Shard vs Locke

[Squee]

This is only one part of the labyrinth that is set before the two foes. It's dark, dank, and a place preferably left alone after dark. The grounds are slightly slick after the drizzle that has taken place, and the stench of all things rotting lingers as a heavy undercoat int he air and the many sounds of small scavenging critters is but a soft, annoying noise in the air. There are lights about, but most are dim or broken.

I hope these two have fun wandering the many dark corners of the labyrinth. A dead end would be hazardous, would it not?

And keep an eye out for the Minotaur for me, would ya? =3 /joke.

Now, I dunno know the full names, so, I'm using the names given in the Practice Duel thread. ;3

Shard vs Locke
DJ vs Jedi Thing (Investigator)
Four Rounds

Either one of you begin. =3

[Rugs]

Come on Locke, run! RUN! Such were he terrified thoughts of a very terrified Locke Nemsee, who now found himself in a very unpleasant situation. Run, run... turn... Dammit!! Locke suddenly tripped over... something- it was too dark for him to see clearly- and was sent tripping over himself. The ground was slick, and despite his best efforts, he was sent to the ground in a most ungraceful manner. He felt the sleeves of his robes pushed up and some of the skin on his forearm scraped off as he slid along the concrete, but he didn't care. Almost instantly, he was back on his feet, running, but to where, he had no clue. Who would make such a confusing place anyway?! And with no lights!! That's not making my life any easier...

Not that his life was "easy" at the moment. Locke was stuck, running for his life in some God-forsaken maze from a man that would be his death if the two met. You see, this whole affair started a few hours earlier. Locke had been looking into local gang activity, as was his job as an Investigator. Everything had been going smoothly, until he showed up; a Dark Jedi, and Miraluka if Locke had to guess from the dark glasses he wore, but he wasn't one hundred percent sure on that. There wasn't any certainty in Locke's mind as to whether the man had been involved with the activity he was looking into, or if it was merely a coincidence-a very unfortunate coincidence. Whatever the reason for the meeting, Locke could tell right off the bat that the man was way out of his league. So what did he do? Well, some of the more noble Jedi in the Order would have stood their ground, and more than likely died. But Locke was more about practicality than noble intentions, and he could hardly do any good to anyone dead, so he ran for his life. He had no regrets about it either; he'd much rather live to have someone else face the Dark Jedi than him-someone that wouldn't die.

And so here he found himself running through some maze that someone decided would be a marvelous idea to construct, and a very poorly lit one at that. He had long ago given up trying to use Force Concealment; it was a power he knew and was quite fond of, but at the moment almost all of his concentration was focused on trying to keep his nerves in check so he didn't do something stupid and give himself away. Like light his lighstaber to light up his path. Ha, No Eyes wouldn't have any trouble finding me like that, would he? Locke thought morbidly as he rounded another corner. No Eyes was the name he had given to the Dark Jedi, since he had nothing else to call him.

Countless times he had run into dead ends and looped around to continues trying to find his way out of the sprawling labyrinth. But he had had no such luck yet. Still, on he ran, foolishly holding out hop that the exit would appear before him and all would be well. It would, eventually, all it would take would be some luck. Right? He hasn't seen me yet, Locke thought hopefully. Or, at least, I haven't seen him... It was hard to see in the dark, and suddenly the thought came to Locke that maybe No Eyes had seen him. What if he's toying with me?

Locke shook his head to clear his thoughts as he ran, and almost tripped again because of it. There is no emotion, there is peace, he recalled to himself. There is no ignorance there is- yeah, screw that. The Jedi Code wasn't offering too much comfort to him at the moment, especially when he knew that his end could be one wrong turn away.

And, as if the Force itself was angry at him, he took such a turn. Another damn dead end, he thought in frustration, his breath coming out heavily. He had almost run into the wall, but there was a dull mockery of light that was emanating from an old light near the top of it. Locke looked around warily. No Eyes was closer than he had been; he could feel him now. A wave of fear rolled over Locke like the waters pushed out ahead of the great storms coastal areas experienced on some planets. There's no time to waste. If he's there, I'll just have to deal with him. The thought was strange to Locke-it was oddly resolute considering the amount of time he had spent running from No Eyes. He shrugged. It is what it is. And off he went, continuing his desperate search for an escape from the labyrinth. And from his unseen foe.

[Karl the Unfettered]

((OOC: I fully expect to fail the fairness part of the scoring, given the match-up.))

"Run, little man," echoed suddenly through Locke's mind, an utterly alien thought from a foreign mind. There was no way of telling what, or who, or even where it came from; it simply popped in there fully intact, a snidely ironic little voice mocking him in his distress. The source of the voice was some distance away, though out of sight naturally.

It lay with a well-dressed fellow in dark glasses, the elusive No-Eyes of Locke's imagining. His expensive clothes were wet, but that was no matter; he could easily afford new ones. A sword and an automatic pistol rode at his hip, right alongside a pair of lightsabers; the armor plating had that curious feel to it that only cortosis-laced metal could provide. The wearer of all this finery was ambling serenely along, untroubled by the darkness and the confusion inherent in mazes; not a hair was out of place on his head as he kept the unfortunate Jedi within his awareness.

He had a strange name, but in everyday conversation he went by Shard; like Locke, the encounter had been a coincidence, random chance. "But there's no such thing as chance," he said to himself, not bothering to hide a luxuriant chuckle. He had been looking for a fellow, recommended by another fellow who had so far proven marginally trustworthy, as a good source of stuff useful; of course he hadn't gotten anywhere near finding the fellow before the Jedi had attracted his attention.

On a whim Shard had followed the panicked Locke, and now he stalked him through this convenient maze. "Time to step up," he muttered, rolling up his sleeves. "Locke Nemsee!" the Miraluka roared out loud, his voice echoing crazily. "Give up thy scurryings and thy mewlings! Death hast come for thee!" This was followed by crazily echoing laughter, and a monstrous rancor loomed out of the darkness toward Locke! "DEEEAAATH FORRRRR YOOUUUUU!!" the rancor screamed, a gleaming poisonous claw hurtling for his chest...

Suddenly it disappeared! "Missed me," came a relatively normal voice from behind Locke, belonging to Shard himself. "No! Missed me," countered a second voice, belonging to another Shard walking up from the Jedi's left. "Shut up! You're just a simulacrum!" snarled the first Shard, brandishing a long yellow lightsaber. "And you're only an illusion!" the second one replied just as heatedly, as he drew his elaborate rapier. Then they both shouted "Get the Jedi!" and turned on Locke, one swinging for his head and the other his legs.

Micrometers before impact these, too, disappeared, and blinding white light erupted before Locke's eyes for several seconds. "Poor lost baby Jedi, did he lose his precious lightsaber?" came a mocking voice from beyond the light; were he to check, he would notice that, indeed, his weapon was gone! "Stupid little baby Jedi, leaving home without his fancy glowrod..."

Then the light faded, and the missing blade reappeared where it had been. "Jedi Locke, do you trust your senses?" a voice issued from behind him, as all perception of the Force slid away from Locke's awareness like sand through a sieve. "Do you believe the evidence of your eyes?" The shadows parted, and Shard, the real Shard, stepped into view at last. "I would advise against such foolishness; without the Force, what are you but a mere man?" Without his perceptions there was no way for Locke to say if this was for real or not; this well-dressed man in black clearly had eyes in his sockets, expressive brown ones that currently conveyed a polite concern.

[Squee]

((First of all, wanted to apologize for the extreme lateness in scoring this. I can't express that enough. I'm stable now, though, in returning to the site. =3 Here you go, guys.))

Round 1

Locke - Rugs
Effort: 4/5
Fairness: 5/5
Detail: 3/5
Coolness: 3/5
Bonus: 1/2
Comments: Extreme labyrinth indeed. ;3 I had hoped for this affect with the Jedi, and you have given it to me.


Shard - Karl
Effort: 4/5
Fairness: 3/5
Detail: 4/5
Coolness: 4/5
Bonus: --
Comments: ... You know how much Shard made me giggle like a little girl?

Total:
Locke - 16
Shard - 15

[Rugs]

For a time, the only thing Locke could hear as he ran through the darkness of the twisting maze was the sound of his own labored breaths, coming out slow and ragged. He ran, and his feet slid out from under him again as he turned another corner. But he caught himself before he fell to the ground, and kept on. Where are you No Eyes, he thought warily, looking around as he ran. Suddenly, he found himself staring at another dead end and immediately turned to go the way he had come.

And No Eyes was suddenly in his head.

Locke's flight ground to a halt at the whispered taunt, and he looked about him. No Eyes was no where to be seen. "What was that? Where... I don't see anyone..." Locke took a few deep breaths, and tried to gather himself mentally. He was about to move on when, suddenly, he heard No Eyes screaming from afar. He's playing games with me, he thought, a bit irritably, and decided to keep moving. But then, out of nowhere, a huge rancor came into being in front of him, and swung at him. What's more, the thing was screaming "DEEEAAATH FORRRRR YOOUUUUU!!" at him. A panicked "Wha?!" was all Locke got as he fumbled at his belt for his lightsaber, but before he could get it the thing was gone, once more a part of the shadows it had loomed up out of.

Locke could feel the bottom layer of his robes sticking to him from his cold sweat, and shivered a bit, both from being wet with sweat and from the steady drizzle that had been falling during his attempt at escaping the maze. Locke heard a voice behind him and turned to see No Eyes behind him, and almost went into a panicked seizure. And then, there was another No Eyes, and it dawned on him when the two started arguing. Another illusion... But what if one of them is actually real? The two images of No Eyes suddenly turned their attention to Locke, and rushed him with lightsaber and rapier drawn. Locke tried to back up, knowing that he could only block one hit with his lightsaber if he used it. Fortunately for our young frightened Knight, both were false, and faded away right before their weapons would have hit.

Unfortunately, an almost painfully bright white light filled his vision almost immediately after. There's no way, my lightsaber's gone, Locke thought, and felt blindly at where he always kept the blade, one the left side of his hip behind his blaster pistol. The pistol was there, but the lightsaber? Gone. Locke furrowed his brow, and his vision started to clear. And then the lightsaber was back. Locke scowled, a bit irritated that he continued to fall for No Eyes' illusions, but he would not have much time to think on it before the next trap fell.

The world started to go cold. The Force seemed to slide away from him, and the shock made Locke feel as if he had been punched in the stomach. No Eyes appeared out of the Shadow in front of him, and though Locke could hear his words, he was to focused on what felt like the sudden loss of the Force to respond. "I never n-noticed, how, c-cold the world was," he said softly, and he shivered, as a coldness set into him, chilling him to the core of his being. Locke looked up at No Eyes-no, this man had eyes, and he looked concerned. Maybe he wants to help me, Locke thought. He started to step toward the man, but slowly, timidly. He would have gone on to his fate were it not for some primal instinct arising in the back of his mind, reminding him that whether or not the man with brown eyes was the real No Eyes, he was certainly not a friend. Locke spun, propelled by these instincts and ran for all of three feet before he realized that there was still a wall behind him. No, the only way to get out away from No Eyes would be through him, and that wasn't something Locke wanted to try his luck at.

So, he turned around to face his foe, and forced the fear down as much as he could, though he was still rather uneasy about the way he couldn't feel the Force. "I suppose you're right," he said in response to No Eyes' comment. "What am I but a simple man? But I guess that's the curse of living with the Force as the Jedi do." Locke sighed heavily and looked into the brown eyes of the man before him. Well, there's not much else to do from this position... I might as well get this over with. He put his snidest smirk, and decided to play the best example of Locke the Ass he ever had, and pulled his lightsaber hilt from his belt. "But what about you, No Eyes?" So maybe his act at confidence wasn't all that convincing when his voice was trembling, but he pushed ahead. "What would you be if some Jedi from the Order slapped a Force collar around your neck?" He grinned weakly. "I don't think you'd be in much better shape than me at the moment." With that, he ignited his yellow-orange blade, and actually laughed a bit. "And I'll have you know I never leave home without my fancy glowrod, thank you very much."