Round 3: Reaver (Vee) VS. Engineer (Abigail)- Judge dakkagor

[dakkagor]

Breath misted in front of his face, despite the hot, arid air blowing from the centre of the zone. That wind howled through the desolate buildings, and across the old, cracked concrete he walked across.

He could walk through somewhere like this for a long time. The silence, the desolation, the emptiness, it spoke to him. His long coat whipped in the hot wind as he crossed the plaza. He noted that the paper moved by the wind reacted strangely. It didn't tumble when the wind died away, it just stopped dead, often in improbably positions. He pulled out a coin, a shiny pound coin, and flipped it into the air.

As soon as the coin left his hand, it stopped mid tumble. He stepped back in shock, and then quickly walked around the hanging coin, as if to find some wire or glass pillar holding it up.

"An object in motion, stays in motion, unless acted upon by a external force. Newtons First Law." he said, almost as if it was a banishing spell to make the coin move. It stubbornly hung in midair.

He reached out tentatively, touching his index finger as gently as possible to the side of the coin. It started to spin immediately, and he managed to keep his finger following it and catch it again.

"The engineer. Good choice."

He completed his walk, picking up an abandoned camp chair in the process. He stopped to let a sudden swarm of rabbits, odd, three-eyed versions with curved antlers over their ears, cross the plaza. One, the largest, stopped and regarded him with its three eyes. He met its gaze evenly, and it hopped away with its fellows. Finally, he came to the edge of one of the buildings, and planted his foot on the wall.

He placed his next step above that, and smoothly transitioned to walking on the wall from walking on the floor. Even his coat obeyed the new gravity, hanging towards the wall as he walked up it in increasingly confident, assured steps.

He unfolded the chair, and sat it down between two windows, with a good view of the plaza below. He snapped his fingers, and the two combatants appeared.

"Welcome to the Zone! A while ago, some indifferent visitors popped by and left their garbage scattered all over the place, and where that garbage fell, it changed the rules. Those places became the Zones, to be feared, exploited, or studied as each demanded."

He swept his arms out, indicating the arena.

"You have your arena, and you have your opponents. Watch your step, because the rules are different here from any arena you may have encountered before."

He sat himself down, and propped up his chin with his laced fingers.

"You may begin."

OOC :

Looking North West:


Looking South East:


In this battle, the rules of reality have been fundamentally broken. A cunning combatant may be able to use that to their advantage. Newtons First law only applies to an object for as long as you directly interact with it (So an arrow that is fired from a bow would stop as soon as it left the bow, for instance). Gravity follows any solid surface, orientating to walls and even ceilings rather than just the floor. The rabbits. . .suffice to say don't mess with the rabbits. If any combatant hits a rabbit with an attack, either accidentally or not, they will be in terrible pain as a psychic scream rips through their minds.

On the flip of a British pound coin, the Engineer (Abigail) has the first post. Combatants have 72 hours to post after each new post, and I will not be interjecting with a post at any point. Each combatant has five posts.

Good luck to you both!

[Griff]

Oh no, not this again. Abigail thought, as she looked down and tested out her newly-repaired jet boots. She was so preoccupied with her thoughts, she didn't notice the one obvious oddity in this world.

She forced herself to stop focusing on her arrival in this world, and instead looked at the landscape surrounding her. There were some old and crumbling buildings, modern in design but with all kinds of structural problems. Most of the windows were broken, with vines and plants going up the sides. She was standing on cracked concrete, with weeds sprouting up between the cracks, giving the area an old, abandoned feeling. Arid wind blew Abigail's brown hair into her face, increasing the temperature of the surrounding area. She turned and saw what to her looked like old amusement park rides, which brought her a whole barrage of memories, some pleasant, some not.

While she was bending checking her boots, a screw fell out of her pocket, and froze the second it left her person. She jumped back so fast, she tripped and fell on her butt, staring with a mixture of shock and horror at the still-floating screw. "Where the hell am I?" She muttered to herself, trying to contain her panic attack.

"Newton's first law: an object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. Newton's first law, an object at rest stays at rest and..." She was mumbling to herself, and started hyperventilating as everything she had ever learned stopped taking effect.

She tentatively reached out her hand to touch the floating screw and squeaked as it started to fall. Reflexively, she jerked back her arm and the screw stopped as soon as it lost contact with her hand. There the small object stayed, suspended in the air. Abigail dug her hands into her hair as a calming motion to get herself back into the reality that was this warped and twisted world.

After whispering a couple of encouraging words to herself, Abigail slowly stood up, and noticed the rabbits around her. Well, if you could call them rabbits. Their three eyes and deer-like antlers made them more of mutant beasts. It reminded her of jackalopes, from story books when she was young.

She decided to steer clear of them, mostly due to their admittedly unnerving appearances. Abigail glanced down at her jet boots again, and noticed one of the valves was still off. Quickly, she put her foot up against the wall. Immediately, her center of gravity changed and she felt almost like a falling sensation. Suddenly, she found herself standing on the wall. She stared down at her feet for a second in disbelief before jumping off of the wall, landing clumsily on her face. She coughed into the dust, her stomach twisting into knots before getting back to her feet.

Slowly she put her foot on the wall again, and gradually got acquainted to walking on walls. Abigail forced herself not to think about this world and the strange laws that governed it, as she was sure it would cause her to have another panic attack. She could deal with the weird, narcissistic angel figure, and she could tolerate the pixies, but this! Everything she ever learned didn't apply here. None of it. It hurt her head just thinking about it.

As she was getting down from the wall, she remembered the presence of another person. Well, it would probably be a person. Based on her other opponents, the next one would probably be another foreign creature too.

She spotted a figure in the distance--most likely her opponent. She was a lot prettier than Abigail thought her combatant would be. Sure, she was far away, but she had this, regalness to her... a sort of stately aura that Abigail couldn't explain. Her face had a still expression, made dramatic by her heavy make-up. She was clad in a form-fitting black outfit with intimidating combat boots, but the most striking of all was her long, dark blue hair, whipping in the wind.

She hesitantly ran up to her and with a leap, she attempted to kick the woman strongly in the chin, the move made clumsy by her heavy jet boots. Abigail almost wanted to apologize, but it was a necessary precaution. Knowing her luck, this woman was probably crazy.

[Mystress of Shadows]

She had him right in her grasp. She had that foul little goblin at the tips of her fingertips as well as that strange instrument of his, but she never had the chance to snuff out the flickering light of his life force. Instead, she was sent spiraling into another memory. Specifically, the night she was turned.

Every detail of the moments when her humanity became nonexistent was engraved into her mind. The pain. The fear. The boiling anger that came with the transformation. The smile of her creator as he watched her writhing and screaming. Even the way the bonds dug into her skin was clear as day within her mind. His words as he told her to embrace the change, the rage, echoed almost sickeningly throughout her mind. She could remember the overwhelming feelings of wishing it would end as her body was forced to contort under the ever-heightening weight of agony and she began to drown in a sea of darkness.

Awaking as an entirely different being was no different in the dizzying mixtures of unpleasant sensations. While the fear that had trilled through her fibers was no more than a distant memory, the rage had taken over. She didn’t deserve this, and she would be sure to make her creator pay for what he had forced her to become.

Just like I will with the people who stole my memories and force me to fight.

That poisonous thought of revenge floated through her head, and Vee found herself in yet another strange place as though she had merely blinked. She froze in her standing position, wary of where she had been summoned. The last two times, she had been summoned to a desert with a sandstorm and a swamp with trees that tried to squash her like an insect. In this new world, the first thing her senses picked up on, even before she could absorb the sites, was that it was quiet. Too quiet.

She wasted no time in taking in her surroundings. She would rather not be ambushed by something without knowing what options she had, and the strange silence seemed to be screaming a warning of ill-comings. Her eyes darted from place to place in an attempt to take everything in at once from the dilapidated buildings to her right to the ruins of an amusement park flanking her left. She absorbed the basics of both areas before her gaze fell upon a strange sight.

A few twigs suspended midair. She felt her breath catch in her throat as her body struggled to decide if it would rather be surprised or intrigued.

However, she didn’t have a chance to contemplate on the improbability of such an occurrence as a voice announced the presence of someone above her. A snarl left her as she turned towards them, ready for any sort of attack that might present itself to her. This person, this man, was presenting the area to her, and her mind quickly formed and wrapped itself around a new idea.

He’s the one. He’s the one I’m going to destroy for thinking he could force me to fight and get away with it. Her fists clenched as the anger throbbed within her, just asking to be released, but she knew she couldn’t simply attack. A feeble shriek from outside her field of vision was more than enough to alert her to the fact. This nuisance first, then him. “I’ll be coming for you soon enough,” she muttered.

As he mentioned that the rules of the arena were different from any other, Vee finally rested her eyes of her opponent, and for a few fleeting moments, the rage that had encased her ever since she had turned was vanquished and shock replaced it. She found herself frozen in place as she tried to comprehend the feat this person was accomplishing. She’s standing on walls, her mind whispered to her. She’s walking on them! She was a supernatural being herself, but she couldn’t recall knowing of anyone or anything that could do that.

In those few moments where something other than rage flashed across her face, she noticed several other things though. The first was the fact that it was like the wall had its own gravity. Not even this girl’s hair reacted to the normal gravity of the ground but was unfalteringly pulled towards the wall. The second was the girl’s behavior to it, as though it was strange to her. This must have been what the person had meant by the rules being different.

The hesitance that seeped through her new opponent’s movements told Vee that she was weak, at least in confidence, and she planned to use that against her. This hesitance continued as she stepped off the wall and finally looked towards her, which also allowed Vee to get a better look at this new foe.

Ultimately, the vibe she instantly received from her was filth. She was covered head to toe in grease, oil, and dirt, but that didn’t matter compared to one other fact. She was human. She had encountered enough humans to know one when she saw one, and this was definitely a human she was facing. Humans were weak and easily broken. They slow and prone to emotions. They were the perfect prey. Vee could feel her body reacting to this knowledge, preparing to defeat and feast on her as she had with so many humans before.

In the midst of this realization, the girl made her own move, shooting towards her faster than she had anticipated. If it hadn’t been for the falter in her step, she would have successfully landed the first blow of the battle. However, that slightest hesitation in her movement presented to Vee the perfect opportunity to decipher the path of her attack and act upon it.

She took a step back and found herself falling backwards, the bottom of this woman’s boot coming within an inch of her face. The heat from the jets could be felt, nearly searing her. Vee found herself scowling at such a close call, and one thought sounded itself to her. Take her down.

Just as she hit the ground, she twisted and shot her own foot out in an attempt to hook her opponent’s other foot and yank it out from underneath her as she continued to push herself up and of the ground. If all went well, their places would be swapped, and she would have the upper hand just seconds into the fight.

All the while, the dark, uninhabited space of the parking garage just meters from the both of them seemed to be calling her name, calling her into the darkness and shadows.

[Griff]

It took her approximately 3.4 seconds to recognize the critical error that she had made. Her hesitance ensured her downfall. Judging the rate of response in her mystery opponent, Abigail would have had to run about 1.3 meters per second faster for her initial attack to have any effect. The hesitance in her step gave the woman enough time to step back and avoid her attack.

There were around 37 ways this situation could pan out. Three of those scenarios were the most likely. One, the woman could use her fall to gain the advantage and use this time to run from Abigail; two, the woman could use this time to use a weapon and injure Abigail; or three, she could use Abigail's defenseless position to gain the upper hand and have their positions be switched. Judging by her opponent's apparent combination of intelligence and ferocity, option three was the most probable.

Abigail's hypothesis was confirmed when she felt her opponent's foot latch onto her own and pull her down. She felt her hands fall onto the dusty ground as she fought to prevent her fall, feeling sharp gravel cut her hands.

Abigail looked up at the woman, who now had much more of a feral appearance. She was standing over her, and now Abigail had roughly 6 seconds to think of a plan.

One of the two most probable options was two take her previously used stainless steel-- an alloy of iron and a few other metals, butter knife, and stab her where ever seems appropriate. That was the most effective plan that she came up with, seeing as how running away would only further prolong the battle.

While on the dusty ground, under the threatening woman, Abigail managed to twist her arm into the tools at her waist and pull out her butter knife. She painstakingly turned her arm and put the knife in her free hand.

The knife was then plunged into the lower part of Abigail's mystery opponent's gastrocnemius tendon-- well, she assumed it was her gastrocnemius tendon, she didn't really know if her opponent had one, she tried to stab all of the way through. She turned on her jet boots and, on her back, rocketed herself to the other side of the area. She sat up against the wall and wiped the blood splatter off of her face, careful to avoid the ravenous-looking bunny creatures.

While sitting there she looked up and saw a man standing and spectating the battle. She couldn't see much of his appearance, but he-- at least she assumed it was a he, had a mysterious vibe to him. It made her feel uneasy. He was like a part of this battle, or some twisted judge for this "event". Who would choose to judge a death match? It made her feel sick.

[Mystress of Shadows]

With her plan perfectly executed, Vee stood over the feeble woman with a ravenous smile seeping onto her face. Humans never stood a chance against her, and this one only helped to prove that further. She was defenseless against her strength and agility, just as every scared or prideful human before her, and she was going to enjoy that. There wouldn’t be any surprise magic attacks, and it was obvious she wasn’t a holy woman. No real weaponry could be seen on her, either. How she managed to get this far was a mystery to her, but it didn’t matter. She was hers now.

While absorbed in her triumphant thoughts, however, the girl made her move swifter than a blink of the eye, and something was plunged into the back of her leg. The grin that had presented itself was terminated in that single moment as her rage began to spike and a feral roar escaped her. How dare she strike back! How dare she bother to retaliate when she’s already lost!

Her sight became tunnel vision. Her instincts became only that of murder. Her blistering rage became an inferno. Her pain became its fuel. Her thoughts became one: I will not lose to a human! She snapped her head towards the vermin only to see that she had fled from her just as swiftly as she had approached, and within Vee’s mind, that only proved her cowardice. Only a coward would strike and run instead of fighting properly.

Vee yanked the simple knife out and thrust it into the hard-packed dirt beneath her, but even with it out, she was still presented with a problem. She would have a difficult time fighting with a deep wound, especially with the girl’s speed matching, perhaps even topping her own. She couldn’t heal with her so far away, either.

A hopping sound alerted her to a presence behind her, and when she turned, she grinned. A perfect specimen of a mutant rabbit stood before her, and regardless of the fact that it was mutant, it carried blood, which was all she desired.

She sprung upon it greedily, her fangs sinking into its soft flesh with ease as the first drops of rich, metallic blood laced her tongue. Her success was short lived though as not a moment had passed before her head exploded with pain. A scream splintered the arena’s tense air, erupting from her own chest. What was more, she was being made to look weak as she nearly dropped her treat. Impossible! I will not fall to something so simple! Irritation filled her pores, and as a second scream, this one more like a roar of defiance, left her, her hands wrapped around the pitiful creature’s neck and pulled on instinct in a rather curious attempt to silence the throbbing pain echoing through her mind.

A satisfying pop and rip accompanied the release from the mental torment, leaving the furry carcass halves to drip crimson petals onto her. She threw the vile thing to the ground, but watched in frustration as it remained suspended in midair as though defying her even in death. It mattered not either way as Vee had absorbed enough blood to heal her leg enough that she would be able to run without too much trouble despite the pain that would shoot up her leg with each pounding step.

What she would do next had the chance of determining which direction the battle would head in, and as she returned to facing the feeble opponent of hers, she knew exactly what she would do. Previously, she had not been prepared, and the girl had nearly landed an attack. This time, however, she was ready. She would wait until the girl decided to strike once again and dodge at the last second, thus beginning a new game of cat and mouse, one in which she would be the mouse and her opponent the cat. All she needed was for this girl to begin the chase.

[Kris]

Mystress of Souls continues to the next round.