Scene #6689: MECC: Doctor Strange vs Jonathan Joestar

Owner	Pose
Jonathan Joestar	Torches illuminate an ancient structure -- spectators are able to view out into the labrynth of stone from small gaps in the walls and stairways, kept from falling in with wooden rails. The visibility is poor, as darkness enshrouds the innards of the arena, comprised as it was of criss-crossing bridges, stairways, ladders, and one-way slopes. Hieroglyphs and murals litter the walls, immaculately presented despite the cobwebs and thick dust floating in the air. Jonathan steps onto one of the larger bridges, clad in thick beige cloth, knee-high buckled boots, and a white ascot. The giant of a man wielded a spear made of some kind of crystal. "What an astonishing arena I've found myself in ... " It was a shame, however, that it had no historical value. Even so, it was certainly a treat for his scholarly eyes.
Doctor Strange	A rectangular hole in reality opens right before Jonathan's eyes. It's as if someone behind the curtains just opened up a maintenance door or something. Of course, holes are two-way. It opens to reveal a stately, yet, to Jojo's learned eyes, anachronistic manor hallway. Standing in the middle of that hallway, with one hand resting on something just out of view is Doctor Stephen Strange. He's a tall, lean man in a rough-spun navy tunic, with wrapped cloth boots and bracers, and a rich red high-collared cloak. Strange's free hand moves to stroke his goatee, as his emerald eyes briefly study his opponent. "Joestar, right?" He squints curiously. "Jonathan?" The Sorcerer Supreme steps through the portal. It closes behind him as if Al had just explained why he hadn't leaped yet. "I'm Doctor Strange," he begins cordially with a nod of his head. "Sorcerer Supreme, Master of the Mystic Arts, Seneschal of the Paladins..." He's getting a lot of titles, isn't he? Might as well make one up just to round it off at four. "Three-time Buffalo Wild Wings Trivia Night champion..." Strange smacks his lips and takes a look around. His eyes drink in his surroundings, then focus on the spear in Jonathan's hand. He nods. "When in Egypt..." The sorcerer begins moving his hands in elaborate, seemingly martial patterns. It seems like he's just doing a warmup to psych Jonathan out, until-- "STRANGE! Where's the ELO?" A comment from the peanut gallery. "What am I, made of money?" Strange rolls his eyes. Amber energy is traced by the movements of his scarred hands, forming a glowing mandala. With a retreating motion he pulls from the burning sigil a spear of his own, formed of that same energy, and made in the Chinese style with a flexible haft and a tassel near the tip. He holds it out to one side as the mandala disappears, and bows at the waist to Jojo. Once Jonathan's had a chance to compose himself and make his introduction, Strange attacks, with a simple series of low-striking thrusts, aiming to corral his opponent towards one of the dimly lit stairways.
Majima Goro	Majima Goro has procured an intro music made up of actual Egyptian music. "Ladies and Gentlemen! The MECC would like to issue an apology--you paid for full seats, but you'll only be using the edge tonight! Our semi-finalist competition is about to begin! Competitor number one of our mysterious maze of horrors is Jonathan Joestar, Gentleman Of Light! Let's hope he can keep breathig steadily against the majesty of his opponent, the Sorcerer Supreme of Earth, Doctor Strange! It appears that the Doctor's taken the initiative, with a spear of burning light. We're starting this fight off hot, everyone!" Majima is safely in the announcer booth. He's got a tuxedo on, and he's slicked his hair back and everything. Still wearing an eyepatch, but it lacks the snake on his regular one. Apparently, he takes this sort of thing seriously.
Jonathan Joestar	With wide eyes, Jonathan observes everything he can before the portal closes behind the sorceror. "Ah ... it's good to finally meet you face to face, Doctor. Yes, I am Jonathan Joestar." The large englishman chuckles at his foe's sense of humor, nodding along good naturedly. Although he did not know it, there were some similarities to be had between them, men of high social standing who after losing everything had gone and learned ancient wisdom, arcane art, and martial prowess to stop the heart. Twirling his spear and spreading his legs to better his footing, Jonathan raises his voice to a boom. "I'll be your opponent, now, begin!" Jonathan foresees Strange's tactic of forcing him back and, in an incredibly bold and rash maneuver, disregards defense entirely to close the gap and bring his grip on his spear's haft to wield it close to the cross guard in a quick thrust. The polearm was shaped similarly to a winged spear, with the blade long and almost pike-like and the wings elongated to suit. The whole weapon appeared to be formed of a sturdy blue-green crystal that didn't quite match any known minerals on 'normal' earths, its haft wrapped in thick blue leather. "Such an interesting spear you have, Doctor!"
Doctor Strange	Strange is so focused on herding Jonathan that he doesn't realize the towering Englishman doesn't much care about the risk of a few pokes from a spear. He winds up for a dramatic lateral slash, twirling the weapon behind his back and spinning in place to try and deliver. Jonathan's no-frills thrust pierces the back of Strange's hand as it comes around, knocking the weapon loose and scattering it into motes that quickly fade like embers. He cries out, yanks his hand loose, and retreats with a nimble backflip. With a few rapid hand gestures that resemble a serries of rolling blocks, Strange's wound closes up--but only enough to stop the bleeding. The Cloak of Levitation flares out before his feet touch the ground, and Strange hovers a foot or so above ground while he prepares another spell. Some of the embers from the dissipated spear fly to his magical tracings like moths to flame, only now, there are two mandalas hovering before his hands, each one like some kind of magical target shield. The glyphs which surround them rotate rapidly and lock into place after a two-palmed thrust. Magically conjured daggers cobbled together from the remnants of his spear shoot out of each palm-circle, racing towards Jojo!
Majima Goro	Majima Goro cackles into the microphone. "Unbelievable, isn't it?! Joestar completely ignores the spear attack, rushing right in with his own polearm, completely eliminating Strange's advantage of range! It looks like his counter-attack is lining up to be massively more effective. ...Strange had better have some tricks up his arcane sleeves, I haven't even had a chance to open my drink yet!" In fact, there is an intentionally loud popping of some kind of can of something. "Looks like that spear's hit home, and.. Eh?! Strange's spear disappeared entirely! Is he giving up? No. No, he's got magic daggers, instead. It looks like the doctor's learned to stay very, very far out of Jonathan Joestar's reach, throwing glowing daggers instead of going into melee! That's it, Strange, fight like a wizard!"
Jonathan Joestar	Staring in bewilderment as Strange lifted himself into the air, Jonathan supposed it was far from the oddest thing he'd ever seen. Even so, it had been rather unexpected. " ... Hm?! Ah, more sorcery ... knives! A great number of knives, I'll be skewered?!" Yet, Jonathan persists and guards himself. It's a testament to his skill that he manages to avoid being struck in any of his vital spots, but his silhouette is far too large and ultimately, out in such a flat open space, he was a sitting duck. The gentle giant aims to change this, breaking away from Strange's barrage and nursing numerous gashes along his arms, legs, and face as he makes a great leap from the bridge down to a lower platform, a rotating staircase. "Your mystical might is impressive, but even from this range, I can strike true. This crystal structure will conduct my Hamon! Kooooh!" Sucking in a deep breath, his respiration grants him power. Ripple flows throughout his body and emenates in the form of radiant light that supercharges the spear in his hand, causing it to glow a burning myriad of colors. "Burn black!" With that cry, Jonathan thrusts his spear upwards, a ray of energy aiming to blast the Sorcerer Supreme straight out of the air!
Doctor Strange	Strange's brow furrows as Jonathan... explains exactly what he's going to do. Well. He frowns archly and nods. "Okay," he calls back down to Jojo from his vantage point above. This shouldn't be hard to deal with. The sorcerer makes a striking posture and punches the air with his right hand. The air... shatters. Shards of broken space slowly float before him. A turn of his wrist widens the break. He'll just let that Hamon right into the Mirror Dimension. That isn't what happens. The barrier shatters, knocking Strange out of the air. The energy forces its way through the mandala before his outstretched hand, setting his sleeve ablaze. His back hits the ground, and he slides backwards down one of the steep inclines, hurriedly patting out the flames as he descends rapidly. No... no, he was fine where he was. There is a stomach-turning lurch in the arena. Strange suddenly begins sliding -up- the incline. Jojo's Rotating Staircase seems as if someone's turned it upside down. Because someone has. Strange has reversed gravity, attempting both to put himself on solid ground, and to deprive his opponent the very same! Pillars jut out 'above' Jonathan, each one Strange's doing, an attempt to batter him on the way 'up.' They seem solid enough to stand on, however... were it not for the field of brightly bursting stars the now-floating Strange is hurling Jonathan's way!
Majima Goro	Majima Goro slams the drink down. "...Eh? Is this the power of Hamon?! Those daggers are cutting him like crazy, but Jonathan Joestar powers on through! He's doing some crazy kinda breathing exercises...and his spear's burning with intensity! I'm sorry I only have one eye to see it with! That beam of light it's firing looks pretty intense, let's see if it hits true!" "...Doctor Strange has opened some kind of weird portal into another dimension, and...it doesn't do a thing! Strange is knocked out of the air like a clay pigeon! Aiyah! Someone get a prescription for the doctor!" "It looks like Strange has decided to turn this battle Roundabout, though, and the entire arena is shifting around. Is that legal? Who cares, it's fun to watch! Let's see how the Hamon Master handles having his world turned upside down and flung up into those stars and pillars everywhere!"
Jonathan Joestar	Smiling to himself as his ray of ripple manages to pierce the Doctor's defenses, Jonathan's joy is short lived as his foe turns everything topsy turvy. "What on earth .... ?! Everything's turned upside down, somehow!" he exclaims. He falls onto one of the pillars, stabbing his spear into it to keep himself from bouncing off and into the abyss, or more likely, another rock hard cylinder. Without a break, he's immediately forced on the defensive, momentarily abandoning his weapon to begin deflecting the magical missiles with his bare hands! Coated as they are in his ripple, the energy thick and blooming around his body, they aren't blown off by his display of martial arts. They are however, scorched, and his upper body is largely left exposed after even a couple of the projectiles got past his guard, torn skin and angry red marks denoting where he'd been hit. But by the moment, his wounds seemed to become more and more palid. By circulating his ripple throughout his bodies, it not only was toughening him, but restoring him as well. "Koooooh...." Waves of air emenate from his feet in sets of four as he moves to yank his spear from the earth. Blue eyes roam before lighting up with a spark of realization. "That was a clever move, Doctor, allow me a rebuttal!" The large man displays his agility once more as he leaps and bounds from pillar to pillar, getting closer to the wall adjacent to Strange before delivering a palm strike to it. "Sendo Hamon -- OVERDRIVE!" he shouts, sparks of golden lightning and a bright orange hue to his side being the Sorcerer's only warning before a wave of sheer force attacks him, obliterating a chunk of the wall he was standing beside as it erupts in a un-natural, spiraling whirlwind.
Doctor Strange	Strange doesn't want Jonathan anywhere near him, given the man's clear advantage in close quarters. "I'd prefer not to," says Strange, rapidly tracing a circle in the air with his index and middle fingers. The Sling Ring cuts a hole in reality as Jonathan draws near. Strange steps through it, expecting another spear strike. When one doesn't come, he turns just in time to be struck square in the center of mass by flying chunks of solid wall, blown out by concentrated waves of Hamon. The impact is enough to lift him off his feet, and he makes an unflattering groan as one such chunk impacts his stomach. He strikes the ground--or perhaps the ceiling, now--with a thud, rolling some distance. With a wheeze, he balls up his fists and forces himself back to his feet. Sweat trickles down the sorcerer's temples, his hair slightly askew from the exertion of the battle. "A'kay," he says between ragged breaths. "I'll admit," rattles the sorcerer, "I thought you were just some strong guy, but uh... kinda putting me through my paces here, so... y'know." There's an awkward pause. Then Strange winds up for another spell. His arms move similarly to those of soft styles, a study of two cyclones in opposite motion. Bright, blue-green rings form around his body, starting at his feet and working their way up. When their number reaches seven... He pulls both arms backwards and thrusts out, wrists flush, palms out in that classic 'projectile' fashion. The force of the projectile blows back a jet of dust behind him, his cloak flaring out dramatically. For a brief instant, the interior of the tomb is alive with light, as if lightning had stuck. A concentrated beam of force, bright green, with crackling blue lightning dancing at its edges, rushes from Strange's outstretched hands, through his portal,and towards Jonathan!
Majima Goro	Majima Goro says, "Incredible! Jonathan catches himself in midair, stabbing his spear into the wall, and then deflects Strange's projectiles with his bare hands. Looks like the stunt cost him, and.. eh?! The steady breathing is just making the wounds vanish! He's got his spear again, like the inversion of gravity means nothing to him anymore!" The audio switches, briefly, so the audience can catch Joestar's triumphant shout of "Sendo Hamon -- OVERDRIVE!" before Majima continues. "The twisted walls are tearing apart with orange light! What is this crazy Hamon stuff?! Even Majima is afraid!" "Doctor Strange's well-timed teleport ends in wall time! Those chunks of concrete have struck true! He's back on the ground! ...Or ceiling. Which is it now, anyway? But he's not out yet! It looks like he has a trick left in him, though. The wind is rising, and it's...I don't know what kind of beam that is, but I know the repair bill on this arena's going to be stratospheric! The concrete doesn't stand a chance, but the real question is, does Jonathan Joestar?!"
Jonathan Joestar	Jonathan nods in understanding, planting the butt of his weapon into the ground while he tears the shreads of his undershirt and top off, as they'd only get in his way now. The ascot had fallen off of him some time ago. "I see. If it's any consolation to you, your abilities are both baffling and potent -- truly, if a Sorcerer is one who puts mind over matter and bends common sense to his will, then you are the Sorcerer Supreme." Jonathan grimaces as his opponent summons forth torrential strength, immediately whirling around whilst he spun his spear in his hand to hold it as if it were a javelin, throwing it upwards and into the wall. With a great and hurried bound, he kicks off the wall and uses the haft to propel himself even further in a vaulting maneuver to higher groud. Even with his maneuvers, he finds himself caught with the edge of the attack, plowed into the platform he stood on. It crumbled, sending him tumbling down onto a lower staircase, his body steaming from the contact. "Urgh..." Jonathan pushes himself up, haggard, and reaches into his pockets to withdraw crumpled and dead flower petals. "Koooooh...." He needed breathing room to recover, and so he imbues the petals with his ripple, causing them to suddenly become vivid and warm, as if they had been freshly plucked. Jonathan reels his arm back and hurls them like darts, the petals whistling through the air as they travelled in familiar spiraling waver patterns, glowing with aura. Though they seemed harmless, they now had the toughness of metal and the sharp edge of a blade.
Doctor Strange	Strange leaps through the portal, now on the offensive once more. Jonathan's attack is met with a narrowing of his eyes; a brief moment of calculation. As the petals fly towards him, Strange hurls a pouch of his own. The drawstring comes loose as it travels, and from it spills a brilliant red sand. With a flick of his wrist, the curtain of sand ignites into a brief but brilliant blaze, swallowing up the projectiles. Maybe he was just throwing flowers, but Strange isn't taking chances anymore. He leaps down to Jonathan's position, and mid-flight, his body simply turns 90 degrees. Walking down the sheer surface of the tomb's wall, Strange jumps again, this time casting another spell. "You'd make a good one," Strange calls. His fists make a flurry of rapid punches, and bricks from the tomb's walls rapidly elongate to impossible dimensions in time with his strikes. They strike not only at Jonathan, but at the stairwell he stands upon, slamming into it with the audible weight of heavy stone, each sending up small clouds of dust from their impacts.
Jonathan Joestar	Jonathan breathes in deeply as his flowers are destroyed, restoring his vigor. "Koooooh...." His foe is on him again, and Jonathan maintains his steady defense. Attacking him is like striking at an iron wall, Jonathan using a strange technique that blurred his movements into multiple images to deflect many of the Sorcerer's hand-to-hand attacks, the loud booms of impact ringing before his footing gives away, sending him tumbling to an inevitible K.O. But, by some measure of sheer luck, he passes by one of the ladders dotting the arena, and manages to grasp onto it, breaking his fall -- and the rung. He desecnds for a moment more before catching himself. "How perilous .... but I'm not to be done in just yet!" Jonathan begins to climb upwards.
Majima Goro	Majima Goro loudly slams his hands on the desk. "Joestar's torn off his shirt! You know the fight's getting serious now! He's using his spear to launch himself out of the way of that tremendous torrent of power, but it's not enough! He's fallen to the staircases below! Is Strange's power enough that such a glancing blow has downed the Hamon Master? ...No! He's retrieving something from his pocket! These seemingly mundane, dead flower petals--he's infusing them with his Hamon! They gleam with life even from up here! But how could this possibly help? --Eh? What's this?! He's throwing the petals like darts! I can't even follow the patterns, and they're glowing with the power of Joestar's Hamon! What secret do these petals hold, Jonathan?" "It looks like we'll never find out! Doctor Strange's brought out a bag of tricks, and a barrier of red sand has stopped every last one of Joestar's botanical barrage! It looks like the petal was put to the metal! Strange has decided to close in again, and he's swinging his arms around in the air like an absolute mad lad! But wait-it's a feint! He's using the walls themselves as a weapon against Jonathan! Is this his key to a crushing victory?!"
Doctor Strange	Strange sucks in a breath... it's not coming so easily now. The force of his own Hamon-redirected sorcery seems to have cracked a rib. The air just... doesn't want to come in, now. Ouch, ow, shit. No... it's worse. It's flail chest. "Oh, God..." That's the groan that Jonathan hears, down below. There is then the faint chime of magic. Strange manages to keep himself in one piece, but he's flagging badly--it takes him a noticeable amount of time to even stand. Still... there's that bravado. Jonathan narrowly avoids a K.O. "That was hairy," calls the sorcerer down to Jonathan, clutching his stomach. "You alright down there?" He does wait for a response, as it's a little hard to see once things descend below the light of the torches. Once he gets one--or otherwise sees Jonathan climbing up the ladder, he nods. "Kay..." He quietly murmurs to himself. Sliding a flat palm across the opposite, extended arm, Strange sends a gale of freezing cold into the depths of the tomb's lower levels. The mandala before his outstretched hand glows brightly. The cold isn't just painful, however. It begins to frost over the ladder. "Sorry," calls Strange. "On the back foot now, gotta play a little dirty..." With a grunt of effort, Strange opens a portal using his free hand. The Sling ring opens a portal... to a frozen hellscape of a world, and the blizzard intensifies with gale force winds and fist-sized chunks of hail.
Majima Goro	Majima Goro opens a second can. "Jonathan's made the most of the breathing space he gave himself, infusing himself with more of that respiratory light! He--he's moving so fast, the ripples of the air he's making are dampening the movement of the stone--no! They're pushing the stones right back at the Sorcerer Supreme, with equal intensity!! But--oh! Is this it?! Part of the tomb is collapsing! Joestar is falling! It's a ring out! It's--" "Unbelievable! Joestar's hanging on by a single broken ladder rung! It'll take a miracle to recover, but tonight has been a saint's parade of miracles thus far! Will Strange cinch the fight in Jonathan's moment of weakness?!" "Strange does not look good, ladies and gentlemen, but don't count him out yet! He's...checking to see if Joestar is okay? An honorable approach, but that may cost him. But wait! He's freezing the ladder above Joestar! Does ice stop the power of Hamon?! We're going to find out shortly! What's more, now that Jonathan's trapped in place, he's opened some kind of portal to a frigid wasteland! Ice and hail are flying all over the arena! Will Jonathan Joestar ...weather it out?!"
Jonathan Joestar	Jonathan continues to ascend, narrowing his eyes to get a better look at Strange above. "Yes, I'm fit to go on!" But, it's not long before he finds himself hit by a bitter chill. Jonathan's breath is clammy, vapor pouring from his nostrils. He didn't begrudge his foe for his tactics, but it still left him grimacing, murmuring to himself. "Everything's starting to cool down and freeze ... my Hamon can't conduct through ice!" He recalled Dio's Vapor Freezing technique. Hamon was based on 'movement' at its basest level. It began in the airway and transferred itself into the bloodstream, suffusing the body with vitality. When discharged from the body it could transpose itself into different forms, but no matter what, it required some level of conductivity with what it was being discharged into to work. Stone was a terrible conductor for Hamon, for example, and so when it began to frost over ... His ability to attack Strange remotely with Sendo was completely nullified. Jonathan shoulders on, despite the gales trying to blow him away, despite the massive welts and bruises and lumps forming on his head and body from the hail. Jonathan continued to breathe, circulating his ripple within himself and finding the inner strength to keep going. The rungs were so brittle now that they would break under his weight, he knew. And so he did something daring and rash, balancing on one leg, before he pushed off. Jonathan leaps up, and reaches! But it doesn't seem to be enough. Yet ... his arm elongates. His elbow and shoulder bones dislocate to reach up and grasp the ledge, allowing him to steady his legs against the wall to kick-jump up to the Doctor, his arm returning to how it should be through the healing power of his Hamon. "Rather than a telescoping punch .... my arm became a grappling hook ... " It was something he narrated more for others' benefit than his own, before he breathed in. The powerful ripples of light around his body began to turn a bright and hot red. "Using low-temparatures to thwart me was clever! You're not the first person to use that tactic against me, and surely, you won't be the last." He wasn't just grandstanding to hear himself talk. That was trying for Jonathan, and he needed to recuperate before charging at the Sorcerer once more, his fist igniting in mystical fire. "Explode! SCARLET RED OVERDRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE!!!" Jonathan attempts to drive his fiery fist straight into Doctor Strange's chest, sending a surge of burning Hamon through him. And, just as he'd indicated, it results in a violent and bombastic explosion.
Doctor Strange	Neutralizing his Hamon? Strange squints. Jonathan's giving him a little too much credit. "Nnno... no, I was... kinda just trying to throw you off the ladder so I... didn't have to... deal... with you," Strange admits between ragged breaths. It's unclear whether the pauses are from his exertion or just his usual dry sarcasm. He takes a moment to marshal his breath, gesturing vaguely towards the Ripple master. "Alright." His tone is more serious. He adopts a martial stance. Perhaps he wants to end this like it began. Perhaps he has no more tricks left, or lacks the strength to use them. His legs spread, his posture lowers, his fists are held up. He waits for Jojo to strike. Strange's hand pushes through the mandala that glows before it, coating it in brightly glowing white energy. He strikes with the palm of that hand, attempting to grab Jonathan's hand and force it aside by leverage of a pressure point. Considering Jojo's hand is nearly the size of Strange's head, he should've perhaps tried a different approach. The strike hits him directly, before he can force his counterattack. The explosion hurls him backwards, his back striking the support column of a long and winding spiral staircase. Strange tumbles down, disappearing into the depths below. A klaxon sounds in the air some seconds later, signifying the end of the round due to ring out. Jonathan Joestar has won the round!
Majima Goro	Majima Goro .. "...Eh? Something's wrong! I don't think Jonathan can affect anything frozen with ice! Has Strange found a weakness to capitalize on? The ladder rung is breaking, what will he -- Joestar's leaping off the collapsing ladder! He didn't leap far enough--he can't make it! Wait--his arm--it's stretching! He's dislocated his own arm to grab the ledge! He's up! The power of Hamon is letting him repair his arm after distending it like a grappling hook! Ladies and Gentlemen, this is...this is bizarre!" "But he's not done yet, folks! He's breathing in again. Taking a moment to compliment the doctor, before--he's charging forward, everybody. His hand's burning with righteous fury, it's the--" "SCARLET RED OVERDRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE!!!" "I DON'T THINK STRANGE CAN DODGE IN TIME! JOESTAR IS TOO FAST! HIS PASSION IS BURNING TOO STRONG! NOTHING CAN STOP THAT BLOW!" A klaxon blares over Majima's best efforts. "It's game, set, and match! Doctor Strange--I can't even see where he is! Jonathan Joestar is victorious, moving on to the next round! It's been an honor to share this moment with you, everyone! Thank you all for joining us tonight, and I hope from the bottom of my heart you'll be with us to the end! Good night, ladies and gentlemen!"