Digi Opening Post 1
Digi Writeup
Characters:
Low Herald - Raven
High Meta - Mimic (Exiles)
Amalgam Name: Gothic Metal
My Prep
We have 3 seconds in a featureless environment, so there's not much to be done, even at my super speeds. I'm going to be teleporting as soon as the fight starts anyway, so all I'm going to do is get a nice globe of Raven's darkness around me to further obscure anything I do (she's cloaked entire teams in this before). I also go into Mimic's metal form.
Leo's Prep
I don't think Leo is forgetful enough to do this, but if he IS, then it's a gigantic advantage for me. So I have to say something:
Nico Minoru's power is derived from The Staff of One, which is literally housed within her body. But she can't just take it and use it whenever she wants. She has to bleed first, and recite a brief incantation:
http://i.imgur.com/MPiiRPW.jpg
...
http://i.imgur.com/mmzzCUi.jpg
If she doesn't do this....no staff, no powers, nothing. She's just a human girl.
So. If Leo doesn't do this in his prep, he's starting the fight half-cocked. And, given my speed, likely finishing it half-cocked as well. Because, make no mistake, I'll be attacking so swiftly that he won't have a chance to do this while we're fighting.
Opening Thrusts
I have a plan of attack, but I'd rather not begin with it. I have reasons for this that I'll get into as my strategy unfolds. For the moment, I'd rather focus on some of the battle's elements that are going to allow me to win.
Speed Kills (and Slow Dies)
Nova has a couple good speed feats. Leo will undoubtedly post them. But all of his best speed feats are travel feats; NOT battle feats or reaction feats. Straight line, nothing fancy, no changes in direction.
But me? I've got half of Northstar in me. For all intents and purposes, I'm an untouchable blur to him.
http://i.imgur.com/zf5gZU4.jpg
Allow me to paint the picture. Here's Nova:
http://i.imgur.com/34FRXAQ.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/6vms09n.jpg
That was Mach 4. That's what happens to Nova at Mach Freaking 4. But me? I'm half the speed of light, with reactions to match (Mach 440,495 for those who enjoy the numbers)
http://i.imgur.com/JPOuY28.jpg
I punk speedsters the way speedsters punk normal heroes.
Now let's pile on. Here's Raven utilizing some battle teleportation:
http://i.imgur.com/bWIzYYS.jpg
Now imagine that battle teleportation at Northstar speed. I can teleport in, phase my claws into his brain, and teleport out before he forms a coherent thought.
I have more examples. But that's the thrust of it (pun intended).
Great Minds (destroy lesser minds)
For the record, I campaigned against both the light speed as the speed cap and mindrape. But once allowed, I'm going to utilize what's available to me.
Nova has psi-shields. Leo's going to need to produce the scans, but I'm not saying I just override them.
No, I'm saying I bypass them. 😈
See, Raven has some telepathic skill, but she's not really a godly telepath. But she IS comic's preeminent empath.
Devouring Emotions: http://i.imgur.com/iJ2JZvO.jpg
Reading Hearts, not Minds: http://i.imgur.com/QHaToaU.jpg
Unleashing: http://i.imgur.com/FChPOLX.jpg
Leo's naturally going to contest this, just as naturally as I have more scans to show later. But regardless of how the judges swing on this issue, I have other plans to help me in this regard.
Suffice it to say, I think I can destroy his emotions and make him my puppet. But even if I can't do that immediately, at any point I get through his psi-shields, this is my first tactic. And, ultimately, it will be my only necessary tactic at that point, because it will win the fight.
The Wannabe Goth
When you're researching an opponent, you're looking for some bad feats. Maybe, if you're lucky, a lesser-known weakness. Etc. etc. But Nico Minoru is a goldmine. Leo has a brass set - I'll give him that - but lord did he handicap himself with this pick. I almost don't know where to begin. So let's just dive in.
Weakness #1: Blood
I won't dwell on this, because it's mentioned in the prep section (see above for the scans). However, it's going to be an issue even during the fight, because of...
Weakness #2: Two Spells?!
That's right, kids, Nico gets - wait for it - TWO SPELLS before her body reabsorbs the Staff of One and she has to do the blood + incantation thing all over again. Imagine having to do that during our fight. This is...this is a death sentence for literally anything Leo wants to do with her.
http://i.imgur.com/VfXKBy1.jpg
Weakness #3: Even the same types of spells can only be used once
Leo isn't going to hide from one particular limitation of her power, and that's that she can't cast the exact same spell twice. When she does, things like this happen:
http://i.imgur.com/KM3Rj3h.jpg
But what he's not going to tell you is that even the same genre of spell can go haywire:
http://i.imgur.com/yG0ErEq.jpg
So here, she casts a similar spell (anti-bug) but without the same word(s). And it still goes wrong.
I'm imagining he may want to try some spells more than once. Judges, hold him accountable.
Weakness #4: Powerful spells necessitate a recharge
Yeah, if the two spell limit wasn't enough, she can expend the staff's energy in just one spell:
http://i.imgur.com/m9e8bSY.jpg
Weakness #5: The spells don't always work as intended
Even when she's casting a unique spell for the first time, there's a non-trivial chance it works in an unintended way:
http://i.imgur.com/IM9rLrL.jpg
Weakness #6: Emotional Mess
I'm not posting a scan here, because there's probably 100 I could post. Nico's an emotional mess. That's like a primary theme of her entire character. So what do you think happens when comics' best emotional manipulator gets a hold of her psyche? I actually really don't want to wade through the mess that is the angst-ridden BS of Nico, but I will as needed throughout the fight.
Weakness #7: The staff can be taken and used by others
I've got half a dozen instances of others using the staff, and probably a dozen where it's taken from her with no ill effect. Here's one:
http://i.imgur.com/uXwmZSx.jpg
So what happens when I blitz her with my speedster reactions, phase her staff out of her grip, and use it for my own? Btw, my first spell once it's mine is "Telepathic Defenses Down." Because, let's say the judges buy that psi-shields can block empathic attacks (they can't)...I want to leave nothing to chance. Then I'm going to teleport it to the other side of the planet (easily accomplished for Raven, who has teleported entire teams vast distances), so it doesn't inadvertently get absorbed back into her body once I use it a 2nd time.
😊
....
And in case you think this is a lot of one-off BS, I have multiple instances that support each one of these points.
Leo's writeup is going to comically opposed to this depiction of Nico. He's going to want you to believe that she can effortlessly cast spells, both ones that she's already cast and ones he just makes up on the fly. This is a lie. The girl is out of her league, and there's only one true Goth b*tch that's going to stomp her way through this fight.
The Plan
1 - If he made himself bleed in prep, the first order of business is going to be to get her to expend two spells, the attack in full once it's reabsorbed. If Leo manages to summon the staff again, I'll take it from him and remove it from the fight after using it once (as stated above).
1a - If he didn't make himself bleed, I attack immediately with a Northstar-speed teleportation/phasing blitz. He has no defense, and will be in slow motion to me.
2 - Between my stabbing, formidable TK (more on that in subsequent posts), empathic abilities, and physical superiority (yes, there's that too, when you factor in my healing, TK, and Mimic's raw offensive output), he won't last long. The spells will be impotent, and he may not even get to cast any (and 2 at most).
3 - I'll have a surprise or two, and obviously couldn't post everything I wanted to here (and unlike Leo, my writeups are actually one post 😛 ). More to come...
The Coming Storm
In the interests of time, I've cut a lot. But, among the highlights that I'll be focusing on in later posts:
- More depressingly bad showings from the Minoru girl and her staff.
- More on Mimic's skills, speed, and ridiculous healing ability.
- More of Raven in general, who I downplayed in the writeup here in order to point out Leo's flaws first. She's a beast and a half, and I haven't even begun to unleash her.
- More limitations from Nova, who won't be able to lay a finger on me, and is outmatched even if he could because I amalgamated better than he did with the high risk, low reward Minoru.