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Post by HungryHunter on Jan 14, 2017 6:07:58 GMT
The stands quivered with the force of thousands of anxious fans and parents gathered to watch the 2016 House Games Singles Tournaments. Those who didn't watch the doubles said they had half the participants but twice the carnage. Those who did just appreciated each for what they were. Either way, all were here for a show, and they were going to get one. The upset in the dueling club pecking order had caused a mad scramble for the throne, funneling a menagerie into the tournaments.
In her little announcer's box, an albino woman excitedly spun in her chair. "Heeeeeeeey Gateway! You know what time it is! Time for fights! Lots of them! Because it's the Singles Tournament! Two enter, one leaves, and then the other leaves too because we aren't psychopaths!" She carried on, buying some time while the participants in the waiting room were informed they were up. "And for our first match, we have a classic matchup, paragon versus troublemaker! Zachary Bane, a member of our own school guard on one end! And on the other, Frank Teller, already getting himself a reputation for bad behavior in his very first year!"
The moment the two stepped into the arena, the sight and sounds of the arena vanished, replaced with their battlefield. Around them was a lush and luxurious mansion's foyer. The marble floors were polished so clean they seemed to glow, the pillars that separated the hallway from the balcony overlooking a sparkling ocean all carved by expert hands. Behind Zachary was a gigantic golden bust between two staircases that curved together to lead to the same ebony doors that did not open. Behind Frank, on the other end of the hallway, was the entrance, shining white doors that also did not budge. The two contestants could see each other from moment one. "Alright, we all know the rules! Down for ten and you're out! Die and you're out, but don't worry, you'll be back in a minute! Just not in the game! And in this stage, falling off the balcony will net you a loss! Now three, two, one, go!" Erin's voice vanished and a buzzer signaled the beginning.
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Post by TimePuppy on Jan 17, 2017 17:31:33 GMT
Zachary Bayne walked into the arena full of glee and waiving to the audience. As the arena changed, he blew a kiss into the stands and turned to face his enemy.
"We meet again, Mr. Teller. At least this time it wasn't because of your behavior. Hopefully after seeing the full power of the school guard you will learn to calm your spirits. A first year such as yourself has no business getting into so much trouble anyway."
He extended his arm to the side and a long blue whip appeared in it, with an ornate blue and white handle and a gem socketed on the pommel. Without a single movement of his arm, the whip curled up so he could hold it in a stand-by state.
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Post by waybig1010101 on May 5, 2017 20:10:35 GMT
Frank Teller remains calm as he examines his opponent and their battleground as his opponent is talking. By the time the school guard has taken his stance, Frank has already summoned his familiar inside his own shadow. Using his own body as cover to protect the location of its familiar, he starts to walk closer to the wall, pretending to appreciate the decor of the area, but his genuine nonchalant attitude would make it appear that he is trying to underestimate his opponent. "For fuck's sake. Get off your high horse already. Mentioning your position is fucking disgusting. Of course, it might be easier for you to be humble if you can remove that stick up your ass. But at this point its so deep you're going to need assistance from a surgeon."
He hopes that Zachery is too distracted by his words to notice the slight movement from his shadow touching the shadows of the walls, where his familiar begins to travel along the inner shadows of the dual staircase as he prepares to position his familiar.
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Post by TimePuppy on Jun 8, 2017 14:38:03 GMT
"Pro tip," Zach flicked his hand, his whip extended and a bolt of lightning flew at the wall illuminating it and casting away the shadows for a brief moment, "People who know how to fight pay attention to the battlefield."
Using the brief moment of illumination, Zachary charged forward and swung his whip towards Frank's leg, aiming to knock him down and open him up to a quick beatdown.
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Post by waybig1010101 on Jun 8, 2017 18:44:48 GMT
Seeing the whip moving towards the wall, Frank makes a quick gesture with his hand and the shadow on the wall quickly becomes a blur as it travels to the staircase before the lightening strike lights up the room. As Zach charges and the whip makes contact with his leg, Frank's entire body fades away into a puff a smoke. "Sorry, did you think that trick was going to work?" asked Frank Teller at the top of the duel staircase. -Illumination....not a bad idea- he thought to himself. To be honest, he was a bit annoyed that he couldn't get his creature to get within position, but no matter, starting his attack from here is good enough.
Standing on his shoulder was a tiny shadowy body with no distinguishable features, but the creature's appearance is short, as it swiftly return to his master's shadow. He points at the school guard with his composite bow. Before long, a black arrow wrapped in shadows magically appears and is already perfectly fitted to the bowstring. "Let's see how you handle this." he chuckled before releasing the shot. As the arrow flies through the air, the shadows surrounded its body flickers, causing the shadows to disperse into more arrows, so that the single arrow is now accompanied by numerous arrows. Though it is simply an illusion, as there is only one real arrow among the the heading towards Zach.
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Post by TimePuppy on Jun 20, 2017 20:31:23 GMT
Zach jumped behind one of the pillars. Even he couldn't be sure that the arrows were illusory as he suspected, they probably couldn't go through the thick stone. He swung his whip towards another pillar, one closer to the staircase, and the whip wrapped around it. Zach pulled himself forward, launching himself through the air towards his target.
"I wonder how long you can hide behind your illusions. Sooner or later, my lightning will disperse all your shadows."
As if to make a point, he swung his whip and lightning shot out of the tip, cutting a line on the ground as if to cut Frank in half.
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Post by waybig1010101 on Aug 8, 2017 2:55:53 GMT
As soon as Zach jumped behind a pillar, Frank Teller's familiar quickly rushes outside the protection of his master's shadow and towards a different pillar, one that is closer to the wall and shadows. As the small creature tries to secure a position to flank his opponent from, Frank begins to fabricate another magical arrow. Meanwhile the illusionary arrows all fade into a puff of black vapor as they hit against the pillar and floor. Only the one true materialized arrow remain as it penetrates itself deep into the floor where Frank's shadow use to be.
"Tsk Tsk. Is that the best you got?" Frank said as he evades the whip by jumping off the top of the steps and proceeds to release another volley of illusionary arrows at the school guard with only one of them being real. This time the real arrow is hidden inside the center of volley. As Frank lands on his feet, he makes sure that his shadow is touching the shadows of the wall to the best of his ability before he creates another magical arrow. This time aiming his bow towards the shadows next to him.
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Post by TimePuppy on Aug 8, 2017 18:30:13 GMT
Zachary wasn't even fazed by the new volley. His summon, the serpentine lightning dragon, appeared next him almost instantly and with a swipe of its tail it effortlessly struck down the arrow.
"Good job, now ram him!" The dragon charged at Frank, aiming to pin him to the wall. if Frank evaded, Zachary was ready to immobilize him with his whip and bring him down. Of course, he knew Frank could still faint the direction he would dodge towards with his illusions, but it mattered little. Zach could do this for a while and sooner or later, his enemy will slip up.
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Post by waybig1010101 on Aug 9, 2017 4:22:06 GMT
As Zach's familiar strikes at the volley of arrows, the illusionary arrows transform into a small puff of dark smoke in the air, which floats towards the balcony and the sea. The real arrow is knock towards the ground. Landing with a soft rattling sound as it bounces off the ground a few times. Frank seem to smile as the lightening dragon and its master charges at him. He quickly creates another magical arrow on his bowstring right next to the other arrow that is already attach. Thanks to the angle of his body, his opponent would not be able to notice that he has two arrows instead of one. Using the cover of darkness to his advantage, he shots one arrow quickly as it hits and submerges into the shadows of the wall by his feet. As quickly as the arrow disappears it remerges as the tiny ball of shadows that make up the body of Frank's familiar, opens up its mouth, releasing the arrow from behind one of the pillars. The trajectory of the shot is now aim at an artery of the school guard's expose neck.
Yet the arrow was no longer accompanied by any illusions. The arrow flies through the air, alone but fast. Much faster than Frank's previous shots, thanks to its familiar increasing its speed and accuracy with its shadow traveling abilities. And it receive one more benefit. A smokescreen to hide its approach. Obscuring a part of Zach's peripheral vision is a puff of black smoke recently created by Zach's own familiar. Knowing that the smoke would head towards the direction of the ocean, he purposely sent his familiar to the pillars, since the pillars separated the hallway from the balcony overlooking the ocean. Not only was the spot ideal to flank, but it would also serve the best spot to use a smokescreen to his advantage. Since the cloud would naturally move in that direction on its on. Thus preventing his opponent to be suspicious of the meager puff of black smoke, which would be far too small for Frank to hide himself inside, or to cast shadows to emerge from, but it was the perfect size to block his opponent's vision of an incoming arrow.
By the time Zach will realize that an arrow is coming from the side, Frank figure it would be already be too late from him to react to. Once the arrow emerges from the smoke it would have the velocity of bullet coming at someone from pointblank range. To further increase the likelihood of his arrow's success, Frank lifts his bow and points the tip of his most recently materialize arrow at him. Predicting that Zach wouldn't move his head, since the the school guard would assume base on his release time with his last two shots, that his beast and whip will be able to strike him him before he could shot his arrow. Thus luring him into a false sense of victory. He can't wait to see Zach's surprise face as an arrow strikes him in the neck before he could win the match. In the back of his mind he is already planning out ways to brag to the school guard about the result of their fight. Taunting him with how he was so close to winning their match.
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Post by TimePuppy on Feb 25, 2018 21:20:49 GMT
Seeing Frank aiming at him, Zach rushed toward his opponent to remove his range advantage while using his summon to protect him from a forward strike. This saved his life, or at least saved him from an instant loss. Frank's overcomplicated plan to his Zachary in the neck was thwarted by the simple fact that his target was moving. Zach was hit in the back of the shoulder, but he barely noticed with excitement over a near victory and adrenaline pumping through his body.
Zachary's dragon tried coiling around Frank to constrict him while Zach's whip went for Frank's neck to strangle him.
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Post by waybig1010101 on May 3, 2019 20:38:44 GMT
Frank's eyes widen as Zach rushes towards him. He had assume the man would be too arrogant with his familiar to want to engage him head to head. Aright new plan, he thought to himself as he releases another arrow towards his familiar before trying to run into the nearby shadows. Yet as soon as he releases another arrow, Zachary's dragon coils around his body, while a whip wraps around his throat. As he begins to choke, he drops his bow and grabs the part of the whip wrapped around his throat. Trying desperately to protect his vulnerable neck. Meanwhile he adjust his head so that he can face Zach.
Frank forces himself to close his mouth. A moment later he opens his mouth and an arrow covered by a dark smoke flies out of Frank's mouth towards Zach's eye. A small shadowy figures soon emerges from the troublemaker's mouth and quickly moves towards the whip around Frank's throat.
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Post by TimePuppy on May 24, 2019 21:19:15 GMT
Despite the quite literal stranglehold Zach had on the dark archer, Frank managed to twist his head around. Instead of desperately trying to inhale as one should when being strangled, he closed his mouth and subtle wisps of smoke wafted out of his mouth.
"What are you-"
Frank suddenly opened his mouth and an arrow flew at Zach's face. Zach weaved his head at the last moment, the arrow ripping straight through his ear rather than his eye.
"That's an offense I won't forgive, Mr. Teller!" Zach rushed forward, twisting his whip to coil more and more around Frank's neck while his dragon reared its head and snapped at the shadow coming out of Frank's mouth. When he got close enough Zach forced one arm around Frank's head to grab his chin, the other one he aimed at the back of Frank's neck. Then, if Frank had played all of his ceaseless aces and trump cards, Zach would twist his neck with great enjoyment.
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Post by waybig1010101 on May 27, 2019 1:32:01 GMT
Frank eyes widen in fear as his last trump card fails to defeat his opponent. Before he could do anything else Zack twists his neck and a loud snapping sound echoes. A moment later his mouth hangs open and his body becomes motionless in the dragon's grapple.
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Post by HungryHunter on Jun 4, 2019 4:10:14 GMT
“Frank Teller has fallen! It’s a victory for our school’s brave guards! Here we see that sometimes trickery can’t overcome quick adaptation and raw power. Everybody give him a hand while Frank recovers and our next fighters enter the ring!” Ellen announced and the current fighters cleared out. Soon their replacements emerged from the waiting room. “And here comes our second-round challengers! In one corner we have Clarissa Seyfarth, from the distinguished Seyfarth family! On the other side we have Becky, making up for a lack of known family with sheer ferocity! She has given us permission to call her the wild woman, which is very nice of her thank you Becky!” Erin yelled as the two new challengers entered the arena.
Becky moved with an odd lope. She hopped into the arena with anthropoid agility, staring around with curious eyes. It quickly changed again, forming an all-new world. Stone walls rose up, weighed down by the wear of ages. She now stood in a castle courtyard with walls overgrown in ivy and stony ground replaced by long grass and flowering plants. The lights on the roof faded in place of the glowing moon, painting everything in silver. Her hair went pitch black and rippled. She was ready to howl.
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Post by TimePuppy on Aug 17, 2019 19:29:49 GMT
Clarissa flipped her hair nonchallantly. She strode in not with her own two feet but sitting, legs crossed, on the shoulder of a massive gray humanoid that made her diminutive frame appear even smaller. During the introduction, she hopped off with the grace one would expect from one of her status and curtsied.
When the introductions were over and the battlefield formed, Clarissa looked over at Becky with a smug smirk. "The fabled wild girl. Well, feel free to bark if you wish. In the end, those with dignity will come out as victors."
The gray ogre stepped in front of Clarisse and raised an arm. He beckoned with his hand and the earth responded, rising up into his open palm, forming the shape of a dull sword nearly the size of Becky herself. It stood there, waiting for Becky to strike first.
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Post by HungryHunter on Aug 18, 2019 3:52:12 GMT
Becky cocked her head, sizing up her opponent. Size wasn’t very meaningful when magic was involved, but she figured this monster was a good deal stronger than her anyway. That didn’t stop her from immediately charging. The moon was high and she felt good. Her bare feet dug into the soft grass, kicking her from side to side as she closed in. The punch thrown at the creature’s craggy abdominals was a feint. A wave of black hair came up from the side, seeking to snatch Clarissa from behind her guardian.
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Post by TimePuppy on Aug 25, 2019 20:01:46 GMT
The wild girl ran in, jumping from side to side as she approached. Her movements brought her in close enough to punch at the hulking ogre's side, which he defended by bringing down his elbow. But Becky's attack was a faint. Her hair whipped past the guardian and wrapped around Clarissa.
"Wha- You brute!" she exclaimed. Clarissa spread her feet slightly wider, causing the ground to shift up and wrap around them. Even without the ground's assistance, Becky would have some problems with her pulling. The girl was surprisingly strong for a dainty princess wannabe.
"Protect me, my knight!" she demanded and the ogre raised his massive stone weapon, bringing it down on the darkened hair to cut it, then swinging his other arm to return the punch, although his was no mere faint.
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Post by HungryHunter on Aug 26, 2019 2:40:40 GMT
It was like hitting a solid wall. The arm Becky struck didn’t budge and she withdrew her arm, fist smarting. She tugged on Clarissa, trying to pull her into beating range, but she didn’t budge. She was too slow to evade the massive sword coming down, carving through her grasping tendrils. Her palms slapped to her head, grabbing the shortened hair. “Nooooooo…” She whined. The giant’s fist came rushing in and her body reacted where her mind couldn’t, throwing her into the air. Her palms shot down to catch the fist and she vaulted over, landing to the creature’s blind side. She pushed off again immediately, launching a kick right behind the beast’s ear. It just needed to be stunned for a moment so she could focus on the frilly one.
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Post by TimePuppy on Sept 4, 2019 13:03:21 GMT
Becky's foot hit the ogre's ear, knocking his head to side. His body followed languidly, his weight making knocking him about a difficult feat to achieve. Still, the two or three stumbling steps he made were enough to clear the way to Clarissa. On the other hand, Becky launching herself in the air to perform the kick also made her trajectory easy to predict.
"No! My knight can't go down that easily!"
She swung her hand as if throwing a basketball. It was a move lacking in grace, but the earth responded. An ivy-covered brick tore itself from a nearby wall and flew at Becky, followed by a grass-covered chunk of ground tearing itself from below her.
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Post by HungryHunter on Sept 5, 2019 2:48:24 GMT
Becky felt the resonance of her foot on the beast’s head, pushing her back more than the monster. Her eyes widened when the stone in the wall came loose and her body twisted as much as it could in the air. The block clipped her torso, slamming her hard into the ground. She had managed to avoid breaking her ribs, but all the wind was drawn from her lungs. She and this monster had opposite strengths. Her agility was unparalleled, but the beast could take a hit like nobody she had ever fought. Alexis had helped her train, but Alexis was far more of a glass cannon than herself. She wasn’t able to stand before the chunk slammed her again in the stomach, throwing her into the air to land hard on her back.
Her gasps bounced off the castle walls as she wiggled on the ground. It was a painful struggle to get her feet back under her body, but she managed to do so, panting and gasping. The guardian rose up before her like a wall, an impenetrable blockade. Winded as she was, there would be no clever flips anymore. She couldn’t go over the monster. She ran forward, keeping to a straight line this time. Her body wouldn’t weave like it did before she took those body blows. One fist whipped back, ready to punch. Then, it didn’t. Her feet went out from under her and she slid for the titan’s legs to slip between them. She came up with unnatural ease, seeking to grab Clarissa with her remaining hair and scramble up the wall with her.
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