Barton Center

BARTON CENTER

In the heart of Barton itself, combatants face off against one another on the brick road around the Memorial Fountain. The outer grounds of the area are blocked off by a railing to bring the fight right in the faces of the spectators while providing ample space for the fighters.

Fighting Area - 50ft diameter with fountain in center and crowd around the sides.

Terrain

General - Audience form a ring around the area, limiting area of effect attacks

Weapons - None

Natural Element Resource - None, Minor Water

Bonus Effects - None

Empty of the competitors, but the crowd was already making noise, getting themselves pumped up for the fights about to come. Those that had come with children struggled toward the front mostly, to let the little one's peer through the bars while more cautious ones simply set the lil' tykes on their shoulders to peer over the moving mass. The Judge's appearance had set people on edge, watching and waiting for something to begin, but it wasn't until a sound started to pick through it all that the excitement really started, ripping through the sea of humanity like a thundering wave.

The first contestant had arrived, a long figure pulling slowly down the lane set for his team to approach the open space through on a simple motorcycle.

Pulling to the gate, Kalis stopped, putting down the stand for the bike, pausing to drag it beyond arm's reach of the cheering people on either side. Under deep tinted goggles, he gave a welcoming smile over them on either side, and carefully opened the gate and stepped through quickly. A bit wary of the crowds yet.

Removing the glove and gauntlet from his right arm, where the FIGHTER's non-interactive parts covered by a bandage wrap over the forarm and hand. Kalis tucked the gauntlet under his belt and pulled the goggles down around his neck, letting them hang as ruby eyes slowly scanned over the crowd, spreading about a hesitant smile as he simply let himself grow used to the roar.

Project: Swords! had begun to arrive. Only hold on their first opponents and two more of the members, and it could be underway.

And after the cat came the demoness, with midnight wings spread wide and head held high. She was a proud one, this silver-haired woman, you could see it in the way she moved, in the way her crimson eyes swept around the room and smugly assumed that either the cheering was for her, or soon would be.

Flare Sithfallin was neither modest, or nervous. The small fires that danced around her were testimony to that as they drifted here and there, sometimes seeming to swirl into small shapes here and there. Once, two warriors fighting seemed to spring from the flames, swords clashing in sparks. Another second passed, and it seemed the fire was a butterfly, which fluttered its wings and flew about her as it was chased by a tiny cat, also born of the fire. The images flitted and changed, flickered and morphed, twisting as fires often do. And Flare Sithfallin strode forward.

The fires died down before her opponents caught a glimpse of her, much to the disappointment of the crowd. No need to give too much away too early.

Absentmindedly she plunked a hand down on Owle's head, giving the large cat a few scratches behind the ears before taking it away.

The ear scratches helped soothe Owle's nerves, and before too long a weak and nervous purr escaped her. She let Kalis rest his arm on her, and the ear he wasn't scritching swiveled, periscope style, towards him.

"Rides? Rides?!" Owle sent, startled at the notion. "He's not getting any rides at all, oh no! Not after that!"

She settled down on the stones of the pathway around the fountain, putting her head down on her paws, and thought about this for a little while.

"...have any of them asked for rides?" she asked, more than a little nervously.

"Owle's giving out rides?" Flare asked casually, as though she were absolutely serious. She raised a brow in Owle's direction. "How come I haven't gotten one?"

"I had to walk all the way here..."

Kalis laughed, and continued petting Owle.

Owle blinked, then stared, uncertain how to react to her "sister."

"...treats?" she asked at last. "...you brought treats?"

Within the crowd a man would be walking towards the little outcrop that was the ring for the fight. Eyes were hidden behind giggles as the antennae that were atop of his white scaled skin that sported across his body. His feet were silent for he was floating a foot off the ground as he made the approach. Across his face was that of a gas mask that purified the air, he still wasn't totally sure about the air within this plane.

His clothing seemed simple enough. The shirt was interwoven leather strips. Behind those leather strips there was obviously something that kept them close to an inch away from the body and when the white scaled skin was definitely visible neon colored designs were interwoven all over his body. Strapped to his waist was that of a long dagger that had intricate designs near its base and the handle was made of multiple crystals. It seemed like he was wearing no pants as his leather shoes came up to past his mid-thighs. At his shoes seemed like mountain climbing spikes that held tight to his foot.

After a few moments of walking, or rather floating, through the crowd he would make his way onto the edge of the ring. The pale green eyes stared through the goggles and down at his wrist to the FIGHTER that was located there. Yea, he was in the right place. Though, where was the rest of his team? That was a dilemma now.

The Dromite would merely nod his head as she spoke to him. The pale green eyes, pupiless and seemingly unmoving, would pick up on the movement of her hand going towards the hilt of the rapier. His own hand would merely go to the crystals that adorned the hilt of his own dagger. He'd merely nod once more before he'd begin to speak.

"Keeps...leg muscles...strong..."

"A telepath. Wonderful. Someone I can speak to without trying to speak that god awful language. I'm fine, and I suppose you guys are the opponents. Right?"

The voice would sound back easily. He was a Dromite after all. A psionic race that specialized in elocaters and that was exactly what he was. Though, he was trapped upon the Gaian plane so he decided to team up with the team that had first asked him. His pale green eyes looked down at the cat. It seemed like that was the one that had talked to him, and he was actually slightly surprised.

"It's not my natural language. That's what is wrong with it. The name is Verest. Last name isn't of any use since it seems like none of you have any. Though, you didn't state your name."

The unknown cat was looked down upon by the Dromite as he looked at it. It was definitely the one talking to him. Though, why the hell would a cat be on the other team. Unless...The thought would occur to him at that moment in time. It must have been a shape shifter of some sorts. There's no way around it, unless Gaia was a strange place in itself and cats had magical powers beyond belief. Yet, part of him was seriously doubting that.

Kalis did not have telepathic powers.

He couldn't even get that link he was supposed to be able to open to Owle to work unless she did it for him, at which point he was at least good enough to converse normally.

After a little "Sure," and another "sure, 'course." when the cat got up, he sat and watched. And watched. As, in so far as he could tell, the two just stared at each other.

"......mm......"

He got up slowly, padded off his backside as if it might have picked up dirt, stretched, wiped the hand off on his pants, yawned into the other, removed that gauntlet...

...and after general idle stalling, walked up to the guy who'd floated in, trying to keep out of the way enough not to interrupt the... friendly staring match... for too long, offering one bared hand, the other tucked loosely into a pocket.

"Kalis Acineres. A pleasure." short and sweet.

Kalis was curious. Dead curious. But bursting into questions of 'what are you', 'how do you do that', 'what's your name', and so on and so forth seemed rude. So with a smile, he settled back, and allowed the man to simply stand quietly if he prefered not to talk.

Kalis, on the breif inspection, would have a strong grip that went beyond the usually sign of friendliness without being one of those guys that crushed your hand in a shake, with a hand wrapped from knuckles to elbow in a sort of bandage roll. Fair skin, straight but unruly brown hair, strong features rounded slightly. His coat had a high colar, buckled shut, but only the first buckle after the neck of his coat was done, the rest removed for the time being, his coat tucked under a thick belt to stick out behind him rather than hang by his sides. Two gauntlets would be tucked under as well. Dark jeans were normal, his boots were greaved and metal plated on the toe, but otherwise the only things to stand out about him would be the long sword strapped over his back, unremarkable in appearance, and his curious red eyes.

This guy was quiet, but interesting, and seemed pleasant.

Wonder where the others are, he mused to himself, aware but not really thinking about how they'd be combating three of them.

Competition didn't have to mean ill-will.

Owle stared at him for a while, trying to decide whether or not to be angry with him still. Her tail swished back and forth, back and forth behind her, and her eyes seemed to look right through Verest.

"Kathandros. That's a nice name." It was more for lack of anything else to say that she said it. The cat bowed her head politely. "Pleased to meet you, Verest. I wish you luck in the matches today. May we all come out of this in one piece. No limbs getting ripped off or anything like that."

She was still remembering what Ryugi had said to her in the first day at the hotel.

And something really funny would happen on the astral level.

Flare had a small amount of latent telepathic ability inside her, but she had never bothered to learn to use it. Owle's telepathic connections to others were snakes that came and bit you, chomping down to keep the connection solid. You need do nothing to hold them there, or anchor them to you. This...this was more like he'd thrown a gossamer thread at her, the end of which was floating by Flare's outstretched hands.

One hand darted out, grasping for it, but the thread slipped through her fingers. Again she tried and again she failed, till it seemed the demoness was merely clawing at the air in her own mind, over and over trying to grasp that astral thread. Owle, help!

Thank you.

Grasping the astral thread now in both hands, Flare received Verest's message at last.

"But you're not fighting now, are you?" Flare retorted aloud. A simple shrug of her shoulders, and she sat down with her back to the fountain. She didn't really care.

Running through the crowd and forcing folks out of the way, he pulled the ice blue goggles down towards the base of his neck and kept his shades. Right now he was frantically looking around trying to find an exit from the crowd which moments later made him realize that the spectators formed a sizeable ring for the arena. He was rather in hurry to get to the place, he tracked down Leanne and the other with the use of the FIGHTER he recieved from the captain in which the info of him was passed on to the officials.

"Alright, I'm here"

Bad thing was, he saw his teammate standing by and in thought, Soiree must have been late. He couldn't care less about the people right now since the actual tourny is underway, He would then glance in Leannes direction for a brief moment and then Cobalt would scope out the individual for the match.

The large black cat sitting in front of Verest would shift nervously, her two front paws kneading the tiles beneath them. She felt suddenly very insecure about her own figure just looking at Leanne. This Leanne was one of those people who knew their body was perfect, and somehow managed to remind you of it in the way they dressed and every movement they made beneath their skimpy clothes. And those people made Owle uncomfortable.

Unconsciously, her ears pressed down flat against her skull.

"Owle Isohos. Pleased to meet you."

If Leanne had no barriers to prevent it, the voice would sound stiffly in her head, lacking most of the warmth with which Owle had greeted Verest. The cat, which was about the size of a tiger despite resembling a housecat in every other way, stood up and padded backwards, toward Kalis.

The ears came up a bit, as Owle relaxed upon being nearer to her teammates.

"Um...well..."

She was broadcasting to Flare and Kalis as well, and making sure Verest could hear her if he chose. She reached out to Soiree, and if he had no barriers against telepathic communication, she would include him as well.

"I don't think we've really thought about it, much...why don't you tell us your ideas and we'll see?"

At a glance, Lenne would likely find her opponent's interesting. The large black cat, nothing too special about her appearance beyond what had already been described. She was naked save for her fur and the FIGHTER around her front right ankle.

The woman with the silver hair and large, midnight black wings could only be a demoness, her crimson eyes betraying her birth. Flare wore a leather jacket over a black camisole, with simple flared jeans and laced up boots. There was a rapier strapped to her hip, and the demoness's left hand already caressed its hilt. On closer inspection, it could be seen that her nails sharpened into claws. In addition to the rapier, there was a pouch hooked onto the belt about her waist.

Their other teammate appeared to be human, save for his red eyes. He wore gauntlets and greaves that were both plated with metal, and probably had some other equipment Owle hadn't troubled herself to take note of. Unlike the demoness, he seemed relaxed and polite.

At least now Owles ears had lifted up abit, hearing what Owle had to say she listened carefully to her words and nodded some while looking at her. As Leanne had been standing there her mind had become clear and focused and energy had been building and began to flow with her, she had a rough idea so she would share it to see what the opponents and her team mates thought. Leanne would do the same as what Owle had down, she would send a telepathic message to all of the opponents and all of her team mates.

"I was thinking, if it is you three that will be fighting then Soiree will fight against you, Verest against Flare and me against Kalis if you have no problems with that."

Leanne indeed found her opponents intersting as she took in all before her, giving the opponents a good look over. She would notice there attire, weapons and armor that they had.

Then hearing Soiree she gave a small nod to say that she had heard him as her earthern eyes would still be upon the opponents, her hands raised slowly up in a gracefull manner to be placed lightly upon her hips. The soft smile remained on her face as she stood focused, a few more words would be sent telepathically to all of them.

"Looks like we should get this show on the road soon...and make sure to have some fun doing it..."

With the voice of Leanne resonating in ones mind, he would slide both thumbs out the belt loops of his navy blue pants. Nearing the end of his trousers, the design would become more baggy as the material stored various chemicals for durability within multiple combats. Feeling a little eager as to what is going to happen next, he was bouncing happily in his true-blue mid-cut boots with a steel-toe feature, from the heels and then to the balls of his toes repeatedly.

Athan was, well, late. But with good reason. He had assumed that after the opening ceremonies, he would have plenty of time to go back to his hotel and gather his things prior to leaving for their arena.

So when the message came through on his FIGHTER, he told the others to go on ahead while he gathered up some things in his room. And now, he was the last of his team to arrive. Swords on his back and at his hip, Athan pushed through the crowd and came up beside Owle and Flare.

He looked towards Lenne, then back towards the rest of his team.

"Alright, I'm all here people. No worries, we can get this show on the..."

He paused, looking at the assorted group, both teammates and opponents alike before he caught the drift that some sort of agreement had already been made. He frowned. If only he had remembered to grab that athletic tape before the announcement had been made...But wait, maybe there was still hope.

"Aww, don't tell me you guys already came to some sort of decision on who's gonna fight."

Not like he wasn't happy for the rest of his team. Of course, somebody had to sit out but, he didn't expect it to be him. It almost looked as if Athan had his Christmas presents ripped away from him at the last moment.

Athan was easily the biggest one among those gathered. He stood 6'4", and looked as if he earned the right to carry the large sword strapped to his back. The weapon itself, judging by eyeshot alone, was probably about the size of an average man from hilt to tip, but didn't appear as if it held any sort of special qualities about it. The same applied for the shortsword at his hip, but if there was anything an adventurer learned while traveling was that nothing was as it seemed.

As for his clothing, he wore no armor. A pair of flexible pants and some boots covered his lower extremities while his torso was clothed in a black sleeveless t-shirt and a vest, which the sword on his back happened to be secured into.

The only thing a little strange, perhaps, was the fact that he was carrying a roll of athletic tape in his right hand.

"Leanne, huh?"

He would have offered a shake, but since he wasn't sure if she would recognize the gesture, he simply crossed his arms and nodded his head.

"Pleasure to meet ya. Name's Athan Cole."

He wasn't so sure about what his team was going to do. From the get-go things seemed just a tad bit unorganized, and Athan wasn't going to verbally impose on not being selected to fight. He was late, afterall.

But it'd be a lie to say that he didn't really want to get into the fray right off the bat.

Kalis hadn't looked a whole lot at the man who'd come in, their third opponent, just a glance. He didn't see any reason not to just accept whatever the other team thought up and go with it, except on level that he wondered if it might be wiser, and safer, to let Athan have the match instead of Owle. He was accident prone, but she was inexperienced in comparison and he did tend to worry a little about her.

That wasn't so much why he wasn't looking though.

He was very curious about the silent little floating man- 'dromite'? Did that mean something? Another name? Maybe another language? What he was?- but that wasn't it either.

No, he had been inspecting the woman he was looking to be paired up with rather closely until he'd caught it and made himself stop. Curves and fine looks, and if someone speaking on terms of the usual Gaian standard was announcing that, a guy used to more usual things like Kalis was well justified for wanting to let his eyes linger.

Eyes on the eyes, boy, eyes on the eyes, he reminded himself.

Getting distracted elsewhere could be dangerous. Though the skimpy clothes made him nervous in another way as well. He still remembered what had happened when he'd tried sparring Flare in preperation. That would be bad. Well, pleasant, definately, but bad, not what he wanted to repeat. Better think about something else entirely.

"Well, Owle, 'less you'd like to switch with Athan," he said aloud to his alternate, "I'm fine with it."

Missgivings aside, he wasn't really worried about any of it beyond a seconds pause. Confidence? Maybe a little. But mostly, he just wasn't the sort to stand and pain over plotting the whole thing out. What stood could stand unless a reason to change it came up.

Hand still tucked into his pant pocket, he eased himself into the idea of fighting not only a woman, but one unfamiliar and with more revealing clothing on as he stepped forward, left thumb still in his pocket as he shifted the sword on his back- just short of the woman's height from pommel sticking way up above his right shoulder to the sheathed tip, big on the 5'10" young man's back but no where near as bulky and wide as Athan's- and held out one bandage wrapped right hand, fighter on the wrist, with a flash of red eyes and a roguish smile.

The more he thought about the fight, and not the complications, the more relaxed he felt. That was something he knew. And, heck, the people didn't seem bad, she didn't look bad, maybe they could all hang out and eat somewhere after the fights before the next round came, whichever way it went.

"Kalis Acineres. Pleasure." a firm shake of the hand to accompany it if she'd take it.

"So, who wants to take first?"

Owle had opened her mind to say 'Yeah, sure!' to Kalis, when Flare spoke for her. The cat's tail drooped down in disappointment, despite the inner anticipation she'd been feeling...

Nervousness and excitement clashed within her, and if on a conscious level the nervousness and gentleness of her nature would keep her from the fight, on just one level below she wanted this. She wanted this more than anything.

"I'll go first," she spoke again to all assembled. The large blact cat padded forward toward Soiree, tail rising as her green eyes stared up into his. "May as well get this over with."

The cat froze in its tracks, one paw raised in the air, tail stopped mid-swish. Her ears suddenly filled with the deafening roar of the crowd, her eyes suddenly noting the bright flashes of cameras about the arena.

"Not helping!" she shouted to Athan, her green eyes darting away from her opponent, towards him. Gone was the temporary excitement, and vanished for the moment was the thrill of anticipation. Owle may have looked like a proud black wildcat, but on the inside she was just a scared little kitty.

Everyone's watching, oh god oh god oh god...everyone's watching, I'm so sure I'm going to screw up and everyone is going to watch...

Her tail bushed up, the hairs sticking straight out and making the appendage look like a bristle brush. Owle gulped nervously, and took a step forward.

"So, uh...Soiree, was it? Are you ready?"

((Italics that are not quoted are not broadcast to everyone; only Flare should be aware of those. Italics in quotes are broadcast telepathically so that everyone from Swords! and Soul Breakers can hear.))

Ascending towards the scalp of his dome was the left gloved hand begining to comb through the wafting silky azure locks as the tinted shades gleamed under the radiant light that shines down from above and within a short sigh, the calm crisp breeze would occur and would hug the exposed exterior to give him more of a relaxed state of mind. Oblivious to the crowd who grew observant and the photgraphers just snapping and clicking away at their cameras, Soiree took a couple of steps forward as both of his chocolate colored limbs would loosely fold before his strapping frame.

"Well then."

Leanne's eyes looked over the opponents, she would still have a soft gentle look upon her face as she stood there. Her eyes would then pick up on Kalis who seemed to be inspecting her, a small sly grin would be seen for a second then fade back into a smile again. He must of been her opponent for this match, thus why he was checking her out. She heard what he had to say to his team mates while letting her eyes run over his body, it seemed that the opponents were happy with the arrangements for the most part.

Her eyes after checking his frame out would be looking over the weapons he carried, her eyes caught the sight of a large sword that was on his back. It was nearly her height in it's height from what she could see, seeing the pommel sticking out way up above his right shoulder. The man was slightly taller than her, then she saw Kalis hold out one bandage wrapped right hand with the FIGHTER on his wrist. Looking back to his face now she would see a flash of red eyes and a roguish smile, smiling back to him softly while looking at him with her soft earthern brown eyes she would hear his name being given to her.

Now obviously he had heard her name when she had first arrived and given it to those opponents that were there, now on hearing the name he gave she was right he was her opponent. She replied in her soft smooth tone to him, as her right hand would gracefully rise from her side to greet his hand and give it a firm handshake. Her slightly tanned skin was soft and silky to the touch with a nice warmth coming from it, her smiling softly she would give a small polite nod to him.

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well Kalis Acineres."

After she had spoken and give him a handshake, her hand would softly leave his and gracefully be placed down by her toned thigh again. They seemed nice people, maybe if they were up for it after the fights and the rest of her team were too. It would be nice for them to hangout, maybe have a drink, something to eat or something else before the next round begun.

"Soiree and Owle perhaps."

Leanne looked back over the whole opponents team once again, hearing what Flare had to say she would give a nod to her. If she wanted to let Athan take her place and watch then she had no objections to it, it was hers and her teams choice and she respected that. Leanne was sure Verest would not mind too much with the change, she watched as Flare walked toward the railing for spectators and leaned back against it. Turning back to the opponents, she would then hear Owles words that she would go first.

"Very well."

She watched as the large black cat walked towards Soiree then look up at him, hearing what she said Leanne smiled. It seemed the fights and fun were just about to start, then hearing Athan speak she turned to look at him with a soft smile. Seeing his arms uncross and start to toss the roll of athletic tape up and down she still was curious as to why he had that, turning her attention to Soiree she gave him a soft gentle smile before speaking.

"Go show 'em what you've got..."

Leanne would have a excited expression upon her beautiful face as she looked at Soiree with a grin upon her silky lips, she knew he would do his best and had full confidence in him. This could be seen in her eyes, so Soiree should notice it. Her eyes then caught sight of Owle for a second, she seemed nervous. On hearing what she had to say, Leanne would turn back to Soiree and give him a small nod with a soft smile. With that Leanne would turn and begin to walk over to the railings like her opponents were doing, on reaching the railing she turned so that she could watch the fight that was about to take place. The opponents were standing not too far from her as her slim curved figure leaned back on the railings with the soft smile still upon her face, she stood calm while she watched Soiree and Owle begin to take up their positions. Verest would probably of been behind her and moved to the railings next to her or near her so that he too could watch the fight.

The cat's brows raised in astonishment, her black pupils widening to push out the green irises. He was jumping? She stopped her charge, craning her neck to see where he was going...

Oof!

And then he was on top of her, his weight forcing her legs to buckle underneath her. Luckily Owle kept her wits about her, fighting the urge to shift into something smaller to avoid him. No, she had much better things to do with his thighs pressed against her skin.

She had studied just enough of the human anatomy to know where the hamstrings were, those precious little tendons in the inner thighs that make it possible to move one's legs effectively. Soiree would suddenly feel something sharp bite into his thighs where they met Owle's fur, stabbing straight through his clothing, through his flesh, severing those precious tendons.

Into his right thigh, a mithral blade was stabbing, emerging swiftly from out of the flesh of the cat beneath him. And into his left, a rune covered blade was doing the same.

Unexpected, it would be difficult to avoid, as his sitting position would make it necessary for his upper, inner thighs to be pressed up against the cat.

The moment he landed and she started to buckle, he smiled as his hands slid up towards her neck area as pressure started to apply towards her when he reached her skull to attempt in holding her head forward to keep from the biting.Once he was all set, both legs would wrap around her body, trying to perform a hold that'll shorten her breathing and thus causing her to lose conciousness. Since this is more of a quadriped than a biped, both of ends of the feet would try to settle in front of the hind legs if her stomach started to sink in from exhaling.He had a feeling that she would try to him somehow, and by wrestling a feline instead of an aligator or crocs would be something odd to some.He was a little peeved from the fact the blades got him, but he hissed a little when enduring the pain from it all.

((From Owle's bio...

Storage Space Wrote:

Owle can store various objects in the same place she stores her excess mass when she shifts into something smaller. However, they must be either objects she has been around for six months, or objects made especially for her. They cannot be animate, and must not be larger than she is. She can retrieve stored objects very quickly, and with little energy cost. They can emerge from any part of her body. These objects are…

A mythril knife

The False Blade

There are more objects in there than that, but those are the relevant ones. I won't copy paste the whole list.

I asked about his pants because my character would be able to see his pants. He can't see something that's stored within me, so I didn't mention it to him.))

The more he moved his legs, the more he would tear up his own thighs, though by now the two daggers had fully emerged from Owle's body. Squeezing her body in his hold would drive the pommels of both weapons into Owle's back, which in turn would drive the blades further into his legs. It didn't seem like a winning situation for either of them.

Owle was certain of two things. The first was obvious: it was a bad idea to stay in his hold. The second, was pessimistic: she would never be able to break out of it if she stayed in this form.

Since he was only choking her and bruising her, she had a few moments to think before her brain started panicking from the lack of air. Those few moments allowed her a better control of the shift she was about to perform.

She melted. The cat beneath him became liquid, black and viscous, that rushed out of his grip on her neck and flowed back through his grip on her sides and solidified behind him in the shape of a small sparrow, the tip of her tail feathers right where the tip of the feline's tail had been. The daggers melted away into her as well, letting the blood seep freely into his pants.

The entire process would take about half a second.

If she succeeded in all this, the sparrow would only hover, dazed and bruised from the recent ordeal.

Leanne watched as Owle charged Soiree then Soiree move and jump to land upon her back, a shout would be heard as she smirked some.

"Ride her cowboy..."

Seeing what happened next made a small frown appear, her feelings were 'WTF' but oh well she knew only too well Soiree could handle it. He would find a way, she knew he would. Leanne continued to watch the action with a soft smile upon her lips once more, Leanne could sense Verest standing there rather calm as she would now be while she continued to watch.

A connection would be made with Lenne within seconds as he stood slightly masked within the crowd.

"So Gaian physics are complete bullshit?"

He asked her where only she would hear it. He had linked to her and her only and any stray strings trying to draw in would be severed and a severe pain would be had at the user who had sent the stray string. He continued to watch the entire incident studying everything. Gaian physics did indeed seem completely bullshit, so he would definitely have some fun while fighting. His green pupilless eyes would fall upon his opponent.

The match had really begun. Only a few seconds in, and there was dangerous stunts of bravery, rough grappling, man against beast, display of powers as the giant cat melted into a tiny bird, and now there was blood!

The crowd had gone from laughing and 'awww'ing in that two second span to cheering.

People screamed, fists pumped, cheers of those rooting for the shapeshifter, of those rooting for the tiger-wrestler, and just for the match to continue heating up, burst through the air in a chorus of simply noise. It was, to all there, sheer adrenaline being handed out, from fighter to spectator, and the favor returned in the reaction.

Booming, hundreds of voices came together in a cry that melded not in its harmony but its vastness. Voices were lost, and something new came.

A sound.

An echo.

The crowd.

Heaven or Hell's first round had begun for the people gathered in Barton Square. And the only thing they could see coming that would disappoint them, was when it stopped.

A roar.

Kalis, for his part, was into the match as well, caught up in the rush of sound from behind him, as well as what was in front. Owle had been being chocked! -only a moment- his instinct had been to jump in, forgetting everything, but no sooner had it happened than it changed. He gathered his mind, controlling himself.

His hands gripped the metal rail tight.

Flare was right.

It was time to see what she could do.

He grinned.

Leanne would hear the crowd roaring with cheers as she smiled some, on hearing Verest she would send him a message back making sure no one else could pick up on the message.

"The mind boggles...but lets just see what happens. I also know when it is your turn you will have fun..."

Leanne continued to watch the fight hearing the crowd cheer behind her, the crowd grew louder and louder and camera flashes went off capturing the heated fight that was taking place.

Owle was screwed, and she knew it. She'd used up all of her best tricks at this point, though she knew she had wounded him greatly. Now came the part she dreaded, the improvisation.

The sparrow melted and reformed into a woman with tangled blue hair and curious light brown eyes. Her shoulders were decorated with ruddy brown scales, large and overlapping, that shone like armor and looked about as protective. The selfsame scales covered her feet, the toes of which were tipped with blunt digging claws. They seemed to continue up her legs, beneath her jeans, though how far was impossible to tell unless one could see through denim. The low cut back of her tank top would reveal small brown wings, much like the sparrow's, and here and there it seemed her back was dotted with those scales. The covering on her back was sporadic, though, and easy to aim around.

Despite her doubts, despite her fears, despite the roar of the crowd her face was determined. The woman known as Owle took a step back and jumped, her tiny wings fluttering to catch the air and lift her high above Soiree.

She was at most six feet from him when she began her ascent, but she prayed it would be enough.

Well, if he was just going to sit there and stare, she should have no problem getting, say...twenty feet above him, positioned directly over his head?

Craning his neck up, Soiree would see the woman's shape melt and shift once more as Owle became nothing more than a ball of the hard scales that covered her shoulders, but a foot and a half in diameter. Considering that a ball of scales had no wings, she began to fall, straight down, towards his head. She weighed about twenty pounds in this form, and she was hoping that the force of the blow, if it hit him, would knock him out. Landing would be a shock from her, but her scales would shield her from the worst of it, leaving her relatively unharmed.

Unfortunately, Owle couldn't see in this form, so she couldn't adjust her aim in mid-air.

BAM!

Several tiles cracked around her as she hit the ground hard, the little ball of scales thudding into the pavement. She hesitated there a moment, fearing a counterstrike, but when none came she returned to her more human form, light brown eyes staring at him quizzically.

"Aw, I missed?"

Could've sworn he was right beneath me when I fell...

Oh, well...what to do what to do...

She didn't want to close range with him, since he obviously had some sharp pointy objects attached to him and probably knew how to use them. If he hadn't hurt her yet at this distance he probably couldn't, and with his legs all mangled he wasn't coming after her anytime fast. But she had to strike, somehow, from a distance...

She would take two steps back, leaving herself seven feet from him, and if he continued to leave her alone she would hold her hands up in front of herself and stare at them in concentration.

Various objects would materialize. First, a spiralbound notebook would seem to ooze out of her hands, only to vanish away just as quickly as she dismissed it. Next, came a five foot long staff of wood, which Owle made a face at as it vanished away. Then, a crumpled ball of aluminum foil, which she turned about and watched the sunlight reflect off of before making it disappear inside of her again.

Finally, if he was still refraining from trying to attack her, a pair of wooden sandals would appear in her outstretched hands. Owle regarded them for a moment, then, not knowing what else to do, chucked one at Soiree, aiming loosely for his torso.

If instead of leaving her alone for all this time, he actually tried to approach or attack her, well...that depended entirely on what he did and when he did it.

He shouldn't be able to move...crap!

As the dagger came flying at her Owle once again shifted down into a ball of scales, leaving the second wooden sandal to fall of its own accord. Above her, the dagger embedded itself into the shoe, splitting the wood of the sandal and sending the two halves flying, finally clattering to the ground.

It was but a moment before Owle changed back into her human form, body once more taking on that liquid fluidity. She was going to have to close to melee somehow, without dying...

@$%&.

She ran, digging claws scraping against the pavement as her scaled feet pounded in time to the rhythm of her heart. Charging headlong at him, she fully expected an attack to come before she could complete her run, and her eyes stayed alert, waiting.

Time being given to him due to her shapeshifting, the vapor begun to slowly vanish in which it indicated that his legs were back in his top condition. The only thing thats gonna be a bit of a hinderance was the speed of the sprint. When seeing her form close in, he rapidly took a southpaw stance of kickboxing to make his left foot take the lead. Within a second as she closed the distance, the stance was made and a swift lighting jab would snap towards her jaw with the right when she entered the range of close combat (2-3ft). If that manage to hit, the fists would begin to alternate to perform a combo. The odd side to this was that, once that right fist connects to that jaw, the bones would begin to crack like glass while a singer is hitting a high note.

Feeling that right jab connect, the left fist twitched in adjustment to the situation that occured. Once into his stance with ease, and the ball now dropping in front of him. He took one step forward with the right foot and when the left foot begun to follow after the sphere hit the ground, it begun to move into a swift kicking motion, toe first. With a metal clank feintly echoing between the two when it connect, that sphere would begin to ricochet along the battlefield as those eerie white optics would revert back into a hazel tint for a split second and then alter into an icy blue color as his lips grew chilly and an arctic vapor would seep upon the surface.

[1/?]

((9/17))

If Owle were human, she would have gasped in pain as the steel-toe of the boot drove into her with enough force to send all twenty pounds of her flying. Something inside of her was cracked, she had heard something snap when Soiree punched her, and now every breath was an exercise in pain.

She was just gathering her thoughts when her momentum suddenly stopped, and she was jerked out of the air. The only thing that kept her from lashing out at the hands holding her was recognition of his mind's distinctive energy pattern; it was Athan, come to save her.

If by "save her" you meant "hurtle her through the air at bone-crushing speeds" that is.

Realizing he was terribly late, he sprinted towards the arena, bypassing any and all security in the process of trying to find his teammates. As he rushed past guards and other officials, spectators caught only a glimpse of a man. A man standing at roughly six feet, one inches and weighing in at a little more than a hundred and eighty pounds. Slim fit, American Eagle jeans with flared bottoms swayed as the man ducked and dodged through the masses, on his way to see his mates. He was late, oh so very late.

As he cut through spectators something caught his black leather jacket that was so neatly draped over his shoulder. With that sudden tug he went down, running along pavement, not the most forgiving surface to fall on. And so he fell, springing to his feet as soon as he could, his mid-section flicking upwards with his feet as if he were doing the "worm". And then, in a small show of his athletic abilities he was up, pushing back the small crowd of onlookers. And then the guards caught up with him. They foolishly grabbed at him, in turn receiving minor fractures of the hand and feverishly pulling their broken limbs back. Like a wild animal in a corner he defended himself at will. The thought of showing off his FIGHTER had not occurred to him. At this point a few lone cameras had turned his way, only a minority actually deciphering the face of a struggling man.

So he struggled to break free of the many grips that clawed at him. It was only then that he caught sight of his allies. A sharp kick was sent out to those in front of him and he had an escape route. He ran as fast as his legs could possibly take him, each footfall thundered along as his black All-Star sneakers collided with the stands. He leapt into the air, catching a guard rail and without a loss of momentum he pushed off of it.

He sailed through the air, his non-fighting teammates standing but twenty feet below him. He loosened his legs and relaxed them, bracing for impact. 3...2...1...Impact. He struck the ground just behind Captain Lenne in a crouched position, his legs in perfect condition. It was then that he stood, finally revealing a handsome face with long, dirty blond hair that met his hazel hues. His medium build held a sword on his back, his only visible weapon. He was happy to be there. He reached out with his right hand, softly gripping Lenne's left shoulder as he stood behind her. "Lenne... I made it." He said finally, trying to catch his breath.

An excited announcer proclaimed that the intruder was none other than Vice Captain Chance Silante of the Soul Breakers.

{9/17}

From the impact he inflicted upon the sphere, his knee had angled for a second because of how he kicked it. The swinging motion became minimal instead of full and at this point, when the sight of something or someone was moving forcefully through the crowd and into the air after hopping off the barricade. The sound of the crowds random outburst of cheer made it more evident. When the unknown individual manage to grasp that 20 pound sphere that was building momentum, he assumed that he was their teammate.

The moment he saw that sphere begin to obtain a hold upon, he knew a ranged retaliation was coming into effect. With his own type of response, he had made himself fall backwards quickly and roll towards the shoulder blades as the other leg would ascend from beneath him. The sphere became at a near miss when feeling the grazed mark make itself know along the top of his cranium as a few silky strands would fly off and then away. Rapidly rising onto his feet by performing a kip up, he grunted a bit as the whole transaction of taking such a maneuver would take a aproximately a second. Soiree would be back on his feet and following both motions, meaning he would turn if they tried land behind him.

[2/?]

As Owle left Athan's hands, a single golden tendril of astral energy invaded his mind, invisible to him and any onlookers who weren't telepaths. It would snake through Athan's mind, doing no harm but accessing his vision, allowing Owle to see what was occurring through her teammate's eyes.

"I was hoping you would put me doooown!" got shouted to Athan as she went soaring towards Soiree's face, which in a single panicked thought Owle realized was falling away from her. No. She didn't go through all this pain, all this humiliation, just to let herself make a hole in the concrete tiles. No.

She wasn't fast enough. Just after the ball of scales passed over Soiree's head, it shifted into Owle's human form, curled up in a fetal ball, right side oriented down, her feet where the end of the ball had been. She had missed, and was hurtling headfirst towards the ground.

In desperation Owle uncurled rapidly, her body moving with the force of a coiled spring released. Both legs kicked out at once, aiming for her opponent's head...which was falling backwards, into her kick. At the same time, she craned her neck upwards, tilting her head away from the ground, angling her scaly shoulder to take the initial impact.

CRUNCH! "Argh!" went Owle as she slammed into the tile, her armored shoulder not doing nearly enough to spare her pain. Something in there had cracked, or broken, or been dislocated, or bruised, but mostly it just really really hurt as the force Athan had hoped to use against Soiree crushed Owle's shoulder instead. And it didn't stop there, no; the rest of Owle's body landed and went skimming across the tiles, scraping her skin all along her right arm and down her side.

Friction saw fit to stop her after she went about a foot, and Owle lay there still conscious and breathing, a miracle enough for her. She wished she didn't have to breath, breathing hurt, and every sigh and inhale made her feel as though Soiree was jabbing her mercilessly in the chest again. She could only hope that Soiree wasn't much better off.

She had, hopefully, kicked him in the head, with scales so hard she may as well have been wearing armored boots. And he had been falling backwards, desperately trying to avoid her missile in ball form, so his own momentum would have aided the force and accuracy of a kick from behind. Please, let this be the end...

A figure of a young beautiful looking woman had made her way through the crowd, she moved with quite abit of ease. Slipping past one spectator after another, some of the spectators could not help but stare and talk.

Hey, what the hell! That woman looks exactly like 'Leanne' team captain for 'The Soul Breakers. Only they are dressed differently, apart from that they look exactly alike....Strange..."

That looks like Lenne from last years HoH, oh yeah Lenne and Leanne are twin sisters.

Hearing some of the comments she walked fast not wanting to be grabbed or pestered, she was here to support her sisters team and her sister.

Her soft earthern eyes would capture her sister leaning against the railings watching the fight taking place, making her way through the crowd quickly towards her. She would apporach them with a steady pace, her footsteps were light and silent upon the ground beneath. Her everymove was filled with grace and balance, her hips would sway slightly from side to side. Getting closer she would speak out so Leanne and the rest could hear her.

"Looks like some good action happening here, shame I have missed some of it."

Getting closer she would then come to a stop to stand by her sister, her earthern eyes took in all before them as she too would do the same as Leanne did and leaned to rest up against the railings. Her slim curved figure stood at 5ft6, her long brown hair was neatly tied up with a few free strands hanging freely down the side of her slightly tanned beautiful soft gentle face. She had perfect structure to her face, the looks body and beauty of a true goddess could be seen. She was dressed in a tight fitting white shirt that showed her curves and had a few buttons undone at the top revealing her perfect clevage it looked as though her large breasts could pop out to say 'hi' at any minute but no they would not as they were safely in her shirt, she had on a black velvet choker around her neck which had a silver heart in it's center. A very short black skirt with black thigh high boots that had straps and buckles going all the way up the boot, a pair of black fingerless fighting gloves and finally she had on a pair of black shades that sat on the bridge of her nose.

"Hey sis, howz it going?"

This would be funny to see, twins standing next to eachother. Not a normal thing to be seen, Lenne would look forward watching the fight with a smile. Not to mention the other team members were probably like 'WTF', who's that?

((Hopefully Soiree should not be on too late tonight, he will do what is needed to be done. ))

Leanne looked to Lenne with a sly grin upon her lips, she would speak in her soft gentle tone to her sister.

"Seems like it is time for my fight to begin..."

Nodding to her sister she looked over at her opponent with a smile and spoke, making sure he could hear her.

"Lets get our fight underway."

Lenne would hear what Leanne had to say and gave her a grin back, she would respond.

"Go get him girl..."

With that Leanne would begin to walk around the outside of the fighting area to make sure she did not interrupt the other fight going on between Soiree and Owle, her strides were light upon the ground as she made her way over to the other side of the fountain. Crowds would begin to cheer loud seeing another fight was soon about to begin, loud cheers would erupt. Leanne would reach her position and then turned on her heel to face where her opponent would come to be, her mind was clear and focused as she stood there letting the energy build and run through her freely.

There was a space of about 8ft as Leanne had made sure that she would make space, hoping he would do the same as she planned to fight fairly. Her soft brown earthern eyes would watch as he took up position 8ft infront of her, the crowd was now silent she would give him a small nod back while she would prepare, her right foot would move back and was facing slightly outwards. Her left foot would be facing forwards towards her Kalis, now her feet were shoulder width apart. Her slender body would twist slightly from the hips to face forwards like her left foot would do, lifting her arms up swiftly to make sure her armguards were in place and felt right then her fists would tighten. The left leading fist would move up to be positioned at chin level while her right was moved to be postioned slightly higher at cheek level, tucking her chin slightly in her soft eyes would be taking in everything infront of her. Her eyes would mainly be taking in Kalis as he stood there preparing, a sly grin still upon those lips of hers.

"Yes lets....Lets dance..."

Crowds would watch the fighters still eager to see action and entertainment, an announcement would be heard across the area.

Now here's Leanne vs Kalis about to kick off with their fight.

While Leanne made her preparations energy would continue to build while focus was held in her mind, was he ready....it seemed so...

Leanne began to move towards Kalis making sure not to cross her feet as she did, she would begin to close the gap between them quickly. Her hands up at the ready with her eyes taking in all before her, just getting near to h2h range she would make it look like she was going to attack head on but at the last moment she would side step to the right while turning her body to make sure she was facing him and let out a quick right hook aimed towards the side of his head. She had moved smoothly with no hesitiation, her eyes would be watching him and her left hand would remain up on guard at the ready. Her whole body was ready, all the while her energy built and focus was kept.......

((1))

-1-

Kalis sat back and watched as she closed the distance- her method of defensive motion didn't go as quickly as otherwise might of, but 8 feet was nothing to cover by foot.

One step, two step-

He'd pull his hands out of his pockets, half-open and rising to shoulder level in a sloppy looking version of the traditional gaurd; dominant hand back held beside the face, leading hand forward to guard but lowered slightly not to obscure vision.

-three step, four-

As they came to just beyond arm's reach, he stepped forward with the back leg, right arm hanging with tight, leveled at just below shoulder level as her sidestep ruined the intended punch. Continuing to follow through on the turn, following her she stepped toward his left. Her shoulders moved and he reacted in a rush, turning his left forearm vertical to knock the hook off track while an instinctual bob of the head backward kept the hit from connecting narrowly.

He was wide open to her left arm even though he'd guarded her right, and not about to get any less, as Kalis slid his right foot around further, shoulder coming down while his forearm dropped to the waist and the fist turned over. Leading with the right shoulder lowered and driving it at and nearly into Leanne's chest, what looked like a tackle brought a powerful underhand punch swinging at an upward angle into her stomach out of the blind spot created by the mass of his shoulder. If the hit connected the hand, gauntleted and ending in a heavy flat contact duster, would pound the wind out of Leanne and drive her backward.

The match was starting out very simply, but cheers rose high nonetheless. The spectators had another fight to watch, and that was enough on it's own to cheer about.

Her hook was knocked of track by his left forearm turning vertical to make contact with her arm to push it away as his head gave alittle bob to make sure the hit but it was narrow, as soon as the hook was blocked her arm would break and retract back into it's guard postion. Her body was facing his as he had followed her with the side step turn, which would allow her to see his full body before her.

He was wide open for a strike, Leanne would watch his every move taken all before her in. She would catch his right foot moving further around as his forearm dropped to his waist, she had noticed the movement of his shoulders and where his hand was. Which would cause her to shift and lean slightly back but it would just be about 22.5 degree's to avoid if he tried to ram a shoulder into her.She had seen both his shoulder so as he brought a powerful underhand punch swinging at an upward angle aimed into her stomach it would not be so blind as his body had given off that his arm was going to do something like a punch with the way his shoulder had moved, now just as he threw the punch her left hand which was on guard would come down in a swinging pendulum motion to time it just right so that her arm would slam into his with the top of her arm with which she had her armguards that had tough armored plates on them.

Clash...

It would make connect with his attack and push it away...At the same time her right hand was now coming into her guard again, but that was the thing it was not going back into guard and call out something...

"Hell's fury."

((Hells Fury- When Leanne calls upon ‘Hells Fury’ she will point towards her opponent as she speaks, as soon as it is called fire forms in Leanne’s hand or hands and can be either shot out in a stream of fire at her opponent or if she is by her opponent the fire will surround her hand/s by the power of her mind and she can fight with flame fists against her opponent.))

Within a second of her hand seeming to go back like it was going to guard it would be thrown out at him aimed at his exposed chest, her right hip would thrust forward abit to add power. Now as the punch was let loose flames would burst out around her hands as her fist flew through the air to send a hard powerful punch to his exposed chest, the move had happened so quick and it would seem like it was going to go back on guard. If it hit it would definately send him back abit and burn him.

The crowds would now be roaring with cheers.

((2))

Metal had clashed against metal, what a sound. The crowd loved it, it seemed that this could be an enjoyable fight.

Leanne watched him as his punch was sent off course and he wheeled around wide, he turned his shoulder back in unison with a step forward to place his left foot between Leanne's. His left shoulder would make it's move to be at the front again, suddenly she would just catch his arm snapping out in a quick punch aimed at her face while she had called forth 'Hells Fury' and sent her fist flying towards his chest. There was no way to dodge his punch as his fist moved quickly, plus it was while she performed her actions and she was commited to the attack.

She would continue with her actions while she looked at him, her mind was clear and focused as she fought. Kalis would continue to wheel around, she would be throwing her flaming punch towards him. Then.....

SMASH....

Leanne's fiery right handed punch had connected with Kalis's chest just as she had planned, while at the same time of her fist connecting with his chest his left fist would connect with her face.

The crowd would be cheering loudly as they saw the two fighters clash against one another, blows had now been traded and this made the crowd more excited.

Leanne would be knocked backwards off her feet, landing with a thud upon the cobbled ground beneath her. As Kalis had been flung backwards a few feet, the crowd would quieten down for a moment as they saw both fighters hit the ground.

Soon as her body had hit the street her head hit the cobblestone ground with her arms landing down by her sides, a headache would now start to form and her jaw would ache. After a second had passed Leanne would move her right hand up to her head, her left fist would tigten as her right hand reached her head. No expression could be seen upon her face when she had moved her right hand up to her head. Her right hand would move back down to be placed with upon the ground, rolling her body forwards slightly she pushed off her right hand so she would be standing once more.

Looking over to Kalis she saw he had seemed to recovered quickly as well, she would grin not thinking on pain. Leanne would just focus her mind and clear it, energy would be building within her as she stood there.

"I thought you would like it."

Hearing him speak she would take up her the same stance as she had used before, she saw him approaching her but would not be in h2h reach just yet. She would start to bounce lightly upon the balls of her feet letting more and more energy flow through her, she would be at the ready as she continued to watch him and with the light bounce her large breasts would naturally bounce up and down just slightly with her bounces. She still had that grin upon her lips as she answered quickly at the ready to move if needed...

"I thought it would be fun and I was right....it was."

The crowds continued to watch, the crowd seeing both fighters were back up and cheering once more as now they were excited at what might happen next.

((3))

+++The crimson and black clothed figure would push his way throughout the crowd. A pimp hat sat upon vibrant green hair while emerald green eyes stare out from behind black Romani glasses. A cane was in his hand as he hit spectators out of the way to get to the edge of the makeshift ring that was put up. A small smirk formed upon the seemingly ever present scowl. He was watching this fight now. He wasn't interested as much into swordplay so he had left Durem without a word. Now he was watching a man and woman duke it out and a shapeshifter that changed in milliseconds. He'd sigh while he just thought. 'That is Gaia for you.'

Soiree Combatir Wrote:

{10/17}

When he was falling backwards. He slightly turned his head towards the side to glance out the corner of his eyes to notice her shapeshifting into a counterstrike. When catching a glimpse of her feet coming towards his head, the cushion of his silky azure locks that was being binded against the cranium by the use of the bandana had absorbed the blow to make the damage as minimal as it could. Though she was in the air and along the way towards the ground when perfomring this, there was no support to exert any force to cause the blow to become a devstating one. She simply aided him in standing back onto his feet as she begun to slide along the arena grounds.

His way of taking advantage of this oppurtunity to perform a counterstrike was by leaping backwards into an aerial as both gloved hands gradually form a set of fists as each individual digit begun to grow cold and frost over the exposed flesh as the dark chocolate complexion obtain a slight bluish tint in midst of it all. Taking only a second to perform because of the law of gravity, his body seemed as it if it was going to float but, he released both fists straight down towards Owles humanshape body. As a large opaque swirl begins to manifests infront of both fist and with the matter of miliseconds, Cobalt fired two icicles simultaneously towards the hamstrings attempting to impale her when the body was becoming vertically upside down. When the moment of gravity started to take its course to cause the aerial form an arc motion, his lower limbs shifted downwards to have his left foot land along the center of her spine as the right foot would begin to take its course towards the base of her neck along the back.

When lands on either the arena or on her spine, he would stand almost with a straight posture and take aim at her hands to release another pair of icicles towards those designated targets, trying to get her stuck completely into ground. Upon impact, the icicles temperature is low enough to actually make it seems like its burning instead of freezing.

This would have a total of two seconds or a little more to perform and he mainly wanted her to try and shapeshift again, the sight of his thumb and middle finger being pressed together made it evident.

[3]

Owle hadn't counted on her opponent having nigh invincible hair; silken strands normally do nothing to cushion a blow. Nor had she counted on his neck being as strong and unbendable as steel, allowing the force exerted on his head to push his body up instead of snapping his head forward. She had kicked as she was smashing into the concrete, so there was some support to exert force from. Even on its own, kicking out with both legs after having them coiled up should have been far more than a glancing blow...a fact Owle had been counting on when she sacrificed a safe landing to lash out at her foe.

He also seemed to think she was lying face down, when it was quite clear that she was on her right side, having crushed her right shoulder and gained a multitude of cuts along her right arm and side during her landing.

She barely even saw the first two icicles, didn't even notice through the pain. Her first warning that they were coming was the cold lancing into her left thigh, thankfully numbing the pain of the wounds they caused after the initial shock of cold. And, luckily for her, the hamstring is on the inner side of one's thigh...the ice missiles would have needed to break through a lot of bone and muscle to get there. Though they had caused quite a bit of damage to her legs, the icicles left her hamstrings intact.

Alerted to the threat from above, Owle did the only thing she could do. She rolled.

Well...she flopped, really, more falling onto her back than any dignified motion. She was in too much pain, and there was too little warning to move fast.

His right foot would find no target, landing just above her right shoulder; but his left foot would land on her right forearm, eliciting a whimper of pain from the shapeshifter.

Too much pain its too much too much...

Falling. She was falling down, down, down, into her own mind, retreating into her farthest mental shield. Within it, she knew that she truly was an invincible soul, using a body as a mere vessel. Pain existed, but it mattered little. The only thing that mattered was eliminating the threat that had caused her to retreat into the blackness of her mind.

It didn't matter when the icicle hit her right hand, driving through her palm only to be halted by the stone tiles patterning the town center. This was not soft earth that he could pin her to, but solid stone his ice could not easily breach.

The icicle aimed at her left hand never found its mark, because Owle was already in motion. With no sound, no further cries of pain, she rolled toward Soiree, runic dagger in hand to stab viciously at his left leg, over and over and over and over, short jabs that took little time and didn't care particularly about aim, so long as they got into soft flesh and made him bleed. At the same time her head would have been brought up against his right ankle, not hard enough to be a blow to either of them. Owle kept her face turned upwards, and her head lifted slightly so that her left cheek was pressed just above his ankle.

The reason for this would become apparent when he felt a sharp pain from that region, like someone had just stabbed a mythril dagger right in there. Out of Owle's cheek came that selfsame mythril knife from before, biting into the flesh above his right ankle.

It still hurt to breath, but it didn't matter. Her right arm was crushed, but it didn't matter. Her left thigh had icicles embedded in it, there was a hole in her right hand, but none of it mattered. This body was only a vessel, and she was invincible. However bruised, however broken, the marks from this fight on her body would never touch her soul.

And she was only a soul.

((11))

The Dromite's eyes were focused on that of the more interesting fight between his team captain and the man whose name was Kalis. Those green pupilless eyes focusing clearly on that fight as it seemed that it would turn out even bloodier than it would truly first seemed. Though, the view had suddenly turned worse as Kalis's back was now to the Dromite. With a soft huff as if slightly pissed he would just float where he was watching who would come out on top.

{11/17}

Keeping his neck and head stiff, he knew it was messed up for a moment but he tried to make sure the opponent didn't notice it. Taking little damage to that head and the jerking at the neck did have an effect, though he made it seem like his layered azure locks and the bandana that binds to his cranium seem strong to absorb damage, but he showed no sign of being in pain, up until now, he's been ignoring most of the pain he suffered from time to time.

-present-

When he missed most of the main targets but hit other ones instead, he took a glance as to what he stomped on and it was evidently, her right forearm. Leaving her perimeter and settle a sizeable distance from the two by a leaping into strafe towards his right, his body rotated good enough to be completely facing her direction as a feint howl would occur between them from the speed of his movement. During that motion, he had snapped his fingers when focusing on the location of his opponent. Cobalt unleashed three razor sharp icicles as the explosion sounded nothing more than a firecracker type of pop that was followed by the sounds of hollow wooden chimes clanking against one another. This type of evasive maneuver that went into a counter strike would have her attack become more than a miss while the foot long icicles would storm down towards the shoulders and the right ribs.

It was simple enough to have the thumb and index finger reposition themselves to set up another one, the cold breath escaping the mandible indicated that he's harnessing the ice well enough to perform what's being done at this moment.

{12/17}

When she started to ascend and then take flight, he took an average stance for the time being. He looked at his opponent rather oddly until articles of clothing were coming his way, he leaned towards the side when performing a sidestep to view various objects flying passed him. From there, those icyblue spheres that remains hidden by the use of his shades, they begun to pulse as the frost that seeped from the surface of his lips were escaping in the form of puffs as he started to sprint around her in a circular motion to avoid the barrage of clothes she decided to unleash. During the run, he was gradually closing the distance as a dagger started to become unsheathed and then wielded within the left hand, where was the right one? he knew.

"Great, just what I need"

-5-

Still looking at the world from the more mundane common person's view when something didn't shatter that perception, the sudden use of that superhuman strength was not something Kalis was expecting.

"UNGH-!"

But it wasn't over with that hit, no. His forward momentum was nearly halted by it all, and with the arm coming around wildly, he was wide open for a second blow to land on his chest, practically following up the first.

All he could do was watch, red eyes wide as he threw his body weight backward in hopes of reducing the force of the hit. He knew he wasn't getting away.

-FWUMP!-

Tossed backward again, he hurtled through the air before landing hard on his rear, hand flung behind him to stop his head smashing into the ground again this time, momentum keeping him to roll over the arm and onto his hands and knees on the ground.

Kalis grabbed his ribs, eyes clenched shut as he replayed what'd just happened in his mind, images flashing together. The red eyes opened again, going once more straight to Leanne's eyes. But this time, he saw something more. The sharp red eyes focused with blazing intensity on the woman across from him, as several things fell into place at once.

I see what you did there.

There was another hole in his shirt, not far from the other one, hurting where flames had schorched his skin again, besides the aching side. He didn't think anything was broken there... but it stung like s**t.

So then... all I need...

He planted the hand, removing it from his ribs and pushing himself back up to his feet. A shadow of the grin lingered, and it twisted uncertainly wider as she spoke, watching Leanne. "Not too bad yourself." he left his meaning up in the air, grinning, too focused to find the usual emberassment at letting out a statement so open for double meanings.

Just watch her eyes.

He didn't know Leanne had just called a striker in on the psychic hotline, but this time he semed to be taking an alternative to rushing in with such wide openings.

Clenching his fists tight, Kalis started forward in and actual stance, one hand in front of his face and the other back by his jaw and out a little over one fist's width. Back foot to the front's heel, and step forward, and repeat. Body turned partially to the side, he was going to give some of that stuff real hand to hand fighters did a shot.

The crimson eyes bored into their point of focus.

...just watch...

Psychofish Wrote:

-5-

Still looking at the world from the more mundane common person's view when something didn't shatter that perception, the sudden use of that superhuman strength was not something Kalis was expecting.

"UNGH-!"

But it wasn't over with that hit, no. His forward momentum was nearly halted by it all, and with the arm coming around wildly, he was wide open for a second blow to land on his chest, practically following up the first.

All he could do was watch, red eyes wide as he threw his body weight backward in hopes of reducing the force of the hit. He knew he wasn't getting away.

-FWUMP!-

Tossed backward again, he hurtled through the air---

The call was heard from Lenne as the man's back was still to him. A small chuckle escaped the lips and went through that of the gas mask that was around his jaw. Those pupilless eyes would fix on the target as the stuff went into fruition. He had already activated his striker and the dagger by his side was drawn and glowing easily. The glow was soft, but it would soon grow even greater.

The runes and the crystals within the hilt seemed to pulse with anticipation as the man went flying, back towards the Dromite. Verest easily pushed out with speed and determination as the dagger was truly activated. He rushed forward and as the man was in the process of falling and his a** hit the ground a slash would go across his back as well as a stab towards the kidney he'd move to hold his ribs. The activation was true on the dagger and it would definitely be helpful if any of the strikes actually hit.

If any of the attacks hit the special properties of his dagger would surge forth and through his body. Seeing as how he had his back towards Verest there would definitely be a hard time to block or even see the floating, and therefor silent, Verest coming up quickly to land the hits. The surge through the body would paralyze him for atleast a round. What happened after that was unknown, and the attacks should land and cause the damage and the paralyzation. In time that would all be told as the sudden attack and then retreat back into the crowds would happen. The attack was across his back in a very forceful slash and then a switch up to stab right into his right side kidney area before he would pull away.

-6-

Kalis didn't know anything was coming until he felt the blade cut into his thick coat, around past where it was tucked back into the over belt, and stop, cutting deep through the glove and drawing blood from between two fingers; but the heavy broad-front knuckle duster would be there to stop the blade coming in any further and finding place to strike the vital area.

Still, no doubt the stab would go in close though off it's mark, and the little man would tear off.

And Kalis limbs, would suddenly start to loose feeling, rapidly going numb. He they locked up, in present position, and his body slouched forward slightly, all his effort coming to a slight tightening of muscles, clenched teeth. And the blazing focus of the eyes.

Damn, I've-!

No, calm, think, you've got a moment. Watch. Watch.

Damned... move!

Gritting his mouth, he bared his teeth slowly, body shaking slightly but not moving yet as he concentrated, trying to pull into what reserve he might have.

"g- ....g-grarrrrrrr...."

Not loud, but the tremendous strain behind the growl showed his effort going forth.

Watch. You might not be able to do this with just your hands.

Calm.

Watch.

He couldn't help but feel that he was utterly defenseless on field of battle.

{13/17}

As a few feet in distance was being closed, he noticed a couple more of clothes coming his way and he used the left hand wielding the dagger to bat it away before quickly getting on his knees while leaning backwards in a sluggish motion. This way, even though she was airborne, the next move of what he had planned would come into effect.

When being within the range of close combat as he slid on his knees, the right fist shot straight out to aim towards her body in which he would release two large icicles towards the chest and with each milisecond passing, the firecracker noise were resonating throughout the arena grounds like a mini gatling gun. It was a barrage of five icicles being released from the front of his fist and soaring a great speeds with one to the gut, and the next two was towards the spine when he slid under her to the point he made his back become parallel with the earth. With centimenters in distance and it would happen when made that arm shift and aim at an upwards angle, while having an upside down view of her.

At the speed of the release, the extra article of clothing would most likely be pierced through by one of the icles of just float through the air for a brief period of time.When all was set and done, he would just his posture some and incline his frame forward to force himself onward and onto his feet where he would try to turn himself about and land into a three point stance within his opponents direction.

When he saw that she had shifted into a ball, a smirk begun to form across his chilly lips. When his right arm was still up there, the fist opened up to reveal his palm. When the sphere meets the hand, the arm would locked into place and the sphere would create a loud metal like thud sound before it would roll off and land behind him. He would still rise up the way he stated before, but this time , he had to shake off the trousers off the hand in which the whole eavsive transaction only took a second to perform and the retaliation of him rushing forth towards the sphere to perform a single legged drop kick would take up a fraction of a second, while the other leg would be at an angular position to measure out a fourty-five degree setting.

Form the way Cobalt was positioned, he would land on his right bicep in which another sound of something metallic would feintly sound around him. The lofty celeration it took to close the gap between him and the opponent would add more force into the strike he sent forth towards her to make the sphere roll along the ground.

{15/17}

Obviously, she haven't caught on about what his dark sinewy limb of his, really was. Due to what the limb and material it actually is, she would just pushed herself off the palm and continued to roll off. If she had heard the constant metal clankings and thuds from the right arm, the hints would have given her an idea what was actually holding her up. The strike continued as it was expected and after the drop kick would connect, he would rise into an upright position and snap his fingers once more as an alternate command for his ice strike. It was to explode upon the locations they were embedded in, and after she was a sizeable distance from him, the damage would only leave a hole as large as a half-dollar coin.

When the weight grew super light nearly at an instant, that kicking plan apparently backfired and he was rather peeved from the result of it. Crap landed on his left shoulder when he started to stand up. Keeping his eyes on her,he brushed the bird gravy off the shoulder and just stood there as those icyblue spheres gradually pulsed towards the original hazel optic as a sign, he was reverting back to his original self. Before that became the case, he adjust the sapphire shades along the bridge of his nose when the left corner of his lips quivered into a disgusted glance that was soon followed by a feint grunt as his last ice strike attemtp, but since he was reverting back into his original state, there were more focus upon the locations. Two towards the kidneys, two storming straight down towards the shoulders where lies the pressure points, and the remaining two would take aim towards the ribs where the space apart for those two were seven inches from one another. He actually lost all care right now, for what he did because he knew she might shapeshift her way out it. All he could do now was to take great acceleration towards his opponent and leap high into an arc motion with his right elbow being drawn back, where being airborne would give him seconds to work with before coming back down towards her with the dagger remaining to be wielded in the left hand.

{17/17}

Watching her movement to close the distance, he saw that she gone under his leaping form and he would simply land into a erected stand with his left arm settled down at his side when letting out a short sigh. Throughout the whole time, he knew what was going on and it was something he didn't take kindly but, whatever. He knew when enough was enough and with that, he turned towards her direction as he twirled the dagger back into the containment area and suddenly was calling the other dagger back to him so he would placed that back in the holster as well.

Looking at the opponent for a moment before turning off towards the side, he stroked under his nostrils with the use of his thumb and then stood there.

-7-

The good thing about a fast acting toxin was that it would be a breifly acting toxin, unless more continued to be added. Kalis' body wasn't moving yet, but with a fully paced human body in combat mode, his heart was going fast and his blood pumping, shifting material to the cells and out again, quicker to feed and quicker to dump. With a lethal posion, it would have meant speeding to his end, but in this case, it meant he was starting to get feeling back in his limbs, slowly, already. His parts started twitching, not much but a little, as he shook in the tension and watched Leanne approach.

Leanne might find a way to get past Flare and strike him, and he'd be defenseless, left to take the intended knee to the underside of the jaw, he'd collapse to his back. Saved missing teeth by healthy dental hygiene, Kalis would prod unnervingly loose teeth with his tongue as blood leaked out the corner of his mouth. An extremely painful blow- he'd get the like of a flash of light through his vision, and then a breif wave of dizziness, before his head cleared rapidly, thankfully spared a blow to the cranium. It'd be back to straining as his muscles started to creep to a sluggish and jerky life. But there was a fair chance this wasn't how it'd go down.

-ACTION TAKE-

Kalis thanked whatever diety was currently available to take his call as Flare plowed into Leanne. Time. It was all he needed.

MOVE! Now!

Digging in, he strained against his body's unresponsiveness, pouring in his determination, his drive to combat, his frustration, his will.

His fury.

Ability List Wrote:

• Force Release- Kinetic force. It's use wears the body down gradually were used, or tires muscles out, or both, but is least harmful to him of all the forms, and at this time most natural form of filtered release.
• Essentially, pulling force into use to increase bodily output. Like being really strong muscularly, for a brief time. Can go to extremes, yes, he can be as strong as the superstrengthers just temporarily, but it tires him depending on how much is used.

"RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAH!"

The blood pounded in his ears, feeling his heart pound. Violent emotion fueled the burst of strength, and in return nudged him in the direction of more violent emotion. Kalis' world flashed red, burning in fiery will to keep up the battle.

It would do nothing to boost his body's efforts if none could be produced through the paralysis- but that was where he didn't need it. The force poured in, stored for now, but it also caused his body to more quickly gobble in it's own energy. If blood had been dripping from the line drawn across his back by the dagger or the stab wound into his side before, a given, it would be flowing now. The toxin was taken in, eaten up by the cells, shocking them, burned to nothing rapidly, and expelled again.

Seconds ticked by almost audably in his mind, counted off in double time by the hammering sound in Kalis' head. If his head and been clear, he'd have been aware it would be the time of the upholding more than the output that would cost him. But for now, he only needed to stand, to fight.

As Flare and Leanne struggled on the earth, Kalis began to move. A foot, dragging forward, planted his weight forward. The hand on the ground clenched, knuckles inside the glove turning white. The other foot came up.

Seconds ticked by as Flare's time ran low.

He pushed up, heaving his mind into the effort of slowly coming to his feet, the effort coming easier and easier as he went, slowly.

The clock ran low, and the demoness got up to leave.

Kalis would no longer be vulnerable on the ground.

Standing before Leanne, shoulders squared, the red eyes blazed as though Hell itself burned behind them. Focused with malicious intensity, not so much on her. On the object that was his opponent. His hand reached behind him, grabbing the tail of the coat where it had been cut loose, and pulled, using the sword strap to hold it in place as he tore the bottom off of the thick covering, thick green fabric hanging from his hand like a matador's cape. His body quivered with struggle to hold place fading from one source and becoming slowly another. Quivering from muscles still strained to tight knots.

His black shirt ruined, he ignored the garment as he held the hand with the bottom of his coat out before him, garment now shortened to a funny thing ending about part way up his ribs, flapping loose at it's edges, revealing large patches of strong, bright red chest through holes burnt into it.

Slowly, his mouth changed, going from it's feral bearing of teeth to his grin again. He wasn't done playing yet.

"On your feet! Let's finish this!"

He might have roared again, but the masses did it for him.

They were about to get their show.

((Soon after Soiree walked out of the ring.))

The threat was gone. Owle's mind emerged from the black shield...

...and felt as if she'd been plunged into a bucket of knives.

"OW! Ow ow ow ow ow ow owww..." she moaned, falling straight over without thinking to catch herself. "It hurts it hurts it hurts..." Not the most dignified way to end the match, but what did she care? It really really hurt...

Hands lifted her gently, placing her onto a stretcher as the medics carried her off. Dizzy from blood loss and blinded by the pain, Owle did not protest.

Working quickly, the HoH clean up crew ran out to gather up all the loose clothing Owle had flung in her fight.

When one of the young men came across her bra, his eyes slid stealthily back and forth, on the lookout for any of his coworkers.

No one was looking? Then maybe he could just tuck this away into his jacket...

"HEY!" A woman's voice shouted, and a shadow fell over the perverted young man from above. In a move rivaling some that had gone on during the fight itself, two feet connected sideways with the man's back, knocking him forwards onto his face. The bra flew from his hand, his fantasies flying away from him as two large hammers descended upon his cranium.

SQUEAKY!

Satisfied with her handiwork, his female coworker tossed aside the giant squeaky mallets, picked up the bra, and put it in the pile with the rest of Owle's things. These were left near Flare and Athan, to guard from overzealous spectators.

((Present day, present time.))

A few quiet murmurs went up among the crowd on the outskirts, spreading in a straight and narrow line toward the arena itself. The fighter who had just been so badly injured was limping back toward the arena, her left hand clutching her five foot wooden staff for support. A few whispered their surprise that she was on her feet, a few commented on her fight, telling her she was brave, or foolish, or cowardly, or interesting. The insults were fewer in number than the praise, though...most had sympathy for the injured woman, bandaged head to toe and struggling just to remain upright.

Owle reached the barricade at last, coming up beside Athan and stumbling face first into her pile of clothing. Undeterred, she gritted her teeth and lifted herself up again, her eyes turning to arena just as Kalis gave a mighty roar.

"Go Kalis! You can beat her!" Owle screamed. She had threatened the medics with brain death if they didn't let her go, even though they said she was in no condition to be walking about. She had to be here to cheer for Kalis's fight. She had to.

-8-

Leanne was down. She might have been fast on foot, but she was at a lack of comparative mobility to an opponent adept at flying, especially one with wings built to fly precisely by quick flapping rather than soar in wide arcs over long distances without tiring. Flare had bat-like wings, not hawk wings. Even if it turned into a Scooby Doo style chase scene, Kalis had a few seconds to pull himself together and rise.

It could only be assumed that very soon, or even if it were a bit later, Leanne would be back on her feet. And she'd face the same rush she'd seen over and over now, Kalis barreling into melee range recklessly.

She probably had more magic where the fire burst had come from. Probably had more speed than she'd used. Probably more force, more tricks. But she was about to be pressed to her limit. Kalis wasn't playing soft ball anymore

The man burst into motion, body pumping hard enough that for just the snap it took for him to close the distance between them, considering the sudden speed, he'd have been every bit as fast as she'd started going. She could cover him in flames, retreat, rush in, it didn't matter. Whether he had to buckle through it or defend himself, she'd find the man, relentlessly pounding down on her and closed to fist range before those magic words could pop up again, plan, or wonder why he suddenly wasn't the typical guy off the street he'd been up until a moment before.

He'd sweep the left arm wide as he closed in, bringing that long piece ripped off his coat flying up and into her face, to wrap around it or an arm held up in cover for just a moment before the damage was done and it pulled off to keep going, matador style.

Kalis was every bit as fast as her- no, just in excess to!- for just these moments.

Ability List Wrote:

• Force Release- Kinetic force. It's use wears the body down gradually were used, or tires muscles out, or both, but is least harmful to him of all the forms, and at this time most natural form of filtered release.
• Wall- It can be released like an aura around the body to deflect projectiles or divert waves of things such as water or flame (limits apply, direct hits of projectiles generally strike less centered, or skim the skin). Will not stop a punch or other continually acted upon object, may slow or deflect these minimally.

Grarr- Just sounds like a mean sound. Essentially, pulling force into use to increase bodily output. Like being really strong muscularly, for a brief time. Can go to extremes, yes, he can be as strong as the superstrengthers just temporarily, but it tires him depending on how much is used.

In the time it obscured her vision, wrapping around her head, or arm or arms, or flying by in taters or flames, he was throwing a punch again; but for once, not for her head.

His lowered body position and the whip up and back of the left shoulder let perfectly into motion from the right coming forward, body lowered abit, balls of each foot dug in and spread just wide enough to push, from the earth all the way through his legs, all the way through his torso, into the turn of his shoulder, through his arm, every inch of muscle saturated in the sudden burst of force outward.

What hit Leanne in the soloplex, that vulnerable area just above the stomach where the body indented in the meeting place of lower level ribs, smaller ends coming together, was a heavy broad-built knuckle duster coming in from a full body punch.

It was going to feel more like a freight train.

Well one thing was for sure Kalis had no clue as Leanne had wings and could fly as well, she could take on a flyer if needed.

Suddenly Flare had managed to go into a barrel roll, changing moves interesting. Suddenly as Leanne went to go for her attack she was interrupted from the side, this would stop Leanne's move and knock her to the floor.

It would not take her long to get back up as the hit was not very great, on rising she would see Kalis rise back up. Leanne still had flames surrounding her hands, as Kalis charged towards her she would quickly raise her arms up and shoot out a stream of powerful fierce flames. It would zoom towards Kalis, she could keep the flames on him at all times and keep firing at him. So with him charging recklessly the flames would probably hit as if needed they would follow him, the flames would burn his chest and upper torso plus it would not him backwards due to the pressure it fired out at. Leanne would continue with the focus so that she could build the power up and burn him more, she stood focusing on him to make sure he would not get away. At the rate the flames pumped down it could take him down, as long as she was focused which she was.

((9))

Time to have more fun than that of the contestants! ![smilies/icon_heart.gif]

+++The man in crimson and black would growl and suddenly spear the man who had said the s**t before starting to swing at the man furiously before his hand would grab that of the cane he had before flicking it roughly exposing the....CANE SWORD! He'd merely laugh before he'd try to stab the man in the kidney with the damn thing.

All hell was breaking loose!

The man would bleed, staring stupidly at his wound(s?) in shock. On all sides, the other spectators fled, shrieking for protection from the crazy man with the sword. A few of the media turned their cameras away from the fight in the ring, zooming in on the mayhem in the crowd.

The drunken oaf would probably be dead before he recovered enough to do anything.

+++The man would merely get up and look around before wiping off his cane sword and putting it back within it's sheath before looking around and nodding slowly. A smirk forming on his lips before he'd bust out laughing. Only to start his walk off again. His hand tipping his hat at the man who said good god.

+++"Fine day isn't it?"

+++"Well, you see. That man....He...uhhh....Jumped me and we tussled for a bit before I could grab my cane. Which, you know is actually a sword for this is Gaia and all. Right? Well, I stabbed him a couple of times. I think he was drunk off of his a**. Well, anyway, I protected myself. Yep, that's it, and now he's...dead. It was all self-defense. That's it."

+++"But but...Fine...Man, how I wish took escape from guards 101."

+++He'd say in a defeated tone the cane being thrown up only to line behind them all. He had no where else to go. He was a true human after all. Yes, there were a few of those within the realms of Gaia.

"st, man...the guy just ****** stabbed me with a cane..."

The EMT pushing the drunk's stretcher into the ambulance shushed him, but there was no need. Weak and dizzy from the loss of blood, the man soon had passed out.

The media, in the meanwhile, prepared a sensational story about the attack in the crowds, and the wisdom with which the Deity, Inc security had swiftly neutralized the threat.

The poor drunk barely even got mentioned. Odds were good, though, that this wouldn't stop him from going to the next fight some hot demonic chick was in.