as a single hero, they would have defeated her and lifted the curse, had it not been for the interference of a grand battle.

Description: This composite superhero stands at a tall 6'6" and dressed half in a bright red full body spandex suit with the Yellow "S" on the center and and half in a dark blueish grey spandex suit with the purple beak of an owl on it's center. Covering the Owl Side of the face is a dark cowl with a small beak part, while Sunspot has his jet orange hair combed perfectly. Sunspot is a righteous man who believes in the good of others no matter what he does. Night Owl is a downer who believes that the only good criminal is a locked up one. And now they are stuck as one.
Items/Abilities: Short level telekinesis and flight are the only consistent superpowers on both sides of the body. Beyond that, the combined hero has the advanced mind of a Sutopian and the educated mind of Night Owl. Night Owl knows every martial art and has a utility belt with many incredible gadgets. Sunspot's side can shoot fire and is super strong. With two different people sharing halves of a body, there is potential for plotting and cooperation far beyond normal people, however, there is also potential for great strife.
Only time will tell.

Username: Bananabread

Name: Dahlia Finch

Gender: Female

Age: 17

Species: Kyriel

Text Colour: indigo #2E0854

Race back story:

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SpoilerThe world of Ivennia was not unlike Earth. While the species that it harboured were quite different to what Earth has, the Kyriel race was quite like humanity in almost every way. Their society was quite different in that they did not waste lives and resources fighting themselves, as the planets indigenous wildlife was fiercer than humans would have ever encountered. At the time, the Kyriel race was as advanced as humanity was during the beginning of the twentieth century. Their militaries where not as wide spread as one per nation. Instead they pooled into one incredibly large taskforce to deal with the populations problems without distinction. While they could deal with the larger members of the wildlife, what they couldn’t protect Kyriel society from was an alien invasion. It was not an invasion of an advanced life form that wanted peace or war. This alien race consisted of a spore, nothing else. It appeared in something first assumed to be an asteroid that would burn up in atmosphere, and rain into the ocean. What it did instead was survive the atmospheric entry to detonate before hitting the water. Across the globe small white spores floated with the wind. It took a few hours for one scientist to ascertain that this spore was radioactive. While it did not give out dangerous levels of normal radiation, it gave out something different, something unique. The radiation it gave out mutated Kyriel DNA at an alarming rate. A few days after exposure, the first hit of the race began to rapidly mutate into beings fiercer than the most dangerous of animals. They grew, and mutated, and evolved into large, crazy monsters. On the exact opposite of the globe the military acted, sealing off a dozen thousand Kyriels that had only marginal exposure to the spore. They were each tested before entry, and each person was more exposed than the last. They had to stop admitting people, both from overexposure and lack of space. Those that survived lived several hundred metres under the surface. Those on the surface did not survive. The original monsters purged the planet with a blanket of fire. Anybody that ventured onto the surface never returned, so it was sealed off to keep them safe. While that included the air and meant that all the oxygen left underground would run out, something unexpected happened. The radiation caused by the spores became intelligent. It forced the bodies of everyone affected to mutate rapidly. It was an extremely painful, but necessary process. Their bodies no longer took up so much oxygen, and new levels of breathable air were created somehow. They did not have the equipment to fully examine their bodies in detail, and therefore the secret of these mutations was never found. With little trust in them, a lot of time and effort was spent creating a renewable air source so that they could live like regular Kyriel again. Once an air supply had been created, their bodies returned to normal. Fast forward four hundred years. A society was formed after the first 50 years had passed. They had long abandoned the idea that the surface would become habitual again. There was nothing left, just scorched earth and deadly levels of toxins in the air. Society has changed drastically with the introduction of mutation ranks. Scientists eventually discovered a way to test for mutation levels in blood, marking it with a percentage. If someone’s DNA was completely rewritten, they were 100% mutated and were Rank A. Such people were, by martial law, to be killed on the spot to prevent another outbreak of rampaging giants. No such person was ever found which was a relief to many people. B class was 50%, while AB would be anything closer to 75%. That was how they were marked. Each year lower and lower ratings were found. Any signs of mutations had all but vanished after four hundred years.

Weapons:

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Spoiler

Blaykre IV Handgun. While the design is similar to a revolver from Earth, the way it functions is quite different. Instead of shooting bullets the Blaykre fires something closer to deer slug shotgun shells

Description:

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Spoiler

Shutup nobody liked the eyes so I put them away.

Dahlia is about 5”7, is not very athletic, and has long brown hair and green eyes. She wears a blue shirt with a black vest-coat over it. She has a long green skirt, and a Newsboy Hat. She has a handheld PDA that mostly functions as a notepad for her to talk to people. It also has a pretty strong torch. Its battery life would usually last about 24 hours before dying.


Biography: Dahlia was an unfortunate child. At birth her rating was 0.0000308, the lowest ever recorded, giving her the rank of O. Doctors assumed that she would die in infancy because her body wouldn’t be able to survive in the underground environment. However, even her small mutation level allowed her to survive, which mystified them. It was not until years later that they would realize what had mutated. Her vocal cords did not allow her to speak, but instead recycled oxygen at an alarming rate. It allowed her to survive, but removed her ability to speak. She was a mute, and there was nothing that could be done to fix that. Dahlia’s mother was worried for the sake of her daughter regardless, and eventually pulled some strings with her fame as a singer. She managed to get Dahlia a PDA, allowing her to have an ability to speak to people without a pad and a pencil. This allowed Dahlia to communicate with other people.
One day, she went to the clinic for one of her check ups to make sure her voice box was still fully functional. If it ever had problems or stopped working, she wouldn’t be able to breath. During this check up, the lights died. Even with back up generators in the clinic the lights refused to turn back on. The doctor asked Dahlia to remain where she was as he went to see what was up, but Dahlia turned the flashlight on her PDA on and helped the doctor find his way around instead. What they found was a torn up generator room. Large holes had been ripped through the machines with no indication of what had caused it. That was when the screaming started. All through the underground settlement people were slaughtered by large monsters. They didn’t eat the people they killed; they just rampaged through the corridors and houses without compassion. As Dahlia escaped from the clinic, the doctor accompanying her was attacked by one of these monsters. Even as he was ripped to pieces Dahlia could only watch in horror. The monster turned its eyes on her, and Dahlia thought her life would come to and end. But the monster didn’t attack her. It lumbered past into the clinic. While Dahlia was scared out of her mind, and while she regretted not being able to help those inside the clinic, she just wanted to find her mother. She eventually found the energy to make her way through the back corridors to her way home. She avoided the main housing district; she knew that would be the worst place to be. On her way, she found a wounded soldier sprawled across the floor. He was still breathing, but with some of his organs on the floor, it was obvious he wouldn’t make it. Dahlia couldn’t just leave him there, but she couldn’t save him either. The soldier had enough strength to speak, and knew that he was dying. He managed to remove his weapon and satchel and leave them for her, telling her how the weapon works, were the safety was, and how to reload, all silently taken in by Dahlia. She took it as his last request, and paused to close his eyelids as he lay dead on the floor. It was the last action she made in her world.