3035/WMAT B2 Target Sparktail vs Bardock

WMAT B2 Target Sparktail vs Bardock
Date of Scene:	16 September 2015
Location:	WMAT Arena - Diablo Desert
Synopsis:	It's BARDOCK versus TARGET SPARKTAIL in the next round of the WMAT!
Cast of Characters:	770, 795
Tinyplot:	WMAT 2015

---

Bardock (795) has posed:
    Third fight in this desert. One win, one loss. Another loss will mean he's out of the tournament for the second time. He can't see the future right now. No flashes of precognitive visions have come to him, nothing to warn him of what's going to happen in this tournament. He's out of the loop. And that's okay with him. He prefers it. For a lot of reasons, actually, including that visions are unclear, disjointed things, and they hurt like hell. The natural rock formations have seen quite a beating in all the matches here so far, some of which Bardock himself has been responsible for. The ground, likewise, is probably a bit messed up. But maybe the tournament organizers have people who come by and fix it when it's all over.

    Like that... Dirtbender girl or whatever. He doesn't know. Maybe no one cares.

    Again, he knows just about nothing about his opponent. But there's an audience in the stands, and unlike the previous two matches here for Bardock, it's actually later in the day, and thus relatively cooler. Stars are beginning to be visible in the purple and blue sky, as the sun sets on the horizon, creating a radiant display of colors that can not be reproduced on canvas. Red and gold and orange and colors with no name. The saiyan, for his part, is looking at this, not thinking about the match for the moment. He's wearing his typical armor, and hasn't transformed yet. He's saving that until the match is ready to begin. For now...

    He just wants to look at things from a non-fighter's perspective for once. That social event with Duke and Alexis, even if he'd been groggy for almost all of it, had been a nice change. He lived the life of a warrior. He didn't really... 'Hang out'. But it had been pleasant to just relax with others. To eat too, of course, but to not worry about training and fighting for at least one day.

    He feels renewed and introspective as he heads into his fifth match in the tournament. He has learned from every opponent so far. What will he learn from Target Sparktail?

Target Sparktail (770) has posed:
    Once again, the World Martial Arts Tournament has come to the Diablo Desert! Today, it's Man (Saiyan) vs lizard, (Kobold) and the stands are packed for the round of 16! While Bardock may be considering his previous opponents, Target has a much different mindset. He's here to represent both Brimsteel and the Vex Rangers as well as to put on a show for the people! As he arrives, he's just twirling his pistols as a nice little dispaly for the public before holstering them and waving to the crowd, then Bardock. "Lets put on a show!"

Bardock (795) has posed:
    Bardock's attention turns to his opponent, unfamiliar with the wardrobe style or species. He grins a bit when he's addressed, those angled eyebrows of his always making him seem fierce or serious, even when he's relaxed. "A show, huh? I guess I can give that." Then he concentrates, gathering his Ki, letting it fill his body until it activates the physiological and genetic aspects that, when combined with the right emotional state, let him transcend a normal saiyan's power, and become something more.

    The air blows outwards from him, like he's the focal point of a wind storm. The dust whips up and around him, as his black hair rises up and shifts to gold. Rigid spikes form, as his eyes then flicker and change to blue-green. A flowing yellow aura begins to surround him. In short order, Bardock has transformed into a Super Saiyan. The fanfare surrounding the transformation is somewhat less than in the past, as he gets used to it. It requires less and less time and effort, and with less effort, that also means more energy to spare.

    He settles down into his fighting stance, which is less of a trained martial arts stance than one he has developed through countless life-or-death battles against powerful opponents. A natural positioning of the body that leaves him free to move either for offense or defense at a moment's notice. There's no 'style' associated with it, just 'whatever works'.

    His tail is wrapped about his waist, out of the way of any dirty little tail grabbers. He's ready as he's going to be.

Target Sparktail (770) has posed:
Thankfully, Target has -no clue- about how saiyans and their tails work. Bardock shouldn't have to worry about his tail suddenly being grabbed unless its conveniently in reach to prevent an escape! Seeing as Bardock has transformed? Probably won't happen. This will go one way or another.

    "NICE! That was pretty impressive! I'm thinkin' that does a lot more for ya then jes changin yer hair color," Target remarks as he takes a stance. "Lets get to it then!" he calls before charging forward. He starts out with a good ol' fashined uppercut. Considering he's kobold, it's probably a better thing to do then a straight punch.

Bardock (795) has posed:
    "It does, yeah," Bardock replies, though he doesn't elaborate on WHAT exactly it does. When his opponent rushes in and uppercuts him in the jaw, he certainly feels it! With his mouth throbbing, he retaliates by leaning back on one foot and sweeping his other leg out in a kick aimed at Target's side, intending to knock him away! Golden Ki and sparks of electricity fly in the wake of the limb's movement either way! Just as Target isn't familiar with saiyan weaknesses, Bardock knows nothing about his opponent's species or any potential weaknesses. He has faced short opponents before though. So he has SOME strategies in mind... He just needs to know what Target's capable of before implimenting any of them.

Target Sparktail (770) has posed:
    BOOT. Well, maybe a sweep, but either way the kick connects with the kobold's side, sending him skidding away, stumbling a few steps after the momentum lessens. "Ah, good one!" the ranger calls as he produces one of his sidearms, "But I prefer the ranged approach!" Truth be told, Target is hoping bullets have a good effect. He's heard rumors of the fighters still in the WMAT being able to deal with them better than previous opponents. Welp. Time to test the waters. "Would ya kindly not move? It'd be great!" and then he shoots. Twice!

Bardock (795) has posed:
    Bardock takes the first shot to his chest armor, but the second one manages to catch him in the arm. At least the one that would have hit center mass he managed to get away with just having a dent put in his armor. It still stung, of course, but not as much as it would have if it had landed on flesh, and not as much as the injury on his bicep. Bardock raises both hands and points his palms at Target as he says, "Ranged is fine too." Then he releases a pair of golden beams of Ki from his hands that converge on Target's location, detonating when they slam into each other. Possibly with Target right in the middle, if he's not able to evade in time!

    Bardock did, indeed, stand still as requested. But it's unlikely his opponent is going to do the same. Hand to hand combat and weaponry are all he has seen so far... But Bardock can't assume that's everything. He has been repeatedly surprised by his opponents in the tournament.

Target Sparktail (770) has posed:
    He'd be right! The kobold blinks at the blasts coming his way, winces, and tries to dive to his side to move out of the way. He's partly successful, the blast of them both throwing him as he dives, causing him to land a little awkwardly on his side. When he gets up he's actually smiling. He dusts off that trench coat of his, glances toward Bardock, "Good, good! I wouldn't want any'a this to be borin!"

    Without another word, the kobold surges forward again, revoler replaced with a pump-action shotgun! Pretty normal weapon, right? Still, he's a ranger, he knows how to use the thing pretty well! Maybe once it's all done, Bardock could say he was doing great until he took a shotgun shell to the knee.

Bardock (795) has posed:
    The Super Saiyan blurs out of sight when Target fires a shotgun, the slugs seeming to pass right through him moments before he reappears behind his opponent. "...But I'm also fine with fighting at close range," he says right as he tries to drive a fist into the kobold's back. Oh snap! This is a fast one! But maybe Target has fast reaction time and high speed as well! Or some other trick up his sleeve! That's the whole reason why Bardock is testing the waters first instead of throwing out the big stuff right off the bat. Also, he's here to have fun, to learn, and to 'put on a show', as his opponent requested.

    Winning isn't the objective.

Target Sparktail (770) has posed:
    The objective is to put on a show for the fans! At least, that's what Target's goal was. When Bardock leaves an image behind, slugs passing through it, Target's first instinct is to dive forward. Good instinct! He barely feels the fist against his back! It throws him a little further than he would have liked, but at least he avoided being hit even harder. Given a moment, he'd spin around, kneel, and throw a fist full of sand in Bardock's direction! Regardless of if the distraction works, the kobold then charges forward, leaping, throwing all his weight into the man's midsection! Time for a gutcheck, Bardock. Literally!

Bardock (795) has posed:
    Throwing sand!? What a dirty move! Bardock attempts to blow it back the way it came with his aura alone, but that doesn't prevent him from being slammed in the gut! His armor offers some protecting, but he's still going to feel that in his belly when this is over! "Oof!" he lets out, and then tries to grab Target to keep him from escaping after that attack, and then fly up into the air with him in a blaze of golden Ki... And come back down, attempting to pile-drive him into the desert floor!

    "You're a fast one! But are you a tough one too?" Bardock asks afterwards. Maybe he failed to grab his opponent completely, or some clever maneuver disrupted the attack mid-completion. But either way, he attempts to go somersaulting away from the would-be impact point afterwards, to get room to observe. He knows Target has ranged, so moving away isn't necessarily going to benefit him. But maybe it will somehow regardless.

Target Sparktail (770) has posed:
    No such interruption is made and the Kobold is driven headfirst into the ground! After the impact he sort of collapses into a heap. He doesn't move for about.. a second, then starts to push up off the ground. "You sure know how to treat a fella," he grouses, looking over at Bardock. This saiyan was being problematic! What's a ranger to do? Get tricky! A quick reload of one revolver, a trigger pulled, and a bullet goes sailing across the space between them... only to erupt in a bright flash just short of Target's opponent! With the light hopefully distracting him, Target switches revolvers and empties all five shots out of it!

Bardock (795) has posed:
    Bardock squints against the glare, but part of his transformation is that he's better able to handle all kinds of punishment, including bright light. Even so, while not fully blinded, the distraction is enough. At least three bullets slam into him as he stands there, glowing gold and letting his opponent keep attacking without trying to prevent it. Not the smartest move, but again: Show. And he wants to feel for himself what he's up against, not just avoid everything.

    If he even could! Target is full of surprises, just as the saiyan was expecting (and hoping). Though the central three strike him painfully, going right through his armor and leaving wounds underneath, the other two thunk into undamaged sections.

    "Those weapons of yours sure do sting," Bardock replies as he flies up into the air, and starts raining down a barrage of small Ki blasts from his fingertips at the kobold, bombarding the area below. The explosions they produce are small, enough to disrupt the dust if they fail to hit their mark, and leave golf-ball-sized holes in the ground. But they'd also leave those holes in the bodies of weaker opponents as well.

    How will Target fare?

Target Sparktail (770) has posed:
    Flying?! "Aw c'mon now don't go startin to be cheap from up there!" Target protests, despite his earlier sand fling. He'd say more, but he has a hail of ki blasts to deal with. After deciding dodging is better than protesting, the kobold starts to scramble. The first blast catches him square in the back as he dashes about, but the rest only barely clip him, one in the side and one in the shoulder. "I know ya kin do better'n that!" he calls, reloading his revolvers as he yells. After reloading, he skids, turns, and lets all the bullets sail! ALL OF THEM! It's entirely possible that they may be a bit to hot to handle cause upon impact they'll burn into whatever they struck! Incindeary rounds? In bullets?! Well if you get to see a Pulsarium Round later, it'll be clear that the Brimsteel Rangers have been experimenting lately.

Bardock (795) has posed:
    Bardock frowns and yells back, "You can attack me just fine from down there, can't you!? You're not like that Ysabel who fought mostly with a sword!" But any further retorts have to be stalled as he flies out of the path of the flaming bulletsm leaving a trail of yellow Ki in his wake as he charges Ki into one hand and then hurls a single electrical-looking sphere down at the ranger. It erupts into a miniature lightning storm (of Ki, not actual lightning) when it hits the ground, whether Target is in range of it or not.

Target Sparktail (770) has posed:
Frown. A glare is given both revolvers, "I need to get you both recalibrated," he mutters before he remembers that, you know, there's an opponent that needs to be dealth with. The sudden electricl storm that Bardock sends down has a nice juicy target seeing as that coat of Target's has a whole lot of clockwork in it that, normally, would be helping him with his melee blows. As this has gone into a ranged fight, though, it's not really much help right now! Electricuted, but not down, the kobold fumbles with another reloader for a moment before taking a moment to _AIM_ before firing again. Fiery rounds again? No. These ones hit like a train! High velocity, probably!

Bardock (795) has posed:
    This time, the shot hits, and it hits hard. It destroys a large chunk of Bardock's chest armor, leaving his skin reddened and blood starting to leak from the surface of his skin. He already has a couple bruises from the previous rounds, but this one spread the damage across the entire front of his torso. It burns like hell, and Bardock can't breathe for a moment. His armor always seems to get trashed in these matches. If not for the protection it affords in the early stages, he wouldn't even bother wearing it.

    "Ow, ow, ow," he mutters even as he flies even higher into the air, and draws his hands back at his side. It's time to try something. This technique is heavily draining for him, but he's been practicing it inbetween matches. Maybe he has enough control now to only put in the amount he needs, to regulate the flow of Ki better... Instead of having to dump everything he has into it, because he knows he'll be in no condition to fight afterwards either way.

    The fight against Peridot and her Gem ship helped to show that to him. If he always saves it for the end, it might not make the difference it needs to before then. A blue sphere forms between Bardock's palms, as he begins the chant. "Kaaameee..." The sphere grows in brightness. "Haaaameee..." Control the flow. CONTROL IT. Then he thrusts both palms forward and fires a thick, solid beam of blue-white Ki down at the ranger, with a sphere of concentrated power at the end of it.

    "HAAAA!"

Target Sparktail (770) has posed:
"What? Kame What no- Ooooooh that's not good-" Explosion! Target was clearly not sure what was about to come his way so when the massive blast of energy rushes down toward him and the desert all around, he figures that there's no real getting away from this one, not with how explosive Bardock's other attacks were. When the blast hits home, the explosion throws sand everywhere. The wind blows dunes down and raises new ones. Smoke, dust, and the suspense of the crowd can be seen and heard all around. Was Target done this time? Was he out? A sillouete in the dust is the answer, and it was no!

    "Alright, that REALLY SMARTED!" Target calls up, a fair bit of his coat blasted away, a lot of clockw work bent, melted, or broken, could be seen along the torn edges, "But..." he continues, sucking in a breath that betrayed how sore he was getting, "I ain't done witchya yet, Bardock!" His revoler is put away, the shotgun is brought back out, the kobold ejecting the shells and replacing them with a single bright green shell. "Try this one on fer size!" When the shell is fired, the slug races for it's target glowing the same color as it's casing. When it bursts, its highly acidic! It's possible Target was trying to clear out any remaining armor to prepare for a better shell later.

Bardock (795) has posed:
    That was still draining, but not as much as emptying his Ki reserves. The fact he's able to use the technique at a reduced level now shows improvement. More than he had hoped for. But he's still tired somewhat after using it, and with not having mastered the Super Saiyan transformation yet, that could spell trouble. Trouble in the form of OW ACID.

    Bardock's armor is definitely dissolved, but thankfully it doesn't spread further than that (well, his skin too, which is unfortunate and painful, but at least they aren't going to have censor the video feed due to loss of pants). Growling at the continuously-burning substance now scalding him, Bardock dives down towards Target in a streak of yellow light, only to flicker, vanish, reappear to Target's left, then vanish and reappear at his right, then flicker again and reappear directly above him. It's not until he launches a kick aimed down at his opponent's head that the fact he actually ATTACKED during the previous two reappearances may become evident. Blows too fast for normal human eyes to follow.

    But Target is neither normal nor human, and he has already shown the good judgment to MOVE when something weird is happening.

Target Sparktail (770) has posed:
    The warrior comes! The kobold is ready. The images appear at one side, then another, and then above, but when Bardock actually starts his dive, Target is on the move! He did NOT want to be standing still for a series of blows from Bardock, and it appears to pay off! The remnants of his VEX system seem to deflect almost all of the assault except for the first blow. It sets Target spinning, dizzy a moment, but when he finds his stance, it's facing Bardock with that shotgun, "Good fight! Let's not disapoint the fans!" he calls before actioning the weapon. He must have loaded something into the weapon during the fray! What next? An explosive round! From a shotgun shell, though, it's a much bigger boom! Almost too big for just a shotgun shell! Just what are those rangers packing, anyway???

Bardock (795) has posed:
    The explosive round blows up in Bardock's face! He's fast enough to 'outrun the explosion', but he's still right there for part of it, and his eyes are watering and his ears ringing. Blood trickles from his nose. He's off-balance for a moment afterwards, can't even hear his own words, as he says, "You play high-stakes, using an attack like that at close-range. I guess I should too." Sound is starting to come back to him, even if distorted, burns on his cheeks and forehead from the heat adding to the growing amount of pain he is carrying through this battle.

    So he uses that regained sense of balance to go dashing around in a circle, speeding up and speeding up, whipping up a golden whirlwind around Target, until Bardock isn't even visible anymore except as a multitude of after-images all around. And then, unless Target does something to get out of the whirlwind first, or otherwise defends againt the coming attack, Bardock just unleashes blast after blast from every angle, creating an eruption of several dozen explosions of Ki that expand beyond the confines of the dusty whirlwind itself, and engulf the surrounding area as well!

Target Sparktail (770) has posed:
    Round and round he goes, where Bardock stops? Well, Target sure doesn't know. There's just too many of images of the saiyan to keep up with! With so many attacks pouring in, there's no place for Target to go, even with his small stature. After the flurry of attacks goes on, Target eventually drops, considers for a moment just how in over his head he is, and then waves Bardock off, "Enough, fella, enough!" he yells partly with a sigh. "I'm outta my league, someone give me a towel so I kin throw it or somethin!"

Yup. That's that. Bardock Moves on.

Bardock (795) has posed:
    Bardock pauses after his furious assault. Did he go too far? Target's still standing, still intact, still able to talk. Out of all the foes he has faced so far in the tournament, the one who made the heaviest use of unexpected technology and weaponry has to be Target Sparktail. Others had their own special methods, their own surprising maneuvers, but Bardock never knew even once what to expect from his opponent. He didn't know what he was going to be hit with or what he'd have to try to avoid. And some of those failures to avoid were still dealing damage to him even now. That acid for instance! Ouch!

    "If you're sure..." the Super Saiyan says, his heart still racing from the thrill of battle. Then he lands down near Target, and says, "That was a great fight. I never knew weapons that look so simple could be that effective, or hurt that bad. Swords, sure. But I'm used to only powerless jerks using guns. You're not powerless. Your guns are incredible. And you ain't no jerk." He grins, and offers a hand NOT covered in acid. "And I'd be glad to fight you again sometime."

    And he'd be glad to see a doctor shortly too.

    Probably both of them need to.

Target Sparktail (770) has posed:
    "Well I thank ya fer that, Bardock. I'm sure the people around here enjoyed the fight," he turns to the crowd, "Ain't that right?!" Fanfare! And while Target may not be tall enough to hoist it all the way, he still lifts the man's wrist and points at him with the other hand, "Now start cheerin' for the bracket champ, soon to be!" More fan fare.