Bubbles vs Vintrict

Stage0: Preliminaries

Barton Fountain

Somehow it seems we keep coming back here every year, don't you think?

Dead center of town and once again in control thanks to Deity and the new Barton Planning Department. The Barton Fountain is a nice open square centered around the iconic fountain, along with the required benches and greenery.

Terrain

General - Spectators permitted leisure time are standing back a safe distance.

Weapons - None.

Bonus Effects - Slightly moist around the fountain.

Red Player: Bubbles

Representing: Team Reject

Played By: Patrick Laforte

Blue Player: Vintrict Viase

Representing: Team Resolution

Played By: Vintrict

After the entrance of the first participant of this exhibition match, the spectators' ears are met with the sound of a car pulling up behind where they were all standing as they crowded around the fountain to view the fight that was going to happen. Turning their heads, they would see a black limo come to a stop, stretched five windows length. They all started to mumble amongst one another, wondering who was so important that they had to come here in a limo. The driver was the first to make his appearance, stepping out of the car. It was a white male who looked in his late 50s, his face wrinkled with age coming to his face. He was wearing the usual dress style of black clothing that limo drivers commonly wore, donning a hat on his head with a silver plating on the front of it with the words "VSA" engraved into it.

The driver walked around the front of the car, then continued down the side facing the crowd until he finally arrived at the back passenger door. Grasping the door handle with his white glove, he pulls on it, opening it up for all to see who awaited to come out into view. The crowd looked on in anticipation, their eyes waiting to see the visitor. With the opening of the door, the feet of the passenger stepped out first, genuine leather shoes glossed in the light of the day. The head of the person was bowed as he stood himself out of the car, six feet height of the gentleman coming upright in front of the spectators. Cameras were flashing away, as surely the preliminary events of the tournament were being photographed for showcasing in tomorrow's magazines.

Vintrict Viase was his name, the second participant in this fight that was about to happen. He was dressed as if this was a formal event that would consist of men and women of prestige standing around and enjoying a good time around a luxury of drinks, food, and good entertainment, the colors of indigo being the main color of his worn suit. Unfortunately, the sport of this event was well on the other side of the spectrum of formality. The red tie contrasted with the dark hues of his undershirt. His skin was brown-colored, but his hair a very light cyan, about medium length, but long enough to rest a bit on the shoulders of his fine suit. Hiding his eyes were shades with lens tinted in blue, masking his eyes with its gradient sheen. On both hands, he wore black gloves, though gripped in his left hand was a black suitcase, holding whatever that could be within in.

The crowd awed here and there as they looked at the man, who appeared quite handsome to some of the ladies. It was common for him to always grasp such attention, even priding himself secretly in accomplishing such a thing. Vintrict gave them a mild smirk as he opened his right hand to the right, as if expecting something to drop into it. And surely enough, something did, a white five foot long polearm with teal-colored markings running along its length, placed into his hand by his limo driver who removed it from the now-opened trunk.

"Thank you, Hunter. Keep the engine running. I'll be back in a few minutes."

He steps forward, causing the crowd to separate as if he was Moses walking across the Red Sea, the waters dividing to allow the holy man to trek through to his destination. The symbolism was not far off either, as Vintrict was considered a Christian man of faith. The only item he possesses that gave this away was a large cross-like weapon that he used for more serious missions. Unfortunately, such a weapon was not allowed within this tournament, and thus he did not bring it along. Surely, he would not have to do any purging today of any villains trying to destroy the world, he believed.

It wasn't too long until he passed through the crowd and stopped himself within the fighting area, outside of the fountain that his female opponent had landed in from the transportation of helicopters. He stared for a moment, his smile no longer upon his face, pondering a few things through his head. Things such as, how he should take this match against the opposite sex or how was he going to use the environment to his advantage. The look of the female, with her non-feminine dress code of shorts and a bra in camo-style hinted quickly that she was not the usual fair lady. He was going to have to leave his ideals of chivalry at the doorstep if he wanted to keep concentrated.

Setting his briefcase down near his feet, he stepped a few more steps forward to close the distance even more to the point that he was standing only a foot from the fountain's edge, holding his white polearm in his right hand, stance being quite relaxed.

"So, you must be Bubbles," he responded in his mature voice. Another tool he had against attracting the ladies was that deep-rolling manly voice of his, as often described by many women. He wasn't intending to capture Bubble's wiles or anything of that sort. No, he was a more sophisticated playboy, a man who loved to play the mental mind game of making sure he wasn't appearing too vulnerable while remaining as cool as he can. This was the type of games he played whenever he went on one of his bar trips. Consequently, this manner of behavior transferred a lot into his diplomatic methods.

"It is nice to meet you." He raised his left hand, which had a watch worn upon the wrist. Looking at it, he continued: "If you do not mind, I rather we finish this quickly. I have a meeting in a short while and I don't want to be late."

This Bubbles was a energetic one, indeed. She even held a spunky attitude, already making the first trash talk fighters usually exchanged between one another to give them more of an excuse to beat each other senseless. It was mildly interesting, but his smile disappeared as he gave a small "Hm?". The girl was now running across the span of the fountain, heading in his direction with quick strides. No need to be so mellow any longer, he was going to have to show some seriousness if he didn't want to give such a poor display of performance. He was here for his team, so he was going to have to do his best.

His body sprung into action, his right arm moving in front of him as his left hand joined in the handling of his now-spinning staff, which was whipping back and forth from side to side in front of him, warming up his usage of it. It felt so loose and graceful within his hands, almost as natural as the air that encompassed all of life on this planet. His knees bent just enough to put some spring into them, his right foot sliding a bit back and to the right to space his feet apart. When she finally leaped onto the edge of the fountain, shouting her taunt in front of him, the blur of movements of his weapon quickly became a swipe with his staff, swinging it from his right with the right hand leading. One foot and a half of it was bashing for Bubble's stomach, Vintrict stepping forward with his right foot in front of his left before he swung his weapon to allow him to move to the left. This transition gave him the position to use a horizontal frontal bash at her stomach, the power capable of giving her a churning gut ache, and even smacking her back into the watery plains of the fountain. Since he was standing only one foot from the fountain, they were close enough for him to attack at such a range, though his weapon gave him more range and leverage for attacking.

She looked dressed for a dip in the pool, so he felt no guilt, should this attack succeed in knocking her back into the fountain.

1

As quick as the attack was, Vintrict's eyes watched most of the details of how she leaped back and used her left shin to take the blunt of the hit before she landed back in the water on her feet. She didn't leave herself as open as he thought, seeming to be able to adapt to many positions, whatever they may be. A trait that was nice for a fighter. From her still standing, he assumed that she held some good bodily durability, too, since strikes from his staff were capable of bruising and eventually breaking bones after several contacts. Another good quality of a fighter. She was shaping up to be quite a woman.

But aside from these mental conversations he was having with himself, he whipped his staff back into a spin again, letting it twirl about once more. Rather than pursue her into the water, he decided to keep back, as if he didn't want to get his clothing soaked. Since he did have a meeting to go to after this, it was a good of a guess than any to his hesitation. And so he stood there, spinning his staff in front of him in that same side-to-side manner, his hair and coat fluttering in the growing wind around him.

All the while, he did answer her fists rising up with a smirk, amused by her antics so far. Hopefully, he doesn't grow a soft spot for her. His womanly charms really had a way of making him feel as so.

2

The spray of water she kicked up would only have a drizzle come onto him, as the rest will go flying right back in her face as the wind seemed to take affect in knocking it away. The increasing gust was causing the water of the fountain to move more by its movement than by Bubbles's. Her words were clear that she wanted the fight to continue in the water. But he wondered too if it was as safe as any to be going in there. The crowd was here for a good show, so he was going to have to give it to them. If this was another type of situation, he would have taken advantage of their positions, but where would the fun be in that.

Then, without any care, he hopped over the edge of the fountain and landed straight into the water, a great splash sounding from his feet hitting the bottom. But this splash was a bit wider for someone who had just slid into the water, which was deforming outward as if something bigger had landed into it. But during this distracting action, Vintrict rushed forward, swinging the end of his polearm led by his right hand again in a rising vertical swiping manner aimed at Bubble's jaw, like an uppercut. Whether it hit or miss, a rush of wind would past across her body, pushing her back a bit more. Somehow, the wind was flowing in his favor today.

3

The sprinkling water continued to pour around them as he missed with the vertical strike, Bubbles evading to the side, then jumping forward to extend her arm toward him. Surely, his window of time to react was short, but the only thing that gave him just enough time was the length of his weapon. Attacking from medium range allowed him to have another moment of time to do something, as being up close would have had his tie being gripped and handled anyway she wanted by then. It was just bad luck that he was not that easy to get close to with his manner of attacking.

His right foot slid diagonally forward and to the right, pulling on the leading end of his right hand, and pushing forward his left hand to lead the other end, which was at gut level. Bending his knees and leaning his body in the same direction of his right foot, he swipes out with the other end of his staff to strike at her stomach horizontally from his left, the area of her body that he didn't manage to hit before. As much, her hand would end up a few inches away from his face, as the attack had the range to land before her hand could. The end result would be another knockback maneuver, another current of wind pushing against her with a little bashing to go with it.

For a gentleman, he was not being very nice against a woman. This caused some of the women in the crowd to have second thoughts, trying to give excuses that he was only doing it because she was a fighter. He wouldn't possibly beat on women in his normal life. That was their beliefs, which they strongly kept to believing.

4

His left eyebrow raised from behind his shades, watching her fall back into the water, already showing a dislike for the situation. Vintrict's willpower against this image of a woman was strong, but everytime he kept seeing this, it was causing him to slowly feel more sympathetic. It was hard to throw away his love for the female sex when they weren't showing themselves up to his level of combat. He was giving her the benefit of the doubt, but it was becoming harder to believe that.

"Do you believe your opponents in the real rounds are going to be any easier," he answered Bubbles, holding his staff forward with the right hand leading, the water continuing to move about them. There surely was a gust today, the water continuing to make cresses all around them. His pants, from the knees and down were now soaked as he stood in the water, while various parts of his upper suit had spots of water from when he landed. What was odd was that he was still relatively dry, even after such an event.

He spun his staff in front of him, but at a slower pace this time.

5

It came without warning. Vintrict's staff was stopped in its spin as his body suddenly felt a jolt of electricity vibrating through his body. He knew right away that it had to be electricity, having experienced this feeling many times in his life. What was worse was that he was in water, meaning this was going to be more devastating than a stun gun's charge.

"Aah!" His cry was held back as much as he could within his throat as he frowned, his body taking a massive punch from the traveling thunder that ran through the water. He surely was stunned alright, the electricity making his body feel different intensities of prickling and tingling. His nerves weren't reacting, too stunned from the voltage that ran through his body. His legs being soaked, they were off worse than he was, causing him to crouch more toward the waters.

And surely enough, this was going to be his downfall, her fist striking forth into his chest, causing him to grit his teeth before he went falling backwards into the water in a heavy splash. When Bubbles punched at him, however, her fist would feel itself traveling through much more wind than what was present around them, a more focused current of it lessening the speed of her punch. It was this fact that she would feel as if her punch was slower and softer than she imagined. And what would save the man from the full force of her attack. It was no different from how she leaped back to lessen the power of his first attack of this match. Only, this time he used the elements to lessen the power of her own attack. A last second way to protect himself from any attacks of opportunity. He knew well what strategies were going to come from this surprise.

Vintrict sat up in the water, coughing after going underneath for a couple of seconds. Now, his entire body was soaked in water, which just made the occasional jolt from the left over electricity discharging even more painful to his body. Fortunately, his body was more resistant to shutting down from a electrical shock, being that he was far from human. Had she seen his ears during his plunge into the water, she may have noticed how they were similar shaped to an elf's. But with him up again, they were once again hidden behind his soaked hair.

6

So the fist was more than just a one-hit spectacular. It held a second kick to it, after all. He knew well that noise, alright, being a fanatic for guns himself. The sound was not annoying to his ears, but instead reminded him of the many battles of gunslinging he has in his days. At first, he was wondering why a gun-like sound was even present in this tournament, until he realized that it was just her fist using the mechanism of a gun to power her punch. That is when he realized, as well, that her body was not normal. That explained a few things, such as the durability and the shocking ability she had.

When the first punch hit as he sailed toward the water, Vintrict's body was very friendly with the punch. What this meant was that it did not try to resist against the punch. Even with the barrier of wind, it seemed that he stuck to his tactics, his martial art, by letting the flow of the attack continue on. This way, he could lessen the force of the punch by decreasing its contact area along with going with the momentum instead of against it. The shotgun second punch would cause him to skid backwards through the water further than the first hit would have taken him, a small temporary carve going through the crystal clear element.

He ended up having his back ram into the edge of the fountain, sitting against it as another grunt comes from his throat, his back taking a shock of pain from running into it. That was the downside of going with the momentum of things: if you didn't land your momentum safely, it was going to come back against you. So in a way, she really did hit him with the force she wanted.

His staff remained gripped in his hands throughout the entire trip, however, which kept forward as the strange wind remained present within the fountain. His light blue hair drenched itself across his face, his shades surprisingly still holding themselves onto his face, hiding the expression his eyes were showing. At this time, his right leg was bent toward his sitting position, his left slightly bent but stretched out within the settling water. Even after a hit like that, he seemed pretty relaxed. The pains of battle was not going to hinder him. This could be the reason that he was also wearing a small smirk on his face, confidence having gone nowhere after Bubbles's first good hit.

7

It ain't over 'til the fat lady sings.

The end that his right hand held stabs itself in the space between his legs. Using this as leverage, he pushes himself up and forward, causing the water around him to actually separate outward as the wind gusts over thirty miles per hour within the circumference of the fountain. The water splashed here and there, the spray from the running spray of water from the central ornament being altered to and fro in directions that it was releasing the white foam. The air around Bubbles would feel heavier and gustier, the water doing the same to the point that it was splashing randomly about her. Even with the discharge going into the water, none of it was coming into contact with Vintrict. A closer look would explain why he wasn't taking a shock a second time.

Around his feet for at least a foot, the white stone of the pool's bottom could be seen. The water was actually being forced away in a nearly perfect circle around him, a field of something in existence around the now-standing Vintrict. It wasn't seeable, but something was being exerted from his body. In truth, the power of a thirty-five miles per hour wind was being concentrated into slender currents circling around Vintrict's body. He was using it in this way to keep himself from becoming another victim to her shock attacks, his skin already feeling prickly and painful from the last one. His legs were still having a hard time recovering from the attack, so he was going to have to keep movement to a minimal for the rest of the fight. But it wasn't going to be too long until the time reaches zero, so he would make use of what they had.

Her rush toward him gave him the opening he needed. He was going to repay the favor for her attacks tenfold. It all begins with his staff spinning in front of him, to the right side, then whipping it forward again. The distance between them wasn't close enough for the weapon to hit yet, but he didn't need it to hit. With this spin, Bubbles would feel a rush of wind assault her body from the front, water being brushed back in the same manner and her movement nearly halted to a stop. If the water was already making it harder to move, the wind was just adding to it. Using the current of wind around his body, he guided it into a built up punch forward, the winds being released forward to the point a spinning effect took place.

"Why don't you take a breather," he spoke as he swung forward his weapon.

Bubbles would feel it circle around her body, spinning in the shape of a vortex that was attempting to spin her around counter-clockwise and toward the water in a confusing but forceful way. While this happened, Vintrict proceeded forward in his own charge, to follow this up with a rising vertical strike at her jaw yet again with one of the ends of his weapon during her spinning. If it struck, she wasn't just going to get knocked back, but be thrown into the air up to four feet by the other half of the wind current circling around his body. Should she be hit, she would find herself afloat in the air by the circling winds for up to five seconds. What a magic trick.

8

The crowd awed as they watched Bubbles ascend into the air in a splash of water, and then float there in hangtime as if this was being slowed down for special effect, her body twisting with the rising current. The updraft was what rose her up, and then the air circling about was what kept her up for a short time, as the wind tried to slow itself down back to a normal breeze. It would feel as if the air was leaving underneath her, allowing Bubbles back toward the earth. It was only four feet, but such a suspension in height could make it feel like you were sailing through the endless blue.

But all things that went up must come down. Vintrict surely had a follow up to this attack. As the water displaced itself back around his feet as the currents leave him entirely after unwinding themselves around Bubbles, Vintrict would continue to have his weapon spin in hand, showing that he was still guiding the flow of air. Then, with his right hand leading once again, he performed a downward swipe. In unison, Bubbles would feel a downdraft hit straight into her body from above. Or did she even perceive it from above, as her turning motion would make knowing what was up and what was down difficult.

The push of wind would throw her perpendicularly back at the ground in a huge slam into the waters of the fountain, as if someone had just picked her up, then powerbombed her into the stone of the fountain. Despite the height of the water, it would only do so much in slowing her down before she hit the bottom in a splashy dive. This would throw up yet another fissure of the water, splashing itself onto Vintrict and onto the ground outside the fountain before things would settle down again, the wind expending itself as the air distributes back into the surrounding atmosphere.

And so he stood there in the mildly disturbed water, his stance having his right foot slide forward to where the right leg was extended, the left bent and remaining in a side position. His right hand held its end of the polearm forward, pointing close to the ground, while his left hand held it near the rear end, past his left abdomen. No longer wearing a smile, he stood there silently, waiting to see the result of this attack. And so was the crowd, silence coming to them after a surprised "AH" from Bubbles's descent.

Vintrict's left eyebrow was raised, his face waiting in anticipation to see what had become of the woman. With a body like hers, he had a feeling she wasn't going to go down that easily.

9

The girl was up again and Vintrict was ready to continue. Though when he saw that her beanie was no longer hiding her hair, the image of her seemed to have gotten...more charismatic, having him place on a blank expression to show him using will to try to hide his approval. It wasn't helping that she was wearing a bikini to boot. And just then, the match came to a close with the beep from the FIGHTER, having him relax his stance, breathing a sigh from his mouth.

He turned his back to her, his right hand solely holding his polearm at his side again as his left hand came up to reposition his shades on his face. And that is when the crowd went into a applause, showing their liking for a short but fun match that came to an end.

"I will admit, you came more properly dressed than I," he responded during the applause, not facing around as he spoke. "Don't worry about me. I knew this would happen in the first place. I have other suits."

Speaking of his suit, it was damaged and torn in several places, showing that her lightning attack had did a number on not just his body, but his suit as well. He stepped himself out of the fountain before sitting down onto the edge of it. Planting his right foot up, he proceeded to remove each one of his shoes, turning them upside down to let the water drain out of them like they were cups. The soakness of his black socks were disliked, too, having him remove them just as quickly. Thankfully, it wasn't that cold, or else he would be freezing his behind off.

10