Match of the Millennium

Description: Ever since the dark stalker attacks started, Velvet has found himself hounded constantly by those believing him a part of the problem. While such bigotry might be understandable during the panic, it doesn't make his life any easier, especially when it keeps happening! This time the one who comes calling is none other than a bounty hunter, out on the prowl for a fresh score. The fact that he doesn't have a price on his head is largely irrelevant - after all this is over, someone will surely be willing to pay a good price for every monster she can get her hands on!

[VELVET BLUE]
If Raina is serious about stalking her prey, then this rather creepy and desolate seeming stretch of forested highway is likely where she'll have to take her search. It looked like something out of a horror or suspense movie, course--but this was still the outer areas of Southtown. It was hard to think that there might have been any spooks or the like running around there during the day, what with the assortment of beer cans and fast food packaging laying discard along the shoulder of the road. However, right now Southtown had been invaded by monstes--again, even--and at night people weren't going to be caught out here alone, car or no.

Anyone that did... as the leaves were blown by a still cool spring wind... would likely be in for some shit.

[RAINA]
For someone with Raina Rodfield's checkered past, the state of play in Southtown might seem like a good thing. The subversion of the social order, anarchy in the streets, the power of law exchanged for the law of power - it's everything that a Mad Gear punk might pray for.

On the other hand, it's also an echo of the most traumatic and defining event of the young woman's life - monsters roaming the streets, families torn apart, the death of innocents and those seeking to protect them - a scene not just a part of her history, but something that she revisits most nights in her dreams.

On balance, she doesn't really give a shit. She's not here to stir things up, stand by or stop it - she's here to make some cash, and if it involves beating the hell out of a darkstalker, then that's just a bonus.

Or is it the other way around?

She's sure that she saw one of the monsters heading this direction as she was riding around on a 'borrowed' motorcycle whose bloodstained keys were still in the ignition when she found it. Her brown eyes search the trees flanking her path as she peters along slowly at low throttle, the engine rumbling softly in the night.

There. What was that?

Bringing the bike to a halt, she kills the engine and kicks the stand, then steps off, her boots crunching on glass from a broken bottle. She opens up a duffel that's been hanging over her shoulder and pulls out an aluminum baseball bat, then starts moving for the trees, the metal rod resting across her back.

"Oh, monsters... come out to play!" she challenges the darkness, her tone harkening to a certain cult classic.

[VELVET BLUE]
There is the sound of something moving... tree branches being brushed aside, something passing through above.

"Aww, what, no clinking bottles together? Commit to the bit, dearie~" comes a flamboyant if masculine voice from abive, none other than Velvet Blue, clad in one of their usual ~fabulous~ dark full-body covering suits with fur ruff shoulders and long boots appears--hanging down from one of the higher branches in the tree, quite a bit high up, actually--at least far enough than could be reached with that bat of Raina's.

"There are plenty other creatures to be worried about out there you know, besides little old me--but you've been chasing after me for a little bit now, so I guess I'll satisfy your curiosity," Velvet grinned, their arms folded behind their head as the long dark hair hangs down--which would be part and parcel with the darkness. It was moreso those yellow cat-like eyes that were pretty much glowing in the dark, providing their own luminescence.

Letting go of the tree bough with their legs, Velvet let himself drop--sommersaulting down and striking out with one booted foot to kick at Raina--before rolling away~!

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

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

COMBATSYS: Raina has joined the fight here on the left meter side.

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

COMBATSYS: Velvet Blue successfully hits Raina with Light Kick.
- Power hit! -

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

[RAINA]
Raina's hackles rise as the yellow eyes appear in the trees above her. All of the fabulousness that is Velvet Blue is a stark contrast against the almost slovenly appearance of the bat-wielding bounty hunter, all frayed denim aside from her tank top and spiked leather combat boots and gloves.

"I wasn't doing a bit! And, yeah, well, one monster's as good as another," the Metro City native replies to Velvet's opening taunt, her accent clear and distinct. She lowers her bat down to her side and raises her right arm up to shield herself as Velvet starts to descend - but she's just a bit too slow to register the sudden aggression, and one of the darkstalker's heels heads right for her face, striking her right in -

"AUGH! My eye! You fucker!"

Raina staggers backward, her left arm reaching up to cover her injured eye socket.

"You'll pay for that, asshole!"

And then, blindly, she barrels forward, aiming to close the distance created by Velvet's rearward leap and throw a full-force left-handed haymaker at its face!

COMBATSYS: Velvet Blue blocks Raina's Fierce Punch.

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

[VELVET BLUE]
"You're a bit far from home, Chicana--sure you want to get yourself involved in all this? People are getting killed," Velvet pulls himself up, realizing the extent of the Latina girl's injuries, whoops--well, they did come looking for trouble, after all--and they found it.

"I'm sure you can just put some ice on it--gah!" Velvet has to bring both hands up to try and fend off the strike that comes down towards his head--it leaves him quite rattled afterward, as well as a striking pain up his forearms for quite a few moments afterwards.

"Jeez, got a nasty arm on ya--" Velvet's boots glow momentarily as he darts around her--seeming to leap through the air and circle around her--boots coming down as he skids away, trying to spin her over and knock her down with the force of his temporary flight!

COMBATSYS: Velvet Blue successfully hits Raina with Battle Dance.
- Power hit! -

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

[RAINA]
The leather of Raina's glove creaks as she works out the aftereffects of the deflected punch on her own fingers. It's only after she's thrown her punch that the darkstalker's words start to sink in.

People are getting killed.

Her eyes narrow as she turns her head toward Velvet. "Don't try to threaten me with a good time," she says defiantly, lowering her arm to reveal an eye already starting to blacken.

"Hold still and I'll show you all my nasty parts!"

She starts to brandish the bat with one hand as Velvet dances past her. Suddenly, her face starts to flush. "And don't you dare say any -"

Trying to talk and track the darkstalker's movements at the same time proves to be Raina's undoing as she's clobbered by Velvet's boots again, driving her into the ground face-first.

"Son... of... a... BITCH!"

Spitting gravel from split lips, Raina presses her palms into the road's shoulder and pushes herself angrily up to her feet.

"I'm not gonna let you make a fool outta me, you freak!"

Not bothering to collect her bat from the ground, Raina charge straight for Velvet, trying to catch them by an arm and twist it around behind them into a hammerlock. If she succeeds, she'll follow up the lock by twisting around and aiming a heel kick at their head, before endeavouring to swing them around and force them to run headfirst into a nearby tree.

COMBATSYS: Velvet Blue dodges Raina's Toss The Trash.

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

[VELVET BLUE]
"I can give you more than a good time--" Velvet skids to a stop after having swirled around Raina, his tail lashing in an arc as he turned around. "I don't want to fight, you know--but you don't seem to be interested in polite discourse with that metal bat--" Velvet is stronger and faster than humans, pulling his arm away from Raina and not letting her get her hands on him.

"Speaking of, lets continue this chat over here by this tree," Velvet instead grabbed her by the arm and shoulders, intending to use her momentum to run her headlong into the tree trunk she had intended to push him into just a second ago.

COMBATSYS: Velvet Blue successfully hits Raina with Random Strike.

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

[RAINA]
The offer of more than a good time only seems to make Raina all the angrier, her expression turning into a fierce scowl. "If you don't wanna fight, you shouldn't have kicked me in the damn eye!" she yells as she tries to get her hands on Velvet but doesn't quite manage to manhandle the nimble darkstalker.

Instead, it's Raina who finds herself getting manhandled - hauled into the tree that she was trying to crash Velvet's cranium into moments before. She growls, a sound of frustration going from deep to high-pitched as she pushes away from the tree, brushing splinters of bark away from the scraped skin of her forehead.

"I'm not falling for your bullshit, creep! I'm taking you in!"

Raina charges straight for Velvet with all the grace and anger of an enraged bull - simply throwing her shoulder forward and rushing at her fabulous quarry with intent to bowl him over, scooping up her bat along the way but not swinging it just yet.

COMBATSYS: Velvet Blue endures Raina's A-Train Crash ES.

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

[VELVET BLUE]
"Bark is good for you, high in fiber--" Velvet is however bracing himself as soon as Raina comes back with that bull-charge of her. Not many things can stop an enraged Latina once they get going--and Velvet knows this. He did grow up in America. He just happens to really like Southtown. He winds up taking the tackle and lets her knock him over--he goes rolling with a hard landing, but winds up able to pull himself back up afterwards, ready for her with some renewed adrenaline.

"I guess these attacks and pandemics does things to men, and I can't save everyone--but I can still handle this--" Velvet gives a leaping step forward--followed by his boots skidding along the ground right up to her--and then the forest floor and highway pavement lights up beneath him as he leaps up--the ground around him exploding with a rush of gold chi energy! he backflips and comes down into a landing, hair and tail flailing about in the wind.

COMBATSYS: Raina fails to reflect Grand Entrance from Velvet Blue with Graveyard Smash.
~~ Alluring Hit! ~~

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

COMBATSYS: Raina blitzes into action and acts again!

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

[RAINA]
As Velvet leaps in close to her, the livid Latina takes hold of her bat with both hands, winding up with it. Her grip tightens around the handle tightens as she pulls the aluminum club back, then swings blindly, placing her faith in her ability to just slam whatever the Darkstalker has for her back where it came from.

Raina's faith is unfounded, though, it seems - Velvet backflips away just as she's swinging her bat in, and the accompanying burst of golden chi both blinds Raina and manages to blast the blue jean vest that she's wearing off with the force as it knocks her off her feet.

Disoriented, Raina pushes up on her hands and knees and gropes around until she finds the comforting grip of her weapon of choice. She swings blindly, thrashing about at whereever she thinks Velvet might be.

"You're only making this worse!" she warns loudly, before her bat suddenly smacks into a tree - causing an apple to dislodge itself from above and fall down, then serendipitously bounce off of her head and into her hand.

Raina blinks her eyes a couple of times, her vision coming into focus on the fruit in her hand. She looks between it and Velvet, then instinctively rears back as if about to throw it - and then, thinking twice, she takes a big bite out of the apple instead.

Leave it to a Metro City native to find food in the strangest of places...

[VELVET BLUE]
Velvet rises up into the air--coming down and landing with a flip of his hair back--grinning all the while.

"GODDAMN--I'm sexy, Oooh~" Velvet does indeed take a moment to be a big ham there and strut like a peacock, even while Raina winds up knocked down and likely injured from that. It was /hard/ to look this good, damnit.

"You okay there babe? Wait--eww, what're you doing with that--you don't know where it's been," Velvet seems aghast she's going to eat something--he didn't see where she grabbed it from, so he might be assuming she just found it on the ground.

"Or do you know where it came from--don't tell me where, I don't wanna know--either way, no snacks allowed on the battlefield, babe~" Velvet steps forward and attempts to kick it out of her hand, of course his boot probably comes way too close to her not to accidentally connect.

COMBATSYS: Raina successfully aids herself with Secret Stash.

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

COMBATSYS: Velvet Blue successfully hits Raina with Quick Strike.
- Power hit! -

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

[RAINA]
Despite all misgivings from Velvet - likely baseless, as any Mad Gear member's digestive tract is likely more than a match for a random apple in a Japanese forest (especially after hard years of training against spicy homemade Mexican cooking and Metro City hot dog stands) - Raina manages to sink her teeth into the apple, taking a big bite and chewing.

And then Velvet's foot swings in, smacking the apple right out of her hand and causing it smash into her other eye, causing her to stagger backward in a flurry of curses too obscene and too Spanish to be repeated here. The bat clatters to the forest floor, tumbling over some tree roots.

"...Bastard!" Raina finishes, wiping apple juice away from her eye with the back of one hand before she rushes Velvet again. Her left hand twists into a fist, the spiky studs along her knuckles glinting as she rears back before aiming a punishing body blow for the darkstalker's midsection.

If she connects, she'll follow up by attempting to grab Velvet by the head and double him over, then drive her knee into his face twice. The assault would continue with an elbow smashing down onto Velvet's back to knock him to the ground, before she's start slamming the sole of her boot into whatever part of the darkstalker she can hit.

COMBATSYS: Raina successfully hits Velvet Blue with Rodfield Thrash.

[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////                   ]
Raina            0/-------/------=|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2      Velvet Blue

[VELVET BLUE]
"It's okay, scars on your face builds character," Velvet does have to wince a little when he winds up kicking her right in the face. Again, she /had/ come looking for him. He didn't feel /too/ bad about this.

When Raina rises finally, Velvet is a little too slow to avoid that body blow--Raina finally getting him into a headlock and kneeing him in the face twice.

"Ack--can't we--owww--talk about this?!" he groans and yelps--finally going down into a roll and covering his face after Raina Rod is done bashing his face in, blood gushing from his nose, Velvet's yellow eyes now fully slit-pupiled in some kind of alarm or surprise, very much making a lot of 'oh god that hurt' noises into his cupped palms over his face.

"Hnnnghh--" he crabwalked back a bit and instead crouched low, letting her come to him this time.

COMBATSYS: Velvet Blue gains composure.

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

[RAINA]
It seems that Velvet's request for parley falls on deaf ears as Raina delivers her thrashing to the darkstalker - visiting upon him retribution for the beating that she's been on the receiving end of so far. As the Metro native backs off, breathing heavily, she gives Velvet Blue a chance to regain his own composure. Her gloved fist pushes against her split lips, wiping blood away.

"Talk all you want..."

Raina's eyes narrow. "...but you'll be doing it to my boot!"

Rushing forward into a pivoting hop, she coils her leg, knee bending, before unloading a solid side kick at Velvet's midsection - followed by a rapid series of burst-fire kicks to follow from the same foot, repeated slams from the sole of the Metro bounty hunter's foot striking for the darkstalker's upper body.

COMBATSYS: Velvet Blue blocks Raina's Bootshine Flash.

[                     \\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////                  ]
Raina            0/-------/------=|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2      Velvet Blue

[VELVET BLUE]
"Urgghh--" Velvet was still holding his face and crouching, eyes affixed to Raina as she got up and rushed towards him--realizing he needed to act, he got up--hands and face bloody, with a snap of his wrist blood droplets went scattering onto leaves as he brought his arms up--he blocked against the kick to his front as hard as he could--stumbling back just a bit.

"With this blood, I'll make you beautiful~" those yellow eyes began to glow a brighter yellow--one of Velvet's blood-covered hands reaching out to snatch at Raina, for some kind of grab?--the hand was glowing too, some kind of darkstalker magic!

COMBATSYS: Raina just-defends Velvet Blue's Spellbound Masquerade!

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

As Velvet touches the plucky Latina bounty hunter with his hand to transfer the spell, the side of the highway and the forest are suddenly no longer there. Instead they are replaced with the roar of a crowd--sunlight, a giant stadium now surrounds them. They are on a baseball diamond, in the middle of the day--the smell of popcorn, hotdogs, leather of catcher's mitts, the arid dirt beneath them...

And Raina is in a major league baseball uniform, cleats, cap, gloves--and she's holding her beloved bat at the ready.

"Whaaaat...? Aw hell," Velvet's spell has only partially worked, and instead of causing the woman to give her energy to the audience, it's just transformed her into her ideal self and place. Velvet himself is standing quite a few many paces away, where the pitcher's mound is.

[RAINA]
Velvet's hand is laid on Raina's arm, and...

The sudden change in environs comes as a shock to the Metro City slugger. At the same time, though, it's a strange rush - suddenly, she's living something of a dream that she once had, one that had been completely forgotten. She's wearing a flattering Metro City uniform, baseball cap and all. Looking across at Velvet, she whirls her bat around, dropping into her classic batting stance on the side of the plate.

Abruptly, she blinks.

"Hell, no!"

Rushing the pitcher's mound, Raina lets the bat drop to the ground. She leaps, throwing herself forward toward the 'opposing pitcher' and trying to tackle him to the astroturf.

"Don't mess with my head!" she shouts as she throws away her fantastic baseball career for the sake of attempting to beat the tar out of Velvet Blue, attempting to follow up with a series of blows from both fists, if she can manage to establish the position in the first place.

COMBATSYS: Velvet Blue counters Monster Mash from Raina with Dreamgazer.

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

[VELVET BLUE]
"This /is/ your head, and /this/ is your head getting booted!" Velvet leans back on the pitcher's mound and lashes out with a high kick with those stiletto heeled boots of his--aimed at the girl's temple--even as she rushes him on the mound.

The juxtapoisition of those boots on a baseball diamond is bizarre, to say the least--but the enchantment hadn't extended to him this time, since she'd been able to resist it.

[RAINA]
The well-timed boot to the face snaps Raina violently back to reality, sending her toppling ass-backward not onto astroturf, but the debris-strewn forest floor. Her head cracks off of a root wending its way through the dirt beneath her, and for a moment, she's seeing stars.

Forcing herself upright, Raina straightens up, reaching for what appears to be a rock, but is actually an unfortunate turtle. Finding the shape of the rock convenient for her purposes, Raina twists her upper body back, holding the turtle like a discus.

"That does it, smartass! Get rocked!"

And then she lets loose the ill-starred chelonian, throwing it with commendable accuracy toward Velvet's face like a shell-shocked frisbee!

COMBATSYS: Velvet Blue dodges Raina's Large Thrown Object.

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

[VELVET BLUE]
The poor turtle goes sailing at Velvet and he's able to keep his balance--even on the pitchers mound, even in those heels--through sheer darkstalker dexterity as he ducks the poor flying reptile. At least he thought that's what it was.

The spell snapped as Raina took that spill, though--which now left the two back in that dark forest, at night--and he was beginning to feel fairly tired.

"Well, interesting to know what your dream was of being--what made you lose it?" Velvet made fists again, bringing himself back up to his full height. "Nothing says it's too late, even if I have to do... this!"

In a flash, Velvet was not where he was just standing--instead he's dashing with incredible speed, which to the naked eye looks like horrible stop-motion jerkiness--trying to land a blow with his fists to the back of the woman's head!

COMBATSYS: Velvet Blue successfully hits Raina with Beautiful Beast.

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

[RAINA]
The turtle sails onward, seemingly losing no height as it spins perilously through the air. It travels on, screen after scr - er, rather, yard after yard, before it finally flies off the stage altogether, landing with a *DUNK* in a distant pond, confused and terrified but miraculously unharmed.

Meanwhile, Raina is abruptly clocked in the back of the head as karmic punishment for the turtle's mishandling, having fallen prey to the illusory abilities of her opponent while trying to shake off the question in her head.

"Urgh..."

Her ears are ringing as she hits the ground on her side, face dusted with dirt and blood and sweat. She tries to push herself up, but can't quite manage to do so.

"That's none..."

She swings her body around with what effort she can manage - perhaps a breakdancing move picked up in her younger years on the streets - and tries to smash her knee into Velvet's ankle in the hope that it'll take his legs out from under him.

"Of your... business..."

With that last burst of violence, it seems Raina's down for the count - for now...

COMBATSYS: Raina can no longer fight.

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

COMBATSYS: Velvet Blue blocks Raina's Strong Kick.

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

[VELVET BLUE]
"Ow!" Velvet is bruised, bloody, and barely able to stand at this point--so when Raina's leg comes up, he has to shield himself with his arms--getting knocked down in the process. He lays there for a good many moments, waiting for the woman to come over and bring her sneaker down on his head or chest, but this moment does not come. Instead, he pulls himself up, realizing she is unconscious.

"Well slugger, can't leave ya here, c'mon--" he grabed at the girl's ankle, intending to drag her back to her car, which he will then comandeer to drive her back to town somewhere--somewhere in town that wasn't still boasting makai beast presence. Or zombies, or werewolves--or any number of things. He didn't like the night being dangerous, it was supposed to be for everyone--including those seeking excitement. Now it was a B-tier horror movie.

Fitting Raina into the back seat, he cleaned the dirt out of her hair and placed her cap askew over her forehead and eyes, closing the door and settling into the car with a groan. Now that the adrenaline was a thing of the past, his face hurt like a bitch--and so did a lot of other parts of him. Going to need some tylenol and a bubble bath, at the very least.

The cars lights winked on and the engine started with a coughing shudder, the car pulling on out and down the road back to the city.

COMBATSYS: Velvet Blue has ended the fight here.

Log created on 22:33:10 05/01/2020 by Raina, and last modified on 21:02:01 05/04/2020.