| The Ms. Fortunate and the NeverDead | |
|---|---|
| Season | Final Three |
| Season Episode | 1 |
| Air date | October 7, 2025 |
| Written by | Nkstjoa & Professor Mewtwo |
| Episode guide | |
| Previous Cole MacGrath VS Alex Mercer |
Next Afro Samurai VS Samurai Champloo |
Ms. Fortune VS Bryce Boltzmann is a What-If? episode of Death Battle. It features Ms. Fortune from Skullgirls and Bryce Boltzmann from NeverDead in a battle between combatants whose undying bodies can survive and reassemble from dismemberment, and even willingly detach.
Description[]
Skullgirls VS NeverDead! Both go to pieces, but can put themselves back together from nearly anything. Against one another in a Death Battle, can either one actually win?
Interlude[]
Wiz: Ms. Fortune.
Boomstick: Bryce Boltzmann.
Wiz: “All the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty together again.”
Boomstick: But these two are like Bizarro Humpty Dumpty... or Lego people. Oh, and their names kinda rhyme. Ms. Fortune. Bryce Boltzmann. Eh, eh? It’s a little something. He’s Wiz and I’m Boomstick.
Wiz: And it’s our job to analyze their weapons, armor, and skills to find out who would win... a Death Battle.
Undead? Ms. Fortune is beaming with LIFE... Gem.[]
(*cues Hypothetical Rundown Music - Insert Fictional Artist*)
Wiz: The Canopy Kingdom, one of the three nations engulfed in the Grand War. This never-ending strife between them, the Chess Kingdom, and the Gigan Nation only came to an end when the three found a common enemy that could destroy them all: the Skullgirl.
Boomstick: So what exactly is a Skullgirl, Wiz?
Wiz: To answer that, we must look at the Skull Heart, an ancient skull-shaped artifact the Skullgirl possesses that grants the request of any woman who wishes upon it.
Boomstick: Which creates a pretty sweet fighting game scenario for an all-female cast.
Boomstick: *mock whining* Ugh, why do they have to shove guys into everything these days?! So much pandering!
Wiz: But now let’s turn our focus from the massive conflict that engulfed the three nations to the life of a simple orphan: Nadia.
Boomstick: She’s a feline Feral, kind of like RWBY’s Faunus, but with some even more animal-looking, and was alone in the Canopy Kingdom, which of course had a discrimination problem against her kind. Fortunately for her, Nadia was adopted by the Fishbone Gang, a band of thieves that were FISH people, and became Nadia Fortune. She was a quick study in the ways of thievin’ and you can bet her feline agility and nails came in handy.
Wiz: Then came a fateful mission against the Medici Mafia. On the surface, the Medici family was well-respected and even beloved by the Canopy Kingdom’s populace.
Boomstick: But being the Mafia, the Medicis ran Canopy’s underworld, their fingers in just about everything to the point of the police force not only looking the other way, but beating up co-workers that weren’t crooked enough. And these were the people the Fishbone Gang were crossing.
Wiz: Nadia was tasked with stealing a prized necklace from the Medici’s head Lorenzo, which housed the Life Gem.
Boomstick: Lorenzo, pretty steamed, sent an assassin named after MJ’s favorite flower after the Fishbone gang. Nadia, knowing the gig was up, swallowed the Life Gem whole, then she and her found fish family were chopped up like, well, fish, and thrown into the waters below.
Wiz: That’s where Nadia’s story should’ve ended, but instead, Ms. Fortune found herself alive... but still in pieces. Pieces that she put back together before walking again.
Boomstick: Obviously she had a score to settle and fam to avenge, but Nadia still had friends left in Minette and Yu-Wan... even more fish people.
Wiz: And it just so happened that one such enemy of the Medici Mafia was the current Skullgirl Marie, the successor to the prior one that led to the end of the Grand War, and the means with which to acquire the fabled Skull Heart.
Boomstick: So after the good ol’ Mafia caused trouble at her friends’ restaurant, Ms. Fortune set out to chase them down and get her wish in one fell swoop. And while having cat-like abilities was already enough of a plus, the Life Gem she ate gave her a whole lot more.
Wiz: The Life Gem didn’t bring Nadia back from the dead: instead, it rendered her continuously living. Sliced into thirteen pieces, not only can Ms. Fortune survive any of them being separated, but she can weaponize herself in ways no one would expect.
Boomstick: Which is saying something for a series with a schoolgirl with a hair monster, a circus performer whose hat has Anchor Arms, and a 1930s cartoon superweapon. And I would be remiss to forget the ninja nurse wielding medical supplies.
Wiz: She can release jets of her blood to propel herself into the air, and her muscles and tendons can be extended, giving Nadia more power to her hits and much farther range than her close-range style would imply.
Boomstick: Which you'd think would feel completely agonizing. Her standard throw on the ground is her four limbs' innards wrapping her opponent in a fleshy yarn ball... and then juggling them herself! That’s sick! And on that note, she has total control over each individual limb and her head.
Wiz: In fact, when decapitated, both her head and body can act independently of each other, allowing her head to navigate the battleground and land a surprise attack, or even be weaponized like a sports ball.
Boomstick: Nadia takes her own head off on the regular, even during non-special move attacks, with her Feral ears hardened for stabbing strikes and drill attacks. She can spin her appendages from their stumps, and her tail can not only jab, but pretty much act as a makeshift golf club or katana. Oh, and her head can walk around on its ears, travels across a person’s body while biting them, and can sneeze with enough force to send a human straight into the air. Geez, Nadia must use Kleenex made of steel or something.
Wiz: Ms. Fortune’s three hardest hitting moves are her Blockbusters, starting with Cat Scratch Fever, a flurry of claw strikes concluding with either a headbutt or lifting her opponent with a drill spin.
Boomstick: And if she’s in the air, Feral Edge has her coming down with two powerful tail slashes and can even be continued with a head sneeze. But the biggest one is the Fifth of Dismember, where Nadia’s body and limbs scatter, then come flying back to her head for a massively bloody explosion. Out of everything in her arsenal, who's gonna see that one coming?!
Wiz: One of Ms. Fortune’s greatest assets is her creativity and wit, a testament to her career as a thief. Even before that fateful night with the Life Gem, Nadia managed to evade Parasoul, an experienced strategist in her own right with soldiers at her beck and call. And she didn’t simply steal the Life Gem from Lorenzo when he was sleeping: Nadia swiped the necklace housing the gem from his neck while he was showering.
Boomstick: That’s Assassin’s Creed/Elder Scrolls-level pickpocketing right there. And after her run-in with Black Dahlia, Ms. Fortune withstood being at the bottom of the ocean and managed to get out of it in one piece. Then there was the time she endured a thrashing from Big Band, a very heavy hitter who weighs 2 TONS. Granted, she didn’t win that fight. Actually Wiz, if every playable character gets a shot at Marie, which version of events is actually canon?
Wiz: And here we delve into the deeper lore with the Trinity, the three goddesses who created the Skull Heart and unleashed it upon the world. Aeon, the goddess of time, has stated that each branch, effectively every character’s story, is a history that might have been, but that there is one timeline where all these threads converge. So in essence, they all occurred.
Boomstick: Unfortunately, these include timelines where Ms. Fortune lost fights and failed to obtain the Skull Heart, and two where she has actually perished: crushed by Cerebella’s hat’s hands and by her own robotic doppelganger. In both instances, the Life Gem was all that remained with Nadia no more.
Wiz: But in one thread, Ms. Fortune defeated Valentine, who battled against Gigans in the Grand War whose average height is fifteen feet tall, as well as won in a two-on-one against her and Double, a centuries-old shapeshifter. And upon defeating Marie, the Skull Heart was all hers for a wish to bring back the Fishbone Gang.
Boomstick: But if you’ve played any Twisted Metal, you know these kinds of wish granters can go monkey’s paw or love to be ironic. Before Marie, there was Queen Nancy, who was opposed to the Grand War and wished for peace between the three kingdoms, which came true... years later when she was twisted into the most powerful Skullgirl yet and forced a team-up between the three nations.
Wiz: The Skull Heart isn’t meant to be a test for humanity, but was created by the Trinity with the goal of ending the world. Every wish is corrupted and the woman who wishes upon it, no matter their will, will eventually lose themselves as they become the Skullgirl.
Boomstick: But Nadia was FORTUNEate and wise enough to tell what the Skull Heart did to Marie and her wish, which was also on behalf of her friends. But deep down, Ms. Fortune knew that she wouldn’t trade her remaining friends for anything, and proceeded to kick the Skull Heart to pieces.
Wiz: While the Skull Heart would not stay gone for good, Ms. Fortune made the right choice by not playing the Trinity’s game in the first place.
Boomstick: Cat girls may be a dime a dozen across genres, but Nadia towers above the pack... by stretching her leg tendons, of course.
Ms. Fortune: That's what the Skull Heart is here for, isn't it? To tempt us into doing the wrong thing! This stops here!
Just how IMMORTAL is Bryce Boltzmann?[]
(*cues Hypothetical Rundown Music - Insert Fictional Artist*)
Wiz: Five hundred years ago, there were demon hunters. And one was out to make a name for himself:
Bryce: My name is Bryce Boltzmann, slayer of demons and thorn in your side! For my own honor and that of my family’s name, I will reduce you to dust, Sangria!
Boomstick: Quite the humble warrior there. But Bryce couldn't accomplish everything on his own. He was joined in his hunting by his wife Cypher, a medium who uses spells to help him better combat the higher up demons.
Wiz: Together with Cypher, he set out to destroy the Demon King Astaroth.
Boomstick: No, not the Soul Calibur executioner guy. No, not the big bad from Ghosts ‘n Goblins. And no, not the... Look, to cut to the chase, it’s this big blue bearded guy. THIS is Lord Astaroth.
Wiz: Who looks like he’s piloting a Lovecraftian mech.
Boomstick: Five hundred years later, Bryce is still kicking around, but now looks like a post-apocalyptic Frank West with an Old Man Logan x-mark on his face and a golden eye. Well no, not like the golden eye from GoldenEye: Rogue Agent. Look at you, pulling out such a reference, clever viewer, you.
Wiz: That is an evil eye, which rendered Bryce immortal. But while times changed and then some over the centuries, he still combats demons...
Boomstick: ...but now his noble profession is just his nine to five for NADA, the National Anti-Demon Agency, working alongside his partner Arcadia, taking orders from their Reeve Tuesti-sounding boss Sullivan, and being the acquaintance of company wild card and fellow immortal Alex.
Wiz: Having walked the Earth for five hundred and twenty years at minimum, Bryce more than has the skills at hand for his assignments. Bryce was not only adept at swordplay, but also at fighting from a distance with dual long range weaponry.
Boomstick: In the past, he went John Woo on demons with automatic bowguns, which give Van Helsing’s repeater crossbow a run for its money. But in the here and now... well here and now circa 2012, he’s got handguns, sub machine guns, and rifles. When demons get too close or he's charging into the fray, he’s got shotguns. And when bullets aren’t cutting it and he needs a bigger boom, he’s got grenade launchers. Bryce can mix and match all his weapons as he sees fit for whatever combination best suits any given situation.
Wiz: But even in the 21st century, Bryce’s most tried and true means of combat is with his Butterfly Blade. Effectively a collapsible greatsword that can be folded into itself for easy storage when not in use like a medieval RWBY weapon. Its slices are powerful enough to contend with demons that cannot be harmed by conventional firearms.
Boomstick: While his arsenal and teaming up with Arcadia are all well and good, Bryce’s true secret weapon all stems from that evil eye. When he takes a hit that makes him lose an arm or leg, blood loss is the last thing he has to worry about. He can hop on one leg faster than most people can run and swing his Butterfly Blade, a two-handed greatsword, with just one arm. And should an adversary decapitate him, his head just keeps on rolling, rolling, rolling... and hopping. And spinning in place before launching itself like a cannonball for his Head Attack. Looks like he digs Blanka.
Wiz: Obviously Bryce works best as a whole, so he can reattach his limbs to his body...
Boomstick: By combat rolling into them!
Wiz: And his head simply needs to reach his collar to reconnect.
Boomstick: Or his head can just reattach arms and legs on the way back to his torso. Just look at that thing rolling by!
Wiz: But his evil eye doesn’t just simply allow Bryce to put himself back together: he can actually send pieces of his body back to him.
Boomstick: Wait, I thought he regrew brand new limbs like Deadpool.
Wiz: When Bryce regenerates any and all limbs, the originals on the ground vanish. Were they new appendages, they would clearly be piling up over the course of a battle.
Boomstick: Eh, that could just be the game’s engine making it easier for itself. Are you sure it's teleporting Bryce’s body to him instead of him growing a new one?
Wiz: Consider his torso, which has some kind of technological device on his back housing his weaponry at all times. His torso can also be spawned to Bryce’s decapitated head. Were it truly a new torso emerging from his neck, that device would not be present and he would be forced to recollect his weaponry.
Boomstick: I mean, when you put it like that, it doesn’t just sound convenient for gameplay, but makes sense. It’d also explain why his clothes follow along as well. Sure would be a pain having to constantly buy new clothes mid-combat.
Wiz: But we’re still not done with the changes the evil eye brought to his body. Bryce’s blood is no longer that of a human’s, but what he calls a miracle cure, capable of healing minor nicks and more grievous wounds. Speaking of healing, when Bryce comes into contact with an open source of electricity or is set ablaze, his skin heals so fast that it appears completely undamaged.
Boomstick: But Bryce can attest that it still hurts like hell. Puzzle-solving aside, he can use them in combat. Everything from simply running into foes, fire and electricity-enhanced slashes, and with the right upgrades, doing the same to his firearms.
Wiz: On that note, NeverDead employs an ability system where the player can choose what to apply to Bryce Boltzmann. From increases in stats like strength and speed to effects like Fire and Electro Bullets, to additional, well, abilities.
Boomstick: Including one of the most wicked, Explosive Limbs, where he can just blow up an arm at will. Now who's expecting their opponent to just throw off their arm for a surprise explosion who ISN’T a robot?! Now some abilities are a bit debatable. Losing an arm will generally lower his sword’s striking power, but the Desperate ability actually makes him more powerful as he loses limbs. As for Heavy Limbs... maybe he wears weights on them Rock Lee-style?
Wiz: Others like Auto Combat Roll and Sixth Sense would imply something like clairvoyance, though they could be argued as representing Bryce’s reaction speed.
Boomstick: However you slice it, NADA couldn’t ask for a better agent. He’s brought down hulking demons like the Trick Quad Jaw with his guns and his Butterfly Blade, with which he can slice through brick walls and metal support beams. And his body’s tough too with his limbs and torso staying completely intact after getting run over by a subway and igniting a gas-filled room Bryce was in.
Wiz: The evil eye’s curse is so insistent on Bryce’s survival that should he fall into a pool of lava, his head will be jettisoned hundreds of feet upward to higher ground before it can melt.
Boomstick: And the curse is cruel enough to make Bryce survive... THE GRANDBABIES! OH HOW I HATE THEM!
Wiz: Are you okay, Boomstick?
Boomstick: There I was deciding to contribute to the research... only for the Grandbabies to become the bane of my existence! They’re numerous, they come out of nowhere, they steal your limbs, they explode on death, and when you’re a head just trying to get back to your body, they pull you in with a vacuum. And if you mess up the quick time event to escape JUST ONCE, game over! Being digested, healing, rinse and repeat forever! Even squirrels aren’t that foul!
Wiz: You done?
Boomstick: Yes. *clears throat* So here comes the major spoilers, some of them you probably guessed already. Bryce and Cypher did reach Lord Astaroth, but they lost, Cypher died, Astaroth went all “Your punishment must be more severe” and grafted one of his own eyes onto Bryce.
Wiz: Then came the assignment that’d change the course of Bryce’s immortal life: protecting Nikki Summerfield.
Boomstick: Turns out this pop star was a medium, the first one since Bryce’s time. And now here comes the other shoe: Lord Astaroth actually needed a medium for his master plan, but Cypher taking the killing blow for Bryce threw it off. Him giving Bryce the evil eye and immortality wasn’t just for punishing the demon hunter, but to use Bryce to find another medium, seeing everything through that eye for centuries. And when his prize was found, he had a demon named Asmodai there to collect... who was Sullivan! Agh, I should’ve known better than to trust the voice of Iron Tager! I swear, Tager ALWAYS super attacks right when I’m about to attack!
Wiz: And NADA itself was created not to combat demons, but to monitor Bryce and find the next medium.
Boomstick: So Bryce, fighting for NADA... was fighting for nothing.
Wiz: Bryce had been made jaded by centuries, no longer needing to eat, but free to drink, and using the prisms of humor to cope with his loss, his failures, and his never-ending existence... but even faced with that lie, Bryce would not let the human world fall.
Boomstick: He saved Arcadia’s life, marched up the massive tower of armageddon alongside her, took down Traitoro Alex, and when Lord Astaroth took the evil eye back and was ready to bring about a demon god to rule the Earth, Nikki imbued Bryce with the power to send the Demon King back to Hell... and then he went down with Astaroth to keep him there.
Wiz: So ends the tale of Bryce Boltzmann. Broken. Battered. Burned. NeverDead.
Bryce: *decapitated head rolling through an air vent* That took a couple years off my life... Oh wait, that still leaves me with eternity!
DEATH BATTLE![]
Wiz: Alright, the combatants are set, and we've run the data through all possibilities.
Boomstick: It's time for a DISMEMBER-able DEATH BATTLE!!!
Bryce: Ugh, what a pain...
Bryce Boltzmann opened a door into a decrepit church with one hand while the other was on his earpiece.
Bryce: Not only am I stuck escorting a royal pain...
Nikki: Excuse me?
He held the door open for Nikki Summerfield with a chivalrous bow.
Bryce: Right this way, your royal majesty.
Nikki: Hmph. That’s what I thought you said.
As she entered and he closed the door, he then took out a piece of paper from his coat’s pocket:
Bryce: You’ve got me on an escort mission and a big game hunt.
Less than half of a wanted poster for a woman with what appeared to be cat ears. Strangely, it cut off right at Ms. Fortune’s head with what appeared to be a hand holding it.
Arcadia: Well you’re the closest agent to the target’s location. And think of it more like you’re collecting a bounty in the Wild West.
Bryce: Don’t even get me started on the Wild West...
During all of this, Ms. Fortune, wearing a black coat, crouched atop a wooden beam.
Bryce: So what’s her business with NADA?
Arcadia: According to intel, she’s carrying something called the Life Gem, something we don’t want to fall into the wrong hands.
Bryce: And she’s a demon, right?
Arcadia: That’s what the intel says.
Nadia: This is getting too convoluted for me...
She got ready to sneak away in cartoonish fashion...
...making a loud creaking noise, Bryce and Nikki looking straight up at her.
Nadia: Aww, fuzz.
Not only that, but a crack instantaneously spread across the beam, splitting right beneath her feet and leaving Ms. Fortune to fall straight down.
Bryce: How misfortunate, cat lady.
Nikki: Don’t you mean unfortunate?
Instead of crashing down, Nadia landed on all fours like a cat, her back turned and her tail straight up in the air.
Nadia: That’s Ms. Fortune to you.
(*cues Death Battle: Head On - Insert Fictional Artist*)
The demon hunter drew both his handguns.
Bryce: Well Ms., just hand over the Life Gem and I’ll get out of your fur.
The Feral stood straight up, still not looking at them...
...until her head turned around, causing Nikki to shriek.
Nadia: Nya!
Stretching his right arm to get Nikki behind him, he fired at the approaching Ms. Fortune with his left, who leaned backwards to avoid the incoming shots. His right then switched to a submachine gun, rapidly firing at Nadia’s feet. She hopped on both feet comedically before he aimed upward, to which she stepped to the side. His left, having reloaded during this, then tried firing in Nadia's direction to force her back towards the direction of his submachine gun fire, but she bopped, weaved, and ducked before Bryce saw her propelled towards him with a trail of blood behind her.
Bryce: The hell...?
She struck at him with her left hand’s claws, his submachine gun stopping it and without Bryce being sent back towards Nikki.
Bryce: Hide, Kid!
As Nikki fled, he fired at Nadia near-point blank with his pistol, to which she grabbed hold of his wrist with her right hand, swerving his aim and herself to avoid the next couple shots. She proceeded to tear the submachine gun out of his right hand, then hopped over him, left arm in tow. It bent, then as she put her feet to his back and bounced off, it snapped off completely.
Bryce crouched over, crying out in pain with his right hand covering his lost limb, as Ms. Fortune then stared at the discarded arm, which didn’t bleed red and whose innards appeared a blue hue.
Nadia: Talk about your claws encounters...
But that same arm actually aimed its pistol right towards her face. She only barely tilted her head just in time to avoid the shot before tossing the arm towards Bryce, whose right hand already fired a shotgun. She ducked down onto all fours, the back of her trenchcoat taking all of the damage as Bryce rolled forward, his left arm appearing to gravitate directly to where it was torn from. As he exited the roll, he held his Butterfly Blade with both hands and swung it right at Ms. Fortune’s neck. Nadia’s head went flying off as her body fell to its knees, then lied down.
Bryce: See, Kid?
He placed his Butterfly Blade back onto his back’s high tech holster.
Bryce: Nothing to it.
Lighting a cigarette he had in his mouth, he then looked over at the sub machine gun that Ms. Fortune had clawed.
Bryce: Mission’s complete, Arcadia.
The damage was extensive with the firearm nearly torn apart.
Arcadia: Do you see the Life Gem?
Bryce: No, but...
Nikki: B-B-B-Bryce?
He felt someone tap on his left shoulder, turning to face Nikki...
Bryce: What now, princess?
...to see the headless body of Ms. Fortune, which then booted him back. Bryce crashed through several church benches with Nadia’s body in hot pursuit. It then slashed at him, Bryce’s Butterfly Blade blocking them.
Bryce: Arcadia, we’ve got a new kind of demon on our hands!
He used his left hand to block a sweeping kick with his blade, then fired with a submachine gun with his right only for Nadia’s body to grab his arm with both hands and redirect his aim.
Bryce: This demon’s body keeps kickin' without the head!
Just then, he was lifted off his feet.
Bryce: How soon can you get HEEERE?!
Bryce was tossed straight through the church’s walls outside before he used his greatsword to stop himself.
Arcadia: I’ll be there as soon as I can.
Then what he saw next shocked him:
Nadia’s head stood in the path of her charging body, which looked ready to kick it akin to a soccer player.
Nadia: Who you callin’ a demon?!
Her head came rocketing right at Bryce, which struck him with so much force that he not only smashed through a rotted courtyard, but was reduced to just his head and torso. As he recovered, he found himself leaning against a pile of flammable containers. He then saw that his cigarette was about to fall to the ground when Nadia’s body picked it up. Her foot struck not Bryce, but one of the containers, piercing it enough for the smell of gas to escape from it. During this, her decapitated head was up in the air.
Nadia: Look, little doggy.
One hand caught her head while the other threw his cigarette right back at him.
Nadia: Catch.
Nadia walked away from the ensuing explosion, placing her head back where Bryce had sliced it.
Nadia: Was that too far-fetched? Really stretching the premise here.
She looked over at one of his scattered arms...
...and could’ve sworn it vanished completely from her sight.
Nadia: You’ve gotta be kitten me...
She turned her head and found a handgun was thrown straight at her. An X-Ray view of her Feral skull showed the thrown firearm colliding with such force as to put a small crater between her eyes and jaw. She stumbled backward, hands over her nose, as she then saw Bryce, all four limbs on him, charging right for her with his entire body ablaze.
Bryce: I’m blazin’!
He caught the thrown pistol while drawing another, firing both before Nadia was in any position to avoid them. She had been fired at before, but this time...
...the shots that landed were imbued with fire. Her coat was set ablaze as Bryce then swung at her with flaming slashes of the retrieved Butterfly Blade. He did land a few, but then Ms. Fortune took hold of the blade. To counter this, Bryce pushed forward to keep the literal heat going with direct contact.
Bryce: Burn, baby, burn!
He found that Nadia’s coat was burned to the point of the miniscule remains floating away, revealing her turquoise top and black shorts, as well as her stitch-like scars around her limbs. From there, he saw that despite still being on fire himself, Ms. Fortune’s skin appeared entirely unaffected.
Bryce: How are you not burnin’?!
She tauntingly blew air in his face, then Bryce found that the flames had finally ceased.
Nadia: Made a wish.
He headbutt Nadia, freeing his Butterfly Blade, which he then swung at her right wrist, slicing it off. Her left hand slashed at his face in retaliation, after which he chopped downward, taking half of her left foot off. Ms. Fortune fell onto her stump, then to Bryce’s surprise, everything above her right shoulder rotated. She stuck her legs out for a sweep, which he hopped over, ready to swing his blade down, but he was then struck by her tail before he could land.
Bryce saw that she had narrowly avoided a second decapitation, but then felt her somehow take hold of the back of his head. From the corner of his eye, he saw that her left arm’s muscles stretched out from between the scars to allow her to pull off this impossible grapple. But then he was shoved into the ground face-first as she charged back towards the church.
Nadia: No need to gravel.
Bryce: This... *spits out rock* ain’t even gravel.
She then found that he had pulled out a grenade launcher.
Nadia: Don’t blow this out of proportion!
At that close a range, it was the attack of a madman that would tear the both of them apart.
Nikki, on a phone and looking out at the battle outside the church...
Nikki: I’m telling you, this cat girl’s totally fishy! No, that wasn’t me trying to make a joke! She’s fishy, for real!
She covered her ears from an explosion, then ducked as two round objects shot right past her.
Bryce: Ow!
Nadia: Me-ow!
Both their decapitated heads came to a stop facing one another. Neither had their body, but both were determined to win this fight. Nikki saw what would be a climactic finish about to commence:
The two heads rolled forward, lightly bonking the other’s foreheads to minor inconvenience. They then rolled backward, ready for round 2. Nadia found that Bryce’s head appeared to not only hover in midair, but actually rolled in place.
Nadia: Sufferin’ spin dash!
Bryce then fired forward like a cannonball, but Nadia’s head flipped over and appeared to step to the side with her ears.
Bryce: Ear walkin’...!
He then flew straight into an electrical panel, the impact causing damage and electrocuting him, his skull plainly visible to Nadia.
Nadia: You seem pretty shocked...
But his head was rotating this whole time, so fast that his skull’s X-Ray appeared to be completely still, and then flew back at her. This collision had her pinballing across the entire church for several seconds until her vision cleared well enough to see Bryce standing, body and all.
Bryce: I’m whole again!
He was ready to cleave her head in two with an upward swing, then found that Nadia’s head’s arc suddenly changed, flying around his chop with a spray of blood.
Nikki, still ducked, felt someone put hands on her shoulders, then leap frog over her.
Nikki: Freaky headless leap frog cat lady!
Bryce saw Nadia’s body roll to catch her head before he could get another swing at it. Both paused, taking in that for all the damage they each dished out so far, neither appeared to be any worse for wear from before their fight started.
Bryce: My gut tells me that Life Gem you got is helping you do all that, Ms.
She replied by sticking her tongue out at him.
Nadia: As for you, GoldenEye...
Her other hand pat her hair and ears like Blofeld petting his cat.
Nadia: My money’s on that putting you back together.
Putting the tip of the Butterfly Blade against the damaged panel, his weapon and his entire body had electricity coursing through them.
Bryce: And things you would not believe.
His other hand gestured in a “come on” fashion as Nadia put her decapitated head back over her collar. She stepped backward from two swings, then ducked under a third, her ears feeling a slight shock from the sweeping blade above them.
She rolled out of the way of a downward swing, then Bryce found that he couldn’t lift his greatsword upward:
Nadia kept it pinned with her tail, which she was holding like a blade of her own. Even then, he could feel from light shakes that enduring the electrical shocks wasn’t painless for her.
Bryce: Hurts you too, huh?
Nadia: I’m good. You can’t even lift your sword.
She then noticed that Bryce was only holding his collapsible greatsword with just one hand. The other poked her directly in her right temple with a submachine gun. It went off, the first electrified bullet traveling through as intended. The rest, however, Ms. Fortune prevented by using her katana-like tail to stab through Bryce’s left arm and gesture it away. Nikki lied down to avoid the spray that unintentionally came her way.
Nadia, feeling partially guilty, clotheslined Bryce with her left, the Butterfly Blade out of his right hand, then swung her tail far from him, tearing his left arm off. Immediately, she found the front of a shotgun facing her. She span her tail in place like Yamato to deflect the incoming shots, but not nearly fast enough, taking several shots that sent her back and had her Feral skeleton flashing.
She hit a pillar, then felt her foot step on top of his left arm. Bryce, placing his shotgun back in his holster, then gestured with a mock “thumb on a detonator” gesture. But what could it mean?
The surprise explosion of Bryce’s arm left Ms. Fortune with both her legs behind her and now facing a charging Bryce with a shocking cleaving swing coming right for her. She stretched her arms' muscles upward to avoid the attempt to cleave her head in two, then retracted them, leaving her to land scalp-first atop his own. He was briefly dazed from that much weight sitting on him and her by the electricity coursing through her from that much direct contact with him. Right as he recovered enough to lift his blade, she dug both her hands' nails into his neck, then span in place around him.
From Nikki’s perspective, a cat skeleton span around Bryce as Nadia broke his neck several times before finally tearing Bryce’s head off entirely. Bryce found that Ms. Fortune’s legs, which had been blown off before, almost appeared to be waiting in perfect position when she leapt off of him. His own body turned around attempting a swing, but with a simple leg trip, it fell over and then stopped moving entirely.
He tried his spin attack, but Nadia kept him pinned with both her hands, her claws digging into the sides of his head. By the time his attack went off, Nadia released him, leaving him to go straight through a pillar. She caught up, took hold of him, then slammed him down like a basketball dunk. He went straight through the floor, then popped back out as she put her hands out to him.
Her right hand kept him from spinning again while her left went right for his evil eye, digging directly under it. While his evil eye remained open the entire time, his left eye closed, almost like he was at peace.
Nadia: C’mere, shiny.
The exact moment her nails came into direct contact with the evil eye, something unexplainable, inconceivable to Nadia, forced her left arm back before she could yank the eye out.
Nadia: What the devil fish?!
She found that Bryce’s entire torso suddenly regrew out from his neck.
Bryce: Believe me, I was rooting for you there, Ms.
Next, his legs reemerged, touching the ground.
Bryce: But I’ve been stuck with this thing for half a millennia.
Nadia saw glimpses of his arms...
...before the Butterfly Blade stabbed straight through her.
Bryce: The Life Gem. Where is it?
He lifted her straight off the ground, Ms. Fortune putting her hands underneath the greatsword to keep her body from falling and being halved down the middle.
Bryce: You can either tell me with one brain or two halves of one.
Nadia: I ate it.
Bryce: You’re kidding.
Nadia: Sorry, pal. Can’t exactly hand it to you.
Now the demon hunter lifted Ms. Fortune the highest he had so far, intending for gravity to finally get her to let go.
Bryce: If I don’t get the gem, then I don’t get paid.
Nikki found that Nadia’s tail was slowly slinking across the ground like a snake.
Bryce: Guess I’ll just have to find it after I turn you into sushi.
Despite being too far for her to normally reach, her toes managed to grip her tail.
Nadia: You’re welcome to try.
Nikki: Bryce, look out!
His legs were sliced off by a sweeping swing of Nadia’s tail by her muscle-extended right leg. The moment Bryce’s stumps touched down, she backed up, freeing herself of the Butterfly Blade. He didn’t stand there for long, rolling backwards towards his legs, which soon reattached with him back on his feet as the roll concluded.
Putting her tail back, Nadia looked ready to square off hand-to-hand again while Bryce went back to dual pistols. Both charged as Nikki took cover, not knowing if this fight was close to over yet.
It was not. Many events transpired:
Ms. Fortune leapt high into the air, then came back down with her tail in hand, but found that Bryce blocked both the strikes with his Butterfly Blade, then shoved her backward.
He returned to the courtyard to the massive flames to utilize them once more, but Nadia simply splashed it with an oversized wooden bucket of water, putting it out.
Bryce: Wh-where’d you even get that from?!
Instead of touching the evil eye directly, she used a piece of wood that she had sharpened to dig it out. Even with that forethought, the result repeated from before with the makeshift instrument being forced backward, after which Bryce took hold of it and broke it himself.
Seeing Ms. Fortune vulnerable, Bryce had a clear shot with the sub machine gun...
...which was out of ammo.
Nadia: “How misfortune.”
She knocked him back, to which he fired with a pistol and shotgun combination.
Nikki was running out of cover with all the bullet holes and debris from the impact of their seemingly never-ending strife. Now she found Bryce in a cycle where every time he was about to fire his next set of dual weaponry, Nadia knocked them away before he could even fire them.
Nadia found Bryce going for the electrical panel and stood in his path, but a two-handed shove with the Butterfly Blade had her back touching it. He got the desired effect from the electricity going through Ms. Fortune, but she immediately retaliated by stomping on his left foot, then clawing into that leg to lift him.
Nadia: Here, have some more!
She slammed him into the panel, putting a man-shaped dent into it, then tossed him so hard that his left leg came off. As he landed, he tore his own right arm off willingly and tossed it straight for her. Nadia ran right for him, catching it, and before Bryce could detonate it, she tossed it right back to sender.
He just barely managed to block it in time with his Butterfly Blade, dragging him back several feet even as the greatsword was in the floor. Finding Nadia going for a dual stretched arm attack, he combat rolled on just that one leg, then took the embedded blade out with just that arm. She met this with a tail sword swing, but not only did he successfully block it with just one arm, but his one-handed swing after knocked her tail out of her hands.
Bryce: I’m still going strong!
The two-limbed Bryce was surprisingly fast and balanced hopping around and it almost seemed like he was just as strong when down to just one arm.
Bryce: How many lives do you have left?!
Nadia made the decision to catch the next swing with her right hand directly, not only shocking her, but causing blood to drip from her palm. In mid-shock, Nadia’s left arm removed her head, then jabbed his right side, her pointed ears poking into him. He then saw and felt a drill-like sensation as her wrist’s scar allowed her hand to spin, partially piercing into him.
They then both felt that the electricity ceased, to which Ms. Fortune pierced even further, her face nearly disappearing into his coat’s side.
Bryce: Nikki!
The pop star he was assigned to protect came out.
Bryce: Now’s the time, Nikki!
Even with the new pain sensation he was enduring, he finally pushed through to regrow his right arm and pull Nadia’s left out. His left foot returned soon after and booted her away.
Bryce: I won’t win this otherwise!
Bryce swung his greatsword downward to get the Feral’s blood off of it, then, at least as far as he could tell, his opponent’s hand no longer had the wound from before.
Nikki closed her eyes and focused, her arms out and some strange chant, almost like reversed speech, created purple circles with runic-like writing in midair in Ms. Fortune’s direction. The former Fishbone thief was almost tempted to touch it, but kept her distance.
Bryce: Watch over me, Cypher...
He drew his automatic bowguns, which he fired through the circles. Nadia could tell just from sight that the projectiles had been enhanced by them, traveling faster and doing more damage to the area behind her than prior weapons. He found Ms. Fortune trying to get away, to which Nikki’s chanting resumed with another circle forming. A shot through that circle struck her right wrist, knocking it completely off, to which she tossed her head before it could become the next target.
Bryce chased it down, but soon realized this area was where Nadia sent his decapitated head earlier in the fight.
Bryce: The hole...
She had eluded him through that hole she had created slam dunking him before. He fired into the ground all over for the enemy that even the evil eye couldn’t perceive.
Nadia: Nothing personal.
Nikki heard this directly below the floor she stood on and then found Nadia’s head flying straight upward, headbutting her.
Bryce: Nikki!
He then found himself grabbed by Ms. Fortune’s body, which had been riddled by his enhanced bowgun shots. The next thing he knew, her arms and legs stretched so far that he was trapped in a ball composed entirely of her tendons.
Bryce: How is this not painful for you?!
He then was repeatedly juggled and spun in place...
Bryce: Getting serious motion sickness...!
...before being released. He found Nikki nearby him, dazed, if not unconscious, with her back against a tattered pillar.
Nadia: Boo!
Right as he heard this, Ms. Fortune’s head bit into his leg, then traveled upward to his chest and then finally between his neck and shoulder before spraying blood to get away from him.
Bryce: You've messed with the wrong...
He reached for his Butterfly Blade...
...which he just couldn’t find.
Nadia: Looking for something?
Her decapitated body swung his own blade at his legs, downing him.
Bryce: Sweep the leg much?
She struck his arms before he could crawl away, then his head was struck with a golfing stance. Once Nadia found his distance from his body satisfactory, she tossed the Butterfly Blade aside and pursued him.
Bryce: C’mon, keep it together, Bryce!
He was starting to have his body spawn back, starting with his torso and one leg...
...to which Nadia took hold of him by that ankle and swung him into the ground repeatedly. Doing all this with just one hand left indents in the wooden floor, but once Ms. Fortune lifted and slammed him back down with two, Bryce found his right arm detached from the impact.
Nadia: No more kitten around!
His right arm landed near Nikki, whom panicked when she felt it crawl over her foot. She then saw the Butterfly Blade nearby, but the arm crawling nowhere near it.
He found himself down to just the leg that Nadia still gripped as she stretched her leg and arm muscles, beginning to tower over Nikki, and going for the hardest slam possible.
Nikki: G-gross...
She carried the arm directly so that it would take hold of the greatsword’s handle.
Once Bryce noticed this, he took a regeneration vessel, which Nadia couldn’t tell was poking out from his cheek, and crunched it with his teeth. This was a last-ditch effort, his one shot at victory, and what could decide it all.
He felt his right arm return to him and lifted himself upward, then cracked his own leg unnaturally in order to turn around and face his opponent for a surprise greatsword swing.
Nadia: Get ready for a surprise.
Ms. Fortune’s muscles went back into her limbs, her legs lifted off the ground and her arms no longer outstretched. Now Bryce was awkwardly swinging above himself and nowhere near Nadia as she let go of him, then curled into a ball in midair. By the time he reoriented himself and had the aim for a proper swing, he was blinded by a spray of blood, then felt himself launched away by her hand grappling his face, half-blinded with only his evil eye seeing what was transpiring.
Bryce was flung across the church at high speed by the force of Nadia’s sudden separation, but still remained in one piece. Nikki saw that Nadia’s limbs, tail, and wrist with Bryce were arcing back towards Nadia’s head, which was hovering with spraying blood and awaiting the return of her body. The popstar chanted and the incantation spawned another circle directly into the path Bryce was on towards Nadia’s face, whose eyes were closed.
Once Bryce went through the circle, his Butterfly Blade glowed with a medium’s power and he rapidly swung at Nadia, hoping to strike her head in the process. He found that her arms, legs, body, and tail were all strung to her head by the tendons that connected them. This next bit should’ve resulted in a bloody explosion from her whole body reconnecting, but Ms. Fortune found that Bryce’s slices had separated her twelve other pieces from her head, leaving them to fall instead.
Now just a decapitated head facing the immortal demon hunter, she couldn’t spew blood to get away or stop hovering fast enough to drop underneath the incoming downward swing.
Nadia: Ah...
His swing went straight through the top of her head and between her eyes, about to cut her nose in two as well.
Nadia: CHOO!!!
A sneeze of such epic proportions stopped what would’ve been a clean chop in two, not only pushing the Butterfly Blade upward, but striking Bryce with such force that he was sent straight up into the ceiling of the church, then through it. The impact left him with only his torso and right arm still attached and he found his blade just out of his reach.
Ms. Fortune’s head, meanwhile, dropped into the awkward pile of her body and limbs, but to no immediate effect. She then spotted one of Bryce’s legs, which landed below the point where her adversary was sent through the ceiling and was now just inches from her. Nadia’s head, still halfway split, slowly rolled over towards the leg.
Nikki, feeling that Bryce was coming back down, chanted once more for another circle above the hole. Part of the ceiling came down as Bryce swung the Butterfly Blade, which was at its most intense glow yet as he was now wielding it with just one limb remaining.
Ms. Fortune, biting into the discarded leg, then spewed blood to fly upward to meet him. To win this battle, he had no qualms about slicing through his own limb to do so since he knew he could undo the damage in due time. But he then saw the rest of Nadia’s body parts flying upward to catch up to her.
Bryce: I brought company too.
Debris from the church’s ceiling outraced Bryce, knocking his leg from Nadia’s mouth and intercepting her body, sending them back downward. Without the rest of her body to support her, she was without any means with which to fight back.
Bryce: Catch, kitty!
Nadia’s head rotated just enough to attempt catching the Butterfly Blade with her teeth...
...and succeeded.
Bryce: As planned!
He quickly rotated his Butterfly Blade and Nadia’s head to keep her from landing another sneeze...
Bryce: Slice ‘em...!
...then regrew all of his other limbs in midfall to give himself all the weight needed so that their inevitable hard landing would result in a complete chop.
Bryce: ...and Bryce ‘em!
Nadia’s head landed first and Bryce pushed forward with all his might...
...then found himself dangling off the ground, robbed of his momentum. He thought Ms. Fortune’s body parts had been smothered by the debris, but they not only got out of it, but reassembled into a headless body and stretched its limbs’ muscles to catch him.
Her body leaped upward, somersaulting so high up Bryce’s head touched the ceiling, then was detached. As he fell, he saw Nadia’s body condensing back to its normal height and spin once more before finally throwing his body downward. The impact scattered his body with so much force that his limbs were practically pinned to the corners of the church. His torso, about to bounce upward towards him, was pierced through by his Butterfly Blade, then pulled away and pinned to the ground by Nadia’s still headless body.
Nikki: No! Bryce!
Bryce landed hard, a mini crater in the wooden floor, and finding himself worn out from so much limb and body regrowing in such a short period. His adversary, even with a medium backing him up, just kept reassembling and healing...
...but not just from the Life Gem.
Bryce: My blood...
All the times she had used her nails, teeth, tail, and ears to cut his skin...
Bryce: She healed... with my blood.
Ms. Fortune’s head walked over towards the crater on its ears, standing and looking down on him.
Nadia: Nyeow it’s over!
Bryce: You’ve got that right. I give up.
Both Nadia and Nikki didn’t know what to make of this.
Nadia: Huh? You’re not trying to pull my leg, are you?
Bryce: I mean it. I’m exhausted. You’ve figured me out. Take it from a five hundred year old man...
Nadia: You’re getting too old for this shrimp?
Bryce: That about sums it up.
Ms. Fortune’s body picked up her head, then crouched over as Nikki looked back at the two and all the damage that had occurred.
Nikki: W-what about... what about the mission?
Bryce: Look, cat lady, you’re clearly not a demon or working with them. The Life Gem is safe in your paws.
Hearing a car come to a screeching halt, Bryce’s detached right arm began a waving away motion, though clearly facing the wrong direction.
Bryce: Now go on. Get outta here. Quick.
Nadia jumped across several structures to reach the hole in the ceiling, then her head rotated back to the two.
Nadia: Next time, how about food?
Bryce: I don’t eat.
Nikki: Speak for yourself.
Arcadia: Bryce?! Nikki!
Bryce: Okay, fine. Now go.
Once Ms. Fortune left their sight, they heard a door being kicked open and Arcadia running in, looking all around with her pistol drawn.
Nikki: I’m right here.
Arcadia began to lower her guard, then heard the familiar sound of Bryce regrowing his body. She found him lying in a hole shaped like his body and his torso pinned with the Butterfly Blade.
Arcadia: What happened, Bryce? Where’s the target?
Bryce: No need to worry. The target’s not an enemy.
Arcadia: Really? So you just landed on the Butterfly Blade yourself?
Bryce: It’s like that quote from that one radio show. “You do not truly know someone until you fight them.”
After he pulled the Butterfly Blade out, Arcadia offered him a hand up.
Arcadia: I’ve told you before, Bryce, it’s from a movie.
He took it and made his way back to his feet after.
Bryce: I’m positive I heard it on a radio.
Arcadia: And I’m positive it was a movie from this century, I might add.
Bryce: Centuries lose meaning after a while.
The trio headed right for the exit from the church that was by some miracle still intact.
Bryce: Think Sullivan’ll be pissed that I didn’t get the Life Gem?
Arcadia: Just tell him you went down fighting.
Bryce: I really did. Nikki, you can attest to that, can’t you?
Nadia, watching Bryce Boltzmann leaving alongside Nikki and Arcadia from above, smiled.
Nadia: 'til next time, Bryce.
Results[]
Boomstick: K... O-kay, what happened here exactly?
Wiz: This was certainly unexpected to say the least. Nadia and Bryce had surprisingly similar regenerative capabilities. Aside from obviously reattaching limbs, both could survive just about everything they threw at each other.
Boomstick: Bryce’s evil eye literally ensures his survival and the Life Gem could help its wearer survive in a similar way. Lorenzo Medici, when up against Marie, was struck by an incinerating attack that reduced his crew to skeletons and not only survived, but healed so fast as to appear unaffected by it. That was just from having the Life Gem on his person and Nadia ate the dang gem, so she could absolutely replicate that.
Wiz: That said, Nadia has perished in two timelines at least and it was brought about by not simply crushing force, but compressing her on such a molecular level that the Life Gem was all that remained, leaving no trace of Ms. Fortune left for the gem to heal.
Boomstick: Bryce’s guns and Butterfly Blade really weren’t suited to doing anything like that. Remember when that thunder god with the hammer couldn’t make use of an Amazon’s vulnerability to piercing weapons? Well both Nadia and Bryce found themselves in that boat against each other.
Wiz: As for simply removing the source of their unkillability, Nadia couldn’t hope to just snatch the evil eye. It is linked to Lord Astaroth, the one who grafted it onto him, and his to take away from Bryce if he so chooses.
Boomstick: Ditto for Bryce and the Life Gem. He couldn’t just go Kali Ma on Nadia and retrieve it. In Cerebella’s story, Ms. Fortune referred to the Life Gem’s power as flowing through her veins. Whether that makes the gem a powder or mixed with her DNA itself, there wasn’t any way for Bryce to single it out. *groans* This is a DEATH Battle and they... they just couldn’t die... at all. So how isn’t Ms. Fortune VS Bryce Boltzmann a draw?
Wiz: Without a means with which for either combatant to kill the other, the question became... who would win?
Boomstick: A call back. Nice. And there’s only two ways this could end: by knockout or forfeit. Nadia can be exhausted and knocked out. Her time out animation has her appearing so worn out that she literally falls to pieces, no longer able to keep herself together. Considering how long Bryce’s back-to-back missions against waves of demons can go compared to your average Skullgirls fight, it stands to reason that he could outlast Ms. Fortune in a prolonged bout.
Wiz: But Bryce has never faced anything like Nadia before. Not just her healing, but her wit. She could recognize the means with which he recovers his limbs and torso, and therefore adjust her strategies. Anything from keeping Bryce separated from them to pouncing on him the moment he starts respawning them.
Boomstick: Which, yeah, isn’t instantaneous and takes a moment. Though it should be noted that Bryce’s limbs don’t come off from just a light touch... unless you use the optional Fragile ability because the game isn’t hard enough for you already... but rather, every attack that does scatter his body parts could very easily do the same to a normal human. Nadia would have to hit and slash him pretty hard to pull that off.
Wiz: Which, with the roster she stands amongst, she absolutely could. Recall that she has battled Big Band. He battled Peacock, an anti-Skullgirl weapon not only capable of threatening Marie, but even Annie, a centuries old warrior who has experience fighting other Skullgirls.
Boomstick: And we’re not saying she scales to Big Band since she isn’t shown standing triumphant over him, but she can hang with that company, even if this isn’t the Ms. Fortune that defeated Marie. Okay, well what about speed? What if Nadia couldn’t even touch him? Or what if he could always land strikes first?
Wiz: And now that brings us to NeverDead’s gameplay abilities. Not in regards to them being canonical or noncanonical, but rather interpreting their effects. Let’s look at four of them, starting with Aim Snap.
Boomstick: So the moment the player aims, he locks onto someone. Handy for gameplay, but more likely just a way of showcasing Bryce’s marksmanship, not a literal instantaneous lock-on. Next, Auto Combat Roll, where he automatically does that regarding flying objects. Well, Nadia doesn’t possess long range weaponry and even her head wouldn’t count since even when separated, every part of her is living. So kinda wasted here.
Wiz: Combat ‘n’ Roll increases the period in which he is invincible while combat rolling.
Boomstick: Oooh, does it make him INVINCIBLE?!
Wiz: If taken completely literally, as in Bryce cannot be harmed when doing so, Ms. Fortune would eventually decipher this and simply land hits right as his roll concludes.
Boomstick: Lastly, there’s the big one, Sixth Sense. On paper, it seems like he can go Max Payne Bullet Time in response to any danger whatsoever. Before you can even unlock it, Bryce pre-evil eye uses it against the goofball Sangria. So this should let him always have a leg up on Nadia, right? Well here is the actual in-game description of Sixth Sense: “Game enters slow-mo when YOU are in danger. Highly recommended! Single Player only”. So it’s not canon Spider-Sense or time slowing, but a gameplay mechanic for the player’s use.
Wiz: I think it’s more than safe to say that they’re representative of Bryce’s reaction speed. How quickly he aims and reacts. But it turns out speed wasn’t the determining factor for this fight: it was his blood.
Boomstick: When we first came up with this match-up, we knew Bryce could lose his limbs and pop ‘em back on, but believe me, we had NO IDEA his blood had healing properties. It’s the last thing we would have ever expected from an immortality curse brought about by a demon king. So Nadia’s not a vampire and using someone’s blood for her benefit isn’t really her first instinct, but one of her special moves is Nadia’s decapitated head biting her opponent, so she was bound to get his blood without even trying to. Heck, she could’ve gotten his blood from her various claw and toe nail strikes or her hardened ear stabs and tail sword swings.
Wiz: But once she was aware of damage dealt by Bryce being healed by his blood, Ms. Fortune had the means with which to stay in the fight until the very end. His blood is always replenishing, much like Nadia’s, so there was no limit as to how much she could leech from him.
Boomstick: Now what would force Bryce to forfeit? The simple fact that Nadia just had the better overall, uh, body control. So both could reattach limbs, but when Bryce loses his limbs, outside of the respawn, he has to go collect them. And if his head’s knocked off, his body is basically out of it.
Wiz: This was the opposite case for Nadia, whose body could operate independently and accurately without her head. Even when in multiple pieces, her scattered parts not only know to come back to her head, but could use jets of blood to make coming back a much easier endeavor.
Boomstick: Now Bryce’s knocked off arms firing weapons is all well and good, but they can’t aim for crap, so respawning them was the better bet. And once he used it up and had to wait, he was forced to collect them. And Nadia could make the whole process absolutely miserable until the next respawn. Bryce may not eat and is generally tired of everything from centuries of living, but he CAN get tired. And dealing with a cat girl that just won’t stay down feeding off him, taking his weapons from him, tearing him to pieces, and lunging at him each time he puts himself back together would be like a never ending shift at work. A quick process? No, but much easier for her than him trying to knock her out with his guns and Butterfly Blade.
Wiz: Bryce Boltzmann is a truly unstoppable warrior with the will to fight on until his foes have fallen, but when faced with Nadia’s total body control, regeneration, creativity, and cleverness, he was forced into an unwinnable situation and left with no other option but to throw in the towel.
Boomstick: With blood like his and his Ms. Fortune to boot, the odds of a Boltzmann win were Nadia.
Wiz: The winner is Ms. Fortune.
Next time...[]
Boomstick: Next time on Death Battle...
(*cues The RZA - Combat)
“Af-ro!”
(*pauses at 0:13*)
A record needle atop of a vinyl record whose golden center has “AFRO SAMURAI” written on it is lifted, stopping it. It then zooms out to a dual turntable, where another vinyl is placed on the opposing side. An arm covers the text on the orange center of this record while the hand places that respective needle on top of it. Beatboxing ensues as the vinyl starts spinning. The arm then uncovers it, revealing red kanji and white text spelling out...
“Samurai Champloo!”
(*cues Force of Nature - Sneak Chamber)
SAMURAI SWORDS
meet HIP-HOP!
DECEMBER!
Comparison[]
Ms. Fortune[]
- + Greater control over her body and head
- + More creative and unpredictable fighting style
- + Losing limbs & head weren’t a complete liability
- + Could use Bryce’s blood to outlast him
- = Both unkillable to each other
- - Not as experienced in combat
- - Lacked ranged weaponry aside from head throw
- - Unable to steal Bryce’s eye
Bryce Boltzmann[]
- + Greater experience
- + Had long range weaponry
- + Could respawn his limbs and torso...
- = Both unkillable to each other
- - ...but has to wait after each respawn
- - Losing limbs & head make him vulnerable
- - Arsenal unsuited to kill Nadia
- - Blood could be utilized by Nadia
Trivia[]
- The connection between these two is that both Ms. Fortune and Bryce Boltzmann were formerly mortals who, after losing someone they cared about (Nadia lost her adopted family, the Fishbone gang, while Bryce lost his wife Cypher), they were both rendered immortal and essentially undying by items that became a part of them (Nadia swallowed the Life Gem while Bryce had the evil eye grafted onto him). They are both most well-known for being able to survive and reassembled from dismemberment, and can even willingly detach parts of themselves, most notably their own heads.
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