Sora opened his bleary eyes. He felt like he was spinning in three different directions at once. The grey smear that was his surrounding world came into focus. He looked around and saw that he was in a gigantic, round, white room. Flat black screens of all different sizes at all different angles hung in midair. Blue disks that gave off a faint glow ringed the room, hovering an inch or so off the ground. In the center of the room rose a massive black arch with unintelligible, alien runes covering every inch. It rose several stories from the ground. The only thing visible through the ominous arch was the other side of the room, where several small, black stone platforms stood in a semicircle. In front of the arch stood a tall, cylindrical, onyx podium. However it was none of these things that drew Sora's attention. It was all the people in the room
The room was filled with dozens of other confused people. Well, most of them were people. He saw a short green being with shining pink eyes that was screaming something about doom. Another figure stood over eight feet tall wearing silver armor. It was flexing its four jawed mandible and surveying the room. A furry blue creature with red sneakers and white gloves stood upright with his arms crossed, tapping his foot impatiently and looking around the room. A tall man in shining black armor stood stock still, making labored breathing sounds as if through an apparatus. Link stood next to Sora, tense and battle ready.
Suddenly a dull, humming and thumping sound filled the room. It was a debilitating sound that shook Sora's vision and nearly made him fall over. One obnoxious boy with black hair, who hadn't stopped babbling about aliens, blacked out. The onyx podium began to swirl, becoming liquefied. Out of the fluid darkness rose a cloaked figure with its arms outstretched. The podium returned to its solid form and the figure stood tall atop it. Suddenly, all the screens scattered about the room blared to life. They all depicted the cloaked figure's dark visage. The mysterious stranger spoke, voice booming from every side of the vast room.
"Welcome contestants, to the Battle Nexus Tournament!" applause broke out from unseen spectators. "You, who have been deemed champion of your world, have been whisked through time and space to compete here, in the antiverse!" more invisible cheering. "Now I am not a being of pretenses, so I will tell you this: you are here to battle for the amusement of the Ancients. We are a people of infinity, created before time and space, and doomed to exist in our own Oblivion for eternity. That being said, it gets pretty tedious. So we hold these games to relieve our boredom." The crowd of new gladiators was stunned silent. "You have been chosen from your realm of existence because you are an unmatched warrior, a brilliant mind, or because we think you will amuse us the most. That being said, you will compete in a series of battles, puzzles, and other challenges in teams of five. However, we understand that beings of mortality are flawed, and oft need a reason to compete. Your inspiration is two-fold. The final victor of the tournament will be rewarded. We ancients will use our dark power to grant the champion's greatest desire…" The crowd began to murmur, as the contestants imagined what they would wish for. "…And any team that loses three challenges will face consequences. Its members will be executed." The crowd instantly silenced.
The same obnoxious boy who couldn't stop yammering had regained his consciousness. He yelled up at the cloaked figure, "You think that we'll degrade ourselves by competing for filthy alien jerks like you?" he called out. The cloaked creature just glared from under its hood. "Well I won't do it-" suddenly a pool of darkness opened under the boy and a black spire shot out, impaling him. The boy coughed out a smatter of blood, quivered and grew still.
A metallic, feminine voice called from the ether, "Challenger Dib has lost one life." Dib's body began to swirl and was enveloped by black smoke. It vanished and the impaling spike receded into the ground. There was no evidence that the event had even transpired. Sora was horror stricken.
"The young fool actually helped me make a very good point." The cloaked figure said. "If a gladiator dies in the course of battle, he will be enshrined in dark matter." He gestured past the black arch to the numerous pedestals beyond. One began to glow, then black miasma swirled around it. It cleared to reveal a statue of Dib. The statue glowed red briefly then returned to normal. Suddenly, at the exact spot where Dib had vanished, a shadow appeared on the ground. The shadow took the shape of the mad scientist boy. The other gladiators watched breathlessly. The shadow rose from the ground into an upright position, and features began to appear. The shadow had become Dib. The clone's eyes snapped open and it gasped for air, looking around and babbling incoherently.
"The dark matter clone created will be exactly like the original. It will even have the same memories that the original had up until death. Each Gladiator will have a stock of five regenerations. You may win more lives, or they can be taken away from you for breaking the rules. Any team that loses three challenges will have their lives reduced to zero, and will be permanently enshrined in dark matter for all eternity. This also means that even though you are competing to be the ultimate victor, if you forsake your team, you will be crippled for the challenges."
"Now onto the challenges themselves. The main objective of the tournament is to survive long enough to become champion. There will be a vast variety of challenges, from one-on-one combat, to races, to an entire brawl between every gladiator. There will be incentives for winning challenges and fulfilling certain bonus objectives. This could be extra lives, an improved arsenal, or even immunity in another challenge. There will usually be one challenge per cycle- which is approximately equivalent to twenty four Earth hours. This means that not every team will compete every day. If it is your day off, then you are free to relax, train, or sabotage other teams. Ah yes, another good point. Espionage and sabotaging other teams is encouraged, to breed an air of mistrust and fear. However flat out murder is against the rules-off of the battle fields at least. 'An eye for an eye' as the Earthlings are so fond of saying. Any murderers will have one life removed from them."
"Your arsenal for challenges will be whatever is typical for you in your home world, unless specified by the challenge. You can, however, loot weapons off of fallen adversaries and keep them, if you so choose. Your ammunition will be replenished after every challenge, and your weapons taken from you while you are in the hub."
"This hub is a space station in the antiverse, it is your new home. Every team will have their own quarters and lodgings. It is filled with whatever creature comforts you could want. After all, we wouldn't want you to uncomfortable as you fight for your life." The cloaked man let out a sinister cackle.
"Challenges will take place on various worlds across the multiverse. You will be instantaneously transported to the arena by the grand arch." The demon gestured to the massive arch. The air was filled with the same humming thumping sound as when the figure entered the room. One of the innumerable runes glowed and an image flickered across the arch. The whole arch was illuminated as it showed an image of a sprawling city. It looked so real that the skyscrapers could actually be on the other side of the arch. That's because they were. "This arch is connected to every location in the multiverse, this is a tournament of a truly epic scale. The entire cosmos is your battlefield!" It declared with a sweeping gesture. The image through the arch began to flash and rapidly change between locations. There were deserts, oceans, asteroid fields, and even the center of a star.
"I am Thanatos, your game master. However I have chosen to take a human vessel, so that my incomprehensible visage does not disintegrate your weak minds." The figure removed its hood to reveal its face. Before them, on the podium, stood a 7 foot tall man dressed in shining Black armor with a billowing red cape. He had gaping black holes for eyes, and a sinister grin.." The demon laughed a gruesome laugh. His audience stood in shocked silence.
"Now I will begin dividing you into squads of five. We have divided the teams based on shared attributes." The overhead screens cleared of Thanatos and filled with brackets. "You will be able to submit the names of your teams if you so choose. When I call your names, step forward. After all the teams are created, you will be sent to your quarters to get acquainted with your new teammates. The first challenge will begin in the next cycle. Team One…" And than Thanatos began listing names.
Thanatos called out the name of Sora's companion, Riku. Sora's eyes widened at the mention of his friend's name. When he five warriors on Riku's team made their way to the front of the crowd, Sora and Riku locked eyes. They had parted at Hyrule, and now he wished that they hadn't found each other- as their next meeting would be on the battlefield.
Thanatos continued listing teams for some time, the names would be called; the warriors would step forward, and then be teleported to their quarters to meet their teammates. This continued until only a few people were left. "And last but not least," Thanatos called, "Sora, Link, Sonic the Hedgehog, Master Chief Petty Officer John-117, and Edward Elric." The Final five warriors stepped forward. The dividing had been completed. "Welcome to the Battle Nexus, the ultimate tournament! Be ready, the games will begin in ten minutes!" with a final grand gesture, the gladiators vanished, off to their quarters to prepare for the coming storm.