Tournament: Schneider vs Kauchemar

The fight is scheduled to take place in a hastily constructed ... calling it an arena would be a bit much, it's basically a bunch of bleachers surrounding an open field. About twice the size of a football field, with observers and healers around the edges. Bards are there to keep the audience excited when there's no fighting going on, and now, just before the fight, they've got the audience totally keyed up.

Schneider has arrived at the arena, well-rested and grinning. Arms raised over his head, he rallies the already screaming audience as they cheer. Not necessarily for him, but in anticipation of an exciting fight. Schneider's name alone promises that. He's typical of Scalies in the FIRE for fire's sake bit, and so a lot of flash is expected. His coat implies that strongly, being very fancy, and overall he seems very pleased with himself.

Being hastily constructed doesn't stop those bleachers from being filled with an audience of Landers and Adventurers alike eager to see some competative violence. They eagerly cheer and wave in anticipation... And that's when the reverbrant haunting tones start to play. Despite the time of day a dark smokey mist rolls out across the opposite side of the arena.

o/~ Deep beneath the stable mind... There's a space between truth and lies
Her sanity isn't what it seems... Reality is a nightmare of a dream o/~

The source of the music is of course Kauchemar herself, providing her own entrance theme as she seems to appear from the mist itself, walking out of it with her usual confident stride of a performer getting onto a stage.

o/~ Behind the magic, behind the books... There's more to her, than there looks
Just watch out, don't be surprised... When she shows her Darker Side. o/~

At which the mist rolls away behind her, the Were Fang bowing to the crowds, and then to her opponent to be... And that was just the opening act...

    Fukaziroh is once again dressed in her battle gear, rather than the partywear she'd had the previous evening. Her hair isn't nearly so elaborate, though it's been done up in a row of long braids that swing freely. Not quite her typical look for battle, but Fuka's never been much for typical. Still, she's here to hype friends in battle rather than to be the center of attention. It's all for the good.

    Up in the MC's booth, the sylph allows herself a moment to worry pre-battle. Kauchemar's a friend, and Schneider is rather terrifying. Not that the Nightmare isn't terrifying in her own way of course, and not that Fuka dislikes Schneider. She's not really sure who to cheer for. She's just a bit worried, and discounting the effectiveness of utility spells in a duel at the same time as she overvalues the effect of powerful AOEs. But rationality isn't always a thing with Fuka either. Objectivity, however, is important. She has a duty to both her friends here, and she takes such things seriously. More seriously than she normally shows at least.

    As she sees motion from the competitor's regions and receives her signal, Fukaziroh begins her announcements with her voice amplified by magic. "Welcome one and all, to this battle in the first round of the Journey to the Eas!" she thunders. "In this corner we have someone new to the tournament scene. He may be unknown to competition, but he is a terror to the monsters of the land. Ladies and gentlemen; the wizard of fire and woe, DARK SCHNEIDER!"

    She pauses for cheers, with a good ear for hype and the mood of the crowd. The cheers are lusty and enthusiastic; the crowd having been well-hyped both by the bards and by Schneider's dramatic entrance.

    "And his opponent." Fuka continues when she judges the cheers have died down enough without actually dying out. "A previous Master of Ceremonies who seems to have been bitten with the desire to enter the spotlight herself. The NightMare Bard, KAUCHEMAR!" And the crowd erupts into cheers again, driven into near frenzy by the tension and the Bard's own musical magical entry.

    Again Fukaziroh waits a time, allowing the cheers to diminish slightly but not entirely, trying to preserve maximum excitement. "Fighters, to your positions." she finally says, causing yet another surge. "Ready. BATTLE!"

Schneider bows to Kauchemar as she arrives, and there's a bit more fanfare than he was expecting. And the Master of Ceremonies. Well, it's a small world, isn't it? He chuckles, but will head off to his side of the field, ready to begin. He raises his fists over his head and rallies, he's done enough high school athletics to know how that goes, and he will pump his fist a few times, and let fire flare around it dramatically.

Close-up on Uta's eyes, which look left and right. A few beads of sweat are visible on her temples.

"That's it Uta... niiiiice and quiet.... niiiice and quiet..."

The audio has that slight reverb that hints to the viewer (or, in our case, the reader) that this is an internal monologue, not something that people around Uta can hear.

"That's okay. You got into the wrong match. That's peeeeeeeerfectly fine. Just keep your mouth shut, enjoy the show, and nobody will notice."

Abrupt zoom out, to reveal Uta's nervous grin, and her being fully decked in Yuuki fan gear: sweater, scarf, woolen hat, giant flag, even one of those fake-gloves with a huge hand and big index fingers, all themed after the Absolute Blade.

Oh, and of course, an ahoge headband. It would be a crime to omit that one.

All the while sitting tight, hands between her knees, as still as she can.

Kauchemar waves in Fukaziroh's direction for a moment. "Atta girl, get that crowd worked up!" Then turns her attention back to Schneider with one of her usual mischevious smirks. "Well, at least this time there's no falling off of airships, right?" Got to get the requisit reference to previous escapades in there. Tournament arcs need their info drops and filler stories. She does another flamboyant bow. "Let's give these people the kind of show they came to see~"

The pre-fight banter may be done, but the theatrics are far from over. Remember who you're dealing with here. As soon as the signal to DUEL comes Kauchemar is in motion, and up to her usual trickery as she twirls around, making a scooping sort of gesture with one hand than conjures up a wave of enervating darkness that she propels directly towards Schneider. The disruption is brief and subversive.

And just enough for her graceful stride to get right up in his face quickly. She opens her mouth in a vicious growl, baring her sharp viper-like fangs... just before she tries to chomp them down on one of his arms! This Were Fang is not afraid to use some of her more monsterous traits.

Schneider chuckles at the prefight, and nods to Kauchemar. He knows what he's dealing with. Does she?

The incoming attacks are less direct than he was expecting, there's not a lot he can do to counter them. What he can do, though, is go full offense. This is what the fans expected anyhow. This is almost certainly what Kauchemar expects anyhow. So he'll play to type.

"Brain, Brain dead. Obey your blood oath, come forth from the land of Avalon. Fire of Gehenna, become a fiery blast and burn everything around us!" Deep breath. "EXODUS!"

A fiery, burning attack is launched, but it's different somehow. It's been modified to incorporate more fire, but also with a shocking shield-penetrating magic! The flames roar, at point blank range, it surrounds them both, but of course Schneider's not affected by his own spell.

    Heart thumping from adrenaline caused by a combination of the crowd, the upcoming fight and her own position in minor spotlight, Fukaziroh holds her breath as the duellists ready themselves and square off to begin. She reaches down beneath the table to reveal a.... surprise. Yes, let's just call it a surprise. She brings forth a pair of plushies, the ones first revealed from the previous evening's festivities. Having made an effort to get a set, she immediately puts them to use, placing one on each end of her podium to represent the two duellists.

    As the battle begins, she brings the Kauchemar plushie racing in towards the Schneider plushie. "Kauchemar begins aggressively, knowing how dangerous Schneider can be at range." she rattles off at high speed. She brings the plushies into collision. "And Schneider is completely unphased, willing to let her in exchange for launching a series of devilish spells!" she says, making the other plushie rebound and then lean forward aggressively, arms outthrust.

Kauchemar pulls back after her venomous bite, knowing this is a foe she wants to stay neither too close or two far away from, as much like herself Schneider is skilled in both magic and martial combat. Her tail flicks a few times as she shudders, though it's not from being cold. "Ooooo, I love the style of those chants~" But admiration doesn't stall her from action, and as her opponent unloads his offensive potential at her Kauchemar is... not there. The Burning Exodus slams down where she was standing, but it's hard to tell just how strong it hit, because the Nightmare isn't standing there any longer.

Her monster species is good at moving at the fringe of awareness, and that's exactly what she does. Her voice however can still be heard, echoing in a way that makes it difficult to pin down where it's coming from.

"o/~ It's time to get down and dance with your doom, 'cause the Nightmare Bard is comin' for you soon.
Nowhere to hide, nowhere to run... Better watch out when the shadows come
You can't outrun this Nightmare, she'll twist your mind in musical flare
Time to get up, and bare your blade... o/~"

And that is when she's there right behind Schneider, aiming to plunge a blade of shadows into his back. "o/~ for this darkness serenade! o/~"

When Kauchemar is driven back by his spells, he's pleased, but then it looks like it wasn't effective at all. "That's quite a solid defense," he praises her. "But can you keep it up?" He, himself, has picked an optimized spell rotation for quick employment, but now the problem comes. Kauchemar's curse from before fills him and prevents him from doing much more than a basic fireball. Though he adds a stinger on to the end, the fire lingers, to try and set Kauchemar on fire. The incoming attacks, he's ignoring, apparently his strategy is full offense. It's not playing out well, but it's playing out.

    "And Kaumare evades the brutal onslaught with her incredible speed!" Fukaziroh exclaims, either not noticing that Kauchemar didn't get away entirely unsinged or dismissing it as relatively insignificant. Also yes, starting to shorten names in her excitement and haste. She yoinks the Kauchemar plushie out of the way, positioning it ominously behind the Schneider pushie, of which she wriggles the head around as if it's confused and lost. Probably an unfair representation.

    Or perhaps not, as she has the Kauchemar plushie strike the Schneider plushie's back! "Kaumare VICIOUSLY strikes Dark Schneider! The sorceror is staggered!" she roars, tempted to say she snapped him in half. But no, she doesn't go quite that full ham. She also considers how to shorten Schneider's name. It's a mouthful, especially to her since she prefers calling people she likes by pet names.

    She spins the plushie around. "Finally finding his foe, Neidar unleashes his power, but will it be enough?!" she cries fiercely.

It wasn't entirely unsinged, but it was the magical equivilent to getting nicked. Kauchemar capitalizes on the moment to strike from behind! ... and Schneider is taking it in strike, it seems. Prefering to go for another offensive, though her trickery has done it's job in limiting what offense he can do for the moment.

"I can rock'n'roll all night, and party every day!" she retorts to the question of if she can keep it up. But this is the point where she reminds people that she is also a summoner, and she calls a small winter wind elemental and sends it huffing and puffing after Schneider at the same time he flings his flaming arsenal at her once more.

At the sense of danger the shield leaps from her back of it's own accord, the Binder igniting in ghostly flames as it does so and hovers in front of her to intercept the Fireball spell! Though when it collides some of the tendrils of fire still whisp past it to snap at the Were Fang.

Even as she grabs the shield proper, and charges through the fire towards Schneider with it like a battering ram.

Schneider at this point has no idea what's coming at him. It's a mystery, and mysteries puzzle him. She's charging at him, but he has no way to tell what she'll pull out at the end. So, he ignores it. Or, rather, he puts off dealing with it, concentrating instead on his massive, fiery attack. He may not have Helloween ready, it takes too much energy to blast out repeatedly, but he's making Exodus work overtime.

"Brain, Brain dead. Obey your blood oath, come forth from the land of Avalon. Fire of Gehenna, become a fiery blast and burn everything around us! ... EXODUS!"

And another burst of intense fire issues forth. Hell's going to call about their fire going out if he keeps this up. But for now, there's no sign of him stopping.

    "Unstoppable offense against cunning and deception!" enthuses Fukaziroh, getting caught up in the moment. "Unleashing fire, Dark Sch... er, Dashy finally catches the Nightmare with a solid blast. Kaumare gets a taste of hot magic. But only a taste, as she's able to partially block the deadly spell!"
    There's a whirlwind of obscure movement of Fukaziroh's plushies as she has them exchange blows, ending with the Kauchemar plushie charging through a concealing drape of cloth towards the other. "And Kaumare breaks through, once again trying to bring the battle to a brutal toe-to-toe matchup!"

Kauchemar keeps the posessed shield between her and her opponent as best she can as the fiery magic slams into it... and some of the embers from the Fireball are sent arcing back at Schneider. Being chaotic and hard to predict was typically her strength, but at the moment despite his confusion the magic warrior was putting enough pressure on her to limit the options. Plus she's on fire. Just a little.

But again rather than attack in the most direct and obvious manner she hunkers behind the shield where her opponent can't see, but the audience will notice the conjuring gestures and flicker of magic. And the corrisponding pools of water appearing around Schneider's feet, from out of which whip multiple poisonous jellyfish tentacles! They're big enough to probably make one glad that she didn't summon the entire creature they belong to!

It's just as she's finishing the summoning sequence that the second barrage of Exodus slams into the shield with enough force that the wash of flames bowls her over. The Nightmare takes a violent tumble on the ground, but manages to roll back onto her feet despite the injury. "I knew you liked it hot boy, but whooo." She playfully tugs at the collar of her cloak like she was letting out steam. "That's a spicy little number you've got there."

Schneider's defenses compromised, he ignores them, opting instead for more attack. He dodges as best he can, but he's a plant-and-shoot mage, he stands there and belches forth fire. Metaphorically. What he actually does is take the hit on the chin, trusting his amazing healing factor, which is strained, but tries, while hurling huge fireballs mixed up with magic missiles for variety, lobbing everything he's got at Kauchemar in a desperate attempt to make good on this fight. It's not working so far, but that last exchange almost evened them up.

He stands dramatcally, white hair blown back by the hot breeze, and chants maliciously, his dark spells ripping through the air. "I have plenty more where that came from," he promises.

    "Kaumare is ON FIRE!" roars Fukaziroh, pumping the crowd into a frenzy of shrieks and cheers. "No I mean literally on fire!" adds the Sylph, probably somewhat too quietly to break through the crowd's yelling. "Stop drop and roll, Kaumare! Stop drop and roll! Oh no, she's continuing to focus on her magics... oh there she goes! There's a roll. Not sure if she intended it or if she got knocked on her butt, but it's okay the fire seems to be out! But as Dashy says there's plenty more where that came from!!!"
    Plushie Kauchemar is knocked around a bit, but then returned to its feet with a sort of shake-off along with Fuka carefully brushing the velvet costume off. There, good as new. Fuka then moves over to the Schneider plushie, waggling its arms. "Dashy's taking advantage of the respite, his protections more than sufficient for now to handle what Kaumare is able to dish out. Thinks are looking dark. Dark... Schneider, that is! And dark for the Nightmare!"

Kauchemar picks up the Binder Shield, though the way the gemstone 'eyes' inset to it are flickering it has for the moment used up the charge of it's defensive abilities, so she shrugs and returns it to her back. There's a burst of gastly fumes at her hooves, from which a sword pops out of, that she grabs by the hilt. A similar gemstone in the center of the crossguard flares brightly and the blade starts to thrum ominously. Another Binder weapon? She seem to have a thing for them.

Then she glances back to her foe, smilely that sly smile despite the whalloping she took. "Then come on. Show me what you've got."

Darkness swirls around her, and the Nightmare becomes like a living shadow as she moves. It's not enough to avoid the entire barrage, but it keeps her out of the center of the fire blasts. Those magic missiles though, they do a good job of zinging in on her even when she's not quite in the visible spectrum thanks to her dark magic, scoring several hits

At the same time she steps into view once, just long enough to unleash one of her powerful banshee-like screams at Schneider. Then shadow steps away, to the opposite side of him, where she comes charging in with ringing rhythmic swings of the sword. "Time for some Dance Dance DEVESTATION!"

Schneider takes that shot right in the face. Seems his healing factor is not up to suffering quite that much, dropping half his remaining heath as he staggers before getting back to his feet and shaking it off. He's not deterred, exactly, but he's not enthused, either, hurling magic missiles from his palms, flying out in a burst, followed by Schneider sumoning a blazing sword, forming in his hand, and when he strikes, it leaves a splash of flame before evaporating.

    "Kaumare EXPLODES!" shouts Fukaziroh, wrapped up in the battle and momentarily forgetting her plushies. "Trust me this is normally a terrible thing to do in a fight but it's not that kind of explosion!"

    She pauses, looks down, then abruptly back up. "Oh yeah." she says sheepishly, and picks up the Kauchemar plushie and all but hurtles it at the Schneider. "She can't take much more of this, but she sure can dish it out! And Dashy doesn't seem to be having a good time, being on the receiving end of the nightmare! Supersonic screams and swords slash the sorceror's shields!"

There is one thing about fighting Kauchemar. Her actions may seem chatoic and impulsive... but there's a deeper forumla going on in the background. Controlled chaos would be more accurate, as she behaves erratic to be misleading, then jumps on the openings it eventually makes. The deception and disruption she causes is all part of a much longer play.

A play that may soon reach it's cresendo. It seems she has caught onto more of Schneider's strategy, and his focus on offense over defense. Water splashes with her steps, not doing so much on it's own, but gives her a hydroplaning effect. This 'waterskating' combined with her fast shadowy movements allows her to maneuver exceptionally effectively, avoiding most of the assault thrown at her this time. Except for the firesword, which she intercepts with her own, some of the flames snapping at her forearms.

And then she lets go. The sword remains there, the gemstone in the hilt somehow giving the impression of glaring at Schneider as it holds his blade at bay on it's own. Yep, it's definitely posessed.

"Remember, a Summoner rarely fights alone~" After stepping back Kauchemar unfurls her whip and with an audible crack snaps it repeatedly at Scheider with her movements, again with that rhythmic flow.

Schneider, by contrast, is a one-trick pony. It's a good trick, mind, but he really does one thing. Hint, it's fiery and uses one of the prime elements that aren't earth, air, or water. He looks around warily as Kauchemar points out that summoners don't fight alone, but he, in fact, does what he always does, which is grit his teeth and try to incinerate Kauchemar with his magical attack. It may work eventually!

"Brain, Brain dead. Obey your blood oath, come forth from the land of Avalon. Fire of Gehenna, become a fiery blast and burn everything around us! EXODUS!" he casts, and once again, Kauchemar's world fills with flames, though this time, while she's tied up with that, he'll hurl a barrage of magic missiles to try and overwhelm her. Well, it could, there's a first time for everything.

    "The crowd is smelling blood! And smoke and other entirely unmentionable things. Oh the humanity! And the werefangity!" cries Fukaziroh, peeking out from between fingers covering her eyes. Yes, she's hamming it up for all she's worth.

    After a moment with eyes not quite covered, Fuka drops the act to pick up her plushies again. "Kaumare shows off her speed again, skating in on the attack and lashing... wait is that a whip? It is! Kaumare is dominating in this fight! And Dashy responds with brutal FIRE!"

The posessed sword is finally driven away, but by that point Kauchemar has been able to reassert herself to a comfortable distance. "You're tough, Shnikey, but you need to diversify a little. Or you're going to get pre-dict-able~" she sing-songs, but doesn't quite get into a catcalling taunt because here he goes again, unleashing another bombardment of spells. The combination of fire and arcane shots is actually doing a good job of keeping her on her hooves, as while she can avoid some of the fire, the magic missiles seem to manage to ping her even when she uses her shadowy stride to slip away from direct view.

"But the tides are not so easily turned my friend." She stops and turns towards her foe, sweeping one arm up dramatically. A frothing wave of icy water forms, swelling upward to reach it's crest before coming crashing down towards her opponent with it's frost cold waters. It's probably not enough to entirely put out his fires.

But things are rarely as they seem on the surface with the wily Nightmare, as the cold wave is also carrying dozens of small but very potent poisonous jellyfish in it's current.

Schneider is on the ropes, and Kauchemar might think he's about to go down, but there's more to taking out a sorcerer than taking out a sorcerer. "The tides are not easily turned," he says, "But they drag more down than you might first expect." And then there is a firestorm around him, consuming everything, even itself, so the burning is maybe not enough itself to sear the nightmare. But before his HP trickle away completely, his blazing sword swings in a retributive strike. And then he drops below the threshhold and the fight is over.

    "Kaumare delivers her attack and uses her speed to..." Fuka pauses, momentarily at a loss for words. "Retreat to a safe distance?" she says dubiously, moving the Kauchemar plushie away from Schneider-plushie. "She's readying powerful magic, but is this going to come back to burn her?"

    "Or will Dashy do that himself?!" Fuka concludes. It's a rhetorical question, but it may not come to the conclusion she expects. "The Nightmare lashes out with dark magics, but it looks like Dark Schneider doesn't bear that name for nothing! He takes it with a smile, and calls forth his flames, setting Kaumare on fire! They... oh!" she pauses once again.

    Then, abruptly, she tips her Schneider plushie, gesturing all about it with flicking fingers to represent the flames. "He's down! And down IN FLAMES! Oh no! This is so ironic! And super cool too... or should I say super HOT!"

    Once again, a lengthy pause while Fuka considers what just happened. "Er, that's not what I meant. Anyways, it seems, YES! The Nightmare Bard wins! Kauchemar triumphs! But does she need to be put out?"

"Oh shit." That Schneider heaves one more attack even as he's going down does indeed catch Kauchemar by a surprise.

Then there's an audible crash ringing across the arena, as the Binder Shield, the defense mechanism it employs having just come off it's cool-off, appears to intercept the attack. The sword slams into the shield, and the shield is knocked back into Kauchemar, making her skid with an oof.

A moment passes before she peeks out from behind it, to make sure he has actually gone down. "... That was close..." The retribution strike, and the fight in general.

"But that is how you go out in a blaze of glory properly! With literal blaze." She walks over, and reachs down to help the warrior mage back to his feet. "Com'n folks, give him his share of the applause for that show! He made me work for that win."