Drifting Pollen

Arena Chat Thread

Anyone think they could take her on for a fun match?

@ImportantNobody

Looks like I'll have the time, and certainly sounds like a fun concept, so if you'll take me I could give you a fight! Would need to know a little more about your character though... I get that she's basically impossible to even wound, but does this simply mean impregnable skin, or the ability to cancel out the momentum of objects coming onto contact with her, or what? Also, would she have any powers or skills other than this amazing defense? If you can give me a few details in this regard, then I should be able to pick an appropriate opponent for her and have us a brawl!

Mage against the machine! (Drifting Pollen vs Kagebaka)

@Kagebaka

Been a little while since you posted, so I just wanted to check in... do you intend to continue this? If you're just too busy to write anything right now then I don't mind waiting until you have time. I would, however, appreciate a confirmation of whether or not you plan on posting.

Superheroics 101

I'd be in as well! Will probably use the same character if possible :)

BTW, it may be a good idea to just start one RP, and recruit from both previous ones? That way we get the reliable posters from both sides all writing together, so it's less likely we'll see people dropping out. Also makes it less work for Hellis...

Mage against the machine! (Drifting Pollen vs Kagebaka)

Thomas had put up a decent fight, but events had already spun out of his control. Perhaps it was the pain from being shot in his midsection, or maybe exhaustion was starting to set in, but the mage was forgetting things. Several very important things, in fact.

The first was that he had yet to free his throat.

He'd successfully sliced off the drone's left hand, and a human hand thus cut off would have quickly gone limp, allowing the mage to breathe and cast again. The hand currently encircling his throat, however, was not human, nor was it ever alive. With its connection to the main body severed, Johannes could no longer control it, but instead of suddenly releasing their hold, the mechanisms in the drone's fingers simply stopped, locking in place and freezing the hand in its current position, with a tight grip on Thomas's neck. The hold wasn't going to grow any tighter, but it wasn't going to release either, not unless the mage managed to destroy or remove the hand directly. Until then, spellcasting would be just as difficult as it had a moment ago.

@Drifting Pollen

Thomas had done absolutely nothing to address this threat, and the machine's severed hand would remain exactly where it was, clamped around the young man's throat. He would not be able to cast all those verbal spells he so desperately needed for his escape, nor would he be able to breathe properly. At this point, the lack of air would be bringing him close to unconsciousness.

This major oversight alone might have been enough to end Thomas's chances, but this was only one of the factors now aligned against him.

Sukukaja-Spell of Speed, lasts for about 5 posts.

@Kagebaka

He had also assumed that he would be fast enough to jump back into the trees before Johannes could catch him again. Perhaps, had the altercation occurred a little earlier, he would have been able to use his formidable speed to do so. He had cast his Sukukaja at the very start of the fight, however, and around now it would be wearing off, leaving him without the necessary swiftness to escape, especially while weighed down by the metal arm still gripping him. The drone could have chased him on foot and still caught him quickly, and it certainly wasn't going to stand around while he fled and tried to recover.

Even if this had not been the case, however, even if Thomas hadn't had metal fingers squeezing his throat and the time limit of his speed spell running out, it still wouldn't have been enough, for when he jumped into the trees, he had forgotten something possibly even more critical, the very reason he had stopped jumping around in the branches in the first place.

The trees, or at least a great many of them, were holograms.

Johannes's projector had been able to create multiple images of trees at once, and adding another image to its network (the glimpse of the sun that had blinded Thomas) had not stopped it from keeping up its earlier illusions. A few of them would have vanished, as Johannes moved around and the angle of projection became impossible to maintain, but the majority of the holograms were still there, waiting among the ordinary trees. So, in the unlikely event that Thomas were able to even make it into the trees, he would soon find himself in freefall as he found that half the surfaces he sought to jump on were nothing but empty air and a clever trick of the light.

All in all, the drone could probably have stood back at this point and let the multiple factors arrayed against the mage bring him down on their own. However, Johannes didn't leave these things to chance. Even though the probability of the mage getting away and healing was already quite low, the engineer was still planning one step ahead. Even after his successful shot, he had another countermeasure ready to deploy.

That was the final thing Thomas had forgotten to take into account: the other function of the drone's cannon.

Just after firing, the drone had stepped leftwards instead of moving forwards to grab its target again. This was because Johannes had not forgotten Thomas's earlier actions in the fight. It had just seen him fire a bullet at the ground to produce a Phasic Spike, and remembered that the mage had fired two shots early on in the fight that had not been aimed at the drone. Johannes knew now that every bullet was a potential threat, and had moved to the side rather than recklessly charging forwards, seeing to avoid getting too close to where Thomas had fired earlier in the fight, and thus stay away from any potential traps. Not rushing forwards meant that it would be more difficult for him to catch the mage on foot- but Johannes had no intention of simply running after his target.

He'd just fired his cannon, and now his right arm was once again blazing hot in the wake of the superheated shot. As he had done before, he pointed it behind him, and leaped, propelling himself into the air and letting the discharge of steam shoot him forwards at high speeds. Once again, he streaked forth like a fearsome metal meteorite- only this time, he aimed not for a tree, but for Thomas himself.

With all the other issues slowing Thomas down, it was highly unlikely he would be fast enough to evade the steam-propelled drone, which was rocketing forth far faster than it would have traveled on foot. On top of this, Johannes could adjust the angle of his arm mid-flight, allowing him to control his course somewhat and home in on his target like a guided missile.

This was an attack that had smacked down a tree like a toy, and its consequences on a human would be disastrous. Even by itself impact of the machine slamming into Thomas would be enough to shatter bones and possibly knock him out, but that wasn't even the worst of it. Though he'd lost part of his left arm, Johannes still had a stump, filled with whirring gears and exposed wires, and as he struck he would jam this into the mage's chest, flooding the stump with power and electrocuting Thomas upon contact, flooding his body with enough current to knock him out, and potentially kill him.

With the situation weighted so thoroughly against him, Thomas's plan to run away and heal himself was no longer even a faint hope. Rather, it veered on sheer impossibility.

Mage against the machine! (Drifting Pollen vs Kagebaka)

Just popped in to say that if this fight were named 'Mage Against the Machine', it would have been one of the coolest puns ever >_>

@Divinity

DAMN IT! Why did I not think of that?!

Edit: renamed the thread. Thanks for the idea!

Mage against the machine! (Drifting Pollen vs Kagebaka)

Caught! Using both cunning and brutality, Johannes had finally gotten a hold of his tricky opponent, and hindered both his airway and his ability to cast. His opponent was still alive, but the mage would be losing consciousness soon, once he ran out of air. The drone's hand kept up its powerful squeezing, even as the cold lenses of its eyes watched Thomas struggle in vain. Its voice finally came once again, emerging through tinny speakers. "I warned you-"

It cut off, as Johannes noticed something. In spite of having his throat constricted, the mage's lips were still moving, and he pointed his gun not at the drone but at the ground! The engineer was highly observant, and immediately knew that Thomas was trying to pull something.

To keep fighting and try to make an escape from such a situation showed admirable tenacity, and indeed, the attempt was partially successful. Although he was sharp enough to tell that something was coming, Johannes didn't know what, and couldn't move fast enough to counter the razor-sharp crystal that shot up out of the ground, slicing clean through the drone's left arm. Circuits sparked and exposed gears churned as the limb was bisected, the machine's hold broken from an unexpected angle.

However, Thomas had made two mistakes.

The first had been his assumption as to the workings of his opponent. He'd successfully sliced off the drone's left hand, and a human hand thus cut off would have quickly gone limp, allowing the mage to breathe and cast again. The hand currently encircling his throat, however, was not human, nor was it ever alive. With its connection to the main body severed, Johannes could no longer control it, but instead of suddenly releasing their hold, the mechanisms in the drone's fingers simply stopped, locking in place and freezing the hand in its current position, with a tight grip on Thomas's neck. The hold wasn't going to grow any tighter, but it wasn't going to release either, not unless the mage managed to destroy or remove the hand directly. Until then, spellcasting would be just as difficult as it had a moment ago. A significant obstacle to Thomas's attempts at escape... but not insurmountable.

The second mistake, however, was far more grave.

Without knowing about the 'Phasic Spike' spell, Johannes hadn't been able to realize what was happening quickly enough to avoid it. He had, however, known that the mage would have some unseen spells, even if he didn't know what they were, and had been ready for a potential escape. The grab had been an attempt at choking the mage into unconsciousness, thus capturing him without any major injury, but the drone had already prepared a far more dangerous attack in case that option hadn't worked. As soon as things went wrong, the engineer immediately deployed this attack.

Earlier in the fight, it had discharged its cannon at Thomas, making a ranged attack to test his defenses. It had quickly become clear that this opponent was more than capable of fending off ranged attacks, and the plasma cannon wasn't something that could be just constantly fired until it finally made a hit. Since its first shot, however, the weapon had been cooled via release of hot steam, and recharged as Johannes moved in for his grab. And now, it fired again.

Last time, the shot had come from far enough away that Thomas had time to hear the sound and prepare an instant defense before it hit. Now, however, the drone was firing at point-blank range, unleashing the shot as soon as its other arm was sliced by the crystal. Even if the mage had been able to cast normally, by the time his brain was able to register the flash and the BOOM of the weapon, the projectile would already be penetrating his midsection. At this range, the chances of a miss were virtually zero.

Johannes was still reluctant to straight-up kill his target, and had avoided aiming for any vital organs. Nevertheless, he wasn't leaving much to chance. He'd aimed a little ways below the center of Thomas's chest, seeking to smash through his spine with the projectile. Even if he was a little off, however, there were plenty of important organs in that area, and anyone with a smoking hole in their chest, expert mage or not, was going to have a bad time.

The drone was already moving again, stepping leftwards and off the trunk, re-positioning in case it needed to renew its assault. Johannes's mind was already figuring out counters to possible problems, if his enemy somehow managed to keep fighting through this. The cannon shot, brutal though it was, could be survived, and with proper medical attention the young mage might even be saved. If Thomas kept on fighting thought this, however, the engineer might well have to resort to more irreversibly lethal methods.

Mage against the machine! (Drifting Pollen vs Kagebaka)

Here plans fell into place. Johannes had been expecting resistance, which was precisely why he'd had his drone stay on top of the trunk. It gave him a high vantage point, a spot from which he could strike no matter which way Thomas moved, without sacrificing his own mobility. The tree, large and devastating though it was, was only step one of his current attack.

And unlike the last, he would not be giving his opponent the time to act as he wished.

Johannes was already watching for the mage's next move, and the moment the sword came slicing through the trunk near its upper end, he charged, stepping down the length of the fallen tree with surprising deftness. Thomas had jumped or leaped up to land above the trunk, but it was at the moment he did this that the machine struck again.

Just before it had thrown itself at the tree, it had looked at the sky, and recorded. Now, just as it had done with the false trees, it projected a hologram. An image of what it had glimpsed as it looked up.

The sun.

Even the drone's powerful projector could not capture its full blazing glory, but it made a good effort, emitting a blindingly bright light aimed at replicating the captured image directly in front of Thomas's eyes. This sudden, focused projection would remain trained on the mage, rendering him effectively blind for the next few moments. Even after that, it would likely have consequences for his vision, but at this stage, it was doubtful that the mage would last that long.

Using the last of the steam in his right arm to help propel himself forwards, Johannes rushed at his target, ducking low to avoid a series of gunshots. With his opponent blinded (and not being that great of a marksman in the first place), it was unlikely that so much as a single shot would hit him- but even if one or two did, his raised left arm and torso were heavily armored enough to simply take the hits, suffering no more than a minor dent or two.

And with that, he'd close the distance. His charge at the tree had already brought him close to his target, and with the drone's powerful legs, it would only take him a few steps until he was within reach.

Fast as he was, Thomas's attempt at a flip was evidence of his lack of combat training. As an evasive maneuver, it certainly looked fancy, but it was an inefficient means of gaining distance, and it also left the user in midair, unable to dodge. Assuming the blinded mage could even manage such a maneuver, it wasn't going to gain him much distance against the machine, which had momentum on its side now. With sight momentarily taken out by having the light of the sun projected directly into his eyeballs, it would be all but impossible for Thomas to avoid or block the subsequent attack in time.

Johannes's left arm reached out, and grabbed his throat.

It wasn't the most lethal move the engineer could have made, but he wasn't aiming to kill the mage, not if he could help it. This did not mean, however, that it was merciful. The machine's grip was literally iron, its immense strength working to squeeze Thomas's neck hard enough that the man would barely be able to breathe. The mage certainly wouldn't be able to chant any spells, with his windpipe thus constricted, and once the drone had its fingers in place, it wasn't letting go.

The drone was already recharging its right arm, in case of an unexpected evasion. At this point, however, the mage was rapidly running out of options.

Mage against the machine! (Drifting Pollen vs Kagebaka)

It was quite impressive, that Thomas was able to cast a spell in between the sound of a cannon shot and the arrival of a projectile traveling at over a hundred meters per second. Simply being able to cast quickly, however, would not keep him safe for long.

The mage soon retaliated, in the form of a brilliant beam of light that pierced through the greenery, aimed roughly where Johannes had fired from. However, the attack would meet only empty air. Moving away from where it had fired had been literally the first thing the drone had done, and the fact that Thomas had spent time moving and casting spells before counterattacking had only given the machine more time to re-position itself. It was no longer even close to where it had made its initial attack.

While his target was busy using magic to avoid getting killed, Johannes had been circling, keeping his distance and carefully examining the terrain, picking out a certain choice tree that looked like it might fit his purposes. Thomas was no longer bothering to conceal his location, chanting out several spells and unleashing powerful but easily spotted effects. Johannes took the opportunity to formulate a plan of attack. He knew where his enemy was, and he now had some idea of the capabilities the mage possessed. As more information was revealed, he adapted his plan, cutting out parts that might fail and focusing on weaknesses he could exploit.

Thomas had just cast four spells in a row- and Johannes knew that mages could get tired, could lose their focus, or simply run out of magical energies if they cast too much too quickly. He didn't know if his opponent had similar limitations, but it seemed like a reasonable bet, which made this a good time to attack. He would be coming out, in a sense, but the angle and manner of his emergence would be far from a simple advance.

He paused for a moment, looking at the sky, recording what he saw.

Then took a single step forwards, and bent his legs, thrusting his right arm out behind him. Focusing on his target, he leaped into the air.

The drone already had immensely powerful limbs, and even with its heavy body, a simple leap could propel it a good distance. That, however, was not all it was doing. Firing the plasma cannon had built up a large amount of heat in the drone's right arm, and now it unleashed its cooling mechanism, a surge of extremely hot and highly pressurized steam that sent the drone rocketing forwards at high speeds, straight towards the tree Johannes had picked out earlier. As his metal body streaked forwards, the engineer brought its legs up, to kick out at the trunk at the precise moment of impact.

The drone would hit the tree like a wrecking ball, the sheer force of its arrival knocking it clean over. This was no randomly chosen plant, however. Johannes had moved into position such that this tree was directly between him and Thomas, and not particularly far away from the latter. Now, as he crashed into it, it would slam down on the mage's position, like a massive fly swatter smacking its target against the earth.

If the mage found himself beneath the trunk, he would likely be crushed entirely. Even if he managed to evade, however, there was still the far-reaching array of branches to contend with, covering a much wider area. Getting caught under these was less likely to smash bones, but they still carried force sufficient to knock the man down and trap him beneath them.

The drone itself, meanwhile, would come down atop the trunk, arms up and ready to deal with any opposition it might encounter.

Mage against the machine! (Drifting Pollen vs Kagebaka)

The machine was already precisely where it wanted to be.

Johannes could be reckless when the situation demanded it, a bonus of working with a body that wasn't his, but as things stood his opponent wasn't posing enough of a threat to force decisive action on Johannes' part. He knew the mage couldn't simply run away- if he did, he would eventually become tired, allowing the virtually inexhaustible drone to catch up -which meant the only options remaining for his opponent were to destroy or disable Johannes' mechanical body. Therefore, all the engineer needed to do was catch his target before he got the chance.

Of course, that was easier said than done. Thomas was fast and coordinated, apparently capable of moving about in the canopy with ease, and while the machine was hardly slow, it was too bulky and heavy to climb about like that. To directly chase after its target would be suicide.

However, even if it could have, it needn't bother. Why waste energy on a difficult pursuit, when it could simply strike the mage down from a distance?

It stayed where it was, watching and listening, feet planted as it raised its right arm.

Johannes had already been able to hear his opponent's rapid, undisguised movements, which was what had led to him setting up the holograms. The problem was, Thomas had been too fast to get an easy lock on. It was tricky to pinpoint someone through sound alone, and if Johannes had tried to carefully aim an attack, Thomas would likely have moved to a different location before he could fire. The holograms, however, were a calculated solution to this problem. If Thomas didn't notice them on time, he likely would have accidentally jumped into one and fallen, making him a sitting duck. If he did notice them, however, which Johannes had obviously suspected he might, the natural response would be to stop- giving the machine enough time to aim.

And it had been charging its right arm, the one with the heavy plasma cannon, beforehand. Just waiting for the right moment to make a shot.

The moment Thomas leaped to a tree and then stopped, with neither sound nor sign of movement following, the drone focused, its right hand splitting in half to reveal the barrel of its weapon. This alone might have been enough to give it somewhere to target, but then Thomas chose to fire his gun as well. Guns, whether or not they fired spells, tended to be loud, and this additional action was just making it even easier for Johannes to figure out his target's location.

He knew more or less where the mage was, now- but it waited. An approximate location was not so good as an exact one, and for all it knew that gunshot could have been a diversion.

A moment later, however, there would be another noise, another shaking of leaves, as Thomas made another of those big leaps, and fired off another shot-

At the same moment Thomas fired as second time, the machine fired once.

Within its arm, a superconductive gel was overloaded with thermal energy, explosively expanding and propelling a superheated bullet out the barrel of the cannon. The firing would produce a thunderous BOOM, but by the time Thomas heard this, it would already be too late: the projectile wasn't so much slower than the sound, and even with enhanced speed, the mage could only react so fast. Johannes hadn't had a direct sight of his target, and hadn't been charging his cannon for very long, so he was unlikely to actually kill his target with this shot. Nevertheless, the drone had excellent aim, and the projectile still carried more than enough power to punch through flesh and bone and deliver a serious injury.

And if the mage were somehow able to avoid being taken out with a single shot, his problems would only be beginning.

Given the fairly high amount of vegetation in the area, the projectile's path would take it through and near a great deal of vines, leaves, and branches. Its heat was such that a good deal of what it touched would be set on fire, a flame that would quickly spread if not contained. Thomas would find his ability to move hindered, as a fair number of the real trees he could still jump to would begin to burn.

And as if the projectile and the fire weren't danger enough, fire produced smoke. The machine had no respiratory system, and would not be troubled by this development, but Thomas would quickly find it difficult to breathe and see, as burnt particles filled the air, threatening his vulnerable human nose and eyes.

Johannes, meanwhile, was already moving. Immediately after firing, the drone would carefully take a few steps to its right, keeping its movements as quiet as possible. The shot it made might have revealed its location, so it wasn't going to stick around. At the same time, however, it wasn't advancing any further towards its target. Its right arm was now filled with built-up heat from its shot, and Johannes was already diverting energy to the left arm, which had its own weapons just waiting to be deployed.

Would this first attack be enough to take down the mage? Possibly not. But Johannes was already preparing his next moves.

Dark god Darko welcomes challangers

Surely it had been long enough, now?

With a quiet ticking, Eleanor realigned her optical wires, reconnecting her eyes and restoring her vision. She was pleased to note that it was once again showing her what was directly before her, just as it was supposed to.

From her high vantage point, she took a few moments to gaze down at the smouldering forest below, taking stock of the situation. It seemed that Satori had gone and dealt with the slimy beast, although Eubeal seemed to have vanished somewhere in the process. Had he been eaten? The thought produced a slight sigh. It'd be hard to take down a god if their party could be thinned so by a mere monster. She should have stepped in herself, or just killed it earlier when she was still close by, but it was too late now. She couldn't easily travel that far back in time, not in a situation like this.

Still, it wasn't a total loss! She'd gotten some useful information from the spiders. It could prove helpful if she ever ran into such a creature again- although she'd need to be careful to keep the data out of Sebastian's hands. She didn't even want to think about what he could build from such a vile blueprint.

Not lingering on such unsavory thoughts, Eleanor turned her attention to the APC, that was gradually growing more distant. She hadn't felt the dark god's influence for the last couple of minutes, and was wondering if he had fled, afraid of the powerful warriors coming for his life. Perhaps. But nevertheless, it had been an enjoyable ride so far, and she may as well stay on a little longer.

Flipping herself around again, Eleanor fell downwards at a shallow angle, rocketing towards the APC like a human meteor. As she approached, she gradually decelerated, until at last she alighted upon it once again, stretching her arms as she did.

"Well, that's the diversions out of the way... How long until we find something that can actually challenge us?"