Match of the Millennium

Description: "Yes, yes... the Isochronium Arca is the missing piece those three need to undergo their... reclamation project. But The Archivist holds the key, and that Mad Engineer has absconded with the Arca itself- Have you /seen/ what he has done to the Northern clocktower? And he calls those 'upgrades'... No... I will not step foot in that deranged tinkerer's clockwork atelier. The very thought of all that noise makes my head hurt. But if your old friend is willing to risk his hide retrieving it, whom am I to say otherwise?"

[JUBEI]
A monstrously-oversized paw scratches at the back of the hooded feline's head. His one functional eye stares up at the intimidating staircase before him, winding and weaving up a treacherous path through a maze of intermeshed cogs and spindles. "Yare yare..."

The One-Eyed Twin Lotus had wished his good friend could come along. Just a few minutes ago, he was speaking with Valkenhayn, who would have been far more familiar with the perils of the northern clock tower than he. Some time was spent catching up on the tales of the past few months, but as always, far too little time.

The matter of the Metro City Park had to take priority, however. And the location of the Isochronium Arca, the key artifact needed to purge the foul seithr corruption from the park, was pinpointed to the very top of the northern clock tower.

The Blood Moon will be ending soon, and the clock is running. Tick-tock.

Jubei grumbles under his breath. He considers that he might have been happier with a little -less- symbolism, as he climbs the oversized step up. The step height is too short for a jump, but too tall for the feline to just -step- over like a normal human might be able to. Jubei resolves that if he ever gets a hold of the architect who designed this madhouse, he'll clobber him over the head for this indignity.

But, unfortunately, he'll have to take a pass. The stairway path snakes upwards in a lazy arc, with gears turning mere centimeters away from the path itself. It's a good thing the bastard architect was tall, for at least Jubei won't have to worry about his head clarance.

It just seems, though, that the further he ascends, the more insane the mechanisms get. Planetary gears circling other planetary gears, circles within circles, rapidly-spinning mechanisms juxtaposed against movements that are barely moving at all. And the thing that bothers the one-eyed feline the most is the -lights- -- work lights set up at regular intervals, casting macabre and moving shadows onto the tall stair path, signs of half-completed engineering efforts that seem to have little to do with the core function of the clocks themselves.

Jubei hisses again through his teeth, stretching his old bones to ascend another step. According to his good friend, there is a room at the top of the tower within which he can rest. And within this room, a number of arcane chests -- one of which contains the Isochronium Arca.

Ten steps down. Some four hundred and eighteen to go.

[THE MAD ENGINEER]
As the aging samurai continues his ascent, the mechanisms around him grow steadily more arcane and less comprehensible. Endless lengths of chain weave spiderweb patterns through every available inch of space, some as thin as jewelry while others are forged from links wider across than The Cat's body. Copper wires stretch from one device to another, lightning crackling across their surface with an ominous hum. Pendulums swing with heavy, clanking rhythms, one of the heavy brass heads sweeping dangerously across the stairs not two feet in front of the ascending legend.
It is a mad house of insane geometry that hurts the brain to try and comprehend. Etched runes begin to appear on many of the gears, their spidery script growing more complex and densely packed as height is gained, until Jubei is staring out at glowing bits of clockwork that appear to be connected to nothing at all, or networks of chains that vanish into thin air, part of their construction clearly located somewhere far beyond the castle walls.
But finally, the top of the swaying staircase comes into sight. Nearly 50 feet of gears and rods have been meshed together into the rough shape of a platform nearly fifty feet across. Constantly in motion, the walkway forms and reforms itself, parts of it spinning horizontally, others vertically. Chains running through the mess raise and lower pieces into position with perfect timing, causing parts of it to fall away only to be replaced with a different piece that sets the platform turning in another direction. But beyond all of this, set in the very center of the wooden ceiling, is a square hatch with a dangling brass handle. Beyond that portal should be the topmost room. The inner sanctum that exists behind the face of the clock. A series of carefully timed leaps and a heavy tug will bring the hatch down, a chain ladder unspooling to grant access up into the final room of the cacophonous mad house.
But if The Cat was expecting an abandoned store room of some kind, he was sadly misinformed. Though the area might once have been full of chests, the space is now filled with various work tables shoved against every wall. Projects both mechanical and alchemical clank and bubble on every surface, while a complicated array of gears and rods take up the center of the room, extending out to the giant hands of the clock that hover before its crystal face.
Three hands. All of which point to various symbols across the face of the clock, some astrological, some completely unknown. A Mad Man's attempt to track the passing of forces only he understands.
"A visitor?" comes a soft, aged voice, words echoing through the rattling clamor of gears without effort. Vaguely European, with notes of bone-weary exhaustion, the voice does not seem upset. Only, disappointed.
"I suppose it was only a matter of time."
Emerging from behind the central gears comes a tall, humanoid form in a broad leather hat, the brim pulled down low so as to cast his upper face in shadow. A leather filtering mask covers the lower half of his face from nose to throat, where it is joined by a ragged black scarf that hangs over chest and back. His coat is long and leather, much battered from age and hard use, and worn closed over dark formal wear, hands protected by a pair of stained leather gloves. All in shades of brown and black, the long, lean figure gazes down at Jubei while adjusting some sort of mechanical brace over his right arm, a narrow spike protruding from the back over his knuckles. The hilt of a sword can be seen protruding over his left shoulder, as can some sort of long staff that is currently folded in half.
"For what purpose do you interrupt my great work?"

[JUBEI]
If it were a typical clock tower, this would have been easy. But with all the arcane spiderwebbing patterns and sychronized, intermeshing gears, the only guaranteed result would be some flavor of 'catatrophe.'

Jubei didn't get to where he was in life without patience though. Each step is taken one at a time, each hazard negotiated on its own merits. It is not a fast process, but it's the only strategy that meets the goals without causing irreparable damage to either his body or the clock tower's mechanisms.

He was fine with all that, happy to clear the trials. For they're just stairs, really. But when he comes up to the moving platform, Jubei is once more brushing the back of his head. He watches the pieces move in perfect synchronicity, swiveling up, falling. He sees all these precise mechanisms moving in lockstep with one another. The old cat grunts. "Gettin' too old for this shit." And he takes in his breath.

Arms sweep around each other, ebony and ivory chi leaking out from his sleeves to describe a circle. Paws are jabbed at key points within the circle -- the dots of a yin-yang. And Jubei retracts his paws, taking a step back, drawing in the perfect blend of light and dark.

He eyes the trap door.
A paw wraps around the hilt of his sword.
Black chi begins to spill into a hexagonal pattern, a meter from the trap door.

And Jubei lunges forward into the void, heedless of the platform. He blurs from existence -- and in the next instant, his paws set down upon the hexagonal rune he'd just carved into empty space.

The old cat reaches up, taking hold of the handle, and climbs his way up. The hexagonal pattern dissolves into nothingness a moment later.

Finding himself in the new room, Jubei peers around. And frowns, upon finding his old friend's advice to have been, perhaps, a little misleading.

The cat's ears fold back as he is addressed. Someone is here, hiding amongst the spinning cogs. And he... well, the cat stands out. A black and white cat with an eyepatch, standing on his hind legs would be exceptional enough. But he also wears a ragged smock of sorts, with a hood pulled over his head, and long, voluminous sleeves that end in overly large paws. And there are also two swords, suspended in a double-sided scabbard attached to a strap around his right shoulder.

The One-Eyed Twin Lotus stares back atthe engineer. A paw reaches up to scratch at his chin.

"Sorry, I ain't tryin' to interrupt ya."

He starts to approach the engineer, taking note of the staff, the sword. "I'm here for the Isochronium Arca." The hooded cat offers a friendly smile -- the prelude to a less friendly smile, should he not achieve the desired reply. "Sooner I can get my paws on that, the sooner I'll be on my way."

The old cat holds out a supined paw, hopefully. He'd clearly prefer that this end without a fight. But he's far from naive enough to believe that is possible.

[THE MAD ENGINEER]
To Jubei's finely tuned senses, there is something off about the figure that stands before him. A crawling wrongness that goes beyond the obvious madness of a man capable of constructing the devices he has seen. This feeling only grows the closer The Cat gets, reaching its peak as the short feline gets a look beneath the brim of the Engineer's hat, gazing into depthless pools of purest black where eyes should be.
"No, no." the being responds quietly, words seeming to echo back off of the walls around them. "I am afraid that simply won't do."
Rather than reaching for Jubei's paw, the looming figure lifts his gloved hand smoothly to rest upon the hilt of his sword, gloved fingers tightening around the grip of finely worked black iron.
"My work. My life's work.." A slow, mournful sigh escapes through the mask, arm straightening as a gleaming silver sword is drawn forth from his back, blade long and curved like a sliver of moon. "Has the lady of the house sent you? A test, perhaps?"
Lowering the blade, he points the tip at Jubei's chest, waiting to see how the feline chooses to arm himself.
"Yes...A test..." he murmurs, words trailing off into thoughts too private to share.

COMBATSYS: The Mad Engineer has started a fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
The Mad Engineer 0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Clockwork Hazards has joined the fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
The Mad Engineer 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0Clockwork Hazards

[JUBEI]
Jubei frowns as his offer is rejected, both in word and in action. His eyelid droops, weary at the prospects of impending combat. He eyeballs the engineer's spiked bracer, and then the silver sword that is brought to bear. The cat takes a step back, warily -- knowing full well that the blade will be leveled upon him about three seconds before it actually is. And yet, he does nothing aside from lower his oversized paws to the ground.

And when the sword is brought to bear, he shakes his head slowly. The paws swing loosely, just shy of scraping the room's floor. He shows nothing but unwavering ambivalence to the looming threat.

"Yeah, she sent me. Didn't mention nothin' about a test though."

He directs a pointed glance to the tip of the sword, before turning back to address the black inky voids that pass for the Engineer's eyes.

"Now, I don't know how you kids rock out here in Makai, but folks that shove a sword my way don't often make the mistake again." His arms remain low -- but it'd be remarkably difficult to see which muscles the samurai master has tensed from beneath his garment's baggy sleeves. With a heavy sigh, Jubei adds, "Are ya sure you don't wanna rethink yer life choices, here?"

COMBATSYS: Jubei has wandered into the fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Clockwork Hazards0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 The Mad Engineer
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Jubei            0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Jubei has joined the fight here in the center.

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The Mad Engineer 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0Clockwork Hazards
                 [ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Jubei            0|-------|-------

[THE MAD ENGINEER]
"A worthy challenge." the Engineer murmurs as his unreadable eyes track Jubei's loose retreat, gaining distance with which to work. "This must be. A test of resolve. A bloody dance held beneath the watchful eye of a most hateful moon."
The black eyes drift closed for just a moment, shoulders sagging beneath the weight of a bone-weary sigh. And yet, nothing about the being's presence seems unalert.
"Come, walker of worlds," he orders gently, eyes opening once more to fix Jubei in their inhuman stare. "Come and find me at the edge of all that is known. Together we will find what we seek."
All around them, projects rattle and hum, while the loud mechanical clatter of the clock tower grinds on, gear teeth colliding with tangible thuds.

COMBATSYS: The Mad Engineer takes no action.

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The Mad Engineer 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0Clockwork Hazards
                 [ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Jubei            0|-------|-------

[JUBEI]
Jubei gazes back at the man, his one eye capturing all the information he needs. The engineer's presence, his intensity, his stubborn insistence on a fight. The old cat would normally have the patience to wait it out, to ensure that it's the cogspinning engineer that throws the first strike. But that just won't work here; the 'most hateful moon' is setting the ultimate boundaries on the pacing. And Jubei's companions are counting on him.

"'Worthy challenge.' I like that."

The cat nods amiably. For Jubei can accept this as a 'challenge' more readily than just straight up ganking a man for his treasure.

*CLANG!* In the span of one eyeblink, Jubei has stepped forward a meter, closing his distance to the sword -- and clashing the claws of his right arm against it. His crimson eye fixes upon the Engineer.

"Challenge accepted."

And the next eyeblink after that will see the Twin Lotus flipping forward through the air. For his claws comprise only six of the weapons in his arsenal. The seithr-forged Dream Blades: Musashi form the two most potent. One carves a lateral arc at the Mad Engineer's extended sleeve. The other carves downward, held with an inverted grasp. Both weapons sharp enough to cut through bone and steel alike.

The feline samurai roars.
"ONI-GITSUNE!"

COMBATSYS: The Mad Engineer dodges Clockwork Hazards' Counter Weight.

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The Mad Engineer 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0Clockwork Hazards
                 [ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Jubei            0|-------|-------

COMBATSYS: The Mad Engineer blocks Jubei's Form Two - Demon Fox.

[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
The Mad Engineer 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0Clockwork Hazards
                 [ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Jubei            0|-------|-------

[THE MAD ENGINEER]
The clash of claw to blade is still echoing through the room when the Engineer agrees with the slightest of nods, leather coat rustling softly in the wind of The Cat's approach. Behind the blade the madman's arm remains steady, posture set and still. That is, until Jubei begins the fight with a forward flip. Seeming to take this as the signal to start, the Engineer moves with a vicious sort of grace, glimmering blade whistling up to intercept Jubei's falling slash with the crystalline peel of metal on metal.
And the sword holds.
Twisting himself side-long to avoid the horizontal swipe, the Engineer guides Jubei's leap past him with the edge of his sword and disengages, sparks flying from their blades as he slides free and dodges around behind The Cat. Putting his entire weight behind the blow, he brings his metal bracer crashing down in an attempt to crack the feline squarely between the ears and drive him face-first toward the floor, before a mechanical CHUNK vibrates through the room and an enormous counter weight on a chain comes whistling around the gears toward where he stands.
Bounding forward, the madman hurtles up and over the weight and lands lightly ahead of Jubei, turning with a swirl of coat and glint of sword to aim a swift kick toward The Cat's face, driving him back across the ground toward the open hatch he came in through.
"I, should be thankful." he informs his opponent, words more thoughtful than strained. "It has been long, so long, since last I joined The Hunt."
Within those words can be heard a distant longing, a faint note of despair for what he must once have been.

COMBATSYS: The Mad Engineer successfully hits Jubei with Rushing Dark.
- Power hit! -

[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
The Mad Engineer 0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0Clockwork Hazards
                 [      |||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Jubei            0|-------|----===

[JUBEI]
The opening gambit is a kindness of sorts -- an answer to the challenge offered so openly. It does not come as a great surprise to Jubei that the Engineer would be able to reposition the blade in such a short time span.

What does come as a surprise, though, would be the manner in which the Engineer swings his brace around in the instant before Jubei had planned to leap free, cutting that movement short. The floor shudders with the impact of the cat's face.

But then a counterweight swings. The fur raises on the back of Jubei's neck. The moment he's freed from the Engineer's oppressive brace, he scrambles to his feet, whirling around -- only to find the counterweight swinging overhead! The cat dashes back to avoid the blow, only to find the Engineer in his path! One kick later, the diminutive swordscat is flying through the air with a bloodied nose. And an instant after that, he finds himself hurtling into the trap door -- which, affronted by the sudden arrival, swings to slam down onto a momentarily trapped Jubei's head a moment later.

Growling, the Twin Lotus pulls himself free from the trap door, one Dream Blade in each surrogate paw, as he shakes off the last exchange. "Not that it bothers me, but can it really be a 'hunt' when yer 'prey' comes to you?"

Jubei's gaze snaps sideways. And then he sees his chance. He leaps towards a rather large cog and its counterweight. As soon as he touches its surface, he leaps again -- planting himself about three meters in front of the Engineer.

It's at this point that the walking arsenal brings his claws to bear. Three slashes rip out, shredding black and white scars into the air as he charges forward. Then, another three slashes, from the opposite paw. Each swipe powerful enough to knock back, to cause grievous harm if it lands. The pattern repeats -- swipe, swipe, swipe, swipe -- until the outcome is clear!

COMBATSYS: The Mad Engineer blocks Jubei's Fissuring Slash.

[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
The Mad Engineer 0/-------/----===|-------\-------\0Clockwork Hazards
                 [      |||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Jubei            0|-------|----===

COMBATSYS: Clockwork Hazards successfully hits The Mad Engineer with Counter Weight.

[      \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
The Mad Engineer 0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0Clockwork Hazards
                 [      |||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Jubei            0|-------|----===

[THE MAD ENGINEER]
Sweeping forward in measured pursuit of the wily feline, the madman slants his sword across his body in an angled guard, free hand reaching over his shoulder to draw forth the polished wood of his folded staff, its length reinforced with ornately worked strips of black metal.
"Ah, World Walker," he breathes, the tips of his weapons just touching as he brings them both to bare. "A fly to the Spider's web, perhaps, but there are others. Yes...And yet..."
Leaning his head back, he catches the first of the charging slashes on his folded staff, alternating from shaft to sword as he sends the swipes away with splashes of sparks and chi. Beat for beat he matches the tempo Jubei sets, his footwork flawless, weapons always precisely where they need to be.
"Perhaps it is I who have become the prey?"
Taking a further step back, the Engineer's shoulders stiffen and he makes to twist aside as a second great weight swings in from behind, the mechanism set into motion by The Cat's earlier leap. However, he is only half way to the ground when the heavy chunk of metal smashes squarely into his right shoulder, catapulting him over Jubei's head and sending him tumbling away across the unforgiving ground.
"Yesss... Yes, that is the thing of it..."
Words echoing softly through the room, the Engineer exits the tumble on his feet, left wrist flicking sidelong to snap his staff out straight. A whirling spin of the shaft sets the wind to quivering before he reverses the grip of his sword, lifts it, and locks it into place at the end of the pole with a metallic click.
"Let us, Descend."
Lunging forward with sudden speed, the madman whips his giant scythe around in a wide, cleaving blow, attempting to spike the blade through Jubei himself, or perhaps his clothing, before whirling in a quarter turn that drags The Cat violently across the floor, blade throwing up sparks. The turn will end with a last surge of inhuman strength to send the feline smashing through the trapdoor and down onto the grinding platform below, the Engineer leaping through after him to land lightly atop a slowly spinning cog.

COMBATSYS: Jubei dodges The Mad Engineer's Guiding Light.

[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
The Mad Engineer 0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0Clockwork Hazards
                 [      |||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Jubei            0|-------|----===

[JUBEI]
Jubei does not have any particular words to clarify whether he thinks the engineer is hunter or prey. Especially considering his lack of focus was directly responsible to him being flung across the clock tower.

Case in point: the cat finds himself ducking from a heavy weight swinging overhead, slamming into the engineer. He stays crouched low, arms held out to either side, until the weight swings past. There is one good point to the Engineer talking as much as he does -- it's easier for the old samurai to keep track of him.

Jubei is already weary from the climb up. So when the Engineer speaks of descent, the cat simply shakes his head. "Nah, I can't--"

The scythe swings close. And the Twin Lotus leaps up, his cloak flapping in the stirred air as he allows the crescent blade to whip harmlessly beneath him.

"--say I'm happy to go -down- after all that..." As Jubei lands on all fours, the scythe is pulled free -- and from its new angle, Jubei feels himself shepherded into only one course of action.

Which is why Jubei scampers on all fours towards the trap door, and jumps down it to safety! He catches the lip of the trapdoor opening with his claws, leaving three scratches on its surface as he flings himself to a distant mechanism.

Jubei turns around to face the Engineer who lands on that cog not far beyond him. He holds his forepaws out to either side for balance, his hind paws perched precariously on one of the hinged platforms.

"Are you -sure- about this? Sure's hell looks ta be a -long- way down, y'know." The cat grins -- having stared at the platform mechanisms' patterns enough earlier to remember it. He hadn't -wanted- to deal with it, but here he is. Now, though, he stares intently back at the engineer, focusing intently on what entropy he can add to this already-convoluted system!

COMBATSYS: Jubei focuses on his next action.

[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
The Mad Engineer 0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0Clockwork Hazards
                 [      |||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Jubei            0|-------|----===

COMBATSYS: The Mad Engineer dodges Clockwork Hazards' Counter Weight.

[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
The Mad Engineer 0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0Clockwork Hazards
                 [      |||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Jubei            0|-------|----===

[THE MAD ENGINEER]
A slow, ominous 'fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh' drifts through the chamber as the Mad Engineer twirls his scythe in idle figure eights, passing the heavy weapon back and forth between his hands with effortless strength. As he does, the cog beneath him grinds a moderate path around the outside edge of the platform, passed from gear to gear while rotating at such a slow degree it can barely be perceived.
"Hmmmm." comes the softly rasping breath of the black-eyed being, a sigh that is equal parts delighted and regretful. "So far." He agrees, "Far enough to lose oneself in the descent, I imagine."
Bowing his head, the creature halts the whirling dance of his weapon and lets out a long, low moan, piteous.
"Lost. Soo Lost..."
Hand drifting up to the head of his scythe, he detaches the sword with a soft clink and collapses the staff, sliding it into place on his back as his entire body hunches forward in a shuttering sob.
"Nooooooo..."
Absently, the Engineer lifts his left hand just in time to grab a heavy chain that whips in from the side, clutching it hard as it sweeps him off of his gear mere moments before it drops away, vanishing into the darkness below.
Coat flaring out behind him, the madman arcs around in a wide half circle, sliding his sword away as he comes flying in from the side, the distance between them shrinking at an alarming rate.
"No. NO!"
Words bellowing out with enough rage to shatter his sobs, the figure hurls himself free of the chain and somersaults through the air, right hand disappearing beneath his coat as he passes over The Cat's head.
"You Can Not have me."
Words low and vicious, he brings his hand sweeping overhead, leveling a double-barreled blunderbuss pistol at the top of the feline's head. With no hesitation what so ever he squeezes one of two triggers, chamber echoing with a deafening BOOM as he unloads a barrel full of pellets toward his tormentor, attempting to finish the flip by landing in a low crouch some 2 cogs away, ancient gun loosing a cloud of choking black smoke where it rests in his hand.

COMBATSYS: The Mad Engineer successfully hits Jubei with Madman's Companion.

[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
The Mad Engineer 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0Clockwork Hazards
                 [          |||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Jubei            0|-------|--=====

[JUBEI]
Jubei stands more or less in place -- though, out of necessity, he walks side to side as the surfaces beneath him shift and rotate with each passing moment. The bigger puzzle for him is not standing, but rather, figuring out what to make of the shift of the Engineer's demeanor, from eagerly anticipating the fight to... well, moaning.

Jubei is careful, however, not to discount the Engineer too much. Particularly when he moves to unfasten the sword from the head of its staff, or to grab a passing chain. The Twin Lotus takes a preemptive lunge backward, and then another, hoping to upset the clock-minder's precision movements once he's begun the flight.

Unfortunately for Jubei, he made a slight miscalculation of his footing, and starts to lumber sideways. When the time comes for him to jump again -- in avoidance of the blunderbuss' shot -- he misses the opportunity. His arm raises to protect his bloodied face -- but that's all it does, as the pellets tear holes throug his jacket, pelting his fur and flesh, knocking him backwards a good meter along his platform.

Jubei, howling with pain, crouches low on his platform. The cat snaps his eye back up to track where the Engineer is about to land. And it looks, for a moment, as if he'd forgotten about the platform's motion...

Particularly when Jubei -falls-.

But a meter beneath him, black ichor weeps from the air itself. Jubei's light-colored feet tap through the ichorous gel...

And then Jubei's shape smears into a diagonal blur. His destination: the Engineer's platform, about three meters -past- the Engineer. The claws unfurl in his flight, delivering a razing blow across the Engineer's shins. And a split second later, three black scars of seithr erupt in the wake of his strikes, delivering a second series of swipes to the Engineer! The cat whirls around from the Engineer's flank, aiming a third swipe upward in an attempt to catch him unaware!

COMBATSYS: Jubei successfully hits The Mad Engineer with Shiranui EX.

[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
The Mad Engineer 1/-----==/=======|===----\-------\0Clockwork Hazards
                 [           ||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Jubei            0|-------|=======

COMBATSYS: The Mad Engineer full-parries Clockwork Hazards' Improvised Punch!!

[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
The Mad Engineer 1/----===/=======|===----\-------\0Clockwork Hazards
                 [           ||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Jubei            0|-------|=======

[THE MAD ENGINEER]
Soft, shuttering breaths rack the Engineer's body as he crouches upon the slope of a barely moving gear. Body hunched as if to curl himself around a grievous gut wound, he seems ill prepared for the rapidity of Jubei's recovery. The only sign that he is aware at all is the visible tightening of his black-gloved hand around the grip of his gun, muscles trembling along shoulders and arms.
"NoOOo..." comes the whimpering moan, ragged voice echoing off of the walls to create an ambiance of raw, inescapable suffering.
"What a fiendish trick it was. Such, inhuman cruelty..."
Whether he speaks to The Cat or himself is growing increasingly hard to tell, though as the former manages to gain traction on empty air the latter lurches to an upright stand, a violent breath hissing through the simple filters of his leather mask. He has no time to dodge, no moment in which to level his gun before the raking claws tear into the leather of his grieves, dragging his feet out from under him so that he impacts the gear hard on hands and knees.
The following slashes of chi catch him before he can rise, tearing into the side of his coat and knocking him sprawling into an ungainly tumble down the jagged slope of the gear. Getting a hand beneath him, he turns the drop into a rolling rise, and has just about transitioned to his feet when Jubei's final strike catches him squarely in the back, claws shredding through leather and cloth to send a smattering of black ichor splatting across his surroundings as he is sent neatly over the edge.
The being does not shout as he vanishes over the edge of the gear, dropping into the darkness between with ghostly acceptance. Above him, the flickering illumination of the platform lifts away to a distant point, wind whistling past him, rattling chains and sparking wires flickering by at ever greater speeds. Lifting his face toward the vanishing sky he opens his fathomless eyes wide, a single ray of moonlight managing to pierce the face of the clock and pass through the trap door, gears shifting apart in just such a way that it reaches him before he can vanish completely into the depths.
"Ahhh." he breathes, pain and rage departing for a moment of pure, delighted serenity. "I see you have returned...No, not returned. You have always been here at my side. My dearest companion... My Guiding Light..."
Though he continues to fall, the madman reaches over his shoulder with his free hand and drags free his sword, tossing it lightly off to one side. In the darkness below the blade seems to glow with its own inner light, falling through the air at a pace to match his own.
A moment later and he has slipped the staff from his back, snapping his arm out so that the wooden length unfolds, its tip striking the hilt of the falling blade and snagging it cleanly out of the air. It is with scythe in hand that he lashes out, cleaving through a nest of woven chains with a rapid fire series of CHINGS and PINGS. Bits of metal fly in all directions, bouncing off of gears and grinding noisily between bits of moving machinery, but the Engineer does slow his fall enough to swing lithely off and land balanced atop one in a row of quivering counter weights. Swiping his scythe around himself in a tight circle, he cleaves through every chain but his own, sending boulder-sized weights cascading down into the machinery below and unbalancing whatever mechanism they had been intended to keep in place.
Up above, Jubei can hear the crash of metal just moments before the entire tower shakes, several chains whipped into a fury of upward motion as the ceiling above begins to slowly turn. Rasping, grinding, and groaning as if it might shake itself apart, the tower rotates on its axis, the center of the roof and ceiling irising open to reveal the clear night sky above, crimson moon glaring down into the interior from what seems to be far too close a distance.
Torn coat flapping around him, The Mad Engineer comes hurtling up into the moonlight, emerging from between the gears like a nightmare from beyond. Little more than a dark silhouette in the radiant moonlight, he levels his blunderbuss at The Cat and fires another blast, attempting to stagger the legendary warrior just long enough to lunge in with an enormous swing of his scythe, silver blade a pure mirror of the moon above as it arcs in toward the feline's gut in what would be an eviscerating blow for any creature less capable.
"Do you see, World Walker? Do you see the light?"

COMBATSYS: Jubei blocks The Mad Engineer's Blood Moon EX.

[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
The Mad Engineer 0/-------/-----<<|===----\-------\0Clockwork Hazards
                 [             ||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Jubei            1|-----<<|<<<<<<<

[JUBEI]
Neither has admitted defeat yet. The challenge is ongoing. The Engineer has proven himself resilient, and as such, the One-Eyed Twin Lotus needs to treat him with the seriousness of any other life-or-death matter. As such, the feline now walks the Path of the Empty Mind. Only matters pivotal to the success of combat are allowed in. The Empty Mind allows nothing else.

Singularity of purpose is what allows the cat to stand emotionless as a blotch of black ichor spatters his claws, as the Engineer's fate is written before his unmoving eye. Sympathy beats in the heart of the feline, but in this state, expressing it is beyond his capacity. The reflection of the engineer shrinks ever smaller upon his staring, crimson eye. For while the wanderer in him seeks to help, the warrior knows that you can't keep a good man down.

The clamor of chains and sparking wires is testament to that. A sword gleams in the light. Contact is made -- as the system begins to grind and chew itself into a new configuration.

The platform shudders. The tower itself begins to transform. Jubei's eye lifts from the Engineer, seeks out the next vantage point. The cat bounds to it, on all fours. The Path of the Empty Mind dictates the route to safety, whereas his feline agility allows him to bound the geared stepstones of that route. It takes several bounds -- and on the last burst of exertion, the samurai's hood pulls back, baring a sweat-dampened mane of black and white fur.

He casts his eye back up to the Moon.
And he narrows his eye.
An inky black blotch appears in the center of the Moon.

The cat's reflexes snap into action before he can consciously identify the threat. A sleeve is raised -- and in the *ka-POW!* of an instant, the sleeve is perforated by the blunderbuss shot, a feline paw and leatherbound metal mechanisms exposed to the air. Buckshot buries itself into the warrior's hide, forcing the cat's teeth to grit.

The shining scythe carves a crescent-shaped mirror to the Blood Moon above, as it swings towards Jubei. An instant later, the mirror shudders with a clash of sparks as the scythe is jarred into a much slower pace. The blade itself, trapped between the flats of Jubei's two Dream Blades. The cat yields ground, hopping upward to allow the blade to carry him backward some two meters, before a clash of seithr-forged metal frees himself of the imposition.

'Do you see, World Walker? Do you see the light?'
The warrior of the Empty Mind grunts in response.
The black splotch grows, blotting out the light of the Blood Moon.
An enraged red corona lights the assemblage of cogs, chains, and counterweights.

The Dream Blades flash in the dimmed Moonlight. The One-Eyed Twin Lotus thrusts into motion -- ramming the pommel of one of the Dream Blades hard at the abdomen of the Engineer. An instant later, two hind paws would follow, slamming into him, and kicking sharply.

Vaulting back, the Twin Lotus flips around in mid air, and kicks off another spinning cog. Swords are passed to the nekomata's twin tails. And as Jubei flings himself at Engineer like a feline missile, six shredding claws rend outward, tearing at leather, cloth, and flesh alike. Black seithr rips out in the wake of the cuts, left smoldering in the air. The Jubei warhead swings his ferocious claws again and again, blistering the seithr into tiny explosions of energy, as he seeks to make his mark in the momentary eclipse of a Blood Moon.

COMBATSYS: Jubei successfully hits The Mad Engineer with Miroku - Spherical Illusion.

[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
The Mad Engineer 0/-------/---<<<<|===----\-------\0Clockwork Hazards
                 [             ||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Jubei            1|-----<<|<<<<<<<

COMBATSYS: The Mad Engineer dodges Clockwork Hazards' Counter Weight.

[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
The Mad Engineer 0/-------/---<<<<|===----\-------\0Clockwork Hazards
                 [             ||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Jubei            1|-----<<|<<<<<<<

[THE MAD ENGINEER]
Deep, rasping breaths emanate from beneath the madman's mask as he forces the feline back, his long limbs containing the frightening strength of the unhinged. Those panting breaths fade into a pained grunt once the cat has disengaged, the shadowing of the moon provoking a visible shudder to run through the Engineer's tattered frame.
"OOOoooooooh..."
The hopeless groan of a lost man fills the space as all around them is washed in crimson. He has no defense against the thrusting pommel, lean form hunching forward around the blow as he is driven stumbling back toward the edge of the cog. Used as a launch off point, the kick hurls him over the edge and crashing into the side of a grinding gear, the battered madman sliding down its surface and dropping to a lower platform just moments before a dangling bit of machinery comes swooping in to smash itself apart against the surface he so recently occupied.
Landing in a low crouch some 20 feet below, the Engineer has just enough time to holster his gun before Jubei comes streaking out of the darkness, impacting him like a bladed missile and driving him back toward the center of the broad, slowly rotating cog they find themselves on. As bits of machinery rain down around them, The Cat's claws slash and hack into the madman's chest and arms, scythe pulled close into a defensive tuck to try and whether the barrage. As the scarred garment splits and shreds away, pale skin can be seen beneath, black energy hammering rents into skin far too tough to be human, releasing thick drips of oozing black that stretch slowly toward the metal bellow.
It seems as if The Cat has trapped him on the back foot, locked in the assault of claws and raw destructive power. But then his head drops back and his chest expands, a howl of pure lunacy tearing itself free of his chest to vibrate up and down the length of the tower. The sort of noise only the insane could ever hope to make, the noise is half man, half something utterly alien, and with it he surges forward through the pain and comes for Jubei with unchecked ferocity.
Lashing out with the butt of his scythe, he attempts to hammer Jubei cleanly in the throat, to drive the feline back. If he can get that distance, he will whip his scythe in a looping overhead to gain momentum, before bringing the gleaming blade cleaving down with such speed that a silver image is left in its wake. Unless The Cat can stop it, the blow will cleave across him and down into the gear itself, splitting off the section upon which he is standing and sending them spiraling apart.

COMBATSYS: Jubei full-parries The Mad Engineer's Heavenly Body!!

[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
The Mad Engineer 0/-------/----<<<|===----\-------\0Clockwork Hazards
                 [             ||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Jubei            1|---<<<<|<<<<<<<

[JUBEI]
The cost for dedicating himself entirely to the zen of combat is the loss of remorse. The opportunity for an emotional appeal to the samurai's harsh code of honor was offered prior to combat -- and declined. The blood-spattered face of the cat is one of steadfast determination and absolute concentration, impassive to the crying howl.

Jubei leaps back from his strike, his six mechanical claws curled close. The Dream Blade twins, held by his twin tails, bob airily behind him, reminders of the cat's true lethality. The shreds of his ragged sleeve sway with each movement, the artifice of his surrogate claws lain bare to view. He does not retreat further, the pads of his hind paws spreading apart to root himself upon the expansive, rotating cog.

The rim of the Blood Moon's corona ripples, filling the Clock Tower with a flickering, scintillating intensity. Jubei's one eye fixates on the butt of the scythe. And in a flash of turned blades, the claws neatly catch the hasp, firmly transferring the momentum of the strike into their diminutive wielder. The cat is hurled backwards. Claws dig into the surface of the massive gear, kicking up sparks as he's driven backwards -- a necessary motion, for he'd have been sure to fall off the edge otherwise.

But even as the Engineer leaps into the air, the Cat keeps his gaze locked upon him. And at the apex of the Engineer's leap, when his path becomes evident...

Jubei, the One-Eyed Twin Lotus, leaps into the fray. Again, he is a feline missile -- but this time, he faces his fate head-on, his claws trailing behind him. It would be suicide -- if not for his tails swinging the Dream Blades to his left. And then his hind feet press into the flats of the blades, wielding the fearsome weapons not as implements of death -- but skis.

A quick pivot ninety degrees around the axis of the blade. Minute adjustments to the track of the blades. Blue sparks fly as the twin blades of Musashi grind against the sword's keen edge. A small jump -- and the samurai cat is soon grinding against the scythe's handle, unleashing golden sparks and a scraping sound of a different timbre from the new material.

The scythe might cleave into the gear -- or it might not. The warrior of the Empty Mind is not concerned with that, devoted entirely to the tempo of battle rather than the overarching strategy.

And that strategy is to kick violently against both his Dream Blades -and- the scythe, knocking the longer weapon slightly off-course as he propels himself astern of the Engineer. Aloft, he tumbles into a whirling mass of claw blades, slicing rapidly in all directions simultaneously, opting for dozens of shallow cuts rather than a precision slice.

The cat will worry about the landing in a moment.

COMBATSYS: Jubei successfully hits The Mad Engineer with Form Three - Wild Lion EX.

[                       \\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
The Mad Engineer 0/-------/--<<<<<|==-----\-------\0Clockwork Hazards
                 [            |||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Jubei            1|--<<<<<|<<<<<<<

[THE MAD ENGINEER]
The Mad Engineer's howl is still vibrating through the tower as Jubei skates the length of his scythe, deftly avoiding the descending edge and once more slipping in close where the weapon's greater reach will do no good. A nudge of the descending weapon's course does little to prevent it cleaving through hardened steel like soft cheese, the gleaming crescent vanishing into the gear beneath his feet.
Howl trailing off into an agonized hiss, the madman arches forward as a whirlwind of slashes blends its way down his back, his already torn coat coming to shreds to reveal yet more pale skin, muscles knotting and writhing beneath it in wholly unnatural ways. Dozens, then hundreds of hair-thin cuts appear as the cat twirls his way toward the gear below, thick black ichor oozing forth to slather the entirety of his back.
Hiss transforming itself into a wordless snarl, the Engineer hauls hard on his weapon and turns, dragging the crescent blade through the steel beneath him with a shriek of tortured metal. Orange sparks leaping forth into the crimson light, the madman whirls fully around to face Jubei and brings his scythe blurring up in a rising cleave, attempting to tear the diminutive samurai out of his spin and drive him up into the air, only to then spin and cleave viciously into his side, the momentum of the second blow aimed to hurl him off toward a stack of grinding mechanisms even as the Engineer throws himself in the opposite direction. Diving off of his disintegrating platform he makes to snag a dangling chain, momentum swinging him slowly out, then back over an endless drop into empty space.

COMBATSYS: Jubei instinctively dodges Clockwork Hazards' Grinding Gears.

[                       \\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
The Mad Engineer 0/-------/----<<<|==-----\-------\0Clockwork Hazards
                 [            |||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Jubei            1|--<<<<<|<<<<<<<

COMBATSYS: Jubei blocks The Mad Engineer's Waxing Soul.

[                       \\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
The Mad Engineer 0/-------/---<<<<|==-----\-------\0Clockwork Hazards
                 [              |||||||||||||||| ]
                 Jubei            1|-<<<<<<|<<<<<<<

[JUBEI]
A ratcheting gate pops open overhead. A large gear, driving a subassembly of smaller gears, rotates down. Its payload threatens to barrel squarely into the two fighters...

Jubei continues to whirl around with his claws, revealing more and more of the Mad Engineer's macabre flesh. And yet, just as the madman starts to whirl around with a rebuttal, the descending gears threaten to knock him out of commission. The cat snaps out of his roll, his body stretching out flat so that the whirling gears can whistle neatly overhead. It's a successful evasion, but it would appear to leave the cat's abdomen undefended...

Which means it's a remarkably good thing that the Dream Blades are held by his twin prehensile tails, for without them, the upwards stroke of the scythe would have cleaved him in two. As it is, the seithr-forged blades snap into an X pattern, catching the fiercely swung blade and propelling Jubei upwards, a scant half-second after the gears fly overhead. The samurai master grunts with exertion as he twists sideways, hoping to get his claws into position for the followup.

He manages to interpose the claws of both paws in the way, a shower of blue sparks raining out in the collision. But even though he slows the blade, he does not stop it entirely -- and the honed tip bites into his left shoulder, drawing a pained howl from the samurai master. Also, the momentum is transferred all the same, with the cat flung out towards the grinding mechanism.

The twin tails return the Dream Blades to their respective slots of the scabbard on his shoulder. Gritting his teeth, Jubei looks at five places in rapid sequence.

A lit gear.
A bizarre contraption, slightly ahead.
A small ledge, barely lit by the light of the crimson corona.
A lit area just beyond the travel of the Engineer's swinging chain.
The black splotch blotting out the Blood Moon.

Five spots begin turning dark, inky black. And the first four meld into a hexagonal shape, circumscribing the image of a cat's paw.

Jubei reorients his head and feet to a proper upright orientation. His right paw curls around the grip of his lower Dream Blade.

And in an instant, Jubei's form blurs forward.
He appears at the lit gear to his right.
He perches on the bizarre contraption.
He materializes at the crimson-lit ledge, the cat casting a hazy shadow.

"This sacrifice is unnecessary. I'm only here for the Arca."

The words seem to come from nowhere and everywhere at once. But Jubei himself, his position is clear -- directly en route to the Engineer -- and his fourth marked destination -- at nearly unintelligible speed.

The feline Master draws his sword in a deadly iaijutsu strike, seeking to cleave diagonally from the mad Engineer's right thigh up across to his left shoulder.

And of the fifth marked location... the black disc, covering the moon, grows even larger. The corona winks out. Darkness floods the Clock Tower, returning it to an abyss lit only by torches and lamps.

COMBATSYS: Jubei successfully hits The Mad Engineer with Shiranui Steel - Zephyr.
Grazing Hit

[                           \\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
The Mad Engineer 0/-------/---<<<<|==-----\-------\0Clockwork Hazards
                 [              |||||||||||||||| ]
                 Jubei            0|-------|----<<<

[THE MAD ENGINEER]
All around the dangling lunatic is gathering darkness, the red glow of the moon fading every further into recent memory. Hatted head hung low, scythe dangling from one hand, he twists slowly while he sways, appearing limp and lifeless beneath the slow ooze of draining ichor. And yet, he lives. His chest rises, and rasping breaths fill the air with ghostly echos.
"My friend...my dearest ally..." comes the murmured response, tone having returned to the weary regret he showed before this contest started. "Such loss can consume a man. Eat Him Right UP."
The last is growled mere moments before Jubei strikes, the feline blurring up from below in a single, pure show of swordsmanship that should cleave the insane creature in twain from thigh to shoulder. Unfortunately, the monster proves once more just how quick he can be, flinging himself off of the chain and half turning so that the blade cleaves deep through the meat and bone of his thigh, half severing it with a spray of oily black gore. His torso is spared, however, body falling away through the dark as The Cat soars upward toward freedom.
With a last his of effort, the Engineer hurtles the blade of his scythe up in a vicious cleave, shaft slipping through his hand until he is just able to catch the butt with both arms at full extension. If that gleaming silver blade can find purchase, the madman will jerk violently down, dragging the feline out of the sky and toward a rising knee aimed precisely for the samurai's jaw.
Hit or miss, however, the Engineer will continue to fall, tattered coat flapping around him before impacting a grinding gear dead on, body crunching against the slowly rotating surface in a full sprawl, arms and legs outstretched.
As he gazes up toward the vanished moon the last connection breaks, a bit of the tension and madness draining from him as his gloved hand finally, mercifully, releases his weapon.
"Farewell, for now, my friend..."

COMBATSYS: The Mad Engineer can no longer fight.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Clockwork Hazards0/-------/-----==|
                 [              |||||||||||||||| ]
                 Jubei            0|-------|----<<<

COMBATSYS: The Mad Engineer successfully hits Jubei with Shining Bright.
-+- CALCULATED HIT -+-

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Clockwork Hazards0/-------/-----==|
                 [                   ||||||||||| ]
                 Jubei            0|-------|----<<<

COMBATSYS: Jubei counters Counter Weight from Clockwork Hazards with Divine Form.

[      \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Clockwork Hazards0/-------/-======|
                 [                   ||||||||||| ]
                 Jubei            0|-------|---<<<<

[JUBEI]
For the warrior who walks the Path of the Empty Mind, there is no joy in landing a hit such as this. No pain, no hardship, no remorse. Emotions distract the samurai from the task at hand. For the samurai, the archetype behind any sufficiently complex problem has already been solved through meditation, days, weeks, or perhaps even years before an instance of such presents itself. All that is left is for the Empty Mind to execute a preordained plan.

To execute a determined man, if it comes to that.

The saving grace is that the Engineer does not want to die. Perhaps Jubei's words got through to him. Or perhaps his reflexes are just that good -- to allow the seithr-forged sword to devour his leg, rather than his torso. The awoken mind will be happy for that.

%tThe mind of the warrior, though, is locked in the present, living moment to moment. And the feet of the warrior plant themselves upon the fourth hexagon. The right paw of the warrior returns the blade to its scabbard. The eye of the warrior looks down, mutely acknowledging the jangling of chains, the whirl of a scythe. It comes for him -- and he raises his good paw, the one that had not been savaged by a blunderbuss.

It makes a good grip for the scythe to dig into. The cat is bodily jerked from the platform of raw seithr, forced to tumble headlong forward. The cat's crimson eye opens wide. And then -- *wham!* The rising knee clocks Jubei right in the jaw, loosing a gout of blood and propelling him backwards and away.

The flying cat glances off one spinning cogwheel, which in turn flings him at a right-angle gear. The teeth of the blade catch his jacket sleeve, tearing at it. And another mechanism entirely closes in, seeking to enmesh with the right-angle gear, but finding Jubei there instead.

And yet, with the sound of tearing fabric, it stops.
At the end of the gear, is one outstretched paw. Not covered in cloth, not bound in leather -- just one black-and-white-furred forelimb jutting from the front panel of his jacket. Its paw pads poke a precise point on the gear's teeth -- and stopping it cold, with a shudder.

The next instant, Jubei presses away from the gear assemblage, launching himself to relative safety. The mechanisms groan from the stress. A moment later, the falling cogwheel slams into the right-angle gear per its original design.

Jubei leaps to one gear, then another, finally alighting on an arm assembly, momentarily frozen in wait for the next minute to tick off.

Overhead, a disc of crimson blazes free. Then another, then another, as its void-black ichor coating drips away, dissolving into nothingness. In mere moments, the Clock Tower is once again awash in the macabre glow of the Blood Moon. A shaft of fresh moonlight beams down from the trap door, favoring the Engineer with its revitalizing light.

Jubei looks down upon the Mad Engineer, expelling a somber breath. He remains stolid, immovable at first. But after a second relieved breath, his expression lightens, into a smile.

The cat rubs his savaged joints, slipping his paw back into the leather harness. Tensing the grip, to ensure it works properly, he notes, "Rest well. You've earned that much, friend."

He stands for a moment. The arm movement clicks upward, jarring the cat to action. A reminder that the Rosalia is not eternal.

The Isochronium Arca awaits him.

COMBATSYS: Jubei resumes wandering.

[      \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Clockwork Hazards0/-------/-======|

COMBATSYS: Clockwork Hazards takes no action.

[      \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Clockwork Hazards0/-------/-======|

COMBATSYS: Clockwork Hazards has ended the fight here.

Log created on 10:23:47 06/05/2021 by The Mad Engineer, and last modified on 17:56:34 06/06/2021.