Strike Down: Contest Entry PG D AA

[Viewtiful Starman]

Well... I kinda suck at labelling the genre... it's kinda actiony and dramaticish, not really any adventure but I'm fairly sure it IS PG.

Regardless, come see the kind of crazy melodrama that can only be produced by years and years of watching too much Shounen anime. /o/

Disclaimers:

This is sort of a cleaned up version of the entry.
I procrastinated a bit when I wrote it and didn't have much time to go back and look things over. So as a result there were some weirdly phrased parts and screwy typos/grammar, which hopefully are all fixed now.

This is the first thing I've done in a while, so it probably won't be amazing but hope you guys like it anyways.



Strike Down

Bowlman really wished he hadn’t just heard what he thought he heard. So what if the voice was similar... Surely he wasn‘t the only one that used that phrase? Surely it wasn’t HIM.

But when the voice behind him repeated “CHECK IT OUT!” a second time, Bowlman stopped kidding himself and turned around to face him.

“Just as attentive as ever, I see.” Bowlman’s suspicions were confirmed, and Brightman was standing there, looking just as idiotic as last time they’d met.

“Just as annoying as ever.” Bowlman retorted. Any semblance of politeness he might normally show (which he didn’t to anybody but his master) was absent.

“Well, your comebacks improved at least, I’ll give you that. Well no use mincing words, you know what I’m here for!” Brightman cut to the chase and rushed at Bowlman.

~~~

"Hello aaaaaand welcome everybody!" An announcer practically yelled in to his mic, as he addressed the large crowd before him. "The event you've all been excitedly waiting for... no, anticipating with ALL YOUR BEING, IS FINALLY READY TO BEGIN!"

~~~

"Everybody's breath is held... We haven't had a match this exciting in years and it's all coming down to THIS throw! If our champion wins, this will mark his 10th year of victory in a row! However, should he fail, his nearly DECADE long reign will end, and the trophy passed on to his opponent, the mysterious challenger who appeared in the bowling world out of nowhere and DAZZLED us with his extraordinary skill and charisma!."

'Does this guy ever BREATHE?' Bowlman thought to himself, although didn't let his annoyance show. He had a game to focus on and this was the first time anybody got this close to beating him in years. This was it, the final shot! The point where he dazzles everybody and comes out on top with an extraordinary victory!

At least that's how things should have went. To a normal person, it would just look like the champion had screwed up at the last second. However it was quite jarring for Bowlman personally, when his arm suddenly ceased to move for half a second and his throw was completely off when he tried to jerk his arm out of it.

~~~

“Heh, you’re better,” Brightman complimented, as Bowlman intercepted his attack and threw a bowling ball at him. “But you’re still as dull as ever! This’ll be done in no time! I shined then and I shine even brighter now! CHECK IT OUT!”

~~~

“Damn it... what the hell.” Bowlman muttered to no one in particular, as the jackass commentator continued to spew out praise for their new champion.

“Fun match, huh?” Came a high pitched voice that would soon come to be his own personal shiny hell.

“Do you want something?” Bowlman asked, irritably. Although he’d never admit it he wasn’t the most graceful loser back then.

“Not in particular, just wanted to congratulate my opponent on a great game, you really shined out there,” He sounded like he was trying to be nice, but there was a barely contained mocking tone to his voice. “If you hadn’t been hacked like that, I bet you could’ve gone right through this thing!”

“WHAT!?” Bowlman swivelled around to face his opponent. Did he mean what I think he-

“Yeah, that’s right. I hacked you. it’s an unfair victory. Ill gotten gains and all that,” Brightman answered before Bowlman could even finish that train of thought as if he read his mind, although it was more likely just a really good guess.

Bowlman could barely believe his ears, except... “Bet you thought it was just a glitch, right? A bad twist of fate!” Brightman said, confirming Bowlman’s thoughts as unnervingly accurately as before. “Well CHECK IT OUT, it was all me!”

Bowlman wasn’t the type then to intelligently look at a problem before facing it head on with something explosive, so while he did wonder how that managed to work with each navi getting an extensive scan before the final match, his actions were more along the lines of attacking headfirst.

“Gatling Pin!” The green navi whipped out his oversized buster and shot a series of bowling pin missiles at his enemy.
Except not, Brightman wasn’t standing there anymore and instead, the projectiles flew on past him, blowing up a part of the wall. Bowlman didn’t have time to turn around before something was choking him all of a sudden and a pair of antennae swung by his field of vision, he was caught in Brightman’s Plug Lariat.

“Sure, you’re wondering ‘Why is this beautiful shining stranger telling me this’, well you know why?” Brightman continued, as he jumped over Bowlman’s attempt to elbow him, landing in front of his opponent while still keeping a hold on him and now too far away for Bowlman to strike. “If you’re that desperate... There‘s no way you can catch me.”

His cocky grin couldn’t be any bigger at this point, and this pissed Bowlman off beyond anything else. He grabbed Brightman’s antennae and tried his hardest to somehow break or part them, but this was a durable psycho he was up against and it was useless.

“Y’see, my operator perfected this cool trick with security footage and... Well it looks quite a bit like you attacked my unprovoked.” Bowlman materialized his buster again, but before he could even strike Brightman he jumped in front of him and stomped down on the weapon, forcing Bowlman to the floor.

“This was all in self defence. As far as they know, all I was doing was congratulating you on a good game, you reacted violently aaaaand... well you saw what happened, I dodged your attack with my shining reflexes and the camera went boom! Gotta love editing, huh?”

Although a bit on the stupid side, Bowlman could figure out what that meant. His opponent cheated and did it well, REALLY well. He didn’t want to get caught and thanks to Bowlman, he barely had to tamper with anything. But... he wasn’t gonna let this go, he was gonna tear Brightman to SHREDS.

“And no matter who you tell, no one will believe you. Who are they gonna believe? A former champion that was just kicked off his throne and is known for being an angry twit or the new champion. Charismatic, bold and with some shiny, convincing evidence? Oh sure no one will fall for your ruse, you say but... Sorry, the op‘s too good for that.”

Brightman left it at that and jabbed one of his plus in to Bowlman’s forehead, who felt his consciousness begin to rapidly fade.

~~~

Bowlman just stood there and smirked as Brightman taunted him. Bowlman’s ball struck a trio of pins behind Brightman and before he could register what happened, they flew at the navi and slammed in to his back.

“Damn it...” Brightman said, his smile fading slightly as he jumped in to the air. “I guess I might have to take you seriously, hu-SKGHLKHNFLHNDF” He was cut short as a series of Gatling Pins hit him square in the chest, exploding on impact.

Brightman fell to the ground, but was still able to get up despite not looking very happy anymore. “Well... I see his training did you good. But I guess anyone who can help you outwit my op HAS to be worth something.”

Brightman began to gain the upper hand now, he caught on to Bowlman’s new pattern pretty quickly and was able to steer the battle back in his favor with little trouble.

~~~

“You... Why haven’t you given up?” The genie navi Mistman as he floated around his weakened opponent.

“I want power, that’s what this ‘S’ gives me, isn’t it!?” Bowlman answered, getting up yet again.
Mistman was amazed, although he didn’t outwardly show it. This guy had looked like most hot-headed idiots he had to fight, but... none of them had ever gone on for nearly as long as this guy, it had nearly been 10 hours now.

“Yes, that’s understandable. With enough power, there’s nothing that one cannot accomplish,” Mistman stated simply, using an old philosophy of his. “But still... why are you so desperate?”

“I can‘t... I CAN’T PUT UP WITH THIS CRAP ANYMORE! EVERYONE’S SIDING WITH THAT CHEATING BASTARD AND HE NEEDS WHAT’S COMING TO HIM!” Bowlman yelled as he shot another round of Gatling Pins at Mistman, who dissapeared before they could get close.

Mistman sighed. This was getting a bit more dramatic then he liked and there were probably other challengers waiting by now (the area he guarded was locked off during battles), so he better finish this.

“Mist Gengar!” He called out, causing a pair of spirits to appear and begin tormenting Bowlman. The bowler navi quickly succumbed to this, and soon was on his knees, barely able to move.

“Damn... damn you...” Bowlman muttered.

“Give up, there isn’t any point going on.” Mistman said as he looked down at him.

“I... won’t.” Bowlman’s defeated look was fading, and replaced with determination.

“You’ve gone longer than any navi I’ve fought, I give you that. But there isn’t a point in going on further.”

“No... I won’t... lose... I’m getting this rank.” His voice was gaining strength and he slowly began to rise.

“Fine, then accept your fate.” Mistman raised his fist and prepared to put all his power in to a finishing blow, but before he did a calm voice came from behind him. “Stop.”

Mistman recognized the voice instantly and turned his head around quickly as he lowered his fist, hardly believing his ears. His master almost never showed up here.

“You put up a good fight... Bowlman, right?” the navi said, smiling. “My name is Serenade. Or as you’d know me, S.”

Bowlman was in shock, and he slumped to the ground as the ghosts dissapeared. “You’re... a girl.” Was all he could say.

Serenade chuckled at this. “Not quite... It’s hard to explain.”

“Why are you here Master?” Mistman asked, still confused over Serenade’s appearance.

“I’ve been watching for a while... I often do when you fight.” He said, adopting a more serious expression. “To get to the point... Would you like to join me, Bowlman?”

“WHAT!?” Mistman yelled in shock before collecting himself. “But... why?”

“You’ve wanted a bit of a break for a while,” Serenade stated (Mistman never outwardly said this, to this day it’s a mystery to him how his master knew.) “And well... I see potential in this person.”

“But... it’s true he lasted long, but he isn’t really that powerful. He seems to have some business of his own anyways, how do you know he wants the position?” Mistman continued. It’s true he wanted some time off, but a partner would have to be worthy and this guy hardly was.

“I give power to those who seek to use it for a good cause. If Bowlman is willing to bring justice with his revenge, I’d be happy to take him on as an apprentice.” Serenade responded, continuing to look calm. “Is this what you want, Bowlman?”

Bowlman took a bit of time to respond, looking thoughtful for once. “You’ll give me power?” He asked.

“As long as you are willing to make your revenge serve a good purpose, yes.” Was the answer.

“Then... I’ll become your student. Please, give me power.” Bowlman requested, getting on to his knees to beg.

“You don’t need to do that,” Serenade said, smiling again. “Oh and Mistman, how many times have I told you? You’ve got to lighten up on the power bit. Power isn’t everything.”

~~~

Master Serenade had done so much for Bowlman since then and no matter how strong Brightman had gotten since they last met, Bowlman wouldn’t let him win. He had long surpassed his former weakness, and he was going to show his opponent that.

[Mugen.exe]

It was an interesting one-shot. The constant switching of tenses sort of made my head spin, but it was well-written- I enjoyed the parts with Mistman. It explained the reasons Bowlman wanted to join Serenade-sama a little more, and was an enjoyable read.
Good job!
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False Swipe is a great finishing move!
Witty robots, spunky orphans, and invincible pilots, this link's for you! A Gundam RP

[Kitty-Chan]

An interesting look at a character rarely thought of. I applaud you.
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Need more Zero/X, Netto/Rock, Rock/Netto, Forte/Netto, & Blues/Netto. PLEASE!
Ano sa...could someone please make me a Zero/X, Blues/Netto, or Forte/Netto avatar/banner? I would greatly appreciate it...
Thanks for the avatar, Mandi!
People! We need more Blues/Netto & Forte/Netto on the net. Come on; help me out here! *gives everyone her Super-Adorable Irrisistable Sad Kitty Eyes(TM)*

[Midnight]

Hmm...

I admit, this was a unique way to get one of the characters to go on this "quest" for power...

Anyway, I believe that you did the characters justice. A lot of them seemed on par, though I must admit I found some of the situations a tad absurd. The end was a bit jarring, as I never did expect Serenade to show up. Nevertheless, it was a good work.
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Today, these three players are after Big Bucks! But they'll have to avoid the Whammy, as they play the most exciting game of their lives! From Television City in Hollywood! It's time to 'Press Your Luck!'--Rod Roddy

The Kingdom of Loathing: An Adventurer is You! // I ♣ Seals

Avatar by Spork. I very much appreciate it! <3