Description: With no real progress on the 'beating up Momo' front, Tenma goes to Pacific High, looking for Marisol. Instead, he finds Preston, and is reminded that getting hit with an oar kind of hurts.
In the ongoing rivalry between Gedo High's Guardian Kings and Pacific High's Pacific Resistance, there have been many conflicts. Invasions of each other's schools, random encounters, fights on a crazy ninja boat, you name it, they've done it. But it seems like usually when there's a campus invasion, it's the Pacific Resistance members intruding onto Gedo territory. What's up with that? Are rich kids just that uppity? Are the Guardian Kings just not interested in setting foot on the tiny Pacific High campus?
It is a mystery.
Today, though, the Guardian King most likely to go and invade another school's campus, the group's leader Tenma Kiryuu, has done it again. It's not his first time on Pacific High's grounds and it probably won't be the last, but right now he has a greater purpose in mind than just harassing his rivals or beating up random students from the elite foreign people school. No, Tenma is here to talk to somebody.
Which is why Tenma is standing outside of the Pacific High girls' dormitory, and is throwing rocks at their windows. Why is he doing this? He's trying to find Marisol, so he can find out if she's had any progress in the Momo situation, or if she forgot about it to go huff paint fumes or something. Either way: He's causing a disturbance!
Whatever the reasons are for his teammates to intrude upon the grounds of Gedo High, Preston Alistair Wellington the II doesn't entirely care. Their business is their own, for the most part; they tell him there's some kind of rivalry going on, but the Brit's concern is primarily for the women of the team. He's chauvinistic enough to think that they need protection from the decrepit actions of the Japanese. They do some crazy shit. Manga has repeatedly shown him that.
Regardless of that, Tenma suddenly finds himself with company. Standing by his side, neck craned, the tallest and most brutal (or is he) member of the Pacific Resistance seems to have appeared out of no where. And he's munchin' on some popcorn.
"You tryin' to get a date?" he asks out the side of his mouth, clear hazel eyes still on the windows that are being peppered by the rocks. He gives his fellow youth enough time to reply before explaining. "Co-ed dorms man. You're shootin' rocks at the boy's rooms. Girls are downstairs." A big handful of popcorn is thrown into his maw.
"Didn't think you swung that way."
Honestly, Preston needs to read less porn, it seems to give him a skewed view of other cultures. He probably thinks pizza guys and plumbers don't do anything but bang chicks, either. Tenma does notice Preston's presence as soon as the giant teenager shows up, both simply by dint of how can a guy that tall be stealthy, especially when he doesn't care, and also thanks to his more esoteric, spiritual senses. Either way; Tenma is well aware of the big lug standing beside him, eating popcorn.
Tenma doesn't miss a beat, either, at Preston's questions. "Why, gettin' jealous?" he wonders of the Englishman, before he asks a simple question. "Which one's Red's, then? I need t' ask her something." Or maybe just be an ass and break her window, either way Tenma isn't going to lose much sleep over it, you know?
"Nah, I'm already arranged to marry some chick back home," Preston replies smoothly enough, even if he might just be lying through his teeth about that. "Red, y'mean Mari's? Uh, let's see..." Turning his attention to the first floor, he squints at one window to the next. And finally points a finger at one of the first-floor windows.
"Should be that one. Kicksy McGee might be in there as well," he explains, only for him to then direct the squint down at the tinier Tenma. "What you want her for, anyway? You two got that whole... Stockholm thing goin' on after ya little time in a cage together?" Ah, the boon of going to Pacific; Preston is somewhat learned. He offers the popcorn to the other youth, although privately he wonders where that kid's hands have been. Somewhere between the eating and the bucket, he's still got that oar balanced on his shoulders.
"Much obliged," Tenma says, and then he whips the rock in his hand as hard as he can at the window Preston indicates, which though the previous windows were simply 'knocked on' since he didn't know if he was aiming for the right place, results in the sound of shattering glass. If Marisol is there, no doubt it'll get her attention - if that WAS her room - and if she isn't home at the moment, well, then she'll have a nice surprise when she does get there.
The rock thrown, Tenma lifts one foot to kick his cloth-wrapped bokken back up to his hand, and then he turns to look at Preston properly. Which, gallingly, means looking up. "Nah, just she an' I got a little unfinished business in the form a' that little pink-haired shit with the tennis racket," he explains, taking a handful of popcorn with his free hand. Why not? "Kicksy McGee? What, Pas rooms with her?" Well, now Tenma's going to have to imagine all sorts of pillow fights and stuff. Of course he'll have to imagine it on mute since Marisol is involved.
"Much obliged," Tenma says, and then he whips the rock in his hand as hard as he can at the window Preston indicates, which though the previous windows were simply 'knocked on' since he didn't know if he was aiming for the right place, results in the sound of shattering glass. If Marisol is there, no doubt it'll get her attention - if that WAS her room - and if she isn't home at the moment, well, then she'll have a nice surprise when she does get there.
The rock thrown, Tenma lifts one foot to kick his cloth-wrapped bokken back up to his hand, and then he turns to look at Preston properly. Which, gallingly, means looking up. "Nah, just she an' I got a little unfinished business in the form a' that little shit with the tennis racket," he explains, taking a handful of popcorn with his free hand. Why not? "Kicksy McGee? What, Pas rooms with her?" Well, now Tenma's going to have to imagine all sorts of pillow fights and stuff. Of course he'll have to imagine it on mute since Marisol is involved.
"Yeah, they do all kinds of crazy shit in there," Preston says, scratching the back of his head while still somehow holding both a bucket of popcorn and his oar. It's a mystery as to which hand he's using, or if he's using a hand at all. "I walked in on 'em once and Kicks had Mari tied down to the bed, sayin' something about how she was 'fuckin' horny too'." The hand(??) gravitates to scratch his chin. "I woke up in a ditch a few hours later."
The broken window belatedly earns a shake of his head though. "I remember that girl, she stuffed some money down my pants. But christ, just 'cause you guys have a broken school don't mean you gotta start breakin' our windows though. But since you're here, let's have a fight.
"No wong noodles this time, but whoever wins can have the popcorn, how about that?"
COMBATSYS: Preston has started a fight here.
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Preston 0/-------/-------|
Marisol drops Pie.
The expression Tenma gives Preston at his story could best be described as 'dubious'. He gets along well enough with the big lug, at least as these things go, but sometimes he wonders if he hasn't taken maybe one too many hits to the head. He doesn't say anything about it though, because he's busy chewing on popcorn. He finally finishes a few moments after Preston suggests they fight, the insult to his school pride seemingly rolling right off of his back. "Fine by me," he allows, and soon enough the cloth sheath is off of his bokken, and Tenma is biting into the flesh of his thumb.
Drawing a line of blood down the wooden sword, Tenma sweeps it through the air, setting it alight with that distinctive aura of bloody chi, misty, red and violent. "Guess chuckin' you through their window would draw more attention anyway, huh?" he wonders, not even skipping a beat as he slashes that sword through the air, right at Preston's head, with both hands.
Yeah, Tenma's a nice guy, see?
COMBATSYS: Tenma has joined the fight here.
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Preston 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Tenma
COMBATSYS: Preston dodges Tenma's Deep Strike.
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Preston 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Tenma
Stasya drops Pie.
Pas drops Pie.
Stasya drops Pie.
Whether Preston's telling the truth or not will be a story for another day; or likely a question that will rivet its way down into Tenma's mind until he blurts it out at his next encounter with either of the femme fatale's of his team. When the agreement of the fight comes about, the Brit figures that it'll take his opponent a moment to get ready; that whole bloodplay thing, which doesn't reduce his 'disgust' at how depraved the Japanese are.
He uses the time to put the bucket of popcorn down. As he straightens, that bokken's going right for his head though -- and he leans back, letting it whistle by right before his eyes. Nearly, Preston closes his eyes at the wave of chi that goes along with the weapon; that would've hurt.
Good thing he's so nimble.
Retaliating immediately, the Brit aims to show Tenma just how it's done. Turning his simple lean into a quick spin, that oar whistles for the Asian's scalp. "If you want her attention, just keep punchin' her in the arm!"
COMBATSYS: Tenma dodges Preston's Deep Strike.
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Preston 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Tenma
It's strange how varied the reactions Tenma's power gets are. Sometimes it's disgust, sometimes it's blase indifference from those world-weary types who have seen it all and couldn't muster up any affect if they tried, and sometimes it's an almost creepy interest, but that last one only comes from girls. Who'd have thought?
Tenma's mild irritation as his first attack fails to catch Preston flatfooted doesn't get a chance to last, because the oarsman is planning to reply with EXTREME PREJUDICE, swinging that big oar like he's out to kill somebody. But the whistling oar whistles /over/ Tenma's head as he ducks under it, thusly avoiding any unpleasantness with getting hit in the head with a big hunk of wood swung by some kind of freak of nature. "What th' hell was that?" he wonders, swinging his bokken in an arc upwards, not close enough to hit Preston. Which either means he has no depth perception, or...
From the chi that follows the blade's slash, a crescent of roiling blood springs forth, rushing right at the Briton with every intention of crashing right into his chest, attacking with kinetic impact and the usual chi rigamarole. And it's going to make a mess, because hey - it's blood. "I doubt Punch-Drunk O'Connell would notice if ya socked her in the /head/!"
COMBATSYS: Tenma successfully hits Preston with Dharmapala.
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Preston 0/-------/---====|=------\-------\0 Tenma
Having expected to presently be making a call to the local janitor to clean up a Japanese boy's brains from the side of the building, it surprises Preston when he not only misses -- but finds retaliation streaking right for him. The swipe of the wooden sword, he leans back from -- but he realizes a little too late that that's not what he should be concerned with.
An attempt to muster his defenses falls short. The blood-laden chi strikes him square on, driving him back. Wearing shoes for once, he's sent stumbling even as he digs his feet down, sliding backwards a fair way.
He looks down.
He then looks at Tenma.
"Fuck I hope you're regularly HIV tested, ya sick fuck," Preston grouses as only he can, the oar spun in his grip as he considers his next move. It doesn't take him long; he does one thing very, very well. Poised on the balls of his feet, he springs forward, body hunched low as he stabs his right arm forward. The oar goes with it, extending out, aimed to catch Tenma square in the middle.
It won't be a lift; that's too predictable. But he's aiming for Tenma to be the cue ball, sent rocketing across the lush table of Pacific High.
COMBATSYS: Tenma endures Preston's Bunting Tosser.
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Preston 0/-------/--=====|=====--\-------\0 Tenma
Of course, a sensible person would try to get out of the way, or block it, or something. But not Tenma, not right now. "Oh, you know, I actually forgot," he snipes right back at Preston's possibly rhetorical complaint, and then he just sort of braces a little before he gets hit right in the middle with that oar, folding over it as it sends him skidding backwards, barely catching himself on that lunch table... And then kicking off of it to close with Preston once more.
As he rushes across the distance between them again, practically in a horizontal leap off of that table, Tenma swings his bokken out again in a vicious slash, aiming to catch Preston right across the neck, perhaps in retaliation for /damn near breaking him in half/ there. "GRAAAH!!"
COMBATSYS: Preston blocks Tenma's Fierce Strike.
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Preston 0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0 Tenma
Putting aside his private disgust (and mentally noting to go and get checked out after this fight), Preston smirks slightly as he watches the rush. The bokken descends, but it's met by the forearm of the Brit. The bone fails to give way, as the meaty limb stops the strike. "That tickled," he mutters, pushing the weapon back and away with a swipe of his arm.
It's exposure that he's hoping for, to open up a gap in Tenma's defense. That arm lashes out then, aiming to catch his fellow youth by the throat. "Really," he finds the time to speak despite the exertion. If he's successful, well, presumably he's crushing the throat enough to give himself time to talk.
"Mari's pretty thick-headed, but I'm left wonderin' when you're gonna ask her out man," Preston, regardless of his initial swipe and its success, beckons with his other hand despite it holding the oar.
The air behind him shimmers as shards of white-blue chi manifest, stabbing past the burly Brit for the Japanese boy's torso!
COMBATSYS: Tenma blocks Preston's Cape Horn Fever.
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Preston 0/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Tenma
Meanwhile, far away from the fight and on the other side of the Pacific campus, the oblivious female half are left to their own devices. Grinning ear-to-ear, Pás is parking Marisol down in front of a terminal in the school's computer labs, grinning ear to ear. "I tell you, Solas! You are have to watch this! It is most amazing thing! OK, ready, yea? You like this. It is movie... about a cup."
She leans over the redhead to for the computer mouse to click play.
Soft, romantic music starts.
But instead of getting caught by the throat, Tenma instead dodges back out of the way, using his smaller size to at least some kind of advantage; he IS more agile than Preston. Dodging the rest of the attack, however, is rendered impossible by Tenma's sheer outrage, when Preston more than implies he is somehow interested in Marisol. Instead, he swings his bokken in the way at the last minute, intercepting much of the chi sent his way, but he can't get all of it, the remainder spilling past his defenses to drive him back. "An' you call /me/ sick?" Tenma wonders. "Me'n Red? That's /disgustin'/!" She's his archrival! What the hell is wrong with Preston?!
"Personally, I prefer Pas," he adds, shortly thereafter, swinging his bokken back behind himself to lash out with his fist at the enormous Briton. His attacks aren't meant to be very hard, which means they're probably just a light breeze to Preston, but instead targeted to disrupt the flow of life in his body, as well as to drive him back and give Tenma a better position to work with. "She's more my type." Especially now that he actually knows her name!
COMBATSYS: Preston interrupts Flow Breaker from Tenma with Queen's Regulations.
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Preston 1/-------/=======|=======\==-----\1 Tenma
Despite the overwhelming bulk that Preston has, it seems that he's not about to let a fist mar his beautiful blood-covered body. As the fist comes forward, the Brit takes a half-step back -- and thus begins a sudden bout of elegance.
The fist impacts against his arm. That's due to the fact that the arm is lashing forward, oar in hand, to clip Tenma right across the jaw. A swift follow-up jab to the stomach, and then a rather brutal sweep across the side of the legs, perhaps enough to send the opponent for a spin.
It culminates with Preston leaning passively on his oar though, continuing the conversation; "Yeah, that one's got a great pair of tits," he essentially agrees. "She's probably into all kinds of backdoor shenanigans too," the pervert adds, free hand lifting to stroke his chin. "Yes indeed, she's a dirty one... I bet she's watchin' some kinda online porn right now, in fact."
Marisol drops Pie.
Preston drops Pie.
Unpleasant! Tenma takes quite a beating at the hands... Uh... Oar of the Briton, ending up knocked for a loop and landing pretty hard on the ground, spots dancing in his vision. As he pushes himself up, though, Tenma hears what Preston is saying, shaking his head. "Well, Red's pretty nice t' look at, too, but then she opens her mouth an' ruins the whole thing, y'know? Can't fathom how you can stand havin' a screamin' harridan like that tell ya what t' do all the time."
Also, as he finishes saying this, he raises his bokken over his head, point down, and then drives it into the ground. At first, seemingly nothing happens. "Guess if y' can tune out what she's sayin' an' just watch her chest bounce you'd be fine, though," Tenma muses, as the ground around his weapon starts to crack, the cracks spreading as gouts of blood start to erupt from the ground, streaming along it in the vague serpentine shape of dragons, all converging right on Preston. "Kinda hard at the volume she talks at, though!"
COMBATSYS: Tenma successfully hits Preston with Hell of Blood.
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Preston 1/-======/=======|==-----\-------\0 Tenma
The sword is driven into the ground. Thus, Preston looks down. The conversation continues. "The way you talk about her though son, sounds like you wouldn't mind a bit," he notes. He doesn't get a chance to add much more though. The cracking of the ground draws a startled expression on the face of the burly Brit.
And then there were dragons. Unfortunately, not the kind he rides around on the back of. "Oh fuck," he says as they descend for him. And simply stands his ground.
It proves a mistake. He's young; he makes those. The bloody dragons do their bloody work, sending the youth hurtling backwards to land and bounce and land again with a clash and a clatter. Tenma's done the nigh impossible; he's taken Preston off his feet.
A low groan and substantial movement proves that he's not down for the count yet though. "Oh that was fuckin' nasty," he growls, although whether he means the blood or the pain remains unclear. Lifting himself into a crouch, he collects his oar and cracks his neck.
Yep, he's takin' a knee.
COMBATSYS: Preston gains composure.
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Preston 1/---====/=======|==-----\-------\0 Tenma
Hey, fair's fair; Tenma thinks Marisol is nice to look at, just so long as she doesn't talk. Her personality, her voice... It just /grates/ on him. The irony, of course, is how awe-inspiringly similar he and Marisol are in temperament. What does that really say about them? Meanwhile, Tenma accepts it as simply right and proper that he was able to bowl Preston right over, yanking his bokken free of the ground and straightening up as the Briton takes a knee to collect himself.
"Cry me a river," Tenma says, slanting his chi-emanating blade against his shoulder and lifting his other hand to make the time-honoured 'tiny violin' gesture. Of course, he actually thinks Preston has the right idea here, and so Tenma too takes a moment to catch his breath. He knows Preston's not nearly finished, and whatever else the giant youth has up his sleeve is bound to /hurt/.
COMBATSYS: Tenma gains composure.
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Preston 1/---====/=======|=------\-------\0 Tenma
For a while now, Preston's been doing something sneaky, funneling his adrenalin into keepin' him kickin. Now though, he decides that enough is enough. Well, once he finishes talking anyway.
"Y'know, you speak really good English for a Jap," he compliments. It's almost weird. He really expected more talk of rice and Japorn. Regardless, he lifts off of his knee and into a charge, boots thumping across the pavement as he nears the gap between the two. At three yards he leaps into the air, body twisting as the oar snaps out to one side. The blade is kept flat, whistling through the air as the gap between them ceases to exist.
Tenma's felt this before. This time it might hurt even more. Landing a bare pace away, Preston completes his revolution, bringing the oar out with the blade flat for a very simple purpose;
Sending the Japanese schoolchild back in time. He's only done this once before.
COMBATSYS: Preston successfully hits Tenma with Man Overboard!.
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Preston 0/-------/------=|=======\-------\1 Tenma
Indeed, Tenma has felt this before, and he's going to feel it again! It's not something he relishes feeling, either, but rather than shy away from the attack, the Gedo High student aims to bear through it to create his own opening against the Briton... And instead he gets blasted away by the spinning Preston and his oar, the impact knocking Kiryuu a good distance away. It would, in fact, have knocked him further, but for Tenma 'catching' himself along the ground with his bokken, the chi around it cutting through pavement and turf with equal ease, digging a furrow as it slows him down, depositing him face-first on the ground.
Oh yeah, and then a huge gout of bloody chi rages down that furrow towards Preston, aimed to collide right with the center of his chest.
COMBATSYS: Tenma can no longer fight.
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Preston 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Preston blocks Tenma's Hell of Blood.
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Preston 0/-------/----===|
"Ah fuck me, not again," Preston grouses to the air as he watches the cracks in the ground lance out and the chi that follows it. This time though, he makes a sensible decision; he braces, arms crossing with the oar held in front of his face. It's an ultimate defense!
SHAZAM. Not so much. Boots squeal as he skids back from the impact, once more left dripping in the after-effects of Tenma's considerable love...ly chi. "Fuck you pack one hell of a bloody punch," he compliments, looking towards the fallen Tenma.
Is the other boy even conscious?
Does he see the charming red imprint of an oar across Preston's own face?
Either way, he makes for the popcorn, collecting his bucket and limping over. He sets it down again and starts limping away. "I'll tell Mari you stopped by, anyway," he informs the Asian, heedless of consciousness.
Unconscious? No. Hurting? Hell yeah. It's small consolation to Tenma that he got Preston pretty good there too... There's just no arguing about the sheer offensive power the big lunatic has at his disposal. The aura around his practice sword has faded completely, and Kiryuu himself looks worse for the wear as he pushes himself up, spitting a gob of blood out onto the Pacific lawn, which... Honestly there's a fair bit of blood still there from Tenma's attacks, so it probably doesn't make much of a difference.
"Yeah, thanks," Tenma says in a pained grunt, but it sounds at least halfway sincere, when Preston says he'll tell Marisol about this visit. Of course, knowing the redhead she went after the tiny terror herself, or decided to change sides or something.
Mind you, Tenma doesn't actually /leave/ just yet. He's gonna take a minute or two to make sure he doesn't have any broken ribs, just to be on the safe side, watching Preston limp off warily.
At the very least, Tenma came away from this with a potential concussion and a bucket of popcorn! He is truly the winner this day. Preston vanishes into the dorms in search of a shower.
COMBATSYS: Preston has ended the fight here.
Log created on 23:46:28 11/13/2007 by Tenma, and last modified on 16:08:18 11/18/2007.