Eroden Vs Agmir, DEATHMATCH

[SumDood]

(Note: full free-form in use).

READY to RUUUUUUMMBLE?

- The crowd cheers -

Let's GET IT ON!

[Agmir]

The old man stood inside the ring of Ivanhelm, surrounded by the cheers and jeers of the irritating and idiotic mental midgets of this foul and festering burg. He rubbed his chin and stroked his beard, eying his opponent thoughtfully and sizing him up. Who was this brash young upstart that he dared to face a Rizards Bath... Lizards Math...

WIZARDS WRAITH!

Yes... THAT.

Agmir snorted and kicked the sand with his sandals. A small cloud of dust rose up and caused him to sneeze. Was this why they were called sandals? Someone should point that out so that people didn't mistakenly think it was okay to kick sand with them.

"I will defeat you!" cried Agmir to his opponent. "I am Agmir Dumas, Rizard of... WIZARD... of the wastelands. You cannot hope to face me and survive. Prepare to meet your DOOOOOM!"

Agmir smiled, but he was pretty sure the entire threat was over the top. Still, it was on his list. He looked at his hand where he'd previously written down the necessary steps for this contest.

1. Make threat.
2. Listen to counter-threat.
3. Respond to counter-threat.
4. Listen to counter-counter-threat.
5. Respond to counter-counter-threat.
6. KEEL HEEM!

Right, he nodded to himself. Of course, there had been an entire series of optional steps, but he'd run out of room on his palm. As a result, they were scribed down the side of his left leg. If he had time, and if it were necessary, he'd have to take a moment to look at them.

He waited patiently for Eroden's counter-threat.

[Eroden]

Eroden extracted four blades from storage. They appeared silently in his hands, which were held slightly behind him so that his opponent would not see.

He stared at the old man and wondered exactly what it was that had bored its way through his skull and was eating his brains. No one was this mind-fooked without a parasite infestation. The crusty yahoo's 'threats' (if that's what you could call them) were entirely laughable and ridiculous.

This was a Wizard?

"If it is magic you threaten me with, old man," he said coldly, "then you will find that I am not without my own, both in offense and defense. Do not oppose me with your words, but rather your actions. To that end, I shall add my own."

With that both of his arms came around and he unleashed the weapons he held. Spinning too rapidly to discern, the knives quickly closed the distance between the assassin and the mage. Warm steel, coated with the essence of death in the form of lethal poison, approached Agmir on a perfect vector with his neck, chest, stomach and groin.

Death would be painful, but swift.

[Agmir]

Wait a second... thought Agmir. Was he being attacked?

He was pretty sure that this was only the second round of insults and intimidation. Surely there should be at least three more similar exchanges before the real violence starts. But, no. Those four objects hurtling towards him at high velocity were almost definitely not flowers. In fact, they appeared to be cutlery of some kind. Most likely knives.

Concentrating, he held up his hand. The amulet around his neck began to glow and hummed with energy. The blades slowed as they approached. By the time they reached him, they were completely stopped. Agmir examined them for a moment. They were knives alright, and it looked like they were glistening with toxic liquid. This fellow was truly out to commit murder.

Agmir frowned and stared at him over the distance between them.

"What's THIS!?" he demanded. "You're throwing knives at me? Don't you have a sword or something? I expected more grunting and sweating and thrusting. If you're just going to stand there and through stuff at me then this isn't going to be much fun.

Here. Have them back."

With a wave of his hand, he sent the knives spinning back in the exact direction they had come, except this time they were moving somewhat faster.

[Eroden]

Seeing his own weapons turned around and hurtled back at him, Eroden's eyes went wide. With less than a second to act, he pulled the only defense he could come up with from dimensional storage and flung it to the ground at his feet. Instantly a bubble of energy surrounded him.

Four thuds against the outside of the bubble hit hard enough to let the assassin know that the old man's reverse toss would have put the blades right through him had they connected. The crusty bastard might be ancient, but he wasn't as much of a pushover as he looked to be.

There could be a contest here.

Since he had some time in the bubble, he decided he'd take advantage of that to reduce the distance between himself and his opponent. Running inside the sphere wasn't difficult, and in no time at all he had a swift pace going in Agmir's direction.

[Agmir]

Raising one eyebrow at the absurdity of the situation, the Wizard tilted his head down and considered the sphere of dark energy hurtling towards him on the ground. At its present location (in connection with the surface of the arena) he could not use the Amulet of Abin Binar to take control over its motion. Yet it most certainly contained and defended his opponent, protecting him like a shell. It was an ingenious and marvelous magical manifestation that the Wizard envied. He would have to try and mimic this effect some time.

If he survived.

Assuming that the other man could dispel the sphere at will, Agmir knew that he would be in grave danger as soon as the object reached him. For he was no close combatant and would be easily vanquished in hand to hand combat. Therefore he had no choice but to proceed in a manner that would make dispelling the energy field extremely undesirable for the enemy.

"Anjou Baiju Calgon Calipso!" he shouted, waving his hands into the air and making a series of bizarre and difficult contortions. He hated this spell. Everytime he cast it, it made him sore for several days. Throwing his right leg behind his head, he hopped in a circle and chanted. "Oingo ka-binga, Mongo gonzo pina. Perfecto, rejecto, ai-carumba!"

Whirling around, his leg flew from behind him and landed hard in the sand, kicking up a cloud of dust. "WHUMP!" Throwing back his arms, he brought them in slowly. Clawed hands gathered energy, summoned it from the surroundings and compressed it, focusing the power into a sphere under his control.

Glowing and resonating with intense energy, Agmir let out a shout and released the fireball to sizzle through the air at his opponent.

"KowAAAA BUNA!!"

It tore across the distance between the old man and the assassin, melting a trail of glass beneath it as it traveled. Superheated air rippled as it moved, providing a spectacle of amazement for those onlookers in the arena lucky enough to have purchased a seat here in Ivanhelm this day.

A shout of acceptance rose up from the crowd. They loved nothing more than a good show - particularly in magical combat. It wasn't often you got to see something like this.