Elliot v. Amon [Ended]

[Admin]

The tournament floor was empty, but the crowd was filled with excited patrons hoping to see a bloody battle between two great fighters. There were two doors on opposite sides of the arena. One for each fighter to step though. The announcer wasted no time in yelling from the side lines, "Without further delay, let's begin this fight!"

All that there was to wait on was the entrances of the two opponents from opposite sides.

[Golden Emblem]

Amon entered immediately after the door opened, a slight air of confidence in his step as he walked into the arena. He hadn't entered this tournament with completely good intentions, and he didn't exactly care how far he got. The only reason he was here was because of a bet with a man that he knew from chance, who told him he wouldn't be able to even get past the first round. Amon was not an arrogant man, but he had faith that his abilities in murder fighting would help him get through the first round, at least.

He wasted no time, already reaching for his whip from under his half-cape, and letting it unwind as it fell to the ground. Even though he didn't have any sleeves, he had a few tricks up them, and he was ready to use them in order to win. Subconsciously, he rubbed his left cheek, where a mark in black was printed. That would be his disadvantage, but he would make sure that it wouldn't be used against him.

All he had to wait for was an opponent. Would it be the person that his "friend" had told him was entering the tournament, or someone completely different? Amon was getting impatient, and tapped his foot on the ground in protest.

[Griffin]

"Men, women, and children of all!...no...why would children be at an arena? Ladies and gentlemen! Allow me to present to you, inventor and scientist extraordinaire!...no, be fancier, roll the "r"...extrrrrrrraordinaire, yeah, better...wait that's stupid, why would I present myself? Allow me to introduce myself! Yeah...inventor and scientist extrrrrrrrraordinaire, Elliot Shale! Excellent...that'll work."

Shale was preparing his introduction, leaning against the massive wooden doors as he loaded three special rounds into CAPPERS. He made sure his Expanding Smoke vials were secure on his hips, ready to be used. His Nasty Gas was safe away in his satchel and his ammo lined pockets of his coat.

"I already tested the pressure system and my reload is down to forty seconds...twenty-five if I look at what I'm doing. Oh, dash it! I should have oiled the loading spring more to reduce the jam rate from 35% down to 15%! Blast! No no no no no...too much oil and some will leak into the loading chamber and mess with that trajectory of the rounds which would be irrelevant if this were purely a chemical launcher, but then it wouldn't be CAPPERS now would it? It would be CPERS which doesn't sound nearly as creative and if scientists don't show creativity in their work..."

CREEEEEEAK.

The massive door swung open and Shale stumbled backwards to catch himself. Hopefully his intro will make up for the stumble.

"Hah-hem. Ladies and gentlemen! Let me...err...allow me to introduce Elli...myself! Hem...yes. Inventor and scientist extrrrrrraordinaire, Elliot Shale!" Shale pulled back the lever on CAPPERS and fired a round into the sky to his right, then repeated the process, aiming high center, and high left. Simultaneously, the rounds burst into a dazzling display of fireworks that buzzed out after five seconds or so. Shale gave a light bow, then proceeded to load three steel rounds into CAPPERS, keeping his eyes on Amon.

"Hello there! Prepare to face me, good sir! I shan't give you an easy fight!"

[Golden Emblem]

If looks could kill, Elliot would have already been buried six feet under and decomposing by now, for the glare Amon shot him was just short of deathly. Amon, even though by birth was part of a wealthier family, hated extravagance, especially when in regards to an opponent. Many would raise the fact he wore a freaking cape, but it wasn't for show. He could rip it to bandage wounds, hide his whip, choke someone...

The last option was becoming a good choice right around now. He should have run forward during the fireworks exhibition, but what could be do?

"You must be joking, honestly," Amon began, as his rant began to leak out. "You come out here with fireworks and then tell me that you'll be giving me a difficult fight? Are you dense, good sir? You are not that interesting or special, and you shouldn't introduce yourself as such. Your arrogance is sickening."

[Griffin]

"What you call arrogance, I call theatricality. After all, we are giving these people a show! Yes, yes, we are also trying to kill one another, but shouldn't these people be given a lasting memory of what could be our last moments of grandeur? And while the title may be lengthy and boastful, it is not inaccurate. I am an inventor and a scientist." Shale chuckled, "Oh, well I suppose the "extrrrrrraordinaire" could have been a bit much, but, I digress. Let us begin!"

Shale gripped the handle of CAPPERS with two hands, pulled back the lever, causing the system to pressurize. Two seconds later, aiming above Amon's head to account for drop and wind, he fired his first steel round toward Amon's chest.

[Steel Round: A small steel ball fired from CAPPERS. Can pierce most armor.]

[Golden Emblem]

Amon was about to respond to Elliot's continued arrogance (or at least what he believed to be arrogance, announcing himself like that), but suddenly a steel shot smacked him square in the chest, close to the heart, and fell to the ground. Amon did not wince in pain, but he knew he would have a lovely bruise from that shortly.

Amon had a thing against guns. There had been a man who he had been forced to fight who shot at him with actual bullets, and the pain was immense. he was a dead man now, and Amon came out of it for a dislike of guns in general. While this man wasn't someone he really wanted to kill, he was going to snap that gun in half even if it killed him.

Knowing that being a sitting target would only get him shot at more, Amon moved to the left, running while staying as far back as possible from Elliot. All the while, one would notice that his whip sparked a tad as it hit against the ground. He had activated "Cracks", and was going to have fun.

[Griffin]

Elliot grinned stupidly at his direct hit. He loved watching his machinery function as it should. He pulled back the lever again, letting his next round pressurize for ten seconds before he deactivated the lever to avoid over-pressurization.

He did noticed the sparking of the whip on the ground. "Electricity. Shouldn't interfere with the pressurizing. Nasty Gas known to be combustible though. Should stay at range. I have long range. He has middle range, no visible short range capabilities. Unless choking is attempted. Smoke used a counter. Nasty Gas as emeargency.

His thoughts rambled at a mile a minute. He let a hand fumble with the satchel resting by his side, prepared to grab Corrosive Sludge, should he need it.

[Golden Emblem]

Noticing that Elliot was distracted doing something to the CAPPER, Amon decided to push himself to run forward, until he was close enough, although barely, to whip at Elliot with the electrically-charged whip, aiming for his hands. If he shocked him, Amon thought that he may drop the weapon. At that point, Amon would take his cape off and go to blindfold the scientist.

I do not like that machine, but I am sure I can outrun his shots if I maintain distance. If he forces my hand, I'll have to use illusion magic. If I went invisible, that would certainly mess with his head a little, as would it if the crowd got louder. I do not want to use... that spell on him, though. He seems like someone who would be easily frightened or made to cry.

[Griffin]

"Hyyyahahaahh!"

Was roughly the sound Shale made as he lept backwards to avoid the lash of the whip. He knew it was too close though, because he felt a sting of electricity strike his nose.

Underestimated range of whip. Need to compensate footwork for the electricity attacks. Oh, blast it.

In Shale's stumbling, his finger pulled the trigger of CAPPERS and let a steel round into the dirt. Amon was close to him now and didn't have time to charge another shot. He reached into his coat and pulled out a medium-sized vial. Inside, a thick, green substance was bubbling. He threw the vial of Corrosive Sludge at Amon's feet to deter him from approaching. Then, he began charging another shot. Four seconds, he thought. Didn't want to blow a hole through Amon.

[Corrosive Sludge: A thick, sticky substance that eats at metal, leather, cloth, and skin. In vial form, it is easy to evade, but there's a lot of it. In capsule form, it has higher range, but less quantity. It does stick to walls and ground though.]

[Golden Emblem]

Amon didn't think that the green, bubbling substance that was thrown at his feet would be dangerous, no. He just thought that Elliot had extremely bad aim. Wasn't he surprised when he began to feel a little shorter, noticing that the substance was eating through his boots. Quickly, he hopped on one foot away, pulling off one set of boots and socks, before doing the same to the other.

Amon's words were not suitable for a family audience. In fact, they weren't suitable for a mature audience. However, they WERE creative.

As Amon finally took off his last disintigrating sock, he realized that he could neither step in any odd substances again, nor let Elliot to continue to have fun like this. He began to mumble something under his breath, and cracked his whip twice. Once cancelled his current spell, and the second activated another.

Screaming. Suddenly, to Elliot, the noise of the audience would grow and grow, until it was similar to a thousand shrieks, all at the same time. If he could focus, the illusion would fade, but Amon would be ready by then.

(Screaming: Amon makes an illusion that the entire audience is screaming at the highest pitches possible, directed at the opponent.)
(

[Griffin]

Shale tried his hardest to subdue a light chuckle when Amon carelessly stepped into the Sludge. When Amon cracked his whip, Shale released the lever on CAPPERS, the shot charged to his preference. He was ready to shoot when something startled him.

Screaming. No. Shrieking. Very high frequency. Source? Audience? Illogical. But...only source available. Frequency higher than humans are capable of. Distant battle? No. Second whip crack. First stopped sparks. Second started screams. Shrieks...

Shale was panicking a little. He needed to asses this. He pulled a seemingly empty vial off his hip and threw it slightly in front of him. Moments after shattering the vial, a cloud of smoke filled the area around the shattered glass. Shale retreated and began digging around inside his coat.

Earplugs should help. Keep some around for explosions. Should work for shrieking. Unless magic is in my mind and doesn't translate to the human ear. Will have to see...

[Expanding Smoke: An airy substance kept mostly in vial form. When contact is made with oxygen, it rapidly expands and densifies, creating a thick cloud of smoke. Shale will often break this vial at his feet and fall back to regain range when a foe is in close quarters.]

[Golden Emblem]

Amon decided not to follow Elliot into the smoke, thinking that it would be better to be patient than to rush in with literal blindness and get shot again. Besides, with the illusion placed, it would take a little while before Elliot got out of it. It couldn't be stopped by earplugs, so if he focused on the illusion hard enough, it would go away.

Meanwhile, Amon removed his cape and began to fan the smoke away. At the very least, he would clear the arena of the haze, and be able to see where his opponent had gone. At this point, Amon wanted to stuff the rag down his throat. In fact, he had threatened to do so once during his rant, he was sure.

[Griffin]

There. Earplugs in place. Sound clearly emitting from the shockwave of the whip crack and bounce around inside my ears to continue the effect. Clever, sir. Very clever.

Shale's confidence in his cure functioned like a placebo and the shrieking began to settle. Shale sighed a sigh of relief to himself and planned his strategy as the smoke would clear soon.

Would Amon continue in a linear fashion? Will he come at my flank. Battle so far has progressed in a linear way. Assuming that will continue.

Shale ejected his last steel round from CAPPERS and loaded one capsule of Nasty Gas in front of two Shrapnel Rounds as quickly as he could. Eighteen seconds. Speed enhanced under duress. New idea for tonic...bah, must wait.

Shale pressurized for two seconds, then shot the capsule of Nasty Gas in the midst of the smoke. Assuming correctly, Amon will progress straight forward for Shale once the smoke has cleared, into the Nasty Gas.

Blast, did not account for the smell of the Nasty Gas...must prepare for flank attack.

[Nasty Gas: Too nasty to put in a vial, Nasty Gas is only available in low quantities in capsule form. In the relatively tiny area of effect, it burns eyes, throat and stomach, weakens the muscles, results in heavy coughing, nausea, potential vomiting, and other unpredictable psychological effects.]

[Golden Emblem]

Amon, even though he was fanning the gass away from him, began to smell it, the smell burning his throat at first, but then causing his eyes to water, and his stomach to feel ill. He put his cape over his mouth and nose with one hand, attempting to keep from breathing in more of the stink. It looked as if he were crying as his eyes darted around, but he was really hunting to kill Elliot.

Well, maybe not kill... but maim.

Amon was trying to think of what to use next, and as he walked around to keep in motion, he kept an eye out for the CAPPER or its user. Either one would work, if what he was planning next worked.

[Griffin]

The smoke was almost completely cleared away and Shale could see Amon's outline through the fading cloud. He charged his next round, a shrapnel round, for two seconds, aimed, and fired.

Planning ahead, he ejected his last shrapnel round and inserted two grape shot rounds and a capsule of Sludge.

[Shrapnel Round: A steel round designed to break on contact, splitting into tiny fragments of metal. Generally not lethal, but can cause bleeding and may get lucky shots in the eyes or genitals.]

[Golden Emblem]

As Amon was walking around when the shot was fired, he got hit, though not as badly as last time. However, that was before the shrapnel broke out. He had been hit on the left arm due to the fact that he had been facing the wrong way when the shot was fired. The shrapnel smacked against his arm and torso, causing shards to be stuck in his flesh. It was very painful, yes, but he didn't have time to pull out the pieces right now. As the gas seemed to be fading away, he decided another spell was in order. He threw his cape at Elliot to distract him for a moment (even though it would land nowhere near him), and when the cape had fallen, Amon was nowhere to be seen.

(Invisible Games: Amon throws his cape at an opponent and uses illusion magic to become invisible. It does not cover his sound, however. Also, if he makes footprints in the ground, those will be seen, along with his whip.)

There was one advantage to the fact that he had lost his boots, and that was that he didn't sound so loud when he was walking. Hoping Elliot wouldn't hear him, Amon quietly dropped his whip and stepped away cautiously. He wanted to lure Elliot closer towards him, and startle him.

[Griffin]

Bah. Magicians.

Shale was less concerned with the cape flying "at him" and more concerned with the fact that his opponent just vanished.

He dropped his weapon. Won't close to attack. Or flank. Wants to lure me in...a trap.

It was luck that Shale loaded his area of effect grape rounds at this point. He charged each shot for one second and shot them both, one slightly to the left, one slightly to the right. Each round burst into a dozen much smaller rounds and if even one hit, he could find Amon. And for his Sludge round, he saved that. He knew how much Amon loved it.

[Grape Shot: A small capsule filled with downsized steel rounds is fired from CAPPERS for an area of effect attack. Doesn't carry as much velocity as a single round, though.]

[Golden Emblem]

Upon seeing Elliot begin to fire more bullets, Amon dropped to the ground, hoping that the small rounds would not hit him. Well, he succeeded in that part of it, but one would have to wonder if Elliot would be oblivious to a light "thump" sound where Amon had fallen, and the imprint of his stomach on the ground of the arena. Amon struggled to get up after that one, knowing that Elliot would probably shoot again if he noticed.

He was ready to run, but he couldn't help but thinking of additions to that rant he had unleashed before, as he now had sand in some of his wounds. Sure, it was invisible sand now, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt. Also, it meant time cleaning his wounds after the battle. He hated that.

[Griffin]

Sand print. Foe avoiding rapid attack. Gotcha.

Shale acted quickly, aiming his Sludge round at the imprint on the arena floor. As much as he wanted to see Amon stumble about in the Sludge again, he was frankly getting paranoid from not being able to see Amon. He decided to even the playing field by lobbing a vial of Expanding Smoke half-way between the imprint of sand and himself. Lastly, he reloaded CAPPERS. Two shrapnel rounds and a capsule of Nasty Gas.

[Corrosive Sludge: A thick, sticky substance that eats at metal, leather, cloth, and skin. In vial form, it is easy to evade, but there's a lot of it. In capsule form, it has higher range, but less quantity. It does stick to walls and ground though.]

[Golden Emblem]

Amon managed to run away from the corrosive sludge, but a small amount managed to get onto his right heel, causing him to bite his lips in pain as he ran away from the rest, causing him to pause to try and get it off using the sandy ground, hoping his best that the pain would begin to go away. As a tiny bit began to get off, Amon noticed the familar green gas and stink coming back. There was still a bit on his heel, but he had to run for his cape to cover up his face again. Now he was angry, but he had an idea. He got his whip and cracked it, activating a new spell.

(Blood and Treble: Another illusion spell, this one makes the opponent believe they are heavily bleeding, along with hearing a high-pitched shriek. It is a step up from "Screaming", which needs to be activated in order to use this spell.)

It was the return of the spell Screaming, except with a new side effect. Amon hoped it was working as he stepped into the fog, trying to see where Elliot was. Hopefully the cape and whip wouldn't give him away, as he had an idea.

[Griffin]

The shrieks...blast it...

Shale quickly removed his earplugs, then replaced them to confirm his suspicions. He couldn't do anything about the screaming. He reached to removed his earplugs when he noticed blood streaming down his hand.

What?! I'm...bleeding. From my brain....!?

As Shale checked his ears, he saw himself bleeding from his arms as well. He shirt was dripping with red. It seemed as if blood was dripping from every pore on his body.

The...the smoke. Whenever I'm in the smoke...he's using it...

While this was not true, Shale was confused and couldn't think straight, utterly shocked by his massive bleeding. He could no longer think and unconsciously started vocalizing his thoughts.

"No reason for bleeding. Haven't been struck physically. Magic is...is...tearing...flaying...my mind...no counter for this sort of magic. He will try to advantage...take of me. Must self defend..."

Damaged and broken, Shale holstered CAPPERS and began reaching into every pocket of his coat, throwing shrapnel, grape, and steel rounds around himself, haphazardly tossing Sludge vials all around him, and lobbing Smoke vials everywhere so the battlefield became a sightless death trap of stray bullets, shards of metal and broken glass, and thick, burning goo.

"All I...do have to...is stand...and endure...heh...I survived three weeks without two fingers and no treatment...I can vursive this..." Shale said, smiling sickeningly while wiggling the two metals fingers on his right hand.

[Golden Emblem]

Amon was a bit stunned at the fact that his opponent began to speak, throwing rounds out of his pocket, some covering the field with so much fog that Amon could barely see in front of him. He paused for a moment, realizing that this could be a trap, and he could very well be walking into getting shot again, this time closer to a vital organ.

Focusing on Shale's voice for a moment, Amon took his whip and, hearing Elliot speak once again, snapped the whip in his direction. He was hoping that he would hit, but there was no guarantee in such a terrible state. However, as he stepped forward to crack the whip, he stepped onto a shard of glass. While his whip would still continue in an attempt to hit its mark, he now had a shard of glass in his foot.

[Griffin]

Amon's whip lashed Shale right on the side of his head, leaving a large, bleeding wound on his scalp. It did, however, shake his brain enough to snap him out of the Blood and Treble illusion. Only then could he see the ramifications of ditching all of his supplies.

Blasted confound magicians...well at least I've got plenty of new projects to work on.

Shale didn't feel safe, per say, but felt secure that Amon wouldn't attempt another strike so soon. He quickly made up a bandage from his clothes and tied it around his head. But there was still the problem of having no ammo.

Wait...satchel...

He never touched his satchel. He dug around inside and found two capsules of Nasty Gas. Two capsules. That's it. Must make them count.

Shale loaded the capsules into CAPPERS and began taking gentle steps back, not wanting to step on anything particularly sharp.

[Golden Emblem]

Amon could tell that his whip had hit something, but he didn't want to push forward at the moment. He had definitely injured his foe, and that was good enough for now. He took several steps back, until he was out of the danger zone of glass and such, and leaned against one of the arena walls. Even though it hurt to do so, Amon pulled the glass out of his foot, ripping some cape in order to wrap it.

Breaking the invisibility spell, Amon realized that he could not keep up using one illusion after another. While he could create good illusions, he didn't have the energy to use them much. One more spell would waste the rest of his magical energy, and he'd have to rely on the physical. He knew that Blood and Treble was gone, as well, so he would have to make the last spell count.

"Hey, you mind not launching anymore of those fog capsules?" Amon spoke, finally addressing his foe after a good deal of silence (with the exception of swearing at him). "I would think it works to your disadvantage, as it does mine."

[Griffin]

Voice. Amon's. Northwest. Attack...?

"I feel it adds a great deal of challenge and creativity to our battle! Just think if this smoke wasn't clouding our vision? We would be approaching the most direct ways to kill each other. Now...we have to think," Shale said with a smile.

He had charged his first shot of Nasty Gas for four seconds. Now...he waited.

[Golden Emblem]

"I've killed plenty of people, and I don't believe that you need creativity in a fight," Amon drawled, his voice showing how overjoyed and excited he was, because if he was any more excited, he would burst, and if this sentence was any more sarcastic, it wouldn't be proper for a tournament. "I mean, I will not kill you, but the fog was not needed, and I would not recommend for, oh, someone who uses a gun."

Amon began to walk away from where he was standing, not being able to run in case of another shot. He needed time to regroup and think for a minute, instead of running around wild.

[Griffin]

Shale waited and listened for any sort of movement. It seemed to be a stalemate...but soon the smoke would clear and Amon would have a open shot at Shale. But, nothing would happen until then, so Shale added another two seconds of pressure to his round, then waited until the smoke cleared.

[Griffin]

OOC: Reminding bump.

[Golden Emblem]

Amon noticed that the smoke was beginning to clear, so very carefully, he began to move forward, trying his best to make sure that Elliot wouldn't hear him. He was going to attempt to attack him again, wanting to just leave this fight and get one of the tournament healers to take a look at his foot. It was getting sand in it, and Amon was quite angry with the fact that Elliot had injured him so much.

However, it WAS a tournament after all. Knowing this, he continued to step forward, hoping the smoke wouldn't fade just yet.

[Griffin]

Elliot continued to look around through the smoke which was gradually clearing. As he gazed with uncertainty, he began to hear a faint shrieking; residual effects of Amon's Screaming spell. This put Elliot on edge and very nervous. Whatever little sound Amon was making, Elliot didn't hear it. The smoke was almost clear and he still couldn't see Amon...maybe he was invisible again...