r/whowouldwin • u/OddDirective • Oct 18 '22
Event Character Scramble 16 Round 2: Rockin' Rockin'
Round 2: Rockin’ Rockin’
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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/Kyraryc Oct 31 '22
Upon seeing a Player betray his Reaper, every Master was stunned into silence. A few actually spit out their drinks.
"That's impossible!" Bear yelled.
"He's out of his mind!" Tiger yelled.
Owl smiled. They all understood the ramifications of what they saw. Maybe they also realized what was at stake. After a few moments to let the shock sink in, Owl continued his play.
Thrawn kicked Zapp on his back. "Men like you disgust me. Your ignorant dismissal of other cultures is only matched by your callous disregard for your own soldiers. The fact that the so-called Masters would ever place you in command sickens me to my very core."
CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!
Thrawn calmly looked at the soldiers aiming their guns at him. There was no hint of fear or remorse in his eyes.
"You have every right to shoot me," Thrawn said. "That is a proper punishment for mutiny. But before you pull the trigger, ask yourselves this: is this buffoon really who you want leading you?"
The soldiers looked nervously amongst themselves. "But he's the Reaper. What chances do we have without him?"
"Allow me to show you."
An axe fell to block his path.
"If mutiny is on the menu," Thorkell said, "then perhaps we'll set a new record for the shortest time in charge. Let me make this perfectly clear. If anyone is going to fight, it's going to be me."
Thrawn stared into Thorkell's eyes. It was not hard to gauge the measure of Thorkell's character.
"I have a far more worthwhile fight in mind for you," Thrawn said. "My challenge is a farce. Mere showmanship. You shall take a dozen of our finest and scale the cliffs behind them. Then you shall have all the fight you wish."
Thorkell laughed. "Alright, I'll play your game. But I'll get my fight, one way or another."
Thrawn calmly walked towards the Klingon forces. He kept his hands at his sides, unarmed. Despite knowing they could easily shoot him down, there was no fear in his steps.
A few energy blasts hit the ground around him. He smiled when it became clear they weren't trying to hit him, merely to scare him.
"Attention brave warriors! I demand the honorable right of single combat! This battle doesn't need to end in a bloodbath. Let our strongest fighters settle this!"
The soldiers nervously coughed as a creepy silence fell over the battle. They didn't have to wait long as a lone Klingon walked down the path and stood face-to-face with Thrawn.
"I am Worf, son of Mogh, proud Klingon of the honorable house of Martok, the slayer of Duras, and the slayer of Gowron. Bring forth your champion so I may vanquish them!"
Thrawn took a second to examine this Worf. The other Klingons he saw had wild and untamed hair. Worf's goatee was neatly trimmed and his hair was tied back in a ponytail. His simple uniform also stood in contrast to the body armor other Klingons wore. A sash that resembled chainmail hung across his shoulder, out of place with the rest of his appearance.
Thrawn understood perfectly.
"I am Mitth'raw'nuruodo, born of the humble family Kivu, adopted into the honorable family Mitth, Senior Captain to the Chiss Ascendancy's Expansionary Defense Fleet, and Grand Admiral to the Imperial Navy. I shall be your opponent."
Worf stared into Thrawn's eyes. "You are unarmed. It would be dishonorable of me if I did not offer you a weapon."
"I appreciate your offer, but I am not experienced with your weapons. Fighting with that kind of sword-"
"A bat'leth!" Worf said. "It is far more than a simple sword."
"Fighting with a bat'leth," Thrawn corrected, "requires far different expertise than I possess. I am adept at unarmed combat though. Don't dishonor me by throwing away your bat'leth."
The two took a couple of steps back and bowed to each other.
Worf rested his bat'leth upon his arm, turning it into an extension of his body. His strikes were both elegant and intense. Thrawn could see the way to wield this weapon was to treat it as a staff, not a sword.
He raced in and caught the bat'leth on his bracers. The force was intense, threatening to shatter his wrist. Thrawn thrust his palm into Worf's chest to push him back a bit.
A battle between warriors would only benefit Worf, so Thrawn changed the game.
"Tell me Worf, son of Mogh, what are you loyal to? Your heritage or your duty?" Thrawn asked.
"What! You dare to question my honor?" Worf's strikes grew more ferocious but easier for Thrawn to dodge.
"I can see your struggle," Thrawn said, "as it is my burden as well. I am a Chiss who serves the human Empire. You are a Klingon who serves in another species' military. It must be tearing you apart."
"You understand nothing!" Worf proclaimed.
"Do they call you a traitor? Coward? The Klingons will never see you as a comrade!"
Worf was getting angry at Thrawn's insolence. That anger gave him power but made him sloppy. Thrawn was able to flip over Worf's slash and kick out his legs. Rather than press his advantage, Thrawn simply jumped back and let Worf recover.
Worf took a deep breath to calm himself. "I will not allow anger to cloud my path. My service to Starfleet is an honor, not a burden. As the first Klingon officer in Starfleet, I chart an unknown path forward! To face hardships and still maintain your honor is a struggle worthy of Kahless himself."
Worf resumed his martial stance with no more signs of anger.
But it was too little, too late. Thorkell had reached the summit. Most Klingons were eagerly watching Worf's battle instead of patrolling for intruders. That proved a costly mistake. Klingons left and right were torn to shreds by Thorkell's bloody assault.
The other troops Thrawn sent reached the summit a minute after Thorkell and joined his assault.
Worf shook with horror upon seeing his Klingon brothers and sisters being cut down. "All of this was just a trick! You have no honor!"
He raced forth at an inhuman speed but only made it two steps before a blaster bolt burned a hole in his chest.
"Honor is a luxury I cannot afford," Thrawn said. He holstered his blaster as Worf fell.
"There you have it," Owl said. "They are a team without a Reaper."
"But wait," Fox said, "the second round required a Reaper to hold the McGuffin. How could he get past that if he killed his Reaper?"
"Zapp's not dead," Owl said. "Thrawn is keeping him alive but unable to act."
A wind blew away the army to show a new scene. Zapp was frozen in a giant slab, with Thrawn standing nearby. A few buttons and Zapp dethawed just long enough for Thrawn to thrust a doll into his hands, then another button refroze Zapp.
"Their Reaper has no control."
The giant statue of Zapp shattered, revealing a statue of Thrawn. His cold eyes stared deep into the souls of every Master. Studying them, challenging them. Blue light bathed every inch of it.
"If more players cast off their Reapers, we lose a powerful source of incentives and control. They could challenge the fundamental nature of the games itself."
Shiroe, Stockman, and Thrawn. Each statue stood in fierce opposition to them.
"Three situations, each of which could be our destruction if not handled properly."
Owl exhaled. Hopefully, this little performance finally convinced them to take action.
"Kick them out of these games!" Snake yelled.
"Kill them all!" Hornet yelled.
"Wipe their minds!" Mosquito yelled.
"Let the experiment continue!" Bear yelled.
"Just ignore them!" Sloth yelled.
"They'll just make the games more exciting!" Cat yelled.
Dozens and dozens of voices echoed across the amphitheater all at once. There was no unity, no common ground. They'd never get anywhere like this.
"SILENCE!" Dragon yelled.
Owl stepped back in shock. He never heard Dragon, the leader of all Masters, speak before. Dragon had complete authority over everything in the afterlife. With a snap of his fingers, he could incinerate any Master he chose. His very voice demanded obedience, and everyone in the room obeyed.
"I see a very simple solution. Fix the next round so all three of them face each other. At worst, we'll only have one situation to deal with. And everyone here will keep an eye on these troublemakers."