As you walk down the street you notice a large sign on the side of a large brick building. The neon lights shine bright even in the daytime as you realize it's some kind of sporting arena.

HEALER'S HALL: Boxing Arena and Gymnasium 

The lights scream off the old brick and the new pavement simultaneously while  up and down the busy street onlookers seem intrigued. You, on the other hand, are no onlooker, you step inside. In the foyer you notice that the whole room is lit with sky lights, though there are lights on the walls and hanging from the ceiling to  light the place at night. Above that the walls are white with large black-and-white murals of fights and famous fighters, the largest of which is obviously Althea who towers over the entire back wall leering and intimidating any who stand in the ring, or train in the gym. There is a brass sign on every door that says simply...

"No ticket required. Entry is free to all. Welcome and enjoy."

Once inside the arena, the lights are bright enough to see every facet of the place. A simple bare room at the moment, you can see rows upon rows of seats surrounding a center boxing ring. In the back of the room is another sign, this one a bit more crude than the one outside. It simply shows they way toward the aforementioned gym and the locker rooms, presumably for the fighters. On your right you see a large empty space with what appears to be a ticket window, but knowing the sign on all of the doors you realize it must be for accepting bets on the fights. Turning back toward the center arena you notice a small table set up near the ring with Althea's face greeting you in the form of a large poster. "The Healer is here" is the tagline in giant bold red colors. 

As you approach the table in the middle of the ring you notice Althea is seated at the table, while someone you don't recognize hands out gym bags and membership cards next to her. She smiles at you as you get to the table.

"So you've come to be a part of my little competition here have you? I'm sure you've heard all the rules by now?" You simply shake your head and she sighs. "I've got to get better people on the rules committee i suppose. Well anyway, they are quite simple really, all you have to do is sign up and wait for your match to start. There are certain things that I'll be looking at to determine where you should be seeded, but everything else is simple. You show, you fight, you win or lose, though I warn you you CAN be knocked out in the middle of a fight."

She gives you a little jab on your arm and then looks you up and down. "You might want to bulk up a bit in the meantime, which is why my associate here is handing out bags and a free membership here for anyone who wants to be my little tournament. Of course you can win some money by betting on yourself, or by convincing some other folks to bet too because for every bout that you are in, if I make any money, the fighters will too!"

She gives you a wink and a smile as she slides a piece of paper toward you.

"As you know I need 16 people total to sign up. I will not be entering myself out of fairness, but I will be running a betting window right back there for anyone to be involved with."

She points to the betting window.

So you looking to sign up?"

As you write your name down she nods to her friend and he hands you a gym bag and a membership card.

"Wonderful! I'll be doing all the commentary for the fights live over the radio. A local coffee shop by the name of BellaBoxing (ooc: #bellaboxing in irc) will be carrying the broadcast if you are interested in that sort of thing." (ooc: One more note, NO you DO NOT have to be online during your fight.)

She smiles and watches as you walk into the gym to get ready to face your opponent.

Tony had some pent up aggression that just had to come out. There was just several things on his mind that he needed to just vent out. He walks into the  gym and takes a look around. In the center of this massive building he saw a boxing ring. Inside were 2 people going at it.  His rage of late had been getting out of hand and he needed a new outlet. 

"God damn drug dealers!" Tony yelled as he began to beat the shit out of a punching bag. He had decided to hit one of the punching bags closer to the ring, as he would not turn down a challenge either. The more aggression he got out, the better. Win or lose, he didnt care, he just wanted to hit something. 

Althea listens as she hears a bag getting beaten. The sound of the thumps and whumps against canvass was music to hear ears. She walked over to the recognizable man from New York.

"Mister Tony_Accardo, so nice to see you here in my gym. I can see you're taking out some frustrations, but you know a bag does nothing compared to a person. The thrill of the fight, the anticipation of their moves, the feel of their bones breaking under your fists." She trails off in a daydream somewhere before coming back to reality. "So, would you like to sign up to beat the tar out of someone?"

Tony stops hitting the punching bag and looks at Althea. 

"Indeed sir, i will always take a fresh face over a bag any day. Count me in!"

Tony resumes his training while awaiting his first victim.

Philli walks into the boxing studio. it was time to get back in form. He stepped up to a speed and bag and began to throw punch after punch. after a few minutes, satisfied that he could still keep up, he wandered over to the signup table.

"i'm always down for a fight. sign me up and i'll see if i can't knock off some heads."

Althea smiles at both men and writes both their names down on her list.

"Well that's two, now just fourteen more to go. Well one at a time I suppose huh?" 

She trails off as she pins the paper with the two men's names onto a cork board on the wall.

Round 1 Fighters

1. Tony_Accardo (Staten Island, NY)
2. Philli_stein (Bella Vista, PH)

Well, I've watched quite a few motion pictures of men brawling away at each other. Figure I should be qualified enough to participate. 

Sign me up.

Tries to punch the bag, trips, falls over, gets back up and cries.

Well since i got a bit of an ass kicking in the New York Boxing recently, I figure I need to earn some reputation back! Sign me up Althea.

Stan smiles as Mcluvin makes a fool of himself trying to punch the bag then thinks that this would be a good way to rid himself of that stalker Mcluvin.

Sign me up as well Althea if it gives me a chance to teach that Mcluvin that No means No i will take it up.

Althea almost jumps for joy at the outpouring of people joining up.

I just can't seem to write names down fast enough! She spring to the board and writes down all of the new contestant's names, as well as a small note on the bottom.

Round 1 Fighters

1. Tony_Accardo (Staten Island, NY)
2. Philli_stein (Bella Vista, PH)
3. McLuvin (South Philly, PH)
4. AlabamaWorley (Brooklyn, NY)
5. Stan_Smith (Brooklyn, NY)

*Note: There will also now be a small cash prize of 1 million dollars awarded to the winner. 

'A boxing tournament, eh? I got rolled in my last one and I would love another chance at victory! Sign me up.'

Captain Teemo smiled as he couldn't see over anyone to know where anyone is or even who anyone was.

the ex-yakuza vectre silently walks in without a word  with alot on his mind simply signs his name on the sheet to enter the tournament then walks over to the wights and begins to lift weights to prepare for his first fight

Ah, Althea, how did you know that I'm a sucker for a new bag and a shiny membership card? It's my Achilles heel, oddly enough. I've had the privilege to watch some of the best boxers in New York duke it out recently, and I think I've learned a thing or two! Sign me up, I'm ready to give my new purple gloves a go! Time to go practice I suppose!

Zmeika heads off to the locker room to put her new gym bag to use.

Althea smiles at Zmeika, giving her a gym bag personally that has a bit of purple etching on the side.

"I knew you would show at some point. " She watches her head toward the gym as she jots down the new names to pin up.

Round 1 Fighters

1. Tony_Accardo (Staten Island, NY)
2. Philli_stein (Bella Vista, PH)
3. McLuvin (South Philly, PH)
4. AlabamaWorley (Brooklyn, NY)
5. Stan_Smith (Brooklyn, NY)
6. CaptainTeemo (West Side, CH)
7. Vectre (Brooklyn, NY)
8. Zmeika (Brooklyn, NY)

"You know two things have become apparent to me. The fist is that we are HALFWAY THERE! Only 8 spots are left so if anyone wants in on this, they are going to need to sign up pretty quick."

She smiles and gets her pen ready before continuing.

"The second thing I've noticed is that HALF of all of our competitors so far are from Brooklyn, either folks from Brooklyn really like to fight, or they really like money. I can't decide which."

She trails off into thought as she bites the end of her pen.

MadChild was slightly drunk as normal when someone said fight in the streets. Grabbing his MMA glove he heads over to find its boxing. Shaking his head at the signup table he still signs his name up.

Even if its not not my preffered sport I'm still down for this. Sign me up!

MadChild grabs his flask and lits his cig on the way out to "train" at the local pub.

Jack entered with his entourage. They were very careful in ensuring that the Godfather of OCD was well covered and protected by the inevitable screaming women throwing themselves at him. After being out of the tennis and boxing game for a while since his organised crime duties took over, Jack felt the need to dust off the gloves and see if he still had 'it'  

Althea my friend, good to see you again. I'd like to enter as a representative from the Old City District. As a notorious boxing city, Philadelphia needs good representation in an event hosted in the home town.

Jack shakes Althea's hand and eyes the current competition. He would begin his training imminently. The chance for the entire community to see Jack in a boxing ring with his top off, would surely be too an opportunity to pass up?  

"The second thing I've noticed is that HALF of all of our competitors so far are from Brooklyn, either folks from Brooklyn really like to fight, or they really like money. I can't decide which."

I can only speak for myself. But I love to fight. Maybe its my Scottish heritage or my midget complex. Who knows?

I look forward to knocking seven shades of the proverbial out of whomever crosses my path. If someone should defeat me, then clearly they are using performance enhancing drugs and should be disqulified.

Theres money involved? I am just here to inflict as much pain as i can on that Damned stalker Mcluvin but to be paid for it as well is more then welcome.

Althea almost hugs Jack_Carter when he shakes her hand, letting herself be swayed by his presence for a moment before whispering. 

"You know Jack, I'm quite glad you came to sign up." 

She winks at him as he walks away and writes his name down underneath MadChild-'s on the sign. She then turns toward AlabamaWorley. 

"Scottish huh? That might explain some of it. I'm a bit Irish myself, not quite the same, but I do understand." She giggles as she listens to Stan_Smith talking from behind her.

"Well from the looks of the two of you, I can't guarantee that you WILL beat McLuvin. I can tell you this though, if you manage to do it, and manage to beat everyone else for that matter, then yes you will be one million dollars richer. Of course if people actually use the betting window and I make any money off of the bets, then you can also res assured that the fighters will make money too. I'll be sending you details personally once everyone has signed up."

With that she pins up the newly revised sign in sheet and heads toward her office.

Round 1 Fighters

1. Tony_Accardo (Staten Island, NY)
2. Philli_stein (Bella Vista, PH)
3. McLuvin (South Philly, PH)
4. AlabamaWorley (Brooklyn, NY)
5. Stan_Smith (Brooklyn, NY)
6. CaptainTeemo (West Side, CH)
7. Vectre (Brooklyn, NY)
8. Zmeika (Brooklyn, NY)
9. MadChild- (BlackBottom, DT)
10. Jack_Carter (Old City District, PH)

Ap walks up to Althea

"Hey buddy. I like the Idea you have. I'm pretty damn good with both hands being a professional wanker and all. I have a pretty strong grip and my wrist reflexes are sharp. Bottom line, I'm pretty sure I have what it takes to win this thing. Sign me up old friend!"