Hunter was barely hanging on, nearly over the ledge, but not quite there... When Draconua's roar split his ears. His eyes shut tight as hellfire, freezing and screaming, roared up from the corruption that split the terrain. He could feel it climbing hungrily toward the both of them, his toes curling as he continued to try and work his way over the ledge, to safety.

"Come on, Hunter," he cursed under his teeth, hauling himself up the rest of the way as Faceless's weight pulled into a tight ball. He hefted himself up over the ledge, collapsing from the effort with a few painful gasps.

But neither of them had fallen. Neither had been engulfed with flames. Hunter tried to twist away from Faceless quickly, before the beast struck for his stomach or throat, but part of him hoped that-- maybe-- it wouldn't come to that.

What would it come to, then? The longer they dragged this on, the more dangerous, the more deadly. He didn't have time to think about that, because Draconua was losing her absolute mind.
gm tag....... again......

ROUND HAZARD

ATTEMPT: don't get burned alive

Another wily escape, grasping at spears and straws alike.

Another ear-splitting shriek of a roar, the thumping of heavy feet against a crumbling stone.

Rather than a simple arc of lightning, a cannonshot of fire, a shattering of the earth, along came a blast. A shockwave irradiated by and leaking raw Chaos thundered through the air. With its path came a concussive pop!—and another, and another, and another as every inch of soiled earth exploded into suffocating blackness. Venomous forks of lightning arced in the cloud of Chaotic smog forming, burning, consuming; they were generated by the sheer amounts of heat pooling.

Draconua, at its epicenter, screamed.

And yet—even as her own magic threatened to squeeze and eat her alive, slicked-over with Oil and a ticking time bomb—her beady black eyes were fixed on those below, the spot where their figures had once been.

In the interest of time, the next round of sudden death will be SUPER SUDDEN DEATH. Whichever character rolls highest to escape or otherwise survive—regardless of success thresholds—will be the winner, while the other loses.

@Faceless

Faceless didn't need to be told to hang on. Hanging on was about the only thing it knew to do at this point, what with the gaping chasm and hungry flames and all that. Face bleached white with fear, it did nothing but clutch Hunter's leg as the hybrid did the work pulling both of them from the fissure. It seemed to be in a state of disbelief as they emerged, staring blankly down the chasm and only reacting when Hunter scrambled away from it.

It stumbled a few steps in the opposite direction, not quite sure of what it should do next. The loud fluttering creature would probably say that it should rip Hunter apart, but that seemed... a bit unconscionable... considering he'd just pulled both of them out of that chasm. It half hoped the hybrid would attack first, just so it wouldn't have to struggle with decision-making.

Faceless took a questioning step forward, blinking a drop of grey ichor from its unbruised eye. Its gaze wandered to Hunter's spear. Almost comically slowly, it extended a chitinous forearm toward the spear, as if it could simply grip it and tug it away from Hunter. Not with any violent force, but more like a child tugging insistently at one's sleeve.

Of course, the sleeve comparison was flawed in several different ways. Faceless happened to be a lot stronger and more stubborn than your average child, so this was more like some kind of eldritch demon child trying to drag you by the sleeve. But slowly. And you could let go of your sleeve if you wanted. And then there was the fact that the 'sleeve' was a sharp weapon it'd just seen Hunter stab into the wall to pull himself (themselves) up. Faceless watched carefully from behind its chitin-armored arm, ready to scurry out of the way at any sudden movement.

Round 9/?
Attempt: poke Hunter's spear?
Defense: poking it carefully
Injuries: bruised shins, burnt, bitten and scratched, bruised ribbish area, black eye

Turns out it wasn't the spear Faceless had to worry about.

After failure after failure at eliminating one of the combatants, Draconua was going absolutely bonkers. Well, even more so. The ground exploded beneath Faceless' feet, a column of churning ash and flame catching it perfectly and throwing it through the air. It shrieked as it flipped over several times while airborne, plumes of smoke trailing its flight path and violet embers spitting from its burning fur. It was still shrieking when a bolt of neon-green lightning struck its chest, electrifying each muscle (including the ever-important heart) for the second time that day and slamming it against a rock face.

There was no recovering from this one. Faceless slid limply down the wall, engulfed by moldavite before it even hit the ground.

@Hunter exit through chrysalis lmao

Hunter was panting, hands tight around his spear as he hauled himself on to his feet. Despite himself, his muzzle was tensed in a half-snarl, staring fearfully down the beast. If a conversation could be held with locked eyes, then maybe they reached some sort of mutual, terrified understanding of what this Deathmatch truly was. Then the spell was broken as Faceless reached forward a sharp, pointy limb toward his spear.

He did the only thing he could think to do: try and block the motion with a quick jerk of the weapon. The action was pure instinct, more a knee-jerk reflex than anything. It was hasty, clumsy, doing little than jarring Hunter's own wrists as he stumbled back a bit further.

He didn't exactly want to stab the creature in front of him, not with the way it stared at him, bewildered and uncertain like a mirror held up to his own nose. He swallowed, open his mouth, and before the words could form on his tongue...

The nuclear bomb went off.

ROUND 9/9

ATTEMPT: knock faceless's claw away from the spear
DEFENSE: AAAAAAAAAA
INJURIES: several very nasty puncture/bite wounds along shoulder and back, gash across face

Hunter didn't really hear the roar. After the first few, the shellshock, the pure panic in his bloodstream, he was deaf to the warning call.

He felt the shockwave that came from the epicenter, though, as it tore through his pelt and made his eardrums pop. The rest was kind of a blur, as a wave of thick black smog swallowed both of the competitors. Hunter could feel the sensation of electricity arc around the field, the heat of plasma popping and tearing through the oil-strewn field, but Hunter bolted.

He raced, darting in and out, away from the heat, narrowly avoiding literal lightning as it crashed all around him, leaping over the crevices that broke the terrain, and while his pelt smoked and singed with the sheer acidity of corruption, he managed to scramble to some form of safety: a peak of stone that jutted up from the flames and thunderous storm of raw power. He clutched to his perch and his spear, heart hammering in his chest as he coughed up a thick glob of congealed oil that had tried to settle in his throat from the sickly smoke he had inhaled.

Hunter froze, watching the rising smoke as the world, rattling and ringing in both the earth and his ears, slowly returned to focus.

... he had a sinking feeling he had won, but... at what cost?
GM :D

ROUND HAZARD

ATTEMPT: SURVIVE???

DEATHMATCH

Nemean leaned forward, her eyes wide, as the match spiralled into chaos. Real chaos, too, not just the stuff in name. And holy shit-! The DRAMA! She was rapt; it was like the theatre all over again. One of them hanging for their lives, the other clinging to them desperately, the spear, the hand slipping on rock-... She held her breath. She actually held her breath!

When they both clambered out, she was both vastly disappointed and triumphant! She'd wanted to see blood, but damn, they were like. SUPER dramatic! "HELLLLL YEAH!" she cheered them both on. Regardless of who won--and "neither" was looking like a pretty strong contender, given the way Draconua was now fucking wrecking the arena--they both deserved some kinda honorable mention, in her book.

Oh.

Oh.

The pillar of UTTER DEATH caught Faceless point blank, ground zero, dead-on. "HAHAHAHA!" Support switched smoothly to bloodthirst. "SICK SHOT, DRACCY!" she bawled, and raised both tiny fists in the air. "AND WE GOT A WIIIIINNNNEEEER! THE HUNTER OF WILD BEASTS FELLS HIS FIRST FOE! Let's pit this one against more monsters in the future, eh, folks? We'll see what he can do with that spear! Lookin' good, buddy--pose for the audience! Here-"

Another cascade of awful glitter poured down to the fanfare of trumpets, each piece glinting blindingly in the glare of sweeping spotlights. "STRIKE A POSE! YOU WINNN!" She cast a glance at the chrysalis swelling against the bloodied arena floor. "HONORABLE MENTION TO THE GUY THAT'S NOW A ROCK!"

_____________

DEATHMATCH WINNER: HUNTER

Character: Faceless Age: +2 (2 Cycles) Magic Level: +1 (Fledgling) ROUND 1 Attempt: - Penalties: - ROUND 2 Attempt: +9 Penalties: - ROUND 3 Attempt: +13 Penalties: - ROUND 4 Attempt: - Penalties: - ROUND 5 Attempt: +13 Penalties: - ROUND 6 Attempt: +14 Penalties: - ROUND 7 Attempt: +12 Penalties: - ROUND 8 Attempt: +11 Penalties: - ROUND 9 Attempt: +17 Penalties: - Total: 92

Character: Hunter Age: +5 (17 Cycles, Capped) Magic Level: +3 (Brawler) ROUND 1 Attempt: - Penalties: - ROUND 2 Attempt: - Penalties: - ROUND 3 Attempt: - Penalties: - ROUND 4 Attempt: +7 Penalties: - ROUND 5 Attempt: +18 Penalties: - ROUND 6 Attempt: +15 Penalties: - ROUND 7 Attempt: +6 Penalties: - ROUND 8 Attempt: +6 Penalties: - ROUND 9 Attempt: +7 Penalties: - Total: 67

NUMERICAL WINNER: Faceless

Faceless will awaken without any changes due to chrysalis! (Roll: 4 - No Consequences)

@Hunter @Faceless