melodiesofeternity | Heroes of Light, Battle! The Ultimate Golsaucian Tournament Begins!

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Heroes of Light, Battle! The Ultimate Golsaucian Tournament Begins!

Who: The Heroes of Light!
When: June 16th-19th
Where: Sparks Golsaucia
What: After weeks of getting hounded by the press, corporations, and prospective fiances, Octavaux Dairesault offers the Heroes of Light a way out: by participating in this year's Golsaucian Gauntlet, taking the form of a fighting tournament.
Warnings/Notes: Tournament arc, congoers.

An Offer You Can't Refuse (Prelude)
It starts not long after June begins. Maybe somebody proposes to you in the middle of the street. Or you're bumrushed by a horde of solicitors who want to use your image for whatever product they're peddling. Or maybe a reporter literally busts down your door to get an interview. Whatever the case, the Heroes soon find it's impossible to find a semblance of peace and quiet in early June. Around every corner and in every building is somebody who is just dying to talk to you, or more commonly, several somebodies, each at cross purposes. Even your homes aren't safe, as a few particularly nutty fans are willing to break and enter to get your autograph.

You have to deal with all of this for a week, until you're contacted by Octavaux Dairesault, organizer of the previous year's smash hit Golsaucian Gauntlet. He's noticed (and perhaps orchestrated) your plight, and offers you a way out: simply participate in his tournament and/or the events around it, and the attention will lessen. Considering how things get worse every day, you don't have a lot of options...

Sparks Golsaucia HeroCon 20XX
As it turns out, the events around the tournament that Octavaux casually mentioned are really a huge, city-spanning con. Cosplayers are everywhere. Artist alley takes up two entire districts. You can't take two steps without bumping into a merchandise stall. Thankfully, the limos Octavaux has provided means that you don't have to fight your way through a horde of ravening fans to reach the centerpiece of the whole debacle: the arena. A massive Colosseum with bleeding-edge technology to allow for the creation of stages drawn from... something. Octavaux refuses to elaborate on that. Whatever the case, you finally have the respite that you need. There's delicious food, cushy bedrooms, exercise rooms... pretty much whatever you want. And best of all, nobody prying into your business. How will you spend your precious, precious free time?

Of course, the tournament isn't all some of you are here for. Maybe you've decided to host a panel, in which case you're contractually obligated to appear among thousands upon thousands of fans and give a spiel. And give autographs. Lots of autographs. With really weird requests too.

Whatever the case... the tournament is about to begin!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Two gates on either side of the dusty arena creak open, revealing each team as the Dream Projectors(tm) beginning revving up, preparing the stage. In the commentators' booth, the crew double-checks the sound system, then gives a thumbs-up to the commentators and hands them the microphones.

In mere moments, the stage will spring to life, the match will begin, and everything will descend into chaos. The time for dramatic entrances and quippy one-liners is now.

OOC: Combatants, put your preference for a modded vs. unmodded fight in the header of your first tag.

Edited 2019-06-14 18:27 (UTC)

"Let's DO THIS SHIT!"

Chin tipped high, hair let wild, Kanji strolled into the field and delved back into what he'd been best at back home: Ending problems. And the opponent today? They were a fuckin' problem.

Okuyasu ran onto the field with a battlecry. As he neared the center, he leaped, disappeared, and teleported right next to Kanji, striking a pose that would have him topple over if he didn't have great balance and strong leg muscles.

"You're gonna taste the ground if you even think of facing against the Kanji-Okuyasu duo!"

Oh boy. These two. The pressure to do well and win was still there, but at least there wasn't a ruler's right to the throne on the line this time. Ena stands up straight, unsheathes her rapier, and smiles cordially at the two boys.

"Let's put on a good show, shall we?"

Beatdown Boys, really?

Stepping into the arena alongside Ena, though maintaining a necessary distance, Sephiroth calmly flips Masamune -enchanted as it is into non-lethality by the rules- around from it's rested position behind his left arm. Twirling the overlong sword elegantly around his hands almost as if it weighed nothing before eventually coming to the starting point. Sure it looks flashy but it's also giving himself a few more seconds of warm-up time.

Eventually, the movement stops and Sephiroth brings his sword into its usual ready position, the long edge of Masamune ready to be lunged from a shoulder position like a great pincer or dropped and swung as the situation might call for it.

"This should be fun."

Well, this is certainly an interesting matchup. He would've preferred at least one more woman, but no matter! The show must go on, and given the hotblooded nature of two of the competitors, it's certainly shaping up to be a rousing match.

Truth be told, this is his first time commentating on such an event. Nonetheless, he takes it with gusto.

"Welcome back, gentlemen and especially the lovely ladies of Vaikuntha! We've had a heart-pounding assortment of matches thus far, but this may prove our most exhilarating yet!" Well, perhaps. A little embellishment never hurt anyone.

"To the west we have a pair of hotblooded youths sure to spark fires with their grit and determination! Let's give a rousing welcome to the Beatdown Boys!"

He pauses for dramatic effect.

"Ah, but for those seeking a more solemn, stern, and mysterious sort, look no further than Sephiroth! With his mighty Masamune, some might even say he's a cut above the rest!" That pun was awful, but he'll apologize for nothing. "And beside him, a lovely lady with a serene- no, almost ethereal beauty! The Golsaucian Gauntlet proudly welcomes Ena to the ring!"

He... knows next to nothing about her, but surely he'll pick up on things as they go along.

"Now that you've had a look at our contestants, I'm sure you're wondering what each individual brings to this tournament," Rutile added— sitting cross legged and appearing to have an all-around laid back approach to this whole, commentary thing.

"Aside from the ceaseless yelling that comes with the surge of adrenaline, that is," they're talkin' 'bout you, Beatdown Boys. "Sticks and stones break bones just as easily as double sword-wielders, I'd say."

The ground floor of the arena begins shaking at Red's cue, like something is trying to break free from the earth. One by one, the projectors around the arena begin flashing a blinding, prismatic display. If anybody wants to buff themself before the match begins, now is the time!

All is white for a moment, then when it fades away, the combatants find themselves in... a sleepy, rustic Japanese town? The sky is a beautiful yellow, the colors are bright and vibrant, and the streets are completely and utterly empty.

And... is that a sinister laugh on the wind? One that is most definitely familiar to Okuyasu.

All participants begin within one street of one another, within clear view of all other combatants. The tension lingers in the air. Who will make the first move?

The flash of white light and a rather familiar-esque sight had Kanji momentarily drop his stance. No... he wasn't home, but this place sure made him feel homesick. He didn't get the memo on the fact that the arena could change.

But that, too, was familiar.

"Tch... a'right. Doin' it the old-fashioned way!" Swords? Fine. He whistled to the side, and from an alley his weapon of choice was tossed on in. He caught it, but let it stay in a folded position.

A folding chair...?

But he was grinning, and with the snap of his fingers on the free hand, the air had the brief scent of ozone. It was gone as quickly as it had come. Let's see what they think of a Spellblade (Elemental). May as well give the opponents a little slice of how he worked back home.

"Pretty boy's mine!" He whooped, and was already on the move to close the distance. Kanji Tatsumi was now on the way, swinging in on Sephiroth with no finesse, no discipline. But in the path made by the swung chair was that scent again... lightning magic.

Edited 2019-06-15 23:26 (UTC)

The last time Okuyasu saw these buildings, these streets, he was lost in a memory reliving the day Yoshikage Kira was defeated. This was way too familiar. Maybe someone else from Japan came a long time ago and designed these streets. That must be it.

The laugh, however kept him frozen to the spot. Something knows about Morioh. There has to be weird Dream Width magic going on, but how?

Kanji's voice snapped him out of his daze. Right, they had Ena and Sephiroth to beat up. Who was he taking?

Lighting, right. Ena was taken care of. So that meant attacking Sephiroth. Okuyasu turned to the older man and sprinted at him, casting Whirlwind on himself to increase his defense while stocking up two moves for his next turn.

As Kanji grabs the chair and his magic infuses it, he realizes that something feels deeply, horribly wrong about it. Like it's a bomb that's about to go off.

Before this whole mess begins, she glances up at the announcer's booth. Ethereal Beauty, really...?

When the stage transforms and the battle begins, Ena hesitates for a moment. She knows that while they might be rough around the edges, they're nice kids on the--aaand they're charging at Sephiroth now. She glances over, wondering if she could do anything in the split second she has to move to directly help him without putting herself in harm's way.

...Doesn't look like it.

Sorry boys.

Ena leaps a few steps back and casts Ice Storm, the outer perimeter of the frigid spell ending literal inches from Sephiroth's nose. If they wanted to get him, they had to go through that.

That was Ringabel's voice he could hear coming out of the loudspeakers, he knew it.

Sephiroth might have grumbled deeply at the very notion that they roped his housemate into commentating this particular fight but as the stage was being quickly set for their match there was no time to waste. He glanced so-quickly to Ena, before Kanji's whistle snapped his attention back.

A folded chair, brutish to say the least...

Well if this was the level of finesse going to be brought against him, Sephiroth figured he might as well attempt to make something of a show of it. He spread his stance and turned Masamune downwards as if to prepare to block- before [Dash]-ing to one side, clean out of range of the wide arch the chair causes in the air.

Who knows what might happen should both their opponents rush straight into the Ice Storm that's been laid in the meantime.

Without seeming to take a breath [Scintilla] follows, directed at Okuyasu; high chance of stun followed by a five-strike flurry should warm things up nicely. .

He blinked, and sent a bit of a look to the chair. He'd had it custom-built for use as a weapon, a replacement after he'd given Odin the Black Ice. But now something felt pretty awful about it. It should be able to handle a magic charge, or maybe it was just the Black Ice's property...

"Shit...!" Like a hot coal, he juggled it in his hands before he gave it the ol' YEET. He couldn't see it when a rush of ice and hail came tumbling down, obscuring the view of Sephiroth as well.

"Whatever, I don't need to be armed." He bore down and activated his Vengeance, reducing taken damage, but sending some of that Ice Storm damage back.

"Okuyasu, keep on what's-his-face! I'm on Ena!"

"It seems as though Kanji Tatsumi of the Beatdown Boys is showing some particularly adaptive behaviour, I can't say I've ever seen someone opt for a simple folding chair as a weapon before, but ah— what's this?" they lean forward, a bit closer to the mic as they try to make sense off the flurry of sudden attacks.

"An Ice Storm, yes— also a very good tactic, it will be quite the sight to see how they'll try to trudge forward through that. Hypothermia can cause a wide variety of complications in organic lifeforms, including some interesting burns on the outer layers of the epidermis that comes from the associated frostbite."

Something to look forward to, right?

"Sephiroth however, doesn't seem to want to wait for natural causes to take effect, sending out a flurry of blows towards Okuyasu. Let's hope that Whirlwind he used earlier will come in handy."

What was dodging? It was easy: moving out of the way. With an ice storm and sword attack combined, a Flash Step was just the thing! He only move five feet, but that was enough for him to dodge the first attack. Besides, he could take some snow! And some beating! He was a goddamn Monk!

The remainder of the distance was closed by a Tackle, and once he had barreled into Sephiroth, followed it with a Dragon Kick combo.

"Eat this!"

The chair careens through the air, towards the scuffle between Okuyasu and Sephiroth. In the shadow of the alley, the eye of a cat shines before disappearing.

Click.

The chair violently explodes! Thankfully for Kanji's gil, the chair itself is unharmed, but the combatants may not be so lucky.

Well! That was unexpected. It causes Ringabel to jolt up straight in his seat, and he blinks, just to make sure what he just saw was real.

"Talk about a surprise twist! Seems something's lurking within this humble town. Just how will our fighters adapt to this added hurdle? I, for one, anticipate with bated breath."

He pauses, chuckling. "Though I suppose the heat from the explosion should provide a momentary reprieve from Miss Ena's dazzling ice show." He turns to Rutile. "Though if it were me, I'd have packed some form of equipment with an elemental resistance to stave off the aforementioned hypothermia."

Ena wasn't expecting to take some of the damage of her own spell in return. Ow. Luckily her resistance to ice mitigated some of that, but...you know.

Nor was she expecting the blast. Ow.

When she hears Kanji announcing he was about to target her, she gathers herself quickly enough to understand her instinct to cast Fly on herself, launching herself a good twenty or so feet into the air and hopefully out of the way.

But she then looks down to Sephiroth. She couldn't abandon him from the skies--she knew how that went last time...

The ice storm still rages.

Was that sometime between Okuyasu's attacks, or just after that Dragon Kick?

The explosion from the rigged-chair was enough to break up the fray, regardless. Sephiroth recalls one second turning Masamune around to try to get in a block to the combo, and then the next they're both interrupted - he's immediately on his back a good few feet away. Ears ringing from the blast as sure as the missing chunk of hit points.

Ugh.

Still, he's not landed near the Ice Storm and isn't about to wait for Okuyasu to have a chance of getting up before him. As soon as Sephiroth is back balanced it's time for [One Winged Angel] - his iconic black feathered wing near enough exploding out from his right shoulder as if it had been there all along waiting to be stretched. He's levitated now, just a few feet off the ground but now he's able to maneuver with that extra, ariel dimension.

Once his opponent is located, he aims [Dash] this time as an opener, leading into a basic chain of three attacks.

"Unfortunately, it would be difficult to pack for the surprises our arena, and our specimins— come up with," Rutile replied to their co-host with a shake of their head and upturned palms.

"It does appear as though that seemingly unplanned for explosion has thrown the fighters for a bit of a loop. Sephiroth in particular seems to be responding with some sort of... mutation? Hmm, quite interesting."

He hates explosions. He hates explosions that come out of nowhere. He hates those that happen in small Japanese towns, even if this isn't the real Morioh. When the chair-bomb goes off, Okuyasu bends his arms to roll with the blast. This left bruises on his skin, but those did not register over the pounding of his heart.

"The hell is with this arena?" It was as if he was the target of some sort of shitty prank.

Then Sephiroth flies at him, taking away any chance to swear at the invisible event organizers in the sky. Okuyasu is knocked back, and each of the sword attacks strike true.

He aims a punch at Sephiroth's jaw in retaliation.

"My magic doesn't usually do that... the fuck WAS that??"

But he couldn't let himself get distracted. The chair was fine, but maybe it was best to leave magic out of the mix. That was fine. He didn't need it.

His gaze burned, threatening a berserk. But Kanji shook it off- not yet, keep it all in for now- and opted to exert all the wonderful benefits a fully leveled Berserker asterisk bestowed upon him... (Sorry Ena. Jeez, he had to apologize later.)

"You wanna fly around all day or actually fight!?" Like ripping a street sign straight out of the ground and using it like a metal bat for a Helm Smash, reducing defense upon contact.

"You know, one does wonder how he can fly with just a single wing." It's said with a light, playful tone, and a hint of laughter. "But then again, I've seen stranger things. Chaugmar comes to mind." Ah, how a hideous, pulsating blob was able to float is just another peculiar conundrum... unless one chalks it up to magic. Which is likely the case here.

"Nonetheless, it seems the aerial feats of Ena and Sephiroth have rustled the feathers of their competitors. Kanji's strength simply cannot be understated! Nor his knack for improvising, really."

Oh. Well, her worries were for nothing. She watches with satisfaction as Sephiroth produces his own wing (just one...?) and lifts himself up into the sky. He can handle his own. Excellent.

But unfortunately, the distraction is just long enough for Kanji's attack to connect, not giving her time to notice or dodge it. She goes tumbling through the air, cursing herself for not keeping her wits about her.

Something sparks within her.

Are we going to be playing like this? Fine.

When the momentum stops, Ena steadies herself in the air for a brief moment before soaring straight towards Kanji as fast as she can go. She takes a deep breath, and once she's about 30 feet away, she unleashes her devastating Ice Breath over Kanji.

The ice storm still rages.

Heroes of Light, Battle! The Ultimate Golsaucian Tournament Begins!

BEATDOWN BOYS VS. SEPHIROTH AND ENA (Commentators: Ringabel and Rutile)

Opting for what others want.

preference for self-modded

either is fine.

no preference really, so long as outcomes agreed on

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DUEL, STANDBY! GOOD MORNING, MORIOH-CHO! SELF-MODDED!

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WARNING! STAGE HAZARD INCOMING!

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DANGER! KILLER QUEEN'S FIRST BOMB!

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SHEER HEART ATTACK! KILLER QUEEN'S SECOND BOMB!

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