Colosseum - Round 1, Group B - Tartaros vs Rin

[Storyteller]

Tartaros glanced at the assortment of weapons that lie beneath the unfurled Kingdom flag. He already had his own favored tools, so what purpose would any of this serve?

"Useless," he whispered to himself as he looked up into the crowd. Something stood out to the space marine. A person was holding up a cardboard sign that read 'Someone Give Tartaros a Hand!' With a growl, the space marine tried to memorize that smug woman's face, but even as he tried to focus his attention on the situation at hand (damn it!), he noticed that there were at least a dozen other signs with similar phrases and puns on them.

"Damn everything."

On the other side of the battlefield, Rin found himself glancing at all the weapons set up beneath the Deserter colors. He couldn't wait to see who he had to fight.

Someone gestured for silence, and just like that, there wasn't a sound in the building as Victor von Magnus walked onto the small platform near the center of the massive structure. With a smile, he picked up the padded hammer and smashed it into the gong, signalling the fights to commence.

Judge – Trixie

Tartaros posts first, and he may do so anytime after 6 pm CDT/7 PM EDT.

Description of fight area and other information can be found here - <!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://omniverse-rpg.com/viewtopic.php?f=28&p=44961#p44950">viewtopic.php?f=28&p=44961#p44950</a><!-- l -->

Please refer any questions to that thread.

Word Limit: 750
Posts: 3
Time Limit: 48 hours
SP use is enabled. SP does not regenerate between rounds. Injuries may occur. Neither injuries nor SP use are factored into judgment, only the quality of writing.

[Tartaros]

In the muddy arena below, Tartaros slowly limped forwards through the gate, his eyes darting across the walls and crowd. Behind the marine was a set of intricately designed banners and a rack of blades, hammers and various other instruments. What was this, some kind of mock theater? Was the crowd so easily bored by violence that they had to be entertained with some poor sod's amateur acting? In the end, it didn't matter. Hopefully they would be entertained either way.

Drawing his longsword with one hand and keeping his fingers planted on his shotgun's stock with the other, the Astartes planted his boots into the dirt. Finally, the deep, growling sound of the gong reverberated through the Colosseum. Tartaros sighed at the sound, pacing forwards through the mu-

Before he could take another step, the wanderer was interrupted with the sound of a burning flame rushing past his ear. Turning in a panic, Tartaros saw a figure standing before him, clad in black and gripping a katana engulfed in blue flame. A lanky, dark-haired... teenager. Just bloody wonderful, fighting a child...

Muttering to himself, the Astartes brought his blade to bare, slashing at the figure. Before the blade could make anything even resembling a mark, the figure was already sprinting away, leaving little but a burning gash in Tartaros' armour.

Swinging himself back around, the wanderer began running. Vaulting over the stone barricades in his way, he had finally found himself near the center of the arena where the youth awaited him. Gripping his sword yet again, Tartaros ran towards the figure. As the giant of iron charged, the youthful swordsman brandished his blade, a wave of bright blue flames blasting towards Tartaros.

The old warrior charged through the blaze, a good-sized chunk of his armour and cloak being singed a dark, ashy grey. Calmly humming and trying to ignore the scorching heat that burned his skin, he raised his longsword, slashing the exorcist's knee and drawing blood. The crowd began cheering, eagerly awaiting the duel ahead.

Groaning as the warm, crimson fluid flowed down his calf, Rin drew his blade across Tartaros' shoulder twice, grazing and burning the soldier's flesh. Letting out a quiet, gravelly "Fuck..." as the sword dug into him, the warrior punched the exorcist as best he could, knocking him down into the mud.

Before Tartaros could ready himself for another blow, Rin pulled himself up from the ground, launching another torrent of flame at his foe. As the wanderer grunted in pain, the exorcist took his chance, slashing at Tartaros again and scrambling behind one of the stone barricades.

[Rin Okumura]

"Ouch!" Was the first thing that came from the demon's mouth as his enemy's long sword put a gash in his knee. Before he could complain about the pain, however, he needed to do some damage as well, and took the chance that his opponent created for him to fight back. Rin smiled as he managed to wound the man's shoulder, then pulled himself from the ground and launched another wave of fire at him, followed by another attack. After using all the chances he saw, he quickly retreated to a barricade. After all, the guy had a SHOTGUN.

"He hits pretty hard..." Rin mumbled to himself, as the shouting from the crowd filled his ears. He knew that the noise would make it hard to tell if someone was sneaking up on him, but he'd just have to deal with it. Both of them were wounded now, so how hard could it be to finish this? The demon struggled to stand back up from his resting position, but when he did, he was fully prepared to attack again. Just to get back at the man for cutting his knee, Rin sheathed his blade, causing the flames that engulfed it and his body to die down. Running out from behind cover, the exorcist began dashing back and forth as fast as he could. This seemed to confuse his opponent, as he only saw the boy vanishing and reappearing a few feet from where he once was.

In the matter of moments, the demon was already upon him, but instead of attack with a sword, he was attacking with his fist. "Gooooooooo!" Could be heard as Rin reeled back to attack the armored man, his fist flying forward and smashing against the metal helmet that covered Tartaros' head. It didn't do much damage, except to his own hand, but it did manage to daze him long enough to get another attack in. Drawing his sword once more, Rin jumped high into the air and slashed downward, sending a large wave of fire at his opponent. The heat distracted him enough to allow the demon to land directly on top of the massive shoulder guards that the man wore.

Both combatants came crashing to the ground, Tartaros because of the sudden increase in weight on his shoulders, and Rin because of his wounded knee. Now that Rin believed he would have a chance to relax a bit and recover from his nearly broken fist and bleeding knee, he ran back to the barricades and took cover behind whichever one was closest. Quickly tearing a piece of cloth from his shirt, he tied it around his knee and took a deep breath in. "Man this hurts."

[Tartaros]

Grunting in pain as he scrambled to his feet, Tartaros' eyes searched around the arena. Seemingly, his opponent was trying to bide his time. It mattered little, the swordsman would have to come out eventually...

Sliding his blade gently back into its scabbard and bringing his shotgun to bare, the Astartes prepared to resume the duel. Limping through the mud and kneeling behind one of the barricades, Tartaros caught a glimpse of the navy-blue streak darting across the arena. Steadying his hands and holding his breath, the marine prepared to fire.

As the exorcist charged towards him, Tartaros took the shot. Even as the young man ducked from left to right, the slug still grazed his cheek, leaving a long and bleeding gash on his face. The marine couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief while th-

"ARGH!"

As the crowd began to erupt into raucous laughter and cheering, Tartaros felt a searing, white-hot agony burn its way through his hand. Staring down at his right arm, he found a burning, blue blade thrust deep into his forearm, and a grinning Rin at its side. His arm still burning, the iron colossus did the first thing that came to mind. Letting out a raspy snarl of pain and anger, Tartaros gripped his shotgun tightly, ramming its stock into the head of the swordsman.

With the sickening crunch of splintering wood and steel crashing into bone, Rin was thrown to the arena floor. Mud staining his clothes and the crowds cheering around him, weakly tried to force himself back off of his knees. He had to end this as soon as he could...

As the exorcist struggled to his feet, Tartaros stood, fuming with distaste at being forced to fight such a young opponent. Nonetheless, the boy still seemed skilled beyond his years...

Taking a moment to wipe the blood and ash from his still partially-burned hand, the warrior spoke, his short-lived fit of agony and rage subsiding. "You're a fast one, boy. Poor technique though. Take more care next time, and you might just win this", he paused, ejecting the empty shell from his firearm, "That is, if you can get past me."

As for the half-demon laying before him, well, he was furious. Hot, thick blood pouring down his face as the crowds cheered for more... They would get their show, they would the best show of their damned lives! Violently sputtering a mix of half-congealed blood and dirt from his mouth, Rin leaped high into the air, showering his opponent in a burst of flame.

Bracing himself as the blazing inferno burned its way through his cloak, Tartaros spoke once more. "Good, good! Strike me again!"

Still absorbed with anger, the exorcist obliged, charging into the giant of steel and hide before him with blade in hand. Hacking deep into Tartaros' armour, biting into the side of his chest before he could so much as attempt to pull the trigger. The marine recoiled in surprise, and Rin followed up with a blow to the leg, knocking him to his knees.

Pointing his blade at Tartaros' throat, the half-demon paused. The crowd kept silent, awaiting his choice with bated breath. What wou-

"Hey, kid. You missed something."

With the click of a hammer, Rin was thrown across the arena, landing in the narrow fault near the center. Humming to himself, Tartaros cleared his shotgun's chamber, holstering it back along his belt. Clambering back onto his feet and limping towards the crack in the earth, the marine drew one of his axes.

Leaping into the fault, however, it appeared his foe was awfully injured. Injured, but almost certainly alive. Unsurprisingly, before he could even turn, the bloodied exorcist was upon him again. Slashing back and forth at a tremendous speed, the youth's blade only scratched and singed Tartaros before getting caught on his axe. Letting out a hoarse, cough-like laugh as Rin struggled against the grip of his weapon and still-bleeding arm, the warrior spoke again. "I really should have asked your name... It can be good to know who you are fighting, after all."

[Rin Okumura]

The words that came from Tartaros' mouth reminded the demon of something very important, his eyes beginning to focus on a shining barrel as his legs launched him backwards. But it was already too late. A loud "bang" echoing in his ears, slowly turning into a high pitched ringing as his vision went black. Rin felt as his back met with the ground, knocking the breath from his lungs. Being able to just lay in the trench was oddly... Relaxing, the constant ringing no longer bothered him, and he almost felt like he could just lay there for hours without ever wanting to move. A voice in his head began speaking to him as the ringing began to fade. One that told him to get up and keep fighting, his opponent was coming for him, you can do it! KILL!

Springing from the trench, the demon unleashed a flurry of attacks. The flames that now consumed him grew more intense with each swing, eating away at his sanity while one word echoed through his mind. Sparks were created as metal clashed with metal, eventually stopping when the blade got caught on the man's axe. Rin's eyes twitched, and his brow furrowed when as he glared at the man who had the AMAZING idea to stop him from getting his revenge. His words were only met with a growl, one that rapidly transitioned to a roar when the boy slid his blade out of the axe's hold and dashed forward. As the axe fell, it narrowly missed Rin's head before he could vault off of Tartaros' breastplate and land a few feet away.

From this distance, all the armored man could see was a black figure standing in a blue inferno, one that crouched down and slashed at the air. A wave of blue light flew from the flame, and began closing in on the man, who treated it like any other, and took the full brunt of the attack. But instead of seeing the boy which he expected to be on the other side of the fire, he was met with an empty battlefield and a flash of blue in his peripherals. The demon was literally running circles around his opponent, launching a blaze of fire each chance he got so that he could cook the man alive as punishment for inflicting such pain upon him.

The old soldier could do almost nothing as he watched what looked like a dotted halo form around him, with waves of fire popping out from every curve of it's form. Yet there was a chance. The boy was fast, but there was still a moment that he could attack and do some damage. Lifting his boom-stick and aiming it at one point of the halo, he endured the heat from the fire until he saw his chance, and took it. Again, the bang from the weapon echoed through the Colosseum, and several lead sphere lodged themselves into Rin's arm. The demon slid to a stop, the blue after-trail he left behind merging with his likeness. All was quiet, the spectators watching for what would happen next.

The boy was breathing heavily now that his onslaught was stopped, and he glared at Tartaros through his hear with his head held down. "You done?" The man struggled to ask, as the flames made the air hot, and difficult to inhale. Once again, the son of satan let out a vicious roar as he grasped Kurikara with both hands and leapt into the air. With his blade held above his head, Rin plummeted toward his opponent, the same bloodthirsty roar emanating from deep inside him. As he drew closer to his target, the demon brought his sword down onto the metal shell that Tartaros wore, flames spewing from the sword and crashing against the ground while the demon put all of his strength into the attack.

When the power of his attack faltered, and his feet were back on the ground, the exorcist jumped backwards and fell on his good knee. The inferno that was consuming him died down, returning to it's normal state while Rin placed his free hand onto the ground to keep himself from falling over. His sanity was beginning to return, and when he looked up, he saw the damage he had caused. Most of his opponent's armor, along with many of the barricades and the dirt around the arena, were singed black from his flames.

[Tartaros]

Snuffing out a still-smoldering piece of ash clinging to his cloak, Tartaros stumbled towards his opponent. Scoffing in between raspy coughs, the taste of blood still fresh in his mouth, he said. "Not the talking type, hrm? I'm going to ask you one more time, your name."

The exorcist leaped forward, the fire in his eyes slowly fading. Scratching the wanderer's torso yet again with his blade, he responded. "Rin. Rin Okumura!"

"Great.", coughed Tartaros, gripping his axe, "Now, back to business. Impress me."

Before the Astartes could so much as take a step, his opponent was already upon him. As the exorcist slashed back and forth, Tartaros was forced onto the ground, his weapons launched across the arena. As the marine scrambled through the mud, Rin launched blaze after blaze of flame at his foe, scorching even the now cracked and dry mud a blackened hue.

Limping through the flames, the iron-clad coossus frantically grabbed his axe from the dirt floor, charging his foe. Bringing it down on the half-demon's thigh, tearing through his clothing and skin.

Rin groaned in pain, clutching his own warm, crimson-stained leg. Lashing out in a frenzy of pain, the flames that surrounded the young exorcist burned far brighter and more intense. As the flames grew more intense, burning Tartaros' gauntlet an ashy grey and his exposed hand a bright red, the warrior stumbled backwards. His arm convulsing in agony, the Astartes attempted to strike his opponent again, only to be met with an acid-like, terrible burn burrowing its way deep through his abdomen. It was pure pain, engulfing his whole body! It felt like his very bones were burning. Everything swamped in white-hot agony and blood dripping from his mouth, Tartaros could only let out a low, raspy grunt.

Dropping his weapon where he stood and staring down to his chest, the armoured warrior found a bright-blue burning blade buried right inside his chest and his armour consumed by fire. As Rin withdrew the Kurikara with a strained pant and the giant before him fell to the ground, he knew he had won. The crowd cheering around him, his foe lying on the ground before him, silent and in flames... He knew, finally, he had won!

Stepping forward towards the flag of the Deserters, the exo-

"Boy... I'm not that fuckin' easy to kill."

The half-demon turned around slowly, his blood running cold. Standing before him was Tartaros yet again, still aflame, wiping a slurry of concealed blood and dirt from his mouth. What little of his armour and clothing that was not still burning or bloodied, was burned a deep grey colour.

His axes raised high into the air, the flaming beast charged at Rin, laughing maniacally.

[Rin Okumura]

The demon wore a smile on his face as he began limping toward the deserter's flag, it was a tough fight, but he did it. He beat an opponent who managed to push him to his limits, one that survived being burned alive, and even begin stabbed an cut open numerous times. Now he could rest, recover, and have another fight soon! Or so he thought. The Sound of metal made his heart skip a beat. Rin froze, barely able to bring himself to turn around, only to see a terrifying sight. Tartaros, the man who he assumed was dead, was walking. The flames from Kurikara still eating away at his flesh as he drew the axe from his side.

How could this be? The fact that someone has taken so much damage to their body, and still push themselves to keep fighting as if nothing happened? it just didn't make sense to Rin, especially since he was still being burnt alive. Who could explain this? Apparently, Tartaros could. Soon after all of the exorcist's questions ran through his mind, the beast spoke. "Heh, guess so..." Was the only response Rin could get in before the man began charging at him with the axe held high above his head.

"Shit, shit, shit!" There was no time to escape, his body was far too injured, the pain too great. The only thing he could do was move slightly to the side before the head of the giant's axe struck his back, covering the metal in a crimson liquid as it ripped through the demon's flesh. Both combatants stood in silence, the audience suppressing any other noises with their cries of approval. It took what felt like hours before the men who were seemingly frozen in time moved, as the axe slid from Tartaros' hand, causing the demon to fall. A cloud of ash surrounded the boy as his body hit the charred earth beneath him, landing with a thud.

Tartaros' arm fell to his side, the inside of his armor still a blazing inferno from when the boy had stabbed him. A faint laugh echoed from within his shell, and moments later, the armored giant fell as well. Metal clanking as it struck other pieces of the man's gear as he slowly dropped to the ground in the opposite direction the demon did. The blue inferno that surrounded Rin and consumed Tartaros slowly began to die down, seemingly at the same time as each other. As the blue flame made by the exorcist died down, the arena's ground could be seen clearly again, stained red by the blood of both the combatants, and charred black by the flames of the demon. The crowd looked on, knowing that the winner would now be decided by whoever stood up next.