NLBFT 12: The Second Round Bellows

#41

He's Galefore. He can do anything he wants to. He can even read your mind.

**Surveys Phenom's post** Dayamn.

Mushi · #42

****.

Due to unforseen circumstances, I will have to pull out.

My appologies to Galefore, the judges, to X-3, and to Metal Man, who would have made far better use of this spot in the tourney.

This is Mushi, signing off for the next week or so.

Galefore · #43

Come on! I had some good **** planned!

Oh well. We'll finish this in a separate topic when you return. I really wanted to surprise the judges, but I guess I could always save it for next round...

Anyway, yeah. I'm leaving the extension as-is: Phenom and L007 have a battle to finish, and that is that.

Metal Man · #44

I just hope we have another tournament soon after my massive, 22-day Summer travel--it seems like this one's been a bit holey. (Bad pun, yes...)

#45

Between the putrid stench of blood and the pains of the slice wounds, Reid found himself on the verge of collapsing. As blood poured out of his mouth in large drops, his body screamed with pain and aches. His eyes were unable to focus, his head was spinning, and even the most simple of actions took plenty of work just to achieve mediocre results. As the red haired warrior kept still on the deck of the ship, a small beacon of light emerged in his head. A glowing light, giving off beautiful light. It was an aurora of many colors, as if it were a glorious rainbow sphere.

Grimson was displeased with Reid's inability to get up. Shaking his head, he let loose a sigh to let known that his play time was over. "After all of that, it just ends like this? It almost seems merciful to kill you now," he stated with a cool tone to his voice. Bringing his cleaver forward, the butler started to take a step towards Reid to finish him off.

Reid knew he was done for. His body wasn't able to move after the barrage of corpses, he somehow lost his Eternal Sword, and there was no way he could bring his Gaia Cleaver out in time... Thoughts crossed his head... Reid's love for hunting, gone soon. His careless personality, wasted. His childhood friends, how they would weep his death.

"No..." Reid coughed, spraying blood. "I can't... die..." The red haired warrior's body started to twitch. "I... won't... die!" Suddenly, reacting to his effort to never die, the light in his head started to shimmer more violently. "I... Will not... LOSE!" Reid screamed as the aurora sphere exploded within his mind, causing many streams of rainbow light to rush out of his body. Grimson's eyes winced in the bright flash, causing the butcher to shield his eyes partly, still able to see... Able to see that the warrior was coming right at him, his axe out in front! Grimson gripped his meat cleaver with his other hand, anticipating Reid's next move. The red haired warrior brought down his axe with tremendous force at Grimson's head, intending to split the butler's head in two. Grimson stood his ground until right until Reid's axe was just two inches from the ground, then once more demonstrated his quick reflexes by taking a step backwards.

Or, he would have if he hadn't stepped on Reid's sword. With this act of carelessness, Grimson suddenly slipped to the ground, barely catching himself and avoiding Reid's devastating attack as it smashed the hull of the ship, sending wood flying in various directions. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Reid focused on his Arte techniques and thought of one he was able to do, as despite the energy he drew in from his Aurora Wall arte, he was unable to recover much energy to battle much longer. Taking his axe out of the hole which was now there, Reid proceeded to thrust the tip of the axe into Grimson with fierce power. This was unable to kill the butcher, as the axe did not have a tip like a spear or sword. However, what the butcher was not expecting was the sudden discharge of electricity he felt rushing his body, then suddenly being spiked with a giant bolt of lightning. The mere force of the sudden strike sent Grimson flying into the mast of the ship, or what was left of the mast at the rate the two fighters were going at with destroying the ship.

His body becoming exhausted once more, Reid slammed his axe into the floor of the ship with enough force to keep it there. He bent over to pick up the Eternal Sword which came loose from the zombie he had slain that came after him during Grimson's incantation. How much more could he take?

OoC: Not one of my better battles, unfortunately. Sucks that it also happens during one of the best battles I've ever had.

The Willful Wanderer · #46

Temper, temper....

Fallen Star was no fool. This was now two strange languages the poorly-colored changeling was throwing at her, neither of which she knew. Her foot jammed in near the center of balance of the bizarre creature, she was briefly stuck in place as the sounds uttered changed once again. And then she seemed to lose it entirely.

For all that this strange creature was stopping her from going where she needed to, warning the other crewmembers and the captain about the danger on this isle, it hadn't really hurt her all that much. To be sure, it had slammed her into the earth a few times, and her left arm was rather sore, but she honestly wasn't that injured. And that... was irritating. Whatever this was, it was powerful enough to simply keep her from going where she wanted, surely powerful enough to seriously injure her. Here, though, she stood, the worst of her injuries from the conflict a number of bruises on her arm. In other words, this strangely-colored shapechanger was playing with her.

If there was anything Fallen Star hated to be considered, it would be this: a toy.

The multilingual creature turned once more into the guitarist girl with its announcement in the second language- only to have the guitar ripped away from its hands, the strings of the instrument digging into its fingers. For all that she was standing on one foot with her blood-drenched right leg stabbed into the creature's abdomen, the purple-haired warrior maintained her balance easily.

Her right hand wrapped around the neck of the wooden instrument, Fallen Star swung it in a vicious crescent. The sound of violins being over-tightened rang out from the point of impact and the 'girl's' head snapped to the side. She did not come loose from the tribal woman's foot, though, a result that was only to her own detriment as the instrument came back around.

This time, wood paneling crunched slightly as the indigo-haired woman brought it around still faster. A yank of her foot at the same time wrenched the limb free of the now-bent-double creature, streaming a brief spurt of gore onto the sand of the beach. Spinning fully around brought the improvised weapon to bear yet again, and it slammed into the supposed spine of Fallen Star's opponent with such force that the body of the thing simply shattered. Five wires lashed back as their grounding snapped, and the tribal woman whipped her hand away in response to the equal number of long shallow gashes now lining the back of her forearm.

Even as her bizarre opponent resumed its original form, a transition accompanied by the fizzling hiss of something frying that probably should not have, the moccasin-wearer spun fully around and brought her fists to bear in an axe-handle blow that shattered the green jaw, nearly separating it from the rest of the being.

Once more the hand of what could only be some mischevious deity knocked the two straight down to the sand. This time, though, Fallen Star was ready. As she dropped her feet stabbed out, leading with the heels right into the nose of her adversary, who howled out the chorus of a dozen automobile horns- a sound that might well never be heard in that world elsewhere or ever again.

A quick twist brought the short woman spiraling up to her feet while the bizarre impediment was still stunned, and she dropped elbow-first for its neck with a brief cry of rage, feet lifting from the sand as she sought to bring maximum force to bear on that supposedly weak point.

#47

Yamabiki has jumped the Shark. <_<

The Creature was pretty much dead-ish at this point. Fallen had stabbed, punched, kicked, elbowed, and smashed alot of his bones, and important organs. It seemed like he needed a miracle of sorts.

Fallen's elbow landed squarely on Yamabiki's neck, but something happened. A Spark went off where Fallen had hit him, pushing her back into the air. The creature then put his arms in front of his chest, bended one knee and floated into Fallen.

Suddenly There were several hundred flashes of light all hitting Fallen from every possible direction, and each one felt like it was piercing into her and taking a piece of her soul. Fallen wasn't even able to feel the assault stop, she was only able to feel the bubbles coming from Yamabiki's mouth.

"¡Ku Ku! ¡Ahora le destruiré totalmente!" said Yamabiki.

He ran into Fallen again and continued the beating. Fallen almost felt like he was eating her soul, taking handfuls and shoving them into his mouth. Then it stopped again and Yamabiki evily laughed at her as he attempted to go at her once more.

Fallen attempted to stop this by punching him, but all it did was cause Yamabiki to miss and fall back down to the ground, making the sound of a bomb exploding backwards.

Fallen felt like her entire body was on fire. She was bruised and battered almost to an inch of her life, but Yamabiki was no better off. He was bleeding all over the place and he may have already died, but Fallen wasn't about to give up. She attempted to get up and try to at least elbow him in the face, or something.

The sky started to Darken, and Yamabiki turned back into the Ice Cream Cone. It was entirely busted and his "cream" was all over the ground.

"GAME IS OVER!" Yelled Yamabiki. It became larger and larger until the area turned completley white. Fallen opened her eyes to see a Large Human like creature standing over her. It was a putrid green, and had Purple Claws, Shoulder Pads, and Boots. its face was hidden behind a Purple Mask and the pink blood from the hole in his stomach oozed out. Other than the fact that it was almost twice Fallen's size, it was almost human-like.

"I AM VEGETA. VEGETA. WHAT DOES THE SCOUTER SAY ABOUT HIS MIKURU BEAM?.....IT'S OVER THE ENCLOSED INSTRUCTION BOOK. BOOK. BOOK. BOOK.

Phenom · #48

Whether it was fire and lightning aboard the ship or the waves crashing against its hull below, there was no denying that powerful elements were in full display in and around the venue of this awe-inspiring duel. Smoke billowed from the bodies of the slain and patches of the deck courtesy of Reid’s elemental prowess, while the formidable surge of electric power ran a relentless course in the closed circuit of Grimson’s anatomy. In his state of exasperation, Grimson’s body seized up as a rigid as a board before giving way to a series of violent convulsions that ravaged his shriveled organs beyond the point of recognition. The bolts of lightning having run their course within him, Grimson slumped down pitifully at the foot of the ship’s towering mast. His eyes bulged like that of a bullfrog as they stared with only a fleeting hint of life within them at the likewise disheveled heap of humanity that was his resilient adversary.

Regaining a few precious shreds of cognitive ability, Grimson began to chuckle low and hoarsely at the situation that had befallen him. The irony that most people his age would truly benefit from an invigorating shock to their system appealed to his dark sense of humor. With each guffaw came a steady spurt of liquid vitality from his mouth, as his insides too had began to hemorrhage significantly. Grimson attempted to will his aging heart to cease its torrid pace in his exhaustion. With each thump came another excretion of life from his body, and in a matter of minutes it would mean his failure to adequately carry out the will of his master. The marines were merely killed for sport. They would surely have been little more than a mid-afternoon snack for the deranged creatures that dwelled on his island home. His master sensed the might that lay within the red-headed warrior and explicitly commanded he dispatch of him come what may.

Grimson’s bulging eyes seemed to retreat back to within the logical parameters of his eye sockets as he began to refocus of the task at hand. Once, twice, three times he unsuccessfully attempted to regain an upright position, but between Reid’s initial assault and the most recent electrocution he had endured, there was little hope that the butler would be able to stand in the immediate future, if ever again. Grimson spat in his frustration, his saliva mixing with the dark blood of his deep lacerations sprang from his crimson lips and splattering at his feet. With the same never-say-die resolve that had overtaken Reid just moments before, Grimson winced in anticipation of his desperate contingency plan.

With his left hand quivering with anxiety, he reached out for his meat cleaver; exhibiting all the physical strength he could muster to wrap his bony hands around its handle one final time. Swiftly, without giving himself enough time to rethink the ramifications of his last-ditch effort to fulfill his master’s wishes, he brought the sharp metal down upon his right wrist, completely severing hand from body. He wheezed an unearthly moan of pure agony as a constant stream of blood sprayed onto the deck where his hand had been inexplicably liberated. Grimson’s head felt as light as a feather as less and less blood was delivered to his brain. Seconds before he fell into unconsciousness from likely fatal blood loss, he slumped his head feebly down to gaze upon his disembodied hand, and with blood dribbling down his chin and onto his uniform, he whispered the words “Finish him off…”

As the butchering butler’s eye rolled lazily back into his head with a sigh of exhaustion, the hand that until then had been lying motionlessly in a pool of Grimson’s blood leapt into action. Using the tips of its fingers for stability, the bodiless hand scuttled across to its counterpart who still clutched the weapon that had freed it. Wrenching the cleaver from the right hand, the left appendage began to levitate into the air, wrapped around the cleaver and taking aim at Grimson’s remaining hand. With another messy emancipation at the wrist, the bizarre final assault on the tenacious Reid -- whose exhaustion had caused him to go until this point unaware of the fantastic proceedings -- was ready to commence. With the cleaver dropped from the palm of the floating left hand, the right hovered alongside of it, blood still draining from within it.

With haste they glided towards their own master’s prey, ready to do the bidding that the rest of their body could not. As the paws closed in from five feet away, Reid glanced up from his slumped position to finally bear witness to the pair of hands sans Grimson. Had he not just moments before been attacked by the reanimated corpses of his fallen allies, he would have been too shocked to deal with the sight that lay before him. However, accustomed now to Grimson’s supernatural method of attack, Reid swung his axe at the floating hands as if he were swatting flies. His swipes were nimbly evaded though, and following a third near-miss, the hands swooped in for the kill. In unison, both left and right wrapped their bony fingers firmly around the Reid’s throat, their vice like grips unyielding and fully intent of squeezing every ounce of life out of the warrior’s body until their devious task was completed.

Reid’s eyes blurred more so with each fruitless gasp for air while he used his own hands in attempt to pry Grimson’s off of his jugular. The world around him; the wading pool of blood the deck had become littered with dead bodies, small fires and occasional surges of electricity, it all slowly began to fade to black. The thick blue veins that permeated the disembodied hands’ pale skin bulged and torque as they continued to strangle the young man they were latched on to with every fabric of their being. Then came a sight above all else the most surprising Reid had seen all day. Slowly approaching him, leaving a snail like trail of entrails in his wake was the stump handed and mutilated body of Grimson. Though his consciousness was fading by the moment, Reid could sense the jubilance exuded by his attempted assassin as he drew closer. Though Grimson appeared to have no further means of attack, he had somehow drummed up enough energy to allow him the simple sadistic pleasure of his handy work.

As the butler drew to within ten feet of Reid, his legs gave out once again, and as if he had been turned into a straw-filled scarecrow, the frail old murderer flopped to his stomach like a fish out of water, motionless as he thudded against the deck. The hands around Reid’s neck did not loosen despite this. In fact, they seemed to tighten their constricting grip as if certain their grim duty would soon be fulfilled. As he frantically attempted to concoct an escape plan, Reid could hear the maniacal laughter of Grimson trail off as the old man’s heart slowly churned to a stop.

Phenom · #49

OoC: So I figured I'd make it sort of a psuedo-final attack since time's about to run out. In fact, should be any minute now...

Galefore · #50

Yeah.

TIME

Good games, guys.

#51

Wha-? Something happened? Oh, right, I will need to be doing some reading or something, eh? First... chicken and bacon sandwich! Coffee! Beef ramen! Mmmmmm.

#52

Things have come up. I can't promise I'll be done judging by the 16th (Friday), but I'm trying. Sorry for the wait. >_<

Repster · #53

Laziness 1 Repster 0. I need to find a way to physically manifest my laziness and beat the **** out of out. With a stick. So... since I haven't... this is what I got.

So... 5-5, 3-3, 3-2, and 1-FAIL! ... kinda disappointing trend as I go down the fights.

Sarai vs. Tazy

Tazy 7
Sarai 8

I am confused as to exactly what was happening. Oh I could follow everything, but I'm still confused...which isn't bad. This also happens to be the only decent length fight. 5 posts a piece. Just about the right portion of meat. Mmmmm bacon... Moving on.

Fallen Star has that whole relentless annimalistic ferocity about her that's always nice to see in combat, and an actual goal beside RAR WE FIGHT! About what I expected. You always make it clear early on a basic outline of capabilities and mindset. If one's willing to follow the clues. Plenty of room for extra details in the battlefield itself made for easy transition for forst to shore, always a good idea not to limit oneself to a small area.

Yamabiki's... Yamabiki. RAR WE FIGHT! and not shy about it either. Makes me sad I was saddled with an annoying bastard during my Spanish class those years ago. The invisible pull was a nice touch, almost a theme to the fight itself. All around mostly ineffective attacks, by choice and design. Odd choice, but as this is not about damage or effectiveness, not a bad one.

Luigi 007 vs. Phenom

Phenom 8
L007 7 ( Not counting penalties that racked up to delays, those are added to final score and are of no consequence at the moment.)

*Ahem* THE BUTLER DID IT! A demented, old butler necromancer with a meat cleaver... Floating hands that grasp beyond death? That right there is some good old fashion AWESOME! Also, port, bow etc, nice touch. It's the little details that make a difference in the long run. So... second time to kill yourself. Am I sensing a pattern?

Reid leaped onto a nearby boulder, then proceeded to jump even higher

... Your on a boat. which you know... you put yourself on. Not boulders on a boat. Simple mistake, and knowing what I boat looks like, my mind adjusted quickly, it's just a little detail that prevents immersion. Speaking of boats, nice place that. Small, yet spacious, various areas contained in one, the open sea.The island giving some options for a source of doom... like say... a demented old butler with a meat cleaver. The descriptions of some of the attacks seemed a tad to forced for my tastes, most likely to due with it being Reid. Your freakishly slow posting rate is the GLARING problem for you this round.

Galefore vs. Mushi

So... Galefore wins I guess... 3 and 2 posts... Not much. That and the whole Mushi forfeiting kinda turned me off actually judging this one...

Wyborn vs. Vapor

Again? Wtf Vapor... Are you giving some sort of repulsion field? Will no man, stand before Trevellyan? Your fear of Wyborn was rather...unfounded, was it not? FOR NO MAN CAN STAND BEFORE TREVELLYAN AND HIS MAKING PEOPLE DROP OUT POWAH! Or maybe not. We'll see.

Kargath · #54

Judgings to be posted tommorow.
I was running errands today.

Vapor · #55

repster wrote: Again? Wtf Vapor... Are you giving some sort of repulsion field? Will no man, stand before Trevellyan? Your fear of Wyborn was rather...unfounded, was it not? FOR NO MAN CAN STAND BEFORE TREVELLYAN AND HIS MAKING PEOPLE DROP OUT POWAH! Or maybe not. We'll see.

I KNOW. I'm getting pretty pissed off by now.

Though I'm going to use another character for round 3, just in case you're right.

Kargath · #56

Delayed today, should be done tommorow.

Metal Man · #57

Bumping this topic. Not going to let 1-up-salesman bury the good topics.

Vapor · #58

KARGATH. WHY ARE YOU NOT DONE. YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE BY NOW.

Erdawn Il Deus · #59

Kargath's judgement is in-depth and helpful enough to warrant some patience

#60

****nuggets.

Even with Kargath's delays, I don't want to keep you waiting any longer. I really am sorry, this week is just getting worse. *fist shaking*

What I DO have is the scores from each post, which end up being the final scores. Even though I don't have time to assess everyone, I'll give you the numbers, so the winners can be tallied and what-have-you. Well, except that two of the battles are pre-determined, what with people dropping and all. Yeah.

Luigi 007 vs. Phenom
L007: 6.7
Phen: 7.5

Sarai vs. Tazy
Sarai: 7.7
Tazy: 6.4

...As an aside, it's hard to stop myself typing "Saria" automatically, when writing "Sarai". Too much thinking involved in switching around two letters.

Sorry again, all.