forum Dark Cyberpunk Dystopia RP; Closed

Started September 10, 2020 by @King_Cyrus

tune

Another fight started, and Niles had made no progressing in discovered how the heck to enter the fights. What time did this place close, even? Knowing his luck he'd waste all his time wandering around like a moron, and it'd be over before he even had a chance to put his bot in the ring.

Maybe it'd be better that way, though. Maybe he could still walk out of here with his life and what small sliver of dignity he had.

But those kind of thoughts were unacceptable. Failure was not an option. Walking away was not an option. Even if he lost, he had to try. He'd never forgive himself if he didn't.

He ran a hand over the smooth exterior of the case he carried around with him, trying once again to peer through the crowd and get a peek at the ring. He could barely see it now, the bots attacking each other inside. His little robot was a lot smaller than most of the ones that had been entered so far, but he could tell by simply looking at some of the other bots that his might have the advantage of functioning much better. He shoved those thoughts aside, though, fearful of getting his hopes up too much just to be let down.

"I'm sorry— Excuse me— Pardon me—" he mumbled as he shoved his way through the crowd, accidentally pushing people here and there. He heard several curse words and obscenities muttered as he made his way, but he couldn't tell whether they were directed at him, someone else, or the fight at hand. It didn't matter, regardless. He was too focused on not getting knocked down and crushed underfoot by these barbarians.

He paused once, wondering if he should suck it up and ask someone. On one hand, he was afraid of telling anyone that he was a confused noob who had no idea what was going on or how any of this actually worked, afraid that they might decide that he'd be any easy target (both in the fights and otherwise), but on the other hand, he felt like it was glaringly obvious by his appearance and behavior that he didn't belong here.

Kelna muscled her way through the crowd once more until she got to the edge of it, taking a long moment to just stop and survey the chaos around her. There had to be someone with a bot here. It felt like cheating to ask one of the other teams to fight again, but it was an option if she couldn't find anyone.

That was her last resort though, and until then, her best option was dipping back into the crowd. What type of person she was looking for was a mystery even to herself. What did an unregistered bot fighter even look like? Yes, she had run across them occasionally, but they all tended to look different. The only thing they shared was the same unease and nervousness. Without any other ideas to guide her, she huffed under her breath and started searching for that same look of nervousness in the eyes of anyone here.

Several dead ends later, she was getting nervous that they were going to not be able to fight. There had been a few nervous-looking people, but none of them claimed to have a bot they wanted to fight with. "I'll never hear the end of this," She grumbled, straightening her top and searching again. If Sennal and especially Barleen learned that they had lost their spot because she hadn't found a competitor, the pair wouldn't hesitate to rope her into helping them to make up for it.

She did not want to even try to touch the shiny metal bot that was their pride and joy. That would end with her breaking something.

Kelna shoved her way around a large man and set back to looking, skimming over the crowd quickly. She almost missed the blonde head of hair in the mass of people, only doubling back to look at the area in a spur of luck. Thankfully, the person had turned her direction, and she felt a surge of hope at how out of place the boy looked. Or at least she figured they were a boy. It didn't really matter. They had to have a bot, had to.

She slipped back into the crowd with her new target in mind, eyes locked on him and the case she now noticed. This had to be her lucky day. "Hey kid, kid!" She called as she got closer, elbowing her way to the boy with new hope.

It took Niles several seconds to realize that someone was trying to get his attention. He stiffened, his grip on the case tightening along with every other muscle in his body as he glanced around to find the origin of the voice. His eyes met the gaze of the young woman calling to him, and he was certain then that she could be speaking to no one else. Even so, he couldn't help but respond with an uncertain, "Me?" as she came closer.

Uncertainty surged through him. Did she know him? He hoped not. His family didn't need to know about his visit here— especially if things went wrong and he ended up with no money. But he didn't recognize this girl; as far as he could recall, he had never seen her before in his life.

"Yes you," She replied as she shoved around a final person to reach him, glancing at the case in his hand and deciding beating around the bush would be pointless. There wasn't time for formalities, and so she got straight to the point. "Is that a bot?" Kelna pointed to the case and then jabbing a thumb towards the ring, "If so, my team needs a competitor. I'll pay you to fight us, that way I don't lose my entry fee on this fight."

It was like a wild stab of luck to see if he was actually a fighter, but she was out of options. From the look of the kid, paying him would cause her team to rake in a fair amount of cash as well. His bot couldn't be that good. But he was a competitor.

Niles's eyes grew round. "Oh— Oh, yea! Alright." He swallowed, trying to refrain from having too much enthusiasm. Considering the fact that he had no hope of actually, you know, winning, that was fairly easy to do. After all, these people were seasoned fighters. Professionals. And who was he? Basically nobody.

But some part of him was determined to fight and win. Some part of him knew this was his only opportunity, and he had to take it. There was no other choice. No other way.

"I've— ah— well—" He cut himself off when it became apparent that even he didn't know what he was trying to say. "Thank you. I look forward to competing with you," he managed finally, trying not to cringe at how weird it sounded once he actually expressed it verbally. Honestly, at this point, he was starting to think he might be better off just to stop talking altogether.

The instant relief that washed over her when he indeed had a bot was amazing. kelna barely stopped the emotion from showing on her face as she nodded. "Good. Good, thank you," She said, nodding once more, this time to herself. She had found a fighter. Granted, there was no way in hell he would be as good as some of their normal competitors, but he was someone.

Taking a quick moment to size up their new opponent, she didn't have high expectations for the boy. He didn't hold the same….strength that bot fighters had. Bot fighters physically varied, she was more speaking of how shy he looked. His blonde hair was unusual as well, and it made him stick out. He just…looked out of place. Not that she cared, at one time, she must have looked the same after all. Everyone started somewhere, and she almost pitied him. He seemed quite inexperienced with things like this, and who knew how the streets and fighters would treat him.

"My team is next up," Kelna added, the fleeting feeling of relief flying out the window. Wiling herself to look confident and strong, she jabbed a thumb towards the thick crowd around the ring, "I don't have time to talk payment for this, but your entry fee is covered, and I have to get to my team. Just, be at the score table in five minutes, the fight will happen and regardless of if you win, I'll pay you back. See you soon, blondie."

She didn't bother waiting for a response before she was off, hissing a string of curses at a burly man who stumbled into her as she turned away. In seconds, she had melted into the crowd, hurrying with the same confident stride towards her team.