r/whowouldwin • u/LetterSequence • Aug 18 '16
Character Scramble VI Winner's Semifinals: The Royal Scramble
The Character Scramble is a bloodmatch tournament where people compete to write the best story they can. At the beginning, everyone submits characters that meet the guidelines, then those characters are randomized and distributed evenly. From then on, each week there's a new writing prompt for everyone to follow. At the end of the week, everyone votes for who they think should advance, until we have our winner at the end. The winner at the end of the tournament gets to choose the theme, tier, and rules of the next scramble, along with a nice custom flair as their reward. The current theme is Wrestling, and the current tier is 3/10 Venom to 7/10 Carnage. There are currently only two more weeks until the finale, so stay tuned!
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This match is between /u/Cleverly_Clearly and /u/Sanitymeter. This fight will decide who makes it to the grand finale, and who has to participate in the loser's finals. These two spent a whole three weeks on this prompt, so be sure to treat the stories with great respect, as it took a long time for everything to come together.
After delivering the orb to Phane, it seems like they really did manage to solve everything. Maybe a little too well, though. Your team has been left alone for a whole week. No matches, no threats from the Scramble Gods, no prompts, simply nothing. They’ve been enjoying this rest time (or hating it, I dunno I’m not your mom), but the back of their mind has always been wondering, what was up with everything? Is that really it? Is everything really fixed? But most importantly, who was trying to sabotage the scramble?
It seems that all of their questions will be answered tonight, because a mysterious note was left in their locker room. “Come to the ring in 10 minutes.” Seeing little else to do, they head there and see two things. The first is another wrestling team, which after a quick conversation realizes they got the same note as you. The second is a mysterious hooded figure in the middle of the ring, with a microphone in one hand, and the orb you retrieved earlier in the other!
“How do you have that?” one of the eight wrestlers asks. The hooded figure simply laughs. “I have it because I’m the one who’s been messing with the scramble. Pulling timelines left and right. When you have infinite power and you get bored. And when you get bored, well, lots of things seem fun. Even at the cost of some innocent scrambler’s lives.” The wrestlers get angry, when one of them shouts at the figure, “Who are you? Show yourself!” After a laugh, they get a simple response. “Unmask me yourself.”
The air is stiff, the crowd is silent in anticipation, and the scramblers don’t know what to do. They discuss it with each other, before one of them decides to jump in the ring. They hesitantly reach their hand out, and remove the hood in one fell swoop. “Y-you!? It was you!?” A menacing laugh is heard before he screams into the microphone in his hands. “It was me, Phane! It was me all along, Phane! You all bought it!” The mysterious figure, the one destroying timelines, bringing universes together, and tearing apart the very core of the scramble… was none other than Letter!
“I’ve also got a nice little surprise for you two teams. Using the power of Missingno inside this ball, I can rival even Phane. So, tonight, one of you will make it to the finals, ready for your championship match. The other… is going home tonight as a loser! Now, I just have one question for you guys…” He holds the ball high in the sky, releasing its dark energy into the air. “Are you all ready to rumble?” The energy surrounds the teams, before they all get sent teleported to different locations.
The scramblers are all sent backstage in their respective locker rooms. All they have on them is a number, and a rule sheet explaining what type of match this is. A royal rumble. Once their number is called, they’ll be teleported to the arena at the top of the ramp, with no way to escape unless they win or lose. They’ll simply have to fight. While they’re getting ready to fight, they notice someone very important is missing. Where’s their manager?
Well, it seems that Letter gets to make some new friends. Two, in fact. Phane’s office seems to be completely empty for some reason, and Letter has dragged both of them into the office with no way to leave. Mostly because he locked the door and hid the key somewhere real good. “Don’t worry guys. I’ve given you headsets to keep in touch with your team while they’re out there. But this way I can ensure there’s no last minute “enhancements” or “commands” given to anyone using your special powers. For now, sit back, relax…” Letter turns on a television, showing the wrestling arena as the first person enters the ring. “...and enjoy the show.”
Normal Rules
Team Preview: Look at all these obscure characters in the scramble! Give a brief summary of your characters in your post. Be sure to mention things like powers, personality, weaknesses, just stuff that the average reader should know before reading.
You Always Go Over: Wrestling is totally real and the fights are legit, never staged at all, promise. In your write up, your team needs to win. Even if you think your team would lose 9/10 times, mention that in your post, then say how your team wins 1/10 times.
Well, It’s the Big Show: The arena will always be able to hold all the wrestlers inside. No matter if you’re a giant robot, monster, or alien thing, you’ll always find a way to fit inside the ring. The ring is also indestructible, and won’t be destroyed because someone super strong jumped on it or anything like that.
Not Your Gimmick: Characters are assumed to be at the same power level they started the tournament at at all times. To clarify, this means you would not be able to loot Triple H of his Sledgehammer if you beat him in a previous round, or otherwise gain a competitive advantage based on anything that happened in a previous round. This is to aid your opponent in research of your character.
I Guess Every Superhero Needs His Theme Music: You can’t be a wrestling team without an entrance! Give your team a song that fits them. Doesn’t matter what type of song it is, as long as they have some sort of entrance music. It is common for there to be theme music for both each wrestler individually and one for the team, depending on who they are representing when they make their entrance.
Due Date: Whenever you finish tbh, you have three loser’s matches to go through.
Please Vote: If you don’t vote, then you don’t win. It’s that simple. Not voting means you get kicked out of the tournament, so you should probably do that shit ASAP rocky.
Round Specific Rules
Match Type: Royal Rumble. Let me give you a quick rundown of what a Royal Rumble is. A Royal Rumble is a simple match. Every 60 seconds, a new wrestler enters the ring, with a total of 30 wrestlers the whole match. If both of the wrestler’s feet touch the outside of the ring after being thrown over the top rope, they’re considered out. The objective is to throw as many people out of the ring as you can, while staying in the ring as long as you can. To count this as a win, at least one member of your team needs to be the last member remaining in the ring.
Manager Involvement: Becoming BFF’s with Letter. Both managers are side by side in a room with Letter, with headsets on to communicate to their team and real time footage of the fight. So naturally, issuing orders should be easy. However, with the other manager next to you, counter orders will also be easy. As will counter counter orders. As will… you get the idea.
You’re on First!: One of the members of your team was unlucky enough to draw the #1 slot. That means they’ll have to be in the ring from the beginning and last as long as they can against everyone else.
2-30: It’s your job to determine who got numbers 2-30. Now you may be wondering “But there’s only 6 people in this round, how am I supposed to get 24 more?” Well, it’s simple. Get creative. I’ll allow you to choose whoever you want to occupy the other slots, with the only restriction being that they need to be people who have been submitted to a scramble before.
Grounded: “Oh, I’ll just fly around the arena and won’t have to worry about a thing!” Nice try. If you spend more than 15 seconds flying or floating in the air, then gravity will begin to increase around you. It’ll be slow, but if you stay too long in the air, you’ll eventually sink like a stone into the ground. Wouldn’t want to drop like a rock outside the ring, would you?
Stupid Animals…: Making this so complicated. Alright, normally humans just need to touch the ground with their TWO feet to be eliminated. So, for Rainbow Dash, if two of her legs touch outside the arena, she’s out. If four of Kumonga’s legs touch the ground, he’s out. Lastly, considering the T-1000 is a pile of goop, if he gets thrown out the ring at all, he’s out.
Flavor Rules
By God, He’s Broken in Half!: Sometimes, there’s announcers during matches, and announcers usually say some crazy shit. If you so wish, you can write these announcers providing commentary over the match. Your announcers today are… whoever you want them to be.
I can’t believe you’ve done this.: Letter seems like a pretty crazy (and sexy) guy, but every villain must have a reason for doing what they’ve done. So, why is Letter trying to sabotage the scramble?
You can vote on the stories in this voting form. Voting will end on Sunday morning. Get ready to choose your potential future champion!
5
u/Cleverly_Clearly Aug 18 '16
Turn 53: Code Blue
“And that’s the difference between memes and wemes,” Letter said, topping off his RC Cola with a flask of whiskey. “That’s why we have to find Frasier.”
“Uh-huh,” Bonesaw said. She was focusing on the action on the screen. That flying horse was fascinating. What a streamlined and elegant concept. It was like she had been bio-engineered to sell toys. She would have loved to have a chance to pick her body apart and see what made her tick.
Lelouch frowned. Polnareff was following his advice, but Rainbow Dash was acting strangely. Disregarding his advice, even. She was focused on finding the most efficient way to dispose with the opponent, which was fine, but the insubordination was bothering him. Was this the effect of his Geass? He’d only said four words. How bad could things be?
Lelouch thought of Euphemia. That was a stupid question to ask, even rhetorically. He was starting to feel that he had seriously fucked things up.
WE’VE GOT ANOTHER ONE COMING IN!
Who’s it going to be?
It’s a real treat!
Are you sure?
Yep!
Are you really sure?
Absolutely!
Are you really, really, really sure?
Shut the fuck up! It’s the T-1000!
Cold Heart of Steel
T-1000
He’s going to terminate all over you!
We really were the Terminator 2!
The machine man entered the ring. No frills necessary. His arm melted away into a slick metal sword, and he charged at the first thing in the arena. That was Rainbow. He ran past a slowly descending Lunatic Cultist, hopping over Ranma and diving towards Rainbow. She moved out of the way of his initial strike, driving back towards him to attack. She shoved her hooves into his chest, but it was pointless. His metal simply rippled and ignored the attacks. His arm came around and sliced her two legs open, sending her falling back. Akuto Bita negated the damage, and she came back again, this time darting around from behind to attack him.
Ranma turned his attention to the Cultist, who was attempting to put Polnareff over. I know what to do here, he thought. I’ll use a special move. That will really win people over. I’ll use my most powerful technique!
Rainbow realized that she was stumped quicky. T-1000 wasn’t going to fold easily. She needed to figure out a way to deal with him. She needed to do it efficiently. How was she going to get a handle on this?
I know what to do here, she thought. I’ll use a special move. That will really win people over. I’ll use my post powerful technique!
Ranma knocked on the Cultist’s hooded dome. He let go of Polnareff and turned to look at Ranma, but he was simply knocked inside. “Hey, Slim Jim! I’ve got business with you.”
That got his attention. Perfect. “Say that again,” Polnareff said, summoning Silver Chariot. “Tell me what you think I look like.”
Now I’ve got to come up with something great to say. Something that’s going to get him mad enough that I can use my technique on him. Something really witty.
“I fucked your sister!”, Ranma yelled.
Ha! Gottem.
He lightly shoved Polnareff. “Come on? Are you angry? Aren’t you pissed off? Let’s go, let’s fight, let’s go one-on-one. What do you think?” He didn’t respond.
“You passed out or what?” Ranma shoved him again, this time realizing that he was shaking. Is something wrong with him?
“Ribbons.”
“What?”
“I said,” Polnareff said, tears streaming down his face, “that I was going to cut you into ribbons!”
OH SHIT!
Does he actually have a sister? Ranma thought, which was the last thing he thought before he was punched in the face. He’d taken worse punches from stronger people, but he could sense the aura coming from Polnareff. He’d felt that aura before, from Ryoga, when he’d first used the Heaven Blast of the Dragon. That was an aura of unbridled rage. This was absolutely perfect. This was going to be his most spectacular fight yet.
As Rainbow Dash began racing circles around T-1000, Ranma was leading Polnareff backwards into the spiral. Polnareff was still throwing wild jabs in his direction. Ranma could block well enough, and what he couldn’t block he could tank. He could feel the energy beneath his feet as he moved forward, and the wind blowing his hair back. He kept himself from getting too excited. He could visualize the ending. He was going to see this through.
The wind picked up. Ranma stepped past Rainbow Dash and brought Polnareff into the center of the ring, back to back with the Terminator. It was time to execute the attack.
“Please, sir!” Ranma said, feigning terror. “Show me mercy! Don’t kill me!”
“I don’t have any mercy left to give you!” Polnareff roared.
“Here’s some of mine, then. HIRYU SHOTEN HA!”
With a final beat of her wings, Rainbow Dash had created her tornado. She was a veteran of the Ponyville weather control, but she was sure this was the finest she’d ever made. It was a real F-5. If T-1000 could withstand that, she would be surprised.
The wind was howling. Ranma’s fist connected, and the gale forces rippled through the arena. Audience members were knocked out of their seats as Polnareff flew up into the air, into the stadium ceiling. The combined force of the Anything Goes technique and the tornado shredded the top of the arena like paper, folding open the entire stadium. Ranma smiled. He could feel the power coming from this one! This was going to be a moment for the martial arts history books, as long as something really bad didn’t happen, like the ring being severed from its foundation and flying into the air.
Just then, the ring lurched beneath Ranma’s feat.
“Oh.”
With a crude metallic crunch, the turnbuckles broke away from the ground, and the ring was wrenched from the floor. Whatever audience members were left upright screamed in shock as the entire squared circle was pulled up out of the stadium, high into the air.
Ranma was pushed flat against the ring by the sheer force of its rapid ascension. He could only look to the side as the other wrestlers were flung into the sky with reckless abandon. He saw the horse being spun madly by the force of the gale that she’d created, a thick blob of metallic paste that could have only been the T-1000, and the hooded Cultist struggling against the winds. Polnareff was nowhere to be seen.
To his horror, Ranma realized that the ring was starting to tilt. It was at a slight angle already, and it was rapidly becoming more pronounced. He couldn’t fly, and if the ring did an 180-degree rotation, he was seriously screwed. He had no idea what he was going to do.
He needed a reason to get up and fight. He needed the strength to go on, a reason to keep pushing forward! He closed his eyes and thought of his friends. He thought of his tomboyish fiancee, Akane, and his other fiancee, Ukyo, and his other other fiancee, Shampoo, and the girl that tried to rape him once, Kodaichi (although he stopped thinking about that quickly). He thought about his friend Ryoga, the lost boy, and he thought about Mousse, the master of hidden weapons. He thought about his sister-in-law, Nabiki, and his father-in-law, Soun, and his stern father Genma, and the wrinkled old patriarch of the Anything Goes school, Happosai.
He thought about how he was going to kick all of their asses once he got home.
Just the thought of how satisfying that would be gave him the courage to persevere. He developed a second wind! He pushed himself away from the ring, leaping ten meters just as it completed its full half-rotation. He was fully unsuspended in the air now, floating on the breeze. Putting one hand in front of the other, he attempted to freestyle swim his way upward, using what he knew of ki techniques to maximize his airtime. In a way, he was almost flying.