After all the preparations made, the tensions between competitors flared through their growing rivalries, and the spectator's hype to its maximum levels, finally the Tokugawa Selection was under way! As thousands upon thousands filed into the Osuma Arena located at the heart of Osuma, the pulse of the audience intensified with each bang of the drum. As each clan had their representative proudly wear their emblem on their garments, rows of competitors stretched into a long ring around the stage that had thousands of eyes view from above, dozens upon dozens of people cheering their support. A huge spectacle that'd be televised regionally and talked about for months and years to come, this was the event that decided the successor to the most powerful family in the eastern world, or potentially crown a new family based on the roster of competitors participating. Cameras rolled live footage of the introduction with commentators from different regions giving their own input and opinion on who they had to win it all and potentially take down Teitsu. From Ao and Saya of the Tokugawa, to the Zukuri clan, people pinned their ideals onto these unique characters.
After the opening ceremony in which was a huge performance done by the clans competing, all competitors were introduced for each family as they waved to their supporters after being introduced. The first part of the selection would be race the entire island with the first sixteen to pass the start/finish line being the ones able compete in the second part. The race sounded simple until the specifics were given. It turned out that racers had to be moving, if they stopped and any point during the race-it'd be ruled as quitting and they would be violently killed in the spot they where they were. The rule seemed extremely foolish to have with death as a penalty, but it was these types of thoughts Teitsu possessed that led the rest of the world to question their trust in his power. It didn't help that the race took the participants through the coast all along the beach and then into the jungle that led through to the mountaintop and then all the way to the start/finish in the arena. While preparations for the course were made, this gave the media and fans alike to catch as much pictures and videos of the competitors as they all waited. Down at the track of the arena had all the competitors together with many of them striking up friendly conversation while they waited for the race to begin, funny that they would be trying to kill each other in just a few moments. In the crowd, Cobalt kept to himself and tried to avoid bring attention to himself although he could still here an occasional cheer from the crowd of someone recognizing him. He was dressed in very casual clothing wearing navy blue forge tee and cargo shorts with a bodysuit under and some running shoes. He also was wearing a dark blue bandana tied at the front to represent his clan color, his cousins were probably doing likewise.
"So, you really did show up, Cobalt." a voice from afar said as Cobalt filtered the indistinct chatter of the crowd.
"I didn't think you'd actually appear either, but I guess even you have your reasons." another voice said.
From different directions, Cobalt knew these voices but couldn't yet identify their owners. That was until they made their presence known and appeared before him. None other than Jengai and Arokei, fellow samurai of their clans who were representing. Both are dressed in their battle gear instead of running gear, which told Cobalt immediately that these guys were looking to fight rather than be one of the top 16 to move onwards. They were going to be spoilers and try to get others killed or slow them down.
"Jengai of the Tsuyano, and Arokei of the Chihiro. The other two of the big 3 samurai, long time no see." Cobalt said as he bowed his head before them; neither of them showed him the same respect, refusing to bow.
Arokei crossed his arms, "This is war. You shouldn't have come back here."
Cobalt's plain expression didn't exchange, "Even so, here I am."
"You're aware, aren't you? We're not the same guys that we were at the festival. We've been preparing for today, and we'll be looking to win and take your uncle down. A new era needs to be ushered in."
"Good luck with that. Although, in my eyes I see you guys as filler characters with no relevant backstory and I don't expect the author to write one out of of thin air for the lieks of you."
"W-what!?" they said in unison.
"Never heard of breaking the fourth wall?"
Jengai crossed his arms, "Well, that was a terrible job of it…"
"Can you both not?" Arokei added, looking for them both to return to character.
"A-anyway...be on your guard, Cobalt Tokugawa!" Arokei said as he marched off in another direction; Jengai started whistling and walked away as well.
Cobalt shook his head and took a deep breath, knowing that this race was anything but simple. With 64 people participating, and only 16 able to advance to the next round, he knew he had to get off to a solid start and secure a top 20 position and maintain it for the duration of the race. The course of Osamu would start from the arena and take the racers out to beachside and race on the sidewalk of the plaza by the sea and then see the racers cut into the sand before making a big curvy turn into the suburban part of Osamu, from there the race was quite linear as they went straight through the city and then into the jungle where there would be plenty of S-curve trails and probably the biggest probability of eliminations, following the jungle would be a volcano trail in the heart of the jungle, after that they'd have more of the jungle to trek through before arriving back to the sidewalk near the beach, and from there it was race to the arena and onto the large track to the finish. As Cobalt memorized the map into his head, he couldn't help but feel wary of the conditions. While there would be plenty of cones and markers for the participants to know where they are going, if a racer ever stopped motion or went backwards past the starting line after the race had already begun, they would be killed in the spot they stood. That meant Teitsu Tokugawa and his strongest of members within the household were on severe watch and ready to kill anyone that violated these conditions. There would be several types of competitors in this race: Those that wanted to win the race outright for the best chance of being seeded, those who were satisfied with just making it in the top 16, and those who wanted to be spoilers and get other competitors killed so they had better odds. As Cobalt thought about all of this in his mind, he couldn't help but shake his head, war was almost about to begin.
At that same time, many of the units in the Kotari alliance had arrived on the island. The recon team that was assigned were already infiltrating the island and taking the back route through the jungle to reach the rear of the arena and begin their surveillance; the other units were all out on the coast of the island and were on smaller speed boats making way to the island. Thanks to the instructions by the recon team led by Miyamoto himself, the alliance knew that while security would be tight, most of the attention was on the entrance to the arena opposite of the jungle side since that's where all the foot traffic was.
"We'll reach shore in about five minutes. Thanks to Miyamoto, we'll all arrive on the same spot of the jungle coast as they did and then disperse from there. Simone, your unit will be one of the vanguard units, correct?" Lori said while looking through binoculars with her team all equipped; over on the neighboring boat was Simone and her team.
"Yeah, we'll raise hell." Simone said with a nod.
The plan was to have the recon team infiltrate and give orders and updates on everything occurring in the events. Once the race started, multiple teams would go into hiding and blend in with the crowd to spot as many of the Tokugawa household as possible and look to get stealth kills on them and minimize the numbers of opponents. The vanguard units that Lori mentioned earlier were split into three groups: Simone's group-the distraction team that'd interrupt the Tokugawa Selection and start the battle, Yasuo's team-the team who'd intercept the recon team's position and handle the bulk of other enemies, and Moriko's team-the team who'd do a combination of attacking the bulk of enemies and help in assisting Simone's team.
"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't feeling nervous about this…" Jory said while hunched over the boat lookin at his reflection in the water; all of them were wearing proof bodysuits to protect them from the hazardous water.
"There will be nothing to worry about as long as our group sticks together and follows the plan." Satoshi said as he patted Jory on the shoulder to reassure him; Satoshi was one of the strongest members of the Dojinomi clans and was an excellent shinobi with plenty of experience, his daughter Aloe was also pretty skilled as a kunoichi with plenty of field experience despite being just a few years older than Squidcom.
The members that were joining Squidcom and Simone were Satoshi, Aloe, Beverly, and Diante. Satoshi sat among the top of Dojinomi clan as one of their executives, but not far behind was his daughter-Aloe. They had aquamarine green hair with streaks of white and orange, purple irises, and a slightly tanned complexion. Aloe was a prodigal talent in the underworld in the same way as Cobalt, only difference was that she had everything fall in her favor and it was because of that favorable upbringing that she had a timid and friendly nature about her, but when she was on the clock, she became a completely different person. Beverly-the swordsman with ties to the Yamasho clan, was a quiet and unfriendly warrior who refused to be called a samurai. He didn't have anything to protect or worth protecting, just working under the Yamasho clan to repay the debt of taking him in. When he was younger, Beverly was just a punk from the west who came to the east to challenge the strongest of swordsmen in the land, and it was when he crossed paths with Moriko that he learned the truth about the pride of Ikayumu. He had defeated numerous powerful swordsmen across the western region and a handful in the east. But when he came to Kiyamamu, he heard about Moriko and her famous reputation as one of the 4 maidens whose strength as a samurai was reminiscent of the legendary Arosuke and Simone, the most loved names in east. Beverly challenged her and met bitter defeat, but it wasn't his talent or merits that won Moriko over to where she wanted him in her clan, it was his persistence and dedication to continue trying to surpass her that got to her. She was the first person to ever defeat him, and the first to ever extend him such kindness and willingness to help better him as an individual as well as a warrior. Soon, Beverly found himself a part of the Yamasho affairs and helped around-swearing his loyalty to Moriko and hoping to one day obtain strength to protect her.
"To imagine that I could work alongside the ghost herself, it is a privilege to accompany you on this mission, Simone-dono." Beverly said with the utmost respect as he took a bow, remembering Moriko's words of warning to him to be respectful to Simone, for Simone was on another level.
Simone was so focused on the island that for a moment she wasn't aware of her surroundings. Turning around, she saw the warrior bowing before her and quickly gave a smile, "Oh, you're Moriko's boyfriend? She always brings you up." she said jokingly as she tilted her head to side; Beverly nearly choked for a moment.
"N-no... I'm deeply indebted to Moriko-sama is all. I'll devote my strength to serving her and hopefully amass strength to one day serve as her protector. Although I know she's well powerful enough that she doesn't need anyone protecting her." Beverly said as he shook his head, cheeks turning a little red.
Simone crossed her arms, "Hm. You should learn to take a hint. I haven't heard a woman of her kind of power talk about an individual as much as she talks about you."
"C'mon Sim-chan, quite teasing the poor fella. I thought Lori told you Moriko took your title as the most beautiful swordswoman, yeah?" Diante said, interrupting the conversation between the two powerful warriors. Diante was a close friend from Simone's days of youth and was the first person to see Simone in Kotankari. Diante had brown and red hair in a swirly pattern, grey eyes, and plenty of freckles on her face. Because of her very pale complexion, it was clear to tell that she originally hailing from a different region entirely, her family migrated to Ikayumu and it was there that she came across young Simone. Simone and Diante became best friends because of Simone's kindness and willingness to accept her despite knowing barely anything about her. Diante gave a smile as she looked her close friend who she long thought to stay missing forever-not once did she think she was dead.
"Well, I have no reason to worry about that title anymore. She can have it." Simone sulked, arms-crossed and her chin raised.
"H-hey now, don't be like that…" Diante said with a curling hand and cat lips.
Over towards the rear where Jory was earlier sat the rest of Squidcom, all were tensed up about the upcoming mission ahead. There were some slithers of nervousness, even though most of them had experience with risky stuff like this, never did it get to such a point of escalation. They'd be going up against powerful ninja, samurai and other warriors. With Azule, and Tangie at the helm of the wheel for Squidcom's ship to bring Cobalt home, they couldn't help but feel even more uneasy. Azule was a glass cannon possessing remarkable strength, except he had the critical flaw of his heart condition that'd hinder him in battle. For Tangie, it was her lack of positive results in combat. Even if they were the most experience members in Squidcom, putting faith in them wasn't easy. However, they weren't alone in that sense thanks to the reassuring Fuchsia and Sally along with Violet and Reice, they were looking to get their hands soiled with blood for the sake of Cobalt. Thinking about the time left until they reached the island, Azule buried his face in his knees with the brim of his hat covering the rest of his crestfallen face.
Cobalt's going to hate me…
Azule thought to himself, ashamed and burying himself even deeper. His stomach felt like it was churning all his doubtful feelings into a giant mess of a stomach ache, his guilt, concerns, and doubts piling onto his shoulders. Thinking about how serious Cobalt looked when they made that promise, Azule couldn't help but feel knots in his stomach as their vessel closely approached the island. He had the resolve to face him after breaking their promise, but the thought of Cobalt's reaction left him anxious. Would he be upset? Shocked? Relieved? Multiple scenarios played in his mind like a movie as he simulated the possibilities.
The others were watching their captain lost in his own mind. They were all prepared for this: From Violet, Sally, and Reice being equipped with some guns to Fuchsia carrying a staff as her weapon, the members of Squidcom were too familiar with the sight of bloodshed to have worries. The trust they had in one another would overcome the obstacle hindering the path, that was their thought process. Tangie's head casts downward, her hands clasped together as if in deep thought; her face gives away that she has plenty on her mind as well. Sally walks over and takes a seat next to her, handing her a camera. Tangie looked confused as Sally handed her the silver camera.
"I know how much you love photography, so during the trip I took some scenic pictures…" Sally said in response to Tangie's dumbfounded look. The pictures included shots of the hills far in the distance where Kiyamamu was, the trail they took to reach Kotankari, parts of the village and some of the people, and finally, shots of the sea and the nearing island of Osuma. "You and Azule look like you have quite the weight on your mind, and I was hoping these pictures could serve to calm you in any way possible."
Tangie stared at the pictures, admiring the effort Sally took. They weren't as nice as the pictures she'd take, but she appreciated Sally's attempt to help her. Tangie gave an endearing smile as she glanced at her concerned friend from the corner of her eye; Sally did seem worried. It made sense. For Squidcom, their golden premise was that they shared a tightly knit bond close to that of a family, and nearly all the members had gone through struggles together in some form. Tangie took this chance to do some quick recollection on her journey with Squidcom. To think it all started when she was just watching Violet and Sally hug it out at the mall, immediately asking them for help in protection from the Black Urchins. Getting kidnapped together and watching Azule, Cobalt, Reice and others rescue them from Spyke's clutches. From there, she-along with Cobalt-joined Squidcom and showed their support during all the competitions. She remembered the traumatizing moment when Azule got shot in the head and that sinking feeling of despair when he briefly had amnesia. There was the Fall festival where she watched Cobalt win the battle royale and watched Azule get payback on Ueru for her, and then there was also that time where they had traveled with Kidvel to Death Island and had their battles on the infamous prison. Of course, she couldn't forget about the assassination mission where Azule seemed like a completely different and even reunited with his mother. And now, here they were marching into enemy territory to interfere with a generation old event that became tradition for this entire eastern region.
"We've come far, haven't we Sally?" Tangie thought with a growing smile as she checked out the photos her thumb gently rubbing the camera as she fondly remembered her journey as a member of the team.
Sally sat forward and kept her gaze on Tangie, "Yeah, you've also been my music buddy. Thanks for always being there." she said with a smile. Tangie was Sally's pal through and through, always accompanying her to her job at the music store and cheering her on whenever she did any spontaneous performances for patrons who heard about her thanks to the power of social media."
Tangie shook her head, "Oh please! That's what friends are for."
Sally smirked, "Something I've always loved about you is your quirky nature, never allowing the scars of your past to affect how you feel about the present. You're strong, comedic, gluttonous, and I'm thankful we became friends. I love you like a sister!" Sally said, as she grabbed Tangie's hand, her eyes trembling; Tangie didn't know how to react since she never saw this side to Sally. "And that's why, I'll do everything within my power to see you and Cobalt reunited. Even if it means killing others that stand in our way, I'll do it. Our friendship means that much to me."
"Sally…"
Sally took a deep breath and exhaled, "So, don't let your mind be clouded any longer. We'll do our part to bring you together with Cobalt."
A light shined in Tangie's eyes before her lips began quivering, her eyebrows and eyes trembling as she struggled to contain her feelings. That was the first time Sally ever said something like that to her and given the current reason behind it only made her feel more elated. Sally was her best friend, though she never made it so obvious. Sally wrapped her arm around Tangie and brought her close to her cheek, their forehead gently touching.
"T-thank you, Sally."
Sally smirked, "Oh please, that's what friends are for!" she teased, replicating what Tangie said moments earlier.
"Hey guys, don't mean to interrupt the sisterly moment but we're almost at the island." Reice said, as he tapped on Sally's shoulder. Off in the distance was Osuma, the island where the event was being held. As the island came nearer, so did the features. From the side they were entering, there was nothing but a jungle view with a gigantic volcano that towered over the jungle like a monument. The coast on this side of the island seems uninhabited based on how the wild plants looked unkept as they overextended onto the shoreline unevenly. Simone's chin lowered as she crosses her arms, her eyes filled with fury with a twitch in her brows, her enemy was on that island. The LARS cap of Azule slowly rose as his ears twitched, a light shining his blue eyes as he looked off into the distance at the nearing island. Everyone on the boat, every member of the alliance that were sailing closer, all had the same readied look on their faces as some clenched their fists while others closed their eyes. Time was running out before the event would officially begin. Crunch time was over, and the day before the selection had passed. It was now time for the big dance. As Tangie stared at the blue sky above her, her eyes slowly rolled down to the island that waited. Taking a deep breath followed by a loud gulp that sounded like she swallowed her heart, She-too was ready for the battle that awaited.
"Tokugawa Selection…" she muttered under her breath.
