Bat - 003

[shitcrazy]

Who: Bat and Jaina Proudmoore, later joined by Arthas
Where: just outside the industrial sector of Somni
Style: third
Status: closed

Comments

[wantedtostudy]

A flash of light.

Jaina appeared in a shower of sparks, having taken a momentary detour to acquire some of the supplement in question, which was now in a small pouch clipped to her cloak. She exhaled sharply, the momentary nausea from the teleportation fading...

...she could tell right away that Bat was having trouble controlling it. She felt sorry for him, actually - just the simple fact that it had come this far meant that he hadn't been hunting. Perhaps if he could get used to the supplement...

No, there wasn't time to think about that. He was still a very dangerous foe, and one that she should not take lightly. Jaina had of course been prepared for the eventuality that she would lose from the moment she offered the terms, but... well, she'd be lying to herself if she said the prospect of being killed and eaten didn't frighten her at all.

She inclined her head to him in a bow - there was no point in asking him if he was sure, or if he'd try the supplements without the need for a fight. He wouldn't ever agree.

[shitcrazy]

The moment she arrived, Bat pushed himself away from the wall. He held both daggers out in a ready stance, but it was difficult to keep steady. His whole body was screaming at him to transform and devour her, and the scent of live flesh was overwhelming his senses.

There was no way he'd stand a chance as he was, so at last he allowed himself to transform before he fell over. He almost lost himself right then and there, the sensory overload becoming nearly unbearable.

He just had to beat her. Beat her, devour her, and he'd be fine. A couple hard flaps of his wings sent a powerful blast of wind in her direction.

[wantedtostudy]

A hastily muttered incantation, and the air in front of Jaina glimmered with a blue light, forming a bulge in front of her - as the wind collided with the glowing shield, the air itself instantly froze into a barrier of ice, protecting her from the wind.

Jaina lashed out with her staff to strike the barrier, shattering it into a thousand shards of ice - and another mental command sent the wall of glittering frozen daggers slicing through the air in Bat's direction.

[shitcrazy]

Bat landed, folding his wings about him. In this stance, there was nothing that could get through to him unless it came from below. His wings might as well have been made of steel. It was this same reinforcement that allowed him to use them to slice through Gale before.

So she had a sort of shield as well. That didn't put him in the best of positions. He couldn't counter with his. The most he could do for the moment was to move the moment the ice had finished coming his way and try and upward slash with the sharp side of one wing.

[wantedtostudy]

"Blink."

Another flash of white light, and Jaina reappeared in a cascade of sparks about twenty yards away from where Bat had tried to slice her in two - now facing his back. "Ice Lance!"

Those protective wings of his would be problematic, but she wondered if he could guard from attacks coming from behind him as two spears of ice immediately snapped into being, hurtling through the air as lethal missiles.

[shitcrazy]

That cheating bitch! Spinning in place in the air was something Bat was quite talented at, fortunately, but it took him a moment to even register that she'd moved. Only one of the spears was blocked completely by his wing. The other sliced neatly along the side of one leg and caused him to cry out in pain.

It wasn't likely that he'd be able to get close enough to leech health off of her, but there was another alternative. Normally he would taunt his opponents before casting this, but it was hard enough right now just remaining sane.

He'd see how she fared with Zotzilaha Bane. As a bat, he might be able to gobble her up quickly. Not to mention some of the health she lost from the change in size would be transferred to him. With a cackle, he sent the transformation spell her way.

[wantedtostudy]

She was just a fraction of a second too slow on her Counterspell - and the moment he finished the spell, she recognized the feeling for what it was... a shapechange. Though the feeling was rather different from the Polymorphs she'd ever had used on her, the sensation of being squeezed and remade was rather the same.

She was flying, she realized. As a small, normal... bat.

Fitting.

Also, dangerous - in his shapeshifted form, he was much bigger than her, and he was no doubt faster as well. Jaina (the bat) quickly flew backwards, trying to put room in between her and her predator, and she began to mutter the words to a reflexive Ice Barrier - and then stopped in realization.

She could still cast in this form. And Bat was sure to attack her at any moment. If she'd been human, she would have smiled as her next plan of action hit her. It was so obvious.

"Polymorph."

If all went as planned, the bat would find himself a harmless sheep.

[shitcrazy]

He was already diving towards her when Bat suddenly lost all ability to fly entirely. With a startled cry (Baaa??) he fell to the ground and shook his head. She'd turned him into something too? What was this? What was he? Four-legged? What? What? He knew this odd sort of fur. He'd seen something like it before on demons. Brutes members. He'd devoured a few in the past. It wasn't like they'd been short on grunts. He should have a horn, though, and he didn't.

The demon-turned-sheep stamped a foot angrily. Though, on that note, his injured leg didn't hurt nearly so bad anymore...

This wasn't good. The bat transformation would only last but a minute or two. His own new form had better not be permanent.

[wantedtostudy]

Her Polymorph would only last for about a minute as well - Jaina used the time (and benefit of her form) to fly up and above to one of the buildings, perching in a shadowed nook where she could observe Bat and plan her next move... and if her spell broke first, hopefully her hiding spot would buy her some time.

[shitcrazy]

Son of a bitch. Bat hopped up and down in irritation. She wasn't supposed to be using his cute little transformation technique against him, damn it. He began pacing, keeping his eyes turned upward in the direction she'd flown off in. Had she run away? No, she was too good for that.

After a few moments, his body began to feel a bit tingly and he could tell the polymorph effect was wearing off. That, at least, was promising. Maybe if he could send a burst of wind in her direction he could still catch her off guard before she got a chance to attack him again.

[wantedtostudy]

Jaina, on the other hand, was feeling rather concerned. The transformation didn't seem to be wearing off yet, and she knew hers wouldn't hold for much longer.

She quickly raced through her options. Would channeling an Iceblock remove the spell? It wasn't magic from her world so she couldn't be certain, and she could only Iceblock once every few minutes... though as long as she could still cast spells in this form, she could avoid him through her Arcane trickery.

And then she felt the familiar tingle in her body as her form started to return to normal -

- she'd miscalculated. The nook in which she was perched was big enough to shield a human of relatively slight stature, but it would not support a human's weight. The wood buckled and broke, and Jaina found herself falling: "Slow fall!"

She was now drifting gently to the ground - safer, yes but also more of a target.

[shitcrazy]

Why was it taking her so long to reach the ground? Bat frowned, even as he took to the air again. He wasn't going to take any chances coming straight at her yet. Instead, he built up the wind just as he'd intended to do. If she continued as she was, he'd hopefully be able to knock her back into the wall of the building with a fair amount of force.

If he succeeded with that, it might daze her enough that he'd be able to finish her without much trouble. He wondered if she'd taste much different than Jinana had...

[wantedtostudy]

Jaina moved quickly to cast another ice barrier - but she wasn't entirely quick enough, and the gust of wind caught her unguarded, slamming her against the concrete wall of the building. She gave a little cry as the wind was forced out of her lungs by the impact - it was hard to breathe - and fell to the ground.

Momentarily stunned and trying to catch her breath, Jaina struggled to get back on her feet, feeling the first glimpses of genuine fear. She was more than capable of winning this, but another mistake like that might cost her her life.

[shitcrazy]

Bat lost no time diving in for an attack. He swooped forward, the sharp edges of his wings prepared to slice through the woman's soft flesh.

He knew if he spilled her blood, then the tenuous grasp he was keeping on his sanity would probably be lost. Hopefully, however, if he devoured her fast enough he might still be able to reign himself in before he was out of it completely.

What would happen after that was still up in the air, but she'd brought on this challenge. He couldn't be blamed for having her keep up her end if she failed to defeat him.

[wantedtostudy]

He was so close - Jaina barely had time to whisper the incantation: "Blink!"

As it was, she wasn't entirely in time, either. As she was starting to dematerialize, the demon caught up to her, his wing slicing into the side of her abdomen, though she had teleported away before it could cut through completely.

Still, it sent daggers up her spine every time she breathed as Jaina fell to her knee, again behind Bat. She needed to buy herself time. "Invisibility." And all around her, the world faded to gray as she vanished from sight.

Even so, Jaina didn't doubt that Bat could track her by the smell of her blood. Even if he couldn't, there was no point in chancing it. She had to distract him.

One final whispered incantation, and Bat would see a flicker of movement off to his side... but it wouldn't be her. Rather, it would be a spirit made entirely of water springing into being - and shooting a high-powered spray of water at the demon.

[shitcrazy]

A crazed shriek filled the area as Jaina vanished. Bat knew exactly where she was, though. Oh yes. The smell of her blood on the air was intoxicating. He lifted a wing briefly to his mouth, tongue lapping what small bit of blood remained from the attack.

He was all demon now, and he was about to dive at the invisible form when he was hit from the side by the water attack. He'd been so focused on her that he hadn't even seen it materialize. What was this other enemy? Why did he always end up being outnumbered?

He shrieked again as he was knocked to the ground, flapping awkwardly in an attempt to right himself.