Match of the Millennium

Description: A showdown caught on camera high above the streets of Dubrovnik! The Mediterranean city is warmer than some destinations this time of year, but this could still be one of our most chilling battles on the cards! Tipped off to a supernatural terror haunting the Adriatic coast, our fearless huntress searches high and... well, mostly high for this insidious threat! But could it be that the footsteps on the red rooftops are of predator rather than prey?

[EDENLITH]
Rooftops time infinite. It's what it looks like. Cameras are there to show this fight live. No spectators are up there. An accident will have to happen before someone can see them fight live.

Then out of nowhere, Edenlith drops on the roof. She slams on it as if the drop was from high up. "I am not late, am I?" She looks around and dusts her schoolgirl outfit, not bothering to change for this fight. She keeps looking at the scenery, then actually puts someone down. It's a white cat. Someone will see the fight live after all. "Are we going to start this?"

[BULLETA]
An accident's only ever a heartbeat away.

Edenlith's alone after her landing, surrounded by unblinking eyes. The rooftops are seemingly endless, a field of sharp angles and precarious heights stretching towards the horizon; so too, then, are there seemingly endless shadows tucked under tiled angles, corners hidden just beyond infinite access doors...

Plenty of places for one set of eyes to lurk, fixed on the girl and her cat.

Waiting to see if tempers bubble with time wasted.

Measuring them.

Appraising.

All in all, it takes about six minutes for Edenlith to get an answer shaped like a tiny, blonde slip of a girl stumbling out from behind a high-slanted triangle, flailing until she manages to catch herself against the tiles, then collapsing back to catch her breath, eyes bouncing frantically for a beat before settling on Edenlith. And whether the girl's willing to buy it or not --

"S-sorry--! Sorry-- I got /lost/, and then I almost broke my /neck/, and..."

-- a light fixed to one of the cameras flips to green, signaling that it is, indeed, time to begin.

"... my name is B.B. Hood," she gasps after a deep breath, once her eyes pull away from that light and the lump in her throat goes down. She /starts/ to offer a handshake, but thinks better of it after

An accident's only ever a heartbeat away.

Edenlith's alone after her landing, surrounded by unblinking eyes. The rooftops are seemingly endless, a field of sharp angles and precarious heights stretching towards the horizon; so too, then, are there seemingly endless shadows tucked under tiled angles, corners hidden just beyond infinite access doors...

Plenty of places for one set of eyes to lurk, fixed on the girl and her cat.

Waiting to see if tempers bubble with time wasted.

Measuring them.

Appraising.

All in all, it takes about six minutes for Edenlith to get an answer shaped like a tiny, blonde slip of a girl stumbling out from behind a high-slanted triangle, flailing until she manages to catch herself against the tiles, then collapsing back to catch her breath, eyes bouncing frantically for a beat before settling on Edenlith. And whether the girl's willing to buy it or not --

"S-sorry--! Sorry-- I got /lost/, and then I almost broke my /neck/, and..."

-- a light fixed to one of the cameras flips to green, signaling that it is, indeed, time to begin.

"... my name is B.B. Hood," she gasps after a deep breath, once her eyes pull away from that light and the lump in her throat goes down. She /starts/ to offer a handshake, but thinks better of it after experiencing a couple seconds of life /without/ having both hands on something sturdy.

"G-good luck--!"

COMBATSYS: Bulleta has started a fight here.

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

COMBATSYS: Edenlith has joined the fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Bulleta          0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0         Edenlith

[EDENLITH]
6 whole minutes. Edenlith is not really moving during that time. Her eyes are observing, but that's about it. The cat however fidgets around, but does not say anything.

When the girl arrives, Edenlith raises an eyebrow. Why do people want to tell her their life story. She doesn't really care what happened to... The light turns green, and she gets her Karambit knives from the holsters under her skirt, into her hands. She was not planning on answering the girl, until Storm, the cat speaks up. "That's the girl Nena fought in that tournament, I am pretty sure." Edenlith ponders for a second, cocking her head, before finally saying. "HI! Edenlith, protector of Rafferty and Nena. Former needs it, latter does not." It doesn't seem to be accurate, but it's what she says. When the hand starts to come toward her, she backs up. "I don't need luck, so you can have it."

The cat shakes its head. "Yea, Edenlith is back to normal." he says, mumbling to himself.

Then it was time so start. Eden was tired of waiting. She had someone to beat up. She gets in front of her opponent, throws her knives in the air. While they are in the air, she tries to sweeps the girl's feet from under her. If that works and she ends up on the ground, she grabs her legs, pulling her so the knives fall into her chests.

COMBATSYS: Bulleta blocks Edenlith's Here let me help you.

[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Bulleta          0/-------/-======|=------\-------\0         Edenlith

[BULLETA]
"ah, shit--" rumbles under the blonde's breath as Edenlith finishes introducing herself.

The girl with the cat knows the robot schoolgirl, which makes -- /this/ --
%shy, unassuming softness

-- an elaborate waste of time, beyond its base incongruity. For better or worse, Bulleta's afforded very little time to think-- to /adjust/, before her back's slamming against the ground and the air's fleeing her lungs. Edenlith does not see fit to allow her opponent any breathing room before grabbing her by the ankles and /yanking/, bouncing her spine off of tiles again, and again, until--

"Why's there a robot," curls from the blonde's lips, low and thick like cigar smoke, "going to Pacific High...?"

The knives jut from either hand, blades captured between impossibly nimble fingers just inches from the smaller girl's chest.

"You being her 'guardian', and all-- whatever /that/ means."

Two quick wrist-flicks accompany an arching brow and spreading smirk, sending the knives right back into the air. Just about simultaneously, Bulleta jerks away, breaking Edenlith's grasp with a brisk backwards roll that ends with her planting both hands on a rooftop's spine, then flipping over it for a beat of makeshift cover. As soon as her shoulder hits the architecture, one of her hands slips into the wide pocket adorning the front of her red hoodie. One soft *beep!* from the shadows later--

*thoomp!*

-- and the blonde's sprinting, then /diving/ towards an alcove tucked beneath slanting tiles while smoke and fire streak from those same shadows courtesy of the rocket racing--

-- /spiraling/--

-- after Edenlith.

COMBATSYS: Bulleta successfully hits Edenlith with Smiling Missile.
- Power hit! -

[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////       ]
Bulleta          1/------=/=======|======-\-------\0         Edenlith

[EDENLITH]
The first part of Edenlith's move working at least, as the girl falls to the ground, and speaking of Nena's place at the school. "Are you a racist?" Edenlith inquires from the girl, but she smirks, not really taking it seriously. As she asks that, she sees the other girl catch her knives. She even gives a slight nod for it.

The girl then gets rid of the knives, by sending them back to sender, so to speak, as they soar in the air. It wasn't hard to get away from Edenlith after that, as she wanted them back. She does hear the beep, but she catches her knives first, before making a move to get out of the way. It's a bad call as it explodes on her, sending soaring in the air, before hitting the ground hard.

Althought Edenlith felt that, her clothes seems to be more damages than she is. Blackened and destroyed at some places.

She gets back up. The fight fortunately or unfortunately, depending on which side you're on, not done yet. Her eyes glows adeep red. She attempts to attack the girl's mind as she makes an illusion, of the ground opening up under her, sending her to hell, and making her burn. Once the illusion is done, Bulleta's body would have no actual burnt damage.

Mean while, since the explosion on Edenlith, Storm has been hiding away, and only peeking out a little bit.

COMBATSYS: Edenlith successfully hits Bulleta with A hell of a time.
Glancing Blow

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Bulleta          1/------=/=======|=======\-------\0         Edenlith

[BULLETA]
"She's a fucking /combat android/," Bulleta spat right back while performing evasive maneuvers. Efficient Huntress that she is, the eyerolling was entirely contained in her tone.

Whatever greater point that might've pertained to -- if indeed there /was/ a greater point -- goes unexplored after Bulleta sinks into the shadows, the blonde intent on skulking through cover to find a new angle of attack. Just as she leaps from one roof to land behind the lip of the next, however, the ground below -- already dangerously distant -- /races/ ever further away, shrinking into black and gray and red nothing in the blink of an eye, and receding further /still/. Down, down, down into burning darkness--

Down where the dead go, if the dead are masochists--

Down, until there's nowhere else to go.

Several seconds of screaming later, when the blonde /slams/ into an access door and only /just/ manages to brace herself with her hands rather than break her nose, her voice cuts out for a frantic second spent looking-- just /checking/ herself over, making sure--

-- breathing-- reminding herself of what's real:

A gently dented door;

a freshly recovered sand-toned satchel slamming heavily against her hip;

and the fire still seething behind her eyes, threatening to flood her senses before a deep breath reins it in. Before that breath even hits the air, Bulleta's a blood-red streak spinning from one roof to the next like a crimson buzzsaw. The Cracks shoot through the tiles beneath her feet upon a landing that leaves her abruptly, eerily still just inches from Edenlith save for her arms, which are drawn up and back...

... and the sand-tones whirling in her grasp, howling through the air with each spin of their terrible weight. That beat of stillness ends a dozen revolutions later with the satchel screaming for the top of Edenlith's head like a functional, pocket-covered sledgehammer on a strap.

COMBATSYS: Bulleta successfully hits Edenlith with Shyness & Strike.
~ Cruel hit! ~

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Bulleta          1/---====/=======|=======\===----\1         Edenlith

[EDENLITH]
Edenlith had no answer about Nena being a combat android. She was. Yet, she also was much more. She didn't care for many, yet, Rafferty and Nena were two of those she cared for. "And we're bitches. What's your point?"

After that, her illusion works, and she enjoys it. Bulleta is a dangerous opponent, makes her own blood boil with fun. Of course, such an illusion would not end the fight either, the girl was not one of the little players.

Strangely Bulleta is close to her when is all said and done as if destiny would guide her, so she would be able to do her next attack. She can see the satchel spinning quite fast. When the satchel comes for the top of her head, Edenlith brings her arms up. The problem is, the satchel goes right through and finds its marks. Edenlith's head. It makes a nasty cracking sound, which makes Storm flinch. Edenlith however does not flinch at first, like the hit doesn't phase. A couple of seconds later, however, she falls on her ass, and red can be seen peeking through her dark blue hair.

It could have been it, the fight, ending right there, but with a groan, Edenlith gets back up. With the knife in her right hand, she feints toward the girl's neck, only to come at her stomach with the left. While she does that, she does not voice the pain she just felt, but her eyes display it enough.

Storm for his part isn't even peeking anymore.

COMBATSYS: Edenlith successfully hits Bulleta with Random Strike.

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Bulleta          1/---====/=======|=======\====---\1         Edenlith

[BULLETA]
By the same token, Bulleta's eyes --

vivid, arctic blue alight with excitement

-- snap wide open for a shuddering, breath-stealing beat. The feint was spotted for what it was, earning a dismissive sneer, and as for the other knife?

The other knife gets an achingly slow exhalation cut with tremors. It gets pale hands gripping a hide strap until there isn't a drop of blood left in their knuckles. It gets shuddering shoulders hunching forward.

It gets past expertly woven armor, a few inches deep.

It gets a flare of blue-flame indignation muted only by narrowing lids,

because the one thing it /will not/ get is satisfaction, as long as it's up to Bulleta.

"/I'm/ the bitch," hisses through clenched teeth, "that wants to know who's got enough of a hard-on for Pacific High -- or a big enough hole in their security -- that there's a fuckin' combat android in the student body."

Also -- while she doesn't advertise it -- Bulleta's the bitch with a box cutter cutting a silvered arc towards Edenlith's gut, intent on extracting vengeance in a flash of violence while she's already inside the girl's guard.

COMBATSYS: Edenlith dodges Bulleta's Crushing Strike.

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////               ]
Bulleta          1/---====/=======|=======\=====--\1         Edenlith

[EDENLITH]
The strike works. it doesn't cause any lethal damage and probably no great pain, but it does its purpose all the same. "You're getting slow there."

Then we are back to Nena, being in a school. Was she in love with her? An obsession. But Edenlith could go with that. "I got her there! I got her there for you. It was all planned. I knew like this you two would meet, and you would lose to her. Because that's what you do best." She gives a wink at that, playing. Wanting to hurt, wanting to damage the girl, wanting to feel some damage too. To be fair, she already got some good damage. Nothing her body wouldn't heal, but it was fun. She was alive, in Eden's body. HER BODY!"

It looked like she had no idea of the box cutter coming for her cuts, but at the last second, she jumps out of the way, out of her grasp. "Not this time!"

Then she goes back on the offensive. She toward the girl, and then around her. As she does, she makes illusions of herself, which also runs around the opponent. The real Edenlith and the illusions slice with their karambit knives at different moments, toward different areas. Hers if hitting, doing real damage, the others, giving mental pains if it hits.

COMBATSYS: Bulleta full-parries Edenlith's I am here, here, here and here!!

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Bulleta          2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\======-\1         Edenlith

[BULLETA]
/Now/ Edenlith gets a full eyeroll, joined by an exasperated, "Christ, /really/--" The wink prompts a brief pinch, Bulleta's fingers slipping from the bridge of her nose in time with her strike--

-- at nothing.

"god, fuck /this/."

Grumbling flows into air racing to fill Bulleta's lungs as Edenlith rapidly renders herself a haze of knives and frustration. Her eyes lid 'til the other girl fills the entirety of the Huntress' vision-- until there's no room for anything /but/ Edenlith and her dangerous steel.

Until her entire world is karambit knives meeting an improbably hard, improbably /heavy/ satchel and a rather more mundane - if wickedly sharp - box cutter at a dozen different angles while she spins on a desperate axis. Somewhere amidst flashing metal and increasingly swift revolutions, the Huntress is suddenly engulfed in a flutter of red fabric; a split-second afterwards, one of Edenlith's strikes hits home. The schoolgirl's knife sinks in up to the hilt, fatally buried in a the stomach of a plush doll with blonde hair peeking out from a red hoodie--

"And you wanna call me /racist/," she remarks,

*beep!*

shifting the satchel on her shoulder just a couple feet beyond the perimeter of Eden's kill zone.

*beep!*

It isn't quite righteous indignation that animates

*beep!*

the thinning line of her lips

*beep!*

and the wrinkles settling

*beep!*

into her brow, so much as annoyance -- as if it's

*beep!*

her professional sensibilities

*beep!*

that are offended more than anything else.

*beep!*

With the satchel firmly gripped in front of her body, she pulls it up slightly, just in time--

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

-- for the land mine she left in her place to detonate.

COMBATSYS: Bulleta successfully hits Edenlith with Malice & Mine EX.

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Bulleta          2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2         Edenlith

[EDENLITH]
Edenlith just says one thing. "Language, young girl." Then the attack happens, and Bulleta is really doing a number on this, especially when the blade goes in, and it's not her. Edenlith is not frustrated, she simply wants to kill her properly. She wouldn't of course. Nobody paid her to kill her. In truth she's fun. Her thoughts are getting messy. Fuck her. Yeah, fuck her.

Then she watches Bulleta, what is she doing.

Beep.

What's that fucking...

Beep.

She doesn't click at all at the moment

Beep and more Beeps. It goes until Storm yells at her to look out, but it's too late, she doesn't jump in time. She goes flying again because today is hurt Edenlith day. Her reflexes are poor. She is laying on the ground further away, because of the explosion. Her body is damaged, that attack has to be too much. No one can get up from such a thing. Edenlith does. Something inhuman shows through her eyes. The body might be human, but what's inside is definitely not.

Again her eyes are glowing red, even redder than the previous time they glowed. The energy can be felt rising. Eden, this time with her illusion,if she has her way, makes the girl appear to be in a complete void. She makes her way back to her and she whispers to them once she is close enough “No one loves you. It’s time now.” She then slices and stabs several times all over their body repeatedly, letting out the anger that has been building inside her. But would it work? Bulleta has showed to be quite the opponent and things haven't been in Eden's favor so far. Either way, she does leave quite a bit of blood in her wake.

COMBATSYS: Bulleta dodges Edenlith's This is the end.

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Bulleta          2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|>>>>---\-------\0         Edenlith

[BULLETA]
No one could /possibly/ survive an explosion like that head-on, which is exactly why Bulleta's eyes stay set on the cloud of dust and smoke where Edenlith landed until the wind grants the Huntress another glimpse of the girl. Wild, bloody inhumanity meets its stone-cold opposite cast in deep blue.

The flash of pearl blooming between gradually curving lips gleams like a razor in moonlight.

As she slings the satchel over her shoulder, the magma coiling down Bulleta's spine slows to an arctic crawl while the world sinks into a void in which there can /be/ no warmth.

No light.

No love. No soul that sees her as more than a tool, a burden, a drug to lose themselves in. One moment's cruel analysis bleeds into the next's eye-widening tremor while Edenlith drives the breath from Bulleta's lungs with just a few weighted words. The hunting ground's a grave now, and--

-- and--

-- and its keeper's still trying to kill her--!

Another sharp gasp flies from Bulleta's lips as she pitches backwards and wicked claws clip a blonde lock peeking from her hood. As soon as she hits the ground, the Huntress scrambles right back up to her feet, clutching at her chest for a reflexive instant before forcing out another exhale and pulling herself upright. Once again, she fixes her gaze to the monster's, brilliant and seething.

One precariously stretched moment later, Bulleta erupts with screaming fury and charges across the roof, intent on driving the sole of her boot into Edenlith's chest with a forward thrust kick vicious enough to send shudders through stone.

COMBATSYS: Edenlith dodges Bulleta's Strong Kick.

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Bulleta          2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|>>>>>--\-------\0         Edenlith

[EDENLITH]
Bulleta brings respect to Edenlith's mind. She withstands so many things herself and makes it look quite easy. Like it hurts, yet it will never be enough because Bulleta is a machine from the future with real flesh over it and... no, that as a movie. Well, Bulleta still kicks ass and at the moment Edenlith also feels she might really lose this fight. But as long as this body could function, as long as this mind could make form a thought, she would fight.

These thoughts didn't think too long to come in and leave, but it was enough for Edenlith to realize Bulleta was on the offensive again, screaming and running toward her. 'She is fast' is the new thought that comes into Edenlith's mind, but this time she is slightly faster, even the damage the body has received. The foot would touch Edenlith, like for a fraction of a second, it would hit. It had to it, and that destructive force would surely end this fight. But after this initial beginning of contact, Edenlith is no longer in front of Bulleta, but at her back. It may look like teleportation, but traces of blood on the roof betrays she only moved really fast. Right now the fat lady could go screw herself. No singing.

Once in her back, if she has her way, she slams her knives into the lower part of said back. Then she stands on the handles to wrap her arms and legs around that incredible girl, to choke her.

COMBATSYS: Edenlith successfully hits Bulleta with Now I am here, Now I am not.
?!? Weird Hit! ?!?

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Bulleta          2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\-------\0         Edenlith

[BULLETA]
It may not /help/ that the brief moment she and Edenlith spend face to face readily reveals that while Bulleta's wounded, physically and otherwise...

... she's nearly as energized as she was when the fight began. Her eyes radiate shining, sapphire determination laced with raw, tireless /malice/ that flares ever so slightly as she feels her momentum race violently towards a stop. Just behind them, the next moments of the fight are already unfurling along a dozen different permutations for the Huntress to gauge and pursue.

Not one accounts for Edenlith being just a little bit faster in spite -- because of? -- the abuse she's already suffered.

Bulleta lurches forward with a swallowed scream and clenching jaw. Knees buckling, she dips more than low enough to make for an easy climb, even /without/ the deadly pitons jutting from her back. Blood creeps along those thirsty blades -- makes faint spatter around the rooftop when Edenlith climbs -- soaks into the fabric of Bulleta's red hoodie and eventually finds its way to the ground in slow, dense droplets. Those greedy limbs cinch around /far/ too much of her for comfort, squeezing the air from her lungs and life from her body even as small, pale fingers scratch, claw, and grab for purchase.

Eventually, the Huntress finds a seam between the other woman's arms as narrow as the knives embedded in her body. Persistent digits pry their way in by agonizing inches while the world once more threatens to sink into darkness. For better or worse, Edenlith gets her most direct evidence yet that maybe Bulleta's fixation on Nena's all just some weird future robot projection: as small as they are, there's a terrible and implacable strength behind them, like the blonde's forcing a well-moisturized jack beneath a particularly stubborn garage door.

And in turn, Bulleta learns that whatever's behind Edenlith is strong in its own right, enough to grind fanatically honed human machinery to a dangerous crawl. Each minute widening of the gap between forearms is a struggle -- not only of muscle against muscle, but willpower against mounting danger. The excitement of the moment pulses electricity through Bulleta's veins, but a decade of instincts keep her tethered to the unavoidable fact that her opportunities are collapsing by the moment.

Rather than drag the gridlock out longer than necessary, the Huntress struggles until there's half a foot or two of space before suddenly snaps herself downwards. Simultaneously, her hips shoot back while her shoulders crank forward, an impromptu attempt at setting up a physics demonstration that'll leave Edenlith flat on her back before the squatting Huntress.

Then comes the wicked blur of a box cutter whipping towards the girl and monster's throat while wide eyes alight with blue fire glower down at her.

COMBATSYS: Edenlith blocks Bulleta's Smile & Slice.

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Bulleta          2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\-------\0         Edenlith

[EDENLITH]
Edenlith's body keeps itself in shape enough to go on. She has seen worse, though she also had a lot of better times. Bulleta was no walk in the park, quite the opposite, and she had a lot of tricks in her bag. Good thing she still has some as well. She was happy this attack did work out as intended. She isn't really surprised when the girl doesn't down. It would have been nice of course, but all signs were already pointing it wouldn't be over.

Edenlith can't keep the hold forever, Bulleta is struggling, and slowly working her way out of the hold, until she slams down on the roof with a thud, that makes her let out the air in her lungs. But when the box cutter comes in a blurry of blows toward her throat, she blocks with her arms instead. It was not ideal, but it was better than her throat. it might be during that time girl would see Edenlith's body healing herself. Not enough to remove all the damages in mere seconds, but faster than a human would in a normal situation.

Once Edenlith survived the nasty cuts just given to her, she rolls out of the way and moves to remove the knives from the girls back. This move is not to hurt the girl or anything, though it's probably not pleasant to have the blade come back out the way they came in.She just wants her knives back. Then she prepares for her attack.

" You're kicking ass girl. You're getting my blood pumping." As she says that, one arm is going around's the girl's neck, as if to restrain her, at least that's the plan. Then aiming at the girl's stomach, not really caring what covers it, she attempts to force carve an 'E' in there, but would she get through the layers again?

COMBATSYS: Edenlith successfully hits Bulleta with Ding dong. Pay the consequence.
~ Cruel hit! ~

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Bulleta          2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\=------\1         Edenlith

[BULLETA]
Beyond just being observant, Bulleta is /very/ familiar with human and near-human anatomy. Blood coagulates before her eyes; muscle weaves together again; red margins shrink.

It's a problem.

Just like the fresh red mist that follows those knives being liberated.

Like the pendulum swinging between predator and the other thing.

And yet she finds a broad, red smile even as Edenlith's arm snakes around her throat.

"Better watch out," she exhales while digging her fingers into the crook of Edenlith's arm. The other girl's speed has been noted several times over, and with dwindling blood and oxygen supplies... trying to track and predict it is a waste of precious resources better pooled for pulling herself back from the edge of disaster. "You don't wanna get /obsessed/--"

The knife comes much sooner than expected, while the Huntress is still wrenching at Edenlith's arm.

"... do you?" she defiantly taunts, a step lower as each word's dragged past the lethal steel digging into her body and thus falls ragged and bloody. Her knees buckle and she sinks towards them; her nostrils flare wildly with each labored breath. Her fingers do not budge until she hits the ground. Until she shuts her eyes for a beat and /twists/ in Edenlith's grasp to send herself tumbling free, left to gather herself painfully from the ground and sag heavily once she does.

Rather than give the red-eyed girl the heartbeat she needs to reach her again, Bulleta follows a lead sigh with a brisk hop backwards--

-- and screaming, smiling fire rocketing from the undercarriage of what turns out to be a combination satchel / rocket launcher. Hydraulic pistons keep the metal-clad maw hidden in the bottom of the unit open just long enough to finish channeling blowback through its rear, then draws it shut and seals it seamlessly out of sight once more, reducing the unit's profile dramatically by comparison. Explosive recoil turns a small hop into a rolling, backwards arc that eventually leaves her crouched and panting near the edge of the roof.

COMBATSYS: Bulleta successfully hits Edenlith with Happy Missile.
Glancing Blow
COMBATSYS: Edenlith refuses to stay down!

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Bulleta          2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\==-----\1         Edenlith

[EDENLITH]
"If I become obsessed with you, then I will just have to kill you." She may say it like it would be an easy thing to do, but this fight proves it would be anything but. Of course, it wouldn't be a fight like this. She would observe her, and make up a plan to strike at the best time, a killing blow. But this was not a contract, and she didn't need to die, at least not today.

Again, thoughts like that are in her head as she manages this attack. She wasn't completely powerless. Neither were against the other

Everything has an ending, and this attack is when Bulleta manages to get free. Edenlith has to give it o her, she did not panic. A lot of people would, and just struggle helplessly. Not Bulleta though.

She also doesn't really rest, she pushes her own attack forward. She was fast too, only an idiot would think she was no threat at all. In fact, whether because her opponent is too fast, or because her body didn't move quite as she wished... She doesn't get out of the way, and again gets hit by everything, sent her way. Explosions send her in the air, burning her body before she falls back on another part of the roof hard. She's not moving, some bones are exposed. Some parts of the skin hanging by a threat. Another strong and nasty attack taking its toll on Edenlith. She must be done for. One doesn't get up from something as strong as that...

After a short moment, however, Edenlith pushes herself up slowly. "Is that all you got?" She says that, but she really looks like she can't take much more. She is a mess. "Come on, hit me again." She gets back on her feet. "HIT ME AGAIN!" And with that, she makes uses her left hand, well at least two fingers, as at the moment, the other two are too messy, and motions for her to just bring it. After that she does not attack, she waits.

COMBATSYS: Edenlith takes no action.

[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////                       ]
Bulleta          2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\===----\1         Edenlith

[BULLETA]
"Like I said," curls from the Huntress' lips, low and laden with calculated menace as she staggers towards Edenlith's charred, smoking body.

"You /don't/ wanna get obsessed."

As the satchel falls back into place at her side and sways heavily, Bulleta presses her palm over the angry red letter bleeding through her tactical hoodie with a deeply set frown. Like diabolical clockwork, those eyes scan from bared bones to pulverized fingers and everything in between, taking in each point of ruin to saturate the blonde's brain with valuable data in advance of next time. After all, Edenlith isn't /dead/: nothing as tenacious, as addicted to violence as she is would ever let a little thing like a direct hit from an RPG stop the screaming red show.

So there /will/ be a next time, whether in a day, a week, a month, a year...

... a minute...

For a breathless moment, Bulleta plants her feet while her eyes narrow critically on Edenlith's, waiting--

-- waiting--

-- waiting...

... until she can let her lids sink and release a long, indulgent sigh of reli--

"/Fuck/--!"

The Huntress promptly snaps upright like a bent reed, clutches at her stomach, and tries not to grimace. Sapphire eyes rove towards two good fingers, narrowing for a moment. Thanks to her uncle from across the pond, Bulleta then responds in kind with her index and middle finger arched forward in a crude salute paired with a bloody sneer.

And then, compelled by a lifetime of violence and tenacity to walk directly into danger with her head held high, she resumes dragging herself towards the defiant Edenlith. An uneven trail of red splotches follows her across the rooftop, and even though she knows she's being /watched/ by hostile eyes, her hand doesn't stir from nursing the wounds still burning in her stomach. With her hood askew from kinetic shockwaves and rough landings, blonde locks sway free and haphazard, framing and cloaking her razor-edged smile in equally brief measure.

"You're making it real hard to stay mad at you, y'know," follows her spitting out a mouthful of copper, dark and billowing with the carefree indolence of a girl with all the time in the world. It's part of the show; the show is important. When times are hard, it's something lose oneself in; when life is painful, it's a window into another world.

When blood's oozing towards pale knuckles and every breath is a chore, it's nice to spend a little time in someone else's shoes. The show is life or death; the world /is/ a stage, after all.

"Maybe we just call it a draw and try again next time," she suggests, quieter now that she's stopped -- /exactly/ -- within Edenlith's reach. /Just/ close enough that, when she stops her brisk dig through the satchel's main compartment, she can offer her fellow murderous girl a gift. Something red,

round,

and polished to a perfect, lively shine.

An apple just this side of Platonic, fat and heavy with natural sugars. Solid and dense with just a /hint/ of give-- just enough to signal that it's ripe.

That it's ready.

That it's /real/.

That it won't explode, once Bulleta's finished inching glacially from Edenlith.

"/Obviously," she states, "there's /gonna/ be a next time."

COMBATSYS: Bulleta successfully hits Edenlith with Apple For You.
- Power hit! -

[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  < >                                ]
Bulleta          1/-------/<<<<<<<|=======\===----\1         Edenlith

[EDENLITH]
"Surprise." She says with a messed-up smirk. She loves this, it's apparent, even with all the pain and damage she got from this. "You're one hell of a bitch. One day I might get a contract on you." She keeps the smirk, and she watches the girl come closer. What will she do. She did not know what was on the girl's mind, only her own.

"One day I will give you a reason to be mad at me, really mad at me, and wonder why you ever had to cross my path. Maybe I will just hug you real tight, like a sister." It probably didn't make much sense, but it did to Eden. "A draw? Just finish me off already, you got this!" She now answers the much closer girl.

She finally notices, she has an apple. It doesn't even look dangerous. But damn when the attack does happen, it rocks her world, with the force of the attack. The damage, oh the damage... But she is upright and tries to plant a knife in the girl's chest with a quick strike. Because she always goes to the end of things. Whether she hits or not, after that she crumbles to the ground, out. It seems it is truly the end now.

COMBATSYS: Edenlith has reached second wind!

[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////                         ]
Bulleta          1/-------/<<<<<<<|=======\=====--\1         Edenlith

But again, she stands back up. "You hurt bitch, you really hurt." She looks the worse for wear, but she's back up, standing on her own two feet

COMBATSYS: Edenlith successfully hits Bulleta with Quick Strike.

[                       \\\\\\\  < >  /////                         ]
Bulleta          1/-------/<<<<<<<|=======\=====--\1         Edenlith

[BULLETA]
A shiver rolls painfully through the Huntress. All of this --

Fighting and hugging; loving and hating

-- is starting to get a little too familiar. That she can barely stand upright certainly doesn't /help/.

"Thinking about long-term plans already...?" ripples through low, labored laughter that eventually settles into a taut grin. "Love it. /Some/ notes; we'll get to them later."

The promise is sealed with thunder and a column of fire. Even bloodied and battered, she can't help but poke the whatever the fuck Edenlith is.

"When we're /done/."

The confident curl of her lip's arrested by a glimpse of motion through thinning smoke. A beat later, it curdles:

"Goddamnit," she hisses at her own arrogance more than anything else at this point. Going from zero to sixty's an important Hunting skill, so transitioning from cautiously blooming relief to alarm is a matter of instinct, smooth as ivory.

Translating that alarm into rapid motion is another thing entirely when she's bleeding out, though. She's swaying backwards when the knife punches through red woven armour, and the added weight of a girl who refuses to stop drives her right to the ground. In turn, the knife digs several inches deeper than it otherwise might've, drawing blood and provoking a few moments of wild thrashing once she's down, 'till instincts kick in once more. She forces herself still; draws a trembling breath through her nose and pushes it out through her mouth. Groaning, she rolls towards her side, curling slightly and wrapping her hands tightly around the knife. She reminds herself to breathe; shuts out everything but the air wavering in and out, blowing her gradually back to the center.

-- dares a quick look over her shoulder, just in time to receive another compliment.

"God/damnit/-- nnh-- hhhnngh--!"

A thin, red jet stains the rooftop after a single reckless /pull/. One tortured breath later, Bulleta's rolling towards a three point stance from which to dart--

-- stumble, blood-caked blade first, towards Edenlith when her legs suddenly give out. In her haste to try and catch herself, she jerks the knife in an arc that threatens to cut a wicked gash down a stretch of the other woman before Bulleta hits the ground.

COMBATSYS: Edenlith dodges Bulleta's Stumble & Blade.

[                        \\\\\\  < >  /////                         ]
Bulleta          1/-------/=======|=======\======-\1         Edenlith

[EDENLITH]
"Don't worry, you need to be pushed to your limits if you want to get better." She breathes deeply as she says that. Did she actually mean Bulleta is not good enough? "But you got heart, I give you that." Surprised how much the girl can take. Even as this attack succeed, she comes back at her. She doesn't realize the pool of blood now at her feed. Her regenerative abilities holding her out for now. Enough so that when Bulleta does her attack, and makes it unpredictable, even if by accident, she is able to move out of the way. Yet not enough for what's left of the blouse, to be cut off of her. Her breasts almost none existent usually, are even less so, because of the damage. One thing is for sure, Edenlith is not at top.

She is getting ready for her own attack though. She concentrates again, her eyes for the third time glowing red, bloody red. If it succeeds, she sends horror images to Bulleta, horrors that means something to her, and then tries to jump on her to stab her several time. It seems this time she wanted to end this. Would it work at all?

COMBATSYS: Edenlith successfully hits Bulleta with It's already too late.

[                                < >  /////                         ]
Bulleta          1/-------/=======|=======\-------\1         Edenlith

[BULLETA]
There's a myth about Bulleta's profession that's perpetuated by bad books and worse movies:

In the stone-cold confines of reality, no Monster Hunter worth her salt would ever claim to be fearless. The ones who /do/ -- who endeavour to meet every terror lurking in the night with bravado and puffed chests -- tend to wind up cautionary tales sooner rather than later. Fear's just another tool in the prepared Hunter's arsenal;

Like pain igniting the nervous system, keeping her focused on danger;

Like anger compelling her to fight in spite of the flames;

Like tears creeping down trembling cheeks, mingling with sweat as the memory of reaching her hand into Granny's stomach stains her psyche sticky, seething red.

Properly managed and accounted for, fear is a key ingredient in keeping one's ass out of trouble-- and, every now and again, digging one's ass /out/ of it. Fight and Flight are important skills on the Hunt; what better way to augment them?

Still, though: the visions oozing across her mind are enough to drive her to her hands and knees all on their own... and then Edenlith descends, tearing into her with knives like great, big teeth and wicked claws dripping with Granny's blood. It's all Bulleta can do to stay the course in digging through the satchel, gradually slowing as panic's tempered by blood loss-- and by the time she manages to haul a midnight-black Uzi out and point it in Edenlith's general direction, it's shaking in both of her hands.

Not that this /stops/ her from pulling the trigger and unleashing a wild burst of lead which only lasts for a couple seconds before she collapses.

Even though she isn't moving, her mind's still /racing/-- still shot through with blood, even once the visions have subsided.

COMBATSYS: Bulleta can no longer fight.

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

COMBATSYS: Edenlith dodges Bulleta's Power Strike.

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

[EDENLITH]
For a brief moment, because of the damage she received, an illusion drops. The illusion about the girl still being there. There is no one else in there. There is the girl's body and the demon soul owning it. Oh, there was a girl once in there, but no longer. Truth be told, Edenlith doesn't keep the illusion up because she needs to hide. She keeps the illusion up because she misses the girl that was in there with her. That's a story for another time.

She drives the blade through. Things are working for her at the moment. She's happy about this fight. She's happy with Bulleta. She's hurting like hell, and in a way it's great. She is surprised when the girl can bring a uzi out of her satching and even pull the trigger to fire. Edenlith pushes herself too much. Dodging what would be the final assault. Her speed, barely able to move limbs out of the way, sending trails of blood all around as she does so. SHe is tired very tired.

When she is done dodging, she falls to the ground fully. She did not get back the knife she used on Bulleta for the last attack, it is still inside her. She seens the girl is now out, finally. One part of her was surprised to be winning this, barely even.

"Bulleta, you've been great, you better give it back to me later. Storm, I am getting down, meet me there.

With that said, she crawls to the edge of the roof, gives one last look to Bulleta

"Bitch we will meet again, because you deserve to have a chance at a revenge match."

After staying that, she ungracefully and unceremoniously drops herself from the roof, presumably crashing to the ground below. Storm looks a Bulleta and before leaving the roof too, yet not the same way, he says. "If Eden doesn't send help, I will. Don't die ok?" Then he leaves, still scared of the bad ass monster hunter who gave Edenlith, a taste of death, or close.

Log created on 17:01:02 12/26/2021 by Bulleta, and last modified on 04:30:03 01/07/2022.