Match of the Millennium

Description: Having spoken with the commander of the NOL forces in Southtown, Zepp's elite soldier Potemkin decides to kill some time by patrolling the mostly empty city. Surprisingly, he finds something, though it certainly isn't what he was expecting.

[POTEMKIN]
The newly minted Republic of Zepp has been quick to do an about face from its previous aggressive imperialistic tendencies and has sought to present itself as a member of the international community with true sincerity and great intensity. As such, when the call for aid came forth in this international crisis, Zepp answered and answered not with simple force of arms, but by it's more elite soldiers - a warrior whose strength is comparable to an entire battalion of soldiers and who, is rumored, is so powerful that limiters must be used else his strength be -to- great for the battlefield.

At first, this sort of aid was surely scoffed at but sure enough, the missing Chi-Tek was recovered, as promised, and the continued aid the Zepp born juggernaut brought to bear proved useful enough to place Zepp and himself on the radar of the elite and powerful, such as NOL itself. Thus things are seemingly going as planned.

as to the soldier himself, one Code-4595605381: Potemkin, he presently makes his way down the abandoned streets of Southtown, having recently finished a meeting with the NOL. That strange limbo called 'free time', that occurs between deployment orders, plaguing him.

He attempts to deal with this sense of boredom with an unasked for patrol route that brings him down the road towards an intersection where a train yard, gas station and other assorted this and that's are clustered. The very ground itself shakes under his heavy ponderous footfalls, announcing his presence long before he's actually seen.

[KATARINA]
A soft but insistent breeze fills the air of this late winter day as the lumbering giant makes his way down the street, the chill winds threading between the towering buildings of Southtown's business district like invisible hissing snakes that nip at exposed flesh with gleeful abandon. Today their prey is rather scarce however, the city being mostly abandoned thanks to the still looming threat of the UN's attack dogs poised and ready to strike not far outside the city. The evacuation order had been sudden and chaotic but at this point the only people who can still be found wandering the streets are military personnel and the blue-uniformed soldiers of the NOL who had been quick to take advantage of the situation.

Potemkin's meeting with the commander of those forces would likely not have given him the impression that the Librarium was an opportunistic predator, thanks in large part to the man's impressive charisma and honest nature, but there is no denying that their intervention in Southtown's problems has been rather fortuitous towards establishing themselves as a legitimate actor on the global stage after decades of remaining insulated against outside influence. Much like Zepp, they sought to put their best foot forward when stepping into the public eye.

Though he has most certainly passed atleast a handful of patrols upon leaving the small building that currently serves as NOL's headquarters in the region, a hastily commandered business office that had been abandoned in the evacuation, the past several minutes have left him alone with his thoughts. The vast array of glass and steel buildings seem somehow strange and alien without the bustle of heavy crowds and to fill the streets with activity and conversation. The occassional empty car sits alone and abandoned on the side of the road, massive metal beetles deprived of their purpose and left to rot in an empty wasteland of concrete, a glimpse into the potental future of what humanity might one day leave behind as the testament to their existence.

A flicker of motion interrupts the strangely serene landscape spread out before him like some sort of somber painting, a sharp and sudden movement at the corner of his perception. Upon inspection, it proves to be little more than a flag hanging from one of the doorframes of the many offices, the symbol of some corporation proudly flapping in the steady breeze, a small reminder of the things people considered important before their lives were turned upside down.

When he returns his attention to the intersection, however, something far more unusual comes into view. Though certain that there was nothing there before, the figure of a young woman nows sits upon the edge of the wide overhang that shields the gas station's pumps and its customers from the weather. She wears what appears to be a full bodysuit made of some black fabric, perhaps silk or nylon based on the way it shimmers slightly in the light. Long white hair spills down in a untidy curtain down her back, long locks fluttering and swaying freely in the wind. Her feet are bare, save for the small section of the bodyglove that engulfs them, leaving her toes and heels exposed.

The girl casually swings her feet back and forth as they dangle over the edge of the roof, her body swaying back and forth as if in time with some music or rythmn that only she can hear. She hums a few notes occassionally, her voice as whispy and soft as the wind itself, though it somehow seems to carry with crystal clarity to where the large man stands on the far side of the intersection, whirling whimsically around in his ears.

[POTEMKIN]
A strange deep and impenetrable shadow, cast by the Zeppian helmet he wears, does much to completely hide and mask the face of the goliath with the exception of narrow eyes that glow with the intensity of headlights as they peer out at this unusual sight. One need not see the rest of his face to pick up on his sense of curiosity as his glowing eyes widen and then narrow towards intense near slits as they ponder the sight of this girl and also consider the crystal clear lilting music that makes its way into his ears. Needless to say, she now has his undivided attention.

His mammoth figure turns, moving like a tank turret, to swivel to face her directly now. Such is his immensity, towering over eight feet by a considerable distance, that her seated vantage point isn't much higher to him then someone seated atop a tall fence and the proportions of his physique, featuring an upper body with arms that look the size of semi-truck cabs bristling with boulders hewn into the shape of muscle masses, is such that he could literally reach his gauntted hand right up and cover the top of the overhang with his monstrous arm.

He does no such thing though but it's rather obvious that she's not out of his reach and he draws nearer to her and the gas station with earth sundering steps.

Her appearance is, of course, unusual to him and the reality of her being more then a mere human is quite obvious considering where she's seated and the fact she was not there before. But that doesn't mean she's exempt from the current happenings and a soldier has his duties.

"Greetings. There has been an order to evacuate. Are you in need of assistance?" his deep voice rumbles like the grinding of boulders together and the distant rumble of a far away earthquake. "I can help escort you to local authorities."

[KATARINA]
Despite the incredibly obvious nature of his presence, the girl seems quite oblivious to Potemkin's approach as he thunders across the street like a bi-pedal battle tank. She continues to stare off into the distance, the majority of her face hidden from view by the billowing lockes of her hair, humming her strange and ghostly tune like a child too innocent or distracted to care for whatever threats may lurk within Southtown's besieged streets.

It is only after the towering soldier speaks to her that the girl seems to take notice that he even exists. Her legs cease to swing and the haunting melody comes to a slow stop with a final melancholy note, her hum transitioning into a soft exasperated sigh that carries an obvious hint of annoyance in its tone. For several long seconds, she continues to stare at some distant object, utterly ignoring Potemkin as she tries to hum a few notes again but her efforts are stilted and the tune off-beat. Eventually, her fingers ball up into tight fists and she lets out a noise filled with frustration.

"No no no! I almost had it! But now it's gone! GONE!"

Pushing down on the surface of the overhang, the girl kicks her feet out and launches herself over the edge as if to drop to the ground. Instead, her fall is arrested only a few moments later as if some invisible set of strings is holding her aloft leaving her hovering in the air. She whirls to face the massive Zepp soldier and for the first time her face is presented for him to take in - or rather, the twisted mask that covers it. A construction of thick glossy leather and polished metal, the mask is as black as fabric that covers the rest of her body, seeming to melt down her neck where it connects with the collar of the bodysuit. The lower half of her face is covered by a solid metal plate that seems to have been molded to fit perfectly around her jaw and over the tip of her nose, leaving no holes visibile for her to breath through despite its form-fitting nature. Her right eye is covered with a large square of the same material, a thick band extending from its upper portion to encircle her forehead leaving only the pale flesh surrounding her bright crimson left eye visible.

Though this alone would certainly be cause for concern, it is what is present on front of this mask that is easily the most disturbing. Where the girl's mouth would normally be, a wide section of open zipper has been affixed bringing forth images of the sort of bondage masks often found in more fetishy pornography. Though the surface appears to be metal, it has folded back into an obvious sneer to reveal twin rows of glinting teeth set into raw red gumlines.

"The Song! It was so close! SO CLOSE! And you had to ruin it!"

As she screams at him, the girl's mask continues to defy reality as the metal bends and shifts as it it were living flesh, opening and closing like a normal mouth might. Her eye is open wide and quivering with rage and thick strands of sticky saliva drip from the teeth and gums as she speaks, some of it flying out to spatter on his armor at such close range.

"Haha! But that's okay... that's okay! I know how to bring the music back! I just need to coax it out... have to... get rid of the distortions..."

She flicks both of her hands out to her sides suddenly, whipping each wrist in a small controlled circle as a burst of magic flares within her palms. Twin swords with curved blades wink into existence a moment later as the light condenses into solid objects in her hands and she clenches their handles tightly, grinning like a maniac.

"I just need your screams!"

Not even bothering to hide her intentions or put any space between them despite the massive difference in size, the girl brings both of her blades up into the air as if to strike at Potemkin; however, the actual attack comes from behind. Two more of the magical swords suddenly appear a few feet away and lance into his broad back like harpoons, their unnatural edges glinting with deadly intent.

COMBATSYS: Katarina has started a fight here.

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Katarina         0/-------/-======|

COMBATSYS: Potemkin has joined the fight here.

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Potemkin         0/-------/-------|======-\-------\0         Katarina

COMBATSYS: Katarina successfully hits Potemkin with Da Capo.

[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Potemkin         0/-------/-----==|=======\=------\1         Katarina

[POTEMKIN]
"Hn!" Potemkin draws back slightly at the reveal of the girls visage. He's seen his share of bizarre things mind you. The world is full of the outlandish, freakish and abnormal - himself among those numbers - but this..this is rightfully unsettling, and he's enough humanity to be put off by things that seem as if they truly belong in the great beyond and no where else.

He recovers quickly enough, his eyes narrowing in visible displeasure at her ranting but then opening slightly as she alights upon..nothing..and seems to be standing in mid air in an overt display of the supernatural at her command.

"Do not be foolish." Potemkin's deep voice rumbles in warning as his body steadies itself slightly as the swords wink into being. He brings his gigantic arms up towards a defensive stance and then..he's struck from behind.

The force of the blow rings out solidly through the area like an attempt by a hunting boat to spear the body of a massive whale. Potemkin's bill board of a back provides more then an ample target the her attack strikes home, ringing against the exterior of the Pressure Suit and sending a shockwave of piercing force through the body underneath it. Potemkins' eyes widen into near circles..but then narrow abruptly. His back ripples with muscle that pile atop one another in a growing mountain of sinew that strains the suit to ripping point. His huge arms lift upward in a flex that bulges biceps the size of compact cars and his massive fists clench. The flex blasts against the spears, forcing them back out and rebounding away. "Hrngh! You will need to do far more to earn a soldier's scream!"

He arcs his monstrous physique back, raising an arm skywards as the flex that began in his back continues, causing his physique to press out in stark relief throughout his body suit, revealing the counters and canyon like immensity of his form. "You still stand down and be taken into custody." He commands before lunging forward and slamming his fist earthwards. A swirling blast of multi colored chi erupts around him in an expanding shockwave that seeks to catch the girl and knock her violently from her perch.

COMBATSYS: Katarina fails to reflect Trishula from Potemkin with Requiem - Forte.
- Power fail! -

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////       ]
Potemkin         0/-------/----===|=======\-------\1         Katarina

[KATARINA]
The girl's eye sparkles with a brief moment of delight as her surprise attack lands home and she lets out a soft but haunting giggle of pleasure at his reaction to the blades piercing that tank-like armor with the ease of a steak knife sinking into a hunk of butter. However, while his expression displays the obvious shock of being so easily injured, there are no screams or outbursts of pain to accompany the wounds which causes her gloating to peter out after only a few moments. Her eye narrows in return as the armored man demands her surrend amidst boasts that her efforts are unworthy of his cries.

"I suppose I will just have to do better then!"

The blades in her hand snap down as he lunges forward to smash his fists into the ground, though once more they do not attempt to seek out the craggy muscular flesh of her opponent's body directly. Instead, she sweeps them in a criss-crossing pattern infront of her and a shimmering barrier of magic begins to form even as Potemkin's energy-infused smash hits the ground.

The eruption of power from the impact proves to be quicker than whatever shield the girl was attempting to conjur. Though the two energies clash for a few moments the geyser eventually shatters the glowing sphere into glass-like shards with a noisy and brilliant blast. The eruption washes over Potemkin harmlessly but the girl is sent flying backwards, pinwheeling haphazardly through the air until she crashes into the side of a gas pump with a dull thud. Impact staggers her briefly but she remains suspended in the air, floating lazily back towards him upon rebounding off the hard metal.

[POTEMKIN]
The behemoths pressure suit visibly groans and creaks as it struggles against the titans flexed body. As he hauls his huge figure back up to its full height, he relaxes his flexed form, letting the suit relax and then vent from its coolant systems. Potemkin pays its efforts no mind, trusting the suit to do its job and instead focusing his attention on the girl as her body spirals through the air and eventually lands against one of the pumps.

He winces at this. While it would reasonable to trust that the pumps have been turned off given the evacuation, one can never be to careful and a prolonged conflict here might risk destruction on a scale that would attract far to much attention should it turn out that things are not quite as safe as they should be.

"You have some talent." Potemkin drops to a knee and holds one huge arm up while bracing it with his other as he takes aim. His fingers pressing together while lining the unusual girl up, "However, you are outmatched. Perhaps you are some Darkstalker. If so I will have to remand you to the custody of the Sacred Order. Do not get back up."

With that, Potemkin flicks his finger. The force of strength so immense that a shockwave rips through the area and a pressured 'bullet' of air blasts out from the behemoth at the young girl.

COMBATSYS: Potemkin successfully hits Katarina with F.D.B..

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Potemkin         0/-------/----===|=======\=------\1         Katarina

[KATARINA]
The masked figure seems to come to her senses, shaking her head free of the last bits of confusion that follow hitting one's head so hard. Her reprieve is short-lived, however. The blast of condensed air hits her dead on as she lifts her face to look at him again, raw burning hatred visible in her only exposed eye, and she is sent once more flying backwards to slam against the surface of the pump which creaks in protest at the repeated abuse.

Her recovery is much quicker this time and she pushes away from the metal surface with a soft grunt, whirling to face Potemkin with her swords held at the ready for any further assaults. When it becomes obvious that there was but the one 'bullet', she relaxes a little, though her glare remains intense and focused as she hovers to the side in order to put her back to the open air of the street rather than allow herself to be used any further as a ping-pong ball.

"A Darkstalker? Ahahaha! You dare compare me to those pathetic creatures? What utter foolishness!"

The girl's mask twists as she sneers at him derisively, those freaky pale teeth glistening in the sun. She pirouettes, spinning elegantly like some kind of twisted fairy performing an aerial ballet. The twin swords are brought in close to her body and she whips them around in a fancy flourish as a part of her display leaving glowing contrails of warbling vibration in the air as the weapons sing, quite literally, in a lilting pair of voices.

"You will pay for that insult, ruffian. I will carve a symphony into your flesh unlike any you have ever heard!"

Holding the swords aloft, the girl taps their blades together three times sending a soft vibration into the air that sounds more like ringing crystal than tempered metal. Then with broad sweeping gestures, she begins to flick the blades back and forth, her own faint hums blending with the strange melody of the singing swords. Her body begins to glow as she does this, magical energies seeping into her skin with a steadily growing intensity until she shimmers with a mystical aura.

COMBATSYS: Katarina gathers her will.

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Potemkin         0/-------/----===|=======\=====--\1         Katarina

[POTEMKIN]
She has left herself open again - but not for nothing. The use of..something..is clear. Potemkin is not so studied and in tune with the forces of the world to recognize magic when he sees it but he knows that danger looms on the horizon and he may be forced to step beyond his own threshold of restraint in order to bring this young woman to heel.

"STOP!" thunders his deep voice. Nearby windows rattling and shaking as his bass tone booms up and down the streets. "If you continue on this path way I will have no choice but to exert additional force in order to defend myself. Should this happen I cannot be held responsible for the damages that will result."

It's a very cordial warning, to say the least but Potemkin already knows it will likely fall on deaf ears. At least he tried.

"You will not be warned again." He rumbles while widening his stance and swelling his immense chest. He takes a moment to steady himself, hoping she will stand down but prepared for the inevitable attack to come.

COMBATSYS: Potemkin gains composure.

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Potemkin         0/-------/-----==|=======\=====--\1         Katarina

[KATARINA]
"Hehehe... I think not!"

The girl's response is mocking and cheerful though she remains at a distance for another few seconds, drawing more power into herself with each passing moment. The power behind Potemkin's voice, while likely to stop the average person in their tracks with the intensity of his command alone, seems to break apart upon the interwoven harmony of the energy surrounding her leaving her untouched and unphased.

"By all means - resist! Use all of your might to struggle and fight! I need that intensity - that emotion - to cut away the corruption! I can't hear it unless you scream with all your might! Ahaha!"

The swirling aura of power suddenly dies out and with her laughter the girl comes flying at Potemkin once again, her blades shimmering with the magic she has called forth. Like an angry wasp, she flies on a direct impact course with his towering frame, her eye wide and eager for the violence that will come. Once more it proves to be a ruse, for at the last moment she peels off from her crash course and veers wide to the side. As she spins in another elegant spiral, her swords lash out at the air and a pair of warbling blasts of screaming noise are sent crashing towards his flank, twin crescents of raw chaotic and explosive sound.

COMBATSYS: Potemkin blocks Katarina's Vibrato Crescendo.

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Potemkin         0/-------/-----==|=======\=======\1         Katarina

[POTEMKIN]
"Fast..!" rumbles Potemkin as the girl blurs into action and within the space of a heartbeat has closed the distance and is upon him. His body tightens, pushing back up against the solidity of the earth beneath him with force that causes a crater to compress into and widen around him into the concrete. He brings both of his massive arms up, fists clenched, and then crossed before him just as she veers off and the explosive force of magic summoned pure sound comes careening against his body on either side.

His body quakes, his pressure suit groans, and then he suddenly brings his arms out again, splaying them out with his muscles again bulging out like mountain ranges sewn under his suit. "GRAAH!"

An explosion of force peels outward from him. The shockwave shattering nearby windows and tipping abandoned cars over as it blasts back against the explosive force of the girls assault and powers back through it leaving the giant bruised but standing. No sooner is this done has he launched forward, pursuing her with a sudden leap that shakes the entire block as he's sent skwards, "MEGAFIST!" he roars before falling back down towards the gruesomely masked woman with both of his fists leading the way.

COMBATSYS: Katarina blocks Potemkin's Mega Fist.

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Potemkin         0/-------/-----==|=======\=======\1         Katarina

[KATARINA]
The blastwave of Potemkin's counter to the magical assault buffets at the girl this time, her body no longer shielded by the surge of mystical power, sending her long hair white billowing out behind her in a dramatic fashion. She appears to have no trouble maintaining her position in the air, however, and when he comes crashing down upon her with his mighty fists she stands ready to receive that devastating blow.

The blade of a single sword whips up to catch the edge of the giant warrior's gauntlets, settling into the niche where the wrist and the massive blocky armbands connect. With an elegant twist of her arm, she guides the powerful double-fists hammerblow to the side while she herself spins in the opposite direction. The thundering impact craters the ground, sending shards of shattered concrete flying into the air which the girl deflects with quick swats of her twin blades forcing her to expend a little more effect to completely defend herself, such is the power of the blow.

"Hmph. All brawn and no grace."

Lunging towards his exposed side, she delivers a quick pair of slashes at the heavy muscles of Potemkin's bicep in the hopes of bleeding some of that terrible strength away. The curved swords flash with silvery light as they strike, the enchanted edges sparkling with ill-intent as she continues to circle around behind him in an attempt to confound any efforts to swat her away.

COMBATSYS: Potemkin just-defends Katarina's Random Strike!

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Potemkin         0/-------/-----==|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2         Katarina

[POTEMKIN]
The blades draw themselves down the canvas that is the immensity of Potemkin's bicep yet find no purchase therein. The limb flexes, hardening beyond measure as much as its size inflates towards proportions that cast the whole of her body in shadow. It perhaps becomes clear that it is not the 'armor' of the pressure suit that rebuffs her blows but the restrained strength that lies beneath. The suit, a wonder of Zeppian technology, has other things to struggle with though it adds some help by being difficult to puncture, though its limits there are being tested as well.

as before, the flex blasts a rebuffing wave of force that seeks to cause the girl to rebound backwards as Potemkin twists his body around and directs his form to bear down upon her like some sort of military trawler seeking to overwhelm and overtake her.

"You will find that I have sufficient grace to deal with you!" is his rebuttal before bringing both of his massive hands forward in an attempt to envelop her completely within them. As he does, his pressure suit hisses, venting heat once more. Chi energy blasts its way through his gauntlets, casting a deep burning light across both the giants form and the music maker.

COMBATSYS: Potemkin successfully hits Katarina with Potemkin Buster.

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Potemkin         0/-------/---====|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2         Katarina

And with that, she's launched for a ride. Potemkin's immense hands straddle her across his back, which normally might be a fair and reasonable place to be considering the expansive room there, but then one realizes Potemkin has leapt so high into the air as to pass well beyond the tops of the gas station and nearby smaller structures. He descends back downward with a thunderous backbreaker assault made that much worse by the explosive chin that races through his hands and into the body of his victim.

[KATARINA]
Despite her efforts to remain nimble and mobile, the sheer size of the man proves to be more than she can handle. The girl lets out a high-pitched squeak of surprise as she is engulfed by those pillar-like arms and this turns into a full-fledged shriek of fear as he leaps high into the air and his intentions become clear. She struggles against this fate, swinging her arms and legs wildly about but the contest of strength between them is no contest at all.

The explosion of chi blasts the slender teenager into the air and this time whatever magic holds her aloft gives out as the sheer pain of the impact sends her mind reeling. Tumbling to the road, she rolls a few times and flops onto her face, fingers twitching weakly around the handle of a sword while the other skitters out of the grasp of her numbed hand.

It takes a few seconds for her to recover and even when she does begin to push herself upright once more it's obvious that the injury inflicted by that last attack has left her in a bad spot. She turns to glare at Potemkin again, her hideous mask snarling at him with fresh blood staining its living gums and teeth. Her cyclopean eye narrows sharply as she winces upon rising to her feet but she shows an exceptional amount of willpower or perhaps discipline as she struggles upright and takes to the air once more, giving only a quiet grunt as she bites back the pain.

"Well... done... hahaha... it seems that perhaps it will be... my screams that fuel the Song this day."

Her eye opens wide suddenly, the mask twisting into a broad grin like that of the crazy Cheshire Cat. Flashes of light blossom in the air all around her a dozen more of the magical swords are brought into being at her command and they begin to slowly circle around the girl as they take position at her waist, each one that appears joining the steadily accelerating ring of blades until she is surrounded by a whirling barrier of shimmering metal.

"But I am not finished yet!"

A final flourish of her empty hand brings the lost sword flying to her open palm and with a sharp kick of her legs she accelerates towards Potemkin, a flying buzzsaw of glittering magical death. The air hums with the lilting music of the swinging swords like the rising crescendo of a gothic choir as the orchestra prepares to launch into another musical score.

COMBATSYS: Potemkin endures Katarina's Eternal Waltz.

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Potemkin         0/-------/-======|>>>>>>>\-------\1         Katarina

[POTEMKIN]
This has proven to be more then Potemkin anticipated. She won't stay down!

The frustration he has is given away only by the narrowing of his eyes as she stands up and yet again begins to summon her sorcery to bear. His eyes then widen as more and more swords appear and then begin whirling around her in a promise of true violence and symphonic destruction. But his hesitation is brief as his eyes narrow once again and he steadies his immense form.

"You have learned nothing, girl, but you have begun to anger me. You should know your place and when you are outmatched!"

Barely has this left his mouth are the swords upon him. His arms raise, shielding his torso as sparks fly, concrete is shredded and his body tormented by the continual onslaught.

Suddenly his suit rips, the armor breached, the reinforced Zeppian threads torn and the micro fiber filaments damaged, sending warning alarms blaring into Potemkin's ear piece. Beneath the suit is revealed the earthen tone of his flesh, confirming he's no robot. His physique seems to enlarge, a shockwave of heat and earth rocking force blasting out from the burning chi and muscle.

Potemkin moves, acting suddenly by lunging a huge arm forward to try and snatch Katarina from the sky. The back of his gauntlets open as his pressure suit redirects the chi rapidly to cool him down lest his suit fail completely. "HEAT KNUCKLE-EXTEND!" he roars as his massive hand attempts to grasp hold of Katarina both crush and unleash an explosion that would be heard for blocks around. Shells charged with explosive chi are discharged from his grasping gauntleted hand.

COMBATSYS: Potemkin successfully hits Katarina with Heat Knuckle Extended.

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Potemkin         0/-------/=======|>>>>>>>\-------\1         Katarina

[KATARINA]
The girl's mad dash proves to be quite an unpleasant experience. The combination of animated and screaming blades tearing into his suit and assaulting his senses all at once could easily have floored a lesser man but the stalwart soldier of Zepp proves to be resolute in his resistance to this bizarre encounter. The buzzsaw rips into him with reckless abandon even as the blades slide mostly harmlessly off the rock-hard surface of his enhanced muscle-packed skin, grinding him down with quantity since the quality hardly seems to matter.

The sudden lunge comes faster than the crazed sword-wielder can react to and once more she is engulfed by his massive mitt, her slender body able to be encased completely between those giant fingers. Her eye widens as the gauntlet opens, immediately realizing what is about to happen but she has little chance to do anything in the short span that it takes for that blast of chi to strike her at point blank while so entangled.

For the third time in the past minute or so, the girl is sent tumbling like a swatted fly. Fortunately, there is nothing for her to crash into this time and after a few seconds of vertigo she manages to catch herself in the air. She immediately slumps, one arm hanging limp and useless at her side and lets out a long pained groan. Her chest heaves as she sucks in air in an attempt to center her mind but the sheer amount of damage done to her body is far beyond her ability to shrug off this time.

"No... music... for me today... it seems..."

Her head tilts to the side, even that faint motion seeming to cause her pain, her eye closing halfway in involuntary reflex. She offers Potemkin a smirk and casts away the sword in her functional hand which pinwheels in the air as it falls. Its downwards motion is suddenly reversed just before it hits the ground and it spirals back up to hover near her head, tip pointed at the giant like a wary sentinel. The other swords quickly follow suit, gathering in a haphazard array around her floating form.

"Hmph. You should be grateful. Despite your rudeness... I have a gift for you..."

Her hand lifts, a single finger slowly extending to point at the armored man. The swords begin to hum softly, quivering in the air, both their vibrations and music growing rapidly in intensity. The girl starts to laugh, her pained voice hardly a whisper, and yet he can hear it as clearly as if she were leaning into his ear.

"A glimpse of the melody! Enjoy it, brute!"

Brilliant light flares around one of the swords and it launches forward in a sudden surge of motion, corkscrewing through the air in an elegant but deadly pattern as it traces a wide arc towards Potemkin, humming with a sound that is both beautiful and yet somehow corrupted in some fundamental way which he cannot quite understand. In its wakes the others follow suite, each one rocketing out with its own unique trajectory and sound, yet inevitably converging once more on a path that will bring it down upon the general area of the Zepp soldier.

Upon landing, either on the man himself or in his vincinity, the swords explode violently into bursts of raw sonic energy, the screaming twisted notes they each possess magnifying a hundred fold in volume and intensity. They land in a stacatto rythm, blasting out a terrible melody that brings thoughts of death and destruction surging to his mind as if they are some intrinsic aspect of the sound. As this final wave of magical bombardment rains down around him, the girl turns and dashes off into the air, using the carpet bombing to cover her swift escape.

COMBATSYS: Katarina can no longer fight.

[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Potemkin         0/-------/=======|

COMBATSYS: Katarina successfully hits Potemkin with Symphony of Destruction.
- Power hit! -

[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Potemkin         1/-----==/=======|

[POTEMKIN]
It's probably not the scream she was looking for. But it nevertheless is a resounding bellow of pain and a grunting rumble of fury that Potemkin emits as the carpet bombing of magical induced sound roars off around him and he sorely miscalculates his defensive options. The blast rips through his already damaged pressure suit, rupturing a coolant tank and then ripples up to dent his helmet and otherwise shred apart the Zepp symbol emblazoned upon his collar. He staggers, the ground violently rocking from both his pushback and the fact that his pressure suit malfunction causes him to misjudge just how much strength he's applying. He nearly goes to his knees...

But he doesn't fall completely. He recovers, ears ringing and dazed and confused, but still recovers. The girl is gone though. A mystery that may never be solved but that's cost him in a few areas nevertheless.

"This is Potemkin. My suit is compromised. I'm sending coordinates." He rumbles into his communication equipment hoping that it is undamaged enough to get a voice message through. That done, he finally removes his helmet, revealing the clean shaven visage of his normal features finally - Huge necked, large jawed but normal. Like an epic power lifter or football player. His eyes, white and glowing, peer through the area in frustration but there's nothing more he can do now except wait.

Log created on 19:38:02 12/21/2017 by Katarina, and last modified on 01:05:07 12/22/2017.