WMAT A3 Blackout vs. Zephyr Windstar

WMAT A3 Blackout vs. Zephyr Windstar
Date of Scene:	20 July 2014
Location:	Papaya Island - Stadium
Synopsis:	The windy mage ZEPHYR WINDSTAR will square off against the mysterious Confederate pilot, BLACKOUT! Will Zephyr's heavy axe win the day, or will Blackout come up with another trick up her sleeve? Tune in and find out!
Cast of Characters:	162, 353, 428

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Juno Eclipse (428) has posed:
The stadium of Papaya Island, better known as the home of the World Martial Arts Tournament, is truly a feat of engineering. That's a lot of people to pack into a relatively tidy space, and the arena itself endures all sorts of abuse at the hands of its showcased fighters.

Today it's been reserved for one of the tournament battles. Which is, you know, exactly what one would expect from the stadium grouonds that host this whole shindig.

Standing in the middle of the arena, checking over one of the two blaster pistol she's carrying, is none other than BLACKOUT, the mysterious Confederate starship pilot! She's wearing clothes that look like they'd belong on a smuggler -- plain white tunic tucked into plain dark leggings, one holster over each hip, a vibroblade at her left hip, and a leather jacket over that with reinforced plates augmenting the shoulders. Her hair's drawn into a plain horsetail; her complexion is thoroughly pale.

She looks pretty bored, actually. There's only so much checking-over you can do to a blaster.

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
A spell seal draws itself on the stadium's floor. Glowing purple lines connecting at four points with circles, then scrawling with symbols and formulae. Music strikes up as the mage appears in a flash of light. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SKFwtgUJHs) She's in her off-duty attire, but that quickly changes into her Barrier Jacket. She throws her right hand up, sending the little coin of her Device into the air. <SET UP! WINDSHEAR FORM!> it states. The haft lands in her left hand, just as the verse begins. "You better stand tall when they're callin' you out. Don't bend. Don't Break. Don't back down.".

Zephyr then twirls her weapon, and brings it up onter her shoulder like a Shounen Protag. Her right hand lifts to gee up the crowd, turning around and shouting at the top of her lungs. "I CAN'T HEAR YOU! C'mon! Give it up for my opponent too! We're gonna set this place on FIRE!" Her mismatched eyes turn over to Blackout, and she gives a cocky grin. "Lets make this one for the history books huh?" she offers, holding her hand out in offering of a sportsmanly shake before the match begins.

Laer (353) has posed:
It's going to be a rare bit of interferance from the commentator during intros. Laer begins to speak into her microphone to broadcast to the multiverse at large when music bursts out, rather loudly, and she'll lift up a hand and start to whistle, the bard throwing up a wall of silence between herself and Zephyr. This may or may not splash out to supress it entirely, but it certainly dulls it for Laer before she starts to speak.

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and small creatures of every species, welcome to Round Three of the WMAT. We're bringing you a hell of a fight today, between two ladies who have decided that their own names just aren't cool enough for this sort of introduction! In this corner, we have the mysterious enigma, Blackout! And in this corner, we have The Winddancer of March, Zephyr! Will one of them beat the other senseless? Almost certainly! Who will it be? Join us in the stadium proper to find out, or listen to my call on 900.8/Dubya Em Ai Tee 8!"

Juno Eclipse (428) has posed:
With all that showmanship opposite her in the stadium, one might expect this mysterious mercenary not to be outdone.

They'd be wrong. She really doesn't seem to give a crap about putting on a big show. Actually, when encouraged to push this fight to eleven for the audience, Blackout just sighs a beleaguered sigh and covers her face with her free hand.

Still going to ram a piece of glass into Starkiller's face for this.

"Yeah. Whatever." Her response is probably less than thrilling. "I just want to get this over with. Frankly, I was never supposed to be in this tournament. Clerical error," she adds, with a straight face.

Yeah.

Error.

Sighing, she seems to make a show of checking out her blaster for a few more seconds, though what Zephyr might not notice is that the pilot is studying her opponent in the weapon's chrome surface. So, maybe it'll take Zephyr off guard when Blackout suddenly snaps the thing in hand and fires off a series of quick, precise shots to test the mage's defenses.

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
Zephyr might be taken off guard, but Divine Wind definitely isn't. <RAMPART AEGIS!> it announces, forming a barrier to deflect the blaster bolt. The shield shatters and allows a small part of the laser through to scorch along her chestplate. "Hnngh, Error huh? Well lets see what you can really do." she replies, lifting her right hand.

Her palm glows brilliantly, purple mana gathering into her grasp. <IMPACT BULLET> announces Divine Wind, as that gathered mana surges out in a wide area, but relatively short ranged blast of raw power.

Laer (353) has posed:
"And Blackout tells a small fib, claiming they did not intend to enter a tournament and that it was a paperwork error. Inside information that yours truly happens to have allows me to report to all of you that they actually meant to enter the secret World Death Match Tournament, their bloodthirst so strong that they want all their fights to be to the death! But not today, miss, you'll have to restrain yourself to mere maiming!" Not that Juno's likely to have time to look, but Laer actually wags her finger while stating that.

"In any case, initial blood is drawn by Blackout, who lands a grazing blow; it looks like the blast of power Zephyr sends out in response may have missed entirely, but I'm quite certain it will inflict psychological damage for years to come!

Juno Eclipse (428) has posed:
Well, it would have been an error if it were up to her! But no, Galen wanted to enter her into the tournament because he thought it might be funny. Also because he might have thought that whatever retribution he tanked with his face would be worth it. So here she is, fighting in a big grandstanding arena instead of flying a stealth ship off the radar.

Incidentally she doesn't really like being in the centre of everyone's attention. Must have been flying the Rogue Shadow for too long.

She squints as that barrier neatly deflects the shot... and with a yelp, throws herself out of the way of that energy bolt, lunging and falling into a neat roll to bring herself back up to her feet, blasters trained on Zephyr as she rises -- she'd pulled the second one from its holster while rolling, it seems.

...So she does the next logical thing, and starts firing on Zephyr with both of them, while backing away to open up some space. Getting stuck in a corner with somebody who uses melee weapons is generally a really dumb idea.

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
Zephyr and Divine Wind aren't fast enough this time. The first few bolts slam into her chestplate, scoring out black pits in the metal. The following volley is met by a hastily erected shield, but shatters quickly, which only softens the impacts over a wider area. Zephyr seems to grin as the pilot backs up, but doesn't make to follow. "You think range is gonna save you?" she asks.

A sudden burst of wind ripples through the stadium, and a pair of green glowing 'wings' form from the mages back, lifting her into the air. "I call upon the great winds. Ragios." the mage then sweeps her Device in an arc above her, leaving a glimmering trail of purple 'sparks' in its wake. These suddenly grow in size, then lash out like bullets, raining down on Juno's position. <IMPULSE CASCADE!> announces Divine Wind, as it channels the pulses in a steady stream.

Laer (353) has posed:
Oh, and the mysterious rogue is clearly just loving her time in the spotlight, after a lifetime spent murdering people in front of small select crowds! She's getting fancy now, showing off to the crowd with some flashy dual wielding moves! Several of them seem to strike home, obliterating a magical shield that Zephyr puts up. Not to be outdown, Zephyr unleashes a flow of purple energy sparky things. That's a technical term for them. They look equally effective, give or take a bit, and the battle is on proper now!" Laer seems eager to mischaracterize both of the fighters publicly as much as possible.

Laer (353) has posed:
"Oh, and the mysterious rogue is clearly just loving her time in the spotlight, after a lifetime spent murdering people in front of small select crowds! She's getting fancy now, showing off to the crowd with some flashy dual wielding moves! Several of them seem to strike home, obliterating a magical shield that Zephyr puts up. Not to be outdown, Zephyr unleashes a flow of purple energy sparky things. That's a technical term for them. They look equally effective, give or take a bit, and the battle is on proper now!" Laer seems eager to mischaracterize both of the fighters publicly as much as possible.

Juno Eclipse (428) has posed:
"I'm not thinking anything. Didn't I already tell you I never even intended to fight in here? Bloody hell," the pilot grumbles. "Nobody listens to me."

Before she can comment on her predicament any more, her opponent is suddenly floating in the air with green wings. Huh, that's a neat trick. Wasn't there some kind of bounty hunter that had his own jetpack? Fett, that was his name. She wishes she had that jetpack or something like it.

Oh, look pretty spark--

SHIT NO THOSE AREN'T PRETTY

Juno again finds herself diving and rolling in a desperate bid to get the hell away from the burny purple things, because getting shot by random energy in technicolour hues is usually a bad idea no matter what sort of galaxy you're from.

Bringing herself out of it, she shakes her head and snorts, spinning one of the blasters by the trigger-guard and glaring in Zephyr's direction.

"You know, I was never really fond of showmanship. I'd be happy just getting this over with." She reaches into a pouch at her belt with her free hand, jamming the blaster she'd been holding back into its holster, rummages around a bit, and comes up with...

...is that a rock?

Yes. It is a rock. And she's flinging it straight at Zephyr's head with an arm that would do a Major League fastball pitcher proud. But the rock, it seems, is just a distraction -- because she's raising up that second blaster and firing with it at the same time, trying to put a hole in Zephyr's shoulder.

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
Zephyr is flying, and is a bit harder to hit this time around. She ducks under the rock, then grunts as that laser catches her on the way back up, making her spin in the air from the impact. There's a smoking hole in her armour now, just over her shoulder. "I was listening, I'm just deciding to ignore you." she retorts, smirking even though she's taking a beating.

With the Pilot fighting from range, Zephyr decides to switch things up. <GALE SABER!> announces Divine Wind, as the mage winds up for what looks like a heavy swing. But surely she can't hit from that range! The blades gather air around them in boiling sheathes, and as the axe reaches the apex of its sweep, the 'sheaths' spall off into spiralling razor sharp 'boomerangs', right for Blackout!

Laer (353) has posed:
Laer says, "Just because we're not fighting to the death doesn't mean you have to revert back to throwing stones and clawing at each other, but these two seem to have certain impulses! Oh, it may just be for a distraction while they shoot and throw magical attacks at each other, but it's obvious from here that if they don't reign themselves in by the end of the match one of them will go feral and try to eat the other's face and or ear. Still, I think they may have both given up on defending themselves, hitting each other as hard as they can! Which is okay, because I get paid by the fight even if they end it quickly!"

Juno Eclipse (428) has posed:
"How mature of you," the pilot growls under her breath, blue eyes turning up track the mage as she's sent spinning via blaster bolt. She tracks the mage even as she swings that huge axe, which... does absolutely nothing.

And then
suddenly
Blackout is airborne.

Earth and sky and everything in between are sent spinning as, with a squawk, the woman is bodily lifted off her feet and /flung/ with the violent force across the arena, with a 'hurk' of having all the air knocked out of her. She bounces once or twice, tries to make it into as graceful a roll as possible, but when she gets up it's pretty clear that did some bruising -- she's moving a little slow, there, and wincing a little as she finds her balace again.

This time she doesn't bother to play around. She just raises both blasters and attempts to shoot Zephyr in the damn /head/.

Don't worry, folks. They're set to 'Stun.'

Probably.

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
Zephyr jinks to the side, choosing not to waste mana on shields, they've proven less than effective against the laser blasts from the pilot. She gets a very close skim, sending her falling for a moment before she can right herself. "Not a bad shot." she says, lifting her hand to touch the burn mark across her cheek. "Here's an easy one."

Zephyr grasps her axe with both hands, prompting the blades to split open to reveal the gemstone set between. The blades then begin to rapidly rotate around the haft, drawing in air and mana to the central gemstone. STUN MODE SET. IMPULSE BUSTER! announces the Device, as it issues forth a torrent of combined mana and mana-infused wind.

Laer (353) has posed:
"And we're going straight up for the kill now, shooting one another in the head! It doesn't look like either lands, but they're playing it dangerous? Will we have our first double loss, one contestant for killing the other, the other for being dead? Can they be trusted not to turn on our fair audience after? We all watch with bated breath to find out!" Laer calls out.

Juno Eclipse (428) has posed:
Oh. Look. The axe is doing some sort of weird spinny thing.

Blackout does pause long enough to shake a fist at the commentator's box. She's shouting but it may or may not be audible from there. It sounds like she's saying 'shut the *&$^ up,' but you never know! That sort of thing is easily lost in the roar of the crowd~

Her attention flicks back to her combatant, and though she takes a few steps backward, those few feet of distance aren't enough to mitigate the release of energy. For the second time in the evening, she's blasted off her feet, flung through the air to bounce, roll, and spin.

...Dammit that's just as annoying the second time. Blackout coughs and picks herself back up again, thumping dust out of the sleeve of her jacket.

And casually attempting to plug Zephyr in the gut with the blaster in her free hand.

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
Well, Zephyr's dodgeyness had to run out some time, and she takes that blaster bolt right to the gut, the red bolt shattering the purple shield her Device erects like it wasn't even there. She's knocked back in the air, and comes to a skidding, stumbling landing with a hand over her stomach.

Fire blazes behind Zephyr's eyes, as she brings her axe up above her, then hacks it down diagonally. The blades CLANK back into place, before the girl kicks off the ground, and surges forwards, those green wings shrinking down to little white jets. <BLITZ RUSH! TEMPEST SABER!> announces Divine Wind, as Zephyr blurs out, reappearing behind Juno with her axe at the ready, bringing the weapon around in a diagonal hack, empowered with more of those boiling wind-sheathes.

Laer (353) has posed:
"Oh, oh, and now Blackout is shaking a fist at the audience! We may need to get security in here, because if she manages to overcome Zephyr she might just come rumbling up with malicious intent, and this next exchange makes that all the likelier! A shot straight to the belly looks rather bad for Zephyr, and I think the return strike from the magic axe may have a little less behind it as her core strength is reduced owing to being shot and all." Laer manages to sound completely outraged, rather than the totally amused she is.

Juno Eclipse (428) has posed:
Blackout is mature enough not to indulge in a victory fistpump when her blaster finally has a major effect. Bet your bottom dollar she's doing it in her head, though. She can't afford to relax too much,t hough, because grounding her opponent only seems to have pissed her off. Oops.

Oh. Look. The wings are jets now.

"Oh, that's just not bloody /fair/!" the pilot calls angrily, scrabbling in her haste to try and run the hell away. What? Running the hell away is a perfectly valid tactic! She's not a Jedi, or a commando, or a stormtrooper, so removing herself from her enemy's immediate vicinity is usually the go-to strategy.

Whatever Tempest Saber is, it probably isn't good news for her! In fact she makes a 'YEARGH' sort of sound as she hauls herself bodily out of the way of the blade. That results in losing her footing, skidding and finally sent sprawling when she fouls up her stride. It hurts like a bitch to judge the way she lands on one wrist, abruptly taking the weight off it, rolling, and clutching it to her chest, but a nasty sprain is a fair sight better than a big bloody hole in something important. Right?

Panting, she pulls herself back to her feet, jams her blasters back into their holsters, and pulls out...

...another rock, flinging it for Zephyr's head. Followed by another. And a third one.

The fourth thing flung at Zephyr's head is a handful of lasers, because she's eschewed the rocks for a pistol in each hand. Oh, sure, she already did that once already. It worked, didn't it? Can't knock a good strategy.

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
DONK! "OW! Sonofabi--QUIT THAT!" Zephyr snarls, getting a good knock on the head from those rocks. She angrily swats the next couple aside with her axe, getting showed in rock debris, before she hurls herself aside, letting the lasers skim past, scoring gouges out of her armour. She's looking battered now, as she hauls herself up. <MASTER!> "I know... we'll use it." <ACKNOWLEDGE. DEVICE SET. MISTRAL FORM!> That big axe? Shrinks down, the haft shortening to a more easily one-handed wield. One of the two blades feathers away into purple motes of light and the remaining blade becomes more angular and dangerous looking. Then, something glints in the light, coming into view as it orbits from behind Zephyr. <MISTRAL SQUALL. TEMPEST RUSH!> announces the Device with another chime. A pair of turbine-like drones flit out, encircling Juno and Zephyr within a 'field'. This field seems to try its level best to slow Juno down, while seeming to speed Zephyr up! She's flitting around, waiting for an opening, before streaking in like a purple comet, zooming past and slashing with that axe, or lashing out with an empowered fist!

Laer (353) has posed:
"And more fancy moves being demonstrated! Blackout shows off her stone heart, rocking Zephyr with a choice of being hit with rocks ore lasers, but both of them manage to land! That seems to just annoy the mage, as she shrinks the axe down into a form more suiting someone too injured to really put her back into it! Still quite fast, it seems, as she zooms around to strike out in motions much too quick for me to describe!"

Juno Eclipse (428) has posed:
Chucking rocks is a completely valid strategy. Actually, given the reaction of everybody Blackout's done that to, it's actually kind of amusing. And she has enough of a fastball arm to make it /hurt/.

She stops chucking rocks long enough to observe that the big axe is no longer a big axe. Also there are drones. This is presumably bad.

Since she doesn't have any fancy Devices or shields or much of anything beyond her weapons, Juno tries to dance back and evade where she can, but she's moving a little more slowly than normal. The best she can hope to do when that axe flashes at her is to try and sink it with an arm, because tanking a blow to her neck is probably a really bad idea.

This rudimentary defense is good, because it turns what might have been a really unpleasant wound into a slightly more tolerable wound.

This is bad because there's an /axe in her arm/. Also holy shit that /hurts/.

Snarling, Juno wrenches her arm away from the axe, reaches out, grabs Zephyr by the shirt front (or collar, depending on whatever she can get a grip on), and yanks her in close.

Mostly with the intent of burying the muzzle of that blaster in Zephyr's gut and firing. Several times.

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
Zephyr is caught. The muzzle of that blaster finds itself covered by a glowing purple barrier... which softens the first few shots, but then shatters, allowing those bolts to slam right against her armour at point blank. The plate takes too much damage, and a safety system kicks in, making her entire ensemble glow brilliantly, before it coallesces at that torso plate. This then detonates outwards, nullifying what might have been a fatal or at least debillitating blow... and of course, with Juno being like RIGHT THERE, this can't be good for HER either.

Zephyr doesn't stop there though. She draws back that axe, ejecting another drone, with which she then draws them in close, using their turbine-like blades to slash and cut at her opponent.

Juno Eclipse (428) has posed:
Goddamn Juno hates droids.

The affable psychosis of PROXY is one thing, but they're always a pain in the ass when you have to deal with them as anything more than background noise. In this case, it has all sorts of pointy bits to deal with, and those pointy bits are pretty, well, pointy. And painful.

Again attempting to shield herself, Juno aims a sharp kick at Zephyr's stomach to buy herself some distance, hopefully in a spot that ought to hurt after that salvo.

In the meantime she hucks another rock at the drone. Maybe being clunked in the head might disorient it.

Also, another shot at Zephyr's /face/, possibly just to be a bitch.

Laer (353) has posed:
"And there's an axe in Blackout's arm, bcause I think she's tried to parry an axe with her arm! This seems like an awful plan, but what do I know? Still, she manages to recover from it enough to shoot some more, though that may be the end of the rock throwing, and there are drones flying around the arena trying to catch Blackout in the face with those blades. And back, back at Zephyr's face, after a kick to try and buy some distance! Oh, they're both on their last legs, I think. That'll make it easy for security to subdue the victor!" Laer says.

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
"HOOF... gnnngh. Probably the easiest thing I could do right now is quit." says Zephyr. Is she gonna forfeit? "But I'm not goin' anywhere." she states. She holds her midsection, feeling the pain of so many blaster bolts striking true. "You don't just give up half-way through, that's not the point." she grasps the shortened haft of her weapon with both hands now, drawing out the length a little more. "The point is the challenge. The path, the ROAD to victory." She sweeps the axe up over her shoulder. "If you don't have that, then it doesn't MEAN anything. And if you don't lose something along the way, you don't deserve it."

"I believe there's something better out there... and in the end, I have the one thing I need to win this fight." she SLAMS the axe head into the ground, forcing wind-element into the floor to surge up under Juno's feet. "SOMETHING YOU WILL NEVER HAVE! I FIGHT FOR MY SAINTS BLESSED FRIENDS!" <MAELSTROM BURST!>

Laer (353) has posed:
Laer, continuing, "And Zephyr has gone back to the psychological assault, accusing Blackout of having no friends and simultaneously claiming to be fighting for her own in this strictly for entertainment tournament! I'm sure that Blackout will submit under this assault! Or possibly shoot her some more."

Juno Eclipse (428) has posed:
Juno pants, squinting a little against the pain of several not inconsiderable wounds, the pain of being thrown across the ground to a rough landing twice, and various other unpleasantries. The notion to go find a nice hot tub and soak for a while after all this may or may not cross her mind.

Wait, no, she has an appointment first. It involves ramming a shard of glass into Galen Marek's face. Definitely more important.

"This fight is a goddamn exhibition match in a non-lethal tournament," she snarls, staggering even as the wind lights into her from below like so many blades. Hunkering into her jacket, she ignores the horrible shredding the leather gets (she's going to have to fix that later) and the sting of so much wind slashing into her skin (that hurts like a son of a bitch, actually).

She doesn't really bother with a rejoinder past that, though. The mage probably wouldn't listen anyway. Juno does indulge in a really exasperated sigh before she raises the blaster and attempts to plug her opponent with a stun shot to the face, though.

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
Zephyr is winded(hah) after that display of power. But she seems to have enough energy left to erect a shield which diffuses the stun shot to next to nothing. "I know that. Gotta make it sound good for the crowd." she stagewhispers back, offering a smirk as she returns her Device to its default form, leaning on it for support. "How d'ya wanna finish this? How much do you wanna keep goin'?" she asks conversationally.

She's not done, and with a quick flick of her right wrist, forms a Binding spell, a ring criss-crossed with glowing purple ribbons. This she casts toward Juno, seeking to ensnare her as the ring expands out to easily encompass the womans entire form within the rings diameter.

Laer (353) has posed:
Laer says, "Oh, but the shot seems to be off a bit, and Zephyr seems to be resorting to delaying tactics! Which is kind of irritating, because as previously mentioned I don't get paid by the length of the fight, and I've got places to be! Let's see some action, not binds and blocks, get to it."

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
Zephyr huffs a bit at the lack of reply. Maybe putting a bind over Juno's mouth was a bad call on her part. She shrugs, steps back a few paces, and levels her Device on her opponent. "Suit yourself then..." she says, before the blades crack open once more, and the Device charges up for another beam cannon. <IMPUSE BUSTER, GEAR SECOND>

Juno Eclipse (428) has posed:
Still bound, Juno's eyes flick over to Laer. It's not really a very happy look. In fact it is kind of a murderous look. But who knows? That's a long ways out, and it's hard to see that far. Heh heh.

As for the battle, Juno considers her state of 'my everything hurts' and--

Oh crap beam cannon.

That's really getting kind of annoying. Also, painful. Also, adding to the aforementioned status of 'my everything hurts.'

Once she recovers from eating a beam cannon blast at point blank range, Juno coughs and smolders slightly, waving away the fumes. And then she just raises her arms, head dropping. "You know what? I'm done. I yield. I'm not being paid /nearly/ enough for this."

And then she starts... walking away.

Very possibly to go murder Galen Marek in the face. And then give Laer verbal what-for. Hah.

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
Zephyr sighs softly, resting the spiked end of her axe on the ground to lean against it once more. She uses a little mana to amplify her voice. "Give it up for my opponent ladies and gentlemen. Lets hope she recovers quickly huh?" She then wavers, before falling to her knees unable to support herself after using so much power in such a short timeframe.

Laer (353) has posed:
"Oh, and.. and... Blackout yields! On the verge of cannibalism, friendless, her stone heart grows three sizes, and she retires to start a florist's shop in a sector far, far away! Zephyr has managed to advance to the next round!" Laer drops the microphone, stands up, and points at the pair. "Good enough! I'm out of here, though, I've got a free meal waiting for me." She seems utterly unconcerned about their condition, or if she was correct about the pair going after the audience, because there's a portal she's on the other side of within seconds of the yielding.