Mini-Grand 5113 (Round 1: Chateau Securise!)

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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Loading Mini-Grand Framework... Done.

Generating Administration Personality... Done.

"CONGRATULATIONS! You've all been chosen as finalists for our special promotional giveaway!"

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.

"Now, you may be all be a little confused, probably thinking along the lines of 'When did I enter this thing?' Well, that decision was never really yours, but try not to worry too much about it and just enjoy the game. After all, for most of you, it's all you'll be doing for the rest of your lives!

"Yes, this is one of those exciting interdimensional battles to the death you may have heard about. One, that's right, one lucky winner will walk away with their own life - unless something CRAAAAZY happens in the battle, of course, which is always good for ratings - and our GRAND PRIZE!

"Which is, of course, top secret. You want to know what it is? Win the battle and you'll find out!

"Before we go further, let's meet our contestants. First, we've got a pack of wolves! Ten of them, to be exact. This is the High Pine Pack, and they're no ordinary wolves... they've got INCREDIBLE PSYCHIC POWERS! Well, incredible for wolves, anyways. They act as a hivemind, and they're pretty intelligent. Oh, and they all count as one contestant; if you want to win, you'll need to beat all ten of them first!

"Our next lucky competitor is Hicks! He can change his shape, because he's made out of clay. But this is no ordinary clay... It's explosive! If he doesn't make it through to the end, he's definitely going out with a BANG!

"Up next, we've got the incredible Zyl and Janet! This isn't a tag team - this odd couple consists of a worm and the human woman he uses for an arm! We can't wait to see what kind of wacky antics they have in store for us!

"And last, but not least, the Oracle of Meow! She may look like an ordinary grey cat to you, but appearances can be deceiving, folks! You see, this cat has an entire religion devoted to her, because she can reveal the future! If anyone knows who's winning this contest before it starts, it's her!

"Anyhow, the rules are simple: There are no rules! Not that you guys can really go breaking, anyways. Each round, we'll send you all to an exciting locale, and once one of you dies, everyone else will move on to the next round!

"There's four of you, even if you technically have more bodies and personalities than that between you, so that means three action-packed rounds in all. In case you have trouble with math.

"As previously stated, our winner will receive an all-expenses paid trip back to their homeworld, and our FABULOUS GRAND PRIZE! Runners-up will receive a one-way all-expenses paid trip to the afterlives, if any, of their respective homeworlds. No refunds, refusals, or replacements are available."


Generating Setting... Done.

The four generated characters suddenly found themselves moved through space, materializing in various locations around a well-furnished restaurant. Wall-mounted cameras watched their every movement, and armed guards stood by at every door.

"Welcome to Chateau Securise! This restaurant is renowned for two things - its high-quality cuisine, and its extensive security precautions. The owners have never actually explained exactly why they have so much security here; most people simply assume they're that protective of their special recipes, but rumor has it they're cooking up something else in that kitchen of theirs. Who can say for sure? Maybe you'll find out today!

"That's all you need to know. From here on out, you're all on your own. Good luck, and may the best being or pack of wolves win!"

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SpoilerCharacters:
~ATH: High Pine Pack - #666666 on #EEEEEE
Drakenforge: Hicks - #cc1100
MrGuy: Zyl and Janet - #800030
Agent1022: The Oracle of Meow - #006000

High Pine Pack and Hicks were submitted to me by PM.

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SpoilerUsername: ~ruru
Name: High Pine Pack
Race: Pack of Wolves
Gender: Varied
Color: this

Description: The High Pine Pack is quite simply, a pack of ten wolves. Psychic wolves, to be exact. They are linked under one hive mind, that of the alpha male. The pack as a whole is capable of thinking for itself, and all the wolves can speak simultaneously. However, the wolves still retain a sense of individuality, and each of them can think for themselves if they need to, but they never actually do so unless they are split from their pack. One can say that they have one mind for each wolf, and one comprehensive hive mind. Naturally, the hive mind takes complete authority. Other than this psychic quirk, the wolves look like completely ordinary Grey Wolves, but if you look in their eyes, you can see a strong sense of sapience, and there is completely no doubt that these are not ordinary wolves.

Items/Abilities: The High Pine Pack functions as a highly territorial pack of wolves, but they are extremely efficient. Messages can be transmitted instantly, thanks to their telepathic powers. Should they deign to allow another mind into their link, they can send messages to this foreigner as well. The hive mind is directly commanded to the alpha male, and if any wolf strays out of a 50-feet radius, he or she is temporarily unlinked with the hive mind, which can be thoroughly disconcerting for them. They are still capable of thinking and carrying out tasks, however, so they do use this tactic, if only rarely.

Biography: In an alternate universe, wolves have become the dominant species of Earth, not humans. Technology never got developed past the tribal stage, and the landscape is dominated by bloody strifes over territory. In this tragic dystopia, one pack managed to survive over the rest of the packs. This pack's power arised from a rare mutation in a single pup. This pup found he had the ability to truly become linked with another, and become one with them. He kept this power secret, and killed anyone who accidentally knew of his powers. He strove to be as completely generic as possible, so it came as a shock for many when he challenged the alpha male for the position in the hierarchy before he even became an adult. He was derided for his brashness, but the challenge was on. Come the day of the duel, he fought his hardest, but he was beaten unconscious. The alpha's victory was assured. But nobody could ever explain what happened afterwards. The alpha male suddenly ran off from the pack and jumped off a cliff, killing himself. The pack fell into chaos, but not for long. The challenger finally awoke, and extended his consciousness to the rest of the pack. The riot was instantly subdued, and from that day onwards, the High Pine Pack has always operated under one mind.

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SpoilerUsername: Drakenforge
Character name: Hicks
Gender: Male
Race: Sentient clay morph
Color: #cc1100
Description: Consistently a brown clay color this morphling usually appears as a bald human child. Layers of malleable clay cover him in a faux clothing manner. Appears to be about 13 years old. Nose and ears would not lead anywhere if you looked inside them, and his eyes are globes of translucent goo. If currently experimenting the areas hosting said experiment are known to tint in colour.
Hicks remains aloof at all times similar to an animal surrounded by predators. Extended exposure to risks burns him out easily and makes him lose more than just his focus. He is exceptionally clumsy however, and has little physical skill in any way. His attempts at running ,throwing or fighting have never been anywhere near successful, making his creed about troublesome situations be "Don't be there in the first place"

Abilities: Hicks is very malleable. While he can could convert his clay into a sturdier sort the weight effect on the rest of his body would cause him to become structurally unstable and more liable to falling over. His clay at its most basic form is always volatile, his power to reduce this is to simply become a type of explosive that does not react to force or other such stimuli. He can reshape himself at will albeit slowly and the further away from being his natural state the less effective or dexterous he will become. He is not at all good at mimicking human faces and so always defaults to his own looks. Apart from solid or malleable clay Hicks can create the properties of sludge, and is usually leaving small footprints of mildly volatile goo wherever he walks. It would take a spark or significant increase in heat to cause them to react however.

As stated earlier he is constantly experimenting oh substances inside his body cavity. Several organs create and modify explosive types, sometimes causing failures that need to be ejected quickly.

Background: Originally a child slave Hicks went by another name, one he has long forgotten. He was purchased by a London based alchemist who owned numerous other test subjects. The boy was branded with the letter H and the Latin numeral IX and spent years undergoing horrific experimentation that broke his mind and body several times over. Eventually the alchemist got something right, but didn't understand what Hicks had become at all. Leaving the pile of sludge alone for too long caused a massive build up of explosives and potent gasses that naturally detonated, levelling the laboratory. A small test sample of Hicks survived in a safe, eventually forcing itself out and regenerating into the form he has now using a photo of the alchemists son as a reference for a human form. He became isolated, not needing the comforts or intakes of regular humans he spent months attempting to overcome his volatile disposition.

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SpoilerUsername: MrGuy
Name: Zylkorabon and Janet Brass
Gender: Male-identified, Female
Race: Worm, Human
Text Color: #800030
Biography:

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SpoilerOn one gray, snowy morning in late November, Janet Brass woke up in the basement of her apartment complex chained to the wall. Next to her was a laptop computer; on her other side, her roommate Zylkorabon, in quite a similar position. He gave the best approximation of a smile that a circular mouth can manage. "About time you woke up."

Yawning, she raised her manacled hands to rub the sleep from her eyes. "Mm, morning to you too. The hell are we in the basement."

"I shall answer that." Down the stairs came a mustached man wearing a labcoat and an odd set of goggles, carrying a pouch of assorted hooks, yarn, pins, needles and circuitry. "Do you recall me, Ms. Brass?"

Janet stared at him for a moment. "Um... the landlord?"

"Not MERELY the landlord, you fool!" He slammed his hand against the heater, only to promptly recoil in pain and frantically blow on it. Once finished, he continued. "Once, I was your biology professor."

"Oh, Mr. Doty. Nice to see you again! How's the kids?"

Zylkorabon sighed. "Let him monologue."

Mr. Doty scowled and continued. "After you left the university, I sought vengeance on you, as well as all my other laziest students. So with my patented gene-merging machine, I merged my DNA with the third-most ruthless creature of all time... A LANDLORD! I couldn't find a lawyer or politician in time, you see. Also the rent was coming due and I'd spent all my money on a gene-merging machine, so that was a little side bonus."

Janet blinked and furrowed her brow. "Okay, what I do remember from your class, that's not how genes work."

Zylkorabon just stared at her, clearly exasperated. "That's right, Janet, make the crazy man even more pissed off."

Doty began pacing the room. "But there was an unexpected side effect. I had always loved knitting, but the landlord was more of a crocheting enthusiast. These conflicting desires merged, causing me to-- subconsciously at first, but then knowingly-- develop the horrible hybrid of KNICHETTING! Now I can attach anything to anything given enough yarn!"

Zyl continued for him. "The point being that if you don't write a five-page research paper in the next twelve hours to make up for the fact that you never completed a single paper in his class, he'll combine us into one monstrous being!"

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Janet continued flipping through the channels, occasionally asking Zylkorabon to lean down so she could get a handful of tortilla chips for the both of them. Mr. Doty sat next to them, enjoying some hummus.

Zylkorabon sighed. "I can't believe you actually let him go through with knitting you to me."

Doty smiled. "I can't believe you paid me twenty bucks plus yarn expenses for this!"

Janet shrugged. "I can't believe you expected me to do a paper when Real Housewives of Boise was on in half an hour."

Despite himself, Zyl cracked a circular smile-ish sort of thing. "What are we going to do with you, Janet?"

Description:

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Spoiler
(Image courtesy of Pharmacy ilu pharms)

Zylkorabon is a very large, sapient worm. His body segments are colored in such a way to suggest stripes, and he has a sort of mace-thing at the end of his tail like an anklyosaurus. He has four eyes and various facial markings.

Janet is a somewhat short and slightly overweight woman of roughly 23 years old. She has short hair (dyed a dark green) and wears a black hairband, as well as a gray hooded sweatshirt. She is waist-deep inside of Zylkorabon, acting as his only arm.

Zylkorabon tends to be thoughtful and scheming. His plans unfold with varying degree of success; sometimes they'll unfold perfectly, and other times they'll completely blow up in his face. He has considerable affection towards Janet, but often grows exasperated with her.

Janet is, above all else, lazy. She doesn't particularly enjoy doing much of anything, especially if she's being told to. She's quite cheerful and friendly as a general rule, but has a bit of a tendency toward sarcastic humor, which can come across as more biting than it's intended to be.

Items/Abilities: In addition to Zyl's FANTASTIC WORM ABILITIES (MACE TAIL! CHOMPY BITES! PRETTY GOOD AT TRAVELING THROUGH WATER!), Janet provides two hands, each with opposable thumbs (pretty useful). They're also both pretty good at bluffing.

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SpoilerUsername: Agent1022
Name: The Oracle of Meow
Gender: Female
Race: Kitty!
Text Color: #006000
Description: The Oracle of Meow is an adorable kitty with smoke-grey fur, the same shade of the smoke that erupts from the volcanic fissures in her temple. She likes scritchies behind the ears and the occasional mouse dipped in honey.
Weapons and Abilities: The Oracle of Meow is sentient, and can communicate telepathically - but while she can speak, she can only speak the future. She also is a cat, which is a weapon and ability all in itself.
Biography: The Oracle of Meow was a very special kitten. When it was found out that she could speak the future, she got her own temple and a whole lot of priestesses and honey mice every day. It was the life that all kitties deserve. And then she disappeared.