2997/Two Dragons walk into a Ring

Two Dragons walk into a Ring
Date of Scene:	10 September 2015
Location:	Njorun Station - Ring of Philosophy
Synopsis:	A nice rumble between dragons, and a shared meal.
Cast of Characters:	Bahamut, 235

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Bahamut has posed:
     After he had healed completely from his last battle in the WMAT, Bahamut invited Karima to a small sparring match in the Ring of Philosophy. Right now the big metal dragon is standing in the middle of the ring. No simulated terrain is being generated yet, so the pristine marble look of the building dominates the area right now.

     Despite his confident demeanor, Bahamut looks just a bit nervous. After all, Karima is a lovely dragon, and Bahamut has met very few humanoid dragons who he did not have to battle in defense of someone else.

Karima (235) has posed:
     Karima arrives in and around about the time specified. She's wearing gear more appropriate for training as opposed to her normal attire, which consist of a sleeveless shirt and shorts, both of which were heat resistant for fairly obvious reasons. When she steps into the appropriate floor she immediately picks up on the large dragon's presence, a small knapsack resting over a shoulder. She drops that near the door and waves towards Bahamut, reaching forward to tap him in the side of his leg and looking up towards his rather tall size.

"Hey there. Looking good big guy, looks like your armor healed up nicely. How are you doing right now though, well rested and all of that?"

Bahamut has posed:
     Bahamut looks over when Karima arrives, then smirks lightly at her outfit. He does not comment, of course. "Thank you. The medical staff at the WMAT is quite skilled. And, with an entire temple at my command, rest was easy to obtain." He looks curiously at the knapsack, then back at Karima. "And what about you? I hope the salves worked properly for you."

     He leans forward to look more closely at the knapsack. "What is in there?"

Karima (235) has posed:
     Karima turns her head back to look at the bag in question..and then turns her head back slowly, a toothy grin spreading along her snout. "Well aren't you curious. Well I'll tell you what. If you beat me, I'll tell you. How's that for a tiny bit of motivation."

She'd normally wear some sort of hand guard, but considering the length and position of those bracers, it wouldn't fit too well. Still though, she rotates her arms around in it's socket, taking a few steps away from him at the same time. "Yeah, I'm pretty good. I'm pretty tough so you'd really have to hit me hard to put me down." She slaps the back of her neck a few times before tilting it from side to side, small audible cracks being heard from it. "Alright big guy, you ready for this? I'm going to go ahead and warn you not to underestimate me, but if you are anywhere near as intelligent as you look, you should probably already know that."

Bahamut has posed:
     Bahamut raises an eyebrow at the grin, then lets a grin of his own spread across his features. "Very well." he says as she steps away. He watches her stretching and limbering up, but he does nothing of the sort. He simply stands tall, his arms folded over his chest, his body turned slightly away from Karima. "I never underestimate my opponents in this Multiverse. I have discovered that no matter the appearance a person may contain large amounts of destructive power."

     He rumbles deeply, then crouches slightly and lowers his arms, talons toward Karima. "This is the Ring of Philosophy, so we may go at each other with no reservations and no injuries will befall us beyond minor bruises." he says. Then, he rumbles again. Almost a feral-sounding growl. "Ladies first."

Karima (235) has posed:
     Karima flexes her arms above her head as he talks, giving them one last stretch before taking a deep breath, bringing her arms back down and balling her fists up. She slides her posture into a martial arts stance with one foot in front of the other and both of her arms at the ready. A smile forms on her lips as he speaks.

"You will regret that."

She leaps torwards him in a slow front flip, timing it so that her fist comes down first to attempt to strike him directly in the face.

Bahamut has posed:
     Bahamut just chuckles at Karima's words. He waits for her attack, and when she comes leaping in he spins on one foot to avoid the hit, showing that he is not really just a big target. As she goes flying passed him, Bahamut brings one of his powerful legs up in an attempt to catch her momentum with a metal-plated knee to her belly.

     "I doubt it." he says as he throws that kick.

Karima (235) has posed:
     Karima's fist finds air to hit, and just as she realized it, in comes the attack from below. She brings her hands back down to brace herself on it rather than absorb the entire impact to her midsection. Lessening the damage, she uses the knee to send herself into the air, wrenching her body to spin around in the air to face him, only to charge up a fireball in her mouth and throw it at him. She lands immediately after that, this time waiting to see if the attack landed properly before jumping in on him again.

Bahamut has posed:
     Bahamut growls as that fireball explodes against him, sending smoke curling up from the edges of his armor. "One of the few disadvantages to being a non-elemental dragon. No resistance to fire." he says as he raises a hand quickly. Electricity sparks over his claws before a bolt of lightning lances out at Karima.

     The electric shock is strong, but the bolt is small. Bahamut is likely just testing Karima's abilities and resistances with this attack.

Karima (235) has posed:
     Karima watches the fireball explode and diffuse on his chest with about the intended result. His scales really did afford him much better armor than it did for her. When the lightning attack comes in, she swings her arms closed into a tight guard, letting the bolt hit her bracers and spread across her body. It stung a bit but nothing compared to the lightning shots she's dealt before. Once it was over she swings her arms back out and approaches him again, this time leaping up onto his chest and bringing her foor around into a flying roundhouse kick.

"I'm sure you make up for it in other ways!"

Bahamut has posed:
     When Karima runs in toward him, Bahamut charges as well. When she lands on his chest, he leans back quickly and that kick comes in mere inches from his snout. But, he is no acrobat, so he lands on his back after that sudden dodge. He quickly kicks upward at Karima with both legs, then tries to use the hit as a distraction to roll away and back to his feet.

     The momentum from his roll makes him slide across the floor when he manages to get up, his claws causing sparks to fly. "Indeed I do." he agrees, then chuckles lightly.

Karima (235) has posed:
     Karima sighs. Parrying on the ground was hard. Parrying in the air and keeping your balance in the air was even harder. When her kick once again catches air with a fairly unorthodox move, she was left hovering in the air for a moment while he surged upwards with his kick. She brings her bracers back in for another block and weathers the ability, but she's really not putting down a solid case for her fighting skills at the moment. The kick sends her a little bit higher into the air, her wings unfurling to keep her that way. With a minor moment of concentration, her fists seemingly light on fire of their own accord. She glares back down towards him, flapping her wings to stay aloft.

"Let's turn this up a notch."

With a petite back flip, she swoops down towards Bahamut, coming at him again, this time with a flurry of punches and kicks, each attack driving her forward and using her wings to stay at the right height. She's aiming for his face or his chest, knowing that ONE of these things has to hit him.

Bahamut has posed:
     Bahamut is still off balance from his unorthodox dodge and slightly clumsy recovery, so when Karima suddenly moves in and strikes, he is unable to defend properly. The blows to his broad chest seem only moderately effective, but the solid blow to his face is the one that obviously does some damage. He growls and stumbles back from the blow, then grins. "Excellent. I was starting to think I would have to hold back after all." he says.

     Then, he bares his claws and his own wings spread. He gives a powerful flap in an effort to throw Karima's aerial balance off, then follows it up with a few powerful slashes with those long, sharp talons.

Karima (235) has posed:
     Karima learned something new today. Be careful when fighting people who can fly who are significantly larger than you. The turbulence caused by Bahamut's wings causes a momentary lapse in her attack, giving him time to land a few of his own. Still though, she was ready, angling her upper body towards his claws so that she could safely use her bracers to parry them, driving them away from the center of her body. Still though, the claws would send off a few sparks off of the slick metal, not causing any damage to it but still a little worrying to see.

After observing the slashes for a moment, she identifies a weakness and swings one of her arms outward to meet his wrist, stopping it. She uses her other hand to drive home an an uppercut, aimed towards his jaw.

"You say that now, but we'll see how this spar ends."

Bahamut has posed:
     Bahamut blinks in surprise as she stops one of his swings, but is grinning again when she swings toward his jaw. He arches his head forward quickly, and instead of a jaw she punches the thick metal plate that is the top of his head. "It is still...up in the air!" he says, then flaps his wings again and takes to the sky.

     The Ring reshapes to allow him to fly as if they are outside, and even produces an image of a blue sky and white clouds above him. Bahamut then dives toward Karima, aiming to pounce her like a falcon striking its prey. His arms and legs all stretch out for her, and those talons promise pain if he manages to land on her.

Karima (235) has posed:
     Karima blinks as her fist yet again misses it's mark..but at least it hit this time. She starts to go in again, but his sudden elevation shift forces her to pauses. Seeing his majestic form go above her was a bit awe inspiring, if only because of his size, but the slight distraction caused by the skybox shifting was enough for her to not pay attention to his incoming attack that hits her wholesale.

She growls as his claws rake across her, causing a good bit of damage to her scales and causing a heavy wince of pain. Still though, she's got plenty more fight in her. Her wings start to glow with a light blue energy and sigils of an unknown origin start to form on them. They're roughly circular, but to anyone else besides her, they wouldn't have a clue what they mean. It wouldn't matter in a second though, as they both pulse outwards a huge burst of wind, attempting to push Bahamut off of her and back at a much better combat distance.

Bahamut has posed:
     And pushed back he is. Bahamut lets out a light roar as he is blown away by that attack, his outstretched wings catching more air than she might have intended. He is slammed into the wall of the Ring rather forcefully. There is a loud crashing sound as his metal-plated body is smashed against the wall, then he slides down and lands on his feet.

     He chuckles, then wipes at his mouth where a bit of blood has started trickling. "That was an impressive spell." Bahamut rumbles as he rises back to his full height. He crouches a bit, then his body starts to crackle with energy. "I hope you enjoy one of my own." he growls as his body trembles with effort. Three orbs of grey-white energy form, circling around his shoulders. When they are nearly the size of beachballs, he roars and with a flex of his body they launch themselves at Karima. They don't even have to hit her directly, because they explode on impact and send out powerful shockwaves of energy. And if they do land near her, there is the added threat of white energy bolts that lance upward for a few moments.

Karima (235) has posed:
     Karima's happy to have the shadow of the larger dragon off of her, her aerokinesis proving to be enough to move him off of her and send him flying into the wall of the hologram. Just as she's about to correct him, energy is fired off in her general direction. Getting the sense that this was probably something she was just gonna tank, she isntantly seizes up and pulls her limbs into a full block to minimize the damage.

Spoiler Alert: It didn't help that much.

She's engulfed by the explosions and is sent rocketing backwards, while also hitting the ground somewhat painfully. She skids off the ground, flying head over heels several times before she regains her footing and digs her claws into the floor. She rips several gnashes into the floor until she comes to a stop, and he could see the damage that had on her. Her bracers didn't show much, but her scales did, with most of them being a few shades darker and more cracked than they used to be. She spits out a small amount of blood before she drops into her martial arts stance again. As she does, some more of those sigils start to appear, this time going up her arms and legs. As a result, the flames that were there previously grow in size..and then contract, forming neon orange rings around her wrists and ankles. But even from here, he could see the heat waves eminating off of them.

"Explosions huh? I got one of those too."

She pulls her arm sbehind her, palms facing each other as she gathers more of that neon orange energy, forming a rather compressed ball with it. At the same time there was more of that energy forming in her mouth, shooting very visible beams of light from inbetween the nooks and crannies of her teeth. After a suffecient period, she fires her hand blast first, the chaotic looking chakra tearing through the air to get to it's intended target. She also fires her mouth shot afterwards, which travels at an even faster speed. The two meet up to form a seriously heated projectile, the ball now so hot that it had streamers of blue fire jetting after it, propellig it towards Bahamut.

Bahamut has posed:
     Bahamut has been in several battles, so he can tell when someone is charging up a powerful attack.

     Of course, that doesn't always mean he can do something about it. He dives to one side, but with his large body and moderately low agility, he is caught by most of the explosion. He roars as sections of the plates covering his torso and legs melt away, and those plates that didn't are burning hot. And since his armor is part of him, he can't really remove them.

     Despite the pain and blood, he grins. "That was not my biggest one." he says, then he suddenly backflips. He lands on all fours, then with a resounding thud he plants all four limbs into the floor of the Ring. His wings spread, then the golden gyro atop his back starts to spin. It spins faster and faster, and as the spokes start to blur like a propeller energy starts to crackle over it. He growls as he opens his mouth, and that energy begins gathering just in front of his open maw. A ball of bright blue-white energy starts to form, braced against his upper and lower jaws. It grows until it is as thick as the dragon which is powering it, then with a roar he fires. The continuous beam of energy he fires is even thicker, and as it flies toward Karima it carves a path through the floor. She can probably tell that it causes explosions as it goes, but only when it hits her does she realize why. It is pure, concentrated energy. When it super saturates something, that something explodes violently. And what it doesn't vaporize in this method is melted or seared quite badly. If Karima isn't careful, she might be engulfed in that beam!

     The blast lasts for several long seconds, and when it finally ends Bahamut gets back to his feet, curious to see how Karima weathered it.

Karima (235) has posed:
     Karima hadn't quite seen something like that before, and to be honest, dodging it in this somewhat confined space just wasn't going to be possible. She tries anyway though, leaping off to the side to let the first few explosions miss her. However, due to the chaotic nature of explosions, she's caught by the rest of it, and for the second time, she's again wracked by pure energy.

When the white-hot flash of the explosions finally ceases, the smaller dragon is finally thrown from the mix, her form smoldering badly as a significant portion of her scales were burned, cracked or bleeding. She lands with a wet *SMACK* on the ground, landing on her uper back as she tumbles over herself a few times before stopping. The dragon doesn't move for a few seconds before she starts to push herself back to her feet. Her muscles scream at her and her body trembles, but she's eventually back upright. She looks up towards Bahamut and grounds her stance, spreading her feet apart and roaring at him in a way that is certainly more feral than civil.

She's not done. Not just yet.

Using her wings and the rings around her feet and being mindful of the size of the room, she takes a running start back towards him before flapping her wings and firing off a stream of chakra from her feet to propell herself at him in the blink of an eye. She doesn't attack him though, flaring her wings a few critical seconds before slamming into him to rocket into the cieling. She hits it and then jumps back down, aiming to get behind Bahamut and latches onto his tail. Her grip could best be described as vice like, getting a good grip back there. She takes a step forward out from the side to start pivoting on her feet, attempting to take the dragon for a ride, holding his tail at a hopeful angle to get his bulk off of the ground. After spinning around several times to build up speed, she finally lets go with a flourish of strength, hopefully tossing his giant dragon butt across the room.

Bahamut has posed:
     Bahamut grins as he sees Karima is still standing, and still has plenty of energy. And her plan of attack was a good one. He certainly can't attack easily if she is swinging him by the tail. But, he has a lot of bulk. He does get spun around, but when he is thrown there is not a lot of force behind it. He does go flying, and he does hit the ground, but it just doesn't cause much damage. His thick plates are dented from his bulk hitting the ground, and once he has stopped sliding Bahamut gets back to his feet quickly. "A valiant effort, but it seems you underestimated my size." he says, grinning.

     He makes a gesture in the air with his hand, then points at Karima. The air around her suddenly grows rather cold, and a moment later huge ice crystals smash in around her, attempting to crush and freeze her. Another magic attack from the metal dragon.

Karima (235) has posed:
     Karima's best throw against something that large wasn't the best, as it isn't often she gets to deal with someone of that...size. Still though, it sort of works, and he's tossed away. Just before she's ready to charge at him again, she senses a sharp peircing of cold. As soon as she sees the ice crystals form, she knew that was the end. She looks in vain for an escape route, but finds none in time. The crystals smash into her and freeze, the smaller dragon trying to grin and bear it...but it was too much.

When the attack ends, she takes one step towards him and limply falls on her face, like all muscle control was gone from her body. She lays there for a few seconds before she raises a wing and flaps it once, calling her knapsack by her side. While her face is still unceremoniously mushed into the ground, she digs out a white towel, holds it up in the air, and then weakly throws it at him. She shudders a few times after that, the freeze apparently being quite effective.

Somewhere off in the distance, some random security officer who had been watching the fight shouts in his office. "K.O!"

Bahamut has posed:
     Bahamut figured ice would be effective against an apparently fire-aligned creature, but not that effective! When Karima falls over he moves quickly to her. He blinks at the white towel, then pauses as she throws it. He stares a moment, then laughs rather boisterously. "Did...did you just literally throw in the towel?" he asks as he applies a bit of fire magic to help fight off the cold. He helps Karima to her feet, picking her up if necessary, then places the towel around her shoulders.

     The random officer shouting KO makes the metal dragon laugh again, then the simulation fades back to the normal room without any damage at all, and the damage that Bahamut and Karima had suffered is healed except for the tiredness they would feel from throwing their own punches. "Are you alright?" Bahamut asks once the simulation has reset.

Karima (235) has posed:
Karima didn't know how to feel about someone who could literally pick her up off of the ground, but she'd allow, if only because A) Okay magic attacks suck but B) She didn't know it was coming. She's back up on her feet and healed, and even despite that, she doubles over with a cough. The towel around her shoulders does help, at least a little bit. She takes it from there and rubs it over her face as she stands, trying to shake off the chill.

As soon as she's recovered properly, she throws a playful (but slightly hard) punch directly into his hip. "Non-Elemented my ASS. What was that? Lightning? Fire? Ice? Are you kidding me? All of those are elements and you are quite the liar. Good grief." She runs a hand over her head flexes her fingers a few times, breathing her own fire on them to warm them up a bit. "Could have been the surface of the sun, and I'd be fine, but no, you just had to use ice."

Bahamut has posed:
     Bahamut grunts at the punch, then laughs. "I said -I- was non-elemental. I did not say I knew no elemental magic. Since I have no resistances or affinities toward one type, I had to learn to use them all. My breath weapon was not fire or ice or lightning. It was simply energy." he says, then chuckles again as she complains about the ice. "Forgive me. In my time fighting I have learned that using the opposite element is usually an effective strategy. And, you did say not to underestimate you." he says, grinning.

     Once Karima seems warmed again, Bahamut gives her a pat on the shoulder. "You fought well! I would say your strength is a match for my own, which is impressive considering I have quite a weight and height advantage." He then reaches and picks up her knapsack before offering it back to her. "Was the towel the only thing inside?" he asks.

Karima (235) has posed:
     "Technicality, Smeck-nicality. Your attacks have elements, but you yourself don't. That just means you can stick your hand in all of the meat jars and not have any of the side-effects, you lucky-ass. You just wait. I have to admit, I don't usually fight giants, so I need to adjust some things. But you give me a couple of tries at it. I'll figure you out. Just remind me to not get into an energy battle with you again. Holy damn." Karima reaches down to grab her knapsack and opens it up, bringing out fairly large (for her, not for him) styrofoam container. She hands it out for him to take.

"I was going to give this to you anyway, but unless you are really interested in a change of clothes and a bottle of water, this is the important thing. It's some food that's...about as close to stuff I used to eat back in Domalus. I figure it'd sear the lungs off of a human, but would be just fine for us. Enjoy. Normally, if I'd planted your giant butt into the ground, I'd say, think of it as a consolation prize. Now I just get to say 'Enjoy the victory meal.'"

Bahamut has posed:
     Bahamut takes the offered container as he chuckles about Karima's comments. "I am not even the biggest opponent you might face in the Multiverse, so training to fight larger opponents is a wise idea." he says, then grins just a bit. "I might be interested in the changing of the clothes." he says in a suggestive but joking tone, then he opens the container and sniffs of it.

     The big dragon rumbles lightly afterword. "Well, let us hope my non-elemental lungs can handle such a treat." he says before he uses a claw to spear some of whatever is inside this container and raises it to his mouth. He tosses it onto his tongue without hesitation, then waits to see if he is seared by it. Then, he holds the container out to Karima and smiles. "You fought well. We should share this victory meal."

Karima (235) has posed:
     Karima rolls her eyes at that comment and watches him open the container. Inside was a load of rice, topped with a copious amount of meat and sauce. There were also (admittedly tiny) chopsticks in there too. The whole thing smells and looks rather reminiscent of Teriyaki Chicken, except that biting in to it would prove to have a fairly high spice quotient, as well as being sweet to the taste. The rice is there to balance it but it has a very strong taste, even with the grain. She watches him as he shovels it into his mouth, smiling.

"Nah. I had a bunch of it before I left. It's not quite the same as home but it's probably the best I can do with what people stock in the grocery stores. What do you think?"

Bahamut has posed:
     Bahamut finds it quite tasty! But, he does have to fight not to start fanning his tongue or anything of the like. He chuckles as he sees the chop sticks, then removes them before he simply pours the rest of the container into his mouth. Just enough to be a good mouthful for the big dragon. He chews calmly, ignoring the fire in his mouth, then swallows and rumbles pleasantly. "I can understand why humans would avoid such a dish, but it is delicious." He bows his head to the shorter dragon. "Thank you."

     He stands tall again after that. "I should return to my temple. You are welcome to come along, of course. I do not know how far it is to your home." he says, then he starts toward the exit. "Thank you for the match. It serves me well to be reminded of the strength residing in those smaller than myself. A mighty dragon such as myself could easily let his pride get the better of him." he says. Just before he disappears through the door, the turns and bows respectfully. "Until next time, Lady Karima." he says, then he is gone.

Karima (235) has posed:
     Karima smirks towards his frank appraisal of the food she made, and just like that, he leaves. She watches him go before emitting a sigh, going over to pick her towel up and shove it back into her bag. "And situations like that are why I need to train harder. Back to work for me." She makes her way back to the elevator and leaves the training ground altogether, presumably to do just that.