After the performances were over, you found yourself in the White Room for an unbearably long time, without much to do. Eventually, however, somthing finally happened; a large pool of water appeared in the center of the room, and in its reflections you could see the images of various performances, ranging from intricate wood carvings, to lightning being channeled like a paintbrush, cards flying through the air, mannequins exploding in a burst of flame, dartboards, musical performances, and everything inbetween! “We had a lot of really amazing entries!” Manny’s voice eventually yelled happily, as the platform from before appeared again. “Well, we had a lot of entries, anyway.” Dolly added. “But, only one of you can sit on the Big Chair!” (Static) said, pulling up the Chair next to him. Once again, that irresistable urge to sit in it re-emerged. “And so we’ve chosen the top 4 contestants, to battle against eachother for their shot at the top! And they are; Ambition! Blaze! Acro! And Cobalt! Now they won’t be just putting on another show, oh no! They’ll be going head to head in one on one battles! And here are our matchups! Ambition vs. Acro Blaze vs Cobalt And now, Manny, if you would..” Manny pulls out a flintlock pistol, and fires the bullet into (Static)’s head. He doesn’t seem to make the slightest reaction. “As you can see, you can’t actually get hurt here..” He said. “Okay, well, actually, that hurt a lot, but look! No lasting injuries! What that means is these battles won’t be judged on who goes down first, because nobody’s going down! Just like the first round, you’ll be judged on your appeal, writing quality, and creativity! Unlike the first round you aren’t trying to build up your own points, though, but drain the opponent’s! Whoever has the highest point total at the end of the time limit wins, and moves on to the finals! Rinse and repeat, and then that winner gets to sit on the Big Chair! [b][u](see the spoiler for the rules of combat)[/u][/b] And so with that out of the wat, let’s!” “Get.” Dolly said in an annoyed tone. “BUSY!” Manny yelled excitedly. If you’re one of the four semifinalists you suddenly appear on The Stage, facing your opponent, otherwise you find yourself sitting in the audience, alongside the other contestants, and a host of porcelain dolls. [b][u]Rules of Combat[/u][/b] [spoiler]First and foremost, I won’t be judging these real time; I’ll look at them after the fact, so don’t feel the need to wait for me. Second: please don’t reply to combat comment chains, unless you’re a combatant. If you wish to RP with one of the combatants make a separate reply chain, please. Helps keep things organized. Third: The time limit is either 10 turns each (reply chain should end at about 20 between the two of you), or until Wednesday. Whichever comes first. Fourth: You cannot summon anything, or teleport. That includes portals. Fifth: No healing. Health is based on points, not actual damage. Now as for how combat actually works; Action: Your attack. You must attack every turn. Attacks will be judged based on visual appeal (make it flashy), writing quality, and creativity. Each category can contribute up to 10 points, meaning you can do a max of 30 damage per attack. Reaction: How you react. Defending, dodging, redirecting, etc. Every turn except the first starts with a reaction. You get 3 “Complete” Reactions (see below), but all other reactions are judged on the following; visual appeal, writing quality, and creativity. Each can give you up to 5 points of defense, knocking off a maximum total of 15 points of damage per turn. [b]REMEMBER:[/b] Normal reactions should be written in a way that you still take most of the blow. “I try to dodge, but still get hit in the side” for instance. When typing your reactions, remember that there is pain, but no injury. Complete Reactions: This is when you react in a way that completely nullifies the incoming attack. Completely dodging out of the way, redirecting it back, etc. The first 3 of these will not only completely block ALL incoming damage, but the opponent will even take up to 15 points in damage as a missing penalty. This is judged the same way as a regular reaction. [b]HOWEVER![/b] If you try to completely dodge/block/redirect/nullify/etc. an attack a 4th time,m (and any time after that) you’ll receive a 50 point penalty. Be clear with your descriptions whether or not you’re completely or partially reacting. Actual combat is pretty simple. Aside from what’s listed above, basically anything goes. The first turn has no reaction, but every turn after that is just; “Reaction Action” I’ll go through and read through your fight once the time limit’s up, and then decide a winner. The winner will then move on to the finals. Assuming everything goes as planned, both the finals and semifinals will be on this post. Semifinals will last from today until Wednesday, finals from Wednesday until Friday. Finally, even if you’re not one of the semifinalists, you can still RP by chatting with the judges, or other contestants. Just remember; there’s no teleporting or summoning here, and keep out of the combat chains.[/spoiler]