Carnival: Madison Freebird vs. Elias Sid

[BlackAndBlueEyes]

Closed to Forsaken.

I don't understand it. I lost to Joshua Cronen, and I lost fair and square. My left arm twitched whenever I thought about the submission hold the Pagoda warrior used to finish me off. I walked out of his padded arena; tearful, broken, and defeated. So, why the flying fuck was I instated as one of the Warriors, alongside Joshua? One of the monks of the pagoda had approached me while I was sulking around the city of Radasanth and offered me the position. The robed man said that due to a technicality with one of the other warriors, there was an open spot, and that since my battle with Joshua was one of the best they had recently seen, I was deserving of a position.

Whatever, it beats throwing my scrawny ass over the side of a steep cliff as my last act of defiance against the rotten hand the gods dealt me.

However, to my dismay, activity was down at the pagoda. So I was merely sitting around, day in and day out, waiting for a challenger to step up. As the rookie, I was determined to show everyone--especially Joshua--what I was made of. The amount of downtime I had was excruciating, so I decided to do a bit of clothes shopping and took a volunteer position at the local library. It was a spur of the moment sort of thing, but the kind of literature I flipped through there was intriguing. Well-written novels, recaps of the various bloody wars Althanas had suffered through, and a few books on chemistry that I checked out for myself. Over the weeks, I had grown fond of working at the library. My brain soaked up every word that was written on those pages, titillating my imagination with their colorful stories about magic and fighting.

One day, as I was alphabetizing the horror section, a monk from the Dajas Pagoda approached me with a sealed envelope: A folded up piece of paper that solemnly reminded me of my true purpose in Scara Brae. It was a notice stating that I had my first challenger. His name was Elias Sid, and I was to battle him at 3:30 the next afternoon. So much for preparation, I told myself as I snatched one of the books I took out from behind the front desk and left for my humble arena to defend my position as a Warrior.

The next morning, after a hot bath and a brunch of blueberry pancakes and eggs, I donned my new dark purple dress and strapped my twin daggers around my thin waist. Underneath my emotionless exterior, I was actually kind of excited.

I stepped through the portal leading to my custom-built arena. I remember seeing this place in the Citadel once, and despite the monochromatic hue that prevailed, I liked it. I asked the monks here to reconstruct it as best as possible. They were spot on, from the placement of the various attractions to how translucent the spirits of patrons who resided inside were. Materializing in the midway, book in hand, I strolled around the carnival. I still had plenty of time before Elias was to show up.

I walked past the various game and food stalls, past the carousel, past the house of mirrors. The din of the mass of people choked the gray atmosphere. I looked down at my dress--it was nearly pitch black against the faded ash gray of my skin. I kept of forgetting about how my arena always turned even the most vibrant colors into depressing shades of gray. It made me feel at home.

The rollercoaster that created the carnival's boundies screamed by on the steel tracks as I made my way to a bench in the midway. I sat down, thumbing through my book until I found the page I had left off on. By my judgment, I still had time enough to finish the chapter before my opponent was scheduled to show up.

[Forsaken]

There was nothing to do in that forsaken world. Nothing. But nonetheless, Elias's test would still take place on Althanas rather than some other demonic realm where he could test his mettle against his own kin. Where was he supposed to do that? He couldn't walk around and pick fights with people just for the sake of proving his strength. That is, if they didn't pick fights with him first. His demonic visage often instilled fear as well as hostility into the minds of those who saw him, and what they do not understand, they fear. Sure, the demon knight wouldn't mind ripping anyone's throat out that he came across, but he knew the laws. He wasn't stupid enough to mindlessly attack anyone he came across whilst strolling through Scara Brae.

Elias was on Althanas for two reasons, to not only prove his strength but to increase it as well. Being a young Tanar'ri demon, he was barely strong enough to survive in his birth-realm. But here on Althanas the game had changed, and he was, from birth, stronger than any normal person in Althanas. But how to test it?

Hiding his appearance via a large black hooded cloak that he pretty much stole rather than purchased (a rather funny story, the merchant was frightened enough by his looks and ran away, leaving his clothing stall open), Elias read about the Citadel extensively. A place where one dueled and dueled to win money among other things. But that was it. He didn't read about any ranks or things that would prove someone strength. That was when he read about the Dajas Pagoda in Scara Brae. Now that place actually had ranks one could rise through. Maybe if the demon became a Master, that'd be when he was strong enough to go back home. Maybe not, but it was worth a shot.

Upon arriving in Scara Brae, Elias went to the Pagoda first thing. There were no sights that he wanted to see, nor were there any that would impress him in any way. Beauty wasn't something that he enjoyed. The bright blue, cloudless sky didn't prove to be a very good medium for traveling incognito, but thankfully he had his cloak. Despite, his devilish glowing red eyes still shone through any veil of shadow cast over his face by the hood. Plus with the horns on his helmet, he had no choice but to cut holes for them, so they still protruded visibly from atop his head. He walked quickly through the streets and straight into the pagoda at the time he was scheduled to fight, having registered a day beforehand. They said mid day, so he should have been able to fight then.

A portal was to be his transportation to his opponent's chosen arena, a portal in the middle of a small room in the back of the pagoda. Seemed logical enough. He read that the Hierarchs get to create their own fighting place, be it from a cliff edge to a bare, white-walled room. He wondered what this warrior's would be.

"Let's fight, then." The demon silently thought to himself, walking through the portal of dark blue and purple swirling lights. He shut his eyes as he walked through, he hadn't walked through portals much.

The dim lighting of the bare room the portal resided in quickly turned to bright, dull gray and black flashing lights as he was taken onto the hard-packed dirt ground of the carnival midway. The demon opened his eyes to the sight ahead of him. The dull and mundane colors of the weird realm that would otherwise be filled with vibrant colors of every rainbow hue were a welcome sight. It depicted despair, hopelessness in the demon's eyes. He liked it somewhat only because it portrayed those emotions on the bad side of the spectrum, but he would've rather preferred a little red in the scenery, a little fear and rage.

"What the... Hell?" He quietly murmured, his luminous eyes scanning the area from beneath the shadows of his cloak hood. Lights, sights and sounds spewed forth from every metal monstrosity that littered the whole place. Semi-transparent humans strolled around, dressed in extremely weird clothing, and they seemed to pay no heed to the scary-looking demon knight. Ghosts.

The demon opened his mouth to speak, the red fire burning inside his heart for all eternity showed from down his throat, it would have looked like a red candle burned constantly in his mouth, but in the twilight carnival that was the arena the color was more of a dark gray hue, "Disgusting." He mindlessly swung as a passerby carnival-goer's ghost, his metal claw-covered hand passed right through the man's head.

"Hmph. At least I won't have to worry about bumping into one of them." Elias said in his deep, evil demonic voice. After casually looking around at his surroundings, not really caring for the sounds of children yelling and cheering and the screeching of the black metal monstrosities that the humans were riding around the park, he looked at his opponent, sitting casually on a bench and reading a book. Well, he only assumed that the frail-looking woman was his opponent because she was the only non-transparent being around. He tilted his head back so the cloak hood fell off the horns and as thus, the rest of the black cloak fell off his back, onto the ground. Elias lowered his exposed head to face his presumed-opponent, blood red eyes narrowed.

His right dominant hand inched toward the hilt of the stiletto dagger on his right side, while his left hand opened up wide while a screaming ball of bright gray flame (which otherwise would've been a bright red/orange color) the size of his head began to shape in his palm. He knew that using his DemonFire at it's max capabilities right away would leave little left for him to use in the future, but he doubted that once the battle really got on, he wouldn't have time to create any more flame. He didn't care that she wasn't paying attention to him right away, her mistake. He knew that once he got to the arena, the fight began. The demon knight threw his left palm forward, the demonfire ball exploded from his hand and screamed with unnatural energy as it zoomed toward his opponent. The surreal look of it all was only enhanced by the dull black and white colors of the strange supernaturally created world that was his opponent's chosen fighting place.

The fight was on.

[BlackAndBlueEyes]

Colette gasped as the heavy oak door swung open, revealing the dark silhouette of an angry James. "Where did you hide the statue, you little bitch?" The ferocity of the tall man's voice made the blond quiver in fear. He slowly approached her, making no effort to hide the shining steel dagger in his right hand.

"I--I don't know where it is," she whimpered, her eyes darting around the room, looking for a quick escape. James blocked the only one she could see in the dark, windowless room.

"Bullshit", he responded, his voice guttural. "I know you have it. It was with you this entire time; I was just too stupid to notice it." Colette's hands began to shake as they gripped the polished, hollowed out marble statue behind her back. It's all over, she thought to herself.

Even through the atmosphere of the park, I could hear the unmistakable whoosh of the portal opening and closing, probably dropping off my opponent for the day. I looked up from my book briefly, scouring the midway in front of me for any signs of Elias, but seeing nothing other than ghosts perpetually enjoying their stay at my little carnival. I may not have known what he would look like, but he'd be instantly recognizable due to the fact that he'd be the only person I wouldn't be able to see through. After a few seconds, I returned my focus to the book. Elias will find me eventually, if he wants a fight so damn bad.

James quickly advanced, raising his dagger high into the air. The blond began to scream, but at the last second, before her attacker could pierce her fair flesh and spill her blood all over the floor, Colette brought the heavy statue from behind her and clubbed him in the temple. James grunted in pain as he fell, knocking over an end table and sending the woman's vase crashing to the floor.

Colette began to freak out as James shook the stars out of his eyes, climbing to one knee. Slowly, he turned his head. Blood was streaming from the side of his face where the statue collided with his skull, but something wasn't right. His eyes were glowing red. She stood there, tears welling up in her eyes as she dropped the statue onto the floor with a heavy thunk.

James let out an unearthly growl before he sprung at the woman, silencing her scream before she could even summon it.

I looked up as another sound cut through the noise of the carnival. A tall mass of dark gray stood in front of me. He wore a strange helmet that had three horns jutting out from it. There was another spike coming from a steel pauldron on his right shoulder. His eyes were glowing, giving him an evil appearance. His legs were well protected, but for some strange reason--either because he thought it was cool or he was a complete and total idiot--Elias's chest remained unprotected. I also noticed the stiletto daggers he kept at his sides and the sword strapped to his back. So, I'm against someone who likes to stab things.

Without so much as an introduction, my opponent raised a gauntleted hand, manifesting a ball of fire that glowed white hot. Elias fired off the projectile at me, but I was too quick; quickly springing to one side as the fireball screamed past me and exploded against the wooden bench, setting part of it ablaze. I didn't look back to see how damaging it would have been had it actually hit me; if he was that quick to attack me, I would have to remain on the offensive, giving him no time to strike.

Dropping my book onto the ground, I addressed my opponent, making no effort to hide my disdain for his introduction. "You know, a simple 'hello' would work just as well." Digging my heels into the dirt ground, I quickly reached for my daggers, commanding my wire to wrap around the blue spidersilk hilt of the one I would hold in my left hand. In a flash of steel, I unsheathed both of my weapons, charging towards Elias. When I was in striking distance, I began to move to my left and brought my right arm back for a stab, but feinted right and made a slash for his mid-section with my left hand.

[Forsaken]

He knew his initial attack would miss. She wouldn't be a Warrior Hierarch if she was that stupid. Despite, she was more agile than she looked, she even looked deadlier in the mundane colored realm than if everything was in color.

Despite all of the whirling gray and black lights mixed with the screaming and screeching of the carnival rides and the goers, the duel had begun without a second thought.

The time that it took for her to dodge his demonfire easily gave him enough reaction time to pull out his other dagger. Holding them in reverse-style, the demon knight got into a loose yet fierce offensive fighting stance as his opponent charged at him with her own dual daggers.

She came in on his right with her right hand, Elias simply raised his right hand dagger to block the blow. Easy. But no, her left hand flashed into the picture which surprised the demon a little bit. He wasn't ready for something like that but thankfully his fighting reflexes proved useful. Elias sucked in whatever gut he had and tried pulling back a little. The blade of his foe's dagger passed by, as well as a ghostly carnival-goer who aimlessly walked right through the fighters. The dagger sliced through his dark gray, otherwise blood red, skin. He didn't look at the wound and if he winced from the pain it wasn't visible from beneath his helmet. he could feel a the cold blood flowing down his torso, but the gash wasn't too deep to hinder him.

"Fucking natural skin-armor is useless." He quickly thought to himself as his booted feet shifted on the dirt ground. She might have been quicker and more agile than him, she probably was, but she couldn't have been stronger. Taking his size and natural strength and using it to his advantage, Elias's legs sprang forward to meet his enemy face-to-face, glaring at her with demonic eyes, while his left arm brushed out to his left to hold back his opponent's left arm after extending it to strike. His right arm, rather than using the dagger gripped tightly in it, he instead lifted his hand up and threw it at his opponent's face as a punch.

[BlackAndBlueEyes]

I heard the satisfying sound of steel passing through flesh as I gracefully moved to Elias's left. Dark liquid began to ooze out of the gash, and I could feel a sudden urge deep down to kill him and take a vial of his blood. From the way it slowly drained out of his body, I could tell that he wasn't human--as if his glowing eyes didn't give it away first. But, my moment of fascination with the wound would prove to be bad news.

I felt Elias tightly grip my left arm with his hand. His fingers constricted, sending a sharp jolt of pain up my arm. This guy was strong; and if I didn't do something quick, then he'd probably break my wrist with a simple twist. I looked over to see his right hand on a collision course with my face. Panicking, I wildly stabbed upward with my free dagger as I felt the impact of Elias's steel gauntlet against my jaw. I could feel the insides of my cheek explode, filling my mouth with a rush of metallic-tasting blood. I could feel my thoughts scatter as I cried out, spewing my crimson oxygen-provider onto the hard packed dirt. My body bounced like a rag doll from the impact.

Numerous shades of gray swirled around as I fell to the ground. The din of the carnival seemed to amplify threefold as my senses blurred for a split second. This son of a bitch is strong, I thought to myself as I collected myself from the ground. I could still feel the death grip my opponent had on my arm. A part of my worn velvet dress tore as I sat on my knees, doing my best to spot an opening. My assassin senses tingled as I saw the backside of Elias's knee--one quick slash, and he'd be crippled. My thin fingers tightened around the spidersilk grip of my dagger, and I swung my right arm around to ram my steel kris dagger into the tender muscle.

[Forsaken]

((Gah, apologies for delay. Guess this is my warning.))

Crack. He had connected. His opponent fell to the ground and Elias followed, intent on finishing his barrage. His right palm opened wide as a fist-size ball of dark gray flame crackled into his hands, cords of black electricity coiling around it's exterior. The stiletto dagger that was previously clenched in the hand dropped silently onto the dirt ground. He held the new ball of electric-flame in his hand, his next move would be to slam his palm into the woman's face and let the electricity surge it's way to the brain. He raised his hand slowly to do so, looking down with his glowing black eyes - that would normally be red - and glaring at the groveling assassin woman as she fumbled for balance on the gray dirt. An evil king ready to punish his insubordinate slave.

The loud carnival noises became muffled in Elias's hidden ears, and his vision became tunneled. Focused on her bleeding face which only meagerly satisfied him. The black liquid that was spurted on her face was only black because of that twilight realm, oh how he wanted to see that red fluid dripping onto the light brown dirt below.

"Gah!" The demon knight felt a blade slice through the hard tendons behind his left knee, where his armor didn't protect. If only he was stronger, and his skin was a little harder from his natural demon heritage, the blade may have not cut him that bad, but at that time it did. The demon cried out in devilish pain and dropped to his left knee, coming face to face with his opponent. He silently cursed at himself for screaming in pain, it was a sign of weakness. But the pain was excruciating, and he felt that he would need time before walking on that foot again.

"Stupid bitch." Elias said deeply and quietly in his demonic voice. Black smoke slowly seeped from his open mouth as he did, and his glowing black eyes locked with the dark eyes of his foe. The ball of electricity-fire in his right hand still screamed with power, crying out in blood lust, it's nonexistent mind thinking only of being thrust into the face of Elias's opponent. The ball would not be disappointed, the demon was sure of that.

Elias quickly pivoted his upper body to the left so he could face his opponent, his right arm lashing outward for her face, palm thrust outward, using the momentum of the pivot to throw a little extra power into it. He wouldn't be able to walk very well for a while, but he was damn sure that he'd make his foe not be able to stand for weeks.

[BlackAndBlueEyes]

I considered myself very lucky that the back area of Elias's knee was unprotected. His skin tore like paper as the dagger slashed through the tendons; the sickening sound of torn muscle was music to my ears. Elias grunted in pain, and a small wave of satisfaction passed through me knowing that I disabled him. There was no way that he'd be able to move freely; all that was left was to free myself from his iron grip and finish him off. However, I couldn't help but to feel a bit disappointed. This fight was a little too easy for me, a little too quick.

In my complacency, I stalled for a split second. It was all the time my opponent needed to charge up another spell. The sound of electricity pervaded the air, the crackling of bright energy drowning out the sounds of the carnival itself. Elias thrust his thick arm at my face, hoping to fry my brain and incapacitate me long enough to end the match in his favor. As quick as I possibly could've, I threw my body to one side.

Something touched my left arm. At first, I couldn't feel anything, but as if someone had blown up the dam, pain surged throughout the left side of my body. Suddenly, everything went white. The crackling intensified as the electricity ran through my nerves, drowning out the metallic sounds of my daggers hitting the ground. My eyes rolled up into the back of my head as I shook violently, breaking free of Elias's grasp. I regained control over myself a second later--the blast must not have been that powerful. I was reminded of the powerful fireball that was launched at me as soon as this guy arrived in my carnival. He must have only so much energy to use when it comes to magic.

I rolled away from the crippled figure, kicking up dust as I moved. Curling up into a ball, I tried to move my left arm, but to no avail. I clenched my eyes shut, squeezing out a tear as I tried again. Nothing. I pounded the hard packed dirt with my fist. Just fucking great--I'm no better off than Elias is!

This is nothing, I lied to myself. Get up. You have to continue fighting, no matter what. My vision was beginning to clear as I unwrapped myself. The pain from Elias's attack was beginning to numb, although my head still hurt. Tenderly clutching my left arm, I rose to one knee. I opened my eyes, scanning the black and white arena for a sign, any sign of that rat bastard. I was still having trouble focusing; everything looked like a massive gray blob between my scattered, pitch black bangs.

A snarl born of anger and frustration cracked my face. Where the hell are you, you son of a bitch...

[Karuka]

BlackandBlueEyes is the winner by forfiet!