Welcome to Gaia! ::

Ryugi smiled as he saw his friend move to close the distance. His eyes tracked his friend's moves, and his body was moving in the way of a direct punch to Ryugi's body. Ryugi put two and two together, and would try for a dodge and an attack in one single motion.

The punch came, and taking an idea from one of Maximos' earlier attacks, Ryugi slipped off to the side of the incoming attack and gripped the punching arm, but instead of falling to his back, Ryugi would press forward, using his speed and momentum to press the attack towards his friend after he'd mostly avoided the punch.

His unoccupied arm would shoot forward to bring a solid punch into his friend's chest, combining his own speed and momentum with the closing speed and momentum of his friend's punch. Of course, the impact from the attack would cause Ryugi to grimace a bit, it wasn't everyday that you slammed into your opponent without wearing armor and didn't.

The force from the punch would be enough to knock Maximos off his feet, but, it would also slow Ryugi's advance considerably as he tried his best to act as if he was punching THROUGH his target, rather than stopping AT it. One thing was for sure. Ryugi's hand was going to be sore after this one.

And as Max would meet Ryugi's gaze, his eyes would find that Ryugi's too, were light and carefree, that same kind grin plastered across his face. In all the time Maximos would have known Ryugi, he would have seen that smile on his face. It only came out when Ryugi was truly happy, when he was truly enjoying himself. He would have seen it when he was resurrected and Ryugi had met him on the shores. He'd recognize the glow in his eyes as one of inner joy and tranquility, emotions that would register in Maximos' eyes in various colors.

Ryugi didn't care about the end of the fight. He didn't care about the progress of the fight. He only cared about enjoying himself with his friend in a way he hadn't been able to do in ages. The two friends tested on another, pushed a little here, gave a little there, and in effect, grew more aware of the other as the fight continued on. Their spirits would clash together in their roughhousing, and carefree attitudes, just as the petals from the blossoms slipped around the two friends, falling lightly after being blasted back and away from them after their last clash.

With a glint of playful mischief in his kind red eyes, Ryugi would grip snugly onto Maximos' arm, his only anchoring point to the shadow, and then, with all the force he could muster from his powerful legs, he'd jump. As if trying to touch the sky itself he would jump, petals from the pink and white blossoms spinning around the fighters as he broke through the trees, the pink and white showering the friends in sweet smells of a carefree spring day. Ryugi wondered if his friend would jump as well, seeing how high they could go...

I wonder, my good friend, do you think we could touch a piece of the sky today?

As Maximos kicked off, Ryugi let go of him, embracing the force added to his jump by the shadow's legs. So much infact, that he flipped up into the air from the force, feeling weightless for a moment as his jump peaked, and then, he rolled back, and moved his body into a dive as gravity finally managed to wrap its clutches around him again. A glint took hold of Ryugi's eyes as he dove towards the ground, petals whizzing past his form in the breeze as he formed a plan.

At the last moment, Ryugi would roll himself over as he hit ground, landing in a deep crouch, his legs bent fully, his arms catching his fall as well to spread out the force of impact. He felt the shock of the impact strongest in his legs and forearms, but despite the slight numbing tingling sensation, and a dent under his feet, he was mostly fine. But the real surprise would be what came afterwards. All that falling force had been captured by Ryugi's bent legs and arms, and as he hit, his body compressed down to the ground, before erupting once more towards Maximos in the fastest attack he had yet to pull unaided by any powers in any fight the friends would have had in the past.

As he shot towards his friend, he'd arc his body slightly in an attempt to deliver a speedy clothesline to his opponent, his feet only touching the ground out of need to steady himself as the power from his launch forward almost seemed to let him skip across the ground. He almost seemed to float in the air, even though that was impossible since both weren't using powers.

Allow me to hand you a piece of the sky my friend!

There it was again, that mischievous grin, and glint in his eyes.

Ryugi went tumbling heels over head as his legs flipped up as they continued forward. That blow knocked the wind out of him, as he was pretty sure his blow would have done to Maximos. He coughed and sputtered a bit as he was sent careening slightly upwards and off to the side be the equal force from his friend. Luckily for him, he was sent towards a branch of one of the bigger trees. And he had enough of his wits about him to grab onto the bark, swinging himself up and around to land on it facing away from Maximos.

He quickly turned to face his friend, and braced himself on the thick trunk of the tree below him. He took the brief respite to cough a bit more and catch his breath as the blossoms rained down around him from the agitation of the tree he stood upon. But even as he coughed and caught his breath, he grinned. Now THAT was a fun combination of moves. After checking on his friend, he would leap off of the tree branch, and hop off the branches of several other nearby trees, all the while moving closer to his friend.

And what did Ryugi see as he burst through the trees, but two bare feet coming right at him. He barely had time to react, but he made the most of it. He couldn't form a decent attack in the time he had left to prepare, but he worked in a passable defense.

The double kick hit him midair causing his body to flip back, but that gave him enough time to grip his friend's bare feet. He used the force from the kick to allow him to pull Maximos' body down and around in a strange sort of midair throw, releasing him towards the ground below as Ryugi himself would be shot up into the air a bit before following in his own descent.

And down Ryugi came, falling into another crouch as petals blew away from under his feet. He'd watched his friend catch himself and move away into a rough stance. And so, he'd crouched and landed in a defensive posture. If an attack didn't come right away, Ryugi would make the first move, using the crouch as a spring to once more dart towards his good friend.

Sorry to drop in my friend!

Maximos would have loved too, really he would have. But with his additional speed there was just no way Maximos sporting these new injuries, bruises though they may be could reach a speed capable of halting the charging dragon without taking further, real injuries on his feet beyond the simple scrapes they held now.

He waited, his right index, middle and thumb propped up his upper body while his two legs spread out propped up rear half.

As he neared, Maximos' pushed back, bracing for impact his legs bending, his weight shifting for a kneeled attack.

---

Damrius' plan was solid in its first few thoughts but failed in its execution. He weighted the value of being struck by the rock, but not the value of being struck by the arm which was able to sling and crush rocks.

Additionally he chose to use himself as a weapon. He chose to attack with his bare hand...that meant he had to enter into Maximos' threat range. A shock attack, a black bolt, anything that could have crossed the space between him and Maximos without actually giving Maximos a place to reach in and counterattack.

Lastly, Damrius chose the kidney, below the shoulder, stepping far into Maximos' arm reach. Maximos' would not stop running, his right arm would smack down to grab Damrius' wrist as the punch came, and he would immediately come to a skidding halt swinging his upper body to the left, basically aiming to swing Damrius around by his arm into a nearby tile-pillar.