2017-07-13: Captain Aifread v. June Lim Ze
- Log: 2017-07-13: Captain Aifread v. June Lim Ze
- Cast: Layna Manydays as Captain Aifread fighting June Lim Ze
- Where: Lacour - Arms Coliseum
- Date: 07-13-2017
- Summary: In Losers Bracket Round 3, Match 43 it's Captain Aifread against June Lim Ze? Who will come out victorious?
=========================<* Lacour - Arms Coliseum *>========================= Situated immediately adjacent to Lacour Castle, the Arms Coliseum is a temple to the pursuit of perfection in physical prowess. Built more than three centuries ago by King Etienne I, the Coliseum is laid over with ancient Symbols that blunt weapons and protect combatants on the brink of death, allowing competitors to fight to the best of their ability without fear of killing their opponents. The Coliseum is the site of the annual Lacour Tournament of Arms, a competition that fuels the spirit of martial artists and weapons merchants both. The Tournament is a spectacle that draws visitors and competitors from across Filgaia, and is the major event on the continent while it is running. A series of smaller tournaments are organized throughout the year; entering as a combatant is free of charge, but spectators pay a nominal fee that nonetheless provides a significant boost to Lacour's coffers.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Layna - or rather, Captain Aifread, was always one for dramatics. She reveled in them, in fact. However, she was soon coming upon a problem.
"Dahlia," Layna starts. At present she was in her starting room, waiting to be called out while putting on her 'disguise', for as much as it could be called one. "I'm starting to run out of good entrances."
It was a serious problem, though the other person in the room - a short, stern-faced woman, presumably named Dahlia - didn't seem to think so, from the way she stared at Layna blankly.
"You don't...really need to make an entrance. I daresay the sponsors do a good enough job as it is, though I'm surprised there's even an arena left after they're done." She replies, shaking her head dismissively. Something about this seemed to have turned a light on in Layna's head, though, from the way she was suddenly grinning.
"You're a genius, Dahlia. I'll go out there all normal-like, and they'll be expecting a grand entrance...and when they don't get it, they won't be expecting what I'll wow them with next round!" She says, standing from her seat. Dahlia rolls her eyes, and produces a small book from a pocket.
"Assuming you even make it to the next round. Your opponent looks like a dangerous one. I've done some research, and-" ...And when she looked up, Layna was gone.
"We've seen some strong contenders in the arena today, and this next matchup is not looking to disappoint! Give it up for our next fighters, everyone! In this corner...we have the Infamous Pirate Captain of Legend, the Scourge of the Seas...Aifread!!"
Layna was already strolling out of the door when her name was called. She was in her typical dramatic pose - arms folded in front of her, hair and cape fluttering in the wind. It was ordinarily that, at this point, she would do something ridiculous like use the wind to boost herself to the arena and maybe do a couple of flips in the air.
Not this time. This time, she just settled for waving to the crowd and undoing the clasps that held her cape on before tossing it to the side.
The crowd seemed a little disappointed in that...so their gaze quickly turns to the other side of the arena.
"And in the other corner..."
June Lim Ze
June Lim Ze is about five foot six and extremely pale. Her hair is in a fairly well kept pageboy, with plenty of body to it: however, the color is a sort of dingy gray that might be trying to be white. Her skin is pale to the point where you can see exactly how much pinkness comes from the natural flow of blood; her face is heart-shaped, with an expressive mouth and eyes hidden partially behind tinted round spectacles. When they're off, her eyes are clearly brown, if with a red undertone.
She wears a blue denim bolero jacket, sleeves rolled back from the wrists. Her right hand is a polished wood-and-brass prosthetic with a black leather collar cover the wrist and straps connecting up past the jacket and into a harness over her upper torso. Under that jacket is a sleeveless gray blouse, buttoned up the front with the top button left undone.
The top button is *also* undone on a pair of black leather shorts that set off muscular thighs. Her left leg has straps coming up it, much like her right arm does, connecting to a more visible harness around the waist. The details are hidden by over-the-knee boots in black leather, well tended but battered.
<Pose Tracker> June Lim Ze has posed.
"The Cut Branch Fighter... June Flimsay!" is the announcement heralding the arrival of -
JUNE
Who seems vexed, marginally, but at least this is a little better than "June Lindsey." It is, at least, written correctly on the official brackets.
June is wearing a tank top and leather shorts. Her hand and her leg are there as usual - the hand repaired from the beating that Fei Fong Wong gave it. The leg looks different. It is in fact rather garish, with the front still that black-wood plating with the smooth curved insets that augur shotgunning. But one of them has been stopped up with a wooden plate.
The BACK, however, is now a piece of pink-painted lacquer with a miniaturized doodle of the Savage Slayer's logo on it. There is a strip of material going down to a completely ornamental (probably) heel, which puts a different connotation on June's rather swaggering pace.
"You know," June says, as she stretches her neck to the left and then the right, "I find myself kinda doubting that you actually are a legendary pirate captain... wouldn't you be sitting on a chest'a gold or something if you were?"
She grins as she says it. Oh no - trash talk!
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Layna chuckles.
"Now now, lass, don't you think it'd be a little difficult to fight like that? Nay, it's back on me ship!" She replies, shaking her head and unfolding her arms. She flexes her fingers experimentally. "And what about you? Hope your equipment's not as flimsy as your name makes 'em out to be."
As an aside - Layna totally knows they got her name wrong. She just...doesn't seem to actually care. She lowers down into a fight stance quickly.
"In fact...lemme test that out for ya, aye!?" With a wide grin Layna rushes forward, looking to close the distance. Once she gets close enough she'll deliver a punch to test out June's defenses.
GS: Layna Manydays has attacked June Lim Ze with Plundering! GS: Layna Manydays has completed her action. GS: June Lim Ze takes a solid hit from Layna Manydays's Plundering for 87 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> June Lim Ze has posed.
"Oh, don't worry about me," June says, her eyes shaded by her hair as the fight is called ahead!
Layna's relative advantage and speed, or perhaps the teething pains of her repaired prosthetic, throw June off just a little - enough that Layna is able to just straight up hit her in the shoulder hard enough to twist her around. She has nearly five inches of height on June, so additional force is maybe not too surprising.
What may be more surprising is how June moves with the force, spinning around as she aims to thrust prosthetic fingers into the underside of Layna's rib cage, RIGHT where a certain organ of extreme importance to the piratical lifestyle may lurk. She's grimacing, though, as she does it.
GS: June Lim Ze has attacked Layna Manydays with Liver Greeting! GS: June Lim Ze has completed her action. GS: Layna Manydays takes a glancing hit from June Lim Ze's Liver Greeting for 38 hit points! GS: June Lim Ze takes Cover! She gains 50 temporary hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Layna's grin widens at that successful attack. She hadn't expected to hit her quite so hard...but it seems like June's no slouch, either. She actually uses the momentum to her advantage, and Layna can't help but be impressed.
Not so impressed that she doesn't try to get out of the way, of course. She leaps back to make some space and lowers down, shielding June's intended target with her arms. It certainly hurt, but not as much as it could have. That...was certainly a wise target to arm for.
Layna begins to pace around June for a moment.
"Not bad..." She says, before lunging in again. This time she interlocks the shields on her arms and thrusts them toward June, attempting to knock her off balance while providing Layna herself with some defense.
GS: Layna Manydays has attacked June Lim Ze with Bash and Buckle! GS: Layna Manydays has completed her action. GS: June Lim Ze guards a hit from Layna Manydays's Bash and Buckle for 57 hit points! GS: Layna Manydays takes Cover! She gains 50 temporary hit points!
<Pose Tracker> June Lim Ze has posed.
June twists her prosthetic leg behind her as Layna prepares herself, watching her intently. Her prosthetic hand shifts around after she makes a pass with the other one, grinning at her, not entirely kindly.
Then comes in the shields. And when Captain Manydays lunges with her shields, all those who chose to oppose those shields must yield: June is no different, though she does move back and seems to go slightly limp, as if she's letting the good Captain throw her back.
However, it comes to a fight and a duel is due. June is presumably the white here, and she fans herself around as if she's going to throw herself back up to her feet in a sudden kip. She should probably not just lay on the ground, right?
EXCEPT...
It's a fakeout. Her core and hips move with sufficient force to send something whizzing forwards, like a big metal dart that aims to loop round one of Layna's legs even as June actually does hoist herself upwards. A moment later June stamps her leg.
The hidden winch would, at that point, start retracting, possibly undermining Layna's guard and taking her to the ground!
GS: June Lim Ze has attacked Layna Manydays with Sling Blade Lasher! GS: June Lim Ze has completed her action. GS: CRITICAL! Layna Manydays guards a hit from June Lim Ze's Sling Blade Lasher for 128 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
The force of Layna's push seemed to knock June back, but...didn't she seem to give up ground a little too easily? Her suspicions would soon prove themselves to be correct as she soon finds something wrapping around one of her legs. Before she can attempt to remove it that winch activates, pulling hard and sending Layna crashing to the ground.
Even for someone as hard-headed as Layna, that was a lot of force. For a short time, she saw stars.
"Heh...you're a tricky one...guess I should've listened to Dahlia after all..." She muttered, wincing. She lays there for a moment, apparently motionless...
...But if June's familiar with such things, she'll realize that Layna's reciting an incantation.
Suddenly, she rises into the air with a strong gust of wind, potentially taking June with her if the cable isn't released.
Her shields are interlocked once more, but rather than bashing defensively they're brought down in an axe-handle chop toward June's head with the momentum of Layna's fall behind her.
GS: Layna Manydays has attacked June Lim Ze with Swab the Decks! GS: Layna Manydays has completed her action. GS: June Lim Ze guards a hit from Layna Manydays's Swab the Decks for 79 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> June Lim Ze has posed.
"I don't have any idea who Dahlia is," June says, even as she crooks her leg around when Layna hoists her upwards and - "Ah shit -"
Her arms cross in a block that catches the shields! That's the good news; the other good news is that she doesn't land on her neck and immediately become a heartwarming story about slow recovery under the care of Blastemol's liability waiver. The bad news is she hits the arena floor with sufficient force to make SOMETHING go "CRACK" really loudly -
But as she rebounds off the arena's floor she twists with some kind of horrible, snarling kiai! God that's an awful noise, kind of an "EEIIIAAGH!" with the fury of a thousand suns behind it and a really unpleasant sneering tiger sort of expression on June's colorless face.
This is because it's accompanied by an effort to brain Layna (Braina?) with the weight of that prosthetic leg! Which is substantial, even if several large pieces of metal were recently removed.
"So I think I've got the basics of your style down!" June says, cockily, and in mid-air.
GS: June Lim Ze has attacked Layna Manydays with Axe Breaker! GS: June Lim Ze has completed her action. GS: Layna Manydays takes a glancing hit from June Lim Ze's Axe Breaker for 71 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Layna's wrists throb somewhat from the force of the impact, and she shakes her arms slightly once she's on solid ground again. There's a wide grin on her face now.
"You're a lively one, aye?" She comments, apparently unphased by that horrible shout of June's. She shifts out of the way as June tries to bring that metal leg down on her skull, though it does end up clipping her shoulder...
Which doesn't sound like much, until one considers that it's a heavy piece of metal, even in it's current state.
"Oh, do you now? Interesting, lass." Layna says. Her grin seems just a little more mischievous as she says this and she lunges in again and attempts to deliver a punch toward June's gut before she returns fully to the ground.
She doesn't seem to be trying to do anything to prove June wrong so far...
GS: Layna Manydays has attacked June Lim Ze with Plundering! GS: Layna Manydays has completed her action. GS: June Lim Ze critically Guards a hit from Layna Manydays's Plundering for 18 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> June Lim Ze has posed.
"Extremely," June answers Layna, her lip curling back again even as June lunges inwards. She tries to go for a gut punch again --
June crosses her arms once more, down lower, catching that impact on her arms! One of which is reinforced with thick leather straps. She exhales out to buffer out the last few ergs of that punch but does not, in fact, quite manage to avoid any harm from it. This close, she has limits on what she can do, and obviously Layna will be expecting another shot to the ol' rum-furnace.
So June slams her forehead forwards, right at the upper torso, aiming to smash that hard head despite the fluff of her bangs into Layna's flesh and bones, hopefully to shove her back.
"You keep on grinning," June husks out. "You a masochist, or were you just skating your way to this point in the bracket?"
GS: June Lim Ze has attacked Layna Manydays with Headbutt of Doom! GS: June Lim Ze has completed her action. GS: Layna Manydays takes a solid hit from June Lim Ze's Headbutt of Doom for 100 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Layna hauls her fist back, preparing for another punch, but June rushes forward with surprising speed.
It would, logically, be smarter to try and dodge, or at least defend herself. But no, Layna takes the headbutt right to the gut. There's a sharp intake of breath as she finds the air knocked right out of her.
"Y...you wound my...pride, lass." Layna says. She's clearly winded by that devastating...but she's actually chuckling. She doesn't sound insulted in the least.
She quickly aims to grab hold of June before she can get too far away.
"But nay. Me? I just love a good fight. What about you, lass?" As she asks this she'll, if she managed to get a good enough hurl, attempt to lift and hurl June behind her bodily into the arena floor behind them.
GS: Layna Manydays has attacked June Lim Ze with Buccaneer Backdrop! GS: Layna Manydays has completed her action. GS: June Lim Ze takes a glancing hit from Layna Manydays's Buccaneer Backdrop for 49 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> June Lim Ze has posed.
"Me?" June says even as she's grabbed and moved - she kicks and flails as Layna raises her up, but the result of this is mostly to position herself around so that when she is dropped, she lands -
THUMP -
On her knee and staggers, instead of hitting the arena floor again.
"I fight because I have no other choice," June says. "If I don't struggle against my limitations, I'm gonna get trapped inside of them... I'm not some fancy pirate with a ship, you know, or a legend, or a crew, or anything..."
"Just this style!"
June pivots around on her intact foot then, the spike-heel of that sling blade coming out as she throws herself forwards in a cartwheel, away from Layna. "So, you know, you seem cool," she says as she does a hand-stand and then whip-snaps the weighted blade towards Layna, perhaps past her or perhaps into her. "But it's like the old parable about the pig and the chicken. You ever hear that one?"
"My sifu loves it," June says as her prosthetic leg is whipped round further, like a fishing rod, almost. "It goes like this. Once upon a time a wise old man made bacon and eggs for breakfast. The chicken was involved--"
June's thigh twitches and the winch kicks up, hopefully retracting with Layna in tow. June sights along her knee and says, "But the pig was committed!"
And at a critical point -
It's five shots in rapid succession, a primitive rotary magazine exhausting itself in a furious burst of smoke and force. There is no shot in those shells, but that may be little consolation if Layna is feeling them blast into her gut.
GS: June Lim Ze has attacked Layna Manydays with The True Face Of Cut Branch! GS: June Lim Ze has completed her action. GS: Layna Manydays has activated a Force Action! GS: You have activated the Force Action Accelerate! GS: Layna Manydays takes a glancing hit from June Lim Ze's The True Face Of Cut Branch for 92 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Layna turns around to get ready for June's next attack. She listens to her speech and watches her moves closely.
"Well, lass...I'd say you're already trapping yourself, with talk like that." She says with a shrug. "Just let yourself enjoy the ride! 'Cause if you don't...what's left for you?"
She hasn't heard that parable before...but then again, she was from Lunar, and they had an entirely different set of them over there.
Layna was ready for some kind of trick, this time. She dodges to the side to avoid the blade, but isn't quite capable of dodging the wire connecting it.
It eventually manages to tie her up well enough that when the winch is retracted, Layna's brought along with it.
Of course, Layna had already proven that she wasn't entirely defenseless in this state. Another gust of wind sends her up in an attempt to avoid the shots coming at her from June's weapon. Several manage to find their mark, and when she lands she's looking a little ragged.
Still, that grin's pasted on her face all the same.
"You're not a pig, after all, lass." She says, forcing herself to her feet. "You're a person...and that means you can seize your own fate. The old man's not going to make bacon out of you if you crack his skull open first, aye!?"
There's another quick incantation, and blades of wind are sent flying toward June. They certainly look dangerous, but they're a feint - the real threat is Layna, charging forward once more...until she shifts direction with a gust of wind and is coming at her from the side with a sweep of her leg.
GS: Layna Manydays has attacked June Lim Ze with Wind Rush! GS: Layna Manydays has completed her action. GS: June Lim Ze takes a solid hit from Layna Manydays's Wind Rush for 91 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> June Lim Ze has posed.
"Easy for you to say," June retorts. "Wait til someone hits YOU with an ax!"
After that burst, June staggers back for a moment. She sweeps a hand through her hair and says, "That's not the POINT --" But of course it is the point, sort of, because those wind blades strike home against June. She raises her arms to block again when she is suddenly swept -
And her leg swings upwards, because Layna hit the fake one!! June almost falls down - almost - because she does something precise and reflexive as gravity takes over and she tumbles down.
She raises herself up - heedless, perhaps, of the risk to her head of slamming it repeatedly into an enemy's torso - and at the same time grips at Layna's belt buckle to bring her down with her.
For on the ground, she has WAY fewer problems.
Of course, pulling someone down on your head is a risky maneuver, but you have to take chances to prevail... in the Lacour Tournament of Arms, brought to you by Blastemol!
GS: June Lim Ze has activated a Force Action! GS: June Lim Ze has attacked Layna Manydays with Bent Branch Snapback! GS: June Lim Ze has completed her action. GS: Layna Manydays has activated a Force Action! GS: You have activated the Force Action Accelerate! GS: Layna Manydays takes a solid hit from June Lim Ze's Bent Branch Snapback for 159 hit points! GS: Layna Manydays has Fallen! She is no longer able to fight!
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Layna laughs. Mirthlessly, this time.
"Lass, you think I've never been hit with an axe before?" She asks, shaking her head.
Of course she had. Her life wasn't exactly one without strife.
She feels her leg come into contact with something hard...it looked like she made a miscalculation with her gust.
Before she can recover, she finds June's head slammed viciously into her torso, and then she herself is slammed into the arena floor once more.
Much like June, her head's taken a lot of punishment this around. She's dazed and winded again and...spent.
She hauls herself to her feet and tries to take a step forward...but the ground's not there.
Well, it was, but her head was telling her it wasn't, so she falls forward, face-first.
"Uh-oh, looks like the Infamous Pirate Captain of Legend's having a bit of trouble? Is this legend coming to an end here and now...?"
In response to that, Layna flips herself over so that she's staring into the sky, sighs...pulls a bottle of liquid from somewhere, and drinks.
...Probably not the wisest choice, considering her condition, but well...
"Alright, lass... You win. I'm spent." She admits with a chuckle, then holds the bottle out to June.
"Drink?" She offers.
<Pose Tracker> June Lim Ze has posed.
June doesn't answer Layna until after matters have passed. She doesn't even get up until there has been a clear and undeniable three-count - then she rolls off.
She takes the bottle in her prosthetic hand. The fingers curl around the neck, tighter than they need to. She takes a swig, if not a big one. Some splatters on her pale chin, slightly pink from the sun exposure.
"This was pretty harsh," she tells her, grinning a little. Trying the expression out.
"As for the ax, though - hell; I was a shop clerk."
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Layna laughs. This time, it was genuine.
"Aye, that it was, lass. That it was." She agrees.
Eventually she manages to force herself up into a sitting position. Her head's stopped spinning as much, but by this point it was too late.
"A shop clerk, aye? Well, you've come pretty far since then, I say." She says. "Me...well, I'm not really 'the legendary Aifread'...but I've been living and fighting on the seas all me life. Your skill really shows through."
She's on her feet now, and turns toward the exit.
"You said you don't have a ship or a crew...but you know, lass, if you were looking for work, I'd be glad to have someone like you on mine. Assuming you'd be alright working under someone you've beaten in a fight." She comments, chuckling slightly at the last part.
"Anyway...farewell, lass, and good luck with the rest of your fights, aye? I'll be rooting for you." With a parting wave she moves to retrieve her cape from the arena floor and starts to leave.
<Pose Tracker> June Lim Ze has posed.
"'preciate it," June says, as she gets up with a deliberate, almost ritualistic motion. "But I think for now I have a tournament to crush open."