revenance_rpg | Everybody Was Kung-Fu Fighting

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Everybody Was Kung-Fu Fighting

Characters: All those who signed up for Struggle
Content: Struggle!
Location: Twilight Town, Sandlot
Time of Day: Morning
Warnings: It's a Struggle, so there's going to be at least some combat
Notes: The rules of Struggle are simple: Each player has 100 colored orbs attached to their gear (usually a vest and helmet). Knock off and gather your opponent's orbs while keeping your own. The person with the most orbs at the end of the time limit wins the round. Special powers (magic and such) are not allowed - the vanilla humans need a chance to win too. Have fun!

It's a bright sunny morning in Twilight Town - or would be if it had mornings to speak of - but that's not what has the town all abuzz. No, that would be the fact that today marks the start of the Struggle tournament. All are, of course, welcome to come, so the question is really a simple one: who out there is ready to Struggle?

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Well, it looked like that had worked in more ways than one. Xion had managed to make her point and land a good hit. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to get any extra orbs before he got them all back, and with him going on the defensive, she wasn't likely to land another blow soon. Time to re-evaluate the plan. She took a step back, going into a defensive stance and waiting to see what his next move would be.

Okay, it was time to take this seriously; stuff like this was all fun and games until someone lost an eye, after all. It'd be easier for him with a staff; he wasn't really used to the baton thing and it was enough like her keysword thing that she'd be better at hitting things with it. So: best practice would be hitting her enough that he could get enough orbs to win and then running around the area until the clock ran out.

Would it look stupid? Yes. But he could feel Delta's approval, so it was probably a decent plan.

York started to circle Xion carefully and then darted in, aiming a swing at her side. He wasn't sure just how fast she was, and he regretted not finding out in advance, now.

Having something so close to her usual weapon was an advantage, yes. York had the advantage of height and strength, though, and while Xion was used to dealing with opponents much taller, stronger, and heavier than her, those had been Heartless. Their fighting styles were simple, and easy to learn to counter. If York could keep surprising her and use his advantages well, he could win.

As far as speed went, Xion was quick. Quick enough to dart away after the hit landed so he couldn't follow up on it with another. The disadvantage of this, though, was that he was closer to the orbs he'd knocked off her vest. He'd probably get to them before she did.

York headed straight for the orbs, then backed up, waiting to see what Xion would do. If he had more of them, she'd have to attack him for any chance at winning. He was pretty sure he did, but he'd have to try to get more just in case. He didn't like letting her lunge for him; she was impressively fast (not as fast as Texas, but barring armor abilities, no one was.)

He grinned. "Sorry about before. I won't insult you by not taking this seriously."

Being a Replica didn't include any enhancements of the kind the Freelancer's armor offered, no. Slowpokes didn't survive fights with the Heartless, though, and being so small and light helped. Xion hurried to retrieve her orbs, but pulled up when she saw York hesitating as well.

She returned the grin with a smile. "No problem, and thanks."

Really, it wasn't any fun if someone held back on purpose.

York feinted at Xion and pulled back; if he could draw her out and get another hit in, he might get the orbs and be able to run time time out.

Xion drew back when he feinted, then moved in to follow up with a hit to his side. Yes, getting close meant he could strike at her, but she wasn't getting anywhere just waiting.

York managed to mostly dodge; her hit was light and didn't send that many balls flying, and circled, aiming a hit at Xion's back.

Well, that didn't go as well as planned. Xion staggered from the force of the hit. York hadn't been kidding about not hesitating any more; she'd be missing a few orbs after that one. Once she regained her balance, she turned to try to collect them, but she'd lost precious seconds.

York scooped up as many as the balls as he could and decided it would have to do. Now he'd see how fast she could really move. He bolted for the opposite end of the space; it showed her his back, but she was stunned and he was pretty sure that in a straight dash, without his armor, he could outrun her.

As Axel would have said, it was on. Xion saw York bolt and, momentarily forgetting the orbs, dashed after him. He'd gotten a good heat start, but she could try to catch up. Time to put her speed to good use.

York concentrated on just running away from Xion. He dashed around the edge, with an eye to getting back to the orbs Xion had left behind if he could.

While Xion had thought she might be able to catch him, York managed to stay just enough ahead of her that he was out of reach. For a brief moment she considered just waiting for him the way she had for the Emerald Serenade once. He'd probably just change direction, though, and there wasn't enough time. It looked like he was going to get the orbs she'd forgotten, too.

York picked up the orbs and kept running, trying to keep an eye on Xion so that he could stay far enough away. It had to look really silly but this was a game and he wanted to win. They could spar properly some other time.

The strategy was working, too. Much as Xion hated to admit it, he was good at keeping one step ahead of her and staying out of her range. Wash's comment from the audience made her roll her eyes (why were people so hung up on her age?) but she didn't spare a glance. Time was almost up...

Time was up. The referee Moogle was calling for a halt and orb count. Xion sighed when she saw how many she had left. Looked like she'd lost this one. Still, she offered a small smile. "Good match."

They really would have to spar for real some time. No powers or armor or anything like that; it'd be interesting.

"How's your date going?" York called to Wash. Seriously, he wouldn't have started running away from Xion if he were sure he could beat her by standing his ground. Maybe if they had a friendly match, they could find out later.

York stopped when the moogle called for a halt and grinned at Xion. "Really good. Let's do some real sparring sometime and see how that goes."

Xion smiled and nodded in response to York's suggestion. "I'd like that."

She couldn't help being a little distracted by York's aside to his friend, and then...Ziva's reaction to it. What were they talking about? "Date?"

It was probably pretty obvious she had no idea what they were talking about.

"You've never been on one?" York asked. That was a shame, she seemed like a nice girl and could really pack a punch. These were both very positive qualities, of course. "It's when you like someone - in a romance way, not a friend way - and you go out to do something fun together."

Well, even if she'd known what dates were, and had lead a more normal life, Xion was a little young to have been dating much. As it was, the only thing she knew about love and romance was that they required a heart. She'd have to ask more about that later, but for now, one question at a time."No, are they fun?"

Ziva certainly seemed to be having fun. York's friend...Wash was turning some interesting colors, though; was he okay?

"They're lots of fun!" York assured Xion. Wash was going to kill him later and he might even deserve it, but he hadn't expected Ziva to just roll with it like that. "That's the whole point; spending time with someone you really like, doing something you both enjoy. A date can be doing almost anything, since all sorts of people have different interests."

"But how is that different from spending time with someone who's a friend?" It was a roundabout way of asking how romance and friendship differed, but it would do for now. Xion was suddenly aware of the fact that not only could most of the others hear them, but also that this probably wasn't the best subject for public discussion with someone she hadn't spoken to much before.

York had to think about that one. "It just...feels different, I guess. Usually you're attracted to someone you date - not everyone does, but most people do..." He didn't really want to get into sex and all - she was a teenager, so of course she'd know about it, but he wasn't sure he was up for that discussion in public. "You love your friends, but the kind of liking or loving that goes along with dating isn't quite the same." York shrugged apologetically. "Sorry; feelings are hard."

If York knew more about Xion's background, he would have known better than to trust to any even basic education she'd had. Oh, she could read and write and do some math, but anything aside from that had been sorely neglected. His explanation raised more questions than it answered. This wasn't the time or place for them, though, so she mentally filed them away for later. For the moment, she merely tilted her head in thought and nodded. "It's okay; hearts can be confusing."

The Moogles seemed anxious to get on with the next match, so it was time to join the spectators. She turned to head toward the edge of the arena.

York headed after Xion; hopefully he'd have some break time before he faced whoever he was up against next. He wanted to see how everyone else did at their own matches. This was a pretty fun little game.

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Everybody Was Kung-Fu Fighting

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Think we're good to finish in the Ienzo and Xion thread?

Yeah

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