View source for 2838/WMAT CQ1 Arthur Lowell vs Samar

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/08/18
|Location=Papaya Island
|Synopsis=Arthur Lowell faces bullet hell as he tries to knock Samar out of the WMAT qualifiers!
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=33, 494
|Tinyplot=WMAT 2015
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|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;SOMEWHERE OFF THE COAST OF PAPAYA ISLAND...<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;This is not a standard WMAT arena. Arthur Lowell, however, has made it one. Tremendous cruise-liner-esque ships are amassed here to act as stands for the crowds, titanic floating screens are suspended on airships, and waterproofed camera drones are here to make this a proper showdown. Spotlights shine down and up over the water, and of course, there's enough space between the crowded stands of the ships for Samar to arrive as, or to form, any larger forms.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Arthur Lowell, of course, has no trouble arriving. One ship is reserved for his exclusive use. That one is an old Prospit vessel, and it's completely crowded with Iguanas, just utterly packed with them. It's also loaded down with pre-prepared fireworks enchantments. As it reaches the arena, several fire off; a path is carved by tremendous geysers of lightly nuclear light marking the path of the craft, and streaking over it in rocketing arches.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;One little known fact: All gods can walk on water.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Or at least, as Arthur demonstrates when he leaps off the bow of the prospitan craft, they can enchant their feet with gravity magic to make about that effect. Eight swirling white lights blast off just behind him, first swirling around him and then under him, until they detonate in a tremendous explosion that rockets Arthur forward when he lands on the surface of the water. The Iguanas and the carapacians around other ships are going absolutely apeshit with the cheering while Arthur skids dramatically over the surface of the water, kicking up a huge trail of wet, foamy mist. He settles, soon, into a cool, dramatic stance in the middle of the "arena", then makes a broad, wide-armed challenging gesture, seeking Samar's own entrance. The fireworks behind him reach a fever pitch.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:494|Samar (494)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Out in the ocean, a glaring red light grows ever closer to the surface, burning up from the water's depths.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Samar finds it strange that Arthur would choose to fight his opponent in her natural environment, but as she rises out of the ocean, sprawled on the back of her lumbering hulk of a symbiote, she doesn't really think much about it. The boy obviously was one for showmanship, and why not face his opponent out in ideal conditions for them both? He's already demonstrated his ability to confront naval foes, so if he really wants to make a show of his victory here, then that's not really the worst idea.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Of course, that's assuming Samar loses.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Water rolls off the Abyssal and her construct of flesh and metal once they both come to rest on the ocean's surface as if it were solid ground. Samar's hand brushes away some hair from her eyes so that she can look across at the ship Arthur arrives on: an interesting vessel, definitely, if not exactly one she'd want to 'recruit'. And that crew...<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Samar's frown is brief before she sits up a little on her mount, resting on her elbows like some kind of demonic mermaid. Arthur's here; she can't really be distracted by the energetic blue lizards. "Arthur," she calls, her voice carrying well despite her relatively small size at the moment. "How good to see you here. I guess our little chat earlier was fortunate, wasn't it?" The Princess smiles slightly, just as her symbiote offers a low, mechanical hiss that spews steam and ichor from between its teeth.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Arthur crosses his arms dramatically, seeming utterly unfazed by the dusturbances of the water. The truth is that Samar actually creeps him out more than a little, and it's especially unsettling after he just got done dealing with horrible eldritch beings from beyond reality, but he is nothing if not the master of looking confident, cool, and friendly when facing down something like that. "SHIT YEAH. Made me make DOUBLE SURE I got to fight you on FAIR TERMS." He says, with a laugh, pounding one of his own fists into the opposite palm. "See you brought some BIGGER ARMS for the COOL HANDSHAKES, huh?" Yeah, he's not letting go of that apparently. He seems eager to get into the fight, and it's not likely he'll wait around. Those screens floating around are already showing countdowns!<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;With a dramatic sweeping motion, he swings one arm wide and summons up his tremendous metal battlebroom, all industrial plating and black steel. Samar would probably like the look it's got. He twirls it around one hand, then to the other, and back again in a well-practiced flourish. As he does, he speaks, in his usual meaningless, obnoxious trash-talk. "ALRIGHT you CRUSTED-UP DINGHY, better BRACE FOR IMPACT, I'mma 'bout to GIGA WING you SO HARD you ain't gonna know your FORE from your AFT." He punctuates that last bit by dramatically pointing the harsh steel bristles of his broom at her in a preparing stance, and grinning widely, aggressively. And then, of course, the countdown concludes.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Time for opening shots. Arthur is immediately blasting off of the water to a hovering range, just ten or so feet above the surface, darting forward. It's a bit less giga wing and a bit more bullet hell, because he's slowed just in front of Samar to begin spraying a shotgun spread, a rapid fire of starlight magic bolts out of the bristled end, feeling out her defenses with an experimental first volley, but doing so particularly aggressively, even shouting as he does.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:494|Samar (494)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Like the empress she feels she is, Samar stares down her nose at Arthur, even through all his boasting and trash-talk. Her response is merely to scoff, lifting a hand to toss her hair to the side. "We'll see just how well you manage /that/, once you've become acquainted with-"<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Oh, he's shooting. Whoops.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Magic flies at Samar - or, rather, the much larger target the symbiote provides. Shotgun blasts pepper the creature's metal hide, exploding in steam and burns and causing the beast to bellow a low, mechanical howl. Samar winces in sympathetic pain, but it's not enough to slow her down; her arm thrusts out toward Arthur as if she were a ship's commander. "Return fire, all anti-air guns!"<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Fortunately, Arthur is spared the creature's larger guns for now, both literal and arm-based. Instead, the array of cannons lining the creature's front start blasting anti-air artillery at him, shots flying and exploding in midair to make Arthur's flight all the more treacherous. He'll have to do some serious maneuvers to get around those, but if he's been playing enough shmups, maybe that won't be so hard?<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Arthur grazes a few hits like a pro, but he doesn't know Samar's firing patterns yet. As such, despite mostly dodging several of those shots, one of them blasts the air near point-blank with particular brutality, tearing heavy bruises and several cuts over part of his body in spite of its echeladder-enhanced resilience, and knocks him out of his dodging pattern, disorienting him. He grunts, through gritted teeth, in pain and stress, before resuming his previous act of confidence and aggression. "HELL YEAH!" He calls out. "Gimmie EVERY GUN YOU GOT! I wanna FEEL what makes you QUEEN OF THE FLEET, RUSTBUCKET." The voice is pained; like the other times he's trash-talked, it seems completely meaningless.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;He rights himself and comes around for another pass. He's escalating a bit. He's seen enough of her defenses to know she won't move out of the way of most, so instead of approaching close in this time, hen swings wide! He needs more time to dodge that anti-air, and if Samar isn't the dodging type, he needs to focus less on quick, zippy sprays and more on targeted, direct strikes. Loading up his broom rifle with a DANMAKU MAGAZINE as he flies, he tries to exploit her lack of dodging by setting it to LASER and opening up with a tremendous, wide shot, designed to punish immobility aggressively, shouting and laughing while he bleeds lightly from anti-air wounds.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:494|Samar (494)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Rustbucket? The word brings a snarl to Samar's face, but her composure returns quickly enough. She, unlike many of her sisters, can control her fury; /that's/ what's given her the strength to lead the Abyssals.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Unfortunately, she's much slower than some of her sisters as well. The symbiote's strength is in its raw strength, not speed. It takes more time for Samar to turn and follow Arthur than it takes him to actually fly around her, and those cannons are limited in the amount they can swivel.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Arthur's wide laser fires...and the symbiote's raging inferno of a maw opens wide.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;A searing beam of crimson energy blasts from its mouth, and while not nearly as powerful as a more charged blast, the laser blasts against part of Arthur's own, essentially nullifying it against the beast's own blast. Of course, Samar can't turn in time to get it all; the symbiote suffers a streak of magic along its shoulder, but at least she's spared the full brunt of it.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Samar's laughter echoes through the arena as she sweeps her arm toward Arthur again. "You'll have to try harder than that if you want to fell the leader of the Abyssal Fleet!"<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The symbiote, now given enough time to turn, opens fire again with its own volley of anti-air; this time, however, it's trying to lead Arthur a little, shooting in areas to keep him boxed in in front of it and limit his greatest strength: his mobility.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;BEAM-O-WAR! Oh man, Arthur loves this. He expends his entire magazine against the nullifying blast, then discards it into the water and grabs the broom with both hands, using its rocket blasts to dart back and forth again. Unfortunately, that anti-air tactic works wonders! Arthur can dodge quick, but when it comes to wide-area matters, he can't outpace Samar. Unable to dart away fast enough, he winds up getting boxed in handily, meaning Samar gets to land several hits rather directly on him. He's swearing and cursing in ways that are best left unwritten for a while before he realizes the extent of the boxing in... And simply powers through it.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;With a rising shout, he slams through a brutal wall of heat and pressure, now riding on his rocket-broom properly. He shouts and tenses, taking the cliche positions of powering up, but that seems entirely dedicated to ejecting shrapnel from his body using gravity. As he blasts forward, his rocket-boosting intensifies. He gets the feeling he'll have to escalate to Gate magic to escape more of this if it keeps going like that, but for now, he can afford to keep that in reserve. "THERE we GO! YEAH! HELL YEAH! NOW you're gettin' it! Gotta try HARDER? I'm the fuckin' HARDEST METAL KNOWN TO MAN, you want me trying HARDER then you're gonna GET IT!"<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The beam he fires next is fired with his magic directly, not with his broom. Charging directly at Samar, he blasts a column of GRAVITY at her, something that will hit like a truck, but also slam down into the water around her, and overall be an unsettling destabilization of things. Not only that, but the spraying shockwave of gravity around it is meant to throw off the careful calculations necessary to make anti-air work the way it does!<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"If you're the TOP DOG of the ABYSSALS, I wanna see EVERY GODDAMN OUNCE of WHY! I wanna see what makes 'em FEAR you and RESPECT you, SHIT YES! SHOW ME THE GUNS!" He's shouting, still charging in. If Samar waits long enough, he might even wind up in melee range after a while!<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:494|Samar (494)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Confidence glints across Samar's features. Seeing her opponents struggle is all she needs to be assured of her power, and while Arthur's definitely powering through like the best of the Fleet Daughters, it's clear she's having /some/ effect on him. Just as long as she keeps his range limited and his mobility down...<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She doesn't let her confidence get the better of her yet, though. She can tell he's powering up /something/, and while it's currently just blasting out the shrapnel embedded in him by her assaults, she doesn't want to take a risk. Her symbiote's arms are bracing, and right when she thinks she has a moment, it jumps.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;It may not be the most graceful move, but it saves her here. Pure gravity slams down on the ocean, caving down the water's surface for a moment before it crashes back together to close the gap. Samar winces; that was a close one.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;But what can he do up close...?<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;BOOM, BOOM, BOOM. The three cannons on one of the symbiote's shoulders open fire on Arthur one after the other, blasting large shells at the youth as he charges toward her. Her anti-air batteries have stopped, though; she's letting him come in close, seeing what he goes for before she dissuades him too much.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Oh, you'll see all I have for you, boy," the Princess retorts, grinning visibly on her perch. "But first...why don't you show /me/ what power you hold? Show /me/ what legendary strength you have, that has shaped a whole world!"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Arthur takes the first shell, only barely glancing off of the brunt of its impact by half-dodging to one side, creating a massive, blotchy bruise on one shoulder. As he continues his charge, the second one grazes off of him, cutting a spraying gash at his cheek. The third one? He's figred this out now. The third one he impossibly /catches in his teeth/, showing it off in an intimidating, bloodied way as he rushes in close. He dismounts from his broom, flipping once and bouncing off of the water like someone skipped a stone as he closes to melee range. "Oh, you want a TASTE of the GODHOOD, huh?" He shouts, spitting that shell out at her. "You wanna feel the DIVINE FUCKIN' WRATH, let's make it HAPPEN!"<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Well, his godly matters can't really affect combat that much, his divine shenanigans are really more suited for indirect, noncombat matters. But he sure as hell can show off a little! Both arms, and a large portion of the battle broom, are subsumed in light as his form transmutes to a fusion construct, undergoing a transformation into a sun itself. "HrrrrrEEEEEAAAAAAAGH!"<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;He swings his broom in a heavy strike, intending to engage those tremendous arms in a melee battle briefly. The steel bristles of his broom begin to scream out as they churn like a blender, and he attempts to sink them into the flesh of the symbiote, while overcharging the swing with a heavy gravity enchantment.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;His hope is to strike with enough force to knock Samar straight out of the water, like he's playing baseball. As good a demonstration as any! A little too late to try to get Samar off her home turf though!<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:494|Samar (494)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Samar's smirk is surprisingly quick to fade.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Blasts, lasers, magic, sure. Samar expected those. Whatever he uses that slams into the symbiote like the fist of an angry god? No, she wasn't really expecting that.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;As expected, the beast of metal and flesh finds its upper arm buried into by those blades. No blood flies from the pale flesh, but it doesn't need to: the creature's metallic screech is a clear enough indication of its pain. And then, both it and Samar are /hurled/ up into the air, paired with the surprised and hateful shout that comes from the Princess herself.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;It's kind of remarkably how high they go, really.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;However, as they descend, the pair's shadow begins to grow larger and larger. Much more so than they should, if they were descending without any change in mass. What might be harder for Arthur to realize, though, is obvious to anyone looking from another angle: the Battleship-Symbiotic Princess is /growing/.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Soon, the symbiote is about as tall as a standard battleship is long, and while Samar herself may be quite a bit shorter than her earlier proportion to the symbiote, she's grown much more as well.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The majority of Arthur's warning as to what she's doing comes in the foghorn-like bellow of the symbiote as it falls down toward him, its own tugboat-sized fist barreling down on Arthur as if intent on returning the favor. Assuming that hits, Samar would land on the ocean floor as she always does: Arthur...probably not.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Arthur Lowell looks up and his grin falters a little. He's pursued Samar with the intent to juggle her like some sort of action game hero. But now she's getting... Much larger than she should be, based on his approach. "oh" is all he says, with a very audible and conspicuous lack of punctuation and capitalization. But he steels himself here, taking a deep breath and casting his broom aside, back into his strife deck.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;He mutters to himself, glancing back and forth. "Alright, cameras are on her, you can do this and they'll probably not notice..." He settles down and braces against the water, biting his lip nervously as he sees the tremendous creature incoming. He gathers enough oxygen in his magical reserves to execute this plan. If Samar is gonna go through him all the way down to the ocean floor... He knows how to respond properly. But first, one importrant gesture.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;His burning star-hands clench. One is brought down, and then up, striking back up against that tremendous strike. Samar will get to hear and feel the wet, brutal snapping sensation of deep, intense wounding all throughout the arm. It's broken now, sustained only by the magical fusion energies, but the screaming mage does not seem to give a single fuck about the fact that Samar's punch just shattered his arm.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Arthur Lowell attempts to bro-pound the goliath strike directly.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;He is STILL on about that coolkid handshake, apparently. And while Samar may drive him to the ocean floor, Arthur DOES land there as well. Using his synthesized basic elements, he can sustain himself just a little while here, and since they're just off the coast and he's a mage of SPACE specifically, he can deal with the pressure. But as he's deep below... He attempts to return the favor.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;This time, the enemy can't jump. So Arthur rapidly performs the motions against the fist necessary to summon a tremendous gravity blast. Firing straight up, he attempts to shatter the tremendous enemy arm as well, and to force Samar back up to the surface, with a rising shounen shout and a vivid black-and-white fiery glow. She's in larger boat form. That means Arthur's gonna get his chance to Giga Wing her, and he's not gonna do that under the surface.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:494|Samar (494)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;With the column of water that crashes up from the ocean with Samar's impact, the crowds are probably very glad that they're far out from the action. While they don't get drenched by the spray that rains down after the Princess and her stellar adversary are submerged, though, at least they'll be able to feel the strong waves rocking those boats of theirs for a few more moments.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The most devastating brofist known to man carries down to the ocean floor, which is fortunately not /too/ far of a trip. Boiling bubbles roll out from the symbiote's mouth as its furnace of a throat reacts with the colder ocean water. Samar grips the creature's head to keep from floating away, though fortunately she can breathe under here. Arthur, not so much; if she can keep him down there, then-<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Then Arthur proves that plan won't quite work.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Tremendous gravitational force /slams/ into the symbiote and its arm. While the creature doesn't necessarily have bones to break, its limb undergoes some notable warping visible in the brief moments before Samar is sent hurtling out of the water again.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Another towering column of water blasts up into the air as Samar flies free from it, gripping onto her symbiote for dear life as it tries to endure the assault. It lands, eventually, crashing onto the ocean's surface, but it falters on impact, leaning into that massively injured arm with a mechanical groan.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Samar's not smiling anymore. Anger burns on her features as she looks to her symbiote, then back to the turbulent water she emerged from. "FIRE," she shouts, pointing at the place where she suspects Arthur to still be; the symbiote is quick to follow, opening its maw and blasting out a searing, swirling beam of crimson power that burns through the ocean.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Arthur encases himself in a thick barrier while he remains planted at the ocean floor, expecting an immediate counterattack. The barrier works... Sorta. It tanks much of the damage as Arthur simply focuses on the beacon presented by the massive beam. He rises, swiftly, intending to get out of that line of fire fast, but the barrier shatters brutally before he's halfway out, searing his body and blistering his flesh.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;When he pops, sopping wet, out of the surface, he's laughing uproarously between wet coughs. "HA HA HA HA HA! I WARNED YOU!" He shouts out, still bleeding from his many accumulated wounds and panting from the exertion here. "I TOLD you DOG, I TOLD you about the COOL HANDSHAKES." He immediately mounts his broom, mostly because the fire at his right hand has faltered and he's stuck with the shattered bones.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"ALRIGHT." He shouts. "NOW we're into the REAL FIGHT!" His voice is ragged and he seems exhausted and strained, but he has enough energy left to keep going, and with all his usual gusto. And, as promised, he intends to "giga wing this shit", immediately blasting a rapid spray of bolts ahead, targeting guns and darting back and forth in a slow but zippy approach, meant to strike those anti-air guns before they can box him in again, and strafe brutally along the length of the battleship!<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:494|Samar (494)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Well done, I have to admit," Samar hisses from her high perch. The symbiote's beam has faded, its mouth now steaming like a hellish furnace; it rumbles and growls with the same fury Samar must feel. "But that's the /last/ good hit I'll let you get in. Now, victory will be MINE!"<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Bolts fly, cracking along the (now much larger) anti-air guns lining the symbiote's torso. Of course, the Abyssal Princess retaliates, firing artillery over and over along Arthur's path to try and catch him. The bursts are much larger now, the size of what an actual battleship would be firing, but at the same time, Samar is focusing entirely on Arthur rather than leading her shots or boxing him in. The entire anti-air battery opens fire, aimed right at him to keep him harassed, but also blowing up a little ahead of where he approaches to try and keep him from getting /too/ close.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Samar's hope is that being harassed with so many blasts will keep Arthur busy, keep him from approaching too much. In the meantime, the larger main cannons on the beast's shoulders lower, taking aim for just the right moment. Hopefully one that will come soon: with every second that Samar waits, Arthur's shots are taking out main guns with explosive detonations along the symbiote's torso. They fire as long as they can, but his focused fire is already taking out more than a few in classic bullet hell fashion.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Arthur approaches without an outrageous amount of speed, but definitely with an outrageous amount of agility. Those shots zlip by, but the boy's Mage abilities aren't just for slinging magic. His mind is supercharged in all things related to space, including prediction of trajectories, estimation of distances, and plotting of paths. And so as he zips along the length of Samar's craft, tearing turrets off with brutal rushes of magic, he takes sparse damage from those airbursting shells. A stray fragment here or there lodges itself in him, but it's a drop in the bucket! Sure is EXHAUSTING to focus on all that dodging, though.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;He's going, of course, for Samar's peerch! Having grazed through that gauntlet of anti-air, and thinned out much of his opposition, Arthur's feeling confident. Wherever Samar's now larger form may be alonbg the body of the symbote -- he'd guess about where the bridge would be! -- he'll swoop in, low and slow, not letting up on the dodging but certainly not intending to overtake Samar herself. "Looks like that means," He grunts through pain, and flexes out some more of that shrapnel. "I'll just have to take it whether you let me or not!" His still-shattered arm is whipped around behind him; he winces at the pain of using it to brace against the back of his broom as he raises his one still-functional hand. Given that he's dual classed as Shounen Hero and SHMUP Protagonist, he's swapped off. This time, the boat's too wounded to jump out of the way, too large to otherwise dodge, and doesn't have enough anti-air to punish him enough to make this not worth it... Or so he thinks, anyway.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;He gushes a tremendous beam of black and white starlight and gravity magic at Samar's perch for the ship, shifting back and forth to drag it along the body of the ship and to dodge remaining anti-air guns. Hopefully that perch is somewhere away from that huge mouth... While it seems to be cooling down, Arthur is wary of getting near it again, just in case it has enough juice for another of those brutal beams. He's pretty sure he can't take another of those hits!<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:494|Samar (494)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Samar, unfortunately, can't move too much when connected to the symbiote. With the cable at the base of her neck connecting to the creature's machinery, she tends to remain draped along the symbiote's back, just behind its head and between the powerful main cannons. Against someone who can /fly/, she's definitely a sitting target.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Abyssals are quite a bit more durable than normal humanoids, but even Samar has her limits. The Princess looks up just in time to see Arthur crest over the symbiote's head. Shock widens her red eyes, and the next thing she experiences is the searing pain of his magical blast striking her dead-on.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Samar doesn't cry out, but the way her gritted teeth are bared shows her pain well enough as she scrabbles back along her mount's form. The beam blasts into her, searing more holes into her pale flesh that, like the symbiote's, don't seem to bleed or react at all like a normal human body. No, it's obvious there's not much she can do here; Samar herself is the weakest point of the Battleship-Symbiotic Princess.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;While Samar attempts to minimize Arthur's assault, the symbiote's throat roils and boils, ichor seeping between its teeth and steam rolling from its mouth. Its frame audibly rattles, like an engine about to burst. This could easily be the damage the living vessel has sustained, but...<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The creature suddenly lurches back, shoving itself in a single direction with all of the strength it can manage. Arthur's beam is suddenly shooting the baleful red inferno of the symbiote's mouth, and at that dead-on point, all the power the creature has gathered, all the hatred and pain and sorrow and loss that makes up the Abyssals comes blaring out in a single massive cannon of scarlet. The echoing peal of the blast rings over the ocean as the swirling beam streaks into the sky - and toward the Mage of Space!<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"oh fuck"<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;That's about all Arthur can get out before the sudden rushing ship's re-maneuvering manages to land a tremendous hit on him. It strikes dead on, this time with no shield and at point blank, and keeps on striking. His godly robes are shredded, his flesh is boiled, and his body suffers tremendous stress. Once the beam finally, at last, dies down, the boy is a smoking, limp ragdoll on his broomstick, the rocket sputtering. The boy looks defeated for a moment as he crashes onto the "deck" of the battleship-sized symbiote, coughing and bleeding and generally seeming unable to go on, his broom skidding to a stop next to him. The rocket built into it sparks and shuts down from the damage.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;He's almost declared defeated by the referee -- their craft is looking a little battered by all the waves this has produced! -- before Arthur plants one hand on the deck. The only one that still works, of course. The entire sleeve of his godly robe has been annihilated, baring all the cuts and bruises. "That's the shit." He mutters, forcing a grin. "That's what I was looking for." He struggles to get to his feet and get his broom into his hands. He should have a few seconds before those guns can turn on him. He takes those few seconds to do something stupid: Stand on the deck, take an aggressive stance, and SHOUT! One of his rising battlecries, this one full of exhaustion and wounding. As one would expect, his body is covered in a brilliant white fire, and begins to emit gushing shockwaves of wind. "That's what I wanted to feel!" He shouts, "/Now/ I see what you're made of! /Now/ we finish this!" And he takes off.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Dashing, he'll not have the time for a shield; if any of those guns turn on him, he'll have to intercept their fire with heavy strikes from his broom, slamming shells out of the air. He's dashing, with exhausted desperation, right for Samar! He softened her up with that tremendous beam, and so his plan is to run the length of the ship, close in on her, leap... And bring that broom down for a heavy strike at her head, and knock her out of the fight! "I see what you're made of now, let's see if it holds up!!"<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;He puts every ounce of his remaining energy into this brilliantly-glowing rush and final melee strike; if it doesn't work, Samar will be able to finish him off with absolutely no difficulty at all.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:494|Samar (494)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The lurch of the symbiote wasn't really stable at all, but the blastback of the cannon managed to keep it elevated a little longer in its rocked-back position. The moment the beam stops, however, the creature lurches forward again, crashing against the water's surface with a tremor-inducing impact and groaning as it crumples a little on its damaged arm. Its head becomes enough of a landing point for Arthur to tumble onto, still slick with seawater.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The main cannons would swivel down toward Arthur, but their placement there is too much of a risk for Samar to take; too dangerous, shooting at the head of her own vessel just to take down this opponent. And as beaten as Arthur looks, Samar isn't doing very well either: fires and occasional explosions along the symbiote's body, and large chunks and holes simply blasted out of her own ghostly form. She glares at the youth from where she sprawls, a towering demon of a woman in her own right, even though she herself is dwarfed by the symbiote that carries the brunt of her strength.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Then /come/," the Princess snarls, pushing herself up a little more as her hands ball into fists. "Come and finish our fight, Arthur! /Prove/ that you have the strength to move forward in this tournament!"<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Arthur charges, and Samar's fist raises. She may not have much supernatural power or firepower on her own, but she still has enough raw physical strength at this size to contend with. Arthur's dramatic shout is paired with her own, and as he leaps, her fist comes down-<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And misses.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The strike slams into her head, knocking her aside and sending her tumbling off the symbiote's back. There's a hissing /pop/ as the cable dislodges from the back of her neck, and then another /splash/ as Samar thuds onto the water's surface face-down.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Samar herself isn't sinking, so she must not be /dead/, but she's apparently out for the count. After only a moment or two more, the symbiote looses a dull groan and steadily starts capsizing toward the side of its injured arm, explosions bursting out of its metal frame and smoke billowing from holes. Arthur's going to have a dramatic footing until the beast crashes into the ocean and sinks down about halfway, where it stops and floats half-sunken on the ocean's surface.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Looks like they're going to need some Abyssal recovery teams to clean this one up, but the ref calls it as his boat wobbles dangerously on the rocky ocean waves!<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Arthur's face is bruises and burned and grinning wide, he's panting heavily as Samar tumbles, falls, and disconnects. He wanders off to the bow of the massive beast, striding dramatically as it capsizes before he recovers enough to start drifting, weightlessly, again. "Hahahahhhh, hell yeah." He mutters. "That's what I wanna see. S'what I wanna feel." He drifts his way off towards his own craft, breathing heavily and cradling his own arm. "Shit yes, that was tough. Jesus, lady. Yeah, you can go ahead and have the oceans or whatever." Stumbling onto his own craft, he has the Iguanas get to work on prepping the wounded craft and the disconnected, KO'd Abyssal for recovery right away.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;They are comically incompetent, but after several goofy routines of nonsense, they'll eventually get some things done to help get the symbiote and Samar in seaworthy condition, even if they can't really administer medical care to her. Arthur, of course, sits around and makes poses and suchlike, reveling in the victory in his traditionally obnoxious way and doing his god damndest not to keel over and take a nap from that intense beating Samar gave him.<br> <br>


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