[10:40] <@joseph> <
> Attention, contestants! It is time to begin. Make your way to the center of the battlefield!
[10:42] <Syriana_Deschain> <John> *Looks around and probably sees where he's supposed to go, making his way out to the center of the battlefield and looking for Distal.*
[10:49] <@sleepy_Razzy> <Distal> *he stops leaning on a wall and heads to the center of the battlefield, throwing his knife up into the air and letting it fall back down and into the holster on the way there*
[10:51] <Syriana_Deschain> <John> *Nods to Distal as he walks out onto the battlefield with him.* Good luck.
[10:51] <@razzy> <Distal> ...? *looks to john, nodding back* Same to you.
[10:54] <@joseph> *Part of the floor opens up beside them, and Alexander Thomas, the president and owner of Thomas Entertainment, rises up on a platform.* <Alexander> Good luck to both of you. John, if you will make your way to the south end of the battlefield and Distal, to the north. There will be a door for each of you to enter. The VR helmets you will use to control your virtual selves will be in there.
[10:56] <Syriana_Deschain> <John> *Hobbles his way all the way to the south part of the battlefield, when he gets there he's quite exhaused, with a light glaze of sweat dripping off of his forehead. He Huffs a little, but grabs the helment and quickly figures out how to put the thing on as he straps it down and gets ready for the virtual overlay to enter his vision.*
[10:57] <@razzy> <Distal> ... *he nods and heads to the North end of the battle arena, entering the room there and putting the helmet on and waiting for the system to activate itself, tapping the handle of his knife impatiently*
[11:01] <@joseph> *Alexander leaves the arena the same way he came in. Once he is gone, the arena goes dark before erupting in light. The scene is now a calm beach, and the two virtual fighters appear about fifty feet away from each other (at this point, you are controlling the virtual fighters).*
[11:03] <@razzy> <Distal> *he crackles his knuckles and stretches out a bit, then looking over to John*
[11:05] <Syriana_Deschain> <John> *Seems just to be standing there in the VR helmet for now, waiting for someone to say the battle has started. Then, suddenly, he cracks his neck abit, and pounds his right hand into his open left hand twice, a white magic aura starting to surrounded him and glow a bright white color. After a few seconds, he is suddenly clad in what looks like shimmering white armor, glowing fiercly even in the beach sunlight. He unsheaths a broadsword from his back and bounces up and down once, his leg not seeming to bother him.*
[11:07] <@razzy> <Distal> Hmm... *he draws his dagger, his eyes fixed on John. He assumes a CQC position with his knife, kinda like Naked Snake in MGS3, I think, or was that Peacewalker. Anyway, he notes the changes in John, hopping left and right, back and forth a bit*
[11:11] <@dante> <Alexander, over a speaker system> Three... Two... One... GO!
[11:12] <@razzy> <Distal> *as soon as Alexander says GO, he hops diagonally towards and around John, his eyes fixed on him*
[11:13] <Syriana_Deschain> <John> *Turns towards distal, his left hand glowing bright white as he removed it from the hilt of his broadsword, and sends a bolt of holy energy towards the ground infront of him. The bolt would smash into the grown and detonate, sending sand in every direction as John attempted to hop backwards and keep himself facing Distal, waiting for the moment to strike.*
[11:17] <@razzy> <Distal> !! *he hops back, shielding his eyes with his arms as the ground explodes in front of him. As the air is filled with sand and smoke, he dashes to the side, then at John*
[11:18] <Syriana_Deschain> <John> *Actually anticipates this move, and as soon as he sees Distal dashing to one side, he dashes FORWARD and into the sand, the dirt and debris seem to bend around him as a holy shield becomes visible about six inches around him on every side. As he dashes forward and gets within possible striking range of Distal, he'd throw a sword swipe at him, aimed about chest high and coming at him horizontally.*
[11:21] <@razzy> <Distal> *he puts his dagger in the way of the slash, blicking it and stepping back in the process. At the same time he does a low kick at the back of John's knee*
[11:25] <Syriana_Deschain> <John> *Is running forward at the time the kick is aimed at his knee, and thus, is taken slightly out of proper range of the kick. It does, however, connect somewhat and cause him to half stumble. Oddly enough, it seems Distal is able to get through whatever shield he had around him with no problem as far as the kick was concerned. As soon as he'd feel the kick, he would leap into the air and turn around so his guard was facing Distal, not wanting to give him the opprotunity to follow it up with any other strikes, or put him off balance. His sword comes up in a defensive pose as he fired another bolt of holy magic at Distal's feet, trying to make the resulting explosion throw him backwards and put him off balance.*
[11:27] <@razzy> <Distal> *he looks up at John... And follows him, jumping up and over the bolt. He's pushed higher a bit by the explosion, wincing, and aims a quick slash at John's shoulder, hoping to slip it in between the plates of his armour*
[11:30] <Syriana_Deschain> <John> *The dagger finds it's mark somewhat, but it doesn't seem to penetrate far enough into the armor to sink into flesh just yet. John suddenly reaches up with a possibly unexpected strength and attempts to grab Distal's dagger hand with his own. Both of them start to fall towards the ground as John lets go of his broadsword, the giant thing now near useless at the close distance, and instead tries to put his other hand on Distal's chest. The hands going for his chest and arm are glowing bright white, and if he would grab him he'd attempt to use a simple weight spell on him to make him feel twice as heavy as normal.*
[11:32] <@razzy> <Distal> gh! *his dagger hand is grabbed. As they start falling down he tries to punch john in the face, at the same time trying to kick the broadsword away, then gasping as he suddenly feels twice as heavy as normal*
[11:36] <Syriana_Deschain> <John> *Realizes he's made a mistake as Distal manages to get ontop of him... and is twice as heavy as usual. The dagger sinks down, also twice as heavy, into his armor and bites into his shoulder causing him to cry out in pain. The punch in the face, also, connects, but is mostly blocked by his white magic helmet. The broadsword gets kicked off into the distance away from them as John tries to push Distal away, his hands still glowing.*
[11:42] <@razzy> *Distal can't really react fast now that he's twice as heavy, so he's pushed away and slams down into the ground with a yelp, groaning and trying to get back up. He pulls his dagger back out when pushed away, now grasping it tightly and putting it up to his lips. The lines on it glow in blue as it plays a weird melody, kind of like an Ocarina*
[11:44] <Syriana_Deschain> <John> *Gets up slowly, his hands still glowing, but isn't as fast as he would need to be to capitalize on Distal's momentary weakness. He staggers a step to the right and grabs his broadsword, then rushes at Distal, trying to slice him lengthwise with the large blade. As his hands leave Distal's body, he would feel the increase gravity spell VERY slowly start to wear off.*
[11:49] <@razzy> <Distal> *he finishes playing the melody and smiles, the knife emitting a higher-pitched whirl-like sound (
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHwaQKHK--4 ). A kind of belt materializes on his waist and he inserts the dagger in its side, locking it in place with a louder click* ... Henshin. *he's engulfed in a violet flash, just as John strikes him. Something blocks John's blade and, once the flash fades away, Distal is wearing a strange full armour, having blocked the slash with the armoured left forearm*
[11:51] <Syriana_Deschain> <John> *Blinks as his opponent suddenly changed forms, but he doesn't hesitate as he takes half a step back and unleashes a sudden flurry of broadsword slashes and strikes towards Distal, his hands glowing white as he suddenly has an increase of strength and speed. The sword would blur as he attempted to cut him down.*
[11:53] <@razzy> <Distal> *he blocks a few more slashes and gets hit twice, jumping back. He then dashes to the side, now quite a bit faster than before, then to John again, aiming a rapid and very strong punch at his side*
[11:55] <Syriana_Deschain> <John> *He finds it hard to adjust to his opponent so rapidly changing tactics and forms and despite the fact that he's made himself faster, it has no effect on his actual reflexes as Distal gets on his side while John is still slashing downwards with his sword. He manages to only half turn and atttempt to protect himself as Distal's punch connects with his side and sends him staggering sideways, a fist print implanted in the side of his armor as he attempts to turn around and get a defense up.*
[11:57] <@razzy> <Distal> *he follows after John, his armour cracked slightly in two places by the slashes, and performs a jumping kick aimed at the center of John's chest*
[11:58] <Syriana_Deschain> <John> *Turns around in order to defend himself, his hand glowing white in an attempt at an offensive spell, but Distal JUMPKICKS him in the chest, sending him staggering back. However, he's still able to get a bolt of holy energy off and speeding right towards Distal's stomach.*
[12:02] <@razzy> <Distal> *he's hit by the bolt of holy energy just as he lands on the ground. it sends him staggering backwards with a gasp. He regains his balance after a few metres, briefly putting a hand on his stomach before dashing towards John again, pulling the two short curved scimitars down from his back*
[12:05] <Syriana_Deschain> <John> *Gets to his feet in the time it takes Distal to recover, his armor had protected him from a direct frontal kick from him, but the punch to the side still taking the wind away from his lungs. He gasps once for air, and shoves the pain aside, seeing Distal rushing with the two scimitars, his hands start to glow and he suddenly has what looks like two nightsticks in his hands, taking a hard defensive stance.*
[12:06] <@razzy> <Distal> *he jumps up into the air right in front of John and comes down with a series of quick slashes aimed at his chest and shoulders, followed by a quick side-kick at the same spot where he his him with the punch before*
[12:08] <Syriana_Deschain> <John> *Seems to be well versed in fighting with the nightsticks, and is able to match Distal blow for blow for the most part, one of his attacks getting away from him and slicing a large groove in the right side of the chest of his armor. He dodges sideways, having expected an attack on the side he'd already shown weakness on, and attempts to bring the nightstick in his left hand down on
[12:08] <Syriana_Deschain> the back of Distal's head, were that to hit, he'd press the advantage and attempts a flurry of nightstick attacks.*
[12:17] <@razzy> <Distal> *he's hit, but immediately follows into a forward flip, getting out of the range of the attack as he lands, immediately turning to face John again. He quickly pulls a card out of the device on his right hand and slips it into the large buckle of his belt. It glows and accepts it. Distal's blades become engulfed in electrity as he points one at John, sending a chain lightning at him. Right after the attack he dashes at John, trying to stab the other, electrified scimiter into his side*
[12:19] <Syriana_Deschain> <John> *Doesn't even attempt to dodge the electrical attack, it hits his magical shield and gets reflected in a random direction. He sees the scimitar attack coming, and his twin night sticks turn back into a broadsword, John turning and attempting to let Distal sink the scimitar into his side! Only to attempt to jab the sword through his chest in return.*
[12:23] <@razzy> <Distal> *well, if he can, he indeed sinks the electrified Scimitar in John's side. However, he also still has the other scimitar, which he uses to hopefully deflect the broadsword, though it'll still leave a slash in his armour*
[12:24] <Syriana_Deschain> *The broadsword is a great deal heavier than the scimitar, and John would attmept to use his enhanced strength and speed to sink it into Distal's chest, aiming for a killing blow, while allowing the other scimitar to sink into his side and occupy Distal's other arm and only other defense. He yells out in pain, the electricity inside his shield and starting to course through him.*
[12:30] <@razzy> <Distal> *he manages to deflect the sword a bit, so it ends up cutting into the side of his chest, instead of the center, without John's enhanced strength it wouldn't even penetrate the armour. Distal winces in pain, as it still went all the way in. Not a mortal wound, but a serious one indeed...* Gh! *he lets go off the Scimitar in John's side and attempts to elbow him in the face, really hard, then electrifying the other scimitar and trying to stab it into the spot between the neck and the chest, using both hands for extra stabbing strength*
[12:32] <Syriana_Deschain> <John> *Actually, instead of staying in close quarters with Distal and duking it out in a fight he'd eventually lose, he lets go of the broadsword and uses some of his magic to blast him backwards, landing on the ground about ten feet away, the other scimiatar still dug into his side. He'd grab it and try to rip it out of his side, avoiding Distal's other attack as the wound on his side suddenly erupted in healing magic, starting to rapidly heal itself.*
[12:36] <@razzy> <Distal> *he stumbles back, groaning and then tearing the broadsword out of his chest. He then pulls out another card, bearing a hart, and slides it into his belt buckle. The belt glows and the wound in his chest starts closing, the card unleashing healing energies on it. His armour there also starts closing as he dashes at John, doing a forward-flip and coming down with a two-legged kick aimed at his chest.*
[12:38] <Syriana_Deschain> <John> *Is able to heal himself well before Distal would be able to take out the card and start to attack him. He suddenly extends both of his hands outward, palms first, and start to launch bolt after bolt of energy towards Distal, if they would hit they would blow up with a much larger radius that the last one that hit him, John keeping Distal at a distance and not letting him close.*
[12:40] <@razzy> *Umm, Distal pulled the card out right after John blasted himself away, so unless John finished healing himself before he even hit the ground, I doubt that. Anyway, Distal dodges to the side, still dashing at John, extending his remaining scimitar to the side and pulling out a new card, not putting it in yet, though*
[12:41] <Syriana_Deschain> <John> *Keeps sending blasts at Distal, but he doesn't seem to be hitting him very well, the little balls of white magic flying around on all sides of him, only hitting the ground and exploding if he got too close.*
[12:44] <@razzy> <Distal> *he stops and dodges back as the spheres start exploding as he gets close... He then puts the card in, his scimitar becoming engulfed in fizzling blue energy. He then throws it at John on an arc, kind of like a boomerang. Upon impact it'd create a large and powerful explosion*
[12:46] <Syriana_Deschain> <John> *Closes his eyes as he sees the card being inserted into the scimitar, guessing that the blue fizzling energy was bad. It would take a second as the scimitar got closer and closer, but suddenly John would fly up into the air, a blast of white magic rocketing him up and off his feet. It might be this moment when Distal would realize all the little balls of energy John had been throwing
[12:46] <Syriana_Deschain> at him were suddenly everywhere in a fifteen yard radius around him, floating in mid air. John would suddenly take his hands and spread them apart, then bring them together in one huge clapping motion, the balls all suddenly zooming in and converging on Distall, exploding as soon as they connected with eachother.*
[12:52] <@razzy> *the scimiter curved up, following John a bit, but if he'd move too far away, it'd lose his trail. At the same time Distal noticed the spheres around him... But he ancitipated such a move, as John's aim seemed to be surprisingly bad in the last few moments. He immediately flipped the card in his belt, revealing a card with concentric circles and, as the spheres started flying toward him,
[12:52] <@razzy> his right hand became engulfed in brown energy, the device on it flashing. he slammed it into the ground, creating a large energy explosion that'd work against the exploding holy spheres, at the same time creating a crater in the ground. He'd be hit still, but only slightly, almost nothing compared to what'd happen otherwise*
[12:54] <Syriana_Deschain> <John> *Does, indeed, fly up quite far, and sees that Distal is now in a crater of his own making. He suddenly flattens BOTH of his hands together and lets out a yell of effort as he sends a beachball sized bolt of energy down towards him before he could get out, the explosion would be roughly equivalent to that of a block of C4 when it does explode.*
[12:57] <@razzy> *the crater only has two or three meters in diameter, so it doesn't take long to get out of it. He does, however, re-seat the card as he sees John sending the sphere at him and this time directs it against it, causing the two energies to clash. he's thrown back and out of the crater, slamming into the ground some distance away with a pained gasp, his armour smoking and charred a bit in a few spots*
[12:58] <Syriana_Deschain> <John> *Is starting to fall through the air now, cursing as all he can do to keep himself from falling too fast and injuring himself, is akwardly giving out more blasts of white magic to slow decent. It takes him about fifteen full seconds to do this, and reform his sword on the way down. Once he hits the ground, he dashes to Distal, trying to press any advantage he'd have left.*
[13:00] <@razzy> <Distal> *as John is falling down, he groans, panting a bit, and raises his legs, then jumping back up on his feet, then standing back up finally. He pulls out another card and inserts it, his lower legs starting to glow in red as John approaches him*
[13:01] <Syriana_Deschain> <John> *Rushes him again, not as fast as before, but still pretty fast, as he launches another quick salvo of slashes and cuts with his broadsword at Distal.*
[13:05] <@razzy> <Distal> *As John is almost in slashing range, he quickly raises his leftt leg... And brings it back on the ground with a loud cracking sound, causing it to crack towards John, probably causing him to lose his footing. Whether it happens or not, the glow on his left leg dies out and he performs a quick roundhouse kick with his other leg. During the kick it becomes engulfed in a field of
[13:05] <@razzy> destructive energy, at the peak point of the kick actually causing an energy explosion, probably blowing through the slashes*
[13:06] <Syriana_Deschain> <John> *Is not, at all, prepared for the ground pounding move and is, indeed, thrown off his guard, not being able to block the kick to the side of the head at all.*
[13:09] <@razzy> *well, the kick probably blows him away, then*
[13:09] <Syriana_Deschain> *Gets rocked sideways by the explosion kick, not at all prepared for the sudden viciousness of it all. He lands in a heap near part of a sand dune, not dead, but just barely hanging on as he tries to get one hand underneath his body and push upwards. He groans.*
[13:12] <@razzy> <Distal> *he groans, tired by now, plus, unlike John's, his wound isn't healed entirely. He looks to John, sighing slightly, and then dashes towards him, jumping up and aiming a dual downward kick at his back*
[13:14] <Syriana_Deschain> <John> *Turns onto his back suddenly, and tosses what looks to be a very large combat knife towards Distal's neck. The throw obviously very practiced and very accurate, after this, however, he wouldn't have much defense.*
[13:18] <@razzy> <Distal> *is a bit surpsised, but manages to raise his hand in a block, so, it probably stabs into his hand instead, if it has some special properties, or leaves a cut in his armour if not. Anyway, he finishes the kick, though now it'll land on John's chest and be a bit weaker than it should've been due to the interruption*
[13:19] <Syriana_Deschain> <John> *Is hit with the kick and actually bounces off the ground weakly, his arms falling to his sides and his armor vanishing as he's knocked out but not killed.*
[13:21] <@razzy> <Distal> ... *checks John's pulse* ... Phew... *he didn't want to kill John, not sure how much of the feeling would be transferred over the VR system. He stands back up and pulls his dagger off the belt, transforming back to normal*
[13:26] <@dante> <Alexander's voice over speakers> Ladies and gentlemen! What an exciting first match in what will prove to be the most exciting tournament in South City history! Stay tuned, because our second match will be underway later today!
[13:28] <@dante> *The fighters should "wake up" back in the rooms, still wearing their helmets. They may feel a little sore, as if the pain their virtual selves felt was several days old.*
[13:29] * Syriana_Deschain takes off the helmet and sighs, hobbling over towards Distal so he could extend his free hand, "Good match."
[13:31] <@razzy> <Distal> Hmm. *he takes the helmet off and walks out of the room. He smiles, shaking his hand* Indeed, good match. *he then heads towards toe contestants area*
[13:33] <@dante> <Alexander> Attention, fighters, please head to the elevators and make your way out of the building. Thank you for participating, and Distal, you will know your next round opponent immediately following the final first round match.