Round 2: Nostalgia ain’t what it used to be… (Asajj v Noxia v Nerius)

[Darth Timoris]

Melori walked around the site. [member="Vrag"] had chosen such a special place for a duel and she’d had so much fun with [member="Sage Bane"] that when she’d been asked to run a second round match, she couldn’t think of a better place. She wondered if they’d make better use of the surroundings than she did? Ah, who cares? As long as they didn’t kill each other, who minded? Well actually, as long as they almost killed each other, nobody would mind. That was more like it.

The towering structure had seen much use through the years; first the Trade Monarch and his Council with their endless enemies, then the Republic sympathisers who had thought to hide within the abandoned building, and now it was a perfect spot for a duel.

It was going to be a jail. One day that is. For now it was a back-drop for a bit of sport. Sith style.

[member="Asajj"] would find herself at the bottom, locked into a tiny and rather pungent cell. By contrast, [member="Darth Noxia"] was placed into one at the very top of the structure, afforded as cramped conditions as her fellow Acolyte. And right about in the middle was [member="Nerius"]. He too was imprisoned.

Their goal was as simple as ever; defeat the other two. The trio would soon discover that their environment wasn't going to help them, however. For a start, the doors of their cells were locked. The building was very, very old. Which was a blessing and a curse. The three opponents would have to navigate an intricate system of bridges and stairs connecting the many levels of the structure, many of which had been eroded and weakened by the elements.

A claxon sounded and Melori smiled. Such fond memories…her hand went to her neck where Sage bit her. He was always the playful type. What a tease...

 

[Nerius]

Nerius stood with arms folded across his chest, his eyes did not waver. They were perfectly stone still, staring at the door that kept him inside his confines. He wore a glistaweb set of pristine white pants, as always, with nothing over his chest, and a belt at his waist. Attached to this was his stolen lightsaber, and this time a small Impervium dagger.

When the bell sounded, Nerius went forward to the door and after shrinking his finger to near nothing, he set the appendage into the keyhole. Next he let it expand, painful as it pressed against tumblers and the spaces between. Turning his hand, he heard the lock pop open.

Removing his hand as he opened the door, he stepped free and began walking down the hall his cells was placed on. Soon enough he reached an intersection, and each seemed to venture in opposite altitudes. The question was, which did he take?

Mentally flipping a coin, he chose upward and set out that way.

[member="Asajj"] [member="Darth Invidia"]

 

[Asajj]

Asajj pressed her hand against the cold metal of her cell door. It showed clear signs of age, covered in rust and dents. Back on Tython her master had taught her to break rocks, this would be the next step up. Gathering the force into his arms, she began slamming against the door. The sound echoed outside, right until the door flew off it's hinges and crashed onto the floor. With herself freed, she inspected the complex they were placed in. Already tactics were running through her, each one striving for victory. Last time she had managed to achieve small illusions that put her opponent off, maybe this time she could make them surrender with them. A chance to train her powers and win the tournament; two birds with one stone.

Turning left, Asajj continued down the corridor before reaching a set of stairs. They only went up, of course, and so she followed them steadily. All the while, her right palm remained tilted upwards, making room for her hidden blade to extend if needed.

[member="Nerius"]
[member="Darth Invidia"]

 

[Komo]

It was round 2 of the Sith Tournament and Greta had found herself in the same position again, locked in a cell. But so were the rest of her opponents. First things first, getting out of this cramped box of a cell with a smell so pungent, she was worried about the stench sticking onto her. Kriff, the sooner she got out of this stench, the better. With a quick glance around, she could see that most, if not all of the interiors were coated in layers of rust that had gathered from neglect. That could certainly work in her favour.

Oh yes, it would indeed.

Stretching out her hands in a pulling motion, the blonde sith would use telekinesis to carry out a force pull on the portion of the door containing the lock mechanism, crippling and tearing apart the rusted metal components as it separated itself from the door.

With the lock gone, Greta would kick the door open with casual kick, sending it crashing down onto the floor as soon as she made her exit. Walking towards the corridors that lined itself numerous other cells no different than the ones she had emerged from, the blonde noticed that she was in a multi-storied complex and with the lack of other stairs heading up, she must have been at the top floor.

Either her opponent would come to her, or she would seek them out.

It did not matter either way.

Moving to make her way down the steps as she dipped into force sight, remaining alert and vigilant for the opponent that would come.

[member="Nerius"]
[member="Asajj"]

 

[Nerius]

After several moments of climbing higher on the stairs, Nerius was alleviated to find that they did level out. A large bridge now was positioned directly in front of himself. This was also a slightly bad side, as the Force began to whisper vehemently in his mind.

But this was a good thing. It meant his opponents were near by, or rather one opponent. He doubted they left both in the same place. "They" being the One Sith in charge of the tournament of course.

Yawning a massive expression of his boredom, his bottom jaw stretched down roughly 8 inches, so the gap was to big for his hand to cover. Thus he did not even attempt to, instead he just smiled as he did so.

Soon enough his boredom would be gone!

[member="Darth Invidia"] [member="Asajj"]

 

[Asajj]

The stairs continued for some time, leading to floors of the same kind of cells. There were no signs of her opposition, but the place did seem quite big. After several more floors she stopped, allowing herself to focus on the force. She reached out, trying to see if she could sense where her targets might be. Slowly there came a feeling, a slight pull further up the stairs. Could they be right at the top?

Drawing her alchemized dagger out from her coat, she continued upwards. Her destination; the very top. If they had spread them evenly, and no one had gone down, this could turn into one hell of a fight.

At one hell of a height...

[member="Nerius"] [member="Darth Noxia"]

 

[Komo]

As the blonde reached the bottom of the flight of stairs, a long bridge spanned the entirety of the building complex, reaching from one decrepit end to the other. The bridge wasn't very wide, nor was it really narrow, it resembled more of something in between the two. The force signatures she had detected from earlier came from the other end of the building across the other end of the bridge. It appeared that she was alone and without action to be had. Greta would have to remedy that immediately.

She made to cross the bridge and as she approached the other end, her eyes landed upon a figure that would no doubt be her opponent. He was. One of the force signatures she had detected earlier had indeed belonged to him. His skin was a deep shade of pink, with a large antenna like appendage sticking out of his head. His ears were cup-like holes, unlike the usual ears found on humans. What a peculiar sight indeed. However, she wasn't at some viewing gallery, and would again regain her focus.

Her opponent appeared bored and disinterested, but Noxia was not about to fall for such a ruse. Based on her experience with similar characters in the past, they would appear bored and disinterested in an attempt to fool the opponent into lowering their guard and thinking that they fighting with a lowly skilled combatant. This usually ended up as a costly mistake for those that fell for such a ruse. The blonde Sith would use force speed to give her the extra burst she needed to cross the remainder of the bridge, landing on equal footing, out of harms way to begin the duel.

[member="Nerius"]
[member="Asajj"]

 

[Nerius]

Nerius glanced up, smiling as the woman landed nearby. She was a stunning specimen, swift and agile with a certain aspect of strength about her. He hummed as he neared, only a bit slower than before as if to not seem threatening.

"My, my, my, who would have expected them to pit me against such a rare beauty. Do they not recall the factors that make me so dangerous?" His voice rang hollow against the areas they found themselves.

Reaching a hand behind himself, he gripped the hilt of his stolen saber. Drawing free of the latch which held it in place, he flipped the thing so it spun in a circle against his palm. At the last moment it ignited, and he lunged forward in an attempt to skewer the pretty blonde.

Simultaneously he brought his leg in for a straight kick towards her shin, hoping to fracture the bone there so as to incapacitate his opponent. He wished to have a while to...examine her more closely, before the Masters called the match.

[member="Darth Noxia"] [member="Asajj"]

 

[Komo]

The pink creature spoke mockingly as he spoke about the judge pitting himself against a beauty like her. While she was happy to hear that at first, her smiled faded as she realised he had most likely said that in jest or in a mocking gesture. He claimed to be dangerous, but then again all of them were. Did he think her to be some dainty flower or something? If he did so, the pink guy there would be in for a world of surprise. His tone mocking, his voice echoing through the complex as he spoke, his posture disinterested. This was all just a ruse, she knew.

As bored as her opponent may seem, Greta knew that he would no doubt be ready if a fight broke out right now, right this instant. Her thoughts were confirmed as his reached behind to grip the hilt of his saber, before flipping in several circles around and against his palm. It ended in a swift ignition followed by decisive thrusting manoeuvre, entirely intended on catching her off guard. The blonde was not about to let herself be caught in such a situation.

Her already vigilant state combined with her knowledge of battle precognition allowed her time to react before the blow came. Mister pink man was fast, but not fast enough. Leaping backwards, her jump amplified by that of a force jump, she would be able to escape both the thrust and accompanying kick. Launching a counterattack on her own, tendrils of force lightning would begin to erupt from her outstretched palms, rocketing towards her pink opponent.

[member="Nerius"]
[member="Asajj"]

 

[Nerius]

Nerius, though untrained in the academic sense, had been getting a lot more intuitive with his skills in the times of late. His last duel he simply knew how to move things away from him in a telekinetic fashion, with the training drilled into him since he was roughly 4 years of age at the One Siths Orphanage. Since then his martial skills had been tested a bit further, proving to him and others that he was a slightly above adequate fighter, as well as he had begun to have his own precognizant ability honed.

What had at first been a tugging at the brain that he hardly understood, had been ever so slightly more understood. Thus when he felt a pull to his senses, combined with the muscle movement along the woman's arm as she raised her hand, he instantly went into the defensive. Raising his saber, he became ready for anything...

When flashes of electricity arced his way, he grinned as he blocked the energy. It was a simple thing to stop electricity, but alongside that was the fact that it drained younglings and even knights swiftly! It was a skill that required much study and practice, this he knew from studies, and as such decided it would not be a skill of his!

But he knew how to defend against it!

When the torrent ceased, Nerius launched himself into the air as he also yanked at the woman with the Force to bring her within range. As he neared, regardless of if the pull successfully progressed her velocity in his direction, he was ready. Slashing first with his saber towards her clavicle with a downward thrust, he sought to cleave her from shoulder to waist opposite the entrance.

Knowing now that this woman also had some form of future sight, Nerius planned a quick follow through in the form of continuing his downward momentum into a flip, using his genetic abilities to extend his leg to nearly twice its usual length as he brought it down towards the crown of her skull.

She would now know quite of amiable his body was. He would also see her dodging capabilities in flight.

[member="Darth Noxia"]

 

[Komo]

Fighting with her pink-skinned opponent was proving to be more challenging than she had anticipated. Greta had not foreseen his ability to extend and retract its limbs and other appendages to whatever length it required, which in turn provided it with an extremely huge advantage. The force lightning she had shot towards him was absorbed by him, like it was but just a tasty morsel for him. He did not seem in the least bit affected and was even grinning at him. Such cockiness!

As she ceased her futile barrage, he took the opportunity to launch himself into the air, yanking at her with a force pull. Quickly aware of what was happening, as soon as she pulled by the the force towards him, the blonde would launch a counterattack on her own, utilising a force push to send the pink-skinned creature back into the corroded wall, which would grunt with displeasure.

Greta would be the one to attack first this time. Whether her opponent had recovered or not, the blonde Sith would launch at him with enhanced speed, combining her force-enhanced strength with a powerful blade stroke in the style of Djem So, a move typically characterised as the Falling Avalanche, an overhand power blow that came crashing down on the opponent with exceptional force.

[member="Nerius"]

 

[Nerius]

Nerius was utterly caught off guard, being hurled from his opponent, to slam into the wall where he dropped back to the floor. Groaning as he felt his head slam down, he extended an arm slowly, gripping at anything.

It had been truly painful!

But again the Force whispered to him! Danger! Unknown as to what he was doing, he embraced the Force and dodged to the side in a Force Speed enhanced roll. The blades heat could be felt within millimeters of his back as he barely got away.

Rising to his feet, Nerius realized what he had done, and stared at his hands for a long moment. But then he realized where he was once again, and lunged back to attack, attempting to slash his saber through her torso, he also kicked at the back of her leg to bring her from her feet.

[member="Darth Noxia"]

 

[Komo]

Her force push had succeeded. Hmm, that was great, Greta needed all the help she could get in this fight. The odds were already stacked against her with her opponent's extendable appendages. The impact of the slam was hard and loud, and from the way the wall creaked and groaned, she thought it was going to collapse there and then. Unfortunately, the wall stabilised itself shortly, though the blonde knew that the wall couldn't take much more of an abuse. The walls within the building complex were old, ancient even, and there was a limit to how much abuse they would be able to withstand.

Greta's follow up strike, however, was unsuccessful was the blow was subsequently avoided as her pink-skinned creature dodged out of harm's way. He had barely made it though, and she chided herself for not being faster. Her opponent then launched a counterattack of his own, his saber slashing towards her torso. Quick to adapt and register his move and raised her own lightsaber upwards to parry the slash before engaging in the tactic known as the "Fluid Riposte" a technique best known from its smooth transition from a parry into a counterattack.

[member="Nerius"]

 

[Nerius]

Nerius as well moved his blade, by flipping his wrist so his saber pointed downward on the inside of her blow, to which he pushed it outward. Then, he dropped low, attempting to sweeap a leg underneath his opponent. Simultaneously Nerius also used his slightly turned body to block his hand from view, so it would be much more difficult to see the Force Push coming.

It was sent with enough pressure to optimistically send the woman into the wall behind her.

Two things would likely happen from such: a wound to the woman, possibly along her whole body. Plus a potential cave in. Along the same lines the other was thinking, Nerius too was traveling; another hard slam or two and the whole place would collapse around them.

[member="Darth Noxia"]

 

[Komo]

Things were starting to become rather precarious as the effects or the battle began to echo through the walls of the ancient building complex. These walls could only take so much punishment and anymore could possibly send them down, engulfing them both. Her attacks against her pink-skinned opponent had been largely unsuccessful so far, and he was definitely more skilled than she have ever expected.

None of her saber strikes have landed as he seemed all but impervious to harm due to his superior martial skill. Greta had decided that further use of such blows would not only be futile, but it would be ultimately futile as it would open herself up to more lethal counter attacks by her much better-skilled opponent.

As he dropped low executing a leg sweep, the manoeuvre would catch Greta off-guard, tripping her as she lost her balance. As if that wasn't painful enough, a force push came next sending a burst of energy propelling her back towards the already decrepit wall. The slam elicited another loud drawn out groan from the walls as cracks began to form on the walls accompanied by a large cracking sound.

All Greta had time was to erect a protection bubble around her body as the walls came down around her. With that bubble she would be alright albeit with lots of rest in a kolto tank. Greta may have been knocked out temporarily, but these rubble were nothing but an extra effort for her to get herself out of when she comes to.

Thank the Dark Lord for the protection bubble.

[member="Nerius"]

 

[Nerius]

The minute the Push grabbed the woman, whipping her towards the same wall he had been against a moment before, Nerius raced for the stairs he had come from. Shortening his body as he ran was the best he could do to preserve space, as large chunks fell from overhead. One large chunk of the stone slammed into Nerius' shoulder, creating a massive gash as well as disabling it for the time being. It also spun Nerius on a large circle, until he was facing backwards, watching the wave of debris as it gained on himself.

Leaping backward with all of his condensed muscles strength, he also empowered the jump with the only ability he knew well at the moment: a Force Push. Launched into the stairwell, he slammed his back against the wall where it ended, forming the next flight reverse the first.

Bouncing off hard, he groaned in a large amount of pain as he then bounced down this set of stairs until he was at the base, bloody and gasping.

Taking several moments to bring the cells of his alloy flesh back together, he sought to heal properly and not rush things as he was known to do. By this time he was near depleted of Force reserves, and was now physically pushing himself, but he rose to his feet and made way back the way he came.

Climbing over rocks, stumbling a few times, he kept his gaze ahead and his lightsaber at the ready. It was likely another hard banging up like that would be the last of his physical capabilities as well.

He couldn't tell though. The most he had healed before were a few stab wounds and bruising. Never had he been forced to heal such a grievous wound like the one to his shoulder and side, combined with healing bruised tissues.

After the battle ended, regardless of winner, a long sleep would be needed. A long one. Food as well, lots of it.

[member="Darth Noxia"]