Match 21372 Mercury vs. Arakune

[JohnnyChany]

 

In the worlds beyond comprehension, an ancient, malevolent force seeped into reality. It came not as a conquering army or a raging tempest, but as a creeping, insidious fog. This was seithr, a miasma of pure, arcane energy, a force that fueled the greatest of horrors and birthed eldritch nightmares. It had once been contained to one universe but now it was seeping into others.

Earth-616, once isolated from such chaos, was no longer untouched. Seithr pooled in forgotten places, deep underground, and in caves where only the mad dared venture. Cults formed quickly, worshipping the darkness, building shrines, and forging temples adorned with symbols unknown to even the most learned mystics of Kamar-Taj. At the heart of these temples, great cauldrons churned with the sickly green mist, giving the cultists access to a power that did not belong to them. And beyond the cauldrons lay the Boundary, a realm of madness where few could tread and return whole.

The X-Men could not ignore this growing corruption, yet there was still so much unknown and any full-scale attack would be seen as reckless and would ignore the many lessons history had taught them about flying in blind.

It was decided that a select team from the New X-Men would be chosen for a mission of reconnaissance, not combat. Covert, nimble, and resilient, Mercury, Dust, X-23, and Pixie made their way through the mist-laden mountain paths, heading toward one such temple embedded deep within a cave. The rocky terrain, slick with moisture and coated with an unnatural darkness, made their approach slow, but each of them had been chosen for a reason.

Mercury, her silvery, liquid-like form gleaming faintly in the low light, slithered across the rocks with ease. 

"So, let’s get this straight—we sneak in, we look around, and then we get out?" 

Her voice carried a note of doubt.

"That is the mission," Dust replied. The young mutant, wrapped in her traditional garb, manipulated sand around her fingertips. "We are not here to fight. There is still so much to understand about this seithr before we act."

Pixie fluttered beside them and adjusted her grip on her soul dagger. "That’s why we were chosen. We’re the ones who can get in unnoticed. If we get caught, well…" She offered a half-hearted smile. "We just don’t get caught."

"Seems obvious it’s bad news, and we need to turn the faucet off before it spreads," X-23 muttered.

The temple loomed ahead, carved into the rock, its entrance guarded by stone pillars etched with eerie, shifting glyphs. The air was thick with seithr, and even those without mystical awareness felt its effect.

Inside, the temple was alive with movement. Monks whispered incantations and concentrated collections of seithr bubbled and pulsed. At the center of it all stood a figure, one that immediately commanded authority. He wore a long, flowing yellow coat, his green hair wild and untamed, and his grin stretched unnaturally wide. He was unfamiliar to the young heroes but seemed destined to be a threat unlike anything the new X-Men had come across before. His name was Yuuki Terumi.

The monks deferred to him, their heads bowed, their hands outstretched as if receiving divine wisdom. Terumi suddenly stopped mid-sentence in instructing them, his smirk widened. His head cocked to the side.

 "Well, well… what do we have here?" he purred.

He turned his gaze directly toward their elevated hiding place.

"Crap," Mercury hissed.

With a flick of his wrist, Terumi issued a command. "Bring them to me."

The temple erupted into chaos. The monks, no longer solemn figures, became something else entirely, lunging, shrieking, feeding off the seithr as they moved with inhuman speed. X-23 was the first to react, her claws flashed as she leapt into the fray. Dust whirled into a living storm and swept enemies aside. Pixie vanished in a burst of pink energy. She teleported across the room to create an opening.

Cessily Kincaid, Mercury, focused on the way the monks absorbed the seithr. How they grew stronger from it. 

“Laura had the right idea, I’m shutting off their faucet,” she declared.

With a determined scowl, she followed the flow of seithr to the cauldron located at the base of the temple. A problem immediately became clear.The cauldron was designed like a massive swimming pool of seithr framed out by large pillars. Cessily quickly decided she needed to cave in the cauldron to stop its flow. She formed a spear out of her liquid form and attacked the pillars.

From the nearby shadows, a horrifying creature emerged to prevent her success. Arakune, the former scientist, now a mass of shifting black tendrils and grotesque, disjointed limbs. Its body was a rolling mess of insectoid shapes and gaping maws

"Sei…thr!. Need mo…. se..thr!"

The creature could not even speak in complete sentences or words, but the high pitched and unhinged nature of his voice conveyed all the desperation and malice necessary for Mercury to understand his objective.

Arakune lunged at Mercury and began his attack. His amorphous body twisted and stretched in all manner of unnatural ways He was a frightening sight to beyond, but Cessily stood poised ready to take his challenge head on.

[Callisto]

Learn More About
Mercury
Read more about Mercury at Wikipedia
Official Site: Marvel Comics Links: Wikipedia Marvel Wiki Comicvine

Arakune
Read more about Arakune at Wikipedia
Official Site: Arcsystems Links: Wikipedia Blazblue Wiki Giantbomb

[JohnnyChany]

A couple of helpful videos about the combatants on the last day.

The Origin of Mercury

Arakune Combo Vidoe

[DSkillz]

Another good set-up, Johnny, and good way to blend Marvel into another fighting game world. 

As for the match, after looking both characters up, it appears that Arakune won't really be able to do much to harm Mercury's metallic form. At the very least, Mercury should likely be able to reach the seithr cauldron. 

[Callisto]

Match Final Results

Member Ratings:
4.60 - DSkillz
5.00 - Yazmal
5.00 - Boratz

FPA Calculation:
3 Total Votes cast
14.60 Total Combined Score
14.60 / 3 = 4.87 Final Rating on the match

MATCH SCORE
Mercury (Marvel Comics): 2
Arakune: 2