Benjamin vs Damion

3.

Quote:** Wrote:

Latent Shopping Mall

A lavish shopping outlet where one can get all over their overpriced needs. An elaborate fountain decorates the center and sitting area of the plaza, offering a calming and urine inducing stop for those who need to rest their tired rich feet.

The mall offers goods from lingerie for the Misses and Mistresses to rugged man gear for the dashing Misters. As well as shoes, all you can eat dragon jerky, khaki outfits and tiny porcelain figurines.

We wish to dazzle you into giving us your inherited cash!

General- Marble floors and window shopping welcome the fighters to this spectacular waste of tax money!

Weapons- Items from displays, fountain bits, over priced shoes, and whatever else one could get their grubby hands on.

Natural Element Resource- Water and credit card plastic.

Bonus Effects- The mall somehow seems a little less sturdy that it appears... The more expensive the item taken from the environment, the easier it seems to break! -HINT- It's all pretty ******** pricey.

((This post has been lost several times due to reboots, auto-update, etc. I gotta leave for work now so I can't proofread it but also don't want you to wait forever for my post. So it's up but may be edited when I get home for grammatical errors or something just not sounding right. The content however will not change. ))

Cha-Ching

"That'll be....ummm....380,000 gold coins, sir?" stammered the pubescent clerk as he struggled to read the register through the glare.

Usually this wasn't too difficult a task, even for one as inept as he, but his current customer was casting off such an intense glare that it was hard to look at reflective surface for more than a moment. He tried to look up and smile as he'd been taught but it was almost as hard as looking into the sun, so he simply gave up and held out his hand for the outlandish sum.

What he received instead was a handwritten note along the lines of "Charge it to Blazestar" and a brief glimpse of a twinkling figure retreating into the distance. Happy to simply be rid of that outrageous spectacle of a man, he chose not to give chase and instead shot off a quick prayer to the gods in thanks for delivering him from that diva.

Meanwhile, several stores away the twinkling figure continued marching along at his sedate place. Although the man had departed rather abruptly, he had neither ran, jogged nor sprinted and saw no need to start doing so now. He kept to his waltz, a very elegant pace that ate up distance at a deceptive rate. Thus he'd get to his destination quite quickly while at the same time not seeming to rush and it also gave everyone who saw him a chance to soak up his majestic presence. His waltz came to abrupt halt however when he passed by a furniture store and caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror on display. He paused quite abruptly, brief halting traffic, as he was suddenly overcome with the desire to drink in his own beauty once more.

His pale skin shone with an inner light that was only accented by the glitter he'd chosen to sprinkle liberally about his person as he'd gotten out of the shower this morning. His clothing today was quite bland and simple, consisting of only a pair of black jeans and a white tee, but he'd made up for that lapse by making that pit-shop at the jewelry store so that he could properly emphasis his already great figure and accessorize with his grey armor. His chest was adorned with a chain-mail vest of spell-worked steel that was wrapped in a sheet of diamonds such that a little gem sparkled in the center of each metallic link. Both forearms were gilded in bracers of the same metal that were enclosed above and below by sapphire bracelets. Each of his fingers bore an amber ring, save for his pointers which held his silver animal rings, the left bearing the sleeping turtle and the right the hawk in flight. A large amethyst hung about his neck, twinkling from the center of a grey choker and a slightly smaller one was slotted into the buckle of his steed studded belt. The finishing piece of this whole ensemble was a weave of topaz that encircled and supported his hair so that it rose nearly half a foot about his head in a thick cylinder of blond locks.

He stood enraptured for a good length of time, turning hither and thither to get a better look at his majestic form until a loud shout from below shook him from his revelry. A large shout shook the mall, a ring chorus of three little words....

Eternal Dirge Wrote:

" HEAVEN OR HELL!"

That must mean his opponent was now on the scene, a guessed which was confirmed by a quick glance over the balcony, from where he could see both the fountain and cordoned off area below. Quite a crowd was gathered together and they seemed to be in very high spirits. It seemed the fight was already off to a good start, all it needed was the arrival of the world's most fashionable fighter.

Not wanted to keep his fans waiting too long, Benjamin started moving once more and in short order made his way down the flight of escalators and over to the cordoned off arena. As he waltzed the last couple of feet to where his opponent stood, he snaked a hand into his pocket and tapped tap a button on his FIGHTER to herald his arrival.

[Music:] The Black Eyed Peas - Lets Get It Started ||

At first Benjamin was a bit miffed that his opponent did not immediately acknowledge his presence after all the work he'd done to announce himself. After all the flashy clothing, booming stereo and sparkling skin was not all for the sake of fashion, it was also a bright flare or metaphorical banner that was meant to precede him into battle. He did not come like a thief in the night but a diva in a nightclub with the flare and fanfare such an occasion deserved. It peeved him greatly when he did not surprise, startled or baffle an opponent before their fight commenced.

The blow to his ego as somewhat softened once the wannabe rock-star started fist-pumping, getting the crowd rilled up as he ended his opening montage and got onto the main event. As Damion stepped down from his high horse and into the ring, Benjamin couldn't help but notice the strange liquid first cascading down his arms and then transforming into something. He couldn't be sure exactly what was going on there but that the result did bear a resemblance to that of draconian transformation he'd seen Vincent Alaphare undergo only on a smaller scale. He didn't linger too long on that fact for the moment, he'd just mentally tag it as sine sort of magical defense/offense and treat it accordingly.

His suspicions were only confirmed when his opponent began acting like a cage beast, pacing back in forth like a wild beast on the hunt. Unlike most Benjamin took this as compliment, as his always enjoyed being object of a person's desire probably because he felt that everyone in the world should want him on some level whether to fight him, love him, feed him or kill him it was all a desire to get their hands on his person. He beamed, showing off his pearly white as stretched and strutted under the attention, grateful for any opportunity to show off more of his majestic form. He kept the preening briefer than he would have liked, there was violence to be done after all, but he couldn't help indulging himself for a moment or two.

Unfortunately it was also great opportunity for an attack of opportunity and Benjamin knew that, he wasn't a complete idiot. As soon as his foe began to close the already short distance any further or his little performance ended, he'd shut his eyes and avert his eye as he activate both of his silver animal rings.

Transfiguration Wrote:

His main mode of physical damage and protection come in form of a sword and buckler set. When not in use the two items appear to be mere trinkets, possessing the form of a set of animal engraved rings. By exerting a force of will he can cause these items to alternate between their two forms, either growing or shrinking as they move from one shape to next. The transformation is neither lengthy or instantaneous but more of a warping of space that takes about second to occur. This warping also produces a sharp retort, a slight flash (approximately that of a small camera flash) and a slight force as the air being displaced proceeds the object in a rush.

Normally this was tame event consisting only a brief flash and a loud snap as his items bound into those icons rings swiftly expanded to become a sword and buckler set. A simple combination consisting of 31" blade in his right and a foot diameter domed buckler in his left, with which had had faced his foes for quite some time now. The main difference between now and any other time was that he was adorned in a massive amount of reflective surface which would reflect and magnify the flash of transfiguration. What would have been a rather minor flash of light became a blinding glare sure to temporarily blind and disorient his opponent for about a post unless he already blind or possessed some other innate protection.

Regardless of how effective such a stratagem was, Benjamin would immediately be on the move having spared himself a similar fate by averting his gaze. Taking a sliding step to his right, and either backwards to escape an attack made in his moment of weakness or forward if he'd been given a chance to indulge his urges, he'd make an opening strike. His right hand would draw his sword from left to right across his opponent's upper chest region in a shallow slash to start the blood flowing while his left held his buckler aloft just below his heart in preparation for anything.

For although he felt his plan was solid and foolproof, he'd been proved wrong before. After being caught with his pants down once before, he was always prepared for Murphy's Law to bite him in the a** again.

[Post: 1/10

Murphy or no Murphy, Benjamin was pleasantly surprised at how things had turned out. Sure he hadn't bisected his opponent with his first swing, but he'd never expected to. The fact that he'd not only disoriented his opponent, but put him on the defensive was a definite victory in his books.

Unfortunately, there wasn't sufficient time or reason to go into a victory dance, however much he wanted to. That would have to wait until the end of the fight. Right now it was time to capitalize on his advantage while he still had it. So he attacked once more.

His initial blow had sent his opponent backing towards the ropes, which was very good. Experience had taught him that it was in his best interest to keep him moving in that direction. The simplest and easiest way for him to do that would be to continue slashing, waving his sword back and forth until either his opponent was defeated or he way. However Benjamin had never been one to take the easy way out, not only because it was usually much harder than it at first seemed but also because he refused to conform to norms of any kind.

In his mind, one sword strike was enough for now and it was time to switch things up a little bit and bring his buckler into play. After all, it was already closer to his opponent than anything else he had at his disposal as his first maneuver had left him in a left forward position. The left side of his body wasn't quite facing his opponent but it was child's play to line up his left shoulder with Damion's center of mass. From there he simply extend his hand, and the buckler held there, toward his opponent and charge.

The foot long circle was made mostly of sturdy wood that was faced and reinforced with steel. That is to say that the striking surfaces were steel and the innards were wood such that the device was both sturdy and flexible. It's striking/deflecting wasn't flat like some of it's brethren but instead rose gradually to a height of an inch and a half at the center. Like all of his metallic attire it had been layered with spells after it's completion to aid in resisting decay. Yet nothing it had been treated was meant to make it invisible to any magical senses elemental or otherwise, which for Benjamin was unfortunate under these circumstances. He quite covered in his special brand of steel, and thus unbeknownst to him he could be tracked quite easily by his opponent.

[][Post: 2/10

Benjamin would have been hard pressed to separate the sharp crack of tearing earth from the rest of the background noise even if he'd known what to look out for. The actual splintering of the mall's linoleum was an entirely different matter, as that the now uneven ground would begin to reflect the light differently and thus draw the swordsman's attention to it. However to him it was only a peculiarity and thus not enough of a warning for Benjamin to understand how ******** he was. It did however put him on guard, as something about that sight rubbed him the wrong way. So he dialed down his speed a bit in order to be ready for anything that might be headed his way.

Tick...

Nothing immediately happened, so he refocused his attention on the opponent he was bearing down on. For a moment he put his earlier worries and odd feels aside so he could focus on the opponent at hand. He focus on finishing right and thus shortened his penultimate stride so that he could have an explosive finish. He was beginning to think even further ahead when...

...Tock!

...he was greeted by a much larger crack he couldn't avoid hearing or reacting to. His initial thought was GUNSHOT!! so he reacted accordingly, raising his shield up in front of his important bits as he juked to the right. In such a fashion he managed to avoid getting hit dead on, and was instead sideswiped by the car-shaped slab.

His buckler lessened the blow, creaking in protest as it absorbed some of the force, but the remainder was enough to send him spiraling off to his left. His innate grace and balance allowed him to keep his feet but he was still bruised and a bit disoriented by the surprise attack. Both his left wrist and pecs throbbed painfully with each heartbeat, having suffered much of the strain of being roughly flung off course.

He'd need a moment to right himself, giving his opponent yet another opportunity to strike, but such an advantage would be mitigated by the increasing distance between. For instead of trying to fight his head long spiral and thus risk whip-lashing his neck or disorienting himself further, Benjamin chose to go with the flow. He turned the abrupt spin into a drunken man's pirouette, so that he could slowly bled off his momentum without damaging his perceptions or his person.

This also had the unique effect of turning him into a spinning top of death, for as he continued to spin around his arms would extend straight out from his sides making a quick follow-up a foolhardy decision.

[][][Post: 3/10

After burning off all of his momentum, Benjamin's rotations ceased and he came to a controlled stop. Fortunately he manage to stop his momentum before he collided with the nearby fountain ledge or else he would have collapsed into the cool waters within. Generally he wasn't worried by such a proposition but he had a healthy fear of well and fountain water. The strange custom of depositing unwanted change in such receptacles had contaminated the water with so much rust, zinc and copper that it was hell on his sensitive skin. He breathed a sigh of relief and then drew his gaze away from that filthy pond only to find himself surrounded by roiling waves of linoleum. He was briefly surprised by this turn of events, as he hadn't yet had time to process what the giant slab of earth that had buzzed by his head had meant.

"An earth elemental, eh?"

He was caged by a fairly innocuous looking ring of earth, as the waves were barely a few inches tall, but he suspected that was only meant to lure him into sense of a false sense of security. Once he attempted to hop over that barrier he was sure that either another slab or something just as deadly would rise up and to assault him. The closeness this barrier enforced didn't worry him that much, he was a closed ranged specialist after all, but the fact that said barrier was under his opponent control did. He would need to do something about that and right away, or else he'd find himself getting assaulted on more side than he could handle. Again his gaze moved towards the nearby fountain, but this time with a look of inspiration instead of dread, before refocusing on Damion.

"If I remember right, you guys don't like water too much."

As he continued to speak strange sparks began to blossom along the length his sword arm. Primarily concentrated around his forearm, tiny red sparks began to form and then arc randomly up and down his right arm. This change happened quite suddenly, his arm lighting up as if it had caught fire. The out pouring of energy wasn't concentrated solely on his arm, but also manifested on his blade as it began to glow a dark red due as he enhanced it's cutting edge.

Enhancement Wrote:

Instead of an outward manifestation, his energy can also be channeled into a metallic object such as his blade or buckler. When this happens the object in questions glows with an inner red light and gains some metaphysical weight. Within an edged object, the glow electricity seems to shimmer along the edges giving them greater penetration as if each blow lands as if swung by someone twice as large as Benjamin. When with a defensive item, such as a shield or buckler, the power adds durability, reducing the damage and force acting upon the object by half via a release of red sparks as half the energy of every impact is diverted elsewhere. Either way this technique requires one cell of energy and last for three posts.

"I believe it was something about water deteriorating your element, turning solid earth into mushy that was harder to manipulate."

He punctuated the last statement by swinging his right arm around the face the small fountain wall at which point the randomly moving sparks began to move like a well trained team, quickly organizing into rows that cycled around his hand at high speeds. Thus activated his magnetism ability, as he created a repulsion field that set his blade slamming into the relatively small barrier.

Magnetism Wrote:

For no extra charge, Benjamin can rapid rotate or cycle any manifestation of his unique energy to create an magnetic field of attraction or repulsion. This effects metallic objects with a weight of up to 50 lbs or less, the most heavy moving at speed of a tennis lob and the lightest at the speed of a pitcher's fastball. A charged object moves at 2/3 the speed of other objects and loose a charge after the magnetic field dissipates. Note that this is not a metaphysical effect but a physics effect being performed by supernatural means, so items used to nullify or reduce or cancel out a supernatural power will not effect this technique if Benjamin is standing outside of their area of effect. However since he is using supernatural means to create the electricity that creates the magnetism the universal rule of magic sovereignty applies. The sovereignty rule states that any possession that an individual uses frequently or was given by a close friend or otherwise has a very deep emotional bond to are infused with their energy or soul if you prefer. This ability thus cannot act directly upon any personal items of an opponent and also why he cannot supposed his red lightning directly inside or upon his opponent's person but must instead work through an intermediary whether that be himself or another object.

The blade's already enhanced edge plus the rapid speed at which the repulsive wave would send it flying into the wall could be sufficient to enable the sword to puncture the only thing between them and the waters held within. Soon enough the floor would be a sopping mess, which would hopefully impede his efforts to remold their battlefield. He knew the water would have no effect on the upper layers of linoleum but the it should make the dirt beneath it nearly impossible to work with after it had time* to seep in.

All the while he kept his buckler between himself and his opponent in order to stave off any interruptions.

[Post: 4/10

((* Does 2 turns sound fair?))

Benjamin allowed a brief smile to spread across his face as he watched his plan go off without a hitch. His mini-fire hose appeared to have washed away whatever working his opponent had wrought to restricting his movements and the accompanying look of pure panic that blossomed upon his opponent's face was absolutely priceless. In his book things couldn't have possibly gone any better and he couldn't keep his grin from growing.

The sudden advance of his foe brought him back to the match at hand, as he found himself at the receiving end of a dual-piston strike. The distance between them had not been that great to begin with, so he had little time and limited tools with which he could address this threat. He chose to meet the attack head-on, swinging his buckler to intercept the right hand and his throwing out his right first to intercept the left. It was only after he'd responded that he recognized that the hands coming his way were open palmed instead of curled tightly into fist but it was already too late to do anything about it.

To Damion this wouldn't be too much of a change as he'd still get two handholds upon Benjamin and he could still attempt to shake him to death if he wanted. Except...his right hand was still covered in those red sparks that had been used to propel his blade into the distance, as the magnetism technique had not used up that energy but simply temporary converted it into a different form. And when those sparks came into contact with Damion's flesh they'd finally expire as they gave him a little jolt, allowing him to feel the effects of a single charge of Benjamin's unique brand of electroshock therapy free of charge.

Shock Therapy Wrote:

He can manifest his energy in the form of red arcs of electricity around himself or any object in which he is in physical contact. Depending on how many cells of energy is channeled into a manifestation, contact with another living being can have a variety of effects. Note, objects can only hold a charge for 6 posts and only items of sufficient girth can hold the maximum amount of charge. Any item can hold a one cell charge, but to hold a two cell charge an item must be larger than a 16 oz soda and in order to hold a three cell charge an item must be larger than Benjamin's forearm. Being who come into contact with a one cell charge will normally suffer brief convulsions or twitches around the point of contact as well as first degree electrical burns. With a two cell charge....

This surprising jolt would not only hurt like a b***h but the brief loss of motor control should give Benjamin the chance he needed to extract himself from a situation that was far stickier than he realized. If things went as planned he'd draw back his right hand out of Damion's now unsteady grip and plant in firmly in his face.

[Post: 5/10

As he was drawing back his right arm after a satisfying blow to his opponent's cranium, he felt a rough tugging on his left wrist as his buckler was being yanked away from him. Not wanting to get dragged into any sort of headlock or other grappling technique, as he was only vaguely familiar on the escape tactics, he relinquished his hold on his stalwart defender. He'd still got drawn forward and Damion would still get a little boost, but only a fraction of what he'd wanted/needed and probably leave him more off balanced than he already was.

Thus Damion's already wild headbutt would have less power and coordination than intended, allowing Benjamin to insert his right forearm between their skulls. It wasn't all that difficult or time consuming as his hand had already been in the vicinity, as he drew it back out of his foe's maw. The steel bracer surrounding his forearm would take the brunt of the damage, it's spell-worked steel refusing to bend for flesh and bone and thus reflecting some of Damion forced back on himself.

Unfortunately such a tactic left Benjamin almost completely unarmed as he was now without both his buckler and his sword. He tried not to dwell too much on how vulnerable that fact left him, instead choosing to focus on how to keep his opponent from capitalizing on it. His left leg would rise up and strike at his opponent's center of mass with his steel plated soles in a sharp push-kick. Seeing as Damion was probably already reeling from his collision with unforgiving metal, the blond beaut's strike was likely to send him stumbling back if it didn't send him to the floor.

[][Post: 6/10