[center][h1][color=fff79a]Daedalus Ivory[/color][/h1]
[i][H3]Airfleet Street, 22:00[/H3][/i][/center]

As the final piercing notes of the cantata slowly faded, the roar of the expectant crowd rose to fill the void left behind. Above the din came a chant, surprising in its clarity: [i]War-ri-ors. War-ri-ors.[/i] They yearned for a spectacle, and Daedalus didn't intend to deprive them of one.

One of the other Hunters in the room looked around, the tell-tale signs of stress creasing his face. [color=0072bc]'Do you think it's too late to just stand in the crowd?'[/color] 

The others in the huddle offered words of encouragement, but before Daedalus could add his own the group was unceremoniously herded into a large steel cage at the far end of the stadium. For the first time that evening, Daedalus' wonder soured to trepidation - the history books had been very clear on how Faunus had been treated in the past, locked up in cells like common animals for the sadistic enjoyment of their human counterparts. There in that moment, he knew - he [i]truly knew[/i] - what it felt like to be imprisoned and gawked at like the those that came before him.

But the feeling passed when a chipper voice broke through the melancholy and snapped him back to reality. [color=007236]'Three, Two, One, go team!'[/color] Daedalus raised his hand in sync to the girl's rhythm, the metal plates of [i]Fervent Sentinel[/i] clanking loudly. [color=fff79a]'Go team.'[/color] His fists created hundreds of tiny sparks as he punched them together, a deliberate sign of strength and solidarity, but most importantly: of image. [color=fff79a]'Let's give them a show they won't forget.'[/color]

As if ascending from the blackest depths of the Underworld, the Ursa rose slowly above the surface of the arena; all teeth and claws and primal snarling, their restraints barely holding the vicious beasts in place. The excitement of the crowd only enraged them further. There was little to satisfy their insatiable hunger for fear. For panic. For death.

Daedalus, on the other hand, was busy satisfying his own hunger. The bag of coated peanuts he'd bought from a street vendor earlier was still half full and he wasted no time finishing the last of them, much to the confusion of his fellow participants and the crowd. He shrugged apologetically. [color=fff79a]'Shorry.'[/color] The words struggled from his mouth, now crammed full of the bag's contents. [color=fff79a]'I jusht di'nt want 'em goin' cold, you know?'[/color] He finished the mouthful with a gulp. [color=fff79a]'By the way, the name's Daedalus. Pleasure to be fighting alongside you all.'[/color]

There was only time for a few brief responses from the others. With a final [color=red]'Begin!'[/color] from Cardamom, both Warrior and Beast alike were released from their temporary imprisonment and barrelled into the arena. Daedalus stepped in front of the others and squared his feet, digging into the floor. The repeater embedded in the right half of [i]Fervent Sentinel[/i] was already pointing at the Ursa that barrelled towards him like a train with no brakes. Time seemed to slow. His carefully trained eye lined up the gun with the skull of the beast, and the dust-tipped crossbow bolt hurtled from the gauntlet towards the Ursa at blinding speed.