Practice Matches[Plot] Lan vs Shard

IC:

"...Well, I...didn't really get to choose to be the leader or not. But...we're teammates, and I DO know your issues...."

Still the hard shell act.




I admit, it was getting a BIT annoying. I didn't want to pity him, but I did. Now? I felt a little bit more 'I don't want to stomp on you like an ant, over, and over, and over, but I also do want to do it a little bit. You're just as annoying.'

My sword responded with my emotions, small flames rolling over the gleaming metal like a wave in the sea, before leaving the edges with a little lick. The howling pulse of a wildfire was now in my hands, and while I was reluctant to use it, I can't say I'm not ready to use it.

Shard watched as the flame entered Lan's hand and got ready for what was about to come
.
.
.
"That it? That all you got?"
Shard lowered his defense a little and started laughing
"Kid, if you think I'm scared of a pissy little flame like that, you've got another thing coming."
Shard put his stance back up
"Now take your damn shot, before I stop being merciful."

IC:

"But you're all talk."

"Mercy's gone"
Shard activated Shrapnel again. He pulled up more of the floor in one stroke, to make half a ring around Lan.
He shot a gel bolt at the floor beneath Lan, and with another stroke of Shrapnel, flung the sphere at him.

IC:

I jumped to the left, out of the way of the ball's trajectory, the gel bolt slapping into the spot where I had just been standing on. As I landed on the ground, I dropped into a roll. All the while, I charged up my weapon. The moment I got up, my sword was held in front of me like a rifle, and I let the burning heat within loose.

Twin steams of white fire spirited through the air, getting colder but no less potent as it closed the distance between me and shard. White emanated from my sword as I used up nearly half of the dust within the magazines. The white slowly went darker, becoming a brightly burning purple-blue before then going the color of red as it reached Shard.

Shard saw Lan's attack coming at him. He pulled his cloak around himself, slammed Shrapnel into the ground at an angle (to disperse any flame he could) and huddled in a ball behind it.
Despite the weakened exposure and carbon plating, it was starting to get uncomfortably warm inside his cloak.
When the barrage ended, Shard stood up and quickly assessed the damage. Shrapnel was glowing red from the heat, as were the carbon plates on his cloak.
"So you do have some balls."
Shard grabbed Shrapnel out of the ground.
"As small as they are, they're there."
Shard charged at Lan. Getting close, Shard used Shrapnel to vault over him again, this time, firing a Sleeper bolt at Lan.
He landed and swung at Lan's stomach.

IC:

At least, landing and being whacked was what probably would have happened had I not 'got balls'. However, even as this small bullet-like device whacked my heel with a sting and I suddenly felt like my legs were numbed, I had pulled my sword upwards as well. In mid-air, Shard no longer had control over his movements; gravity and inertia did, and I could predict those two things easily. The flat of my sword came upwards as Shard came down. I wasn't here to cut him, but I'd be an idiot to not take advantage of Shard's love of gymnastics.

Pillars of fire from my sword, which, while already posted to hit Shard like an upwards-swung bat, now had yet another attack coming at my teammate falling in front of me.

OOC: Would a paralyzer like that affect aura?

((OOC if it made you tired, then probably))
As Lan's sword swung upwards, and flames surrounded him, Shard had to think quick.
He could block the sword and take the flame, or take half the flame and the sword.
He chose the first.
Changing his position, Shard made it so he was standing on Shrapnel's blade, hilt still in his hand.
He did his best to have the brunt of the flame hit him in the back, but only managed to get it to the side. He used his Aura to block the rest as he fell down on Lan's sword.

((OOC, Aura at 85%, and Shard is standing on his blade as if he were surfing on it.))

OOC: Aura at 92%

IC:

Now!

Even as I pulled backwards with my sword, the nearly used up magazine of fire dust was launched into the air. As Shard fell down onto the ground standing on his superheated blade, I quickly changed the type of dust used. Half a second of shut down later and crystal clear lines of tranquility started to emanate from my sword's glow. While lightning had a piercing blue, this one was calmer, more.....refreshing.

I'd learned somewhere that steam burned far more powerful than boiling water, and sometimes even fire itself. Well, I was about to witness that firsthand, as a massive spray of water came out of my sword, towards Shard's feet. It wasn't anything strong enough to push Shard away, and I still couldn't move, but it was enough to create steam right beneath Shard - and do whatever else water did to red hot metal.

Shard saw the water coming at him, and as he landed, he slid off Shrapnel and angled it to work as a shield from the water. While facing away from Lan, he shot a Flasher bolt at the ground behind him.
The water impacted Shrapnel, cooling it and making steam, which rose harmlessly up into the air.

IC:

A sudden flash, like a dozen paparazzi had popped a picture the moment you stepped out a door, and I suddenly couldn't see. Sound? No idea why, but my ears were ringing. Touch? That was fine, I felt the grip of the sword in my hands.

And that was all I needed right now, as I flicked out an ice dust crystal. As fast as I could, I jumped backwards, spraying where the crystal would land with high pressure water - enough to blast it open and create a massive spike of ice, Shrapnel right in it's center. Sure, I couldn't see, but I already saw enough before for me to be able to understand where everything was.

As soon as the bolt went off, Shard was up and rolled left. He saw Lan stumbling around a little. He must be affected, as planned. Shard changed cartridges in the Armbrust to all Gel. He ran straight at Lan, emptying half of the cartridges contents around Lan. There was no way he would be dodging THAT.
Shard, still running at Lan, used his forward momentum to kick him in the stomach as hard as he could (using a little Aura to boost his strength)

((OOC Aura at 82%))

IC:

The first bolt hit me in the shoulder. And damn was it disgusting. Almost like frozen paintball...except the paint was warm....and made of mucus.

Did it hurt? Yeah. Mucus was mucus, but anything shot at you at the speed of a bullet hurt like a bullet as well. However, touch didn't just give me pain; it gave me directions, and I could tell where the rest were coming from. Instantly, a wall of water rose in front of me. Gel bullets whacked in, then came out the other side without the energy it had entered.

Slowly, I opened my eyes as the white started to subside. All I could was a blur and something coming towards me from the side before I felt the kick to my stomach as the wall of water fell from the sudden loss of concentration. However, as it splashed into the ground where the rest of the gel had landed, another idea came to mind.

As far as I could tell, this was a kick that had winded my gut. It hurt, but I opened my eyes. Blurry, flashy, but I did see, as I fell backwards from the momentum, a leg that was standing on the ground. A quick swirl with my sword, and the water on the ground followed, swirling around the leg - and carrying with it the gel that Shard had shot at me earlier.

Whether it stayed stuck now, thanks to the water, I didn't know, but I did all that just for a distraction, as I attempted a roll away.

OOC: Aura at 77%

Shard put Shrapnel directly in line with the gel-water as it came towards him. He aimed a second kick at Lan, and then a third at his sword. He raised Shrapnel (now covered in the sticky gel) and tried to slam Lan with the flat of the blade, hoping he would stick to the massive sword.

IC:

My left arm raised up, and blocked the first kick. The second one was a bit more useful to me, as the swords' dust hatch popped open. Whack! The water Dust magazines popped out past my face, even as I leaned back to make sure I didn't jam my body inside my weapon. Would be scary to see that - meat powered dust swords.

Meanwhile, my left arm had already moved away. The water, and gel, were still soggy wet. I figured if there was one thing I needed now, it would be to turn the gel solid. Shrapnel was still stuck in it, after all, and it was still stuck to the ground. If I could manage to at least prevent that giant broadsword from moving for a few seconds, that would be all I need.

My sword dimmed from its transluscent blue glow after Shard's kick, turning into a dim white before I popped in another magazine - the cyan one I had used before. Immediately, the air cooled around me, and as I thrust my sword in Shrapnel's direction, it responded, quickly freezing the water and solidifying the Gel.

Shrapnel, which nearly hit my side - in the middle of the air - slowed to a stop. Almost instantly, beautiful hairline cracks appeared on all the water. But the Gel, on the other hand, stayed put. Guess they weren't cheap stuff after all.

OOC: Aura at 73%

OOC: Well, character re-approved.

IC:

Twin bolts flew towards my wrists, and all I could do was unleash twin bolts of electricity to intercept them in midair. Due to the earlier-than-intended opening, there was less gel that splattered on my actual body and more that ended up on the ground.

The third bolt, luckily, I could dodge, as I lifted up my legs and used the momentum to push my lower body "up".

Ok, ok. Maybe getting an adhesive-containing bullet fired into your ass wasn't dodging, but hey. I wore pants. And I probably could've dodged it, if I was a dancer. Or had a lot more upper body strength.

IC:

I stared up.

And waited.

The familiar feeling of sonic paralyzing traversed up my body. Not that it mattered.

Then the next flying silhouette that exploded into bright white light that I only just managed to close my eyes before it permanently burned an imprint into my iris - and even then I could see it flare up pink through my eyelids.

Not that it mattered.

All this time Shard spent in preparation for diddling, I simply focused on my aura. On the gel bolt that had conveniently stayed on my pants. On the two bracelets that chained me to the ground. On my wrists, on my legs, on the ground, on the air around me......on the building blocks of the universe, and even smaller, on these small negatively charged particles.

I imagined it where I wanted, focusing on willing my energy to manifest. I could feel it; a slight twist in my gut, the building up smell of ozone, the tingling that I sent all throughout my body in preparation for the swift move I was about to initiate.

First, a pre-emptive strike. Sure, I couldn't really see. Even behind my eyelids I could see the flashing red, blue, green. But...Shard was predictable. He loved to degrade others. And while I hated him for it, couldn't blame him for it, I acknowledged that it was him. So all I needed to do now was listen for which way he was coming for.

*Step.*

I felt it - the sound approaching my head. And instantly, I reacted. I reached for what I could with my palm as I opened it up, and a burning sensation heated up in the center of it before blasting outwards like a spray hose. Sparks flew out from my hands like a deterrent, ready to burn right through whatever Shard sent towards me.

Then, a second later, the next part came. My palm had been the first to move because I'd focused my electricity there first. But the tingling I had sent all over my body was doing the trick; nerves responded to the slight jolt like a wake up call, and within the previous timeframe began to revitalize and ready up my muscles for movement. And now, they were ready for my call.

I pulled upwards with all my strength, first with my free arm, my other hand still keeping a consistent flow of blue-white sparks towards Shard. As I did, I let loose even more energy from my wrist. My muscles tuned into overdrive for a small burst of energy as my electricity ripped into the solidifying gel. It cracked, melted, disintegrated, pulverized, bent, shattered - it was destroyed from the combined electricity and my strength.

One side of my body, free. And with that, I twisted, bringing the free side up and over to the other arm, still chained. The electricity I was sending to Shard instantly redirected towards my wrist again. And again, the solidifying gel couldn't do anything but fall compared to my arm's hammer and my electrical energies.

Upper body, free. I opened my eyes; still blurry as heck. But it was enough for me to grab my sword.

IC:

Shrapnel sliced through the air, making a big whoosh! sound as it made it's crescent journey towards my legs. But it was enough for me to see where it was coming from, and that, in turn, was enough for me to counter.

A single bolt of lightning sheered through the air, away from my palm and towards Shard. At such a close range, even though I couldn't see clearly yet, I knew that the chances of me missing was close to nil.