Gold Match: RedKayne vs Low Budget Man (Judges: G, Kris, Karma)

[~N~]

A deluge sluiced its way into the gullet of the monstrous creature, enormous as the world, swallowing all in its path to feed an insatiable hunger for life. Ships and the souls upon them, sailors swimming and drowning, sea life great and small, and gallons and gallons of water, enough to sink a thousand vessels in a single night found their way into the belly of the beast. Like Fenris, this creature was a devourer of worlds, and it fed upon the fates themselves, becoming the future of darkness that eventually swallows us all.

For it is here that all things end.

The mechanical puppet and the tempest knight found themselves so consumed, along with the world around them in the maelstrom of this undying beast, an unstoppable force capable of breaking the gods themselves. Within the belly of this beast, wreckage, bodies, and debris littered a landscape that was by comparison very much alive. In here, within the hollow of this creature's infernal stomach, acid mixed with swampy water and the air filled with the fumes of decay and rot of bloated corpses. The very mounds of flesh, wood, metal, and bone that collected enough to stand above the murky shallows that sloshed around them stank of decomposition.

And yet, things moved in the water, and shapes could be seen in the darkness, dimly lit as it was by the fading glow of lamps and torches, wisps and critters and fishes that live in the dark and find their way by their own illumination. So it was that in this hollow, expansive enough to house entire ships, their wreckage in mounds here and there in this living graveyard, could for a moment be imagined as some kind of starlit underground cavern, complete with a river of the condemned, running through it.

Were it not for the gurgling, and the shifting, and the nauseous, acidic stench that lay upon the tongue every time one took a breath. This was a place of death, filled with the bodies and souls of the damned, interned until such time as their life and energy was utterly spent and transformed into fuel for the world-eater.

From the filthy murk, a corpse arose, its head cocked to the side, with dripping bits of seaweed danging from its teeth, a half-hinged smile that exhaled only the raspy whispers of the dead, perfumed with poisonous puffs of a breath that should have long ceased. Barnacles and worms fed upon that carcass, and their host, with rickety bones and dangling dollops of putrid flesh climbed the beach of the mound the two combatants had washed up. It seemed that each movement might be its last, so fragile and advanced was its state of decay.

"Welcome," it said suddenly, without tongue or cheek. "Welcome to the feast."

"May your final struggles be enough to grant you peace, for there's naught but finality to be found in this beast, and I shall watch you struggle, until you finally cease..."

"... to be..."

Its skeletal head popped and cracked with an unnatural turn that acknowledged both combatants with hollow, macabre sockets.

"... or not..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By the toss of a coin, Low Budget Man goes first.

You have exactly 48 hours from the timestamp of this post to make your initial post.

[Low-Budget Man]

Filth coated Puppet’s poncho as he stood entirely motionless amidst the chaos of the belly. His previously sleek shiny armor stained with dirty water. His feet were planted firmly atop a sailor’s cracked skull, spilling bits of brain. Atop a wreckage of dead men and ships, Puppet surveyed the area.

Thousands of lifeless corpses stared back at him with dull eyes. Crabs and other bottom feeders feasted upon the boons of flesh granted to them. Skeletons began grinning at him as worms devoured the few remaining bits of meat that clung to them. Even with the great banquet spread out for the decomposers, they still fought over the scraps like the lower intelligent life-forms they were.

A body rose from the shallows to speak. Weak flesh held together through magicks of some sort. Puppet’s dull eyes laid itself on the body, studying it. It talked about finality and the end for Puppet. If Puppet could laugh, he easily would have. It was a sheep advising a lion.

Puppet would live long past this day to continue his mission. Organics were delicate fragile creatures. A bash to the skull or a spike to the chest would render them incapable. They died in a myriad of easy ways. Too little water. Too much water. Too little air. Too much air. Put a hole in them and they fall apart.

All round him, the dead were consumed while Puppet stood as tall as the day he was born. Puppet would not be the one to fall. He was a testament to superiority over the purely organic. However, one figure stood against Puppet’s conclusion. A solitary knight armed with a halberd and shield provided an outlier to the information at hand. How he survived the harsh conditions within the beast baffled Puppet. Any organic should have been killed by the hundreds of possible threats.

The Knight was an anomaly. An exception to the statistic at hand. Puppet disliked irregularities.

Puppet’s visual sensors couldn’t make out the knight’s markings or any other further detail due to the distance and light. Patches of light illuminated portions of the arena. But, the world was still mostly shrouded in darkness with lifelines of light scattered about. The darkness was Puppet’s friend, and it was the Knight’s enemy. Meat-bags as a general rule couldn’t see in the dark and relied on torches to provide a security blanket. Puppet watched many villagers cower in their homes once the night came, afraid to venture out into the unknown without the safe light to protect them.

It was an apparent weakness in their design. It was something to be remedied once Puppet evolved them from pure organic beings to a superior form of machine and flesh. But for now, Puppet planned on exploiting their inferiority to the fullest.

Puppet’s echolocation discerned every detail of the warrior. The flowing murk, the feasting sea life, the creaking ships, and the dripping water all contributed to a perfect image of the world. Every sound made by the environment created a wave of vision for Puppet. Hundreds of small sounds bouncing off every surface built a continuously updated view of the world.

There was not a single ounce of color in Puppet’s map, but that wasn’t needed. The warrior’s position, the distance, and the environment was all Puppet desired. The one thing Puppet couldn’t “see” was the shifting sea life under the murky water. Foggy shapes swam and dined on the scraps of meat.

All Puppet had to do was move to the warrior and stab him through the hole in his helm. Humans loved to put holes in their helmets to see. Another weakness for the meat-bags. Puppet needed none of that. His egg-shell white head encapsulated and perfectly protected Puppet’s insides. His inner machinery whirred quietly away to give Puppet peak efficiency.

Puppet needed to reach the knight first to commence his simple plan. The water could prove to be dangerous. Puppet “spotted” a solid board of wood floating on the water. Slightly rotten and with a corpse draped over it, the board proved a pitiful sight. The corpse atop the board seemed to smile as worms burrowed into its pale stretched flesh.

In a smooth motion, Puppet skulked across the darkened blotches unrevealed by the lamps. His elongated legs tread carefully across the wreckage, making little crunches with every footstep. The wooden board with the smiling dead man was still several feet away. A halo of light covered a portion of it. Puppet stepped on a blonde haired corpse directly in front of the illuminated area.

Stepping into the light would reveal his position. However, not getting on the board meant swimming through filth and unknown creatures. While no water would enter Puppet’s inner machinery when swimming due to his perfect design, any possible puncture would possibly ruin that limb.

Puppet glanced at the corpse at his feet, considering his options for a split second. He bent downward and grabbed the nearby blond body by the shoulder and leg. Crabs scattered at the sudden interruption of their meal. His hands clutched the corpse tightly. His fingers sunk deep into the decomposing flesh with a sickening damp sound. This would do.

Puppet spun his torso a full three hundred and sixty degrees to build up a tremendous amount of torque. Twisting your body with a single punch usually enhanced its strength. However, spinning it a full rotation granted it a grand amount of power. Combined with his already superior strength, the twist created enough power for Puppet to toss the body a good distance. His fingers released the body at the perfect point to send the body flying as far as possible. The entire move took barely a second and was completely soundless, except for the body’s landing.

The body sailed in the air for a few moments before loudly plunging into the river of death. A splash of water erupted from the crash. A noticeable crack resonated through the air as the corpse also impacted a piece of driftwood in the water. Ripples of waters extended out from the landing and Puppet felt the foggy shapes underneath the water flee at the intrusion.

It was a prime distraction for Puppet to slip onto the wooden board undetected. The knight would pay attention to the corpse’s plunge into the water, while Puppet would maneuver into position. The body was thrown to Puppet’s far left while Puppet stealthily eluded to the right. The body would also potentially provide a distraction for the creatures that might roam under the water.

Puppet balanced himself on the wooden board like a surfer. Seeing that the murky water held unknown threats, Puppet held no desire to possible damage his limbs. Puppet once again glanced down to see a corpse. The corpse wore a blue wool cap, and a wicked stretched smile spread across his face. Organics always died in strange ways. If Puppet died, at least he would be made a mockery.

Puppet grabbed the smiling corpse by the shoulders only and lifted the body upward. The corpse held steady with no indications of breaking. The worms had not claimed this one yet, but that was only a matter of time. Puppet almost felt disgusted for the organics at the fate that awaited all of them. But then again, they were organics.

With a firm but quiet kick away from the wreckage island, Puppet launched his makeshift boat onto the river. Puppet shoved the corpse’s legs into the water while holding the body’s torso. Using the body frail body as an oar, Puppet gently pushed the raft toward the Knight under cover of darkness.

The Knight stood as the only organic with fully functional limbs and organs in this hellish place. Experimenting and building new Puppets required fresh meat instead of the dead decomposing ones littered about. He would only new a few fresh organs from the Knight. The Knight’s armor also seemed to provide decent protection. Perhaps he could use the Knight’s armor as the new Puppet’s shell. But first, he needed to install machinery and electronics within the Knight’s corpse to improve him.

The meat was weak after all. Why have meat when you can have steel?

[RedKayne]

A Little Girl Faces the World

---

"Your brother is a traitor, Elena."

"Kyril is dead... he's gone forever... there is only the Cold Emperor."

"Kyril is a menace to mankind. The Emperor needs to be... eliminated."

These words echoed throughout the turmoil mind of the Tempest Knight. Every member in the Templar Order agreed that her older brother... who became the Cold Emperor... needed to be executed for his crimes against humanity. Countless bodies have been left behind in his wake, and many innocent lives were lost or taken by his hands.

A few years ago, there was a tragic day... when Kyril's own beloved was killed... cut down by a wicked being. Her older brother became consumed by grief and rage - a thirst for revenge. He took upon the mantle of the Cold Emperor and began an eternal quest for vengeance. He intended to hunt down the malevolent monster that killed his beloved... and to also become the bane to the Most Noble Luthious. The death of Myra, Kyril's love, shattered his reality and the faith in his God - due to His failure in protecting his beloved.

The Cold Emperor sought out godlike powers. He found himself in this very tournament - two years ago - and challenged the mightiest fighters across the world. He wanted to prove his own strength by defeating his opponents and to ensure his capability of challenging the monstrosity that slew Myra.

This is where Captain Malstrom's story begins in this tournament. Her brother, the Cold Emperor, disappeared without a trace after the tournament ended. During these past two years, Elena has been training nonstop in order to be a capable fighter for this tournament. When rumors of the gladiator tournament began to spread this year, Malstrom immediately abandoned her post in the Order - despite losing her prestigious rank and status as a templar warrior.

Elena needed to win this contest of arms. The supervising gods of this tournament have the information she needs. The location of the Cold Emperor.

I haven't given up on you, brother. I never will.

The Tempest Knight's gray eyes blinked beneath the visor and then drew in the surroundings. The stench was the first thing that hit her... slammed against her.

Death. Death in its purest form.

The rotting smell of decomposing bodies and putrefied liquid overwhelmed the human female's sense of smell. That alone could cause an ordinary human to completely blackout. However, Elena's eyes completely widened upon the sight of mounds composed of flesh, bones scattered around this unearthly environment... and she stood directly on top of one of them.

The unwelcome sensation of a warm, putrid liquid rose up from her core and up her throat. The young woman's legs caved in, and her knees slammed against the surface of the mound. Dark slimy substances splattered onto her suit of armor, and Elena quickly grabbed the sides of her helmet before tearing it off.

A few wretched seconds quickly passed, and the young woman knelt on the ground. She breathed heavily, and her entire body shuddered after the dreadful experience of emptying her stomach. An acidic bitter taste tingled in her mouth, and there was a slight burning sensation left behind in her throat and stomach. Malstrom rapidly blinked away the tears and attempted to clear her vision. She tried to steady her own palpitating heart, which seemed to be thumping loudly inside of her head instead of her chest.

Silver strands of hair fell around her face, while Elena focused upon returning to her senses. It took another few seconds before the templar warrior sat back, before pushing up with her wobbly legs and standing in a straight posture. Her right gauntlet held a tight grip onto her helmet's edge, while her greaves sank about an inch or two into the decomposing dune.

Captain Malstrom's eyes were still completely wide as if baffled by the battlefield before her. The Tempest Knight was placed in the churning stomach of a colossal beast - where debris of ships, dim lamps, and bloated corpses were wide-spread throughout the unholy area.

Most Noble Luthious... what is this god-forsaken realm?

Despite being a very experienced fighter, and having multiple brushes with death - Elena Malstrom is very much mortal. This location greatly disturbed the young woman, and she could not banish the feeling of imminent death approaching.

"Welcome... welcome to the feast."

Elena's attention shifted to the murky waters, where a corpse's head bobbled above the bleak surface. The undead creature slowly climbed onto the mound, and the Tempest Knight prepared to draw upon her weapons in case if the abomination decided to attack. The sight of worms digging into the carcass's head, along with the dangling strips of flesh - only caused Malstrom's stomach to become even more nauseous.

"May your final struggles grant you peace...

A loud splash caused the Tempest Knight's body to jerk towards the source of the noise. Elena couldn't see too clearly within the dimly lit expanse, but she noticed the circular ripples that appeared from the watery depths. Malstrom could have sworn that she overheard a snapping sound as well - such as a plank of wood. Regardless, small dark shapes scattered from below the surface - clearly distracted by the sudden disturbance. Elena's eyes narrowed towards the area - it was difficult to discern the uncomfortable knot in her stomach to be from the recent emptying of its contents... or a bad gut feeling.

"...for there's naught but finality to be found in this beast..."

Captain Malstrom's gaze returned back to the skeletal figure. Apparently, it is to be the judge of this final battle. The setting is eerily fitting for the end of this infernal tournament - battling within the world-eating leviathan. After overcoming countless trials and tribulations... this was the ultimate test for the mage-knight. She could not afford to lose after coming this far.

"I shall watch you struggle, until you finally cease... to be... or not."

Elena's gray eyes lowered themselves to her helmet and stared right into the visor. It was as if the personification of the Tempest Knight stared right back at her. After achieving the past few victories, Malstrom has the right to be proud of her accomplishments. However, she could not forget about her roots as a person. She could not allow that portion to fade away... to cease to be.

Family is always first. She is a little sister. A young girl just trying to find her big brother. A young woman trying to save the life of someone she loves dearly... and ultimately bring back his humanity.

Big brother... just wait for me a little longer... I'm almost there...

The mage-knight then did something unexpected, and tossed aside the helmet into the murky waters below. The Tempest Knight's helmet slowly sank into the unknown depths. She no longer needed to hide behind the mask, and this could only prove that she is capable of surpassing the Cold Emperor.

After making that personal decision, Captain Elena Malstrom glanced back up at the undead carcass. "I will not cease to be, ancient one," Elena's lips curled up into a small smile, as her confidence rebounded back. There was a hint of renewed determination within her eyes, despite suffering from the overwhelming horror of this location earlier.

The young woman accepted the weaknesses she had. She is human after all, and she has many fears. However, the bonds of family will help her overcome any obstacle placed before her.

Her opponent was nowhere in sight, and so she could not make an assessment of its abilities yet. It could be anything... from a towering troll to a fellow mage-knight. Malstrom was unable to make any assessments on the other combatant, but she could take precautionary measures.

The Tempest Knight raised up both arms and opened both palms. Her gauntlets became enshrouded with a brilliant golden light, before spheres of electrical energy formulated from both hands. The voltage orbs expanded themselves slightly before they crackled with electrical power. The radiance of the Tempest Orbs shined upon the approximate surrounding area, allowing Elena a clearer view of anything nearby.

She had to be wary of any dark figures - those type of sights would activate her mental disorder symptoms. Once again, Elena had to be slightly frustrated about her disadvantage. However, as with the previous battle, she will not allow her weakness to cripple her. Malstrom will fight to the bitter end.

Malstrom dropped both arms to her sides and eyed her surroundings. She had to be cautious of any unexpected assaults. The two Tempest orbs floated beside her, and ready to activate upon a simple movement. Perspiration already began to form on her creamy-pale brow, as the knight was forced to play the waiting game.

However, as always, she has faith that the One True God will give her the strength to achieve this final victory.

[Low-Budget Man]

Fear. A delicious weakness held by all humans. If Puppet was a villain, he would have twirled his mustache and smelled the ripe fear fuming through the air like a drug. However, the emotion was nothing more to him than a weakness. It was something to be fixed. It was a glitch that required debugging. It was a crooked book on a shelf that needed straightening. Organics were full of crooked books.

Puppet studied her through his echolocation. Every creak of her armor and every breath she took revealed herself to him. Combined with the thousands of sounds that echoed through the air, Puppet could see her as clearly as if she was standing next to him.

She jolted at the corpse landing in the water. Her helm snapped toward the sudden sound as if it were about to lurch after her. Her motions displayed disgust and confusion at the battlefield. Her stomach rumbled as if she was sick. Sick of fear, the most dangerous of illnesses.

Fear clearly ran through her body instead of blood. Fear was another tool in Puppet’s cruel toolbox. Fear of the unknown. Fear of the dark. Fear of what might lurk. It was a flaw held by the organics and Puppet planed on using it to the fullest. It wouldn’t be efficient otherwise.

Puppet’s wooden raft landed on the shore of the Knight’s wreckage island. A slight crack could be heard as the raft bumped into the wooden planks that made up the shore. However, it was camouflaged itself into the thousands of noises that reverberated through the arena. Scavengers ate noisily like kings. Ships creaked and cracked as wildlife scurried about making nests or looking for more food. The water was rife with dark murky shapes swimming.

Puppet sensed her removing her helmet, and then proceeding to toss it into the river. The helmet landed with a “plonk” in the water. She gave up protection….willingly. That was another weakness for organics. She acted with irrational behavior. That was a common trait for meat-bags like her. They always tried to come back to save their companions instead of escaping. They would stand and defend their wounded to the last man. It was always a pointless endeavor. Why risk death when you could easily escape?

Some humans, particularly knights, always wanted to protect the weak. They would risk their lives to fight for dead weight. They would fight for people that would give little benefit or production. Seeing that she was a Knight, Puppet formulated a plan. Puppet was going to put on a show.

A Puppet Show.

Puppet ducked behind a waist high barricade of trash to avoid the Knight’s sight. Rotted wooden boards made up the bulk of the barrier and a few bloated corpses were shoved underneath the barricade. A hand stuck out of the wreckage as if grasping for air.

Light emanated from the Knight’s palm like two miniature suns. While nowhere near as bright, it would certainly negate her fear of the battle. Humans treasured light as if it was their lifeline. Without it, all the would know is darkness and fear. It granted them false hope. Puppet would work to remedy that situation.

Puppet grabbed three decomposing corpse off the grab with his four arms. He was to set the stage first before the show began. Puppet held one body with his second set of arms and shoved it in front of him. His second set of arms held the body directly in front of Puppet to shield Puppet from view.

His first set of arms, his top set, held a body with each arm. The bodies were rotted and riddled with worms. The clothes seemed to barely cling to their white putrid flesh. A poor imitation of life, but it would have to do. He held out the other two bodies to both sides of the first body.

If the Knight to look directly at Puppet, he would see the three bodies standing roughly in a line, blocking Puppet from view. Their heads drooped from death, but that mattered little. They were arrayed in a row with Puppet having them stand roughly on the barricade like actors on a stage. Puppet kept them close together to safeguard their puppeteer from the Knight’s potential range attack. She couldn’t shoot what she couldn’t see if she had a bow or some sort of magic. The bodies were small enough for Puppet to lift, but they still shielded vision well enough.

However, Puppet chose these bodies for a specific reason. Patches of golden hair clung to their heads. One had a pink dress with smiling flowers atop of it. Another had a boyish set of suspenders. The last had a handsome school uniform completed with a red blazer.

Organics always loved to protect their young. Even if they might be dead. Puppet’s mouth slide open like a nutcracker preparing the crack a nut. Instead of his usual attack, sound emitted from Puppet’s head. Fear was going to win Puppet this battle. All Puppet had to do was enhance it.

"He’s coming! Father! He’s breaking in! Help! He’s coming through the door! I SEE HIM-ARAGHHH,” echoed Puppet. The sound pierce through the atmosphere like an arrow.

The voice was one of a panicking young boy. He was one of Puppet’s first victims. Puppet recorded all his deeds incase he ever needed to replay them. It was a time when Puppet’s tactics were more brutish instead of stealthy. But Puppet learned better.

“Please….not mother! Mother loved me dear! NO! NO! STOP! DON’T! I BEG!” Another voice came through Puppet's mouth.

This time it was of a crying girl. The sound of steel diving into flesh could be heard amidst her sobs. The victim was the machine cult leader, the person who had previously controlled Puppet and created Puppet. Puppet didn’t like being a puppet.

“HELP ME! SOMEBODY PLEASE! STOP HIM! ANYBODY! GOD SAVE ME! SAVE ME SOMEONE! FATHER! BROTHER! PLEASE! SISTER,” screamed the boy.

The boy didn’t sound much like a boy, but instead sounded more like a teenager. Puppet had begun performing experimentations at this time. The boy was experimented on….while feeling everything. Puppet ensured the teenager felt everything to test out his theories. Puppet had a lot of theories to test.

Puppet shook the three bodies wildly as he replayed the recordings. Instead of letting them end one after another, he overlapped them. Three voices pleading and begging for help as Puppet assaulted them. A cacophony of terror echoed loudly and clearly. The voices were a combinations of screams and horror designed to inflict maximum amount of fear into the Knight. If she was even an ounce bit human, then she would be somewhat effected. And that was all Puppet needed.

Puppet made the bodies dance to his cruel and horrible tune. Their arms waved and their heads lolled from side to side. Their bodies shook wildly as if possessed by a spirit. They jigged a mad puppet’s puppeteering. But it wasn’t just a simple Puppet show. It was also a magic show.

Puppet released a cloud of gas from his body. The gas spewed it odorless and nearly invisible. The gas floated in a bubble around the wicked mockery of a show. The gas flowed colorlessly and could be distinguished in one way. Light distorted and bent awkwardly around the gas like light underwater. If light came across the gas, it would spring and dance in different directions as if confused by the strange substance.

Looking at it, something would be clearly wrong. However, one had to stare at it for a few moments to correctly garner something was amiss. Puppet hoped to distract with the meat-puppets enough so she wouldn’t notice.

Puppet sat slightly crouched behind the barricade to avoid revealing too much of himself. Only half his torso was exposed above the barricade, but luckily the bodies provided cover from the Knight’s light. His legs were bent and planted firmly on the ground, ready to spring out of cover.

The gas had the effect of causing nauseating headaches that would potentially render prey useless. It would be like knives being jammed into your brain if the subject caught a tiny whiff of the gas. Hallucinations would follow if the subject continued to breathe in the gas. Distorted perception, ghastly voices, and friendly faces were often reported effects. However, Puppet didn’t interview everyone he had ever killed to ask for what they felt.

The Knight had magical abilities judging from her balls of light. Puppet could figure out how it works. Find out what makes her magic tick and how to use it. The magic had to be located inside somewhere surely? He just had to open her up to find it. Perhaps it is in the brain? Slice an incision through the back of the skull, insert scalpel….

[RedKayne]

Divine Flames of the Most Noble

---

"Your brother is a traitor, Elena."

"I will not stop in my path for vengeance, Elena."

"Kyril is dead... he's gone forever... there is only the Cold Emperor."

"The brother you knew is dead... he died with Myra..."

"Kyril is a menace to mankind. The Emperor needs to be... eliminated."

"Step aside, little sister, or else you will fade away..."

The inner tempest continued to stir within Captain Malstrom's head. Memories of her older brother's descent into darkness were still quite vivid in the young woman's mind. The knight could still feel a palpable pain from the large scar across her chest, where she could practically re-imagine the cold sting of Kyril's blade cutting across her torso.

Elena tried to stop him. She tried to stop her older brother from heading down a path he could not return from. Instead, she nearly paid that price with her own life - which her own brother nearly took.

After that life-changing and traumatic event, many members of the Order would view Kyril - the Cold Emperor - completely irredeemable. It was practically a miracle that Elena survived from her grave injuries, and perhaps Luthious personally had a hand in aiding her. However, after fully recovering, Elena's resolve to save her own brother only strengthened.

For some reason - she saw something which nobody else did. Perhaps it was a glimpse of Kyril's humanity, hidden deep down within the Emperor. Perhaps Luthious personally visited Elena and communicated his guidance to save her brother. Regardless, throughout all of these years - the little sibling never lost hope in her family.

And she will not lose hope in this final battle. After all - hope is the eternal bane of fear. In-organics could never comprehend that hidden strength.

Countless sounds of discord echoed throughout the belly of the beast. There were slow cracking sounds of planks, fluttering wings of flying insects, and deep rumbles from the leviathan's core. Malstrom found it difficult to discern any single noise that would disclose her opponent's location.

The two Tempest Orbs crackled with energy, and also emitted light upon the surrounding area. The templar stood upon a large mound surrounded by the murky water, and there were several other small islands scattered throughout the battlefield. Of course, these islands were composed of mutilated corpses, bugs of entropy, and debris of long-forgotten ships. There was one particular 'island' that caught the gray gaze of the silver-haired woman, which she mentally took note of. A single lantern stood at the center of that specific mound.

The Captain shifted her observant eyes away, as she barely detected movement from a barricade of corpses nearby. All of a sudden, three small bodies stood near the pile of carcasses. They were side-by-side and were practically squished together. These were the cadavers of children, and yet they acted very much... alive.

"He's coming! Father! He's breaking in! Help!"

Elena took a step back, and her gray eyes slightly widened with surprise. The horrified scream of the young boy practically pierced into her heart, and she could sense the boy's fear during his final moments in life.

Who is this... he?

"Please... not mother! Mother loved me dear!"

A little girl's voice screeched into the air. The corpse's mouth never moved, but the girl's terror could be heard loudly and clearly. The sound of steeling cutting through flesh was also audible amongst the girl's cries... which did stuck to the back of Elena's mind. It was a peculiar sound to be overheard, and perhaps the corpse's final moments were being replayed by a different source.

"HELP ME! SOMEBODY PLEASE STOP HIM!"

The final voice did not belong to the body of the other boy. It sounded like an older teenager instead, which displayed that this is nothing more than a deception. All three bodies shook violently and their blood-curdling screams projected over each other. Once again, the last voice commented on a particular individual - him.

It was an incredibly disturbing sight. Elena had to take a few steps back between herself and 'undead' bodies. An ungodly image is presented before the Tempest Knight, and many other human mortals would mentally breakdown from anything similar. The young woman stood there for a few brief seconds, and stared at the 'little children.'

She felt her heart pull towards them... their innocent lives were taken away so soon from this world. If she had the opportunity, Malstrom would do everything in her power to save the children from their respective plights. Elena shut her eyes for a few brief seconds and paused her breathing. She had to contain her emotions if she had any hope of winning this battle. Clearly, these bodies were being manipulated by a malevolent force. She wasn't sure who or what... but this was ultimately a game to that wicked being.

Captain Malstrom reopened her eyes, and righteous anger beamed from her gray gaze. The templar is not a pawn in this game. There was a sound of an object being unclipped - muffled by the utter cacophony. Immediately thereafter, a small metallic orb flung itself across the air. The trajectory remained true to its target and landed right before the group of three corpses.

The Holy Grenade exploded with a storm of divine flames.

All three bodies were immediately covered with the holy flames, but there was no scent of burning flesh. The purpose of the grenade's fire was meant to cause agonizing pain. If these... 'children' were actually cognizant, then the searing pain of the flames should distort them. However, the Tempest Knight highly doubted that would be the case.

The flames spreaded out rapidly - and attached to anything nearby, which may include the corpse barricade... and perhaps a particular wooden creature. Unbeknownst to both combatants, the holy flames may possibly play a different effect to an inorganic.

Captain Malstrom only watched the burning corpses for a few seconds, before her eyes observed the area around herself. She couldn't become too distracted, because anything could potentially surprise the young woman if she isn't cautious.

However, despite the mage-knight's guarded nature, she couldn't protect herself from Puppet's carefully laid out move. The colorless gas enshrouded the lithe body of the knight, and she breathed into the gas for only a few seconds. It was enough to cause an absolutely terrible pain.

Elena screamed aloud and grabbed the sides of her head as both knees collapsed onto the ghastly surface. It felt like a scalpel dug into her head, which intended to tear apart her brain. In the back of Elena's subconscious, the templar knew that she couldn't stay in that spot. She couldn't leave herself vulnerable.

The Tempest Knight's entire body became golden with a brilliant light as if she was coated by pure energy. Suddenly, that energy condensed itself into a small sphere of crackling electricity. It was a unique sight - as three miniature suns hovered above the ground. They represented shining beacons of light in this godforsaken realm, and perhaps in a literature sense - instilled hope and combated the fear in this world.

The center sphere shot away from the Tempest Orbs like a lightning bolt. It directed itself to the small island that Captain Malstrom took notice earlier. It wasn't too far away, and the bolt of energy halted itself above the flesh mound, which was isolated by the murky waters. The sphere of energy expanded itself into the templar's body outline before she formed on top of the surface.

The young woman knelt down with one knee, and one palm planted against the ground in an attempt to keep herself up. Elena's breathing was extremely labored from the mental pain, which fortunately subsided at this point. However, the templar was unsure on what just occurred. She couldn't understand what caused that pain - and internally prayed that would be the end of further surprises.

Elena kept her eyes on the Tempest Orbs floating on the larger mound, along with the burning corpses. At this point, her opponent should reveal himself - she was done playing his game. This is a battle of life-and-death, and she does not take this lightly at all.

[Low-Budget Man]

Echolocation constantly provided an update on Puppet’s surroundings. A rat scurried by Puppet’s feet, unperturbed by the fight. A pair of crabs squabbled for a corpse on a small mound behind Puppet. A mast sunk deeper into the river every time an overly large fish bumped it. The mad orchestra of screams painted the area in a clear picture down to the very grain.

Puppet’s echolocation felt the Knight pulling something out. She unclipped the object and sent the orb flying at the Puppet. Or at least, she threw it at the corpses since she used only her eyes to see and Puppet was hidden from sight. Puppet almost forgot a crucial weakness of organics.

While he possessed no outside knowledge of the Knight’s weaponry and armaments, Puppet did perfectly understand what bombs were. Explosives were a tool used by the old brute force orientated Puppet. It was used by the careless Puppet that didn’t concern himself with elegance. However, Puppet’s kills were now clean and quiet. Whatever that object was, Puppet was confident it wasn’t a rock.

Puppet attempted to duck down below the barricade as the grenade detonate, sending a wave of fire flooding over the corpses. Licks of flames curled around the barricade and the corpses like ants over a morsel. Puppet used the corpses as a shield against sight before. Now he used it as a shield against flame.

Tendrils of fire still washed over Puppet’s metallic armor despite the soggy corpse’s providing protection. However, none broke through his protective shell to burn into his inner organs. A majority of Puppet’s body was behind the barricade when the grenade exploded, causing only his shoulder and head to catch the brief licks of flame. The poncho covering his shoulders provided fuel for the greedy for as it slowly ate at the poncho. Puppet paid it no mind.

Puppet enhanced the cacophony to stimulate him getting hit. Not only did he simply increase the sounds, he added in more panicked cries. More children screaming in shrill fear and terror as the faceless man descended upon. Puppet had plenty of those.

The fire danced atop his head and shoulders, refusing to dissipate. It was an inconvenience that brought light to the otherwise dark battlefield. But it was neither the persisting flame nor the pain that could not be brought that caused damage to Puppet, it was the sound.

Puppet’s psychological attack was loud, but it paled in comparison to the explosion of noise of the grenade. All gunpowder based weaponry existed on the premise of being flashy and loud. Too loud for Puppet’s maneuvers and attacks. Also, it had the potiential of destroying Puppet’s sensitive ears.

Puppet fixed himself to hear every heartbeat, every breath, and every nimble footstep of his prey. Prey often hid and Puppet often needed to find them. Loud clashing battles disorientated Puppet and brought too much information for him to handle. Puppet stayed crouch for a few moments as his sensors recovered for the blast. Fire clung the barricade and the corpses around him, lighting the entire field in its light.

The Knight had disappeared and reappeared on a separate island a small distance away from the first. She stood panting at the gas, but Puppet remained confused on how she got there. Magic was the obvious answer. At least, Puppet was going to find out once he opened her up. Puppet always wanted to teleport.

Puppet uncurled himself to full height, half his body illuminated by the scraps of fire. Seven and a half feet tall with a face of porcelain white that made a mockery of a human’s face, it was the very definition of uncanny valley. The screams persisted as Puppet took a step toward the Knight whilst the light eerily lit up small portions of his body.

He moved strangely, almost like a human, but too straight and rigid. His movements were lanky and almost spider-like as if it were someone pretending to be human. Straight away, one could easily tell this was not a natural human being.

Puppet’s two lower arms bent down to scoop up two worm-covered bodies off the ground. The corpses slushed as they were picked up and a scurry of bottom-feeding crabs scurried off the body the second it was disturbed. The fate of all organics. To be forever food of other organics.

A towering mast stuck out of the water between the two mounds. Barnacles cling to the side of the rotten wood, but it still looked sturdy. A crow’s nest crowned the mast with a skeleton leaning over the side of it.

Puppet took a running start at the Knight on the other mound. It looked as if Puppet was planning to dive into the water, but at the last second he changed his mind. Instead of merely trying to swim across to the second mound, Puppet leaped instead.

He aimed both arms upward at the mast protruding from the water and opened fire with his two upper arms at the crow’s nest. His two upper arms flew up at the crow’s nest like two grappling hooks being shot out of a gun. Rattling metal could be heard as the arms flew upward at the crow's nest.

Chains followed the arms and connected the fired arms to Puppet’s torso like an elaborate cord. His arms tightly clutched the crow’s nest with an iron grip as he swung. The arms were the rope while Puppet’s body was the bob. He swung like a pendulum across the river with extra room to spare. Puppet slightly angled his body parallel to the ground as he swung to further increase his speed by decreasing wind resistance. He needed peak efficiency and would settle for no less.

His two bottom arms clutched the bodies while his two upper arms became swing ropes. As he reached the peak of his trajectory, he lobbed the two bodies at the mound. However, he was not aiming only for the Knight. One body was thrown strictly at the Knight, while another one flew at the singular lantern on the island. Darkness will be casted upon her, whether she accepted it or not. Darkness was Puppet's domain while light was the Knight's.

The bodies tumbled at their targets with the force of the swing and the force of the Puppet’s arms behind them. Damage was not the intended goal. Distraction was. The Knight surely wouldn’t be able to deal with both Puppet and the bodies at the same time, hopefully leaving Puppet to land on the island safely to continue his assault.

Organics were simple minded creatures and often were unable to pay attention to more than two or three things at once. That's why all he had to do was distract then attack. Simple, simple creatures that deserved simple, simple deaths.

[RedKayne]

Light and Shadow

---

"I will not stop in my path for vengeance, Elena."

"Vengeance will only lead you down a path of self-destruction."

"The brother you knew is dead... he died with Myra..."

"You're wrong, Kyril. I know that there's still humanity in you."

"Step aside, little sister, or else you will fade away..."

"I will not... I'm here to save you, big brother."



"That hasn't changed, Kyril. It never will," Elena Malstrom muttered under her breath. The lantern above her head illuminated the isolated island, which acted as the only light source. Her gray eyes fell upon the spreading flames from the larger mound. She could overheard the three corpses scream out even louder, but not because of agonizing pain of the flames... but due to fear of him. This is all a deceptive trick to get under Elena's skin, to damage her own psyche and willpower for this battle.

The Tempest Orbs from the larger mound began to shake and appeared to be unstable. They quickly dissipate into nothingness, and not even a sign of electricity was left behind. However, they served their purpose of illuminating the area beforehand - and helped the young woman avoid any triggers of her PTSD symptoms. The wildfire on the island instead became a significant light source, and revealed Captain Malstrom's new opponent.

The creature stood up from behind a barricade of corpses. The humanoid monstrosity stood at the towering height of seven-and-a-half feet. It had a slender figure, but four wiry arms attached to its mechanical torso. The poncho wrapped around its body was lit by the flames, but the creature paid no heed. In fact, it was difficult to discern the emotions of the abomination - because of its completely blank face.

This is what the final battle has come to. A captain of the Holy Templar Order must face a mechanical puppet that mocks the face of humanity. All within the belly of the world-eater, the Leviathan. This is what Elena Malstrom needs to overcome, before she could finally face her brother... the Cold Emperor.

The creature, Puppet, began charging towards the young knight. Its movement was completely unnatural - in a rigid motion that many would find similar to that of an arachnid. Its two lower arms scooped down to pick up two of the corpses from the mound, which were adorned with flesh-eating worms and other entropic insects.

It neared the edge of the mound, before it leaped across with impressive physical prowess. The machine-like humanoid launched its two upper arms to a mast in between Malstrom and itself. Two metallic chains released from the upper arms and wrapped around the crow's nest. The creature swung like a pendulum, while holding onto the two sturdy corpse with ease. At the apex of its swing, the puppet released the carcasses. The two deceased bodies flew towards Malstrom's direction. One of them intended to collide against her directly, while the other aimed at the lantern above her head.

This monster is proving itself to be a sentient being. It calculated a two-pronged attack, by attacking Malstrom and her only light source. Perhaps it was already aware of her mental weakness, and understood Elena's crippling reaction of seeing dark figures. Once the Tempest Knight is left vulnerable, the abomination had an opportunity to finish her off.

In the previous round of this tournament, Elena Malstrom was very hesitant to slay the likes of Raava. He was also a silent opponent, but proved to be very self-aware and trapped within a dark destiny.

However, in this battle, she would not display mercy to this being. It already proven to take glee in the suffering and agonizing deaths of young children. It took away the lives of the most innocent... without a second thought.

Even the Cold Emperor, despite all of his heinous actions, never took enjoyment with the innocents that stood in his way. He was a brooding dark warrior, with only a single goal: vengeance.

The Tempest Knight needed to be cautious in this battle. She already used two different spells in this match, and only had one more ability in reserves. Not only that, but she already began to feel fatigue overtake her body. The depletion of her mana reserves only physically weakened the mage-knight, and the odds were incredibly stacked against her.

Her stomach ached, and was still in pain after the young woman vomited earlier. The blistering headache began to return, and a sharp pain throbbed inside of her head. These were the limitations of a mortal human. They feel every pain: physical, mental, and emotional.

An inorganic like Puppet may consider himself lucky, and that he doesn't have to deal with such limitations. However, he also neglects the true strength of the human spirit.

There is a particular reason why a human - Captain Elena Malstrom, the Tempest Knight - has made it this far through a bloodthirsty reason. There is a reason why she overcame many powerful opponents, including the ones she encountered earlier. There is a reason why she has not forsaken her brother, despite his notorious path as a death knight.

That reason is the inner human spirit - which is composed of many things. Hope. Determination. Courage. Love.

She has the hope to carry on in this battle. Despite the alarming disadvantage in this battle and the surrounding environment, Elena Malstrom will not lose faith in her one true God. She will not lose faith in her brother. And most importantly, she will not lose faith within herself.

She had the determination to be victorious. She upheld this determination throughout the past few years of her life, ever since that traumatic event that nearly ended her own story. She's entirely determined to find her older brother - her only family member left - and will everything in her power to save him. She will do everything in her power to defeat her current opponent - the puppet abomination.

She had the courage to face the darkness. Like any other little girl, she was born with fear. Those fears would continue to follow that little girl throughout her entire life, and still leeches upon her as a young woman. Yet, she had the courage to fight. Her older brother, Kyril, taught her the meaning of courage. This is why Elena Malstrom will never allow her mental disorder to cripple her - she will face these fears and overcome them.

Finally, she had love in her heart. She holds her older brother very dearly to her heart. She holds her benevolent God, Luthious, closely and prays every day to Him to seek guidance. The bond of a family is a very powerful concept, and one that continually strengthens the Tempest Knight. The love for her brother - will never subside.

"I was born under light and shadow, where I thrived," Captain Elena Malstrom began to utter a quiet prayer to herself. Strands of divine light energy wrapped around her left arm, which emitted another luminescent source.

"I fought against the darkness and survived," the Tempest Knight continued to recite her favorite prayer. It was from the book of Requiem, which originated from the words of a legendary Templar knight. Captain Malstrom crouched down slightly, and felt her leg muscles tenses, along with her greaves slightly sinking into the muck of the mound.

"Hope, determination, courage, and love - the human spirit shall never be deprived," these words carried a quiet strength from the silver-haired warrior, and her gray eyes upheld a fiery spirit from within. She launched herself upward, and ignored the physical pain that tried to hinder her body. The woman placed herself in between the trajectory of both flying bodies, and then raised up her left arm. The strands of divine light accumulated at her opened palm, and then formed into another sphere of electricity. A final Tempest Orb. By utilizing the last remnants of this ability, Captain Malstrom still held one spell in her mana arsenal.

"My bones may weaken, and my heart may cave unto itself... but I will eternally give thanks..." Elena's gray gaze shifted to the faceless monstrosity, and her eyes only hardened at the sight of the creature. "For the blessings of feeling alive."

There was the small, quiet sound of the Captain's fingers snapping - before the Tempest Orb exploded with a violent, concussive burst. The blast will affect everything within the ten-feet diameter of the orb. This included sending Malstrom flying back onto the edge of the isolated island, deflecting away the two corpses, and even reaching the puppet monstrosity with the very edge of the blast. Unbeknownst to the Tempest Knight, the sound of the explosion would surely affect her opponent's echolation sense as well.

[Low-Budget Man]

Puppet released his grip from the crow’s nest as he reached the apex of his curve. With an acrobat’s grace and a perfectly calculated motion, Puppet landed atop the Knight’s mound with a soggy squish. He elegantly splayed as he hit the ground, his limbs arraying out like a spider. The force was eventually distributed between the six limbs and prevented any possible further damage to be done from the force of impact.

His upper left arm stomped in a dead sailor’s skull like a ripe tomato. Brain and flecks of meat splattered his shoulder, but he paid it no mind. Aversion to muck was a human reaction; Puppet feared no damage from the filth. His armor perfectly insulated his inner machinery and his very few organs.

The corpses dove at the Knight and the lantern in sync with Puppet’s landing. Bits of flesh and clothes fluttered off them as the force of the throw tore them off. If they were alive, Puppet could have easily pictured their terrified and screaming faces contort into a grotesque expression of fear. It was an expression Puppet had seen often.

Puppet fluidly stood up and began a sprint forward to continue an assault. His legs merely took a single step before the Knight intervened. The distraction wasn’t enough.

Unlike Puppet, the flying bodies never reached their target. The Knight chanted some divine prayer as she called upon her sorcery. Light spewed out from her palm like a bulb being turned on. It was a globe of light, like the ones she previously had. Puppet hadn’t observed their purpose, but he suspected he was about to.

Why did they always have some magic up their sleeve? Organics were weak fragile creatures without their strange magic protecting them. Poke them once and water spills out. But they constantly had to interrupt Puppet’s plans with their meddling in unexplained phenomenon and scientific law-breaking wizardry. Once Puppet killed this Knight, he was going to have a proper dig around her skull to find the source. Or perhaps it was in their heart? Humans do awfully love to talk about their heart and its size.

Puppet was standing once the concussive blast erupted like a jet engine. The concussive force punched dents into Puppet’s armor as it hit him. The wall of pure kinetic energy slammed into Puppet and sent him flying off the edge of the mound like an spider in the wind. Puppet felt some of his inner machinery crack and some of organs turn to jello. A slimy sac of green nutrients busted inside his chest, coating the previously pristine gears in gunk.

An anvil size depression centered itself in the middle of his torso. His arms and legs went along to the force of the explosion. A willow survives by bending to the wind, while an oak tree cracks by resisting. Puppet was not a particularly strong nor durable fighter. Puppet instead relies on speed and agility for his combat. By letting his limbs bend along the explosion, Puppet protected himself from further damage.

However, that brought the cost of Puppet being swept off his feet. That wasn’t the only consequence of the blast. The Knight had unknowingly shattered one of Puppet’s ear-drums and left the other one in a shell-shock. White painful noise flooded into Puppet’s brain as the sensor tried to recover itself. Puppet’s left ear didn’t even respond with a signal while the other one merely emitted painful static.

If Puppet could scream, he would have. It felt like knives were being shoved in his brain as the noise drowned out his thoughts. It was like listening to a thousand voices scream incoherently, a tidal wave of sound and pain. Overloaded! Overloaded!

Puppet’s floppy form landed about a short distance from the wooden mast. A foot to the left and he would have gone splat against the solid object. His body slammed into the water like a brick, sending a fountain of water shooting upward. Fishes and other wildlife scattered at the intrusion. Even partially underwater, the pain persisted. However, the pain subsided with the water dulling all outside noise. Puppet turned his hearing off entirely, thus turning off his advantage of echolocation. He was deaf to the world, but his visual sensors still worked fine.

Puppet slowly sunk deeper and deeper into the water with every second, prompting him to act quick despite his injury. Puppet shot his arms at the above water portion of the wooden mast firmly planted in the center of the river. All four arms sprang out slowly due to the water’s resistance, but it was enough. The chains still connected Puppet’s arms to his torso, but it greatly extended his reach.

His arms grabbed desperately onto the mast. His fingers dug deep into the wood to provide a handhold. Simultaneously, he reeled himself in with his chains. It took a brief moment, but Puppet bursted out of the water. The putrid water covered his body like a second skin. The filthy brown water stained his previously pristine armor. As Puppet pulled himself onto the mast’s side, water slushed inside all three of his torso parts. The massive dent in his chest not only crushed the already cramped space of his inner organs and machinery, it also contained a few cracks.

The insulated shell was no longer perfectly airtight and the foul river water flowed inside him, while he was underwater. Burning pain hit one of his organs as the putrid water made contact with the sensitive pieces of meat. How Puppet hated organics, he hated how it limited him; he hated how weak it made him.

Puppet felt a cough coming, but a cough never did. He was physically incapable of coughing, but the water slushing around his insides prompted a human response. Puppet ignored it. A dirty human reaction. All he needed to do was air himself out and fix it. Replace his organs with some of the Knight’s.

His head spun around to locate the Knight on the mound, before spinning back to face the mast. She was just a dull blurr in his eyes, but that was all he needed. It didn’t matter what armor she wore or what she looked like. All it mattered was her location.

Puppet’s arms and legs latched onto the wooden pillar poking from the river like a lifeline. What was his lifeline, would be her death sentence. Puppet’s two upper arms firmly planted themselves above Puppet’s head. With an internal command, acid spewed out from his two upper arms. The green liquid sprayed out from his palms and onto the wooden mast. Puppet carefully judged the angle of which he needed to do the maneuver precisely. He used his visual sensors to study his work. His ears were no longer of use.

The acid coursed through the inner pipes in his upper arms and out through his palm in a careful calculated stream. The acid dissolved through wood like a fire through snow. The acid fizzled as it greedily chewed at about half the mast.

The mast groaned as its bottom portion was burned by Puppet’s carefully designed maneuver. Slowly, with part of its support destroyed, the mast began to topple. The mast was over seventy feet high with a crow’s nest, two yard arms, and completed with decaying sails. The mast’s falling trajectory completely aligned with the Knight’s location. Puppet’s super-computer mind easily calculated the require mathematics to launch an accurate attack.

But the mast was not only meant to hit the Knight, it was also going to impact the small mound. While it was simply a island of bodies and wreckage, it also brought safety and sanctuary for the Knight. It offered solid ground to stand and fight. And Puppet was going to take that away.

Once the mast smashed into the mound, it would surely destroy the fragile island, leaving her to sink beneath the waters. Puppet had no doubt her heavy armor would be her downfall in this battle.

“You’ll fall, like the rest of your brethren here,” Puppet mocked his voice metallic and inhuman. He couldn’t hear his own voice, but that mattered little.

With Puppet’s hearing out of action, Puppet was free to be as loud as he wanted without fear of damaging his own hearing. Like a chorus from hell, Puppet released a cacophony of suffering from his recording.

Every victim, every experiment, every single being that Puppet has ever harmed voiced their terror in a wicked choir of pain. They all melded together to a solid sound of suffering. Thousands of voices joined together to form an orchestra of death. There were pleads. There were cries. There screams. Oh, there were so many screams.

The Knight was going to join the show, whether she wanted to or not. She could either be a singer, or another dancing puppet. Puppet didn’t mind either.

[RedKayne]

The Finale of Fates

---

The blast of the concussive force knocked the air out of Elena. Her body flew back down to the mound and crashed harshly against it. She cried out in pain, as the templar rolled down the isolated island before stopping near the water's edge. Her body was sprawled on her front side and pressed against the ghastly surface.

Her silver-haired was covered with the filth of the deceased, and her exquisite battle armor was covered with the swamp's muck. Elena groaned aloud from the pain, and her lips grazed against the flesh mound and then the revolting taste of the carcasses entered her mouth. It was absolutely horrendous, and if the young woman hadn't already emptied her stomach's contents, she would have regurgitated yet again.

Malstrom moved both arms beneath her body and then pushed against the slimy ground. She knelt there and breathed heavily, while black blood painted across her beautiful, pale face. Tears slightly formed at the edges of her gray eyes, because this environment was absolutely mortifying. This needed to finish... but she could barely find the strength to stand back up. A screeching sound grated inside of her head - and it felt like it was about to explode. It was the earlier sharp pain from before, and she could not understand what was wrong with her body.

The Tempest Knight suddenly sensed the presence of a figure standing before her. Her head tilted forward to see the individual, and she automatically assumed it was her current opponent. However, she barely had time to gasp in shock before a black-gauntlet hand aggressively wrapped around her throat before picking her up. The templar tried to pry herself free from the man's powerful grip and viciously kicked out with her legs.

Captain Malstrom's vision focused upon her assailant. Her mind could barely register the information processing in her head. She couldn't understand why... he... was here? The Cold Emperor stood before her, and the death knight's eyes of blue-fire flared at the young woman. His grip only tightened, which threatened to choke the life out of his own sister.

"It's time for you... to finally fade away..."

Elena screamed internally and tried to do everything in her power to break free. Her muscles were fatigued... banged up from the concussive blast of her Tempest Orb. Her vision began to darken, which spelled the beginning of the end for her. She couldn't believe it... it couldn't end in this manner. Not when she came so far.

There was the sudden sound of slicing flesh, and then Elena's rear fell back onto the ground. She coughed and wheezed violently, and her left hand massaged the pain from her throat. Her blurry vision finally cleared, and once again - there was another baffling sight right before her.

The Cold Emperor's arm was chopped off, and his bloodied arm laid on the ground. A man adorned with a blue-overcoat stood between Elena and the Emperor, and then the mysterious man thrust a large katana into the monarch's stomach. The death knight's eyes of blue-flame faded before the mysterious man promptly kicked the Emperor in the stomach. The katana pulled away from the body, as the obsidian warrior flew away and splashed into the water... disappearing into its abyssal depths.

The man finally turned around to face Captain Malstrom, after slaying the Cold Emperor. "C'mon, Elena, get back up," her brother, Kyril, formed a cocky but bright smile. His own gray eyes flashed with a brilliance of quiet strength. "You have a battle to finish. I'll see you soon, lil' sis."

Captain Malstrom blinked... and he was gone. He completely vanished into thin air. Her gaze shifted down and noticed that even the Emperor's bloodied arm disappeared as well. She was completely bewildered and unsure if the encounter was even real. Elena also noticed that her headache was fading, and maybe there was a correlation between the headache of unknown origins and the vision before her. For all she knew - it very well could have been a hallucination.

But it felt real to her... and that was most important. She felt the warmth of her older brother's smile, and she felt his words embodied the strength that she needed in order to stand. The Tempest Knight felt tears... tears of happiness... roll down her cheeks. "You need to stop saving my ass, big brother," the silver-haired woman muttered quietly, and slightly shook her head in disbelief. "And allow me... for once... to save you," she stated with a small laugh, and then stood back up.

Her attention returned back to the reality before her, and the final enemy she needed to be dealt with. The mechanical monstrosity stood on top of a mast from across the distance. It certainly seemed like the Tempest Orb did a serious number on him, considering there were visible depressions and cracks in his armor.

However, the abomination apparently still appeared determined to destroy the Tempest Knight. Acid spewed from his upper arms and corroded into the mast. It melted away the support of the ship before it began falling forward. The deteriorated ship creaked loudly with its descending momentum and aimed directly to crush the templar. It very much appeared to be a colossal creature intending to stomp upon an insect.

You have a battle to finish.

Captain Malstrom reached towards her back and gripped the edge of her shield before equipping it. Kyril's words echoed in her mind, which granted the young woman unstoppable determination. No matter the odds... she will overcome them. Magical strands of divine energy surrounded her arm, before transferring itself to the shield. The item was quickly coated with electrical energy, which crackled beneath the knight's metallic fingertips.

Elena's gray gaze turned up, staring straight into her opponent's blank face. "You'll fall... like the rest of your brethren here," the puppet creature stated with an inhuman voice. Then it released a loud barrage of agonizing screams and death throes. The utter madness could cause any human being to quake in fear - completely paralyze them. Yet, it did not faze the Tempest Knight. Instead, it would only harden the young woman's resolve to stop this monster. If he was personally responsible for all of these deaths and took great pleasure in these atrocities... then this sadistic abomination needed to be put down.

I'll see you soon, lil’ sis.

It was finally time to end this finale of fates, within the belly of the beast. Captain Malstrom stood tall on top of the isolated island and faced the falling mast. She corked her body in a counter-clockwise motion and raised up her crackling shield in a horizontal position. Her calculating eyes noticed that her opponent was dripping with water after he nearly drowned within its depths. This meant that her opponent is vulnerable to her electrical spells, and this is Captain Malstrom's last ability from her mana reserves. She knew that these next few precious seconds will determine the victor of this final match.

The shield crackled brilliantly with the divine electricity, and it will seal the fate of Puppet. The mast kept falling forward, which brought her opponent closer and closer for the final strike. Finally, when her opponent was within a near distance, Captain Malstrom immediately uncoiled her body and released the shield. It spun rapidly through the air, flying directly towards the mechanical foe. The knight's heart pounded with bitter anticipation, as she knew very well that either would of them would die in the next few seconds.

“Fade away, monster!!” Elena shouted, and she could have sworn she overheard her brother shouting those words with her. The bonds of family truly are powerful, and these bonds will personally shackle Puppet into his doomed destiny.

[.Karma.]

Wow guys, this battle was truly amazing. I found myself at the end still wanting more and then subsequently thinking “Oh my god, how am I supposed to judge this?” It was absolutely beautiful between the two of you and you are both spectacular writers and it was such an honor getting to watch this battle unfold between you both.

There were lots of extensions in this battle, I know things come up in life and I’m not going to deduct any points for the amount of them, but it did make this particular battle drag out a bit, although it was plenty worth the wait.

Onto the judging! (Which was hard by the way because I found myself getting lost in the story with Elena and Puppet that I wasn’t looking out for the things I should and I had to reread lol)

----------------------

Writing Style:

Artistry and Complexity (creativity/originality, risky techniques and intricate details that enrich the post, unusual structuring and changing styles)

LBM - Your character in and of itself is very creative. Using the echolocation to be able to see things fully is always fun to read. The use of the term ‘organics’ and referring to humans as just meat and using the different fonts definitely made it stand out. There was a lot of detail about his surroundings to where I could almost see the worm coming from the corpses and watch them flop about as Puppet used the three corpses for a distraction.

RedKayne - Your posts are always full of color, with your sentences aligned where you can see the back and forth in dialogue or italicized to show the emphasis of the words. The colors make them stand out and the music definitely sets the mood. Your descriptions of the putrid surroundings were also very detailed and I almost emptied the contents of my stomach along with Elena at the mental image. So, in this section I believe you pulled ahead with the amount of unusual structuring and colors to provide different places for the eyes to go.

LBM: 2.5
RedKayne 3

Fluidity and Clarity (Ease of following the action of the post, and smoothness in reading and understanding it)

I think both of you did very well at explaining your actions and they were both easy to read and understand. There were times where I had to read LBM’s moves over again, but I think that had more to do with his additional limbs and unusual body structure that made it need more detail, please be mindful of that
LBM: 2.75
RedKayne: 3

Conventions (grammar/spelling/punctuation)

Again, this is one where you both were generally pretty good. I did see a few more mistakes in RedKaynes, a missing word or an incorrect tense used, but there was nothing that ruined the post because of them, they were very few.

LBM: 3
RedKayne: 2.75

Effectiveness of Combat:

Character Consistency (How well do the actions of the character in the post reflect or fit who/what they are, their capabilities, and their limitations?)

This was one part of the battle that absolutely astonished me. Both of you did this with perfection.

Puppet used his distract and attack method beautifully, and when he picked up the corpses and played the recordings of the children he had tortured, my heart broke for them. I could feel evil in him, that he enjoyed their suffering. The fact that he was willing to use the corpses of children to evoke an emotional response in Elena was despicable and it fit right into his character. The use of his echolocation and losing his hearing and how it affected him, and how he tried to take out Elena’s light sources, all proved to stay in character for them. He knew his limitations in the light, he knew his limitations once he was damaged so he tried to consistently distract and take the least amount as possible.

RedKayne - Elena was also very aware of how this arena could spur her PTSD and make the battle even more uneven than it was, so she struggled to keep the arena lit as much as possible. Every attack was one that used up her mana pool because she needed to keep the light as to not trigger it. She knew her limitations in the dark, the effects from Puppets gas were also noted and her determination to carry on through it was all within character.

LBM: 3
RedKayne: 3

Ingenuity (How well does the character handle situations in original, interesting, yet effective ways? Does the player simply repeat the same actions and put little thought in their moves, or do they provide interesting responses to the situations they’re in?)

Both of you again did well at this.

LBM with his idea of using the corpses consistently as a distraction, although I would have liked to see him use something else, but also with using the liquid pouring from his body to melt away the ship’s mast, and using the gas.
Kayne you also did this with your variety of spells, teleporting away from the gas, using your ‘bombs’ to get rid of the corpses to find your opponent and using electric energy in the shield.

I do believe that LBM was a bit more creative in his distraction (again i keep mentioning those puppet corpses, but oh my god lol) and using the environment for his attacks. But I feel that Kayne did a bit better in using effective attacks that were more than just a distraction. They were both interesting responses and did did not feel repetitive, I do think That LBM had the slightest of edges.

LBM: 2.75
RedKayne: 2.5

Choreography (How well does the character/player interact with the other player’s character? Is it like a battle dance? Or two rubber chickens banging their heads together?)

This is why this battle was so hard to judge. Again, I feel that both of you interacted well with one another. Puppet knew that Elena was human and that the screams of the children would affect her and Elena was absolutely deplored by this thing. All of the actions back and forth felt like it was one big beautiful battle. I think all the posts blended perfectly into the next. I could see Puppet swinging on the mast while throwing two corpses and Elena gracefully jumping between them and detonating her orb and causing them both both pain and damage. It was really beautiful.

LBM: 3
RedKayne: 3

Control of the Field:

Environmental Awareness (How well do you roleplay awareness to the surrounding environmental conditions with your character, taking into account how they affect your character, positively and negatively?)


Both of you accounted for the environment. Elena with her very human reactions of vomiting and realization of the smell. At one point the vile water even got into her mouth. The water and ‘islands’ of corpses were accounted for. Even ships and other things that were in the environment. LBM also accounted for it, in his own way. He used the corpses as his own puppets, he even used one as an oar to make it across the water and a ship's mast for his final attack.

LBM: 3
RedKayne: 3

Strategic Awareness (How well do you play off your character’s abilities, strengths and weaknesses in each situation/round? Are you aware of the ways that the environment and your opponent’s actions can affect your character? Are you able to anticipate and turn these to your advantage or minimize the damage to your own character effectively?)

LBM - You knew Puppet needed to distract Elena and keep himself from taking the least damage as possible. Using those corpses to pull at her heart strings and later throw them at her was definitely aware of Elena's weaknesses, as well as her weakness to darkness. You were also aware that her light was Puppets weakness. Also the grenades were accounted for.

RedKayne - You had to do a lot to respond and turn things to your advantage given that your opponent stayed hidden quite a bit and tended to distract before attacking. Elena knew that dark figures would trigger her PTSD and she did a lot of things that used a lot of her own energy in order to achieve that. I would have never thought to jump between the two corpses and set off the orb. Again, you showed wonderfully how it affected not only the other combatant but herself as well. You had a lot more to react to. There were constantly things going on around, screams of children, a ships mast falling, corpses being used as puppets and being thrown, puppets own body swinging around and I feel like you handled this wonderfully in ways I would never have thought of. You were consistently having to find creative ways to take minimal damage. It gave you an edge over LBM.

LBM: 2.75
RedKayne: 3


Control of the Fight (Did you maintain control of the situation? Was your opponent on their heels scrambling to meet your attacks, or were you on yours? If you were not in control for most of the fight, was there an impressive “turn” in the direction of the combat; did you turn the tables on your opponent in a decisive manner through surprise or cleverness?

LBM I felt that Puppet did have control of this fight. From the get go, he was hurling different scenarios at Elena. Elena had to find him, then there were the agonizing screams of the children to distract her. There was the first initial toss of a corpse, there was him swinging around the mast, that Elena seemed to have to find a creative way to get away and counter strike. Kayne, you did this amazingly though, you found creative ways to dodge or at least get away from the most imminent of danger and still manage to strike back. In this section though, I believe that LBM had a bit of an advantage over you.

LBM: 3
RedKayne: 2.75

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There is one thing I would like to add in. LBM after reading the entire battle, it seems like you pushed the limits of your actions per post and a lot. I tried to be forgiving of taking into account that some things that I may think of actions may not have seemed that way to you. The third post though it seemed *really* pushed. I saw four actions at the least:

1. Enhance the puppet noises/screams.
2. Run across the mound and then perform a gigantic leap
3. Grab 2 corpses. Drawing weapons counts as an action, so would grabbing corpses as they are being used as a projectile.
4. At the peak of the leap - throw the 2 corpses, while still heading toward Elena

I deducted half a point for this, as it wasn’t the only one that I felt was pushing the limits. I know we can get caught up in our writing, but if you join in again (which I hope you do) please take into account the things that count as an action.

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This battle was awesome! Thank you both so much. Adding up the scores from each section the final total is:

LBM: 25.75 - .5 = 25.25
RedKayne: 26

This battle was so close, but in my opinion [b]RedKayne[b] pulled so very slightly ahead. I can’t wait to see what the other judges think as this one was so very close for me. Again good luck to both of you!