[IC] TTG Chapter 3: Gluttony

[IntSys]

Supernova

 

Tai was caught off-guard with the almost-natural movements of Libra slamming him down the floor. In response, he grabbed the arm tightly with his right hand, and used his left hand to barely hold against her sheer weight, avoiding from getting crushed into scrap metal. He could tell that the heat he was radiating was affecting Libra's hull.

 

"You're fighting Temperance Lucas. You have to be careful, she's truly a monster. Whatever you do, you must keep calm. Everyone must keep calm."

 

"This is actually okay so far. Well, aside from the crushing part. Slumbering Giant had crazy firepower, while Revenant had magnetic force. Libra, well, is just a giant relying on her weight."  Tai responded.

 

Tai powered up his jets once more, melting the ice beneath him at a high rate and radiating greater heat. "Not sure what you're exactly trying to accomplish here with locking us both, but, well, this isn't exactly a good idea." It only took a few seconds before the ice beneath him turned into a puddle of water. He activated his warp, and appeared on top of Libra.

 

Wasting no time, he unleashed a flurry of fists on the front of the mech, punching between the segments of the armor and pushing Libra further down into the pit of water and ice. Every blow sent even more heat into the mech, softening the armor every blow. He continued to keep an eye on Libra's arms as he attacked, seeing them as the only other methods for her to perform a counterattack.

 

 

 

 

 

[Sutoratosu]

Revenant

 

As the plan proceeded to backfire, just as Asmo had been silently suspecting it would- the twat he worked for's battle plans seldom went off without some form of risk he felt were unnecessary -the AI had already proceeded to Kill the Command Lines as the impact was made, ranking up the fields to repulse the force as best he could with so little prep...his quick action being the only thing that prevented their vivisection from their own weapon as they skidded across the ice to the opposite side of the arena. He felt as though... he wanted to yell at solomon. Scream at him, curse his lack of foresight and tiring gungho nature that constantly got them into tight spots that he had to inevitably work his ass off to get them back out of.

     But yet... whatever words the AI wanted to actually use to accost the man... he could not find. They had been there, one moment, on the tip of his proverbial tongue ready to fly like the countless nuclear arms of an Atomic Armageddon. Then gone. Gone with the wind... right as they'd been hit.

 

"Fuck... the thing's in there firmer than I thought. Asmo, what's the damage looking like?"

    The report flashed in his mind at the speed of thought. The AI stayed silent of his own accord. Solomon scowled, flexing the fingers of the affected arm, only to find the evaluation was indeed accurate. Armor had been stripped clean off by Ragnarok, and the Servos beneath it bashed by the force of the Sphere... and that was with the last minute reduction via a counter repulsion. Still usable... but it would be nowhere near optimal in performance. Hell... it might've been even better to delegate the thing to a makeshift sheild if he needed to put something in between his center of mass and an assault. The head meanwhile, seemed to have taken the least of the impact, only coming away with a crack in the visor The thought stuck with him, making him grind his teeth- he had nearly destroyed himself with his own magnetism. There was no one to blame but himself for the folly... but at least now he knew a bit more about his opponent. At least now he knew trying to retrieve ragnarok the same way would lead to more disaster.

 

It was just too damn bad for Sphere Boy... that Solomon was already pegged with an idea on exactly what to do to him. Exactly how he wanted to fuck him up. He'd give him indigestion yet... 

 

Command Line: RE01-Kill Pulse

Adjutant Command: Delay RE01; Condition- Proximity Detection

 

The Ragnarok seemed to go completely dormant for a moment, as across the ice the Mechanic could be seen drawing the twin sabers from the back of his waist and igniting them with a malicious his as ionized, superheated gas was generated and released before being restrained within one of the fields and trapped back within the handle, forming a blade of radiance easily a meter in length... and using the fields launched himself towards the Sphere, sabers flashing in a dazzling display of finesse... that he heavily favored his left arm during...

 

As he closed just half the distance to Requiem, the Adjutant Command deactivated, and Ragnarok's embedded Spheres all flared at once, their output immense as a storm of electromagnetic activity blossomed from quite literally inside of Requiem's Mech where the weapon was embedded, sending a localized EMP burst spreading throughout every inch of the machine as the Chakram continued to pump out watt after watt of crippling electricity, Solomon heading in hard and fast, prepared to tear into him with the vicious blades of radiance, unphased by the amount of raw, disruptive Electromagnetism in the area as he knew full well he'd outfitted his Mech far more than just adequately  to withstand his own tactics...

[Shamitako]

Libra

 

Libra shuddered and collapsed as Supernova disappeared from under it. Temperance was knocked back to the wall. The crowd was cheering so loudly, cheering on Supernova, cheering for her to fight back. Supernova was feeling confident too.

"Emmie, we're in trouble, the armor can't keep up." Kayli warned.

"Oh yeah, he's wrecking us." Temperance said, surging with confidence and excitement, "He's going to break through any moment."

"Yes, that's why I'm telling you- Wait, you're not..."

"You bet I am!" Temperance cheered.

 

Cardinal

 

"Thinking like that is going to make you lose." Cardinal pleaded, "Look, you wouldn't know her, but I do. I know her as Emotional Wrecking Ball; she lives up to the name. She drains your emotions and uses them to smash you. One method of gaining Favor is making people like you, that's where it gets its name. Honorable victory, self confidence, and cheering crowds all generate Favor. Temeprance Lucas drains confidence from her opponents and excitement from the crowd, balancing it with her own muted emotions. Then the excitement is thrown back to the crowd, and then back to her. Ten times, twenty times, fifty times. It multiplies and multiplies until there's simply no hope left for her opponent."

Tai realized then that his confidence did feel like it was constantly being traded for excitement. Cardinal was right, and it was too late.

 

Libra

 

The armor guarding Temperance fell away, revealing her vulnerable human body. Her vulnerable human body wielding a gigantic hammer with two heads. A gigantic hammer which swung out to meet Supernova's fist as Temperance rocketed out of the mech. The entire crowd erupted in cheers. The hammer spun around and smashed into him again, this time nailing his chest. Temperance landed on her mech's melted armor frame, using the hammers weight to tip it forward. It flipped up to its standard position, smacking Supernova in the face with the upper part of its armor.

"How do you like that!" Temperance yelled at Supernova, causing the crowd to cheer even louder.

 

(OOC: So, uh, basically Emmie makes Favor out of crowds. A lot of Favor. For the record, she's not unbeatable, even at this point. But it's not easy and she's definitely stronger than any of the PCs under most circumstances)

[IntSys]

Supernova

 

The hammer hit Tai's right fist, but he quickly parried it, reducing the damage somewhat by countering it with his own force. But then, the hammer twirled and landed on his chest, revealing the shield generator within. Finally, Libra's discarded armor frame was knocked at Tai's face, but it was met with fists.

 

"...what? So, everything I'd normally do would end with me losing?"  Tai began to sweat a bit, not from the heat of his own mech, but rather... fear. "I-I'm going to run. Maybe I'll find a way to beat her later, maybe I won't, but until then, I can't fight her."

 

"D-Darn, well done." Tai commended Temperance. He then unleashed another barrage of fireballs at her, covering her vision with smoke. He quickly propelled himself upwards and zoomed away from his opponent, his eyes locked on the dreaded hammer out of nowhere. He flew higher and higher, within moments, he was a good 30 meters above the ground. "Now what?" He turned around, facing his opponent again, although with quite a bit of distance.

 

[Bfroger6]

Slumbering Giant vs Strider

 

Mommo was sweating even though they were on ice and it was damn cold. This occurence could only partially be attributed to the fact she had to hold the controls so very tight as to prevent any slight misshaps as her dear Giant's feet danced on the slippery surface. She was never much for moving around, really, but she'd already seen the other contestants and experienced how strong they were, completely unlike the damn fodder she had to fight to even get here. She was starting to doubt herself even, a sentiment only fortified by the fact Ares hadn't contacted her again. She still wore his gift around her neck, but it still didn't seem to be responding...her favor was going to start running out soon too if she doesn't pull something special off...

 

That was basically the other, main reason why she was sweating. Mostly Ares. And maybe HUNTER a bit.

 

So when she looked at her current opponent, Strider, and heard everyone around cheering them on, her heart only sank deeper. She had no clue about their abilities nor did she have an ace up the sleeve. She was defenseless even though she was surrounded by who knows how many tons of mega super unpiercable alloy metal substance. Yet this very Strider woman was the one that saved her during their travel and Mommo felt grateful on top of everything else. So she was being flooded and confused and distracted by the emotions right now. It made her disregard the actual battlefield while focusing on the one inside her mind. So she didn't move yet. Nor charge anything. Nor prepare anything.

 

What was she even fighting this battle for?

[Komodojoe]

Strider vs. Slumbering Giant

 

Morgan found herself at an awkward standoff with the Slumbering Giant. Her weapons were prepped, but she couldn't make a move. Something just felt... wrong. Aside from the Giant trying to keep her balance on this slippery ice, she hasn't done a thing. Hell, it didn't even look like her weapons were ready. "What is she doing?"  Morgan sensed hesitation. Was it because she saved her life? That does seem to be the best possible answer. And for Ms. Belle to use that against her... well... that's just not right. The last thing she wants to do is claim such a shameful victory. Morgan Belle didn't get this far just to take the easy way out. No... she has to fight fair and square. And if she does lose because of this, she better not get mad. She took a deep breath and opened the comms to speak to her opponent.

 

"Hey, I know I saved your life and all, but do me a favor... Don't hold back, alright?"

Edited January 24, 2017 by Komodojoe

[Chevaleresse]

Hellfire Knight vs. LOLI_HUNTER

 

The roar of the crowd echoed in her ears. Were they really here because of her? It seemed like almost too much to ask for; she actually smiled slightly at the thought, though the only beings to know would be the non-sentient program that controlled her guns and Hiroki herself. No, I need to focus, I can't just bask in the crowd right now or I'll lose and it'll all be for nothing. Now, I need to concentrate. I'm fighting - oh. The curve in her lips quickly reversed itself. The one person that'd actually shown some concern about her. And now it was Hiroki's job to crush her underfoot like she'd done to everyone else. It shouldn't be hard; her mech had an equal or favorable matchup with basically everything, and Kagari was no exception. She took a deep breath as the match started. No. We each came her knowing what we had to do. To hold back would be to throw everything up to here away, and it would be disrespectful of Kagari. 

 

Her hud displayed the standard startup screen; everything lit up green. "Activate primary, secondary jets. Prime all guns. Jets to 105% power." She wouldn't be able to use the ground to maneuver as much in this field, though her hovering mitigated this. She sighed. "Activate opening subroutine." She brought her primary cannon in line with her opponent, the shoulder guns following at offset angles, as the remainder of her guns flared to life, peppering the field before her with bolts of plasma. Much like before, each individual shot wouldn't do much, but it'd be nigh impossible to dodge all of them.

[Bfroger6]

Slumbering Giant vs Strider

 

"..." Mommo looked at Strider's mech as she heard her voice. "What...do you mean..?" She answered back, slowly. She may not have noticed but she was getting calmer now that she was focusing on something else. But she wasn't planning on holding back. Why would she hold back? She needed to win, after all...oh, wait...her weaponry systems were still off. Was Strider actually trying to help her fight? What was up with that? W-weren't they all here just to win? What would be the point if they started playing friends..? 

 

Mommo never had anyone to be friendly with.

 

Then again, Strider did use the word 'favor'. So she was probably mocking her or something because she was losing it while she was gaining it. Not that Mommo cared. She only wanted to know right now, what the girl meant. It confused her. Still, her grip on the controls loosened a bit and the mech stabilized on the ice. Maybe she was just trying too hard. It would be better to just take a nap...

[Shamitako]

Silent Requiem

 

Well that wasn't good. That was in fact very bad. Adam cameras were blind and his controls were fried. He was dead in the water. Also he was spinning for some reason. Suddenly, Silent Requiem jolted as though it had collided with something. Adam was flung about the mech again. Outside, Silent Requiem had shot off the ground, smashing into Revenant and sending both mechs sprawling. Silent Requiem kept spinning the whole way, and didn't look like it had any intention of stopping any time soon. It seemed that the same electricity that had destroyed Silent Requiem's systems had also turned the whole mech into a spinning magnetic orb.

 

(OOC: Emmie later, leaving skewl soon)

[Sutoratosu]

Revenant

Once again, it was Asmo's ever vigilant action that brought up the fields and saved them from sustaining as much of a battering as they would've other-wised. Solomon silently cursed under his breath as they again got up. Before he could do much of anything though, Asmodious finally stepped his foot down for the moment, locking the Mech...

     "Sully, I begin to question your sobriety at the moment..."

     "Oh shut up, there hasn't been a single of liquor in sight during this entire tourney and you know it."

     "yes, perhaps. Still doesn't change that fact that you just keep blindly charging in when you think you have an opening... oh wait... that's what you and the ghoul always do..."

     "Are we really gonna have this conversation right now? I've told you time and time again, shit might not always go perfectly, sure, but this has always worked for us, it's how we got here in the first place-"

      "Is it working for us now? I've only seen several backfires thus far. This should be an easy match, we're fighting some cripple afterall. And we'd be much further along and in a better position damage wise if you would be more careful.

       "God fucking damn it..." he sighed under his breath. "Fine then, what the hell do you suggest then, if you think you're evaluation of the style is so correct?"

       "Have you seen the shape of our enemy's mech? Did you now see it spinning? Did you not see the readouts and report? Did you even remember to fucking turn off Ragnarok before you closed the distance? For pride's sake sully, pull yourself together... She's not coming back."

        "..."

        "the sooner you come to grips with that, the sooner you can put your entire focus on what's going on infront of you, instead of just the half-assed, impulsive display of instinct that's occurred thus far." There was silence for a moment. But the AI could detect his brainwaves like the slightest ripples on a pond."

       "... what the hell do you suggest right now?"

       "Well, we could fucking turn the EMP off now that's done it's job...do away with the whole issue our damn opponent being a spinning magnet or we could..."

       "Look, don't fucking bait me like this-"

       "We could... play pinball."

       "You're joking."

       "I'm serious. If we turn off Ragnarok's EMP, stop the spinning it's causing, create a centralized repulsion field centered around ourselves and proceeded to grab him with it-"

       "That'll fucking result in us getting slammed again-"

       "Not if one of us actually concentrates and keeps the field constant and intense enough to ensure that regardless how he bounces off the terrain, he can only advance so close to us before the raw force pushes him back away again. I wonder who that should be, don't you sully?"

       "You're enjoying being a smart ass, aren't you?"

       "It does help alleviate the exasperation of our performance thus far..."

 

The mechanic grit his teeth. But he knew the machine was right. There was so much shit he should've caught here, so many times he'd fucked up, leapt before looking. Just been trying to power through and get it over with, brute force it- even Revenant in all his Mania at least had a bit of finesse to him when he was let loose. And Sully knew the real reason wasn't just because of certain match pairings.

       "Fuck it. Fine." He was already at work. Asmodious unlocked the Mech, and the instant he did, both the viscous pulses of electricity and the spinning force they'd created halted as Ragnarok dampened it's own power, reducing the signature down to normal levels. At the same time, Revenant's own fields began to expand around them, intensifying as Asmodeous upped their output and Solomon gave them direction and form, an audible hum and brilliant display of crimson shining. He could see it now, what Asmo meant. It really was simple

 

All they had to do, was manipulate things as if they were controlling Ragnorok's flight path itself. And with the blade so firmly embedded in the spherical Mech, their opponent was sure to be dragged right along with it, just as he had been when they'd tried to retrieve it earlier. And per the AI's instructions, the Repulsion field encircling them as they hovered would all but ensure that even if the fool was set on a ricochet on path that would send him towards them in the center of the arena, he'd only be thrown right back for another meeting with the wall. 

       "You ready?"

       "I'll take the care of the repulsion field. You focus on battering him into submission..."

 

It was a deal, each giving unspoken nods of the head. Right before Solomon reached out as if directing the Chakram's trajectory and swiped his hand to a harsh left with brutal swiftness, sending Raganorak, And Silent Requiem with it, Speeding towards the nearest wall with speed comparable to the very throw that had ended up getting Solomon's weapon so deeply stuck in the first place... Asmo at the ready with the field to rebound the sphere away again at a moment's notice...

[Shamitako]

Libra

 

"I know right?!" Temperance yelled back, "I'm awesome!"

Through the smoke, Tai heard a whirling sound. A large metal chunk shot through aimed in his direction, but it missed by a good ways. But the whirling hadn't stopped. The metal was followed shortly by Temeprance. The chunk bounced off the forcefield that protected the spectators, falling back down harmlessly. Temperance met it on her way up, and smashed it with her hammer. Not being grounded, she didn't have the hammer's full force behind her, but it was still enough to send the chunk shooting towards the right side of Supernova's thruster package. Temperance was pushed backwards to the edge of the arena by that same force and used her hammer to catch her against the forcefield. She was going to rebound off of it, but she felt a slight twinge of doubt and hesitated, sliding down to the ground instead. At this point, she was strong enough to handle whatever Tai could throw at her, physically and emotionally, but it had caught her off guard. She shook it off and dashed back towards her mech. Nothing was going to stop her now.

 

 

Silent Requiem

 

(OOC: You know what, Adam is totally enough of a dick to do this)

 

Adam was flung all about the inside of his cockpit as his mech shot around the arena. He eventually managed to get into the pilot's seat, pulling something in his non-broken arm as he did so. The seat was made to balance when moving at high speeds, but usually it was assisted by electronic servos. Still, he was able to clutch it for dear life. The controls were still burnt out, but some of his cameras had come back online. He could see now why he was being flung about, Revenant was throwing him about using the device embedded in his hull. The mech was recovering quickly from the dents, but they were being applied so often, eventually it wouldn't be able to keep up. He had to do something. Revenant wouldn't let him attack, he seemed to just ricochet off the air when he got close, so he couldn't manually deploy a blade and stab him. He did have one idea. He'd actually gotten it when he'd tried to Phase Punch Hellfire Knight. It wasn't near as desperate a maneuver as a Phase Punch, and certainly not as dangerous, but Amelia would probably still yell at him for the similarity. Well, it was that or be bashed around until his mech was such a mess that his opponent could just walk up and break him open. So Adam went with that. He held on tightly and waited until he was on a trajectory towards Revenant. Then, as with the Phase Punch, he dissolved the mech. The disk launched away from Revenant, but Adam's body continued to fly forward. Just before colliding with Revenant's armor and turning himself into a human stain, his mech rematerialized around him. His armor melded with his opponent's, fusing the two mechs together and locking up both of their movements. The pilot's seat formed around Adam, but as the belt was still broken and he ended up still colliding with Revenant. He felt a cracking sensation and a sharp pain from his mouth; he wasn't quite sure if it was a tooth or his jaw, either way it seemed he was reaching his limit.

[IntSys]

Supernova

 

The metal came onto Tai's radar. Cut me some slack already! He quickly turned to face the incoming projectile. It looked like another piece of Libra's armor, but it was barely identifiable as it was punched, molten and hammered. Instinctively, he punched the metal, knocking it away. The chunk of metal didn't fly far before arching down like a dead weight.

 

She's going back to the empty mech, but... she can't possibly be going back into that broken thing, right? She even just torn off a chunk of it...

 

Cardinal said that she could suck the emotion out of me... but there must be some sort of device to do that, right? If she's still doing it even outside her mech, then it must be...

 

On her- No, it could be inside her of all that I know... and that'd make it hard to overheat thanks to the body regulating the temperature.

 

"Hey, are you going back to your mech? I-I think you're two times as cool without it." Honest opinion, he never liked fighting defensive mechs. He even has a Signature Ability dedicated to eradicating such opponents.

[Sutoratosu]

Revenant & Silent Requiem

 

Pilot and AI alike stood in stunned silence as the insanity unfolded. Nothing like they'd ever seen of fought before, nothing they'd ever thing someone would be crazy enough to do; disabling their Mech mid-fight to launch their unprotected, flailing bodies and then once they got close enough do...this...this was madness. But it was a madness with a certain brand of genius to it, Asmodious couldn't help but note...But not even he knew quite what to do here, with both machines fused and utterly immobilized like this. Just... to damn dumbfounded that someone actually had the balls to pull this type of shit. Solomon too shared his silence.... or so he thought he did.

 

"I've watched enough of this shit..."

A break in their internal communication. Solomon had not gone queit at all. Had merely been spending that time letting Revenant loose like a rabid dog to hunt down an intruder... As violent and brutal an awakened storm as ever, the fiend was finally out of his chains, the raw contempt burning within the persona so palpable that the Mechs both began to become flooded with light of pure crimson... and Asmodious what the alter-ego was about to do. The power readings sky rocketed higher by the moment, output amplifying far beyond what was required for the rigors of normal combat; Throwing the Mech into total Overdrive. Without even having to try, he knew he was locked out of interfering here. And from how terribly the body within the machine shook, eyes glinting with unnatural, ember-like light as the unchained being was granted full control, he did not want to Interfere. For once, he felt something besides merely annoyance or indifference or indignation. Fear. Pure and unadulterated. More for the utter, unbridled hell the thing was about to unleash than anything else...

      "You've got massive balls, you know...? I'll give ya that much, ya blue sphere-piloting fuckboy" Revenant whispered into the comms, a voice that, while it vaguely resembled solomon, was far too deliberate and ruthlessly driven to belong to the Mechanic's relatively laid-back temprerment, devoid of empathy, or, quite honestly, any fucks left to give. "Because a big, heavy, cast iron set of gonads is exactly what it takes to enter the motherfucking arena with another man, and pull this type of shit. My gods, you must be one fearless son of bitch. Either fearless or just damn stupid. Maybe both... but all you've done here is mess up in the worst way possible, because I'm gonna wipe your sorry ass off the face of Tempest for this."

 

Static. Static that grew to pops with every word he had spoken. Pops that grew to hissing with every sentence. Hissing that grew to a roar within the brief moments it took him to finish the declaration. The smell of burnt ozone filled both mechs, the very air outside of them filling with seared particles from the energy Revenant gave off, the cloak of raw, electric energy barely contained as countless Gigawatts surged throughout the Tesla Sphere's Matrix. Countless Gigawatts that Requiems mech would have no way to defend itself against at such intimate range.

 

"So cheers to you buddy... You laid out your hand, played your trump. Hope you enjoyed it. Cause I know I'm gonna enjoy doing this. "

 

Flash Armageddon, Tesla had always called her last resort technique. True to it's name, there was flash, blinding as the star of Wrath, filling the entire arena with crimson light. A bang as raw, unbridled electricity was discharged in every direction from Revenant as he focused every bit of conscious will and effort in making good on his promise to the fucker in the Sphere, Terrawatts upon terrawatts, surging out of Solomon's mech and into the damned trap of an opposing mech, holding back nothing, knowing full well that fused like this, Requiem would most definitely feel the full force of his wrath with his own body... lucky for him that Favor prevented anything beyond the mere sensation of pain...while it lasted.

 

If the fucker wouldn't yield and call off his little trap with the whole disabling and enabling of his mech, then Revenant had no issue knocking him the fuck out from the raw agony of his assault. Either way, he wasn't about to let him get away with pulling this craven excuse for a strategy.

[Shamitako]

Silent Requiem

 

It had worked. Somehow it had worked. Not the lockup, that was far simpler than a Phase Punch so Adam had no doubt that it would work. But his opponent, they were taken aback by it. Off balance. And one of the few things still working was Silent Requiem's signature. Adam's comms were dead, so he didn't know the electricity was coming, but in the end it didn't matter. Just as Revenant started his final assault, Adam triggered Alpha Screech. Electricity shot through everything, but then it didn't. Alpha Screech was a signature, it overrode anything else. It disrupted Revenant's concentration, opening him for an assault. As quickly as it began, the electricity faded. That didn't mean Adam didn't feel it, no, he felt a lot of it, but it was nowhere near the full brunt of the attack and he was able to maintain consciousness. Pushing through the pain, Adam made his follow-up, he manually deployed three of his mech's blades--that was the most he could manage at once with the mechanical controls--inwards onto Revenant, piercing into the mech's weak armor and cutting its torso in half horizontally.

 

Libra

 

"I am cool without it, right?!" Temperance replied.

Using the momentum from her roller blade, Temeprance hopped into one of the scales on her mech, locking herself in place with her hammer as it immediately began to whirl. The she launched out of it, rocketing straight towards Supernova. This time trying to hit his jets directly with her hammer. She was pretty sure he'd find a way to handle her attack again, but she still had plenty of super fun ideas left on how to knock him down.

[Code: PIRULUK]

Hellfire Knight v.s. LOLI_HUNTER

 

Kagari grit her teeth. She hadn't expected to fight against Hiroki so soon... The thought made her feel uneasy. She didn't want this. She'd come here with the intention of winning, of ascending, of making a plane filled with nothing but cute lolis. But then she'd met Hiroki, and all of that fell away, became nothing but empty noise. She'd never felt this way about anyone else, not over the many years of pining and observation and stalking. What she felt for Kagari was a strange attraction, something which caught her attention and refused to let go. Something about her, about her insecurity and her hidden kindness, ensnared Kagari's heart. It wasn't the same passionate longing she usually felt when it came to lolis. It was something deeper, more intimate, something which made her heart race and her cheeks flush. She was fairly certain, in other words, that she was in love. Her dream of creating a plane of lolis felt so insignificant, in comparison. So pointless. All the lolis in the world would have paled in comparison to just seeing Hiroki smile. It would not be so bad, to let Hiroki accomplish her dream. Kagari's own dream was meaningless if Hiroki didn't partake in her happiness. She sighed. This was not a fight she wanted.

 

Then she had no more time for thought as Hiroki fired a barrage of plasma. Moving on instinct, she dodged and weaved through the curtain, blocking the undodgeable shots with the flat of her blade. It was evident to anyone watching that she clearly lacked the enthusiasm and sheer ferocity she had possessed in her earlier fights. She continued to block, but anyone expecting her to follow her usual attack pattern of rapidly closing the distance to her opponent would have been sorely disappointed - she stayed on the defensive, not moving from her starting position.

[IntSys]

Supernova

 

If it isn't for the device, I can just pin her down now. Urgh!

 

Tai quickly rocketed away from Temperance's trajectory. The height and speed advantage gave him much leniency on aerial maneuvers. This time, he soared even higher, now at 30 meters up from the ground.

 

If I can just snatch that hammer away from her...

 

He could hear the audience growing more and more tired of this dodging game, but he couldn't do anything about it without getting wrecked. At least, not yet.

 

She plays on emotion, right? She toyed with mine... perhaps I can toy with hers.

 

Tai sprayed a small array of fireballs at Temperance, almost as if he was punishing her failed attempts at reaching him. However, the punishment was about as significant as standing in a corner, and he wasn't really trying to damage his opponent, either.

Edited January 25, 2017 by IntSys

[Komodojoe]

Strider vs. Slumbering Giant

 

"Look, I can tell you're hesitating. Otherwise, this fight would've already started." Morgan stated. "I don't know if it's because I saved your life or if you have something else on your mind, but I do know that something's distracting you. Stuff like that usually leaves someone vulnerable in some way. I'm not about to take advantage of that, even though a lot of others would. Kicking someone while they're down like that... it's just so wrong." She sighed, and a few seconds of silence passed by before she spoke again.

 

"This is probably going to sound weird, or even downright stupid, but I've gotta fight this way. I can't take advantage of someone like that and take the easy way out. I've gotta do this the right way. Otherwise..." She thought back to when she lashed out in anger against Revenant, along with a few others, then back to the first time she can remember, a truly heartbreaking moment for her, even now. "...Otherwise, I feel like this'll all be for nothing. I didn't mean to come across as rude or insulting, and I'm sorry if I did, but I had to say it. I thought you'd be stuck in your thoughts and emotions if I didn't."

 

"I know I saved your life, but please, don't feel like you owe me anything. I only did what anyone who cared for another person's life would do."

Edited January 25, 2017 by Komodojoe

[Bfroger6]

Slumbering Giant vs Strider

 

"..." This girl...Strider...she spoke utter foolishness. Her words made no sense. They were contradictory to the whole point of this tournament-to win. Anyone in their sane mind would take advantage of Mommo's weakness and strike her down before she could regain her composure. But Strider was actually giving her time to recover...no, she was even pushing her to do so. So that they could have a fair fight because of some moral code.

 

It was stupid, like she herself had said, but Mommo's eyes sparkled as she opened them wide at the girl's words. Was this the reason why the crowd liked this girl? Mommo never had a knack for these things...she couldn't figure it out nor could she reciprocate it. She could only pretend to understand and hope she was close to the jist of it. It was like getting lost in the whiteness of a snowstorm, and she was but a pebble on the side of the road. She wanted to talk to Strider now. She wanted to hear more...see more even. And the best way she could do that was through a battle. Slowly, she let her eyelids drop...and...

 

Mommo raised her giant's hands to the front, aiming at Strider. Strider herself would be alerted at the cannons in Mommo's palms charging. "..." Mommo focused, holding tight to the controls once more, only this time her grip was firm. "...fire..." She whispered to herself as she released two powerful blasts of dark blue energy, beams of sorts, at Strider. Her mech's footing shifted slightly from the backlash despite its overall weight... She would need to take this into account later on.

[Shamitako]

Libra

 

Temperance whirled her hammer, turning Tai's weak attack into a tornado of fire that trailed in her wake. She stopped herself against the barrier, waving to the crowd and she began to fall back down. A chunk of metal launched from Libra's slings shot up to meet her, and she hit it with her hammer, propelling herself down onto Tai's position.

"This is like playing mouse and snake." Temperance called to her opponent cheerfully, "And my audience is so happy watching us play."

 

Cardinal

 

Cardinal watched the fight unfold, Tai was clearly not prepared to deal with such an overwhelming opponent. What was Lord even thinking, letting that girl compete? Cardinal could easily handle Temperance, but there was no way any of the contestants stood a chance against a monster like that. These were duelists used to fighting in a match of wits and strength, not demigods ready to take down dragons. If anyone was a demigod here, it was Temperance herself. So then what was the point of putting her in the competition at all? Cardinal stopped watching the fight and slipped into Tai's mind again.

"She's too strong now, you can't just keep running." She told him, "She's toying with you, she has no reason to rush finishing you off, she's completely unstoppable. Except she isn't unstoppable, it's still possible to beat her. Once she's out of her mech, something you luckily managed early on, she has very weak defenses, even with all of her Favor. If you can land a strong enough hit on her, she'll be unable to stop it, even with that pesky hammer."

[IntSys]

Supernova

 

"The opportunity just presented herself. Thanks, Cardinal. Berate me later if I screw this one up."

 

"Sorry." Tai's eyes flared up. He punched his chest, unleashing a growing barrage of flames to meet Temperance. The shield grew and grew, swallowing the girl within its blazes quickly. His rockets roared once more, as he flew up to meet his opponent with a powerful uppercut.

 

During the whole fight, he realized one thing - The mech itself wasn't built for aerial combat, and by extension, Temperance herself wouldn't be much prepared for it. So far, she had only clumsily tried to pin him down by launching projectiles and throwing herself up the sky, but her options quickly diminished once she was up in the air. She could twirl her hammer to parry some of the flames, but there was no way that she could escape from the radius of the shield, at least, no way that Tai could think of. The slings might shoot more chunks of metal from below, but the turbulence formed by the flames would affect them heavily, slowing them down enough for Tai to outrace them easily.

 

Although expecting his opponent to be heavily burnt and overheated, unable to counterattack properly, he still kept his eyes on the hammer, ready for her move.

 

Heat Capacity: 50/150 (+10 every turn)

Edited January 26, 2017 by IntSys

[Shamitako]

Libra

 

The fire lashed out to engulf Temperance and she dove. She was at no risk of physical harm, so she attempted to power through. The heat and flames were painful, but she'd been trained to deal with extreme pain for at least a little while. She barreled down on Supernova, hefting her hammer for a brutal swing at his exposed chest.

"Light's out!" She yelled, swinging with all her might.

Just as her hammer made contact with he opponent's mech, the entire world seemed to slow down. [Sound effect.] The world inside the fire shifted in color, becoming the negative of itself. And her hammer disappeared. Temperance collided with Supernova, quickly rebounding off his searing surface with her flexible limbs. Her hammer reappeared as soon as she was moving away from her opponent. She fell to the ground, landing roughly and using her hammer to break her fall. Her hands, feet, and knees were severely burned. Her face was scorched with anger and confusion, and the crowd seemed to be subdued. All of their shared excitement seemed to be completely gone. Seething, Temperance glared up at the fireball that Supernova had become.

"How did you do that?" She demanded furiously, "Are you a traitor?"

[IntSys]

Supernova

 

A bizarre force surrounded Tai as the hammer hit... softly. It was like there was a divine intervention, barring the blow. He took a glimpse at the spot it was about hit. No, it's not protecting me. It's protecting her. If she hit my chest, that'll certainly roast her in an instant.

 

Shortly, everything turned back to normal. His opponent rebounded, thoroughly burned and mostly incapacitated.

 

"Traitor? I'm just a man, nothing more." Tai jetted toward Temperance, bringing greater and greater heat as he approached. The rink quickly melted and evaporated into steam, but his visor still allowed him to see through with ease. The arena felt like a sauna.

 

"Don't take this personally, I just want this to end." He grabbed her hammer away from her, and threw it away.

 

"Sweet dreams." He rested his left hand on top of her, hoping to knock her out completely with heat, that is, if the shield wasn't enough to give her a heatstroke already.

 

Heat Capacity: 60/150 (+10 every turn)

Edited January 26, 2017 by IntSys

[Chevaleresse]

Hellfire Knight vs LOLI_HUNTER

 

What's she doing? She's just standing there, blocking. Why isn't she attacking? Is there some sort of special ability in her mech? Is it the ice? Or. . . no. She actually has a reason to be here. Deciding that taking the risk of some sort of counterstrike was worth the potential damage, Hiroki angled her shoulder guns inward slightly, and then squeezed the trigger inside her mech, sending a trio of white-hot beams of plasma directly toward Kagari's current position. 

[Shamitako]

(OOC: For the record, you can't actually take someone out directly with any attack. You have to disable their mech, cause them to forfeit, or make them pass out. And the simpler the mech is (I.E. hammer) the harder it is to disable with damage. So basically, if Emmie had hit you, you would have blown up, probably completely with how unstable that ability is, and she'd have been mostly fine)

 

The heat was beyond anything any human should have been able to bear, but Temperance couldn't give in to this traitor. Kayli launched an orb of metal towards the hammer in a vain attempt to knock it over to Temperance, but it turned to slag long before reaching its destination. Thanks to Libra's main body still functioning, Temperance hadn't officially lost yet, but without her hammer she couldn't really do much to fight back. She kicked off her melted roller blades so she could move around a little better and began to crawl back to her mech. But then she saw the crowd, they were growing restless. Their confusion and anger mixed with hers and created another feedback loop just like the excitement one. She frowned, it didn't seem like she could keep going without making everyone really angry.

"I forfeit." She said, slumping to the ground, "But you didn't win you stupid traitor. Using Nil to protect you is way worse than cheating."

[Komodojoe]

Strider vs. Slumbering Giant

 

Morgan could easily see that the Giant was ready to fight now. The fact that the weapons in her palms were charging made that obvious. "There we go." She said, glad that she got through. She zoomed out of the way just before the blasts could connect. It was a bit sudden to her, but she can't really complain. The Giant did exactly what she told her to do.

 

Now on the move, Morgan put a bit of distance between her and her opponent and began to fire off a few shots from her railgun. She wasn't aiming anywhere in particular, though. She just wanted to test her opponent's armor.

Edited January 27, 2017 by Komodojoe