Jeri and Rayne stared down. The platform powered up... Virtua-World coming online. Rayne's eyes began to glow blood red, a grin on her face. Jeri wafted his tail back and forth, left and right. The virtual reality started to form: blocking the two from the outside world. Jeri reaffirmed his footing, moving his right foot a little aside from his left. He flexed his claws. Rayne cracked her knuckles.
"Virtua-World online. Weapons removed. Base forms power levels altered to an even balance between participating fighters. Match commencing in..." Rayne adjusted her own stance. "3..." Jeri shifted his shoulders, cracking his neck left and right at the same time. "2..." A crimson aura flared up around Rayne. "1..." Jeri readied his claws and glaive-tipped tail.
"You really aren't human... huh..." Jeri muttered.
"Jeri!" Kiyoko ran out as Jeri and Rayne disappeared into the virtual reality, a blinding flash resonating out Virtua-World formed a 'stage' for them to fight in.
"Go!" Rayne and Jeri found themselves suddenly in a white void. "Mix-up mode engaged, map may randomly alter." The computer warned. The void faded away, becoming Kahn's Coliseum (Mortal Kombat) and leaving the two in the middle of the Outworld arena. Jeri got on all fours and rushed forward whilst Rayne dashed forward and left behind an afterimage in the process. They struck! Rayne delivered a left hook to Jeri's right cheek as he jumped up, whilst he delivered a right hook to her left cheek at the same time. They were both sent flying back; Rayne flipping through the air until she landed safely on the dirt ground, skidding backwards to slow her momentum as Jeri flipped through the air before landing safely on the coliseum's wall. Jeri looked up as he remained attached to the wall, seeing Rayne rushing towards him at break-neck speed: the dhampir dashing left and right, leaving behind multiple afterimages, as she advanced. Jeri leapt at Rayne but was immediately smacked back into the wall as she dashed forward once more, grabbing hold of him, smashing him straight through the wall. As the two smashed through the concrete, falling into a white void: Jeri repeatedly hit Rayne on the back of the head, whilst free-falling, before ultimately freeing himself from her grasp with a knee to the gut that cut off her wind and then back-flipping in mid-air, using his tail to smack her away mid-flip before the next 'stage' loaded up for them. Crash! Rayne crashed onto a metal panelled floor, immediately jumping to her feet only to find Jeri was nowhere in sight. The new stage had loaded though... the Nostromo.
"Why the hell did he decide to take part in this stuff?" Kiyoko sighed.
Rayne darted her eyes left and right as she swiveled around back and forth. The dim-lighting didn't mean anything to her... she could still see perfectly fine. But she couldn't see where the hell Jeri was, she could only hear his movement in the ventilation system. Rayne started to move backwards through the corridor, keeping her eyes alert and occasionally quickly turning around to make sure Jeri wasn't behind her. She could hear him scuttling around her, out of sight. Rayne came to a stop. She looked over to a closed metal door on her right.
"Come out, boy! I smell you!" Rayne clenched her fists and growled lightly.
"It's the cologne isn't it?" Jeri's voice echoed out.
"Smart arse..." Rayne opened up the door by pressing a button on the wall next to it. It slid up into the wall afterwards.
"Bad ass, smart ass, nice ass." Jeri recited.
"Thank you... not gonna hold back." Rayne poked her head into the dark room. Nothing. A scuttling sounded out behind her! Rayne swiveled back around. Nothing.
"I was talking about me..." Jeri responded.
Kiyoko facepalmed.
Rayne walked out of the doorway and continued on down the corridor, walking past a crate and a locker on the way. She came to a halt.
"Really?" Rayne asked, frowning as she looked over her shoulder. She stared at the locker. Rayne turned back around and walked over to the locker. She narrowed her eyes. The lights turned off suddenly. She ripped open the locker's door and found... a childish drawing of Jeri jumping on Rayne's head, like Mario on a Goomba. Rayne raised her brow. A cigar lit up behind her, Jeri rising up and standing over her with the cigar in his mouth. He was an imposing 7 feet tall after all.
"You're pretty good..." Jeri muttered. Rayne grinned. "Pretty good..."
Joanna Dark frowned as Jeri pulled the 'You're pretty good' trick on Rayne, standing in the crowd as she watched on.
"What's next a cardboard box?" She mumbled.
Jeri went to choke-hold Rayne but was immediately countered, Rayne grabbing his left arm and then twisting it behind his back before she forced him to the side and then kicked Jeri in the back, sending him tumbling along the floor and knocking the cigar from his mouth just as she kicked him away. Rayne caught Jeri's cigar as it fell back down.
"Interesting..." She twirled the cigar around in her fingers, looking it over. "Not my thing." She tossed it away. Jeri jumped back up.
"Hey!" Jeri got back into a fighting stance. "That was mine!"
"It'll kill ya..." Rayne shrugged.
"No, I'm immune to its negative effects, the same with alcohol." Jeri informed.
"I might be too, but I'm not a smoker." Rayne got into her own fighting stance.
"Why don't I go get some wine, test that theory?" Jeri taunted.
"I never drink wine..." Rayne chuckled.
"Ominous..." Jeri muttered. Rayne dashed forwards, Jeri setting off towards her a split-second arterwards. Jeri went in with a left hook, but Rayne dodged the strike and went to uppercut Jeri's chin: only for Jeri to roll backwards and then wrap his tail around Rayne's right leg. He pulled her towards him, dragging her off of her feet and straight to him. As Jeri was about to pull Rayne upwards, time seemed to freeze for him. He was paralysed! Frozen in place as Rayne activated 'Chrono Break' a magical power that stopped time for a short duration, leaving her to do as she pleased. It only extended to the virtual reality though, her powers contained in the simulation: so the others could still see everything that happened afterwards. Rayne had already freed herself when time was finally restored for Jeri. He stumbled forwards before quickly jolting around, looking everywhere for the Dhampir.
"Just like my Chaos Control..." Shadow spoke to himself, unfolding his arms.
"What was that?" Jeri muttered.
"I'd be more worried about this..." Rayne's voice rung out through the corridors of the Nostromo. A cloud of mist passed by Jeri, flying in front of him before it formed into Rayne herself.
"Huh?! Just what are you?" Jeri jumped back. A blood red aura engulfed Rayne, crumpling up and forming a perfectly encapsulating red hue around her. Her green eyes turning crimson. Sparks of red bio-electricity began to zap around her.
"Come on... why don't ya find out?" 'Blood Fury' Rayne chuckled, her voice a little deeper now. Jeri stayed where he was. "Alright, ladies first then... witness my ultimate power! AAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHH!" Rayne dashed forward so fast, in Jeri's vision, that it was like she had teleported: reappearing behind Jeri and delivering a swift knee to his spine and then reappearing again in front of him to uppercut Jeri into the ceiling, sending him straight through it. Now he was in the void again. Rayne leapt up after Jeri and caught him on her right knee, striking his spine again. Jeri coughed up white blood, non-acidic, as Rayne's knee collided with him. Proof it was non-acidic came when it fell into the slowly fading Nostromo corridor and nothing came of it. Rayne narrowed her eyes.
"I was told your blood would be acidic... it still doesn't look good enough to drink though..." Rayne let Jeri fall off her knee as the Nostromo faded away and the void was all that remained.
"Mother... ducker..." Jeri coughed.
"Motherducker?" Rayne raised a brow.
"Yeah... don't know... why I said it..." Jeri replied. He coughed out some more synthetic blood. The void began to fade for a third time. Kagan's castle, an ancient castle in Northeast Transylvania was the stage now: the two in Kagan's tower.
"Great, this place... anyway... you're not cut out for this kind of fighting..." Rayne berated. "Even with power on my level all you can do is punch n' kick, and claw and bite if ya wanted. Why'd you decide to try and take me on? You could have stepped out if you wanted."
"Seemed like a good idea at the time... thought it'd be smart to find out what kind of 'people' are here... I didn't wanna seem like a coward in front of my friend... she's been through a lot recently... and I wanna prove that I can really look after her now, so I thought I'd try and prove my strength... heh... we both saved one another back on that damned ship... the USS Konrad. Yeah, I saved her, but what good is a guardian that has to be saved themselves anyways? You ever feel anything like that? That you're not good enough to look after those you care for?" Jeri stumbled to his feet, standing before Rayne in the throne room: he could barely maintain his balance.
"I don't have anybody to care about." Rayne bluntly remarked. Silence. "Don't give me any pity, I like being alone."
"Oh come on... nobody truly likes being alone. A person ain't got nobody, they go crazy..." Jeri responded.
"I never was sane to begin with." Rayne shrugged. She cracked her neck back and forth. "Not to add insult to injury, but I've not been using all of my powers, just so you know."
"I should stick to 'bug hunts'." Jeri chuckled.
"So, I'm just gonna end this right about know... don't worry: you'll live." Rayne grinned.
"Oh this is gonna hurt..." Jeri groaned.
"A lot." Rayne admitted.
"I hate my life..." Jeri sighed.
"Join the club." Rayne replied.
"Well... that's depressing..." Jeri muttered.
"Get ready." Rayne grinned as torrents of blood magic began to swirl around her...
"Kiyoko, if you can hear me, cover your eyes. I'm about to get knocked out HARD." Jeri called out as Rayne prepared her 'Blood Storm' ultimate attack: altering it to be a non-lethal attack for the fight. "I don't want you to tell me what it looked like afterwards... because I'm 'closing my eyes' too..."
"AAARRRGGGHHHH!" Rayne thrusted her arms outwards as she hovered in mid-air: the Blood Storm raging out and catching Jeri in its blast radius before it utterly destroyed Kagan's tower, debri and rubble flying everywhere in the ensuing blast...