r/whowouldwin • u/OddDirective • Oct 18 '22
Event Character Scramble 16 Round 2: Rockin' Rockin'
Round 2: Rockin’ Rockin’
Click here to join the email list.
Click here to join the Character Scramble discord.
DAY 4
The mission the Game Master gives this week is simple and also quite complex. “Topple the ruler of the A-East arena. You have three hours. Fail, and face erasure.” They aren’t being so forthcoming with information on what that means, so that’s a challenge your Players will have to overcome. Another hurdle is actually gaining access; there’s something in the way of getting in the actual arena, be it knowledge on the target or a situation set up by the Game Master preventing access to the arena. This leads into a scramble to get the multiple things needed to resolve this, but with some outside assistance (hint: your Reaper), your team could get past it quicker than others.
(Some examples of obstacles and situations preventing access: Separate clues to the identity of the ruler or what is meant by ‘the arena’, a techie that needs specific items to go on with the scheduled show tonight, a gourmand Support Reaper manning the barrier to the way in that needs ingredients, a Resident Evil-style lock puzzle, a heist-type setup for a specific back entrance, or having to cure certain people of Noise infestation so they can open the doors.)
Whatever way they get through it, the team reaches the inside of the arena to face off against the ruler of the arena- and their target meets them on stage. It’s a battle under the lights, and the amps are turned all the way to 11. It’s time to play!
The enemy team can factor into this in a couple ways- obviously, if a member of the enemy team is the ruler of A-East, that’s one way to do it, but they could be individuals keeping you from obtaining the things you need to get in, or they could be a rival team trying to take down the boss before your team can. Whatever the case, they’re going up against you at some point in this round, so prepare to face off!
Scramble Rules
Let ‘Em Know Who You Are: Every participant this season received four characters on their team, but many of them might not be a household name. To aid with readability, please give a brief introduction and summary of your characters, with enough information so the average reader can get excited for your team before starting.
This World Ends With You: Your writeup will depict a scenario where your team succeeds. 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!
Everybody Has Their Own World: 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
Setting: This round’s original setting is A-East, in particular a music venue or other performance arena, which in the original games is in a more seedy area. The main thrust of the setting is a showy place for a ‘boss fight’, so any location with a stage would work excellently. With regards to getting there, however, there is a possibility your Players would have to search far and wide, in other locations around the city. If you can’t conceive of it another way, think of it like a fetch quest.
Key Points: The main idea of the round is the following. Your Players must enter into an arena of some description or renown, and defeat a single enemy there. That being said, there is a multi-part obstacle keeping them from getting in, which the Players and Reaper have to resolve on the way. After overcoming this, the team enters into the arena and faces off against the enemy or enemies there. The enemy team must oppose them at some point, but it can be during the multi-part obstacle and/or at the arena.
Post Limit: For this round, writers will be limited to 6 posts, or 60k 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.
Due Date: Writeups will be due at 11:59 PM CST on Monday, October 31st. That’s about two weeks. At that point, the thread will be locked, and voting will go up for a few days afterwards.
Flavor Suggestions
peaceful day: Your Players participated in at least one other day before this, though they didn’t run into any trouble in terms of teams opposing them. Or maybe they did! Whatever happened that day is up to you, and you can describe it if you want; just be mindful of the space you’re working with and that you need to complete the round.
The One Star: Your team’s goal is to defeat one specific enemy- in the original game, it was a bat Noise boss fight, and another monster certainly would fit the description. That being said, there is also the option of making it a member of the enemy team, either a Player or their Reaper, which of course seems sensible. There’s also a third option of making it a different character entirely. Who or what the ruler is is totally up to you.
Kill the Itch: While the mission doesn’t specify lethality, this might be the first time your team has fought directly against the enemy team members, and erasure can be introduced by having to erase the other Players on the enemy side. How would your team react to them being the cause of others’ nonexistence- or would they try to take them down nonlethally? Would they not even fight the enemy team, for fear of erasing them? Or, alternatively, would they be a bit too enthusiastic about eliminating the competition?
1
u/Proletlariet Oct 26 '22 edited Oct 31 '22
“A plausible theory.” Guan Yu mused. “But not if I’m to be your culprit. I can prove I did not budge.”
“Big claim.” Hob remarked. “Let’s see you back it up.”
“Gladly.” Guan Yu stepped back from his pillar. He marched a circuit around the trial chamber, his pleated armour jangling and clanking noisily as he walked. He returned to his podium, arms spread. “Satisfied?”
“What was parading around like that supposed to prove?” Edward asked.
Karai, however, seemed to relent. “It seems I was mistaken. We would have heard your movements wearing something so cumbersome.”
“But the basic theory’s good.” Hob mused. “Coulda been 21 or even Edward.”
“Him?” 21 looked incredulous. “Dude, he could barely stand after that ass kicking.”
“Yes, keep reminding me. It’ll make me feels leagues better.” Edward muttered.
Shredder scoffed. “Do you doubt your friend’s spirit so much? He could have easily exaggerated the extent of his injuries.”
“‘Sides, still leaves you as a culprit.” Hob said.
“Oh. Shoot.” 21 balked. His nervous face screwed up in concentration. “No wait, hang on! If we’re saying the murder weapon could’ve been stolen from Karai, then who says the killer had to be down in the arena?”
“‘Cause the rest of us have alibis for one!” Tita protested. “Plus, if they weren’t down there with Miss Karai, how’d they get their hands on her smoke bomb, huh?! Just give it up. You’re squirming so much that we all know it’s you.”
21 fidgeted nervously under their collective gazes. Was that really it? Had 21 murdered Hiruma?
But then why had his first instinct been to try and clear Edward when he could have shifted the blame?
“There is a way they could have used the smoke bomb without needing to touch it.” Edward started warily. His budding theory was absurd, but so was 21’s behaviour if he really was the killer.
“Like what, telekinesis?” Hob snarked. “That in your bag of ninja tricks Shredder?”
“Do not mock the art of ninjutsu.” Shredder broke defensively. “Conquering the mind is a gateway to great power.”
“...”
“But psychic abilities are not one of them.” He admitted.
“Smoke bombs burst on any impact.” Edward explained. “You don’t need to throw them, really. I’ve had a few go off early in my hand from a tight grip. Someone could’ve thrown something to set it off.”
The trepidation on 21’s face was replaced with a dawning epiphany.
“Or shot at it.” He turned to Karai. “Hey, what do you Foot guys put in your smoke bombs.”
“The secrets of the clan are not for the ears of outsiders.” Karai snapped. “Especially not one so boorish and---”
“Saltpetre.” Hob interrupted.
“What?!” Karai whipped her head around. “Who told you?”
Hob twiddled the discovered bullet between his fingers.
“I was wondering what all that stuff I found on it was.”
“So that’s why we heard the gunshot before the smoke.” 21 urged excitedly. “The powder marks we found on the slug were traces from when it passed through Karai’s bomb.”
Edward’s implausible theory had gone over better than expected. The question was; what did it mean for the case.
“Whether the smoke bomb was stolen or shot, the difference is meaningless.” Shredder scoffed. “Our culprits remain the same.”
“No…” Hob mused. “No, they ain’t actually. We need to remember where people were standing. If the bullet passed through Karai’s bomb and then hit the centre stairs, it means whoever fired the gun was standing on the opposite side of Karai.”
“So…” Tita furrowed her brow. “That just leaves Guan Yu and Master Shredder.”
“Impossible!” Shredder spat. “It could not have been me. I did not rise from my throne.”
“He’s right.” Hob admitted. “I did see him sittin’ there just before we heard the gunshot. He didn’t have a gun.”
“It has to be Guan Yu!” Karai insisted. “He hid a gun on his person, and used it while my back was turned---distracted by Hiruma. Then, after he had finished his crime under cover of smoke, he stashed it away on the balcony.”
“I don’t wanna think he did it,” Tita said shakily, “but Miss Karai makes a lot of sense.”
“Of course it does!” Shredder said dismissively. “He disobeyed me once. He would do so again for his own gain.”
CRACK!
Guan Yu had slammed the handle of his halberd down so hard as to shatter the marble floor beneath it.
His eyes burned with the embers of a once defiant fire.
“You wish to condemn me before I can have my say. Is your resolve so flimsy that you could not stand up to your suspect’s words?” His nostrils flared like a bull’s. “Have you forgotten so suddenly my armour? If I moved, you would have heard me.”
“Bah!” Shredder roared. “You expect me to confuse the armour for the man? You speak as if it were attached to you. You took it off!”
Guan Yu met his gaze. “I removed the cumbersome thing without making even greater noise?”
“Then you disguised it!” Karai cut in. “You must have done it while Hiruma was firing his gun. It drew all of our attention and was noisy enough to cover for the armour.”
“And what did I do with it next?” Guan Yu demanded. “Did I throw it on the floor? And then, after taking pains to remain as silent as the forest, I fired my hidden gun and alerted all your ears?”
For the second time in the day, Edward found himself swayed by Guan Yu’s persuasive fury.
“None of it makes sense.” He thunked his fist down on the podium. “Sod me, of course it doesn’t. We’re thinking at this in hows instead of whys. Why would somebody use a gun to set off the bomb if they were standing right next to her?”
“Were I the culprit, I would have needed to steal a knife from her belt as well to make that wound.” Guan Yu agreed. “Only a fool would be bold enough to take one but not the other.”
“So then, why use the gun at all?” Edward asked. A little rhetorical flourish. If somebody else could follow his train of thought, that meant they’d be on the same track.
Tita picked up his cue. “Hey um.. What if they needed to?”
“You mean, they weren’t standing next to her.” Edward clarified.
“So it’s Shredder.” Hob said bluntly.
The sound of splintering wood filled the trial hall. Shredder had gripped the edges of his podium so hard that it had buckled in half. He tossed both pieces of the broken board up into the air and in a flash of steel they fell as splinters.
“If you are foolish enough to challenge me, then I shall shred your pathetic argument as I have destroyed all obstacles before me.” He thrust his claws at Hob, who flinched back---but the Shredder was merely using the deadly implements to point. “You yourself have recognised that at the beginning and end of this fiasco, I was seated in my throne. Karai, my own blood, has confirmed this. What possible answer can you have for that?”
Guan Yu gave a little smile. “The bandit is quickest to cry ’Thief!’ The killer quickest to cry ‘Murder!’”
“You ignorant, pathetic, throwback.” Shredder bellowed. “Are your words supposed to mean something?!”
They did. Edward picked up on exactly what the ancient warrior was doing.
“He means you’ve already given us the answer.” Edward realised. “What did you say earlier when you accused Guan Yu? We confused the armour for the man.”
Shredder’s furious eyes went wide. A guttural growl built from the back of his throat.
But before the wrath could explode out of him, Karai gave voice to his fury.
“Your wretched little theory isn’t even worth the words it would take to refute them.” She scoffed. “You’re saying he removed his armour and left it empty on the throne?”
“He totally could’ve.” 21 argued. “If you look in the back, there’s a seam. It’s all a big metal onesie. It’d be pretty easy to step out of it while we were all distracted by Hiruma going Rambo with that machinegun.”
“Plus, do any of you remember seeing him move? Or even talk?” Hob added. “I’ve known the old shred head for a while and I don’t think an armed break-in at his main hideout is something he’d suffer in silence.”
“Um.. I don’t know if I should be saying this..” Tita stammered meekly, “but with those two big pillars plus his throne, it’d be pretty easy for Mister Shredder to hide behind something after he’d taken off his armour.”
“And then he popped out right when Hiruma was threatening to expose him, and took a potshot at Karai’s smoke bomb.” Hob concluded.
Karai glared at Tita, who covered her face with her hat.
“Stupid child. How could you say that when you yourself gathered the evidence to exonerate Master Shredder?”
Tita’s fear broke into confusion. “Huh? I did?”
“Plot the locations of the Foot Soldiers.” Karai ordered. “If you’ll recall, there was one assigned to disable each Monokuma.”
“They all died so young…” Monokuma quavered.
Tita did as she ordered.
“Two of the Monokumas stood blocking the right stair to the throne platform.” Karai indicated the pair on the map. “It would’ve been impossible for Master Shredder to leave. If he took the long way around, he wouldn’t have had time to silence Hiruma, dispose of the evidence, and get back to his armour.”
“I do wonder, Tita, why you were so quick to turn on me.” Shredder said icily. “Could it be you’re trying to pin your own crime on your master? You were the one who called the robots. You could have easily had them dispatch Hiruma in the frenzy.”
“Buhbuhbuhbut their swords were all clean!” Tita yelped.
“And just who collected that information?” Shredder snarled. “Poor Tita. To think you needed to rely on such inferior machines. Too weak to do the deed yourself. Too cowardly to accept the consequences.”
“Back the fuck off.” 21’s eyes were narrowed. He sounded more genuinely moved than Edward had ever heard him---something close to home? “I don’t know where you get off making a kid do all your dirty work, but Tita’s not going down for this. You are.”