A Hero

A Hero
Date of Scene:	17 October 2012
Location:	Traverse Town - Colosseum
Synopsis:	They need a hero... and 'Mister Marvel' is just such a guy!
Cast of Characters:	Deidra, Katyna, Avira, Synestria

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Katyna has posed:
There is a newcomer in town, his face is all over the coliseum. In the most recent tournament, it seems that he has made quite a name for himself, having beaten all of his tough opponents. The crowds were cheering him on, amazed by his unbelievable strength..

It seems in Hercules' absence, another 'hero' has taken up the mantle, which is easy when the top dog's not about. At the end of the day, when all is said and done, and the crowds have thinned out, a small number of people wander about the courtyard, waiting to see the great Mister Marvel, and to obtain his autograph. A real hero in the flesh! What's better than that?

Oh..There's also a stranger in a long black hooded cloak wandering about these parts, watching the people who line up at the table near the doors to the coliseum, waiting for their 'hero' to arrive. The stranger doesn't seem too keen on getting an autograph, though.

Synestria has posed:
In the uppermost rows of the coloseum resides a monster. Watching all of the gladiatorial events is a large red haired lamia with green scales, keeping mostly to herself, due to her history with how humans treat 'monsters' where she came from. However, as the people filed out of the stadium, the lamia slithered her way down the steps and even lowered herself to the lower seats.....after everyone else got out.

Avira has posed:
The coliseum! This is actually Avira's second visit here, but her first chance to actually view a tournament fight. She herself wouldn't dream of entering one of these things-fighting for her life was one thing. Fighting to defend a city was one thing. Exhibitionist fighting, on the other hand? That made her too uneasy.

Tonight's offering, who was not Hercules, was nonetheless impressive. Avira is one of the few that stick around after the show, hoping to catch a glimpse of the new guy. He was strong..she liked that. Maybe he could give her some pointers on that.

Katyna has posed:
The cloaked figure sticks to the shadows, watching silently as a few stragglers mill about, most of them chatting and gushing over Mister Marvel, most of them asking for an autograph before rushing off. The cloaked figure finally approaches the hero once the others are gone.

A random person (or monster) here or there isn't too much to worry about. She's more interested in the coliseum's latest 'hero'. "You there. Tell me, what does it truly mean to be a hero?" Her question is more of a demand than anything else.

The man glances over at her with a smile, ready to sign an autograph although there isnt one to sign. No, she did not come here to get an autograph signed. She came here to investigate something else. "Tell me, are you truly strong? Strong enough to possess a pure heart? I wonder, if you are truly one of those legendary ones that I am looking for.."

When she sees Avira arriving she turns away a little. She's already put on a deeper voice so she isn't so easily recogizable. Neither is her armour, which is black in this form. Somewhere near the back where the Lamia slithers down the steps, the Dark Knight has not yet noticed, as focused as she is on the hero.

As for the hero, he stands there, still smiling. "All there is to strength is being able to fight monsters, dont you ladies agree?" He grins to Avira as she comes down, peering intently at the Lamia at the back. "Oh? and who have we here?" She doesnt look like your typical monster, not when her upper body is that of a beautiful woman, certainly..

Avira has posed:
Now wouldn't that be awkward if she discovered Katyna's true identity!

Fortunately, Avira is none the wiser, though given the mysterious figure's manner of dress, she is a little suspicious. Something about people that didn't show their faces was just naturally suspicious, regardless of how paranoid Avira was. While she didn't get to the new hero first, she seems just as content to patiently wait her turn to speak with him. In fact, this interaction she is watching between the Dark Knight and the new guy is actually quite interesting.

"...mmmmm. I dunno about that. Strength can be more than just monster fighting." Avira shrugs casually, inwardly, a little turned off. Was this new guy really that shallow? "Willpower for instance..."

Synestria has posed:
The Lamia doesn't say much at first, trying to remain somewhat inconspicuous, but it's pretty hard when you're THIS big. She slides her coils down into the pit itself, then rests back on them as she rest of her body slithers forward. "Sssssstrength isssssss more than the musssssscles in your arm. There isssssss sssstrength of the heart as well." And the lamia can speak as well. Will wonders never cease. She then looks to Avira, but tries not to frighten her, or anyone else for that matter.

Katyna has posed:
The hero laughs, shaking his head. "Strength is all in the muscle! Show me a frail individual who can take down a monster! It cant happen! You need to be strong and full of muscle to beat up monsters, otherwise it's just a romantic notion!"

He glances at Avira thoughtfully rubbing his chin. "Hmm, Willpower is some of it certainly. But even if you have willpower and no muscle you are doomed, arent you?"

And then the Lamia comes along and he tilts his head. "Well, aren't you a beautiful creature! A Lamia, am I right? I've heard about your kind. But you dont seem to be a monster! I could never slay something as beautiful as you!" He grins and winks at her.

But, she does say something interesting. "Strength of heart.." Muses the dark cloaked knight. "Hmm, isnt' that an interesting thought. And how I wonder, does one measure strength of heart?" Darn, it's gonna be hard to test this guy, and with these two goodies around to spoil her fun! But she already has a plan.

Avira has posed:
Avira seems oddly chill with the presence of the Lamia. Sure, she does stare a little, but she doesn't look preturbed as some humans might upon meeting a Lamia for the first time. Synestria can thank Nagetta for this. Avira has every right to stare too because this Lamia looked a lot more fancy and regal than Nagetta.

One of Avira's eyebrows twitches as she becomes thoroughly turned off by hero-boy here. "Actually no, I have to disagree. Like the lady here says-" she gestures at the Lamia, "It takes heart too. And /brains/." She's not even sure he's listening to her now, what with him thoroughly hitting on the Lamia. Avira sighs inwardly, and starts to turn away. Any advice from this guy would just lead her to ruin.
Aviraot to mention being that girl standing on the sidelines while prettier girls got hit on was not something Avira needed more of in her life.

Synestria has posed:
"That issssss what I am." The Lamia says as she slithers her way forward. "and sssssome would disssssagree if they met sssssome of the more feral memberssssssss of my kind." She then gestures to Avira. "She hassssss is right. You should meet sssssssome magessssss. They are usually weak compared to mosssssst warriorsssssss, but they usssse their mindsssssss"

Katyna has posed:
The dark knight chuckles a bit, shaking her head. "Really? Is that all there is to it, just muscle? And yet, you are so strong. Muscle and strength of will. And yet, I wonder if it requires strength of heart to possess such power?"

She smiles darkly as she swings back her cape, revealing her deadly sword. "I suppose there is only one way to find out, one way to know for sure if your heart is strong enough. If you can stand up to the darkness, that is the true test of strength.."

She steps back then as she ponders. Hmm, she's still a bit wounded from her last failed battle. However..She turns around, openning her hand out towards the air, and summons a dark crackling portal to slowly open up. "Sardonyx my pet..Come and 'test' this hero's heart. If he can stand up to the darkness, then surely he is one of the 'pure hearted' ones that we are searching for!"

In a flash, a young dragon made of darkness and shadows appears before her, uttering a furious roar as it thunders towards the three heroes. With a chuckle the dark knight steps out of harm's way, settling into one of the bleachers to watch what will happen next.

Avira has posed:
Well at least the Lamia and the Mysterious Cloaked Figure agrees with her! But it also does little to change her decision to leave this guy in the dust. "What a chump..." she grumbles, as she starts to turn away, but the mysterious person proposes an interesting test of the would-be hero.

Turning back, she catches the very moment that dark portal is opened and a dragon is lured through. A dragon. Avira freezes.

She has -never- fought a dragon before. They're dragons! They're dangerous! Avira is, honestly, quite terrified and quick to clutch the hilt of her strangely sword-like weapon. "I think you bit off more than you can chew, mister."

Deidra has posed:
Deidra had started to look up what little she could on whatever information remained on Gargyoles in her world. What did find seemed to confirm prehaps why she'd felt so territorial. They seemed to often protect the region in which they live. Still it was an urge she had not something she had to give into but while out for a fligth she's seen something strange down in the arena and she decends towrds it realising troble is brewing in the form of heartless.

Synestria has posed:
She watches the dark knight step back and grits her teeth as the heartless dragon comes out of the portal. The lamia hisses out LOUDLY in reply before she points two fingers at the dragon, causing sparks of lightning to arc towards it.

Katyna has posed:
The heartless dragon roars in anger as Synestria strikes it with a blast of lightning. What nerve! It seems to have singed its dark hide, but it has not slowed it too much. It Rushes at her and the others, lashing its powerful tail at them as it attempts to flatten them into the ground. As for the would be 'hero', he is caught unawares, and he is slammed into the ground, knocked unconscious for the time being, but hey he might just get back up ina few minutes!

"A heartless dragon, yes.." muses the dark clad figure, watching from the bleachers. "Guess you did bite off more than you can chew.." She's disappointed that the hero went down already but hey, it's just round one! Let's see what these other heroes are capable of however! Perhaps one of them possess the pure heart she is searching for!

Synestria has posed:
"It'sssss jusssssst like any other creature." The Lamia says to Avira before leveling it's fingers at it. "I'll sssssee if I can't sssssslow it down for you!" She says before tossing shards of ice at the dragon's legs, hopefully to slow it down.

Avira has posed:
A dragon that is Heartless, "That is double awful." Avira reflects with some dread. It's more of a surprised to see that so-called hero getting laid out right away, due to him /not paying attention/. Seriously, it was a dragon and he wasn't on guard! For Avira, it was a matter of bracing herself and letting the Spine slide free into her hand.

Unlike the other guy, she isn't knocked down by the lashing tail, even managing to leave a mark behind on that tail.

"Dragons are serious business!" Avira insists to Synestria, less hesitating now and more showing clear worry and signs of panic as she dances around the creature. It is some reassurance that she's not alone on this one and is quick to seize the opportunity to dart in and unleash a rapid series of blows against the dragon, weilding the spine with odd precision. Her target seems to primarily be the dragon's face..or whatever her short self can reach.

Katyna has posed:
The dragon roars in anger as it's slashed by the ice. Ice is definitely not its favorite meal, although it flaps its wings, rising into the sky to dodge out of Avira's ground smash.."Your hearts belong to me!" It roards as it opens its mouth and shoots out a blast of fire at them all.

Synestria has posed:
The Lamia coils up around herself, her scales protecting her from the fire. She peeks up from her coils when the flames stop, and she chuckles. "Huh. I thought you were ssssssupposssssed to be sssstrong in fire." She then snaps her fingers and points then at the dragon again, sending sparks of electricity at the dragon again.....

Avira has posed:
Failing to hit something as big as a dragon would be quite a bit of embarassment to Avira if she weren't so terrified right now. She's all too happy to back away once her swings fail to find purchase on the very menacing threat. "-wait, it can talk?! Gah! No!"

She throws up her hands to protect her face from being burned by the dragon's fire. The rest of her is not so lucky. "Over my dead body!" Okay, that could very well be the case when all of this is over but NOT IF AVIRA CAN HELP IT.

It's as if a switch was suddenly flipped and it's become clear that this is a matter of survival. Moving forward, she flanks the dragon, jabbing the tip of the Spine deep into its side. Briefly letting her grip of the weapon go, she instead assumes a two-handed hold and twists the weapon before pushing on it sideways to deeping the damage.

Deidra has posed:
Deidra has been a bit slow to the fight she's been sizing the dragon up before she attacks and now she's got a plan of attack out comes the spell book as she opens it to a certain spell and starts chanting she's going to attempt to mnake this thing's day even worse. Hopefully the others will have distracted it enough for now...

Katyna has posed:
The heartless dragon gets battered some more, but it's too stubborn to die. It snarls at the heroes, who are stronger than it thought, and suddenly rushes past Avira, attempting to bowl her over in its attempt to reach the 'hero' of the day who has finally awoken from earler. with a snarl it catches him in its claws, and starts to blast him with dark magic. "Let's see how dark your heart really is!" it snarls.

Synestria has posed:
The Lamia hisses even louder as the dragon attacks! However, while the dragon's back is turned, the Lamia holds out two palms at the dragon.....hissing out a spell in her own language. Two comets now come streaking from the sky! This could hurt.....

Avira has posed:
Now that's more like it!

Though it seems Avira's gotten caught between the dragon and it's TRUE prey. Though rather than simply tossed aside as collateral damage in its race to get to the premier hero, Avira plants herself firm and stares the dragon down. "You want him you'll have to go through m-" Of course, this doesn't stop it at all and it collides with her, lifting her overhead instead of trampling her underfoot.

Drawing from experience of a previous fight, she takes the opportunity to latch on to the dragon's neck and dangle there for a few seconds, looking stunned. She seems to have a sour look on her face as her hands make contact with the Heartless, as if its very presence was making her sick.

As the dragon busies himself with the hero, Avira tries to swing herself up on its back.

Katyna has posed:
The heartless dragon snarls, curling its claws around the man in its clutches. The hero stirs, glaring at the monster above it and with a mighty roar he stabs its claw with his sword, causing it to drop him to the ground.

The dragon screeches in pain by the combined attacks from Deidra and Synestria as well and attempts to buck the woman off its back as it unleashes another blast of fire at everyone. However, judging by all those wounds, it doesnt look like it'll last too much longer.

"heartless! Fall back! He's not the 'one', he would have repelled you by now!" The dark clad figure calls, and sighs, "So, I guess strength of the body doesnt necessarily mean strength of the heart!"

Synestria has posed:
The Lamia crosses her arms in front of her to ward off the flames, but her delicate skin is actually burned by the flames this time. She lets out another hiss in the dragon's direction, but one word can be understood from the lamia's mouth. "FLARE!"

Avira has posed:
Steading herself, Avira starts to rise, Spine held in one hand, ready to stab the dragon in the neck as it menaces the poor captured hero. Then, all the sudden, it drops the man with a shriek and thrashes, sending Avira flying off its back. She hits the ground rolling, leaving a trail of white light in her wake. The light seems to be coming from her unusual weapon itself.

"...that's it!" The glow intensifies, spreading to cover Avira in a silvery aura. With seemingly reckless abandon, she rushes the dragon, leading with a sweeping upward stroke of the Spine. She releases her grip on the weapon in mid air, only to catch it with the other end and follow up with a descending stroke. The similar blows come fast and furious afterwards, quickly growing difficult to discern.

Combined, it's enough to lift the dragon into the air by sheer juggling power. When launched high enough, Avira leaps up after it, leading with a two-handed grip on her Spine, aiming to impale the Heartless right in the belly.

Katyna has posed:
It's a tight race, but in the end, the heartless dragon manages to spread its wings and dodge the combined attacks of the heroes to last another day. Soon it vanishes into the darkness, never to be seen again..At least not tonight.

Once it's gone, the dark robe figure sighs and shakes her head as she summons a portal. "Well. You won today but..I guess your hero's not so much of a hero afterall! Seeya!" And poof, she's gone!

Avira has posed:
"...I already decided he was not /my/ hero." Avira grumbles, inwardly relieved that the dragon is fleeing. She seems to deflate shortly afterwards, that odd white glow fading, her breathing very heavy from all the exertion. "Are you alright?"

The question is mostly directed at the lovely Lamia mage, but also a little at the "hero" too. "...it's kind of funny...I always thought it'd be me running from the dragon, not the dragon running from me."

Synestria has posed:
As the dragon flies away, the Lamia hisses at it. "Heartlessssssssss." She says before turning, looking to Deidra and Avira, and smiling at Avira. "I am fine. I've been hit harder by bigger enemiessssssssss." She then looks down at the 'hero' and snorts. "Ssssssssome hero. Try Dancccccccing inssssstead of fighting.....and sssssssee how brave he issssssss."

Avira has posed:
"Good to hear." Avira sheathes her odd-looking weapon. "The name is Avira, by the way. That was some pretty impressive magic there too...high level black magic, right?" At least that's what it'd be called via the taxonomy used by her world. She walks over to the Lamia, extending a hand to shake.

Katyna has posed:
The not-so-heroic-hero frowns, wiping the dust off his pants as he glances around at the others. "Well..Where'd that thing come from?" He glances down at his bloodied sword, wiping it with a cloth as he attempts to get the blood off before resheathing it. "Phew, I guess I was still winded from my last fight..Caught me off-guard. Thanks ladies, for your help!"

He looks skywards now, with a frown. "Hopefully, I'll get a chance to prove myself next time. What was all that about a 'pure heart' anyways? How bizarre.."

With a chuckle, he pulls out a pen. "At any rate, were you ladies looking for an autograph?"

Synestria has posed:
Smiling to Avira, the Lamia extends her hand and wraps it around Avira's, careful not to touch her hand with her nails. "Sssssssynessssstria. and yesssssss....I know a bit of black magic." She says before looking at the 'hero'. "Ssssssorry. I'm not here for an autograph."

Deidra has posed:
Deidra comes in for a landing pausing at what just happened "I'm Deidra and that was strange more heartless keep showing upp." she looks to Katyna for a moment "Your lucky then and the name's Deidra eh? I'm not much for autographs really I'm afraid."

Avira has posed:
It takes a moment to get the name out of the natural hissing sound that the Lamia makes as she speaks. But eventually: "Synestria, then? Well, since the tournament is over for the day, I think we ought to head out. Maybe grab a bite to eat or two-"

Oh. Oh yes, the 'hero'. "You-!" Avira walks over and jabs a finger into his chest, "You hardly did any work there, you were out of it the whole time. Buddy, I think you've got a long way to go...as for the pure heart."

She pulls away, looking thoughtful, "I guess that's what the Heartless /really/ want then, if that one person was looking for someone with one. Don't worry, seems you're safe, for now."

Turning away, she heads out, "Let's go, ladies."

Synestria has posed:
Synestria smiles and holds her hand out to Deidra. "I am Ssssssynesssstria. A pleasure to meet you." it seems she's not bothered by the fact Deidra is a gargoyle, but then again, she's a 30 foot lamia. Avira might be the only 'normal' one here.

Katyna has posed:
The hero sweatdrops, laughing nervously, "No autographs huh? Oh well..Your loss...Maybe we'll meet again! Tata!" and he walks out of the arena, nose stuck in the air all the time. What a pity..