The Namekian announcer stepped forward onto the arena, giving the crowd a short wave before bowing. "Alright everyone, welcome back to the land of the wildcard, where they can prove their mettle with a second chance!" The crowd cheered, more than ready to see who would be up to the plate first out of all of those exciting fighters!
"From this bracket's preliminary match, we have Captain Salvo making a return! With her opponent being Marimba, one of the Mazoku's mightiest fighters in this era!" The crowd cheered for the two fighters, wondering how Salvo and Marimba's styles of fighting would interact.
The announcer then took a step back, and addressed the two fighters directly before clearing the arena. "Okay! The winner of this fight will be decided by either knockout or ring-out. If the match has not naturally concluded by the time limit, then our panel of judges will independently determine a winner. The only other rule is that no form of flight may be used in the bout. If I am understood, then... Let the battle begin!"
The first rounds of the Loser's Bracket begin! This fight will end and be judged on Monday, May 22nd if a winner has not yet been decided by either ring-out or knockout by then!
The Namekian announcer stepped forward onto the arena, giving the crowd a short wave before bowing. "Alright everyone, welcome back to the land of the wildcard, where they can prove their mettle with a second chance!" The crowd cheered, more than ready to see who would be up to the plate first out of all of those exciting fighters!
Stomping out from the shadowy corridor of the preparation room, Marimba approaches the audience's view. He grins a wet, sharp-toothed grin as the sunlight reveals his large form. After taking a short leap onto the arena platform, his red eyes lock with those of the Heran before him, gleaming with an unmistakable lust for battle.
"From this bracket's preliminary match, we have Captain Salvo making a return! With her opponent being Marimba, one of the Mazoku's mightiest fighters in this era!" The crowd cheered for the two fighters, wondering how Salvo and Marimba's styles of fighting would interact.
After his name was announced to the crowd, the Namekian mutant wasted no time powering up. With a shout, his dark crimson aura flared outward. His power level climbed rapidly, rising from 76,000 to 230,000, then spiking again to his total threshold of 381,845. His body swelled alongside his power, expanding to twice his previous size, then again to three times his size as his Ki rose to its limit.
Now towering over the Heran at 24 feet in height, the Titan would begin speaking to his foe.
"SALVO! I SENSE THE MIGHT OF A WORTHY ADVERSARY WITHIN YOU!"
"HOLD NOTHING BACK AGAINST ME! LET US FINISH THIS BATTLE BEFORE OUR TIME RUNS DRY!"
The announcer then took a step back, and addressed the two fighters directly before clearing the arena. "Okay! The winner of this fight will be decided by either knockout or ring-out. If the match has not naturally concluded by the time limit, then our panel of judges will independently determine a winner. The only other rule is that no form of flight may be used in the bout. If I am understood, then... Let the battle begin!"
The moment the announcer finishes, the colossal Namekian comes barreling after the Heran, rearing back his right fist, charged with such dense energy that the very air around it whirled into it as if it were being sucked into a vacuum. Then as he reached striking distance, the fist would be swung downward at the Heran, with the charged energy exploding upon whatever it would contact.
Post by Captain Salvo on May 10, 2023 19:46:39 GMT -5
SALVO'S PL: 67,000
PL MULTIPLIERS: None
Well, it was good to be back! Salvo felt more than ready to take on whoever this next challenger was, be they a Namekian or some other alien she'd never heard of. Hopefully not another Saiyan, though - those bastards only seemed to excel in the face of limits such as those in the tournament being placed upon them. Though she hadn't spent too much time on her training since arriving on Namek, one thing Salvo had done was fine tune her weapon. It was a bit more efficient now, in how it doled out the punishments she required of it. No doubt something that ought to come in handy in the coming fight. Speaking of which...
"Well, yer an ugly bugger, aint'cha?" Salvo said upon stepping into the arena and seeing her opponent for the day. He looked like a Namekian, but he was... Swollen. And he had a load of ugly-looking spots all over his arms, like he was ill with some sort of plague or disease. Unlike Salvo, with her beautifully moisturized and blemish-free cyan skin, and her flame-colored locks that adorned a dashing and chiseled smile. If this were a tournament of physical beauty, she'd have this bloke down and out the instant he stepped out from the shadows. Unfortunately, she'd need to pound her victory out of him, with fist and blade alike. And gun, too.
Salvo readied herself as she could feel the power of the Namekian growing before the announcer had even finished speaking. And, er, see him growing. What was it with the losers bracket and throwing her up against gigantic, hulking monsters? Well, she ought to power herself up, too! The Heran wasted no time allowing her power to become untamed, ripping and roaring up through her upper limits until the selective gravity of the battlefield finally kicked in and capped her off at the limit. Oddly, though, from what she could tell, the Namekian fellow didn't quite reach that upper limit. He got close enough that it likely wouldn't make all that much of a difference, though.
"Eh, yea, no holdin' back and all the wotsit," Salvo replied, not quite as battle hungry as her foe appeared to be, though she was certainly ready to throw down with him. And then... They were off! Marimba was quick to strike first, his massive frame rushing Salvo down and delivering a powerful punch towards the top of Salvo's head! She'd hardly let herself take a blow that early on, and raised up her weapon to fire a counterattack! "Ye don't find it a wee bit cumbersome to fight at that size?" she asked him as she charged up a blast that smashed right against his fist, canceling out the blow entirely. She then jumped to the side and aimed her weapon directly for his torso before firing off a swift but potent shot - she couldn't imagine it'd be hard-pressed to land, with how massive the fella was!
Salvo powers up to her Choice Spirit (x6) form, hitting the tournament PL cap of 400,000! She blocks Marimba's attack with a [Light] Batten Down the Hatches for a 160,000 (40%) barrier, cancelling it out entirely. She will also use her Raw Talent trait to gain 1 extra MP from this attack! She then fires off a [Light] Hearty Blow at Marimba for 80,000 (20%) PL damage!
HP: 0/250 KP: 6/6 > 3/6 MP: 0/6 > 3/6
Last Edit: May 13, 2023 15:31:25 GMT -5 by Captain Salvo
Salvo moved swiftly with tactical grace in countering Marimba's seemingly reckless offense. Firing a pistol blast at the charged fist as it moves in, resulting in it exploding prematurely and stalling the Mazoku's approach. The defensive maneuver was then followed through seamlessly with an attack of her own, swerving to the side while unloading another powerful bolt of gunfire into Marimba's center mass, piercing through his armored hide and causing him to leak purple.
Yet, the green hulk continued to grin his ugly grin, his eyes having thoughtfully observed the captain's movements, with an unseen intelligence spinning behind them.
"Ye don't find it a wee bit cumbersome to fight at that size?"
"GRAHAHAHA!"
"HOW ABOUT YOU FOOL AROUND SOME MORE AND FIND OUT!"
Marimba changes his stance. His fists taking the shape of clawed talons positioned one in front of the other. With the stride of a single large step, the Namekian reaches within striking distance for his giant, lengthy arms. Instead of throwing everything behind one strike, Marimba fires off a rapid barrage of claw jabs in Salvo's direction, aiming to pierce into her skin numerous times with pointed yellowed-nails. All the while the Mutant continues to watch closely how his foe deals with such an assault.
The barrage ends suddenly when a sweeping kick thrown into the mix, his leg stretching and elongating as it swings across the arena like a whip, seeking to lash and knock Salvo off balance even if she manages to escape his normal range.
Post by Captain Salvo on May 13, 2023 15:47:43 GMT -5
SALVO'S PL: 400,000
PL MULTIPLIERS: Choice Spirit (x6)
"Ah don't think it'll please ye to know Ah'm real particular 'bout the type 'a men Ah decide t' fool around with!" Salvo replied to the hulking and, frankly, ridiculouslyoversized Namekian as she stayed light on her feet while he moved to strike back at her. Even though he was large as all hell, he was a surprisingly fast fighter, and though she did have the slightest bit of power advantages here, it wasn't amounting to all that much of a lead yet.
The damn thing grew claws of all things, and started hacking away at Salvo with reckless abandon. "Tch," Salvo grunted in annoyance as she struggled to avoid getting herself diced up into pieces. When his claws sliced her arms up as she raised them in defense a few more times than she was pleased to allow, she drew forth her blade from her side and suddenly launched out a vicious strike against the talons in the hopes of doing a bit of premature nail clipping. "Ah take it ye don't do pedicures on this planet, do ye?" she asked him rhetorically.
The slashing wasn't all Marimba had in store for Salvo, though, as his foot suddenly shot out from beneath him and slammed itself into Salvo's stomach, catching her rather off guard. "Guh!" she involuntarily exclaimed as the force of the blow had her skidding back across the arena on her boots a few meters, though she dug her blade into the ground and stopped just short of being rung out. Alright, that was enough letting him get free hits in.
"That's 'bout enough out of ye, methinks," Salvo declared as she cracked her neck back and forth. She then tightly clenched her fists, and her lips curled back into a snarling grin as her muscles bugled, her ki energy suddenly running rampant throughout her body! While her power level hadn't technically increased, her power output and control of her ki certainly had. "Ye had best start dancin' a bit more gracefully there, ye bumpin' bilge rat!" she declared before swiftly and suddenly raising her gun and firing a potent shot right for Marimba's face!
Salvo activates her Thirst for Battle trait! She gains the effects of MAX Power, but can still naturally regenerate MP! She then fires off her Arm Blaster item at Marimba for 80,000 (20%) PL damage!
As Salvo tried a swift defensive slash against the claw attacks with her cutlass, the hardened claws stood firm, refusing to break off. Both weapons, natural and forged alike, would become scratched up by the clashing of the two forces. Finally, at the end of the exchange, Marimba managed to break through the pirate's defense. His kick landed square in her gut, sending the Heran reeling backward toward the edge of the ring. But before she reaches it, the captain plunges her saber into the ground, stopping her backward momentum in the nick of time.
"That's 'bout enough out of ye, methinks" Salvo declared as she cracked her neck back and forth. She then tightly clenched her fists, and her lips curled back into a snarling grin as her muscles bugled, her ki energy suddenly running rampant throughout her body! While her power level hadn't technically increased, her power output and control of her ki certainly had. "Ye had best start dancin' a bit more gracefully there, ye bumpin' bilge rat!"
Salvo's body bulged with muscles, unshackling the true power and battle instincts within her Heran blood. As soon as Marimba began to pounce after her once more, the empowered Salvo took advantage of the distance gained by the kick, managing to fire another deadly bullet directly into Marimba's face. With great fortune, the shot pierced straight through the Namekian's forehead before he could finish launching his attack.
The giant seemed to lose consciousness immediately. The life in his eyes went dark, and his body began to fall backward. Then it stopped dead in its tracks before hitting, beginning to convulse, as massive amounts of negative energy emitted violently from it in the form of a pitch-black aura, causing deathly chills to go down the spine of anyone nearby. Then, with still darkened eyes, the body spoke, unleashing a terrible shout.
"CHAOS TRIGGER!!!!"
With incredible speed, the body of Marimba would seem to vanish, appearing again up close to Salvo, disfigured beyond recognition, and poised to attack. The mass of flesh he had transformed into had six arms and legs and a set of spiked tendrils. It bore a gaping maw with several sets of teeth, large enough to swallow a golden retriever, and large eyeballs that had grown on each side of it, each one gleaming with killing intent as they stared directly at Salvo.
The first of these appendages to reach the captain would be the tendrils, accompanied by the outstretched tongue of the abomination, which acted in the same manner. All three would attempt to bear into her flesh, hooking into her skin and drawing her in. Next, the maw would try to clamp down on her torso, entrapping the Heran grinding with its teeth. Meanwhile, each set of arms begins hammering the entire top of her body from every angle in an incredible display of speed, power, and uncanny coordination, guided by the life-seeking nature of Negative Energy. The legs of the creature do the same to the legs of Salvo, sparing them not from the savage assault.
Afterward, as if knowing it was running out of time, the mouth would fire off a large blast, ideally with Salvo still inside, forcing her out and away from the monstrosity, provided it landed a direct hit. The body would then violently contract and revert back to the form of Marimba. Once finished, the Namekian's eyes shoot open, with him hyperventilating and drenched in sweat as if awakened from a nightmare.
Post by Captain Salvo on May 14, 2023 16:25:32 GMT -5
SALVO'S PL: 400,000
PL MULTIPLIERS: Choice Spirit (x6)
Salvo fired off the shot from her gun, and it blasted right into Marimba! ...And then burst through his skull and out the other side, killing him near-instantly. Salvo blinked in surprise as the Namekian dropped to the floor on his back, his eyes rolled up into his head, and a rather dumbfounded expression on her face as the audience let out an audible gasp. "...Oh, bollocks, not again!" Salvo cursed as she threw her gun on the ground in anger. That was definitely going to get her disqualified. Oh, damn it! And after she'd come so far, too. She was doing so well!
With an annoyed sigh, Salvo bent over to pick up her gun and prepared to be, no doubt, immediately dismissed and disqualified by the tournament organizers for killing her opponent, though as soon as it was grasped between her fingers, she heard an incredibly loud and sudden shout. "Chaos wot?" she asked, standing immediately straight up and staring at the apparent corpse that had just screamed. And then, the corpse was gone, and in its place was an utter abomination. Salvo blinked up at the... Thing, and grimaced. "Why do Ah always git th' freaks?" she moped to herself.
And then, the thing came at her! Gaping jaws bit at her and powerful, inhuman arms grabbed and struck at Salvo, who did all she could to keep herself from getting straight up killed by this thing. "Hell no am Ah dyin' to some mangy lookin' venus flytap piece of shite!" she declared amidst the struggle as her power surged beyond even the limits of what the gravity of the tournament would normally allow. Its oppressive gravitational field made it difficult to hold this power for long, but Salvo fought with all her might to achieve what strength she could.
She crossed her arms in front of herself and erected a barrier of ki, and while it held up alright against the first few chomps and jabs, there was only so much a hastily made defense could do to withstand the barrage. Eventually, the barrier shattered, and powerful jaws sunk deep into Salvo's torso, drawing both blood and an aggravated grunt from the Heran, who was then suddenly blasted out by an explosion of some kind. Salvo flew out the mouth of the creature and ragdolled across the tournament grounds, though got to her feet quickly, and angrily.
She clutched her stomach and felt a definite amount of blood coming out of the teeth marks down there, and her entire body was more or less singed by that final blast, but at least she was alive. Furious, too. "You stinkin' bilge rat!" she shouted in a rage at the Namekian, who had returned to his normal form on the ground. "Wot in the seven 'ells are ye playin' at!? Ye like playin' dead and doin' cheap tricks, do ye? I'll show ye a cheap trick!"
With that, the Heran rushed at Marimba and grabbed at his legs, then attempted to toss the bugger up into the air in spite of how much massively larger than her he was. She'd not wait to see how he responded, though, as the pirate reared her arms back and then viciously clapped them together, which sent an overwhelmingly powerful wave of energy at the Namekian that threatened to do both some serious damage, and possibly even knock him out of the ring if he failed to recover in time!
Salvo spends 4 MP to activate Transformation Boost! Her PL for this post is 469,000! She then blocks Marimba's attack with [Light] Smack You Down, shielding herself for 140,700 (30%) PL! Marimba's attack clashes against it and breaks through, dealing 409,157 (87%) damage to Salvo! She then attacks Marimba with [Medium] Clap of Thunder, sending 375,200 (80%) PL damage his way!
His body and mind strained by the backlash of his own technique, Marimba could only look at his opponent, trying to assess the damage his Chaos Trigger had inflicted. The Pirate was covered in bite marks, bruises, and energy burns, yet Marimba had expected her to be mangled a significantly more. It was clear his foe had defended themselves better than expected, and even worse, that he had pushed the Heran into being stronger and angrier than ever, with her now roaring Ki forcing back even the tournament's suppressive gravity.
"You stinkin' bilge rat!" she shouted in a rage at the Namekian, who had returned to his normal form on the ground. "Wot in the seven 'ells are ye playin' at!? Ye like playin' dead and doin' cheap tricks, do ye? I'll show ye a cheap trick!"
"Damn it-"
The mutant did not immediately understand what his foe was yelling about. He could tell that he was being accused of trickery of some form, but he felt sick, and was mentally in no condition to argue. He blinked, and the next thing he knew, the enraged Heran was right beneath him. Before Marimba could respond, she grabbed his legs and launched him high into the air, as if the difference in their size and weight suddenly did not matter at all. Finally, with the thunderous clap, Salvo fired a gigantic energy beam into the sky, blasting the colossal Namekian in it's entirety.
The Mazoku screamed in pain as his burned and torn apart vicious attack, his vision going white. When he could see again, he was barreling toward the ground outside of the ring. His arms, having taking the brunt of it, were in bad shape from the blast. But, Marimba was not going to allow himself to defeated like this. The honor and pride of him and his entire clan was on the line. Losing to the Guru was inevitable, but defeat at the hands of some Heran pirate was unacceptable!
With a Raging shout, the monstrous Namekian regenerated his damaged arms, before extending them to grab the edges of the and forcibly dragging himself down onto the platform. As he locked eyes with Salvo once more, the wound in his head closed from his regeneration, spitting out the bullet onto the floor. With that, the fog in his mind had suddenly cleared, and the Mazoku took a his combat stance once more as he began to speak.
"My father knew my head was a potential weakness, so he made sure that my skull was especially hard and thick! You have no one but yourself to blame for thinking such a weak attack, lucky or not, could ever take me down!"
Post by Captain Salvo on May 16, 2023 9:44:23 GMT -5
SALVO'S PL: 400,000
PL MULTIPLIERS: Choice Spirit (x6)
Heh, good! Salvo's attack landed against the dumb old Namekian with aplomb, ripping and tearing through him with even more ferocity than he had just done to her! Served him right for a dirty trick like that one, making her think she was gonna get disqualified. In fact, it looked like Salvo had just straight up rung him out, there - although, she frowned when his broken and battered arms suddenly regenerated themselves and stretched all the way out to grab back onto the battlefield and yank their owner back into safety. If only she could regenerate like Namekians did - she'd be unstoppable!
Marimba got into some spiel about how his dad knew he was a dumbass, or something along those lines. "Tha's funny," Salvo replied, one hand placed on her hip and her held tilted to the side as she twirled her pistol around with her free hand, crimson eyes staring Marimba down with unwavered confidence. "I didn't know me own pops fer too long b'fore he and ma got 'emselves arrested 'n prolly executed, but one thing he taught me was to always go fer th' head." Though they had left Salvo at just the age of nine, they'd already taught her plenty by that point. Shame she'd had to figure out the rest on her own, but in Salvo's own opinion, she'd done a pretty bang-up job of that.
"But if that thick skull 'a yers is a bit too thick, then I'll just hafta go fer th' heart instead!" Normally, she'd be going for his junk as a pivotal weak point, but she was pretty sure Namekians were all smooth down there. And, besides, if even a blast straight through the skull wasn't enough to put this fella down, then Salvo supposed she didn't need to worry all that much about killing him by accident. And if he could regenerate like that, she didn't need to worry too much about maiming him beyond recognition, either.
Salvo's opponent bade she come at him now, and come at him she did, instantly going from her relaxed position to a straight charge, her cutlass drawn and pistol raised as she leapt up into the air above even Marimba's height, and propelled herself into a spin by firing an explosive shot down at him from and angle - she then twirled around with her blade in a deadly twister of cuts and slashes as both gravity and another explosive round propelled her right down for the mutant Namekian!
Salvo gains 1 KP and 1 MP upon dealing 80% damage to Marimba, thanks to her Bloodlust trait!
HP: 87/250 KP: 0/6 > 3/6 MP: 0/6 > 1/6
Last Edit: May 16, 2023 17:06:04 GMT -5 by Captain Salvo
"I didn't know me own pops fer too long b'fore he and ma got 'emselves arrested 'n prolly executed, but one thing he taught me was to always go fer th' head."
"But if that thick skull 'a yers is a bit too thick, then I'll just hafta go fer th' heart instead!"
Following their short dialogue, Salvo launches herself high into the air, with the mutant leaping up as well, determined not to allow her a height advantage over him. The Heran, seeing this fires a powerful explosive bullet at the approaching Titan, who simultaneously hacks up a Ki-blast from his throat. The two projectiles clash in the middle, detonating into a smoky explosion. Just as Marimba was about to finish his skyward approach and strike, he noticed the smoke being forcibly dispersed. As such, the colossus manages to raise his arm and harden it just in time before a spinning whirlwind of blades cuts through the fog and begins slicing into the edge of the raised extremity.
The captain had used the momentum of her own powerful shot to propel herself into a spinning motion for this surprise attack. In retaliation, Marimba uses his other giant arm to swing a mighty downward pound, aiming to slam the spinning pirate on top of their head and send them forcibly shooting downward toward the tiled floor. Then the Mazoku raises both hands above him, generating a sizeable sparking Ki-blast between them. With a loud grunt, both arms swing downward, sending the blast plunging down after her. The Namekian falls behind it, hoping to have the ki-blast strike true before he himself crashes down onto the ideally stunned Heran with a tile-shattering stomp.
Post by Captain Salvo on May 17, 2023 19:16:22 GMT -5
SALVO'S PL: 400,000
PL MULTIPLIERS: Choice Spirit (x6)
Salvo's blast that she'd send soaring down at Marimba ended up colliding neatly with one of his own, the two blasts more or less cancelling each other out. Following that, Salvo's little spin attack maneuver sped down at Marimba with a tremendous amount of force and speed, only to be met by the hardened arms of the Namekian. He was quick to strike down at her, but she was hardly unprepared for a counterattack. Salvo tilted her blade upwards and clashed against the Namekian's hardened arm, the force of the impact so great it sent a shockwave out across the arena and knocked down a few spectators in the front rows who had been standing up.
The blow was used to bounce Salvo back and away from the Namekian, who she then saw prepare a tremendous ki blast over his head. At this sight, Salvo grinned. "Mighty fine ki bomb ye got thar," she declared, "'Twould be a shame if it were to detonate a bit... Prematurely!" And with that, she raised her gun as Marimba prepared to swing it down at her, an explosive blast fired from the barrel that collided instantly with Marimba's ki ball. And then... Well, two explosive blasts of energy collided with each other. What else was going to happen but an even bigger explosion?
The force of the blast caught Salvo slightly off guard, and she was thrown back a few meters, having been swept off her feet, but she recovered quickly enough. Her boots slid across the ground, and she shook her head, her hair rather frazzled and frayed from all the fireworks going around. "Whew, may have overdone it a tad," she commented to herself as she brushed some soot off her coat. "Oi, big green, ye still alive over thar?" she asked, unable to see him through the smoke. She could still sense him, though, so he at least wasn't super dead...
"'Twould be a shame if it were to detonate a bit... Prematurely!"
"THEN GO AHEAD AND TRY IT!"
In the heat of the moment, the Namekian scoffed at his adversary's empty threat. In the mind of the Mazoku, by the time any projectile of hers could disrupt the integrity of his bomb, it would already have barreled its way to their doorstep to explode in their face.
Without a hint of hesitation, Marimba swung down, launching his Ki bomb toward Salvo at top speed. Just as his blast passed below his body, a shot rang out, striking the Ki bomb near instantaneously with speed unforeseen by all but the captain herself.
"WHAT! NO! IMPOSSSIBLE!!!!!"
The shot would explode against the payload, causing it to deform and begin shedding a brilliant light. Without flight, Marimba could do nothing to counter it except curl up into a defensive sphere. Even at its top speed, the destructive globe would only manage to travel a handful of feet further before brightly detonating with a window-shattering boom, blasting the clouds out of the sky, and the balled-up mutant, above them. At the end of it, the air above the arena was filled with thick smoke, and Marimba was nowhere in sight.
"Whew, may have overdone it a tad,"
After taking a moment to recover from the shell shock of his blast, the spherical titan began to unfurl himself. He was still in the sky, just starting to lose upward momentum and beginning to fall. His back had taken the brunt of the blast and was visibly singed, but as the most durable part of his body, it was the best-case scenario. He hardly considered himself damaged and was thankful that he didn't dump his true destructive power into that bomb. Still, It was an embarrassment he couldn't abide by.
"Oi, big green, ye still alive over thar?"
With his Namekian hearing, the green giant listened to Salvo taunting him, even from far below. Finally, Marimba's eyes went bloodshot with mania. He shifted his body position as he fell, face toward the ground, in the form of an ever-escalating nosedive. Using his special ability that allowed him to alter himself, the mutant significantly increased the density of his body, causing him to fall faster and faster. He could not wait to take his revenge!
Eventually, the visage of the Mazoku broke through the smoke above the arena, his eyes shining a radiant red light before they mercilessly fired deadly red beams at the pirate. As he drew near to the ground, he would undo the extra density of his body before slamming his arms onto the tile, forcibly rebounding his body back off the floor and flipping himself over in the direction of the Heran, then swinging with a midair kick at her head.
Post by Captain Salvo on May 20, 2023 16:17:32 GMT -5
SALVO'S PL: 400,000
PL MULTIPLIERS: Choice Spirit (x6)
When the dust settled after the explosion, Salvo couldn't see hide nor tail of Marimba. Had she just blown him into bits and pieces? ...No, she could still sense him. In fact, she could sense him... From up above!
Salvo's gaze shot up at the haze that currently covered the arena, just in time to see Marimba's massive form break through the clouds and come barreling down towards the floor. Salvo jumped back a bit to avoid a potential ground pound attack, but instead of that, the Namekian opted to bounce himself off the ground through some twisted maneuver that Salvo, frankly, couldn't make heads or tails of. Namekians were weird. Especially the Mazoku ones, which this one appeared to be, as far as she could ascertain.
Marimba bounced off the ground and right towards Salvo, with an aerial kick primed and ready, right for her head! "Wot is it gonna take t' break this bloke?!" Salvo commented mostly to herself as she readied for further close combat, her muscles flaring with energy once more, now that she'd had a brief chance to give them a rest. He was going for a kick? Then Salvo was going for...
"Hyah!" she exclaimed as her hands reached up to grab Marimba's foot right out of the air in the scant moments before it made contact with her face. And in a similarly short amount of time, Salvo followed this up by yanking the Namekian down from his position right into her, with her head swiftly thrust forwards into a vicious headbutt that would crack her hardened blue skull against that big empty noggin of Marimba's that supposedly housed a brain! If Marimba didn't wriggle himself free in time, this was going to give him an even worse headache than the bullet he'd just taken...
Salvo re-enters her Thirst for Battle state! She then uses [Light] Wicked Wrench on Marimba, sending 200,000 (50%) PL damage his way!
Before Marimba's kick could crash against Salvo's head, the Pirate managed to grab it with both hands, stopping it in its tracks. Then with a mighty yank, the giant is pulled in close, allowing the powered-up Heran to slam her head against the mutant with full strength and momentum on their side. The headbutt was so brutal that despite the Mazoku's skull having an unnatural hardness that even armor could not match, it still managed to draw blood.
For a moment, his eyes would go white but not lifeless as they were before. There was a certain temptation to allow himself to fall unconscious again in order to unleash another Chaos Trigger. However, a certain fear managed to stop Marimba from taking that action. The tournament bell could call the end of the match any minute now, and if he were out of control when that happened, it would mean his dishonorable ejection, even if it would otherwise be his winning move.
Without his legs planted on the ground, Marimba would be sent flying backward from the head bash. Even after some time, he could still feel the backlash from the initial Chaos Trigger on his body, but he could not afford to wait any longer. Either he unleashed his full strength to make a comeback now or not at all! Before his body would travel far, it would instantaneously transform. All of the fat on his entire reformed into sheer muscle, and his crimson aura madly erupted from his body as he finally called forth his true power!
A colossal tongue erupted from his mouth at a ludicrous speed, stretching and wrapping around the body of the pirate captain. Then as a giant bulge in his right arm began to form and grow, Marimba pulled with his tongue, dragging his own massive body toward Salvo, using her strength as an anchor. As his body approached, he swung a left hook with his full power, releasing his tongue's hold on her as his strike landed. However far she would be sent back by this would not matter to the Namekian, as he immediately follows through by pointing his bulged-up right arm, which was now much larger than his head, at the Heran, before firing out of his palm all of the power he had stored up in the form of a tremendous black energy wave, violently coursing with onyx lightning.
Post by Captain Salvo on May 22, 2023 15:03:57 GMT -5
SALVO'S PL: 400,000
PL MULTIPLIERS: Choice Spirit (x6)
Salvo's gambit seemed to have worked, as she yanked the Namekian down and right into a fierce headbutt! Her bright blue forehead cracked with a thunderous amount of force against him, and while, admittedly, that actually hurt her own head quite a bit, it definitely appeared to have done more damage to Marimba than it had to her. "Keh! Guess even that thick skull 'a yers can't compare to me own cranium's hardiness!" Salvo declared as the Namekian stumbled backwards in a daze. Based on her experience in the last round, they'd likely be calling time on the fight any moment now, so the next few moments would be rather decisive ones...
Sure enough, the Namekian seemed to have realized this, too, and once again his body broke apart, erupting into something far more monstrous than he already was! Salvo had, more or less, been expecting this, though just because it was a predictable move didn't mean it was going to be all that easy to handle. It was pretty fast for its size, after all. Salvo raised her arms and her expression shifted to one of disgust as Marimba's... Tongue seemed to shoot out and wrap itself around her waist. "Eugh, you slugs are so disgustin'!" she spat out as she raised up her blade to chop that tongue in twain.
She slashed her blade through Marimba's tongue just in time to wriggle herself free of his grasp, and just barely ducked beneath him as he lunged at her with his full force, her long orange hair blown roughly to the side as the force of marimba's fist ripped through the air, and her hat nearly blown off as well, if not for her hand having reached up and held it firmly in place.
That wasn't all for Marimba's attack, though, as he continued by raising his other arm in the air and slamming it down right towards Salvo, where it unleashed a tremendous blast of black energy! Salvo quickly poured all the energy she could muster into a barrier over her head and crossed her arms to brace for impact! And an impact it was, as Marimba's blow cracked straight against hers, and while it was weakened significantly, it ultimately broke through and engulfed Salvo in an explosive flame!
For a moment, it was unclear to anyone what went on beneath the smoke and flames that marked the impact point of Marimba's blast... But then, Salvo leapt straight out from the flames, her teeth grit with determination as she fired off a swift blast for the Namekian's face! Once the blast had been fired off, she landed a few meters away, clearly somewhat worse for wear as blood dripped from her head. "Heh... Ye know, Ah'll take it as compliment that th' only way yer even able t' keep up wit' me is by turnin' yerself into a monster. Ah s'pose Ah ought to be flattered by that."
Salvo uses [Light] Batten Down the Hatches to block Marimba's attack, and boosts it by 10% with her MP! It blocks for 240,000 (60%), leaving 103,661 damage to come through and hit Salvo for 26%! This also applies Bleed to Salvo! She then fires off a quick [Light] Hearty Blow at Marimba, sending 120,000 (30%) PL damage his way! Lastly, Salvo takes 15% more damage from Bleed.