Match of the Millennium

Description: The composed and tactical approach is preferred by Shock and Roll. The other team, made up of two shapeshifters, is literally called 'Wild Things.' Will this clash between opposing forces of chaos and order set in their own chosen headquarters and surrounded by hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of equipment prove that Tom and Lou really don't know what they're doing?

[ISHIDA]
Air conditioning is nice. But it also takes a little bit of getting used to if you've been 'roughing it' in the summertime heat of a Caribbean island. Ishida was actually shivering when he'd first stepped inside the casino. He'd quickly reconsidered his earlier plan of keeping his jacket open, remedying that with a few quick ties.

He's been ambling around inside the casino ever since, familiarizing himself with the layout of the room and the machines. If only these machines had been -stocked- with Zack Coins -- that might have made it a bit easier to survive the past couple weeks. As it is, he was grateful that fishing turned out to be a workable option to maintain his fighting form. He was a bit -less- grateful for the rice having both the consistency and taste of soggy cardboard.

Unsurprisingly, the qigong specialist has been quiet for his time here. He's just... walking around and exploring, as if he were no more than a simple tourist. To do any more would not really be conserving energy for the fight, after all...

[KENZO]
Kenzo on the other hand, knowing that there was going to be a fight is wearing his combat suit. Upon arriving to the casino, he immediately moved towards the restrooms to change out of his non-combatant clothes. He figured he would be sweaty anyway during the fight so if he was going to fight, it would be in something that was designed to be worn while he fought. With the Casino being indoors and in AC, he can minimize amount of sweating he was doing when possible. It also reminded him that next project he may need to work on is desalinizing some water to allow for additional options for potable water should things get worse on the island.

Kenzo now walks around with his drone trailing behind him. Unlike his kouhai, he's moving less like tourist and more like a scavenger identifying items that might be useful if taken apart and locations where he could find things that might allow for them to get into those vending machines. Granted he won't be attempting to act on any of that information until after the fight but it will be worthwhile to have the information beforehand.

"Looks like it's almost time. Let's make our way to the main auditorium."

With that, Kenzo leads the way to said location.

[MAX]
"Hello!"

The greeting rings out a few moments before the source of the sudden salutation makes herself known. A small mass of pink and purple drops from an awning overhanging the central dome of the casino a scent few inches ahead of the wandering duo. Her descent stops roughly halfway to the floor leaving the young girl dangling upside down like a spider from a thread, only instead of silk holding her aloft it is her feline tail.

Max's lips peel back in a wide playful grin, a mouthful of pearly white teeth sparkling dazzlingly in the constant onslaught of flashing lights from the nearby games. Save for the tail the Gear appears to be mostly human, only the purple shading of her skin and the inhuman fuchsia of her eyes marking her as something else. Her other more substantial transformative powers remain on standby, their magically-fueled nature requiring even more conservation than ever without ready access to fresh seithr.

Crossing her arms and legs, the girl appears to take a seat while suspended upside-down, peering back and forth between Ishida and Kenzo curiously. While she has caught brief glimpses of both throughout the cruise, neither one has thus far taken the time to introduce themselves. Last time she saw Ishida he was too busy meditating or something while they rode the boat up to the island. And Kenzo... well, she hasn't seen much of him at all. Probably because he's a ninja and being unseen is what they're good at - or so she's told.

"I don't think we've met yet! I'm Maximum! But everyone just calls me Max."

The girl extends her tiny hands in tandem, offering one each for the men to shake.

[BUCK]
Buck comes striding up behind the duo of Kenzo and Ishida, shakes his head and looking bemused by Max's antics. "Sorry, she got away from me." He murmurs in his usual country drawl only a little muffled by the stick sticking out of his mouth that he seems to be chewing on.

He lifts his hat a bit with his hand under the brim, scratching his head as he tries to backtrack Max's path up to the awning, then just shrugs and clamps his hat back in place.

"Good to see you again, Kenzo. Seems they have a love of pitting us against each other." He jokes lightly, boots clicking against the floor as he starts walking again, past the pair of Shock and Roll and up to stand beside Max, turning to face them.

He tries to look serious, but the effort is soon eclipsed by his jaw cracking open into a wide yawn he only makes the barest effort to cover, mostly so he doesn't lose his chewing stick. "I can't wait to get back to the boat and coffee." He mutters, rubbing the back of his neck. "Anyway, there a spot where we're supposed to do this, or just risk all these slot machines getting trashed. Not looking forward to crossing fists with you with all these electronics around." He says with a sideways glance to Kenzo.

[ISHIDA]
Ishida's meandering journey around the slot machine floor is abbreviated by a Gear lowering from the awning. His eyes widen ever so slightly at the arrival -- though he breaks into a friendly enough smile.

"Hello!"

He remains more or less in place as his mentor approaches, politely keeping his gaze upon the purple-hued fighter. He'd seen her from a distance, of course, but he's able to resolve details now that he's up close and personal. And -not- on a rocking boat.

"... Everyone calls me Ishida." He smiles diplomatically, reaching out to give Max's hand a delicate shake -- delicacy more out of uncertainty over the custom than any fear of breaking the tiny dynamo.

Ishida nods in response to Kenzo. He may not be in any particular hurry -- but it's good to listen to folks with a bit more knowledge about how fights are run in the NFG.

It's at that point that Buck makes his appearance -- and an apology. He smiles and shakes his head in a silent acceptance -- he didn't really consider it an -offense- for someone to lose track of the feline-coded Gear, anyway.

"Coffee sounds good. ... Though, I miss the buffet bars the most."

Chuckling, he nods with Kenzo -- and continues down towards the auditorium, where there seems to be a fighting ring set up already.

"I would not want to damage anything irreplaceable. Though... I have heard they are not full of coins yet. It does not seem that there would be any advantage to doing so."

[KENZO]
While Max offers both hands, Kenzo waits for Ishida to shake hands before he reaches out to shake Max's right hand. After all, it was a low stakes opportunity to teach.

"I'm Kenzo."

With this being a more Western environment, he felt no need to use Japanese norms. Family names until closer and honorifics go right out the window.

When Buck makes his appearance and apology for losing track of Max, he can only shrug. He's was there for her grand entrance at the party. He could only imagine how difficult keeping track of her could be. When it turns to matching them up a smile forms on his face.

"I have no problem with it. Our fights have been some of my most enjoyable ones."

He makes his final strides to the auditorium where the crew is setting up cameras.

"Here we are, Max, Ishida, Mr. Walking Puppy Filter..."

[MAX]
As the men are going to quickly find out, Max and timidness are mutually exclusive concepts.

Ishida's attempt to delicately shake the girl's hand is met with a firm grip followed by an overly energetic jostling of his arm. Being upside-down seems to have no affect on her ability to function and she easily adjusts with this erratic motion to swing herself towards the cyber-ninja when he steps forward to take his turn at exchanging pleasantries. Kenzo receives his own eager arm wiggling. Fortunately, in her humanoid state it would seem that the Gear's strength is relatively normal so neither of them walk away from the experience any worse for wear despite her excessive enthusiasm.

"Ishida and Kenzo..."

Retracting her arms and tucking them behind her head as if reclining, Max gives the two men a thoughtful look while swaying back and forth on her tail gently.

"Those are Japanese names, right? Like my mom!"

While such inferences might seem quite banal to everyone else, even something as simple as being able to place ethnic references is a new concept to the Gear. There's so many things she's merely read about or had installed into her mind during her creation, things that she 'knows' but has never actually seen or experienced before. While everyone else has been lamenting the fate of being trapped on a deserted island resort, Max appears to be thoroughly enjoying the opportunity to learn and experience everything she can.

In particular, she's had a lot more chances to interact with the rest of the crew, what with everyone being confined to roughly the same areas and devoid of any other distractions save survival. The cruise ship itself likewise kept everyone to a relatively small area but with the option to retreat to cloistered private rooms and have food delivered to their doorstep there were a fair few people who hardly ever seemed to show themselves in public.

Whether their two opponent deign to answer her question, Buck's arrival is finally acknowledged. Max gives him the same mischievous grin that she previously reserved for her mother whenever she was being called out for some manner of mild misbehavior.

"Have you -seen- this place, Mr. Buck? There's no way I wasn't going to check it out!"

[BUCK]
Buck gives the only one he hasn't met the critical once over glance, his eyes seeming to scan Ishida with his expression kept deistinctly neutral. He smiles at the end of it though, deciding he likes what he sees. Not that anyone has ever really met with disapproval. Well, excpet one and she's the reason they're trapped on this island, so maybe he's a good judge of character after all. "Ishida, huh, well, a little of the familiar," With a glance to Kenzo, "and a little of the new. This'll be good."

He waves off Max's apology. "I'm your mentor not your babysitter." He says with a small laugh. "As long as you show up for team things, you can run off as much as you want. And just Buck." He puffs his cheeks out at being called mister. He's still in college, dang it, no one should be calling him mister anything.

A short snort of a laugh comes when Kenzo nicknames him, just Walking Puppy Filter's fine." He adds continuing the mister complaint. "Or san if you want to feel formal, I've actually gotten used to that."

Stepping into the arena, he takes a slow look around, rubbing his chin as he takes it in. "Well, not as grand as our rumble stage, but it's certainly a good one." He states, already moving round to Wild Thing's side of the stage.

[ISHIDA]
Ishida finds his arm jostled a bit more than he was planning on -- though that, itself, is reason enough to share a smile with little Maximum. "-- Yes, they are," he answers, pleased that his nationality is identified correctly. "I am from the city of Ikaruga. It is not far from Osaka, one of the largest cities in Japan. Kuroiwa-san here..." He nods to indicate Kenzo, at this point. "... is from Southtown, I believe. If you have not yet been to Japan, I think you will enjoy it."

He smiles faintly as Kenzo introduces him, bowing his head slightly. It hadn't occurred to him until that point that he had not been formally introduced to Buck yet. He'd certainly seen Buck around on the Mermaid. And while he -could- have gotten introduced aboard the little ship that brought them to the island, seasickness had unfortunately made him even less outgoing than usual.

He doesn't know what to make of Kenzo calling Buck 'Walking Puppy Filter,' though. He just doesn't understand how those words glue together, exactly.
"... It is nice to meet you, Finley-san," he admits. "I look forward to seeing how you two will synergize in combat."

Ishida continues the walk into the auditorium. In his matches for the Odyssey, he often preceded his tournament bouts with a session of squats. He... seems to have lightened up on that particular part of his exercise regimen. He walks to one end of the area demarcated for fighting. He reaches out, stretching his arms first to one side, then the other.

Here, he looks around for the NFG camerapeople, and the officials. But, rather than make a statement to this effect, he glances over to Kenzo. He asks quietly, "... Is this where we are supposed to be?"

While he seems tentative and unsure -- the fact remains that the Qigong fighter is already beginning to broaden his senses to get a better idea of where the flows of chi begin and end.

COMBATSYS: Ishida has started a fight here on the right meter side.

                                  >  //////////////////////////////]
                                  |-------\-------\0           Ishida

COMBATSYS: Buck has joined the fight here on the left meter side.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Buck             0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0           Ishida

COMBATSYS: Kenzo has joined the fight here on the right meter side.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Buck             0/-------/------=|======-\-------\0            Kenzo
                                  >  //////////////////////////////]
                                  |-------\-------\0           Ishida

COMBATSYS: Max has joined the fight here on the left meter side.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Buck             0/-------/------=|======-\-------\0            Kenzo
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Max              0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0           Ishida

[KENZO]
If anyone wants to know the reason for Kenzo giving Buck that nickname just has to look at Liza Eddow or the George Eddow Ford Dealership social media accounts to find out why.

Normally there would be some theatrics to get in the ring. Usually he'd do his pre-fight warmup and stretch in the back or away from the venue.

This situation changes everything. Too hot to need a warmup plus they're energy consuming. Drone drop ins and sudden appearance acts are likewise energy consuming. Stretches were already done. So now, Kenzo keeps it simple by stepping onto the fighting stage besides Ishida, bows to both Max and Buck, then readies the weighted chain sickle as combat suit and combat specs activate.

[MAX]
She can run off as much as she wants, eh.

Max is pretty sure her mother would ring the Oklahoman's neck if she were around to hear him say that. Trying to wrangle the little trouble maker has been her full-time job for most of this contest. Fortunately, the frail scientist had retired to one of the more secluded areas of the casino upon learning that it has functional air conditioning. The Gear had spent several hours watching over the woman to ensure that she got some proper rest.

She didn't mind being bored for a little while if it meant making sure her mother was well cared for. The intense tropical weather was quickly proving too much for the scientist's weak constitution and the lack of readily accessible food and water certainly wasn't helping. Being able to eat just about anything organic herself, Max had donated the big bag of beef jerky that she'd won for her participation in the Xtreme Volleyball treasure hunt to her mother. It wasn't the most nutritious or filling meal but it helped.

However, as a side effect of her caretaker being under the weather, Max now found herself relatively unsupervised for the first time since joining this contest. Most of her day had been spent wandering the edges of the jungle, both to search for food and to satisfy her idle hands.

The former proved rather fruitless - literally. The fiery goddess has apparently been true to her word about destroying most of the island's natural resources. But the Gear's wanderings were not entirely without merit. Each foray into the wilderness gave the girl a better idea of the island's layout. Even when she found nothing of note that still allowed her to mark off areas of potential interest from the list. When it finally proves time for the group to move deeper inland towards the ominous volcano and the promised clash with their captor she'll at least be able to steer them in a productive direction.

Max smiles widely again, both at the confirmation of her suspicions about the two men's origins and at her new mentor giving her carte blanche to act as she pleases.

"Neat! I'm sure we'll go there someday."

When everyone starts to move towards the arena, Max waits for them to pass before releasing her tail-grip on the awning and flipping gracefully down onto her feet. She scampers past the three larger men and runs a quick circuit of the arena, stopping every dozen feet or so to glance around as if looking for something. By the time everyone gets to their places the girl finishes her round and settles in next to Buck, plopping down into a cat-like crouch with both hands resting flat on the floor between her feet.

"Guess it's time to put my war face on!"

Closing her eyes, Max taps into the energy swirling around within her artificial soul. She had gotten her first chance to see how Buck's transformation powers worked at the volleyball match. Lacking the scientific expertise to analyze them with the same scrutiny that her mother might have, she had walked away with only two important facts. The first was that his power seemed a lot more versatile than her own, able to create a variety of different modifications that best suited the circumstances. The second was that the shapeshifter's alterations were a great deal less... dramatic when they happened.

Whereas Buck's twisting form brought with it only a few faint cracks and pops, when the Gear starts to change it sounds like an entire cow being fed slowly through a meat grinder. Bright purple fur starts to sprout from the surface of her lilac-hued skin, short but thick, with jaguar-like splotches of black speckling the length of her arms. Thick cords of bulging muscle swell outwards to an almost comical degree, ballooning her tiny limbs into something almost more reminiscent of a gorilla than a cat, though the long black claws that emerge from her fuzzy fingertips are distinctly feline.

Max's mouth parts as she lets out a slow breath giving her opponents a clear view as the Gear's canines swell and extend into vicious fangs. On either side of her head, large fuzzy rounded ears quickly replace her humanoid lobes, folding back against her skull as the transformation process continues. When she opens her eyes again the inhuman fuchsia of her irises has bled out to stain the entirety of her sclera leaving only a pair of twin vertical slits in their place.

Max rolls her shoulders a few times, filling the air with another round of unsettling pops and cracks as everything settles into place. The entire transformation, while impossible to conceal, takes only a few seconds. From teenage rascal to fuzzy killing machine in the span of a handful of breaths.

"Alright," she chirps cheerfully, turning her unblinking gaze upon their two opponents at the far side of the arena. "Let's play!"

And that's all the warning they get. Normally, Max likes to take her time when engaging unknown foes. Stalking her prey, learning their habits, watching their movements, understanding their thoughts - these are the methods that she has been designed to use in order to create the best possible situation for her to strike decisively. However, she has quickly learned that the NFG doesn't allow for such luxuries. So, instead, she opts for another form of advantage in the element of surprise.

Launching herself forward on powerful legs, the Gear turns her attention first towards Kenzo. Though he is the returning fighter among the two and thus likely to be better prepared, that also means that removing him from the match as quickly as possible would leave the less experienced Ishida in a rough spot. Besides, between a ninja and a monk, the ninja's probably more squishy - if the movies she's watched are to be believed.

The gap between Max and her target disappears blindingly fast, her roided out chimera of a body sending her ripping across the floor - again, quite literally. At least Zack isn't here to complain about the repairs that will be necessary after this is over.

After the first few scampering bounds put her within striking distance, the Gear pauses briefly, landing in a crouch that tucks her legs underneath her body in order to prepare for a mighty pounce. Her lips peel back in a mostly playful snarl, wicked fangs flashing in the casino lights as she focuses her predatory stare at her intended prey.

And then she launches herself like a purple fuzzy missile - directly at Ishida?!

The sudden shift in targets is so seamless and sudden that it's almost impossible to notice her intent via body language. Her gaze remains firmly locked on the ninja until the last possible second, muscles coiled in such a way as to give the impression that she can only go forward. Both of her bulky arms extend forward, claws flexed wide to create as large a surface area as possible to ensure that -something- gets caught in her grasp. Should he fail to react to her sudden deception, Ishida will find himself tackled to the ground by a now quite heavy bio-weapon with very large fists that she is eager to demonstrate the power of.

COMBATSYS: Ishida blocks Max's Grasp And Pound.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Buck             0/-------/------=|======-\-------\0            Kenzo
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Max              0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0           Ishida

[ISHIDA]
Ishida may seem a bit aloof and out-of-touch at times. And in many ways, he is. Ever since finding himself stranded on this island, he's had to get used to the idea that no one is coming to save them. There is no safe place on this island, no place where the Phoenix couldn't seek him out if she wanted to. No place where he can just... get away from the simple facts of existence. No place to retreat, or withdraw from the others.

If it weren't for others chipping in and helping, the NFG castaways would collectively be a lot worse off. That's where things were different -- that's why this session won't end up like the -last- accident Ishida had been involved in.

So. It isn't so much that Ishida -isn't- paying attention to his environment. He is -- he's watching everything like a hawk. But he's learned that it makes people more than a little upset to make it -obvious- that he's watching everything like a hawk.

He watches Max, as she undergoes her transformation. He watches as if it isn't even remotely unsettling to hear bones splintering apart, knitting back together, or otherwise churning the stomach. He watches patiently -- because he's telling himself to keep his feelings under lock and key. Betrayal of his true feelings could be upsetting, after all -- and he doesn't want that.

He bows to the others when Kenzo does, pressing his right fist into his palm and bowing deeply from the waist.

"I am looking forward to this battle. Let us have a good fight."

His eyes twinkle, ever so slightly, as he makes eye contact with Buck, and with Max. Buck seems like a nice guy. And Max is... well, his reservations about her have faded as she's seen how hard she tries, and how much she's cared for her mother. And how -well- she's done even when her mother has been more-or-less down for the count.

Max is a good person, he reassures himself, as the fight is called into order. He draws one foot back, raising his open hand forward in a qigong stance.

Max is a good person, even if she -is- trying to deceive him. He doesn't doubt for an instant that she'll attack him -- even if she's making a show about targeting Kenzo instead. It's how the first round of tag-team fights worked, after all, isn't it? It just seems... like the expected course of action.

But he still flinches, ever so slightly, when that last-moment change occurs. He's only human. And still new to the sport.

The qigong fighter vaults forward once it becomes clear that Max is attacking him. He brings both fists forward, eyes shuddering with intensity as he puts the full force of his defense on display, resisting Max's attempt at a grab with as much of his being as possible. He digs his heels in, the worn soles of his shoes squeaking against the stage as he struggles to deal with the gorilla-like arms...

And in the split second before Max shifts from grasping to pounding, he brings his forearms inward to absorb the brunt of the assault. With proper preparations, his corded, well-conditioned muscles have the resilience of steel, acquitting themselves well against the Gear's might. He's not strong enough to stop -all- of the impact; he's forced to withdraw three whole paces in the process. But he -does- maintain his balance, throughout the duration, his jacket weathering the pressure of Max's claws.

And Ishida... smiles in reply.

His answer is delivered as soon as her pressure is released. He charges back at her -- aiming to deliver a high and forceful elbow strike, following by a double palm thrust aimed at center mass. The goal here, though, isn't just brutal pressure -- he's aiming to pressure the Gear back into the ropes surrounding the ring, in an attempt to entangle her within them, and keep her from building momentum for a counterattack!

[KENZO]
As Kenzo rises from his bow, he keeps a bit of his attention on Max ready to make call-outs to Ishida if necessary. He didn't think it would be needed since he viewed his kouhai as an intelligent individual. It would be folly not to be prepared for it, especially considering how little film there was for Max.

Buck, however, gets the lion's share of his attention. Buck had shown himself capable of beating him before and even more dangerous in the rematch even though Kenzo came out of the fight the victor. One or two missteps and Buck could easily win here too. He'd prefer for that not to happen.

The weight spins at the ninja's side for a moment before the chain suddenly starts crackling with electricity. He then sends the weighted end towards Buck, ideally wrapping it around his waist and then pulling him in close enough to slash him with an electrified sickle across the torso.

COMBATSYS: Buck blocks Kenzo's Lightning Snare.

[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Buck             0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\1            Kenzo
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Max              0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0           Ishida

[BUCK]
Buck doffs his hat, twiling it on a finger tip with a little flourish then frisbee'ing it off towards the camera crew. "Hold onto that for me, will ya?" He runs a hand through his brown hair and then returns Kenzo and Ishida's bows with one of his own. He had Ichika teach him, so no doubt it's not bad.

And then he's launching himself forward, where Max initially goes for Kenzo, his focus for the moment is on Ishida. "Careful of Kenzo's chain! He's got mad reach." He calls out to his mentee as the brawl begins.

Then said chain comes for him, and he twists about, deflecting the weapon off his arm and only getting a scartch to show for it, but at least it doesn't get wrapped around him. But instead of turning himself on Kenzo, to switch up with Max, he keeps right on for Ishida.

One thing Buck does is magpie ideas from other fighters. Kenzo himself is responsible for one of Buck's more lethal maneuvers. But it also means he's always adapting a tweaking to fit those around him, his abilities just lend themselves to well to it.

So as he closes in on Ishida, he drops to all fours and puts on a sudden burst of speed. He's been watching Max's techniques. He raises his hand, fingers splayed with wicked claws sticking out of each digit and only then jukes to face Kenzo, zipping in as he rains a flurry of claw attacks down on the ninja.

COMBATSYS: Ishida successfully hits Max with Taken for Granite.
- Power hit! -

[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Buck             0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\1            Kenzo
[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Max              0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0           Ishida

[MAX]
The quick reactions of the martial artist prove surprisingly adept at countering what Max had considered a rather tricky ploy. None of the people who came to visit her mother's secluded lab had ever been able to defend themselves against her pranks, her favorite of which had always been to leap at them from ambush and scare the daylights out of them. This proclivity for mischief provided her ample opportunities to hone her stalking skills so while the scientist had always scolded her for troubling the delivery drivers and construction workers where they could hear her she had also secretly encouraged the Gear to improve.

Despite the satisfying flinch that her sudden target shift evokes, the Gear's tackle proves ineffective at taking him down. Her powerful fists slam into a wall of iron-hard muscle and bone, attempting to beat him to the floor with raw power where momentum had failed her, but the monk holds his ground under the assault.

Behind her, Max can hear the opening exchange between the two mentors as they rush to meet in battle as well. Her ears perk up as the chain whip lashes out, electricity crackling dangerously along its length. Having fought the technologically-savvy ninja before apparently, Buck handles himself against the deadly weapon with the ease of experience. And, being the good mentor that he is, calls out to his young charge to be wary of the tools that their opponent wields.

While good intentioned, his timing proves unfortunate. Max's eyes widen with alarm at the warning, her head whipping sideways to scan for the threat of this electrified chain. Ishida makes the most of this sudden opening and the elbow slips right past the distracted girl's guard and square into the side of her head.

Max staggers backwards, reeling from the blow but still on her feet. The follow through, however, launches her like a cannonball into the flimsy barrier of velvet rope surrounding the arena. Arms and tail flailing wildly, the tiny Gear hits the ground and tumbles a few times before deftly arresting her momentum by digging her claws into the floor and flipping over onto all fours before she can go careening into the rows of casino machines.

Wide-eyed, the girl stares back at Ishida for a few silent moments without blinking, a look of bewilderment on her face. Then she grins, baring her fangs at him playfully, though someone unused to dealing with what is essentially a jaguar cub might misinterpret the look as something more aggressive.

Max's body starts to shift again as she starts to scramble forward, the massive bulk of her arms shrinking somewhat while the bio-weapon's legs take on greater mass and definition. She doesn't even bother to disentangle herself from the thick rope still wrapped haphazardly around her, simply dragging it and one of the pedestals that had held it aloft behind her.

Nor does the binding seem to impede her speed much, if at all, for the girl quickly accelerates to a purple blur as she bounds bravely right back at Ishida. Lacking the raw power of her previous form, the threat this time comes from her speed and claws. Max darts past the monk, zigging left then zagging right to throw of his attempts at defense as she swipes a handful of inch-long talons at his flank in passing. This proves to be but the first of several such strikes, the small girl's newly empowered legs propelling her in a series of quick hit-and-run attacks from all directions with only moments between each pass to try and keep track of her movements.

COMBATSYS: Ishida fails to interrupt Cat's Cradle from Max with Rockslide.

[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Buck             0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\1            Kenzo
[      \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////      ]
Max              0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0           Ishida

[ISHIDA]
Once Ishida's double palm strike is completed, he remains fixed in place. He'd call it 'conserving energy,' but he's actually just waiting to see what someone as agile as Max would do in response. He smiles, ever so faintly, at seeing her entangled within the velvet ropes. That -was- what he was planning -- for the most part.

On either side of him, he can hear the sounds of Kenzo and Buck taking part in their own duel -- but, considering Kuroiwa's battle expertise, it's not something he's -particularly- concerned of at the moment.

Max is undergoing another particularly unsettling transformation, after all. And he does not want to miss out on the results of that. Especially as she seems to be... fascinated? Enticed? Or maybe just pissed off?

The fact is though: she's accelerating. And that causes Ishida to draw his foot backwards, bracing himself against the floor. When she charges for him, he can tell -- somehow -- that she's not intending to put her full force into the blow, and that her course is slightly askew from a collision course. He draws his limbs in, close to his body.

Gashes are cut into his jacket and his trunks; crimson ribbons splay into the air as Max dashes past. The young Japanese man grits his teeth, standing firm and vigilant -- as if he can tell there's more to the attack.

Max reverses direction, coming around for a second pass. Here, too, more gashes are cut into the cloth -- but he remains steadfast.

It isn't till the third pass that he seems to move any muscle at all -- and it's here that he attempts to pre-empt the cuts, to suddenly lash out with a lightning-fast fist.

He succeeds.
At overestimating her speed by a fraction of a second.
His arm is clipped.
And he is suddenly whirled into a violent counter-clockwise spin, toppled by the Gear's *speed* if not her *power*.

Until the barrage finally ends, each successive pass knocks the axis of his spin into a different angle. And each pass adds another coil of velvet rope around his legs, spooling him up further and further until it just... runs out. Ishida topples over, collapsing dizzily onto the floor with a groan.

It takes a *lot* to keep up with Max -- and as he presses his palm to the floor in the start of a recovery, his head is still lolling about with the disorientation.

"Uooogh..." he grumbles. "I... thought I had you, there..."

It'll take him a moment to work himself free. But thankfully the velvet keeps it from being -too- much of a challenge as long as Max isn't scratching him!

COMBATSYS: Buck successfully hits Kenzo with Raking It In.

[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////       ]
Buck             0/-------/---====|=======\-------\1            Kenzo
[      \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////      ]
Max              0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0           Ishida

[KENZO]
The juke doesn't work. Kenzo knows that the two aren't going to swap targets and so Buck still has most of his attention. The problem is that Kenzo didn't expect Buck launch at him with that level intensity. Kenzo tries deflect aside the clawing attacks but once the first one got through the rest of them landing was a forgone conclusion. He stumbled backwards but managed to get a leg behind him just enough to prevent himself from falling down.

He still has Buck in his face. He decides that he should remind him that he is dangerous up close too. Especially since Buck so helpfully mentioned how dangerous at range he is.

Buck might remember this move though with the possible head trauma, it would be understandable if he forgot about it. Kenzo shoots in to wrap his arms around Buck's waist and leaps into the air in an attempt to take them both up into the air. At the peak of the jump, Kenzo tilts back and dive bombs the ground, Buck's head first. At least he doesn't have horns this time... Maybe?

COMBATSYS: Kenzo successfully hits Buck with Izuna Drop.

[      \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////       ]
Buck             0/-------/-======|=======\=------\1            Kenzo
[      \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////      ]
Max              0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0           Ishida

[BUCK]
Buck doesn't bother celebrating the clean hit, not quite yet. It's only the first in what's probably going to be a long exchange between the two first season NFGers. Especially as this is their third official fight and now the element of surprise is waning.

Buck does indeed remember the move, and he effort to avoid being grabbed doesn't quite succeed as Kenzo gets a grip on him.

But as he's being lifted up for the head drop he goes a bit limp, loosening himself up to help mitigate the blow somewhat.

As he strikes the mat, Buck explodes? Or rather a burst of black ink shoots out all around him propelled by a full burst of chi, surrounding him in a cloud thicker than even a smokebomb could manage and hopefully engulfing Kenzo as well.

[MAX]
As the majority of velvet rope finally runs out, Max drops into a roll that gracefully disentangles herself from the last few feet still wound around her body. It hadn't been her intention at first to use Ishida's tactic against him but once she noticed that each pass was winding the coil around him more tightly it was an obvious thing to exploit.

The attempt to catch her mid-lunge was bold but the tactic had been specifically designed to avoid such counter strikes, creating unpredictable movements and shifts in speed that made anticipating her next move extremely challenging. Still, the monk had come closer than most to actually landing a blow on her while the Gear was moving at full speed and she lacks the ego to try and downplay that fact.

Kicking free of the velvet coils and moving a couple of feet away, lest this person with whom she is completely unfamiliar prove to be the opportunistic sort, Max plops down into a lazy crouch. Once more her mannerisms show obvious feline influence as she settles her oversized paws between her feet and settles down on her haunches. Her eyes narrow slightly as a pleased smirk settles onto her face, though her gaze remains, as always, focused and unblinking.

"Hehe, yeah," she says, a hint of amusement in her tone. "Everyone falls for that one. You humans have trouble keeping up when things start moving too fast."

One of her fuzzy mitts lifts up and she holds the tips of two claws about an inch apart.

"You came pretty close though! If that rope hadn't been dragging me down a little I might have jumped right into that one."

By this point it should be fairly obvious that she has no plans to capitalize on his momentary predicament. Despite the incredible tactical advantage she might glean from pouncing the monk while he's on the floor, disoriented, and tangled up, it just doesn't feel like the right thing to do. Her mother had spent a long time impressing upon her just how bad the PR for Gears currently stands and how important it is that she put in extra effort to show the world that she's just as capable of things like mercy and kindness as humans are.

Were Ishida actually her enemy, there would be no hesitation in sinking her claws into his flesh. But this is basically a big game. And with all of them trapped on the island without proper provisions she isn't willing to risk actually hurting the man beyond some superficial scratches and bruises. Not that this appears to be a consideration that their elders are taking into account, judging from the way Buck and Kenzo are laying into each other!

Max, on the other hand, just sits and waits for her opponent to regain his footing. Which isn't to say that she's doing nothing! The slits of her eyes narrow ever so slightly as she watches the martial artist, paying particular attention to the way he moves. Something as simple as unwinding a rope and standing back up might not offer much information to most people but the Gear's mind is filled to the brim with all manner of anatomical facts and military studies on the workings of the human body.

It doesn't take her very long to start noticing key details: subtle changes in posture, the flexing of tendons or muscles, an inhaled breath, or even a twitch of the eye. There are so many little tells that living things create when they take action, warning signs that most people simply cannot see. Yet, to the inhuman mind of the bio-weapon, they are as plain as flashing neon signs once she knows what to look for.

So, the girl watches, quietly and patiently, with a faint smirk on her face and her fuzzy purple tail flicking back and forth with slow deliberate motions as Ishida unwittingly tattles on his own body under her unblinking gaze.

COMBATSYS: Max begins to stalk her prey!

[      \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////       ]
Buck             0/-------/-======|=======\=------\1            Kenzo
[      \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////      ]
Max              0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0           Ishida

[ISHIDA]
It's mildly embarrassing. Velvet rope isn't even supposed to catch. It's smooth so that it doesn't catch. And yet, there's enough of this stuff that Ishida takes a good few seconds to work out of it.

It isn't a long time. But it -feels- like a long time, with how much of a big deal Max seems to be making over it. But the time he spends extricating himself from the rope seems to be all the time he needs to get over it. He's seen the first season of NFG -- he knows all about Americans and their seeming need for 'trash talk.' And, as things go, that's pretty light.

After those few seconds he kicks himself free of the rope and rises back into a qigong stance -- his face reverting to the standard, aloof half-grin that's more or less his default. If he's bothered, he doesn't show it.

"Heh."

He stands there, his grey eyes tracking Max even as she prowls towards him. He has no particular tells in his motions -- for he is a pretty laid-back kinda guy, generally.

Until he -starts- to move, that is.

Which is when he suddenly shifts from his complete calm into a charging dynamo, striding forward to deliver a high snap kick carving upward from hip to shoulder. And if he connects with that strike, his momentum will carry him forward enough for the complement of that kick: a reverse kick to scythe his heel down onto her shoulder and crush her into the floor!

COMBATSYS: Buck successfully hits Kenzo with Inkblot.

[      \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////          ]
Buck             0/-------/=======|=======\=------\1            Kenzo
[      \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////      ]
Max              0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0           Ishida

[KENZO]
He felt Buck shifting in his grip in an attempt to mitigate the damage and actually do so. It was a less than ideal outcome but acceptable nevertheless since he still managed to slam him down. He could have done without ending up in a world of darkness upon slamming him down. He was too close to the point of origin to defend against it. Thus, Kenzo ends up landing with the attack that had seen success against Buck previously only to get hit with an attack that had been successful against him in return.

Kenzo rolls backwards out of the ink cloud and wipes the ink off of his combat specs. This enables Kenzo to get a glance at the fight between Max and Ishida. He can see Max studying Ishida very intently and just gets a hunch that Max is getting more information out of that moment of watchfulness than most would get. He can't quite prove it and it isn't exactly something that could be picked up through his specs. Unfortunately, before Kenzo can give a warning to his kouhai, he watches as Ishida dart forth and snap his foot upwards and then send it in the opposite direction.

"Careful. She's tracking your movements." r
With that, Kenzo returns his attention to the fight with Buck. The nin-gineer didn't go diving into the ink cloud in the previous engagement and he's not about to do so now. He whips the chain into the cloud as sort of a range finder with a diagonal downward swing with the weighted end and then whipping it around to attempt to wrap it around his feet and pull them from under him.

COMBATSYS: Kenzo successfully hits Buck with Armed Combo.
- Power hit! -

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Buck             1/-----==/=======|=======\=======\1            Kenzo
[      \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////      ]
Max              0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0           Ishida

[BUCK]
Well, one can't blame Buck for trying, that trick normally works. But once again, the problem is surprised tactics don't work on someone who's already seen them multiple times. So even as Buck tries to shoot sideways out of the cloud, the chain wraps around his one ankle and send him sprawling to the mat at an awkward angle that comes with a slightly worrying crunch.

The only sign from Buck that something bent wrong there is a slight grimace on his face. He doesn't let that slow him down and instead rolls along the mat, in the direction of Kenzo. Something long and green starting to come from him.

He doesn't have a moment to worry about his mentee, and in fact doesn't even look over in her direction.

The tail he's been growing thickens into something scaled and reptilian as he plants one hand on the mat, changing the axis of his roll to bring the thick tail around on a collision course for Kenzo.. and are those spikes?

Yup, there's a cluster of boney spikes on the end of the tail that comes lashing around.

COMBATSYS: Max interrupts Light Kick from Ishida with Mouse Trap.

[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Buck             1/-----==/=======|=======\=======\1            Kenzo
[          \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////          ]
Max              0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0           Ishida

[MAX]
This is not the first time that Max's mannerisms have proven off-putting to a fellow combatant. Having spent the scant few years of her life secluded from the world with naught but her taciturn mother and the Internet to provide insight into what human culture is like it seems that she has picked up some bad habits. While exchanging snide remarks and witty one-liners is the norm between action heroes and their foes, she's still in the process of learning that not everyone is receptive to such banter. That fact that Ishida shrugs it off with a laugh only further muddies the waters.

The Gear remains happy to sit and watch patiently while he unwinds himself and rises to his feet, offering no further commentary. When the monk suddenly launches himself into motion the small girl strangely shows no signs of reacting to the impending danger despite her clear focus on predicting his movements, a fact so obvious that even Kenzo, tied up in his own conflict, can notice it and warn his student.

The rapid snap kick whips up without any interference, smashing square into the side of the strangely smug catgirl's head, almost as if she was caught completely off guard by the blitz. However, that couldn't be further from the truth.

The impact of the strike tilts Max to the side, her body seeming to topple from the blow, leaving her completely vulnerable to the sudden reversal of Ishida's foot as he prepares to bring his heel down upon her exposed flank. But, as she tips over, the bio-weapon suddenly moves with an explosive uncoiling of stored up power. Her paws flex, digging long claws into the floor as anchors. In a demonstration of obscene core strength, the Gear uses her arms to flex her entire lower body like a whip and sweeps both of her heavily muscled legs into the back of Ishida's knee. With only a single foot on the ground, the other still raised to strike a second blow, it is a simple matter to collapse his joint and send the unbalanced martial artist to the ground.

Swinging her feet back underneath her without missing a beat, Max shows no hesitation this time at taking advantage of her downed foe. She bounds forward in a playful pounce, dropping knees first into the iron monk's gut. Now straddling atop her opponent's waist, it's a simple matter of thrusting her large fuzzy paws into his shoulders and squeezing, digging two sets of scalpel-sized claws through the layers of clothing and into his skin.

Max leans forward, hovering her face over the human's, her smile intact and just as smug as before. She shifts her arms up and down a few times, twisting the claws she has embedded in his torso ever so slightly, like a playful cat attempting to make itself comfortable atop its new favorite roost.

"Sure you don't want to just surrender," she asks cheerfully, eyelids lowering halfway into a lazy stare. "You make a pretty nice chair."

[ISHIDA]
If someone had been studying Ishida's earlier matches, they might have gathered a mistaken impression of his temperament. One problem with Odyssey -- at least in his mind -- is that the premise of each fight involved him acting as someone other than himself, when he did not even know what his own fighting style was like. He's often been related to a monk -- but in truth, he has not visited a Shaolin temple, and has no -particular- adherence to the ascetic ideals practiced in such a place. His hopes for NFG were to change that -- to put worldly possessions behind him and begin a life of meaning.

"I see that," is the simple answer he gives to his mentor, a split-second before Max lodges her feet into the hinge of his knee. It may come across as sarcasm -- but the fact of the matter is that Ishida was well aware of Max's powers of observation. His working theory was that if one is quick enough to land a precise hit, the advantage of mere -observation- would be rendered moot.

But, control of the next few moments is quickly taken away from him. And he soon finds himself a cat's plaything.

A question is asked.
His answer, in two parts:
"I am sure."

COMBATSYS: Kenzo interrupts Thagomizer ES from Buck with Whirling Chain Blitz ES.

[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////                ]
Buck             2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\=======\1            Kenzo
[          \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////          ]
Max              0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0           Ishida

[KENZO]
The other problem is that ninjas tend to have lessons practically dedicated to ambush tactics so the bar tends to be raised in terms of pulling them off on them. Your milage may vary based on who is teaching though.

As Buck rolls out of the inky cloud that by now has subsided, Kenzo stands at the ready for the next attack. An eyebrow rises over his smart eye wear as a green tail grows out. When the bony spikes appear, it becomes a wince immediately, after all, it doesn't take a genius to realize what he plans on doing.

Kenzo sees the subtle signs of Buck putting a little extra on the change of axis to deliver some additional impact with the tail and decides to meet force with force. While it was tempting to mitigate the impact, he wanted to take advantage of an opportunity where Buck wouldn't be in a position to reduce the amount of damage that Kenzo was doing to him. Kenzo intercepts the tail with the sickle that prevents the spikes from piercing his combat suit. The blunt force trauma from the tail hurts enough on its own. Simultaneously, with the impact of the tail, Kenzo whacks Buck with the electrified weighted end of the chain. Kenzo stumbles back a step before continuing the onslaught with the weight swiftly moving in a figure 8 pattern delivering strike after strike, each one crackling with energy before he steps back.

"I haven't seen that one before."

If Kenzo has a moment to go over the footage with Ishida in the future, he can point to this moment as a demonstration of what Kenzo meant in terms of jamming an attack when talked about strategy versus Roxana on the boat.

[BUCK]
Well, at least he didn't get out of the way. Buck knows there's only so much mitigation that can be done when being nailed by well on fifty pounds of muscular spiked tail. The impact alone should be a firm reminder.

Even if he has to take a few blows of electrified weight in return. He twists the tail about and slams the spikes down into the mat to help him keep his footing and from being pushed back.

Once the assault ends Buck shakes himself out, letting the tail retreat back into his spine with a short laugh. "If you keep using the same moves over and over it gives people a chance to study you a little too much. Gotta keep things interesting."

He takes just a moment to glance over towards Max and Ishida, giving a small nod to what he sees over there before returning his attention fully onto Kenzo.

He starts to stroll across the mat, moving to the side while still keeping his eyes on the technoninja, considering. Grabbing one shoulder with the opposite hand, he rotates his arm, working some feeling back into it that the electrical shocks numbed a bit.

COMBATSYS: Buck focuses on his next action.

[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////                ]
Buck             2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\=======\1            Kenzo
[          \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////          ]
Max              0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0           Ishida

COMBATSYS: Ishida successfully hits Max with Aggressive Strike.
-* CRITICAL HIT! *-

[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////                ]
Buck             2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\=======\1            Kenzo
[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////          ]
Max              1/------=/=======|=====--\-------\0           Ishida

[ISHIDA]
-- splice this into ishida's pose --

And then an attempt to, in one motion, use his -own- core strength to grab hold of Max's legs, lean forward, and *slam* his iron forehead into her own.

He'd then seek to roll quickly to the side, breaking free of his indentured servitude as household furniture, and spring back to his feet in a ready stance.

[MAX]
Human heads are soft.

This fact was made expressly clear to Max in a very sternly worded discussion after one of her pranks nearly split the melon of one of the workers who occasionally came out to their secluded home. In fact, quite a bit of the human body is disturbingly squishy and prone to injury, especially when compared to her own. But, she supposes, that is why humans created beings like her in the first place. To be strong where they are weak, to fight the monsters that they cannot.

Ishida's head is not soft.

For a few brief moments, the Gear is left to wonder about this strange paradox as the iron-hard anvil of the warrior's forehead slams into her own with roughly the force of a sledgehammer. While she doesn't feel pain, she is aware of the injuries being inflicted upon her corporeal vessel. Even if she wasn't, it'd be pretty hard not to notice her vision turning from a high-definition crystal clear color display into an old-fashioned tv whose antenna has been knocked askew.

"Nyargh?!"

Max recoils from the unexpected blow dramatically, partially out of the raw force of the blow and partially out of sudden panicked reflexes. Dislodging herself from the comfy perch that she had rightfully claimed via the Law of Feline Supremacy, the chimera tumbles backwards into an acrobatic roll that sees her landing on all fours several feet away.

And for an instant or two, a hint of the bio-weapon's true nature slips through the cracks.

Her ears fold back, the long fuzzy tail pointing upwards like a silent exclamation mark. A faint snarl, guttural and inhuman, rolls past bared fangs. Impossibly bright eyes open wide, pupils narrowed to little more than needle-thin slits of hyper-intense focus. Muscles tense beneath furry purple skin, claws digging furrows into the floor as they seek purchase, preparing to...

Something like recognition washes over Max's face. She freezes, going absolutely still, save for the exaggerated owlish blink that dismisses the predatory gleam in her eyes. The recovery is swift and as she shifts back into a lazy recline on her haunches the Gear does her best to brush it off as little more than an impolite faux pas.

"Heh." One of her deadly paws lifts to rub at the back of her short punky hairdo, her snarl morphing into a wide sheepish grin. "You caught me off guard there! Never seen a human use their face as a weapon. I'll have to remember that trick!"

The embarrassment seems to wear off quickly, however, and the grin she sports hardens into something closer to a look of determination. The flesh beneath her skin starts to crack and ripple once again as the bulk of her muscle shifts back into her arms swelling them up to cartoonish proportions. Her tail starts to wiggle back and forth eagerly again, a clear indication to those who have been paying attention that she's preparing to strike; not that she's trying to hide her intentions.

What she -is- doing, however, is obfuscating her methods. As the little monster has repeatedly shown, she has a penchant for misdirection and subterfuge despite her physical superiority. Launching herself into motion, Max makes a sudden lunge - not for Ishida, but one of the noisy flashing gambling machines that encircle the arena. With a large section of the velvet rope already disposed of, she has a clear shot out of the small ring and into the casino proper.

Moving with swiftness that defies her bulky form, the girl digs her mighty paws into either side of the ATM-sized stall and hoists it over her head with a single suppressed grunt of effort. Whirling around in a small circle like an Olympic shot-putter, Max builds up a bit of spice on her pitch before sending the massive machine sailing on a low ballistic arc straight towards the iron monk!

COMBATSYS: Ishida blocks Max's Large Thrown Object.

[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////                ]
Buck             2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\=======\1            Kenzo
[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////           ]
Max              1/------=/=======|======-\-------\0           Ishida

[ISHIDA]
Ishida is back on his feet where he belongs. He has room to move around a bit. Those are good things.

He watches Max run through a full gamut of emotional responses -- confusion, alarm, recognition, bravado. All perfectly normal responses to getting whacked by a good strong forehead. It shows that even without a true sifu or monk to light the path, Ishida's efforts at strengthening his body have paid off.

"Headbutts are not that uncommon in close-quarters combat. One must make the most out of limited space."

But then Max's stance shifts to communicate hostile intent. Ishida absorbs this all with placid intensity -- resembling more of a sloth than his feline-like counterpart. Slow to anger, slow to act, Ishida shows that he is not exactly cowed; he's ready for a counterattack.

And then, there isn't one.
It's an escape.
And Ishida turns his head to follow the retreating Max.
His expression slowly shows signs of confusion.

He is able to take in the scene a bit better now - to see his mentor wrestling a stegosaurus tail. To see him counter that with his chain weight, bashing it against Buck. To see... Buck giving him a small nod.

He nods back briefly in reply, seemingly unfazed at the momentary cessation of combat.

When he looks back towards the direction of Max's flight, though, there's a slot machine sailing his way.
That looks like it could hurt.
He sidesteps sharply...
It's too large to get -completely- out of the way of...
So he aims to ram it with his shoulder and an outstretched palm.
The falling machine rotates just so.

It's enough to deter the flying hazard so that it slams into the floor with a loud, hollow resonance all throughout the casino hall. It would normally be full of coins -- but of course, the casino hasn't been restocked lately.

Ishida lets out a breath as he doubles back from the machine, steadying his feet. Qigong training or no, his shoulder will undoubtedly be turning an interesting shade of purple from that at some point.

But the battle with Max must continue first. And with her -all the way- over there...

Ishida smiles. With a small running start, he throws himself at the machine -- practically a large, nigh-immovable fixture at this point.

He leaps into the air. His shoes hit the broad side of the machine. And he leaps off of it, hurtling himself towards Max!

She may have lobbed the weight at him to discourage following. But he seeks to close the distance, leaping into a flying kick! If it hits, it'd be sure enough to knock her off her feet -- but Ishida would continue thundering forward with his momentum, hitting the ground running and bringing his foot over into an overhead axe kick to follow up!

[KENZO]
Kenzo doesn't verbally respond to the comment about studying up on moves. And as someone who lives and breathes on film study, he agrees, partially. There's something to be said for having done a move so many times that it's absolutely the best it can be and the knowledge of the moves are so intimate that you can use them in a variety of situations with a few of them being able to be used interchangeably in some situations. That is the level of refinement he strives for in his art.

When Buck hangs back to observe him, it's somewhat troubling even if it doesn't give him the level of concern that seeing Max direct her hunter's gaze toward Ishida. Oddly enough, by not attacking him, Buck has taken away options he would have preferred to use for his current situation.

If Buck won't come to him, he will come to Buck. Kenzo's form disappears and reappears right next to the shapeshifter. Just as quickly as Kenzo covered the distance between them, the ninja slashes the torso.

COMBATSYS: Buck blocks Kenzo's Flicker Edge.

[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////                ]
Buck             2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\=======\1            Kenzo
[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Max              1/------=/=======|=====--\-------\0           Ishida

[BUCK]
Fancy tricks and special moves are all well and good, and Buck's particular brand of flash is quite the showy one. People are always asking him about his powers, where they come from and what the extent of them is. But sometimes, they're just not needed.

Before he even gained his bag of tricks, back when he first dreamed of becoming a professional fighter, all he has was the simple brawling tactics he drilled into himself time and again against the ratty old punching bag hanging in his family's barn. Usually while Beau tried to lasso him with rope for a little extra added pressure. Beau is good with rope.

And for the moment he lets himself drift back there. So when Kenzo vanishes and reappears next to him, one of Buck's ears twitches slightly.

He can't be completely without his abilities and keeping his senses honed all the time is something he's been practicing since the last NFG was in full swing.

He sees Beau's rope coming for him and steps into Kenzo's strike, blocking the blade with the downward shift of one arm. The other comes up, and he quickly lashes out with an elbow strike aimed for the punching bag, or outside of his memory, Kenzo's midsection.

COMBATSYS: Max blocks Ishida's Under Pressure.

[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////                ]
Buck             2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\=======\1            Kenzo
[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Max              1/-----==/=======|======-\-------\0           Ishida

[MAX]
Once again the stalwart human shows that his resilience is quite different from the humans that Max has encountered in the past. While she knew that some people exhibited qualities a cut above their kind thanks to her rabid consumption of entertainment media, it's quite different to see the vast gulf between a common worker and a trained warrior in person. Many of her tactics rely on overwhelming her opponent with speed or force, striking from a position of advantage or ambush, using tactics that most humans can't conceive of due to their limited physical capabilities. Thus far Ishida has proven annoyingly capable of circumventing every one of her maneuvers - even the attempt that failed did so only due to a small miscalculation on his part.

Which means it's time for the fancy tactics to get set aside and for the Gear to fall back on raw ferocity.

The heel of Ishida's foot makes contact with its target, striking the meaty bulwark of a pair of roided out fuzzy forearms. Max leans into the strike, leveraging her strength and weight to counter the speed and momentum of the flying kick. While noticeably smaller than the human, she once again demonstrates that size isn't necessarily an indicator of power as the martial artist is stopped dead in the air before being thrown back, spoiling any opportunity for a follow through.

Baring her fangs again, the feline bio-weapon hurls herself after Ishida. There isn't any build-up or misdirection employed this time - she simply pounces, bounding after him before his feet have even managed to hit the ground. The tiny girl's flying lunge sends her colliding with the monk in mid-air, muscle-laden arms and hooked claws attempting to latch on and find purchase wherever they can.

For the first time, Max disregards the policy of minimal injury as she wrestles with her prey. Primal strength and inhuman flexibility both come to bear as she drags him to the ground, attempting to pin him to the floor while maneuvering onto his back, clambering around on his body like someone spiked a kitten's catnip with meth. Should she manage to find or create an opening, her long fangs snap down on the unprotected flesh of his neck, seeking to open up a channel to the precious vital fluids flowing within.

While no one has bothered to delve into the capacity for the Gear to sustain herself off just about anything, when she said anything she really did mean anything. And while palm trees might not have a great deal of vital force contained within their tough fibrous leaves, the human body is replete with such energies - particularly in the blood.

COMBATSYS: Max successfully hits Ishida with Snack Time.

[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////                ]
Buck             2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\=======\1            Kenzo
[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////                 ]
Max              0/-------/-----==|=======\==-----\1           Ishida

[ISHIDA]
While there is a great deal of footage built up on the other competitors, Ishida did not get a whole lot of opportunity to see Max's 'policy of minimal injury' in action. Dr Maeda did a good job -- perhaps too good -- of reminding the Mermaid passengers of just how -lethal- the Gear can be. Ishida never really forgot that, despite the number of affordances Max has made to fit in with human society.

So, as he bounces back from his rebuffed kick, he raises his arms in defense -- treating her as if she is carrying deadly weapons. He meets her bared fangs with his usual poker face: a faint smile and unconcerned eyebrows.

That look changes to one of consternation as she reverses momentum on him before he can hit the ground. He makes no attempt to defend himself -- knowing full on that the best way to grab hold of Max is to do so before she can get away from him. Unfortunately, while he's able to lay hands on her shoulders, his grip falters due to the sheer speed of her motions -- and he finds himself slammed into the floor.

He grits his teeth as Max's fangs draw blood. He pushes against the floor -- but there isn't much he can do in the time she allows him, trapped as he is. He can feel her practically sipping his energy away though -- and he knows that if he doesn't stop her now, he won't have the capacity to fight.

So he relaxes a moment, easing into the floor.

And then, with practically every muscle group in his body contributing, he howls with a mighty kiai as he presses himself back from the floor to catapult Max off of him!

And as he breaks free, he whirls around to face her, looking noticeably more pale in the face. He plants his heels firmly on the ground as he raises his hands into a defensive stance.

He draws in a long, slow breath. The outburst setting his nerves aflame fades. Grey eyes focus upon the fuschia dynamo, his lips pressing into a firm line. He may not know -how- yet. But he intends to catch hold of her with his next strike, whatever shape that takes.

COMBATSYS: Ishida focuses on his next action.

[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////                ]
Buck             2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\=======\1            Kenzo
[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////                 ]
Max              0/-------/-----==|=======\==-----\1           Ishida

COMBATSYS: Kenzo blocks Buck's Medium Punch.

[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////                  ]
Buck             2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\=======\1            Kenzo
[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////                 ]
Max              0/-------/-----==|=======\==-----\1           Ishida

[KENZO]
Kenzo drops the chain part of the kusari-gama to free his hand long enough to deflect the incoming elbow. Just as well since he won't need the weighted chain portion for how he chooses to retaliate.

Kenzo stays close since retreat isn't an option for the time being.

Buck might recognize this attack from their first encounter however there are a few differences. Kenzo isn't as fatigued or injured as when he attempted it before. Another is that he is attacking with more aggression than he did before. His sickle and arm becomes a blur of electrified motion and viciousness as he delivers several slashes to the torso, arms, and legs.

COMBATSYS: Buck interrupts Shredding Spark Frenzy from Kenzo with #Ultimate Hydration ES#.

[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >                                ]
Buck             0/-------/-------|=======\=------\1            Kenzo
[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////                 ]
Max              0/-------/-----==|=======\==-----\1           Ishida

[BUCK]
Buck's face is still minus its usual mid-fight glee. Not that he's not enjoying himself, but he's concentrating, focusing on the opponent in front of him as he tries to tune out the back and forth of the two mentees. Kenzo is his worry at the moment, and he'd never admit it out loud, but he recognizes the ninja as one of his main threats in the competition. The speed is usually too much for him to handle. And so in a repeat of their first match, he puts himself in harms way to deliver a powerful blow.

He reaches out with one hand, fingers curled in as he moves to clamp down on Kenzo's arm. He takes a slice along his arm for his effort, gritting his teeth as the electricity shoots up his limb and wracks his core, but his hand is already shifting. Fingers becoming venom dripping fangs, slitted eyes opening along the back of the hand, the entire limb turning into a snake-like neck and head that bites down on the ninja, injecting toxins.

A few more of the serpentine heads burst out from around his back and shoulders, all streaking out towards the ninja with a flurry of hisses, each mouth biting and snapping again and again in a flurry of serpentine strikes.

[MAX]
The coppery tang of blood on her tongue is an all-too-familiar sensation for the Gear. While Dr. Maeda has certainly never struggled to provide enough sustenance to maintain the bio-weapon's advanced metabolic needs, she was ultimately designed to be a killer, and the instinctive call of her feral blood to hunt down prey and sink her fangs into their flesh is not so easy to ignore.

Of course, she's never scratched that itch on anything sentient! The woodlands where she spent most of her life was replete with all manner of living things, providing both sport and snacks. Her mother had commented on the lack of squirrels raiding her bird feeders a few short months after escaping the condemned UN facilities with Max in tow; and the lack of birds.

This is, in fact, the girl's first time to taste human flesh. Her mother had warned her away from such overtly inhuman behavior lest it give the wrong impression. But after meeting several of the other contestants, many of whom were not human themselves, Max has started to question the wisdom of holding back. The response to the doctor's attempt to warn the fighters of the danger she posed was met with hostility - not because of Max's nature but the implied insult that some scientific abomination might pose any greater danger than any one of them. A particularly egotistical way to view things but it did make it fairly clear that most if not all of the contestants had little qualms about things getting a bit weird.

And so, Max tests the waters - or the blood, as the case may be. Ishida's response to being gnawed like a squeak toy proves much the same as when she had scratched him up before: stoic, disciplined, and without any commentary on her inhuman nature. In retrospect, she supposes it's not that surprising. After all, her own mentor was not a few dozen feet away practically shifting through forms like an indecisive gamer trying to pick what fantasy race to play in the latest RPG. Something to keep in mind for later, since the magical locks currently restricting her transformation mostly limited the range of her alterations.

The wild surge of effort proves enough to shake the tenacious little demon free of her hold. Sensing his building tension, Max withdraws her fangs from the monk's neck moments before he bucks her off, not wanting to tear the delicate flesh and turn a minor puncture wound into something life-threatening. The Gear rides the motion and lands on her feet not far away, quickly scampering another dozen paces backwards to create a gap between them. It's a lot easier to react to an opponent when you have time to do so, after all.

As it turns out, Ishida seems to be of the same mind. No doubt her speed and tendency to come at him sideways has put the man on edge. Fine by her. Despite her laid back attitude, this confrontation has pushed the little stalker to her limits. She was designed for hit and run strikes, not prolonged martial contests. While she has managed to stay neck and neck with the well-trained pugilist thus far it has not been without cost.

Not that anyone would notice from looking; there are no obvious signs of exertion to be found. No sweat pouring down her face, no heaving breathes to indicate exhaustion. Even the powerful smash to her forehead has left naught but a light bit of discoloration across her lilac skin where any human would no doubt be sporting the makings of a nasty bruise. But, beneath the surface, her magical reserves are starting to strain.

As she seems to enjoy doing, Max once more plops down in a lazy crouch on her haunches. Her lips quirk into a wry grin, faint traces of Ishida's blood still smeared messily across them. A tongue flicks out, long and purple, wiping away the last traces of the deed with deliberate emphasis. She saw that on a vampire movie and thought it looked pretty cool and intimidating, even if the only real vampire she's met was a complete jerk.

The tension is left to simmer between them as Max opts not to launch herself into an immediate strike. One of her fuzzy paws is lifted to the girl's face, the abnormally long tongue flicking out to coat its exterior with a sticky layer of slimy saliva. The wetted surface of her paw is brushed over the Gear's face and through her hair as she casually grooms herself in the middle of a ferocious battle. Though one eye always remains at least halfway open to keep track of what her opponent is doing, she manages to make it look like an afterthought, glancing surreptitiously at him through splayed claws or around her fuzzy paw as it passes over her face in rhythmic motions.

A taunt? Or just a cat being a cat?

[ISHIDA]
The NFG fan community seems to be in some contention on what makes Ishida special, really. He's not undergone ninjutsu training like his master. And he's not able to manipulate his size or shape like Buck or Max. He's just... human. A very sturdy human who, at times, might be confused for a robot with how little he shares of his actual emotional state.

He's not worried about it though, himself. He's done the work to hone his body into something skin to living steel. And maybe at the end of this journey, he'll be able to travel to China and perhaps even study at a Shaolin monastery. But for now -- his objective is clear: to close the gap to Max, and finish taking her down. He isn't the least bit concerned that she's opted to sit down and clean herself -- she's employed trickery for most of the fight and he has no illusions that she will continue to do so until the very last.

It takes some effort to put the sights and sounds of a hydra sinking its many pairs of venomous fangs into his mentor. But that's one of the neat things about running really fast -- everything else just becomes a blur in the periphery.

Ishida rushes forward at breakneck speed, lashing out with a forearm smash, hoping that some massive impacts can bring an end to Max's high-speed zoomies. If he connects, he'll pitch forward to deliver another one of those powerful headbutts she seems to have brushed off so far. He'd then try to shift his momentum into a whirl, bringing his left foot almost vertical before dropping it down like a guillotine on top of Max!

[KENZO]
Kenzo after having fought Buck before, has a sense of what his strategy is going to be if not necessarily /how/ he's going to do it. He knew from the moment that he took the first slash that Buck was going to attempt to punish it with something nasty. Kenzo had hoped to prevent it with positioning. Just because Kenzo knows what is coming doesn't mean he can do a thing about it.

Positioning can only do so much when multiple serpentine heads are suddenly everywhere, snapping at him with fangs dripping with venom. Each bite seems to drain what little of his ability to fight is left and he collapses. Words of encouragement and advice will be of limited utility. Making it hard for Buck to fight Ishida would probably yield better results.

"You'll have to carry on without me."

With his last words said, Kenzo sends a spark of electricity at an object near Buck's feet. Is that an improvised smoke bomb? It is. The area near Buck and Kenzo becomes obscured by smoke. If things go as planned, each of the serpent heads will find the chain wrapped around each of their necks strangling them as he runs current through the chain.

Regardless of the outcome, when the smoke clears, Kenzo is in the spectator seats, conveniently out of the view of the ringside cameras.

COMBATSYS: Kenzo can no longer fight.

[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////                 ]
Buck             0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0           Ishida
[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Max              0/-------/-----==|

COMBATSYS: Buck blocks Kenzo's Shocking Ambush ES.

[                    \\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////                 ]
Buck             0/-------/-----<<|==-----\-------\0           Ishida
[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Max              0/-------/-----==|

[BUCK]
Buck looks down at the tossed bomb with a frown. Those things hurt, he's had enough experience with them. Quickly he snaps the serpent heads all around him, binding himself up in a mass of snake coils. While the hydra heads are part of him, and damage they take hurts him, it still keeps the worst of it from his body. The electrical jolts mostly crisping up the elongated necks rather than Buck's core.

The hydra heads slip back into him, spiraling about and sinking back into his shoulders as he lets out a deep sigh, shaking his body to try to work out the residual tingling of Kenzo's electric shocks. Weary as he is from taking down the techninja, he turns his attention on Ishida. He almost feels bad for the guy, though he also knows anything is still possible and to not take the second round NFGer for granted.

Turning on his heel he sprints into the fight between the two mentees, now free to aid Max.

His legs bulge with muscle, straining against his jeans as he shifts things about to give himself some extra height in the jump that follows, twisting about to come at Ishida boot first while he's hopefully still distracted by Max.

COMBATSYS: Max successfully aids herself with Emergency Grooming.

[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////                 ]
Buck             0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0           Ishida
[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Max              0/-------/-----==|

COMBATSYS: Ishida successfully hits Max with Fissure King.

[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////                 ]
Buck             0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0           Ishida
[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  <
Max              0/-------/=======|

[MAX]
Sometimes the greatest trick a mischief-maker can pull is not to do anything at all.

From all appearances, the small Gear is completely off-guard, focused on tidying herself up rather than worrying about what the opponent's facing in this martial contest might have planned. The furtive glances that she shoots his way are obvious, despite her relaxed pose, suggesting that she must be waiting for him to attempt another attack so that she can spring some sort of clever trap.

In truth, the trap has already been sprung, though no one can see it. The caution that she had instilled in Ishida is itself the end result of a subtle game of psychological warfare. When one proves unpredictable, people start to assume that nothing is what it seems. They second guess, hesitating when decisive action would have produced more concrete results.

Which, to be fair, is still partially true. Though she might share a great deal of her DNA with cats, Max isn't so controlled by her base instincts that she would casually disregard her own safety for the sake of a sudden urge to preen. With every rub of her fuzzy paw, more of the strangely viscous saliva is smeared across her face and hair. Without any magical senses to aid him, the true nature of the alchemical concoction she spreads over her skin will go unnoticed even as its restorative energies undo much of the harm that she has suffered.

Her vitality thus bolstered by her emergency reserves, the Gear turns to face the rapid onslaught of Ishida's retaliation. Contrary to her laid-back stance, she proves remarkably quick at responding to the monk's focused efforts. One of the massive mitts swings out, catching the crushing strike of his own forearm against her reinforced flesh. The successful defense is rendered moot, however, when his head whips forward like a battering ram faster than she is able to anticipate.

Recoiling from the titanic blow in another momentary daze, Max only barely has enough time to tilt herself to the side just far enough to avoid being smited square on the skull by the deadly axe kick. Instead, Ishida's foot drops thunderously onto the joint between neck and shoulder with an audible crack as something beneath the skin fractures from the impact. The blow drives the Gear to her knees, though not all the way to the floor, her massive arms proving too sturdy to fold outright.

Though it would seem as if she has been bested in this exchange, ultimately, it was all part of the plan. While she would have been happier being able to deflect his deadly strike, the truth is all Max needed to do was buy time. The fight between Kenzo and her mentor had ended in their favor. Barring some sort of incredible display from the human, it seems as if the outcome has been decided.

But, having been warned of falling into the pit of hubris by her subliminal conditioning, Max isn't planning to just sit back and hope things work out that way. Ishida has put all of his attention on her, his limited human senses needing to narrow their focus in order to keep up with her monstrous reflexes - which means he probably hasn't noticed the new threat approaching him from behind yet.

The tiny bio-weapon lunges after only a moment's pause, attempting to keep the iron warrior's attention focused on her. Though one arm hangs limp and useless at her side, she needs only one to accomplish her mission. Always watching, always analyzing, she has been keeping track of the way that Ishida fights. Having shown no great capacity for evasion, relying instead on his hardened body to absorb blows, it is a simple matter to create a situation where he must react in the way she expects.

The still functional arm draws back, winding up for an obvious but powerful strike. Max bares her teeth at the monk, grinning ferociously, daring him to try and withstand the raw power contained in her muscle-laden claw, even as the more experienced shape-shifter closes in from behind. The fist whips out, swiping wild and hard in a sideways strike across the man's waist, forcing him to decide which of the two threats is the more pressing - assuming he's even aware of the dual-pronged danger.

COMBATSYS: Ishida dodges Buck's Diving Kick.

[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////                 ]
Buck             0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0           Ishida
[                    \\\\\\\\\\  <
Max              0/-------/-======|

COMBATSYS: Max successfully hits Ishida with Wrecking Claw.

[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////                     ]
Buck             0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0           Ishida
[                    \\\\\\\\\\  <
Max              1/-------/=======|

[ISHIDA]
The words float to his ear -- distant, and easy to miss, but standing out from the din of the mostly-abandoned casino:
'You'll have to carry on without me.'

Kenzo is out of sight, but far from out of mind as he carries out his own battle with Max. He grimaces as his kick slams between Max's shoulders -- though, considering the bone crunching he'd heard when she'd grown her gorilla-like arms, he's come to understand that might be less of a problem for Max.

"Ee, wakatta..." he states calmly; a short statement to signal to Kenzo that he'd heard, and nothing more. Shortly afterwards, he can hear the bombs go off in his periphery; a sign that perhaps his master has gone out with a blaze of glory. And, as the scholar of qigong that he is, he's able to sense his mentor's qi shifting to a new location. It's this key fact that he brings to the forefront as Max starts to show signs of retaliation.

It seems that time has run out. He might have been able to withstand fighting with Max a little longer -- but knowing that Kenzo has departed the immediate vicinity, he prepares himself to act on things he wasn't able to observe directly. But, having heard the bombs, he can run the math, weighing a potential collision with Buck against the clearly telegraphed option presented by Max. And, as he hears no footfalls of increasing volume heading his way, he assumes Buck is airborne -- and having a bit harder time to adjust his trajectory.

So he dives into a tumble off to Max's side, narrowly missing Buck as the Oklahoman thunders past! This, of course, keeps him close to his crouching opponent. He -thinks- he can be limber enough to swing his torso out of her way as he rises -- but the claws puncturing the flesh of his abdomen state otherwise.

His breath hisses through clenched teeth as he staggers backwards, his knuckles white from his attempt to keep from crying out with the pain. "Gghhhh..." Somehow, he manages to hold it together, even as his blood wicks into the fabric of his jacket.

But now -- with both Max and Buck within striking range, the one standing member of Shock and Roll decides to take a big chance: attacking both fighters at the same time.

His shoes scrape on the floor as he lunges sharply forward, thrusting his elbow back at Max.

"Hnnnn...!"

He'd then seek to barrel forward into a rolling sobat kick, bringing his foot scything around in such a fashion as he could -potentially- hit both of the fighters at the same time! He'd plan to capitalize on his momentum in such a way that he'd be able to channel his momentum into a dramatic aerial attack to finish the sequence off: a flying elbow for Buck, and a spinning heel kick for Max!

COMBATSYS: Buck fails to interrupt Rolling Stone from Ishida with Spin Doctor.

[                       \\\\\\\  < >  ////////                      ]
Buck             0/-------/----===|-------\-------\0           Ishida
[                    \\\\\\\\\\  <
Max              1/-------/=======|

[BUCK]
Buck lands in a roll, coming up in a crouch and turning to face Ishida. His eyes flick towards Max, but he doesn't verbalize any instruction to her or attempt to coordinate with words. Anything spoken at this point could just be used against him.

He's still faltering from his fight with Kenzo and the electric shocks, and although his wounds are quite visibly closing they are still beginning to add up. Even a leaking bucket will be filled if enough water is poured in.

But if he can get Ishida to focus on him, or maybe even hold him still for a moment, It'd give Max the opportunity to get her own blows in. So as the qigong fighter launches into the combo attack towards both of them he readies himself.

He waits for Ishida to direct his attack at him, and lashes out with his hand, folded into a spear strike that he aims to Ishida's mid section as he moves into the other fighter's assault.

No good.

Be it poor aim, his legs still being wobbly and tingling, or just a clever move by Ishida, the strike goes past the young fighter, a glob of sticky webbing that had been meant to bind him up instead flying from Buck's hand and off into the distance.

There's a slight crunch as he takes the elbow to his face for his troubles and he stumbles back a step. "Wooeee.. you hit hard, don't you? I actually felt that one." Buck murmurs with a bit of a nasal tone before reaching up to rather unceremoniously pop his nose back into place with another crack so it can start mending.

COMBATSYS: Max endures Ishida's Rolling Stone.

[                       \\\\\\\  < >  ////////                      ]
Buck             0/-------/----===|-------\-------\0           Ishida
[                         \\\\\  <
Max              1/----===/=======|

[MAX]
Ishida is correct in his assumption that the breaking of a bone or two is but a minor inconvenience for the tiny bio-weapon. Her body regularly rearranges its anatomy and is more than capable of mending a few fractures - eventually. And there-in lies the rub.

On-the-spot healing of that nature takes an incredible amount of energy. Energy that she simply doesn't have to spare at this point. Were he a target that she had been tasked with destroying, she would have long since done her damage and retreated, leaving the much more vulnerable human to nurse injuries that could last days if not months while she found some quiet resting place to mend herself in a fraction of that time only to return at full strength and finish off the wounded prey.

But, wounded or not, Max still has the advantage of being able to ignore her injuries; what she can't ignore is her steadily dwindling magical reserves. As the surge of emergency power drains away, the girl sags with the first visible signs of fatigue. Her wild swing almost sends her toppling over to the floor and, in retrospect, that might have been a more desirable outcome. However, she had been banking on Buck being able to capitalize on the opening she gave him and wanted to be ready to seal the deal if necessary. As it turns out her mentor is suffering from his own exhaustion and both of them end up on the receiving end of a last-ditch surge of effort.

Though tired, Max's senses remain sharp. It becomes clear to her in the few moments she has to analyze the situation that getting out of the way isn't feasible in her current condition. Instead of allocating some of her remaining energy on a wing and a prayer, the Gear focuses on turning a bad situation into a potential advantage.

A quick shift of her posture alters the impact site of the first strike, the elbow thrusting into her already wounded shoulder instead of smashing into her face. A human would likely have found repeated trauma of this sort to be crippling due to the pain but, devoid of that consideration, it allows the bio-weapon to contain the damage to a local area.

The wide swing of the sobat kick clips the same shoulder as Max staggers to her feet, using the impact to steadily hoist herself up into a standing position. Again the impact hammers into tenderized flesh and again the deadly Gear shows no signs of being affected, her eyes wide and focused.

When the final strike comes her way, the small girl puts her diminutive size to work in her favor and lowers into a slight crouch so that the monk's heel goes high, catching it in the crook of her neck on the wounded side. With a sudden surge of fresh effort, the girl lunges forward, her powerful claw clamping down around Ishida's captured leg. The shift in position allows her to potentially break his footing and as she pivots to the side her entire body whirls in a massive spin. While it's a bit awkward to hold on with only one functional hand, her strength is more than enough to hoist the human off the ground and send him flying like a discarded sack of potatoes - assuming he doesn't do something to untangle himself from this situation.

COMBATSYS: Ishida blocks Max's Fling.

[                       \\\\\\\  < >  ///////                       ]
Buck             0/-------/----===|=------\-------\0           Ishida
[                         \\\\\  <
Max              1/----===/=======|

[ISHIDA]
Ishida had watched Buck's fights with Kenzo, but his knowledge of the Oklahoman's fight playbook is not very complete. Managing to knock his hand away at just the right moment was just a lucky occurrence -- and one for which Ishida breathes a quick sigh of relief.

It is a bit -more- of a surprise to find that Max is not only leaning into his blow, but seeking to use it as a way to gain purchase upon him. He grimaces as the pint-sized Gear is able to latch onto him and whip him around. Normally, someone of her size might have an issue swinging around someone of his mass. If he actually -were- a sack of potatoes, it might not be so bad. As it is though, he has arms and legs, and he swings them about in an attempt to slow Max's movements.

It's not enough, of course: Max -is- able to hurl him towards the slot machine she'd thrown down earlier. And though he's able to steer himself so that the inevitable collision with the slot machine ends up hitting him on the broad side of his back, rather than somewhere more painful, there is a collision nonetheless!

Ishida doubles forward, catching himself on his hands and toes before he can make a considerably less graceful landing. He draws in breath through clenched teeth, rising back to his full height with lightly-clasped fists raised before him.

"So I am told, Finley-san... Thank you." A delayed response; he'd been a little busy at the moment.

He turns his attention to Max. Of the two targets, he sees... some merit in finishing the fight with her first. She might not be -as- weary as Buck, but the qigong fighter knows that she might have something sneaky up her sleeves still. Leaving Buck unattended -might- prove a costly decision -- but he doesn't have the luxury of spending more time to consider alternatives.

"I will do what I can, Kuroiwa-senpai..."

He explodes forward in another burst of speed, closing the distance to Max as best he can. Aware that she might try something, he hopes to pre-empt her with a rapid punch from his left fist, then surge forward to deliver a followup strike with his right. He'd then continue sidewinding forward Max, snapping a powerful forearm strike into her, slamming both heels down as he ends in a horse stance, bristling with intensity.

"Hnnnn!"

[BUCK]
Buck begins a slow circling walk around Ishida as he examines the fight with a small smile on his face. He's also trying to put himself right on the other side of Ishida from Max. He runs his tongue along his teeth for a moment, prodding his canine almost seeming to check if its loose.

Now it's all about trying to get in the last strike. The way things are Ishida has a chance, and it's not something Buck likes to think about. He may still be moving normally, especially now that the electric jolts from Kenzo seem to be wearing off, but his energy is low. Shapeshifting takes a lot out of him, more than he usually lets on.

As Ishida charges, so does he, likely hoping to pincher the qigong fighter between two shapeshifters, and if anyone has seen a three car pile up, it's pretty typical that it's the middle car that takes the most abuse.

Head lowered, a pair of horns bursts from either side of the Okalahoman's skull, which thickens considerably as it takes on a more bovine countenance. And then Minobuck simply tries to battering ram his way right into Ishida's backside.

COMBATSYS: Max dodges Ishida's Clean Slate.

[                        \\\\\\  < >  //////                        ]
Buck             0/-------/----===|-------\-------\0           Ishida
[                         \\\\\  <
Max              1/----===/=======|

[MAX]
Unfortunately for Ishida and Buck, Max has no intention of being used as the backstop in this traffic jam. While her energy is at an all-time low, preventing the sort of wild shenanigans she was pulling at the start of the fight, that doesn't stop her from using her senses and her brain. It's clear that Ishida is looking to even the odds and, considering she's visibly wounded and likely to be more vulnerable, the Gear makes the obvious choice of targets. She's also a wild card in this match up, with little to nothing known about the limits of her capabilities. Ensuring that she won't be a problem should he turn his back to deal with the other shapeshifter makes sense; it's what she would do.

Her reasoning proves sound as the monk rebounds from her throw and comes bounding right on back. However, despite her injuries, the Gear doesn't sit idle and wait for him to close the gap. Armed with suspicions of his intent, the girl is already moving by the time Ishida starts to run her way. But it isn't away from danger that the crazy little cat hurls herself - but towards it.

Assuming that a sudden dash in his direction will catch the martial artist off-guard, Max darts forward, invading his personal space much sooner than he had anticipated. Forced to throw his strikes early, Ishida's rapid advance proves to be to his detriment as the slippery cat weaves back and forth beneath each swinging fist, scampering around his feet in a chaotic scramble of motion that leaves the human struggling to keep up.

Only when the final forceful strike is thrust in her direction, snapping past her head close enough to tickle the fuzz on her ears, does the Gear shift focus. The wild unpredictable hops and bounces suddenly turn into a ferocious pounce that once again sends the bulked-up monster flying directly at Ishida.

With the imminent threat of Buck's collision only a few moments away, Max does her best to both assist her mentor and get the hell out of the way at the same time. She tackles the monk, once again attempting to wrestle him to the floor with superior strength. But rather than try to pin him down for another taste, the girl turns her momentum into a weapon. Ishida would hit the ground first and then find himself rapidly switching places as his assailant tucks in and rolls forward. Planting her feet square in the monk's stomach and with one arm on his shoulder as a guide, she kicks upward with all her strength, attempting to launch the iron-skinned fighter straight into the path of the oncoming train that is her mentor!

COMBATSYS: Buck successfully hits Ishida with Bullheaded.

[                        \\\\\\  < >  /                             ]
Buck             0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0           Ishida
[                          \\\\  <
Max              1/----===/=======|

COMBATSYS: Ishida fails to interrupt Cat-a-pult from Max with The Hard Place.

[                        \\\\\\  <
Buck             0/-------/---====|
[                          \\\\  <
Max              1/--=====/=======|

COMBATSYS: Ishida can no longer fight.

[                        \\\\\\  <
Buck             0/-------/---====|
[                          \\\\  <
Max              1/--=====/=======|

[ISHIDA]
Ishida does have a chance -- a very, very small one -- of coming out of this exchange the better. Stranger things have happened.

That chance gets smaller once his strikes fail to land upon Max, though. As she expected, lunging at him forces to strike early -- but his rigid style makes it difficult to adjust to her new positioning on-the-fly, and none of his strikes land. His momentum is such that it carries himself forward, forcing him to pivot to the side to keep from careening over -- a moment in which Max's quick movements are able to capitalize upon.

Ishida grimaces as he hears the stomping -- are those -hooves- or is he just imagining that? -- approaching his left. But with Max as his focus, he stays wary, hoping to make use of her inevitable approach as she swoops in. He makes a last-ditch grab to try and snag her -- but, already dizzied from the quick pivot, he finds himself overwhelmed by her speed and flung onto his back!

Ishida starts to rise -- but Max's doubled feet lodge a protest in his abdomen, catapulting him backwards into an oncoming train named Buck Finley!

Ishida groans from the multitude of attacks -- but with a pair of horns slamming into him from behind, and then knocking him face-down onto the floor, he's unable to muster the will to stand. Fingers wiggle -- showing that, at least at -that- point -- he's still conscious. A moment later, his ribcage begins to heave with more signs of life.

A moment later, though... the aspiring monk may just be out cold.

[BUCK]
There's a bit of swaying back and forth as Buck tries to clear his head by shaking it. Not exactly sure if he rammed Ishida or one of the turnbuckles. There's a weird, gooey clay effect as his head reverts to normal as he shakes it.

Then he's looking up, glancing over to Max, then to Ishida. He watches the unconscious not-really-a-monk-but-I'm-going-to-call-him-that-anyway-monk for a long protracted few moments as if he's not exactly sure the guy is going to stay on the ground. He's learned that lesson with a few fighters, himself included. But as it seems it's over he lets out a big sigh and shoots Max a wide grin. They did it, and with both of them still standing, too.

"Good work, Max." He says, stretching his arms over his head. "As soon as we're back on the boat I owe you a whole platter of burgers. Or whatever you want to eat. Sushi? I dunno. I'm just freaking STARVING!" He hollars at the ceiling of the arena.

He scans the stands, looking for Kenzo who he shoots a thumbs up to, and then prays silently that the NFG keeps him fro having to face the electro-ninja again for a while.

He takes a few, albeit staggering, steps over to Max and holds out his balled fist for a team Wild Things fistbump.

COMBATSYS: Buck has left the fight here.

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

[KENZO]
Kenzo lowers his head as Ishida falls down for the last time. The electro-ninja is a mix of emotions. There's pride in his kouhai for doing so well in this fight. But on the other hand there's disappointment in himself.

He felt as though he failed Ishida on two different levels in the role of senpai. There was going down to Buck which in turn led to Ishida getting outnumbered. Then there was the focus on the survival aspect which while needed didn't leave them much time to train. He had almost nothing to do with the amazing performance that Ishida put on.

As it stands, an apology to Ishida is in order. Also on the to do list is to do the training that he had promised to do not just with his kouhai but with Coco and Roxana. Sure. With Shock and Roll out of the tournament the chances of dealing with Junko/Suzaku significantly decrease but there might be someone/something worse on the horizon.

"Why does it feel like he shows off new attacks every time he fights me?"

[MAX]
Even as she heaves the human overhead, Max is already rolling out of the way to avoid being trampled and Buck and his new hood ornament steam past a moment later. Rolling to a crouch, the Gear turns to watch the aftermath of her efforts and is rewarded with the sight of her tenacious foe finally coming to rest on the floor.

A sigh of relief escapes the girl and she finally sags onto her good arm, taking a much needed moment of repose. All of her fights during this contest have pushed her to the limits of her operational capacity but this was by far the most exhausting. A side-effect of being malnourished perhaps. While she -can- eat just about anything, palm leaves and the occasional fish haven't exactly left her in the best shape. But, as her mentor loudly reminds her, everyone is feeling the pinch and tightening up their belts.

"Burgers sound good to me," she says, her voice straining slightly as the girl pushes to her feet.

Now that she doesn't need to fight her body quickly begins to transform back into its lilac-hued human shape, mending the broken and fractured bones in her shoulder as it reconfigures. She rolls her arm around a few times to make sure everything is set right before padding her way over to Buck's side, returning his dap with a quick tap of her fist. Fortunately she's seen that little ritual in the movies and doesn't leave him hanging with her ignorance.

Max's gaze sweeps around the room to take stock of the aftermath. While she might be the only person who went outside the bounds of the arena to start throwing around furniture it would seem both of the two older fighters did their own bit of damage to the decor. Unsurprisingly, posh carpeting was not made to withstand bombs, fire breath, and claws. She supposes it's a good thing no one will be coming along to lodge complaints seeing as the owner is long since deceased.

From the corner of her eye, the girl catches Kenzo's remorseful introspection. While she isn't privy to the thoughts and regrets floating around in his mind, it doesn't take much to see that he was hoping for a better outcome. She can't turn back time, unfortunately, nor would the Gear throw the fight if given the option to do it all over again. But, there is something she can do.

Turning away from Buck, the girl wanders over to Ishida's fallen form and kneels down at his side. Gently, she wedges her hands underneath his shoulder and hips and rolls the man over onto his back. Her tiny fingers reach out and pry one of the monk's eyes open, leaning down to peer into his unconscious stare as if she were a doctor inspecting a patient. Whether he stirs at her prodding or remains comatose, the Gear grins and nods, satisfied by whatever she was looking for.

Then, without preamble, she extends her tongue and... licks him!

Like any cat, the surface of Max's tongue is a little rough and highly textured. Unlike most cats, the surface is coated with the same slimey goo that she used to groom herself earlier. As weird as it probably is to be on the receiving end of this treatment, the alchemical mixture proves just as potent on humans. Within moments the substance starts to sink into his skin, soothing the aches and pains no doubt plaguing the man after such a brutal contest. There isn't much of her healing reserves left, unfortunately, so it isn't enough to completely dispel his injuries - but it should prove enough of a balm for him to regain his wits and get back on his feet.

"Hey," the girl says, impatiently shaking Ishida as if he were a lazy child lingering overlong in bed on a sunny day. "Wake up, wake up!"

[ISHIDA]
Buck makes promises for burgers and/or sushi -- which just adds more insult to the collective injury of being unable to enjoy anything other than leaves and the rare bit of seafood. Kenzo laments the proliferation of innovative attacks from Buck, while silently resolving to do more with his protege.

And Max, well, she just goes up and licks the guy.

As he was only slightly unconscious, the first contact was enough to start rousing him from grogginess. The second... is a bit of a surprise, but he's still too out of it to really put two and two together on what just happened.

Until he realizes: it wasn't a cat that licked him.
It was someone who passes for a child.

Ishida is suddenly -wide- awake and clambering to his feet, instantly trying to get as far away from Max as he can, leaving a cloud of dust in his wake. It's... not entirely clear to him where he got the energy from, but he has it now, and he won't stop until he gets to the relative safety of the aisle of slot machines. And even -then-...

Well, he -might- be back later??

[MAX]
Wide-eyed, Max recoils as the newly roused human scrambles away as if his pants were on fire. Blinking owlishly, she watches Ishida race off into the casino and disappear among its rows of flashing machinery and golden glitter, clueless as to what spurred him into such a sudden rush.

Humans can be very strange sometimes.

Well, whatever! He'll make a faster and more thorough recovery thanks to her aid which should be enough of a consolation prize. Hopefully there's enough food to go around so that all the participants can nurse their wounds with full bellies. Perhaps she'll go out and catch some more fish with Tanwen later to make sure.

Pushing to her feet, the Gear waves a farewell to the others and scampers off towards the private rooms in the back of the casino. Her mother will no doubt start to worry if Max isn't around when she wakes. And this time she'll have good news to share!

Log created on 11:48:38 06/19/2024 by Ishida, and last modified on 14:52:14 07/04/2024.