Amidst the fighting between thugs and trainees, the walls revealed tiny slits unseen to the human eye as invisible laser lights covered the area, scanning the fighter's bodies and revealing to The Host all their little secrets, strengths, and weaknesses. He glowered, leaning back on his console chair as he admired the scene from afar in his quaint little control room. Slowly, the thugs began to dissipate and disband as the speakers of the warehouse blared to life.

"Congratulations newcomers and latecomers alike! You have just pledged your entrance fee of...your lives!"

A high-pitched whirring sound interrupted their brawl as a huge tesla cannon that resembled a highly exaggerated sci-fi prop emanated from the Warehouse's ceiling. It begun to blast the fighters into oblivion one by one. Or so they thought. The Host had actually zapped them into another dimension; one that would surely test their true limits.

"No rest for the wicked as they say...let the first rounds commence."[/i]






Objective
Welcome everyone! Now for the moment you've all been waiting for. This thread will act as a hub for all the Round 1 entries and other miscellanea. It doesn't get any simpler than this: as soon as you see who you're up against and where the battle is taking place, start writing your respective battles and post them on here IN SPOILERS. As soon as both entries from the same bracket are posted, I will make a new thread with a poll and the voting may begin! By the end of the week since that thread's creation, the written work with the most votes will be the winner of that round! Well...not exactly. Onto specifics...



wRHG Tournament Battle Mechanics
This tournament is special in that we will be using a Point System to determine the victor of each round. Whoever has the most accumulated points at the end of each Round wins (and will get a Bye in the 2nd Round). And if you lose, your points will still determine how you will be seeded in the Loser's Bracket. Let's go over these Mechanics one by one shall we?

Votals - Natch. In every voting period after both entries are submitted, every vote is worth FIVE points.

Themes - Every Round will have their own common theme by which all participants should adhere. It could be anything: a special element, a unique win condition, a debilitating or strengthening modifier for either competitor. Anything. For this Round, the theme is called Evening the Odds. More on that later.

Ante - Feel like the votes will trump your entry against the midcarder by sheer popularity? Think you actually write better than the other guy? Why don't you put your money where your mouth is and bet a sliver of your points for twice the amount! Every Round, there will be 3 kinds of Ante's available: Easy, Medium, and Hard. Each of them will cost you 5, 10, and 15 points respectively and would reward you with 10, 20, and 30 points as a result.

Before the start of every round, you may declare your right to take ONE Ante. The Ante will then be revealed...usually an extra thing to write or a new win condition. You must then write to that Ante and if you are successful, you gain double the amount of points. If you lose or fail it, you lose the amount of the original cost. Please note that every Ante is different for every bracket. An Easy Ante for Azure Kite for example, would be different than the Easy Ante for Lobotomizer if they are not fighting together in the same bracket.

Clarifications:
- You may not pick the same Ante as your opponent.
- Once you see the Ante's condition, you may no longer back out. If you fail to deliver, you will lose those points you bet.
- Your Ante applies to YOU only. Even if it concerns another player, that player does not need to adhere to the Ante's rules as long as it ain't his.

Bonus Wins - In addition to the current objective of the Round, there will be an extra Bonus Win condition that is constant for all the Rounds. Points for this Bonus element will always be constant: 20 pts.

CNC Benefits - Competitors will get 10 extra points for every battle in this tournament they CNC. They must both vote AND comment why they voted for that person. It could be as simple as just liking some specific thing. CNC Points will not count if the comment is vague or unhelpful and you can only CNC a maximum of THREE times. Moreso, if the cnc is extremely detailed, explaining more than just one thing, the cnc-er will get an extra 5 points.

Judge's Favor - In any of the votable threads in any round, if a judge has deemed an entry very exceptional, fully utilizing the environment given to him, he will recieve Me or acute's blessing by announcing so. A judge's favor grants an extra 15 pts to your current score.



What do I do?
1. On the bottom of this post you will find this round's bracket as well as the conditions and theme which may or may not alter how the round will play out.

2. You must first post here as a sign that you are still alive and active with the following:ng who you're fighting agaisnt in this round.
- Mention the Ante that you wish to take if any (Easy Medium Hard), otherwise just say "No Ante"[/spoiler]3. You may then begin writing your entry as usual: with you as the victor. You may then post it in this thread as well when you're done. IN SPOILERS. Please DO NOT make your own thread. No googledocs. No textuploaders. You must. Post it here.

4. As soon as I have both entries of the same bracket, I will put up a voting thread in the battles section and the voting may commence. If your opponent fails to produce an entry and post here, he/she will be forced to forfeit and the other guy will move on to the next round!

5. Aaaand that's it. You have until a week and a half from now AKA July 10, 2013 to post all your entries. The deadlines for the polls themselves will be a week from whence they are posted.



Theme
Our theme for this round is Evening the Odds. In our last bout, the rankings were based on Strogest writer to Weakest, with the rankings ultimately pitting them against each other to avoid early clashes. For this round, the lower seeds AKA the weaker ranks will have an ADVANTAGE that will even them up with their opponent for that round. The Strong writers should be able to handle a ramp in difficulty, while the weak ones will have a chance at being the best they can be. These ADVANTAGES are mostly location biases, with some of them being augmentations and debilitations to the lowseeds and highseeds respectively. Here are the brackets and their conditions:

"Strong vs Weak" Bracket for Round 1:

Lobotomizer vs merich1's powers was also once a great teacher and instructor of the pencil art. In this Abandoned School for Gifted Wizards, classrooms and staff rooms abound. Just imagine your typical school setting with 2 exceptions: 1) Pencilliums Magical Pencils litter almost every room as they are considered default office supplies in this place. and 2) The School is actually floating using high amounts of magic, 10,000 ft above the Earth away from prying eyes. It is not sitting on anything and just the school itself is floating so as a result, no decent earthen soil can be found (rendering Kalena's sword power useless).

Lobotomizer has initiated a Hard Ante: Corvon was left at the Warehouse when you got zapped, stranding you alone. The school also has actually a defense mechanism that prevents interlopers, cutting off any magical essence surrounding it. Kalena and Pencillium must now deal with the fact that the entire school is going to fall into the earth in FIVE minutes. Even worse, one of the school's children is lost and hiding in the classrooms. So to summarize, you must a) save this child, b) defeat pencillium without Corvon, and c) somehow do it all within the span of FIVE minutes.[/I][/spoiler]

blakphoenix vs Azure Kiteg brick-laden spire sitting on top of a hill in the middle of an abyss; a 100 ft drop into nowhere. It is said that the the tower itself was once a beacon of light that protected itself from danger. Now The Host has requisitioned this spire for his tournament and wouldn't you know, The Tower itself requires GEMS to power up...

Note to Azure Kite: When you make your post in this thread, you must choose FIVE of the SEVEN gems blakphoenix' character possesses. Those gems will be extracted from his sword and locked in an indestructible glass orb on the top of this tower and he will NOT have any access to those elements for the rest of the fight.

Update: Zero cannot use the following gems in this Round: Fire, Water, Wind, Lightning, Ice [/spoiler]

ErrorBlender vs GamerXD8ry is the place where Technical Machines are made. They come in every shape and size, and at an infinite number, and even include some experimental ones that Lucario might not know of yet. Even better, is that the entire Corporate HQ is housed by a Psi-Emitter in order to prevent industrial espionage. This basically means that Aura is EVERYWHERE and at the total utility of anyone capable of mastering the art of Aura Manipulation!

GamerXD8 has initiated an Easy Ante: Between Lucario and Blanc, you must both use a total of 8 TMs from the factory. Blanc MUST use at least 3. Note that equipment lying around the factory is available to use TMs if you inherently cannot.[/I]

ErrorBlender has initiated a Medium Ante: You must write the entire battle without any of the characters uttering a single word. Even exclamations (Ow! Damn!). Not even your character's internal monologue is allowed. Both characters must communicate using the power of body language and action.[/I][/spoiler]

Anywho vs saintmccawred into the ocean depths to try and discover a new power source. They never got to it, and so their submarine remained untouched in the abyss for centuries until The Host decided it was a good idea to fool around in it. This rickety old sub is a WWII-era vessel with outdated equipment and cramped confined spaces that would make a claustrophic die.

In addition, the place is in ABSOLUTE darkness (both in the sub and out in the ocean) making any vision unacceptable but consistent with any other vision. Therefore, The Saint's Evil Eye ability gains none of its usual weaknesses here. He can also have it on all the time. In addition, there is a weapons locker at the very back of the sub that contains every kind of melee weapon known to man (no guns here however). The problem is, can you find it in this place?

Note that you can make something to be able to see but by default, darkness blankets the area.

Anywho has initiated a Medium Ante: This battle must involve the active (both characters must come into contact with it) participation of a gargantuan sea creature that is bigger than the submarine. It cannot be the reason The Saint loses, however and you still have to defeat him yourself.[/I]

saintmccaw has initiated an Easy Ante: Beat your opponent without ever using a single weapon in the Armory (for both characters). You can still stumble upon it though.[/I][/spoiler]

The Strongest vs _Ai_ l dimension, in order to hone their elemental masteries. The Garden is but a medium-sized lot with nothing but grass and a huge tree in the middle. This tree is actually hollow and has many climbable areas from within. A river also runs between the plains and under this tree, forming a yin-yang symbol on the inside. Because of its location in the equinox, the sun also rises every 10 minutes and sets at about the same time.

In addition, Aiman's elemental powers are augmented in this place. He has a seemingly bottomless amount of mana and cannot tire at all when using his elements. However, the singularity of this realm has caused his elements to shuffle and he CANNOT use every element willingly. Everytime the sun rises and sets ONLY ONE element is usable for him. It rotates in this order: Nature, Ice, Fire, Water, Electric, Earth, Wind. Dark and Trance are blocked in this realm and he may not use them.

_Ai_ has initiated an Easy Ante: A planetary wobble has caused the garden to remain in stasis for a "day". Aiman must win with only 2 of his 7 elements. He can pick which one to start with, but the 2nd one must always be the subsequent one in the pattern. (You can pick Fire then Water but not Fire then Electric)
[/I]

The Strongest has initiated a Medium Ante: You must showcase every one of Aiman's 7 available elements (in order, mind you) before you can finish the battle. You may start with any element for as long as the sequence is followed.[/I][/spoiler]

The Organization vs Rochedan Prison Planet beyond time and space, housing some of the most fiendish mutants to ever roam the galaxy. And guarded by seemingly harmless security drones and wall mounted turrets. But somehow this Prison feels familiar to Acel. It is in fact, a prison in which she will end up in sooner or later in the future, or already has at one point in his past. In this timeline, Acel is a shackled inmate with his arms and legs chained up.

While they are made of any kind of metal easily destroyed, the real feature is in a tiny chip in Acel's head that shocks her everytime she uses her speed. The shocks are mild and annoying at first, but begin to get seriously debilitating after the 3rd shock onwards, fraying her nerves and causing her to paralyze if she is not careful. Acel's gear is also missing, such as the Aether Shield.

Rochedan has initiated a Medium Ante: By the end of this battle, Rochedan must gain a significant insight about both himself and his opponent. The insight mu

I, Azure Kite, am fighting against blakphoenix.
No Ante
Five Gems: Fire, Water, Wind, Lightning, Ice

1. Shadowkirby, fighting against Chamel
2. Medium Ante

I don't really know how this Ante works. Also what gems is Azure Kite's talking about?

blakphoenix here, my challenge is facing Azure Kite.

No Ante

It's in my Nature to Rock a handicap. Good luck Azure. :D

Quote from Shadowkirby

1. Shadowkirby, fighting against Chamel
2. Medium Ante

I don't really know how this Ante works. Also what gems is Azure Kite's talking about?

Don't worry about it, the gems thing is unique to Azure Flame Kite and blakphoenix's battle

The Organization is now commencing hostilities with Rochedan
No ante
#This fight hard enough already >: ), lookin foward to teh challenge

Quote from Shadowkirby

1. Shadowkirby, fighting against Chamel
2. Medium Ante

I don't really know how this Ante works. Also what gems is Azure Kite's talking about?

The gems are blakphoenix's RHG's weapon. For their fight, Azure can choose which gems would disadvantage blakphoenix.

Antes are basically ways for you to improve your score, by gambling the currect score you got (the total current score so it wont be a negative this Round). By betting on some points, an extra win condition, or element is unleashed for you to deal with and it will only be revealed once you make the pledge. You cannot back out when you see the condition.

So for you, the Medium Ante for you fight is this: In addition to beating Chance, Todesberührung must also take on the Factory's Rogue AI (who will try to kill both competitors) and disable or destroy it.


omg lol sorry gaiz I forgot to add that votes give 5 pts each. I've also made the pt gains and losses for Antes divisible by five to avoid anymore confusing numbers.

Lucario vs Blast Android Class
Challenge: Easy Ante.
I'm nooby, but I pride myself on my polt-making skill. (Hope it's not over-confidence)
And one question: Is the order of the list according to the ranking?

Quote from GamerXD8

Lucario vs Blast Android Class
Challenge: Easy Ante.
I'm nooby, but I pride myself on my polt-making skill. (Hope it's not over-confidence)
And one question: Is the order of the list according to the ranking?

Easy Ante Revealed: Between Lucario and Blast, you must both use a total of 8 TMs from the factory. He MUST use at least 3.

Quote from The Organization

Does the Ante affect both participants or just the requester, i.e. in the example you gave, would chamel's story have to include the rogue A.I, despite the fact that he does not need to beat it?

Just the requester. Chamel doesn't need to beat the rogue AI. Also, Chamel may no longer acquire the Medium Ante as it is already taken by Shadowkirby.

Nerf + Buff. I dont have anything to say bout' that. Should be interesting.

Aiman VS Walden.
Easy Ante.

Not confident for medium, or hard.

Hm...To use a disk, a TM is required. Now that you say it, Bl.An.C. can use it, too. Hm...How can an android use it? Perhaps...the TM draws energy from its user, be it aura or energy. Ok. And the "He must use at least 3"=??

Quote from _Ai_

Nerf + Buff. I dont have anything to say bout' that. Should be interesting.

Aiman VS Walden.
Easy Ante.

Not confident for medium, or hard.

Easy Ante for _Ai_: A planetary wobble has caused the garden to remain in stasis for a "day". Aiman must win with only 2 of his 7 elements. He can pick which one to start with, but the 2nd one must always be the subsequent one in the pattern. (You can pick Fire then Water but not Fire then Electric)

***Note that doing Antes are not necessary, but if you fail to do it, you will lose the points you wagered.

Quote from GamerXD8

Hm...To use a disk, a TM is required. Now that you say it, Bl.An.C. can use it, too. Hm...How can an android use it? Perhaps...the TM draws energy from its user, be it aura or energy. Ok. And the "He must use at least 3"=??

There are devices in the factory Blanc can equip to use these TMs. The condition basically means that you must both use a total of 8 but he must use at least 3.

Kalena Eirwen vs Pencillium

Hard Ante

Lucario Versus Bl.An.C.

Easy Ante.

Quote from Lobotomizer

Kalena Eirwen vs Pencillium

Hard Ante

I expected as much. Very well, the Hard Ante for Kalena: Corvon was left at the Warehouse when you got zapped, stranding you alone. The school also has actually a defense mechanism that prevents interlopers, cutting off any magical essence surrounding it. Kalena and Pencillium must now deal with the fact that the entire school is going to fall into the earth in FIVE minutes. Even worse, one of the school's children is lost and hiding in the classrooms. So to summarize, you must a) save this child, b) defeat pencillium without Corvon, and c) somehow do it all within the span of FIVE minutes.

EDIT: Wait what? Sorry, I didn't mean two minutes, I meant five.

Quote from ErrorBlender

Lucario Versus Bl.An.C.

Easy Ante.

Sorry, you may not pick an Ante that your opponent has already picked. Medium and Hard are still available though.