“Oh, oh, Shawn! I think I’m cute! I know I’m sexy! I’ve got the looks! That drive the girls wild! I’ve got the moves! They really move ‘em! I send chills, up and down their spines! I’m just a sexy boy! Sexy booooyyyy,” Mercutio sang, listening to a song on his Zune while getting dressed.

Today was going to be a big day for a lot of people. Various arenas in Tybalt held tournaments every month or so, but this particular tournament was different from all the others. The Tybalt World Championship tournament only happened once in a decade, and only the best fighters in the world were allowed to apply.

Rather than qualifying matches, participants were allowed to join based on past battles and accomplishments. Whether they’d won multiple tournaments, were renowned for killing a legendary fighter, or simply exuded an air of power, they were allowed entrance. Mercutio himself had bribed the tournament officials in order to participate.

Today he planned on wearing a black t-shirt, jeans, brown boots, and a brown sheepskin bomber jacket, rather than his usual priest outfit. He didn’t want to draw any more attention to himself than was necessary. This was, after all, merely a means of fighting boredom. He wasn’t in it for fame or fortune.

Once he was dressed, Mercutio turned around and immediately stepped on a nail. The Unformed One bit his lip and pulled the piece of metal out of his foot. That’s what he got for staying in a cheap hotel room, he reasoned. Rosaline hoped that the hotel that the tournament sponsors provided would be a bit better.

~

While Mercutio was singing Shawn Michaels’ theme song, Cain was already at the arena. He’d entered disguised as a homeless man he’d fed upon the night before, and stood near a green-haired man. Adonai vaguely remembered meeting the man at Johnny Bones’ funeral, but couldn’t recall his name.

The vampire looked over the competition with a condescending gaze. Judging by the plethora of scents, very few of these people were human. Human or not, none of them seemed very powerful.

“Damn,” Cain thought. “I can’t test my powers against fodder…”

~

Ziran had wandered into the tournament completely by chance. Why they let him in, he didn’t know. The catboy busied himself for the time being by hunting through the crowd of fighters for anybody that he knew.

Kunto recognized a few people from a funeral Cain took him to a while back, but couldn’t recall any of their names, or any specific details about them. He remembered that the green-haired man had comforted him during the sad event, so he decided to change into his kitten form and go join the green man.

~

PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN!

Havok followed the source: A blonde man listening to a Zune. The killer was dressed in his civilian clothes, but had his stick and his torture devices in a sack with his killer clothes handy. He took the sack and followed his target anxiously.

~

Mercutio walked through the participants’ entrance a few minutes later, closely followed by Havok. He cheerfully greeted a few fighters before sitting down against the wall to survey his competition. The Avatar of Destruction was pleasantly surprised by what he saw.

Zorlo, a man he’d met at Dante’s funeral, was here. So were Zachary and Monroe, two men whom Rosaline knew to be associated with the fencer. Further crowd scanning revealed that Cain Adonai and Ziran Kunto were present.

Standing in a group away from the rest of the participants was a small collection of dark-skinned beings with yellow eyes, whom Mercutio knew to be prototype echoes. The entire group of dark creatures gave Rosaline a hungry glance before returning to their private conversation. Rosaline yawned and continued to survey the competition.

He only found two more people of interest: A blonde-haired man with a burlap sack who appeared to be eyeing him, and an intense looking woman with purple hair and goggles. Rosaline ignored the man in favor of the woman, as she appeared to be the only female participating in this tournament.

“I wonder if she’s tough,” he thought, putting his Zune away. For her sake, he hoped she was.