[OCL] Scouting The Competition

When humble Finley was approached and asked to participate in an elemental tournament, at first, his answer was no. After all, he was a doctor! He could hardly be seen fighting others! It was wrong of him to even consider! He shook and shook his head at the Academic who offered, and the small slug was astounded they had found and asked him at all. After all, he was hardly up for the task! He was weak!... He was... he couldn't even....

Well. He couldn't fight, but he was strong. Or at least, his elemental powers were. His mastery over water was pretty impressive, at least as far as he'd been told by those who had observed him in a scuffle. He'd stuttered and stammered at the Academic before him, but they insisted. And the more they insisted, a heavy curiosity lingered in his mind, overshadowing his self-consciousness. It wasn't to the death, and he was pretty tough. He might not be able to win the entire thing, but....

His fingers reached for the silver ribbon offered to him.

...

Oh my god. Oh my god what was he thinking. Why the HELL did he decide to join?!

Finley stared at his corkboard, sweating. He'd spent the last few days researching the competiton, and with every name and every note his heart siezed in his chest. Every single thing he discovered made him realise how utterly and completely he was out of his league.

-Apirka was a strong half-orc woman who could not only take a hit like it was nothing, but also could fly?! She had the bloodline of a powerful sorcerer, so who KNEW what sort of magical tricks she had up her sleeve? With the winds at her command, she could easily throw him around like a ragdoll! He was a squishy boy, and this powerful woman intimidated him.
-Blue was a mysterious spirit who could make flames so hot they burned blue! Armed with a spiked staff, he had no idea what to expect of both her cyan flames, or her mysterious spirit nature! She LOOKED friendly, but in the battlefield, he KNEW he'd end up holding back because of it. Maybe they could be friends afterwards....? After she's done kicking his ass.
-Hazard was a radioactive gremlin? Excuse me??? They had the absolute most cutest face Finley had ever seen, but he couldn't even squish it because his face would BURN. HIS. SKIN. They could regenerate, and could stalk in the dark. They could run circles around him and leave his face in their radioactive dust! He'd have to be on the defensive for this one....
-Corda was... well, he didn't know! A mysterious dream entity, also known as a 'dreamer', he struggled to find information on this in any books. And he was too scared to find them and ask. An array of reality-warping abilities, and capable of shapeshifting into a ton of unique forms, made this mysterious individual a terrifying possibility to fight. Also, they also had water powers! And scary-cool glasses!
-Martin is an alien! He doesn't know alien biology! He couldn't know how to fight aliens or how to talk to aliens or anything about alien culture! Not only that, they were born to a king, and were therefore a prince????! Finley was scared that punching this individual in the face would have multiple terrible consequences. The Academic Collective had good lawyers for things like this, right...?
-Abel is a demon. Aliens. And demons. This tournament is terrifying. An incredibly cool, quick-thinking, and handsome strategist, who can plan steps ahead in a fight to outstart their opponent. And Finley... was an easy read. His lack of experience would be an easy weakness in his fight with him, so he'd really have to stp up his game and try not to fall for this demon of desire's tricks....
-Aeris, the mysterious masked individual with the coolest weapon, was a bounty hunter. Another fire wielder, but also a heavily experienced fighter, who understands the horrors of battle and fears of war. And definitely wouldn't go easy on this poor sea slug boy. Finley couldn't find much information on this competitor either, no matter how much he looked in his books. He'd have to keep away as much as possible...

There were other competitors, other possibilities. Flashes of people in papers accepting ribbons, with capabilities unknown and untold. There were so many worlds out there that it was impossible to really track everyone. This was going to be the biggest tournament he'd ever seen - perhaps the biggest tournament of all time. 

........Last place isn't that shameful, is it....?

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Hoo boy, this took a while! Took so long that I didn't want to shade it, because I've got a long work week ahead of me!

I didn't want to tag everyone who's faces I did a silly little doodle of, because I wasn't sure if I would get yelled at for what is like a 2 second scribble. But thanks to everyone who let me use their faces! Sorry if you were expecting more, haha! I hope you like these little cameos anyway! I'm so excited to face everyone in the coming battles!

Good luck at the OCL, everybody!!!!!!!!!!!!! <3