...Except for MORTAL KOMBAT.
WHO: Crimson Dawn, Setsuna
WHEN: Febuary 11th, 2007
WHERE: Living Forest, Outworld
WHAT: MORTAL KOMBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT! ROUND TWO! FIGHT!
WATCH FOR: DeathknightxDeathknight Action, Soulsteel?, Stabbing, Damn Evil Trees, Lots Of Stabbing
GateMUSH - Sunday, February 11, 2007, 7:16 PM
---------------------------------------------
The Living Forest
Likely named for being one of the few efforts of nature that hasn't been burned to ash or choked into worthlessness, the Living Forest exists on a strangely natural plateau set far off from the heartland of Outworld. However, it can hardly be called a real forest. From the stone tombs and shrines dotted about the forest, it's more of an interment ground.
For first, it is hardly entreated to even the seasonal warmth some might expect from normal forests. It's always just a little too cold here, a bitter chill bringing a glow to any cheek. This is partially due to location; the forest is set far away from any source of volcanic activity. Because of that there is very little ground vegetation. For good reason--the constant fogs and mists plaguing the area make it so that one could trip over a stray bush and still not see it.
But it's the moaning that will rattle the nerves most of all.
Faces, easily mistaken as a trick of shadow and mist, appear in the bare segments of the tree trunks. And every so often, one will open a cavernous mouth. It's hardly any constant cacophony--many years can pass before any individual tree wakes. But when they scream, it's tormented, long, loud and carries through the entire forest. Unquestionably the moan of the tortured and the persecuted. It lends credence to the rumor: A great atrocity committed long ago. The spirits of those who suffered trapped by the sorcery of the arcanist Shang Tsung.
{Connected: Crimson Dawn and Setsuna}
{Disconnected: }
{Items: }
Soft marshlights wink intermittently between the moaning leaves of the Living Forest; and every so often, the trees murder the silence with a shriek. Night, day... any length of time spent beneath these branches renders that detail irrelevant. It could be mid-morning now, it could be night; a dim half-light still illuminates the area, reflecting in the cloying fog. The mist here breathes, ebbing and flowing with the stagnant circulation of air. It shows and hides what lies within it at seeming random.
With time, the whispering fog sighs forth a figure: the lines of a man slowly drawn distinct as the mist parts. Settled along the branch of a tree, disturbingly close to the faces set into its trunk, he waits in silence: sheathed blade held in the crook of an arm. The black weapon is the thing that stands out most about him, in the midst of this shrouding fog: his silver hair and white overcoat do little to set him apart from the mist. His edges blend into his pale surroundings: seemingly without seam.
There is one other thing about him that is mildly noticeable: the flicker of crimson that smolders in his pupils, beneath the shadow of long bangs. That dimly-glowing gaze is cast about him, as he surveys the area. 'Living' Forest. Setsuna doesn't care for the name, but otherwise the setting is not entirely unpleasant.
Van Hohenheim has arrived.
Frankly, compared to a Deathland, the Living Woods are downright cozy. Deathlands are both darker, more uncomfortable, and usually filled with whiny ghosts. Stupid ghosts. Wah wah wah, please don't smelt me into soulsteel. Whatever.
Still...the woods aren't particularly threatening to an Abyssal. Really, once you've stared death in the face and then become his servant, so to speak, it isn't really easy to rattle you.
The Bringer of Darkness in the Crimson Dawn, as such, is calmly walking through the woods, black cloak and hood shrouding him as he walks. If he's armed, he's keeping his weapons well hidden. His pace stops after a moment, the hood he's wearing turning upwards a bit, as the Abyssal makes a long sniffing noise, then snorts in amusement. He's standing there, the dark shadow cast by his hood pointed in Setsuna's general direction, a small sparkle of black essence licking along the edge of his visible shoulder pauldron.
...
...
"Well?"
Setsuna does not bother to hide his sole weapon. It flips from the crook of his arm down into his grasp as he drops from his perch, landing with the sound of settling cloth. The curved sword is too long to be drawn conventionally: the demon drops it until the point of the scabbard hits tainted earth, and then unsheathes it upward in an overhead sweep. Agonized voices issue from the blade upon its passage through the air; and the howling wail that shivers from the black steel mingles with the other cries that soak this cursed landscape.
Setsuna himself looks about as invested in the entire endeavor as the Abyssal does: which is to say, not very. The emptied scabbard is caught up, and then discarded to one side. Something swooping through the trees on silent wings catches it before it strikes ground, and disappears amidst the fog.
"Draw." Or whatever the equivalent would be, for this particular Abyssal: there is no visible sword. The demon is ready; he needs no further preparation beyond this.
The Abyssal eyes the blade, an eyebrow raising under the hood, just slightly, at the noise of souls screaming when that sword is drawn. Huh. Soulsteel. Interesting. Who'd have thought? Shao Kahn found him an Off-Plane Abyssal or something similar to fight.
Not that it's going to stop Crimson from trying to kill him.
Death is the normal and accepted way of solving disputes or boredom among deathknights, after all! As such, the Abyssal just stands there, hands tucked under the long garmet he's wearing, just watching Setsuna...and then the Abyssal blurs forwards, wisps of black and red essence curling around him as he lunges forwards from his earlier standing position and upwards. The Abyssal's jumped, leaping into the air, and is diving towards Setsuna, a pair of soulsteel blades whipped out from under the cloak. Rather nice ones, really! Anyways! Crimson's started the fight, attempting to end it, as well, by stabbing Setsuna in the face!
Not that he expects it to be THAT easy. It never is, after all!
You get a glancing blow on Setsuna with your Death From Above attack.
It is evident the demon is disinterested in conversation. He makes no effort to break the silence, and when the Abyssal displays a similar lack of interest in small talk-- he fails to protest with anything but the edge of his sword.
The blade arcs upwards, as the Abyssal makes his attack: a reaction half-parry, half a dodge backwards. The paired blades are smaller and considerably more mobile than the long katana, and one slips past before a twist of the wrist dips the length of Yasomagatsu Hinotachi: gathering both weapons up into a deadlock of a block.
A long line of crimson draws down his face, hissing blood slipping to the corner of his mouth. A half-smile, a gleam of red eyes, and the demon pushes forwards hard against the paired blades to force the Abyssal to back off. A sharp turn puts momentum behind the followup strike: a horizontal cleave directly for Crimson Dawn's midsection.
Setsuna misses Crimson Dawn with his e_e attack.
Hmmmm. Yes. Well. A rather nice strike. If Crimson had still been there, it might have hurt. Instead...the Abyssal is perched on the edge of the blade as it goes whistling forwards. He glances down at Setsuna, then nods to himself slightly.
And, at that point, darts forwards, a foot whistling out as he attempts to kick Setsuna in the face, right where he cut the other deathknight or demon or whatever the hell it is right in the face.
Still, hit or miss, the Abyssal vaults backwards a moment later, blades up in a cautious guard position, watching his opponent.
It's someone with a sword made of soulsteel! OBVIOUSLY THEY CANNOT BE TRUSTED TO NOT HAVE CRAZY POWERS.
You miss Setsuna with your Boot To Da Head attack.
It was a nice strike. Enough force behind it to bisect concrete. Fortunate for the Abyssal that it did not connect-- and fortunate for the demon that the retaliation for it does not connect either.
The blade drops out from beneath Crimson Dawn right as the Abyssal leaps forward, and Setsuna twists to one side in a swift dodge. He might have chained that evasion right into another punishing stroke of that blade; but the Abyssal is not foolish enough to linger long. He is out of reach in an instant, and Setsuna has no ranged ability of which to speak.
He doesn't give the Abyssal too much time to think. Within moments the demon has closed the distance with a blurring lunge, aggression smoking in every rapid movement. A midair twist is incorporated into that motion, lending momentum to the downswing that he levels at Crimson Dawn: a stroke aiming to carve from left shoulder to right hip. Mid-swing, the black steel sparks-- and then abruptly spits equally black lightning. The electricity plates down the length of the blade; seemingly, an energy meant to strengthen and increase the range of that cursed sword.
Setsuna hits Crimson Dawn with his >:O attack.
You take 26 damage.
The Abyssal grunts as the blade slams into him. Oddly, once his initial parry fails, he ignores it. As for the punishing strike, well, it hurts, slamming into the deathknight's shoulder pauldron...and then stopping. The energy of the strike is transferred, certainly, but, instead of slamming through flesh and carving it like a Canadian lumberjack through butter, the cloak that's been thrown over one shoulder bunches under the blade, links of chain of the same material as Crimson's swords stopping the blade from moving...
Speaking of soulsteel, the Abyssal lunges forwards, running the demon's sword along the shoulder pauldron and shoving it straight up with a shoulder, hopefully, as he turns, whipping in a tight circle, a daiklave slicing out menacingingly towards Setsuna's chest, glints of red and black essence crackling along the ivory-and-soulsteel sword.
You hit Setsuna with your Black Mist... attack.
Red eyes narrow instantly at the strange feel of the material beneath his blade-- the metallic sound that issues forth rather than the expected split of skin and flesh. The force of the strike is largely slaked off by the chain of the cloak: sensing this, the demon aborts the strike. The decision comes a shred too late-- the Abyssal has pressed his momentary advantage, forcing the length of Yasomagatsu Hinotachi upwards with a shoulder.
The daiklave hits home, shredding through cloth and laying open Setsuna's chest, and a quiet hiss of pain kicks out of him at the stroke. The creature wears no armor; his defenses lie in his power and his regenerative ability. The latter crawls to life almost immediately once significant blood is spilled, demonic energy writhing in the open wound to stave off excessive blood loss.
As for the demon's weapon-- it's still raised, which is a decent lead-in to a retaliatory strike. Both hands vise shut about the hilt of the sword as it is brought down at the Abyssal in a crackling, electric arc.
Setsuna gets a glancing blow on Crimson Dawn with his Ichi (A version!) attack.
You take 14 damage.
Alas. That's the problem with getting up in someone's face like Crimson Dawn just did. Sure, it's easier to get through their defense...but, by the same token, one has to give up their own defense. The Abyssal attempts to whip a daiklave up to stop the powerful stroke, but, alas, is an instant too late, slammed down again. The chaincloak, again, prevents massive damage to his flesh and bone...but, this time, tears, a slash being ripped into the heavy leather-and-soulsteel buffcoat the Abyssal wears underneath the cloak, blood spurting.
The Abyssal makes no real reaction to the blood and pain, ignoring it for the moment, all in favor of trying to kill. He skirts the guarding blade up, and then flips it around as he tries to dart around and past past Setsuna, stabbing backwards as he dashes away, aiming to put a fresh puncture into the small of Setsuna's back. Looks like someone's trying to gain a bit of distance for some reason...
You miss Setsuna with your Hit And Run attack.
It's a principle that was shown clearly enough by Crimson Dawn's earlier scored hit: and shown again in the returned strike. There is always a cost to getting aggressive: and the price is a cut taken out of one's defense.
Blood is drawn. The demon snarls some grim satisfaction, and presses forward. Which-- ironically-- turns out to save him another puncture. His forward momentum makes it that much easier to dodge that stab to the back: he paces forwards, and then turns sharply, locking back onto Crimson Dawn before his figure is lost in the mist.
Setsuna is at his best up close, playing to overpower: at a distance he can do little. As such he immediately lunges after the Abyssal, the considerable length of his blade thrusting forwards in a bid to draw blood before he can get clear.
Setsuna critically strikes Crimson Dawn with his Forward-B C_C attack.
You take 32 damage.
...Well, /ow/.
THat really hurt. The Abyssal grunts as the other's blade stabs into his back...Just...ow. I mean, the only consolation right now is that at least he isn't at sea, where he can get tons of deliciously stingy saltwater in fresh wounds while fighting. Ah well. Still...the Abyssal /really/ wants some breathing room now. He's getting hammered, and his return strikes aren't getting through...
Which is why the cloak then uncoils. Tendrils of chain whip out as Crimson goes into a skid, trying to catch his breath, the chains flashing out automatically. One swarm encoils around the sword, or tries to, hopefully yanking it out of any position to guard or defend, while another series shoots for Setsuna's feet, attempting to yank him off of said feet so the Abyssal can return the favor of the earlier stab.
You miss Setsuna with your Assassin's Shroud of Entangling Chains stun.
A note of surprise flickers in his red eyes as the cloak unfurls: a surge of chains issuing forth. It is imperative-- to him-- that he keep his weapon out of those entangling chains: he twists his blade away, but in doing so leaves himself open to ensnarement by the other series of chains. With a snap of cloth he hits the ground on his back, put off his built-up momentum for an instant.
He twists away from any stab that might be forthcoming, rolling back to his feet and shaking off the sting. A series of forward steps link into a rising uppercut of a stroke with his blade; and he momentarily grimaces as the motion pulls the open wound on his chest.
Setsuna misses Crimson Dawn with his QCF-B, bite me Kahn. attack.
Hmmmm. Well, not quite what he wanted...but, well, at least it put Setsuna off his rhythym too. The Abyssal sprints forwards, attempting to do another dash-by on Setsuna...cept, this time, in addition to just the sword, the Messenger from Afar has to worry about those chains...not as many...but there's still a few of them slashing outwards, and those edges look quite sharp...Still, the chains are mostly a feint. The real attack's from the ivory-and-soulsteel blade in Crimson Dawn's hands, attempting to slice low and deep into Setsuna's thigh.
Of note, by now, there's a small trickle of blood rolling down Crimson Dawn's face, a symbol starting to brand itself onto the forehead barely visible underneath the cloak...
Setsuna twists past some of those chains, avoiding their slashing edges: but others score hits, shredding through cloth and letting blood. None are blocked with his blade-- the demon is not foolish enough to introduce his sword to a swarming mass of links that would welcome the chance to lock around his weapon and divest him of it.
Of course, those chains -were- just a distraction. His attention diverted, the real attack comes too quickly to avoid, and soulsteel sinks deeply into its mark. Setsuna stumbles, his stability momentarily compromised, and black steel bites into the ground in a bid to maintain balance.
His sword, for the moment, occupied, Setsuna resorts to his bare hands. His free hand darts out as Crimson Dawn passes, attempting to vise into the Abyssal's collar-- or whatever else, preferably in the region of the throat, he can get ahold of. If he can get a decent enough grip, he'll take the Abyssal off the ground-- and then reintroduce him to it, hard.
Setsuna gets a glancing blow on Crimson Dawn with his QCF+C e_e attack.
You take 19 damage.
Hmmmm. Well, the Abyssal frowns slightly. Hmmm. How annoying. He just got bodyslammed. Hurt, too. And one of his swords got skittered away from him in the meanwhile. Well, one good turn...deserves another! The Abyssal vaults up from the ground, charging recklessly into close combat again, slamming Setsuna's blade away with his own as his own gloved hand slams out. Not to grab, not immeadiately...instead, his hand merely glows with a gleaming black and red energy, afore he slams it straight into Setsuna's face, hopefully knocking him backwards. Still, that's mostly just concussive force. If it hurts, sure, it'll hurt. The real attack's from the discarded sword, as a chain whips it back to Crimson's hand, the blade slashing at Setsuna's back as it passes!
You hit Setsuna with your Swordchain combo! attack.
Still somewhat off-balance from the deep wound in his leg-- which is taking an annoying amount of time to adequately repair to any workable degree-- Setsuna finds himself unable to get out of the way in time. The demon takes the hit-- which is, ironically, reminiscent of his own style-- straight to the face, stumbling back a few paces as predicted. The returning sword cuts a lurid wound across his back as it passes, the thick coat slaking off some of the force but nonetheless unable to stop the weapon.
The distance that opened up between the combatants is minor-- it is quickly closed again, the demon eschewing the support of his sword in order to bring it back to bear on the Abyssal. It's not the blade that is used, however: the sword reverses, and the pommel of the weapon swipes for Crimson Dawn's face in a jarring strike.
Setsuna stuns Crimson Dawn with his Hiltsmack action.
...Oh, hey, that isn't a sword blade that's the h-
KABONG!
Crimson Dawn starts cursing under his breath in Wavetongue, reeling backwards a bit, holding his head and ohshit wait swordfight.
Setsuna's eyes twitch to narrow red slits as the stroke manages to connect. The followup is a swiping, broad downwards slash across the torso. Somewhere along the line his weapon has changed hands, which means this time it strokes diagonally downwards from the right rather than the left shoulder.
Setsuna critically strikes Crimson Dawn with his shortest pose ever. attack.
You take 37 damage.
You are no longer stunned.
...Well, ow. That hurt. That hurt a lot. And, well, even if he isn't showin' it, poor ol' Crimson Dawn's starting to /feel/ the hits. Sure, he's not movin' like they're slowin' him down, but that's mostly because of his personal combat philosophy of 'Never Let them See You Sweat'. Or bleed.
At the moment, though, he's got a nasty gash that's sliced down into his buffcoat. It hasn't quite ripped apart the soulsteel plates there, but it found a nasty little chink in the leather and the metal...and then the cloak works /against/ Crimson.
Setsuna's blade doesn't penetrate directly. Instead, it merely forces the small, sharp-edged chains into the wound. Crimson winces.
And then, figuring, eh, why not, attempts to get vicious. He tries to grab the sword with a hand quickly wrapped in his cloak, and then holds a hand up, palm out, towards Setsuna's face.
And, finally, speaks. "Crypt...Bolt."
Annnnd, there's a large lance of necrotic energy slamming into Setsuna's face. Hopefully!
You get a glancing blow on Setsuna with your Crypt Bolt attack.
Magic. /Ranged/ magic. Moreover, ranged magic that he cannot adequately dodge, due to the fact that the Abyssal's steel-wrapped hand has seized ahold of his weapon. His attempt to avoid the attack completely suddenly aborted by that restraining grip, Setsuna is left with only enough time to twist to one side: the bolt searing the top of his shoulder and side of his neck, rather than hitting him directly in the face.
The arm attached to said shoulder falters slightly at the sudden flare of pain-- and unfortunately, it is currently serving as his sword arm. Therefore, instead of resorting to brute strength in order to reclaim his weapon, Setsuna turns to his innate energy: his Anonymity. A burst of that black lightning is sent like a charge straight down his arm and into the blade of his sword: if the Abyssal doesn't relinquish his grip in time, he's going to get a shot of painfully cold, searing despair. Undistilled suffering laces those carving arcs of electricity.
Setsuna hits Crimson Dawn with his Anonymity attack.
You take 31 damage.
...Well...erm....crap.
NO FAIR! HE'S USING PURE EMO ATTACKS!
The Abyssal, naturally insulted by someone using /angst/ on him, makes one last gasp, essence barely holding back the wounds he's suffered. He slams a hand back, an open palm slamming towards Setsuna's stomach, essence flaring. With luck, it'll slam him upwards. If he can pull that off...assuming he isn't countered...well, the Abyssal slams his hands together, his anima flaring, a roaring dragon coiling around him...and then dying slowly, a thousand swords erupting along its spine, its eyes rotting, as the Abyssal shapes essence, words echoing out in an unearthly language, before he hisses out one phrase.
"Ivory...Razor...Forest..."
Annnd, with that, nine foot long spears of sharpened bone erupt outwards and upwards, attempting to tear into Setsuna midflight and spear him upon landing. The essence-crafted spears of bone may not last for long, but, with some luck, they'll get the job done as row after row after row of bones tear outwards.
You juggle Setsuna with your Ivory Razor Forest combo.
Setsuna breaks your combo.
Hmm. Are those truly the correct sort of words to apply to concentrated massacre? To replayed murder? To the sensations experienced by those souls this blade has freed from their mortal coils: and then trapped? These feelings certainly did not arise from the self-pitying ministrations of children with razorblades: no. They arose from atrocities: acts which the Abyssal Exalted themselves should be quite versed in.
But as they say, familiarity breeds contempt; or at the least, resistance. Lesser creatures would have crumpled in agony: but such beings as Exalted are not so easily felled.
Crimson Dawn's retaliation is swift. The strike connects as intended, the spirit sent backwards and slightly up by the force of it. The summoned spears might not pin him as high or as early as intended, but nonetheless they impale him. The demon's body shows no real preternatural resistance to the sharp bone: their lengths pierce easily as his backwards momentum drives him directly onto them. His heels eventually bite into the ground as he skids to a stop: held upright, after a fashion, by spears that jut diagonally from the ground to saw through his chest.
For a few instants he does not move: the shock of the blows his body has just sustained are not inconsiderable. He sways slightly, unsteady, the red of his eyes faltering: and then the scarlet glow strengthens again, a virulent hatred smoking in his gaze.
He lunges, with a considerable effort and a snarl of pain, off the impaling spears: the wounds, no longer stopped up, spit blood that leaps to a boiling burn as soon as it hits the air. A swiping blow of the sword aims to return the favor and send the Abyssal upwards: should it connect, Setsuna-- lacking anything so showy as forests of bone-- simply angles to land as many broad slashes as possible, before arcing the blade around in a downswing to aid gravity in dragging the Abyssal back to the earth.
Setsuna juggles Crimson Dawn with his nothing actually fancy here e_ea combo.
You take 26 damage.
Setsuna juggles Crimson Dawn with his nothing actually fancy here e_ea combo.
You take 27 damage.
Crimson Dawn breaks Setsuna's combo.
You have been knocked out!
Archer has disconnected.
Oh crap.
Really no other way to put it, y'know. Oh Crap.
The Abyssal has one moment to glance up at the desending demon, annnnd then the sword smacks him from two directions, sending the Abyssal flying, eventually rolling into the foliage. He lies there for a moment, afore one of the trees, hungry, whips out a branch, dragging the unfortunately unconscious Abyssal further into the depths of the wood.
Granted, said tree will be very surprised when the Abyssal eventually regains consciousness and smashes it into splinters, but, well, one thing is obvious.
SETSUNA. WINS!
...damn, Crimson's sure he's going to get yelled at for this back in Skullstone.
A win, maybe, but not one earned easily.
The demon drops to his knees as the wood takes 'interest' in the unconscious Abyssal-- something he doesn't seem inclined to stop-- and the sword slips from his grasp. His newly freed hand moves immediately to his heavily-perforated chest-- the most severe of the wounds he has sustained-- and comes away steaming with blood. Setsuna emits a 'tcheh' thick with blood, the sound half-disgusted and half-pained, and leans slowly back against one of the trees that -isn't- awake. He might have gone after the Exalted in an attempt to finish the job, but truth be told he's not really in a condition to go off braving the trees of this place.
He is going to need a -while- to repair this kind of damage.
WHEN: Febuary 11th, 2007
WHERE: Living Forest, Outworld
WHAT: MORTAL KOMBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT! ROUND TWO! FIGHT!
WATCH FOR: DeathknightxDeathknight Action, Soulsteel?, Stabbing, Damn Evil Trees, Lots Of Stabbing
GateMUSH - Sunday, February 11, 2007, 7:16 PM
---------------------------------------------
The Living Forest
Likely named for being one of the few efforts of nature that hasn't been burned to ash or choked into worthlessness, the Living Forest exists on a strangely natural plateau set far off from the heartland of Outworld. However, it can hardly be called a real forest. From the stone tombs and shrines dotted about the forest, it's more of an interment ground.
For first, it is hardly entreated to even the seasonal warmth some might expect from normal forests. It's always just a little too cold here, a bitter chill bringing a glow to any cheek. This is partially due to location; the forest is set far away from any source of volcanic activity. Because of that there is very little ground vegetation. For good reason--the constant fogs and mists plaguing the area make it so that one could trip over a stray bush and still not see it.
But it's the moaning that will rattle the nerves most of all.
Faces, easily mistaken as a trick of shadow and mist, appear in the bare segments of the tree trunks. And every so often, one will open a cavernous mouth. It's hardly any constant cacophony--many years can pass before any individual tree wakes. But when they scream, it's tormented, long, loud and carries through the entire forest. Unquestionably the moan of the tortured and the persecuted. It lends credence to the rumor: A great atrocity committed long ago. The spirits of those who suffered trapped by the sorcery of the arcanist Shang Tsung.
{Connected: Crimson Dawn and Setsuna}
{Disconnected: }
{Items: }
Soft marshlights wink intermittently between the moaning leaves of the Living Forest; and every so often, the trees murder the silence with a shriek. Night, day... any length of time spent beneath these branches renders that detail irrelevant. It could be mid-morning now, it could be night; a dim half-light still illuminates the area, reflecting in the cloying fog. The mist here breathes, ebbing and flowing with the stagnant circulation of air. It shows and hides what lies within it at seeming random.
With time, the whispering fog sighs forth a figure: the lines of a man slowly drawn distinct as the mist parts. Settled along the branch of a tree, disturbingly close to the faces set into its trunk, he waits in silence: sheathed blade held in the crook of an arm. The black weapon is the thing that stands out most about him, in the midst of this shrouding fog: his silver hair and white overcoat do little to set him apart from the mist. His edges blend into his pale surroundings: seemingly without seam.
There is one other thing about him that is mildly noticeable: the flicker of crimson that smolders in his pupils, beneath the shadow of long bangs. That dimly-glowing gaze is cast about him, as he surveys the area. 'Living' Forest. Setsuna doesn't care for the name, but otherwise the setting is not entirely unpleasant.
Van Hohenheim has arrived.
Frankly, compared to a Deathland, the Living Woods are downright cozy. Deathlands are both darker, more uncomfortable, and usually filled with whiny ghosts. Stupid ghosts. Wah wah wah, please don't smelt me into soulsteel. Whatever.
Still...the woods aren't particularly threatening to an Abyssal. Really, once you've stared death in the face and then become his servant, so to speak, it isn't really easy to rattle you.
The Bringer of Darkness in the Crimson Dawn, as such, is calmly walking through the woods, black cloak and hood shrouding him as he walks. If he's armed, he's keeping his weapons well hidden. His pace stops after a moment, the hood he's wearing turning upwards a bit, as the Abyssal makes a long sniffing noise, then snorts in amusement. He's standing there, the dark shadow cast by his hood pointed in Setsuna's general direction, a small sparkle of black essence licking along the edge of his visible shoulder pauldron.
...
...
"Well?"
Setsuna does not bother to hide his sole weapon. It flips from the crook of his arm down into his grasp as he drops from his perch, landing with the sound of settling cloth. The curved sword is too long to be drawn conventionally: the demon drops it until the point of the scabbard hits tainted earth, and then unsheathes it upward in an overhead sweep. Agonized voices issue from the blade upon its passage through the air; and the howling wail that shivers from the black steel mingles with the other cries that soak this cursed landscape.
Setsuna himself looks about as invested in the entire endeavor as the Abyssal does: which is to say, not very. The emptied scabbard is caught up, and then discarded to one side. Something swooping through the trees on silent wings catches it before it strikes ground, and disappears amidst the fog.
"Draw." Or whatever the equivalent would be, for this particular Abyssal: there is no visible sword. The demon is ready; he needs no further preparation beyond this.
The Abyssal eyes the blade, an eyebrow raising under the hood, just slightly, at the noise of souls screaming when that sword is drawn. Huh. Soulsteel. Interesting. Who'd have thought? Shao Kahn found him an Off-Plane Abyssal or something similar to fight.
Not that it's going to stop Crimson from trying to kill him.
Death is the normal and accepted way of solving disputes or boredom among deathknights, after all! As such, the Abyssal just stands there, hands tucked under the long garmet he's wearing, just watching Setsuna...and then the Abyssal blurs forwards, wisps of black and red essence curling around him as he lunges forwards from his earlier standing position and upwards. The Abyssal's jumped, leaping into the air, and is diving towards Setsuna, a pair of soulsteel blades whipped out from under the cloak. Rather nice ones, really! Anyways! Crimson's started the fight, attempting to end it, as well, by stabbing Setsuna in the face!
Not that he expects it to be THAT easy. It never is, after all!
You get a glancing blow on Setsuna with your Death From Above attack.
It is evident the demon is disinterested in conversation. He makes no effort to break the silence, and when the Abyssal displays a similar lack of interest in small talk-- he fails to protest with anything but the edge of his sword.
The blade arcs upwards, as the Abyssal makes his attack: a reaction half-parry, half a dodge backwards. The paired blades are smaller and considerably more mobile than the long katana, and one slips past before a twist of the wrist dips the length of Yasomagatsu Hinotachi: gathering both weapons up into a deadlock of a block.
A long line of crimson draws down his face, hissing blood slipping to the corner of his mouth. A half-smile, a gleam of red eyes, and the demon pushes forwards hard against the paired blades to force the Abyssal to back off. A sharp turn puts momentum behind the followup strike: a horizontal cleave directly for Crimson Dawn's midsection.
Setsuna misses Crimson Dawn with his e_e attack.
Hmmmm. Yes. Well. A rather nice strike. If Crimson had still been there, it might have hurt. Instead...the Abyssal is perched on the edge of the blade as it goes whistling forwards. He glances down at Setsuna, then nods to himself slightly.
And, at that point, darts forwards, a foot whistling out as he attempts to kick Setsuna in the face, right where he cut the other deathknight or demon or whatever the hell it is right in the face.
Still, hit or miss, the Abyssal vaults backwards a moment later, blades up in a cautious guard position, watching his opponent.
It's someone with a sword made of soulsteel! OBVIOUSLY THEY CANNOT BE TRUSTED TO NOT HAVE CRAZY POWERS.
You miss Setsuna with your Boot To Da Head attack.
It was a nice strike. Enough force behind it to bisect concrete. Fortunate for the Abyssal that it did not connect-- and fortunate for the demon that the retaliation for it does not connect either.
The blade drops out from beneath Crimson Dawn right as the Abyssal leaps forward, and Setsuna twists to one side in a swift dodge. He might have chained that evasion right into another punishing stroke of that blade; but the Abyssal is not foolish enough to linger long. He is out of reach in an instant, and Setsuna has no ranged ability of which to speak.
He doesn't give the Abyssal too much time to think. Within moments the demon has closed the distance with a blurring lunge, aggression smoking in every rapid movement. A midair twist is incorporated into that motion, lending momentum to the downswing that he levels at Crimson Dawn: a stroke aiming to carve from left shoulder to right hip. Mid-swing, the black steel sparks-- and then abruptly spits equally black lightning. The electricity plates down the length of the blade; seemingly, an energy meant to strengthen and increase the range of that cursed sword.
Setsuna hits Crimson Dawn with his >:O attack.
You take 26 damage.
The Abyssal grunts as the blade slams into him. Oddly, once his initial parry fails, he ignores it. As for the punishing strike, well, it hurts, slamming into the deathknight's shoulder pauldron...and then stopping. The energy of the strike is transferred, certainly, but, instead of slamming through flesh and carving it like a Canadian lumberjack through butter, the cloak that's been thrown over one shoulder bunches under the blade, links of chain of the same material as Crimson's swords stopping the blade from moving...
Speaking of soulsteel, the Abyssal lunges forwards, running the demon's sword along the shoulder pauldron and shoving it straight up with a shoulder, hopefully, as he turns, whipping in a tight circle, a daiklave slicing out menacingingly towards Setsuna's chest, glints of red and black essence crackling along the ivory-and-soulsteel sword.
You hit Setsuna with your Black Mist... attack.
Red eyes narrow instantly at the strange feel of the material beneath his blade-- the metallic sound that issues forth rather than the expected split of skin and flesh. The force of the strike is largely slaked off by the chain of the cloak: sensing this, the demon aborts the strike. The decision comes a shred too late-- the Abyssal has pressed his momentary advantage, forcing the length of Yasomagatsu Hinotachi upwards with a shoulder.
The daiklave hits home, shredding through cloth and laying open Setsuna's chest, and a quiet hiss of pain kicks out of him at the stroke. The creature wears no armor; his defenses lie in his power and his regenerative ability. The latter crawls to life almost immediately once significant blood is spilled, demonic energy writhing in the open wound to stave off excessive blood loss.
As for the demon's weapon-- it's still raised, which is a decent lead-in to a retaliatory strike. Both hands vise shut about the hilt of the sword as it is brought down at the Abyssal in a crackling, electric arc.
Setsuna gets a glancing blow on Crimson Dawn with his Ichi (A version!) attack.
You take 14 damage.
Alas. That's the problem with getting up in someone's face like Crimson Dawn just did. Sure, it's easier to get through their defense...but, by the same token, one has to give up their own defense. The Abyssal attempts to whip a daiklave up to stop the powerful stroke, but, alas, is an instant too late, slammed down again. The chaincloak, again, prevents massive damage to his flesh and bone...but, this time, tears, a slash being ripped into the heavy leather-and-soulsteel buffcoat the Abyssal wears underneath the cloak, blood spurting.
The Abyssal makes no real reaction to the blood and pain, ignoring it for the moment, all in favor of trying to kill. He skirts the guarding blade up, and then flips it around as he tries to dart around and past past Setsuna, stabbing backwards as he dashes away, aiming to put a fresh puncture into the small of Setsuna's back. Looks like someone's trying to gain a bit of distance for some reason...
You miss Setsuna with your Hit And Run attack.
It's a principle that was shown clearly enough by Crimson Dawn's earlier scored hit: and shown again in the returned strike. There is always a cost to getting aggressive: and the price is a cut taken out of one's defense.
Blood is drawn. The demon snarls some grim satisfaction, and presses forward. Which-- ironically-- turns out to save him another puncture. His forward momentum makes it that much easier to dodge that stab to the back: he paces forwards, and then turns sharply, locking back onto Crimson Dawn before his figure is lost in the mist.
Setsuna is at his best up close, playing to overpower: at a distance he can do little. As such he immediately lunges after the Abyssal, the considerable length of his blade thrusting forwards in a bid to draw blood before he can get clear.
Setsuna critically strikes Crimson Dawn with his Forward-B C_C attack.
You take 32 damage.
...Well, /ow/.
THat really hurt. The Abyssal grunts as the other's blade stabs into his back...Just...ow. I mean, the only consolation right now is that at least he isn't at sea, where he can get tons of deliciously stingy saltwater in fresh wounds while fighting. Ah well. Still...the Abyssal /really/ wants some breathing room now. He's getting hammered, and his return strikes aren't getting through...
Which is why the cloak then uncoils. Tendrils of chain whip out as Crimson goes into a skid, trying to catch his breath, the chains flashing out automatically. One swarm encoils around the sword, or tries to, hopefully yanking it out of any position to guard or defend, while another series shoots for Setsuna's feet, attempting to yank him off of said feet so the Abyssal can return the favor of the earlier stab.
You miss Setsuna with your Assassin's Shroud of Entangling Chains stun.
A note of surprise flickers in his red eyes as the cloak unfurls: a surge of chains issuing forth. It is imperative-- to him-- that he keep his weapon out of those entangling chains: he twists his blade away, but in doing so leaves himself open to ensnarement by the other series of chains. With a snap of cloth he hits the ground on his back, put off his built-up momentum for an instant.
He twists away from any stab that might be forthcoming, rolling back to his feet and shaking off the sting. A series of forward steps link into a rising uppercut of a stroke with his blade; and he momentarily grimaces as the motion pulls the open wound on his chest.
Setsuna misses Crimson Dawn with his QCF-B, bite me Kahn. attack.
Hmmmm. Well, not quite what he wanted...but, well, at least it put Setsuna off his rhythym too. The Abyssal sprints forwards, attempting to do another dash-by on Setsuna...cept, this time, in addition to just the sword, the Messenger from Afar has to worry about those chains...not as many...but there's still a few of them slashing outwards, and those edges look quite sharp...Still, the chains are mostly a feint. The real attack's from the ivory-and-soulsteel blade in Crimson Dawn's hands, attempting to slice low and deep into Setsuna's thigh.
Of note, by now, there's a small trickle of blood rolling down Crimson Dawn's face, a symbol starting to brand itself onto the forehead barely visible underneath the cloak...
Setsuna twists past some of those chains, avoiding their slashing edges: but others score hits, shredding through cloth and letting blood. None are blocked with his blade-- the demon is not foolish enough to introduce his sword to a swarming mass of links that would welcome the chance to lock around his weapon and divest him of it.
Of course, those chains -were- just a distraction. His attention diverted, the real attack comes too quickly to avoid, and soulsteel sinks deeply into its mark. Setsuna stumbles, his stability momentarily compromised, and black steel bites into the ground in a bid to maintain balance.
His sword, for the moment, occupied, Setsuna resorts to his bare hands. His free hand darts out as Crimson Dawn passes, attempting to vise into the Abyssal's collar-- or whatever else, preferably in the region of the throat, he can get ahold of. If he can get a decent enough grip, he'll take the Abyssal off the ground-- and then reintroduce him to it, hard.
Setsuna gets a glancing blow on Crimson Dawn with his QCF+C e_e attack.
You take 19 damage.
Hmmmm. Well, the Abyssal frowns slightly. Hmmm. How annoying. He just got bodyslammed. Hurt, too. And one of his swords got skittered away from him in the meanwhile. Well, one good turn...deserves another! The Abyssal vaults up from the ground, charging recklessly into close combat again, slamming Setsuna's blade away with his own as his own gloved hand slams out. Not to grab, not immeadiately...instead, his hand merely glows with a gleaming black and red energy, afore he slams it straight into Setsuna's face, hopefully knocking him backwards. Still, that's mostly just concussive force. If it hurts, sure, it'll hurt. The real attack's from the discarded sword, as a chain whips it back to Crimson's hand, the blade slashing at Setsuna's back as it passes!
You hit Setsuna with your Swordchain combo! attack.
Still somewhat off-balance from the deep wound in his leg-- which is taking an annoying amount of time to adequately repair to any workable degree-- Setsuna finds himself unable to get out of the way in time. The demon takes the hit-- which is, ironically, reminiscent of his own style-- straight to the face, stumbling back a few paces as predicted. The returning sword cuts a lurid wound across his back as it passes, the thick coat slaking off some of the force but nonetheless unable to stop the weapon.
The distance that opened up between the combatants is minor-- it is quickly closed again, the demon eschewing the support of his sword in order to bring it back to bear on the Abyssal. It's not the blade that is used, however: the sword reverses, and the pommel of the weapon swipes for Crimson Dawn's face in a jarring strike.
Setsuna stuns Crimson Dawn with his Hiltsmack action.
...Oh, hey, that isn't a sword blade that's the h-
KABONG!
Crimson Dawn starts cursing under his breath in Wavetongue, reeling backwards a bit, holding his head and ohshit wait swordfight.
Setsuna's eyes twitch to narrow red slits as the stroke manages to connect. The followup is a swiping, broad downwards slash across the torso. Somewhere along the line his weapon has changed hands, which means this time it strokes diagonally downwards from the right rather than the left shoulder.
Setsuna critically strikes Crimson Dawn with his shortest pose ever. attack.
You take 37 damage.
You are no longer stunned.
...Well, ow. That hurt. That hurt a lot. And, well, even if he isn't showin' it, poor ol' Crimson Dawn's starting to /feel/ the hits. Sure, he's not movin' like they're slowin' him down, but that's mostly because of his personal combat philosophy of 'Never Let them See You Sweat'. Or bleed.
At the moment, though, he's got a nasty gash that's sliced down into his buffcoat. It hasn't quite ripped apart the soulsteel plates there, but it found a nasty little chink in the leather and the metal...and then the cloak works /against/ Crimson.
Setsuna's blade doesn't penetrate directly. Instead, it merely forces the small, sharp-edged chains into the wound. Crimson winces.
And then, figuring, eh, why not, attempts to get vicious. He tries to grab the sword with a hand quickly wrapped in his cloak, and then holds a hand up, palm out, towards Setsuna's face.
And, finally, speaks. "Crypt...Bolt."
Annnnd, there's a large lance of necrotic energy slamming into Setsuna's face. Hopefully!
You get a glancing blow on Setsuna with your Crypt Bolt attack.
Magic. /Ranged/ magic. Moreover, ranged magic that he cannot adequately dodge, due to the fact that the Abyssal's steel-wrapped hand has seized ahold of his weapon. His attempt to avoid the attack completely suddenly aborted by that restraining grip, Setsuna is left with only enough time to twist to one side: the bolt searing the top of his shoulder and side of his neck, rather than hitting him directly in the face.
The arm attached to said shoulder falters slightly at the sudden flare of pain-- and unfortunately, it is currently serving as his sword arm. Therefore, instead of resorting to brute strength in order to reclaim his weapon, Setsuna turns to his innate energy: his Anonymity. A burst of that black lightning is sent like a charge straight down his arm and into the blade of his sword: if the Abyssal doesn't relinquish his grip in time, he's going to get a shot of painfully cold, searing despair. Undistilled suffering laces those carving arcs of electricity.
Setsuna hits Crimson Dawn with his Anonymity attack.
You take 31 damage.
...Well...erm....crap.
NO FAIR! HE'S USING PURE EMO ATTACKS!
The Abyssal, naturally insulted by someone using /angst/ on him, makes one last gasp, essence barely holding back the wounds he's suffered. He slams a hand back, an open palm slamming towards Setsuna's stomach, essence flaring. With luck, it'll slam him upwards. If he can pull that off...assuming he isn't countered...well, the Abyssal slams his hands together, his anima flaring, a roaring dragon coiling around him...and then dying slowly, a thousand swords erupting along its spine, its eyes rotting, as the Abyssal shapes essence, words echoing out in an unearthly language, before he hisses out one phrase.
"Ivory...Razor...Forest..."
Annnd, with that, nine foot long spears of sharpened bone erupt outwards and upwards, attempting to tear into Setsuna midflight and spear him upon landing. The essence-crafted spears of bone may not last for long, but, with some luck, they'll get the job done as row after row after row of bones tear outwards.
You juggle Setsuna with your Ivory Razor Forest combo.
Setsuna breaks your combo.
Hmm. Are those truly the correct sort of words to apply to concentrated massacre? To replayed murder? To the sensations experienced by those souls this blade has freed from their mortal coils: and then trapped? These feelings certainly did not arise from the self-pitying ministrations of children with razorblades: no. They arose from atrocities: acts which the Abyssal Exalted themselves should be quite versed in.
But as they say, familiarity breeds contempt; or at the least, resistance. Lesser creatures would have crumpled in agony: but such beings as Exalted are not so easily felled.
Crimson Dawn's retaliation is swift. The strike connects as intended, the spirit sent backwards and slightly up by the force of it. The summoned spears might not pin him as high or as early as intended, but nonetheless they impale him. The demon's body shows no real preternatural resistance to the sharp bone: their lengths pierce easily as his backwards momentum drives him directly onto them. His heels eventually bite into the ground as he skids to a stop: held upright, after a fashion, by spears that jut diagonally from the ground to saw through his chest.
For a few instants he does not move: the shock of the blows his body has just sustained are not inconsiderable. He sways slightly, unsteady, the red of his eyes faltering: and then the scarlet glow strengthens again, a virulent hatred smoking in his gaze.
He lunges, with a considerable effort and a snarl of pain, off the impaling spears: the wounds, no longer stopped up, spit blood that leaps to a boiling burn as soon as it hits the air. A swiping blow of the sword aims to return the favor and send the Abyssal upwards: should it connect, Setsuna-- lacking anything so showy as forests of bone-- simply angles to land as many broad slashes as possible, before arcing the blade around in a downswing to aid gravity in dragging the Abyssal back to the earth.
Setsuna juggles Crimson Dawn with his nothing actually fancy here e_ea combo.
You take 26 damage.
Setsuna juggles Crimson Dawn with his nothing actually fancy here e_ea combo.
You take 27 damage.
Crimson Dawn breaks Setsuna's combo.
You have been knocked out!
Archer has disconnected.
Oh crap.
Really no other way to put it, y'know. Oh Crap.
The Abyssal has one moment to glance up at the desending demon, annnnd then the sword smacks him from two directions, sending the Abyssal flying, eventually rolling into the foliage. He lies there for a moment, afore one of the trees, hungry, whips out a branch, dragging the unfortunately unconscious Abyssal further into the depths of the wood.
Granted, said tree will be very surprised when the Abyssal eventually regains consciousness and smashes it into splinters, but, well, one thing is obvious.
SETSUNA. WINS!
...damn, Crimson's sure he's going to get yelled at for this back in Skullstone.
A win, maybe, but not one earned easily.
The demon drops to his knees as the wood takes 'interest' in the unconscious Abyssal-- something he doesn't seem inclined to stop-- and the sword slips from his grasp. His newly freed hand moves immediately to his heavily-perforated chest-- the most severe of the wounds he has sustained-- and comes away steaming with blood. Setsuna emits a 'tcheh' thick with blood, the sound half-disgusted and half-pained, and leans slowly back against one of the trees that -isn't- awake. He might have gone after the Exalted in an attempt to finish the job, but truth be told he's not really in a condition to go off braving the trees of this place.
He is going to need a -while- to repair this kind of damage.