What The Luck!?

"We are all going to get split up and brought to our respective tournament grounds. This is a huge venue. They can hold like twenty different sports matches here and house close to eight hundred thousand spectators." Asher had looked this up in the car since he wanted everyone to feel a little more confident. He thought that knowing some facts about it might help. 

"And, now I just want to curl in to a ball and turn invisible." Sammy had heard Asher and thought that many people would be watching her all at once. 

"Chill out. That\'s all together. I bet your flying race is only going to get a few hundred since it is at the same time as my tournament. The elemental demonstration is all about control and showing off. People love it." Louis had been practicing some flashy moves just for this. As far as he knew he was the only lightning elemental power participating. 

"You\'ll both do great. No need to argue like bratty siblings before the tournament." Cara snapped them before they could argue and exhaust their energy. "Also, remember that we can watch the tournaments from our waiting area. Just pay attention to the announcements since we might get called out at different times while each other participates." Cara was nervous but didn\'t show it even a little. 

"If anyone taunts you, you are a saint. Remember that showing off your power before hand and giving in to anyone that tries to sneak information and figure out your power." Art had been warned of this strategy when browning some online forums analyzing the battle videos from the year before. It was one strategy someone had used to win the random selection battles the year before as well since they saw everyone\'s power within the waiting time to prepare themselves. 

"Alright, everyone to your lines!" Asher split the group with a fist bump to everyone. The group was ready to go and fell in to separate directions. Asher was the one that fou d himself farthest from everyone else. 

"Hello, please present your pass and state your name or any nick name you would like to compete under." Asher heard the woman at the booth ask this and wondered why he had never thought of a nickname yet. 

He tried to think of something off the top of his head and said the first thing that came to mind, "The lucky Jinx." He immediately wanted to kick himself because he straight up said his own super power. 

"Alright. Your ticket is scanned. Please pass by and get on the bus to the venue you will be participating in. Remember, there is no fighting or testing super powers on the bus or the waiting room. If you are found to be doing so then you will be disqualified." The woman had to repeat this constantly to everyone so that they would know the rules and prevent any unnecessary fights. 

Asher was still mentally kicking himself as he realized that it didn\'t really matter as he moved forward. If he had the powers as his nicknames that would only throw people off. Noone would believe that he had two powers because it was too new of a development and the news only said that there was research ongoing. Even more, people wouldn\'t realize that those were his super power. Who would even think that someone had luck as a super power?\' 

The bus was only a short walk and parked next to a few others. They all had the same number on them as their printed tickets. The group that was on the bus Asher had stepped in to was unique to say the least. 

Asher had expected all kinds of super powers to be featured in his tournament since it was more or less an anything goes fight with martial arts and super powers. However, he was not prepared to see the lizard man taking up two seats with his size. Or the girl with an additional skeleton as armor over her body. It was strange seeing eyes under the bone white skull. 

"Keep your eyes to yourself kid. Or else I\'ll bump you and you might need to withdraw." The lizard man wasn\'t as friendly as anyone could have expected. Not that his looks painted him as a happy and talkative person. 

"Leave the kid alone. You probably won\'t even make it through the first round. Let alone all five." The woman backed Asher up but sent a judging gaze at him to size him up. 

"Huh, I thought it would be more rounds. Not that many chose to enter this year then." Asher was comfortable enough to ask this single question bringing surprise to the womans\' face. 

"You didn\'t hear? Normally there are ten rounds but a ton of people bailed because that ice blade maniac entered. Haven\'t you heard of ice blade?" The shock was more than clear and even drew the lizard mans\' eyes. 

"Nope, not a clue. I bet he uses ice as blades though. But it\'s warm out so it should be fine." Asher just shrugged it off but was again spoken to by the woman. 

"Look kid, I feel bad. The ice blade is notorious in tournaments for causing unnecessary damage to opponents within the rules. But I have my bone armor and the lizard man looks like his scales are tough. But you, don\'t look like you can block an ice blade." There was genuine concern in her voice which was a surprise. Asher had expected everyone to be tough and wanting to fight it out right away. 

" Just head home and pretend you never heard of this tournament. Maybe they will refund the entry fee." The lizard man changed his attitude realizing that Asher was a newbie. 

"I think I will be fine. I really appreciate the advice and I will focus more. But just keep an eye out for the lucky jinx to take first place." Asher tried his best to look tough but felt like he was just being cheesy. 

"Luck is nice but whatever your power is, it better be good kid." The lizard man spoke and pushed the bus in to silence. The three were still in silence when the bis left and brought them to the tournament building. 

The building itself was shaped like any other sports arena. Many seats with a round organization to allow spectators the best possible view. However, this was different in one way. The entire fighting area was rounded by a massive dome of incredibly resistant glass. This was further enhanced by multiple barrier type super power users to protect the spectators. 

Ashers\' inward amazement was hidden by a practiced poker face as he followed posted arrows inside and toward the waiting rooms. The buzz of conversation surprised him since many of the participants were chatting while waiting. There were even a coach or two around hying up their participants. He could make out some popular training gym logos along with a few sponsored participants. 

"Finally, the last bus got here. We still have some time until we start but we haven\'t been allowed to turn on the other televisions showing the other tournaments until everyone was here. Something about fairness and whatever."A man with long hair down to the ground moved and flicked on a line of televisions taking up an entire wall. 

The screens blazed to life showing every different venue. The one that stood out the most was a television that was broadcasting the survival tactics arena. There was a broadcaster explaining the opening. 

"Here in the survival tactics tournament it is do or die. The participants number over a hundred and only one will win. The goal is to quickly evaluate our conditions and adapt to survive. Making shelters, finding a suitable food source, and even dealing with the injury cards they are given to enhance their trials."

The announcer was wearing a heavy winter jacket and as the screen zoomed out the television showed the audience why. "Can they survive the bitter cold snowy forest in a white out blizzard? We will find out in ten minutes. Be ready for the very first tournament kick off here at the Rikerton tournament venue." 

"Wow, last year was a super hot beach set up. Now it\'s a blizzard forest? They must have doubled the size of the arena." The exclamations like this one were happening all through the room. 

Asher watched as the television showed the unique environment that Jackson was about to be dropped in to. He wasn\'t sure how well trained Jackson was in the snow. Yet, he couldn\'t feel that this would be an issue. He knew that no matter what Jackson had a stronger body than the average human. So this could at least give him the advantage over the cold. 

Watching the broadcast Asher started to pick out the smaller details he thought he could use. He knew if he was dropped near the trees he would use them as a start for a shelter. He just wasn\'t sure what the best move from there would be. He would be learning a lot from watching Jacksons\' match.