King's orders!! ~Ace vs. Challenger~

King Fenii · 11-23-2005, 05:13 AM

<~OOC: Once again, anyone is free to join this battle and challenge me.~>

After his very first victory, Ace sneaked in to the Swordsmen Guild of Forcena. The main room looked like a pub, and many swordsmen toasted as a few sung a fighter's song. What did Ace drag himself in to? He also knew that people were looking for him, so he wasn't going to be safe at all in Forcena.

Suddenly, one of the smaller swordfighters stepped forward and hopped on one of the tables to make an announcement: "Okay, everyone quiet!! Thank you..." He took a short moment to clean his throat and: "...I've been sent here from the Castle to tell you that a a small Tournament is being held in the courtyard this afternoon. The King is bored and expects to see nothing but the best join it. This does also means anyone is free to join, but we won't be surprised if we only see swordsmen. I mean, we do have the best swordfighters in world." Everyone raised their glasses to that and shouted: "Long Live Forcena!!"

The short fighter silenced everyone once again: "Yeah, yeah, yeah. People who want to participate come to the castle's courtyard in two hours, there the participants will be selected randomly. The main prize will be a Water Crystal..." Eventhough the announcer kept talking, Ace didn't listen to anything eles he had to say: ("That Water Crystal...brother always had a Water Crystal on him. Could it be that...?) Ace didn't question it a bit. He had to enter that tournament! Ace kept his head down and slowly walked out of the Guild.

Ace went straight to the castle and upon arrival a guard adressed him: "You there! What business do you have here?" Ace told the man he just wanted to enter the tournament. The guard looked at him surprised: "Well, you ARE a little early, but I guess that shows your dedication. I'll let you join, you don't have to go through the selection. Tell the guard at the main gate to tell you Adraffa sent you and to let you in." Ace nodded, went to the main gate and told the guard just that.

He followed the guard to a small room and listened to him as he explained something: "Don't worry, this may look like a cell, it actually was...But now these cells are used as waiting rooms for gladiators and other fighters. Wait here and we'll call for you when it's your turn." Ace sat down on the bed hanging from the wall that had nothing to offer for comfort but some straw.

Ace laid down his tired head and dozed off. In his sleep he heard a few dozen voices: "Duran, Duran, Duran, Duran!!!" After that he heard a lot of people cheering and clapping. Suddenly he was awoken by the guard from before: "Hey kid, come on, you're up next!" Ace stood up, stretched a bit and hopped a little to wake up. He then prepared himself for battle, but what was he to expect? If he hadn't fallen asleep, he could've at least SEEN his opponent. The guard gave Ace a pat on the back: "Go get 'em kid!"

"Yeah, thanks..." Saying that, Ace set foot on the fighting ground...

2ndPower · 11-29-2005, 05:56 PM

Ah, people were foolish. The commisioner of this tournament was very reluctant to allow a woman to fight, at least until Rachel had crossed his palm with enough gold. She had taken a lot of jeers and insults in the waiting room, but none of those people had even the slightest idea of who she was, or what she was capable of. If they did, they'd have been bowing before her, begging her not to notice them. Rachel didn't care, they'd fall easily enough. Rachel didn't even care about entertaining the crowd right now. She just wanted that water crystal. It'd make excellent jewelry.

The crowd started cheering again, and Rachel turned to look. Ah, it appeared her opponent had entered the ring. But wait!! He was still a teenager!!! Rachel stared for a moment. Yes, her opponent looked much to young for this sort of thing. That didn't change how Rachel was going to treat him, of course. For all she knew, he could be hiding things from her. She certainly was. The thing that put her above all other fighters, her metal, was securely hidden under her dress for when she needed it. Her metal encased her right arm and shoulder, and had sprouted a long wing, but she kept all of it underneath her clothes, except for her hand, which peeked out a little from her sleeve, but she had covered it up as best as she could.

The gong to start the battle sounded, and Rachel drew her shortsword, holding it in her left hand. She didn't want to reveal her metal, not until she needed it but she certainly didn't intend to lose. She eyed her opponent for a moment. If she was lucky, he'd be taken back by the fact that he was fighting a woman. If not, well, it didn't really change anything. Tired of waiting for him to make his move, she charged forward, slashing at his head from her left. The crystal would be hers.

King Fenii · 12-01-2005, 07:11 AM

<~OOC: Thank God, someone came to fight...~>

Ace could see Rachels determination to strike him, but her slash was predictable and easy to dodge. Ace ducked as the short blade swept over his head, cutting a few of his hairs. He then rolled far out of her range, as if he didn't want to fight: "Hey lady, stop fooling around! I'm waiting for my opponent to show up!" The crowd started to boo at the young ninja and he quicly realised that Rachel was indeed a serious competetor and not just an act.

Ace looked at the fairly young princess and didn't want to underestimate her, he realised it could be his own downfall. The young lady started to smile at him, he felt charmed, but knew this could be just a trick: "Sorry ma'am, I'm flattered and all, but I came here to fight!" Ace jumped in the air and made a few backflips. The crowd seemed to be entertained. Rachel was disgusted by Ace's showing-off and didn't care about stunts.

And as Ace was performing his crazy flips, he threw a few Shurikens and hoped that Rachel was misled by the cheering of the crowd and Ace's quick movement...

2ndPower · 12-03-2005, 02:50 PM

Rachel felt a moment of frustration. He was a fast one. She took a step to the left, avoiding the first shuriken, then ducked, avoiding the next one and recieving a small graze from the third. This was a little too bad. She'd have to reveal her secret weapon if she was to keep up. She wasn't hoping to have to do this until later in the tournament. She flexed her wing, ripping away the top layer of her dress and exposing her metal arm and the wing, which she flapped, flinging of the strips of cloth that hung from it. The layer of clothing she wore under the first layer bore her family's insignia clearly. She hoped nobody would recognize it. This was fairly far from home, after all.

"Came to fight, did you?" Rachel said. "Than stop fooling around!" Rachel dug her wing into the ground beneath her feet, then used it to launch her up into the air. She made a slight spin, and brought her shortsword to bear in her metallic arm. As she came down on Ace's location, she swung it downwards at his head. "Flip around this, little boy." she said softly.

King Fenii · 12-03-2005, 03:03 PM

Ace crossed his two daggers to block the upcoming attack. He felt the pressure the princess was giving to try to break his block: What a devastating force! "Holy sh..." Ace knew that the young woman was way out of his league if it came to strength. Realising this he launched his foot towards the womans face and used this to boost him into another backflip. He decided to perform another one after that as well, as he didn't land the first one all to well. During this second backflip, he casted Water directly at the princess and quickly lept towards her to perform his Shadow Slash, ignoring the fact that he didn't see his spell hit or miss.

2ndPower · 12-03-2005, 03:15 PM

Rachel, not having faced much in the way of magic before, didn't quite know what to do as the water started to form around her. As the spell grew, though, Rachel finally sensed the danger, and stepped out of the way right before it did it's damage. Her dress did get a bit wet, though, which might weigh her down if she had to do much in the way of extremely acrobatic manuevers.

Rachel didn't see the second attack coming until it was almost too late. She stepped back, then swung her wing up to meet his knives. The metal was indestructable, as far as she knew, so it'd hold of the attack as long as she had the strength. She lifted up with her wing a moment, to allow her space to throw a quick punch at Ace's face with her metal arm, completely ignoring the fact that it held her shortsword.

King Fenii · 12-03-2005, 03:38 PM

Ace was hit straight on by the attack, but managed to deal a quick kick in the face of Rachel to prevent any second attacks. None the less Ace was thrown to the ground by the immensely powerful punch. Ace pushed himself up a little, looking over his shoulder to ensure he could take his time to recover a little. He could hear the crowd cheer as he spat out the blood that was caused by the monarch's punch. He didn't even know if his slash hit her. It all went so quickly.

The two fighters were now standing again, both knowing their attempts to not underestimate their opponent didn't work. Ace knew he didn't want to mess around anymore and casted Haste on himself. He sprinted away after he did his, trying to surprise the princess once again. His speed was too great to follow, but Ace used it stylefully as he used his opponents shoulders to leap high in to the sky. From there, the view was great. Ace saw all the eagerly cheering people waiting in anxiety for one of the fighters' next move.

Trying to steal the show once again, Ace didn't just turn around. No, he made a half backflip, turning him upside down. This way, he could still see his adversary and that was enough for him to cast a Water spell. Coming closer to the ground, he turned so that his legs would face the ground, making him land safely. He then made an elegant turn on location to throw some Shurikens and quickly ran in the opposite direction, avoiding a punch like before, and once again not caring if his spell had hit or not...

2ndPower · 12-04-2005, 05:22 PM

After Rachel connected with her punch, Ace immediately followed with a kick. It was almost too fast for her, but by twisting her body in an odd angle, she managed to avoid it. Ace was knocked to the ground, but then cast a spell on himself and became even faster. Wonderful. She'd really need to work if she was to keep up, now.

After another brief series of irritating acrobatics, Ace attacked again. He started off with his water magic again, but Rachel had seen it before, and knew to get out of the way in time. He followed with his shuriken attack again, and Rachel was caught a bit off guard. Using wing and her metal arm, she managed to bat away the first three, but the fourth skimmed along her flesh arm, opening up a thin, long cut. The rest of the shuriken went wide. Rachel flexed her cut arm, and a bit of blood spilled out. It wouldn't significantly hamper her fighting skills, but it still pissed her off. They boy's intense speed didn't help either. She'd need to find a way to counteract it.

Her wing was a good nine feet long when fully stretched, and was razor sharp. She readied it for attack, then started paying close attention to his movements, waiting for her time to strike. It came soon. She swung her wing horizontally at his torso as he ran, hoping that he would be moving too fast too avoid it.

King Fenii · 12-04-2005, 10:55 PM

As Ace ran, he noticed almost nothing had hit. In his eye corner, he saw Rachel huge wing approaching him. He thought back on what his masters had thaught him in Navarre. ("If the tigers of the sandy lands are too fast to hit or dodge, you must use their speed to your advantage...") As Ace remembered these wise words, he jumped in the air, his legs close to his chest.

But Ace soon realised he didn't jump high enough and he was hit by the wing in the back of his feet, triggering him to flip backwards. None the less, he managed to grab hold of the wing for a split second. Rachel and Ace made eye contact once again. The young ninja focused power, and just when he was thrown away by the velocity of the wings speed he unleashed his attack: "Watera!!"

Because Ace was so close to her, the water of the spell bounced off the wing, causing it to wave across the wing, and was now heading directly towards the princess' face.....

2ndPower · 12-05-2005, 11:29 AM

Rachel got out of the way when she saw Ace begin casting his spell, but instead of the spells usual trajectory, it traveled up her wing, catching her full in the shoulder and face, knocking her backwards. As she fell, she flapped her wing, jerking it from Ace's grip before he could follow up. Damn! She was hoping the wing attack would finish the battle. Now she was soaked, which stoked her rage. She dug her wing into the ground and pushed herself up. Her dress was soaked, probably ruining the fine fabric. Her father would not be happy with her.

Time for a new angle of attack, since that didn't work. She had hoped not to have to use her metal's powers, she'd wanted to save it for later in the tournament, but she had to win, now. This kid had pissed her off, and there was no way she was going to let herself lose to him. Sheathing her shortsword, Rachel punched her metal fist into the wall of the stadium, and pulled out one of the metal support pieces that were used in its construction. It was about eleven feet long, and covered in the cement of the wall. She rushed at Ace, but stopped, and used her wing to launch herself into the air, landing behind him. She swung her makeshift club horizontally at him, and slashed down with her wing vertically at the place she thought he was going to dodge to, a place in the air above and to the right of where he was now.

King Fenii · 12-06-2005, 03:49 AM

Ace noticed that Rachel was almost sure of her own victory. But Ace wanted to differ. After he saw her rip a piece out of the stadium wall, he sensed her getting desperate. She wasn't thinking clear anymore, to his opinion.

As he heard the crowd cheer and Rachel getting closer, he was surprised to see when she launched herself in the air. He suddenly heard a huge thud behind him, and knew he had to leap. Full of amazement he saw the huge piece of wall under his feet, this time he leaped high enough to land on it.

The only thing was, Ace lost his balance because of the wounds he had on the back of his feet. Embarrassing as it was, Ace felt pretty lucky when he fell off the fragment of wall, as he noticed it getting crushed by Rachel next attack. Ace was pretty intimidated by this, seeing that would've been the spot where he would've went if he didn't lose his balance and had actually dodged this monstrous slash.

As Ace laid on the ground for a few seconds, he heard the crowd go wild. The two fighters were both wishing this fight was over, and Ace knew that he wouldn't win by just sitting there. He laid eyes on the sheathed sword. He stood up as fast as he could, headed towards the partially furious princess, who was still having trouble getting her wing loose out of the ground, and rolled through her legs, grabbing her sword with him. When he got out from underneath her, he slightly jumped in the air, and used her back to boost him in to the sky. He didn't hesitate another second and threw royalty's shortsword as if it were another one of his Shurikens...

2ndPower · 12-07-2005, 11:15 AM

Again? This was getting boring. Rachel lazily swung her metal arm up and snatched her blade out of the air. "Degenerating to thievery, now? They cut your hands off for that where I'm from." She quickly stuck the blade into the ground and pried her wing loose. She was getting tired. This wasn't good. Stepping forward, she readied her blade, but stopped when she had another idea. Perhaps it was time for another new approach.

Her metal had other abilities than just extreme strength. Rachel quickly jumped back, away from where Ace was currently standing, flapping her wing as she did so to keep him from pursuing. She focused her anger into her metal, and it started to glow white and get a little hot. She didn't yet have much idea where the metal had come from, or why it did what it did, but she knew how to use it. There were many gasps from the audience as the space around Ace started to compress itself, as if it was all being pulled in. Rachel knew from experience that the gravitational pull on that area was much stronger when she used that technique. Ace would have to work much harder to get out of that area before it crushed him, and in doing so, he'd have to expend more energy that Rachel had put into the technique. Basically a win-win situation.

King Fenii · 12-07-2005, 03:49 PM

Ace felt a lot of pressure on him. But he knew that his speed should be no match to get out of the small high-gravity area. The only problem he had was that he suffered a lot of pain from his earlier wounds. This was becoming one dangerous fight.

The young fighter moaned and squealed as he tried to get out of the area, and was fatigued when he finally did. He saw the princess had a big grin on her face. The small ninja spoke: "I'll wipe that grin right of your face. I'll make sure you won't ever see it again! Haste!!" Ace casted Haste, but strangely enough, not on himself. The spell was intended for Rachel's metal wing. The whole metal on her body seemed to react on the spell. The princess was so surprised by Ace's strange move that she didn't see him preparing his next spell until she heard him shout: "Blind!!"

2ndPower · 12-09-2005, 11:16 AM

After she heard him shout blind, she was hit with something aethereal, and things went dark. Not completely dark, she could still see things, but they were quite blurry, and making out distinguishing lines was quite difficult. Luckily, she was only facing one combatant, it'd hinder her precision a bit, but she'd find a way to manage. She'd been hit with a spell like this before. It was a nuisance, but only a temporary one. Her metal was humming with energy as an effect of his earlier spell. She wondered why he had cast it. Probably as a means of attempting to force her to lose control of it, but she had been carrying it around for seven years. She was quite familiar with its workings, and their synergy wouldn't be disrupted by a simple speed spell.

She dug her fist into the ground and literally threw herself at Ace, moving with extraordinary speed. As sh