open The Dark Tournament (FULL!)

[Justin ZW 396]

@@Fivefs

Swordpoint examined Standoff carefully. "He's certainly the stronger of the two... but she is clever, and sometimes, that is all that matters."

 

There was a loud bang as the door to the lobby flew open. Swordpoint wheeled around to find Rune Breaker, very much out of breath. Swordpoint trotted to him. "Rune! You are awake! Oh... is something the matter? You seem distressed..."

[Fivefs 38]

@, @,

"You've got a horrible curse on your head eating away at your brain! And it's there because of me, of course I'm distressed!"  Rune was obviously very sleep deprived and the words came out sounding a lot worse then he had intended.  But his mind was operating slowly right now so he didn't seem to notice or care.

Edited May 22, 2013 by Fivefs

[Justin ZW 396]

@@Fivefs

Swordpoint held his hoof up to Rune. "Stop. You mustn't blame yourself. Now tell me... what have you been doing all night? You left without a word. I--"

 

Swordpoint stopped when he felt a familiar presence. It was... calming. Warm. It reminded him of Rainbow. That... that's just like her... but it cannot be her... can it?

[Fivefs 38]

@,

At first Rune didn't realize that Swordpoint had trailed off and began to reply, "I've been working really hard on something," his fogged mind caught up with him as he saw the strange look on Swordpoint's face, it seemed like happiness, confusion  disbelief and peace all at the same time, "I think it will help you a-... Are you okay?'

[Octavia's Bow 2,035]

(Many apologies. Today was busier than most)
 

Radioactive ran a quick systems check, and pulled herself away from watching. Coming up with nothing out of the ordinary, she paced back out into the arena, walking along the paths marked to her entrance point. It is unfortunate that I have to kill these ponies. It means I cannot afford friendships, or at least be cautious in making them. Note to self, learn the limitations of the council on wishes. What can and will be granted. The wishes, after all, is why this game is so popular in the next couple of centuries, when everything goes to hell. That, and arena fighting being a popular sport to those who have to fight to survive daily. I am fortunate to be smart enough to make my own armor; it has served me well. I am unfortunate to only have my helmet, it leaves a much greater week point...

[Undyne 1,483]

@@Umbreon, "Right, the natives are restless. I'm sorry it came to this so quickly, but I need that wish. I'll give you one chance. Back down, and we could perhaps be friends. But that won't happen, will it? No. But I came prepared. I'm not sure if Red's introduced himself, so I'll assume he hasn't. Red's a friend of mine. He lives in my head, but that doesn't mean he's stuck there. He can control me, but nopony else. Want to hear what makes him useful? He can... move things around. Not just in my head. What you just saw? That was him making sure he could do it on you. That was him moving it to the front. HEY! RED! On the count of three, start breaking whatever looks important!" Standoff leveled his launcher. "He won't kill you. He can't. What he CAN do is make you crazy enough to kill yourself, just to make it stop." He smiled, and in his eyes was a cold, calculated madness. "I wonder how long you'll last. ONE!"

Right when he had started to count, two of her creepers had shot from her shadow, immediately clutching into Standoff's.

 

"And I'll give YOU the count of three. I shall fill you in on my adorable creepers. They go into your shadow. They begin to bite and tear at your insides. They'll slowly eat you alive, making others believe you've gone insane... And like I have stated before: the sun is out. Take a look at your shadow... And the shadow of the arena."

 

Sure enough, Standoff's shadow had extended all the way to Lite...

 

"And not only that..."

 

The creepers had began to tug Standoff down into the ground. More as his shadow.

 

"I love to play a little... Dirty."

[Justin ZW 396]

@@Fivefs

Swordpoint shook his head. "... it is nothing. What were you doing? And you should know that I want more answers about this... curse. I need to know what to expect... and how long I have left. Please... tell me." His eyes pleaded silently. In truth, he was terrified. The last thing he wanted was to lose Rainbow, but now... even if he saved her, he would still forget her eventually.

[Senor Citizen 516]

@@Umbreon, Standoff steeled himself. It hurt, but he now had his chance. He spoke in a normal tone of voice. "Red, hit it." Bringing up the launcher, he shot a shell towards Lite. It went quickly and left a white...

Trail...

Of smoke?

Standoff cursed and covered his eye.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_phosphorus)

Red waited until Standoff's order, and then plunged both hooves into Lite's pain centre. Sorry about this. Wait, no I'm not! AHAHAHA!

Edited May 22, 2013 by baman

[Fivefs 38]

@, 

"Okay..." Rune's gaze started to become distant before snapping back, "yeah follow me."  He turned trotting back to the 3rd arena, there were no more runes or the circle visible at all, except for at the very center of the ring which glowed blindingly bright.  It seem to be a rune contained in the ground but patterns seem to swirl in it, they couldn't be made out though they were too bright it hurt to try and look at them so closely.

 

"Swordpoint go stand in the center of that."

Edited May 22, 2013 by Fivefs

[Justin ZW 396]

@@Fivefs

Swordpoint stared at the runes for a moment and then looked back at Rune. "... I trust you," was all he said. He walked slowly into the center of the circle. "Now, then, what would you--" He felt the presence again. Just like Rainbow Dash... and nearby. Certainly this is a trick... I am not so foolish as to fall for a falsehood such as this. He shook it off again and looked back at Rune. "I apologize. What would you have me do?"

[Fivefs 38]

@, 

"Nothing, hold still this might pinch a little."  Rune lit up his horn and stamped his hoof, "At least it should only be a little... I hope I cast it all right. Oh well." He flicked his head upward and his magic flared. 

 

The circular rune suddenly snapped up on to Swordpoint like a bear trap, pieces of it flipping out and clamping like smaller rat traps all across his hide.  The swirling patterns flowed to the points where it met his skin pushing their way out and digging into his skin.  Rune Breaker grimaced, "Okay! Little more than a pinch! Sorry! Don't fight it though, try to stay still..."

[Justin ZW 396]

@@Fivefs

Swordpoint felt the magic grip him. "Augh... Rune," he grunted, "this had better serve some purpose..." The pain was nothing new, but he didn't enjoy it. Again, he felt the strange presence... closer, this time. Coming from outside the building. He completely forgot about the pain in his body, focusing only on the energy he felt. ... This is impossible. It must be her... but how could she have escaped? Please... Just let it be her. Let her be alive. Let me see her again... hold her. I must know she lives.

[Fivefs 38]

The magic circle wrapped it's way around Swordpoint covering him like a mummy in runic text and patterns and then sinking into his skin to disappear.  "Oh yup of course!  haha and it worked too!  I had to pay you back I mean for what I-... what Knightfall did, though I had a part of it too.  I want you to win so you can undo what he did and to win you've got to be at your strongest."

[Justin ZW 396]

@@Fivefs

Swordpoint felt a rush of energy. "Wh... what is this? I feel magic flowing freely through my veins... I imagine that I could cast spells like a unicorn and not tire for a long time." He glanced at Rune Breaker. "Thank you, Rune. But perhaps you could tell me what else this little trick of yours has done."

[Fivefs 38]

@, 

 

"Well you absorbed your armor yesterday when you were fighting me then used it to overload the alchemist circle, so you can't use it anymore, but I mean I bet you'll need it if you want a chance at winning so I worked to make a new one.  I know it's not Celestia made so it might not be as good but I compressed all the runes and the circle from the fight into it and the magic you used left an impression of what it was like and how it worked"  Rune, sleep deprived as he was, realized he was rambling, "just try summoning in the armor, haha lets see how it turned out." 

Edited May 22, 2013 by Fivefs

[Literally Snails 2,307]

@, @@Applejack25,

 

"Alright, fighters, You may begin!" The ref said, starting the second match.

 

"This is perfect!" An audience member said.

 

"Those two are so evenly matched, they'll be at it for hours!"

 

(As for all of you waiting, we're only having two fights at a time so I can focus more on each one. Sorry to make you wait.)

Edited May 22, 2013 by Topaz

[Justin ZW 396]

@@Fivefs

Swordpoint extended his wings. They began to glow in his usual bright gold, and he released the spell. The glow surrounded his body, and quickly materialized into a set of white armor. The armor itself was littered with runes, and Swordpoint could feel its power coursing through him. "Amazing... While this isn't as strong as Celestia's armor, it is a close second. I thank you, Rune Breaker."

[Preeminent Pisces 100]

Goldre watched as the fights began. She flew up into the air and perched on a cloud to get a better view. The sunbathing urge crept upon her and she soon dozed off beneath the welcoming warmth of the beautiful sun.

I hope I don't get a burn....or....tan....zzzzzzz

[Undyne 1,483]

@@Umbreon, Standoff steeled himself. It hurt, but he now had his chance. He spoke in a normal tone of voice. "Red, hit it." Bringing up the launcher, he shot a shell towards Lite. It went quickly and left a white...

Trail...

Of smoke?

Standoff cursed and covered his eye.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_phosphorus)

Red waited until Standoff's order, and then plunged both hooves into Lite's pain centre. Sorry about this. Wait, no I'm not! AHAHAHA!

The only thing she could hear at that point was the shot from his grenade launcher, and the cackling of red... She closed her eyes for a split second and opened them back up. Her eyes were nothing but obsidian balls.

 

Suddenly, a fairly big sized dome surrounded Lite, her entire body becoming the same hue as the dome. Along with the outside of her body, her internal state had also became black. This was to confuse the living mess out of Red, to make sure that she wouldn't have anything in her body messed up as well.

 

Not only that, but the shell that Standoff had shot was dissolved into the dome, and a few seconds later, a small, crumpled up piece of metal was flicked into the middle of the arena ring.

 

"Creepers!", she called out. "You know what to do!"

 

At that moment, the creepers had made their way into Standoff's body, but instead of gnawing at his stomach like Nightfall, they instead went towards his nerve center, slashing at it like mad.

[Senor Citizen 516]

@@Umbreon, Standoff ignored the pain and went through his options. There weren't many. He was so focused on weathering whatever the shadows were doing to him, he almost missed the clink from behind him. Making an effort, he turned and saw what looked like an EMP grenade.

But the paint was different...

Standoff figured out what it was and smiled, whispering "You clever, clever bastard." He lunged forward, temporarily breaking the shadows and grabbed the purple canister. He yanked the pin and thrust it into the air, the lettering on the side glittering in the dying sunlight.

MDG

(Magic-Draining Grenade)

[Undyne 1,483]

@

 

Lite knew she wasn't going to last long... She had an idea. It was horribly dirty, but it would at least hinder Standoff.

 

"STOP! STOP THE MATCH! I FORFEIT!", she quickly cried out, breaking the dome around her, and to recall all but one of the creepers to her side. Standoff would not know this, but the creeper had stayed to his shadow without him physically or mentally feeling it at all...

 

((Give the current situation from before, I'll just drop from the tournament. However, I'm just making it a tad harder for Standoff to advance.))

 

@ 

[Senor Citizen 516]

@@Umbreon, Standoff staggered with the relief of the shadows leaving, but steadied himself quickly. He walked up to Lite and looked down at her sadly. Then, his face hardened. "Forfeit this." He raised his hoof and brought it down hard on her throat, then took her head by the mane and tore it clean off. Tossing it to one side, he waved to the crowd.

(Sorry, Umby, but Standoff knows when to put on a show.)

[RAGESTAR 479]

Crimson frowned as he watched swordpoint and rune breaker discuss swordpoints new armor, and abilities given to him by the strange runes, crimson then growled and walked in between them, "so let me get this straight.......you can use your powers and magic now......but I can't use my pyrokenisis? Or haven't you told him were NOT trying to kill eachother!!" Crimson then turned to rune with a smile, "I'm crimson by the way, and in case swordpoint here hasn't told you, I'm on your guys side, so can you please try not to give swordpoint too many weapons to kill me with in our fight?" Crimson then looked at swordpoint again, "nice armour by the way.......i never really liked wearing armour myself though.....it really chafes.....anyways, what's on the agenda for our first plan? Sneaking into the heart of the facility? Sabotaging the arena with traps? Crimson then smiled widely, "ooh! I got it! How about we beat up topaz! He skipped our fight, and I think its time for a little payback, what do you think guys?" Asked crimson chuckling evilly while rubbing his hoovs together.

[Justin ZW 396]

@, @@Fivefs

Swordpoint held his hoof up to Crimson. "Patience. We are still very much in the public eye. But Rune, here... he is not." He turned to face Rune Breaker. "Rune, do you remember what I told you about the nexus? Well it seems that they may have opened a door to it. If they can harness its power... it could spell doom for us all. If you are willing... I need you to snoop around. Search for any documents, oddities, restricted rooms... anything. And if you are ever discovered or your life is in danger, send me a signal. I will not leave you to die. Of this, you have my word." He placed a hoof on Rune's shoulder. "Perhaps you should wait until after our battle. I will be left with no choice but to forfeit the match if anything happens to you while we battle." He removed his hoof, and there was a faint glow on Rune's shoulder.

 

Swordpoint turned to Crimson. "As far as the weaponry... I shall not use destructive magic. I gave my word, and I am a pony of honor." He closed his eyes and the armor began to glow. It quickly became one with his magic aura and then disappeared.

Edited May 22, 2013 by Justin_ZW

[RAGESTAR 479]

Crimson grinned playfully, "that's good to know, for a minute there I thought we were gonna have to get serious in our match, and by the way.......I don't mean to sound like the bad guy here......but if rune here is gonna do some sneaking around, then wede better make sure knightfall doesn't do somthing to hinder us......I mean, if what you told me is true, then that greedy bastard wants the nexus even more than omnia does......and what's worse......I think sompony else wants their hoovs on the wish......and I think I know who that sompony is......." said crimson darkly.