Avatar Arena: Mauve Mage vs. Garud

[Raiden]

The two fighters stood in their arena. They were in a cemetary at night. The tilted moon caused long shadows to be cast along the ground. There are gravestones clustered about and a crooked tree in the center.

Raiden and Rhiya were in ghost form, hiding out in their own private tomb.

(This is the Cemetary Arena. Garud won Arena Advantage. Shadows are cast about, making it easier for him to create shadow objects.)

[Mauve Mage]

Mauve pulled the wide-brimmed hat down further on her head. It was a little chilly out here, this late in the evening. Mauve opened her mouth and exhaled. She almost thought she could see her breath, but she wasn't sure.

The mage yawned and strolled through the uneven rows of looming black headstones. It was quiet out tonight. The phrase, "silent as the grave" came to mind, and Mauve's lips curled into a wry smile.

Garud would probably be here soon, she thought. Then it wouldn't be so quiet. She'd probably be glad for the cold air, too, as she'd most likely be running around and working up a sweat once the battle started.

She popped a Jolly Rancher into her mouth and ambled up to the crooked tree. She had a few minutes before Garud showed up, so she leaned back against the trunk and pulled her iPod out of her pocket. The earphones were put into place, and she absently scrolled through Shuffle Mode to find something appropriate. The first tune was Yellow Submarine, but that song had lost all appeal after hearing it being played by a demonic sub infused with the soul of John Lennon during the last Avatar RP. Thank you, PyrosNine. She hit "Next." Gemini Dream? Meh, too moody-bluesy. Next.

Detonator. Nice.

"High explosive girl you turn me on,
So volitile, like a walking atom bomb.
Just takes one spark to kerosene,
And you go off like nitro-glycerine."

Mauve closed her eyes and mouthed the words as they were sung into her ears.

"The time is right to deviate,
The supernat'ral cannot wait,
I'll show you how to detonate, yeah!"

[GARUD]

Garud walked forward, passing headstones and tombs until he spotted Mauve.

"Glad you could make it. Well... not glad that you would be here for us to beat the crap out of each other but yeah."

Garud stared at the plushie in his hand. It was a curious item, one he planned to use, but later. A faint black aura surrounded the sorceror as he got into stance.

"Let's do this!"

[Mauve Mage]

"Glad you could make it. Well... not glad that you would be here for us to beat the crap out of each other but yeah." The mage grinned and pulled the headphones out of her ears. The iPod was shoved back into her pocket.

"Sad but true," she agreed. "For better or for worse, mindless violence is a trademark of the NPF. But that's what makes us fun. That's also what makes us insurance nightmares, but that's aside from the point."

She slung the guitar strap over her shoulder, so the Guitar of the Bard hung across her back. She would use it when she needed it. But for now, she'd rely on her normal techniques.

"I'm ready."

[GARUD]

He nodded.

Garud prepared a shadow in one hand. He knew he needed to find a way to incapacitate her. This was no death fight. C'mon, make a move. The demon slayer already knew what he wanted to make with the shadows, but it was dependant on what she did.

[Mauve Mage]

A duel of two mages. One a skilled demon slayer, and the other a strict magic user. Mauve had to be ready for anything against this opponent.

Garud was planning something; he was waiting for her to make the first move. Mauve inwardly sighed. She didn't like having to go first; there was too great a possibility that she'd do something stupid and things would go horribly, horribly wrong. The safest thing to do, then, was to protect herself.

"Reflect," she cast, using one of her few white magic spells.

[GARUD]

Garud looked on. Mauve had just made the move. A defensive one. I have no idea which barrier she cast, but I have got to get rid of it. The ball of darkness hurtled towards Mauve, but that was not the intended target. Whatever she put up, hopefully would be destroyed.

[Mauve Mage]

The mage braced herself as the ball of darkness flew towards her. If the attack was magic, then her Reflect should simply bounce it back at Garud. Hee. That'd be awesome. If it wasn't a magical attack, though, Mauve would end upgetting a wad of darkness right in the face. Bam! Ka-Stupid!! (That's the sound effect it would make, you see. ANYTHING can be a sound effect if you put Ka- in front of it. Go ahead: Try it. I know you want to.)

All these thoughts occurred in a split second. The dark attack was still shooting towards her when she decided to do something about it. She wasn't sure enough of her aiming skills to hit the swiftly-moving ball, but she could do something else.

"Fira!" she yelled, casting the spell on herself. The flaming magic energy swirled around the Reflect aura and was hurled towards Garud. It collided with the dark ball just miliseconds before it could reach Mauve. The light and shadow and opposing momentums cancelled each other out, or at least came close enough to doing so that the spells became little more than a puff of smoke before losing energy and fizzling away to nothing. Neither mage nor slayer was harmed in any way.

"Shadow magic?" Mauve said. "Nifty!" She extended a hand towards Garud.

"Blizzara!" she commanded.

[GARUD]

I didn't think she would get duped that easily. Garud used his shadow magic to create a soccer ball of darkness. It was pitch black in colour, but perfectly rounded. The demon slayer chipped the ball up, and then scizor kicked it to the oncoming blizzara. The two spells collided once again. Through the explosion, shrapnel was released and hailed all over the demon slayer.

"Oww... that's painfull"

Recollecting the ball, he spoke up and said,

"Mauve, you are good. I didn't expect any less from you."

He smashed the ball in Mauve's direction.

[Mauve Mage]

Mauve wasn't an athlete. The concept of sports generally elluded her. Flinging a ball back and forth? Hell, you could do that with Pong and end up with less injuries and humiliation.

However, despite her nerdiness, she hated to admit that she had at one time been on a school volleyball team. The very thought of that horrible time sickened her. Organized sports... *shudder* (Although, if you've ever watched Daria, you'd know how Mauve eventually learned to play after she gave up trying/caring.) If there was anything that volleyball and Gym class had taught her, it was how to dodge fast-moving sports equipment.

The mage took a few steps backwards, judging the ball's trajectory. One hand curled into a fist, and the other wrapped around it. She bent her knees slightly and leaned forward, extending her hands out in front of her. Oh good lord; she was using volleyball skills. Part of her soul died at that moment.

If the attack was purely magical, it would ricochet off the Reflect and fire back at Garud. If it got past the Reflect, it would be slowed down considerably from breaking through the shield. Mauve would then be forced to use her volleyball girl skills. Gyah.

(OOC: I'll leave the results up to you, Garud, since I don't know what your shadow magic consists of/ is capable of. Just say whether it got through the reflect or not, and I'll handle the rest.)

[GARUD]

The ball hurtled toward the mage. It went straight through the barrier. It had no magical properties, despite where it came from or how it came into existance.

(OOC: Okay, If I make an item out of shadow, unless specifically stated, it's physical orientated. Hope it clears things up. There is nothing special about the ball.)

[Rhiya Ravenwing]

(OOC: Just because I can...)

Alternately, both fighters were briefly distracted by a ghostly argument. The two wraiths that were the forms of Rhiya and Raiden were vehemently voicing their opinions.

Snatches of fighting flowed into their ears.

"...Blue cruiser! It's not MY fault it gained those properties!"

"Yeah, but it only gives advantages to males, while gives the females the worst kind of indigestion."

"But why the HELL did you have to drink a whole dozen of them? Flarecobra's only got one on her right now, because that's the only one I could save from your greedy drunken godly hands!"

"Calm down, Rhiya. It's not like they were poisonous to me..."

There was a brief, intense flash of light, then a fireball replaced Raiden and Rhiya's crypt, leaving nothing but charred ruins, and blinding both Garud and Mauve Mage so that they could see nothing for a few moments.

"Oh, NOW you've done it! You've opened your mouth and BURPED. A dozen Blue Cruisers AREN'T GOOD FOR ANYBODY'S HEALTH!"

"Hehe, sorry."

Thus ended the conversation.

[OOC: blindness to both duellers, which means that both will either have to rely on their other senses, or cast a spell to make them see again.]

[Mauve Mage]

"Crap!" Mauve yelped as something smacked into her. She couldn't see a thing, but she guessed it was the evil soccer ball Garud had kicked at her. So much for her volleyball skills...

But Mauve was relatively unharmed, aside from the fact that she couldn't see and had just been pummeled in the chest with unearthly sport equipment, slightly damaging her ego. She picked herself up off the ground. The world was still enveloped in a white haze, in Mauve's eyes. Huh. This couldn't be good.

She stretched out a hand and waved it around in front of her, searching for something to hold on to and help her get her bearings. After a moment her fingers brushed the cold, smooth marble of one of the headstones. She grabbed onto it with both hands and stood perfectly still.

She still couldn't see. Damn! This had to have been Raiden's fault somehow. Or PyrosNine's. (Because it's cool to blame things on Pyros.) Was Garud blind too, or was he sneaking up on her, taking advantage of her weakness? The mage crouched down and closed her eyes, staying absolutely silent and trying to listen for the tell-tale sounds of an approaching demon slayer. Assuming of course that Garud couldn't do anything ninja-y or fly. Y'know.

[GARUD]

Garud felt blinded. He didn't see what happened to Mauve though. He didn't know she had a spell like that. He didn't even see her doing anything, but that could have been the spell. He fumbled around, trying to create something out of shadow.

"Dammit! Ok, Mauve. When this is all over, how about we go kick Raiden's ass just for the sake of it. He's gonna have hell to pay."

Garud was finally able to make a walking stick out of darkness and fumbled around, falling on a tombstone.

"Ouch."

The demon slayer rose to his feet, and started whacking his stick around hoping he might get something.

[Mauve Mage]

Mauve heard Garud speak, letting her know where he was. She judged by the dull thuds and muted expressions of pain that he was in the same situation as her. So he didn't create the flash of light. But then, who did? Raiden? Rhiya?....... PyrosNine?

Mauve was going to call out to Garud in agreement to his "kick Raiden's ass" plan, but stopped herself. She couldn't afford to give him an advantage right now. She had a general idea of where he was, but unless Garud had some second sight she didn't know about, then Garud wouldn't know where she was if she stayed quiet.

She couldn't do much right now; she wasn't entirely sure of Garud's position. She could try and cast somethign in the direction of his last grunt of pain, but he might have already moved. That would just be a waste of MP. Besides, to cast she had to speak a verbal command, and if she did that she'd give him a clue as to where she was. No, now wasn't the time for kasplodeyness. She should give it a minute to gather some information before attacking again. So instead, she remained crouched behind the headstone, listening intently and planning when to make her next move.

[GARUD]

Hmm... this is strange... no response from Mauve. She would never pass up an opportunity to kick anyone's ass. Garud tried to be silent and listen in for her location. He couldn't hear her. He decided to lead her to him.

"Mauve, are you there? You aren't hurt are you?"

The demon slayer smiled to himself and readied the walking stick he created.

[Mauve Mage]

She held back the momentary urge to call out that she was fine. Not yet; keep quiet for a little while longer...

Suddenly the rhythmic crunching of dried dirt beneath a pair of shoes stopped. Garud had decided to stand still, as she was, and listen for her. Time to make a move.

Slowly, quietly, Mauve let one hand leave the headstone and touch the earth. Her fingers brushed dirt and dried grass. Nothing. Silently as she could, she lifted her hand and brought it lightly down in another area. This time, her fingertips hit something cool and rough. A rock. Perfect. Her hand closed around the egg-sized stone and she lifted it.

Trying to make as little noise as possible, the mage threw the stone as hard as she could. It landed somewhere out to her left, making a series of quick crunching noises as it hit the dry dirt and bounced. Garud HAD to have heard that. With any luck, he'd go to investigate.

[GARUD]

Of course, Mauve didn't take into account Garud recognising what the sound was.

"Hmm... rocks don't roll to the right on their own. AH HA"

Garud yelled, and despite knowing where the rock came from, missed the intended target and destroyed an unoffending headstone. It originally read, "Jackson, a wonderful therapist." It now read: "Jack the rapist".

Mauve was lucky that Garud had no sense of direction whatsoever. He could not make his way around a compass with a map (even if he could use the map).

[Mauve Mage]

Chunks of headstone flew everywhere. Mauve ducked down and protected her face with her arms, her wide brimmed hat acting as an umbrella of sorts.

PLINK! A rock shard bounced off her back.

"Ow!" she complained. "So, you wanna play like that, huh?"

She stood up and held both hands out in front of her, aimed towards where she heard Garud's voice.

"Fireball!" she commanded, and an orb of flame shot forth from her hands and sped towards Garud. It fell short of its mark, hitting yet another tomb stone. Fiery sparks flew in every direction as the fireball impacted.

"Wow." Mauve said flatly, hearing the non-Garud destruction. "We're not doing too well at this, are we?"

[GARUD]

"I know. We suck at this whole, fighting blind thing. I blame Pyros though."

Garud turned around... and around... and around until he got dizzy and dropped to the floor. He then shot out a spell of blackness, which curved and rocketed into an empty grave.

"Soooo blaming Pyros for all of this."

[PyrosNine]

"I know. We suck at this whole, fighting blind thing. I blame Pyros though."

Garud turned around... and around... and around until he got dizzy and dropped to the floor. He then shot out a spell of blackness, which curved and rocketed into an empty grave.

"Soooo blaming Pyros for all of this."

"TOO BAD YOU CAN'T SEE THIS THEN, HUH?" Pyros yelled from Raiden and Rhiya's booth, having won his match by default, then time traveled back to see the other fights.
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y256/PyrosNine/FUGARUD.png

[Mauve Mage]

Mauve tapped her chin thoughtfully.

"Hmmm," she mused. "For some reason, I feel as though I'm going to have to hurt both Ecurt and Pyros when this is over." She thought again. "Well, Ecurt at least. I mean... Sailor Mini-Mauve?? In pigtails?"

The white fog in her eyes was starting to clear, letting her see the fuzzy outlines of tombstones, trees, Garud... and Pyros. She let out a cry and pointed at him.

"YOU!" she said. "I KNEW you were involved in this somehow!!!"

[PyrosNine]

"What? No! i'm just here to watch, and laugh at your patheticness. I'm actually due to see Ecurt and Phoenixbot's in a few, and I just happened to stumble in whilst you and Garud were bad mouthing my name. It's not a good name, mind you, but I can't just sit idly by whilst you blame me for cancer! Which I totally didn't create!" <Well, at least not yet...Damn time travelling Chuck Norris!>

Fearful of the fearsome pointyness of Mauve's point, Pyros poofed out of there.

[GARUD]

Garud sighed. But not all was bad... his vision was returning... slowly. Charred and blackened rocks lay around the area. Peices of headstones were strewned around. He still didn't have full vision, but it was good enough. The demon slayer turned to a pinkish shape, and aimed his hand.

"Let's get on with this shall we, interruptions aside. I'll wait 'till you are ready. No use attempting a cheep shot, even if I wanted to anyway."

[Great Cartoonist]

"Such atrocity," GC mused to himself as he watched the arena match from a vantage point on one of the tallest of the dead trees.

"Makes me wonder if I will succumb to their level."

Doll, hovering beside him, whispered softly. "Sailor Mini-Mauve...?"

"Yeah, I don't get it either," was GC's reply. "Stupid popculture references..."

"But you've made me a stereotypical anime character."

"Aaaannnnd...? Your point?"

"So aren't you being somewhat hypocritical about this?"

"Maybe I am. Ah well."

Instead of leaving, GC and Doll continued to watch, despite the fact that they would eventually be spotted and get forced into a rather heated discussion. Probably.

[GARUD]

Eventually was not quite the word.

Garud turned his attention to the new arrival. GC was invading!

"You dealt with the last invader Mauve. I'll deal with this one."

Garud looked up, and created a curiously black rubber band. Throwing it like a shuriken it made its way over to the pair... and latched on to GC's testicles.

"Son of a-"

The demon slayer turned back to his opponent, and said,

"I learnt that one from you. You are the goddess of pain y'know. Now, where were we?"

The rubber band on GC tightened at an alarming speed. It would either cut through his balls, or burst. Unlukily for the victim, it was made of dura-darkness, a very strong rubber substance made of pure shadow.

[Great Cartoonist]

"Heh. Quick to fight, are you?"

It was unknown how it happened, but it was apparent that there were now two GCs in the area: The one on the dead tree where Garud launched the Dark Rubber Band of Castration at, and a new one that was behind Garud's back.
On closer inspection, it appears that the first GC was actually a decoy made by magic - it slowly dissipated into nothingness, leaving the shadow rubber band to fall off into the ground.
"In case you were wondering, I used magic to give myself a quick burst of speed," GC said as the onlookers stood in bewilderment.
"Is this the desire of all men - to fight? A pity. I thought you were above this. Oh, and my physical form here in this realm has forsaken such appendages of sexual desire. I find it rather... profane."
With a quick 180 turn, GC headed away from the arena.
"Come, Doll. We are not welcome here."

[Raiden]

Suddenly, GC's form became covered in a litter of glowing symbols. When he looked down, he noticed something. Magic wasn't flowing from him. Even his most basic of charms or tricks were unuseable.

When he looked to his doll, he noticed she was covered in the same runes as well. Then...a foreboding shadow covered them.

Standing there was a large musular man. His long white hair rested on his shoulders, and his eyes were nothing but pockets of electric energy.

"Your little magical deviances aren't going to work against my Rune. As far as creation is concerned....you never could. It's the plus of Rune. Changes reality in all forms of dimensions, timelines, creations, void, and whatever your excuse for not being affected is. This is a closed match. While you may watch from the booths, you are not to interfere. And yet you have."

Raiden reached down, and grabbed GC by the scruff of the neck.

"As referee, I have the right and privilege to do this..."

A single rune slipped from his lips, and planted itself on Raiden's free hand. It started glowing and shining.

"You've trespassed on my soul, bitch."

Raiden stabbed his hand into GC's chest, and twisted. The man had seizures and spasms as his entire body was forcefully ripped from this section of reality and placed into a different one. In moments, Raiden's hands were empty. He turned back to the fighters.

"Carry on, gladiators."

In a flash of lightning and thunder, Raiden disappeared and transported back to the referee booth.

[Mauve Mage]

Mauve stared blankly at Raiden and the vaccum where GC had stood mere seconds ago.

"...Bwuh..?" she asked. Then she snapped out of it and shrugged. "Oh well," she said, "At least THIS time, GC's entrapment in a parallel universe and/or dark and mysterious realm is NOT my fault." Last time, of course, had something to do with a bulldozer, fifty bags of the forum's garbage, a plot hole, and a cave full of wickedness. Y'know, the usual. But I digress.

She was getting somewhat bored with her usual elemental spells, so she decided that now might be the time to show off some of her newer stuff. She could see again, and her magic reserves seemed pretty close to being full, so she supposed now would be as good a time as any. And anyway, it wasn't like she was doing anything Non-Squaresoftish.

Her eyes narrowed as she stared at Garud, and a ghostly image of a green triangle appeared over his head. Mauve pointed a hand at it.

"Rocket Flare!" she yelled. The triangle dissolved, and with a series of shimmers and pops, an arsenal of cartoony, brightly-colored fireworks appeared above her head. Except they weren't fireworks.

For a moment they just hovered above the mage, their short flares sparking brightly.

"HAH!" she cried, letting out the simple firing command. The sparks reached the ends of the fuses. With a whistling shriek, the missiles shot out towards Garud, taking serpentine loops and curves in their mad flight towards their target.


(Kudos if you know where that spell comes from.)

[GARUD]

(Well, I don't, sorry)

"What in the...?"

Garud created a buckler shield out of darkness and attempted to block the missiles. It was a mistake. The shield didn't block it very well. Some of the missiles missed, but their blast radius was still very violent. The missiles that did make contact were blocked by the shield... until it broke. The flare spell had its rockets smash into Garud's body hitting very heavy and propelling him into a headstone. His arm was cut up, and his back was in pain. Still, he got up and prepared his darkness.

"Mauve, that was impressive. But two can play at that game."

The shadows seemed to rise up around Mauve, and they took shape. The shadows turned into missiles, similar the the rocket flare. The only real difference is that they were pitch black.

"HA!"

And the rockets propelled inwards toward Mauve.

[Mauve Mage]

"Holy--" Without bothering to finish, the mage threw herself to the ground and covered her head with her arms. Most of the missiles were unable to change direction quickly enough. They collided in mid-air with a great explosion, showering the mage beneath them with sparks and flames. Several more missles exploded from the fire.

A few though managed to change direction and pummeled into the earth around Mauve, bursting into flames around her. Flaming missile pieces fell on top of her.

Slowly, shakily, the mage stood. Ash stained her clothes and hands. Her robe and hat were luckily made from fireproof material, but her cape was not and as a result had burned away. Damn. She ALWAYS lost her cape in these Avatar games. She LIKED her cape!

Her clothes had protected most of her skin from the flames and her hat had shielded her face and head, but her hands had been exposed and as a result were burned and red on the backs. The empty shells from the missiles had fallen quite heavily on her and had probably left cuts and bruises on her arms and back, by the feel of things.

"Nice," Mauve commented. "You're good at imitating spells. That one took me quite a while to figure out, y'know."

She held out a hand, grimacing as it stung. Rather than aim at Garud, however, she was holding it out towards the dead tree.

"Fira!" she commanded. The tree burst into flames, casting light onto parts of the battlefield. Maybe if she got rid of some of these shadows....

[GARUD]

Garud was impressed. Mauve was figuring out how to remove shadow... almost. When you put a flame next to a block, the block's shadow appears in response to the the light. Make a bigger flame, there will be a bigger shadow. Even if there are more shadows, even if there was at least one, Garud was capable of making objects.

But Mauve was thinking. He didn't have much of a spell that could put out the flame. She was playig to the weaknesses he had. However, there was always a shortcut around things, and Garud was not going to lose his edge easily.

Creating a dome, he lowered it to cover the tree. It was lightweight, but completely black. It would cut both the oxygen off from the fire, and cover it's light temporarily. Effective and useful, as it didn't reflect light either. Garud had his edge back.

"Mauve, you are a thinking opponent. I like that. You are putting a true test to my skills. I don't doubt that if I fight another opponent, he or she won't be nearly as tough as you."

The demon slayer paused a moment, before continuing.

"Y'know though, as good as you are, my improvisional skills compliment my ability to make items. And I think in battle. I'm also no stranger to duels. So I don't expect you to go easy on me. Besides, I want this match to be the best one of the tournament."

He sweapt up his cape, and positioned himself in the universal pose of beam shooting. He blasted a large ball at Mauve, which dropped at her feat. And if she didn't move out of the way, she would be in for a surprise... whatever the ball was.

[Mauve Mage]

Mauve cursed inwardly, first at seeing the darker shadows her fire had created and then at the black dome that elliminated the light completely.

If only I had a few more things to set on fire, she thought to herself. I could minimize the shadows if I used basic three-point lighting. Slow falloff would be-- Her mental rambling was cut off as something fell to the ground in front of her. A ball of darkness...? The mage swallowed. Garud couldn't have missed; if he was aiming for her, there was no way he couldn't have hit her at this distance. Therefore... Therefore this thing was a bomb waiting to go off.

The mage backpedaled away from the ball, keeping one eye on Garud and the other on the dark object.

She found a Rolo in her pocket and popped it in her mouth to give her magic reserves an extra boost. One hand extended towards Garud and the other towards the dark ball. She would just wait until she knew what he had up his sleeve.

"I agree," she said. "Let's make this thing interesting."

[GARUD]

The ball popped open reavealing a banner that said "surprise" on it. Three seconds passed before a deep black smog filled the area. It cut out even more light, and a mist appeared full of toxic gas. As the mist expanded it thinned out.

"Mauve, that is a one of a kind gas. Despite the fact that we both use magic, our reserves are slightly different. I rely on will whist you depend on some sort of mana. In any case, this smog saps mana the more it is inhaled."

Mauve had distance between her and the expanding cloud. However, the cloud dispersed itself into the air slowly. If left for long enough, the entire air would be full of it.

"You can rid yourself of the cloud's effect without constantly snacking. I'll give you a hint though. Pick up your cape."

Garud positioned his arm toward Mauve. He would wait, more out of sprotsmanship rather than anything. But still, if she entered the cloud now, all her mana would be drained due to high concentration. If she let it get into the air enough, she would be losing magic reserves wherever she went. But, in the ashes of her cape lay the cure to the intoxication. If only she could figure it out.

[Mauve Mage]

Mauve looked doubtfully at the dark cloud that was slowly spreading around the arena. This... could be a problem. Her hand went to her hat, and her fingers wrapped around the purple hat band. It was basically just a long strip of fabric that held her white feather in place; it served no other purpose, save aesthetic value. Making sure to keep away from the ever-spreading cloud, the mage wrapped the fabric around her nose and mouth and tied it at the back of her head.

"Wey-hey, ninja mask!" she said with a chuckle, although her voice now sounded somewhat muffled. Her eyes narrowed as she appraised the toxic cloud once more. It was a gas, and from Mauve's experience, some gasses could be consumed by fire. Of course, there was the possibility that it would explode upon contact with flames, like the last time she pulled this stunt, but that was a risk she had to take.

"Fira," she commanded, pointing at the cloud.

She kept an eye on the burned remains of the cape. What was she supposed to do with a bunch of ashes?!

[GARUD]

Garud wondered why she would do something like that. The cloud drained mana... and it sucked the essence right out of the fira spell.

"Mauve, c'mon. I'm testing you. That mask is not going to work. Look, you still have time. Figure it out. What beats magic?"

Garud took a seat on a headstone. She would figure it out. Why am I doing this? What's the point? Why don't I just let her mana get sucked away? Because I beleive what I just did is a cheap shot...

[Mauve Mage]

"Oh yeah, that's REAL helpful," the mage said flatly, staring up at the cloud. "What beats magic? With a really good spell caster, not much. Otherwise, there's a bunch of stuff that could probably beat magic. Science. Logic. Brute strength. Anti-magic. This cloud. Beating the crap out of the spellcaster. Lots of stuff."

She sighed and stared back down at the cape. She was wasting time. Grumbling, she pulled a piece of pink chalk out of her pocket and knelt on the floor. A compass came out of the pocket next, and after consulting it briefly, the mage began to draw. Soon, a strange symbol marked the ground in four different places around her, one for each direction. It was a diamond of protection, and it would shield her for a while as long as she didn't step outside of it. It wouldn't last forever, though. She had to figure out how to get rid of this junk.

[GARUD]

"LOGIC! Now, what do you think beats logic?"

Seing her perplexed face he yelled,

"NON-LOGIC!"

Garud got up and ran through the cloud. He then picked up the ashes of the cape and threw them in the vicinity of the aroma. The whole gas seemed to shudder before it dispersed.

"Y'see, ash would not be able to disperse a cloud but since it was logic based, throwing something that didn't make sense would disperse it. Well, thats the last time I ask Thorque to pack my darkness spheres with surprises."

Garud moved to the opposite side of the field. He then looked at the item at his waist. The plushee glared at him angrily. What did I do?

[Mauve Mage]

"Ah. Non-logic. I get it," Mauve said, staring at the ashes as they floated lazily towards the ground. Then she turned back to Garud and grinned.

"Guess I'm not as great of a 'thinking opponent' as you thought I was, hmm?" She shrugged, somewhat helplessly. Her problem, she realized, was that she had been thinking too broadly. She had actualy considered throwing the ashes to see what they would do at one point, but figured it would just be a waste of effort and quickly discarded the idea. So much for that.

"So, we've determined that you can out-cheapshot me," she said with another grin. "But can you out-run me?" She held out both hands.

"Magnara!" she commanded, and a black, sparking ball appeared directly between the pair of mages. Garud suddenly felt something tugging at him. It was barely noticable at first, but it grew in intensity until he noticed that he was actually sliding forwards, towards the ball. It was pulling him in, almost like a magnet. Stronger and stronger the force became, pulling on him harder and harder with each passing second. Mauve, seemingly unaffected, walked towards the ball, her hands in the spellcasting position.

[GARUD]

"Well, I ain't gonna struggle."

The demon slayer noticed that Mauve was very casual about the magnetic thing. If it was not going to worry her, he was not gonna struggle either. He decided to shrug, and walk into it. Ok, I'll bite...

[Mauve Mage]

(OOC: She's not worried about it because it's not AFFECTING her. The spell doesn't affect the caster. She just cast it so you couldn't maneuver around her. Just thought you might like to know. XD )

The spell continued to tug Garud towards the center, and Mauve was watching to see what he would do. It was quite boring, unfortunately for Mauve. Garud didn't seem to be concerned by it, so he didn't fight it.

"Hmm," The mage said, tapping her chin with her fingertips. "Y'know, I woulda bet big money that you'd at least try to break away from it. But then again, I suck at gambling. And also at predicting the moves of my fellow RPers."

The force, now having complete control and no resistance whatsoever, pulled Garud straight to its epicenter. It actually lifted him off the ground to do so, and held him there. Mauve looked up at him thoughtfully, completely unaffected by the orb's gravitational pull.

"Didn't think that would actually work," Mauve said, sounding slightly impressed. "I guess I CAN pull a good cheap-shot every now and then." The orb wouldn't last long, so Mauve figured she'd better cast something now.

"Rocket Flare!" Once more, she summoned forth an arsenal of firework-shaped missles. "HAH!" They converged on the floating demon slayer.

[GARUD]

"Not in the face!"

Garud got struck again and again by the rockets, bloodying him up and sending him hurtling, landing on a jagged rock. A giant crack sound was heard.

"I needed that back y'know!"

He got up, bloodied, bruised and in pain. Still, he had a wicked smile on his face. He either had a plan, or was completely crazy. Or both. The demon slayer raised both arms revealing two blades chained to his arms. They were identical to the blades of chaos from God Of War, aside from the fact that they were pitch black.

"My turn..."

Despite the distance, Garud's new weapons easily reached Mauve in length. Their chains extended pretty far. The new blades moved in a horizontal motion, meaning to go straight through the mage from both sides.

[Mauve Mage]

"Crapity!" Mauve yelped, inventing a new word and expressing her feelings at the same time. She leapt backwards, but not before the tips of the blades sliced into her sides, just deep enough to bleed. Mauve landed on her backside in the dirt. She forced herself to her feet, biting her lip to keep back the string of *ahem* unladylike phrases that popped into mind. Stealing a glance down at herself, she gingerly touched one of the long gashes, grimacing slightly as she did so. Her finger came back bloody.

"Okay, so in retrospect, I admit I might have deserved that," she allowed. She was going to say something more, but the weapons swung towards her again. She barely managed to move out of the way before the black swords smashed into the ground where she once stood.

Note to self: Swordchucks have to go. Mauve thought. She looked down at herself once more. Her pink robes, in addition to having slits cut into them, were beginning to turn red around the wounds. Another note to self: Make Garud pay for drycleaning bill.

SMASH! Her thoughts were cut short as the swords sliced a headstone in half and barely missed doing the same to her. Damn. Where was a convenient meatshield when you needed one?!

She ran forwards, towards the demon slayer. The swords came towards her again, but she took the Guitar of the Bard from her back and swung it like a tennis racket at the swords, causing the blades to fall to the ground. I mean, it's CT'S GUITAR. Obviously, it's gotta be unbreakable.

She had to close the distance between herself and Garud. The sword-chain things were ranged weapons. The closer she was to him, the harder it would be for him to throw them. He might be able to weild the weapons like normal swords at close range, but with their great size it would make them slower, more clumsy weapons. Still powerful, obviously, but not as much a threat as a flying sword-onna-chain-o-doom.

"Blizzard!" Mauve commanded while running, casting the spell at Garud to keep him busy.

[GARUD]

The Blizzard was not strong, but then again, it was the most basic of spells of its element. It did however knock him back. Reeling, he spun the chains of the blades of chaos onto his arms, and held them like daggers. He was prepared to fight close ranged if he had to. But just for insurance, he summoned a small hook, which hung from some unknown object. It was not the hook that was most worrying, but what was hidden on the other end.

"C'mon Mauve, show me what you've got!"

[Mauve Mage]

Mauve kept within a set distance from Garud; not close enough to be an easy stabbin' target, but not far enough away to get hurt by a swinging chain.

"C'mon Mauve, show me what you've got!" said Garud.

Mauve shrugged.

"Kay," she replied simply. "Let's see... I've got some of this." She raised a hand above her head, her index and middle finger touching the pad of her thumb.

"Heavenly Strike." She pulled her hand down. A large chunk of ice appeared above Garud's head. Then she snapped her fingers. The block shattered, sending a rain of frozen shards down towards the slayer.

[GARUD]

Garud was in a trance. The sight of his own blood... the taste of his own blood put him into a mood. A sadistic mood. Spinning a blade over his head, he deflected the hail shards, sending them everywhere. Continuing in the same motion, he twisted full circle...

...stepping back a small distance, the spin had enough momentum, and the blade hurled toward his opponent fiercly. Garud would have avoided this line of attack altogether. His ethics told him to never hit a girl, and he only wanted to imobilise Mauve initially... but now something had triggered in him which made him disregard anything else and try to succeed in his objective at all costs. And poor Mauve would have no idea what was the next instinctive stage of this insanity...

...because the only ones who did know, were Raiden, Premonitions and himself.

[Mauve Mage]

Mauve let out a little cry as the icy needles battered her, deflected by Garud's spinning blade. Luckily her hat protected most of her head and face, and she managed to turn away before the majority of the shards hit. When the barrage finally ceased, she looked up and started to make some dry retort or another. She was cut off, however, as the blade was hurled towards her.

Mauve realized her mistake instantly. She was too close to him. He had taken a step backwards, but she was still too close to have a nice length of time to dodge. Instinctively the mage started to turn away, but she was out of time. There was no time... She couldn't escape...

THUNK! A sharp breath was jolted out of her as a heavy impact knocked her to the ground. Mauve tasted dirt. A sharp, icy pain throbbed at her back. Well, this is it, she thought to herself. I've finally been team-killed. Guess it was just a matter of time, really. Mauve closed her eyes, waiting for the encompassing darkness of death to claim her.

Heeeeeyyyyy, wait a minute. Mauve opened an eye. Shouldn't being impaled by a giant shadow sword hurt a little more than this? She stared out at the ground in front of her. The shadow of a sword was indeed streched out before her, like a deformed cross on a dark horizon. Curious, the mage stretched a hand back behind her. There was something heavy on her back, hard and made of wood... CT's guitar!!

Mauve pushed herself to her knees and reached behind her. The Guitar of the Bard was still strapped to her back, where she had returned it after deflecting the swords the first time. And the blade was now stuck in the guitar, embedded in the polished wood. A tiny bit of the point had pierced the back, which explained the minor pain Mauve had felt.

"Oh," she said. "Well that's fine, then." She turned back to Garud.

"Hey!" she yelled angrilly. "What'cha trying to do, kill me?! I can't reincarnate myself, you know!!" She stopped. Garud looked.... really pissed. And quite creepy. Almost god-rageish.

"Oh hell no," Mauve muttered. "This can't be good."

[GARUD]

Garud felt himself go numb. It was like a whole new sentinence took over. He felt no emotion, no pain. What was overrode by a complete lack of sanity, was his first and foremost rule... never hit a woman. His objective now was to eliminate, not disable. The demon slayer pulled on the dark hook which he had created, which released a large ball from underneath the ground... a ball with a very spiky exterior. Garud again pulled the hook, and those spikes were released toward Mauve.

+++
Deep inside Garud's mind, Pseudo-Garud (equivilent of a Sub-person) was looking around, trying to find the way back to the control of his body.

"I can't let him hurt Mauve... I just can't."

[Mauve Mage]

"Garud?" Mauve prompted nervously. The demon slayer's expression had changed. His whole manner of being had changed. It was as though something inside him had just snapped. Died. Leaving nothing but cold, empty anger. That creepy, quiet anger that lies just below the surface, waiting to build up and explode.

"Um, you okay?" Mauve prompted again. There was no reaction. "Did I go overboard with the magicky doom?" Garud's hand wrapped around the shadowy hook he had summoned earlier. Mauve had the sneaking suspicion that whatever was on the other end, it probably wasn't soft and cuddly and full of chocolate.

With a horrible earthquake-like rumble, a dark ball rose from underneath the earth. Its exterior was coated in spikes. Nope. No chocolate.

Once more, Garud tugged the hook. The spikes separated from the surface of the ball and shot towards her.

One thing was certain. Garud wasn't playing around anymore. Their good-natured free-for-all was now an ellimination challenge in the most literal sense. He wanted to kill her.

"Protectra!" Mauve yelped, extending both palms in front of her. A second later, a shining wall of blue energy appeared in front of her. The spikes impacted with the barrier. Neon blue cracks appeared in the shield as the sheer force of the blows nearly shattered it. Mauve grit her teeth and pushed, trying to keep the shield from failing.

"Garud! Snap out of it!" Mauve yelled. "What's wrong with you?!--Ack!" A particularly large spike rammed into the shield, the force on the barrier pushing her back a step. "Sheez! That one hurt! Save the doom spells for the immortals; I'm just a human, you know, and it's not like I can just pop back into existance five minutes after you kill me!!" But from the look on Garud's face, that was the point. This was bad.

Maybe if she could calm him down, he'd see reason again. She held out a hand.

"Slow!" she commanded. White magic status effects didn't always work, but they were useful when they did. Hopefully this'd do something.

(OOC: It's entirely your choice whether the slow spell works and how well it works, Garud.)

[GARUD]

The slow spell hit him by surprise, and the demon slayer felt the effects straight away. He didn't feel slugish. On the contrary. He felt normal, but it appeared that Mauve was just faster than him now. Garud shot out a ball of darkness as black wings erupted from his back...

+++
Pseudo-Garud searched the halls of his mind trying to get out... trying desperately to find what was driving him. He needed to find an emotion strong enough to snap him out of it. That was the key.

"C'mon, gotta take control."

[Mauve Mage]

The slow status effect made it easy for Mauve to dodge the ball of darkness, but it didn't do much to calm Garud down. Shadowy wings emerged from his back in slow motion.

"Yeeeeeaaaaah, I'd say he's still ticked off," Mauve commented dryly to herself. Okay, time for Plan B. What is Plan B, you ask? Why, Plan B is to figure out a Plan C while avoiding being brutally massacred.

She could try playing the Guitar of the Bard and commanding him to snap out of it, but she wasn't sure he'd listen. Plus, seeing as how said guitar had just been impaled by a sword, she wasn't sure how well the instrument would actually WORK. (Even The Who waited to trash the guitars until AFTER the performance.) She decided, then, to save that wild card for now and try something else instead.

Seeing as how this was the NPF, and blind violence seemed to solve all problems 'round these parts, Mauve decided to see if she could knock some sense into him. She cupped her hands in front of her.

"Ice Sphere," she said, and an orange-sized globe of clear ice formed before her hands. She pointed towards the slowed Garud, and the ball shot towards him. It probably wouldn't do any big damage, but she wasn't aiming to kill. She just wanted to see if she could knock him back into reality. If not.... well.... Plan D. Which was "Run Around Until You Come Up With Plan E or Until Garud Kills You."

[GARUD]

The sphere sent the demon slayer flying across the graveyard. Blood was spilt from his chest now but his transformation continued. His lags changed shape so they became bent, yet clawed. His arms grew longer, thicker. His body changed, breaking his clothes off, but it didn't matter. His torso was black and large with red scars streaking across it. Finally, the head became amorphorous, bestial like. The funniest bit about it was, the fact that this all happened in slow-mo.

"HOOROAAAAAR!!"

Garud charged his opponent as the slow began to leave. Speed picked up slowly and he was like a freight(sp?) train...

On the other side of the field, a giant wall-like structure rose out of the ground. It was made of pure black and had a horrific face on it. In fact, the face appeared to be the door. If Garud was going to win, he would need to use that wall in a certain way. The Hellgate is pivotal.

+++
Psuedo-Garud had been knocked down, despite the fact that the body had been unaffected. He found himself in a control room. IT WAS HIS BRAIN! The demon slayer sat down at a desk and typed furiously. However, a red alert sign kept appearing in the screen.

"Dammit, what's the password? Arghhh."

OOC: Sorry bout the delay Mauve. I've got half yearly exams soon and I've been busy.

[Mauve Mage]

(OOC: Oh, that's fine. I forget that everyone has different school schedules.)
(ALSO OOC: I'm godmodding Raiden for a minute. Hope you don't mind, Raiden.)

"STOP!" Mauve commanded. Magic swirled around the approaching Garud-Monster... And failed. The spell hadn't worked. "DAMN!!"

Mega-Garud rushed towards her, rapidly accelerating in his flight as the slow status wore away. He now had claws and sharp teeth and other appendages of Pointy Doom, giving himself a clear advantage over the definately human mage.

"DAMN DAMN DAMN DAMN!!!" Clawed paws slammed into the ground next to her as she threw herself out of his way. Mauve raised a hand and yelled out "Firaga!" but the beast didn't seem overly concerned with the flames.

She'd have to go heavy-duty with the magic if she was going to phase him at all, Mauve realized. Mega-Garud seemed to have a pretty high tolerance level for injury, and she couldn't keep hurling status effects at him forever. And that weird lookin' black gate that popped up behind him didn't look overly friendly, either. She had to give him a good system shock. Maybe that'd shake him out of it.

Suddenly, she had an idea. She personally didn't have the amount of power and MP handy to guarantee a really good blast of magic, but she knew how she could get some.

"Raiden!!" she yelled, dodging as a clawed foot slashed out at her. "Can I talk to you for a minute? I wanna test a theory, if you don't mind."

SMACK! While she had looked over towards Raiden and Rhiya's grave, the back of Garud's paw had caught her in the side. She was sent flying backwards and impacted with a headstone. Mauve saw stars for a minute, and when they cleared, she saw Garud leaping towards her. She actually preferred the stars. They were less likely to kill her.

"You know we can't interfere, Mauve," a voice said calmly. Mauve looked up to see Raiden hovering above the headstone. He didn't seem at all concerned that Garud was a giant monster and Mauve was getting her ass handed to her. "This is your fight; we're just referees."

"Yeah, I know. You don't have to do anything. Just hold still." Mauve said. She raised a hand above her head. "Reflect." She then held out both hands towards the confused god.

"Wait. Wait. What are--?"

"WATER!!"

In a possibly-suicidal gesture, the mage summoned forth an orb of water directly above Raiden's head. In almost slow motion, the orb lost its shape, and water cascaded down onto the thunder god.

[Raiden]

Needless to say...

Water+Raiden="HOLY SHIT COVER YOUR ASSES"

The area filled with sparking electricity, frying any dry plants and flammable materials in the area.

[PyrosNine]

Pyros walked through the war wrecked arena, held up a sign that said "Read Pyros Vs. The world!", then picked up the fallen Raiden and carted him back up to the booth.

"Of course you realize, that once Raiden regains conciousness, you'll both die? Just want you to know that. Also, I kick ninja ass. BLATANT ADVERTISING!" Pyros called down.

[Mauve Mage]

Mauve shielded her eyes from the electric doom. Luckily, casting Reflect on herself bounced most of the lightning back at Raiden, so she was relatively unharmed. Plus, the soles of her boots insulated her from the electricity routed to the ground.

"Oh, I don't think Raiden'll mind," Mauve replied to Pyros, brushing the dust from an exploded headstone off her skirt. "I'll blame it on you somehow."

[GARUD]

The electric shock was alot to handle, and the millions of volts entered the true form of the demon slayer violently. Pain rippled through every nerve and vital organ. His insides were burning furiously, and his mind becae chaotic due to the agony.

+++
Psuedo-Garud got up hazily from the floor. The impact of the electric shock had caused a green sign to appear on the screen. It read password reset. This meant that the original password was now in place.

"Oh, that one's easy. It's-"

Pseudo-Garud typed furiosly trying to input the 462 character long password.

"Done!"
+++
Outside, the mind of the normal Garud returned, despite his form not changing. He was filled with stray static now, and it hurt. Bad. The demon slayer looked around the battlefield and saw things... things he had done. The hellgate, and Mauve's injuries. Still, this was a fight, and he had no desire to kill her.

"Mauve, I'm back."

The true form of Garud looked over at the Hellgate. He realised that Mauve would probably suspect something was up with it. If he could just get her into the mouth...

"Can't catch me!"

Garud ran back, toward the gate and swooped through the entrance. Then, using his large animal like tongue, he poked it out at Mauve.

"Neer-neer."

I hope this works.I hope this works.I hope this works.I hope this works.I hope this works.I hope this works.I hope this works.I hope this works.I hope this works.I hope this works.I hope this works.I hope this works.I hope this works.I hope this works.I hope this works.I hope this works.I hope this works.

[Mauve Mage]

"Oh good, you survived!" Mauve said pleasantly. "I figured you would." She was about to say something more, but then Garud taunted her and darted through the evil-looking gate.

"Neer-neer," the demon slayer jeered, sticking out his tongue. Mauve raised an eyebrow and looked doubtfully at the menacing black portal.

"Uh, I don't think I wanna get any closer to that thing," she said slowly. "It doesn't look especially mage-friendly. Or anything-friendly, for that matter."

Garud would have to try a bit harder if he was going to get her through that gate.

[GARUD]

Garud decided to find a way to get her in there. And he had the solution tied to his wrists. The blades of chaos glowed a violent black and the demon slayer hurled them in an arc toward his opponent. If he could just get them to tie around her... then he may be able to pull her in.

[Mauve Mage]

"Damn! I forgot about those!" Mauve was about to dodge, but then she realized that Garud had overshot. The blades sailed right past her.

"HA!" she cackled triumphantly. But then she remembered that they were attached to chains. The blades continued in their arc, crossing behind Mauve's back. With a rainfall of clinking sounds, the swords and chains wrapped around her torso before the mage could react.

"Ow!" the mage protested, "That hurt!" She started to fiddle with the chains, in an attempt to free herself before Garud could do whatever he had planned. Of course, they were tangled. Just her luck.

[GARUD]

Garud yanked on the chains as hard as he could trying to get her close. He made on almighty tug toward himself and the gate.

"C"MON!"

[Mauve Mage]

"I'd *urgh!* rather not, if it's all the *umph!* same to you!" Mauve replied, pulling back and digging her heels into the ground. Of course, that really didn't do much more than slow her down a bit, since Mauve wasn't exactly the strongest person in the world.

She risked taking one hand off the chains and aimed it at Garud.

"Lemmie GO!" she demanded, releasing a fireball on the 'go.' She had no idea what was beyond that gate, but she really didn't want to find out first-hand.

[GARUD]

Garud gritted his amorphorous teeth and yanked harder only to get a face full of fireball. It threw him back a little, but he was able to say on his feet. His face was blackened, but you couldn't notice due to the colour of the skin.

"HOOOOOAAARRRRRRR!"

[Mauve Mage]

Mauve was pulled forwards, but luckily the fireball distracted Garud before he could pull her through the gate. The mage managed to pry loose one end of the chain and started unravelling it as fast as she could. Finally it got to the point where it was at least loose enough to fall down around her legs. The mage started to step out of it, but Garud gave another great tug. In an almost cartoonish move, Mauve had her feet pulled out from underneath her and she found herself forced into a sitting position as the ground rushed up to meet her. On the plus side, however, the pull had freed her from the chain; it was now simply looped around her left ankle. She kicked forcefully, shaking the chain loose.

Mauve looked up at the massive gaping hole that was the Hellgate, only feet away. That had been too close for comfort. She pushed herself up to her feet and took a few hasty steps away from it.

[GARUD]

Garud sighed and looked over at Raiden. He was tapping his watch. Time to wrap things up.

"Well, Mauve, Raiden is calling for time so we better hurry this up. I say we better use our strongset spell at the same time and call it a day."

[Mauve Mage]

"You got it," Mauve said. She crossed her arms over her chest, willing all the magic energy within her to take form in one great spell. This was Element Rage. She squeezed her eyes closed, concentrating.

Light and darkness, fire and shadow. Let's see which one wins.

Mauve's eyes popped open, and they almost seemed to glow red.

"ELEMENT RAGE: FIRE!" she yelled. The ground beneath Garud rumbled. Steam hissed through tiny cracks in the earth; grass shriveled up and turned to ash. Red lines wove their way across the earth like spiderwebs.

With a rush of hot air, fire burst through the ground all around Garud. A ring of flames wrapped around him and moved inwards.

"Huh. That wasn't supposed to happen, but it's cool, I guess," Mauve muttered. "I thought I was just making a big fireball. But this works."

[GARUD]

Garud noticed the circle around him.

"Alright, might as well use mine."

The demon slayer held up his arm, and reverted back to human form. A black sphere of energy appeared and quickly turned green. It grew bigger before finally...

"ULTIMA!"

The spell shot from his hands just milliseconds before he was engulfed with flame. He could feel his whole body cry out in pain. If Ultima doesent hit, then I'm screwed... but I just got to hold out a little longer. I'm not giving up yet!

[Mauve Mage]

The Ultima hit home, engulfing Mauve in waves of deadly magical force. The mage's body convulsed as the magic ripped through her. It was as though every cell had been set aflame. Mauve had a high magic defense, but this was almost too much. Not to mention the fact that most of her own energy had gone into the Element Rage.

The spell finally ended. The raging magic faded away, leaving a dark and silent void where only moments before a maelstrom of energy had existed. Mauve, gasping, leaned against the only headstone that had somehow escaped complete destruction. Her hand shakily went to her pocket. She grabbed the first bit of candy she could find-- a handful of Skittles. That really, really, REALLY hurt.... but she wasn't dead, so she wasn't giving up.

"K-Kay," she said, chewing. "So now what? Is it... Is it up to Raiden now?"

[firedrake110]

just a guess for that rocket flare, but Warcraft 3 Expansion???

(I know I picked a great time to post something, eh guys :D )

edit: I think it was the goblin tinkerer or something along those lines...