Match of the Millennium

Description: Spears! Swords! Shields! Squeaky mallets! You want hot girl-on-girl weapon conjuring action?! Well the NFG has your desires covered with this fight, you little sicko.

[GENIE]
The industrial zone of Sunshine City is booming with activity. The air is heavy with smog of old, dirty industry, the steady thrum, grind, and bump of machinery working always seems to echo in the distance, accompanied by the occasional piercing squeal of rail brakes.

Genie does not particularly like it here. Having been out of the spotlight for a bit following her second round loss, the Swiss heiress seems ready to go again, once again dressed in her clearly expensive martial arts uniform in complimentary blues and yellows. Her vibrant yet dark pink-purple hair is tied up in a high ponytail today as she runs through some basic stretches as warm-up.

And then she starts coughing a bit. Some exhaust fumes seem to have whafted their way up to the high-perched stage the conveyors grumble by in the background and a girder hovers over on a crane.

"This seems...unsafe." She mumbles to herself as one creaks ominously.

[IRIS]
So far the New Fighting Generation has been... you could call it 'a lark' if you want, in the case of Iris Osterlund, but that's effectively all it is. She had to demonstrate her basics to the committee or whatever when she signed on, particularly because unlike most of the competitors she 'missed' the draft, but that's about it. The British sorceress has met a down-home country American, a frankly strange (if polite) Japanese schoolgirl.

And then there's this.

Picking her way across the building's ground floor, which is frankly a rat's maze of one-way endings and machinery-enclosed cul-de-sacs, it is no mean feat for Iris to find her appointed opponent. After all, a lot of modern fighting broadcast is done with drone cameras, often for the safety of the crew as much as anything else. It means that fights can be staged in really, really inhospitable locations like this one.

Wiping her brow, Iris stands up from having ducked under a set of pipes (they probably needed the time to load the arena in), looking around and spying Genie. "Well, looks like you've made it here too. That was quite a haul, wasn--"

There is a loud *CLANG* as, behind her, Iris's erstwhile Nanny -- more like a gigantic rectangular battering ram than a woman, though she is wearing the regulation gown and apron -- quite literally breaks through the same pipes Iris just ducked around. "Alright, Young Miss," she says, completely disregarding the steam that is now blowing in four directions from burst pipes. "Oglesby and I shall just be over here watching, shan't we?" Presumably 'Oglesby' is the short, rail-thin, vampire-looking butler making his entrance behind the siege weapon that is Nanny.

Iris, for her part, has turned to stare at this tableau in disbelief. As her domestic staff does indeed step aside, she turns to Genie and rubs her temples briefly. "Alright, then. Shall we get started?"

[GENIE]
"Ah! Hello!" Genie says, doing some mental gymnastics through two other languages worth of greetings before settling on the correct one. "Yes! It was very dangerous." She nods agreeably at the suggestion. "--ah, you have a butler too? That's excellent! I have been mostly traveling alone, myself!" Alone, except for being surveilled at a distance, but in any case.

Genie covers her head when another stack of pipes clatters by in a bundle.

"Ah, yes, um. Shall we begin?" She assumes a widely spaced stance, her arms extended unevenly and palms open.

"I hope you are ready!"
Genie, for a rookie, does not hesitate, giving Iris only a moment to get into position, the Swiss miss pulls an arm further back and slides her foot forward, assuming the stance of a javelin thrower. With a pop and crackle of power, pink-purple power gathers, first in her palm, and then expanding outward, long and lean, into a rough spear shape.

The rookie hurls the "spear" at her fellow heiress, stepping into the shot as she throws with a style that ... not polished, but it has decent fundamentals. Perhaps she needs more time on the track.

COMBATSYS: Genie has started a fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Genie            0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Iris has joined the fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Genie            0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0             Iris

COMBATSYS: Iris dodges Genie's Lance Du Lac.

[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Genie            0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0             Iris

[IRIS]
'I've been mostly traveling alone, myself!' Iris is able, because she KNOWS she's being watched, to control her facial expression so that it reveals nothing when that statement gets made, but she cannot stop herself from saying -- in such a sotto voce tone that even her mic can't really pick up -- "my, that sounds nice."

Behind her, slightly out of focus from the camera, Nanny waves a littie Cambridge United footy penant, which was, as she'd say if asked, the best she could do on short notice.

And then the fight is officially on. "Huh," Iris says aloud, as Genie winds up for her spear tossing technique... well, 'spear', but who is Iris to judge that it's made of purple power? "I'd have thought we'd get a bell, or a gong, or... well. Here goes."

Have we mentioned she hasn't actually FOUGHT in this organization yet?!

Amazingly enough, Genie picked maybe one of the only things about fighting, or 'fighting-esque movements', that Iris has some regular familiarity with: javelin tossing. Against expectation, Iris starts moving TOWARD the spear, rather than away; when it gets near, the wizardess ducks low, hand held out to the side, so that Genie's lance shears right by her head, missing by mere inches. At the same time, a spear of Iris's own -- a very real one, mind you -- appears in a flash of rainbow sparks in her outstretched hand.

"My turn," the Brit says, before straightening and surging forward toward her opponent, looking to... well, jab her with the actual spear. Apparently it's Spear Night.

COMBATSYS: Iris successfully hits Genie with Medium Strike.

[      \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Genie            0/-------/----===|-------\-------\0             Iris

[GENIE]
"Oh! Was there not one?" Genie seems confused. "I thought I heard one but--" She glances around at all the machinery. A conveyer makes a buzzing noise before dropping a crate to a lower level. Upon hearing it, Genie's complexion slowly moves toward a shade of crimson.

"I am so very sorry I--eeee!" The spear punches through Genie's outerlayer with the sound of tearing fabric. She tries to break away, but instead loses more of it with another steady rip as she flounders flat onto the ground.

"A-ah," the Suisse bites her lip, her eyes watering. It takes her a moment to clamber back up, hand pressed to her side. "Ah, that is very dangerous! But I will try my best! Did, have you practiced with the spear for very long?"

The woman rears back and swings at the Brit, stepping forward into a very awkward and unpolished turn punch.

COMBATSYS: Iris interrupts Medium Punch from Genie with Thurisaz - Mjolnir's Echo.

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Genie            0/-------/=======|===----\-------\0             Iris

[IRIS]
Perhaps the notable thing is that as soon as the spear has done its job, and makes contact with the opponent... well. It's gone, basically. It literally vanishes in the same prismatic sparks that summoned it. "Uh," Iris says, inelegantly, as Genie puts a question to her. 'Practiced'? Well... TECHNICALLY yes, but some fundamentally honest part of Iris feels like that would technically be a lie, unless the track and field javelin toss has suddenly been promoted into a martial art. "Will you be angry if I say, 'not really'?" is the best reply Iris can think of.

But then Genie is already making for her next attack, a commendably swift turnaround, even if the punch is (debatably) 'unpolished'. Considering Iris is very much making this up as she goes along, 'unpolished' is more than sufficient, especially because the British wizardess tries something seemingly insane: she snatches a hand forward to try and 'catch' Genie's punch.

She succeeds... but, uh, let's just say Jackie Chan makes that look much easier than it is. "Ow! Ow ow ow," Iris mutters, the act of trying that meaning that Genie's punch ended up twisting Iris's wrist in a painful way -- she clearly didn't escape unscathed.

Problem: it means that for a fraction of a second, she has Genie wide open at close range. Her other, non-punch-catching hand comes up, index and middle fingers extended. At their tips, a purple-blue rune -- one of the Futhark -- glows visible for a moment... shortly before a blue-white bolt of lightning drops out of the sky right on top of Genie, separating the two fighters and leaving Iris rubbing her wrist. Ow ow ow.

[GENIE]
"A-ah! No no, that is fine! You were just very deft." Genie makes a face. "I am not very practiced either!" This is certainly understatement, but it is, at least, stated. This lack of practice speaks for itself, however, when Genie's fist meets Iris's wrist and turns in uncomfortably to Genie's surprise.

"Oh, are you ok--" The phrase is not finished when the lightning strikes and violently launches the Suisse away in a bit of soot and the smell of ozone.

"Was that lightning?!" Genie sounds incredulous. "Do you -- do you do magic?!" Genie's guess is not one honed from experience or wisdom, but that, perhaps, is what gives it more accuracy here. "I have powers too, you know!" The purple-haired woman rises up, eyes still watery, and starts to gather her power once more. This time it takes the form of a sword--a large, two-handed instrument that she swings overhead more like a mallet or a club than anything practiced by a swordsman.

COMBATSYS: Iris blocks Genie's Coup Douloureux.

[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////       ]
Genie            0/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0             Iris

[IRIS]
In an IDEAL universe, what happens is that Iris coolly summons a greatshield, deftly interposing it between herself and that hammering sword blow, laughing with perfect sangfroid as she bats it away, no worse the wear. Possibly she'd take a sip from a glass of wine afterwards and make some sort of quip about the sharpness of blades or something of that nature.

However she is new at this, so none of that occurs to her. Instead, she panics and, since the sword isn't necessarily like a BLADE or anything as much as an energy construct, she effectively just takes it head on her upraised, crossed arms. Which, as you might expect, is better than taking it directly to the FACE, but not by much. "Ow! Ow ow ow," she mutters, again. "Bloody hell, they don't tell you that getting hit all the time would hurt so much." Why would they need to tell you that, Iris. It feels like it should be evident?!

Regardless, the Brit backs up a step and gives Genie a faint smile. "Got it in one, love," she admits, even if going 'yes I'm a mage' probably isn't a great idea (who knows when the NOL might take an interest). "And I've more tricks up my sleeve, as the saying goes. Observe."

She holds one arm out to the right, summoning the spear from before in another burst of rainbow sparks. And then she... well.

She hurls it up and forward, as if trying to spear something floating in midair. Which probably doesn't make any sense right to the moment that she herself, also in a burst of prism sparks, literally vanishes.

And then reappears ABOVE Genie, grabbing the spear and making a dragoon-like dive right at her opponent!

COMBATSYS: Genie fails to deflect Raido - Solstice Journey ES from Iris with Bouclier De Galahad EX.

[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Genie            1/-----==/=======|=======\-------\0             Iris

[GENIE]
Indeed, an ideal universe is one where Genie too has a mighty shield on hand, a bastion of psychic force to protect her (admittedly fragile) body from the rigors of an intense battle. Truly, if she had that sort of finesse, the two of them would likely look as though they were dueling mages.

Instead, Genie is softly wowed by the block. "RIGHT? No one said it would hurt so much!" Genie too seems to truly be a sage in the ways of battle. Perhaps the next Sun Tzu in the making.

"Oh! Wow! That is so cool!" says Genie upon Iris's other exclamation. She seems to be expectantly waiting.

In fact, she is still marveling at the attack when Iris conjures up a spear and goes for the dive. Such is Genie's marvel that when she moves to bring up a shield of her own---one of her more practiced moves, in fact---it is too slow to intercept and instead the spear smashes into her and drives the poor Suisse down with enough force to make the whole precarious platform swing a bit.

"Scheiss..." There's a faint slap as Genie covers her mouth. Perhaps there's someone at home she did not want to hear.

[IRIS]
Iris is thankfully spared an EXTREMELY embarassing moment of her own, where the spear gets stuck in the ground and she is forced to yank it out with serious effort like a Looney Tunes character, because as soon as the strike is finished, the spear vanishes. What Iris herself is supposed to do with her body in this moment, however, is... well. The planning stages of this attack went a little something like this:

1.) Conjure spear
2.) Cool Final Fantasy-ass stuff
3.)
4.) Profit

Thus the wizardess is left to sort of, uh... stumble back into position, squared roughly off with Genie once again as the Swiss Miss(tm) regains her composure, in more ways than one. At the sudden 'oh no my language' gesture, Iris gives a faint grin. "I feel you. I'm terrified I'm going to shout 'bugger!' in a match on live television and get letters from scandalized viewers." You JUST SAID IT, you moron.

Part of her wants to give Genie a second to get back in gear, but some voice in Iris's head says that might get read entirely wrong, much like her conversation with Ichika nearly went massively awry as well. "Sorry about this," she says, at the very least, before leaping forward in a short hop, hands over her head, materializing YET another weapon. A mighty two-handed maul to make a jumping swing at the Swiss heiress! Certainly a huge heavy weapon like that would hurt a LOT.

...If what she got instead was not a gigantic comedy squeaky mallet, a fact that Iris only notices once she's swung it down and watches it go past her head, eliciting an exasperated "oh COME ON!"

COMBATSYS: Genie blocks Iris' Weakened Fierce Strike.

[                     \\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Genie            1/---====/=======|=======\-------\0             Iris

[GENIE]
Genie's ears are still ringing when the mighty ...squeak of the hammer comes down against her relatively fragile guard. The Swiss miss winces at the impact, but she does manage to stay standing this time, albeit with difficulty.

"A-ah, yes! It is very difficult to get used to this---but this was unexpected! You have so many different tools!"

Genie steps back, breathing heavily, and opts for an awkward step kick instead of a psychic weapon this time.

"But I promised myself I wouldn't give up so easily!"

COMBATSYS: Iris dodges Genie's Medium Kick.

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Genie            1/---====/=======|=======\-------\0             Iris

[IRIS]
[SQUEAK.]

With one final chew toy noise, the hammer disappears out of Iris's hands, as she frowns in consternation. Look: conjuring things out of thin air is harder than it sounds, even objects with no real permanence that vanish within moments. Sometimes you get the proverbial math wrong. At the very least, the... hammer... bop... isn't terrbily threatening to Genie, all things considered.

As a bonus, it means Iris is on her toes when she comes OUT of that strike, so that when the kick comes her way, she has the presence of mind to... well, frankly, she runs away. Well, hops away; she takes a sharp backward step so that the kick scythes through the air fairly close to where she was just standing, much like Genie's thrown energy lance did before.

"Good! I expect we're both here to see what we're capable of, after all, right, love?" Iris says, in response to Genie's declaration of determination. Hoping to MAYBE capitalize on the step part of that step kick, Iris pushes forward back in the direction she just hopped out of, hoping to grab the Swiss heiress's leg and... uh, well. Flip her over? It's a very inelegant technique, and pretty prosaic given the stuff she's been doing so far, but perhaps she wants to keep more tricks in reserve for now.

COMBATSYS: Genie fails to deflect Medium Throw from Iris with Joyeuse Garde EX.

[                         \\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Genie            1/-----==/=======|=======\-------\1             Iris

[GENIE]
Genie rubs her palms together and tenses as Iris closes in, readying her counterattack. As the British woman closes in, Genie prepares to unleash her fury with a forward thrust and psi shield that will clearly--

Genie's palms go forward right as her leg goes out from under her, forcing the psi shield to sputter and stop before it even fully forms. The Swiss girl, meanwhile, falls flat on her rump painfully with a noise not unlike the hammer from a moment ago. The rest of her goes over in turn, thumping onto her back and laying there for a moment.

It takes her considerably effort to get back up, her hair mussed, her clothes torn, and her feet unsteady.

"I am not done yet!" This is TECHNICALLY true.

[IRIS]
Well, no squeaky mallet, so that's a good sign. Iris can't help but wince; she feels bad, because the plucky young Swiss maiden has been giving it her all, but it feels like luck might not be on her side at the moment. Still, she keeps getting back up and keep giving 110%, which is commendable either way, from the wizardess's point of view.

"I DO have a lot of tools," she admits, responding belatedly to Genie's earlier comment. "But... I don't have a way to keep up with all you special types without them, haha," Iris adds, with a sheepish laugh. Clearly, she doesn't think her own techniques are particularly 'special' compared to someone like Genie's, which... well. There's probably SOMETHING going on below the surface there, one way or the other.

"Right. Good. Let's keep at it. The folks at home are paying for a good fight, after all." Setting her shoulders, Iris takes off toward Genie at a low run. When she gets close enough, she whips her arm around in a wide arc, a scimitar swirling with wind cutting in the path of her swing, but unless something stops her, she keeps right on going, coming out of the first swing and into a second that brings a one-handed mace crackling with lightning around for a blow toward the head. The Brit finishes the triple combo off by causing a shield, rimed with frost, to flash into being around her arm as she effectively tries to shield bash Genie back a few steps.

COMBATSYS: Genie blocks Iris' Teiwaz - Justicar's Mercy.

[                            \\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Genie            1/---====/=======|=======\=------\1             Iris

[GENIE]
Genie is technically correct. She readies herself for the incoming assault, bringing up her guard to swing, awkwardly, as her arm is knocked away with a pained gasp before the mace catches her elbow that's pulled taut to her side. She staggers on that hit, stumbling in place before the shield properly gongs against her guard and forces her into a slow one, two, three steps back.

"Now..." Genie sways., "Now I am done."

The Swiss heiress tumbles over with a thump and seems to be knocked right out.

[IRIS]
Given her tenacity so far, Iris fully expects Genie to swing right back around and keep trading blows, but it looks like enough is enough for the young Swiss fighter. Which is fine; Iris herself is not exactly unharmed, here, and has expended no small amount of personal energy in this fight as it is. For a moment, she wonders if her commitment is the equal of Genie's... a question with no easy answer, and one she can ponder another day.

"Those were some neat tricks yourself," Iris says, leaning forward a bit and putting a hand on a stitch in her side. This is like, a week's worth of cardio packed into a few minutes. As a newbie, she's caught momentarily in a bit of existential crisis: is it HER job to make sure Genie gets out of here safely and gets some rest, because she won?! But soon, NFG staff appear to handle all of that, or at least some of it.

"I hope we get a rematch someday," she says to Genie, who may or may not be hearing any of this. Then she heads off to her quickly approaching Nanny and butler, joining them for the trip out of this industrial nightmare.

Log created on 20:21:41 06/21/2023 by Iris, and last modified on 07:25:35 06/22/2023.