Crumbling Tropical Ruins

This seems interesting she though as her fingers were hooks in her front pockets of her faded blue jeans. As she slips one of her hands out to bend over picking up a stone as she studies it over. Walking further across the stone as she could feel them under her boots. The stone in her hand was almost round as she tosses it up gently then catching it again.

A fresh smell from the river fill her nostrils as she found herself a stone like wall to lean upon. Or at least what was left of one. Her sally was hanging off on her hip of her studded belt. A red tank top was all she had with her as she could feel the breeze over her skin.

"I wonder where the guys are?"

Looking down at the stone in her hand, her dark eyes blinking a few times as she narrows her eyes.

"And why in the hell am I talking to a rock?"

Shaking her head as she shrugs tossing the stone hand to hand now as she waits.

Sam had made her way here, but she was in no extreme hurry. Not this time. She'd learned her lesson that last fight. She had rushed in, and acted foolishly. Despite her research, her fight had not gone as well as she'd hoped. But no matter. Pulling up far enough outside the arena that she wouldn't have to worry about her bike causing any issues, she'd slowly made her way over to the river, and the ruins upon it. It was a rather strange place to build a city, she thought. But that was that the last mundane thought she had as she stepped into view and saw one opponent, and the one person she wished she hadn't seen.

"Vice." She acknowledged her team mate with a nod of her head, and his name before taking a glance at the board. "Maybe you and I should play a game later." her smile was pleasant, but looking over her, Vice would note that she was not carrying the manila envelope he'd requested in her gloved hands.

She tugged at the wrist of what appeared to be a undershirt beneath the white jacket she wore, but then it became evident that it was actually the body armor she normally wore, covering her entire body from wrist to shoulder to toe. Well, except for the ample cleavage showing. It was done up in a blue, black and gray motif this time and fully activated. It was nice having an armor that was malleable like this. Instead of heels or even just shoes, Song was wearing combat boots, and the extra padded areas were evident this time.

So was the fact that as she got closer to Vice, her fingers were twitching randomly. "We'll have to talk about it later though, you're fighting this round." She hooked her fingers in the wide white belt that rested at her hip, just in front of the sword that rested at her left and the whip at her right.

"So don't disappoint, please." Wow, she was being nice to him. Talk about a change of attitude. She was even smiling at him, her mask making her blue hued eyes more pronounced. And she went over to the side, and rested, waiting for the captain of the opposing team to arrive so they could discuss terms.

"Ah! Comrades!" A familiar voice drifted on the breeze toward the rest of Team Nirvana. "I think for once I am not late." Viviana announced with unabashed enthusiasm as she made her way into the long abandoned ruins. Pleased to see all her team mates were already present.

"It is probably because Caelan gave me back my pocket watch!" She beamed as she pulled the slightly dented time telling contraption from the folds of her coat, displaying it proudly for all to see. "It's not much to look at these days, but it gets the job done and it does 'old a lot of sentimental value."

The Lamia gave her surroundings a quick scan and then inhaled deeply, "This is not to shabby eh?" she said, clearly appreciating the locale. Her sapphire hues fell upon the good Doctor's chess board and she chuckled a little,

"Dr. Vice. I do 'ope you are not playing against yourself?" She pointed a waggled her pointer finger, "I am certain you'll find a worthy opponent amongst the other team... speaking of the other team..." The Lamia glanced toward the only present member of Jagged Edge and, as usual, gave her a salute in way of greeting, "I expect they will all be arriving shortly ne?"

Surprisingly, Song didn't quip back, but just smiled, almost pityingly at the doctor. Things were being taken care of, and that was all that mattered. Turning away from the doctor, she greeted her other two team mates with a smile. "Kain. Vivi." And she waved. With her injured hand. Which proved she had gotten it looked at before coming. Right?

Now if their opponents would show up, they could get this started. Unless they didn't realize that it was double elimination. Well, at least the femme had noticed that little fact. Oh well, nothing to do but wait while the crowd that was slowly gathering got cranky and antzy wanting to see blood, sweat and tears.

"Heh...maybe the crowd will save us the trouble." She muttered aloud, but without anyone being able to read her mind, they'd have no idea what she was talking about.

"..."

Song looked up at the sun and then back over at their opponent. Then to her team. With a sigh, she called out to the woman. "Would you like to go ahead and just start this with basic rules and hope the rest of your team shows up?"

If the girl replied in the affirmative, she'd give a small motion to Vice. "You're up, Doc." They only had so long to get this going after all.

-Having a speedy trek towards the appointed destination, Kizu noticed Star in the midst of the group that arrived. "Must be our opponents" was uttered in thought when he started to powerslide along the ground for a screeching halt towards Razor. Kizu lightly bounced along the balls of his toes as the elongated cerulean tail unwrapped from about the the waist, to let out the full five foot length descend towards the earth. Only taking seconds to let those almond shape hues of sapphire and goldenrod hues scope out the surroundings, he let out a whistle of amazement. Even though this frigid azure and platinum haired being wore nothing but an open sleeveless hoody and baggy jeans that covers his sneakers, he was well equipped for battle. The audible inhalation through the nostrils made one wonder if Kizu really is an animal. He was taking in the scents of everything in the environment as his eyes locked onto these unknown individuals, one by one.-

Coming away from his inspections of the ruins' decay Kain forced himself from his curiosity to join his group, all of which he knew had arrived with the smooth purr of Francais.

"Sorry about disappearing on you ladies, I got distracted."

Savouring another puff, Kain only nodded to the Doctor who still remain an interest and mystery to the Devil. Teammates in name, maybe even chiding rivalry, but nothing exclusively dictated anything more than being just two on the same team. He was looking forward to seeing the man in action.

Kain just hopped he'd refrain from opening up his attack to this woman with a backhand. Though...it would be funny to see the reactions of the public and tabloids being dished out...

A smile broke over his face. Ohhhh, this'd be a good day.

A glint of irritation flicked in the Doctor's eyes for a brief moment before he let out a sigh and raised himself to his feet, grabbing two pawns from the board on his way up.

"I have a preference." he stated as he dusted himself off and walked forward. "Care to put a little twist on our fight? I have here two chess pieces; one black, one white."

He rolled up his sleeves and held his metallic-sheen gloved hands out to show that there were no obvious tricks to his proposal. As stated, there was one black pawn in his left hand and one white pawn in his right.

"If you choose the white piece you may impose a negative condition upon me. It could be something as simple as a free hit or as complicated as ordering me to start on the edge of the arena. If you choose black you agree to give me the same courtesy."

With that he put both hands behind his back and began shuffling the pawns between them, making sure that neither of the present opposition could see. If they accepted things could get interesting.. if not? Oh well. It would be another fight as usual.

A smile finally lit the Doctor's visage, and after thoroughly shuffling them he held out his fists, palms down. The standard 'choose' gesture with one pawn hidden in each grasp.

"I promise you the nature of my tricks are not magical. The piece in each hand remains the color it has always been; one black, one white. For clarity, this is the left," his left hand raised to head-level, "...and this is the right." his left hand came back down as the right raised.

"Whenever you're ready."

((EDIT: For clarity (if you feel like playing along), just so there's no confusion or thoughts that I might be cheating; on my next post I will roll a random number between 1 and 2 to determine which hand the white pawn is in. A 1 represents the right hand and a 2 represents the left.))

The Devil scratched his head in restless irritation, seemed the other team wasn't going to show up; the whole of them, that is. Dragging on that lovely cancer stick of his, it would only accent his visible frustrations; not bothering to ash and letting it fall down his front.

"Goddamit!"

He brushed at it, smudged it, and grew angered at the ashes on his suit now. Thoroughly worked up now he tossed his smoke from his mouth, he needed something else to calm him down and nancy-boy atop the pillar could work. If only for a couple minutes.

"Alright," lighting up again, "This is ********' ridiculous, if your whole team can't show up then it's going to be on YOU to take their beatings."

Pointedly making sure that Kizu knew who Kain was referring to, unloosing his wide toothed axe from his belt. What more could signify Kains want to get started, especially once he picked up a brick and gave it a good throw at the perched amigo. Nothing substantial and he really didn't expect to stay put, well, unless he wanted to prove his endurance with a brick to the gut.

[1]

The racing heart, suspense ridden. A roll of the dice; a flip of the coin; games of chance were so thrilling, especially to one so accustomed to exacts. The chances of her picking the right hand was 50%, a statistic the Doctor himself would rarely bet on, yet here he was.

Emerald gaze set intently down as he turned his left hand up and unfurled his fingers... and just like that, it was over. A content smile returned to his face as he held it out further, just in case she missed it. Resting in his palm was the black pawn. He had won. Well, the gamble, anyways. The fight was only just beginning.

"My condition is simple," he began as he rolled his sleeves back down and casually tossed both pawns back in the direction of his board, "You are not to move your right foot from that spot. If I happen to knock you away the condition will expire, but until then the gravel upon which you stand must remain the same or you risk technical forfeit."

An odd condition, but then again it could hardly be considered a surprise from such an odd man. One way or the other, however, it was passed time to start, and from the voice behind him it was obvious he wasn't the only one with this opinion. Thus, he would begin a slow approach. They weren't all that far apart to begin with, but during this time he had a few things to work out; a fact that could be seen by the very cautious eye as his clothes began to shuffle and move a bit, as if a light breeze was passing by. His approach was careful and alert, but if she didn't do anything in the meantime his right hand would shoot out to grab at her neck. A straight up choke right from the get-go? Was this guy serious?

[01/17]

Viviana brought a slender finger to her bottom lip and tapped thoughtfully upon the crimson swell. Subconsciously she let her head loll to her left as she watched the beginnings of combat between her two team mates and their adversaries. But where on earth was her opponent? The Lamia hadn't spent the previous night sharpening her sabre for nothing.

"Capitaine" She purred, turning her gaze towards Song, "I 'ave a preference. I would prefer an opponent other than thin air." The barest hint of amusement lay beneath Viviana's otherwise serious tone. "And 'ere I was, so worried about coming late." She gave a gentle shake of her head, silver curls bouncing lightly as they spilled over her shoulders.

"But, it is nice to see your 'and is making a recovery, mon ami, are you feeling better?"

Casual conversation, it was the only thing that Vivi really had to engage in at the moment, until either another opponent showed up, or the Doctor or the Devil needed her assistance.

Sam looked at Viv, and then turned a shade of crimson red that was even brighter than the military coat that Vivi was so fond of. "Umm yes, I am making a full recovery." Her voice lowered. "With assistance, of course." Another embarrassed giggle and then she looked around, trying to find something else to focus on.

"As for your preference, I too, hope they arrive soon, seeing as how without at least one more, all of this fighting is in vain. True, they would win, but it would be a hollow victory, and she hoped her opponents would not be satisfied either.

Amazing.

The statistics of grabbing her neck successfully had been at a daunting 27%. It seemed today was certainly his day for the game of chance. Perhaps he'd have to head off to a casino after the battle, assuming his luck didn't run dry during.

Then a whip came twisting around his arm, dangerous looking barbs digging in with vicious abandon. He was thankful that poison was illegal in this tournament; most weapons of these variety seemed to be laced with it overly frequently. Still, his attention was far less on the whip bound about his arm as he was the rock coming towards his head. As an extremely alert and overly cautious man, he would never miss minor details from mere moments before, especially not ones that had brought back particularly unpleasant memories. It would have been a shock if she didn't use the rock, seeing as they were now in close range and her primary weapon was distinctly mid-range. That wasn't accounting for the hidden knives or some such that she doubtlessly had (all women did), but those were details for later.

It was at that point that two things happened. Firstly, his right glove would shimmer with an odd liquidesque gleam for a moment. In unison, the grip on her neck would tighten and solidify as if his hand was suddenly made of metal. Back off? Hah; a whip tangled about his arm was more than acceptable when compared to a crushed trachea.

Secondly, he would bring his left hand up to grasp at the rock while it was still descending about a foot away from his head. It would mean that he had to cross his arm over his body, but leaving himself in a disadvantageous position was a bit more appealing than a rock to the head. If she didn't do anything strange his fingers would grasp about it and whatever part of her own hand happened to be in the way with a powerful grip.

During it all his demeanor was as casual as ever. To him, battle was little more than a hands-on science experiment, and aside from that satisfied smile his emotions were perfectly in check. He even decided to work up some casual conversation, as if he didn't even realize he was preventing her ability to breathe, "Aye.. so, what brings you to such a place? What reason do you have to fight?"

[02/17]

Kain's boot missed but he kept his eyes on his evasive opponent, rotating his body with Kizu. Kizu's leg was coming in to kick Kain's left leg and the Devil had abruptly stopped on pebbles...which didn't go over so well. It wasn't Kizu's kick that'd take him down, but his sudden stop and turn.

To Kain's advantage, Kizu had just presented an opening. That leg would be sailing in and Kain would be falling on that leg, his left arm snapping out to grab it while at the same time his axe would be coming down for a lovely chop. Closest thing would be just under the kneecap. How about that, eh?

Soon enough Kain would be perpendicular to the ground and wanting to take Kizu down with him, but with less of a use of Kizu's leg. That'd be awesome.

[3]

The satisfied smile slowly faded and an eyebrow raised as suddenly the little girl before him morphed into not such a little girl. Now this was interesting. He had seen his cohort shapeshift on many occasions, but admittedly he wasn't expecting it here, and especially not from her.

First things first, however. At this range it was pretty easy to see her reach up and start wrapping a whip around his neck. Obviously something he didn't care to just sit around and let happen. Thus, as she reached up she would notice a very suspicious, metallic-looking liquid creep out of his shirt/coat and cover his neck up to the base of his chin. Then, as soon as the first barb touched home, the liquid would shimmer and solidify, creating a metallic cast roughly as hard as iron and some quarter of an inch thick. It wouldn't allow him to move his neck, but some sacrifices were necessary. Now even if she did wind it about him, the barbs wouldn't do much to puncture his makeshift armor.

Secondly, increasing the size of her neck would have particularly harsh effects. The minor detail about his grip was that, just like his neck, the glove had solidified to the likeness of iron, only this one had a bit more mass to it, being a good half-inch thick at each finger. Unless her neck muscles morphed with enough power to bend metal, she would be very rapidly aiding in her own strangulation and, as noted, a nice new tear would rip through the sides of her neck.

Finally, the 'rawr' in his face was a bit less distracting than the concerning fact that she now had a good bit of muscle behind that rock that she didn't have before. He would have to remove that risk as soon as possible, but since he had already put too much concentration into protecting his neck, there wasn't much he could do about it at the moment besides hold on tight, lock his arm, and jerk randomly should she decide to try to overpower him and come in for another smash.

[03/17]

• s**t

Feeling that damn leg being quickly getting a grasp of during the strike. His left hand scooped up towards the axe with the use of the back of his hand when seeing the axe starting to go enter motion. This would pop that axe back up in the process of having the flat end rise towards his head as the opponent fell off balance. Once the dude landed on his back from the fall, he would then drop the knee on his chest before he would throw a right hook towards the left temple.-

Arctic Assault: Ready

Soul Combat: Ready

[3]

Cursed rules... did they really have to be followed so religiously? Seeing the strange black substance forming around his fingers was enough to give him the urge to simply yank her windpipe straight out. Indeed, it would certainly save him alot of trouble from what was coming next.

As expected, she was beginning to push on the stone. It was a battle of strength, and versus Donkey Kong it was a questionable battle. One little rock was causing him far too much trouble. It was about time he got rid of it.

With a bit of applied science, and a 3-inch metal spike protruding from his glove in the right spot, the rock would crack and shatter between them. Then, from the force of both pushing, and as bits of rock crumbled and flew away, a good bit of that metal spike would drive itself into her palm.

Of course, out of all his concern for the rock, he had nearly overlooked what she was doing with her other hand, taking for granted the fact that she was working diligently to entwine him. It wasn't until he caught the glint of her cocking back for a swing that he recognized the full extent of his vulnerability. At the last second the metal around his neck liquefied again and he rolled his head back and to the side as monkey fist connected with jaw and cheek alike. Now that would leave a mark.

[04/17]

.....

.....What Sahir approached seemed to be a substantially desecrated city. Whether time or the collision of societies - or, perhaps a mixture of two? - had left what was now sprawled before Sahir, he was oddly attracted to it. "Nice decorating, I'll give them that!"

Alright her eyes had caught on what he was about to do so she bows her head the best she could taking the impact to the skull so she could save her pretty little monkey face. It did hurt and would leave a nice bump. She needed to do something quick as she finds a source as two shadows on each side of her. One from a wall that was still standing,and the other was from a standing pillar on the other side. It was time for a charge as she yells "Rattle it!"

With that monkey voice of hers the call went out as two chains shot out of the shadows. These chains would wrap thereself around her only ankles. All in the same time the threads that held his hand that was around her neck would shift freeing him,though not the hold he had on her.

With her legs spreading out she would bring up her left as she stomps it down hard upon the stone at his feet. The ground beneath him would give way and her energy being low she would need to reshape and get out of this mess. So she takes shape of spider monkey that would easily slip from his grip during her transformation before the stone floor was completely gone from under him. Herself almost miss calculating as she had to jerk her left leg back.

[5]

SMACK!

Heads collide in a contest of endurance. This round would be Gorilla skull versus Metallic compound skull. Both brains would be thoroughly rattled. Hers even enough that she began yelling about rattling. Wait, were those chains? It was also worth noting that his hand had suddenly become 'free', although he hadn't yet took the opportunity to test the extent to which it had been trapped in the first place. One way or the other, though, all these things were pretty dead giveaways as to what was coming next. After all, he had said she wasn't to move her foot from the floor, he mentioned nothing about the floor moving from her foot.

With that his right glove expanded and softened to a leather-like quality so that he could once again move his hand, and move it he did since there was no point in trying to strangle someone with an air supply of elsewhere. As her foot came down he moved his right hand from her neck to around her left shoulder. At the same time his left leg lifted and his left hand moved to grasp the handle of the whip that she had slipped through her belt, the spike still protruding adding a good bit of grip.

When the floor gave way under his right foot, his left came down hard to the ground between her feet, breaking away the already unstable ground.

Shapeshifting wouldn't be much help in evading seeing as he was probably falling just as fast as she was shrinking, though it came as no less of a surprise; so much monkey business from this one. The biggest surprise being that it was more than likely self-destructive... again. After all, what kind of spider monkey could support a 300-pound man on nothing but chains around its ankles? During the shrinking process his hand grasp would quickly become and entire arm gasp, his hand wrapping over her back and likely even grasping a leg depending upon exactly how small she was shifting. Though the belt was likely much more loose now, the fact that one hand was grasping the hilt and the other arm was entwined in the whip on the other side of the belt (and likely even poking and entwining the monkey) meant that even if his grip did slip as he fell, there was a belt and a whip to catch on. Either both were going down or neither were. He was making full certain of that; and it wouldn't be comfortable for her in either case.

[06/17]

As she felt them both going down her prehensile tail had wrapped around the hand that had grasped her back. The chains acting much like a bungee,except when they come to a complete stop it was going to send out a jolt. Being something that small she could only go for the ride down. But her rattle it can be four chains,where were the other two? They shot out from the shadows out two pillars under the crumbled platform. Yes they were falling,but she wasn't about to let the weight of this man harm her too much. So one went for an open ankle,the second would follow behind that. And wrap around them both. This would be something that she didn't want to do,but it was a way of surviving the fall with a 300lb man. And to make it clear,this chains were not ordinary chains that could be turned into dust by no super armor.

Her eyes were still flickering,yet she had already begin charging,her change already beginning.

[6]