[Round 1] Jibril & Harley Quinn vs Cerise & Gildarts

[Karl Jak]

While Karl Jak was never unhappy to see Gildarts, he found himself disappointed that the ‘stronkest prime’ had ruined the closest thing they had to four lady primes knocking each other senseless.  So many people on the Dataverse would have been willing to pay double for such a stream.
 
Squandered opportunities.  Thanks, Mr. Clive.
 
Tilting her head low to the side, Harley Quinn cracked a saccharine smile to her partner.  “How ya doin’?”
 
Jibril nodded but kept her eyes focused on their adversaries.
 
“Well hello there, Lady Primes and Gildarts.  Welcome to the opening round of festivities.”  The nearby gong sounded.  “That noise means that the four of you are now more than welcome to bludgeon each other into bloody piles of omnilium… Toodles for now!”
 

Word Limit: 850
Posts: 2
Time Limit: 48 hours
Random Elements: On
Damage Meter: Off
 
Time limit starts at 8 am CDT
 
Fight Area description is available in the Fight Area Reveals thread and the Round 1 Discussion thread.

[Schwi Dola]

Booooong, the fight began. Everyone assumed a fighting stance. Gildarts spoke with a calm and friendly demeanor. "What a pair of lovely ladies, it's too bad I can't offer you ladies a drink." Jibril held out a hand and in it materialized her wicked glowing black scythe. Jibril let out the full brunt of her killing intent, washing over those present. The murderous aura didn't really affect the others but they all felt the intense desire Jibril had to kill GIldarts and Cerise even before Jibril spoke. Immediately Gildarts eye's narrowed and his face grew serious. "My my, what a curious pair of creatures! Clearly one of you isn't Immanity, it is disappointing that I won't be able to take your heads today."  Harley didn't pause at it for a moment,  instead she took her wooden bat off of her shoulder and lightly threatened with it while taunting. "Hi I'm Harley! I'm gonna beat your face in until you don't move anymore, okay?" In immediate response, Cerise lifted her guns and shot at Harley and Jibril.

Harley read her subtle movements and started to move quickly to make herself more difficult to strike. Jibril on the other hand was caught completely off guard. The energy shots ripped through the space and multiple explosions appeared on her body with several exposing her cleavage as it destroyed the cloth over her heart. "Waah?" Jibril yelped and held her scythe defensively. After 4 seconds she teleported up 15 feet and from there she floated back until she lightly collided with a force barrier. She turned and flitted around the arena feeling the barrier with the tip of her wing to determine its true location. Checking with one hand, her skin was quite burned across her forehead and over her heart. Fortunately none of the shots landed on the base of her wings which would have harmed her ability to use magic. "A feisty one aren't you?" In that time Cerise had closed the gap between her and Gildarts to stand at his back. "A master of stealth rites that can cloak her intent from my instincts, well you aren't a Dhampir or you would have died to this sunlight... My you are surely a prize I wish to claim!" Jibril drooled a little as she floated around, though she quickly wiped it away with one hand and focused energy into it for a few seconds.

While Gildarts still had yet to make an offensive move and Cerise seemed to want to wait as well, Jibril shot a holy ray from her hand. Purple and Black and bullet fast, Gildarts had moved his metal hand to take the shot directly that was aimed at Cerise before it was shot. “You will need to try a little harder than that.” Harley took that distraction to get close and give a great swing at the Fairy Tail mage. Still smiling, Jibril kept her eyes on her current prize. She didn't have much time to converse with Harley Quin, but she oozed with the right kind of personality to get the job done. Jibril had to hope the Immanity would be enough to keep the other Immanity distracted while she dealt with the almost dragon-eyed humanoid. Jibril stopped her circling and floated up to the ceiling, putting her feet on it and grasping her scythe with both hands. "Try not to die~." She held in place for a moment focusing magical power and pushed off the ceiling. In that moment she also teleported again to a spot 45 degrees from Cerise’s front with her forward momentum in tact, quickly bringing a wide powerful horizontal slice at Cerise.

The scythe had hit nothing but air. Cerise agilely dropped her body down, aimed both of her guns, and shot two shotgun-like blasts into Jibril's stomach. Jibril gasped but, fighting through the pain, she flipped around her blade and moved her hands up the handle decreasing the time it takes to move but reducing its swing strength. With her superior speed she immediately brought down a vertical piercing strike but this still wasn't fast enough as Cerise brought her left arm covered in a metal piece to bear the blow and deflect it while giving her time to flip herself away and right herself, standing upright once again. In this time Gildarts had also moved forward, away from Jibril and Cerise in his exchange with Harley who was really trying to beat his face in.

Jibril’s smile hadn’t dropped from her face the entire exchange but she clutched her burned, bleeding stomach and stepped uneasily backwards a few paces. This was what it meant to be weak. But Jibril knew the advantage of being the weakest her masters had come to show her. They could become anything, even defeat god. Could she exploit her weakness? “Ahh I haven’t had such fun in ages. Please, continue to skirt my attacks so that I might hone my skills hehe.” Jibril licked the slow stream of blood that had slowly crept down her face from the burn on her forehead.

Word Count: 847

[Albert Wesker]

The fight began and swiftly leaped into full steam. She'd only briefly gotten to know her partner, but it had been enough to get a basic picture of what to do. The fact that the fight had opened in such a way that it lead right into that plan was a convenience she wasn't going to think twice about.

"You're...insane," she said shortly to the angel. "Enjoying a fight like this..." She shook her head in mock-sadness, fixing her lone eye on the ecstatic, hovering figure.

There were several things she had learned already, and as Cerise ducked into a quick roll to carry her over another incoming scythe blow, she ran through them in her head. One, her enemy was stronger than she was; two, that enemy was faster than she was; three, that enemy was fairly tough; four, that enemy was sloppy and nearly tactless in her fighting; and five, she was currently out of ammunition.

The diminutive huntress had barely regained her footing than a dull sensation arced up her back, like electricity. It made her hair stand on end, like a predator had suddenly loomed behind her. Instinctively she jumped, straight up, in time to have a beam of black energy tear through where her chest had been a moment before. Dodging the black bolt of power had been one thing, but even as she reached the height of her jump, the snake shivered at another feeling of dread that dawned on her, moments before she almost felt the shadow looming behind her. And a deranged, manic giggle.

Even if she could feel it coming before it did, hanging in midair gave her little time to do anything other than brace for it and bring her armored bracer to try and cope with it as the blade of a scythe caught her in the side. It clashed against the armor, with a grating of sparks as it smashed into her side, tearing through the coat and throwing her back toward the ground.

She tumbled gracelessly through the air, wheezing slightly as she tried desperately to right herself before the inevitable impact and was...partially successful. She didn't simply slam into it face-first, but the landing was still entirely too forceful. She coughed and shook her head, trying to clear a ringing in her ears and a throbbing ache from her limbs.

"Cerise! Are you alright?" The voice of Gildarts suddenly came from above her, and she looked up in time to see the spectral scythe clash against a metallic arm as the Fairy Tail mage planted himself over the fallen girl and warded off her aggressor.

"I'm...I'm fine. Just caught me by surprise!" the huntress responded, quickly scrambling to her feet. She looked up at him for a moment, her one eye flicking toward the angel and then sweeping around to catch sight of Harley Quinn. Then back up at the mage and nodded.

Gildarts gave a grim nod and stepped forward, metallic clenching into a fist. He backhanded the scythe blade away and threw his flesh and blood arm around in a blurred-swift punch as the small faunus behind him leaped toward the harlequin.

The explosion behind her from the impact of the mage's punch just made her all the more grateful he was on her side. The grinning clown-woman ahead of her, though...was much less of a pleasant thought in her mind.

Bat in hand, she struck up a ready pose as the huntress covered the few paces between them. "Well hey, we switchin' partners now? Batter up, then kid!"

As they neared into melee distance, the mad harlequin swung for the fences...and met only air. Cerise ducked into a quick slide under the bat, curling and tucking into a roll. Springing up back to her feet behind the clown, she stepped forward and pressed both of her guns into the woman's back, just in time for the indicator light indicating a full charge to flicker on.

The crack of gunfire was almost drowned out by the squeal of anguish as the point-blank blasts tore into Harley Quinn's back, sending her staggering forward. In the brief opening that provided, Cerise narrowed her visible eye, her expression darkening. The air around her shimmered and warped, small skull set in her hair spitting sparks and coming to life with a glow as flower petals blossomed from it. Dark mist spiraled around the small figure as she stood straight again.

"That was a dirty trick, ya little—" The clown's complaint was cut off as she spun round, bat swinging wildly. It struck only empty air as the faunus simply backstepped.

"No. None of that," she hissed darkly, quickly darting back in. Inside the effective range of the bat. Just prepare her Huntress Brace, and—

Her world briefly went white as a knee connected with her chin. "Don't get so full of yourself!" Harley retorted.

"Cerise!" Gildarts called out.

The huntress struck, arm snapping up and firing the explosive bolt. The action caught Harley off guard, as the explosion hurled her back -- and right into her partner.

Wordcount: 849 (according to wordcounter.net)

Cerise used T1 Power-Up: Flower Shroud for the remainder of the round. 3/5 SP remaining.
Current Stats:
ATK: 4
DEF: 2
SPD: 5
TEC: 6

[Harley Quinn]

Delusions of sinister laughing sent shivers down my spine. Followed by an all too familiar voice that crept into my brain, like an accelerated cancer. Hissing like a snake, it whispered, "Harley, Darling! Such a big girl now!" His voice echoed inside my skull and overtook my senses, "Look at you, pretending to be a champion, running around like some hot-shot."

It was so real that if I closed my eyes, I could see the Joker’s face, just inches away from me. It persisted, "But you hear it, don't you?" 

Hear what?

"The real you, buried under the floorboards, scratch, scratch, scratching to get out. The one who knows how useless you really are." 

I shook my head, no, not this time. Ain't no slick fella in a cheap suit, with a creepy smile, gonna be telling me, who I am anymore. Snap out of it Harley.

Elbows back, my fingernails dug at the bullet holes in my back, breaking me from my psychotic trance. Even with the bastard out of my head, I still felt haunted by him, but the Omniverse gave me a place away from the madman. Separated from the pressures of his suffering, it gave me new found freedom. I'd be damned if I was gonna give that up now.

With the angel on my right, we rose simultaneously to face our adversaries. I didn't know what I anticipated, coming to Desmond’s Defense, but whatever it was, I didn't like getting fucking shot! It was time to step my game up if I wanted to win, or even make it out of here alive. 

Looking to my partner, I couldn't be more pleased with my paring, bitch was tough, and I liked tough. Our opponents, on the other hand, were even more overwhelming.

The pint-sized sharpshooter stood a few yards away, bleeding at the mouth from my knee. Who did this snake eyed bitch think she was looking at? She had murder in her eyes, but I just giggled. "What's a matter sweet cheeks? Cat got your tongue?"

The cloaked competitor growled as she spat out a back molar, and flashed her bloody fangs. Yikes, I thought and asked my partner, "You got this?" 

"Certainly," Jibril said, materializing her scythe again. With a sparkle in her eye, the angel grinned, that was all she needed to hear.

"Oh no you don't!" the female marksman shouted and aimed in my direction, but thankfully she was interrupted. Forced to maneuver back, she dodged a life-threatening blow from my heavenly guardian.

I trusted my partner could handle the short stack of a tyrant. As a result, I got quality one on one time with the most absurdly handsome man I have ever seen. In a blink of an eye, I was on top of him, swinging Goodnight like Babe Ruth in the bottom the ninth, with bases loaded. 

Gil-farts saw right through me though, lunged away, pivoted to the side, and raised his metal arm to block my bat. With a flash, the impact forced both of us backward. 

Embracing the momentum, I tumbled back, landed on my hands, and spurred myself upright. Man, I hate magic types, always have, and I think it's because, to me, it's like they’re cheating. I say that because, right before I could hit him again, he made me float like a feather, right over his stupid ginger head. At this rate, we were going nowhere, and my mind raced to come up with an effective strategy. 

Landing on my feet, I wasted no time, bounding at him, but again, floated right over him with the same magic as before. This time I spun around, aimed my bat squarely at the brute’s head and threw Goodnight as hard as I could. The bat made contact, but in a flash of light, it disintegrated.

The second Goodnight exploded, I had both revolvers in my hands, ready to fire. Distracted, a fusillade of bullets decorated the hunk’s chest in splatters of red. Other than the blood seeping down and through the bandages wrapped around his abdomen, you really couldn't tell if the wizard was affected. In fact, the brute kinda just stood there, unimpressed, and with his arms folded across his chest.  

His smug little face really made my blood boil. Again, I assailed him hard with a barrage of kicks and punches, each one making contact against flesh or titanium. Unfortunately for me, Gildarts found an opening in my onslaught and struck my chest. After hurtling through the air, I hit the ground hard and blood from my gashes made me slide like a penguin on ice.

Not giving up now, I somersault towards him, and with my hands planted firmly on the ground, I wrapped my legs around his shoulders. With his face in my crotch, this was the closest he was going to get without taking me to dinner. I curled my body up, legs firmly encircled around his neck and with pistols in both hands, I brought them down to his skull, hard enough to make him stagger. 

Jibril used "Angelic Scythe"
Gildarts used "Parry", "Shatter"
Harley used "Chemical Insanity" 5-1-5-4, "Goodnight", "Double Chiappa Rhino 60DS Revolvers"

[Gildarts]

Drifting from the thick heft of gravity and fog, the mage found himself surrounded by the sickly taste of blood and too often this was followed by death. The ferocious battle caused one of his opponents to giggle endlessly with laughter, which quickly turned into a thirsting, frothing chomp. It was followed by a playful wink and a cutesy “Surely you’re not worried I’m gonna manage to take a bite?” and the soft swish of air from the clown girl’s whirling bullets. This fresh frenzy of pain nudged him into action.

Waves of power radiated off of him and shards of stone around his feet began to disintegrate. A dark shadow cast over his eyes as his shoulders squared together. A glance to his ally allowed him peace of mind before the mage’s body thrust forward, dragging ditches into the squares below his feet. A ball of steel landed into Harley’s abdomen, yet when she’d expected a tsunami of force there had been none.

“Ha, you’re definitely not as strong as you look!” She snickered, “Bit disappointing.” as she whirled her twin pistols around, yet she was too late, Gildarts had sunk lower to a kneeling position and grabbed her ankle. There was a stomach-curling Crrrrrrrru- of bone before Harley was on the ground. She had a strange understanding of pain, for even when she winced at her ankle, there was still a malicious grin plastered on her face.

“The name of this competition isn’t to kill,” Gildarts announced in a deep tone, but then pronounced his words louder, at his partner, “It is to knock you out of the rink.”

Harley was still on the ground, this time she’d sent bullets sparking off of Gildarts’ empty leg. Then a volt of power hit her and the clown dragged backward with force, still laying horizontal her limp body stilled. She faced up, motionless as the dust settled. Her eyes were closed. Seemingly, she’d gone unconscious. Gildarts’ slow, creaking steps approached. One more blow, or even just a toss, should do it from here. He stooped down, exposing his torso and extending an arm.

“No! She’s awake!” Cerise’s shrill voice called, as she’d swung her blade and slashed off a flake of cloth, narrowly, she’d missed the entire arm that wielded the scythe.

Harley cackled as her eyes popped open, she sprung up like a jack-in-the-box and grappled his arm, taking his advice she used all of her weight to cause the one-legged prime to lose his balance. Teetering closer to the edge, the smiling girl took her chance to strike and instead of using her lethal pistols, she opted for the bat and smashed him yet again, upside the head.

“TIMMMMBERRRRR!” she cupped her free hand around her mouth and it left a smear of dark blood on her lips.

The mage however didn’t move more than a few inches, “I won’t be falling that easily,” his voice laced with glory, and his lips wore a grin that matched hers. Instantly, fear lit Harley’s eyes as she readied her bat again the man’s palm was a torch of light and it was aimed at her legs. Fishnets of blood hooked into her knees and cubed bits of the battleground below her. The pale woman fell into the shallow ditch of rubble and her eyes juggled her surroundings along with explosive ideas of how to escape.

Their small arena seemed even smaller now that the footing was uneven and blood drawn. Cerise seemed somehow affected by an enchantment that tickled the mage’s skin with foul menace. His attention was temporarily pulled from his loom over Ms. Quinn and he aligned his challenge on Jibril.

Cerise skidded as her treads slid over pebbles, Jibril's pulsating magic had pushed her back this far and Gildarts had set a gift of his own magic aimed at her enemy’s scythe. The clashing magic hissed as they collided and Gildarts shook off the sudden pang of lighter fluid burning his nose. Harley had tossed it from the pit she lay in and it landed squarely on his nose. In Quinn’s parted lips hung a cigarette slithering with smoke. “You’re gonna burn.”

The toss of the cigarette aimed at the mage’s face allowed the clown-girl to launch herself free and at the same time, empty the rest of her clip in his direction. Bullets are bent back and scattered hot into her skin as Harley bounces up through the air and collides into Jibril before falling yet again on the ground within bounds. Her now unlit cigarette tumbles in the air over her nose and falls over the cliff that her head hangs just over.

"Oh for that, you're gonna pay."



[spoiler]

Gil used his T1 power up for 1/11 SP!
Harley used her pistols throughout the fight, was acroBATic, and then swung at already concussed Gil’s head.
Gildarts used detonate punch, and Crash!
Harley’s ankle is hurt.
Jibril used Murderous aura on Cerry.

Gildarts casts wall repelling Harley to collide with her ally, and her attempts at burning Gildarts’ hunk-ness off are thrown back with her.
I left on a cliff-hanger. #puns

[/spoiler]

[Schwi Dola]

A blast of magic too powerful to be believed had struck Jibril’s scythe right before her ally had been thrown into her again. Her scythe disintegrated in her hands. Jibril pushed herself up, while Harley reloaded her gun from her position . Looking at Harley, Jibril considered her wounds. At this rate, Jibril and Harley were going to lose this fight. But there was something in Harley’s hand, even as she stood up.

Jibril recognized it, and it made her excited. “Aren’t those cigarettes? An addictive foul substance that harms Immanity?” Harley looked surprised at the sudden question and wide open mouth smile. “Yeah, I have a friend watching, I swiped them because I care not because I smoke. What's it to you?” 

“I read about these in my master’s books but never had I laid eyes upon them. They…” Energy bullets hailed upon the pair. Jibril put herself between Harley and Cerise to give her time to finish reloading, her back now red with burns. Jibril’s face winced as the bullets exploded on her but continued. “They are difficult to stop using, a weakness of Immanity.”

Harley stood herself back up while Jibril's face calmed. Now wasn't the time for this. “Yea, I forgot I still had them.” Jibril’s hand, now glowing, had shot out while Harley started to speak, grabbing the cigarettes and holding them high up above her. “Hey, those are my lucky cigarettes now!” 

“We will lose if you indulge in this weakness.” A holy ray shot out from JIbril’s hand, carrying the cigarettes with it completely disintegrating the pack. Jibril may not fully understand Harley, but she wanted no possibility of weakness. “Bitch!” 

"We cannot have weaknesses distracting us." Silent Harley stood back. Jibril focused again on the fight. “I think it is time to show them the folly of their arrogance.” The smiles were gone, Jibril’s face formed a slight frown and her eyes opened wide glowing briefly. She held out one hand nonchalantly materializing a new scythe. A new wave of malevolence sharpened to a fine edge washed over the arena. Jibril turned to address Gildarts “As much as I loathe to admit it since you are mere Immanity.. Gildarts, you are worthy of my full attention as is your partner Cerise.”

Jibril’s eyes stayed keenly on Gildarts. Her analysis on present data screamed that this threat must be eliminated first. Both targets had revealed power surpassing Jibril and Harley. His actions were much less refined than the Dhampir-like creature yet still Jibril’s instincts did not sense the attacks thrown at her. Jibril focused magical power into her scythe, its black aura deepening to a color darker than night, while also readying a shift. “Keep her busy. I will deal with this man. We can talk after the fight.”

“Fine, but we aren’t done.” Harley separated from Jibril and started shooting while Cerise responded in kind with her own energy bullets.

Her enemies anticipated every move she made. Minimized the impact of JIbril’s movements and made full use of that time to injure her. To overcome this, she had to do the unexpected. She can’t underestimate them. Fight them as though they were Flugel. To overcome their battle instinct she couldn’t just use a new attack pattern, she had to do it faster than they could anticipate. She ran at full force at Gildarts without floating. Jibril needed all of her focus, even the magic customarily used to maintain flight.

She didn’t stop; energy fully charged she intended to merely run him down. Unsure of what her game was, Gildarts focused his glowing white magic in one of his fists. Jibril’s eyes glanced at the other target, a stray attack now could be devastating. Harley didn’t look so good, but still had Cerise’s attention.Returning her attention, she watched the magical spirits on Gildarts’s hand. Timing was everything.

POP, Gildarts’s fist met the air, while his back split with pain. A radiating pain unlike any other. Jibril’s brute force method to destroy space and distort gravity rippled around the wound which was comparable to his gravity magic. A couple of moments later, a second crack resounded as the space she damaged snapped back, the stress of both actions making a bloody mess of his skin. Surprising to Jibril, he reacted too quickly and whirled around with a one-two punch. The air was heavy as his charged fist plowed into Jibril’s face knocking her back and sending her tumbling.

Energy drained, body heavy, Jibril struggled to right herself. Slowly her body became lighter. She could feel the lingering spirits of this man falling off. It was a little dirty, to force spirits to cling to others. A much too intimate magical effect, especially to someone made entirely of spirits. She was dizzy, but she had to stand. The coldness of her voice matched her gaze. “You are wrong about one thing. If you don’t try to kill me, you won’t get me out of the ring.”

Word Count: 831

-2 SP: Jibril Used T1 Super Form Focus Full Round (4/4/4/5)

[Albert Wesker]

Even if she knew when and where each shot was going to go, dodging them while still trying to return fire of her own was a difficult task. Especially in such a confined place as this fighting ring; it limited the usual mobility and escape tactics she would usually employ that might have given her some kind of edge. All she had to rely on here was skill and careful planning...well, skill, careful planning, and the fact she had the advantage in the number of rounds in her guns.

Only a few more, with how she had already been firing, of course. When Harley's revolvers ran empty, Cerise still had another few shots, which she took full advantage of. A single energy bolt hit home with a stinging, explosive impact on each of the lady clown's limbs. It staggered her enough to give the smaller fighter time. Time to quickly close the gap, stowing her pistols out of sight.

Harley had recovered in that brief instant, rearing back to strike out with a kick at the incoming snake. Cerise had underestimated her enhanced speed, and even her dodge was only barely sufficient; ducking low and skidding under the kick, it still clipped her head, throwing it back and leaving her to land on her back rather than smoothly regaining her feet as she had intended. A split second of confusion and distraction, and her original plan had been all but thrown out the window, as the still-standing harlequin just grinned deviously down at the girl and swiftly stomped down with one boot.

Cerise brought both arms over her chest, one hand bracing the other to catch the strike. It still drove both hands into her body, with only enough force to drive the air out of her lungs rather than crack her ribs. Not just faster, stronger, too... Under normal circumstances, this was something that the huntress could have dealt with easily enough. But without a steady breath to draw, she could do little more than brace herself to try and ward off a fierce series of stomps and kicks directed her way. Brace herself and watch as the mad clown reloaded her revolvers, with a delighted smirk plastered across her face.

Brute force eventually won out against poor leverage and desperate defense, and with a resounding crunch a strike finally struck home against the faunus's rib cage. She let out a tiny, shuddering gasp, and involuntarily curled in on herself from the pain. Like a soccer ball, she was fiercely kicked, tumbling several feet over the stage as Harley Quinn finished her reloading and snapped the cylinder of each firearm shut.

Gasping and coughing in pain, it was all Cerise could do to force herself up. Unsteady, swaying on her feet and still in a low crouch to brace herself with one hand against the ground. She fixed the demented harlequin with a cold stare from her good eye, even as blood trickled from between teeth bared in a silent snarl.

"It...it's been too long..." she whispered, sucking in a deep breath that sent needles crawling and tumbling through her chest. "Since I actually fought someone...in such a confined space..." As the first round of gunfire came she sprang aside. An awkward, tumbling roll that dropped her back onto all fours on the ground. "I got sloppy. Used to running away."

More shots, and she just tucked and rolled aside again, coming up in a crouch on one knee. Her right arm was raised, the crossbow hidden in her bracer readied again.

"Aw, not agai--" The clown's complaint was cut short as a bolt was loosed and struck the ground between them. A thick plume of smoke erupted upward, blossoming out into a heavy cloud. Caught with her mouth open, Harley's complaint trailed off into a cough as she got a mouthful of the obscuring fumes.

Cerise shakily got back up to stand. Grimacing from the pain, she withdrew the crossbow on her arm. The smoke was as much a hindrance as it was a help; she couldn't be seen through it, but couldn't see through it herself, either. A blessing, she thought, until more gunfire ripped through the smokescreen.

"Nice trick! But I seen a lot of smokescreens in my day!"

The snake faunus quickly skittered to the side, dropping back into a crouch Standing still after a trick like that just made you a target for someone with sharp judgement. Stupid, stupid...! Several feet to one side, and then she took another agony-filled breath before she took to another trick. Like a shadow at noon, she all but vanished.

She quickly slipped through the smoke, treading lightly. Only the faint clatter of her boots sliding and scraping over the mild damage to the arena heralded her approach.

Harley was waiting for her, and swiped out with a gun to strike her, but only met with air and smoke. "What the? You were..."

A quiet hissing cut her off. And then arms wrapped around her from behind, and fangs pierced her neck with a sharp, burning pain.

Word Count: 850 (according to wordcounter.net)

Cerise maintains her power-up for the remainder of the fight. 1/5 SP remaining

[Harley Quinn]

"Ouuuuuchhh. Fuck. Fuck. What the Fuck was that?" I screamed at the top of my lungs. "Jesus Christ it hurts." Did she seriously just bite me? The sneaky female gunsmith was a lot quicker than I initially thought.  

Yeah, the cunning and snakelike heathen had bitten me, or so she thought. I let out a few more screams for good measure. Then one long, exaggerated wallow before I just couldn't take it any longer. I erupted in such insane laughter, it made my belly ache.

She tried to get the jump on me, and while I admire her for her creativity, the smoke allowed me to set my own scene. This was my stage. In her attempt to fool me she fell prey to my own trap. I had already switched out my decoy puppet in place of me. All I had to do was watch to see how the whole thing played out. It was wonderful, ten out of ten really, and I can't say I wasn't impressed.

Cerise let go of the marionette and crouched low a few feet behind it. Now that I was up this close behind her, I noticed her hair had clumped together in sweat and debris, tarnishing the natural color of a delicate rose. Strange. Time to paint her head a royal red instead.

Repositioning my bat like a spear, I clocked the back of her head with the blunt end of Goodnight. The sneaky snake let out a pained grunt and fell on her face, but before I could stomp her like a cockroach, she evaded by rolling away. I gave my bat a few twirls, taunting her, as she rose to her feet with fists clenched tight. Sneaky Snake!

"What can I say,” I shrugged my shoulders, “looks like you missed me?" Clearly pissed, she drew her weapons so furiously it hissed. Nope. There was no way I was going to get shot again. Fuck that.

Traveling the arena floor with a fury, I did my best to make my movements sporadic to avoid gunfire. When I was near to closing the gap between us, I leaned back like a champion limbo player, dropped to my knees, and used the force to propel my slide. Right before I made it past her, our eyes met, and I could see her red slits dilate.

Whomp! Goodnight struck the back of her kneecaps and brought her to all fours. Cerise let out a wail that was music to my ears. I followed it with a double handed swing to the back of her skull, which once again sent her down to her face.

"Don't you know getting your head hit like that could be bad for your health?" I asked playfully. "It would probably be best if you stayed down now."

Two loud cracking sounds stopped me in my tracks and caused me to look over my shoulder. The two wizards flew through the air like rockets and the effects of their magic decorated the sky. Best firework show I ever saw. Through the black aurora surrounding her scythe, Jibril was determined to end her. 

The light show gave me the time I needed to reload my pistols, and I ran across the platform to face the hunk. Watching Jibril attack Gildarts made me realize that the effect of her magic was damaging his skin. Bingo baby! 

Without any warning, an agony pierced the space between my shoulder blades and two bullets ruptured from out my chest. I stopped, dropped, and rolled, before she turned me into swiss cheese.  Instantly I was reminded this fight was far from over, and rage swelled up within me.

Two shots from my revolvers and the gunsmith changed course to avoid the thunder from my pistols. Pop, Pop, I now I had her on the defense from the barrage of bullets. I only had one shot at this, and with a sprint and a leap through the air, I sat on her, hugging the back of her neck with my legs. 

"Stay down!” I yelled as we both landed hard on the ground. “You Snake Plissken looking motherfucker!"

Then I saw my golden ticket as Jibril charged her energy with pitch black magic, swirling around her scythe. “It's now or never,” I told myself, as I aimed at Gildarts. The word “hate” was engraved on the outside chamber housing my next rounds. How appropriate. With a booming snap, her scythe missed his chest, but not entirely, and her magic tore through his stomach.

Now!

Bang! Bang! My bullets soared through the air and hit the mage's torn apart flesh. It was a direct hit. Gildarts let out a groan as he struggled to overcome the double trouble from Jibril’s magic and my assault. Lucky shot. But before I could celebrate, Cerise reminded me to pay attention to her by putting a blade deep in my upper thigh. Holy shit, I have had enough of this relentless bitch.

830 words according to Google Docs 
Harley used Super Defense "You Missed me" on Cerise 0/2 SP remaining 
Cerise used Egnima Lily and Huntress Brace
Gildarts usesd Parry 

[Gildarts]

The veteran warrior’s power continued to boil the air around him, acrid smoke dissipated and the war seemed to wage on without him. Gore splattered the ground along with pebbles and debris from the blood exchanged, and it continued.

Molten lead buried deep in his skin and Gildarts knew better than to grab at the wound with his hand, instead with a mere wince the warrior growled in surmounting anger. The battlefield was tainted with venomous destruction. Too much, for the crash-mage who knew all too well what this would lead to. He would end this now.

Cerise had been fighting tooth and nail. She’d been edged into several tight spots and managed to narrowly pull through, but her cloak showed damage and though it was black, there was no way it could disguise all that blood. She was a sharpshooter of sorts and adaptable as she was, this was not her strength. Seconds had passed and with it, his sights had set on the unsuspecting one, the pig-tailed woman had hit him but instead of charging at her while she reloaded Gildarts unleashed an immense amount of speed and gathered his incinerating magic. Cerise’s opponent was too focused on what was in front of her face and assumed that her ally could keep Gildarts off. This was a risk, then again, so was letting the clown reload.

A crippling punch landed into the youth’s side, blasting her ribs with a sound too sickening. For a flash of a second, Gildarts grappled with the pangs of guilt. But, she had promised his team death. This was the only way. He saw the girl’s body launch back and Cerise who had seen his movement, looked startled at the results. Dull and unmoving, the body skidded to a halt. Yet, it was still in the rink and lay just behind Harley’s half.

“You think you can scare me with that?” the clown sneered, though, there was a bit of a quivering twitch in her eyebrow.

Cerise, now seeing the odds sway to their favor, took immediate action which was a catalyst for the battle to resume. Harley had raised her revolvers once more and released her scalding onslaught, their aim sporadic and off-kilter yet Gildarts dismissed it with magic having felt the bite of her bullets before. The spew of metal disintegrated in the air and bits sizzled as they fell into his cloak and skin.

With the cover provided, Gildarts’ partner launched forward Harley may have a rivaled weapon to her two pistols, but Cerise was a better shot and a volley of bullets unleashed from her primary weapons. Gildarts noticed the one he’d just punched beginning to inch her way awake, coughing up blood and gauging her surroundings. Cerise’s bullets had massacred the clown’s flesh and the woman wrinkled her face in agony, “You little bitch!”

Blinded by disgust and blood Harley thrashed forward like a rabid animal, fueled by rage and not a lot more. Gildarts stepped in front with his fist still aglow with magic, his eyes narrowed with his own hatred and a mere command escaped his lips, “No.”

Thunderous gravity brought Harley Quinn to her knees before him, no longer would she unload the rest of her clip into his partner. The clown screamed, “What is this?!” as her own body catapulted downward. Her body clenched and seized as it grappled with the invisible force of gravity cheating her out of tearing Cerise to shreds.

Meanwhile, eyes had fallen off of Jibril and Harley’s terror was the perfect distraction to finish this herself. She’d flashed into view with invisible, impossible speed and channeled all her power into one deadly blow, one sure to knock Gildarts no matter how strong, to his knees and also free Harley from his cheap attack.

A blaze of magic shook Gildarts as it collided into him, his eyes rolled into his lids and he collapsed in front of Harley. Now with the bulky meatshield down, Jibril was thirsting for more. With a smirk she turned to Cerise who was ready for her.

Glorious energy had been charged in Cerise’s other form of Enigma Lily, power condensed in the air around it and a coil burst out when she tickled the trigger. Her aim, Jibril’s heart. The energy beam blasted with nothing to rival its path. A laser of sheer pain jumped into her enemy, painting a stamp of thick, royal blood that grew throughout her shirt and drizzled on the ground. The copper scent woke Gildarts’ nose, the close-quarters fight wasn’t over yet, despite the way it seemed.

Jibril still stood, Harley had now gloated over Gildarts with her shiny revolvers glinting in the cloud-cast sun and held him pinned. She no longer wore a wicked smile. Cerise recharged her weapon and Jibril still took to the fight, launching her weakened body forth and hoping to overpower Gildarts’ opponent.

“Not feeling so big now, are ya?” Harley snickered but Cerise took her by surprise in a smear of color Gildarts couldn’t quite make out.

Cerise shouted, “Go, finish her off!”


[spoiler]

Gildarts remains powered up for this again, with his T1. 9/11 SP remain

[/spoiler]

[Karl Jak]

Face to Face
#32 Jibril & #30 Harley Quinn vs #19 Cerise & #34 Gildarts

Blurs started to take shape and colors started to unblend as Gildarts planted a knee into the arena floor and rose to a fully vertical position.  He tilted his head and winced as the images finally came into focus—Cerise was on the retreat from a paired assault by the bat-wielding clown and the girl-turned-Grim Reaper.

The crash mage kicked off the stone and rush forward.  He was hurting, but he had enough in him to be of use to his partner.

“Left!”  Harley barked as she pulled back a swing and reached for a revolver.

Jibril craned her head and scowled just as the metal fist crashed into the side of her face.  A moment later, a second blow thundered up into her sternum.  Never one to leave a job half-finished, Gildarts leaned back and leashed another haymaker that sent the stunned fighter crashing to the grass outside the arena.

“Over here!”  A soft voice taunted as Gildarts turned right into a homerun swing from Harley Quinn.

The jester flashed a Cheshire grin as the big man lurched forward and crumbled into a heap a few inches from the unconscious Jibril.  While she wanted to relish the moment just a little more, Harley knew this was the part where she was supposed to take her own knockout blow—a bit of payback for hubris or some nonsense.

Bat in hands, she twisted and parried Cerise’s strike.

“Gotcha!”  Harley sneered as she hoisted her weapon up over her head for the follow-up blow.  Instead of sweet victory, she got a fistful of snake venom right in her eyes.  A set of fingers instinctively moved to her face as the caustic bile sizzled on her exposed skin. “Mother fu—” A pair of hands crashed into Harley’s chest, throwing her off balance.  The blinded woman got one last swing of the bat before she toppled from the arena.

[spoiler]

Cerise (2.85) & Gildarts (2.6) defeat Jibril (2.15) and Harley Quinn (3.05)

Cerise & Gildarts advance to Round 2

Jibril and Harley Quinn move to Match D of the Redemption Bracket and will face Retane and Victor Wolfe

[/spoiler]