The Lounge (Round One)

Envy stopped his unnatural eating speed and finished his food off. He heard Wolf's name, then looked over at him whilst exiting to leave thinking: [I know him...] 

Envy waved Amber farewell, hoping if he came back, he wouldn't be forced to fight Amber.

"*Sigh* Eh...Ima make sure my bag's ready before gettin' a slushi." Blizz got up and exited the room for a moment before entering again. She put her coat back on before heading over to the slushi machine.

Surprisingly, the griffon paid very little attention to the other combatants in the room. After all, why they were fighting next, it was unlikely that she could gain anything from it when more superior information could be gained - watching the fights. So this pink-clad white-feathered woman simply sat back with her legs crossed, arms draped over the back of the couch, and watched the screens, one at a time. It was quite odd, to see such a lively and energetic figure, simply sit in silence and watch. Her mind was whirring with analysis of the various fighters. It amused her. She wondered how many did it for a living. She wondered if they were capable of taking her on.

First up was Esme and Sass. The former was confident, ready to fight. She was aggressive, but she knew how to play the game and target at weak points. Her own powers hurt her, but it was destructive. She did, however, seem reckless. Sass, meanwhile, was weaker. That was obvious. Potentially under-skilled. A possible failing candidate of the first round. She didn't seem to be any powers, and she seemed to lack in confidence. Sweet girl, surely. But Maxie doubted she'd win.

Cruz and Boubka? Well.. that seemed to have devolved into a dramatic over-the-top (even for her) feels-fest that had originated from having powers? Honestly, she had no idea what to make of it. The fight went from being a friendly brawl to an aggressive beat-down. While Cruz seemed all about stealth and tactics in battle, which was mighty respectable especially considering that was all he had, Boubka was a lot more out-going with his abilities, and didn't hesitate to show them off and use them to his advantage. However, Maxie DID note that that was... well, all he relied on. He had not much tactics in comparison to the others, and she considered other ways those powers could be used to a greater effect. She wasn't particularly fussed on either, but she hoped to face Cruz and to have him win, if only cause seeing that cyan fox boy get hurt was a little depressing, and she didn't want to have to beat him down.

Finally, she noted out Envy and Wolf. Whiiiich had come to an abrupt end over... a... murder attempt. Her eyes widened, and she stood up from her seat, her eyes fixated on the screen. Fists clenched. The officials had to come out. The man needed to be healed. And he... simply collapsed, than continue on. And this Envy didn't hesitate to disable poor Wolf, and to finish him off because of a slight disagreement. There was an anger in her stomach that boiled. Envy was going through to the next round. And she wondered, no, wanted to fight Envy next. They'd lose. They'd lose, she'd crush them, and she'd teach them that fighting wasn't about literal murder, oh goodness.

She sat back down, taking a sharp intake of breath as she grit her teeth. She seemed composed, but just... something about attacking the weakened really tugged at her anger. It ignited a rage that she had trouble cooling down, and her talons flexed, as did her fingers. Maxie wanted to destroy Envy.

Unfortunately, that was up to the luck of the draw. She'd briefly analysed those contestants, but now it was best to check up on the others. She hoped Wolf was alright. She'd offer to get him a drink and some food if he wanted to make it back to the Lounge. If he even could.

"JEEZ's! What the hell?! This competition is for entertainment, not murder!" Blizz yelled as she saw a competitor almost get killed. She may be the blue menace, but even she knew when to hold back. "Is someone NOT gonna help him and punish the other? What the f**k, people?!"

(Since he has been confirmed to enter the next round, he's back!)

Envy waltzed back in, with a face filled with silent laughter, his sheath hanging over his back as he walked back towards the couch he was on waaay earlier.

Envy threw the sheath down, and looked around... And since the other fights were still on, Envy began watching them... 

Though he turned away from Boubka and Cruz, wanting to shut off that screen due to the needless drama, his head turned past the other monitors until he hit the fight in the forest, laughing at the utter stupidity that seemed to be attached to Malware 2.0

Though he stopped, knowing all-well that anyone who had watched his fight was either afraid of him or VERY angry.

He laid his head back, going back on the memories of his brutality towards the pathetic Wolfgang, who wasn't even an able opponent in Envy's opinion. The cat was also getting sightly ready for someone to start screaming at him, but who would it be? If anyone at all? He won't hurt anyone in the lounge, it'd be a waste... he's going to save that for the battlefield.

Roughly ten or so minutes passed, and she continued to observe the remaining fights. The first one Maxie examined was the Ryder versus Twilight fight. Throughout it, Ryder seemed to be using his hidden tricks as soon as possible, his form-switching happening far too early than it should. She wondered if it was even possible for him to win without it. A sigh. Her vote was on Twilight for this one. Ryder was reckless and didn't use tactics, instead going head-to-head as soon as possible, and more than willing to show off his entire arsenal in the first round. Meanwhile, the kitsune had tactics, and was careful with their approach. They seemed a lot more experienced with battle, but currently was struggling to keep hold of their position. The heat was a problem, and they had to address it soon. A shame that none really seemed to be using the arena as well as they could.

As for the Malware and Rin fight? Well, she was... disappointed that a man with such prodigy skills only had those specific skills to rely upon. In the forest, without any technology in sight, he was vulnerable and weak. His means of attacking was terminated, and he clearly struggled when out of his comfort zone. If anything though, he was one to play dirty and not to be trusted. He ignored the honours of battle, in favour of victory at any cost. Meanwhile, Rin seemed nice. She seemed to play alomg with him at the favour of entertainment, and she wasn't as vicious as Envy when it came to securing victory. If anything, the feline seemed like a lovely girl to talk to. But despite that, she was... quite good. Careless at times, and was easily distracted by unconventional things, but if she could just keep her focus, she could win. All she'd need to do is realise the true extent of her powers in the environment they were in. Poor, unfortunate Malware.

Finally, the Froshana and Sora fight. The first thing of note was the area - a nightclub. And how she longed to have that arena to battle in - it would have been absolutely perfect. It was her jam. But alas, that was not the case. What WAS the case was that these two were... well, simply put, amateurs. Neither of them seemed to have much experience in battle, and both were holding out on their true potential. Sora was clumsy, but she tried at least.And her actions and movements were calculated, but the execution was sloppy, as was her equipment like the grenades she brought. She seemed to have ONE trick up her sleeve at least, which was that sudden 'control' of fire, but she was waiting for the right moment. Froshana? Well, Maxie couldn't see her winning this tournament. She could certainly get through this fight, but with the big leagues she'd call with her current skills. That much was certain, she knew that. She was hesitant and concerned, which while are wonderful attributes in a person, are perhaps not best for the battlefield.

However, Maxie didn't have time to continue to comment before an arrival caused the elevator doors to swing open. The griffon just slowly and lazily turned her head to at least give a nod to who it was, and that action fell short when she realised it was Envy. From the fight she loathed. A glance at the TV screen from his fight, and yes, they weren't on said screen. It was definitely them. And they arrived, with that smile, like they'd actually won. Like anything they did was something to be proud of.

She stood up, just as Envy sat down on the same couch she was sitting at. Her stare was... terrifyingly cold. Which was a gigantic contrast from the usual hyperactive and over-the-top personality that she was putting on for others. It was blatant to anyone that she was seething with absolute rage, and was being careful to not yet it explode in an act of aggression. So the white griffon walked forward, stood opposite Envy. Stared at him.

And went for an unnaturally fast backhand slap to his face.

Greg, in his own corner, seemed increasingly nervous. He was sweating eeever so slightly, as his hand moved to his earpiece. He wasn't feeling very comfortable right now, after some of the updates he'd recieved on that last match. Envy's presence was evidently... unwanted, by the assembled mass. And it seemed someone had just made it his job to go speak to them...

Pausing to take some deep breaths, building up the courage to step over, he blinked somewhat in surprise as the pink griffon stood her ground and moved to the man. She was... she was certainly very brave.
The zebra gave a barely-audible gasp as she bought a hand to the man's face. Nnnow seemed like a good time to step in. At least if he was angry, at this point it probably wouldn't be directed towards Greg.

"Er, excuse me..." he hesitantly moved to just a little way behind Maxie, speaking to Envy over her shoulder, "But, I, er, really don't think you should be here..."

Suddenly, Zephyr stopped any movement he was doing, completely frozen. One of the matches already ended. And not in the way he expected of the tournament. He keep looking at the screen, even when there was nothing else to see. He was... Surprised.

Was that even allowed? He began questioning himself. Will the other combatant be ok? His thoughts ran wild with many questions. Would this competition be worth risking his life fighting more possible psychos with clear intentions of committing murder? He was starting to think about leaving the whole thing, until he sighed slowly and kept taking notes of the other battles. He wanted to believe the ones in charge of all of this would do something about it... Right?

But then, some time later, the culprit appeared: Envy. As quick as he noticed his presence, he was astonished. An attempt of murder had taken place not long ago with this individual, and he was here!?

The avian couldn't look away from him, feeling equally angered and shocked as the cause of such an unexpected event was even here. He also looked how he was backslapped by the pink griffon, and noticed one of the staff members, the zebra, behind her. At this point, Zephyr was practically praying for him to be disqualified so he wouldn't risk his life against such a heartless guy.

Envy was surprised by a backhand to the face that he hadn't paid attention to until it hit him, but unlike when Wolf hit him, Envy didn't seem all that bothered, and that was because he had already promised not to hurt anyone in here...

Envy's green eyes stared deep into the one who had stricken him. "I'm afraid I have a promise to keep, so I'm not going to hit back."

Envy already knew why all eyes were on him, and yet it only swept over him like the wind sweeps over the earth.

He looked around Maxie and to the zebra behind her "No, I probably shouldn't... But I like the food, and the couch is very comfy." At that statement, Envy calmly got up and wandered over to the snack pods like he had done before he was called out.

"Besides, I'm not going to waste my energy on you guys, after all... It would be a little pointless, besides... You've done me no wrong..."

Envy wished Ryder were here just so he could point him out and call out an exception to that.

He walked over, sat back down, and began shoving a lot of food into his face, noticing that Zephyr was pretty much frozen in a fashion. With his mouth full, Envy spoke with a slightly muffled voice; "Well, now is the time to enjoy before the next round..."

She said nothing to Envy's words. Her hand remained suspended in the air, but she didn't make another move. She was absolutely furious, and her dress billowed slightly from a sudden slight, and rather impossible, breeze. Gritting her teeth, she remained in her position. She wasn't going to leave that Greg guy alone with this one after all.

Maxie crossed her arms and simply... glared. This wasn't something she should take into matters with her own hands, after all. "Pray you don't match against me on the battlefield, boy," she hissed with a ruffle of her feathers.
Okay, NOW she was done. With that, she let a silence reign for Greg to fill.

Amber had fallen asleep during the viewing of the battles,  and being her had rolled into the floor and was curled up. She stayed like that until that sound of hand hitting face made her jump in from where she slept and was looking around. She calmed down and stretched yawning. "OK,  who slapped who now?" She asked, looking towards were Maxie stood and saw Envy,  and immediately began smiling.  "Envy! " Amber exclaimed,  jumping over one of the couches and going over and sat by him but saw a faint hand mark on his face. Slightly confused, her gaze went to the griffon and she asked hesitantly,  "why did you slap him? " She asked, and one could hear the anger faintly traced in her words

Greg blinked confused after the sudden appearance of Amber. Oh god, none of this is going anything like he'd imagined. This was meant to be some friendly fun competition. This was... this was ridiculous.
"Because..." he spoke up, finally in response to the young woman, "Because in a sports event he just kneecapped someone with a shotgun, then whilst they were defenseless attempted to incinerate them...?" He lowered his voice slightly to the young woman;
"If I were you, I'd avoid going close to him. He's dangerous..."

Speaking of Envy, one of the security members seemed to be approaching him now. They had a rather... unamused look on their face.
"Excuse me sir, but I would suggest you don't continue to disregard information given to you directly from representatives of the tournament..." he mumbled, "It's the high road to getting disqualified. And it would be rather embarassing to lose the tournament outside of combat... Now if you'd please, I request you hand all your weapons over to us. Our sponsor would rather you not have them whilst near the other competitors. And I warn you once again... Continued ignorance of sponsors advice and instructions may struggle to see you further..." It was unclear exactly how far they were willing to follow through with that. Still, it did seem perhaps the general attitude of giving the finger to any and all organising bodies who tried to speak to him was not going to continue to allow him to keep going as he was.

Blizz glared at Envy, he shot--almost killed-- a defensless man! What more to insult than being a cocky, stuck-up, ignorant a-hole! Blizz was just about to chop his arm off with her BARE HANDS. And she could do it too, but she'd much rather see his defeated face when his weapons fail his battered figure. For once, she could agree with the griffon. Blizz walked over to her. "Beat the living shite outta that punk for us, if and when you can. He'd lose his baby makers from me." She whispered to her with a primtive growl as she sat down in a reclining chair while taking her coat and putting it on the table.

Envy was starting to get annoyed by the amount f unwanted people, the only one around the small vicinity he even cared for was Amber.

Envy put his dish of food to the side, then slowly got up, beginning to face each person to respond to each one.

He looked at Maxie, whispering a few words into the air; "I look forward to it, but alas, we cannot choose our opponents."

He glared back at Greg, saying nothing but showing a face of pure disdain once he told Amber, Envy wanted to break his neck for saying that... Since the wolf was one of his oldest and few friends.

He turned towards Blizz, who he thought he remembered (Right track, wrong person.) from an encounter dealing with an exquisite snake, and the number station. Speaking calmly at first: "Look who's talking, after you tried to fill me with bullets yourself, and then you also wanted that alliance with the fucking SLAYER SQUAD!" Envy's anger began to show, until he turned towards the security guard, in which his calm manner returned.

"I'd be happy to give you it... If it wasn't soulbound to me. I can't let you have it, it'll just get you killed, ask my wolf friend here, one of our friends had some major problems dealing with it, besides... I promised to the team that dealt with the incident at the beach I wouldn't hurt anyone here, otherwise this bird-woman person would have already have lost a limb."

Envy did, however, shove the sheath into a place out of his physical reach.

He turned towards Amber, he was silent, waiting for the seemingly inevitable rejection of himself. Looking at his face on this last stop showed he wasn't an entirely heartless person, as his eyes seemed to loosen from his calmly serious emotion into a face of sympathy and friendship.

(Cause Envy's edited their post, hope you don't mind that I deleted your post, Blitz! Makes things look a lot smoother, y'know?)

Before she even had a chance to utter a word, Maxie's eyebrow raised at the appearance of Amber stretching from the other side of the Lounge. Did she really just sleep, rather than take not of her opponents? It was the middle of the day, and she just... took a nap? This didn't bode well, especially when Amber asked why the griffon had backhanded the contestant. Her feathers bristled. Of course they were friends, of course they'd conveniently slept while Envy almost killed someone. Of course. She grit her teeth and remained in since, allowing Greg to answer instead.

With the guards now scolding him, and rightfully so, Maxie turned to walk away, her deed having been done. Giving a light and sympathetic pat on the poor zebra's shoulder as she passed by, the white avian made her way towards Blizz, and offered a wave and a smile in Zephyr's direction, motioning the bird over to where she was sitting, so they could chat.

And that cold and semi-composed exterior melted away that that over-exaggerated posture, with her knees tucked up on the couch and her tail feathers around her waist. She held that confident grin again, and winked towards Blizz, "Ohoho~, don't worry about THAT! Even if they don't face me, I'm sure they'll just get themselves disqualified anyway," a stretch, "Though him facing me would do wonders for the ratings of this little event, wouldn't it?" Her voice rose slightly, and her fingers flexed in the direction of Greg.

"But enough on that, mm? We don't want to give a boy like that any attention," the griffon commented, pressing her gloved fingers against each other as she leaned towards her, "Ahahah~! I'm Maxie by the way, cutie pie, and I must say that you look very... skilled."

Blizz made a somewhat confused expression at the Griffon. "Well, thanks? I guess. Anyway, you are literally the first person to call me cute. Most people get terrified of my eyes before even speaking to me, let alone me even noticing them." Blizz took a large gulp from her, literally, Super-Size Blueberry Slushie (Jeez, when does this woman NOT eat or drink?). 

"On a side note, I'm partially hoping he goes against me. I'll definitely show 'im the futile reliance of physical weapons. Just gonna have to wait for the right~ moment~." She smiled such one that it would scare a normal person, but most of the people in this place weren't normal. Hell, it might as well have been a Freakshow.

After Maxie motioned him to go near her, he was still a bit in shock but with a quick lift of his shoulders he decided to just stop thinking about it. That Wolf guy should be okay, Amber should get everything explained soon and Envy would be disqualified... But if, by any chance, he would still be in the tournament and, with some bad luck, he would have to face him... Then, he would think about it again. But not now.

Zephyr accepted the silent invitation from the griffon and went slowly to the couch while hiding his battle notes in one of his pockets. He sat next to the avian and, after hearing Blizz's words about reliance on physical weapons, he couldn't but get a bit uneasy. He himself relied on his sword a lot. It could be a problem if he ends up having to face her. Although he wasn't sure of how she can make her words true, he had to remind himself to write it down later. Just in case...

"Personally, I don't mind too much about fighting him. A fight's a fight, I guess." He didn't seem to be completely sure about his statement. The risk of ending up really bad if he lost would increase dramatically if he had to face him. Although, if he could defeat him, he would make the tournament a bit safer, right? Then... "But if I get to face him, I could show him how to fight fairly. Just saying." His own words made him get back a bit of his natural calmness, with one thing less to think for. Now he couldn't quit the tournament, it would seem like he's scared or something. So, in case it happens (and he prays for it not to happen), he wouldn't back down. 

A soft smile showed a bit of his resolve. He would fight and win. That's why he's here. To test himself. And he would go as far as he could. Pretty much like the rest of the competitors, or so he thought. "I'm Zephyr, by the way."

"Hahah, I don't find them scary at all!" she replied to Blizz with a wink and a cheeky grin, "They're gorgeous on you, sweetie~ Honestly! I bet any man or woman could get lost in them!" Maxie leaned her head backwards, watching the owl approach from upside down. She smirked, speaking as she observed the contestant from her position; "If anything, darlings, we should alert those who finish with their fight..." her leg flexed towards Envy, "...About him. Just so they understand the situation. And so no-one, hm, allows things like this to happen again, I'd say?"

She propped herself upright, flicking the ankle of her stretched leg. Honestly, it was amazing that those heels hadn't shown any sign of slipping off. "I'm Maxie, if you didn't hear. Mmmm, a pleasure to meet you, handsome~" She wiggled her eyebrows at the poor avian, before simply giggling and rolling her eyes like it was nothing. Not in a mocking manner, of course, as there was the slightest of blushes on her cheeks.

The avian hybrid stood up and stretched, giving a little wiggle of her hips and her rear as she did so, "Nnnnggghh~! Ooooh the first round has been so stressful, and I'm not even staff! The poor dears!"

Blizz giggled as she took another gulp. "What's actually funny is the fact he mistook my identity for someone else. How do you confuse Blue and Green? Just doesn't make sense. Name's Blizz. Blizz Nevensky, the Blue Menace." She took her jacket and fumbled around the pockets for a moment before muttering a 'Damn' under her breath.

As Envy turned away, the hand of that large security guard clamped down on his shoulder. Whilst at first the attitude and blatant disregard for... basically literally anything said to him by the tournament officials... whilst at first that was 'annoying', it had about reached the point now where the man was on the very edge of being kicked out if he didn't listen. The man may've considered himself the 'wild card factor', but at this point the only unpredictable thing he could really do was actually listen to what they were saying to him.
"You either find somewhere to store that weapon whilst you're here," the voice spoke with barely-restrained malice, "In one of the lower corridors, or whatever, just... away from here. You either do that, or you take yourself away from here - from here, where you're already not meant to be I remind you, so consider our lenience right now - you do that, or you are disqualified. Here. On the spot."
It sounded like they really meant it.

Envy's waiting was interrupted by the security guard, in which he responded; "Take it, do what you will with t... As long as I get it back..."

"...And do not under any circumstances touch it with your bare hands."

Envy just wanted to get the security guy off his arse, *hoping* to be able to talk with Amber again, after so long.

The guard grumbled slightly, before removing his jacket. Carefully, he wrapped it around the weapon being offered to him, as a measure to avoid holding it directly. Lifting it from Envy, he took it carefully as he hated to the elevator.
For now, it was being taken downstairs, to a secure area out of Envy's reach. As for when he'd be getting it back? ...Well, that probably depended on what the sponsors had to consider between themselves regarding whether or not it should be trusted back out into the combat area with it's owner.

After Zephyr agreed with Maxie's opinion with a simple nod with the head, he heard a bit of the short conversation between one of the staff members and Envy.

("...And do not under any circumstances touch it with your bare hands.") This made him think while looking at the guard leaving with the weapon.

The color of the sword unsheathed as he saw it during that quick and macabre match already made him curious about it, and now that? Just what kind of sword is that? Maybe it had a hazardous touch like poison or a curse? Another thing to note down later. And maybe, if the chance rises, then try to acquire more info about it somehow.


But for now, he has enough with all the info he gathered to face any of the participants that fought in the first round with a good starting plan, except some cases, that the info was more a speculation than a fact. But it's something to start with.

Tensions rising in the room quickly between the competitors. Spark played this to his advantage learning how they act and how they affect them. He still kept to himself not bothering anyone still keeping quiet.

Taking note of Envy in particular who will try to kill him if he is matched up against him. He only glanced at him to size him up and smirked when his weapon was taken. It faded away quickly as he watched the rest of the fights.

Blizz wached as the screens gave off winners. In all honesty, she expected Boubka to lose shamefully, the rest weren't a surprise to her. She also damned well tried NOT to go ahead and punch the living shit outta Envy. Oh-hohohoho, how she hated the arrogant prick. Lucky for most, she stayed seated with her Blueberry-Orange Fanta combination slushie glaring at the screens. Her conversation died pretty quick between her and the other two so she spoke up. "Anyone have a clue as to where and who they're gonna fight? I'm clueless."