Chapter 3 Red Faction - The Galactic Death Tournament
"Let us begin this Galactic Death Tournament."
These words uttered from the mouth of The Warden.
A man with a absolute sense of justice so devote to the cause that any whom known the man would say one of two things.
That he is the ideal zealot follower of justice and an example for all to follow,
or
A dangerous man who takes the pursuit of justice too far, who hopes to wipe out all he deems evil and leave only good.
The latter is closer to the truth, for he is a man whom seeks to destroy the delicate order of the universe.
Good cannot exist without evil. While it shall not be allowed to spread, it must exist.
Anyone whom seeks to destroy the balance are dangerous, whether they know any better or not.
The ride down the elevator is a presently calm one. The Warden smiling as he always has every day since he was assigned to this post.
To be forgiven.
To be forgotten.
Oh how that smile hid the feelings raging inside his soul.
The feelings of betray by the very organization he devoted his life towards in the pursuit of justice.
True justice.
The feelings of frustration of his previous title being usurped by a some lowly nobody who refused to do what is necessary to defeat evil!
The feelings of anger and humiliation at the defeat of the new number 1 Galactic Patrolmen. Of how it humbled him, or so the victor believed.
The only thing that changed for The Warden was the lesser goal of reclaiming his lost title and leading the Galactic Patrol against the forces of evil! To purge the scum held captive in a naive attempt at rehabilitation.
"They can change their ways!" His more foolish comrades pleaded their hopeless cause. "They all deserve a chance to redeem themselves! We all have a choice, so why take away theirs now?"
All beings have a choice, that much he agreed on. These evil, wicked creatures made theirs long ago.
To think that they would change their natures now is the height of folly.
This tournament set to begin in these very halls would serve as proof to what he said all along.
That evil will always remain evil, no matter what form it chooses to take.
The elevator smoothly came to a halt, door opening to reveal two prison guards awaiting him on each side of the hall before him.
The Warden stepped out, his subordinates followed as they moved towards their ultimate destination: The Arena, the location for the 1st ever Galactic Death Tournament.
Not to say it's the first tournament of its kind, just the first known to happen under Galactic Patrol supervision.
"All of our...esteemed guests are in attendance, Warden." One of the guards reported without breaking stride. "Contingencies are in place should the rabble find any, disagreements, with the following proceedings."
"Very good," Warden replied with an honest smile. "and what of the warlord?"
"Awaiting at the end of the hall." The other guard answered. "We should have him in sight shortly."
The Warden nodded, soon enough they laid eyes upon the man in question.
Surge, a relic of a forgotten age. A criminal warlord once in charge of a vast evil empire of scum and villainy. An empire that saw its end when it crossed King Cold, an even more elusive evil that would one day answer for every crime he and his organization committed.
A day that looks to be drawing ever closer, due to the emergence of Red Faction and the righteous war they wage against the Planet Trade Organization.
The trio stopped within arms length of the criminal, whom was leaning against the near wall with his arms crossed.
"Good day, Warlord Surge." The Warden said with a neighborly smile. "I trust the trip was to your liking?"
Surge grunted in reply, righting himself as he lowered his hands. "You can skip the pleasantries. We all know you hate people like me, no need to fake it when were in relative private."
Warden let out a chuckle, his face shifting to a more devious smile. "I'm glad you understand my true feelings on the matter. Very well, lets get this over with."
With Warden leading, the group proceeded onward to the end of the hall. They passed through a set of double doors that separated the hallway from the arena.
Immediately, the sounds of hundreds -perhaps a thousand- spectators flooded their ears. Rows upon rows of various underground merchants, wealthy lords, bodyguards, and other scum filled the spectator seats of the massive rectangular arena.
An arena that will once again serve its original purpose; to showcase gladiator matches against criminals!
A purpose that was in full effect once upon a few hundred years ago, before the likes of King Cold took power.
Ever since the Galactic Patrol took control and put this place to more civilized use, this area was abandoned.
Forgotten, like The Warden.
Thus when he took over this prison, he had the old arena restored to its former glory in the hopes that he would soon put it to good use. His hopes would be answered today.
The prison guards that accompanied Warden and Surge took up positions at the ends of the double doors the passed through, leaving the two important beings to their task.
The Warden looked to Surge, then lead the two forward to an area that oversaw the entire arena before them. It was a open, square area perfectly cut from the grey material used to construct it. Obviously, it was used by those giving speeches and announcements before the violent matches of old began.
The Warden signaled the criminal to hold with the wave of a hand before proceeding front and center in the open speaking area.
The humanoid clapped his hands once, a powerful sound echoed forward silencing all before him. The Warden allowed himself a smile at the spectral before commencing with what everyone here today was waiting for.
"Ladies, gentlemen, and everything else in between! I welcome you all to Galactic Prison Prime!" Warden started, spreading his hands out wide. "I am The Warden, your host for the next few days! What am I hosting? Why none other then the greatest show this side of the galaxy! A one in a lifetime event, brought to you in part thanks to the Galactic Patrol! You all know why you are here but I'll say it anyway!"
"Welcome one and all to the 1st ever Galactic Death Tournament!"
The crowd roared in approval, with cheers, screams, claps, and stomps. These people were ready for blood. To watch others kill each other for sport.
How utterly deplorable.
And yet, The Warden will enjoy these proceedings too.
For the right reasons.
For justice.
"We have gathered the worst scum the Galactic Patrol has to offer and other lesser villains to serve as cannon fodder for your entertainment!" The Warden continued his speech, moving his arms to fully emphasize what he spoke. "Hundreds of prisoners in various prisons across the galaxy have been gathered here for the grandest form of entertainment you denizens of the underworld know and love!"
"DEATH! DEATH! DEATH!" The crowd chatted, many pumping their fists into the air.
The Warden let out a laugh, raising his hands to call for quiet. "Yes, that's right! Death by combat! And here is the man the helped make this all possible!" The man turned his body back, extending a hand toward Surge who waited patiently till this moment.
"Let me introduce to you all the main sponsor of this event, Warlord Surge!"
The crowd roared once more as The Warden stepped aside to allow Surge his moment.
The criminal warlord stepped forward, arms crossed and eyes closed.
"Some of you from the last generation might remember me." Surge started, opening his eyes. "Once, I lead a mighty criminal empire. I controlled 48 systems directly and twice as many felt my influence. That all changed when I made the choice to fight the Planet Trade trying to roll up my territory. I lost everything then, now I have a second chance."
Surge uncrossed his arms, looking up to take in the entire crowd. "A second chance is what we're offering the scum we've gathered today! A chance to die gloriously in combat! A chance to fight and prove their worth! A chance that, should they catch my eye, to be freed for this prison and recruited into my new empire!"
"I CARE NOT HOW MANY DIE IN THE FOLLOWING DAYS! I ONLY CARE WHOM I DEEM WORTHY TO BE IN MY EMPLOY! THE OTHERS WILL FIGHT AND DIE FOR YOUR ENTERTAINMENT!"
The crowd roared their approval, not fully registering or caring what reasons the brown skinned humanoid had for putting this tournament together.
All they cared about was the tournament itself and the money to be made or lost on bets.
The Warden clapped, smiling as Surge turned around to give the forward back the spotlight.
"Thank you Surge, for revealing to all the reason behind this death tournament!" Warden returned his focus to the crowd before him.
"Just to clarify, this is how the main event shall work! Each fighter shall take each other on in a one on one duel! The match ends when one combatant dies, is unable to continue fighting, or Surge decides to save them! Yes you heard me right, Surge can play angel to anyone of our criminals! However, they need to catch his eye so best give it your all!"
"Now, notice I said the main event. That's right folks! Out of the hundreds of criminals we've gathered for this very event, only 31 of them will be participating for the chance to gain their freedom! Be it through Surge's good graces, or death itself!"
The crowd cheered at this last bit. The Warden was forced to wait until they settled down before continuing.
"As such, today on this opening ceremony for the Galactic Death Tournament, we have prepared a blood bath the likes of which you have never seen!"
"We have prepared the special holding cages used for our extra large prisoners for the use of our culling! We'll have about 30 or more sent to each cage and let them kill each in a no holds bard free for all till one or two are left standing! Each cage will be set one at a time, so no one gets to miss a drop of blood being spilled!"
Warden let out a grand smile, showing his teeth as he spoke this next part. "In 30 short minutes, the first free for all blood match shall be set! Without further adieu, I declare the 1st Galactic Death Tournament officially started!"
The crowd roared so loud in positive reply that even on the highest of levels within Galactic Prison Prime one could hear the sound of the blood thirsty crowds.
"Sounds like this crowd is eating it up." A Galactic Patrol guardsmen stated, listening to the echoing roars of the underworld types in attendance today.
"This will be the last time most of em get to enjoy their taste of fun." Another guardsmen answered. "After this farce is over, we'll be going after as many members of the audience as possible."
"Can't wait to deliver justice to these scum," The first guardsmen replied, turning his head around to face the reason these two and several other guardsmen where posted here. "Just like how most of these criminals will face it today."
32 prisoners clumped together in a single wide holding cell. Several other similar cells were set up throughout the area, here the competitors of the Galactic Death Tournament awaited to be thrown into the slaughter of the preliminaries. Certain individuals had to be held in their own special, isolated holding cells as they were too dangerous to be kept around other prisoners, as per SOP.
In a few moments, this procedure will be cast aside along with all morals and most principles upheld by the Galactic Patrol.
A third guardsmen walked up to the pair, holding a data pad.
"Stand to men, they're calling up cells by number. The Special Holding Pits for the Preliminaries are set so we're good to go anytime."
"That was quick. Crowd is restless for blood huh?" The second guardsmen replied, turning to face the criminals behind her. "Hear that inmates? Most of you aren't long for this world, best make your peace while you can!"
"First group is heading into the pits now..." The third guardsmen reported, reading from his data pad. "Just to remind you two, the prisoners who move onto the main event will be returned their personal effects. However, weapons have been authorized to be returned for the purpose of this event. We have assigned personal for that so no need to-wait...its already over?!"
The second guardsmen spoke her disbelief while the first replied with a question.
"Didn't you just say they were setting up a moment ago? That's barely 30 seconds."
"Hold on...here's the replay." The third moved the data pad so the other two could see.
They had audio accompanying the video and hear the voice of The Warden explaining that total number of prisoners in this wide cell: 35 for the record.
They heard him count down from 3 to 0 and then blue flames engulfed the entire area.
They heard the screams of anguish as 34 criminal scum burnt to death.
Their eyes glued to the screen as the flames began to die and a sole survivor remained standing.
A woman with pale gray skin and blue eyes with dark highlights. Half her head is covered with wild black hair, the other bald with an X scar over her lower cheek. She wore raggy, suit covered pants, poorly constructed bland-brown shoes, and smoke gray cropped shirt that barely covered anything aside her chest, arms, and sides of her waist.
Blue flames raged off parts of her body, yet nothing seemed to burn. She simply stood there, smiling wide as the scorched remains of the other fighters became visible for all to see.
"Well folks, I told you we had the worst of the worst here for your viewing pleasure today!" Warden's voice spoke through the data pad.
"The woman you see before you is a dangerous pyromaniac as you can clearly tell! Her name is Wraith, that's right WRAITH! W-R-A-I-T-H, the same name we give every one of those crazy bastards as they refuse to speak any civilized language! A member of half ghost, half demon race bent on burning everyone and everything with the pyre constantly burning within the human shell you see before you!"
"That's right scum of the underworld, the woman you see before you is just a husk used by this flame spirit! Her true form is something much more befitting for a Wraith! Best part is, the Galactic Patrol decided to capture one of these monsters in the hopes of reaching some sort of understanding with their race! What's there to understand?! They wish to set the galaxy, no the entire universe on fire! Everyone else knows to kill these creatures on sight! So how come the Galactic Patrol, an organization set in place to protect the galaxy from evil doers and monstrous creatures come to a decision such as this?!"
"I'll tell you why! The higher echelons of the organization have lost sight of what it means to carry out true justice! Thus, we have this Wraith before you all to burn to death as much flammable trash as she can! Believe me when I say that today is a good day for the sadistic tastes of this hellspawn!"
"Moving on, I know this was a fast round for you but this is what happens when we mix the weak with the strong! Not to worry however, as we'll set a more balanced match of criminals for you next!"
As soon as these words were spoken aloud, the data pad beeped. The guardsmen holding the tab swiped the screen a few times before raising his head.
"Get the prisoners moving, this hold has been chosen next."
With that, the two other Galactic Patrol Guardsmen headed off shouting orders at the others stationed at this hold. Within minutes, gates were opening, prisoners were shoved outside and began the march towards the assigned battlefield.
Rouge rose to his feet with a smirk. His partner for this mission, a purple humanoid by the name of Cu, stood by his side. (This man is of the same race as Cui)
"Well that didn't take long did it?" The renegade said with glee, moving with the herd of criminals.
"Best stay on your toes Rouge," Cu whispered as he closed the gap between the two. "There are a few fighters in this group that could be a problem."
"For you, barely a warmup at best for me! So don't you worry Cu, I'll go after those bastards that you can't handle on your own." Rouge flashed his teeth. "A bona-fine fight to the death, Kais its been too long!"
Ten minutes later...
A total of 32 prisoners from all walks of life spread out along the wide open special holding cell designed for individuals classified as giants by galactic standards.
This is a spacious improvised fighting arena, plenty of space to fly up to attack from above and wide enough for any speed based fighter to take advantage of.
Rouge and Cu stood side by side, the only two individual with their personal effects aside from weapons requested by their owners. The Galactic Patrol guardsmen were handing out the last of said weapons now.
As these last few criminal scum walked to whatever starting position they chose, one couldn't help that several of these individuals had formed gangs of sort. Not that teaming up was against the rules, in fact it made sense to work together but any group larger then two would have infighting sooner or later.
They made it clear that, exceptions aside, only a max of 2 would be moving on to the main event.
In the mix of the 30 other individuals, Rouge noticed two teams of 6, four teams of 3, and a team of 2. Bringing a total of 28 out of 32 criminals teaming up in their groups of choice.
Out of the four that decided to solo, each possessed a power level over 10,000 or so Rouge's detention powers informed him. When sensing power levels and accompanying them with the number readings of Scouters, one can give a rough estimate of such numbers.
For those that care about having a physical number to pare along with what they feel anyway.
Rouge couldn't care less, in this case it was something he picked up with all that new standard training the Red Faction grunts went through.
The others that teamed up were mostly trash, maybe one or two decent fighters amongst that bunch. Out of the whole lot, Rouge noticed around 10 had a weapon of some sort.
Cu can take care of the rabble. Rouge had his sights set on the strongest which, in this case, would prove suitable excuse to stretch his limbs.
"Alright ladies and gentleman of all criminal walks of life! ARE YOU READY FOR ROUND 2?!" The Warden's voice ran out loud and clear from several audio speakers. Several minutes passed as the roar of the blood thirsty crowd filtered through for all to hear. It sounded like quite the crowd.
After these cheers died down, the Warden continued.
"This round we have 32 prisoners set to fight for the honor of making it to the main tournament! As you can see, most have paired up in teams of at least 2! Will one of these teams make it to the end only to brutally stab each other in the back?! Or will one of the solo fighters survive!"
"PLACE YOUR BETS AS WE BEGIN AT THE END OF THE COUNT!"
Warden led a chant beginning with the number 15, the voices of every member of the audience not placing a last minute bet intensified the count down.
By the count of 10, most of the criminals that decided to team up were finishing up any quick stretches or other warmups they were conducting.
By the count of 5, most of the fighters set their eyes on their first intended targets or areas they were keeping an eye on if their group decided to play defensively while shifting to their favored stance.
By the count of 3, most of the solo fighters shifted into a ready or fighter stance.
By the count of 1, the more blood thirsty criminals among the whole smirked.
Once the count reached 0, the carnage began.
Rouge, three of the solo fighters, all the teams of 3, and half of one team of 6 rushed off on individually intercepting paths.
The only ones who didn't move, or were assaulted by any of the others for the moment were Cu, the full team of 6, the team of two, and the last solo fighter.
Criminals that chose to fly collided in midair imminently bombarding each other in a fury of kicks and punches. Those on the ground mostly rushed towards those that held their ground assaulting with ki blasts if they were capable of using energy attacks or closing the distance as quickly as possible to engage their chosen prey.
One of the solo fighters wielded a flail, using it to assault the half of that team of 6 that held their ground. She masterfully used the difficult weapon, easily crushing the side of one foe's head before tormenting the others with a series of strikes.
All the teams of 3 and the half of that team of 6 clashed in a massive melee that raged above and on ground level. Bodies would fall gradually as death blows were inflicted in the dozen of minutes this mash pit lasted.
Two of the solo fighters smashed into each other, each strong enough to send small shock waves out with every heavy blow. Rouge, laughing like a madman, clothesline both these opponents.
Rouge rolled, landing on his feet. His prey similarly recovered, both looking at Rouge with disdain.
"Who are you to butt into our fight?" The one on the right; a blue-green bald humanoid with red eyes half-shouted.
Rouge let out a laugh. "It's a FREE FOR ALL idiot!" He held out his hand towards the man. "No rules, no honor, no fucks given! Just a good old fight to the death!"
Rouge fired an energy wave at the humanoid, the latter tried to block it.
His mistake.
The wave overcome whatever defenses the guy put up and vaporized him instantly.
Boom, a fighter with over 10,000 power down in an instant.
"Serves him right!" The other criminal, a black haired man with many scars across his face and body, said with a laugh ignorant that he is just as much a weakling.
Rouge smirked, turning his hand around and gesturing the battle scared fighter to come at him.
The man too eagerly complied, throwing himself at Rouge.
The scared foe threw a right hook, Rouge simply dodged with a side step, and seemed to lose his balance as the man's body followed with the punch.
Suddenly, the criminal spun landing a booted foot upon Rouge's face. Amused by the cheep trick, Rouge simply brushed off the foot and allowed his foe to regain his footing.
At that time, Rouge took a quick look at the others scattered about.
Cu and that other solo fighter remained were they stood.
The team of two moved closer to Cu, sizing him up by the look of it.
The fighter with the flail slayed the 3 she started with and moved on to the full team of 6. Looks like two of them already had their heads caved in, least as far as Rouge could tell from this angle.
About half of those involved in the big melee fell, probably dead or dying. Rouge didn't bother checking as he returned his focus to the foe before him.
"I'll give you credit for the sneak attack," The aqua green haired humanoid started with a smirk. "The unexpected helps win fights."
"That's just the start!" The scared criminal replied. "I've been in over 300 battles! Even gone up against them Freiza Goons everyone's so scared of!"
Rouge shook his head with a laugh. "You are behind the times, old man! No one's afraid bout the Planet Trade anymore! Now it the Super Saiyan that has everyone pissing in their pants!"
The scared fighter gave Rouge the most confused look the latter had ever seen.
"What in the Nine Hells is a Super Saiyan?"
"Something I'm hoping to best one day..." Rouge disappeared from the man's sight. By the time the scared man reacted, Rouge already appeared behind him.
The humanoid locked his opponent in a choke hold, lifting the man off the ground. The scared man's eyes seemed to pop out of his head as his assailant laughed with glee.
Rouge lifted up into the air, tightening the pressure upon his foes neck. The latter clawed and kicked where ever he could, but to no avail.
There is nothing he could do to free himself. After all, he is just an above 10,000 level fighter.
Finally, the black haired man stopped flailing. His limbs grew still, save for the occasional twitch. His eyes rolled back, tongue stock out, looking more like a drug overdose victim then someone whom had the life choked out of him.
Rouge let the body fall to the floor, watching it land before looking for his next victim.
There were two fighters left duking it out in the once massive brawl; one with a sword, the other armed with his bare fists. Both looked on their last legs, probably they'll take each other out.
Rouge looked to his partner, the purple humanoid faced off against that team of two. They rushed Cu, each with a hatchet in hand.
Cu waited till they were in spitting distance, seemingly disappeared, and struck both foes with an elbow strike in the back of their necks. Rouge could hear the cracking from here.
"Didn't even know what hit them" He simply stated, looking at the rest of the field. The stationary solo fighter, a brick colored, bulky humanoid with four eyes held his ground the entire match. Eyes unblinkingly taking in everything or so it appeared.
Rouge looked just in time for the flail wielding criminal smash the backside of the last member of that group of six she was playing with.
As she retrieved her blood drench weapon with a simple flick of her wrist, the two weaklings in the mash pit struck each other a deadly blow; both piercing the other's throat.
As those two fell, The Warden's voice flooded the survivor's ears once more.
"Here it is! The final four! Who will survive to move onto the main event!?"
"Isn't that obvious?" The flail welder said, turning her gaze to Cu. "ITS GONNA BE ME!"
She yelled, launching at full speed towards whom she accurately deduced is the weakest left alive.
Rouge quickly intercepted, quickly throwing an energy blast at the woman. The latter, a white skinned, orange haired, she-demon looking humanoid drastically changed direction, dodging the attack.
She skited across the ground, launching herself at Rouge once she came to a halt.
"So you wanna be first pretty boy?!"
The she-demon threw he flail at Rouge, the latter smiled. He wrapped energy around his fist and punched the incoming spiked ball. It instantly shattered into pieces.
The she-demon's mouth dropped in terror. "Y-YOU RUIN MY AR-"
Whatever words she didn't say were lost forever, as the upper part of her head spontaneously combusted. Fingers twitched as the she-demon's body remained upright for a few lingering moments before collapsing in a hep.
Rouge turned his gaze to the only other fighter still alive in the arena.
The bulky, brick colored, four eyed humanoid stood in the exact spot he held since the start, only now he had an arm extended out with a sole finger pointed were the she-demon once stood.
"Her voice was annoying." Was all the humanoid said on the matter.
Rouge tilted his head with a smirk, walking over to his last foe for this free-for-all.
"Name's Rouge." He said, stopping a good 10 ft from his final opponent.
The bulky humanoid closed two of his four eyes, smirking with a suppressed laugh. "They call me, Acura. Means without mercy or humanity in some long forgotten language."
"Neat." Rouge replied, crossing his arms back and forth across his chest. "Figured you were the strongest in here aside from me."
"I shared a similar feeling." Acura replied. "And I am no fool. I know you are barely trying with all those others you have fought thus far."
Rouge shrugged. "Yeah, I guess its that obvious when I'm breezing through these weaklings."
"If I would guess...I say I could only match about 10% of your power at most." Acura spread his feet out, bringing his fists up. "Instead of playing with me, or insulting me by bringing things down to my level, I want you to use your full power. Even if only for an instant."
Rouge frowned. This was an...odd request coming from a weakling. Sure, Rouge made similar demands of his foes when he knew he was going against legendary fighters.
I mean, who didn't want to go down fighting against a legend just to see how they measured up?
So in a way, Rouge understood what Acura wanted.
He wanted to see how much he measured up against what was going to kill him.
And so, Rouge obliged.
"If that's how you want it." Rouge answered, flashing his aura. "Sucks for you then."
Acura smiled, extending his arm out. Only it wasn't aimed at Rouge.
Bastard wanted to take out Cu with him. Without humanity indeed.
Rouge was going to end him with his resting power of 205,000, now he was pissed enough to use his full power just like Acura wanted.
In an instant.
Over in just an instant.
In real time, Acura only extended his hand in full and half pointed his figure towards Cu when Rouge disappeared and reappeared in the blink of an eye.
In the renegades right hand beat a red organ vital to mostly every organic creature resembling a humanoid: A heart.
Acura's heart.
The bulky man only realized he was dead when he coughed out blood. "Mag...nificent." Were the last words of the killer known as Acura.
He fell on his stomach, a smile upon his face as all four eyes closed for the last time.
Rouge let out a tisk, setting the now still heart on fire with his ki.
He turned around to face Cu, giving the man a thumbs up. The purple humanoid returned one in kind, a smile on his face at a job well done.
"ITS OVER!" The voice of The Warden filled the air.
"THE SECOND PRELIMINARY ROUND OF THE GALACTIC DEATH TOURNAMENT IS OVER! Such brutality! Such vile wickedness! Only the worst of the worst here to fight to the death for your viewing pleasure! These two survivors of this brawl shall be moving on to the main event! Congratulations, your time in hell has only just begun!"
"As before, we shall have a 10 minute interval as we set the stage for the next round! Please use this time to go to the restroom, gather any food or drink you may crave, collect your winning bets or cry over how much money you just lost!"
"As always, we here at the Galactic Prison Prime shall do our utmost to server to your criminal needs as your gracious hosts for the 1st ever Galactic Death Tournament!"
The Warden took some of those ten minutes to look into the two winner of the last preliminary round.
Again, smugglers that carried highly a illegal substance that lead to their arrest. That's what the database told him.
However, how the hell dues a simple smuggler possess power the puts even the mighty Ginyu Force to shame?
Something didn't add up and, should the event to come be graceful in the lots, he'll find out all he'd need to know from the source.
The rest of the preliminaries came and went, each with their ups and downs.
3rd match had two winners: Both demi-humans with cat features. One male, one female. The forward is a suspected time traveler while the later is an thief who got into a fight with an undercover Galactic Patrolmen. The match itself was ordinary at best.
4th match lasted the longest by far as many of those fighting were composed of the weaker members drafted for the tournament. The winners for that match were a Cyclops turned pirate and a Corrabin who survived through sheer dumb luck.
5th match was an exception to the rules, as there were 90 fighters thrown together in that particular death pit. The reason its an exception is that Warden allowed the last 4 survivors to move onto the next round. The winners of that match were two lesser demons, a cyborg abandoned by its creators, and the sole volunteer of the entire tournament.
That's right, someone willingly signed up for this bloodbath.
He's a bodyguard currently employed for some big-shot underworld type who wanted this semi-powerful fighter to win him some easy money.
Utterly irresponsible and disgusting.
Oh well, this one would have to die at some point anyway.
The 6th match was something of an inspired idea from one particular subordinate of his. The idea that we throw nothing but weapon wielding criminal into the pit and see what happens. The result was something reminiscent of those old battlefields from the times when most species were still locked in their own world.
It was a glorious bloodbath that had the crowd enthralled by the excitement.
There were 3 winners, as two of them looked ready to keel over and Warden knew he needed to make some other exception here and there for the fights he knew were yet to come. The winners were a fat Pig Ork, a Vampire-like humanoid, and a Vargaith. The latter being the only one not out of breath or seemingly on the verge of dying.
7th match was another show of why the Galactic Patrol is run by incompetents who will kill everyone with their bad calls.
The two winners are both members of races that have been classified as galactic threats and should have been executed long ago. There are a Mind Flayer who went around mind controlling half the other combatants to kill the remaining half and an Abnormal Slime that went around indiscriminately eating everyone in its path while looking "cute".
8th match was another quick one with only a single winner. An individual referred to as a Demon Possessed slaughtered every last criminal in cruel yet simplistic ways.
9th match was something of a comedy routine as a humanoid with a ridiculous hairstyle fought and...protected a member of one of thee most annoying races in existence: A Yurian. The latter did nothing but complain as the humanoid defeated every last foe. Surprisingly, there were few fatalities in that match.
The 10th match was a comedy of a different sort. Out of 56 criminals sent in, one of them had a heart. An Adanta spent the entire match protecting two individuals; a Norr-Apelupsian who kept crying out the oh so often heard "I'm not suppose to be here" speech and A child.
A Cerealian of all races.
Seeing this act, the 53 others ganged up on this do-gooder.
And to the dismay of the viewing audience, every last of these 53 criminals were defeated by said do-gooder and her charges.
The Adanta demanded that the three of them pass to the next round or she'd short circuit the entire facility with her electrical generating powers.
Even if it was a bluff, The Warden didn't wish to entertain even the possibility of such a catastrophic event and granted her request to the gees of the underworld scum in the stand.
The Warden respected the Adanta for this act of righteousness and, should the two of them meet in the main event, made a note to give her a merciful death.
11th match "restored the sanctity of these fights" with only one winner. A member of the near extinct race Frieza once "visited" long ago who now turned to a life of senseless slaughtering.
The 12th match was quick and...rather odd at the end. It started out normally, with criminals murdering each other when a sudden death ball of sorts began to smash into the skulls of each scumbag with pinpoint accuracy. Once the dust settled, the cause was revealed.
An abomination. A Chimera. An intelligent creature who's very existence is illegal as they are usually made when a scientist, alchemist, or mage decides to play Kai.
As such, there are standing orders to eliminate these Chimera on sight. How one manage to survive under the nose of the Galactic Patrol once more shows how utterly incompetent their administration has become.
After its rampage, the Chimera crawled over to the nearest corpse and began eating its teeth with its nightmarish mouth.
The only other survivor was a Metalloid, to the surprise of no one as that race can take unrelenting punishment and rise up like nothing happened.
The 13th match was another one that dragged on, only this time thanks to everyone having similar power levels and it was much more exciting as everyone had a minimum of a 15,000 power reading.
The sole survivor was an aquatic humanoid who pointed his finger up in the air as a victory sign.
14th match didn't feature anything significant and had two winners: A pretty boy humanoid with the ability to transform into a monster and a mongrel whom showed skill in ki control.
15th match was another bloodbath, this time with an Golic from the Western Galaxy as the solo winner. Their people always caused death wherever they go.
It is part of their religion, after all.
The 16th and last match was by far the most entertaining, at least by The Warden's standards.
A Werewolf and a demi-human with wolf like features took the spotlight, mostly the latter as the pair took apart every last criminal one by one.
The Werewolf mostly played wingman to the demi-human, taking down one for every 5 she defeated.
The best part is, the demi-human only had one arm. Seeing her fight was like watching a kid having the time of her life in an amusement park.
She even took down the actual Giant he set aside for the last match with ease. After all, aside from ample space to maneuver, what's the point of having all these death matches in such a wide area without at least one giant race mixed in?
It mattered little in the end, as all that stood in the way of these two were soundly defeated.
With these, including himself, they had 32 combatants for the main event.
"ALRIGHT LADIES AND GENTS FROM THE DARK CORNERS OF THE UNIVERSE!" The Warden yelled into his mic. "The preliminaries are over! Blood has been paid in tribute to the event you have all been waiting for! ARE YOU READY FOR THE BEST THE GALACTIC PATROL HAS TO OFFER?! ARE YOU READY TO SEE THE WORST OF THE WORST KILL EACH OTHER IN BRUTAL FASHION?!"
The crowd roared in glee, intoxicated by bloodlust.
Warden, with a smile befitting an announcer at any such event, yelled the following.
"WELL THEN SCUM OF THE UNIVERSE! I PRESENT TO YOU THE MAIN EVENT! THE GALACTIC DEATH TOURNAMENT BEGINS IN EARNEST NOW!"
And thus ends this entry of Dragon Ball Double S!
Woooo, finally got this out after having that contest related to this!
For context, I hosted a contest for fans of mine (across the multiple platforms of other hobbies and such I'm affiliated with) for featuring their OCs in this death tournament.
A good chunk of those that you'll see are mine, but as the next entries are to come I'll be revealing in the Author notes here whom sent in particular characters as they come to the spotlight.
And yes, they know from the start that most of these guys are gonna die.
At first, I thought about writing a bit more on each preliminary match or at least the end of em but decided better against that course of action as to keep an element of surprise with what each of these fighters are capable of.
We'll be focusing on the Power Levels like in previous entries when these main fights begin so don't worry about the lack of one rn.
This will be the first Tournament Arc I have ever written, so forgive me if there are any hiccups along the way.
With the preliminary matches over, the main event for the Galactic Death Tournament begins!
The worst of the worst, and the unluckily lucky, square off for the highest stakes! Freedom or Death!
Will the true mastermind, Sub Zero, be revealed to Red Faction? How many prisoners will catch the Arcosian's watchful gaze? How will The Warden enact his form of justice as he too shall throw himself into the fray? And most importantly, will Rouge have the time of his life? :D
Find out the match up of these 32 criminals and at least the first round next time on Dragon Ball Double S!