Match of the Millennium

Description: In a special from the Midnight Channel, the oni Riki makes her debut, facing off against sometime-hostess and necromantic maven Echo Lacroix in the city of the dead in New Orleans! Will brute force or mystical might win the night? Tune in late to watch it live!

[RIKI]
Despite having set foot beyond the bounds of Japanese soil for the very first time in her many centuries of existence, Riki can't help but feel a strange sense of familiarity. While not quite the same as the ancient burial mounds of the Buddhist age of yore, the towering mausoleums of the American cemetery are strikingly similar. Hewn from mighty slabs of marble and granite, time seems to have done little to mar the resting places of the dead, a testament to both the craftsmanship of their construction and the care that has gone into their upkeep.

With hours yet to go before the appointed time for her contest, the ogreress lumbers quietly among the rows of those long past in a mood of rare introspection. It is unusual for her thoughts to drift towards any serious subject for long, the ancient brute seemingly as adverse to meaningful contemplation as she is physical labor, but from time to time something manages to stir the oni from her indolence. Today, it seems, is one of those days.

Perhaps, she thinks, it is a bit of home-sickness that leaves her feeling so out of sorts. As a dedicated servant of the great Lord Enma-O, ruler of the Underworld, she finds herself strangely wistful for the touch of the spirit realm upon her skin. Unlike the descriptions of the Christian 'Hell', a place of fire and blood by all accounts, the realm of Jigoku is cold and devoid of life. With the sun already beginning to dip below the horizon, the overcast of dark stormy clouds and the bite of the cold musty air can't help but remind her a little of home.

From time to time, small groups of humans can be heard as she wanders the maze of graves. The oni does her best not to disturb those who have come to mourn, though her size does make that something of an issue. The vast expanse of the cemetary is laid out much like a small city with dozens of mausoleums lined up like miniature houses along straight dirt roads. With space coming at a premium, many of the gaps between rows are only barely wide enough to accommodate her passage, leading to a few awkward encounters that require her to turn and backtrack quite a ways to give way to the smaller visitors.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, her presence proves rather unwelcome by and large. A massive red-horned demon wandering among the dead certainly sounds like the sort of thing that would give mortals a cause for concern. Most people simply glower and gawk but more than a few of those she passes turn deathly pale and flee as if the reaper itself has come to drag them down to their ancestors.

She sighs loudly after the third such incident. Next time, she's choosing the venue.

Fortunately, this 'Midnight Channel' must have prepared ahead of time as none of the fleeing visitors return with local enforcers to drive her away. Still, she can't help but wonder at the wisdom of holding a martial contest in such a place. It seems all but inevitable that damage will be dealt to these ancient fixtures in a clash of arms. The ruined remains of the arena after her last fight came to its dramatic conclusion come to mind. Hopefully there's some kind of arena that's been set aside that isn't smack in the middle of a hundred graves.

[ECHO]
People say funerals and graveyards are for the dead--they're not, actually, they're much more for the living. That doesn't mean Echo Lacroix doesn't put any respect into these sorts of places. In the past she might have actually seen them as a source of good grave dirt--which was a powerful ingredient in many sorts of magics most foul, as they say. But not anymore.

And there are no cops to give Riki and her any issue tonight--though that also is somewhat easy to see by all the midnight channel crew that have been about... right now it's just her and the bat--who is standing not far away, stepping into view from behind a large above ground tomb, flanked by stonework statues of small cherubs. Echo's appearance is decidedly /not/ angelic, as she's a bat-like makai person, and all--not that most of the humans here don't see her as anything other than an unusually pale lady. Riki is not human, nor have they allowed their imaginations to atrophy, so she'd be able to see Echo for what she is.

The black boots she's slipped on for this crunch softly against the path, only going to about her shins where they disappear into the skirts of her long black dress--there's the white fur, long black hair, white wings folded against her back--Riki would know what she is when she first saw her.

"I admit, when they said I'd be fighting an 'ogress' I didn't think they meant literally..." Echo offered with an incline of her head and a light smile, hands jutting out to crack the knuckles of her fingers and stretch a little bit, her long red tapering nails glinting. "We will do our best to play well in this hallowed place, I hope," she tilted her head lightly in Riki's direction, while still gesturing with a hand in a light 'lets go' gesture.


                                  >  //////////////////////////////]
                                  |-------\-------\0             Echo

[RIKI]
Time passes slowly as Riki explores the cemetery, her plodding steps carrying the oni in a long circuitous path through the stone city of the dead. She becomes lost in thought and nostalgia in the way only an immortal who has lived many lifetimes can, memory of ages lost past drawing her into a bubble of reality that cuts off almost all sensory experience beyond its narrow borders. Only when the obnoxiously loud beep of her cellphone's alarm cries out does she finally snap back to present. Reaching into the folds of her clothing, she withdraws the device, comically tiny in her massive hands, and notes that the time has come.

Fortunately, her height comes in handy now, allowing her to peer over the canopy of marble tombs to locate the source of greatest activity. While a cemetery of such size is sure to have many daily visitors, she doubts many of them arrive with camera crews. Locating the Midnight Channel's chosen spot thus proves rather simple.

A path through the controlled chaos opens up for her as various technicians and officials clear the way for the towering ogre, their deference motivated by practicality rather than fear. Judging from what she's learned of this strange organization she is hardly the first supernatural being to participate in such contests. This supposition is quickly supported by the appearance of the one who will stand in challenge to her this eve.

Riki eyes the bat-like creature as speaks, coming to a slow stop at the edge of a modest patch of land devoid of tomb or crypt. It's the obvious place to have a fight, being basically the only spot she's encountered that isn't a claustrophobic alleyway between mausoleums. Even so, the space is rather limited, especially considering her size. It will be a real challenge to avoid damaging any of the graves.

As for Echo herself, the creature all but reeks of the foul energy of Makai. Even if she had somehow been unable to pierce the glamour that she wears to fool the eyes of mortals the smell would have given her away. The oni's nostrils flare slightly as she snorts with obvious disdain at the cordial bow, clearly less charmed at their first meeting than her foe.

"Tis passing strange that a komori would involve itself in martial contest. Thy kind has always moved among the shadows, making mischief and misfortune." The ogre's gaze sweeps across the bat from top to bottom, noting her attire with a quirked eyebrow. "Tis yet more strange that you plan to fight in... that."

Commenting on Echo's choice of battle suit is treading on shaky ground, what with her own fight against the cat-man Braun recently. Wearing that ridiculous school uniform hadn't been her own idea though and the results had been more or less what she anticipated, the fancy modern garments reduced to little more than tattered rags by the time the fight was concluded. Fortunately, there is no onus for modesty that she need abide by this time around. The fragile fuku has been done away with and the ogress is adorned in her far more appropriate demonic toga, a far less restrictive (and far less concealing) choice.

[ECHO]
The bat lady smiles a little with some raised eyebrows as she can definitely hear as well as notice Riki fumble with the cellphone, a little amused by it, it would seem.

"You did not put it on vibrate?" and she made a playful scolding clucking of her tongue, before stepping into what would be a decent distance away from Riki, tilting her head.

"Are you not also wearing a dress, my good Ogress?" Echo raised another brow there. "Bit short and in need of some repair, I might add, but," she shrugged, clicking a heel of her leather knee high boot against one of the stones. "These /are/ generally all I need to do messy work in," she spread her arms a little, as if she was addressing a crowd, which in this case she was. The dead were all around her, and while it seemed a bit poor-taste to address them all while they were sleeping here rightfully, well... they /had/ chosen this as an arena on purpose. There was a sense of flair about it, to them. To her, it was a little droll, but she could see why.

The strange cheap showmanship that she had learned to try and be a part of on Earth however had amused her less nowadays however, if humans wanted to supernatural things then she would show them.

"Drowned by the ocean, shot by his own son..." her arms spread, her wings unfurled and she continued to chant, the wind from no place in particular beginnign to buffet her skirts and wings. "She put the poison in his tea... and kissed him goodbye," calling familiar, if not friendly spirits to her air, her long black hair whipped around her white-furred head, making her look like a madwoman. Cameras wouldn't pick up any visions of ghosts or spectres, but they would pick up the sudden gusting of wind--which perhaps was good enough.

"I suppose it'll be a test between me and my friends and your brawn, Ogress," Echo nodded, raising her voice just a bit to rise above the din of the rushing air.

[RIKI]
The commentary about her phone goes completely over the oni's head, her grasp of modern technology akin that of... well, someone born almost a thousand years ago. That she can use it at all is a testament to the perseverance of the young priests at Ayame's temple who took it upon themselves to enlighten the poor ogre as to the wonders of convenient communication. And Ayame promptly took it upon herself to ensure that Riki was aware of the alarm function, thus depriving her of any excuse for failing to remember prior engagements. Like doing her share of the chores.

Fortunately, being on the other side of the world is, in fact, a valid excuse for ducking out of such responsibilities, though only just, judging by the amount of grumbling she received. No doubt her patron will be watching this event via its live broadcast, if only to usher her back to Japan post-haste once it has concluded. The wonders of modern technology indeed.

As for the matter at hand, however, the bat draws an even bigger scowl out of the oni upon having her attire classified as a 'dress' - and a shabby one at that. Riki sputters with indignation at the very notion, tiny tongues of hellfire flaring out of her nose.

"A dress?! Now see here, you little rodent...!"

Her protestation is cut short as Echo delves into the realm of theatrics followed swiftly by stirring up the realm of the dead. All thoughts of her wardrobe are cast aside as Riki listens to the strange chant, her eyes going wide as the recitation begins to stir the air. She turns in a slow circle, gaze sweeping out across the graves as if she can see the very spirits themselves as they are drawn to the necromancer. When she finally turns back to face the bat-demon, the oni's eyes are ablaze with scarlet flame and righteous outrage.

"You... you would dare disturb the dead for... for a mere contest?!"

Memories of her first encounter with the denizens of this realm come flooding back to Riki's mind. The stench of death and decay as the vile onibaba Eadni unleashed her unholy magics upon the sacred mount, calling long dead warriors from their well deserved rest to use as pawns against the divine guardian. It was sacrilege the likes of which she had only experienced once before when the damned hellspawn known as Scorpion had burnt her temple to ashes. The witch had been intent on corrupting that holy soil for motives most foul. That she would now find herself pitted against someone who so casually called upon those dark forces for mere sport very nearly drives the ogre into a blind rage.

Bellowing with wordless fury that drowns out both Echo and her unnatural wind, the titan thunders forward in a wild rush, all pretense of control or restraint flying out the proverbial window. She crosses the short gap between herself and the necromancer in the spans of a few lunging steps, one massive hand reaching out to try and ensnare her fuzzy opponent in a crushing grip. Should she manage to take hold, Riki proceeds to do her best impression of the Hulk vs Loki, and slams the foul mage into the ground repeatedly with angry snarls.


[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Riki             0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0             Echo


[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Riki             0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0             Echo

[ECHO]
It would appear Echo's comment on the oni's attire had struck a nerve. To be fair, a toga was /sort of/ like a dress, at least in her own reckoning, but clearly the oni didn't see it that way. Echo is already summoning some of her own ghostly familiars to her side, which the oni may or may not be able to see depending on her own sensitivity to such things. Lord knows she'll see them soon enough.

"There IS a reason why this variety of sorcery is reviled, dear," Echo replies with a tilt of her head. "One can harness their energy for a debased kind of act like this--or focus their pain, their sadness, their anger--into something else," alread,y however, Riki is crossing the distance between them in seconds--and grappling with the sorceress--who however manages to avoid getting smacked against the ground like a shovel by raising a hand back--which is now wreathed in cursed chi energies--trying to plant it against Riki's shoulder or anywhere on their skin really. Getting within touch-attack range on a necromancer is not always the best idea.


[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Riki             0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0             Echo

[RIKI]
Unbeknownst to most, there are actually quite a few variety of oni. The most familiar to the modern world would be those portrayed in pop culture, monstrous brutes that exist solely to rampage and destroy. But on occasion, oni manage to rise above such base origins and earn themselves a place among the echelons of the kami. In Riki's case, she serves the great lord Enma-O, master of the underworld and judge of the damned. Barring another necromancer such as herself, there is probably no one alive as qualified to tackle her particular brand of magic.

The gathering spirits, as dangerous as they might be, do not slow the ogre's approach in the slightest. If anything, her fury only seems to intensify upon seeing these poor souls wrenched from their rightful slumber to be used as parlour tricks by some side-show circus freak.

Bloody komori. More capricious than kitsune and half as sane, in her experience.

The giant's massive hand finds purchase in the fuzzy flesh of her foe but Echo's reaction proves swift enough to avoid the fate that was planned for her. The foul magicks that surround her hand make contact with the bulging muscle of Riki's shoulder, crackling angrily as it contends with the supernatural power of the oni's spirit.

However, rather than be driven back by the wicked energies, Riki merely grits her teeth and powers through the pain. Scarlet red fire flares in her eyes as she lowers her shoulder and bellows in challenge, hurling herself into Echo's tiny frame like a professional linebacker bull-rushing a toddler. Should she fail to avoid the tackle, the bat-woman is swept up on the oni's shoulder and carried across the small arena only to be smashed against the side of one of the massive mausoleums, putting her between a literal rock and a hard place.


[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Riki             0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0             Echo

[ECHO]
The bat woman's eyes are wide and darting as her hand claps against Riki's--her body in self-preservation mode of sorts as she realizes the Oni is not holding back, Midnight Channel or no--and she's running on instinct in return. She grins wide as she sees them suffuse into her attack, managing to wriggle out of the hold soon after--getting to her feet only as Riki comes right back at her.

White wings spreading around her, she is lifted into the air just as the ogress comes barreling down on her, which would have indeed run her over. On the tape it probably looks like a decidedly much more human-looking lady in that black dress just did a gainer or flipped over Riki's shoulder, but that's not quite what happens in reality. Well, whatever passed for it.

Black boots clack as Echo lands behind her, turning with those wings folding behind her back, bringing up one of her feet to bring her right boot up and send it crashing into Riki's (likely very chiseled) mid-section in a kind of straight kick. The ogress probably would be a lot less hurt by this than Echo herself, admittedly.


[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Riki             0/-------/-======|>>>>>>>\-------\0             Echo

[RIKI]
To the oni's credit, her failed tackle does not result in a trail of wanton destruction as she plows recklessly into the cemetery proper. Perhaps anticipating the possibility that her winged foe would possess the agility necessary to escape such a close range assault, the titan thunders forwards only two steps before her sandal clad foot turns sideways and she leans into the skid, digging a small furrow into the soft earth as she grinds to a sudden halt.

With surprising speed for a body of that size, Riki hurls herself back in the opposite direction, accelerating rapidly into the necromancer even as she lifts one of her dainty boots to try and put a dent in the steel wall of the ogress's toned abs. The fuzzy white leg attached to said boot folds like a lawn chair against the brick wall that is the giant's midsection as she slams bodily into Echo, proving that this exchange will indeed be far less pleasant for the bat than her opponent.

But as unpleasant as being hit by the speeding train that is the demon proves to be, it is but only the start of the righteous smack down that she lays upon the foul enchantress. Grabbing hold of Echo's entire head in one of her massive mitts, Riki picks her up bodily and slams the komori into the ground skull-first, planting her head halfway into the loose soil. Drawing her arm back, she then proceeds to pummel the skinny witch with half a dozen heavy punches, even blow driving her further and further into the ground until her head and upper torso are completely buried beneath the earth.

"Thy wicked soul be judged, villain!"

With this proclamation, the oni lifts her fist to the heavens, which rumble with an ominous bellow of thunder despite the clear skies. A blazing flash of scarlet flame erupts around her upraised arm, brighter and more intense than usual, fueled by the wrath of both the guardian and her deity. A final brutal punch is driven downward, pushing through the layer of soil now covering Echo's half-buried form to deliver one last bash to the schnoz. But this punch proves to be extra spicy, as the crimson fires upon her arm shoot down into the earth and erupt with a violent near volcanic blast of angry hellfire.

The intensity of the eruption is such that it actually catches Riki by surprise. Even as she flinches away from the violent blast, the bat-woman is hurled skywards on a plume of red fire, her own soul briefly ablaze with the pain of every damned specter she has ever manipulated to her bidding.

[ECHO]
The bat lady cringed as the ogress reached out to grab her head, she put her hands up to stop it--but Riki was indeed stronger than her, leaving her dangling a bit as the larger female lifted her right up--and then slamming her to the stone and dirt floor of the cemetery, hard. Echo would have tried to turn and rise, but seh was instead assailed again, and again. Echo winds up halfway buried in the ground, apparently--before her legs swing and she slowly attempts to pull herself out. That is until the strike comes down /right through/ the ground to strike her again--which finally dislodges her from the earth, leaving her falling through the air and draped over a gravestone not far away, coughing out debris and shaking dirt from their hair and god knows where else.

"Well if that's how you want it--" the bat lady hopped down from the gravestone like death in the Goya painting, her face bloodied, partially from cutting her own lips and mouth on her teeth--now you know part of why she wears black--and raises her arms again--the wind gusting around her.

Now that Riki's cutscene of an attack is over, it is Echo's turn--her eyes flashing as the wind gusts even harder--her wings catching it and she is airborne again, sailingright toward Riki--trying to slash at her with her wingclaws and nails as she dive bombs her.


[      \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////          ]
Riki             1/-------/=======|>>>>>>>\-------\1             Echo

[RIKI]
The oni's lips peel back in a feral snarl at the bat's goading, flashing her own sharpened canines. This is indeed how she wants it! That someone would have the audacity to bind the dead to their will in the presence of a divine guardian of Jigoku is beyond foolish. Even if there hadn't been a fight scheduled to happen here today, one would have gone down regardless. But with the excuse of a contest to lean on, Riki isn't holding back at all. She's going to break this defiler in half for all to see so that everyone watching can learn the folly of engaging in such foul arts.

Once again, the colossal bulk of the ogress proves all but immune to the injury that Echo would inflict upon her. While her claws do draw blood, raking thin lines of red across the dense curves of her exposed skin, Riki treats these deadly slashes as little more than scratches.

With a growl, the oni pivots in place, whirling to track the fast-moving blur of the winged demon as she flies past. One of the ogre's massive fists snap out, swinging down from above in a smiting blow that attempts to smash the agile bat down into the dirt once more before she can flutter away to safety.


[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////          ]
Riki             1/-------/=======|>>>>>>>\>------\1             Echo

[ECHO]
Echo flies on by before doing a sharp turn and brings herself back around, her large wings opening like a parachute as she seems to be landing again--but the great wings flap, sounding like a large canvas flag being whipped by the wind. She is hovering just a foot or two off the ground, again--to the cameras this probably looks like wire-fu--but it's not. When Riki approaches her with that hammerblow, Echo simply raises a hand and it glows a sickly pale blue/green, what looks like a spectral glowing form of /something/ erupts from her hand as she points it at Riki--the bat's wings flapping as the hammerblow is avoided, for the time, those fists will have to wait before they can have more of Echo.

The glowing spectral /thing/ instead rushes toward Riki and will attempt to grab and force her back at high speeds into some of the aboveground mausoleums or gravestones!


[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////           ]
Riki             1/------=/=======|>>>>>>>\>>-----\1             Echo

[RIKI]
Too quick; A problem that the lumbering ogre often finds herself facing. While her strength is enough to shatter stone with a mere punch, such might is useless if it cannot find its mark. It is a lesson she learned early in her existence and one which was the downfall of many an oni who failed to heed it. Other, less experienced, oni might quickly grow frustrated when dealing with a slippery opponent such as this. But Riki knows better than to lose her cool so easily.

The ghostly construct that comes rushing at her gives the titan pause, if only for a few moments. Narrowing her eyes, she plants her feet in the soil and crouches slightly, preparing to absorb the impact of the charging formless thing. The energy slams into her guard like a wrecking ball but the impact barely seems to have any effect, failing to even scoot her massive form backwards as she withstands the blow. Snorting dismissively, the guardian smashes a fist through the spectral phantom, scattering its tenuous form into a quickly dissolving stain on the air.

"Phantoms of the dead will avail you not against a servant of the Underworld, dark one. Nor are you the only one capable of drawing strength from this place!"

Throwing her head back in a wordless roar, Riki's entire body seems to swell with a sudden surge of power. Already impressive muscles bulge with fresh vitality, scarlet flames dance with angry power behind her eyes, and the very air around her crackles and snaps with invisible power as she draws upon the hallowed energies of the cemetery to infuse her own spirit with a temporary shot of adrenaline!


[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////           ]
Riki             1/--=====/=======|>>>>>>>\>>-----\1             Echo

[ECHO]
The spectral form dissipates on contact with Riki's fist, Echo revealed still hovering in the air after it's gone, lowering her hand and tilting her head.

"Curious, since I've not even really petitioned their help yet... or well, many of them," Echo grinned again and shook her head. "Oh no, but now I'll do so--" as she sees Riki powering up and locking in, she raises her arms, elbows bent and palms flat towards the stars above, she begins a kind of wordless mantra--the wind billows her dress and hair around her--the shadows in the area beginning to move around her as shades leapt up from the ground. It was a bit perverse, the hollow-eyed black shapes of what were probably spirits looming up from the ground even as she hovered there with her dress billowing around her like Marilyn Monroe in the Seven Year Itch. It made what happened next even stranger.

"Let it be a gruesome death we treat each other to!" her voice rising, she brought her head back down and leveled her gaze, her eyes had taken on a blood red cast, but just for a moment.


[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Riki             1/--=====/=======|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\1             Echo

[RIKI]
It's almost like this damned bat is -trying- to piss her off now.

Her mortal body suffused with as much power as it can currently withstand, admittedly a pale shadow of what she would be capable of with her true form, Riki throws her arms wide and disperses the remainder of her lord's gift into the air. A powerful burst of wind howls through the narrow lanes of the cemetery, bowling over the entirety of the Midnight Channel crew with its ferocity whilst hardly stirring the flowers and offerings left behind by the countless family of the deceased.

While Echo's chants were most likely directed at the fell shades that she calls to her side rather than her opponent, the oni chooses to answer the necromancer's request with a menacing snarl.

"As you wish!"

Empowered by the spiritual energies that now swirl through the air, Riki charges forward in a reckless rush. The distance between the two demons vanishes astonishingly quickly, the oni's massive stride covering a dozen feet with every bound. The bat's moment of dramatic villain posing lasts only a brief few seconds before the giantess is upon her, those monstrous hands reaching out for her once again. This time the divine guardian's attack is far more simple than her showy display of force earlier. There are no fancy bursts of hellfire, nor a lengthy string of blows. She simply reaches out to take hold of the witch in both hands and squeeze, wringing her out like someone trying to get that last dollop of toothpaste out of an expended tube.


[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////          ]
Riki             1/---====/=======|>>>>>>>\>>>----\1             Echo

[ECHO]
As Riki reaches out to simply grasp and CRUSH Echo's windpipe there, she simply hovers back a half foot--blinking and pointing to the ground. Whatever chanting she performing there to call up her spirit familiars seems to be dissipated partially by the sudden reflexive illuding of that grab--the bat lady snarling and pointing at the ground as what looks like a weird RING of some kind of portal opens on the ground beneath them--another opening in the air many feet away.

"Disappear," she snapped her fingers along with that point, the ring becoming a portal--trying to suck Riki in and slingshot her out into the air towards the ground, several feet away!


[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////           ]
Riki             1/-======/=======|>>>>>>>\>>>>>--\1             Echo

[RIKI]
Once more the flighty bat proves just a moment too quick, abandoning her call to the dead in favor of preserving the integrity of her bones. A wise choice, if a frustrating one.

But oni are nothing if not stubbornly tenacious and her foe hasn't moved that far out of reach. Growling, Riki takes another step forward, hands reaching out for the necromancer once again only to find that the world has tilted sideways for some reason and the ground looks a great deal further away than it was a moment before. It takes a second or two for her to realize what has happened and when she does a look of angry indignation twists her face into a mask of outrage, more upset about being tricked than the impending impact with the hard ground below.

"Cursed witch...!"

Realizing that she has no way to stop her descent, the ogress instead turns this unexpected momentum to her advantage. Clenching one of her hands into a tight fist, the pale limb is once again engulfed in a blazing aura of scarlet flame. Golden mane flowing out behind her like the fiery trail of a comet, Riki whips her arm to the side, violently altering her trajectory so that the fall now puts her on a collision course with its architect.

With a furious snarl, the oni and her blazing fist plummet back to the earth, the former driving the latter down at Echo like a pile-bunker even as she hits the ground with bone-rattling force.


[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////             ]
Riki             1/-======/=======|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>-\1             Echo

[ECHO]
Echo was not expecting Riki to come out of the portal several feet away with her fists out like that, sailing right towards her--as strange as that sounds. She's able to bring her arms up to shield herself from the attack--but she was not able to get away from her this time. The bat lady is bounced back through the air--roughly jarred, but she seems to have been hit at a funny angle, pushed out of the way instead of getting struck solidly.

"So you CAN be harmed, hmph--" Echo realizes that Riki is still comparatively okay, especially next to herself--but that last trip from the portal towards the ground seems to have taken something from her.

Seizing upon their closeness, the bat woman pulls her wings back and drops in closer to the huge oni, bringing an arm back to swing it towards her, trying to literally lay a smack into the ogress. Probably not the best of ideas, but at least it'd make for good catfight kind of material for the cameras... If any of them were still intact after this bout.


[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////                 ]
Riki             1/-======/=======|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2             Echo

[RIKI]
Those who have never battled an oni before are oft surprised at their durability. Even when greviously wounded, the brutes are deadly, shrugging off blows that would lay low even the hardiest of men and unleashing a storm of vengeance upon those who are foolish enough to lower their guard for even a few moments. However, Riki has not yet even been properly blooded, the tiny claw marks having already long since healed. Even the calamitous fall from on high, one which would have rendered any normal woman into a mass of broken bones, hardly seems to have affected the demon at all.

As such, Echo's decision to try and strike a blow at her opponent's pride proves rather costly. With the dust having not even yet settled from her thunderous crash, Riki bellows a roar of stubborn challenge as she climbs to her feet, already starting to rush towards the bat even as she draws near.

Echo has mere moments to realize the error she's made before nearly one ton of angry ogre slams into her like a runaway train. Riki drops low at the moment of impact, scooping the witch up on her shoulder and carrying her several feet before skidding to a rapid halt. The foward momentum transfers to her opponent, however, and the bat is sent hurtling towards the side of a nearby mausoleum at speeds best described as 'unhealthy'.

"Harmed?" The titan snorts with genuine amusement, an eager grin spreading across her wide face. "Hah! Surely, thou jest? If this is the best that thee can conjure, necromancer, then perhaps I twas mistaken. For surely the dead aid thee out of pity, rather than the coercion of thy feeble sorcery!"

[ECHO]
Echo rears back for that strike--only to be collided with by the hundred of pounds of Oni which sends her sailing back, bounding off a headstone with a sickening crunch as what is probably a small rib giving away and she winds up tumbling along--the earth being churned up with her in the process, making that patch of the graveyard look more like a crater than a field of grass.

Echo was bristling with energy now, as hurt as she was, her wings flapping as she rose into the air, focusing it into a large ~dangerous~ and demonic looking portal above her, apparently intending to unleash it on Riki... When the unexpected happens.

"Wait a minute," she pauses, eyes widening a bit as she looks up at the spell she's been working on--and she has somehow botched it, causing it to suck /her/ in, instead.

"Uh oh," Echo's chi-fuelled energies and spell has gone awry--her flapping her wings and nails scrabbling at a nearby headstone like Dr. Facilier in Princess & the Frog as she's dragged howling up into the strange red sky'd portal. There is a strange booming noise, a howl from some unearthly creature--and then a rush of odors--something like burned hair, ozone, dust, and then nothing. There's just a scrap of black cloth from a dress clinging to a nearby tombstone, the only sign she was even there. Victory by botched spell?


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

[RIKI]
For all her concern to keep the graveyard from suffering undue damage, the oni can't help but grin at the path of destruction left in the wake of her battered opponent's unpleasant tumble. The heavy stone monuments prove to be made of sterner stuff than the bat resulting in little more than superficial damage to the grounds, while the necromancer ends up covered in more grass stains than a little league soccer team. A satisfying rebuke, but she's only getting started.

Rather than shy away as the demon-bat rises into the air, ready to unleash her tainted magicks in retribution, Riki seems even more eager to continue the fight. Few things in this world manage to motivate the lazy ogress to drag herself away from her indolence and vice - only two, in fact: booze and violence. And, while the necromancer certainly has spirits available, they aren't the kind that she's interested in.

Violence it is, then.

But, just as the two otherworldly beings seem set to clash in a colossal contest of raw power, something goes wrong. Riki's eyes narrow at first with wariness and then confusion as the komori's attempt to rip open a hole in reality proves to be her own undoing. The oni shields her face as howling winds tear at the ground around her, the gaping maw of the portal greedily gulping up its foolish progenitor in a display of ironic karma.

Riki stares at the empty space where the hell-portal once hovered in the air, blinking with a dumbfounded expression for several seconds. When her wits return, she cautiously lumbers over to the gravestone where Echo last stood and picks up the ruined scrap of her dress with two fingers. After are cursory examination, she determines it to be harmless, and tosses the small ragged bit of fabric at the chest of a nearby human official.

"Twould seem the contest is decided, mortal," she says with a long sigh. "An unexpected outcome but a welcome one. The fewer of her kind roaming this land, the better."

With no further cause to remain, Riki turns and begins to trudge towards the distant exit gates of the cemetery, her thoughts turning to the trip back home. Her size makes air travel all but impossible, save as cargo, but there is plenty of room aboard the vast ships that sail the seas. Perhaps this time she will stop and visit some of the other destinations along the way before making her way back to Japan.

Log created on 11:01:49 04/04/2025 by Riki, and last modified on 12:06:12 04/09/2025.