Match of the Millennium

Description: Gregory Holloway splits up with his ally of convenience, Velvet Blue, to deal with the darkstalker riot while said ally handles another problem. Will the assassin be overwhelmed by the numbers or will he manage to hold down the fort?

[PRINGER X]
(CONTINUED FROM THE IMPACT TO THE OPPRESSED PT 1)

Outside the JANUS facility, the situation has only escalated. The fragile unity of the crowd of protesting darkstalkers and darkstalker supporters has been shattered by the outbreak of violence amongst the raging titans - men and women of varied forms, some bestial in aspect, others more difficult to place in the usual accepted categories of monster.

Each of them, however, as Gregory is aware, is infested with some sort of supernatural parasite - which appears to be what is driving the creatures to frenzy. As a security van rolls up along the failing perimeter to deploy reinforcements, a pair of massive giants rushes it from the crowd, combining their strength to topple it onto its side and trap the occupants within the vehicle.

Even some of the more peaceable-seeming protestors are at risk of getting swept up in the violence as the facility's security engage with the monsters - but the primary threat is clear. Without the infested ringleaders, one can only hope that de-escalation would be imminent...

[GREGORY]
As the assassin steps out of his portal, he takes a moment to survey his surroundings. Protestors, reinforcements, and rioters are all accounted for as he strides forward. After a moment he stops, creates a small portal in front of him that opens above the action. It was too small to walk through. No it's purpose was to provide a view of the area obscured by security van so when he lays down a portal to get there, he's not going in blind.

A new, bigger portal forms to his left as a dagger formed from dark purple magical energy appears in his hand. The view finding portal has served its purpose and is immediately dispelled as he steps through and stab one of the parasites of one of the rioters from behind.

COMBATSYS: Gregory has started a fight here.

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Gregory          0/-------/-======|

COMBATSYS: Rioting Monsters has joined the fight here.

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Gregory          0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0 Rioting Monsters

COMBATSYS: Rioting Monsters endures Gregory's Planar Leap - Advance.

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Gregory          1/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Rioting Monsters

[PRINGER X]
The parasite lets out a horrifying squeal, writhing as the assassin's mystical instrument penetrates the creature. The purple-skinned, musclebound woman that bore the insidious creature on her flesh staggers and stumbles forward, falling to one knee as her eyes cloud up.

"Wh-what... happened?!"

As another of their number is ripped from the parasites' control, the two giants who just flipped the vehicle seem to sense the loss of their comrade, turning their heads hither and thither. One of the pair, a rotund and shirtless ogre covered in muscle and fat, locks his beady eyes on Gregory and lumbers toward him, the ground seeming to shake under his feet with each step.

"RRAAUUGGH!"

A trunk-like arm swings in an upward arc, attempting to slam into the assassin's midsection and lift him off of his feet before bringing him back down to hammer into a concrete barricade!

COMBATSYS: Gregory counters Smash and Grab from Rioting Monsters with Rift Trap.

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Gregory          1/----===/=======|=====--\-------\0 Rioting Monsters

[GREGORY]
On one hand the shaking ground is understandably intimidating. On the other hand it was a warning and the foot falls fell at a cadence that allowed him to predict when and where he could lay down the trap. That rotund ogre never has the opportunity to swing his arm into an upward arc because the moment the monsterous creature attempts to plant his foot on the final step before the attack, he'll find there's no ground beneath him and in its place a portal.

The ogre falls face first into the portal that opened up only to be introduced to a full body assault by planar energy before another portal drops him face first on the ground ten feet away.

Then and only then does he address the recently freed darkstalker woman and her question by not answering it at all.

"Just run!"

[PRINGER X]
The lumbering ogre bellows with bewildered rage as he takes a wrong step into the yawning portal. A moment later, the sound is cut short, its point of origin displaced ten feet away before being replaced by a pained cry as face meets asphalt. Meanwhile, the purple-skinned darkstalker looks at Gregory with confusion before turning to stagger away into the shadows.

The moment of temporary respite is suddenly interrupted by the sound of metal shearing from metal as the passenger side front door of the security van is ripped from the vehicle's frame, followed by the cry of an Ultratech security guard as he's yanked from the vehicle by the throat. The giant, this one wearing an overstretched white tank top, looks for his companion to join in whatever misfortune is intended for the guard - only to spot Gregory. Turning toward him, the tank-topped giant holds up the guard before hurling the man's body like a two hundred pound ragdoll at the masked assassin!

COMBATSYS: Gregory just-defends Rioting Monsters' Huge Thrown Object!

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Gregory          1/----===/=======|====---\-------\0 Rioting Monsters

[GREGORY]
One part of Gregory is hoping that the parasite got hit with the planar energy while the ogre went for a ride in the rift trap. With said ogre being displaced he has more immediate concerns like the tank top clad companion and the fact that he's chucking the guard at him. His eyes meet the monsterous being's a moment. If not for the mask he was wearing, an 'Oh shit,' look would be visible on his face. In fact, the more aurally perceptive among the darkstalker contingent can actually hear him whisper it.

All hell breaks loose and the guard is bodily thrown at him and Gregory works fast and creates a rift in front and back of himself allowing the body to enter the portal in front of him and exit behind him with the only harm done being to the guard because momentum can be vicious at times like this. He tried to make it as harmless as possible all things considered but there's only so much you can do when someone is getting rag dolled by a hulking darkstalker.

The assassin moves in closer and attempts to get in close before attempting to perform a shoulder throw on the behemoth. This might not be the brightest of ideas.

COMBATSYS: Rioting Monsters blocks Gregory's Medium Throw.

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Gregory          1/---====/=======|=====--\-------\0 Rioting Monsters

[PRINGER X]
The security guard is lucky enough to be wearing resilient clothing under his body armour - bruises are inevitable, but his skin is likely to remain relatively intact in spite of the tumble. Still, the force with which he collides with another section of barricade is enough that he's unlikely to get back into the fight anytime soon.

Meanwhile, the tank-topped giant proves difficult to leverage into a proper shoulder throw, though he does manage to stumble face-first into a light post as he resists Gregory's attempt. This seems to annoy the monstrous humanoid as much as harm him, and the ogre whirls on Gregory, attempting to clutch the assassin by the arms and hold him - just as the bare-chested ogre approaches from the other side, winding up a hefty haymaker aimed at Gregory's chest!

COMBATSYS: Gregory dodges Rioting Monsters' Fierce Combo.

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Gregory          1/---====/=======|====---\-------\0 Rioting Monsters

[GREGORY]
The assassin doesn't manage to get him up and over but sending him stumbling into light post is an acceptable consolation especially since it probably would make for comical story in the future, when the statute of limitations runs out or something.

The scary part('concerning part' is way too mild to put it) the giant is still trying to get a hold of the assassin and Gregory wants no part of it, skipping back out of the attempt grab him before ducking the haymaker in a bid to shoot for a wrestler's single-leg takedown by wrapping his arms around one of the legs and then driving his shoulder into the hip bring the giant down on his back before attempting to hold the giant in place by putting his knee on the belly and following up with a punch to the neck right where the parasite is.

COMBATSYS: Rioting Monsters blocks Gregory's Fierce Combo.

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Gregory          1/---====/=======|=====--\-------\0 Rioting Monsters

[PRINGER X]
In the scuffle, Gregory manages to drive the bare-chested giant off of his feet and onto his back with a heavy THUD following by an aggrieved yell. As he aims his fist at the parasite on the giant's neck, though, the giant's meaty hand shifts to intercept it. Then, with a mighty bellow, the giant attempts to lift the assassin off of his belly, intending to pump his arms once before doing a full press meant to send Gregory flying away from him!

COMBATSYS: Gregory just-defends Rioting Monsters' Crowd Control!

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Gregory          1/---====/=======|=====--\-------\0 Rioting Monsters

[GREGORY]
The giant gets toppled but unfortunately for the assassin, he never quite manages to connect with the parasite. It's as if the parasite on this particular monster has legendary survival capability in comparison to its brethren.

The 'Phantom' doesn't quite manage to keep the tank top clad monster's hands off of him and is sent flying. He's forced to adapt on the fly. Two portals appear in the air. One he ends flying into allowing him to reorient himself so that when he comes out of the other portal, he lands on his feet.

"Okay... Fine..."

Gregory attempts to roll the giant up and over to get him up high enough to slam him down into a rift that would assault the monster's entire body before it spits him out of the portal right above the one he was thrown into and sent into a perpetual free fall, each time the rift tearing at the body. Eventually, the free fall ends when the upper rift disappears and then reforms above another darkstalker dumping the giant's body on top of them.

COMBATSYS: Rioting Monsters attempts to interrupt Terminal Velocity from Gregory with Mob Justice EX.

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Gregory          0/-------/------=|=====--\-------\0 Rioting Monsters

[PRINGER X]
The Phantom succeeds in toppling the giant into the rift, causing the titanic berserker to scream out as he enters a loop from hell - but after the third or so fall through the portal, the other giant rushes Gregory, brandishing a baseball bat and aiming to interrupt the mistreatment of his comrade with a thunderous blow!

COMBATSYS: Rioting Monsters successfully hits Gregory with Mob Justice EX.

[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////                  ]
Gregory          0/-------/------=|======-\-------\0 Rioting Monsters

[GREGORY]
So much for hoping that the Rift Trap took care of the parasite on the first giant. The crack of the baseball bat to the body manages to interfere with his spell casting of his Terminal Velocity spell causing him to dump his victim off target. He then takes a deep breath and shakes off the blow before returning his attention to the baseball bat wielder.

He takes a step closer to the bat wielder and opens a portal in front of himself while another portal opens up behind the giant. A hand engulfed in purple planar energy then reaches out to swat the parasite on the bat wielding giant's neck.

COMBATSYS: Gregory successfully hits Rioting Monsters with Dimensional Reach.

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Gregory          0/-------/---====|=======\==-----\1 Rioting Monsters

[PRINGER X]
The hope of destroying the parasite on the first ogre was perhaps not so forlorn as expected - the final impact may not be as decisive as intended, but there is a certain sickening splatter heard upon the giant's landing that suggests that the parasite was perhaps destroyed after all. The big fellow, for his part, seems to be out of it, regardless.

The other giant is faring little better - as he winds up for a second swing off of the rebound, the purple hand swipes at the thing on the back of its neck, sending it flying. The giant stumbles backward, clutching at the back of his neck and dropping the bat. Looking around in a disoriented manner, he seems to not even recognize Gregory - but he sees the other giant on the ground and moves down to his side quickly, attempting to rouse the colossal kin.

"Brick. BRICK! Get up!"

The numbers of the rampaging darkstalkers are starting to dwindle - but things aren't fully calmed yet. In fact, it's at that moment that a lycanthrope pounces at Gregory from behind - aiming to sink its teeth into the assassin's shoulder! As it does, the writhing parasite on the back of its skull can be seen...!

COMBATSYS: Gregory blocks Rioting Monsters' Feeding Frenzy.

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Gregory          0/-------/---====|=------\-------\0 Rioting Monsters

[GREGORY]
As the assassin does a mental inventory of the darkstalkers, he counts and realizes one is missing. It's at that point that the portal mage hears the sound of breathing right before he turns around while simultaneously opening a rift to the dropped bat to pull it out of the rift and intercepting the bite with the bat. The forward momentum of the lycanthrope drives the bat into his shoulder and makes him lose his grip as stumbles away.

Now that he's identified all of the remaining compromised darkstalkers, he opens a bunch of portals around the area. Then he sends out a ball of purple energy into a portal close to him. Ideally the ball of energy starts with the lycanthrope, it goes through the parasite in the back of the skull and stripping energy from it before going into a portal and exiting the portal to the next darkstalker's parasite and entering another. This process would repeat until he reaches the last one and the ball of planar energy plus the energy pulled from the parasites and their victims returns to the assassin's hand where he proceeds to absorb the energy into himself.

COMBATSYS: Gregory successfully hits Rioting Monsters with Thinking With Portals.

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Gregory          0/-------/----===|=======\-------\0 Rioting Monsters

[PRINGER X]
The werewolf rears back, the claws of its left hand glistening in the orange glow of fires that have sprung up around the facility as it raises them in preparation to strike. Just as it's about to attack, though, a squeal sounds from the back of the beastman's head, and he drops to one knee as the parasite that was preying on his soul splatters on the pavement.

Within a matter of a few more seconds, the parasite-ridden hosts have all been cleansed of their unwelcome passengers as the orb's journey reaches its conclusion by returning to Gregory's hand.

The werewolf seems to consider the assassin once more, eyes narrowing and ears setting back, its own natural instincts appearing as though they may evoke the same result as the soul lamprey that was driving it to violence moments before - but the beastman seems to dismiss whatever notion it had, leaping up and away over the security van before loping toward the perimeter to get away from the facility.

What's left of the darkstalkers seem to be in varying states of confusion; as the giants also make way to leave, many of those engaging in the riot of their own will seem to lose their nerve in the absence of the violent vanguard. The arrival of medical service vehicles with flashing lights turns the mood to one of greater regret as paramedics tend to rioters and security alike.

COMBATSYS: Rioting Monsters takes no action.

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Gregory          0/-------/----===|

COMBATSYS: Rioting Monsters can no longer fight.

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Gregory          0/-------/----===|

[GREGORY]
There is a few moments where Gregory meets the lycan eye to masked over eye. There is a moment of tension where one would wonder if hostilities would continue in spite of the darkstalker being freed from its mind/soul jacker. When it appears that the werewolf would dismiss the idea of continuing the fight, the assassin walks away.

The chaos is ignored as Gregory decides to head back inside to see what else he can learn from these computers in particular. Hopefully there won't be an encounter with a fiery contractor this time.

Log created on 16:35:33 04/15/2022 by Gregory, and last modified on 10:25:01 05/06/2022.