Match of the Millennium

Description: Rashid was looking for some relaxation in his travels. Planning on heading to Metro City he has made a stop prior and on a day where he was looking for a distraction he found one in a big gathering of parkour practitioners that included The Dancing Spider: Aranha. Some fun is had and information exchanged. Perhaps in the future Rashid has another ally he can call on for help.

[ARANHA]
At a seaside resort in Miami, there is a parkour event here, Seminars, vendors, and various obstacle courses which are used to advertise various equipment or possible competition formats. Each one has lines of varying lengths.

Aranha in particular is standing in line for a chase tag format which is basically taking the childhood game of tag and then adding parkour to it to make it extremely more dynamic than the childhood game.

Meanwhile, some of the spectators are using this as an opportunity to recruit for teams for a league. Aranha, due to revealing that he wasn't exactly human anymore probably had eliminated himself from consideration. So he was here for the fun of it, even if he was limiting himself to his pre Mortal Kombat capabilities.

[RASHID]
"It will be okay, Azam. Just enjoy the hot tub in the hotel room. I am just going to have fun and you would only slow me down."

Rashid has been a busy man. One traveling the world looking for information in order to find a friend, but even so he can't work all the time. He needs something fun to do at times to keep him from feeling overtaxed. It was when he was wandering the steets of Miami when he saw flyer promoting the parkour event and he figured why not at least check it out?

He hangs up his cell phone as he looks about those gathered. Clad in sneakers, shorts and a t-shirt the Arab considers and takes a few steps forward before he hops up and flips over a few of the other participants. He almost seems to land in midair with a foot and push off of it as he flips about and lands with a bit of a flourish. "Hello everyone! I am Rashid of the Turbulent Wind!" Sure this wasn't a fight, but far be it for him not to introduce himself.

[ARANHA]
Aranha for his part is more reserved except for commenting on the runners on the course now competing. Nothing particularly meanspirited. Just enjoying those almost tags. Having seen a few Chase Tags youtube videos he knew the basic rules however he knew the rules would have to be changed in the interest of moving the lines and allowing the runners to experience all of what the fledgling sport had to offer.

As he paid close attention, he noticed that person started as a chaser and then would be shifted to evader regardless of what the result would indicate. And then the evader would then exit at the end no matter the result which proved Aranha's educated guess right.

Rashid makes his presence known by flipping into the air pushing off what looked to be an invisible platform, before landing with style.

Things suddenly got interesting for the PK Capoeirista.

He just straight up sacrifices his spot in line as he moves to the back beckoning Rashid over, he had a feeling he could cut loose against this guy.

"What up, homie? I go by Aranha or the Dancing Spider. Wanna join in on this?"

He points to the chase tag area with obstacles.

"One chases, one evades. If not caught within 20 seconds, evader wins the point."

[RASHID]
More than likely it was an attempt to get eyes on Rashid. It certainly worked. Some of these people range from months to years of experience, but someone of Aranha's caliber would know quickly there is skill to go with the flash. The Arab is just flashing a dopey grin when he notices the wave to get his attention. "Ahh, pardon me! Carry on." he says and he jogs over to join Aranha.

"Homie? Rashid works just fine. I saw a flyer and decided to come take a look at things and see what was going on." He explains then his gaze moves to the obstacle course.

"I admit this would be a first. I mostly learned running about my home town." And well if there is a place to get used to leaping and climbing over things it probably would be Abu Dhabi. The bustling city being a nightmare for anyone trying to get somewhere quickly. "I am game to try though!"

[ARANHA]
"Okay. Fair enough, Rashid. Nice to meet you."

The capoeirista lifts his chin slightly in a show of respect. Before turning back towards the action ahead of them as he mentally examines his potential paths as well as noting any particular strategy seemed to be significatnly better for both ends.

"Honestly, it's a first for me was well. I mean I saw videos on youtube for this but I had never played it before seen it in person like this."

He keeps where he learned to run mostly close to the chest. He's not exactly quick to bring up the fact that he was once a second story man where failure either gets you jail or dead.

[RASHID]
"Oh? How long have you been doing this sort of thing? I started when I was about twelve. Small basic stuff." Learning to manipulate wind came much later. Though that is more reserved for when he is ready for a fight. Not usually in a case like this. It just seems like cheating. Showing off is one thing. Abusing things in the spirit of competition? Not so much.

His own gaze travels about the setup. His brain already looking at paths and things he can take advantage of. He does rather appreciate the freedom of usually having an entire town to run about and have fun with, but this could actually prove to be a challenge.

He tilts his head to the side and considers things as he moves over to a platform and stands. "And are you a local or just passing through like me? I have been doing a lot of traveling and searching. I needed a break. I think this might be the break I need."

[ARANHA]
"How long? Hmmm..." There's a bit of a pause as he thinks back. "I started when I was 14. Similar emphasis on the basics when I came up. Mostly basics and conditioning."

With Rashid in close proximity he's all but guaranteed that he'd face Rashid atleast as long as no one tried to cut the line. And while he didn't cut the most intimidating figure, mostly due to his height his watchful eyes and twitchy ears didn encourage people to get in front of him.

He turns towards his potential competitor.

"Nah. I'm from Metro City, I heard about this event and I figured it was a good way to take my mind off things."

[RASHID]
"Ahh, Metro City! I am heading that way soon." he replies with a smile. "This was more just a quick stop to rest before catching a flight there with my friend. Old man has been working himself so I am making him rest up while I go and look for some fun."

He steps over towards the setup that both he and Aranha had been looking over and his eyes dart about more to make sure he gets a good look to make sure he has the layout figured out as best he can without actually running about through it. Not a lot of room overall to move about so it should make for quite a challenge. "Anything I should know about Metro by the way? I know it hasn't exactly had the best of luck in recent years. I have never been."

[ARANHA]
"Metro City, in terms of running, the quality of run locations are inversely proportional to the property values in the neighborhood. The higher the property value, the less obstacles and challenges the terrain offers you since they, for the most part, tend to have more skyscrapers than residential homes. Unless you also include police officers chasing after you. The slums offer the most varied terrain, but a dilapidated home can sneak up on you if you aren't paying attention. Much like muggers or pick pockets if you don't keep your head on a swivel while on the ground."

Aranha has already mentally studied the course so at this point he's free to focus on Rashid, himself even as he goes into further detail.

"In terms of food, there's a whole bunch of restaurants that it's hard to pick which spot you should visit."

[RASHID]
There is a small chuckle and a bit of a sheepish look. "Well I meant in terms of danger. Gangs still a problem and such? I can handle myself of course as well as my friend, but I would like to know what to keep an eye out for." He says and his attention shifts to look from the course over to Aranha.

"But that is all useful information!" he smiles and motions to the course. "So how shall we do this? You want to be chasing first or do you wish to be chased?" he asks. "I have no real preference."

He then hmms a bit. "Oh, and a back to Metro. If I need some information are there any good people I should visit?" He asks and he has a bit more of a serious look now. He is here to have fun, but it is hard not to think on his friend even in situations like this. And it helps not going into Metro blind. If he can get some info from someone that lives there it isn't a bad idea to pick at his brain a bit.

[ARANHA]
Are gangs still a problem? There were layers to that question which made answering it, if not difficult, a matter that went beyond a yes or no answer. A finger touches his chin as he considered his answer.

"Kinda sorta. The power of a certain gang had significantly weakened after the mayor and his dealt with them. Mad Gears power had somewhat been decentralized and as a result other smaller gangs had started amassing territory. Another danger that is indirectly related is the remnants of Jedah's attack on Metro City. When Metro City was moved back into place it brought back a good chunk of Jedah's darkstalkers." There was a slight emphasis on the 'Jedah's' before he goes to explain that details further. "Some of those darkstalker either caused trouble on their own, joined with another group of darkstalkers, or got absorbed into other gangs"

He glances up and over towards the course as they get nearer to the end. He turns again.

"From what I can see, whoever comes up, chases the chaser of the previous round."

[RASHID]
Gangs and darkstalkers. Darkstalkers in gangs! Well it does sound like Metro City will be an interesting place to visit from the sounds of it. Could be quite the adventure.

"I see. Well thank you for the information. I shall try to keep all that in mind." he replies and then considers things again. He starts to say something, but it looks like Aranha soon gets beckoned over to be the next one to give chase. Rashid just grins and he gives a wave. "Well then. Have fun with that!"

If anything it is allowing him to see Aranha get to move about first and see how good he Metro native is. Rashid himself had only been idly watching the others and focusing more on the layout of things so he takes this time to finally pay more attention to the competitors and less on the course itself.

[ARANHA]
It's show time!

Aranha moves to the front of the line where one of the staff starts out by explaining the rules and procedure for letting the crew know he's ready and the whole nine. While most of this was stuff he knew about, he keeps quiet. No need to be an asshole when you know they're explaining it for both safety and fairness reasons.

The staff member moves back and prepares to go over the rules for Rashid. Meanwhile Aranha moves to the chaser starting point. With a raised hand, he signals that he's ready. His opponent's hand moves up as well. The whistle blows and the evader is off. Aranha doesn't go at a high speed yet, choosing to instead to go at a calmer pace, letting him force his opponent towards one of the corners, weaving and bounding, around, through, and over various items as he cuts off his escape routes like a predator tracking down prey. His opponent seems to realize that he's going to lose if he doesn't gain some breathing room. The evader feints to the left and performs a hail mary of slide under an obstacle. Aranha goes into a one handed vault over the obstacle and lands in front of the evader freeing a hand to tap him on the shoulder. The two shake hands and Aranha moves towards the Evader starting position as he waits for Rashid to take his mark.

[RASHID]
It seems Rashid is only really half listening once the staff start to go over things with him. He thinks he gets the rules and he is more intent on watching Aranha and what the young man can do. The arab just shakes his head when staff asks if he has any questions and he gets a bit of a grin.

The two men are off and he sees Aranha is very good at this sort of thing. The other person is no slouch, but it looks like he is easily outmatched and he can't stay away for long. A shame these things are so quick, but at the same time it is only fair so everyone can get a turn.

Once Aranha moves to the evader's position Rashid moves up to stand forward. "You're good!" he calls out to Aranha then he raises his hand to let staff know that he is ready. Now it is time to see just how good Aranha is.

[ARANHA]
Part of the reason Aranha had taken it slow was that he wanted to conserve energy since he knew he'd be performing two runs. One as a chaser and one as an evader. He wanted to have as much energy as possible when it was his turn to evade. With a deep breath, he raises his hand to show he's ready.

The whistle blows and he's off. Darting forward, at least partially, seems counterintuitive but Aranha's thinking is that what he gives up in distance between himself and the other traceur, he makes up for in escape route options. Specifically hopping up on a small platform allowed him to get a bird's eye view of what is Rashid doing and what route to take to attempt to get away.

[RASHID]
Rashid reminds himself this is all in the spirit of competition and his usual antics are something he should refrain from. He just needs to go back to when he first was learning things. Before he learned to harness the power of wind to help him move about even more quickly and add a whole new layer of amazing feats of agility.

The whistle blows and he shows some caution as he starts forward at first then seems to want to see what Aranha might be planning. Not a bad option is taken as he goes high and Rashid instead of dashing straight forward hops upwards and bounces off part of a structure to vault forward quickly and land. It closes the distance, but leaves his feet on the ground so he can quickly pivot and move when he goes towards Aranha to make the tag. There is no time for talking right now. He needs to concentrate and try to think a step ahead of the other man right now.

[ARANHA]
Rashid chooses to approach in an indirect manner causing him to delay to watch how it plays out. It almost gets the Dancing Spider caught by the swipe however he responds in a fashion befitting a capoeirista, oddly enough. With a combination of a tiny turn of his shoulder and a slight shift of his weight, he avoids the tag by a small margin before he takes off in a run to one of the obstacles before darting around to put the obstacle with a vertical pole connected to a slanted pole and a platform. He decides to hide behind it and force Rashid to pick a direction to chase him.

[RASHID]
He gets in close. It almost seemed too easy and he would be right in this case. Aranha was perhaps baiting him some and while he came close he hits nothing but air and is forced to give chase. He grins a bit as he darts after and he tries to keep the gap between them close in hopes of Aranha making the wrong decision that would give Rashid an advantage.

He watches Aranha move about to hide behind part of the course and make Rashid to pick either going left or right. He does neither in this case and it is more of a gamble as he vaults up and over to come downward right behind the evader as he spins about in the air and he reaches out to try and tag Aranha's back. The downside is if he misses he might be giving Aranha a bit more of a lead than he wanted.

[ARANHA]
This was the difference between someone skilled in this particular discipline and evading the police. If the police had someone like this on their payroll back when he was a second story man, Aranha might've had to cool his heels in either juvie or prison.

Did he expect for Rashid to go high? Not really though he knew that it was a non-zero possibility. Did he have plans for that? Yes he did. If Rashid went high, he planned to go low. Unfortunately, the man trying to chase him is just a bit faster than he expected and as he tries to drop low and swing himself into a slide under the platform, Rashid, catches him in the back of the head.

Aranha rises to his feet and shakes his hand.

"Good one. Caught me off guard there a bit."

[RASHID]
The Arab drops into a crouch and he grins some. "Didn't think that would work." he admits with a laugh and he straightens up before taking the hand and giving it a firm shake. "You're good. It is always nice to meet someone that can keep up with me." He then looks over to the staff and sees someone already preparing to give him chase. "Ahh, I guess I need to do this first. Give me a few!"

He moves over to the evader position and waits for things to start off. HIs movements slow at first to regard the man chasing him then he quickly bursts to the right and he bobs and weaves. Even without the use of his wind powers he is sure footed and agile. He avoids two close calls before the third one finally gets him and he just smiles and shakes hands with the other man.

"Short, but a good workout. Sure beats just bouncing across rooftops on your own." he says once stepping back over toward Aranha. "Hey do you do facebook or twitter or anything?" he pulls out his phone and pokes at it some. "Maybe if I linger in Metro I can give you a ring and we can meet up. Have a local show me around the place."

[ARANHA]
Aranha moves out of the way as the Arab has his turn at evading the tag. And he watches carefully allowing him to consider which movements he can utilize and which ones he can utilize and which ones don't quite fit his particular movement style. He can hear the cheers that Rashid is getting for his close call evasions and then when the tag is made, he nods in appreciation of the particular run.

Not too much later, Rashid rejoins Aranha and when the Arab asks about contact info, he pulls out his own phone. "I don't have facebook but I do have twitter. Unfortunately, I have some business in Japan so it'll be a bit before I can head to Metro."

Contact info is exchanged before the two part company.

Log created on 20:20:09 01/05/2018 by Rashid, and last modified on 22:37:52 01/11/2018.