Aviara giggled as she led Killian up onto the roof. The cool air of a moonless night teased out her dark hair.

"Wow, Killian I thought you were all 'magic ring' and 'saving Evmore', but you're actually pretty cool," she wondered aloud as she put her hands on the rooftop railings.

"What can I say?" Fred chuckled, "Rigor mortis can get pretty chilly." She laughed again. Whoever this 'Killian' guy was, he had good taste in babes!

"Alright, out of that costume, we should probably get back." She latched her fingers on the edge of his face and pulled. "That's... Strange... It doesn't seem to be coming off..." She tugged harder but her fingers slipped on his sickly skin. "Wait a minute," The horror of realization dawned in her eyes. "That's not a costume!"

"It was supposed to be?"

"This is a costume party! You're not even Killian, are you?!"

"When the afterlife gives you lemons..." Fred shrugged with a little sigh.

"Who the hell are you-!" That was when she felt something around her waist and looked to see his hand much further south down her back than she was comfortable with. "Oh right," she muttered sardonically, "You must be 'dead meat'."

Aviara spun out of Fred's grip and twisted his arm behind his back in one fluid pirouette. She sent him forward with a swift kick and drew a pair of gold daggers from the sheaths at her hips.

"Aww, baby, don't be like that," Fred simpered, "I thought we had a real connection!"

"The only connection we're going to have is my knife with your face!" She ran at him full throttle. Fred raised his scuffed aluminium bat just in time to meet her deadly overhead strike. She bore down against his defenses over and over, until she realized he didn't really have any and plunged her dagger straight through his chest. Aviara's eyes lit up in triumph.

"I'm hit!" Fred cried out. "Goodbye, cruel world..." He laid a hand melodramatically against his head. His blue eyes suddenly popped open, "Oh wait, never mind.Shoryuken!" Aviara staggered back, her jaw still smarting from the brutal uppercut.

"But how-!"

"Swing away, Merrill!" Fred cut her off with a wide swing of his bat. It collided with the edge of her dagger, but the strength of his swing knocked her off balance. He followed up with a series of brutal overhead strikes that she had to deflect or clumsily roll out of the way of, lest he crack her skull! Aviara's back collided with the railing. Fred raised the bat over her head. She marshalled all her strength to meet his attack, this time catching his bat in the scissor-grip of her crossed daggers. A grin spread his papery white skin.

"This is Spartaaaa!" His shoe connected heavily with her chest; every alarm in her head went off as she felt herself tipping over the railing.

Aviara's hand shot out with lightning-quick reflexes and latched onto the railing. She looked down as one of her daggers spiraled down to the streets below with a wink of gold. Far below. Breathing hard, she looked up into Fred's face as he leaned on the railing.

"So, how about that date?" he smiled appealingly. Aviara's face twisted in confusion.

"What? NO! Not if you were the last man on Earth!" She held out her hand and Fred felt his feet lift off the ground.

"Woah-"

"I'm not interested!" With a flick of her wrist, she sent him flying over the railing.

"I'll pick you up at eeeeeight!" his voice faded into the distance. Aviara hung from the railing, panting softly. That was the strangest opponent she'd faced in a while. And she'd just fought demons in Evmore!

Aviara took the elevator down and stepped out on the street, scanning the black asphalt for the telltale glint of gold that was her dagger.

"Looking for this?" The voice behind her made her jump and spin around with a vicious kick across the face. She gasped as she saw Fred gripping his jaw, her dagger in his other hand. He relocated his unhinged mandible with a quick twist.

"Wow, that one probably hurt!"

"What are you doing here?!" Aviara backed up in alarm.

"What? It's eight."

Aviara scrambled onto the roof of a car: something, anything to put some distance between her and that shambling corpse! Whipping out her bow, she quickly notched an arrow and pulled the string taut.

"Was it something I said?" Fred held his arms out. She let it fly. The arrow drove itself through his shoulder. It was quickly followed up by another and another, but all it seemed to do was make the zombie step back.

"Why. Don't. You. Die?!" she cried over the rhythmic twang of her bowstring.

"Been there, done that, sweetheart," winked Fred. The arrow that punctuated that was off mark, burying itself straight through his knee. Fred winced, more at the sight than with any real pain reaction. He grinned, "You know, I used to be an adventurer like you," Aviara narrowed her eyes, drawing her last arrow back.

"Don't you dare say it..." It whistled through the air. Fred's eyes widened as it shot through his chest, his dead heart skewered on the end like a macabre version of William's apple.

"That actually felt important..." A satisfied grin tweaked Aviara's lips as he fell backwards, until the impact with the ground rather gracelessly shoved his heart back into his chest. Fred gasped aloud, "Much better." He stood, but he wasn't standing for long as water surged from the storm drains, and up through the sewer grate. Aviara thrust her hand forward, sending a tidal wave of dirty water crashing down the street.

When the water drained away again, there was no sign of Fred. She nodded in satisfaction and turned around. That was when she heard the sound of an ignition, and an engine roaring to life. Aviara whipped around, wide eyed, as the spot on which she stood was bathed in the headlights of the truck hurtling towards her. And in the driver's seat was that damned dead man...

"No!" She raised her hands in defense. The ground beneath the truck split and caved, but it was too little, too late. The truck groaned, the tires squealed as it swung wide and tipped. It was only as the giant, cylindrical tank toppled off its bearings that Aviara realized it was a gasoline truck.

Fire raged around Aviara's safe radius. She had her hands held out, manipulating the fire up and around her, but she was unharmed. 'That was a close one...' But at least there was no way that Fred could've survived the blast. Or so she thought until she saw the black figure shambling towards her, its outline growing clearer through the flames as it closed in.

"Heeeeere's Johnny!" Fred stuck his head through the curtain of flames; Aviara shrieked. The next thing she knew, his flaming fist was rocketing towards her. "Falcon puuunch!"

Aviara was sent flying onto the asphalt. Before she'd even come to a full stop, Fred wrenched her up by the shoulder and dug his teeth into her neck. Aviara fell to the ground, motionless, the greater part of her throat missing. Fred sat beside her, patting out flames and chewing thoughtfully as he waited.

"Hurry up and change, dear, I have reservations at nine."

K.O.! Victor: Deadbeat Fred!

Analysis: Let me tell you a little something about zombies. The only reason they haven't taken over the world is because they're stupid. Zombies are superior to the average human being in almost every respect. They are stronger, sometimes faster, and react nonchalantly to most forms of blunt force trauma and, well, trauma in general. Blow of an arm? A leg? No problem! What we have with Fred is a whole 'nother beast. If he has the cognitive capabilities to grasp the concept of humor and salvage vehicles, then he is a thinking being. And you may scoff at his video game tutelage in the art of butt-kicking, but remember that video game moves are inherently superhuman. If he can pull off some of those, there's no question as to his speed, strength and coordination. While Aviara is a force to be reckoned with, packing speed, agility and a small selection of supernatural powers, she is a speed fighter. The typical speed fighter's 'kill it with bug bites' strategy would've been ineffectual against Fred: a fighter who is indifferent to pain and hardy in the face of most attacks. Aviara simply lacked the brute force she would've needed to incapacitate a raving tank like Fred.

Credits:

juneirenekim for Aviara Skye

krazydiamond for Deadbeat Fred

Bio 1

Name: Aviara Skye

Age: 18

Gender: Female

Species: Human

Appearance: long dark hair, blue eyes, slightly tan, average height (167cm)

Personality: She tries to be optimistic and cheerful most of the time. She can be very persistent to the point of being stubborn and drives her point home if she knows she is right. Luckily, she knows when to back down, although this happens rarely. She can be impulsive sometimes, especially when it comes to her family. She tries to be reasonable and rational but if anyone threatens her family all her self control will fly out the window.

History: Her parents were killed in a freak accident a few years ago and the antagonist is threatening the life her of siblings.

Arsenal: mostly long double daggers with golden hilts, sometimes uses bow and arrow

Abilities: telekineses, able to manipulate a little of the four elements (mostly fire)

Fighting Style: She knows she isn't the strongest person out there so uses her speed as an advantage. She's also training to be as cunning as possible and uses tricks that help her slip out of the opponent's grip.

Bio 2

Name: Deadbeat Fred

Age: Unknown (possibly late 20's at time of initial death)

Species: Mutated Zombie

Appearance: Blond, scruffy, paper white skin, black veins, grungy hoodie, nightmare smile, and crystal cracked blue eyes.

Personality: Goofball, hooligan, will grope female companion if opportunity arises. Protective of friends, relatively easy going but has a bit of a temper. Treats bickering like an art form.

Background: spent the better part of a decade as a mindless zombie. It gives a bit a perspective into death. Human life is all a bit foggy at the moment. Can remember pop culture references but not concrete memories. Wonders if he was a good person in life.

Arsenal: A bent aluminum bat. Oh and these glorious fists of justice!

Abilities: Physically: Hard to kill, high pain tolerance, and strong enough to wrestle a bear. Mentally: Snark, lots of Snark. Fred has also proven to be a handy grease monkey, salvaging vehicles with few tools.

Armor: Unless you count ace bandages, none. Fred has sustained some pretty impressive damage, including surviving a hole blown through his chest, healed with a quick bite *wink*

Fighting Style: No real concrete fighting style. Picked up most of his moves from video games. He doesn't know karate but he knows ka-razy.