trans_9 | Choose your destiny! Flawless victory! [Inevitable Tournament Arc]

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Choose your destiny! Flawless victory! [Inevitable Tournament Arc]

No sooner did the Obs Deck descend to Arena Planet LXIII, and the crew allowed to disembark, than they were met by a veritable cloud swarm of cameras. Sleek, elegant things that might have been living, might have been machines, maybe were even magical... but were definitely nuisances as the swooped around to capture video of the crew at all conceivable angles, close up and far away. Their every move from this point on would be on camera.

In front of a small crowd of retainers stood what appeared to be a great circular orb whose only distinguishing features were a nose, and what appeared to be the most overblown mustache ever, which actually appeared to be supporting that two-foot-diameter orb at shoulder height to a tall man. Then the orb took a couple of steps forward,revealing that no, those were actually just really, really hairy legs. A seam cracked open on the creature, and in a voice loud enough to echo across the broad open plains without any need for amplification, it bellowed, "AND NOW! STRAIGHT FROM THE TRANSMIGRATION NINE VESSEL! OUR NEWEST COMPETITORS! FRESH TO THE STAGE OF BATTLE, BUT NO STRANGERS TO WAR--"

It went on like this for some time.

Under cover of this introduction, a small man that to all appearances seemed to be the love child of Richard Nixon and a particularly aggressive Furby stepped forward, and in a bored businesslike tone recited, "Welcome to the tournament. There will be one battle per day. The arena in which you battle will be determined by random draw. Our medical crew will perform all healing necessary and ensure no deaths so feel free to not hold back. Please refrain from accepting any bribes or favors from on-planet spectators--"

"--ARE YOU READY?!" the orb bellowed even louder than before, completely swamping the smaller man's recitation. "THEN STEP THIS WAY!"

And so saying, the orb and its procession began a clearly well-choreographed procession towards a large, medieval-looking fortress that hung dramatically just on the edge of clear vision. (Conveniently, this procession passed several large advertisements.)

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The Underground Tunnel Complex sprawled in all directions, a network of caverns and connecting tunnels that had no exit. The tunnels were lit, but the caverns were not save for the light that spilled into them where the tunnels connected.

Man. They weren't going to make this easy, were they? But that was fine: once she had an idea about who she was facing, the next part of this shit could begin. She wasn't about to be scared of dim lighting, and any wiggle room she had would be key, right? Her size would be a major factor in this, and she was glad her growth spurt hadn't kicked in just yet: she would need to count on not being seen.

Easy enough to catch a glimpse of her opponent as he stood in the light coming off from one of the tunnels. Just a normal-looking guy, in jeans and a leather jacket, with a hoodie pulled over his head.

"A kid. Perfect."

Hit Girl frowned. He looked normal enough, but that could be deceiving: she had to get an idea what he was able to do, and what she would bring forth incomparison.

She sniffed. "And you look like an emo reject. Are we done stating the obvious already? This is supposed to be a fight."

"Your funeral."

The man stepped away from the tunnel entrance, pacing towards her casually.

Hit girl narrowed her eyes. Big daddy, Set up!

Set up.

Yes, the jacket did speak right now. It had been awhile since she used her barrier jacket for its main purpose, mostly because she was still figuring out its purpose, but she had the hang of it more these days. Right now, she had to be sure that it was working in case this guy was going for more than just blow for blow: people might even have magic in this thing, and she wasn't about to fail in her first round. She even had the spear this outfit started with in her hand, which she passed to the other easily, moving toward him, knees bent.

Barely visible in the fading light, his arm roiled in a sick biological manner -- then a dirty-black tendril whipped towards her violently, the sharp blades on its end and sides aimed directly for her center mass.

Tentacle alert, shit! That had not been something she was expecting, especially not with the sharp ends! Mindy was glad she was able to react quickly, feigning a low crouch and jumped instead, aiming the spear for a crack to the head.

See how he reacted with that, gather more strength and plan again. he could already feel Big Daddy humming with energy.

The figure exploded into motion, lithely dodging around that strike to put himself to one side. In other words, he was no longer silhouetted by the light, leaving her blind.

A problem he didn't seem to share. A moment later the whiparm lashed out at her again from those shadows.

And into the cavern he went, essentially leading her into the dark. She swore under her breath. Yes, she was prepared for anything, but she wished she at least had time to conjure up a breath of light in case he used it against her. In any case, she held onto the staff, quieting herself, walking on the balls of her feet...and change in movement came and she narrowly dodged, taking another swing.

That was a close one, and she was moving further into darkness.

The weapon struck something, most likely the whipfist itself, as it lashed back into the darkness, but that seemed to be a glancing blow to little effect.

Again the tendril shot out -- but if she had expected a slash this time, she was wrong. It was not a sweep designed to cut. The blade at the end split apart as it raced through air, sprawling as it sought to grab her.

"Big Daddy! Command Mode two!"

Command Mode Two initiated.

At least now she was in a mode where she was comfortable: she had the rifle now, and was walking a little further in the dark to cock it and get it ready. She was about to test it when the blade shot out of the dark and grabbed her.

And yanked her in. Mercer intended to use the momentum of his pull to hammer a fist into her head with superhuman strength, and superhuman mass.

So he was pulling her in for a punch? That was probably going to hurt, and she had no idea how hard the hit was going to be. She knew enough from situations like this that she didn't want to find out though.

Hit Girl through her elbows up, where she had made sure her hidden knives were put into action. If she had enough room she'd lobbed a grenade, but with it being dark there was no way to get a decent mark, so she had to be quick and dirty her.

Hard. Very hard. Her opponent's body had far greater strength, and far more mass, than a normal human ought to. Luckily, with his hand devoted to the whip arm, he could summon no other weapons to punish her with.

Still, she'd had worse.

Her opponent, clearly believing he'd dealt with this girl out of hand, didn't follow up the blow as the punch sent her hurtling out of his grip and back towards the tunnel.

Well fuck, he was a stronger opponent than she thought. This was her last coherent thought as she flew into the darkness, her face smarting but already adjusting to the hit and was coming up with a new plan.

It was nothing big, but with the barrier jacket, it would be enhanced, just as she practiced. As she flew through the air, she whispered, Volatio! Levitatio! Scipio volent!"

It was just her regular staff this time, but it would give her enough air time that her next attack, with her holstered guns shooting at her opponent, would seem to be coming from the sky.

It wouldn't be dead on aim, of course, since she still couldn't see too well.

The bullets in the darkness hit, not with a satisfying sound of flesh parting and blood spattering, but with dull thuds and ricochets as if they'd smashed into something heavy.

A moment later, the ground directly beneath her burst open as a massive spike of that same dirty-black biomass burst upwards from it.

Aw Chris, really? It was a good thing she had cast this spell and that the barrier jacket enhanced it or she would be so screwed right now. But everything happened for a reason, and at the very least, this guy was not going to be a pushover, not in the least.

Time to up the ante.

The kryptonite gun, the one she used the day she rescued Kick Ass from the warehouse, was just what she needed to get an idea of what she was looking at. The guns created enough noise and the lights flickered just enough for her to get to her away enough to pull out Zetta's gun.

She didn't think she HAD to use it, but clearly this guy wasn't going down easy, and let loose with a big boom. Thank goodness the jacket was in her gun mode, making it even easier to do without flying off the spear.

The projectile from the Netherworld weapon lit up the cavern when it hit, just enough to show the remains of a massive shield of biomass disintegrating under its blow. Mercer flinched backwards just as the light faded, leaving them both to ponder their next option in the dark.

Hit Girl floated back down, not even taking a moment to sit. She was going to have to be quick: this fighting in the dark might eventually mean she wouldn't see him attack, and she definitely didn't want to give him the chance. She would have be quick, quiet and devastating.

So it was time to use one of the spells rein had told her about, one she had practiced before coming here, just barely getting it right. It wouldn't be as powerful as, say, someone who knew it REALLY well, but as Hit Girl knew the Negi spell similar to it, the dynamics she could follow easily enough.

"Crossfire shoot!" She concentrated her energy into the attack, launching three magic orbs at Mercer. It was similar to Negi's magic arrows, but stronger at least, and would both hurt and slow him down.

The orbs streaked out to impact him -- and revealed that he was no longer just an ordinary guy in ordinary clothing. That same dirty-black biomass now covered his entire body, solid armor against her attacks. The orbs hammered into him, forcing him to slow his onrushing pace, but only for a moment; he had momentum on his side, and mass.

On the end of each hand, massive jagged claws stretched out over a foot, poised to carve Hit Girl apart as soon as he got in range. Even slowed by his armor, he was still blazing-quick.

So he was holding back. Fucking perfect. Well far from perfect, but at least now he had taken off the kid gloves: he was ready to duke it out with her, and was going to rip her apart once he got close. All that meant to her was that she didn't want him to get close. If he was that strong that bullets couldn't stop him, that Zetta's gun was only going to stun him, she was going to have to go the magic route.

The Pactio was out. The fight was happening too quick for her to use it, and anyway, her barrier jacket was her best defense. Luckily, she didn't need magic to use the attack she learned from Negi.

" Undecim spiritus Tonitrus. Coèuntes, sagittent inimicum meam! Sagitta Magica, Series/Convergentia Tonitrus!

Thunderbolt arrows. That was a new one, but only because she never tried it on a person before. It was Ruffnut that made her attempt it at all, and surprisingly, they wound up being pretty good.

Would they be good enough?

They were certainly a good choice. His armor had no real resistance to electricity; the arrows discharged their full effect into him without any interference. He skidded as he went to a knee from the shock, his forward momentum interrupted.

But that was partially a feint. Where his claws touched the ground, a subtle shifting proved the only warning before another massive spike burst out of the ground directly beneath her once more, biomass forced through the terrain beneath them to catch her off-guard.

She got him! For about a minute.

"Oh balls fuck, seriously!?" She blurted out, apparently feeling less inclined to continue her Latin and irritated this guy was the fucking boss from a video game! He had to be!

She had no time to waste though, and floated up again, gritting her teeth. Damn but this was taking a lot of energy. But if the lightning hurt him, she better follow up on it.

Hit Girl fumbled for Zetta's gun again, and this time aimed straight and true, seeing if this would shatter the impressive armor.

She should be so lucky. ~~He was actually the protagonist, which made it much worse.~~ The gun's blast hammered into Mercer's armor, not shattering it -- in fact, the armor was him now, his biomass shifted into this new form -- but shredding off layers of tissue. That had hurt.

The claws at the end of her opponent's hands melted into thick knobs of flesh so massive even the superhuman figure seemed to have trouble standing straight against the weight on his shoulders. Abruptly, he heaved them back, then flung himself forward, the twin masses launching him through the air like a weighted dart towards her.

Alex Mercer vs. Hit Girl

Re: Alex Mercer vs. Hit Girl

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