Description: Demoralized and searching for answers, Blanka roams Japan outside populated areas. is he a monster? Should he ever try to be around people again? Finding himself in a curiously tranquil and untouched glade, the Brazilian Beast has a most unusual encounter with someone who is well versed indeed on just what makes a monster in the darkness...
He'd been hiding for days; Blanka, the beastma--no. Blanka, the /Monster/. The Horror of the Jungle, the Beast from the .. South East? The normally jovial and easygoing green man is in a bad place, emotionally. It shows in the unkemptness of his hair, the strands matted with bits of twigs and leaves. It shows mostly in his eyes though, and the way that they waffle from listless to angry.
The changes occur pretty frequently, Blanka himself posed on the edge of a small pond, looking in now and again. One hand traces the features of his face on the pool, frustration showing every time his giant hand sends ripples through the otherwise still surface and sends his reflection askew. In the dim glowing of the fireflies that have decided to congregate, he can see enough of his twisted reflection to know what he is, and why he's here. Monsters don't get to be around real people. With what he tried to do in his last fight, he's convinced in what he is.
The only monster that exists.
Considering the state of the rest of Japan right now, this pond that Blanka has found must seem positively supernatural by comparison. Fuji's eruption has given an ash-grey pall -- literally -- to most of central Japan, day or night. The wildlife are scattered, people are staying in their homes, and everything feels cold and dark and stifling. Yet strangely, not here. Here, the breeze rustles softly through a perfectly clear evening, the clear and reflective waters of the pool lit by a disturbingly full moon above, one so close it feels like you could reach up and touch it with the tips of your fingers. Everything is silver and velvet blue punctuated by the pale green of fireflies, silent and calm.
Should it even BE a full moon right now, though?
And just to ratchet up the creeping sense of mystery, as Blanka stares contemplatively into the water, he may eventually notice a somewhat distant, lilting sound of a lady's laughter. More like a chuckle, really, rich with curious amusement. "You poor thing," comes a voice. From behind? Where?
Ah, right: from ABOVE.
Should the Green Machine look up, he is treated to a most peculiar sight indeed: a woman who, by 'traditional' standards, is practically the apex of human beauty. Tall (but not too tall), shapely (but not too thin or fat), amply curvy (but too curvy), with a long fall of pale seafoam-green hair. But the 'typical human' part stops there. From her head sprout two small, distinctive batwings... and the woman is sitting in midair on what appears to be a cloud of faintly-glowing bats. Legs crossed, as if it's the most natural, comfortable seat in the world. And she's gently lowering toward the scene.
"My poor bairn, you look positively lonely. And it's such a lovely night..."
To the left, to the right; even behind. Blanka turns in a circle, looking this way and that, at first not even thinking of 'person flying'. Eventually, though, his head cranes up as he flattens defensively against the ground, crouched down and golden eyes narrowing to almost slits. "Blanka better off /alone/." he says gruffly, emphasizing the last word with a huff.
Loathe to leave the tranquil place he's found, Blanka does show one lack of monster-ess-ness. He looks up at Morrigan and then towards the edge of the grove, towards the mess of what people have wrought that is the rest of the world. "Blanka not want leave.. but if your place, Blanka leave. Blanka monster, you safer with Blanka 'way."
One delicate eyebrow arches up at 'monster'. If facial hair could say 'oh really?', Morrigan Aensland's just did.
There's a pair of light *tap* sounds as the beauty touches down on the ground, standing and stretching languidly, her arms rising over her head. The bats she was sitting on suddenly swirl into motion, a tiny self-contained storm, surrounding her body until they reform, in a flutter of dark shapes, into two much larger wings matching those on her head, extending from her lower back and folding in, extending just behind her almost like a cape of some kind.
"Oh, it's not 'mine'," the woman says, and the Scottish accent becomes perceptible the more she talks. "Though it's not... 'theirs' either," she says with a faint smile, gesturing outside the grove with one pale hand. "Let's say this is a place that only a certain kind of person can find. That you're here at all is proof that you're welcome, my lad."
And then the woman walks closer to Blanka. Slowly; her steps are confident, but cautious, her hips moving side to side with each forward movement. The woman's eyes, though... those are locked on Blanka's face, studying him carefully even if he doesn't return her gaze.
"You're... quite interesting, aren't you? I do love interesting people, and believe me, I'm more than capable of taking care of myself..."
Blanka can't help but look now and again; the woman's eyes seem to demand it. It's odd to him, and a conflicting set of emotions push at the overwhelming weariness that being a full time mopey monster can bring on. He stops retreating when she speaks, the cold angry pit in his stomach being assauged by the woman's words. 'Certain kind of person' sounds promising, though it could still mean monster. If it did though, what does it mean for /her/?
He's not moving away further, letting the lull of her voice still him, though he's still hunched and every now and again, bristles with faint bits of lightning that arc between skin and hair. "Blanka not very interesting. Blanka tough though. Blanka have to be tough." His shoulders droop a bit as he lets curiosity get the better of him, as well as his disbelief. "You... monster? You not /look/ like monster."
The silvery little laugh that Morrigan gives when Blanka asks if she's a monster is probably not the reaction that he was expecting to that question. If anything, she actually seems to stop and give that some thought, bringing a finger to her chin and looking off into the distance. "Hmmm. Maybe I am," she says teasingly, her pouting lips twisting into a wry little smile. "I do wonder, now that you ask."
If the air around Blanka is *literally* electric, then the air around this mysterious woman is gradually becoming figuratively so. People use the phrase 'there's just something about her' all the time, but it might be that around this green-haired beauty, it actually starts to mean something. There IS something about her, a presence, an aura... it doesn't feeling dangerous, or murderous. If anything, it feels playful and curious. Beneath her calm expression, though, it is clear that something burns below the surface.
Maybe she IS a monster.
"I DO love tough guys," the woman says, brushing both her hands down her shirt and then flicking her hands out, a tiny visible sparkle of gold-white visible around each momentarily. "I'll make you a trade. Why don't you show me first hand how tough you are, and I'll tell you what I know about 'monsters'. Doesn't that sound fun? And don't worry about hurting me. I can take it."
COMBATSYS: Morrigan has started a fight here.
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Morrigan 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Blanka has joined the fight here.
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Blanka 0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0 Morrigan
Luckily, Blanka's got his eyes focused on Morrigan's. He knows that look, that paper-thin shell over something deeper. His fails regularly, showing glimpses of the not-a-monster beneath. In image, well; he'd answer yes. But if he were truly pressed to answer, who knows how he would react?
With the deal proffered him, and the hint of energy sparkling from her fingertips, Blanka makes his decision. He nods once, ever so seriously. "Blanka.. want to know. If it means Blanka show you how tough Blanka is... Blanka show!!" With that, he hauls up to two legs and brings his hands above his head, fists clenched. He lets out a roar that sends fireflies scattering to the far edges of the grove, and then just brings both mighty mitts towards Morrigan, with the intent of snagging her and tossing her into the pond. Or possibly making her skip over it several times!
COMBATSYS: Morrigan endures Blanka's Power Throw.
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Blanka 0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0 Morrigan
The woman DOES look quite pleased when Blanka agrees. So much so that when he charges her right off the bat, she... doesn't actually seem to move. In fact, it almost looks like she *welcomes* the green beast as he dives at her, smiling all the while, even as his big, strong hands close on her and send her sailing through the air. But this is not Blanka's first rodeo; he can tell that was almost TOO easy, a little TOO lacking in resistance. As if she walked into that on purpose.
When the woman goes sailing into the pond with a loud splash and then rises out of it again a few seconds later, quite literally flying, that suspicion is probably confirmed.
Her wings are gone, strangely; instead, an ethereal shape almost like a... well, a jetpack... extends from her back, a white ghostly flame bursting from it as if actually propelling her. With expert deftness, Morrigan spirals out of the pond, up into the air, and back around at Blanka, dropping toward him from above. The 'jetpack' vanishes as quickly as it came, dispersing into that cloud of spectral bats again before swirling back into place as Morrigan's wings. All the while, the succubus looks to drive her heel into the top of Blanka's head.
"Oh, you DO play rough. That's exactly what I was hoping for!"
COMBATSYS: Morrigan successfully hits Blanka with Medium Strike.
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Blanka 0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0 Morrigan
Blanka's starting to get the idea through his noggin that this isn't an ordinary fighter. At the least, he's never /seen/ anyone be able to transform things like that, and the air of the supernatural is quite strong around her. It's not quite proof positive, but it certainly is a new data point in Blanka's slowly changing opinions about what makes a monster. He misjudges the incoming attack's speed, the jetpack thing throwing him off. The heel impacts his head, and his neck scrunches up, arms flailing comically. "Uwaaah!"
With his challenger above him, he's a bit unsure of what to do to respond. He could try throwing her again, but that did not apparently work nearly as well as he'd hoped last time! Instead, he just does a backflip, landing on his hands and scrunching up into a ball. He launches himself, curled up, directly at Morrigan's body; it can't take her off her feet, since she's not /on/ them - but it'll still be a rough impact if it hits!!
COMBATSYS: Blanka successfully hits Morrigan with Vertical Rolling.
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Blanka 0/-------/----===|=======\-------\0 Morrigan
She may be in the air, but apparently this woman's ability to fly -- without or without the jetpack, though now she's perhaps more accurately hovering -- isn't exactly built for fine maneuvering. Plus, Blanka's bestial strength gives him force and agility far beyond what even other fighters might accomplish in a similar situation. This adds up to the Green Machine cannoning into the succubus at full speed even as she attempts to sweep out of the way, a brief look of surprise crossing her features... though even as she's sent sailing back through the air, she looks quite pleased.
It's not very likely that people Blanka just cannoned into at full strength look pleased afterward. Maybe she IS a monster.
The green-haired beauty sets down on the ground after righting herself, just before slamming into a tree, and brushes a hand through her hair. She gives Blanka a smile that is pleasant -- really -- but which is... well, let's say 'a little predatory'. "Is this the strength of a monster, my bairn? Why don't you really let go of your inhibitions and show me your TRUE nature, hmm?" Morrigan says, bringing one hand up and curling a finger towards herself, the sexiest version of 'come at me, bro'. "There's no need to hold back. Give me everything you have!"
With that, she plants one foot back, extends her fist straight out, arm parallel to the ground, and shouts: "Soul Fist!" On cue, a bat-like shape of gold-white light, surrounded by a sparkling halo of the same, streaks across the distance toward Blanka.
COMBATSYS: Morrigan successfully hits Blanka with Soul Fist.
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Blanka 1/-------/=======|=======\==-----\1 Morrigan
As he lands, Blanka looks up towards the arc of the landing Morrigan; and the pleased look bothers him a little. He's throwing hard hits, and he knows they're working. But as to phasing her, to injuring her? She was right when she said she was tough. Perhaps Blanka's given himself a bigger challenge than he thought he had. As she launches her projectile his way, he puffs out his chest, and growls. "Blanka show you how strong...!"
At the point of impact, Blanka charges his head forwards; he opens his mouth wide, and he attempts to /eat/ the projectile, thinking that it is a physical thing. The explosion of gold-white energy and the sudden blackening and smoking of Blanka's surprised face makes it quite obvious that it is not. He holds his pose there for a second. For two. And then he spits out a small smoke ring.
"Blanka.. not so smart. Strong tho. Still tough..!" He almost chuckles at the thought of himself cartoonishly fireball'd, but instead ducks down to gather himself, then launches right towards Morrigan. Bring it?! Consider 'it' brung! He goes for a grapple, trying to launch the woman up into the air, and then bring her down with one hand around her foot!
COMBATSYS: Morrigan just-defends Blanka's Combo Grapple!
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Blanka 1/-------/=======|=======\==-----\1 Morrigan
Okay, trying to literally eat her Soul Fist shot appears to surprise even the apparently un-faze-able Morrigan, who tilts her head to the side, regarding the green-skinned fighter curiously, her eyes widening like a cat's. But other than some comic results it doesn't appear to dampen Blanka's ardor, which brings a smile back to Morrigan's face. Although she does have a curious look afterwards, for a moment: "How fun you are! You... actually remind me of someone. Of a few people, actually..."
Somewhere, Sasquatch just sneezed.
But then the beastial fighter is back into the fray, diving at Morrigan, ready to show her everything he has. As he attempts to grapple her, however, the succubus sails right toward him, his huge green hands suddenly locked, briefly, with hers, the haunting beauty's face coming incredibly close to Blanka's. Locked for a moment in that tableau -- for such a willowy body she's got... surprising upper body strength -- Morrigan locks gazes with Blanka and, for a moment, feels something pretty familiar.
Much like his accidental bond with the other 'monster,' the succubus stares right into the Green Machine's soul. But whereas the MURDERHOUSE poured his emotions into Blanka unbidden, the Aensland heir instead seems to be taking things for herself: memories, thoughts, feelings.
The entire thing lasts a fraction of a second, and then she pirouettes and lets Blanka go harmlessly past her.
"Ah, my bairn, you ARE cute. But you're holding back. Shouldn't it be obvious by now? I want all you have to give me..."
COMBATSYS: Morrigan takes no action.
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Blanka 1/-------/=======|=======\==-----\1 Morrigan
~*that don't need no morrigan*~"
After he lands, Blanka shakes his head this way and that, as if trying to shake off that particularly unwelcome touch, mental poking not truly appreciated. At least it's not a nightmare, this time; he's had far too many of those. Everything is a bit foggy, confusing to the green beastman. As he gathers himself, he hears her taunting and bites back an angry reply. Introspective at the moment, he is not; were he, he might wonder 'What did she see?' - that answer might give him a chance to soothe his troubled soul. However, in the heat of battle, there's no time to think about it, much less to ask.
Instead, Blanka just whirls around again, Morrigan's taunting offers notwithstanding. "Blanka best.. when fight comes to him!" he says, chuffing out a response before he closes in on the woman. He moves left to right, and then bounces forwards again, trying to get face-to-face with her. As he closes in, he looks at her eyes once more, gold gaze trying desperately to see beneath the surface of her own glance - but in the end, he can't. Instead, he just brings his head down in an attempt to offer another way to get inside her head. That being 'strong impact from Blanka's cranial bones'. They are tough things, after all - this is how he used to get melons out of trees!
COMBATSYS: Morrigan fails to interrupt Rock Crush from Blanka with Shadow Blade.
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Blanka 1/-----==/=======|=======\===----\1 Morrigan
He says he's best when the fight comes to him, but as this plays out, it's pretty apparent that Blanka's just fine when he brings the fight to others, too. As Blanka's headbutt sails in, Morrigan twists, her wings vanishing in a flutter of bats as she attempts to intercept that green melon-cracking skull bash, but the Brazilian fighter is too swift for that, and her attempt is forestalled. The bats swarm around harmlessly as Morrigan is knocked backwards off her feet, skidding to a stop across the ground in a crouch. That... really stung actually.
She looks pleased about that. This situation is definitely not normal.
"Ach, nicely done," she says, wiping a hand across her lip and then bringing her hands to her chin, giving Blanka a curious expression. What did she see in his memories? What sustenance did she draw from the bestial fighter's inner turmoil? The answer to that question might never really be answered.
"Mmm... well, 'monsters' certainly are fun if you're any example," the succubus says with a too-sweet smile. "But this can't be all. Brute strength is fine, but that can't be everything. Sometimes a girl needs to be treated with a little finesse..."
She's tough, Blanka will give her that. Most people would be concussed by that point, Blanka's giant melon being a very good impact-giver. He's huffing, panting hard by now, the exertion of the fight beginning to wear on him. It's shaken off most of his mope by now, though; the chance to just /engage/ and not overthink what his place in the world was, a pleasant respite indeed. In fact, at her suggestion of finesse, he looks a bit amused!
"Blanka no can use Finesse! Blanka not store melons all around, so no Fineese Move for you! Instead, Blanka just show you what a monster all about!!" He bounds forwards and goes wide-armed; trying to catch Morrigan in his embrace. If he can, well and good. It'll be followed up by a horrible sound that is akin to the rooting of a pig for truffles, and plenty of slobber. The /actual/ biting is lessened, though; afte the fight with MURDERHOUSE, he's not willing to give in to that again.
COMBATSYS: Morrigan auto-guards Blanka's Wild Fang!
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Blanka 1/-----==/=======|=======\====---\1 Morrigan
In the blink of an eye, Blanka's arms swing forward to capture a woman in his embrace who is no longer there. Or rather, there is SOMETHING there. He does connect with it, but as soon as he squeezes tight, the Morrigan that thought he had is nothing more than an illusion which vanishes in a burst of light. The real one, meanwhile, has taken a leisurely stroll BEHIND her opponent. Leaning forward until she's so close her breath is hot on the back of his neck, Morrigan's sultry voice whispers all-too-audibly: "Have you seen into the darkness, my bairn? I mean, REALLY seen into it?"
If and when Blanka turns to face his opponent, he'll find her hovering just an inch or so off the ground, and now the aura of power that she had kept suppressed until now is palpable indeed, glowing around her like a halo. But still she smiles, and despite her words, her voice IS pleasant and melodious, as if what she's saying and how she's saying it are entirely disconnected. "The dark hungers, my lad. It wants to consume body and soul, and monsters live in the darkness. So let me ask you again: are you going to show me what a big, strong monster you are?"
Then she's gliding toward him, floating in midair, an inexorable approaching force, hand extended...
COMBATSYS: Morrigan successfully hits Blanka with Darkness Illusion.
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Blanka 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|====---\-------\0 Morrigan
Finding her opponent in her grasp, Morrigan continues that all-too-unsettling smile. "Allow me to give you a free taste." She places a hand on Blanka's shoulder and, in a burst of light, that illusory clone of her appears on the opposite side of the Green Machine, like an exact mirror... only this time, it's all too solid. The succubus launches into a flurry of attacks: punches, kicks, even strikes with her wings as the spectral bats float around her, forming into various shapes like spikes and drills. For each blow she rains on Blanka, her astral clone does the same, doubling the punishment, until Morrigan backflips away in a sweeping acrobatic kick, a crescent of light scything in the path of her blow.
Landing smoothly on her feet, the haunting beauty blows a kiss at Blanka, then asks, innocently enough, "Now how did that feel? Good, right?"
Well, that was disconcerting! It is not often that Blanka both gets his hands on an opponent, and does /not/ get his hands on his opponent. As she vanishes into that illusion state, Blanka's head whips around, trying to get a good feel for where she will appear. But he's simply not quite ready enough.
As she wraps him up and then proceeds to an impressive amount of beating / punching / kicking, he tries to power through it. Failing, he just weathers the storm as best he can, throwing blocks in when and if he's able. After, his green skin is marred with black, bruises quickly forming here and there from the punishment. The crescent kick is a coup de gras; it catches him under his chin, and lands him on his back in a heap. But only, /only/ for a second.
"Blanka hear you talk about what monsters want, where they live. Blanka no monster, if that the case. Blanka no like dark.. No like bein' scary. Blanka likes sun in face, likes happy time. Blanka likes.. /light/!" His exclamation is intense, sloughing off the last of his pity party and throwing it all back and away. He moves as if rejuvenated and leaps straight towards the other fighter. He wasn't holding back before, but now, well ; he's electric. Literally too! Glowing in a blazing ball, he hurtles himself towards the other fighter, promising to show off some of that 'finesse' that she asked for. If by 'finesse' she meant blue-white electricity.
COMBATSYS: Blanka successfully hits Morrigan with Direct Lightning.
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Blanka 0/-------/-<<<<<<|=======\-------\0 Morrigan
In a nutshell, here is what happens:
1.) Blanka electric cannonballs right into Morrigan at full speed
2.) Apparently, she explodes.
This is not entirely an exaggeration. The Brazilian's powerful blow is not to be denied. With a crackle of blue-white energy, Blanka's form slams into her at full strength. And this time, it's no illusion, either; there's the satisfying feeling of hitting an actual solid object, so the Green Machine knows that he's been successful. And then suddenly the resistance to his charging body is gone in a flurry of, well, black and purple wings.
For a moment, all is silent in the moonlight. Only the crackling of Blanka's electric powers makes a sound.
And then, up in the air, the bats swarm back into place and Morrigan reappears, just as she was at the start of this fight, lazily sitting cross-legged in mid-air, well above the casual reach of anyone on the ground. She does not look unharmed; every blow she took from Blanka, including that last one, was all too real. Her skin is flushed with exertion, and the visible marks of landed blows, here and there, prove that this wasn't all in his mind.
"You kept up your end of the bargain, my bairn, so I suppose I'll keep up mine. Though maybe I don't have to." With a smile, she laces her fingers together and leans forward slightly on her bat-perch, placing her chin in her hands with an almost dreamily bored expression. "There are monsters, REAL monsters, in the dark. Believe me, my lad... you're not one of them. Although maybe you should consider it. You've got all the... qualifications." There's a brief, possibly unsettling moment where Morrigan wets her lips, briefly. "Just be careful. Not everything in the darkness plays as... gently as I do."
With that, she winks and blows the bestial fighter another kiss, stretching her arms above her head. "Oh, but you WERE a most delicious way to spend an evening. If you ever get bored of the daytime, just look me up. You never know... you might find we monsters in dark an... entertaining way to pass the time."
And then she vanishes, the bats she was sitting on fluttering away into the moonlit night.
COMBATSYS: Blanka has left the fight here.
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Morrigan 0/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Morrigan has ended the fight here.
Log created on 13:33:38 08/31/2014 by Morrigan, and last modified on 17:02:39 08/31/2014.