{Lucci kneels, hovering his hand over a patch of ground. In an instant, the grass on the patch withers away as the ground becomes molten. The pool of magma begins to twist and warp into the shape of a sword. Lucci grabs the molten form, causing it to solidify in his hand. From the earth, he wrought forth a black bladed katana, which gleamed like a still lake in the moonlight. Taking the blade in hand, he lunges at Armin, swinging his sword at Armin's midsection.}

Ivy and Rex looked on admiringly as Lucci formed the beautiful black blade out of the molten earth. As he slashed at Armin, Armin parried the blow, before retaliating with a fast stab aimed at Lucci's right shoulder. He was testing to see how quickly Lucci could move and dodge, having never fought one of his race before.

{Lucci matched Armin’s vampiric speed to skillfully deflect the stab, countering with a sweeping kick, aiming to knock Armin off his feet.}

Armin jumped backwards, barely evading the kick. After a second's consideration, he made a sudden charge at Lucci, clashing their swords together. He then started to push back, trying to shove Lucci towards the edge of the lake. Rex and Ivy, who were standing near the edge, hurriedly stepped aside to make sure they wouldn't get in the way of the fight.

{Lucci pushes back, but Armin seems to be winning, shoving Lucci towards the lake. But, as Lucci was about to be pushed in, Lucci smiles.}
“Checkmate, pal.”

{Suddenly, Lucci grabs a hold of Armin’s wrist, turns, and tosses Armin towards the water.}

Not expecting this, Armin only managed a yelp of alarm before he crashed into the lake. Off to the side, Ivy burst out laughing, while Rex just rolled his eyes with a faint smirk.

Armin quickly clambered out of the water, dripping wet and looking disgruntled. 'Dammit Lucci, you didn't need to do that,' he complained.

{Lucci just laughs.}

Lucci: "Yeah, maybe that was a bit much, but you left yourself open."

{Jerry was just snickering to himself, watching Armin walk out of the lake}

Lucci: "You underestimated your opponent by assuming you could just push me in without a fight."

'You're right - I underestimated you,' said Armin. 'It won't happen again, though. Just give me a second.' Without waiting for a response, he shifted to hawk form and leapt into the air. He flew straight up for a few hundred feet, circled the area once, and then came diving back down. He landed and shifted back, no longer dripping wet, though not entirely dry either.

'Alright, let's try again,' he said, slowly advancing on Lucci with his sword raised.

{Lucci raises his sword and advances.}

Lucci: "Your move."

(Two of the stories I mentioned are up! I'll drop the links here, so you can check them out whenever you like.

https://toyhou.se/~literature/26915.saved-from-the-fires
A two-chapter story about how Ana and Sargon first met.

https://toyhou.se/~literature/31698.dead-meat
A oneshot that kinda explains why Ivy was always so determined to help in the war against Sargon.

I might post more stories soon, but those are the ones I have right now.)

Armin didn't hesitate. Lunging forwards, he made a slashing motion towards Lucci's head. At the last moment, he redirected his strike, swinging his blade down towards Lucci's knee instead, hoping to catch him off-guard.

(Awesome. I'll definitely check those out soon.)
{Lucci never made to block the head blow, simply parrying the leg slash. Then, he tilts his head in thought.}

Lucci: "Huh...Maybe seeing everything you're going to do before you do it is cheating...."

'Dam.n right it's cheating!' Armin exclaimed, taking a step back. 'Can't you temporarily switch it off or something?'

Lucci: "I could just ignore it. C'mon, let's try again."

{Lucci raises his sword and advances once again.}

Armin hesitated for a moment, then suddenly leapt forwards with a series of lightning-fast sword slashes, trying to force Lucci to defend himself without having a chance to retaliate.

{Lucci skillfully parried Armin's strikes, matching his speed blow for blow. Lucci holds his ground, waiting for an opening.}

Lucci: "You seem...angry. Was it something I said?"

'Not at all,' Armin replied. 'You're just a very frustrating person to fight against.' He clashed his blade against Lucci's, locking the two swords together again. 'I have to try things I normally wouldn't just to catch you off-guard.' Using his sword to hold Lucci's out of the way, he recklessly threw himself forwards and tackled Lucci to the ground, attempting to pin him down.

Lucci: "I'm not the only foe you'll face where you'll have to think outside the box."

{Lucci then grabs a hold of Armin, flips over with him, puts his knee on Armin's sword arm, and point the katana at Armin's face.}

Lucci: "A valiant effort, but you should have disarmed me first."

Armin blinked and stared at the tip of the blade in front of his face for a moment, aware that he'd be dead if they were actually fighting. '...Yeah, I didn't think that through very well.'

'I think you're outmatched, Armin,' said Rex humorously from a short distance off. 'Maybe you should stop now.'

"Not necessarily."
{Lucci says while offering Armin his hand.}

"I've matched his strength and speed, to keep the match as even as possible. The problem is, he's essentially trying to beat himself by out speeding and muscling through me. Basic physics simply doesn't allow for that."

'I didn't think of it that way,' said Armin, accepting Lucci's hand and getting to his feet. 'Most of the time, I've found that raw speed and strength is enough to win a fight, but I guess not in this situation.'

'Like he said, his speed and strength is equal to yours,' commented Rex. 'So you'd need a different approach to win. Like better tactics, or technique, or whatever.'

Dianne: "That's the biggest mistake non humans make in combat. If you just blindly try to force your way through every combat situation, you'll just get shot in the arse."

{It seems that while they were fighting, Dianne had come into the park, curious about the commotion.}

Armin turned around quickly when Dianne spoke; he hadn't noticed her approaching. 'Well, I'm still alive,' he said nonchalantly, shrugging. 'It must have worked pretty well for me until now.'

Dianne: "Well, given that Sargon primarily had you killing humans, it's not surprising."

Lucci: "Honestly, he didn't do that bad. He just made a few mistakes."

{Dianne was about to speak when she screws up her face.}

Dianne: "...Who smells like wet bird?"

Lucci: "That was one of his mistakes..."

'Hey, I killed werewolves sometimes too,' said Armin. He glanced back and forth between Dianne and Lucci. 'And that wasn't a mistake. I was planning to push /you/ in the lake. It just didn't go the way I expected.'

Lucci: "Yeah, it didn't. So it was a mistake."

Dianne: "Oh, please, /Ivy/ has managed to kill werewolves. That's testament to their rampant stupidity."

Xenoceratops
18 Nov, 2019, 1:21 am
(So I read the stories. I liked them. After reading, I realized:
If Ana had listened to her mom and went the whole way with light magic, she would have had a much more favorable matchup with Dianne. :/

Ivy saw someone’s head get eaten right in front of her and didn’t have to go to therapy. I know I’d have to if I saw that shet. ://////
Also was this pre or during the Sargon attack?)

'Werewolves are a lot more dangerous in large packs,' Armin protested. Ivy, meanwhile, just frowned, not sure whether to take Dianne's comment as an insult or a compliment.

'They're just stupid animals,' she said. 'You don't have a clue how to fight anything that's actually /intelligent.'/

'I do too. Just as long as it's not Lucci.'

(Yep, pretty much everyone made bad decisions. Although, I never said that Ivy /didn't/ go to therapy. Maybe she did... or maybe therapy's really expensive in Shacklestone so she didn't. XD

Her story takes place about three years before the invasion, I think. Since she was still in school at the time.)

(Lol ye. Ok, the timing makes sense then. )

Lucci: “If you say so, Armin.”

Dianne: “Huh. Come to think of it, I /have/ only seen you kill werewolves. Every other time it’s been something else, they were either afflicted by the curse, or I was holding them down. Interesting...”

Armin raised his eyebrows. 'I can kill other things too. You've just never seen me do it. I single-handedly killed the vampire who Turned me, and that was when I was pretty young and had no idea what I was doing.'

'He must have been a complete pushover, then,' Ivy scoffed.

Lucci: "He was a complete coward. He was more than willing to bully you while you were transitioning, but he couldn't deal with a fully turned vampire."

Dianne: "And you were angry. That is a big part."

Jerry: "Was he a skilled combatant?"

'From what I remember, he was more of a stealth guy than a combat guy,' said Armin. 'He did a lot of work that involved skulking in the shadows, watching and listening... He could handle himself decently well in a fight, but Lucci's right, he was a coward. If you caught him off-guard, he'd panic. That's exactly what happened the night I killed him.'

Lucci: "Yup. Good riddance."

{Dianne snorts, shaking her head.}

Dianne: "How did you not strangle your co-workers on a nightly basis? I can't imagine having to work with incompetence like that."

'Eh, I just avoided interacting with my coworkers unless I had to,' said Armin. 'You get used to it eventually. But if I /did/ decide to strangle someone, it usually went unnoticed. Fights broke out all the time. You can't make an organisation of rowdy non-humans and expect it to always be peaceful.'

Dianne: "Heh, I would have taken full advantage of that to make as many of the officers 'disappear' as possible."

Lucci: "And if Sargon asked?"

Dianne: "Tell him to prove it and remind him that he couldn't afford to lose me. He would never find any trace of them."

'I never really thought about doing that,' Armin admitted. 'Though, I probably would've been too scared to risk it anyway. Sure, there were lots of fights, but it was mostly just the lesser minions squabbling among themselves. If all the commanders started mysteriously dying... it would have been a heII of a lot more suspicious.'

'I killed one of the commanders once,' said Rex casually. 'When I was running away. He and a squad of minions saw me leaving, and they decided to chase me instead of raising the alarm. Bad idea.' He gave a quiet chuckle.

{Dianne looks over at Rex and smirks slightly.}

Lucci: "Yeah, for a guy that paranoid, Sargon sure was bad at recognizing potential traitors."

Dianne: "Maybe he was too busy fantasizing about his 'perfect plan' and how no one could ever betray its perfection."

'Paranoid, violent, insane, and not as clever as he thought he was,' said Armin. 'Yep, that's Sargon... Anyway, can we stop talking about him now? I put up with the idiot for 250 years; I'd quite like a break from thinking about him.'

Lucci: “Ok. How about we talk about you sparring with Dianne?”

Dianne: “I’m sorry, what?”

Armin grinned, slowly turning to face Dianne. 'I almost forgot. Dianne, how about a little friendly fight? I've been looking for someone to spar with who isn't weak like Ivy or OP like Lucci.'

Scowling at being called weak, Ivy just muttered. 'Yeah, right. She'll probably beat you as easily as Lucci did, bloodsucker.'

{Dianne looks at Armin as if he was insane.}

Dianne: “Haven’t you seen what I did to Sargon’s people? Are you sure you’ve thought this through?”

Armin shrugged. 'No, I haven't, really,' he said cheerfully. 'But so what? It's just for fun.'

{Dianne sighs.}

Dianne: "Ok. But I didn't bring my shortsword."

Lucci: "Oh, you can use mine."

{Lucci hands her the katana. Taking it, Dianne admires its construction.}

Dianne: "Damn, this is nice. Did you just make this?"

Lucci: "Yeah. Pretty neat, huh?"

'Yeah, he just kind of... forged it out of the ground,' said Ivy. 'It was cool. Lucci, can you create money like that too?' she added with an evil smirk.

Armin kept about ten feet back, still holding the shorter curved sword Rex had given him, not saying anything, but waiting for Dianne to make the first move.

Lucci: “I could, but, that would upset the economy.”

{Dianne looks over at Armin.}

Dianne: “Oh, are we starting now? Alright...”

{Dianne advances, pointing her sword out towards Armin.}

'Well, I don't care,' Ivy muttered, ignoring that the fight was about to start. 'If I had that ability, I'd be making stuff /all/ the time...'

Armin stayed back as Dianne advanced. When she was about six feet away, he made a quick feinting stab at head height before twisting his blade the other way and slashing at her sword arm, a similar move to the one he'd used on Lucci earlier.

Lucci: "Well, if did have the power, what would you make first?"

{Dianne pulled back, avoiding the attack entirely. She then leaps forward with an overhead strike, bringing the sword down upon Armin from above.}

Ivy answered almost immediately. 'Money. Or, no... maybe a car. I could make a car, right? I guess they're only partly made of metal. Um... or maybe I'd make jewelry.'

As Dianne's sword descended towards him, Armin avoided it by throwing himself sideways and rolling. With the help of his vampiric speed, he managed to get behind Dianne while she was still bringing her sword down. Jumping to his feet, he threw a slashing blow towards her back.

{Lucci just chuckles.}
Lucci: "I can manipulate all elements. Not just metals. Let's say, that you had my power, and let's also hypothesize, that you splurged, and made everything you ever wanted. Then, your neighbor comes to you, having seen you do it, and asks for earthly possessions as well. And then your friends come, then the mayor, then political leaders, all with their hands out. What would you do?"

{Dianne whips around and parries Armin's strike, but only barely.}

Dianne: "Ok, that was sloppy of me..."

{She then advances with a flurry of strikes, trying to force Armin back.}

'Umm...' Ivy was silent for a moment. 'Maybe I could just run away to another country?' she suggested, only half-joking. 'Anyway, that wouldn't happen. I'd keep my powers a secret.'

Armin retreated before Dianne's onslaught of strikes. After parrying or avoiding a few hits, he glanced over his shoulder and noticed that the edge of the lake wasn't too far away. Not wanting to be pushed in again, he struck out and clashed his blade against Dianne's, trying to push her back.

{Lucci nods.}
“I’m sure you’d try, but eventually, everyone would notice the new car, the diamond necklace, the fancy dresses. That would raise questions, as Jerry’s business doesn’t pay that much.”

{When Dianne locked swords with Armin, she didn’t budge. Taking advantage of their close proximity, she grabs Armin, sword hand and twists, trying to get him to drop it.}

'Hmph,' said Ivy, apparently having no argument for this. 'Well, it would be fun while it lasted... And this would totally work if I lived all alone in the middle of nowhere, but I don't want to do that.'

Armin grabbed his sword hilt with his other hand as well, so that he'd still be able to maintain a weak grasp on it even if he lost grip with his sword hand. He then hooked a foot around Dianne's ankle and pulled, trying to upset her balance enough to make her let go of him. However, the manoeuvre endangered his own balance too, since he was putting most of his weight on one leg.

Lucci: Oh, it wouldn't go away once they found out. But you'd still have to handle it."

{Dianne, feeling that she's losing balance, becomes a smoke like mass. Re-solidifying directly behind Armin, she punches him square in the back, picks him up over her head, and throws him down with all her might.}

Armin hadn't anticipated Dianne turning into smoke and was taken completely off-guard. He slammed down into the ground, getting the air knocked out of his lungs, but not releasing his grip on his sword. He lay there dazed for a moment before starting to pull himself to his feet, using his sword as a crutch. 'Wasn't expecting that...' he wheezed once he could breathe again.

Dianne: “None do. Unless you’re Lucci-Mc-Cheatface over there.”

Lucci: “Hey, I can’t help it if I can see the future.”

Dianne: “Then don’t spar with people if you can’t do it fairly.”

Lucci: “But you asked me.”

Armin recovered quickly, straightening up and throwing a brief smirk at Lucci. 'I second that. I'd rather get beaten by someone fighting fairly than someone who has an unfair advantage.'

Lucci: "Fair enough. However, you realize this means nothing in a combat situation, right? If some entity rolls around with the power to cause cataclysmic damage, I'm going to run them into the ground, fair or not."

Dianne: "Well, duh. I don't fight fair when my life is on the line. Any advantage I can get."

'I wouldn't fight fair if something was threatening my life, either,' added Rex. 'Or the life of someone I was trying to protect. When things get really rough, it's time to use every dirty trick in the book.'

'Nobody fights fair in a life-or-death situation,' said Armin. 'And that's a good thing or all of us would probably be dead right now.' He looked over at Dianne. 'How about another round? I know what to watch out for this time.'

{Jerry just nods in agreement. Dianne smirks and raises her sword towards Armin.}

Dianne: "Alright. If you're ready to lose again."

'We'll see about that,' Armin replied.

He took a slightly more cautious approach this time, slowly circling around Dianne while keeping a few feet of space between them. Suddenly, he leapt forwards with what looked like an overhead slash. At the last moment, he changed his high attack into a low one, whipping his blade the other way to slash at Dianne's leg instead.

{Dianne has seen Armin attempt this move on her and others too many times to not see it coming. She skillfully parries his attack and slashes at his midsection.}

Dianne: "You're getting predictable, boy. Enough of these tricks."

Armin jerked back, Dianne's blade missing him by a centimetre. 'Predictable, huh? I can be unpredictable if I really want to.' He started a rapid flurry of slashes, trying to use his superior speed to get past her guard and land a hit.

{Dianne had to parry and steadily pace backward to avoid getting hit. She watched him carefully, waiting for an opening.}

After striking at Dianne for a while without managing to land a successful hit, Armin started to get frustrated. //You want unpredictable? Then that's exactly what I'll be.// He abruptly shifted into hawk form and flew straight over Dianne, lightly slashing the top of her head with his talons as he passed. He landed behind her, shifted back, and then spun around to aim a swiping blow at her sword arm from behind.

{Dianne whipped around to strike, but had aimed her sword too high. Armin's blade struck Dianne's armor, right through the rent opening created from the beetle attack. Armin's blade came away with blood. Dianne blinks a few times, having not realized what happened. Looking down, she touches the wound, wincing, looking at the blood flowing down her cuirass.}

'I think that's first blood to me,' said Armin a little smugly, taking a few steps back and flourishing his sword. Ivy and Rex watched quietly, looking like they weren't sure whether to be concerned or amused.

{Dianne looks up at Armin, looking more than a little pissed off.}

Jerry: “Um...Armin...”

Dianne: “If it’s blood you want, it’s blood you’ll get.”

{Dianne suddenly lunges forward with multiple strikes aimed at Armin’s torso and legs.}

Armin yelped and stumbled backwards, rapidly retreating while keeping his sword raised to block Dianne's strikes.

On the sidelines, Ivy raised an eyebrow in mild surprise. 'Looks like things are getting interesting...'

{Dianne didn’t let up, pursuing Armin aggressively. She was swinging with such force that her sword was taking bites out of the borrowed saber Armin was using every time he blocked. Jerry was watching worriedly while Lucci was just chuckling, watching the show.}

Ivy glanced at Lucci. 'What are you laughing about? They could really hurt each other if they're not careful.'

Armin couldn't find an opening in Dianne's furious strikes to hit back. He also knew that he couldn't keep parrying forever. Eventually, out of desperation, he clashed their blades together and then grabbed her wrist with his other hand, trying to wrench her sword out of her grasp. However, he was using the hand with the two missing fingers, making this task almost impossible.

{Dianne grabbed Armin's hand off her sword and twisted it cruelly. She then kicks his knee hard and pushes him onto his back. Stomping her foot squarely on his abdomen, Dianne then grabs Armin's sword and tries to wrench if from his grasp.}

Lucci: "Oh, they'll be fine. They're not actually trying to kill each other."

'Really?' said Rex dryly, watching Dianne aggressively knocking Armin onto the ground. 'Well, that's reassuring.'

Armin winced in pain, then gripped the hilt of his sword with both hands and pulled it closer to his body, trying to keep hold of it. However, he could already feel his grip slipping. Annoyed at being overpowered so easily, his expression shifted into a snarl. He sunk his fangs into her hand, drawing blood, in an attempt to stop her from taking the blade.

{Dianne made a mortified expression at being bit, which quickly turned to anger. She made to stab Armin, but was stopped by Lucci grabbing her sword arm.}

Lucci: “Ok, you two are done.”

Dianne: “He f$cking bit me!”

{Dianne seemed very panicked about this fact. Lucci calmly turns to Armin.}
Lucci: “Armin, did you inject venom with that bite?”

'No,' said Armin, eyeing them both with confusion. 'I have to make a conscious decision to do that. What are you so worried about anyway? Only humans can get Turned.'

On the sidelines, Rex chuckled, seeming unconcerned by the scene playing out in front of him.

{Dianne sighs in relief and rubs her face while Lucci pats her on the shoulder.}
Lucci: “See? Nothing to worry about.”

{He then turns to Armin.}

Lucci: “That’s true, however, because of Dianne’s unique physiology, vampire venom very harshly disagrees with her. She wouldn’t turn, but she would still get very ill.”

(I know this seems like a strange detail, but I had previously considered this scenario. Let me know if you want a full explanation of the logic behind this.)

(I'm curious about it, so it'd be cool to hear the explanation if you don't mind writing it out. X))

Armin pulled himself to his feet and tossed his sword towards Rex, who caught it easily. 'Sorry, forgot that was a borrowed sword... I think it's taken some damage.'

He then turned back to Dianne and Lucci. 'Heh, sorry about that. I wasn't trying to cause a panic. I've never heard of vampire venom having any effect on anything except humans.'

(It's getting a bit hard to load this on my DS, so I'll post a fresh room. Can you reply there?)

Ok.