Burning Brawler shut his eyes, and when he opened them, was invisible once more.
He used this moment to recast his spell, forming a triangle with his palms once more.
He saw Hal, and knew he had to take advantage of the situation.
He quickly and silently flew, building up his strength and focusing as he came near.
He stopped next to Hal and exploded in a massive, fiery inferno that caused even those in the top seats to feel a rise in temperature.
To those watching the screen, there was nothing, then a sudden red and orange blaze filled their view.
When the flames faded, Burning was kneeling on the ground, breathing heavily, part of the floor melted away. He looked around to see if Hal was still there...
Arc ID: 475246, "Bringing a Lord to Power"
"I'm only a simple man trying to cling to my tomorrow. Every day. By any means necessary."
-Caldwell B. Cladwell
Hal's Phantasm disappeared, and the teleporter warped him away to safety.
"Go away," Hal said, as Enrique appeared beside his bed.
"It was not really your fault," Enrique said, ignoring this. "You were unfairly outmatched, two against three. . . Still, however, I would have expected better from one of my creations."
"Tell me who you are, and how you created me!" said Hal angrily, but Enrique had already gone.
Entertainment of course, Hyun-ki answered. Ryjuta shot him a piercing glance and Hyun-ki sank into the back of his seat.
I dont care about that. My concern is for my student, Ian, Ryjuta answered. I dont think entertainment would be a problem though. My Ian is quite the flashy fighter when he wants to be. He began examining a glass of wine that was near him, pondering if he should drink or not. Now I have a question for you. Can you alter the matches to favor one fighter over another?
You mean cheat!? Why would you think such a thing?, Elaine out bursted. If youre so confident in your pupil why would you need to cheat?
She continued shouting for a short time, Ryjuta passively listening. After she was done, he answered her. Trust me, Elaine, that is not my intention. He turned to Annette, So is it possible to fix these matches without the knowledge of the participants?
"Exhibition matches like the one against the thugs may be fixed. It creates drama and tension, since a lot of fighters tend to just roll over the competition. However," Annette turned deadly serious, "Don't even THINK of rigging official matches. The Grandmaster frowns on such behavior."
"And don't worry about the wine," Chihaya, the miko standing off to the side, cut in, "I'm here to hold up a barrier to prevent poisoning. An-chan doesn't believe in poisoning or cheating."
Annette nodded to the miko and went back to the question, "The purpose of this arena is to give warriors a fair place to fight, and to give the audience something to cheer about. Not to mention earn us a bit of cash."
(OOC: Chihaya isn't a gladiator, she's technically an employee of Annette's, and a friend of her gladiators. Officially, she works for the arena helping maintain the limiter.)
Thats a shame, Ryjuta sighed. I suppose Ian wont be in many official matches then if I dont know he has a high chance of losing. He took a whiff of the wine and took a sip to sample the taste.
Thats a bit low, Ryjuta, Elaine commented. Trying to make him lose? The boy could get hurt out there.
He shook his head, No, hes not a boy anymore and he should be treated as such.....but maybe I should take my own advice.
Hyun-ki was a bit confused. Why would Ians chance of winning be any different than everyone else? He just shrugged and stared at the food which he had no desire to eat. So why did you decided to bring us here? Just for a meal and a chat? he asked, adjusting his glasses on his nose again.
Star Scout MK-1 landed as it registered Brawler's motion. The blazing inferno shorted Scout's visual sensors briefly, and when "sight" returned, Hal was gone. Scout scanned the battlefield to find Shinae, and see how their Rikti ally was faring, moving to stand by and protect Brawler in case Shinae decided it was the time to strike...
Brawler nodded his thanks to scout. "I'll be fine in a minute, I just need to catch my breath."
Arc ID: 475246, "Bringing a Lord to Power"
"I'm only a simple man trying to cling to my tomorrow. Every day. By any means necessary."
-Caldwell B. Cladwell
Reishi, one of Annette's gladiators present, stepped forward.
"I assure you than any battle with us will have an equal chance of losing or winning...if he's inexperienced I'd lean more towards the 'losing' side," Reishi grinned.
"My gladiators may all be rather young in comparison to yours, but they all have real world battle experience. Reishi and Tetsuko fought in the Rikti war, El Guapo Grande has been in a really bizarre number of conflicts, and Sae here fought in the war against the demons that sieged Tokyo," Annette explained.
OOC: @%^@&* Shinji. >_<
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
[ QUOTE ]
OOC: @%^@&* Shinji. >_<
[/ QUOTE ]
(OOC: 0_o)
Thats not it, Ryjuta said with a sigh. He leaned back a bit in his seat, altering his perfect posture. I havent a doubt all the fighters here are capable of defeating Ian but his chance of victory is far from small as well. His specialty is one-on-one combat so he feels particularly at ease in such circumstances.....this is why I dont want him to win *any* of his battles. It may be impossible to alter the match so he loses, therefore a streak of all losing matches may be out of the question but I want him to at least lose the majority of his fights.
He rested his empty glass down on the table and continued, So I'd rather he not have an equal chance to win or lose."
"Hmmm," Annette thought to herself, "There IS a way that can happen. You could attack Ian's ego by having him go up against someone he THINKS is much weaker than he is and then having his rear end handed to him repeatedly. If he loses to many people on the same team, his confidence will be shot and cause him to continue to lose."
Annette sipped her tea and continued, "I'd recomend you specifically ask for Reishi here to face him in a one on one match."
Ryjuta politely smiled. "I've taught him well. He knows not to underestimate his opponent and breaking his confidence is tougher than you think. It is his strongest trait, after all."
The master swordsman silently thought a moment, "It wouldn't be impossible to play on his emotions if that's the only way. I've heard he can be quite lecherous."
"I wouldn't say lecherous.....eager perhaps," Hyun-ki chimed in.
"No matter," Ryjuta said with a shake of his head. "Maybe there are certain match stipulations that could work against him. Altered gravity? Decreased speed? Is anything like that possible?"
"Well...if he favors close range attacks we could use the repel function on the bands. Observe," she explained, pressing a button on a small device in her hand.
Without warning, Reishi and Sae, who were standing a few feet apart, were flung with tremendous force across the ballroom in opposite directions, away from one another.
"I don't favor this battle mode because it promotes the use of guns, but it's ideal for archers and spell casters."
"Ow..." Reishi said.
Sae looked dazed.
"Interesting," Ryjuta replied blandly. "That may work the first time but I can imagine him finding a way around it, one way or another." He then looked up at the monitor and continued to watch the fight.
"There's also ways you could make it so he can't do battle to begin with. If you set the kinetic limiter regarding 'blunt objects' low enough, his punches won't do squat. The same works for sharp objects," Annette suggested.
"That sounds like another option. Let's just hope we all get a chance to see our gladiators in battle soon," Ryjuta smiled.
((Yeah, when will that next fight start so I can toss in one of my characters? 
))
[ QUOTE ]
"That sounds like another option. Let's just hope we all get a chance to see our gladiators in battle soon," Ryjuta smiled.
((Yeah, when will that next fight start so I can toss in one of my characters? ))
[/ QUOTE ]
((Whenever Shinae and the Rikti get back to start a bout 
))
((On the other hand, we can also work to SET-UP a match as well...))
(OOC: Which is what exhibition matches are for. While our rules require a GM for official matches, it's unnecessary for an exhibition)
Ian was still pacing about the meeting room, Jase casually sipping on a bottle of something that he refused to say what it contained. Ian began tapping his foot impatiently before he turned to the reclining ninja, Lets have a match! You and me!
Jase took another small sip before eyeing the eager swordsman. You? Fight me? Heh, I dont think the old [censored] would approve, he replied with a smile. But we can still have a private match, one on one. Itll be our little secret. Jase was probably talking about something other than fighting but Ian didnt react to that.
No, I mean we can fight side by side against someone. Its been a while since we battled together. How about it?
Can you even *do* that? I thought the old [censored] had to set up the matches for us, Jase cried as he capped the bottle.
Come on, we can still do exhibition matches. We can just say master Ryjuta did set the match. Not long after, Jase and Ian were standing in a circular arena, slightly smaller than the main one but still pretty big. The floors were all metal and there were about six pillars of stone placed equidistance around its circumference. The crowd was just starting to fill up the seats that were up and surrounding a dome of protective energy. Although not a huge crowd, they sounded like one as they cheered for the combatants.
Good evenin folks! Weve got a real treat for you tonight! Its the chance of a lifetime; to see a samurai and a ninja, often two feuding factions, fighting together to defeat a common foe! Who will they be fighting you ask? the energetic announcer shouted. Suddenly, the center of the floor opened up and slowly a huge platinum and purple mecha suit rose up. Whew! That thing looks nasty! Just for the sake of excitement, were pulling out all the stops! The damage in this match will be at maximum so we can really see what these fighters can do! The kinetic dampeners were turned down so Jase and Ians attacks would be at their maximum but the mech suit itself was remotely controlled and its hydraulic assault gauntlets and ammunition were both toned down to relatively non-lethal levels or as non-lethal as a giant robot can be. Okay then! LETS GET THIS MATCH STARTED! The crowd roared as the huge robot came to life and began to move.
Ive been meaning to fight a few more giant robots lately. All those times I couldnt make a dent? Heh, thats all changed now, Ian said with a grin as he waved to the audience.
Just dont get cocky....and leave me something to fight, Jase commented as he pulled out a kunai and a shuriken from a strap near his leg. The robot was built for defense mostly, with armor a bit thicker than most but at the cost of its offensive capabilities and movement but with its size compared to the arena, it wouldnt need much movement anyway. Ian calmly walked up to the machine, his hand at his bokken. Jase prepared to attack a vulnerable spot on the mech by melting into the shadows.
((Ill provide commentary for the match. Ill say anyone can jump in but give my guys a chance to fight for a post and then jump in. If someone jumps in Id say after the robots defeat they can fight each other but Im leaning against that cause the damage isnt restricted. Also, you can choose how the robot attacks your character, just dont take all the attention to give others a chance to do something.))
((Plague, mind auto-controlling Shinji's char? I'm not sure he's coming back...))
Arc ID: 475246, "Bringing a Lord to Power"
"I'm only a simple man trying to cling to my tomorrow. Every day. By any means necessary."
-Caldwell B. Cladwell
The delightful dinner was interrupted by a beeping on Annette and Ryjuta's wristwatch, a watch issued to all the Masters that went off any time a match began.
The view screen switched to Ian and Jase's fight against the mecha.
Reishi watched the battle unfold and looked like a dog hungry for a bone.
"Boss, ya GOTTA let me go fight those guys!" she said.
"Not until we turn the limiter back on. Without it there's a strong chance you could kill them," Annette replied. Her tone had a lot of absolution in it. Reishi was a voracious fighter, and had a tendency to get carried away in battle. In fact, she was the guinea pig for a lot of the limiter technology. Even now they were beta testing a type of reverse limiter with her, that made attacks pack MORE of a wallop against her.
However, fighters with super strength and fast healing were a dime a dozen. What Reishi had that made her different was finesse. For example, the average possessor of super strength could punch a gigantic hole in a building or lift a car. Reishi could punch a fist-sized hole through a building or even wield a car like a club. Control was her advantage. Super strength is powerful, but unfocused. Reishi learned to focus that strength to become one of the most powerful one-on-one duelers on the planet.
Neimand was watching the bout with his fighters in their collective rec room, a slight grin on his face as he relaxed crosslegged. His stable had tried to keep up their game, but couldn't keep their eyes off of the match. Quixotica seemed to have developed a frienship with Star Scout, and had gasped and grown worried as he had fallen out of the air. Curore had known (and fought with) the robot for a long time ((Star is the only gladiator to know who Curore really is)), and put a hand on her shoulder and spoke up.
"Just watch, lass, the ol' bot ain't done with yet."
When the robot hadn't moved for what fifteen seconds dragged to forever, Curore grinned, "Watch this, lass, the sneaky devil. He's just playing out o' commishion, powerin' up."
Neimand was glad to see all of his gladiators developing companionship...he much prefered fighters who grew to understand each other and be a team. The match continued with various levels of concern from the members, and collective surprise at Brawler's blazing explosion. The Stinky Avenger hooted, "That sure got the illusion guy!"
As Star Scout moved to protect Brawler, Neimand's Arena Trust watch beeped. Neimand flipped his left wrist so his left palm faced him (he wore the watch on his left, face "down"), and cued a control on the wall. Who on earth would have started a match so soon? A second screen appeared next to the first, and the gladiators collectively turned to see what new thing was happening.
The announcer's voice came through slightly muted, and Donna Eerie commented quickly, rolling her eyes "Two crazies against a giant robot. Why am I not surprised."
Bleur Bogenshutze shushed her, attentively watching the match (he had never seen a samurai or ninja in actual combat, and had always been a buff of ancient combat). Donna huffed and muttered under her breath, "Men. Indeed."
Neimand chuckled to himself, and knew he had to meet this other master...the match list stated his name as Ryjuta, and his list of combatants looked intriguing. Speaking up gently, he asked "Curore, could you come here for a moment?"
Bright Heart came over, his yellow and blue classic Kheldian look accentuated by his white hair and eyes. Neimand spoke so only they could hear, the others seemed so interested, he'd hate to disturb them. "I need you to carry a message to this Ryjuta. In particular, he has an archer in his stable. I know that our bowman has some sting to him, but I wonder if he'll be able to handle the sting of a woman. He's been itching for a match, and what better than a battle of the bows? I know you'll know what to say...just try not to hit on her if you meet her," Neimand finished as he raised his right eyebrow in a sideways, cynical look.
Curore grinned from ear to ear, "Well, if you insist, lad, I guess I can handle it."
Gliding through the air, the Peacebringer flew through the halls, following the directions to Ryjuta's gladiator lounge ((neither knows of the ballroom meeting)).
((See I woulda came back earlier, but see what had happened was, I was grounded from games this past weekend, and I was too busy playin chromehounds yesterday, but I'm back....for the moment))
After narrowly dodging getting cracked in the head with the back of Chertak's gun, Shinae was sent flying by an unsuspected kick. Shinae recovered from the blow and charged at Chertak saying, "Ok, you're pissing me off." Right when she got close enough to Chertak to be in range of attacking him, she phase shifted through him and began swinging at him from behind.
Annette hit a button and a large screen came out of the ceiling between the two. On screen was the fight in the arena, with commentary.
"Now...you're rather new to the Trust, so I thought I'd ask you...what do you think the purpose of this arena is?" Annette asked.