RP Smash [IC/ Closed / PG-16]

[LordCowCow 840]

"I would not believe it would be classified as vigilante investigation. Quite the contrary, I believe it would most likely be qualified as assisting the law enforcement. After all, not everyone may have quite the strength others do, especially in the force."

Mauvache shook her head. "And I did not bring these people here to work with the police. The police have their jobs. And the fighters have theirs. That's how it works." She moved another piece without bothering to look. "I do not like this idea of my fighters getting wrapped up in this business. However I do thank you for bringing it to my attention."

She activated her watch and a few moments later Aurora and Gavin would both be sent a message.

"I have learned you are investigating a police matter. I strongly suggest you cease this at once. This is a matter for the police, not you, and it wouldn't do for you to mess something up in their investigation."

Mauvache glanced at the board and smiled slightly. "Check."

---

Cyanthrax

"I too am fun!" Morgan said, pouting. "The most fun!" She followed up before crossing her arms and floating ahead of Cyanthrax.

---

"Set me up with a boxing match. And make sure it's your strongest guy. There's no fun in it if I just steamroll over some insects."

"Oh, Mr. Cyanthrax. We didn't expect you here...and you want...well, um, it's short notice but I can see what I can do..."

Then a voice boomed out. "The strongest guy you want?" Adonis, the muscled, long blonde-haired, man came strutting up to the desk. "Why there's no one stronger than Adonis in this city. So if you're looking for..."

Morgan's sudden cough caught his attention and, when he looked at her, the color drained from his face. "That is to say...I would love to show you a thing or two but I have a...stomach bug I'm afraid. Yes, must have eaten some bad meat. I can't do any sports for the rest of the day."

The receptionist rolled their eyes as they scrolled through a list. "Ah, this is a surprise...let me make a quick call. Yes, miss Aurea, I had a question about the system, there's a name here....it's correct? Ah, very well, thank you." They looked at Cyanthrax. "Go on in through those doors to room 24-C, the boxing ring should be set up."

BGM

The room seemed similar to the training room that Morgan had seen earlier. Only the boxing ring in the middle seemed somewhat larger.

In the middle of the ring A young woman stood. Bouncing back and forth on her heels and grinning in anticipation.

"Yo." She said. "You here to fight? I'm not s'posed to do this, got a thing I gotta do later, but I figured to hell with it I'll get a bit of a warm up in first."

Morgan looked the girl up and down and leaned in towards Cyanthrax. "Something seems strange about this one. She doesn't feel like a lot of the others around here." She muttered.

[yui 574]

Day 8, 8:00, Arena
Points: 61
W/L Record: 3/3

"Alright, Snow Angel, I'm in. I'd be delighted to show you a thing or two about what my universe and world have at our disposal."

"Awesome!" She'd get to see how all that cool future tech stuff worked! Did she remember to bring a notepad? Probably not. The watch had an app for that, right? She'd have to check. "I don't want to make a scene, so let's take this where people won't bug us." As Aurora was about to lead the way to the spot she had in mind, her watch beeped. And so did Gavin's. Some sort of news update or something?

"I have learned you are investigating a police matter. I strongly suggest you cease this at once. This is a matter for the police, not you, and it wouldn't do for you to mess something up in their investigation."

Nope.

"Bleh. Grounded by the boss." She didn't want to admit it, but Mauvache had a point. Maybe the investigation was moving slowly because the cops here did things their own way? Not to mention, not every world had heroes (apparently), so this must have been a place like that. If this was her world maybe, but even there she never got a liscence to be a proper hero. Thems was the breaks, she supposed.

Oh well. Maybe some exciting technology would make her feel better. Aurora led the way out the door, and created a small platform of ice hovering just above the ground, large enough to hold both her and Gavin.  "Express elevator. All aboard."

[reparoni 161]

"Oh, Mr. Cyanthrax. We didn't expect you here...and you want...well, um, it's short notice but I can see what I can do..."

Then a voice boomed out. "The strongest guy you want?" Adonis, the muscled, long blonde-haired, man came strutting up to the desk. "Why there's no one stronger than Adonis in this city. So if you're looking for..." However, as soon as he took a glance at Morgana, he seemed to get cold feet, before giving him some sort of excuse. Cyanthrax simply rolled his eyes.

"Seriously, that's the best ya've got?" The receptionist seemed to also roll her eyes in sync with him, before making a quick call. Once she was done, the girl turned to Cyan.

"Go on in through those doors to room 24-C, the boxing ring should be set up." Cyanthrax nodded, grinning.

"Sweet! Hope this one doesn't chicken out like your last one!" The demon let out a hearty laugh as he made his way towards room 24-C. When he got there, he was greeted by a rather young, sporty looking girl. She seemed to be waiting for someone.

"Yo." She said. "You here to fight? I'm not s'posed to do this, got a thing I gotta do later, but I figured to hell with it I'll get a bit of a warm up in first."

Cyan chuckled, about to say something when Morgana "Something seems strange about this one. She doesn't feel like a lot of the others around here."

"Maybe it's because she doesn't have a 'stomach bug'." He said mockingly, using air quotes before chuckling. He made his way towards the girl. "Well if you're in such a rush let's not waste time!" He said, tossing his jacket onto the side of the ring. He cracked his knuckles, before getting into a fighting stance. He didn't know much about boxing specifically - in fact, he didn't even really know what it was. What he did know, however, was how to fight hand to hand. His eyes locked onto the girl, waiting for her to make the first move. He needed to gauge how hard he was allowed to fight.

[Chaos Sonic 442]

"Awesome! I don't want to make a scene, so let's take this where people won't bug us."

"Yeah that would probably be the better id-" Gavin stopped suddenly as his watch beeped. A message? He quickly opened it and read the exact same message as Aurora.

"I have learned you are investigating a police matter. I strongly suggest you cease this at once. This is a matter for the police, not you, and it wouldn't do for you to mess something up in their investigation."

Huh...word must travel fast...either that or someone might've squealed. he thought, sighing as he closed out the message at Aurora. However, she seemed like she was fine with this situation now...but was she really?

"Express elevator. All aboard."

"...you happen to be fine with just rolling over and taking it like this?" Gavin asked bluntly, stepping on the ice platform. "I mean, wasn't this for a friend of yours anyway? I honestly think you have a bit more stake in this situation than Mauvache thinks..." He simply shrugged, sighing again. "Honestly, I think stopping the investigation...or if there even is an investigation...doesn't seem right."

"And I did not bring these people here to work with the police. The police have their jobs. And the fighters have theirs. That's how it works. I do not like this idea of my fighters getting wrapped up in this business. However I do thank you for bringing it to my attention. Check."

VEX frowned slightly, seeing Mauvache going that route of things. He, however, remained with his composure as blank and digital as he could. "I apologize. But you must understand, the world and universe that Gavin comes from, the local law enforcement didn't seem to take much of anything seriously." he explained, moving a piece on the board, his gaze now looking at Mauvache. "All that will have most likely have done for him, is simply take notice and wonder if law enforcement here is actually taking their job seriously."

He paused a moment, before continuing. "I am in no way saying that the law enforcement here within this realm is not doing the job properly, but what I am saying, is that I too am curious by this case...after all, it was an android officer that was struck down. And as an Artificial Intelligence, I feel a bit of obligation to know what happened. Check."

[LordCowCow 840]

Cyanthrax

The girl raised up her fists. "You don't look like all that much. Guess Mauvache had to lower her standards." She darted in, getting a surprisingly quick left in on Cyanthrax's side. "Come on come on gotta be faster than that."

The demon would notice that there seemed to be some sort of heat radiating from the girl as she got nearer to him. It didn't feel like any kind of magic he knew of but it was clearly there.

The girl followed her first hit up with a right hook aiming towards his head.

Morgan let out an audible sigh from her seat on top of the broom. "Come on how boooring. I thought you said this was going to fun, Imp Boy?" She taunted from her safe and cozy position.

Spoiler

Feel free to write out the match with some input from me. It shouldn't be too tricky to figure out.

---

Xia and Angela(?)

"Well, I suppose I should get going. You two can find your way inside alright I take it?" Aurea said with a wink before getting up and hobbling back inside of the building.

Once in the building it didn't take long for Xia to find her way to the proper tennis court. It took a bit as now she was going as a spectator instead of a player but the crowd that was all funneling into one of the courts made it fairly easy to find.

If anyone was asked why the crowd they'd get the response that "This is a must-see match. Nothing like it in a long time. Two celebrities going at it!"

The view from the stands was different than from the court itself. It wasn't a massive area like you'd see in the larger stadium, smaller than the basketball stands that Xia had seen, but it was bigger than the other tennis courts.

Down on the field were two "girls" that Xia would recognize, and one that Angela might. On one side was Valerie. But on the other side, looking awkward in their maid outfit, was Camille. The head maid of the Arena.

"Val do I really have to do this?" Camille said, shifting awkwardly while clutching a tennis racket.

"Oh come on, it'll be fun, like old times! Just not as violent. I thought you liked games?"

"Yeah, video games."

Valerie shrugged. "Close enough. It'll be fun! We never get to play together anymore! And you're already here!"

"Because you tricked me!" Camille glanced nervously at the crowd who roared with excitement. "Fine, I guess, one game..."

Spoiler

I don't know what to do about Angela honestly. But here's a scene change at least.

 

"All that will have most likely have done for him, is simply take notice and wonder if law enforcement here is actually taking their job seriously."

Mauvache's eyes narrowed at that but only for a brief moment.

"I am in no way saying that the law enforcement here within this realm is not doing the job properly, but what I am saying, is that I too am curious by this case...after all, it was an android officer that was struck down. And as an Artificial Intelligence, I feel a bit of obligation to know what happened. Check."

"Officers get injured in the line of duty all the time." Mauvache said offhandedly. "If you chase after every incident you're going to be very busy indeed. That is why we have law enforcement to begin with. None of them should spend their time on such matters. They don't even know this place nearly as well." She shook her head. "It's much too dangerous and unknown for them. Plus, I already said my piece. They aren't to chase after this. They work for me and this Arena." She smiled and made a move, a clearly illegal move, without batting an eye. "And in this Arena I make the rules...Checkmate."

[yui 574]

Day 8, 8:00, Arena
Points: 61
W/L Record: 3/3

"...you happen to be fine with just rolling over and taking it like this? I mean, wasn't this for a friend of yours anyway? I honestly think you have a bit more stake in this situation than Mauvache thinks... Honestly, I think stopping the investigation...or if there even is an investigation...doesn't seem right."

"I don't like just rolling over and taking it," Aurora clarified, as her platform of ice started up along the Arena's walls. "But it just kind of clicked in my head when we got the memo to stop, that this isn't my world. Like, I know old cop shows from before Fragments developed, they didn't have superheroes swoop in and catch the bad guy, and old hero shows didn't involve them interfering with police investigations. So maybe that's not part of my job as a hero. Maybe police investigations take longer in this world because there aren't superpowers all over the place you can track the bad guy with. Plus, I don't feel like getting on Mauvache's bad side."

As the platform continued upward, Aurora looked up toward her destination. The roof. Any minute now. Aaaaaaany minute now... but it didn't feel like they were getting any closer. How tall was this building? It was supposed to only be five stories tall or so, right? Aurora should have definitely gotten to the top by now. She looked down. The platform was still on the ground. Whenever it got too high, it just sort of snapped back to the ground harmlessly. Like a glitch in a bad video game or something.

No roof access either, huh? Alright, let's take a look at the city map.

There was a nature park somewhere. That could be nice. Pointing at the spot on the map, she said "Change of plans. Something's wrong with physics or something I guess. Let's go here instead."

[Chaos Sonic 442]

"I don't like just rolling over and taking it. But it just kind of clicked in my head when we got the memo to stop, that this isn't my world. Like, I know old cop shows from before Fragments developed, they didn't have superheroes swoop in and catch the bad guy, and old hero shows didn't involve them interfering with police investigations. So maybe that's not part of my job as a hero. Maybe police investigations take longer in this world because there aren't superpowers all over the place you can track the bad guy with. Plus, I don't feel like getting on Mauvache's bad side."

"...alright fair point..." Gavin shrugged a bit, sitting down slightly on the 'ice-elevator'. It made sense, but at the same time, they had abilities that could be utilized...so why not use them to assist if need be. But she has a point, especially with not being on Mauvache's bad side. he thought.

At the same time, something she mentioned wasn't making too much sense. "Fragments? I'm afraid I'm not understanding what you mean there, Snow Angel. What sort of fragments did people in your world have?" he asked, not realizing what a 'Fragment' from her universe was...only thinking it was fragments of something larger.

"Officers get injured in the line of duty all the time. If you chase after every incident you're going to be very busy indeed. That is why we have law enforcement to begin with. None of them should spend their time on such matters. They don't even know this place nearly as well. It's much too dangerous and unknown for them. Plus, I already said my piece. They aren't to chase after this. They work for me and this Arena. And in this Arena I make the rules...Checkmate."

VEX watched the clearly illegal move that Mauvache make in this little Chess game, but let it slide. After all, she WAS their benefactor and making the rules for the Arena. "Ahh, I have been bested. An impressive move by you, Mauvache." he said, clapping his hands slightly. "I can barely get Gavin to keep going in a Chess game, but you seem to take games quite strongly."

With a small wave of his hand, the chessboard vanished between him and Mauvache. "However, I do know you are a busy person. I simply wanted to have a moment to speak with you, after you brought myself and Gavin to this world. And as I suspected, you are quite the enigma, but one that definitely one should not pursue." He bowed slightly. "However, I must take my leave. Gavin will wonder why I have taken too long in my....'searches'. I do hope we can have another chat some day or perhaps another game."

VEX only nodded and then took his leave and left the office of Mauvache.

[reparoni 161]

Cyan chuckled as the girl taunted him. "Please, you aren't much yourself. Don't worry, though, I'll be generous and go-" Before he could finished what he was going to say, the girl had darted quicker than Cyan had expected to.

"Come on come on gotta be faster than that." Cyanthrax let out a chuckle. The girl was faster than he expected her to be, and hotter too, as she seemed to radiate some type of heat. He heard Morgana say something as he saw the girl go for a right hook towards his head and caught her fist with his hand, his arm moving at inhuman speeds.

"It's not nice to attack when someone's monologuing." He said, a hint of both playfulness and annoyance in his voice, as he swiftly swung towards her gut with his free arm. "Still, you're much more interesting than I gave you credit for." He chuckled slightly, a grin stretched across his face as he kept his eyes locked onto his opponent.

[Cheshire Toon 139]

Masaru flashed Aria two thumbs-up. His nose was stuffed up and his eyes were puffy and red, but he put on his best smile and his face brightened. “I’ll be alright! Nothin’ a little cough serum and sleep won’t cure. I normally wouldn’t worry about a doctor if it wasn’t for,” he gestured to the world around him, “all of this. Figured my body probably isn’t used to this world.” He started to say something else when it fully dawned on him what Aria had said before.

Tegur was here. 

Masaru looked behind the bar and, sure enough, there was his favorite Labyrinth-dweller, serving up drinks and filling the room with his rumbling belly laughter. “TEGUR!” Masaru shouted from all the way across the bar. His voice was nasally, raw, and absolutely brimming with joy. He grabbed onto Aria’s arm (accidentally using his gloved metal hand) and pulled her over to the counter with him in his excitement. “Long time, no see Tegur!” Masaru draped himself over the bar with a grin. “Bet you didn’t know I was here, did ya? How’s Alfred? Anything good happening in the guild? Is Mena doing alright?” His questions spilled out so quickly it was hard to tell where one ended and the next began. He was basically gushing, paying no heed to the fact that the last time Tegur had seen him he was a few inches shorter, a couple years younger, and close to ten pounds of muscle lighter.
 

[yui 574]

Day 8, 8:00, Arena
Points: 61
W/L Record: 3/3

"Fragments? I'm afraid I'm not understanding what you mean there, Snow Angel. What sort of fragments did people in your world have?"

"Oh. Right." Leading the way toward the park - her new destination - Aurora started explaining what exactly Fragments were. "The short version is, they're superpowers that can usually be traced into being fire, water, earth, or air types. There were four guys that had one of each at first, and something happened that caused their power to split out among everyone in the world. And that's why they're called Fragments! Mine's a water/air type, and my best friend had an earth type Fragment." Flexing an arm, she continued "He could do things like benchpress cars or get hit by one without breaking all his bones. But the limits to what a Fragment's really capable of are totally up in the air!"

And that was Fragments in a nutshell. Pointing at Gavin's watch, she asked "And what about the technology from your world? You used all sorts of neat gadgets in our fight that looked like something right out of a sci-fi movie."

 

[LordCowCow 840]

Mauvache let out a sigh as the AI left. She was glad that he had decided to tell her of the fighter's plans but he was certainly a bothersome gnat. But she knew what she had to do. "Nezar." She said, her voice level and at a normal inside volume.

Even so the "Butler" stepped out of the shadows and next to the woman. "Yes mistress." He said.

"You heard all that I take it?"

He nodded.

Mauvache waved a hand. "Go, keep an eye on them, you know what to do."

The man gave a short bow and, before her eyes, faded from view.

---

Cyanthrax

"It's not nice to attack when someone's monologuing. Still, you're much more interesting than I gave you credit for."

Valerie brought down her arm to block the jab Cyanthrax attempted. "In my history I've learned a lot of villains monologue." She swung her free fist towards Cyanthrax's head, which the man was able to avoid.

"I saw your matches. You like to play up the villain. Unfortunately for you I'm an expert at villain take-downs."

The heat coming off of her was only increasing. Filling the entire boxing ring. Causing Morgan, looking on, to see distortions in the air from the heat. "Sorry if you can't handle the heat, new guy, I'm only getting warmed up."

The punches she gave came in much faster than before. As soon as one was blocked, or dodged, another would come in. The girl seemed intent on not letting Cyanthrax have a moment to recover. All the while the heat was rising.

Morgan had to back away from the edge of the ring. "Gross, you're going to make me all sweaty. Are you knuckleheads gonna keep at this all day?" She pouted and began tapping her foot. Waiting for something interesting to happen.

---

Tegur's Bar

The bar was more packed than when Aria had been in here earlier. Even though it wasn't long after she had left. The waitress was here as well now and bustling between tables, occasionally avoiding a hand that got a bit too grabby, and looking like she was right on the edge of composed and totally crashing.

Meanwhile Tegur was regaling a woman with an eyepatch at the bar when Masaru called out to him.

“Bet you didn’t know I was here, did ya? How’s Alfred? Anything good happening in the guild? Is Mena doing alright?”

Tegur let out a loud laugh. "Gwaaaar har har har, don't underestimate the information network of the local barman, laddie." He reached over the bar with one arm and grabbed Masaru, lifting him up and holding him in a powerful hug.

"Ye've gotten big haven't ye? Sorry to tell I can't say much aboot the others in the guild but Alfred, well, he's doing just fine he is. Haven't seen him in a bit but he's gotten pretty famous these days." He set Masaru down and noticed Aria. "Oh, welcome back lass, hope you took my advice to heart. Did ye come here with the kid then?" He eyed the two of them. "Somethin going on here?"

[Chaos Sonic 442]

"Oh. Right. The short version is, they're superpowers that can usually be traced into being fire, water, earth, or air types. There were four guys that had one of each at first, and something happened that caused their power to split out among everyone in the world. And that's why they're called Fragments! Mine's a water/air type, and my best friend had an earth type Fragment. He could do things like benchpress cars or get hit by one without breaking all his bones. But the limits to what a Fragment's really capable of are totally up in the air!"

"Huh...that, actually sounds pretty interesting." Gavin chuckled, nodding.

"Quite the tale and quite the interesting power, Miss Burns."

Gavin quickly glanced down at his MOVA and noticed that VEX's hologram had appeared. "Heh, well he finally shows up again. Seems we got told by Mauvache to stop with the investigation. So, may need to cut off those searches you were working on."

VEX nodded, shrugging slightly. "Alas, something like this did come up in my data crunching. Unfortunately, I did not think it would technically play a factor." The A.I. did his best to just play ignorant...after all, he watched and learned how Gavin did it, so it wasn't too hard.

"And what about the technology from your world? You used all sorts of neat gadgets in our fight that looked like something right out of a sci-fi movie."

"Oh right, yeah." Gavin nodded. "Well, most of the tech I've dealt with is from the year of 2560. Sooo, that's probably one thing that's different for ya, cause that's probably a year you'd only hear from a sci-fi movie." He shrugged, before holding up his MOVA. "One of the things you saw me use in our fight was this. It's known as a MOVA, short for, Multi-Objective Vocational Armament. And...well, let's just call it a future Swiss Army knife."

"A great example to use, Gavin."

"ANYWAY...the MOVAs are usually upgradable with special software and they can be specialized for different users." he continued. "Each one does come equipped with a shield, that is made of dark energy."

[Skaia 578]

Giving a wave to Aurea, Xia made her way into the stadium, in great anticipation to watch tennis be played. The girl had no end of enthusiasm for what was her, at least for the moment, her new favorite sport. Sure, she hadn't watched or played a single game since the first time she had played, but that just made watching this one all the more exciting. Making her way through the bustling crowd, the girl ended up eventually getting to the stands. Looking around, the girl marveled, now being a part of the same kind of huge crowd she had seen during her basketball match. 

Eventually, though, her eyes drifted to the court itself. As she saw the tennis court, the girl could marvel at how large and grand a field it was from this viewpoint. Looking down the court, though, Xia eventually saw something that caused her awe to turn to shock.  Eyes going wide at the two people who were about to play against each other, Xia had a massive smile form across her face. Rushing through the crowd, getting as close to the field as the stands would allow and practically barreling through people by accident, the girl then shouted, "heeeeeyyyyyy! Vaaaaaaal! Caaaaaam! Hiiiiiiiiiiiiii!" Waving with both of her arms enthusiastically, the girl was very much trying and succeeding at drawing attention to herself. 

[VCR_CAT 19]

Aria

“I’ll be alright! Nothin’ a little cough serum and sleep won’t cure. I normally wouldn’t worry about a doctor if it wasn’t for,” Masaru gestured to the world around him, “all of this. Figured my body probably isn’t used to this world.”

Aria opened her mouth to say something, but it was Masaru to shout immediately. “TEGUR!” Aria blinked as Masaru grabbed her arm with a hand that, despite being gloved, felt a lot colder, heavier, and harder than any normal hand should, and dragged her over to the bar where he draped himself over the counter. “Long time, no see Tegur! Bet you didn’t know I was here, did ya? How’s Alfred? Anything good happening in the guild? Is Mena doing alright?”

Tegur let out a loud laugh. "Gwaaaar har har har, don't underestimate the information network of the local barman, laddie." He reached over the bar with one arm and grabbed Masaru, lifting him up and holding him in a powerful hug.

"Ye've gotten big haven't ye? Sorry to tell I can't say much aboot the others in the guild but Alfred, well, he's doing just fine he is. Haven't seen him in a bit but he's gotten pretty famous these days." He set Masaru down and noticed Aria. "Oh, welcome back lass, hope you took my advice to heart. Did ye come here with the kid then? Somethin going on here?"

"Well there are no fights today, so I have to wait to kick their asses anyways," Aria grumbled, then cleared her throat. "A-anyways, yeah. Masaru said he was feelin' sick so I said I could take him to the hospital and to meet me here. After that I dunno, probably figure it out from there."

 

[yui 574]

Day 8, 8:00, Arena
Points: 61
W/L Record: 3/3

"Huh...that, actually sounds pretty interesting."

"Quite the tale and quite the interesting power, Miss Burns."

And VEX was back too! His remark about "something coming up in his data crunching" felt kind of off to Aurora, but she couldn't quite put a finger on why. Maybe it was just his phrasing. It sounded a bit awkward. Gavin then went on to explain just what a MOVA was. Maybe it was the breakfast still settling in her stomach, but for some reason, her first thought was that it could pass off as some sort of coffee.

"Well, most of the tech I've dealt with is from the year of 2560. Sooo, that's probably one thing that's different for ya, cause that's probably a year you'd only hear from a sci-fi movie. One of the things you saw me use in our fight was this. It's known as a MOVA, short for, Multi-Objective Vocational Armament. And...well, let's just call it a future Swiss Army knife."

"2560!?" Aurora remarked. That was way, way off in the future. She knew there were old cartoons like the Jetsons that took place a few decades in the future, but this was five whole centuries! The MOVA, Gavin concluded, also could be upgraded in various ways on a user-by-user basis. That really did sound like some sort of super-future Swiss Army knife. Seeing it and having it explained to her made Aurora pretty excited for future technology. "And here I thought the stuff back home was cutting-edge."

Although, to be fair, her world did have rampant superpowers running around. Gavin didn't show any signs of something like that, so maybe it all evened out?

---

The walk-and-talk had been pretty informative, and before long, Aurora found herself at her destination. A nice little natural park. It was no Central Park - she'd visited that place once or twice during her time at Mar-Vell - but it was certainly pretty. It was good to see some natural greenery again, after having spent so much time running about in the big urban city. How big IS this city anyway?

"Aaaand we're here!" Maybe a sparring match in a nice public place like this wasn't the best idea. Other people were here too; one of them could have gotten hit by a stray attack from either one of the combatants, and Aurora wouldn't be able to just instantly recover like the arena battles let her. "And now it's time for me to teach you some things," she said, putting herself in front of Gavin at about arm's length. "By the way, are you a leftie or a rightie?"

 

[Chaos Sonic 442]

"2560!? And here I thought the stuff back home was cutting-edge."

"Well, it still could be." Gavin gave a chuckle. "From the sounds of it, your world might get even better with those powers, so who really knows."

Still, it was nice to at least talk to someone, and the chat from Aurora was quite insightful. It actually put things into perspective for him on how she was acting and how she conducted herself. After all, she was a hero in training, it made sense for someone like her to be in a constant state of her type of attitude. Him on the other hand, well, he was more or less just a pilot with combat training...nothing too much on his end.

"Aaaand we're here! And now it's time for me to teach you some things. By the way, are you a leftie or a rightie?"

The pilot looked at Aurora before shrugging slightly. "Well, I'm more favorable of the right hand, but I can go back and forth between the two." he replied, making sure to give the young lady the appropriate amount of room.

"Shall I be recording this for future references, Gavin?"

"Naaaaaaaah. Let's not do that, today VEX." Gavin smirked, having his hand move slightly at Aurora. "Well Snow Angel, have at it."

[yui 574]

Day 8, 8:00, Arena
Points: 61
W/L Record: 3/3

"Well, I'm more favorable of the right hand, but I can go back and forth between the two. Well Snow Angel, have at it."

"Oh, we're not fighting. It's our day off, after all." Curling her right hand up into a fist, then slowly moving it forward and to Gavin's left, Aurora continued "I was just gonna tell you that if you know whether your opponent's a leftie or a rightie, you should stay juuuuust on the side with their dominant hand when you can, like diagonally from them. From here, the best I could do with my hand is a weird reverse-hook type punch deal. Sure I can just swing with my left hand, but it wouldn't be as bad as if I hit you with my right."

Did that all make sense? It did in her head, but she wasn't sure if the message was as clear out loud. Although, now that she thought about it some more, wouldn't being on the fringe of Gavin's dominant-handed side also mean he was on the fringe of hers? Maybe that advice was best suited for lefties. Of course, this advice also didn't account for things like superpowers or 26th-century technology that was still blowing her mind a bit as she tried (and failed) to figure out in her head how it all worked.

"The important thing I learned at hero school though is, find the source of their power, and disable it. Like if you're fighting somebody who runs really fast, try to make their legs useless."

[reparoni 161]

Cyan dodged the blow coming towards his head as he felt the heat around him intensifying. "I saw your matches. You like to play up the villain. Unfortunately for you I'm an expert at villain take-downs." The demon cackled as she called him a villain. He was getting a reputation around here - good. It was even better, as she seemed to be some self proclaimed hero kind - something Cyanthrax was all too familiar with. Taking her down was going to be a pleasure. She came in all-out offensive on him, her punches increasing in speed. As they did, Cyanthrax's movements speed increased with her. "Sorry if you can't handle the heat, new guy, I'm only getting warmed up." The heat continued to rise, seemingly causing Morgana distress already. While the demon was starting to sweat, the heat didn't really bother him too severely.

"Can't handle the heat!? Don't make me laugh!" Cyanthrax said, pushing one of her punches while side stepping her. With a flick of both wrists, his hands became ablaze. His smirk grew wildly as he stood in a battle-ready position. "You're playing with fire, kid!" He let out a roar, fire erupting from his mouth. Almost immediately, he darted forward with alarming speed, ready to fire off a series of flaming punches towards Val.
 

[LordCowCow 840]

Public Sports Stadium (Cyanthrax/Xia)

Valerie gave an excited laugh as Cyanthrax came at her. Said laugh was cut off halfway by a buzzing alarm on the watch on her wrist. Valerie glanced at it while backing away to try and avoid Cyanthrax's swings. "I know I know. Just not right now." She muttered as she took one punch to the head. She recovered quickly to throw another punch which Cyanthrax blocked, and a second which he didn't, and the alarm went off again louder.

"Argh, fine, fine!" Valerie said and, as Cyanthrax went for another punch, grabbed his flaming fist with her hand. "Hey, looks like I gotta head out quicker than I thought. But I'll be right over in the tennis court if you wanna watch." She pushed back and hopped over the ropes. Taking off at a sprint the moment her feet touched the ground.

Leaving Cyanthrax standing there on his own.

Morgan got up onto the ring, though didn't step through the ropes. "I think you got stood up." She remarked. Then she waved a hand and formed a rain cloud over the demon's head, which proceeded to put out the flames around the man's hands. "Did you want to check that out?"

 

---

 

Back in the tennis court the two could barely hear Xia's voice. Cam winced and gingerly waved back as Valerie gave an energetic wave followed by a thumbs up.

The two competitors, one in sporting clothes, the other a maid outfit, got into position on opposite sides of the court.

"Alright Cammy, game on!" Valerie kicked off the match with a fast and powerful serve. The ball moved so fast that the audience could barely even see it. Most watching would assume that the maid, who was still standing there awkwardly, wouldn't be able to reach it.

However something seemed to shift in the maid and they suddenly made a leap to the side and hit the ball back. With force that Xia would be reminded of from her own game with Valerie. Valerie wasn't able to recover quite in time and Cam managed to score a point.

There was a silence for a moment and then a loud cheer as Valerie flashed the maid a thumbs up. "Knew you had it in ya."

From there on the game got even more intense. Camille didn't seem too skilled but they were moving just as fast as Valerie and each of their hits were twice as strong. Valerie was only able to keep up due to her greater experience and managed to keep the game about even.

It was Valerie's serve when the audience would be able to notice something unusual about the match. The entire stage was shimmering, as though looking out the door at intense heat, and it was clearly causing some effect on the maid as they started to slip up more.

"How about I kick it up a notch." Valerie called out and, like before, hit the ball with practiced ease. Only this time the ball became engulfed in flame and moved even faster than before.

Camille, letting out a surprised gasp, raised their hand and a substance reminiscent of a fire extinguisher came out and covered the ball. Slowing it and killing the flames which allowed Camille to hit it back like normal.

Valerie didn't seem bothered by this. In fact she only grew more excited. "That's it! Now it's a real match!"

"That's dangerous, Valerie!" Cam called out. "You gotta be more careful."

"That's what makes it fun though!"

 

---

 

Tegur's bar

"A-anyways, yeah. Masaru said he was feelin' sick so I said I could take him to the hospital and to meet me here. After that I dunno, probably figure it out from there." 

Tegur grunted and looked to the boy. "Not used to this place yet are yee? Yeah, I got mighty sick meself when I first got here. Almost sneezed the whole place down gwahahaha!" He slapped the bar. "Well the hospital ain't too far from here, especially if you take a taxi. Iffn ye want to come back here after I'll be here all day. Millie too, ain't that right lass?"

The girl, who had paused in her work to listen in, gave a jump. "Uh, yes, yes sir." She said. "Excuse me."

Tegur gave a chuckle. "You kids sure make my day more interestin'." He nodded at Masaru and Aria. "You be sure to keep yourselves outta trouble. Don't want to make this old heart worry gwaaaahahahaha!"

Mauvache sighed as she read the note, such an archaic form of communication, again. "She really just up and left did she?" With a sigh the woman leaned back in her chair and considered her options. Finally settling....there. "DHG...such a quaint little organization. But which one should I bring here? Hm, many of them are far too volatile and rebellious...but her, she should do just fine."

The woman put her hand out to the side and sparks danced along her palm. "Just fine indeed."

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

"Welcome, Ross, to my grand Arena!" Mauvache said with a flourish. Having decided to meet the girl in the virtual battlefield room that she had talked to the others in person this time. She still gave the same speech, the same explanation, but finished it a bit differently. "Now I've had to deal with many problematic employees lately. I hope that you won't be one of them. I expect great things from you and you can expect great things in return. So long as you do as I ask of course."

[Skaia 578]

One moment she had been on a plane to Germany. The next, she hadn't been any where. And now, all that the girl knew was that as she opened her eyes, she was met with a blinding light to contrast the pitch black void she  had just been in. Shielding her face momentarily from the light, the girl took a second to realign herself, trying to make sense of where she was. The room didn't seem to have very much in the way of features, but the most obvious of them was not a "what" of the room but a "who." Stepping back and seeming cautious, the girl looked at the dapper woman who had come to greet her. While on guard, Ross eventually seemed to calm down a bit  as she came to understand the situation. 

Ultimately, she was some kind of magic lady that had teleported Ross to a city on a planet that was not earth to become some kind of fighter in an arena of sorts. It was a lot to take in all at once, and while Ross had very many questions about what was going on, she settled down as she figured one of three things was happening. Ross was going crazy. This was all a dream. Or she was summoned here by a magic entertainer to partake in a sport based combat. Ross figured that two was the most likely, though there was something telling her that this thought was wrong. All the same, when the woman had finally finished her introduction, Ross's usual level expression had returned as she looked to the woman at the screen. 

"Well, I held down the same job for four years, so shouldn't be a problem. All I have to do is fight right? Anything goes?"

"Only in the Arena, and only who you're directed to, but yes just fight...oh and no nudity, please."

Ross was taken off guard by the last comment, stammering out a, "wha-" but stopped herself. Collecting herself, the girl understood that it was basically the same job, just a different boss. Needing to make sure that it was just indeed gladiator-esque combat, she asked, "and just other fighters in the arena. You don't have any demons that need hunting or anything?"

Mauvache smirked. "No, though there are events you can take part in. But nothing outside of the Arena."

"Got it." Ross nodded. Having a good understanding of her situation, Ross stopped herself for a moment as she realized something about that comment. Looking back to the monitor she asked, "um, this is going to sound weird but everything else has so, you wouldn't happen to have demons around would you? I have a special kind of...diet, to keep in mind."

"Ah, that's right, those creatures in your world are called demons aren't they? Unfortunately those creatures don't exist here but fear not, I've already contacted a certain doctor who will be able to give you a synthetic solution that will help."

With an expression that read, "of course she does," Ross shrugged and then asked, "alright. Where can I meet this doctor?"

"He should be at the hospital right now. Though would you like to meet your fellow fighters first?"

"I've got nothing else on my schedule. So sure."

Mauvache thought about it for a moment and the smiled wide. "Why don't you message them yourself? Introduce yourself that way and offer to meet up. It could be a good way to give your own first impression after all."

Ross looked down to her newly acquired watch, saying, "sure." The girl marveled the device on her wrist, both in the strides that seemed to have been made in watch technology and  that it seemed to be fine on her arm at all. Getting acclimated with the device, the girl eventually found a list of contacts that were filled what she could only assume were the other fighters. 

To: All
From: Ross 

Hey. I'm new to this arena thing and the boss told me to do some kind of meet and greet with you all. So, yeah. I'm Ross. I'm at the arena right now. Hi. 

Finishing her message, the girl then looked back to the monitor.  "Well, if I wake up tomorrow and this is all still real, then I guess I look forward to working with you Boss."

"Oh, don't be silly." Mauvache said with a chuckle. "Who's to say what is real or not anyway?" The woman then gave a short bow, heading for the door as she did. 

Ross sighed as the woman made her way out the room. Ross had worked with a very strange collection of people in her time with the DHG, but she had a feeling that this was about to take the cake for that. 

[Chaos Sonic 442]

"Oh, we're not fighting. It's our day off, after all. I was just gonna tell you that if you know whether your opponent's a leftie or a rightie, you should stay juuuuust on the side with their dominant hand when you can, like diagonally from them. From here, the best I could do with my hand is a weird reverse-hook type punch deal. Sure I can just swing with my left hand, but it wouldn't be as bad as if I hit you with my right."

Now this, was something Gavin wasn't expecting. Aurora was pretty much just giving him some fighting pointers with the left or right handed things, and from the slight snickers from VEX, someone was enjoying this turn of events.

Funny...didn't take A.I.s for those with senses of humor... he thought, shaking his head slightly, just listening in to what Aurora was teaching him.

"The important thing I learned at hero school though is, find the source of their power, and disable it. Like if you're fighting somebody who runs really fast, try to make their legs useless."

This actually caused the pilot to laugh. "Running really fast, huh? Why am I thinking you've seen and or had experience at that hero school about something like that?" he chuckled, before nodding and holding out his hand. "Oddly enough, finding the source of your power in our last fight was actually my intention. I was buying time for my Surveillance-Bots to give me some information. VEX, can you display an image of the bots?"

"Of course, Gavin." VEX simply said, before displaying a holographic image of a few small bots.

"These were a work of my own that I had put into my MOVA and use them for a number of things." he began to explain. "However, I was using them in our fight to figure out how to fight you...as well as get a general idea of our battlefield. Unfortunately, things were a bit complicated."

"Namely with my voice modulator going into the Spanish dialect."

"Yes, specifically that..." Gavin sighed. "But I do understand that lesson specifically."

[reparoni 161]

Things were starting to heat up! Or at least, they were, until Val's wrist started to vibrate. Confused, Cyan's punches started slowing down, although he managed to get one in while she was calling someone. "Quit callin' and g- Hey!" He shouted as the fist hit his face. It seemed that whatever it was that she had to do before they started sparring had came up sooner than expected. "Are you serious!? We were just getting started!" He shouted after the girl, but she was already sprinting away.

"I think you got stood up." Cyan simply growled at the girl, before a rain cloud formed above him. "Did you want to check that out?"

"HEY!" He barked towards her, gritting his teeth as his clothing got damp. He shook his head. "Aaaauuugh! Fine! It's not like I have anything better to do..." He cursed under his breath as he followed behind Val, crossing his arms.

---

"We stopped fighting for this!?" He remarked as he entered the tennis court mid match. Val was playing against a maid, a rather confusing site to behold. "Why are humans so stupid..." He shook his head, annoyed by the whole situation. As he crossed his arms, he noticed he got a message on his watch. It seemed like they had some more new blood - someone called Ross. They seemed to want to meet up at the arena. Cyan grinned, always excited to see what new opponents he had to face. If the others were anything to go buy, they would also put up a good fight. He turned to Morgan. "Looks like we got new blood. Wanna go see what they're made of?"

[Cheshire Toon 139]

Masaru’s smile was blindingly bright even throughout Tegur’s rib-fracturing hug. It had been at least two years since the last time he had seen the minotaur, which felt like a lifetime to go without seeing a friend to him. "Ye've gotten big haven't ye?” Tegur laughed as he dropped him back to the ground. “Sorry to tell I can't say much aboot the others in the guild but Alfred, well, he's doing just fine he is. Haven't seen him in a bit but he's gotten pretty famous these days."

“That’s good. Did he finally start talking to other people?” Masaru asked. Tegur insisted that the mule was capable of talking, which Masaru believed, but apparently he had suffered from crippling stage fright when anyone besides the minotaur was around. 

Tegur gave a mournful shake of his head. "Sadly not, but I'm starting to think he's pranking me these days."

Masaru laughed. “I’d believe it. He stepped on my foot every time I tried to talk to him!” It had been really upsetting at the time, but in hindsight, it was pretty funny to imagine himself having an argument with the mule. 

Tegur glanced away from Masaru when he noticed Aria was there. "Oh, welcome back lass, hope you took my advice to heart. Did ye come here with the kid then?” He looked back and forth between them. “There somethin’ going on here?"

Oh. Of course Tegur already knew Aria, that made sense. Masaru wasn’t sure why it caught him off guard. Her response to the bull-man’s question (combined with the adrenaline rush he had felt seeing such an old friend faing) seemed to remind his body that he was sick, and he suddenly sneezed very loudly. “Ugghh…” he groaned. “Yeah, I’m a little under the weather and I don’t know my way around. Aria gave me a really good tour when I first got here so I thought she might know,” he said, then added after a moment, “well, I actually meant to message to Mauvache but I still don’t know how this magic mail thing works. Are you any good at it Tegur?”

The minotaur chuckled, a deep rumble, before responding. "Not in the slightest. Every time I try I just end up breaking the screen, gwaaaahahahaha!"

Masaru threw his head back and laughed. “Doesn’t surprise me at all. You never were any good at magic!” his smile faded and bit the inside of his cheek. “Still… Wait!” Masaru lit back up and snapped his fingers at his own idea. “You’re good with this stuff, right Aria? Do you know how I would get this little baby slime in my watch-thing out? I don’t think Miss Mauvache is feeding it the right diet.” He looked genuinely worried. “He’s not growing at the rate he should so I’m kinda worried.”
 

Edited April 28, 2019 by Cheshire Toon

[Skaia 578]

Ross stood there for a bit, waiting for someone to respond to her message. She wasn't really sure how long was a good time to wait, or if she was actually reaching out to anybody. But, she also didn't have anything else to do outside of talk to a doctor about getting blood donations - which now that she thought about it more confused her with the sheer impossibility of how that subject would've been not an hour prior. All the same, the doctor was probably more likely than not going to be at a hospital but her fellow fighters were probably not going to always be in this arena. So she stayed put and waited. 

Time had seemed to move slowly from then on, as the girl continuously checked her watch only to see that a few minutes had passed by each time she checked. She attributed this to the featureless-ness of the room, not even really giving her something arbitrary to count or pass the time ruminating about as she did so. She supposed that lack of something was its own thing in this case, but even the prospect of thinking on that was boring to her. Thankfully, it didn't really take all that much time, as something new entered the room. 

Looking at the curious duo - a witch and a...tiger elf? - Ross gave a small wave to them. "Yo." Putting her hands in her pocket the girl said, "I take it you guys are some of the other fighters here?" Taking her hands out of her pocket she pointed to her watch she said, "like I said before, name's Ross. I kind of just, woke up here and met the Boss lady. I guess you're also supposed to give a neat fact about yourself at these things so um, I like to run. That's a thing I do a lot." Shrugging, feeling kind of awkward now that she wasn't talking to what she could only think of was the god of Dream World here and instead regular(?) people, she said, "so uh, how about you two?" 

Xia watched the game with great intensity, practically leaning off the side of the stands in the arena. With a few "oooohs" and "aaaahs" the girl continued to admire the back and forth between the two. The strength with which Cam had hit the ball was not unfamiliar to the girl, but she was more impressed with how he seemed to keep up with Val even after she managed to hit it back. Feeling all the more riled up to play more tennis, the girl continued to watch their match with great fervor. 

[yui 574]

Day 8, 8:00, Park
Points: 61
W/L Record: 3/3

"Running really fast, huh? Why am I thinking you've seen and or had experience at that hero school about something like that?"

"Not that comes to mind," Aurora answered, thinking really hard about the people she met at Mar-Vell. Technically August could be a pretty fast guy, but that was more by making massive leaps with his strong legs than by actually being able to run super fast. Speed-type Fragments were pretty common though, right? Maybe? She sure thought they'd be common anyway, judging by how often heroes in old comic books had super speed.

"Oddly enough, finding the source of your power in our last fight was actually my intention. I was buying time for my Surveillance-Bots to give me some information. VEX, can you display an image of the bots? These were a work of my own that I had put into my MOVA and use them for a number of things. However, I was using them in our fight to figure out how to fight you...as well as get a general idea of our battlefield. Unfortunately, things were a bit complicated."

Those bots were pretty cool too. Gavin could probably pass that MOVA off as a really weird Vessel back home, come to think of it.

"It's all up here," she grinned, tapping her finger against her temple. As Aurora started toward a different part of the park - staying in one spot for too long was ill-advised with her Fragment - she continued "That's where my power is. How much cold do I put out, what about wind, and most importantly, what do I make with my ice? It's all stuff I have to think about when I use my power. I'm only limited by my imagination!" As if to make a point, Aurora cupped her hands together in a ball shape that left some room between them. When she lifted her top hand, a tiny ice sculpture of a goat was resting in her other hand. It was a bit rough, and the horns were a bit off, but it was still easily identifiable as a goat.

"I use my hands a lot when I'm fighting though. It helps me visualize what I want to do... kinda like a painter I guess? But I don't need them. As long as I can think, I can fight. What about you? I'm guessing most of your power comes from that MOVA thingy?"

It was then, however, that her watch beeped. And so did Gavin's! Something must have been going on.

To: All
From: Ross 

Hey. I'm new to this arena thing and the boss told me to do some kind of meet and greet with you all. So, yeah. I'm Ross. I'm at the arena right now. Hi.

A new fighter? There sure were a lot of roster changes going on around here, weren't there? "Actually, hold on that. We should go meet this Ross girl. We've got no time to waste!" And so, despite having just gotten to this nice change of scenery so recently, Aurora hurried back toward the Arena. She had to head that way today anyway.

Edited April 30, 2019 by Yui