2017-06-12: ABS OF STEEL
- Log: ABS OF STEEL
- Cast: Claude C. Kenny, Leon Albus, Gwen Whitlock
- Where: Adlehyde - Town Center
- Date: 6/12/2017
- Summary: Claude needs to train for the Lacour Tournament, so he decides to duel people for charity. Gwen and Leon accept the challenge, with Gwen going first. She probably should have gone second.
==========================<* Adlehyde - Town Center *>========================== The centre of Adlehyde marks the intersection between the east-west and north-south roads that carve the city into near-quarters. The large shops packed around the city's main thoroughfares have largely been smashed down. Burnt, blackened shells mark where these great businesses used to say -- and few can say if all of them will ever reopen. The intersection between the two roads is actually a large circle nearly a quarter-mile across, allowing wagons and other traffic to move with a minimum of collisions and profanity both. This area used to be clogged with carts and stalls, but it is now clogged with tents and ramshackle construction to make up for the destruction of many homes throughout the city. Altruists of all stripes, including Althena's Guard, have set-up makeshift soup kitchens to feed the many newly homeless. The buildings throughout the rest of Adlehyde are built of stone and tile roofs, which are sometimes smashed and damaged, but still standing. Even now, repairs to broken roofs and walls are underway. As one moves away from the major routes toward the walls, however, they can see that the poorer and seedier enclaves have often been damaged far worse. Unsafe, unsound wooden buildings are a threat to their occupants and the street from collapse. The streets themselves are often lined with pockmarked burns and craters. BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MQRL7xws7w
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.
In the largely ruined city of Adelhyde, in the heart of the Fairgrounds where the Ancient Culture Exhibition once was held, a young blonde-haired man is doing push-ups. This is not normally cause for the attraction of attention, except that nearby where he is working out, a short half-barrel full of practice swords is standing next to a crudely-drawn sign and an upside-down hat with coins in it. The sign reads:
HELLO MY NAME IS CLAUDE
I AM TRAINING FOR
THE LACOUR TOURNAMENT
OF ARMS
FIGHT ME FOR 500 GELLA
ALL PROSEDES GO TO
ADLEHYDE REBUILDING FUND
There is about 2,500 Gella in the hat, and a small crowd is beginning to gather, because people can use a show.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
THIRTY MINUTES AGO -- ON THE YGGDRASILL
"Mister Albus!" one of the crew members calls out, as Leon strides down the hall. His eyebrow twitches. Sometimes, it plays on his mind to be called 'Mister,' instead of 'Captain.' He stops, looking over his shoulder.
"Yeah?"
"Where are you headed?" the sand pirate asks. "Miss Lily will want to know."
"Tell her I'm going to make an easy 500 gella. I'll be back soon."
NOW -- ADLEHYDE
Leon walks up through the street, eyes drifting along -- until he finds what he is looking for. And, specifically, who. He has Argent Divider at his side, currently as a shotgun, and folded up. His grey coat hangs over it, though. He looks at Claude with calm silver eyes, then to the barrel of practice swords with obvious interest.
Then, he looks back to Claude. "Claude Kenny, was it?" he asks. He remembers him from the talk with Cecilia. He hesitates a moment, and then he adds: "Interesting set-up you have here."
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
"Oh, thank you. Ah, I know I promised you 500 gella, but, uh, I kinda..."
That's the voice of a middle-aged merchant talking, rubbing his balding head apologetically as he humbles himself before Super Courier Gwen Whitlock, who is quickly trying to calculate the losses in her head. Round trip from Adlehyde to Port Tinmey and back, needed feed, new wagon is still being made, had to carry most of the boxes herself-
But that's when his two children come in, adorably tugging at the merchant's jacket and looking up at Gwen with giant, innocent eyes. Gwen's shoulders slump. "Y-you can pay me later..."
And that's why Gwen is here, feeling generally helpless and bewildered at just what happened to her wages lately. But it's not like they could help it.
She could spend this 500 gella on some booze, perhaps, and feel a momentary buzz to take the edge off things.
Or-
'FIGHT ME FOR 500 GELLA'
Oh hey. This is... that guy. The blonde guy. He has a name. Claude! That's exactly what's on the sign. Gwen looks at the 500 gella in her hand, then sighs. "I've been wantin' to talk to you anyway." She looks to Leon, nods amiably, then deposits her contribution. "Uh, I can't... fight with swords, but I guess I can... try. It'd be a lot better practice for ya, right?" She looks to Leon again, sizing him up, then quickly adds, "He'll go first. If he's going. Which he should, because this is for a good cause!" gwen you don't even really know this man
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.
The young man looks up as someone talks to him, peering through sweat-slicked locks. He frowns faintly - why does everyone always forget the C? - and then pushes himself to his feet, dusting off his hands. "Yeah, I'm Claude C. Kenny," he says, emphasizing the initial, but his eyes widen as he realizes where he saw Leon before. "Oh! Oh, you're the hairdresser," he says, smiling broadly. "Yeah, it's not bad. Better than practicing against dolls or shadows, anyway."
Claude walks over toward the barrel and scoops up one of the blades more or less at random; he starts swinging it back and forth to loosen up his shoulders. But then he gets another customer! Claude brightens at Gwen's approach, his head tilting quizzically at her offer. "Eh, I can punch-fight too if you're better at that," says Claude, a college graduate, as he describes martial arts as 'punch fighting.' "Or we can all go, I'm not picky."
(Or lacking in confidence, apparently.)
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
"Hairdresser," Leon repeats, testing the word out like he isn't sure whether to be amused or irritated. He finally nods, but he smiles back slightly. He walks to the barrel, eyeing a few of the swords, before he picks one a little like Argent Divider -- a long sword, slim and elegant -- and then hefts it up. He looks, then, towards Gwen. He blinks once.
Then he nods. "I'll go. You're sure, miss?" he asks. "If you want, I'll step aside for you. Of course... I don't mind either way."
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
Hairdresser. Gwen looks at Leon again, reassessing him with this new information. OH, OF COURSE.
That's why his hair is so nicely cropped short.
"Well, I guess I could go first," Gwen muses aloud, rubbing her chin.
IF LEON GOES FIRST-----
- Claude gets roughed up a bit first
- He may not be at his best due to it
- She may win (wait, why is this an advantage)
IF GWEN GOES FIRST-----
- Probably won't look like as much of a complete novice
- She can sit back and not feel nervous
- Claude will probably win either way
"Going together?" Gwen blinks, pulled out of her thinking sesssion. "A-ah, that'd kinda be too much, don't you think?" She looks to Leon, who is clearly the one who'd disapprove of such an idea.
Clearly, she needs to go first. "That settles it. I'll go first! I can punch fight, certainly." She holds up her right hand, then leans in to whisper to Claude. "You know I have that metal arm and all that, right? Y'sure you don't want me to use a sword...?"
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.
Claude C. Kenny looks at Leon. Then he looks at Gwen. Then he frowns at both of them as they try to decide which one of them should be the first one to fight him. And as a result, nobody is fighting anybody. This cannot continue; his Saiyan genes demand it. "Metal arm?" he asks Gwen, then shrugs and tosses the sword up into the air.
And then he drops back, blue-yellow chi flowing into the palms of his hands, forming into a short ball of power which he hurls toward Gwen's chest; not too powerful, just enough to stun her.
"I think I can manage!" he says brightly as the ball of spirit formed energy (okay straight up it's a hadouken) dissipates.
GS: Claude C. Kenny has attacked Gwen Whitlock with The Ladies Call Me Hadouken Because I'm Down Right Fierce! GS: Claude C. Kenny has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
"I don't think together is best," Leon says. "Might get messy."
He takes a step back -- and then lets Gwen and Claude go for it. It gives him a chance to watch, anyways. He feels a slight surprise when he sees chi move across Claude's hands -- and then nods, once. He can do similar, with a sword (or with his fists, if he must).
He folds his arms -- and then looks at Gwen, and at her arm. "This should be interesting," he says.
GS: CRITICAL! Gwen Whitlock guards a hit from Claude C. Kenny's The Ladies Call Me Hadouken Because I'm Down Right Fierce for 123 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
As Claude openly comments on Gwen's carefully asked question, the courier frantically waves her hands, palms held out. "Shh, not so loud, I wanna make su-!"
Well, that answers her question nicely. Claude takes the offensive, and Gwen doubles backwards at the chi dancing on Claude's hands. "W-whoah!" Still, she takes the initiative to jump right into the attack, using that right gloved hand as a flimsy shield that doubles as a fist, thrown straight at Claude's stomach.
It seemed like a better idea in her head than how it turned out here, but she'll just keep going with it. Momentum dictates it.
GS: Gwen Whitlock has attacked Claude C. Kenny with Hope You Didn't Eat a Big Lunch! GS: Gwen Whitlock has completed her action. GS: Claude C. Kenny critically Guards a hit from Gwen Whitlock's Hope You Didn't Eat a Big Lunch for 15 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.
For the record, Claude C. Kenny did not eat a big lunch. Although as a 19-year-old male with an exceedingly active lifestyle, an enforced regimen of hard exercise, and half of the genetics of a woman whose pastimes include 'drinking alcohol,' 'getting into fights,' and then 'drinking alcohol and then getting in to fights,' his idea of a big lunch is different from most people's.
More importantly, however, Claude has had time to prepare. He's been exercising all day, and as he once testified to Ida Everstead-Rey, everything good begins with the core. He hardens his resolve, tenses his muscles, grits his teeth, and channels qigong into his abdomen to the point where it nearly starts glowing through the black of his sleeveless shirt. And when Gwen hits him hard, it's like punching a blonde rock. Even then, despite the perfect defence, Claude sways backwards slightly, grunting with the impact of the blow. He blinks, and gives Gwen a look full of respect. "Good punch," he says, channeling internal energies outward once again...
...with his abs?
An audible crack echoes out as the wave of chi pulses out from Claude, threatening to send Gwen stumbling away. "But you'll have to do better! HA!"
GS: Claude C. Kenny has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Push-Ups Sit-Ups and Plenty of Juice! GS: Claude C. Kenny has completed his action. GS: Gwen Whitlock guards a hit from Claude C. Kenny's Push-Ups Sit-Ups and Plenty of Juice for 24 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
"What the fuck?" Leon Albus asks.
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.
Claude flashes Leon a toothy smile and a thumbs-up, because this is the sort of thing that working out for four hours a day instead of doing homework can get you.
Space nepotism: it's pretty great.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
"I am disturbed," Leon sighs, giving Claude a look. "This is highly disturbing."
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
Gwen's right fist gets pushed right back from Claude's abs, the courier quickly shaking her hand. "Whatta'ya talkin' about," she asks, her eyes taking a chance to look towards Leon's. "That's really neat! I've never seen a symbologist do something like that!"
Gwen, at her core, is still that ten year old kid who just listens to outrageous stories about things Drifters supposedly did told by storytellers whose creativity was helped along by lots of booze, some of which was probably tainted with some special additives because #JustLittleTwisterThings
"Okay, so." She flexes her gloved 'ARM' once more, readjusting the glove. "Let's see what you can do against... this!" And so, just like that, Gwen rather undramatically rushes at Claude, pulling her right hand backwards, before rocketing it towards Claude's proud face.
Not literally. She doesn't have that ability. Yet.
GS: Gwen Whitlock has attacked Claude C. Kenny with Return to Sender! GS: Gwen Whitlock has completed her action. GS: Claude C. Kenny critically Guards a hit from Gwen Whitlock's Return to Sender for 13 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.
Claude C. Kenny returns his attention to the fight when Leon proclaims his disturbance. This is good, he thinks. Every fight should have a combination straight man-slash-peanut gallery. This makes him resolve to do even crazier things. Such as---
- KRAAAAAAAK*
The young blonde Drifter's left hand comes up, catching the freckled girl's punch in his meaty palm. Once again, though, the impact of the strike sends him sliding backward, his heels digging little furrows in the dirt and debris at the centre of the Fairgrounds; Claude's eyes widen a bit. The force she can put into her punch with such a small body... is it chi? No, he'd (probably) sense it. So maybe...her arm? I mean, her ARM. I mean, her arm ARM. Or ARM arm?
Claude's brain hurts, and so he decides to hit something; his right hand drops down, forming into a pose reminiscent of a karate chop as he releases Gwen's hand and takes a step backward. The young man concentrates, chi honing itself along the edge of his hand, and then he pivots and twists, whipping his arm across his body, well away from Gwen, who is quite a bit outside his reach and---
"AIR SLASH!"
--oh yeah, he can do that, and a hissing V of vacuum energy zips across the gap from one combatant tot he other.
GS: Claude C. Kenny has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Air Slash! GS: Claude C. Kenny has completed his action. GS: Gwen Whitlock guards a hit from Claude C. Kenny's Air Slash for 60 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
As the fight rages onward, it's clear from the grace, finesse, tactical maneuvering, and variety of her various attacks that Gwen Whitlock, Super Courier...
... probably has never had a real ounce of real, actual education into the fine art of Punch Fighting. ... Which probably explains why she so readily accepted Claude's term of 'Punch Fighting', really.
Her ARM is metal.
It packs a punch.
And that's the foundation of what she bases everything on when she can't phewphew or zapzap.
"Whoah, you're quick!" Gwen's taking Claude's mastery over his hand-to-hand combat pretty well, even if, with her next breath, she's using that ARM as a ready shield. The V shaped energy blast from Claude rips a tear in the less durable fabric of Gwen's sleeve, while the leather glove seems to have been selected for its durability, picking up another mark as she guards against Claude's attack.
"Okay, since you're whipping that out, I'll try a little bit of something too!" She tenses her fist, almost as if to throw another punch, but doesn't move just yet.
It's sweaty enough. It'll work.
"H'okay, let's do this again!" Gwen's running again. She just might be punching. It's probably better if it doesn't hit, because that glove is beginning to spark up a bit from something underneath...
GS: Gwen Whitlock has attacked Claude C. Kenny with Leather and Sweat Conduct Well! GS: Gwen Whitlock has completed her action. GS: Claude C. Kenny takes a solid hit from Gwen Whitlock's Leather and Sweat Conduct Well for 79 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.
Claude C. Kenny is a talented musician. He's pretty darned good in a fight. He's not so good at notiing small details, as evidenced by the fact that his immediate response to Gwen's second attack is to try and catch it again. How dumb of her to try the same thing twi--
"ARGHBLEBELBEJBEBELEBELJEBGG"
Claude finally tears his hand away, his hair spiked upward and smoking a little, arcs of electricity zipping between individual strands. "N-n-n-n-n-i-aye-aye-aye-aye--" he sputters before clenching his teeth and keeping his mouth closed, waiting for the spasmodic twitching to subside. To buy himself time, he starts throwing a whole bunch of punches - the first few awkward and easy to dodge, the next several closer to form, and by the second dozen Claude's arms are whipping in and out, blurring with rapid movement and flickers of chi. He keeps punching and punching and it... doesn't really stop. At all. He finally swallows and tries to shout his attack name, because that's the way he was trained.
"METETETETETETETETETETETETETETETETETE--"
Apparently the electricity hasn't worn off yet.
GS: Claude C. Kenny has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Meteor Palm! GS: Claude C. Kenny has completed his action. GS: Gwen Whitlock guards a hit from Claude C. Kenny's Meteor Palm for 105 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
The steady tidal wave of punches from Claude fall against Gwen's ready ARM, the force of each hit sending her further and further back from from one foot to the next, with many reaching past that shield and hitting against her face and stomach. Wow, he's really good.
-WOW, he's actually really, really good!-
Though, anyone who managed to hold their own against the likes of Kalve, Siegfried, Harken, and many others has got to have *some* skill that can't be attributed to 'has a metal ARM'. Maybe she just never had a chance to really... watch him? Well, this counts. Front row seat! And he really, really *doesn't hold back*.
"Okay, throwin' my all into this!" Gwen says, for reasons most likely related to the fact that Claude's defenses just may be a little... dented, right now, if not just his speech. "Here I go!"
Lowering her center of gravity downwards and digging one boot into the first below, Gwen brings her right fist underneath his last few punches, taking them square on to possibly plant a massive one square at center of his body. "NNgh!!"
GS: Gwen Whitlock has activated a Force Action! GS: Gwen Whitlock has attacked Claude C. Kenny with Special Delivery! GS: Gwen Whitlock has completed her action. GS: Claude C. Kenny takes a solid hit from Gwen Whitlock's Special Delivery for 112 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
Leon has watched the fight carefully, of course.
Despite the strange shouts -- electricity is a hell of a thing -- the skill is hard to miss. Which raises the question of who trained Claude, since some of those styles look quite different from anything that Leon is used to. Maybe, he thinks, he comes from Aquvy. He frowns, then, and watches Gwen.
The arm -- or ARM -- looks like it would hurt. He tilts his head, and frowns, before he folds his arms. "That's an interesting style, miss," he offers.
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.
Who trained Claude? The world may never know.
'FIVE YEARS EARLIER'
"Okay, mom, I poured the honey on me, but I don't see what this has to do with---what are you wearing."
"Beekeeper suit."
"Why are you MOMMA NO"
"PUNCH THEM!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAH"
"PUNCH THE BEES, FOR GOD'S SAKE"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH"
'NOW'
"Nnnguuuuuhrf," Claude sputters as Gwen's fist connects hard in his belly, and this time he's not ready for it - the blow sinks in, and sends him staggering back several steps. The young man sucks in a shaking breath, looks up at Gwen, and for a moment sees past her, sees beyond the training match to the one he's heading to the Tournament to get. Sees long blue hair and a sneer instead of freckles and a smile.
He pulls back his hand again, and blue chi pours into Claude's hand, crawling up his arm as he draws deeply on his internal reserves. The young man's palm opens, fingers spreading apart, and the energy gathered around his fist begins to twist into a shape. Lizardlike features rise up and outward, hooked fingers forming into hooked, jagged fangs, the construct of chi literally roaring at Gwen as Claude charges the attack.
"DRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON'S---"
("momma, i'm scared")
The voice of one of the onlookers in the crowd, a girl no more than nine, snaps Claude out of it, and he finally sees through the haze of anger. "Uh....oh," he says, blinking owlishly at Gwen, his face flushing as he forces his hand closed. The blue chi vanishes with a soft echo of thunder, a faint wave pulsing out from Claude's body, slowly dissipating outward.
"Haha, sorry!" he says brightly, flushing a bit as he bows his head in apology. "I got a little carried away there. Maybe... that's enough for now?"
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
"Oh, thanks!" Gwen shoots Leon a wide smile, before turning back to Claude. The fight was going very well. He had given her his all, and she tried to respond in kind. That was the natural progression of things in a fight, and Gwen was happy enough to oblige.
Except...
Claude hadn't quite given all he'd got.
That's the way Gwen rationalizes the fury in Claude's normally friendly disposition. Some fighters... just got like that. Fought until they had no more to give, seeing each opponent as a potential rival, no matter what their skill. She'll just have to...
.... to do what?
Gwen holds her ARM in front of her, hunching downwards in preparation. She told Claude she'd give him a fight, and if this is what it took, well, she'll make him earn every last bit of that 500 gella. Right? That's a plan. Of some sort. But, something feels odd.
Her ARM... feels warm. And not in a way that it would just naturally be, having had to take on the force of Claude's furious wall of punches.
The lower length of Gwen's right arm shakes, a sudden tensing of the muscles underneath that thick leather glove and ripped blouse producing a partial transformation of metal slabs jutting outward. It's been used as a shield long enough. It'll *be* a goddamn shield now, even if it further tears on the fabric of Gwen's poor right sleeve. However, it doesn't have a chance to fully materialize, the ARM reacting to Gwen's instinctive recoiling from revealing the metal thing in public, as well as Claude backing down.
It's probably a small blessing that Claude's growing manifestation proved to be more of a spectacle than what Gwen's ARM just attempted to do. "Y-yeah," she says, gathering the cloth around the exposed parts of her arm in order to cover it. "It's okay, you weren't holding back, so... that's good! I'm trying to get stronger myself, even if I can't, well, enter the tournament." She laughs uneasily. "I think I'd be against the rules as it is. But we'll have to fight again sometime."
The hesitant tones ask a question in itself: 'are you okay'. Instead, she reaches a hand over and gives Claude a friendly whap on the shoulder, if he allows for it. It's her left hand, so it's considerably weaker in force.
It's only later that she realizes that she forgot to ask Claude about his healer friend. DAMN IT.