The Honor Circle (IC) [Fa Teen, for language]

[Stygian]

The resulting blast tore up the air within the circle, throwing it around like a hurricane, tearing at the clothes of the both combatants. Light flared out, dimming the vision of the two men where they stood, seemingly frozen, as power coalesced between them.
   Then, the light exploded in a visible shockwave, and both of them were flung back against the walls of the circle. The brightness died down, leaving both of the fighters laying, static crackling around them. Stephen was out cold, his clothes torn and part of his visor and armor peeled off. Gareeku didn't look much better for wear, but at least he was conscious.
   In the bar, Stygian made a nod to himself, casually, and took another swig. Then, he placed up two more glasses, put ice in them and some on the counter, and a bottle next to them, and continued in his endeavour to get drunker.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

"Victory. Your soul is mine."

This, from the pool player, in an ironic tone. He glances up, grins, and fires off another break, attention, for the moment, apparently back fully on his game.

[Aisha deCabre]

It was easy to keep one's concentration on the fight...the felid almost wished she were to see it from the beginning.  Both opponents were quite fast, quite skilled, and from where she could see, too stubborn to give up.  Aisha sat comfortably in the chair, resting an elbow on the surface.

After a moment she pulled back a part of her cowl, a black ear swiveling in the direction of the bar, upon hearing someone approaching.  She turned to glance up at the mantis, blinking with a visible eye that was the same shade of crimson as her cape.  The felid took the drink with a nod.  "Hm, thank you," she said in a somewhat deep voice with a light accent, something akin to Hispanic, with a polite smile.  "I send my thanks to the bartender, as well."

Sipping her drink and turning back to watching the fight, Aisha cringed as the violent blows met, and sent the combatants flying straight into the walls.  "...That'll leave a nice bruise or two," she muttered, wondering with suspense as to what the outcome was, only to smirk again as only one seemed to be moving.  Well, there's one to favor.

[TheGreyRonin]

Mne bowed to the feline, and headed back towards the bar. As the fight ended in a blinding flash, he cringed away from it, shielding his eyes with a truhand. "Violence, always violence," he whistled mournfully, then scuttled off into the kitchen.

Stalker nodded as the fight ended. "Good duel." He turned to Stygian. "Your speedy friend is quite a combatant. There should be a repair station somewhere around here if he needs it."

Risky reached over the bar and snagged the medkit. "They'll both need this. Where the hell is your healer, Stalker? Did you eat it again?" Without waiting for an answer she headed towards the circle, tossing the stub of her cigarette onto the sand outside.

[Stygian]

Stygian laughed, and slapped another empty glass down on the counter. He grabbed a bottle, and speedily began filling it up again. His speech was just the slightest bit off when he spoke.
   "Aw, psh. Don't mind him. Steph heals about as fast as he runs, and a medkit doesn't help much unless you're mostly organic. Me, I'm surprised he didn't decide to just go round in circles until the wolf was tired. But he is hasty too..." he said, and chuckled. Then, another swig, more pouring in...

[Gareeku]

"Ugh!!" the wolf had exclaimed upon being thrown against the edge of the circle from the shockwave of the impact, landing hard on his front on the floor. For a couple of minutes the two fighters laid there motionless. However, one of them was still conscious. Using the edge of the circle as something to lean against, Gareeku slowly but surely got back onto his feet, panting hard. His clothes were for the most part ripped, exposing his white furred athletically built torso and parts of his legs, all of it which sported various cuts and bruises.

Looking down at the unconscious Stephen, the wolf staggered over to where he lay and, with much effort, picked him over, putting one of the man's arms over his shoulder and making his way with him out of the circle.

[Cogidubnus]

Cog frowned at Stygian and raised an eyebrow. "It's not going anywhere, good sir. Keep drinking like that and you'll likely not be able to sit there very much longer." he said, sipping his drink. Giles simply laughed at him and patted Styg on the shoulder. "Feh. Sebastian here can hold your liquor, right boy?" He slapped Stygian on the back and continued smoking his pipe. Cog shook his head and leaned back in his chair.
"It would seem the wolf was much more formidable than we thought..." he said. He grinned, and took out about two or three silver coins from the inside of his pocket. "I think a friendly wager on the outcome of these battles might be in order?"

[Stygian]

"'Course I can!" Stygian said, and swigged another glass, then making himself another Red Bull and Jägermeister, and downing that one in a single sweep again. "Though watch your hands, Gil. Back home, when someone touches ya like that, it often has a meanin'. S' I'd usually either have to kill ya, drug ya, or screw ya. Or maybe all three." He chuckled, and poured another drink for himself, and one for Gareeku and another for Stephen, who was slowly stirring. "Well, maybe not that severe, but ya get the point..."
   The man laughed again, and downed about half the glass. Moira shook her head, smiled with a mouth, newly formed from her smooth faceplate, and then drank up herself. Then Sebastian took the word again.
   "Nah, I'd much rather hurt ya. So what d'ya say, Giles? A fight? I mean, I won't steal time from you 'n Moira. I can wait." The machine-woman chuckled. "Aw, no that, sweets. I promise I won't killim'," Stygian said, smiling. For a moment, there was not a trace of drunkenness in his eyes. "I promise."

[Cogidubnus]

Giles raised and eyebrow and took a deep pull of the tobacco. He exhaled, and grinned at the inebriated shade. "I don't know what kind of drunken fist technique you plan to use, but I'm not one to refuse a fight." He grinned wider, and his blue eyes seemed to burn with an inner heat. "But, I don' t know if it would be fair to fight you drunk and tired. A'course, you'll burn the same with or without alcohol...trust me, drunks don't burn much better than sober ones."
  He scraped a single armored digit across the wooden table, leaving a long, black scorch mark. The bitter smoke twisted up and burrowed into the nostrils of those around, whether they breathed in or not. He set his pipe down.
"The lady did ask first. If there is no objection, though..." he said as he turned and grinned at Moira.

[TheGreyRonin]

Walking up to Gareeku, Risky helped take some of his burden by offering her own shoulder to Stephen. "Here, let me help." She eyed Gareeku's form appraisingly, something a bit more than friendly concern in her eyes. "Once we get him settled in, I'd like to take a look at those. I'm a fair hand at fixing people up." She smiled as they reached a table.

Stalker coughed audibly, then looked at Giles. "A few minutes, if you please. The rather impulsive young lady," he gestured towards Risky, "is right. A healer should be present, and that requires another circle."

He placed one hand on the bar and half-vaulted, half-flowed over it to stand nearby. "Bar's open while I work. I'd suggest no one gets too close until I'm done." He strode purposefully out into the courtyard, off to one side of and nearer than the circle.

[Sunblink]

From where she sat, Keaton had attentively observed the entire fight, watching every insignificant detail, from the postures of the fighters to their styles of combat. Nothing escaped her sight, everything was stored in that calculating mind of hers for her to prey upon and turn over, almost like how a scavenger would pick on a discarded corpse.

One thing needed no further exploration, though: both fighters definitely needed healers. Smirking slightly, Keaton cocked her head in the direction of Stalker, as though waiting for the command to send in healers. Sure enough, Risky was the first to reccomend it and had walked inside of the ring to assist Gareeku.

With surprising swiftness, Risky was outside of the bar and heading over to the circle to apparently inspect it. Until he got back, Keaton remained on the edge of her seat: she would volunteer next to enter battle, that was, if anybody was willing to enter the arena.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Stygian]

Moira shook her head, chuckling, and Stygian laughed out, lifting his glass a bit and looking around at his fellow patrons. He swigged the drink, and then slapped down the glass upside-down on the counter.
   "A'right then! First one to claim a challenge! The ring is free, an' I'm up, if anybody wants a fight. The winner gets a free wish!" he said loudly, and smiled. Then, he shot an interested look first at Stephen, who was holding some ice to his de-armored head and downing a drink, and then a longer one to Gareeku and Risky. Then he muttered to himself: "Figure we're gonna need a bigger ring later too..."

[Gareeku]

As he walked out of the circle, The wolf stopped to pick up his cloak and katana before noticing Risky arriving.
"Thanks." he replied with a smile of appreciation. Noticing her look, the wolf turned away slightly, his cheeks turning a slight shade of pink as he did so.

Arriving back at the bar, Gareeku noticed that Stephen was now conscious again. Giving Stygian a nod of appreciation and downed it in two large gulps.
"Thanks for the drink." he said to Stygian, before turning to Stephen. "That's quite some speed you've got."

Leaning against the bar, Gareeku looked around, before his eyes stopped as he spotted a figure dressed in a crimson cape...he recognised that figure...

[ardaron]

Ardaron simply gave an amused smile at Keaton's impish comeback, and gave a shrug at her comment that most dragons she'd seen were bigger than him.  "Paleon dragons just typically aren't that big," he said, somewhat distracted by the battle.

The dragon seemed to be watching Stephen quite closely throughout the battle.  Like Stygian, the man seemed to possess some elemental ability, but also like Stygian, it seemed to be mixed between multiple elements.  Energy, metal, and agility seemed to all be equal components of Stephen's powers.  It was perplexing to Ardaron that so many people would make use of multiple elements; on Paleon, elemental purity was a goal to be strived for.  Ardaron didn't understand it, and that frustrated him; he narrowed his eyes with a look of concentration as he contemplated how magic might work in this world.

He noticed and nodded to the cloaked panther who entered the bar, but didn't notice the pool player until he spoke.  He glanced at the pool table for a second, then turned back to the battle, remembering to take another bite of his nearly forgotten steak before he did so.  Waste not, want not.

Ardaron showed a look of surprise as Gareeku's and Stephen's attacks created a shock wave.  Both of them showed incredible strength.  His surprise was replaced by worry, as he wondered if they would be okay.  They seemed hurt, but alive.  Gareeku was certainly still alive, and Stephen . . . yes, he was alive too.  Ardaron breathed a sigh of relief.  He had never liked the idea of people getting killed, even if it was someone he hardly knew.

As the cloaked figure spoke up again, Ardaron realized that nobody had yet introduced themselves to her.  And since the battle was now winding down, there was nothing to distract the dragon.  So he said, "My name's Ardaron.  Are you a regular around here?" having noticed that Stalker seemed to know the girl.

As Stephen and Gareeku re-entered the bar, Ardaron commented, "Excellent fight."  Now that he saw the two fighters up close, he saw that they were more injured than he had at first thought.  He got up from his seat, leaving his now-empty tray where his steak had been, and approached the two fighters.  He said, "I have some modest healing ability, if either of you think you need it."

The dragon made it a point to ignore Stygian.  It was one thing to get drunk; drinking was a perfectly good source of entertainment for everyone involved, and Ardaron saw nothing wrong with such an indulgement.  But getting drunk right before a battle?  He was either incredibly overconfident in his abilities, or just plain stupid.  Or perhaps even both.

So, even though Ardaron was thinking of entering the next battle, he decided against fighting Stygian.  He refused to fight a drunk; not only would it be dishonorable to Ardaron, but it would be unfair to Stygian.  Therefore, once again, Ardaron would wait; and hope that perhaps Stygian would come to realize that entering another duel was a mistake.

[Sunblink]

"Paleon, huh?" Keaton asked, stretching her arms high above her head and cracking her knuckles, apparently busily preparing herself for something in-between talking to Ardaron. She stopped her exercising for a moment to cup her chin in her hand and look thoughtfully up at the ceiling, idly regarding the hooded figure that Ardaron had introduced himself to with a nod, and the stranger playing pool in the background. "I've never heard of those before... this is just a wild guess, and feel free to laugh if I'm being an idiot, but are you from another world? Doesn't seem that far-fetched to me... I've seen weirder stuff.

"'Scuse me for a moment, though."

After stating this, she lifted her finger once more to indicate that she was going to detach her attention from Ardaron for a moment, craning her head toward the drunken Stygian. "Hey, buddy," she said, unable to restrain a roguish smirk, "You seem pretty drunk, so I wouldn't be fighting if I were you... but if you want a fight, I'd be happy to do so," she gestured openly toward herself, jabbing a finger proudly at her chest. "Just be prepared to get your butt kicked."

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Aisha deCabre]

Upon watching the fighters exit the Circle, Aisha twisted herself around in her seat, taking a sip of her drink while her eyes followed them, tail twitching somewhat idly.  She was thinking about what the next battle would be like...looking around, she wondered even if she should either take or make a challenge...she wasn't one to really make them. 

Now that she could see the fighters up close, indeed she had recognized the winner...as usual, she figured that he would be the one to stay standing, even if he was pretty broken up.  There was a gaze of concern cast, but it wasn't noticed immediately.  She watched the goings-on at the bar for a bit in amusement, before smirking to herself beneath the fold of her hood.  Noble as usual.  More fighters need to be like that.

However, the panthress hadn't gotten in another gulp of her drink before she heard another voice, addressing her, seemingly.  She cast a glance at Ardaron, nodding politely in greeting, but chuckling slightly at his inquiry.  "A regular?  I'm a traveler.  I'm a regular everywhere," she answered cooly, a part of her cowl still pulled to show a red eye enveloped in the shadow.  "But not here, muchacho.  Name's Aisha."

She then watched as the dragon started speaking to the fighters, and that was also when the felid noticed that the wolf's eyes had stopped on her.  She pulled the cowl back to reveal her face, that of a young black jaguar, perhaps in her mid-twenties, with a couple of grey streaks in her otherwise pitch-black hair that were present on the fringe...the rest of it was tied in a braid and pinned beneath her cape, with a bit left to frame her face.

With a grin directed at Gareeku, she raised her hands and clapped.  "Indeed an excellent fight.  Way to show them how it's done."

[Stygian]

The man blinked once before looking back at the jackal anthromorph. Then, his face split in a drunken grin that could probably easily have rivalled anything she could have mustered right then, but only for his drunkenness. He arched his head similarily, almost with the tip of his nose against hers and looked her in the eyes, still grinning.
   "Sure then, sweets! It's a deal!" he said, laughed, and turned on the spot. "Jus' you prepare to get yer butt groped!" The statement was followed with the singling of a heavy coin, the starter of a wager. "Ten to one that I can do it in ten!"
   He walked slowly out against the circle, smiling to himself and eyeing Stalker a bit.

   Stephen nodded a bit and snorted.
   "That's quite some power you've got," he said, eyeing the wolf up and down. "Guess it's my fault for thinking I can end everything quickly." Then, he caught sight of the red-caped figure too, and his eyes went across the same direction as Gareeku's. He shook his head a bit, and shot a look to the wolf. "You know this gal?" he asked.

[Sunblink]

At the sight of Stygian's intoxicated grin, Keaton returned it with as much ardor as she could muster, her undamaged eye glinting with a mischevious shine. Nose to nose, the two stared at each other, Keaton's smirk never fading in the slightest, even in response to the butt-groping comment. She was confident that he wouldn't have the chance to do so--the last person who had done it had been blasted sky-high by a swing from her weapon, Catastrophe, then had his soul stolen.

Then she needed a very long, very cold shower to erase any and all lingering remnants of 'taint' she felt.

"I bet I can kick your butt five minutes before you even THINK about laying your hand on me," Keaton said, pierced eyebrow arched against the other, her fanged teeth bared in a viciously devious smirk, "And 'sides, if you DID, you'd be deader than dead, trust me on this."

She turned her head toward Ardaron, then grinned. "Be right back in a moment, Ard. I've got a fight to win." With that, she leapt out of her seat, grabbing Catastrophe on her way as she strolled over to the ring, the upper half of the mace resting on her shoulder.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Cogidubnus]

Giles grunted and went back to smoking, and Cog raised an eyebrow, barely suppressing a laugh. He grinned wide, and took a long pull of his wine.
"Oh, dear lady..." Cog said, swishing the glass around in his hand. "You might be surprised to find your words come true...deader than dead indeed." he said, now laughing in truth. "This should be interesting indeed!" he said, shaking his head. Giles turned to Moira and coughed out a question. "D'you think your pal can fight plastered off his ass?"

[Stygian]

Moira waited until Keaton had walked out of the bar before she looked up at Giles with a knowing smirk. She took a sip of her drink before continuing.
   "As far as I know, there have been thirty-seven attempts to poison him, and we're talking deliberately and set up here, neurotoxins, hemotoxins and chemicals. He's got about as much chance as I do to get woozy, even less begin to get wasted..." she said, and grinned.

Stygian walked around the ring half a lap, looking mostly down at his feet and still smiling that off grin. He stepped up into the circle, and then nodded to Keaton with a bit of a glint to his eyes.
   "Righ'. Your call-out, your challenge. You set the rules, sugar. But I don't think you need to mess things up, now do ya...?" he said, and flashed teeth. Slowly, he took the shirt off his t-top and let it fall, starting to straighten and tighten the black wrappings around his hard arms.

[Sunblink]

Entering the circle, Keaton took her position across from Stygian, preparing herself with a few rudimentary stretches. Weighing her mace in her hand, she said, "What, didn't read the rules? Well fine. We fight until one gives up or is knocked out. No holds barred. And if you INSIST on grabbing my ass, expect to get your head handed to you." Keaton stated all of this almost as though one would recite a shopping list, leaning against the handle of her mace so she could count off on her fingers. "Now," she lifted Catastrophe again, gloved hands squeezing the intricately engraved hilt of the weapon, a smirk spreading along her ebony lips. "Your move."

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[ardaron]

Ardaron nodded to Keaton; yes, he was from another world.  "You haven't heard of Paleon?  I guess I shouldn't be surprised.  We don't exactly get a lot of visitors."  He was about to continue by mentioning the sixteen types of dragons, when Keaton rose to make her challenge to Stygian.  Oh, good lord, Ardaron thought to himself, This isn't going to end well.

The dragon smirked, suppressing a laugh, at the use of his nickname.  It wasn't the first time his name had been shortened in such a manner, but for some reason hearing it in a place like this amused him.  Or perhaps it was because Keaton already reminded Ardaron of a certain Agility Dragon who was a friend of his; the common use of a nickname served to highlight the similarity even more.  Indeed, it was the irony that amused Ardaron.

Ardaron raised an eyebrow at Aisha's use of an unfamiliar word; muchacho.  But he dismissed it as unimportant, and replied to the panthress, "Pleased to meet you, Aisha."  A salutory nod accompanied his words.

Ardaron's left wing began to itch, and he unfurled it a little, reaching a clawed hand back behind him to find the source of the itch.  Ah, a feather was ready to fall out.  He pulled the metallic golden plume the rest of the way out, looking down at it as he spun it between his fingers, absentmindedly noting how it seemed to reflect a good deal more light than the light that hit it.  What was really on Ardaron's mind, though, was worry for the looming battle.  He tried to dispell his concern by noting that the Wind Dragons of Paleon were quite capable of fighting drunk; some of them had elevated it to an art, even.  But Stygian was obviously no Wind Dragon.  His technique in his earlier duel had involved a good deal of strategy and quick-thinking; a technique which would not mix well with alcohol, Ardaron quickly realized.  Looking up from his feather, he turned his gaze back to the battle, part of him resisting; he almost didn't want to watch.

Then he overheard Moira's words, and smiled with an odd combination of relief and amusement.  So, Stygian was not so dumb as to fight drunk, after all.  He was only faking.  Clever, very clever.  It was too bad Ardaron was not as talented at resisting intoxication as Stygian, or he might be inclined to try the same trick at a later time.

[TheGreyRonin]

Stalker stepped back from the circle, shaking his head. "Impatient," he said to himself, then moved back to lean against a column.

At the bar Risky brought out antiseptics and bandages for Gareeku. She smiled at him, then began to gently clean his wounds. "You'll be good as new in a few minutes, I promise."

[Stygian]

Stygian's grin dissappeared, mildening into a chilly smile. He straightened and turned very precisely against the jackalmorph, a smooth movement that contrasted sharply against how he had just been walking around. Lowering his head, he chuckled. He took word in a voice that was neither drunk, nor human.
   "Inficio Cosmos per Umbra!"
   When he looked up, his eyes had turned a complete, glossless pitch black. Thin black lines began creeping out around his eyes. And around him, from beneath, it was as if the shadows began to gather, to condense...
   Then, things happened very quickly. The whole of the surroundings suddenly dulled in lighting, as if someone had just decided to blot out the sun with grey clouds or slowly turn down all the lights at dusk. Stygian leaned forward a bit, the darkness now slithering and snaking around him taking on more and more form. From his back, a pair of burned feathered wings, their white colour darkened and grayened and black at the tips, spread out, seeming to grow blacker by the second. And then... he vanished.
   It was not so much that he moved, or that he faded, but more that he became one with the shadows of the surroundings. His whole shape went black, and seemed to crumble and break up into the dark. Something moved, yes, a more pronounced black than the other shadows. But there was much more than one of it. And it was all around...
   Then, the shadows behind Keaton writhed for an instant, ripples moving in a way that looked like the light was bending, and in the blink of an eye the darkness congregated behind her, both drawing together from outside and inside her own shadow.
   "Smile, sweets! You've just been pulled..."
   On her right buttcheek, large, long-fingered and clawed, pressing firmly but not too firmly, was the unmistakeable feeling of a hand.

[Sunblink]

When Stygian's grin disappeared to make way for the new, serpentine smile that crept along his lips, Keaton knew that it was time for the fun and games to end. Her own smile vanishing, Keaton withdrew her body ever so slightly, legs sliding apart, weapon raising and eyes narrowing into venomous slits as they followed Stygian's every movement, even as he lowered his head and bellowed the following words.

Newly-shadowed eyes met dilated, hawk-like pupils, pinpricked from slight bewilderment as atramentous webs began to slink along his face. Keaton took a step back instinctually, pulling her arms back, preparing herself for an incoming blow--

--for a moment, the light that had once suffused the room was completely eclipsed by an unseen force, darkness encroaching in on the room like approaching panthers. They gathered together, white wings--which were quickly growing darker and darker, as though they were drenched by ink--emerging from his back and stretching--

--then he was gone. Keaton froze where she stood, looking back and forth for her seemingly invisible opponent. Ears pinned flat, and teeth grit, she took a step forward, lifting her weapon, unaware of the sudden metamorphosis of the shadows behind her--

--and then she heard his voice, just as a hand rested on one of her buttocks.

Everything else moved almost blindly. Keaton's eyes widened, pupils shrinking down into tiny, ant-sized specks of brown, her jaw dropped, her body gave a series of violent twitches (especially around her eyes, one of which seemed to be bulging out of her skull), and her ears perked. She hadn't expected for him to get the opportunity to do that. She was so confident in her own abilities that she had underestimated his unrevealed skills, and now...

Moving almost electrically, the air surrounding her bristling, Keaton whirled around, iridescent lightning flashing in her eyes like thread-thin chains. White light drowned out the color of her pupils until they were just silvery outlines, pearlescent teeth exposed like glistening knives as she brought her arm back, and with a blood-curdling roar swung it forward, sweeping Catastrophe towards Stygian in a black blur.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Stygian]

The enchanted mallet struck the man with a force that made the average carcrash look pale, and with a loud and awful sound, his head and much of his neck and shoulder just smacked off. The inside was as black as could be expected, the contours of the stuff inside just barely visible, his spine and some bones jutting awkwardly.
   Stygian's body looked like it had just gone entirely limp, which in fact it had. It fell back in an awkward manner, slumping to the ground of the circle in a pile, seething darkness still slipping out of the enormous open wound where his head and right shoulder used to be. His head itself had been smashed up, scattering into darkness and quickly crumbling black ash and quickly vanishing. Slowly, the darkness trailed around and out from his broken body and wings...

[Sunblink]

As the loud crack of Catastrophe swinging against Stygian's head resounded, Keaton was just about to erupt into peals of triumphant laughter--before she noticed that the collision did far more damage than she had anticipated.

The sheer force of her swing had gruesomely decapitated Stygian, as well as swept away a good deal of the area beneath, leaving only a few stubs of bone. Keaton took a few, startled steps back, her expression arguably more thunderstruck than it was when he managed to grope her, up until she regained her casual composure in the most violent of situations. She was more than used to seeing and administering such grisly injuries and deaths, but she couldn't hide the disgust and shock on her face from these unexpected results.

Stygian's apparently dead body crumpled to the ground, oozing the same darkness that had saturated his body before. Keaton stood over his corpse, arm lowering as she looked around the room. Her expression was at first unreadable and remained so when she glanced back to Stygian and the disintegrating remains of his head. The shadows around him was starting to spiral in on him, much to her piqued curiosity, despite the person that summoned them being killed...

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Stygian]

The man's corpse lay still, seeping darkness and beginning to crumble into a black, charcoal-like composition, shadows like smoke flowing out over the ground around it.
   Then, as quickly as it had fallen to the ground, the crumbling carcass turned into shadow much the same way as he had before, and the darkness gathered inward. It shot up, grabbing hold of Keaton's arm, as it rapidly drew itself together, regaining an already standing humanoid shape, its large wings, certainly proportionally larger than her own, now bat-like, clawed and leathery and made completely out of the same blackness that twisted around him. Dark, ashen grey skin formed over Stygian's torso and face, almost equally grey hair sweeping out of it as he arced his neck and stared at her right up close with those horrid, empty black eyes, his clawed, darkened hand holding her arm in an iron grip.
   "Boo!"

[Sunblink]

After a few more, tense seconds of inspection and watching Stygian's corpse decompose into some strange, ashen substance, Keaton grew bored of merely standing there and wasting precious seconds staring at something which didn't matter anymore. No longer fascinated with the odd churning of the vapors and shadows encircling the corpse, Keaton scoffed inaudibly and turned to move away, only for, just on the borders of her peripheral vision, the body somehow became drenched in shadow and lurched to life, seizing her arm.

Eyes widening, Keaton's head snapped around to face the suddenly animate carcass, its body carefully drawing itself back together into a complete, unfragmented shape. Stygian's wings, looming over her, had transformed entirely, morphing from a feathery structure to something almost demonic, sloping out from his back almost like enormous, fanged claws. Pallid grey exuded over his features, dreadful black eyes staring into her own--

"Boo."

And with a startled roar, Keaton swung her opposite arm (which, unfortunately, did not clutch Catastrophe in it) around, hoping to cuff the newly-regenerated Stygian across his face.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Stygian]

The thing grinned at her, its hand sweeping up and catching her blow with little effort. A pointed, long tongue flashed over razor-sharp, glistening black teeth and gums.
   "That's some strength. Normally, I wouldn't expect that from a woman, regardless of circumstances," it said. The light seemed to ripple and bend around its eyes, like the blurred ring around a growing black hole. It chuckled in that horrid, seething voice. And its skin and the darkness beneath shifted, so that Keaton suddenly found her arms held by dark tentacles instead, while it folded its arms across its chest, some flowing black cloth forming around it in places.
   "I knew that you weren't a doll from the start, sweets," it said amusedly, looking at her with less of a grin now, and more of a still smile. "Of course, so far you're still a toy..."
   Stygian's right hand swept out, and it let her go just an instant before the broad side of its right arm went against her midsection, with it putting strength and weight behind the blow to send her crashing into the barrier on the other side of the ring.