WMAT A2 Vervi vs. Vanessa Selby

WMAT A2 Vervi vs. Vanessa Selby
Date of Scene:	12 July 2014
Location:	Papaya Island - Stadium
Synopsis:	Vervi versus Vanessa Selby in Round 2, Bracket A of the WMAT!
Cast of Characters:	192, 323, 385

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Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
The weather is as pleasant over Papaya Island as usual - nice and sunny, just a couple of clouds drifting across the sky ... but who's looking *up*?

Given that the whole point of being in the arena is centered on the stone-paved platform which serves as the actual field of battle for tournament competitors, pretty much nobody is admiring the weather - just being glad it won't interfere with the match by raining or anything. Yuna is standing in the middle of one edge of the 'ring,' microphone in hand; her attention, like those of the cameras, is on the middle of the arena where the two competitors will shortly be meeting to begin their match ...

Vervi (192) has posed:
The first fighter to glide in requires a Zoom from the cameras to actually see. Floating from one of the entry arches in her full armor, drawing a blue trail of engine exhaust, is the distinctive blue-colored Type VicViper shinki, Vervi. With her hands empty, she holds them forward and to either side, accentuating her flight with a bright smile.

Once she's over the ring floor itself, Vervi banks and performs a slow circuit around the ring's edges, waving to the crowd with both arms--because it's still awfully hard to see without some form of help!

Coming back to her initial entry point, Vervi's flight pack shifts and she swings her legs down, braking herself and then twirling in midair, bringing herself to a hover. One hand raises, while the other is lowered. There's a flash of white light from the Slipway when her laser rifle appears, nestled neatly in both hands. For dramatic effect, this is swung down to the side, the sides of the barrel trailing glowing blue vapor, "Type Vic Viper, Vervi, on scene and ready to go!"

Vanessa Selby (323) has posed:
Vanessa makes her way into the arena cringing a bit, why couldn't they be in one of the quieter arenas? Well, at least they didn't end up in the desert or something. She squints a bit as she tries to make out her opponent, this was going to be a bit difficult. Still she been doing target practice all week, so she's ready as she'll ever be.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"And the fighters have entered the arena!" Yuna calls out, glancing back to make sure the cameras are looking in the right direction. "Vervi's the first to step up - or fly in, rather, since she's airborne ... hey Vervi!" she calls out, grinning and waving to the little Shinki. They may not be close acquaintances, but they *are* allies ... not that this is going to affect Yuna's commentary. Theoretically, at least.

"And here comes Vanessa Selby!" continues Yuna. "She doesn't look too happy with the setting ... can't tell why that might be, though. Anyway, here's looking forward to an entertaining match; good luck to both Vervi and Vanessa, and may the best fighter win!"

Vervi (192) has posed:
"Hi!" Vervi acknowledges Yuna with a flittering of fingers on her empty hand. Her attention quickly turns to the arriving ice fox and her posture immediately changes to one of a readied fighter. The cheer is much more controlled in her voice when she speaks up again, "I actually don't like to fight unless it's something like this. So let's just enjoy ourselves, okay? And please, do your best!"

She'll give time for Vanessa's response here, though afterward pushes her arms out to either side. Ports on the armor covering her arms, as well as her flight pack, all slide open. There's a hissing sound accompanying numerous missiles fired in a large cluster, all launching away but arcing in midair towards the icefox girl, trailing smoke.

Her payload launched, Vervi twists in midair and banks to the left, hurling herself into motion. Rhythmic thumps herald the launch of four tiny support units which surround themselves in orange light and start to pursue the shinki, mirroring her flight path.

Vanessa Selby (323) has posed:
"Neither do I, I'm just in this for the money." Vanessa doesn't sound too enthusatic herself. She doesn't know how anyone could be so cheeful at a time like this. She notes the missiles and tosses a chunk of ice to try and stop them in mid-air. Her aim is off though and they make impact with her. They sting somewhat, but she's been hurt much worse before. Still the ice can make impact with Vervi herself if she isn't careful.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"And the fight starts with a bang, literally!" Yuna fights a brief impulse to jump back off of the arena platform as Vervil launches a barrage of missiles at Vanessa. "Vervi takes the first shot, sendfing a swarm of missiles in pursuit of Vanessa - plus she's got support drones of some kind out, probably for extra firepower. Looks like a bracketing salvo by the missiles ... Vanessa tosses some ice at them - trying to swat them down, it looks like, but the chunk of ice bounces against Vervi - not much, maybe, but it's something; mutual hits to start the match!"

Vervi (192) has posed:
"I just want to make Master proud of me!" Vervi chirps back, still cheery though it's carefully measured. She's doing her best to at least look like she's taking this seriously. After all, even if it's a tournament fight with strict rules, it's not a /game/ and treating it like one might make her opponents angry with her.

And that WOULD make it un-fun.

Missiles impact ice chunks and fill the air with explosions as well as quickly melting shrapnel. Vervi throws herself into a roll as she circles along the edge of the arena, jagged ice scraping across the top of her flight pack but not accomplishing any more than damaging the paint.

With her laser rifle held back along her body, Vervi reaches back with her free hand, under her wing, so that the gunpod there can latch on to her wrist. Swinging this forward, Vervi banks sharply to circle around Vanessa at waist height, that gunpod spewing out a rapid-fire spray of high caliber (for a shinki) bullets while she's close.

Vanessa Selby (323) has posed:
"Good for you." Vanessa doesn't sound too moved by Vervi's statement. They're both here to fight and she doesn't care aboout her reason for doing so. As the Shinki flies in closes she swats at her to try and keep the robot back. Close combat isn't her strong point, and it could be troublesome if Vervi gets onto her.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"It may not have been much, but Vervi definitely felt that hit," Yuna observes as she sees the Shinki recovering from contact with the ice. "She's pulling out another weapon now - and a shower of bullets for the ice-wielding foxwoman! But the bullets don't stop Vanessa, either - she stands her ground, and as Vervi flies in to circle around her, Vanessa swings - just lashing out with an arm, given the size difference that's gotta sting for the Shinki ... !"

Vervi (192) has posed:
It's a good thing Vervi wasn't actually trying to land on Vanessa! Swatting hands are a lot harder to get out of the way of when one isn't flying. And also there's that pesky hard surface to get smashed up against when swatted. While she does get smacked, her relative speed, size, and being airborne makes it a bit less damaging than it looks.

Quickly recovering from being knocked down in altitude, Vervi throws herself into a spin as she ascends, trailing a spiral of blue light from her wingtips. The gunpod is quickly returned to its spot underneath her wing.

At the peak of her ascent, a few feet above Vanessa's head, Vervi throws her arms out and terminates the spiral, shifting once more into a hover. Her legs swing out to balance and she swings her laser rifle forward, holding it with both hands. The barrel splits apart from magazine to muzzle, its interior glowing and seeping with glowing blue mist.

"It's okay if you don't want to talk."

As if punctuating that sentence, Vervi's rifle fires a concentrated beam of blue light directed at the level of the foxwoman's knees. Aimed at the left, she sweeps the beam aside to cross over the right leg as well.

Vanessa Selby (323) has posed:
Vanessa's trying to focus on the fight here, and really isn't in the mood for conversation. She notices Vervi's still in-close and tries to get her away. The shinki manages to get above her head before she can grab her. She notices the laser being fired at her and covers her legs with ice try and reflect it off her. It doesn't seem to have the desired effect as the beam simply melts through it. Her legs are pressed together in pain and she tries to remain standing. Ice shards form above her head and fly at Vervi.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"Vervi recovers from the swat by Vanessa - and she's still trying to keep this an openly friendly match; points for being a good sport!" Yuna's grin is a little sheepish - and punctuated by a wince, "And then the Shinki cuts loose with her laser rifle, raking the beam over Vanessa ... who tries to whip up some ice armor -"

Another wince. "- and then just starts launching icicles at Vervi! They're both getting serious now!"

Vervi (192) has posed:
Hovering as she is, Vervi sweeps her laser aside to free up her left hand, though she put too much into stabilizing her shot to evade incoming fire right away. Such as it is, when she twists to bank out of the line of Vanessa's icicles, one punches a neat hole right through her left wing with a shower of sparks. This throws the shinki off balance and she tumbles, though recovers before she hits the arena floor and quickly speeds away at about knee height.

She's not without counterattack, though. As she gets distance, Vervi throws herself into a roll, shedding off another salvo of missiles. While these arc around and speed towards the icefox, Vervi herself pulls back and ascends again, turning in a sharp upward arc.

A moment later, the four Options following behind her also launch salvos of missiles, adding their own payloads to that of the shinki herself.

Vanessa Selby (323) has posed:
Vanessa's getting swarmed by missiles and gunfire. She's not known for her mobility and even if she were it's simply too much for her to dodge. Suddenly tiny of pellets of hail start falling from the seemingly clear sky. For a human-sized target they would be a mild annoyance but for someone the size of a Shinki, they could pose some trouble unless Vervi quickly manages to find cover.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
At least the fight is staying at a relatively polite distance from Yuna, for which she is silently grateful, focusing on her commentary. "It looks like Vanessa's icicle barrage hit something important," she reports, "Vervi is off-balance and losing altitude - okay, she's pulled out and stabilized. That looked like a close one - but Vervi isn't out of the fight by a long shot, launching another barrage of missiles ... a barrage that her support modules copied - that's a LOT of Shinki-scale missiles headed for Vanessa now! Will they make up in quantity what they lack for in size?"

It doesn't take long to find out. "And while Vanessa gets pummeled by the explosions, she's not to be outgunned by Vervi ... is that hail? No clouds, but - yeah, it looks like she's dropping a hailstorm on Vervi! That's gonna make it hard for the Shinki to keep flying ... !"

Vervi (192) has posed:
As Vervi ascends back to a comfortable fighting altitude, she notes the descending hail. Weaving through the sudden change in weather, chunks of ice only slightly smaller than her own fists clunk and ricochet off her armor, headpiece, and flight pack. Dents appear in the thin metal that serves as armor on her equipment, causing the shinki to cringe slightly.

Giving up on dodging while ascending, Vervi swings to one side and speeds along the edge of the arena once again, weaving through hailstones. Her rifle disappears in a flash of light, vanishing back into the Slipway, though it's replaced by a small cylander held comfortably in her grip. Banking sharply, Vervi dives right at Vanessa suddenly. Her armor clicks noisily and the shinki is suddenly ejected from the chest compartment, arms thrust out to cling to the foxwoman's clothes.

Meanwhile, Vervi's ARMOR reorients itself into a vaguely humanoid shape and, fully unmanned, holds out its arms to pepper Vanessa with machinegun rounds while drifting in a circle around her, giving her two things to worry about. Only one of them is actually /attacking/ her.

Vanessa Selby (323) has posed:
The hail comes to a sudden stop as the machine gun fire hits her. Her ears fold a bit in confusion as the unpiloted armor attacks her. Of course Vanessa has two problems to worry about as Vervi's grabbing onto her as well. She decides it's better to take care of the armor first since it'll be one less problem to deal with as she tries to disable it, by freezing it solid.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"Even as Vanessa tries to knock Vervi out of the air," observes Yuna, "the plucky little Shinki keeps getting up again, back into the air and into the fight! And Vervi's laser rifle vanishes ... wait, did Vervi just jettison from her flight unit? She's latched onto Vanessa -"

Yuna's jaw drops.

"- and Vervi's armor goes into autonomous mode, still shooting Vanessa as it circles her! That leaves the vixen with two targets to worry about, not just one - ooh, but she just tried to encase Vervi's mobile armor in a solid block of ice! Can it stay flying with that much weight around it?"

Vervi (192) has posed:
Without a shinki inside it, the armor can do a few things it wouldn't be able to otherwise. It can also take punishment that it wouldn't otherwise be able to protect its occupant from. Being frozen, for instance, can be dangerous for shinki if the jelly in their cooling system expands or the system itself ruptures. Without that cooling system to worry about, when the armor's left arm, leg, and part of its torso become encased in ice, it gives no fucks.

Instead, while maneuvering and struggling to free its entrapped limbs, the right arm's gunpod flips back. A new weapon pod flips forward in its place. There's a cracking sound from the ice as the unit finally breaks its left arm free. The same switcharoo takes place and then, diving close to the foxwoman's face, Vervi's flight suit fires twin cones of energy in tightly packed clusters of shots.

Meanwhile, Vervi scrambles around Vanessa's midsection, scurrying around the woman's side to her back and then climbing perilously up the middle where she'd be the most difficult to reach.

Vanessa Selby (323) has posed:
Vanessa cringes as she gets shot in the face and stumbles a bit. She tries to grab the armor and toss it away even as Vervi climbs up her. She's not fully thinking clearly at the moment, of course having tiny pellets in her head makes it a bit difficult to do so. At this point she just wants the fight to be over with.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"And the answer seems to be 'no, it can't' - but only because it breaks loose before it can crash! Neat trick by Vervi, and she's going to need every advantage she can get right now ..."

Yuna pauses, dashing along the edge of the ring (and ducking under the occasional camera's 'line of sight') so she can get a better look at what's happening. "Vervi's still hanging onto Vanessa, trying to climb up her back; what's she after? Is she going to plant a bomb or something where the vixen can't reach it? - Or is she just trying to be a tactile distraction while her armor tries to shoot Vanessa in the face? Either way, Vanessa's still more focused on the armor than the Shinki herself, trying to grab it and fling it somewhere else ..."

Vervi (192) has posed:
When snatched, the armor creaks. When tossed, it clatters across the arena floor. Ice still clinging to its surface breaks away, freeing up the leg and shoulder. Engines flare as it takes to the air once again, spiraling up to chest height but then backing away. Slipway flashes under its wings herald the appearance of new weapons, long-barrel guns with coils surrounding the barrels.

Adjusting its flight path, the autonomous armor aims these new gauss cannons and opens fire, one at a time. Both shots, spaced about a second apart, are aimed at Vanessa's left knee.

In the middle of Vanessa's back, Vervi stops climbing. She braces with both feet and hands, waiting for the opportune moment to enact her CRAZY SCHEME. For the moment, it seems like she's been forgotten about, the armor's more aggressive actions drawing all of her opponent's attention.

Vanessa Selby (323) has posed:
How much damage could this armor take? Vanessa's finding out as she gets shot in her knee, unfortunately for Vervi her balance gives out for a moment and she falls back with the Shinki still on her back. She might want to quickly climb off or she might find herself getting crushed in the process.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"Sure enough," says Yuna, "Vervi's armor recovers from getting chucked away, takes to the air again - did it just swap - yeah, it even swapped weaponry while it was recovering! Some kind of railguns now - and Vanessa falls over on her back ... *that*'s gonna hurt Vervi if she doesn't get out from under the foxwoman in a hurry!"

Vervi (192) has posed:
NOT AS PLANNED

Vervi finds her perch toppling. First, she lets out a surprised sound when the icefox begins to fall, particularly when she begins to fall backwards. With an impending meeting to the ground in her future, the shinki acts fast. She braces her feet and one hand, rearing back with her right. The device in her hand erupts into the blazing blue blade of her beam sword.

And then Vanessa falls on her with a quiet crunch. The force, however, also drives the shinki's sword right into her larger opponent's body, like falling on a needle. THAT should get her up and moving before the smaller shinki can be TOO badly damaged by the weight and pressure squishing her.

The VerVietta armor, meanwhile, dismisses its gauss weapons to the Slipway and closes in, though it doesn't attack.

Vanessa Selby (323) has posed:
Vanessa leaps up as she's poked in the back, her leather clothing absorbs most of the blow, but it's still uncomfortable. She flails about a bit swatting at her back as she tries to get the shinki off her back. She blushes a bit as she does so, this was a bit embarassing as all these people could see what she's doing.

Vervi (192) has posed:
When Vanessa jumps back up, Vervi dangles from the hilt of her sword in something of a daze. Getting squashed under a giant woman isn't something you can just shrug off! Dizzied and hanging like that, she's smacked around a few times until her sword rips loose and Vervi's sent clattering across the arena floor, bouncing twice. Before she can bounce a third time, her armor swoops down to catch her, reinterfacing quite easily in a burst of light.

Wobbling slightly, Vervi and her armor ascend once again in an arc, one of the engines trailing black smoke rather than the characteristic blue exhaust. Her laser rifle returns and Vervi quickly attaches her sword to it as a bayonet to free up a hand. Though, as she circles around, she keeps her distance by leveling the laser rifle.

As before, the barrel splits open, glowing inside, and fires a concentrated beam of light. Unlike last time, however, the same beam is mimicked by the four Options trailing behind her. Each one sweeps in opposite directions, scissoring across each others' cutting paths as she rakes Vanessa's legs with them.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"Okay, so it wasn't a bomb or anything Vervi had, but some kind of miniature beam-sword ..." Yuna lets out a breath. "And Vanessa didn't manage to squash her when she toppled over, but she's still scrabbling around and trying to dislodge Vervi - *yeow*, nailed her with that one! It's definitely still anyone's fight, though; neither fighter has a solid advantage at this point! Vervi may have firepower but Vanessa's not backing off ... and Vervi's armor goes into full-on beamspam mode!"

Vanessa Selby (323) has posed:
Vanessa's legs are taking a lot of punishment, she's going to have problems walking afterwards for a few days at least. "Ah!" Some noise finally comes out of the quiet fox-girl, she falls to her knees, but ice is quickly gathering on her hands into the shape of spikes. AFter a moment they break free and go flying at Vervi, with the intent of impaling the shinki.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"Vanessa gets hammered by the beamspam from Vervi's armor, but she still refuses to give up despite the beatdown she's taken so far ... and - did she just form Shinki-seeking ice missiles or something? ... I think she did, or at least she's guiding their flight to home in on her!"

Yuna lowers the microphone briefly, watching the two continue to battle ...

Vervi (192) has posed:
Moving swiftly, Vervi weaves through the spray of jagged shards, taking a close shave here and there. A particularly tough cluster spears through her right wing, making it almost symmetrical to the hole in the left. The gash trails smoke for a few moments while internal systems close off the damaged lines to her aileron, and Vervi's flight path stabilizes a moment later.

Once upright from all her rolling and twisting in evasion, Vervi thrusts her arms out. Panels on her body erupt with another spray of missiles, mirrored by her Options. While the missiles arc toward the kneeling Vanessa, the shinki arrests her own motion and produces one of her under-win gunpods, supplimenting the missile fire with machinegun fire. This, too, is mirrored by her support drones, filling the air with bullets and artillery.

Vanessa Selby (323) has posed:
Vanessa's having trouble standing at this point, let alone avoiding anything. The barrage of missiles and gunfire send her onto the ground. She weakly moans, she's not getting up under own power at this point. She's in a lot of pain both physical and mental.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"Vervi manages to get away from the Shinki-seeking icicles, but not without taking some more damage along the way - but she dishes out what HAS to be everything she's loading ..." Yuna has to wince again at the amount of firepower Vervi's unloading. "And Vanessa goes down hard ... the referee is calling it - the fight is over, and Vervi advances to the next round of the World Martial Arts Tournament!!"

The blonde idol can't applaud with a microphone in her hands, and it'd be bad form to cheer openly ... but the exuberance in her voice covers the gap pretty well, and Vervi and Vanessa *did* both put up a good fight, one that was a pleasure for Yuna to watch. Nerve-wracking at points, maybe, but fun.

Vervi (192) has posed:
When the foxwoman collapses, Vervi keeps her weapons armed for a few moments longer. Only when the referee calls it does she relax and drift downward to land on the arena floor. Her weapons wink out, vanishing into the Slipway, though her armor remains when she drops to her knees with a tired sound, "Phew~... She really did her best."

Turning enough to flash her face to the nearest camera, the little shinki smiles and calls out, "Master, I won! I hope you're proud of me!"