Description: Antoine meets Zach in Zach's old stomping grounds. The two, as is typical between a pair of fighters, have a spar.
Downtown Cleveland, in the middle of November, is a busy place despite the chilly winds that blow through. People are getting ready for the holiday season, doing the grocery shopping, buying gifts if they are feeling industrious. Despite the fact that both of the active professional sports teams are working through substandard (read: business as usual) seasons. the attitude is mostly upbeat, motivated.
Zach Glen could care less about professional sports, being something of a professional athlete himself. Only, his sport is a bit more violent than even the roughest of football games. He is a professional fighter. Today, however, he is in town visiting his family for the holiday and looking forward to Thursday's feast. It has been several years since he had enjoyed a Thanksgiving meal at home.
Zach currently has a bag of groceries in his arms that he had been sent out for, and is heading down a busy street. He keeps his eyes peeled, however. It wasn't too long ago that he had been jumped on a similar errand. That had not ended well.
Where to go.
This path leads him to Cleveland, Ohio. It is not much of a real spot in the US, but it is an interesting location. While passing through the streets, Antoine can see the signs and posts about the upcoming football game ready to come up. It is interesting enough to garner the guy's attention, "I wonder, basketball season should be fun when that comes up again." He muses, then he wanders along the streets. His eyes drift from the left to the right, and then his eyes drift over towards...
Buh?
His attention falls over towards the purple haired young man. The young man furrows his eyebrow, thinking back to himself.
~ "Ah, the other guy's name... Zach. Kinda short. Purple hair... looks kind of, kind of scrawny, but, Y'know that colorful stuff people can fling when they... when they punch, kick, what have you? Chi." ~
Those words of Rust ring to the back of his mind. Furrowing his eyebrow, Antoine makes his way towards the lone young man, "'Ey! Yo! --Err, excuse me!" He tries to get his attention.
Basketball season, Antoine will find, is going on right now. The Cavaliers are going through a rough season, adjusting to the sudden departure of one of their star players for a different market. Zach hears someone calling, and an adventurer's reflex kicks in causing him to look around for the source of the voice.
This proves tricky, as Zach is a short man, but climbing onto a set of steps for elevation (along with a quick apology to the people sitting on it) helps to solve that quickly. He spots Antoine with eyes narrowed under the ballcap. The younger man has an interesting look about him, to be honest. Then again, Zach's hardly one to throw stones on that count. The gauntlet alone is enough to mark the psychic knight as eccentric at the very least.
Zach hops down and walks towards Antoine, his senses at full alert. This would be the start of an excellent ambush, but the crowd would make such a thing risky to say the least. "Um, can I help you?" he asks, craning his neck up only a little to look the slightly taller man in the eyes.
The young man is holding onto that duffelbag that always seems to be with him. The young traveling hobo is quite pleased with his surroundings. Nevertheless, it is dealing with Zach that catches his attention. While he makes his way over towards the older man, he comes to a halt.
"Would you happen to be Zach?" Antoine pauses, lifting a had up with a smile, "A man had told me about you regarding the King of Fighters and you guys are putting up a team.. Rust is his name." Antoine decides to get to the point. After all, Antoine is 80% sure that this individual would have to be Zach. If he isn't... Oops.
Purple is not exactly a normal hair color, even in America. And where colored purple hair tends to look artificial, there is something about Zach's hair that seems natural. Zach's eyes narrow again at the mention of his name, then relax when Rust's name is mentioned. "Yeah," he says amicably, "I know the guy." He grins a bit, "Though I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage."
"I apologize, I should introduce myself." The young man looks calm, if smiling. "I'm Antoine, just a wandering traveler. My sifu was someone who knew Rust. I will also be part of the King of Fighters, on your team... There will be one more when I can reach him." He offers a brighter smile.
"...Rust is still strong, even with time that passed. He is stronger than he is willing to admit." Antoine muses, then he looks over towards Zach, "...I was interested in running into you, even if it was by chance." He looks over to Zach and the bags, then he frowns, "But... it looks like you're a bit busy at the moment."
"Wandering traveler," he says with a bit of interest. "Yeah, Rust hits like a freaking /truck/ when he has a mind to," he admits as he adjusts the grocery bags. He shrugs. "There's nothing perishable in here. Otherwise I'd have drove," he says unconcernedly. Nevermind the fact that it chilly enough to not really matter.
"What'd you have in mind?" he asks.
The young Warrior muses for a moment. "It's always important to know who your teammates are, what they are capable of... More importantly, their style and how they fight." Antoine offers a smile, "I have been interested in learning other people's style... to see how they fight and why they fight." His smile brightens.
His head lifts up, looking over towards Zach, "I'd like to see your style and what drives you." Antoine lifts his head at Zach.
Zach looks around, as if trying to get his bearings. He is silent a moment longer before pulling out a cell phone. "Gimme a second," he requests as he turns away from Antoine. He talks to the phone quietly for a few moments before closing the phone. "Alright," he says. "Let's go." Zach leads the way, heading towards the lake.
A few moments later, the pair are out front of Cleveland Browns Stadium where they meet a tall man in a well-tailored suit. Zach waves with his free hand.
"Antoine," he says, "This is Jack Paulson. He's my agent." Zach learned quickly that having someone to handle the contracts and fight scheduling was a very good thing to have. Zach turns to Jack, who nods. "Everything set then?" Zach asks.
"Yeah," Jack says as he extends a hand toward Antoine. "Nice to meet you, Antoine." Zach turns to Antoine, "The Browns are out of town this weekend, so they should be able to fix whatever we mess up on the field."
When Zach pulls out a cellphone, Antoine looks a bit confused at first. "Hrm?" He gazes over to the older man when he speaks on the cellphone. Patiently, Antoine is turning away from the fighter and he hefts the duffelbag over his shoulder. He shuts his eyes, contemplating to himself.
Now, when Antoine faces Zach again, he reveals to be finished with he business on the phone. "Alright." Antoine is starting to follow Zach around. As they are approachng the Cleveland Browns Stadium, he gazes up in awe towards the building structure. While they approach the tall man, Antoine gives the older man a hand to shake.
"Pleasure to meet you as well." After the introductions, Antoine retracts the hand and looks a Zach, "So we'll be fighting in the stadium, then?"
"Yeah," Zach says with a nod as he hands the bags to Paul, who heads off to stow the goods some place safe. "Paul will put out something he calls a flash-ad, and sell walk-in tickets. Sales go to local charities, I cover the costs which aren't as bad as one would think."
Zach leads the young man through some tunnels and out onto the field. "Welcome to the Dawg Poung," Zach says as he throws his arms wide. He loves this stadium, loves the town really. He removes the gauntlet, and sets it on a bench, along with the bundle before standing in the middle of that big orange helmet chalked onto the 50 yard line. He sets into a light stance. "I have to warn you right now though," Zach says, "I'm not exactly what you'd call a martial artist. I'm more of a brawler."
COMBATSYS: Zach has started a fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Zach 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Antoine has joined the fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Zach 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Antoine
"Flash-ads?" Antoine looks perplexed at first, but then he slow starts to get it. Both eyes shutting, Antoine lifts his head up and then he finally nods, "I see..." So, this fight is an advertisement. A show-boat. Hoo boy. Antoine offers a faint smile, before he nods.
While they walk through the tunnel, Antoine tilts his head at Zach, "I see.." He looks along the stadium's interior, noticing the area. Now, when they arrive into the middle of the big field, his eyes widen when he stares around him, even observing the 'grass'.
He finally loosens the grip on the duffelbag, letting it drop to th ground with a thunk. Then, Antoine slides his right fist out and the left open-palm against the right fist. He leans forward in a bow, then he steps the right leg out and opens both hands in a fighting position.
"No matter. A style is the way of the person themselves." Now, Antoine moves forward to meet with him in close distance. He immediately shifts his weight over and drives his right leg towards the older man's head.
COMBATSYS: Zach dodges Antoine's Light Kick.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Zach 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Antoine
It may surprise Antoine when he sees people filing in in time to see the first kick. Cleveland loves Zach Glen right back, since he is one of the few (if not the only) professional fighter to claim Cleveland as his hometown.
Zach grins as he leans slightly to his right, allowing the kick to whip past his head. Zach takes an additional step, psychic 'fire' licking up and down his arms as he sets his weight. Extending his left hand towards Antoine as if to set his aim, Zach drives his right fist forward as he steps into the punch. Purple energy whips down to the fist, forming into an imitation of the gauntlet Antoine saw Zach wearing earlier.
Zach has /some/ basic grounding in the use of good body mechanic, however, Antoine will he hard-pressed to place the strike into any formal style.
COMBATSYS: Antoine blocks Zach's Medium Punch.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Zach 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Antoine
This is a bit more of a closer combat than he expected, but that is alright. When Antoine's foot moves right over the man's head, he finds his back turned towards Zach to where he is able to actually get his fist out towards the back of the head. Antoine, in turn, responds to this situation by snapping his head over to the side while his right arm hooks over to that right hand aimed for his head. Instead, he positions it over to his side to lock it in place.
Antoine can feel that surge of energy wash over him, driving inside of his mind while he twitches. It is the same feeing that he had when he fought Farah. His eyes narrow while he shifts his right leg back and sweeps it over to move it behind Zach's left leg.
Then, Antoine sweeps the body over to the right, throwing his enire weight over to press against Zach and have him fall onto his back.
COMBATSYS: Zach dodges Antoine's Medium Throw.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Zach 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Antoine
Zach hops the leg sweep, and lands in a good, set stance. Antoine can push, but Zach seems largely immovable. Zach grins a bit as something seems... familiar somehow about Antoine's movements. "This seems... I've seen this somewhere before. Or something like it."
Zach pulls his right hand back, still curled into a fist, which he drives towards Antoine's chest. Moments before it might connect, however, Zach's fist hooks and misses easily. The wanderer would not even have to move to avoid the fist. The wide strip of violet energy that seems to lunge towards the taller man, however, will need active involvement to avoid!
COMBATSYS: Zach successfully hits Antoine with Zero Stance.
- Power hit! -
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Zach 0/-------/------=|======-\-------\0 Antoine
Antoine had tried to get a good sweep on Zach. The technique was all well and good. Unfortunately, the older fighter seems to have gotten a way to keep himself from getting out of his own stance. His eyes widen, he sweeps the leg back over and he pivots to face Zach.
It is in time that Zach is pulling the hand back to drive it towards the chest. His guard lifts up as both arms cross like an X along his chest. The guard, however, seems all for naught when Zach merely hooks the hand away.
Yet, the violet energy stripes out towards him, which causes both eyes to widen.
~ Nnngh! ~
Antoine's guard presses against the strip of energy until it easily tears through his defenses. The young man's eyes widen before he is flung across the stadium. Skidding across the ground, he grunts and he curls into a ball, "D--damn..." He staggers to his feet, slipping into his fighting stance again.
tQuickly, Antoine now moves towards Zach while he brings both of his arms crossed together as the back leg moves in front. Then, he steps forward to swing both palms out in their respective direction. The right palm aims to plant against Zach, seeking to knock him ways away.
COMBATSYS: Zach blocks Antoine's Moving the Mountain.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Zach 0/-------/----===|=======\-------\0 Antoine
Zach twists his hips, bringing a psycho gauntleted arm up to catch Antoine's palm strike on it in a flare of defensive energy. He slides back a couple of inches as he shakes feeling back into the arm. "You move like that Chinese kid," Zach says finally. "I thought I recognized the movements."
Zach steps in quickly, his lack of reach forces Zach to resort either to projectile warring or close fighting. The first option will run him down pretty quickly but seems like an easy route to a win, while the latter will present greater risks but prove more of a challenge. Option two, then. No point in an easy win when nothing is on the line, and the crowd wants to see a fight.
Zach throws a picture book jab, a burst of that purple energy erupting from the end of the strike!
COMBATSYS: Zach successfully hits Antoine with Jab Punch.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Zach 0/-------/---====|=======\==-----\1 Antoine
Blink. Antoine's taking out of the fight when he mentions 'Like that Chinese kid'. He asks, "Quon?" He furrows his eyebrow, then he nods. I looks like that the guy has fought his friend before. Nevertheless, the palm is caught by the gauntleted arm yet Antoine pulls back to recover his stance.
As Zach brings himself to theposition of throwing a jab. Antoine steps into the jab so that he can position himself for yet another strike with both palms. However, the quick jab has Antoine reeling back pretty hard. That fist sends his head curling back, hunched over. He inwardly winces, then he turns to face Zach. Nnggh! He immediately launches himself off of the ground, seeking to slam the foot towards Zach's chest before he shifts his weight over to have the other leg snap at the back of Zach's head.
COMBATSYS: Zach interrupts Sundering Heaven EX from Antoine with Third Stance EX.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Zach 1/-------/=======|=======\=======\1 Antoine
Zach steps in toward the first kick, catching it on his right arm and roughly parrying it aside. He sweeps his left arm in an upward diagonal, summoning another streak of that violet energy that slaps into Antoine before the second kick is thrown.
That buys Zach some breathing room. "Yeah," he says. "That's him!" Zach says a bit excitedly as he bounces on the balls of his feet. He seems intent on staying on that Brown's helmet for the duration of the fight. The crowd is eating the whole thing up, cheering on both fighters!
That violet streak of energy whips right along his form, piercing out towards his chest. Antoine's eyes widen as he feels that powerful thrust of energy tear through his defenses. Inwardly, he grimaces before he collapses over towards the ground. A grunt is made as he falls onto his knees.
"Damn..." He can hear the cheers of the fans. It is, in a way, rejuvinating. However, his mind flows in rememberance of his training. Slowly getting back to his feet, he looks over to see Zach, the surge of lightning illuminating from his body.
As his left foot steps back, both hands move to the side to manifest the lightning. The voltage surges along his body.... Then he steps forward. As he leans forward with the left arm, the energy resonates a powerful burst as he calls out, "SHAAAAA!"
It is like a boom box in your face.
COMBATSYS: Antoine successfully hits Zach with Perfect Storm.
- Power hit! -
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Zach 1/---====/=======|===----\-------\0 Antoine
Zach catches the lightning strike right in the chest. Blood sprays as an old wound rips open once more as he yells out in pain. Zach keeps his footing, however, wobbling slightly as he brings himself back to controlled. "I've got a move that is kinda like that," he says as he pulls his right fist back one more time. A gauntlet forms, larger and heavier than the ones he had used before.
Zach steps in, and throws a heavy punch with his full weight (such as it is) behind it. At the end of the punch, Zach releases all of that pent-up power at once in a burst of purple pyrotechnics!
COMBATSYS: Zach successfully hits Antoine with Burst Strike.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ]
Zach 0/-------/---====|=======\===----\1 Antoine
Everything was said and done.
The technique was its final, most devastating technique. Antoine had sought to deal as much damage as he could with that single strike. While Zach does findh imself in a world of pain with the opening of old wounds, Antoine looks at the older man when he keeps himself collected.
Then, Zach starts to use his 'gift'.
When Zach throws out a heavy fist towards his form, Antoine brings up his arms to guard against it. However, Antoine finds himself caught up from the impact of the devastating punch. From that powerful strike is the explosion of the dreaded energy.
This time, Antoine is practically bathing in its power. "Nnggghhhhhh!!!" His body hunches back as he is flung across the ground, landing with a skid across the floor. He twists and turns over, coughing up a bit of blood. He slowly starts to move his feet around, staggering as much as he can until he can settle himself. After he settles himself, he positions himself to where he can face Zach.
One last go...!
Antoine is quick to break through the aching pain that he is currently feeling. His body is telling him to fall, but Antoine strives through it.
He hisses forth as he finds himself driven. While shifting his weight over, he thrusts his right palm out to slam against Zach's stomach, attempting to have him hunched over. This is the set-up to the main portion. It comes in the form of a bone shattering fist driving from underneath the chin and it seeks to tear up into the stratosphere, "....SHHAAAAAKAAAAAAAA!"
To reach for the stars, Antoine's body is launching off of the ground with that strike.
COMBATSYS: Antoine can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Zach 0/-------/---====|
COMBATSYS: Antoine successfully hits Zach with Heaven Descends to Earth EX.
Glancing Blow
> Determined Hit! <
[ \\\\\\\\\ <
Zach 0/-------/-======|
"Good!" Zach says Antoine sets himself to finishing strong. He is not, however, expecting the speed that Antoine approaches with, and catches the palm in the breadbasket. The following uppercut sends Zach in a low arc, which Zach diffuses by rolling for several feet. He slaps a palm to the ground to act as a break, which stops Zach just before his rear leg breaches the black line that denotes the edge of the Browns helmet. Cool, Zach thinks. Mission clear!
He glances up to look at Antoine as the crowd erupts into cheers. He looks a bit worried; Zach didn't hold anything back on that punch. Antoine could have been hurt pretty badly!
COMBATSYS: Zach has ended the fight here.
Sometimes, you have to finish strong if you can...
Antoine sought to finish strong as well. While Zach is caught into the uppercut, Antoine.... lands right onto his feet before he falls to his knee. He clutches his chest, furrowing his eyebrows. His eyes re-open to look at Zach, slowly standing up to his feet.
"... Heh. That was a good fight." Antoine looks over towards Zach, "...That power. I know someone else who has it." He smiles, "Nice lady, Farah..."
He lifts his head up, looking around to see the crowd of people cheering. Overall, it was a nice fight.
Zach grins faintly. "That's a new name," Zach says. "Maybe I'll meet her some time. "And that was a good fight. I don't think I've ever fought someone who threw lightning before," he admits. "Usually it's fire. Or just raw energy. I know one guy who can throw all sorts of elements around, but from what I understand, that's a rare thing." Zach thinks about it. "So yeah. Rust and I were trying to put together a team. You interested?"
"Is that so...?" The prospects of other fighters from around the globe who can manipulate all elements draw his attention. But then, he remembers one particular individual. Wait, wasn't that... He shakes his head, his attention falling back onto Zach. "I've heard.. I was invited by Rust to join the team. I agreed to it. When I get a chance, I'll talk to see if Quon would like to join as well." He smiles towards Zach, "Not leaving my best bud behind, after all."
He smiles, "...Rust has my e-mail to keep in touch with me." He looks over towards the cheering crowd. Then, his gaze falls back to Zach, "Need the e-mail as well?"
Zach simply smiles when Antoine mentions not leaving Quon behind. "I don't need it," Zach finally says as he extends a hand to Antoine to shake. "But I'll take it if you want."
As Zach extends his hand, Antoine extends his hand out to shake Zach's hand. After the firm handshake, Antoine wanders over to get the duffelbag. "...Hrm, I'll likely keep it with Rust until then.." He smiles a little more, "I have much more of the states to visit before I head out to my next trip." He muses, "I am not sure where my trip will take me, but I am interested in finding out."
Antoine smiles, "It will be great working with you and Rust in this upcoming tournament."
"Same here," Zach says with a nod as he grabs his gauntlet and slides it on. An aide comes back with the bags, which Zach takes after shouldering the long, slender bundle he had on his left shoulder. "Been to New York yet? Or Metro City?"
"Not yet." Antoine notes, "I should get around to those parts before I make my way to where the path takes me." He laughs, "Any strong fighters around those parts as well?" Antoine looks curious, glancing over towards Zach inquizziedly. He does look pleased, however, all considering. He gifts a heft of a jerk to his duffelbag, trying to set it upright along his back.
"Around here?" Zach asks. "I'm pretty much it, I think." He shrugs. "Cleveland's got a lot going for it, but an abundance of fighting talent isn't one of them. Metro City, though, I'd bet has a lot. If you head to Japan, it seems like everyone and their cousin in SouthTown fights or knows a fighter."
"...I suppose so." Antoine laughs a little,"... Southtown, the bastion of fighters. I should go there soon." Antoine muses, "..My friend is expecting me there soon, I'm certain." He chuckles, wanting to pay Quon a visit at the place. Nevertheless, Antoine turns to face away from Zach and he starts to walk off from the stadium, "Take care." He smiles, wandering through the hallway and out the exit.
Log created on 13:10:33 11/20/2010 by Zach, and last modified on 18:25:01 11/20/2010.