Description: Returning from her training exodus, Ren Kurosaki discovers just what happened to the city during her leave of absence. But the biggest surprise comes when she discovers that Southtown's sweeping rooftops aren't as inaccessible to the city's population as she assumed them to be! Naturally, she overreacts. The result? The beating was probably deserved...
Somewhere on the rooftops of Southtown, a set of young eyes observes things below.
"What the heck did I miss!?"
It's a waif and feminine figure, no older than sixteen with close-cropped hair that looks over the city being rebuilt with wide eyes. While the fighting and news is long since over, the girl--clad in what seems to be akin to "ninja gear"--has clearly missed out. Idly, with one hand, she spins a hoop around her wrist.
A large, forty-pound ornate steel hoop.
"You gotta be kidding me. All this happened while I was training in Osaka??"
Exhaling heavily, the young ninja girl just sags to one side on the ledge of the fifteen story building spared in the "war," dropping the ring to her side and leaning on it with a crooked elbow. Her brows furrow in annoyance. That explains why her elders insisted she stay and train, the young woman mulls. And--
"THAT'S why dad said I couldn't come back to school yet. That jerk!" An open-toed ninja boot scuffs the rooftop edge as she puckers her lips in frustration. "I could have single-handedly saved this city! What a fool my dad is!"
Events in the town seem to have settled, and that's probably a great piece of news; especially for someone who's been busy healing after a somewhat fateful encounter with a fellow psychic. But that's neither here or there, now isn't it?
"I wouldn't say he's a fool," a voice lightly declares. The source of the voice is remarkably close. In fact, it's just a few yards down the ledge, where a man in a black coat is sitting. He wears no mask, his features open to the relatively warm air, and he leans backwards with his hands casually gripping the ledge itself. There's no fear of heights from this man, and he talks as if the young girl were an old acquaintance -- as if they had been talking for hours prior, and this was simply a new piece of conversation.
"I imagine he simply wished to ensure his daughter was not harmed in the mayhem that went on here," Salvatore adds, glancing sidelong down at the young girl. He wears a slight grin on his features, an attempt made to be disarming. Whether he's successful or not, his appearance is bound to be both sudden and surprising.
Especially given her training. But then, how well has Ren paid attention to that training?
In that fateful moment, Ren nearly falls to her untimely demise.
Pinwheeling her thin arms, the young girl offers a startled yelp as she buckles forward before sharply arching her back, redirecting the center of her weight AWAY from the ledge. A series of heavy gasps and wheezes follow, green-yellow eyes wide and horrified. Her life flashed before her young eyes!
Finally having caught her breath, the girl whips her head to the side and glares in a less-than menacing fashion, hands firmly clutching to the steel ring she keeps in her person. "Wh-who the hell are you!?" she cries, pointing a finger at the seated man. "And why are you on MY rooftop!?" He's too casual for someone she doesn't personally know--it's too weird!
"And anyway, you don't know anything about me ANYWAY!" Ren accuses, tossing her head to one side with a light snort. "I'm more than capable of taking care of and handling myself in most, if not all, situations. This little skirmish was nothing I couldn't manage!"
Training or no, the girl doesn't seem the least be disarmed. Just offended.
Now scaring the girl to her death was not Salvatore's intent! When it becomes apparent that she's in trouble, he briefly contemplates helping; he even moves an arm out in concern, but he's too far away to be of any assistance.
Besides, he figures any girl sitting this high up, garbed like that, is bound to be able to handle herself, if not the actual fall itself.
When she points at him, he points at himself, her questions echoed by his silently moving mouth. "Ahh, sorry, sorry," he finally replies to her, hands held up in a gesture of apology. "I didn't mean to startle you, and I'm most definitely sure you could have handled the situation here," the half-British man informs her, seemingly sincere. But he's got that way of speaking to her that's almost too similar to how an adult would treat a child. If she can pierce through that veil, he'd actually come off as slightly condescending.
Finally his hands come back down, and he goes back to being a touch too casual, leaning back slightly to stare up at the sky. "I'm just someone who likes rooftops. I guess you do too. It's funny, I seem to meet too many people up here.
"But hey, why is this your rooftop?"
Didn't mean to startle her? "You could have found a better way to make yourself KNOWN, you realize??" the youth cries, wide-eyed with disbelief. Honestly! Suddenly talking at someone after all but just appearing from thin air on a rooftop fifteen stories tall? "Or, you know, wait until I'm not standing on the edge of the /roof/."
Exhaling, the young girl sags her shoulders. While she should likely be concerned (he might be a pervert or something) she seems anything but, frighteningly comfortable in a situation that most might think to be "very odd." Then again, girl perched fifteen stories up dressed like that with a steel hoop.
And he's an ass, apparently.
"Good, at least SOMEONE realizes it!"
But Ren doesn't seem to notice as much.
Huffing lightly, Ren keeps her ledge perch, the ring at her side absently rolled back and forth with the palm of her hand. "Uh, because I was here first?" she explains, as if it were that obvious to begin with. "Besides, what business do you have up here anyway? Aren't you too old for this?"
With a smile on his face, a further attempt to put aside her feelings of ill-will given his abrupt appearance, Salvatore does not respond to the thought of his approach having been somewhat dangerous, or that there may have been a better way. "Ahh, maybe, maybe," he says, but that's about that for that!
He glances at the ring she's rolling, noting the apparent ease she moves it with. That doesn't look like a child's plastic hula-hoop, one of the few toys given to the children within the Monastery; it helped build agility for a child to leap through, you see. It also amused the monks.
Coming back from a flash into his past, the man laughs softly. "Too old? Ouch, that hurts you know. I'm not THAT old, I'll have you know! And you're only 'too old' to skulk about on rooftops when you're in danger of breaking a bone on the way up -- or the way down!"
What, a fall from this high would hurt most people? Without a doubt it would, but he doesn't bother to comment on the inherent mistake of his addendum. "Anyway, I was over there," he hooks a thumb towards a rooftop across the street, "and saw you over here, so I thought I'd come say hi. So,
"Hi," he greets, leaning to stretch a hand in her direction. Considering the distance it's quite a stretch, and he wiggles his fingers at the utmost. He's being very friendly. Whether that sets warning bells off or not, who knows? "I'm Salvatore."
"Uhh, you're older than me," Ren is quick to reply, topaz-yellow eyes half-lidding as she scrutinizes his appearance briefly before smirking playfully. "Old enough to know better than to be hanging out on rooftops, anyway." Looking away, her eyes cast out to the city, idly surveying the damages done versus what still remains. It's not nearly as bad as it could have been, but...
Things have certainly changed while she was away.
When the man points across the street Ren looks in the general direction before she lets her features fall slightly. "So you're some kind of pervert, then?" she asks, turning her attention back onto Salvatore. "Isn't it some social no-no for older men to be striking conversations with young girls?" Ren gasps, taking a step back before she points a finger.
"I saw this on television! You're like those men that Chris Hansen guy is always inviting to his house to arrest, aren't you??" Wrong warning bells.
Raising her hoop from the ground, the girl clutches to it with both hands and holds it defensively in front of her body. "Stay away, weird man. Why're you stalking young, nubile and beautiful young schoolgirls like myself at this hour?? You have ill intentions, don't you, pervert??"
Wrong warning bells, indeed.
When the accusation is leveled, he's left there with a hand extended and his mouth working, slack and open. "Wh-what?!" he finally sputters the word out, indignation and astonishment fading into a mild bit of affront. Slapping his hand down against the ledge, he lifts to his feet, taking a couple of defensive steps back.
"Hey! It's not like that!" Salvatore declares, but that doesn't stop her from lifting the ring and getting all defensive, the accusations raising all the further. "What? Are you serious?! You're not even my type, let alone in my age bracket!"
There's such a thing as digging a hole deeper for oneself, and in this moment, the gifted man finds himself dealing with something he has yet to have to deal with, despite his years of experience. They are, after all, years of experience in other aspects, other territories. Ask him to defuse a bomb, and he'll probably know precisely how to do it. But ask him how to deal with a delusional teen, and he's really got no clue whatsoever.
"Don't you dare call me a pervert, you little brat. It's called being 'friendly,' you should try it sometime!" he counters, hands shifting to his hips. In doing so, the coat shifts, and if she's perceptive enough she may notice the fact that he's armed.
The sudden and decidedly threatening gesture made on Salvatore's behalf startles the young woman, who elicits a light 'yeep!' and hops back before her hand secures more firmly around her steel hoop. Hooding her topaz yellow gaze, she watches as he then steps back. That wasn't really expected...
"Yeah, well, how do I know you're not a liar!?" she cries in swift retort, waving her heavy ring around a bit before she thrusts her opposite hand forward and points at the man in black. "Why the hell else is a grown man hanging around up on a rooftop like this stalking in the shadows around some poor, nubile young school girl!?"
Ren looks aghast when he snaps at her and insists she not call him a pervert. Then when his hand moves and causes his coat to stir, revealing the hilt of what looks to be a sword strapped at his side, Ren just looks horrified. "Oh my god!" she shrieks, mouth agape before she clutches tightly to her steel hoop. "You're some kind of pervert killer?!"
With another shriek--sounding less shrill and frightened and more like a battlecry--the girl reels her arm way back before she twists her body and hurls that hoop-wielding arm forward, sending all forty pounds of pure STEEL screaming right at Salvatore's stomach. "Get AWAY!"
COMBATSYS: Ren has started a fight here.
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Ren 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Salvatore has joined the fight here.
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Ren 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Salvatore
COMBATSYS: Salvatore dodges Ren's Power Fling.
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Ren 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Salvatore
Talk about heading downhill fast, Salvatore privately thinks. It all comes apart when the girl's eyes dip to the sword at his waist -- he can sense the sudden apprehension, the shift in emotions. He knows, as that shriek changes octaves, becoming something far less than sociable, that bad feelings are on the rise. That ring, headed straight for him--!!
With an abrupt twist of his body, the coated man flips backwards and up into the air -- the hoop passing right below him as he performs that impromptu showing of acrobatics. He lands on the ledge, a glance backwards given as he rolls to the side, onto the roof proper.
"Jesus, for all that's holy, will you calm down a minute? I'm not here to attack you," the half-Italian man defends himself, although he definitely feels as if he may need to do more than verbally defend himself, not if this girl -- clearly from another land populated by no one but herself -- continues on the way she has!
Weighing up his options, he decides not to simply leap in and flail at her with his sword. "This is all a misunderstanding," he adds, yet his eyes flash for but a moment, blue sizzling into a green, as he keeps a watchful eye on her instead. But then he doesn't keep his mouth open; he keeps talking. "You're REALLY not my type, and if I wanted to kill you, you'd already be dead, you follow?"
COMBATSYS: Salvatore focuses on his next action.
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Ren 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Salvatore
Hoop flies, man hops. Ren pouts.
The steel ring hisses below Salvatore as he leaps over it, the large thing somehow spinning wide and actually coming BACK to the young woman as he takes refuge--perhaps foolishly--on the nearby roof ledge. With so much force behind the ring Ren's body actually sways back once she catches it in one hand.
"Like I'm REALLY supposed to believe THAT!" the girl exclaims, clutching firmly to her weapon. "You're some guy, dressed in all black, hanging out on a roof with a sword talking to a young and innocent girl!" Narrowing her eyes sharply, she employs a suspicious tone, her words oozing with contempt. "That sounds mighty suspect if you ask ME."
If he's not going to make the attack, then Ren isn't really going to let him get away with it. "Oh shut up! Your scary eyes don't frighten me, perv!" Breaking into a dash, the girl actually attempts to lash out with the hoop by swinging it around then down, to lasso him around the neck before tugging harshly forward to try and introduce him face first to the rooftop.
"SEE? YOU WANT TO KILL ME! AHHH!"
COMBATSYS: Salvatore blocks Ren's Quick Throw.
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Ren 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Salvatore
He fully anticipated the spin on the hoop ensuring its safe return to the holder -- or failing that, some form of wire-work. But when push comes to shove, and she continues to tout that line about him being the 'bad guy' in all of this, the man allows himself a slight smirk. It coincides with her dash and swing. It's a swing that is neatly met with the outstretched arms of the man, catching the inside of the hoop before it can descend about his neck and shoulders.
All the same, it's a rough tug that she gives, and he stumbles forward -- before leaping into a roll, escaping the would-be entrapment of the ring and giving himself just a tiny bit more breathing space. "About as suspect as a girl with a giant hoop sitting on the roof at this hour as well, I might add," he notes, tone a touch wry.
Swinging his body about to face her, he feints with a roundhouse kick, aiming up high to lure her back a step or two -- so that when he makes a speedy dash forward, Salvatore may prove more successful. It's a hard strike to the stomach or sternum that he aims for, hoping to bypass that dangerous-looking hoop of hers and deliver a palm strike she won't soon regret.
But even as he performs the act, he mentally considers that this might not be the best of ideas, given her penchant for labeling him a pervert...
COMBATSYS: Ren blocks Salvatore's Rapture.
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Ren 0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0 Salvatore
Though he handles his tumble well enough (likely to Ren's dismay, as she really wanted to make him eat asphalt) the girl seems to roll with her misfortune. Lifting the hoop up and off as he rolls forward, the girl puffs her cheeks a bit before she exhales. The ring in her hand falls with a muted thud to the ground, half her weight casually supported upon it.
"Uhh, I'll have you know that I was perfectly happy here minding my own business," Ren explains, as if it were painfully obvious. "There's NOTHING suspect about that. BeSIDES, I was here to see how badly this city got messed up, but you just had to go and interrupt me!"
And he keeps doing it!
A cry of "WAH!" escapes the girl as Salvatore is suddenly going from idle to offense in .045 seconds, lunging at her. The steel hoop is ripped from the ground and brought forth, his fist colliding against steel as she redirects the blow. Rather that strike her dead-on, the palm hits her side, causing her to flinch lightly.
"Owowowowoooow!" Ren cries, wide-eyed as she stares at Salvatore. "Oh my god you HIT ME!"
Twisting on her heels, the girl spins in place, her hoop suddenly awash in icy white energy. Thrice she twirls, delivering a high, medium and low strike before she stops and swings her hoop up before suddenly bringing it down, to cleave him with the steel ring--and that damned icy chi!
"Why did you hit me?!"
COMBATSYS: Salvatore dodges Ren's Shimobashira.
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Ren 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Salvatore
There's a faint grunt from the tall half-British man as his hand collides with the hoop instead of her sternum. It's about as much pain as he shows, since even for a trained fighter, hitting something like that hurts. The deflection into her side is more disappointment than anything else -- but he isn't about to let himself be caught in her sudden whirlwind strike, not when he's at ground zero!
Another grunt rips from his body as he moves from offense to defense just as quickly, evading the high strike by ducking, the medium by nearly bending backwards in half, and the final two by pushing off from his backwards bend into a back flip, the hoop whistling dangerously close to him on every pass it makes. He feels more than just the breeze from it; he feels, let alone sees, the potent chill it has. This girl... she must be one of those fighters!
"Need I remind you that you hit me first?" he explains himself as he lands, sliding backwards to a brief halt. He sighs thereafter, a hand lifting to brush his short hair back. "You're not really absorbing anything I say, are you?"
"I suppose I will just have to do what your father should, then. Time for some discipline, child."
He does not draw his sword though, feeling that he has no need to against this young waif. However foolish his less-than-serious intent may prove in the long run, for the here and now he bounds onto the offense, and into the air! Spinning about, ever the acrobatic while facing such an opponent, he brings his right leg slamming down, aiming to catch the girl across the shoulder with the downwards force of his strike!
COMBATSYS: Salvatore successfully hits Ren with Light Kick.
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Ren 0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0 Salvatore
The girl twists and turns, but her strikes hit nothing. Frowning in that whirl of blue and icy energy, the girl just follows through with the motions, even as the man hops away and avoids it. When she stops, Ren is scowling deeply--it looks more like a comical pout, however.
"Uhh, because you are a pervert?" she explains in an obvious tone. "What's so difficult for you to understand about that? Maybe it's YOU who isn't listening? HUH?" Then he goes and starts talking all creepy again. "Oh my god stop being so creepy and disgusting!"
He moves and leaps, drawing his leg down in a painful kick that strikes her in the shoulder. Hitting the ground, Ren crumples beneath the force, a loud cry escaping her as she falls to the ground. She doesn't move for a moment. Then she starts to shiver.
"That REALLY HURT!" she shrieks, bounding back onto her feet before she lunges forward and slashes out at the man with her steel ring. "What did I do to you to deserve this unfair treatment!? And what self-respecting grown man hits a girl half his age anyway?!"
COMBATSYS: Salvatore endures Ren's Medium Strike.
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Ren 0/-------/----===|===----\-------\0 Salvatore
Maybe he isn't listening. He goes by his instincts in the sudden heat of the moment, as she retaliates against his strike with one of her own. That ring cuts deep into his midriff as he not only holds his ground, but attempts to invade hers. The feel of the impact is definitely there; he's been cut, her bladed ring wetting itself with his blood.
"Nggh, you're stronger than you look," he compliments, right up in her grill in that moment. His teeth grind, the pain from his midsection cast aside in favor of applying that aforementioned discipline, however distasteful and creepy it all proves for the young lass.
His hands seek out her shoulders, the fabric there, his intent very simple; get a good hold, and then throw her right over his shoulder, to loft her into the air.
Should all go to plan, young Ren may find herself flying -- only for the violent impact of green energy to be flung after her from the outstretched hand of the half-Italian. His eyes are no longer blue, instead a glowing shade of green, the same energy appearing to waft out of his very sockets. He may well have stopped playing around... somewhat. The sword remains sheathed.
COMBATSYS: Ren fails to reflect Ragnarok from Salvatore with Oborozuki.
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Ren 0/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0 Salvatore
Oops. That wasn't supposed to happen.
Topaz-yellow eyes are a little wide as the girl forgets one key point in the midst of all of this: she'd left her ring's "lethal" attachments on. As a result when Salvatore takes it in the stomach there's a mess she hadn't really accounted for. Part of her feels a little grossed out.
"What is WRONG with YOU!?" the girl practically shrieks in response, stumbling back and very much away from Salvatore and his being all up in her proverbial grill. "Ugh get away from me! HEY!!"
Grabbed by the cloth of her blue garments Ren is thrown into the air, where she immediately flips around and glares down at Salvatore. "You're an ASS!" the girl squeals, falling down toward him with her ring in hand. Swinging it forward, she attempts to suck in a sharp breath, the steel shimmering pink, motes of energy wafting from the ring like cherry blossoms. It's kind of pretty--
But her timing is REALLY BAD.
Rather than fight energy with energy, Ren finds that energy piercing through the ring's center and, as result, striking the poor ninja girl hard. She flies high...and falls hard with a meaty, audible thud, her ring hitting the ground at her side, and half-burying itself in asphalt.
"What...what'd I even do to deserve it??" she all but whines, pulling herself shakily off the rooftop with big watery eyes. "I don't even know who you are, all comin' up here harassin' me and threatening me with pervert threats. What kind of grown man picks on little girls??"
In a very clear way, she has nobody to blame but herself. The unexpected slice to his stomach sends a surge of anger through the half-Italian man, who in turn takes her by the scruff and sends her flying, only to then shoot her out of the sky. He sees her attempt to interfere, and it only hastens the stretch of his arm, and the shot of potent psycho power that surges out of his arm and into her body, lofting her all the higher.
And the man, caught in a sudden rage, actually starts towards the fallen girl -- only to be caught in the crosshairs of those big doe-like eyes. His balled fist, glowing with that green energy, quivers for a moment before falling back to his side.
His jaw clenches hard, and finally he grunts, eyes snapping back to blue.
"Need I remind you that you're the one who jumped to all of these conclusions?" he replies, brow furrowed as he stares down at her. He may well be leaving himself open, but before such a pathetic sight, even the typically remorseless Salvatore finds pause.
Crossing his arms, the coat pinned to his chest, he taps his foot in an almost impatient manner. "If this is how your father taught you to behave in front of people who are being /friendly/ then clearly you've had a bad teacher. If you're done jumping to crazy conclusions, then why don't you take that ring of yours and take a hike?"
He figures its well past the point of trying to be friendly with her. She's either a half-wit, or she's onto something by being so apprehensive around a foreign man who mysteriously appears on a rooftop. In hindsight, he supposes it doesn't look so good for him, but hey; she's a mysterious foreigner on a rooftop too!
COMBATSYS: Salvatore takes no action.
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Ren 0/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0 Salvatore
That's right. DOE eyes. Big sad bovine eyes, brimming with tears.
"What else do you expect me, a young and innocent--HARMLESS--young heroine to do?!" the petite girl snaps in response, hands clutched into fists. For now, her ring goes ignored, left lodged slightly at her side in the asphalt roof. "You could have been all 'oh sorry to bother you miss but I am going to come up here and stare at the city too' or something, you know?!"
Pursing her lips, the young woman glares up at the man a several feet away, her hands resting on her hips. "My father is a GOOD man! He's strong, too! He'd kick your ass two ways from Sunday. How dare you make fun of my father!?" Take a hike, he says. Take a hike?
The girl's thin black brows furrow tightly together. Is he...brushing her off..?
"TCH!" is her response, the young girl foregoing her weapon for the moment to instead break into a hurried dash across the gap between. Her intent is to simply close in that gap before she leaps and attempts to drive a piercing side kick into his chest.
"I WON'T LET YOU MOCK MY DAD!!"
COMBATSYS: Salvatore blocks Ren's Light Kick.
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Ren 0/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0 Salvatore
Indeed, Salvatore brushes her off. The half-British man seems to be fine with the idea of the girl just leaving, but does she do the sensible thing? No. Instead it seems she wants to talk a long walk off a short pier, launching herself at him with an swift kick aimed for his ribs.
The man's stance shifts, going from dismissive to defensive in a heartbeat. As her leg snaps out to catch him, his arm moves, forearm coming across to brace against her shin and cushion the blow. Still, with the speed and lift behind her, he's forced back two steps, a grunt leaving his body.
Shaking the pain off with a stern shake of his arm, the man grimaces as he rubs at his wrist. "What are you, dense? I'm giving you a chance to just leave. Do I need to be more forceful?" His eyes flash, the half-Italian's blues misting to green, and he's on her in a flash. His hand seeks her throat -- but it's all a ruse, as the other hand slams forward, palm-flat, intent on sending her for a backwards tumble!
A part of him questions why he's taking it so easy on this youthful waif. He isn't entirely sure why... but it may be that he's taking pity on the girl, who clearly has some social problems.
COMBATSYS: Ren parries Salvatore's Medium Throw!
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Ren 1/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0 Salvatore
Repelled by the man again, there's a painfully-obvious look of annoyance on Ren's face as she bounds off. Flipping head over heels midair, she lands briefly and skids a half foot, eyes glaring up at the man before she stands up straight. Immediately her spindly arms crook, hands resting on her waif hips as she puffs her cheeks a bit.
"Why are you giving me an opportunity!?" the girl wonders. "Are you pitying me or something? Or maybe you're afraid I'll actually kick your butt??" Shrugging her shoulders, Ren absently shakes her head, a wide Cheshire's smirk worming its way over her young face. "Can't really blame you. If I were a grown man I wouldn't want to get beaten up by a young girl as cute as I am!"
Her brows furrow a bit more.
"Stop making your eyes get all weird!" she cries, a hand snapping upwards to redirect his feint. The follow up palm-strike is missed entirely as the girl springs backwards. Tumbling through the air, she lands in a crouch by her large steel ring. Promptly her thin lips pull into a big, toothy smile.
Ripping the heavy hoop from the asphalt, Ren takes it back into hand. Again energy springs up around the weapon, pink energy engulfing the ring as she holds it firmly. "Eat this!" she exclaims, reeling her arm back, a trail of cherry blossoms trailing after the ring before she launches it forward at Salvatore. It growls across the rooftop, intent on slamming into him with a burst of pink flaming and flowery energy before it ricochets back to her grasp.
COMBATSYS: Salvatore blocks Ren's Hanagumori EX.
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Ren 1/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 Salvatore
There's a slight grunt, perhaps of surprise, as the girl manages to elude the deceiving strike and evade his thrust. His glowing gaze narrows, and his mouth opens to reply to her statement -- when she's suddenly smiling like the Cheshire Cat and launching that ring right at him, far faster than he had anticipated, not to mention the crazy lighting effects!
Instead of speaking, Salvatore's teeth snap shut, and he grits his teeth as he does the only thing he can at such short notice; he throws his arms up. The ring slams hard into his hands, the bones within threatening to crumple under the force of the throw. Knocked right back, his footing leaves him, and the man ends up on his back.
Rolling back over his shoulder, he rises into a wary crouch with a hand poised on the hilt of his sword as he watches the ring return to her grasp. "Pity..." he finally begins that answer, as his hands come away from the weapon and instead flex, testing to see if the deflection has limited his movement. "That's precisely what I was going to give you. But what, you want to force the issue and fight me instead, is that it?
"Fine." Rising, Salvatore's body seems to flash, as he closes the gap between the two with a remarkably fast burst of speed. Standing right beside her a moment later, he lashes out with an equal show of speed; his leg seeks to clip the back of her calves, as his forearm comes through in an attempt to knock her right down, a one-man cow-tipping taking place, the man positioning himself in preparation for what will follow.
COMBATSYS: Ren dodges Salvatore's Improvised Throw.
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Ren 1/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 Salvatore
The ring strikes against his forearms, again drawing another look of annoyance from the young girl as she watches it ricochet off. Snapping an arm up, she intercepts it, snatching it with frightening ease out of the air before lowering it to her side. Then she just puckers her lips before she pouts, not really seeming to take this with any grain of seriousness.
"Why the heck do you bother with a weapon," Ren wonders, watching his motions carefully. "If you never even use it? Is it just for show or something? Do you just carry it around to look cool or intimidating or something? I mean, come on!" Exhaling, she snaps her topaz-colored eyes shut, her free hand waving about dismissively. "It's such a waste!"
His words seem to fall upon deaf ears.
When she looks back, Salvatore just sort of jolts forward, causing the girl to widen her eyes before she barks an odd-sounding startled yelp. Seconds before he lashes out the girl hops up, her hand gripping his shoulder before she presses her feet gently against his chest and bounds back and away, using him as a springboard. What a jerk!
"Why are you all 'blah blah don't fight I'm letting you go' and all," Ren again wonders, though she springs forward and attempts to grip him by the collar before tripping his feet out from underneath his body, shoving him toward the ground while doing so. "If you're just as guilty, all attacking me in return! YOU could walk away too you know?!"
COMBATSYS: Salvatore interrupts Quick Throw from Ren with Last Judgement.
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Ren 1/-----==/=======|=======\-------\0 Salvatore
Instead of throwing her, he's once again stumbling back, her impromptu evasion proving to be quite a good move. Gathering his footing, the man simply looks after her. "No, you won't like it if I draw the blade," Salvatore quotes right out of his bio command, a slight shake of his head confirming this fact. He may be a jerk, and he may be slightly hypocritical, but for whatever reason he wants her to leave. His reasons remain his own, but certainly their feet mingle, an equally impromptu dance taking place.
He can feel his equilibrium shifting as she entangles him, and the half-Italian man knows he's going to fall. So he does the sensible thing; as he teeters and falls, he grabs her and drags her with him. Only, he uses the momentum of his fall to ensure that, as he throws her overhead, she goes further than he does.
For the half-Italian, it's just a slight fall down onto his side. He knows how to take a fall, after all; years of training have ensured he can survive much like a cat from any height. And his aikido-based training ensures that when he gets a proper grip of her arm, that she does indeed get flung away, one of those classic, classy moves that sends the girl tumbling.
Rolling into another crouch, he waits to see how she both recovers and then retaliates with. "What are you, anyway?" he questions, not being very specific, just mildly inquisitive. His brow remains furrowed. The girl's tenacity is almost... annoying!
"Uhhh, you are aware of how dumb that sounds, right?" the girl wonders aloud before she makes her move. It seems to be going well and in her favor; then he just so happens to mess everything up by grabbing her and throwing HER instead of him being thrown. She flies, hitting the ground and bouncing several feet away from Salvatore. The look on her face remains rather unpleasant.
"God this is so dumb," she mutters to herself, Ren slowly but surely rolling to one side and pulling herself back onto her two feet. Wobbling a bit, she bends over and collects her ring once more, lips pulled into a thin line across her round face. "What am I? That's a stupid question. What kind of answer are you even looking for??"
Whatever his response, the girl doesn't seem to care; instead, she leaps up, holding the ring flat between both palms. Flipping sharply at the apex, the ring flies from her grasp, intent on slamming into his chest before rebounding off and returning to her.
COMBATSYS: Ren successfully hits Salvatore with Medium Fling.
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Ren 1/----===/=======|=======\=------\1 Salvatore
With a growing sense that he may have to come back another day with the way this is going, Salvatore's left eye twitches slightly. He controls the surge of annoyance that flares, especially when she simply brushes his question aside. "I mean," he begins to reply, only to find her making a leap and winding up for a throw!
The ring comes down fast, and an attempt to leap aside fails. Instead, the ring slams into his side, knocking him back down to the rooftop. He bounces, rolling to one side, swift to get back to his feet. That... hurt, that damn ring is heavy, and gravity doesn't help. "I was wondering if you're in one of the fighting circuits, there are... entirely too many people in this town who seem to be involved," he instead questions. Does that mean he himself is a street fighter, like so many others?
Opting to push the offensive rather than delay this farce any longer, the half-Italian's eyes flash green once more -- and again, distance between them seems to evaporate as he surges forward, not beating around the bush.
Instead, he seeks to drop a fat beat right into her body, lashing out in a swift combination strike; he lashes out with open-palm strikes, the flats of each hand flashing with that green energy, seeking to strike her torso several times before grabbing a firm hold of her shoulders for the follow-up. That seems to be the driving of his knee several times up into her belly, culminating in one hand reaching for the skies -- completely laced with green Psycho Power as he drives it down, seeking to knock the girl right down in a jarring overhead with the unforgiving side of his hand!
COMBATSYS: Ren fails to reflect End of Days from Salvatore with Meigetsu.
-* CRITICAL FAIL! *-
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Ren 1/-------/=======|=------\-------\0 Salvatore
COMBATSYS: Ren can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Salvatore 0/-------/------=|
As she descends her ring again returns, finding its home again within her grasp. Landing with a soft 'pat' of her heels, the girl just furrows her brows further and glares at the recovering man. What's he talking about now, she wonders as he rambles about fighting circuits and 'too many people.' The girl is admittedly half-paying attention to him at this point, evident by the way she turns her head away and yawns.
"So you're beating me up because you want to know if I fight?" she asks, sounding vaguely sarcastic before she tosses her head to one side. "God if you even have to ask I'm not going to bother giving you a straight answer. What's wrong with that, anyway?"
Not that she, uh, has time to properly respond. Before she's aware of what's going on he's in her face again punching the crap out of her with that awful green energy before she really has any chance of intercepting with her hoop. Eventually she's introduced face-first into the asphalt rooftop, a loud crack escaping from the ground. It spiderwebs slightly around her head.
And then--a puff of pink smoke??
Several feet away on the rooftop edge is Ren with bloodied face, steel hoop in hand as she perches on the ledge. "Here I was minding my own business," she grouses. "When you come along and bother me, getting in my way and being nosey! You're a jerk. A louse. I don't even KNOW who you are and you'd go so far as beating me up this bad?" Pausing, she turns aside and spits what is likely a glob of blood.
"Tch, when you least suspect it, I'll get you. You're not even normal," she notes. "That power of yours isn't right. It's not chi."
Standing upright, the girl sticks her tongue out before she leaps off the FIFTEEN STOREY BUILDING into the evening sky. She's a ninja, they land on their feet or something, I think. CAT LIKE REFLEXES and all that. Either way, she's gone. But one can almost swear they hear a distant shout of 'I hope Chris Hansen finds yoooou.'
That hand of his cracks down rather brutally, and when she disappears into a puff of smoke he can't help but wonder if he's gone and taken it a little too seriously with her. The strike felt oddly meaty. His concerns for her welfare fade somewhat as she reappears, somewhat bloodied and worse for wear but... nothing vitally wrong, he senses.
Her berating tone earns a slightly apologetic shrug and a lift of his hand, the half-Italian's eyes back to their sapphire blue. His mouth opens, about to say something, when she goes and makes a leap off into the distance.
And then Salvatore is left alone, blinking, ultimately closing his mouth and letting the hand drop back to his side. "Kids," he grouses in turn, a hand gingerly lifting to his side. He'll take a few minutes to refocus his energies, but then he'll complete the mission. The eerie declaration that they'll meet again, and that a 'Chris Hansen,' whoever that is, may get him as well is simply accepted, and he moves on to the matter at hand.
Lifting a mask to his face, Salvatore moves off the rooftop with a grace not too unlike her ninja-like own. Tonight, there will be a death in the city.
Log created on 01:05:49 06/16/2009 by Ren, and last modified on 15:40:56 06/28/2009.