Click HERE for the rules of this Round...
***Antes are Extra Challenges that add twice the points wagered if successfully pulled off. They come in 3 Flavors (Easy Medium Hard). No two participants can have the same kind of Ante. For more info, click the link above.
The Organization has initiated a Hard Ante.
The Strongest has initiated a Hard Ante.
Chamel has initiated an Easy Ante.
Scoring:
- Votes are worth 5 pts. each.
- CNC-ing an entry gives you 10 pts. Detailed ones get an extra 5 pts. Maximum 3 CnCs per participant.
- Bonus for the Round is 20 pts. Bonus for this Round is the best depiction of Irony.
- Fulfilled Antes give 10, 20, 30 pts. and lost 5, 10, 15 pts if failed depending on difficulty
- Judge's Blessing gives 15 points if entry caught the Judge's eye.
Here are the entries:
Vicar 04: Acel
[spoiler=The Organization's Entry]OPERATION 02.3: Round 2// Acel vs. The Maze
Chapter Three: Ponytail and a Pretty Smile
Hey girl. Go on now.
Chance winced reflexively at the single lyric that herald the next iteration of the song that brought him unimaginable misery.
He had lost count of how many times he had heard the song, but to his horror he found himself singing along...
“Stomp my boots in the Georgia mud...gonna watch you make me fall in love...” he hummed.
He grimaced as he ran his hair through his red hair, trying to regain his sanity in this hellhole of country music. The gesture was futile though, because he still found his foot tapping to the beat.
Ponytail and a pretty smile, rope me in from a country mile...
Coincidentally, a blond angel wearing a ponytail and carrying a large gem encrusted sword appeared before him. She seemed nice enough and seemed to radiate a happy sort of energy, but Chance knew that this woman didn't belong in this country club.
She was about or a seven or an eight although with enough drinks, she would easily be a ten. The strange thing was that Chance had recognized her, but he couldn't exactly place where he had seen her before.
Chance continued to look over her when she caught a glimpse of him and smiled back at him. In her eyes, he caught a spark of recognition. She was familiar with him as well. Immediately, she approached him, wading through the dancing bodies to where Chance was seated.
"Nice Gimp suit, how did you work in the glowing strips?" she mocked.
Chance ran his hand through his hair again, but simply brushed off the joke.
"Country girl, shake it for me girl," he replied.
"Hah, very funny," she said giggling a bit, "I'm Cecelia, Cecelia Q. Graves. On the job, my code name is Acel."
"Chance Downtown...I don't mean to pry, but what did you say you did Miss?"
"Well, I'm here to represent the interest group known as the Organization."
"Never heard of em, are you some kind of spy or something?"
"Well, If I told you that I'd have to kill you," she joked.
"What's a fine lady like you doing in a place like this." added Chance.
Although she had a tan, Cecelia's cheeks blushed slightly and she smiled nervously.
"I just got lost that's all." she replied.
Baby you know what to do.
"Really..." replied Chance, grinning like a madman, "Good luck, Cecelia. There's no way out I've tried."
"Well, I found the bathroom. There looks like there is a door down the hall but it looks like its staff only." added Acel.
"Then what the heck are we waiting for," cheered Chance hopping up from his bar stool.
Acel grabbed Chance's hand and led him through the mass of bodies on the dance floor. Chance could tell that she was strong; although Chance stood about a foot above her, she was easily able to pull him through the crowd.
She seemed to be leading him towards the DJ booth, but the closer he was to the booth, the more the lyrics pounded in his head.
Shake it for the birds, shake it for the bees.
Through the darkness, Chance followed the bouncing golden ponytail. It was then that he noticed the door under the DJ booth. How had he possibly overlooked it? The more Chance thought about it, the less sense it made. Why would the door to the bathrooms be placed under the DJ booth on the dance floor?
Without hesitation, Acel pulled Chance through the door into the dimly lit hallway. There were three doors, one down the hallway and two, labeled men and women respectively, side by side in the wall. The wall looked old, cracked in some places, and the entire hallway had a damp smell, but as far as Chance could tell, the two of them were alone.
“So…Do you want to do this here?” she asked eagerly.
Chance smiled wolfishly, “Whenever, wherever baby…”
“Honestly, I was wondering what you looked like under that helmet in the preliminary rounds,” she admitted, “but to think you look like that crazy blood guy…”
“Crazy…blood Guy?”
“Yah…his face looks remarkably like yours…are you two related?” asked Acel.
Chance chuckled heartily, “Cecelia…I don’t suppose that sword on your back belongs to you.”
“Well no I … Oh that gimp suit isn’t yours…”
“Yes, and?”
“You’re the crazy blood guy…” she realized.
“Most people call me Chance,” he joked, “and as for my blood manipul-“
Suddenly, the door down the hall opened and a tough looking security guard emerged from within. Without warning, Chance held Cecelia up against the wall, his lips locked with hers. She didn’t resist, but when Chance opened his eyes he could see the shock in her eyes.
Working his way around to his ear he whispered, “We need to look convincing, loosen up a bit. In response, Acel nodded once and closed her eyes. It was obvious that she didn’t have much experience in this sort of thing, but her toned muscles led him to believe that she was an experienced fighter.
“Chance…” she said, her voice wavering slightly.
Chance was too caught up in the moment to care, overwhelming Cecelia’s tiny frame. Slowly, his fingers traced around her waist.
“Chance.” She sternly repeated.
Without the country music clouding his mind, he could truly focus on what was important. Slowly, he slid his fingers down into the side of her shorts.
What happened next could only be described as remarkable. One second he was making out with the violet eyed angel in the dim club hallway, and the next he found himself back outside into the bright labyrinth surrounded by rubble. Although he was dazed by the sudden jolt, remarkably he was uninjured. Despite feeling like he had been hit by a car, the suit had protected him from taking any real damage. Furthermore, he couldn't hear the terrible music anymore so Chance was pretty much fine.
All Chance could see was the bright sky and the enormous walls that tried to reach it. Almost immediately, he was graced with the face of an Angel. She looked concerned, waving her fingers in front of him and same something that he couldn't hear correctly. The face disappeared, but Chance could feel Acel's small hands running over his body.
"Crap...She found it..." he thought to himself.
Sitting up slowly, Chance could make out Cecelia examining his key and his rune. The key was small, with the back design of a poker card, but on the front was a strange insignia: 12 silver wolf heads each with ruby red eyes. She also eyed the rune carefully, pulling out her own from inside her shirt and comparing the two. Despite small differences, the two runes appeared identical to Chance.
"If you wanted to see them, you could've just asked," suggested Chance.
Realizing she had been caught, Acel struggled to find an excuse, "Well I uhhh...you looked kinda out of it so I just..."
"Nevermind that," replied Chance nursing his head, "What the hell just happened?"
Acel became flustered, breaking eye contact and looking off to the side, "I kinda pushed you through the wall..." she admitted.
Chance's jaw dropped in disbelief. Cecelia was fit, but he knew that he was about a foot taller than her. The little angel packed a lot of power.
"You pushed me...through a Wall."
"Well, you pushed your hands into my pants..." she muttered.
"Ah...fair," conceded Chance, standing up to his feet, "Mind giving me those back Cecelia?"
"Yah sure..." she remarked, brushing of her shorts and tossing Chance back the key and rune, "Well, what now?" asked Acel.
"Well, you've seen mine, you might as well show me yours." suggested Chance, massaging his neck as he put the Rune back on it.
Acel fished her card out if her side pocket, and held it up to Chance. He recognized it immediately. It was purple and silver with a reddish fox in the center and the words "Club Flye" printed at the bottom.
"Looks like some kind of flyer," noted Acel before returning it to her pocket, "Do you recognize it?"
"Sorry," lied Chance, "Never seen it before."
Acel smiled eagerly.
"I've got an idea, I'll help you find your key, and you can help me find mine." suggested Acel.
"Why would you want to do that? This is a competition you know." joked Chance.
"I'm serious. My mission is to observe the competitors as much as possible and frankly...Winning seems kind of fun." she admitted.
Chance laughed heartily and patted Acel on the shoulder.
"You should be more honest with yourself Cecelia," he advised, "Now then, Onward!"
"Uh...yeah. Where to Mr. Chance?"
Chapter Two: Where’s Walden
Acel and Chance continued to walk though the garden coming to a clearing lit by a light coming from above them. Chance noticed that the roof seemed to block out all light, save for the large crack that lit the room.
"Hey...Cecelia, there something wrong with this place." he warned.
"What..." replied Acel with a strange drawl. She was so entranced with beauty of the garden that she failed to suspect that any threat could possibly lurk behind the violet and ivory petals.
"Snap out of it," remarked Chance putting on the black helmet attached to the suit. It had a single large eye that emanated a green glow.
Acel giggled a bit at Chance's glowing eye.
"Cyclops..." she muttered to herself.
"Huh what was that?" asked Chance is voice with a strange robotic voice.
"Its just...you kinda remind me of a friend of mine an-"
"Cecelia," interrupted Chance.
It was then that Acel felt a powerful and familiar energy spike deep inside the garden. Before she realized the danger though, Chance tackled her, right at the same time that a loud gun shot was echoed across the garden.
"Chance...How did you-"
"He's gone...This suit has some kind of heat sensor, it doesn't really work all that well though." said Chance picking himself and helping Acel as well, "This guy is so far away, how the heck could he see us let alone aim so accurately through all these plants?"
"I've fought this guy before," replied Acel, "His name is Mccaw Rindar, also known as the Saint. He has this strange ability...a demon eye that can see through any amount of solid objects."
"That sounds like a real problem."
"It has its weaknesses though...He can't use it for too long and since its only one eye, he probably can't focus on both of us." explained Acel.
"Ah, I get it. We split up."
"Exactly, Mccaw is strong, but he's got a one tracked mind. With that suit's sensors you'll be able to find him easier than I can. I'll lure him out."
"How are you gonna do that?" asked Chance.
Cecelia smiled, "I know how to be a good distraction," she assured.
In a burst of speed, Acel disappeared into garden.
"Well...Alright then." muttered Chance walking off in the opposite direction.
Unbeknownst to Chance, Acel had lost control of her speed because she under estimated how much traction she had in the garden.
"Waaaaah!!!" yelled Acel as she slid and crashed into a tree upside down. A faint mist of pollen washed over her.
"Still fucking around I see..." remarked a familiar voice.
In front of her was a very strange woman with graying blonde hair that fell up to her shoulders as she floated upside down.
"Oracle?! What are you doing here?" exclaimed Acel.
"Shhh...You need to be quiet...also would you fix yourself up? You're not a lot of use to me hanging on that tree." responded Oracle.
Acel landed with a thud on the soft ground. Dusting herself off, she stood up to face the floating mystic.
"What do you need my help for Oracle? I thought you could see the future." mocked Acel.
Oracle looked cross, "I never said I could see the future, I was just able to see your future. Oh and you might want to duck." she explained.
Once again, Acel felt the power surge of Mccaw's Evil Eye and ducked, the bullet piercing through the tree behind her.
"You ought be more careful, hence he make a window into your skull." joked Oracle.
"Yah, I noticed. For some reason, all I have is this pretty sword and well all its doing is holding me down...Now then, mind telling me why you're here?"
"I could care less about your petty tournament, but I'm here tracking down a very dangerous individual..." she explained.
"I don't remember telling you about the tournament." replied Acel suspiciously.
"Cecelia please...Don't be silly, why wouldn't I know?"
Acel scratched her head and realized the stupidity of her accusation, "Well...what does this dangerous individual look like?"
"When you see her, you'll know," added Oracle, "Now I have to go, see you soon Cecelia," she said floating high up in the air and flying away.
Oracle was always a strange woman, the more Acel thought about her, the more confused she became. But there was no time for confusion now, Mccaw was still out there and she had to draw his attention. Observing the bullet hole in the tree, along with the memory of the power spike that she sensed earlier, she was able to guess where Mccaw was located and began to head in his direction. If Mccaw was focused on what was coming towards him, there would be no way for him to expect Chance.
Acel didn't make the same mistake this time though; rather than boosting through the garden she instead pulled the weapon from off her back and held the sword as she walked carefully through the forest searching for any signs of life. Despite looking cheap and old, the sword was surprisingly heavy, and the gems embedded within the sword seemed to emit some sort of elemental energy. Acel knew from experience that tapping into such energies without knowing would be extremely dangerous, especially after the Laser Blade fiasco while she was still in the Academy.
The longer Acel walked, the more she realized how similar the garden was to the park of her first wRHG battle. In fact, there too she had fought against Mccaw Rindar. Both the Garden and the Park were filled with beautiful flowers, an almost unreal sense of silence, and absolutely devoid of any animals. She then remembered how hard it was to find Mccaw, unfortunately there were no black benches around.
It was then that she had an idea.
"Mccaw is really sensitive to insults...perhaps if I do so then he'll come charging in."
Albeit, it was a risky plan, and accidentally enraging Mccaw nearly got her killed the last time it occurred, but this time was different. She knew Mccaw would come for her, but she was expecting it and she had Chance backing her up all she had to do was keep her distance.
Slowly, she took a deep breath, then yelled to the top off her lungs.
"Hey Mccaw!!! Yo momma so fat, she's powered by nuclear fusion!!!"
Her insult echoed throughout the garden, but it seemed to have no effect. Acel braced herself, expecting a raging Mccaw to burst forth from the trees.
"Hmmm...Perhaps it didn't work..." wondered Acel aloud.
"If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" asked a voice from behind her.
Instinctively, Acel turned to see the stranger; he was an aging man with thick grey hair and pale blue eyes but only one was open. In his hands were a walking cane and an old looking pistol. He also seemed to be surrounded by a strange but powerful aura.
"That tree will make vibrations in the air, but with no one around to detect those vibrations then they do not make a sound." explained Acel.
The man smiled and chuckled a bit, "G
