Battledome! ((Read First Post!))

Naturally Super, or Super Natural?

Humans	13.9%	[ 47 ]
Soldiers/ Mercenaries	8.6%	[ 29 ]
Ninjas/ Assassins	5.3%	[ 18 ]
Scientists/ Doctors	6.2%	[ 21 ]
Both	14.2%	[ 48 ]
Neither	3.3%	[ 11 ]
Werewolves/ Vampires	9.2%	[ 31 ]
Robots/ Zombies	5.0%	[ 17 ]
Mages/ Dieties	17.2%	[ 58 ]
Monsters	16.9%	[ 57 ]
Total Votes:			[ 337 ]

[Payonai]

Payonai stepped into the Battledome not feeling very confident about his battle to compete in. He knew he had won a majority of battles, but he wasn't feeling like this particular challenge wouldn't particularly end up well. The boy pushed up his bangs to see his opponent for the moment.

She looked like any regular woman, dressed for some kind of fancy party, rather than dressed to fight. Payonai figured that even though he felt weak and not up to the challenge of fighting, then Jackie wouldn't be that much of an opponent to have to take on. She hadn't brought any weapons to the battle-dome either. Payonai hadn't brought his weapons, but only because he was confident in his defensive tactics, to dodge attacks.

The two fighters stood and stared at eachother, waiting for the battle to start. Eventually the familiar tune sounded and the arena fight had begun.

Payonai decided that he had might as well take his move first, racing towards Jackie, reaching out his claws at no point in particular. The attack was poorly delivered, and Jackie ended up being able to simply step to the side, completely avoiding Payonai's attack.

Grinning, she grabbed onto Payonai's tail, clutching it in a tight grip, pulling it slightly.

"Listen, I don't plan on killing you..but I want this battle over as soon as you do.. I've got a party to be at in 20." she paused, before letting go of the boy's tail, punching him in the back causing him to fall because of the sudden move. "Just surrender now, you've pretty much lost this battle anyway." Jackie finished, pressing her heel down on the center of Payonai's back to keep him from standing right up again.

Payonai breathed in pain, before finally admitting his defeat, allowing Jackie to be the winner of the Battledome fight.

@TNP: Payonai stood confidently in the arena, sure he could possibly be able to take out his next opponent without any problems.

[AgentNeeb]

((I couldn't go down without a fight. This one was fun to write, too.))

The walls of the Battledome whispered open and a single man strode through, stiletto boots kicking up dust in his wake. Payonai listed up his thick bangs and watched him approach. Clad in deep red and dark black, he was clearly concerned with flair. His hair bounced with each step, his bright red eyes took in his opponent with cold clarity. He wore fake ears and tail.

The boy stood with arms crossed in the center of the arena, waiting for the man in black to begin. With humor he noticed this new opponent lacked a weapon, as well.

"Oooh," the man leaned forward, head cocked slightly. His eyes were locked on Payonai's ears. "Where did you get those? They're so lifelike..." He trailed off, reaching up to feel the pair he wore. "And the tail, too. Do they come in black?"

"They aren't for sale." Payonai was more than confused. When he'd entered, the man seemed more than capable, but this distraction was, to put it bluntly, mildly insulting. "Look, aren't we here to fight? After all, it's the Battledome." Payonai uncrossed his arms and held them at his sides, watching the man through his bangs.

"Oh right. Sorry, I just need a more realistic set of cat cosplay. This is getting a little dated," He stroked his tail once for emphasis. Though it appeared more than fake, it swayed back and forth in an eerily realistic manner. "Anyway, I guess I should at least know your name. I'm Tesai." He smiled an easy smile, and began to take his stance, standing slightly sideways.

"Payonai." He rolled his eyes, but it was a wasted effort. He set his feet shoulder length apart. Whatever this Tesai had in store for him, he would be ready to evade. Eventually he might even try for counter-attacks, but he couldn't be sure.

"Our names rhyme," He retained his smile, but all humor in his eyes had been replaced with malice, and they seemed to glow for a moment. With flicks of his wrists tendrils of night-black shadows shot from his wrists, writhing across the ground in aimless coils. Payonai backed away several steps, wary of the man and his new reach.

Tesai gripped the shadows, squeezed, and they stopped their writhing, calming at his command. For a moment the two only stared each other down. Without warning Tesai swung his shadow tendrils, sending the left straight across for a lateral slice and the right over his head for a downward smash.

Payonai dropped low to avoid the slash, tucked one leg underneath him, and leapt to the side to avoid the smash. The tendrils were quickly in the air again, guided by Tesai. A roll to the left and he evaded another smash, but a low sweep caught him at the wrist.

With a wicked grin Tesai pulled hard, sending Payonai on his back and sliding toward him. He switched the grip upon his shadows, and they began retracting, pulling his opponent with them. He took a few steps forward and stepped down on Payonai's throat. His neck just barely fit between heel and toe. Brushing the hair from his eyes, Tesai looked down upon his opponent. "That was fun. A lot of people are able to dodge the first few strikes, but they don't last long." He brought up his free hand, a mass of shadows morphing into a long, slender spear before his eyes.

Payonai pressed against Tesai's boot, hands growing numb. The heel began to dig into his palm. He could feel the blood coursing through the arteries and veins of his throat.

"It's a shame, though. I guess I'll never know where you got those ears." Tesai gave a longing look to the top of Payonai's head, then shrugged. The tip of the shadow lance hovered over his chest, drawing blood as it scraped against the skin. When he finally situated it between the ribs toward the heart, he pulled back and thrust forward.

With a speed unknown, Payonai jerked his body hard to the side. Tesai's blade missed and stabbed into the ground. Payonai's neck throbbed in pain, but the man's weight had been shifted with the forceful motion, and he threw Tesai's boot from his throat.

"Well," Tesai had lost his smile, "That happened." He once more resumed his stance with the dual shadow tendrils growing longer within his grasp. "Do something like that again, and I won't make it painless."

Gasping and red in the face, Payonai stumbled onto his feet, well away from the dark mage. The man took a step forward and swung with both tendrils in opposite directions, scissoring the air. Payonai fell to the round again and rose quickly, remembering that the ground was a bad place to be with Tesai.

"I hoped you'd do that," Tesai muttered angrily. He loosened his grip upon the shadows, manipulating them with minute presses and pulls from the tips of his fingers. The two streams doubled back on themselves behind Payonai, merging into a single cord. Tesai pulled hard on either end, catching Payonai quickly in a ring of darkness. They coiled tight, binding his arms to his sides. Tesai could feel the ribs as they cracked. He smiled again.

When Tesai jerked him forward, Payonai made sure to keep his feet. He struggled against the grip of darkness to no avail and allowed himself to be dragged once more.

Tesai leaned forward, speaking softly. "There, you see what being cooperative gets you?" He crossed his wrists and merged his shadow cords together, so he could keep Payonai in place with one hand. With his other he reformed the thin spear of inky blackness. He tugged Payo a bit closer, within stabbing range. "I'll make it quick and painless after all." He licked his lips, "Your blood will appease the eternal darkness."

Without word Payo surged forward, quickly closing the distance between the two. Tesai blinked in surprise, never figuring that anyone in his grip would come closer, before his world went white and he was looking up at the skylight above, then the crowd, and finally the walls of the Dome, the door mysteriously turned upside down since the start of the match.

It wasn't until Payonai had jumped atop him and punched him in the throat that Tesai understood what had happened. The pain in his chin was staggering, but the sudden blow to his throat shut down all coherent thought. For a while he watched as Payonai punched him repeatedly, and it wasn't long before blood stained his opponent's knuckles. He felt the blood flowing down his face, and was dimly aware of his limbs jerking and twitching with every strike.

He could barely breathe. Tesai's world faded to black, full of pain and confusion. He embraced the darkness, as he always did and always would, and escaped the awful beating being delivered to him.



@TNP: Tesai woke up laying in the center of the Dome, his pain washed away. It wasn't as bad as usual, he found. The memory of a brutal smackdown was not half so bad as the memory of a death. He rubbed his jaw, felt no soreness, and sat up, inspecting his throat. When all was deemed well, he stood on surprisingly steady legs.

When his next opponent entered, Tesai bowed with a flourish, never taking his eyes from them. "Evening. Let's make this a good show. The last one was." He shrugged amiably, smile barely gracing his lips. "Though I'm sure I was unconscious for most of it."

[Freya Caelum]

((Sorry if I butcher Tesai's personality. I tried to keep him in character, but... urgh, this always looks a lot better in my head. o_x))

A mage.

Why did it have to be a mage?

Freya breathed out very slowly and deeply, remembering the times when she'd had to reap a mage's soul. They were fighters, all of them no matter what they tried to say about being scholarly and proper, and often sent her flying when she appeared. Sometimes even before she had the chance to speak let alone introduce herself.

…She hated mages. Yet was, technically, one herself ironically enough.

When she looked up, she noticed that he was staring at her with a raised brow, his arms crossed over his chest. Belatedly, she realized that he'd been speaking as she was musing over past assignments. "Oh. Sorry. Um…" Awkwardly, she bowed. "My name is Freya Caelum. I… guess I'm your next opponent."

The man smiled, one arm raising so that he could tap his chin with his finger. "Well, it's not nice to ignore people while they're talking, but aren't you an adorable thing of a reaper?" Smile widening, he said, "And since you gave me your name, it's only polite to give you mine, I suppose… I'm Tesai."

Freya felt a chill run down her spine when his carmine eyes flashed and immediately reached out for her glaive. It materialized in her hand just as inky black shadows gathered at his hands.

Then, without warning, they shot forward.

Realizing that not using her abilities would cost her immensely, Freya immediately leapt back, swinging her glaive in front of her and sending a wave of wind in Tesai's direction. The dark mage merely stepped to the side, a cool smile on his lips.

"My, aren't you a reckless one? And here I thought reapers would be a little more calm and collected." He swung one arm, the tendrils of darkness following the movement.

Freya flew to the side, swiping at the dark cords. Her close-range abilities were at odds with his shadows keeping her at a distance, but she would not teleport. Not just yet. She had to give the sense of security that she was overwhelmed—that she was too preoccupied to even think to teleport. When she glanced at Tesai out of the corners of her eyes, noting his calm and almost smug demeanor, she figured she was doing quite well.

When he moved again, the shadow cords of his other hand flew after her from behind. She had no doubt this was how he planned to capture her.

She concentrated on the sound of the tendrils swiping through the air.

Closer.

Just a bit—!

The familiar tug of teleportation caught her as Freya reappeared just feet behind Tesai. She rushed forward, attacking him with her glaive. She caught his back, but he quickly spun around and began moving back, black cords merging together on one wrist as his other hand formed his shadow lance to retaliate.

Their weapons clashed, singing out with every strike. Freya moved ever closer, until their weapons locked.

"Isn't this an interesting development?" Tesai asked, eyes shining as he kept her glaive from falling on his shoulder. "Unfortunately for you, I've no intention of losing."

Freya gasped when the shadow cords wrapped around one of her arms, yanking it away from her grip. She was pushed back and the other cord came to wrap around her other arm. She looked up and, before she could process what was happening, Tesai's shadow lance had shoved straight through her chest.

For one wild moment, she thought she'd died again.

But then, as the pain burst through the shocked haze in her mind, she found herself thankful, even as her vision turned black, that was impossible.

---

@TNP: Gasping as she reawakened, Freya pushed herself up from the arena floor. A hand rose to her chest, where the wound had already healed, as always. There was a hole left behind, but she wasn't much concerned about the state of her clothes. She could always fix that with magic, anyways.

Then, realizing where she was, she quickly stood up and gave an apologetic bow to the next opponent. "Sorry about that. Shall we?"

[KyraJay]

Kyra sashayed into the 'dome with a grin, sipping a glass of wine as she gazed at the reaper in front of her. "I hate to tell you dear, but I am in no mood to die today," she told with with a small bow. "But, If you can knock my drink out of my hand, then I'll gladly surrender~" Kyra grinned once more, swirling the deep red liquid in her left hand as she drew her blade in her right. Balancing the wine glass on top of her head, Kyra leapt back away from Freya as she swung her glaive at her head. Kyra blocked an upward swipe with a quick lean back and pushed back with her rapier, the glass of alcohol still miraculously on her head. It becaome almost like a dance as Kyra dodged and blocked gracefully, with the equally ethereal motions of Freya's attacks. Soon, the dance was coming to an end as Kyra's blade slipped between Freya's hand and her glaive handle; wrenching the weapon from her without spilling blood. Kyra then twirled the glaive and stuck it into the ground as she took her win, celebrating with a sip from her glass.

@TNP: "Well, that was fun~" Kyra smiled as she held her glass, "So, do you think with can win? Just knock that glass of my person, or try to kill me. Whatever you have to do, darling~"

[Beautiful Envy]

"I think the wine is getting to your head, Kyra."

The young drow smiled and went into a fighting stance with a fancy flourish. "Prove it, then. Knock the cup out of my hands." She motioned towards the cup with her chin, clearly inviting the thief to fight her.

"Fine." Xiomara pulled out her pistol and shot at the cup in one smooth motion. She could see the lead ball heading to destroy the glass in Kyra's hands, Kyra managed to move out of the way, spilling not one drop of the red wine.

"That would have been one way to do it," Kyra said, looking at the new hole in the arena wall.

"I'm not really one for playing games, Kyra," Xiomara replied dryly.

"I did say you could try to kill me," Kyra reminded.

"I don't think people need your permission to try." Xiomara charged at Kyra with her dagger, slashing at her opponent's midsection. Kyra had longer reach with her rapier and managed to keep the thief away. Kyra thrust her rapier, forcing Xiomara to jump back and spin to the side. Xiomara attempted to get in closer with her dagger, but again Kyra's rapier kept the thief from harming her. Both of the opponents were incredibly fast and agile. Kyra demonstrated incredible balance by keeping the wine cup balanced perfectly in her hands.

Xiomara got down low and attempted to sweep Kyra's feet from under her. The drow jumped over the low kick, and put the wine cup on top of Xiomara's head.

"Very funny," Xiomara said. Before the thief could knock it off, however, Kyra flipped over her, retrieved the cup, and landed behind Xiomara. Xiomara stood and charged again, only for Kyra to trip HER this time. Xiomara found herself on the ground with the rapier at her throat.

"Alright, alright. You win," Xiomara put her hands up, conceding defeat.

@TNP: "Huh, so the wine wasn't getting to her. She's better than I thought. I hope you're ready for a good fight."

[Blank Dicer]

(^ Pardon if it seems rather one sided, but X is pissed. ...Enjoy!)

"And fight we shall." X replied with a dark undertone, stepping his way towards Xiomara with fire in his eyes and The Thing following closely behind, snarling and looking scary. He had not forgotten the humiliating defeat of just yesterday. The victory that happened after that was in X's view, a bit of a shot in the dark, not quite a true victory since his opponent wasn't fighting at full strength. "So are we gonna do this or what?" X asked, taking his battle stance.

"Way to come in pumped, money bags. How're your money bags recovering by the way?" Xio asked, readying herself and entering battle position by flicking out her dagger and pointing it at X. Taunting and lowering the opponent's concentration while breaking him physically was the strategy she was going to try on X, since his last match had made him the laughingstock of the day.

"BEGIN!" The announcer boomed as the crowd began to cheer.

There would be no distractions today. Xio was obviously trying to get him to slip. He needed to win today, so charging in recklessly was a stupid idea. And just like that, he had his battle plan gridded into his mind. X had weapons, but he did not feel using them were necessary just yet. So instead he put his gun away and gestured for the rogue to make the first move. "Ladies first." he said with the come here finger gesture.

"You're kidding." Xio spat, slightly insulted by how much Slayer was underestimating her. But an opportunity was an opportunity. She charged forward, dagger ready to meet flesh as she slashed at the sword for hire's upper body.

"I don't joke when I want something." X replied as he grabbed Xio's dagger with his left hand, letting the blade sink into his flesh. It bled, and while the rouge was distracted at the rather daring move, X took the opportunity to form a fist and punch her face in response and let go of the dagger after it connected. He then took the opportunity to grab her head with both hands, and hit her again with his knee. Then he let her go again, and kicked her in the stomach while her nose was bleeding.

Xio could not believe this was happening. The man had used her own tactics against her, and was beating her barehanded! She would not have any of this, and was about to counter attack by punching him also, but he had let go of her dagger, and grabbed her head. Then she felt more pain as the knee connected to her face. When he once again let go, the rouge staggered back several steps before dropping the dagger to hold her face. It wasn't intentional, but out of reflex. "You dirty son of a--" She didn't get to finish that line as she was kicked in the stomach and downed. She had at this point dropped the dagger and was falling, drawing her pistol and fired point blank at X's several times. One of them hit his ear, blowing a hole into it while the others just grazed by his face.

X weeded out the pain with rage. Pure uncensored bloody rage. He screamed as he knocked the gun out of Xio's hand and jumped on top of her, punching her again and again until she had passed out. By which time the arena floor was a bloody mess, and Xio appeared to be heavily injured, crying.

The audience was momentarily humbled by this act of simple yet brutal savagery, and there was a long silence before X stood up, and glared at the announcer.

"THE WINNER IS THREAD SLAYER X!!!" He boomed as the crowd cheered, and a couple of medics had arrived to remove the fallen Xiomara from the stage.


~~~~

"Who else wants a piece of this!?" X roared out to the crowd, his eyes glazed with heat of battle and the adrenaline of victory surging through his veins. He was boasting a little, but considering how badly he lost the last round he fought in, it seemed somewhat appropriate.

(v Awesome. xD)

[Skutz]

You know I do~ emotion_dowant

"Now Fu-chan, you need to stay out of this battle and the subsequent ones. While I loved that you helped me last time, momma needs to fight on her own," Skutz reassured her little bunny before the start of the battle, "now just stay here, I'll be fine."

"You sure do make a lot of noise sometimes, X," Skutz scoffed at her opponent, walking to her designated position.

"Well looky here! Ready for round 2? A fair round, without any little rodents helping you?"

"Oh, don't be so heated, I didn't tell her to do anything, she acted on her own accord. Besides, she's sitting near the exit anyways, I gonna win this by myself, for myself."

"Blah blah blah, I. Don't. Care. You're going down, one way or another!"

The bell rang, signaling the match to begin.

BANG! BANG BANG BANG! X's gun rang off, two bullets missing their mark, and the third hitting Skutz in her left shoulder. "I'm. Not. Gonna. Even. Give. You. A. Chance." He spat with each shot fired.

Skutz raced around Thread, hoping to dodge most of volley of lead, "I need to get some shots in...but my shoulder is making if difficult to dodge properly...let alone shoot my shotgun..."

"YOUR NOT GOING ANYWHERE!" Thread yelled, with a snap of his fingers piles of money started falling around Skutz, directing her toward him, "come to Papa," he cackled.

"Damn him," Skutz thought, "so much for trying to use this..." throwing her shotgun away while running straight at Thread. "You asked for it, you a**!" she said, drawing her sword for an attack.

It was a trap.

She could see the twisted grin on X's face when she was in range.
-SMACK-
Thread's pet, The Thing, waylaid his master's opponent at the last second, sending her flying, crumpled in a dust heap.

"How do you like that...-insert obscenity here-" he said under his breath, walking towards his incapacitated opponent with sword raised.

"...no, she had a chance to do the same, and I did get my revenge by using my pet...we're even...ish" he thought.

Thread looked up at the announcer box, sword at Skutz's throat, waiting for a decision.

"WINNER! THREAD SLAYER X!"
A round of cheers and boos echoed throughout the dome as the medical team came to secure Skutz.

"Damn pets..." they thought in unison.


@TNP: Fu-chan won't be a part of our battle, so don't worry~

V: You know what, I ain't even mad, just happy to see you here~

[An Invisible Shapeshifter]

^: d-d'awww.


(Warning: The Shapeshifter is playing this time.)

(Character is not in sync with avatar. Character description is a sweet-looking little girl with bows in her hair.)

The sweet little girl watched Skutz reassure her little pet- a delicious looking thing. She has no honor, but in lieu of the circumstances and out of respect for her foe, the shapeshifter decided it was probably better to leave the bunny alone. It would be crueler for the pet to watch its owner die.

Her opponent backed away and took out a shotgun. The Shapeshifter grinned, a sweet smile on a cute, angelic face, with sharp, sharp, teeth. Then she started to run.

Skutz shot at her, and she let the holes rip through her face as she came closer and tore a piece of flesh off of Skutz's arm, spraying blood on the rocks. The little girl giggled and went to grab another morsel, but Skutz drew back and shot her in the eye, just about avoiding the little girl's swing. Skutz continued to shoot as the little girl drew forward. At the same time Skutz shot, the little girl reached- just as her guard was down, and dug her fingers into flesh- then wrenched off Skutz's arm. Skutz screamed in exquisite agony. She smiled sweetly and tore the arm slowly apart, biting into it and relishing each taste as her eye grew slowly back, swiveling wildly in hollow bone to stare at Skutz as Skutz made a quick retreat, backstepping, clutching her arm. Skutz had to get away from the little girl- obviously a close range fighter. The little girl did nothing, and Skutz took the opportunity to shoot, best she could with one hand, balancing the gun on the rocks. The girl looked up from Skutz's arm, blood dripping down her dress. "Oh. I'm so sorry for leaving you." The little girl was running much too fast, and her smile was much too wide, filled with bright red blood. Skutz shot and ran, shot and ran, but she kept coming closer- and closer- her eye was blown out, her heart was blown out- why, why wasn't she-- and then all she could see was that hideous face, dimpled cheeks covered in blood, bright blue eyes and a never ending smile with golden curls- and excrutiating pain in her chest as her heart was tore out slowly before her eyes, a dripping, red, thing, still beating as the mouth mashed it, smiling, smiling, smiling-

smiling...

[Fyerluna]

Kenneth stepped into the arena, and was very confused to see a little girl before him. He tilted his head, "are you lost little girl?"
Kenneth recoiled when the sweet little girl turned around. He wasn't sure exactly what was wrong, but he knew something strange was happening. The little girl was before him in an instant, and she was smiling.
Kenneth ran. He ran as sharp teeth tenaciously tore tendons and fresh flesh from bones. He struck a wall as he ran, scrabbling away like a small animal. His heart was pounding in his chest, a beating drum that he could not silence. His ragged breath was not helping, and his lungs burned. Blood ran crimson everywhere, and even as he fell his body still moved as if to run until his body could move no more.

@TNP: "I suppose I should know better than to judge an opponent by appearances." Kenneth sighs. His last battle was quite harrowing and he is still a little shaken.

[Beautiful Envy]

"Don't worry about it, Teach."

The thief strolled into the arena. She rested her hand on her hip as she looked over her opponent once more.

"You know I'm a professor?" Kenneth raised his fists in preparation for the oncoming fight.

"You reek of learning, that's why I'm standing over here," Xiomara grinned. She could see that her opponent was unarmed. This would make for an interesting fight. A more honorable opponent probably would have decided to take their opponent head on. Xiomara pulled out her pistol and shot at the professor. Her aim was off and the bullet went flying, almost into the arena crowds. Kenneth looked behind him to see if anyone had gotten hit by the stray projectile. Luckily, no one did.

"You should be more careful," Kenneth admonished.

"Oops," she said. Xiomara pulled out her dagger and charged at Kenneth. He slid under neath the dagger and punched Xiomara just underneath her armpit. The impact caused her to recoil her arm in pain and drop her knife. She threw an elbow at his face, catching him just under the chin. His head snapped back, but the blow didn't knock him out.

Xiomara's strength was not hand-to-hand and she knew it. If she couldn't get her knife back, she'd lose the fight for sure. She threw down a smoke bomb from her belt. A hazy cloud obscured Kenneth's vision just long enough for Xiomara to retrieve her dagger. She attempted to stab him while his sight was still impaired, but Kenneth was having none of that. Just as the smoke cleared, Xiomara could see Kenneth catch her by the arm. He threw the thief over his shoulder. She landed on her back with a painful thump.

Kenneth stepped back and waited for his opponent to get up again. She staggered to her feet and charged once more, only for the Oxford man to clothesline her into the ground. After a few seconds, it was apparent that the thief had been knocked out completely by that last blow, leaving Kenneth the victor.

@TNP: "If you say he taught me a lesson I swear..."

[woodz dragon]

((Meh. What. A. Roll.))

"I got the same lesson from him. Dapper as he is, he hits like a truck." Lucas replied as he walked into the arena, hands behind his head.

"Oh shut up." Xiomara spat back. She was in no mood to be reliving that fight.

"Oh c'mon now. Don't be so bitter. Let's have some fun with this." Lucas said as he lowered his hands, reveling metal gauntlets covering them both.

"Hmph." She huffed as she drew her pistol, taking aim at Lucas. "Heh." Lucas wasn't afraid, seeing how her aim was so bad in her last match. A foolish bit of hubris as her round pierced through his knee. Lucas shouted in pain as he collapsed down to one knee. Xiomara was not taking any chances with this fight. She swiftly closed the gap, drawing her dagger. She struck, stabbing at his vitals for a swift kill. Lucas attempted his defense, trying to stop her. Her blade sunk through his arm, severely damaging it. She pulled her dagger out and struck again, leaving the mercenary no time to stage a counter attack. Again, her blade pierced his arm, the other one this time, leaving him vulnerable. She took out her pistol once more, but this time she held it by the barrel. She slammed the butt of it into Lucas' head, knocking him out in one blow.

TNP: "Ow...just......ow." Lucas groaned as he struggled to stand up again.

[Liber Chronicarum]

Once again , Alcide was on the sandy half-moon of the arena . But for a very different reason this time : before it had only been for sheer amusement , but now, it was different . His new 'masters ' had been clear on that : not only did he have to change his look for his job but he had to prove himself. And , what was better than winning a fight to prove his worth as a telekinetic body-guard ?

Taking a deep breath , the rabbit tightened his grip around Brainy s leash as he walked into the Dome.

Standing in the middle of it was a young man , tall, blue-haired and on his face was a defiant smile .He made a cocky gesture that could be understood as a greeting .

' We never fought against him before , Alcide , be careful' sent the pet Brainy through telepathic waves .

'I know. I ll be careful ' answered the rabbit via the same way .

In that lapse of time , Alcide had walked over to Lucas .

' Before the duel starts , let s shake hands ? ' asked Alcide shyly .

Laughing a little , Lucas answered : ' Oh no, I could hurt you before the duel fairly begins with those' .

For the first time, Alcide noticed the silver -looking gauntlets . Nice . But they were interrupted by the strident ring that announced the beginning of the match and the young rabbit dodged by one inches the first blow .Fast . And powerful . That was what was his first impression of Lucas . He couldn t loose any time : Alcide didn t have a strong build and was low on stamina, something that he had tried to work on , without any success .

' Brainy ! Let s do it ! '

' 'kay Master , ! '

Lucas looked around . He couldn t see anything more than a barren land covered in a heavy purple fog . He coudn t even see where he was stepping.

' I see . This must be his 'world ' .Guess that he didn t only have telekinesis power . '

And sure , what the public was seeing ,was indeed curious : Lucas was walking like a drunk man , a few feet away from Alcide who was doing who knows what with Brainy .And suddenly , the leash around Brainy became charged with electricity and Alcide ran towards Lucas , crashing into him violently . But Lucas was the only one that fell ,electroshocked , unable to move and falling unconscious at the rabbit s feet . The smell of burned skin bursted in the Arena , suffocating .

' I m sorry , so sorry ...I went a bit hard on you since you were so scary looking ' cried Alcide .

Blinking a little , Lucas remembered a very far away biology lesson : 'the nerves inside the brain are charged with electricity '.
God . This thing hadn t been a balloon : it was a real brain .

@TNP : Alcide is standing in the middle of the arena , half-crying because he practically roasted Lucas .

[Tiramisuwu]

Calamity, the young demoness, strode into the battledome. She didn't carry as much confidence as she held in her first match, but there was definitely an arrogance to her step. Her first two battles had been crushing losses, but she was certainly more prepared this time. Dressed in a more casual outfit, her power practically oozed from her body. She had recently fed and felt bursting with energy. The demonic power which had certainly been her downfall (clouding her brain as she did not have total control of it) was well sated and more likely to obey her commands.

Rather than the red it took when it had a mind of its own, it was the colour of her true aura. Black. She carried with her, this time, her true weapon. A scythe. It was the normal conduit that she used to carry her powers. Changing the shape of her body was often a last resort when hunger was too strong to maintain proper control.

She stopped in front of the person before her, grinning, her red eyes devilish beneath the shadow of her hat.

"Why, hello there." She began, hiding a laugh behind her hand. "I don't think I've ever seen quite a pet like that! Why the waterworks, boy?"

The other looked like he was about to speak, but the bell rang, signaling the beginning of the battle.

"Oh, my! Looks like we don't have time for chit chat!" Calamity laughed, readying her stance with her weapon. Being too offensive had been her downfall last time. This time, she'd practice a bit of both.

Calamity readied her first strike, very proficient in wielding her scythe. She sprinted forward, being ever so wary of that strange balloon, pet thing. She knew well enough that it had the potential to be dangerous. She saw the thing move and smirked, ducking at the last second, low to the ground, skidding across. She found herself behind Alcide, using the blunt end of her scythe to trip him up.

God, this was so much better when she wasn't starved. She could think so much more clearly! She gasped in shock as she felt a sharp pang on her leg. Being a demon, electricity didn't affect her as much as a human, but it still brought her to one knee as she felt her leg grow numb from the sensation. She glared at Alcide as he stumbled to his feet, her right hand growing dark, releasing a dark, evil energy to grab the leash around the brain and push it to the side, ripping it out of the other's hand.

She rose slowly to her own feet, her concentration split between keeping the dangerous thing out the way and charging forth to knock Alcide back on the ground with a swift kick to the knee. She usually would never resort to kicking like this, but she really wanted to gain the upper hand. Satisfied that he was on the ground, she pointed the business end of her scythe at his neck in one swift movement, nicking his skin ever so softly. She smiled with delight at the sight of even just a small trickle of blood fall down to the ground from the wound. The bell sounded, signaling the boy's defeat.

"Well, well. If I were hungry, I'd take your tasty soul as my reward~!" She cooed, returning the brain back to the boy's hand with her energy.

TNP: Calamity turns to meet her next foe, her energy swirling back into her body. "Now, who's next~?"