Gage vs. Naedra

Last time, in Gage vs. Toushiko...

After a thrilling duel (and passionate lovemaking session) with the boisterous oni Toushiko, our wrestling hero Gage was ready to say good night to this rollercoaster of a day with his mighty former opponent by his side. But, unbeknownst to our heroes, a dark presence lurked just outside their awareness, waiting to strike at the perfect moment!

Now, Toushiko has fallen victim to the shadows. It's all up to Gage to fight back against this new enemy, and save both himself and his new friend from certain doom!

——

Two figures stood in the living room, a purple summoning crystal jammed into the floor between them. With the crystal's sole task complete, its droning hum slowly faded into silence, broken only by the feminine gasps and moans of pleasure coming from the other room. The two figures said nothing, staring at each other as each slowly took in the other. On one side, there was the wrestler Gage, watching his opponent warily, careful for anything she might try. On the other, there was a beautiful succubus floating in the air, smugly looking down at the human like a cat who had its prey tight in its claws.

"Well?" The succubus smiled. "What are you waiting for, darling? You summoned me here for a reason, didn't you?" Her ethereal voice dripped into Gage's ears like honey, and he found himself suppressing shivers as her words flowed through him. "What wish would you like the Dreamweaver, Naedra, to grant you? Hmm?" Her great bat wings slowed their movements as she floated down to the ground, her shoes clicking against the floor as she slowly walked forward. "Anything you desire..." Her powerful gaze never left Gage's eyes for a second as she leisurely closed the distance between them. "And I think I know just what you want...little Gage."

She stopped a few feet in front of him, her smile widening to show her teeth.

The teeth of a predator.

"All you must do is ask."

——
-The old ruleset applies: the rolls are 1 to 100 even rolls are a success, uneven rolls are a failure.
-Characters are allowed 1 free action, but must otherwise stick to their movepools.
-Instead of VIRTUE and VICE, the adventurers have WILLPOWER and the midara have STAMINA.
-Encounters that use characters from the OpenRPG may cause a re-appearance of said midara, depending on outcome.

Paralyzed Status- Character will be unable to move next turn and will be unable to dodge the next attack

Charmed Status- The next attack dealt by the midara does +1 Willpower damage

Bind Status- Character will be unable to move and continually suffer 2 Willpower damage each turn unless they roll a 50 or higher and escape

Downed Status- Character's next action is skipped, allowing their opponent to attempt a follow-up

Dazed Status- Character must roll two successes instead of one in order to hit


Even rolls higher than 85 are considered critical and allows the attacker to follow up with another move

Odd rolls lower than 14 are critical failures, allowing the opponent's next attack to be a guaranteed success

Naedra starts with 35 Stamina.
Gage starts with 35 Willpower.

Be honest with yourself...you know I'm going to win.

[The time is finally upon us! First, a little update to Gage’s Moveset that I’ve thought about for a minute so he’s not so... prone to losing.

Killing Blow: With his hands clasped together, Gage brings down his fists with an axe handle strike into the chest of his opponent. This deals 3 damage and if the successful roll is above a 40, it stuns the opponent for a follow up.
Hammer Time: Gage arms himself with his weapon of choice, a sledgehammer. If there is not one in plain sight, Gage will spend a turn digging for one. If uninterrupted by a successful midara attack, he will have armed himself and his moveset will have slightly changed. If Gage has two successful moves hit him at any time or if he affected by any affliction, he will drop the sledge and will have to spend a turn to pick it back up. However, if it’s in plain sight and he hasn’t used it already, he can automatically equip it and use a move.
Bruising Blow: With a mighty swing, Gage levels the sledge into the side of his opponent, dealing 3 damage.
Power Strike: Gage gives a slug with his sledge into the gut of his opponent, downing them and dealing 4 damage.
Concussive Force: Gage will thrust his hammer into the head of the midara and deal 4 damage. There’s also a chance that due to the concussive blow that the midara ends up hurting themselves by rolling an odd roll below 35, which will deal an extra point of damage.
Berserking Bashes: Having had enough of dealing with a midara, he goes full on John Henry with his sledge, making up to 4 strikes. Each successful strike does 2 damage but afterwards Gage will kneel to the ground, winded. He will be unable to avoid any attack for this turn.

If any of these seem unfair, lemme know and I’ll tweak it!]

Never in his wildest dreams could he imagine falling unceremoniously into a situation so... dire. The stakes were higher than any title match, by a long shot. And to make matters worse, it felt like Gage was singlehandedly responsible for allowing this devil into both Gage’s and Toushiko’s lives. However, now was not the time for kicking himself in the ass— he could do that if after he survived this with Toushiko in tact.

Gage did know one thing: he was in deep shit. Two things, actually: she was beyond enchanting. So much so that it was downright alarming. His hairs all stood on end with antici...........




pation. As they circled each other, Gage kept the layout of his apartment in his head, figuring he’d better use one of his mounted sledges and end this thing as quickly as possible. Not like he could look away from those powerful, violet eyes that bore into him with hooks and barbs threatening to reel him in for god knows what. Those eyes could see everything and he knew it. There was no hiding desires with this Naedra but maybe there was hiding malicious intent.

“Well, Naedra... I summoned you to kick your shit in, to be frank. And as for my wish? I’d love to have you kick rocks and get to steppin’ out of mine and Toushiko’s lives. And I intend to see that happen.”

With a sudden backwards step, Gage made for the mounted sledge on his wall, pulling it off the mount so he could brandish it with purpose. If he was possibly going to die or be permanently enslaved, he was going to go all out.

“And I’ll do it by force, with pleasure!”

With his trusted weapon in hand, Gage ran like a Hun into the fray of a battle. With purpose and intent to mangle, Gage swung his sledge at the Succubus’ side, hoping to make a fan-fucking-tastic first impression.

[Hammer Time into Bruising Blow]

(Not sure I have any room to talk about unfairness, given how crazy some of Naedra's Level 3 moves are...but hey, nowhere better to test the balance of these new moves than in a fight! Although, given how many status effects Naedra likes to use, I'm not sure that Gage is gonna get to use that hammer all that much...)

Naedra's wings furled and unfurled themselves as she matched Gage's circling. Her thoughts were impossible to guess behind her serene smile and dazzling eyes, but Gage had a feeling that that didn't go both ways. He'd have to be very careful when choosing the right time to strike, here.

The succubus brought a hand to her mouth and giggled at Gage's response. "Mmhmhmhm...ahh, don't lie to me, little one." She started slowly walking towards Gage again, looking him up and down with her piercing gaze. "In the end, you're only deluding yourself."

It was when Naedra was only a few feet in front of Gage that he struck. As fast as he possibly could, he grabbed the sledgehammer off the wall and swung it at the succubus!

Bruising Blow - 82

To Gage's surprise, the blow easily connected with a satisfying thwack against the succubus's stomach. He hadn't attacked with the intent of missing, of course, but...if she really was in his head, she should've seen that coming a mile away, right?

A glance up at Naedra's face revealed that she was just as surprised—but not nearly as pained as Gage had expected. His opening strike had barely caused her to wince, let alone double over in pain as a human opponent might have.

Come To Me - 63
He must've accomplished something, though, because instead of counterattacking, Naedra merely took a step back and regarded him curiously. "Hmm...taking notes from that brute, are we?" She looked behind her, at Toushiko's belongings sitting against the wall. A mischievous smirk crossed her features. "That reminds me..."

Naedra closed her eyes, giving Gage a slight start. He hadn't even realized how much their power had been sneaking up on him while he hadn't been paying attention; he only really felt their presence now that they were gone. But if her focus wasn't on him, then what was she...?

Gage's unspoken question was soon answered by a sudden increase in volume from Toushiko's cries in the other room. The oni was at a fever pitch now, and Gage was having a harder time tuning out the sounds of her pleasure. Naedra giggled as she refocused her eyes on Gage, sending an almost ticklish sensation across the back of his mind. "You should remember what's waiting for you, darling," she purred.

Naedra: 32 Stamina (Level 1)
Gage: 35 Willpower + Armed

Gage couldn’t help but grin with satisfaction as he managed to slam a mighty blow into Naedra but that smile quickly faded when the dreamy (no pun intended) demoness merely shrugged off the hit. It was a bit discouraging and alarming to the wrestler but if he couldn’t take her down with a sledge, he certainly couldn’t take her down with his grappling alone.

His eyes widened when he saw Naedra gesture back at his friend and made Toushiko’s throes of passion almost deafeningly loud. Surely the neighbors were bound to come pounding on his door before too long. Gage could only wish that their assumption as to what he was doing at this hour was correct. It might end up being that way in the end anyway, but not in his favor...

“You bitch! You can fuck around with me but you leave her out of this!”

Despite what any rationale or critical thinking was telling him, Gage rushed back in with his sledge at his side and fully intended on laying Naedra out. The grappler slid across the hardwood floor, positioning himself just off center and to the right of Naedra to line up his strike. Gage reared his arms back like he was about to smack a curveball over the stadium wall and swung with full intentions of planting the cold, unforgiving metal of the hammer into the succubus’ sternum... what little one could see of it.

[Power Strike]

Naedra's smile widened at Gage's outburst. "My, my, such anger. Such hate." She put a hand over her bosom in mock surprise. "Whatever did I do to deserve that, darling?" Her tail lazily pointed toward the bedroom Toushiko was pleasuring herself in. "I only gave her what she really wanted. Won't you let me do the same for you?"

Of course, Gage was having none of it, and sprinted forward for another swing on the otherworldly intruder. As he ran, he noticed she wasn't trying to move out of the way. Well, if she wanted to get hit again, he had no problems obliging her!

Power Strike - 75
Hypnotic Eyes - 31

In a single motion, Naedra gracefully sidestepped Gage's overly-telegraphed attack, letting his hammer strike the floor. He quickly stepped away to avoid her counterattack, but as he looked back up at her, he saw that she was once again merely standing there, making no move to attack. Just what was she playing at?

Naedra's smile shifted into a mocking leer. "Ah, yes, what a good job you're doing 'protecting' her." She leaned forward, giving Gage a good view of her cleavage that threatened to burst out of her dress. "But every second that passes, the better she feels, darling. Not only do you selfishly want to deprive her of that pleasure..." Her grin widened. "...But you can't even do that right." She held her arms out to her sides. "Poor little Gage. I'm standing right here, aren't I?" She giggled. "Shouldn't it be so easy to hurt me?"

Naedra: 32 Stamina (Level 1)
Gage: 35 Willpower + Armed

Gage was pleased to find his striking follow through was looking top-notch and—

Whiff.

With a startled gasp, he quickly tried to avoid stumbling when he struck the thin air and managed to roll away from Naedra’s own offensive maneuver— whatever it was... Oh, she’s one of those... The too-talkative types. Even as the ancient evil before him gave honey-dipped promises and somewhat sour remarks to his attempts at harming her, Gage’s face turned up in a smile.

“That’s rich that you’re playing the incompetence card against me. You’re not exactly making life hard for me. What’s the matter? You leave your fuckin’ brain in dreamland, too?”

The wrestler swung the sledge to his back, letting it rest on his shoulders with his arms hooked over it in a lax position. Gage wasn’t shy about showing off his own muscles at the same time in a pseudo-nonchalant manner. Waving his hand in a “bring it” motion, he couldn’t help but try and goad the Dreamweaver into striking,

“If Toushiko were awake for this she’d be about as impressed as me. Guess that’s why you can only do your dirt when people are most vulnerable... Like a coward.”

[Bragging Boast]

Bragging Boast - 56
Suggestible Subconscious - 27

Naedra's enigmatic smile began to fade as Gage threw her words right back at her, her eyes (as much as he was avoiding looking right at them) narrowing slightly at his relaxed stance. She stared at him for a moment, curiously tilting her head.

"...How odd," she murmured, more to herself than anything.

Then, with her gaze fixed on Gage, her eyes started to glow with an increased intensity. And though Gage was very pointedly not looking at them, he suddenly felt a strange...itch in the back of his mind. Like something was trying to draw his attention...of course, this had to be the work of that succubus, and he wasn't going to let her distract him. He ignored the itch.

After a moment, the itch faded...only to be replaced by something else. He felt a very faint paralyzing sensation, like his brain was being splashed with ice water. Just as before, though, he was able to easily ignore it with a blink and a shake of his head. He saw Naedra starting to frown.

What the hell was she doing? It was almost like she was poking and prodding at his brain, trying for some result or another. After a few more moments, he felt the strange sensation fade, and Naedra herself withdrew a few steps.

"Curious, indeed..." She turned away from Gage, seemingly ignoring him in favor of crossing her arms and muttering to herself. "...Hm, perhaps..."

...

Sometimes, these midara just made no goddamn sense.

Naedra: 32 Stamina (Level 1)
Gage: 35 Willpower + Armed + Empowered

Seeing the smile fade off of Naedra’s face gave him a sense of empowerment but she didn’t totally react how he had wanted. She seemed more perplexed than frustrated about his goading. Even when the sensation of something grabbing at his conscious mind, he was able to focus on the opponent before him and shook his head to free himself.

“Nothing to say? I wouldn’t say now’s the time for you to contemplate on your career choice but if you wanna stand there while I wail on you, be my fuckin’ guest!@

The wrestler couldn’t help but feel relief that came after skirting one’s own demise— like stepping out of the street as soon as a car goes barreling past your backside. He was talking a lot of shit but Gage knew that he couldn’t underestimate this force before him unless he ended up being snatched up and... like Toushiko.

No longer wanting to think about it, Gage decided to take action against the dreamweaver. Springing off his back foot, Gage leapt forward with the sledge cocked back, aiming to blast her like a comically sized hammer on the head of a woman shaped nail.

[Power Strike]

Just as before, Naedra was still as Gage leapt at her, apparently too absorbed in her own thoughts to notice him going in for another attack.

At least, that's what Gage hoped.

Power Strike - 33
Hope apparently wasn't enough, however, as Gage's mighty swing once again hit nothing but hardwood flooring. Naedra had jumped out of the way at the last possible second, having no doubt been prepared to dodge his attack as soon as his feet left the ground.

He was quick to recover from his mistake, though, and he swiveled back toward his opponent, ready for her...well, at this rate, it probably wasn't going to be a counterattack. Ready for her next demeaning quip, then.

That's when he looked into her eyes by reflex.

Hypnotic Eyes - 54
Her very much glowing, swirling, mesmerizing eyes.

As soon as he looked into them, he was glued to them. He made an effort to pull his gaze away, but he just couldn't force his body to follow through. It was like his joints were locked together, holding him prisoner in his own skin. His peripheral vision began to blur as all his focus funneled itself into Naedra's hypnotic gaze. The light shining from her eyes was spinning in a thousand different patterns at once, barraging him with colors and images he couldn't even visualize. In those few moments, he bore witness to something he couldn't possibly comprehend; whatever the succubus was showing him in her eyes, it was a world that was well and truly alien.

As he continued to stare, he felt something stir in the back of his mind...no. Not "something". He knew exactly what it was.

It was the other. It was her.

Her presence surged forward, claiming more of his subconscious. The longer he stared, the more he lost to her. But what could he do?! He just couldn't look away...!

Then, as soon as it started, it was over.

Gage blinked rapidly as the mesmerizing light faded from Naedra's eyes. He yelped and stumbled backward, breathing heavily as he tried to process what had just happened. All the while, Naedra hadn't stopped staring at him, though he noticed she now had an unpleasant smile on her face.

The dreamweaver giggled, and Gage shivered as a sudden ticklish sensation ran down his spine at the sound.

What the hell?

"Please do forgive me, darling," she said, bowing her head. Gage felt a little calmer at the musical sound of her voice...then fear suddenly gripped him. Her laughter, her voice...what was it doing to him?

"I'd forgotten...you have faced many enchantresses in your time, have you not?" Her eyes gleamed with amusement. "Minds that have become accustomed to such things sometimes need a little...tweak." She giggled again, sending another shiver up Gage's spine. He tensed his body to hide it, but he had a feeling Naedra could see right through him. "You don't mind, do you? It's all for the sake of your pleasure, after all." As soon as the word "pleasure" left her lips, Gage's vision fuzzed for a moment. His heart beat a little faster.

What the hell was going on...

Naedra: 32 Stamina (Level 2)
Gage: 35 Willpower + Armed + Empowered(?)

(Does Bragging Boast stay active on a miss?)

To say that Gage was overwrought with nervousness and fear when his sledge cut through thin air to connect with nothing but the hardwood floor would be an understatement. With a swivel of his head, he caught her gaze... well, was caught in it. There, it felt like peaking beyond the event horizon of a black hole. A place from which no light escaped and no one could pull away. Sucking everything in its cone of influence in and never letting go.

In that sunken place, it felt like they were waiting for him there. All of them, arms outstretched and smiles that were dead and yet still magnetic. What was the point in remaining here when where he belonged was right ther—

What.

What just happened to him? Who are they? Why are they there?

Those questions had to wait as he found himself falling on his ass and Naedra’s vile grin growing wider. This was pure evil he was dealing with. Plain and simple. Raising himself to his feet, he had to go back on the offensive.... Say something!

“Huh... I would figure if you’re the top bitch around that you’d know my weaknesses off the bat. Those other... ‘temptresses’ seemed to nail it right away. What’s your excuse, Naedy?”

Without warning, Gage reared his sledge back and took aim with his imaginary crosshairs at the Succubus’ head before flinging the tool with great force so that he could maybe catch the vixen off guard. He could only hope his attack strikes true.

[Modified Power Strike, disarmed next turn]

[Oh yeah, I’d never clarified that. Yeah, he’s empowered until he’s hit I suppose]

Even as Gage got back to his feet and shot back another remark toward Naedra, the succubus continued to silently poke and prod at his mind, toying with her newfound power over his subconscious. Prickling sensations swirled over his brain, and this time, he had to actively will himself to keep his attention off them.

No. He couldn't afford to be distracted here. Not even by that itch dancing in and out of his subconscious, constantly nagging at him and trying to drag his attention away from the fight. He had to think of something, had to come up with a way to catch this elusive succubus off-guard.

But how? He could barely manage to hit her before, and now she really was in his head, reading his subconscious like an open book. She always waited until the last second to dodge, but only because she knew an attack was coming as soon as the intention entered Gage's head. How could he possibly beat that?

As always, it seemed, the answer was to do something incredibly stupid.

Acting on a pure hunch, or maybe just from exasperation at his whiffs so far, Gage reared back and threw his sledgehammer at the succubus as hard as he could.

Power Strike - 62 (Level Down? - 10 - No)
This time, she didn't dodge fast enough.

Naedra's eyes widened for only an instant before the sledgehammer slammed hard into her chest, sending her reeling backward with a pained gasp. Apparently, whatever force had protected her from his first blow was not so kind to her with this one, as she crumpled to the ground in a heap from the force of the impact.

What did this mean? Why, out of anything, was this able to hit her? If Gage could figure that out, then maybe he'd have an easier time beating this damned succubus. Maybe it had something to do with her ability? She could read intentions, perhaps, but could she read his method of attack...?

Whatever it was, Naedra certainly didn't seem pleased about it. Folding her wings over herself, she clutched a gloved hand to her chest as she turned to look at Gage. Her smug smile was gone, replaced by a snarl. "Clever...or very, very, lucky," she hissed. She drew in her legs, and started to slowly push herself off the ground.

Naedra: 28 Stamina + Downed (Level 2)
Gage: 35 Willpower

Here goes nothin’!, the grappler thought as he tossed his weapon at the Queen invader of his mind with reckless abandon. Gage gave a silent cheer as the sledge connected with a sickening metal on flesh noise, finding himself at least in a favorable position with the midara on her back.

Gage had a momentary vision of the first time he held a sledgehammer, how he made it his own. He had a match against Yusef, the Romanian Wrecker. His eyes burned with tears as the handle of the sledge was being leveraged into his throat by the bigger man behind him. Yusef always has a penchant for fighting dirty but when you’re on a circuit that advertises no-holds-barred matches, no one really cared. With a lean forward and swinging his head backwards, he bashed the Romanian’s nose in and made the sledge clatter to the ground. And picking the weapon up... Well, it was all history from there.

That vision dropped him back into the fray of their fight and he couldn’t help but jump a bit at the sudden return to reality. Laying eyes on how aggravated the vixen was before him, he knew it was time to press the advantage.

“Luck’s what it’s all about, baby! Maybe if you had some I’d be a husk on the ground right about now. But, alas~”

Gage dove towards Naedra with arms outstretched and planned to wrap her up in a vicious hold. Realizing this isn’t the best of ideas, Gage’s plan was to inflict too much pain on the succubus so that she couldn’t flip the close quarters back on him. Plus, she’s at least easier to lift than Toushiko—

[Mighty Grapple]

On one hand, Gage's sledge throw worked out about as well as he could've hoped. He was able to catch his opponent off-guard, do serious damage to her, and send her sprawling to the ground, giving him a major advantage!

On the other hand, his only real way to use that advantage was now lost somewhere beneath one of Naedra's wings...hey, he never said his plan was perfect.

Well, there was one thing he could do. Though he'd been quite hesitant to do it before, it was now obvious that his opponent could be damaged by conventional means. Plus, she was busy trying to get back on her feet, so a counterattack probably wasn't coming anytime soon.

In other words, it was time for this wrestler to wrestle!

Mighty Grapple - 24 (Level Down? - 16 - No)
He knew he needed to act fast if he wanted to deny this succubus a chance to screw him over. Or just screw him. Neither would be great for him, so he sprinted at her at full speed.

When she saw—no, probably sensed—him coming in for another attack, she quickly managed to get on her feet, and was about to turn and stop him with her stare alone when he wrapped his arms around her from behind, enveloping her in a crushing bear hug.

Naedra cried out as her wings were painfully pinned to her sides. She squirmed this way and that, pushing her wings out to try and shove Gage away.

Struggle - 48
Gage blinked in surprise. This was...easier than he'd expected, actually.

He'd hoped thought that this otherworldly creature might be imbued with superhuman strength, easily overturning his hold and kissing him into submission, or that maybe she'd say a single word and force his muscles to go slack. Instead, it felt like he was just trying to keep a normal person in his grip, albeit one with a heavy pair of breasts wings.

Gage growled and shook his head. Jeez, maybe she was trying to mess with his head. Well, a lot of good it was doing her at the moment. This was way easier than trying to rein in one of his usual opponents in the ring, let alone goddamn Toushiko!

Maybe he'd be able to win this after all...

Naedra: 26 Stamina + Bound (Level 2)
Gage: Still sittin' pretty at 35 Willpower

What the hell is happening? Gage thought to himself as he had managed to restrain the supposed indomitable vixen. Still shocked at this development, he didn’t wanna waste any time in just standing there in a tight hug and resolved to wringing her about, to and fro, in his arms. At this rate, he’d exorcise this demon in no time! Gage leaned forward to mockingly whisper in the succubus’ ear:

“Y’know, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re a glutton for punishment... it’s not too late to say ‘uncle’ though! I can be merciful sometimes...”

Mercy wasn’t something Gage gave often to his opponents, but he sure as shit wasn’t about to give any to a vixen who was invading Toushiko’s dreams. Mercy was reserved for people he admired, felt sorry for. And for this bitch, he felt neither.

“Better put those lips of yours to good use and say somethin’!”

Gage prepared to wrench Naedra about in his arms with crushing force one more, regardless of what she had to say to him.

[Mighty Grapple Continue]

(Damage from Mighty Grapple - 98 - Level Down)

Gage grit his teeth as he tightened his grip on the writhing succubus. He could feel her barraging his mind with different sensations, trying to overwhelm him and make him let her go. Unfortunately for her, it seemed like his hold was doing its job rather well—the pain he was causing her meant that her efforts were random and unfocused, amounting to little more than an annoyance. As long as he kept his guard up, he was able to ignore the sensations fairly easily and concentrate on keeping those damned wings in line—they were Naedra's strongest limbs, it seemed. He couldn't afford to give them any wiggle room.

Even so, he couldn't help but lean forward and whisper a taunt in her ear. He figured it would probably frustrate and distract her even more, being mocked by a "mere human", making her assault on his mind even weaker than it already was. As he leaned in, a faint scent like lavender started to waft into his nostrils. Without thinking about it, he took a deep breath through his nose.

He blinked.

Now that he'd gotten so close to her, he realized just how nice she smelled. Naedra stopped her squirming and turned her head to look at him, and as she did, all the random sensations fell away, replaced with a singular need for more. Before he could stop himself, he leaned in even further and deeply inhaled the flowery scent of her skin. His grip started to slacken.

It was just...so intoxicating...

...Wait, this was...

...No. No!

The dazed look on Gage's face disappeared as he managed to shake himself out of his stupor. Now wasn't the time to be losing himself in her fucking scent of all things!

Struggle - 63
Naedra's growing smile faded at Gage's return from the brink. Growling in annoyance, she pushed her wings out, shoving Gage's arms away before he could put her back in his hold. Now free from Gage's crushing grip, she quickly leaped away to avoid being put right back in it. She turned once more to face Gage, an irritated look on her face as she massaged one of her wings. "You know, it's been some time since I've met someone as..." Her eyes narrowed. "...Openly defiant as you." She gave a low chuckle as her eyes darted toward Toushiko's room. "Certainly more so than that girl," she remarked, her gaze settling back toward Gage. "How far would you go for her, I wonder...?"

Naedra: 24 Stamina (Level 1)
Gage: 35 Willpower

What’s that smell? ... The sweet scent, oh, it sings to me. It’s enough to make a man sick.

While he was more than pleased with his physical gymnastics he performed to keep Naedra in check, he caught the smallest whiff of something... Something to make him drop his guard and forget his troubles in the waves of lavender and pheromone that swept by him on a silver mist. His senses were slowly but surely ceasing to exist...

With a shake of his head, he tore himself away from the scent of his undoing but all too late as the succubus forcefully unfurled her wings and broke Gage’s grip. Maybe those wings would be his next area of focus... It could only be described as a feeling of ‘losing time’ when he laid eyes upon Naedra once more. One second she broke his grip, the next, she was across the room and speaking to him. Regardless of how surreal this all felt, he had to keep up his snarky rebuttals.

“Defiance is my middle name, Naedra.”

However, when she gestured towards Toushiko, the grappler’s cocksure demeanor faded from his face and he furrowed his brow in a rage.

“I’d go anywhere, you see. But listen closely, lady... You so much as breathe in her direction? I’ll fucking cave your pretty head in.”

This was quite unlike him to speak this way— to anybody— but seeing his new found friend and partner writhing like that and knowing that his failure meant both of their demises sent him into a mental tailspin, eroding his composure. With that imagery in mind, Gage went over towards his sledgehammer to go and pick his trusty weapon up once more.

[Retrieve Sledge]

Naedra's lips curled up into a mischievous smile at Gage's angry retort. "Oh? Is that so?" She snickered. "I'll keep that in mind..."

The hell she was. Gage had no intention of letting Naedra get away without some kind of major hammer-induced brain injury. To that end, he ran forward to retrieve the sledgehammer he'd smacked her around with. It was lying on the ground between the two of them, but he was closer. With any luck, he'd be able to pick it up and do some serious damage again before Naedra could do anything to stop him.

Come To Me - 78
That was when the scent of lavender hit him again.

He looked up and saw Naedra's other wing, the one she wasn't massaging, slowly fanning in his direction. It only took him a second to connect the dots and realize that she was sending her pheromone at him again, but that second was enough. He'd already begun breathing it in, and once he'd taken in one breath, he couldn't help but take another...and another...and another...until his run had slowed to a stop, and his sledgehammer was momentarily forgotten.

Even after only being exposed to it twice, Naedra's flowery scent was already worming its way into his mind, filling his head with a dizzying sweetness that melted his bones into jelly. There was an angry voice in his head telling him that this was wrong, that she was doing something to him, but he couldn't find it in himself to care when the very air he breathed felt so good.

Out of his sight, Naedra's slender tail snaked forward along the ground as her wing kept fanning her scent forward. It wrapped itself around the sledgehammer's handle, and dragged the weapon away from Gage's dazed form. Her tail brought the hammer in front of her face, and she regarded the weapon with disgust before lazily tossing it behind her. She had no more time to waste with such things; it was time to take care of this human while he was still dazed from her musk.

Crash!

Of course, the hammer sailed right into Toushiko's belongings.

Naedra could only stare in disbelief as Gage was instantly jolted back to wakefulness by the noise. She slowly looked back between him and her tail, which hung frozen in the air where it had thrown the hammer.

Well, of course. It wasn't going to be that easy.

Naedra: 24 Stamina (Level 1)
Gage: 34 Willpower + Charmed

As Gage took his steps forward to retrieve his sledge, he couldn’t help but get that familiar, mind-numbing scent wafting through the air again. Much to the same effect of ‘losing time’, at one moment he had picked up his sledge and in the next he had lost it and heard it clang off somewhere... far away from here, anyways.

I’m that time, he could only stand with his feet rooted into the ground as Naedra pulsed that heavenly scent into his face. He could only do what was natural and that was breathe it in like the life-giving necessity it was. Gage then couldn’t help but take a step forward toward the vixen and sudden captor of his heart. Then another. And another. It wasn’t until he was right in front of her, adorned with a lovesick look, that he had stopped.

“You’re... perfect...”

Instincts took over as Gage gingerly put his hand on her forearm, looking as if he meant to guide it to his body as he slowly leaned in to seemingly go in for a kiss.

Suddenly, the grip on that forearm tightened like a vice and Gage’s eyes shot open as he cracked the facade with a grin. Leaning backwards to then lurch forward, Gage extended his arm, preparing to fling it right into the base of Naedra’s neck with as much force as he could muster.

[Guillotine Clothesline]

As Gage dazedly walked toward Naedra, her eyes narrowed in suspicion for only a moment before her expression softened into a smug smile. His staggering steps, his slack-jawed look...all she had to do was reel him in, and he'd be hers. She held out her arms and wings, inviting the wrestler into her damning embrace.

Soon, he was standing right before her. As he slowly reached for her arm and uttered his admiration for her, she leisurely planted her other arm over his shoulder, resting her hand on the back of his neck. Even without her magic, her eyes were still bewitchingly beautiful as she looked down into Gage's own.

She gave a quiet giggle. "Yes...I am." She leaned in closer, her warm breath resting on Gage's skin as she softly spoke. "And you, little Gage...have insulted me."

And in an instant, her soft lips were fastened on his.

Guillotine Clothesline - 65
A Taste of Lust - 84

She'd known. Of course she'd known.

Naedra didn't need her powers to know that Gage was trying to trick her. He wouldn't have fallen to one dose of her sweet scent, especially after shaking off its effects so easily before.

Her lips, on the other hand...

She held tight to the back of his head as she kissed him, the forcefulness of her hand a stark contrast to the gentleness of her lips. She draped her wings over his back, bringing him in closer to her soft body.

For such a dangerous succubus, Naedra's kiss was surprisingly tender. The sweet taste of her lips caused Gage's mind to grind to a halt, and he felt her influence inside his subconscious surge forward at the opportunity. His grip on her arm slowly loosened, whatever he'd been intending to do with it momentarily forgotten. As he did so, he felt her velvet-gloved hand slowly let go of his head, returning to its gentle rest on the back of his neck.

After toying with him using her words and mind tricks for so long, being able to finally feel her lips on his was...gratifying. Was this what awaited him, when he gave in? This sweet, gentle peace?

Maybe it was something better...or much, much, worse.

Naedra: 24 Stamina (Level 2)
Gage: 32 Willpower

As Gage felt his hand lock on with this dreamweaving mistress before him, he couldn’t help but feel like things were going to smoothly. He’d made a sizable effort to put a hurting on Naedra and succeeded and now the vixen was falling for his acting job! Yeah, things were going quite smooth—

Smooth...

That’s right... Naedra’s skin was so smooth and soft. It had a mesmerizing glow about it that took him in and encircled him with a thorny but brain-annihilating embrace which seemed to match each sensation that her every characteristic made him feel. He heard each syllable Naedra spoke unto his mind as a syrupy, numbing sensation washing over him. That’s when it all came down on him like a ton of bricks in the form of a pair of lips pressing onto his own slightly agape mouth.

Then he felt her... glove? Wings? What were they, these things that pulled him in so tight to his mistress? It hardly mattered even a little bit, all Gage could focus on was kissing back and indulging in the taste of a true succubus. All of a sudden, a spark flared in the back of his mind that ignited into a burst of will, forcing himself to part with the honeyed trap that was Naedra’s embrace.

With a look of panic setting in, Gage made a conscious effort to replace it with a smirk and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Y’know, I’m sorry to say it but— I kinda prefer insulting you. Seems like I’m less likely to bite it that way!”

Gage didn’t dare to lock on with his eyes to the sledgehammer that lay on the ground to his right and give away his intentions. But he did happen to catch its general shape out of the peripheral of his vision. Circling the succubus with a renewed air of caution, the wrestler knew it was best to get as close as possible as naturally as possible. Then with a diving grab, Gage went to pick up his trusted weapon so that he could go back on the offensive. Scratch that, the defensive. With his sledge in his hands, he was more so expecting to have to block some sort of advancement with the handle.

[Pick up sledgehammer]

[Just bumping this so it’s not getting lost—]

(Don't worry, I haven't forgotten. Just give me a few more weeks.)

[Nooo, you’re fine! People are just cranking out hella roleplays, moreso for convenience—]

Slowly, Naedra broke the kiss with a satisfied sigh. "See? Doesn't that just feel so good?" She giggled at the sight of Gage's dazed expression. "Oh, I know it does, darling." Her eyes glinted with hunger as she licked her lips. "Now, allow me to show you something even better..." She leaned in closer, and her mouth started giving off a faint violet glow.

Lovely Appetizer - 19
The sight snapped Gage out of his stupor. Whatever she was planning to do, it was bad. Jerking his head away, he threw out his left arm behind him and struck her wing—the same one that he'd damaged earlier.

Naedra hissed, and her grip on him slackened. With that, he shoved her away and jumped back to get some distance between them. As the succubus stared daggers at him, he slowly circled her until he was in a good position to retrieve his trusty hammer. He stared right back at her (looking away from her eyes, of course), waiting for a good time to dive for the weapon.

There! He only had to wait a few moments before she started to move her hand upward, no doubt readying for another attack. Before she could react, he dived forward, grabbing the hammer with both hands and holding it up in a blocking stance to thwart whatever she'd been about to do.

It only took a moment for him to realize that an attack wasn't coming. Instead, when he looked up at Naedra, she was holding her hand over her damaged wing, apparently having come to the same conclusion Gage had—that now was the time to repair and rearm.

A violet glow emanated from her hand as she slowly ran it back and forth over her wing. As Gage stood back up, the glow faded, and she experimentally furled her newly-healed wing a few times before looking back at Gage. Her eyes settled on the sledgehammer, once again in his hands, and her expression darkened. "How brutish," she muttered. "Must you always be brandishing such a thing, breaking everything you see?" She gave a disappointed sigh before her frown faded back to a small smile. "But, not to worry. I'll be sure to thoroughly recondition that barbarism out of the both of you once we're done here, little Gage."

Naedra: 24 Stamina (Level 2)
Gage: 32 Willpower + Armed

A kiss like no other... That’s all his mind could focus on, the sensation of closeness and her plush lips pacifying him with an otherworldly expertise. Why would anyone fight this feeling? Fight this amazing sensation from this enchanting woman?

Then, Gage felt the presence of Toushiko behind him and remembered why. Why there was still a battle to fight. Both of their lives depended on it. No way was he going to let this succubus take him down! With a grunt and a hand violently clenching on the gimp part of Naedra’s wing, he twisted himself free from the iron maiden he had been cloistered into.

After his circling and keeping his eyes focused on her feet, he found an opening to lunge for his trusty weapon and turn back towards the temptress and brandished it expertly. But... the retaliation never came. Of course, a creature so vain would focus on repairing the cracks in the alabaster visage. However, Gage knew that this creature of the night before him was so much more than just some pretty thing. She was a steel trap waiting to snap down on him.

“The only thing I’m looking to break here is you. Otherwise, I’ll never get my deposit back!”

With time not on his side, the wrestler charged head on towards his opponent before he launched up into the air above Naedra. With a violent thrust that made the air swirl about his sledge, Gage aimed to drive the weapon into Naedra’s head so as to continue dealing his damage to the dreamweaver. There were no reservations behind the force he used to attack this time.

[Concussive Force]