destinystrings | The Duel Must Go On!

The Duel Must Go On!

Who: Tournament Fighters and those who wish to watch them.
Where: Aries Arena & Televised
Summary: 10/10. A day of shooting and Persona battles.
Warnings: D-D-DUELS!

Cloudy days didn't deteriorate citizens of Hinoto-Ri to flock to the Arena that night. After all, there was a special treat promised to them, tickets at ten dollars off the usual price for a sight yet unseen!

The entire place was filled with cheering spectators and for those who missed out, the usual pay-per-view channels were going to post the entire thing live. Or you could go to your local pub. They had all come to see one thing: and it was to see how these newcomers from otherworlds fared in their favorite sport. In a way it was showing the natural pride to them, and watching how they did at it.

Gambling wasn't allowed publicly. So naturally it flourished underground. Odds today were 1:1, those looking to make a lot of money were simply out of luck. Today was a day for watching. And learning.

For those who had answered the call, prizes had been lined up. At best, it was a demonstration. As long as there was entertainment, the public really didn't care who lost or who won.

From the side ring "Jay Queen" and "Bob Sternhammer", the two ringside announcer, excitedly begin the pre-game talk.

"What a crowd today Jay! You can feel and hear the energy coming right off of 'em!"

"A stadium of Ten Thousand filled to the brim! And this ain't even the Grand Prix!"

"Can't blame 'em. Hell, if I wasn't announcing this, I'd be ringside looking at the newcomers. For those at home watching on Pay-Per-View, we're gonna remind you of the few ground rules."

"Tonight's matches are demonstration only. No returning champions, in fact, if you look to the left there, you'll see Seaside Dragoon waving at the ground. He's last year's reigning champ."

"Man they just love the guy."

"Names are drawn based on known skill. Randomization is under the supervision of the Hinoto-Ri Lotto Society."

"Contestants pick their own Evoker ten minutes before the duel, and are asked to fire a blank shot in the air to insure security before it is scanned. Contestants then are brought into their isolation zones and are kept there until they are ready to be brought up to the ring."

"Turns are taken, each allowed only one command from their Personas."

"As usual, Instant Death Spells are forbidden of usage. You may not kill your opponent. If your opponent is knocked unconscious, they have five seconds to get up. You are only allowed to attack your opponents Persona."

"Oh! Looks like the national anthem's gonna start."

There was some singing, as everyone stood up. After, the shouts became louder and louder, as a single man dressed in a tuxedo walked in, grabbing a futuristic microphone and speaking in it.

"LET'S GET IT ON!"

The crowed cheered, as a series of fireworks tore off into the sky.

"This is Bob live from the Outerworld Demo Tournament! Only on Pay-Per-View!"

[OOC- Minako vs Eikichi & Oersted vs Link will be posted as soon as both parties have submitted their titles and theme music.]

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He falls quiet, letting the kid concentrate. If it's there, he'll find it. A Persona's presence that never quite goes away once you realize your potential as a user. After that initial awakening, there's no going back. You can't quiet it back into slumber. You can only try to hold it back and pretend it's not there.

He nods when the kid voices an affirmative. "If you can feel it, you can use it. Ain't much to it." When something's a part of you, there's no reason you can't make use of it. "Doesn't matter what method you get it done with."

"So those guns... They aren't really necessary, then? Do they just make the process easier, or...?" It's all unfamiliar ground to him, and it really shows. If he had any pride in his family's trade, he would probably feel quite a bit of shame for how little he'd found out.

Good thing that wasn't the case.

"No. Not here."

The Evokers were probably not even strictly necessary in his world either. If it was, some things wouldn't have happened.The artificial Personas wouldn't have manifested on their own, stayed locked away. But they weren't home anymore, so it ultimately didn't mater. But if someone did one day figure out how to summon one without an Evoker, without being stressed enough that the Persona reacted on their own, he wouldn't be surprised.

"But it's easier, yeah. Faster. That's what the Evokers are for."

"Not here?" Would that imply that this was not the case in another place? Curious.

"...If that's the case, it seems to me like it would be handy for more than just tournament fights."

He shrugs. "Back home things were different. We used Evokers."

And the Evokers here were on account of his timeline's technology. That was what Mitsuru's father had brought to the table here, hadn't he? The Evokers and a few other things no one, even Mitsuru, probably knew about.

Here, though, they're just for show. To get the crowd going, which he found distasteful. However, he can understand Evokers being restricted, but they shouldn't be impossible to buy. They were too convenient not to make use of, and there would be a very lucrative Black Market in place for them if the government here restricted their purchase too much. He can't imagine that being something the government would want.

"So you can use them for normal battles." So the question is, why not here? With things as desperate as they'd made it out to be, you would think they would at least try to have a few people armed with the things in case of emergencies.

"...Odd."

"Odd?" Shinjiro arches an eyebrow at that. "The cops use 'em here for one."

As for everything else, he can see the reasoning behind it. They were guns, after all. Modified to shoot blank cartridges, but guns. He was used to it, but still found the shape and method disconcerting. The crowd here sure didn't, but they were making things into a game, not taking it seriously. He hopes the majority of the population are more levelly minded. He will admit he is surprised the technology isn't used more, though he's seen his share of Evokers during his stay. And then there's also the question of how long the Evoker technology has been here. If it's new, its use might not have spread into the general population as much as it might if it were given time to dig its roots in.

"I guess I just expected them to arm us better when there's a war."

Sasuke wasn't exactly keen on the idea of shooting even a blank at himself, but they had each been told why they were brought here. And yet, they seemed perfectly happy to leave the newcomers to their own devices instead of expending much effort on preparing them for battle. And it wasn't even as though all of the people brought here were used to fighting, either - himself included to an extent.

"...Then again, they don't seem to be very picky about who can be brought here, either."

"No."

When you live in a dying world like this one, you're don't have much room to be picky about who you take and who you don't. As long as you can fight somehow, you can buy time—or at the very least be another body to go through. Hell, he knows they pulled a little girl here, a kid who has no place being in a shitty place like this.

"They've got no reason to." They're just here to clean up after them—fix their mistakes and deal with their problems.

There are plenty of weapons to buy here, and giving someone an Evoker just so they can shave off ten seconds off summoning time would probably be a waste of funds.

"If they keep summoning people here at random, it might do more damage than help."

He'd seen Nanako too. And while he's glad to know that she'll be safe with her relative, even he realizes that her presence might distract her friends from doing as much for the city.

"Not sure they care."

If any of them had a conscience, they wouldn't take people from their homes in the first place. They were probably desperate, and the best chance to keep themselves from ruin were numbers at this point. They could worry about internal problems later.

"And hell if it's all coincidence."

They may not be picky, but there was probably something else at work.

"If it's not coincidence, what criteria do you think they're using?" It's an honest question; Sasuke isn't totally convinced one way or another, really. "Is it just those of us who can summon a Persona? After seeing this place, it doesn't feel so uncommon."

"It's probably that. Part of it, anyway." One of the criteria, if there was one. Everyone who had been brought here had been able to summon one as far as he saw. "It ain't that common where I come from."

There hadn't been more of a handful of them. And look at things now. All the individuals that were from his world (and its branching timelines, with the exception of Saori and maybe some of the people from Inaba) had initially been Persona users. If they were chosen by purely by chance, then he'd be damned, because that was some lottery they won.

"Can't fight Shadows without one. If we were normal, we'd be useless."

It might not be uncommon here anymore, but it might have been before, well—whatever crisis that had led to the creation of this city happened.

"...So there normal people where you come from, then?" It sounds strange, just judging by the thorough prevalence of Personae he's witnessed here in Hinoto-Ri. "Is there something that causes less people to have them there?"

"Plenty. Most people are." Normal. His eyes sweep the arena, watching Minako counter against the failed Charm. Good riddance. It'd be stupid if that had worked. "There were only a handful of us that had 'em and a bit more that knew about it. That's it."

He pauses then, tone breaking into something quieter as he mulls over the last question, a slight grimace tugging at his otherwise impassive features, something that reaches his eyes. "...They were a new thing."

Which is as basic and as simple as he can put it. Complicated bullshit is what it was, and not something he isn't going to go much into.

Sasuke's attention is only vaguely on the fight by now. Now that he's gotten a hint at how to summon his own Persona, he's much more interested on any other information he could get over fighting.

On the other hand, this guy seems reluctant to talk much, and Sasuke isn't one to push too hard unless he's desperate. If his questions get shut down, he'll simply leave it at that.

But until then... "Newer than it is here?"

"Probably."

Not like he knows much about the history here, but they seemed comfortable with the idea of Personas. That kind of thing wouldn't just happen overnight. That kind of shit would take years. Sure, there had been something going on for longer than that—the failed experiment had been a decade ago—but it had been kept under lock and key, apparently.

"Only had mine for a couple years. There were three of us then."

And none of them had a clue. All they had been doing is stumbling around in the dark.

"The people here seem to have gotten used to having them. I can't imagine it still being a very recent development." Although humanity was known for adapting to new situations well, there would always be those who took to changes at a slower pace, still behaving awkwardly if not downright rejecting said change. And so far, he hasn't seen single native who seemed to fall into either of those categories.

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The Duel Must Go On!

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