(no subject)
WHO: Darth Vader, Superman
WHERE: The Outworld, Soul Chamber
WHEN: Monday, Febuary 12
WHAT: Round 2 of Mortal Kombat.
WATCH FOR: Superman getting blasted by the Shadow Priests multiple times. Also him and Vader getting a little too close for comfort...
Well, Clark Kent thinks, this is...nice. No, wait, no it's not. The Man of Steel decided to take the running teleport option, this time, and manifests on his "side" of the arena, wincing at the sheer level of magical power in the room. Not that magic on it's own was painful to Clark, like, say, Kryptonite was, but the magic in this place...
...it's like stepping into a garbage compactor of the soul. Woogh. Trying to shake off his nerves, and the "You're running into a trap, moron!" alarm going off in his head, the Man of Steel crosses his arms and waits.
Man, he thinks, not even a good wind for my cape to blow on. Crazy Outworld.
It isn't long before Superman's opponent appears on the opposite side of the arena, courtesy of a Shadow Priest. Not long at all. The Dark Lord of the Sith notes the presence of his foe, but for a moment does nothing but stand there, moving only his head as he gets a better look at the arena. Of the Shadow Priests ringing them. Of the great mouth, and the souls within. Though alien, the power there calls to the Dark Side of the Force, and any other time Darth Vader would be interested enough to investigate...
...but now is not the time. He returns his attention to the superhero, before taking a few steps forwards towards the center of the arena. He stops a bit before he reaches it, though.
Darth Vader. Luke Skywalker's evil dad. Syndicate heavy. Big jerk. Yeah, Superman decides, it's going to be much easier bringing myself to hit this guy than it was with A-ko. "Vader." Superman says cordially, cracking his knuckles and meeting the Dark Lord of the Sith in the eye. Goggle-helmet-thing. Whatever. "How's the whole space tyranny thing going?"
Yes, Darth, he is probably making fun of you. The Man of Steel follows Vader's movements, walking to the almost center of the arena, crossing his arms again, and waiting. And waiting. And oh, maybe he should say something. "So, that sure is a giant head in the wall." Superman notes, conversationally. "Kind of reminds me of this guy I know...oh! Hey, um, after you and all! Pa always told me to respect my elders."
In any other circumstance, Superman would find himself short of breath. As it is, Darth Vader isn't going to play that particular card this early in the game. He meets Superman's gaze, but remains silent except for the in and out of his respirator - were Superman sensitive to such things, he just might feel a probing, so to speak, as the Sith takes his first real impression of the man. That is, except from a fool who talks too much.
Wordlessly, he draws and activates his lightsaber. Which, thanks to Shao Kahn, has a little something extra today. Not that Vader's aware of it. He's just closing the distance between them - rather quickly, in fact - and slashing once. A test, if anything.
You miss Superman with your Dodge this. attack.
Superman actually is pretty sensitive to psychic stuff; the JLA uses a mind-link for communication on missions, and Aquaman and the Martian Manhunter have both given Clark some experience with the feeling of a telepath in one's brain. Not to mention that zany, fun loving guy, Brainiac! Yeah, let's not mention him.
Darth doesn't get /resistance/ per say, but his probe doesn't get much more than one would expect. Truth, justice, the American Way, the man's a big blue boy scout. Almost as if he was making sure to act a little more like the sterotype would have you believe as a defense...
...speaking of defenses, Superman decides he's not /quite/ cocky enough to try and tank a lightsabre. Who knows if it'll work or not? Weaving to the left, Clark takes a boxing stance, sending a quick probe of his own...in the form of a left hook, swinging right for Darth's mask. Because Vader don't got no face.
Superman gets a glancing blow on Darth Vader with his Just A Jump To The Left jab.
You take 15 damage.
(Actually, he does have a face. It's just hidden behind the facemask, which, as with the rest of the helmet, was built...well, not to break. It does, however, dent.)
Darth Vader spins around, taking a step back to give himself distance as he brings up his lightsaber in what a swordsman would recognize as a neutral stance. But he's hardly fallen into it before he's moving forwards again, slashing quickly and letting his motion carry him past Superman as to (hopefully) bring him out of punching range.
You critically strike Superman with your Let's Try This Again attack.
SLASH!
Superman blinks, looking down at his chest. It's sort of, well, bleeding, you see. There's a big slash, yeah, right across his "S" shield, where there's a shallow cut that's mostly cauterized by the lightsabre, but still a bloody shade of red. Almost as if his solar-powered shielding wasn't working. What does that? Well, magic.
"...huh. I guess 'The Force' does count as magic. Crud!" He seems cheerful about the whole thing, but Vader can probably tell that Superman is honestly a little rattled by this turn of events. As Vader moves out of punching range, Clark snaps around with terrible speed. His eyes glow blood red for a moment, and then fire a concentrated blast of heat vision-this time aimed at Vader's chest.
Superman gets a glancing blow on Darth Vader with his Laser Eyes attack.
You take 15 damage.
A little rattled is good; more rattled is better. Shaking in his boots would be best, but that's a little much to hope for so soon. Regardless, Darth Vader searches for that nuance of uncertainty, and attempts to Forcibly magnify it; even as Superman moves more quickly than he thought he could, the upper part of his chest hissing as it's damaged by the sheer heat. But there's no time to waste.
Perhaps to further illustrate that the Force can, indeed, harm him - what made him think that it couldn't? - Darth Vader raises a hand, unleashing his own blast of concentrated power at Superman's chest.
You hit Superman with your Force Assault attack.
"Hrrgh..." Superman grunts at the impact of sheer physical force. He can feel his insides clench unpleasently, and there's this weird tingle in his...
Hey. Hey wait a second.
The Man of Steel's jaw squares, his shoulders roll back, and his eyes narrow. For a second, Superman seems to be nothing more than a red and blue blur...
...and then he's just /there/, in front of Vader, glowering at the Dark Lord. "Do me a favor, friend?" Clark offers, pulling his arm back. This punch, he's not holding back so much with. "Stay /out/ of my head."
Superman gets a glancing blow on Darth Vader with his Kicking It Up A Notch attack.
You take 18 damage.
Vader clenches his fist. That shoudl have been enough to bowl him over - just who is this strangely-garbed person? He seems to be living up to his name of 'Superman', bu-
Too close for confort. Too fast. Darth Vader tries to move away, but he's too slow to dodge it completely - it connects squarely with his shoulder, and he emits a noise that could be a distorted grunt.
"I'm not your friend," he says darkly, the first words he's uttered in this fight, as he swings his saber - a little slower, due to his shoulder being punched, but no less deadly.
You miss Superman with your Friends Don't Saber Friends jab.
"I know!" Superman chirps, cheerfully. He ducks to the side, weaving around the saber slash, brushing the bridge of his nose with his thumb in the style of the old school boxers. His dad taught him, see. "It's a term of phrase, y'see. Kind of stressed, aren't you Darth?"
He's going to say it. He's really going to say it. Vader might feel the terrible, terrible pun coming before he can feel the air around him start to freeze...as Superman takes a quick breath, and blows a steady stream of Super Breath around Darth Vader, trying to freeze him into place!
"...you should learn to chill out!" The worst part is, Clark honestly thinks that's kind of witty.
Superman misses Darth Vader with his This is what happens when Batman isn't around to make the one liners stun.
This is not stress. This is just something that has to be done. At least, that's how Darth Vdaer's looking at it. He's getting slightly annoyed with how lightly Superman's taking this, and especially how he seems to be making a /mockery/ of the whole situation - and of himself.
Though there's a sudden chill in the air, Darth Vader doesn't try to dodge it. Instead, he focuses the Force, manipulating it in such a way as to shield him from the frosty breath - it does as bidden, keeping the Sith safe from...well, not harm so much as freeze. Strangely enough, his cloak does flap. But Vader doesn't seem about to take advantage of this to launch a surprise attack...
...actually, he does. Just not a physical one. Perhaps to spite Superman's 'request' to stay out of his head, he unleashes an assault which would be enough to cause any lesser man to fall to his knees out of (imagined) pain...how will Superman fare? That remains to be seen.
You stun Superman with your It's All In Your Head action.
Ow. Ow. Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow OOOOOW.
"Nrrgh..." Superman's knees buckle, to be sure, and the Man of Steel holds his ears as if trying to shut some sort of voice out. "...gaa..." Clark moans a little, taking a step or two back and generally looking like he's trying to lift some sort of elephant. He just needs to. He knows it's a. But it HURTS and...
...now would, if you happened to be a jerk, a good time to take a swing at the Man of Steel.
Darth Vader isn't a jerk so much as a bastard. And yes, he is the sort of person who would take advantage of the fact that Superman's currently...incapacitated. That was the plan, of course. He moves forwards at an easy pace, flicking his hand in a dismissing gesture, though the Force behind it is enough to send the do-gooder flying.
Not planned, however, is the assault of the Shadowpriests that goes into effect once the line of the arena is crossed...though you can't really tell Vader's expression through his (dented) helmet, his body language denotes slight surprise. It's unexpected, but not unwelcome, all things considered...
You critically strike Superman with your Shadowpriests go ZAP ZAP ZAP attack.
Superman is no longer stunned.
"You...suuuuck..." Clark manages to hiss out, as he's Force-flung to the side of the ring. Okay, just gotta-
And then Shadow Priests zap him with their crazy evil magic. Superman, briefly, knows that it feels like to be a mosquito that has foolishly flown into a bug zapper, as mysticly empowered OUCH flows through his body, sizzleing the Man of Steel for a few moments until the power /flings/ him back into the ring. He's about to crash into the arena floor...
...except that, for some reason, he doesn't. Charred, his costume and cape smoking, the Man of Steel simply...stops, mid-air. Has he set off some sort of new terrible trap of Shao Kahn's? Has he just...broken? Is the Force beating him up again? "That..." Superman is interupted by a brief coughing fit, "That was...taking it a little far, huh?"
"...but, okay. If that's how you want it..." There's a gleam in Superman's eyes as he pulls up-no, he's not trapped, Superman's just /flying/, and twists around to a 'standing' position. The Man of Steel spins around the ridge of the arena, just out of the range of the Shadow Priests, building up speed...before /zooming/ down in an attempt to plow Darth Vader right into the arena floor!
Superman gets a glancing blow on Darth Vader with his Controling your own gravity is awesome attack.
You take 23 damage.
Were he anyone else, he would probably wince in sympathy. But he's Darth Vader, and he's watching warily as Superman seems to...freeze in mid-air. A trick he's seen before, albeit more of a hover then anything, but knowing that his enemy is capable of this puts him further on guard, and he brings his weapon back into a defensive stance. He doesn't need the Force to tell him that something's about to happen...
...and while he's not dissapointed, he is able to protect himself somewhat - via the Force - as Superman slams him into the floor. Regardless, Superman has now put himself in somewhat of a position. He's very close to Vader's lightsaber - a fact which Darth Vader doesn't miss as he attempts to ram the blade right through Superman's side - and out the other end, if he's lucky.
You get a glancing blow on Superman with your Talk About A Sideache attack.
"No, that's not happening." Superman hisses, snarling down at Vader. His right arm snaps to Vader's lightsaber, and /grabs' the projection of energy...Vader can see Clark's hand shudder, shake, and smoke from the cutting heat and pain, but the Man of Steel endures. Better a hand than his, y'know, stomach, after all.
This leaves them kind of, well, close together, but right now Superman's in too much pain to care about little things like 'strategy'. Instead, Clark just /glares/ at Vader, smiles his Crazy Tanker Guy smile, and kicks his head back, holding it up for a moment before swinging said head down at Vader with all the force of a thousand mosh pits! Or a locomotive, if you want to go with the classic approach.
Superman misses Darth Vader with his Getting ahead of the game attack.
He grabbed the lightsaber. He grabbed the fracking lightsaber. If Darth Vader wasn't aware what he was up against, he is now. The Sith Lord visibly stiffens in surprise, head turned towards the weapon. He's well aware that certain metals, indeed, energy can resist a lightsaber, but flesh?
That's /most/ impressive.
Still, there will be time to dwell on that later. Right now, he has to deal with being much too close for comfort with this man. He manages to avoid getting headbutted - just barely - by twisting his body just so, but that doesn't fix the problem. Perhaps another blast of Force will.
You critically strike Superman with your Get Out Of My Personal Space! attack.
WHAM! "...ow." Superman deadpans, as his head makes a dent in the damn floor. "Dodgy for a robot, aren't yo-"
FLING. "Damn /it/! Stupid..." Superman shouts, as he is /again/ blasted off of Vader, and /again/ falls right into the Shadow Priests, being ker-magiced with great predijuce. "GAAAH...flying...GAAAAH...force...GAAAAAH...blast! -grah!" Superman cuts his suffering short by punching a Shadow Priest dead in the face. "Back /off/." The Man of Steel warns, and the priests, well, they do just that. Because man, is Clark pissed.
Cracking back into the air, Superman twists around, and skips the formalities, instead spinning mid-air. This makes Clark looks like some kind of crazy man-drill, which is kind of silly looking right up until the point where he hits you, and you get trapped in a tornado of Superman's fists. Then it's painful in an entierly non-campy sort of way.
Superman juggles Darth Vader with his Spin to win! combo.
You take 21 damage.
Superman juggles Darth Vader with his Spin to win! combo.
You take 26 damage.
Darth Vader breaks Superman's combo.
Vader stands, slowly, looking a bit worse for the wear. With dented helmet, armor which is also has a melted spot right above the chestpiece, and a few other visible damages, he nonetheless seems ready to continue, flourishing his lightsaber once before bringing it back front and center. If Superman wasn't being blasted by the priests, he wouldn't have bothered doing so. But he has time. The man's angry. He'll make mistakes now.
...or he'll just get further smacked - well, punched - by the Supertop. The noise that comes from Vader's facemask isn't of pain, now - it's of anger. Anger which he's grabbing on to, focusing, and using as he makes a powerful, two-handed uppercut-slash at the hero.
You miss Superman with your You Can Die Now, Plz attack.
Lots of people think getting Superman angry is a good way to win a fight. Of this group, precicely "None" make this mistake twice-Clark has been controling himself rigidly since puberty and his powers first manifested, and he's an old, old hand at making anger work /for/ him instead of against him.
The Man of Steel slips out of the spin, flying backwards just out of the lightsabre's reach. Superman brushes his nose with a quick practice punch again, keeping his terribly powerful eyes locked on Vader's armored form. The flying being fakes left-no, right-no, left-and finally charges from the right, sending a powerful overhead hammer-swing just as Vader exposes his upper body thanks to having to recover from that failed slash!
Superman misses Darth Vader with his Fists: Serious Busniess attack.
Without the Force, he would be a far poorer - and deader - man. But seeing as the Force is still strong in him, despite everything that's happened, Darth Vader is able to anticipate and angle his momentum to bring himself out of range of the punch(es). He takes a single step back, shifting his weight, cloak trailing slightly as he sizes up his opponent once again, taking into account everything he's learned and discovered during the fight, and then -
"This ends."
With that, Darth Vader is lunging forwards, his lightsaber not stopping as he launches an assault with the intent to not give Superman a chance to recover.
You juggle Superman with your Form V - Djem So combo.
You juggle Superman with your Form V - Djem So combo.
You juggle Superman with your Form V - Djem So combo.
Superman breaks your combo.
Superman has been knocked out!
Shao Kahn's enchantments on Vader's lightsaber do their job. Clark's eyes widen as he's slashed again, and again, and again, thrown down mid-attack to fall with a SLAM onto the ground. If he were in the sun, Clark thinks, he could probably...
Ow crap ow bleeding hurts. The Man of Steel shudders, keeping conscious through sheer force of will, and the honest belief that if he blacks out, he won't wake back up. Vader is pretty clearly the winner.
Superman's suspicion isn't unfounded; of all who fall before Vader, there aren't many who have lived to tell the tale. But as Darth Vader observes the fallen Superman, he feels no urge to finish him - this isn't for the glory of the Empire, this is for someone else's amusement, a fact which still gnaws at him. For a few moments, he simply watches the fallen hero, before deactivating the lightsaber and clipping it back onto his belt. Then he turns, heading towards the Shadowpriests, not stepping out of the arena but well within the distance that he doesn't have to raise his voice.
But no words are spoken. The nearest priest simply bows slightly before teleporting him away.
WHERE: The Outworld, Soul Chamber
WHEN: Monday, Febuary 12
WHAT: Round 2 of Mortal Kombat.
WATCH FOR: Superman getting blasted by the Shadow Priests multiple times. Also him and Vader getting a little too close for comfort...
Well, Clark Kent thinks, this is...nice. No, wait, no it's not. The Man of Steel decided to take the running teleport option, this time, and manifests on his "side" of the arena, wincing at the sheer level of magical power in the room. Not that magic on it's own was painful to Clark, like, say, Kryptonite was, but the magic in this place...
...it's like stepping into a garbage compactor of the soul. Woogh. Trying to shake off his nerves, and the "You're running into a trap, moron!" alarm going off in his head, the Man of Steel crosses his arms and waits.
Man, he thinks, not even a good wind for my cape to blow on. Crazy Outworld.
It isn't long before Superman's opponent appears on the opposite side of the arena, courtesy of a Shadow Priest. Not long at all. The Dark Lord of the Sith notes the presence of his foe, but for a moment does nothing but stand there, moving only his head as he gets a better look at the arena. Of the Shadow Priests ringing them. Of the great mouth, and the souls within. Though alien, the power there calls to the Dark Side of the Force, and any other time Darth Vader would be interested enough to investigate...
...but now is not the time. He returns his attention to the superhero, before taking a few steps forwards towards the center of the arena. He stops a bit before he reaches it, though.
Darth Vader. Luke Skywalker's evil dad. Syndicate heavy. Big jerk. Yeah, Superman decides, it's going to be much easier bringing myself to hit this guy than it was with A-ko. "Vader." Superman says cordially, cracking his knuckles and meeting the Dark Lord of the Sith in the eye. Goggle-helmet-thing. Whatever. "How's the whole space tyranny thing going?"
Yes, Darth, he is probably making fun of you. The Man of Steel follows Vader's movements, walking to the almost center of the arena, crossing his arms again, and waiting. And waiting. And oh, maybe he should say something. "So, that sure is a giant head in the wall." Superman notes, conversationally. "Kind of reminds me of this guy I know...oh! Hey, um, after you and all! Pa always told me to respect my elders."
In any other circumstance, Superman would find himself short of breath. As it is, Darth Vader isn't going to play that particular card this early in the game. He meets Superman's gaze, but remains silent except for the in and out of his respirator - were Superman sensitive to such things, he just might feel a probing, so to speak, as the Sith takes his first real impression of the man. That is, except from a fool who talks too much.
Wordlessly, he draws and activates his lightsaber. Which, thanks to Shao Kahn, has a little something extra today. Not that Vader's aware of it. He's just closing the distance between them - rather quickly, in fact - and slashing once. A test, if anything.
You miss Superman with your Dodge this. attack.
Superman actually is pretty sensitive to psychic stuff; the JLA uses a mind-link for communication on missions, and Aquaman and the Martian Manhunter have both given Clark some experience with the feeling of a telepath in one's brain. Not to mention that zany, fun loving guy, Brainiac! Yeah, let's not mention him.
Darth doesn't get /resistance/ per say, but his probe doesn't get much more than one would expect. Truth, justice, the American Way, the man's a big blue boy scout. Almost as if he was making sure to act a little more like the sterotype would have you believe as a defense...
...speaking of defenses, Superman decides he's not /quite/ cocky enough to try and tank a lightsabre. Who knows if it'll work or not? Weaving to the left, Clark takes a boxing stance, sending a quick probe of his own...in the form of a left hook, swinging right for Darth's mask. Because Vader don't got no face.
Superman gets a glancing blow on Darth Vader with his Just A Jump To The Left jab.
You take 15 damage.
(Actually, he does have a face. It's just hidden behind the facemask, which, as with the rest of the helmet, was built...well, not to break. It does, however, dent.)
Darth Vader spins around, taking a step back to give himself distance as he brings up his lightsaber in what a swordsman would recognize as a neutral stance. But he's hardly fallen into it before he's moving forwards again, slashing quickly and letting his motion carry him past Superman as to (hopefully) bring him out of punching range.
You critically strike Superman with your Let's Try This Again attack.
SLASH!
Superman blinks, looking down at his chest. It's sort of, well, bleeding, you see. There's a big slash, yeah, right across his "S" shield, where there's a shallow cut that's mostly cauterized by the lightsabre, but still a bloody shade of red. Almost as if his solar-powered shielding wasn't working. What does that? Well, magic.
"...huh. I guess 'The Force' does count as magic. Crud!" He seems cheerful about the whole thing, but Vader can probably tell that Superman is honestly a little rattled by this turn of events. As Vader moves out of punching range, Clark snaps around with terrible speed. His eyes glow blood red for a moment, and then fire a concentrated blast of heat vision-this time aimed at Vader's chest.
Superman gets a glancing blow on Darth Vader with his Laser Eyes attack.
You take 15 damage.
A little rattled is good; more rattled is better. Shaking in his boots would be best, but that's a little much to hope for so soon. Regardless, Darth Vader searches for that nuance of uncertainty, and attempts to Forcibly magnify it; even as Superman moves more quickly than he thought he could, the upper part of his chest hissing as it's damaged by the sheer heat. But there's no time to waste.
Perhaps to further illustrate that the Force can, indeed, harm him - what made him think that it couldn't? - Darth Vader raises a hand, unleashing his own blast of concentrated power at Superman's chest.
You hit Superman with your Force Assault attack.
"Hrrgh..." Superman grunts at the impact of sheer physical force. He can feel his insides clench unpleasently, and there's this weird tingle in his...
Hey. Hey wait a second.
The Man of Steel's jaw squares, his shoulders roll back, and his eyes narrow. For a second, Superman seems to be nothing more than a red and blue blur...
...and then he's just /there/, in front of Vader, glowering at the Dark Lord. "Do me a favor, friend?" Clark offers, pulling his arm back. This punch, he's not holding back so much with. "Stay /out/ of my head."
Superman gets a glancing blow on Darth Vader with his Kicking It Up A Notch attack.
You take 18 damage.
Vader clenches his fist. That shoudl have been enough to bowl him over - just who is this strangely-garbed person? He seems to be living up to his name of 'Superman', bu-
Too close for confort. Too fast. Darth Vader tries to move away, but he's too slow to dodge it completely - it connects squarely with his shoulder, and he emits a noise that could be a distorted grunt.
"I'm not your friend," he says darkly, the first words he's uttered in this fight, as he swings his saber - a little slower, due to his shoulder being punched, but no less deadly.
You miss Superman with your Friends Don't Saber Friends jab.
"I know!" Superman chirps, cheerfully. He ducks to the side, weaving around the saber slash, brushing the bridge of his nose with his thumb in the style of the old school boxers. His dad taught him, see. "It's a term of phrase, y'see. Kind of stressed, aren't you Darth?"
He's going to say it. He's really going to say it. Vader might feel the terrible, terrible pun coming before he can feel the air around him start to freeze...as Superman takes a quick breath, and blows a steady stream of Super Breath around Darth Vader, trying to freeze him into place!
"...you should learn to chill out!" The worst part is, Clark honestly thinks that's kind of witty.
Superman misses Darth Vader with his This is what happens when Batman isn't around to make the one liners stun.
This is not stress. This is just something that has to be done. At least, that's how Darth Vdaer's looking at it. He's getting slightly annoyed with how lightly Superman's taking this, and especially how he seems to be making a /mockery/ of the whole situation - and of himself.
Though there's a sudden chill in the air, Darth Vader doesn't try to dodge it. Instead, he focuses the Force, manipulating it in such a way as to shield him from the frosty breath - it does as bidden, keeping the Sith safe from...well, not harm so much as freeze. Strangely enough, his cloak does flap. But Vader doesn't seem about to take advantage of this to launch a surprise attack...
...actually, he does. Just not a physical one. Perhaps to spite Superman's 'request' to stay out of his head, he unleashes an assault which would be enough to cause any lesser man to fall to his knees out of (imagined) pain...how will Superman fare? That remains to be seen.
You stun Superman with your It's All In Your Head action.
Ow. Ow. Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow OOOOOW.
"Nrrgh..." Superman's knees buckle, to be sure, and the Man of Steel holds his ears as if trying to shut some sort of voice out. "...gaa..." Clark moans a little, taking a step or two back and generally looking like he's trying to lift some sort of elephant. He just needs to. He knows it's a. But it HURTS and...
...now would, if you happened to be a jerk, a good time to take a swing at the Man of Steel.
Darth Vader isn't a jerk so much as a bastard. And yes, he is the sort of person who would take advantage of the fact that Superman's currently...incapacitated. That was the plan, of course. He moves forwards at an easy pace, flicking his hand in a dismissing gesture, though the Force behind it is enough to send the do-gooder flying.
Not planned, however, is the assault of the Shadowpriests that goes into effect once the line of the arena is crossed...though you can't really tell Vader's expression through his (dented) helmet, his body language denotes slight surprise. It's unexpected, but not unwelcome, all things considered...
You critically strike Superman with your Shadowpriests go ZAP ZAP ZAP attack.
Superman is no longer stunned.
"You...suuuuck..." Clark manages to hiss out, as he's Force-flung to the side of the ring. Okay, just gotta-
And then Shadow Priests zap him with their crazy evil magic. Superman, briefly, knows that it feels like to be a mosquito that has foolishly flown into a bug zapper, as mysticly empowered OUCH flows through his body, sizzleing the Man of Steel for a few moments until the power /flings/ him back into the ring. He's about to crash into the arena floor...
...except that, for some reason, he doesn't. Charred, his costume and cape smoking, the Man of Steel simply...stops, mid-air. Has he set off some sort of new terrible trap of Shao Kahn's? Has he just...broken? Is the Force beating him up again? "That..." Superman is interupted by a brief coughing fit, "That was...taking it a little far, huh?"
"...but, okay. If that's how you want it..." There's a gleam in Superman's eyes as he pulls up-no, he's not trapped, Superman's just /flying/, and twists around to a 'standing' position. The Man of Steel spins around the ridge of the arena, just out of the range of the Shadow Priests, building up speed...before /zooming/ down in an attempt to plow Darth Vader right into the arena floor!
Superman gets a glancing blow on Darth Vader with his Controling your own gravity is awesome attack.
You take 23 damage.
Were he anyone else, he would probably wince in sympathy. But he's Darth Vader, and he's watching warily as Superman seems to...freeze in mid-air. A trick he's seen before, albeit more of a hover then anything, but knowing that his enemy is capable of this puts him further on guard, and he brings his weapon back into a defensive stance. He doesn't need the Force to tell him that something's about to happen...
...and while he's not dissapointed, he is able to protect himself somewhat - via the Force - as Superman slams him into the floor. Regardless, Superman has now put himself in somewhat of a position. He's very close to Vader's lightsaber - a fact which Darth Vader doesn't miss as he attempts to ram the blade right through Superman's side - and out the other end, if he's lucky.
You get a glancing blow on Superman with your Talk About A Sideache attack.
"No, that's not happening." Superman hisses, snarling down at Vader. His right arm snaps to Vader's lightsaber, and /grabs' the projection of energy...Vader can see Clark's hand shudder, shake, and smoke from the cutting heat and pain, but the Man of Steel endures. Better a hand than his, y'know, stomach, after all.
This leaves them kind of, well, close together, but right now Superman's in too much pain to care about little things like 'strategy'. Instead, Clark just /glares/ at Vader, smiles his Crazy Tanker Guy smile, and kicks his head back, holding it up for a moment before swinging said head down at Vader with all the force of a thousand mosh pits! Or a locomotive, if you want to go with the classic approach.
Superman misses Darth Vader with his Getting ahead of the game attack.
He grabbed the lightsaber. He grabbed the fracking lightsaber. If Darth Vader wasn't aware what he was up against, he is now. The Sith Lord visibly stiffens in surprise, head turned towards the weapon. He's well aware that certain metals, indeed, energy can resist a lightsaber, but flesh?
That's /most/ impressive.
Still, there will be time to dwell on that later. Right now, he has to deal with being much too close for comfort with this man. He manages to avoid getting headbutted - just barely - by twisting his body just so, but that doesn't fix the problem. Perhaps another blast of Force will.
You critically strike Superman with your Get Out Of My Personal Space! attack.
WHAM! "...ow." Superman deadpans, as his head makes a dent in the damn floor. "Dodgy for a robot, aren't yo-"
FLING. "Damn /it/! Stupid..." Superman shouts, as he is /again/ blasted off of Vader, and /again/ falls right into the Shadow Priests, being ker-magiced with great predijuce. "GAAAH...flying...GAAAAH...force...GAAAAAH...blast! -grah!" Superman cuts his suffering short by punching a Shadow Priest dead in the face. "Back /off/." The Man of Steel warns, and the priests, well, they do just that. Because man, is Clark pissed.
Cracking back into the air, Superman twists around, and skips the formalities, instead spinning mid-air. This makes Clark looks like some kind of crazy man-drill, which is kind of silly looking right up until the point where he hits you, and you get trapped in a tornado of Superman's fists. Then it's painful in an entierly non-campy sort of way.
Superman juggles Darth Vader with his Spin to win! combo.
You take 21 damage.
Superman juggles Darth Vader with his Spin to win! combo.
You take 26 damage.
Darth Vader breaks Superman's combo.
Vader stands, slowly, looking a bit worse for the wear. With dented helmet, armor which is also has a melted spot right above the chestpiece, and a few other visible damages, he nonetheless seems ready to continue, flourishing his lightsaber once before bringing it back front and center. If Superman wasn't being blasted by the priests, he wouldn't have bothered doing so. But he has time. The man's angry. He'll make mistakes now.
...or he'll just get further smacked - well, punched - by the Supertop. The noise that comes from Vader's facemask isn't of pain, now - it's of anger. Anger which he's grabbing on to, focusing, and using as he makes a powerful, two-handed uppercut-slash at the hero.
You miss Superman with your You Can Die Now, Plz attack.
Lots of people think getting Superman angry is a good way to win a fight. Of this group, precicely "None" make this mistake twice-Clark has been controling himself rigidly since puberty and his powers first manifested, and he's an old, old hand at making anger work /for/ him instead of against him.
The Man of Steel slips out of the spin, flying backwards just out of the lightsabre's reach. Superman brushes his nose with a quick practice punch again, keeping his terribly powerful eyes locked on Vader's armored form. The flying being fakes left-no, right-no, left-and finally charges from the right, sending a powerful overhead hammer-swing just as Vader exposes his upper body thanks to having to recover from that failed slash!
Superman misses Darth Vader with his Fists: Serious Busniess attack.
Without the Force, he would be a far poorer - and deader - man. But seeing as the Force is still strong in him, despite everything that's happened, Darth Vader is able to anticipate and angle his momentum to bring himself out of range of the punch(es). He takes a single step back, shifting his weight, cloak trailing slightly as he sizes up his opponent once again, taking into account everything he's learned and discovered during the fight, and then -
"This ends."
With that, Darth Vader is lunging forwards, his lightsaber not stopping as he launches an assault with the intent to not give Superman a chance to recover.
You juggle Superman with your Form V - Djem So combo.
You juggle Superman with your Form V - Djem So combo.
You juggle Superman with your Form V - Djem So combo.
Superman breaks your combo.
Superman has been knocked out!
Shao Kahn's enchantments on Vader's lightsaber do their job. Clark's eyes widen as he's slashed again, and again, and again, thrown down mid-attack to fall with a SLAM onto the ground. If he were in the sun, Clark thinks, he could probably...
Ow crap ow bleeding hurts. The Man of Steel shudders, keeping conscious through sheer force of will, and the honest belief that if he blacks out, he won't wake back up. Vader is pretty clearly the winner.
Superman's suspicion isn't unfounded; of all who fall before Vader, there aren't many who have lived to tell the tale. But as Darth Vader observes the fallen Superman, he feels no urge to finish him - this isn't for the glory of the Empire, this is for someone else's amusement, a fact which still gnaws at him. For a few moments, he simply watches the fallen hero, before deactivating the lightsaber and clipping it back onto his belt. Then he turns, heading towards the Shadowpriests, not stepping out of the arena but well within the distance that he doesn't have to raise his voice.
But no words are spoken. The nearest priest simply bows slightly before teleporting him away.