A Magical Anomaly
Chapter 16 Combat Turn 1
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Choice Made:
[x] A thought occurs… why is a Blue rushing in towards you… isn't she a mage type? That seems… kind of stupid… Though, maybe if you hold out long enough, you can get her to monologue at you. Learning her history sounds fun…. Maybe. (Guaranteed Success) (Guaranteed chance of 1d4 Minor wounds (Minor Cuts)) (-25% Curtana Charge) (Graceful Deflection activates) (Roll to crit for a riposte when she finishes) (+20 Crit chance)
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Rolls:
To Succeed: NULL = Guaranteed
To Ignore wounds = NULL = Guaranteed wounding
Number of wounds = 1
Critical roll = 87 = CRIT
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Effects:
* Suffer from Minor Wound (Minor Cuts) x 1
* -25% Curtana Charge
* Takedown Opportunity granted
* If Takedown is ignored, any option is treated as though Azure suffers from Enhanced Stun
*
* Retroactive from last chapter (Forgot to add them lol)
- Added shards to shard count
Added 20% Charge to pocket dimension charge from absorbing part of a tier 2 Rift Core
*
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Azure's charge is fast.
Far faster than a normal person's sprint.
Yet something in the back of your head tells you that she's not moving properly…
She's landing too hard, wasting too much momentum.
Then she's springing up a little as a result, in the air for a moment too long with each step.
It's a little disorienting as you can almost see two versions of her, one moving as she is, and one as she should be.
The weird ghost image thing doesn't last long, probably only till she's crossed half the distance between you.
Her expression is one of raw rage. Hatred so deep it seems to leak from her very pores as she winds up for a powerful blow.
Your own expression twists you think. Rage shouldn't be something a Magical Girl relies on.
Not to mention that she's a Blue… even if she's a close range fighter, she should be more cautious.
Idly the hypocrisy in the statement leaps out at you. You leap forward at the smallest opportunities to inflict damage, even at risk to yourself.
You shove that idea to the side, you only do so if there's a possibility for victory. And definitely not while fueled by rage.
When she reaches you, her attack has been telegraphed so much you almost expect to see a flash of colour or something telling you to block.
A hefty horizontal swing smashes into [Grendel's Arm], you don't bother to parry the blow, letting it shoot you off to the side and gain some distance from Azure.
A bit of movement right before you get hit gives you enough momentum to flip in the air, dispersing the force with a series of flips that ends with you skidding backwards on your feet.
Plus ten for style points yup.
Elly chuckles quietly as Azure rushes towards you again.
You match each of her blows in a firestorm of sparks.
Parry's and blocks shifting you around as you want rather than dancing to her rhythm as you work to guide her around the parking lot.
A shift to the side causes her blade to swing past you, crashing into and through a light pole.
Said pole falls on top of her and delays her enough for you to back away a bit and observe her form.
She dashes out of the kicked up dust in a lunge.
You mentally sigh as something tells you that she shouldn't have been airborne when she couldn't see your form through the dust.
So you follow what your instincts tell you.
A charge thunks into place.
And you step forward as you punch.
You reach her before she can plant her feet into the ground, and your charge infused punch sends her flying back the way she came.
She tumbles across the ground as you slowly reset your stance into a relaxed one.
No need to be too defensive right now. And it'll probably piss her off if she thinks you're not taking the fight too seriously.
Apparently it does so, she growls at you as she gets back to her feet. A hand running over face as blue light leaks from it.
You didn't actually do too much to her. She's still far over your metaphorical level, and her barriers are helping mitigate damage.
Well, you don't think they're that effective against raw force… probably mostly anti magic you'd assume. And maybe something to stop her getting cut.
The Interlopers seem to favor blades and claws from your experience. So probably a good thing to focus on.
Idly, you wonder why she doesn't focus on a quickdraw type attack… it's a katana type classic, and you probably wouldn't be able to react to it. You definitely couldn't the last time she used it.
Then again.
She's angry. And angry people do stupid things.
"You monster! You Filthy, no good, thieving monster!"
Ohhhh shes monologuing!
You keep up your relaxed stance as she rushes forward. A burst of ice coating her sword as she swings hard at you.
You plant your feet, an idea occurring to you as she swings towards you.
A charge clicks into place in [Grendel's Arm] and right as you go to block the blow, you detonate it.
The momentum of your moving arm and the added force of the detonation meets her blow. Holding it in place in a pseudo blade lock.
It'd be cooler with a sword you think, but this works.
"You've taken it all from me! I had nothing left! Nothing! Because of you! And your horrible kind!"
She slams her feet into your shins, springing away from the block and flipping in the air before coiling for a lunge again.
She's probably lost someone to a NULL then… maybe both parents? That seems like a suitable reason for all this anger.
Though she's venting it in a weird way… you doubt hunting down Nulls is doing her much good.
Her lunge is explosive. A burst of ice blooming at her feet as she accelerates in an instant.
There's a brief moment where something feels odd… like she's gained a bit of speed that she shouldn't have.
You let your instincts shift you out of the way, the lunge aimed at your chest cutting through your side instead.
She apparently expected to do more, you think.
Your foot sweeps her legs out from under her, and as she falls you sweep your hand across your chest.
[Curtana]'s sword form melts into view, and you point it at her neck as she gets up.
Her eyes are wide. Laser focused on the quietly humming blade.
Maybe you can teach her a little something… or at least get her monologuing a little more.
You sweep her hands out from under her with a well placed kick.
A flourish of your sword.
And you slowly walk away.
A second or two passes.
And then something shifts in space behind you.
You twirl around, parrying the shard of ice sent flying at you.
[Curtana] hums a little louder and you agree with her.
This is definitely a little fun~
Azure shouts at you when she's on her feet.
Raw outrage hitting you like a wave.
It's a little sad honestly.
Her steps are sharper now, closer to how she should be stepping as she rapidly rushes towards you.
You think pulling a blade on her made her angrier… huh, go figure.
[Curtana]'s defensive posture helps to further mitigate her flurry of attacks.
And you punish a few overly telegraphed swings with swift parries and a fist to her gut.
Apparently attacking with your bare hands doesn't get reduced by [Curtana], though you definitely don't hit as hard as you would with [Grendel's Arm].
It's still enough to make her gasp and stumble back a bit.
So you twirl your blade and walk away from her, back very much exposed.
It probably looks rather arrogant.
But it's definitely showy.
And a Villain is nothing without their style.
She cries out as she rushes you again. Sword coming down towards your back in an overhead strike.
You flip [Curtana] into a reverse grip, and block it without turning.
Your blade shrieks louder at the blow.
So you follow through, a shove sends Azure's blade high, and you flip the blade in your hand, bringing the pommel into the side of her head with a loud thump.
That sends her to the floor as she cries out.
But you don't pursue the opening.
A few steps back.
And you wait for her to get back to her feet.
Your own stance is totally relaxed.
"Now you take my blade from me too… was my family not enough! My home! My friends!"
You internally wince a little as she starts crying. Clutching her blade close to her as she does so.
Maybe you went a little too far with the dismissive attitude thing…
Though…. Maybe not…
You watch as magic gathers around her, blue particles of light making the gems on her outfit glow. The white of her coat somehow becoming just a tiny bit brighter as she pushes herself to her feet.
Her glare is still there. Sharper and focused.
Huh… maybe that's an improvement.
That feeling of wanting to praise her and gloat vanishes quickly when she settles into a stance…
A familiar one.
She coils up, and you shift your own a little. Your timing will have to be pretty good for this to work.
The blue mana finishes settling around her, and all of a sudden she vanishes from view.
She phases into being right in front of you, sword mid swing for a powerful blow.
Much to her surprise, [Curtana] greets her. The blunted tip hits her chest, and then the sonic boom of its release of energy blasts her backwards.
She crashes into the ground.
Rolls a few times.
And then comes surging out again despite her disorientation.
Her movements are sloppier than before.
What might have been focus before is replaced with rage, and you decide that it's probably time to wrap things up here.
Best give her some time to decompress and absorb what you've hopefully taught her this fight.
So, you…
[x] Smack her in the face with Curtana's Pommel. Hit her hard enough, and she should pass out right away… in fact… you could have some fun with her after she passes out… she needs to learn to not fight you alone… She should have a phone on her somewhere right? (Takedown Guaranteed) (+ 1 Humiliation Trauma) (- 1 Void Core Charge) (+1 Void Core Mastery) (Will be fast enough for her not to learn of your core) (- 1 Prismatic Shard)
[x] She needs to stop lunging at you like this… it's like she's asking to have her weapon broken… well, might as well teach her the meaning of insanity. A two charge [Grendel's Arm] to her sword should break it again. Then just smack her in the chest or head to knock her out. (Takedown Guaranteed) (+ 1 Blade Break Trauma) (3 Grendel Charges Required)
[x] She's not really paying attention to her footwork… or her surroundings… you could probably teach her a lesson on that. There's a rather conveniently placed manhole cover near you. A bit of timing and effort, and you can probably use it to take out her legs. Then just give her a good hit to the head to knock her out. (Takedown Guaranteed) (+ 1 Bad Positioning Trauma) (2 Grendel Charges Required) (-1 Chrono Charge) (+1 Chrono Core Mastery) (Will be fast enough for her not to learn of your core) (-1 Prismatic Shard)
[x] Take her down some other way? (Write in) (You don't yet know all the ways of trauma you can inflict, some may be more beneficial than others)
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