WMAT C2 Cameron vs. Dark Matter

WMAT C2 Cameron vs. Dark Matter
Date of Scene:	13 July 2014
Location:	WMAT Arena - Yunzabit Heights
Synopsis:	A recording of the WMAT fight between Dark Matter and John Conner. John won!
Cast of Characters:	24, 251
Tinyplot:	WMAT 2014

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Dark Matter (251) has posed:
There are no crowds. No spectators, and no announcer. A definite departure from the last fight Dark Matter participated in. As the cold wind whips about, the supervillain drifts through the sky to settle atop one of the many lonely rocky heights.

Forgoing the fireworks and the flashy entrance, he settles there. He -is- wearing his luchador mask, a thing of black spandex, leather, silver thread and sparkling stones. And despite the cold, despite the wind and despite the solitude, Dark Matter is grinning hugely under that mask.

John Connor (24) has posed:
Cameron stands alone on the high ground. It doesn't bother her. The cold wind only registers as a set of numbers in her CPU. The dark sky isn't an impediment to her sensors, which automatically adjust for the low-light visibility. To all outsiders, Cameron just looks like a teenage girl in dark leathers, one who has seemingly become lost amongst some of the ruins. Except, in one hand, she holds a matte black combat shotgun.

Elsewhere, John, Sarah and Derek watch the coverage with a range of emotions from clinical curiosity to barely concealed worry.

Dark Matter (251) has posed:
Having watched the earlier breakdown of her last fight, Dark Matter isn't entirely buying this 'teenage girl' part. His gazes flicks to the shotgun and his grin grows even wider. The ground beneath his feet starts to crack before he sinks a half inch into the soil, his increasingly dense mass compacting the earth.

"Alright! Cameras are rolling! Let's DO THIS!"

John Connor (24) has posed:
Cameron watches Dark Matter sink into the ground. Her head tilts like a curious bird. She racks the slide on the shotgun - one that has been chambered with non-lethal rounds - and levels it a Dark Matter with one smooth motion. She squeezes the trigger immediately but, at this range, it's unlikely to have any significant effect!

Dark Matter (251) has posed:
That's the funny thing about shotguns. You go for no significant effect at long range, and then someone gets non-lethal rubber beads to the eye. It doesn't exactly -hurt- the superdense villain, but still staggers him slightly, the ground shattering under his footfall.

"Haha! No messing about, I like it!"

Rather than completely destroying the arena this time, the supervillain spreads his hands out to either side - and in match with the gesture, his feet leave the earth, leaving him hovering about a foot off the ground. With another laugh, he points at Cameron and a shimmer of distorted gravity lashes out in a bolt of force.

John Connor (24) has posed:
Cameron doesn't feel fear or concern as a person might, but she does put all this data she's getting from Dark Matter's actions into a set of calculations. The ground shattering beneath his feet? That is something to watch for. "No," Cameron says, racking the slide with a distinct 'ker-chak', "No messing about."

And, as she lowers her shotgun to fire again, something impacts her side. The world in Cameron's HUD shifts around and she's suddenly spun around. No damage registers on her HUD but, still, whatever it is Dark Matter just did is another thing to add to the database! She takes a step to try and center herself, and get closer to her target, and she fires again.

Dark Matter (251) has posed:
This time the shot is better aimed and catches Dark Matter full in the chest. While nothing penetrates, and he doesn't even rock back, under his skin there are more bruises and damage. He winces slightly, shaking his head.

"Ow. Damn, woman. I don't know what it is you loaded that with, but that fucking -stings-." Still laughing, his grin even widers, he continues. "Guess I need to step up my game."

Now, instead of just hanging in the sky he begins to move - and not in a clearly predictable pattern. Despite his erratic movements, the man himself remains essentially standing in the air, unperturbed by the sudden shifts in direct. As he sweeps along, spent shotgun ammo, fragments of rock and loose stones begin to orbit around him - right up until he levels a hand in Cameron's direction. This time the stronger gravitic pulse carries all of that debris with it.

John Connor (24) has posed:
She isn't one to talk it seems, this woman with the shotgun. The fact that her opponent has taken to the air and begun moving in erratic directions is a problem - but not for long, because soon she'll be able to predict him and-

There's the muted sound of stone impacting something that sounds suspiciously like metal and Cameron's head is whipped to the side by the impact. A few more stones and shotgun casings and bits and pieces begin to batter her, cutting into exposed flesh and thick leather. Her head snaps back to look up at Dark Matter, with a perculiar telltale glint of chrome beneath one of the larger wounds.

Cameron pulls back. She doesn't have the advantage here. She makes for one of the ruined structures, and slips inside. He'll have to come to her.

Probably.

Dark Matter (251) has posed:
"Well, this is different from the last fight. Fine, we can play that way," is muttered by Dark Matter to himself - and probably to the watching cameras. His opposition is playing it smart, so it's time to stop showboating, and get serious. A gesture tosses the remaining debris to the far side of the building she's taken cover in, primarily as a distraction.

Even as he does that, he moves next to the wall she vanished behind and inspects it carefully. Nodding once to himself, he grins widely once more. Placing his hands against the wall, he focuses - and gravity inside the building goes sideways. The wall Dark Matter stands against becomes 'down' - and he carefully listens for the sound of an impact.

John Connor (24) has posed:
Terminators don't have sensors to detect gravity. It's one of those things that, being designed for terrestrial combat, is just assumed. Gravity is down. Down is towards the core of the planet. It is simple, logical.

And this is why Cameron has only the briefest second of what is, perhaps, the most genuine confusion she'll ever have. There is, in moments, the heavy sound of an impact on the wall that Dark Matter has set his hands upon - that's probably a body.

In another moment, there's the booming report and heavy ker-chak of shotgun fire bursting through the walls, sending up clouds of dust and debris. Is she firing blind, or can she see somehow him through the building?

Dark Matter (251) has posed:
Oh, right. This one is armed with a -damnably- effective shotgun. While the wall and his inherent density shrug off most of the damage, fragments of sharp stone and hot metal pepper Dark Matter, ripping fabric and resulting in shallow cuts that ooze something that's sort of like blood.

Still, the one thing about blasting away with a shotgun like that? It gives away your position. The ground beneath him crazes as it shatters under the villain's feet as his skin seems to go so dark a grey as to almost be black. This level of density can't be maintained for long - he can't breathe like this. But giving that he now masses a kiloton, slamming through the wall with a shoulderslam is much like ripping through a paper wall. Only with a lot more falling debris.

Staggering back he pauses to catch his breath, panting as the wall collapses inwards.

John Connor (24) has posed:
The wall suddenly implodes. It seems that every thirty seconds, Cameron's needing to reassess and reevaluate her strategies. It doesn't override her primary directive, however: win. There is, of course, a set of secondary commands that John had drilled into her. She can't win through lethal or overly-violent methods.

The stone wall collapses upon her. For a human, it might be debilitating or fatal. For a Terminator, it is inconvenient. A few servo-motors appear to have been jarred, but it is nothing that she affect her too badly. Not yet, anyways.

Forcing herself out of the rubble, covered in dust and bruises, Cameron picks up a particularly large stone - and chucks it like a baseball with much of her strength, aiming for her opponent's chest!

She'll only be a few seconds behind it, too, moving to engage in melee!

Dark Matter (251) has posed:
As the stone flies at his head, Dark Matter sweeps an arm up in time to swat it away - taking another gash on his forarm, but far less damage than if that had hit him in the chest.

"You're holding back! Come on - no more playing around, or hadn't you noticed -I CAN TAKE IT!-"

Stepping in as she closes on him, he tries to maintain just enough distance to keep the advantage in reach. Twisting, he tries to drive a gravity accelerated high mass/density punch right into her solar plexus.

John Connor (24) has posed:
She might not have a solar plexus as most would understand it, but down there in her chest chassis is where she has a lot of her vital components. The blow jars Cameron for a moment, sending random data through her memory banks, but that's all. The blow would have winded or disabled anyone else - but Cameron has nothing to wind and can't really be disabled short of total deactivation. There might be a dent there - she'll have to check later. It's like hitting a steel plate, complete with that strange, telltale sound again.

For a moment, she stands there, Dark Matter's fist just beneath her sternum. And then, with the quickness of a desert viper, Cameron snares Dark Matter by that outstretched wrist! Her grip is like a vice and, she goes to piston /her/ fist into /his/ solar plexus.

"We'll see," Cameron remarks.

Dark Matter (251) has posed:
While Dark Matter -does- have a solar plexus, punching him is a bit like punching solid iron. His eyes widen at the vise like grip on his wrist, and he coughs, a bit of blackish grey blood escaping before his wide white grin returns.

"Have to admit. First time fighting a machine entity. So I have -no idea- what this is going to do to you."

And with his own shocking turn of speed twists his hand about in her grip to hold onto -her- wrist. He half crouches, dropping his balance lower to pull her off of hers... and then gravity around him goes from a predictable G to 15 Gs in a matter of seconds. And the -instant- it does, he twists and goes for a jiujisu throw across his hip.

John Connor (24) has posed:
Cameron's head tilts again when Dark Matter spits up that bit of black-grey blood. Oh, she seems to be thinking, You're really not human. There's a brief look of what must be surprise on her face as he so quickly twists out of the hold she has on him and her reflexes abruptly seem sluggish and her chassis seems heavier. By now, she knows he has some sort of weird ability up his sleeve but she still isn't sure of the specifics!

She hits the ground hard, throwing up a cloud of dust. Down on the ground, Cameron raises one leg and goes to - as it turns out - try to kick one of his kneecaps out of alignment in a blow that is as painful as it is efficient, trying to get some space to rise. Being on the ground is practically a death sentence.

"I know what that should do to you," she replies, voice neutral, words clipped and precise.

Dark Matter (251) has posed:
Showing that he's no stranger to this sort of close in brutal combat, Dark Matter twists his leg just enough so the kick hits him in the thigh instead of the kneecap. It'll leave a bruise, but better than than a blown out kneecap. Still, the kick shoves him back and breaks the momentum of his attack.

"Yeah? What's that? Also, where do you keep your brain? Because I -really- don't want to accidentally smash it."

Even as he maintains the banter he kicks off from the ground, rising into the air again. Now that she knows that something's going on, it might be a bit more obvious as ripples in space seem to crawl up his arms to gather around his hands. It almost looks like shadows as it the conflicting gravitic gradients shatter and shred the dust in the air.

And then he levels his hands at her, blasting the Terminator with a much stronger blast of gravitic energy, one strong enough to shatter concrete and rebar structures.

John Connor (24) has posed:
Cameron has just gotten to her feet and settled into a loose stance when Dark has taken to the air. She doesn't seem to want to let him get away and, so, she closes the gap.

She walks right into the gravity blast. The force of it is dangerous - even to her, as prolonged exposure to that level of power could begin to warp even her hyperalloy combat chassis. But she has no other choice and so, Cameron continues, step by slow, implacable step. Under that pressure, her infiltration layer, the disguise that conceals the monster, begins to fray and rip and tear...

When she grabs Dark Matter's leg, and hurls him back to the ground, there's clear signs of chrome metal gleaming at him through the gashes in her skin. There's no sign of painful flinching or eyes watering. Perhaps she doesn't feel anything like that.

Dark Matter (251) has posed:
And down he goes again - slamming into the ground with more force than might be expected, shattering rock as cracks craze out from around him. His breath escapes in a gust before he twists his leg out of her grip and rolls free.

Getting a good look at her, the metal showing through the disguise, he grins again. At this point, the only piece of clothing he has that isn't showing tears is the mask - it's probably not the spandex it seems to be. More of that reddish black blood oozes from cuts and scrapes here and there, and he's definitely battered and bruised.

"I really shouldn't play your game. So."

Getting to his feet, he folds his arms and fixes his gaze on Cameron. And gravity for her reverses. And lest she try to grab anything, there's another one of those shattering pulses - not aimed at her, but at whatever she grabs. If he can get her into the sky, the next step will be a Twenty G's of acceleration smack into the side of one of the outcroppings.

John Connor (24) has posed:
Cameron is quick and so, the moment she thinks he's going to pull that trick of his again, she goes to grab him and, in so doing, take him with her. The pulse stops that, jarring her grip loose from him, and launches her into the air. Everything is whirling as she becomes aware of the incredible speeds she's travelling at.

In the end, Cameron catches one of those outcroppings with her face. It stops her flight, pitches her legs over head, and sends her into the dirt. The battlefield is silent and Cameron, it seems, does not rise.

Somewhere, watching, Sarah closes her eyes. Derek lets out a little grunt. And John murmurs 'no, no, no...'

And then she moves, hands pushing her up, and she gets her feet under her. Cameron turns to face Dark Matter and half of her pleasant visage is gone, ripped away from scalp to chin by the impact. Like a death's head, half of Cameron's face leers at Dark Matter like a chrome skull, red optic burning with bright malevolence. Slowly she walks, like she is getting used to her limbs again, trying to purge waste data that was dumped uncontrollably into her subroutines through the impact, and then she breaks into a run. She's fast and while Cameron knows she can't maintain the speed without damaging her endoskeleton, only a slight burst is enough - because she leaps into the air, one leg extended, looking to plant it in Dark Matter's chest!

Dark Matter (251) has posed:
The foot connects solidly, and despite his increased mass and density Dark Matter is flung back, bouncing at least once with a thunderous impact before he plows through one of the buildings. Clouds of dust burst upwards as the building collapses around him.

There is silence for a few moments... and then the building simply detonates as a dark streak hurtles upwards accelerating at rediculous speeds. It only takes moments before the thundercrack of the sound barrier shattering echos across the desolate arena. And then another as the dark shape - Dark Matter - reverses direction and begins to accellerate again. The G forces involved in the maneuvers he's pulling are rediculously high, but all of it comes down to him, flying at her at nearly Mach 4 - and moments before impact his density ratchets up as high as it goes, turning him into a solid slug massing... it's not even reasonable to measure. Both to protect himself from the ensuing impact, and to add as much kinetic energy as he can.

John Connor (24) has posed:
Cameron lands on her feet in a low crouch, ready to move on Dark Matter once again, but he had been sent flying. The building detonates all of a sudden and, as Dark Matter goes accelerating through the air, Cameron just watches. When he turns towards her, she understands what he's attempting and she goes to move out the way.

It's too little, too late.

He catches her dead centre with a heavy 'clang!' and sends her flying. This time, she hits a cliff face and slumps to the ground, chin on her chest, like a puppet with its strings cut.

Again, silence, although the dust thrown up by the impact obscures any view of her. Cameron knows she's in a bad state and she begins rerouting pathways and internal systems, trying to find the power and strength to get up again.

Somewhere, somehow, she does. Cameron can't give up, it's not in her nature, and she lurches from the dust like the metal-faced harbinger of death. This is something she'll have to explain to John later. Primary objectives override his orders. In one smooth motion, she draws a handgun from her back pocket - a big, heavy, mean looking thing - and levels it at Dark Matter's head.

She squeezes the trigger.

Dark Matter (251) has posed:
The shot is dead on target. The bullet impacts Dark Matter's forehead... and flattens. His head snaps back, giving him a wicked case of whiplash, and he does indeed go down from the hit. Mostly due to kinetic transfer and rolling with the hit as much as possible.

Landing in a heap, he's still for a moment... and then he laughs. Not just a giggle, but a deep booming, if a touch battered and exhausted laugh.

"FINALLY! Hahaha. Took you long enough!"

With a quick flex, the supervillain leaps to his feet. His hands cup around nothing at all, like he's taking a grip on the air - and then he starts flinging them forward, again and again and again as he unleashes a barrage of gravity bolts at the Terminator revealed in front of him.

John Connor (24) has posed:
Cameron advances as Dark Matter laughs. It would've been bad if she had killed him - John would be mad. Each bolt of Dark Matter's strkes home, impacting on her skin, her clothes, her exposed chassis. She jerks here and there under the impacts, but she doesn't stop. They don't stop until they've completed their mission - for better or worse.

Cameron lowers her pistol towards Dark Matter's centre of mass. If it penetrates, she should miss any internal organs - she's very precise like that. In the words of the T-800 before her: he'll live.

Dark Matter (251) has posed:
The bullet slams into him, but again it flattens on him rather than penetrating. Of course, that doesn't mean she doesn't hear the snap of a broken rib, and yeah, he's probably bleeding internally by now. The coughed up bit of blood is pretty indicative of that.

He staggers, catching himself as he grins around the stain from the blood. "You may not be as hot blooded at Godkid was, but damn, you're as hard to take down as -I- am. And that's saying something." Inhaling through his nose, he levels his hands at the Terminator closing on him with the gun. They clench into fists, and he makes a motion as if he was tearing something apart.

And the gravity around her suddenly goes two directions with increasing force as he tries to use one of the fundamental forces of the universe to rip the arm with the gun off.

John Connor (24) has posed:
One wonders if a robot might be jealous. After all, when she gets shot, it means days of sitting at home, waiting for her skin to heal. Dark Matter gets shot and it would be almost impossible to tell. Something breaks inside of him - probably a rip, Cameron estimates, and she continues to advance.

Something seizes her arm. Cameron is tough. She's built to last, built to kill, built to endure on harsh, post-apocalyptic battlefields... and red icons blaze into life on her HUD. She glances to her arm, and while she can't see it beneath the leather jacket, she is aware of the very simple fact that her right arm is being dismembered from her torso. Sensors begin to blink out, one by one, as there's a horrible, tearing, twisting sound of metal beginning to fail in her shoulder. "I..." Cameron says and, despite that, her voice is still absolutely neutral.

All she has to do is get one signal down to her forefinger. Just one.

"...Am..."

Just one. Just one. Reroute it through a secondary pathway. She just needs one second.

"...A very scary robot."

Her arm doesn't come off, but it is out of commission. Just before it goes to hang loosely at her side, Cameron squeezes the trigger.

Dark Matter (251) has posed:
The third bullet slams into Dark Matter - this one actually penetrates - not very deep, but the very fact that it didn't flatten on his skin indicates just how worn down he is. And something in him has had enough. The impact knocks him off his feet, leaving him lying in the dust and shattered earth.

A final strained chuckle escapes him before he passes out. "Scariest robot ever."

*THUMP*

John Connor (24) has posed:
On the cold, desolate plains, surrounded by dust and wreckage, Cameron stands. She makes her way over to Dark Matter, slipping her weapon away, and stands over him. She goes to offer him her left hand, before she realises he's unconscious.

She'll wait for the medical team then. That's being a good sportsman. John said that was important, too.