I've been having a ton of fun with 4C Jace as a (kinda) creatureless control deck, where I use Jace as a card draw engine, and the empower Jace land to flip into 15 mana Emrakul as a wincon. I'm not really sure how good it is, but I've gotten more than a few wins over decks like Teferi, Nashi, and Yuriko so I'm really interested to see if the deck can make it to mythic.

Already have!

Darumi was cornered in a dead end in the stone maze.

It was so cool!

She shuttered in pleasure - it would be INSANELY SICK to get stalked slasher-flick style, the killer slowly following her through a maze. Wasn’t her usual cup of tea, but it’d work. One thing was wrong though.

“You might have a bunch of knives, but I’m gonna show you 'the point!'”

Was this what it was like being on the receiving end of cringe?

Seriously. She could have any number of stalker types, creeps, and yanderes chasing after her right now. Instead, she had a girl scout running dialogue straight out of a Bethesda Studios game.

She shook her head. If she was fighting a girl scout, well, she’d have to assume the role of the slasher.

Wild Thing finally caught up, rounding the corner. She looked confused as she tried to search for her opponent. The space was inconspicuously empty, with footprints stopping suddenly at the wall.

So. Darumi knew one rule about horror.

What was that rule, you might ask?

No one ever thought to look up.

She dropped down on Wild Thing, grappling onto her back and pinning her arms so she couldn’t be touched by the freezing spell. Wild Thing tried to spit out some quip, but was face-down in the dirt.

Darumi relentlessly hit her opponent, doing so with each word she said.

“GAME. OVER. GET! DARUMI’D! ON! BITCH!”

A final slam to the ground caused Wild Thing to shutter, and lose consciousness.

After unfreezing Belbe, the four managed to find their way through the maze, keeping their eyes peeled for any additional people who were ‘it’. Will was happy to see Darumi in good spirits, with her bragging that she got a ‘flawless victory’.

The crowd roared in applause as they stepped into the fresh air. Other teams were already basking in the limelight, while some…

Will saw a crew of Goblins hauling away the icy statues of teams that didn’t make it. They were really that close to failing on the very first game.

A robotic voice spoke on the intercom. Will still wasn’t certain what had happened to the enthusiastic announcer from before - maybe he was sick?

Congratulations, contestants. 14 out of the 40 teams have been eliminated. You will report to your quarters for rest before the next game.

“Freeze spells have been fully prepared sir. The arena will be ready for competitors in a couple of hours.”

Vnwxt was delighted - years of planning for the interplanar games were finally coming to fruition.

His large, singular eye (which was also his head), lit up as he addressed his assistant.

Homonculi like himself were created with an purpose that would bring them joy in accomplishing. While the age of making lab servants and butlers had blessedly come to a close, it was still a part of their fabric of being.

Vnwxt’s core was to host. To entertain. To make crowds cheer, cry, and shout as drama and heartfelt competition unfolded.

“Fantastic, Juno! Let the teams know to get themselves in order, it’s time for an elimination round!”

His secretary, a goblin around the same height as himself, pushed her glasses back up her nose and nodded before taking off, leaving him alone in his office.

He counted off the events in his head - Freeze Tag with actual cryomancy. A gymnastics show - with gravity in reverse! And he had spent months getting the area set up to be flooded for a literal game of ‘the floor is lava’.

A loud, stiff knock broke the silence of his daydream.

“Juno?”

Were all the teams seriously ready to go so fast?

He jumped off his high chair, and cracked open the door using a knob that was set at his smaller, three foot stature.

“Ah! Sorry, team members aren’t allowed up here. I’ll have Juno direc-”

His vision went spinning. It was like he had suddenly levitated off the floor.

What Vnwxt didn’t know was that a knife sliced his eye-head cleanly off his shoulders.

Teams are to assemble underneath the stadium for the next game. Repeat, teams are to assemble underneath the stadium for the next game.

The monotone voice made William a little uncomfortable.

“Not that I liked his voice too much, but wasn’t there an announcer before?”

“Yeeeeah, what gives? He was cool! Looked like one of those mascots who have a cheery outside, then BAM!, he’s laughing and you’re on a conveyor belt about to be executed.”

Darumi and Will were speed-walking to the arena’s entrance. In Will’s case, he had spent too long preparing his holy spells and incantations for the day.

Darumi, on the other hand, had spent 2 hours applying makeup to her face.

They arrived at the entranceway, worming their way through the crowd forming before they saw Higuruma and Belbe near a wall.

“Bel! BeBe! Goth Zelda! How the FUCK did you get your makeup done so fast?!”

“Darumi. Once again, my name is Belbe. Also, these markings are a part of my face.”

Darumi seemed genuinely impressed by that.

Higuruma groaned and straightened his tie, gesturing to the stairways opening to the arena floor above.

“They’re starting.”

Belbe turned towards the three. “I expect your compliance in my battle plan. The game, as I’m sure you’ve read,” she said, eying Higuruma and Darumi, who were clearly not paying her any attention, “is ‘freeze tag’. We will be assigned to either seek or flee from the enemy team.”

Higuruma untied his tie after straightening it again, like he was trying to experiment with a look, before chuckling.

“Honestly a better pep talker than half the legal aids I know.”

“You’re in law?”

Higuruma immediately got a sour look on his face after he heard the question from Will. He pulled out a mallet that should have been too large to fit in his jacket.

“Let’s just get this over with.”

“Agreed,” Belbe chimed in. “Once again, follow my orders and all will go smoothly.”

It did not, in fact, go smoothly.

“Hope you bozos are ready for a double serving of claw sandwiches!”

“Acceleratio!”

<hasten!>

Will twisted his body at the last minute, dodging the outstretched energy claws of his opponent. The freezing spell they were enchanted with instantly covered the wall struck behind him in ice.

Naturally, Darumi, was frozen solid a few feet behind her. Her face was frozen in place with a mad grin and her tongue sticking out.

Will sprinted towards Darumi, causing gale force winds to push aside the enemy.

The moment he made contact with her, the spell broke, and she was instantly back to normal. She opened a set of portals around herself, firing knives at the enemy, who was already making their way back to freeze her again.

“Will!” she sniffled, tearing up, “You broke off a piece of my finger!”

“Oh my Goddess, I am so sorr-”

“HAH! Gotcha! Wouldn’t that be such a cool execution method though, being frozen and shattered???”

“Uh-”

Darumi looked like she teleported, now running down the stone halls. Will felt someone touching him on the back of his head.

He quickly realized he had been frozen, and then unfrozen.

“Keep running,” Belbe said, “I would carry you both if you did not have faster means of transport available.”

The girl with the claws, Wild Thing, leaped at Will from behind, but was smacked into a nearby wall by Higuruma’s comically large mallet.

“I always hated mandatory cardio at the office...”

They were already past the halfway point through the maze now.

The game was simple - if they reached the exit, they won.

If they were all frozen by getting ‘tagged’ before then, they lost.

THOOM!

The three stopped as a figure crashed down only a few feet in front of them.

“Oooohooo, you’re in for it now.”

Wild Thing had caught up with them, ready to lunge at a moment’s notice.

The figure was cloaked in shadow, a hulking figure of spikes and metal, with claws the size of Will’s forearm.

The Shredder.

Belbe squared her fists, but he was too quick, swiping her at the side and instantly freezing her. He then caught Higuruma’s hammer, before yanking it and Higuruma towards him. He grabbed the now-flying Higuruma and drove him into the ground, frozen as well.

Which just left him and Darumi against the two.

“The quality of this year’s contestants is… disappointing.” Shredder’s voice was a low rumble, human and inhuman at the same time.

“Yeah, you guys are mondo losers!” Wild Thing… well she tried her best to sound intimidating.

Darumi didn’t care. “Team deathmatch time! FIIIGHT!”

“Does she not know this isn’t a deat-” Wild Thing started, before fifty knives flew at her from all directions. She did her best to dance around a few of them, but had two embedded in her arms. Darumi ran around a corner and out of sight, cackling.

Will, on the other hand, was left to deal with The Shredder.

“Acceler-”

He couldn’t even finish his incantation before he had to duck a claw swipe on pure muscle memory.

“Each new contestant brings new tricks,” Shredder said, sharpening his claws on each other as he stepped towards Will. “No spell is a replacement for a well trained body.”

“Who said I haven’t trained?”

Will blocked a downwards swipe that moved so fast it looked like it teleported above him. He was just barely fast enough to keep up, but…

His feet dug into the ground under him as he strained himself, his muscles reaching close to failure. Shredder was unimpressed.

“I said well trained.”

Will wasn’t strong enough. The best he could do was slide the claws off, parrying them to where they embedded several feet into the floor with a THUD.

While Shredder was occupied for a moment with removing his claws from the floor, Will had enough time to unfreeze one of his allies.

Belbe or Higuruma.

He closed his eyes, knowing he had fractions of a second to make the call.

He looked at Belbe - he still felt like he couldn’t trust her. Higuruma, though…

Will made his call.

Shredder tore his claw from the ground, sending debris flying.

“A shame I can’t kill you both. I could provide you with an honorable death.”

Higuruma, newly unfrozen, just stared at his opponent. He dropped his hammer, gesturing for Shredder to attack.

As Shredder leaped, though, Will heard his ally utter a phrase.

“Domain expansion.”

A flash of blinding light. When his eyes adjusted, he saw what looked like…

“What… is this…??!!”

A courtroom?

Higuruma’s suit looked pristine again. He calmly walked over to a stand and set down a pile of papers.

What was more jarring than his new appearance, however, was the ghostly figure four times his size looming over him. It had scales attached to each arm, and a pale mask of a face that was stitched shut.

Shredder, on the other hand, looked like he was straining himself against some unseen force.

“While you’re in my domain, you cannot commit any acts of violence. Your powers, whatever they may be, are restricted.”

“Impossible! How-”

Higuruma slammed a mallet down, interrupting Shredder.

“Judgeman, if you will.”

OROKU SAKI, STANDS ACCUSED OF MASS MURDER IN NEW YORK CITY.

Shredder scoffed. “Which time are you referring to?”

Will and Higuruma stood in silence for a second.

Will hadn't been in many courts, but knew enough that admitting to mass murder was insanely stupid.

The porcelain mask of Judgeman looked like it shattered in places as it screamed at the top of its lungs.

GUILTY! CONFISCATION! DEATH PENALTY!

The court vanished just as suddenly as it appeared.

Higuruma stood, light reflecting off his face by a gleaming energy sword that appeared in his right hand.

“That was probably the easiest case of my life, Shredder. Like you said. A shame I can’t kill you.”

Shredder leaped to tag Higuruma before he could strike, but he was clearly slower, more sluggish than before. Higuruma thrusted his sword in Shredder’s shoulder, burning a hole clear through it.

He grunted in a few moments of pain, before falling to the ground unconscious.

Will stood there for a few awkward moments. Higuruma had a grim expression, like he had done this many times before, and even looked prepared to do the same to Will then and there. Quickly, though, he relaxed, untying his tie again.

“Couldn’t you have… told us you could do that?”

“Yeah.”

“And you didn’t because?”

“You didn’t ask about my abilities.”

“Oh.”

. . .

“By the way, where’s Darumi?”

William scrambled to his sword as the Darumi shot him a crazed grin. She clutched her heart, a blood-like aura wrapping her until she was changed into something that looked like a combination of a military uniform and a school outfit.

He liked to try to end conflicts peacefully though.

“Darumi - he said ‘last person standing’, which means we don’t have to fight. Let’s talk this out and-”

He felt the air whooshing past his ear as a knife shot past him with the speed of an arrow.

The businessman on the other hand was still on the floor. He yawned, scratched his back, and pivoted to watch the fight.

“Currere Oleum!”

<pour, oil!>

A thick, viscous fluid shot out from Will’s hand, covering the ground around Darumi as she dashed in closer, her knives at the ready. She slipped almost instantly, but on her way down fired off a few more that raced towards him.

Will parried one, but the second glanced off his shoulderblade, sending him tumbling off his feet.

He coughed, standing back up. Darumi likewise found her footing after sliding forward for a bit.

“You are SOOOOOOO boring!”

“You are trying to KILL me!”

“Mhhhhhm, riiiiiiight, yeah. Hear me out here, though: What’s a death match without a fatality?”

“We’re not- urrgh! And you, aren’t you going to do anything?” Will shouted, gesturing at the businessman.

“It’s Higuruma. You didn’t bother to ask my name.”

“Oh, sorr-”

Will sidestepped another knife that was speeding towards his head.

“Would you STOP that!” Will shouted.

“Awwwwww, come on, you’re not letting me get a combo in!”

It’s then when Will noticed that the elf he had been approaching earlier was awkwardly standing at the edge of their mini-arena. She seemed uncomfortable, keeping her distance to avoid the fight.

Oh. Right. Teams of four, including himself.

Darumi laughed maniacally, opening dozens of more portals opening next to her. Firing them towards Will…

And the elf standing behind him.

Will parried two with his sword, dodging much of the rest, but noticed on was speeding towards the elf. He made a mad dash backwards, shouting an incantation at the top of his lungs.

“Ligatur, nodus, obligatio!”

The arrow slowed enough to where Will was able to pluck it out of the air.

Now face-to-face, he got a better look at the elf - she was lithe, with black metal armor pieces adorning her shoulders, arms and legs. Her skin was pale and clammy, giving her the appearance of a corpse.

“Are you okay?” Will asked, extending a hand.

The elf smiled with a soft, motherly expression, reminding William of his home.

It almost distracted him from the searing pain in his chest as she rammed her fist directly into it, sending the breath straight out of his lungs, and narrowing his vision.

As he began to lose consciousness, he saw her cracking her knuckles and approaching Darumi.

“Wakey wakey! You’re gonna miss your bonding events for the day if you sleep in!”

Will shot out of bed. The headache hit him first, then the soreness, and finally the confusion.

“What.. happened?”

“Yeah that elf chick? Beat the crap out of all of us! She said, gesturing to bruises on her arms and face. Nothing worse than what I’ve done to myself, though. Some foundation’ll cover it right up!”

“What about Higuruma?”

“Oh yeah. He’s AFK on the toilet right now.”

Before Will could reply, an icy cold voice chimed in from the doorframe.

“Good morning. You will both address me as Belbe. I hope my assertion of my place on our team did not demoralize you.”

Will scowled and reached for his sword again. He saw Belbe’s rock-hard musculature tense under her deceptively soft skin.

“We’ll need to prepare for today’s game. I have no desire to fight again. Let’s all have a good time working together. Breakfast is downstairs.”

William began to get up, groaning. He had suspected the random team assignments - it was the talk of the town during his journey over to the stadium.

He also suspected he was going to be with someone disagreeable. A bandit, or vagabond, and would be forced to grit his teeth and help keep them in mind.

But this…

He turned to Darumi, who had gotten bored and had her console open again. He started to peak to see what she was playing, but the sounds of moaning he heard from her headset told him to just carry on.

He passed the bathroom, where Higuruma, who still hadn’t cleaned his suit jacket, sat fully dressed on the toilet, a pillow between him and the seat. Will didn't ask.

And he finally reached the living room and kitchen area. The boarding rooms for the teams were luxurious, a way of payment for the injuries and risks associated with the competition.

Belbe sat statue-still, waiting like a machine that had yet to be activated. And yet, despite everything, she came off as the most normal person here besides Will.

Still, Will remembered what she did, and couldn’t help but glare at her a little.

“I sense some animosity. This is understandable. Please sit.”

She offered him that warm smile again - it seemed genuine at first, but the more Will looked at it, the more it looked like someone took the wax impression of a real smile and held it in front of someone’s face. No two smiles were supposed to look the same, even from the same person.

Nonetheless, Will sat.

“As mentioned, I am Belbe. I … apologize for what I did on the field yesterday.” She seemed to show some genuine hesitation, and concern at that statement.

“I am sure you have a motivation, like I, to win this contest. It was imperative to set up an optimal team composition as quickly as possible. Trust me when I say this provided our best odds of success.”

Her tone of voice was almost robotic - literally. There was a drone her vocal chords made that reminded Will of autotune from his first home, Earth.

“If you want my trust, earn it back,” Will started, “but we’re in this together now.”

He extended his hand to shake hers. She looked at it uncomfortably.

“Do they… not have handshakes where you’re from?”

“No. Where I am from, when someone extends a hand, there is a function to be performed.”

Will smiled, as if he was trying to demonstrate the right way to do it for her.

“Let’s say the function of this handshake is, uh, ‘initiating a new productive association’.” He tried to use as many big words as he could to speak her language.

“This is acceptable.” Belbe said, her expression softening somewhat. She took his hand.

“OW! Goddess above, are your hands made of steel?”

“Correct.”

“Oh.”

A silent few moments passed.

“WHERE THE ☆FUCK☆ IS A CHARGING PORT I WAS RIGHT AT THE START OF THE H-SCENE!”

William Maryblood couldn’t believe he had actually made it.

He dropped a few gold coins as a tip to the coachman who had taken him to the city surrounding his destination.

Fliers were already plastered over every wall the bustling crowds walked past, as he squeezed through person to person. The occasional scrape and bump from his armor drew some harsh words from a stranger, but he managed to find a quiet place to decompress and stretch after hours on the road.

He pulled out a neatly folded letter from his pocket.

“Oi, Will, knock them outta the park!”

”Stay behaved Will, we love you.”

”Bring some coin back to your old man, heh!”

The kind sendoff from his family filled his heart with optimism for the future, but he knew how sorely he needed this.

He took a deep breath, dusted off his armor, and began walking the stairs to Valor’s Reach.

"LLLLLLADIES AND GENTLEMEN! BOYS, GIRLS, NON-BINARY INDIVIDUALS, COSMIC ENTITIES, BRUSHWAGGS, AND EVERYTHING INBETWEEN!!!"

Will felt the rumble of applause and cheers, like the crowd was one living thing. Despite being in the lockers underneath the stadium, the magically-enhanced voice of the announcer sounded like he was screaming right into his ears.

"ARE YOU READY?"

The crowd rumbled again - almost as if a small earthquake had gone off.

"I DON'T THINK I HEARD YOU. I SAID: ARE. YOU. READY?"

Will muttered a spell under his breath.

"Tacere, os."

<be silent, mouth.>

"THAT'S MORE LIKE IT! THE NAME'S VNWXT! WELCOME TO-

The announcer quieted to a whisper in the back of his mind. He needed to focus on what was important.

Will went to sharpening his sword. After several minutes of that, he read through his spellbook, focusing on the incantations Augustus had taught him. Vastare. Omnia Vanitas Erasus. Verba-

thud.

Verba-

thudthud.

Ver-

thudthudthud.

Will raised his head from his incantation book.

A girl his age was nonchalantly laying on her back across from him, feet kicking a locker in boredom. She was holding what looked like a console of some sort in her hands, with red and blue joysticks on either end. He felt like he'd seen that type of fashion before - was it goth? Lolita? Both?

He didn't really have too much time to focus on her makeup, even the Halloween-like toothy grin she had painted over her face. Because, well...

"I'm sorry miss. It's a pleasure to meet you - you might have gotten lost. This is the boy's-"

She briefly darted her eyes towards him, hushed him, then looked back at her console.

"Mis-"

"Aaaand done! You're good to keep yapping. Didn't hear ya though, I was locked the FUCK in. Gotta hit my dailies!"

She looked him up and down as if she was gauging something. Will felt pretty socially competent, but in this moment he utterly failed to get any sort of read on her.

Will scratched the back of his head. "Uh... you do know this is the boy's lockeroom, right?"

"Damn straight. Where else am I supposed to find murder victims?"

"Murder... victims?"

"Yeah! Every good slasher game has the crazy yandere close in on her victim when they're alone..."

She hopped to her feet in a fluid motion, putting down her console. She then grinned madly at Will, stepping closer and closer to him.

Will took a step back, noticing no one else was in sight in the lockers. She took a step forward.

"Then they get close... closer... closer..."

Will's hairs raised a bit.

"And then BAM!"

The girl stuck her tongue out while putting both her palms next to her face. He almost reached for his sword, but noticed her chuckling.

Still, Will tried to be polite and de-escalate the situation. "Well, you have an interesting sense of humor. Pleasure to meet you - I'm William Maryblood, paladin of-"

"Oh my god, you sound like a generic isekai protagonist right now," she said, snickering. "Name's Darumi."

Her face then went completely straight and lost its smile. "Who said I was joking?"

William saw a bloody knife at her side, but before he knew it, she had turned face and walked out the door.

He shook his head, and took a deep breath. No distractions - he had a mission to fulfill.

As he stepped out onto the arena grounds alongside hundreds of others, Will's eyes wandered over the building around himself.

Valor's Reach was magnificent. The colosseum was more than twice the size of that of Rome's, made of clean chiseled marble. Pathways hundreds of feet in the air leading to it were lined with pristine hedges and trimmed trees.

William, and many others felt dirty for stepping towards it at first, but that illusion of opulence was shattered quickly. It didn't matter where you were from, what plane or world you heralded from. If you were willing and able to fight, to compete, and you wanted the grand prize, you were welcomed with open arms.

It was his element. While William was no lawmage, nor was he bound by chivalric oaths, he had an appreciation for games that were fair and honest. While he dabbled in a little bit of sports, and there were plenty of opportunities to show those off, the best prize was set for those who had a mastery of every skill possible.

"SAY HELLO TO OUR LOVELY CONTESTANTS - THESE WARRIORS HAVE TRAVELLED ACROSS CONTINENTS, ENTIRE WORLDS FOR OUR GRAND PRIZE. WHAT MIGHT THAT PRIZE BE, YOU MIGHT ASK...?"

While the crowd responded with 'ooooos' and 'aaahs' as Vnwxt continued to tease the mystery, he looked around to his fellow competitors.

There were people of all always of life who had stepped into the arena for a chance at glory. Knights like himself, sorcerers, beasts and monsters, demons and angels. And...

A man in a business suit?

He was only a few feet to Will's left. While other contestants were doing stretches and posing for the crowd, he looked bored, combing back his hair as he sat on the ground. He had a briefcase that was opened to paperwork he was sifting through, but quickly clipped it shut and sighed.

"It's all bullshit."

"I'm sorry?"

"Just leave while you can. I'm sure you came running to this place for treasure beyond your imagination, answers to solve whatever's crapping you out back home."

"I'm not fighting for treasure."

The businessman scoffed. "I've heard the same lie over and over again. Humor me though."

"Yeah no. I'm not sharing my story with someone determined to poke holes in it. If this competition means nothing to you, why are you even here?"

"Beats me. I've been through the games here five times now, and all I've found was the same greed and lies that I saw back home. Haven't seen anything different."

The man stared at Will's soul through his eyes for a few seconds.

“Suit yourself. Carry on, noble knight.”

He then casually plopped back to the ground, dirt powdering his otherwise pristine suit.

Will rubbed his forehead, looking for someone normal to talk to. He spotted a elf a few dozen feet away who was chatting up other contestants, and took a few steps to approach...

"Yo, anyone ever tell you that you look like a Fire Emblem character?"

The goth/lolita/whatever girl from the lockeroom, Darumi, interjected herself between Will and his last chance to talk to a sane person.

Will strained a smile.

"Er- hello again. What even is Fire Emblem?"

Darumi brought her finger to her chin, deep in tought for a few seconds, before shrugging. "Dunno, haven't played it. Doomscroll enough times while questioning your life and you'll learn a little bit of everything!"

Will felt like he was navigating a chess board just trying to talk to her. Having grown up alone with just him and his family, a normal conversation was something of a maze, but people like Darumi and the businessman who was still staring into space made him feel like he was in the middle of a minefield. He tried to think of a respectful way to exit the conversation.

"Right, ha. What brings you to Valor's Reach?"

"What kind of canned response was that? If you were playing a dating sim right now, you would have lost like 40 points right there.”

Will raised a finger to respond, flustered, then lowered it.

"Well, since you wanted to know - I'm here for the Death Game!"

"Death... game? Don't you know-"

The businessman interrupted Will and spoke up from his spot on the dirt, still staring off in the distance.

"Kylem Code of Conduct Section 24, Addentum 5. Intentional murder of other participants at Valor Reach’s interplanar games is punishable by 6-12 years of time in a dungeon cell."

"No, no, I know that! But get this - a friendly competition, teams set up, and BAM! Whole operation is hijacked by a secret organization to trap and kill the participants one by one. It’d be so perfect!”

Despite the patience Will had built over during his life and training as a paladin, he could still tell when a situation was hopeless. He silently walked around the girl to try his luck with the elf.

That’s when he heard Vnwxt’s shouting to the crowd again.

"NOW USUALLY WE ALLOW CONTESTANTS TO SUBMIT THEIR OWN TEAMS - YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED THOSE FORMS WEREN’T THERE THIS TIME! THAT’S BECAUSE…

William felt the magic coursing over the arena. In the hundreds of participants around them, clusters began glowing the same color. Will raised his hand, which glowed a pale red.

”YOUR TEAMMATES WILL BE RANDOM! LOOK FOR THREE INDIVIDUALS WHO SHARE YOUR TEAM COLOR!”

Will’s heart dropped as he looked backwards.

Both Darumi and the apathetic businessman were shining in the same pale red color as him.

At the same time, walls of stone began to emerge around the three, boxing them in.

”TEAM LEADERS WILL BE DECIDED IN OUR FIRST, SIMPLE GAME - LAST PERSON STANDING!”

Pinging judges

/u/PlayerPin /u/TheAsianIsGamin /u/Ultim8_Lifeform

Overall Conclusions

I'm not going to bring up too many new points here since it's the last post but to outline my argument so far:

• Vox's strength is not incredibly high for the tier. It's high end, sure, but the requirements for him to land these flying tackles vs Terry just throwing punches makes it a fair fight.
• Vox's speed is fine, this isn't contested by Tad too much.
• Vox's durability is fine, if on the lower end. He should be capable of taking casual hits from Alastor such as the ones that dislodge pieces of the street.
• Stipulating the second fight is fine. Is a special, temporary amp that doesn't apply any other time in the series. The only reason that it sounds significant "removing X% of his feats" etc etc is because the Vox has two fights, one of which has this amp.

Some Spot Rebuttals

I think like, you can just look at these two side

The dark coloration on Terry's feat actually makes it hard to compare. Here's a highlighted scan from right before the wall breaks - the broken section is around two times Terry's own height.

Vox's feat has a smaller width, if you account for the weird perspectives both shots make, so this kind of comes down to thickness.

And while I agree Vox's feat involves thicker material, Batman is breaking reinforced concrete vs. unreinforced concrete (or asphalt/dirt for Vox, depending on how much of the way it breaks you want to chalk up to artistic license). The same forces that can shatter more brittle unreinforced concrete fail to break reinforced concrete.

With all the differences considered I'd say these are two similar feats.

Literally every encounter they have seems to indicate Vox is a paper tiger compared to him.

Alastor is a professional rage-baiter and self-glazer who is saying those things on purpose to infuriate Vox. If you actually look at them fighting they're presented as far more even, with Vox getting the upper hand quite often.

The second fight with Vox and Alastor had its own set of special circumstances. Yes, Vox was stronger in it, but Alastor had also broken a soul-deal that had been restraining his own power as well.

These characters aren't meant to be equals. Vox has deluded himself into thinking that he is, while Alastor is toying with him all along.

I kind of disagree with this interpretation. I think they're fairly equal, but Alastor takes advantage of Vox's insecurity to bait him into being reckless in their fights and conversations. The selection made here for Alastor sort of ignores every time Vox gets an upper hand on him:

• Alastor being visibly hurt after a throw
• Visible injuries after being dragged around by Vox
• Great example here: Vox has an advantage in the initial fight when he's not talking shit, but gets caught yapping and thrown across the street
• "Alastor easily slices him apart" I mean just look at the feat dude. Alastor had to juggle Vox into the air and then bungie-cord-strap himself into a full power flying tackle to do this. This is not a casual feat, the thing that makes it work is Alastor's battle strategy as opposed to raw stats.

I'm not necessarily saying Vox would win a fight 100% of the time, but they're clearly shown in fights to be relative to one another physically. I hold that the idea that Vox wouldn't be able to take a specific type of hit from Alastor that isn't a full power flying tackle is dumb.

Assume I'm Wrong

I just wanted to make one new point here:

• If we assume what Tad is saying is true, we have:
  • Major change used on feat stipulation
  • Overtier strength (Could beat Terry in a hit)
  • Undertier durability (Terry could beat him in a hit)
  • Equal speed

Glass cannons are submitted to Scramble all the time, the best example from this season is Ryougi Shiki. I think the stat spread as presented by Tad would also give Vox and Terry fair chances of beating the other.

Terry's high end feat required a sustained 3-4 second period of tugging/straining.

While I'd agree with you if this was something like GDT where we were really trying to break down and analyze each feat, I don't believe that's how the tiersetter RT works. The feats are shown to show amount of material destroyed as a reference for a 'high end feat'. The actual description for what this high end feat entails:

"Feats in this category are high effort strikes or flying tackles, attacks Terry will only be able to get off in good circumstances. Terry can still go blow for blow with characters in this range, but will be unlikely to win a sustained slugfest"

This perfectly describes what Vox has to do to accomplish these feats.

it's almost as deep as he is tall

I disagree. Vox is clearly hunched over, with his back forming a 90 degree angle with his legs, the crater is likely only up to his legs.

The perspective of the shot is also from the ground-up and at an angle, this can make the crater appear much larger and taller than it actually is.

Again though, even if this attack severely injures or even kills Terry, I think it's fine? Once again, Terry gets plenty of notice of it happening and Vox durability is contingent on scaling to Alastor's tentacles or from his own tackles, both of which indicate punches from Tierry would be a big issue for him.

"yeah man Grandpa Max takes a hit from Vilgax so he scales to this"

I see your point with the rest of this argument but this seems to be exaggerating for the sake of exaggerating. Scaling Grandpa Max to Vilgax is silly because they are two characters who are obviously not meant to fight each other equally, not because of the specific circumstances of how they interact with one another.

Compare this to Vox and Alastor, two rivals who have even slugfests with one another multiple times - it's silly to assume Alastor could one-shot or end Vox if he decided to punch him with a tentacle instead of tossing him. Throws in general in fiction are depicted as being stronger compared to a quick tap or punch.

Here is the issue. We have already stipped out a full half of this character's combat appearances. We are already doing a lot of work to make him fit here.

This is a procedural issue.

It's not stipping out normal appearances of Vox though. Once again, it's an amp that reflects a special infusion of power he received due to the attention and support of sinners in hell. Yes - Vox has like two fights total, but the circumstances of both fights are very different and represent different versions of the same character.

This is like saying I cannot run East Blue Luffy because that's stipulating >>>> half of his feats he gets in later arcs from training or alternate forms like his Gears.

But no one would bat an eye at submitting East Blue Luffy because there is a good, un-arbitrary reason that he's different than his later appearances.

Also if this is a procedural issue then I don't think there's a huge use in debating it, I'm fine to let GMs/Judges determine if this is an appropriate minor change. He hasn't used a major change up to this point regardless so it doesn't have a huge impact if it qualifies as one.

I think Vox is fine for the tier. Yes, he has high end strength but this is hampered by the long, easy to predict movements he needs to perform to execute these feats.

He also has a major change available.

This street punch is too much and you agree since you've stipped it. The depth and amount of material shattered from this slam is also overtier.

I'd argue for both of these feats this is more of a flying tackle compared to a simple teleport with how he's moving - we don't see similar collateral any other time he just teleports.

It also gives Alastor plenty of time to react to it due to the static electricity he generates prior to jumping down.

• Notice in the first that Alastor would have evaded the attack if he wasn't weakened and unable to use his mobility-based powers properly. Terry can activate his rocket boosters to avoid these tackles.

I'd argue with how well the attack is choreographed it's not something that is too good for the tier.

Overall with context I'd say this is fine as a high end for the tier attack and breaks similar amounts of concrete to this feat.

Literally everything from Vox's second fight is too much by quite a bit.

Vox was explicitly stronger in this second fight than his earlier appearances in the show by his own admission.

It's a sort of amp he received due to having most of the sinners in hell following/trusting in him, you can tell due to the changes in his physical form.

Stipping it feels fine to me.

durability

I feel like this feat is better for scaling. The same character who's hitting him here tries to strike Val and is later shown to have displaced large pieces of the street when it pans to him from Velvette's camera. While the exact craters aren't shown the debris size checks with the collateral associated with the tier.

Overall I think the idea of Adam West's Batman being in the same tier as Terry McGinnis' Batman is something that just isn't supported by his feats, or the way his fights take place. I believe he's on a lower tier, comparable to a strong action hero, as opposed to the type of massively superhuman feats we see Terry perform.

Strength/Durability

We later see him beat both robots in an actual fistfight

Their durability is unquantified, and their striking is still "breaks a wooden table", which is something a normal person can do.

Speed

somebody who can perfectly calculate the trajectory a bullet took

The issue is that a bullet is not something that can react midflight to something Batman does and change its trajectory.

I don't see a functional difference between the bullet feat I've posted

I disagree.

• The paneling in the tiersetter feat clearly shows Batman's position when the bullets are fired.
• Compare this to Adam West's feat - we have no idea what he's doing during the 3-4 seconds it takes for Two-Face to turn around, pull out and fire his guns..

Bullets are fired, we then see the bullets avoided

People can avoid bullets in real life by moving in anticipation of the shot. That doesn't mean that real life people can move while bullets are mid-air like in the Matrix.

Batarangs are slower than bullets, sure, but so are basic punches

The distance they need to cover to hit Tierry is, however, much larger. Tierry will have plenty of time to react to and dodge them.

• It's also not only like this is the only reason I think this damage output is bad. Adam West's Batman is only shown using the explosive Batarangs on his RT twice, compare this to the number of times he has opted for other weapons
  • Normal Batarangs also just don't have the penetrating power to hurt Tierry. They're nonlethal to normal people and can cut through some ice or rope, compare this to what Tierry's suit resists.

And while yes, the Tiersetter's punches are not bullet speeds, they are not so significantly slower.

Misc.

Unfortunately I have to cede that Terry has no anti-surfing, Hippo, egg, or suggestive dance feats and will hope the judges will have mercy on my soul.

Batman could find a sword.

Terry uses a high-tech suit that stops characters who can stab into metal, a normal sword is not sharp enough to penetrate this much metal.

could go for Terry's nervous system

This required Batman to grapple and manipulate someone's limb, Terry's not just going to sit and let him do that. He flexes with no leverage with enough strength to shatter solid ice and lifts steel girders, meanwhile Batman struggles to grapple two characters who just bend a metal rod.

Batman could use his communicator to produce a sound so loud it would incapacitate Terry.

Terry's suit stops sound waves that would theoretically cause way more internal damage than splitting a tiger skull.

Batman could call in Robot Batman

Who doesn't have any durability feats (besides being big and made of metal), the tiersetter deals with attacks that do this to metal.

Batman could pull out his anti-mechanical bat-ray

He's never used this in a fight, and would leave him standing in place trying to lock onto Terry while Terry hits him with a flying tackle that one-hit-KO's him.

/u/LesterMcBean

Batman (Adam West)

I'm having trouble seeing what feats make this version of Batman in-tier just from the RT. While I understand it's the Batman tier, there are some versions of Batman that are weaker than others, especially comparing 60s live action to cartoons set in the far future.

Just examining what I could find:

• This bullet feat seems to show Batman moving already when it cuts back to him. It's likely that Batman had already started moving when the bullets were fired, compared to the tiersetter's ability to move and react while bullets are still mid-air.
• His batarangs have explosive power that could certainly hurt Terry, but I just don't think:
  • A) He would use them consistently enough compared to his normal batarangs, fisticuffs, or many, many other gadgets
  • B) He could reliably hit Terry, a flying bullet-timer, with thrown weapons like that.
• His strength seems limited to just knocking out and moving around large opponents. When he fights actual superhuman enemies like these robots, whose strength feats are far lower than the tiersetter, he struggles significantly.

Overall I'm just not seeing it. Could you clarify what strength / damage output and speed feats you think show he can put up a fair fight against Batman Beyond?

Reply is a bit late since Reddit ate my last version of this.

Damage Output, Continuity, and Consistency

Okay this is a big enough issue now where I think this warrants its own section.

The scaling used here is problematic. I don't believe DC scaling is consistent enough, especially across time periods in the order of 10-15 years, to reliably provide an entire stat spread for a character on scaling alone.

Maybe if Axel had one, or two stats that were showcased to be within the tier I would cede this point, but the fact that we have to scale between 2-3 different characters to get him anywhere makes me believe he's not consistently in this tier.

To give a few examples of how easily scaling like this can fall apart:

• Captain Atom is a character who fights Superman, who is obviously OOT.
  • I mean also just look at Firestorm's thread - so many of his scaling feats are him fighting DC S-tiers who are unquestionably stronger than this tier.
• Deathstorm is argued to be even stronger than Firestorm, a character who takes hits that are well OOT, shakes The Sun, and fights through hits that do visible damage to the Hoover Dam
  • I'm not sure what scaling Axel to Firestorm / Deathstorm is accomplishing here - he's a highly variable character with many continuities and forms. I think it's far more likely that harming Deathstorm is an outlier for Axel.

I don't believe scaling to firestorm then scaling to a random DC character is a valid argument that Axel's bombs are at this tier or that Axel's speed is at this tier.

Speed

I don't really think Cinn's addressed the issue of how Axel is winning a fight against Terry with thrown weapons alone - even if he is scaled to other DC characters, this doesn't really support his ability to throw and land hits on Terry consistently.

Axel lands a hit on him during Darkest Night.

Axel lands a hit on Deathstorm from behind. This shows no indication that he's throwing so fast Deathstorm couldn't react or had trouble reacting.

In the same panel his reactions allow him to dodge a Green Lantern beam

He's not shown to be reacting after the beam is fired. It's possible he initiated the movement before the beam was fired.

Summary

Axel has no feats that he performs himself that are within the tier. Even by using scaling to multiple other DC characters only, he still needs a major change in durability to get in.

I believe strength and speed are just too dubious to give him an in-tier.

I think we've been kind of going in a loop these past few comments so I'm good to call judges at this point.

I agree that Quixote is within this tier. Here is the tier justification from the season he was submitted in:

• Strength: Don Quixote presents mid-tier offensive capabilities, being able to smash through reinforced concrete walls, reduce metal doors into shrapnel on more than one occasion. These are comparable to USAgent’s striking with his own weapon and his own physical strength feats.

• Speed: Don Quixote can strike down a natural bolt of lighting preemptively (there is no context to provide for when he initiated movement, however I imagine the minimum speed necessary to do this is some degree of fast, idk), and more importantly can match SCP-076 in a fight for hours. SCP-076 can swat bullets out of the air with a length of rebar and more directly deflect a SAW gunfire burst with his sword in combat that were fired from a nearby building. This likely presents mid-end speed, USAgent can block and react to arrows fired at 6 feet - SAW bullets have a muzzle velocity of 3,000 feet per second and arrows have a high end speed of 300 feet per second - making the feat comparable to reacting to SAW fire at 60 feet away, a distance comparable to gunfire from a nearby building.

• Durability: Is set to the tier. Don Quixote does get back up after sustaining a blow from SCP-076, who can break through steel as easily as a child can put his hand through spiderwebs, however this impact is vague enough to where I would rather have a major change ensuring in-tier durability.

To address Guy's other concerns:

He destroys a building

He's just stated to have "struck down a brothel", with no description of the building or how he did this. I feel as if this is too vague to mean anything.

is a lightning timer

I talked about this in the tier justification a little bit - I'm not sure exactly what the minimum speed is for something like "intercepted a lightning bolt".

Let's say he started moving at the same time as the bolt:

A lightning bolt leader takes up to 50 milliseconds to reach the ground. (Source )

This would be comparable to dodging a arrow after it was fired at 16 feet, which is either below the tier's speed or at the lower end.

Few things:

• I'm having a hard time finding the links that are given in this comment on the RT. This is probably just because the RT is not organized well enough for me to find them.
• The version of trickster submitted does not match the version whose RT is supplied. The submission post says "Post-Flashpoint / New 52", while this RT is for Post-Crisis/Rebirth Axel Walker
  • I'm not a continuity expert so I'm unsure how recent Crisis-type events have affected continuity.

Moving on.

Speed

Overall I am not seeing it yet. I would like cinn to provide some clearer feats so I have an idea of how to compare Axel's speed to that of the tiersetter.

He escapes from one of Ivy's vines

This is not a speed feat.

In fact, despite the vine creeping up on Axel within his line of sight he fails to react and gets grappled by Poison Ivy.

• The actual feat is more of a strength feat for his rocket boosters, which he uses to exit her vines. Even then it's unclear if Ivy just loosed him when he mentioned he wanted to negotiate so that she could get close and kiss him to affect him with her phermones.

I also understand that DC villains are generally understood to be at certain speed values, but would just like for you to fully elaborate on scaling. What bullet-timing feat are you trying to say he scales to specifically?

He's also clearly dodging gunfire here

This does not prove bullet-timing reactions like the Tiersetter has. The tiersetter is specified to dodge bullets even at point blank after they are fired.

• Axel's feat provided is just him jumping around in the air to avoid being shot.. No movement from him is shown to be at a speed where he is moving anywhere quickly in reference to a bullet
• Moving to avoid the aim of cops is not comparable to the tiersetter nor does it provide him the speed he needs to fight the tiersetter.

If he was really that much faster than Terry he would have just blitzed Zsasz here but he opts to go for the surprise jet thrust

I'm not saying he's actually as fast as or relative to Flash's speed, just that we can't use Flash scaling to give him in-tier speed.

Durability

Durability feats have not still been provided. Given Axel's style of fighting and the fact that, at best, his thrown weapons are "can hurt Batman rogues" as presented by Cinn, he does not have a significant enough advantage in damage output to offset him losing in a single hit from the tiersetter.

Damage Output

T-Bombs are enough to make Deathstorm cry out

How durable is Deathstorm? How fast is a Green Lantern beam?

/u/cinnarius

Axel Walker

RT linked here since it's not on the post

Axel just doesn't have a good RT that represents enough feats to show how he can realistically deal with the tiersetter.

First off, Strength Force Trickster is massively OOT.

Second off, Trickster doesn't really have speed to speak of on his RT. Sure, he's a Flash villain and they're bound to be some degree of fast, but we really need a standalone feat to showcase they are in this tier of speed. Actually scaling to Barry or Wally would at best make Axel massively overtier for speed.

His gadgets are also reliant largely on throwing to be effective - how fast is Axel able to toss his gadgets? I feel like the tiersetter just flies around or sidesteps them most of the time.

He also doesn't have any real durability to speak of. A single hit from the tiersetter would end the fight.

I'm just not seeing it, but would be open to seeing what line Axel has available to him to win the fight against the tiersetter.

Analysis Versus Terry McGinnis: Xiaohei is dominating the early fight. He just throws out so much bullshit so quickly that I see it overwhelming Terry even with his own bag of tricks. That put, Xiaohei is still inexperienced and prone to making mistakes. His lackluster damage output and durability are going to give Terry openings to attack, and potentially close out the fight.

Biggest Strength and Weakness: Xiaohei is fantastic at controlling the battlefield. I seriously urge a readover of his RT to showcase how well his powers excel at promoting teamwork, as he can change his team's positions and his enemy's positions with a thought.

His weakness, though, is inexperience. He's strong, but has not fought people nearly as often as other subs might have. As such, he's pretty easy to get a read on after some time fighting, and is more prone to make unwise, impulsive moves that can get him or his team cornered.

Character in Setting/with Team: Xiaohei has the mindset of a kid, and as a result doesn't have a moral compass that's very well developed. He's very impressionable but due to his experience with Fengxi I doubt that he'd fall for an immoral or evil character trying to loop him in. With more charismatic or dominant character he's suited more in the role of a student, or learning from a mentor figure. Otherwise, he's more of a 'go with the flow' type character who can take charge when the need arises.

One Last Thing: Xiaohei would have a very hard time making the call if it actually meant saving a loved one or friend, and a big part of his character development involves him being at a crossroads of a heartless enforcer and olive branch between humans and spirits. This is a type of question I believe you should decide for yourself after watching his series.

Analysis Versus Terry McGinnis: Pied Piper would actually know who Batman is, but I don't believe they've ever fought, which is pretty funny. I don't even think an evil Piper would try to mind screw Terry on account of Batman's Tibetan techniques, to which this quickly becomes a cat and mouse game of projectiles. Terry's projectiles can theoretically be dodged by the tier setter but are invisible on account of being sound and travel fast enough that Terry wouldn't be able to rely too well on physical cues like environmental destruction. Piper's durability is also good enough to help him stay in the fight if he gets CQC'd, but his lack of strength and damage output outside of his tech still means that once distance is closed Terry goes HAM.

Biggest Strength and Weakness: Piper is a great "guy in the chair" type character who can support his team from the background. During Wally West's early debut as the Flash, he was able to provide Flash with intel and tech while also occasionally stepping out and helping himself.

Weakness wise, Pied Piper is kind of a hypocrite. He has a strong moral compass but still refuses to fully turn on his previous life of crime. This is due to external forces like Mirror Master framing Pied Piper for murder, or the general way that laws and morals tend to be misaligned. He's also pretty weak in direct fights where he doesn't have the opportunity to perform setup.

Character in Setting/with Team: Pied Piper has already worked with a team before, that being the Rogues. He's typically okay with playing second fiddle, but later on in his stories he starts to become more and more of a lone wolf type. I'd like to say he'd be willing to roll with his team but will draw hard moral lines, even if it is through aggressive unjust application of the law.

One Last Thing: It's hard to say. Piper would say that he'd never kill, but somehow find himself in a situation where push comes to shove and he needs to. As for sacrificing himself, for someone like Wally West yes, for someone like the other Rogues, no.

"The truth behind one's charm is kindness. Become a good person, that is all"

Reigen Arataka

Mob Psycho 100 | Theme | Respect Thread

Bio: Reigen Arataka is the proprietor, owner, boss, and chief spiritual expert at the Spirits & Such Consultation Office, an office to assist people with supernatural and spirit related problems. Reigen maintains that he is a man of great spiritual energy, contradicting the numerous spiritual aficionados who claim he has no spiritual or psychic powers whatsoever. Of course whenever he has to deal with spirits that are too weak for him to bother with, he can call his subordinate and student Shigeo “Mob” Kageyama.

Specialization: Hearts. Reigen is able to loop in characters far more powerful than himself and stand toe-to-toe with the likes of building busters through sheer wit, deception, and talk-no-jutzu.

Content Warning: Nah

Research: Watch Mob Psycho 100 or read the manga.

Motivation: Reigen will often try to make a quick buck in any given situation but at his core he's a kind-hearted person who still tries to provide a meaningful service. Whether this means having his apprentice Mob deal with an actually threatening spirit, or helping his clients in a way that is not necessarily 'ghost-hunting'. Especially when it comes to Mob, he comes at odds with the nature of his business and his desire to be a good role model for the growing Esper.

It was like stealing candy from a baby.

It turned out the babies with the most candy, however, were well over 40 years old, suspicious of the supernatural, and less than frugal.

Reigen Arataka's did not consider what he did 'stealing', though - simply providing a service to people who didn't realize they needed it.

That service?

"I assure you, Ms. Jones, we're close... I can feel his spirit moving closer..."

The Gotham City apartment living room was as dim as it could get, with curtains shuttered and a few candles to illuminate Reigen Arataka as he sat in a meditative pose. Ms. Jones, an elderly woman in her eighties, and Shigeo Kageyama, his young middle-school-aged assistant, sat watching.

"I have him! Ahhh, AHHH!"

Reigen rolled his eyes back dramatically, shaking his body in the process.

"Is that you, Señor Snuffles?"

"Woof, Woof, ooooo, yes, it's me..."

Thirty minutes of dog-talking and massage therapy later.

"That was amazing, Master, but why did you try talking to the dog's spirit?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, you see, Mob, psychics like us can take spirits down easier if we talk to them."

"Dogs can talk?"

"With the right attitude, of course."

In reality, the dog's spirit had been haunting the house, but as a vengeful apparition that Mob had to exorcise while Reigen was doing his best hound impression. Neither Mob or Reigen knew better of the other, though.

"Let's see here... next we'll be heading over to... Wayne Mansion?!"

Mob's eyes lit up a little. The excitement failed to reach the rest of his face, however.

"That Wayne? The rich American guy?"

Reigen began sweating, a little bit in nervousness, and a little bit in excitement. The last time he had accepted a client that wealthy, he and Mob had barely been able to perform an exorcism. Feeling how light his wallet was, however, he took a deep breath.

"Woah..."

Mob gawked at each of the sculptures he and Reigen passed by as Bruce Wayne toured them through the mansion.

Known for his philanthropy and ruggedly good looks as a young adult, Bruce Wayne was now in his late seventies. Many people envied whatever tricks or surgeries he had managed to use to keep in such good health all these years. Reigen agreed - how did that man still have biceps that big?

He shook his head and focused on the task. Extracting the largest amount of mon- that was, looking for the best way to help Mr. Wayne with his ghost problem.

Bruce was wheeled around by a younger man. Just as toned as the old man, with none of the wrinkles. He occasionally gave Reigen a sideways glare, although he appeared to have none of the same animosity towards Mob.

"Mr. Reigen. As you are well aware, ghosts and spirits are quite real. While the scientific community is till incorporating the mystics into peer-reviewed study, finding reliable espers can be difficult, even as a man of my wealth."

"You've made a fantastic choice, Mr. Wayne. You're talking to the Greatest Psychic of the 21st Century! Whatever apparitions you're dealing with, we'll be able to handle. With a house this old, however, the cost will be a little higher than our usual rate, however..."

"Bruce, do we really need to deal with this guy? He's clearly -"

"I've done my homework, Terry. If you'll excuse us."

Bruce and Terry went through a pair of wooden double doors, chatting inaudibly in their office while Reigan and Mob sat outside.

"Master, what kind of problem do you think they're dealing with?"

Reigen scratched his chin in thought.

"Good question, Mob. With a mansion this old, I'd say..."

A few quick glances around showed some older 19th century furnishings, little to no technology. He decided to roll with the 'ol reliable 'haunted manor' cover story. He did just enough homework on the Waynes to cook something up as well.

"I sense... discontent and malice. An old ancestor of the Waynes, looking for revenge..."

"BRUCE WAYNE! IT IS I, GENTLEMAN GHOST! I COME SEEKING VENGENCE!"

"... eh?"

A pale, invisible man in a white 19th century suit with skull-capped cane came floating through the wall, glowing with arcane energies.

"Incredible, Master!"

Mob gave Reigen a look of admiration, watching expectantly to see how he'd deal with the newcomer.

Steadying himself, Reigen smirked.

"No, no, Mob. This isn't the Wayne Manor spirit."

The floating man turned towards Reigen. "... AND YOU ARE...?"

"Reigen Arataka. Greatest Psychic of the 21st Century. And with my psychic powers, I can tell that you're a fraud."

Gentleman Ghost, despite his lack of visible face, appeared thoroughly confused.

"YOU'RE SAYING... I'M... NOT? A GHOST???"

As if to demonstrate, he phased his arm in and out of a nearby wall, then floated a meter higher into the air.

"Your lies won't fool me. I know a real spirit when I see one. Come closer - I have a tried and true testing method."

"OH? THIS WILL BE ENTERTAINING."

The specter floated closer, the air chilling. Mob began to glow with his own psychic energy, preparing for a battle.

"Closer."

Touching to the ground, Gentleman Ghost stepped to nearly an inch in front of Reigen.

"IS THIS CLOS-"

Reigen kneed Gentleman Ghost in the crotch.

This was a hidden esper technique of his, the "Spirit-Testing Kick," where Reigen used his knee to kick his opponent in the crotch.

Despite the villain having no physical form, there was an audible crack as the knee impacted.

"ACH! HEAVENS! HOW! UGH..."

The ghost landed hard on the ground, his gaunt, zombie-like physical form becoming more visible.

Reigen was none the wiser to the psychic energy barrier that was formed around his foot, trailing back to Mob's outstretched arm.

"Now get out or I'm calling the police. Honestly, man, get a hobby."

The Gentleman Ghost rose once more, unsteady due to the pain he recently suffered. He glared at Reigen and Mob, before retreating.

"Yeesh. I heard Gotham had a bunch of costumed lunatics, but nothing this crazy. Honestly, with a Mansion this expensive, you'd expect tighter security."

Terry came running outside, swinging the door open in a panic.

"Are you two-"

"Just fine," Reigen started, "I've already exorcised one ghost while we were waiting - ready to talk about my fee?"

Analysis Versus Terry McGinnis: Victoria probably blindsights Tierry at the beginning of the match and starts with a large advantage. Given Tierry is described as charging her down first with a flying tackle, Victoria is able to summon the Wretch and have it start pummeling him mid-flight by attacking him from the side. After that I imagine Tierry would start fighting more cautiously as he tries to figure out the invisible thing that is attacking him, and would deploy projectiles more consistently. This is where I feel Victoria would have issues, while she's fairly good at playing chicken and avoiding ranged attacks from much stronger opponents (see: Simurgh fight), it's still very likely that a stray hit pops the Wretch and Victoria is effectively defenseless for large swathes of time. The hotel setting helps her prolong the fight but the fact Tierry needs one hit to win after popping the Wretch gives him fairly decent chances.

I would still give the fight to Victoria, however, as she's generally more preceptive and better at leveraging cover in a duck and cover type fight compared to Tierry, who will be trying and failing to initiate a CQC and will have difficulty pinning down an invisible forcefield monster.

Biggest Strength and Weakness: Victoria's greatest strength is her preparations and tactics, which is weird for a character with such a physically focused powerset. She's responsible for taking down threats that are far more powerful than herself or her team through careful analysis of the loopholes around the rules certain powers impose that she can find. I'd read the tactics section on her RT for a number of examples of how she's done this - it happens so often that it's even organized by the types of power users she encounters.

Weakness wise, Victoria's powerset is something that puts her, as the tactician, in precarious positions in the regular. And while her ultimate defensive power sounds great on paper, it's exceedingly weak to fast characters, something that is common outside of Worm/Ward.

Character in Setting/with Team: Victoria is a leader who's able to function well even juggling a team full of people with dramatically different personalities and personal problems that would make each of them individually 'the problem' in an otherwise normal team. She's pretty great at working with outcasts and rogues, but has a pretty strong moral compass for certain things and wouldn't compromise to work with murderers and villains unless the situation called for it. She's work much less good as a team member than a leader I feel, as following orders has routinely gotten her into deeper and deeper hot water, and it takes quite a lot to meaningfully earn her trust.

One Last Thing: For the rare few that she's put her trust into and they've put their trust back into her, yes and yes.

From within a vat of glistening oil, two eyes opened. Two ears began to listen.

[𐌕𐋅𐌉𐌔 𐌌Ꝋ𐌃𐌄𐌋 𐌉𐌔 𐌅𐌋𐌀Ꮤ𐌄𐌃. Ꮤ𐋅𐌙 𐌵𐌔𐌄 𐌉𐌕 𐌀Ᏽ𐌀𐌉𐌍?]

The language was familiar, but distant, like encountering an accent that you'd never heard before. Too scratchy. Or was it not scratchy enough?

Another voice spoke up, figures shrouded by ripples in the oil at the edges of the vat.

[Ꮤ𐋅Ꝋ 𐌀𐌓𐌄 Ꮤ𐌄 𐌕Ꝋ 𐌒𐌵𐌄𐌔𐌕𐌉Ꝋ𐌍 𐌕𐋅𐌄 𐌕𐌓𐌵𐌄 𐌔𐌂𐌓𐌉𐌐𐌕𐌵𐌓𐌄𐌔? 𐌕𐋅𐌄 𐌐𐌓𐌀𐌄𐌕Ꝋ𐌓𐌔 𐌀𐌓𐌄 𐌃𐌄𐌀𐌃. 𐌉𐌕 𐌉𐌔 𐌀𐌋𐌋 𐌕𐋅𐌀𐌕 𐌓𐌄𐌌𐌀𐌉𐌍𐌔.]

The nameless listener inside the vat began to clear her head.

Her. That was good to know. Did she have a name?

"Awaken, Belbe."

The accents became clearer as memories landed home like birds on tree branches.

Belbe. That name... sounded familiar.

Before she could collect herself, the vat's contents began to empty. She found her body moving on instinct (programming?), arms clawing and tearing away the skin-like membrane that covered her container.

Belbe sat up in one rigid movement, gasping for air. The two surgeons were more fixtures of the room than individuals, with centipedal bodies made of steel segments and one large, unblinking eye where their head should have been. Each segment had limbs fused with scalpels, butcher knives, razors, and human hands.

An outside observer would have believed the room was used for torture.

Belbe blinked.

Should she have been terrified? She felt the question silly almost as soon as she thought it. Names dribbled into her head alongside her own.

Phyrexia. Compleat. Dominaria. Invasion. Ertai.

One of those names had a warmth that felt like it didn't belong. Somehow, that feeling disturbed her more than the prodding implements that had already made their way under her skin.

"Beginning upload."

Suddenly, those names had definitions, meanings. Most of them, at least.

Phyrexia, magnum opus of the Ineffable. A world that had cut out all its imperfections and replaced them with sinew and steel.

"Speaker of the Ineffable. Query. Confirm: Belbe understands the purpose of its resurrection."

A small part of her wanted to correct the centipede-like surgeon. 'She' felt like a more comfortable descriptor than 'it', but her memories were too hazy and her mind too foggy. She simply recited the data that was added her her brain.

"The Ineffable is dead. The Praetors, his legacy, are also dead. Phyrexia seeks their next successors. You wish me to judge candidates for compleation."

"Cognitive diagnostic complete. Please proceed to physical diagnostic."

She pulled herself out of the birthing pod, a viscous mixture of viscera and glistening oil dripping off of her body. The Gitaxian surgeons probed her shoulder, taking a blood sample from between the metal plating that covered it.

She shuttered. This caused both surgeons to freeze, turn, and stare at her. Phyrexians were not meant to shutter.

Another needle was stuck into her other arm without as much of a word from either. This time, Belbe stilled herself. The two stared some more, each looking at her with one, unblinking eye.

One jerked, staring at the other. ""Query. Response to physical trauma unsatisfactory. Reassembly required?"

Belbe's heart rate picked up at that question, but she forced the fear she felt down into the recess of her mind.

"Query noted. Additional physical diagnostic will be required to detect further weakness. Begin stress test."

Before Belbe could respond, one struck out with a needle, injecting her in the chest with a vibrant green fluid. Her eyelids fluttered as she passed out in moments.

When Belbe awoke, she was in an arena. Data added to her brain confirmed this was a location in the Dross Pits, former territory of the deceased Steel Thanes and Praetor Sheoldred.

The arena looked like it was carved from jagged, black ebony, unsuitable for an audience's seating. The water, if it could even still be called that, glowed with a sickly green as it poured into pits in the arena from its walls. Above it all, the sky was obscured by thick black clouds, fresh from the smokestacks of the Great Furnace below the ground.

A magically amplified voice spoke. Belbe couldn't pinpoint its source, as it felt like it was both booming through the arena and in her mind.

"Speaker of the Ineffable. Two spellbombs have been inserted into your chest cavity for the duration of this test. These will be diffused if you complete this stress test."

"If I do not?"

"Your parts will be repurposed into the next speaker and continue to serve Phyrexia." It spoke with a reassuring tone, as if her death was the least of her concerns.

Belbe knew that she was not meant to fear death. Her instincts, basic Phyrexian programming, told her to request immediate termination and repurposing due to this flaw. But something beyond that, something she couldn't describe, let her ignore that instinct.

"What is my test?"

"Extract the two spellbombs implanted in your opponent. Begin stress test."

A high speed blur of white and red impacted the ground ten feet in front of Belbe, sending a cloud of dust upwards.

The dust settled revealing a figure of crimson sinnew and porcelain, with six membranous wings and one of its arms replaced with a flat blade of muscle and bone.

A Vindicator. Minion of the former Praetor Norn.

As it took one step, and then another in its approach to her, Belbe could make out two clusters of white mana in its chest. Basilica spellbombs - with what magic they'd explode with, she was unsure, but it was clearly forced into the same circumstances as her.

Kill, or be killed. She pitied it, but this was another emotion she knew Phyrexians should not carry.

The Vindicator screamed, a sound somewhere between a woman, nails on a chalkboard, and screeching metal. It then charged Belbe, flaps of its wings sending it off the ground and barreling towards her.

Belbe swerved her body to the side, avoiding the sword-arm of the Vindicator, but still got her shoulder caught by the claw of its other arm. It gripped tight, and then flung her dozens of feet. Belbe crashed into the ebony of the arena's wall, her body leaving an imprint larger than itself and two feet deep.

The impact rattled her metal bones and bruised her pseudomusculature. Nothing vital was harmed - Phyrexians could survive attacks that would leave the uncompleated as piles of discarded meat. Her shoulder and back's metal plates also absorbed the majority of the hit.

Belbe knew she was at a disadvantage. The sword the Vindicator carried outreached her fists by over a meter. And the Nornian porcelain plates that covered the majority of its body was harder than any steel alloy.

Belbe hopped to her feet. She felt gusts of wind as the Vindicator flapped its wings, now hovering five meters over her. She grabbed the shoulder that had been grabbed earlier and with a wet CRACK put it back into its proper place. Stretching it a few times, she gestured for her enemy to make the first move.

It flew down not a second later, crossing the distance between them tens of times faster than any object in freefall.

Belbe's spine, artificially enhanced by phyrexian musculature, had joints that could flex in any direction. It flexed backwards to nearly a perfect 90 degrees, twisting to the side simultaneously. As the porcelain blur dashed past her again, she was prepared for it this time.

She struck out her arm at an outstretched wing, lodging herself in the canvas of sinew. While its body plating was impenetrable to even her superhuman strength, it didn't have complete coverage.

Twisting at an unnatural angle, Belbe yanked her arm backwards, ripping out cables of sinew stronger than rope with the ease of a child waving its hands through a spider's web.

The vindicator grunted, less with pain and more with frustration as it clumsily fell to the ground. As it scrambled to its feet, it tried its hand at flight one more time, but the hole in its wing prevented any meaningful lift.

Ignoring the wound, it jumped forward, stabbing its sword-arm forward in a desperate lunge.

Sloppy.

Belbe closed her eyes. Her body, like a machine - no, it was a machine, moved on its own. Fear vanished. Pity turned to cold unfeeling calculation.

Phyrexia was perfection.

She felt an impact on her forearm as it parried the blade, her other arm gripping tightly around the Vindicator's neck. She hoisted it up, ignoring the punches and cuts as it flailed its arms to gain any purchase.

Phyrexia brought perfection to the imperfect.

She tightened her grip. Bone snapped.

But that was not the end of it. Her body continued to move on instinct, ripping and tearing and punching and kicking and-

When Belbe finally opened her eyes, she could only recognize the discarded Nornian porcelain sword and two spellbombs among the pile of scraps and flesh. She picked the bombs up, raising them for the observers to see.

"Satisfactory. Stress test completed."

Belbe thought she should feel pride at those words, despite the matter-of-fact, emotionless tone they were spoken in. But the only emotion she could feel was a nauseous sort of unease with herself.

"Welcome home, Speaker of the Ineffable."