Description: In preparation for his upcoming mission for Interpol, Lynx is assigned to Chun-Li for combat readiness assessment. The exercise proves to be a bit more than either expects.
There are a lot of things Chun-li's dealing with in this particular branch of Interpol. It generally involves everything that has to do with criminals and potential threats that might possess well trained forces. Today though, a very particular request came from her bosses with someone's files and information on her computer. Looks like a former agent has been brought back in and needs to get a little 'physical' down, amongst many other tests and Chun-li has been designated for that (she's the one in charge of the Hong Kong special forces after all).
It all happens in the gyms : there had plenty of machines out there for body-building exercices, but there were also plenty of mats on the floors for self-defense combat training and other things of the like. Chun-li's wearing a pair of blue sweater pants along with a grey Hong Kong police department t-shirt.
The name given in the file was Eric Warfield: age 37, 6'3", brown hair, blue eyes, American. The background details accompanying the profile were relatively sparse; apparently, he was freshly released from a prison sentence in Siberia by the Russian government. For whatever reason, Interpol considered him an asset, and he had been scheduled for combat readiness assessment before reassignment. After all, after serving an extended time in prison, it's expected that the man will be a bit rusty.
Eric is already in the gym area when Chun-Li arrives. Dressed in a black muscle shirt and track pants, he fits the description and image in the profile: lean, somewhat tall, and middle-aged, with ice-blue eyes. In his current state of dress, a number of scars marring his arms and upper body are visible: several small burn marks and a few that appear to be from lacerations. There seems to be something of a chill in the air around him, such that the other staff occupying the gym at the moment give him a wide berth as he performs some warm-up exercises.
The chill is in stark contrast to the CD player that is playing in the corner beside the mat that he's occupying, from which 'Steal My Sunshine' by Len cheerfully emanates.
Eric is in the middle of a set of push-ups when he detects Chun-Li's arrival. Standing, he turns to the woman and gives her a nod of greeting. "Agent Chun-Li, I presume?" Though clearly American, he greets her in Cantonese with the comfort of a practiced linguist.
What little information there was about his background made Chun-li wary. Especially since she lacked all the details about it. Why was he in prison in Siberia? She didn't like it, but there has to be a good reason for him to be around. At the very least, she could only hope so.
Chun-li glances at the man and she gives him a nod. It was easy to spot him out : an american in the middle of the Hong Kong police department. Her lips curl into a faint smile when he talks to her in Cantonese, "Not bad... You are correct. Eric Warfield, is it? I've been assigned to test your reflexes and physical condition, apparently you were a talented enough fighter to be part of special forces, whether or not you have been in your previous life, they want to see if you're still up to the task after your stay in Siberia,"
Chun-li approaches the man and she slowly stretches and warms herself up. After a few seconds she glances at him and says, "Whenever you're ready, show me what you can do.."
As Chun-Li extends her invitation, one corner of Eric's lips curls slightly upward. He steps in toward the center of the mat, raising both of his hands in loosely-clenched fists and bending slightly at the knees as he assumes a fighting stance that resembles that of a boxer. "I suppose that they would have reason to be concerned, although most things tend to be preserved by sub-zero temperatures," he remarks coolly as he flexes his fingers for a moment, a trail of white vapor rising off of them like the smoke from dry ice before he curls them back into fists. "I'm curious how much they included in the file."
With that, he steps in toward the female agent, leading off with a quick, simple straight jab. Even with the pretense of performing for evaluation, he isn't quick to go all-out.
COMBATSYS: Lynx has started a fight here.
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Lynx 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li has joined the fight here.
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Chun-Li 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Lynx
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li blocks Lynx's Quick Punch.
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Chun-Li 0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0 Lynx
"The minimum I had to know," Chun-li replies as she gets into her combat stance, the back of her right hand toward Lynx while the other goes behind her head. During her warm up, Chun-li's movements were relatively fluids and graceful.
The woman does arch a brow, her mouth slightly agap when she notics the curls of smoke rising from his fingers. "So, I suppose that explains why they're so eager to see how well you can do, seems like you've got some special talents.."
When Lynx lunges at her, Chun-li moves her arm to intercept his fist, deflecting the blow and preventing him from touching her face or midsection.
She leans back and holds herself on one feet while she swings her leg up for a high-kick. She's holding back for now, going on gradually.
COMBATSYS: Lynx counters Weakened Medium Kick from Chun-Li with Lynx Claw Takedown.
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Chun-Li 0/-------/---====|=------\-------\0 Lynx
The initial jab was prodding, as if testing the waters of the woman's defenses. When she retaliates, though, Lynx's aggression is swift and sudden, as if diving right in. Pivoting out of the line of Chun-Li's offense, he steps inside her guard and to her side, pressing one hand to the Interpol agent's face while the other moves to the back of her head. Chun-Li will feel a rush of cold energy into her head as Lynx moves to tilt the woman's head back to imbalance her before pushing her down to the mat with his hands.
It's a clearly violent takedown - not necessarily lethal in nature, but the transition, especially in a sparring match, may be jarring. Lynx steps to the other side of Chun-Li as he completes the motion of the takedown, giving her room to rise. "I don't consider holding back to be necessary," he remarks, the tone of his voice gravelly, but even, "From what I understand, you're one of the better fighters here."
It seems Chun-li has been holding back perhaps a bit too much. It seems Eric proves to be more agile and faster than her first cursorary evaluation. His swift movements and techniques manage to throw her off balance and Eric soon tosses her on the mat slightly harder than she would have anticipated.
Still in the end, Chun-Li's pride seems just hurt as much as she is as she grunts and rises up to her full height. She lifts her gaze up at Lynx and she narrows her eyes a bit, "Not bad.. Looks like you're better than I first expected..."
The woman straightens herself up, her lips curling into a smile, "I don't want to go too rough on you... Unless that's what you want," Chun-li says. After all, her superiors didn't ask her to kick his ass, but if he consents to it...
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li takes no action.
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Chun-Li 0/-------/---====|=------\-------\0 Lynx
Chun-Li's words draw a tight smirk from Lynx as he lowers his arms to his sides for a moment, though his posture still has that tension that suggests that he's still prepared. "Don't worry. I may've been in the icebox for a while, but I'm not past the expiration date yet. I'm not about to fall and break a hip here." As he speaks, a chill mist begins to swirl around his left hand. If Chun-Li's affinity for chi is strong enough, she may be able to perceive the concentration of energy as the mist coalesces into the form of a baton, the length of ice held ready in his hand like a fighting stick.
"Well, I guess I -might- break a hip. Depends on how hard you can kick."
He makes a beckoning motion toward the cop, holding the newly fabricated bludgeoning instrument at the ready. It's clear by the decision to arm himself that he isn't planning on going easy.
COMBATSYS: Lynx focuses on his next action.
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Chun-Li 0/-------/---====|=------\-------\0 Lynx
Chun-li's smile widens a bit but she tries to conceal her amusement. "Alright... Let's hope you won't regret this..." The woman says as she prepares herself and focuses on Eric, attempting to find the good opening to show her what she can do.
She narrows her eyes a bit as she notices the baton of ice he creates out of thin air. Very impressive -- though making ice weapons won't help him much to resist the incoming onslaught.
Chun-li quickly closes up the distance between her and Eric, as quick as lightning, a huge contrast with the speed and agility she showed before. Once she closes up the distance, she attempts a similar attack than before, getting on one feet to hit Eric, buth she does with incredible accuracy and speed, kicking a dozens times, up, down, up, down, middle, up, down. "Kyaaaa!!" She shouts through her onslaught of kicks.
When she finally slows down, Chun-li swings her leg to spin on herself, quickling getting on her hands and completting the spin to hurl her against Eric, performing a rapid helicopter-like kick over a short distance before the momentum makes her fall on her back and roll on her back.
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li blitzes into action and acts again!
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Chun-Li 0/-------/----===|=------\-------\0 Lynx
COMBATSYS: Lynx blocks Chun-Li's Spinning Bird Kick EX.
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Chun-Li 0/-------/----===|===----\-------\0 Lynx
COMBATSYS: Lynx counters Hyakuretsu Kyaku from Chun-Li with Sudden Shard.
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Chun-Li 0/-------/--=====|==-----\-------\0 Lynx
The first couple of kicks from the barrage unleashed on Lynx are deflected by the icy rod that he's brandishing. The third kick shatters the weapon, a spray of ice crystals covering the mat, but in the space between kicks another weapon forms in his other hand, shaped in the fashion of a tonfa. Bringing it up to arrest the next pair of kicks, he furrows his brow, eyes narrowing in concentration. A second tonfa appears in his left hand, catching the low kick before he snaps the tonfa in his right hand down across Chun-Li's leg and separates from her.
"Nice moves. I - hrrgh!"
There's really no time for snark between the beats of Chun-Li's onslaught, and it's all Lynx can do to bring up both weapons, gripping them in a position along his forearms, to guard against Chun-Li's helicopter assault. The ice-tonfas shatter in unision, shards scattering along the mat in a trail as Lynx is driven sliding back across it - but he manages to remain standing.
"Impressive," he comments between deep breaths. "Maybe I am getting old after all. You're certainly faster than I was anticipating."
The chinese woman thought the change of pace would have proven to be a lot more than Eric could deal with, but once again he proves to be much more skilled and talented than she expected. Her flurry of kicks doesn't even manage to breach his defense and in the end, his club of ice ends up hurting her more than she could.
Fortunately Chun-li follows it up with her powerful spinning bird kick which breaks through his defense. She rolls on her back, her legs aching from the pain the impact caused them. Chun-li bites her lips and she straightens herself up, "Impressive... I definately didn't expect you to defend yourself so well..." Her words are honest, obviously. "You've exceeded by far my expectations, I apologize,"
By the smirk on her lips, she's obviously pleased by this outcome. She jumps into the air, performing a front-flip and she swings her leg for a powerful drop-kick, leaving a trail of blue-chi behind her foot, "Kyaaa!" She shouts with her powerful drop-kick.
COMBATSYS: Lynx endures Chun-Li's Hazanshu.
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Chun-Li 1/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0 Lynx
o/~ I know it's up for me If you steal my sunshine o/~
The catchy Canadian late 90's hit continues to chirp in the background as Chun-Li dives toward Lynx. The attack is much too fast for him to really consider a way to turn it back on his assailant, so rather than trying to do so, he turns his body so that his side takes the brunt of the blow. Setting his jaw with a grimace as the woman's feet drive into him, pushing him back along the mat, he holds his arms out to the side facing away from Chun-Li.
Even as her attack plows into him - and it's certainly going to leave bruises - a shaft of ice spreads from his right hand to his left, continuing to grow rapidly until it's about the length of a short staff. As it lengthens, the end also begins to swell into a large, cylindrical ice crystal formation - forming what effectively amounts to a large hammer made entirely of ice.
"You know what my favourite song was in eighth grade?" he wheezes out before bringing the heavy weapon spinning around toward the Interpol agent, an arc of freezing mist trailing behind it. She did say that she wanted him to show her what he could do, right?
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li blocks Lynx's Arms of the Ice Giant.
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Chun-Li 1/------=/=======|======-\-------\0 Lynx
Chun-li's eyes widen a bit as Eric materializes more ice : forming a large glacial hammer. "Ice's definately your thing, huh?" When Eric swings the hammer around, Chun-li moves her arms to block the blow. The momentum of his swing and the weight of his ice hammer knocks her away some.
She falls into the mat and rolls on her back to get on her feet into a low crouch. She looks up at Eric and arches a brow, "Oh..? No, what was it?" She asks.
Enough fooling around though -- it seems Eric was definately more skilled than she first thought, but it was time to show him just what she can do. She closes her eyes and focuses, letting her hands move fluidly in front of her as she channels her chi. A huge ball of chi forms between her palms and Chun-li hurls the blast of blue chi almost at point-blank range, which explodes and bursts almost as soon as she swings it in Eric's direction.
"No, I wasn't referring to Ice. I thought MC Hammer was catchier," Lynx quips crisply as the frozen mallet rebounds off of Chun-Li's guard. Tiny fractures begin to criss-cross the length of the weapon from the force of the impact before it crumbles apart, the mat steadily becoming laden with a coat of frost as more and more ice spills onto it.
One of Lynx's eyebrows arches slightly as he senses the energy about to be unleashed by the other martial artist, and he raises both of his arms up, attempting to focus his own chi to absorb the brunt of the impact - but he's too slow, and the point-blank blast catches him full in the chest, sending him flying across the fitness area, easily clearing the mat the two were using to spar before crash landing next to a group of female agents who are in the middle of practicing yoga to the soothing music of a soundtrack oriented to the task. A couple of them look up at him in bewilderment and derision.
"Sorry, ladies. Mind if I chill here for a moment?"
Picking himself up off of the mat, taking slow, deep breaths, Lynx keeps his arms loose at his sides. The front of his workout shirt, all but tattered from the chi explosion, begins to flutter as an icy breeze begins to pick up around him, steadily rising in speed while dropping in temperature.
"That was a good one," Lynx calls across to Chun-Li, his tone still even-keel despite raising his voice slightly. "Maybe if I'd had that kind of training at your age, things could have been different. Come at me."
COMBATSYS: Lynx is surrounded by an arctic breeze as he gathers icy energy.
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Chun-Li 0/-------/------=|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Lynx
Unfortunately, it seems Chun-li doesn't quite have the same references when it comes to music that this american man has. Chun-li winces a bit as her powerful chi blast sends Eric flying across the room and she winces a bit for him.
Looks like she got carried away a little and she seems to have shadows of regrets on her features... Hard to know whether it's for Eric or that she actually knocked him over a bunch of other agents who were practicing Yoga.
"You okay? Guess I might have overdone it a little.." She admits.
She assesses him after that blast... It seems like he's in pain a bit, exhausted. "You sure about this..? We don't have to continue..." Chun-li says. She keeps her guard up though, feeling the chilly breeze that seems to blow in his direction.
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li takes no action.
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Chun-Li 0/-------/------=|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Lynx
While there's a faint smirk on his lips, the look in Lynx's eyes is as cold as the air around him. The women practicing yoga start to scatter, moving away from the mat that he's standing on as the temperature continues to plummet. There's a question raised over whether someone should get a superior to put a stop to this - it's clearly gone way beyond the scope of a basic training and information gathering exercise.
"I wouldn't want your evaluation to be incomplete," Lynx replies briskly to her. He's definitely standing with a slight hunch after the punishment that he's taken. A thin layer of frost begins to spread across his exposed skin as the winds around him picks up, completely unnatural in this controlled climate. He extends a hand toward Chun-Li, and the chilled air seems to rush suddenly toward her, cooling in the space near her.
"Come. Let's finish this."
Suddenly, the cold air picks up to a driving arctic gale, the icy energy attempting to blast Chun-Li toward Lynx.
COMBATSYS: Lynx successfully hits Chun-Li with Howl of the Wendigo.
- Power hit! -
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Chun-Li 0/-------/---====|>>>>>>>\>------\1 Lynx
The chinese woman's concerns leave her features and her expression becomes stern when Eric mentions his desire to finish this, "Very well," She answers, knees bending down slightly to get into her combat stance.
Her eyes remain alert and Chun-li seems wairy about this man. He posssessed some very special powers that allowed him some control over ice, which was rather unusual to fight against, a sort of supernatural force. Chun-li's grasp of chi was rather limited, even if she was able to create some impressive burst of energy from time to time but nothing like him.
Chun-li feels the air grow colder around her, but she seems blissfully unaware of the incoming artic blast. A shiver run down her spine and then a sudden pressure in her back. Her eyes widen in surprise as it blasts her toward Lynx.
She growls in pain, her body trembling as she forces herself on all four. She quickly gets into a low crouching position and then leaps up at Eric, delivering a powerful rising kick meant to send him flying. She twists on herself right after the first kick, swinging her other leg to give another powerful kick to his midsection to knock him further away.
COMBATSYS: Lynx counters Tenshou Kyaku from Chun-Li with Ithaqua's Grasp.
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Chun-Li 0/-------/-======|===----\-------\0 Lynx
As Chun-Li launches herself upward toward him, Lynx pivots, just barely slipping out of the path of the woman's foot. He throws his hand, wreathed in the icy mist that's beginning to engulf his entire body, toward the woman's collar, planting it there and arresting her movement as ice begins to form rapidly around his hand, spreading across the woman's torso and causing her to be suspended briefly in the air. Then, turning toward the mat, he swings his arm down to slam the Interpol agent onto her back, the ice giving way to release her from his grasp.
Lynx steps away from Chun-Li, his hands held in a defensive guard in front of him, covered in frost to the elbows. His breathing is heavy and audible, fogging in the air as if just emerging from warmth into the winter air.
"Sorry if that was... overdoing it," he says coolly before drawing in a deep breath. "We don't have to continue if you'd rather not." There's a clearly ironic edge to his tone, as if testing the woman's temper.
This numbing cold once more... It was starting to get to Chun-li's joints and articulation, making it harder for her to keep on with the same accurary. Whether or not this was the reason, she ends up now being able to match up Eric's speed and he manages to get the upper hand.
Her motion slows down in midair, which leaves her momentary defenseless. She squirms a bit and then she ends up slammed on the mat, the frost and ice shattering on the impact. She winces and growls, having a harder time to straighten herself up, lifting her torso up but still sitting on the mat.
The chinese woman glances up over toward the other persons who were doing yoga nearby and she nods her head slowly, "I think it will be all for now.." She says with a slow nod of her head.
If this carries on after all, someone of them might get hurt beyond what normal testing required after all. "Well done, I think you're quite capable," Chun-li says as she forces herself back to her feet.
When the Chinese agent doesn't retaliate in response to Lynx, the icy mist around him dissipates rapidly, the air beginning to quickly return to normal temperature. All of the frost and ice scattered about begins to quickly melt as well, the rime covering his arms resolving into moisture. He raises his left hand to stifle a hoarse cough, the toll of the fight seeming suddenly more obvious in the absence of the bitter chill previously about him.
Wiping the water from his right hand off on the leg of his track pants, he presents it to Chun-Li as an offer of assistance in standing, though it appears from the hunch in his upper body that he's barely still on his own feet. Were she to take it, the hand would still feel cool to the touch, as if just removed from a bucket of ice.
"You're quite capable yourself. Certainly the fastest fighter I can remember meeting, if not also the strongest. If you hadn't been taking it easy on me..." He trails off briefly, then continues, "...Well, let's just say I'd hate to be on your bad side in a real fight."
COMBATSYS: Lynx has left the fight here.
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Chun-Li 0/-------/-======|
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li has ended the fight here.
The chinese woman accepts the offered hand, "Thanks," She says as she groans and straightens herself up with his help. She dusts herself off, some of the frost that's still on her outfit, which probably leaves wet spot on it. She glances up at Eric and she chuckles softly, "Fortunately for you, you're on my side," Chun-li says with a nod of her head.
Chun-li makes her way back toward the desk on which she put Eric's files and she glances through them, "You're the first one I've seen who can manipulate ice like that... The sort of things you see when you're part of the special forces.." Chun-li says shaking her head slowly, "Where did you learn to do that?" She asks on the tone of the conversation.
Eric follows the woman away from the gym area toward her desk space, collecting a towel on the way to dry some of the moisture soaking him. His expression is neutral and his tone remains even as he responds to her question. "Siberia. Developed something of an affinity for the cold during my stay. Not that I wasn't at least somewhat used to it, considering I... visited Alaska often when I was younger. Ice fishing, you know."
Having dried himself to his own satisfaction, he cracks his neck. "Kept it from the guards, obviously. Wasn't really aiming to cause a scene with it. Man who taught me the basics never made it out. Died of pneumonia. Kind of... ironic, I guess. Anything else you need from me, Ms. Xiang?"
Chun-li glances up at Eric as he explains his story and she hums softly, "That's particular.. I guess it can be handy," She muses. She lets her words trail off, probably lost in her thoughts about what one could do with control over ice.
"It has been a while since someone gave me that much trouble. Obviously, you're quite capable, you've far exceeded my expectations and probably those of your superiors as well," Chun-li says with a nod, "No, nothing else, I'm all good," She says, lips curling into a smile. She lifts her hand up and pats ERic's shoulder, "If you perform in your other tests just like this one, you'll be back in service in no time. Good luck with the rest," Chun-li says.
"I appreciate the sentiment," Eric replies with a slight nod toward the woman, the corner of his mouth turning upward in a reserved, but polite smile. Turning away from her as he starts toward the station's locker area to get changed, he adds, "And good luck with your own investigations. Perhaps we'll run into each other again at some point. If we do, sno-cones. My treat."
With his back turned to the girl, Lynx's friendly expression dims. He reaches into a pocket and pulls out a pair of reflective sunglasses, setting them on his face coolly as he walks away...
The chinese woman blinks and there's a faint blush and smirk on her face at Eric's last sentence, "Ahah, huh, yeah, right.." Her smile widens a bit and she lowers her gaze to the files she has.
Huuuuum, sno-cones...
Log created on 15:35:44 12/11/2014 by Lynx, and last modified on 21:36:07 12/12/2014.