Match of the Millennium

Description: Rodrigo takes on the role as the radiant god of light Apollo in a fight against Tanwen who takes on the role of Delphyne, a dragon acting as gatekeeper. Shields, capes, and dignity get tossed aside in a fight to see who will reign supreme.

[RODRIGO]
NFG's wardrobe department was at it again in the quest to give those who fancy the men their own bit of eye-candy. As fitting someone playing the role of Apollo, Rodrigo was dressed in a white vest with gold plated medallions on it with a sun design on them, open to show off his chest. The protective leather pteruges make their return though in this particular case, the leather was dyed white. On the swordsman's forehead is a circlet with a sun symbol in the middle with a yellow beryl laid in the middle of the sun. After all, it was known as heliodor or 'Gift of the Sun.' The scarlet cape and sword are worn as well as the two things that don't actually fit the theme but they were also both required. Rodrigo was not about to hamstring himself by learning how to use a bow right before this match.

As Rodrigo approaches the ring set up just outside the temple ruins proper, he vaults over the barrier before walking around the ring, waving to the fans.

As appropriate for playing the role of Apollo, he embraces the particular domain of music and performs a dance in the middle of the ring incorporating flamenco as well as a bit of Greek folk dancing. When the music fades away, Rodrigo steps aside and waits for Tanwen to enter the ring.

[TANWEN]
==*== EARLIER ==*==

"The great, bloated she-dragon, a fierce monster wont to do great mischief to men upon earth and to their thin-shanked sheep; for she was a very bloody plague."

As she reads the words aloud from the website, Tanwen's pitch rises, her timbre becoming more and more strained with anger and disdain.

"The very nerve! Great and bloated? A very bloody plague? Humans always so cheeky when they write about dragons, they are!"

"Well, I don't think most humans have met a dragon, Tan. Besides, it's a better story if the bad guy is scary, isn't it?" Winn says as he shaves.

"Well, yes, but all it says here is that he's got a bow," Tanwen says, her lips quirking. "I'm going to find pictures of this Delphyne before we see the stylist. I need more ideas than just 'great and bloated.'"

After putting a search in, the bronze-haired girl tilts her head to one side.

"Oh! She looks nice, actually. I wonder why they think she's so scary?"

==*== PRESENTLY ==*==

When Tanwen arrives at the ruins of the Temple of Apollo, she's sporting a look that's quite a bit different from her other appearances thus far. Her hair has been covered by a pale pink wig that drapes down to her shoulders, while makeup, mascara and eyeliner have all been applied in liberal enough proportions to give her face an almost cartoonishly wide-eyed look. Her wig is fastened to her head by a pair of black cat ears on a headband, while on her body she wears an airy baby blue dress with puffy sleeves and white stockings held up just below the knees by garters, with black sandals strapped on her feet. To accompany the ensemble, she's sporting a white-bladed cosplay short sword with a baby blue hilt and a baby blue buckler. She comes skipping up along the old foundation of the ruins' retaining wall before hopping down to the arena.

"Bore da! I'm Delphyne!" Tanwen introduces herself with a salute of her sword. "I mean, I'm Tanwen, really, but I'm in character!"

Just to show she's familiar with the part she's playing, she rolls her eyes and sticks her tongue out oddly, before returning her expression to a more neutral one. "See?"

[RODRIGO]
When Tanwen arrives, Rodrigo finds himself raising his eyebrow. He didn't know what to expect from his opponent in terms of the wardrobe but pink hair, cat ears, and dramatic makeup was not anywhere close to the ballpark of what he was expecting. His eyes drift down to both the baby blue hilted short sword and baby blue buckler and seeing that it isn't sharp and seems to have been made more for aesthetics rather than use, he is inclined to believe that her weapons are 'wall-hangers'

"Be prepared to be dazzled by the light of my art. I am Apollo."

With a quick motion, the red cape is removed from his neck held at his side as he draws his espada ropera, and giving her a salute of his own bringing the blade close to his face and then extending it outwards as he takes his stance. He then flashes a smile. There's a decent probability that NFG editing staff is going to add tooth ping in post production.

COMBATSYS: Rodrigo has started a fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Rodrigo          0/-------/-------|

[TANWEN]
While the gear that Tanwen is using probably should be hung on a wall, Tanwen wouldn't have any room for them amidst all of the posters of Tom Jones, Gary Gygax, will.i.am., Smaug, and various other inspirational figures - not to mention the Welsh flag and various artwork from the past few decades of Dungeons & Dragons.

Besides, being a dragon, Tanwen would just put anything large and shiny in a pile to sit and/or sleep on.

"Ooh! That's very good!" Tanwen says with wonder as Rodrigo identifies himself as Apollo, her eyes going wide - especially with that makeup on. "I thought that you were supposed to have a bow, though."

Tanwen appears to have a bit of a thoughtful expression for a few seconds before shrugging. "I suppose that when you're a Sun God you can do as you please!"

Tanwen hops forward, and as she does, a red tail appears from beneath the back of her blue skirt. She gives a couple of swipes with her sword, cleaving the air.

"I am the dragon Delphyne! Grrr!" she declares as she steps further into character. "Whosoever meets me shall be swept away by the Day of Doooom!"

After a moment, she adds, "Except for sheep, thin-shanked or otherwise! Sheep are friends, not food! Besides, I prefer prawns, really!"

COMBATSYS: Tanwen has joined the fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Rodrigo          0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0           Tanwen

[RODRIGO]
Rodrigo lowers his voice so only Tanwen and maybe any directional microphones from the fight crew can pick up on what he's saying, "I am not going to compromise my fighting style to use a weapon that I am unfamiliar with. The NFG knew that they were getting a swordsman when they received my application."

Not his fault that the NFG execs cast him a role that he doesn't have the martial training for. If one stretches it, Rodrigo's weapon choice might acceptable due to loopholes and technicalities. Rodrigo, however, isn't inclined to invest in the time or the energy required to debate that point.

The duelist raises an eyebrow at the sheep and prawn commentary but then nods. Nice information to have for when he eventually throws his own parties.

The former matador waits for the official to give the signal and then he darts towards Tanwen attempting to get his hand on the buckler and lifting it upwards to open the torso up for a slash as he spins under her arm. He quickly follows up with a stab from behind then attempting to throw the dragon to the ground.

COMBATSYS: Tanwen blocks Rodrigo's Ensnaring Spiral.

[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Rodrigo          0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0           Tanwen

[TANWEN]
Tanwen's nose twitches as Rodrigo takes a moment to explain the discrepancy between myth and reality. "Well, that's alright, then," she chirps when he has done so. "I'm not bloated or wont to do great mischief, either! Only a bit of mischief sometimes."

The dragon girl lets out an "Eep!" when Rodrigo darts toward her without so much as a die roll. Her arms come together instinctively toward her chest to guard with shield and sword, and though the buckler is grasped, she narrowly manages to deflect the slash with her own blade, the sound of steel scraping against steel echoing around the ruins as small sparks fly. Her tail swings upward to slap the stabbing weapon away, causing it to only narrowly scratch her dress and side, but she's nevertheless thrown to the ground, dust and dirt kicking up and catching in her puffy blue outerwear.

"You've got a very high initiative, you have!" Tanwen declares as she pushes herself up to her feet and smooths her skirts down while backing away. "But you'll never expect my..."

She turns her back to Rodrigo for a moment as she brings her shield arm up and looks back over her shoulder in a secretive split-second gesture, then -

"... MAGIC MISSILE!"

The rotation completes with a sudden rapid twist that fires the metal disc off like a frisbee toward Tanwen's foe! Left to its own devices, the buckler is launched such as to return to its owner via arc or deflection, though the precise result is far from guaranteed...

COMBATSYS: Rodrigo blocks Tanwen's Magic Missile!.

[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////    ]
Rodrigo          0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0           Tanwen

[RODRIGO]
Rodrigo brings up the forearm, draped in the red cape to act as his shield. When the buckler impacts with his forearm, he attempts to bump it upwards to ideally delay its return.

"It would appear that I did expect it."

The Spaniard smiles as he charges in to attempt to sweep the weighted end of the cape around Tanwen's ankle and then attempts to yank it upwards to knock the draconic fighter onto her back. He would've made a crack about her not being Captain America but now probably isn't the right moment.

COMBATSYS: Tanwen dodges Rodrigo's Quick Throw.

[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////    ]
Rodrigo          0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0           Tanwen

[TANWEN]
The buckler deflects off of Rodrigo's caped limb, sending it into a wide vertical arc and leaving Tanwen with only her sword in hand for the moment. The dragon-girl frowns at the displacement, then nods firmly at Rodrigo's quip. "Yes, you did," she says seriously, before steeling herself as the Spanish swordsman sweeps in again.

"Ahh!"

Tanwen hops from one foot to the other and back as the cape passes underneath her shoes, narrowly avoiding pulling her down. She lets out a gasp of relief as she finds her footing once more with the assistance of her tail.

Her eyes flit up to Rodrigo.

"A trip attack! That's clever, it is! I always wondered what a real trip attack would look like," she says as she pivots around her opponent, stretching her arm out seemingly into the aether as she spins, only to have the buckler slide back into place as she continues the motion, aiming to drive the shiny baby blue-painted plate into Rodrigo's face!

If she manages to do so, she'll then grab for his shoulder, aiming to pull him around while he's still dazed from the blow and bend him backward before stepping a leg over his head and bringing her thighs together to trap him between them, shimmying to ensure her grip. She'd then kick out both legs to drop down toward the ground, aiming to smash Rodrigo underneath her pro-wrestling style!

COMBATSYS: Tanwen successfully hits Rodrigo with Arch Dragon.
-**- LUNATIC HIT!! -**-

[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////      ]
Rodrigo          0/-------/--=====|==-----\-------\0           Tanwen

[RODRIGO]
To the horror of Rodrigo's fan club, Rodrigo turns right into a face full of buckler. Blood runs down his face making Rodrigo look like he was attempting to imitate Andrew W. K.'s 'I Get Wet' album cover. The near matador is about to feel more pain as he gets bent backwards before getting slammed to the ground causing the swordsman to see stars.

Blood pours down his chin, getting all over the formerly pristine vest as he rises back to feet. Rodrigo decides he needs regain control of the fight. He takes a step back as he duplicates Tanwen's strategy by throwing his cape. The difference is his cape has weights near the base making it more likely tangle her up in it and a rope allowing him to to drag it back like a retiarius gladiator that served as partial inspiration for his style.

COMBATSYS: Tanwen blocks Rodrigo's Cape Toss.

[          \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////       ]
Rodrigo          0/-------/-======|===----\-------\0           Tanwen

[TANWEN]
Tanwen clambers forward off of Rodrigo as he pushes up beneath her and starts to rise. She turns around to face him, her eyes widening once more as she sees that the lower half of his face is covered in blood. She quickly shuffles to her feet, moving forward for a closer look.

"Oh! Redrigo! I mean, Rodrigo! Your face is all red, it is! Are you alright, like? Eep!"

Her energetic inquiry is interrupted by the tossing of the cape toward Tanwen. The cape wraps around her head and upper body, causing her to stagger blindly with her arms pinned to her sides by the weighted accoutrement before Rodrigo starts pulling her toward himself.

"Hey! Are you trying to capture me? That's not very nice! I'm an endangered species, I am!"

She manages to wrench herself free by pulling herself backwards, causing the dragon-girl to stumble before falling back on her bottom. The pink wig, however, doesn't make it with her, the weights having tightened to tug it off in the tangle. She's left with her own bronze hair tumbling in a disheveled mess about her face and shoulders.

"Oh!" Tanwen's eyes turn upward as she pats her head with her shield hand. "Alright! Let's pretend that that didn't happen!" Tanwen bids audience and opponent alike as she drops back down into her battle-stance. Hopping forward, she lashes out with her dull-edged sword, striking for Rodrigo's arm in an attempt to force him to drop his cape!

"Disarm, this arm!"

COMBATSYS: Rodrigo blocks Tanwen's Quick Strike.

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////      ]
Rodrigo          0/-------/=======|====---\-------\0           Tanwen

[RODRIGO]
"It's more like trying to make it difficult for you to attack me. I don't seem to be having much success on that front."

When the draconic fighter frees herself from the cape, it allows Rodrigo to pull the cape back to his arm. With a flick of his arm it covers his arm once more allowing it to be used as a shield once more. The swordsman deflects Tanwen's sword with the protected arm. With a step to her sword side.

When using his graceful repositioning, he's attempting to put her in a situation where she either needs to use her blade to defend or take more time to turn in order to use her shield. The attack he is using is a thrust to the thigh.

COMBATSYS: Tanwen blocks Rodrigo's Random Strike.

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Rodrigo          1/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0           Tanwen

[TANWEN]
Tanwen twists to follow Rodrigo's movement as he dances past her, the less-elegant but still-agile dragonette turning her sword to defense, diverting the thrust of her foe's weapon so that it grazes her outer thigh rather than jabbing into her. A sliver of her skirt falls away as it's sliced from the hem by the narrowly-defended blade.

"It's hard to stop me attacking, it is! It's the natural attacks!" she reassures Rodrigo as sparks fly once again from their clashing armaments. As she says so, she pushes her sword against his, spinning around and away, leaping upward with the momentum - and aiming to slap her tail across Rodrigo's head with the same motion.

"See?!"

COMBATSYS: Rodrigo interrupts Evasive Strike from Tanwen with Rising Blade.
- Power hit! -

[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Rodrigo          1/-------/=======|=======\-------\1           Tanwen

[RODRIGO]
Rodrigo feels his blade get turned aside and lets his wrist relax enough to let blade go with it and then pull back in order to prepare for his next assault.

As Tanwen leaps away in an attempt to disengage, Rodrigo allows himself a moment to smirk before he takes to the air in pursuit, slashing upwards with his blade. Tanwen's tail ends up striking his reinforced cape, not through any intentional guard, but rather by luck of having his arm in the right place at the right time.

The nerdier of his HEMA group would note that this would be a real life example of an attack of opportunity. Too bad Rodrigo wouldn't be able to get the reference.

[TANWEN]
Tanwen lets out a yelp as she feels cold steel slicing across her back. Fortunately for her, the cut is shallow enough not to present a serious threat to her spine - a fact confirmed as she stumbles through her landing. Still, red liquid blossoms from the wound, and within moments the split back of the dress unfolds, leaving Tanwen's shoulder blades - and the mean-looking cut between them - exposed to the air, a white slip visible underneath the rent garment.

Whirling about-face, Tanwen frowns, puffing up her cheeks, before smiling fiercely as she hits a moment of realisation.

"You must be an old-school fighter! That was an attack of opportunity!" she says, apparently having missed the fact that Rodrigo's narrator already commented on the fact. "That's fair enough, like! If we're going to use the old ways... then I suppose it's time I used my full template!"

Heat begins to build in the air around Tanwen as she grips her sword and shield tightly, flexing the slender muscles of her arms and legs - though the latter is less visible beneath her dress. As she does, her teeth clench, a low growl coming from between them as her prominent canines seem to grow a teensy-tiny bit. Twin ruddy studs start to emerge from the sides of her head, curling around as they stretch rapidly into horns akin to those of a large sheep. At the same time, the exposed flesh between her shoulder blades roils, before bursting forth into a pair of scaly red wings!

"Half-dragon! That's a challenge rating adjustment of plus two! You'd better watch yourself!" she boasts, before adding quickly and more meekly, "Technically I'm a dragon that's half-human, but I reckon it's pretty much the same as a human that's half-dragon."

COMBATSYS: Tanwen gathers her will.

[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////           ]
Rodrigo          1/-------/=======|=======\====---\1           Tanwen

[RODRIGO]
There has yet to be a fight that Rodrigo has been in since he has joined the NFG where weird stuff hasn't happened. There's Homura running on his blade like it was a wire-fu film, Roxana transforming into a scorpion, and now Tanwen suddenly gaining dragon features. At least with Tanwen, he had some warning due to her spontaneous transformation on his first day on the ship. That's more than he could say about his previous opponents.

"I suppose that I'm doing a good job if I'm making you want to change forms."

Rodrigo whips out his cape, using it initiate a grapple attack around her shield arm. Should that be successful, he pulls her into a thrust of his espada ropera, spins behind her and then simultaneously yanks her to the ground ground with his cape while kicking her legs from under her. After the attack, Rodrigo steps back while pulling his cape away from Tanwen.

COMBATSYS: Tanwen interrupts Armed Combo from Rodrigo with Dragon Crown EX.
? Strange Hit! ?

[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////              ]
Rodrigo          1/-----==/=======|>>>>>>>\>>>----\1           Tanwen

[TANWEN]
"Oh, yes! A very good job!" Tanwen affirms Rodrigo with a nod as her tail whips back and forth behind her, the wings that she's grown flexing and folding as she maintains a ready stance. Her cheeks have taken on a slightly more pink hue as she starts to advance. The cape wraps around her shield arm, drawing a look of bemusement from the dragonette as she tries to free it.

"Capes are like cheating!" she declares in frustration, still trying to wrench her limb free as she's pulled into Rodrigo's thrust. Her eyes go wide (yet again accentuated by her makeup) as she suddenly finds herself penetrated by the pointed weapon. Before Rodrigo can spin behind her, though, she yanks the cape herself so that Rodrigo is pulled face-to-face with her. Her amber eyes go almost Disney-like as they water, her lips quivering as she informs him in a pitiful stage whisper: "That really hurts."

With that information shared, she suddenly drives her head forward into Rodrigo's sternum, her hardened skull supported by the curled horns to assist in knocking the pseudo-matador backward onto the ground. What would normally have been a forward scramble to dominantly mount her foe instead turns into a flailing topple as the entrapping cape tugs Tanwen forward with Rodrigo. She ends up falling face-to-face on top of him in a compromising sprawl, her legs splayed to either side. Her cheeks turn even redder, nearly matching Rodrigo's cape by now.

"Sorry! I didn't mean for this attack to be so romantic! Oh, dear. I'm bleeding all over you, I am," she squeaks out, her eyes turning down to where red is seeping from the wound to her midsection and through the cut in her dress. She finally manages to wiggle herself free from the cape by releasing her shield and pulling her arm through without it, then snatches the buckler as she hastily climbs back up to her feet.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" she says as she starts to step past Rodrigo, clicking her tongue. Then, she throws out her legs, letting her weight crash down bottom-first on top of her opponent's head. It turns out that she's a bit heavier than she looks, what with the tail and all.

On the plus side, at least the dress is a bit fluffy.

[RODRIGO]
Much to the rage of Rodrigo's fan girls, Rodrigo gets pulled up close to the draconic fighter, then gored bringing to mind his previous training as a bull fighter. With her falling on top of him, the fan girl rage increases. When Tanwen frees herself and both Rodrigo and his groupies think that it was over. They were wrong. Rodrigo's eyes go wide as Tanwen's bottom gets closer and closer until impact. Groupie rage goes critical.

Rodrigo fights his way out from under the draconic fighter. Once free Rodrigo scrambles to his feet, looking the least graceful he's been all fight.

The cape does seem like cheating when one considers how versatile he has shown it to be so far. Rodrigo further shows its versatility by swinging it once more. This time, he uses it as flail aiming to strike her with the weighted end right for her leg.

COMBATSYS: Tanwen interrupts Cape Whip from Rodrigo with Spiral Dragon EX.
-* WILD HIT! *-

[                         \\\\\  < >  //////////////                ]
Rodrigo          2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|>>>>>>>\>>>>>--\1           Tanwen

[TANWEN]
Unfortunately for Tanwen, she's not aware of the feelings of the female fans that will be following her foe, fuming as they may find themselves. After all, nobody's thrown their knickers into the ring yet.

She lets out a little yelp as Rodrigo pushes her off, interrupting the little breather she'd decided to allow herself to take opportunity of. She picks herself up, dusting her increasingly-distressed dress down before taking up her sword and shield and turning toward Rodrigo with a smile.

"Well, this - oh!"

There's no time to discuss how either fighter feels about the fight, as the swordsman is already swinging his weighted cape toward her leg. She responds by leaping into the attack, causing the cape to loop around her legs instead of striking with the solid surface. As she lunges, she starts to spin, extending her sword arm so that the blunted blade smacks into Rodrigo hard enough to cause him to start spinning as well. The result is that the cape effectively reels the pair together, with Tanwen's sword and tail battering Rodrigo like a devilish turnstile while her wings and the cape and their mutual momentum combine to carry dragon and duelist spiralling into the air. To make matters worse, Tanwen starts spewing forth a stream of burning fire from her mouth as they rise, bathing the sun god in dragonflame!

It's at the apex of their ascent that the pair are forced apart, with one final smack of Tanwen's tail sending him back to Gaia while she glides down to the ground with her wings.

At least the fangirls can probably be assuaged in the knowledge that they'll probably just be friends after that.

[RODRIGO]
Much of this fight hasn't gone to plan for the Spaniard. Were Rodrigo inclined to talk about this fight (probably not for at least a year) , he would say that he was unprepared for the level of chaos. Tangling in ways he never planned for, interfering in each other's attacks in ways that made it difficult for themselves. It was a weird fight all around, at least for him.

Meanwhile, Rodrigo's groupies have already taken to social media to spew venom worse than what he had to deal with fighting Roxana. It's a mess and the fight isn't even finished yet.

Now that there's separation by way of tail swipe, Rodrigo brings his cape into play once more, tossing the cape at Tanwen once more.

COMBATSYS: Rodrigo successfully hits Tanwen with Veiled Assault.

[                         \\\\\  < >  ////////                      ]
Rodrigo          0/-------/<<<<<<<|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2           Tanwen

As the cape flies towards Tanwen, Rodrigo chases after it as it covers her head, obscures her vision, and puts additional weight on her. All of it in the name of making it difficult to respond to the numerous thrusts and stabs to her legs, arms, and torso. After he's done, he snatches his bloodied and singed cape back and drapes it on his arm as he hops back in preparation for Tanwen to retaliate.

[TANWEN]
To be fair, it's probably hard to stick to the plan when confronted with a dragon who's cosplaying as an internet celebrity. Tanwen may enjoy conventions, but she's not the most conventional of fighters. Still, the cape seems to work pretty well against the dragonette; perhaps it's the horns that make it so, as she finds herself entangled with the crimson cloth once more. She tries to thrash about and free herself, but in the meanwhile she's being needled by the sword again and again, letting out a squeal each time.

"Cheating! Cheating cheating cheating!" is all that she can manage to yelp out as she starts trying to twist and bend away blindly from the blade. By the time that he's through, the human-LARPing girl seems to crumple, dropping down to her knees before mysteriously disappearing altogether under the cloth. When Rodrigo reels his red accessory back in, there's nothing left of Tanwen on the ground but a bloody dress, two black shoes, stockings, and discarded buckler.

A moment later, a chubby little red lizard with wings suddenly bursts out of the cape, the hilt of a short sword clutched like a zweihander between its four sets of claws.

"I'm going to cheat, too! Being a dragon is the most cheating!"

The little red dragon seems to stick her tongue out with a hissing sound at Rodrigo before flapping up into the sky, heaving the weapon along after it.

The little Welsh dragon's bellow is a barely-audible squeak from several dozen feet above:

"By the power of Trogdor!"

The red reptile seems to swell like a balloon up above. Then, a point of brilliant light appears - and rapidly expands into an approaching fireball as the dragon's mightiest breath descends in a basketball-sized globe of destruction.

It's not a lone missile, though - the little dragon huffs and puffs up and out, pumping a barrage of several similar shots to rain down like a bullet hell sequence on Rodrigo's position. Then, the flammable contents of its belly expended, the dragon starts to drop down - plummeting at a fairly slow rate with the sword aimed pointy-end-down as she falls in what might be one of the least intimidating sky-high sword-drops ever witnessed by human eyes.

At least until, a few dozen feet above Rodrigo's head and with course locked in, the miniature dragon suddenly swells and shifts back into the shape of the bronze-haired girl, adding over a hundred pounds of weight of gravitational propulsion behind the blunted blade now clasped in her hands and feet as she aims to fall right on top of Rodrigo.

And, yes - to the chagrin of Rodrigo's fan club and Winn alike, Tanwen's clothes are still lying in a pile off to one side. They'll have to hold a competition to decide who is the most angry about it.

COMBATSYS: Rodrigo dodges Tanwen's Legacy of the Burninator.

[                         \\\\\  < >  ////////                      ]
Rodrigo          0/-------/<<<<<<<|>------\-------\0           Tanwen

[RODRIGO]
As Tanwen takes to the air and makes it rain fiery vengeance, Rodrigo's eyes grow wide if not in terror, than in healthy respect for the potentially fight ending power the draconic fighter is bringing to bear. Thankfully for the Spanish sword fighter, the dragon's altitude gives him enough time to calm himself down. In that calmness a plan begins to form.

Rodrigo stomps the ground and begins to dance and spin around fiery barrage in a display agility and beauty as each blast of fire hits the ground. It is then when a sudden naked, bleeding, draconic woman descends upon him sword first. Rodrigo just nopes out of there managing to leap out of the range of the short sword with the grace he previously had shown temporarily abandoned.

One thing to keep in mind, however, is that one of the advantages his rapier has over a shortsword is that it a has a little more reach than the other sword. Rodrigo intends to take full advantage of it. He delivers a barrage of his own delivering rapid fire cuts and thrusts with a speed that to the viewers at home, it looks like his sword is in several different places at once before backing away and holding the sword between them.

COMBATSYS: Tanwen blocks Rodrigo's Frenzied Barrage.

[                         \\\\\  < >  //////                        ]
Rodrigo          0/-------/-------|>>>----\-------\0           Tanwen

[TANWEN]
"Oh, no, not again," mutters Winn from the sidelines, turning away and pressing a palm to his forehead as cameras click all around.

Meanwhile, Tanwen hits the ground sword-first, her weapon sending chips of stone and dirt flying as it sticks into the earth where Rodrigo had been before. She looks down, then looks around for Rodrigo, taking in the sight of the small bonfires left burning in the wake of her attack with slight awe.

Then she looks down once more.

"Oh no, not again," Tanwen says, her eyes widening as she realises that she's forgotten an important aspect of her transformation. She quickly claws her way over to where her buckler has been left, snatching it up and donning it as she turns around just in time to deflect the first of Rodrigo's stabs in her direction.

*TING*

"I don't suppose we -"

The dragonette struggles to get her words out as she backpedals to her feet under the barrage, deflecting attacks with her shield and sword while trying to protect her modesty with tactical positioning of her tail and elbows.

*TING TING TING*

"- could have a bit of a -"

*TING TING TING THKK*

One of the strikes manages to jab past her guard, striking her in the outer thigh.

"- o-ow! -"

*TING TING THKK*

Another blow lands, this time to her side.

"- a-a bit of a breather...?"

*TING TING*

"Well, I'm having one," Tanwen says woozily before sucking in oxygen, her cheeks puffing and chest swelling. Then, she exhales - spraying superheated air past her shield and sword like a flamethrower in an attempt to circumvent Rodrigo's rapier's reach. The effort will see her fainting from it within a few seconds, the dragon-girl collapsing backward onto her bottom before lolling onto her side, blood trickling from her many wounds.

"I think I am done this time, like," she admits as her body strains to rise before relaxing.

COMBATSYS: Tanwen can no longer fight.

[                         \\\\\  <
Rodrigo          0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Rodrigo instinctively dodges Tanwen's Dragon Breath EX.

[                         \\\\\  <
Rodrigo          0/-------/-------|

[RODRIGO]
Rodrigo's instincts tell him to get the hell out of there. The duelist doesn't just dodge, he leaps backwards and to the side as superheated air rushes towards him. It is only thanks to his footwork that he manages to get out it with nothing more than an intense perspiration problem.

To Rodrigo's credit, and the intense rage of his fanbase, Rodrigo moves to preserve what little is left of her dignity by covering her form with his red cape before turning to the medical staff and saying, "Once she has clothes on her again, I'll come by to pick up my cape."

As he rises from covering Tanwen, Rodrigo feels the hairs on the back of his neck stand up and that's when he hears one of his fans scream, "HE LET THAT SKANK GET HIS CAPE!?!?!?"

Three words run through his head. 'Ay. Dios. Mio.'

That's when all hell breaks loose and Rodrigo starts instinctively dodging the trash traveling towards Tanwen mainly due to being too close to the target area. A contingent of his fans start rushing the ring and security barely manage to hold them back enough to allow the fighters to get out of the ring.

COMBATSYS: Rodrigo takes no action.

[                         \\\\\  <
Rodrigo          0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Rodrigo has ended the fight here.

Log created on 09:52:52 04/02/2024 by Rodrigo, and last modified on 07:58:45 04/05/2024.