Black Coats: Volume 1

Discussion in 'Role-Playing Arena' started by Krowley, Feb 15, 2017.

  1. Aelin Best Waifu

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    "No problem, I got this. Try and keep up Arctus." Karina warned as she turned and walked towards the staircase, not paying too much attention to Shiro or what to say. She just wanted to get this done with. She wanted to make sure that she had the power to protect her friends like she wanted to. "If you have any questions about that thing, ask now, because it will be hard to answer them when we are fighting. And don't expect this to be easy, remember this is a test for me to become a master, it will be challenging."
     
  2. Arch Mana Knight

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    Arctus rolled his shoulders and looked up at the staircases. "Oh come on. It's combat. Can't be that hard, can it?" He replied to Shiro with a slight smirk. Arctus took a step forward and watched as Karina began heading towards her own staircase. He waved at the girl and gave her a confident thumbs. "You've got this! And don't worry about me. I learn faster by being in the moment." He called after her. Arctus waved once more at Karina but didn't head towards his own path just yet and instead turned to look at Shiro.

    "So uh, Shiro was it? Quick question. These...er...rooms you have us going to. Until we reach the final room, will anyone be watching our first six fights? I assume the last one is the big important one, you know?" He looked up to his staircase and rolled his shoulders back, waiting for his answer before he would head up towards it.


     
  3. Krowley Moderator

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    "THESE ROOMS ARE COMPLETELY SECURED AND PRIVATE. THE DOORS ONLY OPEN ONCE A VICTOR HAS BEEN DECIDED."
    A red clock pierced the hands of Arctus and Karina reading '60:00.'
    "YOU ALL HAVE ONE HOUR TO COMPLETE YOUR TASK. NOW... BEGIN!"
     
  4. cstar stay away from my waifu

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    Melus looked towards Alex after his comment, a bit amused by his statement and simply responded coldly,
    "I don't have any particular feelings towards any of them because I don't feel anything. Fronts are essential for keeping up morale. In a group where everyone is sooo serious and so determined, they needed someone a bit smiley and I was willing to do that. But I don't feel any emotion towards them. So if I'm handling it better, it's a matter of nature more than a matter of begin able to handle myself well. If you didn't have a heart, I'm sure you'd feel the same way." Melus jumped up on top of the roof and ran a little bit more and got to the edge of it and saw the wall with it painted and she yelled, "I found the last one. This was pretty easy all things considered."
    x
     
  5. Aelin Best Waifu

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    60 minutes, she had 60 minutes to get through seven battles. That wasn't much time. "Alright, so if I get through the first in 5 minutes, second in 6, so on and so forth I will have fifteen minutes to compete the last one." Karina mumbled to herself. "It will be cutting it close assuming that the battles just get harder as they go, so I have to use my time wisely, nothing too fancy." She mumbled to herself, already wasting the first 30 seconds of the trial trying to plan out her strategy. With so little time, she couldn't even bother to wish Arctus luck before she summoned her keyblade and charged into the first room.

    The door locked behind her and Karina was left facing a rather large man with a red shirt and black hair tied back into a pony-tail. Oh it was him. This pretentious dick that she had to deal with back at Beasts Castle. Oh he was full of himself, but she was sure that he couldn't hold his own. Standing up straight, Karina summoned her keyblade, he wasn't that quick, he was big and his muscle would slow him down. All these things in her mind, Karina launched her first attack. As long as she kept moving she would have the upper hand. There was no way that even her strength would be enough to stop one of his blows directly, but if she could keep moving he wouldn't be quick enough to hit her.

    The sound of a gunshot rang through the room and Karina had barely managed to dive and roll out of the way. Damn it. She didn't remember him being ranged, it was her own fault. She just needed to keep moving and close the gap. Don't give him room to re position and shoot again.Coming to a sudden halt, Karina pivoted and turned towards Gaston directly. Launching a fire ball at Gaston, Karina launched herself at him. His gun blocked the blunt of the blow, at least she had closed the distance.
     
  6. Arch Mana Knight

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    Arctus spun his keyblade around his finger lazily and nodded at Shiro. "Alright. Cool. I understand. No prying eyes. I feel so free that I could even do this in my underwear, huh? Hah. Not that I'd do that. I'd neverrrr disrespect the sanctity of this super important exam. See ya later Shiro! Wish me luck! Uh not that I need it! Haha...ha...yeah I'll be going now. Cool? Cool. Byeeeee." He gave a short wave at him before heading forward towards his own set of stairs, feeling a little lighter in his footsteps with the knowledge that they wouldn't be watched. It hadn't been that long since he started this but with the pressure gone Arctus was feeling a sense of relief. When he headed up the stairs he let out a short huff as he allowed a small smile to cross his face. "Sixty minutes then, is it?" He whispered to himself. "I suppose I'll have to keep that in mind."

    The door clicked behind him and Arctus simply raised an eyebrow upon seeing his first opponent. "Ah...that makes sense. I did feel pretty bad about messing with that jacket of yours. Kaida, was it?" Once more he began to spin the keyblade around his finger and gave the room a brief look around. True to his word, Shiro was correct when he said that the test was private. "Well, that's a load off my shoulders. Performance anxiety, ya know? Never been fond of being watched. Gets me all jittery. So..." He tossed his keyblade up into the air and caught it in his left hand as he entered a defensive fighting stance. "Let's go, phony."






    Kaida for the most part seemed to stare at him rather unreactionary until the word phony. Then she summoned out her keyblade in her left hand and readied herself, "It's alright. I'll make you hurt for it at least a bit. That'll be your payment." and she reached out her right hand and quickly summoned out a second keyblade and crossed the two blasts of a thunderous spell in the shape of a bell at him.

    Arctus stabbed his keyblade into the ground causing pillars of rock to surround him and stop the Thunder Bell from even touching him. "Not getting hit by one of those again." He twisted the keyblade in the ground and the rocks began to rise from the ground and levitate. Without wasting any time Arctus began to strike the floating pillars to launch them towards Kaida.


    The blonde did her best to try and dodge herself out of the way, managing a couple of rolls and flips before inevitably his throwing found a trajectory that got a pillar to smack right into her and another smacked into her throwing her back into the ground as a third managed to crush her. She pushed the rocks out of the way and she stood up, rubbed her face a bit in pain and said, "Not bad. Though I wanna see you try blocking this!" and Kaida pointed her key up towards the sky and it quickly began to pour. She took the other key and pointed it above Arctus and shouted, "Thundaga!" as it called down from the sky.


    "You really don't want to play a war of attrition with me." Arctus ripped his keyblade from the ground and aimed it at Kaida. Gravity underneath his opponent shifted which would have thrown her straight up into the ceiling. Casting the spell did not give him time to dodge the first bolt which struck Arctus and singed his clothes and knocked him back. He was uncannily resilient however and managed to recover just in time to avoid the rest of the bolts.


    Kaida let out an audible "oof" as she hit the ceiling, not really expecting someone to come in with gravity magic being swung around as much as it was. She scanned the area below and kicked off the ceiling to try and land on the ground again, feeling herself a lot more floaty than she would have preferred. She let out a hiss of frustration as she cast curaga quickly on herself and let out a long exhale, "Time to go all in." and she ran straight towards Arctus with after images remaining behind her. She was heading in straight for melee and went in for a combo attack, aiming one keyblade towards his legs and another towards his head to hopefully knock him prone one way or another.


    "Dammit I should've expected this." Arctus growled and cursed under his breath. Had he gotten rusty? Either way, this fight was a wake up call to whip himself back in shape and forced him into a position he didn't want to be in so early. The air around him began to grow heavy and, with more strength than he intended to be using, did nothing to dodge Kaida and instead summoned a field of magical mines around him right as she charged at him.


    Kaida's eyes widened at the sudden magical bombs and she didn't really have a choice but to take the bombs. She glared, starting to get actually angry at Arctus at this rate and she pointed towards him and said at a low growl, "Stopga."


    There was a moment of long pause as it almost looked like the blonde was all over the place with her after images as Stopga forced Arctus to have to delay a bit longer before he could do anything, and at that point she just went full comboing all over the place to attempt more of a death of a thousand cuts type deal. Then she quickly backed away before the spell ended and threw herself as far back as she could manage, wiping the sweat off her face as she said, "You're... you're kind of tough to take down. More of a guardian type I take it?"


    One second he had the advantage and was certain of finishing this off relatively unharmed and the next he was being knocked back, cuts having been dug across his arms and legs. It stung but he knew his opponent was hurting far more than he was. "You know, if this interaction actually mattered I'd answer that." He touched his arm and winced, looking at the blood on his hand. "Ah...that smarts. I really hope Karina's having a better time of it than I am. Got the bad luck of the draw with you. Even as a fake you're actually kind of tough. Props to whoever made this simulation." Arctus took in a deep breath.


    "But I suppose this has dragged on long enough. Can't get left behind by my girl!" His tone sounded awkward as he said it, his fist pumping outward in exaggerated excitation. Arctus tossed up his keyblade and caught it just past its handle on the blade. He tossed it like a javelin right at Kaida. Whether it hit her or not did not matter. An explosion of spatial magic erupted from the keyblade the instant it came close to Kaida.


    Kaida's eyes widened in surprise at this attack as she barely managed out a, "What? How?!" before she was engulfed in it. When the magic disappeared, the blonde was somehow still standing, but barely as she let out a couple of breathes before she shook her head and grinned a bit and dropped her keyblades as they disappeared. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a yellow pin in the shape of a skull and tossed it towards Arctus, "Congrats, you made it through fight one. Word of advice from this fake though: magic can only get you so far against someone a little more resistant and you seem to be a bit slow. Start some cardio and get a little faster and slash that keyblade at them a bit more. You'll be miles ahead of the guardian curve." the blonde raised a hand up and waved a bit as the the data creation began to dissipate, "Only gets harder from here. Good luck." and the data Kaida was gone.


    He wasn't expecting any words of advice at the end of this but he appreciated the sentiment regardless of how sincere it may or may not have been. "Heh. If the real Kaida is anything like you, maybe it might actually be worth making a new friend. Thanks for the ride." He picked up the pin and gave a small wave at the data version of Kaida. Arctus turned it over in his hand, unsure if it was some kind of key to move on but noticed he could press down on it. There was a quiet click and in an instant his wounds began to heal and the strength he expended began to return to him. The door up ahead opened. Arctus glanced down at the yellow pin and smiled faintly before walking towards his path to the next fight.


    "See you later, kid."



     
  7. Aelin Best Waifu

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    Pushing the gun away from her keyblade, Gaston stumbled as Karina spun and stuck. There was no laying off him, there was no time. He didn't have time to get out another weapon, and his gun was all but useless when he didn't have time to aim. She had the upper hand, now it was time to finish it. "But I am the best!" Gaston tried to protest, but Karina was having none of it. With one hand she jarred the gun from his grasp, throwing it across the room. With her other hand she summoned her keyblade back just before swinging it in such a manner to take off his head.

    The body hit the ground with a sickening thud. Breathing heavy, Karina looked at the clock on her hand.
    "Four minutes, that is not too bad. Could have done better." She commented to herself allowing just a moment to breath before stepping over the body and ran up the set of stairs to the next room that was waiting for her. While she didn't know what was waiting beyond that door, she knew it was sure to be harder than this over sized bimbo.

    Bursting through the door she found Shang standing on the other side with a quarterstaff in his hand. Well it was better than Gaston, but he couldn't tell Mulan was a girl and was severely confused by his sexuality, so he wasn't all that smart, but he was a better fighter than Gaston. At least Shang could handle himself. This wouldn't be as easy as just closing the distance to win. She would have to out maneuver him. Jumping into battle right away, Karina knew that she couldn't afford to waste any time on this. Sword vs staff was not something that she was familiar with, but she had to at least try.

    As the keybalde met the middle of the staff, the wood groaned but did not give way to the force behind her keyblade. Using what leverage he had, Shang turned around and snapped the wood back at her, nearly hitting her in the face. Forced to back off, Karina knew he had the upper hand with range, she would have to be more clever. As Shang brought his quarterstaff around again, Karina slid under his next attack, sweeping her leg and knocking him prone, giving her the upper hand for this round.
     
  8. Arch Mana Knight

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    Arctus cracked his knuckles and scratched the back of his head, unsure of why the one he saw before him was his next opponent. "Aeira, right? Look, I don't really have time to waste so how about I just plow right through you and get to the next fight? Good? Good."

    The girl immediately charged at him with great speed as rocks began to form two giant stone arms that hovered near her. This one was less talkative compared to Kaida's copy but since he wasn't here for conversation he did not mind this difference at all. Arctus called away his keyblade and dusted off his jacket while he waited for Aeira to come at him. "Alright. Let's make this quick." Arctus leapt forward and twisted, dodging out of the way of her first punch. She may have been faster but even she wasn't fast enough to dodge him a keyblade summoned at midswing from an extremely close proximity. Since he was able to swing his empty hand far faster than with a keyblade, the momentum it carried easily cut deep into her stomach and before his opponent could back away to get some distance between them he swung his blade once more at on of the arms while simultaneously casting Gravity. The stone arm came down on Aeira, crushing her and pinning her to the ground where Arctus was able to finish her off before she could even recover.

    "Guess I got lucky." Arctus spoke in an amused tone. But he knew better.

    Arctus headed through the next door. On the other side was another member of the Black Coats. "Hm..." Arctus checked the time and crunched the numbers in his head to figure out that this wasn't a comfortable stage to slow down in. "Sorry Luther but the timing on this is kind of odd so I'm not going to let this drag on either."


     
  9. Aelin Best Waifu

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    "Not bad, but I have not made a man out of you yet." Shang responded as he countered her with a counter sweep and knocked her down, pointing his staff towards her.
    "Good thing wood can't puncture my throat." Karina retorted as she took her bare hands and grabbed the staff and pulled him down. As he fell she kicked up her legs and hit kicked him in the gut as he fell over her head and landed on his back with the wind knocked out of him. Getting to her feet quickly, Karina had to finish things off as quickly as she could. She almost felt bad as she approached him, but he was just data, a projection, he was not real.
    "At least you were a competent fight." Karina stated as she finished off Shang before turning and running off towards the next set of stairs, only taking a moment to glance at the clock on her hand. As much as she was crunching the numbers on how much time she had left, she was trying her best to not focus too much on it. She couldn't let herself get caught up in the small things and lose her focus on the battles ahead.

    "Well well, if it isn't the kid. Haven't seen ya in a while. Hows it going? Have you toughened up yet or are you still dragging your feet pushing people away?" This woman. She was... she was in the outback. She was in the world where people kept leaving, and more would come only to leave again.
    "Fang."
    "So you remembered me. I am happy to see that. So have you learned to change your destiny?"
    "You tell me." There was a small smile on Karina's face as she finally got ready to attack.
    Her keyblade swung but was met by the metal pole if Fangs spear. Now this was a staff that had a purpose. Her keyblade swung around again trying to hit Fang again, but Fang was too quick and dodged out of the way.

    "You got to do better than that."
     
  10. Iskandar King of Conquerors

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    As they continued to walk, Dastgir asked how Rydia's guns worked and she wondered how to answer. To be perfectly honest with herself, she never really wondered how they worked. They were a gift from a friend and she kind of just used them without thinking. She knew it had something to do with magic, but that was about the gist of it.

    "Not entirely sure," she replied, subconsciously gripping one of her guns, "I kind of just use them without thinking."

    "Perhaps I can answer you," Seiryu popped out and took over without Rydia noticing. "It's partly my power that makes it work, so it might be easier for me to explain."

    Seiryu pulled out one of the guns and flaunted it about as she explained. "You see, Rydia basically uses my magic to pull in the surrounding water vapor at a near instantaneous speed and fires it off, simple as that. These guns can also store water into a larger shot, but since these are machines, they have limits, so yeah, there's that. There's nothing too special about it, but it's not something just anyone could do, either."
     
  11. Arch Mana Knight

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    Arctus dusted his hands off once Luther was down. "I suppose illusions don't really do well against area of effect attacks, do they?" He mused. "That's good to know." He rolled his shoulders and popped his neck. "Unlike you, I understand the gravity of the sitch. ...I should really stop saying things like that, huh? Not really any point in acting the part in front of phonies." He shrugged and continued on to push his way through into the next match.

    "Oh? Yet another member of the Black Coats? Not exactly a trip down memory lane, huh Melus? If memory serves, you won't be any more difficult to bring down than Luther."


     
  12. Shiki my waifu is better than yours, thanks

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    Dastgir was feverishly writing down the things that Seiryu had told him and he nodded. "I see, I see. Well, that was enlightening. I'm sorry, mine aren't as special. Just regular old magic I've learned growing." he chuckled.


    "Those of my world are blessed with magic from birth, so we can use it freely to do anything. Create buildings or fashion, you name it. My world has magic abound." he sighed. "But I choose to be a warrior so...." he walked forward, stepping lightly. He tucked his journal away.


    "I wonder when the others will convene?" he commented.
     
  13. Aelin Best Waifu

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    "Try me." Karina retorted as she pulled back for a moment. "You know I have learned a new trick. Too bad you can't teach an old dog new tricks." Karina laughed a little bit. She didn't actually think of Fang as old, but she still thought it would be fun to mess with her a little bit.
    "Who are you calling old?" Fang retorted as she prepared for whatever Karina was going to do, but was caught off guard by the magic that Karina threw at her. A ball of flames shot for her. As it hit, fang stumbled back and Karina got her opening she needed. As she got the keyblade up to Fangs throat, Fang put her hands in the air, dropping her spear to the ground.
    "Nice going kid. I am proud of you." Karina strolled past Fang, glad that she didn't actually have to finish Fang off for this test to be over.

    "Well well well, what do we have here." Oh no. She knew that voice, she knew who that was. Oh she was going to enjoy this all too much.
    "I was wondering when I would get to beat your face in."
    "What no more smooches?" That was all Karina needed to hear before she launched herself at the mouse. There was no time for talking, she would not give in to his smugness. Flipping her keyblade around, she smashed the end into Mortimer's chest so that the air was knocked out of him. No more talking, she was going to finish this one off quickly.
     
  14. Arch Mana Knight

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    "Down goes Melus and here comessss..." Arctus kicked open the next door leading to his new opponent to find himself face to face with Lea. "Old man? Long time no see...yeah..." He scratched the back of his neck and looked away. "Wasn't expecting you. I'd give you a progress report but you're not really here. Don't worry, old man. I've got a handle on things." Arctus spun his keyblade in his hand and smirked. "Still...it would've been fun if I had been put up against you in your prime. Oh well. Can't lament about what ifs."

    A fire spell came his way and Arctus charged forward, cutting through the wave of flame with his keyblade and brought his blade down onto Lea who just barely managed to stop his attack by holding his chakrams up in a static block. "No hard feelings, boss." Arctus kneed Lea in the gut and jammed his keyblade into one of Lea's chakrams before ripping it out of his hand and sending it flying off to the opposite end of the room. Lea jumped back to get some distance before Arctus could continue the assault. Pillars of fire erupted around the two and the floor was soon covered in flame. Lea leapt backwards and disappeared behind the wall of fire leaving Arctus alone in the center. He wiped off a bead of sweat from his brow as the air continued to heat up leaving his throat and even his eyes feeling dry. And the heat only continued to intensify. Suddenly Lea came zooming in at an extreme speed with flames trailing behind him. Arctus barely managed to roll away but even that action caused him to burn his coat and cause him pain. Lea disappeared behind the flaming wall once more only to reappear leaping down at Arctus from a different angle an instant later. Reacting purely out of instinct Arctus swung his blade upwards catching Lea mid-air and sent him reeling onto the floor.

    The flaming arena dissipated but Lea wasn't ready to give up the fight. The two clashed blades in rapid succession and Lea attempted to gain the upper hand by hastily headbutting Arctus who in turn retaliating by immediately doing the same and tackling Lea to the ground. Their weapons were torn from their grip and the fight devolved into a messy affair. Arctus wound up on top and proceeded to beat the daylights out of Lea's digitized representation until it was all over. "Dammit Lea..." Arctus muttered as he caught his breath. He held out his hand towards his fallen keyblade and called it back to his hand. After taking a moment to regain his composure he headed off to his next fight.



     
  15. Krowley Moderator

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    Alex took sight of the Cat logo that Melus pointed out and nodded. "Righteous. Let's head back. Sooner we finish this, sooner we report back."

    The rabbit that Mizu and Luther were chasing was beginning to slidealong the corner of an alleyway. It swerved to the point where Mizu was able to slide along her ice rail and cut it off to the point where she was able to get ahead of it. "Gotcha!" she yelled as the rabbit was caught by it's tail. The rabbit slowly dispersed into light as their mission was now complete, The timers on both their hands stopping.

    With Ventus and Vanitas, the sloth was still staring at Ventus. Waiting impatiently, the sloth finally seceded and close it's eyes in the slowest amount of time possible. Taking at least three minutes, Vanitas sighed with relief. "UGGH! FINALLY!" He dragged Ventus by the collar and dragged him back to the others.

    --------------------------------------------------------

    [VOLUME 1]
    - CHAPTER X -
    THUNDERDOME

    All twelve players reconvened back at the main gate, where Charlie was awaiting them. Koa, Finlay, Mizu, Luther, Melus, Alex, Ventus, Vanitas, Aeira, Vallus, Dastgir, Aeira all stationed in front of their game master. He looked to a small pocket watching is his side pocket. "Well that was slower than expected. Thought you all would've been finished in more than half the time," he sighed as he put the watch back into his pocket. "But I suppose that's to be expected. The Reaper's Game used to be one of the most feared and revered challenges ever concocted. People would rather stay in the realm of darkness than perform these tasks. And now look at it.. Catching bunnies? Doing scavengers hunt? It's a disgrace!" His voice grew more and more agitated as he went on. "I don't care if you're a man, woman, child, or anything in between! The reaper's game should have a heavy cost than just an entrance fee!" With dark eyes, he looked to the contestants. "And I now I have the power to do just that."

    He slammed his keyblade into the ground as a giant dome made of earth formed itself around the twelve participants. "Reaper's game is all about survival of the fittest! Your final trial is the TRIAL OF LIFE! How badly are you willing to survive? This Dome will not open until at least two of you are erased from this plane of existance. He took his keyblade out of the ground. Myself included. You could kill your own partner if you wanted..." He cracked his neck as he took his keyblade and readied himself for battle. "So... Who's got what it takes to survive in the Thunderdome?" Rocks the size of his fist began to shoot down from above. "That reminds me... The Dome will be breaking in all around you until ten players are left standing. And remember that you need a partner to survive.... So pick your battles carefully," he grinned.
     
  16. Aelin Best Waifu

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    With the wind knocked out of him, Karina turned around and kicked him in the face, knocking him to the ground. Mortimer tried to catch his breath and speak up again, but before he really could Karina stomped on his throat.
    "I don't want to hear your stupid voice anymore." Karina snarled before she moved her foot just in time for her keyblade to connect. It wasn't as satisfying as she thought it would be. The data image faded and Karina felt no satisfaction in the kill, just kind of empty. Staring at the body she finally forced herself to turn and move on, this time not daring to look at the clock as she wondered what awaited her at the top of the next floor.

    Ascending the stairs, Karina laid eyes on her next opponent.

    "So finally it is time to see which one of us is stronger, is it? Well bring it on?" She had her keyblade ready and a glint of excitement in her eye.
     
  17. Arch Mana Knight

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    Arctus was left with an odd feeling after his last match and now that he saw who his next opponent was the pit in his stomach only sank further. "That's playing dirty." He muttered under his breath.

    "It's been some time. Right partner?"

    "You don't get to call me that, phony. Just shut your mouth and let's get this over with!" Arctus charged immediately and his blade connected with the tonfa his opponent drew out. A fist from his opponent's free hand connected with Arctus's gut forcing him backwards but he quickly recovered a spun his blade to bring enough momentum to cut into the tonfa that blocked his attack and use his leverage to force his opponent closer for a devastating kick that forced him to let go of his weapon. Before Arctus could close in his opponent pulled a pistol on him and opened fire. "Gah!" Arctus clutched his side, bloodying his hand, as he rolled out of the way from the rest of the incoming fire.

    "Still slow on the draw! Well let's see if that fancy weapon of yours holds a candle to my gear." He pulled out a small spherical device and threw it between them before tapping on his temple causing a visor and breathing apparatus to materialize around his face. A thick cloud of black smoke poured out from the metal sphere which completely obscured Arctus's vision and caused him to begin coughing. Arctus pulled his coat up over his mouth and nose but it helped little in preventing him from coughing in the smoke.

    "Dammit Peralta. Don't drag this out." Arctus squinted but he knew it wouldn't help. The sound of footsteps came behind him but when he turned all he could see was blackness and Peralta's footsteps faded off into the distance. Instinctively he ducked just before the bang of a pistol discharge echoed in the room. A bullet grazed his ear. There was another bang from behind him and this time his leg was struck. Arctus gritted his teeth and used his keyblade to keep from falling over. He let out a heaving cough and adjusted his coat once more. "Damn! Screw this! I'm not playing this game with you!" Arctus stabbed his blade into the ground and a gravitational shock wave blew back the cloud of smoke just enough to reveal the outline of his opponent. Arctus threw his keyblade at him catching him in the shoulder and knocking him over.

    "You've forgotten where you came from." Peralta reached for the knife in his boot and cut at Arctus's thigh the instant he came within reach. As Arctus fell over his opponent leapt on him, ready to finish the job. The sound of a blade piercing through flesh crunched in Arctus's ears as it was all over in a split second. "W-what!?" Shards of light floated off Arctus's keyblade as it had just been summoned into his hand and right through Peralta's gut. "Hah...clever..." He dropped his knife and fell to the side as Arctus's keyblade disappeared. "Don't expect me to be back a third time." He smirked. "That was a good match, right C–?"

    The fight was over. The digitized recreation of an old memory was gone and Arctus let out a sigh of relief now that it was over. "Damn..." He took in a deep breath and winced as he sat up. Arctus looked at the unlocked door where the last fight was to be held and then glanced at the time remaining. Everything had worked out. "Damn it..." Arctus closed his eyes and waited, counting the seconds.


     
  18. Aelin Best Waifu

    Joined:
    Jun 30, 2011
    Gender:
    Female
    Location:
    British Columbia, Canada
    1,423
    [​IMG]
    Kel stood there, seemingly unmoving until Karina had spoke to him. Her words clearly sparked a challenge and that spark had resulted in first a smirk and then a actual verbal response. "Alright, then show me what you can do." Kel had taken the first move and tossed his keyblade towards her. He gave chase keyblade when it had reach halfway towards its target in part of the plan slowly formulating in his head.

    "Try me." Kel took the first move, so Karina took up a defense position for a moment as she tried to deflect his keyblade before bringing her knee up and trying to knock Kel back, giving herself a chance of the offense. As Kel was knocked back Karina moved forward and took up a series of quick strikes, nothing too fancy, but effective none the less.

    Kel took the knee well as he was still standing and was put on the defensive when Karina begun her attack. He was able to mix in dodging and blocking the attacks and at a point his keyblade returned to his hand. Kel took a quick step back to put some space between them, then aimed it at the ground.
    "Freeze!" In a surprise turn of events, Kel used Blizzaga to freeze the ground in front of Karina to literally trip her up and followed up by using her second keyblade and fired off another spell. "Thundara!"

    "Magic, nice trick, but it won't get you far." Karina halted, managing to avoid both spells by not falling for the first one. She pointed her keyblade and blasted him with fire before turning back to her physical attacks. The fire had melted some of the ice along the way and she ran right behind the flames, pausing for a moment as she closed her eyes and let the area still. Next thing Kel knew she was behind him, a path of cherry petals in her wake.

    Kel had managed to fend off Karina's magic attack just in time to notice that cherry blossoms falling around him and it didn't take long afterwards for him to realize what had occurred. The heavy blow was dealt and the possibility of it being a game changing hit when the sound of something hitting the ground was hear. If Karina were to look and see her handiwork, she would find that it was not Kel who had hit the ground, but a chunk of wood in his place. The real keyblade wielder was above her, his keyblade cloaked in flames for his next attack aimed for her chest.
    "What about this then?" Should the attack miss, a light barrier was already forming in preparation for his next attack.

    Karina jumped back just barely in time.
    "What the ****?" Karina couldn't understand what had just happened. No one was that fast, how? Was this data projection really Kel, or something different entirely? There wasn't time to wonder, she had to finish this. Karina took his next attack though as it closed some of her wounds. "Sorry another new trick." She smiled launching into several attacks knocking Kel into the air, higher and higher until she jumped up after him and slammed him into the ground, figuring that soon enough his shield would be dispelled and he would take a bunch of the damage.

    Kel's shield did well to take the brunt of Karina's attack up until the very end, however damage had been done. He may have managed to narrowly escape the full force of a zantesuken, his timing was slightly off and part of her attack had reached him. Between that and all of the hits Karina had just thrown at him, the effects of it all were starting her show slowly. The barrier around him had shattered and a firaga had flown out and towards Karina. It had stopped short and collided with the ground, resulting in a cloud of smoke obscuring her vision which gave Kel the perfect opportunity to run in with his fist coated in flames to punch Karina in her gut.

    Once again the flames hit, but didn't do damage. Instead Karina was feeling a little better.
    "Nice try Kel, but I don't have time for any more games." She informed him before unleashing another torrent of attacks, grabbing his still outstretched arm and pulling Kel forward before kicking him to the ground, pinning him there. "So was that enough?" She asked holding her keyblade to his neck just in case he wanted to fight more.

    Kel had hit the ground with a soft 'thud' following the barrage of attack that Karina had thrown him. The kick had done nothing more than to cause him to groan as he was officially pinned down by her own keyblade. Not the most ideal of situations to be in and while the option to get up and continue was there, it seemed to be ill advised on the account of the keyblade currently aimed at his neck. Kel knew when he was beat and would accept his loss.
    "Alright, you got me. I give."
     
  19. Shiki my waifu is better than yours, thanks

    Joined:
    Jun 3, 2007
    Gender:
    Non-Binary
    Location:
    The Future
    440
    Clearly things were getting real and Dastgir was still writing his notes down. He stepped over in time for a rock to just miss him. "Well, things are getting pretty heated npw. Sounds wonderful to me. But honestly, killing you sounds like a good idea." he commented to Charlie. "Though that'd leave us with just one more to deal with and...well...." he glanced at rest of them. He put his journal back and put his hand to his neck, pulling his halberd out and slamming the rounded end into the ground. "I'm not ready to die." he muttered. "Too many things i need to do first..."

    He rushed forward, the halberd trailed behind him until he swung it forward at Charlie, The halberd could miss the target, seeing as Dastgir was already snapping his finger as ice started to form on the halberd, causing spikes to rise out of the pole until they jutted out rapidly, stabbing at Charlie. "I won't lose." he spoke.
     
  20. Aelin Best Waifu

    Joined:
    Jun 30, 2011
    Gender:
    Female
    Location:
    British Columbia, Canada
    1,423
    [​IMG]
    Two left, two more to go. Looking up at the stairs then down to her timer, 25 minutes left. She was cutting this close. No more fooling around. Running up the stairs Karina laid eyes on her next opponent. "So you are number six are you? Never would have guessed, but it is fitting I guess, since you are the reason that I am here." It did make her wonder who would be next though. "Lets get this over with, I would rather deal with you, than this data version."

    "Yeah well, you know how it goes." The white haired man said, scratching the back of his head. "Honestly I'm flattered i'm this high on the list. Don't worry, you were always a little ahead of me." Beuce summoned his two-ended keyblade and took up a stance. "But don't go falling asleep on me. It's not gonna be a free win." He started by laying down a row of seeker mines on the ground before charging toward Karina behind them.

    "I won't expect it. I hope this is a bit of a challenge, unless you want Kel to upstage you." A challenge, making sure that Beuce at least tried his best. She never saw him as much of a threat, but she never had to fight him either. It was certainly going to be interesting. The magic wasn't a new thing for him, but it was something that she had to watch out for. Defense it was then, given that the seeker mines were going to... Wait, she knew exactly how to deal with this.

    Dragging up memories of her skills before when she had the keyblade, she took a page out of that book, charging at Beuce while cloaked in a shield, making a way for herself to strike at Beuce, a bit of a grin on her face.

    Beuce made "tsk" as she rammed her way through the mines under her barrier of light and crashed into his face. He fell backwards toward the ground, but rolled as he landed to gain distance and avoid any further immediate blows. She wasn't about to give him the leeway pull off anything with a long wind up time, so he needed to keep her busy. He called down several bolts of lightning to deter her, ideally paralyze her, and threw his keyblade in a strike raid. The moment it left his hand, he turned on his heel and ran to the other side of the room in order to gain as much distance as he could.

    So he was running away a little bit, but that was okay.
    "Come fight me like a real man." Karina taunted not wanting to run after Beuce constantly. Casting more magic at her, Karina wasn't able to dodge all the lightning bolts, but those that hit her only stung a little bit. She pushed forward forcing herself to take the strike raid and grit her teeth through the damage in order to close the distance between her and Beuce. "You know I learned a new trick too." A wall of fire blocked Beuce's retreat as she finished closing the distance, striking him a few more times.

    Beuce skidded to a halt at the wall of flame. Well, that was kind of annoying. He held up his keyblade to block her strike and swung his glass fist to slam into her jaw. She was stronger than him close quarters for sure, but he wasn't so far behind that it wouldn't be a contest. Not to mention, she might've been able to use magic now, but that didn't mean she was as experienced in it. Whether the punch connected, she blocked it, or managed to evade it didn't really matter. He opened his fist and formed a sphere of ice and launched it out at her immediately after.

    The fist nearly hit, but Karina put all her strength behind holding his new glass arm back. It felt weird she realized, even in data form feeling the glass arm in place of his real one. Trying to shake the sadness that came with the thought. The blast of ice hit her face and Karina stumbled back a few steps before managing to catch her footing.
    "Well you are stronger than I remember." She mused as she returned the favour, turning around and punching Beuce back before bringing her keyblade around to strike.

    Beuce gritted his teeth as her fist hit against his face. He staggered backwards, barely managing to bring his keyblade up in time to block the strikes from her keyblade. He spun around and delivered a roundhouse kick to her chest in an attempt to give him a moment of space.
    "This is it, try to keep up!" He took up a stance, and cherry blossoms began to float downward. His motion was deathly still for a moment, and then he seemed to blink out of existence with a blinding flash of speed, severing all between him and Karina.

    Try to keep up? Oh she was going to do more than just try. Almost at the same moment that cherry blossoms fell around Beuce, blossoms fell around Karina too as she got ready for her own power attack.
    "Try? I don't need to try." She smiled a wicked smile as she felt the force pulling at her, and she gave herself over to it as she nearly blinked out of existence and appeared just past where Beuce previously was, but he too was past where she was standing. Karina found herself standing around waiting for a moment, her breaths heavy for the time being.

    The cherry blossoms floated down around the two of them as they stood with their backs to each other. Beuce exhaled and gave a small smile.
    "Karina?" He called back to her. "I'll see you when you get back." With that, he gave into the slash across his chest and fell forward onto the ground, leaving her with only one more test.

    The words echoed through the air for a long moment, settle as the blossoms settled.
    "Yes, I will see you soon. I promise." Karina whispered and turned around just to see him fade from existence. Her heart squeezed tight. Did she really miss them that much? She didn't know when or how they had become so important to her, but standing in the silence she couldn't help but think back to them. She would get back to them and she knew she was strong enough now, beating both Beuce and Kel in battle gave her that confidence. She could and would do this. Just one more set of steps and she would face the last challenge. A challenge that Karina was now walking towards, even looking forward to.