◊ Johto Fighting Touranment

[killer-sweets.livejournal.com]

Who:displcedsoul usedvolttackle archerygoddess shieldofjustice mimicofthewind purinsuzarippa oxidegreen gochuugoku getthehorns spear_master unyieldingwill fullmetalbro exeggutorhead foolishwren k9tantei can_do_idol show_my_cannons used_glare quickattackjack conflictedrebel usedrage gentiana_clusii killer_sweets solas_ion tearfulyandere usedstarpunch cockinthecrown redeyesforpride sohotlikeme thisisfriller usedrefresh ofmywill branded_twin usedbrine dianxue pluckapetal islandshore usedfeint hackintheaster piccolo_tomate meatysoviet caliburns isthisourchance shellderkillder wontdieifkilled usedslam newhero usedsuperpower allmyraeg usedfacade allthecolorsof savedinapinch forhishappiness chemwhiz buttpinched getmesomewhisky ordalias bywiseguidance The audience is open to anyone not in the tournament and the Party is open to everyone.
Where: Goldenrod National Park
When: Early morning October 7
Summary: Many have entered but only one will take the title.
Rating: T for violence
Log:
It’s a slightly rainy day in Johto, but that’s not going to stop the excitement that seem to have taken over the park. In the center of the park, there are five floating octagon-shaped platforms that being held up by Alakazams. Around the edges of the park there are tarp shielding the bustling crowds from the drizzle. Several big screen TVs can be seen all over the place.

The main park doors up and a redheaded woman step out. The crowds goes silent as she approaches the middle platform hovering above the water fountain. Once she gets close enough, one of the Alakazams picks her up using psychic. As she lands, she pulls out a microphone out of her pocket and addresses to the crowd.

“Hey folks, this is your lovely DJ Mary of the Radio Tower. Welcome to the first ever Johto Fighting Tournament!” she shouts into the mike, making the crowd goes wild. “Competitors from all over the region have come to prove their might but only one will be the Champion. This event will not only be witnessed here in great city of Goldernrod but is also being broadcast to all of Johto, so you can’t say you missed any of the action! The rules of the tournament are simple, folks. There are two ways to win.”

Mary raises her free hand up, showing two fingers.

“One is by knocking out your opponent, and the other is by knocking them OFF the platform. Don’t worry, guys, these awesome Alakazams will be here to float you down if you fall off. Now, enough talk. Let’s get this tournament started. Bring out the contestants!”

Mary is floated off the stage just as the doors open again and the competitors come out.

Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 Round 6 Locker Rooms & Waiting Area Audience Post-Touranment Party

Comments

[show_my_cannons]

I have taught more hopeless, and more headstrong, cases than yours.

[Another heavy pat on the back.]

Yeah. That works.

We good for a time-skip to later? :D

[foolishwren]

_{[She buckles a little under the pat, but then stands up all the straighter to make up for it, beaming.]}

Sounds like a plan to me, then!

_{[But hey, for now, IT'S A PARTY. ... And she just may spend a decent portion of it trying to get him to try various things on the buffet table, because food continues to be serious business.]}

KAY

[show_my_cannons]

[He'll sort of linger on the edges of the party, ducking out as soon as he can. Guest of honor or no, he's not the most social of beings.]

[So sooner, rather than later, he'll trundle off to the meeting place.]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[Considering how crowded it is...his early departure probably won't surprise Heather TOO much. Still, she stays for awhile, anyway-- she might not be much of a party-girl anymore, but tigers can't change their stripes.]

[Still, she shows up before TOO much time passes. He'll probably HEAR her before he sees her, because in the empty facilities, the sound of somebody jogging down the hall carries.]

[Then she pops through the door, tugging off her coat.]</sub>

[show_my_cannons]

[He's just never been one for this whole... party... thing. He feels awkward. So she'll find him already prepared for her, his own coat tossed carelessly in a corner.]

[And now he's just warming up, looking xbox-huge as ever.]

[foolishwren]

_{[It's... understandable. Y'know, considering.]}

Hey!

Didn't keep y'waiting too long, did I?

_{[Even after seeing him in his natural state, she'll never cease to be amazed by how GIANT he is. She's pretty sure he could give the Hulk a run for his money. It doesn't intimidate her nearly as much right now as it did out there in front of the audience, though.]}

[show_my_cannons]

No. Just needed to get away. Too many... things. Happening.

[He rolls his shoulders, and cracks his knuckles. Honestly he looks more ready for a beat-down than he does a training session.]

You ready?

[foolishwren]

<sub>[She parrots his motion somewhat unintentionally, though it looks about ten times less intimidating as when he does it. All the same, she looks ready and spry-- a lot more than she did out there on the platform. It says more about her state of mind than it does about anything else, but hey... state of mind is important, too!]

[She takes the wooden sword from where she'd been carrying it under one arm and wraps both hands around the hilt.]</sub>

As I'll ever be.

[show_my_cannons]

[You can bet he's studying her while she prepares. Noting how she moves, if she's injured, favoring a side, anything. He knows he has a limp, and with the way he's moving, anyone could tell.]

[As she approaches, he holds up a hand.]

Were you watching me? A second ago?

[foolishwren]

<sub>[She's definitely got some cuts and bruises from her first fight, against Suzuki Adelheid-- but nothing overly serious. Nothing she didn't already have when she faced Ironhide in the second round. Otherwise, she moves as one would expect a spry but unprofessional fighter to move. Smoothly and with that coiled-spring potential to burst into a sprint at any moment... but tense all over. Not the nervous OHGODOHGOD tension that was there before, though.]

[She halts when he speaks-- the 'let's GO' look replaced by a surprised (and then uncertain) one.]</sub>

Uh-- ... while you were... getting ready?

... Yeah, I thi-- ... yeah?

[show_my_cannons]

Yeah. Then.

[He waits. He even shifts his weight a little, to make the bad hip more obvious. Ish. He rubs at one cheek, to draw attention to his scarred eye.]

[Hints. Heather, he's giving you clues, this time.]

What did you notice?

[foolishwren]

_{[Heather might not be the most observant type when she rushes things... but she IS a fast learner. She looks him up and down immediately... and those hints aren't wasted.]}

... You limp on one side!

And your vision's bad on one side, too!

[show_my_cannons]

Good girl.

[He spreads his hands.]

Now, what will you do with that knowledge? Hmn?

[foolishwren]

<sub>[There's already a slow smile spreading over her face.]

[She looks up and locks eyes with him briefly... then launches into a sprint, sword arm swung back to strike at his bad leg. But it's not quite a charge like the one she pulled out there in the real arena-- her aim is to strike hard on her way straight past, in hopes that the combination of speed and the fact that she's attacking his bad side will help her land a blow without getting caught.]

[Just in case, though... she's ready to dance out of reach if he should prove too quick for her to succeed.]</sub>

[show_my_cannons]

[He could deflect the blow. Or dodge. But this is lesson one. If she gets discouraged, she'll get angry, and make more mistakes. And start a vicious cycle.]

[So he allows her to strike him. It does hurt -- if only because that joint is abused and aching already.]

[After she passes, he steps aside, and nods.]

You hit well.

[foolishwren]

<sub>[Probably for the best. Heather IS that type... her anger had kept her alive through horrors not fit for any living thing, but it tripped her up just as often. He's got her figured out in that regard. Truth be told, she even knows underneath that he could have avoided that. But the very fact that he let her hit him is SOMETHING, because it means she must have done something right, because if she hadn't, he sure isn't the type to oblige people.]

[She skids to a halt a safe distance away before turning back to him and straightening up.]</sub>

Thanks! ... Practice, y'know?

_{[Fighting monsters might not be the same thing as fighting people, but it sure did teach you how to bash heads in.]}

[show_my_cannons]

[But, as she speaks, he's moving.]

[Closing the distance in a few short strides, and moving to grasp her arm, to pull her down and pin her to the ground, if she doesn't move, or try something.]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[--ohohOHSHIT.]

[She does move. This, more than any type of offense, is the sort of skill that Silent Hill truly honed. After all, if you couldn't hit things without getting hurt, running was always an option. But no matter what, you did NOT want to get pinned. Heather hates being pinned. Too many memories burned into her brain of heavy weight on her chest and a Slurper's grinning teeth gnashing the flesh away from her skull until everything went dark to easily forget.]

[As Ironhide comes at her, she ducks and springs to the side far more instinctively than the motion she initially attacked with. Ducking under his arm if she has to, she aims to swerve around his charge and lash out with the sword at his back on the way past, because the information her instincts scream out at her are 'BIG. HEAVY. Like a Closer. Be faster. The back is a big target. Hit that'.]

[More automatic than rational, and definitely her old monster-fighting instincts surfacing more than anything else ... except for the fact that when she dodges, she does it on the side with his bad eye. On purpose. She's learnin'!]</sub>

[show_my_cannons]

[He keeps moving forward, until he's past her once again, feeling the sword thwack him on the back.]

[That was better than he'd expected. Granted, she hadn't seemed completely in control of her fleeing, but a dodge was a dodge, and he can't fault that. He stops, and turns back to her, arms folded.]

Tell me why you did what you just did.

[Reasoning is important for kicking ass, after all.]

[foolishwren]

_{[She turns as well, panting slightly-- seeing him just COME AT HER like that definitely got the adrenaline pumping, and she stays tense for a second or two until she's sure he's waiting for a response and not about to rush her again. Then she straightens up and sucks in a deep breath to compose herself. Whew.]}

If you'd gotten me on the ground, I'd be more or less dead, if this were a real fight. Couldn't chance trying to hold you off. Had to get out of the way.

... And chances of being able to dodge were better on the side you couldn't see me as well with.

[show_my_cannons]

Good. You have good instincts.

[He steps forward again, with deliberate slowness.]

We will go again. See if you can hit harder. A real strike. Defend yourself -- do not simply flee.

[He's not charging, Heather, but he's repeating the same motions he just used, to try and trap her, to pin her. Just... moving at half-speed.]

[foolishwren]

_{[This time, she doesn't thank him verbally-- just nods. Talking too much left her wide open for distractions. Downside of being a total motor-mouth. Then she sucks in a deep breath and re-adjusts her grip on the weapon, squaring her jaw determinedly.]}

Okay.

_{[No running this time... And she remembers how he grabbed her weapon during the tournament. Don't want THAT to happen again... When he comes at her, she ducks under his arm like she had before, but this time turns on her heel, swinging the wooden blade overhand to bring it down as hard as he can on his wrist-- which in hindsight is not the BEST place she could have struck, but... it'll stop him from being able to snatch the weapon away! ... Hopefully.]}

[show_my_cannons]

[If he'd really been trying, he might have been able to grab the weapon. Or grab her. But now is about training, about getting better. So he moves slowly, lets the blow connect.]

[And raises an eyebrow. If that had been a real weapon, he would have been in trouble.]

Better. Disable your opponent. A good plan.

[foolishwren]

<sub>[... Yep. It's probably a good thing she never got her hands on an actual sword in this place. ... Not that she'd have genuinely swung a real blade at a friend, but.]

[She puffs out a breath, sort of nodding. He let her do that, she knows.]</sub>

Thanks... but if I can't do what I just did, what then? Where should I try and attack if something happens and I can't dodge?

_{[She's never been great at attacking things that are coming at her head-on... ducking and weaving, out-maneuvering her opponents... that was what she'd always relied on.]}

[show_my_cannons]

Depends on where the weak points are.

[He turns to face her fully, and extends his arms. He doesn't make a move toward her, not yet. This is probably less panic-inducing if he tells her what's going on.]

Come here. I will show you -- grab you, show you where to go.