The Honor Circle Returns! (IC)

[techmaster-glitch]

Mechangle

   The Mechangel had been watching both of the new battles with a decent amount of interest. One battle in particular. He replayed a few parts leading up to the battle, then got up and walked over to the Boogeyman.
   "Proprietor," the Mechangel said in his half-synthesized voice, "I have a few inquiries about how the Circles function. Two combatants enter, and settle on vitory conditions, and, if so desired, victory...spoils. I assume the Circle compels them to carry out their bargain, in case one party is insistently reluctant, but...what if two combatants agree on something before entering the Circle? Will it be enforced?"

[Yugo]

Despite her potentially fatal injuries, Kaela was now propped up in the infirmary, her hands clasped over her stomach almost as if she were taking a light afternoon nap (which the elderly were wont to do). It was exactly the opposite of the situation she had expected; her body was weak as it was, and she had anticipated a certain death without immediate surgery. There was no fear or regret there. Her career choice was rather death-prone, and even at a young age she had always made preparations for her demise. What amazed her the most was that she had made it into old age without being crippled or six feet under. Not for the first time, and certainly not for the last, Kaela coughed, her eyes fluttering open to the confused and jumbled image of a spotlessly white medical station. One of her hands immediately traveled to her midriff, and a light grin of satisfaction crossed her lips. She had been half expecting to discover that it was all an illusion, and that her fingers would dip into the bloody tear that had led into the depths of her lungs.

The old wolf rubbed her eyes as she slid off of her bedside, examining her body for any unwanted stiffness or pain. There was nothing out of the ordinary,  just the usual arthritis and back pain that those of her age had to often deal with. Rubbing her wrists and elbows, she stood to her feet, and examined her clothing. Torn, bloody, and ripped in a dozen places. Not the most presentable image, but she hadn't exactly planned on coming to this place, let alone with a spare change of clothes. Kaela stretched as she left the medical wing, heading back towards the bar with a raised eyebrow as she slipped in behind Andrace, who seemed to be taking delight in surprising Bart with a visit from her claws. "Looking a lot more colorful today, eh?", she rumbled from behind both of them, flashing her fangs in a malicious grin.

[Tipod]

Bart's hands reflexively grasped at Andrace's claws as he stiffened and jerked. He calmed himself upon realizing it was her and not some transdimensional psychopath, but the sensation of razor-sharp claws on flesh was uncomfortable enough to cause some fidgeting. "...jeez, you hug everyone like that or am I just special?" Though deep down, he figured part of it was a kind of respect for his ability to take a licking and keep on ticking. "Nice to see you feelin' better, though." He gently pried the lioness's claws away before turning around, getting a good look at the lioness' more casual outfit. A colorblind joke seemed in order.

Nah. Too obvious. "Nice to see you two with your blood on the inside, by the way." Especially Kaela; Bart had expected her to be down and out for the rest of his stay, or at least bound to a wheelchair. "The doctor give you any lollypops?"

[Angel]

As Sylvie got back up, her arms still a bit sore from her previous awkward landing, she swiveled to see how the attack had gone and tensed quickly for a follow-up. When she saw he'd avoided it yet again, the elf grew a bit frustrated. He was dodging her attacks all too easily. The long-range attacks she relied on as a mage were almost no threat to him; any directly aimed attacks were as easily dodged as if they took several minutes to complete. She had to try something more indirect and keep him from getting in too close. And she was going to have to do it now.

Stygian flung himself at her in a way that looked like it was second nature to him. She had barely any time, so she went with a short, sweet spell. The grass in Stygian's path suddenly straightened, looking pointy and dangerous, and Sylvie moved quickly to the side and readied her staff in another bo-like grip, hoping to dodge him and use her staff to shove him into the grass as he charged.

[SpottedKitty]

Andrace cocked one ear and spread her whiskers as she glanced from Kaela to Bart. He hadn't said anything, unlike the wolf, but the expression briefly appearing on his face as he saw some of her favourite partying clothes was eloquent enough. "Hah — th' two o' y' wouldn't know fashion if it bit y' on th' tail, I s'pose." She gave a disdainful sniff, but there was a mischievous gleam in her eye.

The lioness turned suddenly, reached out and wrapped one arm each around Kaela and Bart's necks, hugging (or, more accurately, squashing) their faces nose-to-snout against her chest. "Hey, we got somethin' t' celebrate, r'member," she said boisterously, "that was a nice little fight, an' we ain't none o' us dead yet! C'mon, first drink's on me!" She released her friendly but octopus-like grip and strode towards the bar, rummaging briefly in her pockets until she fished out a small money pouch. The two fights going on in the circles outside caught her eye on the big suspended screen, and she watched with interest as she counted out a few coins from the pouch.

[Stygian]

The change in the texture of the grass looked so subtle as one moved that it was hard to see, but while he was in no position to change his direction or to come up with a quick solution to the immediate problem, Stygian reacted out of sheer instinct, catching himself on his thick-soled boots. The immediate friction as the blades of grass cut into them threw him over, and he tumbled, scratching up his side, puncturing his jacket and tearing at the black cloth around his arm. Rolling, he grunted as he missed Sylvie just barely, ending up on a patch of dirt right next to the grass.
   The elf switched her stance, and looked ready to try and take advantage of her position above him. Fortunately, as a staff could not be called the optimal instrument to strike a prone opponent with, and as he had speed on his side, Stygian threw his hands up over his shoulders, curving back, and then kicking himself up. He'd have liked to tumble right back over to take another shot at her, but that would have landed him in the grass once more, not to mention put him right in excellent striking distance from that staff. Instead, he brought his right hand up in a vicious hook toward the elf, swinging his gun out to the side and aiming for a shot that would land in her stomach if he could connect and keep her in place. Another song started up in his thoughts and he hummed a few notes. He could almost hear the guitars in the background...
   Out on the streets, I'm stalking the night... I can hear my heavy breathing. Paid for the kill, but it doesn't seem right...

- -

The man in red closed his eyes, nodding and clearly enjoying himself throughout the whole of the session. There was something to the tone of the music that appealed to him, and he smiled, burned teeth gleaming in an almost similar manner to the panther's. Almost.
   'I don't suppose there's a piano somewhere around here?' he said in a low voice after a while, once again directing his question toward the Boogeyman.

[Angel]

Sylvie almost smiled when her grass nail bed worked, at least partly. But as she aimed to pin him and hopefully knock him out, he quickly flipped back up and retaliated. The dual attack was unexpected and caused a few complications. She had no time to think of clean xtrategies, and she didn't want to risk breaking her staff to block a bullet. So she did the only thing she could do and, as his fist struck the side of her head, she flung her staff along the ground and allowed herself to fall hard and fast to the ground, safely out of range of the grass. It wasn't a perfect dodge - the bullet clipped her upper arm, and when she rolled to avoid more damage, the air and the non-pointy grass stung the open cut. She grit her teeth, scanning her surroundings quickly. The water, while helping her cuts heal faster, was clearly not an option, nor was heading back towards him. Her eyes gravitated towards the shadows under the trees ahead of her.

It was a poor choice to make, but there was no other way to go. She grabbed her staff, stood, took a corner of her skirt in her hand, and ran towards the trees.

[Stygian]

Stygian growled, bit his lip, and then stopped. Things were going a little quickly but he still had time to watch with fascination and ponder as the elf turned tail, and ran in under the trees. Immediately, his eyes flashed and he tensed, neck arching forward as he made a sweep over the surroundings with his vision, suspicion of a trap flaring in his mind. Unlike most other fighters, who would have pursued the back of a fleeing opponent with little hesitation, Stygian carefully lowered his gun, and closed his eyes, walking forward at a measured pace, a frown creasing his brow. The music focused in his mind...
   'You can't escape, sprout!' he growled at the retreating elf, his eyes still closed for whatever reason. Was there a rhythm in the background, behind his voice...? Either way, the shadows under the trees weren't quite deep enough to make for an ideal environment for his abilities, but it was close enough. Fingers like claws gripped at the torn sleeve of his jacket, pulling it up over his arm. The black bandages wrapped around it were slightly frayed and shredded, and came loose with ease as he tore at them, just as he stepped into the shadow. The gun clicked at his side, as the darkness seemed to thicken in his immediate presence, growing so subtly blacker that it was almost impossible to register at first.
   'You're only making this more enjoyable, you know that?' he snarled, a sneer spreading over his features. His hand was crawling, somehow. 'It would be in your best interests not to encourage me to hurt you to make it more fun, because all I need...'
   Once again, that pistol rang out in sharp, terrible rapport, bullets whizzing at the elf's back
   '...is just a shot in the dark, one step away from you...!' he sang. His voice was clear and sharp, music seeming to accompany every syllable.

[Angel]

Sylvie heard the ripping cloth and the man's voice, but didn't see that Stygian had closed his eyes. She knew better than to turn around right now - but when she heard gunshots, she threw herself to the ground and rolled over to the nearest tree. She had more of a plan in mind than simply getting away from him. She needed to attack him without getting too close to him, especially in the changed light of this environment.

She looked at the tree to her left. It was tall, but not so tall the branches were unreachable. She tucked her staff into the back of her vest and stepped on a root to push herself up, grabbing onto the first branch and getting her footing before hoisting herself up. The lack of shoes to destroy and the rough bark covering her skin made the task that much easier. As he slowly entered the forest, she watched from the safety of a highish branch. She creased her face a bit in confusion at his closed eyes, but shook her head, drew her staff from her vest and oh-so-quietly uttered a spell, pointing her staff at the tree nearest him. A slow, smooth rhythm started in her head, the guitar strums sounding and lowering in key, a bayou flavor pervading them. She smirked as a set of vines dropped down from the target tree's branches, swinging to wrap around Stygian's arms and neck, and the words played in her head.

Thought it was a nightmare...lo it's all so true...they told me don't go walkin' slow, the devil's on the loose...

[Boog]

For a few seconds, Big Bad honestly had no idea how to react. The blast of water was surprising and had thrown it off its feet for a minute, and now the girl was laughing...
He didn't much care for laughing. Something about it had always struck him as inefficient.
There was some manner of large shape visible through the water. Something that looked almost related to a wolf.
"That... Is very strange. You're obviously much more than you look like..."
The nightmare burst through the spray, completely unchanged save for being a good deal wetter and grinning madly. Grinning, he found, was very effective. "I haven't seen something like you in ages," he said in fascination, machete already coming in low toward the Red's stomach. "Not since the earliest I can remember, and that's quite a ways back. What ARE you?"

--

"Absolutely," Boog nodded to the Mechangel, "So long as the both of you have agreed to it it'll stay enforced. And a piano?" he blinked at the man in red. He honestly hadn't struck him as the type. "I suppose I could see about something, give me a minute." The concept went to check at three doors set into the staircase, unlocking each one in turn and checking inside. The third, when opened, turned out to be some manner of fold-out piano instead of the closet it looked like, and probably only had the space to be.

[techmaster-glitch]

The Mechangel

   It was hard to tell, seeing as only half his face was not metal, but if anyone was looking very closely, they might have caught the Mechangel frown slightly. "I see..." The Boogeyman had gone to fetch a piano for another customer. When the Boogeyman returned, the Mechangle asked another question. "And...how do the Circles interpret conditions? In context, or literally?"

[Stygian]

The vines snatched at him, but with cat-like reflexes, as if having seen or heard the things reaching for him all along, Stygian turned and rolled. The grasping, tough tendrils stretched and swiped, creaking with an ominously leathery sound, as he backpedaled to avoid them. He frowned with concentration and tensed up, but the moment he did so and slowed down, a green, ropey length snagged his aiming hand. He fired once, twice, and twisted and pulled on the clinging growth with inhuman strength. It resisted his efforts, and he snarled, swinging his other hand back and spinning to the side. The torn wrapping around his right hand came loose in a flurry, black cloth trailing behind his arm as something rushed out of the sleeve of his jacket.
  In an instant, pain flared through the connection between Sylvie and the plant she had manipulated. Something wound up the length of the vines, agony trailing it, and then tore them off clean, as Stygian spun up into the air and twisted around, adding the full momentum of his body behind the maneuver.
  'I accept my destiny; I shall start a legacy, the likes of which you've never seen; make them rip it, rip it clean!'
  Coming down in a low, crouching stance, Stygian held the twisted piece of greenery up for the elf to see, his black eyes directed at her and filled with malice. Joints almost having disappeared and the ends of his fingers having extended into whip-like, barbed tentacles, his hand slithered around the green rope. The plant was smoking, sizzling and crumbling in his grip. He flashed a grin as he dropped it, and then swept his hand around again, black trails forming in the air and a sharp cutting sound reaching the elf's ears as those claw-tipped tendrils sliced the air, aiming right for her.

[Sunblink]

Dekuyaketh cocked his head as he followed Andrea, briefly contemplating his options before answering with relative indifference. "The ring doesn't mean a thing to me," he admitted. "You can choose. Anything I choose will just be overkill." He folded his arms; his tail swung in a languid, pendulous motion behind him.

[Angel]

Dani finally calmed down and remembered where she was. She pushed herself up into a standing position again - and saw the silhouette. She tensed, but before she could stand straight, Big Bad spoke up. He rushed for her, still holding that machete and now bearing a grin that she'd only seen on Reds and Fiends before. She was far enough away to move her glaive into a defensive position, but even though it was a pretty tough weapon, just blocking him wouldn't be enough. She had to gain ground somehow. So as he ran towards her, she kept her stance defensive, but just a bit loose...

"Unfortunately, I'm not quite dumb enough to tell you just what I am," she answered, smiling. "All you need to know is that my kind and I aren't really the type to think before we act."

And as he gained momentum and drew closer, Dani quickly turned to the side and curled up on the ground, her own smile turning quickly into a grin again.

-----

Sylvie recoiled and nearly fell off the branch she was standing on as pain shot through her. Instant rotting was one thing, but being uprooted  - no, ripped apart callously - that was a type of pain she'd hoped to never experience. She looked down at him, holding onto the trunk of the tree for support and giving him a hateful glare as he showed her the spoils of his attack with a sadistically pleased look. She watched, feeling a chill as he rotted/burned the vine in his grip. But when she finally noticed the wrappings on his hands and how they were heading straight for her, she forgot her own pain. I can't attack him head-on, but...

She took on a grim expression. It wasn't the best idea, because there was always the chance he wouldn't mind, but it was the best she had at that moment. She uttered a spell quick as lightning, and just as quickly, the bark-armor sprouted thorns, not as long as those on her staff, but just as sharp and just as painful.

[Stygian]

Whipping and lashing, Stygian's tentacles caught Sylvie right on the side of her shielding arm, the supersonic snap of the tips of those black tendrils passing the sound barrier cracking in the elf's ears. They snagged, and both flesh and wood tore and cracked with sharp agony twinging and flaring between the both of them. The man gritted his teeth, something black and sizzling spraying the elf's skin and his clothing, but inured to the pain he fought for a grip and pulled hard. Thorns broke and flesh tore, and Stygian lost his grip, but soon followed up with another sharp, furious attack, driven by the adrenaline. He raked the branch she were standing on that time, and it was sliced and cracked into four neat and tidy sections. Black, acrid blood spat again, and the seething tentacles seemed to dissipate. That is to say, what didn't turn into something like black, oily smoke, evaporating fast, shrank back into overly-long fingers as the man shook his hand in irritated pain. He tossed his hand at her, the six-gun in his hand aiming to the right of her sternum. She didn't seem to have a heartbeat, so likely she didn't have a heart, he thought, but best be on the safe side. Then, he remembered, quite late, that he was out of bullets.
  There was a very slight pause.
  'Ah, Hell. Just a sec...' he muttered, and directed the palm of his other hand at the elf's face in a forward thrust, his forearm like a piston behind it.

- -

The man watched the keyboard with an unreadable expression from his seat. He seemed pensive, and frowned for a moment, humming something under his breath before putting his hand to his chin and stroking what might have been stubble or just ashy grains of charred skin with a low scratching noise.
  'Favors, hm...?' he said, as he spun his thoughts around an idea. Then he looked at Linos with some sort of glint in his eye, and made as good a try at smacktalk as he could.
  'I bet I could play your pants down around your ankles,' he spoke out loud. 'But I'd need a proper piano. And besides, I'd rather just whoop your behind and get it over with.'

- -

'Fine by me,' Andrea said noncommittally, and kept on walking. The door swung open for her without so much as the push of a finger, and she stepped forward. But then, just to be sure, she stopped right on the instep, and turned. She directed her attention toward the Boogeyman, and offered him a questioning yet challenging look.
  You are allowed to do anything to your opponent in a circle, right? her mental presence rang out, insidiousness resounding through the thought.

[Angel]

The black tendrils snagged and tore on her thorned skin, and Sylvie winced in pain. She hadn't expected it to hurt this much, but then again, he was strong even without total darkness on his side. She tried to think of a spell, but before she could utter one word, the branch supporting her was sliced to pieces and she fell to the ground, landing on her backside. The tentacles either disintegrated or shrank back towards Stygian, and she quickly stood and faced him - and the gun pointed right at her heart. It wouldn't kill her, but it could come damn close. She prepared to run away quickly...

But then he paused. And she realized what the problem was. It was a short minute, but it was just long enough.

She hadn't expected the thrust, but it saved her the trouble of swinging at him. Sylvie brought an arm up to block his strike, swinging to grab it and caasting a spell silently. The ends of those thorns had begun to glisten with some sort of liquid...

[Yugo]

There was a thick sensation of tension as Andrace regarded Kaela sternly, and Kaela was unable to keep herself from smirking quite rudely at her. Of course, the old wolf had no room to be making any real fashion judgements in the first place. She was lucky to still have clothes at all. "Well, I won't lie, you're certainly more fashionable than our balding friend here." Kaela chuckled, giving Bart another once over, raising an eyebrow as she did so. "Denim pants, stained jacket, and sports shoes. How wonderfully cosmopolitan," she grinned, peeling back her lips to reveal several rows of gleaming white teeth at him mockingly.

"Whu-mmph!" One eye closed, and the other squinted, she suddenly found Andrace's thick arm crushing her face-first into the apparently quite cheerful lioness' chest. Kaela said something unintelligibly, Andrace's fur and flesh absorbing whatever reply she might have made, and pulled away with a flex of her shoulders and a push from her legs. "Okay, okay, I'm excited too." The grizzled woman laughed heartily as she hopped onto one of the bar's seats, thumbing to her lioness companion with her right hand. "I'll have whatever she's having." The statement was delivered with considerably less confidence than she might have hoped for.

[Tipod]

All Bart could do was flail as Andrace dragged him and the veteran to the bar, but who was he to refuse a free drink? Besides, Andrace seemed rather... insistent. Actual words came out as soon as the lioness' grip finally let up. "--y... yeah, drinks are good. I'll have a boiler."

His brow tensed slightly at Kaela's comment. "It's called 'street,' woman. It's plenty fresh where I come from, so you're obviously not hip enough to understand." And given her age, he just couldn't help but wonder... "When was the last time you were into something cool? Like my mom, she was around for swing music, and my grandpa was big on croquet. What about you?" Really, what did old dog soldiers do before joining the military?

[SpottedKitty]

Andrace grinned, her ears and whiskers perked forward and a mischievous gleam in her eye. "Two beers," she said to the bar-thing, holding up one hand with two fingers extended, "An' Kaela here'll have two beers, an' a boiler for Bart." She smiled sweetly at the old wolf and pushed her money across the bar.

"Oh, an' I got somethin' f'r y', Kaela, might come in handy," she continued as she lifted her backpack, rummaged inside and pulled out a t-shirt that she tossed over the wolf's shoulder. "Mum got these made up a few months back when m' little sister Eugenia started comin' out on jobs wi' us, I got lots o' spares. Heh — in that cut-up top, y're a couple wiggles an' a bounce away fr'm puttin' on a free show... 'less y' want to..."

The shirt was plain white, and looked like it would be a tight fit on the slightly more muscular and definitely more... ample frame of the lioness, who now wore a cheerfully lecherous grin. It would probably fit Kaela like a tent. There was something printed across the chest that appeared to be an industrial safety sign: a black and yellow square with a small warning triangle, stylised flame, and two words:

"CAUTION HOT"

[Yugo]

Kaela returned the friendly smile, tapping her claws idly against the bar, relieved at Andrace's rather mundane choice. Nothing too hard, and unlike drinks that had been consumed earlier, it was something her body could actually metabolize. Compared to a fine mug of antifreeze and motor oil, anyways. Her ears and eyes perked up towards Andrace as she continued, a sly smile crossing Kaela's face as she glanced downwards at her chest, pulling the shirt off of her shoulder. "At this point, I think I'd be flattered if anyone was looking for a free show from this old girl," the wolf chuckled, opening up the shirt by its sleeves to eye the front of it.

"I hope this isn't some kind of cruel joke," she muttered, smirking to herself as she slipped the shirt over her head, pulling it all of the way down to her waist. The only way it could've looked even more silly was if Kaela hadn't also been a big girl, in which case it might almost be a dress. If anything, the old wolf seemed to be more amused than embarassed by the shirt at the moment. "There's something inherently wrong about this. I'm old enough to be your bloody mother, and you're old enough to have kids. What am I, some kind of GMILF now?"

[SpottedKitty]

Andrace had just opened her mouth to say something when Kaela spoke. The lioness coughed and spluttered, all her fur fluffed up, and she started laughing.

[Stygian]

His punch already thrown, Stygian barely had time to try and redirect his fist. His knuckles ripped, and there was a very distinct stinging sensation as his skin tore around the envenomed barbs. Still, with a strength like his behind it, the punch threw her arm, and he was actually rather surprised that it didn't knock back a bit more of her, which would have ruined a follow-up. However, persistent as she was, she chose not to fall back but close her hand on him instead. He glared at her.
   'You think that will work?!' he spat at her, tugging as he shifted his balance onto his left foot. Turned as he was and with her standing as she did, a kick was more economical and likely effective. His boot came rushing upwards in a ruthless movement and with a car crash-like force behind it, aiming for her side. He had more bullets, but he had to get the space to reload, even if he could do it while attacking at the same time. He didn't want to pull off something more explosive though. Not at that range. The fight was somewhat pointless if she died...

[Angel]

Sylvie gritted her teeth against the pain of her arm being thrown back, but felt cold satisfaction at the sound of ripping skin around her thorns. The poison wasn't enough to kill him, but it should be just enough to make him so sick and drowsy he'd be forced to give up. If he was too stubborn to do that, he'd probably still collapse anyway. There was always the chance it wouldn't work, what with the toxins humans exposed themselves to already on a daily basis. But even then, most people couldn't ignore poison flowing through their blood. And if she could just weaken him a little, that would be enough. Like he did for her, she had a reason to want him alive at the end of this fight.

These thoughts all took a second to run through her head, just long enough for her to notice the kick coming her way. She let go, but rather than diving out of the way, she let herself fall with the kick and landed near Stygian's feet. She'd have a hell of a bruise, but that wasn't what she was focusing on. She muttered a spell to get particularly strong roots climbing out of the ground to ensnare Stygian, then straightened up while breaking into a run. All she had to do was knock him out, or wait. Whichever one took less time.

[Stygian]

Clenching his fist in pain, some eerie sizzling sound following it as he retracted it, Stygian pulled his other hand back, boots scraping as he shifted his stance and made ready to give the elf's now vulnerable face, so close to his foot, a swift stomp. And hesitated. It was seldom that he ever did such a thing, but things were passing quite fast even to his heightened perception, and he always tried to plan ahead. Ruining her face seemed... wrong. He twitched, but his foot remained steadily on the ground. The fluidity of his movements broken, he snatched at her with his other hand instead, as she darted away, his fingertips scratching her arm.
   From the ground, a tangle of roots shot out, growing out. It looked as though someone had taken one of those speeded-up sequences of plants filmed over a long time and superimposed it on reality. The roots didn't move so much as they grew forward, snaking around Stygian's boots with unnatural alacrity. He watched Sylvie's retreating back, bent forward and falling, and then his face contorted into a snarl. Snared to the ground, he was just about to tip past where he would be completely unable to redirect his center of gravity, when...
   His eyes flashed. There was a sound most accurately reproduced in onomatopoeia as 'whoomt!'; a rush of flame ended by a flat, hard sound as air was simultaneously pushed away and drawn in toward an empty space. And then, the roots, now singed, grasped nothing.
   In front of Sylvie, Stygian stepped out from behind a tree. His right hand raised, his forearm was on fire. Not with great billowing flames as though doused with burning liquid, but sizzling through cracks in skin that was charring, turning into cinders before her very eyes. He had his fingers together as though he were about to snap them, and behind his hand, over his shoulder, she thought she could see something blurring the air. His eyes gleamed as he scowled at her, and there seemed to be some sort of glow behind him.

[Angel]

Sylvie felt Stygian's fingertips graze her arm, but didn't even think of looking back. The roots she'd used weren't so strong he'd stay put, and even if they were, she didn't doubt he'd rip through them eventually. With the precious time she believed she'd bought herself, she was hoping to get back into the trees, try to wear him out and let the poison do its dirty work while she tried to stay alive and far away-

And then there was a sound, where she'd left him. Once again, she knew enough not to look back, but her eyes went wide. Wider still when Stygian walked out in front of her, as if he'd been there the whole time and had simply been waiting for her to catch up to him.

Sylvie brought herself to a halt and stared at him in amazement. Then her eyes traveled to his right hand and her shock began to change. Clearly, the ability to teleport hadn't been all he was hiding. She saw the skin burning off his arm, the haze bending the light behind him, the fiery glow of his eyes, and knew exactly what he had in mind.

"No. Nononononononono..." she whispered fearfully, backing away a few steps. She had to think logically, had to come up with a plan before things really got dangerous, and she had to think of it NOW.

Thankfully, it came to her in a split second. Before Stygian could come any closer, she pointed her staff at the ground and whispered a spell in a panicked tone. Almost simultaneously, a large tree root pulled itself up from the ground, crumbling large chunks of dirt and stone and flinging itself and them at Stygian. Sylvie once again turned and ran, quickly making it out of the forest and looking for the place that she hoped to make her sanctuary against any and all fire attacks...

[Cogidubnus]

Linos stopped playing, the strange pitter-patter of strings halting abruptly. The panther turned, a half grin covering his face, and looked at the red-cloak with one milky eye. He paused, as if waiting for something.

"Very well." he said, taking his bare feet from the table. He carried his guitar gingerly in two hands as he walked out, the bottoms of his pants scuffing across the wood as he headed for the nearest arena. "I'll play you a better song, then."

[Lisky]

The large demon eased his way into the bar.  His stride spoke of the arrogance of his race, while his movements held a level of grace that would leave a gymnast in envy.  He moved towards the bar, then paused.  Instead of getting a drink, the stranger found a nice empty table and sat himself down.   He looked around, observing the other patrons.  He tried to gauge their reactions, particularly to his rather impressive set of horns which instantly distinguished the canine... where he was from demons were either feared or hated, if this place was like the latter, he didn't expect it to take much time at all before he was confronted.

[Stygian]

The eruption of dirt came only half a second or so before Stygian released his power, dashing forward and snapping his fingers clearly. A spot right before the wall of earth and mud and root-threaded soil flickered, before a lance of fire streaked forward, circling and dense flame intermingled with razor cinders shredding through the dirt. The hole it left wasn't larger than a man's head though, and the caked earth mixed with rocks went on rising up against him. So he took a bigger step.
   Rising gracefully, kicking off the tip of the wave of ground coming up beneath him, Stygian somersaulted, thin streaks of fire and blackened ash trailing behind him. And then, at the apex of the curve of his leap, he... exploded. There was no other description adequate enough. For a moment a pair of fiery, flaring curves rose up behind him, and then his whole form seemed to disintegrate, ash and cinders standing out as dark spots against the glowing backdrop of flame. There was that hard, compressed sound again, and a momentary shadowy emptiness where there should have been a descending body. And a flicker of a moment later, Stygian re-emerged in a comet-tailed streak, re-assembling out of a haze of flames and black fragments appearing in mid-air and traveling at high speed. He'd seen where the elf was headed. Another instant dash from one place to another and he appeared in front of her, and then he braked with a skidding motion that gouged a scar in the dirt.
   Bisecting her path to the pond, sweeping up from the left as his arm came around trailing fire, a blaze like a huge wing made of flames and ashes burned forth from behind the man's back and around him, ripping its way forward in a long curve.

- -

It wasn't quite what the man had expected, apparently. He raised his eyes to meet Linos' but remained in his seat long enough to watch the musician turn and head for the door, during which time he considered his options. Ambiguous though the conditions were, the challenge was still clear enough. And he needed a warm-up. It was just that he had expected a somewhat musical battle at least, or some banter and passing of remarks back and forth to perhaps get a few hints, and now he was faced with an opponent the techniques of which might be too unconventional for him, to say the least. Oh well...
   Putting his glass down carefully, the man straightened his collar and rolled his left shoulder. Somewhere within his robes, metal clinked. He'd gotten himself into it, so now he just had to go through out the other side. That was the usual way of things. He got up, and trod slowly after the panther. He spared an apparently only casual glance for the horned, massive figure that made its way into the bar, but for a moment his hand twitched, before he sighed and just pointed his gaze fixedly at the back of Linos' neck instead, emerging out into the street.

[Angel]

The battle was still on Sylvie's mind, but was only in second now, The first thought, the one circling about her brain was: Gettothepondgettothepondgettothepondgettothepond... She wasn't quite as surprised as before when Stygian once again popped up in front of her. The flames that formed behind him and trailed straight for her, though, elicited a scream. She skidded to a stop, but only for a moment. If the flames touched her, shed burn just as quickly as any tree. She'd be severely injured and probably would die. But the fire wasn't blocking her completely from the pond, only splitting the route there. Soon, a plan flashed into her mind. It only had one shot to work, but if all went well, one shot would be all she needed.

The Green bolted to the right side of the spreading wall of flames, pointing her staff straight at the pond and screaming a spell. Then, out from the surface of the pond, a reed shot, growing quickly and snaking in a curve the staff directed before ensnaring Sylvie's wrist. Just as fast, it began to slither back into the water, pulling the elf with it.

[Boog]

Big Bad's foot struck against Dani's side, hard, but the plan technically worked. TECHNICALLY, he tripped on her. Technically he fell to the floor and rolled. Technically Dani saw scratches open up across the man's forehead.
Then there was an old man sitting on the sidewalk looking very confused. She recognized him as one of the suburbanites from before. The one who'd retreated into the house they were in front of right now...
The door on the front porch slammed open, and out stepped Big Bad slamming another six bullets into the revolver. He was starting to look unamused.

--

Boog finished dragging the piano out of the closet and exhaled deeply. Really, what he'd done to summon it there wasn't so much an argument as an excuse, he was amazed it worked at all. Not for the first time he wondered who the hell had actually DESIGNED the pocket dimension that the circle was in, and why they made the laws of its reality so lax when they could enforce the whole thing with the circles themselves. Fortunately, new money walked in in the form of a rather large demon, derailing this train of thought EXACTLY like a penny on the tracks.
Someone tapped the newcomer on the shoulder, and soon the demon was looking into a grin the approximate size and shape of a football. "Evening sir, and welcome to the Honor Circle! Come for the reputation, stay for the ambiance, leave for the hospital. We like to remind all patrons that fighting outside a circle or breaking the rules of an agreed-to match are strictly prohibited. Then we make them drink until they forget that because we're bored easily. How may I help you, sir?"