Carnations Ablaze: Isabella vs Shimmerlace

[Malkavia]

Coffin Match: Win by closing a ring-side coffin on your opponent
Stakes: POW

There the feychild leaned, post-entrance, against the middle rope, while Thistledown the white rabbit perched her shoulder. She held a glass tobacco pipe between her fore and middle fingers, and after she held it to her lips, the puff from her throat shot up to the audience pink smoke in the shape of a heart.

”Greetings, human-folk of the eastern hemisphere!” Shimmer had fifteen, maybe twenty seconds max before the match’s ringleaders yanked events into Isabella’s entrance, so she got right to the thick of it. She pointed her pipe down the ramp. “Down that path lies unspeakable evil—a foul agent of rules and corruption—coming for to violate me and, if she has her way, all you ragamuffins in the seats!” Shimmer narrowed her eyes and shifted her gaze from one audience member to another. “...So hold ye tight your libertine souls tonight, aye?”

These were brave words for a Lioness who’d lost her debut to a cat. But what the Seelie Bandit faced in this match—the Demon Paladin...Well, it would require more than just bravery, no doubt. And given the open coffin situated ring-side, she could ill afford a second, similar blow. Once closed, that terrible box would bind whoever was inside it to her opponent’s every whim and fancy. And here was Isabella. Even through her promotional photography, you could see the cruel embers of an abused legalism smoldering in the Demon’s golden eyes, her grin sharp and mean as a devil’s pitchfork. What could a “paladin” like that will for a helpless, mind-strapped fey? The very thought made Shimmer’s skin tingle with what she supposed was horror.

But, as they said in the Dark King’s halls, never let them see the anxious sap drip down your back. Shimmer grinned her crooked grin to the audience. ”So say a prayer for ol’ Shimmer, ey? For though I’m not one to make oaths, tonight I aim to stuff a devil. Stuff with what you ask? Well, I tell you what, something purifying. Something sweet. Something...sticky.”

Shimmer dragged long on her pipe and this time puffed a near-facsimile of a rabbit just before the Demon's theme filled the room.

[Rose~Medley]

“You aim to purify a Demon? I commend you..”

Isabella spoke. Her voice carried deep, clear and throughout the ring with incredible acoustics. She was not in sight, but her theme was booming through the room and leaving people with a sense of unease in their chest.

Suddenly a extremely thick smog of dark, bloodred smoke seeped through the arena. It covered the entrance, and part of the ring too, nobody could see what was happening for a short bit.

“Your efforts are in vain, fairy. Your wings will be plucked.. and before long..”

A hand broke out of the smoke. It wrapped around the chin of the one it would soon claim, and brought her face down to meet the eyes of Isabella. The smoke began to clear, the crowd began to roar..

And Isabella just smirked confidently.

“You’ll be mine.”

[Malkavia]

Shimmer’s pipe hung limp between her teeth. Her voice came out as a murmur. “Pluck ‘em right off, will you...?” The pinkette felt her heart shudder in her rival’s grip—and this time she knew. That wasn’t horror.

Shimmerlace pulled out a move from an acquaintance—not one she usually liked to repeat, but circumstances had aligned. The Fey Flirt reached down, took Isabella’s hand in a quick but elegant motion, kissed it, pressing...with one, two, three soft smacks...a line of cupcake-pink marks into her rival’s cool skin.

Then she pulled back and smiled. “Fair play to you then, demon miss. But here's a little warning for ya.” As Shimmer spoke, she puffed pink, bubble-gum flavored vapor into the demon’s face, dissipating some of the curling crimson cloud. “Bringing pixie dust into one’s home is hazardous for moral health.”

Shimmer would await the demon's response. And after, if she weren't prevented, she would sidle back to her ringside corner and shrug Thistledown off to a ringside handler—out of harm's way.