Character Inn

[Bar]

Havanar's tail twitched and she wriggled her fingerclaws. "I don't know. But I still have rather a hard time accepting that you can do that... ice thing. How should I know how" - she gestured at the room around them - "this works? I've read about the Gates and Gatebuilders, but the alternate realities thing has never quite cleared up for me."

She looked down at her food and drink. The former was about half-gone, the latter closer to two-thirds. "Um. So do you want to see something else, or...?"

[Sparring Area]

Gregory shrugged his shoulders. "Whatever you say, my scary robo-girlfriend."

"Damn, he pulled a Steve," Sara muttered, "And I don't even think he's succeeding in throwing Se off her game. I'm a little worried Gregory is going to die now."

Gregory picked his staff up once more, and turned to face Se. "You know, you could try... I don't know, actually putting some effort into this? I'm starting to look like a real chump when you aren't even going to finish the fight."

[Sparring Area]

"Beating you senseless merely because I can would be pointless." Se replied, assuming a guard stance. "You would learn nothing. I would learn nothing. By giving you a chance to demonstrate your skill, I learn something."

Without much of a transition at all, save for the by now familiar crack of the broken sound barrier, she had her blade tip pricking gently at the underside of Gregory's chin. "And by knowing how good you are, next time I can perhaps teach you something. Yield?"

[Sparring Area]

"Considering a slight hiccup could see that sword slicing my throat... now seems a reasonable time to yield."

Steve burst into laughter. "Man, you can't even last five minutes against your girlfriend!"

"I don't think any of us could," replied Gregory, "I'm pretty sure she's as fast as you, Steve. Maybe faster. And speed's kinda all you've got."

Joan couldn't believe her eyes. No single spell she knew of, whether by spellcrafting, invocation, or any other school of magic could allow for movement at supersonic speed. Her mind reeled at the possibilities had Se been magically enhanced.

"I know I asked to face the winner, but I withdraw my challenge. I'd have to hit you before I stood a chance, and it's obvious that you could dodge any spell I used, assuming you gave me the time to use it in the first place. That said, would anyone else be so kind as to take my offer?"

[[Game Room]]

“Betting’s a problem for me as well,” Daniel added after Claire. He dipped his hand into a pouch tied to the back of his waist and brought out some glass coins, marked with his faction’s sign. “All I have are these. They’re worthless outside Neo Aima and I doubt you can buy much with what I have even if you get there.”

As for the cards, he thought, if neither of them is going to draw, I’m going to lose anyway. Might as well try my luck and see where it gets me.

[Bar]

Nyris gave a shrug, saying, "I'm with you on that much, at least."

Akiel reached over and indicated the set of large bronze discs linked with chain. "This thing looks interesting. What does it do?"

[Sparring Area]

Se sheathed her sword and bowed to Gregory, formal, holding it a touch long. Then she smiled the same all-teeth no-joy smile at Steve. "Zero to hypersonic in two point two seconds, but the effect on the surrounding area is...catastrophic. Care to test your skills?"

[Sparring Area]

Gregory awkwardly returned the bow to Se before turning towards Steve. "Wow, zero to hypersonic in 2.2 seconds? Why, that makes you sound pretty slow, doesn't it?"

"Please, I can beat that in my sleep. If your robot girlfriend wants a race, just let her know that she might lose something for once in her life."

Samuel then approached Joan. "I think these idiots are too obsessed with some kind of rivalry to take you up on your challenge, but I can take you on, assuming you aren't an all-powerful battle construct that will tear the roof off the damn building."

Joan couldn't help an internal smile at being called all-powerful. "Nope, just a witch with years of combat experience."

She took off her cloak, revealing a practical shirt and jeans combo. She didn't like losing the protective enchantments on her cloak, but if she was going to avoid being totally embarrassed by Samuel's apparent speed, she needed freedom of movement. A bunch of spell vials hung from her belt, and she held one with a magenta glow.

She took up a defensive stance at the far end of the dojo. "Shall we dance?"

edited 18th Aug '14 10:28:31 AM by daird

[Sparring Area]

Se waved dismissively at Steve and turned to Gregory. "Shall we move on then, or do you feel you need to cheer for your friend?"

Rein was already at the door downstairs, and peered out. "I hope it rains," she observed to no one in particular. "I miss the rain."

[Sparring Area]

"I think if we cheered on Samuel, it would annoy him more than anything," Gregory replied. "Do you have anything in mind for what we could do next?"

Samuel cracked his knuckles. "Dances are graceful. Let's get violent." With that, he lunged forward with a punch towards Joan.

The rest of the group had made their way to the door, when Steve overheard Rein's comment. "You miss the rain? You make it sound like it just up and left forever."

Joan blocked the blow with her arm, though Samuel was stronger than she had anticipated. Her magic was less than useless at close quarters, so this was quite possibly going to be a stand-up physical fight. Just the sort of thing she wasn't good at.

She had three options: retreat and try to use a spell, toss a spell off to the side and hope that Samuel was the only one caught in the area of effect, or forget the magic entirely and go hand-to-hand. She chose the second.

With a motion born of years of practice, she threw the magenta spell vial at the ground to Samuel's right, knowing that it would shatter on contact. Anything within seven feet of the impact site would suffer from audiovisual hallucinations. Nothing too spectacular, but hopefully enough to disorient him and allow him to gain the upper hand. If her aim was on-target, that is.

[Behind the Inn]

Rein shook her head, heading out onto the path. "I live on a space station. It doesn't rain. I mean, we've got areas big enough to have weather, but it's carefully controlled..." She paused. "I only see rain on assignment or leave. One of those little touches of ordinary life you don't learn to miss until it's gone."

"Alien space robots," Se said, wagging her finger at Steve with amusement. "Remember that." She turned to Gregory. "I was going to check if it was possible to get room service for dinner, then watch a movie before heading up to my room."

edited 19th Aug '14 5:15:32 PM by Night

[Behind the Inn]

"That kinda sucks," Steve replied, "rain can be pretty relaxing. Well, when it's hitting you while you're running close to the speed of sound it's a huge pain, but most of my most pleasant memories are from chilling out by the fire during a thunderstorm."

"I didn't expect you to have anything resembling sentiment," Sara replied, "I would have figured your most pleasant memories to involve booze, ladies and that penthouse your dad got you."

"All equally beautiful memories," Steve replied with a grin.

Gregory rolled his eyes and turned to Se. "Sounds like a plan to me. Any of you guys up seeing another movie, because I know you guys saw Ghostbusters earlier."

"Well, of course I am," replied Sara, "don't you know that there's two Ghostbusters movies?"

[Sparring Area]

Noticing the vial, Samuel broke his attack stance to concentrate entirely on stopping its decent to the ground. In one swift move, Samuel leapt towards the vial, grasping it in his hands as it was mere inches from smashing against the floor, and rolling through the dive to return to his feet as quickly as possible. Clasping the vial in his right hand, he turned to face Joan.

"I see just about everyone around here is eager to resort to tricks to win a fight. Well missy, let me tell you something." Samuel raised his left arm, as it slowly began to contort and mold itself into the form of a drill. "I have tricks too." Samuel dove at Joan once more attempting to hit her straight in the leg and disable it's movement.

Joan was in deep, and she knew it all to well. Her magic was good, but it suffered from inflexibility. Exactly the thing you didn't want against someone as versatile as a shapeshifter. She spun away from the drill, though it caught the back of her thigh. The wound wasn't deep, but it sure felt that way as she swayed.

He seems to have the basic idea of how my magic works, and I'll end up a smear on the wall if I fight hand-to-hand. I can't truly beat him, so I have to play for the draw. Joan started to fall, but it was no accident. Her left hand reached for a force spell vial, while her right tried to shield her waist, or more precisely, the pouch holding her spells. This tactic had been known to cause reactions by unleashing a bunch of spells simultaneously, and if that happened, she was going to incur a multiverse-record repair bill.

Joan has realized Samuel has taken away her only advantage of magic. This is her last-gasp maneuver for when she's heavily outgunned. Even if she's conscious after this, she's going to be badly battered and in no condition to fight effectively.

[Bar]

Havanar gave another wide, toothy smile. "Those are spectacles. Um, that is, we call them spectacles, but they're actually rather more complex. I don't know how much of the underlying science you know yet, so perhaps it might be better if you try them on..."

[Bar]

The pair shared a glance. "Really? Those are spectacles?" said Akiel. Then Nyris, clearly the more adventurous of the two of them, reached over and picked them up. She held them by the chain, letting the discs hang down together, saying, "Really? Alright then, I thin I'll give these a try." Then she took a disc in each hand and raised them to her eyes.

[Inn]

Rein glanced at Se. "I think I'll skip that. Besides, I know what kind of movies she thinks are date movies."

Se crossed her arms. "Han shot first, and I will make you watch the Despecialized Edition again."

"Okay, but Dredd?" Rein asked. "Really?"

"He liked it." Se replied. "So did I. That's a date movie's most important quality."

[Outside —> Out]

Mazak, seeing no sign of any newcomers, sighed. "Back to the beat," he muttered, exiting without fuss through the same gate he'd come in.

[Tea House —> Out]

Blossom's thoughts were interrupted when her pyrimidal device began pulsing colors and vibrating. "That, uh, it isn't supposed to do that," she said. "I, uh... hmm, yes... wait..." she shook her head. "I'm not sure what it's up to, but I'm afraid I'll have to leave you two now. I'd rather study it on my end rather than risk being trapped here." She stood, gave a bow, and said, "fare thee well." Then, hurriedly tapping on the machine, she opened a portal to her homeworld and hurried through.

[Game Room —> Out]

The Firstborn was idly shuffling cards when he tilted his head, as though hearing something. "Angels?" he said. Then, "oh, great, they think they can trap me here." He sighed. "Sorry to cancel the game, folks, but I got a wee problem with creatures who do nae know not to trifle with their betters." He growled, "I'm gonna stuff those wings down their throats..." and then, with a flick of his wrist, vanished in a puff of pinkish smoke that smelled of flowers and blood.

edited 21st Aug '14 3:50:46 PM by KillerClowns

[Behind the Inn]

"Well, you can count me out of movie night," Steve chimed in. "The last thing I want is to play third wheel to your little date."

"Hey, I'll have you know the role of third wheel is already taken!" protested Sara. "You're more like a flat tire that we're too lazy to replace."

Steve huffed and crossed his arms. "Whatever." He turned to Rein. "If you have anything in mind, I think I might tag along... assuming you don't try to kill me while everyone else is watching a movie."

[Sparring Area]

Samuel suspected that those vials were the key to his opponents offense, and her frantic attempt to set another one off only confirmed that. Samuel's left arm tripled in length and shot out towards the combatant, attempting to snatch the vial from her hand. "Nice try, but I'm onto your game, miss... huh, I just realised I never caught your name."

"Joan. Joan Reynolds. And you're right, I was going all in on those vials. The light you see inside them is actually a premade spell. I'm not that good at fighting hand-to-hand, so I figured they were my best chance." She looked down, disgusted at herself. Sure, Samuel had caught onto her game pretty quick, but when your fighting style relies on accuracy and timing, you need to be able to place your attacks precisely where they need to be when they need to be there. She surely hadn't done that.

"I admit, you've essentially disarmed me, and I can't beat you as long as you can hit me from long range, so I think I'll surrender to save myself further embarrassment. Oh, and be careful with that particular spell. If it breaks, we'll have a very large hole in the floor to deal with."

[Inn]

"Just don't give me a reason," Rein replied cheerily. "Besides, I've only ever injured people. I could kill them, but I could just as easily incapacitate them, so there's not much point. Se's the one who does terminal close encounters."

"Second Ghostbusters movie?" Se asked, shrugging. "I admit I haven't seen it."

[[Game Room]]

After a moment of awkward silence following the Firstborn's hasty departure, Daniel finally said, "Well...at least we don't have to worry about money for now."

Daniel lightly put a hand to his stomach, feeling hungry again. He had calmed down quite a bit after what happened in the Dining Hall, so it was no surprise that his appetite had returned. He turned to Claire, putting his gauntlet back on, and asked, "Do you have any other plans at the moment?"

[Bar]

Havanar grinned broadly at the sight of Nyris wearing the spectacles, and fought back an outbreak of giggling honks. They had been designed for a gluvpaki's elongated, triangular skull, and fit very oddly on the elf.

"Those" - honk - "bright red and purple glows you're seeing are infrared and ultraviolet light. Um, if you don't know what those are" - she flinched again at the possibility of sounding patronizing - "the colors that humans and gluvpaki and I suppose elves and kasuar all can see are really only a segment of the types of light there are. The spectacles can actually show quite a few types, but they work much better with direct integration and I've never bothered changing the settings. Actually, I'm not quite certain where I got them..."

She spread her fingerclaws, then took a drink. "Which is rather usual, really. Anyway, I don't know how useful they are, but I carry them anyway."

As the day continued, small holes appeared in the cloud cover, revealing the light of a sun slowly sinking towards the horizon. The rumbles of distant thunder had now ceased, though the air had taken on a slightly humid feel.

[Current Time: Late Afternoon]

[Current Weather: Mostly Cloudy]

edited 22nd Aug '14 1:05:57 AM by nrjxll