Description: Sergeant Miracle teaches Carmine Kolodzik a few things -- and learns a couple about his younger charge as well.
This is not the first time that Carmine has been called to some ridiculous locale by Miracle for 'training,' thanks to his special assignment. It is the first time it has followed an actual fight, however, and as such this bears some more careful examination.
Carmine actually does not think this is going to consist of a fight, at first; he just has directions. He /assumes/ that this is going to be a tape review of him getting his shit smashed by El Fuerte; however, when he actually arrives beneath the casino, he realizes that, no, this is /not/ going to be him sitting with his instructor and a tape.
Taking off his sportcoat as he enters the appointed place, Carmine takes a deep breath, looking around for his instructor and rolling his shoulder just a little. He needs to be ready for anything -- Sergeant Miracle is not exactly an orthodox individual.
Carmine will notice that 'the appointed place' is absolutely nothing like what it would be during Business Hours. Police lining has cordoned off every exit and where previously there might have been hundreds (close to a thousand) individuals drooling and screaming at one another over whose bets are going to be the winning bet, there is nothing. Stands lie empty, betting stations abandoned. The only living being in the room is standing - well, leaning - against the bandstand closest to Carmine's entry point.
He is wearing his riot vest, if that helps.
"Kolodzik," mutters Miracle, working around an unlit cigarette that will -by god- be lit by the time he's d- there it goes.
"How do you feel about yesterday? Walk with me." He steps off of that lean-to near the audience bandstand, ducks beneath a broader area of police lining, and gestures towards the younger man.
A wan, very possibly duplicitous smile. "Now c'mon, I ain't gonna bite. Let's walk."
"I think I did OK, Sergeant," Carmine says to Miracle, rolling his neck a little. The riot vest gives him a good sense of just what's coming -- Carmine might be a little more innocent than some of his peers, but he sure as shit wasn't born yesterday.
Walking alongside Miracle, ducking beneath the police lining likewise, he wonders for a moment just how much of this seedy underbelly of the city really exists -- and from the police tape, just how much control they have over it at the end of the day. Could this cordoned-off area suddenly be home to mafiosi and drooling fanboys in a minute?
Right now, he doesn't have time to entertain it, though -- he only has time to talk with his instructor. "It was an OK first showing," he affirms, after a second. "On the defensive I did great." His offense was /wide/ fucking open, he thinks, but he doesn't say that /yet/.
Miracle's listening, and attentively, at that. Periodically his vision catches on a bloodstain here, a 'misplaced' bullet casing there, and it certainly clouds his vision, but looking back to Carmine - well, you'd think Miracle was -proud- of the boy. "You did pretty good on the defense. We finally managed t'take care of that damn girl's jaw they put on your face, there, and fix it with somethin' significantly less dainty."
Miracle pauses, and indicates to Carmine 'This is where we turn right. Turn right.' TO THE RIGHT: A staircase descends into the arena proper. It is well-fitted with grip tape and a railing, considering the state people are in when they LEAVE the arena, and even stops off to a pit-stop/prep-room half-way down. "Get going, son. You're the first one of my students to get out and work with what they've been given. Got a few more questions for you. Might wanna take your keys outta your pocket."
Block and roll, block and roll -- step out of the way if something /really/ catches you off guard. Carmine's no slouch -- at least not anymore. Fumbling in his pocket as the pair descend the stairs, Carmine fishes for his keys -- before realizing they're in the jacket he left on the section of bandstand opposite the one Miracle was near. Whoops. "Already taken care of," he says, trying to play it off like he /totally/ did that intentionally and was /totally/ ready for a scrap.
As Carmine jogs out into the arena, he realizes one thing: He is totally not ready for a scrap. He is probably not even ready for /half/ a scrap. But it seems that's what's coming -- so naturally, he gets himself ready.
After a second of thought, he loosens his tie a little. It's Thursday; Thursday is Donatello of the Ninja Turtles, which means it goes well with the olive green button-up shirt. ... well, that, or becomes invisible.
"So tell me~", echoes Miracle's voice from the stairs - he's hardly jogging anywhere, and his pace is sedate, his manner controlled, tight. Still, there's an enormous amount of surety in his tone, his gait. The Sergeant comes to a stop at the very edge of the Arena floor, sets thumbs in his beltloops, and regards his foe with a steady-growing curiousity.
"When you've got a sum-bitch, crazy-assed loon of a Mexican attacking you - or whatever-the-fuck that chef guy said he was - why're you tryin' to make friends? I didn't teach you to make friends in a fight. There ain't shit worth talkin' about in a fight. You've got other, more persuasive arguments to make."
Miracle reaches behind his back to unlimber the more familiar of his three shotguns. Wordlessly, he tosses it into the air to shift his grip, and begins loading it, second-nature. Click, click, click, click. Cartridges into barrel.
"If you're worried I'm gonna kick your ass 'cause you don't like throwin' punches so much as you like savin' your own ass, you're damn right I am. If you're thinkin' I'm gonna be an asshole to you, you're damn right I am. We're not here to make -friends-, Kolodzik. You remember: We're here to -kill people-." Click, click, click, click.
"Keep it in mind."
COMBATSYS: Miracle has started a fight here.
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Miracle 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Miracle gathers his will.
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Miracle 0/-------/---====|
COMBATSYS: Carmine has joined the fight here.
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Miracle 0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0 Carmine
Shit, Carmine thinks -- this isn't even some kind of practice judo thing, even. This is a real-ass fight with his instructor. He's not going to get away from this one clean -- he's going to have to fight, and fight /hard/. Miracle has experience on him... but it's more than that, isn't it?
Carmine knows all the rumors. All the stories from back in the day. Miracle and Mad Gear. He wasn't a crusader like Haggar, not a man out to save someone like Cody -- Miracle had wanted blood. Maybe, in some part of his style, Miracle still wants blood.
He opens his mouth to say something, but what the Hell would he say? That sportsmanship is important? That it was just a league fight, more like practice than policing? Miracle sure as Hell wouldn't listen to that, not any more than he'd listen to Carmine starting up a discussion about the upcoming Senate elections and how he plans to vote Green.
He can't stay on the defensive like he'd like -- Miracle will just grind him down. He has to get more aggressive on the offense than he was with El Fuerte -- if partially simply to prove to Miracle that he's about more than just saving his own ass.
Taking a deep breath, he decides to cowboy up and take initiative. He's got a guy loading a gun in his direction -- that's /more/ than probable cause. Stepping in, Carmine grabs at the Sergeant's right arm, aiming to give him a quick, simple flip into the arena ground followed by a hard single stomp. Nothing fancy -- just a smooth, efficient takedown.
COMBATSYS: Miracle blocks Carmine's Quick Throw.
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Miracle 0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0 Carmine
Miracle regards Carmine with equal curiousity, though there's a different kind of 'reverence' in the older man's expression. It might stem from what he's seeing in his opponent - Carmine Kolodzik is a man who had, on Day #1 of D8 Training, spent the majority of his training period locked in his quarters. Haggar had mentioned that Kolodzik would take 'time' - Miracle agreed - but damn if the results weren't surprising.
Kolodzik isn't quite a stone-cold killer yet, but damn if it's not surprising what a solid chunk of psycho training will do for you.
"Mmp." Carmine gets a -solid- grip on Miracle's forearm, and it's no trouble to get the lighter, older man airborne. The trick comes in the throw's -velocity- -- there isn't enough to prevent Thomas from tucking into a tight roll, coming down -roughly- on a balled-up shoulder, and laying out in a defensive half-fetal position that leaves Carmine's stomp clattering against concealed kneepads.
Somewhere along the fall, Miracle had withdrawn his second shotgun from its holster. It comes out in a reverse grip, stock-end arcing high and tight towards Kolodzik's exposed midsection - Miracle stares at his pupil with a frank, 'this is my point' expression.
Provided Miracle gets that first gut-shot with his gun in, he's going to use the other weapon to violently *SWEEP* Carmine's feet out from beneath him, and maybe - if there is a god - get back on his feet.
COMBATSYS: Carmine counters Blunt Introduction from Miracle with Undertow.
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Miracle 0/-------/-======|=------\-------\0 Carmine
Staying to stomp rather than shoring up his defense has left Carmine momentarily more exposed than he'd like -- but that stare catches his attention, or more accurately, something less tangible than attention but more important in a fight. Maybe that's what they call 'instinct' -- but whatever it is, Thomas gets the nasty end of it instead.
The second that gun comes up toward him, Carmine grabs Kolodzik by the wrist, using that thrusting momentum to pull his opponent back to his feet. A show of good sportsmanship, perhaps, at first glance -- exactly the sort of thing Sergeant Miracle had been trying to break Carmine of.
Time proves this eminently false. That momentum continues, redirected around once... and Kolodzik's leg hooks around Miracle's, solid, quality investigator's dress shoes smashing into the back of a knee as Carmine simultaneously hurls Miracle full-speed right back into the ground.
He picks his spot a little better this time, too; an uneven chunk of the arena floor that, were Thomas a lesser man, could break his shoulder blade on impact. It's a fierce, calculated maneuver -- even though he's a little nervous, Carmine knows he can't do anything less against the good Sergeant.
It's a damn good spot. Damn good. If Miracle weren't wearing his riot armor, he'd probably be nursing his shoulder for the next week or two - as it is, he's gonna have a bruise. Somewhere in the back of the Sergeant's mind, amidst all the world-spinning and sudden application of inertia to his poor form, he thinks to himself: ~I've done a damn good job with this one. Still:~
Miracle rolls to the side, away from Carmine - he's clearly going to get up, to take a moment to reassess his situation. It's written in all the books, stated in all of the lessons. Stated in -his- lessons.
Maybe he's expecting that's what he's expected to do.
The moment one booted bootsole hits the ground, Miracle's putting all of his weight onto it and -hurling- himself towards his student, shoulder-first, weapon brandished via a grip on its reinforced pump. Once more that shotgun butt is headed for Carmine, but this time it's a secondary, heavier impact that would hit -after- Miracle's initial shoulder-assault - the goal is to crush Carmine's kneecap. D8 has a phenomenal medical budget. Kolodzik can take full advantage of it.
COMBATSYS: Carmine blocks Miracle's Combo Attack.
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Miracle 0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0 Carmine
Carmine knows better than to take a shot on the kneecap, and even if he can't /see/ it coming, even if his head is telling him he's going to see Miracle take stock, his heart knows better. But how to defend himself this close to the moment of impact?
If he takes it dead on, he knows it ruins the entire fight -- you can't run and you sure can't use your leg offensively anymore either. Ducking a little, he takes the shot on the thigh instead -- still hurts like a little bitch, but at the very least doesn't cripple him for the next day.
"All right," he says to himself, using the verbalization as a means to refocus. "Still good." Stepping back away, Kolodzik decides to take a moment himself instead -- he was taught that this would be where he'd need to avoid giving ground, to get on the offense... but like the Sergeant, he can play with expectations a little.
COMBATSYS: Carmine calculates his next move.
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Miracle 0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0 Carmine
It's true. It's very true. Miracle made a point of explaining how true it was - sacrificed a recruit in the process, but the kid wasn't the smartest to begin with. Kolodzik's quick reactions prompt his superior to emit a pleased (if gruff) "Hmf," and fades back to a standing position, holsters his second weapon in its appropriate place.
"You're one of the trickiest students I've got," admits Miracle, now idly working out his right arm, checking the rounds in his weapon. "Not like the rest. Bit of a damn baby, but there's iron in you." As Kolodzik is taking a moment to collect himself, so is Miracle.
He's investigating Carmine's stance, his focus. "Keep your eyes on my chest, nothing else. You watch the chest, son, you see where the limbs are moving, see where you're going to have trouble from. Now show me how you're gonna fix where you went wrong yesterday. Tell me your action plan. Give me a reason to keep you on this team."
COMBATSYS: Miracle focuses on his next action.
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Miracle 0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0 Carmine
"Iron?" Carmine asks, thinking back to the history of his family. "... maybe a little tin," he replies, with just the smallest grin. Checking the rounds. If he likes what he sees, he's going to go on the offense with the gun itself; if not he's gonna try and reload one at a time, which means the other is a blunt instrument.
Either way, it's the arms, Carmine reasons. He's gonna use the arms first and the legs second. That's just what it has to be. "... If I tell you, you'll change it up," Carmine says, taking a deep breath. "I'll stick to showing you."
Getting aggressive, Carmine decides to start by grabbing at the Sergeant -- seemingly for the arms. But if he's going to /use/ those arms, that means his focus is going to be there -- Carmine can feel it. No, he needs to go elsewhere.
Grabbing at Sergeant Miracle's shoulders, Carmine decides to go for a simple judo throw. Falling backward, he pulls Miracle along with him, kicking up his legs in a classic 'wheel throw' and launching his instructor.
COMBATSYS: Miracle interrupts Medium Throw from Carmine with Chin Up.
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Miracle 0/-------/--=====|=====--\-------\0 Carmine
Shotgun: Fully loaded. Thomas knows this, but it's good to make sure, and sets your opponent to wondering if your gun isn't prone to jamming. At his student's words, the Sergeant shakes his head - it's hard to spot, but there's the ghost of a grin on his features. Months spent with a person doesn't lend itself to anonymity, and damned if Miracle isn't aware Carmine knows how he reacts to things. 'Satisfied', he closes the action on his weapon, takes a double-handed grip to it.
That'd be Carmine's first hint.
"Alright, alright, son - I'll allow it. Let's go, then. You're facing a prepared opponent. Fast, high pressure. You're a thumbtack. Be a thu-" The grab - for Miracle's shoulders - is met with a quick snarl, a rapid movement -forwards-. Carmine doesn't get the Sergeant's shoulder into his chest - rather, Miracle's bringing that shotgun upwards, butt-first, and *SLAMMING* it into Kolodzik chin, dental issues be damned.
"Kolodzik, god -DAMN- it! When you fight a prepared, detached opponent, you go in hard, you go in fast!! It isn't a time to play around with the spontaneous shit! You pick an open spot, you run in, you keep your eyes open for their defenses, and hit it like you're a God-damned MAN, none of this 'how do you do' housewife shit!!"
And finally, the master gets one hard and clean on the student. Carmine's head snaps back, and he falls to the ground; it's only a quick kip-up to get him back up, but he winces just the same. "... shit, /shit/," he groans, grinding his teeth in part just to make sure they're still there. "Sorry." Damn... that was /brutal/.
But it's no excuse to stay down. As much as he may not /like/ Thomas, he feels the need to impress him -- feels the need to make his selection feel worthwhile. As such, he decides to try something that he knows his opponent won't have the capacity to defend against.
On reflex, his hand goes toward where his sidearm would usually sit; it comes back up a second later, gripping an invisible firearm. "I think I've got this," he says, pulling an invisible 'trigger' once -- and letting loose with a 'bullet' of psionic energy aimed right for his opponent's trigger hand.
COMBATSYS: Carmine successfully hits Miracle with Stray Rounds.
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Miracle 0/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Carmine
It's admittedly a pretty good trick Carmine pulls - anybody who knows the Sergeant knows that while he's -good- (very good), he's not quite hit -his- limit yet, either. He's got things to learn. As Kolodzik puts his hand to his hip, Miracle defaults to a tried-and-true defense against the 'Grab A Gun' technique: Rushdown. Screaming, the Sergeant -sprints- forward, and takes that hit full-on, either forgetting or seriously discounting Carmine's ability to utilize his psychic energy. In either case, Miracle stumbles - it's a flinch more than a stumble - and clenches his dominant hand to his midsection. The psychic would be able to -feel- gears turning in his instructor's head: Unlike most opponents Carmine might have fought, the tactical 'decision' takes less than a half-second. Tumblers fall into place like synchronized swimmers.
Sgt. Miracle pulls his second shotgun from his side, brutally -turns- in the middle of his rush, and hits the ground as though he's been seriously injured by Kolodzik's attack. It leaves the muzzle-end of his second shotgun facing Carmine's hips, and with a *PULL* of his trigger, Miracle is deploying one of his specialized, Illegal-In-The-United-States shotgun rounds. A gout of flames erupts from the tip of his Remington - the psychic Carmine would be unable to help but notice that there's a little something extra in the attack.
A little something Miracle doesn't attest much to.
COMBATSYS: Miracle successfully hits Carmine with Dragon's Breath.
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Miracle 0/-------/=======|=======\==-----\1 Carmine
Carmine decides to try to shoulder into the blow, knowing full well what it entails -- and ends up regretting it. The illegal rounds catch Carmine's shirt on fire, briefly -- but thanks to the fact that it's as much Miracle's own energy as true flame, the fire is out in short order.
Donatello tie: Intact. Thank God -- though if it were the second Wednesday of the month, it'd /really/ be a concern. It's so hard to find a tie with a Veritech on it.
As the fight becomes a running gun battle, Carmine keeps his own invisible weapon at the ready; right now, he feels like he's more likely to find purchase with it than with any other trick of his. It's the first thing on the offense that's really nailed his instructor -- and having seen a weak point, he knows to stick with it.
Raising his arms again, Carmine does a low, sudden dodge-leap back, wanting to prevent himself from eating a /second/ shot like that... and pulls that invisible trigger yet again. The difference? This time he doesn't /stop/ -- he draws on the 'clip' of his body and mind over and over again until it's spent, a hail of psychic bullets raining down on Miracle until Carmine exhausts himself.
COMBATSYS: Miracle blocks Carmine's Hot Shots.
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Miracle 1/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Carmine
Miracle's talking. He knows he said not to - he -knows- it. Carmine's proven himself worthy of the advanced courses, however, and advanced courses become significantly more familiar than the novice tracks - specifically, one becomes aware that Thomas breaks his own rules. At the least, he does when it comes to sparring. "Now, correct me if I am egregiously wrong..." He's speaking -while- Carmine is attacking him, which may factor into his tactic - it helps you fight past the burning pain, if you're focused on something other than the internal stimulus.
The Sergeant pulls up to a knee, and immediately discharges the spent casing from his weapon. "But I understand that your particular strength is a mental thing, something that comes from your mind? Why are you so damned intent on playing around with finger-guns and pretend clips if you just need to squint and try -real- hard to turn my brain into grits and sausage, son?"
Again, Miracle is pulling rounds from his waist, putting them into that second shotgun. Click, click, click.
COMBATSYS: Miracle gathers his will.
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Miracle 1/---====/=======|==-----\-------\0 Carmine
"Doesn't work that way," Carmine says, winded now. His focus is shot -- his opponent's made sure of that one, and he's beginning to wonder if he can get this fight back under control. It was almost easier with people watching -- there he had something to tune out in favor of his opponent. In a room with /just/ Thomas, though, things are different -- he has to filter out so much more, especially because he knows the man as well as he does.
"I can't mess with your head like that. If I wanna hurt you, it's gotta be the gut," he admits, as he carefully examines Miracle's no-doubt upcoming offense for weaknesses. Watch the chest, spot where the strikes are going to come from. Keep it loose and flexible.
Even though you've gone from matching to just a little bit behind in one big risk. Just keep it tight and don't flinch, Carmine tells himself. Don't let him see you sweat.
COMBATSYS: Carmine calculates his next move.
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Miracle 1/---====/=======|==-----\-------\0 Carmine
"Doesn't work what way? I'm not following you." Miracle is not a particularly -smart- man. He's very good at what he does, and very good at determining when he is -bad- at what he does, but educating Carmine is a lot like teaching a Special Ed student. You're not even communicating on the same wavelengths. Psychic forces? Aikido? Judo? Carmine is a blessing - Miracle is slowly realizing this - but at the end of the day, the most important thing is all about how many times you can fit your fist into the other guy's nose. "Listen, and I'm gonna be fair with you - you've got a pattern to you. People are gonna catch it, Kolodzik. Stoppin' to catch a breath and reacquaint yourself with a fight is fine, but what do you do when the other person takes the chance to do the same thing? Reactive fightin'..." A pause, and Miracle shoulders his first shotgun, thumbs through his beltloops, now.
"It's great, and works well when you're on-top. Probably does you a world of good when you're fightin' the fuckin' riff-raff, the criminals, the bank-robbers. We're higher-profile now. We're legitimate. You gotta anticipate that people know you're settin' a trap for them. Tell me somethin' you can do to keep people on their toes despite an anticipated lack of 'time-outs' to focus. 'Cause it's damn easy to respond to."
COMBATSYS: Miracle focuses on his next action.
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Miracle 1/---====/=======|==-----\-------\0 Carmine
"I can't just shoot shit into your brain," Carmine says, a little exasperatedly. "If I want to hurt somebody, it's gotta be -- it's gotta /actually hurt somebody/." He doesn't know how to explain his limits to Miracle -- so he settles for moving on to the next part of their little 'discourse,' which is to say, 'actually striking him.'
A quick assessment puts his head in the game and tells him exactly where to strike to make this one work. He needs to be quick and clinical -- now that the ball's in his court, he needs to actually take it to the hole.
He knows what his opponent expects -- he /expects/ to get grabbed and hurled. WHich means he needs to lead off differently, change his game up. Looking around a moment, he glances at a wall -- and sees something, plain as day: a large, loose section of bricks, perhaps seven or so in total. It is in this moment that he knows /exactly/ what to do.
Taking a quick step back for it, he hooks a finger into those cracks, prying that loose section free and giving it a forceful hurl toward Sergeant Miracle, leaving him very little in the way of options. "I guess I can pull out something a little nuts!" he answers -- as if Thomas hadn't already drawn that conclusion from the enormous chunk of wall headed at him.
COMBATSYS: Miracle fails to slow Huge Thrown Object from Carmine with Buck Slug.
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Miracle 1/--=====/=======|===----\-------\0 Carmine
It certainly is a massive bit of wall flying towards Miracle. To Carmine's benefit, it's certainly -unexpected- - who pulls wall off of itself and just chucks it at another guy? - and as such, Miracle's caught a bit off guard, eyes widening, stance drooping a bit. Instinctively, he pulls for his shotgun - pulls it from its holster. He's got the round for this. He planned it as such. The wall's a big fucking target, too...
But it doesn't matter. It's too fast, and Carmine's playing too outside of the box. Whatever happened out there last night, it's -changed- the mild-mannered student. Miracle takes a clump of drywall to the face and stumbles backwards, nose bloodied, glasses ajar. He shakes his head to clear it - ultimately, Carmine's subjected his instructor to taking a knee, mind -blown-. "Fuck, son. I'm done for now. Keep doin' what you're doin'."
Carmine is, for a few moments, staggered -- did he actually pull that one off? He's actually taken just a little off guard by managing to have taken this fight this close. Seeing his instructor seemingly yield causes him to shake his head a little for a moment -- did he really just give as good as he got?
He can feel the power rolling off Miracle in waves, though, even as he says he's done -- he has no doubt that if Miracle wanted, he could take him down hard in an instant. But... for now, it seems, Miracle's done instructing save, perhaps, by example.
Walking over toward Thomas, Carmine dusts off his burned button-up shirt, extending a hand to help his teacher up. "... there's still a little I gotta work on. Let's finish tonight off right -- show me how you fight without stopping to feel." A curious turn of phrase -- not stopping to think, stopping to /feel/.
COMBATSYS: Carmine takes no action.
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Miracle 1/---====/=======|===----\-------\0 Carmine
"A little?"
Miracle isn't quite beaten - he's got fight left in him. He'd just like to be able to visit the liquor store on his way home, and perhaps watch the late show before bed. With this in mind, it should be no surprise, not even a little bit, that Thomas is *LANCING* his right arm towards Carmine's chest. Immediately, the man is pulled close to the Sergeant's kneeling form. "You got lucky tonight, son. You've got a wild, wooly ability that I'm not quite prepared to comment on. Still, you're gonna have to understand you're a pussy when it comes to fighting - stop bein' such a goddamn woman. If I'm down, end me." While he speaks - to serve as punctuation to his point - Sgt. Miracle *PULLS* backwards, seeking to topple Carmine to the ground aside him.
If Carmine does topple, Miracle will follow with a brutal butt-shot to the chin, a full-bodied punch to the chest, a headbutt, and finally, *finally*, a direct, point-blank burst from Shotgun #1, into Kolodzik's chest.
"I don't care how much of a fucking advantage you think you have. You don't offer the olive branch until they're done."
COMBATSYS: Carmine fails to counter Sgt. Miracle's Marvelous Massacre from Miracle with Slapstick.
- Power fail! -
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Miracle 0/-------/-------|=======\===----\1 Carmine
COMBATSYS: Carmine can no longer fight.
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Miracle 0/-------/-------|
Caught completely off guard by the sudden right arm strike, Carmine does his best to reverse it into a takedown -- but the pull is too fast, yanking him off his feet and subsequently hurling him to the ground. The blows rain down -- the stock of the shotgun smashes into him, the hit to the chest knocks the wind out of him, the headbutt dazes him... and finally, the shotgun burst puts him down hard and cold.
Rolling over to one side, Carmine screws his eyes shut, trying to focus on anything other than the searing pain in his entire upper body. It is really, /really/ not working. He lets out a faint "Fffngnhhhhhh..." as he rolls over to his other side, pounding a fist into the ground just to try to get his attention on something -- /anything/ -- that isn't how bad his shit just got crunched.
Despite Carmine's sudden takedown - Miracle'd been banking on it, he won't lie to himself - the Sergeant cannot help but roll off of his inferior, panting despite his clear consciousness, ability to move. "Kolodzik," he begins, breathy. "You're a goddamn novice," he states. He's put some thought into this - this is the point of the lesson. Wordlessly, Miracle sets his shotgun into its holster, and stares upwards at the arena's lighting. He is vividly aware of his student beside him.
"I wouldn't OK you to walk into a warzone, I wouldn't OK you to goddamn walk into a bank robbery. Even so, I'm not about to deny you've got a gift. It ain't my place - you ain't my problem right now. What I want from you is for you to find a goddamn teacher who's gonna know what the hell you're about better'n I will."
He exhales, harshly - one of those throws must've cracked a rib. "Just make sure they ain't gonna teach you that smilin' at your enemy's the best way to get an advantage. The shit I've taught you is goddamn universal - I never took you to specific trainin' on account of you've been on a goddamn completely different paradigm from me since day one. You understand, Kolodzik?"
A pause, a breath from Miracle. "I'll spar with you, but past common fuckin' sense, I ain't gonna be able to teach you no more. Find somebody who knows what the God-damned hell you're dealin' in. I sure as hell don't."
COMBATSYS: Miracle has ended the fight here.
It takes Carmine a few moments to even process what his Sergeant is saying -- but at the very least, it gives him something to focus on other than how thoroughly and deeply he just got every part of his body torn up. He tries to keep himself conscious, at least -- if Miracle's got more to say to him, he needs to hear it...
... even if what more he's got to say to him is that he's got nothing more to say to him. "... Gotcha," he forces out to Thomas, through gritted teeth. His vision swims a little.
He thinks back, for a moment, to high school math team. What comes out of his mouth is practically reflex at this part... which is probably, for the most part, because if he tries to get anything else out of his mouth he's going to come up short. "Thanks, Coach," he forces out, before finally falling unconscious for a little while. It's a nice, pleasant unconsciousness.
Log created on 22:46:52 10/28/2010 by Carmine, and last modified on 04:11:01 10/29/2010.