[color=black][b][h2]The [s]Book Keeper[/s] Itinerant Exorcist? VS The Cereal Killer - Round 3[/h2][/b][/color]
Erina had been wondering if Motley and Runch would leave the colosseum at all. What she hadn’t been expecting was for them to escape it much [i]sooner[/i] than anticipated - Runch had seemed to fly out of the stands on a stream of cereal, the substance going in all directions as he made his erratic way across the sky, only to suddenly lose control and fall straight toward the ground. And with how he’d been flying up to that point, she had no clue whether he’d somehow been shot down or not… either way, she’d needed to follow him and Motley, else how would she get the drop on their shared foe?

But when it came to actual engagement, she’d found that she was hard-pressed to do anything, since Runch had decided to take a rest in the middle of a large lake, and Crue had decided to follow him. Sure, she [i]could[/i] swim, but since the water was infested with razor-mouthed tentacles, there was no way she was going to take her chances with it. She’d had to try and find a way on to a nearby rooftop, a difficult enough task when the houses weren’t made of medieval-age materials, and by the time she’d gotten into a good position, the vampire was already shocking the life out of the pirate, far beyond what would probably be considered lethal for anyone else.

But clearly, Runch wasn’t “anyone else” - he was apparently tough enough to withstand the electrical currents. And furthermore, he could explode. Or was the exploding something to do with his cereal creation…? Either way, he- or the ground between them, from what she could see- had suddenly exploded, sending the both of them flying away; on the one hand, Motley seemed fairly badly wounded, but on the other, Runch sank into the depths almost as soon as he stopped skipping across them. Perhaps he had suffered mortal harm, after all, and that detonation was simply a final suicidal effort to take Crue with him?

And [i]then[/i] the ground collapsed, draining the liquid away like a sinkhole, and almost certainly taking the captain’s unconscious body with the miniature lake. Erina herself had been forced to take off before the house she was on collapsed in its turn, and that took her a few meters away before she could take proper stock of the situation.

[i]But what about Motley?[/i] a niggling thought in the back of her mind murmured. Certainly, after the water had drained entirely, there was no black-clad undead in sight, and even when she stopped channelling Bend and dropped down to what now constituted “ground level”, even treading as close as she dared to the edge of the city’s latest sinkhole, she couldn’t see any trace of him…

[color=black]’Glad to see you’re scared for me.’[/color] She jumped at his presence, only to sigh once she registered who it was. It was a tad odd, feeling relief for a creature she’d have hunted in any other situation, but if nothing else, it meant she’d still have an ally. Even if the ally did have the ability to compel her to act however he wanted. And she hadn’t been scared, anyway.

[color=black]’So,’[/color] he’d explained before she could say anything, [color=black]’I’m quite impressed with Runch. He’s far sturdier than I gave him credit for, and smart enough to capitalise on a bad situation. It’s a shame how well he’s utilising that to his advantage.’[/color]

[color=bc8dbf]'Wait, you’re not suggesting he’s still alive down there?'[/color] Erina asked incredulously. [color=bc8dbf]'That hole must be a mile deep!'[/color]

[color=black]'Nothing quite so eventful as that, I‘m sure. Besides which,'[/color] he’d added, drawing out his phylactery, [color=black]'this hasn’t reacted in any way, which means Runch is still kicking. Which means we have to go after him.'[/color]

[color=bc8dbf]'We have to...'[/color] Erina glanced down the sinkhole, then back at her former enemy, torn between raising her eyebrows and smirking with falsified confidence. She eventually chose the latter, smoothly stating [color=bc8dbf]'Well, yeah, [i]okay[/i] then, that’s easy. I can climb down that, no problem.'[/color]

[color=black]'Go on, then.'[/color]

[color=bc8dbf]'...uh. I don’t feel like it, at the moment. I need to, uh- you know we don’t have a plan yet, right?’[/color] she’d pointed out to deflect the question. [color=bc8dbf]'You can beat him up just fine, but I’ll have to get creative about it!'[/color]

[color=black]'So we’ll get creative,'[/color] he’d shrugged. [color=black]'The key, I believe, is that he’s a great tactician, but not an amazing strategiser, and against me specifically he has nothing that will work on the spur of the moment. That is to say, he’ll take his time coming up with [i]a[/i] solution for the problem at hand, and so make it work, but if we outwit him, force him to think long term- or better yet, give him no chance to act in the short term- he’ll crumble like the cereal he loves so much.'[/color] As if to make a point, Motley had gathered up a handful of the technicolour stuff, crushing it in his fist, then placing the bits in his pocket.

[color=bc8dbf]'In other words… we need to hit him hard, then pull out. Don’t give him a chance to go for us until we can hit him again.'[/color]

[color=black]'I’m under the impression that you’re good at that sort of combat strategy. Or at least Bend is. “Hit and run”, if you know the term? It usually refers more to motor vehicles, but...'[/color]

‘I admit, I have no idea what a motor vehicle is,’ Bend said from behind Erina, ‘but I do like the phrasing. It doesn’t accurately describe my skillset, however; I could hold my own in a pitched battle back in the day, after all.’

[color=black]'But you’d prefer to kill them before they could act against you, and retreat if you couldn’t win. That works without slaying your target too, does it not?'[/color]

‘To an extent. I suppose Erina could disable his limbs, rather than… but that leaves him able to generate that blasted cereal of his…’

[color=bc8dbf]'I think it’s going to be a slog breaking him down, either way,'[/color] Erina had interjected, [color=bc8dbf]'and unless I can set his cereal on fire, I’ll be no good at holding him off like that.'[/color]

[color=black]'You could distract him, though.'[/color] Motley tilted his head then, apparently deep in thought, until finally coming back to reality. [color=black]'Yes, that ought to work. Alright, here’s what we’ll do...'[/color]

[hr]

Once the plan had been laid out, they’d both climbed down and followed the trail of water to a series of caverns- before they separated again, Motley estimated they were somewhere underneath the Holy Grounds- and now Erina was doing what she did best: lying through her teeth about something, to somebody who didn’t know any better, lighting the waterlogged caverns with a couple of fireballs even after Runch had created his cereal lantern. When she’d seen the pirate captain unconscious, she’d had half a mind to just channel Bend and execute the man on the spot, but he’d woken up before the thought could be put into action. Whilst she did channel him anyway just to get herself started on her brief rant, she kept in mind the legion of spiritual entities seemingly swarming in the city’s undercarriage… if any of them happened to have some useful skills, she might consider drawing on them.

That said, of course, it seemed to her that she was at more of an advantage than she’d expected. Runch had seemingly misplaced his weapon, and as Motley had mentioned, he was at a disadvantage when submerged even partially; if she could just get him on his back, there was a good chance she could just drown Runch outright and claim the victory for- well, for Motley, rather than herself, but there was no reason to assume the sailor wouldn’t know that too. Speed really was the buzzword, then: attack fast, pull out before he can retaliate.

True to form, Erina lunged toward him, blade ready to inflict a wound of some sort. At this distance, if he didn’t react, he’d be impaled through the heart, but if he raised an arm to block, he’d get his hand cut off; with a shield over the forearm, he’d lose it at the upper arm instead… but at knee height, the water was just deep enough to hinder her movement, and that gave Runch enough time to call out [color=turquoise]’Bori Bori Wall!’[/color], producing a thick layer of dense grain between the two fighters that almost trapped her katana within. Foolish of her, not to consider the fluid resistance; next time, she’d start with the throwing knives, and go from there. If he allowed for a next time.

It looked like he would not. Though his grain wall was weaker than usual, it still took more than ten seconds of focused hacking for the kitsune to make a sizable dent that she could pull at, and by the time she’d gotten through, it appeared that Runch had resolved his problem: a wide, circular arena of some glowing blue cereal now floated upon the water, and atop its centerpoint stood a man clad in… black steel? Wait, no...

[color=turquoise]’Sorry to make you work to get to me,’[/color] Runch called, no doubt smiling under the crude helmet of chewy breakfast food he’d made for himself, [color=turquoise]’but I needed time to set up a real plum pudding of a match for us! How do you like my Bori Bori Armour? Plates of iron-enriched Blockberry, hard enough to turn any blade, even one as sharp as yours.’[/color]

Or, more accurately, rough cylinders of “Blockberry”, wrapping around the most vital parts of his body where possible, including most of his limbs and over his shoulders as a form of ramshackle protection. He’d even created a square shield for himself on his left arm out of the black stuff, and a crude recreation of his own spoon-shaped weapon was held in his right hand. His joints, amongst other parts of his body, still seemed largely unprotected, however, but this fight was going to be much tougher now than it would otherwise have been.

Nonetheless, she was undeterred; climbing onto the makeshift raft and squeezing the liquid out of the legs of her pants, she was already trying to figure out the best way to push Runch off the platform. If she could manage that, then not only would it put him back at a disadvantage due to how his power worked, but it’d likely dissolve his armour and render him more vulnerable to her blade to boot.

[color=bc8dbf]'It’s alright,'[/color] she ceded.

[color=turquoise]’Omnomnomnom! Well, it could do with a bit of rewor-KUH?!’[/color] In the middle of his sentence, Erina had struck again, now aiming for one of the unguarded spots near his groin that, according to Bend’s knowledge of human anatomy, would probably open up major arteries if she pierced them. Alas, though slow in his armour, he could still turn quickly enough to glance her blade off of his thigh “plate”; barely missing a step, she turned to block a strike from his makeshift spoonsaber, and then to aim a kick at his midsection, an effort to dislodge him that failed surprisingly miserably. Keeping that in mind, she struck again, this time at his arm, but again failing to do more than scrape off some sparks as he moved it ever so slightly, as if he wasn’t even trying.

[color=bc8dbf]'You’re lacking in power, old man,'[/color] she murmured, making an effort to psyche him out as much as she could. [color=bc8dbf]'What happened to your cereal creation?'[/color]

[color=turquoise]’Impatient as ripening bananas, aren’t you?’[/color] he responded, aiming a readily-blocked overhead swing of his spoonsaber toward her (though she granted that the weight of his weapon alone would crack any other katana with ease). [color=turquoise]’Besides which, you aren’t quite as durable as your vampiric master, nor do you recover from harm so readily. Shouldn’t you be glad I’m going easy on you?’[/color]

[color=bc8dbf]’Against a more powerful foe, that’d be your doom,’[/color] she elaborated, this time sending out a wave of purple sparks with her swing, an attack aimed at the gap between his helmet and chestplate. Of course, the tiny flames wouldn’t do a thing to the pirate... but he might not know that, if he hadn't checked his notebook, and the weapon itself would certainly be as lethal as ever if the wielder’s strike was as true as she liked it to be. Sure enough, the Kaptain practically threw himself backwards out of the path of the sparks in an effort to avoid them, almost winding up on his back in the process but hastily catching his feet, his retreat rather more conservative than Erina's would have been.

No more than a second after he’d recovered, just as Erina was stepping forward again, she heard him mutter [color=turquoise]’Bori Bori Marbles’[/color] under his breath, and all of a sudden, the area around his feet was practically laden with bright spheres of cereal. Bright, and incredibly smooth: the moment her foot landed on a couple, it skidded off to the side, overbalancing her and forcing her to try and regain her footing on the odd surface instead of striking at Runch again. The effort she made was admirable despite repeatedly stepping on more and more of the things, and she managed to stay mostly upright for a good second and a half before the cereal-clad sailor, with a yell of [color=turquoise]’Bori Bori Shield Charge!’[/color], rammed the barrier into her in a spray of cereal, sending her flying away toward the edge of the floating ring, limbs flying comically in a vain effort to stop herself landing on her back and rolling even further.

And then part of the arena seemed to violently explode beneath her, a heatless burst of oddly-scented wind shattering the cereal and throwing her towards the ceiling. Already disoriented, and with just a brief moment to react, it was all she could do to process the attack and sheathe her weapon before attempting to hit the ground in a forward roll. Instead, an awkward landing and a burst of pain in her leg and arm greeted her on impact, and the impact itself had her stunned a couple of meters away from Runch for a moment afterward.

[color=turquoise]’Omnomnomnom! That’s Galefruit flavour, with a burst of minty freshness in every bite!’[/color] Runch explained heartily. [color=turquoise]’A very large burst, in this case, and there’s more like it across the rest of this arena too! Landmines like fallen fruit! Omnomnomnom!’[/color] That explained his reluctance to leave the center, then - he’d already set up the traps, and didn’t wanted to risk stumbling across them himself.

[color=bc8dbf]'Ugh… damn it all,'[/color] the kitsune muttered to herself, Bend’s emotions filtering through to her and swamping her own distress for the moment. Attempting to stand, she found she could just about manage, and it seemed her arm wasn’t that badly injured either. Likely just sprains, then. Still, this would only make fighting Runch and any future opponents that much more difficult, for want of a hospital… but, she reminded herself, that might not matter, in this case.

Unbeknownst to her, Bartholomew K. Runch was having problems of his own. His body was aching all over after his earlier near-death experience, and despite his armour not usually being so restrictive, he was finding it oddly cumbersome this time around, the shield heavier than it ought to be, and the makeshift blade more difficult to lift. He’d managed to make deflecting her initial attacks [i]seem[/i] effortless, but avoiding a more powerful attack, and dishing out his own, was far more difficult for him than it ought to have been, leaving him feeling as though he might throw up at any moment. [i]Did Motley’s electrocution take that much out of me,[/i] he wondered, [i]or could it be that some of the floodwater’s still soaking me within my clothes?[/i]

Nonetheless, he wouldn’t let it get to him. He’d defeat this fox-like girl, and have her take him to wherever his true opponent lay in wait, and after his victory, he’d be sure to give them both some of his Bloodberry cereal to help her recover. It really wouldn’t do, after all, to let good fighters like them just-

[color=black]’Uryyyy...’[/color]

The sheer, chilling terror that passed through Runch at that moment was enough to completely silence his train of thought and his tongue, and with a frenzied swing and a large swathe of glowing cereal cut through the air behind him, where he was sure he’d heard Motley’s warcry in his ear, certain he’d felt the undead being’s breath whispering against his ear… had he been mistaken? Was the darkness of the caves starting to get to him? The cereal’s glow didn’t reveal anything, floating in the water as it was...

[color=bc8dbf]'Pay attention, pirate!'[/color] he heard behind him, and he spun back round to see the fox-like assassin quickly charging him again, deft feet avoiding the marbles he’d placed around the arena, and on her injured leg no less! Now assured that Erina’s tolerance for damage was no less hefty than his own, he felt safe in bringing a bit more force to bear against her, and not sloe-ly either. First things first, he needed to get that blade out of her hands; bringing his makeshift weapon over his chest, he swung it hard across just as Erina made her downward strike, the blades passing through each other as if they weren’t even…

[i]Wait a second, that can’t be right![/i] he realised, her image static before him, but the arena still shifting with her movement. [i]What in sour grapes-?[/i]

The sharp pain straight through his elbow did not help him figure out what had happened - from what he could see, she had apparently teleported at the last moment, leaving an afterimage of herself where she and her weapon ought to have been. Said weapon was now rammed through his left arm, just between the elbow joint and the cartilage, and Erina was already making an effort to try and pull it along its sharp edge to cause even more damage and completely ruin the limb. He had to stop her! Thinking quickly, Runch dropped his blade and slapped a hand over the kitsune’s eyes, calling out [color=turquoise]’Bori Bori Flash!’[/color] as a band of cereal wrapped itself tightly around her eyes.

Far from the soothing brightness of the other cereals lighting the cave, his Fluore-aspberry recipe was designed to be much too bright for comfort, even from meters away, with one’s eyes closed. He knew from personal experience that placing it right against somebody's eyes was uncommonly painful, moreso if they couldn’t get it away quickly, and he had made an educated guess that her vulpine features would only hinder Erina further. Whether or not that was true, it had the intended effect: her concerns immediately switched from injuring Runch permanently to screaming, stumbling away from him, and clawing at the stuff round her face as she yelled something along the lines of [color=bc8dbf]’Oh Gods, get it off!’[/color]

More importantly, though, she’d left her sword in his elbow in her panic, which presented the perfect opportunity to end this fight decisively. Gripping it and gritting his teeth, Runch pulled the weapon free in a spray of blood, stemming the flow with the usual absorbent recipe, before stepping up to Erina and, just as she finally pulled the band apart - Runch wasn’t unnecessarily cruel at heart, after all - held the sword up to her back, clearing his throat to get her attention and removing his helmet as a show of good faith.

[color=turquoise]’Omnomnomnom! You did a grand job, young lady,’[/color] Runch congratulated her with a genuine smile. [color=turquoise]’I was honestly on edge the whole time! That said, I have no clue what time it is, and I know I need to defeat Motley by the end of today, or we’ll both be thrown out of the tournament faster than a rotten pineapple.’[/color]

[color=bc8dbf]'I can’t see! Why would you blind me, you bastard?!'[/color] Erina yelled, hands half-covering her eyes as she attempted to blink away a white glare and afterimages that would eventually fade.

[color=turquoise]'Now, now, no need for that sort of language. I don’t have any reason to kill you, and I really don’t like killing people in any case,'[/color] Runch pointed out. [color=turquoise]'What I do need, however, is a guide - I don’t know what’s in these cave systems, nor do I know where my opponent this round is, and if anybody knows anything about either of those topics, it’s you.'[/color]

[color=bc8dbf]'Oh, no, yeah, I’ll definitely guide you around!'[/color] Erina shouted sarcastically, still blinking rapidly, but now glancing around the room, occasionally locking on to her sword and its current wielder for a moment before moving on. [color=bc8dbf]'This is actually my home of thousands of years, I use my fire to see in the dark, but my EYES just got blinded, so tough luck!'[/color]

[color=turquoise]’Well, would you rather I had stabbed you whilst you couldn’t see?’[/color] Runch asked, riled just a bit by how rude she was being. [color=turquoise]’I’ll reiterate that hurting you any further is not something I’d like to do, but I nonetheless have a weapon trained on you.’[/color]

At this, Erina squinted down toward her blade, then grinned savagely toward a point slightly left of where the captain’s face was and twitching her head upward. [color=bc8dbf]’Well, good luck killing me with a [i]rusty sword,[/i]’[/color] she uttered with no small amount of satisfaction, prompting Runch to bring the sword up to eye level, only to see that it was, in fact, newly covered in rust. That was… impossible! It had been as good as new just seconds ago, able to take hits from a much bulkier blade than itself-

A sudden fingerpoint jab to the hollow of his throat cut off his train of thought yet again, leaving Runch struggling to breath and threatening to throw up for the second time in as many minutes as he dropped the katana, only for it to be neatly snatched out of the air and pointed back at him by Erina, who now muttered [color=bc8dbf]'Thank you, martial arts cave spirit,'[/color] into the air. Before his eyes, the rust dissolved from the sword, returning it to its former, well-kept state… oh, of course! It must somehow have been modified, such that only Erina herself could wield it properly. And here Runch was, claiming its sudden rusting was “impossible”... what a fruit fool he was being.

Actually, that was starting to get disconcerting. Twice now- thrice if he counted Erina waiting to attack until he was mid-sentence- he’d been caught out by tricks that he had no right to be caught out by. Had he hit his head and suffered a concussion during his fall? Or perhaps his own blast had shaken him up? That might also explain his need to vomit, but… certainly, he now strongly felt that something untoward had happened to him, and that it might well relate back to his vampiric foe or events during his time spent unconscious.

There’d be time to figure out exactly what was wrong with himself once the fight was over, however. For now, as he stepped back carefully and grabbed his false spoonsaber from off the ground, he and Erina were about back where they started on this platform, save that the fox-girl was injured and still slightly blinded, and Runch had a new hole in his arm. In his mind, that put him in good standing to claim victory, and it certainly wasn’t going to slow him down.

A sudden loud crunch heralded the removal of the sea captain's shield arm from the rest of his body, water and blood and bright blue cereal chunks spraying everywhere in the aftermath. Motley Crue had finally arrived, or had been there the whole time, and he'd taken the liberty of grievously wounding his enemy before he could react, landing in a pose in front of the pirate with the arm gripped in his right hand. Runch only had time to process that much, before the pain and shock of having a limb shorn off hit him, forcing out a scream of profound agony.