Bea :> Make An Entrance

What needed to be said had been said and now it was time to make a good show of the resolution. Hers was a confident stride across the arena, a few loose ribbons of her uniform (an intentional stylistic addition that were flimsy enough to break just in case they got caught on something) drifting in the wake of her pace. She had made her preparations well over that hour between any talking she needed to handle; her beloved sword was bound up tight in its scabbard so that it would be as blunt as a practice boken and already within her hand was a bag of ball bearings to use as a counterweight instead of her service pistol.

The walls went up, Beatrice took the measure of Sue across the arena and deigned to give her a smile.

"May we fight as equals and allies! May we settle our scores and come out of this stronger and proving our grace as heroes!"

Bea drew her sword, holding it in one hand as usual and taking one moment to flick the pouch back on her arm she did the archetypal 'bring it' hand signal towards Sue. A little bit of performance, but after all this tournament was intended to show off to the crowd.

It's clearly a case of backroom political albumizing.

Edgar entering the arena

Edgar made his way to his respective battlefield feeling a bit overwhelmed at the amount of people that will be judging him. But he doesnt plan to dissapoint anybody today.

Turning some valves around in his cyan suit to open the output ends of his suit's fingertips getting ready for the fight that is about to ensue, but before some words are in order.

"We havent really talked much... But like I hope there wont be any hard feelings between who wins or loses... erm lets just, give it our best and that."

He then mutters to himself "god that was bad..." and enters a combat stance letting Fala have the first move.

Liam Entering the Arena

Liam knew Lucy was right, and in fact, he took inspiration from her defiant declaration that she was done being scared, and was moving forward. This was a pretty silly thing to be doing, but if this was something that had to be done then - dammit he was gonna make an impression out there nevertheless. So when the time came to join his classmates in walking out in front of the crowd, Liam did so.

He could hear the crowd cheering and chattering, the dissonant sounds all linking together to form some sort of mindless, mass movement concerto.

And then he saw Lucy standing out there opposite him as he entered the respective arena location. Well, she was just standing there...menacingly, he guessed. He shifted one leg to the side, raising both of his arms in a defensive stance. A shining golden aura covering him from head to toe as he made his first move known - simply covering himself in Regalia's energy and awaiting whatever attack might come.

My power might have offensive capabilities now due to Monarch, but it's first and foremost defensive. It's what I've known the longest. I figure my best shot comes from doing what I've known best.

He bit his lip, staring forward.

---

Among the crowd, the two wealthy VIP's would prove to embrace their roles in the day's events as commentators.

"Well, there's the princeling in a family full of duncelings," Isaac commented, "So here's our matches then. Sam's right out the gate going for it...others going for a more...defensive start."

"Huh...lemme see..." Wolfang leaned forward and then started pointing at each student, giving each a nickname as he observed, "Grudge Girl vs. Mental Free Real Estate, Purple People Eater vs. Ms. Toppings, Monke vs. Cosplay Fetish, Edgelord vs. Spider-Gal, One Man Public Morals Committee vs. Suck-Your-Bus, and... Ice Cream vs. Gunsel."

"Should I be on standby in case..." Keaton asked.

"You just sit back and watch. You and your brothers could learn something."

Sign on for this After The End Fantasy RP.

Kitson Dragonfly. Is. Confused.

Parallel to the sentiment Sue seemed to express, Kitson did not expect that. Stemming from the fact that the only time he had ever been kissed in that way was when he was around 9 and the not-small amount of self-loathing he’d accumulated over the weeks since the accident, a sense of isolation had quite entirely stolen Kit away from whatever feelings of togetherness he might’ve shared with anyone, really.

Guess that wasn’t happening anymore.

The kiss managed to completely shatter that particular wall, and in its place now stood…nothing. There was a hole in Kitson’s defenses, one he didn’t know how to feel about. All at once he wanted to kiss her again, and push her away, and cry and who knows what else. Within him was conflict, but articulating conflict is not easy, and so he instead responded thusly.

“For sure, just…after.”

He blinked rapidly. I wasn’t kidding earlier, he actually did feel like crying. He managed to stave it off long enough to wave off Sue and get out of sight, temporarily out of mind. Then came dealing with the other glaring obstacle. The blade.

The Spider and The Dragonfly Pt. 1

When he held the sword his entire body trembled in some abhorrent stitch-up of utter, debilitating fear and undeniable anticipation. Stood here with all the emotion he’d ever felt was the boy who was sold for false peace. Barely a trace of the proud warrior named Kit Dragonfly remained. No one would see this, he knew. He was about the last person to leave. He was scared, so scared of the reaction the crowd would have. He didn’t know if it would be pity or anger or disgust…a part of him hoped it was nothing. Lord knew he didn’t deserve to be cheered.

He steeled himself with the same mindset he’d had before. Apathy. Let nothing in, let nothing out. Your composure is as a monolith, unmoving and unbreakable. Though your body is unreliable, though your soul is in disrepair, the only one that controls your attitude, your reactions…is you.

Then I’ll keep flames low. Ignition, hold off until my command.

Engines on…

Time to go.

The tremors stopped. Suddenly, the scared boy died again and from him stood the warrior once again. Apathy. The distinct lack of his trademark explosive movement. Instead, he slowly walked out, regardless of theatrics. His hands were steady, he compensated for his limp so that it was minimized, though still noticeable to the particularly astute. His eyes rested, intentionally uncaring, on Khulan.

With a whistle, the air bent around the two of them, any breeze immediately falling still. Kit raised his sheathless blade, pointing it at Khulan in challenge.

”Let’s dance.”

I am become dubstep, destroyer of taste

Arena

The crowd was getting restless. It hadn't been a minute since the students stepped into the arena and they were already chomping at the bit. The commentators weren't much better. Interceptor didn't know where Saint got these clowns, but they weren't getting paid if they kept this up.

"If our commentators are done heckling the contestants, we can begin. To our students, I have only one thing to say. Show us what you're made of." He raised his hand, waiting until the crowd went still before bringing it down.

"BEGIN!"

---

Bea/Sue

Sue didn't know what to do. She should have been thrilled. A few weeks ago she would have jumped at the chance for her and sword lady to go at it. Now she wasn't so sure. What if it happened again? She barely stopped herself the first time. What was she supposed to do if she went crazy? Kiss it and make it better? Even after talking to Kit and opening up and giving black-haired pretty boy some smoochies, she was still scared.

But she couldn't back down. She'd made a promise. To sword lady and herself. She couldn't afford to be weak. Maybe it was different here, but back home, a moment's hesitation was a death sentence. She stepped onto the battlefield, holding her staff, breathing deep.

"Uh, y-yeah. Whatever you say, Bea..."

She needed to show them. Her family, her friends in the jungle, those dirty naysayers at school. She could do this. She plucked out a couple of hairs, summoning her other selves. They charged forward, ready to give the smackdown, even as Sue herself stood still.

---

Martin/Jezebel

Jezebel scowled. She was already on the field. She was fully transformed, dressed in red cloth, towering over Martin as a black behemoth. She cracked her knuckles, glaring at Mikael and the other demons. It was possible they remembered her from long ago, but their memories wouldn't have been pleasant.

She stared back at her opponent. She wasn't impressed. "Not who I want."

She cricked her neck, stretching her limbs. She didn't know he was, but she wasn't about to take him seriously. She belched out a gout of flame, separating them with a fiery wall.

"Get through that, then maybe you will be worth something."

Edited by kkhohoho on May 21st 2023 at 5:25:52 AM

Doctor Who — Long Way Around: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13536044/1/Doctor-Who-Long-Way-Around

Mikael

Most demons ran warm, and Mikael was no exception, so the biting chill was less effective than it would have been on a human.

The lack of visibility was more concerning, and clearly what Sam was going for. It meant Mikael would need to find his enemy amidst the snowstorm before the cold wore him down.

The swiping tail was met with an iron fist, shattering the ice and halting its advance. Though shattered shards still bit into crimson flesh. The throbbing pain of frostbite was like an old friend, and Mikael grinned wider.

From his shoulder he drew a long metal rod ending in a crude ax-head, and he leveled it in preparation for Sam's next attack. Then he charged into the blizzard with reckless abandon.

"C'mon, Arctic! Give 'em a show!"

What is so amusing about this? Why do you take lives? How can you forget?

Martin

The hero in training watched as his opponent turned giant, a look of concern crossing his face. "Why does everyone insist on turning giant as if its a power up and not a way of giving me a wider area to hit?" the gout of flames was concerning, the scars across his face burning at the memory of his foolish first 'rescue' attempt that had left a reminder permanently etched upon his skin.

"But I'm not a kid anymore," he grabbed the edge of his cape and threw it in front of him, rushing through the fire with speed that would put most Olympians to shame. His suit was designed with safety in mind, meaning along with the basic necessities of being hardened against small arms and weapons it was treated to withstand extreme temperatures.

As he burst through the other end of the wall of flames he tossed his cape back, the wind from the flames causing it to dance behind him. "Neat trick, my turn."

Power flooded through his system, a byproduct of the various small deeds he did almost everyday before classes began in earnest for his friends and family. The ground cracked beneath him as Martin was suddenly airborn, his first raised back in order to launch a blow at the demons stomach. "Grit your teeth, I'm not holding back!"

Be better, because what is the harm in trying?

Lucy Livingston

The signal was given, but Lucy didn't go in for the attack. She saw how Liam immediately chose the defensive route, taking full advantage of his counterattack-based abilities. She knew that rushing in would be playing right into his hands. So she didn't; merely closing her eyes and letting out a breath. Her form became murky, blackened and oily with liquid. Her outline malformed, a shape splitting off from her to her left before separating and settling into the silhouette of a... second her, made out of ink, which then proceeded to shift its own colours until it looked identical to her.

Lucy looked a little thinner than before, but then she did it again.

Another duplicate. Exactly the same process, standing on the right hand side of Lucy this time. By the time it was all finished, there were three total Lucies standing across from Liam. They all blurred a moment, before disengaging from each other and rapidly orbiting Liam to spiral close towards him from three opposing angles. There was a shimmer or a haze in the air where the middle Lucy had been standing before, seemingly a delayed effect on the eyes. Possibly an afterimage, though Liam would likely be too occupied to really notice it fully. The three identical Lucies all shot their ink towards Liam from their triad formation, intending to slip past his energy field and wrap him up.

Their faces were completely expressionless, making it hard to discern which was the real one and overall giving off a very unsettling effect.

Edited by Enirboreh on May 21st 2023 at 1:32:39 PM

bork

So there's three of them coming at me. Obscuring which of them is the real Lucy...assuming the real Lucy is even among them at all. And they're all angling to get around my shields. This would be a big issue...if all I had were my defensive abilities. But applying what I learned of my offensive capabilities to my defenses...

As the Lucys closed in and all launched an ink tendril at him at once, Liam let one of his hands drift downward. Someone might see the slightest shimmer right before a bright flash of light - and rather than simply forming a shield, Liam formed a sphere around himself alongside a set of rings akin to the rings of Saturn...

Except the rings were outfitted with glimmering golden energy swords that ripped through and burnt the ink tendrils aimed at him. I call this one Reign of Saturn. Lets see how she handles it.

The move was not only a counterattack and a maneuver against Lucy's attack - a number of the most outward facing rotating rings began to expand outward, filling more of the air with the sharp rings and swords (which elongated in the process).

And panic button established...

Edited by NickTheSwing on May 21st 2023 at 11:52:32 AM

Sign on for this After The End Fantasy RP.

Lucy Livingston

He's developed his powers a lot... Lucy thought to herself from her position, as the ink constructs were cut apart by Liam's energy blades. Her ink was not flammable, however, so she regathered the liquid and let it absorb back into herself—the real her, who appeared where the shimmer in the air had been; standing in the same place the whole time. She'd apparently learned to use her melanokinesis for camouflage. There was no use in keeping it up now that her decoys had been destroyed, however.

She stared for a moment at the approaching blades, before placing her hands to the ground and causing her ink to burrow into it; tremors and rumbling indicating that several tendrils were rapidly burrowing through the floor to then erupt out from beneath Liam's protective shield; intending to wrap around it securely. Once again, her ink wasn't flammable, so she'd just have to keep the tendrils in one piece as much as she could while distracted. As the blades drew frighteningly near to her, Lucy's ink began to strike out to parry the spinning energy swords—intercepting them with a flash and a crack of supersonic movement as the remainder of her ink coiled around herself in the shape of a brace.

Its purpose soon became apparent when she suddenly shot vertically up into the air, floundering for a moment to right herself before settling into an abrupt hover, falling suddenly still in place around twenty feet up. She looked dizzy, but her ink was holding, and she couldn't help but grin excitedly down at Liam.

"Hey Liam. I can fly!"

Or something similar to that, at any rate. She raised her hands, globules of ink beginning to pepper against Liam's shield in a steadily increasing volley. They began soft, then hardened with each round, until they began to resemble hailstones in their size and solidity. Their speed began to increase too, as Lucy hung in midair above Liam's position. Spatters of ink were beginning to pool in certain places around their shared arena.

"I like your powers, Liam! You've been working hard!" she commented, sounding noticeably less reluctant to talk than before. If anything she sounded... ecstatic. "I haven't fought like this in a while!"

Edited by Enirboreh on May 23rd 2023 at 5:03:38 PM

bork

Arena - Ding! Ding! The Spider and The Dragonfly Pt. 2

---

Well, he's gonna fight... The raised sword kinda indicated that.

"I dance, you sing!" Khulan twirled and skipped, using the walls as another surface and bounced to Kit's position. Nothing too fast or too hard. He was limping. She'd just kick him square out of the ring.

Okay technically Interceptor hadn't said ring-outs were a thing, but that had to get pts with the judges. And that's how it worked on tv! And it was not beating on Kit.

Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives

Fala — Entering the Arena

Fala nodded her head as she answered, “Yeah…uh, back at’cha.” ‘’Wow, such a way with words,’’ she berated herself in her head.

Truth be told, while they hadn’t talked much, Fala felt like she and Edgar were on the same boat in many ways. Had she not been in her own head all this time, she figured they’d have been closer by now. Ah well, if this fight doesn’t go horribly wrong, what’s to say they can’t making progress now?

Fala readied herself into her fighting stance before making the first punch.

If I die, tell Hex Haywire I loved him.

Bea :> BEGIN

Bea pushed aside her trepidation seeing Sue feeling so dejected over the fight to come and began to deal with the actual threat that the pair of hairborn clones posed. Immediately she was slightly regretting binding her blade in its sheath but as she peeled off to the side to put one clone between herself and the other she just had to accept that a blunt implement would have to suffice for this duel.

"You have given me harsh odds, but I am used to them! But you hold back your drive, why?"

Bea intended it as a genuine question, but it probably came off a little like provocation, especially given that at the time of asking she was already pushing forward to strike the nearest clone in the midsection with her blunted but still magnetically-accelerated weapon.

It's clearly a case of backroom political albumizing.

Sam felt the crash of the first impact, as the tail was shattered, and took the remains to form a sword, seeing the charging demon, he attempted a parry, but it only managed to shatter it and send him flying, crashing into the snow. Some shards cut into his arm, feeling the red liquid pour.

Shit He sent two bull heads flying and pressed the wound with a pincer.

Let's see how far I can get now

Wake me up at your own risk.

Kitson Dragonfly - The Spider and The Dragonfly Pt. 3

In lieu of a response to Khulan’s words, Kitson simply braced for impact with his good leg, watching the spider-lady with a warrior’s eye. Combat acumen didn’t disappear from a tank after a few dents, and so too did the diminished swordsmanship remain evident in Kit’s sudden parry, the blade turned towards himself as not to cut her and the tip pointed downwards. The air stood still a moment longer before, with an expert whistle and flick of the hilt, a savage updraft shot with the force of a cannon. Up, up and away…

I am become dubstep, destroyer of taste

Arena - Brace - The Spider and The Dragonfly Pt. 4

---

"Eeep!" Khulan knew she couldn't fly. Just like she knew flapping her arms didn't help her direction in the air. Yes, she did it anyway. For a second. In her defense, it wasn't to fly. Her glasses almost immediately flew off and into the wind, and she tried to 'swim' after them. And this wind tunnel felt like a constant punch in the gut. Yeah, that was dumb. But those things were prescription. And red. And a dent out of her budget the first time.
Once she accepted the glasses were gone, she finally adjusted to get her bearings. This wasn't the first time she went tumbling through the air. Not even the first time today. One application of web fluid to her palm and one launched string later, and Khulan had caught herself on a wall, even holding on after the savage jerk of going from crazy wind speed to hard stop. And then another jerk for her to pull herself out of that wind tunnel. Okay, she'd forgotten he could do that. She didn't think he would do that.
"Okay," she said hanging from the wall, nay hanging from a web string stuck to the wall, and breathing rapidly. High speed, magic wind tunnels did not stop to give you O2. Who knew? "I think it's your turn." I have to approach this like an actual battle then. Sorta. Still not hitting him too hard.

Edited by CenturyEye on May 31st 2023 at 11:58:50 AM

Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives

On The Offense - The Spider and The Dragonfly Pt. 5

Kit muttered a response, mostly to himself, some, “Yeah, my turn.” It was easy to parry and counter, he had never wavered in confidence when it came to his ability to stop people from hitting him. Hitting back, however, he wasn’t so sure about. He knew he wasn’t as fast as he used to be, but whether or not that meant he wasn’t fast enough had yet to be seen. At the end of the day, this was about proving that Kitson Dragonfly walked out of that crater alive. Alive and kicking.

He didn’t stand idle as Khulan scrambled, instead carefully watching her trajectory to attempt to predict where she’d finally land. He failed. Turns out volatile concussive wind didn’t make for normal trajectory pathways.

Instead, as Khulan steadied herself on the wall, Kit tightened the tunnel into a narrow spring the width of a python, coiled it tight to his blade, and thrusted forth, the movement of the sword sending a concussive blast of wind towards Khulan’s chest. If it hit it would feel roughly like a really strong punch. The problem here lay in the fact that Kit was striking with his non-dominant hand, and so royal accuracy was lost. Instead the strike veered ever so slightly to the right…

Edited by Yayakuza on May 31st 2023 at 11:53:02 AM

I am become dubstep, destroyer of taste

Mikael

You'd think that Sam would know by now not to try parrying a blow from Mikael, especially not with the demon in his true form, but perhaps the ice boy was cocky.

It cost him. Mikael could smell the blood on the air, and it set his own to boiling, which slightly dulled the ache of the cold. One swing shattered the bull heads, but the shards retained their momentum and cut into him.

Here was the difference between them: while Sam had to staunch the bloodloss, Mikael merely laughed and charged again. The demon could bleed quite a bit, and even in the cold the shallow cuts on his body were already sizzling shut.

"I know you can hit me harder than that! C'mon!"

What is so amusing about this? Why do you take lives? How can you forget?

Martin/Jezebel

Martin made his mark. He socked the demoness straight in the gut, nearly knocking the wind out of her sails. Anyone else would have been sent soaring, blasting across the arena like a cannonball.

For Jezebel, it was Tuesday. She grimaced, standing her ground, taking the blow as it came. It gave her a soft bruise, but she wasn't impressed.

"Cute."

She seized Martin's wrist, flapping her wings, lifting him up and vaulting them into the air. She flipped herself over, slamming him towards the ground. She followed him down, hands folded and talons outstretched, spinning like a drill. Next to some demons she'd faced, he didn't seem to be a threat, but she was taking him seriously.

---

Sue/Bea

"Who said anything about holding back?!"

The first clone went down without a struggle. One solid blow and it went poof, a little brown hair floating to the ground. But it was all part of the plan. The second came up from behind, attempting to kick her square in the back. She would have slammed Bea into the nearest wall, leaping after her if successful.

But she wasn't giving it her all. She could have ended it then and there if she wanted. One strong kick was enough to crush her bones and that wasn't half of it. The fact that Bea would still be conscious would be enough to confirm her fears. But what else was she supposed to do?

"Just stay down, okay?! Don't wanna hurt you..."

Edited by kkhohoho on Jun 5th 2023 at 7:43:37 AM

Doctor Who — Long Way Around: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13536044/1/Doctor-Who-Long-Way-Around

Saint-o-Mania 23 - On The Move - The Spider and The Dragonfly Pt. 6

---

"Oh, I know what to do about that now!" The cyclone-cannon or what Songblade decided to call this move should have missed. She wouldn't have to put in too much effort to swing away. But the audience could see that at any hero rally. Besides, she had to show that she thought big. Maybe then Saint wouldn't think their class needed protecting.

Accordingly, Khulan brilliantly swung into the blast and kicked, launching herself off the blast and tucking into a ball and bouncing off the walls. Well, she kicked and pushed off of each wall at each 'bounce'. Pinball time! Her earlier spin gave her this idea and a first experience already. And hopefully, she could use Songblade's next blasts for boosters, but for now, she had the first one!

Khulan's pinball move had her quickly bouncing off the walls and floor in semi-random directions from slight adjustments on her bounces. All too soon a very fast pinball was shooting in Kit's direction.

Edited by CenturyEye on Jun 4th 2023 at 12:45:34 PM

Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives

Sam knew he had to act as quickly if he wanted to make a mark. The blood still pouring, even if more slowly, he jumped in, raising a wave of snow to block his sight. Stepping in, a battering ram formed next to him, hidden by the snow. Charging in, he intended the impact to Mikael's legs.

"Can't be happy unless I ride this till the end"

Of course, he risked himself getting an axe in an unpleasant place (is there a pleasant place for that?), but that's life.

Wake me up at your own risk.

Bea :> Damage Sustained

It was a hard slam into the wall, but Bea had had tougher scrapes and had a good head for follow-ups. She spun, putting her back against the wall and hopefully leaving the second clone's leap to be amiss and ripe for a punishing sword blow.

"You are standing there, letting your replicants do your fighting! If you worry about me then do not; we are in a dedicated arena with trained staff on standby and any number of heroes watching who could intervene!"

Whether her retaliation against the clone was successful or not, Bea found a moment to stand and point her sheathed blade at the true Sue.

"Show me what made you a living legend in my time. Show me the truth of your strength, because I am showing you mine. And there is no more sacred act of fighting, than to show one's true self against a friend!"

Okay so some of that was theatrics, appeal towards the audience to heighten tension and gravitas. But all the same, Bea did mean everything she said.

It's clearly a case of backroom political albumizing.

Edgar vs Fala.

The first punch was thrown and Edgar reacted accordingly via dodging to the side, truth be told Edgar isn't trained in martial arts and merely goes by instinct and things he has seen on media.

This leads to him throwing a punch at Fala using his entire weight for more force but at the cost of shifting his center mass leaving him unbalanced, something that could be exploited.

Martin

Despite being lifted into the air like a ragdoll the young hero couldn't stop smiling, a laugh escaping him even as he viewed the larger demon flying down like a spiral of pure pain just waiting to strike into his stomach. "I appreciate the compliment, but I already have a girl I like!" he forced himself into a turn and impacted the ground feet first, spiderweb like cracks exploding from the point of impact and the shock running from the tips of his toes all the way up to his lower back, drawing a wince from the young man.

He didn't have enough time to dodge, so instead he would have to do as he always did, a meet it head on. "You can actually take a hit, so this time no holding back!" he drew back his arm, power flooding through his muscles and granting him strength beyond what a human could summon before meeting the spiraling drill of nails with the momentum of his upward swing. He would no doubt take damage, but he would give back every inch.

Be better, because what is the harm in trying?

Mikael

Lost in the bloodrush, Mikael ran through the swirling snow and swung blind. The ram caught him in the legs, sending him stumbling forward, his axe embedding itself in the ground with a loud thud. He managed to catch himself on it, though in the process snapped the pole of the axe near the middle.

Stomping a hoof to steady himself, he kept the broken half of the handle in one hand while picking up the now shortened axe in the other. One of his leg bones had cracked, but Mikael had walked off a broken leg before.

Now dual wielding, he spun, beating his great wings to try and push away some of the snow, before curling them in front of his body and stomping forward. His wings acted like a snow plow, pushing frost out of his way, though also hampering his vision.

It was clear he intended to charge back and forth across the arena until he hit something. Or Sam bled out. Whichever came first.

What is so amusing about this? Why do you take lives? How can you forget?