r/whowouldwin Dec 01 '16

Special Character Scramble VII NPC Round: Signed in Blood

The Character Scramble is a bloodmatch tournament where people compete to analyze unique matchups and scenarios and 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 based on the Wii game MadWorld, and the current tier is 3/10 Spider-Man with no Spider-sense to 7/10 Spider-Man with Spider-sense.

Without further ado, here we go!


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Twenty-four hours ago, a looming dread descended on Varrigan City. With the exits from the island city blocked off or destroyed, the phone lines and cell towers cut, and internet access restricted to the city itself and no further, the citizens of Varrigan City were issued an ultimatum, the one twisted rule of DeathWatch: kill or be killed. With a deadly nerve gas spread throughout the city, the civilians and criminals alike could only save themselves by taking a life to earn the antidote.

The slaughter defied numbers, and it was just the beginning. Twenty-four hours after it had began, civilization itself had already collapsed as self-preservation set in. That was when the strangers began to appear. Here and there throughout the city, people from strange worlds with magic and technology that shouldn’t exist began to appear, joining the fray as if it was their goal all along. With new arrivals came new bloodshed, with new bloodshed came new interest, and with new interest came new investments. And the Black Baron wasn’t about to turn down new investments.

At the Baron’s instruction, your sponsor set out like many others to dredge up talent to highlight on the show, offering them assistance and tools in the hopes that prolonging their lives would boost ratings. Your sponsor took a look at their options and decided that the best possible course of action would be to find a good location and let the prospects come to them, which led them to occupy an alley somewhere in the downtown area. At first, the prospects were hardly worth their time- a guy with a baseball bat here, a girl with a bunch of cats there, but soon they started to see real potential.

The situation escalated quickly shortly after a man with a robotic arm took down the top contender in a single punch. As he prepared to gather up the earpiece your sponsor had left for the best prospect, another person showed themselves to contend for the sponsorship… your Mystic. The fight between these two immediately whipped itself into a fervor had barely begun when your Brawn arrived, drawn in by the clamor of combat. Sometime in the three-way melee the man with the robotic arm fell, leaving your Brawn and Mystic in a heated battle. At the rate this was going, only one of them was going to walk out of the alley alive.

That’s when your Sponsor realized that the Black Baron never explicitly told them they could only have one sponsorship...


Normal Rules

Character Select: 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.

A Winner Is You: This Scramble is based on a game, and in the end the player always wins the game. This time the player is you, champ! That means that when your write your story, your team always comes out victorious. Even if the odds of you winning are 1 in 100, explain those odds in the analysis and then show us that 1 miracle run.

Looting Disabled: 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 Jack of his sweet chainsaw arm 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.

Due Date: Wednesday, December 7th. Keep in mind that while this is a warmup round, failing to participate will still get you kicked out. It’s highly recommended that you put your best foot forward, but don’t take it too seriously- we’re just getting started!


Round Specific Rules

Round Goal: Holla Holla Get Dollas. Your fighters are interested in getting a sponsorship, and your sponsor is interested in getting fighters that aren’t shitty mooks.

Environment: An alleyway in Downtown Varrigan City. If you’re one of the lucky guys that got a giant monster, it’s a really big alleyway. The only major features are an open court dominated by a large screen hung on one wall above a sign reading “WELCOME CONTENDERS”.

Mook Type: This is just the first round. No mooks just yet.


Flavor Rules

Announcers: DeathWatch is a show broadcast for the entertainment of millions, and as such comes with play-by-play commentary provided by a team typically consisting of Howard “Buckshot” Holmes and Kreese Kreeley. However, you’re free to use any announcers you’d like, or not use any at all.

The Lone-est Wolf: Do your team members even get along? Do they need to? I mean, I don’t recall the Black Baron ever saying this was a team competition. Regardless, this is the Scramble, and the Scramble involves teams. Can your sponsor get the fighters to work together, or are they going to sponsor each fighter individually and hope they don’t murder each other?

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u/[deleted] Dec 06 '16 edited Dec 08 '16

Chapter 1: The Sponsorship


“Alright my pimps and players! Now as y'all know by now, I’ve gathered all you eggheads and geniuses from across the universes to be Sponsors for my new series of DeathWatch. Now what does a Sponsor need to do? Simple, just give your fighters leadership, guidance, support, any damn thing they need to ensure that they win. Now I know what y'all are thinking: what fighter mofo? Now here’s the fun part…”

Dr Elliott Grosvenor stood amongst the crowd of so-called sponsors, paying keen attention to the man who called himself the Black Baron. Foul-mouth as he was, Grosvenor knew it was vital to pick up any information he was going to give the Sponsors.

“If you look right here on this screen, you’ll see the dilapidated shithole known as Varrigan City,” the Black Baron gestured over to the large screen with a rundown smoking block of buildings on it, “I’ve put that place on lockdown for 24 hours and those motherfuckers down there have been going crazy right now!”

As he spoke, the screen cut between various scenes of people engaging each other in insanely violent fights.

“Why are they fighting? Well that’s cos I told them the only way out is to get a Sponsor, which is you guys. So your task for now is to find yourselves some strong ass fighters and take them in. Don’t worry though, y'all won’t need to head down to that bum town with the rabble. I got the state of the art shit that will let you communicate and send shit down to them easy as pie. Now just a friendly piece of advice, y'all are gonna want to pick some strong fighters. Cos DeathWatch ain’t just a fancy name; motherfuckas gonna fight and die out there. Questions?”


Following the Baron’s ccolorful introduction to DeathWatch, the Sponsors were ushered into their respective individual booths. Grosvenor inspected the booth before entering. It looked fairly Spartan, just a smooth dashboard in front of him. However as he stepped in front of it the dashboard lit up with an array of lights and buttons, and holographic screens came to life in front of his face. The screens projected various scenes from Varrigan City below. Plenty of carnage and destruction as the frightened denizens fought for their survival. Grosvenor quickly got to work familarising himself with the workspace.

The controls were intuitive enough and allowed to cycle through various points around the city. He also found a locker which to his surprise contained various pieces of equipment from his spaceship The Space Beagle. Besides the locker there was also a large metallic box nestled into the floor. It appeared capable of storing many items, though it seemed odd that the box would be required when there was also a locker. He fiddled around with the controls, and eventually activated a button which sucked the box into the ground. Moments later, he saw the same box flash across the screen as it appeared to fall from the sky and landed within the camera’s view. The box attracted several biker gang-looking people armed with spiked bats. They forced open the box, only to find that it was empty. Their faces were a mix of dejection and rage, though that didn’t last long as their position in the open lead to them being mowed down by a maniac with a minigun passing by.

Grosvenor stroked his chin as he observed this. This was obviously the best way for him to reach down and handpick a strong fighter. He once again delved into the controls as he analysed the situation. The city had devolved into a state of chaos, with fights occurring whenever two parties crossed paths. The open areas where no good; anyone foolhardy enough to approach the box would be dead in seconds. He couldn’t place it too inconspicuously either; he wanted strong fighters to fight over it, not just have some random street punk chance upon it. He eventually found a fairly sheltered alley that seemed to have sufficient traffic around it. He carefully loaded another box with an audio broadcaster and some of the earpieces the Baron had provided, then launched it down to the city.

The box landed safely in the middle of the alley. As the dust settled around it, a weathered old man with a fire axe peeked out from a nearby window. He spotted the box and scrambled over to it. Using his axe, he pried open the box to reveal its contents.

“Hot dang! Looks like I’ve hit the jackpot-AAAARGHHHH!”

The man’s sentence was cut short as he was ripped in half from behind by a man with a massive chainsaw for an arm. The newcomer, Jack Cayman, tossed the body aside and strode up to the box. Just as he reached in to pick up the earpiece, he heard someone call out from the end of the alleyway.

“Hold it right there!” It was a teenage boy who had spoken. “If you think you’re getting that box that easily you must be as dumb as you look.”

Jack smirked and replied, “Well what are you gonna do about it kid?”

The boy, Bakugou Katsuki, simply raised one arm, and in an instant blasted Jack backwards towards the wall. Jack picked himself up, and charged forward at Katsuki, chainsaw blaring.

Grosvenor smiled to himself as he saw this. Whoever won this fight would be a fine candidate for his sponsorship.

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u/[deleted] Dec 07 '16 edited Dec 08 '16

Chapter 2: An Explosive Introduction


Hours earlier, Katsuki had arrived abruptly, along with what seemed like hundreds of other people and monsters, at a large plaza in the middle of Varrigan City. Literally, he was in a warehouse one moment, and the next he was in that plaza. Everyone there looked at each other curiously but cautiously. Judging by how menacing some looked and how armed to the teeth others were, it was clear they weren’t brought here for a country jamboree. Just as he began wondering about it, a large hologram appeared in front of them to explain the situation.

“Alright listen up you mothafuckas!” the man in the hologram exclaimed,”Welcome to DeathWatch! I am the Black Baron, and I am the one who brought your asses here. Now DeathWatch is a simple concept, it’s designed to pit the best against the best so I can find the top merchants of death in the whole fuckin multiverse. And don’t pretend you don’t wanna be here. Y'all picked up that orb and saw what it could give you, and you willingly crushed it, so here you are.”

Katsuki knew what he was saying was true. The orb showed him ways to become the strongest hero in existence. Nothing else mattered to him. He crushed that orb to seek that goal, and this apparently was his journey.

“However though,” the Black Baron continued, “I’ve got a tiny problem. See I’ve been a little too generous in my orb giving. Maybe I didn’t expect all y'all to take the offer. So now I’ve got way too many of y'all fuckin around here. If you wanna stick around in DeathWatch, y'all are gonna need a Sponsor. I’m not gonna tell you where to find em, but you’ll see signs of them around the city. Get a Sponsor, and you’re officially in DeathWatch. Don’t find one? You’re fucked. By the way, this is DeathWatch, so y'all better be prepared to get your fuckin hands dirty!”

Just as suddenly as it had appeared, the hologram switched off, leaving the audience bewildered. A tense silence hung in the air. A man shrieked as a sword was thrust through his chest. That seemed to snap everyone out of it as full scale pandemonium broke out. Some chose to immediately fight whoever was next to him, while others chose to take cover. Despite Katsuki’s confidence in his ability, he knew that getting into such a large scale brawl in the middle of the city was just asking for trouble. He dashed off towards the nearby buildings for cover.

He ducked into one of the rundown buildings and ran out the back into an alleyway. He made his way through the network of alleys, hoping to find some sign of whatever Sponsor the Baron had mentioned. He turned a corner and spotted another man slicing a person in half with a weapon on his arm. The man, Jack Cayman, was clearly interested in the large box in front of him. That must be the Sponsor item the Baron spoke of, Katsuki thought. He knew he had to have it first. Katsuki stepped out and cleared his throat.

“Hold it right there!” Katsuki shouted at the man, “If you think you’re getting that box that easily you must be as dumb as you look.”

“Well what are you gonna do about it kid?”

Katsuki raised his right hand and pointed at Jack. Jack clearly didn’t take the hint, so Katsuki fired a warning blast straight into his chest, sending him flying against the wall. Jack seemed unfazed by the attack and charged right back at Katsuki, chainsaw on his arm spinning away. While the chainsaw appeared large and cumbersome, Jack wielded it with surprising dexterity, forcing Katsuki into ducking and weaving to avoid decapitation. As Jack swung at his head, Katsuki ducked low and drove a punch into his gut. The added explosion from his gauntlet sent Jack flying back again. Jack gingerly picked himself up and stood up again.

“Well you sure pack a punch kiddo, but let’s see-“

BAM!

Katsuki fired another explosion into Jack’s chest, slamming him hard against the wall. Katsuki was here to win, he didn’t have time for chit chat. He then set off explosions in the wall around him, sending the entire side of the building crashing down on Jack. There was no movement from the pile of rubble. If Jack was still alive, he certainly wasn’t able to move.

“Hmph. That wasn’t much of a challenge,” Katsuki commented to himself, as he headed for the box.

Observing overhead, Grosvenor was pleased with how things had turned out. Katsuki clearly had some powerful abilities well suited for DeathWatch. However just as he was about to announce himself to Katsuki, a new challenger appeared. Flipping down from a building overlooking the alley was a young-looking boy with and oddly smooth head and face. Katsuki spun around to face this new threat.

“Halt!” the boy shouted, “I have my eyes set on that box, and no one else shall open it! Now stand back before I am forced to hurt you!”

Katsuki couldn’t help but smirk himself. It was funny how his role was reversed from earlier on. However, unlike Jack he decided not to underestimate anyone. Katsuki got into a battle stance to face against the boy.

“Well let’s see what you’ve got then.”

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u/[deleted] Dec 07 '16 edited Dec 08 '16

Chapter 3: Water You Doing Here?


Omi had been atop the rooftop of one of the buildings in an attempt to do some recon of the area around him. As his master would have said: “Knowledge trumps might”. Suddenly, he heard a loud explosion and crashing noise from nearby. He sprinted and jumped across the rooftops to the source of the noise. When he got there, he saw a teenage boy standing over a partially collapsed building. Chances are there was someone under that rubble. Omi also spotted a large metal box near the guy. Clearly this was one of the Sponsor items the Baron had talked about, and whoever they were down below had fought over it. Omi knew that even though he was late to the party it was more important for him to stake a claim for the box. He leapt agilely from the rooftop, landing with barely a thud.

“Halt!” Omi commanded, “I have my eyes set on that box, and no one else shall open it! Now stand back before I am forced to hurt you!”

The teenage boy, Katsuki, was clearly surprised to see Omi appear, but after a moment’s thought clearly decided to call Omi’s bluff.

“Well let’s see what you’ve got then.”

“If you insist. Face the power of the Xiaolin Dragon of Water! Water Strike!”

A column of water blasted forth from Omi’s palms. Katsuki was caught off guard with such an attack and just managed to counter by blasting the column of water, sending water flying everywhere. Katsuki quickly wiped the water from his face, and realised Omi was no longer there. He spun around in alert.

“Shimo Staff! Morning star!”

Omi came swooping in from above, the weapon in his hand morphing into a spiked mace. He slammed the weapon down towards Katsuki, who could only parry with his fist. The ensuing explosion sent both reeling. Just as Katsuki got back up, he saw (barely) Omi darting forward towards him. While his legs where short, Omi could clearly move quickly. Omi got up close to Katsuki and landed a flurry of blows on his body. His diminutive size belied the power behind each punch. He ended with a leg sweep that left Katsuki on the ground. He pinned Katsuki to the ground.

“You clearly are a good fighter, but you’re no match for true Xiaolin Kungfu!” Omi bragged.

“Well that may be true, but I’m sure they don’t teach you this in Kungfu school,” Katsuki replied cryptically. As Omi raised an eyebrow quizzically, Katsuki clenched on of his fists placed behind his back, letting off another explosion that sent Omi flying. Katsuki knew he couldn’t play around, and jumped back up to his feet and sent more explosive blasts at Omi. Omi deftly flipped through the air and dodged these attacks, conjuring water to create large shields against some of the explosions.


Watching Omi and Katsuki fight, Grosvenor felt a sense of regret that one should have to beat the other to obtain his sponsorship. However as he let that thought play around in his head, he rewinded to what the Black Baron had said before. Something crucial struck him. He realized the Baron had never specifically said the Sponsors were to find a single fighter for DeathWatch. Perhaps the more simpleminded of them would have done so, but Grosvenor knew he could take advantage of this and settle the situation right now. He quickly grabbed the microphone controlling the audio broadcaster he had sent.


Omi and Katsuki panted as the continued to square off against each other. Katsuki was running low on sweat to make explosions, and despite the exertion wasn’t producing enough. Omi was worn out after the continuous barrage of explosions near him. But neither would give in. Thankfully a voice from above intervened.

“Gentlemen,” a voice from the box crackled to life, “I appreciate the fine battle you have put on display. I would like to congratulate you both as both of you have been selected for Sponsorship by myself, Dr Elliott Grosvenor.”

“Both?” Katsuki questioned, “The Baron didn’t say anything about sharing a Sponsor.”

“I understand your concern. I believe the Baron is purposefully ambiguous in his words and we are within our rights to exploit it as such. I do not expect I am the only Sponsor to reach such a conclusion; in fact it would be outright silly for me to proceed with only one fighter. And certainly for both of you, I’m sure you can see from your fierce battle that it would help to have the other by your side, rather than fight against him.”

Omi and Katsuki looked at each other silently and pondered over this point.

Omi was the first to speak. “I am willing to accept this Sponsorship as well as this partnership. I have fought on teams and fought alone, and I know it is always better to have strong warriors by your side.”

Katsuki didn’t fully agree. He believed in his strength and nothing more. Other people were a distraction at best, and an obstacle to his goal at worst. However… he knew he was matched fairly evenly by this young boy. Who knew what other challenges would lay ahead if he took the path alone. Reluctantly, he agreed to the arrangement.

“Fine, I can accept us both getting the same Sponsor,” Katsuki replied briefly.

“Excellent!” Grosvenor responded, “I’ll make the necessary arrangements then. By the way I don’t think I ever got your names…”

“My name is Omi!”

“Bakugou Katsuki.”

“Great. Just call me Dr Grosvenor. I’m sure this is the beginning of a fruitful partnership!”

1

u/[deleted] Dec 08 '16

Analysis


Omi vs Bakugou Katsuki: While Omi is classified as a Brawler, his control over water provides with very useful attacks from range to deal with Katsuki, who would otherwise be able to destroy him from range. His water powers aren't quite as powerful but should be enough to counter or buffer against the explosions. He's also a lot faster than Katsuki so he should be able to outspeed and outmanouvre. Katsuki has decent durability but Omi can KO him reliably either with physical attacks or water blasts. On the other hand if Katsuki lands an explosion there's no way Omi takes it well. Katsuki also has an advantage in his ruthlessness in battle, which can catch Omi off guard in certain cases. Overall Omi wins 7/10; he can counter Katsuki from range, and has the speed to get close and KO Katsuki.


Omi vs Jack Cayman: Jack is mainly threatening up close, but Omi should be smart enough to not engage a man in hand to hand combat when one of the hands is a giant chainsaw. If it comes to that though the Shimo Staff allows him to fend Jack off. Omi should handle this easily by targeting him with water attacks from range. Again, Jack is the more violent and vicious of the two, so Omi can get caught off guard. But Omi should still win 8/10 unless he does something stupid and gets too close to Jack's attacks.


Katsuki vs Jack Cayman: Very similar to Omi, Katsuki can take Jack down easily from range. He should have no qualms spamming explosions until he's down. At close range Jack has the advantage but Katsuki is no slouch either. He should be able to dodge and blast him back. He's equally deadly as Jack too so it would be quite a fight. But Katsuki wins 9/10 because he can end the fight quick before Jack can even get in close.