Hal vs. Lopez Lazuli

SIGIL :: THE HIVE :: GRAVEYARD

...brought to you by Sigil.

After the undead uprising in The Hive, Sigil's most destitute and derelict Ward, the city's graveyards have been emptied and left barren. Open graves and mausoleums are mute testimony to the necromantic powers that exist in The Hive.

Terrain

General: The graveyard is a small one, 50' by 50' and mostly used for beggars and criminals. Headstones, both whole and broken, litter the graveyard. There are walkways between each row of graves approximately 4' wide, creating a grid through the various plots. All of the graves have been emptied, revealing six feet deep holes. These disinterred graves are full of muck, rainwater, and the occasional broken-up coffin from where the resident clawed their way out. Lamps hang from spires at regular intervals throughout the graveyard, giving off a dim, eerie illumination.

Weapons: Broken pieces of granite and stone from the graves, shovels for grave-digging, and the occasional piece of a human skeleton, left behind by some reanimated body.

Bonus Features: Spookiness.

There was a sudden shift in the atmosphere around Hal, as if the air were electrified. Then out of thin air, a blue streak descended from above; a sharp crackling sound resonated throughout the graveyard. A figure appeared from it, mid-air rolling towards the ground in a neon blue streak. All in the span of a second, a person in a blue and black bodysuit was there, crouched on the ground from her landing.

She slowly stood up, swaying her head off to the side as if to show off her electric blue hair, which spiked off to the side. Her lithe figure towered over Hal by nearly a foot. She placed her eyes on Hal, but seemed to ignore him at first and looked at her surroundings.

“…It’s a little drab for an arena, don’t you think?” the girl said, though it was unclear whether she was talking to Hal. She looked down at the muck-filled graves, and then at the damp soil beneath her feet. “Eugh. Gross.”

Her frown turned into a grin quickly enough. “Still…I can make any fight look cool, even in a dump like this!” The blue lining on her suit lit up into a vibrant electric blue, as if her blood itself had come to life. She struck a few dynamic poses (not unlike a tokusatsu hero) before settling in a stance that was undoubtedly cool, yet clearly impractical for actual combat.

Her voice suddenly was booming with confidence, as if her previous ramblings were only meant for herself. “The name’s Lopez Lazuli, wolf boy!” she spoke, finally addressing Hal directly. “This may be my first match in the GCL, but I’ve been fighting supervillains for years! So don’t underestimate me!”

All the while, her stance was shifting ever so slightly, preparing to launch herself forward.

Post 1/20

A Beat Spider Wrote:

”A Beat Spider” Wrote:

Hal’s enhanced vision would not give him anything out of the ordinary. Lopez’s heat signature was absolutely average at the moment. Though if he had strained enough, he could have noticed faint pulsating signatures emanating from Lopez’s heart that went to circulate through her body. A strangely shaped blade lay on her right holster; it looked as though it was folded upon itself. Other than that, Lopez looked to be unadorned with all but the lightest of armor.

Lopez did not bother with an appraisal of her own. Mostly because she had forgotten to have her scouter approved for combat at the GCL. Small and a wolf boy, which probably means he's fast or something. was the extent of her analysis.

“Hal. Neat.” was all Lopez gave as a reply. Her only form of communication was in sarcastic quips and snide remarks, so she had a hard time engaging in civil conversation.

“In any case, let’s get this show on the road!”

Lopez kicked off from her ready position into a 10 mile per hour dash. She left a blue trail of light behind her in the dark night, and based on it, anyone could see that Lopez’s gait was unnervingly…perfect. Each stride of her legs, each swing of her arms, and each twisting of her torso looked effortless, yet refined. Her Lazurite Affinity was doing its usual work here, fine-tuning her normal movements.

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Quote: Wrote:

> The Power of Lazurite! > > > > As a Lazurite, Lopez can tap into the strange properties of the substance inside her body. She can manipulate the Lazurite in order to enhance, fine-tune, and even redirect her own body movements. This extends to external forces as well; she can make the Lazurite react to kinetic blows on her body, redirecting them as she sees fit.

Hal would barely have any time to appreciate this, however, because her body suddenly somersaulted off to her left (his right) towards the marsh; her body simply took a 90-degree turn in an instant, defying the basic principles of inertia. She landed her feet on a tombstone in the midst of the marsh, but she didn’t stay there long. Again she catapulted off her feet, ignoring the landing impact physics usually imposes on objects. This time she was in a rapid forward somersault straight at Hal. When she reached no more than two feet away from him, she extended her right foot from her curled position in order to deliver a somersaulting Axe kick straight at Hal’s left shoulder, near the neck. “Take this!”

show spoilerhide spoiler Acrobat: Lopez can surge forward mid-jump, redirecting the upwards momentum forwards (air dash). She can also redirect her momentum diagonally downwards in order to surprise her opponent with an assault from above. When launched at a high speed from an attack, Lopez can transpose the linear momentum into rotational momentum; she does a few flips mid-air, halting her momentum completely in the span of a second (Aerial recovery). Cannot be used in Overheat. Usage: Can air-dash or aerial recovery once during the turn it’s activated. Cooldown: 2 turns.

A solid hit would send Lopez flying forward still, where she would land opposite of Hal a few feet away. The blow itself, while deceptively fast, only packed enough destructive power to place a small fracture on a person’s clavicle and strain on the trapezius. A whiff would send her crashing down into the soil, where her powers would once again serve her by reducing the landing impact and quickly sending her into a forward roll, just barely missing the gravestone behind Hal and ending up two feet opposite him.

Hal’s countermeasure was rather mundane, but surprisingly effective. His opponent turned from a graceful acrobat into a panicked mass of flailing limbs. “Woah, woah, woah!” Lopez was about to run straight into his outstretched razor-sharp wings! Her only course of option was to adjust her axe kick such that it would strike the wing from the side instead of getting itself chopped off on Hal’s blade. Lopez groaned as she twisted her torso to that purpose. Her right leg stretched out as originally planned, attempting to strike Hal’s left wing on the flat side; this strike was much weaker than originally intended and would not likely cause any major damage. The awkward angle of the impact would get close to spraining her ankle and make Lopez wince in pain, but she would power through and use that foot to step off and throw herself away from Hal. She would land on her left shoulder three feet off to Hal’s left, another consequence of her reckless offense. Still, the pain would not throw Lopez off her offense; she rolled once to the left to reduce some of the impact, ending in a crouched position with a clear view of Hal’s face.

“Over HERE!” she said as she ran straight towards Hal. Just before reaching striking range, Lopez would weave to the left in anticipation of a left swipe from Hal’s left foreleg or wing. Her entire left arm would light up brilliantly for a brief moment, before Lopez threw it down at Hal’s head in a downwards left hook/hammer punch hybrid.

Quote: Wrote:

> Lazurite Pugilist: Lazurite in Lopez’s body greatly speeds up the reactions required for the contraction of muscles; thus, her attacks come out quicker than average, connecting in about two thirds the time it takes for an average MMA fighter. Additionally, when blows come in contact with its target, the Lazurite reduces the reactive force on Lopez’s fist (the pain you feel when you punch something) and redirects it into additional force on the target. She also retracts her limbs more quickly than average. Her fists/legs briefly flash neon blue when attacking.

”A Beat Spider” Wrote:

Taking a moment to orient herself, Lopez saw that her botched attack still managed to knock Hal partway into the mud. Yes, this is my chance to knock him in! she thought to herself during her charge towards Hal.

There was enough time for Lopez to take notice of Hal’s drop to the ground a moment before she threw her left hand out. Easy enough, Lopez simply decided to go for an overhead punch instead of the hook in order to bonk Hal squarely on the noggin. When she saw his wings stretch out, however, Lopez thought that they might be ready to retaliate her punch and panic activated her [EX Cancel].

<EX Cancel>

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Quote: Wrote:

> [EX Cancel]: If Lopez’s strike is blocked/parried and leaves Lopez dangerously open to a counterattack, she has learned to activate this move by reaction. When her fist/foot makes contact with her opponent’s block, Lopez instinctively taps into the Lazurite to quickly redirect the majority of the energy back into her core and into another movement. She can either use the energy to backstep to safety, or launch another attack to intercept her opponent’s counterattack. When this activates, it is telegraphed by Lopez flashing blue for a few milliseconds in a ‘freeze frame’. She can cancel into up to two additional actions in a post where she activates EX Cancel. > > > > Using this against a pushing-type block (such as an attempted parry) will most likely frustrate her opponent’s defense; it will be as if they shoved their shield/blocking arm through thin air, causing them to overextend and leave themselves open to counter attack. > > > > Lopez does this instinctively, so whenever I intend for her to make use of this in a post, I shall add a side note that details her intentions if the opposing player goes for a riposte type block. Whenever I add such a side note, EX Cancel will only activate when it is apparent that the enemy will go for a counter attack. It won’t activate if the enemy does not use a riposte style defense and thus Overkinetics will not go on cooldown. > > > > Limitations: > > - EX Cancel is a deliberated maneuver. Lopez must plan her EX cancels in advance; she usually looks for a certain kind of blocking maneuver from her opponentand can only ‘cancel’ using a premeditated follow-up attack. Thus, this ability is a pre-emptive one, not reactive; it cannot be used on twitch reaction except on the slowest of opponents. Additionally, there is a 25% chance for Lopez to ‘misread’ her opponent’s block and push through with her premeditated follow-up attack even if it is no longer the best option. The chance for a misread increases if the opponent is using deliberately ambiguous defensive options. > > - Lopez Lazuli still loses some of her kinetic energy during the initial impact (up to 50% of it if she reacts particularly late). That, plus the inherent loss of around 10% of the energy as heat means that Lopez must spend some of the energy to return to a neutral, stable stance if she wants to follow-up at full strength. Thus, the follow-up does not come out instantly, though still much quicker than normal. Forcibly ‘instant’ follow-ups are inherently clumsy or weak. A rushed backstep is only half as fast as it is in [Lightning Footwork]; a rushed follow-up punch will not cause the opponent to stagger (unless Lopez can strike a vital target, or at least take a crapshoot for the head). A saavy opponent may realize that Lopez’s ‘cancelled’ strikes will not hurt them as much since she just retracts the force as soon as they land. > > - Using this against more persistent, solid defenses, such as those that do not intend to riposte or wherein the opponent stays relatively stationary, proves to be an inefficient use of this power. The initial strikes (before cancelling) are feeble, and thus will not wear down her opponent’s defenses at all.

If her punch connected with Hal, he would feel that the punch did not pack as much force as Lopez’s momentum would have suggested. Enough maybe to stagger him and send him into a momentary daze, but not cause any fractures in his head. What followed the impact was that an explosive force seemed to be applied onto Lopez instead, suddenly sending her sliding backwards three meters from Hal, well out of range of his wingspan. She teetered a bit from her sudden change in vector, but remained standing. If Hal checked her heat signature again, he would notice a noticeable increase in her body temperature.

(Hal dodging the attack completely would cause Lopez to strike the ground instead, but the backslide would still follow)

Lopez took a moment to catch her breath; the opportunity to knock Hal into the mud had been lost. “Heh…you’re pretty sharp, I’ll give you that.” she said under her breath. Hal was proving to be effective at warding her off. Lopez started inching back towards Hal, although it was clear that it was Hal’s chance to go on the offensive.

Condition:

• Right ankle in pain with slight tremor

• Left shoulder lightly bruised

• Slightly winded; on the defense

Abilities:

• Overheat: 2/4 (Used EX Cancel)

• Pugilist: 1 of 2 turns cooldown

• Acrobat: 2 of 2 turns cooldown

Post 4/20

”A Beat Spider” Wrote:

”You annoying little…” Lopez said under her breath. She usually enjoyed being on the offensive, but it was clear here that Hal seemed a little too comfortable with staying on the defensive. Lopez was especially irked by his small stature; she wasn’t used to having to attack such a small and low target.

Lopez ran at Hal once again. Just before reaching striking range, a blue wave of light emanated throughout her body once again, signaling that she was up to something. She tumbled onto her hands in order to perform a cartwheel; her two legs would come down in quick succession to attempt to strike Hal’s upper back, careful to avoid his bladed wings this time. As soon as Lopez’s feet would land, Hal would find no time to react as Lopez would spring immediately into a backflip; the second part of her **[Round-off Backflip deluxe**] would have her attempt to stomp both of her feet down on Hal, hopefully pinning him down momentarily beneath her.

[Acrobat]

show spoilerhide spoiler Acrobat: Lopez can surge forward mid-jump, redirecting the upwards momentum forwards (air dash). She can also redirect her momentum diagonally downwards in order to surprise her opponent with an assault from above. When launched at a high speed from an attack, Lopez can transpose the linear momentum into rotational momentum; she does a few flips mid-air, halting her momentum completely in the span of a second (Aerial recovery). Cannot be used in Overheat. Usage: Can air-dash or aerial recovery once during the turn it’s activated. Cooldown: 2 turns.

Condition:

• Right ankle in pain with slight tremor

• Left shoulder lightly bruised

• Slightly winded

Abilities:

• Overheat: 1/4

• Pugilist: 2 of 2 turns cooldown

• Acrobat: 0 of 2 turns cooldown (Wxas just utilized)

Post 5/20

”A Beat Spider” Wrote:

When Lopez landed from her cartwheel, her soles striking nothing but the damp soil set off alarms in her head. Hal dodged her attack! This caused Lopez to hesitate for a moment before continuing to her backflip; she spotted Hal out of the corner of her eye, and initiated a sort of side flip towards him instead. However, her arrogance had gotten the best of her; it seemed as though Hal would not be intent on just avoiding her attacks any longer.

She felt Hal’s foreleg claws dig an inch or so into her axillary area, and let out a cry of pain. She would use both of her hands to grasp Hal on his torso and try to push him off her. He had killed her attack completely, and sent the both of them flying backwards through the air. The momentum of the two mid-air intertwined fighters would send Lopez crashing to the ground, with her opponent in a comfortable position on top of her.

…wait, mid-air. They were in mid-air! Without any ground to stand on, Lopez had the monopoly on momentum. “Not so fast, Robo-dog!” Lopez said, before another wave of blue light emanated through her. She suddenly twisted her entire body clockwise with a force that could not possibly be mustered in mid-air. Hal would find both of her arms clinging to him and powerfully attempting to flip him over such that she would be above him. He was a good bit lighter than Lopez, so she doubted he could pull enough weight to resist it, and hopefully he would be too disoriented to try anything else. In any case, she would manipulate their descent using her Lazurite such that any resistance he put up would be heavily mitigated.

[Pirouette]

show spoilerhide spoiler [Pirouette]: Lopez can convert her linear momentum into rotational momentum; she can go into a stationary pirouette from a high speed Sparkskate or run, killing her current linear velocity by 75% in 1 second. She can then convert this rotational momentum back into linear momentum, sending her into back into a dash. Lopez can also opt to retain some of the rotation, turning her into an advancing roundhouse machine. There is a short visual tell for whenever Lopez executes this. Going into Pirouette is telegraphed by Lopez momentarily going into a low, spinning slide before pirouetting on one foot. Exiting Pirouette is telegraphed by her extending her arm and leg away from her body, slowing down her rotational velocity before she can break into a run or a dash.

If this maneuver proved successful, the force would be powerful enough to send the both of them in a corkscrew that spun multiple times until they landed on the ground, Lopez on top of Hal.

Condition:

• Right ankle in pain with slight tremor

• Left shoulder lightly bruised

Abilities:

• Overheat: 3/4 (just used Pirouette)

• Pugilist: ready!

• Acrobat: 1 of 2 turns cooldown

Post 6/20

”A Beat Spider” Wrote: