[Loop Lionheart - Let the games begin]

While the knight had been briefly startled by the doorman's peculiar outburst, he was down right shocked when he felt a presence approach him behind to slip a small piece of paper in his hand. The messenger himself probably didn't even know how close he had been to having his hand severed by an reflexive lash of Loop's spring blade. Had the knight felt even a mince of killing intend, they would have been scouring the city for a doctor by now.

As thing were, Loop simply droned out the doorman's words and ignored the eagerly violent eyes of his bouncers, for the sake of examining the message he had just been given. A threatening letter. Huh. Seeing one of those wasn't actually new to Loop. One would surprised how many enemies one could gain by trying to help those suffering beneath the oppression of others. No, it wasn't the letter its self that was worrying, it was its contents. Well, actually, by 'worrying' he had been intending to say 'confusing'.

Half of the things written on the helix-damned thing didn't even make sense. First of all, why would the writer call him a mighty warrior only to refer to him a useless later? Well, ok, that could be chucked up to the usual bad guy arrogance. Second, if they knew his was a knight, why did they put mister in frond of his name instead of sir? Bah! Probably lack of proper grammatical knowledge or social etiquette, pretty usual for the common variety of street thug. Fine, these things he could explain. What he didn't understand is why they believed he had turned into a pirate.

While it was true he was currently traveling with and, in some ways, aiding a pirate crew, he hadn't committed any notable crimes. None of them had. Maybe these pirates were already infamous in some way? Probably not. Past the fact all of them had met each other only a few days ago, the group itself didn't even have cohesion yet, never mind notoriety. In fact, at the moment it wasn't even sure that they stick together long enough to be even considered as either pirates or a crew. For that matter, how did these guys even reach the conclusion that Loop had joined with this crew? He could be doing anything from reeducating them to planning their assassinations, heck, he could have been their old drinking buddy, for all they knew.

Nonetheless, despite the inconsistencies the threatening 'hate mail' contained, being watched and targeted was a bad thing, even for a powerful knight like Loop. Regardless if his new found enemies were skilled or not, there was a chance they would abduct or hurt someone trying to get to him. Something that, naturally, had to be avoided. Oh well, thankfully its appeared that there was a way to solve this situation peacefully.

Judging by the pretty official looking navy seal imprinted on the document, the perpetrators were probably some fanatic marines, probably hailing from the local navy outpost, which had clearly misinterpreted the knight's current state of affairs. Furthermore, seeing as they had managed to get their hands on an official marine seal, there was possibly an officer involved in this too. Anyhow, Loop would simply pass by the nearest navy base during his free time, clear out the misunderstanding and have those idiots court-marshaled. Seriously, what type of reasonable soldier officially threatened his highly esteemed virtual superior on counts of treason when there was absolutely no solid evidence to base it on?

Meh, he'd deal with this later. For now, Loop had better things to do.

'Uh, excuse me.' He called out, his voice loud as to be heard by all members of their small group. 'As to not further hinder the gentleman at the door, why don't we sign up for the arena as a team and be done with it? From what i understand, there is a fee for fighting but i was given something of challenge by the champion of this Colosseum and told i could enter without payment. I owe you people for saving me from the hands of Ruby, so let me treat you to this. Any of you wishing to partake in the fights, simply join me at the entrance.'

With that, the knight turned to face the doorman, drawing forth from his pocket the challenger's coin the champion had given him and displaying it in the open.

'I and my allies can enter free of charge with this, can we not?' He asked, half-challenging the doorman to contradict him.

_________________
Made it myself. (Tukinode may not reflect the ideas of his original creator)

{Mister Stitch& Sow}

_ Secret Office_

Stitch& Sow raised an eye brow at Malkizid and gave him a strange look. " Yeah, that's nothing new to me. I suspected that would be the case." Stitch& Sow nonchalantly remarked to Malkizid warning. As that had already crossed his mind, especially since he had done his home work on that sickening sadist. " Nice to know, we're on the same page." He said with a smile. He then, started to stroke his chin and and paced around the hidden office. " Well it saves me a trip to find Emerald. " Stitch& Sow joked as he continued to pace.

"And I hate to say it, but its not just him, the rest of that crew is heading to the Coliseum. So that might be where the trap is." Stitch& Sow commented as thought about the situation. " What you didn't think, I would spy on my allies with my pumpkins. Of course, I have, I worry." He explained to Malkizid if their were any confusion, on why he knew where they were going as well as everyone else. " Hard to say if that florist is a gem warlord pirate in disguise, but I am getting a head of myself."

" Shall we go?" Mister Stitch& Sow said as he suddenly move over to the guard.

_________________
"Fate smiles on the strange. So its a good thing, I'm the strangest of all." - William Livingstone, Cirque de la Nuit

Hodo was about to back away from the crowd with Aelelia in tow so as to avoid a larger scene and possible arrest when he spotted loop approaching; "Ah, here he comes now," Hodo said, motioning towards Loop. As Hodo glanced over, he observed someone drift into the scene behind Loop and hand him something. Hodo's eyes narrowed in suspicion, and the next instant, he disappeared from his spot beside Aelelia and reappeared a little bit past Loop, his Soru covering the distance with barely a sound, which would have been drowned out in the crowd anyway. He saw the person who handed the note try to blend back into the crowd, but Hodo, with his training in espionage and reconnaissance, tracked him effortlessly. He took a few inquisitive glances at the man's pockets, quickly picked a leaflet from him and then disappeared without a trace.

Landing a few alleyways down, he recovered. Pick-pocketing was a very useful skill he learned while working for the World Government, one that his mentors had taught him well. Useful if there was a piece of evidence hidden in someone's pockets and it was absolutely essential that you take it.

Hodo pulled out the paper and scanned it with his eyes. One thing that stood out was the Marine seal at the bottom left corner--though, it had something embedded in it that shouldn't be there. He clicked his tongue at the realization. The man he had lifted it from had to have been a mercenary working for one of the Gem Warlords.

Then, he read the message body, all the way to the bottom. He scoffed bemusedly. " 'Flint,' huh?" he muttered.

By the way the bits of paper were torn at the top, there had to have been an attachment...? Which meant he only had half the message. And Loop had been given the other half. Unless he missed his guess, Loop would have just finished reading and analyzing it by now.

Hodo "teleported" with his Soru, back to where he had been standing just a second ago, as if nothing had happened. He was in luck; Loop was just stashing the note on his person, and was walking up to the Arena's clerk to hand over the Challenger's Coin to him.

Hodo blinked. Why would the Champion just randomly give--

...!

Interesting.

Hodo nonchalantly walked up to Loop and grabbed him amiably around the shoulders. "Geez, man, what took ya? This guy was about to call the guards on us." He looked up at the slob behind the counter. "We had an official invite from the Champion, and you treat us like common street rats?" Hodo took his arm off of Loop and waggled his finger admonishingly. "I'd love to see what he'd do to you if he knew that." Hodo took a step back, crossing his arms and looking at the clerk smugly.

When Hodo had a moment, he pulled out the note he had pick-pocketed from Loop just then. The note was indeed intriguing, as was the Marine seal on the note. The wording was very amateurish; perhaps that was intentional. Intended to make him think it was from one of his fellow Knights? There was something screwy here.

Either way, Loop was in real danger. This whole thing smelled of a set-up. For now, Hodo would observe, see where it went. Hodo stashed the note in his pocket, holding on to it until he was out of the crowd, and when the time was right, moved to join Loop over at the gate to join the brawl. He pulled the note out from his pocket and offered it back to Loop at that point, a somber "I read it" expression on his face. "You dropped this."

_________________

Matthew felt like a kid in a candy store. The marketplace was one of the two places he felt at home, the other being a kitchen. already he resembled a walking larder with a wide variaty of meat hanging from the meathooks on his apron and belt and his pouches were stuffed with Herbes and vegetables he had only heard of. In his Hand he held a large piece of mutton that normally would have fed a family and was eating it contently while browsing the many market stalls. Fighting in the Arena did not interest him in anyway but he was interested to see how his crewmates would do. Matthew stopped to buy some sausages and set of towards the arena flipping the now empty bone in the air and tossing it at a stray dog.
He arrived just in time to hear the Girl say something about bad smells and a cook to his crew,
Matthew was not Happy. I just happen to be that cook. And you try making something out of stale bread, dried meat and beans. It almost goes beyond even my capabilities. He Muttered dryly. And who are you to judge someones cooking anyway?

_________________
Dragonborn Dragonborn, by his honour is sworn, to keep evil forever at bay
and the fiercest foes rout, when they hear triumph's shout.

Dragonborn for your blessing we pray, and the scrolls have fortold, of black wings in the cold
that when brothers wage war come unfurled, Alduin bane of kings, ancient shadow unbound
with a hunger to swallow the world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9eGtyqz4gY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j50u0zUeCmU

{Outside Coliseum}

Ekora just slowly turned and looked at Matthew for a second before smiling. "Someone who likes breathing. And bad smells make it more unfriendly to people who breathe." She stated matter-of-factly. She then turned to Matthew and walked up to him, pausing a moment before nodding to herself. "But, the bad smell can't actually be the cooking, then. Other than the moldy wood I smell, you don't quite stink like your friend here..." She looked back over to Arka, chuckling a bit. "Guess he's just not that great at keeping his mouth clean."

She then looked back to Matthew, smiling happily. "Hope it didn't offend you too much. I only had his scent to rely on, since he was talking more than his friend, who..." She stared ahead a second, seeing a stranger push himself onto Loop. "Hmm... Think your friend there might be getting mugged, guys."

_________________

[Loop Lionheart]

Loop turn to gaze at Hodo, his face completely devoid of any sign of surprise at his sudden appearance. After all, why should he have been shocked to see the note in his crew mate's hands? He had known its ownership had shifted them moment Hodo had claimed it from Loop's person. Pickpocketing from one who could sense an arrow flying at his head from fifty feet behind him was, after all, a very bad idea. Still, its not like the message itself was important, secret either for that matter. Hodo could have, for all intends and purposes, just asked for the damn thing. Him and the little burglar would have a talk later about the ways one could satisfy his curiosity, but that was a conversation to be held at another time. For now, at least he had the decency to return it without trying to hide his guilt.

'Thank you.' Loop flatly exclaimed, taking the piece of paper and replacing it back into his pocket.

Loop paused, as if listening at something in the distance. A characteristic sign that he and Coil had just made contact. True to form, Loop turned to face Coil and the Ekora, in that order.

'Sad be the day when an enforcer of the law is trespassed upon by a common thug. In this instant, you are mistaken. Although...' He exclaimed, sending Hodo a pointed look. '...to avoid unpleasant circumstances and similar misunderstandings, a certain thief should control his wondering hands when in public. Regardless, does my lady wish to join our group in the arena? And how about our cook?' Loop said, referring to the two in question.

_________________
Made it myself. (Tukinode may not reflect the ideas of his original creator)

Theif, Hodo mused with a soft chuckle. Loop obviously knew less about Hodo than Hodo knew about Loop. Still, Hodo shrugged off the comment; he had indeed stolen from him. Old habits die hard. "I'll keep that in mind," Hodo idly replied, and held his hands in his pockets, pretended to be bored, and scanned the crowd around them for signs of hostility or possible enemies.

_________________

Matthew thought for a second then replied.Sure why not it's not that I have anything better to do. also battle makes the meat ripen faster. he then turned to the girl he was talking to.
No offence taken and my name is Matthew by the way. Matthew scanned the girl for a few seconds. And what would have turned lesser men into gibbering fools just let him give a slight nod in appreciation, she was quite attractive.

_________________
Dragonborn Dragonborn, by his honour is sworn, to keep evil forever at bay
and the fiercest foes rout, when they hear triumph's shout.

Dragonborn for your blessing we pray, and the scrolls have fortold, of black wings in the cold
that when brothers wage war come unfurled, Alduin bane of kings, ancient shadow unbound
with a hunger to swallow the world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9eGtyqz4gY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j50u0zUeCmU

-The path to glory-

With a stunned look, mouth agape and arms limp, the caller stared dumbfoundedly at the Challengers token. Only once in coliseum history had the reigning champion given away his "Right to fight" as it was called, the last time it was given out was close to 6 years ago the man mused as he idly thought about the massive scar in the ancient coliseum walls... Only 1 man had the guts to stand up for himself when matched with a greater foe than himself, with powerful friends the town had later discovered.

Ruby was the first man in the Coliseums proud 150 years of combat to receive the Challengers token, and win.
Now 8 years later, the new Coliseum champion had issued out his own token! Sweat was forming on the callers brow whilest he took the token and placed it into his pocket, a snap of his fingers alerted the guards to open the Arena's underground to the New fighter and his companions.
As the crew walked down the stairs into the cold basement of the coliseum, the training grounds, they would see hundreds of fighters eager for glory waiting in its midst. Some fought others, others trained with unique weapons with others of age and experience coaching them.
Then there was a heat, a blistering heat that rolled across the arena's usually freezing training grounds that made everyone hesitate for a moment. At its heart was what they called, "The masterworks".

A massive forge shaped with the detail of a dragons head sat in the dark corner of the training grounds, separated from the rest of the labyrinth of training rooms and practice arenas. A worn anvil and thousands of weapons were scattered about in every nook and cranny of the great forge. At it's center was a an elderly man in a smiths apron, though he was well past his 60s the man held a posture and a physique that made even Loop seem frail. In this titans hand was an elaborately designed hammer that seemed more fit to smash skulls than pound steel, yet it swung with the grace and power of a lion pouncing it's prey. The steady THUMP and the echo of molding steel echoed from it.
It was here, from this man, that Loop Lionheart would find his armor repaired.
(I'm just gonna take your character for a sec, gotta move things along.)

The old man looked over his shoulder the moment Loop set foot in the doorway with the broken armor, a stern look crossed the mans face as he put down the master hammer to usher him in. On a workbench the armor was placed for him to inspect as Loop told him about the damage it took, the old man nodding as he carelessly flipped it around before giving a sigh of dissapointment, telling the Knight that it would cost a hefty some to repair armor made from such fine materials.
The old man was curious about the dent in the armor, it was small but the force would have to be tremendous to not only dent but crack the fine steel plating. When the name 'Ruby' was uttered, the elderly man gave a great howl of fury deeper then any war drum, tossing the armor into the dragons forge before Loop could object.
"I will forge you a new armor, but you must make me a promise. On your LIFE," The old man turned to look over his shoulder at Loops eyes, a cold fury that had been tempered with age glowed brighter than the sun itself. "Avenge my son, whom was taken from me... By the Gemlord 'Ruby'!"
With that he picked up with great hammer effortlessly, taking the glowing scrapped armor from the furnace and placing it on his anvil.

-COLISEUM ARENA-


The Coliseum was a massive circular structure, close to 150 rows of seats in every direction that reached what seemed like the sky itself. A dome, engineered to be opened and closed, had been added on to the coliseums structure recently to provide shade for the fans. In the middle of the Coliseum were 3 areas, "The pit" was as the name stated, a small hole with Spiked edged and a dome overtop.
The opposite side held an elevated platform that reached up just below the stands, atop this platform were bows and spears along with guns. This was used in the team-deathmatch scenario's that were hosted rarely. It was a highly contested area by the sharpshooters.
In the middle Was a labyrinth type maze that flowed into a large circular ring at the center, the walls were made of sand and stone. It was here the Coliseum champion favored highly.

An announcer called out for the cheering masses with a booming voice, the others became quiet to hear his words. "Ladies and Gentleman, Welcome to yet another day of our wonderful coliseums proud series of matches! Today for your pleasure we are proud to welcome back former contestants to the fight!" From a gate near the north, 3 pirates stepped out into the daylight and cheering crowds.
Leading this pack was a large man brandishing throwing hammers, while two large twins followed him up from the pack. "Everyone welcome TEAM HAMMERHEAD!" Whistling and shouting echoed from the crowd as team hammerhead walked forward, from behind them came a couple of stragglers in cloaks.

"Now ladies and gentleman, for the first time in eight years we have a crew of unknowns entered in with the legendary Challengers token! That is right people, The Coliseum Champion has exercised his "RIGHT TO FIGHT" and chosen these souls, what do they have that makes them worthy?! WE'LL FIND OUT! I give you TEAM LIONHEAAAART!" Almost immediately the crowd rose from their seats to cheer and whistle or throw flowers into the ring at the lionheart team, the thrill of the 'Challengers token' had them practically in a frenzy.

When the cheering died down, The caller began the match explanation. "The first match will be a team vs team fight, if you become unable to fight you are to be unharmed! If you attack a combatant who has been disqualified, you will be put in the stocks for 3 days as punishment!" The first thing that our combatants would notice about the battlefield was that the labyrinth in the middle had been covered by a large hill of sand and dirt, creating a large hill for teams to fight around or on. The pit had been de-spiked and the dome above it removed, a set of stairs on each side allowed access or escape.

(Outside the Coliseum earlier)

As the crew departed into the training grounds a certain man in rather plain clothing hefted up a small club, his grin took in his ears. Without warning he gave the unfortunate Ekora a good thump to the side of her head, as she swam in dizziness he hefted her over his shoulder and proceeded to a side house with a secret passage to the training grounds.

As the girl awoke, she would find a disturbing sight in front of her. Artemis Flint, the Ruby gemlord. "Listen up missy, I saw you with your friends up top. I do not like what I see! You know me, you know who I am. You know what I can do to you as painfully and slowly as I humanly can. If you'd like to live another few minutes you better get your pampered ASS UP IN THAT ARENA!" He roared in mock anger. "The people you were talking to so chumly with earlier are special to me. Go up and fight with team Hammerhead and give them a good beating... I want them roughed up by someone they know, or this would be so boring."
Ruby gave another sinister grin, raising up his now iron-clad right arm to Ekoras chin. "Get a weapon from the training grounds and go to the north gate. Failure to comply will result in a very painful and messy death. For you and them." With that, Ruby slashed the bindings that pinned Ekora to a wall and walked away. A doorway to the Training grounds opened from the side of her current location.

(Bah, semantics.)



-Jack/stitch-

Coming soon!

_________________
"But when one of it's baby chicks is in trouble, Momma comes a run'nin' and a squawkin and a run'nin''." -General Treistar

Matthew looked in amasement how big the arena was.
And when the crowd started cheering for them he felt a rush of adrenaline surging through him. But the best thing was that he spotted Ekora in the opposite team, revenge was going to taste sweet (never insult a cook's cooking) he grabbed his cleaver and set of before anybody could react, bent on getting to the top of the hill to negate any advantages for the enemy.Last one up there is a rotten cabbage! He yelled at his teammates.
He was loving this.

_________________
Dragonborn Dragonborn, by his honour is sworn, to keep evil forever at bay
and the fiercest foes rout, when they hear triumph's shout.

Dragonborn for your blessing we pray, and the scrolls have fortold, of black wings in the cold
that when brothers wage war come unfurled, Alduin bane of kings, ancient shadow unbound
with a hunger to swallow the world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9eGtyqz4gY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j50u0zUeCmU

~Aelelia~

Aelelia smiled kindly at the old man as she and her crewmates were permitted entry to the coliseum due to the challenger's token that Loop had obtained. "I'm so sorry that we were in your way for so long. I'll be sure that our crew is aware of using better manners from now on." She walked off after the others, still smiling, her eyes wide as she scanned the inside of the great structure, to her it seemed even more impressive than the outside, considering the sheer number of people inside. She watched the fighters training with interest, and her jaw dropped when she saw the blacksmith speaking to Loop. The man had to be at least twice her size! She had never seen anyone so big before, and was suitably surprised.

It wasn't long after that that the little group was ushered into the arena, set up against their first opponent, a team called hammerhead. Aelelia looked at the three pirates quietly, noting the cloaked stragglers behind them. She listened closely to the rules of the match, finding it odd that the announcer had to remind people not to attack people who could no longer fight. She considered that to be common sense. Since the fight had not been called to start, she began stretching. SHe was going to need to limber up a bit before fighting, since most of their opponents seemed to be bigger than her.

_________________
Zath: Behold, Karo: The only woman in existence who can make Fenix shut the fuck up.
Redsnow: That, and, frankly, if Karo doesn't like you that much, your character is probably going to die soon after his acceptance anyway.
Keiran: Bad RPs don't get picked, unmemberable RPs get ignored.
Zelosse: I don't usually laugh at blatant attitude, but when I do. It usually involves Karo.

As Matthew raced to the top of the hill, Hodo grinned and did some quick stretching, taking as long as he felt necessary. Then, timing it just right, he struck his fighter's stance and moved. "Soru!" In an instant, he disappeared from where he had been standing and reappeared just in front of Matthew at the top of the hill, chuckling playfully as he turned to face him. "Beat ya." It was a small, childish victory, but it still felt pretty good. As long as Matthew knew he was just joking around with him.

He then turned to the fighters opposite them, the Hammerheads. There was Ekora, among the Hammerheads. He blinked. Surely she wasn't fighting with them because she wanted to. Something was amiss here. He clasped Matthew on the shoulder and whispered, "Something's wrong. Ekora was going to sit out of the fight, wasn't she? What's she doing over there?"

There were a lot of strange things going on today. First, the Gemlord's mercenary, and then the Champion's Coin, and now this. Surely these events had to be connected. Hodo briefly wondered if he should tell Loop of his thoughts. He finally decided against it and tried to focus on the battle to come. He shook out his legs for a moment, and planned out his attacks in his head.

_________________

Arka sighed miserably as they walked into the collesium, he hadn't been able to find anything to tempt back Coil and Ekora had run off somewhere so he couldn't try to annoy her either, and frankly, he didn't want to try and start up a friendship with anyone else. A couple of humanoids was more than enough for him, and he just didn't feel the old bloodlust pumping, being called team "Lionheart" wasn't helping his mood either. He'd fought a lion once, then he'd eaten it. It hadn't been much of a fight either but tasted deliciously, so he saw it as a pretty crappy metaphor. He grinned a little as the chef started a race and was about to join in when some git teleported up there first. Cheat. he thought pettily as he relaxed his muscles again, he kinda wished he could fight in the labyrinth, his sensitivity to vibrations and webs would have made it perfect for booby-traps and ambushes. But now, he could watch and see what happened to his team-mates on the hill, yes, there was something good about this after all. He grinned as he slipped out his daggers from his belt, twirled them once to get the balance right and then let them become extensions of his arms, in theory anyway, he still couldn't make himself feel that properly. Oh, wait. He threw the weapons down, the spikes digging into the sand and then he took off his glasses so he could pull his goggles down. Right, now I'm ready. He muttered, leaning forward to pull out his daggers as he stepped upwards to the rest and moved on up, stopping about nine or ten metres away from Matthew and Hodo, keeping a watch on the two sides of the hill, in case one of the Hammerheads was intending to run around to flank them or something.

_________________
“One day you wake up and realize the world can be conquered.”

[Loop Lionheart]

In newly forged armor the knight stepped into the crowded area. Sunlight glimering off his new plate, a literal aura of light followed him as he walked forwards. Trully, the blacksmith of the colosseum was skilled beyond measure. It had taken only a slight inspection of his repaired armaments for Loop to determine them superior to their previous incarnation. A form frorged by the most skilled armorsmiths in his kindom no less. Still, this armor bared a weight that Loop would have rather left to lie. It carried the weight of hatered, instilels with a hammer that cried for revenge.

While it was true that Loop despised all forms of evil and sought to clense them, he had long been tought that revenge was no reason to fight for. Revenge was in and on itself evil. An evil that not only send one's self into a spiralling path of destruction but also any who stood close. Still, Loop had little choice. Ruby and his pet warlords were monsters that had to be annihilated, creatures Loop had sworn to slay on sight. It was only his duty to find the gemwarlords and down them but if he fullfilled an old man's wishes along the way, then so be it. Another man saved from himself.

Plus, Loop had promissed.

Walking in the arena and staring down his opponents, a team 'hammerhead', Loop took a second to marvel at all the unexpacted twist his life had taken in the last few days. For example, who would have thought he would one day lead a team 'Lionheart' in the heat battle in aranged fighting? Team Lionheart...Loop frowned. What a pompus name. Truthfully unnessesary, past the fact that he had treated his fellow fighters into a free registration in the arena, Loop really had no form of leadership over his allies. Plus, even if he had, naming the team after the leader was both a strategical mistake and a sign of malignant pride on the leader's part. Regurdless.

The experianced knight stood still, gazing thoughtfully at his opposition even as the rest of his team moved to higher ground and their individual positions. The enemy appeared strong but his side had far superior numbers. He turned to look at his allies that now overlooked the battle from the hill of dirt. Ok, this made things simpler.

'Spring step'

In a blinding act of speed, the knight shot fowards straight at the enemy leader, his hand already hovering over the handle of his spring blade. Cut off the snake's head and the body will die as the old saying goes. True it was a risky move, but if the leader's goons turned their attention to him, Loop's allies would have an excellent opportunity to outflank, separate and take down the enemy's pawns. The knight himself was farely confident in his ability to down the enemy leader, if not then this would serve as an excellent test of his foe's skill and would make beating him easier in future engagements. As far as danger went, Loop was certain that if the enemy leader focused too much on him, one of the knight's allies would be upon his exposed back in a second.

_________________
Made it myself. (Tukinode may not reflect the ideas of his original creator)

-Team Hammerhead-
Stepping out into the light of the arena, the three large men moved intimidatingly, staring at there opponents. While the twins simply moved with a stoic glare, arms at there sides, the Captain, a man with a sleeveless, open shirt which revealed a tattoo of a hammerhead shark on his chest, grinned at them and the crowd. His teeth with filed down some, sharp and jagged. His put his arms in the air, trying to keep attention it seemed, especially when they went crazy over the challenger's token. A red bandanna topped his head and held his hair back, and various hammers hung from his shirt and loose pants. His subordinates were seemingly impossible to tell apart. Shirtless, they each had a sash, one blue with red stripes and the other red with blue stripes. Each had a large cutlass on their back. Turning back towards the stragglers thrown in with his team, he spoke.

"Alright you bottom feeders, get in there and fight! I've got a reputation to build, and I'll not lose because of you screwing it up!" Turning back, he scouted out the enemy team. He was outnumbered, but while weird, they didn't look particularly strong. He was reaching for a hammer when one of them, the leader Loop, suddenly went flying right at him. With shocking speed, he gripped a small hammer and tossed it, sending it flying and spinning with great speed right at Loop, who he doubted could move much mid-leap. Still, he leaped and rolled to the side afterwords, grabbing another hammer. His crew mates drew their swords, and if Loop continued he was likely to run into one or the other. For now they stood close to each other on their side of the arena. The pirate captain spoke again. "Think you'll take me out that easily! Ha, I'm Ren the Hammerhead! I'll tear you apart and beat ya into the ground!"

_________________

{Arena, Team Hammerhead}

Ekora's bright eyes stared ahead as the match was beginning, playing back the last events in her head while she slowly wound up the whip she had acquired from the arena armory. First, she had been knocked out in the streets out of the blue. Second, some guy she never met and only heard of in rumors decided they knew each other and assumed she was close with peole she had just met. Third, she was now threatened with death to participate in a match. Fourth, aside from wanting to thrash one of them, she had no actual desire to attack anyone in the opposing team.

While she wasn't scared of dying herself, the threat to kill the guys she had just met for refusal was the big motivator. Can't just let someone else take the fall for me... But I don't need to kill anyone, so this'll be fine. Plus I could always just take a dive if I feel it'll look good enough.

Ekora began to walk forward as she noticed two of the others had already reached the hill ahead of her. One being the hastily angered cook from earlier, who looked to still be upset, despite having earlier said that he understood what she meant and wasn't angry. She just shook her head while walking forward enough to be in range of the two, holding her coiled whip in her right hand.

_________________

Matthew had arrived on top of the hill just a few seconds after hodo teleported up there.
The sprint had done good to raise his vigor and now he was spoiling for a fight. And what better to temper your rage than to beat seven shades of crap out of a pair of twins.
Oy you two! Why dont'cha pick on sombody your own size! he bellowed at them hoping to draw their attention away from Loop. Then he yelled;
Be it food or be it foe! I can down it! because I am Matthew! first I'm gonna beat it! then I'm gonna eat it! And with that said he charged down the hill intent on getting to grips with the enemy his iron boots shaking the ground with every step.

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Dragonborn Dragonborn, by his honour is sworn, to keep evil forever at bay
and the fiercest foes rout, when they hear triumph's shout.

Dragonborn for your blessing we pray, and the scrolls have fortold, of black wings in the cold
that when brothers wage war come unfurled, Alduin bane of kings, ancient shadow unbound
with a hunger to swallow the world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9eGtyqz4gY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j50u0zUeCmU

(NeoWarrior7, you can handle yourself for a bit. I'll take care of Matt and Ruffdraft along with Stitch and Jack elsewhere.)


As the Lionheart crew took up a position atop the large sand and stone hill the two cloaked figures behind Team Hammerhead immediately took notice of Hodo, the taller figure signaled something to his counterpart before leveling a pistol at the lionhearts while his companion did likewise. The pistols were intricate with silver and polished wood handles that fired one shot before needing to reload, but the guns themselves were larger than ordinary pistols used by pirates or even Marines. Both were unique in their design.

With a clicking noise, the tall cloaked man pulled the trigger.
There was a momentary silence before an explosion took out a large chunk of the hill that Hodo and Matt stood on, a second explosion rocked the hill a moment later from the cloaked mans companion. The sand and smoke from the gunshots made it difficult to see for everyone else watching.
The cloaked figures seemed to vanish for a moment, Matt and Hodo would feel a shiver up their spine a moment later as the sound of steel being drawn echoed behind them.
These two were fast.


-Stitch and Sow-

The guard gave a brief salute to the scarecrow man, trying his best to avoid eye contact. Sweat was on his brow and his steps seemed... odd. The man clearly was uncomfortable with something, be it his task or the strange request of his master but whatever it was the guard was clearly on edge. When he spoke up as they reached the basement door his voice was choked and unclear, warning stitch to be very careful.
As the two proceeded into the dark depths there were numerous signs of struggle, the catacombs were not a friendly place apparently. On they walked in complete silence, save for the light clanking of the guardsmans armor. The man never spoke and continued on with a worried expression up until they came to a crossroad in the tunnel, a brief sigh as the man turned around to address stitch.
Pointing to a lightly lit up area just up ahead he began to whisper, "Follow the torches. You will find the r-" -THUD-
The sound of steel on steel as the hilt of an assailants weapon slammed down upon the soldiers head from a nearby tunnel way. The weapons hilt was familiar, intricate with a purple gem on it but what set it off was the strange feeling in the area that nobody had noticed before. It was sorrow, pain, neglect, anger... From the shadows stepped Amethyst in her gemlord armor but her face was the most off setting, tears were glistening Amethysts eyes as she looked upon the face of a man she had once been close to calling a husband. Now they were monsters walking different roads, meeting in the middle...


-Jack Valentine-

"Why not bet now on the life of your friends, surely you are confident enough to wager a bit of cash on your allies. With the winnings I doubt you couldn't afford to buy your own personal ship instead of that log you used to get here." Another nudge to Jack, a no brainer that this guy was well informed. More clanking came from behind him as the guard now filled the doorway glaring at them both.

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"But when one of it's baby chicks is in trouble, Momma comes a run'nin' and a squawkin and a run'nin''." -General Treistar

[Jack Valentine] 'Unfavourable odds'

Jack looked the guy over, the familiarity he was feeling was almost undeniable now but still he did not know who this guy was. Jack had strong rules on betting even if he bet on everything, and one of those rules was don't bet on others when the odds can be rigged against them and he had a gut feeling this was one of those times. Jack stood his ground and readied himself for anything that was gonna happen. "I don't care about winning, I am not betting on my comrades in a blood sport, whoever you may be you seem to know a lot going on this island so you must have an insight into why you would want me to bet on this arena thing, maybe you have rigged it just to see me lose and that's a very unjust thing to do. And I hate it when gambling becomes unjust." Jack was calm and cool on the outside but he was angry on the inside, this was his poker face which helped him hide how he really felt but he would let it slip if anything happened, then he would beat the crap outta this guy.

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-Regent-

Raising his hands to show he meant no hostility the man simply gave a polite smile, a glance over his shoulder and the guard took up his former position just outside of the doorway with a grunt and the clanking of heavy armor. Taking a handkerchief from his upper coat casually wiping off the sweat from his head for a moment before returning the cloth to it's former position. "I meant no offense, but if you believe me to have rigged the competition you are free to opt out of the bet until you are certain I've no tricks up my sleeve. I merely find that armed combat is the fairest for of gambling, a persons true skill cannot be seen with nothing but a glance.." The regent seemed to look idly to his side, in a rich oak casing with glass on it's sides was a set of antique chain armor, in it's hand was a spear that had clearly seen much use in it's time. There were other staffs and spears lining the walls of the area that were like the armor, antiques or just for decoration.
Shaking off the idle thoughts he turned back to Jack. "I hope you will reconsider my offer Jack."

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"But when one of it's baby chicks is in trouble, Momma comes a run'nin' and a squawkin and a run'nin''." -General Treistar

{Mister Stitch& Sow}

_Tunnel_

Klaus reached into his dress jacket pulled out a cloth and started to clean his monocle as the Amethyst gem warlord stepped out of the shadows weapon drawn, in full armor with tears running down her cheeks. Klaus did not care for this, not at all, but he knew it was inevitable another confrontation with Clara. " Hopefully you only gave him minor head trauma. Still glad you chose a method that wasn't lethal." Klaus remarked as he continued to wipe his monocle. He then, looked towards her again, then the surrounding area, and back at his monocle. " I'll be honest with you, I'm not surprised by this. Ruby is a sadistic bastard, I doubt he would give up."

" You on the other hand, I'm guessing, either doing this out of your own desire or this is an order by one of those other gem warlords." Klaus said as he wagered a guess on her motives. " Though, I doubt its the latter since I know for a fact they don't think of me as a threat, which is a good thing." He remarked " I rather not be at this stage. " Klaus tucked his monocle away in his dress jacket as he felt a fight will soon break out. He tried to recall the guard's last words before he was knocked out, something about following the torches to find something. Likelihood, it was the right way to the collusion.

" So what are you planning to do, Clara?" Klaus questioned

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"Fate smiles on the strange. So its a good thing, I'm the strangest of all." - William Livingstone, Cirque de la Nuit