Description: Southtown is the holy land of fighters. Even with Geese's influence gone, those who know the sport know the best way to pass the time. Even when there's better or more important to be done, nothing - and I do mean nothing - seems to surpass the need or desire to have a fight for whatever reason. The young man nicknamed Megane seeks to better himself after that poor encounter with Gen in that attack on the Kyokugen Dojo. Hoawrd Rust's agreeing to this in the face of other important things for the day before him? Just a prime example of what was just said.
It's pretty early in the morning here in Southtown. Most of the shadier elements are off to sleep right at the rising of the sun, here in the land of the rising sun. For the people who have day jobs such as one Howard Rust, it's just the very beginning of their day.
Now that he's working two jobs in the same place, he needs to be up a whole hour earlier. It's not easy for him to do, to say the least, and the place he'd go to for a morning pick-me-up isn't open for another 45 minutes. So, he has to settle with slightly more dangerous fare via a 24/7 convenience store for sub-par (but cheap, which is a rather big concern of his right now) coffee and some sort of bizarre fusion of cultural tastes wrapped in a tortilla. It's a slightly run-down part of Downtown and that in itself is just simply dangerous - especially when your truck is still a bit shiny and suggests having new things that can be stolen and sold for a pretty penny.
With a cup of coffee and a small paper bag in tow, Howard Rust leaves the confines of the convenience store and places the bag atop the hood of the truck while he fumbles around for whichever toolbelt pocket he put the keys in.
Megane is walking down the street, on his way to school. He has a fresh pair of glasses on, since the last one got shattered.
Seeing Rust, he pauses, his eyes narrowing slightly as he calculates his options, his hand tensing into a fist for a moment. He might not have been introduced when they met, but it's not hard to find information on the only fighter in Southtown with a lead pipe and that... unique hairstyle. Then his face relaxes again.
He walks up behind Rust, trying to be silent and erase his presence - not something he's particularly great at, but he's curious to see how, or if, Rust reacts to this.
"Thanks for the other day. Did you and that ninja come out of things okay?"
"Where'd I put 'em," he mutters out loud. This is kind of embarrassing when one thinks about it, he just had them a good... oh, five to ten minutes ago? He grunts as he presses his head up against the car window. Okay, he didn't lock his keys inside the car again, that much is good. So where are the keys?
Someone addresses him. He didn't hear any footsteps - indeed, there's a couple puddles around from a late night rain - that he looks up with a bit of a start even though the word choice is hardly threatening in the least. It's the surprise, more than anything.
"Huh? Uh..." He tries to think for a moment, he knows he's seen this guy, who was i-- oh. That's right, that particularly weird episode with the old chef slash kung fu grandmaster at the Kyokugen Dojo. He's not even really that sure what that old guy was trying to do - he didn't seem the kind to really seek out and kill Yuri. What the hell was it about busting cameras, though?
"Ahh... the ninja, you mean, the li'l kid?" Said 'little kid' is a teenager but holy hell does he look like a kid. The way he fought sure suggested he was anything /but/ a mere little kid, though. "He got, he got hospitalized. Hadn't really... heard anything 'bout him since."
Admittedly, he didn't think to check as he scratches his side with his left hand. "The old guy, uh... he 'n I left peacefully after that." He's mentally shrugging from recalling that whole picture.
"I'll have to look into that. If he was injured, I'd feel partially responsible."
Megane raises an eyebrow. "He backed down once it was just you and him? That's wierd. I guess you don't seem like much of a threat." He can't remember the last time he saw a fighter so relaxed and... unconfused. "Still. Seems like you were holding your own against him for a bit there." A faint smile. "That's something that's beyond my ability at the moment."
He's silent for a moment. "Maybe you are a little closer to my skill level. How about it, Rust? Perhaps I could trouble you for a match?" His tone is polite, but his eyes are fixed on the older man like a laser pointer.
Holding his own against him?! The older man seems kind of uncertain about that thought. Just one of those kicks left a hell of a bruise. Gen still appeared in great shape, still had all the bluster of a man ready for combat, when he asked him that last question as to whether he's still looking for that lesson or if he found it.
But there is no denying that he doesn't really seem like much of a threat /in comparison/. He's still a pretty thick guy. He grunts a bit at the smile as his left hand is still digging around for his keys. Where the hell did he put them?
"A match?" He repeats that last part of Megane's question. "Ahh... I got work in, in 'bout... half an hour." Though truthfully he ought to be there a little earlier. Where Megane has a laser-like stare, the older man's thoughts are drifting less towards 'friendly fight' and more 'have to work, I have a job.'
"Uhh, don't ya, don't ya have class too, li'l later?" He asks as he makes eye contact, although the way Megane is looking at him is a bit disconcerting.
Megane blinks at this response, raising his eyebrows slightly, as if incredulous of this reason. "Nothing wakes you up in the morning like a good fight." He should know, going to Gedo.
His eyes narrow slightly. That distraction and uncertainty again. He looks away for a moment, then looks back to Rust, his expression dead serious. "I don't want to be helpless in a situation like that again. If that guy had been really serious, he could've killed her. So I can't really put off training."
The sun reflects off his glasses for a moment. "Why don't we have a little match? I doubt it'll take thirty minutes."
Fights don't take thirty minutes, usually. Concussions, broken bones, internal bleeding, serious infections from wounds? Those take a lot more than thirty minutes.
"More of a, more of a coffee guy," the teacher says as he takes a sip from the cup in his right hand. He does this very delicately, but not from the warm temperature. He's more afraid of accidentally dropping it. But, what the kid says is true - there really isn't much that wakes you up more than a fight.
Which he'd do every day if he didn't have to come to work, teach a bunch of kids, yell at said kids, stress out over every little form and paper, and now take care of a bunch of niceties around the campus on a more official level as opposed to being exploited to do them, effectively, for free for his workplace.
Megane explains his situation, his own fears and worries brought to the forefront on a level that makes sense for the fact that this is Southtown - even after the removal of Geese, one of the roughest places to live.
"Ehh." He grunts again as he puts the coffee on the hood with the small bag. He's afraid both of those things are going to go cold, though, there is a microwave at Pacific if worse comes to worse. "There's a, there's a whole lotta martial arts schools 'round here too." His right hand instinctively moves to the top of that length of pipe sitcking out of the toolbelt pocket. Following his own little educational spar with Yuri, he's not sure if he'd actually be the sort of opponent Megane would be looking for, but...
"When I say stop," he says, "you stop. You do that," he clears his throat, "you got a deal."
COMBATSYS: Megane has started a fight here on the left meter side.
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Megane 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Rust has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
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Megane 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Rust
"Deal."
Megane doesn't hesitate, raising his fist in front of him as wind chi swirls around it in a spiral. He then dashes towards Rust, the spiral of wind chi propelling him forward, wind cutting up behind his feet as well, and aims a punch at Rust's head.
He's not really worried about getting injured. After all, what's the worst thing that could happen? He misses school?
COMBATSYS: Megane successfully hits Rust with Rush Punch.
-* CRITICAL HIT! *-
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Megane 0/-------/------=|===----\-------\0 Rust
Megane, quick as the wind, takes off just as the man is drawing Ol' Rusty. To his credit, it's looking smooth. No fuss, no being stuck in the toolbelt. It's almost as though the rusted length of pipe - if it had a will, where being a pipe it does not - is plenty fine with this battle.
It's just Megane's fist comes flying so quick that the older man doesn't even notice until his head and upper body snap back to a tiny fountain of spittle as he's pushed against the hood. The coffee goes flying all the way over to the next vehicle three parking spots over. His back crushes whatever's in the bag and - when the momentum sees him all but tumbling backwards /atop/ the hood - sending the bag down to spill its crushed, mushy contents into one of the rain puddles.
In one quick, decisive punch, regardless of what the young man nicknamed Megane might accomplish in this fight, he ruins Mr. Rust's cheap and unhealthy breakfast. In the long run, he might be saving him at least one doctor's visit's worth of mention of high cholesterol.
In the short term, as one of his shoulders crack in pulling himself up, one eye going over the hood of the truck. The coffee isn't there, neither is the bag with the food. His eyes narrow. He's not rubbing his chin or anything of the sort to acknowledge just how great a punch that was there.
"Yeah. Yeah, you got a punch." The man grumbles, although the punch is the last thing on his mind as he walks back around his truck, Ol' Rusty in his right hand. He doesn't need to adopt any sort of amazing battle-ready pose after the fact to convey what his face does as he steps in the wet, crinkly mess of his former breakfast in that puddle. He doesn't look down to confirm it. He knows what he just stepped in.
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, sure. But the soured mood of a tired, overworked working man over a lost breakfast has got to be up there.
COMBATSYS: Rust focuses on his next action.
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Megane 0/-------/------=|===----\-------\0 Rust
That punch connected well. Megane is certain of that. This is the punch that Ash laughed at. Either this guy is nowhere near as strong, or... maybe punches are his weak point? Or does the acceleration of the wind make that much of a difference? He'll have to test these theories
Still, it just doesn't seem wise to keep on rushing in against an opponent who is clearly more upset about his lunch than the punch. So the Gedo student just looks back at him. "Are you okay?" His face seems to be saying, 'Am I beating up a weak old man who can't defend himself? Does that make me a bad person?'
This is nothing but a calculated taunt.
COMBATSYS: Megane calculates his next move.
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Megane 0/-------/------=|===----\-------\0 Rust
"Yeah." A little bit of blood trickles out the side of his mouth, just to further drive home what sort of strength Megane at least has in those fists of his. That this man is not stopping to nurse this injury should probably be a thing of worry. Mr. Rust is not the swiftest person one will find. His foot speed leaves a lot to be desired. That popping in one of his knees may be a good clue as to why.
He raises his left hand for an instant. Some may call it a tell. Others may say he's opening his guard to another shot of that caliber. For that instant, however, this left hand blots out the morning sun, casting a dreadful shade upon the insidious Gedo student. It's no effect of chi manipulation or anything of the sort, more than coincidental dramatic lighting that lasts for only a split second.
That split second later, his left hand goes for the top of the slightly taller Megane's head to dry and drive him straight down into the parking lot asphalt as though he were forcing down a brick. The first brick of Megane's bones that would blot out even the sun of high noon, which he could probably erect well before then.
Hopefully this man doesn't take that idea /that/ far, but the threat of that single gesture remains evident enough to need dealing with, lest Megane wish to kiss the asphalt.
COMBATSYS: Megane interrupts Brick Stacker from Rust with Typhoon Execution.
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Megane 0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0 Rust
Megane glances up to the hand, and glances over to the right - surely dramatically blotting out the sun is a distraction?
No, no it's not.
He's grabbed by the head. But even as he's pushed downwards, his hands are already moving in a spiral in front of him, and a blast of razor blades of wind slash up into Rust, pushing him back a bit and making the slam into the pavement a good deal less forceful.
The Gedo student blinks as he realizes he's staring up at the sky once again.
A typhoon of guillotine-like wind looks to blow the man back. Each blade feels like a sharp jab to the ribs - but the pushing back may be more to the credit of poor balance being interrupted mid-slam than the actual blast, though the way one of the support pillars catch him from being thrust clean into one of the storefront windows is, by itself, none too pleasant.
A strange syllable pops out of the man's mouth as the wind and pillar behind him knock some of his own wind out, slumping down to a kneel and the small splash of a puddle. He shakes his head even as his entire midsection stings with every little sharp gust from moments prior.
Takes more than a strong wind to knock him off, he reminds himself from his earlier days as a construction worker. Rain or shine, you work. That was the rule. Still, he's not sure what the kid's worried about. He's got a good punch, the chi blasts aren't so bad either.
Putting his left hand just above his right, though there's a little distance between them, he takes two steps forward and tries to thrust Ol' Rusty straight forward towards wherever Megane might be. The morning lights are pretty, no doubt.
Let's hope that thrust doesn't knock those lights out of the kid.
COMBATSYS: Megane dodges Rust's Fierce Strike.
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Megane 0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0 Rust
Megane rolls to one side a moment before the rusty pipe smashes into his head, chips of pavement and rust getting in his hair. He angles his feet before him in the roll, and braces his elbow against the ground, pushing himself back up to his feet.
He pulls a metal flake out of his hair, a bit pointless with quite a few more there. Time to check out that punching-without-chi theory.
He steps back in towards Rust, trying to step on his foot to hold him in place for a moment, and throws a simple straight punch at his chest.
COMBATSYS: Rust blocks Megane's Strong Punch.
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Megane 0/-------/----===|=====--\-------\0 Rust
When pipe smashes the ground with enough force to loosen up some of the road, the man visibly hesitates a little. It's that adult in him thinking, 'maybe I should really be more careful.' The last thing he wants is to have to deal with a vandalism fine.
It's that moment of hesitation that is easily capitalized on as he feels a weight on one of his feet. There's no flinching from at least a /foot/ without chi. Ol' Rusty is lowered a little when Megane comes in this close quarters, since there isn't much room to swing with any sort of appreciable force behind it.
The punch goes for his chest, and is met almost immediately with his left forearm in a rather close save. His own left fist is pressed up against his chest where Megane's meets just past the wrist. There's not a whole lot of weight behind that, far as the older man can think.
"You're pullin'." A somewhat accusatory comment colored by his ruined breakfast more than reason at how soft a blow that is in comparison to the previous, as the teacher takes Ol' Rusty in both hands again and seems to want to try to swing the pipe up in these close quarters.
It's not a strike so much as an attempt to hook one end of the pipe into Megane's clothing and then just try and swing him further out into the parking lot.
COMBATSYS: Megane blocks Rust's Wrecking Ball Swing.
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Megane 0/-------/---====|======-\-------\0 Rust
"I was testing data." Megane furrows his eyebrows a little. "Apparently my punches, left to their own devices, aren't strong enough." This explains the laughter he faced earlier. "Although it's true that I'm not going all out against you. I don't want to cause you some great injury when you have to be at work in twenty-eight minutes."
He grabs ahold of the pipe with both hands as it swings towards him, turns, and falls to his knee, redirecting the momentum downwards. However, the force is more than he expected, and his knee slams into the pavement. Even as he grimaces, he tries to keep his grip, and wrenches on the pipe, trying to hurl the older man over his shoulder with the continued momentum of the swing.
COMBATSYS: Rust blocks Megane's Strong Throw.
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Megane 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\0 Rust
"Oh... uh, thanks." Sure, that's considerate thought, says the softening face of the teacher. Although damn, the loss of his breakfast is still some pretty maddening stuff.
As Megane grabs a hold of the pipe and tugs and swings, the teacher realizes one of his weaknesses is about to be used against him. His left hand squeezes harder on the pipe to keep a good hold on it, but it's a challenge in itself. His entire body tenses as he enters a brief tug-o'-war with Megane. He doesn't succeed in his attempt to hurl him, but it's telling when they pull hard enough that his shoulder and elbow on his left make some loud, popping noises. The wince that follows is probably understated from how painful it sounds.
There's more crackling everywhere, from his right knee to even the right shoulder as he tries to break out of this little stalemate by suddenly thrusting his left arm upward - to the further complaint of his shoulder - in a quick, forceful uppercutting motion of pipe to chin to try and at least break the clutch, even as his stiffness works against him in applying whatever hitting strength he can behind it.
COMBATSYS: Megane blocks Rust's Intercepting Strike.
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Megane 0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0 Rust
Megane narrows his eyes at those words. He was really hoping to hear something machismo telling him he didn't care what he did. See, once people say that, you can do whatever you want, and they still usually think you're a Nice Guy. But being thought as considerate is a little useful too.
He hears the popping of joints, and can feel the strain as the teacher squeezes harder on the pipe. He glances upwards and backwards, watching the grip Rust's using the pipe, and shifts his fingers to the same grip, which helps a good deal when it's swung up in an uppercut to his chin - not that it doesn't still hurt, but it's a lot lighter than it could've been.
He narrows his eyes, and pushes the pipe from his chin, then hurls himself away from the thing, releasing it into Rust's hands. He can't really expect to win in a war over a pipe against a master of... pipe combat, so it's best to redefine the fight again. He glances around the parking lot, eyes scanning here and there, keeping track of Rust with his peripheral vision.
COMBATSYS: Megane calculates his next move.
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Megane 0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0 Rust
Regardless of whether or not it's a clean hit, it accomplishes the purpose of getting them off of him as he straightens himself out with another series of pops. Tensing up like that's not good for flexibility.
He taps his foot on the asphalt once. Hmm, nice, even. The road leading up here is in dire need of a new paving, but at least they put a fresh one here. This works especially well to his advantage as Megane backs off to size up the situation.
The man takes a seat. There's just one thing - he's not sitting on the ground. It's more like he's sitting on thin air, holding the pipe in front of himself horizontally with one hand on either end. With a bit of focus and - perhaps - needless lip vibration, the man shakes in place before he suddenly just... glides forward? Even another trip through a puddle doesn't seem to slow him down. His feet scrape against the parking lot as he pushes forward towards Megane. If Megane doesn't get out of the way or otherwise stop him, he looks to push him over and carry him a ways further down the parking lot until suddenly flipping back to scoop him up with his legs and toss him.
What sort of person devises such a thing anyway?
COMBATSYS: Rust successfully hits Megane with Bulldozer.
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Megane 1/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0 Rust
Wait, what?
...No, seriously, what?
Megane just sort of stares for a long moment before he finally gets the idea that he should probably get out of the way, and starts to summon wind around his feet, moving to one side. But no, the bulldozer is deceptively fast. Megane is pushed over onto the cement, carried down the parking lot, which grinds him painfully against the ground *and* gets his uniform all dirty and a little oily. Parking lots are not the best place to get pushed over.
Just as he starts to try to sit back up, push away, do something, he finds himself being flipped up through the air. He crashes back to the ground, sprawling in an undignified heap.
He shakes himself off, stands back up, adjusts his skewed glasses, and stares at Rust for a moment. Then, the wind swells behind him, and he rushes towards Rust, moving so fast it's hard to see what he's doing.
COMBATSYS: Rust endures Megane's Blast Chokehold.
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Megane 0/???????/???????|=======\-------\1 Rust
There's a blast of wind from his rush as Megane closes in, to knock Rust up into the air. He then moves to grab ahold of Rust's neck with one hand while he's in the air, and begins to choke him, staring up at the teacher with a blank expression, the rising sun gleaming off his glasses.
Moving so fast it's more or less impossible to see. Impossible to react to, and, for Megane's full benefit, impossible for him to miss as the teacher struggles to rise up from his own assault. It's that same cacophony of crackling noises as before. Stiffness. /Slowness./
Megane is polite(?) enough to lift him up to his feet with that blast of wind that shoots him up with another particularly bizarre syllable for a grunt. There is absolutely nothing stopping Megane from getting his hand around his neck, the lingering wind whipping about that horrible combover as the sun ominously glares off of Megane's glasses.
Mr. Rust's neck is solid, but Megane's grip is not one to be underestimated. The student could probably feel, intricately and intimately (if he's into that sort of thing) the sensation of those fingers crushing into his throat. It's helpless. He's stuck in his grasp, weakening. For what is a friendly spar, Megane could probably take him out of the picture right now--
A car suddenly honks loudly. The two of them are standing in the middle of their path!
"Agh, great, sorry," he wheezes inaudibly to the impatient person inside the car, a vague sense of civic responsibility giving him at least a little wind back as he forces himself down out of Megane's grip maybe a moment too soon to be truly comfortable for the ambitious Gedo student, "we gotta," he wheezes, "move this."
He's choking for air, but whatever speed a lack of breath may take away, it's not going to take away the force of that single uppercut by his left hand after the fact.
COMBATSYS: Megane blocks Rust's Crane Launch.
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Megane 1/-----==/=======|-------\-------\0 Rust
The punch by itself should be enough to launch Megane up - at which point the teacher follows with a short jump, sticking the pipe somewhere in Megane's clothing and, with the pipe in both hands, going for a short whirl. A fair bit of momentum is lost when he takes the time to stop and consider where he ought to throw Megane as the car passes by underneath.
That's a bit of hesitation Megane there can take further advantage of.
Megane nods slightly at the suggestion, not letting his guard down for a moment. "Well, where are you suggesting-"
The uppercut on his jaw is sudden, painful, and now the teacher is... whirling him around by a pipe stuck up his sleeve? In the middle of the air?
Wait, what- NO, Megane, you can't get distracted like last time!
He slips his jacket off, grabs at Rust's waist, and then flips over, so if successful, they're both hurtling headfirst at the ground. Either way, he'll break his fall at the last moment with a burst of chi, sliding to safety.
COMBATSYS: Rust dodges Megane's Flying Throw.
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Megane 1/-----==/=======|-------\-------\0 Rust
The man stops his spinning when he realizes pretty much everywhere he could toss Megane might hit a car. It's beginning to pick up activity around these parts, and lowers the pipe to let Megane loose. Incidentally, he misses the part entirely where Megane's trying to reach out and grab him in what should, perhaps, be considered a mere lucky break as the grip comes just shy of even the bottom of his shirt.
Megane goes to break his fall in a fancy manner. Rust just lands like a rock in a crouch, a dramatic splash of water as he soaks one of his knees and - really, most of his pants thanks to that splash - in pooled rainwater.
"Yeah, uh, sorry 'bout that." He casts another look around the parking lot real fast to make sure nobody else is coming at them. Clearing his throat, he doesn't really have the momentum to stop and gather himself further. Might as well go back a little bit closer to the store and out of the road.
"Uh, back this way, you think?" He asks in all politeness as he reaches over to Megane and intends to simply guide him back that way with a shove, wondering if maybe - thanks to his shortening breath from that earlier choke - now might be a good time to call it quits and get to work.
Maybe he'll ask him once they're back about the store.
COMBATSYS: Megane dodges Rust's Quick Throw.
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Megane 1/-----==/=======|-------\-------\0 Rust
Megane slides back up to his feet with the wind, neatly avoiding the water, and stands there for a moment, panting.
Nearby, his jacket flutters down to the ground, to land in a large puddle of water speckled in the rainbow sheen of oil.
"Sure, seems like a wise move." Megane steps out of the way of the shove, and aims a couple of punches at Rust's neck as he moves to step back behind him. He then repeats Rust's earlier gesture, attempting to shove the older man towards the store.
COMBATSYS: Rust dodges Megane's Combo Attack.
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Megane 1/-------/=======|-------\-------\0 Rust
Their exchanges may paint a particularly funny picture to any onlookers, how one moves away from one's arm, and the other - much slower, seemingly less likely to step aside - more or less does the same with a less graceful stumble as Megane's fist swings a couple times a few time in the span of space once occupied by his throat.
"You, you like going for the neck?" He asks as the two are both likely about back in front of the store. "I'll, uh, I'll tell you, if you're not tryin' to kill someone, you oughtta... you oughtta go for the back. Here, I'll show you."
That's when he reaches out to try and grab Megane to force him down to a kneel in that parking spot right about there.
COMBATSYS: Megane blocks Rust's Medium Throw.
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Megane 1/-----==/=======|-------\-------\0 Rust
Megane raises an eyebrow at the question, pulling his arms back. "I don't use these techniques against amateurs, if that's what you mean. A few neck hits aren't going to kill you."
He blinks as he's grabbed by the arm and forced to kneel. On that knee which Rust's throw pushed into the pavement earlier.
"Submission holds?" He shakes his arm loose, and spins around as he swings a foot out to the side, aiming a powerful kick at Rust's side, albeit a telegraphed one.
COMBATSYS: Rust endures Megane's Strong Kick.
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Megane 1/-----==/=======|==-----\-------\0 Rust
Against... amateurs? That puts a pretty scary spin on the statement right there as the man finds it difficult to get Megane to cooperate. What's he mean by 'amateurs' is what he'd like to ask, is he actually part of the professional circuit? He probably could hold his own there, the way he's been fighting.
"First part of it, yeah," he tries to speak up after clearing his throat, the swinging foot going straight for his side. It's a nasty kick. The kid could probably knock a door down or send one of those thugs - or maybe an annoying first-year student - careening away with a kick of that magnitude.
The man doesn't flinch so much as grunt once. He's feeling particularly inspired to inform Megane how /he/ likes to go about things, although this is not the ideal format. "Then I'd," he starts as he strikes out with the foot to the one foot Megane's still standing on - but not just one. A lot. Each one is noisy on impact. Rather loud. Almost like he's trying jackhammer the area below his shins into gravel and/or dust.
"Do this with my pipe," he adds mid-kick with some strain in his voice, "right to the back, gets, gets the wind right out of 'em."
He might be getting a little carried away.
COMBATSYS: Megane interrupts Jackhammer Kick from Rust with Super Intercept.
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Megane 0/-------/-----==|=====--\-------\0 Rust
Megane closes his eyes as he listens to Rust talk.
Suddenly, a burst of wind energy appears behind his arm, and he suddenly strikes downwards with his fist, punching Rust's leg hard as it jackhammers against his foot. And then promptly loses his balance, and falls down, dragging his foot out of the area being stomped as quickly as he can manage, wincing a little at the repeated strikes in the meantime.
He looks up at Rust with a raised eyebrow. "So you're saying that, rather than punch someone in the neck, I should knock them on their back, and then pummel them against hard cement with an iron pipe while they lie there? That's a less dangerous move?"
"Goohowoah!" That's... the best way to convey the utterance in written word when punch meets striking leg enough that it not only stops him from going to when his leg tires of it, his leg is still doing it from muscle memory even as it's sliding towards his opposite ankle thanks to that one definitive punch.
One word: ouch!
He falls over on his side as the intercepting punch leads into kicking himself once in his own ankle onto hisside on the rough asphalt without really having much time to brace or ready himself for the fall. His head bumps up against the little rest they sometimes put in front of the curb for cars to stop at for that added little injury. His vision swims about - but he can make out Megane's words clear, if not that raised eyebrow questioning his wisdom.
"Then... then choking, yeah." He utters a bit pathetically while holding up his pointer finger as if to say that's how it works, before he just lets it go limp. He's looking pretty done from the looks of things, even as he tries to sit up with the opposite elbow pushing him up.
Megane slowly climbs to his feet, and watches Rust for a long moment. Is he faking just to get an opening?
"You have to choke someone past unconciousness to kill them. Their body would go limp a long time before. You can't choke someone to death unless you really want to, or you physically crush their windpipe, but that's a little more than just choking." He's silent for a moment. "Unless they have serious health problems... in which case you probably shouldn't be beating them with a pipe, either."
Doesn't seem like the teacher's faking. And if he is? Not worth the reputation hit to up his chances to win this fight. Megane walks up to him, leans down, and offers a hand to help him up. "We should stop, I'm going to be late to class." Which is probably true. He is not feeling up to running the rest of the way to make up for lost time.
COMBATSYS: Rust takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\ <
Megane 0/-------/-----==|
COMBATSYS: Rust can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\ <
Megane 0/-------/-----==|
COMBATSYS: Megane has ended the fight here.
Megane speaks true wisdom of a man who is knowledgeable in such matters in ways that speak well to his own experience as he helps the man up to his feet. It's kind of hard going, how wobbly he is. He has to lean as much against that support pillar for the store's awning as he does Megane, nodding once as thanks as he winces at the ankle. Oooh, this might be a bit tricky to worth with, he thinks in retrospect.
"Y-Yeah, we, we should," the teacher concedes a bit late after the point as he considers the best way to not put much weight on that foot. On the class side of things, that won't be a problem. Today's supposed to one of those goddamned wasteful 'hand out a paper on a subject the curriculum demands you to cover' days. He could sit in a chair all day and that would be that.
But now he also needs to help transplant parts of a garden to another part of the building and... that's where things might get tricky, having to walk on that foot.
He's too awestruck with worry about the possibilities that he can't even really think of much to say to that as he awkwardly limps along to his truck, raising his left hand in a brief wave.
"Have a, have a good day," he clears his throat. Of course, now he remembers he needs to get his keys out. He pats a toolbelt pocket. Where's the keys?
Something glints in the morning sun as he turns his head to find that they fell out after his last fall. Great, he's going to have to walk all the way back over there to pick them up.
Sigh.
"You too, thanks for the fight." Megane moves his various muscles to test for anything that seems like he can't put off getting it seen to, winces a bit - but no, it's not like he was hit in the *head* with a pipe, at least.
He starts to walk away, and glances over his shoulder as he sees the teacher going for the keys. Should he help him? No. First of all, he might resent the help, second, and more importantly, Megane just doesn't care that much. He got his training, and he still sort of looks like a decent human being. Mission accomplished. No need to get overly sentimental about it. Besides, it's not like he's not in pain.
Satisfied with his reasoning, he sets out to Gedo.
Log created on 12:56:50 11/18/2010 by Rust, and last modified on 18:18:01 11/18/2010.