KoV VIII Round 1 Beneath the Pyramids

@_vex_

His voice so clear, and almost charming she couldn't take her attention away from him. In an instant he appeared, telling her and people all over the world of a fight, a battle to prove who was the best. Showing her and everyone various images of fights to come, a wide smile appeared across her face.

Clenching her hands into fists, she was ready for something like this. Not since Thomas had she fought anything let alone anyone. She still had anger deep inside she wanted to vent, she just hoped the poor fool she would be up against could prove interesting. Slowly she stepped forward and was rocketed away in a bright flash of light.

In an instant she was transported, coming out of the blinding light into nothing but darkness. She was at home in the dark, knew she had to feel out her surroundings before the shit hit the fan. Feeling the walls on either side of her she could tell they were hieroglyphs. She knew a little about such things, one mission long ago brought her to a grave robbery gone wrong. Remembering this moment she reached up in the darkness and found something wet, bringing her nose to it she could smell an accelerant. Something old filled a long staff, reaching into her deep army grade jeans she pulled out flint, striking it against the staff it erupted into a large flame. Pulling the torch from the wall she slowly began to move through the corridor she had realized she had been dropped in.

Trying to keep her wits aware of everything around her, she could hear the faint sound of footsteps. Slowly she moved towards them, her hand transforming into a handgun ready to pull the trigger at a moments notice.

@moira_marquis:

His voice boomed in Vex's ears, but it was the content of his words that really caught Vex's interest. Heroes and assailants from all throughout the world and perhaps even the galaxy would join in this battle to determine not only the strongest, but also the most devious and cunning. A battle of power but also of wits.

I squeeze my signature escrima sticks by my side as the offerings of glory fell from his mouth. A gathering of all knowing beings and maybe even a few that rubbed close elbows with the worlds most notorious criminals. Not a privilege for fame, but an opportunity to find my sister, or at least more information leading to her where a bouts. I nod to the extended offer, and soon my vision blinds into a white light, revealing tan stone walls surrounding me. Sand swept through the floor and the smell of forgotten years filled my nostrils. The first battle....The first test. it begins here.

I move forward down the corridor, minding my footing, fully aware of the infamous traps of the ancient world. Despite my efforts, my foot still manages to cross a string tripwire, propelling some sort of darts across the hall. The initial sound of the wire breaking instinctively provoked my body forward and to the floor, avoiding every dart, but too close for comfort. My enemy should be aware of my presence now, if not before. I draw the sticks with a twirl to prepare my fingers for the meticulous maneuvers demanded.

A dim orange light offered a sign of life as its glow grew larger and larger...It was moving towards Vex, slowly, but still moving. The intended opponent or a grave robber, he didn't know...He didn't care. He had the element of surprise to a small degree and he needed it for the advantage. He turned his figure to the wall that had been pierced thoroughly with the darts and took a few for himself. 15 in total. He moved as silently as he possible could backwards and waited until the light was close enough...When it was, he would toss the darts swiftly down the halls like a swarm of pissed off wasps.

'For her, for my sister.'

Vex pushed the final thoughts of his sister out of his mind and glared from the shadows.

@_vex_ The pyramid was something that took every ounce wonder Moira had, and made it a reality. She loved places like this, being deep down along with the dead she felt at home. Such a peaceful place, she almost had forgotten where she was. As she looked over the hieroglphs through torchlight, she had all but forgotten that she had been following the sounds of footsteps. When the sound finally died it rocked her back into reality, shaking her mind free from the hieroglyphs just in time to find a slew of arrows hurtling towards her.

Almost in slow motion she pulled her hand level with the arrows, letting out a ear shattering bang with each pull of the trigger. She knew the walls were too close together and added a ear shattering echo all throughout the corridor. She didn't stop she continued to pull the trigger, vaporizing the arrows. As the last of the arrows burst in the air before her she slowly looked around, her eyes squinting and finding nothing in the shadows. Sighing deep she groaned loudly "You know if you come out now, I wont have to shatter both our ear drums....." Nothing...her opponent was smart, he wasn't going to give away his position so foolishly. He knew where she was, she looked down to the torch at her feet and stomped it out.

Breathing slowly she listened for the slightest sound, for what seemed like hours she stood motionless waiting. Suddenly she broke the silence as her right arm fully turned into a machine gun "This is what we like to pull and pray..." The silence of the corridor was filled with the ear shattering echo of rapid gunfire. She leveled the gun out in front of her and sprayed from left to right, then making a circle covering up, down, left and right hoping to hit her opponent and make him scream out.

@moira_marquis:

The sound of bullets crashing through the stone aisles causes me to grit my teeth and fight the urge of covering my ears. I would lie if I say I wasn't impressed by their skill, being able to detect and shoot down miniature arrow heads is no easy task, let alone in a dimly lit hallway. The torch that was in her hand dies out beneath their feet as they give me a polite warning. The voice is feminine yet firm. Strong, but attractive. A deadly combination especially in this line of work. I remain silent, however, maintaining my position in the shadows.

A subtle noise that can only be described as gears and metal interlocking and engaging catches my attention. I can't risk giving away my position, but that choice is already made for me once she unloads what seems like a limitless barrage of bullets, destroying and piercing the architecture around me. The fire from the flashes of the barrel only offers screenshots of my enemy and I was right...Attractive, and very much so. But it's the fusion of metal that slowly melds with flesh on her arm that astonishes me. Dully noted.

The bullets continuously spray towards my evading figure and graze my armor while drawing blood through its kevlar. Any amateur would assume that she was recklessly firing in the air for kill shots. I'm experienced enough to know that she is an expert, drawing me out from the darkness. The tide has turned and she has gained the advantage, using the narrow passage to limit my acrobatic movements and dodges, but it's time to go on the offensive and stop playing like a trapped fish. I flip and cartwheel off the walls, slowly but surely making my way towards her...arm? gun? arm-gun? I know that these pyramids adorned with carvings holds more than just one secret trap and I intend to find it before she can shoot me down. My movements are swift, agile and deliberate. Literally, touching every brick and crevasse that my toes and palms can reach.

*click*

Bingo.

The familiar sound of darts cracks through the wind and against adjacent walls, guiding through the breeze and against both our figures, but I leap into the air and vault to the ceiling, grasping the loose bricks, securing my position as I look down below to the femme fatale and her efforts against the pyramids own defensive arrows.

"But why fight alone when the pyramid is my ally?"

@_vex_

In the darkness she can hear the sound of bullets hitting walls, and a few just a few she hears hit something a bit thicker...a body. As she focuses on the sounds around her she tunes out the gunfire, and hears his footsteps...on the walls? In an instant a loud click fills her ears and she reacts in kind, hearing him bounce around her and up to the ceiling "You lil shit!" she barks as arrows fly all around her. Instantly she kicks her shoes off and presses the soles of her feet to the marble floor. Instantly taking on the properties of the marble, the arrows either plink off her hard exterior or embed in the stone like skin she now adorns.

Her hand transforms back into its normal state, in one swift motion she moves her arm over her chest, knocking the arrows from her chest. Moving her head Moira listens, she hears his feet scratch against the stone. Smiling yet staying silent she bursts upwards in an uppercut, her fist still marble giving her punch even more power and force she hopes to hit him in his chest and knock the wind out of him. As she lands both hands transform into weapons, holding each arm out she predicts he will leap away after being struck or avoid and land. He only has a small amount of area to land on, she waits to hear the sound of his landing before letting loose a hail of gunfire.

@moira_marquis:

Ha, No one has ever called me a lil shit before now.

So she can mutate and take on the properties of any element she comes in contact with? That newly discovered fact just made this quarrel a lot more complicated. It's clear that my location is revealed when her eyes glint upwards towards me followed by a stone fist aimed towards my chest. As much as I try to roll away from the punch, it still manages to collide against my body with power. My armor prevents any serious damage being dealt, but the pain is still excruciating and I can't help but grunt low with my eyes wincing. Before I can recover, she's already on the floor and readying her weapons, predicting my next move.

One thing I learned in my crusade against crime: There is such a thing as being too quick. By predicting that I would land on the floor, she readied her weapons and revealed her own next move. This gives me more than enough time to switch up my tactics....Run and evade. At least until the environment gives me the advantage again.

I refuse to drop from the ceiling and meet her gunfire, but instead I grasp the stones and dry rope hanging from the ceiling and swing my way down the hallway to a staircase and finally drop to the middle steps.

"Too slow old lady!"

Taunting was never my strong suit, but hopefully I can rustle her feathers a bit and cloud her judgment. The stomping of my feet begins to muffle into low taps as the stairs lead into another corridor that narrows and narrows to a choke point. The choke point is no wider than my shoulders and leads to a small room. A room that would make gun fighting extremely difficult, but favors hand to hand combat instead. I smile as I reach for my escrima sticks and turn back to the choke point. For now, nature favors me.

@_vex_

Waiting for a moment Moira listens for the sounds of his footsteps she hears him boast and call her "Old" glaring in the direction of his voice she barks "Old?" as she aims in his directions pulling off a few pot shots as he runs away. Finding her shots never hitting their marks she runs towards the sounds of his fast footwork. He had a bit more agility on her, moving through the hallway and down a flight of stairs.

Coming to the bottom of the stairs she finds a well lit corridor, narrow and almost clostrophobic she watches as he turns around and pulls out too fighting sticks. Eschrima sticks they were called, she had plenty of bruises and welts from weapons like them in her time. Grinning as she notices how the tight area made gun kata a bit more troublesome than the wide hallway from earlier, she let her hands return to normal. With a wicked grin she slapped her side, as she brought her hand out a long shillelagh came with it from within her body. Long before the fight she had synced her body with her own trusted weapon of choice.

Now part of her she could pull it out and show off her Irish roots, as she held it out stretched in front of her. She knew she couldnt do the moves she used to with it, but she could cause him to trip. Rushing forward with the long rod she thrust it forward towards his right hand, hoping to crush his fingers on its blunt end. Pulling back she dropped it for a moment punching it as it fell, splitting into two she caught both. Flipping with the pair of shillelagh in her hands she brought each down towards each shoulder aiming for pressure points to cause his arms to go limp, then as she landed she would slam each end of her sticks repeatedly into his chest hoping to break ribs and cause damage to internal organs.

@moira_marquis:

A f***ing shillelagh?! Who the f*** uses a shillelagh!!

She rushes forward lancing the traditional irish weapon towards Vex's closed fist and his hand reacts by opening his palm and simultaneously sliding down its length towards her arm. She already planned for his countermeasure and breaks the weapon in two fighting sticks similar to his eschrima sticks. Pulling away and vaulting, she brings the sticks down with brutal force towards his shoulders. Vex enters a moment of mental serenity as he focuses on the attack.

One way out

He commando rolls forward, closing the distance towards his foe, but the sticks still manage to hit his shoulder blades with a thunderous snap. The result was revealing cracks in his crimson and ebony armor. The woman is relentless as she targets his torso with blinding speed, but Vex ignores the screaming pain that ails him and begins to match her speed in countering blocks. Any bystander would be astonished by the duel that showed no clear victor. In an effort to turn the tide, Vex drops low and brings his left leg across her ankles with a powerful drop sweep.

"No rest for the wicked!"

He shouts while vaulting backwards like a chimpanzee and throwing the 5 last remaining darts he held from earlier. 4 targeted her limbs but the final one was aimed at a wall that would ricochet and target her left lung from behind.

@_vex_

He was a very youthful man, as his moves were fluid and superb. She watched as even in an considerate amount of pain he swung his sticks to match each of her attacks, he held his arms in such a way to ease the pain. Something she paid too much attention to, as after blocking each blow he spun quick and low. Slamming a long and incredibly strong leg into hers, she fell backwards as her feet were talking out from beneath her.

Not letting this be her downfall, Moira caught herself and launched herself back up kicking out in hopes of catching him with her rebound. But he had already leaped away and given himself enough distance, in an effort to catch her off guard as she came back up he launched the remaining darts he had taken from the previous room. Barefoot as she came back and landed, watching the darts almost move in slow motion her body once again took on the properties of the stone beneath her feet. But she was not fast enough with the change, as the final dart ricocheted just in time to embed itself in her skin the tip slicing through her skin and digging deep. Wincing in pain she felt as bones snapped with the force the dart had behind it, luckily she had moved from his initial toss and the dart had just missed her lung. Still the pain was quite measurable, and she staggered for a moment catching her footing.

Glaring at him as he refereed to her as wicked "You know nothing little one, just give me a few moments and I will show you truly wicked." Her skin returned to normal and she reached around grabbing the dart, pulling hard it ripped from her body and sprayed blood. She swung the dart out in front of her spraying her own blood in his direction, even if the blood didn't enter his body it was still poisonous and could possibly paralyze. Bringing her empty hand up to her mouth she bit down, drawing blood she rushed forward and flicked her hand and subsequently the blood pooling in her palm towards his face and more importantly his eyes in hopes of blinding him and giving a direct contact so that his body would absorb it. In hopes that he was blinded or in the very least taken by surprise, she too swung around putting her right leg behind his left. Following this she used a quick burst forward and slammed her arm towards his chest, hoping to knock him over and onto the ground she quickly transformed her hand and fired at his face and torso. Even in close quarters she could arm herself.