Mini Arena 3

[etcircenses]

The kids are picked up from the daycare bright and early, but by the Capitol instead of their parents. It's just like old times in the arenas, with only children to contend.

25 - 24 - 23

Stylists are starting to get used to the mini-arenas, though it doesn't mean they've been allowed to dress tributes in whatever they want. All the tributes will be dressed as proxy copy of a respective video game character. All tributes are reminded about the ticket rules for this round.

20 - 19 - 18 - 17 - 16

The platforms lift them up, and there is no cornucopia to be seen. The only way tributes will be able to help and protect themselves is if they go out of their way to harm another tribute and get the tickets, which will be tallied by their watches. The lights of the games flicker and glow within the dark. Classic video game fight tunes play overhead. Before them lay a great and stretching obstacle course, filled with animatronic enemies and various other hazards.

11- 10 - 9 - 8

They've all been warned, don't step off your pedestal early. They have also been warned to put on a good show. That's all this is about, a good show. None of them have been told that there can be multiple winners this time around.

5 - 4

3

2

The sound of the gong plays crystal clear across the opening. The games have begun.

[OOC: Remember, this is forwardated by a week.]

Comments

Blockpit

[etcircenses]

Super Marko Bros. Pt 1: Loki and the Initiate

[justoutrunyou]

Sandy was in trouble.

She knew she was in trouble since the party but to what degree she had no idea until now.

In the outfit they had forced her into she couldn't move her arms. With a grunt and growl she strained but to no avail. The blocks would not bend under her own power.

Casting a glance around the area her eyes fell on the various allies she had and those who she suspected were perfectly comfortable killing a little girl they didn't know.

As the countdown began she knew she would only get one shot to make it through this first area. Where tactics should have been in her mind all that she could find were curses in the various languages that Shepard had taught her.

Maybe they would censor her on the broadcast...maybe not. Either way she had to get them out.

The Gong sounded.

"Out of my way Smegheads!"

It probably didn't do her well to insult her fellow tributes but her legs pumped under her and she was a purple blur racing for the the foam pit. Her first step found purchase on a rounded platform but it wobbled and she made an awkward scrambling leap to the next one. With her arms out to either side it actually helped in her balance...but the outfit wasn't aerodynamic in any sense of the word.

And the ominous cooing and chirping underneath the shifting foam blocks was worrying.

Her next leap found the platform was too smooth to find purchase and she swung wildly in a circle with a yelp "Bosh'tet!"

Green Warrior is about to die.

[ruffntumblenut]

It was strange how the simple outfit Ruffnut wore now was actually the most comfortable she'd been in a long time.

Her boots were old fashioned leather and fur with bands around them to keep them tight on her calf. A matching leather loin cloth was hanging from her narrow waist giving her a pleasant breeze around her neithers. To top it off they had used simply cloth wraps around her chest to keep her developing mounds from bouncing too much as she set off into the arena.

Instantly she spotted a target that she had been longing to have her revenge on. Justin Law from her own district was clad in a frog costume and looked absolutely fitting as he sprang from platform to platform surrounded by foam.

He had beaten the ever loving tar out of her on day one and his irritating music had kept her from sleeping so many nights in the Capitol that Ruffnut was determined to have her revenge right here in the arena.

Unfortunately he was far more graceful and agile then she was and after three successful jumps the fourth one found Ruffnut clawing at the platform wildly to keep her grip. Bent over with her bottom in the air she saw him putting distance between them and growled unwilling to lose sight of him.

Reaching down into the foam she tugged free a brick and hurled it at him, only to see in shock that the brick had something clinging to it. Some furry mutant with a beak and claws was spinning through the air adding extra weight to the brick and it caught Justin square between the shoulders.

In shock Ruffnut remained crouching, mouth agape as the beast dug it's claws through Justin's suit into his spine and began tearing and ripping at the flesh viciously. In his shock Justin missed the next step and tumbled into the blocks.

He never even had the chance to scream.

Stunned that she had so easily dispatched the man who had almost killed her with his bare hands Ruffnut took a moment to wallow in the pride. Unfortunately as she was positioned on the platform her foot slipped back into the foam and a powerful suction began to pull on her.

"CRAP!" She clawed wildly at the platform feeling claws and beaks tearing at her leg and a scream of pain escaped her mouth.

"HELP!" She demanded from the next tribute to pass by. Hopefully they wouldn't see her as an easy way to score some tickets.

Aang

[actually112]

Aang doesn't know what the fuck he's supposed to be. All he knows is that he's round right now, and he's not going to be able to maneuver at all if he stays round. He makes a split decision--sacrifice the relative protection of the costume for the sake of flexibility.

"Hey, Training Center! Can you hear us now?" As the countdown begins to go down, Aang starts wiggling his hands out of the sleeve-like nubs they had been forced into. "I just wanted to say that it's okay. It's only going to be two days this time. We can tough it out."

It's brief and muffled by the time he manages to work the round part of the costume over his head, but his intentions are pretty clear: to reassure the adults they left behind. In his heart, he feels like all the kids here will be okay in the end, because they'll come back and they've all been toughened up by the Capitol and their worlds enough to cope. Adults don't give them enough credit a lot of the time.

He works off the round bit of his costume, leaving himself clad only in bright pink pants. If anyone pays attention, they'll see that his arrow tattoos go all the way up his arms and down his spine, and there's a conspicuous star burst-shaped scar on his lower back.

Then the countdown ends. He considers trying to rip apart his costume for material to wear, but that would take too long. He tosses the round thing aside and starts running, and he gracefully takes to the foam pit, not needing much help at all as he steps from one platform to the next. In fact, he's keeping an eye out for anyone who may have a harder time balancing and may need his help.

Kenny | OTA

[korosu]

So. It begins.

The youngest of the Tributes can already feel his heart slamming against his ribs as the pedestals rise up, the air of the arena hitting his face and the tacky video game music filling his ears. Since he's not supposed to move yet, Kenny glances around at the others; many of the costumes are recognizable, which is kind of fucking awesome. Some are not, which is strangely intimidating. He, himself, is dressed in a fluffy pink outfit that makes him look rounder than he really is.

And his mouth is already really fucking dry. Reaching down while the seconds tick away, Kenny retrieves the bottle of unknown colourful drink and takes a cautious sip. It's pretty damn good right now, so with a shrug, he chugs down more than half the thing before replacing it and pulling as much of the fuzzy hood over his mouth as he can. Force of habit. Mitten'd hands clenching into fists to quell their shaking, he struggles to contain himself through those final few seconds, and then the ring of the gong is practically deafening.

Kenny doesn't even look at the others now as he bolts forward, diving onto the first platform and then the next. All those times he couldn't afford any clothes besides his parka for gym class, and the fact that he's so small and skinny under the thick coat he's wearing now, nicely work to his advantage. The third jump isn't so fortunate, however, the platform tipping beneath him and almost sending him falling right into the pit below as he grabs onto the edge with a muffled squeal. There's a whole lot of bullshit going on under those bricks. He can hear it, and see the way a couple other Tributes have already been totally ripped apart. There is no way he's going out like that. Fuck that shit.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck..." The kid manages to haul himself up, but the rest of the pit looks just about as promising ...


[OOC: Already got his actual death plotted out, but hit him with your best shot! >D Or take pity on him. Whatever.]

Dave Strider - ota

[shenunigans]

There's an overwhelming sense of done clouding Dave's mind when they're woken up for this Arena. He'd barely slept the past few days, barely ate and barely thought about much more than how tired he is of this shit. He doesn't even care when they put him in the damn costume, he just wants to get it over with. He'd take Lord English over this any day. Maybe.

Still, there's an undeniable rush stirring from the countdown, when he's scanning the lines looking for familiar faces and staring ahead to clue out an easy path. Shit, he still thinks that's possible. An easy path? That's cute.

When the gong sounds, he takes a moment before leaping into action. He's not the buffest guy, but he's nimble. He chooses not to think too much about how fitting it is for Mario to be hopping over platforms, he's scanning around for people he knows and occasionally calling out to them. If someone falls nearby, he'll weigh the pros and cons of just reaching out and dragging them upward without a word.

Unfortunately, even being slick as fuck doesn't excuse him from the risk of a crumbling platform. He loses his footing and his foot slips into the depths of the foam. So far so- "Fuck." He grunts, dragging his leg upward to reveal- is that a fucking furby snapping at his leg. A punch has the fuzzy little robot releasing him, but he can't linger to check the damage. Nor can he hold the damn thing any longer, so excuse him if a vicious projectile robot is headed right for your face.

His leg fucking hurts, but at least he didn't get taken down by a furby.

open;

[iphigeneia]

No matter how tough this is, Felicity can't fail. She won't let herself fail. As soon as the gong sounds, she's in motion, careful not to slip into the pit as she begins to leap from stepping stone to stepping stone.

Nico di Angelo | ota

[mortuaria]

Nico might be out of touch with a lot of parts of the modern world, but if there's one thing he can feel confident he understands, it's games. After all, he did live in a casino for sixty-some years, and he spent every waking second of that in the arcade (and a couple of nights too, when he'd managed to slip away from Bianca and found himself passing out between Pac-Man and Street Fighter coin ops). The music, some of the costumes, they're all vaguely familiar--though not his own, and that frustrates him for more reasons than being stuffed in a striped shirt and bright red baseball cap.

Four years ago he would have been excited by the pageantry, even with the horrible reason behind it. Four years ago, he was kind of an idiot.

When the gong sounds he takes off, keeping his focus pointed forward but aware enough of his surroundings that he doesn't run into anyone. Once he reaches the block pit he skids to a stop, taking a moment to catch his breath and get his heart rate calmed down while he takes in his first obstacle. There'd been something like this in the Lotus Casino, too, but he suspects this one is much, much nastier than it appears.

There's only one way forward. With a deep breath, he charges forward and throws himself across the empty space to the first platform. He lands with the dull slap of skin against plastic, and irritation flares across his arm in what he's pretty sure is a friction burn.

Beneath him, the platform wobbles dangerously. He holds still and waits for it to stop, eyes squeezed shut, counting the seconds out in his head and trying not to remember the sick feeling of the ground crumbling out from under him in Rome, the dark abyss waiting beneath it to swallow him back up again. Stupid. There's no one-way trip to Tartarus under his feet. But he still has to be careful.

When it's steady once more he pushes himself carefully upright, takes another steadying breath, and makes a leap for the next platform.

Gary and Terezi - starting from the countdown

[a_minute_younger]

It takes a lot of self-control for Gary not to practically vibrate off the starting platform. The mask he wears covers his excitement only marginally; he busily rubs his hands together, swishes his cape, passes shit-eating grins to everyone he recognizes. He's been waiting for one of these games ever since he was told why he was brought here--and it's an obstacle course. An obstacle course with fancy costumes. Gary could not be happier.

He needs a distraction before he moves too much and gets in trouble. Gary looks around and notices, to his immediate amusement, the troll from the crowning ceremony's prison funhouse. Suddenly, he has an idea.

"Hey!" Gary speaks in a stage whisper, with quick motions of his head to help get Terezi's attention. "Pssst! Hey you!"

Davesprite // ota

[anachronologistics]

The countdown begins, and the only thing that Davesprite can think is that this is fucking surreal.

... which is rich, coming from a guy who was brought up with the funds from a lucrative puppet-porn industry and sprouted orange crow-wings when he had obliterated his own timeline. This is too surreal, and too dream-like. In a way, it's not unlike those weird, half-awake moments he used to have back before Sburb when he would claw his way out of deep sleep and venture out into the hallway of the apartment to take a leak, and Bro would be there to ambush him with cherry bombs and batarangs no matter the given hour. It's like moving in the same sort of hazy fog, moving on the same sort of instinct.

It's that same sort of instinct now. Davesprite keeps himself loose and relaxed as the countdown drones, wings hanging low at his back. Beneath the brim of his green plumber's hat -- it really isn't a surprise that he ended up as Mario's gangly and awkward brother in this charade -- he scans the crowd for any faces he knows and recognizes. Sandy, Dave, the trolls, Gary, Kenny. There's the younger girl, Clementine, that he's seen a few times although he's never talked to her.

The gong sounds, and Davesprite waits.

It's not too long, only a few seconds -- just long enough to let the tidal wave of kids ahead of him, to keep them in his sights before sprinting forward. To anyone -- ie: every asshole watching on camera, likely -- it probably looks like he's waiting for the block pit to take care of the initial wave of kids and reveal the traps and obstacles where they aren't immediately obvious before taking to them himself. What he's really doing is keeping an eye out for any kids in his immediate vicinity that he can dive for, should they take a tumble.

Then he moves.

Davesprite may not have a lick of fat on him, but he is built for speed and agility. Fast, where he may not necessarily be strong. The wings are actually an incredible help. While they can't fly, they do a marvelous fucking job of keeping him balanced as he hops from platform to platform, though they do fan out every once in a while to keep him from tumbling. Here's to hoping it doesn't send someone into the pit.

(Even if they do, he's going to dive in after without a second thought.)

Karkat and Eridan

[crabmunicator]

Things went so quickly. One moment Karkat was questioning Kanaya about what she was buying from Jane, and the next he'd been in a completely different place surrounded by humans. He barely got to gather himself before he was being rushed off. Explanations were babbled in his ear as he was forced out of one outfit and into another, some godawful costume primarily in purple. The hat, indignity of indignities, didn't even have proper horn holes. Some ugly, pink, prosthetic nose got glued onto his face, fake mustache sticking up at sharp angles around his face. He didn't even get to ask why this before someone was shoving him onto a pedestal, and up he shot into the arena.

Don't get off the pedestal early, he was warned. Wait for the countdown. He hears it ticking down now, even above the rush of blood in his ears and sharp hiss of his breath passing in and out. There are people all around him in costumes of their own, and before him stretches a pit full of cubes leading god knows where. It's a game with one survivor, they said, and it's so overwhelming his lungs squeeze tighter with every inhale.

The gong sounds, and he doesn't wait to move. Forward, leap off the edge - he manages to land on one of the stepping stones, just in time for shock to overwhelm and steal his balance out from under him. He falls, managing at least to latch his body onto this safe spot. The visor of his cap blocks too much of a his view, and it takes him only a moment to yank it off his head, bobby pins be damned.

There are people all around, leaping across paths or stumbling into the pit, moving and rushing or fighting already, and he knows he has to keep going but it's all so much at once. He can't breathe, it feels like. He doesn't want to die! He doesn't want to kill these strangers! It was bad enough to get impaled on Jane's fork, but here among humans and strangers with no survival in sight is too heavy to just get over that quick.

Rope Course

[etcircenses]

The legend of Cassandra

[justoutrunyou]

Already battered from the first section Sandy relished the use of her arms once more as she took the first step onto the rope coarse. If her allies hadn't ripped the sleeves from her outfit she'd be doomed in this next section.

balancing on the wooden plank carefully she put one foot in front of the other casting a glance over her shoulder to make sure her friends were following. That glance would cost her.

SPLAT!

A glob of something slimy and green fell from the ceiling to land on her head hard enough it made her stumble and land sprawled out on the bridge.

"Gronking Frak!" More cursing that sounded like gibberish to her. She clawed at the slime in her hair and felt strands of it being ripped out. By the time she was scrambling to her feet her bangs and some of the hair around her ears had been ripped out by the force of the slime. Her mutilated branding was bright and clear.

back on her feet and stumbling along the bouncing swaying bridge Sandy was becoming painfully aware of the dangers above and below her. A bubbling acid pit sizzled and hissed like it was mocking her, and the globs of slime from above hit like stones.

And rumbling in the distance with an ominous laugh warned of threats lurking just out of sight and lingering behind more ropes.

Anna

[rediscover]

Somehow, Anna makes it through the blockpit. She's not quite sure how--her outfit isn't exactly modest, especially in the back, and she's had to resist the urge to cover her behind with her hands the whole time. So she makes it, but halts slightly when she reaches the ropes course, feeling nauseous. There's no way she can make it through this. She'd give up, but she's sure that would only lead to dire consequences back in the Capitol. For her, and for Elsa. They'd been warned to put on a show for good reason, after all. So she takes a deep, steadying breath, straightens her beret, and launches herself at the course.

She makes it a few ropes in before she's showered with something awful and smelly. The sheer force of it almost causes her to lose her grip, but somehow she manages to cling to the rope she's on until it's over, before scrabbling with her feet to make it to the next section. A couple of times, her grip is precarious enough that she'd be pushed easily to her death--anyone who would like can try to do so. It'd be a mercy, after all.

open;

[soultospare]

Somehow Megan had made it this far, even if she was now feeling terrified and trapped. All that X-Men training needed to kick in, and fast, otherwise she would soon be a goner. With great deliberation, she approached the rope course and started to slowly make her way across.

All seemed to be going well until some slime dripped from the ceiling and caught her arm, burning it in the process. "Yeeeeeeiiiiih!"

[closed to Davespite+Clem and Punchy]

[shenunigans]

[Davesprite and Clem.]
Miraculously, Dave and Davesprite pass on through to the Rope Course. It would have been a fucking shame on their family if they'd kicked it so early in the competition, so Dave is glad for it. Well. Sort of. He did manage to get injured early on, regardless of whether it was chance that he jumped onto a bogus platform he can't help feeling a little degraded. A furby. A goddamn furby. It gives truth to the rumors, but his leg is throbbing uncomfortably and this is high endurance shit.

He has a task, though. One he still has his mind on. He's made it Davesprite's problem too, since he seems inclined to hang around. They need to find Clementine and make sure she's still in one piece so they can take that piece over the finish line like the efficient plumbers they are.

"It's gonna be like finding a goddamn needle in a haystack." He grumbles, with costumes like these she could be anywhere so he needs to hold out the hope that she'll find them somehow. Can't be too hard, they're kind of embarrassingly conspicuous.

[Punchy.]
The fall hadn't been entirely intentional, to Dave's credit. He isn't that afraid of being helped, but he knew damn well he was injured in a way that wasn't going to get him to the end of the Arena. He didn't want to weigh them down, not when there were Animatronics closing in and tricky bridges to scale.

Still. It wasn't meant to be so sudden. One of the damn poochies lurched at him and the idea of letting it maim him to death was more repulsive than the idea of closing his eyes and dropping down. Soon there's gonna be acid and it's gonna hurt like a motherfucker, then it'll be over and he'll just be able to mull over how badly he fucked up until they get dragged into the next damn Arena.

Of course, it never quite goes the way Dave imagines it will. Instead of dropping through the air into the vat, he collides with somebody in a mess of limbs and ropes. He can't help letting out a cry of pain when he's jostled that hard, but relief floods his expression when he realises he didn't land on someone liable to fuck him up more.

"My bad." He croaks as casually as possible, not fully able to look Punchy in the eye like this.

Kenny

[korosu]

[OTA]
It's some time later that Kenny has emerged from the block pit, banged-up in a lot of places, some tears and stains where he was poked and pierced by the sharper blocks, glass and knives. The drink's also settled in, along with raw adrenaline, leaving him high-strung and irritable. The bridge and everything that surrounds it looks even less promising than the obstacles before it. Who knows how painful that shit on the ground is.

With the acidic slime beneath him lurching and bubbling, Kenny picks his way across the bridge, trying to force himself not to look down. Moving too slow could make him an easy target by the competition. Moving too fast could be deadly for many other reasons. Several times he has to grab onto fraying ropes and structures, entirely too unsteady on his feet.

--

[Clementine]
At one point he runs smack into someone's shoulder, not fully paying attention, and at the same time a blob of slime falls and hits him in the head. "Hey!" Anger surges within him, the impact entirely misattributed to the girl he'd bumped into. Who the fuck does she think she is? It's countered with a hard shove, though Kenny can't tell if it's purely out of anger or from some subconscious need to defend himself. "Fuck you, asshole!"

closed to Ruffnut

[gardienne]

Goodness knows how Eponine manages to make it through the block course. She feels absolutely ridiculous, with her long hair dyed blonde and scraped up, and dark fur glued almost everywhere else. She's itchy and she's uncomfortable and quite frankly, she's just about done with everything. She just wants to go home.

She could throw herself into whatever is bubbling away below her. She looks down from where she's crouched on a swinging platform, and she thinks about it. But the memory of talking to that brave little girl stays with Eponine and prevents her from just giving up. Instead, she reaches out for the nect platform, and the next and the next, crawling forward slowly. She's going to fight. and she's going to win.

for Gary

[pythianjudgment]

Once Terezi reaches the Rope Course, she knows in an instant that this is where she needs to make her stand. She has a target in mind, and if she's going to catch him anywhere, it's going to be here where she has the advantage.

If anything, their first race with the Crowning's obstacle course taught her a valuable lesson with her opponent: He was quick and he could maneuver well, but he was basically a self-assured little shit. His ego was probably the best thing that she had to work with here.

So she lingers in a place where she can easily smell the Tributes coming onto the course. She checks the ropes around her frequently--just in case the Gamemakers decide to loosen one up on her--and keeps an ear out for the animatronics and other kids.

With any luck, Gary hasn't come by this way just yet.

Open

[actually112]

Aang is shirtless, but he doesn't seem to mind. He is clearly at home with the ropes--sliding along them, dancing around slime dumps, testing rope and deliberately snapping it if it's too worn, cutting off dangerous routes before someone dies on them, navigating like a monkey in the jungle.

It shouldn't take him long at all to get past it and get to the finish line, but he lingers, wandering different routes and throwing animatronics over the side and checking for anyone who might be straggling or having trouble with the course.

He isn't playing to win. He's playing to help other people avoid horrible and painful deaths.

Gary, Punchy, and eventually Korra

[a_minute_younger]

Things could be going better, by Gary's estimation. After splitting off early in the course to see about finding Sandy--and the very unfortunate aftermath of that encounter--Gary feels that he's lost a lot of time, and definitely had to overextend himself to make up for it. He's only able to catch back up to Punchy at the very end of the blockpit, and is so tired that he's not even able to keep up casual conversation like he was hoping. It's fun, having someone to run with, but this whole 'exhausted and in pain' thing isn't helping.

After dismounting a relatively sturdy ladder at the start of the rope course, he decides that if he's going to take a break, now would be a good time. Gary holds up a hand and reaches for the water bottle at his side. "Two seconds, dude," he pants, popping open the cap. "You doing alright?"

Water Guns

[etcircenses]

beth | ota

[schnapp]

Somehow, she manages to make it up past the block course and the ropes. She makes it despite being covered in green slime, and limping just the slightest bit because Beth's pretty sure her ankle's twisted or something. One of the animatronics had jumped up too close to where she'd stepped, making her stumble to get away.

Her watch count still reads zero. She hasn't had to fight any of the other tributes yet, and she's pretty grateful for that. Even though it's luck, and it has to run out eventually. Beth takes a couple of seconds to catch her breath before she's picking up one of the guns. They look like toys, but they're a weapon she at least knows something about. When she shoots the one in her hand at a wall, the concrete begins to sizzle and crumble.

The idea of using acid on another human being is an atrocious thought. Makes her want to drop the thing altogether.

Go-Karts

[etcircenses]

Marko Kart 8: Locked to Kenny and Punchy

[justoutrunyou]

Somehow...some way she had made it to the final stretch.

Blood ran down her arm from where the fox robot had almost ripped her arm off with it's hook.

Burns decorated her face on either side from slime and acid.

She ached all over and if she had to make a conservative estimate she would guess that she was probably 200% done with the Capitol and this bullshit arena. She could care less about how many tickets she might have earned in her desperate escapes. She could care even less then that about the odds of her still reaching the finish line being slim to none.

All she knew was she was in a Go-Kart and had set off tires squealing with one goal in mind.

Cross the Finish Line.

The Finish Line

[etcircenses]