Match of the Millennium

Description: Velvet Blue meets ABA in the Russian Tea Room in New York City for a decidedly creepy SNF!

[VELVET BLUE]
The Russian Tea room is an elegant place. Burgundy carpeting, chandeliers, red vinyl upholstered booths and wooden chairs, black wallpapered interior with gold trim. It really does scream affluence and style... So that begs the question, why is Velvet Blue here? Harr. Actually, Velvet is positioned on a large raised dias or stage area in the center of the main ballroom, which is cordoned off by red velvet rope so people can amass at the far side to watch. The raised match area is made out of some heavy duty rubber/polymer, though with no ropes surrounding it, if they fall off, well they take a spill. It's not necessarily a ring out--this isn't Tekken, after all~

This is a match with a living dead girl and a pretty critter that fancies themselves an entertainer. Velvet Blue is in their usual black spandex bodyglove and violet thigh-high boots, really that's about it--the darkstalker's long blue spaded tail flicking about their ankles as they wait, not that most non-powered people here can notice that or the bat ears.

[ABA]
The Russian tea room is indeed an elegant place.

This means that ABA looks about as well-suited for it as... well, something completely unsuited; make your own metaphor. ABA herself is a pale girl wrapped in bandages (fortunately, they appear clean). She looks, not to put too fine a point on it, not in great shape, given how deathly pale she is, the dark rings under her eyes, and the fact that she has a key embedded in her head. She also smells... odd. Not foul, necessarily, but odd. Almost chemical.

ABA is carrying a key. The key has a face, though it currently looks kind of dim-witted, rolling its eyes around to try to look around itself. This is Paracelsus, who ABA is under the impression that Money For People is here to help get a body.

But at least one of them knew it was a fancy place; Paracelsus has a bow tie over the cuff attaching it - him, according to ABA - to the chains ABA uses to drag him around.

ABA is slowly and patiently dragging Paracelsus toward the dias, letting him look around - and people get a look at him. The two of them are kind of eye-catching, even though ABA hasn't said anything except very quietly to Paracelsus, and Paracelsus has his lips sewn closed and so is not saying anything at all.

[VELVET BLUE]
A rope ladder is tossed down for ABA to ascend to the dias and get up there, it's made out of hemp. Meanwhile, Velvet peers from atop the dias, standing at the edge and looking down.

"Whew--what happened there hon? Rough night last night? Eh, it's okay--we've all had toilet paper stuck to us when leaving a club's bathroom before," Velvet smiles a little as he shrugs and waves off the strange girl's appearance.

"Also big fan of Kingdom Hearts, I love that series!" he hops back from the edge and gets into position, if the girl has a large key attached to her--it'll probably be a weapon, which is why it's great he's brought along his own, his white-lacquered wakizashi. Not that it's anywhere near as imposing as ABA's key, mind, but it does pay to come prepared!

COMBATSYS: Velvet Blue has started a fight here on the right meter side.

                                  >  //////////////////////////////]
                                  |-------\-------\0      Velvet Blue

[ABA]
ABA stares at the rope ladder as if she did not know what it was for, though after about five seconds of this she grasps the sides of it and starts climbing up. It takes her a moment to realize she should be using her feet too, but eventually she makes it to the top.

Paracelsus is almost too big to be a weapon. When ABA does finally climb up, pulling him behind her, she plants the tip of the key on the dias - and Paracelsus is taller than she is. She looks at Velvet for a few long moments, too, before she finally speaks.

"...I..." ABA's voice is slow, low, and creaky, like she doesn't use it much and had to force it out. "I don't know if I have anything stuck to me..." She turns, as if trying to look at her own back. Paracelsus has nothing to add.

She turns back a moment later, resting her hand against the length of the key, touching only lightly. "They said... I should fight... for Money for People. So, we are. Paracelsus and me." And yet she doesn't look like she's doing much fighting. She's just standing there, Paracelsus resting at her side. Huh.

At least, for a few moments. Then, apparently having made up her mind, ABA simply rushes forward, dragging Paracelsus after her with a horrible squealing sound against the flooring. Running appears to exhaust her quickly, though, and she slows down, planting Paracelsus and using him as a pivot to deliver a spinning kick toward Velvet's side.

Paracelsus' expression throughout the whole thing does not change. At all. ''Can'' it change?

COMBATSYS: ABA has joined the fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
ABA              0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0      Velvet Blue

COMBATSYS: Velvet Blue blocks ABA's Shoukyaku.

[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
ABA              0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0      Velvet Blue

[VELVET BLUE]
"Great upper body strength there, hon, gotta love that in a lady," Velvet Blue grins as he gestures for ABA to come join the fight as it was joined.

"You don't? It just looks like you went a bit overboard with the bathroom tissue there, hon! Are you saying--is that... oh, that is bandages, isn't it, alright, checks out!" Velvet raises a finger to her, as if to give her the go-ahead.

"Money for people? Sure, I mean, wait what--oh lord!" he somehow wasn't ready for how /fast/ ABA could move with that huge key weighing her down. But as it turns out it's a bit of the reverse of Pyramid Head as she doesn't drag it--she hefts that thing like a 2x4 and dashes raggedly right towards him! Oh crap!

"Ngh!" Velvet takes the kick to the side with an arm up to brace against it, but it does hurt, quite a bit!

"Here, let me help you with all those wraps--" he grunts and tips the point of his short sword up and tries to pierce her chest!

COMBATSYS: ABA blocks Velvet Blue's Quick Strike.

[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
ABA              0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0      Velvet Blue

[ABA]
ABA is actually still dragging Paracelsus, mostly; she's strong, but she's not ''that'' strong.

ABA finishes her pivot around the key and lands on her feet again just as Velvet menaces her with a sword. Her response to that is very direct; she sweeps her arm into the way of the weapon, preferring to take a shallow slash along her arm than get poked in the chest. And it is a shallow slash; ABA's flesh does not respond like a normal person's. It's tough, hard to saw through at the best of times.

"...oh... you made me bleed." ABA doesn't seem like she cares about the pain so much as the fact that she is now leaking, through the bandages she wears do a good job of stopping it from getting onto the rich Tea Room floor or tables or anything else. She decides to strike with the other hand, a sweeping blow that is half a punch and half a slap, without moving Paracelsus - she's still got her hand on the chain but she isn't actually moving him. A loose scrap of bandage flutters in the breeze as ABA defends her husband.

Paracelsus seems okay with that.

COMBATSYS: Velvet Blue dodges ABA's Medium Strike.

[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
ABA              0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0      Velvet Blue

[VELVET BLUE]
"I should have brought a bigger knife," Velvet blinks as he only manages to score a shallow gash against ABA's arm, his 1-foot wakizashi was like a toothpick against the huge bladed bronze-colored key ABA was hefting along with her. At least it felt that small. Some definite envy there right now.

"Show off--" Velvet puts a booted foot to the girl's keyblade as he hops back and manages an acrobatic flip back away from her--deftly out of the space ABA's hand traveled through just in time!

"So you got some kind of Egyptian thing going on? I don't think they worshipped keys, though," Velvet is trying to suss out what is up with ABA for real here, though he seems at a loss.

"Watch your step!" before the girl can strike with that big key, Velvet dashes in and the dias lights up beneath them as he springs into the air--doing another flip, meanwhile the ground underneath the both of them detonates with ki energy!

COMBATSYS: ABA dodges Velvet Blue's Battle Dance.

[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////    ]
ABA              0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0      Velvet Blue

[ABA]
"...Egyptian? I don't know..." There are a lot of things ABA doesn't know.

But then Velvet Blue puts his foot on Paracelsus. "...don't touch Paracelsus," ABA says, pulling the giant key towards her with a squealing sound as it drags across the floor, locking her arms around it in an embrace. "He's my husband... and he is taken."

Unfortunately, while ABA has draped herself along the key, she has also kind of unbalanced herself. She starts to jump away from Velvet, but manages to send both her and Paracelsus falling backwards, assisted by the sudden explosion of force under - in front of - her.

Safely out of range, ABA is nonetheless momentarily plopped on the ground with Paracelsus. She scrambles up to her feet, tugging Paracelsus up after her by the chain; she actually manages to pull him upright (guess she was pretty strong after all) and jabs her left hand out at Velvet Blue. It isn't quite close enough to touch.

But she had a key tied in the bandages over her left wrist, and the bandages uncoil slightly, letting her wield the smaller key (about the side of a knife) like a flail; Velvet might not be punched, but he has to worry about being stabbed and then the key flipping around to make his approach a little more difficult.

Paracelsus seems vaguely approving. Maybe.

COMBATSYS: Velvet Blue blocks ABA's Fukumetsu.

[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////      ]
ABA              0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0      Velvet Blue

[VELVET BLUE]
"Woah, what?!" Velvet remarks as he lands, left eyebrow quirking at that. "Jeez, remind me not to sniff the thing, if that's the case!"

However, when the knife-sized key--probably nearer to the side of Velvet's wakizashi, really--sails toward him Velvet manages to take the tip of it in his right arm, wincing as he jerks back from the bladed instrument before it can try to drag or rip out of his skin. That would be an interesting cover to Men's Life magazine: Keys ripped my flesh!

"Here, try mine!" Velvet ducks down and brings the short sword of his up--holding it point downward but the edge facing outward, so he can rip it up and draw strokes along the woman's body in a series of motions!

COMBATSYS: ABA attempts to interrupt Armed Combo from Velvet Blue with Ketsugou.

[      \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////      ]
ABA              0/-------/-----==|=====--\-------\0      Velvet Blue

COMBATSYS: Velvet Blue fails to reverse Ketsugou from ABA with Quicksilver.

[      \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////             ]
ABA              0/-------/---====|=======\=------\1      Velvet Blue

[ABA]
ABA pulls the key back in before it falls to the ground, because all keys are special in their own way (even if Paracelsus is, of course, the best of them) and she doesn't want to throw them on the ground. That would be mean... to the key. She hopes Paracelsus will not mind her moment of unfaithfulness.

To reassure him, she grabs at Paracelsus' chain instead, and she has it in her hand when Velvet strikes at her. She feels his sword hit her - and hit Paracelsus, as it scrapes off ABA's torso, drawing a line of not-quite-human blood (it still smells funny) and tinks against him. While it hurts ABA, it does not seem to do damage to the gigantic key.

"I said... you should not touch Paracelsus..."

ABA defends herself by striking at Velvet Blue with Paracelsus' chain. It impacts with a surge of energy, preventing him from following up his armed combo, but it does more than the sudden blast of energy; it pulls, in a whirlwind of power, the blood from ABA's bandages up toward Paracelsus' mouth, causing him to move for the first time, trying to suck in the blood through his stitched mouth -

And he manages it.

Paracelsus' face ''changes''. Where it was a weird, flat, kind of stupid-looking face before, the metal shifts into a demonic goat head, tiny points of light burning in his eye sockets. He opens his now-unsealed mouth and ''screams'' at Velvet Blue, a wordless shout.

"...he doesn't like it."

[VELVET BLUE]
Sparks fly from the long knife veering off the giant key, the girl had a really weird smell about them--not something they wanted to get anymore acquainted with--but when ABA reacts by trying to strike them with that chain in mid knife stroke, they are forced to retaliate again.

The chain however winds up impacting with his body and the darkstalker's hair stands up straight--both as he reels back in shock but also from the burst of energy that he received when struck by the chain!

"Auugh--" he's thrown back, sprawled out prone against the tough floor of the dias, opening his mouth just in time to see the giant goat head gloating at him--and rolling backwards to try and land back on his feet!

[ABA]
Paracelsus ''lunges'' at Velvet.

That's right: Paracelsus does it, not ABA. If anything, ABA tries to hold him back, planting her feet and pulling away from Velvet Blue, but now that Paracelsus has tasted blood he wants another taste. The demonic head of the key attempts to headbutt Velvet, though given said head has bladed horns on it it's a little less comfortable than your normal headbutt.

"No, Paracelsus! They are going to bring food! You eat that instead!" She heard that they were going to be given the Business Express lunch at one point, and she was looking forward to it even if Paracelsus, apparently, is more interested in a diet of PURE VIOLENCE applied via headbutt.

COMBATSYS: Velvet Blue dodges ABA's Power Strike.

[      \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////             ]
ABA              0/-------/---====|=======\=------\1      Velvet Blue

[VELVET BLUE]
"You really got a way of wearing a guy out, lady--woah!" Velvet blinks and ducks as he tries to rise from the crouch, the large goat head missing him by inches--rolling onto their side and then pulling themselves up.

"Phew, didn't know that thing was possessed, good to know--" Velvet pulled that large knife/sword of his back and lunged back at ABA to try and give the wielder of the key a bit of a run through with it--before they could command their haunted weapon to try and eat him!

COMBATSYS: ABA blocks Velvet Blue's Crushing Strike.

[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////             ]
ABA              0/-------/---====|=======\=------\1      Velvet Blue

[ABA]
"Paracelsus is not possessed..."

ABA's statement is kind of hard to take seriously given Paracelsus is still doing his damnedest to take the aggression in this fight to the next level. All ABA is trying to do is get out of the way of Velvet's onrushing blades... which she does, albeit by hiding behind Paracelsus. Velvet's blade hits the main haft of the key and skips off, again wounding ABA but probably not by as much as he is trying to.

And Paracelsus takes a deep, deep breath of that smell of blood, which is probably not good for anyone.

ABA hefts up Paracelsus again, demonstrating that upper-body strength, and this time it's half to wield him as a weapon and half to control him; gripping him up near the head, ABA swings the gigantic weapon like the key was an axe, striking in a huge sweeping arc toward Velvet. "Paracelsus doesn't like you. But I... I just want to help Money for People, so that Money for People helps me..."

COMBATSYS: Velvet Blue blocks ABA's Fierce Strike.

[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////               ]
ABA              0/-------/--=====|=======\===----\1      Velvet Blue

[VELVET BLUE]
"I don't think I like your keyblade, whatever it is," Velvet meets resistance from the sword--no, key, but at this point Paracelsus might as well be. Why did she keep calling it that? Wasn't that some kind of Greek mythology thing? He also didn't have a big idea of what she was talking about--either way, it was time to make a move, it was now, or never--and that big key goat head thing looked hungry. She was trying to restrain it now, perhaps more than trying to utilize it as a weapon. As it was swung down--Velvet tried to bring his short sword up to use as a shield of swords--it didn't help entirely, the weight of the blow still knocked him back and left him bloodied. The key was not something to be fucked with.

"Lets see how you like this," one of Velvet's left eye gleams as he suddenly goes invisible and with a flash of movement he's darting up and around ABA--while invisible and trying to strike her multiple times, moving around her in a circle, only his eyes and jaws visible!

COMBATSYS: Velvet Blue successfully hits ABA with Cheshire Grin.
Glancing Blow

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////                ]
ABA              0/-------/=======|===----\-------\0      Velvet Blue

COMBATSYS: ABA has ended the fight here.


[ABA]
"Paracelsus is my husband..."

That seems to be all ABA is willing to explain about 'what Paracelsus is', mostly. "But keys... are important. If you don't have a key, you don't know how to leave. You aren't trapped if you have a key..."

Velvet Blue suddenly turns invisible. Or he's just moving fast enough that she can't track him, which is close enough; ABA moves stiffly, though Paracelsus is - right now, anyway - more than happy to drag her around. But he apparently can't see him either, the point of light in his eye leaving trails in the air as ABA turns this way and that, trying to focus on Velvet as his grin reappears.

Paracelsus decides to go one way, and ABA is pulled along by him, unable to stop his mad rush; her feet skid on the floor as she tries to dig in. She shouldn't have, because Paracelsus is correct, and he manages to drag ABA halfway out of the slash at least; Velvet's flurry doesn't hit as cleanly as it otherwise would have, but he's still too hard for her to see and too fast for her to chase.

So she doesn't.

ABA thrusts her hands out, one forward and one back. Magic circles appear surrounding her hands as she violently thrusts them outward, the circles filling with bright red-violet energy and then exploding, shrouding ABA behind the double mystic blast. Surely one of them will catch Velvet! Or that's her plan, anyway.

COMBATSYS: ABA successfully hits Velvet Blue with Konzetsu.

[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////                     ]
ABA              1/-------/=======|=======\-------\0      Velvet Blue

[VELVET BLUE]
Paracelsus is able to help maneuver ABA out of the majority of Velvet's strikes--the key's body likely deflecting part of them, even. The thing really did have a mind of it's own! Velvet gets one in with his wakizashi, clipping ABA--though he can't see where, most of the strikes miss--and then ABA forms the magical seal, and blasts Velvet Blue.

"Woooah!" the performer is blown back by the blast, winding up on his knees, smoke radiating from their body as they pull themselves up on one knee, still able to fight.

"Lets see you dodge this!" Velvet darts toward ABA with the tip of their long knife headed right for their mid-section!

COMBATSYS: Velvet Blue successfully hits ABA with Stiletto Pierce.

[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////                       ]
ABA              1/-----==/=======|=======\=------\1      Velvet Blue

[ABA]
ABA doesn't really dodge. And, indeed, she doesn't really try to dodge, or at least not very effectively, when Velvet Blue strikes for her.

The knife connects, the blow hard enough to make ABA stagger back a step or two. She hunches down over the impact as if it had disabled her - no, she's actually bending, reaching for the floor, creating another one of those magic circles with a splat of impact. It sits there for about two seconds as ABA leans over it.

"...we should be done soon."

And then the circle explodes in a burst of red-violet energy, shading to yellow as it rises into a pillar. Whirls of brighter energy trail around it as ABA lurches away from it, blasted back by her own magic; Paracelsus too doesn't look fantastic, judging by the strange coughing sound he makes, followed by spitting up a spray of blood as his face returns to the normal round and rather dull expression he wears.

HOW DID HE EVEN DRINK THAT MUCH BLOOD

On the plus side, the folks who are actually getting their lunch are also getting a hell of a show, even if it might put them off their lunch. Nobody wants to see dinnertime blood magic.

COMBATSYS: Velvet Blue dodges ABA's Shouko - Intoku.

[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////                       ]
ABA              0/-------/------=|=======\=------\1      Velvet Blue

[VELVET BLUE]
Velvet drives the knife in with a sickening audio impact, pulling it back just in time to try and get away from the key's next retaliation. It sprays the reddish-purple energy at Velvet, the Darkstalker is getting way too tired to keep going--but he has to try anyway. Leaping into the air, his body tilts to the front and a pair of blue-light lasers stream from his eye--happening perhaps too fast to be believed--racing across the raised dias's floor and searing it--and heading right for ABA's form!

The performer continues the tilt forward, eventually coming full circle and landing on his feet, before stumbling back and falling on his butt, semi-prone. Ow, that took a lot out of him!

COMBATSYS: ABA blocks Velvet Blue's Wishmaster.

[                    \\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////                       ]
ABA              0/-------/----===|=------\-------\0      Velvet Blue

[ABA]
The explosion took a lot out of ABA and she's not exactly sure she can do it twice. She also has blood from Paracelsus spitting it up splattered on her outfit, plus getting stabbed, so it's good that it looks like she's wearing denim sewn into rough overalls and a bunch of bandages instead of something expensive.

"Do you want to keep going? ...Paracelsus?" No, she wasn't asking Velvet. Why would she do that?

Paracelsus does not comment. He's back to his dopey, mouth-sewn-closed look.

Apparently ABA takes that as assent, despite her own injuries, because she gives a slightly satisfied nod just as Velvet turns to eye laser her. And why he has eye lasers, she has no idea, but indeed he does. ABA manages to partially absorb the power on her arm rather than, say, getting shot through the heart, but it's just another injury added to the collection.

Looking more than a little woozy, ABA wraps her arms around Paracelsus, who makes an excellent support given he doesn't move at all. She kicks out, balancing on one leg for a moment; it's a powerful kick, and even with Paracelsus to help her balance she's now so unsteady that she almost falls over because of it.

COMBATSYS: ABA successfully hits Velvet Blue with Strong Kick.

[                    \\\\\\\\\\  < >  /                             ]
ABA              0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0      Velvet Blue

[VELVET BLUE]
"Phew, you got me dead bang, are you gonna--OOF!" Velvet takes the strong kick to the forehead and tample, staggering back a bit. Looks like he got his answer!

"If only you could see the stars like I do, babe--here, we got 'em!" he sounds like he's stammering through half of this, darkness closing in as the Darkstalker makes a final ki based attack--shiny neon geometric shapes and hearts come flying for ABA! That's totally not her style, she's got the Egyptian slave girl and key-thing going on, after all!

COMBATSYS: Velvet Blue can no longer fight.

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

COMBATSYS: Velvet Blue successfully hits ABA with Neon Carnival.

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

[ABA]
ABA's style is not precisely as Velvet describes it, but it also really doesn't involve hearts and sparkles. More blood, guts, and keys.

The chi spatters around ABA, threatening to knock her over - she's dazzled by the light show, stunned by the impact, and generally not in great shape. It's Paracelsus that saves her; ABA practically wraps herself around Paracelsus to hold herself up, and when Velvet's onslaught stops, lets go to stand on her own two feet. "...We did it," she says to Paracelsus.

Paracelsus does not deign to respond. He does sort of roll his eyes to look at the mess they've made of the dining area and the shocked faces of the audience, though.

[VELVET BLUE]
Velvet Blue is passed out on the floor of the dias. Hopefully he'll get some medical attention at some point, or maybe he'll recover enough thanks to Darkstalker stamina to pick himself up and go patch up somewhere! Either way, good fight, good night.

Log created on 19:33:33 11/10/2018 by Velvet Blue, and last modified on 14:58:58 11/19/2018.