Gage vs. Naedra

Gage had no intention of letting Naedra's words come true. Tightly gripping his sledgehammer, he charged forward and leapt into the air toward the succubus. He held his weapon out behind him, readying for a devastating swing that would send her flying right off her feet.

Of course, Naedra saw this coming a mile away, and prepared herself to jump back out of the way. With the initial distance between them and his little quip before he attacked, Gage's movements were so telegraphed, it was anyone's guess how he'd made it this far in his career.

Concussive Force - 18 (Additional damage? - 69 - No) (Level Down? - 78 - Yes)
Well, for starters, it was all intentional.

Gage was no stranger to faking out his opponents. Telegraphing his moves, exaggerating his movements, indulging in the occasional one-liner—normally tricks to make wrestling more exciting for the audience, but Gage also knew how to use them to his advantage in a real fight. Of course, it was a little more difficult against a succubus who had the power to sense his intentions, but as the satisfying thwack of the hammer striking Naedra's face reminded him, it was still quite possible.

It was a simple trick, too—Gage had started his "swing" to get Naedra to dodge backward, then quickly transitioned into a stab, thrusting the hammer straight at her head. The weakness of the movement was more than made up for by his body's momentum, which carried his hammer forward and slammed it into her face hard enough to send her reeling.

Come to Me - 63
Naedra recovered surprisingly fast, however, and Gage only had a split-second to quickly jerk out of the way of her hand before it was able to grab him for another dazing kiss. She slowly withdrew her hand, having closed her fingers around nothing but thin air, and regarded Gage curiously for a moment. For once, she was uncharacteristically silent.

Gage breathed heavily as he considered the fight so far. As of yet, she hadn't done too much to him—though given the stakes at hand, he wasn't about to start relaxing. What worried him, however, was that despite all the punishment he was dishing out to her, Naedra didn't look any worse for wear. Aside from the slight damage to her wing, which was now gone, her breathing was normal, her stance was a little too relaxed, and her expression was merely one of annoyance rather than fear.

Gage grimaced. How long was he going to have to keep this up? He could knock her down easy enough, but what was it going to take to make her stay down?

Naedra: 20 Stamina (Level 1)
Gage: 32 Willpower + Armed

The art of deception and hiding your intentions was a craft that Gage prided himself on, in his wrestling and his street fighting. Street fights were something that the grappler now strayed from as his beginning years were spent in suspension from the circuit due to arriving to matches with bruises and gashes. Wasn’t a good representation of a company that wasn’t some seedy underground fighting ring. And if it wasn’t a proficiency for feints, it was a proficiency for pissing people off that Gage toted.

This all seemed appropriate as the metal of his sledge connected with the face of his dream weaving opponent. The grappler grinned with triumph upon seeing Naedra’s head snap back from the impact, but that all faded when he felt a manicured claw lunge forward to lock him into another mind-rending embrace. Gage practically floated backwards away from Naedra’s grip and left her grasping at the air he had just occupied, and none too soon did he do it. Seeing the succubus stare at her own hand with a curious look only gave him the impression things were about to get even more serious. It only took one slip to turn the tide of this fight...

Gage looked back to Toushiko to briefly check on the status of his friend. She still seemed restless and under attack but there wasn’t a need for a desperation attempt to snatch up the Oni and flee from his home at this time. He had more than enough faith in his own ability.

“Why’re you all quiet?! I never took you for the sore loser type. Makes kicking your shit in a lot less fun!”

Pointing his sledge in Naedra’s direction, the grappler began to shimmy forward in a deceivingly slow pace. As soon as he saw those glowing, entrancing eyes glance up to try and catch his gaze, the grappler made a swift, ducking turn that seemed like a 180 away from his opponent. Only Gage never stopped turning. From his crouched position, the wrestler twisted his hips and exploded upwards in making his 180 become a violent 360 with his sledge striking in an upward diagonal cross. The head of the hammer rocketed towards the side of the succubus with a force that signaled no regard for his opponent.

This tyrant’s reign was going to end here if Gage had the final say.
[Bruising Blow]

Gage was slowly starting to get accustomed to fighting this underhanded succubus. As dangerous as her powers were, there were ultimately ways to work around them, and by this point, Gage had a few ideas of how to do just that—starting with that entrancing gaze of hers. He spun his body around as he sprung into action, completely averting his eyes before she could trap him again with her stare alone. He wasn't going to let her get another peek, if he had anything to say about it!

He channeled the momentum of his spin into his hammer, turning back around toward Naedra as his weapon surged upward in his strongest swing yet!

Bruising Blow - 79
Unfortunately, that strength was all for naught, as his opponent was no longer where he thought she'd been. Instead, in the few moments she'd left his vision, she'd stepped to the side, easily dodging the swing before it came—and drawing much closer to Gage in the process.

"Oh, little Gage...you're starting to disappoint me."

In a blur, her arm shot up and gently yet firmly held Gage's wrist, preventing him from bringing his hammer back down. The soft velvet of her glove combined with the close scent of her lovely perfume made Gage hesitate for a moment.

"You're becoming so predictable." Naedra's lips drew up in a cruel smile. "'Oh, just don't look into her entrancing eyes!', you think. So you avert your gaze." The glow from her eyes intensified. "'Ah, but I musn't look at her gorgeous body, either, so as to not be tempted by it.' So you avert your gaze." She drew even closer to Gage, gently pressing her warm breasts into his chest. "And with that, you are blind to me, completely at my mercy." She giggled. "What next, little Gage? Will you stop breathing, so as to avoid my lovely scent? Will you put your hands over your ears, so as to block out my irresistible voice?"

Come to Me - 58
Entrancing eyes...gorgeous body...lovely scent...irresistible voice... The words rang back and forth in Gage's head, and for some reason, he couldn't completely bring himself to reject the truth in them. The succubus leaning into him was simply beautiful, there was no denying that.

Naedra giggled again. "You seemed so interesting before, but all you can truly do is find unexpected ways to tickle me with that little tool of yours." Her free hand crawled up Gage's shoulder, and she leaned in to whisper in his ear. "In the end...fighting me only hurts you, darling."

Naedra: 20 Stamina (Level 1)
Gage: 31 Willpower + Charmed

This was starting to get dicey— and fast. With just the softest grip, Gage’s hand went numb and the sledgehammer clattered to the floor in record time. He... he missed? It took a moment to process what had happened and in that moment, he felt his opponent pressing up against him and brushing his shoulder with the most corruptive of caresses. It was flipped all around in an instant and the grappler had no idea how to rectify this. The thought of struggling was gone to him at the moment, all there was was the prospect of being enveloped in Naedra’s embrace.

“Y’know, when you came here I thought your mouth would be doing more sucking me dry instead of talking so I guess we’re both a little disappointed, huh?”

In an instant, Gage found what felt like his resolve once more and decided to gamble once again. Swinging his arms around the succubus, he attempted to lock her in his vice-like grip to set up his offense. His arms shot around Naedra’s waist with the hopes of crushing her but who knows how hugging an ancient evil succubus would go. One thing was for certain, the contact and scent was pure bliss that he had to fight tooth and nail to keep from swallowing him up...

[Mighty Grapple]

Naedra amusedly rolled her eyes. "All in good time, darling, all in good time," she said. She smirked, her eyes gleaming with mischief. "Why, are you that eager to give yourself to me? To throw yourself headlong into my grasp?" She held her arms out invitingly, her wings billowing out behind her.

Well...technically, she was half-right. He was going to throw himself at her, just probably not for the reason she hoped.

Mighty Grapple - 72
With all the strength he could muster, Gage tore his arm out of Naedra's grip. Before she could react, he took a step backward and shot forward, ducking his head low to avoid looking into her gaze and running headlong into her breasts. He tightly wrapped his arms around her waist and squeezed, trapping her own arms in his iron grip. If Naedra still thought that this was some kind of game, then fine—he was playing to win!

Close-Range Counter (Suggestible Subconscious) - 54
Unfortunately, Gage being even closer than usual to his demonic opponent did him no favors. With his head ducked down like this to avoid her enchanting gaze, he had no way to avoid breathing in her perfume, no way to avoid the softness of her dress, with the tantalizing warmth of her skin hidden just underneath. His vice-like grip melted into a loving embrace as he subconsciously breathed deep, taking in the wonderful lavender scent of her body. It was only made worse by Naedra herself, who fanned her wings around Gage to surround him further with her mind-melting perfume. Above him, Naedra softly giggled. "Oh, little Gage. I knew you wanted to give yourself to me!"

Naedra: 18 Stamina (Level 1)
Gage: 30 Willpower + Charmed

Feeling his arms curl around the body of the succubus brought forth a feeling in him. Was it triumph, sadistic satisfaction? The feeling of pinning her arms to her sides and feeling the creaking or pressure weighing down... The intoxicating aroma of being so close, the silken fabric she wore against his bare chest. No, it was something else.

It was pleasure, wracking his brain. Gage’s jaw was slackening as Naedra giggled and beat her wings about him. His arms moving to an embrace rather than a grapple. What else was there in this life but this feeling? What more could he want?

Suddenly, his eyes snapped open and something compelled his body to shove off the dreamweaver— which he did as he stumbled backwards. He could feel oblivion in that moment when he was in her hold. No, the only response he could give was shaken but goading.

“Sorry— I play hard to get rather than giving in...”

Gage then gave a come hither motion to the succubus with a wink.

“So come get me!”

The wrestler held his pose and tried to do the same with his general composure while he tried to lure in the Succubus to running into a punishing haymaker that he had primed and ready.

[Bragging Boast and if successful into Clothesline Guillotine, just to keep it rolling]

After a few seconds of nothing but silence hanging in the air, it became clear that Gage’s arrogant challenge was going to go unanswered. Instead of coming in for another attack as he’d hoped, Naedra simply looked him over, her smug smile slowly fading into a faint look of...was that boredom? Here Gage was, fighting tooth-and-nail for his life, and this damned succubus was just getting bored?

As if to insult him further, the vixen in front of him began to leisurely stretch out her arms and wings, letting out a yawn. Upon seeing Gage’s indignant expression, she broke into a giggle, her smirk quickly returning. ”Ah, my darling Gage...” she sighed, her tone far more relaxed than Gage was comfortable with. ”It’s simply adorable to see you trying so hard.” Her eyes glowed for a moment, and Gage was quick to avoid her gaze. “It’s almost as if you really think you can do something.”

Naedra began to walk toward him, her hips swaying back and forth as she went. Her movement was too slow to catch him off-guard, but just fast enough to keep him on edge. ”Now, how would one as predictable as yourself…” The succubus slowed to a stop just outside the range of Gage’s hidden haymaker, her smug smile a clear sign that she knew exactly what she was doing. ”...ever hope to defeat someone like me?”

It was all quiet as his words hung in the air like rising smoke. Then... a yawn? For all the theatrics that Gage prided himself on— that shaped his livelihood and made him worth watching—he couldn’t help but feel the heat in his face begin to rise. Not in a matter of flustering or anything of the sort but of annoyance and rage.

Who the fuck was she? He was the one in control up to this point!

So it seemed.

“Predictable, huh? That’s rich coming from your cookie-cutter Midara’s almanac level succubus.”

Gage took a half step back from the women as she sauntered over and stood just out of his range to try and provoke him in making a move she- apparently- would expect. If he was so predictable, what could be the next best move?

“Given how this has gone so far, I intend on beating you into a stain on my apartment floors— but I’m sure you thought of that already. Do tell— if I’m so predictable and you’re so undefeatable, why do you look like the underworld’s biggest masochist? Make your fuckin’ move, lady.”

With that, Gage took a stance with his hands up to block any incoming strike or attempt to wrap him up. All of this being done with his eyes centered on a spot away from her eyes and away from any other enchanting assets, a blank space where his eyes can still detect her movements.

With his cage thoroughly rattled, Gage could only hope that she wasn’t baiting him in this moment. He had to formulate a counter strategy of his own before she made him pay for his lack of one.