2802/WMAT AQ1 Celestine vs Doppelganger

WMAT AQ1 Celestine vs Doppelganger
Date of Scene:	14 August 2015
Location:	WMAT Arena - Diablo Desert
Synopsis:	Celestine faces off against Doppelganger in the desert!
Cast of Characters:	726, 816
Tinyplot:	WMAT 2015

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Walter Bernhard (726) has posed:
    Diablo Desert! Glaring sunlight, searing heat, dry as bone dust, etc. The stands are filled, the audience shaded and refreshed with drinks, and the fighters are... Presumably here? At least one of them doesn't seem to be here yet. Huh! There's a referee who appears to be some kind of small bear-person riding on a dinosaur. Considering who one of the participants of this match is, that might seem to be in poor taste, but this is probably one of the not-smart dinosaurs, so it's okay. Also the bear has really stubby legs, so it's not like he could keep up without assistance.

    The match is due to start soon. So where's this 'Doppleganger' at?

Celestine (816) has posed:
The Raptor-dragon arrives in the arena, her scales are a dark brown, almost black, with a gray undertone going along her neck down her belly, even under her arms, around her hands and feet, and down the underside of her tail.

Celestine's feathers are black with gold tips and her eyes red in color with those draconic pupils looking out. She has a black like a leotard over her body, designed to fit her frame and around the spikes along her backside, at one hip is her blaster, at the other side is a small metal container.

She glares at the bear riding a Dinosaur before she hisses softly, "... Really?" Before she aughs in some minor disgust to the fact, "Mammals." Then makes her way to the waiting spot out in this hot, comfortable (to her) desert. Her arms are crossed over her chest as she waits with a flick of her own tail.

Walter Bernhard (726) has posed:
    After Celestine arrives and prepares to wait, there is suddenly a large magic circle that appears on the ground, and a blob of shadow arises from it. A blob that seems to more and more be shaped like Celestine... When the Doppelganger arises, it--No, SHE, looks just like Celestine, down to the last detail... Except seemingly surrounded in a dark haze, like a purplish black mist, that obcures some of the finer points. The circle recedes from beneath the Doppelganger of Celestine, and the discomfitted bear rides his dinosaur closer to the two combatants...

    "The Bracket A qualifier match for Celestine versus Doppelganger!" announces the dinosaur that was taken for a mount. The bear just scratches the side of his furry face and keeps an eye on the Doppelganger. M-maybe it's the bear who's the pet of the saurian in this case. "The match will now..." A clawed hand is raised... And then brought down! "Begin!"

    The fighting starts very quickly as Doppelganger silently charges towards the real Celestine, spinning a familiar metal staff skillfully as she attempts to strike!

Celestine (816) has posed:
Celestine steps back as she watches the ooze rise up and her red eyes blink a few times, "What the--?" Her feathers bristle up a slightly in surprise as the ooze takes her form, "Wha... what?!" Then the announcer was the Dinosaur the whole time... GO FIGURE!

However, she doesn't have time to process this hilarious fact of irony, as her 'clone' comes charging right at her with her own /staff/. Celestine lets out a screeching hiss of annoyance as she activates her own staff and goes to block the strike. The metal clacks loudly against one another and the force shoves Celestine down to her knee.

"I will not... Be outmatched by a copy!" She sneers out with her fanged teeth gritted before she goes to shove up, pushing the other staff away and twirling her own body around to clip the mirror version with the edge of her large toe claw.

Walter Bernhard (726) has posed:
    As Celestine attacks her duplicate in a similar manner, she likewise seems to force the Doppelganger down on one knee, as she blocks the attack partially just like Celestine did... And pushes it away in the same manner! She lowers herself into a half-crouch, turning sideways to reduce her profile, and then thrusts the end of the staff weapon towards Celestine's face! It seems that it's not just form and weapon that have been copied, but skill as well. This could be... Troublesome. At least the dinosaur and bear have retreated to a safe distance, right?

Celestine (816) has posed:
Celestine flips when she is shoved away, landing easily in on the ground on both of her feet, only to find the pole being slammed into her face. The force cracks a few of the scales along the edge of her ridges, before she looks at the clone with a slow rumble from her throat. "I don't know what you are," The female created soldier says as she flips back a few times, "But there is no way you're as good as I am!" She then goes to race for the mirror of herself, before she slams down her staff on the ground to pole-vault herself up over the other one to get greater distance.

The sand kicked up from the staff kick flies into the air, catching the sun with glittering display, and as she lands down from behind, she swings the pole around with a strike, before seemingly twisting it in half and moving herself in closer for another strike with the newly created half in her other hand. "There is no way! No how!" Celestine, is in fact, having a hard time believing she is facing a true identical twin.

Walter Bernhard (726) has posed:
    Caught off guard by the attack from behind with multiple strikes, Doppelganger staggers forwards a bit, suffering damage similar to what Celestine did. Cracked scales mark where the now-halved staff has struck. But then she spins in place, lashing out with her full-length staff, and leaving a red 'tail' of light behind the weapon that now seems to glow like molten blood, as she tries to hit the opponent behind her! For all its skill, the Doppelganger seems fairly unresponsive verbally. Skill? Intelligent? Physical ability? Or just an automaton that mimics its target and follows set patterns?

    It's hard to tell. However, the staff, after its rotating spin attack, splits in two in a similar manner to how Celestine used it... And that other half, which should have gone flying off somewhere, instead returns to the hand of its owner as though drawn by an unseen force. And when it reaches that hand, it is then used for quick strike aimed at the side of Celestine's neck!

    A cold echo of Celestine's voice, without emotion, emanates from the Doppelganger as her gleaming red eyes peer out of the misty haze at close range. "No way. No how."

Celestine (816) has posed:
Celestine attempts to block one strike which she is successful in doing with a clack of the metal impacts metal, but when the clone comes along and slams both sides of her neck, she coughs out from the vital impact being hit and almost goes down to her knee once more in a stagger motion. But, when the Clone mimics her voice with no emotion, that gets a look from the female Draco-Raptor. There is a low snarl, before she lets out a screech in dominance and perhaps frustration.

The female warrior flips around using her clawed feet to try and catch the other as she flips around, followed by her tail as well, both which could be avoided if the copy moves quickly enough. Once the flip is over, Celestine shoves off with her foot to quickly close in the gap with sheer speed, before twirling the two halves with rapid speed, striking for different locations like to the side of the arm, neck, head, and if it becomes undefended the side of the body. Celestine is, sadly, all too aware that if this thing is a perfect copy the abdominal, chest area is all too well guarded by much thicker plates.

Walter Bernhard (726) has posed:
    Celestine knows her own strengths and weaknesses. That's more than can be said for many other fighters, who push forward on the assumption that their prowess will carry them through, without thought. However, everyone has psychological blindspots. And a mimic of someone who fights with a knowledge of their own weakpoints means a mimic that can capitalize upon them just as well. So as Celestine launches her attack with foot and tail, intent to lead up to strike at vulnerable locations, Doppelganger, rather than trying to block or dodge... Seemingly just takes the hits!

    Only for it to be revealed that she grabbed hold of Celestine's tail with both arms after letting it strike her, and uses this to continuously move out of the way of the further attacks by always remaining in a position where attacking can not be easily done.

    Then, releasing the tail suddenly, Doppelganger surges forward attempting to strike Celestine in the back of the skull with one half of the staff, and then hop up on one foot, turn in the air, and come around with a back-handed strike at the same location with the other staff-half!

Celestine (816) has posed:
The Celestine copy comes in with equal speed she was expecting out of herself, but with her tail being used against her, she has no way to deal with the problem, allowing the clone to have her way with the original. The impact hits the back of her skull, following a screech in pain, before the staff slams in the same location which sends the Draco-Raptor down into the sand.

She slides along the ground and with a groan, picks herself up before shaking her head, trying to get her eyes to refocus. "That was dirty..." She sneers out looking over at her copy, "Kind of like this dirty!" With a sudden spin of her body, she uses her hand to scoop up the dirt and fling it toward the face of the Doppelganger, hoping to blind them momentarily.

Celestine then reconnects the staff as she leaps in, slamming the butt of the staff into the ground and with the momentum attempts to swing herself around to slam both feet into the other in order to knock them back, as she recovers around with a flip in the air.

Walter Bernhard (726) has posed:
    Same physical abilities, same limitations. Seeing with eyes obscured is as impossible for Doppelganger as for Celestine. And when she is caught off-guard by the spinning double-kick while blinded, the enemy is hurled back and to the ground. She takes the time to scrape dirt and sand out of her eyes, speaking in that distant, echoing tone, "Dirty... Dirty..."

    Then she combines the glowing-red staff back into a single weapon, and points it at Celestine. And the staff compacts down further, turning into something that resembles Celestine's blaster... Crimson electricity erupts from the magically conjured device, in an imperfect simulation of the Multi-Blaster's stun mode, attempting to temporarily paralyze Celestine...

    Right as the blaster turns back into a staff, and is brought to bear in a two-handed over-head strike at the top of Celestine's head!

Celestine (816) has posed:
Celestine snarls lowly as she watches the staff turn into the blaster. "Oh no you don't!" When the blaster fires, the female soldier spins her lance and uses it to successful deflect the blast away from her. She catches the movement between the rotations of the staff as the clone starts to move and her tail flicks in anticipation.

Celestine moves the staff directly up to take the load of the impact, staring down her own 'evil' reflection. She growls lowly, her tail lashing side to side as her red eyes meet the Doppelganger's. Her nostrils flare slightly as her eyes start to glow, causing her eyes to become brilliant white. This close and more focused on holding the attack in place to stare down her opponent, the Draco-Raptor snarls out, "You smell like rotten flesh and bone..."

She then breaks the hold with a hard push up, before flipping back a few times with grace and agility. As she lands the final time the blaster comes into play. "... You should work on that." Then, with a pull of the trigger she fires off several shots for the clone.

Walter Bernhard (726) has posed:
    Celestine deflects the stun blast, blocks the overhead strike, and then pushes her enemy back before performing an impressive acrobatic display... Then returns fire with a blaster of her own! ...Because it was her own blaster to start with. Doppelganger attempts a similar feat, and manages to catch most of the shots on her glowing red staff, though the spray of sparks seems to singe her in places. But then she charges forwards, converting the staff to blaster again, and then returning fire with crimson blasts! All while attempting to close the distance...

    And along the way, those seething red eyes that Celestine's shining white ones had gazed into, reflect back nothing but unnatural life. Even as a fanged maw is opened, and a hush like whispers in a dusty tomb spills forth, alongside more repeated words.

    "Rotten flesh... And bone..." Then Doppelganger begins laughing. A high-pitched, insane peal of laughter that keeps going on and on and on.

    As if facing someone who has stolen one's form isn't creepy enough...!

Celestine (816) has posed:
"What the...!" Celestine yelps out as she hears the sudden crazed laugh and it's enough to throw her off her game as well. The blaster shots singe her scales and she screeches out in pain from the shots the impact her body.

But when the Doopelganger gets in close, the other Draco-Raptor races to meet her with her claws extended, just ditching the blaster entirely. With a draconic raptor roar, Celestine goes to grab for the blaster arm, before using her other arm to shove under the jaw-line. If successful, her maw opens up and she goes to bite down on the shoulder area of the other one. Her razor sharp fangs trying to draw out blood; Which may not be a smart idea to perform on a magical construct!

Walter Bernhard (726) has posed:
    Celestine chomps down on Doppelganger... And what gushes out into her mouth from the injured shoulder is... Exactly what it smells like. Powdered bones and rotten blood. It tastes awful. Still laughing despite her gruesome injury, Doppelganger turns its blaster back into halved staves, and tries to jam them into Celestines ribs on both sides simultaneously.

    As the construct bleeds and attacks back as savagely as she was herself, the mimic-Celestine's voice shifts in tone, the laughter becoming distorted, deeper, slow, like someone applied a pitch shift to it. It may have seemed to just be a copy all this time, repeating select phrases... And perhaps it is. But ultimately it is a thing made with what is probably foul magic, and someone who would make such a thing might have include dark touches to unnerve and disrupt the original copy. Small differences that, when taken together, form a sort of 'Uncanny Valley' effect.

    It's not just that Doppelganger looks mostly like Celestine, or fights similarly to her, or has similar weapons... It's all the small elements that are NOT her that makes it even more terrifying. Like looking in a mirror and seeing something awful in place of one's reflection, and yet close enough to know that it's SUPPOSED to be you... Just... NOT.

    The laughter continues unabated.

Celestine (816) has posed:
The staves slam into Celestine ribs and the Draco-Raptor coughs out air, her body is strong, but so is her opponent. It was her own strength being used against her and she can feel the jabbing pain going up her body. Yet, the soldier would not surrender and Celestine refuses to even now. She does something even perhaps more horrible as she spits out the blood she got a taste of.

Her hands reach up and her claws go to slam into the side of the other clone, before she goes to reach up with her foot against the chest and shove off with her foot if she gets a good hold, flipping with the kick to combine her tail in the mix like a bludgeon to smack her directly under the chin.

Walter Bernhard (726) has posed:
    Doppelganger is subjected to a barrage of attacks that has her staggering and toppling, one blow being so strong she actually is moved out of the path of another, but her laughter isn't cut off until her lower jaw is slammed upwards into her upper, teeth going flying admist splashes of glowing red and wisps of shadowy mist. Whether this... THING can feel pain or not is unclear. But it can fight with the same savagery and ferocity as Celestine can!

    as it recriprocates with a tail whip aimed at Celestine's side, followed by leaping up into the air with a kick aimed at her face, followed by another two swift kicks as the mimic attempts to push off with each blow to remain in the air, before landing and then leaping with her staff extended... Intending to impale the raptor-dragon hybrid... And then channel the blaster fire through the staff while only transforming the part of the staff being gripped into a blaster... Sending a searing blast down the weapon's length!

    However, despite the methods being used, it intentionally avoids vital organs in its impaling attempt. Because this is a tournament, not a death battle.

    How considerate.

Celestine (816) has posed:
Celestine attempts to break away as the Doppelganger retaliates and while able to block some of the attacks, she can not block them all and the worst part is? She does get knocked down on the ground and watches as her own weapon does something she can't /even/ do with hers! The staff slams down against her hardened scales getting past the hard layer and the blast shatters the top scales and burns the soft tissue under it.

The created warrior screams in pain as the impact tears into her flesh layer and burns down just slightly, but in total defiance, she takes hold of the pole. Her hands gripping tightly and she goes to push up against it. "I won't be..." She hisses out, "... Defeated by a..." She keeps pushing upward on the staff, "CLONE!" Celestine then roars out as she goes to shove the Doppelganger off balance.

Defying the pain, she flips up her feet and then spin her body around to slap the reflection with her tail to further set the creature off balance. Then, with a shove off of her foot, she comes down with her fist and goes to slam it brutally into the upper side of the clone.

Walter Bernhard (726) has posed:
    Doppelganger staggers backwards from the tail strike after all the weight she was puting on the staff is displaced. Then she gets punched so hard she is knocked off her feet, hits the ground, and BOUNCES off, with cracks spreading across her chest and scales flying everywhere, to reveal softer tissue underneath that squirts forth more foul, coagulated blood. It takes a moment for the Doppelganger to get back up... Is that a sign it's being worn down, possibly? Is this mimic finally reaching her limit? No indication of feeling pain so far, but it's clear that Doppelganger can be injured. And now this slowness to get back on her feet... But back on her feet she eventually gets!

    Injured just as extensively as Celestine, the magical clone still seems to have the energy to continue exerting itself in this final push to secure victory. She throws herself into battle, spinning her staff before her, and then lashes out under Celestine's jaw, before following this up by thrusting right backdownwards towards the original Celestine's throat, with enough force to crush the windpipe of a lesser creature!

    But Celestine is not a lesser creature. She will likely fare significantly better... Even if being exposed to her own considerable strength!

Celestine (816) has posed:
The mirror image of Celestine takes time to get back up and that was fine by the already tired Raptor Dragon. She wasn't doing so well either, but she wasn't going to just fall down in pain... Not yet anyways. She'll wait till she is back in her room and then just collapse in pain. Her tail twitches as she watches the other get back up before she roars at her, "GET UP!"

Those eyes continue to glow brightly, "COME ON! I Want to see you bleed more!" Perhaps it was her primal nature talking now or the fact she was trying to shake off her own exhaustion with taunting yells, but she does get what she wants-- just not the way she wants it!

The clone silences Celestine with a hard 'crack' under the jaw line, before the lizard woman is impacts down and her throat /smashed/ in slightly. Celestine gags at this and actually coughs out blood, before it was not her end, just a very brutal impact that probably did some damage on the inside. Thankfully--- Celestine can go a long time without needing to take a breath of air and more thankfully, it wouldn't kill her.

She does lay there for a moment, waiting for the Doppelganger to think it /could/ be over, before she rolls to her back and rears up her feet and then push kicks off. Her claws going to slam down on her shoulders, to slam the clone down on the ground where she pounces on her and with her hand claws goes to /shred/ at the face, while letting out a primal scream in defiance; Even if it sounds very stressed out thanks to the earlier impact to the throat.

Walter Bernhard (726) has posed:
    In her state of primal rage, when Celestine hops up and brings her claws down aimed at shoulders, and starts clawing at a face that isn't there, she might not immediately realize that her claws came down on a staff held between two feet, and the appendage she is going after is Doppelganger's tail, which keeps swaying and moving aside as much as it can, even if it's getting pretty turned into a bloody mess by the brutal assault!

    Yes, Celestine is a clever fighter, and also capable of powerful physical attacks... But as she gives in to anger and instinct... The mimic that does not share her personality, memories, or knowledge keeps her head and continues to fight with the cleverness that has been thrown aside in favor of devastating blows. And so Doppelganger went onto her hands, is holding her staff with her feat, and is sacrificing her tail in order to try to grab Celestine by the ankles in her upside-down position, and tries to yank them out from under the genuine article... And then do to Celestine what she just tried to do to Doppelganger. A furious clawing assault, filled with blood.

Celestine (816) has posed:
Celestine finds herself caught in an unexpected problem and realized too late that /she/ is the one who had been played. With a yelp of surprise and finding herself on the ground, all she can really do is try to protect herself the best she can as the claws shred away at her.

By the time it is over, the scaled genetically created warrior lays on the ground, scratched up, clawed up, and battered from the brutal onslaught. She'll need time to recover, that is for sure!

Walter Bernhard (726) has posed:
    Perhaps a bit bloodier and dirtier than one would expect in a tournament like this, but... At the end of the day, both competitors are alive and will suffer no permanent injury. That's... About the best one can ask for with fighters like these. The referee returns, with his pet bear koala-ing onto his neck and looking thoroughly spooked by that battle. Then the dinosaur snorts and raises a hand as he says, "Winner of this match... Doppelganger! Medics to the field, please!"

    Doppelganger is already returning to a blob of shadow that is absorbed back into a magic circle on the ground by the time medical aid arrives. Where it's going, no one knows but its master.