2014-12-01 - The Bet: Round Three

"Tonight, we have an excellent contender and it's drawn out the previous champions! Place your bets, folks, because you guessed it, The GRAGG BROTHERS!" And after that, you can't hear him at all for a little while, and there's utter chaos. And the 'gragg brothers' haven't even shown up yet in the arena.

Kara Zor-El pauses at all the commotion about the Gragg Brothers. Literally, people are going crazy about the mention of them. "Okay, who are the Gragg Brothers?" she says to herself and anyone nearby, before walking out into the arena, arms crossed as she looks around, waiting to see her latest 'opponents.' "You know, Mxyzptlk, this is getting really old, really fast..."

The guard who was watching Cassandra calls down, "The Gragg Brothers used to take on all comers, miss." He seems to want to make sure she's ready. Ready for what, death? "Now people just bet on them. Nobody bets against them anymore, it's like gambling on gravity. They're betting on how long any opponent can survive the fight." He pauses, then tips his hat.

Into the arena come two greyish monstrosities, giants with great red mouths and small reddish pinhole eyes in their thick, rocky skins. They wear loincloths that look like they're made of red and yellow metal of some sort, and have great metallic yellow boots. And they look around for their opponent, certain of their victory.

"They've never been hurt, let alone defeated," the guard says, then goes back to his job.

The announcer however, says clearly, "All bets down, LET THE MASSACRE BEGIN!"

Kara Zor-El raises an eyebrow curiously when the two huge behemoths come stomping out. "First time for everything, huh?" She doesnt uncross her arms just yet, but does make a little smile. "Uhh ... hi." she says simply to them, looking up at them as they come towards her.

The two behemoths don't hesitate. Seeing a little female that looks all weak and fragile seems to have no effect, and they immediately charge her with their massive arms raised and maws gaping. With a titanic swing of the first's mighty arm, a gigantic fist comes down at Kara's head, to attempt to pound her into the ground like a nail hit by a hundred thousand ton hammer!

Kara Zor-El just stands there as the fist slams down against her head, chips of the rocky hand breaking when it makes thunderous contact with the teenager's golden tresses on her head. Kara doesnt even blink, nor does her smile flicker. She most definitely doesnt get pounded into the ground - thanks to a combination of Kryptonian invulnerability and innate flight. She just pauses a second it takes for the Gragg brother who slammed his fist down upon her to register the pain of what happened.

Then after a moments thought, her arms still crossed for now, she says... or rather 'asks' - "Ouch?"

Pretty clear she wasnt even in the slightest bit harmed though, or in pain. It was more of a 'this is what you expected me to say, right' thing.

The crushing of the hand of his brother doesn't slow down the second at all. One of their advantages has always been ferocity, and they have a system. A weakened foe is one easily slaughtered, so without fail the second brother brings his boulder of a fist down with crushing speed in the same way as his sibling's with the force of a mountain falling toward little Kara's smiling face.

Kara Zor-El honestly can't help but smile at that as the first Gragg brother's fist recoils and is held in pain. Mostly because the second one seems to think it's a real smart move to try to do the -same exact move- that proved so ineffective already. "Tried to be nice." she says as one of her hands quickly moves to grab the fist that's quickly slamming down against her. Her petite hand grips the edge of the second Gragg brother's stony fist, stopping it just as cold as her head stopped the first one - the difference being her Kryptonian-strong fingers grip his fist around his finger and the edge of his hand so he can't yank his fist back as well.

Honestly, this is a little fun, much as she wasnt feeling in a fun mood about this when it began. She whistles a little tune to herself idly, and the fact that this is as ridiculous a mismatch as the previous matche were becomes rather apparent as she suddenly swings the second Gragg brother around with laughably effortless ease, holding him by the edge of his hand. The Girl of Steel slams him around into the first Gragg who was still cradling his busted fist, sending the first Gragg brother flying into the arena wall. She then swings him one last time, still not having bothered to move from the spot she was standing in when this fight started (fight being a generous definition, whereas 'lesson' would be more appropriate), and Kara slams the second Gragg brother down into the ground, face first, before letting go of his hand, causing the entire stadium to shake.

Kara Zor-El is whistling the little tune to herself the entire time - seems to be the Toon Titans cartoon melody. She might hate the cartoon but it's like an ear worm.

Rolling to their feet, the Groggy Brothers use each other as braces as they stand. The crowd is in a sort of stunned silence as the obvious champions of the evening are slammed into each other, then the wall, then the ground. The crowd makes some kind of attempt to cheer as the Gragg Brothers stand again, then a bit more noise as they roar once more and then attempt a real double-team on Kara! With hands reaching, they have at least learned not to smash. No, one tries to grab at her while the other swings on her from behind!

Kara Zor-El smirks. And then smiles again and continues to whistle as she finally flies upwards at the one in front of her, attempting to grab her, slamming her tiny fist into his midsection with enough force that the monstrous being is lifted off the ground. Before his feet touch the ground again, Kara flies up a bit more, launching an uppercut into the Gragg Brother's face. Pieces of Rock - the warrior's teeth, perhaps? - go flying all over the place as the rocky creature goes flying upwards into the sky. Up, and up, and up until he can't be easily visible anymore.

But the teenage powerhouse isnt done yet. The second Gragg brother who tries to grab her from behind is instead grabbed by his hand. Kara gain decides that using both arms would be too unfair, and proceeds to flip the 30 ton alien over like a 30 ounce rag doll, slamming him into the ground, head first, sending ground flying all over the place.

Oh, and she's still whistling the tune, as if to say 'this is too easy.' She then backs up a bit, taking a few steps back and tapping her foot, looking up, then at the Gragg Brother who's feet are sticking out of a crater.

Right before the other Gragg brother falls from where he was punched, crashing into the ground, on top of his brother, causing the crater to become even more crater-ier.

Kara pats her hands, waiting for the loudspeaker.

The announcer actually takes a few moments to respond. When he does, it sounds a little as if he's had to hunt to find his microphone having dropped it, and he seems a bit confused and disoriented, though he seems to get ahold of himself by the end of his speech.

"Uhm, we, we have, one moment. Ladies and Gentlebeings, we have a...a winner! The one called Supergirl has...utterly demolished last year's champions, in a display of combat prowess we've never before seen. But don't worry, we have some combatants who can still make a show of this, maybe even take her down! Supergirl, folks! Seriously Durred, where did you get this one? I'm losing my abdomen plate here. We're still on, what? F.." click

Cassandra Cain, in her corner, begins to clap. Slowly and at a measured pace, she claps three times while the smile on her face belies the shock she has inside at the immense power she's just witnessed from her friend. She's seen Kara fight before, but even she is more than a little awed. And that damn tune just gets stuck in your head...

Kara Zor-El looks around at the crowd which is dumbfoundedly silent as she walks away from the two VERY unconscious, and probably very injured, Gragg Brothers. She strolls back towards Cassandra, stopping by the guard. "Lucky thing I was holding back, huh?" Then heads over to Cassandra, smiling because she actually saw Cassandra CLAP a few times. See - that's high praise! Then she leans back against the wall.

Tapping Kara gently on the shoulder, she whispers under her breath where it's too low for anyone to actually HEAR, but knowing Kara's hearing she figures the girl will get the message. "Have you...noticed...each fight...customized to us?"

While she's doing that, she walks out to the center of the arena, waiting for the Gragg Brothers to get dragged, pushed and generally bulldozer'ed to their pit for medical treatment. She adds a whisper, "Your...opponents, right for you." She glances back at Kara, to see if there's an answer of any sort.

Kara Zor-El nods a little to Cassandra. "Yeah, I've been getting all the power hitters, you've been getting the ones more geared to fighting style and lateral thinking. Guess I'm just a big brawler... wonder who we're each going to get next and how long until this stupid exercise is over..." She pauses. "There arent any fighters who you know of who can beat you consistently, right?"

Cassandra Cain reads all of Kara's message from her body motions, even far away she's getting it all loud and clear. She whispers in return, 'Yes, there is,' as she eyes the pit. 'Been beaten....once.' She pauses to check her gear, and grins. 'Still learning. Every...day.'

The loudspeaker announces, "So far, our lovely little ladies have done... REALLY well against all oncomers. So we're going to up the difficulty curve EVEN MORE. I introduce, the Red Menace! The Octo-Robo! METAL ARM GUY!" Omega Red materializes there, and growls up at the loudspeaker. "Eet is OMEGA RED! You weel say my name correct or I weel destroy you after I am done with this little one!"

Loudspeaker pauses, then says, "OMEGA RED EVERYBODY! Annnnd FIGHT!"

Launching herself up into the rubble, Cassandra goes for height again to see if she can learn about this new threat. Upping the difficulty curve sounds bad. She leaps from wall to higher wall, getting a look at him. Woah. Big one.

Hunching up there, she tries to get some idea, and her face gets a little confused. She tilts her head, then gets a bit closer and looks more. Then she takes a short run and leaps into the air, starting the fight with a flying side kick aimed at Omega Red's skull!

Kara Zor-El frowns when she sees who Cassandra's up against. She fought this guy once, and he tried using some sort of 'death spores' on her, which didn't work only because of her being Kryptonian. "Cassandra, watch out for him! He has these death spore things!" Kara says as she begins to step forward. She's confident about Cassandra's ability to beat other people in a fight - not so much about being immune to deadly spore-poisoning.

The loudspeaker says as Kara's about to step forward, "And just for the protection of our audience, this is a CAGE MATCH!" At which point a dome-like force field surrounds most of the arena, blocking Kara from getting involved.

One of the guards moves up to her and grabs her arm, "No interfering." he says sternly. Kara turns her head to him and frowns. "Get your hand off me and let me help my friend before you lose it."

At which point the head turns into Mxyzptlk's head. "Oh cmon, if you don't do this, we won't have an answer about who's more awesome, then we have to keep you both here forever. With Bat-Mite. That's real torture."

Kara frowns and looks at the match as Cassandra jumps up to side kick at Omega Red's skull. Which is stopped when one of Omega Red's tendrils shoots out from his wrist and wraps around her leg, flinging her into the other side of the force field!

Omega Red snickers. "I weel make this quick and painful for you, da? My death spores will end you..."

Grabbed by the tendril of the wrist, Cassandra's facial expression, immortalized on the big screen, is one of actual shock and surprise. She was not expecting the tendril, and she is thrown to the other side of the arena where she lands fairly heavily against the dome which has just fallen into place. It's a solid hit, the first landed on her tonight, and should have put her out of the fight on its own.

Rising almost immediately, Cassandra stands into a low, wide stance. Her face shows a mix of emotions now, but none of them are surprise. Anger is there. Also, a little smile. She's starting to enjoy this, though a bruise is rising on her cheek already.

Cassandra taps the side of her mask, and small nearly invisible eye shields drop into place protecting her eyes from the spores, and she takes a second to pop her neck into place with a quick twist. Then she's running toward Omega Red, reaching for her belt pouch and moving like a deer. Left, right, hard to target. But fast, and getting back into range. She has him right where he wants her.

Kara Zor-El is looking a lot more nervous than she ever could have looked in her own matches. She notices that Cassandra holds her breath, but fighting someone like Omega Red while holding ones breath just ups how difficult this is going to be, plus makes a definite time limit depending on how long Cassandra can hold her breath and still fight. Or, you know, still live.

Omega Red releases the spores as Cassandra has the protective eyewear forms. He then sends two tendrils out to launch at her, missing the first time, then the second time, but he gets really close each time - those tendrils don't have any body language to read. "You are fast, little mouse, but you I just need to get you once."

Managing to get in close with random movements, Cassandra slides underneath Omega Red, right through his legs. She slams her fists into his left knee three times in the same spot in passing, without slowing down, and leaps up behind him to drive a devastatingly powerful kick into the back of his head. The tendrils slap down behind him, trying to get her, but she's suddenly sprinting away from the warrior. Noting the lack of damage. Gauging his armor level.

As soon as she's as far away as she can get, she slides to a stop at the edge of the dome and takes a small, experimental breath, and launches a batarang into the air, landing her first 'tool' hit. She doesn't expect it to work, but she's buying time while she thinks this through. She's visibly sweating right now.

This Omega Red is built like a tank - which seems evident from when Cassandra kicks him in the back of his head - it makes him stumble forward, but he's still quite conscious and ready for battle, and gets him to growl out some Russian swear words. His tendrils slam down into the ground behind him, missing Cassandra as she does her tactical retreat, then whipping up again as the Batarang flies at his head. Only to get snared by the tendril and crushed.

"TOYS? YOU FIGHT ME WITH TOYS?!"

Cassandra Cain listens to what Omega Red is shouting at her. She seems to slowly smile, then winks at Kara and sprints toward Omega Red. She leaps up just before him, slapping the back of his head and planting something there, and flings a batarang into the distance.

Omega Red is, unfortunately, very very quick. His tendril grabs her off of his head and hauls her up into the air in front of him by the leg. However, she doesn't look afraid.

Cassandra aims a finger at Omega Red, distracting him by doing the classic 'pistol' finger position, as if she's shooting at him with her finger. Really she's just making sure he stands still, and keeps his head between her and the beam rifle clip she's glued to the back of his head. Then she says, "Bang."

And the batarang impacts with it, causing an explosion that would knock even HIM down.

IT's coming on two minutes now of holding her breath as Omega Red grabs her and holds her upside down with one tendril. His other tendril prepares to strike as she does her little 'finger gun' motion and says, "Teper' ty umresh. Do svidaniya, malysh." < Now you die. Good bye, little one > And his tendril prepares to impale her - even if she was to live, the spores will have entered her and she'd be dead soon enough.

Or that was the plan, if not for the fact that, at that point, the second batarang that Cassandra threw made its 180 in the air and hits into the back of Omega Red's head. Or rather, the plasma rifle clip which she planted there during her earlier acrobatics over him.


 * BANG!*

Omega Red's tendril lets go of Cassandra, as the smoke clears and he's still standing there, smoke from the back of his head where the plasma clip exploded. Luckily for him, he didn't have the back of his head blown off. But still, that had to have hurt, right? Concussion or something?

He just stands there a moment longer. And says, in Russian, "Umnaya devushka." < Clever girl. > Then falls forward and on the ground, unconscious.

The loudspeaker says, "AND THE SECOND EARTH GIRL WINS AGAIN! HOW ABOUT THAT FIGHT! EXPLOSIOSN! DEATH SPORES! TENTACLES!"

Kara grabs the Mxy-faced guard nd says, "Clear the force field of the death spores right now!"

AT which point Omega Red is telepored out, along with all the death spores, then the force field goes down.

The removal of the spores has Cassandra watching Kara. She takes a tentative breath, and then bends over and fills her lungs, breathing deeply and giving oxygen back to her half-starved brain. She takes a minute, which it would be assumed she'd be allowed with the cheering of the crowd, then walks to Kara and hugs her. She's shaking a little all over; that was too close.

The announcer waits for the crowd to calm down, which they take a bit of time to accomplish. Both of these females are developing a serious fan base with the crowd, both in person and watching at home, and he has not yet announced the next match.

As the crowd cheers wildly for Cassandra's impressive, life-risking win, Kara hugs Cassandra back and whispers to her, "Good job on Omega Red. You scared me there... are you okay?"

The loudspeaker says to someone else, "not yet, the two cute earth girls are hugging, need to take a mental pic- what? Oh fragnards... it's on? *click*"