Second Verse, Same as the First (TWS2 INTRODUCTION! PLEASE JOIN!)

Last edited by Wrath on Wed Sep 03, 2014 7:37 pm; edited 4 times in total

"Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. Proverbs 27:17."

Second Verse, Same as the First (TWS2 INTRODUCTION! PLEASE JOIN!) Fortress_-_Crystal_palace

Second Verse, Same as the First (TWS2 INTRODUCTION! PLEASE JOIN!) Fortress_-_Crystal_palace

The contestants would all be transported to a crystalline palace, the inhabitants of which were unknown. They would be led by little flags, however, up a crystalline staircase through a geode, before coming out to a giant platform with two dining tables on it. One was smaller, designed to seat seven people on the outward edge of a crescent moon. The other was larger, designed to seat seventeen, and was a dining table. The seats for both tables were placed with nametags for each contestant; the newcomers all sitting at the large table, and the seven veterans to sit at the smaller table. Onyekachi was labeled for four of the seventeen seats at the larger table. The smaller table was on a slight rise, overlooking the newcomers. Violence wasn't allowed to the absolute, and anyone that tried stealing anyone else's seat would simply be unable to.

One man already sat at the smaller table, grinning to all of the newcomers. He wore casual attire, but wore his trademark black cloak with red clouds illustrated on it in an open position over this suit.

"Welcome," he greeted them, "To the World's Strongest Tournament. This is the lobby, and your room and board will be provided here. Please sit down, and you will be treated to whatever you want to eat. We will get down to business soon, but there's no reason we can't have a meal first."

Wrath looked down, and a crystalline plate appeared with many slices of pizza, along with another plate of stuffing, Red Lobster biscuits, mashed potatoes, and shrimp.

"Feel free to ask me any questions you have while you're here...they seem to have chosen me to be their spokesperson." He then pulled out a card from his sleeve, reading it as if on cue. "Yes, that reminds me...violence in the lobby is prohibited. Attempt to break this rule and you will find the results quite...unsatisfactory." He slipped the card back into his sleeve and offered them all a wry smile. "Their words, not mine."

Both tables' seats were arranged in alphabetical order, so he sat between Shivering Jemmy of the Shallow Brigade and Metamorphi. He waited for someone to ask questions.

Newbie seating arrangements:

Veteran seating arrangements:

Metamorphi sat in his seat, looking at the other participants in the tournament, he saw people he both recognised and did not, some that he both liked, disliked and had no opinion of. Meta leaned back in his seat, this would certainly be interesting. Meta was informed that there would be no fighting in this area, not that it mattered, Meta was planning on waiting for the tournament to begin anyway. He looked to Kyte once he had finished talking Why are we separated into different tables? Other than the fact that it identifies who was at the last tournament and who wasn't, what's the point?

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Kane sat at the table for the kiddies who weren't at the first tournament, he was upside down so that his head was near the floor and his legs were in the air. He looked around at the feet of his opponents, they were very formidable feet, he was sure the people they belonged to was just as formidable, but Kane couldn't see their faces. Kane pressed his hands against the ground and pushed off against it, sending himself into the air slightly. He used his powers to keep himself suspended in the air, in the same position as last time, only he was high enough to see the faces of everyone else now. He stayed silent for now, since he had no questions.

The sprite didn't know who the seating planners were, but he felt they were capable of ruining any wedding reception they put their minds to. This was the most awkward chair arrangement he could imagine. He'd walked up with members of HIVE, only to leave his buddies behind for this assortment. A blank-slate Lord of Chaos, the leader of the Titans, someone he suspected knew more than he let on, a... Metamorphi, and a girl he was trying to avoid. He decided non-engagement was his best approach.

But then Kyte offered questions. Pix was a sucker for a good interrogation, "They? Interesting. I have questions." And they were a darn sight better than the set that lame hero came up with. "The Vanishing is still a mystery to us. All we know for sure is it took everyone above a certain power level. Meanwhile, the level of reality manipulation on display here far surpasses any capabilities we know of. Including the Lords of Order and Chaos." His eyes flickered sideways, hoping he hadn't inadvertently offended Jemmy, "Which means one of two things. Our Host either caused the Vanishing or is more powerful than that which caused the Vanishing. Which of those two is it? And why should I believe your answer?"

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Finally. Some respect! The Kishi was delightfully surprised by his seating allotment. Most folk simply didn't accommodate a roving Kishi pack. To compensate, the demon would steal their chair and then make a new chair out of their own skin. "Smells good. Let's get our share of the grub, brothers."

The Kishi split into four almost identical bodies. One wore trousers, another shorts, another boxers, and the final demon made do with the loincloth. Without waiting for Grace to be said, the fearsome four tucked in to their plates. They favoured meat, having seldom been fortunate enough to get it fresh these days. It was a little too cooked for his tastes, but they cherished what was on offer. Geraldo pointed at the plate of a competitor seated next to him, "You gonna eat that?" His table manners left a lot to be desired.

Blake was startled at the sudden change of scenery and was immediately on her guard when she reappeared. She blinked around and was suddenly greeted by the familiar sound of Pix flaunting his intellect. Well, he obviously knew where he was for the most part, and the complete coward didn't smell of fear. This was acceptable. She saw others move to take their seats and followed, noticing they were labeled. "Pix, You're really way too smart for your own good." The feline assassin told him, sitting at her own seat. Ooohhhhh, a fish dinner...

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Yang popped into the room just like last time. She didn't have many questions this time. Without her armor on, she sat down at her chair and gestured to the others to just come and sit. "Both of you worry too much. You know how this works, so let's just get ready for our matches." The blonde Titan wasn't acting much like herself. A good bit of that was just irritation at her defeat last time around. She still didn't finish that correctly. The rest of it was just hunger. She hadn't eaten in a day or two.

Guest

Jemmy looked around, admiring the crystalline palace. She had never been in such a place. Or had she? The Lord of Chaos couldn't remember anything beyond a few days ago. In any case, it was a very pretty place, and she approved of the warm reception. It was good that somebody knew how to properly welcome someone of her position.

The little girl looked up at the red balloon strung to the ribbon in her hand. "Quite the spectacle, isn't it?" The balloon did not reply in any way, but a few moments later, Jemmy laughed. "Don't be so impatient, Lewis. We'll get to kill them soon enough. It's all part of the game."

Wrath started to speak, but Jemmy didn't pay too much attention. She heard that no fighting was allowed in the lobby. That was fine. Every game needed rules, right? She sat down at the small table, where her name was, not realizing the significance until Metamorphi spoke. So, Jemmy had been in the previous tournament? That was interesting. She wondered how well she had done. She shrugged it off. She had probably won.

Jemmy leaned over the table to be able to reach a slice of pizza as Pix started to speak. His words made her confidence weaken. She didn't remember the Vanishing, but she knew what it was. Not even the Lords of Order and Chaos had been spared. Indeed, only Jemmy herself, the weakest Lord of Chaos, had remained. Pix's words were true. Whoever had caused the Vanishing, and whoever had summoned these combatants here for the tournament, was far more powerful than Jemmy. Pix asked Wrath if their host was responsible for the Vanishing, or if they were more powerful still.

"He doesn't know," Jemmy said, taking a big bite of pizza. "It's like you said, it's beyond even the Lords of Chaos. If I don't know who our host is, or who caused the Vanishing, then there's no way that anybody in this room knows." Jemmy sneaked a peak at Wrath's name plate. "Including Mr. Kyte. Maybe the Endless know, but...I have no desire to ask them."

Guest

Kale sat at the table next to Kane, he recognized a lot of people from their scents or voices. However, some were foreign to him. The dragon mage instantly raised his hand while squeezing a biscuit. "I'm pretty sure this isn't edible." He said with a sullied and sad expression. Of course he meant for himself. His trademark scarf covered most of his face from view as he spoke from it's inner confines and sank his neck into it. The teen was not wearing his mage cloak yet, right now he had on his typical attire - designed tank top and cargo pants with combat boots and his scrolls attached at the waist. Not to mention his Titans tattoo was very vibrant and visible for all to see.

The short blonde girl mentioned she'd kill them from the other table. She had a very high amount of magic power - oh yes! Kale remembered her now. It was Jemmy. "So they let monsters like that into this?" The pink haired teen sneered. "Then I really will have to go all out." Jemmy was one of the few beings on the planet that made the dragon mage rather uneasy.

Bow blinked as she arrived at the palace, and then cursed under her breath. She had been talking in her sleep again, obviously. The pink haired girl yawned and took her place at the table of veteran's... She was sitting two of her friends though, so that was nice. Her face turned to Yang and smiled sweetly. "Hayy there, Yang! I bet you're pumped about this huh!? I spoke in my sleep again..." *giggle* In front of her appeared a wholesome meal of chicken fettuccine alfredo, corn, biscuits smothered in butter, and a root beer.

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On the other hand, one of the newcomers had a literal mountain of food. If anyone looked close enough, they would find that it was every person's favorite meals all stack piled onto one plate. The little girl with piercing red eyes just like her big brother was staring at it, drooling lightly. But at the moment, she had one more important thing to do than to eat food. And she didn't say that very often. Gluttony ran up to Wrath with a bright smile on her face. "BIG BROTHER!! WON'T THIS BE FU-...You've already done this!? No fair!! *pout* She looked around at the veterans and waved to Bow, wondering why on earth she was here... o.o

Haruhi was busy tying her shoe when she sensed a change in the atmosphere. She glanced up and was struck with confusion as she couldn't recognize where she was. "Eh......eh?!" She glanced around with blank eyes, still confused as she didn't seem to recognize anyone, until she saw Kale, and heard a familiar voice that later revealed to be Kyte. When she saw the familar faces she calmed down a bit, taking a deep sigh and followed everyone to take a seat at the table, searching for her seat. Once she found it she was relieved to be sitting next to someone she knew, who was also her teammate. "Hey Kale, do you know what's going on?-" She asked as she took her seat, but the boy was too distracted by the biscuits to notice her. She glanced to her right to see who else she was sitting by and her eyes went wide. "D-Dennis?"

Ravian glanced around the room, not using his powers for once. There was no fun in cheating, this was supposed to be some sort of game after all. He would play fair...for now. Once they got into the match, then the fun would begin. "Yang...Kale." His toned darkened. Kale had been Ravian's ally once, for a short time, but now Ravian solidly held him in contempt, as an enemy. He hoped Kale would be his opponent. He would love to beat some sense into the 'dragon'. He was confident in his ability to do so too. "Haru too, this'll be fun."

He looked around the room. There were only a few people he had seen on T.V. and a few more he had heard of but never really looked into. Bow was one of those "Who are you?" he said. In front of him there was a rather simple meal, spaghetti and meatballs. Ravian hadn't had many fancy meals. "Yeah, I'm gonna eat that." he said calmly before putting a fork full of noodles in his mouth.

Nikki appeared in the crystal tower and unsure of where she was, changed to her were form. She looked around and ended up in a large room with two tables and quite a few people seated at them. She didnt recognize anyone from the tables that she knew of and decided to look around at the people a bit before being seated. She half listened when the rules were being spoken and took note of the no fighting rule. She looked up at the guy who had given the rule and shrugged, changing back to human form as she decided she wouldnt need to fight off any one. She soon found her name at a table place and was seated, picking a few bits of food and looking around her, curiously. She did have one question though, she turned to her attention to Wrath, "Is the lunar cycle the same here as it is on Earth?" She asked while cutting some meat for herself. To any one else it may have seemed a strange question but she didn't want to be cought unaware in a red moon craze and seriously hurt someone.

A little girl wandered up the steps, her dark blue-green shaking as she strode up the steps into the main hall. She looked no older than ten years old, but in this select company, that probably meant less than a limerick about gophers. Even so, the look of honest perplexity was sincere as she examined the beautiful crystal formations... none of which she could scan. It was vexing - she'd never before encountered something she could not scan. She felt... naked, sort of - vulnerable, surrounded by a field of static that bade her turn off her sensors and rely on her base five senses alone. In a word, she was frightened.

But the smell of something familiar jogged her out of her low-grade terror reverie. The smell of... of... hot and sour soup! She honed in on it, eyes lidding. If this were a cartoon, she would have been floating after a wafting trail of it. She wound up with a place across from Haruhi, a blonde teen who seemed almost as perplexed as she was. The girl peeked over the top of the table at her, then made an effort to scramble up onto Mt. Bench.

Before her... was a vision from her grandest dreams: A bowl of Hot and Sour soup! With dumplings bobbing on the surface! And fried rice on the side with all the best bits - imitation crab done just like she liked, carrots, even eggplant! Her eyes were big as saucers. They'd even included tea?! With the BOBBA TEA HOOSE tag still dangling. Maybe some people would prefer grander fare - but this was her father's recipe for a happy Ares - they'd.. gotten it exactly right, some how. She didn't question - she just accepted its presence.

She shut her eyes, and sat properly on the chair, her little back held straight, palms on her lap. Ares bowed her head, imagining the food as... exactly what she needed, imagined it... as something that would help her in her path, that it was divine nectar in a glorious (and tasty!) vessel. She thought about her path... about everything she was, everything she'd done, all the gifts her father had given to her, and said a soft prayer.

Ares's prayer:

Then, she picked up the big spoon they'd set before her, scooted forward, and began to eat. She always went for the dumplings first - that was just who she was! She dipped them in the soup, scooped some of the rice onto them, and sat back with the treat, nibbling it like a mouse as her eyes wandered.

There were... so many people here! People she'd never met before, not a one, but spirits, and tensions, were high. She could hear their heartbeats, their breathing, their voices, raising or falling in tone or volume, and it was like an insight into their souls, in a way. A dark-skinned youth spake the name of one person - Yang, he'd called her. She glanced at the radiant blonde, then glanced back at the boy. He then dropped his tone, and referred to another. She followed his gaze - Kale. His contempt oozed in his words, she thought.

Then, Ares turned her gaze again to Haruhi, smiled cheerily at her, nudged her plate at her, offering the girl one of her fluffy pork dumplings!

"Hello, miss! Please, would you have one of my dumplings?" she said, eyes bright!

So many applicants. So many powers. Some great, some small. Most had entered for fame or glory, some had entered for the opportunity to better themselves. Others still had entered for whatever prize lay at the end. One man had no such ambitions. To the world, this man was no man. To the world, this man was long dead. To the world, this man did not exist. But stories echoed and twisted through the night. Tales whispered among killers and monsters of a monster they feared to mention aloud. Hushed mutterings of a ghost that killed for reasons only he could fathom. Quiet legends of a specter who prowled the night and day: unseen unless he wanted to be seen, unperturbed by any lock or sealed door. They said he couldn't be killed. Bullets had no effect, and no blade could touch him. But these were just stories, weren't they? Most present hadn't even heard them, but a few had. Even fewer knew the truth of them firsthand - the tales of the Lone Madman, the Silent Knight.

Zack Wylder had his Glock and Ka-bar drawn and ready within the second he spontaneously became somewhere else. But where? His eyes narrowed as he watched so many others walking along the stairs, following little red flags like docile sheep. He slipped into the shadows and watched them for a moment, drawing a bead on the closest one as she walked past, oblivious to him. His eyes narrowed as he saw her Titans communicator. In the distance, he heard a voice acknowledging the contestants. Apparently violence wasn't allowed before the start of the tournament. His brow furrowed. Very well. It wouldn't be wise to test those in charge without first seeing what all they were capable of. He holstered his weapons and crept up to the edge of the dining hall, where he wouldn't be able to continue without being spotted. There were two tables with two groups of people. One for veterans, and one for people who hadn't participated in the last tournament. There was a previous tournament? His eyes narrowed. Of course there was! He had fought in it. He shook his head. No he hadn't. There had never been any such tournament before. His grin twitched. Why did it feel like someone was messing with his head?

He strode forward into the light towards the new contestant table, his eyes sweeping across the other occupants in the room. It seemed some people lacked the concept of the strategic advantage in the unknown and had announced to the world their abilities and given potential insight into their weaknesses by using their powers before the fighting. He wondered how many he would be able to kill. A whole dining hall filled with people only a short step away from being just like him. He wondered how many worked for his creators. He wondered how many of those had any idea who pulled their strings. How many would turn later? How many would they resurrect and rebuild? Better to kill as many as possible now than to let them turn and wreak untold havoc on the general populace. He recognized the creature that had fought against him in a restaurant where he had attacked a sleeper agent. He recognized the pink haired girl he had saved from death or worse, who had hugged him and told him he didn't have to fight alone. That was a shame. He didn't want to have to kill her.

He had almost reached the newbie table when he stopped, a confused look in his eyes. His brow furrowed once more. Someone was definitely messing with his mind. Why had he been about to take a seat there? He had fought at the last tournament. He slowly turned and walked to his seat at the veteran's table, though he didn't sit down just yet: Standing a few feet away, staring at his name on the place card. Why didn't it feel right?

A black haired teenager walked in with the feline assassin and pixelated boywonder, he had on a black trench coat, black skinny jeans, and black converse. His amber eyes screened the room, some people he knew, others he didn't. He didn't necessarily care, he walked to his seat without a word he lit a cigarette. Zero was much different after his fight with Ekmed, and he was here to train. See how far he had slipped. He hoped no one talked to him.

It was on short notice. Very short notice. In fact Mav was quite sure she didn't make the cut and had long given up on the notion that she was participating. And yet here she was. She had a vague idea of what was going on and figured what she didn't know would be told to them here. She would save any feelings of excitement for later and act more reserved. As she reached the table and found her seat, she saw at least one familiar face in motley group. Jemmy, a teammate from Link, was sitting at the other table. Mav decided she would save saying hello for later until she was certain it was okay to "socialize". She adjusted her scarf as she took a seat and noticed that the man two chairs away from her was still standing. It was then that she felt he was somehow familiar. Was he someone she knew too? It didn't seem like it was the first time she had seen him. She made a mental note and left it at that for now.

Unlike most of the other people in the room, she didn't start eating right away nor did she ask any questions. She would let other people do that for her while listened intently.

So there he was. Teleported into some odd crystal palace that looked like it belonged to in a children's movie. The first few moments he was admittily freaked out. One second he was in his crappy little studio of an apartment ready to enjoy a hot cup of instant noodles, and the next he was... somewhere. It didn't take long for him to realize he was not in Jump anymore. Half-expecting a band of merry little people to escort him. After a waiting a moment he saw it wasn't happening, so he followed the flags up, up, up, and up the staircase to the platform which held the rest of the combatants. Most of the seats were already filled, but he didn't recognize most of the bodies in them. He was sure he saw one or two on the news for one reason or another. And Pix at the smaller table.

As who he correctly assumed to be the announcer gave a spiel about the tournament, he tried to figure out why in the hell Hugh of all people was at a place called the Worlds Strongest Tournament. He had to be the weakest person he knew. While Pix asked questions Dennis had no real care about, he made his way to his seat with plates full of waffles, sausage, syrup, and heaps of bacon. So much better than cup noodles.

While he began to devour his waffles that he wrapped around the bacon, he he gave a quick scan of the people sitting, until he heard his name. Of all the people he could sit next to it had to he his sister that he hadn't seen in years.

Having his sibling at this event would make things difficult. And of course he wanted to avoid this awkward family reunion as long as he could. So he did the first thing that he could think of. Then remembering violence was prohibited, he chose plan B.

"Attention all you pansies!" by this time he had risen to his seat and cupped his hands together over his mouth. Lowering his hands he continued talking at the top of his lungs. "They call me the Red Hand and I'm gonna win this tournament. We all know this. I'm whooping you. And you. And you..." he pointed to each and everyone of the combatants. " Just remember when you lose you lost to the future champion so try not feel too bad about it."

He then sat down and continued to eat his breakfast.

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» Nano Introduction
» Ironically, My Introduction
» Introduction (just felt necesary)
» Hunger: Introduction. (Solo)