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Post by AMBER SAVANNAH JAMES AMBROSE on Jun 27, 2011 15:11:07 GMT -5
Ace sat down on top of the teachers desk and leaned back against the chalkboard. The desk he was sitting on was the last one in the room. The other ones had been moved out long ago, the room was very large and before the school it must've been a parlor or something because one of the walls was mostly windows and brightened the room. The room itself could fit about fifty kids and still have enough room for a few more.
Room 300 was one of Ace's sparring rooms that was mostly empty because it was far away from the more populated rooms. Not many people came by but when they did it was mostly to just hang out or make out or something else like that. Ace didn't care he usually opened the window and let the fresh air come in. Today however it smelled a lot like tobacco so he had borrowed a mop and bucket, and some Pinesol and mopped up the room. It smelled pretty good right now and he just relaxed and and breathed in deeply.
Ace had changed from jeans into loose pants that he could easily move around in and the shirt was tight so that he could dodge and use his powers better. He didn't wear any shoes because he preferred to spar barefooted. The thing he did for his feet though was cover them up with bandages to give them a sort of cushion. He also did that to his hands so he wouldn't damage his knuckles. He had brought about six bottles of water with him so they could take breaks.
Ace touched his side and hanging from the side of his pants was a canteen full of water. He used it so that he could easily pull water out of nowhere though he usually preferred to not use his powers. Against other kids with powers it was a handicap for them but against people without powers it was a fair fight. But sparring was for practice and he wanted to try out new moves on his new partner. He sat back and ate a pez candy while he waited.
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Post by marci on Jun 28, 2011 10:54:07 GMT -5
Lucky for Ace, Elaine had already been shown the way to room 300 before, for some little....well, she didn't remember now. But she did remember how to get there, and that was the part that mattered. When he'd told her where to go, she'd just nodded and started walking away, knowing she would probably need every second of the fifteen minutes to get to her dorm, change, and get to the room at her pace. She could have gone faster if she had wanted to use her wind to see, but that would be like giving Ace yet another handicap, because she would be tiring herself out more. Not that fifteen minutes of wind sight came even close to tiring her out. She didn't even feel it.
She donned cargo pants—she couldn't tell whether they were the camo colored or the brown ones, obviously—a sports bra, and a loose tank top. She might have just gone with the sports bra, but the last time she'd done that for comfort she'd gotten cat calls, and that was never pleasant. Nor was that fact that she could hear almost everything that people whispered to each other in the halls. So she didn't do that anymore. The blind girl left her backpack in the dorm, figuring that she wouldn't need it now that classes were over.
Making her way to the room, she had a brief thought that she maybe should have worn her fingerless gloves or something, but was too lazy to go back. She had a habit of hitting with the base of her palms, anyway, like Celia had shown her. No, Celia had not taught her very much martial arts, under the impression that Elaine would not likely be much of a fighter, but she had thought that a cursory knowledge of self defense was crucial for any girl. That, and that sparring sessions during powers classes, had given her a bit of a foundation in this thing. Despite this, Elaine had no delusions about being able to beat Ace. She might be able to make it a stand still, but there was no way she was better than him. This made her smile, because that meant that if they sparred regularly, she would get a heck of a lot better.
Elaine entered the room, knowing right off the bat that Ace was sitting on the desk, against the chalkboard. There was a smell of unsettled chalk dust mingled with the much more powerful smell of pinesol, and there were little tiny creaks in the wood of the desk as Ace made the normal tiny movements that every person did without realizing. She nodded in the direction of the sounds before kneeling down and pulling off her shoes. She didn't want a loose shoelace to be the thing that took her down. So she spoke as she worked. ”Nothing on the floor, is there?” She also didn't want to step on something sharp in her bare feet. When she was done, she stood and asked, ”So, what are our rules or engagement?”
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Post by AMBER SAVANNAH JAMES AMBROSE on Jun 28, 2011 11:26:32 GMT -5
Ace blinked as she walked in. Examining her change of clothes. She had worn brown pants with a loose tank top and a black sports bra. Ace looked at the ground double checking that he had not left anything on the ground. "Nope nothing but this desk here." He said patting the desk. Ace rubbed the back of his head getting any chalk dust out of his hair. He cracked his knuckles, an old habit of his, and rolled his head getting loose. He jumped down and landed silently, "Rules?" He said out loud "I haven't thought of any."
Ace thought about it for a second and said "Well how bout saying like New Jersey in case we need to take a break. And no kicking when someone's on the ground. Powers are allowed just try not to destroy the room. Um, physical fighting is okay but pull your punches a bit." Ace said rattling off a list of rules he thought of. "Um that's all I can think of, if you want to add any you can."
Ace took off the cap to his canteen and placed it on top of the desk. Then he shifted his stance so that his left foot was in front of his right his stance was wide and he bounced on his toes. He pulled up his fists loose but ready to strike. "You ready?"
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Post by marci on Jun 28, 2011 15:25:21 GMT -5
Elaine nodded quietly when he told her there was nothing to worry about on the floor. Good. That meant she could conserve that much more energy—she wouldn't have to be constantly 'looking' at the floor with her wind during this fight. She still took her time, though, sending a little tiny wind around the floor to make sure Ace hadn't overlooked anything. People would take a heck of a lot of stuff for granted because of their ability to see, she had learned. So she always double-checked. Satisfied that there was nothing for her to hurt herself on, the girl stood and listened silently to the rules.
She smiled as she thought of a few rules he didn't think of. ”No hitting below the belt. First sight of any blood, and the fighting stops. No hitting the nose or eyes, but anywhere else on the head is acceptable. That sound good?” She really didn't know exactly what she was getting herself into with this, so she wanted to make the chance of a broken nose as small as possible. She strode over in front of him when he started taking a stance, lower her head a little bit and starting a barely-there current in the air. He wouldn't be able to feel it, it was so weak. But she could see with it, so it worked for her. ”Someone falls to the ground,” She said, ”They lose. We get up, and we start over.”
She took two large paces backward, widening the gap between them. Then the blind girl placed her feet shoulder width apart, loosened up her shoulders and arms, and took a deep, steadying breath. She leaned ever to slightly onto her left leg, giving her an oddly uneven stance. And she didn't even bother bring her hands up yet. Her sightless eyes blinked a few times before she nodded, ”Yes, I am ready.” And she waited. She knew how fast he could move, and thus was doubly aware that she should not make the first move. She wanted him committed to a strike before she made her own. So she stood there, waiting.
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Post by AMBER SAVANNAH JAMES AMBROSE on Jun 28, 2011 18:32:36 GMT -5
"Ah!" he said out loud "How could I forget about that one." Ace said in reply to her first rule. Ace nodded to the next rules. "Yea those rules are good." he said wondering why he didn't think of those kinds of rules. Ace glanced at the floor feeling something tickle his feet. He looked around but shrugged thinking it was nothing. Then he grinned when she said lose, Ace was pretty competitive he didn't mind losing but he preferred to win, who didn't like to win? "Well I'll make sure not to lose." He said with a smile.
"Alright. On Three." He said. "One." Ace took a deep breath and focused "Two." He silently pulled out the water from the canteen and had it in a ball in his hand. "Three." He rushed forward quickly separating the ball of water into two one in each hand. Raising his left hand he shot two of his Water Bullets at Elaine and then he shot an Ice one on the ground hoping it ricocheted just right to jump up. He pulled his right hand back as if to punch her. He had wanted to try something and hoped that it would work properly. As he got closer instead of punching her, he opened his hand and jumped, then he shot out a very strong and burst of water. Please work please work! he thought as the burst of water flipped him over her. He grinned as he landed behind her.
Wasting no time Ace did a half a roundhouse kick to strike at her and to be able to face her in one movement. Then he regained his fighting stance ready to move when she struck.
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Post by marci on Jun 29, 2011 10:22:06 GMT -5
((According to Tay, Ace can't use ice yet, so I'ma omit that part in my post.))
Elaine merely tilted her head in recognition of his words, not gracing them with her thoughts on the subject. Her competitive personality forbade her to tell the truth and say he most likely would win every one of their spars for awhile. Probably all of them today, because no matter how much she learned, by the time she learned them, she'd be tired out by the constant use of her wind sight. That was the one thing about her fighting style. It was almost impossible to hit her, but if she couldn't get some shots in, then she'd likely lose by attrition.
She was completely still at he counted down, but she saw the movement of his hand with the water, and one side of her mouth tugged up in a sort of quiet smirk. Gonna try with the water right off the bat? Alright—Elaine coiled just a bit, and when he sent off his bullets she dodged them with an almost limbo move, bending her knees and leaning back, snapping her head back so that the bullets flew harmlessly over her face. Then, when she was sure he was going in for a punch, she used that position to propel herself backwards.
But just as she was getting back up straight, he was propelling himself over where she had just been, and would likely land right on top of her like this. With a wave of her hand she told her wind to push him so that he really did land behind her, turning so that she would face him as she did so. She flashed him a taunting smile as he rounded on her with his kick, then met the top of his foot with her palm in the same movement as she had when he'd punched at her on the grounds. Only this time, the force would angle his kick upwards, allowing her to duck under it and hopefully make him take longer to regain his balance.
She ignored the slight throbbing in her hand, instead moving inside his comfortable range with a perfectly measured step. Then she 'power punched' toward his gut. As she threw her fist forward, she compressed the air behind her elbow, releasing it in the same sort of way a machine that ran on tightly compressed air would. The force hit her elbow and caused it to move faster and with much more force than any girl would be able to with merely her muscle mass. Even if he did manage to block it, he probably wouldn't be able to block it all the way.
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Post by AMBER SAVANNAH JAMES AMBROSE on Jun 29, 2011 12:52:43 GMT -5
Ace wasn't ready for his kick to be shot up higher. He was ready for it to miss but for it to go way off target he hadn't readied himself for it. Ace was totally off balance and he stumbled when his foot touched the ground then with him concentrating on regaining his balance she threw that punch. No it wasn't a punch, it was like a super punch. Ace was totally unprepared for such a hit. He didn't think that she could punch that hard.
Ace had been punched rather hard before but that was different. He had gone up against some of the strongest water kids before in his spars and challenges and he even beat a few kids from the other elements. But this was unlike any other punch, it was like she had taken some super pill that made her super strong. Ace lost his balance completely but somehow managed to land on all fours. "I didn't fall." He said stubbornly "For it to count as a win the opponent has to be on his stomach or his back." Ace said as he got back up. "That's the closest you'll get," he returned to his fighting stance, "to knocking me over." Ace said grinning.
Now he was prepared for her moves, her super punches, and her kicks too. He knew she was nimble and fast so he would have to do something that was faster. He was playing the offense and he was playing right into her style. Ace looked around the room and saw that his bullets had hit the wall and the water was dripping down to the floor.Ace made a subtle movement and the water flew out onto the floor. If he would play into her style of fighting, they may as well have fought in his environment. Ace breathed in and shot out to meet her.
He let out a flurry of attacks starting with quick jabs poking at her defenses and then a round house kick. He was trying to get her to move back into the puddle of water he set up on the floor. If his plan worked he would entwine the water with her legs.
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Post by marci on Jun 29, 2011 13:51:28 GMT -5
Elaine pulled back quickly, not aware that the punch she had connected would make him completely lose his balance. It was what she had been hoping for, but she never assumed things like that. She was back in her ready position by the time his limbs had hit the floor, a triumphant look hitting her face. As it was with all of her shows of emotion, it was muted and subtle, but it was there. People who knew her learned to understand that whatever she showed on the outside was likely several times stronger on the inside.
She actually broke out into a grin, however, when he spoke. She leveled a hand at him seriously, her head shaking back and forth. ”Oh no. You should have specified that before we started sparring if you wanted that to be the case.” She gave him a smile, completely understanding his wish to not be the first one to fall. But honestly, Elaine was most affective in the first few minutes of a fight, so it wasn't a surprise that this would be the time he fell. He'd probably get her next. As he got back into his stance, she smiled softly, ”That's one for me. Don't worry, it'll work the same if I go down like that.”
She didn't speak again after that, distracted by the movements he was making with his water. He created a puddle a number for paces behind her, and she could feel it rippling with the force of her quiet, slow current of air that was filling the room. She could feel a little something in the fact of her mind that marked the first bits of power drainage. It was barely there, meaning she had loads of stores left. But three, maybe four more rounds and she would start really feeling it. This would be good for her stamina.
When he lashed out with a flurry of jabs in various places, she went with it for a bit, taking small steps back and saving energy by deflecting the attacks, not blocking them. There was one moment when she might have been able to slip back toward him again, but she didn't want to risk it. If he was fast enough, or if she wasn't fast enough, he could grapple her and take her down easy. After all, he was a heck of a lot bigger than her. Just as she was getting dangerously close to the puddle on the floor, he sent off a roundhouse kick, which had not been the right plan. While he was unable to use his arms to stop her, she skipping to the side, feeling his toes graze her side lightly as she just barely made it out of his range. With a wave of her hand, she sent a breeze to scatter the puddle on the floor.
Elaine took a small step back then got herself ready again, smirking a bit. ”You can do it.” She teased, ”Try again, you might just hit me.” While she looked confident on the outside, she had gotten a burst of adrenaline for the almost-connected kick. It wouldn't be long before he actually got her with something.
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Post by AMBER SAVANNAH JAMES AMBROSE on Jun 29, 2011 14:28:30 GMT -5
Ace sighed when she said he lost. He had to give it his all if he didn't want to fall. She was good compared to some of the better kids he beat. She was good because she was fast, if she wasn't so fast he'd have beat her quickly. She was small quick and hell of a puncher. She was probably his equal in fighting strength. Jesus she was like a blind freaking ninja! He thought to himself. How can you beat a freakin ninja. Hell in Ace's mind she was the ninja and he was the pirate. Equals in strength. Ace the pirate was the attacker and strong but the ninja was fast and quick defender.
Ace wasn't tired he was used to this. He could fight for hours and only use half of his stamina. He had trained since he was a kid and his stamina was a monster. That was usually how he beat his opponents he tired them out with his constant flurry of attacks. He would usually be able to tire them out and then be able to totally annihilate them. Though he had a feeling she also had a lot of stamina.
Damn she was fast she deflected every single one of his jabs. And right when he thought she was about to go into his little trap she dodged his roundhouse kick. He felt his toes brush her side, and then land against the ground. She nearly deflected all of her attacks, nearly. He felt the breeze scatter his trap sending smaller puddles of water around the room. He hoped that by doing that she just made it harder to track the smaller pools.
He grinned at her response, she was totally coaxing him. "Why you." He said teasingly, "Those were only to see if you could dodge them." Ace said with a laugh. He looked down and saw a small bit of water in front of him. He glanced back at the canteen and emptied it of its contents sending water across the floor. He kicked up a bit of water and sent the scattered balls across the air and aimed them at her. Using that as a distraction he ran to her with a left hook followed by a water covered right fist.
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Post by marci on Jul 1, 2011 13:17:32 GMT -5
She grinned when he laughed, the blind girl shifting her feet a little in a silent reply. It was like a readying taunt, telling him that if he didn't move quickly then she'd be out of his reach. Elaine was surprised by how much she was enjoying this, how much in her element she was while she was fighting someone. The usual tension was not there because she knew that this was all play, that she would not be brutally beaten if she made a mistake. So she hopped a little bit on her toes before dropping back into her odd little stance, perfectly aware of what Ace was doing.
She coked her head a bit when he kicked the water into the air, but it barely took a flick of her wrist to scatter the water into vapors in the air with well placed currents of air. That did take her the second she would have needed to skip away from his left hook, though, and she was forced to take a step back, spreading her feet enough to duck it and maintain her balance. As she was pulling herself back up straight, she brought both her hands flat against each other, shoving them forward toward his right fist and sending a current of air that blasted the water back and away from it.
His fist, now dry, rammed into her hands. While she didn't feel the sapping of her strength that she would have if the water had touched her, she still felt a shock in her arms and was knocked off balance, her arms flying behind her to break her fall. As it turned out, her back slammed into the wall behind her, as she'd been able to slow her descent with quick footwork. She stayed leaning against the wall for a second, briefly letting the current in the air stop. ”Counts as down.” She said, her tone just as guarded at it had ever been, ”I would have fallen over if the wall hadn't been there.”
She figured it was only fair. While in a real fight hitting the wall would have kept her up and fighting, in this skirmish it was basically a way of conceding that he had just outfought her. After another second, she set the same slow movement of air into the room again and stepped out into the center. Then she faced him again, stretching her arms and shoulders again. ”Damn, you can punch.” A couple minutes doing this, and she fell back into her stance, nodding. ”Ready when you are.”
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Post by AMBER SAVANNAH JAMES AMBROSE on Jul 5, 2011 12:57:04 GMT -5
Ace smiled "Well now it's a tie then?" He said with a laugh. Though he did catch her being sounding rather guarded. He dismissed it though because she was usually sounding guarded. He laughed when she gave him a compliment. "Thanks I'm good with my hands." He didn't think she could see it but he waggled his eyebrows, then laughed at his own joke. "Sorry. Yea I'm ready."
Ace got back into his stance and bounced on the balls of his feet."I'm ready but I want you to do the attacking this time." He said getting into a different stance.
(God I'm sorry for this lousy post. I'm in a muse rut.)
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Post by marci on Jul 6, 2011 9:26:19 GMT -5
Elaine gave the boy a rather odd look, despite the fact that she couldn't see him. Her wind sight had missed the waggling of his brow, so she didn't understand why he'd said he was sorry shortly after his comment. Of course he was good with his hands. He was a boxer, right? Obviously, he had been trained a great amount (which actually made Elaine impressed with herself that she managed to put up so much of a fight). But she said nothing, not thinking it important enough to grace with a question. She waited for him to take his stance, putting her head in the game when he said he was ready.
Then he said something else. ”That's not really how it works.” She said quietly, but loud enough for him to hear. ”You're supposed to adapt to your opponent, not the other way around.” It would be rather unfair to ask her to become the attacker, as that was not her normal way of fighting. She was force to be reckoned with, but her style of attacking drained her energy a heck of a lot more than her defensive style. Mostly because the general strategy was to make them give up when they figured it wasn't worth attacking someone so....ruthless. Quiet Elaine didn't much like showing that side of herself.
But she took a deep breath, pulling herself into a more balanced, forward stance. Giving him a brief smile, she gained a mysterious edge to her tone as she spoke, ”But I guess I can oblige you. Let's pretend you just tried to hurt a friend of mine.” And with that she was off like a rocket, rushing him with a fist pulled back. It was just when she judged that he would be changing his balance for a block and counter that she pushed herself to the right, dancing around behind him and aiming a power punch between his shoulder blades. When she was pushing herself this hard, she started to feel the strain much faster. But she was a viper when she was the attacker.
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Post by AMBER SAVANNAH JAMES AMBROSE on Jul 6, 2011 11:44:06 GMT -5
Ace smiled at her comment. "Yea a little unfair, but if a good defense is a good offense wouldn't that be true for the opposite? " He asked her wisely. "Yes your supposed to adapt to your opponent but what if you can strike before they can adapt to you, throw a surprise at every turn don't give them the chance to take a breath." He said quoting his old coach in the last part of his sentence. He didn't know how she would attack, well he had a clue. He guessed she would rely on her agility and quickness somehow. He would use a thick wall of water to block his back in case she moved around him.
He smiled "Glad to see you'll play along." But he just managed finish the sentence as she shot off. He was awed by the speed but he could cope. He saw her fist pulled back and he narrowed his eyes and tried to see where she went. He shifted his stance a little to block the incoming hit. Then she shifted and her attack became a feint. He saw her move around him he was about to dodge but it would be too late to try and pull it off, so instead Ace relied on his powers and a block of water guarded his upper back. She punched and the water tried to capture all of its force but her fist broke through and he felt the punch. It wasn't as strong as it was originally, it was more like a birthday punch instead.
Ace turned around and gave a big smile, "Your fast but not yet fast enough." He said as he started to use the water that was around her wrist to become tendrils and snake up her arm. Adding weight and trying to hinder it's ability to punch.
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Post by marci on Jul 8, 2011 12:19:32 GMT -5
Normally, this tactic would have worked. Any other wind student, wind sight or not, would focus on trying to back away from the opponent and disentangle her arm with the least amount of effort. That would probably be the best strategy in the long run, especially in a sparring session, where you were not trying to debilitate your enemy so much as just train with them. But Elaine was not any other wind student, and when she felt the wall of water go up, she gained an intense and rather surprised look on her blind face. Her heart started racing.
Damn. Her fist broke through the sheet of water, hitting him, but not hitting him very hard. She gritted her teeth as the water started snaking up her arm, a flash of imagination causing her to think of the water rushing up her shoulders, neck, and into her mouth. Without thinking, she had a small, powerful cyclone tear the water off of her arm. Her opposite foot shifted forward as she sent another power punch at him, the cyclone still scattering the water particles around them.
She didn't say anything, just rushing backward as soon as she'd followed through with the attack. An actual look of residual fear crossed her face as she ended up backing into the desk and bringing her hands to her face. She hadn't held back with those two attacks, and was rather afraid to look and see whether or not she had hurt him badly—her power punches could break bones. But even with this worry in her mind, the main thing that was crossing her mind was the idea that he'd been trying to drown her. No, he hadn't, not at all, but for a split second she'd believed it.
Her irrational fear was making her limbs shake. The blind girl brought her hands back down to grip the side of the desk tightly. She let the current of air in the room fall still, and found herself breathing heavily from the exertion she had just put herself through. ”I'm sorry.” She said, ”I.... I need to take a break.”
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Post by AMBER SAVANNAH JAMES AMBROSE on Jul 8, 2011 16:05:51 GMT -5
Ace's eyes widened in surprise as she ripped the water off of her arm. They were pretty strong tendrils and he had a lot of control on the water. The drops of water basically froze in the air as she followed up with her next attack it was fast but Ace saw it as it happened. The cyclone she created had made him off balance exposing his chest to her punch. When it hit he was expecting one of the punches from before but this, this punch was all out. There was no restraint in it, no technique either just a blind punch. It hit Ace like a rocket hitting a wall, it knocked him off his feet and flat onto the floor making him slide a few feet away. He blacked out for a second and when he regained conscious he sat up groaning.
He wanted to check the damage so he shrugged his shirt off and noticed a large purple bruise where her fist had hit. He touched it and prodded it checking if it had broken a rib, he groaned and moaned with each touch but he concluded that it was just bruised no broken or fractured ribs. He would have to rest for a few days but other than that she was fine. He stood up and with a concerned face he headed over to Elaine.
"Hey," He said touching her hand "are you okay?" He asked he knew she probably struck out of fear since she hadn't pulled back on that last hit. He was concerned with her because she was pretty much shaking like a leaf. He went and grabbed a bottle of water and set it down beside her. She did it when he had snaked the water up her arm. "You wanna talk about it?" he asked gently.
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