Duel

[answerer_sword]

Who: Bazett Fraga McRemitz and Zero Caster
What: Bazett has connections with the Church and Mage's association. Zero Caster doesn't like that. Zero Caster murders children and is, in general, a twisted bastard. Bazett doesn't like that. The result is that they're both mad at each other and are going to resolve it with a duel to the death in the park

Comments

[labarbebleue]

A figure approaches from far across Bazett. It's Caster... and he appears to be wearing pots and pans tied to a suit that the town provided for him in his wardrobe. He's carrying in his hand a long branch just found outside of his house. Tied to its tip is a kitchen knife. General Gilles de Rais simply used whatever he had lying around his house to give him any bit of advantage humanly possible.

He approaches Bazett, but he seems to be approaching a little slower than walking speed for whatever reason. And he's keeping a hand to his back. Regardless, he finally arrives and sees the violet-haired woman ahead of them.

"Hoh? Is that what you look like? Ahh... I can see a look of courage in those eyes of yours... It's the look of a person facing death, but planning to resist at all costs.

... But you lack grace."

[answerer_sword]

His makeshift armor looks silly, but she knows that in a knife of fist fight, it is practical. The knife taped to a stick operated as a polearm, so it means that he had better reach than her. She would have to do the same thing that she did when fighting the Lancer Card--dodge his strikes and get close enough to punch him. It would take a couple of strikes to punch through the pans, but she is sure that she can manage it.

"Says the man wearing pots and pans."

She shifts into an agressive stance, ready to attack at the first opportunity.

[labarbebleue]

"Yes, come, come, woman! Why waste any more time with words?" Caster asks, seeing Bazett quite eager to start the fight. He begins dragging himself towards her with his "spear" raised. The man's movements are still quite slow and if Bazett ran up to him now, there's no doubt she could have manage a hit. He remains confident despite his apparent disadvantage in speed. He eagerly waits for Bazett to attack.

[answerer_sword]

Bazett sees that he's slow. While this could be a trap, she could not let such an opportunity go to waste. After all, when it came to defense, she did have a disadvantage.

She charges and throws the first punch at the man's face.

[labarbebleue]

"Stop!"

Caster then reveals his trump card. He pulls from his back with his apparent free hand a child. The child is held by the collar and pulled up into the air with one hand to defend himself from the punch. His lizard-like lips stretch as he reveals the first of his several dirty tricks: a human shield. He isn't sure if Bazett is the type who would disregard the child and go for him instead, but most heroes would be stopped dead at their tracks with this.

"Look, I've brought someone to join in on our fun. He was running around the street on my way here and I decided to invite him. What do you think? Can he join? Oh, please, say yes... Please throw that fist of yours and crack open his face."

[answerer_sword]

Bazett stops her blow seconds before it hits the child. She had expected dirty fighting, but not something on this level. It makes her want to cave in the man's skull even more, but she does not want to risk harming an innocent child.

Of course, sometimes, for the greater good, innocents too had to be sacrificed. The problems is whether or not this duel is for the greater good. She decides that harming the child will only be risked if it is a drone. Before that, she could only watch and wait.

[labarbebleue]

"Look, look, boy... The brave woman from the Church doesn't want you to get hurt. Such thoughtful sentiments... You certainly are loved," Caster says, now cackling. He raises his makeshift weapon into the air and begins making swings and stabs at Bazett's sides. He's only using one hand, but considering his training as a soldier fighting for liberation, the attacks at least have some skill in them. He's intentionally dodging all the vital points to drag out this fight as long as possible.

[answerer_sword]

She blocks the best she can with one of her knives. Inwardly, she curses herself for letting her hesitation destroy her advantage. Going by the rules of the town, the child would have come back to life the next morning. She should have attacked regardless of the presence of a hostage.

Still, it was too late for regrets now, and though she is more agile than he is, she cannot avoid being cut on her right shoulder.

There were only two ways to avoid being cut by a pole arm--one was to stay far enough out of their attack range, and the other to press too close for them to be used effectively. Since she specializes in attack, only the second option is open to her.

[labarbebleue]

Should Bazett try closing in on Caster, the man would attempt to distance himself before giving the woman a stab from the knife. Should she be too close, however, Caster would attempt to swing at her with the branch. Granted, it may not hurt as much as the kitchen knife would, but the branch was still a blunt object that may still push Bazett away enough for him to deliver a stab. He raises the child high in the air as if egging on Bazett to hit him.

[answerer_sword]

The closer she gets, the farther the man backs away. It is a stalemate--just far enough for him to avoid her strikes, but also just far enough to keep him from using the sharp end of his weapon against her.

She catches a movement out of the corner of her eye and raises her arm to block a blow aimed at her head. It seems that Caster has given up on the polearm as a thrusting weapon and is instead handling it like a quarterstaff.

He is still holding the child up like a human shield. In addition, he is still wearing his kitchen armor. It would be hard to aim directly for him.

She decides to switch tactics and aim for his weapon instead. If she could either break it or take it from him, then she would have an advantage.

[labarbebleue]

Caster kept his swings up again and again, aiming for Bazett's head and sides. Each blow, however, was blocked, demonstrating to the man that this woman was quite skilled. This only served to irritate Caster, of course, as these days, despite his days as a general, he didn't like fighting mano a mano. As a magus, Caster preferred using magic to solve his pest problems, but this world has stripped him of it completely.

He swings the weapon at Bazett only for it to be struck by her. It's growing weaker and Caster began to hear the cracking only after he swung the branch at Bazett, giving her ample opportunity to finally break it.

[answerer_sword]

With the final blow, the branch breaks. The end with the knife attached goes flying. She finally has the opportunity to close in on him and aim a jab at his despicable face.

She doesn't notice the stike he aims at her legs until it is too late. Because he has been striking at her head and sides, she has focused all her defensive measures on those areas. Her lower body is, in contrast, completely unguarded.

[labarbebleue]

Bazett's jab connects with Caster's nose which cracks a little at the hit. It starts bleeding and lets out a shriek as he backs away from the woman still with child in hand. Perhaps it was because of the pain that he didn't take the opportunity to strike Bazett again, but without a weapon in his hands and just one arm to attack, her counterattack probably would have been both painful and relentless. It didn't seem like his hostage was doing much to keep her at bay anyway.

Caster backs away and begins to hesitate. "Curse you... Curse you, curse you, curse you, curse you! If I had a proper weapon, then I would..."

[answerer_sword]

"You would what? Even the best of weapons are useless when in the hands of someone so painfully incompetent."

Thankfully, her attack had halted his. She shifts into a more balanced position in case he decides to attack her legs again.

"Don't you think it's time you let go of the child? He's more of a hinderance to you at this stage."

[labarbebleue]

Without a word, Caster bares his teeth at Bazett, but silently complies. He pushes the child over to Bazett, allowing him to find safety with her. The drone, being a drone, doesn't understand what's going on and is just as happy as ever when seeing Bazett who, in his books, is just a nice lady. Caster clenches his fists and whispers a string of curses as he "admits defeat".

[answerer_sword]

Bazett quickly sends the child off, telling him to go play elsewhere because the "lady" and the "gentleman" were having a private "chat." As soon as the child goes out of view she turns back to Caster.

"Thank you for complying. In return, De Rais, I'll make you an offer. You have no weapon and you are weighed down by your armor. While it might protect you now, I shall certainly pulverize it within a couple of rounds. Then, I will kill you. However, if you admit defeat now and swear to never trouble the residents of this town ever again, I might let you go."

Not that she expects him to make that promise. And even if she does, she does not trust him to keep it. However, if he does make any more trouble, she could just track him down and really kill him.