Dantes Workshop

HoH season 09. Source: valucre.net static Gaia dump.

Posts 114Pages 8Forum HoH '09Topic 14537665Source originalWinner —
Table of contents
  1. -HoH- Nikki
  2. Ryugi Kazamaru
  3. Maximos
  4. Cthulhu Wish
  5. Sutiiven
  6. Dante Decker
  7. Tei Kae
  8. [Chance]
  9. Ryugi Kazamaru
  10. Oncle Roen
  11. Dante Decker
  12. Bellanox Fatalis
  13. Maximos
  14. Oncle Roen
  15. [Chance]
  16. Sutiiven
  17. Bellanox Fatalis
  18. Ryugi Kazamaru
  19. Oncle Roen
  20. [Chance]
  21. Ryugi Kazamaru
  22. [Chance]
  23. Ryugi Kazamaru
  24. [Chance]
  25. The Crossed Fox
  26. Ryugi Kazamaru
  27. The Crossed Fox
  28. Maximos
  29. Sutiiven
  30. The Crossed Fox
  31. [Chance]
  32. HonoRaven
  33. Ryugi Kazamaru
  34. Sutiiven
  35. The Crossed Fox
  36. HonoRaven
  37. [Chance]
  38. Sutiiven
  39. Ryugi Kazamaru
  40. Maximos
  41. HonoRaven
  42. Oncle Roen
  43. [Chance]
  44. Oncle Roen
  45. Ryugi Kazamaru
  46. [Chance]
  47. Unknown
  48. [Chance]
  49. Ryugi Kazamaru
  50. [Chance]
  51. Ryugi Kazamaru
  52. [Chance]
  53. Ryugi Kazamaru
  54. [Chance]
  55. Maximos
  56. Ryugi Kazamaru
  57. [Chance]
  58. Ryugi Kazamaru
  59. [Chance]
  60. Ryugi Kazamaru
  61. HonoRaven
  62. Oncle Roen
  63. Sutiiven
  64. Oncle Roen
  65. Sutiiven
  66. The Crossed Fox
  67. Oncle Roen
  68. The Crossed Fox
  69. Oncle Roen
  70. Bellanox Fatalis
  71. Sutiiven
  72. The Crossed Fox
  73. Maximos
  74. Sutiiven
  75. The Crossed Fox
  76. Sutiiven
  77. The Crossed Fox
  78. Sutiiven
  79. Oncle Roen
  80. Oncle Roen
  81. Maximos
  82. Oncle Roen
  83. The Crossed Fox
  84. Sutiiven
  85. Maximos
  86. The Crossed Fox
  87. Maximos
  88. Maximos
  89. Maximos
  90. Oncle Roen
  91. Show me the CarFox
  92. Sutiiven
  93. Oncle Roen
  94. Maximos
  95. Sunstrike
  96. Bellanox Fatalis
  97. Sunstrike
  98. Bellanox Fatalis
  99. Sunstrike
  100. Bellanox Fatalis
  101. Oncle Roen
  102. Maximos
  103. Maximos
  104. themightyjello
  105. The Crossed Fox
  106. Maximos
  107. Sutiiven
  108. Oncle Roen
  109. Bellanox Fatalis
  110. The Crossed Fox
  111. o ReaverQueen o
  112. Bellanox Fatalis
  113. Maximos
  114. Sutiiven

1-HoH- Nikki

Stage5: Decker Arsenal

Dante's Workshop

In this room such things of imagination are made. And thus sometimes it's best to let the imaginer speak for themselves:

Dante’s’ Workshop is a large rectangular concrete floored and stone walled room approximately thirty feet by fifteen feet long. Along the long west wall are three coal fired forges, each one glowing red hot in the dim light of the forge. Each forge looks very much like the other, as do the three identical anvils that are set adjacent to the forge. Though there are overhead lights available for working on larger pieces, when actually working with the metal the lights are kept down or completely off to better gauge the metals temperature by its colorful glow. A metal hood and fan above each forge keep’s the room smoke free, though the combined roar of the forge, and the sound of the fan can making hearing a touch difficult.

Terrain

General - Solid concrete floor, uneven and interrupted arena.

Weapons - Along the south wall is a set of trip hammers, each one rising two or so feet into the air before falling onto a steel anvil in a rhythmic succession adding to the din of the forge. The north, and east walls are covered in small workbenches, and hundreds of metal working tools. From hammers, tongs, and wrenches and even iron rods destined to be forged into various doodads or armaments there are no shortage of items to grab or slam people into.

Bonus Effects - Just read Dante's description. Also, do you hear people from the scrapyard?

2Ryugi Kazamaru

Munch munch sluuurp...

Someone was eating something. Amidst the heat and sound of the workshop around them, someone was eating food. It wouldn't take long for the spectators, or his opponents, to spot him. His red eyes were hypnotized by the sight and nose by the delectable smell that only hot water and roughly three minutes of wait time could create. Of all the various types of food that humans had created, only one resounded this strongly with the silver-haired dragon-man...

Chicken-Flavored Instant Ramen

Steam rose from the instant yumminess contained within the Styrofoam container as a pair of wooden chopsticks moved in to evict the noodles from their brothy sea. The content look on Ryugi's face was only surpassed by the delight he seemed to take in every bite. It was indeed his most favorite of foods, and he'd continue to eat until their opponents got there...

Munch munch sluuurp...

3Maximos

It wasnt his footsteps that were heard. It wasnt his rhythmic wheezing breaths, or the soft echo of his voice sending small whispers from inside the folds of his hooded jacket.

What was heard, was the sound of nails down a chalkboard. A violent, shrill, scraping sound that echoed from everywhere and nowhere at once. It was like something was trying to claw its way up from the depths below and it was a rhythmic sound, that steady grew closer and closer.

-Screeet!-

-Skcreeet!-

-Skcreeect!-

Closer it grew until a dark figure filled the entryway. He wreaked of bad omen. He was dressed, from head to toe in black. A black hood hung over his head casting a deep shadow which blocked out all view of his face above the nose. His lips were stained jet black and seemed to have a sort of sheen to them, a sheen which was echoed by the black stains on either side of his mouth. And he was grinning, a gray toothed, black gum'd grin.

He wore a long black hooded coat, its edges were frayed and tattered, and straps could be seen adorning his arms and shoulders. The coat was open, it seemed an extension of the hood, and no matter where or how it turned it never revealed an inch more of his face and yet was always open.

His entire figure seemed hunched slightly forward, making each step seem less like walking and more like slowly stalking. And with each step another shriek ripped across the room. His left hand hung limp, but clutched in his right hand was a long shaft of metal, its jagged edge digging a child's scribble of a line on the floor as it was dragged. Tattered bandages hung from his unbuttoned and open sleeves and draped loosely around the metal.

The metal shaft was nothing more than scrap metal, but it was carried like we imagine a Hollywood horror villain wields his machete or chain saw. It was a dirty, broken thing, but in his hands, along with his pale half-shadowed out face, black lips, and wheezing breath, the shaft became a part of the man. It became twisted and unnatural, simply by association, without actually changing shape at all.. Scrapes and boot falls, scraaaaaape step step, scraaaape step step, there was almost a rhythm to his lazy gait.

The dark clad man made his way, without a word, to the forge nearest the door, and then shoved the metal shaft, stolen from the scrap yard, into the melting pot. The bar bent to accommodate the innards of the pot, though not without squealing in protest. It sizzled, it began to glow sunset reds and bright sherbert oranges. Soon it would begin to melt, but Maximos was gone. He had stalked his way to the nearest seat, and sat.

What was the point of all that?

4Cthulhu Wish

Madison was finally able to watch one of the first matches of the second round. And she was rather excited, not because that she was going to be able to witness a great deal of violence and destruction. But more like because she was able to see some people that she had not seen for quite some time.

Her face light up with excitement as she looked at the ring. Oh this was going to be fun. It was at this moment that she spotted at least two people that she knew, one was Ryugi Kazamaru; a very old friend. And was that Maximos? She hadn’t seen him since their adventures back to Gaia.

“HI RYUGI! HI MR. MAXIMOS!” She waved rather happily to the two of them as though they could hear her, or for that matter see her. But she simply bounced up and down from the crowd, which caused her snow-white ears to bounce up and down.

She was very happy.

Madison was seeing some old friends, which was a great perk. But what was even better was the fact that she was no longer a large bunny rabbit, oh the perks of warm weather.

As many of the spectators roared and cheered, Madison began to look around to try and find anyone else she knew. Unfortunately for her, there was no sign of anyone except the avid fans. But of course, there was no time to get mopey, the fights were about to start!

5Sutiiven

Some people preferred subtle entrances. The scrape of metal against the ground or the simple slurp of noodles made for some interesting introductions, each seeming to suggest the mindset of the person entering the workshop area.

Stephen, however, made no attempt at subtlety.

The man walked in blasting music from a set of large headphones on his neck, sending a defiant message aimed at...

Well, no one in particular.

He wasn't smiling. In fact, he looked bored; an unusual state for him to be in before a fight. He crossed over to whatever seat he felt like grabbing and plopped down into it, taking the headphones off his neck and placing them with their connected media device to the side, still playing loudly.

"Can we get this thing started already?"

6Dante Decker

When Dante had offered his newly cleaned forge for the tournaments use he never expected it would actually get chosen. After all his Forge was fairly sedate compared to most of the arenas they had chosen in the past, and certainly much more claustrophobic then the stages he could recall from last years events.

It was however moot, as at least this year the fighting had come inside, to his dark and cozy workshop…

Well not quite…

His workshop was actually adjacent to this room, with workbenches, and drawing tools, and various assorted bits used in repairing and designing little knickknacks and such. This room however was his Forge, ‘where the magic happened’ or at least that’s what a lot of the uneducated assumed about the art of transforming iron into steel, and from there into weapons.

After a week of moving everything of actual value out of the Arsenal he had spent the day before taking his time to prepare himself; bought some new clothes, cleaned his hat, and shaved for the first time in a little over a month. That was yesterday however, and now he was sporting a dashing day and a half or so of red and gray stubble, as he rolled out of bed making him feel a bit less like Mr. Clean and a bit more like Mr. Decker.

Smelling fresh, and sporty he was anxious to see what kind of trouble the four teams that had been assigned to the property could get into. He had arrived to the property in style, or at the very least hed arrived without tripping on the doorway and making a scene during the heavily televised event, which to Dante counted as style… or at the very least a successful entrance.

Slipping through the crowd of reporters and sponsors that filled the main gallery and the workshop proper, Dante finally made it to the forge and hopped up on one of the worktables along the north wall to watch the event. Admittedly he had already recognized a few people as he walked in but they all seemed to have their game faces on Dante didn’t want to intrude. It was after all the Decker Arsenal; anyone who actually knew him would find him sooner or later.

He just hoped that after all was said and done he wouldn’t have to replace too much brickwork on the forges themselves, the rest however; was pretty much expendable.

7Tei Kae

It was a nice tradition, Fae thought. Every year, no matter where they'd gone off on their adventures or tasks, Mr and Mrs Decker always arranged to meet up for a little mini vacation at the Heaven or Hell tournament. Call them weird, call them odd, but it was just one of the little quirks of their relationship.

This year, it had been a trip to the island that had kept her away, some important business that would keep certain busybodies out of their daughters life for another year. But now Fae could go and spend time with her husband.

And Fae knew exactly where to find him. Probably scouting out to make sure he hadn't missed any actually important items. She'd been rather surprised they'd chosen the place as well. It was spacious by some standards, but not by the normal tournaments arenas.

With a grin and a smile almost evident in her step, she made her way to the Decker Arsenal. And almost stepped back outside to make sure she had the right place. He had been busy cleaning. It almost didn't look like the same place. Hmm...maybe they should offer the house for one next year if it'd get the house cleaned up too, she thought with a chuckle.

With a smile, she noted some of the other people who were around, but she only noted recognizing some of them in passing, others fading into shadow that for some reason made her heart weep just a little as she thought of family lost. What a strange line of thought, she puzzled as she made her way to her husband's side to spectate.

8[Chance]

[ Dante's Forge ]

The door swung open a good bit, with Chance's left hand in place to keep it from bouncing back, and striking him. His eyes curiously moved around the room, spotting a few souls that he knew. That everyone knew. Members of Team Glacier and Asstear had filled the room, something that was not exactly of Mr. Silante's liking.

He waved the crowbar in his right hand, signaling Ryugi, a man he'd originally met in a Levi Match. He remembered that incident. Neither combatant had walked away, initially.

His brows furrowed for a moment, taking his eyes from Ryugi and looking 'round the workshop. Where was his team? Chance quickly took a seat against a cold anvil. He was the first one here for his team. Hm. That was new.

[ Crowbar: Right Hand ]

9Ryugi Kazamaru

Ryugi nodded in greeting, but went right back to eating.

10Oncle Roen

Oh, Roen was around somewhere. Snooping about the piles of scrap around Dante's Workshop, picking and choosing various objects of varying degrees of bludgeoning and cutting potential. He roamed around undisturbed by the News Coverage. After-all, he was a nobody. A boring nobody at that. It was no secret that his match against Valentine had the lowest entertainment factor - what with its shortness and all. No one wanted to see a match over in twenty-five seconds. No one wanted to see mercy. Long had the Devil pondered the meaning of this event and his place in it, and though he hadn't quite figured it out yet, he had decided that for the good of Cannon Fodder, he had best put on a good show. Besides, why so serious?

A deep rumble of contemplation emanated from deep within his chest while he negligently dropped a moderately heavy pole, obviously displeased with it. Nothing in the scrap yard caught him as particullary 'entertaining', which was sad unto itself because it showed his lack of creativity. No matter, no matter, he would move on to the arena. Something told him that his prescence, or the lack there of, was stirring up a good deal of anxiety on both his team and the other they would soon face.

Shifting the World Splitter on his back and sniffling despite himself, the Devil moved on to Dante's Workshop, sword-calloused fingertips pushing the door open, a gust of cold wind entering with him and thus announcing his prescence. Shutting the door behind him with a resounding click, Roen began to survey his surroundings. First, the people. The entire enemy team was present, which was unnerving and only served as a reminder of his lateness. Atleast one of them looked dreadfully bored, another stuffed his face with (god, it smelled good) soup, and there was the proprietor of the workshop itself, Mr. Dante. He, out of all of them, the Devil took an immediate liking to. He stood out, to be quite frank.

And there was Chance. Lonely Chance. This was the second time he had showed up first out of Cannon Fodder. Ah, it made him proud to call Chance his teammate. Dipping his chin in greeting to the self-proclaimed Lord of War, the Devil then took into consideration the arena they all (hopefully) would be fighting in. Even with a lack of creativity, he saw the potential of this place. Anvils, the forges, even the lights above - these all gave him ideas'a'plenty as his eyes passed over them. " Mmm.. " What was this? Stepping out of the door way and making his way east, the Devil let his hand slip down to grasp the wooden handle of a metal mallet. Lifting it up and testing its weight, he couldn't help but allow the corner of his mouth to tug into a small but delightful smirk. This would do. Yes, this would do.

Testing its weight in his left hand, the Devil would turn about and press his back against the work-bench, his eyes traveling towards Dante Decker himself. Should he catch the man's eye, he would then lift his eyebrows and c**k his head to the upraised hammer. An obvious gesture of, " Do you mind if I borrow this? "

11Dante Decker

Dante made a quick 'as you wish' motion with his right hand and a quick nod of his hat to the man. He really had no opinion this way or that, the tools that were left here,were the tools that had been here when he had refurbished the place. As such their use or abuse in this tournament only bothered him so much.

12Bellanox Fatalis

“What’s with the small spaces?” Nox lamented, her words lost in the drone of the natural sounds of the forge .

Her expression genuinely curious, the tall girl in close fitting leathers worked her way through the small milling crowd of press as well as spectators. Stoically Nox ignored shouted questions from excited members of the press. She could not hear what was being asked well enough to give a proper answer. Most likely it had to do with her confrontation with another participant.

Emerging from between bodies, Nox paused and quickly glanced around studying the layout of the room for a few seconds. After taking careful note of her surroundings, the lanky Carpathian once again strode forward, axe in hand. Moving purposefully toward one of the small workbenches lining the north wall while the steely ring of her boot heels sounded out against the concrete floor like the ghost of the anvil’s song that would normally be filling this very room

In the dusky red orange glow of the forges Nox’s long purple tinted hair and polished black leather chaps and jacket reflected a coppery highlight while the smoldering forges reflected in the jade of her eyes. Of course the glow of the fires were not the only thing emanating from those Forges. Heat, also radiated forth, filling the room with what felt at first like a tropical paradise when compared to the cold outside. But with the intensity of the temperatures necessary to melt and work metal, even the large fans completely diminish the heat of the small room. Sure they drew a lot of it from the air but certainly not all. That being the case, the leather jacket simply had to come off for the moment.

Black leather slid down tanned shoulders and was quickly draped over the workbench that had been her destination. As for Nox. She would turn and leaned her blue jeaned butt against the end of the table portion of said workbench, her hands dropping to curl gloved digits around the edges beside her rump.

Nox again gazed around the room, unsure as to who exactly was fighting and who was watching. After a quick two fingered wave to the western appearing gentleman seated at a nearby work bench, she picked out Chance, her own team mate, as well as Roen, the illustrious Captain, of their motley crew. To each she nodded, lips quirking into a quirky little half smile before the focus of her eyes slid away to once again contemplate who was who and how she was to go about fighting in such a limited space.

13Maximos

Sutiiven Wrote:

"Can we get this thing started already?"

Patience...is a virtue...

The ethereal voice said. It was dark and haunting and disembodied all at once. It echoed from the depths of the cross strapped black high collar of Maximos' under-jacket. His out jacket was laid on the bench beside him. Beside that was a 4ft long jet black longsword which seemed forged from one solid piece, The Nameless. Behind him a sheathed 1ft long shortblade, Sha'yd. It was all but entirely too obvious who Maximos was speaking to, as he was now sitting on the end of the bench Stephen had sat on.

The trick being that he was notthere when Stephen sat down.

His mismatched black and white eyes did not look at the blonde warrior. Instead they peered from bruise colored sleepless bags and looked a short distance away at the melting pot of a forge, which no longer had a tall twisted shaft of metal protruding from it. That meant it had melted into a glowing puddle inside the pot.

...Good things come to those who wait.

The wispy voice echoed.

In Maximos' hand were tools. Two screwdrivers, one hammer, and several kinds of pliers, one set of very large tongs. They were all stainless steel, and were the cleanest and shiniest Max could find.

He looked at Stephen, he nodded, and then he chucked a tool into the forge melting pot. It splashed splashed inside with an audible "ploop", and drops of blood-thick liquid metal sloshed around a bit. Then he would toss another...and another, he had very good aim even despite not wearing his glasses. During this process he would give a friendly nod to a certain bunny girl. And soon all the tools in his possession would be gone.

After his last toss, he spotted a very familiar red headed figure across the room. He smiled bright, honest smile, that smile reserved for only friends and family. Although currently his lips were stained a dark tiny, as were his gums and teeth. Thankfully only the edges of his smile showed over his high collar, and his rather obvious wave at a one Dante Decker.

He wasnt sure how much interaction with the crowd was allowed, and felt a desire to reassure Dante that he would do his best to leave the forge room in tact...but that would be a lie. So he didnt.

So, instead, after a wave of a greeting his eyes began to again, scan the walls of the room for more tools.

14Oncle Roen

Pursing his lips and chewing on the inside of his mouth, the Devil watched as Maximos filled the melting pot up with various metal tools and the like. How more obvious was he going to be about it? Roen could only assume the man planned on dumping it on one of the members of Team Cannon Fodder and thus scar them horribly for life. What a nasty little idea, but it was all speculation. That's what he would have done with a pot filled with molten metal. Pushing away from his work bench and making his way across the arena, the Devil went before the forge Maximos was throwing things into and to the anvil Chance was sitting on. Raising his palm and placing it on the Warlord's shoulder, the Devil gave him a sharp jerk. " Wake up, old man. You called dibs on the first round, and we're ready to go. "

15[Chance]

[ 1 ]

A sour face was shot to Roen before getting up. "Says the fifty year old geezer... ****** a. Twenty years younger than him..." He mumbled.

Chance pointed the crowbar to noodle-tard. "Come on Ryugi. Let's go for round two." He slowly walked forward, raising the crowbar just over his right shoulder, ready to swing like a bat.

16Sutiiven

Maximos Wrote:

Patience...is a virtue...

The ethereal voice said... It was all but entirely too obvious who Maximos was speaking to, as he was now sitting on the end of the bench Stephen had sat on.

The trick being that he was not there when Stephen sat down.

Stephen's emotion went from boredom to 'Where the hell did you come from?' as he glanced over at Maximos sitting where he previously was not.

He was never gonna get used to that.

Maximos Wrote:

His mismatched black and white eyes did not look at the blonde warrior. Instead they peered from bruise colored sleepless bags and looked a short distance away at the melting pot of a forge, which no longer had a tall twisted shaft of metal protruding from it. That meant it had melted into a glowing puddle inside the pot.

...Good things come to those who wait.

The wispy voice echoed.

The lad watched Max with raised eyebrow as his mentor and captain was contently tossing metal into the boiling pot. He was very confused, especially since it was a bit of a waste of good tools, but then again, there were millions to spare. He himself had only minimal working conditions for metalwork, nothing even remotely like this. It was impressive, to say the least, but his mind were elsewhere.

"Those are a few lines I've not heard in a while." said the impatient man. "And you have GOT to stop doing that, scares the bejebus out of me every time... Also, you look like hell mate, did you give up sleep or something?"

Stephen didn't feel like making that concession that the sudden appearances were probably intended to be startle inducing (for the moment anyway) so he went back to quietly waiting for the festivities to begin. Besides, he knew that Max was up to something. There was something eerily sinister about the way he was tossing the tools into the pot. The man had a few theories, none of which ended pretty for whoever else was involved. Without a word, he would continue to watch the man for a while, at least until something more interesting came along.

17Bellanox Fatalis

Nox couldn't help but chuckle silently to herself at the sight of the expression cast from Chance to Roen. A look of pure irreverence to be sure. Had to admire him for that. But then again, the dastardly Devil seemed to evoke that kind of reaction in males.

With a slight shifting of her weight the lanky Carpathian crossed her legs at the ankles. Thus making herself more comfortable as she watched Chance stride forward, calling out into the drone of fans and fires for his opponent to come face him. She'd never had the opportunity to see the tall blond male in action, but dispite the fact that he'd previously laid hands upon her person uninvited, Roen had spoken highly of the young man's skills. That was enough for her.

This should be entertaining if nothing else. She thought, twisting around for a moment to lay her axe on the workbench behind her butt before quickly turning back to watch the up coming bout.

18Ryugi Kazamaru

[Chance] Wrote:

[ 1 ]

Chance pointed the crowbar to noodle-tard. "Come on Ryugi. Let's go for round two." He slowly walked forward, raising the crowbar just over his right shoulder, ready to swing like a bat. Ryugi didn't really remember much, if anything, about the man that was calling him out. But it was clear that he was to be his opponent. Ryugi sighed and blew a bit on his noodles before getting off the wall that he was leaning against and walked into what could be considered the "center" of the arena.

His red eyes looked over towards the man in front of him, glancing a moment at his unwieldy weapon choice, before brandishing his own...weapon?

In his hands Ryugi held none other than his cup-o-noodles and a pair of basic wooden chopsticks. With a glance, he spoke.

Alright then, let's get this started... Been waiting long enough.

Munch munch sluuurp...

[1/17]

19Oncle Roen

And with that, the Devil walked away.

He wondered if Ryugi was going to finish those noodles of his...

Thievery didn't get you expelled from the tournament, did it?

20[Chance]

[ 2 ]

He nodded in agreement. They'd been waiting too long to start something as simple as this.

He lurched forward with his leading right foot and heavy swing from the crowbar.

The heavy iron bar was positioned with the dual curved prongs facing inward, towards his foe, with a grip maximizing Chance's reach and leverage. The gloves he wore increased his grip, keeping the weapon firmly in hand.

"Graaah!"

It was an attempt to catch Ryugi at the ribs, and possibly relieve him of one of those bony structures. His left hand, meanwhile, was partially extended with an open hand.

[ Crowbar: Right hand ]

21Ryugi Kazamaru

And what did Ryugi do? Other than take another bite of noodles? Simple.

He stepped forward, right into the man's face, instantly closing the distance between the two men as the crowbar would miss him entirely, and rather than the hunk of metal hitting Ryugi's ribs, Chance's arm would knock against them doing little damage.

The logic was simple. All the force of the crowbar was at its tip, and rather than parrying the swing, and risking spilling his noodles, Ryugi just closed the distance between them and took a thud to his ribs instead.

Plus, it set him up really well for what would come next.

The distance closed, Ryugi's right hand, which held the chopsticks, would speed towards Chance's face. His nose to be exact, aiming the non-business end of the sticks to stick up into each of the man's nostrils. It was a simple movement, and one that'd likely take less time to accomplish than most anything else Chance wanted to do, except maybe hit him in the chest with his left hand...

[2/17]

22[Chance]

[ 3 ]

THUD

Chance's right elbow bent upon impact with Ryugi's side, causing absolutely no damage. Meanwhile Chance's head moved forward in an attempt to slam it into Ryugi's perfectly placed nose, twice. His left hand, synonymous with the first headbutt, moved behind the man to grip the curved prongs of the crowbar and pull tight the two fighters. The pressure on Ryugi's lumbar would be immense.

Chance hoped that the nose picking would miss, given the headbutt. Unfortunately for the two fighters, it was very possible that both of them had steaming hot Ramen all over them.

Crowbar: Left + Right ]

23Ryugi Kazamaru

[Chance] Wrote:

THUD

Chance's right elbow bent upon impact with Ryugi's side, causing absolutely no damage. Meanwhile Chance's head moved forward in an attempt to slam it into Ryugi's perfectly placed nose, twice...

Crowbar: Left + Right ] It was no secret that Ryugi had a hard head. His nose, however, was not so hard. But, he was betting that BOTH said facial features were tougher than Chance's...

So, he did the only thing he thought of.

He ducked his head and would headbutt Chance's head as hard as he could, canceling out the nasal slam.

What a sticky situation...

Ryugi would have a pain in his back, but nothing as severe as Chance might think. He had quite a set of defenses...

Ryugi's Bio Wrote:

Chest Armor - Ryugi wears a shirt of dragonsteel mail under his white coat and black jacket, extending down to his waist and around his shoulders and reinforced by woven dragonsteel threads sent in and out of the tiny mail loops. This creates a sort of flexible armor with a thickness of about half an inch. Strands of dragonsteel are left to move about inside the mail in a fluid motion, making the armor thick, defensive, much lighter than regular plate mail, as well as much easier to maneuver in. While nothing like a t-shirt in flexibility, it allows Ryugi enough flexibility to retain much of his dodging ability. When hit, the mail distributes force from physical blows and protects the covered area from most forms of bladed attack short of a solid stab. However, while the armor protects Ryugi from being cut, he still receives damage from shock trauma to areas struck.

But that wasn't all the bad news.

Even forehead to forehead, Chance's nose wasn't safe, and up the chopsticks went.

...you've gotten yourself into.

As soon as the thicker back ends of the stick went up Chance's nose, Ryugi would jerk his right arm to the right. And unless Chance had a MASSIVE pain tolerance, or an unusually strong nose, not only would it hurt massively, likely cause lots of eye watering, and just be embarrassing as all hell, Ryugi would aim to lead the man around by his nose...

All while slurping another bunch of noodles from the cup in his left hand.

Munch munch sluuurp...

[3/17]

24[Chance]

[ 4 ]

"Gah!"

Chance yelped in pain as the chopsticks went up his nose. Quite the coordinated attack, given that both men has suffered strikes to the head. His nose twisted and turned, and blood began to seep out, sliding down the chopsticks, making them slick with red.

But Kristopher would not be strung like a puppet, forced to follow his opponent around in a humiliating display. His head shot up, freeing himself as the wet utensils slipped out. His crown then crashed down upon Ryugi's, facing his head to his opponent's left, like a tired boxer clinching to stay in the game. This made it impossible for the chopsticks to return, as Ryugi could no longer see Chance's face, and very little flesh was left open.

"RAAAAAH!"

He pushed forward with his entire weight, aiming to slam Ryugi into whatever was behind him, which in this case, was a wall, covered with unfamiliar doodads and whatchamacallits, some of them sharp, most dull and hard. Upon impact, Chance pinned his opponent into the wall, and slammed his knee into the man's thigh muscles, over and over.

[ Crowbar: Left + Right ]

25The Crossed Fox

SCCRTCHH!!!!!

Fashionably late, as usual, and with no real flashy enterance when that steel door slid open. Aden walked in, and looked out forward to see an awesome opportunity having presented itself. He walked around to his left, approaching one of the hot anvils. Unknowingly however, he place his left hand on it. He was lucky to have a steel arm on that side, otherwise he would've been one HOT vampire.

He watched the struggle between this Silver Dragon guy, Ryugi, and his teammate Chance, and a strange idea popped into his head.

"Heh,", and before he could even smell the singed fibers of his blue colonial jacket, he was off in a sprint in the same directon.

Showtime

26Ryugi Kazamaru

[Chance] Wrote:

But Kristopher would not be strung like a puppet, forced to follow his opponent around in a humiliating display. His head shot up, freeing himself as the wet utensils slipped out.... Not QUITE... Ryugi wasn't just going to sit/stand idly by and let his opponent back out of his blunder.

Not a "Chance."

As the man reeled his head back, Ryugi would push the chopsticks up, following the man's head. They weren't going away that easily. Sure, the guy could probably try to slam his head back down into Ryugi's, but that was highly unlikely unless he wanted to have a rather unpleasant experience akin to something like "NEEDLES IN BRAAAAIN!!"

Now, Ryugi wasn't going to keep standing in this hugging match either.

As he continued to impale the man's nostrils, his gauntleted hands keeping a firm grip on the bloodied sticks, Ryugi would force himself forward, moving him and his opponent back towards the far wall, the chopsticks leading the way.

The nice thing about having them shoved up the man's nose was that wherever he turned, Ryugi could easily keep pushing them up into his nasal cavity as long as Chance maintained the grip on Ryugi with the crowbar. The distance was in Ryugi's favor...

But Ryugi had one regret.

It was awfully hard to eat more of his noodles with his chopsticks shoved up someone's nose.

[4/17]

27The Crossed Fox

STRIKER - OFFENSIVE

28Maximos

"Those are a few lines I've not heard in a while." said the impatient man. "And you have GOT to stop doing that, scares the bejebus out of me every time... Also, you look like hell mate, did you give up sleep or something?"

Maximos only response, from his haunting disembodied voice was.

Did I ever take it up?

It was clear that as he spoke this, his lips did not move. His eyes did turn to Stephen however, and it was rather clear that this was something more than make up.

This was what Max looked like. This was what was happening to him. It was not for the fight he appeared this way it was for other reasons and simply bled into the fight. Stephen's comment made Max remember those reasons.

Maybe I took up something I shouldnt have...

He did not like those reasons, so he stood up before the blonde man could answer and made his way to the nearest tool rack. It had hammers, mallets, and the like. Max bypassed two mallets with wooden handles. He placed a hand on one, which, after smacking it against the wall he realized had a metal core. And in the end, he grabbed a stainless steel hammer off the rack. He took time, working his fingers inside the rubber until he had peeled it all off leaving only the shining hammer...And then he chucked it into the melting pot with a "plup!".

A twisted grin slipped on his face as he watched a bead of molten metal spill to the floor. Watching it sizzle his mind faded deep into thought.

Steel had a melting point of around 1510° Celsius, thats 2750° Fahrenheit. Crematories use furnaces that burn at a temperature of roughly 760° to 1150° Celsius. Thats 1400° to 2102° Fahrenheit. That temperature is used to turn the human body, and bones, into dust. If Maximos dumped this pot of molten steel on someone it would not scar or disfigure them. It would mutilate and ruin them. Molten metal is not water, it will stay on the flesh and rage and burn and stick while water will cool. It was safe to say that if this was poured on someone, whatever it touched was gone and useless before they could say "Ow."

Max knew this, because he spent most of his time reading.

Max knew this, and it brought sickly twisted grin to his face even as the flickering orange haze poured from the furnace and onto his pale face.

Max knew this but....wouldnt that be a waste of metal? Outside in the scrapyard where Maximos had pulled that single scrap bar from, werent there other bars and scraps? Why grab only one? Max was pulling only clean and shiny stainless steel tools. But why? Steel, stainless or otherwise is steel. If he was only going to pour it on someone then it wouldnt make any difference what he melted into the pot. Why such careful choosing? Of course one had to catch that detail first...As sickeningly annoying as it made dealing with him for some, the fact was that with Max, the devil was in the details. Every. Single. One.

Max had motives, but as always, they were not advertised, or obvious. But whatever they were they made him grim something sick, and fierce. And he was lost in them until his wrist let out a tell tale serious of beeps. A bandaged hand, pulled back a baggy black sleeve recognizing the beep as the signal for a "STRIKER". But there was none, or there was...Max shook his head, rearranging thoughts.

Already?...Honestly?

And then he moved to another tool table, mumbling to himself.

Your going to lose those noodles at this rate...

29Sutiiven

Maximos Wrote:

Did I ever take it up? Maybe I took up something I shouldn't have...

Stephen blinked after that comment. He moved as if to speak but Max was already off, causing the lad to return to his previous bored position as he watched Ryu torment his opponent with a pair of chopsticks and a cup of instant ramen.

Stephen had seen the man pull some crazy s**t in the past, but this was bizarre even for him.

The man shook his head for a moment before reaching for the headphones. As he moved to put them on, his FIGHTER went off, signaling an incoming STRIKER. Stephen blinked at the signal for a second, realizing that the match had only just started. He sighed and returned to donning his phones, taking the media player in the other hand to turn down the music so as not to deafen himself.

"Interesting strategy..."

30The Crossed Fox

A quick two-tap on his FIGHTER with his cooling steel hand signaled the formation of a zesty offensive striker. That was also when he had noticed a strong heat emination coming off of that arm, as well as the smell of burnt clothing.So that's what happens when you put a steel hand on a hot anvil for a second or two. Spicy! Lucky for him, these FIGHTERs were built TONKAtOUGH, and it withstood that heat for the mere second it had been touched. Whew...

Aden dashed off on the lower left side of the two rumbling warriors, with Ryugi using his chopsticks as weapons of mass chaos. He would most likely be too into his deadlocked attack to notice Aden in his blindspot. Which was perfect, since he kinda wanted to sneak up behind the lad and give him a little surprise with his steel arm. It took him about three seconds to manuever behind Ryugi, and another two seconds to tippy-toe up close. That's when the left arm would aroudn up top, and tightly clasp over his eyes. By now, the air would have cooled a good margin of that heat on his claw, but the low red glow on his palm showed it was still equivalent to hot greasy grill, or something along those lines. That was going to hurt.

At the same time, his right arm simultaneously wrapped around Ryugi's abdomen with a tight grip against Adens own self. There was no doubt that Ryugi was going to immediately start feeling the burn on his face, as well as his legs start to lift off of the ground with a heavy tug. Not only would the heat burn on Ryugi's face, but he would be momentarily restrained from most counters here. Then came the Coupe DEE GRACIE.

"GUESS WHOOO!!!!!"

Yelled Aden with a smile, before jerking hard towards his left, and launching The Old Dragon right down towards the stone floor. He wouldn't give Chance a salute though, because he had about two seconds to get the hell out of the fight vicinity.

The vampire dashed off back from whence he came,

"HAHAHA!!!!", he cackled in that quick steppin' of his,

and he clicked the timer when he was just barely clear of everything. The time read.

"9.98"

"UNHOLY, crap..."

He sighed with relief. That was too close for comfort.

31[Chance]

[ 5 ]

Chance quickly released his hold on his opponent, just as Aden attempted to slam Ryugi on the ground. He backed up, freeing himself of the chopsticks.

Blood poured out of his nose, dribbling down his chin and onto his jacket. in retaliation for that bit of humiliation, Chance decided it was time to go for the legs.

He rushed to meet with Ryugi, the crowbar swinging madly, left and right, left and right. Each shot was meant to cripple his opponent's ability to stand, and while it was not the most creative thing to do, it did a bit more than chopsticks. Applicable targets included ankles, feet, and if possible, the knees.

[ Crowbar: Right Hand ]

32HonoRaven

Sutiiven Wrote:
Maximos Wrote:

Did I ever take it up? Maybe I took up something I shouldn't have...

Stephen blinked after that comment. He moved as if to speak but Max was already off, causing the lad to return to his previous bored position as he watched Ryu torment his opponent with a pair of chopsticks and a cup of instant ramen.

Stephen had seen the man pull some crazy s**t in the past, but this was bizarre even for him.

The man shook his head for a moment before reaching for the headphones. As he moved to put them on, his FIGHTER went off, signaling an incoming STRIKER. Stephen blinked at the signal for a second, realizing that the match had only just started. He sighed and returned to donning his phones, taking the media player in the other hand to turn down the music so as not to deafen himself.

"Interesting strategy..." A raven fluttered down form the rafters, well actually it was just the ceiling area since that was not really where the bird came from, landing quite fashionably right on Stephen's head!

Rearranging her feathers the bird squawked at Max, folded her wings along her sides and settled in to watch the fight with unblinking orange eyes.

33Ryugi Kazamaru

beep beep beep

Well, that wasn't good. It was too soon for the end of the match to take place, so that meant only one thing. A Striker. And chances were it was going to be offensive since it was sorta hard to defend against his attack. Sure enough, Ryugi's sensitive ears heard the click clack of old colonial style leather boots on the hard floor behind him ((cleared via MSN)).

So, they were gonna try and sneak up on him? Man, they should have had the testicular fortitude to attack him head on... And it was ironic that Ryugi thought of those exact words. For as Aden snuck up on Ryugi, Ryugi kicked backwards in a totally blind kick, aiming to strike whoever it was moving up behind him to stop them cold. The result?

LOLOLOL UNINTENTIONAL NUTSHOT

Ryugi's heavy duty steel-toed and reinforced boot would collide straight into the most likely less fortified jewels of one Aden the Vampire. At this point, one would be wondering if vampires even had the genitalia in question... Either that or they would be wondering exactly how much pain the undead would be feeling at this moment.

Either way, it was safe to assume that the kick would effectively neutralize the vampire's attempt to slam Ryugi. And even if he'd managed to touch Ryugi's face with that steaming hand of his, Ryugi's flame element would be his savior.

Ryugi was virtually immune to fire or heat based damage.

Of course, that still left Chance, his "chance" having been effectively neutralized by Ryugi's kick, and Ryugi in a nasty face off, with chopsticks shoved up his nose. At this point, Ryugi pushed even harder and started to force Chance back towards the wall, using his legs to push, and the chopsticks to force the issue.

If Chance still managed to let go of the crowbar, then that might give him enough room to move away from the chopsticks, but if he didn't, Ryugi was going to slam him into the far wall, effectively pinning him.

And who knew what else Noodle Noggin had planned...

[5/17]

34Sutiiven

HonoRaven Wrote:

A raven fluttered down form the rafters, well actually it was just the ceiling area since that was not really where the bird came from, landing quite fashionably right on Stephen's head!

Rearranging her feathers the bird squawked at Max, folded her wings along her sides and settled in to watch the fight with unblinking orange eyes.

Stephen's eyes glanced up at the raven that suddenly landed on his head, causing the 'Where the hell did you come from?' look to grace his face again. He blinked for a moment as the bird idly sat upon him and squawked as birds are wont to do.

"Sir, I say, or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore; But the fact that I was napping, and so gently you came... rapping? And so faintly you came... tapping... tapping at my... chamber..."

Beat

"Okay, so Poe didn't foresee this chain of events happening. I can dig. So, um, d'ya mind Sir or Madam Raven? Only it's not very polite to sit on someone without asking first."

Stephen didn't move to shoo it away, and was content with asking it ever so nicely to move from it's spot. Not that he normally minded birds or animals upon him, but now was hardly the time for this. A sudden STRIKER could require him to rush off, and he didn't want the startled creature to dig its claws into his head.

Those suckers would probably hurt like a b***h.

35The Crossed Fox

DONG!!!!!!

And a nutshot it was. Just under five seconds into his approach, a sharp kick flung back towards the vamps lower mid-section. Thats right, his meat n' two veg were about to get a wake-up call from hell. Now he was lucky enough to have made it this far, obviously, if Ryugi was able to hear over the racket in the background. That luck ran out with the swift kick of justice.

That kick sent Aden right to the ground, rolling away as fast as inhumanly possible for him. He couldn't breath, for christs sake it hurt so bad. Though not a debilitating shot, it would mean that his strike was foiled this time around. That Ryugi was a sharp one he was, and before time was up, Aden clicked his FIGHTER back off from the striker setting.

That had to be one of THE most embarassing things in his fighting carreer that he had gone through. That's what one gets though, when they don't know jack s**t about who they're goin' up against.

STRIKER FOILED

MWAH MWAH MWAHWAHWAH

36HonoRaven

The bird peered down at Stephen, tuning her head from side to side and even blinking once as she listened to his recital and then his request before squawking one at him and hopping first down to his shoulder and then to the chair beside his before returning her attention to the match.

37[Chance]

[ 5 ]

As said before, Chance released Ryugi, and backed away. At the same time, he lifted his head, and his left hand quickly cut across to cast away both the chop sticks, and the noodles.

He continued his retreat, snorting vigorously now that his nose was free. He turned to his right, encircling his opponent, with the crowbar raised once more.

[ Crowbar: Right ]

38Sutiiven

Stephen smiled a bit as the raven hopped off of him. Seemed to be a nice little bird, to be sure. He quietly returned to listening to his music, not really paying attention to the fight.

And then, during the down time between songs, the noodles went flying.

As if on command, the song switched to a song that Ryu particularly requested be placed on the media player.

The look on Stephen's face shifted dramatically, and his eyes opened wide out of sheer disturbed ********. He looked around cautiously for a second, then removed the headphones, turning up the music so that all in the area could hear before standing and slowly backing away as if the machine were possessed.

He wasn't sure how. He wasn't sure why. There was only one thing that he did know for sure:

s**t was about to go down.

39Ryugi Kazamaru

The sound of clattering sticks and splattering food seemed to echo across the once semi-noisy stage. It was if a sudden silence had befallen the area. Something wasn't right here... Something wasn't right at all...

As Chance backed away, brandishing his crowbar once again, and dealing with the blood pouring from his wrecked nasal cavity, Ryugi's red eyes looked on in slow motion as his beloved noodles, his most favorite food, spilled its contents all over the dirty, hard floor of the workshop.

Then, in another instant, as Chance began to circle, Ryugi's pupils changed to slits and bore into the man's being. His hair bristled and his hands balled into fists as an aura of dark orange began to flow from his body, ambient temperature jumping up by nearly thirty degrees Fahrenheit, and a particular song began to play through the room...

...YOU...

...YOU SPILLED MY NOODLES...

And with that, Ryugi would walk directly towards Chance.

It was time for a cookout.

[6/17]

40Maximos

Those were wrenches, as shiny a brand knew coins. And they were vanishing into a glowing pool. Max was just returning to his bench when he was squawked at from atop Stephen's head.

Hello there Raven.

Maximos said, and gave a formal bow. Of course to anyone else he might look insane what with offering a bow to a bird. But as he rose from the bow he extended out his hand so that she might hop onto if she liked, at which point he would raise his hand to his shoulder. He was a tall man, even sitting down so she would get a nice view.

And then it happened.

As Max sat he saw the hand swing for the crowbar and noodles. He cringed. For a moment he honestly considered slamming the Defensive STRIKER button on his fighter and rushing in to save the cup, and in doing so possibly save Chance...but it was too late.

Fleeb...

All that was left was to cry havoc and let loose the dogs of war. If he really wanted a Chance...he should have left those noodles alone.

...Let slurping dragons lie...

Max said, shaking his head. Thats when it hit him, that sound, that voice. He knew it...it was very low, but loud enough to hear as it came from Stephen's headphones.

The ragged they come and...The ragged they kill!

That song was on his Mpod last year when he was on TAT. He played it while fighting Kain. He played it while killing Peppa. His foot began to tap to the beat.

You pray so hard on bloody knees...

That twisted grin of his stretched across his face unnatural and dark in the dim lit room. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, his head bobbing the beat.

The ragged they come and the ragged they kill!

By now Max was lost. Ryugi burst into vicious motion, and the Shadow began lipping the lyrics to a song from a world he did not know, and about a subject he didnt understand, recorded using instruments he had never heard of. But it fit.

Down in the cool air I can see...

And as he lipped the words, the shadows obeyed, and very soon the Forge found itself home to a PA system that was the very darkness filling the room sprung to life. The song had lulled as it welled up and when it broke back into rhythm it exploded suddenly from the darkness. The walls resounded with heavy guitar, a pulse pounding drum line, and lyrics that made no sense and yet seemed to speak very clearly...

Hey, Yeah! I'm the one that you wanted!

Hey, Yeah! I'm your Superbeast!

Hey, Yeah! I'm the one that you wanted!

Hey, Yeah! I'm your Superbeast!

For the remainder of the song, the shadows would sing. And while they sung what would follow would speak for itself.

41HonoRaven

The Raven had moved to Maximos shoulder, it being a much better view than even Stephen's head...and so she ended up laughing as the shadows of the workshop started to sing...Okay, so a bird can not really laugh, but cawing sounded quite a bit like cackling laughter as so many dramatic writers had stated over the years smilies/icon_xd.gif

42Oncle Roen

Facepalm of embarrassment! The Devil was not a happy camper.

43[Chance]

[ 6 ]

He's ******** in the head. Yep.

Chance was admittedly a little worried. Not because of the actual makings of the fight, but more or less the expression on the Ryugi's face. It wasn't natural. "C'mon then! No more ********' around!" The crowd could tell that Chance had quickly tired of Ryugi's antics. He wanted a fight, not a circus sideshow. As it was, neither of them were injured. He aimed to fix that.

It was then that Ryugi began to walk forward.

Kristopher looked to Roen out of the corner of his eye. "Roen!" He exclaimed, tossing the crowbar to his team mate. He turned back to Ryugi and sprinted towards him! He aimed to tackle the man like a linebacker might, and send him into the wall. His right shoulder was meant to impact his opponent's gut, and Chance's head would hide next to Ryugi's right hip. With all of this going on, Kristopher reached around to grab the man's left leg at the back of the knee, making it all the easier to carry him.

44Oncle Roen

Roen caught that damn crow bar and chucked it onto the floor. Stupid Chance. He better ****** Ryugi's st up, or there would be hell to pay at the Crimson Hawk.

45Ryugi Kazamaru

Well, there went his chances. Chance had tossed away Ryugi's biggest threat. And not only had he done that, but he'd also charged right towards Ryugi. The pissed off dragon couldn't have asked for a better setup. Ryugi usually didn't showcase his great strength, but underneath that paladin-like exterior and usually warm eyes and smile lay a maximum lifting weight of 2,000 pounds. Ryugi could theoretically crush a man's head between his hands, not that he ever WOULD.

Ryugi didn't use his full strength in most cases because most opponents couldn't handle that, and Ryugi liked the challenge of a more fair fight. However, one should note that it is NEVER a good idea to get between a dragon and his meal. And if one did, they'd better expect to get burned...

YOU!!

As Chance approached, Ryugi's right arm suddenly surged with energy, fiery red and orange tendrils of energy furiously swirling around it as his whole forearm glowed with searing fire energy. As Chance approached, he'd feel the heat emanating from Ryugi as it would begin to feel as if he was a little too close to a campfire, especially when Ryugi's right arm shot back and his body lurched forward to meet the tackle with a furious...

WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM -

  • PUNCH!!

(Similar but not related to the "Who the Hell do you Think I Am - KICK!")

Ryugi's Bio Wrote:

Attack List and Specials

While these are the most commonly used attacks by Ryugi, he may use his fire or light energy to create improvised attacks with his abilities for different situations. Improvised moves can rate in strength from a simple flash of heat or light, to a powerful, driving explosive punch on equal standing with his Supernova Attack in energy consumption. The manifestation of these attacks will vary in execution, and all will have an equivalent stamina drain to accompany them.

Note: All attacks can be made more powerful by adding more energy to them, but at a larger stamina drain on Ryugi's person.

The thunderous punch would explode out from Ryugi's body and towards Chance's speeding form. At this rate, there was no way in hell Chance would be able to avoid that punch, not at this rage, and not with its width, which was more than wide enough to make any attempt to roll to either side futile. Low as Chance was, Ryugi was leaning down into the punch to send it straight at him, and send the man speeding towards the far wall where he'd likely slam into it with all the force of a tackle, and all the searing heat of an oven washing over him and. ...Was that one of the forges?

And "chances" were that the man wasn't as resistant to heat as Ryugi was...

After the punch, Ryugi would continue the assault, following the man wherever he actually wound up or went. There were still noodles to avenge...

[6/17]

46[Chance]

[ 7 ]

Quote: As Chance approached, Ryugi's right arm suddenly surged with energy, fiery red and orange tendrils of energy furiously swirling around it as his whole forearm glowed with searing fire energy. As Chance approached, he'd feel the heat emanating from Ryugi as it would begin to feel as if he was a little too close to a campfire, especially when Ryugi's right arm shot back and his body lurched forward to meet the tackle with a furious...

His massive legs tensed, he quickly jetted to the right, turning his entire body to the left. A fiery display of wasted energy exploded to his left.

47Unknown

[Chance] Wrote:

His massive legs tensed, he quickly jetted to the right, turning his entire body to the left. A fiery display of wasted energy exploded to his left.

48[Chance]

[ 8 ]

Sizzle

A flash of fire and it was all over. The concussive force of the initial blast sent him backwards a few feet. Unfortunately, he was no longer in a braced position, as he was when he meant to tackle his opponent. The mallet went flying from his hand, and Chance followed suit.

Thud

He struck the hard concrete with a loud thud, before rolling onto his back. Kristopher quickly noted the foul scent of burnt hair. A quick once over shed light on the damage. Holy jeans, a smoky motorcycle jacket, and a nice, uneven haircut. He'd buzz it later.

He was fighting a fight he'd sure he wouldn't win. He was outmatched. The man before him had powers that Chance, as a human, did not. But life was not fair. Still both men had sustained very little damage, save Chance's pride, which pained him to the fullest extent.

Any kind of continuance by Ryugi was nullified by the blast, as Chance was nowhere near the him. He quickly reached for the sixteen-ounce mallet, now devoid of it's rubber covering, and righted himself. "Well now, that wasn't so bad."

His singed eyebrows moved up, and he smiled, that was a failure on both parts.

49Ryugi Kazamaru

Correction...

Ryugi's continuance was only postponed. The slayer of noodles WOULD pay for his actions with more than some singed hair. Ryugi didn't stop moving after his punch was finished. As soon as he was able, he continued to walk towards Chance and his new position on the wall and workbench at the side of the workshop.

All the while that dark orange aura was growing and getting hotter and hotter as Ryugi's anger continued to rise, his flame element reacting as the air around him began to distort from the waves of hot rising air around him. It was too cramped to use Ragnarok effectively, which was actually lucky on the part of Chance. That small mallet wouldn't be able to stand up to the brunt and power of Ryugi's weapon. But no matter...

Ryugi would break him with his own two hands.

Ryugi didn't respond t the man's words as he continued to approach him, walking quickly towards the man, red slitted eyes burning with unchecked rage. And with each step closer to Chance, Chance would feel the temperature rise, and when he was almost on top of him, it would feel like he was staring directly into a blazing blast furnace.

Ryugi then shot his left arm out to try and grab the man's shoulder/side as his right arm hung back, ready to react. Since Chance was right up next to the side of the workshop, which was on Ryugi's left, that meant he only had two directions to go. Backwards or to Ryugi's right if he wanted to escape. Of course, he could always run right into Ryugi, but with all that heat, it was doubtful he'd really want to, especially since it would risk far more serious injuries...

[8/17]

50[Chance]

[ 9 ]

Tit for tat.

Ryugi reached, and Kristopher delivered. Chance quickly took a knee and without any hesitation at all, swung the mallet underhand in an attempt to crush all hopes of Ryugi's future children in one, fell, swoop.

LOLOLOL UNINTENTIONAL NUT SHOT

51Ryugi Kazamaru

Ducking opponent?

Fine. That made Ryugi grin... Why? Because it was time for a favorite move. As Chance ducked, Ryugi raised his right leg up, the mallet hitting the heel of his armored boot instead of his jewels, and in the same instant, the boot dropped...

BOOT TO THE HEAD

Well, it was probably more like boot to the face, or boot to the chest, but either way, Ryugi stomped that ramen spilling b*****d as hard as he could. If Ryugi missed, his foot would slam into the concrete floor, cracking it from the force of the blow. If that hit ANY part of Chance, he'd be hurting...

But that wasn't all. Ryugi's left arm? The one that had outstretched? It suddenly glowed with red energy before three raging torrents of flames erupted from Ryugi's hand to thoroughly roast the crouching man.

Quote: Erupting Dragon Fume - Three gouts of flames shoot forth in the shape of dragons with Ryugi aiming them to collide with the designated target. Can be held continuously for more damage if the need arises by using energy for each consecutive turn of use, can be held no longer than three turns

Even if Chance ran, the flames would turn to follow with a simple motion of Ryugi's left hand, and he was in for the long haul...

Chance was going to be burned alive.

[9/17]

52[Chance]

[ 10 ]

Unfortunately for Ryugi, there were three problems with his LOLNUTSHOTDEFENSE. The heel of his boot was attached to his leg. That was his first problem. Seeing as how his nuts did not have boots, and his foot was awfully hard to get under his nuts to protect them. NUTSHOT was good. Bummer.

Second problem with his NUTSHOTDEFENSE, was that reaching forward, and kicking forward, at near the same time, was very awkward indeed. Balance would have made for a pain in the a**. But he wouldn't be needing balance, once the heavy mallet struck his nuts. Double Bummer.

Third problem. Well, he was getting hit in the nuts with a mallet. That sucked. Bummer to the third. Hat Trick!

All in all, it was unfortunate, because while Chance might have actually gotten hit in the face with a heavy boot, law of order said that Ryugi was getting hit first, because his kneeling and swinging, were done almost synonymously. Without a proper defense, it was indubitably time for the inevitable

NUTSHOT CRUNCH

53Ryugi Kazamaru

Ryugi got hit in the sack with a mallet, and fell down on top of Chance before he could recover from his being kicked.

In that same moment, as he gasped for air, he gripped hard onto the man, hands holding tight in a death grip, pain surging across his body, rage boiling over as the searing temperature around Ryugi heated up once more.

But he didn't attack...

[10/17]

54[Chance]

[ 11 ]

While delivering a kick after having your testicles flattened by a mallet was near impossible as is, Ryugi's idea of falling on Chance was far fetched as well.

Thud

Boot met face.

Now, there are two main ways to fall forward. First is the LOLUNCONSCIOUS fall, where a man, while standing, falls directly forward, striking the ground. The second, is where a man goes down to his knees first, and then falls over. Since the way that Ryugi fell was not given, one must assume that since he kicked first, he'd have to fall to his knees. Which was perfect.

Chance slid back a few feet from the impact of a very heavy boot. A nice black print was stamped on the side of his face. And then came the the testicular absent Ryugi.

Thud

Ryugi fell atop Chance's legs. Oh darn. Without any shenanigans, Kristopher raised the mallet, and let loose upon whatever portion of his opponent's body was clear. That was code for his noggin. It was very easy to turn a man's skull into an exploded watermelon with a mallet. But with Ryugi's slightly more dense bones, it should have only cracked the skull, on the first go around. Chance would not stop, until Ryugi ceased movement, and went limp.

Key words? WOULD. NOT. And STOP.

Meanwhile Chance's left moved poke him in the eye, if he continued his BULLSHIT.

[ Mallet: Right Hand ]

55Maximos

Speaking of mallets, Maximos had gotten creative.

The song was over, and he had spent the last few moments making his way two different work/tool areas. First, Maximos revisited the hammers, and now and behold he picked himself up a group of mallets. Next Maximos visit a rack of saws, both wood and metal and through a long series of back and forth motions cut the heads off of each mallet.

Can you guess where the mallet heads went? But while we're on the topic of mallets, heads, and fire, the shadow caught a glimpse of the painful impact Ryugi had just suffered and winced.

Even through dark eyes, a creepy voice, unsettling mannerisms, and an all around disturbing appearance...Maximos was still male and mortal, and humanoid enough to recognize that that...had to be quite painful.

Suddenly, he felt the need to sit down. And cross his legs, and continue wincing. And he did so, while petting the Raven on his shoulder.

56Ryugi Kazamaru

As Ryugi fell on top of Chance's legs, he furiously pulled himself on top of the man, hate burning in his red eyes. As he spotted that mallet, his right hand gripped the arm that attempted to smash his brains in and gripped it HARD. It wasn't going anywhere.

If THAT failed, Ryugi would tuck his head in to his chest and haul himself on top of Chance, preventing him from continuing any real barrage against his head as he moved his shoulders up.

Ryugi was enraged. Angrier than he'd been in ages, his blood boiling. And the pain, that god damned pain from that b***d'S cheap shot. He's spilled his noodles, and smashed him in his crotch. All that pain, all that anger, all that frustration and willpower to destroy this b***d welled up within Ryugi as he finished preparing for what was to come.

He gripped tight, holding on for all he was worth, fighting to breathe as he grit his teeth and fought through it as a cry erupted from his lungs, and searing heat surged forth from him.

  • NNNNGRRRAAAHHH!!! -
Ryugi's Bio Wrote:

Limit Release -

Ryugi uses his whole body as a portal to the Elemental Realms of Fire and Light to unleash a massive blast of flames (10-30 feet in diameter depending on given situation), a famous "Battle Finisher", intense damage -1 turn preparation, 5 turn recovery with full physical and energy exhaustion after, attack lasts no more than 15 seconds and causes severe (2nd-3rd degree) burns to target- Ryugi's flame immunity prevents him from being dealt critical damage by his own attack. Instead, his body is ravaged by the energy as it drains massive amounts of stamina, requiring a rest period of exhaustion and a lack of energy for 5 posts as his body recovers from the shock.

Chance would be cooked within an inch of his life as Ryugi pulled all that energy in around himself, decreasing the range of the attack to ten feet, searing temperatures searing around both Ryugi and Chance as the dragon held onto him with his vice grip. The temperature would easily cause Third Degree Burns all across Chance's body, searing his skin beyond most recognition. He'd go as long as it took to end the fight, even to the fifteen second limit of his attack... The heat was in the low hundreds ((Approximately 200F)) of degrees, and Ryugi wasn't letting go, and would not stop.

Not until Chance was an Extra Crispy piece of Chicken.

[11/17]

57[Chance]

Ryugi Kazamaru Wrote:

As Ryugi fell on top of Chance's legs, he furiously pulled himself on top of the man, hate burning in his red eyes. As he spotted that mallet, his right hand gripped the arm that attempted to smash his brains in and gripped it HARD. It wasn't going anywhere.

If THAT failed, Ryugi would tuck his head in to his chest and haul himself on top of Chance, preventing him from continuing any real barrage against his head as he moved his shoulders up.

[ 12 ]

Noodle-head was on Chance's legs. So unless his arms were really really long, he couldn't reach Kristopher's right hand, much less his arm. And Ryugi wasn't going to just climb on top, Chance was fighting him! Kicking and squirming!

When Ryugi reached with his right, Chance's left came down like a hammer, to lock it down. And so came the hammer to the back of the head. Mr. Silante was really tired of all the NO U fighting... Hopefully it'd end soon.

[ Mallet: Right Hand

58Ryugi Kazamaru

Well look at that.

In all his rage and fury, Ryugi made a mistake, and he QUICKLY realized it as the hammer came speeding towards his head. But, luckily for him, in all that anger, a moment of clarity came.

And none too soon...

It was completely impossible for Ryugi to avoid being hit by the mallet. He was going to get hit, but it dawned on him that HE, not Chance, was the one who would ultimately determine WHERE he was struck.

Chance was a tallented hand to hand fighter, but he was forgetting one thing. Ryugi WAS stronger than him. Chance's left hand slammed into Ryugi's right, but just as quickly, Ryugi used his greater strength push his body up, and turn his side to Chance, his greater strength allowing him to easily break free of the attempted arm lock. Ryugi's right pushed off and sent Ryugi's body over Chance's legs.

As he moved over Chance's legs, the mallet SLAMMED into Ryugi's right side along the back of his ribcage, shattering two ribs from the impact. But Ryugi barely felt it next to the pain in his groin as he fought through it all.

As his right pushed, his LEFT hand gripped the legs of his foe, hammer coming down on his ribs, allowing Ryugi to hold on as he moved to unleash his powerful Limit Release, head turning to face his foe, and right hand poised to deflect or catch any more attempted hammer-blows.

The Limit Release would go off just as before, but with Ryugi in a far better position, and the attack happening shortly after its original intended time of release.

Now, Chance's arms couldn't have been any longer than Ryugi's. After all, Ryugi was slightly taller. What did this mean? It meant that Chance would have to get closer to Ryugi in order to continue to strike him with the mallet, and when one is surrounded by two-hundred degree flames, it was unlikely that their first reaction would be to try and hit something again.

And, since Ryugi's right arm was now in the proper position to try and block any more attempted hammer strikes, their rate of success had dropped even further. Chance might even end up hitting his own legs if he tried to hit Ryugi.

So, Ryugi wondered, what would the man do inside the baking inferno?

[12/17]

59[Chance]

[ Lucky 13 ]

The screams emanating from Mr. Silante were gruesome to say the least. Some of the camera's even strayed from the scene, and the crowd gasped in horror at the spectacle before them.

In a desperate attempt to halt the pain, Kristopher beat at Ryugi as hard as he could with that mallet. He wasn't taking aim, he wasn't even looking, he was just swinging as hard, and as fast as he could. He swung until the heat weakened the wooden handle of the mallet, and it broke off, charred and useless. Throughout it all he kicked, and beat at whatever was in reach of his left fist. Nine seconds later, the kicking and punching stopped. And so did the screams of pain. Chance Kristopher fell silent. And the deed was done.

Aye, it was a bad day to be human.

End Game

60Ryugi Kazamaru

Ryugi's right metal forearm guard did all it could to intercept and block each one of Chance's frenzied hammer strikes. The sound of metal on metal clanged through the forge, not unlike Dante was working on another magnificent weapon of elegant design and stunning quality.

If the right arm was blocking the extended reach of the hammer, Chance's left arm would hit nothing but roiling air.

As Chance passed out from the pain and shock of the attack, the flames halted and Ryugi pulled himself up, and brushed himself off. He certainly wasn't going to continue until the man was dead, just char him a bit. Even in his anger, he wasn't about to break THAT rule over a bunch of noodles, delectable as they were...

The battle won, Ryugi had no real reason to harbor any more aggression towards his opponent, and so, aching ribs and groin both, he'd strain himself to get up, glancing at the fallen man. His breathing was steady, he was gonna be fine.

He'd need a trip to a burn ward, but he'd be fine.

The battle over, Ryugi would wobble back to his team and collapse into the nearest available sitting arrangement. He was gonna be sore tomorrow, even with a self-healing session...

[13/17 - Match End]

61HonoRaven

The raven hopped off of Maximos's shoulder, figuring not to be in the way if he decided to go next....and proceed to peer down at Ryugi with the look that only a bird can manage, the one that makes you wonder if they are about to peck at you or if they are trying to figure out why the heck you just did that!

62Oncle Roen

Above the roar of the forge and fans, there was clapping. Sword-calloused palms slapped against one another in succession, drawing attention to the eccentric Devil in the east. By the expression on his face, one might have said he was disgusted, but on he clapped. Stepping forward and making his way past anyone and anything that dared to step in or be in his path, the Devil would stop at Chance's fallen and smoking body before finally letting his hands rest. " Poor Chance.., " he would say with sadness, shifting his trousers and pushing aside the part of his great-coat to kneel by his fallen comrade. " My friend. " Raising his hand in protest as mindless medical staff went to get the body, the Devil halted their movements in entirety with a solemn shake of his head. " I should have never let you gone first. Damn you and that pride, old man. " How saddened the Devil was, it almost seemed petulant. Raising his hand with fingertips curled, the Devil brushed his own cheek just below the eye in the imitation of a child.

Shifting Nigeralo on his side, for its hilt dug into his hip, the Devil continued on while raising a hand to touch the fallen Lord of War across the brow. " Ha, I remember you in your prime.. " How nostalgic it was to remember the days of old. Turning his head and looking towards Ryugi, the Devil narrowed his eyes coldly. In the days of old, Chance would have left that (seemingly) young fellow broken and bleeding on the floor. But now, Roen thought inwardly as he turned away to look upon the crisped Chance once again, even more saddened by his reminiscing. Roen had brought ruin and shame to his friend and brother-in-arms by bringing him here, out of his prime and retirement, to endure an immolation scene. " But now that time is gone. "

It was he who had forced Chance onto Cannon Fodder. It was the Devil who who ignored the man when he said he did not have what it took to win. It was Roen's, and Roen's fault alone, the Chance was beaten and burned within an inch of his life. To say the Devil was ridden with guilt would have been the grossest of understatements, but that would not impair his combat ability. No, far from. Rising up and to his full stature, the Devil did his best to stifle a dry-heave brought about by the smell of singed man-flesh and looked towards the medical team.

" May the Bloody Seer grant you a reprieve from your pain, Chance. Take him away. " He didn't have to give specific instructions to any one of the staffers. This was Heaven or Hell, and brutality like this was to be expected. Even desired. However, that didn't make it any less repulsive. Turning around and looking towards the gathered members of Team Eclipse, the Devil bowed his head in greeting. " I will be going next, and again, should one of you fall before me and I feel well enough to fight another. "

63Sutiiven

Roen Jaeger Wrote:

" I will be going next, and again, should one of you fall before me and I feel well enough to fight another. "

"Fantastic. This is going to be the fight of the century, I can already tell."

Stephen, voice thick with sarcasm, rested his arm against the bench he was sitting on, still rather bored and otherwise uninterested in what was going on. He didn't move to get ready to fight nor did he reach for the headphones on the bench next to him. All in all, he appeared as if the whole ordeal didn't matter at the moment.

He released a sigh and glanced away from Roen towards one of his team mates, still addressing the devil despite the otherwise lack of caring for the individual's presence one way or another.

"Max called dibs on you."

64Oncle Roen

" Right-o. Is he just going to stand there grinning, or should I throw something at him? "

65Sutiiven

Roen Jaeger Wrote:

"Right-o. Is he just going to stand there grinning, or should I throw something at him? "

Stephen shifted his gaze back to Roen. "Hey, that's an idea. Throwing something at someone you wish to talk to is always a smart idea, especially when swords are part of the equation."

Apparently someone had woken up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.

He scratched his head calmly, brushing his hair aside as some of had flipped into his face. He then turned his head to Roen's soon to be opponent."Hey Max, your dance partner's getting impatient. You can return to your tall dark and spooky hobbies after the fight, but I think he's itching to get started."

He grabbed the media player and fiddled around with it for a bit before selecting a song for the two's fight ahead. Something that would fit. Something that would get the blood pumping. Something...

Cliche.

66The Crossed Fox

Aden had layed there for a good few minutes before the nasty kick to the groin really started to wear off. He lurched his body u[ off the ground, shaking off the effects of such a delaying, metal kick, and walked off towards the rest of his teammates. He had hoped Chance could handle the rest of his fight on his own, but when he looked to his right, he saw a very disheartening sight before him.

"Oh.... no."

Chance layed motionless on the ground, and as medical examiners egan looking him over, a strak of shock shot through their expressions. That was never a good sign. This was a guy who was truly outmatched, and virtually burned alive by a Dragon of a man, literally. Aden felt huge sympathy towards his fallen teammate, and rage began to replace such feelings. He was mad, very mad that this warrior "Ryugi" had used such extreme measures on an opponent he knew was far under that power level he had exerted.

Aden was angry, pissed off to say the least. And if he had any say in it, he'd show this Team Eclipse what happens when you mess with a piece of the Cannon Fodder.

Vengeance was fresh in the air...

67Oncle Roen

I don't want to talk to to him.., mused the Devil as he cocked his head to regard the approaching form of Aden behind him. I want to fight him. Quite the difference, unless he's another Fox. Roen laughed out loud at this particuliar thought before quieting down to the periodic chuckles. We'll badger eachother with words! Turning around and looking at Maximos, he continued on with the tangent in his mind. And exchange verbal blows of such tenacity that we'll get put on the highlight reel! How that sad little devil amused himself with the shenanigans in his mind. He was grieving over Chance's defeat one minute, impatient to fight the next, and now he was giggling like a mad-man as he stood beside the forge. Was there no end to his insanity, or did he go about from one emotion to another with the flightiness of a child? The latter was the most probable, but neither could be ruled out.

But then Stephen went about the task of finding some music to listen to, and even above the roar of the forge and fans above, he heard the track playing with his acute sense of hearing. And, believe it not, he had never heard that song before. Catchy.. Ah, music. The manipulation of emotion with sound. Very catchy indeed. It would seem this man needed to get his blood pumping with some hard rock. Whatever floated his boat. Now Roen on the other hand..

Well, his blood pumped to the beat of another kind of music. Unsheathing Nigeralo from his hip and giving it a quick flourish at his side with a negligent flick of the wrist, the Devil would drop the hand-and-a-half-sword's edge ontop of the anvil beside him with the swiftness and authority of a warrior. The roar of the fire, the swirl of the fan, and Stephen's music - each of these sounds were all drowned out with the sound of the resounding clang and subsequent Sccrrch as he ground the edge into the metal upon returning Nigeralo to his side. That was the Devil's music! That made his blood boil and his heart race! And dammit all, as the sound of metal grinding against metal filled his ears, he couldn't wait to clash blades with Maximos. There wasn't any more giggling, only an impassive face to add to his eccentric and oftentimes erratic behavior.

68The Crossed Fox

"Showtime.",

Spoke the vampire, taking a deep breath of warm air.

This was it, Aden's time to prove himself once again. He did good in his last fight, fought that wrassler' Dash with one hell of a show. Judging by the earlier fight he had witnessed, and played a small part in, he was going to be on a fully loaded setting in this fight.

Aden entered in while unsheathing his sabre, and grabbing an unfinished creation of the owners off of the eastern wall. It was a small, fifteen inch long Ball Peen Hammer, labeled on its iron composite handle with the brandname of "SUPERSTEEL". Nifty. He approved of this weapon, seeing as how its small and manueverable weight allowed for many hard-to-reach attacks, as well as a quick defense against some sort of weapon. He was beginning to love this place.

His walk brought him twenty feet in, into the hot open area where all of the others had fought before. His vampiric body pumped with dark blood and adrenaline, and his rage from before had failed to diminish in the slightest. He had plans for this next guy, big plans, and there was nothing that was going to get in his way. It was going to be another hell of a fight, he thought.

Post: Enterance/17

69Oncle Roen

...

The Devil walked out of the arena and went to the sidelines.

Just cause he didn't want to get flagged.

70Bellanox Fatalis

Shaking her head slowly, Nox watched as the medics loaded Chance onto a gurney and began rolling him carefully away from the gruesome scene to be treated. If the shock of such gruesome burns did not kill the man first. Yes, it had been morbid fascination, that has riveted her eyes to the spectral of his charred body as it was pushed past and through the crowd, while Roen’s benediction wafted above the drone of both the indoor forge and muted sounds of battle raging just beyond the wall behind her. Just audible enough to be caught with her human ears. His mentioning of the Bloody Seer causing the tall Carpathian to roll her eyes a bit.

Nox herself had never been religious and so subscribed to no Goddesses nor Gods. She’d not ever encountered one in life nor legend that had so much as fired her imagination, let along evoke the kind of blind devotion that was pretty much a prerequisite for almost any religion. Ah well., she thought, At least he meant well by it. Then she paused and glanced around at the still subdued crowd. I wonder how Chance would feel about having a request to relieve his pain submitted to a Goddess known as the ‘Bloody Seer'! For a moment she smirked morbidly as her thought process continued. Hell… Her idea of relief might well be to hasten his death.

It certainly wasn’t a comforting thought seeing as Roen would likely make the same request of his goddess were Nox to fall. “I’ll have to tell him that’s a no no…” She said to no one in particular as she watched Roen turn, bow and declare that he would be going next.

“Camera whore…” She intoned with a quirky half smile and a soft chuckle buried beneath the sounds both within and without the forge building.

That was Roen. Sometimes flamboyant, always charming and ever the ham! No wonder she liked him. He'd have been a perfect Gypsy Chief.

It was the young man with a bored expression that Nox noticed giving a response, naming Roen’s opponent as one Maximus. At which point, Bellanox turned her green eyed gaze toward a tall gangling male dresses in a dark shadowy hooded robe.

“Hm…”

With that, Nox would move from her rather relaxed position at the end of the workbench to plant her behind on the flat work surface, close to the head of her axe, long legs bent over one side and booted feet resting on the bench while her back leaned lightly against the stone wall.

But wait! What is this? Jade green eyes glittered beneath purple tinted lashes as she leaned forward. Aden, stepping forward to usurp the Bossman's prerogative? And Roen let him! Now isn’t this an interesting development.

71Sutiiven

Stephen looked up from his relaxed pose towards Aden. "My turn?" He got up and stretched a bit before taking off his weapons and signature red jacket - it was gonna be pretty hot in there, no need to sweat more than he had to. After re-equipping the weapons on his back, he went towards the ring.

Following suit with how the opponent acted, he walked over to the north wall and grabbed a monkey wrench from the workbench.

Patting it in his hand in a somewhat menacing way, he stood over at the opposite end of the arena and looked across at his opponent. His face was still a rather bored one, but he seemed ready enough to fight.

"Hey, Cadaver."

He looked across the ring at his opponent quietly patting the wrench in hand.

"Already fought one of you this year. So do me a favor."

He tilted his head to the side releasing a cracking noise as he remove a small crick in his neck that he had developed sitting on the sidelines.

"Put up or shut up."

He then began to walk forward at a brisk yet steady pace, still patting the wrench menacingly. If Aden didn't react, he'd come right up to him and swing the weapon in hand straight at his head for a nasty crack to the skull. It wasn't pretty but it would be effective enough.

[1/17]

72The Crossed Fox

Quote: "Hey, Cadaver."

"Yes?", Aden casually replied. He was looking right into the mans eyes when he had made his way onto the floor. He seemed to have an appearance fitting that of a modern samurai. That red jacket was really flashy too, something that made the vampire crave virgin blood. Damn color always got to him when he was hungry, but by no means was he going to let that get to him in a fight. Not unless he REALLY had to.

Quote: "Already fought one of you this year. So do me a favor."

"Uh-huh...". The vamp listened intently on his opponents words, as well as stared off in to the spaces behind him, looking for any sort of advantage he could get his hands on.

Quote: "Put up or shut up."

"Ok then,", his french accent overpowered the words. It was sort of funny to hear them come from his mouth, but at least it showed he was paying attention. All focus immediately shifted back onto the now approaching warrior. He seemed to be very straightforward about the approach, and it showed some real GUTS. Aden admired it.

The vamp took two steps towards the oncoming opponent, baring a frown with his teeth poking out. His brows lowered, and his eyes watched as the monkey-wrench came for the side of his head. A devil-like grin crossed his lips, when he raised up his left arm in a strong defense with the hammer gripped tightly in his steel claw.

DOOOONNNG!!!!

That echo would signal the first surprise of the fight. Aden's left arm was indeed a steel gauntlet, but it was special. Unlike most knights and warriors, this mans gauntlet was actually his arm. Through a curse, it was melded to his left arm and said to never be released. It is a reminder that he is still part of the chaotic realm of evil. Interesting eh?

Taking a trip from the wonderful description of his arm, Stephen would most likely feel a shock from his own strike travel down into the wrench. There seemed to be no tape, no rubber, nothing stopping the impact of metal to metal from transferring into the users hands. That alone would make for an uncomfortable feeling. However, Aden too felt the shock tremble into his shoulder. Seemed this guy knew how to hit.

"YEAAAAGH!!!!"

And yes, that was the sound of a vampire releasing pent up anger. Upon deflecting that strike of his, Aden brought over his right hand in a tremendous hook. He was going to hit Stephen in the left side of the face with the guard of his sabre, with all intention of causing as much damage as possible. Following that, his left arm would quickly life, and bring don the ball point of the hammer, hoping to hit the warrior somehwere around the body or head (most likely the body).

1/17

73Maximos

Roen Jaeger Wrote:

...

The Devil walked out of the arena and went to the sidelines.

Just cause he didn't want to get flagged.

As far as Maximos knew the rules said that competitors from opposite teams could not fight each other, or interrupt the fight in process. But no rules said they couldnt talk. Teammates had a tendancy to stand on opposite side of the ring, but no rule said they couldnt cross over when a fight was not in session.

Roen went to the sidelines, and not a second or two after he had come to a stop, a voice came from a few steps behind him. Maximos could not teleport through shadows, he could not turn invisible, rather the Shadow knew how to be very quite, and subtly vanish himself from notice.

The voice that spoke was not threatening or prideful, it was no angry or challenging. Instead the voice was kind, it was warm, and it was friendly. This was the voice that a man uses when talking to an old friend, a buddy, an ally. It was also quite wispy and had an ethereally disemodied sound to it. It was as if it echoed a long way just to reach here, and no matter how close or far one was from the speaker it still seemed to have echoed just as far. The voice said.

Can I ask you a question, Mr Jaeger?

And as it spoke, Maximos stepped up beside the Devil. He didnt look at the man, instead he looked at the ring and the forge as a whole. His hands were folded behind his back, Sha'yd his dagger was visible, sheathed parellel with his hips. And a jet black long sword was pinned to his back by his arms. Maximos had phrased a question, but he said in a way that said he was likely going to ask the intended question either way. And he did.

What would you like, out of your fight?

74Sutiiven

Stephen moved his head away and blocked the incoming sabre guard with an open left hand. Regrettably, there was no way to block the hammer, so he received a blow to the side that caused him to release a loud grunt of pain.

Who knew that a little old ball peen hammer could hurt like a b***h?

With an angry grunt and grimace, he'd follow up the block with a vertical punch straight to the nose with full intent to break the thing. If unsuccessful, Aden's eyes should at least be watering, allowing him some slight advantage.

Simultaneously, Stephen pulled back the wrench and shove it forward hard into the man's abdomen as if he were attempting to run him through with it top first. He would continue to push after contact in order to put as much pressure on his stomach and hopefully cause him to stumble back in pain, allowing for another opening to attack.

Stephen was entirely focused on the fight, sweating bullets due to the forge in the room heating the ring a significant amount. The crowd was roaring, looking for blood, waiting for someone to break something. Much more intoxicating than on that cramped little subway car. He could feel the energy coming from everyone, be it fighter or fan. There was nothing quite like it, even regular one on one battles couldn't really compare.

This was what it was about.

[2/17]

75The Crossed Fox

OHSHI-

This guy was quick. Aden attempted to get out of the way of his quick oncoming fist, but he wasn't able to completely get out of its way. The proximity only allowed him so much after all. He felt the middle knuckle of his opponents clock him under the jaw as he leaned his head back, and his sharp upper teeth couldn't help but graze the top of his lips. A bit of his own, cold blood flowed from them.

Aden stepped back once, trying to create some distance between the two, when all of the sudden,

"PFFT!"

A bit of air shot out of his lungs. The gut shot just came out of nowhere right there, and his constant pushing didn't help either. Aden put back his right foot, in order to brace himself against this metallic force that was being pressed into his abdomen. It was like he could feel the bruises forming already, but that didn't halt his plans at all. So long as the wrench stayed locked, Aden would make a quick flick of the metal wrist, turn into hell for his opponent.

He did just that, and tossed the hammer forward. The hammer as sent right for the mans face. A bloodied mouth or a broken nose would be a wonderful start, it would. But Adens real intention was to simply break down Stephens attention for a mere second. Why? Well...

Aden's left arm came off to the opposite right side of the wrench, where he would pull it back in the direction the arm had come. Stephen would probaby feel himself stumble forward, since his forward force had just been shifted towards an area of no resistance. In the common mans language, Stephen would most likely fly forward , due to his own strength. Stephens left thigh would then get REALLY aquainted with the end of Adens sabre, which would be pointed for its center. If the blade hit its mark, then The Chevalier would simply puuush the end in a little farther, just to make the mans day a little bit better than it had been before.

Stress relief, what a joy...

2/17

76Sutiiven

Stephen was enjoying the hit quite a lot as he had always wanted to beat the bejebus out of someone with a wrench. It was working quite well, but Aden's sudden attack with the hammer made things problematic. Stephen backed off, bringing his left arm up so as to protect his face, the wrench no longer in the mans stomach as he did so. The hammer hurt, but his face would be okay due to the deflect.

Unfortunately this was all distraction as a moment later there was a loud -

SHINK!

"GRAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

  • as cold steel pierced his left thigh. Stephen yelled loudly and in a rage instinctively chucked the wrench at his opponents face hoping to hit anything he could. Once his hands were free, he tired to back up off of the sabre and went for his own two weapons. Drawing them from their sheathes, he would immediately come in and swing the right handed one horizontally at Aden's left arm and torso, followed by a forward stab to the stomach with the left hand one.

He was fully intending to spill some blood.

Which, by tournament standards, was totally supported.

Not to mention the crowd was loving every minute of it.

Yay, violence!

[3/17]

77The Crossed Fox

REAGANOMICS!

Aden's stab was perfectly placed, and his pressing probably damaged more than just the meat. Still, it seemed his opponent was still able to walk, which only meant one thing. Things were gonna get a lot more fun in this match. This guy could really take a punch.

Aden kept his pushing, until he noticed his opponents hands fly up tot he handles on his back. Blades were not cool at this range, not cool at all. The sudden movement caused the vamp to back off, ripping the blades from its warm, bloody home in his opponents leg. Aden also took a step back, for safe distance between the two of them, but that didn't seem to really stop Stephen from slashing out at The Chevalier.

WHOOSH!!! CLANG!

The first slash stopped short on his left side, another strike vanquished by the durable steel claw that Aden was cursed with.

VRRING!! RIIPP!!

The stab came next. The Vamps expression was one of surprise and quick thinking. He tried avoiding it, but failed to completely. Another partial strike that Stephen had made. The blade had stabbed him right through the right side, just barely. The edge had cut into the front of the skin, and jutted out the other side, almost like ne would do with a safety pin when putting it into a shirt, or diaper. It had completely avoided all vital organs, and really just hit the meat, but goddamn did that s**t HURT!

"SHHHAAAA!!!!", he writhed, but stood firm with clenched teeth. He felt his cold blood flow along the side of his torso. Wonderfully chilling feeling he got from it too, it was kinda cute.

At least it gave Aden another shot at a ravaging attack with his steel claw.

The claw shot forward, with an open palm and an intent on damage something, whatever it may be. Aden brought it over the mans shoulder, and right then and there clasped the palm and fingers down over it. With the strength his arm held, he'd grip tightly against the shoulder of Stephen, trying to maim his shoulder and hurt it somethin' fierce. The unthinkable was about to happen though, something Stephen, his teammates, Adens teammates and even the judges wouldn't see coming.

"YANAMNAMNAM!!!!"

The vampire jerked Stephen forward, and widely opened his mouth. He lunged forward with his vampire bite, and went right for the mans nose. Aden had been hungry earlier, but he hadn't expected the feeling to arise so quickly. Well, better to eat now than complain about it later, right?

3/17

78Sutiiven

Clang!

The first strike was a rousing failure -

Shunk!

-but the second one hit home. Sure, it missed the vital organs, but killing was against the rules and his morals. He just wanted to spill some blood, an irony that he presumed the leech in front of him would no doubt find less than pleasant.

The Crossed Fox Wrote:

"YANAMNAMNAM!!!!"

Speaking of which, it appeared that Aden thought it was happy hour.

Grunting through the pain of the claw to the left shoulder, he abandoned the weapon in his right hand and brought it up to the incoming mouth of vampiric doom.

And proceeded to shove all four fingers down Aden's mouth, vice gripping his jaw between them and his thumb eagle claw style.

Which suddenly begs the question: do vampires have a gag reflex?

Anyway, the sucker could bite his hand all he wanted, but it only bestowed him with more control. Without warning, he violently slammed the man's head back. At the same time he released another loud groan and grunt and started to put pressure on the already stabbing left hand weapon. This combination was all intended to forcefully push the man backwards towards the large central forge.

It was time to barbecue this sucker like the stuck pig he was.

[4/17]

79Oncle Roen

( Team Cannon Fodder and Team Eclipse's roleplaying event has come to a stand still due to Cannon Fodder's, and only Cannon Fodder's, internal conflicts. Plagued by sickness, life, and genuine laziness, Cannon Fodder has stalled for various reasons both within and beyond our control. We apologize for inconvenience. )

( Fresh posts to come. )

80Oncle Roen

Turning his head and looking towards the approaching Maximos, Roen resisted the urge to squirm in anxiety. That man unnerved him to say the very least, which was something not easily accomplished. Reaching down and placing his roughened palm on the gem embedded in the pommel of Nigeralo, the Devil willingly dispelled his supernatural perceptions. Whatever Maximos was, Roen was far from willing to learn more about him through the enhanced form of psychometry he possessed and only content to hear him out.

Warm and friendly or not, disembodied or not, there was still a mutual respect between one combatant to another. He would not shun Maximos no matter how he looked or how he crept until such reason was given. Watching the fight just as he was, the Devil listened to Maximos' questioning attentively. What an odd question to ask, to say the very least. Just the same, he took it seriously, being the moderately educated person that he was.

What did he want? What did fighting do for him? Too old to still be finding himself and having lost his place on his home world, Roen found happiness through conflict. Be it with plots or blades, conflict defined his existence on Gaia. Heaven or Hell was a beacon of hope to find an everlasting source of belonging for a middle-aged Devil. So when Maximos asked him what he wanted out of his fight, the answer really became quite simple.

" A place in Heaven or Hell, Maximos. Just a spot to call my own. "

81Maximos

Indeed, I see.

There was a solemn moment of consideration, Maximos' eyes looked down and then his head nodded as if a realization or decision was come to. In just a few words the Devil beside him and proved himself wise and but also older than Maximos had expected. His words had a finality in them. It was as if it was an ending achievement he was searching for, not just glory or victory as offered by youthful exuberance. Maximos' already soft voice whispered.

Then so it must be...

He nodded, very slowly. A smile could been seen peeking above the edge of his high collar, stretching wider.

We are both more than just men, Mr. Jaeger. More than just fighters. A series of wants and desires have brought us to attain our skills, live the events we have lived, and become the men we are today. We are stories. Stories about individuals arriving at this...the sum of our desires...

He gestured wide, at the arena. At the fighters fighter, at himself and Roen, but also at Heaven or Hell as a goal, and their placement in it.

...You see. Your goal today is to attain spot for your own. In that, you require more than just yourself. You require conflict. My desire today, is simply to enjoy myself in battle. Win, or lose. For either of our desires to be fulfilled we require an opponent. In achieving our goals you and I...Mr. Jaeger...

It was a slow motion, because it was meant to be noticed. Because the look on his face, the expression in his deep dark eyes showed the truth in his words more than anything. Because the shadows and dim orange light hid enough of Maximos and brought enough to bare to show his truth, and hide enough monstrosity to make said truth visible. His mismatched black left eye and white right eye turned to meet Roen.

...are allies. Our stories have led us to this conflict where, in the end, in truth, so long as we fight to our best neither can truly lose.

A hand moved to gesture to the fight in progress, Stephen warring against Aden.

When this battle is over, will you show me how much your place in Heaven or Hell, means to you?

82Oncle Roen

Enthralled as Maximos began to speak, the Devil twisted his neck and laid his eyes upon the figure clad in black beside him. Who was this man? This diamond in the rough? Not a Monk-Samurai, and certainly not a Brawler, Maximos began to describe his person by the choice of his words and the gesture of his hands. This was a veteran Roen could relate to. A kindred soul he could, and would, be proud to cross blades with. And when he had finished with his question that provoked a measure of enthusiasm Roen had not felt for some time, his answer was just as obvious as his first to Maximos' previous inquiry.

" Aye, dark-one.., " if Maximos heard him over the white-noise in the background, Roen could never know, but the expression on his face said it all. " I will show you what my place in this bloody event means to me. "

Oh, this was going to be good.

83The Crossed Fox

"SHHHHHHIIIIT!!!", he yelled. That damned pain.

The blade in his side was pressed farther in, cutting the already pierced flesh more so than before. Then like a move out of a bad kung-fu movie, Stephen struck out against the vampires bite. Was he daft?

GAWK!

Four fingers launched down into Adens throat, which would grip his lower jaw immediately after enterance into the mouth. Aden didn't eat or drink anything, save for the occasional virgin now and again. He hadn't had a meal in ages though, so why not take the time to have a little snack. His opponent had jerked his head forward with a violent tug, and made pain surge through the bolted bone a bit. By placing his right foot about two feet behind him though, he gave himself a large center of balance and was able to keep on his feet. Immediately after that tug, Stephen began to push against The Vamps Jaw. That was a baaad idea on his part.

Aden put his weight onto his left foot, resisting quite finely against the warriors tactic. Aden hadn't gagged yet either, though he was fighting hard against the feeling. Stephen had put himself in such a bad place, that he could lose four very important friends of his. And goddamn it, so long as Aden was conscious and living -sorta-, those friends of his were going to became Aden's "friends". A cough rumbled through his throat, which was followed by a,

CHOMP!

His teeth bit down onto Stephens hand, his rage burning from Chance's loss from before. The anger, the strain that he had put upon himself became too much to hold back, and a destructive force began to bubble over the pot that of which was Aden. The pressure put down on Stephens fingers would be enormous, and the resistance he faced with Adens legs positioned as they were would be quite tremendous. On the downhill side of things, he felt that tremendous pressure on his jaw, and thusly had to bear through the pain of it. It'd all be over soon, since The Vamp had the full intention to take the lads fingers off.

Stephen had more to worry about than a couple of lost fingers though, for Aden's steel fist had other intentions. The left arm cocked back, and grabbed the only weapon he had left off of his belt, his Stilletto. It flicked out, and with a rocketing plunge Aden would strike out for the top of Stephens right shoulder. There wouldn't be any more use for that right arm after Aden was done with it, if he had his way.

4/17

84Sutiiven

CRUNCH!

"GRAGHHAHHAHH!!"

Stephen reared his head back in pain roaring loudly as his hand was bitten with that vampiric jaw. He took the left handed blade and violently twisted it back and forth violently, trying to inflict as much pain and damage as he could.

He started to shake the man's head back and forth harshly in order to get the man to get the hell off of his fingers when suddenly -

SHINK!

"YEARRRGGGHHHH-BASATARDDD!!!"

  • stilletto to the shoulder!

He had to give Aden credit - he did NOT see that coming.

He released his blade and plastered his left hand against the right side of Aden's upper face, gripping the ear and hair and whatever he could grab, arm crossing in front of his eyes, nose, etc...

With what remained of the function in his right arm, he took his right hand (teeth, eagle claw grip, and all) and pushed the lower jaw of the man away to the opponent's left. At the same time he took his left arm and pulled the upper half of the vampire's face the opposite direction.

He was intending to break the jaw in any way possible.

Quote: Flash Bomb: Sutii hurls a small orb of energy from his palm that, upon collision with a solid object, creates an explosion of light and concussive force, which can be used to momentarily blind or stun an opponent. This flash affects a 10 sq.ft. radius in all directions, but can be countered by a covering of one's eyes. R1. (Spiritual Ability)

With the left hand, he focused some energy, and whilst still holding on to Aden's face, he fired off the Flash Bomb. The point blank concussive explosion caused the hand to violently snap away, and would hopefully send the upper half of the vamps head snapping the other way hard enough to break the jaw from the current hold. Both hands would be hurting, the left from the blast, and the right from the fangs shredding across and through the hand.

And then there was the flash of light that came with the attack. Regrettably, from the positioning, Aden would be fairly safe (though he'd no doubt have a headache, plus a broken jaw if the concussive portion of the attack did its job) but Stephen would find himself in a rare situation where he was caught by his own attack. Temporarily blinded, he couldn't really see to do anything technical.

So he flailed about.

Wildly.

He used the left hand to grab whatever he could (preferably hair or ear or something on the head like that) and in conjunction with the right, swung the man around in anyway possible. Should this work, it would more than irritate the broken jaw and the opponent in general.

"GET - THE - ******** - OFF OF MEEEEEEEEE!!!"

The man was locked in a violent rage. He didn't care what was going on, he just wanted to bust up the guy in front of him. He was bleeding profusely from his leg, shoulder, and hand, and was sweating much more than normal due to the fiery forges running full blast.

And in the background, the music player continued blasting.

~Let the bodies hit the floor!

Let the bodies hit the floor!

Let the bodies hit the floor!~

[5/17]

85Maximos

Nothing more would be said.

Maximos' response transcended words just as the expression on Roen's face had. The edges of Maximos' grin spread far up over his collar revealing the black stains down the edges of his mouth as well the depth of the smile itself. This was the sort of look that silently voiced a shared understanding. These two men were fighters, warriors, at times likely soldiers for causes their hearts both did and at times did not belong to. The only truth that likely linked every battle either man had been in was their love, their passion, if not their need for conflict itself. It had a purpose and a meaning all its own. For some, the only path available was a path littered and marked by corpses and wounded. A path exclamated by a thousand injuries and pangs like landmarks in a never ending journey. No man...no...no true warrior or soldier was more alive than when staring death in the eye.

Maximos could tell, Mr. Jaeger understood. And that because of that understanding they shared they would have a battle to be remembered. His right hand twitched at his side as if in anticipation.

After a moment, his eyes slid back to the fight at hand. To Stephen and Aden enjoying a conflict all their own. It would never be rushed, good things come to those who wait.

Nothing more need be said.

86The Crossed Fox

"I... DON'T.... WANNA!!!", Aden yelled back in his muffled, half-gagged voice, replying to his opponents angered and pissed off yelling. Aden'd stop that from happening though, because he'd add more injury to injury in the next few moments.

SCHLURP!

The metal hand twisted the stilletto inside Stephens shoulder. Who knew how bad the mix of torn legaments, muscle tissue and nerves would be. That arm would neer work the same again. He felt the jerks get harder and harder though, and his jaw really began to throb from it all. However, he held on like a Rabid Chihuaha from hell!, increasing the pressure every moment that went by. At that moment, Aden noticed the ground slide beneath him. His leather boots were allowing Stephen to press him back some, most likely towards some sort of forge, or anvil.

Stephen rebelled almost instantly though, dropping the blade in his left hand in order to try and get Aden off of his right hand. The pushing became very powerful, but Aden's iron gripping teeth acted like a bear-trap, minus that special big button that promoters are supposed to wear that.

The words in his head flashed over and over again though. Let Go! LET GO!!!. He was almost lockjawed though, and couldn't break this bite as easily as he though he could. In fact, it wasn't until after the ball of swirling WHITE DOOM! Aden turned his head, while bring the steel hand out in front of it for protection.

PEEEW!

It gave him partial protection from the bright light that had emtted, though he was partially blinded in one eye, instead of the whole damned face of his. That didn't stop that concussive force from coming though. The fist was blown back in its correct direction, which had accidently made him backhand himself in the face with his own metal arm. His face blew in the same direction as well, his jaw jerking with the force once more. He thought for sure that the fingers'd come off with that, otherwise his grip would loosen after gettin' hit with that blast.

CRAAACK!!!

That sound was a baaaaaaad sound. And with pain following it, it made him think of what could have possibly just happened. Temporarily blind in his right eye, sightly dazed in the left, and with the feeling that his jaw was hanging on one side, Adens rage rose to the level of BATSHIT INSANE, and he snapped. Yup, top level anger was in store for Stephen now, and there wasn't much anyone could do to stop it.

"You DONT"

A left hook launched for Stephens face, the steel arm intending to do as much bloody damage as it allowed,

Aden brought his sabre overhead, and slashed it down for the side of Stephens left bicep. He was going to cleave into the meat, the very bone of that other limb.

"With MY,"

He lunged forward, bringing his steel arm up with an open palm. He was going to grab Stephen either by his clothing, or his neck, and slam him back down into the ground if he was successful in doing so,

"TEAM!!!"

Those were pure wails of anger, of avengement, and of his own intense pains around his beaten, bruised and bleeding body. And every strike he attempted contained that pissed off, pent up frusteration he had accumulated over the brutality of Chances match. He wanted all who watched this, to see his pain. He wanted all who looked on, to feel his agony. He wanted all who gazed upon this brutal fight, to endure his suffering. And though Stephen was not to blame for anything that had happened to Adens fallen teammate, he was put into the image of Ryugi. Aden saw no difference in opponent, all he saw was the burning fires within his soul, and he who stood within their very center.

5/17

87Maximos

TIME PARADOX

I know the man that owns this place...

Maximos said as he took his first steps into the empty ring. His footfall was all but drowned in the symphony of the room but even despite that he heard it. He heard it in the same way he heard his heart thumping in his chest. He heard it in the very same manner as he heard and felt adrenaline rush his veins, and feel the heat from both forge and lingering fight.

A smirk began to form, drawing a twisted line across his face.

Dante made me my first real sword on this world.

His steps were steady, not rushed. He was like a wine taster or connoisseur of fine foods approaching a masterful work. The experience could not be rushed, it had to be savored. Anticipation was a flavor all its own, it made the final dish, the first taste, all the better. His right hand rose, its loose bandages billowing on the slightest wind, and grabbed the hilt of the 4ft long jet black longsword at his back. The entire blade seemed to be formed of one solid sheet of obsidian, only it sheened in the darkness and seemed lack luster in direct light. Maximos' fingertips, a bruised purple, could be seen tensing, firming his grip. His voice was audible, though how was inexplicable. Its low tone should have been drowned out and yet it seemed to project, crystal clear. As if borne on the darkness that filled the room.

He squelched the searing blade in his own blood. And it is the spirit of that Nameless blade that I wield today.

There was an audible "Shing", as Maximos swung his arm forward as if chopping down an invisible foe, the blade sung as it cut the air, and its came to rest so peacefully on the tile. Maximos stopped.

One could argue that Dante is responsible for the swordsman I am today. And so in honor of that history, for this bout, a swordsman I shall be. It is my skills with a blade I shall employ.

Anyone could see that the 1ft long sheathed shortblade was still at Maximos' back. With the Nameless in front of him, its tip angled toward the ground, and with his left hand extended toward Roen, Maximos waved his hand back toward himself and concluded, in that ethereally haunting voice.

Now, at long last Devil...

The anticipation was at its peak. The other fight couldnt have ended soon enough. Maximos' face was drowned in one of the many shadows pouring out across the room opposite brilliant orange. All that was visible was his the edges of his smirk, from over his high collar, and a piercing white glow that now ignited in his right eye. And from that ready stance, Maximos issued his challenge.

...Show me...

Unus De Septumdecim

.One of Seventeen.

88Maximos

Roen\'s chest rose and fell as he, like Maximos, took his time entering the ring. Out of reverance for the fight to come, the Devil made sure to not rush something so pure. His only regret was not having a larger arena to do battle in. A triviality to be sure, but it was the short that flawed an otherwise perfect event. Taking a spot opposite Maximos, Roen spaced away from the anvils so that they would not get in the way of his and Maximos' inevitable confrontation.

Of Swords and Men.

With all the attentiveness Maximos was due, the Devil listened to his words and watched his actions, both eyes and ears well adjusted to the environmental factors of Dante's Forge. The show of the blade, the talk of its maker, and what it meant to their battle. Maximos had history with its owner that was vital to the way this event would play out, but what did the Devil have to offer in exchange? Nigeralo? A gift from a wanderer who thought that it would look nice on his hip? This would not due. This was not what Maximos deserved. Shifting his weight on his feet and pushing aside the part of his great coat, Roen made quick work of the buckles at his hip. In deft and quick motions, Nigeralo in its sheath was removed from the Devil's person and tossed to the sidelines.

Enter Hræðilegr: The Dreadful or Horrible.

Adeipho, the Master Artificer, took his time forging this blade. Letting it's song sing through his spacious halls with every hammer blow he had tuned it from a stuttering choir boy into one of the Three Tenors. It first began as a block of Adamantium, a brick of Electrum, a purse of Gold flecks, a coil of Silver, and more Copper filament then dare be asked. He was going to craft a monster, something dreadful, a horror that should never dare be unsheathed from it's womb. A Frankenstein's monster.

The Devil drew the weapon, like Nigeralo before it, with all the authority of a warrior.

Adeipho fitted the sword with a large fuller and began to press the molten Electrum into the Adamantium. Carefully smashing the two elements together, eventually producing a lovely aesthetic trait, the dark almost black metal was off-set by the mixture of Electrum down the fuller. Very much like a single highlight in a mop of black hair. Other than its size, this was one of the elements that set it apart from Maximos' blade.

Truly, perhaps much like Maximos' weapon, this was a work of art.

In the end, when the Master Artificer was finished, the blade itself was sixty-eight inches long, three and a half inches wide (with the cross guard being two inches wider on each side) and six tenths of a centimeter thick. The two handed grip was lathed to incorporate the hand placement of the user, and roughly ten inches long. At the end of it all the pommel, containing the counterweight made of heavier tungsten. This would help the weapon as it was swung and keep the center of balance and percussion in order to achieve a larger sweet spot, just like on a baseball bat.

Roen flourished the sword over his head and brought it around, slicing down and towards the ground. With a resounding impact, the contrete was split open and dug into by several inches before the cleave was stopped. And, without much effort, the World Splitter was brought up and out of the ground. It vibrated with lament, metal grinding against metal, until Roen pulled his right hand away to push his palm against the flat of the weapon, silencing it for the time being.

It was the Frankenstein monster that Adeipho crafted and gave to an even worse of a fiend.

The cross guard he had crafted the twin faces of daemons on either side - horrors that have never been seen in this world. Splintering the metal with their long incisors and canines, threatening to gouge the wrists of the one wielding it, but twisting away at the last second to never allow for that to happen. In their many dozen eyes, there were planted a force attuned stone, sensitive and powerful, and only reactant to the one wielding the weapon and would increase his power several times over if tapped into.

The grip was notched perfectly to fit the Roen's hands even down to the fingerprints; no matter which way he held it, insuring that only he could wield it perfectly. Everyone else would either be slightly too small or two large, and they would have been cut. The weapon gleamed, in the dim light of the forge and lamps above, under the incredible amount of polishing that was done to nearly every last millimeter. Adeipho even took the time to hammer the tungsten counterweight at the bottom into a large canine tooth shape for gaffing.

The perfect sword for the perfect battle, and the Devil was giving it to the Nameless to test its might. Pulling Hræðilegr away from the concrete floor and sliding his left foot behind him, Roen hefted the giant sword up and placed its edge on his left shoulder - a relaxed posture to be sure, but only because he did not want to hold it before him due to its girth. Instead he presented his right flank to Maximos, only raising his right hand in suite to beckon the warrior. Roen was ready. He was ready to show this man what war meant to him. And if he did not come, then Roen would bring the battle to him.

1/17

89Maximos

His smile only grew. The very fact that Roen had discarded a weapon in view of Maximos' words made the entire experience all the richer.

Impressive.

Maximos said, his lips actually parting for the first time to speak with a raspy guttural scratch of a voice.

Maximos did not give compliments lightly or for simply for the sake of giving them. While he was no blacksmith, he was a craftsmen and his eyes were trained to recognize quality. His right eye however, glowing fiercely, recognized far more. He saw that there was unspoken power in this sword, not only in its weight and construction but supernaturally dormant within it. The Nameless remained a jet black mystery, as its wielder. Armed with anything else, he may have had doubts regarding his weapons ability to withstand the conflict ahead, but the Nameless had yet to fail him.

Still there questions. What sort of powers did that blade bring? Did Roen have the strength to heft it with the speed of something lighter such as the Nameless? How hard did it strike? So forth and so on. Every question was a doorway to a thousand more, and the final seconds seemed an eternity. But Maximos was not impatient, he relished in the moment.

And now, as Roen took his ready stance and returned his wave, he knew the moment had come. Who would move first?

There was a pause, a stillness about Maximos as if for a moment he had become a black clad statue. Even his breath became silent. Maximos had a habit of offering his opponents a first free hit, in order to feel their strength for himself. But today, as Maximos more and more recently found himself giving in to things, he gave in to his anticipation.

Suddenly, in a burst of motion he was off. Maximos was known for his speed and it was with that very speed he bolted across the distance between both men. His left boot squeaked against ceramic tile as his forward motion came to a stop. His momentum carried into his hips and shoulders and his right arm swung the 4ft long and 2inch wide Nameless horizontally from right to left at about the height of Roen's midsection. His right arm began the swing though his left quickly joined it.

Obviously, a first move will almost never take cut. But that was never the point in a first swing, it was positioning. From here, Maximos could offer an attack and yet still keep himself open to defend. A simple give in his footing and he could hop back, shove forward, roll to either side, or adjust his swing...though only to certain degrees. The possibilities were endless and depended entirely on Roen's response.

Duos de Septumdecim

. Two of Seventeen .

90Oncle Roen

And the game was on! Oh, the thrill of battle! It was time to feel the joy he had been waiting all night to experience! Expanding his supernatural perceptions and letting them flood into the World Splitter he held so snugly in his left hand, the Devi grinned with delight as he felt the resources of strength at his disposal within the great many gems set in the many eyes of the demons carved into the guard. But, by the Bloody Seer, Maximos was already off. And what speed the man posessed! From the get go, the Devil knew that this man outclassed him when it came to manuverability - their choice in weaponry was a testament to that. But by this show of footwork, Roen was further convinced that he was outclassed when it came to agility. No matter, no matter, his preliminary fight with Tenkai showed him that speed was not everything. Maximos was fast, but the mind was always quickest.

Shifting his weight on his feet and backing away from the incoming Maximos, it was not fear that dictated his response, but rather logic. He needed time to prepare for an eventual counter-attack, and when it came to the dance of blades, seconds very well determined the winner of bouts. While the Devil lifted his right foot to place it behind him and thus put that small amount of space between he and Maximos as the man rushed in, Roen shifted his stance in entirety by shooting his right hand up to grab the bottom of the hilt of the World Splitter. Yes, the Devil was a lefty. And yes, it was now a two handed-grip. His best bet was to control the distance, use the length of Hræðilegr to his advantage, and use his strongest suites - brute strength and ferocity. Foot firmly in set behind him and Maximos already closing that distance and getting in striking range with that sword of his, the Devil began to swing in a diaganal slash.

Unfortunately, now this was where things got tricky, with the Devil's diaganal stroke (from and upwards left to a downwards right), his left arm would block the oncoming path of Nameless' edge (or not, if Maximos got his sword in to Roen's guard). Not knowing the full extent of Nameless' craft, nor the strength Maximos possesed, many things could follow suite should Roen's arm (or side) take the brunt of the force. Tense muscles meant easier breaks depending how Roen was hit, but one thing was almost certain - a lasceration was out of the question. The riveted links of the chainmail beneath the great-coat protected him from such things, but was certainly not as sophisticated as other sets of armor. It did not distort the impact, and blows still left the nastiest and painful of bruises. All of which, Roen was certainly prepared for. Hoping for even.

As for Maximos, however, things were abit more simple and direct. Roen aimed to drive the edge of his weapon into the junction between Maximos' right shoulder and neck and cleave into it. Leaning into the blow and thus giving it the power needed to do some serious damage, though he certainly did not over do it. It would be a gash and nothing more. No pressure following suite, no attempt to drive the blade down and thus add severity, only a love-bite to set the show on the road. An eye for an eye, and just like Maximos, twas only to test the measure of strength his opponant posessed. Roen wanted to be hit, and hit in turn.

2/17

91Show me the CarFox

Someone, somewhere; watching the fight stream live from a website.

Shouted:

''ADD THE POST COUNT, YOU f*****t''

Totally OOC.

''THERE YOU GO, f**.''

92Sutiiven

The blinded Stephen heard the satisfying crunch of the broken jaw, but with it came the agony that was the severing of fingers in the man's mouth. Blood poured from the remains of the hand as he went backwards slightly due to the grip no longer having anything to it - a thumb alone can hardly work as well as a full hand.

Then came the follow up. Could Stephen see, he could have dodged, but his temporary blindness had him in a right bind.

THWACK!

Hard left hook to the face, with the steel arm. Not pleasant in the slightest.

SHUNK!

Saber deep into the bicep. Also not pleasant, but he was starting to get some vision back as the blur wore off.

GRAB

Stephen still couldn't see more than a rough outline as a steel arm grabbed his throat. Said arm would then move forward and take him up for a nasty throwdown. A choke slam like maneuver, if you will.

But maneuvers like that are tricky things, especially when the victim isn't interested in going down. Not to mention that he had just about a half a second of air time that allowed him to violently swing his right knee, leg, and foot in towards his opponent's groin, unleashing the unstopable power of -

The

TOTALLY NOT UNINTENTIONAL WHATSOEVER NUTSHOT LOLOLOLOLOL

Admittedly, he didn't like the name, but he wasn't the one who came up with this s**t.

Hopefully this would cause enough pain to make the vampire drop both him, AND his fingers (for up until a few moments ago, he was quite attached to them, badum-tish.) Either way, his vision was getting better, allowing him to go straight up to his opponent and smear the blood coming from his fingerless hand into the sucker's eyes, "grawr"-ing the entire time from the pain. Still, unless he had magical eye mouths, this would presumably render Aden in a blinded state similar to Stephen's earlier one.

Who'd have thought that blood could actually be useful against a vampire?

[6/17]

93Oncle Roen

Some time ago, in a galaxy far, far away..

94Maximos

First blood went to the demon.

Max whore no armor of any sort, equal parts black and red would stain Roen's blade from where it bit into his collar. If Roen pushed hard enough he might very well hear the sound of metal scraping against metal instead of bone. Max could feel the blades power now, not only via its weight but via the magics in his own right arm. He could taste them...unholy...forbidden fruit...

But such details pass quickly. As Maximos broke into motion, it suddenly became clear why his clothes were all black. At first it seemed like a haze or a fog around the slice in his new jacket, but became it quickly became noticeable that the jacket was mending itself. The dark haze was refining into threads and repairing the jacket. It absolutely did not repair its wearer, but that was a side thought because Maximos was already in motion.

I digress.

3 Seconds Ago.

There it was, as large as sin, and as inevitable as death. That massive blade was bearing down on Maximos, but there was a surprise in the works. Roen had switched to a double handed stance and was bringing his weapon down with all the infernal intensity Maximos had come to expect and hope for. This was all according to plan.

What was not according to plan however was Roen's arm. The Shadow never imagined the man would put his arm in harms way like that. Not that it would stop him. And further to his surprise was the fact that the Nameless did not cut. He heard a "c***k" and not the all too familiar sound and feel of skin giving and metal piercing a red line in flesh.

None the less, sparing no moments for unexpected occurrences Maximos continued his plan. Both his hands, choked around the Nameless' hilt twist. While the Nameless had met Roen's arm with its edge, it now twist so that its flat was pressing against his arm. All at once, Maximos' right arm, which led his slash, and his left leg, which was currently forward, suddenly gave, and Maximos rushed in, right shoulder leading, and pressing right up against his sword. .

Immediately the Nameless was pushed back by the sheer power of Roen's slash. The flat of the blade smacked against Max's right shoulder. So that now, Maximos was defending Roen's double handed slash not with his arms alone but with his entire stance. His sword was now an improvised shoulder guard. It would also make it so that he met Roen's blade early on, closer to the hilt, in such a way that a clean diagonal pass was impossible, he would have to pull the blade back some. Or cut directly through Maximos, thankfully there was a sword protecting against the later. His left leg bent, and he shoved off his right leg, and he twist at the hip so that his right shoulder was brought forward, absorbing a some of the initial impact with the Devil's massive sword. Yet still, while a good deal of the force would be stolen away from the cut, it took absolutely nothing for any quality blade to cut through fabric and then skin beneath it, and fabric was all Maximos had protecting him.

Now.

Maximos was lower than Roen due to a bent knee. Roen's sword was pressed at his shoulder, held in a double handed grip, and against his sword.

Now, as blood puckered from a fresh would, Maximos' right hand slipped off of his blade. As his left foot was leading, and bent, Maximos shoved further off of his right foot, his left hand alone was left to press against Roen's blade. It wouldnt hold for more than a moment, but all Max needed was a second as Maximos dropped low, pressed forward and sent an open palm careening for Roen's unguarded nuts, (Oh wait, this isnt Aden.), gut. Because using two hands on a sword made it very difficult to defend the gut.

It would be at this point that it should be mentioned that the bones forming Maximos' right arm were infact a black metal, meaning that should it connect the impact would feel less like a fist, and more like a steel bat to the gut.

Tres de Septumdecim

. Three of Seventeen .

95Sunstrike

Being late was starting to be an unwelcome trend in his life. Maybe Sun just couldn't get that break he was looking for, or maybe some other deity had it in for him. He felt like he'd wandered off the track into the desert, and that the vultures were circling.

Thank gods for a fight day.

Either or, he slid onto the bench next to Ryugi, watching Stephen, and then Max fight. Every once in a while he'd wince in the appropriate places. Especially at the totally intentional nutshot on his team mate's part.

That was just cold.

He'd stay quiet unless his team mate spoke to him, sprawled out in complete comfort on his seat, just waiting for the go, which wouldn't happen so long as his team seemed rarin' to fight. It was relaxing, just spectating...though it didn't explain the black bruise that covered his cheek and swept up towards one of those broad ears.

96Bellanox Fatalis

From her perch upon a north wall workbench, Nox had a most excellent vantage point for the viewing of any action currently on the floor. And there had been plenty to be sure. To say that it had been a brutal contest would have surely been the grossest of understatements. Chard bodies, bloody booger coated chopsticks and nut shots galore seemed to have been the highlights of the evening thus far.

“"Those fingers are going to give you heartburn Aden! You don't know where they've been!" She shouted, eyes alight with excitement. And then... Another nut shot! "Oh" she grimaced, " now that’s gonna leave a mark…”

Even Nox, who was decidedly female, was often forced to clamp her thighs tight in sympathy for the hefty price being paid by her fellow combatants family jewels. She’d used that tactic before with much success. Even undead were not immune to the awesome and frequently vomit inducing power of a well delivered kick to the balls.

Of course many a normal female might want to hide her face or pretend to look away. But Nox was rapt, her attention riveted to the surging battles going on in the forge. Not that she wasn’t sweaty enough just watching. But being the thrill junky that she was, Nox lived for conflict. Life of late had been far too sedentary. Hence her agreement to enter the HoH with Roen in the first place. Ah well… She’d get her chance. And with the excitement of watching the event up close and personal, she was only slightly disgruntled that it was Aden, followed by Roen and not she that was adding to the blood on the cement floor.

Just then, the roar of the crowd exceeded even the blazing roar of both furnace and fans, not to mention the fainter sounds filtering through the stone walls from out in the yard beyond the forge building. It was the sudden elevation in noise that drew Nox’s attention away from the struggles in the ‘arena’ and toward the door.

The sardine packed spectators surged backward, wisely parting like the Red Sea in effort to avoid being caught in the ongoing fight. But there was not much room in the chamber to begin with. Enter stage left, the final member of the opposing team. Nox watched as the tall redhead made his way over to a seat next to his chopstick wielding team mate.

Thinking it impolite to stare, Nox would offer a bit of a half smile and a quick two fingered salute by way of greeting. Yes, he was on the opposing team, but as far as she knew, that did not make him her enemy. As she looked away and back to the action on the floor, Nox had to wonder where the young looking man had received such a nasty bruise on his face. Hadn’t all combatants from the previous round been treated for their wounds?

Hmm… Curious.

97Sunstrike

Sun's ear twitched, and he looked upwards at the sudden movement. There was a girl sitting on the bench up there, and she waved at him. She was on the other team, the Fighter showed up brilliantly on her forearm.

Cautiously he waved back, then rolled off the bench, dissappearing into the crowd for a second.

How he managed to actually make his way to the actual bench was unsure, but anything was better then just sitting there, and she looked like she had a better vantage point for the later fight. Once there, he'd lean on the back of the bench and grin at her. Sun had not been able to see much from where he'd been sat, his eyesight wasn't the best sense in his arsenal, but from close up, she was a cutie!

"Hiya!"

He was as warm and friendly as he always was. It was a shame. Such a lovely shouldn't be regulated to the benches! Now the only shots the camera guys had of her team were all men! What would fill the front pages of his magazine now?!

98Bellanox Fatalis

Sunstrike Wrote:

"Hiya!"

Her attention being on the fight as it was, Nox did not see the tall young man approach. Even so, a voice sounding out so close came as no surprise. The room was full of people trying to get a better view. It had just been her luck to snag a prime spot. Of course the fact that she sat in imminent danger of being crashed into during the conflict could have had something to do with the fact that she’d not been encroached upon before. Not that she minded the company at this point.

Looking him up and down, Nox decided that he was rather handsome in a 'boy next door' kinda way. Of course, when one took in the kind of beings inhabited Gaia, that gave quite the broad spectrum to that usually simple term. But no, it simple meant that he held an air of one who almost always had an easy going disposition. Unlike most of the brutes and mysterious types that she'd encountered thus far.

“Hello there!” She responded with a nod, her smile widening somewhat. “You benched tonight too?”

Of course this was the second time that Nox had been forced to sit it out. But that was alright she supposed. Roen undoubtedly had a plan in mind for his contentious bodyguard.

99Sunstrike

Sun looked back up at the fighting, head in one hand as he leaned. This WAS a good place to look, his ear twitched. He could even hear the other fighters outside...what the HELL was going on out there?

When she answered he grinned and finally moved around to plunk himself down next to her, accepting it as a silent invitation to join. Close up she was exactly right. There was something "welcome home"-y about Sun. Hell, he even smelled like baking cinnamon.

"Yup. Through choice though, I'm here for emergencies. I'm Sun, by the way."

He matched her grin with one of his own, even though his attention seemed rivited for the moment.

"It's good to meet someone that doesn't want to take my ears off, finally."

100Bellanox Fatalis

Nox scooted her rump over slightly to make room for Sun on the workbench her face , head and neck flinching a bit at the shots being given as well as taken on the floor.

“Me too.” She said tearing her eyes off the action to once again look her new table mate in the face. “Though not entirely by choice. But yeah… I am on striker duty too.”

She too, turned back to the fight. That of course did not stop her from carrying on a conversation. Hell… Roen always told her that she needed to get out and make friends.

“Nice to meet you Sun. People call me Nox.”

Flashing him another brief smile, she checked the fighter on her wrist and sighed a bit. Still nothing. Ah well. Perhaps she was a bit over eager. Whether that was the case or not, she was bound and determined to enjoy herself.

“Why would they do that? You seem like a pretty nice guy… Personally, I wouldn’t try and rip your ears off unless it was in the course of the contest. And then hey… All’s fair. Even nut shots apparently.” Then she gave a snort that was more of an aborted laugh. “At least you don’t have to worry about getting a yellow card for fending off an overzealous vampire trying to ‘charm’ you out of your dress during diner…”

At that, she laughed, her eyes wandering back to the fight while her nostrils were suddenly assailed by the scent of something other than sweat and smoke. What was it? Cinnamon?! Oh gawds now she was hungry. No, not just hungry. She was famished. And not for just any little tidbit. No, Nox found that she quite suddenly had a hankering for… Cinnamon rolls! Her stomach gave a slight rumble as her eyes began scanning the crowd for a food vendor.

No such luck. No sweet gooey buns being passed around the crowd. Damn it!

101Oncle Roen

To say the Devil was caught by surprise would have been the grossest of understatements. Acutely aware of what was going on, there just wasn't anytime to appropriately prepare for the open-palm strike that hurtled into his stomach. Abdominal muscles clenched, he gritted his teeth for the pain to come, and his hands tightened their hold on the leather-wrapped hilt of his weapon in preparation. Nothing but the slightest of grunts came from the Devil as Maximos' palm careened into abdominal muscles of the highest caliber. Advanced protein complex genetics, coupled with grueling body conditioning, gave this devil an unnaturally durable body - made for battle just as this - and only rivaled by the mental tolerance for pain.

It hurt, but the pain was not crippling nor did it severely lower his battle efficiency. Perhaps a few more would make him double over, but the first one only served as a wake-up call. His arm, however, was an entirely different story. Maximos' sword, like his arm, was reduced to a blunting weapon when Roen's chainmail came into play. As such, the flat piece of metal with a sharpened edge did its damage on the Devil's left arm right above the elbow. Any lower would have been severe and crippling, but he was able to shove that blow off. Regardless if he wanted to press his attack with the World Splitter, the sudden spout of pain in his arm would not let him. The power that drove the edge of Roen's sword into Maximos' improvised shoulder guard steadily decreased and soon became nonexistent.

Following Maximos' example, the Devil shifted his focus from attacking with the blade to attacking with the hands, though went for a grab rather than a hit. Releasing his hold from the bottom of his World Splitter's hilt and letting the blade quite literally rest on Maximos' torso unopposed (though it would begin moving away and eventually fall to floor with his proceeding actions), the Devil opened his right hand and shot it towards Maximos' face, fingers sprung open. The lower elevation aided the awkwardness of such a gesture, and a Devil emboldened with it would emphasize its ferocity. His right foot stepped into the grab and the Devil began to charge his way into Maximos' 'inner-bubble'. Should the palm-to-face connect, which in all probability it would, the Devil would curl sword-calloused finger-tips around his face, his already impressive strength augmented by that of a quick-fix from the World Splitter in his hand. Such actions would be followed suite by a push and yet more steps, the Devil, for all intents and purposes, wishing to take Maximos straight to the ground.

3/17

102Maximos

Maximos was impressed.

The Devil before him had stamina, and he had it to spare. The average mortal would have been not only doubled over, but likely had the wind knocked from him.

This made Maximos grin some utterly wicked, because if he was fighting the average mortal he would have to hold back. He would have to be "careful". And in Heaven or Hell, mortal injuries were outlawed. Not that Maximos loved to kill, quite the contrary. Still now, he was safe in Roen's stamina, Maximos did not have to hold back.

Things, were not going to go as one might expect.

Maximos could feel Mr. Jaeger's abdominal muscles stiffen through the palm of his hand. There was no blade here, no sharp edge, just a flat palm. Now, one might ask themselves why? Maximos was clearly no monk, and lacked the dance-like quality of any formal Gaian martial art. Why a palm? Why not a fist, to center the impact and grind metal knuckles into Roen's midsection?

The answer began immediately clear as the open palm closed, allowing Maximos a very grip on Roen's shirt/jacket/top. The Devil may or may not notice that Maximos' grip was staining his shirt with black. It was with this grip that he kept himself close, because another action was already in progress. If Maximos' asset was speed, then that meant he had to be fast. No quarter could be given, no break in an assault unless one was broken.

The Nameless, was in Maximos' left hand and over his right shoulder. That meant that the sword was crossed in front of him, and in order to be on his right shoulder, meant that it was in front of his face. It wasnt moved there, it simply could be nowhere else. This positioning would allow Maximos two defenses, and one optimized attack, in one motion.

Roen released his massive sword, its weight fell on Maximos. Then Roen reached for the Shadow's face. Maximos' defense, was simply to tug himself closer using his grip on Roen's shirt, and slash forward with his left arm, in a straight line. Maximos had only used his entire body to absorb the impact of Roen's large blade because it was being swung two handed. Now it wasnt being swung at all. Simply chucking it off or back would be no issue at all. Then, since Maximos had never stood up, but kept himself in a low stance, in order to reach Maximos' face Roen's grasping hand would have to pass directly into the line of fire between the Nameless and Roen's gut. Needless to say, unless his hand was armored as well the attempt at Maximos' face would likely be costing him digits. If the hand was armored, all Max need do was impact it, and slightly twist his wrist so that the his sword swung at a slight incline so that it would not be passing smoothly beneath or through but so that it deflected the arm upwards the few inches he needed, while scraping against his chain mail and likely ruining what cloth or leather made his sleeves.

Roen's stamina was a plus, because if the Devil had infact be knocked back or doubled over his positioning would have robbed Maximos of the ability to so smoothly continue his stratagem. The very fact the Devil could stand still and still be hurt gave Maximos the opening he needed. It allowed Maximos to stay "inside" his arms and swing his sword unhindered straight the Devil's midsection from "inside". The swing would hopefully have enough force to push the Devil back a step, if he didnt back up himself in order to rob Maximos of his positioning.

If it did, the sword would impact just above Maximos' fist, make a quick line from right to left, likely again ruining his shirt and making a nasty bruise before the sword came to rest at Maximos' left side.

Somewhere in the mix, the Shadow had begun to chuckle. For what and why was as dark and mysterious as the man himself.

Quattuor of Septumdecim

. Four of Seventeen .

103Maximos

This, and this alone, was the truth.

An arm's length seperated Maximos and Roen.

Maximos was on one knee. Maximos was slashing straight across - horizontally - from his shoulder from right to left.

Roen's hands, before Maximos dropped, were chest level with the man from his previous strike with the World Splitter.

Roen charged forward, when Maximos dropped, while grabbing at the man's face.

There was no way in the nine hells that the man could possibly cut Roen's hand to pieces while aiming an attack at his gut. He would have to either attack low or attack high to cut either parts of his anatomy. If he attacked at all, his four foot sword would catch Roen right below his upraised left-arm, digging into his side with minimal force when considering Roen's charge and their already close proximity.

The Devil grabbed Maximos' face unopposed while throwing himself into the fray, fingers wrapping tight around the man's facial structure while being aided (fingers and fingers alone) by the Psyker energies within Hræðilegr. This meant his fingers would be bestowed with boost of strength well beyond their natural capacity. DeSeer knew that Roen couldn't damn well crush someone's face, but damn, he would do some serious damage. A great deal of pressure would begin building up around Maximos' cheekbones and jaw, and all the while the Devil pushed them both to the floor.

Roen on top, Maximos on the bottom, it was damn close to kinky as Roen dragged his sword closer to his body, Maximos' on weapon stuck on the outside of them both. Roen would be quick about the task of slamming the back of Maximos' head into the concrete floor while he dragged Hræðilegr closer to his side. Lifting it up and letting the cross-guard touch the junction between Maximos' right shoulder and chest, Roen would push down and hope to pierce Maximos' flesh with the incissors of the blade's cross-guard. This was done with Maximos' weapon still caught underneath Roen's left arm's pit.

" Are you not entertained?! Are you not entertained?! "

4/17

104themightyjello

Waving a tiny pennant in one hand, Buzz Killington sat in his recliner staring at the television. A glass of brandy in one hand and his viewing monocle affixed firmly, the dapper gent answered.

"I am not entertained. smilies/emo.gif "

105The Crossed Fox

DOOONNG!!!!

What the ****** was it with this team and nutshots?! It was really starting to get annoying, the pain of Adens child-sacks surging upwards once more. There was a bit of a reactionary catch to this second nutshot that Aden had to endure. Adrenaline was pumping through his body, his lungs were rising and falling at unimaginable rates, his heart pumping that cold, dead blood through his veins and arteries. His nerves were dumbed down by the effects of his adrenaline, as were about half of the pain receptors in his body. Regardless of that little biology lesson there though, the vampire, as with nearly any other sentient being, only had one prime objective now when it came to his adversary. GET THAT st AWAY FROM ME!

So instead of dropping immediately, Aden tossed Stephen away from him as best as he could, before falling onto his knees in nerve-pinching crotch pain.

"Vous fils de pute!" he said,

"Je vais vous gut pour cela! Je vais - AHHH !!!!!!!"

While Aden was busy calling Stephen a son of a b*h with his face towards the ground, and then saying he'd gut him, he'd look back up with heavy, panting breaths to find that his eyes would be smeared with the blood of Stephens hand-stubs. Though the blood didn't directly get into his eyes, it was enough to keep him from seeing everything in front of him. Damn, salty blood tasted great, but Aden hadn't realized how bad it felt to get the st in your eyes. Gross.

"Je vais vous faire déchirer!"

That's right, he'd rip Stephen to shreds, blind or not. Through hid red, blurred vision, Aden tried his best to make out any hint of a figure in front of him. That didn't work, he brought his left sleevie up to try and wipe away the blood, to stop the pain. Meanwhile, He swung wildly with his right arm, the sabre trying to get any knick, slash, gash and strike in as he wiped the blood away. If striking like a madman was going to at all save him, now was the time to excercise such an act.

6/17

106Maximos

There was a miscalculation.

Somewhere.

By some one. At some time. In some thing.

And while the very many forces of the universe were attempting to rectify the confusion two men were very busy fighting.

In a fight time is an afterthought. You dont know the fight is over until one man is down, both men are down, or in this case until a fighter blares and the threat of an almighty Judge is upon you. In either case, the key element here was that both men continue fighting. It was all that truly mattered.

Right now, Maximos' mind was pouring over the details of the fight. The speed with which Roen moved, the weight of his weapons, the force with which they struck and what that just might say about the strength of his opponent. His right eye told him that power was flowing from the sword into the wielder. But what kind? What surprises did that hold? Maximos mind was processing facts like some sort of wartime computer. Max was focused. And when he was focused he locked almost all outside disturbances. He was a horse with blinders.

Right now, Maximos was swinging his left arm to send his sword careening forward. But right now Maximos' mind was several moves ahead plotting the best way to turn Roen's strengths against him.

Right now, Maximos entirely missed that fingers were reaching for his head. He had planned this slash two moves previous and was following through, the sword was not hindered. But you see, Maximos was a creep. A freak. A gentleman yes, but a wierdo. Maximos did not like being touched. Through most of his life Maximos was not touched. And to this day, the touch of even his own girlfriend made him hump. Until he felt callused fingertips against his skin, Maximos had managed to miss the predicament he was in. But once touched, out of pure instinct he snapped his head to the left just before the fingers could seal him in.

All of a sudden, Max realized exactly how close and how dangerous his situation was. The quick leftward jerk of his head was echoed through his entire form. His shoulders went next, then lips and finally legs. Max was already on one knee, pushing forward and to the side was easy. The charging devil missed him by almost negligible degrees. It was like rolling out of the way of a speeding semi, Max could feel the rush blow over the cloth he wore. His slash was ruined the blade moved left at a stern arch and struck the ground kicking up brilliant violet sparks as Max rolled over his shoulder and twist so that as he came to crouched stop he was facing Roen's backside.

And thats when he saw it. It was just there. And he had to.

A devilish grin played on his face. Not so much the twisted and jagged thing that scarred his lips into something frightening. While still stained his face had a certain sort of childish innocent to it.

Quickly, he burst to his feet, stepped forward and with a swift motion of his right hand he would grab at the interesting peaking item of Roen's and he would say. Or rather that disembodied voice would almost childishly echo, as if he was pointing out a stain on the man's jacket. But Roen would know what he was speaking of way before he spoke.

Hey...whats this demon?

While Max held up Roen's, by now likely trademark, Devil's tail.

Quinque de Septumdecim

. Five of Seventeen .

107Sutiiven

Stephen ducked low as the saber came flying in from the mans right towards his head, then came in with an open palmed strike to the mans chest.

Well... it was the only strike he could really do as the hand he used had nothing but a thumb to speak of.

The strike would hopefully catch the man off guard and startle him long enough to bring the arm up between his head and the blade arm as well as -

WHA-THUNK!

  • enabling him to send a right knee slamming into the pommel of his impaled sword, nailing that thing into him like a hammer.

He would then step forward past Aden as he came down with the leg, right foot behind right foot, left foot bracing the lad's stance.

Dropping the arm down towards the chest, he would straight basically clothesline Aden in the chest as he simultaneously pulled his front leg back to throw the vampire off of his right. This would hopefully take him off balance, and cause him to come tumbling down to the ground.

In a classy finish, he would place his right foot on his sword pommel (or if Aden didn't land with it sticking straight up, the mans side) holding him down. He looked at his opponent, and said, completely nonchalant about the whole thing -

"Qui est une chienne maintenant?"

[7/17]

108Oncle Roen

The Darkened Devil himself froze with a morbid sense of fear. Quicker than quick, Maximos had come up behind Roen and grabbed his tail! Turning his head with his torso following suite, deep-set garnet hues looked upon Maximos, Roen's upper-lip lifted into a feral snarl.

5/17

109Bellanox Fatalis

Striker Offense

110The Crossed Fox

"Tch...", he spat some blood out with the impact of Stephens attack.

Aden felt a strong palmstrke hit him in the chest, which would make him stumble in his now dazed setting. The blood was wiped away, but a burning, watery blur remained in his pupils. He could see most of Stephens outline through his squint, and it didn't take a genius to know that when a colorful blur starts growing, it usually means that its comin' right for you. Aden was tired, fatigued from his wounds and the wearing of his adrenaline was beginning to take its toll on his body. He was just set on making one final strike against Stephen, even though the match hadn't dragged on as long as it could've.

Stephens next step Wrote:

The strike would hopefully catch the man off guard and startle him long enough to bring the arm up between his head and the blade arm as well as -

WHA-THUNK!

  • enabling him to send a right knee slamming into the pommel of his impaled sword, nailing that thing into him like a hammer

Just a few moments before this very event, Aden would have bent his knees and cocked his left arm back for one, finaly shot. The blur took flight, and Aden stepped forward once. A flying knee came in at the right moment, striking into the hilt of the blade that had impaled through the meat of Adens side. Simultaenously, a final Steel Fist would launch up in a brutal uppercut, ready to clock Stephen in right under the jaw. Hell, Aden wasn't really sure where it'd hit, but he knew that it'd hit somehwere in the colored areas. After that, a meaty, goopy,

RIIIIIIIP!!!!!

Would be heard next, an entire section of his indigo jacket, as well as his skin, ripping away. The clang of metal indicated the blade had fallen, and the smack of either an arm, or an entire body could be heard falling against Adens own body. It knocked him off towards his left, just ot from under where Stephen would land if he was either knocked out by the steel uppercut, or dazed if it had done enough damage. This fight was nearing its end.

7/17

111o ReaverQueen o

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A steel shield thudded against the rooftop loudly, before rebounding off into the crowd, where it was caught by a group of raving fans.

<!>

112Bellanox Fatalis

It was right about then that Nox took it upon herself to interfere. Now she'd known Roen a long time. As such, she'd grown accustomed to the warning signs of when he was about to do something that the dashing Devil would regret. And so, in order to save the Devil from himself as well as prevent her team from getting white flagged, Nox sprang into action. Without so much as a by your leave to her seating companion, the tall Carpathian clicked on the fighter on her wrist and lept from the work bench that she'd been seated on, pulling Roen's Pasket from her belt.

A few steps around the outside of the room was all it took for her long legs to place her behind the struggling Maximus. As she moved gloved hands found the smallish ball on the cylinder of Roen's long needle pointed dagger. Thast ball firmly in one hand and the handel of the Pesket in the other, she quickly pulled them apart, uncoiling a long length of piano wire.

There was no pause in her steps, only a skidding halt. As the steel encased heels of her boots threw some small amount of sparks, Nox would cast that fine coil of piano wire up and over the head of one Maximos. If successful, she would then use both her body weight as well as the strength of her arms to haul backward, pulling him by the neck, back and away from her beserk team leader.

113Maximos

It didnt matter where Bella was coming from. It didnt matter how, or how hard.

Maximos wasnt in the middle of combat, he was standing still holding a tale and literally watching fear swirl through his opponent like so much red over coming molten metal.

Roen and Maximos had just shared silently how each man was a battle ready war veteran. In what war exactly do your opponents come at you one at a time? Were STRIKER's really surprise attacks when you know at all times that one can be coming? Would any war veteran really, while standing completely still holding a tail be caught totally off guard?

The answer was no. More over, its very difficult to sneak up on a man known as "The Shadow" while moving through a dim lit room mostly filled with "Shadow" and get behind him without stepping in his..."Shadow".

If it was an energy attack, Max couldnt see it. But it had to come at him from somewhere within 360 degrees which mean Roen would meet it first. Now Bella was attacking and there was only one thing for Maximos to do.

Instinctively, looped the tail around his arm, and then grabbed it with his left hand. His left foot stepped in the direction of the footsteps, in a second he'd be able to see her and his entire body swung, laughter booming from dark black stained lips as Maximos...floor lack of a better term...

BOWSERED...

...the HELL out of the demon and sent Roen flying into Bella. If that tail was a weak spot. If it was weak or fragile? Max really couldnt think of a better way to dislocate and break it.

So long there Roen!

114Sutiiven

The uppercut. One of the nastiest punches to be on the receiving end of. There was no where to run. Where to hide. He was very committed in his attack, and so there was little to do but take the blow to the chin.

The man was knocked backwards and onto the floor, catching himself with his wounded hand. However, he was not unconscious. Blood poured from his mouth as this second punch really did some damage, but it was not enough to put him down.

A blow to the chin was not going to cause a knockout.

He grunted and got to his feet, setting himself up for a hard right side thrust to the chest. With that damned saber out of the way he could do what he damn well pleased. Ignoring his own lodged sword, he aimed his kick high and straight to Aden's face, with full intention of sending the man to the ground.

Yes... a kick to the face was much more effective in taking down an opponent.

If it took and he was on the ground, well, there wasn't much else to do but let loose on him.

"Qui est une chienne maintenant?!"

[8/17]