Match of the Millennium

Description: After barely eking out a victory against Tarmo, Mint finds herself stuck in a burning building with the celebrity succubus, Lyraelle! Neo League Season 7's finals series continues with a semifinal bout between the two points leaders!

[LYRAELLE]
==*== PREVIOUSLY ==*==

"Your Majesty!"

The strained voice of the green, spindly imp follows immediately after the sound of the door to the owner's office of Midnight Channel Studios bursting open.

"You'll want to see this!"

Rushing up to a stylish, modern black desk that sits amidst a bank of monitors, the imp drops a page with a newspaper article on it across the middle of the surface. As he does, the leather swivel-throne behind the desk spins around and rolls up to it, its pink-haired occupant leaning forward with a 'Hmmm' sound as she lifts the paper up to peruse the headline.

=== NEO-LEAGUE QUARTERFINAL CAUSES MILLIONS OF YEN IN DAMAGES TO CLUB ===

A pleased little smile creeps across the Demon Queen's face as her green eyes scan the text.

"You're right, Green. I'm glad you showed me this. I was having a pretty crappy day, and this cheers me right up."

The green imp, ever wringing his hands, looks nervously up at his mistress.

"Really, Your Majesty? Aren't you c-concerned about li-li-litigation?"

The demonette gives a derisive, dismissive and disdainful snort.

"Litigation? First off, the club probably has insurance. Second, if there are damages, the Neo-League can cover it. And third, if I do have to pay? A yen's worth less than a penny. Ten thousand dollars was like a week's Patreon for me /before/ the Midnight Channel. Besides, if Tairyu didn't want me setting his club on fire, he should've thought harder about that little offer I made him."

Lyraelle lounges back in her chair, folding her arms behind her head and crossing one leg over the other. She gives the paper a second look, holding it up and arching an eyebrow.

"Hey, where did you get this from, anyway? Aren't newspapers, like, dead?"

"I printed it off," Green Minion tells the Demon Queen. "I thought you'd want it on paper. Y-you know, because of your dramatic flair."

"Aww, that's sweet. Didn't you stop to think about the environment, though? An e-mail has so much less impact on the global ecology."

Lyraelle gives a disappointed, pouting look to the imp - one that slowly turns into a scowl.

The imp withers under her gaze.

"I-I'm s-sorry M-Mistress! I-I won't let it happen a-g-g-g-gain!"

The celebrity succubus' scowl suddenly breaks into amused laughter as the paper ignites with green flame in her hand. She tosses the smouldering green-black remains into a bin labeled 'Flammables.'

"Do you honestly think I give a shit, Green? Go find Red Minion and tell him I need some property. This gave me an idea..."

==*== PRESENTLY, CONDEMNED BUILDING, WEST OUTSKIRTS OF SOUTHTOWN ==*==

It's hard to tell exactly what the building was meant to be. All that's apparent is that whoever started construction never finished it, whether due to bureaucracy, pulled funding, or other some other misfortune. It's a three-story affair that might have been a clinic or hotel, but now amounts to little more than a half-finished construction site.

A freshly posted sign reads:

'PROPERTY OF DARKHEART ENTERPRISES'

o LIVE

"Good news, minions~"

The feed on DemonQueenLyraelle's stream shows a sweeping shot of the interior of the building - a lovely scene of plaster walls, ruined buckets of paint and exposed wooden structural columns - with a picture-in-picture of the celebrity succubus' smiling face in the corner. The portrait shot quickly expands to fill the screen.

"We totally got the new site approved by the Neo-League!"

She pulls a face while making what could be interpreted as a lewd gesture that involves one hand and her tongue against her cheek as she starts to walk through the building's unfinished halls.

"See, the crew's all here!"

The camera shot turns around again to show the Neo-League's operating crew setting up three stories below.

"Hiii, guys!"

One of the Neo-League cameramen looks up and smiles. 'Hi, Queen Lyraelle!' One of his coworkers gives him a jab with an elbow to restore his professionalism, and he puts his head back down.

"So, let's see if we can find my opponent~"

The ground comes up quickly at the camera as the roof disappears into sky behind the picture-in-picture mugshot, and Lyraelle holds her phone up ahead of her as she starts walking along the perimeter of the site in search of a certain miniature Marine...

[MINT]
The Marine in question just so happened to be on the Midnight Channel's call list. A one-time competitor pitted against an impressively-armed jiangshi, Minal Panesh has made something of a name for herself lately, managing to make it this far in the tournament finals. But there is something else that -isn't- publicly known...

The corporal has been tasked to find out more about this Midnight Channel, and more in particular about the figure at the apex of its organizational pyramid. So far -- she's been at a loss. Videos don't really give the full measure of what a person -is- or what they're truly capable of. How much is video trickery, and how much is real?

But more urgently, why the hell is this match being held in a condemned building? That's what the Marine really wants to know, when she turns the doorknob of the most obvious entry point into the building.

The knob spins freely, with no friction. A moment later, the counterpart of the knob in Mint's hand falls on the other side, making a rather -loud- crack as hollow metal cracks down onto hardened concrete, echoing throughout the building's bare walls.

Groaning, Mint pushes the unsecured door open with her shoulder. She makes exactly half an attempt to put the doorknob back into place, knowing full well it's likely to fall too. But as she peers inside, she sees... well, not a whole lot. Grunting in frustration, she starts to exit the building -- but then she catches sight of what she =didn't= see before: the Neo League crew setting up clear over on the other side of the building!

"Well, crap," she comments. Though, being as an entire wall of the building is -missing- due to one reason or another, she figures: "I guess I'll take a shortcut!"

And the soldier-turned-professional fighter powers up the jet turbines strapped to either arm, and starts building up to a jogging pace. Her boots kick up a small amount of plaster dust as she dashes across the floor, but it's a pittance next to the dust kicked up as she turns on her boosters!

"Whoo-hooo! Let's get ready to -rock!-" she cries out, as she bursts through the empty wall of the building, hovering some two feet off the ground! And as she nears the prepared fight locale, she cuts the throttle, landing with one foot forward in a dynamic pose, aiming an outstretched palm at Lyralle!

"Queen Darkheart!" she booms, putting out a ton of decibels for such a tiny person. Marine training! "I'm -Mint-, and I'll be your opponent for this fight!"

[LYRAELLE]
As Mint appears in a cloud of plaster dust, Lyraelle throws an arm up across her face, coughing into it and scowling. The smartphone she's holding in her other hand manages to catch the whole thing, though - as do the Neo-League cameramen. It's already being cut with dramatic music cues for extra flair.

"Ugh, did she seriously have to do a cool entrance? This is supposed to be the pre-show! Why do my partners have to keep skipping straight to the action?"

A moment after the question is asked of Lyraelle's audience, she puts on a smirk.

"Now, cut that out, you guys! You know the mods are watching!"

Blowing a kiss to the phone's camera, the celebrity succubus switches it off and tosses it off-stage to a techie before turning to face her opponent-to-be.

"Oh, look! It's the Midnight Channel's freshest recruit," the demonic royal remarks, slipping seamlessly from her sweethearted-succubus influencer persona into mildly-malevolent monarch mode with a haughty hair-toss, brushing her purple-gloved fingers through her pink ponytail mane as she tips up her chin, her other hand resting on her scantily-clad hip. "You gave Nessie quite the run for her money, you know. I hope she and the ghost girl didn't scare you off from any future contracts."

Lyraelle's expression lightens slightly as she drops her elevated hand to the opposite hip.

"But I shouldn't be addressing you as a former or future employee right now, obvs - wouldn't want to taint my imminent victory with suspicion of the 'F' word."

Her arms shift to fold beneath her bosoms as her hips cock to one side, a thoughtful expression crossing her space.

"Speaking of the 'F' word, how's your boyfriend doing? I keep expecting him to call, but apparently he's too busy for old friends... I thought we were close, after the whole mouth-to-mouth thing."

She smiles sweetly.

"I guess I've been pretty busy, too, though~"

[MINT]
Mint glances back at the audience. It's pretty easy to spot her fans, as they're standing a good ways apart from the Demon Queen's fanbase -- and they're hardly anywhere near as quick to answer the rhetorical question. Or maybe 'quick' isn't the right adjective...

Still! Her attention snaps right back up to Lyraelle's eyes as it becomes clear she's being addressed. Minal's lips set into a firm line as she watches the social media star strut her stuff, right down to accentuating the curves of her... gloves...

"Nah, it was lots of fun and not much sun," she responds with a grin, taking note of the nighttime battle on Loch Ness. "If the Channel can keep things nice an' fun like that I'll be more'n happy to return!"

Though, as one of those perfect hands drops to a hip, Minal finds herself adopting a parallel position. Much shorter, and much blockier hands. Her smile turns a bit lopsided at the playful teasing -- almost as if she'd expected the news of her relationship with Tairyu to come out -sooner- or later. "Aww, it's so nice of you to ask! He's doing great." There is a beat, as she tilts her head to the side, in a querying look. "... -Never- talks about you, though. Gosh, that's -so- weird!" Mint lifts an oversized hand, waving off her following thought as a passing fancy. "But hey, I'm -sure- it has nothing to do with your trashy, forgettable getup..."

Mint takes a hop forward, making a gesture as if she's lacing her gloves up. There's no laces. And no gloves, just those giant metal gauntlets. But it's for the -look- of the gesture, it's part and parcel with the aura exuded by a pro boxer. And also a prime way to demonstrate that yes, she's ready to fight!

"Gosh, yeah, you -must- be busy, shelling out big bucks for a place like this!" She gestures to the surrounding building. "This place is like, what, maybe half a star on Trip Advisor? Let's check..." She pulls up her gauntlet, and a small holographic rectangle is projected in front of her, conveniently made more obvious by the dissipating dustcloud. "'Great view of this one,'" she 'reads,' "'this one, like, pothole-filled city street. Still under construction, should be ready by 2060...'" She shrugs with an exaggerated gesture. "Or no wait, this one's better. 'The perfect place for a walking fashion disaster.' Yeah, that guy gave you a whole star!" She turns her gauntlet into a metal thumbs-up!

COMBATSYS: Mint has started a fight here.

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

[LYRAELLE]
The saccharine-sweet smile lingers on Lyraelle's lips even as Mint jabs back at her in regards to the servicewoman's significant other. Plenty of 'hadouken' emojis are filling the chatroom for both Lyraelle's stream and that of the Neo-League's official online broadcast - which has turned on to capture the exchange between the two.

"Oh, I'm not surprised, really - a lot of my fans don't tell their girlfriends about me," she replies with a wink. "I'm not sure why - I mean, I like to think that I provide content that the whole family can enjoy. A lot of little girls look up to me, you know?"

She turns to the nearest camera, forming a heart shape with her salaciously curved fingers.

"I'm sure that a lot of little girls look up to you, too, given your service to the country - well, actually, most of them can probably match you at eye level."

The second half of that comment is made a little more quietly - intended for Minal's benefit rather than that of the viewing public. It's partially drowned out by the Neo-League announcer announcing the imminent start of the match: 'Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to...'

"As for the site, it's a little pet project - just a big pile of wasted real estate that needs a little Tee-Ell-Cee. I'll have to tear it down, clean it up, obviously..."

One of the officials looks between the two fighters, receiving a smile, nod and thumb-up from Lyraelle.

'...beginning in 3...!

The pink-haired demonette looks directly at Mint, snapping a V salute next to her horned head.

"...Guess I'll start by wiping the floor with you!"

'... FIGHT!'

Almost instantaneously, the demoness's emerald-green eyes ignite, the air in front of them heating up as a pair of scorching twin beams issue forth, aimed at the metal-fisted Marine! The rays would follow in whatever direction she would attempt to evade, threatening to rake across nearby surfaces and light things up!

COMBATSYS: Lyraelle has joined the fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Mint             0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0         Lyraelle

COMBATSYS: Mint blocks Lyraelle's Balefire Gaze.

[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Mint             0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0         Lyraelle

[MINT]
Mint cocks her head to the side, scratching at the nape of her neck. She seems to be giving the jabs some serious thought... "Well, I mean, you could be right, yeah?"

It lasts about a half-second before she arches an eyebrow, holding an empty palm up. "But like, no one talks about riding the Metro City Subway... is that -really- a flex?"

And while she's doing that, Lyraelle flashes a heart to the camera. Minal looks utterly unimpressed, resting her metal hands on her hips as she waits for the fanservice onslaught to be replaced by a jab at her height. "Oh, hey, kids, the walking Barbie doll's talkin' smack! Is math like totes tough for you, Your Highness?"

Mint flicks a glance over to the Neo League officials -- and she's quick to take a quick hop backwards, raising both her KNUCKs in anticipation. Trash talk or no, she came here to fight! And as Lyraelle locks gaze with her, the Marine corporal is quick to show her game face. She flashes a wink -- which could be either hubris, arrogance, or professional courtesy. You decide!

And then in the next split-second, it's on! With a quick burst of thrust from her twin engines, Mint stutter-steps to the side, using it as the start of a run! Though, as Lyraelle is quick to match the aim of those beams at the running Marine, Mint is forced to improvise. As the arena blisters to life from the heat of the beams, the mechanized Marine suddenly leaps into the air, curling up into a ball...

Beams glance across the metallic finish of her armored gauntlets, char marks burning into their surface. Even with a mostly-effective block, Mint actually flies -backwards- from the superheated air, forced to grit her teeth at the sudden sensation of pain flashing through her nerve endings.

A moment later, she lands -- dropping a bit more heavily onto her boots. "Oh, damn, pay attention, kiddies!" She taps a metal finger against her temple. "You can't get sued if all your burns are public domain!"

Metal fingers splay outward for a moment as she shakes the numbness out of her arms. Her repositioning didn't bring her any closer to Lyraelle, but she can fix that with another sudden burst of thrust. Blasting off from a mostly dead stop, she once again hits the ground running -- swinging close with a right jab, before following up with a hard left hook to the jaw! But whether she hits or misses with that, she'll finish by adding a quick right straight to the demonette's solar plexus! "OORAAAAAH!"

COMBATSYS: Lyraelle blocks Mint's Knuckle Dragger.

[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Mint             0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0         Lyraelle

[LYRAELLE]
The sizzling beams dissipate with a plume of sulfurous-smelling smoke almost as quickly as they flashed to life as Lyraelle's leather wings unfurl dramatically behind her. There's little trace of the after-effects of the attack in the devil-girl's green irises as they settle on Minal once more.

"Oh, not all of my burns are public domain. I've got plenty of them on IP, but I'm happy to share my 'folio with you!"

The succubus stands her ground as the Marine charges in, bringing her left hand up with unholy speed to catch the first jab - eschewing any sense of avoidance in favour of meeting the blow head-on. She pivots to push the hook to one side with her right hand as she leans her head out of the line of fire. Then, as the solar plexus shot comes in, she follows through with a spin, both hands blocking the attack directly.

"I gotta admit, though, you've got a better mic game than most of the losers I've trashed on the circuit! Maybe while you're in rehab from this, you can drop your cee-vee off at my writing department!"

Leaping away with a flit of her wings, the succubus spins, a crackling lash of serpentine green flame sparking into being in her hand.

"I'd say to tell them I sent you, but..." the Demon Queen yells with an almost manic amusement in her tone as the whip streaks along the barren wall of the building toward Mint, leaving a gaping, molten green and black wound in the plaster before snapping toward the Marine from several yards away, "...they'll know~ <3"

COMBATSYS: Mint blocks Lyraelle's Imperious Scourge.

[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////    ]
Mint             0/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0         Lyraelle

[MINT]
Mint frowns as her assaults are brushed off like a cat swatting at a ball of yarn -- albeit with a bit more of a metallic clang! The Marine's done enough homework on the demonette to determine she's the underdog in this match-up -- even =before= seeing the demonic wings unfurl -- but -knowing- it and -experiencing- it are two completely different beasts. Gritting her teeth, she hops back once she sees the writing on the wall, keeping her knuckles raised above shoulder height to ward off a potential counterattack.

But even still, she's... a bit unfazed by the talk-up she gets in trade. "So wait, you're sayin' you got -better- burns in the back room? I'll believe that when I see it, sistah!" She even snorts as Lyraelle offers Mint yet -another- job offering. The pint-sized pugilist hesitates to fire off another volley of sass-talk, though, once her eyes focus on the lash of emerald flame. Gritting her teeth, Mint senses the incoming attack, diving to her right in a fierce combat roll!

Though, a moment later, she realizes that the attack went wide -- and raises her left fist to ward off the whip lash! The veridian flail winds its way around, charring another coil of scorch marks into the body of the prosthetic weapon -- forcing Mint to duck to keep from getting clobbered in the head! She hisses, vectoring her gauntlet to the side with a sudden burst of bleed air to free herself from the serpentine tendril!

"... Wow, like, seriously?" comes her belated response to the new job offer. "Control freak much?" Her fists ball up in front of her -- though the burst of jet thrust that blasts down past her feet is the key stroke here. In part thrust, in part bound, she sails upwards, crying out, "Yer burnin' yourself each time you open y'damn mouth!"

But then the punchy Marine aims her knuckles down at the demonette! Gravity does some of the work here -- but a stereo "K-CHAK!" of pneumatic pistons firing does the rest, slamming the knuckles down onto Lyraelle's shoulders! "OORAAAAH!"

COMBATSYS: Mint successfully hits Lyraelle with BFH.

[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////          ]
Mint             1/-------/=======|=======\=------\1         Lyraelle

[LYRAELLE]
"Well, I do love control," the Demon Queen coos in sultry tones as she snuffs out her whip. "More of an opportunist, though -"

As she's in the midst of her retort to Mint's repartee, the demoness finds herself forced to cut short her quip by the imminent descent of Mint and her mighty metal mitts! The demonette would dodge quickly out of the way - but as her wings wrench her to one side, her stiletto heel catches in the unfinished wooden underflooring beneath her... and a moment later, the succubus is smashed straight through it, shattering the rotting board into splinters!

"URRGGGHH!"

Moments later Lyraelle emerges, spiralling skyward as a corona of green flame erupts around her, incinerating the wooden shards still clinging to the infernal maiden and leaving the cinders to float to the earth like so many falling fireflies. There's a subtle shift in the demonette's expression as she rubs her rapidly bruising shoulders - one that looks, strangely, more amused than angry.

"WOW! I can tell that you and I are gonna get along like a house on fire!" the succubus calls down with a little too much cheer as she tugs the elbow ends of each of her long gloves and flexes her fingers - all while the building has begun to burn below, courtesy of both infernal and jet-fuelled flames.

"You know, I can see why Tairyu and me never really hit it off -" Lyraelle says as she turns in the air, looking down over her shoulder as she presents her poorly-concealed posterior to the Marine - "- obviously, he's intimidated by a real woman!"

A light flap of the leathery purple wings lifts Lyraelle slightly skyward - before a powerful reverse thrust sends her flying backward down toward Minal, attempting to collide ass-first with the Marine! Should she succeed, she'd aim to knock Mint right off her feet and plow her through multiple walls of hung plaster before landing on top of her - and should she manage to establish that dominant position, concealed by the cloud of drywall dust, her tail would slither around the Marine's upper arm, intent on slyly siphoning the servicewoman's essence!

COMBATSYS: Lyraelle issues a challenge!!

[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////          ]
Mint             1/-------/=======|=======\=------\1         Lyraelle

COMBATSYS: Mint fails to interrupt Royal Requisition - Dark Queen's Throne from Lyraelle with Attack of Opportunity EX.
- Power fail! -

[                    \\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////          ]
Mint             1/-======/=======|=------\-------\0         Lyraelle

COMBATSYS: Mint blitzes into action and acts again!

[                    \\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////          ]
Mint             1/-======/=======|=------\-------\0         Lyraelle

[MINT]
Mint bounces back from the recoil of her twin gauntlets, landing on a board -near- the one that Lyraelle's inadvertent fall decimates into matchsticks. Hopping back to regain her balance, the pint-sized pugilist raises her fists in a defensive stance, scrambling sideways to keep her close proximity without making it -too- easy for a rising Lyraelle to lash out and swipe her.

But when Lyraelle is overly cheerful in likening their relationship to a house on fire...?
Mint barks out a coarse laugh. "Ahaha! Naaaaah, this is =fine!=" she shouts back, as the barely half-complete building erupts in flames around her. There's worse places she could be!

Minal scrapes the back of her gauntlet across her nose with a smug grin, still awash in the glow of landing a solid hit on the tricksy demonette. Though, when Lyraelle twirls around, Mint is caught off guard by the idea that Lyraelle is just... turning her back to her. And she just shrugs off the comment, taking it as a compliment. "Aww, thanks! Maybe you're not such a b--" She's cut off by the sudden movement above her, and the urgent need to react. Her right gauntlet's engine flares, and the knuckles plunge forward -- though the strike is wild and chaotic, and wholly misses its mark!

Which means Mint gets -way- more of Lyraelle than she'd bargained for -- plowed through not one, two, but -six- different walls of plaster before finally coming to something resembling a stop.

It is tough to tell, however, from the choking cloud of plaster dust surrounding the two fighters. Mint isn't sure which is more disgusting, the suffocating dust cloud, or the realization of how Lyraelle just -hit- her...

All she knows is that this is -no longer fine-, as she lacks the leverage to pry Lyraelle off of her! That'd stop most people... as would the tail twining itself around her upper arm, drawing away at her life force...!

But then she coughs. "Attack pattern: KALI!"

And all of a sudden, two voids open up in the dust cloud, blasted clean by the exhaust of her two jet turbines! Lyraelle might be able to stay in place -- but if she does, she's gonna fall prey to the KNUCKs' autonomous mode: the KNUCKs detaching from Mint's arms and assaulting her from both sides, flying into her repeatedly according to preprogrammed thrust patterns!

COMBATSYS: Lyraelle endures Mint's Hook Punch.

[                    \\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////              ]
Mint             2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\-------\0         Lyraelle

[LYRAELLE]
With her position established, her opponent pinned beneath her, the pink-haired starlet preens proudly in preparation for the resumption of recordable visibility, the bruised flesh along her shoulders beginning to mend by borrowed energy.

"Oh, but I really am," she remarks to Mint in the privacy of the plaster-filled cloud, somehow managing a wink where her eyes ought to be tearing. Maybe it's a succubus thing. She even pulls out a miniature tripod webcam and slaps it down on the ground in front of her, just in case the Neo-League's cameras don't adequately capture her glory.

"It's nothing personal, though - it's for the f-"

The curve of Lyraelle's lips inverts at the corners as Mint resumes her assault immediately - the sound of the turbines firing up putting a frown on her face.

"Hey, now!"

The roguish royal refuses to relinquish her recently requisitioned position in fear of ruining the shot that should follow - which winds up looking like the Demon Queen is being tormented by two very large, very angry rocket-powered bees. She cries out as the KNUCKS pound against her flesh in their pre-programmed patterns, body twisting to and fro as she attempts to hold her metaphorical ground.

At least the #doublefisting tag is likely to garner some trending action on Hitter, even if that one's a bit overused on the platform.

"That... is... so... CHEATING!" the celebrity succubus seethes - before suddenly squeezing her legs tight together, attempting to capture Minal and bring the Marine with her as she rolls herself violently to the side and into the next room, hopefully freeing herself from any further prescripted pummeling.

"But if you insist on playing rough...!!"

Giving up the grip of her tail that's now proven relatively useless in disarming her opponent in any sense other than literal, Lyraelle turns around, attempting to pin the Marine's arms to either side in order to brace herself as she rears back - then attempts to slam her horned head into Mint's face to stun her!

"Remember - the safeword is 'I surrender!'"

She would then proceed to turn herself back around, planting her posterior on Mint's chest to pin her as her tail would slither into an even more sinister position - attempting to curl around her neck and cut off her oxygen supply while draining her vital energy directly from the seat* of it!

* No pun intended.

COMBATSYS: Lyraelle successfully hits Mint with Royal Prerogative - Covetous Clutch.
~~ Alluring Hit! ~~

[                                < >  ///////////////////           ]
Mint             1/---<<<</<<<<<<<|-------\-------\0         Lyraelle

[MINT]
While Lyraelle is delivering answers, the trapped Minal is coughing up blood, and trying not to choke on it. It's all she can manage to just keep from passing out from the numerous cuts and contusions -- like it or not, getting rammed through six layers of gypsum can cause a hell of a lot of ouchies!

But as those legs pinch tightly around Minal, she feels the need for some more control in her life -- and she barks out, "Recall!" with a raspy, plaster-caked voice. Dutifully, the KNUCKs respond to their command, thrust vectoring back to her arms and locking themselves back into place... one instant -before- Mint finds herself violently ripped out of place and whirled around into the next room.

The chance of her actually breaking free from that hold is laughably small -- Lyraelle has the Marine completely at her mercy. Her only window of opportunity is that moment where Lyraelle is switching positions to face her again -- and even -that- is cut off, when the celebrity succubus plants her hands down onto her shoulders!

"That's a -bullshit- safeword..." she mutters under her breath -- right before Lyraelle =rams= her head right into Mint's face.

There is a definite -crunching- sound taking place, as Mint's head slams backwards. And there is no mistaking the trail of blood streaming from her nose.

No, it's -not- fine. Not one bit.

And as the tail begins to coil around her neck, a barely-conscious Mint glares back at Lyraelle. The Marine was all fun-and-games before. But with blackness crowding in on the edges of her vision, all she has to glare at -now- is Lyraelle's backside.

She doesn't have a witty comeback.

She just has a bionic left knee to slam upwards at Lyraelle. And if that manages to hit long enough for a stun, Mint's final act would be to fire her right arm at full throttle, slamming all her weight into one massive punch to regain what's left of her dignity.

Corporal Panesh -- Mint -- signing out!

COMBATSYS: Mint can no longer fight.

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Lyraelle         0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Lyraelle interrupts Lock and Load from Mint with Infernal Majesty.

[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Lyraelle         1/------=/=======|

[LYRAELLE]
The pink-haired hellion hears Mint's hushed remark, but her senses are preoccupied with the almost-intoxicating rush of stolen energy; she doesn't retort, but only grins.

"Ahh..."

Infernal essence wells up within her as she leans back, respiring deeply as she drains Mint's chi. She can sense the intent to attack, but rather than dislodge or interrupt her own feeding, she simply lets the hellish energy boil up - bending and arching and finally retaliating against the double-angled assault by boiling over with infernal heat, unleashing a wave of green flame in every direction!

"Haaaa~!"

The emerald flame engulfs the structural framework around her, igniting walls and ceiling as she cries out with devilish glee. At the same time, the metal fist slams into her lower back, knocking her loose from Mint's grip and down to the floor on all fours, shaking her out of her wicked bliss and causing her to pull a face.

"Ugh..."

Picking herself up, she rubs a hand at the base of her spine as she stretches and bends it.

"Stupid robot hands... nobody likes an overachiever!" the demon girl gripes as a pang of envy cuts through the mix of spiritual euphoria and tactile pain she's experiencing. She then turns her eyes toward the open doorway to safety as the building creaks above her, sighing contentedly, and starts to step forward - only to have her pointed ears prick at a cracking sound above. Her eyes are drawn to the source: a rafter burning above Minal, presently in the process of snapping as the pyroclasm claims it.

*KRAKK*

"Dammit."

A split second later, the succubus' hand shoots out, snatching the burning plank before it can fall on the Marine.

"Do-gooders may be delicious, but I hate the aftertaste."

Tossing the blazing wood to one side, the Demon Queen kneels down by the bloodied servicewoman.

* * * * *

Several seconds later, the victorious, villainous vixen emerges from the bonfire that's become of the construction site, carrying Mint in her arms and smiling for the cameras... all while silently considering what the best chaser for conscience is.

COMBATSYS: Lyraelle has ended the fight here.

Log created on 20:41:52 08/18/2021 by Mint, and last modified on 23:40:38 08/20/2021.