WMAT B2 Evangeline vs. Richard Stadler

WMAT B2 Evangeline vs. Richard Stadler
Date of Scene:	13 July 2014
Location:	Papaya Island - Stadium
Synopsis:	WMAT Evangeline (Chrysanthemum) vs. Richard Stadler
Cast of Characters:	101, 106, 300

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Richard Stadler (300) has posed:
This wasn't Stadler's first choice of an arena, of course. Too many people watching, with too many cameras. Granted, victory in this little tournament and the accompanying prize money wasn't going to come without the expense of a little fame, but Stadler has never been the type to look for his name in lights and his likeness on t-shirts. If he was exceedingly lucky, no one from his home country would be looking quite so hard at exactly what someone with his name would have been doing for a living.

He'll stand at one end of the Arena, entering without fanfair or a display of any sort, waiting for his opponent to annouce themselves in the manner they would wish. It was a good time to pull down on load bearing gear, adjusting the tightness of strapps and the secure nature of the pouches around him. Armor was strapped securely, the balaclava and the helmet wasn't feeling odd and out of shape on his head... And, more importantly, a quick pull back of the charging handle ensured that the chamber on his rifle was both clear of debris, and now had a round in it.

Back to waiting. Damn, this place didn't have a lot of cover.

Chrysanthemum (101) has posed:
Evangeline is not actually that into public spectacles... but Chrysanthemum is, so the princess is tolerating it. The ponytailed princess walkes up into the arena with steady, measured strides, carrying her gleaming lance in one hand. The other is empty, and otherwise she is ridiculously under-equipped for this battle. She's wearing a flowing, elegant dress and boots with a severe heel on them, which can't be comfortable to fight in. It's the most impractical tournament garb imaginable.

Chrysanthemum is in the spectator area, and is already calling out, "Don't be afraid to hit harder early on, Princess! I'm sure he can take it!"

Evangeline sighs, then curtsies to Stadler to indicate she's ready. "Shall we begin?"

Yuri Stinson (106) has posed:
Yuri is currently hanging out over the stadium in a lawn chair with a great number of balloons tied to the top of it to keep him aloft. He wafts over the battlefield with a mojito in his hand, "Ladies and gentlemen, talk about two entirely different competitors. Grizzled veteran against lovely madamoiselle. Military against magic. This match is about to kick off shortly."

Richard Stadler (300) has posed:
Stadler looks over to the woman across from him. The fact that she was in the second round of this fight was something of a giveaway that the garb she was in and the weapon she was carrying was less useless than it appeared. Though he really shouldn't have been suprised, at this point, given the last person he fought was able to get blown apart and still hurt him badly. He'll give a slight nod to the woman, as she curtsies. "Elegent. I've got no problem with that. Quarter given and taken, on this end, so if one of these old joints pop out of place, I would hope you'd stop stabbing me with that thing when I ask.

He gives another nod, working the sling off of the rifle, seeing that it's comfortable in his hands. "And I'd hope you do the same if you don't like 5.56 millimeter after a certain point." And with that, the weapon is snapped up toward the princess, and the trigger pulled three times in rapid succession, sending bursts of fire toward Evangeline as Rick starts running. The shots themselves weren't precisely aimed, but it was an attempt at getting his opponent off balance, and seizing the initative.

Chrysanthemum (101) has posed:
As soon as the barrel snaps up, Evangeline /moves/ with the practiced grace of an experienced combatant. "You have a strange idea of nonlethal," she says with some amusement. Fortunately it doesn't seem to bother her in the slightest. Oh, a slight stagger in her step and the line of fire makes it very clear that she was hit, but no blood is blossoming out, and it isn't visibly clear where she was hit. The bruises will appear shortly, but for now the bullets have flattened against her... uh... silk dress.

"No need to worry," she adds. "I'd have to really try to kill you right now." She's doing a dart and weave as best she can, because just as Stadler complained about no cover, she's in the same boat. She's clearly trying to close for melee, if she can.

Not that she lacks some ranged options. The lance snaps up, point dragging along the ground for a sparking scrape, then a line of flame bursts out to streak toward Stadler. If it hits, it will certainly burn and be painful, but actual tissue damage simply won't happen. Chrysanthemum removed the ability of the spear or her attacks to cause permanent damage.

Yuri Stinson (106) has posed:
From his position in the flying lawn chair, Yuri shouts into his microphone, "And we're off! Richard opens with a solid barrage of suppressive fire, trying to use range against Evangeline and establish the pacing for the battle. But that pretty girl is way more durable than she looks. She takes a couple shots, but wants to show she can play at-range too. She brings that lance up and sends a blazing trail of fire right at her enemy."

Richard Stadler (300) has posed:
"I mentioned quarter. That's different from non-lethal." He manages to shout out from across the... damned open arena. Next time he was in a place like this, he was going to bring portable cover. Or bullets that could penetrate a layer of silk/whatever that princess happened to be wearing. First deductions were obviously the most accureate, it eems. Quite a bit more than meets the eye. "And that simply assumes you're not going to really try-" He notes, before the lance comes up, in sparks, and then a gout of flame moving toward him. /He/ didn't know about the restriction on damage, but the dive out of the way, across the arena itself, probably did a fair bit of damage, too. There's only so much skidding across the ground after throwing yourself at it to avoid brusing.

Melee was inevitable. She was going to get close, but, so log as she was at range, Rick did want to press his advantage. The rifle comes back up while he's on the ground, aimed, this time, attempting to send concentrated bursts toward her legs and get her off her feet.

Chrysanthemum (101) has posed:
That's kind of what she expected. Evangeline know closing in would be tough, and she's doing her best to dive aside and roll and dart in swiftly, trying to corner Stadler so she can get some real progress. The fact that the bullets are winging against stone dramatically and impacting her dress is also expected, but now her opponent gets a clearer idea of what's going on here.

The bullets are hitting her, and flattening against the fabric of the dress. The stumble and dive to roll she has to do when one of them slams into her thigh is pretty obviously because the impact still hurts like the dickens, and she's favoring one leg when she comes up to slam her spear into the ground.

"Sorry about this," she says pleasantly, just as the ground beneath Stadler erupts in a volcanic plume of fire, hopefully catching him this time. Again, it's basically impossible for this to cause permanent injury.

Yuri Stinson (106) has posed:
"Rick's trying to aim those shots with some strategy after rolling out of the way of that lance attack. He wants to snap that rifle up and try to hamper the mobility of his opponent." Yuri says, leaning over the side of his floating chair in the sky, "Evangeline trips up a bit and is given a limp, but those bullets aren't breaking flesh quite yet. But they're still clearly hurting her and she wants to step up her game with a HUGE volcanic blast at Richard."

Richard Stadler (300) has posed:
It's not a bad attack, admittedly, given RIck's current position on the ground, firing from his side. The rifle had been attempting to follow her movements, to get a lead on her and, at the very least, cause some brusing of skin and bone underneath that dress. And it looks, from the face that she was favoring one leg, that he might have been successful. It's only, of course, when she moves to slam the spear into the ground that he realizes immoble aganist a magic user is probably not the best of ideas.

She's gotten perhaps one word of her apology out before Rick pulls himself off the ground. He has little to no time, but he makes the most of it, not attmpeting to run, but just to throw himself in a different direction. And it actually seems to work, as the erruption of flame and fire likes at the back of his boots as he skids across the arena ground for the second time. "Making me run." He says, panting a bit, before Evageline would notice the base-ball sized object that bounced across the ground, thrown as Rick had attempt to evade. "And likewise."

The explosion is not nearly as large, but designed to send hot shrapnal into a kill zone that Evangeline is hopefully in.

Chrysanthemum (101) has posed:
Well, that explosion certainly hit. And the good news is that the hot shrapnel most definitely proves something: the seemingly-indestructible dress CAN be torn. Not nearly as much as cloth should be, but several gashes were opened up there even as Evangeline leapt away from the explosion. It's also drawn first blood, real blood, as it looks like she isn't Superman-tough under there at all.

The bad news is that she leapt up pretty high with the force of the explosion, and somehow flipped around to kick off in midair, going for a melee attack in the form of 'running down' Rick with a launch of her body and the spear to /impale/ him. And yes, it has the same 'anti-lethal' effect as the flames, bizarrely.

Yuri Stinson (106) has posed:
"Rick's moving into a run to avoid that eruption of flame and trying to move in with some mobility that is surprising for a man his age. But that may be a distraction, as there is a grenade under Evangeline's feet!" Yuri calls out, leaning over and watching the match intently, "That looks like it really hurt Evangeline, though! She's definitely bleeding now. But definitely not out, she's leaping straight up and trying to bring that spear down on Rick with devastating force."

Richard Stadler (300) has posed:
Stadler does take some comfort in the fact that, wonder of wonders, the dress actually tears up when exposed to just a little high explosive and a shell of framenting metal! And that the target actually bleeds. If things keep up like this, she might actually lose a limb and not consider it a benefit. GOing quite well indeed. Right up until he sees that the force at which she goes up and come down is a bit too much of a controlled ballisitc approch. And, perhaps due to the fact that it was non-lethal it does manage to stap through his should, nailing him to the ground and causing him to give an explosive sound of blinding white pain.

"Oh...fuck." He manages to get out, before the arm that still works pulls and tugs, drawing the Hi-Power at his thigh and pointing it up, firing over and over again, emptying the entire clip at what was point blank range, if he hand to. He might get the face, and he certainly would get something, but he could only hope it got her /away/.

Chrysanthemum (101) has posed:
Evangeline was already yanking the spear out with a smooth, professional tug and prepping for combat, but the sidearm appearing and blasting pretty much point blank is not something she can do much about. She tries to lift her arms up to block, but it still catches her right on the upper right shoulder, where the dress doesn't fully cover anyway. This time it does draw blood again, sending her back with a short but shrill cry of pain. She jerks away, her free hand clutching at the wound, and staggers back several steps.

"Nnh... you don't start out easy, do you?" she mutters, her free hand bringing the lance around again. When she braces it looks like she's going to thrust forward again, entering melee once more...

Instead, a billowing fireball blasts out, sudden and without warning, allowing Evangeline to hopefully dash to the side and come in from Stadler's flank.

Yuri Stinson (106) has posed:
Up on the lawn chair, Yuri is calling the match with great enthusiasm, "Stadler takes a heavy hit from that downcoming spear, going right through his shoulder and pinning him straight to the ground. In a desperation move to try to get unpinned, he unloads his pistol at point blank."

"Too fast for Evangeline to react as they pelt at her and punch through her dress, drawing even more blood. What a determined pair of fighters, and what a tough girl. She backs up, getting some distance for herself, and then wants to use another ranged fire attack."

Richard Stadler (300) has posed:
Stadler feels just a slight bit bad about responding to someone who was withdrawing the spear anyway with a slightly paniced moved to gain some space from the target. Perhaps because the target had, from this point, been nothing but courtesy toward him. And... perhaps that had been just a bit unprofessional. And he might be called out on it as the target moves back. He stands up , working over his shoulder, and moves his head in a direction. "Safeguards are in place everywhere. Otherwise I'd be stuck trying to bludgeon you with-"

Oh, hell. It's a good thing that most of the uniform was a nomex blend, allowing him to take the edge of the blast after mooving. His clothes don't catch fire, and his body is only mildly first degree burned in the places the uniform had been exposed... which was a few places. It hurt and make moving more than annoying. "Opposite time, then." He mutters, quickly turning and taking a lead on the woman attempting to flank, a th-THUNK sounding from the underbarrel M302 grenade launcher.

The explosion here is less of an explosion, and more of a canister fragmenting. The liquid nitrogen in the grenade doesn't stay liquid for long, but it's still /frightfully/ cold.

Chrysanthemum (101) has posed:
It's not a WMAT match if there aren't EXCESSIVE EXPLOSIONS, you know? And it's a pretty decent idea, using cold against someone who is using fire attacks. Evangeline isn't exceptionally vulnerable to cold, though, she just can't manipulate it at all. Which means it just smarts a lot rather than causing any extra damage.

This is compounded by the fact that the dress flutters wildly in another bounding leap, launching herself over the explosion so she isn't caught fully within it this time. A flare of heat tries to counter what's left, but crystals form on her dress, and though it's not visible damage this time, it's easy to guess that things got very uncomfortable for her there.

The next burst of flame comes as something more like a roaring fireball sent down... with the spear inside it. It's more a lance, really, but it CAN be hurled, and Evangeline does just that with a blasting impact toward the ground. She follows right after, landing on the haft after it embads. She was more aiming NEAR Stadler to catch him in the explosion.

"I think we both favor things that explode," she remarks, still in a pleasant tone despite bleeding much worse right now.

Yuri Stinson (106) has posed:
"Wow! Rick takes the edge of that fireball and it looks quite hot! Seared gently, even, like a steak. Perhaps she is trapping in his flavors before she cooks him more fully. I wonder if I can get FIA to cook steaks tonight..." He shakes his head, "Anyway! Rick wants to make an Evangeline-sicle with that nitrogen! She moves quick, trying to keep from that lethal cold. And doesn't look to happy with the cold in general. She throws her lance and it EXPLODES on impact. Geez that girl is a tough cookie."

Richard Stadler (300) has posed:
Of course there need to be excessive explosions. Perhaps that's how Rick can fight here in the midsts of magic, armored dresses, and martial arts experts. If there's one thing he can do, it's cause explosions. And, for the most part, attempt to evade them. Not so much this time, as his dashing isn't fast enough to evade the pressure wave that claws at his armor and throws him across the ring, singing smooke and flame causing him to feel the heat around him in a most uncomfortable way.

"Yeah..." He manages to say, slowly standing up, from that. He was not a young man, any more, that much was certain. "Really works. Effective stuff, esspecially if you have more than these..." He motions over his gear. "Firecrackers on you. Which I don't." More panting, before he moves erect, almost casually drawing the Glock at his hip with an extended clip. "Take a bit of a break from it?" He says, pointing the weapon at Evangeline and holding the trigger down, sending a spray of bullets toward her as he actually walks toward her this time. Her ranged attacks were almost all explosive, and relied on motions of the arm. He neeeded to get closer.

Chrysanthemum (101) has posed:
One thing that is universally effective against most humanlike beings is 'a spray of bullets at close range.' This really isn't any different for Evangeline, the Glock's slugs slamming into her right across shoulder, chest, and arm hard enough to stagger her back off the lance, the young lady forced to drop to the ground. "Hrk!" Yeah, that's going to leave a mark. Probably snapped a rib or three there, with that.

But dropping down lets her yank her spear out of the ground, and as soon as she sees an opening, the ponytailed princess drops, ducks to the side, then launches forward at an unnatural speed to bring the point of the lance up in a vicious sweep, aiming the blade for Stadler's chest. Even if it is nonlethal, being 'stabbed through the heart' will be pretty incapacitating.

Yuri Stinson (106) has posed:
"Rick is definitely feeling Evangeline's counters, the explosion staggering him a bit and then sending him toppling. He's clawing to his feet, though, and he really wants to get in with some more of that gunplay. He unloads into the spear-wielder," Yuri notes, hovering over the battle, "But Evangeline pushes through. The slugs pound her relentlessly, but she pushes in. She's aiming for a mighty thrust of that spear. If it hits, it could be DEVASTATING."

Richard Stadler (300) has posed:
All right. That hurt. That /really/ hurt. Enough so that he probably was doubting all of this wasn't going to kill him, given the spear was pressing into his chest, and, most likely threw it, causing him to aspirate just a bit of blood while feeling an intene amount of pain. ANd he would probably have to grab the spear and pull it out, slowly, slowly if he could, before gasping as it comes out. "Ghh... what was that about starting strong?" He says, before /yanking/ the spear forward, attempting to draw her in. He wasn't that good at close range, but he was good enough to try to grasp at her long hair, yank it forward with one hand, while the other attempts to whack her across the skull with the knuck-duster portsion of the trench spike he was holding. Enough times as he was allowed to, in fact.At least it meant he didn't have to walk around alot with a 'gaping' chest wound.

Chrysanthemum (101) has posed:
One would think the hair a liability, but it's actually... really hard to get a grip on. It doesn't /feel/ any different, but it acts like it's greased or something, slipping through fingers without giving easy purchase.

Which isn't to say it's impossible, because it does work out that Rick manages to keep hold long enough to yank Eva's head in. Her eyes go wide in surprise - apparently that isn't something that normally happens? - which just means she's utterly unprepared for the hardened punch that cracks into her face, staggering her with a blow that leaves her dizzied for a moment. She doesn't have any witty remark for that.

What she does have is... dropping the spear? Well, letting it go. Now's when she reveals she's /much/ stronger than she has any right to be, lashing out with a quick series of open-hand strikes at Stadler in the hopes of driving him back for a moment, so she can bring her lance back to bear. It's a furious series of strikes, each one fairly weak but meant to overwhelm.

Yuri Stinson (106) has posed:
"Abandoning his gunplay, Richard takes out a trench spike and darts in. He's not aiming for anything fancy, instead trying to push through the immense damage he just took and go for a quick crack across the skull of Evangeline after grabbing her hair!" Yuri shouts, "This is clearly coming down to its final exchanges in the near future, folks! Evangeline is stunned and staggered, but she's not going to be finished like this. Nonono, folks. She wants to come in and answer hand for hand with some wicked martial arts. What an incredible combatant for someone who looks so elegant."

Richard Stadler (300) has posed:
Rick had to curse himself, in this case, for forgetting what he had thought of in the begggining. Whatever weaknesses he /thought/ he saw in her combat set up had either been planned for or subverted, hence the fact the hair felt it was coat with a thin sheen of teflon when he tries to get a purchase on it. It's something he should have expected, and it means he can't pummel her into submission like he would hope to.

And if she was suprised he would punch her, he was suprisied that she could punch that hard that quickly. It gives her the room she needs, of course, to breath and to move, pressing him back and forcing him off the offense for a few moment. he was bruised, battered, and exhuasted. This needed to end soon. Or now.

His stiff, wounded hand groped behind him, reaching for the grip of a modified Webley, drawing the pistol and pulling the hammer back. "You're too close to leaving me on the ground. I'm sorry." He says, before firing one single round of a powerful caliber, the magnum both heavy and of a high velocity. It might penetrate, it might not. But it would /punch./

Chrysanthemum (101) has posed:
Sadly Evangeline can't rely solely on her dress to block for her. That's what she has to do, too. She takes the heavy slug right on the chest, with a disturbing *CRACK* noise, and lets out a wheeze. On top of the dizzying fist she took earlier, that's a bit too much.

One step back, then two, and she thuds to the ground with a rustle of cloth that looks all delicate and ladylike, despite the protection it offers. Looks like she's out like a light.

Chrysanthemum, as soon as the winner is called, floats down to scoop up the young princess. "Ah well, I was betting on one more round, but the competetition is fierce this year. Perhaps next year~"

Yuri Stinson (106) has posed:
"And that's the end of it, folks!" Yuri calls from his floating Chair, "Richard manages to stay standing after that powerful series of blows from Evangeline, and he comes in with a massive handgun. A single shot is fired, which strikes Evangeline square in the chest. She's down and out, but boy what a fighter she was! Still, moving on to next round it's Richard Stadler! But let's hear it for BOTH competitors."

Richard Stadler (300) has posed:
Stadler slowly lowers his pistol, the barrel still smoking, as the person she was fighting is finally knocked down. He pauses for a moment, turning the pistol to look at it. "I was... honestly not expecting that to work. Thought it would bounce and that spear would have somehow magically skewered me like a pike does a horseman." He notes, before holstering the weapon, and watching someone come down from the stands to collect the down woman. "She fought... suprisingly well. I don't know who she is, but I'd have to guess someone skilled with that sort of power and equipment. I'll keep my eye on her. And the person that uses them as a Champion." He notes. Just a little bit of contempt at that, before he turns around, and starts to walk out of the arena... making sure they don't see exactly how much he was hurting right now. There was... what, 4 rounds to go? Christ.