The Tenth God

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The Tenth God was the original roleplay that started the series. Set in the alien Planes of Tempest, it enticed players with the concept of fighting one another to earn a place as a ruler of their own chunk of the world. Thanks to a surprisingly beloved mechanical system and an ever-growing story, and in spite of many setbacks and delays, it grew into a complicated universe that was explored in great depth both in and out of character.

Plot Setup[edit | edit source]

The Tournament[edit | edit source]

The event around which the game was originally constructed, the tournament was an effort by the gods to gather fighters that would (hopefully) be capable of dispatching Nil. To entice stronger fighters to enter, they offered up godhood as a prize; the tournament's winner would rule a Plane of their choosing.

The final round of the tournament (where the game begins) was done in a round-robin format, pitting each competitor against every other to determine who was the most powerful. Each round was held on a different Plane, with each plane constructing a different arena with unique terrain and challenges. Fights continued until one side surrendered or was clearly unable to continue fighting; attacking a fighter after any of these happened was strictly against the rules and would result in immediate disqualification under normal conditions.

It is unknown how the ultimate winner would be determined, as the situation surrounding the tournament rapidly deteriorated until several competitors left it entirely and brought it to an early end.

Phases[edit | edit source]

One of the devices that helped TTG flourish early was the phase system, dictating very clearly when the characters were to interact and when they were to fight. It had many flaws and was over-complicated in many areas, but it helped the RP keep up a steady pace in the first few chapters. Portions of it were removed or retooled until it was finally thrown out entirely at the start of Chapter 5.

Summary[edit | edit source]

Warning! Retcons ahead!

The subjects discussed in the following page may have been altered from their original versions due to being either partially or totally in conflict with the current canon of TTG. Any retroactive continuity changes made to the subjects were done so by TTG's creator in order to resolve these conflicts

Chapter 1: Sloth[edit | edit source]

The game begins with the contestants arriving in Sloth. Black Idol informs them of the proper procedure for an audience before they are introduced to Sleeping Bear, the god of Sloth, who does not seem eager to see them. Adam introduces himself as the heir to Pride, while Revenant expresses his disappointment with Bear's apparent laziness. LOLI_HUNTER, meanwhile, finds it difficult to contain herself around Slumbering Giant and another, as-yet-unknown girl, unsettling Strider and Hellfire Knight. Bear states that he won the right to the plane by sleeping, then dismisses the audience.

Revenant vs. Supernova

Revenant opens the fight with a silent taunt towards Supernova. Supernova replies by beginning to dash around the arena, building heat by firing bursts of flame at Revenant. The Revenant dodges, then replies with a barrage of ranged electromagnetic slashes. The strikes disrupt several of Supernova's systems, prompting him to launch a direct melee assault by teleporting into melee. Revenant activates his Tesla Orbs to magnetically disrupt the attack by shoving Supernova sideways, then launches into a maddened frenzy, dealing a powerful blow to his opponent while cackling maniacally. The damage causes Supernova's core to begin overloading, massively increasing its heat generation and prompting him to charge the Revenant once again.

Revenant's onboard AI, Asmoedus, overrides the control of the crazed pilot and begins taking defensive maneuvers, countering with another barrage of electromagnetic slashes. Supernova's assault continues undeterred until Revenant activates the Tesla Spheres at full power, unveiling two additional ones from the mech's shoulder compartments and charging them with a full EMP. The strike deals massive damage to Supernova's mech, prompting him to surrender in the face of his opponent's overwhelming offense.

Ricochet vs. Hellfire Knight

The match begins with neither fighter doing much but evaluating the other, with the Hellfire Knight moving towards a stationary Ricochet. Seeing the opponent's inaction, the Hellfire Knight opens up with a barrage of fire that saturates the arena. Ricochet begins to dodge and counterattack, but his missile and laser attack are both easily defeated by his opponent's defenses. The Knight responds by creating two closing walls of fire, forcing Ricochet to close on her. The Hellfire Knight allows him to get close, then grabs ahold of him and attempts to trap him inside the Hellfire Mantle. Ricochet teleports away to evade the grab, but is then struck and instantly defeated by a combination of the Mantle being unleashed and a followup Giga Flare that filled the arena with an unavoidable wave of plasma.

LOLI_HUNTER vs. Slumbering Giant

FBI OPEN UP

Silent Requiem vs. Strider

Silent Requiem's first move is to taunt Strider and then charge directly at them. Strider counterattacks with a shotgun blast, which grazes Silent Requiem and prompts him to taunt Strider once again as he makes a followup. He nicks Strider with his blades, causing Strider to leap backward and open up with her machine guns. This triggers Silent Requiem's signature move, Alpha Screech, and he taunts Strider once again before activating it. This allows him to land another hit, but Strider figures out how the signature works and adjusts strategy, activating her special ability. Silent Requiem's charge bounces off of Strider as a result of the EAS, while Strider fires again with her shotgun. Silent Requiem, after recovering from the awkward landing, launches himself into the air, crashing down onto Strider and sending her off balance enough to activate his signature once again. He continues his reckless assault, dealing damage to Strider, but Strider then responds with a high-power Revenge Blast, destroying his mech instantly.

Travel Phase

After the fights, the contestants boarded a luxury train to travel to the next Plane. Kagari, Hiroki, and Tai all choose to visit the food car. Hiroki shies away from Tai, but is found by Kagari, who says she has discovered her true identity. Tai ignores the two as Kagari continues to harass Hiroki, prompting her to panic in her seat and tumble to the floor, which in turn causes her to inadvertently reveal her appearance and voice. She complains about nobody taking her seriously, which Kagari responds to by declaring her love for Hiroki. Hiroki, while initially suspicious, elects to respond in a moderately friendly fashion. She explains to Kagari her motivation for concealing her opinion after being asked. Kagari passes out, prompting Hiroki to call for help. This succeeds in getting Hiroki to take her back to her room and get her into her bed before she leaves.

Black Idol holds a concert during the trip, attended by Adam, Morgan, and Solomon. Solomon and Morgan discuss their respective matches, comparing notes until the concert begins. After her song, Adere tells a story explaining that godhood is acquired by overcoming one's humanity. This irritates Adam and Solomon, who are displeased with learning that it is such a seemingly mundane event. Adere explains the significance of these talents, pointing out that each of the gods is exceptional in their own ways.

Lawrence visits the Diviner to make changes to his mech. The Diviner extracts Favor from him, then allows Lawrence to oversee the changes. Lawrence asks the Diviner about the difference between a god and a human, to which the Diviner responds with a cryptic analogy about coal not understanding what diamond experienced to gain its shine.

Mommo, having stayed in her room, receives a message from a mysterious stranger despite being between the planes. The stranger expresses their distaste for LOLI_HUNTEr, then asks if she can become like Sleeping Bear if she remains uncertain of herself. Mommo demands to know the sender's identity, and they state that they are Aries, the God of Wrath. Mommo agrees with Aries's assessment despite not fully believing he is telling the truth about his identity. He tells her to walk out of the next audience to receive an item that should help her in the competition, assuring her that it is entirely legal.

Tai, meanwhile, heads back to his room to get some rest. After he falls asleep, he also receives a mysterious communication. A girl identifying herself as Cardinal appears in his dreams, asking him to get the gods to call off the tournament, as Nil is too powerful for mortals to face. Tai responds by expressing doubt about his ability to convince them to call the tournament off, instead planning to challenge one of the gods to a fight to prove that one of them should fight Nil. Cardinal says that he has to do it without fighting them and before the end of the tournament, and tells him to ask the Diviner for advice before fading out of his dream.

Chapter 2: Lust[edit | edit source]

The contestants arrive in the God of Lust's hall, where they are assaulted visually and audibly by his greeting. His presence is too overwhelming for most of the contestants to speak meaningfully. Slumbering Giant expresses her distaste, having dressed slightly more than usual, then leaves to take up Aries on his offer. LOLI_HUNTER, meanwhile, elects to dispose of her clothing entirely, seemingly in an effort to get into contact with Swagalicious; this reveals a V-shaped scar on her chest. After everyone makes their best attempt at giving an introduction, Swag informs the group that his predecessor, Future Seeker, became a god by killing herself in battle and surviving using her Spark. He says she made Lust into a prosperous land, then dismisses the group, with a well-hidden sorrowful look in his eyes.

Mommo, meanwhile, meets with Sleeping Bear, sent by Aries. He gives her a heart rate stabilizer, explaining that it is a meditation aid. He expresses that he thought he was alone in fighting while meditating, and informs Mommo that one can prevent system disruptions by doing so. He also reveals that his favored combatant in the tournament is Solomon.

The arena for Lust is revealed to be a pool dotted with "islands" large enough to hold a single mech, with water deep enough for mechs to fully submerge.

Silent Requiem vs. Hellfire Knight

Both contestants attempt to calm themselves and assess the situation as they are dropped into the ring, rather than entering by gates. Hellfire Knight begins by moving backward, hovering over the water. Silent Requiem begins by taunting Hellfire Knight about her stature and the seeming affections of LOLI_HUNTER, to which she responds angrily. Hellfire Knight counters Silent Requiem's initial charging attack by beginning a barrage, then slamming him into the air with a strike from her reinforced main cannon; however, this causes Silent Requiem to fly directly upward. He aims to crash land directly on her while firing machine guns into her thrusters to cripple them, landing a few effective hits through her point defenses. Before he lands, however, Hellfire Knight strikes him with a powerful Giga Flare, the recoil of which pushes her back over solid land. The attack does less damage than it could have, however, as the water cools the melted armor of Silent Requiem before much could be lost.

Silent Requiem remains beneath the water for a moment to repair and utilize his Special Ability of maintaining the shape of his armor, but Hellfire Knight continues to attack, firing a beam at him with her main cannon. He dodges, but this sets him on a collision course with one of the islands below the water. Hellfire Knight continues a ranged assault, sweeping a beam in Silent Requiem's direction. He dodges once more by jettisoning the outer layer of his hull and activating his blades to propel himself through the water, taking a moment to ask Hellfire Knight if she can see through the steam caused by her attacks. She tells him to worry about himself, then sets another attack pattern to attempt to catch him as he moves through the steam. They exchange another round of taunts, then Silent Requiem propels himself towards her at full speed. He fails to activate his signature, taking severe damage in the process, then ejects, launching himself at the Hellfire Knight. He phases his hand through her helmet as he resummons his mech, trapping them together and inflicting extreme pain on both as they repeatedly materialize and dematerialize. Hellfire Knight ends this by reflexively throwing Silent Requiem against the interior of his own mech.

His gambit having failed, Adam asks the Knight to catch him just before his mech dematerializes. She briefly continues her assault, before stopping just as another mech intervenes to rescue him, appearing to knock him out and injure him in the process. The stranger introduces herself as Blink before telling Hellfire Knight to stop pointing her guns at her unless she wants to fight. Hiroki nearly accepts the challenge, but instead chooses to wait for the route out of the arena after the match ends.

Supernova vs. Slumbering Giant

Supernova begins by assessing his opponent in combination with the field, and wishing them good luck. Slumbering Giant thinks little of this, privately commenting on his intelligence before opening with a blast that levels a nearby island. The Giant reveals more of its armaments as Supernova begins to dash around the field, attempting to get behind his opponent. Slumbering Giant replies with a cluster grenade that creates a water screen to conceal a followup energy blast, which Supernova dodges by slamming a nearby island to bounce himself upward. He attacks the Giant in a dive, firing heat blasts and aiming to land a crushing blow. Slumbering Giant fires a panicked barrage that creates another screen of water, which Supernova avoids again by teleporting behind her and unleashing a flurry of superheated blows. A sudden blast disables one hand on Supernova's mech entirely, revealing that the Giant had disconnected one cannon to fire backward.

Heavily damaged by the counterattack, Supernova unleashes his signature Nova Strike, flying rapidly at the Slumbering Giant once more. The Giant exhausts its armor to guard against the assault, then replies with her own signature move, slamming into the ground and shaking the arena. Simultaneously, she activates her special ability, ejecting her faster but less heavily armored core to continue the battle. The inner core of the Giant sinks, and Supernova responds by moving away to gather heat once more, staying above the water's surface. Slumbering Giant seemingly gives up, staying underwater for a long period of time as she takes a moment to gather her thoughts and come up with a new plan of attack. Suddenly, a beam erupts from beneath the water, followed by Slumbering Giant, who declares that she is ready for her opponent.

Supernova starts the final phase of the fight by superheating a rock and throwing it at Slumbering Giant to test her new abilities. Slumbering Giant, unused to fighting in this mode, dodges by rocketing into the air, then sends another barrage of explosives and gunfire towards Supernova. He responds by firing off another set of fireballs and heating another rock while Slumbering Giant fires another set of grenades. She splits them mid-flight, revealing them to be full of nothing but water, and after the decoys sends another set of real explosives. Supernova dodges this set as well, then tosses his rock, propelling it further with a heat blast and preparing to follow up after it lands. In response, Mommo drops a bomb, pretending to fumble it, before it explodes as a flashbang.

As it goes off, she leaves behind another blistering barrage of explosives as she fades into the water once again. He chases her down, but before he can deliver a decisive blow, she deploys more bombs as a deterrent as she flees further down. He resurfaces, and throws another rock in to detonate the bombs. This causes Slumbering Giant to surface in turn, and she begins firing on him with an array of machine guns. Supernova continues to avoid the Giant's fire and closes in, but Slumbering Giant leaps towards him as well, unleashing more machine gun fire as well as two water grenades. Supernova makes a U-turn leading into an uppercut to avoid them, but Slumbering Giant detonates another set of grenades in his face, blowing the other hand of his mech off. Supernova responds by overloading the core of his mech, then firing a relentless barrage of fire at the Giant. The attack disables both of their mechs, with the Slumbering Giant's armament expended and her generator shorting out, while Supernova's mech is similarly missing its primary power source.

Ricochet vs. LOLI_HUNTER

Ricochet grapples to an island and opens up with his ranged weapons immediately upon dropping into the arena. LOLI_HUNTER scans the crowd as she drops, then ducks between Ricochet's attacks. She deploys a spear and her bit system, creating a net over the arena. Ricochet attempts to grab ahold of the spear using his grappling hands, which HUNTER responds to by anchoring both her weapon and herself with a set of wires. Ricochet elects to stay at a distance and start shooting down her bits, so LOLI_HUNTER sets them to dodge and then launches herself at him. Ricochet tries to redirect her with his arm chains while continuing to fire at the bits, and HUNTER lands next to him, releasing the spear and drawing a knife to attack with instead. Ricochet dodges into the water, attempting to drag LOLI_HUNTER with him, but she arrests his motion with her cables, retrieves her spear, and drives it into the cockpit of his mech, defeating him instantly.

Strider vs. Revenant

The match begins with a flashy display of power by Revenant that strikes the protective barrier as he watches and waits for his enemy to move. Both competitors privately express their unhappiness with the undressed state of the crowd in Lust, before Strider opens up by beginning to move between islands and firing machine guns at Revenant. He dodges, and responds with an arc of electricity that Strider similarly avoids, though more narrowly. Strider's reply comes in the form of a railgun shot, which angers Revenant. He stops it with his electrical abilities, then sends it flying back at its sender. Strider defends with her ability, diverting all power to shielding and crippling her offenses for a moment. Revenant leaps forward, but instead of attacking directly, he sends out a repulsive blast that knocks him back to his initial position and sends Strider into the lake. Strider begins to climb out, but Revenant destroys the pillar with a launched sphere before she can.

Strider surfaces after diverting power back to her speed and artillery, firing more machine guns at Revenant. They score several hits despite Revenant's AI doing his best to deflect them, until he takes direct control and blasts the stream of bullets aside before charging at full power. With a roared war cry, he deals a strike to Strider's generator through her defensive preparations. She continues to try to weather the assault, while Revenant continues to unleash a savage flurry of blows, pulling at Strider with his magnetic fields. Strider pours power into her defenses, rapidly shifting her shields to intercept his strikes but continuing to take damage regardless. Revenant makes a heavy attack with Ragnarok, and simultaneously attempts to destroy Strider's power core with one hand. Strider barely defends, then unleashes her Revenge Blast. The attack destroys the Revenant in a single strike, despite detonating the generator on Strider, winning her the match.

Travel Phase

As the group boards the train, they note the presence of an extra sleeping car, while Adam is moved on a separate train to get medical attention. Black Idol informs the competitors that they have guests aboard, and Hiroki recognizes Blink boarding the train with them.

Morgan, Mommo, and Lawrence go to the food car. All the contestants plan to ignore one another until Mommo eats too quickly and begins to choke. Morgan rescues her, and Lawrence notes the oddly lacking availability of medical staff.

After Solomon enters his room, he recieves a visitor: Future Seeker. She asks him if he knows of Tesla, and if she ever told him about a man named Watcher. Solomon states that he's heard the name, but not much else. Seeker pleads for Sully to help her find Tesla so she can in turn find Watcher, but Solomon says that she wandered into the void one day saying that she needed to find someone that teleporters couldn't take her to. Seeker asks if he'd ever seen her eating moss from the wilds, which he replies to affirmatively, before realizing that this allowed her to navigate the void of Tempest. He reacts angrily to Asmoedus suggesting that she died doing whatever it was she set off to do, and apologizes to Seeker for it. Seeker confirms that there are individuals that can navigate the Planes. Solomon expresses his desire to help despite his inability, and Seeker thanks him again before leaving.

She goes back to her room, and is unexpectedly met by Blink, who says that she walked through the wall to get in. Seeker asks why she's there, and Blink says it's because Seeker was going to cry. Blink eventually coaxes Seeker into admitting why she's upset; that Watcher is gone and not coming back. She breaks down into tears as predicted, and Blink comforts her, saying that it's better for her to admit these things.

Tai, meanwhile, heads to the Diviner to fulfill Cardinal's request. He asks the Diviner if he's heard of mental projection, and he informs Tai that it's a work-in-progress tool that displays one's dream space. Tai tells him that Cardinal requested he inquire about it, and asks if he knows of Cardinal or if it's possible to trace back a mental projection from an unknown source. The Diviner states that it should be impossible to do, and that one entering another's dream space is unheard of, except for when twins have been born with a shared dream space. Intrigued, he fetches his mental projection prototype and Tai puts it on. Upon activation, it displays Tai for a moment before it flickers to Cardinal, who expresses excitement at meeting the Diviner. He asks if they known one another, as she uses his name, and she replies in the negative. He asks how she got in there, and she states she has no time to explain before asking if Tai can visit one of the gods on board. Tai says he doesn't know if any are on board.

Sully arrives after berating Asmo for a moment, with Tai thinking that the man was nothing like his mech. Solomon expresses confusion at the projection, recalling that communication in the void should be impossible. Cardinal explains that she's being projected from Tai's head, and introduces herself to Sully and the Diviner. She says that there should be two on board, with Adam badly hurt if things were they way they should be. Sully confirms that Seeker is on board, and Tai starts on his way towards her, leaving the car. Solomon begins the process of installing a new system in his mech, and as the Diviner determines that Sully didn't need much help, he returns to his previous work as well.

When Tai arrives, he asks Seeker why the gods are so afraid of Nil. She says that if one of them were to be defeated, it would grant Nil legitimacy and possibly their own plane. Cardinal says that whoever they send will die, and the two argue back and forth about the actions of the gods in relation to the contestants. Tai sides with Cardinal, asking if Seeker and the other gods intend to keep throwing expendable contestants at Nil until they succeed. Seeker informs him that they have no time for a second attempt, and that Tai asks them to risk an entire plane to potentially save the contestants. She also reveals a plan to hold exhibition matches between the contestants and the gods to prove the strength of the latter, in which any winners will be treated as having won the tournament entirely and be privy to the formation of a new plan to defeat Nil. Tai questions a winner sending one of the losers to fight Nil, and Seeker reminds him that fighting Nil would remain an option. Tai irritably takes his leave.

Meanwhile, only two competitors, Hiroki and Kagari, attend a nervous and exhausted Black Idol's concert. After the song, she expresses her doubts about continuing to perform given the general attitude of the competitors, and Blink suddenly appears to chastise her before abruptly taking her place onstage to tell her story. Hiroki leans over and lets Black Idol know that she still enjoys the show, but both are interrupted and flustered by Kagari asking Black Idol for a rather unusual signature. This prompts Blink to throw a game cartridge at her, to stop her from removing her shirt.

Chapter 3: Gluttony[edit | edit source]

The group of competitors arrives in Ice Griffyn's palace. The place is coated in ice, much to Black Idol's discomfort. Griffyn beelines for LOLI_HUNTER, who he seems to be infatuated with, prompting an irritable Blink to march him back to his seat. The competitors introduce themselves, with the HUNTER once more drawing uncomfortably close to the Hellfire Knight. Once the other competitors complete this, Libra makes an appearance, running into the room in a hurry and unsettling HUNTER; she has replaced the absent Ricochet. Silent Requiem seems perturbed by her appearance, protesting at the gods present, though they ignore him completely. Ice Griffyn states his desire to watch the combatants fight before sending them off.

Supernova vs. Libra

The bout begins with a greeting from Supernova to Libra, which is reciprocated in kind. Supernova boosts into the air, circling the arena and watching for Libra’s first move. Temperance strains to get Libra moving, but her onboard AI bids her caution due to the icy surface of the battlefield; instead, Libra remains still, letting Supernova make the first move. Tai does just that; after building up some heat, he recognizes that Libra is waiting on him; rather than giving her what she wants, though, he launches low damage, but very hot, fireballs at her wheels, in an attempt to melt the ice under that and force her to move or else be stuck. While Libra’s AI recommends against rising to the bait - the ice is so thick that it would take ages to sink to a troublesome level - Temperance has become impatient; the wheels unlock, and after some slipping and sliding and false starts, Libra barrels towards her foe.

Supernova waits for her to close, and then punches the ground to propel himself into the air. He lands a heavy blow on Libra’s right arm as he falls, but Libra rolls with the punch and turns around, allowing Supernova’s own momentum to slam him into the ground, and manages to fall on top of him - a solid pin, but not a sustainable one as Supernova’s fire shield starts to melt through the armor. Supernova gets a telepathic message from Cardinal - he has to be very careful with Temperance, and above all, remain calm. Supernova brushes her off - things are going fine. As he increases the heat of his shield, he warps above Libra to break the pin, a flurry of heavy blows punching into Libra and pushing it down into the small pit that had been created by ice melting from the shield, starting to melt armor and deal significant damage. Tai grows confident as he pummels her, without her apparently fighting back - Cardinal warns Tai that there’s a reason he’s feeling confident: Temperance feeds on the emotions of the crowd and her opponents, exchanging confidence for excitement, turning it into favor to use as a weapon. As the armor gives way, Temperance comes out of swinging, a giant hammer smashing into Supernova; he manages to deflect the hit so it’s not an instant critical blow, but he’s still heavily damaged; he retreats into the air, strafing the arena with fireballs while trying to find an opportunity.

Unfortunately for him, Temperance isn’t about to let him escape; she launches a piece of her wrecked armor at him and leaps up after it. The piece bounces off the forcefield before being hammered right at Tai, launching Temperance herself against the arena wall. Tai manages to punch the debris into slag, before trying to figure out what his opponent’s actual plan is. This turns out to be using the still-functioning scales of her mech to spin around and launch herself straight at Supernova. He dodges and retaliates with a burst of fire, but it’s weak. Temperance launches another piece of metal at Supernova as Cardinal offers advice: While she’s still crazy strong outside of the mech, she has barely any defenses; a solid hit should be able to blow her away. Tai follows this by getting relatively near Temperance while she’s mid air and unable to dodge, and expands his shield dramatically to catch her in it. She pushes through the damage despite the pain to swing her hammer down at his exposed generator, trying to end the match decisively...

And suddenly, time slows. The hammer lands almost gently, and vanishes on the bounce. Temperance’s follow through sends her colliding into Supernova, bouncing off. The hammer reappears, but Temperance is on the ground, angrily demanding to know how Supernova did that, if he’s a traitor. Supernova doesn’t actually know what happened as he lands in front of her to finish the fight. Temperance forefeits, as her hammer is out of reach and she can’t really fight anymore - but she tells Tai that he hasn’t won, because “using Nil is worse than cheating.” Tai is furious at this turn of events, angrily punching the remains of Libra and questioning if his presence is actually the will of the tenth god in an attempt to sabotage the tournament.


Revenant vs. Silent Requiem

The Revenant remembers his conversation with Morgan earlier in the tournament while traveling to Lust, regarding her fight with Silent Requiem, as he enters the arena. He doesn’t exactly like fighting someone who’s wounded, but that isn’t going to stop him from putting his all into the battle; he uses his repulsion fields to hover off the ground, to attempt to nullify the disadvantages of the icy ground. Silent Requiem, his hand still in a cast, pushes on anyway, preparing to fight - and spinning in a circle due to forgetting the terrain he’s fighting on. With few other ways to proceed without going out of control, he shoots the ground in front of him to try and break it up and give him a bit more traction, barreling towards Revenant in an attempt to seize the initiative.

While a good attempt, Revenant isn’t in a mood to play around and wait for him to come; as Silent Requiem launched into the air to attack, Revenant wound up and threw his circular blade at high speed towards Adam. The younger fighter couldn’t possibly dodge in the air, even with the clear windup, and ate the hit straight on, being launched back across the ice; Silent Requiem’s armor closed around the disc, keeping it in place for use in his counterattack. He launched right back across the ice, rotating in such a way as to use the embedded blade against the Revenant; unfortunately for Silent Requiem though, he forgot that Sully still had control over his blades even at a range; he set the blade to spin and vibrate again, damaging the armor in which it was embedded - however, the armor held long enough for the attack to land, sending both fighters sprawling.

Revenant’s arm was heavily damaged by the attack, stripped of armor but still functional (albeit below optimal levels), and his visor was cracked - the damage would have been worse, but his AI had managed a repulse just before impact. Adam was launched out of his seat and his seatbelt snapped, but after recovering his mech wasn’t dramatically more damaged. Cursing himself for his mistake, Revenant makes another move - he draws swords and charges, and just before contact has his sawblade’s spheres erupt with energy, a localized EMP that fries Silent Requiem’s systems from inside… and magnetizes it, as the ball now launches towards the Revenant. Recognizing his mistake with the help of his AI, Sully tries another tactic; he reduces the magnetism of the blade itself, instead focusing all his ability into controlling the blade’s movement. Silent Requiem’s smooth flight path suddenly jerks left, right, everywhere, as the Revenant drags him around the arena by the blade embedded in his armor.

Being used like a pinball starts to make Adam desperate, and he hatches another suicidal plan. When the magnetism brought his mech closer to Revenant once more, he dematerialized before he could be bounced, inertia keeping him on the high speed path to Revenant while the sawblade flew off. Just before he was turned to red paste, he rematerialized his mech so that it formed partly inside Revenant. Sully, having had enough of Adam’s shit, compliments him on his bravery/stupidity (he is not sure which), before filling his mech with electricity - but before the shock can reach Adam, uses his Alpha Screech, disrupting Sully long enough for him to force Silent Requiem’s blades open and to bisect the Revenant, leaving Adam the victor, if with some more injuries.


Strider vs. Slumbering Giant

Strider tries to calm herself as the contestants enter the icy arena, as the crowd cheers her on. Slumbering Giant is having her own problems, wondering why she's fighting as she recognizes the person that saved her life the previous day. Strider, noting this, calls out to the Giant and asks her to not hold back despite what she'd done. She reacts with confusion, not understanding why Strider was trying to help. Strider explains that she can't take advantage of someone, feeling that she has to do it "the right way." The Giant obliges her request, silently beginning to move and charge her weapons. Strider, pleased with the result, begins to fight herself, dodging to the side and peppering the Giant with gunfire to test her defenses. The bullets bounce harmlessly off the mech's large plating, and she begins to fire at the ground in front of Strider in an attempt to force her to trip or slide into an attack. Strider dodges, then closes the distance to land more hits with her machine guns. Slumbering Giant forces her backward with a barrage of missiles, which Strider shoots down at the cost of leaving herself too far away to strike the Giant again.

Strider begins to close the distance once more, prompting a barrage of cluster grenades from Slumbering Giant. Strider exploits this by leaping to the grenades and activating her ability, allowing the explosions to propel her towards Slumbering Giant without doing significant damage. The Giant fires a set of laser blasts at her; she takes the hits, then deactivates her ability and hits the Slumbering Giant with a sliding shotgun blast. The Giant continues to bombard Strider with explosives, causing her to reactivate her ability and put all her focus on defense. Strider takes direct control of her mech systems as this happens, while the Giant continues her relentless assault. A blast from her cannon sends the still-helpless Strider skidding into a wall, where the impact does further damage to the mech. The barrage continues, until Strider has a chance to reassert herself. She deactivates her ability, launches her signature, and cleanly oneshots Slumbering Giant with a Revenge Blast.

Hellfire Knight vs. LOLI_HUNTER

As the Hellfire Knight enters the arena, she takes a moment to enjoy that she seems to have actual fans - until such enjoyment is reversed by discovering her opponent is LOLI_HUNTER. Regardless, she begins her standard opening plasma barrage. HUNTER's response is similarly unenthusiastic, as she blocks incoming attacks and dodges with a minimum of effort and without moving from her starting position. Hellfire Knight fires a set of three beams at her in response, prompting LOLI_HUNTER to leap out of the way and at her opponent, swinging a halberd at her torso - then stopping and dropping the weapon. The Knight, confused, stops her own attack and asks what HUNTER is doing. HUNTER's reply is a statement that she's in love with Hellfire Knight. The Knight asks her if she has a reason to fight (realizing that she had no personal goals other than victory), and LOLI_HUNTER expresses that she wanted to mold a plane into her own personal paradise, but that it wasn't worth fighting Hellfire Knight over. Hellfire Knight expresses her lack of desire to fight, and after a moment of seeming pained indecision, LOLI_HUNTER's demeanor changes entirely.

Without another word, LOLI_HUNTER leaps at the Hellfire Knight, who is completely unprepared for the attack. HUNTER ducks under her first wild counterattack, planting a dagger in the ground with wires attached and pivoting to Hellfire Knight's opposite side. She uses her momentum to slam her hammer into the Knight, sending her further off balance. Hellfire Knight responds by firing off bursts of plasma from her leg cannons as she attempts to reorient herself, while LOLI_HUNTER releases her bit system and uses them as launch points to maneuver around and leap at the Hellfire Knight for another strike. She counters with a swing from her reinforced cannon, but HUNTER strikes it with her hammer to adjust her trajectory. She lands on the Knight's back and strikes a blow against the armor, prompting her to activate her ability to dislodge LOLI_HUNTER. HUNTER leaps away, abandoning her hammer and drawing a serrated sword, to which the Knight responds with by firing her ability at the HUNTER alongside a massive plasma barrage. Just before the attack hits and knocks her out, the HUNTER offers a wink to the Knight.

Travel Phase

Blink visits a distraught Hiroki in her car, stating that the Tenth God has revealed herself. She asks Hiroki to attempt to kill Supernova in their upcoming match, to force Cardinal to reveal herself again. Hiroki expresses her concern for his safety, to which Blink replies with an assurance that she will help if Nil does not. The god then notices that Hiroki has been crying, and tells her that she's been rooting for Hiroki the whole time, before asking her what's wrong. Hiroki explains what had happened with Kagari, and Blink decides to escort her to meet with the woman. The two talk for a moment about Kagari's actions

Mommo similarly receives a godly communication, though less direct. Aries sends more messages to her, encouraging her to keep moving past her losses. Mommo expresses that she feels confused, unsure of whether she wants to win, and asks if Aries can show her how the device he'd given her works in person. Aries responds by suggesting that the tournament may not be the best place to earn her desire - the right to rest - and stating that he'll assure that she finds her happy ending. Ram calls Aries a pervert, expressing his doubts about his communications with Mommo, but agrees to go along with it.

Cardinal contacts an upset Tai mentally. She hesitantly explains that she didn't want him to get hurt. Tai responds irritably, stating he got to this point by his own strength, and questions why Cardinal has such concern for him. He mentions Temperance's injuries, prompting Cardinal to angrily say that monster deserves no pity. She suggests that Temperance's presence indicates a lack of care for the wellbeing of the competitors, and offers to show Tai her true nature. He accepts, and he heads to her room.

As he enters, Temperance begins to react with anger, then something strange happens to the area and she stops, acting as if she's just woken up. Tai offers a respectful handshake, apologizing for her burns, but Temperance replies in a dead monotone, only entwining her fingers with his without moving them further. Tai says that there's something wrong, asking if she'd been overheated somehow, and Temperance simply reiterates that there was a lot of heat. Cardinal explains that Temperance has no soul, and that she had disabled the false one temporarily. Tai reacts with revulsion and horror, questioning if she should even be left alive, and then leaves, going to the food car to settle his nerves. Tai asks Cardinal who she is, referencing her ability to project power through him, to which Cardinal replies by saying she's a normal human and seemingly fleeing the conversation.

Meanwhile, an irate Solomon heads to the Diviner's car after a discussion with Asmoedus about the previous match. He enters in the midst of a heated discussion between the Diviner and a woman Sully recognizes as Lord, seemingly about the reckless actions of Adam and their potential causes. They eventually mention a man named Arcturus, and note Sully as their only chance at finding him. Lord explains that Adam has been acting recklessly due to Ice Griffyn ascending to godhood before him, then reveals that he is Tesla's brother. Solomon doesn't believe this initially, noting the obvious dissimilarities in their appearances, unless they were genetically modified somehow. Lord confirms this, then explains the existence of rogue science groups and their experimentation on their own children, Tesla and Adam both being products of this.

Morgan then appears in the room, stopping Lord from continuing. Solomon insists that she continue regardless of Morgan's interruptions or apologies, expressing his incredulous horror at learning what the groups had been doing. He realizes that Tesla had been fighting them, and asks how many of the operations existed throughout Tempest. Lord tells him that there are fifteen major organizations and a couple dozen smaller groups, comprising about five thousand people total. She explains the difficulty in tracking them down with the looming threat of the Tenth God, and that they've been working with another group to locate them. Solomon asks for more information about them, and Lord refuses to answer for the moment. She tells him that they need him to help with Arcturus, who tends to delete himself from people's memories, as he could help defeat the Tenth God. Solomon asks how he does what he does, and how it would help them achieve victory if that's his main talent. Lord informs Solomon that Arcturus hiding himself is a recent development, and says that she'll arrange a meeting between them.

Meanwhile, Morgan and Mommo have a short conversation before modifying their mechs with the Diviner.

After everyone leaves, the Diviner uses a device similar to the one he used on Tai earlier to speak with Cardinal once more. She reacts happily, and he dampens her enthusiasm by saying he's merely considering that she may be right. He continues by saying she is wrong regardless of whether she tells the truth, and Cardinal says she has been wondering about that herself. Leonard tells her that what she is doing will certainly cause a catastrophic imbalance, enraging her into angrily screaming about everyone wanting to stop and work something out now that she's found a way to help herself. She continues more calmly after the Diviner's clear shock, saying that she will not be stopped, even by the Devil. Leonard says he wouldn't try, as he serves his own interest, and then states his belief that a tournament fighter will find a way to match her. This causes her to angrily leave the conversation once more.

Chapter 4: Greed[edit | edit source]

Audience Phase In Progress

LOLI_HUNTER vs. Silent Requiem

Kagari and Adam get into the arena without fanfare, initially standing off from each other. Adam sizes the HUNTER up, but Kagari is simply preparing for the battle. The fight begins with Kagari drawing her sword and lunging, which Silent Requiem catches in his armor, before rotating in an attempt to wrench it away while slicing out with a blade. Kagari pulls away, drawing two more swords before resuming the attack. Adam rolls out of the way and tries to disengage, but Kagari drops her swords and pulls a pair of javelins with cables attached to them, trying to harpoon the mech while her drones laid down suppressing fire.

The suppressing fire wasn’t threatening to heavy armor, but the javelins were. Silent Requiem dodged, but the rough terrain blocked his movement too much and one landed. The HUNTER seizes the opportunity, pulling herself in to her opponent with one hand and equipping a pile bunker in the other, putting it to the armor to try and break it at point blank. It shoved right through the armor and out the other side, luckily not hitting anything vital but still a clear threat. Adam abruptly stopped trying to roll away from Kagari and starts moving towards her, trying to either crush her under his bulk or at the least force her to evade. He succeeded, bringing the match to a surprisingly quick end.

Hellfire Knight vs. Supernova In Progress

Revenant vs. Slumbering Giant

Still reeling from the disappearance of Asmodeus, Solomon has a chat with what seems to be some kind of manifestation of his inner demons, which urges him to let it out. He starts to consider it as he sizes up the Slumbering Giant. Meanwhile, Mommo gets ready for the fight - the Revenant is a dangerous opponent but not an insurmountable one.

The fight begins as the Slumbering Giant opens fire, starting with a large energy blast aimed directly at the Revenant, followed by firing a swarm of missiles to block off escape routes. As “the beast” inside of Sully takes control, the Revenant surges into motion. The energy burst is avoided while a blast of electricity intercepts and detonates the rocket barrage, kicking up a large amount of dust and concealing the mechs from each other. Solomon uses his opponent’s electronic signature to track them through the dust, taking Asmodeus’ usual role while his “beast” and taunts the Slumbering Giant. Mommo, while more than a little freaked out, remains mostly calm; rather than charging forward, she launches a series of mines in a circle around herself, a trap should the Revenant charge forward, and prepares her cannons once again.

Unfortunately for the Slumbering Giant, Solomon notices the mines with his sensors - and because they’re metal, he can work with them. The Revenant strafes for a bit, making sure that Mommo really doesn’t know where he is, before lifting up the mines and tossing them back with his mech’s magnetic powers - or would have, if they didn’t detonate immediately when disturbed, both preventing the attack and telling the Slumbering Giant roughly what direction her opponent was in. The return fire misses however, as the Revenant had never stopped moving. It was time to fight seriously - Solomon stops resisting his “beast”, falling into a strange trance that leaves his mind moving a mile a minute. He floods the battlefield with electromagnetism in a tesla pulse at full power, scrambling everything electronic in the vicinity. Mommo remains calm, despite her mech being temporarily disabled, and prepares for what’s coming. The challenge in his opponent sets Solomon off - he appears to activate some strange state enhancing his abilities, but rapidly degrading his mech; he’s got about fifteen seconds to end the fight after he turns it on. He launches himself at the Slumbering Giant, blasting through the terrain with the force of it, with his giant sawblade whirring so fast that the friction sets it on fire. The attack would be a terrible blow, even for the Giant, if it hit; but Mommo didn’t plan to let it. Her minefield detonates, probably hurting the Revenant and more importantly warning her of his approach even with her sensors down. She then aimed her cannon down at the ground and fired.

The shockwave is powerful enough to break the Revenant’s charge and set the entire arena shaking, threatening to collapse on itself. Solomon, in his berserk fury, is not shaken, immediately launching himself back at Mommo and using his teleport to rapidly close the gap, blade spinning and coming for blood in a hail-mary blow: it was simple; if he landed the hit, he would win. If the Slumbering Giant survived it or avoided it, she would win. There was no time left on the berserker mode. It lands, rapidly stripping it’s way through layer after layer of armor, down to the core - which, unfortunately for him, was specifically built against just this kind of weapon; as the other layers broke and shattered Mommo blasted away, leaving the Revenant behind to break apart. Luckily for him, Asmodeus returns at last, and takes over the mech at the last second to fling him clear of the cave in.


Libra vs. Strider In Progress


Interlude: Virtue[edit | edit source]

Chapter 5: Wrath[edit | edit source]

Chapter 6: Envy[edit | edit source]

Chapter 7: Pride[edit | edit source]

Finale: Nil[edit | edit source]

Hiroki is brought to the false plane of Nil, where she meets Cardinal in person. Cardinal confronts her, and Hiroki informs the False God that she cannot win, and that Watcher sent her there with the intention of her defeating Cardinal and becoming a hero to undo his actions. Cardinal refused to back down, attacking Hiroki, and they fought for a time. The False God searched for a future in which she defeated Hiroki during the fight, and found none; out of desperation, she activated her signature ability, and began to strangle Hiroki while the girl - who she outmatched in physical size and power - was helpless outside her mech.

Watcher intervenes, throwing Cardinal off of Hiroki and offering her the chance to finish her. Hiroki refuses, instead attempting to convince Cardinal to fight Watcher, as she does not believe she has the ability to oppose Watcher herself. This fails, and Watcher begins to destroy the plane, enraged by Hiroki's refusal to attack either him or Cardinal. This prompts Hiroki to launch herself at him, dealing heavy damage to him physically with her mech before he annihilates her mech's arm with his eventual counterstroke. Seemingly healing from all the damage Hiroki had inflicted upon him, Watcher begins to attack back, first with a destructive lightning attack and then by smashing her through the floor repeatedly.

When Hiroki dodges another attack, taking his weapon with her, Watcher informs her that she had wasted her chance to win alongside him, and launches a massive attack at her sufficient to destroy her mech in a single hit. Cardinal intervenes, taking the entirety of the attack into her dream space. Before the attack overwhelms her, she states that she has her own spirit, and that she believes Hiroki does not deserve to die here. After absorbing the attack entirely, Cardinal collapses, leaking Watcher's destructive energy from her body.

Hiroki presses her assault again, dropping onto Watcher and aiming a punch at him with her bare left hand, planning to activate her ability on impact. As the punch connects, Hiroki's world goes dark. She hears a voice in her head asking if she is prepared to accept the responsibility of godhood. She replies that she must, and returns to reality. As her fist lands and her ability activates, sending Watcher to the floor charred and burning, the burst of energy purges the darkness of the plane, revealing it to be an infinite tower, with the missing walls now leading to the air outside rather than empty void.

Watcher begins to steal Hiroki's power away, and she stumbles forward aiming one last attack at him. Her fist passes through her stolen power, returning enough of it to call the arm of her mech back. It strikes Watcher, staggering him and finally exceeding his ability to absorb damage. Both of them collapse, no longer able to fight. Cardinal, still alive, pronounces that Watcher had become a threat to both himself and the world, declaring that the world had found him guilty and that his punishment was death. She launches a massive beam of energy, annihilating half of Watcher's face and a large portion of his torso.

Watcher laughs sadly, remarking on how surprising this world has become. He warns that there is another much more powerful than him, and that they must prepare or lose. As he begins fading away, he tearfully requests that they defend the world, as he could not bear to see it end. His final words are asking that they tell Sarah he loves her.