Ayane awoke with a start, pressing herself back against a sudden mechanical noise in front of her. A split second later she recognized the noise as a white door sliding upward, and her current position as some kind of holding cell or tank, an oblong chamber not much bigger than she was. It was the same white as the door, which was the same white as where the door led, and seemingly brightly lit, though she didn't see any actual light sources.
The other thing she immediately noticed was that past the door was a circular chamber, the most distinctive feature of which was the other two doorways, seemingly set equidistant from each other and hers. They were, of course, occupied.
Ayane briefly considered hanging back, but quickly decided there was no purpose to remaining in a box like that. It was far too brightly lit to hide in, and she scoffed at the idea of trying to appear nonthreatening until the other two had dealt with each other. Apparently the other two had similar or at least coincidental thought processes, because all three emerged at roughly the same time.
Ayane had been able, from her chamber, to get a vague idea of the other two. But seeing them closer and more clearly surprised her somewhat. The one on the right was clearly some sort of cyborg- pale, bloated flesh borne by spider legs and armed with some sort of spike and what was presumably an energy cannon in place of true hands, though the cannon did have fingers. One eye was white and dead, the other robotic.
But what surprised her most was the sense of power she got from it. This didn't seem like some twisted reject or expendable footsoldier. This had the air of a prized project about it, which made her wonder if she and the other human were intended as demonstrations for its power. If so, they were in for an unpleasantly instructive demonstration indeed.
The other was human, or at least nominally human. A very tall man in a black cloak and medieval-looking armor, with a massive... sword, she supposed? Something long, flat, and even longer than he was tall strapped to his back. She got a similar sense of dangerousness and power to the cyborg- clearly, some manner of special operative or master warrior.
Possibly the most interesting thing about each, however, was in how they reacted to each other. Both spared a glance in Ayane's direction; the cyborg then ignored her, while the tall man seemed vaguely surprised or confused, then spared only occasional glances. One-eyed glanced, she noticed; his right eye was either gone or never opened for some reason.
On seeing the cyborg, on the other hand, the man in black put one hand on the handle of his... was that really a sword? He also took a few determined strides forward before pausing, apparently confused or suddenly noticing something. The cyborg responded with a rasping, disgusted-sounding exhalation, twitching irritatedly at the man in black. He released the sword to place a hand on the back of his neck, then looking incredulously at it as though expecting blood, looking up in utter confusion at the cyborg.
That was when a voice began laughing softly from the ceiling. Three glances noticed the small black box in the center there, though only Ayane understood exactly what it was. The cyborg seemed nonplussed, but the man in black was staring at it as though he'd never seen one before.
"Welcome," it continued, sounding masculine and welcoming, but difficult to place beyond that. "You three have been summoned to take part in a special tournament. One versus one, tag team, no restrictions and no risk of dying. Two of you should be familiar with most of this arrangement. For the third, well, it's not much more than it sounds like."
"Hey wait a minute!" the man in black interjected, apparently annoyed. "Who are you and who said anything about a tournament?! Where are we anyway?"
"Patience, patience. I admit your procurement was a bit odd, but there would have been obstacles to approaching you directly. This place is nowhere important and nowhere you'd have heard of; the arenas will each be different when you're fighting.
Finally, the issue of price. Two of you I could offer money, though I know your services don't come cheaply. Of more interest might be power... the raw power found in muscle and bone or the refined power in an amulet or sword. I know all three of you desire it, in one form or another.
Do give it some thought. You needn't worry about the specifics just yet, though bear in mind that your opponents will be very impressive. I'll give something for the wager, but if you want true power, true wealth, or nearly anything else... you'll need to win.
...oh, and I can't give you two what you truly desire, at least not directly. Perhaps I can provide another tool for your endeavors, however. Think it over."
"I will serve," the cyborg rasped almost immediately. The man in black blinked in surprise before speaking.
"...alright, I'm in too. But what is that?" he asked, rubbing his neck again.
The voice laughed.
"Oh, nothing you need to worry about. Some people refuse to stay dead, as I'm sure you can appreciate." The man scowled at the box, but said nothing further.
Both then turned to look at the rather small girl who had remained silent and mostly still throughout this. The man in black still looked like he couldn't believe what he was seeing, while the cyborg's gaze was neutral, at least as far as anyone could read.
She scowled, not entirely liking this, but nodded. "Yes, I will fight."
The man in black let out a slight groan. The cyborg simply rasped "Who is the carry?"
Guts raised an eyebrow.
"They appear bland," Urgot rasped.
"Are they still dangerous?" Ayane asked, eying the enemy platforms.
Ayane gave a quiet 'hmph'.
"What I wanna know is, where are these guys' weapons?" Guts said, furrowing his brow at the menagerie around him. "These're all soldiers, right?" He spared a glance at Ayane as well.
"Mages and monks, presumably," Urgot responded.
weapons for the likes of these," Ayane sneered back at Guts.
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Topic: Tournament of Video Games [IC thread] (Read 5666 times)