Scene #2627: Allan Vs Xiaomu, showdown at the Caverns of Prophecy

Owner	Pose
Allan Bodily	Magic... Bah. Allan didn't hate magic per say, He understood magic had it's uses, that it could more easily do some things than good old-fashoned technology, and it played a vital role in day-to-day life in the multiverse. The thing is he also knew magic was beyond him. magic Tech was a pain to repair with all it's odd rules and rituals, and the mages.... Those high and mightly spell slingers living it up in their fancy ivory towers are EXACTLY the kind of people Allan would love to introduce to Diplomacy. But still, magic has it's uses. for example, a pool that drops spoilers on major events in the Multiverse? that's useful. so, despite his usual strained relationship with all things msytical and full of wonder. Allan is here, standing by the pool with a vexed look on his face. "Maybe this would work better if I wasn't regenerating through the damn fumes."
Xiaomu	It's not Xiaomu's first venture into the Caverns of Prophecy, but the last time she headed out this way, she was looking for answers about a game that she was totally stuck with. This time, it was more a matter of noting that the Caverns were in Confederate hands and coming to the conclusion that she should try to do something about that. She doesn't plan to make actual use of the pool at the Caverns' center this time, either ... at least, not unless she finds herself totally stuck for ideas on how to handle the opposition, and her prior experience suggests that won't be really helpful. It might even be counterproductive on at least two levels. Either way, the sage fox is climbing up to the temple that guards the Caverns' actual entrance; if there's a distinct lack of opposition, she proceeds inside, staying alert along the way.
Allan Bodily	Xiaomu would find a distinct lack of opposition, or to be more precise nothing special beyond the usual Fed mooks set out to make sure nobody unwelcome just waltzes in. Easy enough to deal with, in fact that retreat almost immeidatly upon noticing they've got an elite. The problem though is all that fleeing and yelling makes noise. Xiaomu might be lucky enough to hear the click as she makes her way inside. Inside, Xiaomu would find Allan standing at the ready in front of the pool and carefully aiming down the barrel of Diplomacy, his trusty shotgun. He sounds, perhaps understandibly, annoyed. "Hi there, go the #$^* away." He then immeidatly opens fire, apparently not very big on pre-fight banter is he?
Xiaomu	Xiaomu immediately dives for cover, but there are two problems: first, there's extremely little cover to be had next to the entrance, and second, she's just not fast enough to dodge ALL of the shotgun. There's a yelp of pain - not a terribly agonized one, but it probably stung more than a little bit. "Hello to you too," she calls out, "and you're gonna get awful lonely up here with all your soldier buddies retreating in a panic. Or were they supposed to do that and lull me into a false sense of security, or something?" Her question is followed up by drawing one of her handguns and firing a couple of bullets at Allan as she scurries - if not for better cover, then at least to be a moving and uncooperative target.
Allan Bodily	"I told 'em to run. No point gettn' them killed when there's an Elite here to do the fightn'." There's a grunt as a bullet slams right into his chest... followed by it slowly getting pushed back out as the wound starts to close. Allan meanwhile, grins as he takes aim again. "Name's Allan, I run the Red Union. hold still a sec, Diplomacy wants a word with ya." He opens fire again.
Xiaomu	By this point, the foxgirl has found an outcropping of rock which provides much more significant cover; she ducks behind the outcropping before Diplomacy can go off again. She also takes a moment to check on the Union tactical band to see if anyone can offer useful information about this guy. A quick peek out after the shotgun blast confirms what she thought she might have seen as far as her bullet not staying inside him. "You assume I wanted them dead, or you for that matter, but since you were nice enough to introduce yourself, name's Xiaomu, I'm an agent of Shinra, and has anyone told you your 'Diplomacy' needs a lot of work?" She leans out of cover to snap off a couple more shots - this time with both of her handguns - before ducking into hiding again. She should probably not stay behind that one boulder, though ...
Allan Bodily	Cue an pained yell as the bullets tear into Allan, spraying blood everywhere. Unfortunatly his ability ot regenerate seems to be on point today, as the wounds almost immeidatly start to close. Despite the yelling however, allan's able to pwoer through the barrage, taking am and fireing back at Xiaomu, hopefully before she can duck into hiding again. "I've heard of other ways, I don't see much in em. Besides, you're taking to it well enough."
Xiaomu	Allan may be a regenerator; Xiaomu isn't, and a faceful of buckshot will ruin pretty much anybody's day. Fortunately, being a huli jing means she's a bit more able to shrug it off than a human would be - although 'shrug it off' in this case only means 'keep fighting despite lots of ouchie' and she can't do a whole lot about blood dripping into her eyes. On the other hand, she also has options at her disposal other than simply shooting it out. She vaults back out of hiding - literally, using her monk staff for a pole vault over the top of her outcropping - and propels herself feet-first straight at Allan, trying to knock the wind out of him so she can try and regain some momentum.
Allan Bodily	There's a loud OFF as xiaomu slams into Allan, knocking the rage of the Red Union over. Quickly he scrambles back to his feet, taking aim as he rises. "No comeback to that? No witty remarks? Good!" There's another loud noise as he once again opens fire. "Guess yer not that dense then. Though you mighta wanna up the ante just a little? You might have noticed, I take hits a bit better than most."
Xiaomu	Rather than simply diving for cover, Xiaomu stays up close and personal even as the most diplomatic shotgun ever is levelled at her again ... Mostly because a well-timed swing of her staff allows her to knock the barrel away from her just as Allan is pulling the trigger. "Why should I waste perfectly good witty comebacks on a half-wit who thinks with his trigger finger?" she comments, mostly playfully - not entirely, though. (Shotguns going off at close range tend to hurt the ears, after all.) "Or is it just that your brain doesn't heal as well as the rest of you does?" And speaking of 'up close and personal,' with Diplomacy pointed away from her for the moment, Xiaomu closes in to try and grab the Red Union leader, and if she succeeds in getting a hold of Allan, she hoists him briefly and attempts to slam him down on the cavern floor.
Allan Bodily	one thing worth noting about allan is despite how suprisingly frail he is desite the regen. He's very good at fighting through an attack, gritting his teath and powering thorugh the pain and damage just to make an opening for himself. He did it before whe she shot him. Grabbing him? Xiaomu would probably find hte lack of Struggling on Allan's part odd... untill she glanced at him to get a good look at his forhead rocketing towards her face. Followed by diplomacy spinning about in his hand, not for another shot, but in an attempt to brutally slug her with it's butt, ignoring the pain as he forces his arm into position to swing at her.
Xiaomu	That actually hurts too much and too abruptly for Xiaomu to yell in pain; she looks wobbly for a moment after getting a headbutted and shotgun-butted in rapid succession. Then she steadies again, a rather nasty glint in her eye ... and the next thing that happens is an attempt to encase Allan in a large block of ice and kick it sliding along this level of the cavern's floor. It's probably going to keep going until it hits a rock big enough for the ice to break, because she was NOT holding back with that kick.
Allan Bodily	"how's that?" He's cut off as he's suddenly frozen in ice, there's a loud shattering noise, backed by a distrubed crunching sound as he hits the wall. slowy, he drags himself back to his feet, slowly reloading diplomacy. "you were Holding back? against me? Why you shouldn't have! No. Really. You shouldn't." Suddenly he charges at Xiaomu, moving far faster that someone as beat up as he is should be capable of As he charges, he shfts his grip on diplomacy, swinning it like a bat for Xiaomu's leg before snapping it back into firing position to unload a shot at her. "Come on #&(er, you looking to stop me or amuse me?"
Xiaomu	If the swing at Xiaomu's leg was intended to break something, it fails; she sees it coming and relaxes that leg so it can fade with the impact. She can't do as much about the shotgun, only to take the hit - but she tries to take it on her arm instead of straight in the face or chest. Still hurts a hell of a lot, and her good mood - feigned or not - is very visibly wearing thin. "You really ARE a half-wit," the sage fox remarks, half-mocking. "I didn't come all this way just to show a Confederate a good time, so 'amuse you' is right out. As to 'stopping' you - if I didn't want to fight you, I'd never have come here or I'd already be leaving, right?" Then she ducks, tries to wrap her arms around Allan's waist - and tries A LOT HARDER to straighten up and bend over backwards, so as to suplex him as hard as she can into the cavern floor. "Also, somebody is way past due to wash your mouth out," the sage fox adds as she lets go post-suplex.
Allan Bodily	As soon as Xiaomu grabs him, Allan grins and as grabs right back. Does he try to escape? go for a counter? No, instead he goes for something much simpler, he aims to grab her throat with one hand, and he doesn't let go. Even as he's lifted and slammed head first into the ground (which is met wit ha downright disturbing crack from his neck!) he just grits his teeth and powers through it, doing his damndest to keep that grip on her and squeeze down as hard as possible. Xiaomu might find the letting go part a bit difficult.
Xiaomu	Yeah, that's not a healthy sound to go with a suplex. It's a regular risk with that sort of move, and Xiaomu knows it full well when she tries to suplex anyone. As for grabbing her throat - well, she's not having any of THAT; she tucks her chin against her neck when she feels Allan grabbing for her throat, and post-suplex she makes a concerted effort to break free again, wriggling out of the soldier man's grasp. "See, girls don't like it when a guy is too aggressive," she states, turning to focus on Allan again. "Although in your case, maybe 'offensive' is the better word?" She draws her handguns again, and opens fire on Allan at something like point-blank range ... but she's not holding still while she does it; she's going ALL OVER the place, spinning and doing cartwheels and seemingly striking gratuitous kung fu poses ... or maybe 'gun fu' is a better description here. It all adds up to being as disobliging a target as humanly, or even inhumanly, possible while still trying to pump Allan full of lead. Or whatever those bullets are. She didn't bother with anti-spirit rounds for this, although she might try those sometime.
Allan Bodily	Allan's responce to all the gunfu shennigans? He holds perfectly, still, snarling and yelling as he bullets tear into him, blood spraying everywhere, and waits. he doesn't chage. he doesn't return fire. he simply stands there, tanking the hit as he helfts diplomacy in both hands. What's he' waitning for? An opening. Maybe Xiaomu gets a bit too close, maybe one of her poses favors being flashy over pratical just a bit too much. But the moment Xiaomu makes a mistake or lets her gard down, he moves swinging diplomacy around with a mad roar to bash Xiaomu down into the ground, slam a foot into her stomache, then aim down at her and unload diplomacy several times over. No flashy moves, no feats of athletic skill and martial prowess, just a straight up brutal beatdown ment to cause as much damage as possible.
Xiaomu	It's easy to underestimate how canny a fight Xiaomu is; she's been around for over seven centuries, most of that time spent either among humans or close enough to watch them, and she learned martial arts along with language and customs back in China. So while Allan probably gets some satisfaction out of the beatdown - particularly one of the shotgun blasts that makes a horrible mess of her chest, at least the surface of it - Xiaomu knows how to minimize most of the damage she's taking when he manages to latch onto that opening. And when HER opening comes around, she slides away, grabs her staff from where it fell ... "XIAOMU BLIZZARD!!" ... and swings it, frost glittering on the rings and headpiece ahead of trying to actually land that blow. Should it connect, Allan will be encased in another big block of ice - and this time, Xiaomu leaps onto said block and rides it across the cavern, vaulting away again just before the impact which breaks the ice.
Allan Bodily	There's some good news, and there's some bad news. The good news is everything goes off without a hitch. Allan's assaut coming to a sudden stop, as he's frozen solid, There's an alamring crunching sound as he ice hits the wall... The bad news is As she's vaulting away, There'd be the dsitinct sound of gunfire, and xiaomu would notice more shots form diplomacy headed towards her before she's even had time to land. Allan's already already on the match. Pale as anything, bleeding from multiple wounds and with one arm hanging limp at his side as it works it's way back into it's socket. Some might wonder how something as seeming weak as the Red Union has managed to last so long. Allan's current condition might be the answer to that. This fight has has thrown all kinds of stuff at him and he. Keeps. Moving!
Xiaomu	Wow, thinks Xiaomu as she twists in mid-air. Most people would take at least a second or so to regain their bearings after breaking out of the ice - Allan's shooting even before he can probably see what he's shooting at. "No end of energy for you, huh?" she calls out in a playful tone akin to her earlier comments. "Then surely you wouldn't mind sharing with a hungry sage fox ... DAKKI NO KATA!!" Her right hand comes up - and she starts actively trying to leech life energy away from the regenerating Allan, draining him and replenishing her own energy reserves at the same time. She actually licks her lips while she's draining him, too ... although Allan's energy might not 'taste' quite that good, she's at least playing it up. "Thanks for the snack~!" she sing-songs as she finishes.
Allan Bodily	Xiaomu... What happens to Xiaomu is likely both interesting... and disgusting. Whatever the hell Lets Allan Regenerate, it's clearly done something odd to the little guy. The results of exposure to all sorts of magical and technological waste, strange energey signals and God knows what else. His energy is gamma radation mixed with arcane energy mixed with voodoo curses mixed with things we don't have names for. Xiaomu might wish to find a toilet soon, that's unlikely to stay down easily. She also might want to duck, because the back end of diplomacy is headed towards her. "Ears open #^head! I've taken sprays from a minigun, cought a ##653@ing nuke with my face, been evaporated by ki attacks, reduced to only my head and thrown into the void towards a @$(&ing STAR! All of that? It. Didn't. Work! So either quit $&(ing around and do something to match with that, or give up and get the #$( out of my sight!" He'd actually try to bash her towards the exit, siwning diplomacy about like a club. "Move it!"
Xiaomu	Well, if it were actually physically EATING the energy she leached from him, then yes, Xiaomu would probably want to spit it back out. Since it was more metaphysical than physical, though ... she's gonna need to come up with another way to vent the absorbed energy. Fast. "Are you bragging," Xiaomu retorts (somewhat weakly now), "or complaining? Most mortals would be grateful ..." She trails off, making a rather ill noise. Yeah, that's catching up with her. "Anyway. Nobody said I had to kill you, you ill-mannered idiot. I was just fi-- figuring that ... you'd run out of will to fight. Eventually." The sage fox takes a deep breath, leaning heavily on her staff as she tries to get her balance and her bearings; she DOES look like she's about to fall over in a few more seconds. At least the worst of her injuries are mending, although ... well, it's a good thing a lot of the buckshot-holes are covered by clothing; her face is kind of a fright as it is. "Never taking you out for dinner again, anyway ... well, let's try ... BYAKKOHOU!!!" Normally, that technique takes the form of a big wave of positive chi, and it's an attack. What leaves the sage fox's hands THIS time is ... Not. Really, it's just a bursting pulse of myriad and assorted energies, the partially-converted form of what she just absorbed from the Red Union guy, and at best it might knock the wind out of him, maybe push him over. "You really oughta go lie down or something, Allan," Xiaomu states, looking somewhat more steady on her feet now. "Heaven knows I do. Watch your step going down the mountain ..." She half-hobbles towards the cavern's exit, wondering if she can stay adequately focused to steer an ice-sled down the mountain in her condition.
Allan Bodily	As Xiaomu leaves, allan pulls out his radio. "boys! I need a transport up here. Yeah, had company... They left... so did they... too beat up to do that myself. I'll alert the Feds, except things to be hot when you get here." with that done, he trudges for the exit, to wait for his ticketo ut of here.