Fight the Cyborg! Prizes available!

[Whatevr89532]

It's happened. Gradually, subtly, and over a moderately long period of time, but it has happened. A new player on the Muffinville scene, a mysterious company called simply "The Business", has taken up roots. A small collection of storefronts covering a variety of categories, and even a couple of restaurants, have sprung up scattered around the town, each one manned by a strange cloaked being with a glowing eye and stilted speech. And now...some kind of promotional stunt, it seems.

The Business has put flyers throughout town, and ads on the Internet and on TV, calling all manner of warriors, fighters, and other types of combatants interested in a profit to fight "The Cyborg" at a specific place on a certain day. Later ads indicate that said Cyborg's name is Cacophany, along with the slow reveal of some stylized pictures of the cyborg in question, a woman with an eerily blank expression. Some show her holding this gun which seems to be a part of her; others show her wielding a strange sword one or two handed, and still others both weapons at once.

Of course, it would hardly be a tempting offer to most just to fight someone if some prizes weren't offered. To that end, The Business offers to heal any wounds incurred during the battle, and a prize of 100 USD or whatever currency equivalent the combatant wants per minute survived against this "Cyborg" (but no money for surviving less than a minute), and more importantly, an otherworldly legendary artifact of one's choosing is the prize for anyone who can actually beat her in a fight.

Today is the day announced for the match, about midmorning. The Business has rented out a big lot and placed some kind of metal-built ring in the center of it. A crowd of curious onlookers has gathered to watch, and some of those glowy-eyed beings who seem to be the company's only employees mill about said crowd selling various refreshments and souvenirs--undoubtedly hoping to make back whatever those prizes cost. Cacophany stands on the platform, leaning on the strange split-bladed sword and regarding her latest opponent--a poor NPC ninja who barely lasted three seconds before being cut in half--as another of those cloaked beings uses some technological means to time-reverse him back together again. Yet another of the beings stands next to her, and she speaks to it.

"...This ar-rangement has not been as favorable as predicted." Cacophany's speech is emotionally muted, almost monotone.
"This world has in-numerable strong combatants," the cloaked one replies, "the proba-bility of an intersection with those tempted by the prizes is ex-ceedingly high. The day is still young; some pa-tience may simply be necessary."
"I mean...I dislike cau-sing such pain unnecessarily. We should have filtered the parti-cipants somehow."
"To do so would risk mis-sing someone with more hidden tal-ents," the being replies. "Just give it time."

[AmbushCat]

Female voice: Someone call for a fight?

*A flash of orange and a brief gust of wind where there was none, measuring around 70 MPH, washes through the vicinity... just as a figure crashes down onto the ring from above. This person is built like a human martial artist, but has the general appearance of a red fox (albeit one with a smaller muzzle) and is dressed primarily in black and white (thin jacket, T-shirt, and trousers). A long fluffy tail that easily measures two meters in length waves about; a pair of obnoxiously large and triangular ears twitch minutely; and when she speaks, a ridiculous number of pointed teeth can be seen.*

Checking in!

[Knight Errant]

There somewhat heavy thumping as Dact walks into the new establishment. Decked in full platemail with his visor down. Heavy spear strapped to his back. A challenge was offered... and he wouldn't miss it!

[Whatevr89532]

The cloaked figure opposite Cacophany regards the fox-person for a second, making a sound not unlike a printer. Then it hands her a piece of paper and a pen. "Please sign this wai-ver so we may begin, miss." The waiver in question is big text and not in legalese at all: It simply states that the signer will not hold Cacophany or The Business responsible for pain felt during the match, and that only The Business is responsible for repairing all injuries incurred during the match. The other one on the ring "nods" to the cyborg girl, and then seems to float over to one side of the ring, and then step off the ring only to gently float down to concrete-level.

Meanwhile, Dact is approached by another cloaked figure whose only easily-visible feature besides "seeming humanoid" and the cloak is a single glowing eye. "Gree-tings. Are you a combatant?" it inquires.

[AmbushCat]

*The fox lady obligingly signs her name as "Aldonza Karate" (pronounced "Caretti"), then hands it back to the cloaked figure.*

And there we go.

[Whatevr89532]

The figure takes the paper. "Thank you. Please await the count-down." It goes and floats off-ring just like the earlier one. There is a brief shimmer of light upward as the four sides of the rectangular ring are given a protective sort of force field, which behaves physically like an unbreakable wall and visibly looks clear unless something is actively contacting some part of it, in which case the points of contact glow faintly white. The walls extend quite a ways up, ending in a "roof" of the same stuff--all to protect the spectators, of course, though the fact that it has physical presence to the fighters has an effect on the available tactics.

The cyborg picks up that big two-pronged sword of hers one-handed, as if it's nothing, and nods to her latest opponent while moving to a ready stance, her metallic tail coiling forward with the glowing, cannon-like end pointing at Aldonza. "My name is Cacophany..if you didn't see any of the ads say-ing so. Best of luck."

[AmbushCat]

*eyes gleaming* Same to you.

*Aldonza hunkers down, hands on her knees and her tail idly waving about.*

[Whatevr89532]

Once some checks are done to ensure the barrier is in place and working properly, a louder version of the voice all the cloaked being seems to share says "Com-mence battle at 'Go', after 'One'." And then counts down from 5 with perfectly regular rhythm, ending in "One...Go!" on the same rhythm. As soon as 'go' is spoken, a red cutting laser fires from Cacophany's tail, exactly as advertised, and aimed straight at her opponent! At the same time, she raises her sword, ready to swipe it at Aldonza if she comes close.

[AmbushCat]

*Aldonza's gleaming eyes increase in luminescence, taking an emerald shine. As they do, twin energy beams fire from her pupils with the intention of intercepting the cutting laser.*

[Knight Errant]

Dact nods towards the strange creature. "Indeed. I'm here to challenge your house favorite."

[Whatevr89532]

The beams meet the laser, but before it can turn into an energy tug-of-war, Cacophany cuts off her beam and leaps into the air, an automatic rifle sliding, or perhaps, quickly slithering, out from somewhere inside her into her free left hand. With it, she fires a scattershot hail of bullets at the general area Aldonza's in. Her ultimate trajectory is slightly backwards, soon landing with her feet and back against the force-field wall.

The cloaked being "nods" (it's not entirely clear how Dact can tell, but it feels like a nod), and begins making a sound suspiciously like an ordinary computer printer from somewhere in its chest area. It waves to the ring, which he should be easily able to see from here. "There is a fight in pro-gress, but you will be next in line afterward. If you would not mind sign-ing a waiver?" It produces from about where the printer sound was a single piece of paper and also a pen, offering them to the knight. The paper has easily readable font and very clear and direct language, stating that whoever signs it won't hold Cacophany or The Business responsible for any pain experienced during the fight, and will only hold The Business responsible for repairing injuries incurred during it.

[Knight Errant]

Dact looks it over, nodding. "Mmm... alright then." He goes ahead and signs the waiver. Giving it back. "Now where can I wait for my fight?"

[AmbushCat]

The beams meet the laser, but before it can turn into an energy tug-of-war, Cacophany cuts off her beam and leaps into the air, an automatic rifle sliding, or perhaps, quickly slithering, out from somewhere inside her into her free left hand. With it, she fires a scattershot hail of bullets at the general area Aldonza's in. Her ultimate trajectory is slightly backwards, soon landing with her feet and back against the force-field wall.

*Aldonza stops firing in time to take action, evading off to the side fast enough to send a sonic boom rippling around the ring. Taking aim, she snaps off another shot not at Cacophany but at one of the bullets still in mid-air, sending it back her opponent's way.*

[Whatevr89532]

The being takes the paper back, seeming to disappear it back under the cloak. "Any-where in the audience area is fine. There is some room near the front re-served for the 'line' of upcoming com-batants if you wish." It points to a clear path in the crowd around the ring...the strange thing is that it doesn't seem like there are any signs saying to keep that area clear or any of the cloaked beings doing anything particular to keep the crowd from filling it in. Almost like they're just sort of subconsciously herding the crowd in some way that leaves that space open.

--

Cacophany's landing on the wall is brief, transitioning into a somersaulting wall-jump forward; the redirected bullet probably isn't leading her, but might hit her if it is. She finally uses that sword at this point, making a wide swinging motion with it and an audible, angry-sounding yell. This combination seems to cause the empty space between the two "prongs" of the sword to become a blade in its own right, composed of an angry red Warp, and produce an arc-shaped wave of that same energy diagonally down toward the horizontal line Aldonza's on. Another hail of bullets is directed past that line in an effort to catch her opponent if she dodges that way, and the cyborg finally lands on the ground again with her sword, still glowing, readied to strike if the fox dodges forward instead.

[Knight Errant]

Dact nods... going to take a seat up front to watch and wait. Analyzing the fighters...