Tiamat Vaden vs. Argus McFarland

The gates at the northern end of the arena slowly open and a single man dressed in a grey business suit walks forth, a deck of cards shuffling between his aged hands. He hadn't heard from his opponent yet, and hoped his request for a secondary ruleset would be accepted. Such suspense and intrigue in a simple draw of a card, a turning point based entirely on chance. The Dealer was one to live for such events, chance and fate knew no bounds in his world.

Quote: Wrote:

> Secondary Ruleset request > 1. Best of three hands of five card draw gets a buff based on the last hand. > 2. Jello will be mediating the randomization of the cards for fairness.

((Basically just 3 hands of five card draw (deal, pick which to keep, deal, show) and whoever wins best of three will get to use the effects of the last hand as per a predetermined card list, which I will gladly divulge upon request.)

The old man didn't rightly care about the other's tardiness, for he really wasn't all as late as he might have assumed. By the other's calm demeanor he couldn't tell if the man hadn't received the memo about the request or had simply denied it. This led to one conclusion; ask him. As he walked towards the center he flung his right hand out to one side while the cards danced about his left. A small flash erupted around a single card at his right hand and his voice carried through the arena as if rumbling from the belly of a giant beast, "Aye, kid. Have ye been informed of the little wager I've offered to ye in this match? All I wan' is a bit o' fun before we start. A game of cards is all. Whoever wins the best two of tha three geta ta keep their cards active for tha fight."

Darn it, Tiamat thought, if only he'd have come closer, raising ones voice took more than the calm quiet tone. Oh well, some things couldn't be avoided and he'd need to get out of his lazy mood soon anyway.

"Aye, I heard of your bet. And, because of my interest for random fun, even if they odds are against me, it's all in good fun. Besides, dieing is just part of the fun eh?"

Tiamat gave a warm friendly smile. He wasn't the big headed, rude warrior that most ran into. Anyway, he'd wait to see what his opponent had to say next, he had no questions anyway.

Why couldn't Tiamat have a cool tattoo like that? All he had was this stupid scar from a crushed arm. Of course his spirits were picked up when he saw the chair. Happily sitting down, Tiamat put his hands behind his head, leaned back and awaited for the mans ideas to come together.

He gave a nod to the dealer as a bit of a wicked grin cracked his lips. When he spoke his accent was oddly missing, "Argus McFarland, Public Relations for the Gaian Police Department. Most know me as The Dealer, however." His accent picked up again, "I prefer ta be called Sir McFarland, if ye don' mind."

Tiamat nodded at the man introducing himself as Macfarland. Giving him a nod and a smirk before he spoke.

"Sir McFarland it is then."

Tiamat raised his hand in a lazy wave.

"The name's Tiamat Vaden, shinobi vampire, random usual mercenary. I'm usually known as Tiam, or the more hated Tia...ugh."

So he was dealing with someone from the GPD was he? This was the first.

Once he received his cards he slipped them up from the table and examined them. His brow quirked, but the expression was one that could not be determined between interest and disappointment. The cards danced about his fingers with their backs facing Tiamat before he flicked one of them back to the dealer.

Pushing the discarded cards aside, he dealt the two thier respective cards; Argus 1, and the other, 3.

Tiamat didn't know much about this game, so he'd just drop his hand for all to see. The cards were JOKER, JACK S, ACE C 8D 10D. Shrugging, he didn't know who'd win or lose, chances are he'd lose and it'd only make him chuckle a bit.

"I don't know what it means, I just know I can do it."

Giving another smile he waited to see what they would say.

OOC: EDITED

OOC: Oh that's not a move? @.@ It didn't say it was a trade in, it just said I could do it. If I messed up, then I'll edit and put my whole hand down.

Seeing both hands, he came to his conclusion, and nodded once before speaking "Round one, Sir McFarland. Round two, shuffling" He spoke whilst gathering up the placed cards, and shuffling the deck once more; then dealt out the five.

"Heh, if only it were a fishing contest, then I'd stand a chance." Tiamat took his new hand, and just like the last time handed three cards back. Either he had a slight idea of what was going on, or he didn't know what he was doing and gave what look good.

Nodding once, Seph swept away the cards, and dealt the two thier cards. Again 1 to Argus, and 3 to Tiam.

Argus nodded solemnly as he laid down his cards, producing two Jokers, a Jack of Hearts, a Seven of Clubs, and a Ten of Hearts. The disappointment remained, "With or without jokers being wild, I got ya beat, son. A pair if not and a straight to Jack if so." A smile returned, "One more for three or would you rather get down to business and leave me with these here cards?"

Tiamat gave a smirk, and nodded.

"Aye, I'm getting lazier by the moment. Keep your victories, and make the first move. I'm about ready to stretch if you are."

Tiamat was still as he was, relaxed, he'd lost, and had seen it coming, oh well no big deal.

He nodded and rose from the table, giving a half bow to Tiamat as he began to walk away, "From ten paces then." He flicked his wrist out to the side, a hand identical to his winning hand at the end forming about his fingers. The cards began to dance about his nimble digits as he spoke, "You are excused." Whether he meant the card table or the third man (not knowing he had already left) was unclear as the table and chairs -once Tiamat was out of his of course- seemed to blow away in a flurry of playing cards. Once he was ten paces away he would turn to look back to his opponent, a wicked grin about his lips.

[Jo, Jo, JH, 10H, 7C]

((I don't have my cardlist on me so I'll edit this later with the actual cards.))

Argus turned so that his right hand holding the cards was facing away from Tiamat. His arms crossed and when he flung his left hand out towards the man and produced a fireball. In the wake of the fireball two cards could be seen burning away, the Two of Spades and the Two of Clubs. It would streak across the distance and explode in his general area with some nice fireball goodness.

[Jo, Jo, JH, 10H, 7C, 2S, 2C]

((Uh dude, what table? XD The card table is gone. XD))

Edit: ((Previous post editted with card usage))

Tacitus Wrote:

> ((Uh dude, what table? XD The card table is gone. XD)) > > Edit: ((Previous post editted with card usage))

OOC: o.o When did you take it away. Your post before the attack said you stood up from it and that's all.

Tacitus Wrote:

> Tacitus Wrote: > > Tacitus Wrote: > > > as the table and chairs -once Tiamat was out of his of course- seemed to blow away in a flurry of playing cards.Once he was ten paces away he would turn to look back to his opponent, a wicked grin about his lips. > > > > > > [Jo, Jo, JH, 10H, 7C]

OOC: >.> I saw that, just testin ya. Edited

The attacking Tiamat was never real, it was earth formed and shaped to the likeness of Tiamat, and moved with the aid of a trickl of Tiam's. There were strings attached to Tiamat's fingers, and the other ends were attached to the earth "puppet" if you will, druidic magic was much in play here.

"Nin."

**Was Tiamat's only word after the dodge, once the word was finished, the earth made body burst into a blob like form, and threatened to encase Argus in a shell of solid earth, and if it was successful, it would drag him other. It's speed was not god like, but it was formidable.

As for Tiamat, he was standing on the wall that had blocked he fire for him, controlling the blob to do what he wanted.**

"Uk mal saph natha youth, quin uk loren elderly."

Now even Tiamat's regular speech was coming out in elven. Maybe his druidic art wouldn't be the winning choice here, next would be the shinobi arts, that's all he's got. Of course Tiamat was starting to wonder if he could beat a man who fights like this, thankful he did not meet the man in his youthful era.

"Crud, nindol mii'n Usstan inbal ulu mumbaro qee ichl, vel'bol natha dregzt."

"Looks like he's got some kind of shield up."

These words were apart of Tiamat's thoughts, as he was wondering just what to do here. The man had skill, that was quite obvious by now. Tiamat also learned not to underestimate him by his age. For now, for better observation, Tiamat would sit and watch what the man does.

OOC: Lol, no worries man. The following was obvious enough, at least this was what Tiamat had figured: One, the man was using his own sort of energy to lose his age. Two, those cards he held in his hand were not there for looks. Three, to be using his energy to change his age, and use them for attack, aswell as probably using energy for his card tricks, he probably has a huge amount of energy stocked up in that body of his, possibly drawing it from somewhere else. But, using his energy like this will be taxing on his strength in the long run. And since Tiamat knew how to save his energy, "fate" may be on Tiam's side today. Of course, during this thought process Tiamat was still listening to his opponent, and a simple comment would have been unlike Tiamat, so he delivered the following comment.

"Well..I'm hoping they'll have a McDonalds like Wal-Mart, cause I find myself being hungry after this. Do you know what Fate has in store for you?"

"I agree, it would be the predicting of ones own future, something I try to avoid. I perfer living in curiosity, only to find my answers when they reveal themselves, at least when convenient."

**But any smile or smirk Tiamat once had was gone now, turned into a dissatisfied frown. Not because he was an all powerful being and the attack was not to his liking, but rather because of the form of the attack, magic.

Being a former mage himself, he knew about the ways of magic, and Tiamat's magic was strong yes, but difficult. Only being able to use a spell once, after which it would be forgotten, it was also taxing on the strength and required much sleep, both were the curses of magic users, but then again everything must have balance. How many years Tiamat had wasted studying the forgotten spells, his books like another end of his soul. Then he'd found another way to preserve his youth while in his studies, and all that came to what he was now, a soul devourering vampire.

But enough history, it was time for the matter at hand. There was something bad coming his way and he didn't know how to get around it. As the screams hit the air Tiamat grabbed his ears in pain, the enhanced hearing of a vampire becoming his weakness at the moment. But his mind was strong, like his will, and Tiamat had to clear his vision at least enough to get a basic idea of the man's area. Tiamat had a plan but it wouldn't work if he couldn't see his destination. Within seconds he forced his vision to clear as much as possible, putting his all into getting the screams to go away within his own head, and finally it was enough. He risked uncovering his ears for the brief second to make one hand sign that would make him disapear with just a cloud of smoke covering him up, giving the illusion that he'd used a technique to vanish out of thin air.

Here's where common sense kicks in, whether right or wrong. Tiamat's destination was behind the man, not because he was sneaky but because the attack came from the front to begin with. Now, he chose the area near the man because, who would unleash an attack so soon into battle that would harm them? Hoping this was a good thought Tiamat chanced it and there he was behind his opponent, only this time there was no smoke, no nothing, it almost looked like he came out of the ground.

Now for his attack. It was a simple one, yet only the beginning of what would turn out to be one big attack. As he reappeared behind Argus, a kunai knife was in his left hand, his right hand was open to help block any counter attacks. The left hand would make what would look like a fatal stab at Argus, but all Tiamat wanted was a drop of blood at best, which would result in a minor scratch, nothing to worry about. The point of making the attack look like it had fatal intent was in hopes that Argus would move in a forward or direction away from Tiamat, but there was still hope for the bit of blood.**

OOC: It's edited read the third action paragraph it starts with, "But enough history..." the last sentence you'll see the change. It may not look like much but I've eliminated any cheating I may have done. And don't worry I'll probably exlain it all in the next post, and then you'll see the lack of cheating. ^^ For now just trust me. It's how I roleplay explanations come second really, but they come I promise.

Side note: Alright, if I may ask that you explain these things when you post, if they're complicated like that. And for my retarded brain explanations will include, "You. Put. The. Circle. Block. In. The. Circle. Hole. xD

**If Argus was curious at all how Tiamat got behind him so fast, Tiamat would answer his question with an attack. You see, Tiamat wasn't at all traveing fast, he was in fact not moving much at all at the time. The smoke was a simple diversion so Argus would not see what was really happening. As the smoke covered Tiamat from view, he was pulled into the earth, by the earth itself. In just that same time frame, another earth clone of Tiamat shot up behind Argus to make the attack.

Well, Tiamat wasn't telling Argus all this because he thought Argus had a right to know, but Argus should be able to put two and two together after this next attack. Hands right under Argus would shoot out at a very rapid speed, attempting to grip Argus' ankles tightly. These hands were the hands of Tiamat himself, the real one. When at the same time the fake Tiam would form into a pillar like shape and shoot straight for Argus' chest, for a bone smashing ram. The pillar had a radius of about two feet. Tiamat's hopes were Argus would get distracted by one and hit by the other. And if he was hit, Tiamat wouldn't dare hold on to his ankles any longer, as he might very well lose his hands, and he did need those.**

**Tiamat had no time to ponder the reactions for the moment, it was time for a physical attack. Once Argus would land on his hand Tiamat would make yet another move. You see, the earth was Tiamat's friend, and it was his eyes while he was underground, in a place where his eyes were useless. The earth was his eyes, and so he knew where Argus was.

When Argus would land on his hand Tiamat would come right out from under, or above....being upside down was confusing, he hoped Argus wouldn't do this too much. Anyway, Tiamat would come from under Argus, the Temigarasu in hand. The katana's blade was aimed right for Argus' head, and held at waist level. Tiamat would shoot straight up into the air, and if Argus didn't move he would find himself sliced in half.

There was still the shield to worry about, Tiamat didn't know if it would block this attack or not, so he was taking a chance. If it did hit, and it was more of a deflection the sword would be dropped for sure, as Tiamat would surely not be prepared to hold it enough. It might also be safer for Tiamat to drop the sword, rather than be slown down and left open for Argus.**

"What's this now? Curses."

**His reaction to the spheres was not one of calmness. But, Tiamat was a veteran fighter, in these times he'd learned instead of worrying about what the attack looked like or what-not, but to think on getting away or countering it. And so, it was time for Tiamat to do something before he was one dead son of a gun.

His hands made two symbols, one after the other. The last symbol held, and his body began radiating a reddish energy. This energy had not element, it was just pure energy, and it would guard Tiamat. Tiamat spread his arms outward, and as he did so the energy formed a protective sphere around him. The sphere began to spread outward, colliding with the spears and the other orbs. With a little effort the sphere would push back Argus' attack. With one final push, the sphere would push enough to dispers, as well as Tiamat's shield.

But Tiamat didn't want to waste any time here, in case they were to get back. Oddly enough, being close to Argus sounded safest, this way the attack would threaten Argus just the same. And so, Tiamat fell to the ground, and with a vampiric speed took off towards Argus. An estimated five feet from Argus, Tiamat would slide forward as if trying to touch base in baseball, his left foot first. As he neared Argus, Tiamat would push himself up with his right hand and come upwards towards Argus all in one fluid motion. The right leg came around for a kick to Argus' head, except it was more than just Tiam's boot, the boot was covered with a thick layer of rock. Though it should be heavy, Tiamat had the boost of his vampiric strength, making this feat very possible. This had no energy in the kick, it was all pure strenght, and if it connected it should hit hard. That is unless, the shield would get involved, but that's just what Tiamat was testing.

The rock on Tiamat's boot gathered while he slid. His left foot was outwards, and his right leg was bent and sliding on the ground, this was why he slid in the first place. Tiamat was testing the shield, not knowing how long it would last he had to find a weakness. Energy didn't work, and though he didn't make it known, Tiamat knew energy had some effect on the man's age. Weapons bounced off as if attacking a chunk of metal. So now pure physical attack would be the next option. If this didn't work, Tiamat would have to get rid of that shield.**

Tacitus Wrote:

> Tiamat would find himself utilizing more energy than intended to fend off the blast. The destruction portion of the detonation literally seemed to be burning through his stores of energy on contact. It wouldn't leave him powerless or combust to do harm, it would merely drain him more than intended in the realm of 25-50% more than he anticipated. Two cards would be drawn as he watched Tiamat advance. If the rock gathered was held there by magic it would only fall away as it drew close to the shield. Argus's age seemed to be melting away, his reaction time quite incredible as he leaned back from the kick to allow it to pass him by. At this moment the two cards in hand would swipe past Tiamat's leg, one in each hand, in an attempt to shred it or at least cause some pain. > > [Pure Shield of Vitality: ||||||||||] > [Def, JH]

OOC: This time no magic sweatdrop It was just packed together, like I said, testin physical now.

OOC: Tacticus my friend, I'm holding you back and this tournament with my long time periods of posting. And so to stop that, I'm going to forfeit this match and quit the tournament. ^^ I apologize for going out like this, and making you wait, though I do appreciate your patience. And so, good luck in the other matches. Besides, I'd have lost anyway. ^^ See ya later.