Scene #6578: MECC: All-Seeing Eye vs Haguro

Owner	Pose
All-Seeing Eye	The fight between today's combatants takes place in an arena designed to make use of their agile fighting styles. A large platform floats in a simulated ocean upon ballasts, moving at a decent clip thanks to a powerful motor. Its path takes it through an ominous graveyard of shipwrecks, with masts and rusted radar arrays poking out of the water like hands frozen in time. At the end of this harrowing passage is an oil rig situated high above the water on sturdy-looking supports, likely the spot both contestants will make their last stand if the fight goes on for long enough. Rugged tugboats tow two barges alongside, each keeping clear of any hazards and protected by the best forcefields sponsors' money can buy. Atop the barges are spectator seating, concessions, and elevated viewscreens the spectators can use to watch the fight, should it progress to an area difficult to see with the naked eye. Speakers in the arena, and the barges, begin to play music, heralding the arrival of one contestant. At first it sounds like classical music, with a driving string melody... but then the horns and drums start, and it is very clearly Motown. https://youtu.be/q1NrmNz0bc4 Flying in on a hoverbike from above, All-Seeing Eye wears a tight-fitting red and white Breton shirt with a black neckerchief, baring just a little midriff. He stands upon the seat and waves to the crowd, making a circular path around the arena to grandstand for everyone. Dropping down, he hangs from the craft's underbelly on one side, purple plasma jets carrying it in a slow spiral--he blows one-handed kisses all the way down, until he drops from a great height to land gracefully on his feet. Dusting off his black tights, he greets Haguro with a fist-in-palm bow, the platform rocking slightly from the cyborg's impact. Once Haguro is ready, he extends both arms, and all manner of dark metal cybernetics sprout from his skin, which goes from a warm taupe brown to a shocking, porcelain white. Two panels open in his forearms, and a short volley of steel crossbow darts zip from integrated repeaters with mechanical precision!
Haguro	"So even this type of arena is possible with these fights..." Haguro muses aloud as she takes a moment to look around slowly at the battlefield before her, half in awe and half disturbed at the sort of mind that could come up with this sort of thing. It's a fitting battlefield, though, and she reminds herself that for all the visual effects and simulated shipwrecks, it's still an arena! That doesn't make it not creepy anyway, though. The shipgirl is looking a little anxious, tugging on the hem of her purple uniform skirt lightly and checking the turrets strapped to her white arm-length gloves. She looks like some kind of strange cross between a nun and an office-worker, complete with that little rounded collar thing and white stockings that are most certainly not nun-like at all and more like... Well, an office worker. She'll get a better wardrobe one day. Today, however, the blue lights poking through the back of her uniform are a little more visible, as she's keeping them prepared to fling her around at a moment's notice. Looking up at the sound of the weirdly nostalgic music (that's technically past her time), the Cruiser returns All-Seeing Eye's bow with a formal one of her own, dipping at the waist before settling into a stance more resembling a hot-dog skinned wrestler than a Fleet Daughter. Which doesn't help so much when she's getting shot at first thing. Taking aim at the rapidly moving target, she focuses more on taking a good shot rather than avoiding the bolts as she takes them square in the chest, the bolts snapping a plate of metal off right as Haguro fires off a volley of explosive shells at the ground near All-Seeing Eye for her own explosive counter!
All-Seeing Eye	The blast knocks Eye into the air, setting fire to his shirt and scorching his clay skin. Hitting the platform causes it to rock slightly on its ballasts, and shakes loose the crumbling facade, revealing synthetic musculature beneath. The Exalt leaps back to his feet with an agile kip-up, all smiles despite the heavy blow. The shirt is torn off--he hates to lose a nice garment, but anything he's wearing to these fights he can stand to lose. Haguro can then see the full extent of his augmentations, some of which now activate. There is a sound like a turbine whining to life, and electricity begins to crackle to life around Eye. The champagne diamond in his forehead sparks bright, purple lightning, and the Autochthonians seated on one of the barges cheer raucously. ERIPHERAL ESSENCE OVERCHARGE APPARATUS ONLINE "That stung a little," calls Eye, breaking into a sprint as the turbines wind up. "A weapon like that must take a lot out of you." He makes an erratic zig-zag, lifting one arm as if preparing to strike... then abruptly leaps backwards in a graceful aerial backflip. Both arms come up in a cross formation, which proves to be the real attack. Two steel cable whips lash out from his wrists, striking at Haguro's feet from above to try and yank her off balance!
Haguro	As the smoke clears, Haguro gets a better look at just what it is she's up against today. The technology isn't completely unfamiliar to the shipgirl, but it's still jarring enough of a sight that she isn't quite sure what to focus on. The diamond in his head? The noise from... Are those turbines? Are those coming from him, or the arena itself? "The ^turrets? They're not easy to fire, but... They're as much a part of myself as my arms and legs. Or my ship form, but that.. Um. That might not be appropriate for this kind of battle." Haguro chuckles briefly before settling into her wrestling stance once again, preparing for Eye's melee attack as he charges right at her! That feint catches her completely off guard, though, as the whips latch onto the shipgirl's legs and pull her towards him, sending her landing flat on her back! Grunting from the impact, Haguro recovers (relatively) quickly and grabs the cables, then jerks them once before launching herself at Eye, aiming to just slam right into the man shoulder-first!
All-Seeing Eye	As Eye comes back down, Haguro can indeed see that the turbines come from the Exalt--one for each shoulder blade, each spinning so quickly that an uncautious soul could lose a finger to it. He touches down a second after she hits the floor, with an attack already prepared. The defiant yank catches him off guard and sends the crossbow bolt wide, sticking it into the floor inches from her body with a menacing 'thwip.' "Is that so? --hnh!" The shoulder charge strikes him square in the chest--but for such a svelte opponent, Eye is surprisingly heavy. There is a grunt from him at the impact, and Haguro can hear her shoulder striking something solid. The impact leaves an odd, black bruise, and knocks the Exalt off of his feet. "Then by the end of this fight..." Eye calmly bends backwards, rolling with the force of the blow into a nimble back walkover, one leg after the over raised high above his head. He lands again on his feet, and grins widely. "We'll know each other very well." Seemingly of their own accord, the whips tighten around Haguro's ankles, and bright purple electricity hums audibly down the length of each. Eye ihcreases the voltage considerably, to the point where each whip is flashing brightly, almost aflame with electrical charge, attempting to give Haguro the shock of her life.
Haguro	After spotting those turbines, it's a good thing haguro didn't charge in to try grabbing the Exalt blindly! Otherwise, her hand would probably be in bad shape. Eye's toughness is surprising for the Cruiser, though, as she rolls her shoulder to fight that numbness from the impact off. The comment has her blinking slowly in confusion. Was that some kind of odd flirting? No, she's just overthinking things. "R.. Right. We'll learn each other's fighting styles, and that'll help us become better fighters as well!" Having experienced flirtation-based attacks before, the shipgirl steels her resolve as she approaches Eye once more! She notices the tightening of those whips as the electricity begins to flow, yelping in pain once the current starts zapping her and going right through the metal armor covering her. And then she disappears. It's only for a moment, but she most definitely disappeared! All-Seeing Eye might recognize the cause of it, too, if he's seen it done by a certain Abyssal Exalted with a fondness for all things death: Haguro seems to have stopped existing for just long enough that she's stagged forward through the material of the whips. Shaking off the shock, Haguro, plants one hand on the ground briefly before charging right at All-Seeing Eye again, her thrusters augmenting her speed as she aims a big... ... Slide? Yes, she's sliding at him like a baseball player to try and catch the man in her waiting from below! Waiting arms that are poised to start grabbing onto him for some ground-based rolling and slamming all over the place.
All-Seeing Eye	For once, Eye didn't mean something he said as flirtatious. Unfortunately, his reputation, his face, and his voice do tend to give that impression anyway. The moment he notices the disappearance, Eye sighs. It might be annoyance at the evade, or irritation at what's coming next--he has a pretty good idea. See... Having ultra-peripheral vision doesn't always improve one's reflexes. It helps, but sometimes it just makes one aware of the inevitable before it happens. He doesn't have an answer for the attack. Rather than flounder searching for one and look foolish, Eye waits, drawing in energy from the air around him. Haguro catches him in this state, and he is easily grappled. The multiple impacts from the rolling attack slam the back of his head into the ground numerous times, but despite the occasional grimace, despite the troublesome clanging of metal against metal with each impact, there remains a smug smile on Eye's face. If she can teleport, then he'll simply get her to do it again, and solve the problem of the clinch. With a forward flick from his neck, Eye's long, braided hair lashes out towards Haguro. She might think it's a joke, until she sees the metal filaments woven into those raven locks. Again, the hum of electricity sounds, and this time, the clinch is aimed at her neck. Right before her very eyes, the Exalt's golden eyes shift and click, retreating behind his sockets to reveal two pitiless dark steel nodules. Each one looks like the barrel of some small, concealed pistol. With only a short notice, blasts of lightning shoot from each at point blank! The intent is clear--force her to choose between retreating and allowing him breathing room, or doubling down and potentially getting pummeled.
Haguro	Now he's where she wants him! All Haguro has to do is keep Eye pinned down, thrash around some more, and wear him down with-wait what the hell is he doing with his hair? She doesn't quite have an answer for that. She doesn't even know how to respond at first, but the danger becomes much more apparent once the metal becomes more visible and the hum of electricity fills the air around her. Haguro can't quite get off the Exalt fast enough, though, and the electricity courses through her painfully once again. She seizes up long enough to release Eye, reaching up instinctively to grasp at the filaments to try and yank them off. And then he shoots her in the face with even more lightning. The lightning is getting to be a severe problem at this point, especially as her armor is proving to be weaker than the person wearing it. Plates drop off one after the other between the constant thrashing and having to tear them off so she doesn't keep getting zapped worse, her uniform is getting tattered, and there's even the smell of burnt metal, flesh, and hair starting to stink up the arena! At least the simulated stench of shipwrecks and oil masks that a little. It's pretty obvious the smell is coming from Haguro, through, what with the singes and burns covering her face. Still, with the option to back off from All-Seeing Eye or trade blows presented to her, what's a girl to do? Grasping for the hair tangling her neck with one hand, she starts throwing her other fist at Eye repeatedly, going for rough body blows to try and keep this battle in close-range.
All-Seeing Eye	Eye's hair is actually pretty easy to yank off, past the initial... shock. Har. The Exalt is used to fighting from ground--he rolls up and protects his vitals, covering them and curling to hide his face and make himself as small a target as possible. Haguro's work is thus harder, much more so given his unusual resilience... but not impossible. Each of her strikes conjures up a spray of sparks as her fists impact against the strange, unyielding metal that comprises most of his augmentations. Partly through the barrage, she begins to get some mileage--while the metal itself is as stubborn a material as ever, the material fastening the plates to his body isn't as resilient. Bolts and rivets give under the strain, shearing the brutalist-esque plates from his arms and revealing complex synthetic musculature made of equal parts rubber and space age fabric. "Stubborn..." Clang, clang, thud. "Aren't you?" Thud, thump, thump. "So am I." The menacing oscillation of steel cable in the wind sounds in Haguro's ears. She's got his hair firmly in one hand, but Eye catches one of her blows and forces it wide with both arms. Steel cables emerge from each, and he wraps his legs around her--two /more/ whips emerge from his ankles. As he draws all four limbs close, lengths of bright purple lightning materialize in his hands. An irritating six whips are now involved in this, and she can guess what's going to happen next. Zzzzzzzzap! Eye grits his teeth, turbines working overtime below him. Smoke begins to stream up from below his complex musculature as the whine of overcharged servos turns into a series of pops and fizzes. Though Haguro successfully yanked his filaments out, it seems Eye is /all/ about whips and lightning. Just to press the issue further, the blasts of lightning from his eyes continue--and crossbow bolts from his wrist-mounted launchers, too! A stream of them fires out, bouncing ridiculously off of the masts and hulls of the various shipwrecks, even off of the protective forcefields surrounding the tugboats and spectator barges, zipping back towards Haguro like a swarm of pissed off hornets.
Haguro	"Very." Whack. "If I wasn't, I wouldn't have gotten as far as I have." Thunk. Haguro's hand is starting to throb considerably as she keeps ramming that boaty fist into Eye, losing some of her leverage over time between the constant shocks and when he catches a blow with strength far beyond what she was expecting. Struggling in Eye's hold as he turns her close-range focus against her, she can't quite get free as Eye starts electrocuting her directly as the conduit himself. That, of course, makes it even harder to avoid the rest of the shots and lightning blasts coming her way. Thrash as she might, Haguro gets pelted and run through with multiple shots and blasts alike, setting parts of her uniform on fire where they haven't been torn apart by crossbow bolts already. The black Abyssal armor worn underneath that uniform is all that keeps the Cruiser from being completely riddled with blood/oil-leaking holes at this point, but she's still powering through despite the pain! It's just going to take some work to figure out how to get out of this mess. The constant shocks have worn her down considerably, and she can't feel her parts very well at all. Even clinching like this is taking it out of her what with Eye weighing her down! "That's an... Impressive technique, Mister Eye. This is... I don't think I've fought anyone with your moves before. This... Hhh..." Words are hard. Thinking is hard. Therefore, easiest thing to do: Fall down. Letting gravity handle the majority of the work, Haguro pivots at the last moment to try and use that brief burst of speed to try and slam the Exalt harder than herself!
All-Seeing Eye	The cheering of the crowd rises to a fever pitch as the two combatants are essentially engaged in gladiatorial bloodsport by this point. The platform is nearing the end of its journey, the oil rig fast approaching. Eye is slammed into the ground, and Haguro can clearly hear the grunt of pain which escapes him. Despite this, there is a gleam in his eye, and a wide grin on his face. Haguro's attack was meant to end the fight, but it seems instead to have renewed Eye's vigor! "Oh, Haguro, darling... how does the saying go?" The lightning whips disappear in an instant, their steel cable cousins snaking back into their receptacles. "You 'ain't' seen nothing, yet." The Exalt flicks his wrist backwards and raises his knee. Again, the steel cable lashes out, but this time, it heads not for Haguro, but for the ladder fastened to one of the oil rig's sturdy pillars. The smells and sounds of industry are strong here, but not strong enough to drown out the sound of Eye's whip rapidly reeling him towards the oil rig. His knee rises just as rapidly, making a passing strike at Haguro's chin as he zooms towards the high ground!
Haguro	Perhaps it's lucky that Haguro doesn't notice that Eye's been revitalized by that fall. Although her stamina is starting to return, her morale probably couldn't survive such a hit a this point! Scrambling onto her feet, the Cruiser tilts her head slightly at the saying he utters. "I.. Haven't?" She doesn't quite seem to get it, but she has more important things to worry about as their battle carries them ever closer to that oil rig. She raises her arms to defend herself from yet more whip lashes, but peeks out when she doesn't feel any whippage on her limbs. In fact, she doesn't feel it anywhere! Unfortunately, the whip wasn't intended for Haguro at all. By the time she notices that fact, Eye is already blasting by her and striking her firm on the chin! The shipgirl jerks back, staggering onto one hand to steady herself for a few moments. Logically, she should just start shooting at him and wait for him to come to her. That would be a sound combat strategy, but the shipgirl didn't come to this tournament to find logically. She came to prove herself! Thus, she trudges after Eye, clawing for each inch of ground to get to that oil rig. On her way, though, she flicks her revolver out of her belt and takes a few potshots at him. It's advancing fire, at least, because even she knows the importance of an explosive finish!
All-Seeing Eye	Here is where it truly benefits to have eyes in the back of one's head. Above, the safety of the oil rig. Below, the inky depths of the sea. Eye faces Haguro, his back to the ladder--and begins lashing his whips up the length of it, skipping several rungs at a time and pulling himself up with the internal motors housed in his arms. The motion is jerky, owing to Haguro's earlier assault, but he makes the dangerous ascent with a smile on his face. When she draws her revolver, the Exalt throws his head back and laughs in delight, an assuredly odd reaction to having a gun drawn on him. "A fine weapon," calls Eye down to her. His HUD tracks the projectiles, superimposing a purple three-dimensional wireframe over the battlefield. The marvels of Autochthonian technology necessary to track them also provide separate trajectories--several of which, marked helpfully in green, lead towards Haguro's position. He sweeps a leg gracefully in front of him like a dancer. From his ankle springs a whip, bathed in bright purple electricity. Haguro's bullets, compelled by magnetism, slow to a crawl as the whip hurls a crescent-shaped electromagnetic barrier. Each bullet which finds its way to him performs an about-face, heading back down to the platform to attack Haguro! In between confident swings of his whips to carry him up the ladder, Eye makes potshots of his own, flinging crossbow bolts down at her to harass her entry.
Haguro	Note to self: Figure out how Eye does that, maybe ask him or Bloody Revelations about more weird tech to incorporate into her combat style. "It's.. A good backup weapon, but not nearly as impressive as those whips of yours. Is it a part of you or... What is all that, even?" Despite the mounting injuries and overall windedness of the shipgirl, she has to admit that the man's fighting style is quite impressive. She doesn't have that much time to admire the Exalt's technique and technology, however, as he turns back to face her once more. Those crossbow bolts meet particularly sturdy forearm bones/frame/whatever the hell is in Haguro's arm as she brings it up to defend the rest of her body from the rain of sharp metallic death. Bloody oily ghostjuice stains yet more of the oil rig as Haguro climbs further with only the one good arm to sustain her, and her standard armor plating is quite literally gone at this point between being shot, torn, or melted off. One problem remains, however: All-Seeing Eye still has the high ground, and Haguro doesn't have much left in her tank to even be certain she'll get up there! Thus, she has to go for a big gamble. The fight may not even reach the top of the oil rig at this point, but bringing it to the bottom may still be just enough to finish thing off with a bang. Raising her remaining gun/good arm, Haguro fires! Instead of a shell blasting at All-Seeing Eye, however, it's a knife attached to a chain! The knife latches onto the topmost rung, holding onto it firmly as the Cruiser leaps off the ladder and retracts the chain to pull herself upwards rapidly. As she draws closer to All-Seeing Eye, she releases the chain and reaches out for the Exalt to try and grab him while getting flung herself above and past the ladder! Should she actually catch him, she'll let gravity do the work once again while holding onto the Exalt tightly, aiming to slam both of them into the deck below!
All-Seeing Eye	"Indeed they are!~" Eye beams down at her, delighted as she goes for that gamble. He miscalculates her attack, sending a whip lashing up to try and yank her down, only to catch the brunt of her surprise rising grapple. She does indeed catch him, and with enough upwards momentum to carry him over the guard rail and onto the deck! Even the thick corrugated metal has trouble mitigating the impact of two of the tournament's most heavily chromed combatants. The deck rattles threateningly, bouncing up and down in a way that'd frighten even an experienced roughneck. To one side of them, the frighteningly steep drop is just a few inches away, the guard rail designed mostly to keep standing people from falling off--not people grappling on the floor. Eye grits his teeth, sparks shooting wildly from his back as his turbines grind themselves into uselessness against the deck. Twin streamers of acrid smoke curl up from behind him, and hungry augmentations deprived of their power source begin to alternate between powering down and blowing out, sending a litany of minor pops and fizzles up and down his arms. There is one that still functions, though... ESSENCE PULSE CANNONS ONLINE The Alchemical's expressive, vibrant golden eyes once more shift to reveal those hard, cold steel nodules. They aim for Haguro's center of mass with a clockwork click, and blast their last salvo of the fight.
Haguro	The impact was hard, but it seems it wasn't enough to put All-Seeing Eye down for the count! Haguro can barely even get herself up after that fall, but she toughs it out through sheer willpower and a desire to see this fight through to the end! It doesn't take very long to reach said end. Mustering up what little left she has in her tank, she prepares herself to try and evade whatever attack he throws at her next. More whip? Some kind of full body maneuver? Eyeball lightning? Eyeball lightning. Seeing it is much easier than avoiding it, however, as the Cruiser attempts to jerk sideways to avoid it and only succeeds in taking the blast right at the chest rather than in the face. She screams out painfully, lurches forward a step, then buckles and drops onto her side. She grunts as she tries to pick herself up once more, then drops her head back and holds a busted-up arm slightly. "I yield. This fight... Is yours, Mister Eye." She drops her arm back down with a groan, then rolls onto her side and coughs out a thick pile of bloody ghostjuicy oil. "Guh... Good fight."
All-Seeing Eye	"It was very nearly yours," says Eye, still on his back. He opts to remain prone, taking a biologically superfluous breath. He may not need to breathe, but it still feels good to do it--especially after such a taxing fight. When the Shrine has done enough work to mend and reaffix the Soulsteel plating on his arms, he rises. In places, his body is stained with his own lifeblood, which is at least superficially similar to Haguro's, save that it seems to drink in the simulated sunlight around it, as if it were doing the exact opposite of 'glowing' Eventually, these fade, too, followed by the black bruise upon his porcelain white chest, and the exposed section of his abdomen shorn off by her initial turret strike. The augmentations on his body--the advanced, delicate apparatus on his ear, the plating on his throat and jaw, the extensive modifications to his arms, back and chest--they all sink beneath his now flawless skin. The last detail to change is his skin tone, returning to a more warm, human taupe brown. He offers a hand to her, if she hasn't yet risen--or extends it to her, if she has. "You fought like an Autochthonian veteran." If she takes it, he raises her hand triumphantly in the air, pointing at her with his free hand and smiling widely for the spectators. A roaring cheer erupts from the crowd for both combatants.