2747/WMAT BQ1 Dorotea Grahn vs Alice of the Dolls

WMAT BQ1 Dorotea Grahn vs Alice of the Dolls
Date of Scene:	06 August 2015
Location:	WMAT Arena - Spinach Wastes
Synopsis:	WMAT brackets begin! Alice of the Dolls faces off against Dorotea Grahn!
Cast of Characters:	742, 807
Tinyplot:	WMAT 2015

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Dorotea Grahn (742) has posed:
Welcome to the WMAT!

WMAT matches are popular. Even in the Northern Wilderness, there are a /lot/ of people in the stands, even if you might not be able to see the whole battle from the stands (that's where there are viewing screens and cameras on hovercars).

When Dorotea signed up for this, she knew there would be spectators. She knew it would be popular. What she didn't realize was how many, or how much - but when you invite the whole multiverse, even a small fraction of a percent adds up to a lot of people.

She suffered a moment of stage fright when she realized that yes, the audience was here to watch her, and yes, about half of the cameras were pointing at her. Then she got exuberant. She waved. She would have signed things if anyone had asked her and is mostly disappointed that nobody got out of the stands to do so.

The battlefield of choice: rocky mesas and plateaus. They are made of orange and brown stone, with some shrubby plants and a big flat area between them. Dorotea is already waking around on the flat area. She has a hat to keep the sun off but is already sweating - there's no shade here unless she goes and hides up against one of the plateaus.

Alice Margatroid (807) has posed:
    The WMAT. A place Alice has only heard of recently but what better way to find out what is out there in the Multiverse. Arthur did say to go see what was out there after all. What Alice didn't expect, as she flew into view from over the mountain tops were about half of the cameras pointing at her, Hourai and Shanghai floating around her and the audience cheering.

    Were these people there for her?

    She shakes her head, giving a light wave back to everyone while Hourai gives a firm nod. Shanghai, however.... Shanghai was eating up all the attention. "HIII! Welcome welcome! Alice of the Dolls here to show you who's the best puppeteer! Cheer for her! CHEER FOR HER!"

    It doesn't take long for Alice to land a ways from Dorotea, taking a look at the battlefield... she would possibly have the advantage of flight, but knowing little to nothing about Dorotea... she couldn't leave anything to chance. The Grimoire at her side glows just slightly and about ten cards could be seen slipping into her sleeves. Alice did, however, prepare for any encounter.

    "Dorotea?" She curtseys, "Alice of the Dolls, its a pleasure."

Dorotea Grahn (742) has posed:
Some for Alice, and some for Dorotea, and some just here to watch a fight; WMAT spectators come in all kinds. (Dorotea's sister, for instance, is over there, cheering away.)

Dorotea watches her opponent land, pulling her hat to shade her eyes. She wasn't expecting a flier. She wasn't sure what she expected. If she notices Alice stacking her sleeves with cards, she doesn't comment on it. Magicians do that sometimes.

"That's me. I'm Dorotea!" Dorotea thumps her chest with one armoured fist. "Dorotea Grahn. It's good to see you here!" She was looking forward to this. It's been a whole week since she had a good fight. Maybe even two weeks. Dorotea spends a few moments looking over Alice as if she could judge her by doing so, then gives a satisfied nod to herself.

She looks around, then, and waves to the ref, an official on one of the hovercars. /She's/ ready at least.

Alice Margatroid (807) has posed:
    Alice gives a light nod, no one she knows is in the audience today, but that's fine, less distractions and more focus. "Then Dorotea... three colors." she shakes her head, giving a brief nod to the ref on the hovercar. She was ready. With one card slipping out and a doll just appearing out of nowhere in one of Alice's free hands, her stoic expression is levied towards Dorotea.

    In Gensokyo, there was no need for an okay from an official... in fact, there were no officials, spellcard duels were just... there. But this isn't Gensokyo. "Well then, Dorotea. I will show you that you will be no match for what you are facing today, your power is only equal to fourty two point eight five seven one percent of mine!

    With this announcement, and the Ref giving the go ahead, Alice sprints forward, lifting that card in hand, "Spellcard! Demonic Posession: Return Inanimateness!" and with that declare of hers, she takes that doll in hand and LOBS it towards Dorotea! Regardless if it hits or not, it explodes into a giant plume of blue flame and smoke.

Dorotea Grahn (742) has posed:
Dorotea is momentarily baffled by the comment. Three colours? She looks around as if to find something that makes it understandable, then down at herself. Eventually she figures it out. "What? I can have as many colours as I want. But the only one you have to be worried about right now is Blue!"

The ref rings a bell (and his hovercar backs up, because come on, wouldn't you?). Dorotea already starts moving, but Alice is faster and has the advantage that she doesn't actually need to go anywhere to start attacking.

While rushing forward, the doll bounces off Dorotea's shoulder. She ignores it... or would, except for the explosion. The blast singes Dorotea and gives her a face full of smoke; she rolls, picking herself up after the blast. Her shoulder, after all, isn't armoured.

Dorotea may look silly with a face and shoulder covered in soot, but it appears to have made her more focused. She doesn't just run this time - she charges, putting her head down and trying to slam into Alice shoulder-first. Dorotea uses the other shoulder, at least. It hurts less. "You're not supposed to throw dolls! And even if you are they don't explode!"

Alice Margatroid (807) has posed:
    Alice shakes her head, "Worry about a color you lack?" she questions, "It is you who should worry about blue!" Alice slips out another card into her hand, recycling the one she spent and nods. The explosion elicits a small smile but as she sees the bull rushing woman ahead, Hourai steps in front and hefts up her shield and lance.

    "I will not let you touch her." Hourai chides, ramming the shield right into the bull rush, but while it doesn't seem to have affected Alice, she twitches a bit from the feedback from the impact. Alice proceeds to take fight and land a bit away, taking a look at the card real quick, and slipping it back in, taking out a different one. She gives a light nod, lifting it into the air, "Spellcard! Spy Sign - Seeker Dolls!"

    The card activates and eight strings shoot out in two different directions, four on each side with dolls attached to each end. "If you do not wish explosions, have lasers." the dolls activate, spreading out lasers in a crossed, wide angle spread, very few safe spots in the form of diamonds.

Dorotea Grahn (742) has posed:
"You're saying I lack blue?" Dorotea tends to get fired up when she fights, even in a tournament situation like this. She doesn't sound /mad/, precisely, but she does sound intense. "I'll show you all the blue I've got - ack!"

Hitting a doll's shield isn't sufficient for Dorotea. She jabs at it, trying to either batter through it or simply move Hourai aside; Hourai is much smaller than Dorotea is so she doesn't expect much of a problem. But you know what they say about expectations.

Of course, she can't /keep/ hitting it, because lasers. Dorotea has no particular defense against lasers; she might be a good hand to hand fighter, but she's not experienced with formations like that. She tries to wedge herself into one of the safe spots, but picked one she's just too big to curl up into, and it blasts at her shoulder and back. Again.

Dorotea bellows. No words, this time; it's a combination of surprise and pain. "Right," she grunts afterwards, standing when it is safe(r) to do so. Her body does in fact flicker blue as she brings her hands up, the gathered energy dispersing into blue diamond-shaped pulses.

From Dorotea's raised hand, a stream of magical fire blasts out! She tries to sweep it from Hourai to the other dolls to Alice, something it lasts just barely long enough to do; the sustained stream is more than a single bolt but it certainly doesn't last forever. "FLAMETHROWER!"

Alice Margatroid (807) has posed:
    It actually takes a bit of effort to move Hourai aside, but the battering on the shield dents it and Hourai looks surprised, leading to her being moved out of the way, fortunately, Hourai doesn't have to worry much when the lasers come in. The bellowing of a successful strike sets Alice up for another, but the blue diamond-saped pulses catch her eye.

    Oh, she has spellcards too. Or is it?

    The gout of flames wash over Hourai, Shanghai and Alice and the Spy Sign dolls are burned away to a crisp, but Alice's face cringes from the heat and fire, putting out herself that gets caught aflame. "MMm... Y.. you have spellcards too, it seems. very well, I don't have to hold that much back."

    Alice starts moving once more, looking for the best way to attack... she's melee, like Youmuu... but she doesn't use a sword. Let's do this... a card slips back into her hand and she slips it back in, pulling out something else, meanwhile, she tosses up a few dolls that seem to just float there. A doll here... a doll there. And a couple over there. A small glimmer could be seen with the sun shining on the magic strings connecting the dollmaker's fingers to the four and soon after, two dolls start dispersing bullets here and there, a mass amount with no real aim while two more try to pincer in Dorotea with lasers!

Dorotea Grahn (742) has posed:
"They're not spellcards. I don't use cards. It's Blue Magic!" Dorotea doesn't bother to explain beyond that.

The disadvantage of firing randomly is that you don't actually hit anything in particular very reliably. One of the plateaus rising out of the rocky ground gets peppered with shots, mostly because it's the biggest thing in the area. One of the camera hovercars makes a hasty reposition.

Dorotea, however, does not. Her attempt to stay close to Alice means she's constantly in motion; she weaves around a number of the shots and deflects one of them with the reinforced back side of her gauntlets, only to get clipped by a stray cluster. They're not bad hits at all, and there's not a lot of them, but they're distracting.

Unfortunately, in evading, Dorotea did get slightly pincered. Her reaction: Charge right through! Dorotea leaves herself open again when she rushes, which may give Alice the opening she needs - but as far as Dorotea is concerned, if she keeps up the punches Alice won't have the opportunity to cast anything. She needs her hands for that, right? Or... cards, or something? Maybe the dolls?

Man, Dorotea should probably have done some research /before/ this fight.

Alice Margatroid (807) has posed:
    Blue Magic, huh? She might have to inquire about this later... For now, she's got her dolls set up, regardless if the shots were distracting or not, she's got part of her spellcard set for use. Alice, however, did come prepared for a close range fight. She pulls out one card, a red looking card with a talisman on it... and "Spir.."

    The punches interrupt the Dollmaker's attempt, sending her back a bit of a ways, but with the punches continuing to come and Dorotea still coming in... she needs an opening. Just one second to send her flying into her trap. "Nngh, stop... hitting me! Spiritual Strike Talisman!" and with an explosion of forceful energy, she lets the energy of the skillcard knock Dorotea away from her, how far, she's not sure, she's never used it on anyone outside of Gensokyo!

    With the opening procured, she slips out one more card, "Spellcard! Focus Power - Trip Wire!" the strings following Alice activate, sending lasers along them and to each doll, bouncing back and forth for a few seconds, hoping that the knockback was enough to send Dorotea into it.

Dorotea Grahn (742) has posed:
"If you didn't want to get hit you shouldn't have entered WMAT!" It's not like Dorotea is trying to kill her. Beat her up a little, maybe... but that's kind of a hazard of a combat tournament. "If you really want me to stop I'll let you give up..."

Trash-talking never ends well. The talisman does in fact pick up and throw Dorotea. She goes flying, hitting the ground a good fifty feet away and rolling with the impact. She probably would have landed without injury if it wasn't for the Trip Wire spell; as is she rolls through one of the lasers and ends up in a slightly-smoking heap when she finally does stop.

She's not out of it, though. Dorotea rises. All that nice positioning just got ruined by being launched away, and she feels momentary dismay - not enough to make /her/ give up, but enough to make her feel a little silly. The pink bird that has decided to come look at her while she was getting up doesn't help. "What are /you/ looking at," she growls at it, waving her arms to make it flee.

Turning her attention to Alice, Dorotea considers for about a half second... and then she bends down. With a grunt, she picks up a flattish orange rock that probably weighs about twenty pounds; it looks like it fell off the closest plateau one of the other times there was a fight here. She uses it like a shield as she approaches Alice, holding it in front of her for about half the distance to prevent lasering before spinning, throwing it like a discus before advancing the rest of the way!

Alice Margatroid (807) has posed:
    "I will not give up. I entered for a specific reason and you're in my way." she chides back, a card slippin gout into her hand. "I think the bird likes you, Dorotea. Shouldn't shoo such a fragile thing away. After all, you're my opponent, not the bird."

    Alice looks winded, she's not used to such physical combat and she's running out of spells to actually use against Dorotea. This isn't going well for her and she looks between Hourai and Shanghai, "Use it~" Shanghai cheers forth, Alice shaking her head, "Not yet... those two are last..."

    The mini conversation between her dolls and herself was a downfall here, the discus rock slams right into the dollmaker's chest, sending her flying back from the impact and tumbling down face first and ass in the air, skidding to a stop about thirty feet. She coughs hard, the wind knocked out of her... and she can feel Dorotea still chasing...

    Hourai and Shanghai move to pick Alice up and dust her off, the magician looks very winded but still up, her nose bleeding and face looks like it's been scratched up pretty good. "Nngh... Spellcard. War Sign - Little Legion!" she coughs out, shooting forth about six stings ahead of her, dolls appearing on the end with large razor blades and swords, spinning around and around into a wide arc.. "Hourai, get ready, you're up next..."

Dorotea Grahn (742) has posed:
Dorotea, on the other hand, is pained but not exhausted. She's the kind of girl who practically lives on physical activity; she's no intellectual juggernaut (as her grades at Alexander Academy will cheerfully remind anyone who looks at them) but when it comes to athletics, there aren't many students who can keep up. Which means that she can manage the long haul.

At this rate, she might need it.

"I don't want the bird to get hurt!" Dorotea is stubborn about that. She doesn't want to cause cheap chicken wings for the next event around here. (Or... whatever wings, because that wasn't a chicken; Dorotea just has no idea what to call it.)

Little Legion forces Dorotea to abort her rush or run into a wall of sharp objects. In fact she /still/ runs into a wall of sharp objects, just not as hard; she brings her arms up in an X to absorb some of the impact, though she picks up some slashes for her actions. Her gauntlets also get dinged up. They're not perfect shields.

Dorotea goes low. She tries to slide /under/ the dolls, springing back to her feet as she glows that blue again. Alice might know what this means by now: magic. But this time 'magic' is not a flamethrower, so she'll be disappointed if she tries to protect herself the same way. "PINECONE..."

Both of Dorotea's hands are suddenly filled with pine cones. She throws them simultaneously at Alice. Pinecones are harmless, though - except when, on impact with anything solid (Alice, the ground, whatever) they explode in a greenish burst, sending fragments of rock-hard shrapnel everywhere. At least it smells good?

"BOMB!"

Alice Margatroid (807) has posed:
    Alice doesn't have the physical dexterity... fortitude.. capacity.. well, the physical everything that Dorotea has. What Alice /does/ have, however, is an array of area denial spellcards... that somehow still let Dorotea through. Mentally cursing herself, the Little Legion comes back and the card's exchanged with something else. Hourai moves in front as if to prepare for the next barrage, however... "Pinecones?"

    She tilts her head and Hourai moves to cover over Alice's head with her shield but the pinecones seem to bounce off... then explode in that wonderfully scented green explosion, sending her into the air and ... she stays there, looking down at Dorotea. Her dress is torn in a few places, nothing too bad, but exhaustion is clear on the Dollmaker's bodily expression.

    "You just want to go further, that's what you want. Your ... magic is interesting, I may have a reason to come try to learn that. What did you call it again? Blue?" with the small bit of chatter, Hourai dives lance first in front of Alice and about six more lance wielding dolls come to spin around. "Spellcard. Curse Sign - Hourai Doll." The tips of the spears start glowing red, and, if this was any indication at all for Dorotea... that meant lasers.

    As the dolls spin around Hourai, wide lasers start shooting out from the lances, making a helix like pattern to cut through the ground and hopefully around Dorotea, or through Dorotea... "You're good."

Dorotea Grahn (742) has posed:
Dorotea Grahn's response to area denial is to charge in anyway, full steam ahead. It's half-working; she's getting where she wants to go, but not without a price. Though Dorotea's /stamina/ is fine, she's starting to take a beating from all these cards, and she's getting to the point where the injuries are starting to add up.

"Blue Magic!" Dorotea seems to be preparing something else - or maybe she's just actually defending herself for a change. No magical defenses here; she does it with her hands, throwing herself to the ground and rolling through the helix. It gets her a little burned even if the main blast didn't quite connect, but it means she can pop up again slightly closer. She's obnoxious like that.

"It is the study of monsters and /their/ magic, /their/ techniques! And of course I want to go further. I'm going to win WMAT if I have anything to say about it!" Springing up, Dorotea leaps into the air, shimmering blue when she does it. She spreads her arms wide. "CLAW..."

Dorotea lands. She is already spinning, like a top or a tornado; she whirls, claws made of blue light extending from her gauntlets' fingertips as she lashes out in all directions. She eventually spins to a stop - at least a rotational stop, because it ends with her pouncing again, almost feline-like as she rakes at Alice one last time. "CYCLONE!"

Alice Margatroid (807) has posed:
    Alice hmms, study of monsters and their capabilities. "I wonder... how hard is it to learn?" she questions, only to take the brunt of the Claw Cyclone with her stomach again, gasping for air as she's taken for a clawed ride, like a cat that was too angry to be pet... speaking of.. "Poor cat doesn't want any more pettings, huh?" she taunts, a bit out of breath. "Let Alice take care of that..."

    The claw cyclone rips into her dress and drops her back to the ground, no flying spellcards today it seems, but that's okay, Alice has other tricks up her sleeve. One of them.. has her rushing towards Dorotea while a magic circle appears in front of the magician. "I hope you advance... but I will try my best not to let you! Spellcard!" that activation call once more, "Lance Sign - Cute Phalanx!" out of the magic circle, Alice advances forward, lance dolls shooting out of the circle and popping back in as she keeps up her forward pace, trying to rush down the rush down. The dolls keep their stabbing up, in and out, in and out until one final stab is made and a kick from Alice's heavy boot is given towards the stomach. Well, she hopes it hits anyways.

Dorotea Grahn (742) has posed:
The Claw Cyclone was in fact a technique adapted from a big cat of Dorotea's homeland, so Alice has /that/ right. Dorotea finishes her last pounce and immediately takes a step - backwards. Has she given up on staying too close to Alice?

Not really; she just wanted some room to move. "You can try," is Dorotea's response. "I hope you do try!" She hasn't time to do much else, because the Cute Phalanx is on the move - and while Dorotea is getting ready for them, she wouldn't call her defenses perfect.

The constant barrage of attacks wears on Dorotea. She's bruised, slashed; willpower keeps her up as well as natural toughness, but that's real blood. The crowd is getting what they paid for, that's for sure. (Except for Sylvi, who is currently covering her eyes rather than watch the screen.)

The boot catches Dorotea in the stomach all right, knocking the wind out of her - but her hands grip the ankle before Alice can pull it away. Or that's what she's hoping anyway; if Alice is lucky or fast, she might get free. Dorotea has the strength advantage, and she knows it. She tries to whirl Alice around by that leg, once, twice - and then let go, sending her flying to slam into the ground!

Alice Margatroid (807) has posed:
    Perhaps this was not Alice's smartest move this engagement, finishing up with that boot of hers. Her ankle's grabbed and she tugs at her leg, trying to pull it away to no avail. "Then if I fail, I hope to meet you soon, outside of the WMAT." she comments, only to be swung around and thrown like a rag doll. She /was/ pretty light to throw and Alice goes flying far.

    HOping to correct herself, she rights herself as she's flying but forward movement comes too late as the eject slams her into the mountain wall, causing the magician to gasp and let out a loud, pained cry. Hourai and Shanghai quickly fly towards Alice, moving to attempt to catch her but fail as she falls into the ground hard, bouncing. "ALICE!" the two dolls shout, turning towards Dorotea, then each other. "Spellcard..." the Dolls actually announce this time, pulling a card from Alice's sleeve as she slowly gets up. Hourai's face turns cold and Shanghai's loses its smile, something very hard to do. "YOu hurt Alice way too much! We won't let you hurt her any further! Shanghai, let's do it. Dolls - Lemmings Parade!" as the magic circle in front of the two widen, Alice moves to her knees, sitting in a maid like fashion... watching her two dolls perform her spellcard for her.

    The magic circle finishes growing... and soon after, hundreds.. upon hundreds of dolls start charging out in a rush, running and hopping towards Dorotea. The small dolls are quick, but they aren't flying.. but the ones who are hopping, do hop quite a bit in the air, a good four feet. They all seem to be in a kamikaze run towards the Blue Magic Berserker, and, should any of the dolls find purchase in running into her, they explode... quite readily explode with a lot more punch than the opening card.

Dorotea Grahn (742) has posed:
Dorotea is flustered by the dolls talking. Sure, one of them did before, but she figured it was ventriloquism. This time there's different ones doing it. She's not sure how to react to that.

"It's just a good fight!" she objects. Nobody is dying, nobody is getting even badly hurt as these things go - it's the WMAT. No death is kind of a rule. "Plus, I'm still going to win - oh that's a lot of dolls."

That really is a lot of dolls. Dorotea has seen them explode before, but she doesn't have a way to stop them. They shower the area around her with smoke and fire, shrouding Dorotea completely from view as she hunkers down, trying to keep herself safe from the blast zone.

Is she blasted away? That's an awful lot of smoke and dust.

As it turns out, Dorotea is not. She comes out of the explosions trailing said smoke behind her in billows. One of her armoured boots has cracked up the side, her high socks are tattered - some of them must have hit her leg. Her hair is askew, and she has even more soot on her face.

She is also yelling. Dorotea whirls, putting a whole lot of momentum in her single mighty punch on Alice - it just might knock her out of the park! Not that there's a ring here for her to be knocked out of, but... a ways, at least. The impact is jarring, good at making people lose their concentration and focus, which is what Dorotea thinks she really needs to win right now. Inasmuch as she conciously made that decision, anyway; Dorotea fights on instinct a lot.

Alice Margatroid (807) has posed:
    Apparently, puppetry bothered Dorotea. Alice would have to remember this in the future, however, she's struggling to get up, much less continue on trying to throw lasers, exploding dolls and other things at her. She seems slightly content to see the plume of smoke and dust from the exploding dolls, but the vision of Dorotea still up... and battered... causes her to frown.

    Alice doesn't move. She can't move... she's exhausted physically, mentally and magically, how this woman does it.. she wishes she knew. Alice brings her arms up to block, Hourai brings up her shield, many shield dolls move into place from seemingly nowhere. Alice's turtles under a phalanx of shields but that punch breaks right through and connects with Alice's chest, breaking her free from the shield shell and back into the wall she hit before, and one last cry of pain is given, falling back and bouncing once more off the ground.

    Hourai and Shanghai look towards Alice... then Dorotea... then Alice... "She can't get up." "Well fought. You did well." "Danmaku isn't something easy to stop... you were great." "Poor Alice..."

    Alice twitches just slightly, rolling over and breathing heavily... "I... I concede." she whispers, "No more..."

Dorotea Grahn (742) has posed:
Dorotea walks right over to Alice. She's breathing hard - no matter what she says, Alice was probably the hardest solo battle she's had since she got loose in the Multiverse. She looks pretty battered herself. She's up, and the victor, but not by much.

She looks down at Alice. If she was an asshole, this would be a good opportunity to kick her when she was down. Even with the dolls there.

Instead, Dorotea grabs her by the hand and tries to hoist her to her feet. She gets a smack on the back, too - but a friendly one. Dorotea just tends to be a little... physical. And then, Dorotea laughs.

"You did good! So did I," she adds, "but it was good! I am glad to have had that as my first match in WMAT."

Alice Margatroid (807) has posed:
    Alice looks up, staring at the the victor. It was perfect to kick her while she was down but, what comes next is a nice change. She's hoisted up and the smack on the back causes her to cough some. "It's... my first real duel with someone outside of Gensokyo. You... did amazing." she comments, leaning on Dorotea for support. "Would it be that I could learn a few of the magics you used, I'm sure I can work on my dolls better with such capabilities."

    Hourai and Shanghai are still on guard, who knows what Dorotea would do, but from what everything is going on, they slowly stand down, floating around the two, "For a human, you're good." "We should go have tea now!"

Dorotea Grahn (742) has posed:
"Probably not." Dorotea shrugs, then winces, having immediately regretted that particular movement. "Only some people can learn it. But you can try! Just go stand around in front of a monster for a while."

There's a reason Dorotea is as tough as she is.

Regardless, she holds Alice's hand up, signaling the victory for the crowd (more than she already had, anyway) with a slightly lopsided grin. "I don't do tea so much," she says, "but I bet you'd like my sister. /She/ likes tea."