r/whowouldwin • u/LetterSequence • Mar 04 '22
Event Character Scramble 15 Semifinals: I'm Still Here
This round is now closed for voting! Please vote for the write ups in the form linked here. Voting will close at 10PM on April 12th.
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This round is for matches 37 and 38 on the bracket. Make sure to double check to see if you’re in this one!
Your journey is reaching its end. The location of Kingdom Hearts may be nearly impossible to reach on foot, by land, or by sky. Except there is one way to get there. After all this time traveling, all the information you’ve acquired, all the things you’ve seen, you know the secret. It all involves a door.
“When the door is open, so too will Kingdom Hearts open.”
There’s one door that is spoken of. A door used by a dreaded space captain. This captain stole treasures from all across the universe, and kept them to himself, never to be seen again. This door is a portal that opens to his treasure, and it can also open up to anywhere in the entire universe. It can open the way to Kingdom Hearts.
And that door is located on…
Treasure Planet
So you know where to go. But how do you exactly open this door?
Luckily for you, one brave adventurer holds a map, a spaceship, and the key to this door, and is looking for a crew to help escort them across the cosmos to reach the planet unharmed. That’s when the ideas start to formulate.
Escort or Heist?
Will your team present themselves to this adventurer and offer them aid? In exchange for directions, a split prize, and a companion, this would involve ensuring their safety, providing passage across all of Treasure Planet, fighting off any who would stand in your path, putting your life in harm's way all the while.
Or… will your team simply wait for someone else to take up the offer? If they follow this path, they can stalk the team who joins them instead. By prowling in wait, they can ambush the other team at the vital moment they reach the treasure, and take it all for themselves. However, you’d need to obtain your own means of travel, as losing sight of them means losing the treasure in its entirety.
Space, Land, or Underground?
Traversing an entire planet aimlessly is a good way to get yourselves killed. You’ll need to pick a route that’s safest to get there with the least danger possible.
Do you approach from outer space? Going from above may seem like the route with the least danger, but it comes with plenty of downsides. One wrong move, a stray asteroid, an attack that leaves you stranded from the ship, can leave you floating in the deep reaches of space until you finally perish.
Do you approach from land? It’s the most straightforward and easiest to circumnavigate, but this planet is covered in deep jungles and vegetation, with very little wildlife. Resources may be difficult to manage, the path would be the longest, and an ambush is almost all but guaranteed.
Do you approach from the underground? Beneath the surface is an entire system of passageways, tunnels, and heavy machinery, as if the planet was built by some insane person. It’d get you to the door the fastest if you know where you’re going, but if you don’t… you may be lost under here forever.
The Door
At the pivotal moment when the door is open, what will your team do? It can offer them guidance, lead them anywhere in the universe, and lead them exactly to Kingdom Hearts. But the promise of unlimited riches stands in front of them as well. It is here that what is most important to them will be tested.
All of this being said… this is the final leg of your quest before finally obtaining all you desire. So… what will you do?
Scramble Rules
That’s Sora, Donald, and Goofy Too!: Every participant this season received three characters on their team, but many of them might not be a household name. To aid with readability, please give a brief summary of your characters, with enough information so the average reader can get excited for your team before starting.
Let Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key: Your write up will depict a scenario where your team is the victor. Even if your team has a one in a million chance of overcoming the odds, show what they’d need to do to come out on top against the challenge in front of them!
Unlocking Limit Form: Writers are allowed to make changes to their characters in their narrative to fit their story, such as allowing power stealers to gain more powers, teaching martial artists new techniques, or having characters gradually grow in strength between rounds. However, you are not beholden to following what your opponent is doing. When facing another team, you are only required to write their characters as they were submitted. This is to help with ease of research, and make things more fun for both sides.
Round Rules
Guest Starring…: Space Adventurers! The guest in this round is someone who has a vested interest in Treasure Planet. Are they the person who holds the key, who needs to be escorted to the door? Are they the leader of the band of misfits who intend on stealing your treasure for themselves, or the group that escorts the client to the door? Are they a lone wanderer, stuck on this planet, who once resided on the crew of the captain who stole all the treasure? However they show up is up to you!
Setting: Treasure Planet, a mysterious and deadly planet said to hold all the treasures in the world at its core. The solar system surrounding it, deep in the cosmos, bathes this world in purple hues, the lights from hundreds of millions of stars. The planet itself is teeming with vegetation. Thick jungles, moss, mildew, and yet curiously, no life at all. Only the remnants of an adventure long since finished. Underneath the surface, this planet functions as a machine. Deep tunnels that lead to secret passageways, lights that illuminate this world, and cogs turning for some reason or another. There are plenty of paths that all lead to the same place. The door that leads to everywhere, and most importantly, to your goal.
Key Points: The key points of this round are as follows. You must obtain the key to open the door that leads into your ultimate goal (Kingdom Hearts). How you obtain this key, reach the door, and what roles the enemy team and guest fill are up to you.
Post Limit: For this round, writers will be limited to 10 posts, or 100k characters. While it is fine to go a little bit over, anything that far surpasses this limit will be automatically disqualified. This limit does not include intro posts, or analysis of the matchup. Use your best judgment, if you think your story is too long for the round, it probably is.
Due Date: Write ups will be due at 10PM EST on April 8th. That’s a full month, so you should have plenty of time!
Flavor Suggestions
The Door is Open: Your team is heading for the door that resides somewhere on this planet. This door is essentially a portal that can lead to anywhere in the entire universe. While you ultimately have a destination in mind, does such a prospect tempt anyone on your team? How would they react to such an easy method of transportation? Would they try to keep it for themselves? Visit any places before settling on Kingdom Hearts?
Fool’s Gold: The core of Treasure Planet is roughly one hundred million billion metric tons of gold, jewelry, and riches stolen from various cultures and civilizations. Maybe your team is only in it for the money. So, is there something that’d tempt them even more than this? Some kind of goal that’d make them seek out Kingdom Hearts instead of ending their journey here and just nabbing as much gold as they can get their hands on? Or maybe, they’ll get greedy, and try to do both? Remember, it all depends on what your team would do!
3
u/OddDirective Apr 09 '22 edited May 08 '22
It was decided that Gwen would watch the body; in her words, ‘to make sure there’s no secret phase 2’. She also held no attachment like the other teams did, which made her perfect for the role.
Elsewhere, outside the crater, the two teams of fighters faced each other.
“Well, now there’s a vault the size of a planet that’s missing an owner, and we’re the only ones who know about it,” spoke Hale. “You know what that means, right?”
“Yeah, and we still haven’t settled things!” added Fourze, as he pointed to Steeljack.
“Oh, uh, we don’t really care about the treasure, you can have it,” Animal Man replied
Steeljack protested. “Hey, don’t go speakin’ for everybody like that. This kind of money would mean a whole lot to some people.”
“Listen to your friend,” Chuuya called back.
“Animal Man, I shall speak my mind.” Lancelot warned. “I too see the value in not wishing to fight; but these men wish to fight as themselves, and test their skill against us, even after all of that. I think it would be right to grant their wish.”
“Oh.” Animal Man said. “I think we can do that.”
And so, the fight began.
Hale and Lancelot met at once in the middle of the field of gold, each leaping to the fray as they saw their foe of choice. Fist met sword and blasted out a shockwave felt by all who witnessed it, with both fighters smiling in appreciation of the others’ strength. Lancelot stepped back from the clash, and with skill, slashed out twice to strike the Australian, but only making thin cuts in his arms.
Hale bellowed, unnerving Lancelot for just a half-second, long enough to send a fist careening into his shield. But Lancelot could brace for this strike, and so skidded back not even five feet, closing back in an instant. He held his shield high, and with the light glinting off a piece of gold, flashed his foe’s eyes, blinding him.
This did not discourage Hale, who still hauled back and struck out with a massive punch that could have obliterated a whole stable full of horses, if it were to connect with a single one. But this one connected with nothing but air, and as the image before Hale’s eyes resolved, Animal Man stood next to that fist. With both arms, and the grip strength of a Hercules beetle, he trapped Hale’s arm, then with a kick just like their native ostrich, Animal Man struck the Australia that graced Hale’s chest.
And that strike, right into Hale’s chest, sent him crashing to the ground. And Hale chose not to stand back up.
At the same time…
Animal Man flew through the air, using the skill of a hummingbird to dodge between the blasts of increased gravity that Chuuya threw at him. He dove in, but Chuuya was ready and leapt back, returning a kick to the jaw that hurt the hero. Chuuya thrust out his hand, crushed the ground in front of him, yet it did not hit Animal Man, who sped around to his blind side.
Animal Man’s strike landed, but Chuuya barely faltered, landing on his feet and returning a wave of gravity balls. These did not hit, but as they flew, Animal Man disengaged with him. “Hey, where do you think you’re going?!”
Then a noise alerted Chuuya to something behind him, and his reflexes barely saved him from a blow by Steeljack. The Steel-Jacketed Man followed up, his iron fists each time missing Chuuya by a fraction. Finally, Chuuya leapt up, and flung a gravitic orb downward, imbuing Steeljack with his ability.
Steeljack stood firm. Chuuya sneered, shouted “Take this!”, and spun to deliver another heel kick to the back of Steeljack’s head. It rang out, and Steeljack could not stay standing.
But he smirked as he fell. Gotcha.
Chuuya felt Steeljack’s hand close around his leg, trapping it behind Steeljack’s head. His eyes went wide for but a moment, before he was pulled down by the fall of an 800-lb man and slammed into the golden ground. And Steeljack felt the pressure on his shoulders fade just after the impact.
And in that same period…
”Claw, On!” “Shield, On!”* declared the belt, and Fourze charged to meet his foe, slashing out with the claws on his left arm. Steeljack stood firm, but grunted as the claws met his guard, and fired a counter blocked by Fourze’s shield. The Rider’s jetpack fired, and he flipped over Steeljack’s shoulders, landing a blow to his back that Steeljack staggered from.
Another swap, “Hammer On!”, and the shield became a hammerhead, slamming into Steeljack’s side. On the back foot, Steeljack weathered the assault of weapons, watching for an opening that eventually presented itself. A swift jab into Fourze’s chest gave a second to follow up into a strike that pushed his opponent back.
“Well done. But let’s finish this!” declared Fourze, making another swap and pulling the lever on the belt.
Fourze launched into the sky, and Steeljack’s eyes met another.
Fourze descended. ”Rocket Drill LIMIT BREAK.”
Steeljack ducked away, and in his place, Lancelot raised his sword. Though his foe was screaming in, Lancelot remained calm, and waited for his moment. Then-
“Strike true, Arondight!”
A slash came down, and landed on the chest of the Kamen Rider. Through the force of the kick, Fourze continued on, but his suit dissolved as he rolled, and with his injuries, he could not stand.
The battle was over. The results: A complete victory.
Fourze used one of his devices to heal up the injuries we’d inflicted, and gave Steeljack some sort of fist-bump about the fight. I was glad all that was over, but… were we any closer to our goal than we had been before? Our job was to save the writer, but we just destroyed the Stitcher.
So, where was the writer, now?
“Um, guys! Guys!” Gwen shouted out from the crater. “You’re gonna want to see this!”
That’s our answer. We all make our way in, and in the hole Lancelot tore through the Stitcher's body, there’s a light glowing, emanating from it. And when we get close, it intensifies, to the point that no one could see what happened next.
But when it calmed down, a person stepped out of the Stitcher’s body. He was about as tall as the Stitcher, wearing a simple outfit, jeans, a shirt, a sweatshirt. And he looked around at everyone in turn.
“So, you back for round two?” Chuuya called out, with an orb at the ready.
The reborn man simply held up his hands. “Don’t worry. I’m not him. After all, I’m using my own voice, aren’t I?”
I didn’t know what to say, but a sense of pride welled up inside my chest. He was here. Finally, finally, this was it.
“I am the author of this tale. The one who decides where everything goes. And it’s because of you all that I’m here.”
And he held his hand out, to any who would take it.
“So, will you join me? For the final chapter of this story.”