Match of the Millennium

Description: Odzine arrives on the island of Circe late at night feeling in desperate need of a good feed. Seeing Circe's impressive estate, she starts to make her way towards it, but spots a stag on the way. Unable to resist her needs any longer, she moves to attack the creature, intent on draining his blood!

[ZARINE]
The full moon shines brightly in the sky, a few clouds scudding across it, casting dark shadows into the night. The gentle waves lap against the shorelibe as Zarine, in her guise of Odzine, wanders the sands. Once more, she's dressed the part. Well, her best guess, anyway. She's wearing a short tunic-toga-dress-thing that falls to midthigh. It, of course, is black, fastened with silver brooches. Sandals are on her feet, the straps wrapping up her calves. Her sword is nowhere to be seen, but that means nothing.

The vampire meanders in the sand, wandering. Hunting. She knows she's here to fight Buck, but what he will be like, -look- like, she doesn't know. She sniffs the air, trying to see if she can smell him hiding somewhere.

COMBATSYS: Buck has started a fight here.

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Buck             0/-------/------=|

COMBATSYS: Zarine has joined the fight here.

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Zarine           0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0             Buck

[BUCK]
Buck is enjoying the evening coolness on the sea. Despite the time of year, it's likely still warm enough that a late evening swim wasn't completely out of the question, especially for someone with Buck's peculiar talents. So with the sea water clinging to him and slowly drying in the night air, there's probably the tang of sea and salt covering most of his scent. Most. Not all.

He's also supposed to be playing the part of a stag, and he's "dressed" for the occasion in a pair of brown shorts with a pair of majestic antlers sprouting from his head. Those are more likely to give him away as they silhouette against the night sky, even as he reclines back on the sand enjoying the night breeze.

He as well turns his face towards the sky for a moment, scenting the breeze, then his eyes turn in the direction of Zarine strolling down the beach, his eyes seeming to flash with green light for a moment as he turns his attention towards her. It might be spooky, if it wasn't Buck with his usual dopey and playful grin spreading across his face at the sight of his opponent.

He climbs to his feet, bending over to brush some of the sand off his legs before straightening up and stretching his arms behind him, antlers a pointy shadow against the moon. "So, I'm supposed to block your way, then?" He asks with no little humor in his voice. He at least tries to give some thought to his assigned parts, even if he thinks its kind of silly.

Dropping his arms, he smiles to Zarine and nods, and indication that he's ready to go whenever or just a greeting? It's not completely clear, but he stands in the sand staring at his opponent with an easy air of relaxation.

[ZARINE]
Zarine moves silent through the night, stopping a little short when she catches sight of Buck, antlers and all. She regards him for a long, silent moment before she extends her left hand to the side. A lick of black fire flares, and her sheathed sword appears in it.

"Noble stag," she intones. "My thirst is endless, and your sacrifice shall slake it for a time."

She draws her blade, lifting it in a salute before shifting it to the ready. "The hunt begins." Her feet spray sand as she launches herself at the shapeshifter, her short toga/tunic/dress fluttering in a way that will surely make the internet happy. The tip of her blade glints as it flicks out, a testing swipe towards Buck.

COMBATSYS: Buck blocks Zarine's Black Planet.

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Zarine           0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0             Buck

[BUCK]
A small chuckle comes from Buck as Zarine utters her line. He retorts with a much less poetic. "You'll have to kill me first." Well, he's playing the part of an animal, they don't usually care about being poetic. The suddenness of her attack though, that's not something he usually expects from his opponents.

Still, he manages to react in time, reaching out with his hand to slap away the blade as it makes a slice towards him. He ignores the cut it does manage to score along his hand.

He reaches out with his open palm again, thrusting it towards Zarine, fine but strong webbing sticking to her should he make contact. A few more quick palm strikes come in quick succession, each one trying to bind her up in more of the silken spiderweb.

COMBATSYS: Zarine blocks Buck's Spin Doctor.

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Zarine           0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0             Buck

[ZARINE]
The Vampire's lips twitch upwards slightly as she flourishes her blade, making space after his successful block. Chip damage is better than no damage. Red eyes gleam in the moonlight at his words, her smile becoming suddenly ... fang-y. "As you wish, beast of prey."

Then he's ... shooting webs at her? Her blade moves like water as she dances through the webs, slicing them away as they get close, focusing on not getting tangled up. This, of course, leaves her open to get punched. Luckily for her, she's aware enough to see him coming, and she moves, taking the blow fully on her shoulder rather than anywhere tender. It spins her around, toga-dress flaring as she catches her feet.

"Interesting," she says with a squint. "Very interesting."

She runs her hand along the flat of her blade, and it ignites in black fire. For an instant, her eyes seem to glow, and then she moves. She blitzes Buck, swinging her sword in what seems to be a haphazard way. Graceful, but not striking at her opponent. The truth becomes evident when she dashes backwards on the sand and makes a mystical gesture with her free hand.

All of the glittering trails left by the swings of her sword seem to solidify and converge in a series of razor, entagling ribbons. With luck, Buck is in the middle of them.

COMBATSYS: Buck blocks Zarine's Ribbons.

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Zarine           0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0             Buck

[BUCK]
Buck grins, even as his webbing attempt fails. He's not sure if Zarine has watched any of his matches, but he knows his particular brand of combat isn't the easiest to follow. Still even as prey that smile of his is a little too warm and friendly for the act they should be trying to put on.

"Always fun to fight a sword user." He states, shifting his feet in the sand as he waits for Zarine's next move. Not that he has to wait long, that black fire doesn't look like something he wants to tangle too closely with, even as she doesn't approach him. Luckily, he catches on before it's too late. He launches himself forward, trying to get out of the way of the ribbons at the same time he twists about, seeming to pull a cloak of feathers out of nowhere and wrap it around himself. The plumage giving him some extra protection as he burst his way through the ribbons.

Free of the attack, he spreads out his arms, the source of the feathers as they've come to resemble something more akin to wings, he uses the appendages to help carry him forward, still spinning slightly in the air.

He aims to head right by Zarine, his foot coming around in a spinning kick aimed to try to slam into her side as he attempts to slip past her with his forward momentum.

COMBATSYS: Buck successfully hits Zarine with Wingman ES.

[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Zarine           0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0             Buck

[ZARINE]
Zarine has never fought a shapeshifter before. As he evades her mystical ribbons, she frowns, her eyes glowing faintly as she squints. She's sudenly aware that he will be hard to predict. Hard to react to. He comes spinning through the dregs of her magic. She tries to juke, but her foot slips in the sand, making her stumble right into the path of the spinkick. One thing Buck will notice is that Zarine is very light. She goes flying in a swirl of white hair and black tunic to land facefirst in the sand. Her sword spirals from her hand, embedding into the sand tip first.

She's still for a moment, more out of embarrassment than anything else. Then, simply, she dissolves into mist, sinking into the sand. The beach is empty save for the waves and Buck for what feels like a full minute. It doesn't last, though.

Out of sight, the mist rises from the sand, coalescing into Zarine. Her sword quivers and flings out of the sand, shooting through the air to slap into her palm. When it does, it ignites in black fire. She skims across the sand at full speed, the hilt held in both hands as she strikes out of stealth and with great physical power.

COMBATSYS: Zarine successfully hits Buck with Sunless.

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Zarine           0/-------/---====|=======\-------\1             Buck

[BUCK]
Buck lands in the sand, he's not the most graceful individual, but wings do a lot to help cover that, the edges of the feathers trailing swirls in the sand. He turns back to face Zarine just as she disappears.

"Well, that's a handy trick." He mutters, feathers sinking back into his skin as the wings reform into arms, his fingers flexing once they reform.

He's sniffing at the air again, turning around in place. Darkness is not something that has been a bother to him for a couple years now, but she's not just hiding in shadow. Time might be a problem though. His wounds seem to be closing too quick, the blood that should be running from the few cuts he has already staunched.

Once she reappears, he's too slow to react, avoiding taking the sword strike to anything to vital, instead taking a gash across the muscle of his chest which wells with blood, the sharp metallic scent filling the air.

Letting out a bestial growl, he swing his head in the direction the attack came from, sharp antlers scything through the air, the multitude of points each a dagger seeking out a target, or warding his attacker off.

COMBATSYS: Zarine interrupts Bullheaded from Buck with This Corrosion.

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Zarine           1/-------/=======|=======\=====--\1             Buck

[ZARINE]
"I am full of tricks," Zarine says with a smirk. "Like hearing beyond mortal ken." Back upright and whole, she makes ready, eyes shining with an almost predatory glee. She's holding her own. Given the fact that Buck started in the first tournament far earlier than she did, she can't help but be pleased. Plus there's the part where she's inwardly wondering what his blood tastes like.

You can't blame a girl for that.

Given their now close proximity, Buck swings his razor antlers towards her. Time seems to slow for her as she makes a decision. She considers darting out of the way or deflecting the terrible points. She does neither.

Instead, her blade erupts in black flames, and she lunges in at the assault. Antlers pierce her, blood not welling from the wounds at all, and she counterstrikes. The long, thin blade is drawn up, using the proximity and slight hold the anylers have keeping them together to her advantage, slashing the mystically enhanced blade in a narrow sweep upwards, using her motion to wrench backwards, freeing herself from the tines.

The wounds are grotesque punctures. Ugly things that would be pouring blood in anyone else. In Zarine's case they are just gaping holes. Then they start to close, the power of her blood forcing the wounds to knit together in real time. It's honestly uglier than the wounds. It's inhuman.

[BUCK]
Some might call this a battle of monsters. Since neither seems to be all that comfortable to witness up close. The blade cuts into him, and he doesn't stop. Making a cross with the other slash along his torso, even if the first one looks to be a day or so old by now, the edges starting to stitch together.

He pulls back his crown of antlers, shaking his head slightly before refocusing on Zarine. "Slippery, but I'm starting to get used to that." He replies with a smile that someone a sliced up as him really shouldn't be producing with such ease, but that's Buck. When he stops smiling is the time to worry about him.

But he also doesn't back off. Being in close quarters with his opponent seems to be his comfort zone, so instead he steps into the space between them, swinging a quick left-right combo with brawling hardened knuckles.

COMBATSYS: Zarine blocks Buck's Medium Punch.

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Zarine           1/------=/=======|=======\=====--\1             Buck

[ZARINE]
The Vampire flicks her blade, tongues of black fire dancing along the gleaming weapon. She readies herself, her expression haughty, but she can feel the fatigue setting in. The deep, cold ache of hunger starting to gnaw in her belly. She can't focus on it now, though. She has to fight.

Buck comes in swinging, and the vampire sets her feet, slipping her blade into an inverted grip and crosses her arms. She manages to not take any heavy blows to her body, but she still felt it. She backdashes through the sand, spraying some in her wake. Red eyes regard Buck warily as she decides her next move. "What -are- you? Such powers...You aren't fully human, are you?" Is she using words to try and throw him off? Maybe.

For a moment, she's as still as death. In the next, she jams her blade into the sand and launches herself at Buck. She goes for a tackle, hands reaching to push against the dangerous antlers. At the same time, her fangs extend, and she lunges in silently to bite. To feed. To replenish herself like a predator.

COMBATSYS: Buck blocks Zarine's We Hunger.

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Zarine           0/-------/-------|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\1             Buck

[BUCK]
"I'm human, I just have some special tricks." Buck says with a mild grin, which flickers a little as he thinks. "Not that I have anything against people who aren't human. All I care about is having a fun fight." He even sounds cheery saying it.

As Zarine lunges for him he puts the forest of horns between himself and her bite, even bringing up his hands to ward her off. She gets a taste, likely of one of his arms, but he tears himself away before she can get the meal she was likely hoping for. "Ah, venison isn't on the menu yet." He quips, as his antlers seem to twist on his head, still multi-pronged but the curve and sharpen into something almost primal as smoke begins to drift out from his mouth.

Scales cover his face as his mouth and nose push out into a reptilian snout that makes his easy grin into a predatory smirk. "You need to cook it first." He says in a gravelly tone as his mouth opens to display rows of razor sharp teeth and something glowing softly at the back of his throat.

There's a click, like someone turning on a gas stove.

In a roaring WHOOSH, flames pour out of his mouth, lighting up the night time beach to near noon in a brilliant display of oral pyrotechnics.

COMBATSYS: Buck successfully hits Zarine with Burn Out ES.

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Zarine           0/-------/-======|>>>>---\-------\0             Buck

[ZARINE]
This did not work. She is coming up short. She bites, but gets no more than a trickle. The antlers fend her off, and her frustration mounts. As Buck fends her back, she stumbles, watching his face go reptilian. She sneers, her frustration rising, making her bitter. Making her mean.

"No. You're as much of a monster as I---"

She doesn't get the chance to finish. The flames erupt, and she catches fire like dry leaves. Like flash paper. It hits her harder than even Buck probably expected. What would singe and injure a human has turned her into a walking inferno. She howls in a mixture of fury and agony, mindless from the pain. Her fetching toga is reduced to ash as she burns, and the flaming vampire manages to realize the source of her pain. It's Buck. So he will pay in pain.

She lunges, her hands flaming claws, her face a burning rictus, skin burned to muscle, all of that luxurious, silken hair evaporated. She is only what she is now. A burning, raging corpse. She lunges, raking her enflamed claws at the 'mere human', digging for blood. Striking to hurt. Possibly, in this mindless moment, to kill.

She will feel no shame later. This is his fault.

COMBATSYS: Zarine successfully hits Buck with The Spider's Strategem.

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Zarine           0/-------/=======|>>>>>>>\>------\1             Buck

[BUCK]
Although his antlers retain their twisted draconian look, Buck's face returns to normal, though it's with the slight sounds of cracking bone and tearing muscle. It's likely not heard over the sound of the crackling flames. For a moment he looks worried. The flaming chi normally didn't produce that much of an effect. "Hey, are you alr.." He starts, actually sounding concerned.

Which quickly turns into a shout of "Ahg! Heck!" as he's forced to backpedal a few steps as the flaming corpse comes rushing at him. That was not what he was expecting and it catches him off guard, letting Zarine tear into him for a few precious moments before he can regain his composure. At least some of it.

Once more the beach begins to light up, though it's not the hot glow of flames, instead this time it's the cool blue light of bioelectric sparks in the darkness rushing up and down his arm.

He swings out to ward of the furious vampire with the electrified fist, the sparks bursting into a full on electric jolt at the apex of his swing.

COMBATSYS: Zarine dodges Buck's Shock & Awe.

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Zarine           0/-------/=======|===----\-------\0             Buck

[ZARINE]
Zarine is frenzied. The red fear and the fury of a predator in absolute agony are unleashed. She moves like no one has seen her. Like she's in full control of her centuries old power. The agonized rage and terror ironically making her nearly as powerful as her peak of centuries ago.

Buck swings in, fists crackling, and she simply isn't there. She moves in a flaming blur, strafing around his swing. The fire seems to be dying, the moist ocean air and stray spray from the waves dampening it down. It, however, makes her more terrifying. Showing her true nature as a walking corpse. Try and hide it now, NFG. Try to deny the truth.

She lunges again, clawed hands scything at Buck with no shred of human mercy. Fueled by lizard brain terror and towering, supernatural rage. Even though the fire is dying, will she survive this? Will she live after?

Probably.

COMBATSYS: Buck dodges Zarine's Blood Money.

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Zarine           1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0             Buck

[BUCK]
%Sure a frenzied opponent can be a terrifying thing, but if you can keep your head, they're usually far less menacing than they seem. Buck's been there when someone's messed with his head. The urge to attack without thinking is strong. He centers himself for a moment, and as Zarine comes charging at him, he moves to the side, sand spraying around his feet as he dodges.

His eyes glint green once more as he traces her movements, licking his lips as he tries to plan things out. He needs to keep her at a distance, he can feel his stamina draining to the point of exhaustion.

He inhales sharply, his cheeks puffing outwards, though not as much from the inhaled air as from some more quick changes to his body, scales appearing around his mouth and nose once more. There might be a worry another jet of flame is about to come from him.

Instead he opens his mouth to reveal a pair of snake fangs. Then with a susurrant hiss he spits a trio of venom globs towards Zarine, softly glowing from the chi keeping them together and hopefully on course.

COMBATSYS: Buck successfully hits Zarine with Spit Take.

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Zarine           1/----===/=======|===----\-------\0             Buck

[ZARINE]
The venom comes in, and it has a couple effects. One, it does as it's intended, harming her and making her disoriented. Two, it finally extinguishes the flames. This means she's no longer a flaming corpse. She's still a charred, Anakin Skywalker looking corpse, though. And she's still moving. Somehow. Call it magic, reflex or some kind of terrible iron will. She's still moving.

She flexes her charred, ruined arms, and ichorous blood begins to flow and bubble. It spirals into a pair of spheres in her ruined hands. When those hands flex, the orbs extend and distort into a pair of vaguely crystalline blades. With a roaring hiss, she moves once more. Even as she moves, the blades are starting to flake, the power not enough to keep them cohesive.

She lunges, still almost seeming to blur as the blades whirl and strike, each swing disintigrating them more until they crumble to nothing.

Then the walking corpse collapses into the sand, inert. Possibly truly dead, though it's far more likely she's just in Vampire Nap mode. She'll be fine.

Unhappy, but fine.

COMBATSYS: Zarine can no longer fight.

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

COMBATSYS: Buck dodges Zarine's Sisters of Mercy.

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

[BUCK]
Buck crouches in the sand as the scales once more fade from his face, still tracing Zarine's movements with those cat like eyes. Or knowing him, there's no cat-like about it. Learning to use his abilities for more than just attacks has been a long journey.

As she comes to face him again, his legs pop with muscle, his feet growing larger and splaying oddly in the sand. Then as she attacks he springs backwards, catching air that might make some basketball players envious as he springs off those lapine feet.

But his grin is gone, if anything he looks concerned and worried, and not for himself.

He lands back on the beach in a spray of sand, holding position until it's clear she's not getting back to her feet.

"MEDIC!" He hollars off to the darkness where the support crew are no doubt lurking with their cameras. He doesn't rush forward to check on the napping vampire. But it's clear he's disturbed by how much damage his flames seemed to have done. At least someone has probably given him something to have a nightmare about for once.

He slowly stands back up, waving off any attention they try to give him as he instead walks over to a rocky prominence on the sand and takes a seat to catch his breath.

COMBATSYS: Buck has ended the fight here.

Log created on 21:10:44 04/04/2024 by Zarine, and last modified on 11:18:37 04/15/2024.