''"Do you think you've got what it takes? The Ultimate Tournament is entering its OPEN ENROLLMENT SEASON! All contestants are welcome, regardless of age, race, species, disposition, social standing, marital status*, financial condition, tribal allegiances or personal beliefs! Looking for fame and glory? Seeking a bountiful career as a mercenary or a paramilitary agent? Or are you simply looking to impress that guy you like~? Climb the Tournament Ladder and become the ultimate champion! Smash the competition, rise through the ranks and face the final challenge! Challenge the strongest! Claim the best!" *Married women are not to participate in matches with any other man than their husband.'' "Hrm." The Tournament, huh? The Ultimate Tournament, or U.T. for short, had become one of the most popular sports in the monster society, if not the most popular. Thousands upon thousands of women each year flock there during the open season, hoping to rise to fame, glory and wealth. Or, at least, to snag a cute boy for themselves. Speaking about the boys, your eyes fall on to the bottom line of the ad billboard, which, unlike the bright-golden text above, is written in crimson red, albeit in smaller font: "~♥Male participants receive a 1,000 credit advance, and a partner of their choice♥~" Oh, well. You see, a lot of challenges in the Tournament often include boys, one of the reasons for the immense popularity of the sport. They're almost never fighters or soldiers; their role is, well, how to put it... it can be boiled down to being the "prize" or "treasure" to be seized by the real challengers. With the natural female-to-male ratio being several hundred to one in humans, and several thousand to one in monster populace, there aren't that many men, to begin with; and out of those, not very many are keen on playing the role of monster bait. So the monsters, in their effort, have to resort to all sorts of tricks to lure in men. That, or it's just because the whole franchise is owned by a small group of demons and raccoons, who are well-known for their tendency to pamper and spoil men. You stop for a while to think about it. You're a big fan of the Tournament, been watching their matches since the age of five and playing all their videogames. Usually, you don't actually see yourself as a player, even as bait, but now you think about it. Why the fuck not? With the non-lethal, monster magic-doped weaponry, a combat contest is not the brutal, painful and messy business it used to be at some point in history. And, you can see that your days of living off unemployment benefits are ending. In fact, you're not gonna be surprised if your very first wife-to-be is already on the hunt, seeking to seize you. Maybe even a group of them. In fact, it might happen as soon as tomorrow, if not today. You don't know of any man that stayed an Incubus Fidelis for more than half a year, and it's been almost a whole month since you have matured. So why the hell not? You're gonna be losing your virginity any day now. And you aren't sure whether the first one to catch you would be one of the more aggressive monsters, such as an amazon or maybe a hell hound, or it would be one of these sneaky business ladies that can wrap you up through a series of endless, interconnected Terms of Service, Product Usage Policies and EULAs... What have you got to lose, anyway? Before you knew it, you're heading towards the registration booth of your local U.T. club. The receptionist manticore gave you a look, containing both suspicion and predatory lust; her grin intensified when she heard that you're applying as a competitor. "My, my~ another tasty morsel throwing himself to the wolves, tigers, and black harpies~~" She pulled out a registration form and push it towards you, while making sure to show off her tail and claws to you as much as possible. The few girls that were inside with you, started eyeing you with great interest; somewhat uncomfortable from all that attention, you start filling your form. The manticore grabs it from you when you're done and starts reading; somewhere mid-way, you can see her eyes widen as she starts drooling right in her chair. "Grrrrrrrrrrhm~~~" She leans towards you; her face is now only a few inches away from yours, and everything about her screams predatory hunger. You retain your calmness; been living your whole life with monsters, you're pretty used to such outbursts. She looks at you like that for a couple seconds, sniffing you; finally, she starts talking. "You're really into hardcore, aren't you, little cutie~?" She outright hops across the receptionist desks and leans intimately close to you, squeezing her breasts against your shoulder. "Say, why not just find ourselves a nice place just for the two of us~?" You politely, but sternly reject the pushy manticore, telling her that you really intend to try yourself out in the tournament. She gives you the most disbelief-laden look she could make. You look back at her. She shook her head, and asks you if you're for real. You tell her that, yes, you are indeed for real. She gives you a long sigh as she starts talking. "Cutie, do you even know what you're gonna be up against?" Somebody like you is gonna get claimed even before the actual match begins. I reckon you won't even get out of here unclaimed," she purred in your ear, hinting that she might just as well be the reason for that. Well, she has a point. As a lifelong fan of the Tournament, you definitely know what are you going to be up against. You know every single team that was participating in the earlier matches; you've seen how they fight, their members, you know their rough abilities. And you've enrolled just in time to particpate in the fray - assuming you're going to get past the qualification challenges, of course. Speaking about which, it's nothing easy; you'll have to excel in all three challenges, each divided into three matches, before you can assemble a team and continue on to the tournament itself. "Hm." You think about it for a minute. Come to think of it, it surely won't be easy for you, to say the least. The Hide & Seek challenge; you and at least one monster are placed on a map, a good distance away from another. The monster's goal is to find you in a given amount of time; if she finds you, she wins (and you, consequently, get raped). Then, the Escape challenge; your goal is to find a way to break out of wherever you are, before you are found by the hunter(s). And, lastly, the Survival challenge; stay unclaimed for a set period of time while being besieged by the monsters. Obviously, since you're a boy, failure in any of those challenges does not necessarily mean disqualification. That would just mean that your status would change from "challenger" to "trophy"; the main difference is that you won't be able to make a difference in the ongoing match. You would be just sitting wherever you are, waiting for someone to claim you, and hoping it isn't the team that has a single ushi-oni or, may that never happen, a mindflayer. Still, it sounds a lot less awesome and outright more boring than actually being able to participate in the matches. Heh, whatever. At least it's surely gotta be fun. You tell the manticore that you're ready for whatever this challenge will throw at you, and finish your registration procedure. She sighs, gives you one more curious look, and signs you as a tournament challenger. "Your first challenge is gonna start in five days," she explained. "If you succeed in all nine - well, mostly a theoretical possibility, since most greenies like you usually tend to get claimed on the very first round - you're going to participate in the Tournament. You can join any team that's willing to accept you; purely theoretically, you can also create a team of your own, but obviously, unless you're exceptionally proficent, there's no way you're going to make it as its captain. Only the one who emerges victorious in the Free-for-All challenge thrice in a row will be accepted as captain. And, uhh, you better watch out for the Paragon teams. Word's out that the Broodhunters are making a comeback..." ...Wait. The Broodhunters? The elite team comprised only of the toughest and most elite monster-girls, undefeated in thirty installations of the Tournament in a row until four years ago, when they yielded to the Static Charge? Well, chances are that you'll never get to meet them, in the first place... that is, until you fail the challenge and become a simple trophy, where you can be claimed by anyone. Oh, shit... you shiver at the mention of those elite. Last you remember, the bulk of their team was made of two hellhounds, a manticore, a lizard girl, an amazonian, oddly also a cheshire cat and, above all, the dragon sisters. The red one, and the black one. Saralynn and Celestia, the two extremely dangerous dragon girls, both said to be completely unbeatable in combat. And they were still single at the point of their defeat. Well, practically everyone you'll meet in the combat is single; and the reason why the extremely strong dragons remained so throughout their career, at least until getting beaten down by the automaton team, is that they found every single man they've encountered beneath their interest. That's a phew for sure; you don't want to think what would it be like, to be captured under their hips. "Well then, let's pick your partner." The manticore gestures you to follow. Partner?.. Oh, yeah, something mentioned in that promotional, too. You're getting a whopping 1,000 credit advance - an immense amount of money, roughly equivalent to an average middleclassman payout over two years, as well as that 'partner'. Whatever it means. Well, guess you're about to find out. You follow the manticore into a big room, the "Conference Room," as it says. It's a big lobby where all big meetings, gatherings and events of that sort happen. The manticore instructs you to wait there for a short while; a few minutes after, a huge amount of girls rushes into the room, almost knocking one another off their feet. Sometimes actually knocking one another off their feet. Holy shit. There's a lot of girls. A shitload of freelancers, contestants, and other girls, all of their attention dead-fixed on you... ...well, it's a great time to find out what's going on there. As the promo said, you, as a man, are entitled to a partner - a woman that would support you throughout the whole thing in a variety of ways. Sometimes she can provide you special assistance during the challenge, such as throw some extra props your way, use magic to help you, or even appear directly on the map... You haven't ever heard of anything like this happening before; however, the rules of tournament have changed recently, and since boys were usually unable to complete even the first round of qualification challenges, the owners of the whole franchise decided to change the rules, to give the boys an actual chance of victory. And, holy shit, there's a LOT of girls. The lobby room is packed, and you aren't even sure if that's all of them... "Well, technically you are not under any obligation to have any sorts of intimate relationships with your partner. But, you must understand, there is a reason why they all are so eager to help you out~" the manticore explains as everybody finally fit into the room. Oh. So it's a hitching program, sort of. Well... guess you better give those girls a look, then. There are so many of them, but there are already four gals that catch your attention. A werewolf with dark-grey fur. Moderately toned, and about half-head taller than you, she looks like somebody that can be gentle when you need it, but she's got quite a fierce character. She's fast and nimble, and a good tactician, too; she seems like somebody who's good at physical combat. A lynx, or a panther, you can't say. A mostly humanoid feline girl, with only inhuman parts being cat ears and a tail; she's very feral, and she looks like somebody like will pounce at your ass whether you want it or not. Despite having some good muscle, she's not a brawler type, instead preferring to rely on stealth and trickery. She's good at silent takedowns, infiltration, and long-range combat, bot not as good in heated and lose-range combat scenarios. A... vampire? No, wait, she doesn't look as snobby and is much more pleasant to deal with. She's a Dhampir, a vigilante freelancer keeping watch on any cases of mistreatment of men. Also, looking for a good boy to call her husband, and you would fit the role just alright. Apart from decent combat abilities, she also has a good talent in sorcery, although not as good as a proper dark mage or a baphomet. And, a gremlin. With tits. She's shorter than you, almost a full head short, but her knockers and a big ass make up for the lack of height just fine. Though she technically can fight, her role is mostly centered around tech-based talents. She can assemble turrets, construct and sabotage various drones, cameras and such, help your vehicles and set up mines and traps... although she's just about as playful and tricky, and outside the tournament, she can sometimes set up unexpected surprises for you, as well. Well... these are your choices. If you decide neither of these look good enough, the room's full of those girls; after hearing about an Incubus Fidelis participating in the tournament, damn near every challenger flocked to get the chance to be your partner. You're pretty sure you can find just about any monster among these girls. After picking whoever that is your choice, you head away to prepare for the upcoming challenge. The matches are picked randomly, even though you can manually pick a course by paying a small sum of credits; well, it's not really "small" since you'll have to pay thirty-five credits to change a map, but with the generous allowance you've got, you could probably afford yourself to do that. Still, it's more than you've had before entering the tournament. CHOICES First, choose the girl that's going to be your partner. If it isn't the one described above, her characteristics will be arbitrarily made up to roughly match the author's vision of what kind of a girl she should be. Then, choose how you're going to spend the remaining five days. Your options are: Prepare for the contest, use the five days you've got to prepare yourself, gauge your abilities in the practice room, and run a couple test matches with the other participants. Get to kow the other contestants better, basically, study as much about your potential allies/opponents, as well as the environment around there, as it is possible. And, throw a party since you're stinkin' rich now. (Requires additional 25 creds to be spent) Then, either roll six numbers between, or pay the 35 credits fee and choose the map and the opponent manually and roll only four numbers. The last four numbers will be used to determine some of the random events of the match. The first two numbers vary between 1 and 9; the rest, between 1 and 10. The available matches and opponents are as following: <b>Matches:</b> 1. (Escape) Balrog's Caves - An infernal-themed setting on the planet Raubigz II. The smell of sulphur and ash persists in the air; formerly, it was a penal colony where criminals worked the Crenettium mines, mining the hard crystal which only forms on planets with inhospitable conditions. It's pretty hot and uncomfortable there, and the planet is covered in lava rivers, basalt, and ash. 25 points to win. 2. (Escape) Cold Reception - The Dalfluffs' mega-compound is the only construction on the cold, barely-habitable hellhole planet of Szynam V. The place is under lockdown; you have been purpotedly kidnapped by the owner of the facility in the off-working hours. 30 points to win. 3. (Escape) Lush - The name says it. Somewhere, on the mostly-untouched tropical planet orbiting a comfy yellow sun that's fairly close to Sol, there are hunting grounds maintained by the local tribals. This place is currently being used as a setting for another kind of hunt, though. Your goal is to escape before the monsters find you and get you. 22 points to win; the last two generated numbers must be at least 5. 4. (Hide'n'Seek) The Infinity Labyrinth - A mysterious construct that is, in fact, a space-time contraption an endlessly-generating labyrinth. While it might sound easy for you, remember that, by some magic, the monster(s) looking for you are always gonna be somewhere not too far from you. You can't just keep moving in an arbitrary direction. You can't sit out an hide for too long. And you can't memorize the map, because the place constantly changes in real time. 30 points to win. The last generated number must be at or above 6. 5. (Hide'n'Seek) Bad Luck - Well, who could've thought that you would have to stay until midnight dealing with the fucking paperwork. And who would've known this would be exactly the day when some of the hungrier monsters would decide to prowl the streets, in search of prey. Soon as you've left the office building, all the doors auto-locked out, leaving you alone on the streets, unable to enter almost any house for an hour, and hunted by several hungry monster-girls. 25 pts. to win. 6. (Hide'n'Seek) Crazy Train - Barely escaping some crazy yandere bitch, that kidnapped you and brought you over to a different town, you've boarded the late-night train and are on your way back to your home. Well, she isn't called a yandere for no reason; soon as the train departed, you sensed an awfully familiar magical energy. She's somewhere nearby. And she's looking for you. 25 pts. to win. Need the first two random numbers, that aren't deciding the match and the opponent, to be at least 4. 7. (Survival) Serenity - You're in a small tourist town in the mountains. All the amenities you need are there; and the knowledge of a sole guy in the whole town has already spread to all the other tourists. Who are all women. All unmarried. And all horny as all fuck. Your goal, is to last at least an hour until help arrives. 20 points to win. 8. (Survival) Red Giant Station - You're on a lonesome mining station around a gas giant. Located a fair distance away from its dim, red star, the planet is basked in a faint, sickly red light; the gloomy setting is of the least concern for you now, as all the other inhabitants of the station are more than just feeling down from the gloomy environment. For some reason, the escape shuttle will not be available to you until an hour later; you'll have to make the best out of your situation to last against the hungry monster-girls. 25 points to win. 9. (Survival) Entombed - You have been investigating an ancient pyramid built by an extinct ancient civilization on a desert planet of Rimma VI. When you've finally opened the casket supposedly containing a mummified alien ruler from the ages past, a curse spread out on your companions; within seconds, they've become feral and lustful. To make matters worse, all exits from the tomb have sealed. Help is on the way, but it will take them around 35 minutes to arrive; during which, you'll have to fight offthe constantly-resuscitating feral companions. The four numbers must be at least: 4, 5, 3, 4. Your possible opponents are: Manticore + two werewolves; four amazons; a kunoichi that's extremely fast and nimble; a hellhound; a wight + 3 zombies; a couple of panther girls; a swarm of rat girls; two lizard girls that are extremely proficent in combat; and a harpy flock led by a black harpy. Unlike with the matches, the exact numbers to which the opponents are assigned are only known to the author (and the tournament operators ;) so, until you explicitly choose the opponents, you don't know who wil