Valhalla of Legends

"Don't worry, I'll be fine and his ass will be kicked", King said to Jack with a confident look in his eyes.

Kayne was prepared to grab Jack and teleport someplace safer, but it looked like the danger was momentarily over. "Thank you for your kindness, Mr. King. He looked like the all-muscles, no brain type. If you can match and exceed him in speed, do it. He doesn't look very fast, but be on your guard nonetheless. Aim for the chinks in his armor. Go for the head," she advised.

"And should you fail, I guess I'll have to challenge him too," Kayne continued lightly, cracking her knuckles in anticipation. "I do like a good fight. The Unravelers and Dream Eaters back home just aren't a challenge anymore." She flipped her hair proudly.

Edited by JumpingFruit on Mar 16th 2020 at 7:56:28 AM

Then a door opened at the left wall. Slowly creaking open, the dusty palm-wood gate revealed a windy, sand-filled desert and sharp rock-formation jutting out of the sand.

The Moderator tapped her slab with one long finger. "The Fighters will now enter the arena. Chosen Battleground will be the Broken Sands.", she stated.

The Raider grunted and lifted his giant axe off his back. The huge blade skipped on the floor a bit, cutting a small gouge into it. "This will be over quick."

Then he walked through the door. The Moderator expectantly looked at King and gestures for him to follow.

"Good luck, Mr. King. Don't forget—be faster than him! Aim for the eyes and head!" Kayne called out after King. "I'll be in the audience section, cheering for you all the way!"

"Jack? Would you like to watch the fight with me?" she asked the lizard-boy beside her.

"Gotcha", said King as he walked through the door and put his gauntlets on, ready to kick some serious ass. He focused his breathing to prepare his ki.

A desert with some rocks, huh? Looks like this shouldn't be too hard of a fight to win. King thought to himself as he got in his fighting stance.

Cathedral

“I'll watch too,” Dust decided, moving alongside Kayne and Jack after observing the whole interaction. “Better than waiting here. I might learn something. You never know.”

Plus it'll feel like home, she mentally added, noting the description of the arena and smiling slightly to herself. Even if it's only a broken fragment... the desert still calls to me...

Edited by Enirboreh on Mar 16th 2020 at 3:17:39 PM

Broken Desert

The wind hit King in the face like someone just opened a hot oven. Sand pelted him and for a brief moment, his vision was blurred. AS he looked around, he was alone in a vast desert of craggy rocks and dusty hills. Apart from a few grasses and hardy bushes, nothing lived here. And in the horizon, he could see a black void cutting the world off like a blade in all directions.

A noise reached his ears from behind and just a second later, a huge axe crashed into the spot he just stood in. The Raider grunted dissappointed for missing and held out his hand. The axe shuddered and then flew back into his giant palm.

"Quicker than you look, milk-boy.", he growled. He gestured around them. "See this? This is a Shard. A tiny piece of a world that no longer exist. These guys gather those things like skulls or trophies. Pull them towards the hall and them use them as battlegrounds. Here, we are the only sentient things. Here...no one will interfere..."

He grinned and stepped to the side, keeping King at a distance. "Do you actually have the slightest idea, why we are here? You look like a knucklehead, if I ever seen one."

"Red Raider is wearing armor, but the arena is a desert. And it's common sense to not wear heavy coats on hot days, much less armor in a desert! Red Raider's going to be exhausted by the heat pretty quickly. As long as King can get in close and deny Red Raider the range on his axe, victory will come easily," Kayne commentated. "Go King!"

Cathedral

Kara watched the arena in front of her, fingers tapered together. Her optical scanners drew circles of interest around the two fighters, and encapsulated the sandy colliseum in a square, blocking out everything outside it from view, reflecting the process in her crimson eyes. Silent until now, Kayne's commentating prompted a response.

"The problem would be getting close. Sandy dunes make for very poor footing, and any movement through it takes much more effort due to how soft it is."

She pointed at Red Raider, and her vision zoomed in on him with a soft whirring.

"That giant axe could kick up a lot of sand into someone's face, so it's also a question of if Mister King can get close enough. If the Red Raider is smart, he'd keep him at bay with a cloud of sand, and strike while his opponent is covering his eyes."

Things zoomed out again, taking in the area once again, and Kara smirked.

"Somebody who needn't get into melee, or who can float or fly, while being able to attack on the move is the fortunate one in these circumstances."

"You're right. But Red Raider is much bigger, and therefore has to expend much more effort moving through the sand. King is lighter, and won't sink as much," Kayne responded. "And King can also use the sand against Red Raider..."

"Man, it's good to have someone by my side who's at least as enthusiastic about battle as I am," she laughed. "It's good to meet you. I'm Kayne." She gave Kara a friendly pat on the back.

Edited by JumpingFruit on Mar 16th 2020 at 8:47:12 AM

As King took in the words from Raider, he thought about it a bit himself I just assumed that we were here because some people wanted to see us fight. After all, things like these weren't that uncommon back at home, just without the time being frozen and all.

"Isn't this just a place for us to fight for the amusement of those in charge of this place? After all, if time truly is frozen in our worlds, then what's the point in leaving before this whole thing ends?" King said to Raider, seeming to not care about what's going on behind the scenes a whole ton.

"I have no doubts that there's a deeper meaning to all of this, but I'm more focused on what power the victor can walk out of this realm with, rather than why we're all here", John said to Raider.

"Sure Kayne I'll sit with you" Jack Said, once they arrived at the spectators seats and saw the desert battleground Jack tought to himself that he would hopefully fight in an arena similar to that since he was best accustomed to a hot environment, he didn't knew what he would do in a glacier or something like that.

"You can do it king" Jack tried to cheer for him, but he didn't actually sounded very confident about it since he didn't knew if King was a good enough fighter to beat that mean hunter guy.

Broken Desert

The Red Raider chuckled. "Oh, there is power involved. But you see, this is not all....there are two way to get here. One is finding a gate. Just so you know, I did that.", he explained, throwing his axe up and catching it again. "Guys like me, found this place intentionally. To obtain riches, power and more! This is the best training you could ever receive. No one can die here and you get stronger whenever you fight!"

Then he held up a finger. "But...there is another way. A more...common, so to speak. That is for those, who do not know how they got here. Those, who simply woke up to find themselves in place they do not know or remember." He looked at King and grinned. "Sounding familiar?"

Before King could answer, the axe was flung his way again. It missed his by a hair, but before he could react, the Raider suddenly appeared next him, having been pulled towards his axe. A giant fist impacted on raised arms and King was flung a few feet back.

"You don't get it, huh? Knuckleheaded milkboy...", he grunted and tensed his giant arm for a particulary powerful throw. "Then let me enlighten you. You see, those who did not find their way here..."

"Are Dead."

Edited by TheNohen on Mar 16th 2020 at 4:59:40 PM

"King look out" Jack Screamed worried for the safety of the man that defended him, then this fear became into anger which cause him to lose control again and turned into Hebi "If you hurt him I'll kill you bastard" Hebi screamed in anger barely being held back from jumping into the arena himself by Jack's consciousness.

"So this is just an endless cycle of fighting and bloodshed, huh? Not much different from home, in the end." King said to Raider, smiling. "I don't care much for this explanation much longer, let's start fighting, shall we?" King said, waiting for an attack to counter or dodge.

Cathedral

The pat on the back set off alarm sirens in Kara's head, and one hand shot up almost immediately in response, stopped only by personal override.

"Tch...!"

She ignored the directive to enter combat mode, riding out the alert until her view returned to normal, instead playing off the sudden jerk reaction by patting Kayne on the back as well.

"Nice to meet you Kayne. I'm called Kara."

It was rare for the gynoid to have the opportunity to have a normal-ish conversation with someone who wasn't Doctor Odden, so her voice was just barely more emotive than the usual bored-sounding tone it was most of the time. Something to work on.

"But I hold no enthusiasm for fighting itself. I simply...have trouble keeping my thoughts quiet at times."

Broken Desert

The Raider briefly frowned, angry that his revelation had not disturbed the young fighter. "Fine, have it you way.", he grumbled. "Usually, your kind always gasps in shock or cries out. Seems like you made out of sterner stuff."

He muscles tensed. One could see them twist and bulge like steel-cords. The skin briefly turned red, as the blood was pumped into it and the arm swelled to grotesque size. "Let's see, how you take this! Mach-5 Throw!", he roared.

His arm shot forward and the giant axe became a blur. A bang rumbled through the desert, as the air condensed and the axe broke through the sound-barrier. Sand was thrown into the air, as the force alone cut a swath into the ground.

The Cathedral

The reveal of some of them actually being dead souls may not have cared King much. Others did not take it so well, though. One knight fell to his knees in shock and others whispered and argued amongst each other. One of them, a blue-skinned man in eastern-style robed turned to the Moderator.

"Is what he says true?"

The Moderator looked down on them and simply nodded. "Indeed. Those, who have not voluntarily joined this hall, have died."

"Then what are we doing here!?", screamed someone.

She glared at them cowing them into silence. "Gaining back your life. Winning time, with each fight.", she finally explained. "Survive, thrive and rise...and you may be given a second chance."

"This is Valhalla. The Hall of Dead Warriors." Her words echoed in the vast emptiness of the hall and a dreadful tone rung with them.

Edited by TheNohen on Mar 16th 2020 at 5:20:56 PM

Cathedral

“So there's more to it than a familiar name. The Norse legends of old,” Dust mused aloud, though she made no comment on the battle itself. “And there's a place for the dead... the question is why...?”

She didn't follow through on her thought, instead trailing off and gaining what looked to be a troubled expression. For the first time since she arrived Dust looked genuinely uneasy, and she gazed down at her hand as if in contemplation.

“A second chance...” she whispered, her voice but a silent gust of wind on the air. “Sweeter words have never been spoken...”

To counter the Mach-5 Throw, King concentrated his Ki into his arm and delivered a powerful hook towards the ax to deflect it, which still dealt damage, but not as much as it would've been if he hadn't been ready to counter.

"Eh, it's okay," Kayne said to Kara. "We all have different ways of dealing with our responsibilities." She shrugged. "I walked through a portal so I could get stronger and protect my city better." Kayne clenched a fist.

"We've had a never-ending cycle of war between the Starlit Contractors and the forces of nightmares. I'd like to get strong enough to end that all on my own, so that's why I came here," she explained. "Even though I'm not all that strong, I fight with intensity and I like winning. It's the spirit of the thing that counts."

Hebi smiled wickedly at hearing the explanation of how this placed work, an eternal cycle of violence where he could never die? that sounded like heaven to him he hopped that pussy holding him back wouldn't came out again to mess up his fun again, Why did have to be tight to such a weakling it was so annoying.

Broken Desert

Both axe and fist collided. A shockwave flattened the landscape around them and under King's feet cracked the ground, as he put considerable power into this blow. For a brief moment, the axe grinded against his fist.

Then the momentum veered it to the side and it whipped past him, crashing into a nearby rock and cleaving it down the middle. Blood dripped from King's right arm, as skin had been shaved off cleanly.

The Raider grinned and summoned his weapon back. "Not good enough.", he boasted and rushed foward. What followed were a blurry of blows and cuts directed at the street-fighter, forcing him to weave and dodge and avoid the massive blade.

Red Raider just laughed. "Is that the best you can do? Pathetic!", he roared and kicked him in the stomach, forcing him back. Then he threw his axe, but now with speed rather than strength. "Take my Axe Storm!"

Now the weapon moved so fast it was hard to track. Hitting and returning over and over and never letting up, as it kept missing King just by inches each time. The Raider's bellowing laughter filled the desert. "Give it up, milk-boy. My axe moves faster than sound. And as long, as it returns to my hand every now and then, it will keep striking you! You have lost!"

"Knucklehead like you are dime a dozen! Dumb brawlers who rely in fists, rather than on a weapon, will always lose against a blade. It is common knowledge.", he taunted him. He held out his hand and grabbed his axe once more, the blade glowing a bit hot from the friction. He grinned bloodthirsty. "Once I am done carving you into pieces, I will go over and skin that monster-boy. His hide will make a fine addition to my armor! GAHAHAHA!!"

[King loses 1 HP from Mach-5 throw.]

[King loses 1 HP from Axe Storm]

Edited by TheNohen on Mar 16th 2020 at 5:49:34 PM

Cathedral

"I came here in order to obtain the means to achieve my revenge decisively. It would be easy to eliminate a single person, but an entire organization is too much, even for me. And I have someone very dear that I would want to see happy, and almost nothing will dissuade me from pursuing that."

Her storage files filled her vision with images of the doctor who she loved as much as what humans called a 'father', and she felt...sad. Probably 'longing' as it was called by people. Calculations whirred, and she saved this thought to her calibration settings. One step closer to being more human.

"Anyways, it appears that perhaps Red Raider has more of an advantage than we first thought with speed and the ability to throw his axe at supersonic speeds. Mach 5 is quite the speed. King's lucky to still have his arm after punching it."

King had had enough of Raider's shit talk, he acted like he was kicking ass when he just got 2 blows on King.

King charged his arms with ki, making them ready to break that damn blade of his. "Let's see how strong your precious blade is", King said to Raider in a voice that was beyond pissed. King delivered a hook straight at Raider's face to shut it up once and for all. He would either take the hit and have his jaw damaged or have his blade take the hit.

"Darn," Kayne said. "Let's just hope the axe gets lodged in a sand dune or something. The odds are against King now, but Red Raider is taking way too much. It might provide an opening for King."