Description: Ottawa's Rideau Centre is the stage for an interestingly close Christmas Eve battle between Frei and Nassir! (Winner: Nassir)
Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way. In Canada two guys get to meet to punch, kick, laugh, and play! Alright, it's hard to rhyme "way" there, shut up.
In any event. With a mere 1 shopping day until Christmas, Ottawa's Rideau Centre -- the city's premiere major shopping center -- is bustling with activity, busy Canadians rushing to and fro getting last minute gifts, wishing each other the best and saying hellos as they run into friends and family, all that good, warm Mastercard commercial stuff. Interestingly, it's not a bitingly cold, devastating Canadian snowstorm outside, but the Canal has frozen over. Thus the various balconies and patios overlooking the Rideau Canal are now thronged with people renting skates and heading out onto the ice, or having a seat and reviewing their purchases while their kiddies do the same.
Of course, one particular veranda overlooking the Arts Center across the canal, usually serving as an outdoor food court during the summer, has had the tables and chairs pushed to the side and a makeshit ring set up there. Throngs of people gather around, eating beaver tails and drinking hot chocolate from nearby vendors. Looks like in the spirit of the holiday season, the Masters Neo Fighting League is a'coming to town.
Standing in one corner of the ring is Frei, both hands holding a paper cup of hot cocoa from which he occasionally sips. Interestingly, he's dressed no more differently than normal, with the exception of adding a black and gold plaid muffler to the affair. A fly on the wall might hear him muttering. "Note to self: do not only pack sandals for mid-December trip to Canada in the future." Sip.
While it might not've been 'devastatingly' cold out, the very concept was a fuzzy one at best. For a young man who was used to making his way in scorchingly hot climates, it only needed to be a little chilly to make for a miserable patch of existence. So, then, one might not be entirely surprised to find Nassir with a noted lack of 'christmas cheer'.
Standing on the other side of the makeshift 'fighting ring', the reserve Shank Soldier exchanged military fatigues for a different kind of uniform--that of the Justice High School. A pair of bandoliers criss-cross over his chest, carrying all varieties of sharp instruments and small green orbs, while a belt around his waist carries a holster and other bits of equipment. It's a change, though not exactly a huge one.
"I am unfamiliar with you," Nassir states in a matter-of-factly manner, tenor voice somewhat flat and bearing his signature accent. "You are...new. Unexperienced, possibly. I am not certain if I should be insulted. Regardless, I will treat you no differently."
COMBATSYS: Nassir has started a fight here.
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Nassir 0/-------/-------|
Oh, hey, check that out The other guy's shown up! Draining the last of his hot cocoa, the monk -- now red in the face from sucking down a hot beverage at high speed -- breathes out, a billow of steam from his equally warm breath puffing into the chilly midday Canadian air. "Aaah! Awesome. If I can just keep that temperature for the next twenty minutes, I may make it out of this alive." He turns and hands the empty cup to a bewildered cameraman, who simply stares at it.
Bouncing on his heels a bit, Frei turns back around and acknowledges his opponent with a jaunty pseudo-salute, pushing his palm-down hand out from his forehead raggedly with a nice, Japanese sounding "Osu!". Then he relaxes, falling into a generic tai chi stance, sizing his opponent up. "Uh, yeah. I've never met you before either, that I know of." There's a pause while he takes in all the weaponry. "That's the fun of it, though, yeah?" Beat. "Did you, like, have a bad experience with a G. I. Joe doll as a kid and are projecting? Or what?"
COMBATSYS: Frei has joined the fight here.
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Frei 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Nassir
"Are you attempting to...rib me?"
It was an awkward turn of phrase for the arabian youth, a concession made for Frei's sake, at least as far as Nassir was concerned. A term he heard while investigating the other schools, Nassir tried his best to integrate common speech and mannerisms into his routine. Eventually, he would get better at it. For now, though?
"I don't appreciate it."
Running his hands carefully over the pair of bandoliers on his chest, Nassir's hands drop to his sides...watching Frei, perhaps, trying to read the meaning behind the stance...and getting nowhere. The opening move, it would appear, was Frei's for the taking. Still, inactivity didn't mean Nassir couldn't -do- anything, as counterintuitive as that may seem.
"What do you fight for?"
COMBATSYS: Nassir focuses on his next action.
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Frei 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Nassir
That little exchange causes Frei to raise an eyebrow. Okay. No sense of humor, check. "Um." Amazingly, the typically glib monk's words fail him at that point. How do you respond to that, anyway? 'Yes sir, I was mocking you but good'. "Well, I guess it was a roundabout way of asking why you're loaded for bear, provided that bear had commando training and was maybe locked up in a bunker with some militant separatists." Ah, there we go.
Unused to making the first move, Frei decides to play it cool and wait too, watching Nassir carefully. His fingers flex a little bit and he grins, taking a few sidesteps but not saying anything. No motion, but he's clearly enjoying himself already. "Um? For fun, mostly. I mean, there's a few other reasons but most people get cross-eyed when I go through them. So we'll stick with 'for fun'. How 'bout you?"
COMBATSYS: Frei focuses on his next action.
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Frei 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Nassir
"I fight because I have to."
That statement seems to neatly summarize everything Nassir wanted to say on the subject, at least at that juncture. While he could've gone into depth about his beliefs and politics, it was neither the time nor the place: Not with the rest of the world watching, at least.
Once the decision to cease talking is made, Nassir is a blur of motion--almost literally. Running headlong for Frei, Nassir's upper body hunches low and at an odd angle. Assuming Frei doesn't do something to interrupt him, Nassir curls into a ball and rolls past, uncoiling upside down and using his hands to push himself upright. An acrobatic display, though it looked to serve little other purpose than that.
Again, assuming Frei didn't do something to interrupt him, there's nothing else forthcoming from Nassir. However, the perceptive might notice the fact that one of those small green orbs are missing from his bandolier. The especially perceptive might even notice its' current location: By Frei's feet. Now, we're just left with the question: How perceptive was Frei? Would he notice before the resulting explosion? Would it matter?
COMBATSYS: Nassir successfully hits Frei with Scorch the Earth.
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Frei 0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0 Nassir
...grenade. Frei does, in fact, notice it. He notices it so much that he spends a little too much time THINKING about it, so when he notices that Nassir isn't actually there anymore, he actually has time to say "Huh. A grena--" right before it blows up and knocks him off his feet, sending him skidding across the patio a couple feet on his backside. "...like I said. Grenade. Ow."
Getting up, the monk rubs his hip a little and gives Nassir the Eye. On anyone else it would be an annoyed eye, but from Frei it merely looks like he's trying to puzzle something out. "Never got the deal with weapons," he muses aloud, before rushing in and trying to snag Nassir's arm with his left hand. "Isn't it more exciting using your own two hands?"
COMBATSYS: Nassir dodges Frei's Daichi Kudaki.
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Frei 0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0 Nassir
A noble attempt, no doubt, but ultimately fruitless. Frei's rush is met with a counter-rush of sorts: Nassir dropping low before thrusting himself high into the air, a jump designed to carry the soldier well overhead in a somersaulting motion. In what might've been a surprising twist, the jump leaves shadowy blue afterimages behind, frozen at various points in the air before the form grows hazy and begins to dissipate.
"Sometimes."
In an attempt to prove his point, Nassir's hands thrust downwards at the high point of his jump--an effort that would've easily missed the tai-chi expert by six or so inches...if it weren't for the pair of serrated combat knives which gave him that extra reach needed in times like these. The signature combat maneuver of the Shank Squad soldiers, as taught by El Gado himself. Wheather or not Frei could deal with it was yet to be seen, but then that was simply the way of things when high caliber fighters were involved.
COMBATSYS: Frei just-defends Nassir's Indoctrination!
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Frei 0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0 Nassir
If you only look at him on the surface, Frei kinda looks like a harmless, dippy guy in Chinese clothing. This is, in fact, such a practiced facade that it's almost halfway true. He barely turns around; just enough so that he can see the incoming angle of Nassir's attack. And in one smooth motion, like the flowing of water around a rock, his hands snap up, sparking with golden-red Yang chi as they slightly push the knives just out of the way.
"See, knives I can accept," he babbles on conversationally, finishing the rest of his turn to face Nassir as the young Shanker and his, uh, shanks hit the ground, his palms outstretched to ostensibly meet Nassir's tummy but stopping just short. Instead, the faint glow on his hands from before comes to a fever pitch, exploding in a shower of red-orange sparks right in Nassir's face. "But what do I know? I'm just a monk." Grin.
COMBATSYS: Nassir blocks Frei's Hizashi.
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Frei 0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0 Nassir
"..."
Alright, it's official. Frei is For Real(tm).
Nassir couldn't help but acknowledge a certain level of apprehensive appreciation, alliteration aside. Frei handled the signature Shank Squad maneuver with the kind of expertise he didn't see from most professional fighters, nevermind the kind of soldiers they tended to meet on the battlefield. It was almost cause for worry, if it weren't for his belief in himself and superior tactics.
Landing on his feet, Nassir's eyes widened as he's immeadiately greeted with more sparks than a fourth of July show, bringing his arms up to save his face from being burned directly. Bits of his uniform blacken beneath the assault, though Nassir himself manages to avoid the brunt of the damage.
Dropping down to a crouch oncemore, Nassir was quick to take himself out of the way--standing still just meant he'd end up dead, after all. Swinging his leg out, Nassir spun around so as to take Frei down with a quick sweep. With any luck, it'd be enough to put Frei on the ground and force him to adjust to an attack from different angles.
COMBATSYS: Frei fails to interrupt Heavy Kick from Nassir with Medium Throw.
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Frei 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 Nassir
And then, the pendulum swings right back to where it started. "Not the talkative type, I see," Frei observes, watching Nassir closely. The fact that the Shanker didn't bust out an energy field and blow that particular attack right back in his face is, as far as Frei's concerned, a perfectly acceptable outcome compared to the last three times he tried it. "Well, I suppose not everyone can be. Would you like me to pick up the slack?"
And then the sweep comes in. Grinning, the monk pushes his right foot back and ducks a bit. "Shall I sing a lieder? 'Oh Mickey you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind hey MickOW." The intent had been to snag Nassir's foot and then just chuck the guy right over his shoulder. The part where that actually worked appears to be the sticking point; bowled over, Frei skids across the ice again, coming to a stop with a dazed look on his face. "Two girls may not skate together. Two boys may not skate together," he babbles, shaking his head. "Gah."
Rather than immeadiately return to an aerial offensive, Nassir remained crouched down, allowing himself to stand on one knee while the monk went sliding away. "If you honestly believe that speaking will somehow assist you..." Nassir's voice drained away as his attention shifted, Hand wrapping around another of those green orbs of his. It was time to see to it that superior tactics won the day, even at the cost of innocent parties. Acceptable losses, as Rolento would say.
Flicking the pin free with his thumb, Nassir sent the orb rolling along the ground, ice catching it and slightly arcing out the projectile so that it ends up slightly off to the right--still within blast radius, easily, but not the direct hit Nassir was hoping for. Of course, even if he didn't hit, he would've blown a hole through the ice, creating a new hazard for Frei to deal with. God forbid he actual hit straight on--going for a dip now would be cold, even for a Canadian.
"...you're welcome to try."
COMBATSYS: Frei overcomes Large Thrown Object from Nassir with Hyoushou Rengeki EX.
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Frei 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 Nassir
Okay. Hurting innocents, not cool in Frei's book. Luckily, it doesn't become an issue. "Alright, enough with the sparklers," he mutters, though he is grinning. Instead of getting out of the way, he leaps to his feet in a kippup, hands already outstretched in front of him, blue-white chi forming a sphere at the end of his palms.
"Yadda yadda, pun about needing to chill here." Lobbing the ball underhanded like a softball, the monk chucks it in the path of the grenade, and just... swallowing it up, carrying it along. Halfway to Nassir, the sphere wobbles a bit as the grenade bursts inside, which causes Frei to frown. "Whatever works, I guess..." And then, there sphere finally wobbles its way to Nassir. "Burst!" Obligingly, the sphere is a grenade of a different stripe: a hail of ice shards -- somewhat reduced by sucking up the grenade blast -- look to pelt Nassir all over. Brr!
COMBATSYS: Nassir dodges Frei's Hyoushou Rengeki EX.
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Frei 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 Nassir
"A noble effort."
The voice is undeniably belonging to Nassir, though it doesn't come from the right direction at all--Far off, to the right of where he was mere moments ago. It was all part of the plan--while Frei busied himself saving the populace, Nassir was on the move--the frozen-chi burst ended up colliding with some of those chairs that were moved off, rather than Nassir himself. "Misguided, but noble."
His words delivered, Nassir rushed in for Frei, hands balled into loose fists save for his middle and index fingers. Those fingers were held out, rigid but at a slight angle. Sliding to a stop, Nassir attempted to jab one of his fingers in, angling it at his midsection just below the right set of ribs. The strike itself, should it happen to connect, does precious little--it doesn't carry the same kind of sting that a punch would--but moments later the actual damage done would become readily apparent.
With strikes such as these, masters could kill a man. Wheather you called it a poisoning of the chi, nerve striking, Snake-Fu or some other madness, they were undeniably lethal. Gen proves this with his very existence, as do others.
Nassir...was not Gen, not by a longshot. However, he could at least cause discomfiting now. Maybe later in his career, he could cause true death.
COMBATSYS: Frei blocks Nassir's Quick Throw.
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Frei 0/-------/-======|===----\-------\0 Nassir
Well, it sorta works. The only catch is that rather than impacting on the ribs, Nassir's finger poke touches right into the center of Frei's right palm, which he casually inserts between the incoming fingers and his ribcage. It doesn't look like it hurts too much, but the monk clearly miscalculated the amount of counterforce required for that, as he suddenly shakes his somewhat numb hand. "Owowowowow." Then, however, he grins at Nassir. "That was kinda neat. Not exactly the Five-Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique, but you know. Still pretty classy." And while he's got the young man in close, why not give a counter throw a shot? Reaching out with his left hand, Frei simply tries to get a good grip on Nassir's arm before he can retract it. From there, well... we'll see.
COMBATSYS: Nassir dodges Frei's Ame no Murakumo.
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Frei 0/-------/-======|===----\-------\0 Nassir
Ultimately, Nassir is considerably faster than he lets on--wheather it's tapping into adrenaline or discipline or something else, once the Justice Soldier realizes that Frei was trying to get ahold on him, Nassir's hand pulls back, little more than a blur of motion and school colors.
"Explo..."
No, this wasn't the time, nor the place. It wasn't something Nassir could outright ignore, either, however. Did this monk individual know more about styles of that nature than he first figured? What was this Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique? Certainly, he -had- to learn it!
Let us take this opportunity to weep for Nassir's lack of pop culture knowledge. Quentin Tarantino? Uma Thurman? Who?
"...hah!"
Nassir's followup is surprisingly simple--as one hand retracts, the other extends, looking to score a similar kind of strike on the other side of the ribs, this one a bit slower--depending perhaps on Frei not paying attention to the offhand, in order to score a stronger blow and put the monk further on the defensive.
COMBATSYS: Nassir successfully hits Frei with Strong Throw.
Glancing Blow
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Frei 1/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Nassir
Still no dice. Sort of. Not wanting another unhappy palm, Frei decides to make a half turn, intending to let Nassir just go right on past as a bullfighter might cape an incoming bull. Instead, he just puts his side rather than his ribcage right in the path of that attack, which instead makes his side all numb. There's a little surprised 'oof!' of pain before the monk turns around again, facing Nassir a second time and sizing him up while his side starts to de-numb. "Note to self: learn Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique," he mutters to himself. But still, he smiling... it's a little strained, but he's going with it.
"Alright. Time for my secret weapon!" the monk declares, suddenly striking a remarkably May Lee-esque stance and powerpose-pose-POSE finger pointing at Nassir. "You're pretty quick, I'll give you that. But can you match... THE SPEED OF NINJA?!" He's totally serious. And then, without warning, he does an upsidedown inverted backflip just like you'd see in a wire-fu movie, sweeping his hand in an arc as he descends and firing off a crescent of dark purple energy surrounded by silver sparks at Nassir. Let someone else be numb for a while. "Moon Tiara Action!"
COMBATSYS: Frei successfully hits Nassir with Tsukikage.
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Frei 1/------=/=======|=====--\-------\0 Nassir
Yeah, okay. Let's not bother lying here--Nassir had next to no idea what, precisely, just happened. He witnessed the...marvel which is May Lee, in person to some degree thanks to the strikes on and against Metro City. It didn't take him much time to determine that she was certifiably insane, the sort of insane that jumps out of a helicopter so that she can karate kick the rotor to another helicopter. The sort of insane that's so powerful, it gets away unscathed despite the best efforts of natural forces like gravity and mortal wounds.
Was Frei equally nuts? Moon Tiara Action? What? Ultimately, it's the ridiculous overdramatization which allows him to deliver the hit to begin with--time spent trying to ferret out what was actually happening should've been spent being proactive, prepared. He had noone to blame but himself for that.
Blasted in the chest by the explosion, Nassir went flying away, bowled over and eventually knocking over a row of stacked chairs. Covered in debris, there's little going on beneath the pile beyond a muffled groan and the realization that yes, pain hurts.
COMBATSYS: Nassir takes a breather.
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Frei 1/------=/=======|=====--\-------\0 Nassir
Dude. He doesn't run over to help Nassir or anything -- this is a fight, after all -- but he does look a little concerned. That's the second time someone's taken a hit from that projectile, one of Frei's weaker attacks, a little hard. "Huh." He actually sounds genuinely confused. "Did I really tap into the power of the ninja? 'Cause that'd be sweet." Frei looks at his hands for a moment, then does some more posing, Power Rangers style. "Haha! Frei Renard, Ninja Monk for Hire. Oh man. What a great anime that would be."
Digression aside. Once Nassir has crawled from the rubble (as it were), the monk makes a quick visual check for anything broken, missing, or whatever and likely finds Nassir whole and hearty. "Okay. If you liked that lightshow, you're gonna love this one." Grinning even wider than normal, the monk starts... tracing his finger in the air? It seems as if nothing's really happening, but then Nassir might notice, the air around him is suddenly swarming with little golden balls of light, each no bigger than a Christmas tree ornament. After a moment or so of this, Frei holds up his hands, then points them palm-out at Nassir. "Happy Independence Day, soldier boy!" On cue, the balls all simply... explode, like the previous technique, only this time the result is a massive field of golden-red fireworks.
COMBATSYS: Frei successfully hits Nassir with Hizashi Ronde.
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Frei 0/-------/------=|=======\=------\1 Nassir
"..."
Nassir does, if one waits long enough, pull himself somewhat free from the wreckage...a few chairs go flying off, and Nassir starts through the process of dredging free. Unfortunate, then, that it isn't quite enough to ensure that Nassir was going to be able to get off scot-free from the World's Greatest Lightshow.
"...oh."
Hit about as fully as one could expect given the situation, Nassir could at least look at the positive to the situation--he was blown free from his situation, landing with a sharp -crack- on the ground nearby. Heavily burnt and battered by the orbs of energy-based explosives, It looks for a moment as though Nassir wasn't going to get up at all...but then as a few seconds pass, Nassir slowly, groggily begins the process of forcing himself upright.
COMBATSYS: Nassir focuses on his next action.
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Frei 0/-------/------=|=======\=------\1 Nassir
And all the while, the monk is... singing? "Don't let the sun... go DAWN AWN MEH..." Singing badly, though the 'bad' part is overdrama rather than his voice, which is actually kinda pleasant. More pleasant than Elton John's, anyway. And once the smoke clears, as it were, he pushes his palms together and closes his eyes, taking a deep breath. It's all about balancing forces. That was some serious Yang he pushed out, there; now it's time for some Yin.
Hopping on his feet a little, Frei decides now is as good a time as any to take a break; cracking Nassir's defenses has taken some serious effort. Not to mention that Frei's looking a little bruised, himself. "You know, you might have a better time if you weren't so grim," he offers helpfully, tilting his head a little. "Lighten up."
COMBATSYS: Frei takes a breather.
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Frei 0/-------/------=|=======\=------\1 Nassir
-Thump.-
Nassir's energy fled him as it finally occured to him that not only was Frei singing, but he seemed to be in ridiculously good cheer given the situation at hand. That...that just wasn't cool. It was that sight that sort of took the motivation out of him, and finally allowed him to succumb to his accumulated injuries. Facedown on the ground, Nassir laid, still and quiet past the slow rise and fall of his chest.
At least, that was what Nassir was hoping for, as far as appearances went. In all reality, he still had a bit of fight to him left, though even Nassir himself wasn't sure how much fight that actually was. He hated having variables in conflicts like this, and prefered to deal in absolutes--Yes and No, On and Off, Zero and One. Still, he had a gambit in mind, one that could pay off in grand fashion.
Behind Frei, shadows stirred and began to congeal into a semisolid form, taking on a bizarre kind of loaned life. Powered by Nassir's own life energies, the shadows began to take on a bluish tint, growing and hardening into a...thing, for lack of a better term, of roughly human proportions. Over the course of mere seconds, the odd transmogrification was complete, shadows and ether combining into a Nassir-Simulacrum, complete with strangely fake looking equipment.
Just how fake was yet to be determined.
Hoping for the advantage of surprise, the fake crept from behind, phantasmal knife in hand. The attack is brutal in simplicity, sneaking behind until the moment is right. Swinging the knife-bearing hand up and around, the phantom sought to draw the energy-knife across Frei's throat before life and purpose fled from the construct. Even if it hit, it wouldn't be enough to actually -cut- Frei, but it would feel dreadfully similar.
COMBATSYS: Frei blocks Nassir's Phantom Patrol.
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Frei 0/-------/-----==|=======\==-----\1 Nassir
If Elton John was enough to sap Nassir's fighting spirit, what follows is certainly going to drive him absolutely batty. "Hey, COOL!" Frei says, making an improbably quick turn and watching the shadow thing approach. He's... impressed. It's actually the sound a kid makes when he realizes Dad gave up his entire Christmas bonus to buy him an X-Box 360 so he can be cool like the other kids. "That is SWEET."
The knife comes in, and Frei hmmms, then his hand suddenly bursts into that golden Yang chi and he reaches out and... grabs the knife. "Ow! Damn, damn, damn..." Pulling his hand back as the !Nassir disappears, the monk pulls his palm to his mouth and makes a little sucking sound. Looks like the knife drew some blood. "Note to self: Don't grab knives anymore, even knives made of chi." Ducking down, he wipes his hand on some snow, then picks up a handful with his good hand and awkwardly packs it into a... well, it's supposed to be a sphere. "That was a cool trick. Your spirit is way out of balance to pull that off, though. Still, very cool trick!" Oh yeah, the snowball. TOSS'D. "Catch!"
COMBATSYS: Nassir dodges Frei's Thrown Object.
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Frei 0/-------/-----==|=======\==-----\1 Nassir
Yes, Nassir was just chock-loaded with nasty tricks of varying effectiveness. While the Phantom Patrol wasn't as effective as Nassir was hoping for, it still provided a decent distraction, the kind of thing that Nassir needed to get back on top of the horse, so to speak. He hadn't expected Frei to immeadiately notice the attack, but the fact that he turned around gave Nassir plenty of time to work some kind of advantage out of it.
Scrabbling up to his feet, Nassir broke into a hard run towards Frei--which would've been a bad idea under normal circumstances since Frei was fast enough to work up an attack. Through some sort of lucky break, Nassir had enough time to twist off to one side, avoiding the ball by a few inches before the hard run brought him all the way over to him. Off-balance due to the attempt, Nassir's original attack plan sort of went out of the window. He was about a second away from bowling into Frei entirely in a rude tackle of sorts.
This was not at all what he wanted, but maybe he could somehow benefit. Maybe. Hopefully.
"Damnable Variables."
COMBATSYS: Nassir successfully hits Frei with Strong Throw.
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Frei 0/-------/--=====|=======\===----\1 Nassir
If there's something Frei has got to learn, it's to stop thinking in the middle of fights. He actually, despite some previous displays of relatively acute awareness, does not turn around when Nassir comes at him from a slightly different angle. Because, you know. He's puzzling something over.
"Hm. So, if you... no, that wouldn't work. How would get it to move on its own?" That's right. He was so impressed by Phantom Patrol that he's been sitting here trying to figure it out. Imagine how that works. "Although I guess it might do the thing, and then, you know. But the trick is keeping it coheHNRGH." WHAM. Tackled, Frei goes stumbling off into the distance, trying in vain to get his footing before cracking into a table off to the side face-first, the rim catching him in the gut, and then falling on his back, staring up at the sky in a daze. "...okay, see, *that* cloud looks like Great Mazinger," he muses, in a dreamy tone of voice. "And I bet he has a lovely bunch of coconuts, yes he DOES."
COMBATSYS: Frei takes a breather.
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Frei 0/-------/--=====|=======\===----\1 Nassir
Meanwhile, Nassir had dreams of polishing off this Frei individual and moving along. Obviously, Nassir knew how his own maneuver worked--at least, he knew well enough to make it do what he wanted it to do, if not the intricate theories behind Chi usage and all that madness. It didn't make him all that bad off, really--most seemed to have about that level of understanding, if not worse.
Quickly rolling backwards to regain some semblance of balance, one might imagine that Nassir took the collision about as poorly as Frei did...just, without the same level of pain in addition. Once back to his feet, Nassir drew a small cylindrical object from his belt holster. With a deft flick of the wrist, the length snapped into it's extended form--a baton, from the looks of things. Moving back in on the fallen monk, Nassir's attack is of the most brutal yet simple variety: With a downward stroke, Nassir sought to crack Frei's skull open like some kind of coconut.
COMBATSYS: Frei blocks Nassir's Random Weapon.
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Frei 0/-------/=======|=======\====---\1 Nassir
Look at all the pretty clouds. They are terribly, terribly shiny. And Frei is just loving their various shapes and sizes. "Ah, see..." he murmurs, tilting his head in the snow a bit to change the angle. "There's Gamera, and he's going to battle Cloud Mazinger to the death. Will Canada survive?" And then there's this guy, see, coming at him with a baton. Frei does not, in fact, even get up; what he does is simply put up an arm at just such an angle that the baton cracks against his forearm rather than his head, a shockingly iron defense from someone who doesn't appear that suited to taking hits on the chin. "Aiya, that's gonna leave a mark."
Then he gets up, turns around, and... watches. Yep, still not doing anything. "You've got a really interesting style," he comments absently, glancing at the baton. "If you could call it a style. I'm not really for killing people, though. Bad karma." Cracking his knuckles, the monk takes a moment to draw in a deep breath, then opens his eyes again, watching. "What else ya got?"
COMBATSYS: Frei focuses on his next action.
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Frei 0/-------/=======|=======\====---\1 Nassir
His baton strike deflected, Nassir takes a half-hop backwards: The Monk appeared to be surprisingly 'grabby', which was something Nassir didn't really want to subject himself to for prolonged periods of time. Using his offhand, Nassir pushed the baton into itself, collapsing it back down and sheathing it.
"I am not worried about your ethics, not today. If you are unwilling to kill, that is a thought which I suppose should warm me." Yep. That's that. Nassir is way ahead on Stoicism-points.
If someone were waiting for Nassir to make the first move, to reply to Frei with an attack? Well...you might be hard pressed on that end. You could, indeed, find yourself waiting forever.
COMBATSYS: Nassir focuses on his next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Frei 0/-------/=======|=======\====---\1 Nassir
The crowd is about to boo. You can sort of feel it in your bones. Frei isn't moving either, and Nassir is probably right. This is looking like it's about to go on forever. Actually, unless the Shanker comes at him, Frei decides now is a good time to wander back over to his original corner and get another cup of hot cocoa and take a bite of his beaver tail. "It's not really an ethic," he explains, about to put the pastry to his mouth. "If juf dad I do whud I wan'." Mmm, beaver tail. And to add the final insult to injury, he offers Nassir some. "You should really try this before you leave the city, y'know. It's good stuff." Sip.
COMBATSYS: Frei takes a breather.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Frei 0/-------/-------|=======\====---\1 Nassir
Okay, this is...getting silly, just a little. Indeed, if Nassir were the sort of person to watch fights for entertainment purposes, he might've started booing some time ago. How many actual attacks were exchanged in the last ten seconds? One? C'mon, now.
Shaking his head, Nassir does his best to help liven up the fight at hand, pulling another green orb free from his bandolier. Tossing it with a light underhanded pitch towards the monk, Nassir offers the slightest of smiles.
"You're stalling. Catch."
COMBATSYS: Frei blocks Nassir's Large Thrown Object.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Frei 0/-------/------=|=======\====---\1 Nassir
"Beh. Young people are impatient." As if Frei weren't just out of his 'younger years'. Seeing the incoming grenade, the monk doesn't throw up his forearm to block this time, but instead claps his hands together as if he's going to catch it; the grenade actually falls into a little sphere of wind chi that contains a lot of the explosion, leaving only a little heated metal to sting Frei afterwards. "Grenades, batons... man, you're BORING. The ghost guy with the knife was awesome. Bring him back or whatever."
Holding his hands in front of him and closing his eyes, another ball of blue-white chi gathers in the monk's palms, then... disappears. Grinning, Frei opens his eyes and then crosses his arms over his chest. "And I'm not stalling. But I'll make a good faith measure all the time." If Nassir were to look *down*, he'd notice a shadow pooling around his feet, getting larger and larger. And in a couple of seconds, whether the young Shanker is there or not, a relatively large snowman suddenly drops to the ground right where he was. "Oh, there must have been magic in that old silk hat they found... o/~"
COMBATSYS: Frei successfully hits Nassir with Hyoushou Rengeki.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////// ]
Frei 0/-------/-----==|=======\======-\1 Nassir
Oh snaps yo. Frei done dropped the snowman.
It wasn't at all what Nassir was expecting--indeed, with the way the entire fight was going, Nassir had no clue what to expect at all. It was starting to frustrate him, the way that the monk seemed to fight without actually fighting, careless and dropping semi-obscure japanese pop culture referenc--
"--AUGHK!"
Crushed beneath the weight of a snowman, Nassir drops like a ton of bricks, almost disappearing entirely beneath the sudden summoning. Shaking and scrabbling, Nassir eventually emerges: Cold, bitter, and most importantly angry as hell.
"Alright."
And with that said, Nassir's hand busies itself with one of his knives, unsheathing it, rolling it around in his hand. He'd had quite enough of this fight, quite honestly, and now it was getting close to 'ending time'. Throwing the knive at Frei with an overhand motion, shadowy blue energy quickly envelops the entire object--leaving more of those images behind as it cuts through the air towards Frei.
COMBATSYS: Frei slows Horrors of War from Nassir with Tsukikage.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Frei 0/-------/----===|=======\======-\1 Nassir
"Aha!" There, see? All you have to do is rile 'em up a little and there you go. The cool attack makes another appearance. Sort of. Aura-covered knife, not as cool as ghostly commando guy. "Well, sort of aha. Hm." Moving his hand with lightning speed, the monk suddenly whips it downward in an arc, another purple crescent of energy whipping out to meet the knife head on. It even works! As far as we all know, anyway. "Huh. Not as OW." That would be the knife, slightly de-aura-ed, sticking out of his left thigh. "Alright. Note to self: learn geometry." Grumbling, the monk pulls out the knife and chucks it off to the side.
As might've been expected, Nassir didn't just sit around waiting for Frei to deal with the attack, hanging about in some sort of 'You go then I go then you go until one of us isn't standing anymore' deal. No no, that kind of deal is for suckers. Dashing forward, Nassir went into a high jump--somersaulting, very much as before, and complete with afterimages trailing him, cast in the air. Floating through the air(quite possibly on the same wire-fu budget Frei was on a few minutes ago) Nassir stabbed both hands downwards. It's without knives this time, though at least there's no distancing issue to deal with.
COMBATSYS: Nassir successfully hits Frei with Indoctrination.
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Frei 0/-------/=======|=======\======-\1 Nassir
Crunch. Frei didn't even see it coming, probably because he was pulling the knife out. The hands stab right into the back of his neck, leaving a nice mark and sending the monk stumbling forward a couple steps. That... stung. And a half. "Agh," he grumbles, making a little hop-on-one-foot-for-traction gig before suddenly spinning on that heel and rubbing the back of his neck. "Oh, sure, now we're serious..." he says, grinning faintly.
There's a pause as Frei finally gets face to face with Nassir, and he actually taps his index finger against his cheek a bit. Suddenly, out of the blue, he shrugs. "Yep. Gonna need to work on my speed afore I can really beat you. But hey, it's been sort of fun. Well, for me, anyway. You look like I just killed your dog." Dashing forward, the monk moves with speed he shouldn't have, lashing out with bolm palms in a burst of golden sparks as before, but this one considerably quicker. "Let the sun shine in, spanky!"
COMBATSYS: Nassir fails to interrupt Hizashi EX from Frei with Stockholm Syndrome.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > //// ]
Frei 0/-------/------=|======-\-------\0 Nassir
If Frei wanted to come at him with burning palms, then Nassir would use the natural counter. Oho, the pokery, it would be glorious! Curling his hands into those semi-fists from earlier, Nassir steps forward into the attack, whipping his arms forward in a blur of motion.
A blur of motion that leads absolutely nowhere. Caught flush in the chest, Nassir goes flying backwards under the explosion, rolling head over heels until his body slides to a halt.
Grinning, the monk doesn't stop there. Surprise! He can go on the offensive too, now and again. "Sun come up, work all day..." he singsongs, dashing forward as Nassir goes flying, then planting his foot and vaulting over the Shanker's landing spot, pulling the same ninja power! trick he did before. His hands spread wide as he falls from the flip, another dark purple crescent of energy comes flying out toward Nassir at a good clip, hopefully putting him down for the count. Why? Because as soon as he lands, he's looking a little tired. Not so tired he can't yell while attacking again, though. "Moon Princess Halation!" What the hell. Did he just say 'Princess'? Good thing Mimiru's not here.
COMBATSYS: Nassir dodges Frei's Tsukikage.
[ \\\\\\\\ < > //// ]
Frei 0/-------/------=|======-\-------\0 Nassir
Untouched by Mimiru's recent Moon Tiara madness, Nassir had little to base any of that on--all he could do was deal with the very real threat of being blasted to hell and back by an arcing jet of chi energy. Eyes widening as the arc gets bigger in his sights, Nassir rolls off to one side, sighing heavily as weariness begins to take a serious toll on him. How he even allowed this to happen was unknown to him--he was feeling sluggish, but adrenaline could bring him through if nothing else.
Pushing up to his knees, Nassir doesn't wait to make it all the way up before busying himself with another of the orbs hanging on his bandolier. Tossing it in a high arc, Nassir could only hope to catch the fighter offguard enough to at least catch him in the periphery of the explosion.
COMBATSYS: Nassir successfully hits Frei with Large Thrown Object.
[ \\\\\\ < > //// ]
Frei 0/-------/----===|=======\-------\0 Nassir
It sort of works. Frei's not a total fool; he was prepared for that little surprise not being totally effective, especially since Grenade Lad is rather like a mountain monkey in the springing out of trouble sense. Thus as he falls, he's angling himself ever so slightly out of the way. His landing isn't the most graceful in the world, but it's good enough for government work. The grenade burst actually happens overhead, clipping the monk in the legs rather than the face or something else important. Hurts, yes, but nowhere near as bad as a full-on would have. Of course, he's instantly dashing out of the smoke, intending to simply snag Nassir by the shirt and chuck him over his shoulder. Nothing fancy, but it's pretty quick. "Alley-oop!"
COMBATSYS: Nassir dodges Frei's Fast Throw.
[ \\\\\\ < > //// ]
Frei 0/-------/----===|=======\-------\0 Nassir
A good plan, if only Nassir's shirt was there for the grabbing. Again, the youth doesn't allow himself to stay grounded for long--popping back up to his feet as soon as the grenade was flying through the air, Nassir was backpeddaling away from the monk. A light smile played out across his face, perhaps hoping his ruse wouldn't be too obvious: He wanted the monk to chase, wanted the monk to try to push things in close quarters combat. Of course, one might easily imagine Nassir -didn't- want it there, but then he was full of surprises all the time.
The next grenade Nassir tosses isn't nearly as surprising. The grenade is given a high lob, so that the grenade actually lands -behind- Frei unless the monk decides to move backwards in turn. Again, he didn't hope to get a full blast on him, but he did hope to herd him in a certain manner.
COMBATSYS: Nassir successfully hits Frei with Large Thrown Object.
Glancing Blow
[ \\\\\ < > ///// ]
Frei 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\0 Nassir
Oh boy. More grenades! Perhaps luckily for Nassir, it's next to impossible to annoy Frei. Actually, he's sort of grinning as the grenade explodes behind him. Why? Well, yes, it does hurt a little bit, but it actually has a nice secondary effect: the monk goes flying through the air *right at Nassir's face*, his hand making another sweeping motion as he does so. It's like he's a mini Saishu, kamikaze-ing his way into a loss. But what the hey, it's fun. "Moon... Noun Action Verb!" he bellows, purple crescent flickering out at Nassir's torso.
COMBATSYS: Nassir dodges Frei's Tsukikage.
[ \\\ < > ///// ]
Frei 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\0 Nassir
"...Damn you..."
It worked. It worked surprisingly well. Too well, perhaps. There was something in the angle, however, that was simply /wrong/. He had a second part to his gambit, something meant to put this fight down, done, and over with without having to worry any further about Frei doing anything else overly heinous. Instead, Nassir found himself dealing with an opponent who was coming in too fast, and too high to boot. Crouching low, Nassir rolled forward, avoiding the purple shot and the flying monk in the same motion. Efficient, important when a fight comes down to the nitty-gritty.
Breathing heavily, Nassir wiped at the sweat on his brow, shaking his head. This could end up taking forever. FOREVER. Could Nassir outlast Frei?
He would find out quickly enough. In the meantime, Nassir's hands went through a practiced motion, a -snap- noise signifying something on his belt coming loose. Fingers gripping around the handle of his sidearm, Nassir brought the weapon out of holster and up to bear in a smooth, practiced motion.
Oh snaps, he done drew a gun. Could this schoolboy be -crazy?!-
A more important question: Was it enough of a distraction to draw Frei's attention away from his other hand? Nassir was leaning heavily on tricks and traps to wind the fight, something he couldn't be certain over. Too many damn variables in this fight. With an underhanded toss, Nassir hurled a knife at the monk, glinting in the air for just a moment before thick streams of shadowy blue chi enveloped it.
COMBATSYS: Frei blocks Nassir's Horrors of War.
[ \\ < > /// ]
Frei 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\1 Nassir
Answer: No it is not. Frei is actually moving back at Nassir with impressive speed. Not enough to plow through the incoming knife, but definitely enough to keep it from going to far before the monk simply bats the thing out of the air with a blue-white glowing fist. His knuckles look a little bloody as he comes to a close stop near Nassir, grinning all the while. "We could just keep at this until someone passes out from exhaustion," he suggests, a familiar blue-white sphere coalescing at his fingertips. At close range this time, but that monk looks *beat*. Still, the burst comes, a few less shards than normal making with the attacking but it's better than nothing. "How about a coin toss?"
COMBATSYS: Nassir dodges Frei's Hyoushou Rengeki.
[ \ < > /// ]
Frei 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\1 Nassir
"...acceptable."
So, then, it became a different kind of test. Between the two of them, one of them was bound to pass right the hell out. The fight was going on for seemingly forever, the pair of them both heavily beaten about and looking about ready to pass right out on one another. Nassir viewed it as a challenge of sorts, a challenge of endurance.
"To the former, at least."
Halfheartedly rolling himself out of the way, Nassir brought the weapon back up to bear, teeth set in a tight grimace before depressing the trigger. Staggered explosisions filled the air as the handgun spat out a handful of bullets...bullets of the rubber variety, but bullets nonetheless.
COMBATSYS: Nassir successfully hits Frei with Day of Judgement.
[ < > // ]
Frei 0/-------/=======|-------\-------\0 Nassir
Bam. Ba-blam-blam. Finally, it's over. Riddled with bullets, the monk wobbles back and forth in place like you see in the movies until the gunfire is over. Breathing heavily, Frei is still smiling in the end. And, amazingly, still standing. It seems like he's either going to explode, fall over, or launch into a speech any minute now. That moment... seems to go on a long time. And then, out of the blue, he hauls off and lashes out with a leaping kick out of *nowhere*, a crescent of scarlet fire trailing after his foot.
And whether it lands or not, the monk has one last thing to say before collapsing face-first into the snow:
"Man... you're a *jerk*."
Thud.
COMBATSYS: Frei can no longer fight.
[ \\ <
Nassir 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Nassir dodges Frei's Kouen no Tsurugi EX.
[ \\ <
Nassir 0/-------/-------|
"...a jerk."
Nassir smiled, albeit lightly...there was something the Justice Soldier found enjoyable about receiving those kinds of insults in combat. It meant he was being effective, even when he was taking a bigger beating than he wanted to let on. Things like that simply redoubled his efforts and made him feel that much more...worthwhile, for lack of a better term.
Rolling backwards, at this point there was no 'gambit' or anything else in effect. He wanted to be as far away from Frei as possible, well out of range in case he had anything else left to him. He could shoot Frei until he stopped bleeding at this point, just as long as he stayed back.
Lucky for him, then, that Frei doesn't have anything else left. Once the fight is officially noted as being over, Nassir quietly reholstered his weapon and started off...limping, ready to collapse, but at least he was a victor.
Log created by Nassir, and last modified on 07:53:11 01/28/2006.