Match of the Millennium

Description: Aranha and Sophia find themselves facing Morrigan for the second round of Slamfest. The lamia finds that there's something familiar about the succubus. Meanwhile, Aranha is just trying to void needing a lawyer.

COMBATSYS: Morrigan has ended the fight here.


[MORRIGAN]
After a clash of titans in the first round, the mysterious Morrigan Aensland has returned to Slamfest again for an encore--this time against a pair of fighters for a spectacular threes--three-way match!

Smooth mellow pop-rock echoes through the arena as Morrigan makes her way down the runway, each step punctuated by the clack of a platform heel and a pronounced swing of her hip. Green-haired and confident as always, Morrigan has modified her gaudy wrestling outfit from the last bout. Skintight purple batprint leggings have returned, her leotard black and low-cut as always, with a heart cut from the fabric slightly above the navel. The masquerade mask has returned, perhaps for the ridiculousness of it. She is without wings, at least this time, as she makes her way to the ring.

And when Morrigan reaches the turnbuckle, she flips up onto it gracefully, plants her seat on the corner, then crosses her legs almost lazily before blowing kisses at the crowd.

"So who's going t'play with me tonight?"

COMBATSYS: ["Maneater"] A steady bass line echoes through the arena as Morrigan makes her way down the runway, her steps and sway of her hips moving in sync with the beat. "She'll only come at nights / the lean and hungry type / nothing is new / I've seen her here before." MORRIGAN is ready to SLAM!

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

[ARANHA]
The pre-fight ritual is a little different for the one often referred to as the Dancing Spider. Some breathing and focusing his mind. He wanted to come in and be at his best. The time for him to go to the ring arrives and he rises up and heads to the ramp. He barely has time to roll his neck causing cracking noises to be heard before his music starts.

It begins with an orchestral introduction. Then the bell tolls. The orchestra continues playing with the bell occasionally ringing and hip hop styled beats playing under it to give the classical song a bit of a modern touch. And that's when the athletically built, black shirt and white pants clad African American steps out from the entrance and strolls barefoot to the ring.

As he makes his way to the arena, he bobs his head to the beat as rap lyrics continue to play on the sound system.

By the time he gets to the ring, the rap song is at the hook. He hops up on the apron and then the top turnbuckle. From there, he delivers a high side kick and holds it out there for a few moments to show off his flexibility and balance. He then hops down and brings himself into a one handed handstand before moving to his corner.

So glorious, victorious
We take what we want, we born warriors (Ay!)
So glorious, victorious
We take what we want, we born warriors (Ay!)
If you fall, get up and try it again (Uh-huh)
If you drop, get up and try it again (Uh-huh)
If you fall, get up and try it again (Uh-huh)
If you drop, get up and try it again...

With that, the music fades out from the sound system as Aranha himself gets himself ready to fight.

COMBATSYS: [Juelz Santana - The Second Coming] It starts out with an orchestra playing a sample of Berlioz's Symphony Fantastique as an intro with hip hop beats in the background. As Aranha walks out to the ring, this particular version of the song skips directly to the second verse. "We tired of being runners up, we coming up | We ready for whatever you put in front of us | Blood, sweat and tears, yeah | We dripped all three just to get here" So glorious! -- ARANHA is Ready to SLAM!

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Morrigan         0/-------/------=|======-\-------\0           Aranha

COMBATSYS: Sophia enters the arena, to the roar of the crowd!

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Morrigan         0/-------/------=|======-\-------\0           Aranha
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Sophia           0/-------/-------|

[SOPHIA]
Sophia doesn't enter to any music, in fact she's still not quite sure why she went along with this again. Sure, it would futher her research but she's not exactly big on being in the spotlight. Little does she know that she has a larger connection to Morrigan than she thinks. If she knew the truth she might not even go along with this match. The timid young woman slithers towards the arena shielding her glasses-covered eyes from the spotlight.

[MORRIGAN]
Morrigan shifts on her perch and swings her head around lazily as Aranha's music starts to play and the man makes his way into the arena. Her eyes trace his figure and linger there for an overly long moment. She shifts, then drops backward in a shower of green as her hair billows out before flipping almost weightlessly back to her feet to sink the landing.

And then there's the other newcomer. Morrigan watches the snake arrive. She raises an eyebrow, her curiosity piqued by an unusual newcomer.

"What an interesting pair," Morrigan says, resting a hand on her hip. She flips her hair back with her other hand. "Are you two ready for some fun?" The succubus's tongue traces her lips. She bends forward, the fabric of her tights straining just a little as she does.

"I should warn you that I play rough."

[ARANHA]
Aranha was somewhat familiar with Morrigan due to her appearances in leagues or tournaments. He wasn't given much in the way of details about her and so he was still flying somewhat blind in terms of her capabilities. The same could be said for his team mate.

The referee gives the signal to start and the capoeirista was quick to react to it, launching himself at the succubus. He then swings a foot vertically as he leans backwards so it generates momentum for the flip backwards. When he comes out of the acrobatic manuever, that's the moment he lets himself respond to Morrigan.

"As long as I don't need crazy glue, a doctor, or a lawyer."

[SOPHIA]
Sophia comes to a sudden realization as she gets closer to Morrigan and sees her headwings along with the tights. "No, it can't be! I won't let you take me back there!" Her eyes glow red as she suddenly panics.

She isn't Lilith but try telling the lamia that, she's getting the same feeling from her. "You did this to me! Stay back!" She's quite heistant about getting closer to the succubus, after all there's no telling what might happen. She lets out a loud hiss and opens her mouth widely releasing acid from it at Morrigan.

COMBATSYS: Morrigan dodges Sophia's Acid Paper.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Morrigan         0/-------/------=|======-\-------\0           Aranha
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Sophia           0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Morrigan full-parries Aranha's Short Kick!!

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Morrigan         0/-------/----===|======-\-------\0           Aranha
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Sophia           0/-------/-------|

[MORRIGAN]
"Excuse me?" Morrigan says, raising an eyebrow behind that ridiculous masquerade mask. "Do I know you from somewhere, lass?" The acid sprays forth and Morrigan shifts to the left, bending backwards so that it flashes by her and splashes against the far turnbuckle. "I've done many a naughty thing," Morrigan says, "but I think I'd remember that one."

"Oh, no guarantees on any of those," Morrigan smiles to Aranha as he closes in, a wide smile on her lips. "Except the first. Unless that's your thing," The acrobatic kick comes in and Morrigan twists out of the way, if narrowly. "

Morrigan tries to thread herself in close, leaning in toward the capoeirista's face, her breath hot and heavy. Did the pressure in the room increase? What's this feeling? "But I find boys get sticky enough when I'm around--" Morrigan breathes before swinging her hips into Aranha, her aim to clock him up over her shoulder with her rear and then pivot into a full shoulder throw.

COMBATSYS: Aranha blocks Morrigan's Moon Tracer EX.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Morrigan         0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0           Aranha
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Sophia           0/-------/-------|

[ARANHA]
Those are some serious accusations that his team mate is leveling towards, Morrigan. Accusations that he was particularly sensitive to due to both his sister and himself having been transformed against his will. He would have to talk to Sophia after this fight but it's not the easiest thing to address when you're fighting someone who apparently was so good that he was assigned a partner to fight them.

Speaking of, the previously mentioned opponent, she manages to manuever out of the way of the kick in a position where he didn't really have much time to react to her. The capoeirista registers the moment her hips connect with his and then all of a sudden, Aranha finds himself airborne. In a bid to do some damage control, he tries to drop his shoulder to convert it into a roll but the best he can manage is bounce on his shoulder before going into a roll back to his feet.

"Lawyer most likely then."

His teammate doesn't seem all that inclined to deal with the succubus up close and personal so he moves towards the rope and leaps up, bounces off the rope and descends with one foot extended towards her. Upon landing back down on the mat he drops into another roll before coming out of it in a crouched position.

[SOPHIA]
"Don't try to deceive me Lilith! I know that succubi can change their apperances, but you still have the same energy coming from you!" Sophia still doesn't want to set tail anywhere near her. She looks around for something to defend herself and sees what remains of a glass bottle that's been tossed on the floor. The lamia picks it up with her tail and tosses it towards Morrigan.

COMBATSYS: Aranha successfully hits Morrigan with Sky's the Limit.
Grazing Hit

[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Morrigan         0/-------/=======|=======\-------\1           Aranha
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Sophia           0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Morrigan dodges Sophia's Illegal Weapon.

[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Morrigan         0/-------/=======|=======\-------\1           Aranha
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Sophia           0/-------/-------|

[MORRIGAN]
A wide, smug smile crosses Morrigan's face as Aranha moves to rebalance himself in mid-air after her hip toss. The battle heats up, but Morrigan seems more excited than intimidated, even with two strong opponents. At his quip, the succubus seems pleased.

"I do appreciate a good sense of humor," she says. "It makes it more fun than some droll, well," Morrigan flips her hair and gestures vaguely, turning her wrist and splaying her fingers. Even as she does, Aranha is moving for the counterattack, and Morrigan is just a bit too slow this time. The green-haired lady's movement is deft, fluid even. She slides out of the way--mostly--and takes the heel drop to the shoulder, winces, then rolls out from under it and away from Aranha.

"Ohhh," Morrigan says. "Those are nice legs--" But Sophia's accusations cut through her flirting, Morrigan tilting her head to look at the lamia.

"Oh," she says, her voice flat. "How...precocious. You've met Lilith, have you?" Morrigan's eyes narrow. "I suppose my 'sister' has given you some trouble, then?" The bottle flies toward Morrigan's face, but the succubus tilts her head and lets it pass by to smash against the safety glass outside the ring. "I'll take that as a 'yes.' Not so much a fan of snakes, or is this something else?"

Morrigan is suddenly on the move. Her heel digs in and her leg bends, and in the next instant she's directly in front of Sophia. Her arms reach out to slip around the lamia's waist and pull her into a tight embrace. Morrigan's breath is heavy. Oppressive. Somehow ... aromatic, almost. It's nice, in a way, but why is it so hard to breathe when she gets close?

"Let me get a good look at you, hmm?" Morrigan suddenly shifts, doing a complete backbend as she tries to suplex Sophia. "...after the match, of course. I can't disappoint the sports fans. Clearly."

COMBATSYS: Sophia blocks Morrigan's Audacious Slam.

[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Morrigan         0/-------/=======|=======\-------\1           Aranha
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Sophia           0/-------/-----==|

[SOPHIA]
"I still have nightmares from what happened!" Sophia manages to keep Morrigan from getting a firm grip on her, but she's still hurt from struggling against her. "And I didn't ask her to make me this way! Even if I'm a researcher of Darkstalkers." She's still quite upset and the succubus getting in close didn't help matters any

She places her hands together and a sickly green energy snake begins to form in them. Once the creature is fully formed she releases it at Morrigan. She was trying to wear her out before she has a chance to do the same to her.

[ARANHA]
The Dancing Spider can empathize with Sophia's plight. He watched his sister get forcibly turned into a darkstalker and then in process of killing the mad scientist responsible for it, ended up being made into one himself. There's a slight change in tune. She's no longer accusing Morrigan of being responsible for her change but seemingly open to this sister being responsible.

When Sophia pulls out of Morrigan's grip, Aranha leaps out at the succubus with blue glowing hands placed upon her shoulders. Should those hands get a hold of her, a burst of chi is sent into her as the traceur curls up into a ball before shoving her away with his feet as he flips backwards.

COMBATSYS: Morrigan dodges Sophia's Bedtime Story.

[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////    ]
Morrigan         0/-------/=======|=======\-------\1           Aranha
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Sophia           0/-------/----===|

COMBATSYS: Morrigan blocks Aranha's Hunting Season.

[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////    ]
Morrigan         0/-------/=======|=======\-------\1           Aranha
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Sophia           0/-------/----===|

[MORRIGAN]
Morrigan's face turns to a wicked grin as Sophia wiggles around. Perhaps she likes the sport of someone playing hard to get. "Is that so?" the succubus shows teeth with her smile. "Do you need a new subject of study? I'm a bit of a dangerous specimen~"

The green energy snake curls at Morrigan, but green dances around green as the Darkstalker ducks and weaves under it. In the next moment, Aranha has closed in and has her in his grip. "Oh, are we dancing again?" The chi surges amidst s dancing shadow as wings sprout from her back, weave in, and cushion the blow from the sphere and vault.

Morrigan slides backwards almost weightlessly until her wings snap around, churn like shadowy water, then flow behind her and reshape into...thrusters? They ignite with a flash and she shoots toward Aranha, seeking to ram him into the turnbuckle then bounce off into a sharp vertical climb, pulling him close. Too close.

"Are you having fun yet? Should I pick things up a bit?" If the caporeista doesn't escape, Morrigan transitions into a spinning piledriver back toward the ring, driving them down before ending in a seated slam---and an attempted pin?!

[SOPHIA]
"I don't think your idea of research is the same as mine. Besides, I rather not visit your realm." Sophia shudders at the thought of that. She wonders if she's going to have to get in close, the succubus seems to be pretty nimble. She watches as Morrigan goes for the pin and tries to break it up. She doesn't like the idea of getting close to her, but it seems like they're going to lose if she doesn't. She moves herself in closer and coils around Morrigan in an attempt to pull her off of Aranha.

COMBATSYS: Aranha blocks Morrigan's Sexual Embrace.

[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////       ]
Morrigan         1/-------/=======|=======\-------\1           Aranha
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Sophia           0/-------/-----==|

[ARANHA]
As soon as Aranha's feet touch the ground, he performs a back handspring to give himself a little more room to manuever. This is a mixed blessing. It gave him enough time to prepare for her to rocket towards him. It also, however, gave her enough time to build up momentum to bull rush him into turnbuckle. A small grunt leaves his lips upon impact before she comes close to him. Way too close for comfort. That's when he's flipped upside down and sent into a downward spiral. Aranha barely has the presence of mind to protect his head with forearms taking the impact there instead of his head, neck, or back. The pin never has a chance to happen.

His body folds up so that his feet gets under him allowing him to free himself enough to be able to get to his feet(possibly with some assistance from Sophia). After that, he gets his hands around Morrigan's legs and pulls her legs upwards so that her hips was pressed up agaisnt his knee.

"You're too clingy. I'm only trying to have a fling!"

The Dancing Spider leans backwards, using momentum, leverage, and a bit of muscle power to perform a Slingshot Catapult that would ideally send her flying towards the turnbuckle that Morrigan bull rushed him into.

COMBATSYS: Morrigan dodges Sophia's Epic Tail.

[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////       ]
Morrigan         1/------=/=======|=======\-------\1           Aranha
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Sophia           0/-------/----===|

COMBATSYS: Morrigan blocks Aranha's Rebound Throw.

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////       ]
Morrigan         1/------=/=======|=======\-------\1           Aranha
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Sophia           0/-------/----===|

[MORRIGAN]
Morrigan and Aranha wrestle in mid-air as the acrobatic capoeirista shifts and repositions to get himself out from under a potentially devasting seated piledriver from Morrigan. The two shift, Aranha repositioning herself for a slingshot through that sends her into the turnbuckle, but her wings soften the blow, coiling like springs to bring her to a stop.

"Oh, good answer. I like that." Morrigan says. "Wit is terribly undervalued. Don't push me away *too* soon, please!" But by now Sophia's tail is coiling around her, slipping toward Morrigan's waist. For a moment, the succubus seems to get thinner, her frame almost stretching as she slides out of Sophia's grasp to seat herself atop the lamia's tail.

"Oh, I'm sure yours is much more bookish. I'm more of a hands-on learner." The succubus kicks off, landing atop the ropes to balance precariously, her arms extended wide in a dramatic flourish. "Maybe you want some personal instruction, then? Private lessons aren't cheap, I'll have you know."

And with that, Morrigan launches herself headlong toward Sophia, aiming to take the snake to the ground with a body splash--or more of a chest press, as it were.

COMBATSYS: Morrigan successfully hits Sophia with Rebound Throw.
~~ Alluring Hit! ~~

[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////       ]
Morrigan         1/---====/=======|=======\-------\1           Aranha
[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Sophia           1/----===/=======|

[SOPHIA]
Sophia tries to step out of the way, but the succubus is much more agile than her. Morrigan throws her onto the mat with a rather loud thud. She lets out a cry of pain and wraps her arms around her chest. "No...I don't want to end up in your domain." It takes a moment for her to recover and in order to keep Morrigan from pining her, her tail springs up at her face.

[ARANHA]
The capoeirista quickly spins to his feet after his attempt to send her on a non consentual flight to the turnbuckle. He looks up just in time to see Morrigan descending boobs first upon the lamia. An eyebrow is raised until his team mate whips her tail at Morrigan to attempt to keep her from pinning her.

Aranha attempts to perform a scything kick to the succubus' head to assist Sophia in getting out from under Morrigan and then dropping down into a crouch.

It seems like he's about to follow up with another move.

COMBATSYS: Morrigan dodges Sophia's Big Boot.

[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////       ]
Morrigan         1/---====/=======|???????\???????\0           Aranha
[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Sophia           1/----===/=======|

COMBATSYS: Morrigan dodges Aranha's Improvised Kick.

[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////       ]
Morrigan         1/---====/=======|=======\==-----\1           Aranha
[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Sophia           1/----===/=======|

With the kick not hitting its mark, Aranha kicks upwards and elevates himself into a handspin before landing back on his feet. Was it showboating or was he repositioning himself?

[MORRIGAN]
Morrigan lays atop for Sophia a moment, her breath hot and heavy. Is it hard to breath in here? It feels that way. Like something's sucking the air out of the room. There's a heaviness that's far more than Morrigan's weight there, as if there's a sort of spiritual pressure there. She can't linger, however, before Sophia's tail has snaked around to try and grab her. Morrigan plants her palms heavily on the ring and vaults up and off of Sophia, Aranha's scything kick narrowly missing her face as strands of green hair flutter forth.

"Oops," the succubus said. "I suppose we should have shared a safe word before the roughhousing, hmm?" Her gaze goes from Sophia to Aranha.

"And I haven't forgotten you, either. Let's spice things up just a little for the crowds at home, shall we?"

Morrigan leans back, extending a tight fist. She braces it with her other hand, clutching her forearm before launching forth a gout of orange-gold energy, first in a shape of a bat, then its jaw stretching as it reshapes into something else, something more akin to a monstrous skull.

[SOPHIA]
Sophia turns red at Morrigan's comment, sure she should expect to hear that from a succubus but that doesn't make it any less embarassing for her. She's not quite sure what effect draining a succubus would have? Would Morrigan get her energy instead? Would she take on her personality? She tries to grapple Morrigan but it's not out of affection, instead it's to toss her away.

COMBATSYS: Aranha dodges Morrigan's Soul Fist.

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////       ]
Morrigan         1/---====/=======|=======\==-----\1           Aranha
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Sophia           1/---====/=======|

[ARANHA]
The traceur gives a gasp as the ball of energy comes his way. He had repositioned for an attack coming his way. The problem was he had repositioned for an attack of a different nature. As a result, his defense had to be of an improvised nature as well. He performs a back handspring to give himself a bit more space before launching himself into a backflip that landed him on the top rope and then he flips forward with a half twist that brings him up and over the projectile.

He arches backwards before kicking up into a handstand and walks on his hands towards the succubus before twirling around with feet splayed open with the intent of slapping her in the face with them.

COMBATSYS: Morrigan dodges Sophia's Rebound Throw.

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Morrigan         1/---====/=======|=======\==-----\1           Aranha
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Sophia           1/---====/=======|

COMBATSYS: Morrigan blocks Aranha's Inverted Tornado.

[      \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Morrigan         1/--=====/=======|=======\=====--\1           Aranha
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Sophia           1/---====/=======|

[MORRIGAN]
Morrigan watches as Aranha flips over her Soul Fist before drawing her fist back and detonating the energy in a spectacular flash. Snake closes in, and the succubus grabs Sophia's arm, pushing her away while gaining some distance. She lands on one heel in a bounding leap, but in the next instant an aggressive traceur is closing the gap with a handspring and then unleashing a flurry of kicks. Morrigan bobs and weaves with near-supernatural speed, her evasion a dance of light and shadow before a boot closes in on her face.

Morrigan's arm snaps up in a block, Aranha's foot connecting with her forearm and pushing her back into a slide across the fabric of the ring. She smiles wildly, her eyes aflame from the excitement. "Oh, you are slippery. I liked your acrobatics a moment ago. Your footwork is so...fluid, like a dancer. Have you trained long?" But in the next moment, Morrigan has flitted away, stepping and seeming to glide right in front of Sophia again.

"So tell me, by the by," Morrigan coos, "what did draw my little lookalike to you? Surely there's some sort of allure you have." Morrigan raises her arm, her wings seeming to unravel like a rope split into threads by an invisible hand.

"Show me," Morrigan says, the threads corkscrewing around her hand and threatening to punch into Sophia like a claw-like spear, then weaving taut. The shaft of the shadow weapon extends, threatening to ram her across the ring and carry her with it, still tightly woven around Morrigan's arm.

COMBATSYS: Morrigan successfully hits Sophia with Cryptic Needle.

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Morrigan         0/-------/--=====|=======\=====--\1           Aranha
[                        \\\\\\  <
Sophia           2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|

[SOPHIA]
"I was at a library doing research, she was there for a cosplay convention. I think she saw the book I was holding...ah!" Sophia lets out a scream as she's stabbed with the spear and dragged across the ring. It's just a struggle for her to stay awake and instinct suddenly takes over as her entire body begins to glow green. It looks she might find out what happens from draining a succubus as she tries to ensnare Morrigan in a desperate attempt to keep from going under. She's not really thinking clearly at this point, it's more of an attempt just to stay alive.

COMBATSYS: Sophia can no longer fight.

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Morrigan         0/-------/--=====|=======\=====--\1           Aranha

[ARANHA]
That will be an internal yikes from the Dancing Spider. Seeing Sophia get speared by Morrigan causes him to cringe as he sees his chances of winning this fight getting even steeper. As the lamia desperately tries to drain the succubus, he decides to hang back. He's not sure he wants to get near that.

"My martial art? For a while. Parkour? That was a bit longer."

His lips form into a slight smirk. As he takes a moment to study his opponent as well as take stock of the way the succubus was moving. All information to better fight this up hill battle.

COMBATSYS: Aranha studies the situation for a moment.

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Morrigan         0/-------/--=====|=======\====---\1           Aranha

COMBATSYS: Morrigan blocks Sophia's Binding Pact.

[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Morrigan         0/-------/-======|=======\====---\1           Aranha

[MORRIGAN]
Morrigan licks her lips as the claw-spear carries Sophia across the ring until it slams her unceremoniously into the crowd barrier. She stands there, arm fully extended as Sophia dangles--until the energy siphon starts pulling power back into the snake. Morrigan, for all her danger and intrigue--doesn't seem to be going for the throat. Spear becomes shield as absorbs most of the blow with it, energy peeling away back into Sophia. The succubus winces, but she doesn't budge.

"Oh, good try, but it'd take more than that to make a meal of me, dear~ I like to play hard to get."

The spear-shield droops, becoming like cloth before winding up, dancing like a shadow across the ground before retracting into Morrigan's own shadow and disappearing again. She shakes her arm twice, rolls her neck, and turns slowly to look at Aranha.

"It seems I wore her out, but she'll sleep it off. She may hate it, but that body of hers has---" Morrigan smiles. "Stamina. What about you? Can you keep up for another round?

Morrigan suddenly darts in, a flash of purple, black, and green. In an instant she's closed the gap with Aranha and is reaching for him, arms open wide to pull him into a close embrace--

COMBATSYS: Aranha interrupts Vector Drain from Morrigan with Bad Beat ES.
+=+=!= Power Slam! =!=+=+

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Morrigan         1/-----==/=======|=======\======-\1           Aranha

[ARANHA]
Aranha's almost still as Morrigan screams in on him. That was something uncharacteristic of the way Aranha was fighting. Up until that point was constantly moving as was befitting the hybrid fighting style formed from to different types of movement. Aranha practically invites the approach similar to capoeira's chamada(call), though a bit more subtle in its execution because of it being a different venue from a capoeira roda.

Before Morrigan can even manage to close the embrace around him, he swings an elbow across her chin with a second elbow from the other side close behind. He then quickly drops down to grab the back of the succubus' knees and then drives his shoulder into her thigh as he sends her falling backwards onto the mat.

With grappling not being one of his strong suits though, he has no interest in following her down to ground and instead opts to hop backwards and prepare for her next approach.

[MORRIGAN]
What follows in the next moment is a flurry of blows. Morrigan thought she had Aranha within her grasp. Little did she know she'd played right into the traceur's trap. The elbow to the chin is the first warning sign.

The second elbow turns her head the other way, sending blood (?) and spittle (?) across the mat. The transition into the throw grounds her, flipping Morrigan onto her back with a heavy thwoomp and a groan.

"Oh, well," Morrigan wheezes. "Well played. That's the best I've seen tonight! Bravo~" She reaches back and rubs her backside, having taken a pretty nasty bump with that toss.

"Care to join me though, since you put me down here?" Suddenly her wings have snaked around like shadowy hands attempting to weave themselves around Aranha's legs and pull him to the floor--where Morrigan swings her own legs around and goes for a lock!

COMBATSYS: Aranha dodges Morrigan's Tie-up Lock.

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Morrigan         1/-----==/=======|=======\======-\1           Aranha

[ARANHA]
Shadowy hands form out of the succubus' wings. And as they attempt to grab him and lock him down, Aranha takes two leaps. First one is a desperate one in an attempt to get away from from Morrigan's shadowy grasp. The second one a calmer one which places him in the corner as he balances on the top ropes near the turnbuckle in a split for a moment before getting his feet back on the ground.

"I think I'll decline. Thanks for the offer though!"

He then moves in close once more, swaying and dancing in before suddenly a single hand drops to the ground to provide stability as he swings a heel towards her head.

COMBATSYS: Morrigan dodges Aranha's Big Boot.

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Morrigan         1/-----==/=======|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2           Aranha

[MORRIGAN]
Shadowy fingers grasp open air as Aranha stays a step ahead of Morrigan's grasp. The succubus pouts when he evades them, but in the next moment he's back on the ground and pivoting into a kick that will definitely give Morrigan something to pout about.

That is, if she were there. As the boot passes through, Morrigan seems to disappear entirely, a shadow of her former self. One moment she is there, and in the next, she's gone. Did she have other tricks up her sleeve?

And suddenly she is there again, behind Aranha and swinging around with--a steel chair?! The crowd goes into a frenzy as Morrigan brings the weapon to bear, attempting to clock Aranha upside the head with it.

"Oh, my apologies," Morrigan quips, "I forgot. I'm supposed to be a 'heel' I suppose."

COMBATSYS: Aranha interrupts Illegal Weapon from Morrigan with Joker's Wild.

[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Morrigan         1/--=====/=======|>>>>>>-\-------\0           Aranha

[ARANHA]
As Morrigan, brings up the chair, Aranha's entire body becomes engulfed in blue chi. As she initiates the swing, Aranha delivers a chi enhanced drop kick at the steel chair smashing it in her face before crashing to the ground. He quickly rises to his feet and then suddenly launches himself to the top rope and that's when the traceur proceeds to go nuts. He delivers a multitude of jump kicks and from the top rope and the turnbuckles from a variety of angles as he bounces around the ring like a rogue ball of flubber at a speed that he hasn't gone before in this match. The entire time, he's trailed by blue afterimages.

Upon finishing the series of attacks, he drops out of it in a roll.

[MORRIGAN]
CLANG! The chair meets drop kick with enough force to dent it in against Morrigan's face. It slips out of her hands and she staggers back, Aranha in swift pursuit. For a moment it seems like he's everywhere at once, a trail of after images striking Morrigan from every side. A boot clips her in the left side. Another hits her right arm. Still another turns her head with a crack of her jaw. She staggers under the onslaught, sways, but does not go down.

Instead, her starts to glow. A faint of gold rises from her skin as energy gathers, ethereal and alien. Not quite the same pressure as chi, but not dissimilar in its own way. Morrigan rolls her neck again, reaches up, and adjusts her jaw to put it back in place before stroking her chin.

"Mmm," Morrigan murmurs, her tone lacking some of the playfulness of earlier. "That one stung a bit. Maybe I'm being a little too gentle for this kind of roughhousing."

Morrigan suddenly launches herself, closing the gap with a single leap that clears the ring and puts her near Aranha. As she lands she winds up, drawing a leg back and readying a sharp, upward kick with enough swing that she backbends into an inverted pose. Her heel, meanwhile, cuts through the air like a knife, the beat of wind audible from the stands.

COMBATSYS: Aranha parries Morrigan's Deep Crescendo!

[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Morrigan         1/---====/=======|>>>>>>>\-------\0           Aranha

[ARANHA]
It's only when Morrigan states that maybe she was being a little to gentle for this kind of roughhousing that he realizes that succubus was playing with her food. It honestly took a performance of lifetime and a team mate to even keep up with a Morrigan that was playing with him and there was still plenty of fight left.

As Morrigan rapidly eats up the distance between them, Aranha doesn't have that sense of readiness that he had before. Now he's relying on reflex and a speed that is currently pushing the limits of his body as he slips to the side. He can hear the sound of the kick as it passes him by and then as the Dancing Spider waits for just the moment right before her recovery to swing a chi enhanced sweeping palm strike to the jaw before spinning and then whipping his heel around in a powerful wheel kick.

COMBATSYS: Morrigan blocks Aranha's Dead Man's Hand EX.

[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Morrigan         1/--=====/=======|=======\-------\1           Aranha

[MORRIGAN]
For her lofty talk, Morrigan seems to be running hot. The fight seems to be taking its toll, the darkstalker's reserves making each attack harder to come back from than the last. Even so, she seems to have enough fight to keep things in high gear for a while longer.

Aranha evades. Morrigan's eyes follow, her arm snapping around as the chi palm nears her face. One of those gaudy headwings twists and splays, its shadowy matter spreading to absorb the blow as Morrigan banks away from Aranha into a slide. By the time the wheel kick comes, she's on full defensive, bring up her arm and shouldering the blow. Her muscles tense from the strain, her lithe form briefly less so as she brings power to bear.

"Good, there's still fight!"

Blue vernier thrust erupts from Morrigan's back as those wings are once more a jetpack, the succubus rocketing forward. She aims to zip right past Aranha and throw herself hard against the ropes.

And from there, she slingshots back, launching into a twisting spiral of a dropkick aimed at smashing into the traceur like a missile.

COMBATSYS: Morrigan successfully hits Aranha with Valkyrie Turn.

[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////                   ]
Morrigan         0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\1           Aranha

[ARANHA]
If Morrigan is feeling rough, Aranha is feeling like a 1000 miles of bad road just due to how hard he's been pushing himself way harder than his own darkstalker physiology ought to be pushed even though he hadn't been receiving much in the way of damage. This all changes when he sees the succubus bounce off the ropes and then jets towards him to give him a taste of his own medicine with the spiraling drop kick connecting with his ribs and taking him off of his feet.

The traceur slowly rises to his feet while clutching his side. That will heal but it was so energy intensive that he knew that if he doesn't finish this fight with this next attack, he might not have enough in the tank to win.

Aranha takes a deep breath as he slowly dances into kicking range and then he swings a beautifully violent(or is it violently beautiful?) roundhouse kick right across her jaw. That same kicking leg swings back in the other direction, hooking behind her neck just before he drops his weight downwards to send the succubus face first to the mat.

COMBATSYS: Morrigan dodges Aranha's Face Down ES.

[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Morrigan         0/-------/--=====|====---\-------\0           Aranha

[MORRIGAN]
Morrigan keeps coming. It seems the more she gets worked up, the more someone fights against, the more she replenishes herself. Perhaps she feeds on others. Maybe she lives on the excitement. Perhaps the thrill of the chase is enough to sustain her.

In any case, Morrigan withdraws as Aranha closes in with his agile, dance-like style. The round house kick comes, and Morrigan's seems to lose substance. It's as if she phases out of sync with reality for a moment, like a TV with an unstable signal. She splits into an incohesive two, the roundhouse kicking through open air and smashing a silhouette that's no longer there.

Two Morrigan's recombine to the left of the other darkstalker, Morrigan's colliding and regaining focus. She crouches down, her muscles taut. She launches forward with a swift elbow, aiming at Aranha's ribs...

COMBATSYS: Morrigan successfully hits Aranha with Darkness Illusion.

[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >                                ]
Morrigan         0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\1           Aranha

And on impact, Morrigan loses focus again. In one moment, there is Morrigan, directly before Aranha. In the next, there are two Morrigans, one in front and one behind. They move in perfect harmony, each blow in unison, as if Aranha is caught in the mirror between the green-haired monster and her reflection. First a sharp jab. Then a left hook. A knee. A short kick. Each blow is in stereo as Morrigan continues the ranbu, a flurry of rapid blows from two angles that finally ends with the two of them somersaulting away with twin rising kicks to remove Aranha from between them before they re-merge.

[ARANHA]
Aranha, in his current state, is practically a sitting duck as the succubus proceeds to pummel the living daylights out of the capoeirista. His head snaps back and forth. When the onslaught ends, Aranha collapses to his knees.

The once human capoeirista desperately gasps for air as he fights the dull aches in his muscles from overexherting himself against the succubus. Slowly, he rises to his feet and then his body glows blue once again but not nearly with the intensity that it did when he drop kicked the steel chair. Once again, he bounces around the ring like a rogue ball of flubber but not at the previous speed but still trailed by afterimages until his body gives out and he falls face first to the ground.

COMBATSYS: Aranha can no longer fight.

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

COMBATSYS: Morrigan dodges Aranha's Joker's Wild.

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

[MORRIGAN]
The attack comes and Morrigan's eyes widen, surprised by the sudden burst of energy. The kick comes for her face, but she launches back weightlessly, floating away from him as it exhausts the last of his strength. With Sophia unconsciously outside the ring, Morrigan makes her way over and moves in for the pin--

She seats herself on his back. "That was fun. You're very good at this. We should play again sometime." Morrigan pauses. "Though I imagine I'd have to sweeten the deal to make it worth your while though...I may have overdone it a little, I fear."

Log created on 21:23:52 02/10/2020 by Aranha, and last modified on 22:38:34 02/17/2020.