Twitch vs Zandra

D' had hoped her prelim would be in a more agreeable climate, but... you take what you could get, right? This was just a preview of some of the things she'd have to deal with in the tourney proper so she'd put up with it. Stiff upper lip and all.

Her purple eyes moved upward as she walked the path marked by bright orange flags, though her lids closed when a large drop of water landed squarely between her eyes. It had been raining on and off, and she could tell with the soft rumbles in the air that the deluge was returning quickly. This fight would be nasty and sticky, but it'd be just as bad for her opponent, so she'd just roll with the punches.

The first and most important adjustment was to her clothing. While preferring to fight in loose clothing, she knew rain and mud would just mat and cling to her. Up top, she wore a varsity gray shirt with "The Immortal Double Jump" on the front and "XPJS" on the back with a fancy, authentic-looking collegiate emblem. Otherwise, she wore green camo fatigues belted, tightened and tied at the ankles, knees and waist. Twitch wore black sneakers with pointedly good tread rather then boots, not worried about the problems that came with long exposure to mud and such. To her, the main issue would be the ability to pick up her leg, and she didn't want to weigh her body down with heavy boots. Some might wonder if she was wise to give up that traction for lower weight, but she'd argue that she wasn't giving up traction at all.

And so there she was, walking with her staff acting as a walking stick, following the marked path as she took a piece of cloth and tied back her already damp hair into a single ponytail to prevent any of it from sticking to her eyes. Eventually she'd come to something resembling a clearing, the Judge there waiting with no care for the weather. That man/woman was given a respectful nod before D' began stretching her arms and slowly picking up her legs, one at a time, to see just how sticky and nasty this ground was.

On a scale of one to ten, pretty sticky and nasty.

Ah, an opponent with a weapon... she was glad, wondering if fairness and all would force her to relinquish hers. It was only the prelims right? No reason she couldn't fight hand to hand if her opponent was, right? Speaking of hands, she reached out and gave her opponent a firm handshake, small claws never touching her foe's skin.

"And you are... Zandra, right? It's nice to actually meet you." As might be expected of a major sponsor, Twitch always followed the tournaments, especially its female combatants. It was a treat to fight someone with experience on this level, though she'd not let that fact blind her... getting star-struck, and all. She'd competed in local TKD tournaments, so she at least had a taste of the scene.

"Well, we're here and it's nasty... so let's get this started. Best of luck, ma'am," she said with a bow at the waist (force of habit) and a few steps backwards. Her five-foot stick was tossed between the two hands before she moved her right foot behind her a bit. With the left side forward, her stick's business end pointed down toward the muddy ground before her with that hand at her waist, her right hand holding the stick at the rear near her chest. Position set, she fell into an easy, loose rhythm of moving her shoulders to shift the position of the stick.

Back and forth, loose on the balls of the feet. Be ready to move. Don't let the terrain bog you down. Don't worry about being everyone else, just fight the way you know how and you'll be fine.

A toothy smile spread across her lips despite the unfavorable conditions.

Go time.

While she didn't try to sneak-attack the woman if she needed to settle, Twitch made sure to bring the tip up and, while taking a quick shuffling step forward to close the few grace feet given until they were only 3 feet away from each other, strike quickly with a hard jab to the chest with her staff the moment Zandra seemed ready to rock. With the weapon extended to bridge the gap, it might almost look as if she were using the staff as a pool stick and (the space between) Zandra's breast(s, where she was actually aiming) as the cueball. It probably wouldn't hurt at all, being more of an annoyance than anything.

No, she did not forget that Zandra had a bat.

Adrenaline: 0+1=1

Progress: 1/10

"Oua!"

With her foot planted so, she'd be able to take the kick to the knee by bending down just a bit. This rolling with it wouldn't take off the power after the fact but the overcompensation allowed her to take control and keep her upright. To Ryke, it would seem that Twitch dipped a few inches before suddenly whipping her body in the opposite direction,this action preceding the feeling of getting slammed in her left side with Twitch's right leg, roundbouts the rib area.

This is why she wore light shoes-- had they been any heavier, she would've begun to sink and set when she put her leg down. However, for as long as Ryke felt the need to hold the staff, Twitch would use it as a balance beam and anchor while she pummeled Ryke's ribs; her opponent would know it with how much Twitch's body pulled on the staff without actually trying to pull it away. With the mud and need to feel more the placement of her feet else she slip on an errant large branch or something, her legs were slowed to one kick per second, with each kick punctuated by Twitch's kiai.

"Oua!"

Adrenaline: 1+1=2

Progress: 2/10

Tugging war? Why, there had hardly been a few seconds invested before Ryke ragequit the tug-of-war. =(

Getting her anchor moved while she was kicking wouldn't disrupt her attack-- the bar was there to help her launch, not turn and spin into the attack. Unfortunately, it was also there to help her reset her position each time. This meant that she wasn't going to be able to bring her leg back, and Twitch was instead going to spin 180 degrees CCW.

"Hngh--!"

Shoved back and with her left side facing Ryke, Twitch stomped down to cut out any sliding she was in the middle of doing. In the end, she'd come to a stop six feet away in a wide crouching stance, but with her staff back in her left hand-- the right had touched down near the surface of the ground and hovered there.

Ryke spoke, noting the preference of weaponry. Twitch hissed at the opponent, her fur, hair, and hackles raising even as Ryke walked over. There was enough time for this.

Adrenaline: 2+1+1(Ante Up!) = 4

Progress: 3/10

Sins of an Angel Wrote:

Was this a diversion? You bet.

It didn't matter, because Ryke stepped forward and removed her own ability to dodge. To her credit, the diversion did make Twitch move (because she was going to keep growling otherwise), but likely not in a way Ryke would have appreciated.

Twitch seemed to be doing well not getting too grimy and nasty with this falling rain and mud underfoot, but all of that was erased when, in response to the rising mud, she used her springing position to leap further away. With the dirty water between them, Twitch would be as blind to Ryke's golf swing as Ryke would be to the nuances of Twitch drawing her leg back and shooting it forward during the leap. Mind, the relocation was supposed to take Twitch completely out of Ryke's range, what with her apparently having weapons with longer reach than Ryke's own.

Weapons, plural.

Special: Dust Kick Wrote:

- A straight or side kick sends out a shockwave of energy on the ground, raising the titular debris in a 3-foot wide, 4-foot high (roughly, the height of her foot after a standing kick) cylinder. Direct hit delivers a concussive force of two meaningful kicks; getting caught in its immediate wake (1½ feet) or the edge delivers the force of a single meaningful kick. Moving at a constant rate of 20mph, it has an effective range of 25 yards after which it dissipates completely. Two charges.

To Ryke, it might seem like all the mud she splashed up suddenly crashed back on her, and for some reason hurt her chest/face/stomach/whatever was in the way a hell of a lot more than water, mud, and twigs should. Twitch, concentrating on aiming on Ryke's last position with the knowledge that her attack could still hit full-on if Ryke shaded either way, fell on her right side in the mud. The grip on her staff remained true, though she felt her hand slip down a bit. Assuming Ryke ate the Dust Kick, Twitch would quickly scramble to her feet, wishing it was raining harder to get the mud out of her hair.

Adrenaline: 4-2 = 2

Progress: 4/10

Ah, the kick hadn't floored Ryke as she'd hoped, but there was enough of a lull to start getting back to her feet. She never took her eyes off her opponent while rising, Twitch not knowing the exact range of the bat and not wanting Ryke too close with it-- a nice swing could turn the tide, and break up Twitch's zoning.

With her left side still facing Ryke, she turned her shoulder and braced against the tree limb. It was sizable, certainly not something she'd want to get hit in the brainpan with, but thrown at her she could just kinda... take it. It was an odd thing to just drop her weapon and decide to throw things, and if it happened again then Twitch would actually move out of the way because if it was anything like a cartoon, Ryke might find a car or kitchen sink to throw.

Anyway... "blocked" the big branch, got it. It dropped down right in front of Twitch as she took a half step backward and it splashed up mud on her shins, not that there wasn't a lot of mud there already. Twitch's face was one of slight confusion until she saw Ryke pick up her bat again. Was she going to thr-- nope, no she's going to start swinging.

The staff still being held by the left hand, her right quickly joined in and swung the staff so it was in an upright position, and moving to intercept Ryke's swing-- left hand would be much lower than the right. She wasn't expecting such a quick change in direction however.

Aaaaaaa stop being confused stop being confused stop being confused

DINK

"Fffff---"

Twitch's freezing gave Ryke the opportunity to land that attack, and there was no beastly bracing happening here; Twitch's knee buckled and she was going down. Not having the mind to do what you were supposed to do != not knowing what you should be doing, and so as she dropped with a throbbing knee, Twitch used the last of her balance to twist her body to the right and yank up the staff to slam Ryke in the chin. Just a little painful something-something to keep her from pursuing, so Twitch could start mentally cursing at herself for falling for that and try to get back up.

Adrenaline: 2+1 = 3

Progress: 5/10

Twitch had been showing Ryke her left shoulder almost the entire fight, nearly sideways as per a staff-wielder's typical stance. A collapse on her left side with a strong right would only further reinforce this position. This would make her right leg incredibly hard to attack unless Ryke was going to physically step over Twitch to hit it That said, the kick would be aimed at Twitch's hips.

Unless Ryke was going to physically step over Twitch to hit it.

But y'know, it didn't matter in the end where she decided to toss her foot. After enough using the staff, Twitch simply opened her hands to let it fall against her body and roll of on its own time as her arms wrapped around Ryke's offending leg. The combination of that knee attack and the one following made that one side a bit sore, but... these were just kicks right, albeit with steel toe boots or something, right?

With teeth grit to push through the pain of concentrating her movement on that side, Twitch moved her right arm around Ryke's leg while pulling herself up and closer. This was done as fast as humanly Esterianly possible not only to be sure that this tackle succeeded with little to no complications and as much surprise as could be mustered, but also because Twitch wasn't fond of holding on to someone's leg while they were holding a bat.

Her head was against Ryke's thigh, neck tight and shoulders pulled up... it was all the protection she could offer for the short couple of seconds needed to drag Ryke's feet together and out from under her. The ginger was slated to flop most unceremoniously onto her back, Twitch vying for position as she crawled atop, using her claws to hold onto clothes or body parts as needed and available to ensure that she was always holding something, always aware of Ryke's body and where it was trying to go.

Her eyes were also up, because she needed to know where that bat was and where it was trying to go.

Adrenaline: 3+1 = 4

Progress: 6/10

note: Bolded word in first sentence notes a pretty important edit.

Twitch had wished it was raining more... and suddenly it was. That was fine, she supposed... thank goodness she decided to had claws to resecure her hold if it began to slip. However, it wasn't needed since Ryke ended up on the ground, her body shielding Twitch's face from the mud that splashed. The strikes to the head were expected and prepared for already, what with the bracing of the neck and hiding of the face. Unfortunately, the back of her head was exposed, her shoulders able to come up only so much, and so she took those hits like a champ-to-be while being subconsciously thankful her opponent didn't try to rear back and fully swing or something, since that would have given her a serious pause. Twitch paused once she took the first hit, but her plan was lacking in multiple fine motions that she needed supremely fine motor skills and absolute concentration for. Thank goodness, because getting "tapped" in the head constantly was starting to take its toll.

This simple plan concentrated on climbing up Ryke far enough to lessen the power of her hard bat jabs by so being far too close for an effective hit at that angle, and also putting her hand by the lady's face. With Twitch's head lying against Ryke's chest by now and the feline between her legs, it was pretty easy to tell where Ryke and where her head was, so this task was rather easy. To be extra sure Twitch peeked up from her turtle stance, sure her hair would catch the pouring rain before her eyes did.

There would be no rearing back of a fist to signify an attack that Ryke should quickly dodge. There would only be the quick motion Twitch's right hand opening up at Ryke's left jaw as the heel of the palm lightly brushed her skin... even it felt much, much worse.

Special: Pulse Wrote:

A hand thrusting forward distorts air as if it were water, and the ripple effect continues in a straight line; size of actual distortion is just larger than her hand (1 foot diameter). Concussive force upon direct impact delivers the force of two meaningful punches, and an indirect blow gives the impact of a single meaningful punch. Moving at a constant rate of 10mph, it has an effective range of 15 yards, after which it dissipates completely. Despite visual distortion, no elemental tie to Air or Water. One charge.

Twitch mashed her face back into Ryke's chest after spotting the Pulse, left arm dropping onto her right shoulder to have more of an idea of what the dominant arm was doing. And by "mashed her face into Ryke's chest," we mean "leaned forward enough to headbutt her in the middle of her collar." It was there that her face would now again hide.

Not to discount Ryke's vigor at all, and Twitch was no surgeon gifted with superior precision or anything, but she'd heard plenty about how a well-placed strike to the jawline on an unsuspecting person could easily knock them out. With the situation as it was, she felt it was time to test the theory.

At the very least, the combination of attacks would hopefully stun Ryke out of attacking with the weapon, giving the back of Twitch's head a break. Even if Ryke was only going to be allowed a couple of hits in a couple of seconds, she was still attacking with a bat.

Adrenaline: 4-1 = 3

Progress: 7/10

It didn't take much effort to twist the palm, since Ryke was manipulating Twitch's arm. She might be able to keep from getting KTFO, but Twitch wasn't going to easily whiff an attack that large, close, and easy to fine-adjust.

She wasn't even thinking of how their fight could be interpreted; she'd seen enough matches and heard enough talk to know that if you're grappling, it's going to look silly. Hell, people even talked down on both professional and Olympic-style wrestling because they were all close and personal, and as a fan of both Twitch didn't really think twice about that sort of thing.

Besides, she could save the comments about how soft and warm Ryke's body was for after the match.

With Twitch between Ryke's legs, she thought the lady's movement to her right leg was a movement to her for some kind of hair hold or something, so she leaned slightly away in preparation for it while still moving up Ryke's body. She could still feel her sore hip and knee, but she could handle it much better down here; it was part of the reason she'd dragged Ryke down in the first place. If this fight went back to standing, Twitch might be copping a slight limp that'd make dodging the bat that Ryke just released a mite harder.

But they were on the ground and Twitch didn't know that Ryke was going for her knife. Likewise, in her preparedness to stab Twitch Ryke wouldn't be aware that Twitch's left hand, the one that had been on her shoulder, had likewise slipped up to the right side of Ryke's face.

"....!"

Twitch's eyes mouth opened wide in a silent scream, the slits of her wide eyes thin lines. Her body stiffened and she stared down at Ryke. For a split second, the pain was all she knew, that searing hotness that made her body stiffen all over again.

The second passed, and Twitch locked eyes with the woman. Despite the rain matting down her hair and fur, her ears were erect and sloping back. She looked downright pissed, giving hints to the reason her species was called the Hellcat. However, the important thing wasn't Twitch's eyes, it was her hands. While Ryke might have held Twitch's right hand, she still did nothing about the mobile wrist which flashed open in a familiar gesture.

...That still wasn't important. It was the barest feint for the the free left that cupped Ryke's cheek. No moving this one away, baby.

It sounded kinda cinematic and all, and might've been rendered for the movies for thirty seconds when in reality, from stab to face touch, only a second and a half had passed. Twitch's body was still stiff, and she was snarling again, though the pain caused her eyes to water.

Not that Ryke would've been able to see that because the moment Twitch's hand touched her, she was probably yanked into the land of the unconscious with apparent simultaneous blows to the temple.

ESpecial: Fireball Wrote:

an enhanced version of the Pulse, this time with a purplish red ball of flame traveling in the center of the rippling. Fire element, distortion size remains the same. A direct impact delivers the force of three punches while a glancing blow offers the force of two. On any impact, delivers moderate damage to the area around it by way of a burst that can set cloth aflame. Three charges.

So... this was how Heaven or Hell went...

Adrenaline: 3-3 = 0

Progress: 8/10