Streets of Durem

STREETS OF DUREM

The dark alleys of Durem bring the fight right to the spectators, where fighters engage in a classic streetfight.

Terrain

General - Spectators at either end of the alley, Minor obstacles (dumpsters, garbage, a car, etc.)

Weapons - None

Natural Element Resource - None

Bonus Effects - None

Not long after Sun had arrived, Silver showed up, slowly striding down the alleyway at his usual pace. He was rubbing at his neck with one hand, checking his location on the FIGHTER on the other wrist. His hair was wild as usual. Maybe it just naturally looked that way. At anyrate, Silver looked like he'd slept on the floor.

He was still wearing the Glacier jersey and scarf, even if the weather didn't really nessecitate them. And even if it did, Silver's unusual body temperature often really made up for warm clothes. He musta just liked the style.

"Hey, Sun, you made it. Great. Whe--"

A big yawn.

"Where are the others?"

Silver grinned back.

"Heh, I almost expected that of him. He probably wouldn't even be on the team if rules didn't require an alternate... s'nice of him to help us out if we need it, though... I just hope Shou makes it on time..."

Silver's eyes turned to the other end of the alleyway, the citizens of Durem's forms barely visible as they passed through the sunlight that flooded into one of the only two oppenings, going about their daily business. Not even many spectators had shown up yet.

Silver let out a loud laugh, while scratching at his head.

"Hahaha, what the? I'm early? That's a first. I musta accidently took the shortest route..."

He briefly examined the walls of they alley that would be their battleground, taking note of the height and narrowness, before he turned back to Sun, a big smile on his face.

"So, you ready?"

Silver nodded.

"Good. Don't let any of that other stuff bother you. This fight is what's important right now. You're a good guy, Sun. Everything else'll clear up, I'm sure of it. As for our opponents..."

He crossed his arms over his chest.

"Nope!"

Silver had shouted that triumphantly, almost as if he were proud of the fact.

"Don't know a thing. Never met any of 'em. I think they're representing some corporation or kingdom from way outta town. I think their pet dog is also on the team, for some reason..."

"Pet...dog?" Sun gave Silver a sidelong look and was about to ask more when they were interupted by an opponent that was more then a little unexpected.

He blinked in surprise. She was cute! Not in the creepy oh my god your going to jail way...but in the cuddly toy way, which might have been worse, depending on viewpoint.

That was a serious looking weapon she carried too, which, strangely enough, accentuated the "awww" factor...why, was anyone's guess.

"Are you? Wow, surprises just keep following this event, don't they..."

"......"

She wasn't paid enough for this.

"Riiiiiiight." After 1/10th of a second of reconsidering, Bubbles decided to ignore the guy with the scarf, and turned around toward the other one who talked first. "Surprises, really?" A shrug. "Anyway, miss Blazestar and Lazenca Miranda should be here in a few minutes. They had an autograph session and a press conference to attend before coming, please excuse them."

Dang, she was such a good secretary. Another smile followed, of course.

Sun's own grin was properly genuine in reply to her smile.

"No problem, small one, we're patient-types. Didn't catch your name, though, I'm Sun, and the strange guy is Silver. Our other teammate is also a bit late, he's Shouyin."

The trashcan was yet again employed into the duel task of holding trashbags and Sunstrike as he sighed and leaned against the wall.

"This isn't going to be a problem when the others of your team show up, is it?"

EDIT: His eyes lit up. "Taki! Baby, darling, beautiful godess of the divine chambers of my heart!" It had been a while, but he still recognized her <3 <3

"Shou's momentarily delayed, and Vahn does what he wants." Was the simple reply to her question.

"Oh, hey Taki! I'm as set as a computer, no worries." She grinned. Bubbles actually hadn't expected Taki to show up right away, but she didn't mind. The more the merrier. "You know them?"

A shrug. Then came out the name of Shouyin. Of course, she laughed. Loud.

"Whaaaaaaat? You guys got Shou-lazy-a**-good-for-nothing-yin on your team? Oh my, don't bother waiting for him. He's as useless as they get."

Yeah, as the one printing out the paychecks for Blazestar Empire, Bubbles knew Shouyin quite well. As you can see, she held the "bodyguard" in quite high esteem.

"Oh, right." She almost forgot. "I'm Bubbles Suanen, personal secretary to Lania Blazestar. Nice t'meet you guys."

There was a chuckle, a flash of white, blue, and red, and Taki was suddenly lifted in a bearhug of a warm embrace.

"Of course I remember you, Taki! How could I forget your beautiful legs-...face!" The words were playful but the heart was true. It was good to see her. There were waaayy too many new people around here that he had no idea about.

It was somehow comforting to see her, even if she were on the opposite side of the line, as it were.

"Iyaaah."

The wolf yawned and looked around. There more people gathering as more of the fighters were around. Some were making their own side bets about who was going to be winning between the teams. None dared to push into the alley, though. They at least knew how hardcore it could get when it wanted to get hardcore. The next best thing was to watch from the rooftops. Laz looked up at some of the people, then down to everyone else who was around.

"I had to change clothes, sorry."

"Um. Sure." Lazenca looked up again to the crowd on the roof. He found the two faces he were looking for... an angel and another wolf. And then, back to the ally to address the competition.

"You're Team Glacier, then? Which one is Silver, and which one is Sunstrike?" Oh, he noticed one getting all huggy with Taki. Just didn't mention it, because it didn't matter much.

"Fraternizing with the enemy, eh? You'll get me into trouble, beautiful lady, and I like that." He put her down and winked. "We'll see what I can do. But no promises, m'a bit of a heartbreaker after all."

He waved happily at the new arrivals while still staying close to Taki.

"Greets guys, m'Sunstrike! You're alright, as I said, we're pretty patient, and in the end, all four of yours are here before ours. But we can start the first fight whenever you're ready!"

Silver turned back around to find the rest of Blazestar had already showed up. He was a bit surprised, but only mostly because Shou STILL wasn't there.

He stepped forward and stopped next to Sun.

"I'm Silver, Glacier's captain. I'm sorry, but our third isn't here yet. We don't really need our fourth, but I'd like for at least the three active members to be present..."

He carefully eyed the whole opposing team up and down, taking particular intrest in Lazenca. He elbowed Sun in the side and spoke quietly out the side of his mouth.

"See, I told you they had a dog..."

Of course, you didn't really need the acute senses of a wolf to hear that.

Oh, how dull he was.

"I can hear you. I'm right here."

Pause.

"And I'm not a dog." He actually sounded a bit irritated. But that's like calling an eagle, a chicken.

"Oh, hum." Shouyin came a'striding in, friggin' koul as ever, even yawning a little, just to show how nonchalant he was about being that damn late. He grinned in that way he grinned and leaned his back against the alley wall, looking over at Laz, Bubbles, Lania, and that other person.

But mostly Lania, she was looking pretty.

"Sunstrike, Silver." A wave and he looked up to the sky, kinda daydreaming.

"One of you guys go first."

Maybe that had been a little too loud.

Silver blinked a few times in the long silence between them.

"Oh... How... awkward..."

Silver hadn't really ever cared much for details. Eagles really were just overgrown chickens to him, anyway. He'd eat both. Infact, he had. And they both tasted good.

"Uh, anyway, let's forget I said anything. Wouldn't want to get started off on the wrong foot, ya know? I'd hate for us to be mad at each other while beating each other up."

He offered his hand.

"Like I said, I'm Silver. You must be Lanzenca. It's an honor to meet you and your team."

He glanced back over his shoulder, hearing his last team mate finally show up.

"'Bout time, Shou."

"Lazenca. And I don't do the 'shake' trick. All is well, don't worry about it."

He huffed. "We'll figure it out later. Bubbles...."

Lania rolled her eyes at Laz. It wasn't as much at Lazenca as it was at the topic. Like Sacara could ever leave her alone, y'know? He'd understand.

"You're not responsible for the damage that might be done to her, Taki, so I don't see why you'd pay for it. Unless you plan on hacking her to pieces during the fight for unknown purposes."

Pause, during which her tail had released hold of her leg and settled for whipping itself casually against the ground behind her.

"Go for it, Bubz. Try not to blow yourself up too much."

"Sac--"

"I'm on it."

Just in case Lania was going to go second, Sacara started to work on the tattoo. Did La think that her wonderful demon companion was going to be needed fully? Not at all. The tattoo was for other reasons.

Well, Taki hadn't technically volunteered to take the first battle, she had just suggested a couple of matchups. It was really up to Lazenca to decide who on Blazestar he thought would be good for fighting each of the three active members on Glacier.

Turning around to walk back over by her teammates, Taki also gave a minute shake of her rump that only Sunstrike would have noticed. Or, she hoped he'd be the only one to notice. It was aimed at him, after all.

It would be an interesting process, there was no doubt about that. Lazenca-sama had an, eerie way of picking who you least expected for a job. She had come to know this for quite some time, in here opinion, at least.

Leaning over to Lania, she whispered as quietly as she could in Queenie's ear, "Don't worry about who's responsible, I've got too much money as it is, trust me."

"Wha?"

Silver appeared puzzled for a moment, before busting out laughing.

"Oh, hahahaha, I get it! Dog! Shake! Honestly, I hadn't really thought-Hahahaha..."

He continued to laugh long after Laz had walked away and Bubbles stepped up. He hadn't really been paying attention to anything else said, somehow having gotten set up to fight with her.

"Hahaha, yeah, sure, let's--Huh'wha?! Wait, what? You?! Aww man, I hate fighting girls..."

I mean, what if my hands land on her--...

His face turned bright red at just thinking about it.

((Sorry, comp trouble. Thanks, Pat. Good luck.))

Silver vs. Bubbles

Are you ready? It's cool! Let's enjoy a great showtime.

Flat as a board or not, hitting a girl in the chest was still hitting a girl in the chest. Silver just sighed. Nothing he could do about it now, he guessed.

He turned around and moved back closer to his team's "side" of the alley, closer to Shou and Sun, before spinning back around to face his opponent.

Silver shut his eyes and lowered his head, raising his right hand to about eye level. He snapped his fingers a couple of times, only sparks shooting out between them. The third, and final time, his whole hand ignited in a bright, silvery glame. He let it burn for only a few moments before opening his hand and clentching his fist tight, extinguishing it, the last of the flames escaping from between his fingers.

"Ikuze..."

With that, he took up his fighting stance, raising both arms with fists clentched, and widening his legs a little.

Round 1

Heaven or Hell?

LET'S ROCK!

Silver literally sprang into action, short jumping forward to close the gap between him and Bubbles, but landing before he actually got to her, not launching an arial assault.

As he landed, he stepped in close, his left arm staying up but his right arm going down. He would attempt to move in and make a quick strike aimed at her gut.

It was true, Silver hadn't quite expected her to meet him head on, but he was pleased at her spirit. She had moxy, even if unbeknownst to him it was just a program. At least this was gonna be interesting.

With the mallet still attached to her back coming at his face, Silver quickly jerked his upper body back, opting to dodge it completely. With his left arm still up, he could have attempted some sort of block, but the thing was huge. The weight behind it was going to be trouble if it hit him.

He turned his head to the side, narrowly escaping the blunt face of the hammer. Just as it'd passed, he leaned forward again, brining his right arm back and up, and sent his left across in a hook aimed for his opponent's head.

What the? Straight past me?

Silver whirled around and brought both arms up to the ready. What the mallet did to the pavement was a little unsettling.

"I still cant believe that thing lega-Woah!"

She was already coming at him again. He planted his feet, and his right arm came across his body to block the blow. His left remained up, ready, but didn't counter attack. Instead, he waited for her next move.

Silver gazed intently into the face of his opponent.

No emotions at all. Either she's very good or...

Then the hydaulic power packed fist shot forward.

A machine!

Silver was pushed back, his own arm being hammered into his gut. He'd been expecting something tricky, but that was certainly a surprise. He slid back across the ground and fell backwards.

But not entirely because he pushed or thrown off balance. When she leapt at him, he'd let himself fall. Silver's still up left arm caught Bubbles' right arm around the wrist, pulling it up and away from his chest and over his left shoulder. Didn't want to take another hydraulic pump in the sternum now.

As he fell, his other arm reached for the colar of his opponent's shirt, and his right foot came up to meet her gut. His back hit the ground, but he rolled with the momentum, using his own and his opponents to attempt to throw her over himself, pushing up with the foot planted on her and letting go with both hands to send her flying.

All of this close combat was quite interesting, actually. Watching this match so closely was showing him how much mobility he was going to have, and if they were basing it off of Silver, the level of the competition they were facing. Besides, CQC was nice to look at because in the movies, it was always fast.

"..." Lazenca lowered his head and narrowed his eyes. At about the time that Bubbles launched her rocket punch, Lazenca took of without a word. He used the sound of hydraulic whirring and skidding to mask his steps a bit, since he was a bit sure that that loud relase and the subsequent redraw of that arm would serve its purpose.

For a wolf 2x the size of any Gaian breed, he was fast. Really, really fast. With a starting point that truly was a matter of feet between the fighters and the Blazestar side- nobody moved back too far at all, remember?- he was able to make it to Silver at about the time that he judo-tossed Bubbles overhead. While his mechanical teammate went above, Lazenca went from below. It was a narrow miss, what with all that weight Bubbles was lugging making her a victim of gravity and all, but the paths crossed without a problem.

Taking advantage of Silver's downed position, Lazenca waited just until he and Bubbles cleared each other to shift up to his Transitional [humanoid] state. He didn't follow Hollywood rules- his shift was almost instant, and his crouching body would end up next to Silver's still upraised legs... right side of his body. The left hand snagged, and with a quick twist plus a upward bust of leg power, the right hand clamped on.

"Urrgh... ah!" Snarl was released as the momentum from his run carried through that lift... Silver's body was violently yanked from the ground, and after a short counter-clock bursting rotation, released in the direction of the nearest building's wall.

Force, velocity, mass, air pressure, wind, flies that would get in the way and slow down her decent, the oxygen Shouyin waisted as he spoke. All of it was calculated from within Bubbles, and the answer data shot straight to her limbs. Mid-air, the robot girl flipped to land on her feet and right hand.

Silver went flying. Bubbles had been sent in the lenght of the alley, while Lazenca had thrown Silver at one of the side walls, the one to her left. Quickly, planning to get there before he could recover, the robot lunged at him again, left arm straightened out to grab Silver by the throat.

(( 13 ))

Silver was suddenly pulled off the ground and flung to the side by his leg rather violently.

"Huwha?!"

Oh, right. The Striker system. Clever of them to use it while the front man was incapacitated.

Silver slammed into the wall back first, causing it to cave slightly around his person, unsettling the bricks and mortar of which it was composed. A few of the looser ones fell free and hit the ground around him with loud 'clak'ing sounds.

That had been unpleasant, but if his opponent really was a machine, there would be no time to dwell on it. She would likely waste no time to press her assault with mechanical efficiency.

Through eyes squinted in pain, he saw her coming. He gritted his teeth and grunted in pain and annoyance. Rather than block or deflect the arm, he dropped his body straight down, crouching to narrowly avoid it completely. Staying infront of those things was dangerous with hydraulics behind them.

At the same time, he brought his right arm back to his side and clentched the fist tight. He shot back up, leading with the fist in an uppercut. He aimed to impact her body, and drag the fist all the way up to strike her chin.

Whether the fist actually hit or not, just beyond it it would generate a wave of heat pressure that would explode with fiery force.

"DYNAMITE... APPA!!!"

Blazestar had used their Striker first, thus demonstrating it's effectiveness. Silver hated being made an example of. Someone would burn.

The little combination wasn't through, however. Silver's Dynamites had a tendency to chain if connected successfully. That's the way they were designed.

As soon as the right fist hit it's apex, it immediately came back down and his body twisted to the right, putting his left side forward. His legs bent with his body leaning back slightly, and the left fist shot up in a short uppercut followed by a small explosion to "bounce" the airborn Bubbles again, up and slightly away to give him enough room for the final move.

"DYNAMITE BREAK!"

The left fist would then come back down as his body twisted back to the left, putting his right side forward again. At the same time, he would attempt to step and turn in with his right shoulder, sending his right fist into Bubble's body with a right straight. Upon impact, the fist would erupt with explosive force once again, and hopefully send Bubbles flying into the far wall.

"DYNAMITE STRAIGHT!"

The explosive force had done the trick, sending her flying. Unfortunately, the crafty girl/robot had latched onto Silver's favorite piece of neck apparel.

This was why super heroes didn't wear capes.

He was jerked forward off his feet by his neck and pulled along with her. With the narrow alley offering only a split second before they both his the all, he did the only thing he could thing of.

He turned his body slightly more to the left and bent his arm so the elbow pointed at Bubbles. He jerked his head to his left in hopes to place Bubbles grip on the scarf more on the side of his neck.

When Bubbles hit the wall, the momentum carrying Silver would plow his elbow into her sternum, or mechanical equivalent. Depening on whether the impact of the wall caused her to let go of the scarf or not, it would mostly be torn clear off his neck, issuing him a neck sprain, severe choking, and possibly friction burn, but at least Bubble's hand wouldn't be in his throat.

Bricks and mortar dust went everywhere, leaving Silver and Bubbles momentarily enshrouded in a thick haze of the stuff.

Silver was indeed left laying ontop of Bubbles, but he remained there for only a moment before pushing himself up into a sitting position with one arm, the other rubbing at his neck, he hacking and coughing at the dust and from the choking all the while.

He sat up, sort of straddling his opponent's body. Sexy, kinda. He took several heavy breaths before looking down at his opponent to examine her, taking particular interest in the exposed metal of her jaw.

"Jeez, you aren't as pretty without your makeup on. You ready to call it quits or what?"

"This time... we're giving her a pirate body, damn it. Or one that doesn't damage as easily. Damn that Gouken, he should've worked on Bubbles before the tournament."

"Hey, watch where you put those ha-ZRRTARGH!"

Silver spasmed slightly from electric shock and threw himself backwards off his opponent, staggering and scrambling to his feet. He was a tough customer, the shock hadn't been enough to incapacitate him, but it still hurt, and momentarily mixed up his nerve signals.

Once on his feet, he shook off to get his arms to listen to him again. His clothing and body slightly smoking. He was more than a little annoyed.

He stepped forward again on his left, raising his right foot high. He would bring his down in a hard stomp, hoping to drive his foot and his opponent into the floor before she could get up.

Lazenca yawned. "A pirate body with pirate booty. And a pirate chest, because she mentioned not wanting to be the main figute in any ***** fantasy. It shouldn't be hard to get that done at all... just tell them to add some flesh up front and in the back."

Then he looked around, taking a look at the crowd before watching the fight again. "It's not like she likes humans at all so I don't know who she's trying to impress, though."

Taki twitched Lazenca's remarks. "Hey, I wouldn't want to either. So unless your being serious, I advise not mocking someone with a hydraulic punch, and a stungun in her hand. Anyways, money's no issue, as I've noted."

"I doubt you make enough to be able to pay for repairs for something like Bubbles, Taki. Besides, money isn't the issue."

Siiigh.

"Oh, Laz. I say we keep her flat. Or give her three breasts."

(( Silver should be out by now, what with all the rolling back. Bubbles is following. ))

Good thing with being a robot: Bubbles' power supply was still half-full. Now on her feet again, Bubbles stepped toward the hole they made. She wasn't a pretty sight. Her jaw was unhinged, skinless and metallic, and so was her right arm. She still had her left hand as a weapon though, and more than enough whoopass to beat Silver up.

Okay, back to action. There were still a few loose bricks at the edge of the hole. As she hurried out, the robot kicked at one of them, her steel toes sending the brick flying up to Silver's chest.

(( 7 ))

"Well, I was thinking... with a breast on her forehead, nobody could be accused of staring at her chest. They'd all be staring just above her eyes, which is good enough."

He got up, then started pacing. "She's going to like... crash the entire network if we do that to her."

Bubbles hopped out of her hole and went in the alley to face Silver, too. It seemed the match wasn't just over yet. They were getting ready for a second round of kickingthecrapoutofeachother, now. This time with a small difference.

The robot leaned down to pick up something on the ground, keeping an eye on Silver at all time and being sure no one pulls a striker on her. Then she got back up, her left hand wrapped around the pole of her hammer.

Her teammates were so dead as soon as she was done with Silver.

(( 6 ))

Without an arm, it'd be a bit harder, but she didn't care. As Silver was getting closer, the robot put down the mallet's head onto the ground in front of her and held it out at the top with her left hand. It seemed like she wasn't gonna hit Silver with it. What had she in mind?

~Dun dun duuuun!~

(( 5 ))

That was good. Bubbles hadn't planned on staying there anyway, but the addition of a flashy moves just made things easier for her. As the man yelled out the name of his attack, Bubbles kicked herself off the ground and pushed onto her mallet for an extra swing to send her straight up above, letting go of it in the process. If that wasn't enough, the massive energy below further pushed her toward the sky, gritting at her boots and eating at the leather as well as part of her feets. Not good.

A moment later, gravity did it's work. Her robotic body was pulled back to the ground, back to Silver and, as she fell, she brought both her fists together to smash them at the top of his skull, with her legs extended in front of her so they'd fall onto each of Silver's shoulders, sitting there with a faceful of metal crotch for mr Alexander.

(( 4 ))

Bubbles' crotch came first, but the ground would follow. As soon as she landed, the lady pushed her weight forward to send Silver toppling back and falling onto the ground, wrapping her knees around his shoulder to make sure he didn't smash his head against the pavement and die.

And if everything went as planned, Bubbles only had to press her left palm against Silver's forehead. From that close, the man had no trouble hearing the soft buzzing of the electricity accumulated in her stun gun arm. A shot straight to the brain like that would probably fry him for a few hours, but the girl left Silver with the opportunity to give up first.

She was good sport like that. <3

(( 3 ))

"Oh this is so weak." Said Shouyin as he came running up behind Bubbles, his right shoulder pointed upwards slightly to compensate for the fact that his left fingers were running across the good ol' stone pavement carp, whether it be ruined or fine or whatever.

The wall would come out at about a forty five degree angle in front of the robot secretary, hitting 'her' in the stomach just before Shouyin leapt forwards, throwing his right shoulder into her back. She'd be splayed out a few feet in front of poor Silver's head as Shouyin got to his feet, but whether she remained in tact or not, was a whole other story. That two hundred plus pounds to the back shoulder area, plus the impact to the stomach, near the waist, could very well rip the 'bot in half.

After the fact, if all things went cleanly, he'd look down at Silver and sigh.

"Damn it, and -you're- leading -me-."

OOC: This all takes and advantage of those few mercy seconds Bubbles gave Silver.

So he's obviously hitting before she's stunning, you Blazestar mincers.

[-tosses a brick at shou's head- mince that.]

Monseiru X Wrote:

[-tosses a brick at shou's head- mince that.]

OOC: Psh, you're just mad 'cause I pwned your robot.

ZRT

"GRAGH!"

Silver's body spasmed and twitched. He laid there for a while, twitching like that, his cooked head smoking. But unconscious? Hardly. Feeling a little groggy, maybe. For whatever reason, Silver's body naturally put up and unnatural amount of resistance to electric shock. It would take more than the robot could have provided in a short burst to zap him into unconsciousness.

It would just... take him a little bit to regain his motor functions. His eyes slowly moved over to look up at Shou.

" ...Little help?"

Then he got kicked in the head. And passed out.

((Dont really see why I need to say this, but whatever.))

Bubbles [v3] Wrote:

Up above, in a building's emergency staircase, a little voice sounded.

"Ahem!

TEAM BLAZESTAR VS TEAM GLACIER

Bubbles Suanen vs Silver Alexander

DOUBLE K.O.!

You may continue."

And the judge went back to hide with his two mates for the rest of the fight, while a team of male nurses came down to pick up Silver and bring him at a safe distance from the fighting for some much-needed healing.

"Sadly, we do not have the necessary equipment to repair mss Suanen" apologized a nurse, "but we may bring her to facilities where repair equipments exist, if you want."

((Now onto the next fight.))

Taki sighed, very heavily. When she had said money was no problem, she had not been kidding. Still, this would tak about 1/6th of her private account to cover, plus about another 1/7th or so to cover upgades and such.

"Well, at least we tried...", she said a bit halfheartedly. "Damn it, I'm just way too nice for my own good, aren't I?" Another very heavy sigh.

Taki turned to face Laz, and spoke in a minorly irritated, but still calm voice. "Whatever's convenient to you when this is all over and done with. That okay with you sir?"

Taki was actually pretty damn glad that she'd left her wallet back at the Stadium, in the team's private room. It made things here a hell of a lot easier for her. But, in any case... "So, how much tab have I picked up? Y'know, just for reference."

Taki really didn't give a damn whether he was the Alpha Male or not. One, because she wasn't challenging him for leadership, and two, because she just didn't give a damn half the time. Yet another heavy sigh.

"Whatev' it's not like I'm trying to challenge you or anything. And when you do check, I want you to be as accurate as possible because I am not overpaying."

(( You didn't have to post it, I was just asking if everything was cool and I didn't forget anything. XD

but thanks. <3 ))

"Well, counted rough and quick, you're in for more zeros than you've got fingers on a hand." One of the men had picked her up on his back. At the moment, she really looked only like a piece of scrap with sound coming out of her. Heck, her voice was even different coming out of the secondary speaker. "Tell the Silver guy he put up a good fight, please? I'll be back as soon as I get changed, boss."

And off they took her to the B-pad, which had pulled up two corners away.

Oh, and she called, too: "Don't eat each other's faces before we get to the finals!"

Shouyin sighed again, possibly regretting that slightly unnecessary boot to the head, and sat down, across from where ever Sunny was, if he was still up against the wall. He smiled at the red-haired fellow who might or might not have been somewhere across from him, and looked over at the limp ninja, his head hanging to the left, and his heart heavy, or something. Wasn't like him to be just so maliciously brash, he'd done it once before, in the same city as that, but he thought he'd smartened up after that.

He didn't talk or anything, which wasn't the best thing, because that just led to an uncomfortable silence, but he still persisted with keeping his mouth shut and just looking from Silver, to the line of sky that drew itself along the edges of the alleyway walls. Whatever happened afterwards, the idea was he wasn't fighting next, and he just hoped if Sunstrike got caught up in a bind, he didn't worry about Shouyin flipping out on him afterwards too.

Mayn, feeling bad sucked. Hopefully his own round would help to lighten his faltering spirits, or at least pump him full of enough adrenaline to forget all that emotional s**t and just punch and kick things. He couldn't really be sure though, since he figured he'd be fighting Lania, and he was feeling kinda weird about her as well. Mayn, karma sucked too.

He conjured up some mix with really fast and heavy drums in his mind.

Doo doo doo...

"Gah! A tie?!"

Sunstrike raised his hands to the sky and waved them a bit before landing one on Shou's head and shoving it a bit in a friendly way. The other guy looked down, Sun wasn't gonna stand for that shite.

"Good strike boyo, I think they would have won if you hadn't...poor Silver, he'll be beating himself up a bit after this..." The goggled eyes reflected the dim light in the alley.

"Maybe I should go next then..."

He looked at the bantering of the other team...and thanked the gods that Glacier wasn't the only one...

Lazenca continued to pace, his claws sliding against the concrete as he changed directions. "As you wish... he's your BG. Besides, he never does anything, anyway."

Oh, how true it was. "How much is he getting paid?"

Hoping Shouyin was okay and seeing that Silver was well looked after, Sunstrike snatched the weapon he had leaning against the wall, and walked to the center of the alley.

Cleaning crews had already sweapt most of the debris away, ready for the next fight.

"Hey guys, guess I'll be going next. Who's up for it?"

He stood with the staff straight out in front of him, the wood resting comfortably in the grooves between his forefingers and thumbs. His stance was best described as the "at ease" position that most military's held as to be a relaxed but ready to move.

His goggles betrayed nothing of what he was or what he could be, neither did his physic.

Monseiru X Wrote:

Lazenca continued to pace, his claws sliding against the concrete as he changed directions. "As you wish... he's your BG. Besides, he never does anything, anyway."

Oh, how true it was. "How much is he getting paid?"

For once Shouyin decided to hear stuff. For a man so laid back and reckless, he kept strict watch on all his financial earnings, and knew exactly how much money he had at any given time, especially since he trusted none of it to any bank. Cash in a secret compartment in the trunk of his car, that was his savings department.

"Enough, trust me."

Queen Beyotch Wrote:

"You mean what he's supposed to be paid?"

Pause.

"Don't know. Didn't even send him that first paycheck yet."

"Then somebody working for you has, because I made it here on gasoline Blazestar paid for."

Back to silence.

Just as the second round was about to get underway, a paramedic approached Shouyin on the sidelines. His expression was grim. He was also wheeling Silver along, who was wearing a neck brace, in a wheelchair.

"Are you Mr. Shouyin? I have some bad news... I regret to inform you that your captain is paralyzed. The kick to the head he suffered fractured the vertebrae in his neck. This man will never walk again."

Introduction.

"You're Sunstrike, right? I'm Lazenca." He shifted up to his Transitional state- all he had on were black windpants with a white stripe down the sides, the Blazestar Dagger logo under the pocket. On his wrists were metallic bracers or whatnot. No glove, people... after further thought, it was best not to tempt the cosmic energies. There was no point in trying something new on the battlefield when you haven't practiced it at all. -Naked Snake, MGS3.

Weapons? His hands were clawed. Even his feet were clawed. And obviously, he had those wolfie jaws that had the power to go through a buck's though bone after 6 bites. And that power was with just the Gaian breeds. But what'er, he had no plans to chop through this man's leg anyway.

Pumping up.

The song actually gave him a rhythm to hold onto, and his head bobbed with the stomps. Yeah... this was better than pacing. It was too bad that guy started to show off though, because it felt mighty cool to have his name sung like that.

Round two, Lazenca vs. Sunstrike. Ready?

Laz started walking forward mighty calmly, eyes on Sunstrike. That weapon was going to be a bother... one that would have to be very quickly taken care of.

Fight.

[1]

"..."

Lazenca stopped walking. Forward, spin, telegraph. All Laz had to do was to stop forward progress and keep his supposed-to-be-decending left leg up for just another half a second. He did a short exaggerated hop off his right foot, straight up. Kinda like... a band cadence caller's hop step. The time in air was just enough to let Sun's leg pass, and he finally touched down on the ground, left leg first, right behind Sun.

His other? It came down immediately after his left, but that right foot slammed down on Sun's right shin-knee area before it too had a chance to pass.

[2]

He should have expected that, but didn't know how good this guy was with that staff. He knew the basic stuff, but... well, he suspected that Sun was some kinda master. And this is what masters do, they make you pay for being in a certain range. All of this thought was translated into one mental word. "Closer."

Down he went, on his butt. The moment he touched down, he tucked his body and immediately released. The plan was to do a kicking pushoff using Sun, backing himself up before rolling to his feet. Hopefully, out of the staff's immediate range.

[3]

There's only so far you can go on your butt....

Sunstrike grinned and dove forwards onto his hands, and the weapon, before pushing forwards and flipping onto his feet, staff held diagonally along his back in his right hand and his left foot coming up to uppercut Laz in the jaw.

(3)

While Laz's eyes might be taunting, Sun's were completely hidden, so if he was responding to the challenge there was no way to tell. Just the reflection of red as he ran forward again, closing the gap, pressing advantages.

Frustratingly, the staff would remain where it was for an oppurtune moment such as before. That's what it was there for, there was no real strength to it other then the odd surprise, and Sun would have been more then a complete fool to use it continually. Mostly cause he'd lost doing so. Gotta love the school of hard knocks.

So it was with the left fist that came in for a quick jab to the chest.

((sorry forgot number 4!))

Sun didn't use the staff, but it didn't stop Lazenca from doing what he wanted to do anyway.

Ready.

He was sure that Sun going to step forward and swing his weapon to keep trying to beat Laz down. He seemed to slip into some kind of defensive stance after his eyes issued a challenge. Left leading, almost sideways. His lead foot setting itself happened when Sun didn't act as expected.

Aim.

Actually, Laz wasn't one for empty challenges, because it was about as useful as talking... which was, not at all. He was doing something else with his eyes, though. A twiching brow, a challenging stare... it was just aiming. Sun was actually unfocused in his vision- a slight blur, as he wasn't staring at Sunstrike. He was looking at the air between them.

Fire.

This was instant. The temperature dropped in that gap between them. When Sun came into focus- when he passed the point where Laz was actually looking, a sharp crystal formation appeared in air. It would have been beautiful too look at if it didn't explode the moment that it had finished forming. There was a full second between the formation and eruption of the Glare.. enough time for Sun to pass the point, but not enough for him to totally avoid the force of the ice explosion behind him. It was something akin to taking a shotgun blast directly to whatever part of the body was being aimed at. So, Sun would likely be taken off his feet and the journey to Laz would be that much quicker.

But he was waiting... that's what the stance was all about. He was cutting it close, Glaring so close to himself, but Sun was there to take the brunt of the blast anyway. Assuming this all went well, Laz would use Sunstrike's disrupted balance and partly airborne status to his advantage. His shoulder was there to stop Sun, making contact with his chest. Wether or not Sun's fist managed to touch him didn't matter... wherever the hand was, Lazenca grabbed for that wrist. If that fist hit, all the better, because then Laz wouldn't have to go searching for it.

Use momentum. Had Laz not stopped him, Sun would still be going behind Laz's current position and all. So, he helped him. From the partly lowered stance, he had enough power in his legs and Sun had enough momentum to be sent over Laz's right side, and get forcefully slammed into the ground.

Lazenca still held onto Sun's wrist.

[5]

Cold....

Now Sunstrikes heart really did start beating faster, although he swore that it stopped for a second as his, now smoking back slammed towards the ground.

Pavement chipped and snapped as he met it full on, allowing himself to be driven down. He winced and made a slightly strangled noise as the skin split under the damage, and the cartilage of his wings groaned in protest at the work they had to do to protect his spine and ribcage.

But he kept the most important, and unarmoured portion of him up, his head.

Laz had hold of his left hand, and he shifted the grip, clutching the other hand just as tightly as he himself was held, and the right was thrown out, still holding the weapon he carried. Again the lupine man would find his feet swept out from under himself, into Sun's raised right foot and then shoved back in slam of Sun's own.

(5)

Second time that Sun was down, and it was the second time that he went to use the staff. A pattern was looked for, and found. The staff was expected.

The shifted grip was a little of a suprise; he expected Sun to be down for a second longer or something. It all made sense when Sun's entire body shifted so he could swing the staff. He wanted to pull up and away to jump again, but he didn't have to attempt it to know it wasn't going to work- Sun's weight and hold kept him to the ground. The next best thing was to go down.

His left arm dropped and straightened, then Lazenca's entire body dropped. He ended up on the right knee, the one that had just slammed into Sunstrike's neck. The staff, ever coming, would clang against the bracer on his left arm- the whole reason for dropping the arm was to block the staff.

Aaaand he was already tired of the weapon. His hand rolled around to the other side of the staff and he took a nice hold. Almost there.

[6]

There was a shift, and Sun realized a little too late that something fast and heavier then he wanted, was bearing down on him.

His feet skidded along the street and he just managed to save his neck from being pinned by a leg.

"s**t..." Still hurt like hell when the shin hit his ribcage. But there was a lot more protection then just his windpipe.

That still didn't shake the fact that he was now trapped, and finding it hard to breath.

(6)

"You must be proud."

"I'm going to kill him." Lania brought her hands out of her pockets again, this time folding her arms beneath her breasts and lifting her shoulders up a bit as she clutched each of her biceps with a hand.

"Fshhstskk."

Somewhere among the Pinstripe Mafia men and the temporary Bubbles, voices could be heard.

"NA MONGO!"

"SEUNG, SHUT THE HELL UP, YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW THE WORDS."

Then the sound of fists pouding against something and "Seung" was silenced.

STRIKER

This round is end.

Silver grunted and his right fist hit the wall behind him. He stepped forward off it, ready to jump in. The staredown was too much. He'd dare, alright.

"Enough. I can't take this anymore. I'm gonna--Hu'what the?!"

Vahn Kyonuske Wrote:

Where once a man stood, overlooking hell and staring to heaven; none stood now.

Ah hell....who turned the ******** heat off?

Sunstrike began to shiver struggling to think with most of his vitals being turned into popisicles. He was, of course, looking straight at the blade as it came crashing down next to him, taking his goggle strap with it and nicking the side of his face.

The freeze was disbanded from him. A spark ignighted between the two of them.

Quote:

The signal to the end, would come in the form of a solid crack, as a blade embedded itself a mere 3 inches from Sunstrike's face. It was a bloodred thing, vicious looking as it was long. Yet, nearly instataneously the effects would be felt from this intrusion. The blade would start the countdown... as the figure was already free falling towards the street.

Sun saw a familiar set of eyes coming fast towards his body, Laz, if he were looking, would see panic flare up behind eyes that were definately not human, having no whites.

His grip tightened around the captured right hand and he pulled down hard on Laz's body, pulling the other man straight into suddenly upraised feet, and into the path of that spark.

There was a small explosion as Sunstrike kicked upwards against the solid weight, using the shift to backwards roll out of harms way, sans his favourite goggles.

Quote:

Rotating in the air as he fell, he came down with aboslutely no indication that those around had noticed him up there to begin with. His right hand went aflame, even as he spun; before suddenly thrusting forward. His entire right arm was abalze for a moment, before compacting along his right fist.

His fist would more than likely slam directly into the ice user's lower to mid back, slamming his body forward and into nothing but pavement. The street would buckle, as several cracks outlined along the floor, and up to half way down the block, parked cars would be violently jostled upwards, their alarms blaring loudly. The surrounding walls would let loose with a groan, even as the figure was already removing himself from the point of impact. In under nearly 8 seconds, 9 at most, the striker block had been used.

(7)

There was a soft squeak as suddenly Laz wasn't anywhere where Sun wanted him to be.

When the dust did clear, there was Sun, the upper part of his back and shoulders flat on the ground, legs and most of his upper torso in the air as he'd thrown his body upright to avoid what ended up landing where his stomach had been.

The only difference was that he was probably about ten or so feet from point of impact, the blast having thrown him skidding back along the street.

That was going to seriously sting later on But with the cold leaving the immediate area, he was able to get up and get moving, closing the gap between his body and Laz's.

((There...that should be...a bit smoother, I duuno ._. ))

(8 )

Sunstrike skidded to a halt, about a foot away from the body of the other...he didn't like this, not...at...all. Cowards instincts told him to be ready, yet hopeful.

His back hurt, and red dripped all along his arms where the force of being thrown back had peeled off a layer of skin. There were burn marks from the ice that had exploded into him from Lazenca's earlier attack.

Sun swallowed slightly and shifted the grip on his weapon. A toe sketched something hastily in the ground, and four sparks suddenly came to life around his body. They didn't really look like much, close up. But in pyrokinetics, size definately didn't matter. Each one would go boom in a big way if something hit it.

"Don't suppose you want to call it a day and get a paramedic...eh Laz?"

( 9 )

((

Vahn Kyonuske Wrote:

Should the fist in it's entirety be avoided, there was still the shockwave of the Straight to deal with, which would be enough to send anyone careening backwards and smacking into a wall if they weren't expecting it.

Forgetting something? All lying down right next to the point of impact?

Also, I dont think theres penalty on the environmental changes. Look at everything else. Busted walls = more open area. Bass'ken lake, if you melt the ice and snow, so what? Bamboo forest, environment was changed from trees to a big dirt clearing from Ryu's attack. If there was a fire hydrant around and Laz wants to bust it open for some water. Good for him.))

((Shouldnt Sunstrike be thrown back from the explosion as well? Or did I miss it?))

Sunstrike Wrote:

This was the rough bit, he couldn't control this very well...the sparks started to move...

And Lazenca Glared at his back again, simultaneously sprinting to Sun. Same force, same explosion location, but Sun's stumbling to him wouldn't be accompanied by a grab... that would mean that Laz had to put his hand down there with the swirling sparks. No... this time, Lazenca did a short hop and twisted his body, right foot sticking out and becoming most unfriendly-like with Sun's mouth.

[11]

[-sighs, nerves becoming frayed-]

He landed and stomped hard, unhappy that Sun had ducked. Ah, it happens with predictability and the distance they had. He went to snap around, and recieved a rather nasty wave of heat that turned him around the other way. A snarl of frustration was released because that damned blade was still there, making it impossible for him to flood the area with ice. Stop, pause, flood?

After skidding back and regaining his footing, Laz wasted no time in setting in a stance. His left arm was out to Sun, palm forward. His right fist was back at his head. He couldn't flood the area, but he wasn't done... not by a long shot. It was time to pull out all the stops.

[12]

"Hate it? Why?" Lania looked at Bubbles, then down at the Hammer of Doom that a Pinstripe had placed on the floor after the secretary's fight. She arched a visible right brow, bent down, picked up the mallet from its handle and stared at it for barely a couple of seconds.

"I think it's useful. Where's Seung?" The demon tilted her head back slightly and looked to her right, crimson and golden eyes seeking a talented but annoying Pinstripe boy.

Couldn't just sit there all day doin nothing. The heat was to his advantage, and he found himself shifting towards it, moving a few paces sideways as Laz skidded.

Sun refocused, more pinpoints of light made the surrounding area raise quite a few notches in degrees, as if it weren't hot enough already.

Again his left arm raised and three of the red lights twisted along the arm. This time he was able to get off three very small spinning pinwheels of flame, the size of a man's inner palm.

The first would sail forwards and smack into the ground right in front of Laz, causing a small crater to explode upwards like a bomb. The next two were sent at leg and chest height.

Sun bit his inner lip. If those didn't hit....he was in for a world of hurt.

( 12 )

Nod. Nod. Nod. Nodnodnod. Nod.

Sprint.

"KUSOKUSOKUSOKUSO."

Let's say that's korean too. Seung was off running through the hole that Bubbles and Silver had made earlier, and disappeared within it.

"Holy fu-- HEY! Careful with that!"

Seconds later, Bubbles was standing on the shoulders of a Pinstripe. No way in Hell she was gonna get her uniform wet.

As the waters began to rush in, Lazenca stepped forward. His right hand had never dropped- he had to take the fire attacks, to keep charging it. But now... he stopped moving, and the water seemed to stop as well. Just... stop.

And then with the forward and upward thrust of right palm, a blue light flashed. A sound hit the air... sort of like a system of gears winding down, then a shrill chorus of screams. The Backlash Grenade released a massive amount of ice energy into the alley, and his pointing upward made the cold air push up the water and chase Sun in his hiding position. (It also kept the water from simply rushing back into the crowd.) Along with the screams came the sound of ice crackling, as all the water that he'd released, flash frose.

"...."

His palm closed, and just like a Glare, the ice erupted all around them. Lazenca, of course, was going to be fine. Sunstike, was not. The Fang would have probably started to null the effects and melt ice, if Laz didn't flash-freeze and shatter the area in all of two seconds.

[14]

"no u." Despite that fancy waterworks display, Shouyin was still pretty much in the same position he'd been in the entire time; just a'sitting against the wall. He knew nothing good would come from all that H2-da-hizzay flying about, and thus did his right palm rest against the stone floor. 'Round when the water came rushing at Sunstrike, did he aim his focus to the general area of the wall which his companion was situated beside.

The water would flash freeze, and in that same time as Lazenca closed his palm to activate the Backlash Grenade, a dome-shaped shield of stone would encase Sunstrike. As the explosion went off, the shield would finish, a small blemish on the alleyway wall protecting Sunstrike from the entire blast.

The instant the effects of the explosion had slipped away, so would the shield. Hopefully Sunny was paying attention to the sounds outside, so he'd know when to be ready. The dome would open facing away from Lazenca, no matter where he decided to reposition himself in those next few seconds, so that 'Strike would have an extra moment's chance to get prepared.

That is all.

[ Striker liekwhut. ]

Lazenca dropped his arm and lurched forward. It was clear that the Backlash Grenade was a 'big attack', and had 'big attack' recovery time. He wasn't able to see it, but man, was he inwardly PISSED when he saw the protective rock dome. Had his ice explosions not been enough to shatter it all? To break though and totally take out everything?

Oh, Shouyin might as well not show up to the office after this tournament is over.

And then a hammer dropped on Sun's head. Good thing too, because Laz needed at least that few seconds to breathe and recover.

[15]

And so, one of the judges, this one dressed in a bear suit, came out into the alley and declared the end of the match.

Lazenca vs Sunstrike

Disqualification

And then the paramedics came in to drag the unconscious Sunstrike out of the arena... assuming that is, that he's completely knocked out.

So, Lazenca looked back to the bear.

"...."

And then he looked up to the roof, where Seung was looking down.

".... I am going to ******** EAT you." Bristling with rage, Lazenca stepped out of the alley. He woulda said something to Sun, but he was unconcious. No... he'd meet them all after the match.

After eating Seung.

"...Hoooooh."

Silver could finally exhale. He had found himself holding his breath for most of that last fight, since Vahn showed up.

It had looked bad for Sun, then good, then bad again before a careless mistake had cost Blazestar the match. It took them 2 Strikers stocks and some dumb luck, but Glacier had somehow managed to win. It looked like he wouldn't be getting to have any more fun this match.

Vahn had caught Sun, but hesitated before retrieving his blade. Curious. Was something wrong?

Silver looked over at Sun, and smiling, watching as the paramedics toted him off to the sidelines to make sure he was going to be alright. He spoke loud enough for Sun to hear, even though he couldn't.

"Good job out there, Sun. You did better than me. Rest well."

With that being said, he turned his attention to the man before him. The smile dissapeared, and he just stared, a mix of thoughts and emotions running through his head, but his face betrayed none of them. He wasn't really sure how he was supposed to feel or what to say.

"... Vahn."

"Hope I didn't miss anything."

He sheathed the Fang into its scabbard at his back, the chains dangling it horizontally along his waist. He hadn't seen the man for a little over what... 2-3 months? It was truly a heartfelt reunion... if he was a nancy boy like that.

Vahn gripped Silver's shoulder, giving it a squeeze, before dropping his arm. That would have to suffice, since all men were such homo-phobs about their feelings.

"Shouyin." He turned to face the other man fully, before extending out his right hand. "I saw what you did there."

A pause.

"Thank you."

Shouyin grinned and took Vahn's hand in his own, squeezing tightly, but in that friendly way, seeing as a really tight squeeze with -that- hand could've done terrible things. That all aside he tilted his head a little and shook hands with the ninjaman.

"Ah, don't mention it. S'just teamwork, or something like that."

Vahn Kyonuske Wrote:

"What say we wrap this party up then."

He gave a hard pat along Shouyin's shoulder, before grinning wide. They had made it this far, sure, stumbling like hell when they least expected it, but they made it anyway.

And if they didn't go any farther? Well. Then they made it as far as they could go, and if anyone said anything contrary they could explain it to his fist.

I'm here... Reiko. And I'm coming for yo' broke a**.

Let's rock.

(Reiko as in Shingami Man?

I might have beat him..haha. )

Shouyin smiled weakly at Vahn before cracking his knuckles and stepping into the center of the alley. Back to the old punch kick punch kick eh? Well, whatever. It felt good to be in the ring, if you could call an alleyway as much, especially when he knew it was him, and only him.

And err, her, of course.

The black skate shoes stayed on his feet. They weren't too heavy, and he liked the feel of those socks, but the blue jacket and white t-shirt with Glacier 'G' logo came off, tossed to the side and everything. Was it to signify something? Like a representation that this match really wasn't about Glacier vs. Blazestar, but Shouyin vs. Lania? Or maybe he wanted to be something purer, fight without purpose, reason, or cause, just the cleanest of emotion.

Or he just liked having his shirt off when he scuffled.

That all aside, he stood and waited for Lania to approach. He'd make the first move, that he knew. She might even know too, if her spirit really was that of a combatant, since telepathy would get her nothing. Not that he knew she was a telepath, just that it wouldn't help, Hiso took care of that. Lania wouldn't be able to see inside Shouyin's mind, and if she really really tried, she'd just start seeing the thoughts of the soul of a wind elemental now bound to the young man, only after dying thousands of years ago in a long forgotten war, then sealed into a stone body imprisonment as a golem, and from there passed on as an ancient relic for generations to come.

That'd be interesting.

"Well Queen B, here we are. Am I fired yet?"

Lania's clothes hadn't changed magically during each round, so her figure was still covered up nicely with that crimson tank top, black leather jacket and those black pants that she wore beneath her boots. The jacket was taken off when she entered the ring, though, and was thrown behind her as she stepped forwards. The markings on her right arm started from the tips of her nails and passed her elbow by just a little bit. For all anyone knew, it could've just been a big tattoo.

She took her stand somewhere near Sunstrike's previous position with her left hand on her hip, while the other arm hung loosely at her side.

"A little less conversation, a little more action, Wilma."

And the seventies, a breath after the war.

By the time Shouyin'd finished his little bunny hop, Lania had an open hand near the right side of her face with her left arm extended in a slightly diagonal angle. Her left knee was pushed foward a little, leaving the according foot to mainly be on its toes.

If anyone was focusing on such a trait, they'd have realized that Lania had stopped blinking. Her head tilted back lightly to the right, giving off the impression that she was about to spit, but nothing escaped her mouth as her lips stayed shut tightly.

He started running forwards and her tail snapped up in response. Some of it wrapped quickly around his right wrist before it managed to hit Lania. It yanked him down, then dragged him forwards and threw him a little distance behind the Queen who immediately turned around once her tail's hold on Shouyin's wrist was released. Her hands took hold of his right ankle and, similar to what Lazenca had done when you think about it, turned a 360 degree angle while dragging him, and flung him against a nearby wall. Would Lania have been able to accomplish this without Sacara's speed and strength boost, she didn't know and didn't want to know.

1

Should my eyes open for tomorrow's gains?

"Stupid."

Lania was about to let a few curse words slip out, but decided not to just yet for the sake of what she was going to do later. With the way she'd thrown him, and considering the fact that he hadn't let go of her tail, they were more than likely going to land in a manner where Shouyin was on his back with Lania on top of him, provided she didn't do anything to change that. But she did. Her right hand clenched into a fist and was placed above her left breast meaning her arm was bent and hidden in front of her body. She timed it in a way where, before landing, she would turn just a little to the right and ram her elbow into Shouyin's face.

2

Lazenca, by now, was quite clear of the battle. He had changed in one of the trucks, so was now wearing his pinstripe suit again. His battle's result left a nasty taste in his mouth, a displeasure still a bit visible on his face. He wouldn't let that dimish the support he had for his lady. He stood at the edge of the alley, just watching. It's not like he could do anything at all to help at this point.

He began to pick his teeth with the right pinkie. Had he just grabbed something to eat?~

What is my name?

Blah. Trickery would get her nowhere. Her grabbing his hair pretty well woke him up, or pulled him out of that dazed state. 'Cause nobody grabbed his hair, it was just too damn sexy for unloved hands to touch. So, now that he was awake, he was ready to watch the lady turn around and face him. Honestly he thought like, one of two things would happen from that position:

1. She headbutted him.

1. She kissed him and they got down and dirty right there in front of Laz.

Yes, he was a hopeful person. It turned out, however, that it was neither of those, but his preparation for the first instance helped save him from the actual outcome. He saw the fire between those lips, literally and figuratively, and the shield of stone layered his face, two plates in front of his eyes, but not actually touching them. That'd sting. It'd look like a simple mask, not revealing the features underneath.

Then he headbutted her, 'cause that was hardcore.

4

OOC: Don't be a twit.

So here it stays.

Well hey, she was right, that stone technique was a quick one. The rock in his bloodstream circulated his entire body in the period of one heartbeat, and Shouyin already had a higher than average beat per minute count so as to keep the stone from settling in his arteries or veins and killing him. Then there was that frighteningly high reaction time, toned from y'know, the history of violence, and those damn good eyes which he was so proud of. All roads lead to Shouyin blocking the flame.

But that was gone and done with. Apparently, the tip of her tail had been hitting Shouyin for a rather long time, and that was kind of annoying. As well, shield in front of his eyes or not, he could feel the woman getting up, what with the lightening of the weight on his chest and the shifting across his legs as she did her pose. All that helped convince Shouyin to do something.

Since she'd raised up, the risk of him hitting himself at the same time he hit Lania with a wall greatly decreased, and while his vision was impaired, he could still judge height and distance from touch and the energy he focused through the ground with his left hand. Which, all you note, had been resting against the floor this entire time. So around the moment Lania's leg was rearing back to sack him, a big conglomerate of brick, pavement, and Shouyin's own special mix would be coming out of the wall behind her, on the half-golem's right.

The horizontal wall would jut out at a force and speed great enough to slam her right into the opposite end of the alley, and Shouyin would let go of her tail so she could make the jump. Now, seeing as her eyes would be closed come flash time, she wouldn't be able to just look over her shoulder and see it coming, and that's a good thing.

The flash gone, Shou's mask would sink back into his skin, and they'd get on with it.

Oh, and apparently Lania was harder, better, faster, stronger, now that Sacara was about. But she also hadn't been fighting in a while right? In terms of immediate experience, Shouyin had a substantial advantage, no? He'd been fighting the fastest, and the strongest for as long as he could remember, and the demon lady hadn't leapt over any tall buildings yet, so he assumed she wasn't Superman.

Huh.

5

From now on, can't look the other way.

Shouyin did a crummy backwards roll to put a little more space between himself and the crazy woman who just took a wall to the, being, and hopped up without skipping a beat, and then got to his feet himself. The wall in question would slip back into the alleyway, a marred patch amongst the brick the only sign something had happened there.

Then she pulled out the hammer. There was just no love for Shouyin in the Queen's heart. For some reason that made him feel pretty bad inside, but he had to shrug that off for now. He went into a perfect neutral stance, left foot forward, toes pointed to the right forty-five, knees slightly bent, legs shoulder-width apart; if you wanted you could draw a straight line from his left toe to his right heel. Both hands made tight fists, the right up by his jaw while the left hung out about a foot in front of his body.

"Your turn. ~"

6

Take under wing all the ones who are lost.

Yeah, that stone skeleton didn't do s**t y'know? Protecting the bone, whatever, 'cause of course the center of pain in the forehead was that dreadfully thin layer of skin and maybe the few strands of hair that covered it. And everyone and their grandma knew Shouyin was a crummy bodyguard, he was never there! Hard to get to know someone you rarely saw. Not like they sent each other letters or something. Yeesh.

Then there was a hammer flying at him. Figured he'd give it the staredown and then like, throw a right straight at it. Be all koul and punch it out of the air and s**t, but then he noticed something. If the hammer was going to pass Shouyin, then at some point it'd deviate from flying straight at him. As physics go, there'd then be a point where it'd have to slow down before turning to keep from hitting him, or angle sharply enough that the fact it'd avoid him would be obvious.

And luckily enough, Shouyin had mega super eyes that could help him out through tough situations. So, as the hammer went flying past, decidedly to his right, he'd grab the handle with his right hand. He was a strong guy, so if this was a normal situation it'd stop moving without him having to put in any effort other than arm strength. Sad though, 'cause really it wasn't, but he didn't know that, yet.

OOC: You didn't specify, in your post, the hammer's flight-path, so I assumed. ( =

7

Don't you know just who I am?

Yeah, so. That was pretty ******** retarded. Shouyin stumbled forwards onto his stomach, groaning pretty loudly, green eyes staring wildly at the woman who'd just blown his leg off. Whether or not the HoH medics could fix that kind of thing wasn't really on his mind right now, more just how he could, y'know, inflict like, pain on the person in front of him.

Seeing as he couldn't exactly walk at the moment, he'd have to go with the walls. And boy, there'd be a lot of them. The hammer was still gripped in his right hand, but as long as a part of him, whether it be the stone arm, or some of his skin, he could use the stone around him. First of all, he'd make a little box for himself, simple kind of protection really.

(All dimensions in length x width x height format.)

Shouyin could utilize sixty cubic metres of stone at once, he'd make one vertical wall behind him, 3m x 30cm x 2m, and another horizontal on top of that, 3m x 2m x 30cm. That was 3.6 cubic metres. He had 56.4 more available, seeing as that shelter would stick around. Now Shouyin didn't know Lania could blink, but the shelter meant she'd be in close proximity with him if she tried to get close in any manner.

Now for the attack. Please note that the first attacking wall would come out simultaneously as the shelter's walls. Said first assault wall would come out of the ground at a forty five degree angle, striking her shins. This would be sudden enough that she'd be midair before capable of a suitable reaction, even blinking, since it just popped out without any warning at all. If she could teleport while in midair, even with the pain of rock swiftly impacting her shins, she'd have to do it while another wall immediately followed up from her left, crushing her into the opposite wall.

The resulting impact would be enough to crack a strong person's ribs. She'd be held against the alleyway wall somewhere above the waist, a second wall crushing her legs, shattering the bone from halfway down the thigh, to halfway up the shin entirely, about two milliseconds after she was pinned. Three or four milliseconds after that another one would strike her head, more than hard enough to knock her out cold.

The rib damage would be repairable, but he'd've turned her legs into jelly. If at any point she found enough time to focus through the pain and teleport, then he'd simply construct a similar assault upon seeing her again. This wouldn't be too hard, since if she got in the shelter, he'd hear her breath and just crush her upclose, and if she got above or behind him, he could alter the shelter fittingly.

Yay for ******** with Shouyin.

EDITED

8

What is my name?

Shouyin, just lowered the density of the stone pavement underneath the hammer, and put the thing underground. She could be moving whatever part of it she wanted, wouldn't help, 'cause the thing would be about an arm's length under. He was holding the handle up near the business end, which meant he had more physical control over it, and even if it came a'swinging for his head, he could just lean said target to the left and let the hammer sink itself down down down into the ground; since, although he was on his stomach and his leg hurt pretty badly, he could still move his entire body. Then he'd just go through with his previous plan of wall smashings.

Odd though, how a "history of violence" got you pretty accustomed to pain.

Once again, yay.

EDITED

9

((

Queen Beyotch Wrote:

He wasn't going to have time for that wonderful shelter of his or those chaotic walls anyway.

8

Shouyin Wrote:

Shouyin, while creating the shelter --

9

-- He would be having his face messed up with a hammer so bad that even his own mama wouldnt acknowledge him as her son.

Anyways, jokes aside, I see messed up timeframe of the hammer making swings before the creation of said shelter and then during the creation of said shelter, the hammer's density was dropped?

Wouldn't that mean your face would be pretty messed up by then?))

POINTLESS

((Ok, I've been asked to take a look another look at the timing in this fight. And I see a little issue spelled out right in the text itself and in some missed words..

Queen Beyotch Wrote:

So, while he was doing that stumbling and groaning and wild staring, Lania didn't waste a single instant before shifting her eyes to control the hammer.

Ok, here it clearly states that Lania didnt wait at all, even a moment and swung instantly. This would be as Shoe was falling, presumably because his leg just got taken out.

Shouyin Wrote:

[color=black] He was holding the handle up near the business end, which meant he had more physical control over it, and even if it came a'swinging for his head, he could just lean said target to the left and let the hammer sink itself down down down into the ground; since, although he was on his stomach and his leg hurt pretty badly, he could still move his entire body.

Here, Shou, clearly is on his stomach. Now you dont go from a stand to being on your stomach without either falling, or setting yourself down. That takes time, time to fall, time to kneel, and that is exactly the time Lania is denying him. In this particular moment I dont think physical control or being able to dodge is the question, the question is even being able to tell that the hammer is coming before it hits. Can he see or even feel it coming the sound and pain of his leg being blown off, and his body falling? It doesnt seem like he has the time.

Shouyin Wrote:

Shouyin, just lowered the density of the stone pavement underneath the hammer, and put the thing underground. She could be moving whatever part of it she wanted, wouldn't help, 'cause the thing would be about an arm's length under.

Again, that matter of time is called into question. I would assume that Shou is not doing this as his leg is being blown off or as he is falling in that instant. And that is exactly when Lania's attack is happening. That does seem to be the only time that he would have to do it in.

Shouyin Wrote:

Odd though, how a "history of violence" got you pretty accustomed to pain.

Once again, yay.

EDITED

9

I dont think "pain" is the question here. This is a solid steel hammer of rather large porportions, I've seen lesser hammers shatter slabs of concrete. If it hits, I dont think it'll be a matter of "does it hurt", it'll be matter of having ones brain smashed against the inside of their head like a sledgehammer smashing a watermelon.

Now, I personally dont see how a quote "history of violence" prepares you for the pain of getting ones limbs blown off unless thats happened many times before. But I cant speak for Shouyins history or biology.

It seems there is a bit of a time miscalculation here, unless Shou there is some sort of enchantment or ability I'm missing...and now would be the time to speak up about that type of thing...I believe an edit is in order.))

((

Shouyin Wrote:

OOC: Opk, he loses his leg, falls over. Honestly I don't know how much stumbling there would be, seeing as his balance is, y'know, removed. As far as enchantments and abilities go, the stone by nature, is much harder than granite, and he can control it's density.

Now if you've seen lesser hammers crush concrete, than how quickly can she honestly be moving her own? Shouyin's spent as little time with Lania as she has with him, she wouldn't know about the stone layering his skeleton, even after that elbow. And, I'm kinda uncertain on this, since IC Shouyin's bleeding from a very open leg wound, but Lania doesn't want to kill him right? So she wouldn't want to swing the hammer at a speed that'd make it a:

((I'll address that in layers. First the question how she'd be moving it. I could honestly ask you how you'd be moving stone walls. Does Shou have the strength to pick up and throw walls? The fact of the matter is that she's using telekenesis. Her body isnt moving it, her mind is, her body isnt even moving.

Maximos Wrote:

...matter of having ones brain smashed against the inside of their head like a sledgehammer smashing a watermelon.

((You answered that second question yourself.

Shouyin Wrote:

Shouyin has a stone hand, Shouyin controls stone.

This is not the first stone attack you've used on her in this fight, and thats not to mention the obvious stone showing on your body right now. I would honestly think it common sense that Shouyin's protected his own insides with the stuff. And it really wouldnt be far-fetched in the slightest for an opponent assume that he has. And from my understanding of their IC relationship...doesnt Shouyin work for Blazestar? I think that puts it a little past the level of common sense and into the realm of obvious information. HoH is an IC tournament, it does take place in the current timeline, so this would not be an alternate Shou or Lania.))

Shouyin Wrote:

Now, onto the range of motion. Shouyin has a stone hand, Shouyin controls stone, therefore, the fingers would only open if he told them to, so he's still holding the hammer, just below the 'business end' as he put it too. Therefore, she can only liably hit him in the front, the top, or the side. She could try for the back, but flexibility would interfere.

If she hit him while he was falling over, then that would be the thing to wake him up. Sorta like when you pinch yourself to make a cut stop hurting. He hits the ground, possibly dazed enough to allow one more hit, which might just annoy him more than anything, and convince him to use a quicker-than-usual heartbeat to protect parts of his skull, before going on with all that stuff I've already written.

((I really doubt that a hit in mid air would ignore the laws of physics. If she hit you while you were falling, it would smash your head down into the ground or backwards and then down. That alone would count as two hits, and according to her post, she didnt plan on stopping after that. So if you are "dazed", as you likely would be, she apparently will keep striking, and each strike will...by the laws of reality, serve to smash your head against the pavement again, and again, and again, I dont really see where the break comes in which allows you to stand, or even think over the constant jarring of your brain into the stone slab that is your skull. In all fairness, a skull cracks like an egg...but stone? You can pretty much hear and feel stone cracking and giving before it breaks. She mentions in her post that she's controlling the force of the blow with her TK. And even if it does break...as long as it isnt paste, isnt that what the medics are for? A concussion is not a fatal injury if its treated properly.

Is there something else I'm missing?))

(( You'd think an employer would research their own employees, you know? Especially with a company like Blazestar. You want me to tell you whether she would've hit the same way if she wasn't sure of the stone beneath his skin? Yes, she would've.

1, Sacara's psychotic.

2, she was sure that something was up with him. The boy has a -stone arm-, for God's sake.

3, Lazenca keeps up with Reiko's activities and let Lania know about the fight where Reiko blew Shouyin's arm up.

4, she assumed after those two attacks in which he used stone to cover his face that he had stone to protect his head as well. She would land the blows with the hammer and hope for the best.

The hammer's going to swing whether his hand wants it to or not, otherwise what's the point of telekinesis if you can decide to just stop something when you want? If he wants to be Superman and claim there's no way for it to budge from his hand, then it'll break off and hit him. If he's so conscious and aware of everything that he remembers to keep a strong hold on the hammer after having his leg blown off, well congratulations. That's one character whose HISTORY OF VIOLENCE OMG has done him well.

Whether he wants it to or not, the hammer's going to hit him. And keep hitting him until he's knocked out.

EDIT -> And on a side-note, stop being such a sore loser because you don't want to lose to a girl. ))

(( Oh, because Lou' and I only RP in Blazestar, right? I'll let him comment on that "puppetmastering Lazenca's actions" himself. ))

Shouyin Wrote:

But once again I bring up the argument, would even a psychotic person, especially with Lania still controlling her slightly, risk killing somebody on evidence that he can use stone on the outside of the body, without any real confirmation he can protect himself internally?

(( Yes. ))

Shouyin Wrote:

And if she wants to be Superman and claim she can break his arm in half to use the hammer, well, that's stupid, 'cause she isn't Superman.

(( She'd break the hammer, not the arm.

EDIT - Or rather, the hammer would break itself because of the pressure. - END EDIT ))

Shouyin Wrote:

Edit: You aren't a girl, remember?

(( Whatever you say, pal. ))

(( Oh, you're arguing? I'm merely stating the obvious.

It doesn't matter. The hammer doesn't need to break, because Shouyin's arm, I don't give a damn what it's made of, will be forced to comply with the telekinesis as long as it's holding the mallet. Lania is controlling the mallet. She not only shifted her eyes to make it move once, but several times.

HELLO PRESSURE.

It's going to smack him in the head while he's holding it, or it's going to smack him in the head after he let go from being too unable - and let's still keep in mind he lost that leg, hmmz? - to control it.

That is what telekinesis is.

It moves things.

She's very experienced with it, like your stupid history of violence excuse in terms of losing that leg of yours.

You can't stop something that works like telekinesis with the mere fact that "oh but my arm is stone lololz."

EDIT - I'm stopping here, you're getting too childish for my liking. ))

POINTLESS

Bubbles was right beside Silver the whole time.

"Boo! BOO!"

(( Whatcha saying, Maxi? Everyone knows a "history of violence" is the answer to everything. D=<

And I'd like to add that even if I'm not Queenie, I'm pretty sure Sacara doesn't care if Lania gets disqualified. She's that much of a b***h. ))

Bubbles [v3] Wrote:

(( Whatcha saying, Maxi? Everyone knows a "history of violence" is the answer to everything. D=<

And I'd like to add that even if I'm not Queenie, I'm pretty sure Sacara doesn't care if Lania gets disqualified. She's that much of a b***h. ))

(( Its the new trend in pain defense, violent past!

Aye, I just assumed Sacara was something like the Destroyer and just not all together upstairs, she'd probably like a bloodstain better than a trophy cup.))

Maximos Wrote:

(( Final verdict: The hammer swings while Shou is falling, its aiming to hit him in the head rather hard and thusly stun him enough to keep on bashing until he's out cold. ))

(( I don't see anything in the final verdict about the hammer snapping. She is not going to give the head any distance before crashing it because she doesn't need to. The speed and amount of strength she's using while controlling the hammer compensates for that "momentum."

His strong grip is aknowledged and taken into account. My character is still, not moving, focused. If she hits him ONCE, then it's over. She has her chance to hit him while he's falling because I would like to think that your character's eyes would buck and just for a second, pain hits his entire body. It's that second while his body registers pain and that he loses control of his body [pain makes you do that, you know] that she delivers the first blow, that serves to be a mighty stunning shot to the skull. All hits would keep stunning him until he blacked out from a concussion or the pain.

What's so hard to understand about "You're getting hit in the head with a steel mallet as many times as it takes till you're knocked out cold. Her eyes are moving faster than you could ever imagine and she's experienced in the field"?

I'm not backing down on this. There is no way he can make walls pop up, he's bloody knocked out. Steel mallet to the head controlled by a psychotic demon who wouldn't care if he dropped dead. Stop being so damn stubborn and accept the loss, this gives bullshit a new meaning. ))

That fated hammer would fall, aiming to toll the bell for one most unlucky man.

Vahn was nowhere to be seen in the sidelines, as a camera panned along, getting reactions from the other fighters...

However, that hammer would never reach it's goal. The camera was focused on the downed Shouyin, when a gloved fist would knock neatly into the hammer, the timing spot on as the sudden force of the intruding blow would be enough to litterally shatter it, and leave nothing but the handle to clatter against the man's skull.

God! Unbelievably Vahn appeared to help Shouyin! He delivered a spectacular punch to the hammer, completely obliterating it!

Standing there, with his right fist extended, was Vahn. His fist had never connected with the hammer itself, as it hung back by solely a single inch. Yet there it was.

However, before anyone would get to thinking about flagging him, he spoke.

"We'll give this round to them. If this continues, my team member will die." Reaching down, he plucked Shouyin's body up off the ground with his left arm, signaling the end of the match, and the win going to Blazestar.

The camera's zoomed in on Vahn's face, even as he turned around, hauling Shouyin off with an arm around the severely injured man.

"HEY!"

Oooooh, not happy. Bubbles gave a punch to Silver's shoulder. Why Silver? 'Cause Vahn just destroyed solid steel. That's ******** creepy, man, you don't mess with that.

Anyway, so she punched Silver, right.

"Your team's totally paying for that hammer, man! S'gonna come off my paycheck!"

It's time to change, it can't stay the same.

"I most certainly will. You enjoy being an unemployed cripple now. Happy New Year's, Fred Flinstone." Lania's left hand buried itself into the according pocket while her right one went up to untie that awful bun she forced herself to do to her hair for the match. It cascaded down with shades of crimson and golden-orange, soon followed by those bangs that covered up the right side of her face, once they were released as well.

Revolution is my name.

She could still feel his stone grip around her tail which was kind of why the a** attachment was still whipping around madly behind her.

It will never change, so here it stays.

As for that elbow, Lania was pretty much supressing the urge to wipe the blood off of it with her hand and lick it off. Such was the way of a demon like Lania, she'd never go for her own liquid. Sacara would, but that was another story.

"Forever is my name."

"Yes, we know."

"Oh, man, was that sad."

And so Sacara laughed and laughed and laughed, emptying her insane thoughts and laughter into Lania's mind. Meanwhile, Queenie went over to Team Blazestar's Laz with a little more than a smirk on her face. Bubbles? Well, she was somewhere, Lania didn't see her.

DISREGARD THAT, I SUCK COCKS!

As he came into range, Taki's hands flew to the Shuriken hanging from the weapon loops on her pants. There, she drew out six shuriken, flinging them at Vahn in a short pattern. The pattern went as such: Left shoulder, right shoulder, right knee, left knee, right hand, left hand.

As soon as the last Shuriken had left her possession, she drew a pair of Kunai (one for each hand) from the weapon loops, firmly holding each point down. She then settled back into her stance, and waited for him to react.

2

((For reference, the stance described is similar to that of Taki in Soul Calibur, except for the position of her hands, which are more similar to Talim's stance.))

He was expecting something to come, but what exactly would come was anyone's guess. He was by far no mind reader after all. His speed came to a halt, even as the shuriken came in, showcasing their manuevaribility and speed.

One went into his left shoulder, left knee, and left hand. The one for his right hand simply never struck because he instinctively had raised it to shield his face from being struck.

He came to a sudden halt, greaves digging into the pavement as he registered the pain from being struck. ....Shuriken..?

Well... Shouyin didn't call him a "ninja-man" for nothing.

His right hand came around, and at about the same time he would have come to a complete halt, he would have plucked both shurikens from his shoulders and sent them right back to their owner.

(2)

((I said "Tch". D=))

Taki watched him halt, saw the turn, and then saw her Shuriken come hurtling back at her. And, quite frankly, she didn't really care. Tapping her wall transmutation circle with her right hand, she bent down and placed the hand to the ground.

Diamond Wall Circle

As soon as her hand touched the ground, a low crackling noise was heard for a split second, then the carbon in the ground multiplied itself many times over, creating a wall of solid diamond as tall as Taki, and as wide as the alleyway, right in front of her as she straightened her body back out again. In the end, unless the Shuriken had been thrown with enough force to pierce diamond, which was highly doubtful, they would bounce harmlessley off the wall. If it happened as such, Taki would smile at Vahn through the diamond wall, then disengage the circle's power, and pick her Shuriken back up for later use.

3

Wu-Tang Clan ain't nuthin' ta ******** with.

The two monks would follow closely behind Silver and Shouyin as they approached the medics. Once the to-be-cripple was laid down, whether it be on a mat on the pavement, in some medical tent, or in an ambulance, they'd interfere. Gods above had decided the half-golem still remained conscious, and to whatever complaints Silver or the medics raised, he would let the two hooded men in.

They'd both crouch down by the still bleeding stump, shoulders arched and hoods raised in a manner that'd prevent prying eyes from seeing what they were doing to their companion. A deep decidedly-named "Wu-Tang yellow" and a peculiar bright green would be the only evidence of something happening in front of the monks at all. It'd be a pretty boring display though, seeing as this meager light show would continue for anywhere upwards of one hour.

What the intention of all this was though, was yet to be revealed.

It'd be better to just tune into Glacier's next Heaven or Hell match.

^^"

Eyes closed even as he took that long drag. The camera's never stopped rolling, and yet he acted like he had all the time in the world. He knew what the stakes were, and that the clock was continually ticking.

"It's going to be a long while before then..." He pushed forward once more, nearly in the same fashion as when he first started out.

(4)

Taki heard him coming, felt the pounding of his footseps in the ground, smelled the clashing of metal on concrete as his greaves struck the ground. Once he came withing five feet of her, she unleashed the spell.

Five-Element Fury

Her eyes snapped open, hands went to open palms, Kunai still clutched by her thumbs, and she placed both palms out towards Vahn. Then, each of the five elemental spheres that had been circling her body flew at him in turns, all five in tune with their own function. These spheres, however, were not technically physically touchable, as they were made of pure elemental energy.

The first sphere to activate would be the white "Light" sphere, which would shine a bright light directly into his eyes which would blind him for as long as the sphere's power stayed, and it had a lot of power in it. This allowed the the second sphere time to catch him off-guard enough for its effect, though he really couldn't do much about either sphere anyways, unless he had a handy counterspell.

The second to activate would be the green "Nature" sphere which would cause vines and other types of non-lethal trap-like vegetation to sprout from the walls and ground around him, ceasing his movement almost entirely.

Next, the red "Fire" sphere; which would light most of the of the vegetation around vahn on fire. It was hot enough that it would give Vahn at least a second degree burn if it touched him.

Then the blue "Water" sphere activated, causing a nearby fire hydrant to rupture, spraying water straight up. This water would then form into six three foot long, three inch thick icicles, each aimed at a specific part of Vahn's body. These targets would be the same as the Shuriken Taki had thrown earlier, except they would fly in reverse order.

Finally, when the other four elements were within Vahn's proximity, the black "Darkness" sphere would activate, creating a globe of dark energy above him that would have a diameter of around five feet or so. The globe would then drop on him, causing all five elements to meld into a contained shockwave of power that would more than likely leave Vahn flattened against the pavement, though still concious.

For this reason, as soon as the globe of dark energy dropped, Taki had leapt into the air. When the energy cleared, Taki hoped to land a flying knee drop on Vahn stomach, to hopefully induce more pain, hopefully knock him out. Though a K.O. seemed rather unlikely. If she didn't hit, then she'd be left quite defenseless, and very winded.

She hoped to hell that all this would work as planned.

5

Taki had a feeling the spell wouldn't completely work. It wasn't exactly the best spell she had.....

In any case, as the Serpent came into view, Taki manipulated what little Chi she could into a low-power shield which encircled her body. She still felt the pain, though only about 3/4 of it. And, because she hadn't been deterred from her flight path, Taki was still aimed straight at Vahn. As she fell towards him, Taki flippedher Kunai around, aiming them for Vahn's shoulders, hoping to at least score some kind of a hit.

If this didn't work, she didn't think she'd be able to fight much longer.

6

Taki heard him, loud and clear...she just didn't give a damn. As she flew back towards the ground, her shield lost power, her hands went to her Shuriken. Then, with as much damn energy she could muster, she threw every last one of her twenty-six remaining Shuriken at Vahn while he was still in range, hoping to at least score a few hits.

Then came the ground. The impact hurt quite a bit, and gave her one hell of a knock to the head, it might have even fractured her left forearm a bit. However, that didn't deter her from propping herself back up on her right arm, and forcing her unwilling body and tired limbs to get back up. Once she was standing again, she drew her other four Kunai from their loops on her pants, and held all six of them in throwing position. One held by its handle inbetween her foreinger and middle finger, one held the same way between her middle finger and ring finger, and one held the same way between her ringer finger and pinkie. It was symmetrical with both hands.

She was cut, she was bruised, she was even bleeding from her right ear. However, Taki had decided something at that moment....There was no way in hell she was going to give up. Vahn would have to beat her unconcious before she'd concede.

7

((Isn't it the end of regulation time?))

After it's all said and done, there's nothing you can do but learn from the experience and keep your head up.

Lazenca was with his team on the side, waiting for the update to his FIGHTER. He'd come off of being charred and whatnot, so wasn't blowing icy air all over the place. His back on one of the corporate trucks, he could feel the anxiousness in the air all around them as supporters of Blazestar and Glacier both waited.

Glacier's score. "16.96 ... out of 20, right?" He was talking to himself.

Blaestar's score. "DAMN. We lost by four tenths, guys..."

He looked up, closing his eyes. When he opened them, he started laughing. "16.56 .... that's too damn close."

There's always next time.

"You're bloody kidding me."

"Excuse me as I go lol."

"Oh, that just blows." Lania paused for a few moments, as if thinking about something very deep and meaningful. Her face looked the same, but the pause indicated, well, deep and meaningful thinking. Then she reached into her right boot and pulled out a dagger.

"I'm going to go sign Shouyin's cast."

"Do you hear it? I am loling."

Taki Morivan Wrote:

She was cut, she was bruised, she was even bleeding from her right ear. However, Taki had decided something at that moment....There was no way in hell she was going to give up. Vahn would have to beat her unconcious before she'd concede.

Her shurikens flung mostly out of desperation, quite a number of them would strike the ground, others meeting and embedding within his right forearm, which was raised to shield his face. He never flinched, let alone yelled from the pain, yet held his ground.

Lowering his right arm, he was peppered here and there with shurikens, yet every single one having missed a fatal area.

"....."

Without another word, Vahn finally moved from his spot.

It wasn't to strike out at her.

Not even to glance at her.

It was to simply walk past her.

The time was already up, he could hear thast much from the crowd on the sidelines. As he walked past her, he spoke simple words.

"Better luck next time."

Cutting words.

His coat ruffled to either side as he moved, leaving the woman to simply stand there in exhaustion, giving her only his backside, the sound of clattering shurikens accompanying.

"Lania, don't go doing anything illegal." And that was that because Lania was going to do what she wanted, but now she could weigh in her thoughts of 'signing" against his voice in her head.

He sighed looked to the battlefield, where Taki and Vahn were parting ways.

"...Wait a moment." Lazenca pushed up against the truck and walked towards Vahn... he'd talk to Taki afterwards.

"...Oh?"

Coming to a complete halt, his eyes took in Taki, as well as the approaching Lazenca; head canting to the side and allowing him this. There was a somewhat quiet intensity about Vahn, which always followed him as if you never knew what was going to happen next.

It made for a very unpredictable man, if not someone that people tended to misunderstand. The wounds he had received from the fight were purely limited to the punctures in his skin from shurikens. Not near enough to cause the reaction his blood normally had.

A shadow fell over both people as Sun, up and about already, much to the chagrin of the staff, wandered in to see Shouyin.

"Heya Shou...I heard what happened. They put you back together okay?" He pretended that he hadn't just purposesly interupted Lania from her...congradulations.

He wasn't wearing goggles any more, and his eyes glowed eerily in the dim light of the street.

"You're Vahn...."

And I'm Captain Obvious. HI.

Laz stopped a few feet away from the man. "I've heard so much about you. I didn't think you'd actually show, though. Kinda glad you did, though it totally screwed me up." Because let's get right- he was obviously stronger than Laz if he was able to buckle the streets and shatter steel with his fist, and completely override an elemental flood. "She told me... is it true? Do you have Essence of Efreet?"

And Shouyin did the most spectacular wheelie ever. Friggin' slid twenty feet doing slow circles, felt like a roller coaster. Yelling s**t like 'woooo' and 'weeee' he went along until he came to a sudden but gentlre stop. Quick turn back to face Lania and he rolled on quickly towards the two fighters.

"Oh mayn! That was -sweet-!" He laughed and grinned and laughed. "Your foot should slip like that more often Lania, that was -fuuuuuun-." Smiling he looked her up and down for a second and like, thought.

"Wanna sign my cast?"

"Oh, you fail at causing people pain."

"I'm sorry I don't resort to pointlessly killing babies for fun."

"Yes, you just kill them when you want to eat them, but when it's your own child, nooooo not my baby. Such a hypocrite."

"Go lol in a corner."

"You know it's sad but true."

Back to Shouyin and his stupid wheelchair move.

"No, I put my dagger away."

OOC: Sunny comes first, that picture, oh my God. <3~

Shouyin's face lit up happily, but he quickly fixed that with a stern expression of approval. Holding out his 'leg' with a little effort he watched the hand scribble across his cast, giggling inwardly at the message, but avoiding Sun's eyes. You could get lost in those crazy things! Made him think of cherries and stuff.

"Thanks Sun."

~

"Oh, well." Shouyin fiddled in his pocket for a second or two, and pulled out a chisel tip permanent black marker. Sharpie or something he thought, this pretty woman had signed his leg then given it to him 'long with a peck on the cheek. He can't remember where the yellow marker came from, could've been in his pocket for years without his knowledge. Whatever, he held up the black one happily, gesturing for her to take it.

"You can use this. Lot easier to just write then chisel. Less room for error too.

Wouldn't want to accidentally cut those pretty fingers of yours. ~"

Silver had remained over by the medics, by himself even, long after Shou had wheeled off. He didn't really have any business with them. He was just thinking quietly to himself.

The little wristband/watch/thingy they had given him at the front desk and had told him where he was supposed to fight first started to make noise, notifying him that new information had been recieved. Being torn from his thoughts, he slowly raised his arm up to take a look, heart racing.

He let out a long sigh of relief.

"Damn, that was a close one..."

He turned around and slowly made his way back to where everyone else was, conversing and congratulating each other and what not. As he passed Shou, Sun still signing his cast, he set his hand on Shou's shoulder, grinning weakly.

"You took a big hit for the team, Shou. You're alright in my book. Get better before the next match... I'd hate to have to fight without a guy like you."

That was all he'd stopped to say, and he kept moving again, heading for Blazestar, Bubbles in particular. When he approached her, he was still grinning.

"Sorry for ignoring you earlier, I had something on my mind. I never got to properly thank or commend you on our fight. You were a tough a opponent. Blazestar builds good robots. If they don't keep you too busy, maybe I'll see you again outside of the ring? Take care of them, and yourself..."

With that, Silver turned and walked away, not really waiting for a response. As he passed Vahn, he would shoot him a glance, but say nothing. He proceeded to head for the end of the alleyway, where he would wait for their ride. He stuck his hands in his pockets, what he had managed to salvage of his scarf whipping dramatically in the wind.

Dash... you better have won, too. I won't forgive you if you let yourself lose before we fight again...

Shouyin just smiled very, -very- politely, and caught the marker when she tossed it.

"Thanks for the memories, Queen."

He kept on smiling.

"Oh, and you never did say. Who won the match?"

<3