Part I: Precursories

[DBIL Administrator]

The Situation

Date: Year 19 of Deragth's Reign
Main Characters: Brokel, Nirvei, Calico

Primary Goal(s): N/A
Secondary Goal(s): N/A

Scenario: Two months have passed since the miraculous escape from the Eastern Military Branch into the barren desert. The search for the three fugitives known as Calico, Nirvei, and Brokel has gradually cooled down without the luck of spotting, let alone recapturing them.

The mysterious disappearance of Captain Stripe has led the entire Eastern Capital's disarray, as they search for one who can reestablish order. In desperate need for a physically powerful leader, many from the Eastern Capital are looking to the 71st Tenkaichi Budokai.

In Hercule City, the crowds are booming with overall excitement for their favorite event. Posters have been pinned all over the city, as a large amount of the population make their way to the recently expanded Tenkaichi Budokai arena. The main part of their excitement relies on the return of the former Budokai champion, Cifer, and his final opponent, Tao. This tournament is sure to be one to remember.

But in the background, the darkness of this demonic world shrouds the atmosphere...

As the gates to the entrance soon but surely open, crowds charge like raging bulls to the grandstand seats, ensuring their view of the arena. Standing in the middle of the square arena itself, the now old tournament announcer begins to speak into his megaphone...

"Welcome to the 71st Tenkaichi Budokai! Sign up is now open, and will be until lunch time! But beware, late entries will not be accepted... Preliminaries will begin soon, please make use of our facilities and stores while waiting."

Sign ups close on Thursday GMT +12

[Calico Nerdani]

Calico looked at the application forms and filled in the appropriate information. He felt great today, confidence radiating from him for some reason. He was sure he would make it past the first round as usual. Heck, maybe even the second round....

He browsed the stores that littered the immediate area while waiting. A little knick-knack store peaked his interest and he examined the wares. He heh'd at a pair of small green orbs of earrings and contemplated buying them for his mom. The merchant noticed his interest and came to pitch a sale.

"Very stylish earrings!" The merchant exclaimed in a thick accent. "They'd make a perfect gift for that girl in you life. Or your mother, maybe? Perhaps it is her birthday soon?" That last part hit the nail on the head, and Calico was an impulse buyer too.

"How much?" Calico asked.

"All yours for 2,000 Xeni."

"2,000 zeni? Do I look rich? How about1800 Zeni."

"Deal." The merchant smiled and Calico slapped down the money from out of his fanny pack. He'd already spent more than he wanted to but those earrings just called out to him. He began his way back to the arena, to sit down on a bench for the remainder of the wait.

[Brokel]

Brokel looked at the signature he had penned on The Tournament's form. He wasn't sure if he wanted to do this, but he certainly had to. The higher the chance one of the trio won, the better for Sally. Brokel lounged on the bench, waiting for The Tournament to begin.

[Nirvei/Lapis]

When she had been told that Budokai Tenkaichi was a big event, Nirvei had no idea that it would be THIS big. There were people everywhere. Luckily a couple of months was apparently enough time for the people of this planet to forget a face on a wanted poster. Otherwise someone in a crowd this large was bound to recognize her as one of the three fugitives that escaped the now deceased Captain Stripe. It was also a plus that nobody bothered asking for her name while she was detained.

However, that’s enough about past events. There was more at stake at this tournament than meets the eye. Of course wealth and fame were enough to make people partake in a competition like this. Nirvei had a different goal in mind though. Calico, Brokel, and herself were all here to rescue Sally McSally. The Keretian may not have known her very well, but Sally had helped all three of them while they were running from Stripe’s men. It was time to return the favor. Not only that, but maybe this would make up for allowing the guy that kidnapped her in the first place to get away.

“Excuse me! Coming through,” said Nirvei as she weaved her way through the crowd. Finally she was able to make her way to the desk with the application to sign up. Nirvei looked over the form and gave a sigh of relief. There was no long questionnaire, which was a plus. Within moments the slip of paper was filled out and she disappeared into the crowd again.

[Shirin Tao Zhu]

Although he wasn't well known around this area as people would have expected, what with him being "Tao", and all, Shirin did manage to get help from a patron or two. They'd been kind enough to donate a basic dark green and white martial arts outfit. Green Gi shirt and pants, white undershirt and bracers, and bland black boots were the few items of clothing they had spared. Shirin didn't complain, though. Because of this change in attire he no longer stuck out so much. And he wasn't big on the popularity idea. His hair style was unmistakable, though, and some of the spectators of his match two months ago might notice him if he drew attention, so he did his best to keep a low profile as he approached the application desk.

He picked up the form and a pen and went to writing as swiftly as he could. The less time he spent in the open like this the better. He finished scribbling down his information and handed it back to the receptionist. Without giving the receptionist too much time to reply, Shirin turned and began walking towards one of the corners of the building where the sun did not reach. He hoped his cover hadn't been blown yet.

[DBIL Administrator]

The Situation

Date: Year 19 of Deragth's Reign
Main Characters: Brokel, Nirvei, Calico

Primary Goal(s): N/A
Secondary Goal(s): N/A

Scenario: An hour of the day passes by without anybody noticing, and finally, the sign-ups are declared closed. The presence of any certain fighter would be unknown to the one who searches, as the sought after would remain shrouded in a wave of innumerable Budokai contestants.

The number was barely short of unsettling, as men and women of different races, builds and ages gathered throughout the small, now cramped Japanese-themed building as the announcer begun to speak. Bringing forth a small board, two assistants begun to recite the rules of the Budokai Tenkaichi.

"First and foremost, murder of any kind or of any form is strictly prohibited, doing so will result in immediate disqualification! That aside, a contestant may obtain victory through knockout, ring out or foul play on the opponent's behalf."

Their part completed, the two assistants moved the board away, making way for another one. Looking closely, one would notice that this board was none other than the tournament tree. Coming to a stop, the single man in charge of the tournament tree spoke.

"Those in Bracket One, please proceed to the mat furthest away from this point, those in Bracket Two, please make your way to the next furthest, and vice versa. The preliminaries will begin in thirty minutes!"

Player Placings

Bracket One: Brokel vs Ghan
Bracket Two: Shirin vs Nirvei
Bracket Five: Calico vs King Chappa the 4th

[Brokel]

Brokel took a quick deep breath and walked towards the specified mat. Luckily, he had limbered up when he noticed that there were about fifteen minutes left so he was prepared for the fight. There was the kind of jittering to his stomach that made him tremble ever so slightly, an almost unnoticeable one, but enough to signify that Brokel was nervous about competition fights.

Like normal. Which wasn't a bad thing. He'd stop being nervous about three seconds into the fight.

He nodded in polite acknowledgement to his opponent on the other side of the mat. Preliminaries weren't beginning for another thirty minutes, but Brokel figured it nice of him to nod at his opponent. That was customary, right? He thought is was, but Ghan never nodded back. Maybe Brokel had nodded too early, or perhaps -Brokel cut a thought short and substituted it- perhaps he was just being a jerk.

[Calico Nerdani]

King Chappa, huh? Calico couldn't help but slightyly smile at the name as he went to the Bracket Five arena. Ah, Bracket Five. My good old friend. It never failed, Whenever Calico entered the Budokai, he somehow magically was put in Bracket Five. Well, third time's the charm! Calico did a small, courteous bow to his opponent, who returned the gesture before they both proceeded to further prepare for the fight. Early
Cat gets the Match.

[Shirin Tao Zhu]

Bracket two? That's nearly the farthest area from here. I wonder how they decide these brackets? Ah...it doesn't matter. There are more important things to attend to right now. Like keeping my promise to meet Cifer in the finals.

Shirin sighed and shook his head, dismissing those useless thoughts as he proceeded to the area where his fight was to take place. Never in his wildest dreams did Shirin believe he'd end up as a competitor in the Budokai Tenkaichi. He smirked as he stepped onto the edge of the mat and did some minor stretches. He looked to see if his opponent was anywhere around, but at the moment there was no one. Hopefully they'd arrive soon.

[Nirvei/Lapis]

Nirvei used her small size as an advantage as she once again had to weave through the large number of people who were crowded around the board. ‘Let’s see here... I guess I’m in Bracket Two. The name of my first opponent is Shirin.’ She thought while examining the placements of all of the contestants. The girl ducked back into the crowd while making her way to the mat she would be fighting on.

The Keretian looked over the other participants who got placed in her bracket. She had no idea which of them she would be fighting, but the competition looked pretty stiff. Hopefully her training wouldn’t be for nothing. Nirvei cracked her knuckles before looking up at the ceiling. ‘Now, what am I supposed to do for half an hour?’ she wondered.

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

‘So this was the tournament that Lek had been so excited about?’ thought Lapis as she stared at the crowd of people from afar. Her once bright indigo eyes had faded and grown even more lifeless over the past couple of months. The small android girl had desperately hoped to find something, anything that would redeem the inhabitants of this planet that Dr. Criel had spoken so fondly of at one point. Sadly, no such redeeming factor had been discovered. Was there truly any hope for such vile creatures?

Lapis had learned many things in the last few months from her travels. For one, the government that her father had spoken so highly of had regressed into a monarchy. It was now ruled by some being known as Deragth who was feared by all. There had been nothing but pure chaos ever since he took over. ‘So does this mean that Deragth is the reason behind all of the filth that plagues Earth, or is it human nature to act in such a manner? I’m sure Papa would know what to do, he had been such a brilliant man. Everything was just fine before he passed away...’ Alas, there was nothing Lapis could do about that. She was but a mere machine.

There was no need for her to be standing about with her head in the clouds. Lapis Lazuli had come here for a reason. She wanted to know if there was more to these humans than what she had already seen. The girl wasn’t quite sure how to react to all of the hellspawn. Dr. Criel had never mentioned them, leading her to believe that they were a new addition to the planet in the last 400 years. Of course, it didn’t matter what race she found redeeming qualities in. It would be a miracle if she found any on this planet at all. ‘Papa, I certainly hope you were right that people are generally good at heart. At the rate that they’re going, it seems much more appealing to simply deactivate myself rather than trying to live in harmony with this lot.’

[DBIL Administrator]

The Situation

Date: Year 19 of Deragth's Reign
Main Characters: Brokel, Nirvei, Calico

Primary Goal(s): Make it through the preliminary rounds
Secondary Goal(s): N/A

Scenario: The large, open room is soon filled with the scattered noise of crowd chatter as the combatants made their way to their assigned arenas. Intensity increased as the sound of a gong signified the beginning of the first round for all five rings. Sudden silence soon ensued as fighters within the ring assumed their respective fighting stances, and those spectating eagerly watched in anticipation.

Five referees made their way to the center of each ring as if in slow motion, and once again stated the rules to deaf ears... Several long seconds passed, and finally, in conjunction, all five referees declared the start of each match...

Attention was suddenly drawn towards the fourth ring, as a red-scarfed figure of medium build and average height stood above his downed opponent, who seemed to seizure, before passing out. Calmly walking out of the ring in a casual pace, the scarfed figure softly spoke to the referee.

"Don't worry, he'll live."

Surely enough, with the check of a heart beat, the downed opponent was declared alive. What had happened exactly, no one knew, but the match, according to the referee had been won within about ten split seconds.

Indeed, this tournament has become more than just a tournament...

Character Actions:

Ghan: A rather ordinary looking fellow, the unspectacular human known as Ghan stood in a Karate styled fighting stance, clad in nothing more than a blue gi. Maintaining his concentration, Ghan ignored the nod that had been given to him by his opponent, and mentally psyched himself for the fight.

With the referee's call, Ghan surprisingly refrained from dashing toward his opponent, instead maintaining his defensive stance, threatening to deliver a punch in the case of an attack. Staring Brokel in the eye, the look was one of attempted intimidation and boasted the concentration of a martial arts master.

Ghan Stats
Strength: 380
Ki Outlet: 240
Endurance: 390
Speed: 240

King Chappa the 4th: A human from the middle east was what this man unmistakeably was. White robes and a golden crown, similar to the one his ancestor had worn were used as his battle attire. Slowly taking a fighting stance, King Chappa gave a smile of confidence, encouraged by the cheering of the fight's spectators.

It was a well known fact that his family, in total had won eight Budokai rings, this King Chappa having won one, took great comfort in this fact, and used it as a reassurance that he would not lose. Confidence flowing through his veins, Chappa fearlessly charged toward his opponent, striking with cupped hands in a barely visible flurry.

Chappa Stats
Strength: 210
Ki Outlet: 370
Endurance: 200
Speed: 290

[Brokel]

Who did this Ghan guy think he is? Brokel had tried to be courteous but Ghan showed just how average of a person he was by being a total jerk! Besides, Brokel had spent the 30 minutes assessing his opponents and, although he doubted he could win an arm wrestling contest with this guy, Ghan moved sluggishly compared to him. Brokel just stood at his end of the ring and crossed his arms.

"Hmph," he began in a disappointed tone. "Tryin' to look fierce? I've seen puppies give fiercer looks when they were scared. You seem hardly worth my time."

[Calico Nerdani]

Calico retreated into a defensive stance and blocked about 3/4ths of the flurry, not having a chance to counter any of them right away. Not that any of the hits hurt too much..... Finally Chappa left an opening in his attack.

Calico retaliated with an elbow uppercut followed by a chop targeting Chappa's temple. If it hit, it would stun Chappa and Calico could hit him with the roundhouse kick that he threw after the chop.

[DBIL Administrator]

Shirin skipped for now, he may post at any time, but it is now officially Nirvei's turn if she's still around.

[Shirin Tao Zhu]

Shirin was getting a bit anxious as he'd yet to see his opponent. He wondered where they could be. In an attempt to ease his tension he began doing slightly more rigorous stretches and warm-up exercises. He jogged in place for a few moments before immediately dropping into push-up position and knocking out twenty or so of those. He hopped back up to his feet in a frog style leap and took a deep breath, waiting.

What could be keeping them? The match will be starting soon, and a first round victory because your opponent decided not to show doesn't look good on your record. Sure it's a win, but who wants to win by default? You didn't really accomplish anything that way.