Stacking the Deck [OPEN, Rules]

[attr="class","itsover1"] A roar shuddered over the arena with a tremor following just behind. A cacophony of sound shattered what had for a moment been an uneasy silence. Crowds had gathered to watch in mixed horror and curiosity as criminals bloodied themselves for one purpose and one purpose alone. To impress the wicked creature that sat in the elevated VIP stands, overlooking the ring. She was... all white. Her body glowed with an unearthly pale halo and her hair fluttered around her as if caught in an unseen wind. Her eyes glowed a bright lavender, maybe a pink, it was hard to tell, one could hardly even see her facial features if you weren't close enough. Not that it mattered with the heavy respirator she wore over her face.

Ishtar.

The self-proclaimed White Queen of Villains looked down at the fight on display with mute interest. Never moving even as other villains, movers and shakers of the underworld no doubt, stopped to sit with her in the VIP section. Some leaned in to whisper, commenting. He looked up at her, breathing hard, his eyes sunken slightly from the pain he'd endured. The wound wasn't bad, but he definitely would need treatment after this. He swallowed a bubbling up of saliva and looked down at his opponent. The other man had introduced himself as "Goliath" and had the body to match. Nearly eight feet tall, his quirk let him take on golem like traits. A man of stone. But he'd prevailed. His vibrations had burst through Goliath's defenses. He'd won.

"Your name?" The voice was... so cold. He felt his insides twist. He felt the sudden urge to stare at the ground and never tilt his head up again. Like that voice alone was enough to sentence him to the depths of hell. He swallowed, gripping his fists tight, "...well? Look at me when I am speaking..." Like... a bloody dagger raking across a sheet of ice. Worse than nails on a chalk board. It oozed malice.

He swallowed and looked up, those horrible eyes, it was like they were spinning... "...R-Richter... m-my name is Richter, ma'am..." He barked, trembling. He'd just beaten that huge man to hell... but this woman made him feel so small. He swallowed again as she regarded him.

"Get yourself cleaned up, Richter we will have words..." She said, and the silence he hadn't realized was hanging over the crowd shattered into a roar. He numbly remembered someone rushing out to grab him and urge him into a side room. He saw Goliath lifted up and taken away. He didn't even notice when they laid him down to treat him. Wait, what?

Outside, Ishtar smiled beneath her mask, this had been easier than she'd thought. Some of them had come here to show off to one another. Others had come to show off specifically to her. Regardless, the number of villains in Japan had skyrocketed in the past six months and many of the Fuchu escapees were at the point that they could stand on their own two feet. It was time to inspect the results of her actions, to harvest her carefully sown crop and find not only new additions to her inner circle... but more importantly...

Her expression thinned and she raised a hand; her voice echoing.

"Richter has won that bout! But we are not done! Come! Whomever you may be! Let us see you demonstrate the limits of Meta Humanity!" She bellowed, sitting back down and crossing her legs. Two more entered, the two both strode up to the center and faced her, standing like statues amidst the dirt floor and raised their fists, each introducing themselves with their code names. They then turned on one another and it was not long before both lay on the ground, beaten. Ishtar called for someone to take them away before urging the next pair to enter.

"...imbeciles..." She murmured, crossing her legs; she glanced to her right when a few of her associates mentioned security, were the heroes here already? They weren't stupid enough to enter the underground city in force, it could start a war. The damage to tokyo wasn't worth risking a direct confrontation between heroes and villains. They knew better and Red Horn knew that Ishtar had no interest in fighting a direct war. She'd speak reason. Ishtar smiled and narrowed her eyes, watching the doors open again.

"Who's next?"

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