Zone C -- Megacity One

[Strazio Rockwell]

“Get down here Goddamnit,” Strazio shouted, “now that your friend’s gone are you too scared to fight?!”

The fae girl shouted back, “I’m not an idiot, you know, if I come down, you’re just gonna beat the snot outta me.”

As if to punctuate her sentence a lance of white-hot destruction crashed into the wall next to her. She yelped and scrambled over to an adjacent windowsill. Strazio charged another bolt and fired. This one shanked to the left and punched open a hole in the brick wall. Clownpiece dove through the opening just as a third bolt erupted from Strazio’s fist. A flash of heat and light followed her, but due to the angle of impact it did little more than singe her backside.

“You fucking coward,” Strazio shouted, “come out and fight me!”

Clownpiece peeked out of the rubble and stuck her tongue out, “come and get me then.”

Strazio screamed at her and fired a fourth lance. She ducked back inside. Every few seconds the foundation would shudder as Strazio fired another breach bolt. Days worth of frustration manifested themselves as javelins of destruction. After several more minutes and a handful of attacks, Strazio stood winded in the street. The price of magick was paid in flesh and blood, thin tendrils of smoke emanated from his burnt forearms. What had once been an apartment complex was now more akin to a crumbling artifact of some long-forgotten war. And despite this Clownpiece had yet to emerge from the stricken shell of a building.

Strazio thought about bringing the building down around her, but he didn’t feel like sifting through rubble to scavange her items. Besides there was a mountain of frustrations he need to start chipping away at.

Inside was what you’d expect of a cheap apartment complex. A layer of dust seemed to cling to everything, except the cieling where it had been knocked loose by the efforts of one pissed off mage. It was a three story joint, well two-and-a-half after the bombardment. Strazio snorted and spit a pearl of snot onto the linoleum floor. He stood at the bottom of the steps and listened for a minute or two. Nothing moved save for the occasional creak as the building adjusted itself. He took a deep breath and started up the stairs.

Strazio stopped at the second floor, it was little more than a long hallway with a series of doors on either side. The entire corridor sloped to one end as the crumbling third floor pressed its weight against the damaged foundation. Shafts of sunlight peeked in through gaping holes punched into the building. Motes of dust and debris floated in the air, only visible when they passed through light. Strazio began walking down the hallway, taking slow and measured steps. Once he was about halfway to the end a sudden commotion of movement froze him midstride.

“Surprise!” Clownpiece shouted as she emerged from a room behind him.

Before the Defender of Darkshire could respond the clowngirl threw her hand forward and let loose a torrent of flames. The inferno barrelled down the hallway, consuming every last inch of space available to it. Strazio dove into an open room and hit the deck. Though he avoided the main burst of fire it spilled in through the opening and licked at his legs. He screamed and crawled deeper into the room. Frantically he smacked the flames out with his hand and stump. What had once been a seventy degree summer day had turned into a couple hundred degrees trip through the Underverse. And worst of all? He could hear that little bitch cackling like a damned hyena.

Once his cloths were extinguished he stood and entered into a low crouch. The hallway had become a crucible and the entire building started to burn. Smoke filled the air and he found it hard to breath. There was no doubt in his mind that the psychotic little pixie was waiting around that corner ready to light him up again. And despite this thought he still charged into the hallway and towards Clownpiece.

“Burn!” she shouted and unleashed another wave of conflageration.

It was like running into a wall of red-hot sand. Strazio screamed and pushed forth, dumping energy into his failing limbs. For the briefest of moments the two were at a standstill.

“Get fucked,” Strazio shouted as he burst through the wall of fire.

His stump smacked her arm away while his free hand grabbed at her collar. The two fell to the ground, with Strazio on top. His grip had progressed to her throat. His hair was on fire and his eyebrows had burned away. He screamed and pushed with all of his weight.

Strazio used Overcharge and cannot use it again without opting to take 2 pnts of damage. Strazio is attempting to use Blackout on Clownpiece.