The Honor Circle Returns! (IC)

[techmaster-glitch]

Karazkt

   Kazrakt had been sitting in his cockpit, still rocking and fidgeting, but his antennae were drooped very low, resting against part of the mech. He easily 'felt' the strange living, but not alive stone thing walk towards his mech, then climb up, the clangs of stone on metal very noticable, but Karazkt didn't react until the stone thing tapped on the side deliberately and spoke to him.
   Karazkt turned and looked at him, his goggles still over his eyes. "Um, I am noT a 'zir', in the way people of the zurfaze KulTurez uze it. My dezignation is E/E four-one-Two-five, though zinze people zeem To liKe namez, I am Kalled KarazKT." Karazkt seemed to already have called down a little, but he was still very noticeably tense.
   "BuT yez, there iz zomething wrong...I have KommiTTed a greviouz error in judgemenT, and I muzT aKzepT the KonzeKwenzez." Now Karazkt seemed less tense, but more like a demeanor of resigning to an inevitable fate.

[Boog]

"You'll find that the Circles can be a bit clever in how they enforce these rules. It's not a matter of what makes sense; if it would break the rules, the Circle stops it from happening," Boog chuckled, "That's what they're for. The changing environment, the walls at the edges... That's just window dressing. They're made for keeping the fight within the agreed upon limitations. Also," the thought entity continued, raising a finger, "I'm very much the wrong thing to leave magic to; don't know the first thing about it. Unpleasant subject, really. Tends to muck things up."

--

"Konze- I'm sorry, Consequences?" The gargoyle shook his head; the man's accent was infectious, "You mean in interacting with the Queen? You seemed the picture of civility to me, I don't see what she could possibly be mad about. She doesn't seem to even have noticed." Standard alchemist; so very terrified of what women think of him. There was usually only one cure for this state of being that came to Siolen's mind. "You need ale. That usually clears this sort of thing up."

[techmaster-glitch]

Karazkt

   Karazkt shook his head. "ITz noT thaT...she iz...hibernaTing, apparenTly. A Royal of any Kind muzT never, ever be dizTurbed during rezT, eKzepT by a Mezzenger, and only in emergenzy. I am buT an Engineer. Even if she didn'T noTize, I am at faulT, and muzt zubmiT To whaTever punishmenT she dezirez. Even though she iz noT of my zpeciez, she zTill iz obviouzly a Royal To her own raze. IT iz the righT thing To do." The bipedal insect paused for a moment, then said, "I don'T zee how ale iz going To help..."

[Boog]

"Is it not obvious?" Siolen replied, tilting his head in confusion, "It is your chivalry and submission to duty that worries you," And being an alchemist who just worked up the nerve to speak to a member of the opposite sex, he added mentally, "I understand the situation and can respect it. However, you may as well await the Lady's decree relaxed and in comfort. It will prevent any nervousness or ignoble happenings when she makes her decision. For this, I suggest ale. Or combat, if one thinks one cannot be distracted otherwise." He smiled cheerfully. It was a rather simple solution, but one he'd always found effective.

[techmaster-glitch]

   "KombaT...I...I am noT a Zoldier, buT whaT you zay maKez zenze." Karazkt looked around. "I...guezz thaT will be alrighT. A fighT, then."
   Without waiting for Siolen to get off, Karazkt's antennae went back into the two intake ports in the back of the cockpit. Flames raced along them as Karazkt hit some levers, and the mech, once again, came to life with a roar of steam. Still not bothering to let Siolen down, Karazkt made the mech walk towards the wall that faced outside, and, strangely, there was a door large enough for the mech. Karazkt moved levers, and one of the mech's arms, with a hand similar to Karazkt's in the fact that it was tri-fingered, grasped the handle, and opened the door.
   Karazkt steered the mech towards the recently vacated Circle, and finally stopped the mech within it.
   "Zo...how doez the magiK of this zirKle worK?"

[Boog]

Siolen leaped down from the mech cheerfully, glad that the bug was taking him up on his advice.
"I don't think it's magic, and I would know if it was, but the rules are fairly straightforward. I, being the challenger-"
"Have chosen the who, the when, and the why." How did Boog get over there so fast? Regardless, there he was. It was HIS job to host this place and by gods he was going to be a proper host! "You, the challenged, chose the where, how, and what. In short, you set the rules and choose the locale." He grinned broadly at the two fighters, "That's all you need to know. Carry on!"
"... Strange man." Siolen shrugged, "But yes, that's it. So, you determine the rules and restrictions of the fight that we shall both be subject to." He began a few warming up exercises while he awaited Karazkt's decisions, "So, what shall they be?"

[techmaster-glitch]

Karazkt

   "Hmm...inTerezTing...Well, let'z zee...For the rulez, I believe thiz shall be a fighT To zubmission or," Karazkt paused for a moment, looking at the arms of his mech. "If the zirKle worKz the way I thinK, To whaT would amounT az death, buT, az the Killing blow would be thrown, the maTch shall end. Thiz will allow...weapons thaT could be only lethal, noT otherwize. Would thiz worK?" Karazkt said.

Mechangel

   Well, it looks like bug-boy's gone and gotten himself into a fight already. The cloaked man thought, amused. He walked outside and stood still near the Circle, to watch up close all three fights.

[Angel]

In retrospect, maybe blocking Ian with her arms hadn't been the best idea. She still got knocked to the side and bruised, although she was still standing. But she didn't want to run until she knew she had the chance to grab her staff by doing so.

In the meantime... She ducked down and aimed a low kick at Ian's non-kicking leg.

[Stygian]

Getting himself a glass of water, Stygian sighed and looked down for a bit, fingers lazily stroking his temple. He sighed, then turned and leaned onto the counter with both shoulders. Blowing a blond bang out of his eye, he cast another glance out at the fight between Sylvie and Ian. The two of them had been at it and showed little signs of slowing or giving in on either side. But then again, he thought, that's what it comes down to with less powerful fighters. When they can't develop sheer potency, they have to opt for grit instead. Only, somehow I didn't take the green for that much lesser in that division...
   'Regarding the other battle, I can't say anything so certainly,' he said, glancing over at Cog. It was a mostly truthful statement. 'They seem to be taking their sweet time, that's for sure. The rat punk seems to have the physical edge, and probably more guns and such. Yet... I somehow got the feeling before that the "vegetable" could overpower that, if she just tried.' One arm over the counter, he tapped the top with his finger, thinking. 'Just a hunch, but...' He stopped with a rasping snort from Sahlena's direction.
   ':or, it's just that she is pretty and he is not,' the android said, folding her arms under what looked like breasts under her black sleeveless, but which were probably armor plates or cooling tanks or some such. She turned her gaze toward Risky. ':he pretends not to, but i know he has a tendency to bet on the more stylish or good-looking fighter. i would advise you to approach him cautiously as well. he tends to try and unnerve and confuse, women in particular.' Stygian snarled a bit at her.
   'Yeah, tell them what a swine I am, before I adjust your voice modulator. With a gun. Bloody computer...'

[Boog]

Boog snickered; it was his opinion that those that took themselves as seriously as Stygian did needed insulting. He was glad the machine was willing to spare him some effort on that front.
"Hey now, not gentlemanly to threaten a lady Styggy. Delicate creatures, all that. Thassa thing though, neither of them strikes me as being all that weak; the girl keeps fighting politely."  The thought entity pointed at the fighters, "Like this here, look. The gal keeps trying to fight him on his terms," he mused, "She's not using much magic when he has little way of defending against it, keeping her distance when he's got an edge in physical strength, and she even let him pick the battlefield. Meanwhile, he's not using much in the way of weaponry and isn't too big on technique. I'd say she's going easy on the rat."

--

"Perfectly acceptable terms," Siolen finished up his stretches and smiled, "Whenever you are ready."

[techmaster-glitch]

Karazkt

   Siolen had accepted the terms. That gave Karazkt a bit of an advantage already, but as for the terrain...Karazkt biefly thought of his home, but quickly discarded it; it would put him at an almost ridiculously unfair advantage. Karazkt wasn't fighting to win, just to 'reset' his mind so he can properly deal with the Queen when she wakes up.
   "For the Terrain," Karazkt said, "We shall fighT in...a maze of narrow buT deep ravines, Kanyonz, and Trenchez. EnTering Terrain..."
   The ground under them began sinking, in a single line, with passageway imprints that quickly became real trenches, and it was certainly quite a maze. It sunk until the earthen walls were almost a hundred feet high.
   "LeT uz begin." Karazkt said, adjusting his goggles.

[lucas marcone]

Ian came down hard on his head and upper back. He let out a grunt and a few choice words before scrambling until he could get back to his feet. his arms were damp and red from all the thorns he had endured moments ago. From the looks of things he probably wouldn't throw punches unless it was required of him.

[Angel]

Sylvie jumped to her feet as well and stepped back two feet. She didn't want Ian to die from blood loss; she was the one who'd said 'no killing.' Besides, she wanted him to be able to heal so he could fight the others. So she went with the safest option and stared directly into the rat's eyes. Enchanting magic crept along her gaze and into the rat's brain.

"Stand still for the next 20 seconds," she commanded in a lower, quieter voice than usual. She tensed herself to run once she knew if the spell had worked.

[lucas marcone]

Ian didn't want to, but he was just too tired. He did nothing.

[Cogidubnus]

 In an instant, it was over. Finally having enough, the other angel simply surrendered, the blades of light simply passing through him insubstantially and dissipating into the air. Gathering his clothing and thanking him for the fight, the scorpion angel immediately left the arena and headed for bed.

Laertes said nothing, and rubbing the bruise that was forming on his shoulder also left the circle, heading back to his spot by the window, inside.

* * *

Giles snarled a curse. "Well, shit! Your not dead yet, now are you?!" he yelled, and watched as the little Orin launched herself up and over the lance of fire, landing off in a tree some distance away. The blackguard's eyes boggled. That sort of jump was...impossible, the distance that the little alien could propel herself almost absurd. In her hand swirled another distortion, a bubble of gravity.

Giles was ready for it, this time. Piix threw it at him, and Giles set himself, sliding one armored foot back and crossing his arms in front of his body, setting himself. The distortion, only barely visible as it blew through the branches and undergrowth of the strange, fantastically lit jungle, hit the pyromancer straight on. Sounding like the collision of a hammer on concrete, the blackguard almost stumbled as his back foot dug into the dirt, Giles sliding back as the wave of force dented his bracers. A gout of flame briefly flared around him, and as he lowered his spear back to the ground, the blackguard simply ran forward.

Piix had managed to keep him off-balance so far, and had shown herself to be unexpectedly agile. He needed to even the playing feild.
The blackguard ran forward, and as he did so, flame trailed behind him, first simply in trials where the blackguard's feet fell, and then flowing out behind him - the longer the blackguard running, the more and more the fire grew. Guesturing with his hands, the fire seemed to come alive as well, following the pyromancer's gestures - and wrapping itself around the blackguard's gauntleted hand first, began to flow outwards and into the undergrowth. Smaller undergrowth and grasses caught first, burning with an alien smell, and licked at the edges of the trees towering over them, the mosses and creepers on those trucks already starting to catch.

Giles ran for Piix, and despite the rules against killing, his eyes were gleefully murderous.

* * *

Cog shrugged, scowling as he watched Laertes come back in from his fight victorious, and with a absent sip of his drink replied to Stygian.
"I've yet to see either of them do anything but kick each other in the shins, really. Even so..." he paused, reflecting. "I'd still probably bet on the grass-girl."

He paused, and then chuckled at the exchange between the machine and the man. Shaking his head, he looked to see another fight getting ready to go, the gargoyle and the strange insect-pilot about to fight.

[Angel]

Relieved that the spell had apparently worked, Sylvie bolted over to where her staff was stuck in the ground and, with some effort, pulled it out. This took about nine seconds. Then she ran back to Ian. That took about five seconds. Praying that six seconds were long enough, she swung her staff toward the rat's head - hopefully, hard enough to knock him out.

[SpottedKitty]

Outside the front of the building, off to one side and out of the way of the circles, but in sight from several of the windows, the air shimmered slightly. A spark of light appeared, at about waist height. It grew a little bigger and brighter, sending out short wavering pseudopods. A short metal cylinder slowly emerged from the light, turning slightly back and forth. Around it a faintly glowing outline appeared, tall and rectangular, looking not unlike a door — the cylinder even seemed to have a handle on the end. The outline flared brightly for a moment, then the handle turned and the door (appearances are not always deceiving) opened.

A wolf stepped through, and looked about curiously. He was tall and stocky, with russet fur and short-trimmed brown hair. His build hinted at plenty of muscle under the brightly coloured jerkin and trousers he wore. The wolf was armed, too, a pair of daggers at his belt, and a sword with a long, slightly curved blade hung from the back of a baldric slung across his chest. In one hand he carried a pack with what seemed to be a bedroll and several pieces of armour strapped to it. He looked over the building, then spent a little longer watching each of the circles, before turning back to the doorway.

"All right, I'm impressed," he said, his voice a deep pleasant burr. "Now how do I get back after... oh, shave it!" While the wolf's back had been turned, an arm poked through the doorway, yellow-furred with black spots, clutched the handle, and pulled the door closed. The wolf dropped his pack and leaped, but it was too late. The door's outline faded, and the handle vanished even as he passed through the space it had occupied. He looked around for a few seconds, grabbed his pack with an angry snarl, strode quickly up to the building's front door and entered.

[Boog]

Boog raised his eyebrows at the newcomer's approach. Yeesh, more canines than primates in here. Almost makes me wonder who's been passing out free thumbs. Well, better than another toaster. He made his way over to the swordsman and met him at the door.
"H'lo, insert patron title of choice here! Welcome to the Honor Circle pub, inn and medical ward! Outside you'll see our main attractions," And gesture toward circles and grin and... The man knew how to make a sale. "The Honor Circles. Feel free to challenge anybody you so please to fight in them. The challenger choses the who, why, and when while the challenger choses the how, what, and where. And feel free to get roaring drunk beforehand."

--

"Yes, lets," Siolen rushed the mech as soon as Karazkt finished his sentence, leaping and kicking off from the canyon wall to try and grab onto the machine's upper body.

[techmaster-glitch]

Karazkt

   Karazkt was put quite off-balance by Siolen's sudden direct offensive. Karazkt quickly started hitting levers. The mech's right arm swung up in an attempt to swat the stone gargoyle away before he could get too close.

[Sunblink]

...Piix:

Even when her life was in mortal danger, Piix couldn't help but feel increasingly indignant at the fact that she seemed to be utterly outmatched when it came to pure, offensive magical strength. Manipulation magic, as entertaining as its results were, couldn't create. It could only take an existing element and bend it, which could often be effective enough - but in this case Piix was uncertain if she could turn Giles's fire against him. Not all of it, anyway. With the armor he wore it probably wouldn't even damage him, not to mention there was so much of it that she simply would be overwhelmed.

Ah well. She'd have to wing it.

As Giles merely endured the blast of pressure Piix had fired his way, she crouched again and focused, allowing each individual orb of the Triad to withdraw into Discus. With the Triad disassembled, Piix watched Giles's next move - and nearly screamed as he barreled right at her with almost disproportionate speed. Fire and smoke was already spiraling and thrashing around him. The undergrowth was disintegrating beneath the flame as it leaped and spread from plant to plant, quickly devouring every shred of vegetation. Shrieking out a high-pitched curse in a shrill cry, Piix jumped away from the expanding flame, her eyes wide and owlish against the glow.

Hell. Fucking hell. She'd have to do something. Snarling, Piix concentrated again, and this time the Discus's sides began to ripple. One by one, a quartet of serrated-sharp lengths began to emerge from Discus, quickly increasing, then diving downward at a rakish angle, impaling themselves into the soil on razorbladed tips. They were almost like enormous spider-legs anchored to Piix's back. Piix narrowed her eyes at Giles over the flame as the bladed appendages hefted her into the air, swiveling on their joints, buckled back down, and then, with a great effort on Piix's part, sprung forward, carrying their passenger with them. Piix was catapulted over the wall of flame; the spider-legs immediately jabbing themselves into the dirt as they landed on the opposite, undamaged side. Wouldn't be too long until the fire spread there, so she had to be quick.

Spinning the formation around, Piix glared furiously at Giles, and then charged, the spider-legs clicking and rapidly pistoning around her. In-between her pace, Piix started conjuring up as much pressure as she could in that effort, straining and struggling as the gravity responded to her call, and as her hand balled into a fist, she brought it down. The air rippled and distorted again, although with greater intensity and erratic abnormality than before, and swept like a crescent as it followed the motion of Piix's fist, diving like a guillotine, and aiming right for Giles's spear. If this succeeded, it would hopefully pin the weapon to the ground, disarming him, and allow her to assault him...

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Stygian]

Eyes catching the quick and sharp turn of events outside, Stygian almost rose from his seat as he turned his attention toward the circles. The battle between the golem and the machine had just begun, but the other two fights looked to be coming to their respective climaxes. At least, things were looking rather spectacular between the furred little creature and the giant in armor. And Sylvie seemed to have finally gained the edge in her fight, though even with things as they looked one could not be quite sure.
   If there was anything that the little colorful thing had shown hitherto, it was that she was quite powerful, especially for her size. To be able to dodge or deflect attacks of the magnitude that the man in heavy armor seemed to be throwing around was almost heroic in itself. And as Stygian had watched and focused on that particular battle, he thought he could draw at least a few conclusions. The way she moved, making irregular maneuvers that seemed impossible no matter one's strength and balance, and the way her attacks affected the battlefield and her opponent, all suggested that she could control some sort of external force. Neutron movement? No... he thought. Probably telekinesis. But it doesn't look like such an explosive force...
   The man in the black armor had been easy enough to analyze and put down in the first couple of minutes. Definite explosive power, and a clear and overt manipulation of flames. He seemed to be using a very direct approach, a 'steamrolling' tactic if one would call it that, since there also seemed to be some sort of wind-up or building effect to his flames. He seemed swift enough, but it was when he got to keep up his attacks that he really became dangerous. A berserker thus. And a very dangerous one.
   But, unfortunately one who is faced with a perfect disadvantage against a force-user. Stygian smirked to himself. If it were magnetism, he might have been able to disturb it with some intense attacks and use of metal. However he doesn't even have that edge. All she has to do is slow him down and hold him at a comfortable distance. And if she isn't strong enough for that, she could still bring down the canopy onto him... Wonder why she hasn't...
   ':two drinks against one that the rat is just waiting for her to get close,' Sahlena suddenly spoke up behind him, looking in Cog's direction.
   And that's when a new fighter, challenger or not, stepped in and caught their attention for a moment. At least Stygian's. He glanced over the newcomer, head to toes and then back up. The damn place was getting full of canines, that was for sure. And everyone seemed to be using swords and spears. When was he going to get to see someone who appreciated a good gun?
   'What's this? Another dog?' the man chuckled, and grinned. 'I'm thinking you could try and start selling rawhide chews, Boog,' he continued, looking over his shoulder. 'Might be profitable by now.'

[Cogidubnus]

 Giles simply coughed out a laugh as he watched the Orin suddenly sprout eight legs, manipulating one of her amorphous orbs that served as her weapons into another set of limbs for her, and with a great leap she jumped behind the Blackguard, the razored, spidery legs digging into the soft dirt for just a moment before scuttling towards the blackguard. Watching her go sailing up and over his head, the blackguard turned, changing his direction and starting to run back towards Piix again.

The flames continued to build, growing larger and larger - enough to again wrap the blackguard in fire, obscuring his form and beginning to swirl about him. The flames licked at the trees, strange-smelling smoke promising a conflagration to come. As he ran, the fires continued to rise, taller than the blackguard, and rapidly approaching the height of the smaller trees.
Giles's blue eyes sparkled, and he almost laughed - but at that moment, a crescent of pressure suddenly swept across the blackguard's hand, striking his spear and sending it flying up into the air.
It flew like a comet, trailing fire and landing somewhere in the distance. Smoke rose from where it fell.

Perhaps to Piix's surprise, however, the blackguard did not stop running, and the flames surrounding him did not die either. Scowling, muttering curses, and yet almost laughing, the blackguard continued to run at the Orin, and as she ran towards him, he opened his arms wide, as if he ran to give the Orin a hug. Long before he reached her, however, he embraced the air around him.
The flames around him, however, did not - and at the pyromancer's ministrations, the flames spread wide, and then like walls of water collapsed inwards upon the rapidly moving Piix.

* * *

Watching the battles going on outside, Cog jerked an eye quickly over to the door as it opened, and raised a single eyebrow at the newcomer before a large grin spread over his face.
A fellow swordsman, and a wolf! A true brother in arms. Cog raised a glass to the newcomer before drinking it down, a silent toast.
He looked over at the android for a moment, and smacking his lips just a bit he considered before nodding.
"I'll take that bet."

At the man's words, though, the wolf gave him a slightly irritated look. He was about to open his mouth, when he grinned again.
An idea struck him.

It was only the work of a moment, but anyone who was looking at the wolf in that moment would have found it difficult to hold onto their lunch - in an almost sickening, liquid-fast and somehow disturbing display of morphing, the wolf became a man himself, if slightly smaller than his wolf form.

"Excuse me?" Cog said, tapping Stygian on his shoulder.

[Stygian]

It seemed as if the android was about to address Cog again, but the wolf's next maneuver made even the machine freeze mid-movement. A whirring sound clearly audible to those with sensitive hearing as the single red lens in the middle of her smooth face readjusted itself frantically, she let one half-raised hand slump to her side, and just looked. Boog very suddenly began catching whole streams of hardly interpretable thoughts from the machine.
   Having downed his glass of water and noticed the settling of the contents, Stygian had called up another drink, and was already taking his first sip, slowly swallowing it, when he noticed the tap on his shoulder. Turning around, he took his glass from his mouth, only to look into the face of the now much more human Cogidubnus, whereupon he also froze. One eyebrow creeping upward and a frown creasing his forehead until it seemed that it was trying to escape, his eyes widened and tensed hard. He sniffed, reflexively, his mouth shut closed around that gulp that he had just forgotten to down, all of a sudden.
   Finally, after a good few moments, Stygian closed his eyes and swallowed audibly, features easing out into a dour look. Beside Risky, Sahlena was standing, arms crossed and one hand on her cheek, laughing under her breath in a most un-machinelike manner.
   'Very amusing. Yes, very. Your point?' the man replied to the former wolf, tilting his head a bit to the side, and narrowing his eyes. 'I guess that tells a bit about why you were hopping around naked in the circle before. But it doesn't necessarily mean that you don't whine and give the puppy eyes when someone tells you that you're a BAD DOG!'
   The sudden loudness of the man's voice was not only accompanied by a fundamental change in his voice to the harder and coarser, but also added to by some... other sound, darker and more sinister, that seemed to speak perfectly in tune with him. And even more shocking to Cog, as he opened his mouth and snarled at him, the man's mouth somehow seemed to grow larger in the blink of an eye. His teeth turned long and terribly sharp, and his tongue distended similarly, deepening in color and revealing a tapered tip. In fact, his whole face seemed to change for an instant, darkening sharply as his words turned into a vicious snarl. And then, just as quickly, it was over. The man folded his arms across his chest, and backed down, an eye-eluding transformation returning his features to their usual sharp handsomeness, smirking up at Cog. There was one change that remained though; his eyes had turned a deep, utmost, glistening black.

[Cogidubnus]

 The man's sudden explosion seemed to put Cog off-balance, his yellow eyes widening just a bit behind his shades at the sudden outburst. The very air itself seemed to tinge with the man's anger, and something not-quite-human lingered in his words. Cog's face betrayed little emotion, except for his hidden eyes, and even as the man's...presence faded, his eyes still stared at the wolf with a deep, inky blackness.

Cog sat still for a moment, not quite certain how to respond to that. Pausing, he finally decided to simply shift back, the sickening, nauseous process of transformation playing out in reverse, and taking a sip of his drink the wolf simply raised an eyebrow.
"Bad dogs tend to bite, not make eyes, sir. Maybe you'd like a rawhide chew." he said flatly, and leaned on the side of the bar.

[Sunblink]

...Keaton:

The jackal, another canine, had been maintaining her distance from the rest of her group ever since her irrational reaction to having her card tower destroyed. Keeping her arms folded irritably and her head resting on the tabletop, Keaton merely sulked and sulked away, allowing her rage to simmer down into silence and her mood to alleviate, or at least somewhat. Emotional dysfunction, combined with inebriation, never had a good effect on Keaton.

While she remained introverted, Keaton overheard the conversation brewing between Sahlena, Stygian, Cogidubnus, and the newcomer who just entered the bar, and Stygian's mockery regarding canines. Scowling, Keaton's ears flattened and her expression fell flat into a snarl, somehow resisting the temptation to snarl gutturally at him. Right before her eyes, Cogidubnus transformed into a human and confronted a startled Stygian, only for him to, as a rebuttal, morph his face into a truly frightening caricature of his former self and roar right in the werewolf's face.

No fucking way. Keaton's pupils dilated, pressing herself defensively against the booth she was sitting in like a cornered animal. If she was trying to differentiate herself from Stygian's insult regarding canines, she was failing rather miserably. Regardless, she looked quite indignant.

---

...Piix:

Piix's crescent of pressure worked more spectacularly than she had anticipated. One swing - one impact - and then the spear in Giles's hand buckled, was uppercut by another sweep of gravity, and sent somersaulting into the air, trailing smoke and ash like a dying comet. Piix watched the flying weapon sail over the forest and land in the distance out of the corner of her eye, albeit with more satisfaction than she gave herself credit for. Now that the blackguard was disarmed, she almost expected that he would be without a chance.

Far from the truth. Again those gouts of flame ignited along Giles's arms, and his pace didn't falter in the slightest. Piix cursed in her native language again, nearly screaming. Against the fire she felt her body temperature escalate, her light-sensitive eyes glowing and stinging with such force she felt tempted to close them but couldn't, couldn't, because that would leave her defenseless, and now the fire was coming down on her, almost like Moses bringing down the Red Sea on the hapless Egyptians.

Fucking hell, I'm GOING TO DIE.

Over the roar of the flame, Piix shrieked shrilly. Flinging up Orpiment, she concentrated once more, the rippling streams of pressure and contorting gravity spiraling and slashing like razorbladed ribbons up Orpiment's handle. The air surrounding Piix seemed to bloat, then expand, encompassing her like a bubble, pushing against the incoming flame. The barrier wavered and buckled beneath the weight and intensity of the fire, smoke rising from the invisible shield's surface as it began to disintegrate, but, with a tremendous effort, Piix tried to push the barrier outward, hopefully expelling the flame away from her. All throughout this process she gripped Orpiment, her knuckles pallid, her eyes squeezed shut, and her head reeling with dizziness as she tried to focus. She was getting overwhelmed.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Boog]

He'd just turned away for a second to watch the new fight starting. Really, he couldn't leave these people alone for a minute. Waves of confusion and half-finished ideas washed over the Boogeyman like a stiff breeze, calling his attention back to Cog and Stygian. It took him a second to realize the thoughts were from the machine. She's built by Styggy and something like a little shapeshifting shocks her? He sighed. "You two start a fight outside the circles and I'm having the both of you fixed." Interesting to consider though. I get more thoughts off of her than your average digital wasteland of a mind, but her programming doesn't seem too flexible. Curious...

--

Karazkt's attempt at blocking the gargoyle sort of worked, in that it kept Siolen away from the cockpit. He grabbed onto the arm as it connected with him and began climbing along, frequently stopping to avoid being thrown off. He spat a blast of tar at the elbow of the other arm, hoping to foul up the mechanisms and not get brushed off of the mech like a fly on someone's sleeve.

[Stygian]

'Not more than I'd like to chew your hide,' the man commented back to Cog, and sat down proper again as well, turning his back on the rest of the bar and grabbing his drink. The android seemed not to approve. Folding her arms over her chest again, she looked sideways at him in a most unamused manner. And both seemed to almost simply ignore Boog when he tried to scold or correct them, or whatever it was he was attempting.
   ':mood-killer,' the machine commented, and then turned to Cog. ':sorry. he doesn't react too well to surprises like that. neat trick, by the way.'
   'Look for humor instead. Come up with a clever retort and I'll be thrilled,' Stygian said, looking at the other two and raising his glass. It was only after he put it to his mouth again that Cog remembered that there should have been a wound on that one from their fight, except there wasn't. The machine continued to sound less than enthusiastic with him.
   ':well, if it's not fun in here, why don't you pick a fight and go outside then, instead of drinking up all the liquor?' Snorting, the man rolled his eyes.
   'Because I would rather sit in here. I'm waiting.' He ended there, crossing his arms and leaning on the counter, and the android shook her head and turned back to the others.

[techmaster-glitch]

Karazkt

   The poor pilot was more than a little surprsied when the gargoy grabbed onto the arm, instead of being batted away with it. Karazkt tried to shake the arm up and down to get him off, but he held on too tight. He tried to bring the other arm around, the but the living stone spat a glob of something thick and sticky on the joint of the other arm. Horrified, he watched as the arm could no longer move fast enough to scrape him off.
   The gargoyle got closer.
   Karazkt had one trick up his sleeve, among the few secrets his mech had to outsiders, as this one was perfect for this situation. If fact, Karazkt was almost surprised the gargolye hadn't figured it out yet. Surely he must have seen Karazkt use his fire magic to start his mech earlier? The cockpit was, of course, still wide open. (OOC: In fact, no one should even be able to know if it can close, or even has a cover of some sort, because Karazkt hasn't demonstrated anyting of the sort yet.)
   Very quickly, Karazkt brough his antennae and hands forward, all four glowing a bright orange. In mere seconds, he had concentrated a small glowing orb of fire, so dense and compacted it didn't even look like fire anymore, but golden light incarnate. That's what it looks like in normal vision, but through Karazkt's goggles and his infravision, it looked positively brilliant, seeing things that normal vision could not. To Siolen, it also clearly reflected off of his black goggles, almost looking like eyes for him.
   Taking careful aim directly at Siolen, Karazkt released it, as a focused, concentrated beam. It was not a blast of heat so much as it was a blast of pressure and force. So forceful, in fact, that Karazkt was slammed back in his cockpit. Hopefully, this would be enough to get Siolen off, as well as blast him back a fair distance.

Mechangel

   The man in the cloak watched as the Insectis and [Siolen] sunk dowjn into the ground, in a deep maze of trenches. This made it nearly impossible to see them. Oh well. He turned his attention to the fight between [Alien-2] and the guy in heavy armor. Pardoning the pun, it lookied like things were heating up for the alien. She seemed to be in deep trouble as a conflagration surrounded her.

[SpottedKitty]

The wolf tried not to stare too obviously at the strange-looking creature, who was at least behaving like any other innkeeper he'd ever met. His irritated scowl gave way to a smile, though, at what was said. "This is the Honour Circle, then? Hah, so that idiot flea-feast of a mage at least sent me to the right place." He nodded and flicked an ear in acknowledgement of the other wolf, then strode across to an empty space at the bar, where he settled his pack on the floor.

The wolf grinned toothily at the innkeeper. "Roaring drunk? Perhaps later — for now, a flagon of your best ale will be enough." He reached into a pouch hanging from his belt, fished something out, and laid it on the bar top. It was the right colour for a coin (and in fact it was quite good purity silver), was stamped like a coin, but not many coins were shaped like a slightly curled, twisted wedge.

A shout from a group at the other end of the bar drew his attention. One ear turned in that direction, and he watched out of the corner of his eye. Someone certainly sounded annoyed. From what he'd heard of this place, a fight outside one of the Circles was severely frowned upon, but there was no harm in watching out for trouble. At least, he hoped his drink arrived before anything noisy happened.

[Boog]

Boog set out the ale and pocketed the currency without a glance. It was all just more rare metal to him.
"So, don't see too many of your type around here." How the wolf was different he didn't bring up. All the other fuzzy things so far have very specific mixes of beast and man. I wonder what happens when we introduce you into the mix? He chuckled quietly.

--

On the plus side, this one probably cannot make himself too difficult to locate, Siolen thought as the blast slammed into him. He held on for a couple seconds, trying to weather the beam before it finally tossed him off of the mining machine's arm. The gargoyle twisted in the air and landed on his feet, already charging forward again. This time he attempted to dodge between the mechanized brute's legs, hoping to get behind it to where there were more exposed pipes and other devices. There was a hissing gargle in the back of his throat as he readied another blast of tar...