4978/The Grand Champion

The Grand Champion
Date of Scene:	22 July 2018
Location:	Sakaar
Synopsis:	Some time ago, on Sakaar, Thor and Mantis battle for the amusement of the Grandmaster
Cast of Characters:	Thor, Mantis

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Thor has posed:
SOME TIME AGO, ON SAKAAR

    "Oh, yuck! There's still someone's hair and blood all over this, guys. Can you clean up the weapons once you finish the fight?" Korg turns around while brandishing a three-pronged spear and says with a disappointed lilt to his tone of voice, "Disgusting slobs."
    Thor smirks to himself as he goes through the large rack of exotic weapons all displayed prominently for the mass of gladiators making ready to go out and face their fates. There is a steady hustle and bustle around them as servants, guards, gladiators all are moving to make sure that the coming show is excellent and that they hopefully do their part.
    "Say, Thor. Wanna use a big wooden fork?" He brandishes the weapon.
    "No," Thor shakes his head and scowls, "Bah, none of these are of any use."
    "Oh I don't know about that," Korg says, "I mean look at this thing here, could help if you were ever accosted by three super friendly vampires comin' at ya all at once, right?" Korg's stony countenance sells the straight man approach but his smile gives it away.
    "I wish I had Mjolnir." Thor shakes his head as he tests the edge of one blade on his thumb, finding it dull. He puts it back into the rack.
    "Mew-mew? What's that, mate?"
    "My hammer. It has been at my side since I was a child?"
    "Who gives a child a hammer? What sorta gift is that?"
    "My father, it was..."
    "Your father, what did he work in hardware?"
    "No, he was King of the Gods."
    "Oh, nice that. Good job, if you can get it."
    "In any case, I could hurl my hammer and it would ever return to my hand. It was... always with me." Thor frowns, looking off in the distance.
    "Sounds like this hammer of yours had some great sentimental value and that having lost it now you perhaps feel bereft or without ties to your home, so far away." Korg sets the trident aside and turns to face Thor directly.
    "Yes, I suppose you could say that. I'm just afraid the last time I threw it... well perhaps I'm too far away now for it to find me."
    "Stink one, mate."
    But then distantly the noise goes up as the crowd roars, the people filtering in to their seats as the ships roar and flare and swirl around the great bowl of the gigantic arena. The Grandmaster's voice is heard as he chimes in, his tremendously large hologram manifesting from a multitude of drones that whir and swirl around the arena projecting him into life as his voice comes from all the many loud speakers imbedded in the walls. "Wow, look at all of you!"
    "What a show, what a night. Who's having fun? Oh you are. I can see that."
    He waves a giant hand around the arena, "Big round of applause for all the, poor wretches that died so gruesomely for our entertainment. But here we are for the main card, the main event, the new challenge to the champ in the plant-er. We have.. Lord of Thunder!"
    And the great door sweeps open, rising up into the bulwark and allowing the Thunderer to advance out of it, looking distinctly uncomfortable in his makeshift armor and with a shield and mace held ready in his arms. "God of Thunder!" He shouts back up towards the figure.
    "Be careful, his fingers shoot sparks. Now you've waited for it. Here it is..."
    The arena grows quieter as the lights dim, the spotlights aim straight at the other door that is opposite Thor's even as the Grandmaster starts to speak further, "What can be said about the champ that hasn't been said already? Can't stand to use weapons, tells me they're barbaric, of course tells me this while their hands are still covered in the last champ's green... ick. Always speaks of herself in the third person..."
    Around the arena green puffs of smoke are fired into the air by little fireworks, and almost /all/ of the fans put on these cute little deely-boppers of dangling antennas that all jounce around as they take up the cheer.
    "Let's hear it for the terrible, the horrible, the deadly... MANTIS!"
     And the crowd cheers steadily. Man-Tis-Man-Tis-Man-Tis.

Mantis has posed:
    With the name that was announced, perhaps he had a vision of what might be coming out the door slides open. It likely did not match what was revealed.
    The figure walking into the arena is human looking other than two key differences. She has a pair of antennae that poke out from the mass of black hair falling to her middle back. And her skin is a lovely shade of green which is a shade or two lighter than the costume she's wearing. She only stands at about 5'6" and there is nothing intimidating about her physique. Certainly it is tone and the practiced eye would see the calluses that mark her as one skilled in hand-to-hand combat of varying types. But this is no powerhouse in appearance such as the rock-man he has befriended in the gladiator area.
    Her costume seems to be a dress, with a low dipping neckline and two faux antennae shapes built into it that extend out beyond her bare shoulders. The left side of the dress is yellow, the right green. A green belt marks where the top ends and the skirt begins, a red triangular buckled at the center front. The skirt itself is yellow and made of flowing strips of material that sway and shift with every move. It almost gives an impression of flower petals. Around her forearms and her claves are wraps of yellow and green. Her feet and hands are bare.
    As she enters the arena, she waves to the screaming crowds as she gives them a bright smile. Then she focuses her green eyes on her opponent. He can almost feel how she is gauging him in that glance, deciding if she will be challenged this time or not. Then she goes back to waving to her adoring public as she moves to about a third of the way into the arena before stopping.'

Thor has posed:
    The crowd is wild for her, cheering, exuding such happiness that it might almost be intoxicating for a woman such as herself. She can /feel/ the warmth of their affection, can feel the idolization, the envy. So many of the beings above want to be her, and even more want to be with her. And it all comes together in that cacophonous roar that pelts them with wave after wave of noise.
    Thor, for his part, is unimpressed as he holds up his mace and calls up towards the box seat where the Grandmaster has his seat. "You are serious? If I defeat her I win my freedom and I can return to Asgard?"
    The Grandmaster holds a hand up to his ear, spreads his hands, acts as if he can't hear the man even while he leans to the side and murmurs something to one of the multi-coloured serving girls who are all moving amongst his guests as he places his order.
    "Lass, I know not from whence you hail, but I hold no ill will for you. Yet I fear I must bring you low for more lives than my own depend on it." Thor says as he walks across the arena, moving towards her in a partially hunched over gait as if making himself ready.
    "Now grant them a show and then go down, I swear upon my father's soul I will not harm you beyond what I must."

Mantis has posed:
    "He will not hear you by choice," Mantis says in a polite tone as she remains where she was. There is a slight breeze and her skirt shifts but other than that, she is still. "This is the deal offers. This one is the Champion. This one must be defeated for freedom to be granted." Her smile is utterly serene as he advances.
    The instructions are given, his suggestion for how this will go. That makes the green woman smile, her antennae shifting slightly as she feels the thrumming emotions and energy all around her. It makes it a bit harder to focus in on the man coming at her.
    "This one has no ill will toward you," she says as he brings up his weapon and swings it at her. She simply isn't there, having stepped to the side and clear of the blow. Another swing and she is ducking under the weapon then to the side again, like a dancer instead of a fighter in the way her movements flow. "But this one does not fall. By choice or force." Her confidence is there in her voice. "Your offer is appreciated and perhaps this one will not be forced to kill you like all the others."
    Then she moves, her first aggression since he closed with her. One moment she is there, the next she is stepping under his guard and aiming a single hand at his chest. Her palm is flat and aimed for his sternum.
     Her chi is focused with pinpoint accuracy as she lets out a cry. "KIIYAAA!" As the blow hits, he is sent flying backwards, airborne for a good fifteen feet.
    She does not follow, does not close. Instead she waits as the crowd goes crazy.

Thor has posed:
    Each of those first blows aimed at her had been abrupt and quick, more selling with the lunge and the shift to try and give an impressive move to the crowd, something they can cheer about. But each time he swings she's just not there. She slips to the side, glides away. She can see his brow furrow as he tries again, snapping the mace up and then down, letting it land heavily into the ground with a /crack/ that sends rock shards flying through the air.
    He looks up...
    And then suddenly her palm strike /slams/ hard into his chest and sends him flying. Back, rocketing back and hitting the ground rolling several times he sprawls for a moment wincing with one eye scrunching shut as he tries to slooowly push himself back to his feet. "Alright..." He catches his breath awkwardly, features darkening. "I tried to be nice, I see this is what it gets me."
    The toe of his armored boot scrapes along the ground even as she remains where she is feeding on the tumultuous cheers from the crowd who are sure they're in for another clinical dismantling by this woman warrior.
    "Let's try that again." He says as he tosses the shield aside and withdraws one of the long blades from his back that snaps into place.

Mantis has posed:
    Had she been intent on destroying him, Mantis would have followed. Yet she remains in the same place she had been, one leg bent and supporting her weight. The other leg is extended out behind her. Her torso is forward a bit, arm extended with that palm in the same place in the air where it had been when it struck.
     As he regains his feet, she slowly brings the extended leg forward, toes leaving a trail in the dirt floor of the arena. It is brought up and chambered, folded beneath her as she balances on the forward leg. Her arms are brought inward toward her chest, making a wide circling motion before settling with one bent down at her waist, the other held in front of her chest as she awaits his next attack.
    The shield loss makes sense. She has no weapon. There is nothing he would need to shield from. As he draws the blade, she shifts her stance, bringing that chambered leg back down and her foot to the ground.
    This time, when he swings, she is ducking under the blow and stepping in, firing a punch at his ribs then dancing out just as quickly. Another swing and she is ducking under only for him to change directions. She drops toward the ground as the blade whistles past a scant inch above her falling form. She lands on her back but is flipping back to her feet immediately, bringing up an arm as he swings again.
    She brings up her arm to block the forward motion of his own but finds his strength to be greater than expected. She cannot stop the forward motion. So she goes with it. She spins with the motion and lowers her upper body then flips her legs upward in a forward flip of sorts. They follow the passage of his arm movement, coming in aligned with his head and kicking him backwards as she completes the full flip and lands on her feet again.

Thor has posed:
    It is a flurry of movement as they once again engage, his boot steps kicking up dirt as they move, and she's leaping and interweaving her limbs with his as if like a shadow cast by the pure adulation of the crowd, their shining love felt and driving her onwards. Yet her blows connect and there... that to the ribs she should have felt the separation of bone from cartilage, and that give of pressure from the fracturing, but she did not.
    She struck harder as she leapt backwards, her feet slicing through the air and cracking against his chin. It let her evade, to gain distance, and to send him staggering a half step as he should be suffering from a broken or shattered jaw...
    Only for him to be scowling deeply as he rubs at his chin and tells her, "And what does he offer you, harridan?" Thor says as he moves forwards, "You've won before, you have your victory, your freedom should you so wish it?" He then asks her as he whirls one blade through its range of movement. "Can it be you're just so taken with the bloodthirsty cry of these people that you can't imagine disappointing them."
    He darts close and the tip of the blade slices so near, his movement so quick, that a portion of that braided fabric is cut free, falling upon the ground. "And here I thought I was the prisoner." He says this and perhaps seeking to catch her in the moment of chagrin if she has shame, or distraction when he swings his sword around cleanly enough that she's able to twist and snap the blade between her hands...
     That when he abandons the blade in her grasp and instead just reels off with a heavy fist aimed to punch the side of her head in that moment of distraction.

Mantis has posed:
    He doesn't break. Though her blows should have caused serious damage, his bones are still intact. He may have some bruises but in essence, all she's managed to do is make him angry. Sometimes that helps in a fight. An angry person makes mistakes. But some people it gives greater focus.
    She cannot read his emotions. She should be able to at this range but the overwhelming input from the crowd has her in a white noise place where he is concerned. She's not able to get a read. It shouldn't matter. It never has before. Yet his words strike a chord.
    She came here as the others, battling in this arena for her life. Then she defeated the Champion. Yet, she didn't leave. She remained. She took up the mantle of Champion and has continued to stay here, competing for the entertainment of the crowd.
    Her antennae twitch as she spins away from one of his swings but her skirt is compromised, a single strand fluttering to the dirt. He's right. This place has become like a drug for her, the heady feeling of the love and approval from the crowd pushing everything else out of her head.
    The realization gives him that moment of distraction. Her eyes go wide, antennae straightening atop her head. Then the blow comes. His fist impacts with her head, sending her brain rattling around and causing the world to go dark at the edges as she topples, landing in the dirt with a /thud/. She rolls to her back, not unconscious yet and not willing to give up. But, for the first time since she became Champion, she has fallen at the hands of an opponent.'

Thor has posed:
    Shaking his head as he takes his mace in one hand he advances on her with an even step while she recovers. "At the least Korg has his revolution he's trying for. Mieke just wants to get home same as myself." Thor's footsteps pause as he thumps that macehead in his hand and he asks, "What is it you want? Champion." At that last word he lashes out while she begins to get to her feet, lurching forwards and suddenly his shoulder is in her side, sending her skittering back towards the wall.
    The crowd's fallen silent as they see their champion seemingly on her back foot as he brings the mace around and she's able to push it to the side and out of line, only for him to slam his elbow into her side. It's enough to knock her off and away as he lashes out with a heavy boot as if trying to stomp her bare foot under its tread only for her to withdraw at the last moment.
    The crowd begins to whisper softly amongst themselves and she can feel the fickleness of them, the faltering love. Did they ever really love her?
    And then /WHAM/ his fist crashes against her jaw and sends her back. He moves in another fist finds her abdomen as she curls up around it. She has a moment to focus within herself and then he draws back another punch... and throws it at her with an intensity that some might find stupefying.

Mantis has posed:
    As the pain drives through her from his blows, Mantis is pushed back again and again by the blows until she falls to the ground. The world is spinning as she feels the change in the emotions of the crowd.
    The feelings are shifting. The affection of many sways to her opponent. Most are still on her side but that change is like another physical blow to her empathic abilities. She manages to regain her feet again only to take that fist to the face, sending her backwards. Then another to the stomach.
    And suddenly, the emotions are gone. All that remains is the pain from his strikes, the knowledge that something inside broke with that punch to the abdomen. It gives her that moment of clarity as there is no rush from the emotions of the mob. It is just her and the man she faces.
    She focuses around that pain, forcing it to the back of her mind as she draws on her life force yet again. Centered. Focused. As that fist comes forward...
    Her hand is there, grasping his fist and using his own force to pull him forward as she places her other hand on the back of his arm and holds him there. Her leg comes up, knee aimed for his midriff as she puts all her power there with a screamed "CHIIYAA!"
    Her attack doesn't stop there as she brings that leg back down, but still chambered, yanking his arm back toward her to throw him off balance. As he is forced to stagger back a step, she spins. Her chi gives even more power to the blow, her legs having more strength than her arm as well. "KAAAYIIII!" And she fires the kick for the center of his chest with all the power she can.

Thor has posed:
    When she caught his fist, she could see his eyes widen as he can't help himself, he's impressed and she can feel that sentiment as he holds there for a moment, starting to try and withdraw... only for her to punish him for that insolence with her leg coming up and slamming into his belly, causing him to bowl over and around the impact of that strike. But she's not through with him as she twists him to the side and throws him off balance and back, as if she were launching a target as she spins and lashes out with that whirling kick that /crashes/ hard into his chest and sends him rocketing back into the wall where digs a furrow into the stone, kicking up debris as she forces him from one slab into another into another with the power of that kick.
    It ends with him falling off the wall and rolling onto the ground, his weapons scattering from their sheathes and his hands reaching out to try and steady his flight. It ends with him eyes wide and wincing as he lies partially on his back, one hand reaching out and grasping as if to hold her at bay for a few moments longer.

Mantis has posed:
    This time, she didn't wait for him. She leaps, landing atop him and driving a knee into that damaged midriff. There is no anger in her attack. It isn't even personal. She is focused, prepared to do what she must to end this match.
    She brings down a strike to his collar, fingers stiff, tips curled as she drives for a nerve cluster there. What she is doing is intended to cause extreme pain as well as cause the nerves to send false signals, hoping to take him out piece by piece.
    A punch to the face, hard, unexpected when her other moves have been more artistic. Another. She remains crouched above him, drawing back a hand and bringing the blade sharply against the side of his neck.
    Then the blows are being rained down so rapidly, it is difficult to track where she hits as the crowd begins to roar in her favor again. Only, she refuses to let them in. Her empathic abilities are locked down tight as she doesn't let that heady rush fill her.
    She draws her hand up and back, held by her right ear as she focuses fully. Her strike will be to the face and it will be a killing blow. Channeling her chi, she draws in breath, preparing to release the strike and focus it with her kayai.

Thor has posed:
    For the arena, for his opponent... for the Grandmaster, the time seems short. It all happens in the split snap of a second. For Thor it is a long drawn out blur of the past, the present, the future all connecting in a vision that serves to bring him together, that serves to gain focus even as the pain she unleashes upon him causes his body to twist and writhe with each hammering impact.
    The crowd grows louder and louder, the heady rush of blood starting to take them with her, their berserker rage so often fueling her but she is closed off to them for now yet they know it not. She can feel the crunch of flesh and bone, can tell that she has torn his shoulder out of joint, and snapped his head to the side...
    But when she draws back the final strike she'll see his eyes snap open, lightning dancing back and forth between them and with no warning she is suddenly struck by his fist or a blast of lightning or both as somehow she is rocketed up and into the air and off of him with a force that is entirely otherworldly.

Mantis has posed:
    There was no warning. No way to prepare. One moment, Mantis is about to end the battle. The next, there is the smell of burnt ozone and a pain like she has never felt before as she flies through the air. The pain spreads through her body, her limbs refusing to react as all the neural messages are short circuited by the electricity coursing through her body. She lands hard on her back, not even able to think clearly enough to try and move yet.
    What happened? The Grandmaster had said something about sparks from his fingers, but this was beyond sparks. It was as though a lightning bolt had been applied directly to her torso.
    She lay there, helpless for the moment as her control on her body is gone. The limbs won't react yet. Her mind is unable to block out the waves of emotion and she feels that crashing like an ocean atop her as well.

Thor has posed:
    He had risen from the ground and swayed to his feet, one arm hanging loose at his side as he winced even though electrical bursts seemed to dance across his body. The flicker of lightning played across the ground with each step as the ground began to chant softly at first...
    'Thun-Der-Thun-Der-Thun-Der'
    The volume rising as she's able to struggle to her feet as well, perhaps able to shake off most of the pain though the haze between them might serve to keep her from seeing him so clearly. Yet they are still chanting, still calling his name, having all but abandoned her. If she opened her feelings to the world again she would feel the emptiness, the loneliness, so few hearts were hers, so few minds wishing her well and now wanting to see /her/ blood.
     She was able to raise a partial defense that he was able to brush out of the way as he landed a kick into her knee that sent her to the ground. He raised a sparking fist filled with the promise of pain and the lightning. She could see something akin to sadness in his eyes as he brought his fist backed...
    And then suddenly the whole of his body clenched and contorted as a flush of purple seemed to rush through his veins, fed through that small disk in the side of his neck. It robbed the lightning of its strength, it left him weaving upon his feet and listless as he brought a hand up towards the side of his neck yet unable to reach.

Mantis has posed:
    She has no blockage to those waves of emotions. As she managed to regain her feet, trying to find a way to fight back after her world was shaken to its core, she felt every single one of those people slip away. There were none that cared for her. None that loved her. It had all be a lie, a falsehood. They had adored what she did for them, the blood she shed, the lives she took.
    It had never been Mantis they loved.
    All the validation she had felt, all the belonging. Gone in an instant. She staggered and as he raised that glowing hand to strike, in that instant he would see that same sadness reflected in her eyes.
     Then he was frozen, the disk sending pain through his body and locking his muscles just as hers had been from his lightning blow. Only this was something else, not electricity. Which meant she would suffer no ill effects.
    Instantly, she was moving. She had to bring an end to this. With a strong push off the ground, she was airborne. She landed with her legs around his neck, arms going to his head as she focused down. There she locked her limbs in place and began to tighten down. The Death Grip of the Mantis in place, she focused as she let out a hiss of air, chi helping her have the strength necessary. "Tssssaaaaa!"'

Thor has posed:
    For a moment the Asgardian reels, staggering even as the spectators know what to expect in the next few moments. The death grip is a technique she has used for ages and has often ended in the final end for the combatant that dared face her, having been crushed, broken, twisted. She's able to get the lock in place, tightens, and then with a blur of movement /slams/ him to the ground into a heavy crater as a great dust cloud explodes around them. The lights dim and the crowd seems to quiet, disappointed as the final bout ends with a feeling of...
    Disappointment.