Spring 2007 R1-1: Anomaly v. Itachi Uchiha -- Dural Way Station

[LocoColt04]

Reference this thread for bracket information. Reference this thread for environment information.

You have from now until the 28th of February to finish your round. Good luck!

I was going to expand the environments for you, but I've decided to leave that in your hands. Pay attention to what's already listed in the Environment thread, and build upon it from there. I look forward to this season's tournament.



Remember, your characters have been teleported to this location via the powers of the gods/aliens (call them anything but judges). Because this is the first round, long introductory posts explaining your characters' journey prior to abduction are acceptable. In future rounds, try to keep them shorter.

Again, good luck, and more importantly, have fun!

[Anomaly]

"What on Camulus..?"

But this strange world was nothing like the speakers long lost home, or even the fragments there-of that had come to be known as the Camulus Star Cluster. No the Great Ones had indeed transported her to a strange world, harsh, dark and metalic, without a single star in the heavens above. The sky...the sky is a rage of battling, churning colors. Something else...not magic, but a force like unto that used by the Great Ones, stirring very clearly all around her. Her short cut blond her moves gently in a wind that constantly changes direction

"What is this place?"

The speaker, herself, appears slightly more composed than her words suggest. Indeed, though she appears youthful, beautiful, and vibrant, there is an edge of agelessness about her. Perhaps its her eyes...or should it be eye? Pupil-less and white, her right eye gazes steadily at the star ship platform. Over her left eye she wears an ornate patch with a stylized golden eye set there upon. There again, perhaps it is her attire. To match her fair complexion and eye color, she wears tight white breeches, white boots, white gloves, and a beautifully embrodered and gold studded sky blue waistcoat. These are not the kind of cloths talored to just any rif-raff.

In contrast, the person to whom her last question is directed is dressed in a slovenly, haphazard manner. Rather than answer the woman directly, the hulking mass of musculature beside her closes his eyes and begins to chant softly under his breath.

Theres no reason, theres no lesson...lifes husk, reveal your secrets...to MAGGOTS PULSE

At that the stooping hulk rises and slams his naked fist into the metal beneath their feet. The resultant vibrations are far more powerful than they should be, even given the hunched figures mass. They seem to wash back and forther like the weaves of the sea...back and forth, back and forth...as if the vibrations themselves are searching for something.

As the man lifts his eye (and indeed it is but one eye the twin of the womans and an empty socket where the other eye should be) something more of his features can be discerned. Though a thick layer of dust and earth are wedged in his features, there is a certain resemblance to the beautiful woman at his side. His blond hair is longer and lank, but if not soiled by earth its golden luster would be the same as hers. Indeed there is that same lionian nobility about his brow, that posture that suggests this is someone to be held in high regard.

His flesh is not so pale as the girls, more a pale charcoal gray. While there is certainly muscle on her frame, it is nothing compared to the buldges of muscle beneath the layers of gray, brown, and green furs that this brute of a man wears. Every inch of his body screams volumns of his incredible physcality. Yet...despite his stature and the wounds that criss cross his contenence, he seems incredibley focused. The vibrations finally cease, and flow back ot their point of origin.

"It is not good news sister. The land here is almost entirely artificial, processed metals, alloys, and some crystals. There are compartments, and possibley living entities within, but we are on the outside and those compartments are sealed. We would run the risk of damaging this...this...air ship if we tried to open them. There are other, smaller ships about the surface, but I do not feel any living entities are within them."

"I thought that might be the case. I can smell it in the air...this is not the free wind that roams the prairies and haunts the woods of our people, but an atmosphere meant only to serve the purpose of some entity or another. But there's more...isn't there brother?"

"Your subdued sensibilities feel it as well then? That this ship is much like the craft that the accursed Harbingers used!"

With that he viciously spits onto the deck of the Dural Way Station, as if to express disgust with the very word 'harbinger'.

"Yes...the atmosphere is just the same. Only...only it seems now ot be charged with a strange sense of panic...I wish I knew what that raging sky above portends. Though I see no storm cloud, I have the same sense of trouble brewing...what mess did the Great Ones dump us in?"
At that, the stooping male glares around the deck. Several smaller craft, alien in appearance and unknown in purpose are speckled along the wide deck. The metalic field is completely devoid of any other living soul, and worse yet, any honest soil with him to communicate. Metal was earth of a sort, but not the loving, life giving soil...no...this land, this craft seemed meant only to support the barest minimum of life...or perhaps to bring death. At that he turns and glares at his siter.

"Remember well Aria, it was you who convinced me to play the Great Ones game! It is you that has brought us to this."

The young womans own eye flashes at that and she whirls to face her brother. Her hand drops to the hilt of a majestic looking rapier at her side.

"And you remember well Canticle, what the Great Ones have offered us if we prevail in these games. For but a few battles, when we have fought endlessly since the sundering of our world, we could right all that the Harbinger's wronged! We could finaly fuse what has been torn to brocken pieces!"

Her words seem only to add to the barely concealed fury within the savage Canticle. Yet as suddenly as the rage boils to the surface beneath those ragged locks of dirty golden hair, it disappears. Both whirl to face the north. Neither have to speak...both knowing that the other could not mistake the power of the Great Ones. Even with the turbid forces raging all around the Dural Way Station, they could feel the distortion of space and time. Their opponents have arrived.

[Itachi Uchiha]

The night sky was dull without a single star in the sky. The thick layer of black cloud that surrounded Therion for many years had made it almost impossible to tell night from day yet here the two Kai brothers stood, they knew it was nightfall on thier planet. Usually a star would pierce the smog and give them some guiding light but no, not even a faint glimmer. It didn't help to thier already depressing and hopeless mood.

Tired of the darkness, Vincent help out his palm and a small ball of fire was formed. The flmae burned like the fury within his mind. That never ending battle between himself, his darkness and his light. Still with this light, the brothers moods hadn't changed. They walked on through what could be ruins of a great city. Shattered glass, bent metal, dust and ash seemed to have made the ground they stood on. It was hard to imagine what it must have once looked like, before the war.

The silence between the two brothers remained. Mike wasnºt one for saying thank you to his brother, even if he did just give them some light. He was busy within his own mind. Thinking what they were going to do next. Would they find more survivers? Could the planet be rebuild or was all hope lost? Mike was always one to think about the future. The constant thought of a lost planet made him give up almost all hope.

Just as they were about to turn down another street, both of the brothers stopped. Thier limbs became heavy and movement wasn't possible anymore. Yet they did not fear this. Something was calming them, preventing panic. But they didn't need that. Neither of them feared death. Soon they were engulfed in darkness. A feeling of emptiness was around them. A loud voice could now be heard. It spoke to them in a foreign tounge yet they understood it.

You two have been chosen by us, the old ones, to fight in a tournament. You are now thinking, why should we fight? Well i shall answer that. If you fight and win this ancient tournament your planet shall be returned to its former glory. The disembodied voice carried on but its tone become more stern, serious. For the first round you shall be fighting together. Your oppenents are waiting for you. Defeat them both to proceed. Good luck

With that, the voice faded. The brothers looked around but there was only nothingness. Soon a burst divine light surrounded them and they sheilded thier eyes. When they reopened them, they saw thier battle ground. Before them stood the two oppenents that were foretold. Now they were ready.

[Anomaly]

A derisive chuckle escapes the lips of Canticle Schneider, lord of the Earths Eruption, as his gaze falls on the two youths standing a bit dazed on the landing pad.

"These simpering babes are the mighty challenge the Great Ones have given us to defeat!? They look barely old enough to shave."

From Canticle's point of view, one had to at least reach a century before one could be considered anything like a challenge, let alone a formidable one. Though his words speak volumns of the lack of threat he precieves in these two, he still adopts a defensive crouch close to the metal of the ship, almost as if willing himself into the surface. Aria Schneider smiles at that, drawing her rapier, Symphony, with a smooth sound like a razor passing through silk and adopting a battle stance of her own.

"Looks can be decieving brother. A harsh lesson we both learned in times long past."

The twins glare at the brothers with but a pair of eyes between them.

"If the Great Ones have sent you than you can have but one purpose here. Let it be known that no quarter is asked for and none shall be given. This is your only warning...En Garde!"

With that, the dashing young blonde leaps forward, a blur of motion, a lioness on the hunt. She focuses on the youth wearing the thick black armor of a warrior. With its thin blade, and her expert swordsmanship, Symphoney should slip easily between the metal plates and peirce the flesh underneath. The other warrior wore the cloaks traditional of mages or clerics on her home planet, and thus she knew her brother would be interested in facing him his self.

Quick as the summers breeze, Aria alights before the heavily armored warrior, and smiles...before weaving her Rapier in a fast, deadly pattern designed to prevent the young man from drawing any weapon to defend himself and, at the same time, slip her deadly sword beneath the armors defenses. Aria, the Gale of Blades, laughs as she moves in her dance of death around the young man. It is a close quarters battle that does not allow time for the casting of spells.

Conversly, Canticle Schneider, still a distance off from the action, begins to literally dig his fingers into the thick metal hide of the strange sky ship. He mumbles and mutters low, channeling his very self into the metal beneath his finger tips. Many of his spells will be useless in this enviroment, curse the Great Ones, but many others were perfectly suited for what this place had to offer.

"Harris, Adrian, Janick, Murray, wise men of Albion all. Iron Maiden can't be fought, Iron Maiden can't be sought. Let loose Eddie's dread spell! IRON MAIDEN! Hold Fast Heaven and Hell!"

A spell that can be cast on any surface and in any environment but the sea. Transmuting earth, stone, and, in this case, space age metal into a substance incredibley dense and terrifyingly deadly. On either side of Vincent, a massive wall of spikes arise from the metal deck itself, flowing like a geyser of liquid steel, while maintaining a solid state. The Iron Maiden, called forth and commanded from the heart of all matter in who's memory is ingrained the horrors sentinet life can inflict on one another. More powerful in the presence of artifical structures, the spell of Iron Maiden summons forth from the earth a massive device of the same name to crush a target from all sides with a wall of spikes.

The Lord of the Earths Eruption is not playing around with this high level spell. Unkown to him, the actual metal used as a regent in this spell lends the Iron Maiden an unmeltable quality that could resist temperatures upwards of 1000 degrees. A face of a smiling woman gazes down on Canticle from the horrible device. The geomancer smiles back...as the twin slabs move with incredible force to smash Vincent to peices in their loving, spike toothed grip.

[Itachi Uchiha]

Mike wasn't suprised by the opening attack. Typical of being draw into close quaters combat with hardly any time to react. His enemy was after a quick victory over him but he would prove her that looks can be decieving. Just as her attack begun, he grabbed two knifes off his armour and began to parry what strikes he could. He focused on the more important ones aimed for his armours weak points. He could feel the blade scrapping across the hardened metal. Its sound some what excited him. It make him want to find more.

But for a start he would have to launch an attack of his own. Taking a risk he jumped off into the air at a moment he thought was right. How wrong he was. He left the blade pass into the flesh of his leg. Its cold metal sent a shiver through his soul. Still, battle first and wounds later. While in mid-air he threw the two knifes he was holding down at Aria in some attempt to pause her. Coming back down to the ground he held his right hand down towards it. From the floor shot a block of earth and metal. In an explosion of stone and metallic substances came his spear, scorched earth, from this lump. Gripping it tight with both hands he landed on the floor and readied himself for Aria's next move.

Now was Vincents turn. His sadistic and unstable mind burst into life with visions of bloody battle and victory over these pathetic beings. A smile came across his face and he laughed as for once, an attack had impressed him. As the two walls speeded towards him, he formed to highly pressurized and powered balls of air on either side of him. Vincent sent his spells into the slabs to delay them as he moved out of there unstoppable path. Once clear he reached under his robes and pulled out a hand of shuriken. There razor edged blades called for blood and he would satify them. He threw directly at Canticle just to test him. It would be awhile before Vincent would start taking the fights seriously unlike his brother. He watched with unmoving eyes as the projectiles cut through the air with utter silence. A vision of them embedding themselves in Canticle flesh only made him feel more alive.

[Anomaly]

The dance of clashing blades casts a gentle shower of sparks dancing in the air as Symphony sings out its hunger for flesh. Her enemy was able to block most of her blows, but not all of them. Aria exults in drawing first blood as her armored opponent foolishly attempts to escape her onslaught with a simple leap. A scarlet trail hangs for a few moments between her enemies leg and her blade. A beautiful crimson ribbon against the chaotic backdrop of colors offered by the turbulent skies.

But perhaps her pale eye is entranced by the sight for too long. Twin missles, the very knives her opponent previously defended himself with whistle through the air, one slicing a gash across her cheek, while the other clatters harmlessly at her feet. Feeling the sting of the cut on her cheek, Aria also leaps backward, putting some distance between herself and her opponent.

As she nimbley lands, she notes her opponent extracting a course shaft of metal from the ground of the artificial 'land'. Though she hears no incantation, she senses an expression of magical talent. In fact it seems to be a weaker varient of her own brothers power. Her enemy, now armed with a crude spear, would have the advantge of reach on her own Symphony. However, this would only be the case if she continued to fight without expressing her own magical talent. Wiping the trickle of blood from the gash on her cheek with her white gloved hand, she licks at the salty crimson stain, and smiles coyly at her adversary.

With a toss of her hair, she holds her rapier again at the ready.

"Shooting up to the sky on the wings of the razor! ...RAZORBLADE SIGH!"

Twirling the tip of her blade once in a circle, Aria proceeds to thrust her sword swiftly in empty air over and over again. Each fresh thrust makes a melodious sound in the air, like a symphony of wind-chimes singing their joy to the open sky. The result is the deadly attack of burst wind slashes that earned Symphony its name. Each blade of pressurized air is enough to cleave through not just flesh, but solid stone...even battle hardened armor offers no resistance unless previously enchanted against wind. While perhaps not her ultimate attack, it is the Razorblade Sigh, a meshing of unparaleled swordsmanship and wind magic, that has earned her the title of the Gale of Blades.

Meanwhile, a sneer curls Canticle's lips. His opponent has displayed a talent not unlike his sisters own, but again without the use of incantation. It is a significantly weaker display than his sisters, but still enough to mitigate the dread Iron Maiden spell. The robed warrior steps easily out of the path of Canticle's spell and follows this by hurling a handful of pointy metal objects. This flimsy attack is frankly insulting.

The Lord of the Earths Eruption pulls himself to his full imposing height. While a few of the blades skim past him, five imbed themselves into various parts of his body with sickening thuds. The look of utter disdain on Canticles face does not flicker, nor does even the shadow of any kind of pain cross his face. As the robed figure looks on the soil that cakes the earth elementals body begins to move and swirl. Small eruptions all over the huge mans body force the shuriken from his flesh, sending them tumbling away. The dirt and muck quickly seal over the open wounds...barely scratches on his massive frame to start with, they are now completely lost beneath the constant layer of dust on the son of Camulus' skin. Canticle almost roars at Vincent.

"You will have to do much...MUCH better than that boy! Show me your true power...or be crushed like a bug beneath my heel!"

Glaring, Canticle spreads the fingers of his right hand, pure malice eminating from his every pore. Yet it is not Vincent upon whom his concentration seems to be focused. Rather his attention seems to be on the behemoth of metal twisted into the form of a massive woman of iron that still stands behind him. The Iron Maiden did not disappate when the spell failed...it remains, looming monolithically behind Vincent.

"Delu...Delu...Wherever...wherever you are, Iron Maiden's gonna get you, no matter how far! IRON MAIDEN WANTS YOU FOR DEAD!"

The eyes of the Iron Maiden open wide, and focus onto the target of this new invocation of the spell. This is the seeking varient of Eddie's dread Iron Maiden spell, the horrifying aspect which earned its notoriety amoung Camulus magical elite. Some schools have even forbidden the invocation of the Iron Maiden all together, for once this varient is cast, the spell will not stop until the target of the spell has felt the embrace of the Maiden or the regent of the spell has been utterly obliterated. When the regent is the very ground beneath your feet this can be an extremely difficult task.

A low, ominous creak sounds behind Vincent. Followed swiftly on its heels is an ear splitting metallic roar as the metal casket opens wide like a dagger filled mouth. The spell, starved for a victim, seems all too eager to sate its unyeilding appetite on Vincent's flesh. With truly unatural speed born of magic, the Iron Maiden hurtles forward to swallow Vincent in one gulp.

[Itachi Uchiha]

Smiling towards the mouth of sharp objects, Vincent was yet again amazed by his oppenents spell and that this huge piece of metal could move with such speed. He broke his foucs for a second to check on his brother which was a rare move for him. Their eyes caught sight and they both nodded towards each other. Why were they fighting these people when they could swap and be more at an advantage? Mike moved first. Dashing away from the crashing waves of slicing winds, he headed for the Iron Maiden. With spear gripped in both hands he jumped onto the back of the beast. With a quick water spell cast in the blade, he went to dig the tip in and force the liquid into the things body.

While Mike was moving, so was Vincent. He rolled to the side to get out of the Maidens way. He hoped this was enough as he headed straight for Aria's wind spell. But while running towards them, he cast one of his own. Holding out his right hand to the side, a gust swarmed around him. It took form slowly in his hand. In a burst of white light Vincent's stainless, metallic blade and now he could use his magic to its full. Now was the time to call upon some of it. He listened to the darkness within and it granted him with what he wanted. Power flowed freely through his viens and an aura of pure darkness formed around him. He laughed loudly towards Canticle as he roared.

"You wanted to see my power? Well she can have a taste of it," Still moving, he blade was now point at Aria. "Are you ready girl?" The wind waves were now upon him. Vincent wasn't stopped by them. He glided through them as his katana's magic delt with them. It drained there power and took them as its own. With more power flowing into him from the blade, Vincent felt a chill run through his being. It comforted him. The more power the better. Coming into close quaters combat with Aria, he started his own dance of death. The beauty of his katana in full as the slashes came thick and fast; each one reinforced with the power he took earlier. The blade shone in the dull, pulsing lights of the station as it was swung left and right, up and down. All possible directions that Vincent could move and follow up with his katana.

[Anomaly]

As a few droplets of water try to penetrate solid metal, Canticle scoffs at the pathetic attempt to neutralize his spell. He need not worry about the cowardly mage any longer, this entire fortress was his enemy. Iron Maiden would do its work...it was now only a matter of time. He turns his attention to this other warrior, the one bound in plate armor striving with futile effort to make some indention in the Iron Maiden with mere water as his tool. Though impressive that not one, but both, possessed a speed to out run the elemental twins spells, there were some spells that offered no escape. After all, how could one escape themself?

"With these final words, I pull the switch. We turn to dust. Dust to Dust..."

Canticle's eyes flutter gently as his fingers weave a smooth gesture through the air. Dust to Dust is a truly simple spell, and a very weak one by most standards. It can only be cast on a single target making it useless in military circumstances. However, it is highly useful to law enforcement on Camulus, as it instantly renders any material into its basic elements. The brute mage must view the young spearman with more disdain than his mage companion, for all this spell will do is destroy his weapon and his armor.

With a start, Canticle's eyes suddenly snap open. Something is terribley wrong...a massive force...but from the sky? Aria seems to sense it at the same time. Though pre-occupied with a mage who seemed to have a weapon that could nullify the Razorblade Sigh, his swordsmanship lacked the grace and skill she normally experienced. His type of sword may be designed for slashing, but Aria had learned long ago the superiority of a thrust over a mere slashing strike. Dodging and weaving, the slighter of the twins seems to have no difficulty at all avoiding the sweeping arcs of the blade. Power means nothing if you cannot hit your target.

Yet the same force that arrests her brothers attention causes her to faulter in midstep and nearly lose her pretty head in tribute. Something was incredibley wrong...and it was coming closer. A particularly powerful arm of the raging temporal storm all around the Dural station sweaps quickley over the open deck. Before her eyes, her brother, the Iron Maiden he has beckoned into existance still moving towards its target, and the warrior she had formerly fought all seem to slow to a crawl and then stop almost all together as if trapped in amber.

Though she may not yet fully understand whats going on, her mind is swift enough to see the distortion coming ever closer...and what move to make to use the temporal anomaly to her advantage.

"Your so called power tastes of excrement. Why don't I give you a taste of cold steel? Feel the passion of the beast...watch her come alive. SUPERSONIC MACH FIVE!"

As time slows to a crawl, Aria finds herself the only moving object in a motionless world. Normally, Mach Five could only safely be used after evoking a spell of flight and is meant to be used for swift long distance travel. Fighting at such a speed is unheard of and Aria would be in horrible danger at the moment if, as a wind elemental, her internal organs were not specifically trained to function in low and high air pressure environments. She holds Symphony out in front of her...and lets go. It takes a moment for the blade to leave the area of effect of her spell, but then the blade hangs in mid-air without any support.

In this bizzare frozen world, her eye is drawn to the opponent she so recently insulted. She notes even in this nearly frozen world that he still moves slightly faster than even the enchanted Iron Maiden. Perhaps he too knew how to bend the element of wind to enhance his own personal speed. If he did it was a pity, now that any effort of spell work he could possible make would be too little, too late. Still, whatever abnormality of this strange place allowed for this advantage, she did not intend to let it go to waste.

She wraps her delicate fingers around the hilt of her sword, feeling the first layer of skin rip as her quickly moving hand comes in contact with the completely immobile (to her perception) blade. Risky business, but worth it, if it meant ending this swiftly. She walks demurely towards her opponent, her clothing and anatomy doing interesting things as they work against a massive amount of air pressure. The force of the very air around the Gale of Blades is not enough to stop her. The spell she has forged causes the air to split away from her as soon as it enters the area of effect of Mach Five. As she nears, she looks into his eyes...one light blue, the other dark brown. A sign of madness in her own culture.

I wonder what the last thing is that you will see with those eyes filled with insanity? Is it possible even a creature such as you deserves a second chance?

With that thought in mind, she aims the thrust of her sword. Stained scarlet from tip to hilt with her enemies blood and her own, the tip arcs away from where she believes the heart to be. The loss of a lung is enough to take the wind out of any mans sails, and though she knew the prize the Great Ones offered, if she killed for that boon she would be no better than the hated Harbingers. With un-natural swiftness in an un-natural environment, Aria plunges Symphony through a world of frozen time, peircing the moment itself with the tip of her blade...aimed to pierce her opponents chest.

[LocoColt04]

This thread is really entertaining (and trust me, I do mean that in a complimentary way). I really like how well the two of you seem to work together in your posts. When two writers can mesh together, despite being on opposing sides, to put together a story that flows so smoothly... well, that's what these tournaments are all about.

Because of that, it makes this one a bit tougher to call, too.

Anomaly obviously has the upper hand if we look at length of posts alone -- fortunately, that has no true bearing when it comes to the actual writing. Both of you are very descriptive, and seem to be on par with one another when it comes to skill in that department.

You both flow beautifully. Anomaly, you seem to have gotten better with the little grammatical tie-ups that seemed to slow you down in the last tournament, and that really helps you here. Even though I don't take grammatical "perfection" into consideration when judging, it's still nice to see that both of you can definitely put together excellent paragraphs.



So here's where it gets tough. You're both great writers with a good sense of your surroundings and a nice handle on detail. Creativity is really the only thing to go by at this point.

Itachi's posts have a beautiful simplicity about them. They're descriptive, yet to the point, and it's a nice thing to see. Anomaly, on the other hand, has a more artistic style, elaborating on the little things, but not in an overbearing way. Somehow the two of you still managed to work so beautifully together despite your alternating styles. When you read the thread as a single piece rather than separate posts, it just seems to work. You really get a different feel from each writer. The tense shift is so dramatic that it really allows the reader to know immediately whose action is coming up next.

I feel like I'm never going to stop at this rate, so I'll just get to the point and spare you from any more boring monologues. You both did very well, as should be obvious by this point, but Anomaly has an edge when it comes to creative use of character. Because of this, the victory goes to him. It's a tough call to make, but a fair one.

Anomaly shall pass on to the next round.

As mentioned elsewhere, if you two would like a copy of this thread to be spawned in the RPB forum so that you may continue the fight, please let me know and I would be glad to set that up for you.