Match of the Millennium

Description: Kenshi invites Felicia to a match, trying to change her mind on fighting. There is drama. MUCH DRAMA.

[KENSHI]
Once, the area beneath the Metro bridge was a hot spot for the underground fighting circuits. Nearly every night the small strip of dirty sand would team with humanity, each impatiently waiting their turn to step into the marked area and lose themselves to the call of violence. But all of that is gone now. The vitality drained away by the events of the Unholy Genesis.

Red warning tape flutters in a soft but persistent breeze, the air off of the city hot and heavy with smog. Clinging filth is shaken loose from what remains of the concrete overpass, falling to the rubble-strewn sand as a gritty black rain. This area does not look at all safe. Though the busted section of bridge that looms overhead seems stable enough, sharp spikes of metal protrude from the tumbled-down chunks of cement that form large, unstable mounds. it would be very easy to accidentally cut oneself on a bit of jagged metal and acquire lockjaw, or something equally unpleasant.

This is the place that Kenshi wanted to meet at? It looks pretty shady...

Then again, a short climb through the mess of rocks would reveal a relatively flat circle of grainy grey sand, perhaps 30 feet in diameter. And sitting on a chunk of rubble at the edge of the sand, head bowed and armored hands dangling between his knees, is the familiar form of the wandering swordsman.

In the dim light of this dirty place, his crimson blindfold seems more tattered than before. The decorated white sash across his chest appears somehow ancient and worn, short black hair tangled across his forehead. Everything about the dark figure is somehow less charming, matching better his grim surroundings and the flat, thoughtful press of his lips.

[FELICIA]
Getting through this place was childs play for Felicia--heck, she'd have more problems with a jungle gym, really--least those tended to be harder to maneuver on. The rubble was depressing, which is why Felicia had dressed in sandals and a long coat over her usual darkstalker-ey self--she didn't want to give people any ideas she wasn't just some dumb broad with electric blue hair traipsing through the ruins here. If they could see she was a darkstalker they might cause a commotion, or perhaps pull a gun out of fear, and she didn't want to deal with a terrified human packing heat.

The climb up to where Kenshi wanted to meet was nothing--Felicia /ran/ up it, not even needing her claws which allowed her to essentially wall-climb. Reaching the top, she realized the man was already here, so she went about unbuttoning her coat and getting more comfortable. She still kept her sandals on though--foot pads or not, she didn't want shrapnel or broken glass in her feet.

"Well, I'm here, hey are you okay? you look like you got in a fight with a lawnmower," she leveled her gaze on Kenshi.

[KENSHI]
"The path of the wanderer is not often easy." Kenshi replies, his usually quietly confident voice just a bit rusty. Rising tiredly from his seat, the tall swordsman takes a couple of steps forward, boots crunching through the gritty sand, and cocks his head a bit to one side. he keeps his right shoulder turned toward Felicia, hidden gaze seeming to stare out past the piled rubble toward the sound of lapping water.

"Travel has done you no disfavors. You are beautiful as ever." The blind man states, one corner of his lips tilting up in a wry little smile. As he speaks he smooth's his hands across his sash, fingers deftly picking at the edges to straighten the dragon logo over his right shoulder. His stance is casual, boots planted firmly and posture alert but without a visible guard.

"You will be fighting me today, when you are ready. Let us see what you can do." And with that said, Kenshi turns his head as if to glance toward the scantily clad woman, the left side of his face lit by the dim light that filters in beneath the bridge, while the right side remains deep in shadow.

[FELICIA]
"I don't wanna fight someone if they're injured, not full-tilt anyway, I'll try and go easy if you want to spar," Felicia shook her head a bit, the front of her coat billowing open in the breeze, technically scantily-clad, maybe, if it weren't not for her natural fur covering.

"Beautiful huh? I thought you were blind," she found this a little confusing, but also amusing--though only slightly, she wasn't trying to make fun of his disability. "I guess you did get a front-row center performance there before, is this match because you just can't stay away or something?" she teased him just a little, finding a place to hang her coat up--a rock or piece of rebar, likely. She stripped off her sandals one by one as well, setting them aside. They weren't exactly closely-fitted shoes, so she wasn't going to risk fighting in them and have them compromise her footwork.

"Alright then, lets do this," she raised her arms in front of her with her palms up--it looked sort of like half-way between a boxers and a kung-fu stance of some sort, some kind of vaguely cat-style. 5r

COMBATSYS: Kenshi has started a fight here.

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Kenshi           0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Felicia has joined the fight here.

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Felicia          0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0           Kenshi

[KENSHI]
"True sight has little to do with the eyes." Kenshi replies, continuing to smile that wry little half smile of his. His tone is playfully lecturing, a parody of a master and his student.

Does this mean that he was able to watch her show?

Unlike the woman before him, the swordsman is covered neck to foot in leather and metal armor. The suit creeks quietly as he slides his right boot backward through the sand, half facing Felicia as his knees bend and he adopts a loose ready posture. His right hand is lifted, palm facing her, while his left is curled into a loose fist at his stomach.

"It has been a long day, but I have no wounds. Do not hold back. I can take it." He seems very confident in himself, choosing to hold his position in the center of the circle, and not even bothering to draw the sword on his back. Then again, would he draw his sword in a friendly spar? Some fighters are pretty crazy...

[FELICIA]
Kenshi was clad in leather and metal armor--Felicia was more or less bare, though she was a werecreature, and thus could regenerate and shrug off wounds man could not. The sand was also not the best footing, however Felicia didn't seem to take it as a disadvantage.

Throwing herself forward, Felicia spins fast enough to roll into a crouching ball--spinning rapiddly toward him as she uses this manuever to not only close distance between them, but also try to impact with his front and throw him a pair of upward swings as she comes out of the spin--a pair of uppercuts, really.

The swordsman will notice she tended to fight with the tips of her claws--more so trying to scratch him than punch or otherwise strike with her hands.

COMBATSYS: Kenshi blocks Felicia's Rolling Buckler.

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Felicia          0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0           Kenshi

[KENSHI]
Though there are no outward traits of a beast, and he has given no indication that he might want to drink her blood or something, could Kenshi really be considered a normal man? Perhaps he is a darkstalker himself. A mysterious figure in armor and blindfold, seeing things he should not, knowing things he could not.

Regardless of what sort of creature he might be, he is certainly ready for Felicia's attack. His faint half smile transforms into an amused grin as she comes tumbling toward him in a furry white and blue ball.

Shoving his right shin forward, the swordsman accepts the brunt of the woman's forward momentum against his armor plating, braced far too solidly for her lesser weight to slide him backward through the sand. As she springs agilely up to follow through with dual claw strikes, he brings his right arm sweeping down to catch both sets of claws on his bracer, her red nails throwing up sparks as they scrape across the metal surface.

"Can you teach me that rolling trick?" Kenshi asks, smiling openly down at the cat woman as he shoves her claws back with a sudden surge of strength, swinging his left hand in hard beneath her guard as he attempts to ram a solid palm-strike into the center of her chest. The blow isn't overly brutal, only a quick, testing strike to give him some space and gauge her reactions.

COMBATSYS: Felicia dodges Kenshi's Front Punch.

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Felicia          0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0           Kenshi

[FELICIA]
Felicia is surprised and sees flecks of bracer and claw fly into the air as her claws actually meet something hard enough to not tear--instead scraping against the metal with a screeching, portentious sound. "Yeeouch--I gotta remember, cat claws cannot get through metal armor," she winces just a bit, it's not like they wouldn't just regrow or whatever, it probably only took seconds, in fact.

"Sure, if you wanna learn how to dance," she ducks under the man's palm strike and bounces up around him, her leg and knee going up as she attempts to knee and kick at him--finally jumping into the air off one foot and trying to come down in a pair of jumping kicks!

COMBATSYS: Kenshi blocks Felicia's Delta Kick.

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Felicia          0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0           Kenshi

[KENSHI]
"Are we not dancing now?" Kenshi's smile does not fade in the slightest as his lithe opponent ducks beneath his palm strike. Remaining close, the cloth of his arm wraps rustle in the still air as he brings both hands sweeping down and out, one leather-clad palm striking Felicia's rising knee, while the other impacts the toned muscle of her calf, guiding both attacks well wide of his body.

"You are very nimble." The blind man adds, chin lifting slightly as the fur-clad woman leaps high above him, both feet flashing down in dual kicks aimed for his head.

The entirety of Felicia's weight descends upon Kenshi's armored forearms as he lifts both to interpose them between her feet and his skull. The muscles of his shoulders and arms flex, absorbing the impact with ease. It might even be rather flattering that he doesn't struggle at all with her weight. All those nights of dancing have clearly been good for her figure.

Less flattering is the feeling of his arms uncrossing, both gloved hands attempting to snag a dainty ankle so that he can pull her out of the air and spin once, attempting to whip her around and toss her tumbling across the dirty sand.

COMBATSYS: Kenshi successfully hits Felicia with Back Throw.

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Felicia          0/-------/--=====|=------\-------\0           Kenshi

[FELICIA]
"Not that kind of dancing!" Felicia finds her speed is not catching this warrior off-guard, definitely he's not just a human. Well, a little voice at the back of her head chides her for not taking the guy in metal and leather armor with a sword more seriously. Her twin kicks as she comes back down hit the man's armored forearms, apparently able to absorb the kinetic energy from both--Felicia then attempts to kneel as her ankles are caught by him and she's thrown--landing in a tumbling roll on the sand, ouch.

She had sand and grit embedded in her shoulder, which she quickly brushed off--not wanting it to get stuck under her skin when her werebeasty regen began to do it's thing. Sand under the skin would itch like hell.

"Alright, so you got a lot more muscle than I thought," she advanced back towards him, attempting to feint him with some lighter punches before swinging her legs out toward him--dipping back and balancing herself on her palms and tail--he might recognize this manuever from the club. Felicia had rested her legs on Kenshi's shoulders back then, using much the same stance as she was now to hold herself up--she really did use dancing as a fighting style, it seemed.

COMBATSYS: Felicia successfully hits Kenshi with Heavy Kick.

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Felicia          0/-------/-======|===----\-------\0           Kenshi

[KENSHI]
"What sort of dancing is it that you would prefer?" Kenshi queries, just a hint of the cat girl's own teasing tone reflected back at her as the tall man resets his guard. He seems relaxed, even happy as he tussles with her. Far from the boorish seriousness that might be expected.

Her advance is met with his typical solid stance, each of the quick opening punches meeting the backs of his metal-clad fists as he catches them with quick boxer's blocks. However, as she falls gracefully to her hands and tail, both feet thrusting forward toward his chest, he steps neatly backward. Having grown a bit cocky with his success, he takes only half a step, intending to just barely out distance the kick. This turns out to be a mistake, as both of her heels smash him full in the chest, forcing a soft grunt from him as he staggers two steps backward to keep his balance.

He is still grinning as he gets his feet beneath him, the rueful expression punctuated by a slight wave of his right hand.

"Good hit." He acknowledges with a slight bow of his head, though aside from the surprise of the initial impact, it seems to have done little real damage to his breastplate. There is likely a bruise forming on his chest, but if so he isn't telling.

Then, suddenly, things get strange.

A misty blue energy begins to radiate from Kenshi's right palm, the otherworldly glow showing up purple against his cloth wraps as it extends half way up his forearm. Taking a step forward, he thrusts his glowing palm in Felicia's direction, fingers spread in the universal sign for 'STOP.' And though he is still a good 4 feet from striking her even if she were standing upright, an invisible force seems to slam into her entire body at once, blue energy briefly glowing along her bare form as the telekinetic strike attempts to hurl her skidding backwards through the sand on her rump.

COMBATSYS: Felicia dodges Kenshi's Off Balance.

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Felicia          0/-------/-======|==-----\-------\0           Kenshi

[FELICIA]
"Usually the type that doesn't involve avoiding a sword!" Felicia yelps, realizing she's finally made contact with Kenshi, though she realizes he does have a bit of skill and muscle advantage against her--she's hardly done anything to him this match. When Kenshi begins to radiate blue energy however, she goes wide-eyed. "Oh damnit--a chi user!" she has to quickly hurl herself into a roll, rolling on her shoulder and back onto her feet in a fluid motion--but she just barely dodged it.

"I think this cat's a bit out-matched," Felicia then springs forward and attempts to grab or rake her claws at the man's legs, trying to pull him off balance with her arm, utilizing her supernatural dexterity to lunge closer and very low to the ground like that.

COMBATSYS: Kenshi blocks Felicia's Toy Touch.

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Felicia          0/-------/-======|==-----\-------\0           Kenshi

[KENSHI]
"You need not worry." Kenshi assures Felicia even as she tumbles gracefully out of his telekinetic shove, the blue energy dispersing from around his hand as quickly as it came. "You will not feel Sento's bite." Is that the name of his sword, Or is he talking about something else...?

Having grown used to Felicia's speed and agility, the armored swordsman steps forward to meet her sudden lunge. Once more her red claws scrape noisily across the metal reinforcements of his leather pants, the tips grinding over the plates before hooking into boiled leather in preparation for the trip. However, with his left foot firmly planted in the sand, he jerks his right knee up, attempting to slam it hard into Felicia's chest and tear her free of his legs, the force of the blow meant to lift her clear of the ground.

What follows then is a rapid series of body blows, the armored swordsman's reinforced knuckles driving in for her stomach and ribs in a quick series of brutal punches. As he strikes a blue glow begins to emanate from the metal plating his knuckles, and Felicia can feel other, invisible fists pounding in at the back of her head, her kidneys, and the sides of her thighs. it is as if three people are simultaneously punching her from all directions, rather than one lone blind man.

COMBATSYS: Kenshi blitzes into action and acts again!

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Felicia          0/-------/-======|==-----\-------\0           Kenshi

COMBATSYS: Kenshi successfully hits Felicia with Front Kick.

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Felicia          1/-----==/=======|===----\-------\0           Kenshi

COMBATSYS: Felicia dodges Kenshi's Blind Fury.

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Felicia          1/-----==/=======|====---\-------\0           Kenshi

[FELICIA]
"Jesus--you even got metal armor underneath your pants?!" Felicia clearly was not counting on something like that. On the other hand, this did leave him very guarded against low-blows and the like, in more ways than one! "What's next, adamantium-coated codpiece?!" she was lifted up and her eyes went wide as the man's first punch lifted her up off her feet--toes curling as her mouth dropped open, drops of saliva flying as her chest more or less looked like it was caving in thanks to the punch.

Before the man could lay into her again, she pushed back from him and was able to slide away, ducking back away from his second blow--before leaping at him again once she's regained her composure. She'd try to grab onto his shoulders and begin swinging herself around Kenshi, her claws digging in as she went--then throw him, if she could manage it.

COMBATSYS: Kenshi blocks Felicia's ES Hell Cat.

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Felicia          0/-------/-----==|=====--\-------\0           Kenshi

[KENSHI]
"I would have little use for half a suit of armor." Kenshi quips back, both of his hands now radiating blue energy clear up to the elbows. Stepping back after she tumbles clear of the rain of strikes, he offers her another of those genuine grins. Sure he just kneed her full in the chest, but this is a fight, after all. "I invite you to test the defenses of my groin, if you dare."

As Felicia comes leaping in, claws digging deep into the leather between the metal reinforcements on his shoulders, the modern samurai allows her to twist her lithe form around his body. However, rather than be thrown, he turns with her, bleeding most of the force of the throw away as he drops down to one knee, sand grinding beneath his weight as he kneels almost directly beneath the foxy cat girl.

Flashing an open grin up at Felicia from his place at her feet, the blind man lifts both glowing hands in an abrupt, forceful lunge over his head. And though neither of his palms actually touch her, she can feel an enormous pressure grip her body, blue energy emanating from her form as a massive force attempts to hurl her straight up from the sand to slam back-first into the cement underside of the shattered bridge nearly 20 feet above her.

Then, perhaps more troubling of all, the force would vanish, allowing her to free fall back toward the sand in front of where Kenshi still kneels, the blue glow having faded from his upraised palms. Whatever power he has harness it is not Chi, but it seems quite dangerous none-the-less.

COMBATSYS: Kenshi successfully hits Felicia with Lost Way.

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Felicia          1/----===/=======|======-\-------\0           Kenshi

[FELICIA]
Felicia winds up going flying into the underside of the cement that hung above--flattening against it as she likely felt bones give away here and there, it was soft and likely inaudible, but as she falls back down she's bloodied, and got a small trickle of blood trickling down the corner of her mouth, as well.

"I don't make a habit of kicking guys in the crotch, for your information--" she broke off into coughing and fell back against the sandy ground--legs and arms sprawled out. Looks like hse's out of it, or at the very least, yielding for now. Her tail is even crinkled and laying splayed out near her side, the catwoman having apparently lost consciousness for a few moments.

COMBATSYS: Felicia takes no action.

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Felicia          1/----===/=======|======-\-------\0           Kenshi

[KENSHI]
Kenshi offers no immediate answer to Felicia's lack of groin kicking, choosing instead to lean forward and reach out to hover one gloved hand over her prone form. His fingers are spread in the familiar gesture that seems to indicate he is about to throw her with his mind, but There is no sudden glow of blue energy as he passes his palm slowly along her body from forehead to toes. He does not actually touch her, hand staying roughly three inches away from her skin, but once the gesture is completed he seems satisfied that she will be able to recover.

Resting back on his haunches, the blind swordsman crouches beside her prone body and dangles his hands casually between his knees. His head is tilted down as if he were watching her from behind his blindfold, but of course he isn't. He needs not his eyes to see her, and keep track of the slow rise and fall of her chest.

"You did well." Kenshi states as she begins to stir back to consciousness, no sarcasm detectable either in his tone, or on his face. A relaxed little half smile touches his noble features, fingers flicking between his knees in a small dismissive gesture. "If you wish to make fighting a job, you could. Saturday Night Fights would suit you well."

COMBATSYS: Kenshi takes no action.

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Felicia          1/----===/=======|======-\-------\0           Kenshi

COMBATSYS: Kenshi has left the fight here.

[                       \\\\\\\  <
Felicia          1/----===/=======|

COMBATSYS: Felicia has ended the fight here.


[FELICIA]
Felicia is silent, but even so as she seems unconscious, there is the soft popping of joints relocating themselves along with barely audible murmuring as she talks in her sleep--the skin around her belly writhing perhaps a bit unsettling as the two broken ribs are drawn back towards eachother and snap together as if magnetized--and that's enough pain to finally wake her up.

"AGHH!" she howls, before panting, breathing hard, the kind of breathing you do when you've fallen the wrong way off some stairs or your bike and your system is overloaded momentarily by pain--and all you can really manage /to do/ is breathe.

"Ow ow ow--damnit, balls--" she isn't much of a swearer, she /was/ raised as a nun, after all, but she's still human enough to fall prey to it.

"Guh... well, you got your answer then? I ain't some superpowerful darkstalker, I'm lucky I can even get a job dancing, nevermind compete with a chi user like you," she pulled herself up experimentally after a bit, underestimating her own regenerative abilities, perhaps--she didn't often have to rely on them, she strayed (haw, get it, cat pun) from fights.

[KENSHI]
"Well," Kenshi begins, his deep voice relaxed and holding a rather diplomatically neutral tone, "I feel you have done well. Combat has become my life, and you should not expect too much from yourself. But you have skill."

Lifting his left hand from where it dangles, he reaches out in an attempt to ruffle his palm fondly over the annoyed woman's poofy blue hair, before tangling his nimble fingers in it and flicking it back from her face. The touch is surprisingly gentle and familiar for someone who does not know her, offered with an easy grin.

"Besides. I am no channeler of chi. My power is born of a different source. The blood of warrior kings runs through my veins, and Sento guides my path." Dropping his hand back down to his knee with a quiet 'clank', the armored swordsman seems to consider the woman seated before him. "Will you be alright? I may have struck you a bit hard, but I was sure you would heal."

[FELICIA]
"I'm fast, because I'm not human, see, but that still doesn't make me that powerful," Felicia counters, dusting herself off and distractedly brushing away the trickle of blood from the corner of her mouth, tongue flicking out around it. She looked up at him a little annoyed as he ruffled her hair, but didn't react to it especially, he could likely tell from the inflection of her voice that she was a little cheesed off at him.

"I should be, kinda itches though," Felicia rubbed at her ribs as she stood there. She was essentially going through the bone bending process at a rapid pace, many times the amount of time it took a normal human. It felt like that weird itchy tingling feeling when your numb skin started to regain feeling again after having been injected with novocaine.

"Well, you did hit me pretty hard, but, it's whatever," she hopped back up to her feet and seemed to be walking back to where she had her coat. "I'm gonna go eat," she said simply, though she wasn't gone quite yet.

[KENSHI]
Rising smoothly to his feet, Kenshi's smile fades a bit as Felicia hops up and turns to begin moving off, her angry tone not lost on the armored swordsman. There is a stretch of silence in which he simply studies her retreating back, head cocked slightly to one side.

In the near dark it would be difficult for the average person to read the expression of quiet reflection that has come over his face. Difficult for them to see the dirty sand that still clings to the tall warrior's right knee.

"There may come a time, when you realize the path you are on has no exit." The blind man's voice is quiet but firm, hidden gaze locked on the retreating woman. "If that day comes, you will find me." There is a note of disappointment to his words, but also acceptance. Having made up his mind to let the cat woman go, Kenshi turns his back on her and begins to make his way toward the edge of the rubble that circles their arena.

The blind man's first few steps crunch through the gritty sand, but soon the blue energy he had summoned so sparingly before flashes to life across his entire body. For a fraction of a second he seems locked in place, rigid, but then the glowing after image of the man fades.

There is no sign of the swordsman left where he once stood. Only empty tracks in the sand that lead to nothing.

[FELICIA]
"You're assuming that people can change," Felicia turns to Kenshi, her coat over her shoulders. "Just look at this place, a /darkstalker/ did this, a really powerful one! Now I'm lucky I can get the job I have, what else am I supposed to do? You saw me try to fight," Felicia huffed, her tail was doing the 'lashing back and forth' thing that a cat does when they're anxious or angry, usually the time /not/ to pet them.

As she turned though, she noticed he was no longer there, blinking.

"Or just disappear, sure!" she half-shouted, incredulous, she turned and hopped down the incline.

Log created on 16:18:18 07/04/2016 by Felicia, and last modified on 21:15:28 07/04/2016.