Balance of Dimensions [RP]

[Desbear]

Synopsis  

The universe is, to our knowledge, like one big spiderweb: a vast infrastructure of unique worlds, each one branched off of the last and kept connected by only a thin, spindly web that ties it all together. The residents of these universes possess a spark within them - an energy that has the ability to span the universe, bypassing the barrier that divides the world to connect them to their partner.

You live in the hub station of the universe; the utmost central point of it all. This universe is the place where the division is the thinnest, and where the connection from the other worlds come through - searching for their partner, people like you. Once they are found, and you and your partner are linked (often through dream), you gain a mark on your body that connects the two of you for life.

A sport has been made of this: Astral Battling. It is the biggest sport in the Centralverse, and to be a battler is an honor, but this has not always been so. Exactly sixty years ago, during the famed Galactic Tournament: -  the biggest event in Astral Battling - tragedy struck. While the full scope of events that transpired are still a mystery, it is known that the entire event was saved from even worse tragedy by a participant of the tournament: Daylin Hakima, who held the title of champion for over fifty years after that. He held an undefeated reigned, and passed away of old age still undethroned.

Though, now that is a title of prestige and power, it was not always such. Less than a year after the events of that year, Astral Battling was deemed too dangerous, and outlawed across the world. This however, didn’t snuff out battling, of course, as underground battling circuits still went on strong. Exactly five years after it had been outlawed, a tournament was held in the underground, that would take the name of the Galactic Underground.

Though authorities had caught wind of such a tournament, they were unable to put an end to it until fifteen years had passed; and astral battling was fully shut down for five more years, until Daylin would lobby for their return, thus, reinstating the Galactic Tournament.

Forty years after the events of those days, here we are, with the famed Galactic Tournament. Though this may be the first time it’s happened in three years, the format is the same; the best battlers the world, and their sponsors, have to offer come together, clashing for a chance to fight the champion. And you… Each one of you, are within this mix.

Historical Characters

These are characters that you may know, as famous battlers.

Name: Daylin Hakima
Status: Champion of the Ages - Deceased
Personality: He was known as a level-headed champion, and he never backed down from a challenge. Daylin didn’t let his status of “hero and champion” go to his head, and was much more humble than people expected. When asked what the hardest thing he ever had to do was, expecting the answer to involve his legendary effort to stop what occurred at the tournament, the champion laughed and told them that it was “proposing to his wife.”
Appearance:

Astral
Name: Garlock
World or Region: The Nomad Plains
Techniques: It would be easy to write an entire book on the different abilities Garlock used in over half a century of battling (in fact, someone has), but we will list his most prominent traits.
• Indomitable: Garlock was extremely resilient, and nearly impossible to take down.
• Powerful: Garlock was huge, towering, and solid muscle; he had the strength to rip whole trees from the ground to strike his opponent with them.
• Adaptable: He may have looked like he was missing a few crayons from the crayon box, but Garlock adapted to situations much faster than the average astral, and it kept him alive as often as his strength and spirit did.
Appearance:

Name: Clint Harrington
Status: Former Champion - Alive
Age: 27
Personality: Kind to his fans, Clint tried his best to please them and keep up with them the best he could during his time. He does not seem to hold any feelings one way or another about his loss two years ago.
Astral -
Name: Masked Magician
World or Region: “My World”, an actual quote from him.
Techniques:
Masked Magic: The Magician fought with a combination of fire and ice; symbolized by the symbols on Clint’s left and right hands.
Super Move: Using the might of his magic, he creates a storm of fire into ice; alternating the used elements at will. It is not known if this attack truly had any known drawbacks to him.
Appearances:


Name:   Conrad Merryweather
Status: Champion, Alive(?)
Age: 22
Personality: Working behind the scenes almost constantly, he never seems to really… See any of his fans; entering and leaving before they have the chance to speak with him, as a busy fellow.

BladesEdit: Approved

[Desbear]

RP Start

The sun had gone down about an hour ago, yet the stadium had nearly lit the entire city up by itself. The roar of the crowd was loud enough to pierce the walls, even echoing to where most of you already stood - behind the stage. The room was fairly nice, with a line of comfy chairs and monitors so you could watch the games as they went on. It wasn't dissimilar to the small rooms they had provided your teams in the stadium, so you could go over briefing and strategy.

The opening ceremony had just started, signaled by the beat of the drums and the sound of the music. They had gotten a bit of a newer band, but one that showed promise and didn't charge as much to host the opening ceremony. As the door to the backstage opened, the music got deafeningly loud for half a second, before two staff members walked in, closing the door once again. They walked up and down between all of you, handing each of the participants that had already sat down a piece of paper.

The paper reads:
"I'm sure your teams have already gone over this, but just to make sure you understand this: You're supposed to go onto stage when it's your turn to battle, give a friendly handshake before and after, battle, maybe give a bit of wave or a gesture to the crowd, and then leave. Whatever you do, please do not try and speak to the crowd, especially if it involves taking a mic. We've... Heard stories. Fill free to talk to the other participants, before, or even while you're on stage. Heck, it'd probably look good if you said something to each other on stage."

The paper also, seems, to have had the first night's schedule:
"First match: Ashley Williams vs Aaron Stillen."
"Second Match: Steven Fukui vs Alexa Lockhart."
"Third Match: Hannah Bailey vs Jade Johnson."
"Fourth Match: Jasmine Kinkitsu vs Kyoko Valera."
"Fifth Match: Stella Harrison vs Heather Grayson."
"Sixth Match: Chloe Reed vs Joseph Williams."
"Seventh match: Clint Harrington vs Jessica Sinclaire."

But, that aside, it looks like you have some time before the event begins. Perhaps you should socialize, and talk to the other participants? You'll be seeing them a lot over the next five weeks.

[The-Blades-slave]

Aaron
This dinner rush is going to be the death of me! Aaron flipped several of the burgers on the grill over, struggling to hold back his coughing as the smoke stung at his eyes. They had him trying to do way too much at once; he was the only person cooking burgers for the entire joint, and he still had to take the fries out of the fryer.

"God, the fries!" He nearly dropped one of the burgers on the ground in his haste to turn around, splattering a bit of grease into the air, which landed on his arm. "Ow!" Aaron did, in fact, drop the spatula that time, cradling his stung arm to his chest and trying to wipe the grease off.

"What's taking so long?" The manager, an older man who had worked there longer than anyone bothered to remember, shouted from in front of the counter. "And what's that racket?!"

"Nothing! They're almost done, sorry!" Aaron yelled back, hurriedly throwing the spatula in the sink, already moving toward the fryer. He pulled the basket out, and to his great relief, the fries were only slightly overcooked. The majority of them were still crunchy, golden shards of greasy goodness. He didn't waste anytime throwing them onto plates by the handful, ready to be served up with the hamburger.

The waiter - a sweet, sixteen year old girl that looked just as flustered as him - took the orders as soon as she could, and Aaron heaved a sigh and gave himself a second to relax. When is he going to let me go? The normal dinner cook had called in sick that night, and so even though his shift was supposed to be done over an hour ago, he was still here. He glanced at the clock apprehensively. I'm gonna miss the match if I don't get out of here soon.

Just the thought of forfeiting his first match made Aaron's stomach turn. He had been working overtime to make sure he could afford to take the next two days off to train, and now it was probably all for nothing. He had come all this way just to be behind before it all started. "No, that's not gonna happen. I can still make it on time if I get going soon."

"Are you talking to yerself, kid?" His boss, standing in the doorway, glared at him like he had grown an extra head. "Y'know what, don't answer that. We got another guy in here, you can go ahead get gon--" By the time the man had looked up, Aaron was gone from behind the counter, and the door to the restaurant was swinging in the wind. His was work hat was lying on the floor, in the spot he had been moments before.

"THANKS, BOSS, I'LL PAY YOU BACK SOMEHOW!" Aaron hollered over his shoulder, squirming out of his work shirt, which had his sponsorship shirt beneath it. He did his best to keep running while he was changing, hopping on one foot at one point while he changed his shoes from the ugly, black no-slip shoes to his worn down sneakers: he still had a mile to go, and the match started in eight minutes!

[Lunartic]

Jessie put in a pair of earbuds with a huff when the music started. Definitely not her taste.  She flipped through her text messages, noting one sent by her coach:


[Text: Scarlet] You’re not up for at least three hours, do whatever you want for the first hour then come back up to prep

A man in a black t-shirt labelled “GT Staff” tapped her on the shoulder. She pulled out an earbud and tinny sound of hard rock could barely be heard over the boom from outside. “Huh? What’s up?”

He handed her a piece of paper and moved on to the next person. “'I’m sure you teams have already gone over this,' blah blah blah, not important.” She shoved the paper into her coat pocket and returned to her phone. Another text came in, this one from her older brother:

[Text: Lucas] Good luck Jess. Mom wants you to Skype us after your match
[Text: Jessica] Thanks Luke. Will do
[Text: Lucas] I have a crush on Samus!
[Text: Jessica] Excuse me?
[Text: Lucas] I do not! The Brat got a hold of my phone when I wasn’t looking
[Text: Jessica] Of course ; )
[Text: Jessica] Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me

Jessie held back from bursting out into laughter while she texted her younger sister:

[Text: Jessica] *high five*
[Text: Sarah] HEHEHE
[Text: Sarah] Tomorrow I’m going to make “love” a shortcut for “think Samus is hotter than”
[Text: Sarah] So when he tells Riley “I love you”...
[Text: Jessica] XD

After a few more minutes, the music subsided and the announcers began talking about the first match-up: Sun Wukong vs Dovahkiin. Even if she didn’t have to get ready, Jessie only planned on watching the first two matches live. She got up and looked around, but Aaron wasn’t in the lounge. Odd. Maybe this Ashley person was instead? Jessie hadn’t seen him in the training room, and considering how she sometimes spent entire days there trying to meet everyone, figured he practiced off-site. It wasn’t very common, but she knew a few fighters who did. This might be the only time she would get to say hi to him. If she could find him, anyways.

[Tickles]

Ash walked into the room with his team and looked around. He found a seat that said his name on it. There was one problem. Someone was sitting there already. He walked over, and pulled out his Nerf gun. 'You, you're in my seat. Move!" He pointed his gun at the unfortunate person's head.

"Oh, Ashley Williams! I'm so sorry, I was just warming it up..." The coward looked up and nearly turned white. Ash's face looked like the specter of death decided to park itself there. He shot the guy in the face, and holstered his gun, freeing his hand to grab the coward by the shirt collar.

"The name is Ash. Forget it next time, and you're going through a window." He tossed the man aside and sat down. His team sat around him with his teacher, Amadeus, sitting beside him. Amadeus looked disappointed, but spared the lecture for now. Ash was handed a paper, which he skimmed over and tossed aside.

"Someone get me a drink while I wait for my opponent."

Amadeus spoke, "No. Stay away from alcohol. It will impair your judgment next fight."

"Come one teach. I fight better when I'm liquored up.

"I said no! Just sit quietly and try not to make a fool of yourself."

Ash sighed and laid back. "Then can someone at least get me some water? Apparently there is a prohibition." Someone brought him a plastic cup with water in it. He drank it, pretending it was whiskey. He started to look a little more pissed, and would probably shoot off at the next person to speak to him.

[GoldForge]

Alexa Lockhart
-------
Stage lights were blaring, the crowd was roaring in her ears like a wave of thunder. Much unlike her first step into the arena when she first began, Alexa drank in the attention with a smile...a crooked, quivering grin. Nope, she was never going to get over that sharp sting of stage fright, screw that. Where was Goldlock's blazing fire of confidence and pride when she needed it most?
In a matter of moments, her half-smile warped into a gritting of teeth, a pounding of her heart in her chest.
Practice spars were fine, but man, pressure drove her bonkers.
In an attempt to distract herself, she hastily wormed her phone out of her hoodie pocket. The case was custom made, hastily painted in sloppy copper acrylic. From the headphone jack, a small keychain hung, make out of vinyl, perhaps provided by a sponsor, in the form of a mechanical crab. A disgruntled groan was made in its direction, before she looked around at who had arrived.
Well, butter her buns and call her Paul Bean, it's--
"JADE! Jade, Jade..." There was a shout, a word, and then a mutter. The hand she had just jut out towards the purple hoodie-clad girl dropped. God, her anxiety had even leaked into her voice, making excitement sound like terror as though Jade had done something wrong. She had to correct herself, fast.
"....Eyyy?"
Terrible decision.

N.S.B.
-------
At the end of the line of people, a peculiar individual stood. Was it the way she stood? Was it the clashing colors and themes of her outfit? Her puffy jacket was a shade of navy blue, tufts of white fluff puffing up at the top...an urban rocker. Her shirt? A headphone-wearing smiley with Xs for eyes...trendy? Yet, she also wore checkered black and red stockings, and a eye-blaringly bright red skirt. Don't forget the spiked black leather boots to top off the gothic topic...everything blended out into a loud noise of color. Loud, yet quiet. A blaring silence. Masking her identity, a large cardboard box with antennae was upon this fellow's head, black circles cut out for eyes, and a triangle for the mouth...dials hastily drawn on the right side of her face in black crayon. There must have been a black mesh behind the holes, for the light did not touch her true features. Her head...her head looked like a child's craft project, to put it bluntly.
Her posture was straight up, feet out a little to the sides, hands balled into fists at her waists and her head dropping down. She stood perfectly still like a doll, or, maybe, like she was preparing to drop the hottest mixtape of all time. Perhaps the latter, considering her choice of attire. In front of her, there was a light blue backpack. This Japanese internet idol-looking fellow didn't appear much for conversation.

[LunarOrbiter]

EXCITEMENT! There was a multitude of ways to describe what Hannah was feeling right now. If you could read her mind, this feeling would be everywhere you looked. Having played for one of the biggest clubs in England, Hannah had grown accustomed to the spotlight. This was, uh..."slightly" different. Instead of entertaining the crowd with some keepie-uppies and goals, tonight she would have the eyes of the world on her. Was that an exaggeration? If it was, it wasn't far from the truth. In her eyes, this tournament was just as big as the World Cup or the Olympics; if not, bigger. Ah, this is it. This is what she had been looking for. Not necessarily the spotlight. Sure, she loved to entertain the crowd, but that wasn't her only motivations. Hannah could finally meet new people; experience new cultures; and explore the world of course. She knew her dream was clichéd, but did she care? Not in the slightest! Tonight, she hoped to entertain many people. But uh...she was lost.

"Welp. That's just wonderful.", she sighed. She flipped her phone open to see if she'd got any messages. And of course. No new messages. She put her phone away and continued to walk for a while. Thankfully, it looked like there was someone there to greet her - a member of her sponsor team! "Finally! I was starting to get worried I'd shown up to the wrong place there. How are ya, sis?~", Hannah exclaimed, running over to greet her sister. Yes, that's right. Her sister.

"Ehh, not bad Han. Yourself?", she hugged her sister affectionately. Due to her recent battles, they hadn't seen each other for quite some time.

"Well, other than excited, quite tired I guess." she said, sounding quite exasperated.  Even though she sounded tired, rest assured, Hannah would give her all when she finally got in there. "So, uh...How's mum and dad?" she asked, a slightly sombre expression on her face.

"They're...they're proud of you, Han. They're going to watch you tonight, so, don't worry about it, m'kay?", she said, reassuring her sister.

"Thanks, Lex." she said, smiling sadly. "A-Anyway, where do we go from here?".

A loud fanfare of cheers and jeers filled the whole stadium. The noise was enough to drive anyone deaf, sending chills down Hannah's spine. Even whilst playing with Arsenal, she hadn't been in front of this many people before. Usually, she'd play in front of about 20,000 people in a final, but this was...an impressive crowd. People sure loved to see their heroes, didn't they? She could emphasise with that, of course. When Hannah was younger, she went to a lot of Arsenal games, and has even got a shirt signed from her favourite player. Of course, seeing her heroes play inspired her to play herself. Right now, they still had a while to go before the games begun, so she had some time to...socialise! Socialise...! Socialise...? Everyone seemed to have their eyes glued to the seemingly endless amount of monitors, 'cept for a few. Well then. Seems like most of the contestants were here. "Better find a seat--", Hannah mumbled to herself. Not wanting to sit down at an empty table and thus seeming like an anti-social outcast, Hannah forced herself to pick a seat. Just then, she heard someone shout "Jade"...It was probably the same Jade that she'd be facing soon. She looked towards the source of the voice. A girl, roughly her own age, shouted. Once she had locked on, she homed right in for the goal.

"You!...Who are you?!", she asked enthusiastically to the blonde girl.

[Desbear]

Jade

Unconsciously sleeping in one of the chairs, Jade had set an alarm to wake her up roughly around when it was her time to fight. Why did her team insist on pulling all-nighters before every match...? She was awoken as she heard someone call her name. Several times. Her eyes cracking open to see Alexa, she gave a small wave as they said hello, before noticing that someone else was walking up; perhaps it would be better if she didn't intrude on that conversation.

GM Post

As the event continued on, the music finally quieted down, and the announcer began to give a speech. You could hear each of your names called, but it doesn't seem like it was time for you to go out yet. He's most likely just giving introductions. You still have a bit of time before the first match.

[GoldForge]

Alexa Lockhart
-----------------
Stay calm, Alexa. Stay cool, we're all friends here... 'cept the monkey man. Man, that monkey could just screw off for all she cared of in the multiverse right now. Now? Now, she'd have to get an entirely new super move, to add insult to injury! But...how? Maybe she'll just screw herself up spectacularly. Yeah, that seemed legit.

"Jade! Good to see you here! E-excited for the big game tonight? I suuuurre am!--"

What's this? Conversation turned down by her best-so-far friend? Blasphemous! Unacceptable! This was it, the funeral of her dignity! Oh what a world, oh, what a night! ...Oh? Something was behind her? Knowing Jade, what could possibly be more amusing than the thought of catching shuteye? Well, she'll be. What the heck was just so--

"You!...Who are you?!"

The jab of conversation smacked her in the head like a rake, causing her to violently flinch and whip around on a heel to face the individual, as though expecting to finally face the bittersweet embrace of death. Though, fortunately, it never came.

Introductions were never her strong point, no matter how bubbly and cheerful-eyed the drinker of her details happened to be. Hopefully, a half-assed dabble of speech would be enough to get the point across and leave her with time to be alone with her thoughts again. Last time she tried to introduce herself to somebody, she exploded.

"Eh-- uh... Alexa." Syllables fell out clumsily from the face framed by locks the color of a mustard disaster. Clearly, she was experiencing great difficulty in keeping up sociable prowress, lips twisted in a half-smile. All in all, she really sounded like she couldn't wait to go home after all this. "...Counterpart of Goldlock, sits in room and feels like garbage. Yuuup, that's me. 'Sup, kiddo?" In all it's juiciest details, the truth was delivered in a sigh. Whoops.

[Lunartic]

From what she's been told, Ashley wouldn't be difficult for Jessie to spot in a crowd: burly, muscular, missing an arm, and carrying a shotgun. She didn't really believe that last part. Who brings a shotgun to an Astral battle? Aside from the Astral. Ah well. After about a minute, she found him sitting with what was probably his team. The stub where an arm should be was a dead give-away. No one else she saw had any missing limbs and . . . well, he actually did carry a shotgun. Damn. How'd he get away with that? He was looking pretty focused at the moment, probably getting "in the mood" for his next fight, so Jessie didn't bother interrupting him. They could talk after his match.

Speaking of the match, where's Aaron? He's going up in a couple minutes, but a no-show means he forfeits the match. That would leave a really bad impression for his first fight. Jessie pulled out her phone to text him. She wasn't paying much attention while walking back to her seat and accidentally stepped on a girl's foot. "Oh gosh, sorry about that!" she said to her. "I was on my phone and didn't bother looking up." The girl was about the same height as Jessie, maybe a bit shorter, and had dark green hair. An odd choice, but she couldn't really say much with her own hair colour. "Pretty smooth, right?"

[Tickles]

Ash was nursing that water, trying his best to remember what his favorite whiskey tasted like. But all he tasted was disappointment. "So, what do you guys have on this Aaron person"

"Well, his astral is Wukong. He has a tendancy to make clones out of his fur, and he wields a weapon called the Ruyi Jingu Bang."

Ash snickered at the weapon name. Sounds like he just got a new nickname for his lower member. "Anything else?"

Amadeus closed his eyes and and pulled up a small report. "At least read this before you start asking more questions. The team writes these to give you insight."

"Fine," Ash took the paper in his hand and began to read it. "But I tell ya, reading is not my strong point. Can't you guys add pictures, preferably in pop-up form?" He took note of one thing. Wukong could transform, and it was where his power would drop. 'Perfect, I already know I can beat him."

"Do not underestimate your foe Ash. There are reasons why this astral is equal to heaven. Don't let your guard down for a second."

"Yeah, yeah. Look, you retired after losing to the strongest fighter in the world. I'm still young and spry. I got this, piece of cake, in the bag, and everything that means I have this. Now, can I have that whiskey I wanted?"

Amadeus began to pinch the bridge of his nose, sighing in disappointment. "No, Ash. You act more of a child than my grand son."

Ash laughed and fired a nerf dart at a fly buzzing around for some reason. It hit the mark, knocking the creature out of the air. "I still got it."

[LunarOrbiter]

In hindsight, maybe she was a bit too hasty with her sudden confrontation. It sounded more like a challenge rather than a friendly introduction. Ah well. There was no point in worrying about it now. In fact, the girl who turned around looked infinitely more worried than Hannah did. Her awkward smile didn't seem to help either. Wait a second...was this?!

"Oh, I remember you! You were at last year's tourney, right? God, how could I forget such a clumsy girl like you?", she shouted, enthusiastic to finally meet her. She remembered watching Alexa and Goldlock on the big screen last year. At first the underdogs, they actually proved themselves to be a worthy opponent. Well, you don't get into the tournament for nothing. That's for sure. Still, she couldn't believe she was actually meeting her in the flesh. If Hannah remembered correctly, Alexa would be playing against Steven Fukui. She had to admit, she didn't know much about this Steven character but she was sure that Alexa would give him a good game. Okay, so, Hannah might be a total fangirl, but who cares?! Anyway--

Noticing her voice was rather deafening, she tried to talk a little quieter. "Hey, Alexa! I'm Hannah... Bailey." she said as if almost forgetting her second name for a second. Eh, it happened. "Um...it's nice to meet you Alexa!", she whispered this time. She outstretched a hand, smiling brightly at the girl. Hopefully, she hadn't scared her off by this point. That would really suck.

[Desbear]

Jade

Yawning as Alexa began to say something about being excited for the game, Jade gave a subtle nod as she leaned her head back in the chair, trying to get some sleep. "Yeah... Yeah, I'm excited." She muttered, before slowly dozing off once again... Only to be awoken near immediately as a foot collided with her own... Painfully hard. As they muttered something trying to explain themselves, she merely brought her feet up to rest her head on her knees, wincing for a moment before opening her eyes. "Yeah... Real frickin' smooth.

Stella

As the event continued, Stella paced in circles; almost oblivious to the rest of the participants. Instead, she seemed to be going over several papers of written strategy, before sighing; stuffing them into the pockets of her jacket as she began to shuffle around. "I can't just... Go over strategy the entire time. I'll be too nervous by the time I get up there if I do that... No, maybe... I should try talking to someone, try getting my nerves to calm down. Who doesn't seem to be too busy...? Ah, maybe her...?" Shuffling up to the girl with the box over her head, Stella cleared her throat, glancing around as she looked around. "So... Excited for the tournament...?"

GM

As the announcer's speech came to an end, there was an audible pause, before the crowd went wild; the screens in the backroom all lighting up, displaying the astral profiles for Ashley Williams' very own Dovahkiin, and Aaron Stillen's Wukong. A speaker cut in, in the back room; his voice coming through crystal clear. "GET READY, FOR THE FIRST MATCH OF THE DAY! It's Aaron Stillen, versus Ashley Williams! Come on stage, guys!"

[Tickles]

Wait, what?! No, it's Ash! ASH!

He bolted out of the room before Amadeus could talk sense into him. He was fuming. How dare someone say his proper name without his permission. He got onto the stage, and pulled his nerf gun on the announcer.

"You got some nerve!"

He fired a dart right at the guys head. He then holstered his gun quick, expecting a fight.

"You better be feeling lucky tonight."

He walked to the sync station while flipping the bird.

[The-Blades-slave]

Aaron
Aaron was close enough to see the entrance of the Galactic Stadium now. The building was a shining star in the otherwise dark city, easily discernible from miles around, and he was close enough to hear the music blasting with deafening force. His muscles burned like he hadn't felt in the last two years, and his lungs screamed for him to slow down and breathe, but the thought of being late was enough to give him his second wind.

The looming figures of two tall men wearing black jackets that read "SECURITY" in big, bold yellow letters blocked the entrance. Aaron knew he wasn't supposed to enter through here - the competitors had a special entrance in the back that lead directly to their waiting room - but he could hear the announcer calling for the first contest and knew he didn't have time to loop around the big building.

"Sorry fellas, no time to explain!" Aaron burst through the entrance. The two men lunged at him and tried to grab him, but he ducked under their outstretched arms, stumbled for a second and then kept running. He was in the final stretch now, and he wasn't going to lose this tournament before he had ever even made it to the starting line.

"Aaron Stillen, please report to the sync station! I repeat, please report to the sync station! This is your last chance before you forfeit the match!" The announcer's voice was even louder now that he was inside the building, where every wall had a huge speaker tacked up to it. Aaron weaved through the crowd of people standing around in the lobby, yelling apologies for bumping them as fast as he could while simultaneously staying a step ahead of the security guards. They were following him now, and they were taking none of the precautions to not run people over.

He careened into a doorway, and stopped dead in his tracks. This was the stadium: every inch lit up by lights, ever single extra space covered by gigantic monitors that were playing runs of past battles and advertisements, a live band playing on stage and every single seat filled - an accomplishment that blew his mind, because he knew the Galactic Stadium held well over 100,000 people. He could even see the sync station, with a huge man (who he assumed to be Ash Williams, his opponent) standing on the left side, tapping his foot impatiently.

"I'm here! I'm not forfeiting!" Aaron shouted, leaping over the blockade that had been set up to divide where the spectator seats ended and the arena began. He sprinted over to the sync station Ash was at and doubled over, his hands on his knees as he greedily sucked in the air he had been denying his lungs. "Sorry I'm late, I got caught up at -"

Before he could finish his sentence a security guard crashed into him, and he was slammed into the ground. "No! No, I'm supposed to be here! I have an ID, I just was late and I couldn't take the normal entrance and - " he continued to stutter an incoherent explanation, rummaging through his shirt pocket and pulling out an ID that matched his name and description.

(Really struggled with this post. To clarify: Aaron entered through the spectators area, if that wasn't clear. The reason he got tackled by the security guard was 1.) he didn't present an ID, and 2.) any competitor is supposed to come through the backstage area.)