[Round 1] Link & Clownpiece vs Skeletor & Kuzuru

[Skeletor]

“Keep it up, Blade-man! That one sounded painful!” Skeletor called, as Link’s scream echoed across the arena. For his part, the warlock was trying to focus on the infuriatingly elusive Clownpiece. For the moment she was out of reach, floating above the battle with the same cocky smirk. The warlock watched frustratedly, she seemed to create illusory replacements at a moment’s notice. He focused intently, waiting for any sign of her attack. Fatigue weighed on his muscles, slowing reactions, perhaps these wounds were less superficial than they appeared…

His grinning skull tracked Clownpiece as she flew in an arc towards the offensive. There! Skeletor was sure he had spotted the transition, after she waved her torch. The illusory fairy was still flying towards him, so where was the real one? Were it physically possible, Skeletor would have squinted, so intent was he on spotting the true Clownpiece. As it was he only left his defenses wide open.

Lampad’s Torch smashed into his skull as Clownpiece streaked past, causing Skeletor to stagger backwards. She turned on a dime, shooting back towards the dazed Eternian. A giggling red and blue blur shot past, another stinging blow slammed into the back of Skeletor’s head. A third strike followed soon after, then a fourth, Clownpiece now laughing uncontrollably. But the hellspawn’s glee died instantly as a blue-skinned claw snagged one of her retreating legs. Clownpiece turned, beholding Skeletor’s morbid visage, jawbone dangling loose to one side, eye sockets blazing full of red rage.

There was no snide comment, no quip, only a mottled scream of pure malice as Skeletor whipped his arm over his head and down, smashing the fairy face first into the arena floor hard enough to crack the stone surface. Chest heaving with effort, Skeletor reached up and reattached his jawbone. Dazed and unfocused, Clownpiece raised her head from the newly formed crater, Link was still fighting off Kuzuru. He seemed to have recovered, but without his shield was sorely pressed. She wasn’t getting any help.

“That was an impressive assault, little sylph. Nheheeehee! You pack quite a punch for your diminutive stature!” Skeletor cackled, gathering eldritch energy into his havoc staff for an overhead strike. Clownpiece rolled to the side, too groggy to fly, and swung her torch across Skeletor’s vision. The warlock screamed in rage once again, as a helpless foe became naught but a hallucination. In desperation, Skeletor flailed the havoc staff in front of him, hoping to hit an invisible target.

“NO! I won’t let you get away! Get back here you, petulant half-pint!” Skeletor raged, advancing past the fairy, as he swung wildly. Clownpiece grit her teeth into an angry grin as Skeletor’s exposed back presented her with swift revenge. Slowly, painfully, the fairy rose into the air behind Skeletor, orb after orb winking into existence as she focused her fury onto the unsuspecting warlock.

“You can dish it out, boneface. But let’s see how well you can take the heat!” She shouted, swinging the Lampad’s torch and unleashing a barrage of stars. Skeletor whirled, spotting the array of projectiles heading his way. With far too many to dodge, he could only hope to endure. Skeletor planted his Havoc staff and a yellowish energy enveloped him in a protective dome. Stars and lasers crashed against it, wave after wave, as Clownpiece unleashed her wrath on Skeletor’s forcefield.

“I will see you in clown pieces for this!” Skeletor railed, feeling his footing beginning to slide backwards, perilously close to the arena’s edge. The forcefield was holding, barely, and Clownpiece was clearly nearing her limits, perhaps he could weather this storm yet. The warlock’s focus was drawn away from his foe as he felt the heel of one boot slip over the arena’s edge. There was no more time to wait. Dropping the forcefield, Skeletor leapt forward, eating several projectiles as he crashed through the last two barrages of Clowpiece’s stars.

A smoking Skeletor slowly rose, leaning heavily on his havoc staff for support as he recovered from the desperate charge. Across the stadium, Clownpiece listed in the air, the toll of such a powerful attack and her own injuries leaving her nearly exhausted. Both mages rested for as long as they dared, nearly depleted of power. Skeletor pounded his havoc staff and forced himself to stand upright. He would not be bested so early in this tournament.  

“Myah!” Skeletor cried, swinging one hand upwards in a grasping motion. Mimicking the motion, a massive stone hand morphed from the ground below Clownpiece,  seizing the surprised fairy, pinning her torch arm to her side.

“That’s enough messing around, you incendiary imbecile!” Skeletor growled. He tried to call eldritch power into his havoc staff, but he was still too drained to do so. With grim rage Skeletor charged forward, deflecting the desperate hellfire that Clownpiece shot at him with her free hand. He gripped the havoc staff and swung with both hands, putting the full force of his pivot behind the blow. The heavy metal stave shattered the reshaped stone, sending the ensnared fairy sprawling across the arena floor.

Slow and steady makes for the best final product, right guys?
847 words according to google docs
on to you CP!