Golden Gate Empire: Dreams of Grandeur [IC | PG-16]

[VCR_CAT]

Jack

 

What started as routine maintenance became something that Jack was genuinely enjoying. Doing her own "freelance work", Jack performed most of the suit maintenance herself. For some pieces, this was no problem, but much of it was custom, prototypical work where no manufactured equivalent existed. If Jack wasn't stealing spare parts when she could, she had to get pieces made herself, and that involved extra work to make sure a paper trail didn't follow her home.

 

This, however, was different. Sergei already knew who Jack really was, and while this frustrated Jack to no end, it created many liberties. Jack didn't need to worry about a paper trail following her home; that already existed. In Jack's mind, she didn't need to worry about ruining a shirt that was already stained, so to speak.

 

Once they were done, Rachel stopped Jack. "And Jack. Thank you. This experience has been awesome! I can't wait to see you use it in action. Also," Rachel began to whisper, lowering her head shyly.  "I'm kind of a fan, so I hope you do well out there."

 

Jack smiled. From this experience alone, Rachel had become the only person that Jack didn't dislike at all. "Don't worry, I don't intend to lose." Jack waved behind her on her way out, heading back out to get some food, and then some sleep.

 

 

The next morning, the news went on to explain last night's events while also detailing that day's events. Jack had sent hotel service to retrieve her suit and tech from Rachel. While she could get it herself, she didn't feel like going through the trouble of getting dressed up in her disguise, only to immediately take it all off again to get her suit on. Once it was back to her, Jack couldn't help but whistle. The suit looked almost just as it had before, only cleaner, more slick. The bow itself looked like a whole new toy to play with, and Jack was, overall, very excited to get to work on the new tech at her disposal. Reaching down into the suit's case were two cube-shaped robots, powered down and fitted neatly into their slots in the case's foam. Jack picked them up and started their boot-up process, getting to work putting her own suit on. The highlights were playing by now, and Jack could see how the cameras captured her finest moment with Angelica, chuckling to herself as she watched.

 

Once her suit was on and food was eaten, Jack made her way down to where the other contestants were meeting. The highlights had given her precious information on what the deal with the other contestants were, at least it gave an idea of what they could do. Okay, really it just told Jack that Bethany had ice powers, and that Jack would need to be careful with dealing with something she didn't combat as well. Otherwise, Rawal was still a total mystery, and Louis wasn't even given the spotlight in his highlight; there was no information on what he could do. Whatever; Jack went into the network blind and came out victorious, she would do so again.

 

There was a private airfield outside the hotel, where the plane was waiting for them. Jack walked casually up to the plane, but was promptly stopped by security, warning her to keep her suit powered down during the flight. Jack rolled her eyes and complied, the various red lights along the suit powering down, and the view through her suit's helmet becoming a lot more restricted as her heads-up-display, previously giving her an unobstructed view thanks to a few external cameras, powered down as well. Now all she had to go by was her visor. But on the bright side, she wouldn't have to worry about her body hitting her any harder when she takes this suit off after the match than last time.

 

Jack stepped into the luxurious, private plane; grabbing a window seat on what looked like the comfiest seat she could find.

[Mr. Hyde]

 

 "Pffffft! Ahahahaha! You won't get mutated!" 

 

"Die..."

 

"This sludge is toxic, not radioactive. The worst that can happen is he'd get really sick as soon as he touched me, but look at him!"

 

"Die..."  

 

"He's fine! It's actually really impressive! There must be something about you that doesn't apply to most living anatomies, huh Basabth?" 

 

"Yeah I don't know exactly what I am..." Basabth shrugged.  "I just know that I was attached to Louis from the moment I opened my eyes.  He didn't see me at first, but I always saw him!  He is my master and I love him."  

 

"Die..."  

 

 "For such a great fighter, you sure are bad at science Louis. Do you want me to teach you? I know a lot about biology and anatomy because of my time at the lab!" 

 

Louis spat up some water that he was drinking, only to wipe it away with a handkerchief from his pocket.  This thing was posing the fact that it was smarter than him!?  Louis couldn't help but shake a fist at that.  However, he merely got up from his stool to exit the bar, stepping over the corpse of the bloody guy who still lay there.  Bound by his shadow, Basabth couldn't stay much longer either, even though he was enjoying new company.  As he was about to leave the bar, Louis turned back towards Mango, a sour look on his face.

 

"Lose the next round...if you want to live that is."  Louis rattled his fist towards the pile of sludge.  "I don't intend to lose this one...and if I see you in the final round..you won't be as lucky, Bio-Weapon."  With that, he made his way back through the hotel, and towards his room.  

 

 

The next day would prove to go quite smoothly.  Basabth and Louis woke up in bed, took a shower, and brushed their teeth together.  One day after the attack on the hotel, and things were all still going according to schedule.  It was a bit strange.  Actually, it was very strange.  No time for those caught up in the attack to grieve or cope with it, rather the show was to go on.  All the actors had broken a leg, but Sergei would have none of the complaining.  He was definitely after something in Africa...and it only made the whole thing stranger.  Suddenly, the words of Dirk rang in his mind again.  

 

"Hop back in Basabth."  Louis said, pointing towards his shadow.

 

"Awww man!  C'mon Louis!  It's been so fun walkin' around the place."  

 

"You saw it, right?  On the Golden Gate Channel?  They didn't see my powers, or you, in the highlight reel.  Our opponent's are going in just as blind as we are."  Louis couldn't help but rub his hands together, methodically.  "But we have some dirt on them."  Basabth sighed, as he stepped into the shadow, as an escalator like force lowered him in, comically.  The two of them finally headed out, taking a car towards an airport that was outside of the hotel's proximity.  There, he got out of the car, and was met with the gazes of all the other's who made it to the winner's bracket.  One of them was the real stand out...that old Dungeon's and Dragon's wannabe wizard.  How he got through, Louis would never find out.  However, the other two, the girls, he was just as fascinated at how they proceeded.  An Ice-mancer and a high tech suit?  They were truly pathetic in comparison to what he had seen prior.  

 

Regardless, Louis flicked his hair at the bunch before he entered the plane.  He spotted the single most comfy looking chair in the plane, pristine and perfect in every way.  However, it was swiftly occupied by Jack.  Louis' teeth grinded against each other.  He would make sure that she was the first to die.  Without letting it totally get to him, Louis sighed and sat in the seat parallel to hers, on the opposite side of the aisle.  It totally wasn't as comfy as the other looked.  

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

 "And I hear there's a really cool movie coming on about a princess in a faraway land who has ice powers and a sister and a boyfriend who she falls in love with in one day!  I'm so exicted!  Will you stay and watch it with me?  Pleaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaase?"

 

Bethany couldn't keep the smile from her face. The girl was such a bundle of energy and joy; so much different, so much better, than her previous state. Bethany let herself in and chuckled. "Ya know usually I would say you shouldn't have all those sweets buuuut I guess I can make an exception this time."

 

She looked around the room. It seemed...fine. Nothing obviously bad. Of course that didn't count for much these days. "What you said before, about the hero thing...same here." She sat down next to Janey, letting out a sigh as she sat down for the first time in....gosh, besides the rather uncomfortable helicopter ride it's been a while since she could relax. "I don't really think I'm a hero though. Just....doing what I can, like anyone else. Just happen to have...abilities others don't is all." She looked at Janey and smiled fondly. "I'm sure you'd do wonderfully if you were in my position." She put a hand on her head. "Don't forget what you did today. You could have fought back and just followed orders. But you didn't. That was super brave of you." She chuckled. "I might become a fan of yours at this rate."

 

They watched the movie together, ate the pizza together, Bethany making sure Janey didn't throw any of her food during one of her random, extra animated, rambles, and simply enjoyed the night.

 

It was so strange to Bethany. She usually only spent time with the kids which...well it was certainly a different atmosphere entirely. Bethany began to wonder what it was exactly she should be doing here. Was this a date? But Janey seemed so innocent. But she also was older than Bethany. But then what? She wasn't even sure how she felt about romance in general let alone this specific person at this specific time.
She really didn't have the answers. And she was much too tired to actually think about it.

 

So tired that when she stood to leave, and Janey hesitantly grabbed her hand and looked at her with pleading eyes, she didn't pull away. Instead she slid down onto the floor, resting her head against the edge of the bed, and dozed off.

---

Bethany woke up with surprising warmth on her legs.

Looking down she saw Janey. Who had apparently came out of the bed to sleep in Bethany's lap. The ice-mage gave an involuntary, awkward, laugh and stifled it quickly to avoid waking the other girl up.

She took her time to extract Janey from her. A task made difficult by the fact that Janey kept grabbing back onto her, clinging almost desperately. But eventually she broke free. She didn't want to move her and wake her up; so she gathered up some pillows and blankets and made a make-shift bed on the floor for Janey to rest on.

 

Standing up she went for the door. Bethany paused and looked back once more. She was about to go into battle. A fight that could end her life...She hadn't thought much about it. Her kids needed her...and so did Janey, it seemed. Huh. She really couldn't afford to let herself go down could she?

But losing wasn't an option either at this point. Especially with the recent news. She'd need all the money should could get if she planned on protecting everyone.

It wasn't a matter of if she could win this or not anymore. No, even if she didn't have the ability...Bethany had to win now.

 

"Janey, sleep well. You've earned it....After I've won this tournament I'm gonna be extra busy. But remember...I'll always be around if you need me."

 

As she left she heard a, barely audible, "Good luck."

---------

"Sooooo....this is awkward." Bethany said, taking her seat on the plane. With a group of super-powered people. Who were going to be fighting possibly to the death soon enough. What exactly did one do to pass the time in a situation like this. "Uhhh....I Spy, anyone?"

[Tesability Black]

~Rawal's POV~

"Rawal, we need to get moving."

"I am aware, Talis-Eye," Rawal responded, lost in thought as he stood in the basement floor far below the surface. "I am...aware."

He felt Talis-Eye droop behind him slightly, the sudden feeling of unease noticable to him despite the Shaper having his back to the creation. "It would be wise to have your armoring repaired while we're here, maybe updated with the advancements this world have made." Rawal looked back towards him without turning around with his dark-brown, a raised peppered eyebrow at this statement. "Maybe you can have something made that you can wear when not in a cold enviroment."

Admittedly, he did see merit in the idea. Now that he thought about it outside of the stress of battle, he was surprised he didn't collapse from the heat between fighting that the ambient heat of the area. With this in mind, Rawal nodded to this slightly before fully turning towards the floating creation.

"Yes, working on protections would be wise," he admitted before moving from his spot and allowing the Eyebeast to guide him towards the ones that could either repair his original armor and make them more temperature-tolerant, meaning that he would be less-likely to pass out or worse while in a hot enviroment, or even have something new to wear that would be equal to what he was used to or better.

After finding and conversing with the one that lead such operations, with Racel while Talis-Eye provided translations to and fro and catching her curiosity about the creation in the process, Rawal and Talis-Eye soon returned to his room, though the Eyebeast left soon after taking what remained of his original armor. On the way back to the room, he reAbsorbed creations made other than Talis-Eye to minimize what he had to focus on maintaining control over.

Is there anything in specific you would prefer for your armor, he heard in his head before he could begin to focus on the task to be. Taking a few moments to think, sitting on the bed in the room as he did so, he closed his eyes before finally answering.

Something that could be seen as a form of robe, even if only from a distance, same coloration...and the Shaper emblem on the back.

Like with your 'current' attire?

Yes.

Not long after that, he felt Talis-Eye leave him alone in his head, confirming Rawal's suspicion of an accidental limit to range. Not that anything could be done about it now, however. Looking back, towards the window near his bed, he found himself looking out towards what the people of this world referred to as a 'city'.

If he had to admit to himself, he was actually impressed that so many could live in a place without things becoming strained in regards to survival. None of the places that Shapers managed to populate after turning various places hospitable was able to support many without some form of severe strain on the creations, plant and animal alike, that made it possible. It made him cross his arms in thought, wondering how this world advanced to the point that it could get to being like this without something unusual like Shaping or magic in general?

After several minutes of wondering, Rawal shook his head clear. "I have to find someplace suitable for what I need to do," he muttered to himself before standing up. Normally, for experimenting with new Shaper creations, it is usually done in large and sterile enviroments to prevent cross-contamination that would make the new creation dependent on the contamination.

Rawal didn't believe he had the option of a sterile enviroment...but he did have the option of a large one. With this, he went up towards the roof, taking in the large area around him.

He didn't come back down until the moon was high in the sky, finally managing to get what he wanted done, before he collapsed into the bed with a smirk.

Even if someone had been watching the last battle, he now had something new to stir things up with...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rawal stirred with the sun shining into the room, the Eyebeast quietly floating in a corner as they slept, all of the eyes that were upon eyestalks drooping slightly. He had not noticed Talis-Eye coming into the room, which probably meant that he had been metaphorically dead to the world when he had come back earlier. Stretching his arms as he forced himself into wakefulness, thankful that he was used to late nights and early mornings, he soon heard the strange box light up once more before the people on it began talking in one of the world's odd languages.

Or at least, that's how it should have sounded.

Instead, the actual sound was muted and replaced with a pair of voices that tried...and was tripping over speaking his language. Curiosity getting the better of him, he watched this time as he listened to the attempt, chuckling as he envisioned these people working at a level similar to the youth of Terrestria with the same language. While the translations were a child's level at best, he could still make enough sense to figure out what was being said over all.

There were some words, however, that had no translation, which meant names.

"Congo Basin? Africa?" While others would be aware of what those places were, he had none at all, not quite familiar with the world at large. And the Eyebeast was still asleep, which meant that he couldn't make them get information even he wanted to. Thankfully, the area in question was described slightly and he found himself hoping that his armor would become replaced with something else now.

A knocking at the door became heard, causing him to lift his head before standing up and opening the door slightly. He caught a sliver of dark-red as well as a woman holding it that wasn't anyone he recognized. She handed him a piece of paper that he unfolded, reading over it quickly.

It was one in his language, albiet considerably improved from the first time he was sent anything from this world. It spoke of how Talis-Eye had been helping them work on various things that could help him understand what was being said in addition to creating an improved version of his usual armoring. This had him glance towards the Eyebeast for a second before looking back to the note. It continued on to state how the hooded trenchcoat would be able to withstand many of the blows his old equipment could have, potentially be better at the task, but that it may still have a limit as to how much it could handle.

Which was fine by him. The primary purpose of the armored robes was to absorb initial strikes while getting into a position to retaliate. He looked up towards the girl holding the new equipment out ot him, before taking it and nodding to her, her indicator that the task was done. She nodded back before leaving quickly. Raising an eyebrow at this, he closed the door before unfolded the 'trenchcoat' as it was called.

Care was taken to give the article some degree of familiarity, including weight, something he admittedly appreciated. The material appeared thinner, but if that meant that he would not heat up as badly in it, then he would deal with it. Turning it around, he saw sewn into it the emblem of the Shapers, which made him smile. Throwing on the trenchcoat, he found himself testing his movements in it. He found that it did not restrict him on occasion like the old gear did, an improvement on its own.

"Talis-Eye, awaken," he commanded with an air of authority, which soon netted a sleepy groan.

"...wake-up time already," the creation subconsciously grumbled, which Rawal let slide for the moment as he watched the Eyebeast yawn. "They had us working almost to the bone in their many projects. With the many things they had, I doubt they would have finished any of them without my aid..."

"Unfortunately, you will need to wake up quick, another of those 'matches' will start soon...with all of the winners in the same place."

Talis-Eye perked up at this, making haste in awakening. "All of them? This should be entertaining, then," the Eyebeast said with a smirk.

"I do not believe I have to tell you what to do regarding this," Rawal stated before moving towards the door once more.

"No, I don't believe you do," Talis-Eye responded with a hint of mischief. As long as such wasn't aimed at him, things should hopefully be fine.

 

On the way to the roof, Rawal found himself stopping in thought regarding last night's events and how certain knowledge was stolen directly from his mind, a feat almost unheard of back home. It was, infact, taboo, another part of why the Gazers and Eyebeasts back home were considered Barred creations and destroyed on sight. "What is wrong?"

 

"...we may have to inform those in charge of our stay of what has happened last night."

 

"That will have to come another time, sadly."

 

With that, the pair rushed up towards the roof, Talis-Eye disappearing from view before the pair emerged where they needed to in order to go to the destinated location.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~Talis-Eye's POV~

Soon, soon I will be free and protected while you will have outlived your usefulness...

[Dad]

To Infinity. . . 

 

With all of the contestants aboard the Golden Gate Hotel's private jet, the doors of the aircraft closed behind them.  "Ladies and gentlemen, this is your Captain speaking," said a soothing voice over crystal clear speakers.  "Good morning.  Golden Gate Flights would like to welcome you aboard.  Thank you so much for flying with us today.  We've got clear skies ahead today, with a tailwind working in our favor.  Our expected flight time to the helicopter checkpoint in Cameroon looks to be approximately thirteen hours and forty-seven minutes.  We'll have a single stop to refuel about eight hours into our flight, just down in Dallas, Texas.  So if you've had a long night, now would be a good time to catch up on some well deserved rest.  Our flight attendants will be able to accommodate your every need, so long as it is within their power.  So sit back, relax, and enjoy your flight.  And thank you for flying with us."

 

As the message ended, a male and female flight attended took two separate positions near the front and rear of the jet plane.  They relayed very clear but obvious safety protocols, locations of exits in the case of emergency landing, and of course oxygen masks, per their required duties.  As they were done, the jet plane's engines roared, as the plane began its travel down the runway.  A gradual acceleration took the plane to half speed, before a full acceleration caused it to lunge forwards and lift into the air.

 

As the plane rose, the flight attendants came around prepared to take drink and food orders, should the contestants desire them.  Their journey to the motherland was sure to be a long one.

 

---

 

And Beyond!

 

After an hour in which the winning contestants of round one had departed, the Golden Gate News returned, with Victor Skye and Yasmine Janine heading up a brief broadcast.

 

"Good morning again residents, contestants, and guests.  We interrupt your regularly scheduled program for some breaking news.  Our loser's bracket arena has been decided," Victor said excitedly.

 

"After deliberation this morning by Mr. Nikolaev and his staff, it looks like our ladies match will be in extremely close knit quarters.  A mysterious valley located on the coastal lands of the Amazon rain-forest, deep in the heart of South America.  Undisturbed for centuries, and only recently discovered sixteen years ago, it is said to be a holy placed, deeply covered by magic.  It is known only as Godstone Valley," Yasmine added.  "And Mr. Nikolaev has decided that there would be no more fitting of a place than this, to hold the loser's bracket three-way brawl."

 

"Contestants.  When you are ready, please report to the rooftop of the Northern Tower.  You'll be departing in a single helicopter, where you will be taken to a checkpoint in Monterrey, Mexico.  From there, you'll be escorted on separate helicopters, onto your designated arena."  Victor neatly straightened the papers on his broadcast desk in front of him, a smile on his face.

 

"Good luck contestants.  Lace.  Mango.  Angelica.  We look forward to seeing the fruits of your labor," Yasmine concluded.

 

---

 

A Snake in a Boot

 

CopyCat awoke in a grey prison cell, his hands chained to the concrete wall.  He pulled at the chains, quickly realizing he would be detained for a lengthy period of time.  The cell was dim with artificial lighting.  He stared at the steel prison bars, daydreaming, trying to take his mind off of the pain in his right butt cheek.  "Damn dog," he groaned.  He sighed, standing up straight.  "Hey!" he called to no one in particular.  "Can I get some water!?  Something!?"

 

At CopyCat's words, the sound of heels on the tile floor outside of the cell could be heard echoing down the hall.  

 

"Oh good.  You're awake," she said, folding her arms.

 

"Wha--you?  But you--mmph!" CopyCat found himself unable to speak all of a sudden.

 

"It's a disguise you moron.  My identity can't be revealed.  Not yet.  Besides, you still have work to do."  It seemed that with just the slightest gesture, this woman had disabled CopyCat completely.  "Now, if you'll assure me you won't make a ruckus and run your mouth, I'll let you keep your tongue and your voice in tact.  All I want you to do is think.  'I'm not going to make noise'.  Understand?" she asked.

 

CopyCat put the words into thoughts, and found himself able to speak again.  "What--well that's just rude.  But what would you have me do?  Are you going to free me?  You'll only draw attention to yourself."

 

She shook her head.  "No, you imbecile.  You're going to free yourself."

 

CopyCat blinked.  "Uhhhh--"

 

"Not yet.  But there will be an opportunity for you to seize.  You'll know.  And make sure when you get out of here, that you take that crazy woman with you," she demanded.

 

CopyCat nodded.  "Not a problem."

[Tesability Black]

~Rawal's POV~

Talis-Eye had been asleep elsewhere on the plane, catching only a little bit about 'being stuck in cargo' before the Eyebeast floated off, so he didn't understand what had been said by the projected voice. He did admit to himself that it was impressive how it was done when the person speaking was not even in view, another note of curiosity as to how the people of this world survived so long without any form of magical aid.

He couldn't help but give a yawn as he looked out the window, leaning towards it as he looked down at the view to see the shapes of the land, much like a bird would. Even creations given the ability of flight would never fly this high.

Speaking of birds, a group of them forming the shape of a V flew into view of his window, unconsciously bringing a smile to his face. He was feeling slightly like a kid that had discovered something even the adults hadn't found yet, and the analogy wasn't far off.

Travel by air never existed back on Terrestria, all travel was by water or land. It wasn't from lack of attempts, either. It just seemed near-impossible to do. Because of this, he was literally the first Shaper to take to the skies like this, much like how he's the only one to ever be close to the stars when he first made his way here.

Rawal soon found himself shaking his head with a jolt as a wave of tiredness fell over him, causing a mild headache to form. Rubbing a spot between his eyes, he realized that sleep might be a good idea, considering the late night he had. And so, with a yawn, he got himself comfortable while leaning back and fell asleep to the faint rumbling of the plane's method of staying in the air...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rawal didn't wake until someone started shaking him, trying to wake him from his long nap. Stretching his arms out, he felt quite refreshed, despite the unusual sleeping position.

Then again, it wasn't the first time he's fallen asleep in his chair, he had done so several times while working on what he had viewed as important tasks. The fact that this was a slightly-reclined seat made it all the more easy for him to fall asleep.

He could hear the tone of aggravation, but he didn't really care to deal with it. In fact, it took him a few moments to realize that the vibrations he had been feeling that helped him fall asleep seemed to be lacking. Glancing out the open window soon revealed why.

This air vessel had landed.

A grumble under his breath that even he didn't understand escaped him before finally standing up, stretching more before leaving his seat in full.

You took your time getting out, he heard in his head with an irked and annoyed tone, causing the elder to roll his brown eyes from under the hood of his trenchcoat. He saw that the others were making their way to differing helicoptors, and so began heading towards an untaken one for his own trip to where he would start of the battle to come.

[Hälō]

"Ugh...whatever happened here, I feel we're getting into something real weird fast. Yo Lace, care to hang out for a bit? I'm feeling pretty sour now, sour enough that my acid could probably melt metal at this point. Don't care wherever you want to go, I just want to shift my attention from all of this and sort out my mind."

 

"Hm?" Having been watching the others make their departure, Lace shifted her attention to Angelica. Well it wasn't like she had anything else planned for the evening, seeing as she had thought herself dead not even half an hour ago...

 

"I'm sure they've had most of the guests return to their rooms..." She said in her usual tone. XIII's lips curled in a subtle smirk as an idea struck. "That means the theme park is empty..."

 

 

Northern Tower Rooftop

 

Lace forced herself let out a loud yawn as she peered down towards the crowds of civilians bellow. "How was that?" She glanced over to Angelica before bringing her pen down the large yellow notepad that rested between the girls whilst they sat with their legs dangling over the ledge of the gigantic tower waiting for their ride to arrive.

 

Scanning the massive list of checked items, she quickly found 'yawn sleepily after a long night' near the bottom and crossed it off the list. It was right under 'girl talk' which had a small asterisk drawn over it due to the fact that neither of the two could quite figure out which girls they were supposed to be talking to... or what a 'Beyonce' was. 'Slumber Party' also brandished a similar mark. Though it was also crossed off after the two agreed that it still counted as a sleep over if the two stayed in the same room and ate sweets and watched movies, despite the fact that they never did anything close to sleeping...

 

"We sort of ran out of ideas near the end, huh?" Lace said whilst studying the extensive list of "human" activities that the girls had set out to experience during their night on the town. With neither her or Angelica requiring sleep, the pair had spent the entirety of the evening gallivanting around the hotel grounds trying and failing miserable to be normal for once. Luckily only a handful of people were hurt during their escapades, and not a single one of them chose to press charges after seeing that the two girls meant well...

 

"And looks like we still have twenty more movies before we finish the Fast and Furious Franchise..." 

[VCR_CAT]

Jack

 

Once everyone is on board the plane, Jack took note of a subtle, seconds-long annoyed glance that Louis had given her before taking the seat across the aisle from her. Jack chuckled quietly to herself, proud of the seat that she had acquired like a child that was proud of getting the front passenger seat in the car. Bethany offered to play something like I-Spy, in a plane of all places. Of course, most of everyone inside ignored her and went about finding what to do over the course of a thirteen hour flight.

 

The tension in the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife throughout their ride. Jack had chosen to take the opportunity to try and sleep over the plane's ride, something that she was lacking after the long night they had had previously. To anyone else on the plane, it looked like Jack was seating normally, staring out the window, but for the majority of the first eight hours of the flight Jack was sleeping. During the refueling stage of the flight, Jack had gotten up to stretch her legs and use the bathroom. Upon returning, she found Louis had sniped her seat while she was gone. Jack cursed inaudibly under her breath, taking the seat that Louis had held previously. Not nearly as comfortable.

 

Finally the flight was over, and they had the opportunity to transfer to the helicopters that would take them to the arena. Jack had taken a moment to stretch and warm herself up before getting into the helicopter. Thirteen hours was a long flight to be cooped up in, and she didn't want something like stiffness costing her the match. Of course, taking this quick moment to do so had only left so many helicopters untaken, so Jack walked over and picked the closest one that was still empty.

[Dad]

The Congo Basin

 

After a lengthy, and exhausting flight, the jet lagged contestants--Rawal, Louis, Jack, and Bethany--arrived in Africa in an unmarked, undisclosed location with a private air strip.  Guards escorted the four contestants to four separate helicopters, where they took off in four separate directions.

 

In the Northeast, Bethany's chopper flew above the Congo Basin.  She was taken to the opposite side of the start of the Nile River, into moderately tall shrubs and enormous trees.  A ladder was extended for Bethany to climb down into the forest, into a clearing small enough for her to enter on her own.  The helicopter could not take her any lower.  As Bethany landed, she would find she was surrounded by the higher ends of the forest.  The further west she went from her current standing point, she would begin to scale higher up into the forest, into massive cliffs and dense caves.  Most importantly, there was no water around Bethany, but the Nile River was west of her current position, beyond a thick canopy of trees, and creating a waterfall over a jagged and rocky cliff edge.  On foot, it would take her an hour to find this fresh water if she traveled west.  It would take her three hours if she traveled south to come into contact with a contestant other than Louis.

 

In the Northwest, Louis' helicopter landed in a shallow clearing on a cliff side, right where the Nile River began to flow through the Congo Basin.  Louis was in a more ideal location, with access to fresh water, a high vantage point, and a chance to observe and learn his surroundings before be dropped into the thick of things.  However, Louis was also the candidate furthest from any others.  By chance, Bethany was just one hundred meters closer to other contestants than she was to Louis.  This was both good and bad for Louis.  Showing up in the middle of a fight could net him multiple advantages.  But if he was turned on by multiple enemies, that could change.  From his starting point, it would take Louis two hours to reach Bethany if he was walking.  At that same pace, it would take him nearly four and a half hours to come into contact with someone other than Bethany.

 

In the Southeast, Jack would find herself at the end of the Nile River, where it pooled into what appeared to be at least a two hundred foot deep cavern below.  She would not be landing in a clearing, and thus would have to climb down from her helicopter to reach the ground level.  Everything north of Jack was elevated.  As she continued north, she would find a very soft, gradual rise in the land, but it would be noticeable over time.  More northwestward, the gradual climb of the land shifted drastically to high elevations, until it reached a great peak of cliffs furthest in the Northwest quadrant of the Basin.  She had immediate access to water, but she was also in more immediate danger.  The Southeast quadrant of the forest was heavily populated by hippos.  Hippos--being the very territorial creatures that they are--would not take kindly to a stranger showing up and attempting to even approach their water.  Not to mention the plethora of other unknown animals in the forest around her.  If Jack were to travel north, it would take her three to four hours to run into a contestant other than Rawal, depending on if she went Northeast or Northwest.  If she went directly west from her position, it would take her an hour to come into contact with Rawal.

 

In the Southwest, Rawal would find himself in a thick highgrass mound.  He would have to be careful with how he stepped around this mound, because highgrass was littered with snakes.  Most of them were non-poisonous, but should he tread on a Green Bush Viper or a Night Adder, he would be in for a nasty surprise.  He was approximately one hour away from a fresh water source, and an enemy.  If Rawal traveled north from his current position, it would take him roughly three to four hours to come into contact with a contestant that was not Jack.  

 

But the most dangerous forces in the Congo Basin were not among the contestants.  For what they could not see coming, even miles away, was a third party.  This party--this enemy--was responsible for the most blight in Africa sense 2020.  They acted as a wave of death, moving about the country and bringing complete silence to the voices that opposed them.  A new age was rising in Africa, from war mongers and religious zealots acting as one.  And within six hours, they would be upon the contestants, with nothing to stop them.

 

---

 

Too Late to Apologize

 

Geno was practicing his lines, and after having rehearsed his apology for an hour, he had worked up the nerve to knock on the doors to the news studio.  Victor Skye opened the door, shocked to see Geno there.

 

"Geno?  What can we do for you?  Is everything alright?" Victor asked.

 

Geno sighed.  "I need to make a public broadcast.  A bet Tiny and I had.  Need to make a public apology."

 

"An apology?  To whom, if you don't me asking?" Victor replied.

 

"Couple of the winning contestants.  I made a dumb bet that three outta the four would lose, and I told Tiny--"

 

"But--wait.  Geno.  The victors have already taken off.  They're gone off to Africa," Victor interrupted.

 

Geno crumpled half of his speech in his hands.  "Whaddya mean they're gone!?  God damn it!  Alright.  Know what?" he said shoving past Victor to get into the studio.  "You're gonna record this God damn apology anyway.  And you're gonna make sure it gets saved to the news website.  It'll still be public and an apology.  And knowin' my luck it'll be viral sooner than later."

 

Victor sighed, closing the door to the studio.  "Alright.  I'll get make-up in here and--"

 

"No.  Mask.  Stays.  On," Geno insisted.

 

"Riiiight," Victor said, rolling his eyes.  "Well you're gonna have to make sure you speak up through your helm.  Otherwise it'll be muffled and sound awful.  And that will keep you here longer."

 

"One take, Vick.  That's it," Geno barked.

 

"You want it done right, or not?" Victor said, folding his arms.

 

Geno sighed.  "Yeah, you're right.  Sorry.  Whatever ya gotta do.  Let's just get it done."

[Mr. Hyde]

 

When Louis was escorted off the plane, content and well rested after snagging that perfect seat on the plane, he was escorted to another mode of transportation.  This one took him directly to the Congo Basin, right next to a cliff side.  As Louis departed his ride, and it left, Basabth popped out from Louis' shadow once again.  The two of them surveyed the land together, not leaving each other's side for a moment.  The sound of rushing water was where the two of them headed out first.  As they met with the Nile, Louis lashed his shadow towards the water, and gulped up as much as he could through it, a reverse situation to what he had done in the previous round.  Instead of displacing water, he would store it in his shadow.  It was basically a glorified canteen of sorts, for now that is.  

 

Basabth couldn't help but bound and jump around the scenery.  The shadowy creature had never seen so much greenery in his entire life.  

 

"So this is a jungle huh?!"  Basabth said with awe.  

 

"Yeah...I like my city streets at night better though."  Louis smacked his face, where a bug had landed.  "I hate the chaos of nature..." He groaned.  

 

"So what's the plan Louis?"  

 

"Well, seeing as how we were put in different locales throughout the Congo...it would take us overly long to go and fight someone who was put in the corner opposite us."  Louis couldn't afford the opportunity to have some unfortunate soul walk across his shadow.  There was no time for that...not to mention in that case he would have to be stationary the whole time.  Louis pointed left.  "We head East...one of those chumps probably got put there.  We kill them first."  

 

"How do you know they're the closest."

 

"Well I'm not a mathematician, but I still learned the Pythagorean Theorem you know.  The hypotenuse of a triangle is the longest distance, and seeing as how the South West corner is a lot farther from us than the North East, it only makes sense that that is the shortest distance on the triangle."  

 

"Why are you making it a triangle?  Couldn't you just make it a rectangle, and say that one side is shorter than the other."  

 

"A rectangle is two triangles you dolt."  Louis said, gently tapping the top of Basabth's head with a fist.  With that, the two started walking East.   

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

Well, while Angelica couldn't say that the supposed "girl's hang out night" with Lace was as fun as those normal girls seemed to experience, she could say that it helped her mind get off her humiliating loss yesterday, and allowed her to sort her mind better. And hard to admit, but Lace's company was...nice. Despite her being an organic, she was born from the same circumstances as Angelica, and the two pretty easily bonded due to it. She even become the first person Angelica ever told about her sisters, and her actual reasoning to join the competition. Perhaps she had lowered her guard too much to what seemingly going to be her next opponent, but someone to keep her company seemed to be a worthy trade for that.

 

Granted, Lace being an organic yet was made in a lab did pique Angelica's interest a lot, and she ended up spending a lot of the time exploring Lace's body while the two were watching movie. She seemed to like it somewhat, and Angelica did quite some tests on her texture and biological capabilities to see how human and organic she was, and what separated her from a normal. Though, after a while of caressing she gave up on finding any differences, but even so she admitted that doing so was kinda fun. Maybe if both survive the next round she should ask Lace to perform a more thorough examination.

 

Time soon passed, and before the two realized it, it had been morning already.

 

"We sort of ran out of ideas near the end, huh?"

 

"Yeah, I don't think I'll ever get why those nonlab girls even find these kind of things fun. Maybe we really should've attempted to spar and rampage around the hotel instead earlier. If this is what they call normal, then it's just too boring for me."

They almost did exactly that, although Lace had enough common sense to stop both of them before doing something that ridiculous, although they still did make some mess around just for fun. It proved to be more fun than following the normal checklist, at least. Girl talk went terribly - Angelica's vocabs were mostly optimized for shittalking, not girltalking. And sweets tasted as plain as ever.

 

"And looks like we still have twenty more movies before we finish the Fast and Furious Franchise..."

 

"...Will they even stop milking the damn name? I thought it's cute at first that one of the earlier main leads reappeared in the eighteenth film as his elderly self, but they now kept on doing that and it lost its charm.

 

And you know, it's hard to be excited for a movie franchise titled Fast and Furious when you think they're all going way too slowly anyway." As much as she was busy exploring Lace when the two watched those movies, Angelica still paid attention to what was going, and her memory recorded the content of most of it. Granted, she wasn't really interested in the movie anyway, so every time Lace suggested to skip one of the movies, she always agreed wholeheartedly. The two chatted more for a while as they relaxed in the pleasant morning, but not long after, an announcement was able to be heard on their room.

 

"Good morning again residents, contestants, and guests.  We interrupt your regularly scheduled program for some breaking news.  Our loser's bracket arena has been decided. After deliberation this morning by Mr. Nikolaev and his staff, it looks like our ladies match will be in extremely close knit quarters.  A mysterious valley located on the coastal lands of the Amazon rain-forest, deep in the heart of South America.  Undisturbed for centuries, and only recently discovered sixteen years ago, it is said to be a holy placed, deeply covered by magic.  It is known only as Godstone Valley. And Mr. Nikolaev has decided that there would be no more fitting of a place than this, to hold the loser's bracket three-way brawl."

 

"Our battlefield's been decided, huh? Then let's get going. Even if we can't find joy in the activities that a girl would call as normal, we'll find joy in battling close to our deaths. Sounds a lot more exhilirating than talking about the recent pop sensations, right?"

 

After getting themselves ready the two immediately went down for the briefing before going out to enter the plane that has waiting for them and the last contestant, Mango. Angelica was uncharacteristically quiet while inside, her memories of losing yesterday returning. Although, now it didn't make her feel all that down anymore. One loss was enough. She refused to be dragged down by it anymore, and would try her best not to repeat her mistakes and do her best on this round.

 

---

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

"So. Trees. Lots and lots of trees." Bethany's A+ observation came as she was climbing down the ladder. Near the end of the ladder she dropped off and landed with a thump on the grassy clearing under her.

 

"This place is way too wet." She muttered as she looked around at the huge trees that surrounded her. Overall it wouldn't be the worst place for her to fight in. The trees could give her cover and anyone in this clearing would be easy pickings....with that in mind she moved into the treeline immediately. She had no idea how close the others were or if they had abilities to move swiftly. Either way she didn't want to be out there.

 

She was uncomfortable under her jacket; but without it she'd feel even colder. As it was she was slightly damp and only a bit cold. Which was much better than normal in her opinion.

 

There wasn't any water nearby but, if she remembered the view from her helicopter, there was a river, and waterfall, not too far from her location. The only issue with that was...she remembered reading a book about something similar to this. Water sources were the main place of contention in fights like this. If she went there too soon she'd surely run into someone and it was too early for that. She might have to show her magic almost immediately. Which would make her a target to any of the other contestants that happened to see her.

 

Bethany wasn't confident she could handle more than one at a time. Logically she should wait for the numbers to drop...But if she waited too long thirst would set in.

 

Cocking her head to the side a thought came to Bethany. Something she hadn't tried before. She formed an ice spear and held it in her hand. Ice...meant water. Was magical ice something that could quench thirst? She had to try it at least. Waiting for it to start to melt, Bethany let the water forming from the ice drip into her mouth.

 

For now she'd wait it out in the trees near the clearing. If she didn't see, or hear, anything in the next hour she'd likely set out.

[VCR_CAT]

Jack

BGM:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0TTtjdYLUU

 

The helicopter dropped Jack off in the middle of the jungle, surrounded by tall hills and trees. She didn't like this environment very much at all. Jack's suit was originally designed for interior infiltration and urban environments; all of its gear was designed for concrete, metal, and high walls. What it wasn't designed for was mud, trees, and cliffs. Still, there was a few saving graces in where her next fight would be; the first and foremost being that her gear would at least do well with so many high vantage points, not to mention the conflict going on in this region. The documents given to each contestant didn't detail very much about the location at all, but Jack had a feeling that whoever the rebels were, or who the regime was, that she could get them to work for her.

 

But that was later, and this was now. Right now Jack was in a very bad position: the low ground. Thankfully she started here and had the opportunity to find her way to high ground before any of the other contestants knew where she was, but she needed to do that soon. This was on the top of a laundry list of other tasks she needed to accomplish. Standing beneath the canopy of the trees, Jack could feel the humidity and the heat in the air through her helmet's filters, and while her suit was designed to withstand some extreme temperatures, it wasn't climate-controlled. Only a few minutes in the sticks and already she could feel beads of sweat forming on her skin.

 

Walking through the woods Jack could hear a deafening roar. Moving towards a clearing in the trees she stumbled on the edge of a sheer cliff, anchoring her tether on a nearby tree to keep herself from falling. Below her was a huge sink-hole that the river fed into. Jack breathed a sigh of relief, pulling herself back onto safety as she looked over the gaping maw of the cave. She doubted that any of the contestants were dropped off there, but she would made note of this location. If things went south, it could prove to be a good point to fall back to and hide. In the meantime, she made her way towards the North-West, working towards the center of the arena and the high-ground. First engagement wasn't ideal, and Jack's first priority was intel; map the region, and find her opponents. From there, she can work towards winning this thing.

 

Jack continued through the forest, Hack and Slash flying above the canopy and giving her a visual feed of just what she expected to see: Trees and more trees. Jack growled under her breath. She hated the jungle. For now, she combined her movements with Hack and Slash's feeds to map the region according to what she's explored, storing that data in her suit. Even if she didn't come across anything to hack, information was power, and Jack wanted to win.

[Tesability Black]

~Rawal's POV~

Rawal's feet connected with a soft 'thud' as he hopped out of the helicoptor before hearing it fly away to seemingly leave him alone among the hilly grasslands. He looked around, watching for the signs of the other aerial vessels that he and the others have come to make use of.

Fortune favored him, for high in the sky, he saw one that did not match the one he came down on.

Watch your step, he heard in his mind. I sense many small minds and a few of them have ways to inflict severe harm in their bite.

Rawal raised an eyebrow at this, before moving one foot and having it pointed towards the direction he saw the helicoptor. Only once this was done does Rawal dare to look around, seeing Talis-Eye next to him.

"Do you believe you can manage a cloaked flight," the Shaper asked before seeing them bring one of the many eyestalks close to their bottom lip in thought.

"It is likely possible. The wind will help us stay cool if I move us fast enough."

Rawal nodded to this before raising his hands in front of him, a familiar orb of sickly green energy forming, solidifying and reshaping itself. He soon split it into two before they could form futher and threw them up into the air.

What formed were grey serpents with alternating white segments all along the body, white bat wings to either side to keep them afloat in the air and a deadly stinger to strike into melee with. Tiny red eyes looked over the plains, watching for movement and possibly prey.

These newborn Wingbolts were eager for food.

"Keep them away from anything potentially harmful, but allow them to feed. We will need them strong for this endeavor."

I need to findoutwhom stole that knowledge from me, Rawal thought to himself as well, anger still leaking into his thoughts. The whole aspect of the Rebellion was due to those unfit to bear the responsibilities that came with such power getting a hold of them somehow, and now, he was seeing the beginnings of another Rebellion happening here, where a power-hungry group led over many wishing to gain percieved freedom from the Shapers.

Unfortuantely, the leaders of the original Rebellion, the Drakons, cared not about those under their power, while the Shapers did their best to make their various locations and settlements profitable and sustainable...even if not always possible.

Aided by Talis-Eye via being telekinetically lifted into the air, the quartet of human, Eyebeast and Wingbolts took to the skies to move fast enough to allow the resulting aircurrents to keep them cool. During the flight, guided by Talis-Eye, they made lunch of various non-poisonous snakes that disappeared into the invisiblility with them upon being snatched from the grounds.

~Talis-Eye's POV~

I need to find out whom stole that knowledge from me.

So do I, Talis-Eye thought to themselves, hearing Rawal's thoughts. So do I for potentially endangering my future safety...

You may be staying alive a little longer yet.

[Dad]

Godstone Valley

 

The flight to Monterrey, Mexico for Angelica, Mango, and Lace was a mere five hours, compared to the monster of a thirteen hour flight time the upper bracket had.  They arrived on a private air strip, where three helicopters were waiting to escort the contestants to their designated arena.

 

Lace, Mango, and Angel were escorted one at a time in separate transports, taking the hour long flight to the magical arena.  Over the course of their flight, the contestants would notice the day gradually beginning to grow dark, despite the time frame.  It was still early in the day, at only four o'clock p.m.  However, the skies above them were rolling with thick, dubious clouds.  Thunder boomed above them, signaling an inevitable rainstorm to fall upon them.  And as the girls touched down in the tiny, thousand square meter arena, they would be able to see each other very clearly in short distances from one another.  And as if they were being signaled by God himself, a crackling bolt of lightning tore across the grey sky, crashing into the Godstone in the center of the arena, and causing it to glow a dim, pale blue.  It pulsated softly, as if it was waiting for something.

 

---

 

The Mighty Jungle

 

Slowly, but surely, water dripped onto Bethany's tongue.  The ice melted, and she was sure to have an infinite--albeit slow and tedious--source of water for her time in the Congo Basin.  What she didn't have, however, was the luxury of time.  Bethany was standing in someone's home after all.  The trees rocked beside her, and Bethany would hear a crack of tree branches to her immediate west.  Heavy breathing and an open jaw revealed many sharp teeth in the mouth of a very angry, intolerant gorilla.  It roared at Bethany, pounding its chest at the intruder.  Without waiting for Bethany to react, the gorilla put force into its great and heavy legs, and leaped forwards with all of its might.  Its arms raised and its rage full, it aimed to kill the fragile human in a single, swift blow.

 

But Bethany was not the only one who was standing on private property.  As Louis reached a plateau heading eastward, he would hear an angry roar below him, in the distance, not far off.  He wouldn't quite be able to make out who or what it was that was bellowing out, but he could hear it clearly enough.  But Louis would have to make other decisions.  Did he continue east and find out what was happening on the map?  Or did he turn around and face the pack of three sneaky leopards who had discovered him?  They bared their fangs, clearly not knowing what Louis was capable of.  Still, one by one, they pounced after their young meal.

 

For Jack, things started smoothly.  Though her scans with Hack and Slash did not prove entirely fruitful, she was near a massive water source, which she could track northwards.  As she continued her walk, Jack steered clear of local wildlife--the many hippos and snakes nearest the water--while trying to find herself a target.  But instead of finding a target for herself, Jack would instead be made a target.  Her sensors would go into over drive, as a midnight black enemy was detected behind her.  In the trees above and behind her, was a hungry panther.  And, unfortunately for Jack, she was standing between it, and a meal.  It silently landed on the ground in front of Jack, its claws nearly landing on her feet.  It cautiously moved towards Jack, sizing her up.  Whether she chose to answer or flee would determined how the panther reacted.  And of course, if Jack wasn't very tactical in her response, she risked having very large hippos turn their gaping jaws on her.

 

---

 

Loyalty

 

Outside of the Congo Basin, a small force of some two hundred men were led by a man named Ife (Ee-fay), successfully raiding and destroying a rebel stronghold.  A fistful of bullets, a pocket of tobacco and crumpled papers with scribbled notes, and the ends of a cheap cigar hanging from his burnt lips, were the way to identify General Ife.  He shoved the bullet casings into a duffel bag, and shoved the duffel into the arms of a slightly smaller, slightly scrawnier black man in uniform beside him.  "Hold dis.  It's fa da monster," Ife said, nodding at a gigantic man who was standing at the end of a convoy, loading weapons into the rear of a muddy jeep.

 

"Ya want me give it ta him now, boss?" asked the scrawny solider.

 

"No, dumbass, not now.  Its fa later.  We movin' south.  Need supplies--" General Ife said, before he was interrupted by a frantic soldier.

 

"General!" the man said, panting.

 

"What?  What!?  What is it!?" Ife demanded, his bald head appearing bigger as his eyebrows narrowed on the soldier.

 

"In the Basin!  Choppers!  Four of them!  Dey think the rebels call for backup!  Dey army choppers!" he reported.

 

"Army choppers?" Ife asked, angered and annoyed.  He turned around, cupping his hands.  "Load up!  We gonna hit the Basin!  Rebels diggin' round in the jungle!" Ife called back to his men, along the line of stolen military vehicles.  He turned back around to the reporting solider, and nodded at him.  "How many you see, you say?"

 

"Four boss.  Four choppers."

 

" N' how many git off da choppas?"

 

The soldier shrugged.  "Hard to tell."

 

Ife patted the soldier on the head.  "Good eye.  You live, and we give you something on the end, huh?"

 

"Yeah boss.  Oh, but Boss, boss."

 

"What, what, Jaja?" Ife asked.

 

"The Shaman.  Him say, he feel magic," Jaja said, turning and pointing to a man at the head of the convoy.  He was wearing a tribal mask with tusks, covered in red, brown, and white paints.

 

"Magic?" Ife asked again.  "Well.  Rebels stupid.  They ain't learn da first time dese Shaman pay dem a visit, huh?"

 

Four more men in tribal masks with tusks were behind Ife, one of them floating in mid air with his legs folded, and his head tilted to the sky.  

 

"C'mon den.  Shaman deal with magic.  We deal wit da rest," General Ife said, getting into his jeep.  He blew the horn four times, and the convoy started their engines.  It was time for the new age ADF to make themselves known.

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

The rest of the trip was quiet, and before Angelica knew it, the group had already got split after landing in one of the waiting airports. Undoubtedly getting transported to the different part of the arena, Angelica wondered on what kind of tactics would she had to employ this time, and moreso with the addition of extra stuffs inside of her to counteract the potential lack of supply to help herself with in the arena. Of course, a more finalized answer would have to wait until she reached the place proper. There, she noticed that the arena was surprisingly small, especially compared to the gigantic Underground Network of the previous round. The most interesting thing in the arena was the odd-stone in the middle, who had summoned a lightning bolt to strike it, allowing it to glow in a bluish hue.

 

So that was the so-called Godstone. Well...something was obviously going to happen with it, but before that someone had to make the first attack here. And like hell that'd be her - too many unknown variables for her to consider. So, she instead equipped herself with her innate loudspeaker, and had her voice echoed around the arena so the other two could listen to her.

 

"So yeah we're here. Anyone's going to attack first or should we wait until something interesting happens?"

 

---

[Mr. Hyde]

 

Louis looked over the plateau, a smug look tracing his lips as he looked upon the African scenery.  In the distance, a large roar could be heard...something almost otherworldly.  It made him stare for longer than he wanted.  However, his long gaze was interrupted by the sound of what seemed to be growling predators.  Without hesitating, Louis turned around to be face to face with a coalition* of three Cheetahs.  Predators native to the plains of Africa were sure to be a dime a dozen here, but the fact that they had found him this early was quite fortuitous for them.  Louis turned himself completely around, so that his whole body faced the trio.  He sighed, as Basabth revealed himself from Louis' shadow.  

 

"Do you even know who I am, you filthy mongrels?"  Louis prodded at the beasts.  Unable to process his threat, they continued to growl and approach, pouncing at him.  "And this is why I hate animals.  No respect!"  In an instant, Louis' dark shadow grew three tendrils that rocketed toward each of the beasts in midair.  He caught them with ease, the shadow wrapping around the skinny, emaciated waists of the Cheetahs.  The tendrils slowly branched out, making many mini branches that soon covered the entirety of the mammal's bodies.  They were paralyzed, unable to move themselves, unable to comprehend the situation they had put themselves in.  Who was the true predator here? 

 

Whilst the cheetahs remained in the air, Basabth admired them from below.  

 

"Wow!  Earth sure does have some ferocious creatures," Basabth paused to look back at Louis, "and you're pretty much on top of the food chain, huh?"

 

"Both figuratively, and metaphorically."  Louis snapped his fingers, as the shadows, still tethered to the cheetahs, lowered them to the floor.  "I do think they'll make fine guards in the meantime."  Louis snickered, as the five of them continued to head East.  

 

"Besides, we have bigger game to hunt."  

 

[spoiler=Animal Behavior factoid of the post]

 

*: A group of cheetah's is called a coalition.  Male cheetahs tend to hunt in packs, while Females hunt solo.  I was researching to make sure why Louis was being hunted by 3, and was enlightened on the facts.  Just thought I'd share.

 

 

 

[Hälō]

"So yeah we're here. Anyone's going to attack first or should we wait until something interesting happens?"

 

Angelica's voice bounced off the valley' walls, causing Lace to glance around their battlefield once more. Such a tiny space would definitely lend itself to someone of her speed and CQC proficiency. Although...

 

Her eyes rested on Mango. She wasn't the only one that gained an advantage in such a small arena. Studying the clawed experiment, Lace decided that it would be best to avoid a direct confrontation until she knew exactly what Mango was capable off. "They certainly didn't just pick this place as our arena because of the ambiance..." Lace called back towards the two other girls whilst resting her hand on the straight sword at her hip. "I'd prefer to see what we'll be up against, but if one you is eager to get started I'll be happy to oblige." As she spoke, Lace began slowly walking to the glowing stone in the center of the arena to investigate it. Being the only one of the trio with any experience with magic, it was logical that she was the most qualified.   "I've never been one to pass up a quick warmup."

[VCR_CAT]

Jack

 

Jack's trek through the jungle wasn't long until she came across a Jaguar and its meal. She froze in place, staring the Jaguar down, though without any visible eyes on her suit she doubted this would have any effect on the large jungle cat. The animal began to circle around Jack, sizing her up. Nearby were groups of hippos, and if Jack decided to flee she would be met with entirely new animals to deal with. On the flip side, staying with the Jaguar would risk an extra fight as well. Jack had three opponents to deal with in this region; she didn't need a fourth risking damage to her suit.

 

Hack and Slash were still floating around above the canopy when Jack called them back down to her location. It took a short amount of time for them to reach her, during which the Jaguar continued to circle. Once they had descended down to her level, Jack sent to the command for the both of them to combine their arclight projectors; creating a projection in front of Jack a few times her size. The projection was shaped and mostly two-dimension; like that of a giant mask. In fact, that's what they made; a giant lion's face in front of Jack that generated a very loud roar from the two drone's speakers. Birds flocked and fled from above Jack and there was a rustling in the trees and several other animals fled the scene. Jack hated the extra attention this may draw to her location, but if it saved her an unnecessary fight then it would be well worth it.

[Yui]

---

"Lose the next round...if you want to live that is. I don't intend to lose this one...and if I see you in the final round..you won't be as lucky, Bio-Weapon."

 

The day of the second round had come, and Mango found herself lingering on Louis's words as she made her way up through the Golden Gate Hotel. She had to get up early that morning, to get the pills the lab had sent her, so that she could try them out before the day really got started. As the contestants had been announced, Mango had read the instructions and followed them closely. "Take one capsule every twelve hours to avoid death by internal acids." Mango ate a pill, and made her way to the room's shower. It was time to be rid of this heavy sludge on her skin.

---

However, that was then, and this was now. Now, at Godstone Valley, a crack of lightning struck down to hit the rock in the center of the battlefield. Mango flinched instinctively. She was used to lightning meaning rain, and rain meaning danger. That wouldn't be the case anymore though. Instead of thick yellow sludge, someone looking at Mango today would find brown scales and dark gray hair. I hear it used to be black. I guess I really am getting old. Instead of her age, however, Mango focused on the glowing stone, and the voice she heard.

 

"So yeah we're here. Anyone's going to attack first or should we wait until something interesting happens?"

 

"They certainly didn't just pick this place as our arena because of the ambiance... I'd prefer to see what we'll be up against, but if one you is eager to get started I'll be happy to oblige. I've never been one to pass up a quick warmup."

 

"I'll take you up on that," Mango called out. "I'd like some warmups myself." And with that, Mango dashed in the sword girl's direction. Her body felt light, far more than it ever had before. Getting all that sludge off her really did make her faster, it seemed! Mango wasn't quite used to this, but once she found herself close to her target, Mango swung her right hand toward the girl with everything she had - though taking care to space her attack out to only hit the girl with the ends of her blades - before spinning and swinging her left hand at her as well. A simple one-two attack was a good way to start a fight right?

 

I wish there were combat records I could get from previous copies of me instead of just the lab tests.

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Huh. Magic sort of tasted like spearmint gum. That's a new one.

Bethany was glad to have realized she could kinda produce water. That could definitely help her in the long run. If she had known this back home....no, the only reason she was okay with using her magic right now was that it didn't matter if she lost control. Losing control back home...not an option.

 

But man this water was pretty good. Granted as Bethany had drank lukewarm water out of a rusty faucet on more than one occasion she wasn't the best judge of taste in the world.

 

Water should not taste like licking a penny.

Then again it also shouldn't taste like gum.

Why did people always say water was flavorless anyway?

 

As she pondered what exactly the tastelessness of water tasted like a large, hairy, and angry figure came in from the West.

And, despite having similarly messy teeth, it was definitely not Old Pete from down the street.

 

"Blimey!" Bethany shouted out, a little of her mother sneaking out unexpectedly. But what else could she say in the face of THAT?

 

She only had a moment to react. And she used that moment to summon a pair of ice spears, launching them at the gorilla, hoping to use its own momentum against him. As she did she dove to the side. Not the most graceful move but as long as she aimed away from the trees she should land safely.

[Tesability Black]

The Wingbolts were closer when the strangely distorted roar was heard, causing a pair of screeches to be heard from up high.

To be fair, further back, Rawal found himself covering his ears at hearing the unusual sounds in the roar and Talis-Eye wished they had hands to do the same with.

"Ow, what was that," Rawal found himself hissing between his teeth, despite the fact that he knew he was supposed to say silent. Whatever that had been, it had sounded even less natural than the creations he surrounded himself with.

I know not, but that was a sharp sound. It came from...hm?

Under the invisibility, Rawal found himself turning his head one way towards the Eyebeast in the sphere of invisibility they shared. Have you found the source?

I believe I have, but she's expecting attention.

Rawal couldn't help but raise an eyebrow as he looked down. From this distance, specially considering he was having to see through multitude of plants, it was near-impossible to determine gender. She? How can you tell? A chuckle in his head had him rolling his eyes. Of course. She's expecting attention...but I doubt she's ready for immediate attention. Which one is this?

Most would know her as 'Jack', but I sense a different name linked with her. From what I can tell, this particular combatant is more suited for dealing with the technology of this world than for terrain like this and those like us. It may be possible to slash through the armor she wears with the Wingbolts' stingers, but it is not guarenteed.

...however, she is not much in regards to physical strength, more comparable to an Agent in ability. A stealth strike with the Wingbolts and potentially a Glaahk could potentially take her out of the running for at least a while.

...an Agent, huh?

Agents, almost always exclusively female, they were often the spies and assassins among the Shapers. While they could make creations as well, that was not often their specialty. When a single target needed to be taken care of, it was often an Agent that was sent.

...that man had been shaping up to be one of the few...

ARGH!!

...was that really needed?

Thankful he hadn't screamed verbally, he found himself looking down at the distant figure in red and black. ...it may be too late to strike no---wait, just what are those odd cubes floating up through the plants?

With an unvoiced command, both of the invisible Wingbolts flew over towards each of the two floating cubes, curiosity shared between Eyebeast and Shaper. ...the closest I can explaination that I can make sense of...is that these two are almost like a 'creation' made through the world's technology instead of through the Shaping Arts.

Let us observe for now, then. Each of the two Wingbolts were flying next to either of the strange cubes as Rawal and Talis-Eye stayed back, ready to strike with tail spike and magical discharge if they should do anything along the lines of offense, the guise of invisibility still spread over all of them...

[Dad]

Hairy Situation

 

The angered gorilla leaped at Bethany, but her quick thinking and fast reactions allowed her to slip down out of the massive tree she had climbed up into.  But she didn't leave without giving the ape a parting gift.  Casting a plume of icicles forwards from her palm, Bethany slid away from her enemy.  As a result, the gorilla's lunge missed Bethany, and it was then impaled on its right shoulder and left leg.  Enraged and bewildered, the gorilla was trapped in Bethany's attack.  However, it wouldn't be long before the gorilla's raw rage freed it from its cold tomb.  The ape slammed its fist into the icicles repeatedly, shattering the single one which pinned its leg.  It repeated the same strategy on the icicle embedded into its shoulder.  However, with only one good leg to stand on, and a destroyed shoulder, the gorilla wouldn't last much longer against Bethany.  But one good leg or not, this ape was not about to surrender to a human.

 

Limping, roaring, and spitting, it jumped down from its vantage point, threatening to crush Bethany alive.

 

---

 

Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed

 

Louis was finally in range to see what all the fuss was about.  An angered gorilla not far below him now, was chasing another of the contestants.  He wouldn't be able to clearly make out who this contestant was, but it would only take him a matter of minutes to be in range to see their face.  Bethany had temporarily given her pursuer--a silver-back gorilla--the cold shoulder.  Only moments later, it was still angry and chasing her.  Louis had a lot to work with from only a few hours of walking.  With three *leopards being bound to him by his shadow manipulation, he had quite a few tricks to work with.

 

---

 

Jackpot

 

Fortunately for Jack, her prey had been scared off.  The loud noise caused the large jungle cat to roar and snap at Jack, but it did not attack.  Instead, it turned, and bounded away back into the jungle.  All the while, however, Jack was being watched--stalked, if you will.  Her creations--Hack and Slash--were unsuspectingly being monitored by invisible, otherworldly creatures.  It would be nearly impossible for Hack and Slash to detect something they couldn't see or hear, without some kind of alternative influence.  Fortunately, they had the tools.  However, it was dependent on how Jack used them.  And she would have to act quickly.  Other forces would soon be upon her.

 

---

 

Welcome to the Jungle

 

The treeline of the jungle was in view now, and General Ife and his many men were just minutes away from making indirect contact with local invading enemy forces.  

 

"Five minutes, General," called a voice over walkie talkie, in Ife's right hand.  

 

"I want de shaman out first.  Send dem with BulletTime.  Clear de area.  I don't want no surprises," Ife said back into the walkie.  "Da magic ones.  Kill dem first.  Bring de others to me."

 

Ten jeeps, each loaded with four different men, began to split off towards the Congo Basin.  Behind them, a four military escort trucks, each carrying eight men, followed behind their designated leads, escorting them towards the treeline.  To the North, the escorts would arrive in six minutes.  To the South, the remaining two escorts would arrive in seven minutes.  And there was no clear indication of which of the two convoys carried which of the ADF forces.  Regardless of which convoy was encountered, there were forces within this ADF militia that was sure to bring everyone and everything they encountered, to their knees.

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

"This monkey business is getting out of hand..."

"Wait gorillas aren't monkeys, dang it."

 

Despite her pun flopping harder than this animal was attempting to do on her, Bethany wasn't about to let herself become part of a primate-ground sandwich.

 

The time it took the gorilla to dislodge the ice from its body gave her just enough time to ready another ice spear above her head. She had to wait for the creature to dive down before doing anything but, once it did, she let loose. Aiming for the animal's screaming maw. She was attempting to, despite her slight queasiness about the idea, shove the ice through the gorilla's mouth and into its brain directly.

 

She tried to figure out the angle of the animal's decent, she really should have studied math harder, to decide which direction would be best to run to avoid the falling creature. The attack would likely slow the decent just long enough for her to get out of the way. That is unless she was misjudging the beast's weight.

She was probably misjudging.

This would be a sucky way to go.

 

But at least there wasn't another opponent nearby, right? Wouldn't that be some dramatic irony right there.

 

If Bethany managed to avoid the gorilla, after almost having an existential moment, she'd look around for signs of another gorilla. She wished she knew if they traveled in packs....

[Mr. Hyde]

 

Louis had finally come to where he had heard that noise in no time flat.  This Congo sure seemed to be quite compact, for being such a vast expanse of land.  It didn't matter, Louis had been wandering for so long that looking upon a little girl being attacked by a giant silver back gorilla was somehow a pleasant site to him.  Louis smiled, as it was seemingly one of the contestants from the tournament.  The one with the icy powers.  Louis yawned...so simple...so plain.  It would be best that she die now, instead of being disappointed later on.  It was a good thing Saint Louis had arrived, to relieve the girl of her ties to this mortal coil.

 

With the cheetah's still in the grasp of his shadow, Louis made a hand like structure that gathered them all into it's shadowy palm.  Louis mimicked the pose of an MLB pitcher, and reeled his leg high.  He threw the pitch, letting nothing but air let loose from his hand.  However, the shadow flicked it's wrist, and sent all three predators hurtling towards the girl, whilst the gorilla had most of her attention.  

 

Basabth emerged from Louis' shadow, to see the boy following through with his pitch.  

 

"Nice arm you've got there."  Basabth teased.  "As if you could throw anything that fast for real!"  

 

"I could try throwing you at the girl...how about that, mister sassy shadow?"