Match of the Millennium

Description: Lita goes to bridge over the Dotonbori canal for a fight by an unknown opponent who turns out to be her former ally Daniel Jack. Daniel tries to seek forgiveness while Lita fights with a brutality rarely seen in her televised fights. (Winner: Daniel)

[DANIEL]
Daniel wasn't exactly a bad man.

He was doing okay on the Neo-League, and he wasn't getting hit too hard with the anti-Darkstalker sentiment. Well, not on paper. In practice, it was getting a bit stressful. Daniel had to take to the shadows when going to gigs, avoiding the crowds when it came to Neo-League matches. His next match going to be extremely stressful, especially with Lita. A former associate to say the least, the Mortal Kombat business was not something he was especially looking forward to again. It was bad enough with Aranha. But he thought he could handle it. But the fans.

He wasn't sure about the the fans.

"DANIEL DANIEL DANIEL JACK!" Was the cry from the throng of men that tracked Daniel to the streets of Dotonbori. And it was just men; the Darkstalker had earned his loud and aggressive following with angry single men of every stripe, creed, and color. All had joined together for the Lady Killer's reputation of beating women. And the next opponent was what they well considered perfect prey for the thotslayer. A military woman, someone who was very well out of her league. As for the kind of material they were hoping to bring?

You could hear some of it on the Nampabashi already.

Catcalls and sneers fill the bridge over the Dotonbori canal, as it is sectioned off with ropes as the audience spreads out all over. Tensions were high, and there was the endless sense that a fight was going to go down -before- the officiated match. Daniel himself had been to Nampabashi several times before, and normally, he would be enjoying the food carts and the street market. But nope. Not this time. This time he slips through the crowd, dressed in his bright orange zoot suit. The roars and shouts of the rowdiest of his fans herald his arrival, as several actually bow to the ex-detective as he breaks through the crowd, entering the open rope arena on the bridge. Daniel wasn't grinning. He wasn't enjoying his fans. He was already pretty worried about the impressions he was going to give to Lita after their history.

And frankly, those fears were becoming well founded now.

[LITA]
As for Lita, the Neo League execs kept her well in the dark as to who she was fighting she usually wouldn't mind the mystery since it gave her an opportunity improve against dealing with an opponent she couldn't scout out or run tape. In this instance, it was to hide someone she knew very well. Someone she had trained with. Someone she had already study footage on.

It was only when she was in her cab ride to the bridge over the Dotonbori canal that she was able to find out who her opponent was. It was too late to turn back to the hotel to bring her metal sword as opposed to the polycarbonate replica that she usually would bring to this type of fight. The rest of the cab ride was filled with swear words uttered at a low volume.

When she steps out of the vehicle to be greeted with the signs of Daniel Jack's adoring fanbase including some not so nice words about her. Her already foul mood made worse.

The replica blade looked like a Buster Sword with a butterfly sword guard added to it gets pulled from the trunk and locked into her quick release back harness.

How the hell did Daniel's fans find out that he would be here before /she/ did?

[DANIEL]
How indeed.

Daniel pulls his fedora down over his eyes, being about as ashamed as he could be as the cheers of the fans into snarls. As Lita emerges from her cab, the catcalls and jeers explode out at her. Slurs, slander, and threats over what their hero Daniel Jack was going to do, how they would, and where and when. Security starts having to drive them back, manhandling them to clear a path to the embarrassed Daniel. The shade keeps his eyes covered, averting his gaze. "Uh." Daniel tries to start as the roar of security guards start getting worse. It was on the edge of a riot, and Daniel seemed about ready to retreat. Standing fast, he finally peers up from behind his hat, looking across at Lita.

"I'm really, really sorry about them, scuzzy."

[LITA]
"Save your bloody sorries and your scuzzies, Little."

The blonde Ikari could feel the rage building inside of her. Rage of finding out that the person in front of her sold out his allies, his organization, and his entire world for a darkstalker woman who had proven that she was a danger to that same world. The jeers of his fanbase was more like pouring salt and then squeezing lemon juice onto an open wound. With gritted teeth she takes a moment to check the kunai on her thigh and hip bandoliers before taking her stance.

"Now that we're here, let's do what we're getting paid for."

COMBATSYS: Lita has started a fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Lita             0/-------/-------|

[DANIEL]
Daniel winces hard.

It was hard to understate how much Daniel wanted that forgiveness, and how in just a few words from his former ally, how certain he wasn't going to get it. Daniel hadn't had a lot of exposure to the general feeling of the world about his betrayal of humanity while he was hiding in the shadows. And now that he was out in the open? It was hard to tell what he hated more. The folks who loathed him for justifiable reasons.

Or those who cheered him on for the unjustifiable ones. "I'm not getting paid for this, not really." Daniel grouses. Whether he was telling the truth or just lying to himself was just as much a mystery as the fans that were roaring for blood and humiliation. In the face of the Ikari Warrior, he falls into his own defensive stance of Todoh-Ryuu Kobojutsu; one palm up, the second palm right behind it, with a broad straddling stance that was focused on steadiness rather than mobility. The orange-suited Darkstalker waits for the judges to call the fight to begin. And once the crowd gets just calm enough?

The fight is called to begin.

COMBATSYS: Daniel has joined the fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Daniel           0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0             Lita

[LITA]
"The contract for the Neo League includes a clause that mentions that each fighter gets set amounts of money based on whether they win, lose, or if there's a draw. Just because you aren't touching the money doesn't mean you aren't getting paid."

It is at this point that Lita receives the signal to begin. She edges carefully into grappling range which arguably tends to be in a Todoh practitioner's wheelhouse when it isn't long range where they can send a Kasane Ate down an opponent's throat. She attempts to grab Daniel's wrist. Should she manage this, she will yank him face first towards the ground before attempting to follow up with an armbar on him to make that arm a little bit harder to use.

COMBATSYS: Daniel blocks Lita's Close Quarters Catch.

[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Daniel           0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0             Lita

[DANIEL]
The wrist is one of the first foundations Todoh-Ryuu is trained on.

As Lita makes the grab, Daniel begins to careful art of reversing it. Kasumi and Ryuhaku would usually open up with an immediate counterattack at this point, but Daniel goes for a slower, safer approach. A wise action, because the yank adds another variable into the mix. The armbar wouldn't have anything to go to; Daniel breaks free of the wristgrab as he goes for the floor, breaking into a rough tumble that sends him perking up stably.

And now ready for the follow up.

As he rises up, he swings a hearty uppercut, a rising palm infact aiming to strike Lita squarely in the neck. Body moving liquid smooth, he responds back as the snarls and hoots of the audience continue. "I don't got a lot of use of money anymore. I've been giving it away." The audience's voice rises to cacophony, roaring for Daniel's name.

Who was he giving it to, even?

COMBATSYS: Lita blocks Daniel's Fierce Punch.

[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Daniel           0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0             Lita

[LITA]
The former Delta Red has no verbal response to him giving the money away. It's just as well since the palm uppercut demands significantly more attention. The mercenary brings up her arm to intercept the strike eliciting a grunt from her as she is forced to take a step back. She did not want to be losing ground to Daniel this early in the fight and even as little as a step was more than she wanted to concede at this time.

She is quick to get back in the former Interpol agent's space before throwing a pair of jabs. First one to the chest and then to the face as she continues to probe for vulnerabilities.

COMBATSYS: Daniel dodges Lita's Quick Strike.

[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////    ]
Daniel           0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0             Lita

[DANIEL]
The snarls from the audience intensify, as the rising palm connects to the arm.

Caustic venom dribbles and pours, as the arguments start to direct away from the fight and into rival sides of the audience. Arguments from the depths of the ladykiller communities boil out into the fans of Delta Red, Ikari Warriors, and ultimately Lita. Daniel tried to block them out, tried to ignore them. He wanted to say something else to his former ally.

But she was already executing her own counter attack.

The amorphous form of Daniel seems to go fuzzy, as he sways and weaves. Bringing his palm up, he redirects the opening blow to the chest, using the momentum to side step. The motion comes cleanly to answer the one to the face, as he neatly evades it. Shifting to Lita's flank, he brings his free palm up and his guiding palm across. He wasn't going to break this close quarter fight. He was going to exploit it, and he attempting to catch Lita by her arm and hip to pivot her into a wild flip, to slam her flat on her back with a heaving slam. It was the slower way to do it.

But he hoped it would give him a chance to speak his peace.

COMBATSYS: Lita fails to interrupt Strong Throw from Daniel with Delta Strike.

[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Daniel           0/-------/-----==|======-\-------\0             Lita

[LITA]
It came down to who would flinch first. Both fighters so far have been masterful in their responses to each other's attacks and eventually Lita makes the first mistake. She failed to calculate how much speed she would need to get position on Daniel to prevent his attempt at a slam before performing a hip throw. She's thrown hip throws in her previous fights and possibly in training sessions when they were team mates in King of Fighters but the look in her eyes, as she was attempted to gain position and drop her hips below Daniel's for this particular one, promised something nasty afterwards if she could have managed it. A promise left unfulfilled as she goes up and over and with just enough presence of mind to tuck her chin to keep her head clapping the ground and giving her a concussion.

She stares up at the sky for a few moments before she goes into a scramble into a crouched position away from Daniel.

[DANIEL]
It was a dangerous combination of supernatural speed and strength, mingled on a foundation of mortal martial arts.

The opening skirmish ends with Daniel slamming Lita, and he doesn't press the advantage. Allowing Lita time and space to let herself recover, he takes a moment to scowl at the audience. The jabbering, fedora clad fans were splitting their toxins between the downed Lita, and her supporters. A rather short, pudgy man with far too many chins begins to shove a well-built veteran, the tensions building on the sidelines. Daniel shows his displeasure, his disgust. But he doesn't try to stop it.

Instead, he apologizes once again.

"Sorry Lita, for the crowds, and for, well, betraying humanity and Interpol and you?" Daniel tried to make his sincereness sound sincere. But really, how could you? As the crowd starts to break down into each other over Daniel, over his previous fights, how could he ignore the image of the misery he was bringing? Lifting his arms up, sweeping them high, he uses the spacing to bring down the wave. Surging with orange and shadow energy, he slams his arms down, bellowing out as a semicircle shockwave billows out away from him, and towards Lita.

"Kasane Ate!"

COMBATSYS: Lita parries Daniel's Chou Kasane Ate!

[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Daniel           0/-------/----===|=======\-------\0             Lita

[LITA]
Daniel apologizes but it falls upon not exactly deaf ears, but ears that are focused on the task at hand. Later when she actually has time to process the apology she'll actually think about. She'll think back on it and acknowledge her feelings as it less about betraying her as an individual as betraying humanity as whole. As for Interpol, her feelings will turn out to be that Interpol or at the very least the Chief bears some responsibility for the fall of Agent Little, betraying him at every turn from sabotaging their foray in the King of Fighters to getting him kidnapped during the Mortal Kombat tournament.

Right now, Lita's too busy dealing with the very real problem of orange and shadow energy starting to form in his hands up high to concern herself with Daniel's apology. She suddenly darts back in while hitting the quick release latch on the harness and in one motion freeing the ridiculously large sword and tapping Daniel's arm to redirect the wave of energy off course while positioning herself at the Todoh practitioner's flank before delivering a trio of sword strikes to the leg, body and arm of her opponent with her blunt sword replica.

COMBATSYS: Lita successfully hits Daniel with Triple Slash EX.

[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Daniel           0/-------/=======|=======\=------\1             Lita

[DANIEL]
At this point, didn't even see himself blaming the Chief.

Of course, that's not relevant to the hear and now, for to the cacophony of cries and jeers, Lita was deftly at his side, slipping ahead of the tidal wave of energy and surging at his flanks. Exposed, he struggles to get his guard up. There's nothing for the leg, as it is torn cleanly through in a long dark smear as his form distorts at the limb, the battering blow scattering the shape savagely. The body and arm are a little better, the arm managing to take the first blow and the second, leaving the limb a hazy smear as it is battered worse than the leg. Groaning, Daniel steadies himself as he give a grunt.

"There's that Delta Red spirit!"

The detective lunges in hard with a palm strike with the good arm, stumbling as he steps in with his mangled leg for a hefty chop with the same, orange and shadow energy flooding from him. Whether the first two connect, he would tuck in, his mangled arm just reforming enough where he can explode in with a deep elbow jab to stun her. Should it connect? He would hook his arm around, attempting to finish off the combo by seizing Lita by the upper arm, and flipping her to the ground with an maelstorm of vicious shadow energy, the shadowy ichor almost becoming a quagmire as he wouldn't give her space this time, attempting to keep a grip on that arm.

And he would try to press down into an nikyo pin with her arm behind her back.

COMBATSYS: Lita blocks Daniel's Skiffle Drop.

[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Daniel           1/-------/=======|=======\===----\1             Lita

[LITA]
It was a bit unnerving for Lita to watch her very blunt sword to cleave through a leg like a knife through melted butter. At least there are signs that Daniel not only felt it but it wasn't pleasant for him either. She doesn't get much time to ponder that because Daniel is in her face as he delivers the palm strike. She intercepts that strike as well as the follow up chop with the flat of the replica blade used as a shield. The elbow sends the Ikari stumbling backwards and away from the maelstrom of shadow energy.

Lita then latches the sword to her back and then reaches for one of the kunai on her thigh bandolier and flings it at the detective. Should she not find her mark, she'll tug on the fishing line connected to the blade to prevent it from hurting a spectator.

COMBATSYS: Daniel blocks Lita's Kunai Throw.

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Daniel           1/-------/=======|=======\===----\1             Lita

[DANIEL]
Daniel wasn't fully aware of his situation right now to be frank.

It hurt absolutely; those beatings smashed through where there wasn't much bone anymore, and the pain was enduring and unnatural on his end. But as it slowly reforms and reshapes, it's hard for the shade to feel impeded. It was actually screwing with his stance work a bit, and as Lita keeps up with his relentless combination. A one handed palm chop opener was no good, and while the elbow opened up her guard, the sluggish stumble couldn't secure it, as she escapes the shadow slam. And that quagmire?

Was now slowing him down.

As the kunai comes out, Daniel sweeps his palm instintively. He mostly deflects it, tearing his palm open into a flowering burst of shadow stuff. Daniel was falling apart before Lita, but at the snarls of the audience, Daniel seemed to be only distantly reacting to the damage being done. No life or death fear. Grimacing, he struggles to pursue after Lita. The mangled arm was still not entirely together, but his leg was beginning to look like it's old shape, if hazy in indistinct edges. Slipping in with shadowy contrails, he lets out a single hand chop across at Lita's ribs, grunting as he does. "Saw that with the fishing line, Lita. That's real clever."

"You mind if I steal it?"

COMBATSYS: Lita dodges Daniel's Quick Punch.

[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Daniel           1/-------/=======|=======\===----\1             Lita

[LITA]
Lita could see that where she struck with the sword Daniel's form was having trouble maintaining enough solidity to either attack with or maintain stability in his stance. However that leg was recovering and the arm was still somewhat a mess she could possibly take advantage of it if she could land a solid blow or two.

The soldier decides to target the solid arm by yanking the kunai back into her hand as she skips backwards and just barely out of range of Daniel's horizontal chop before hopping back in and performing a stab into the solid shoulder of the shade.

"It's not like it's patented."

COMBATSYS: Daniel fails to interrupt Medium Strike from Lita with Jumping Jack Flash EX.

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Daniel           1/------=/=======|=======\====---\1             Lita

[DANIEL]
Lita would feel it click like a landmine.

As the chop comes, Daniel begins to flash with orange energy, his features darkening as his mangled limb begins to lash out after the chop. He was surging at Lita, attacking aggressively right in the middle of that kunai stab. The form of the detective was an abyssal darkness, and his yellow eyes flare with a flash of light. The knife drives into his shoulder, splitting it as he finally pounces.

And he collapses into shadow stuff.

The hazy, shadowy energy floods over and past Lita harmlessly, Daniel being unable to keep his form together as he spirals upwards into a cloud. For a moment, there is only shadows scattered across the bridge. And then, oozing together like slime, the orange suited shape of Daniel rises up, gripping his shoulder. The hole was still there, the shape around his shoulder nearly falling off his body, as he was desperately trying to rub it and smooth back together.

"Thank you kindly then, I've been having friendly fire issues in these things."

[LITA]
It was a moment that was reminiscent of a samurai duel in the movies. Two warriors charge each other as they simultaneously attack and one lands true while the other falls. In this case, the fall is only temporary with Daniel collapsing into the shadow stuff while Lita remains on her feet. She turns around to see him pull himself together though the arm she had just stabbed had some trouble staying together.

Lita flips the weapon into a reverse grip as she resets her stance before easing back in towards the shadow monster. She takes a deep breath and nods before she suddenly launches herself back at Daniel, this time going for the leg she hadn't attacked yet with three savage stabs into the thigh before ducking down to slice at the achilles or at least where it would be if she wasn't fighting a shadow monster. Her tactics being attempt to keep at least one of his limbs out of commission at a given moment. Make it difficult for him to fight in a way that was ideal.

Somewhere, a certain ex(?)-cat burglar was taking notes on this.

COMBATSYS: Lita successfully hits Daniel with Fierce Strike.
Grazing Hit

[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////           ]
Daniel           1/-----==/=======|=======\=====--\1             Lita

[DANIEL]
Daniel actually needed those limbs to fight.

Beyond being a horrible shadow monster, he didn't fight like a proper monster anymore. He fought like a man, a human being if flesh and bone. But while the shadow stuff was nearly indestructible, what they were formed into wasn't. And while the shapes were reforming back slowly, Daniel wasn't being able to bring the full bear of power into Lita as long as she kept hobbling him. When she dips in low with the stabbing frenzy, he is makes a hard choice to evade. Moving with deft footwork, the stabs strike the indistinct shadowy substance around his leg three times, the weapon piercing the shadows somewhere between a clean hit, and a bare miss. The damage afterwards is a little more clear; the edge of the leg bearing a swiss cheese like hole in the side, with the other two injuries dissipating with black mist. It was slowing the shade down. But with his upper body cleared? His arms were beginning to reform more fully now.

Especially with that surge of orange energy boiling up.

Charged up with chi, Daniel Jack lifts both arms up, and slices forward. A shorter wave of orange and shadow energy rips downward, smaller than before, but attempting to smash down hard on the Ikari Warrior. All while crying out the name of the attack once more.

"KASANE ATE!"

COMBATSYS: Daniel successfully hits Lita with Kasane Ate.

[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////                ]
Daniel           1/---====/=======|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2             Lita

[LITA]
It would appear that Lita may have picked the wrong limb to target this time. That wasn't Lita's only problem there. It was the fact that she dropped low to target the achilles tendon. Getting down so low made her a sitting duck and unable to avoid the shadowy orange energy crashing down upon her and driving her down to the ground.

She resolves to use /that/ move. Daniel may have seen her practice that vicious series of attacks. But she refused to use that when fighting Athena in King of Fighters. In fact, the only time she has used this brutal series of moves on public record is when she faced off against Cracker Jack for the Western Title that eventually got converted into the Blue Pro Title. There was more to that fight than met the eye. Here she is, using /that/ move on her former ally and team mate. She uses the quick release latch to free the large sword as she tries to tap into the moment where adaptability of her of her combat combines perfectly with the brutal power of her sword style.

The opening strike goes to the chin as before but she then changes things slightly by following up with a slash to the kidney before following up with more slashes to the limbs, to the body, to the head over and over again before she takes a step back to reposition.

COMBATSYS: Lita successfully hits Daniel with #If It Bleeds I Can Kill It ES#.

[                     \\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////                ]
Daniel           1/---<<<</<<<<<<<|-------\-------\0             Lita

[DANIEL]
It was hard to discount the fundementals.

The Kasane Ate does its work, slamming down savagely upon Lita. Centering himself, he was watching Lita carefully as he steadies himself out. It begins to dawn on him too soon, as he notices the latch goes off. He shakes his head, already seeing what's coming as the corwd hoots and jeers. He was getting his guard up. And before Lita pounces, he manages to let out his snarl of fear.
"Are you shiiiiiittting me!?!?!"

Thus was Daniel's cry as he recognizes -that- move. A hush comes over the audience as the acceleration begins. Daniel actually manages to do something against the initial slice; he -can- do something. But then the moment the second comes, something goes wrong. It cuts -through- his arm. And then the next. And then the next. Daniel is caught into the whirlwind of cuts. A cut comes to a kidney that isn't there, as the slashes only come to an end when Lita allows it. Daniel falls backwards, collapses more like it.

And the silence hangs in the aftermath.

Daniel's in ribbons; there isn't really a man there anymore in any sense of the world. Light and darkness, mangled in a vaguely humanoid pile of shadow. A black fluid oozes from it, shifting from vapor to fluid almost instinctively. It can barely stand, it can barely exist.

And now it was exploding at Lita.

An arm arches from the depths of the morphic ooze, wreathed in orange. The shape was lacking the form and function of true Todoh Ryuu Kobojutsu, but it didn't need it for this. The trail of black slime follows as he flings forward. Lunging at Lita, it was attempting to hook her by the torso with a stagger strike. And should it connect? Would shift up, before coming down savagely into a wretched spike straight in the bridge, grinding into a rift across the bridge with overwhelming darkness. And from there, the face emerges, a warped visage of white fangs and yellow eyes, contorted in a hapless fury with haunted words coming out.

"SERIOUSLY?! IIBICKI?!"

COMBATSYS: Lita dodges Daniel's Fantastic Todoh Punch.

[                      \\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////                  ]
Daniel           0/-------/----<<<|-------\-------\0             Lita

[LITA]
Although the shadow collapses into a pile, the Ikari gets a feeling that this fight isn't quite over. The vapor-like being oozing a black fluid was quite unexpected but possibly reassuring. Lita wasn't certain about that part. She does receive confirmation that it isn't over by the fact that the trail was suddenly moving towards her.

The soldier starts skipping backwards trying to buy herself enough time to react. As the form lashes out towards her, she puts on a desperate burst of speed as she backs up, side steps, and then circles around to reposition herself as well give herself more room to speak.

"You don't seem to get the magnitude of your betrayal. It wasn't like you told a white lie or betrayed someones confidence by telling a secret. Hell... It wasn't even like you betrayed your country. You betrayed your entire planet. How am I to trust your words after a betrayal on a global scale?"

She steps forward as she attempts to chop down on the face screaming it's displeasure at her attempt to viciously take down her opponent.

COMBATSYS: Daniel blocks Lita's Power Strike.

[                        \\\\\\  < >  ////////////                  ]
Daniel           0/-------/---<<<<|-------\-------\0             Lita

[DANIEL]
"Because I'm trying god dammit!"

Daniel growls as his arms dig into the bridge, and lifts. And then... The entire section of the bridge is torn up with him? No, d spite the screams and rising panic of the audience, the bridge was being ripped up just yet. But the shadowy shape and substance of the bridge is ripped straight up from below to meet Lita's coup de grace. "Maybe it's pointless for me to try anymore, you dig?" The blow from the sword splits through the semi-solid substance, oozing the same ichor that Daniel himself is oozing. But as it finishes cutting through, there isn't a face for Lita to cut, just the rest of the amorphous body that's surging over to the side. He slips past- he slips past a shadowy, ghastly figure, lean and decayed, a woman in funeral shrouds standing there amongst the shadows. Similar figures were now present at the edge of the arena, the audience suddenly getting really quiet now. Slipping past the corpse-like shade, Daniel winds up what's left of the bridge replica. "The only respect I'm getting is from the freaks out there in the audience! But I gotta keep trying, that's my penance I guess." Daniel swings the shadow bridge segment hard, letting it burst into shadowy ooze whether it collides with Lita or not. "I mean it's a broken record now!"

"I am going to be apologizing for eternity, aren't I?"

COMBATSYS: Daniel successfully hits Lita with New Jack Swing EX.

[                        \\\\\\  < >  /////                         ]
Daniel           1/------=/=======|======-\-------\0             Lita

[LITA]
Lita attempts to intercept the shadow bridge with her sword and it proceeds to blow through her defenses and send her flying backwards before going into an uncontrolled roll. She brings herself up to one knee.

"You can't force people to forgive you and not everyone will. It is their right to not forgive you and you will have to live with it."

She brings herself up to standing, leaning on the polycarbonate sword for support, breathing heavily. She then hurls the sword up into the air. That's when she starts drawing and hurling every single kunai in her posession at the oozing mass. This particular one may not be something that Daniel will recognize but it is clear that she is still not holding back the brutality. As for that sword that was hurled earlier, it would ideally land "blade" first on top of the shadow creature.

She then falls over, ready to pull the fishing line should she miss.

COMBATSYS: Lita can no longer fight.

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

COMBATSYS: Daniel dodges Lita's Pepperpot Barrage.

[                        \\\\\\  <
Daniel           0/-------/---====|

[DANIEL]
The silent shades watch, as Daniel slams Lita savagely.

As the shadow man finishes the attack, he steadies out, as Lita's words act as the true rebuttal. Daniel didn't think Lita was wrong. But he hated why she was right. He always hated it, more so now after he felt his essence draining out than before. The sins on his back were crawling and gnawing on him, and he wanted a sense of justice that wasn't what was given to him. The barrage of kunai is unleashed, and Daniel doesn't dick around. He sinks down, collapsing into a whirling pool of shadow stuff. The shades begin to puff out one by one, the kunai tearing through them and letting them dissipate. Clearing out of the way, Daniel rises back up from the pool, vaguely together in a human-like shape. And then, with a jolt, he eeps, the blade coming a hair away from impaling into him, landing straight down in front of him. Yellow eyes locked on it, he shuffles back, as the kunai are drawn back. "That was-"

He jolts, as a gush of ichor pours out.

Daniel stands fast, as one of the judges tries to figure out if Daniel -is- still standing, or not. The detective was boiling out the streams of shadow stuff, the IIBICKI still draining out his vitals in torrets. Daniel struggles to keep responsive, struggles as the audience roars and chants. The judges circle him, the medical staff circle Lita. Daniel sways, his form barely keeping together as he smiles with those fanged teeth. There is a jerk, a groan.

COMBATSYS: Daniel is waiting for something...

[                        \\\\\\  <
Daniel           0/-------/=======|

And Daniel steadies, giving a nod to the judges.

"Yeah, I'm-" A paper bowl of ramen is hurled towards Lita, falling short of hitting her. Security takes down a man, as the crowd roars in decadent chrous. The voices, urging him, the violence under the surface building. Daniel stares past the judges at the men, as the howls for what he should do to Lita now hammer harder. Daniel stares at Lita, as the infinite future boils in front of him. He would have to live with it. Forever and ever. And the chattering goons, the rat pack screams for him to do what every single person in the world expects him to do, and thinks he will do. And that does it. Something breaks. Something snaps. And Daniel strikes.

"Knock it off!"

Slurping and lurching at the sidelines, Daniel Jack turns towards the chattering crowd, a finger pointed at them. The security forces suddenly start leveling shock rods at the Shadow Man, as Daniel lets out his diatribe. "Useless! Every one of you are useless! You wanna know how I became the Lady Killer? Because of garbage people like you, like- well like Lita, like Aranha and Honoka and- jesus christ, this whole planet is crawling with garbage people! You think this is because this is misanthropy, that this is misogyny? This is what the average man looks like when he has spent 30 years of his life without a single flicker of respect for any of his service, kindness, and empathy! And all of you, every single one of you weirdos and creeps? What you are doing right now is -not respecting me either-." The audience stares at their so-called hero, is rebuff rattling inside their cages. Until finally, a single, scrawny man-child speaks up in a high pitched voice.

"You mean that this is a society?"

"I swear to-" Daniel lurches, nearly falling apart. He needed to get out here. He needed to go inert. And he needed to feed. "I'll explain next time, okay? Stop being assholes about women, stop being assholes to each, and at least look god damn dapper next time? You all look like your mothers dress you." Which was a mostly truthful statement, in too many cases. As the fight is called, he sinks away into the darkness. He was never going to get the forgiveness he felt he deserved. He never got anything he felt he deserved. What he would do about it?

He wasn't sure yet.

Log created on 16:16:59 02/12/2021 by Lita, and last modified on 08:38:17 02/15/2021.