The Stranger:
There are legends spoken of a man, a man with indomitable power and strength who cannot be stopped by any harm done to him. He scours the land in search of new thrills, of new challenges. No one knows why he so blatantly attacks those who catch his eye, but those who disappoint him usually wind up dead or simply left behind, confused as to why they had been attacked so suddenly. Some say The Stranger is out for revenge, others say he is on a quest, but if you knew him you would know his motives were much simpler: to feel something again...
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"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 104th Mistral Tournament sponsored by Schnee Dust Company!" the announcer began auspiciously, inciting a roar of crowds around him. "And boy do we have a big match up for you today folks, returning for her third attempt at the gold: Miss Pyrrha Nikos!"
This time the crowd really went wild with the cheering, a young redheaded girl in red and gold armor stepping out onto the stage with a smile and a wave to her adoring fans. Once the crowd had settled down enough, Pyrrha Nikos strode up to the microphone and nervously gave the speech she had written.
"Hello everyone, thank you all for coming out here today me and my family are most grateful for you support. As he explained this will be my third year going for the title of "champion" and I intend things to start off on the right foot. I can't wait for my first match, and I know whoever I'm thrown up against I will succeed in besting them with the full might of my abilities." she finished rather tensely, the crowd still echoing their support with raucous applause. "With that, I guess, let the games begin!"
After the crowd had finished their third round of cheering, the arena had been prepared and the landscape randomizer had been set up to provide a varied field of battle. As were the customs, even returning competitors started off in the starting bracket and soon the first day was underway, multiple matches proving to excite the crowd as victors were declared and the TVs caught all the best bits.
In the stand, however, there stood a rather pale, scrawny young man with Atlesian-style tattoos covering most of his body. The symbols, almost runic and savage in design, seem to give off a dull beating glow, like a weak heartbeat. All the while, the young man stared down in thinly-veiled contempt for the sorrowful matches, finding some pleasure in not having to bore himself with them. Instead, he got to the heart of his reason for coming here almost immediately: he had been paired against the legendary Pyrrha Nikos, twice reigning champ and warrior superstar.
She had earned to immense clout last year for beating a professional huntsman in a sparring match for a promotional gig and there was serious talk of her going to Haven Academy. The young man didn't care where she went, he only needed her for one battle. So lost in his thoughts was he that he didn't notice his temporary sponsor (the man had needed a champion to get himself some money fast) sidle up beside him with a nervous glance.
"So, champ, how you thinkin' you're gonna fair?" he asked, casting looks down at the preceding fight. "Nikos is a tough broad that's for sure."
"It'll be fine, I only need her for one fight." the boy answered, not really quelling the sponsor's nerves.
"O-Oh, ok then." an awkward silence hung between them. "So, ugh, this heat sure is something yeah?"
The boy glanced up at the beating sun, no doubt casting down a warm and pleasant shine to all those in the Colosseum.
"Hmmph, wish I knew." was all the boy said before turning on his heel and going to his locker room.
"Ah geez..." the sponsor trailed off, dabbing his sweating forehead with a handkerchief.
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"Now for the match you've all been waiting for! 'The Goddess of Victory' Pyrrha Nikos," the crowd's roar was deafening at her name. "versus the enigmatic newcomer: The Stranger!"
The cheers were markedly softer and there were even some definite "boos" in there too. The tattooed boy gave them no heed, staring down his incresingly uncomfortable looking opponent. As the roulette spun for the mixed terrains Pyrrha tried to break the ice, wishing that they didn't have microphones to cast their voice out to the whole arena on them.
"I guess I should wish you good luck then huh?" she asked a little tiredly, but with a wholesome smile on her face. Her opponent said nothing and just stared at her with a growing intensity as the battlefield around them rearranged.
One tundra, three forests, and two mountain ranges providing an excellent chance to gain leverage and cover. The announcer began the countdown, the fans cheering along with it, and it was in that moment before they began that her opponent finally said something.
"Do you know what it's like not to feel?"
Then the match started.
Her instincts kicking in, Pyrrha fired a few shots before closing in with her sword. She expected her opponent to block or dodge but instead he just sat there and took them, the rounds pinging uselessly off his aura. She skipped upwards and brought her sword down in a crescent-shaped swing only for it to be met with a tremendous, aura-enhanced punch that easily sent her flying back.
The boy before her sat rather lazily, a growing look of disappointment clear on his face before he shook his head and sighed mournfully.
"Out of everyone I had ever faced I thought perhaps you could make me feels something." he hung his head back down to look at her. "But I guess not."
As he finished talking Pyrrha lost sight of him as he jettisoned towards her with blinding speed, a translucent trail of blue aura following closely behind him. His skin and tattoos glowed a ghostly blue-white as a kick landed on her shield with enough force to send her shooting backwards and into the forest zone. Quickly gaining her balance she went to find more cover, expecting her opponent to either take up a strategic position or follow closely behind.
However, when she looked she simply found her opponent absently walking towards her cover, arms splayed wide and an inviting grin on his face.
"Come now Miss Nikos aren't you going to hit me?" he taunted, chuckling after he said it.
Pyrrha grit her teeth and fired a volley of shots from her cover behind a tree, but once again her challenger took it in stride and continued to walk lazily toward her. Realizing that her rifle was no good, Pyrrha jumped from behind her cover and closed in for a barrage of sword swings. She sliced her xiphos across his chest and abdomen like a butcher cutting meat, and yet, while it did knock him around slightly, her opponent merely laughed lightly and caught her wrist mid swing with an exceptional speed.
"Really? That's it? How boring." her opponent remarked, punching his fist into her chestplate with enough force to dent it. "I guess I never did tell you my name then, did I? Well it's Jaune if you didn't know."
He said it lightly, as if he was just casually conversing with the now gasping champion of Mistral in his arms. Noticing that she wasn't truly listening, Jaune gave a tired sigh and flung her across the arena with the ease a child would with their action figure. The crowd was dumbstruck, they had never seen such an honest trouncing let alone given to one of the best championship fighters they had even seen.
The Mysterious Stranger seemed to take all the damage done to him in stride, unaffected by such trivial things as pain and injury. Already, scouters from the different combat schools were drawing up proposals for scholarships and offers. Once again walking idly over to the downed champion fighter, now without her xiphos, Jaune stood triumphantly above her, a mocking grin plastered on his face.
"Want to try again?" he asked, as, with Pyrrha's growing horror, his wounds seemed to ripple and warp before closing all together, blood sinking back into his skin as his aura regenerated and fixed his injuries. "Because seriously, that was not impressive."
Growling to herself, Pyrrha shot up with a vicious uppercut that would have sent anyone else sprawling. Instead, Jaune's head whipped back down, and with it, his fist hammered down onto her bronze shield, heavily cracking the stone floor beneath them. His body suddenly wreathed in a pale glow again, Jaune backhanded the redheaded warrior across the arena floor with enough force to generate a sickening crack!.
"Oh come on, one little punch and you're down?" Jaune asked, sounding genuinely upset at the prospect of the fight being over.
Even so, he turned to regard the aura meters and was at least comforted by the fact that Pyrrha had only just entered the orange so she still had some fight in her. It was then, with a translucent blue-white blur, that Jaune dashed back into the treeline and landed next to a mighty oak. Grabbing its base, the tattooed fighter hefted it up, tearing the tree from its roots in the process, and set it over his shoulders like a massive staff.
Pyrrha stumbled onto her feet, slightly woozy from the shocking blow, and registered the massive wood coming towards her (get your mind out of the gutter!). She saw as the comparatively scrawny boy lifted the thing up like one would a regular stick, reeled back, and swatted at her with the mighty trunk. Luckily, Pyrrha had gotten her shield up long before then and took the brunt of the swing with grace, only being driven back a few meters.
The tree did not fair so well, splintering violently on contact and sending shards of bark everywhere. Before she could even clear her vision, Jaune dashed forward and landed a punch on her shield that rattled her teeth, but he wasn't done- he threw a second punch that sent her flat on her ass as she skidded across the floor. The crowd, having gotten past their initial shock, roared their approval at the bout of combat.
Pyrrha got up and danced backwards, narrowly avoiding strikes that seemed slow in comparison to what Jaune had done before. She frowned and grit her teeth at the realization that he was going easy on her, prolonging the fight out of boredom. She switched tactics and began to fire a volley of shots at her seemingly invincible opponent who, once again, took them with ease and gave her a shrug.
"What... the hell... are you?" Pyrrha asked between labored breaths, noting the fact that he seemed irritatingly fine.
"Me? I'm just a man on a mission for the ultimate sensation." Jaune answered cryptically, cracking his neck and fingers. "That said, I guess it is about time to end but before I do I want you to know one thing: I can't feel any of this!"
By the time the Mistral champion had registered the comment and its implications, her enemy had closed the gap in a literal blur and crashed a solid punch right into her jaw. There was an iridescent blue-white glow, a sound like a clap of thunder, then a vague sensation of glass breaking over her skin before she realized that she had lost...
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"Excellent work out there son!" Jaune's sponsor cheered, clapping his gladiator on the back with pride. "I'd say we should pop open the Champagne, eh?"
"Go ahead, not like I can taste it." Jaune muttered bitterly, watching the Mistral night life go about their business from the window he was next to.
"Ah, well, I think this does deserve a toast though?" The sponsor nudged his champion with a smile.
Eventually Jaune caved and they shared a hearty toast to their victory, and to Jaune's new career as the champion. When Jaune asked what he would do now his sponsor seemed to think about it for a moment before responding.
"Now that one of my sponsors has won a tournament, I guess I'll be shooting for the big leagues now." he began, sipping his drink as he watched the fire in the living room crackle. "I can tell you're not gonna stick around to remain the champion so I guess I'll need to find a new guy now."
"Sorry about that." Jaune grunted with a sliver of sincerity.
His sponsor waved it off. "Forget about it, after what you did for me I'll get work wherever I want."
"Well then, here's to that."
"Damn right partner!"
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Pyrrha Nikos was not having a good day.
"Pyrrha, dear, you're father and I aren't upset we just want you to know that-" her mother began before she was cut off.
"I know, mom, I know. It's just- that guy, Jaune, he utterly annihilated me. The guy had so much aura and such a high regeneration rate that he was unstoppable!" Pyrrha complained, putting some makeup over a growing bruise on her face. "Meanwhile I walk away with more scars than I got my entire career beforehand."
"Pyrrha, it's ok everyone loses a fight now and then." her father reassured, causing the former champion to huff.
"I know, and I'm not mad about losing. If anything, I was waiting for someone to finally beat me in the arena. It's just..." she trailed off trying to find the words. "Did he have to be so ruthless about it!? He could have swatted me like a bug as soon as the fight started! But instead he just bats be around the whole arena making me look like an incompetent little girl!"
Mr and Mrs Nikos gave eachother a stare as the frustration began to roll off their daughter in waves. Mrs. Nikos urged her husband to say something but the experienced warrior was afraid to confront a teenage girl on an emotional high, instead wanting another woman to do it. Ultimately it turned into a staring contest between the two before Mr. Nikos finally caved.
"Well, I mean, you lost but so what?" his daughter eyed him dangerously causing a bead of sweat to roll down his face. "I-I mean that this just means you have to shoot higher next time right? That means there's so much more to learn and eventually overcome. Maybe you could try to copy that man's techniques and incorporate that into your own?"
"I thought that was his semblance?" Pyrrha questioned, confused at her father.
Mr. Nikos's smile faltered and he looked contemplative for a moment. "I will admit, I've never seen it on such a scale but if one had high enough reserves they could accomplish that level of speed and strength via aura empowerment. But, like I said, that would require enormous reserves and a high regeneration rate to keep it going."
Pyrrha thought about it for a moment, idly judging the chances of learning a technique like that. It's true her aura reserves were far larger than her peers, but she wasn't sure if she could just zoom around the battlefield like Jaune had. In the end she sat in her chair, sipping a mug of cocoa brought to her as she pondered over the chances of her beating that strange young man in the future.
Then of course there were the words he spoke before the fight ended: "I'm just a man on a quest for the ultimate sensation."
What the hell did that mean? He told her he couldn't feel pain (and, by extension, anything) but why? Was that his semblance? If so, why couldn't he turn it off. She'd heard of passive semblances that were always active, but those were incredibly rare because of the stamina they drained. She thought about these things, sipping her drink, before deciding it was probably best that she stop. She still have a Beacon form to fill out...