WMAT C3 Procyana vs. Artorias

WMAT C3 Procyana vs. Artorias
Date of Scene:	23 July 2014
Location:	WMAT Arena - Gizard Wasteland
Synopsis:	WMAT C3 battle between Artorias and Procyana!
Cast of Characters:	37, 39, 182, 353, 365, 396

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Procyana (365) has posed:
As much fun as it was last time to totally screw up Bowser's intentions by sneaking in and sarcastically blindsiding the big lizard, why would she want to pull the same trick twice in a row? This is suppose to be partially for show, after all.

So this time Procyana is already here. Not that it means that she's easy to see (unless you're one of the hovering cameras maybe) as she's perched on the edge of one of the stony spires, waiting for her opponent to arrive. Occasionally a dusty breeze blows through the canyon, ruffling through her hair and her tail briefly, but other than that she's actually pretty good at patiently waiting and not moving.

Don't expect that last part to last long once the actual fight starts.

Artorias (182) has posed:
    Thankfully for Procyana, she doesn't have to wait long. The rattling of heavy, armor-clad footsteps soon begins to echo through the wasteland, the sound growing louder and louder as its armored bearer approaches.

    Artorias has fought several strange opponents so far in the tournament, but they all seem to have had brute force in addition to their smaller size to be a match for him. Now, from what he's aware, his opponent is going to be much more focused on dexterity. He's going to have to push his own agility as hard as he can if he wants to keep up in this third round of the tournament.

    Good thing he moves much faster than anyone his size has any right to.

    Soon enough, Artorias's steps bring him into view as he moves around a towering pillar that manages to dwarf even him. His head lifts, raising his shadowed face up to regard Procyana on her perch, and his hand soon follows in a wave of greeting. "Well met," he greets, his cheerful voice backed by an eerie, ghostly echoing. "Thou art my opponent this day, correct?"

Serori (37) has posed:
    Serori settles into the commentary booth, already snappy and sour. To say she's 'thrilled to be here' would be an unfortunate lie. After her early dismissal from the tournament, she's been grouchy about its continuation, even going so far as to avoid watching additional matches. Now, she's stuck on commentary duty -- a personal favor called in when she least expected it.

    At least the organization pays nicely. And hey, there's food. Lots of it. All of it calorie-intensive and delicious. Between plays, she stuffs her face as much and as quickly as she can. Thank goodness for the mute function.

Serori (37) has posed:
    Serori leans into the mic. "Now entering the arena is the Wolf Knight ARTORIAS! He stands super tall over his opponent, the comparably pint-sized PROCYANA -- that's an advantage of reach if I've ever seen it. Not that Procyana's likely to have trouble, considering her techniques revolve around gunplay and high levels of agility. She's nimble, quick, and a sharpshooter, too, which means Artorias is going to have to count on his high level of endurance if he's going to keep ahead in this game. Procyana doesn't look like she can take much of a hit, but don't let looks fool you -- in previous matches, she's really proven her toughness. We're gettin' ready to begin, and here are my corn dogs now!"

Ciaran (396) has posed:
    Ciaran is on one of the hovering platforms serving as stands, her position guarded by the giant wolf, Sif. She claps her hands together quietly whenever the crowd cheers for Artorias. Whenever Procyana's on the screen, Ciaran watches closely, with no small amount of anxiety. For a raccoon girl, Procyana's dangerous, right? The fight could be hard on Artorias!

Procyana (365) has posed:
Procyana's ears tilt forward slightly as the sound of armored footsteps reach them, eyes squinting slightly to hone in on the direction they're coming from. There he is now. She pushes herself from her crouch to stand, watching as he draws closer to the pillar she's atop. Wow, he's even got the classic Ye Olde English speaking manner. "Yeah, that would be me. Don'r rush, I'll be right down!" The raccoon woman steps back a few paces.

And then makes a running lunge off the edge of the spire, arms up and back in a near perfect swan dive, as if bungee jumping without the cable to hold her back. Or up.

But it's hardly a problem as she nears the ground and tucks into a somersault to reorient herself, and the pulse boosters built into her boots fire to bleed off her speed. Her cybernetics can handle the rest and she lands with little more than a light thwump and the crouching recoil kicking up a bit of dust.

Then she cocks her head back, back, and back some more to look up at the towering form of Artorias. As she stands she grabs a piece of paper from a jacket pocket and opens it up to look at. Then looks up at him again. "Pff, picture they gave me doesn't do you justice." She crumples the sheet and tosses it haphazardly over a shoulder.

Then snaps both of her guns out of their hostlers, twirling them once and then gripping proper as she crouchs slightly again and legs tense to be ready to move, holding one arm across in front of her and the other cocked back near her head. "Let's get this showdown started, yes?"

Artorias (182) has posed:
    Artorias stares as Procyana simply /leaps/ off the pillar she was sitting on down to his level. It's not only a remarkable feat of dexterity, but also a forewarning of the kind of skill he can expect from her. Clearly this woman is anything but inexperienced.

    A good-natured laugh rises from him at her comparison. "Well, 'tis true that certain likenesses art difficult to capture properly," he remarks with a shrug. His hands then go back to take up his greatshield and greatsword, both plenty large enough to serve as weapons for him and far larger than any human. Now properly armed, he bows his head respectfully to Procyana. "Indeed. Let us put on a good show of skill for our gracious audience."

    Artorias's entries thus far have involved using his shield to soften up his opponent. This time, however, Artorias goes for something more direct, if expected: he steps forward with his right leg, rolling that shoulder slightly as he brings that same arm down. His greatsword, naturally, is braced against that shoulder; the moment he moves, it swings down to descend on Procyana in a move that may not have much direct strength behind it, but which the greatsword's sheer size will certainly make up for if it hits.

Laer (353) has posed:
    Laer will turn up, as requested, stepping from a portal that appears near the commentary booth. Notably, a bit behind it, possibly avoiding Serori's immediate attention if she's distracted. But she's not here to help commentate! No, she's here to heckle.

    There may be a question at this point about how this is different from her commentary. This is simple and will reveal itself within moments of Serori's opener, as the elf gives a boo, then yells out: "What kind of commentator eats on the air? And such a low class food as a corn dog?"

    That's right: She's here strictly to heckle Serori.

Jinx (39) has posed:
    And right next to Serori, there's suddenly a spiraling pillar of purple light that violently resolves into Jinx of Zaun! She plops into the announcer's chair, holding two massive trays of fair food from the vendors. "Hey boss! Didn't know what you wanted, soooooooo~" She shoves both in front of Serori, and pulls a 4 foot tall bloody mary off of one tray for herself. It's veggies, that's healthy.

Serori (37) has posed:
    Serori toys with a few naked corn dog sticks as she watches Procyana and Artorias square off. "Procyana takes a swan dive off a high pillar to showcase how falling doesn't mean shit to someone who's got propulsors built into her boots. Then, she draws her guns, and signals her readiness -- looks like Artorias is being given the honor of first strike. And here's Jinx, for your pleasure and mine! It would have been SOMEONE ELSE, but THAT person doesn't follow orders. Saa! Artorias is off! He starts by swinging his greatsword off his shoulder. It's not /much/ of an attack, but that sword's got weight to it..."

    That aforementioned 'someone' arrives, and lets loose the kind of noise which is no doubt a total waste of all that Bardic talent. Serori sits up straighter in the booth, then whips around to try and search Laer out, her glare driving back a few confused locals. "What do you /mean/ 'low class food'?! Corn dogs are the perfect union between meat and vegetable! And batter! And frying! And -- ah! Jinx!"

    Serori makes room for Jinx, and all the food.

Jinx (39) has posed:
    Jinx hops up on her seat, leaning forward to press her face up against the glass of the announcer's booth. "Holy crap, look at the size of that sword! I hope he can land some hits with it, but he's gotten this far so I'm sure we'll see something amazing out of both of them!"

Procyana (365) has posed:
Procyana smirks at the reply, and while she knows better than to take her eyes off her opponent to be she does give her head a brief bobbing down in lieu of a full bow. "Yeah. The important part is we make this a fight to remember~"

And here he comes. Artorias takes a step forward, but other than a few flicks of her ringed tail Procyana doesn't visible move. Size along clearly isn't going to be enough to intimidate her. But her eyes are less on him and more on his massive weapons. To the point that she sees the faint shift of the sword about to drop that others might miss. The sword comes down... and in a flicker of pixilated energy across her form, Procyana disappears! The sword smacks into the ground where she had just been standing, clear that it had missed her in the way only dirt and rock is thrown up with the impact, but a definate indicator of just how hard that blade can hit.

Depending on how good his hearing is he might hear the quick footsteps around one side, until the optical camoflague flickers off to reveal the quick footed enforcer behind his position, one arm already holding out a gun towards his back. "Faster than I thought but still too slow." Followed by firing off a quick heat bolt from her thermal disruptor. She might be testing just how tough that armor is.

Serori (37) has posed:
    "Incredible! Artorias misses! Procyana's quickness already puts her off to a good start. And, like we thought she might, she retaliates by opening fire on Artorias -- that's a salvo of energy bolts headed his way!" Pausing, Serori reaches for something like a greasy, overstuffed sandwich with thin-sliced roast beef, onions, and heaps of gooey cheese. She starts taking bites between sentences, her mouth clearly full. "He'f gonna haff to get that shield up...! Geh, I need something to drink."

    She steps back from the mic to look over what Jinx has brought.

Jinx (39) has posed:
    Jinx points out a giant plastic cup of MegaPop Soda Beverage and a backup bloody mary.
    "I'll say, she's certainly speedy! And YEAH! GUNS! More guns are needed in this tournament, but I'm not sure how much damage they actually did to Mr. Knight!" She does take a likewise heady slurp of her own bloody mary and peers at the crowd. "I'm seeing people getting riled up out there too! They're here looking for a FIGHT! YES! LET'S HEAR SOME NOISE!"

Artorias (182) has posed:
    Artorias has had to deal with stealthy opponents in the past. It's not exactly his preferred opposition to go against (that honor would lie with Ciaran), but he can manage against quick, small enemies.

    When Procyana evades his attack and his sword crashes into the ground with a resounding impact, Artorias is already alert in watching for where she'll reappear. His sword is hoisted up onto his shoulder again, and he turns to follow the faint tapping of footsteps, raising his shield-

    Ah, he doesn't /quite/ find her. His shield is raised, but not exactly in the right position; her shot slips past the greatshield's side to clip his opposite knee. The point of impact steams faintly, but Artorias doesn't even flinch.

    "Clever and quick! Certainly one wouldst think thou art at an advantage." Again Artorias brings his sword down and steps forward, but this time he isn't aiming to slash at Procyana. Instead, with his shield held in front of him, he aims to stab at the raccoon with the pointed tip of his greatsword from around the shield's protection. A solid thrust, but more one meant to open the distance and shove Procyana away rather than trying to run right through her.

Serori (37) has posed:
    Serori's got a soda cup in her hands. After she takes a long, obnoxious slurrrp for Laer's benefit, she sits forward in her seat and considers the ring. "At this rate, Artorias is going to need luck more than anything else. Procyana's speed keeps her just ahead of his greatsword, and it looks like she's working her way around his shield somehow, too! Maybe if he was wearing less armor, he'd be lighter, and quicker, too? I heard a story once, this guy Flynn -- hey, is that a hamburger, or a chicken sandwich?"

Jinx (39) has posed:
    "I think it's a breaded hamburger or something!" Jinx eees. She's hopping up on her chair, dink in one hand and mic in the other. "And yeah, the little lady's all scooting around him. I mean, when he does manage to land something it's gonna hurt, but this is clearly a case of yordle vs. giant here at this point. Artorius is gonna need to get some WORK IN to get this to turn out in his favor!"

Procyana (365) has posed:
Probably to his relief that Procyana doesn't just disappear from view again. Amusing, but not really all that great for making a showy fight, no one else can see her! That's not really good for a broadcast fight. "I know better than to count my luck too soon... I do make it look good though." She's smirking the entire time, so it's pretty clear she's enjoying this.

Here he comes again, this time smartly keeping his shield up at ready, though it does restrain his sword movements a bit. He thrusts... and this time she just jumps! Over the sword, half-twists to plant her feet agaimst his massive shield and kick off of it again like a wall jump. It gets her just enough height as she backflips off to aim her guns and fire a few shots that just skim over the top of said shield. He might be able to move it in time to intercept them even.

Serori (37) has posed:
    Serori leaps up in her seat from excitement. Or anxiety. One of the two. "Hwaaah! Procyana's leaping right over his shield! She skirts past his greatsword again, and this time unloads at almost point-blank range! Maybe now we should be grateful he's wearing all that armor -- he's going to need it, if Procyana keeps on this kind of heat!"

    Then, she calls out off-mic to one of the passing food vendors. Waving the man over, Serori spends some time in intense negotiations. Money is exchanged, but the guy doesn't leave anything in the booth -- in fact, he heads off to the crowded stands behind the booth, squinting into the mass of people for one serene and lovely Bard.

    To Laer, he presents a bouquet of six corn dogs.

    Serori whips around with a snarl, and shouts into an improvised megaphone formed by her cupped hands: "AND NOW, ANOTHER CHALLENGE IS THROWN DOWN! CAN ONE ELF EAT SIX CORN DOGS?!"

Jinx (39) has posed:
    "A GAUNTLET IS THROWN! COME ON SHOOTY-YORDLE! She keeps right on dodging ALL OF THAT and is working that armor like a CHAMP! If this keeps up she'll find or make a hole big enough to punch right through, folks!"
    Jinx bounces a bit on the balls of her feet, sipping and watching happily. This is awesome.

Artorias (182) has posed:
    This isn't turning out so well for Artorias thus far. He's pretty fast, but clearly not fast enough if Procyana can evade him so easily. She leaps and twists with remarkable speed, leaping high into the air and opening fire on him in a shot he can't quite react to in time; the next shot crashes right against his shoulder, and while he /still/ doesn't flinch, a dull grunt of discomfort can be heard from him. "Such skill..."

    Well, Procyana isn't the only one who can react quickly. While the raccoon is still in midair, Artorias ducks and rushes forward with remarkable speed, bringing his sword in and turning it slightly to the side. It may be difficult to tell exactly what he's going to do until he does it, hurling his sword up with a shout of effort to catch the falling Procyana in a vertical swing! Maybe, if he can catch her when she doesn't have something to jump or dash off of, he can actually /hit her/.

    Or maybe his luck will continue to be horrible. One can never tell.

Laer (353) has posed:
    More accurate question - would an elf even consider eating ONE corn dog. The answer is most distinctly no, it seems, because she has an expression as though she were being handed a corpse as those corn dogs are handed over.

    Laer weighs one of them in her hand, and then resorts to that most classic and classy expression of displeasure - throwing food at someone. In this case, it's even sort of weighted in the right way, and she may be boosting her own accuracy a bit as she tries to hit Serori in the back of the head with the thing.

Serori (37) has posed:
    Serori whips back to the battle just as Artorias lands a solid enough hit on Procyana for there to be an audible impact. That has her bouncing onto the balls of her feet again, Laer momentarily ignored in favor of the action in the arena. "Artorias takes the hit, but moves to intercept Procyana mid-air! His greatsword carries out an enormous vertical swing -- I can't believe the strength required to manage an attack like that! And it seems he's finally landed a blow -- Artorias is in the duel now, and -- "

    Thump.

    "Wh-what the hell was that?! Did -- is that -- ?!"

Procyana (365) has posed:
In the end it proves to be an effective tactic! Procyana sees the sword coming but she can't do much other than curl herself into a roll again, she used up her fancy jump just getting up there so no mid-air acrobatics this time. The sword 'bat' smacks into her, throwing her across the field and into the side of one of the spires with an audible crunch of body against stone.

If it wasn't for bionic and genetic augmentations, that probably would of been really -really- nasty.

As is, there's a visible lurch as she pulls herself from the rock and back onto her feet, putting one hand to her neck as she crinks it. "Good, you can hit," she remarks jovially. "Don't want this to be too easy."

That said, in one quick motion she's off again, darting to the side. But even as she moves she pulls something off her belt and throws it in a skipping motion across the ground. Over the shield worked, how about under it? Fortunately it's not a fully explosive grenade, but it does give off one rather loud and potent shockwave instead.

Jinx (39) has posed:
    "NO FIGHTING IN THE ANNOUNCING BOOTH! There's enough down on the field, ladies! Speaking of, Artorias has finally landed a doozy on Proccy, and she's returning the favor with a burst of... is that a stun grenade? BOO!"

    She leans out the window, and hollars at the field. "USE THE REAL STUFF!"

Artorias (182) has posed:
    /There's/ a hit. Artorias breathes a quiet sigh of relief when Procyana goes flying, though he can't help but wince a little at the impact. At least she seems alright, and still in good spirits to boot.

    And she's already moving again! Artorias's shield is raised once more, braced to guard against whatever Procyana has coming...but, unlike his other two opponents, Procyana seems very much focused on going /around/ his guard. It's starting to seem like it might not even be worth having that shield out.

    The grenade rolls under his shield and abruptly explodes by his feet, and /that/ finally gets a light flinch from the giant knight. Probably significantly less than the effect would be on anyone of normal size without superhuman poise, but it's a sign of progress against him.

    Looks like Artorias is going to have to be clever here. He rushes forward toward Procyana, sword raised to bring it down on her...but he's not trying to hit her with the sword this time. He suspects she'll probably dodge, and his goal is to bait her into the strong sideways swing of his shield instead, using the side as a makeshift bludgeon.

Serori (37) has posed:
    Serori slumps back down into the commentator's booth, appearing sour-faced as she resolutely attempts to ignore both Laer's presence and the wasted corn dog rolling around the floor at her feet. In her sulky anger, she takes up one of the two bloody mary drinks, and swallows half of it in one go.

    That was maybe a mistake.

    No dignity remains as she chokes back what she rates as Too Much Vodka. It leaves her coughing and sputtering for a few moments while she tries to take up the thread of commentary again.

    Gasping, "The stun grenade doesn't do much to dent the Wolf Knight's infamous resolve, but it does beat a flinch from him! Without wasting more than a moment to shake off the grenade's surprising effects, he charges across the field and feints, then tries to bash Procyana's stripes off her tail! He's using his shield like a bludgeon! Well, it hasn't done its job as a shield tonight, so...I guess that's what he's got left, huh? She might not be expecting it, at least -- LOOK OUT, PROCYANA!"

Jinx (39) has posed:
    And jinx helpfully swats at Serori's back, grinning. "Easy there, champ! Enough booze for everyone!"

    That said, she grins down at the field, and cheers. "Shields are perfectly fine weapons you know! if you got like 100 pounds of steel slapped onto yourself and can swing that sucker around, you should do it! Just beat the crap out of people! This is a GREAT FIGHT!"

Procyana (365) has posed:
There's a saying about how there's more than one way to skin a cat. Same thing applies here, there's more than one way to deal with heavy defenses. Despite the firepower she does pack Procyana has faught enough robots and armored mutants in her time to know that the direct approach isn't going to work, at least not off the bat. His best option is to use her superior agility and skill to wear a foe down and look for an opening.

That gave him a rattle, but he stayed on his feet. He must be really heavy, or really sturdy. Or likely both.

He comes at her, raising his sword back to strike... To her credit, so far she had only seen him use the sword as a weapon and the shield as a defense. She doesn't realize the latter is usable as a weapon as well until after the fact. She jukes to the side of what she expects to be the strike, pivoting on her foot and bringing a blaster to bear.

But gets slammed from the side with the shield before she can actually fire. "Oof!" The warning was a little too late as she's sent skidding across the dusty ground from the blow.

".. Okay.. both are weapons.. Best offense is a good defense, eh? Hah!" The spycoon kicks her legs up for leverage to spring herself back onto her feet. She grins a bit as she sprints off, running and then jumping to one of the spires. She kicks off of it much like she did his own shield a few moments ago, landing on another one, and then wall-jumping off it as well. This serves two purposes -- the first and foremost being the angles making it hard to follow just where she's going to go.

The second being that it's just as hard to tell as in midjump she holsters her blasters, and pulls out something else from her arsenal.

It's not until she hits the ground off to Artorias' side and spins to face him that it's clear what she's holding, as she one-handed pumps the action of what looks like a futuristic shotgun and then flips it into her hand proper. But by the look of those glowing chambers composing the dual barrels one might guess this weapon doesn't fire solid rounds.

You would be right, as the audible boom from the weapon instead splays a shower of white hot plasma scattering towards the armored knight.

Serori (37) has posed:
    Serori's back on her feet, the corn dog incident filed away for later consideration. That's right. She's actually going to try and /plot/ her revenge, for once. Maybe it'll work out in her favor, this time?

    More importantly, the fight is taking a serious turn. Procyana's practically dancing circles around Artorias, whose armor doesn't appear made to withstand the kinds of weaponry she brings to a fight. Serori's tone reflects her increasing anxiety for Artorias's sake. "KEEP THE PRESSURE ON, ARTORIAS! Procyana takes the shield bash, but I don't think she was struck as solidly as he would have liked! As Procyana reels, she simultaneously brings her shotgun up, and lets loose a spray of plasma Artorias doesn't look ready to withstand at all!"

Jinx (39) has posed:
    Jinx is just as excited for Procyana. "SHE IS PICKING HIM APART. Those precise blasts are whittling away at the big guy's defenses! I mean, it's slow but steady here, and I'm not seeing much headway from the knight's side at this point. He really needs to land something here beofre this gets away from him ENTIRELY."
    Whew. More bloody mary. There's color in her cheeks now, both from the fighting and the booze. GET EXCITED!

Serori (37) has posed:
    Serori makes a cautious sound. "I wouldn't count him out yet. Artorias is known for his resilience. Procyana's whittling him down, but can she keep that kind of speed up forever? She could burn herself out before long -- and if Artorias /does/ catch her...well, I'm not sure she can take a hit the way he can."

Artorias (182) has posed:
    "Something like that," Artorias quips in response, grinning through his voice. His shield is immediately prepared again when Procyana begins moving, though it hasn't done him a lot of good here. That last hit was a lucky gambit, but it played off of a lack of knowledge of Artorias's fighting style more than anything else. No doubt Procyana is going to be expecting something like that again.

    The raccoon is far more skilled in misdirection than Artorias himself is. The knight isn't used to facing opponents who deal in trickery and distraction; his enemies are very loud and very obvious about what they're doing. Even though the Wolf puts up his best efforts to prepare against Procyana's next attack, keeping his gaze on her and readying his shield, she /still/ manages to dart around him and immediately fire a blast of plasma at his blind side. It burns at his armor like the fire of dragons from days long past, scorching the flesh beneath, but still Artorias weathers the pain and damage. This is a chance to let his agility show.

    With a burst of speed, Artorias ducks immediately after Procyana fires and twists. The turn builds momentum for the greatsword he brings down and swings up with all his strength directly under Procyana to send her flying into the air, and that swing in turn is coupled with a leap off the ground to send Artorias hurling through the air, flipping back, and finally landing on top of one of those giant pillars in a crashing crouch, all in the matter of a couple of seconds.

    The knight rises after his landing and tucks his shield on his back, taking the greatsword in a two-handed grip as he looks down at Procyana. "'Twould seem I must take up new methods against thee, Lady Procyana! My commendations to thee!"

Procyana (365) has posed:
%rProcyana crouches as Artorias turns towards her and swings, throwing herself forward into a dive and a roll to get under the blade trying to cut her down. At the end of the evasive maneuver she comes up onto one knee and her shotgun fired in his direction.

Except he's not there! Looks like his strange self-launching tactic was a good idea, as it took him out of the immeadiate blast range of her weapon.

She looks up as he shouts down, and flashes one of her sly grins. "For what it's worth, that armor is standing up to the punishment pretty damn well." Mid-fight banter is something the witty spycoon excels at, so she has little trouble returning the compliment with one of her own even in middle of the fight.

Procyana gets up, stowing the shotgun. And likely to Jinx's enjoyment, draws a personal missile launcher from her nanotech inventory and hoists it onto her shoulder. "Mmmm.. this should do it..."

But instead of firing it up at the knight, she levels the launcher forward and fires it at the spire he's standing on. It detonates loudly and in a bright, vibrant display of smoke and fire. But certainly less nearly lethal than shooting it directly at him.

However now he's got to deal with the stone spire crumbling beneath his feet and the fall that's going to follow it.

Serori (37) has posed:
    "Artorias FLIPS through the air, his greatsword leading -- it's an incredible maneuver! Just to get himself off the ground at all -- I don't understand it, his armor's so /heavy/, and he's just...he's huge! How does he manage that level of agility?! His greatsword's like a...like a spinning lightning bolt or something, it's so fast!" Serori tugs on her own hair from the tension she feels at that moment. "And impossibly, Artorias MISSES! Procyana once again stays ahead of the sword! How does she keep DOING that?! It's incredible!"

    Tail snapping at the air, she continues. "PROCYANA PULLS OUT A ROCKET LAUNCHER?! She's trying to take the spire out from under his feet!"

Jinx (39) has posed:
    "Yes yes yes YES YES YES /YES/! NOW WE ARE FIGHTING!" Jinx is... extremely pleased. "ROCKETS AND SHIT NOW WE ARE FIGHTING! There's too much dust down there though, STUPID DESERT! I can't see what happened!"

Artorias (182) has posed:
    "I hath done battle with dragons and worse, milady," Artorias chuckles. "Were my armor not so durable, I would not be standing here! Of course, dragons art larger, and much easier to actually /hit/..."

    Perhaps he'll have to do some training with Ciaran after all this. The thought is filed to the back of his mind as he keeps an eye out for what Procyana has in store for him next. Sadly, Artorias is not at all aware of these weird "gun" devices or how they work, so all he sees when Procyana brings out a rocket launcher is "another one of those damn shooty types."

    He braces in preparation to avoid whatever she's about to shoot at him, but...strangely, she isn't aiming at him. What is she-?

    Oh. The pillar. Right.

    The structure crumbles under Artorias in a cascade of stone and dust, obscuring him in the cloud of debris as he descends. It's a couple of seconds where he's out of view...but only a couple.

    Suddenly, the mass of black metal is /rocketing/ out of the cloud even before the last stones have settled. It's Artorias flipping forward through the air with remarkable speed, gripping his sword in two hands and using the flip to build momentum before he lands just in front of Procyana and /slams/ the black greatsword down onto her.

    But she's been reacting well whenever he only strikes out once. So, with only a split second to settle, he flips toward her again. And again. And again, bringing his sword crashing down on top of Procyana every time. He knows he needs to keep up the pressure, and that's /definitely/ what he's doing now.

Jinx (39) has posed:
    "SHIT THERE HE IS! HOW DOES HE MOVE THAT FAST? Artorias with some flips and shit out of the cloud of dust, and he's aiming to dust Procyana into the freaking dirt. The sands are heating up again folks! This is a match of INCHES and Artorias is clawing back for his share of the lead!"
    She finishes off her bloody mary, wide eyed and grinning, as she hops up on the table of the announcing booth and dangles her legs out the window. Heck yeah this is great.

Procyana (365) has posed:
Seeing him come rocketing OUT of that crumbling spire in itself was a surprise, even knowing he was able of moving faster than all that armor would suggest. Practically -flying- free of the blast towards her was still well above that expectation.

But what's making him more dangerous is that he's proving to not be just a big, powerful brute. He's smart, he's learning how she fights, and he's coming up with tactics to try and compensate. It was making this a challenge just beyond shooting him.

Which was all the better for her. The adrenaline was really running hot now, as she was eating up every moment of the conflict. As the sword comes slamming down she jumps back... But it's not quite fast enough. Just the impact of the massive blade hitting the ground in front of her throws out a shockwave that throws her backwards. She does manage to flip herself onto her feet and skid, then backflip away from another of the following strikes. But then as he comes around one last time the tip catchs her leg mid-acrobatics, and with a yowl the raccoon woman is flicked aside from the blade, hitting and rolling across the ground.

Procyana lifts up her head and spits out some gravel... And despite the bruises is still grinning. "Yeah... now this is a fight... I -love- a challenge." She puts palms to the ground and pushes herself up onto her feet. Then hangs grab her blasters and pull them out with a twirl.

It's visible midspin as the glowing details to one gun shift from the normal red-orange, to a pale icy bluish shade.

That's the one she points first, crystalization visible at the muzzle as instead of heat it sucks it out of the air until a large ball of ice forms, and then shoots that.

Only for her to spin around and point the other gun, this one still firing bolts of hot thermal energy.

Midway to Artorias the heat bolt collides with the frost ball, and the resulting conflict of energies detonates into a blast that sends both shards of sharp ice and blazing embers showering at the armored knight.

Jinx (39) has posed:
    "THIS FIGHT IS REDICULOUS! Artorias just SMOKES his way out of the dust right into Proccy, and she's right back up with some sort of ice shot! I'm not sure when she turned into a gun wizard but were are NOW IN THE GUN DIMENSION FOLKS. WAIT NO! FIRE AND ICE, WE HAVE FIRE AND ICE! Akimbo elemental shots here as she's trying to put some distance between herself and the knight!"
    Jinx is crowing now, kicking her legs happily in the booth. What a match.

Artorias (182) has posed:
    When Artorias finally stops his ridiculous feats of acrobatics, he takes just a moment to breathe as he rises to his feet, bracing the greatsword against his shoulder again. A slightly tired but good-spirited chuckle rises from him, then. "Indeed. Thou art truly forcing me to adapt. 'Tis a challenge I greatly enjoy!"

    Oh, there come her guns again. Artorias has to think quickly at that moment. He could try to dodge, but this woman has surprised him more than once. Perhaps he should rely on his strengths, especially while she's probably going to aim for his center since he doesn't have his shield out just yet.

    It's a good thing Artorias is pretty quick on the draw himself. Just after she shoots, his left arm flies back to the shield behind him and takes it in his grasp. Speed comes to his rescue, then: it's just after the second shot strikes the first that his shield comes up in front of him, and while a few shards glance over his armored shoulders and helmet, most of them ping off the sturdy barrier formed by his greatshield.

    A lucky gambit, and one he can hopefully take to his advantage. Immediately after those shots impact, Artorias rushes toward Procyana again. It's not a leap, however, or a dash; no, the giant knight is...apparently /sliding/ across the canyon floor with incredible speed to close the distance, leading into a powerful thrust of his greatsword right for Procyana's chest! It's not exactly showy or flashy, but boy is it probably a surprise.

Jinx (39) has posed:
    "HOLY CRAP!" Jinx nearly jumps out of the booth but grabs onto the glass as she dangles out of it. "LOOK AT THAT SPEED! THAT STRIKE! HOW CAN HE MOVE THAT FAST? Artorias seems UTTERLY FOCUSED now, this is a decisive strike from a SKILLED SWORDSMANS and this looks like it may have dones some REAL DAMAGE!"

Procyana (365) has posed:
Dammit! Usually that technique slows people down, or forces them to have to dodge all the different projectiles raining down. But no, the big armored guy just tanked it through with his shield and comes back for more of a fight. Procyana only has split-seconds to take a course of action, and this time there's no time for her to attempt flashy evasive maneuvers.

Phyiscal defenses wasn't her strong point, but she does have a trick or two up her sleeves... or in this case, up her bracers. With a grunt she digs her heels in best she can, and crosses her arms in front of herself as she spins her guns around to hold them by the bodies instead of the handles so they're not exposed to the attack. When crossed over part of her bracers slide open, and drawing from hard-light energy projectors built into them flash a protective barrier in front of them.

The sliding sword stab slams into it, and almost instantly the barrier shatters, bits of light shards scattering and dissolving into the air. Sparks fly from the bracers as the impact is still enough, even with the ablative energy shield, the force the woman skidding backwards from the attack. Procyana scowls a bit, though it's not in anger but in concentration. That and at the readings on her bionic HUD at how much damage is racking up. It's about reached the point that her support defenses are going to start to give out.

The bracers click-snap shut again and Procyana twirls the guns back into proper grips, both of them once more glowing with the red-oranges of their normal thermal disruptor mode.

"The same." She turns to a side stand, holding out one gun and snapping off a few shots. Then spins around to level the other gun out and fire it off. Followed by all things a backflip maneuver that seems excessive and just showing off.

Until one realizes it's a few seconds to give Procyana a chance to let both guns charge and put some distance between the two of them so when she lands, its with both guns up to fire off a single combined charge from them at the same time.

Jinx (39) has posed:
    Jinx is now pounding on the table happily. "Yes yes Yes Yes YES YES!" Hooting. "WHAT A HIT! PROCCY IS SENT STAGGERING, skidding in the dirt.. that looked like it knocked the breeze out of her, and she's desperately trying to claw her way back now that Artorias got that smack in! She's firing wildly, doing flips and shit, trying to land some shots and get some space again!"

Artorias (182) has posed:
    With the way Artorias's armor is already ragged and worn, it's difficult to tell when a battle is wearing on him, especially coupled with the fact that it's so hard just to get him to /flinch/. One might almost think that he hasn't even taken damage, just by looking at him.

    That's far from the truth, though. Procyana has been whittling him down and avoiding the brunt of his strikes in turn. The Abysswalker is certainly being worn down; a keen eye might notice the slight slump in his posture as he returns to his braced stance, preparing for whatever Procyana might follow through with.

    He isn't /quite/ prepared in time, however. That first shot smacks right against his sword-arm's shoulder before he can shift his shield over slightly. The next few are, thankfully, dissipated by the shield's enchanted surface, and the moment Procyana moves to flip away, Artorias pushes forward to retaliate. He has to keep the pressure on as much as he can here.

    Of course, he's left open a little for that last pair of shots he wasn't expecting. One blasts into his shield just before the edge, sparing him the brunt of the damage, but the other passes by to burn into his side. Still he doesn't falter, heavy footsteps carrying him over to where Procyana has landed so that he can follow through again.

    Artorias's sword lowers from his shoulder as if he were preparing to strike with it, but that's not what he lashes out with. No, he instead swings his greatshield back and up, aiming to bring the flat surface right down on top of Procyana in a crushing impact.

Jinx (39) has posed:
    "She's getting shots in like a champ but he JUST KEEPS MOVING! GOD THIS IS EXCITING!" Jinx twirls out of the booth, dragging the mic with her as she's hopping up and down on the awning above the top row of seats. "AND HE'S GONNA SPLAT HER! That SHIELD is in play again, folks, aiming to smash her to little bits! WHAT A STRIKE!"

Procyana (365) has posed:
Procyana tended to think as quick on her feet as she moved on them. She wasn't exactly a planner, but she wasn't one to go flying in with no thought ahead, either. Typically it was a matter of knowing what she needed to do, keeping that in mind, and adapting as the situation unfolded. In her line of work, you had to be able improvise. You never know what you're going to come up with.

This time, she's not falling for the sword feint shield strike. Though as Artorias rushes at her to keep the pressure on, she throws her arms back and runs towards him as well. Maybe the fact that she's abruptly charging him instead of trying to keep a running distance is a bit of a throw off.

Either way the shield smash comes, but just as its about to hit her Procyana jumps and twists so it hits her against the back, and throws her off again with the force of it. She winces a bit, that's going to leave a heck of a bruise, but it helps with distributing what could of been a lot worse of a blow -- she's already felt how hard he can hit if she doesn't do something to difuse the damage.

She lands on the ground with a rolling tumble, one that for a few moments might actually look like she got bashed pretty hard. But it's all that cunning covert ops misdirection, as she comes out of it on one knee and both guns powering up, this time individually, the kirby krackle at the barrels dense enough to be heard hissing and snapping.

Also notible is that once again the dual blasters are set at opposite types.

Procyana brings them together, and it's not one shot then another this time, it's both guns being fired at once, resulting in a mix of energies turning into a beam of conflicting forces several times wider than the barrels its coming from due to how violatile the opposite forces are.

And it's all hurtling straight towards the knight.

Jinx (39) has posed:
    "WHO LET NANOHA IN HERE? Wait no, it's just Procyana and she's launched a massive beam of GO-TO-HELL at Artorias! THIS IS AMAZING!" Jinx has managed to knock over her dirty food containers onto the crowd below the booth as she screams happily into the mic. "CAN HE RETURN FIRE? IS HE EVEN STANDING AFTER THAT?"

Artorias (182) has posed:
    The shield is effective! Or at least it seems to be, enough for Artorias to decide that he should be mixing up his tactics again and place his shield on his back once more. Back to the two-handed grip...and back to immediately wishing he had kept his shield.

    Fun fact: swords aren't that good at damage reduction.

    The moment he turns back toward her, she already has her guns out and pointing at him. His reflex tells him to block, even if he doesn't have his shield, and it doesn't go that well. His corrupted sword is shifted to stand in the way, but the excessively large beams blast into and around it, crashing into Artorias and sending the Abysswalker skidding back along the ground with a tense groan of pain as he tries to fight the beam. Not that it's very effective, but what else can he do but mitigate the damage while waiting it out?

    When the beams finally stop, Artorias actually slumps slightly where he stands, turning his sword down to use it as a support with the tip resting against the ground. His armor steams from the attack, and he seems to be breathing heavily under those shadows. Is he finally defeated?

    "...an impressive attack, Lady Procyana. Now 'tis my turn."

    No. Just like Procyana, it seems Artorias's moment of faltering was little more than a preparation. His knees are bent; his sword is pointed down; his shield is out of the way. This is the perfect position.

    Without any further warning, Artorias leaps up and forward, rocketing impossibly high into the air. His sword is taken in two hands as he pulls it back, and, of course, he has to come down again.

    And with all his weight and speed backing that downward stab, he does so. Right on top of Procyana.

Jinx (39) has posed:
    "Artorias looks... oh man that hurt, he is down, he is not moving very we-WAIT NO! DUNKS! WE HAVE DUNKS! Artorias with the classic ARCING SMASH! She's trying to dunk the HELL out of the raccoon lady, and that looks like it might have... WOW. A LOT of HURT in this fight right now, Folks!" Jinx is trying to look through the wreckage of that one. "I'm not seeing her moving in there either, not sure if she's still alive?"

Procyana (365) has posed:
It's not until the dual blasters have discharged all the energy built up in them and smoking from the results that Procyana finally lowers them. She knows that hit, she knows that even with that much armor that had to of hurt ... but knows it probably wasn't enough to finish the job. Her opponent was too tough, too determined for that to happen.

Sure enough, he's still standing. Then running. Then she leans back a bit to watch as he -jumps- despite his weight and burden.

"Aah fffff--" The last bit never makes it out of her mouth as she bites her lower lip, turns and runs. It's not enough though, she should of reacted sooner. She manages to dart fast enough to avoid the sword's point, but the entire mass of Artorias' eleven foot armored frame comes slamming down on top of her instead. It's a force of impact that sends a huge cloud of rock blasted into dust flying around them.

Procyana bounces and tumbles across the hard ground from the smashing impact as well, and this time it's not a deception, that diving strike hit her and hard! Finally she fumbles to a stop, and takes a few deep breaths before getting up. Followed by a wince as her jacket sparks, a good sign at how badly damaged her electronics have been damaged from the repeat bludgeoning blows. "Yeah ... THAT on hurt. Heh.. " Yet she manages to stand up fully with a cough. "But I hope you're not expecting me to just give up..."

But her blaster are out of charge. What is she going to do?

She twirls both blasters, then holsters one of them and grabs a power cell from her belt. The gun still spinning in her other hand she grabs to stop with the barrel pointing up, and the handle pointing forward, and discharges the spent cartridge.

That ejects with enough force that the empty power cell is hurtled towards towards Artorias' face! Just goes to prove the girl can be lethal with -any- part of those guns.

Procyana slaps the fresh cell in afterwards and flips the disruptor back into a proper grip, smirking a bit still despite the soreness and exhaustion starting to creep in. "Com'n, this dance card ain't punched full yet."

Jinx (39) has posed:
    "HOW ARE THEY STILL BOTH MOVING?" Jinx is... well, she's Jinx. "Proccy is back up and DID SHE JUST DO THAT? She's /clonked Artorias with her spent cartridge!/ WHO EVEN DOES THAT? WHO, I ASK? Looks like we're back to squaring off, but I have NO IDEA if these two can keep moving after all this."

Artorias (182) has posed:
    Artorias is indeed not expecting that to be an actual attack. He rises, having to yank his sword free from the ground in the process, and just as he's about to prepare for another attack on his end, that canister goes flying right for his head.

    Artorias, sadly, is not great at ducking. The cartridge /slams/ into his head and makes him reel back for a second, and brief though it may be, that's a pretty significant reaction from him. That /hurt/.

    The great knight hisses his pain as his hand comes up to rub his face. "...clever. Quite clever! Thou art truly a resourceful opponent, Lady Procyana."

    Sadly, Artorias is not quite as well-equipped as Procyana. The man only has a sword and shield, little more; not really the kinds of things he can use for unexpected maneuvers. And with the range opening up, he keeps being at a disadvantage.

    He'll just have to make do, then. And in this case, he reaches back to take his shield up, but rather than moving it into a guard...he simply /hurls/ it forward at Procyana, tossing the massive greashield like a very large and very heavy frisbee to catch her by surprise!

Jinx (39) has posed:
    "That rung his bell folks, but he's still talking and still moving and by god how is he doing either of those? Artorias has takken ALL OF THE BEATINGS tonight and he just keeps going!" Jinx pounds happily on her table, and points out the window. "AND HE'S DITCHED THE SHIELD! Looks like he's trying ot take Procyana's HEAD OFF HER SHOULDERS!"

Procyana (365) has posed:
"Hey, after this fight," Procyana manages to grin a bit between pants, "I'm just glad you're on -our- side." Though her tired cheer turns a bit wide eyed when he winds back and throws his shield at her. Dear gods, who is strong enough to -throw- a shield of -that size-? Captain America would be jealous!

Reacting primarily on impulse and reflex, it's her empty hand that Procyana snaps up. Followed by the crackling hiss as she activates and fires the energy tether she normally uses as a grappling line. It snares the side of the shield and then she whirls to the side as she yanks down on it, pulling the shield to skidding loudly across the ground. She manages to curve it around herself and then back towards its originator.

"I believe this belongs to you!" That's when she deactivates the grappler and turns to raise her gun, firing off a shot into the shield to snap it back into the air and send it flipping towards Artorias. Not as fast and powerful as he threw it, but she's hoping the sudden end-over-end spin will make it harder for him to catch.

Jinx (39) has posed:
    Jinx... uh, is agitated. "HOLY CRAP SHE CAUGHT IT. And now she's trying to launch it back with a witty retort, but... I'm not sure she's got the arm strength to heave that crap any more than I COULD." Shit, now she's just screaming out the window. "IT'S NOT THAT HARD KILL EACH OTHER!"

Artorias (182) has posed:
    Artorias banked on throwing his shield being unexpected enough to catch Procyana off guard. What he didn't expect in turn was having it /thrown right back at him/.

    He's never had to catch a shield before, but he doesn't have much choice except trying now. It's a tricky maneuver, but thankfully for his arm (and everything else), he manages. He snatches the spinning shield by the handle and whirls around with its momentum so that he doesn't yank his own arm off from the force, and in the process he realizes he can build up /more/ momentum for himself!

    Of course he doesn't throw the shield again. That would be ridiculous. This is a martial arts tournament, not an Ultimate Frisbee competition. So what he does is abruptly slide along the ground once again to close the distance and rush up to Procyana, though this time it's not for a stab. It's a sideways swing he delivers, using momentum and weight more than his own arm strength. There's not too much of that left in him at this point in the match.

Jinx (39) has posed:
    Jinx... how does she still have all this enthusiasm? BLOOD. BLOOD FOR THE GRASS! "We're STILL IN THIS FOLKS! Artorias just won't go down and he still can't land a good hit on Procyana! Another SWIPE with that BIGASS SWORD, and we're back to it. Both competitors are looking winded now! It's just going to take onle LAST SMACK to push this past the edge!"

Procyana (365) has posed:
Procyana sways a little. Even with adrenaline and augmentations she was starting to really feel this fight taking its toll. But just a little more. A little longer. A little...

He caught the shield and spinning and oh shit he's sliding again.

Maybe normally she would of been able to nimbly evade that attack, but Procyana is feeling the wear too. Instead the sword broadsides her, exhaling violently as the blow knocks most of the wind out of her.

And yet, Procyana manages to -hang onto- the sword, at least for a few moments, fumbling with her hands as if to get a better purchase. But she can't, and eventually momentum tosses her off again and across the rocky ground. She rolls over, and then manages to tiredly get onto her knees. Looks towards Artorias... and smiles.

"Time for the fireworks."

There's a single sharp *BEEEEP* and then the demo pack she stuck on the sword while hanging onto it detonates.

Artorias (182) has posed:
    This is getting ridiculous. Artorias silently curses his fortune at getting such an agile and skillful opponent, though he has to admit that it's been a welcome change from the brute force of the rest of the tournament. Surely this fight wouldn't be such a problem if he could actually /hit her/ more than one tenth of the times he tries.

    Procyana goes flying, and Artorias gives a vaguely frustrated grunt as he starts running after her to follow up and hopefully /finish/ this-

    Beep! He looks at his sword just in time to notice the device and gather what's probably going to come of that. And it's not good.

    Well, with a split-second decision, what do you do with a bomb that's about to explode? You toss it away. And that's exactly what Artorias does, hurling his sword at Procyana and bringing his shield up to mitigate the damage from the explosion. It might explode in midair, but that sword is durable and probably won't break; even if the explosion is wasted, she's still going to have to deal with a gigantic chunk of bladed metal flying at her.

Jinx (39) has posed:
    "NOW WE ARE THROWING BOMBS AND EXPLOSIONS AND IT'S STILL NOT WORKING!" Jinx is pounding on the glass now, screaming down at the field. "KILL EACH OTHER ALREADY! FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS AWESOME FINISH IT!"

Procyana (365) has posed:
Damn this guy likes to throw his weapons when he gets desperate! First the shield, and now his sword, with a bomb attached to it no less. The sword stabs itself into the ground after the bomb explodes, but the shockwave still is enough to give Procyana a bad case of 'maybe I shouldn't of done that'. She groans, and realizing her armor-lined jacket has completely had it by this point, decides to get rid of it. She shrugs it off her shoulders, pulls her arms out of the sleeves, and then tosses it aside. Now she's really down to nothing but herself, without her fancy technologies to protect her any farther all it could take is one really good hit.

All or nothing.

She turns, aims her disruptor, and pulls the trigger. This time it's not just a shot though, it's a continuous beam of shearing thermal energy, aimed at the center of his chest and she's holding down the trigger to keep it going until it either burns through his armor or he manages to stop her.

Jinx (39) has posed:
    "GET OUT OF HERE YOU ARE NOT NANOHA!"

    "OH WAIT THAT REALLY CONNECTED. Artorias is reeling folks!" Jinx leans out the window again, watching, with bated breath. "IS IT FINALLY OVER?"

Artorias (182) has posed:
    The explosion goes off, and Artorias lowers his shield to see the results. That, unfortunately, does not end up being a wise decision.

    Procyana's laser sears against his chest, burning into blackened armor and sending up waves of steaming heat. At this point, Artorias has faced enough strain that this wears on him far too quickly and painfully, and it's only a few more moments before he finally falls to one knee with a clatter, raising his free hand in front of him. "Enough! I...believe I must yield now...!"

    The Abysswalker sighs once the stream dissipates, leaning heavily on his shield and breathing with just as much exhaustion. Even then, he manages a good-natured chuckle, letting his arm fall to his side. "Well played, Lady Procyana! Well played indeed. Thou art truly a skillful opponent." His arm raises once more, extending out for a weary handshake. "The victory is well deserved. I wish thee great luck in thy future battles!"

Jinx (39) has posed:
    "AND THAT'S IT FOLKS! With a massive blast of energy, after a HOLY CRAP THAT TOOK A LONG TIME match with back and forth tanking and dodging and just BLATANT STOICAL BEHAVIOUR, WE FINALLY HAVE A WINNER! Give it up, one and all, for Procyana, taking down Artorias with a blast of GUN MAGIC BEAM STUFF! He's thrown in the towel, folks! No more fight left in him after all that I suppose. The GUNLADY RACOON moves on to the NEXT ROUND! WOOOO!" Ruffling paper. "Oh right. This has been a presentation of the Hyperion and New Vegas Sports Networks in association with Starfleet Media. Thanks again to Serori who I think is passed out from vodka." Kick kick. "Yep. And thanks for LISTENING IN!"

Procyana (365) has posed:
As soon as he says he's done Procyana snaps her arm to the side, taking the thermal laser off of him until it flickers off. This is a compatition after all, not a fight to the finish. She gives it a twirl to help it cool off, then returns it to its holster.

Then walks over to accept the handshake, though the somewhat loose grip is a good indicator of just how wore out she is. Yet she does manage a small smile. "Same to you, big guy. Not many people have been able to put me through paces like that."