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 Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 7:09 pm
It was difficult to modify an existing form of martial arts to fit the problems a uniform could impose. Certainly, the little Senshi of the Mantis could have rolled up her sleeves and everything would have been okay. However, the green senshi seemed to have already formed her own opinion on how all this Senshi-stuff worked.
Clearly it would be disrespectful to alter the uniform in such a manner. Not to mention, if she forced herself to get used to doing the exercises with sleeves rolled up, she would be unprepared for those times when her sleeves unrolled and inevitably covered up her hands again.
"It is best to be prepared for difficulties..." she assured herself in a low tone as she went through the practiced motions with her hands, adjusted slightly for her current sleeves. With her hands, she'd sweep in, using her fingers underneath the silky cloth to hook and redirect an imaginary attack. With bare hands, her technique was flawless (at least she deemed it as such), but with the added cloth, she had to make sure to somewhat clutch to the sleeves so that the extra material didn't accidentally snag upon an opponent's arm, temporarily attaching them.
As she added one stray low heel kick, the senshi couldn't help but pause as she noticed someone.
The clothing was weird, especially with the fur during the warmer season, but it seemed to give this guy a sort of biker-look. He was tall enough, and seemed to have enough meat on his bones to pose as a potential challenger.
Ceasing with her practices, the girl pushed forward until she was immediately in front of this dark haired guy.
"I am Anti, and I am issuing a challenge to a fight!"
Direct and to the point, the short senshi made it difficult to misinterpret her intent.
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Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 7:17 pm
Being a terrorist, or a knight, or whatever he was supposed to be, gave Nazca options that Kent Kavanaugh didn't have. He could make inquiries about the caped crusader that had saved him, and that he suspected he knew far better than he'd previously guessed, from one sort-of-hero to another. Surely one of them would know where to find her. And then, problem solved! Possibly. If things didn't become more complicated in the process. Considering what he'd learned about the world in the past couple of days, he doubted it would be that easy, but he was out of ideas and had to try something.
Since there was no Hall of Justice that he knew of, he was stuck wandering the streets, hoping to strike gold. He went over the list that Noah- or rather, Alfheim- had given him, trying to remember who he was supposed to talk to and who he was supposed to run from. As he thought, he felt something strange in his head, a sort of prickle on the brain, and he looked up abruptly, wondering if this was supposed to be some sort of Spidey Sense.
There was a girl with unusual clothes. Nazca reviewed them quickly: mostly white, sailor collar, no holes in the chest. She was a good guy, then. He opened his mouth to ask about the star-clad girl, and shut it again when she spoke first.
A challenge? Could he have gotten it wrong? Maybe she was one of those Negaverse people after all. But he was pretty sure they weren't supposed to wear white. Maybe she was new at this too, and didn't know how they were color-coded.
"No, it's okay. I'm a good guy." Wow, that sounded lame. But it was the truth, so he pressed on. "I'm not looking for a fight. I'm actually looking for a person. She's got a hood with stars on it, and a really long greenish-blue sash. Have you seen her? Or maybe you know a place I could check, where you guys like to hang out?"
Was there a team hero clubhouse that he hadn't been invited to? If there was, and Noah hadn't filled him in, he'd be leaving a really bad tip the next time he went for burgers.
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Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 7:18 pm
Most people would have answered the questions thoroughly and respected the wish to avoid a fight.
This was not how Antiope worked.
"I don't care if you're a 'good' guy or a 'bad' guy... I just wanna fight!"
She already lifted her hands up and stretched them out in his direction, her floppy sleeves still covering up all the skin over her arm. Her leg slid back as she crouched slightly.
She clearly was ready to strike, but she didn't make a move. She looked at him (at least it seemed that way with how her head was facing him distinctly), waiting to see what he did next.
Would it be more excuses or dumb questions, or would it be any sort of lashing out?
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Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 7:19 pm
Had he missed something? Was this some sort of test? Or maybe a form of hazing? Nazca really had no idea. All he knew was that he had no desire whatsoever to fight anyone, especially a kid. It seemed like she didn't know where to find the star-cloaked girl either, which meant that he had no real business with her.
"Look, if you don't know, it's fine. I'm pretty sure fighting is a bad idea, though. I don't want to hurt you over something silly. So if you don't have any information for me, I'll just be on my way, okay?"
He put his hands in his pockets and offered a nod, not quite willing to turn his back on this girl until she acknowledged that he didn't want to fight. That position looked kind of threatening, and the more he looked at her, the more uncertain he was that his advantage in size and strength would be enough to beat her if they did come to blows.
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Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 7:19 pm
It was dumb excuses. Her brow slanted down a bit, though she still remained smiling. He could put his hands away all he wanted, but in her mind, that just meant he was giving her the upper hand.
It didn't take long for her to declare "No... I don't think you understand... you're fighting me now!"
And with that, she struck quickly. With a burst of speed, she rushed the unknown gang-boy, reducing the gap before lashing out with one of her floppy sleeves. Despite how baggy the cloth over her hand was, there was still the force of a couple fingers jabbing into this guy.
"Do I need to quote a song? 'Hit me with your best shot!'" she taunted, briefly eying where his pocket-hands in hopes that they would no longer be pocket-hands.
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Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 7:19 pm
"Aughwha-" was all Nazca could get out before the girl attacked. If he'd been at this hero business for more than a couple of days, maybe he would have been able to defuse the situation. Or at least defend himself without hurting anyone. Maybe he could have caught her hand, gently returned it, and explained that it was silly for two strangers to start fighting for no reason.
Instead he stepped backwards quickly, trying to free his hands from his pockets. He only managed to avoid the jab to the ribs by tripping over his own feet, and he was saved from falling on his a** by the lamppost behind him, which let off a sort of metallic sound as he crashed into it.
That was both painful and embarrassing. But at least he had use of his hands now, which he held out in front of him in a "wait a sec" gesture.
"What the hell did I do to you to deserve this?" he demanded angrily. He wasn't mad enough to want to fight, but by this point he figured he was owed an apology for a prank gone too far.
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Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 7:20 pm
His movements did not read as someone who had much experience in fighting, which puzzled Antiope briefly. What kind of Gang member wouldn't know how to at least throw a punch?
Critically, she knew his movements were clumsy at best, and even now his gestures were of some pathetic loser rather than a fighter.
That didn't douse her desire to continue the fight though.
"You look tough! At least you did until you started acting like a p***y!" There was a good pause as she lifted up her hands again in her fighting stance.
"I don't leave fights half finished... so you aren't off the hook yet!"
Was she admitting that she was aware he wasn't tough?
Yes.
Was she admitting she wasn't going to let that be an excuse to end now?
Yes.
With that, she once more struck, once more jabbing with her fingers beneath her sleeves, this time jumping up slightly to aim for his neck.
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Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 7:20 pm
The dig at Nazca's fighting skills didn't bother him. Except for the occasional brawl with bullies growing up, he hadn't had any experience. He knew he was new at this whole hero thing, and the possibility had occurred to him, once or twice, that he was in way over his head.
What did make him angry was the fact that he was being attacked, regardless of who he was as a person, by someone who just wanted a fight. He had better things to do than stick around and entertain some bloodthirsty teenager. And since she had nothing for him, he would have been justified in walking away.
But then this girl might challenge someone really dangerous, and end up in real trouble. Trouble he could prevent by teaching her a lesson here and now.
So he stayed, and dodged to the side when her next attack came at him. If all went well, he'd get behind her and pin her arms, to show her not to take on people just because they looked "tough." Whatever that was supposed to mean.
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Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 7:21 pm
Though her target had moved from the original position while she was in the air, Antiope was not an easy target herself. With a jerking motion, her body spun slightly so she was not blindsided by the attempt to get her backside. By the time she had landed, her Mantis claws, hidden by her sleeves, had not only caught onto the attempted restraint, but had parried them away.
"...better... but still not what I was hoping for..."
Her body crouched down as she seemed to almost flex her mock mantis claws out. Perhaps she could aim for some of the pressure points a bit more to her height so she couldn't be as vulnerable with the ones higher up on his body.
Deciding upon this new tactic, she threw herself forward once more, taking this guy head on, launching another sleeve covered claw in his direction. This was definitely what she considered a false attack on her own part, simply aiming for square in the middle of his chest.
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Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 7:21 pm
"Sorry to disappoint you," Nazca grunted, irritated with her easy movements. Couldn't she see he was trying here? "I guess that's just the way life is. We can't always get what we hope for." Even when he was being out-dodged, he couldn't resist trying to get through to her. If she learned something about the dangers of fighting for the sake of fighting, then he could deal with a few bruises, and maybe even a sprained ego.
Until she figured it out, he needed to play along. When he saw another punch coming his way, he leaned to the side, attempting to get out of the way while also trying to grab the elbow of her attacking arm.
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Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 7:22 pm
It seemed as if her feint had worked. Not only had he moved his body, exposing the true target, but he had also struck out. With ease she had hooked onto his striking arm with her other non-attacking arm, diverting the force to the side and turning his body even more away from her.
"Not disappointed at all!" she crowed before jabbing her previously attacking hook towards the side of his ribs.
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Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 7:22 pm
This girl wasn't making any sense. If she wasn't disappointed, why was she complaining? Nazca wanted to ask, but before he got the chance, he found himself being whirled around by the arm, instead of the other way around. "What the kkkkch-!"
His expletive was cut off by the jab to the ribs, which hurt more than he would have expected. That wasn't a punch under that sleeve. Did she have a weapon? Did he have a shot at subduing her without trying to hurt her? Could he do anything other than splutter and cover his aching ribs with his free hand?
The answer to all of his questions: no.
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Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 7:22 pm
It might have been salt in his figurative wounds, but the girl's teeth showed in a grinning display of confidence.
She prompted him easily with "I can keep going if you can!" Despite seeming to ease off of him verbally, her stance was still prepared for any retaliation, poised and ready to take action if necessary.
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Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 7:23 pm
With some effort, Nazca managed to yank his arm away and get some distance. That helped him feel a little bit better, but he was still really unhappy about the whole situation. She wasn't listening to a thing he said, not really. He hated the idea of leaving her in this mindset, knowing that it could easily get her into trouble down the line. But he also didn't know how much more of this he could handle, before it became more serious than worrying about bruises and scrapes the next day.
"What if I said I couldn't?" he asked, making sure to keep his distance. "What would you do then?"
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Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 7:23 pm
It might have been an obvious answer in her head, but apparently her opponent needed her to spell out the answer.
"Then the fight is over and I am the victor!"
Even with the new distance between the pair, she still had not shifted her position to something more neutral. Considering how much of a wuss this guy sounded like at the beginning, Antiope was sure he'd take the easy out.
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