Description: It's up. It's down. It's up again. It's down again. That basically applies to everything that happens in this battle, one way or the other. (Winners: Nahid and Faolan)
When Nahid signed up for SNF, she expected matches against interesting people in far-off places that she could get someone else to pay the travel expenses for. She's been to some places she never would have gone before (like Slovakia... who goes there?) and gotten to fight people who wouldn't ordinarily give her the time of day.
She has never fought on a plane before, especially one that - they tell her - will give the feeling of weightlessness for about 25 seconds out of every 65. She is not entirely sure what she feels about this.
Nahid's entire preparation for this fight was getting a slightly longer shirt that she could tuck in so that it didn't drift up and get in her way, and discarding her jacket for the same reason (plus, it's climate-controlled, she doesn't need it). At the moment she is just kind of standing around in the almost empty interior of the plane. There's no seats here! Just a long metal tube with something like a floor to stand on during the non-weightless portions of the flight.
Actually, she's leaning against a wall, trying to look bored.
Well, that is settled. Faolan truely believes that the people that make SNF really enjoy taking away solid ground away from the mercenary. At least on the boats he was able to somewhat keep his footing. The idea of going into freefall is not making him feel like the happiest of campers. Right now he is enjoying having his feet planted firmly on the floor while he can. He also made sure to keep from eating or drinking too recently. Last thing he wants his dodging portions of his own lunch while floating about and trying to avoid fireballs.
He idly has one end of his bata resting on the floor of the plane as well and his hands resting on the top. Despite being annoyed he is giving a bit of a grin. He always loves a good fight even if it has to be all messy because of weird rules and ideas. His hat is also nowhere to be seen because that would be too much of a pain to try and keep on at thsi point. He has occasionally glanced towards where Nahid is standing. He hasn't gotten to see her fight so he wonders if their styles will mesh well at all. The fact he is being paired with someone must say something about this Frei person they are both going to take on. For now he stays where he is until given mention that the fight is going to start.
By contrast, when Frei saw Nahid's name on the fight card, he actually brightened a bit despite the really, really unnerving setting of the fight. He hadn't seen the young brawler since they were paired together in Taizhou... under a team name he didn't find out until he had left China entirely: 'the Lone'. Though it made him chuckle to hear it, it was something he understood, too. Both he and Nahid appeared to have their own, basically entirely different reasons for being in the city, yet they managed to make an effective team nonetheless. And he owes her a fight, if he remembers their parting words.
And so here everybody is, in a plane, above Florida. It's not as if you can arrive 'late' to this sort of affair, but when Nahid and Faolan arrive Frei actually isn't there, at first; he shows up coming from the cockpit, beaming like an idiot. Why? Well, the little winged pin on the collar of his otherwise plain grey Chinese shirt gives a little indicator: he wanted to meet the pilot. Considering this privilege is usually restricted to 1.) commercial airliners and 2.) five-year-olds, it's a little unusual. They certainly had a hell of a time finding that winged pin, but it's expected of one.
"Hello again, miss," he says, giving Nahid a little wave, before turning to Faolan and smiling pleasantly enough. He's... a little wild looking, but considering that Frei's on at least good terms with Blanka, 'wild-looking' is not exactly a deterrent to polite conversation. "And a pleasure to meet you."
He backs up a bit in the cabin, giving everyone some room, and flexes his fingers a bit, getting into stance. "...and I'm really hoping you two are as dubious about this as I am."
COMBATSYS: Nahid has started a fight here on the left meter side.
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Nahid 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Faolan has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
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Nahid 0/-------/-------|
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Faolan 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Frei has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
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Nahid 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Frei
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Faolan 0/-------/-------|
Oh, /there/ is where the opponent went. Nahid thought maybe he decided not to get on (afraid of heights, for all she knows) and left her to challenge her current partner instead.
She's not entirely sure she'd blame him, for all that she never turns down a fight, whether she's sure to get destroyed or not.
"Having fun in there?" she asks, pushing off the wall. "Yeah, I'm not sure what they were thinking. Fight to start at the first weightlessness drop, and we get to get thrown around like dice in a cup. Just let me tell you right now, if any of you puke on me I /am/ going to smack you. Even if you're on my side."
Nahid takes a couple steps away from the wall (she wasn't doing a good job of leaning on it anyway thanks to the curvature of the plane) before she gets a weird feeling in her stomach. The slight sensation turns into a rather startling drop as the plane goes into its first zero-gravity drop, her feet lifting up from the floor involuntarily. They flail wildly as she tries to run, which doesn't work.
Eventually she manages to get one booted foot against a wall and kick herself away from it, sending herself flying in Frei's general direction. It is very clear that she has absolutely no idea what she's doing to move in weightlessness; she can't figure out how to steer once she's away from the wall, and ends up twisting herself around wildly in a whirl. About the only advantage to this is that it is a hell of a kick that she is leveling at Frei.
Okay, more or less at Frei.
Looks like his partner at least had the same thought that he did. Hopefully Frei thought that sort of thing through as well. A brow raises when he notices Frei finally emerge from the cockpit then he chuckles as his grin goes a bit wider. Well it certainly seems his opponent seems to enjoy some of the more simple things given by the fact he has a pin on his shirt to show his victory of getting to meet the captain of this plane. He reaches up to brush his bangs from his eyes since his hat isn't keeping them in check and he gives a bit of a lazy salute. "Pleasure to meet ye as well."
That is when he also starts to feel the plane beginning its first drop and as much as he wants to keep his feet on the ground he starts to go upwards as well with his grin turning into a momentary frown. He begins to move and he brings his bata up to grip it with both hands. This while floating thing is going to take ALOT of getting used to he thinks. He feels like he is almost going to have to swim until he finally gets close enough to a wall that he can plant both feet on it and push off as well. He is a bit more slower moving than Nahid, but he is coming in from another direction that at least will make Frei have to think on his feet. He brings his bata upwards overhead and grips it tight on one end with both hands before bringing it down in a powerful overhead slash aimed at the left shoulder.
COMBATSYS: Faolan successfully hits Frei with Fierce Strike.
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Nahid 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Frei
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Faolan 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Frei just-defends Nahid's Falling Water Reach!
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Nahid 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Frei
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Faolan 0/-------/-------|
"Don't worry. I haven't eaten anythWAAAAAAAAH--" He's in the middle of assuring Nahid that his only projectiles will be energy attacks, quite likely, when the plane suddenly goes into a dive. It's subtle at first, but Frei soon finds that his feet aren't touching the ground anymore... unfortunately he's also closer to the nose of the plane, meaning that both of his opponents are slightly above him, and have much better purchase for kicking off the fuselage than he does.
Grimacing, Frei does a little of what you'd expect, 'swimming' in air like a cartoon character, before there just isn't any time left and both Faolan and Nahid are upon him. The Ikari gets to him first, and though he tries to basically swim himself out of the way, that don't work; the bata slams into the redhead's shoulder with a painful-sounding *SMACK* noise. However, this also has the unintended benefit of starting Frei rotating, thanks to gravity's light hold. His arm suddenly snaps up and, bizarrely, he presses his index and middle fingers to the tip of Nahid's boot, summoning up a sudden burst of energy that the terrible force of Nahid's kick 'grounds' itself on, a small shockwave bursting out from the point of impact but leaving Frei, thankfully, mostly unarmed.
There's a moment while he processes that both his opponents are in close, and then his eyes widen, Frei having apparently had an idea. Turning AWAY from Faolan as best he can, Frei suddenly points both hands in the opposite direction and fires off a small blast of windy chi... which basically propels him straight at the Ikari in a shell of wind chi. It's massively inelegant, and Frei's flailing of arms probably doesn't help, but it'll probably still hurt to get an accidental Frei cannonball to the gut.
The energy discharge knocks Nahid back. If there was gravity, it would have been on her back -
Wait, there /is/ gravity.
At first it's not really significant. Nahid vaults to her feet without much of an issue by the time it hits about half what she's used to and plants her feet. When it hits normal, she's starting to advance again. And then it keeps going up.
Nahid is strong. That's not the issue; she can stand abruptly weighing two hundred mumble pounds instead of her normal weight. But the pressure is inconveniently placed. Her knees let her know that bracing the way she normally does is a bad idea. Her shoulders and back object for different reasons. It feels like she's being shoved downward, all the time.
But she grins, showing teeth. "Okay," Nahid says. "Let's get this going." Her forward charge is more like a walk, because she never takes both feet off the ground at the same time for fear of tripping and slamming into it. It still has some momentum behind it, though, and the stomach-level punch she has is arguably more effective than usual; she's not going to lift him up as far, for starters.
COMBATSYS: Faolan blocks Frei's Fierce Punch.
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Nahid 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Frei
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Faolan 0/-------/-----==|
Hey, that sorta worked out to an extent. What worked out well for Faolan though ended up not helping out his teammate too much since he puts Frei in a good position to deal with Nahid. He also sees that all the movements allow Frei to awkwardly get a strike towards the mercenary with the intent to hit him right in the gut. That is not a place he wants to be hit even if he has taken anti-lunchlosing precautions. He manages to grasp his bata with a hand on both ends again and lower it to let it take the brunt of the impact from that strike. Ugh, if this guy is flailing awkwardly and has that much power behind his strike this might be a bit of a painful fight. Still he can't help but grin. This guy is going to be a fun challenge he thinks.
The gravity starts to return and much like Nahid the extra weight of it is making it hard for him to move much. Good thing he isn't one that likes to move alot. In fact feeling his feet on solid ground at least for a moment is rather nice. He just lets his weight sink in and he bends at the knees a bit. If he doesn't have to move he is more than fine like this. He instead lets go of one end of his bata and he makes a single thrusting motion as the ungripped end creates a small black ball of energy that goes sailing in the direction of Frei.
COMBATSYS: Faolan successfully hits Frei with Bata Blast.
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Nahid 0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0 Frei
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Faolan 0/-------/----===|
COMBATSYS: Frei endures Nahid's Strong Punch.
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Nahid 0/-------/-------|====---\-------\0 Frei
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Faolan 0/-------/----===|
Well, now it's just all over the place, isn't it? Frei basically rebounds off of Faolan's defense like a pinball, tumbling end over end for a second before the plane begins a sudden steep climb to prepare for the next weightless drop. Discovering that he's nearing the ceiling of the cabin as the plane starts to climb, Frei twists and kicks off, landing on the floor in a crouch just as the gravity starts to kick back in. "Argh... that seems like it would be fun at basically any other time than during a fight..." he murmurs. Much like the Ikari, though, for Frei it feels quite good to get his feet on a solid surface again... right up until the g-forces start piling up, and we don't mean ninjas in bird suits.
It's probably for the best that a sword-drawing stance, like Frei's ready stance, is already relatively close to the ground; when the redhead leans forward and hovers his hand around the 'hilt' of the wooden sword slung through his back belt loops, it simply looks like an old school samurai movie rather than someone struggling to stand. However, when Faolan's black burst of energy comes streaking in at the same time as Nahid's furious dashing punch... well. The illusion is shattered. Frei's a fighter already unused to dodging, but he can't think of a way to deflect that burst of darkness, and so he tries to kick off the floor in a hopping backstep... which does not go nearly far enough thanks to gravity. He grimaces as the attack strikes him cleanly, but it also means he doesn't try anything fancy when Nahid arrives. Instead he braces himself, takes a deep breath, and weathers the storm. That doesn't make it any less painful when the quite-strong young lady plants a fist right in his stomach, but it does mean that rather than being slammed to the floor, he stays right where he is, in striking range.
And strike he does; one hand snaps out, looking to push Nahid off-balance long enough for Frei to grab one extended arm or leg and, frankly, hurl Nahid across the plane outright. It doesn't help that in the process, his hands also crackle with taser-like bursts of electric chi, either.
COMBATSYS: Nahid fails to reflect Rebound Throw from Frei with Solitary Peak Palm.
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Nahid 0/-------/--=====|====---\-------\0 Frei
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Faolan 0/-------/----===|
Nahid is not going anywhere. She's planted her feet after her fist drove home and fully intends to take the incoming hit... until she realizes that there's sudden surges of electricity involved. She /hates/ all that chi stuff, and - for a moment - she forgot how much of it Frei really used.
Taking half a step backwards to get some distance, Nahid brings her other hand around as she feels the intense pressure against her body start to diminish. So they're evening out, judging by the angle of the plane. That's good. She felt unhealthily compressed while they were doing it.
Unfortunately, it messes up her timing a little bit. Nahid's thrusting hand, rippling with unseen power visible only by tiny silver flakes of light dancing in space, comes in too fast. It whistles past Frei's incoming arm, only offering him an easier target to grab; once he does, the pulse of energy on Nahid's hand dissipates, allowing her to be thrown clear across the plane with less effort than otherwise might be happening.
She slams against a far wall, nestling against it and the ground, and elects to stay down for a couple moments. Now she has a plan.
As things start to level off it is probably a close race on what one of the three fighters appreciates it the most. Faolan certainly finds himself starting to straighten up as the feel of gravity isn't so intense. He seems to keep his stance right now for now. He is finally getting a moment to watch the other two fighters and actually see what those can do without the problems of gravity making him either flail about in the air or squish him under the powerful force of multiple G's pushing down on him.
Looks like Nahid is quite strong. That punch didn't look like it would be a fun one to get hit with. Frei also seems to have a good control of his inherent energy. Those types always seem to be problematic. That might explain why they thought two fighters should deal with him. He keeps his ground and he raises his bata up to about chest height with arms extended and a hand gripped on each end. He is still grinning a bit, but he seems to be sizing up Frei and deciding what his next course of action should be.
COMBATSYS: Faolan focuses on his next action.
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Nahid 0/-------/--=====|====---\-------\0 Frei
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Faolan 0/-------/----===|
Once the weight of Nahid leaves his grip, Frei seems to relax a bit, settling back onto the balls of his feet and taking a deep breath. In fact, it looks like they've hit the top of their climb. The release of the pressure is quite welcome, as it likely is for his opponents too, but Frei makes no bones about it when it comes to showing it; he wipes a hand across his brow and gives both Nahid and Faolan a sort of weary smile. "I don't know if I should be happy that stopped or dreading the next one," he says with a somewhat sheepish expression. That said, he's not a TOTAL fool when it comes to tactics. He needs to take advantage of this moment while he can.
Frei hasn't fought many 2v1 fights before; the last he can remember is a bout with Aranha and Nataya in the YFCC, where the Spider and the Buddhist really gave Frei a run for his money. All things considered, this is about as bad. And having not managed a clean hit on Faolan just yet, Frei would like to see what the stick-wielding man can do before he makes his next move.
In a sweeping move, Frei's arm cuts an arc across the distance between the two fighters, glittering blue-white. Adding to the chill of the pressurized cabin, the air around Faolan suddenly grows quite cold, frost glittering before him... the cue he gets that if he doesn't want to be suddenly and painfully flash-frozen, he should really get out of the way!
Nahid stays down long enough that she is either unconcious or faking it.
Specifically, Nahid stays down until she feels/hears the plane dive again, and she starts to get that unpleasant rising sensation in her stomach she associates with roller coasters. Before full weightlessness, but after she starts to lighten, she uncoils, leaping in what should be a long arc.
The first half of the arc works as expected - more or less, Nahid ends up a little higher than she ordinarily would - but thanks to the weightlessness, Nahid never entirely comes down. She sails across the entire length of the plane, fist-first, toward Frei. "Yaaah!" she screams, wordlessly, just before she expects to impact.
If she /does/ impact, Nahid uses her hand to push off him and arrest her forward project, drifting more or less in place a few feet away with her feet aimed 'down', at the ground.
COMBATSYS: Faolan interrupts Hatsuyuki from Frei with Jig Kick EX.
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Nahid 0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0 Frei
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Faolan 0/-------/--=====|
He supposes that he is sort of inviting trouble just standing there. With Nahid down and Faolan still standing and being way too quiet it does give away that he is up to something. Indeed he is ready when Frei turns his attention his way. What he isn't ready for is the fact there is that swing that starts off an arc of energy and he begins to feel things grow cold. This is a good warning that he shouldn't stay where he is. The question for him now is one simple thing. What would Ralf Jones do?
This is the problem when your main commanding officer is one of the famed pair. Even more so when it isn't the level headed one. Instead of getting out of the way in a traditional way, Faolan just barrels forward as his stubble and hair end up looking nice and frosty along with parts of his clothing. "The gravity thing suuuuuuuuuuucks!" He then leaps upwards and he brings up one leg to hit in a rather not nice spot. It is one of those instinct moves than anything. What really throws him off is the fact he doesn't come down. The weightlessness is already kicking in and the mercenary starts to float off into the air. "I really am going to request a fight on the ground next time!"
COMBATSYS: Frei blocks Nahid's Strong Punch.
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Nahid 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\0 Frei
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Faolan 0/-------/--=====|
Once you've been punched by Nahid, you really don't want it to happen a second time. You will pretty much go out of your way to avoid it. Never mind that Faolan just... uh... let's just say that as Nahid is sailing at Frei in a really impressively acrobatic way, the redhead is grimacing and doubled over... and then floating and doubled over. "aarghbl" is what comes out, rather than intelligent discourse. And then he looks up and realizes he's got a split second to deal with Nahid's attack.
So he does the only thing he can think of. Without a ground to brace himself against, Frei reaches behind him and suddenly whips the wooden sword out in a sword-drawing motion, his other hand gripping the opposite end so that Nahid's blow impacts on the weapon rather than Frei himself. Which... helps, somewhat. The impact is still jarring, sending numbing vibrations down his arms, but it does keep him from taking the full brunt of her fury... and it sends him floating down toward the foor of the plane. But Frei's ready for it, this time; as soon as he feels his feet touch a solid surface, he immediately kicks off, leaping forward back toward Nahid. His leap turns into a wide, arcing slash of the bokken, the path of the strike leaving a silver-gold, metallic sheen in the air, and if the strike connects, it makes a sound like a struck tuning fork in the stuffy pressurized air for just a moment.
COMBATSYS: Nahid blocks Frei's Houken.
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Nahid 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 Frei
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Faolan 0/-------/--=====|
Nahid catches the bokken blow on her lower arms. The impact is impressive but she barely moves her limbs, and as gravity is starting to reassert itself, it doesn't even throw her very far; she goes about five feet before she touches down.
Nahid grins, broadly, as she feels that intense weight come back. Sure, it slows her down, but she can /stand/, and that's important. "Heh," she says. "I agree with you, partner. All this flying around is for birds, and I am /not/ a bird." She tilts her head left, then right; her neck pops as she does it.
With her feet planted so, Nahid is in a good position (such as it is) to try an attack; a slow, deliberate, and impressively strong blow that comes from her entire body. She puts all her weight behind it, and it shows. Unfortunately, it's ponderously slow, which does not exactly leave her in a good position afterwards.
Faolan will have to apologize after the fight, but doing so right now in the heat of battle probably isn't going to be a good idea. He is left floating about as Frei goes after his partner as well. "Certainly not a bird either, aye." he agrees with his partner as he is thankful for things to be changing to where he is going to be able to be on solid ground again. His feet touch ground again and he sets his jaw and comes forward again, this time towards Frei. It isn't often that he quickly initiates an attack like this without thinking on it, but with Nahid striking it seems like too good of an idea to help and keep the other fighter on his toes.
His hand grips the bata tightly as he moves forward. This time he is aiming to slide one hand more towards the middle of the stick as that black energy begins to build on one end. That is the end he intends to drive into Frei's torso and lets the blast of energy get released and give Frei a nice little jolt.
COMBATSYS: Frei dodges Nahid's Rooted Mountain Heart.
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Nahid 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\0 Frei
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Faolan 0/-------/--=====|
COMBATSYS: Faolan successfully hits Frei with Saying Hello.
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Nahid 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\1 Frei
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Faolan 0/-------/-======|
Birds? No, Frei's definitely not a bird either, unless you're talking metaphorically. That is to say, he's been called a 'loony bird' and similar things before, for example. Still, he chuckles at the discussion of wanting to be on firm ground. "Come on, now. This would be fun in any other situation, though, right?" he asks, and for him it's the truth at least. He'd love to give this a go without people trying to punch his lights out. And then the gravity of ascent is slamming him into the floor again and he observes, as a conscientious afterthought, "Though maybe... without... this part..."
It's Nahid who gets to Frei first this time, and he doesn't make the mistake he did before; there is no half measures trying to dodge in this sudden pressing gravity, so he does not so much hop as DIVE to the right, the blow slicing the air where he just was. However, he has now made miscalculation #2: recovering from such a dodge takes more time than normal given the situation and so when he DOES get to his feet, Faolan is *right there*. Now Frei has no time for anything BUT a 'short hop' and it's woefully insufficient, the Ikari's chi-infused blow landing home quite nicely, sending Frei stumbling back a few steps. He actually seems a little surprised, as he looks at Faolan. "There's something... different about you," is what he says aloud. What he does NOT say is: not many people seem to use chi of... that kind. And it is unmistakably so, but very, very rare. As a scholar of the subject, Frei's curiosity is piqued.
But now doesn't seem to be the time. Rather than attack, Frei stands his ground even as the intense gravity seems to lift, pushing his arms outward tai chi-style and centering himself. He glances to Nahid with an almost embarassed grin. "I hope this is at least somewhat the fight you wanted, when we last met," he says.
COMBATSYS: Frei gathers his will.
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Nahid 0/-------/-======|=======\====---\1 Frei
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Faolan 0/-------/-======|
Nahid doesn't know a damn thing about chi. It's just a weird colour as far as she's concerned. The eggheads at NESTS probably know something about it, but do you think they bother to tell /her/? Her job is to watch psions!
Of which there are none around, so she can feel free to enjoy herself.
Nahid doesn't manage to get ahold of Frei. No real surprise there, she's not fast, especially when she's being pressed towards the floor by a hundred and change extra pounds she's not accustomed to. As the pressure lightens up, she says, "Yeah, the plane part's not too bad, but the flying part is a bitch. Especially when they start going up again."
Rather than immediately press the assault, Nahid waits. She moves, slowly, to the side while Frei gathers in his power; she keeps her hands up as if expecting an assault as soon as she goes weightless again. (Because she is.) "Better fight than I expected. You're not going easy on me at /all/. I like that."
COMBATSYS: Nahid focuses on her next action.
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Nahid 0/-------/-======|=======\====---\1 Frei
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Faolan 0/-------/-======|
Different about him? That is a first for Faolan. Of course people tell him stuff like he isn't right in the head or he is too damn happy, but that all is in jest. "Different? I am just a merc having some fun on the side." he comments without mentioning the fact what group he actually works for in this case. The Ikari name isn't exactly something he tries to throw about too often if he can help it. He lets out a sigh of relief as things start to ease up again and he feels the force of gravity ease up on me. "Thanks for the compliment, I think." he says and gives a bit of a cheeky grin once again.
He notices Nahid staying back for now and he decides it is best to continue the assault and come in at Frei so he doesn't get too much of a breather. He starts to shift his grip on the bata to where he looks like he is about to strike with it, but he uses it more as a distraction as he brings a foot upwards for a kick that thankfully has a higher aim then the last one he gave Frei. This one is more intent on slamming into the man's gut. "Hup!"
COMBATSYS: Frei blocks Faolan's Strong Kick.
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Nahid 0/-------/-======|=======\=====--\1 Frei
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Faolan 0/-------/-======|
There is something a little deceptive about Frei, and as Faolan's kick slams into Frei's outstretched palms at stomach height, he might start to notice it, whereas Nahid and her past experience mean she likely already knows. He doesn't look like much; really, he seems like nothing more than a silly teenager more than a 28-year-old martial artist. But he's surprisingly tough, and doesn't fall for Faolan's bait with the bata, managing instead to turn the power of what would have been a quite nasty kick indeed into merely bruising... though attack after attack is clearly taking their toll on him. "If I'd held back against either of you, you'd probably have been offended," the redhead says with a faint smile. "I can usually pick out the people who are only interested in winning, compared to others... neither of you strikes me as the type."
Nahid in particular... Frei's memories of the young woman are of her complete and total defiance in the face of what felt like uncertain odds indeed. Whether it was Saint's unnerving psychic ghosts or Rolento's barrage of helicopter-mounted missiles, Nahid faced them unflinchingly. Something about Faolan's bearing tells Frei that the Irish merc would be the same indeed.
"Case in point," he says quietly, nodding his head at Faolan, before charging the Ikari warrior, hand gripping the 'hilt' of his wooden sword. When he gets close -- knowing that weightlessness is a heartbeat behind him -- he suddenly makes a drawing motion, slicing the air between them. But the goal isn't to hit Fao with the blade, but rather the sudden arcing blast of lightning that follows and surrounds the strike. If it hits home, well...
COMBATSYS: Frei successfully hits Faolan with Shinra Banshou.
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Nahid 0/-------/-======|=------\-------\0 Frei
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Faolan 1/=======/=======|
Just as the lightning blade sears into Faolan, Frei's voice rings out, somewhat incongruously stating, "Wood fuels Fire..." And then come four more slashes, each flowing into the next, but the element changing every time. The lightning becomes a crescent of scarlet flame, then a wave of concussive force, then a 'blade' of that silver-gold energy, and then finally a sweeping arc of blistering frost. The whole while, Frei's narration continues. "Fire becomes Earth, Earth bears Metal, Metal carries Water, Water nurtures Wood!" When the last slash dies away, Frei turns his back, sliding the bokken back into place. It's a dramatic little gesture, but they're sort of expected in this scenario.
Nahid has been called battle-mad before - not quite crazy, but close, and certainly dangerously reckless. The psychic ghosts were frightening; she would be lying if she said they hadn't scared her. But she is exactly mad enough in exactly the right way to fight through them. Compared to those, the missiles were nothing.
"Yeah, I would have been," Nahid says, still expecting to be the target. When she /isn't/, she turns to follow the attack automatically. That looks somewhat less than pleasant. She's glad it wasn't her; she'd be reeling.
But she sees her opening. As things start to get light, but before she entirely floats, Nahid takes a couple bounding steps in a half-run, half-bounce over at Frei - and when he poses, she drives a rock-solid palm at his back, her hands stiffened and fingers locked in place. It really does feel about as flexible as a brick.
Nahid keeps the solid hand up afterwards, every muscle tensing and every knuckle locked. It's uncomfortable, but if he swings that bokken at her, she'll be happy she had it.
Faolan is trained enough to know when someone is holding back. If Frei was doing so he would have already said something by now. He appreciates the fact he is going all out and isn't underestimating either of his opponents. He is also deceptively tough on Fao's eyes. Then again the merc is used to dealing with obvious toughguys when training. It is often people like Frei that pose the problem because it is hard to guess how tough they just might be. With his kick not landing quite as he expected he is ready to deal with the retaliation given how close they are. His problem is he steps forward thinking the sword strike is what Frei is aiming for which allows the lightning to hit without issue.
In fact each blow lands perfectly and the last one sends Faolan backwards and he starts to rise upwards as he goes a bit limp for a few moments aside from a hand gripping his bata tightly. He begins to stir after a few moments and he grins. It is a bit of an odd sight because his hair is mostly covering his face aside from the pearly whites. "Hey, now that is what I like to see, fellah." he manages to say. Oh he is sore as hell right now, but now he knows just what Frei can fully do. He figures not long ago a blow like that could have mowed him down. It looks like all that training is starting to pay off.
He takes a deep breath and he manages to get a good grip on his bata while floating about. He watches as Nahid comes in and tries to capture Frei in another sort of pincher attack. This time he starts to thrust his bata forward, this time multiple times as he creates seven balls of energy similar to the one he made earlier in the match. he gives one final thrust that sends them all forward right towards Frei, but before reaching him they all slam together to great one large ball of black energy intent on rolling over the man.
COMBATSYS: Frei blocks Faolan's Black Friday Rule.
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Nahid 0/-------/-======|==-----\-------\0 Frei
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Faolan 0/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Nahid successfully hits Frei with Stone Hand Soul.
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Nahid 0/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Frei
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Faolan 0/-------/=======|
Someday he'll learn not to turn away after that attack, no matter how 'right' it feels. Frei always pays for it afterwards, and this situation is one of them. He turns back to feel himself lifting off the plane floor just in time to see Nahid dashing at him with a stiff armed punch. He doesn't even have a moment to make a Bruce Lee joke before the blow hits him in the side rather than the back, but the point of impact is academic when compared against the fact that it lands home solidly, sending him spinning in the near-weightless environment. On the plus side, it reminds him that even if he hit Faolan very hard, it's 100% likely that the Ikari is going to strike back and then some afterwards. Thus Frei turns just in time to see the sphere of crackling black energy flying his way. Squinting a little, the chi sage snaps out an arm and thrusts it INTO the attack, stopping it cold momentum-wise. Damage-wise, not so much; Faolan's chi spills out, hammering against Frei's defenses before he can finally force the thing to disperse.
Breathing heavily, Frei looks between his two opponents and laughs. There's a time when he wouldn't have thought he'd ever be in this position, yet here he is, inexplicably. It's a nicely humbling experience, which perhaps Frei needed after so much Taizhou-related drama... and a reminder, at least, from the smiles on their faces, that fighting CAN occasionally be about fun.
But it's also about getting beat up, so while he's been picking on Faolan a bit lately, it's the Ikari that Frei lunges for despite having been pushed back quite a bit by Faolan's sphere of energy. All he wants to do is grab the merc's shirt, shoving him off balance before detonating a tiny microburst of wind in the space between them. "Nothing personal," he says in the process, "but I don't think I can take hits from both of you too much longer!"
Nahid can't keep her arms quite that invincible forever. She keeps them up, ready to block, but that's as far as it goes; there's less of the iron skin trickery going on, and more just Nahid's innate (significant) toughness.
If he's going to leave her alone, it's the least she can do to take advantage of that. Nahid feels the pressure start up, and she grins. There's one thing she can do that shouldn't be made worse by this - it should be made better.
"Hey, Frei," she says, from almost directly behind him. She's trying to get him to turn, at least a little - and when he does (or even if he doesn't, but it makes it easier if he does) she tries to hook her leg between his, yank, and send him down to the floor with all the force of the plane's acceleration behind it. She presses down with one foot afterwards, trying to keep him pinned there until the weight lets up, though she doesn't expect it to actually hold him in place indefinitely.
COMBATSYS: Frei successfully hits Faolan with Medium Throw.
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Nahid 0/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0 Frei
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Faolan 1/----===/=======|
There will be no offense taken at this point. Faolan knows he looks on his last legs and he has to admit he feels it as well. His body is aching and it is actually rather nice to feel his body become weightless and given him a bit more energy. He is still a bit too slow to deal with the attempted grab by Frei. He is blasted away and he bounces off the wall of the plane with a loud oof. It doesn't seem to be enough to take care of the mercenary, though. He hehs a bit and grips his bata before pushing off and floating towards Frei.
He actually grips his bata with one hand as he slowly floats forward to Frei. He goes to take a swing towards the other fighter several times, attempting to batter his legs and arms for the most part to weaken him. He makes one final thrust as he grins a bit and sticks the tip of his tongue out for a moment. "Just don't be surprised when I don't listen well and don't stay down." With that being said he gives one final thrust of his bata as it charges with that black energy as the tip aims to slam into Frei's torso and give him another nice shock of energy.
COMBATSYS: Faolan successfully hits Frei with Hair of the Dog.
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Nahid 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 Frei
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Faolan 0/-------/-----==|
COMBATSYS: Frei fails to interrupt Strong Throw from Nahid with Reiki.
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Nahid 1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Frei
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Faolan 0/-------/-----==|
COMBATSYS: Frei can no longer fight.
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Nahid 1/-------/=======|
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Faolan 0/-------/-----==|
You can only keep this up for so long, really. Frei laughs at Faolan good-naturedly, shaking his head even as he ducks backward, feeling the press of gravity start to weigh him down. This is going to be tough indeed... he really had hoped to put Faolan down and be able to concentrate on at least giving Nahid a few rounds of decent fight, but the Ikari just doesn't seem to want to stay on the ground. Still, that's something Frei can respect. "Yeah, well... same from me!"
Famous last words. Surprisingly, Frei's reaction time doesn't typically get worse over the course of a long fight, provided he doesn't wear himself out; he just has that patient sort of personality. That said, you can only keep up trying to manage attacks on two fronts for so long, and this time everything goes right for Faolan and Nahid. The Irish gent has Frei's attention, and his attempt to dodge that final stab goes all wrong, sending him spinning away... into the grip of Nahid, who he'd genuinely and regrettably forgotten about in the heat of the moment. Even as she tries to hook her leg around his, he does have a split second to bring his hand up, glowing with a haze of undefined energy, but gravity and time are on her side, and before you can say 'KO' Frei is on the ground, *face-first*, for the rest of the climb.
He holds on as hard as he can to being fully awake until the g-forces stop, but once the plane levels off, he rolls over on his back, and then waves his hand in the air, not getting up, letting the armwave of truce fall bonelessly back to the floor of the plane with a loud *CLANG*. "Alright... that's all I got. Good fight."
Nahid did not expect planting her foot to actually work. The pressure lets up when the plane levels off, as much because she abruptly weighs less as because she intentionally did so - but when he puts his arm up in surrender, she gets off entirely, stepping back.
"Hey, pilot!" she yells, assuming he can hear her. "Keep flying straight, we're done!" And she doesn't want to go through another one of those cycles. Her back and knees are really starting to get a little sore.
She lets out a breath of air, then offers Frei a hand up, in case he wants it. "Cool," she says, once she's caught her on breath. "You okay too, partner guy? Didn't accidentally kick too hard or kick off your shoe or drop your stick or anything?"
Thinks just go by so fast that Faolan doesn't even realize that things are finally coming to an end. It looks like Nahid managed to finish off the feisty opponent after he created that distraction. HIt doesn't help that he is on his last legs and everything feels like it is going in slow motion to him. Even as he starts to hit the ground he is more fighting the gravity with what strength he has left so he doesn't get smooshed before things begin to level out as well.
As things shift and begin to level off Faolan manages to sit Indian style with his bata resting on his lap. That is about the amount of strength as he can must at the moment after that fight. He is just glad the rest of the plane ride will be normal until they land. There he might just faceplant and kiss the ground. At this rate with the weirdness he keeps having to go through during SNF he might have to take a week off. "I will be fine now. Just a tad dizzy." he says while letting out a slight chuckle. "You two are too much. It was fun to say the least, aye?"
Log created on 17:48:58 11/06/2010 by Frei, and last modified on 10:16:07 11/09/2010.