Angels and demons (Closed)

[JadeKnight]

The war between angels and demons could be seen as a never ending war by outsiders. However, the true nature of things was much deeper and more complicated than that. It was actually a recurring cycle of balancing of power between the two. Since most mortals were only around long enough to see a small slice of how things went between the two factions, it could be though of as the two being mortal enemies. This could be true for a small sect, but it was mostly business as usual for the majority. Yes, the rebalancing of "power" was done through a large series of war games to determine the final winner in the end. The victor between the two would be the ones to have the most influence and power over the mortal world.
As time flowed, so too did the time once more for the mock war to begin. There were really few rules to abide by, if any in order to encourage creative ways of fighting. While the angels tended to go for straight forward and honorable fighting, the demons would try underhanded tactics to get ahead. There was one aspect that both factions tended to do, as it tended to make things more interesting, was to summon champions from the mortal races to liven things up. Their power levels often ranged from mediocre to the very rare super powerful.

Senji Hakada was just 18 when he graduated from high school. He had been seen as a nerd, with only a couple of friends thoughout his life. Although he had gotten a part time job as a cook, it was barely making him enough money to put towards college. He had grown up learning a bit of marital arts for self defense, as well as some sword fighting. He didn't consider himself as more than average, although he had managed to win a few small tournaments during middle school and high school.

It had been nearly a year since high school and Senji foundt himself looking at a poster on a telephone pole at the corner of the playground near his apartment. It was announcing a new tournament that would be happening in a couple of weeks. Judging by the amount offered, he was sure it would be a high stakes gamble to even get though. However, he was a little desperate right now to get out of his current situation and he felt this was just the thing he needed to do. He hefted his backpack on his right shoulder for a moment, his work uniform and marital arts uniform nestled inside it. He had his wooden kendo sword strapped on top of his backpack, which he was going to need for class after work tonight.

He took a moment to jot down the contact information for the tournament before moving down the street towards the bus station. He had gotten about half a block when a strange buzzing noise caught his attention. Looking down the alleyway he was passing, the buzzing and swirling blue spherical blob floating in the middle of the alley caught his attention. Curious, he stopped in his tracks to stare at the thing. Looking around, no one else was around, so he wasn't sure how long this thing had been here. Deciding he had time to check things out, he moved towards it slowly. He walked around it a couple of times, finding it unattached to anything. Stopping on one side of it, he watched the swirling color for a few seconds.

"Interesting."

He muttered softly to himself as he studied it. He reached forward with his free hand carefully, filling it going into the portal without resistance. He put his hand in to his wrist, before stopping. He was really sure, but he thought he felt a bit of heat on the other side. It wasn't very hot, but warm like a summer breeze. He thought he felt something brush against his skin, so he jerked it back quickly. e looked at his hand for a few moments, but saw nothing wrong physically except a little redness. He put his hand back inside once more, trying to explore once more. This time he cried out as something firm, but soft grab tightly around his hand and yank him through it.

 

[Poprockz]

"Well, wot 'ave we got he'e..." A demon, an honest-to-god demon had him by the wrist, studying him with interest. They had dark purple skin and horns that curled like a ram's, this particular one being a rather short, stout man with a bald head. His black eyes looked Senji up and down, silently appraising him and ultimately finding him lacking.

He gave a grimace and sighed, cursing to himself. "Fuck... anothah weakling... Oi kid, ya ever heard'a lifting? Ya look like an angel'd sneeze an' blow ya ovah."

More surprising than the demon himself perhaps, was the fact that Senji was no longer in the world he was familiar with. It was very warm there, like a tropical island, though much less relaxing. They were in a field behind a large, medieval castle with gothic architecture, several terrifying gargoyle statues watching them from above. The two of them weren't the only ones there either, a group of demons being in the process of pulling unsuspecting humans through the small portals they seemed to have created.

Overhead, there was no sun, stars, or clouds- only darkness past the red glow of the lava lakes and rivers nearby. One might think that because of this there would be no plant life, but this wasn't the case. There were twisted vines gathered into bushes nearby, the ground covered here and there with a brownish-green moss-like substance.

 

[JadeKnight]

His attention was focused on the demon that had him by the wrist, so the surroundings were quite noticed yet. When the demon let him go in disgust after calling him a weakling, Senji instinctively took a couple of steps backwards. He had fully expected to retreat back into the portal he had come from, but it had disappeared already. The demon scowled for a moment, clearly upset and irritated by the whole situation it had been made to do. He reached out and grabbed Senji again, this time pushing him further into the crowded field.

"Go on, get inside. I've got more work tae dae and ya ain't helping."

Senji stumbled a couple feet forward before catching himself. Able to pay attention once more, he took in his surroundings as he moved to join the large line that had flowed out of the large castle. He managed to count about fifty other humans, both male and female. He wasn't sure sure what was special about any of them, being of varying sizes and levels of fitness. Besides humans, he had noticed, much to his surprise, other types of beings like dwarves, elves, and a handful of other types of creatures.

"Am I in hell?" The young man wondered aloud for a moment, overheard by the demon who was watching the line proceed from nearby. The large, muscular red demon snorted for a moment.

"No boy. This is the planet Zebox. Your new home for the foreseeable future. Now get inside."

Senji nodded quietly as he fell into moving along the line. As he got closer to the large door, a few hanging posters plastered against the worn brown stone catching his eyes. They all depicted a mixed group of human, elves, and other beings clad in various outfits and battle poses. Words were printed around the picture in a circular pattern.

"Join the Champions today. Join the best and brightest in defending the galaxy. Earn benefits like Free food, money, slaves, houses, etc. Become one of the elite. We need you."

Each poster seemed to be written in a different language, most of which the young man had no clue about. Moving inside the large door, the line continued into a large open area. It was lit by torches all around and several hanging chandeliers. Demons were positioned at the front of the line, directed everyone off to one of several booths lined along the sides of the room.

Each booth was manned by two demons, one making notes on a notepad before directing people further into the castle. A large crystal ball was floating in the center of the booth. As each being placed their hand on the crystal, it was flash a different color for each person. It seemed the brighter, more colorful shades seemed to please the demons, but the ones who couldn't get the ball to light up were a disappointment. The ones who had the dull colors or no color were sent further into the castle, while those with bright colors got sent through a large red portal setup in front of an empty throne.

When it was his turn, the two demons had a look of disgust on their faces as if they were expecting him to fail this test. He took a deep breathe for a moment before placing his hand carefully for a moment. Something in the back of his mind was hoping that he would be able to pass whatever this test was, even if he didn't know what it was about. He did wince a moment as he felt a sharp jolt in his hand, but he didn't pull away. The demons didn't seem to notice his reaction as they stared at the crystal ball. They stared even longer than they had when the other candidates had been up there, but didn't say a word. Finally the non-writing demon jerked his hand away.

"What a fine fail of a catch to get. Maybe you'll make good cannon fodder. Now get out of here."

The demon sneered as he shoved Senji towards a dimly lit passage behind the booth. The young man gulped and shivered, wondering exactly what the demon meant by cannon fodder. As he walked down the hallway, he felt his right hand itch a little and lifted it up to scratch it. He blinked for a moment as he could just make out a set of softly glowing numbers, 1/10.

"The hell?"