Match of the Millennium

Description: Amidst the waning chaos and waxing fear of the rise of the Spire, even the dead may rise. It begins with an incident at the Southtown Hospital. One of the local patients in cold storage, the criminal monster known as Lotus, has suddenly revived after being found in the consistency of low-grade hamburger. Lotus hears the call: return to the spire, return to Lord Dohma. And Bullet? She's hired on short notice to put Lotus back on ice.

[LOTUS]
It is the witching hour in southtown. Fitting considering the latest shenanigans. The hospital, however, never sleeps!

As people are brought in with a variety of issues, one specific 'corpse' is brought in and stowed in the morgue, as usual. However, not enough security measures are put in place.....

.... Then again, just how often to people return from the dead, seemingly!?

A nurse runs screaming from the morgue, bleeding profusely from a slashing injury in her arm. Other medical personel on duty rush to aid her, uncomprehensive of her panicked attempts to push them off and keep running. Moments later, as she calms just enough to tell a bit of her story, theres a CRASH as the bloody and bruised body of the coroner comes flying through the double-doors to land before the group! While the alert went out a short time ago, it was via a secure channel, so the rest of the staff of the place were unaware of the danger....

Black Lotus has regained her bearings and revived from the seemingly-fatal injuries Marduk sustained on her...... and now she's bored.

That vicious grin is plastered on her face as she staaaaaaares intensely at the staff standing before her. The injured nurse takes off in a blind panic, as her co-workers try to figure out if they should run or not.

The choice is made quickly as she runs a knife through one mans throat with lightning speed, causing some to scatter, the rest to remain in place in terror. However, for a moment, Lotus is suddenly distracted, staring off out the window at.... something. She grins, and turns to walk down the hall, ignoring the rest of the sheep for now as she makes for the nearest exit......

[BULLET]
"Yeah, I've got it." A phone is closed, and the nearest competent fist for hire turns herself around.

Shortly...

Another door in this hospital is thrown open- the exit that Lotus is heading towards. Convenient coincidence.

A sack of personal effects is tossed aside, and the jacketed mercenary walks through the open doors. She's steely-eyed and serious, dour and clearly looking for the fight for at least two reasons.

"Well. Guess you won't be hard to track down if need be," she comments, stopping in her stride and lowering, widening her stance. She flexes her left hand, a faint glow coming to the crystal lens in her palm. "So how hard to you wanna make this?"

[LOTUS]
Lotus stops dead in her tracks, looking the newcomer up and down, grin never fading "oooohhh... YOU look like your loaded for bear! How hard CAN we make this?". She runs her sharpened filigree on her fingers against each other with loud SCREEEEEEEEEECH noises, sparks flying dramaticly as her intention is made clear "In a bit of a hurry, but i suppose i can have a LITTLE more fun before i go!"

[BULLET]
"... One of those, then," grumbles Bullet- eyeing the sparks coming off of the woman's fingerguards. As if in response, a small 'boom' rings out as that great golden gauntlet on her left arm as -something- explodes, throwing her hand back with a slight recoil.

"Won't be going anywhere, if I plan on earning anything tonight," she notes, tone warning and... unpleasant. She sets herself back in that low, aggressive stance, setting herself into place to launch forth like a... well, you know.

COMBATSYS: Lotus has started a fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Lotus            0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Bullet has joined the fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Lotus            0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0           Bullet

[LOTUS]
Abruptly, Lotus begins to cackle. Not just the classic villain evil cackle. Full on Mark Hamill Joker laughter.

After a moment of this she says "Tease. Don't make promises unless your sure you can KEEP THEM!" as she says 'keep them', she LEAPS towards Bullet with reckless abandon, daggers drawn and a crazed grin on her face! She literally attempts to land on the woman while impaling her with both weapons!

COMBATSYS: Lotus successfully hits Bullet with Catch the Prey.
-*- DEVASTATING HIT! -*-

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Lotus            0/-------/-----==|=====--\-------\0           Bullet

[BULLET]
The zombie's faster than Bullet expected- much, much faster.

She brings her arm up, but few fighters have taken to the air against her in recent memory- and Lotus gets over her guard and blood flies as the daggers sink into her collar area- might even match the scar across her face someday.

The woman snarls in return, bringing her hands back to bodily -shove- Lotus off of her, and hopefully open the woman up- because her next motion is to launch herself forward... in a great forward flip, bringing down a vicious axe kick to return the favour (Minus the blades).

COMBATSYS: Lotus blocks Bullet's Cross Firewheel.

[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////          ]
Lotus            0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0           Bullet

[LOTUS]
Despite Bullets best efforts, the vicious darkstalker is only pushed back, but not opened up!

She brings up her arms in an overhead crossblock, stopping the axe-kick before it connects! The shockwave continues on, the stone floor beneath Lotus cracking and splintering from the force, and her knees and arms bend with the impact. However, her guard manages to hold!

With a brief pause to recover her wits, Lotuses expression tenses a moment before ZIPPING past Bullet, the sharpened filigree on her fingers slashing low at the womans midsection, attempting to slash as deeply as possible as she goes!

COMBATSYS: Bullet dodges Lotus' Exsanguinate.

[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////          ]
Lotus            0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0           Bullet

[BULLET]
Despite being caught off-guard before, this time Bullet's figured out her opponent a little more. She dashes off to the side, getting herself out of the way of the speedy assault in a narrow miss that- damn, she's going to need to stitch her jacket up later.

Her head turns as the other woman moves, eyes locked-in to follow the movements now. One can almost see the numbers running and gears turning in their head- an onlooker might swear a target marker formed around Lotus for a moment.

Bullet can zip too- she launches herself like... her namesake, really, coming in low with fist drawn back for a vicious uppercut- the kind that gets followed up by spiking the target back down two-footed while they're still in the air.

COMBATSYS: Lotus dodges Bullet's Lock On.

[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////           ]
Lotus            0/-------/---====|======-\-------\0           Bullet

[LOTUS]
Lotus skids to a halt after passing, her attack evaded! She turns around just long enough to see Bullet winding up, and while unaware of any marker, she figures what will come next. Low and fast usually means either more forwards, or up and down! Even a monster like Lotus knows basic physics! That means she has only one simple thing to do: she hops quickly to the side, narrowly missing the initial uppercut! Her hair flies up with the force despite the miss, meaning that if it HAD hit, she would be hurting!

Lunging closer, Lotus opens up with a series of quick slashes with her weapons, jumping in and out constantly as she does so, not wanting to be caught unawares!

COMBATSYS: Bullet interrupts Armed Combo from Lotus with Snap Hands Fist.

[      \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////               ]
Lotus            1/-------/=======|=======\-------\1           Bullet

[BULLET]
Another snarl and grunt of aggravation as Lotus slips out of the way of Bullet's attack, and she catches her feet again quickly.

She hates when opponents try to duck and weave in and out of her grasp- and some of the first few strikes catch her across the arm or along the midsection- and then she bursts forward again.

Heedless of the pain, Bullet dives straight for Lotus on one of the backsteps, reaching out to take hold of Lotus bodily- her body and eyes almost seem to begin to glow a fiery orange colour as she torques herself around throws the knife-fighter into the opposite wall.

[LOTUS]
Lotus gives an audible "EEP!" as shes grabbed, followed by a grunt of pain as shes thrown! The wall cracks in all directions, and a giant hole is left as Lotus ends up going THROUGH it, revealing a restroom on the other side! The sound of crashing and further damage as she goes is heard, followed by screams of panic as several women, mostly patients and a nurse or two, vacate the premises on account of thrown lunatic.

From inside, the sound of running water can be heard, and quickly there is flooding out into the hallway.

All seems quiet for a moment before a long stiletto is sent flying through the hole, right towards Bullet!

COMBATSYS: Bullet blocks Lotus' Pinprick.

[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////                 ]
Lotus            1/-------/=======|=======\==-----\1           Bullet

[BULLET]
As Lotus's stiletto flies out, Bullet pulls up her hand- the one with the larger gauntlet- to swat it aside- and misses the mark, only managing to send it off-kilter and gouge her shoulder rather than stab straight into her heart.

"Alright then- let's get serious." she calls into the flooding room. "System Override," she adds a moment later, as a plate slides back on her gauntlet, and she glows all the more red and fiercely as some sheer force and heat starts turning the approaching flood waters to steam.

COMBATSYS: Bullet gathers her will.

[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////                ]
Lotus            1/-------/=======|=======\======-\1           Bullet

[LOTUS]
Seconds tick by after Bullet sets herself into Override mode..... nothing seems to initially happen....

Suddenly, Lotus smashes through the wall in another spot near the one already made, striking at Bullet with a knife and lauging madly all the way! Hit or miss, she keeps going with the momentum of the strike!

COMBATSYS: Bullet blocks Lotus' Random Strike.

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////                 ]
Lotus            1/------=/=======|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2           Bullet

[BULLET]
She's not as quick as Lotus, but Bullet manages to bat aside most of the debris- and again, just scarcely turn a knife to the middle of her gut into another gouge across her side. She's... in rough shape, panting and bleeding all over- but still fighting.

She whirls around and launches from the ground- flames gathering around her. She leaps feat-first for Lotus, propelled with the force of the flames to try to drive Lotus into another wall with the sheer force- the large gauntlet fanning out into a series of long prongs rather than the large plate as the power gathers for a massive fire blast at lotus upon wall collision.

COMBATSYS: Lotus parries Bullet's Serpentine Assault!

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////                  ]
Lotus            1/-----==/=======|>>>>>>>\-------\1           Bullet

[LOTUS]
KLANG!

The strike impacts Lotuses crossed daggers squarely, pushing her as planned. However, mid-rush, before impacting the wall, she leaps and SCRAAAAAAAAAPES along the length of the gauntle with the edges, using her own forwards momentum to send a very sharp kick directly at Bullets face as the firey woman continues on her forwards trajectory!

COMBATSYS: Bullet dodges Lotus' Strong Kick EX.

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////                  ]
Lotus            1/-----==/=======|>>>>>>>\-------\1           Bullet

[BULLET]
While in most cases Lotus would have lined up a perfect kick to interrupt Bullet's trajectory... Bullet has a trick or two.

She redirects the arm that was gathering energy, pointing it upwards to release the explosion into the air and push herself to the ground to slide to a halt safely.

She pushes back up to her feet as quickly as shecan, gritting her teeth. She just goes into a full on running charge, head down to take hold of Lotus again and attempt to, well, throw her back t hrough the wall.

COMBATSYS: Lotus blocks Bullet's Miquelet Capture.

[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////                  ]
Lotus            1/---====/=======|=======\-------\1           Bullet

[LOTUS]
Again Lotus, as she lands, gets her guard up, the impact ringing off her weapons. This time she doesn't slip out, and is SMASHed into the wall, which again cracks and makes a Lotus-shaped impression! The damage to her seems minor however, or at least doesn't seem to garner much reaction as she leans forwards and grins at Bullet "My, you HAVE been a lot of fun tonight! Nothing like a warm up after being nearly dead!".

As she speaks, Lotus slides her legs to brace againt the wall before abruptly pushing up, flipping over, and coming down towards Bullet in an axe-kick of her own, aiming the heel at her shoulder and neck!

COMBATSYS: Bullet interrupts Power Strike from Lotus with Flechette Engage.
*KNOCKED AWAY*

[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////                       ]
Lotus            2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\=====--\1           Bullet

[BULLET]
It's definitely a frustrating moment when the ever-slippery Lotus writhes out of Bullet's grasp -again-. It's enough to make a woman... well, she was already angry. Angrier, maybe. If possible.

Simple problem- simple solution. She whirls about like a flickering flame, and launches herself to intercept the falling Lotus- yes she takes a boot to the shoulder, but she also grabs hold of the woman with her left hand. With the bigger gauntlet. That's been making all the explosions...

Careening through the air, she slams the other woman into the ground in a great blast of fire- and then turns about and tosses her away, back the way Lotus originally came.

[LOTUS]
With a shout of "WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeee..............." Lotus is FLUNG sharply once again..... it's almost becoming a trend of some kind!

Note to self: look into throwing people as a trend. Might make a mint!

Once more she smashes into a wall, and again THROUGH it! This time it's into the MENS room! Once more, several people scramble to escape the area, and water, which was pooling high before, only starts pooling MORE, gushing into the hallway from two different holes in the walls!

This time it's only a few moments that pass before Lotus comes running out to continue the battle! Her side, where the attack struck her, is burnt an bloody, the bones in her lower part of her ribcage obviously crushed in. Still, she doesn't seem to care as she jumps at Bullet, swinging a sink that was torn from the bathroom wall at the angry womans jaw! "Everything but the kitchen sink my ass!"

COMBATSYS: Lotus successfully hits Bullet with Random Weapon.
-*- DEVASTATING HIT! -*-

[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >                                ]
Lotus            2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2           Bullet

[BULLET]
The heat and flame and explosions have created quite the steam-room effect with the flooding water and continuing property damage.

Lotus's speed and unexpected tactic, combined with the poor visibility, catch Bullet clear across the jaw.

She stumbles back, bleeding from... most places and, based on the sound, likely with a fracture in her jaw somewhere. She staggers for a moment, and then her gauntlet fans out again. A deep crimson glow gathers around it, and she forces herself to lurch forward- and levy one last massive blast of explosive power, likely enough to level what's left of that bathroom, even if nothing else.

COMBATSYS: Bullet can no longer fight.

[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Lotus            2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|

COMBATSYS: Lotus dodges Bullet's Blackout.

[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Lotus            2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|

[LOTUS]
Feeling a REALLY meaty impact, and crack of what is likely a broken jaw, Lotus stops to surmise Bullet. She watches the strong-armed woman stumble for a moment, allowing herself to enjoy the suffering! Then the gauntlet starts to gloooooooooow.

This is never a good sign, and given the battle so far, likely means fire. Coming Lotuses way. Quickly! So far the safest place when Bullet has used fire so far has been her flank. Its always forwards!

Her yellow cat-like eyes watch Bullet carefully, and when the time is right, just as the attack is to be unleashed, Lotus charges, and leaps over and past her, the attack incinerating the water and causing a large jet of steam that flows back into the hallway, clouding things from view!

When it finally clears, Lotus is nowhere to be seen, and the doors she had previously been intending to exit through are ajar and covered with flecks of blood.

COMBATSYS: Lotus has ended the fight here.

Log created on 18:57:16 10/18/2018 by Bullet, and last modified on 23:58:19 10/28/2018.