Log:Faster Than a Speeding Bullet, Heat 2

Best of the Best 2058 2008/06/09 	 Akeno Captain Rackham Fuzzy Jennifer Joseph Kibin Nexus Sword Dancer 1

The newly refurbished stadium is nearly filled to capacity with tens of thousands of spectators, some of them just now finding the way to their seats. Stadium rock music plays over the loudspeakers. At the 'stern' of the coliseum, there's a tunnel that leads from the locker rooms to the playing field. For now this is where the competing heroes have gathered.

Sword Dancer stands in the tunnel, in "full armour" and sword on back, frowning.

Jennifer arrives early with a load of kids. Lots of kids. Fortunately she has help on hand, a couple of adults assisting her, or she is assisting them. It's hard to be sure. The man and woman are looking after the diverse group of kids while Jennifer is riding herd of a more uniform bunch consisting of twelve pairs of indentical twins aged about eleven.

Akeno tilts his head as he arrives at the tunnel. Seeing someone he recognizes, he walks over to Sword Dancer. "I thought competition wouldn't be your thing, Sword Dancer."

Kibin looks outside, at the large amount of noisy fans outside. He takes a seat on one of the benches, waiting for the events to start.

Captain Rackham looks around the stands, finding his seat. He's not sure how much he'll be using it, but he's found it, at least. He thinks on which pocket to get his rum from first.

Sword Dancer tilts her head. "Why you fink vat? In my worrd is many sports."

The production assisstant, a young woman with a clipboard and a headset is also in the tunnel. "We'll send you out one at a time." She says to the heroes in the tunnel ."Please wait until we call your name."

Joseph is dressed quite casually, for him, in jeans and a buttoned down shirt. He sits in stands with a pair of field glasses hanging around his neck.

Akeno shrugs a bit. "I thought you'd want to save your skills for actual battle maybe." He nods at the woman, still talking with Sword Dancer.

Sword Dancer says, "Ajah, is not enough rearr battre. Practice is good, no?"

Kibin focuses his attentino back on Sword Dancer and away from the roaring crowds outside. He asks Sword Dancer, "What are the sports like on your world? Anything like the ones here?"

[To Kibin] Sword Dancer says, "Are more, cha, rearr. Ress rures."

Sword Dancer grins.

Kibin nods slowly, looking confused. "Uh... could you repeat that? Didn't quite understand."

Sword Dancer says, "Are not as many rures. Is more fair, more do, ress talk."

Kibin ahs at Sword Dancer. "So more like just one on one battles?" he asks.

Sword Dancer says, "Or in team.... are many sports."

Akeno hmms. "Gladiator matches, in other words?"

Sword Dancer says, "Sometimes. Is more in city, vough. Most sport is more do, not watch."

Akeno nods. "I see... well, good luck to both you and be careful out there."

Sword Dancer says, "Tjasivju, may ancestors be wiv you."

Kibin replies, "You too." He yawns, looking back outside and wondering if he should have had any coffee before he came here.

Fuzzy rolls in looking for the entrance of the advertised Earth event. On asking, given its unhuman appearance, it's maybe not that surprising Fuzzy is directed to the contestent's entrance rather than the audience one. So it rolls up to the benches in the tunnel where others have gathere. "Hello, Earthlings. I Fuzzy."

Sword Dancer says, "Tjasivju, a Fuzzy, hi. Am Kihzra daughter of Pfarok and Jungre from city of Jhorbakh in rand of Brun, descendant of King Brun Sorcererbane, and am corred Sword Dancer."

Akeno blinks a few times, turning to look at that one. "Umm... hi. Are you competing as well?"

Fuzzy says, "I come to enjoy Earth cultural event. On vacation here on planet of Paradise."

Sword Dancer is remarkably unfazed by Fuzzy's appearance. Well, it's mostly an act. Still, she's seen some pretty odd things by this point.

Jennifer gets the kids seated and settled down, mostly. Then a hot-dog vender strolls by and she's getting pestered to buy snacks and drinks.

The production assistant looks a little puzzled as well. She talks on her headset to make sure the rest of the crew know of the new contestent.

Akeno shrugs, "If you're here to enjoy it, I'd recommend being up in the stands. Down here is where the competition goes."

The music blaring of the loudspeakers starts fades aways. "Ladies and Gentlemen..." the stadium announcer says, a deep voice booming over the loudspeakers. "Are you ready... for Best of the BEST!"

The crowd goes wild with raucous shouting and applause.

Captain Rackham takes a swig of his rum before contributing to the shouting and applause.

Fuzzy bobs up and down. "Thank you, Earthling." Rolling out of the tunnel it /boings/ in a huge leap into the stands.

Akeno blinks a fe times, then looks at Sword Dancer. "I'll call Starguard on that one after this. I'm not even sure what it was."

Sword Dancer says, "Is not comepetitor?"

Akeno says, "I guess not. He's a new alien to my knowledge, thugh."

The loudspeaker man announces, "Here's your host... Syndey Crosheeeeeere!" An hatch on the stage in the center of the stadium opens, and Sydney, the young and rising star of the serial City by the Bay, rises on a hidden elevator. She holds one arm high and waving to the crowd, and holds a microphone in the other. "Hello, Colonial Bay!" she says, drawing a wave of cheers from the crowd.

"Let's get this show on the road!" Sydney says. "Let's hear it for Colonial Bay's Mightiest! First it's one of Colonial Bay's Finest, The King of the Winds, Akeno Matsuya!" She sweeps her arm towards herself beckoning Akeno to come out of the tunnel and head out the stage.

The assistant in the tunnel looks to Akeno. "You're up, head out to the stage."

Akeno frowns a bit as he heads on out. 'King of the Winds'? What in the world is that? He shakes his head as he heads out on stage, showboating a bit as he speed-'ports across to where he's supposed to stand for the other two to come on out.

Joseph applauds and cheers along with the rest of the crowd. He even does a pretty good wolf whistle.

The crowd cheers as Akeno appears on stage, with especially loud shouting coming from one section of the stands where fans are holding up signs, like one that simply says, "GO AKENO!" and another that reads, "Lay Down The Law!"

Sydney says, "Next up! From Starguard, it's the battling raptor, Kibin!"

Kibin stands up, jogging out onto the field and waving to everyone.

A section of the bleacher goes wild. It's the Jurassic Pack, and they've come out to support their favorite hero. Many of them wear red face paint, and some of them bang kettle drums in rhythm as Kibin makes his way to the stage.

Jennifer finally has a spare moment to scan the field and stands and wave to the people she knows.

Kibin groans quietly. Great... he has a fanclub... he wonders how long until the action figures come out.

Sydney calls out, "Next, all the way from Earth-946! Second to none in the ways of the blade, it's Sword Danceer!"

Sword Dancer strides out of the tunnel with a confident swagger toward the stand. She's a bit annoyed she wasn't introduced properly, but who here does that?

Ag roup of people in furs and leathers holding foam weapons yells abnd chants Sword Dancer's name as she takes the field. One of the holds a banner says 'SCA for Swrod Dancer!'

Sydney says, "And last, but not least, it's Nexus!"

Nexus appears out of nowhere approximately four meters above the stage and floats slowly down to the ground, waving casually to the crowd. . o O (Let's see if I can avoid making as much of an ass out of myself as I did last time...)

Captain Rackham harrs. "Et be interestin' t' test that as chums one o' these days, sez I." He takes a swig of his rum again.

Over where they are seated, mostly, with Jennifer, the kids with her are cheering for Kibin as the Starguard representative.

Sword Dancer eyes the odd group of people. They don't act right for the way they dress, it seems to her.

An electronic sign fizzes and pops as someone takes brief control of the scoreboard and flashes 'Hackers for Nexus' before control is taken back.

Nexus grins. "Wasn't me, I promise."

The acute observer might notice that the blurriness of Nexus' aura makes it hard to tell if his fingers are crossed.

Akeno frowns a bit as he looks at Nexus, then shrugs and looks towards Sydney for what's happening next. He's mostly quiet, though.

Sydney says, "These are your heroes for today, let's give them all a great Colonial Bay welcome! And now, to sing the national anthem, Liz Tatem, a student from Colonial Heights High School!" A teenaged girl walks out onto the stage, wearing bright smile. She holds the mic tightly in both hands, a little nervously as she draws in a deep breath waiting for the music to start.

Nexus cheers. "Go Liz!"

Akeno does the typical national anthem salute. Hand over heart. He's not in uniform, after all.

The crowd begins to quiet. By now everyone is on the feet, some with hands over heart, others with their hats pulled off. The music starts and Liz begins to sing. "Oh say can you see...."

Captain Rackham stands. He holds hat over his heart respectfully. ...and hopes the rendition isn't too bad.

Sword Dancer does the hand over heart thing. It seems to be part of the ritual.

Nexus seems to take a moment to remember how this is supposed to work, then goes along with the crowd.

Jennifer and the kids are on their deet. Jennifer is hoping that with the point of interest being focused on the field nobody is noticing the kids with her are all at a strict military posture of attention.

Joseph stands an puts his hand over his heart as the sone plays. He mouths the words as the song is sung.

Liz sings well, with a strong voice the capacity to really belt out the high notes, like "The rockets red glare..." which draws a roar of cheers from the crowd.

From somewhere in the crowd a firework shoots into the air at that point!

Nexus tries to keep a careful eye on the crowd, though the lights turned on the stage makes that difficult. He tenses a little at the fireworks, but doesn't do anything.

"O'er the land of the free..... and the home of the brave!" The crowd goes wild again, with applause. Liz smiles, basking in the cheers or a few moments before she waves and is led back off of the stage.

Nexus seems relieved.

Kibin looks back up after the pledge, taking a deep breath.

Captain Rackham replaces his hat, then sits again.

The camera sweeps across the crowd looking for the source of the firework, without much luck.

Joseph cheers as well and retakes his seat. He lifts his field glasses to take a better look at the competitors.

Sydney seems to take the fireworks in stride. She says, "This year's contest is based around some traditional notions of superheroes. Today's contest is called 'Faster than a Speeding Bullet'. Our heroes will have to be quick on their feet and agile if they'll want to win!"

Akeno relaxes, looking towards the announcer booth. He does glance at Sword Dancer and Kibin, lowering his voice, "You two didn't know you had fans either?"

Sword Dancer says, "Have fans?"

Nexus raises a hand to ask a question. "Same deal as Friday's, right? Have to actually move through the water, but other'n that it's OK to port?"

Kibin shakes his head at Akeno, amused. "I don't know if I should be happy or embarrassed that an entire section of the stands is cheering for me... feels kind of odd."

Akeno motions with his head back at the SCA for Sword Dancer fans. Then he looks towards the rest as he waits to see what the competition is.

Sword Dancer stares at her fans as if they're mad.

An assistant nods to to Nexus and stage whispers, "We'll cover that in a moment."

Sydney walks down off of the stage and over towards a mock up of Main Street. There, waiting, is a group of men in black ski-masks who smile and wave for the crowd. "The task we've put in front of the heroes is a simple one -- to catch a purse snatcher."

Nexus nods to the assistant and reappears next to SD, amused by her expression. "What, you don't appreciate fans?" he asks, quietly enough that the mikes won't pick it up.

The SCA fans see Sword Dancer looking at thema nd make even more noise. Some of them hoist their foam weapins in the air in salute.

Sydney smiles, "But standing in between the hero and the robber are a set of obstacles. First, the heroes have to navigate a Main Street, crowded with robot pedestrians. Then, they need to navigate through a maglev tunnel. Next, it's into the pool for a dip..."

Sword Dancer says, "Have swords made of prastic?!"

Kibin thinks of how he's going to do it... 'hunting' a purse snatcher, easy.

Nexus grins. "If they were made of steel, the guards would take 'em away."

"Then, they have to grab the purse from the robber, while dodging the stun blasts from his two partners. The contest ends when the hero takes the purse to the podium and rings the buzzer." Sydney says.

Sword Dancer grins. "Ven aren't good enough wiv swords."

Kibin hmmms... okay, slightly harder than hunting.

While Sydney explains the scenario to the crowd, a referee speaks with the heroes to explain the rules.

Akeno shrugs as he grins a bit. "Huh. Only part that worries me is that swimming bit... ah well."

Nexus asks the referee "does pulling yourself along the bottom of the swim-tank count as 'swimming'?

The referee nods to Nexus. "Yes, it does."

Joseph turns his field glasses on the crowd and takes them in for a few minutes as the course is revealed.

Nexus nods. "Cool."

The referee looks to the heroes and asks, "Are there any questions?"

Kibin says to the referee, "I'm assuming we have to grab the purse. No knocking out the purse snatcher. Right?"

Sydney tells the crowd, "As if it weren't hard enough the heroes are also competing against the times set by the heroes last Friday, where the Wasp narrowly edged out Variable for the top time!"

Captain Rackham grins. He takes a big ol' swig of his rum.

Kibin asks the referee, "Also, is it valid to long jump into the pool?"

No entry for 'ref tells Kibin, "Yes, you can jump or dive into the water."'.

The ref tells Kibin, "Yes, you can jump or dive into the water."

The ref tells Kibin, "Try to take it easy on out stuntmen, ok?"

Kibin nods at the ref. "I won't need to knock any of them out, just asking..."

Sword Dancer grins. "Will take easy," she says, and looks at them as she draws her sword.

Sydney says, "Ok heroes, on your marks!"

Kibin crouches a bit more than he usually does, getting ready to move very very fast as soon as he can.

Akeno gets down on one knee like a sprinter. He's done this before probably. Maybe in training? Still, it's probably going to be a bit fun.

Sword Dancer moves to the start line and limbers up, eyeing the robot crowd.

Nexus does not noticably change his position or posture.

Sydney says, "Get set.... GO!"

Main Street is crowded with robotic pedestrains, making it hard to navigate if running down its length.

Icon descends from the MagLev station.

"Haxxors fur Nwexi" pops up on some screens briefly again as the gun goes off.

Sword Dancer dashes off into the robotic crowd, using her extraordinary dancelike moves to weave around or leapfrog over the pedestrians as needed.

The SCA for Sword Dancer contingent pulls out some battered horns and blows a reasonably okay fanfare as Kizhra starts the competition.

Sword Dancer weaves through the crowd with an incredible effortlessness.

Kibin runs fulltilt through the crowd, leaping side to side and twisting throughout the crowd as fast as he can.

Akeno disappears as the start goes off, reappearing to twist and weave his way around robotic pedestrians before going the full 20" easily it seems. Looking back briefly, he turns to look at the next leg of the race.

Nexus yells out "Thank you Haxxors!" before giving a jaunty wave and disappearing from the stage. He effortlessly reappears at the very edge of the water-tank, bypassing Main Street and the tunnel altogether, and prepares to enter the pool. He seems vaguely disoriented.

Akeno blinks a few times. "If I could, I'd call that foul. At least I run."

Akeno looks at the tunnel briefly, then disappears again. Reappearing on the other side as he heads for the pool at a jog. Swimming is not something he's good at, honestly.

Kibin starts really going now that he has been running around, blasting through the maglev tunnel at speeds over that of sixty miles per hour, diving into the pool and swimming towards the purse snatcher.

Kibin starts really going now that he has been running around, blasting into and through the maglev tunnel at speeds of over sixty miles per hour. He tries to push himself as fast as he can go, glad that some of the endurance running he's been doing has been paying off.

Once inside the tunnel, Kibin is greeted by an unsettling sight -- the light of an oncoming train in the middle of the tunnel.

Sword Dancer dashes through the rest of the crowd, seemingly not even slowed by them, and into the tunnel without a pause. When the train comes toward her she simply (somehow!) limbos under it and keeps on running!

Kibin leaps to the side of the train, squeezing in a tight fit between the fast moving train and the wall. He comes to the end of the tunnel, diving into the water, going faster than Akeno is now, despite his teleporting. Though now we're to the swimming...

Nexus, enters the water and promptly reaches his right arm through a small interdimensional portal. His right hand reappears about 20 meters away and grabs at a strut halfway across the water tank, then the space between the two portals distorts in a visually disturbing way as his arm and his hand are reunited, pulling his body through the water.

And another cheer goes up from the SCA for Sword Dancer. One very small lady, who appears to be someone's toddler, is dressed in a miniature version of Kizhra's outfit and shown off to the cameras.

Akeno dives into the pool and starts to swim. One thing he's not good at as he makes his way quickly as possible towards the other side of the pool. This one might take a bit.

Nexus is impressed by Akeno overtaking him, but doesn't seem too worried once he sees the hero start dog-paddling.

"Nexus is in the lead!" Sydney cheers, "But wait, it looks like he's slowing down a little. Akeno passes him and jumps into the water!"

Kibin starts swimming as fast as he can towards the end of the pool, again pushing himself as far as possible. Not quite as impressive as the tunnel, though.

Nexus blinks in surprise as Kibin overtakes him as well. . o O (Man these guys are _fast_!)

Sword Dancer runs to the end of the tunnel and, sword held in her teeth (to the consternation of the "robbers" she's approaching, dives into the pool and start swimming.

Sydney says, "And Kihzra surges forward. She looks to be the best swimmer of the bunch!"

Nexus is astonished to suddenly be last, but getting to watch Kihzra swimming away from him somewhat makes up for it.

Kibin continues swimming towards the purse snatcher. He's starting to get winded from the constant effort, but not too much.

Nexus, enters the water and promptly reaches his right arm through a small interdimensional portal. His right hand reappears about 20 meters away and grabs at a strut halfway across the water tank, then the space between the two portals distorts in a visually disturbing way as his arm and his hand are reunited, pulling his body through the water and mostly catching up with the crowd.

Sword Dancer just swims as hard as she can.

Akeno starts to pick up the pace as he swims, diving under the water occasionally and pushing off faster.

Kibin swims and flips out of the pool, then grabs the purse with his teeth and attempts to rip it out of the mans grasp, keeping in the back of his mind dodging the two gunmen.

Regan descends from the MagLev station.

Regan finally arrives in the stand, hurrying to take her seat, her brow furrowed as she seems to have missed the start of the contest.

The Jurassic Pack goes wild! Kibin is in the lead!

Kibin zooms down the stretch before the two stuntmen can even react, pushing as far as he can go now that the finish line is in sight.

Nexus repeats his previous stunt, except with his left hand, pulling himself out of the pool. Meanwhile his already shimmering aura grows translucent, and truly attentive observers will notice from the reduced wake he leaves behind that he seems to weigh almost nothing now.

Two pairs of gunmen fire at their targets. Kibin is most of the way to the podium before the gunmen fire after him, missing. The other two watch as their gun blasts pass through Nexus's near insubstantial form.

Sword Dancer swims to the edge of the pool, flips out of it while taking her sword into her hand again and whips it out to take, with three deft flicks of the wrist, the purse from the one "robber" and the weapons from the others!

The purse and guns all go flying through the air to be caught by a grinning Kihzra in her left hand! "Went easy," she says to the "robbers".

The crowd goes soft for a moment, as the people on the stands try to figure out what's just happened. Then the slowmotion replay of Kihzra shows on the jumbotron of her snatching the purse and guns from all of the robbers. The crowd roars and the SCA fans jump up to their feet!

In the stands Regan watches events unfold with a furrowed brow, her jaw dropping open at the bewildering frenzy of activity on the course.

Akeno flips out of the pool, then makes a daring move as he leaps right by the purse snatchers, hands aiming to grab the purse and go if possible. If not, he intends to be on the other side for another try.

Kibin zooms across the finish line, pressing the buzzer and stopping nearly immediately afterward. He takes the purse out of his mouth and pants, exhausted.

"And Kibin crosses the line!" Sydney says, "And the judges tell me... Yes! He's beat the Wasp's time!"

Sword Dancer starts her sprint to the finish line, though her strained grin reveals that she's pushing herself hard.

Akeno disappears again not long after he's landed, catching up to Kihzra and skidding a bit as he crosses the finish line and hits the buzzer not long after her. He chuckles a bit as he looks at her, "I see what you mean by sports being fun."

Nexus watches his three competitors grab their purses and run, each more impressively than the last. By now it's clear he'll be a distant last in this race, which is really no big deal, but he hopes not to screw this up too embarassingly. He runs straight towards the purse-snatcher. "Punk... if you drop that purse now, I port your _whole_ body to prison. Otherwise I do it piecemeal. Best deal you'll get today," he growls in a sinister voice. He's hoping primarily to attract the man's attention as he reaches through another portal to grab the purse from BEHIND him and yank it away.

Nexus adds "I mean, if it's not too much trouble. Sir."

The purse snatcher manages to duck out of the way.

Nexus sighs.

Two gunmen fire at Nexus, but they miss.

Sword Dancer, getting a second wind, runs lightly across the finish line, tapping the buzzer with her sword as she goes.

Nexus rolls his eyes. "Well, you can't say I didn't give you a chance. Don't worry, this'll only hurt for a minute." He cocks his arm back as it shifts even further out of phase than it was before, and he swings hard at the purse-holder.

Sydney walks over to Kibin. "Kibin, you've just won the race, and you posted a time that's faster than Wasp's! Can you tell us what's going through your mind right now?"

Nexus sighs.

Kibin says to Sydney, not sure what else to say, "Catching my breath, first off."

The purse snatcher retreats out the range of the attack.

Sword Dancer looks pleased with herself. Winning was never on the cards, against this sort of competition. But she ran the entire course as hard as she could without once missing a beat.

Both of the gunmen fire their guns at Nexus, and miss.

Nexus is getting annoyed at his public humiliation. "Stand still, you blasted jack-rabbit!" He swings again, just as wildly than before.

Akeno chuckles a bit, walking over and offering a hand to Kibin, "Good race, Kibin." Yep. A friendly handshake.

Nexus 's arm passes literally _through_ his target's body, leaving no mark but dropping the purse-snatcher where he stands.

The purse snatcher drops the purse onto the ground.

Kibin shakes hands with Akeno. "I'd thought you win myself, after how fast you got through the first couple of challenges."

Sword Dancer goes to congratulate Kibin as well, putting her sword away and offering her hand.

Kibin shakes hands with Sword Dancer as well, no longer breathing as heavily.

Akeno shrugs. "Eh, my Wind Step isn't so good for swimming incidently. Something I'll work on one of these days."

Nexus almost ports to the end-zone, then decides it's silly to drop his defenses when he stands no chance of winning, then does it anyway because what the heck? He doesn't even bother picking the purse up, just teleports it with him.

Augustin descends from the MagLev station.

Regan shakes her head slowly from side to side as she watches the bewlidering array of modes of locomotion and the sheer professionalism and precision that is being brought to bear by the competitors

Nexus appears a few meters short of the finish line and covers the last few meters on foot, purse in hand.

"And Nexus crosses the line!" Sydney says. "Although he was slower than the other heroes tonight, this group was blazing fast! Let's give the competitors a big cheer!"

Sydney says, "If you look at the big board, you can see the combined results of the heroes from both heats! Again, it's Kibin in the top slot, followed by Akeno, who just managed to edge out the Wasp. After Wasp, it's Variable, and then Sable, Sword Dancer, Nexus, Crater, Howl, Captain Rackham, Lorelei, then Lightray!"

Nexus looks up, surprised, and grins a little. . o O (Well, didn't do _that_ badly.)

Akeno blinks a few times. He's shocked a bit. He edged out Wasp? He does look up at the board, though, frowning as he notes it. He didn't want to score high in the competition, after all.

Sword Dancer is happy being somewhere in the middle, considering.

Sydney says, "So the champion of this event is Kibin! But the real winners are all of us, who have these quick-footed heroes to protect us on the streets. I hope to see you all next week, for the next event, titled 'More Powerful than a Locomotive!'.

Nexus offers a hand to Akeno and Kibin. "Nice job, guys... Wasp's a hard act to beat."

Akeno blinks, then shakes hands before looking at Sword Dancer and nodding.

Kibin hmmmms. "That's going to be fun..." He shakes his hand with Nexus, saying, "Thanks... did you even go through the maglev tunnel, by the way?"

Sword Dancer says, "Are many fast peopre!"

Regan's lips purse and her head shakes slowly once again. . o O (I used to think I was sort of fast)

Nexus shakes his head at Kibin. "Nope. Good thing too, my only chance keeping up with you guys as in not going _through_ anything if I could help it."

Captain Rackham applauds at the results.

Kibin hmmms. "I don't suppose you had to contend with the train coming at you, then."

Nexus blinks. "Train?"