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Aelia (Valkyrie Profile) |
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Aelia's never had the most intricate combat strategy in the world. She stabs her opponents a few times, turns into a dragon, and burns them to ash. It's not much for creative or subtle touches, but it gets the job done. This week, she seems to be outdone in the transform-and-smash-things area, but she has two big edges over Vincent Valentine. First, her spears are simply stronger than his guns. More importantly, though, once Vincent triggers a transformation, he loses all control of his actions and can no longer choose his strongest or most useful attacks. So when she equips armor that guards against elemental damage, Vincent can't choose not to use the attacks that she nullifies. So Aelia can easily protect herself from Vincent's randomly-chosen strikes, and cruise to an easy win. |
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Aelia may be able to transform into a dragon, but Vincent is not impressed. After all, he too can take the form of the monsters that have etched into his body and soul. While his defense and damage struggles to be middling while he's still in human form, this will change once he's taken enough damage to reach his Limit Breaks. Hellmasker and Chaos may be out of reach, requiring too much damage to safely activate, and Galian Beast may be too weak, but Death Gigas will not only completely restore his health but double his durability, and at that point even Dreaded Dragon will not be enough to annhialate him. And once the Einherjar reverts back to human form, a steady series of Giga Dunks and Live Wires will quickly wear her down as Vincent shows her what it truly means to be a monster. |
AndrewRogue Gunshots echoed through the arena, sharply piercing the dull roar that reigned over the arena. All eyes were fixated on the floor below, afraid to miss an instant of the struggle of two warriors locked in mortal combat, neither willing to yield an inch. The dragon-blooded spear woman, Aelia, moved swiftly as she dashed across the arena floor, bullets striking the wall mere centimeters behind her. “One, two, three,” she counted under her breath as each gunshot rang out, each bullet barely missing her, “Four, five and six!” As the sixth shot rang out, she stopped and twisted to face her opponent, bringing her spear to bear. She had to strike while Vincent was reloading. “Impressive,” the ex-Turk whispered, the slightest hint of admiration entering into his voice, “No one has managed to avoid my shots for so long before.” His hands moved swiftly, feeding bullets into his infamous Death Penalty, his face betraying no panic as the woman charged him. “This ends now!” she cried out as she lunged forward, the spear’s head driving powerfully towards his chest. Vincent moved quicker than she anticipated though, diving aside and rolling to his feet even as she passed him, trying to overcome her momentum and launch another attack. “You’re getting tired though,” Vincent chided as he raised his pistol and took aim. Without another word, he unleashed another six shots against the shocked and unbalanced Aelia. She had no time to react as the deadly bullets struck her armor. Even though its divine strength protected her from the majority of shots, one still managed to punch through the shoulder of her armor, flinging her to the ground as a searing pain spread through her arm. “The armor of the gods is strong,” Vincent murmured softly. Aelia could already hear him reloading as she braced herself against the pain and rolled to her feet, hoping she was fast enough. “Up already?” Vincent said, unable to conceal the surprise in his voice as he tried to finish reloading before she attacked. “Die!” Aelia shouted as she dove forward recklessly, thrusting with all her might. The ex-Turk’s reactions were too slow, the spearhead driving deep into his gut. His eyes widened as the young woman was practically brought face to face with him. Yet Vincent felt no pain as his metal arm lashed out and grabbed the haft of the weapon, holding it in place. He looked down at her, his gaze chilling Aelia notably even as the familiar numbness began to spread outward from his own wound. “What are you doing?” she growled, trying to pull her weapon back, amazed to find the strength with which he held it was greater than hers, despite the spear being through him. “You have made a mistake,” he said coldly, a strange ferocity creeping into his voice, his eyes never leaving hers, “And now my sins shall grow graver thanks to you...” ~~~ In the stands, Celia was on the edge of her seat, trying to look over the heads of various audience members to see the action that was occurring in the ring far below. Lawfer shook his head as he leaned over slightly, nudging her. “Relax Celia,” he muttered, “I’m sure she’s doing just fine. Vincent never struck me as that impressive a fighter anyway.” He leaned back in his seat, looking up at the ceiling. “Besides, its not like you’d be able to see anything in the cheap seats here. You figure they’d give close friends a—” Celia stood up suddenly, interrupting him as she accidentally knocked his soda over with her foot. “Hey!” Lawfer shouted, “Dammit Celia!” The warrior lifted his feet up to keep the sticky soda from his feet as he dug around his seat for napkins. “What do you think you’re—” “I’m going to get a better look!” she said, carefully moving past him and sliding down the row, much to the chagrin of the various individuals who had to try and make room for her to pass. “Hey! Our tickets are for up here! Not—” Lawfer didn’t even bother to finish, seeing that she had no interest in listening to him today. He simply sighed, wincing as he set his new boots onto the now soda stained floor. Once free of the tight confines of the row, Celia began to jog down the stairs, nervously watching for arena security. At the very least she could see the action in the ring more clearly as she moved down the vast stairwell. She bit her lip gently as the fight became clearer to her though. It looked like her beloved friend was in a lot of trouble. Demons, vampires and Lezard’s Great Magic were one thing, but Aelia had never fought an opponent with something as mundane and deadly as a high powered gun. Her movement hastened as she began to take steps several at a time, attracting startled glances from people she passed, moving even faster as she neared the end of audience seating. She didn’t notice as she began to hold her breath nervously. She stopped quickly as she reached the bottom of the stairs, grabbing the railing that blocked the arena pit off as she practically ran into it. She released the breath that had kept her chest tight, relieved as she witnessed Aelia spring forward, bravely ignoring her own wound, to skewer Vincent and end the fight. A gentle smile crossed her face as she caught her breath, brushing her hair back. “I should have known you better Aelia. Lawfer was right, I didn’t have anything to worry about.” Yet, even seeing her beloved friend having won the fight, she couldn’t shake a sense of dread deep in the pit of her stomach. Her attention refocused on the fight rather than simply Aelia as Vincent’s golden claw took hold of the haft of her spear. There seemed to be a new strength in him. Celia turned quickly, hoping to find someone who could tell her what was happening as Aelia desperately struggled to free her weapon from Vincent’s grasp. She noticed an older gentleman in an aisle seat, being clung to one of the DL’s sexiest and most powerful women; it was undoubtedly the all-knowing mage and male sex symbol, Mazus. He had to know what Vincent was doing! “Mazus!” she shouted, attracting a glare from Deis, whose arms were wrapped around his neck affectionately. She moved from the railing for a moment, ignoring the ire of the naga. “Do you know what Vincent is doing?” she asked, the worry and desperation clear in her voice. Deis started to say something derogatory, but a single, soft gesture from Mazus silenced her. “Easy Deis, no need to bite the girl’s head off,” he said to Deis as he looked at Celia. “I’ll share what I know. Its not surprising she can’t tell, considering the boy never gets in the arena. His limit has broken, and he’s preparing to transform into a monster of sorts.” Celia turned back to the railing almost instantly, leaning over it, her heart pounding. A monster? That meant... “Aelia! Get away from him!” ~~~ “Oh screw this,” Aelia growled, releasing her grip on her spear, “I’ll finish you the old fashioned way!” She balled her fist up, preparing to knock the man off his feet with a single strike. “Aelia! Get away from him!” Celia’s frightened voice rose above the normal din of the arena, causing Aelia to pause a moment, startled. Her eyes moved from her opponent for the barest moment, searching out the familiar figure to which the voice belonged. That moment was too much though, as she suddenly found Vincent’s arm clasped around her neck, the muscles in his arm swelling as he skin turned a sick purple. “I warned you,” he practically snarled as she struggled frantically against his unbelievably powerful grip. His voice lost human tone as his face pushed out into a muzzle, horns beginning to sprout from his forehead. “Now begoorooooooar!” he growled, his words becoming completely intelligible as he threw the struggling Aelia across the arena, her body slamming against the ground and rolling several yards. ~~~ “Aelia!” Celia shouted as she leaned as far over the railing she could, attracting glares from the people trying to watch from their well deserved, front row seats. “Aelia, please get up!” “Hey! Hey! What are you doing down here?” Celia ignored the nasally, high pitched voice of Sten as he came running down the stairs, his badge marking him as DL security bouncing up and down. “You aren’t supposed to be down here!” he shouted, grabbing her and trying to pull her back from the railing, an action which strained his long, spindly arms quite severely. “The stupid girl and monkey are blocking your view Mazus,” Deis grumbled, glaring at the now very loud and very obnoxious duo struggling near the side. Mazus laughed, flashing one of his million dollar smiles at her. “Not at all. I’ve seen such things plenty of times in my youth. The real view is right here.” ~~~ Aelia struggled to push herself up from the ground. “What in the name of the gods is he doing,” she gasped through gritted teeth, looking up to see Vincent, in the guise of the Galian Beast, tear her spear out of his body and hurl it out of the ring. “Not good,” she managed, barely getting onto her knees. Vincent roared ferociously as he charged her, his claws lifting her into the air, tearing at the divine metal, before viciously slamming her back into the ground, the stone floor actually cracking as she cried out in pain. Snarling and baring his teeth, he lifted the wounded woman into the air again. This time, rather than hurl who to the ground, he instead slammed his horns against her, the impact of the blows actually denting her armor as she again cried out in pain. ~~~ “A-Aelia! No! Give up or win or do something!” Celia cried desperately, struggling against Sten to stay at ringside. “Hey! Hey! Come on girl, make this easy on me! This is a temp job!” ~~~ Aelia barely moved in Vincent’s grasp. He lowered his snout towards her face, sniffing, wondering if he had already managed to win. “So, you have a beast in you,” she whispered, chuckling gently, wincing as pain flowed through her battered body. “You’re not the only one though.” Vincent growled, looking at her curiously. “My soul burns,” she gasped, beginning to glow softly, an unseen force pushing Vincent’s claws away from her. His eyes widened, perhaps in shock, perhaps in fear, as he found himself unable to maintain his grip on her. “My power has awakened!” her haggard voice erupted with surprising volume as a blinding light filled the arena, a shockwave rippling through its foundations. The crowd began to watch with anticipation as the light cleared from their eyes, revealing the massive dragon that hovered over the arena, energy already coursing through its body and building. Vincent snarled at the beast futilely, gathering energy for his own Beast Flare, a final stand against the now overwhelming power which confronted him. He didn’t even have time to complete his attack though, the Dreaded Dragon’s energy lancing towards the floor. The bolt of raw energy struck the arena floor with unequaled force, again blinding the audience as it vaporized stone. Cheers erupted in the crowd, knowing that it was over for Vincent. The dust slowly cleared, revealing the shaky form of a young woman as the only one still standing. ~~~ Sten’s grip on Celia slackened as he watched the end of the match, completely stunned. “Whoa. She’s just like Ryu, turning into a drag—” He was unable to complete his thought as Celia, seizing on his distraction, freed herself from his grip with a powerful kick to the face that sent him to the ground, utterly witless. Not wasting another moment, and shocking the people who had become engrossed in the struggle between her and security, she leapt the railing, nimbly landing on the shattered floor below. “Aelia!” she cried, her voice brimming with emotion as she dashed heedlessly across the broken ground, arriving just in time to catch her beloved friend as she fell, completely drained from her own devastating attack. “Aelia,” she said, much softer this time, kneeling as she held her tightly. “You did it! You won!” She could barely keep the tears from welling up in her eyes as she squeezed her tightly. “And you’re all right!” Aelia winced as she forced a gentle laugh, patting her friend’s hands. “Easy Celia, I’m hurting. Ease up a bit.” Celia said nothing as she loosened her embrace, resting her head against Aelia’s unwounded shoulder to conceal her relieved tears. “I’m so glad you’re all right.” Aelia squeezed her hands softly as she leaned back against her weakly, waiting for the healers to come out. “And I’m glad you were here, Celia.” Aelia: 43 Lance
Starphoenix das Helpoemer
Shale
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