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Description

The fighters are taken by plane to a place called Estella, a tourist spot where people are taken on explorations of the ancient city whose ruins are scattered across the forest that rests around them. The old civilization of Estella is known for being a city that was once ran by the magic of a water spirit. However, it was theorized that through some unknown event, the magic disappeared, making all of the city’s technology obsolete, and thus ending the legacy of a place ahead of its time. The old city may have lost its superiority, but Estella is still a beauty that others enjoy; from the lush greens of the forest trees to the sparkling crisp of the running waters around Estella, it is a living testament of nature’s splendor. The other thing that Estella is known for is the secret ruins found to the east by archeologists years ago in the forest of Everlive (live as in “alive”).

The next round’s fight takes place in a side venue located next to a series of running waterfalls, the sound of rushing streams creating a relaxing ambience to an already serene scene. The running waters move down among over-cropping rocks that outline the exterior of this flat rocky floor, creating a layer of water that is constantly moving across the ground. Not enough water to hinder movement, but every movement is likely to create a splash here and there. Unless the fighter wants their shoes filled with cold water, they are better off removing their footwear if it isn’t insulated. The rocks differ in sizes from small to large, with the northern edge of this area pointing toward the mass of waterfalls that populate this part of the forest.

Spectators are able to watch from a balcony, which is essentially a cliff with guard rails around it. A referee sits aside on jutted rock in the normal black stripped uniform, keeping watch over the proceedings, ready to leap in at any needed moment. And two cameramen are positioned around the area: one on higher ground, and another also on a rock platform closer to the fighting arena to watch from a closer view. Despite this, neither of these officials will be in the way for the duration of the match.

Field Measurements

The fighting area is the flat ground, which has a span of thirty feet in diameter. This is big enough to allow for more agile people the space to move around, and yet still gives a smaller space to let melee fighters have an easier time to corner their opponents.

Ten Count Boundary

Because of the nature of this arena, it is easy for someone to make use of the rock boundary that runs around the arena. Because of that, anytime someone gets on top of it to use it as an additional moving ground, it begins the ten count. In addition, running water is moving over them, so it makes any kind of travel along them harder, if not giving a good chance of slipping and hitting your head due to the water and uneven rock. Sustaining flight at least five feet above ground also starts the ten count.

Bonus

There seems to be a hint of magic flowing through these waters, and seems to be flowing passively into your body every post. For those who can make use of it, after you have made at least four posts in the fight, you are free to make use of this magical enhancement to increase an ability by one charge, or the equivalent of this, anytime after. In general terms, it gives your ability a significant boost in potency. Or, for physical fighters, you feel a slight pick up in physical performance, so it allows you one physical maneuver that is increased in power/ speed. This bonus only applies after you have done the normal preparation procedures your ability requires. It does not reduce concentration or effort.

You can only use this bonus one time in the entire fight.

Robyn....was surprised. Happy, very, very, very happy, but also surprised. She’d just been starting to pack up her few things when she’d gotten a call that Wade had dropped his spot, and she was back in for the next round. The news had come with a lot of relief, since it meant that much more controlled violence she could assuage Selene with, even if it was just for another round. The demon had enjoyed the taste of blood from the first round, but had been entirely unsatisfied with the last fight, ridiculing Robyn for getting blasted back like that.

Which was why the fox girl was planning to go into her miraculous second-chance fight with a more aggressive mindset. Friendly, of course, always friendly, but she needed to milk this opportunity for all it was worth. This was her way out, her deal, her contract with the evil thing inside her that would otherwise attack her mentally until she went on a murderous rampage, and it wouldn’t do to go back on her end of the “bargain”.

The fox girl was ready and raring to go, especially when she’d heard the location they were going to be at. She’d always been a very outdoorsy person, and the idea of fighting in a jungle instead of places like that grungy parking lot or whatever it had been definitely appealed to her. As she neared the actual location though, her face screwed up slightly at the sound of running water. Her fears were confirmed as she saw the waterfall nearby, causing her to sigh. There went a lot of the benefit of her fire abilities. Sure, she could keep the flame up even under the water, but all her opponent would have to do would be to splash themselves. She shrugged, she would still be fine without it; she had plenty of other abilities.

Robyn’s tail swayed behind her as she turned into the “arena” proper, her bright green eyes scouting out to see if her opponent was there already. Upon seeing the bikini-clad redhead on the other side of the rocky floor, the half-demon froze, eyes going wide. No...no way. She had to be hallucinating, dreaming, something. The gods couldn’t be so cruel as to bring her back into contact with the person she’d had dreams (some might call them nightmares) about killing.

She didn’t even realize she was shaking, her hands balled up into fists as she began stomping her way over to the succubus, water spreading unnoticed from her feet. ”You.....you b***h!” Her eyes were already swirling red as Selene growled in her mind. The redhead’s actions had resulted in the demon being imprisoned for months with no sustenance; she held no love for the scantily-clad woman either.

Those in the audience who remembered these two, particularly the last time they’d fought, were at a loss as to Robyn’s actions. What happened to the playful, sexy banter? The barely disguised flirting? None of that was there now, the fox’s body language screaming pure anger and rage. ”How the ******** could ya do that ta me, Rosalyn? They nearly killed me, ya know that?” Rosalyn would find the fox’s accent thicker than she remembered, whether it had gotten “refreshed” or whether it was a result of her obviously uninhibited mindset wouldn’t be clear, though. What was clear was that the lilac-haired girl now standing over her should probably have her worried. Key point being “should”.

As much as she had used to hope, underneath it all, Robyn now knew Rosalyn didn’t care about jack s**t but herself.

Robyn couldn’t believe the nonchalance Rosalyn was displaying. How could someone be that cruel, that dispassionate? It sickened her, and the fox girl wouldn’t allow the succubus to get that close to her, immediately swiping at the redhead’s outstretched arm with her left hand, claws extended as she growled. ”No, you don’ get ta just act like nothin’ happened! Do ya know what it feels like ta have your soul ripped apart?!” Whether her first swipe hit or not, her other hand would claw out as well, aiming for the redhead’s face in a somewhat reckless maneuver, but Robyn didn’t care. All she could think about was how the succubus kept torturing her, and how she’d always fallen for it when Rosalyn claimed to be sorry. But the smug look on the other girl’s face as she watched Robyn be carried off would now forever be burned in her mind, reminding her to never give Rosalyn an inch.

”Well I ********’ do! I nearly died, it’s only by a sheer miracle I didn’! An’ when I finally come back, I find the smell of you an’ her all over my place.” Her mouth quirked back in a satisfied smirk. ”I burned those ******** sheets by the way.” The expression dropped back to one of anger, less rage and more just a barely controlled darkness. ”If only I could do tha same for you.” Rosalyn might remember the last time she’d made the fox girl this upset, and she would definitely find the similarities. Her irises were more than half red, her lower canines, normally retracted to human size were elongated, and the tattoo-like image that covered her upper body (at least the fox paw visible on her neck) was fading in and out in a pulsing rhythm.

The audience above them was fascinated, wondering what exactly the succubus had done to make the normally easygoing martial artist this ticked off. Robyn was certainly yelling loud enough for them to hear even over the running water around them, but the details were unclear.

”You get no kindness, no mercy from me. No more games, Red.” She spat the nickname out like it was a curse, promising horrible things for the demon in front of her. ”I’m done with you. I won’ kill you right now, fer the sake of this tournament, but that’s all. I will tear you apart, make you wish for death. I’ll make you finally suffer.”

Tears of rage and pain rolled down her cheeks as she lunged at Rosalyn with a guttural cry, her hands aiming to close around the other girl’s throat as she tried to tackle her to the stone floor.

Rosalyn’s words only set her off more, wound her up more, weakened her discipline more. The succubus represented everything she hated about herself, whether mirrored or simply by being tolerated for so long. She hated the other girl right now more than anyone she’d ever known, and that included her old mentor and co-conspirator with Rosalyn, Sabrina. At least Sabrina had been working with self-preservation in mind. Rosalyn just went along with it for fun. Robyn couldn’t wrap her brain around it, and it was resulting in the less-than-coherent manner she was attacking the succubus in.

The vixen straddled the other girl, keeping her hands around her throat and squeezing, digging her nails in enough to draw blood as she ignored the water soaking her pants legs beneath her. Oh, how she wanted to just tear the redhead’s throat out, something Selene wholeheartedly agreed with. True aggression and anger from her host were so rare, the fox demon was willing to keep back and let Robyn “enjoy” the experience, simply fueling the fire and not letting her think rationally.

The pain of Rosalyn ripping at her ear, though, was enough to make her pay attention to the fact the succubus underneath her was still able to move and do damage. One hand let go of her prey’s throat, shoving her arm up and away to forcefully dislodge the other girl’s grip, almost like she was brushing away a fly. At the apex of the motion she balled her fist up and swung back down, aiming to slam her knuckles into Rosalyn’s cheek.

In among the anger in her eyes, disbelief flickered through Robyn's expression. "You're ********' insane, Red!" She didn't speak with worry of the other girl, merely incomprehension for the lack of fear and even encouragement for the vixen to continue. Her ear burned with the grip the succubus had on it, causing her to growl in pain as she kept shoving up with her arm. She managed to finally dislodge the redhead's grip, but the half-demon's tunnel vision worked to her disadvantage, for even as her fist was swinging down at Rosalyn, she found herself slammed to the side by the pommel of the whip, her cheek throbbing and skull aching just as much as the redhead's probably was from her own strike.

Robyn had been taken off-guard, but she was by no means slow to react, managing to at least catch her fall on her shoulder instead of her head. She'd fallen to the side of the succubus, legs still partly over the other girl's waist, and her hand had released its grip on her prey's throat. Half of her braid dragged over the stones beneath them as she moved, trying to swiftly regain her stability. Rosalyn had hurt her again, and again, and again, and she wanted, she needed, retribution, satisfaction.

All her focus was on the succubus in front of her, causing the illusion that normally covered her “tattoo” to disappear completely, showing the fox paw curled around her neck and trailing down her back that not many people saw outside of her fights. Celas and Rylen had been some of those few who had, her closest friends on Gaia, and because of the b***h below her she had no idea where they were, where they had gone off to in the year she’d been gone. All her fault, everything was Rosalyn’s fault. She wouldn’t say she’d been happy before the redhead had entered her life, but certainly happier than what she’d experienced in the 3 years she’d known her.

Knowing the succubus would most assuredly take the advantage of Robyn’s position being unstable, nay, vulnerable, the fox would quickly pull her legs up in front of her, one bracing itself on the ground for leverage and her left knee nearly pulled up to her chest, ready to lash out. She did not want to let Rosalyn get her in a pin. The vixen would try to rise from that position, mainly using her right leg underneath her to push herself up, ready and watching and waiting for the expected incoming attack.

Robyn was relieved that the succubus hadn’t gone for the pin, although she wouldn’t take the time to show it, instead pushing to her feet as Rosalyn did. ”Guess I shouldn’ be so surprised you two got along...yer almost identical...” Sabrina hadn’t been quite as into receiving pain as Rosalyn was though; she was usually more interested in causing it. The fox girl growled as unbidden memories ran through her head, but she mentally shook them off. Now was not the time to think about her old mentor, she needed to focus.

And rightly so, as her opponent brought her whip up for the attack, making Robyn’s eyes go wide. The fox ducked, mistakenly presuming the attack was aimed for her face. Unfortunately that was not the case, although the distance helped with the sudden crack above her head that assaulted her ears. Not by much, though, as she yelped with the lash of pain that made her flinch away, eyes closing to slits as she glared at the other girl. The appendage on that side rang, blocking sound for the moment. The vixen wouldn’t give the redhead the time to pull the whip back for another attack, lowering to the ground for a sudden dash, aiming to tackle the succubus’ legs.

It was less Robyn not being as affected by the whip as the fox really wanted to stop Rosalyn from more attacks. Those loud sounds ******** hurt, and she knew the succubus would press that type of attack all day long if she could. This was a hard fight; both women knew each other’s strengths and weaknesses fairly well, along with fighting style and personality. The vixen hadn’t seen Rosalyn this unhinged, though, but whether that was better or worse for her remained to be seen.

Her dash was quick, hands on the ground to push off a moment before outstretching them for the tackle....only to find her target out of reach, not through a dodge exactly, at least not one to the side. However, Robyn’s one true advantage against the succubus would come into play; she had the edge in reaction time, and instead of allowing Rosalyn to grab her shoulders, she ducked her head down, changing her angle of attack to hit the ground faster, out of reach of the redhead’s arms. Her tackle turned into a slide against the rocks, the lilac-haired vixen grunting as she hit the ground with a thump. With friction against her, she came to a stop not barreling into her prey’s legs as she’d wanted, but definitely within reach of them.

That was not her worry right now, though. She was prone, almost exactly underneath her enemy, and all the redhead would have to do would be to simply fall forward and she’d have her pinned. Her reach could come into play with how she handled it, though. With a growl of effort, her outstretched arms grabbed the succubus’ bare ankles, digging her claws in both for damage and grip, before she flipped her whole body over to be face up, her disproportionate strength more than enough for an attempt to fling Rosalyn’s legs to the side and hold them up as well, denying the redhead the ability to use them to help her catch her fall.

Damn, she hadn’t been quick enough, or maybe Rosalyn had just been too unbalanced to begin with. That seemed unlikely, though, seeing as the succubus was all about sensuous grace. Either way, didn’t matter how it had happened, Robyn now had a redhead on her back, a very dangerous position considering this particular redhead. The fox struggled, pushing herself up slowly with her arms, intending to just lift both their weights, a normally feasible enough task.

Unfortunately, the sudden yank on her tail caused her to yelp and drop back down due to the lance of pain that tore through her. Again, weaknesses. She knew Rosalyn knew her tail was extremely sensitive, especially around the base. Normally the spot was a weakness for a different reason, but it was just as sensitive to pain if it wasn’t treated right. The appendage spasmed at the tug, lashing into the other girl’s face out of reflex.

Feeling her tail brush against the succubus’ face, or at least something around that area, she’d take the hopefully momentary blockage of view as an opening, swinging her booted feet up and back towards where she presumed Rosalyn’s head to be. Whether it hit or not, she’d use the swing of momentum to try to shove her body to the side, wanting to dump her “rider” in the process.