The Jade Arenas of Heaven: Auspicious Convocation [IC]

[Lone Star]

"I'm certain we can arrange that," said Xiao. He checked over his pad; at this angle, Crow could see that the writing kept shifting, as if updating instantaneously. "We may need to explain this to Red Hand later on, but we can always send him an invite for the next one. I believe we're just waiting on a few more participants to arrive."

---

Meanwhile...

Cannonade turned to see the man in the hockey mask extending a hand. He returned the gesture, making sure not to squeeze too hard. "Cannonade," he said. "Out of Freedom City. Gotta say, this is my first time at one of these things."

Mad Dog chuckled. "You're telling me, man. Hell, I just fight regular thugs. I didn't even know half of what's here even existed."

He listened to Guan Yu's speech and rules, and nodded understandably. A honorable fight, without grudges held. It seemed almost too good to be true, but he was happy nonetheless. It would be a real chance to prove himself against actual metahumans, not just the scum on the streets of Freedom.

"So when do you think we'll get this show on the road?" he asked Cannonade. "I'm ready to rumble."

[April]

Eve grinned at Ironclad. --It's more than a city; it's a palace of sorts. The ostentation makes a certain amount of sense when you think of it like that. And I suspect we will be watched, at all times,-- the telepath finished with a shrug. The telepath perked up when she felt another mind approach, a familiar one at that. Her head snapped around to look at Fulcrum, white hair fanning out as did a wide smile.

The telepath practically pounced on the amazon as she gave her a fierce hug. Fulcrum was one of the first heroes Sage met in Freedom City, and she knew she'd always have a soft spot in her heart for the tall woman. --Fulcrum, this is Ironclad who, you guessed right, also operates around Freedom City. And please, Fulcrum, call me Eve. I'm not wearing my mask or uniform so it feels silly to go by Sage.--

[Quinn]

Crow looked about, deep in thought for a few minutes. The speech and rules were logged away in his head for future reference quite swiftly, although the rest of his thoughts were pretty well occupied (though he did take a moment to admire Guan Yu's entrance; these immortals had style!). His dad had competed here. In front of all these big-name heroes and...well, he did spot a few villains in the crowd. And someone had actually asked for him to stay. There were a lot of people who both or either owed and hated his mom and dad, and him for that matter. He mulled it over for a few minutes before cocking his head to the side, and laughed. Eh, whatever. I'll find out eventually anyway. Right now, I'm in a tournament! In heaven! Wait 'till I tell the guys back in Claremont about this one!

The teen offered his arm to his girlfriend, motioning towards the crowd. "So, you wanna go meet people or find a refreshment table to pillage?"

[Raveled]

Ironclad nodded cordially at the Amazonian superhuman who joined them. She recognized the woman as Mona Teymourian, an up-and-coming artist who, apparently, exhibited awesome powers. Some folks said she was trying to take over Centurion's legacy, but that seemed harsh to someone who seemed so open and friendly. "Hello, there! Yeah, I go by Ironclad." The armored heroine adjusted her height until she was floating somewhere between Fulcrum and Eve's level. "So! Power armor, cosmic energy, and lots of other things. This is going to be a fun tournament." I'm gonna get so much data! Squee!

[Aoiroo]

Changeling scanned the crowd at Crow's suggestion. It did not take her long at all to spot some robed figures carrying trays of food through the crowd.

"I due believe that a successful pillage can be acquired in that direction."

She pointed quietly and smiled before she started towards there as well. She was a good bit peckish herself since she had skipped lunch that day.

[Azuth65]

Listening to Guan Yu speech Vicky nodded, finding the terms acceptable. To Xian she nodded, "Sure, I'll compete."

She slid her arm around Crow's offered limb as they followed behind Etain, silently glad she hadn't been to one to suggest food. "So we now know your father was here but given what I've been told of my mother's missions way back when, I can't help but wonder if she got invited last time too," she mused to Crow while they walked.

As they moved through the crowd she thought she spotted Fulcrum and Sage but couldn't be sure. She made a mental note to slip over for a second to at least say hello, maybe see if they'd be interested in another poker night. One that would hopefully be less awkward than the last.

Shaking the negative memories of that poker game away, her crimson eyes shone at the massive selection of food before them and the attendants who moved around it. And they don't even have their riot gear... They could learn from Chinese buffets back home.

[Semi-Autogyro]

John had not gotten used to being in large crowds and probably never would. They had pros and cons, but tactically they were usually considered a nightmare. So he had found an unoccupied corner and proceeded to 'people-watch' as Mr. Morgan had put it to him.

This tournament had attracted a large number of unique individuals with a whole slew of wildly different proficiencies and styles. Myrmidon watched a savate user get into a verbal sparring match with an iaido practitioner, only for it to be broken up by a woman in full plate who seemed to treat it as normal. He supposed she knew the pair.

Huh. I wonder there would be anybody here that I would know...thought John as he started to see if he could find any familiar faces. He spotted the powerful paragon known to him as Fulcrum, though he only knew about her through Miss Victoria. John thought he had seen a glimpse of Miss Etain, but could not be sure. That was when he saw Mr. Morgan and Miss Victoria, talking to one of the aides. Myr would have thought that they would invite Crow's father the Red Hand, judging by the caliber of some of other heroes here...But, wait. John knew that posture, and that easy stride. Crow was practically crowing, John sighed inwardly. His thoughts on the matter were interrupted by the sound of a gong.

As the rules and regulations were laid out, John was glad that he had had the foresight to do some research on Eastern mythology and religion after his invitation. He would have been far more confused at the proceedings, but was still perplexed as to why Sun Wukong was present at this tournament. He did however, have a number of pressing questions that he posed to the aide-de-camp that approached him.

[Dariusprime]

Mona certainly didn't expect the hug but easily caught Sage in one arm. Laughing, she hugged her back and replied, "Eve it is. Please call me Mona then. Great to see a familiar face around these parts."

Sitting Sage down, Mona offered a handshake to Ironclad. "Pleasure to meet you, Ironclad. Wonderful armor!" Listening to the heroine, she nodded, looked around the square and said, "Absolutely! With the increasing prevalence of super powers around the world, or worlds even, this tournament will be one to remember. I hope our hosts fully understand what they've done."

[Azuth65]

"I know I still owe you for that soda but I think this will hold you over until I can swing by the store and pick up a fresh pack?" Vicky asked before she dove into her food. Despite knowing she'd need the energy of the massive intake of calories and carbohydrates she was enjoying, she slowed down her eating pace so she didn't look like some half-starved homeless woman. When she was finished and not a scrap of meat or vegetable remained on her plates she thanked the attendant who took the empty pieces of dinnerware before getting up to look around for anymore familiar faces.

Spotting John she waved her duplicating friend over to the table she was sharing with Crow and Changeling, "Myrmidon, good to see another familiar face in here. Have you met Changling?"

[Aoiroo]

Changeling turned her head from her own plate as she heard her name, which only slightly less full than Victoria's, but was disappearing at a much slower rate. She took a drink taking a bite out of some excellant duck and smiled towards John,

"He has, Crow brought him to Parkhurst so Mr. De Saens could do a portrait, which had some rather interesting results that ended with me introducing the two of them to another friend of mine. Though I guess, I cannot summon Custos here as we are in another realm, and it may be against tournament rules to have another participant in the matches."

It was a bit sad really, she hadn't thought to invite him and she was sure he would of enjoyed the tournament.

[Quinn]

Crow looked up from his own mountain of food, having been somewhat less reserved than his girlfriend in the 'half-starved high school student' department.

"Could find someone to video-tape the whole thing for him, or maybe there's some kind of cosmic pay-per-view he could catch?"

He mulled the latter idea over in his head, the thought of divine entities gathering around some kind of holy big-screen TV with popcorn to watch making him smile. Catching a glimpse of Myrmidon after Wisp waved at him, he made a face through the bandanna and shadowed hood at his compatriot, gesturing for him to sit down with them as well. Taking a moment, he also leaned over and murmured into Wisp's ear, irritated briefly that he couldn't peck her on the cheek as he leaned back.

"Oh, FYI, Changeling's clued about Myrmidon. First name and everything."

The teen leaned back, cracking his knuckles and pondering whether a 'Go Team Claremont!' banner would be appropriate before he dived back into his food.

[Semi-Autogyro]

The aide-de-camp happily answered all of his questions, and took her leave to move onto another participant. With that done John moved over to meet his fellow Claremonters, inclining his head in greeting towards them. "You could always ask Changling. I would think our hosts might allow him, since otherwise they might have issue with my matches turning into a six versus one fight." He picked up a banana from the table, and lifted up the lower portion of his balaclava to eat. He didn't think it would be wise or safe to fully unmask himself with the potential for people who might have dealings with SHADOW around. "I am however concerned that some of the competitors might try and ignore or twist rules to their advantage, so I would strongly suggest keeping your guard up." John said after finishing the banana. He had seen a few shadier types chuckle and flash bemused glances at one another during the mention of 'crenelation incidents' in Guan Yu's speech.

Figuring that he would need the energy and carbohydrates for the fights he loaded a plate with steamed rice and various fruits and ate slowly, leaning against a pillar instead of sitting. John wanted to keep en eye on the crowd and his friends as he talked with them throughout the banquet.

[Azuth65]

Wisp sat back down, scooting a little closer to Crow, "Didn't know that. Still, figured it was best to use our mask-names while we're here. Our host mentioned this wasn't open exclusively to people who do bright and shiny deeds, a Myr just punctuated for me."

"Crow's of course right, Sun Goku could make a killing if the fights were recorded and burned to blu-ray. Just look at the numbers WWE pulls in. Though, if he had that in mind I'm sure he'd have some gimmick matches like mud wrestling and the attendants sure wouldn't be robed monks. Still, the anticipation is killing me. I just hope none of us get paired off in the first round."

[trollthumper]

"So when do you think we'll get this show on the road?" he asked Cannonade. "I'm ready to rumble."

Cannonade was about to answer when a series of clicking noises filled the air. He scanned the pavilion; at every edge, large slate boards were emerging from the ground. Six ringed the north wall, with seven on each other side. "I've got a feeling we're about to find out," he said.

Marks spontaneously appeared on the boards, as if written by invisible chalk - brackets, starting at 16 on each end and working their way in towards 1. Names also began to appear at the top of each board, ones Cannonade didn't recognize -- "Winnowing Basket" on a board to the east, "Chariot" on a board to the south, "Encampment" on a board to the west, and so forth. As the brackets began to fill, he scanned them until he found his name on the "Extended Net" board. He recognized a few other names on the board -- Ironclad and Wisp -- and fortunately, neither of them were in his brackets. Scanning further, he noticed Mad Dog's name on the "Ghost" board. "Don't think we're in the same match," he said. "Shame about that. Best of luck to ya, though."

Scanning the pavilion, the others quickly found their names. Myrmidon and Crow were along side Ironclad, Wisp and Cannonade in the Extended Net arena, whereas Sage, Fulcrum and Changeling were listed with Mad Dog in the Ghost mansion. None were matching off against any of the others, and it didn't look like they would have to do so for some time.

"Ladies, gentlemen and others," pronounced Guan Yu once more, "the assignment process has been concluded. The guards shall lead you to your respective mansions for the night... and come the morning, you will match wits in the jade arenas of Heaven! May your blows ring out to the reaches of the universe and sing of your glory!"