Scene #6577: MECC: All-Seeing Eye vs Seifer Almasy

Owner	Pose
All-Seeing Eye	Over the clamor of the crowd gathered for today's event, music begins to play. It is a driving melody of violins, which initially sounds like the first few bars of a classical piece. Bombastic horns barge into the melody, adding more energy to the piece. Drums enter, with a Motown beat, and dispel any notion that it could have been a classical piece. (Theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1NrmNz0bc4 ) Out from the contestant chambers on one end of the arena comes All-Seeing Eye, wearing an extravagant, purple silk robe with the hood over his face. He flips it back dramatically as the first line of the chorus sounds. The Autochthonians in the crowd, easily distinguished by their drab, utilitarian jumpsuits, go wild, standing up in their bleachers, clapping and stomping their feet. As he prances up to the platform to the beat of the music, Eye blows kisses to his fans. He even makes the odd detour, skipping over to throw a synthetic rose to the audience. As the song reaches its climax, Eye twirls around, tossing off his robe and revealing a breathable pair of black silk pants with a lightning bolt motif down the legs, and a pair of matching black trainers. His chest is bare, and when he touches down on the fighting platform, the color drains from his skin, turning shock white. Dark metal cybernetics with brutalist design elements push up from below his skin, each one a work of art unto itself. His arms, back and head seem to have been augmented the most, and Seifer can see this easily due to his continued appeals to the crowd. As the music fades, Eye gives two last two-handed kisses to the crowd, then finally faces his opponent to offer a fist-in-palm bow.
Seifer Almasy	Seifer Almasy just walks out. It's a bit of an odd difference, considering his usual, swinging, over-the-top attitude. His string of losses probably explains that, but moreover, he's said it himself: he's bad at fighting in these circumstances. It's never an excuse - he never gives less than his best, after all, and to claim he did would be an insult to everybody he's fighting - but it is a hard-ground fact that without the edge of lethality, Seifer just feels 'off.' So he just walks out. He doesn't wave to the crowd, he doesn't have theme music. There's not a lot of spectacle for the Hand of the Concord. Instead, there's a surprising degree of focus; the gunblade over his shoulder is being held slightly differently, and the attitude in his eyes, normally arrogant and cocksure, is subdued and fixed. He's not one to just throw in the towel when circumstances are disadvantageous, after all. He's compensating for his weakness. He's fixed his inner eye on himself. He's figuring out how to make this feel like life and death. He stops in the middle of the arena. Seifer gives Eye a brief nod, and then brings up Hyperion in that ridiculous, amateurish fencer-looking pose. It might even be taken as a joke, considering how many openings Seifer apparently has, or as if he's not taking Eye seriously, but the look in his eyes and the hardness of his face prove that if it is a joke, it's only because of his self-confidence, and not out of disrespect.
All-Seeing Eye	Eye had honestly not expected any challenge at all in this tournament. His surprise, upon being mere inches from defeat at his very first march, was immeasurable. His attitude might be described as 'cautiously optimistic' here, though that's hard to gauge looking at him, since he's almost always got that pleasant smile on his face. As he rises from his bow, Eye strikes sideways with both arms, calling forth two lengths of steel cable from ports in his wrists. They oscillate as they flex in the air, cracking against the ground. The Exalt twirls both overhead in a fluid display of upper body control, his torso moving in a graceful circle to manipulate them both. He uses the momentum from this maneuver to twist into a lateral jump, which turns into a midair cartwheel. Both steel whips lash out towards Seifer's feet, trying to drive him back and get him up against the figurative wall!
Seifer Almasy	OK, it's not mockery. That much is clear when Eye brings the whips down, lashing out at Seifer's feet. Seifer's response, rather than to back off or run away, is to grind his gunblade along one of the whips and go straight up and in. He suffers for it - a whack across the face that draws blood from his cheek, a first blooding for the crowd - but it shows Eye two things immediately. First: Seifer is no amateur. That stance, whatever that is, has nothing to do with his skill. He ascends rapidly up the cable, his blade flashing out like a rapier's edge in quick, aggressive, brutal strikes. Second: Seifer is a crazy person, because nobody sane would go into the attacks like that, especially with such a minimal parry. But Seifer's not willing to let Eye start zoning him. In his mind, he's decided. The edge of the arena is death. The edge of the arena is destruction. He's fighting against a wall already. There's nowhere to go but forward.
All-Seeing Eye	Eye lands, and for some reason, despite Seifer's clear advantage, there is a knowing smile on his face. He makes eye contact with his opponent, golden eyes twinkling with satisfaction. The sword strikes strike the augmentations on his arms with a spray of sparks, sliding up the metal portions to cut gashes in the synthetic, fabric-like musculature. Rather than back away, as a typical zoner would, Eye slides around the blade and into Seifer's space. The champagne diamond set into his forehead crackles visibly with purple lighting. Eye whips his upper body around, and his long braided hair snaps towards Seifer. It may seem like a taunt, but it absolutely isn't--the wake of those attacks come with the smell of ozone, and glimmering in the light, Seifer can see fine, razor-sharp metal filaments. The angry crackle of high voltage electricity sounds, and Eye attempts to ensnare Seifer's sword arm with his hair. If he's successful, what follows is a blast of electricity, making for a... shocking clinch.
Seifer Almasy	Seifer lets him get hold of his arm. The blast comes. It's fierce. But before it's even finished, Seifer's dropped Hyperion and grabbed the tentacle arm with his own hand. His foot comes up, taking him what appears to be off-balance as he tugs despite the shock and the hair-standing-on-end and the smell of burning flesh. He kicks the hilt of Hyperion up into the air as he gives the tentacle another, fierce jerk, snaps his fingers, and- BOOM. There's an explosion directly in front of Eye's face. It's purely cover for Seifer's charge. He hasn't even let go of the tendril. No, on the contrary - he's holding Eye's tendril hostage. He's willing to tank the electricity to get a better shot in.
All-Seeing Eye	The explosion shears off a portion of the Alchemical's face, blackening the synthetic musculature beneath and revealing his clenched teeth. He knows exactly what's happened--if not for the fact that the explosion happened directly in front of his face, then for the litany of warning messages screaming for him to reposition. The Autochthonian fans in the audience can be heard gasping when the smoke from the blast clears, but they can't be heard by Eye. The only thing on his mind is vengeance for the injustice committed to his flawless face. Just as Seifer predicted, the voltage increases. But more than that, Eye returns fire with some attacks of his own. His golden eyes shift and click, replaced with two pitiless black steel nodules. They focus on the hand which grips his hair and fire a volley of electrical blasts, the Exalt first attempting to free himself before going fully on the offensive. More concerning, however, is the sound of a turbine whining to life... PERIPHERAL ESSENCE OVERCHARGE APPARATUS ONLINE
Seifer Almasy	The volley of electrical blasts are met with explosions. Seifer's channeling his soul power into his fingertips, microexplosions throughout the Exalt's hair - just enough to disrupt the blast, just enough to ensure that the other can't get free. It's taking a toll on his endurance, but it's better than the alternative. Allowing his enemy to get free means the Exalt gets to take control of the situation again. He's willing to use his off-hand to get this done if he has to. Seifer coils the hair further around his arm as he brings the gunblade in for another flashing swing. This time he starts pulling the trigger with each impact - causing internal explosions in the gun, and furious, brutal vibrations from the blade. The explosions are no risk to Eye. The vibrations...well, that's a bit of a different story.
All-Seeing Eye	Eye lets out a scream of pure, animal rage, entirely at odds with his jovial, almost flirtatious entrance. The explosions singe his hair, and the slashes from the gun draw a black substance from his body which looks like oil, save for the fact that it seems to drink in the light around it. Seifer's onslaught is entirely succesful in finding its mark, shearing off soulsteel plates from his augmentations in some spots, and opening his chest up in others. He lifts his leg up and stomps downwards, attempting to drive his foot into Seifer's. Hit or miss, his next move is a savage headbutt, limited somewhat in range by the fact that Seifer's got a handful of his braided hair. His arms outstretch behind him, and he leans backwards, putting more weight on the swordsman's hand in an effort to make him let go--but that isn't all he does. The final attack in this flurry involves shooting behind him with his arm-mounted crossbow bolts. The projectiles ricochet off of the ground, heading straight for the spectators. They bounce off of the protective wards in place to prevent audience injury, and fly towards Seifer's back like a swarm of angry metal hornets.
Seifer Almasy	Well that hurts. The foot comes down. The headbutt comes in. Seifer's not made of metal, and his superhuman form only goes so far. He gets smashed, hard. Blood rolls down his face. He's probably got a broken nose. He's probably also got a broken rib. No, he's probably got two. The crossbow bolts come shooting out. It's a testament to how good Seifer Almasy actually is at what he does that only one of them gets through. The one that goes hits him right in the back, right through the center of his lung. It is an inch away from his heart. The others are cut to shreds. Shrapnel hits his side, hits his back, hits his arm. But no more get a clean strike. No more get a clean kill. Eye barely gets a chance to see how he did it, save that his blade was a whirling dervish, a white blur of motion in ways that no human should be able to move, a perfect storm of perfect skill. Once-in-a-lifetime-ever sort of skill. He's breathing heavy. Obviously. A broken rib, a broken nose, a punctured lung and nearly a punctured heart. Even in a place where damage doesn't last, this is dangerous. He doesn't know what would've happened. There's the adrenaline. The pulse-pounding adrenaline. The beating of his heart rubbing up against the bolt. The feeling of the wood, of the sharp blade, against his muscle. There it is. The feeling that he could die at any moment. He's addicted to it. He's addicted to that taste. To the blood in his mouth. To the edge of death. He fights his best like this. His gunblade comes around. There's a grin on his face. The blood from his nose is on his lip. It's just one slash. But it's one slash he's been experimenting with for ages. A slash he's been pushing himself to learn since Nie Li's explanation of soul power. He's put his explosive soul power into that blade, and in this cut. No finger-snap. No trigger. Just the blade and himself. It's an extension of his arm. The blade comes down. He pulls the trigger. It vibrates, just like normal. And then, in its aftermath, there's a line of eruptions in the air. And, possibly, in Eye's wound.
All-Seeing Eye	Eye stares Seifer down. The right side of his face is simply torn off, making him look like the dramatic reveal from some sci-fi thriller. A bare, black orb with a nodule for firing stands in the place of each eye, the one on the right more fully exposed. His teeth, too, are also fully exposed on that side. The still-human side of his face pulls what's left of its lips into a sly, venemous smile as he observes the effect of his attack. There is a mechanical whine from his servos as his Essence turbines wind down, and this only makes his smile wider. His tongue, blackened with his own lifeblood, slides across his upper lip as he begins lining up another shot. That's when it strikes him. Just how good is the Shrine at preventing lethal damage? Has anyone tested it? Wouldn't it be a shame if it couldn't quite save his opponent? His mind is already thinking of an explanation, of excuses, of how he'll doctor the footage in the event the Shrine isn't able to save him. AUTHORIZE LETHAL FORCE? Y/N Y The targeting solution is found. It is then knocked wildly astray by and explosion from within his own chest. It tears him open, revealing in morbid detail the various hidden-away pistons, cables, and circuit pathways, and the black rubber heart between his titanium ribcage. The bolt goes wide, flying harmlessly into the grass, and Eye is thrown from the ring, hitting the ground and rolling some distance away. As the crowd erupts, and the announcement is made, Eye rises, and the Shrine begins slowly repairing him, starting with the most grievous injury. His ribs bend back into place, the wound begins to seal. He disengages both the crossbow launcher and his eye cannons, so that he may fix a piercing stare upon Seifer. He smiles, then calls out to Seifer from his position. His tone is polite, but his eyes are like a shark as his wounds continue to heal. "Well done, Hand of the Concord. I appreciate the opportunity to analyze your fighting style. I'll be studying it /extensively./"
Seifer Almasy	"Uh-huh," Seifer tells him. Seifer isn't stupid. Seifer's a trained soldier. More than that, he can tell when somebody loses their shit in the middle of a match. The sudden shift from 'gladiatorial' to 'absolutely murderous' wasn't hard to pick up on. But the real tell for Seifer is the sudden show of respect. Largely because nobody ever called Seifer by his titles. No matter how hard he tried to get them to. Literally nobody. And the only reason somebody like this would, considering his entry... Well, Seifer projects a stupid aura, but he's never actually been stupid. Loudmouthed, (formerly) foul-mouthed, and a crazy risktaker, but never stupid. People just tend to think he is. And he's fine with taking that and using it. So he gives Eye a big smile. "Yeah, it wasn't bad. A little bit easier than I expected, considering the competition." And then he turns around and moves to head out. He waves over his shoulder. "You're gonna have trouble with that, pal," is all he says as he heads for the door. He's gotta go get medical attention. What with the bolt like three inches from his heart and all.
All-Seeing Eye	"Easier than you expected?" He laughs musically, but his fists, held behind his back, clench tightly enough to draw blood, creating more work for the Shrine. "You /expected/ the broken rib? The nose? And... do I detect the Shrine mending a punctured lung?" The Alchemical shakes his head. "Tsk tsk. You really should have more confidence in yourself, darling. I know /I/ certainly didn't expect this sort of performance, but now I see why Priscilla keeps you around. Ta, darling!" The message is pretty clear: 'it wasn't that easy, and you know it.' Eye waves cordially, then turns and waves to the crowd, going right back to working them over on his way out.