Virtual Conquest Drome 1: Gravity Orrery

[Lordxana0]

Created by: agoraoptera

This is truly a no-man’s-land, or rather, no land at all. The arena lies deep within a chasm, mid-air. Luminescent blue orbs of sizes ranging from peas to elephants hover, wriggling in strange erratic motions. Step in any of these and you’ll find yourself floating, your fatal drop into nothingness halted. Unfortunately, each anti-gravity sphere will only hold you for several seconds before popping with an explosive burst that won’t affect you if you were inside, but then you’ll certainly fall to your demise. Watch out for bubbles that are too close to each other; if one bursts, it might trigger quite a vehement chain reaction.

Speed is essential; keep up momentum and keep moving from bubble to bubble, using the walls of the chasm as bouncing boards. Of course, you might want to take down your rival as soon as possible.. the chasm’s walls might seem closer and closer as the fight goes on, and we hear death-by-crushing is a terrible fate.

Current Champion:
Current Battle: Endless Sea vs Genndy Oda C.O.G

[agoraoptera]

[Endless Sea vs Genndy Oda C.O.G]

"Ladies and gentlefolk and men of every stature and type, a round of applause for our brave first contestants! Our inaugural battle shall take place right here, live at the Gravity Orrery. If you'll kindly direct your attention to that little alcove in the chasm wall- thank you, convenient spotlight- we have with us the hulking golem Malachi LaJeong! Now, to the opposite wall- thank you again, spotlight- we have.. well, you can't really see him through all that black smoke, but nevertheless, give up hand for the draconic Dark One!"

"Now, we want a nice, clean, brutal fight. I kid, I kid, pull out every under-handed tactic you can possibly conceive of and may the greatest killer win!"

GM Note: The starting alcoves will disappear as soon as you leave them.

[Genndy Oda C.O.G.]

From his cave along the wall, Malachi smirked. "Anti-grav spheres? Really? I think I'm good." With a swift leap off of the edge, and a cry of "Boots of Zhu Rong!", the colossus soared into the chasm, awaiting his opponent's next move.

[Endless Sea]

Within his shroud of shadows, the Dark One raised a hairless eyebrow. Wouldn't have thought a magical construct like that could talk, he thought. I suppose that's a decent enough reminder not to underestimate my opponents as usual. Very well, then- I suppose I'll be scrapping my plan to stick to brute force and elemental power, not that I'll let it get in the way of me having my fun...

The war god extended a four-taloned hand and clenched it into a fist. In response, a pebble-sized antigravity orb a few meters away from the construct detonated with the force of a weak grenade, followed shortly (and much more violently) by the half dozen bed-sized bubbles around it.

[Genndy Oda C.O.G.]

As the first bubble exploded, Malachi rocketed up, passing by many more spheres, each exploding as the wave of fiery death reached them. Once safe from the bursting bubbles of energy, the colossus turned towards the source of the attack, took hold of the pendant around his neck, and called out, "Eye of Dian Mu!" A bolt of lightning rocketed out of the gem in the pendant's core, aimed straight towards the cave's entryway.

[Endless Sea]

The Dark One chuckled and, with a wave of his hand, conjured a hemisphere of black metal from his shroud that harmlessly absorbed the electric bolt. They never bother to use normal lighting bolts; it's always those slow shots that never quite seem to figure out where they want to go. A snap of the war god's fingers transformed the impromptu shield into an array of lances, which immediately launched themselves at the enemy construct. Here. Maybe these will be easier for you to hit, provided they don't hit you first.

[Genndy Oda C.O.G.]

"Fist of Bājíquán!" With the gauntlet's magically-imbued strength coursing through him, Malachi knocked the incoming lances away, hurriedly righting himself afterwards. " All right then, let's try something different. Shroud of Yama!" With a dramatic 'swoosh', he vanished, invisible to any sort of sight.

[Endless Sea]

A shroud of shadows to conceal oneself from a god of darkness... The Dark One huffed. You truly have no clue what you're dealing with, do you? Another wave of the dragon's hand, and the cloud of darkness surrounding him radiated out in every direction, covering the ravine and everything inside it in shadowy essence. Another gesture caused the shadows that had latched onto the construct to coalesce into tentacles of elemental energy, and the magical limbs wasted no time in tightening their grip on their creator's foe.

[Genndy Oda C.O.G.]

"You know," Malachi commented to himself, as he glanced down at the tentacles of darkness now trapping his personage, "in hindsight, I really should have seen this coming. I suppose I ought to get creative." Using the innate power of the Corazon del Jeong, Malachi flipped the Eye of Dian Mu to face himself. With a shout of the artifact's name, lightning struck the bronze behemoth, followed by another cry of "Fist of Bājíquán!" With both electricity and mystic strength flowing through him, Malachi managed to break free from the shadows' grasp. " This is going to be harder than I thought." His helmet contorted itself into some semblance of a grin. "Just the way I like it. Shimdal Sash!" Malachi's arm lashed out, flowing towards his reptilian adversary, three talons primed to strike.

[Endless Sea]

Grunting, the Dark One reached forward and plucked the fabric arm out of the sky. Poor choice of attack, that, he thought, and with some effort he pulled on the sash hard enough to pull his opponent off-course and throw him towards the ravine wall. As he released his grip, a purple spark leaped from his hand to the construct's, and immediately an ultra-destructive wave of cursed fire raced up the prehensile sash towards its wielder.

[Genndy Oda C.O.G.]

Unfortunately for Malachi, the moment the purple flames reached their malachite-colored counterparts rippling off of him, what was left of the Shimdal Sash was sent flying in a burst of fiery blue energy. Using the Corazon del Jeong, he pulled the tattered remnants of cloth into the so-called "tunic" he used as a torso. "It's a good thing the powers for these things are vaguely defined..." he muttered to himself, his one remaining arm clutching the Eye of Dian Mu. With yet another cry of the pendant's name, a more traditional bolt of lightning flashed into the sky, and instantaneously crashed down again, finally landing a blow on the scaly sorcerer he was pitted against.

[Endless Sea]

The shroud of essence flashed briefly as lightning arced down from the sky, crashing into the Dark One's right wing and sending it into a short bout of convulsions. The dragon god grinned and dissipated the stricken appendage, then reformed it in prime condition. Well done, he thought. It seems you're learning from prior mistakes. Good, good... That means I get to play a bit rougher now.

He knelt down and tapped the ground, and wisps of dark energy flowed from his hand into the side of the ravine. The stone trembled, loose bits of rock crumbling off and falling into the unending abyss, and suddenly an enormous granite fist erupted from the side, easily dwarfing the construct it was set to punch.

[Genndy Oda C.O.G.]

'Lasting defenses, don't fail me now...' "Tiě Shān Tunic!" The bronze torso-piece shone with a golden light, adding massive amounts of mystical energy to Malachi's already-strong defenses. The immense fist did, however, knock down his helmet, boots, shroud, and his one good fist, leaving only the magically imbued armor to defend the Corazon del Jeong. The five artifacts plummeted towards the bottomless ravine, but they soon began to slow, before flying back to reform the golem's body.

[Endless Sea]

A low rumble escaped from the Dark One's throat as he gazed down into the ravine, his eyes tracking his downed opponent as it fell past clusters of gravity orbs. A single strike, and you're already in pieces, he thought. How flimsy of you. Perhaps I overestimated your skills after all.

From the war god's shroud emerged several tendrils of smoke that arced into the abyss, popping several gravity bubbles as they chased the falling components of the golem. Very well, the Dark One decided. I was contemplating seizing your core and ripping out your power source, but I suppose that I might as well show some restraint if I intend to get any more enjoyment out of this fight. Nonetheless... The tentacles wrapped themselves around the golem's footwear and quickly withdrew. ...those boots are mine.

[Genndy Oda C.O.G.]

The boots quickly burst off in flame, struggling against the shadowy tendrils. As it did so, it pulled Malachi closer and closer, until the flames that made up his legs were reformed. 'I knew I should have brought more artifacts,' he thought, before firing another classical bolt of lightning from the Eye of Dian Mu at the dark appendage, this time coming directly from the pendant's gem.

[Endless Sea]

Still maintaining his grip on the construct's boots, the Dark One winced as another bolt of lightning struck his chest, blasting away some of the shadow dust that comprised his body. Interesting, he thought. You can choose which part of your body you reform around, rather than limiting yourself to your core. Or perhaps my grip was too strong for the pull of your body's reconstruction, but not quite enough to break the bonds connecting... wait. No. Focus. Save the analysis for after I've claimed victory.

The dragon god eyed the magical tethers that held the golem together. Held together by fire, I see,[i/] he noted. [i]Well, normal fire or otherwise, I suppose a bit of ice in response is worth a try... He inhaled deeply, then let out a gravelly roar that echoed through the ravine, dislodging some rocks by its sheer volume. From his mouth came a tempest of ice borne on hurricane-force winds, its inherent arcane energies carrying it directly towards the Dark One's chained opponent.

[Genndy Oda C.O.G.]

The wave of ice stopped Malachi in his place, but he continued to float. Ice? I see logic is trying to take its part in these affairs at last. Despite this, though, the green fire continued to flicker in and out between the artifacts. It's a pity that it'll be of no use, though. The ice continued to melt off of the golem, but even as he was still partially immobile, he reoriented himself, pointing the spikes of the Casco del Jeong towards the draconic sorcerer-ish... thing. "Boots of Zhu Rong! Maximum force!" The fire flowing from the bronze boots increased a hundred fold, rocketing Malachi head-first towards his adversary.

[Endless Sea]

Really, now? the Dark one thought. A head-on tackle? What an absolutely atrocious strategy. The dragon god's right arm shuddered and suddenly tripled in mass, bony spikes sprouting from every pore until its hide was no longer visible. Fine, then. If you're so eager for melee combat, I might as well oblige you. He reared back and threw a punch, his arm elongating to propel his engorged fist at ludicrous speed towards the oncoming construct's helm.

[Genndy Oda C.O.G.]

As the bony fist charges towards Malachi, he smiled nervously, or as nervously as one could smile when one's head is a helmet. Perhaps I should have thought this through more. Oh well. No time for regrets. He pulled back his fist and, barely heard above the roars of the wind, called out "Fist of Bājíquán!" and flew fist-first towards the approaching punch. At the same time, the Shimdal Sash, which had stretched a considerable amount, snapped forward, charging around the fist in hopes of striking a blow against his adversary.

[Endless Sea]

The Dark One smiled as his opponent neared him, and with a thought his right arm altered itself once more. His fist split apart into numerous spike-covered tentacles as it neared the construct, the shadowy tendrils evading its extended fist and curling around its blazing torso as they sought out the source of the golem's power.

[Genndy Oda C.O.G.]

The tentacles coiled around the Corazon del Jeong, ripping it from the Tiě Shān Tunic which guarded it so far. Once the Heart was free, the rest of the pieces of Malachi vanished, reappearing on the Virtual Conquest Observation Deck. Despite this, the Heart continued to pulse, a complex symbol written in dried blood upon the top of the bronze object.

[Endless Sea]

The tentacles retracted, leaving the Dark One to gaze down impassively at the artifact clutched in his right hand. "Hello, there," he murmured in a language no other had spoken for eons. "Judging by the condition of your equipment, I daresay you're no longer in any position to fight me. To your credit, construct, you managed to surprise me more than once with your skills, and thus I have decided not to destroy you... yet." The dragon god held the artificial heart above his head and smiled. "I look forward to seeing what else the empire can learn from you. Have a safe journey, now."

A small portion of the Dark One's shroud of essence condensed itself into an uneven tear in the fabric of reality, sucking the artifact out of the war god's hand and transporting it to a waiting Eclipse Empire research facility in a distant star system. Nodding, the Dark One sat down and assumed a meditative pose on the floor of his alcove, awaiting the announcement of his victory.

[Lordxana0]

"Congratulations on your hard earned victory" a mad man dressed in bright orange and blue appeared from nowhere, spinning a cane in one hand and holding a bag in the other. "For your victory you are now named" he tossed his cane in the air and snapped his fingers, causing a massive sign that glowed in hundreds of different colors and made out the word "Champion". The man placed the bag next to the winning play and smiled. "You are now the proud owner of three hundred Conquest Bucks, which can be used to place bets at the Gambling Parlor, or perhaps spend it on some of Virtual Conquests virtual food. All of the flavor with none of the calories, or the nutrition mind you!" The world shifted, removing the corpse of the dead player and leaving only the victor and the brightly dressed man. "Now then" the man snapped and the two found themselves in the middle of the Character Room. "Have fun, stay safe, and always remember that Virtual Conquest is not liable for any damages to you or others who use the product for extended periods of time, you did after all click the button that said you read the legal stuff!" the man disappeared, ready to plan the next fight with his equally mad partner.