DH-2 First Round

Welcome, dear audience, to the eve of your mightily awaited Eighth Dossoles Warrior Champion!

Before we part the curtains, why don't we invite our beloved Mayor Candela up for the opening speech?

Citizens, tourists, with great pride in this city, I welcome you to Dossoles!

It doesn't matter where you're from. It doesn't matter who you are.

You've made it here, so let all that fall away.

Enjoy everything our city has to give you. Enjoy everything you deserve.

Be happy, laugh happy, shout and scream happy.

This is the paradise I built, and it's all for you!

Now come! The most unforgettable time of your life is here for the taking!

Okay, big thank-you to Mayor Candela for that speech, just as sempiternally scorched with passion, alright. Moving on, time to introduce your contestants.

Lots of familiar faces this year and last year, but plenty of new ones too!

First order of business, they look like a lovey-dovey couple, they ARE a lovey-dovey couple, but they're a force on the fighting front!

Honey Summer!

The power of love brought us together.

The power of love brought us our love.

The power of our love is unmatched!

Even I can barely stand before that sparkly power of love! Let's see just how far love's legs can run!

Solo unit up next, the contestant who won the Stomach King Prelims, Mizuki!

Harmless as he looks, he ate through an entire restaurant warehouse. That bottomless stomach and that blue hair are begging to synergize with the ocean here.

Pacer-man!

Hallo, hallo, hey everyone.

Contestant Mizuki, would you like to say a few words to stir the hearts of the people?

Hm... I'll eat you all up once I'm tired of playing.

Ooooh! Contestant Mizuki, utterer of terrifying statements in completely normal voices! We look forward to seeing you out there!

Next up, it's a local team, led by Miss Rafaela, who may look cute, but she's got a giant, fiendish sickle. That's the kind of contrast this team's here to feed you.

Let's welcome up—the Grey Feathers!

Hello to you all.

Miss Rafaela, what do you have to say before the tournament?

Um... I'll do my best.

Ooh, alright, alright, sometimes it's the simple things that touch us deep! Grey Feathers, I think you'll go far!

Right after that, it's a newcomer to this competition, but the team that's drawn the most buzz!

They're the live scrimmage gatecrashers, winners with an attitude no-one could answer, the supernovas who've picked up Mr. Pancho's support!

They came from a place the City of Two Suns loves dearly—the Lungmen heroines, Miss Lin Yühsia, Miss Ch'en Hui-chieh, and we even get the local arms dealer, Mr. Ernesto, completing this team—

—LUNG wRATh!

Strong, fresh teams spike an appetite like nothing else, and their odds are sitting high! But! Do you truly dare to put your chips down on them?

*Sigh*.

Hah.

Alright, let's get your statement. Team leader?

Who's the leader?

Ernesto, you do it.

What?

There's no way Lin Yühsia's going to take what I say.

And you wouldn't take what I say either.

Er, alright.

In that case, we proclaim—we're going to carve our mark into this competition's history!

How was that?

Mediocre.

Agreed.

Thought so.

Massively assertive! Let's look forward to LUNG wRATh and their vivid display.

Moving on, our next team is...

Hey, Missy, this way.

Coming! Hey, watch my ice cream!

Really, this crowd is insane...

Just goes to show how much attention's on this contest.

Anyway, you see that? Ch'en's carrying some gun-ish thing for some reason.

Guess she's not planning to use her sword this time.

She's set herself up badly, hasn't she? She was about as good at firearms training as I was.

Wow. Excellence doesn't just grow on trees, okay?

Calling her swordsmanship 'excellent' undersells it.

Hey, Missy, I gotta say, you're an even bigger Ch'en fan than me, behind her back.

I'm just stating facts, okay.

Yeah, yeah. More importantly, though, seeing Ch'en without a sword is a sight to treasure. Let's go ask the organizers if we can get a recording of this.

Let's not. That would be hell.

What's to be so embarrassed about? We'll cut it into a flick. I've already got the title. It'll be 'Gunslinger Old Ch'en Grasps Great Lung Power.'

And I gotta say, you might have a talent for directing awful B movies.

I'm flattered. Oh, right, Missy. I've got something to talk to you about.

Not happening.

C'mon, I haven't even said what it is.

You said 'something to talk about' and I nearly threw up my ice cream. Nothing good comes out of that phrasing.

Hey. No, just, I saw the officials here had an event on for the spectators.

I looked into it. They let you guess who'll win. And there's a bunch of smaller ones, like who'll be first to get gold, who'll get eliminated earliest, and...

The way you use the word 'guess' absolutely floors me.

It's government-sponsored. Ship-shape and legal.

Ugh. What even goes for illegal in this city?

Yeah... good point, but right now we're just regular tourists, y'know? It's beyond our job descriptions.

I know.

And look, even if you want to laugh at Ch'en and Miss Lin, just suppose they do win, we won't be out of pocket, right?

Makes it a win-win, Missy.

Sigh*... I give in. Here's my card.

Mighty thanks, Milady.

Don't go splashing it about!

I hear you.

Alright, that's all forty teams.

Cameras and drones will capture the whole thing, ensuring you don't miss a single beautiful shot.

And this main stage isn't gonna stand alone, either. The officials have set up ten more, each one with its own dedicated presenter.

So you'll get every second, and with commentary just as brilliant to match.

Plus, once the opening ceremony begins, we've got a little wagering opportuntiy for you audience-siders, to make the competition that much spicier.

All spectators are invited to register your info on the government site, and you can make yourself a little extra cash!

For specifics on how it'll work, refer to your government-issued competition guides.

Now, then. All the competitors are in our starting district and readied up.

Round 1 will be a search—and a struggle—for pure gold in a partitioned-off area. Teams will then hand it directly to staff at the finish point.

But, they're also allowed to shoot for more! Whatever gold they get belongs to them!

Alright! Mayor Candela, fire off the salute and signal the start of this competition!

I declare—Round 1 has officially begun!

What now?

We split up.

And avoid working together. It seems we have yet another common understanding.

However, before that. We're already being watched.

We break out first.

Good.

Oooh, Round 1 of the championship has begun, and the highly anticipated LUNG wRATh has had three other teams cooperate to target them!

Either side is poised to fight!

Will LUNG wRATh once again show their true power, or will the teams united take the win? Let's hold on tight!

They're insane, they're unstoppable! LUNG wRATh has beat back the three teams encircling them like it was any other day!

But the mystery is, what ability was our hero Lin using in that fight?

Director, run the replay!

Here we can finally make it out—Lin has the incredible ability to turn glass into weapons! That's one to blow your mind!

We never imagined Lin was more than a martial master, who knew she had Originium Arts this brilliant to boot!

Hey, Missy, what's with Miss Lin's power, though?

Same as the Rat King's. She's actually manipulating sand, just in a different kind of way.

She's been able to turn sand into glass since she was a kid. I'd always play with it.

Ohh, I get it. Glass is made out of sand, for sure.

Huh. I heard the Rat King could make sandstorms. Can Miss Lin do that?

I don't know. My guess is she technically could, but wouldn't want to either.

That figures. Miss Lin doesn't come off as the type to make a big scene.

Lin's Originium Arts are a total defense-breaker, to go with Ch'en's sharpshooting, and Mr. Ernesto's cover! What a perfect feast for the eyes!

Your thoughts, Mr. Pancho? Do you believe victory this time belongs to them?

Every member of the team is impressively strong, but their coordination's still half-baked.

Interesting to hear. It's true, competitions like this get competitors targeting you and taking you out if you throw too much personal power around.

History repeatedly testifies to us, only the united can clinch the final win!

This old guy's got a keen eye. Spotted Ch'en and Lin's biggest issue straight away.

I agree. Honestly, these two, and Ch'en especially. She knows at least what cooperation is from partnering with you, but she has no idea how Lin Yühsia fights, and her sword was her best weapon. She's doubly bound.

And as for Lin Yühsia, that woman wouldn't know how to spell 'cooperation' if it walked up to her in big bold print.

I saw her just short of gashing Ch'en several times, relying entirely on Ch'en to dodge her in time.

I could die laughing. And the ones who don't know still think they work like two peas in a pod.

That Ernesto's smart, I have to admit. He hasn't gotten anywhere near those two.

It's the only good call. Not even nine lives would save you.

Not bad, Missy. Observation powers have been getting better and better. I thought I'd have to explain it to you.

I've been putting in the effort to take over Ch'en Hui-chieh's job, alright?

I never doubted that one bit. Just didn't think you'd be making it so fast. Not bad at all.

Stop sighing like you're the old guard above me. I'll dock your wages, that's a threat.

Hey, don't you ever. You're a big person in big shoes. No point picking fights with a nobody like me.

Hmph, that sounds more like it.

Seriously, though, come to mention it. Watching them work together like this—it reminds me a little of when I first met Ch'en.

She was the same back then?

Nah, try flipping it around. She was pretty much like Miss Lin is now.

If you had that old her and this Miss Lin team up, odds are they'd argue until they came to blows, ha ha.

Your glass knives nearly cut me how many times?

Your water rounds weren't exactly true, either.

Never mind emotionally. It seems we don't even make a good team tactically.

A very persuasive verdict. Let's split up.

Hold on.

How about this...?

I know you two don't deal too well with each other, but seeing as you are, in fact, a team, at least try and act as much of a team as you can.

As I mentioned before, you can't use comms during the competition, and you're not just looking for gold, either. You're investigating any possible terrorists, too.

Sure, individually you two are hugely capable, but doesn't Yan have that saying—don't fear the certain, fear the unlikely?

So my suggestion is, no matter if we have any pure gold or not, we meet back up here in one hour. Sound good?

If one's a no-show, the other two play it by ear.

No objections.

Acceptable.

Phew, that's the most wavelength we'll get between you. Let's roll with that.

Then I'll be splitting off.

She moves real fast...

Miss Ch'en, do you plan on operating alone, or do you want me with you?

You don't need to lose sleep over us. She and I aren't the type to throw everything else to the wind for a petty strop. We won't deny any truths from the other, and we will do what we must.

Um... gonna be honest, here. No question about you two suiting each other, and splitting up is a really, really common tactic in Round 1 for sure.

But, uh, there's only three of us. I don't think we need to all split up.

So I'm gonna head with you.

That works. Let's go.