2017-07-17: Tournament of Arms: Lemina Ausa vs. The Dark Hero "Z"
- Log: Tournament of Arms: Lemina Ausa vs. The Dark Hero "Z"
- Cast: Lemina Ausa, Zed, Yarobeleedt, Maya Schrodinger, Jean, Hiro, Fei Fong Wong
- Where: Lacour - Arms Coliseum
- Date: July 17, 2017
- Summary: The flames of battle roar in the Lacour Tournament of Arms, as Lemina Ausa faces the mysterious swordsman "Z" in an explosive contest! Will Lemina's command of the elements win the day, or will the Dark Hero overwhelm her with his superior style and powerful panache?
==========================<* 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. BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1s8YkgEYlvY
<Pose Tracker> Lemina Ausa has posed.
This is probably the most nervewracking moment Lemina's faced in the tournament thus far. Despite his early loss, Dark Hero Z has been cleaning up in the losers' bracket; as far as she's seen, he hasn't met a particularly credible challenge since Lululu, and that match is one she didn't see.
She's made, accordingly, some adjustments to her equipment, courtesy Knockout. She's shifted some of the protection from her arms -- which she needs to have absolute, total, unencumbered range of motion on -- to her chest and legs, with a thicker leather chestpiece, knee cops, and greaves. She's also decided to skip the tabard -- to Furlong's great chagrin -- and the helmet -- which is more okay.
When she strides out into the Lacour Arms Coliseum from the western ready room, she looks confident. She has... a lot of implements at her back; there's a bow, a staff, a different staff, and... is that a parasol? Really?
<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.
When Lemina arrives in the arena, her opponent is...
Not there.
Like, he's just not even there. The gate looks like it's been covered up with a curtain, and for some reason, someone's hung a bunch of moodlighting-colored fabric from the top of the arena. Some of the local laborers/VALUED EMPLOYEES are struggling to take them down, but it's too late.
They will serve their intended purpose.
One suddenly comes loose, a bright red ribbon strung up from on high. "IIIIINTRODUUUCIIIIING THE DAAAARK HEROOOO-" That's not the announcer. Or maybe it is. Maybe he's been replaced by someone who sounds ALMOST EXACTLY THE SAME AS ZED. Or maybe the masked guy swinging down from the rafters stole his microphone. "THE INVISIBLE SILVER BLAAAAAADE--!"
Fireworks explode from somewhere nearby. The ribbon catches fire. ALL OF IT CATCHES FIRE.
"ZEEEEEEEEEEE!"
Z lands. He poses dynamically as the START BELL RINGS.
More pyrotechnics start going off.
He produces a Knockout-brand steel rose--
--APPROXIMATELY TEN OF THEM--
And hurls them right downrange!
"Ahahahaha! So it's you! I think this will be good for the both of us, yes?" Z laughs, leaping forward to chase his FLORAL OPENING. "Yes, I think so! Engarde!"
GS: Zed has attacked Lemina Ausa with Floral Opening! GS: Zed has completed his action. GS: Lemina Ausa guards a hit from Zed's Floral Opening for 63 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Yarobeleedt has posed.
Another match, another attempt done by the cloaked Yarobeleedt to disrupt the proceedings in some fashion that would go down the annals of history as a terrifying blow against the humans while ^Silly Greenhead^ and (until recently) ^Dull Blades^ do whatever it is they're doing here to further their cause! This has been difficult for reasons that are obvious if anyone knows an inkling about Yarobeleedt, which is two inklings too many.
"AND NOW FOR THIS WEEK'S BLASTEMOL!® BLAST OF THE WEEK BALLOT!(tm)" Comes an announcer. "WE GOT OUR MEN STANDING BY TO HEAR FROM YOU - THE CUSTOMERS - ABOUT YOUR FAVORITE BLAST OF THE WEEK BECAUSE WE GOT TIRED OF SHOUTING MATCHES OVER WHO HAD THE LOUDEST PERSISTENT RINGING IN THEIR EARS!! THIS IS VALUABLE MARKETING RESEARCH YOU GET TO PARTAKE IN FOR FREE!! YOU CAN'T BEAT FREE!!"
Yarobeleedt, still in disguise, now bears a stolen badge that marks him as a member of whatever ridiculous temporary commission they have going here, as he totes an impressive-looking stove-top hat.
"Boats! Boats! It is the time to cast away the boats. It is the ^Demonstration Crazy^." Yarobeleedt calls, gibbering more quietly as he murmurs to himself. "I will steel boats without doing things here! The plan is pear fact." So, yes, if the narrative is to understand this correctly, Yarobeleedt appears to be stealing votes. We have a surviving remnant of the terrifying Metal Demon race, alien monstrosities forever anathema with the world of Filgaia, stealing votes.
Two votes fall into the hat by some confused older people.
"Fufufu. Is work~"
"Paul!!" Calls a guy. "Paul! There you are!" Speaks an employee, reading the stolen badge and thinking absolutely nothing of the difference in shape, size, or speech. "What're you doing dressed like that?!"
"what?? Nononono. Am... Lingogolj?" Is that the best fake name Yarobeleedt can make up on the spot?
"Don't be silly, Paul! We undersold seats for this part of the tournament and we gotta fill the area with as many spectators as we can, right now, or we're gonna look bad to investors. You gotta go be an observer, Paul!"
"Butbutbutbutbut boats??"
The guy (impressively!) yanks 'Paul' over to the designated observer seat, 'Paul' screeching all the way.
Regardless, Yarobeleedt stole two votes. That's as many as two ones. And that's terrible.
In order to stop this from ever happening again, one must prepare to be vigilant starting the next week in order to halt evil machinations of this... magnitude.
...
At least Yarobeleedt doesn't do anything else while he's set as an observer, other than fidget in frustration as further votes are flung about like confetti towards the end of the match.
GS: Zed has attacked Lemina Ausa with Floral Opening! GS: Zed has completed his action. GS: Lemina Ausa guards a hit from Zed's Floral Opening for 62 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Lemina Ausa has posed.
Lemina looks up to see the incoming Dark Hero -- and his veritable wall of steel roses -- and elects to draw her first implement: the parasol. Dropping into a low stance behind it, she blocks some of the roses, but can't quite get the coverage to stop all ten, and a few cut through her shoulder and prompt a wince.
"Nngnh," she grunts in a distinctly unladylike manner, backpedaling a little; she needs to manage her range if she's to out-perform the Dark Hero, who clearly has her on speed. One hand comes down to create an ice slick behind her, and then with a low hop she sends herself skating backward and gets herself at least a little space back.
She considers her bow for a moment, but thinks better of it -- with the laser-accuracy of those roses, he'll probably just throw one and knock her shot clean out of the air... so she instead swaps from her parasol to one of her staves, and swings it straight up. A crescent-moon of fire forms along the arc, and as soon as it's created, flies straight forward toward Z at an even clip.
"You're not gonna' outdo me on flashiness!" Lemina insists, bringing her movement to a stop a second later by slamming the pommel of her staff into the ice, cracking it and rooting herself. "Or on gear! You're not the only one sponsored by Knockout, you know!"
A single bead of sweat drips down her forehead as she plans her next move.
GS: Lemina Ausa has attacked Zed with Firestrike! GS: Lemina Ausa has completed her action. GS: Zed takes a solid hit from Lemina Ausa's Firestrike for 96 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Maya Schrodinger has posed.
Look, just because she was laid out flat with some kind of terrifying mental feedback loop inhibiting projection capabilities for the first handful of rounds of the Lacour Tournament of Arms, there's no reason a resurgent Maya Schrodinger can't come and spectate the remaining ones. If that didn't make a lick of sense, this too, is fine.
Regardless of what all of Lemina and Zed's other pals are up to, there's at least one blonde head in a sea of spectators eagerly watching them both. "Todd, take careful note of the Dark Hero's swordplay, would you?" the Schrodinger scion instructs her most dedicated of retainers while tending to a Turbo Tucker-sized bucket of popcorn on her lap. Look, you could also burn 5000 calories in a day if your existence was sustained in the same way hers way. "We need to up our game, bigtime, if we're gonna make a comeback after that disastrous showing in Adlehyde."
Maya the only one with a disastrous showing in Adlehyde was you, jfc
A triangular pennant waves cheerily in the air as Lemina Ausa's SNK-style crescent moon of fire clips along the x-axis. Never sleep on the slow-moving fireball, Zed. "Oooh, check that out."
<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.
A challenge of flashiness!? Oh, Lemina, you shouldn't have.
no really you probably shouldn't have once you get this guy started he basically won't ever stop
"Ahahahaha, is that so!?" The Dark Hero laughs as he weaves left, then weaves right, then... Somehow dodges right into the path of that fireblast!? There's a great big explosion. Light fills the arena! D-did she accidentally set off the secret pyrotechnics he was hiding under his cloak...?
(Answer: yes)
What emerges from the pyroclasm is a thing of horror. Flashy, impossible horror. The Dark Hero's cloak is aflame, his mask is scorched, fireworks and sparks scream out from under his everything! And yet he's still coming, like some kind of angry fire-bear.
One that has begun... To spin.
Rapidly.
A tornado of sword-slashes and fireworks and ACTUAL FIRE. "Hmhmhm. Let's see you outdo THIS level of flashy! I don't think you can come close to ACTUALLY BEING SET ON FIRE! AHAHAHAHAHA!"
Is he right!? IS THIS MAXIMUM FLASH!?
GS: Zed has attacked Lemina Ausa with Dark Horse - Supreme Tornado! GS: Zed has completed his action. GS: Lemina Ausa critically Guards a hit from Zed's Dark Horse - Supreme Tornado for 26 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Jean has posed.
Jean eyes the battle as it starts, as the announcer starts talking and a there's way, way too much branding. The dancer watches this contest of flashiness... And watches Lemina's fire start to work. Sure Zed's moving but...
From her wheelchair in the stands, Jean puts both hands together and shouts into the arena, "Go Lemina! Remember what I told you about him!"
She glances over at Maya after that with a grin, lifting her beer. "She's got this one." Jean stares forward. She shouldn't like someone being on fire.
"He's got good moves, but..." Jean picks up a leg of some dubious meat and starts biting it. It has a lot of sauce on it.
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.
A Vile Fiend passes by 'Paul'. He may give him a thumbs up. He doesn't know he's stolen two votes.
Down the aisle though and he's sitting down by Jean in her wheelchair, "Hey Jean!" He doesn't call attention to her leg. "Hey Maya-" He's not sure if the man with an afro near Maya is with her, but he does get a curious look, "Missed the start. How's Lemina holding up against-"
He shields his eyes against the sudden flare of hidden pyrotechnics, "-Zed..."
Hiro's jaw may drop a little at the sudden flaring pyroclasm.
"I didn't know her magic could do that."
He says in wonder, before he reaches over for a handful of Maya's popcorn without looking. His eyes are just fastened on the match.
<Pose Tracker> Lemina Ausa has posed.
The Dark Hero -- sets himself on actual fire. Is this everyone's power!? Fargo was doing this too -- is this just the sort of thing people do on Filgaia?! As Zed comes in as a whirling tornado of flame, Lemina meets it --
-- with ice. Around the point at which she's planted her staff, a chill wind swirls -- and then a harsh wall of ice stops the Dark Hero... cold. Lemina manages an honest-to-goodness backflip -- thanks for the training, Jean! -- as she retreats, though a spray of shards of ice from Zed shattering her guard bites into her whole body.
"Anyone can get set on fire, you mega-ridiculous weirdo!" Lemina declares, bobbing back and forth on her heels. She doesn't commit to closing in or moving back, for the moment -- maybe she's trying to bait something out? "But to control it -- to be a master of all things temperature..."
Twirling her staff high above her head and then pointing it at Zed, she says, "That takes someone mega-special and mega-flashy, like me! Mega-magic FLAME!" She gives it a second twirl, and as she twirls it, a ring of flame forms around and under the Dark Hero in time with her twirling staff. Even if he can clearly cope with being a little on fire -- just how long can he handle having the heat turned up?
With her spell complete, Lemina hops backward again, before resuming her little back-and-forth, side-to-side shimmy, thinking back to what she'd discussed with Jean about how to approach the uphill climb she has ahead of her in the losers' bracket.
GS: Lemina Ausa has attacked Zed with Fire Ring! GS: Lemina Ausa has completed her action. GS: Zed takes a glancing hit from Lemina Ausa's Fire Ring for 73 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Maya Schrodinger has posed.
Maya's #1 afro'd retainer blinks once, his funky glasses turning opaque in the light of the fireworks all going off at once. "Milady, I have always pledged to serve to the best of my abilities," he deadpans while also placing a huge tray of jumbo steak fries on Jean's lap, "But I believe the art of the fast draw would be hindered by being set ablaze."
"Hmm, yeah, probably. On the other hand, you could be shooting fire out of your sword." Maya's reasoning seems a little short-sighted, but then, at least she's back in good spirits, and healthy, and... and whatever it is she is. Hiro and friends might know less about her now than they did at the outset. Help.
"Hiro, have a seat with us! Things are just getting good," there is, sadly, no beer in the Drifter's hands. But can you imagine a dainty gun-princess like her drinking something as boorish as ale? "I think I'm learning a lot about magic today. Is she always like this in a scrap?"
<Pose Tracker> Jean has posed.
"Hiro!" Jean says warmly to Hiro, looking at him while she lounges, arms on armrests and leg neatly elevated. It may or may not be comfortable, but...
"So far Lemina's doing great," Jean explains, and grins. "She's full of surprises. I've been working with her a little." SHe pauses, puts up her hand, "Purely a sitting-down kind of working."
It's wondrous.
"Ice... Keep it mixed up, avoid the negative outcomes..." And suddenly there are jumbo steak fries on her lap. Jean blinks, and starts eating them. "Mm, thanks!" She loves food. Spicy and everything... "I think you're right though."
Fire... "Fire's dangerous to use," Jean points out. "It can burn you." A laugh though as Maya asks.
"Just watch. Lemina can do a lot more than this!"
<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.
Everyone's power? No. No, not quite. Even as Zed's spinning strike is repelled, he knows this deep in his heart of hearts. He knows it is true, that his training has not been for naught...! "Non... non! Everyone can get set on fire, but that means that to truly MASTER being set on fire-- to embrace the fire with open arms and learn to ensconce yourself in it completely...!"
Lemina conjures another ring of fire. The Dark Hero leaps boldly! That... Is flashiness!"
Free from the earth, he begins pirouetting through the air, before POLE VAULTING OVER THE FIRE RING!? His body burns hotter. But that's fine. That's fine because... "YOU CAN'T SET WHAT IS ALREADY ON FIRE... EVEN MORE ON FIIIIIRE!"
The Dark Hero lands. The flames billow just like his scarf does. He crosses his arms and focuses his spirit...! The flames... Darken. It's as if the light is sucked out of them. Suddenly they are no mere flames, but have become THE FLAMES OF MISFORTUNE. The Dark Hero's eyes suddenly fly open. He swings his sword in a terrific overhead slash.
THE DARK FIRE WASHES RIGHT FOR LEMINA.
TIME TO TURN UP THE HEAAAAAAT.
GS: Zed has attacked Lemina Ausa with Sealed Blade - Demon Breaker! GS: Zed has completed his action. GS: Lemina Ausa takes a solid hit from Zed's Sealed Blade - Demon Breaker for 117 hit points! GS: Poison! Statuses applied to Lemina Ausa!
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.
"Wow that would be cool." Hiro don't agree with Maya here you actually are a swordsman and can understand Todd's point. But Milady? It becomes painfully obvious they know each other, "Fast draw huh? Are you a friend of Maya's?" I mean he did say Milady but he wants to be sure. Maybe Maya just gets a lot of respect from the people around her?
She does kind of exude that feeling like she ought to when she's a Gunslinger.
He does take that offer to sit down. "Most of the time!" He says- though he does remember the time Lemina got really serious. That time with Virginia...
He's diplomatic enough not to mention it though.
"Watching Lemina is pretty much the best way to learn though- other than her teaching you directly." He gets this fond little grin on his face before looking over at Jean when she says working with her a little. He arches an eyebrow as Jean puts up a hand, and then grins when she says sitting down.
Reaching over with a hand, he ruffles her hair, "It better be right now. First time I've ever seen you take anything sitting down."
Wait where did all that food come from?
Blinking a few times at Zed's flamboyance, he laughs, "Well I guess Zed has a point there..." He winces as Zed swings his sword in an overhead slash that brings dark fire.
"Ouch. Guess he kind of proved Maya's point..." He mentions to Todd before calling out, "You can do it Lemina! Zed's tough but you've got this!"
<Pose Tracker> Lemina Ausa has posed.
This time, Zed's attack lands totally, completely flush; Lemina's set ablaze now, and she staggers back, wincing. The Dark Hero puts her earnestly on her back foot, and her body sags a little bit; she attempts to gain separation with some more backward low hops, but she knows the Dark Hero has speed on her in a big way.
"You know what? You're right," Lemina says, brightly. "You're totally mega-right! Sticking to fire is one-dimensional and boring!" On the one hand, fire offense and ice defense is a classic -- but it'll take more than fire to get Lemina the upper hand here.
Twirling her staff around mightily, the Junior Premier forms a giant ice spike along its head. It starts as a tiny icicle, but grows and grows with each twirl; it's nearly the size of Lemina herself when she stops twirling it.
Lemina looks like she's going to use it as a giant scythe, for a moment, with a micro-advancement in toward the Dark Hero... but that's just the bait. When she takes that step, she pushes right back off of it with a hop, and swings the staff downward to launch it straight for Z.
... he's more comfortable at a distance than I was expecting, Lemina thinks a little distantly. Everyone in this tournament has been that way, admittedly -- Lemina's range hasn't been nearly the asset she was hoping. But what else can she do?
GS: Lemina Ausa has attacked Zed with Ice Lance! GS: Lemina Ausa takes 10 damage from Poison! GS: Lemina Ausa has completed her action. GS: Zed takes a glancing hit from Lemina Ausa's Ice Lance for 62 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Maya Schrodinger has posed.
Maybe this is Maya's ultimate power, to watch two things at once. She shuffles her popcorn bag Hiro's way, watching Lemina and Zed bounce and weave through each other's danmaku patterns of flame with brows arched. "How long did the doctors stick you in the chair for?" she asks of Jean, eyes glued to the action. "It's never fun. Can't stand it."
Mister Todd Dukakis, of impeccable hair and fashion, adjusts his spectacles and turns to face Hiro with gloved hands together pleasantly. He looks used to, well, ... waiting on kids, so to speak. "That is correct, Mister Hiro," which sounds less odd coming from someoner with velvet-y and practiced enunciation than it reads, "I am the young Lady's sworn retainer, serving in both academic and martial capacities. It is a pleasure to meet you, and I thank you and your friends for taking such good c--"
"Todd, come on." Maya sweats a little, not wanting to dwell on her geeky weak form, pointing back to the arena. "How come you never swing your sword from overhead? I keep telling you, there's more power in the blow than trying to draw and strike in one go!"
It's water off a duck's back to the afro'd butler-samurai. He merely hands Hiro a chocolate-topped ice-cream as if this were all normal behaviour. "Please keep an eye on the fight, milady, lest you and your friends miss some of the excitement."
<Pose Tracker> Jean has posed.
"To embrace being set on fire...?" Jean looks dubious at Zed. "I guess that's just the kind of guy he is. She leans over to Hiro, "I think you can set things more on fire than they were, I'm pretty sure that's a way to get bigger fires." But she's not quite sure; she's squinting about it.
But Hiro mentions it's cool and that's cool, but Jean is still eating fries. Jean keeps watching Lemina and Zed too, except when she looks over to Hiro and laughs as he ruffles her hair. "Hey, isn't this my line?" Jean's hair is eminently rufflable. "I know, I know. I'm resting. This is restful!"
"...I prefer not to," she commends about taking something sitting down. "...Right. She still has this."
Ice. Ice is coming next, and Jean knew it. "COOL HIM OFF!" she shouts into the Arena.
A look to Maya. "If I'm lucky, a few weeks," Jean says with a grimace. "It was sort of a perfect storm of injury."
Retainer... "We like Maya," Jean says to Todd. "It's good to meet you!" She puts a hand over Hiro to offer a handshake, and laughs.
"If he's fast draw, you should know how powerful that style is. I think it's really impressive to be able to do it." Jean watches the excitement. ...She eats her fries and her meat and washes it down with rapidly-emptying beer.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
It's 'Fei's player is off in the middle of the evening on monday' day! You know what that means--he's going to pose sitting down at the tournament to watch Lemina explode Zed (he believes in you Lemina) and make the rare comment about their power levels due to being inconveniently afk for an hour at a poor time!
Though he kind of woke up late today. And not in his room either but in the middle of an alleyway which was pretty weird but that's okay. He's running late and he barely makes it in time to see the middle of the fight.
"Lemina!" He shouts when he has a moment. "FIGHT FOREVER!!"
She knows what he means.
<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.
Hm!? Not just ice, but fire too!? "Amazing!" The Dark Hero gasps as Lemina's icicle blast heads STRAIGHT FOR HIM. "Superb, even! I am taken aback!" The icicle is only inches away now. Will she hit her mark!?
Not if this KNOCKOUT-Brand sword has anything to say about it!
"Go," Z yells, Knockout-Brand number threeeeeeeee!" Sword meets ice. Almost immediately, the metal begins to fatigue and fail, but... But...! "IIIIIKEEEEEEEEEEEEEE~!" He slashes through anyway! Icicle and sword both shatter, black flame and ice shards rain down over the arena. The Dark Hero's cloak, already thoroughly scorched is now torn to shreds! But that only reveals...
...That he has three more swords at his hips.
"I wasn't expecting you to throw that with such power. Both ice and fire... Yes, this is good. This is very good!" The Dark Hero's hand wraps around the hilt of one of his three remaining swords-- he advances a single step.
And then a dozen, as if in an instant...!
"But you're not the only one with TWO POWERS! Now, behold, my new technique...!" A glint of steel flashes from Zed's hip as KNOCKOUT-Brand Four emerges from its sheath... Ablaze with THE LIGHT OF THE SOUL! "Honed after my recent brush with death. A blade that shines with the light of life!"
"PIIILED SHOT--!"
Zed reaches his opponent, and in one smooth motion, he strikes! He slashes with a sword that is not just steel; a blade that is not just beam, but a fusion of both at once!
GS: Zed has attacked Lemina Ausa with RayBlade - Zed Saber! GS: Zed has completed his action. GS: Lemina Ausa takes a solid hit from Zed's RayBlade - Zed Saber for 144 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.
"Think nothing of it." Hiro says to Todd- "I mean we'd do anything for a friend like Maya- Mister...?" He holds out a hand for Todd's gloved one to shake. And then Maya says his first name at least, "Todd?" Right before Jean sticks her arm over too, so suddenly the two of them are soliciting handshakes.
But then he gets this sheepish little look as Maya compliments an overhead strike like that. Given that that's pretty much his best and most often used technique. He's grinning extra hard. "Well I can't say I disagree with her..." Before he accepts the chocolate tipped ice cream. Staring at it for a moment, he beams at the guy, "Hey thanks."
Before leaning over to sideeye Jean, "It's definitely restful. And hey you'll be back before you know it." He grins optimistically- right before Jean mentions Fast Draw. For some reason he keeps thinking of a Lady with a Scythe when he thinks of fast. And fast drawing but is that the same thing if one isn't using a sword? "Huh."
He gives Todd this look of respect before his eyes head back forward as Lemina switches it up to ice. "Ha... ha... Geez Lemina way to make a guy who can only use Wind feel inadequate..." He trails off and suddenly sits forward on the edge of his seat, "Wow, he really refined that technique..." Hiro looks stunned, remembering what it felt like when he got hit by the Light of Zed's soul combined with the Darkness before.
<Pose Tracker> Lemina Ausa has posed.
Okay, that one landed extra flush. Lemina's armor is sundered neatly in half, and Zed's slash hits flesh besides; Lemina's chestplate may be better than it was for her fight with Garan, but nothing's gonna top that. Clad now in only her dress and leg armor, Lemina drops to a knee for a moment. Is she going to yield again? The last time she got hit with a big shot like that, it was just about over for her...
... but no -- Lemina plants her staff and gets back to her feet at the count of six, one eye screwed shut at the blinding light (and the intense pain), and says, "Okay... so you've got even me on flashiness," with a wince. She knows when not to engage on showmanship.
Taking a deep breath in through her nose, Lemina watches Zed's guard, and thinks back to Jean's advice. Overwhelm him...?
Right. Any deficit needs to be made up through sheer, overwhelming force.
Lemina looks back toward Fei for a moment, and gives him a smile and a nod. She mumbles something under her breath --
-- and swings her staff with a cry of, "FREEZE CLAW!" This time, there's no elaborate wind-up, no slow-growing ice. Her staff trails a long claw of ice -- easily a few meters -- that threatens to bite into Zed's midsection.
She roots her feet firmly for a moment to stop her own momentum, then twirls the staff around exactly once to shift it the other direction; the blades of ice grow longer still, and swipe from the other side, threatening to shove Zed to the far corners of the arena. Strike hard and strike fast, and play to your strengths, Lemina -- just overwhelm him and chill out that literally-burning spirit.
If she gets her space back, she elects to stop the shimmy -- Zed's been overwhelming it with big, broad strikes and distance, so why waste the energy? Lemina just watches and waits.
GS: Lemina Ausa has attacked Zed with Freeze Claw! GS: Lemina Ausa takes 6 damage from Poison! GS: Lemina Ausa has completed her action. GS: Zed has activated a Force Action!
<Pose Tracker> Maya Schrodinger has posed.
Mister Dukakis is a man of refined taste, manners, and sense. So while the stuffy decorum of his upbringing and training would demand he kiss Jean's hand in greeting as befitting a lady, his common sense, wits, and the knowledge Maya would beat his ass for being a goon about it mean that he instead gives her a firm, gloved handshake which indicates respect. What a good dude. "The Lady Jean is too kind, I am no master of the art, but perhaps might someday impart some of my knowledge to the young Master Hiro if he would like..." the impeccably-suited man fixes his discerning gaze on the young man, and bows from the hip after his ice-cream gift is accepted. "My apologies, Master Hiro, for not introducing myself earlier. I am Todd Dukakis--"
"My loyal retainer, yeah, yeah. Hey, why don't the two of you" Maya's gaze indicates both her butler and Hiro, "Have as many swords as he does? You could even hold one in your mouth, or something."
The Schrodinger girl smiles very brightly and proudly about this cool assessment of how to fight with swords. In the background, the light of Zed's soul shines brightly, and the fangs of Cocytus fly from Lemina's staff. Yes hello this is Maya Smartinger, certified smartest drifter in the lands.
"Oh. Yeah, Jean, we're gonna hire a wagon to head home after the tournament, so if your legs are still killing you, you guys should totally jump onboard with us." the blonde adds as an afterthought, single finger held aloft as the arena threatens to implode from the weight of all the Finishing Blow Hyper Combo Hissatsu Ougis being hurled around it.
GS: Zed takes a solid hit from Lemina Ausa's Freeze Claw for 182 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Jean has posed.
At least it's a friendly match, Jean can think. She watches Zed counterattack, show off more of his swords... That's wise, given his style. A blade of... life.
"Does what he says mean anything?" Jean asks, puzzled, "Or is he just shouting it? I mean, obviously the techiques work..."
Says the assassin.
But she can't deny Zed's skill. That's what she was ounting on in her advice to Lemina. A grin to Hiro, "It's a technique that works well for you." She pauses at that, snd dips her head. "Yeah... It feels like it's taking a while. And a few weeks is being optimistic. But at least they say it'll be good as new."
Lemina's armor goes down and Jean's eyes widen. "GO LEMINA!" Jean shouts as she freeze laws, thinking the same thoughts to Lemina that she's thinking now.
Jean doesn't hate hand-kisses, but she doesn't expect them either; she's sure not a noble. This is better. While Jean is injured, her handshake is sure firm. "I'd be happy to see him learn it," Jean says. "Though it's not his style... If I used more weapons, I'd ask about it, but I already use a fast weapon."
She doesn't mean her fans.
"In their... mouths?" Jean says, and outright cackles. "Oh that's a great image!" She winces at how hard she laughs. But--
"Really?" Jean asks. "Thanks! I mean, they might be. Lemina won't even let me do pullups in the meantime. I'll remember tht though. If the others are down."
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.
Remembering Riese's advice as Jean says it works well for him- "Yeah, but I leave myself open a little too much I think. I think I need to refine it more..." He's a little puzzled on how to do that. But it makes sense- he definitely trusted her as the voice of experience there.
Hiro licks his ice cream, when Todd offers that and he seems taken aback, "Whoa really? Would you? That'd be swell I mean... I'd be really flattered if you'd teach me what you know- Mister Dukakis. I haven't really had much formal instruction." Before Maya interrupts and Hiro's jaw opens- "What? You expect me to- IN MY MOUTH?"
Hiro's teeth hurt just thinking about it. "I mean one sword and a shield is hard enough... and sometimes I wield it two handed but I'm not... even a sword in both hands feels like you'd trip yourself up trying, unless it's a shortsword or a dagger."
Hiro sees what Lemina does with ice though just as his tongue makes contact with the ice cream though and he shouts- "WOOOOO! DON'T LET UP NOW LEMINA!"
But then Maya offers that and- Hiro scratches the back of his neck because he's thinking about Maya's offer, "Huh. Well we've searched around Adlehyde and the coast as much as I think we can for a way home... so it might just be time to move on..." His eyes dart over to Jean as if soliciting her opinion- well on that matter, rather than just being carted around due to her bum leg. "Heh. Maybe we'll have to take you up on that. Where are you from again Maya?"
<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.
A claw... Made of ice...!?
"Ghh--!" The Dark Hero wheezes as the enormous, frigid limb pushes him back, further and further across the arena floor. So this is the power of the heir to the Magic School of Vane...? To be able to force him back, to push him to the wall. To break the wall, to crater it, to fill the air with smoke and frost.
It's a small miracle-- a token of grace on the part of the tournament's generous sponsors that they installed this... non-lethality field thing. Otherwise there'd be a hole in his gut right now. Otherwise, the jig would be up, and he'd have more to worry about than the frozen claw crushing the air out of his chest.
"Haaaah," The Dark Hero sighs as he struggles against the jagged claw-tips. "Well... That's how it is, isn't it?"
"Or rather--" The mask's eyes... Impossibly... Sparkle!? "Finishing me off like this would be too easy, wouldn't it?"
Something... bizarre begins to occur. The Dark Hero begins to... Vibrate? Yes. He begins to resonate. The skill that he spent months perfecting-- the Seraph-Detecting, Auto-Resonatory Technique, is now being tuned to the exact resonant frequency of Lemina's Ice! The entire limb begins to vibrate and shake as destructive wave-forms surge through its full length. This is...
The Solitary Wave Riser!?
Cracks spread across the frozen expanse like spiderweb, deepening with every fractional instance of time, until finally the entire thing comes apart in a burst of ice and fog.
...And from the fog... he emerges.
No. Two of him. Three. Four. Five. Six. A dozen. Two dozen Dark Heroes launch themselves from the fog!
"HERE WE GO!" The Dark Hero grins as, as one, twenty four blades suddenly BLAZE WITH POWER! "PIIIIILED SHOOOOOT...!!!"
GS: Zed has attacked Lemina Ausa with Forbidden Move - Astral Dance! GS: Zed has completed his action. GS: Lemina Ausa has activated a Force Action! GS: You have activated the Force Action Guard! GS: CRITICAL! Lemina Ausa critically Guards a hit from Zed's Forbidden Move - Astral Dance for 56 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Maya Schrodinger has posed.
Maya glances skyward for a moment in contemplation, as the seats all shudder and the ground shakes. Jean raises a good point, re: Zed possibly just hollering completely random things like some kind of final attack mad-lib. "Oh, that's a good question. I yell all kinds of random stuff when I use magic, and it usually works out. Maybe his sword techniques work the same way. However you want to cut it," a vain fluff of her blonde curls follows, "It looks neck-and-neck. What a shame I've been missing out on these!"
There's a moment before Zed turns into twenty-four different sword-swinging sentai images, and in that moment, Maya cheerfully averts her gaze back to Hiro and misses the clutch technique. For shame. "My home's in Bledavik. It's a pretty bustling place, you'll fit right in!"
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei goes silent. "This...is a key moment...!" He grits his teeth with determination. He wants to see Lemina win because, well, she has always been nice to him and has only fleeced him somewhat rather than a whole lot. For Fei, that might as well be friend for life.
"Don't actually fight forever though I just mean it as a way to encourage you. Eventually you'll want to stop fighting!" He adds to his prior cheer.
<Pose Tracker> Lemina Ausa has posed.
The doubles surround Lemina, threatening to cut off her escape routes. It looks like she's managed to gain so much separation as to corner herself; while she has a small window of backward egress, she doesn't have the speed left to use it. "Haaahh... the point wasn't to finish you off," Lemina breathes, as she looks from side to side, stance sagging. Her blonde hair brushes against Zed's earlier cut, the blood staining it.
Every Zed comes in with that bright, blazing Piled Shot. Lemina sees the light in the Dark Hero's dark heart --
-- and flares with light of her own. "It was to bait you into coming in too hard!" She plants her staff in the ground with a satisfying, magical pwonk!
Most Light wizards on Lunar use their magic to blast. Scorching rays and photonic bursts are the order of the day -- a searing, brutal force. Lemina has seen the apex of this magic first-hand in Lucia. Lemina's light, however... that's different. Hers is not the light of POWER, though; rather, it's the light of cleansing -- a light that scourges illusions and falsehoods, a light that shines through dark magic and tears power asunder.
She bursts with radiance, and the illusory doubles vanish, leaving only the real Zed to attack Lemina -- and Lemina meets that assault with an umbrella. It locks up with the blade a little too late; it bites into her shoulder, the blazing beam-like light cutting her... but her guard holds.
She can't beat the Dark Hero on speed or strength, and the longer this lock-up persists, the more likely she is to falter -- but she doesn't have to persist in the lock-up, either. Instead, Lemina locks eyes with Zed for a moment, saying, "Watch your head, 'hero'!"
Then she ducks low, whirls to one side, and with a mighty cry of, "MEGA-MAGIC FLAME!" she summons a massive ring of fire. ... Under Zed's feet, where, hopefully, he's no longer looking for an attack.
That's right: the oldest trick in the book.
GS: Lemina Ausa has activated a Force Action! GS: You have activated the Force Action Lock On! GS: Lemina Ausa has attacked Zed with Fire Ring! GS: Lemina Ausa takes 9 damage from Poison! GS: Lemina Ausa has completed her action. GS: Zed has activated a Force Action! GS: Zed takes a solid hit from Lemina Ausa's Fire Ring for 139 hit points! GS: Zed has Fallen! He is no longer able to fight!
<Pose Tracker> Jean has posed.
Jean can't argue what Hiro says, tilting her head his way a moment. "You always need to refine it more. Sounds like something to work on. You do need to work on your defense."
Jean has a lot of things to work on with Hiro. But she knows how to refine, and that might be enough. "I'll go out with you tomorrow."
Sword and shield... "You're not ready for dual-wielding," Jean says with a shake of her head. "And it doesn't suit your style either. I do it, but I'm mostly concerned with offense and speed."
Lemina is still going. Hiro mentions moving on, and Jean nods. "It might be," she agrees, and she's grateful for the onsideration.
A duplication tehnique though; after dealing with the ice, Zed manages it all right. But seriously...
"I've never been to Bledavik!" Jean's beer is almost empty now. It was... pretty big. "See, yeah, that makes sense to me if that's how Zed works. But..."
They're still going. Jean stares, eyes sparkling, at the cleansing light that is the opposite of everything that she can do. Lemina's guard holds...
"LEMINA!" Her heart's in her throat as she waits to see the result.
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.
"Huh yeah. I definitely wanted to visit. I hear the guy the ruling the place is kind of a jerk though." Whereas Hiro sort of sheepishly nods at Jean's evaluation- of both him needing to refine things more and... of not dual wielding. "Yeah- Hey thanks." Though if Jean goes out with him he wants to make absolutely sure she stays in that chair!
But Hiro stands up when he sees Zed's body double technique. Having seen this with Corwynt he's worried about what Zed will pull off with it- His breath catches.
And then with a pulse of cleansing radiance he's struck speechless by how Lemina handles it. And his eyesbrows lift, his facial expression changing as she yells MEGA-MAGIC FLAME!
And when all the flame and smoke clears- "SHE DID IT!" He cries out- not sounding too surprised but definitely impressed.
<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.
The thing about old tricks is that sometimes, only sometimes, they're all that you really need.
Of course, it's not like someone can just straight up predict that the witch they're fighting can somehow cast AWESOME DISPELLING MAGIC, but that's how things go.
Well.
No. That's not quite how things go.
Lemina's nullifying wave sweeps over the myriad Zeds, but they... Do not disappear. They are no mere illusions. Two dozen Zeds, all moving as one, are nothing more than a single Zed moving impossibly fast. Faster than the eye can follow. That's what it means to be born with the legs of a Metal Demon, after all.
And, you know, the body of a Metal Demon, the arms of a Metal Demon, and even the head of a Metal Demon.
And what comes with being a Metal Demon is a weapon fit for a Metal Demon.
So, if Lemina cares to look, she'd notice that the sword embedded in her shoulder, is not a Knockout-brand KNOCKOUT-Brand, but...
The Unlucky Star Sword* - Doom Bringer
(*Title Pending)
"Heh," The Dark Hero grins as the flames rage higher. all around him. "Not... Bad...!"
The fires close in. They consume him utterly. Or, rather, they light up THE REST OF THE FIREWORKS he'd hidden under his cloak. The resulting explosion and also the fire consumes him utterly.
In the midst of the cataclysm of light, Lemina can just barely see... a mask shattering to pieces...!
And when it fades, the Dark Hero is gone, disappeared from the arena.
BUT IS HE TRULY GONE FOR GOOD!?
<Pose Tracker> Lemina Ausa has posed.
At the very least, it gave Lemina the time and space to think, and clarity enough to distinguish the where and when of Zed -- and in the end, that's all that really matters. As Zed is consumed by the flames, his mask shattering...
... Lemina slumps, pulling her second staff and electing to use both to support herself, breathing heavily. She looks like she's about to collapse from exhaustion, frankly -- her whole body quakes with pain, and even though she's the winner, the Junior Premier doesn't really feel like a winner.
Slowly but surely, she walks her way back to the ready room, painstakingly sticking staff-ends into the ground to make her retreat, one after another. ... She needs dinner.
<Pose Tracker> Maya Schrodinger has posed.
There'll be time to talk turkey about travel later, because for now, Maya D. Schreddinger is pulling a pair of atomic blast viewing sunglasses over her eyes and giving both Hiro and Jean a thumbs-up. By the time she can finally remove them, there's only one contestant in the arena anymore. "Uh, aren't there supposed to be crests or something in here so nobody dies?" she asks the air, and her surrounding spectators. "Do they /script/ it so this kind of thing happens?"
Alas, bereft of your monk transformation, Maya Schrodinger, you can't hope to follow the action at full speed. And failed to notice the broken shards of Darque Hero mask littering the arena. "By my lil' eye, though, that was a close one. Scary stuff." she quips, having risen to her feet to politely golfclap while everyone else hoots + hollers like an Arsenal FC fan.
Silently, Maya is glad af she did not enter this madness and get smeared embarrassingly. Holy moley.
<Pose Tracker> Jean has posed.
Bledavik, right. Jean is not that concerned about it, in fact adding, "Right, I haven't ever been there, so hopefully it's got good food!" A beat, "A jerk ruler is nothing new to me though. We'll be on the outskirts probably."
Hiro shouts that Lemina did it, and Jean stares forward to watch the smoke clear. And Zed is gone. It makes Jean uneasy.
"...Weird," she says, and finally looks at Lemina again as she goes. "Great work," she says, staring. Then a pause, "I'm pretty sure he's not dead for that reason. I tested those wards out myself."
Jean cheers too, and finishes her beer.
"Hey, Hiro. Let's go meet her." She looks... distant in a way, thoughtful, but in a happy way. "I'll carry your food."