The Anita Chamber

[Solar Haven]

Adonis smirked as the freak roared in front of him, His sword had embedded itself deep within the freaks stomach. The sound it made burying itself within the freaks stomach made Adonis full of joy, and evil cackle erupted from his mouth. He applied a tighter grip on the sword and pulled it out. He looked up at the freak as the Maul was coming down on top of him, the same maul that had turned his head to jello not to long ago.

There was an incoherent chortle come from within Adonis' mind as he quickly shoulder rolled to the side and snapped his fingers, creating an unwall in front of the Maul slamming it into the ground. The force was so severe it shook the arena and sent Adonis flying back from the pure concussive force. The freak on the other hand just kept looking at the ground, chuckling as his eyes came back up to meet Adonis.

“You got some guts kid, shame I have to spray them across the ground” The freak said as he now faced Adonis.

“Meatsack, let me handle him. You will only get yourself killed.”

“Who are you!” Adonis cried out in frustration as he got up to one knee and got ready to sprint full force into the freak.

“By your tongue? Many call me an Oni, others call me a Demon, but what I really am? Is your only chance at winning this! So consent to me taking over your body”

“Fine, I consent. Only if I get control back after the tournament” Adonis nodded as he took off like a shot towards the freak, sword at the ready to slash through the freaks skin. The freak stood still, not moving even though Adonis was charging him head on.

“Bad move” The freak chuckled as two more arms erupted from his stomach and impaled Adonis, they seemed to latch on to something inside of him. “Mmm, you have Juicy kidneys...” He licked his lips as he stared into Adonis' eyes.

He brought the Maul back up above his head and began to bring it down as strong as he could. Adonis grinned as a white light was briefly visible under his feet. When the light disappeared a wall of dirt erupted from under neath him propelling him upwards. However it was too slow, the Maul connected with Adonis' skull shattering it, it continued to pass through Adonis as the wall beneath his feet pushed him upwards.

The wall crumbled and Adonis, or what was left of him, took to the air. His left arm and leg crossed the arena and splattered against a wall and created a beautiful blood splatter. The right side landed in front of Arden, the man who had saved Adonis before, and slid to a stop leaving a blood smear on the floor.

The was cries of fear, panic, and excitement from all over the walls as a brilliant spray of blood was left all over the arena. Blood and gore was raining from the sky as the freak could be seen standing, drenched in blood, feasting on Adonis' kidneys

“I was right, his kidneys were juicy” He broke out in maniacal laughter as a spine landed on the floor in front of him. “I did say I would spray your guts everywhere”

[Hysteria]

Talen flashed across the ground towards the hounds. The bags of meat snarled, drooled and generally made angry looks towards the shadowy youth. Talen kicked the ground hard, rocketing himself backwards towards the wall. With two easy steps he twisted and launched himself up the wall. His feet found foot holes from the damage caused by Jensen and Draug's fight. In truth, Talen didn't need it. Barely was he two metres up the wall and gravity for him shifted, allowing the youth to stand horizontal to the ground. With a twist and slight flourish he turned back to the dogs.

The next instant was a blur. Tentacles whipped out wildly, smashing into the hounds with freakish ferocity and speed. The dogs didn't go down easy, biting and gnashing against the tentacles. It didn't matter, the youth's limbs were disposable. Every time one of the dogs latched on there was a hiss of acid and then another limb smote the beast. The tentacles retreated and hovered above the two bloodied corpses. The limbs were frayed, torn and burnt. Two had dropped their spikes, covered with blood and acid, while the others looked like half eaten sausages. The hounds faired worse, they hadn't looked much like dogs before hand, now they were barely recognisable mounds of torn flesh and broken bones.

Talen took a few steps backwards, his eyes lifting through the slits in the mask to the battle that raged on. It wasn't of much importance, the youth could feel his own strength failing. There was a howl of surprise behind him as the youth stepped from the wall to the barrier and suddenly was only a metre from the crowd and visible. The youth twisted, slightly taken aback by the noise. His concentration so intense that he had forgotten that this was an exhibition match. The youth's mind paused. This was only the first of potentially more fights. With more fights came more opportunities. Talen let the magic holding the tentacles waver, and finally dissipate. The youth stood on the barrier, his hunched and thin form splattered with his and others blood. The thin smoke trail from his cigarette moved past his cheek, without any wind in the barrier it moved in an unnaturally straight line. Nature doesn't build straight lines... thought Talen. Just like that odd expression, neither did Talen. The youth knew that he couldn't do much more but harass the abomination in his current state. A long drawn out battle, with potentially a painful and fulfilling end.

The youth lifted his sword and pointed it at his chest. There were a few jeers and shouts from the crowd behind him. The youth knew that he wouldn't be the favourite this match, especially bowing out without giving the crowd the opportunity of watching him die. It didn't matter much to him though. He would let his death go to the man Adnois rather than the abomination as another chalk line for Ixians he had killed. Shadows lifted outwards, covering the youth in a sphere of darkness and free from watching eyes. With a grunt he pushed the sword deep into his chest wound, cutting through lung and arteries. The ball of darkness fell from the wall, dissipating as it did. Only the merest shred of darkness his the ground, everything that was Talen, his weapons, blood and body disappeared across the arena.

[Prophet]

Damn. If you let me get one more post up, i would've been dead. But death by plant works too. Arden, if you care to die, as EVERYONE except abom you and me have done, allow my stab to hit you. If not, Kill Kyle. He's had enough pain.

Kyle head the roar, and crashed to the ground in a heap, none of his body responding. His mouth still in that grin, his back seeping blood.

His lung, the one good one, had already given out, it's too hard for it to work like that. His heart was slowing by the second. He shuddered once, and then his eyes widened as death struck the final verdict.

He lay still on the dirt, barely breathing...

[Arden]

Arden, all too eager to draw blades with Draug, came to an abrupt halt halfway. Standing between the shape shifter and the now carnal remains of the other combatants, he realised he had overestimated his own success. The words of his mentor echoed in his mind, louder than the impetuous din of the baying crowds.

Let them fall on their own swords.

Silent, but breathing heavily, the Hound observed his final obstacle. On form, Draug sent minions to do his dirty work, and another flesh hound charged with gibbering maw and slavering tongue. Its bloodied hide dripped with every pounce, it’s deep, guttural growl was reminiscent of all the dead it had eaten in its life. Arden grinned.

He sheathed Kerria. The hound was unworthy. He unsheathed his short sword, a simple, single-edged steel blade from its bulwark scabbard on his back. The sphere of silence remained around his head, dulling some senses, heightening others.

Shit. He roared mentally, pain erupting behind his shoulder blade, agony rolling down his spine.

He could not scream aloud, but he contorted his face, elongated canine fangs, and arced his back. His sword dropped to the ground. His cloak all but vanished, nothing more than a listless scarf without a mind to will it to life.

Foolish mistake, he mused. He dropped to his knees, wrenching himself free of his attacker’s weapon. He looked up at the dog, grinned, and pushed himself forward, as though launching himself from a starting line.

The hound leapt, maw wide, and aimed to bite the swordsman’s face.

Arden vanished.

The hound, bereft of a target, bounced to the ground, dazed. It saw Prophet. It leapt again, its momentum carrying it into new opportunities.

Arden re-appeared a few feet ahead, blood running down his back beneath his platemail, fatigue setting in. He continued in a run towards Draug. He smiled at the fortunate resolution to an unfortunate oversight. As he moved, his wound congealed, and tendrils of blood formed ribbons in his wake, as though something were growing from the injury.

The sphere of silence dissipated. Arden chose another way to deliver his message. Actions, often enough, were more deafening than words.

He clenched his fists. He keened his gaze at the homunculus.

He was too consumed by his mission to notice the cruel humiliation inflicted upon Prophet behind him, or the violent end that awaited him at the hands of the flesh hound.

He careened at Draug, without a blade, and with a loud, rumbustious bark echoing out from every, heavy-footed step.

“For Kyla!” he bellowed. Without blood on his hands, his martyring cry sent chills through the crowd. A loved one, perhaps? A sister?

Only the Ixian Knights would know what the name meant, and why Arden Janelle would never take a life in cold blood again. Not even for money. Not even for fame. Not even for Sei Orlouge.

My death is in your hands, Abomination.

Finis.

[Prophet]

And im out.

Kyle struggled, and freed himself, and then, as if it were an ax, a shooting pain racked him, his heart palpitated, and he smiled that insane grin one last time, before his eyes shuddered, and flickered out. His chest fell, and did not rise again, and his body went limp. He passed on, his body slowly dissolving into flame, along with his weapon, with the onyx he has braided into his hair that day, left behind...

[Abomination]

Permission obtained from involved parties. My last post because... well... there's nobody left!

Draug's extra limbs absorbed back into his body, letting whatever was left of Adonis fall to the ground in chunks. The Abomination was drenched in crimson liquid, as if he was standing under a waterfall of blood. The skin on his face finally grew over his exposed teeth and his eyebrows reformed, making his expression more somber than before.

He took another bite out of the kidneys and then threw them away, holding the maul up when he felt that two of his minions had met their end. He looked over to their corpses and scanned the area, but he couldn't see any sign of the Shadow Walker. At first he thought that Talen was hidden, preparing to attack him like he had before, but he could no longer feel the shadowy presence that drained his strength.

He escaped...

This was not good. Very shortly he was going to be trapped in this barrier, and then what? No, he had to finish this, one way or another. His remaining opponent charged him, but it didn't look like he was wielding any weapon.

Is this a trick?

The Cult's Champion brandished the maul with one hand. Bandages hung from his arms, running down his legs in sticky liquid, and the pungent odor of blood filled the area. He felt a pain in his head, of course not as bad as the one earlier, but still enough to distract him. His very being was reacting to Jensen's memories of Stephanie, and what's more, he felt that some of her memories were within him as well. Was it Cassandra's Gift? Was it part of Stephanie's essence? Were her memories carried within it, or were these memories something deeper within him? He didn't know the answer, and in his distraction he failed to notice that Arden was already upon him.

The Hound took the opportunity to land a fist in Draug's gut, nearly punching through the flesh weakened by Adonis' attack. Blood flowed out of Draug's mouth as he lifted the maul and brought it down upon Arden, who deftly evaded it with a sidestep, following up the dodge with a kick into Draug's maul-wielding fist, knocking it out of his hands and to the ground. The Abomination snarled, reeling from the attack momentarily before opening his palms and trying to grab the remaining Ixian.

Arden continued to dodge and counter-attack, sending kicks and punches to Draug's body. The Abomination was already winded from all this fighting, no longer having enough blood to spawn the extra limbs he needed to take advantage of a close range fight. He almost caught some of Arden's hair in one swipe, but The Hound used Draug's own momentum against him to deliver a roundhouse kick to his jaw. Draug took a step back from the attack, his sheer mass keeping from being knocked away by the attack. When he recovered he reached out to grab Arden's throat, but The Hound ducked under the attack and moved to the side. Draug saw his chance and opened his mouth wide, shooting out an iron dagger from his throat. Arden was however too quick for such a move, so he jumped back to narrowly avoid the dagger.

The Hound saw Draug reach to grab his arms and was preparing to dodge the attack, but he found himself unable to move with a sudden pain in his ankle. He looked down and saw Draug's minion from before latched onto his leg, keeping him down in one spot. Before he knew it, Draug had wrapped his hands around Arden's triceps. The Hound tried to pull away, but it was too late.

Draug ripped his arms off.

Arden was in shock from the damage, the color draining from his body. He was about to collapse when Draug grabbed his head with his right hand.

"You're the last one," Draug spat. "It is done, mother."

Arden gave a weak grin, his expression just barely visible under Draug's grip, "I am far from the last, monster. If you think the Ixian Knights can so easily be bro-"

SQUISH! Draug squeezed Arden's head as hard as he could, letting what remained of The Hound fall to the ground like a rag doll. He stared at Arden's body for a moment, half-expecting him to get right back up, but that did not appear to be the case. He looked at Jensen's headless body one last time and saw no movement as well.

And then a smile crossed his lips. He couldn't help but laugh, cackling into the sky while still holding the top part of Arden's crushed skull.

He yelled into the sky, "Now you have all seen what happens when you defy the Cult! Your only salvation, your only chance at true freedom is to join us, to accept the truth of your primal desires, to shed your mask of humanity!" His regurgitated words held no true meaning for him, for he had his own sinister ambition separate from his mother.

He knew now that his chance at ascension was in Stephanie's memories. If he succeeded in his plans, not even Sei could stop him.

[Silence Sei]

Now, because this thread had so many participants, individual commentary is only available upon request, and will be done in the privacy of PMs only. Anyways, onto the scores!

	Enigmatic Immortal	Abomination	Hysteria	Solar Haven	Prophet	The Hound
Story	7	7	5	4	1	6
Setting	6	5	4	5	2	4
Pacing	4	7	6	5	2	4
Communication	8	6	5	5	3	6
Action	8	8	6	5	1	6
Persona	8	9	7	6	4	6
Mechanics	6	8	5	4	2	9
Clarity	9	7	8	8	2	4
Technique	7	5	5	6	1	6
Wildcard	9	8	7	7	5	7
Total	72/100	70/100	58/100	55/100	23/100	58/100

Enigmatic Immortal, Homunculus, The Hound and Hysteria go on to Round 2!

Exp will be calculated shortly. Congrats to the winners!

[Silence Sei]

EI gets 3900 Exp
Abom gets 3900 Exp
The Hound gets 3410 Exp
Hysteria gets 3410 Exp
Prophet gets 170
Solar Haven gets 250 Exp

All of you get 100 GP.

[Mordelain]

Experience and gold added.