The Honor Circle Returns! (IC)

[Cogidubnus]

 The sight of the battle outside was difficult to make out, although from high atop the darkness-shrouded cathedral the shapes of moving shadows, and the brief, staccato illuminations of gunfire provided a few signs of the fight. The flaming tar that the gargoyle belched forth provided almost a beacon for those watching, and all three - the wolf, the Jackal, and the blackguard watched with interest.

The blackguard only smiled at the fire, almost mesmerized, while the other two regarded it calmly, considering. The Jackal scratched his chin again, and the wolf only mumbled under his breath as he watched from the window to the outside.

The blackguard seemed to chuckle to himself as the man made a double-kick to the gargoyle's face.
"Y' can't squeeze blood from a' rock, you know." he murmured, his pipe clenched in his teeth as he grinned.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

The newest visitor paused with her hand on the door of the establishment and took a deep breath. She was already starting to rue the impulse that brought her here. But the billionth variation of the argument with her cousin was enough. Just because Mel didn't like to fight didn't mean she was hopeless at it. This was the sort of place where she could prove it. And it was far enough off the beaten path that if her bullying cousin was right and Mel got herself thrashed she could ignore the fact that it ever happened.

With a second steadying breath she pushed the door open and entered, pausing inside to let her eyes adjust to the dim indoor light and to assess the patrons of this circle. Any patrons looking up from the fight would see a dragon of snowy white hue, faint pearlescent gleams of blue and pink shimmering on her scales as she moved. A bit under 6' tall in her current manifestation she was almost snake-slender inside a long coat of pale grey suede. Blue eyes took in the great variety amongst the duelists before heading towards the bar.

[lucas marcone]

Ian looked when he heard the bell. "Mel!" Ian seemed like he knew this person. "I'll se you after this 'fight'." Ian's attention turned back to sylvie. "well?" He said stepping into the circle.

[Angel]

Sylvie waved once at the elegant dragon-lady, then stepped into the circle as well. She counted off the rules on her fingers, making sure to ignore the fire in the other circle.

"Let's see... rule one: No killing each other. I'd rather not die before I fight anyone else, and I'm sure you feel the same way. Rule two: Since we can't kill each other, the fight's over once one of us either gets knocked out or gives up. Rule three: No fire-based attacks."

She paused, thinking for a moment. "And that's pretty much it. Pick your terrain, Ian." She smiled, gripping the lotus staff in both hands and waiting.

[Stygian]

Even if Siolen did mean to lash with his hoof, what he really did with the stony instrument was, as one could expect, pummel. The blunt appendage hit Stygian in the gut, and made the man tumble backwards. As an afterthought, the gargoyle's tail followed and just managed to nick his leg before he was out of reach. Somewhere around the second lap, he caught himself, and managed to get some control of his careening back over the roof, to the point where he managed to flip himself over and then end up in a neat crouched position.
   Where Stygian sat, Siolen could not see his face. His position suggested he'd felt the kick, one arm around his stomach. It should have been plain to see why; something so hard and strong impacting with mere flesh...
   A coarse cough came from the man. Then, a lighter one, which turned into another, and then into a chuckling sound. Straightening, Stygian relaxed and looked over at the gargoyle, a wicked grin adorning his face.
   'Fast up close as well. Good, good,' he praised the stone fighter. 'But very direct. I'm not sure if you have more than that spitting- oh, who am I kidding? Think fast.'
   In the instant after the man stopped speaking, Siolen heard a whining sound already rising a bit over his shoulder.

[Boog]

Siolen muttered a curse and dropped to the ground, heavy frame hitting the cathedral roof with a loud slamming noise. Whatever the whine was, it still took some chunks out of his left wing. Wow, I really hope I'll be able to fly with that later. He snarled and barreled forward on all fours, lowering his head to maximize impact area against Stygian.

--

Boog quirked an eyebrow at Sylvie and Ian's use of the rules. Unexpected, but efficient. He got to work on a third circle.

[Cogidubnus]

 The doorbell rang, and entering into the tavern was someone who almost looked like she'd gotten lost somewhere. At least, at first - a moment's more inspection would make one realize that they were looking at a dragon, and the pearlescent glow of snowy-white scales indicated an ice dragon at that. Willowy-thin and wearing a coat of grey swede, she entered the tavern almost silently and made her way to the bar.

All three of those gathered and watching the fight turned to look at the dragon, but the Jackal was the only one to turn away and start watching the fight again, immediately. The blackguard seemed almost shocked, his eyebrows raised, and took a puff on his pipe silently before looking back up at the battle.

The wolf, however, grinned when he saw the dragon, and stood up from his seat to walk over to her.
"Ms. Icewing?" he said, his face split into a grin. His eyes narrowed for a moment, and then the wolf only grinned wider in affirmation. "It is you. Mel!"
The wolf moved forward to embrace the dragoness. "I haven't seen you in far too long! I still have that pair of glasses, you know. What brings you here?"

[lucas marcone]

Ian smiled as something that looked like a back yard in a poorer naighborhood appeared. It was small, but had enough room to move around. There were two fully grown trees in back and a young one somewhere near the center. On the opposite side of the yard as the trees was a two story town house with a back porch that looked like it needed repair badly. There were a few people on it, and Sylvie could gather they were family and friends. Ian started near the porch and sylvie near the trees. traffic and passers by could be heard but not seen past the fenceing, and both competitors enjoied the warm sunshine. Ian took off his jacket and laied it across the railing of the porch, then he took off his shirt and wrung it out and laid it to across the railing. "Oh you're useing your staff? Guess I'll need a weapon too." Ian thought for a second and smiled. He then had a metal pipe in his hands and weilding it as if it were a sword. "Ready when you are."

[Stygian]

To Siolen's detriment, it was pretty evident by now who of the two was faster. And while the gargoyle had held that edge when they were climbing around, the surroundings favored Stygian now. The man leaped to the side, and bounded off the ceiling to his left, jumping over the gargoyle as he dropped another cylinder. Mid-air, he spun around and whipped out that handgun from before, along with its identical twin, and began firing off at the construct's back. Just a bit more, he thought. He's heavy, and can't stop his momentum so easily, so if this doesn't throw him off the wall, then the next attack will.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Before she got as far as the bar Mel heard her name called. She turned and saw a familiar silver wolf. "Mr. Mithlome," she smiled as she returned the hug. "How are you Cog?"  She laughed at his comment about the glasses. "I should make you a set that is also unbreakable and return to your pocket when lost if I remember our last visit accurately. As to why I am here, I guess you could call it accepting a dare."

[TheGreyRonin]

 The upper lip of the xenomorph's great head peeled back in a slight sneer, and air hissed inwards in two short, sharp sniffs as the dragonlady entered the bar.

The head slipped forwards from the cranial crest and the outer jaws parted, allowing a long tube with a smaller fanged set of jaws extend slowly. The inner mouth dipped into the water and drained it in an eyeblink, then retracted.

Thought like shards of black ice slipped into the dragon's mind. "You. I challenge you."

[Cogidubnus]

 The wolf grinned at the dragon. "It'd save me a bit of time and money, yes." he said, adjusting the shaded lenses on his nose. "And I'm doing well. And I can't say I'm not glad to see you here, but...well, this is the last place I ever expected to find you."
The wolf grinned. "A dare, you say?"

Not being psychic, the wolf didn't hear the Queen's telepathic message to the dragon in front of him. The expression on the dragon's face, however, did make the wolf raise an eyebrow. His eyes grew a bit concerned.
"Mel....?"

[Angel]

Sylvie looked round carefully at the environment Ian had chosen. Had she been a typical elf, she might've sneered at the shambling lower-class neighborhood. But this place reminded her of her own home, where outcasts cared for one another. She smiled a bit sadly and walked over to the trees.

When she saw Ian's weapon choice, she bit her lip a little nervously and wrung her staff with her hands. Don't worry about it, she told herself. Much as she hated to admit it, her staff was oak and was reasonably durable. The material wasn't her fault; she'd found it while "working for" a group of pirates with Kellie.

"Okay then," she nodded at Ian. Without anything further, she pointed her staff at his leg. Her eyes began to glow a little as she uttered a few words under her breath. In seconds, a root had sprouted up from the ground near his feet and wrapped around his ankle. As the root tightened around the rat's ankle, Sylvie ran up and swung at him with her staff. A disgustingly basic attack, but she didn't want to use her full magic unil she was sure he was strong enough to take it.

[lucas marcone]

Ian was hopping about trying to realize she was useing magic when a thick oak staff cracked down on the back of his head. they heard the crown go "Oooooo." as if it were an arena event. Ian blerted out a short string of obsenities. He cut the root with his knife. then jabbed the end of his pipe into sylvie's stomac.

[Boog]

The tail blade swung up again as Stygian jumped over it, but it was a clumsy blow. An afterthought, in the middle of throwing himself out of the path of the other man's bullets. He staggered to the side, wincing as another bullet thudded into place below his ribs. His charge took him off the roof, but he quickly grabbed at the edge and swung around to the ledge below. He pressed one hand to the recent wound and hissed through his teeth once before clambering quickly along the ledge toward the cathedral belltower, again concieled amongst the mere statues.

[Angel]

Sylvie hadn't expected crowd commentary on the match, but what the hell. Before she could back up and strike again, Ian recovered, cut the root on his ankle and jabbed her in the stomach with his pipe.

Sylvie let out a short scream, then several coughs as she wrapped an arm around her stomach and took a step back. A second later, she felt herself beginning to heal, so she took a deep breath and moved her hands into a different position on her staff before swinging it at Ian's ribs.

[Stygian]

Half-crouched, Stygian slowly rose to watch the gargoyle's retreat with unnaturally acute eyes in that darkness. That fast, he thought, even when wounded. I always wonder at the difference between machines and biological things, if there is any. But magic...
   Ejecting both his magazines halfway to double-check his ammunition count, Stygian ordered his guns with a couple of metallic slaps and then reached into his coat and pockets, checking those as well. Finally, when prepared, he took out a neat, clean pocket watch on a chain from within his coat and looked at it. Four and a half minutes. Huh, he thought to himself, and slipped the timepiece back. He fumbled with a package of long cigarettes for a few seconds, then wedged one in his mouth and flicked out a golden lighter, pulling on the slender little breath-stealer and then breathing out a thick cloud of smoke that hung heavily in the air, before dispersing when he passed through it. Boots pounding the roof in a menacing manner, now that he wasn't watching his step, he closed on the belltower while leaking acrid smoke.
   'Come out, come out...' he called, voice low and cruel. 'Come on out and face me, you overgrown stone grotesque!'

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel was certain she had gone a bit funny looking at the sensation of that utterly alien presence across her mind. When she turned her head to look at the sender of that demand she probably went a little grey under her scales. The thing was bigger than she was in her normal form. She had no idea what it was. It looked like a mad scientist had decided to use up all the spare parts in the lab in one drunken spree. She turned back to Cog, "The... thing wants to fight with me. What is it?"

[Cogidubnus]

 Cog's face darkened somewhat, and he surreptitiously turned his head to glance at the Queen out of the corner of his eye. It didn't seem to have moved any, but her head was most definitely swiveled at the ice dragon in front of him. Cog made a face.
"I don't know what that is, Mel." he said, his voice somewhat low. "But...it wants to fight with you?"

He turned back to Mel. "It's been silent ever since it came in. I suppose it just doesn't like you..." he said, a pitiful attempt at a joke. "But, you know what this place is, right? The Honor Circle? People challenge each other here, and fight in the circles outside. Although if I remember correctly, the challenger gets to set the rules..." he said, turning again to face the black xenomorph.

"I've seen what you can do. You'll kick it's ass, Mel." he said, looking at the usually restrained, sometimes timid dragon out of the corner of his eye.

[TheGreyRonin]

 The Queen unfolded herself and rose slightly, a hiss escaping from between her metallic fangs as she regarded the dragonwoman.

"Do you accept?" The mental presence twisted slightly, almost as though trying to hook itself into Mel's mind.

[Boog]

It took every scrap of his willpower not to yell out 'No!' He couldn't help wanting to. This was RUNNING. He wanted to be found. Wanted to hold his ground. But he wasn't about to because, right now, that would be stupid.
He slipped around the other side of the belltower and in through the window, making slower progress due to the crater in his side. The gargoyle wrenched the bullet out and spat some tar into his hand, packing it into the hole for a temporary repair job. So what do I have to work with...
Rope.
Support beams.
Lots of bells.
An enemy on his way.
Siolen grinned and got to work. When Stygian reached the bottom of the belltower, the stone creature would be keeping himself quiet and hidden somewhere in the rafters, waiting...

---

Boog finally finished the third circle and stepped back inside, mainly to watch the drama with Queenie and Mel. Didn't have her pegged for the type. Interesting...

[Stygian]

There was no immediate entry into the belltower save from the inside, as could be expected. However, the tall window openings were quite large enough for Stygian to leap up and throw himself in through. Jumping down and hitting the floor smoothly, coat sweeping out underneath him a bit, he stood and leaned his head back, looking up into the tall darkness of the belltower. Stone structures through the walls and thick wooden beams and boards lined the tower, spiderwebs and ropes hanging between them. The man paced to the center of the shaft, watching attentively upward, searching with every bit of his senses for the hiding guardian...

[Boog]

Siolen didn't want to believe it would be this easy, but he wasn't about to get a better shot. With a flick of his tail he cut through most of the bell's rope, letting it hang by a few fraying fibers. Then he jumped down.
The belltower wasn't too big a place. There wasn't enough space for Siolen to have to worry about Stygian's guns. He got in close, going to work with his fists, tail, and teeth while bit by bit the rope holding the bell above weakened...

[lucas marcone]

Ian took the smack to the ribs, but it didn't phase him as much at the shot to the back of the head. The crowd seemed fairly impartial. Ian stood up a distance of about two yards away from Sylvie. "Magic too?" Ian smiled "I like a challange." He swung the pipe for Sylvie's left side. Should she block the easy attack she would find a knee planted into her right side.

[nikename2]

....What's she on about?

Rip looked up at the Queen from the pool table when she let out a hiss. It seemed like her attention was focused on the newest entrant to the bar, a silvery white draconic woman of sorts. Even though Rip couldn't hear the thoughts the Queen was procuring into the woman's head, it soon became rather apparant that something was about to go down between the two. Rip grinned and shook his head, then bent down again. His hand guiding the cue, he made one final elegant thrust on the cueball, sinking the nine in the corner then ricocheting the eight into the side pocket. With the table clear he stood up and hanged the cue back onto the rack, then looked around once more at everyone. Something was bothering him....or rather....came off as annoying more than anything else. He could feel that there were one more set of eyes somewhere in the bar that weren't accounted for....although he couldn't place it. Slightly fed up, he sighed and made for the door out toward the arena to get a better view of the ongoing battles.

Immediately, he spotted...her.....that saffron jackel demoness.....leaning against a nearby pillar, a glass in hand; watching the duels although her immediate attention seemed to be most focused on the dark cathedral. Rip still wasn't sure whether or not she was out to kill him later, but seeing as how she apparently didn't finish the job, or atleast hesitated, meant that if she was going to try and kill him now, it'd be because he asked for it, not because of an agenda orchestrating her entire race led by a shadowy group of individuals. She was not from his world, and that's all he really needed to know. Rip walked over toward her and stared into her eyes while leaning against another nearby pillar. "For ridiculing you earlier, I apologize..... Take that however you wish I really don't care."

[Stygian]

Siolen's expectations were met from the first second. As the gargoyle hit the floor with a smash, the man moved deftly around, backing up while leisurely exchanging blows with the creature and keeping on drawing the stone construct with him. The circular room was perfect for that sort of movement. When the man heard the snap up above though, his attention was immediately drawn. The heavy bell fell silently and straight at first, but the second it smashed through a pair of the wooden support beams it began tumbling. Then it took a bit of a supportive structure with it, and quickly turned the inside of the tower to an avalanche of splinters and stone, with the massive bell in the center. Stygian didn't even curse except within his head, being far too preoccupied with getting out of the way of the thing. He leaped to the side, and then pushed himself harder than necessary up into one of the windows, being pelted and bruised by rocks and scarcely avoiding getting his head crushed by a stone tile twice its size. The bell smashed through the reinforced floor of the tower, and kept on tumbling to its inevitable stop down below
   The chill and moist, not to mention the draftiness of the tower, meant that there was little but cobweb to be stirred up from the wreckage. And even that had barely settled when Stygian swung around, one hand grabbing the edge of the window and the other furiously sweeping his gun around in line with his vision. Vicious little bastard! Where have you gone to now?! He directed a look up through the shaft, noticing how while the main part of it had been swept open when the bell crashed through, a lot of the things and structures up there were still hanging loosely to the walls. If you don't behave, I'll collapse the whole bloody place on you! the man snarled vengefully in his head.

[techmaster-glitch]

   It must have been some sort of Angel intuition, but whatever it was, Rip was right. Almost right. There was another set of eyes, no, it was just one eye that had been watching everyone and everything for quite some time. The bartender knew this entity was here, it was impossible for him not to, but to everyone else, he was as inconspicuous and uninteresting as a rock.
   He was seated in the corner of the room with the least amount of light, garbed in a full body dark brown cloak/cape with no sleeves; it blended in almost perfectly with the dull drab of the wooden establishment. The hood was drawn deeply over the man's face, so that it couldn't be seen. There was a massive bulge on the man's back, though the cloak was still big enough to hide whatever it was that was under there.
   He had seen everything, from the first coustomers entering, to the battle that had already concluded, the battles that were in progress, and, he guessed, the battle that was about to take place. Despite there being a solid wall between him and the outside courtyard, he had still seen everything that took place out there. And he still saw everyone on the inside. In fact...
   [Analyzation complete. Data stored. All entities in facility designated 'Honor Circle Inn' accounted for. Awaiting log command.] A small voice inside the man's head, his own yet not himself...
   Log individual data under separate folders. Standard designations. This was his own voice as well, he was thinking to himself?
   [Logging Complete.]
   The person under the cloak turned his head slightly, then he stood up. I think I've spent enough time in here. If anyone else comes here, I'll know about it. Either way, I wonder exactly what sort of accomodations this place has?
   The man walked slowly, deliberately, around the edge of the bar. Though he walked with a fairly light step, for some reason, every other footfall had a dull Thunk to it. He neared the bar counter, and, very quickly, something flashed out from his cloak, and several gold coins slid across the counter, stopping unnaturally perfectly next to the safe-box. If anyone had somehow been watching this stange, yet unnoticed man in a cloak that looked like a hunchback, they might, just might, have noticed that the hand that slipped the coins across the counter had a glint of silver to it...though it probably was just a ring of some sort.
   The cloaked hunchback walked into the hallway labled Sleeping Quarters.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel half-smiled at Cog. "This was what the dare was about, coming here and dueling. I just did not expect it this fast. Or this odd. Wish me luck, I suspect I will need it." She was searching her vast memory trying to come up with what the thing was, but wasn't successful. She'd have to just hope she found the right spells to be effective. She bowed to the creature. "Accepted. The terms are this is not a death match, we fight to submission. And we fight on the terrain of my choice."

[Boog]

Siolen jumped away from the falling bell just in time, clambering upward and concealing himself amongst the bell-swinging mechanisms without a glance back down at the destruction he'd caused. He thought hard about what his foe had given away. The man often reacted before his eyes focused on an incoming attack, and was uncannily good at locating him by sound. Humans typically relied mainly on eyesight... Then again, there were plenty of things that looked human and weren't. Golems, fae, fiends... The man didn't seem unlike one on their way to fienddom, not yet warped but still augmented by some source or another.
Well, best experiment with his skills a little more. The tower still had plenty of loose structure to drop on him for a second go. The gargoyle leaned out of hiding long enough to spit three blazing shots, neither large nor particularly forceful. He aimed for his foes face, namely the eyes. After all, humans relied so much on their eyes.

---

The Boogeyman spared the cloaked man a grin, gathering up the coins. Struck him as a melodramatic fellow, yes, but one with cash. He turned his attention back to Queenie and the dragon, resisting the urge to yell something to the effect of "Catfight!"

[TheGreyRonin]

 The Queen's lips formed a snarl and she hissed again, louder. Her tail uncoiled from behind her, nearly striking the pool player as it passed.

"Submission. Agreed. The rules give me choice of terrain." the sharp, dark thoughtshards sent.

The Queen moved out towards the newly scribed Circle, her tail following like a liquid serpent. Her talons dug gouges in the flooring, and she squeezed herself through the doors to get outside.

Briefly swinging her head to take in the other fights occuring, she turned to face the bar area, then backed into the Circle, her four arms folding into a ready position. "Come, submit."