802 Posts
1 EP
EXP
Total
17 Years
Female
"Steelheart"
Student-Rank Quirk:
|
Post by Tetsuko Shindou on Sept 12, 2018 6:13:55 GMT -4
There were many ways to 'test' a sword.
One of the most common methods was also the most obvious. If you wanted to assess the cutting edge of a blade, the simplest route was simply to cut things. Any competent swordsman could get a feel for how effective or sharp a blade was by slicing through tatami mats, it wasn't exactly a complicated process. Of course, competent swordsmen got rarer by the moment, and that was the only limiting factor. Otherwise, there was little to stop the critiquing of a blade by its ability to cut.
However, a blade's edge wasn't the only important thing. In warfare, or really any proper battle, it took more than just a honed edge for a weapon to be effective. It had to be sturdy. Tough enough to maintain its usefulness, even after clashing against countless other blades, or striking hardened armor. In order to test this metric, it wasn't uncommon for blades to be tested against stronger materials, wood or even armor on a dummy. It was a more abusive kind of testing, but it was necessary. If a weapon was deemed weak, liable to break easily, what purpose did it have?
If Tetsuko had to classify her current training regimen under one of these two categories, it would most certainly be the latter.
The soldiers were happy to take the students through the ringer, some more eagerly than others, so it was only natural that Tetsuko made the most of this. After all, it wasn't very often that she got such opportunities for proper and challenging spars. So, with little regard for things like 'rest days', Tetsuko had thrown herself into the fray. At present, the Shindou lass found herself in yet another knife fight with one of the many soldiers, though this time, a few others were watching. Tetsuko, unlike many times before, was using her quirk for this particular spar. And her opponent, a lithe but quick soldier, also held a metal blade... Though neither of their weapons was sharp, the stakes were certainly higher, and with that, sparse onlookers had come.
Tetsuko initially wondered if they were just there to gawk at a Quirker in combat, but didn't care much about the answer to that query. Spectators weren't important, testing herself was. With a thin, blunt tanto knife, Tetsuko would rush into quick combat with the other soldier, their blades flashing with skill and caution as they tried to 'cut' one another. It was a close fight, and as it neared its end, Tetsuko’s body was already starting to become slick with sweat, as she pushed her body to victory.
Ultimately, Tetsuko ended up defeating her opponent with the same technique she’d used against another brave swordsman she’d fought. As her opponent came in for a lunge, Tetsuko skilfully deflected his knife, supporting the spine of her blade with her other hand to make sure he was well beyond recovery to defend against her counterattack. A simple, diagonal cut quickly followed as she carried her momentum through, stopping the blade short of his neck, but making clear her victory.
Withdrawing her blade, and reabsorbing the iron, Tetsuko and her impressed opponent would exchange their pleasantries and respect, now that their fight was done. From the onlookers, there wasn’t much of a reaction, understandably. Even if Tetsuko had come out on top, there was a certain hesitance to applaud the victory of a Quirked teenager of one of their own. With a slight frown, Tetsuko would look over at the other soldiers tending to the sparring rings, offering a simple question.
”…No one else wants to spar?”
She’d ask with some unintended bravado, though her tone remained stern and dignified. Much to Tetsuko’s dismay, there was no answer, as no on else really was terribly confident in their knife fighting skills. Many of the men didn’t figure out that worthwhile, when in reality, a proper firearm seemed like it could fell Tetsuko just as easily.
With a sigh, Tetsuko would take a nearby seat on the ground, recovering some of her energy from the spar as she played it back in her mind. She’d taken far too long to defeat her opponent, longer than she should have… Tetsuko knew that, in a real situation, with a real villain, she’d have to be quicker, stronger, more decisive…
Ever since the incident at Tokyo’s central hospital, Tetsuko had known from the bottom of her heart that she needed to hone herself. She was a blade, but at the moment, a pointless one. What she needed to be was sharp, wickedly so, and sturdy enough to withstand the horrible wrath of these creatures who called themselves villains. Tetsuko Shindou needed to be the righteous paragon she aspired to become. She needed to a blade to cut through evil; and to do that, she needed to be a lot sharper.
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 13, 2018 1:22:10 GMT -4
He needed to be better.
That was the simple fact that kept the American going day in and day out. This military camp would only be out for a limited amount of time, and he needed to take as much as he could out of it while that time lasted. These were professional soldiers who’s entire job was to be ready for war, and they had a killer instinct that was often lacking in combat simulations that he would get into at U.A. In order to ready a hero for fighting villains with that same killer instinct, any training with someone with that ability to gather that second wind out of sheer spite was useful practice.
Most students would be offended that the majority of the soldiers in the area seemed to hate quirkers, but Alex thrived in this environment because there was nothing holding him back. He could be as vicious and clever as he could be, and it taught him a lot of new tricks to add to his growing arsenal. This event from the military was meant to study quirkers, and while the delinquent had no reason to not oblige them he also took from them much more than they gained. The data gained about one shadow manipulation quirk wasn’t worth a lot, frankly, compared to the amount of things that he had learned. Instincts, timing, abilities, and most of all the amount of sheer spite that could power you through a conflict with someone who got the upper hand initially.
He needed to be better, because otherwise he would be left in the dust and his very ability to survive would be at stake. The delinquent couldn’t do anything else but hero work, because he had no other marketable skills except a quirk uniquely suited for combat situations. If he was to try and get a normal job, his complete lack of work experience coupled with his inability to grasp most academic subjects would come to bite him in the ass. The best he could hope to do was a menial job doing monkey work that any robot could do just as well or better. He would rather than die to be subjected to that sort of life, frankly, and if he was forced to do it he would rather be a martyr than living and worthless.
The first goal he needed to attain was to beat Rin Kurama. She was the first student to be ranked number one in the first hero rankings, so she was the bar. He needed to up jump her to prove that Class 1-C could measure up to the perceived top dogs and also to prove to himself that he could make it. By the end of the first year, he resolved early on that he would pass up that cold-hearted bitch and assume his place at or near the top of the standings. That first goal was necessary, because without making a splash publicly he would never be in a position to achieve goal number two.
Goal number two was to leverage his new position to capture the attention of the one person that could take his ability to the next level at that point: Darkshine. Even if he got the placement as number one student at U.A., the simple fact of the matter was that the gap between him and Darkshine was still a vast chasm bigger than the entire country of Japan top to bottom. She had a very similar style to what Alex did, and had a more advanced use of her quirk than he did. If he caught her attention and got her to train him, that enormous chasm could get a bit smaller so that it was only the Grand Canyon before he graduated in a few years. If he wasn’t the absolute cream of the crop, though, there would be less than zero reason for the number one pro hero to look at him twice even if they did have similar quirks.
He wasn’t arrogant enough to believe that he could close the gap between them completely even if she took him under her wing and let him copy her tactics, her way of thinking, and her tricks. At the end of the day the best he could be was a top tier copycat, but the delinquent was more than fine with that distinction. A top tier copycat of the clear cut number one Pro Hero was still way better than almost anything else he could possibly be. Without that instruction and mentorship, however, the best he could be would be a mid-tier copycat and that simply wasn’t good enough. The profession of a hero was the only thing standing between him and a lifetime of being a worthless leech on society, and he was keenly aware of that fact. He didn’t just need to graduate and pass the test, he needed to be good enough to make a splash after he did both of those things or his life would ultimately be meaningless.
The American had walked back to the training arena after a two hour break to eat, rest up, and regain all of his body heat from an earlier session of training. For all intents and purposes, he was fresh and ready to go. As he was passing by a crowd next to a currently used arena, though, he heard an open challenge and immediately turned to meet it. The delinquent in a dark grey tank top and dark blue athletic shorts leaped over the barrier into the combat area and fixed his red gaze on the cocky little shit in the middle of it wordlessly.
There was a dull knife on the ground from the last challenger still limping his way out of the arena, and the delinquent could immediately see why the guy had so much trouble. The girl, much like himself, had some very respectable muscles. She was most a close range fighter with that body composition, but he would find that out for sure in a minute. He walked out to the opposite end of the arena to face the girl with the sort of arrogant swagger that one might expect of someone considered by some to have the biggest ego of all of U.A.
”You take first move. Try not to cut me with that chin, though.” he taunted, red eyes exultant at the opportunity to face down someone a bit tougher than the standard fare he had beaten today. This was going to be fun.
|
|
802 Posts
1 EP
EXP
Total
17 Years
Female
"Steelheart"
Student-Rank Quirk:
|
Post by Tetsuko Shindou on Sept 19, 2018 9:40:09 GMT -4
For better or worse, Tetsuko Shindou would find her calls for a challenge answered. The girl would turn to see a young lad dressed much the same as she was, in sporty attire. Tetsuko herself wore a simple navy blue short-sleeved tracksuit, not the most elegant or attractive of attire but it was more than sufficient for her needs. It wasn't restricting, nor would it be damaged by the use of her Quirk like anything with longer sleeves would be. It made it all the more apparent that she was only there to fight, though her reasons weren't immediately clear
Noticing the boy's approach, Tetsuko's steely gaze would assess him right away, immediately noticing that distinctive scar of his. The mark of a seasoned warrior? Perhaps not. His confident stride and competent musculature told the Shindou girl he was nothing more than another cocky wannabe brawler aiming to prove himself against the swordswoman. The only difference was his age, being much younger than many of the soldiers there. A student?
It didn't matter. All that did was that it was clear, in no uncertain terms, that he was taking her up on her offer as he approached the opposite end of the arena. His taunt was further confirmation... Even if it was rather strange. Her chin? Was her chin particularly sharp? Furrowing a brow in confusion and resisting the urge to raise a hand to check, Tetsuko would wipe the last remnants of sweat from her forehead as she faced the boy head on, looking down on him already.
"Afraid I'll slice through that ego?" Tetsuko would utter her own taunt, as she held her palm a short distance in front of her, facing her own chest. From it, iron sprouted, shaping itself into a sword's hilt. With a careful touch, Tetsuko would grasp this hilt, pulling on it as iron continued to emerge and mold itself into a blade. The result was that it appeared as though Tetsuko was drawing a sword from her own palm, a katana to be exact, of about two and a half shaku, or 75cm in length. It was, however, entirely blunt, yet still perfectly capable of inflicting pain with its focused force and hard material.
"If you'd rather I not use my Quirk, just say so." The swordswoman uttered calmly, though with just a hint of mockery to her tone. This guy's arrogance put her off a bit, but she was still going to be courteous, and allow him the chance to admit some level of inability from the get go..
"If there's no problems, let's begin. I am Tetsuko Shindou, don't hold back." Was all the young girl has to say before lunging forward, aiming to rush the boy with a clearly telegraphed thrust toward his chest. A testing strike, simply to see how he'd respond, to try and get a hint of his fighting abilities and how to overcome them.
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 19, 2018 22:00:35 GMT -4
”Oh no, don’t hold back on account of me.” the boy verbally countered, as confident as ever when the girl said something about his ego. In fact, his ego was perfectly adequate given his position. He was the number five ranked student at Yuuei High, and thus could hold claim to be significantly better than the average and part of the elite group that comprised the very top hero candidates in Japan. Put simply, he was better than her in combat and would summarily prove that very fact in a public forum. When the girl pulled that sword from her hand, the delinquent’s cocky grin only widened. A melee fighter, perfect. Alex had a lot of experience fighting against melee opponents, and there was absolutely no way that this girl was nearly as fast as Darren or Risaka. This would be a piece of cake as long as he maintained proper distance and fucked with her ability to move as much as possible. If she never got close, she could never do damage! Simple! Easier said than done a lot of the time, but simple at least in theory. He should theoretically have an advantage against any melee opponent due to his range as long as he kept moving, which wasn’t a hard concept to do unless the opponent was significantly faster. If this girl’s quirk was only the metal creation, it was very unlikely she had anything to enhance her natural speed or agility. One less thing to worry about, which was always nice in these situations.
The American, rightly or wrongly was more than confident in his ability to take down a melee opponent that was not significantly faster than he was. Speed was hard to counter, but he would take his own mastery over his quirk over her mastery of hers any day. After all, he seemingly had the dual advantages of range and being able to use more matter than she did if that sword was the only thing she could make. Surely, if she could make a lot of iron she would build something like armor in order to better protect herself! The fact that she didn’t likely meant that she couldn’t, which boded well for him in this fight. It was either that, or she underestimated the delinquent and would soon get severely punished for that very same transgression. He was one of the best quirkers in Japan, and not someone who could be underestimated without severe consequences. This fight may very well be over sooner than he had anticipated if it was indeed cockiness and not a lack of ability.
When the girl introduced herself, the delinquent didn’t bother to reply verbally. He was scanning the area for shadows rip matter from and doing so as she talked, and thus was more than ready for the completely obvious thrust forward. A pair of black tendrils of matter rose up from nearby shadows to chop at the girl’s knees and ankles to hopefully cause her to trip and fall while the American calmly walked to the side to further ensure his own safety and create more distance between him and his foe. The matter created from the shadow would feel cold to the touch and vaguely wet, but with a strength beyond what a normal person could actually break through. If the girl was knocked to the ground, the attack would cease until she at least made a move to get up and if she wasn’t a second pair of tendrils would come from the delinquent’s own shadow to attack up high with wide, arcing attacks with the intent of forcing the girl to duck and thus be snagged by the tendrils down below and have her legs completely caught by the material wrapping around itself multiple times, if she didn’t trip first.
”If that’s all you got, this should be over quick.” he taunted once more, voice filled with disappointment rather than bluster. If this was really all the girl had, this was a fucking waste of his time. Someone that cocky should be more skilled, quite frankly. Though he supposed he should not have expected too much from a random scrub, this entire scenario was still disappointing. Who the hell still ran around with a sword in the 21st century anyway? It was 2072 for crying out loud! Guns existed, they were literally in a military base where she could learn how to use a far more effective weapon! What kind of weirdo ran around making large bladed weapons in this day and age? Tetsuko Shindou, apparently! Maybe in addition to directing her to a proper martial arts school he could also recommend her a good psych ward at the end of this match! Tradition was so often the source of weakness in this country, it seemed, as people clung to ideals that were outdated even a hundred years ago like they were sacred. Like they still held meaning or value in the modern era, and really there was no other reason to be waving around a weapon like a sword today if not to cling onto this bygone era where swords were actually effective. The fact of the matter was, that was the past. Quirkers were the future, and a quirker deliberately chaining themselves to that past only delayed their own development and ability to function in a new and changing world.
|
|
802 Posts
1 EP
EXP
Total
17 Years
Female
"Steelheart"
Student-Rank Quirk:
|
Post by Tetsuko Shindou on Oct 2, 2018 0:07:24 GMT -4
”I don’t plan on it.” Tetsuko stated simply in regards to accusations of potentially holding back. It wasn’t at all a taunt or threat, but a genuine statement. Holding back on your opponent was something reserved for masters teaching students, in the swordswoman’s eyes. It was exclusively for education and training. Otherwise, purposefully restraining oneself in sparring was nothing short of disrespectful. Not giving an opponent your full strength was paramount to looking down in them, insulting them and calling them unworthy of your highest abilities. In spite of the boy’s rude demeanour, Tetsuko had little intention of doing that to him. Though admittedly, his behaviour may well have only heightened her desire to unleash her full strength upon him.
As the swordswoman’s opponent quite eagerly internally broke down her potential abilities, she wasn’t quite able to do the same. There was no way for her to know his cards until he showed his hand, but it would do little to alter Tetsuko’s approach. She would cut through whatever it was he threw it her, with the right technique there was little that couldn’t be sliced through or bypassed. Defences would not be an issue to her, not with the arsenal of counters she possessed. Range would be the biggest issue against a Quirker, and something that could never be underestimated. If he could strike from afar, she’d need to close the gap, but once she did so she was confident in her ability to keep it closed. The oncoming and unending advance of Jikishinkage-ryuu was a fearsome strength indeed.
After giving her name, Tetsuko was disappointed to find he did not give his. A rude an disrespectful foe, he seemed. One that that Shindou girl would readily put in his place, if he continued with such unsportsmanlike behaviour. Her attack was launched, a simple thrust akin to a jab to ‘test the waters’, something that her opponent couldn’t leave unaddressed, but nothing that might put her in a bad position if it were dodged and countered. Which, of course, it was. The shadows themselves rose up to strike at her, black tendrils lashing at her legs. Pivoting on her back foot, Tetsuko would lean away from them as she shifted her blade into a low slash, though her blunt blade would only deflect them for the time being. However, this proved to be playing into Alex’s schemes, as the overhead tendrils would force the Shindou girl to duck underneath them, allowing the tendrils below to wrap around her legs, forcing Tetsuko to a standstill.
An interesting Quirk, to say the least… He seemed to command the shadows themselves, turning them into this wet substance that was rather unpleasant against her legs. With a furrowed brow, Tetsuko turned to her taunting opponent, offering only a simple proverb. ”You count the skins of tanuki that haven’t been caught.” She uttered lowly, sliding a hand along her blunt blade, reabsorbing the iron in such a way that it developed a sharp and wicked edge. She certainly wasn’t holding back anymore.
”You have my apologies if I cut you.”
Springing into action once again, blades would burst from the back of Tetsuko’s heels, like spurs to cut through the bindings around her legs as she pushed off her feet. Slashing at any of the remaining shadows, her sword would cut through them this time, no longer blunt and ineffective. A deep breath was taken as she darted towards Alex with intent, raising her katana into an offensive overhead stance, the hilt in line with her forehead. Jodan no kamae, the stance of attacking intent. If the overhead tendrils came for her, she’d slash from this position to try and cut them down, unyielding in her approach towards Alex. Pivoting the blade in her hands, rotating it with her wrists, she’d return to jodan no kamae, slashing just in front of Alex as she approached him, before bringing forward her back foot and pivoting on her hip for a strike with the hilt to his torso, were she not impeded on her approach. She needed to keep the distance between them at a minimum, pressing on and hopefully flustering the dishonourable opponent who thought it more fit to stand idly as he trained a single aspect of his abilities.
This had quickly become a personal matter for Tetsuko. A matter of education. She intended fully on showing that there was nothing a sufficiently sharp blade couldn’t cut through. Even the shadows were not exempt from this.
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 2, 2018 0:50:11 GMT -4
Huh. He had underestimated his opponent. He had assumed for some reason that the girl could only pull metal out of her hand. Maybe she really could cut him with that chin, and he had just sealed his own fate. She could grow that metal out of any part of her body, including her ankles, with enough strength to break through his shadows. He had wasted valuable time and focus taunting when he should have moved to finish her off before she knew what she was up against. By the time he realized what was happening, it was too late and his attacks up high were first blocked and then cut right through. He could make new constructs, no problem, but the fact of the matter was that no matter how many tendrils he sent after the girl or how many times he recreated his constructs, the simple fact of the matter was that she was advancing faster than he could backpedal. It was slow going, sure, but it was ground that she was gaining and more to the point it was ground that she was gaining without taking any hits in return. The delinquent’s shadow constructions typically hovered outside of melee range and shot forward with tremendous speed, and usually multiple ones was enough to at least force a melee opponent to move backwards and concentrate fully on fending them off. They attacked from all different angles, that usually flustered an opponent visibly… but that wasn’t happening. It didn’t matter if he attacked high, low, or at the girl’s midsection the result was the same. The sword cut through the shadow, and the blades at the girl’s feet reappeared when he tried to do the same trick again to fling her backwards. He attempted to bind her midsection and arms as well, but her reaction time seemed to be more than a match for his own and she cut through offending shadows with seeming ease. Things were looking pretty bad, and he needed a plan – fast. The blade was the issue, really, and the whole being able to grow iron out of her body made any binding attempts useless. If she could grow it out of her hand and ankle, she could probably grow it out of damn near anywhere if she wanted to. That meant that binding wouldn’t work, and any shadow contact would have to be quick like strikes, which weren’t working at the present. What he needed to do was occupy the blade while he attacked with something else, and as the girl was rapidly approaching melee range the delinquent had an idea. While the blade could cut through the shadow, the shadow could also force the blade backwards at least for a strike if it was of sufficient density. She would slash with that damned thing once she got close, it was really the only thing she could do, and all the American would need to do was deflect it while flinging her back simultaneously with as much force as he could possibly muster to reset the fight and try another strategy – one with a lot more feints involved. When the girl finally got into melee range, she held the sword above her head – telegraphing the hell out of her attack that he had no problem deflecting with a tendril from the ground while the bulk of his attack was focused on blasting the bitch in the stomach with a pillar of shadow matter strong enough to force her as far back as possible and knock the wind out of her. What actually happened, though, was a bit different. Tetsuko had baited the delinquent into putting his defense into the blade, and before he could even unleash his own attack she flowed through with enough speed and intent to prove to the boy that she had expected the deflection and landed a direct hit with the hilt of her blade onto the boy’s ribs as the pillar materialized and shot out with power fueled by the absolute panic that shot through the American’s body at the moment. This wasn’t speed, at least in the same sense as someone like Darren. This was different. She didn’t seem noticeably faster than a normal person, the difference was just that she seemed to waste absolutely no movement when she did something. Anyone else he had ever seen wielding a melee weapon had wasted movement at the end of a wide movement like a slash, but not this girl. She moved that damned sword like it was a paint brush, never wasting even a split second on movement that wasn’t immediately necessary. The taunting was gone, and so was the lackadaisical posture. The unmistakable sight of panic was in the boy’s eyes only moments ago with the strike to his ribs, but it was gone as quickly as it came. He had underestimated the girl twice now, and wasn’t about ready to do so three times. Shooting pains went through his chest and down into the rest of his body at the moment, but he never really had an issue working through some pain. He was done treating the girl with contempt, and was going to treat her like the enormous threat that she was from now on. If the initial pillar was successful, the delinquent would attempt to pull the shadow back once the initial burst of movement and separation was complete before the pillar was cut through so he didn’t need to completely reform the shadow and immediately begin his next string of attacks, incorporating far more variety and conducting a series of feints and attacks aimed at joints and the ability to cripple movement. If the initial pillar was not successful, he would quickly split it into four smaller pillars that would attempt to grab hold of each limb of Tetsuko and fling her backwards with as much force as he could possibly generate to accomplish the same goal of resetting the fight and creating enough distance to do the same attack strategy he would attempt under the last option. If the initial pillar was cut down immediately, Alex would duck and use his own shadow to create a construct to savagely chop at the girl’s knee with enough force to shatter stone and fucking book it to the right to create distance from the girl that he would have hopefully knocked down. It was undignified, but damned if it wasn’t necessary. If he was successful in getting out of melee range, he would immediately look to cannibalize more shadows and pull their matter towards him when that crazy bitch came stomping towards him with all the precision of a goddamned robot killer in a few moments and executed the same attack strategy as the other two options.
In all scenarios, if distance was gained the delinquent would backpedal at a walking pace while maintaining concentration on his shadows to try and create every inch of separation that was possible without compromising his ability to use his quirk. He wasn't underestimating Tetsuko Shindo again, the girl was tenacious as hell.
|
|
802 Posts
1 EP
EXP
Total
17 Years
Female
"Steelheart"
Student-Rank Quirk:
|
Post by Tetsuko Shindou on Oct 12, 2018 12:10:01 GMT -4
Her body only protested slightly as she moved forward, her energy sapped from her previous fight but still plentiful enough to continue bringing her blade against Alexander Deraine. The powerful momentum of Jikishinkage-ryu's advancing footwork let her cover the distance and slice apart his constructs, gaining on him no matter how many shadowy tendrils he threw her way. With each strike, she treated the tendril like a deadly weapon, not daring to underestimate them as she swayed away and cut them down. The swordswoman considered herself lucky that the 'matter' these tendrils were made of was no harder to cut than tatami. If they'd had a tougher consistency, she'd have been at risk of getting her blade stuck in one, but fortunately, no such variable impeded her approach. While she certainly didn't cover the distance quickly, there as little slowing her down, and it was relatively costless approach.
That being said, Tetsuko remained vigilant of her opponent, very aware that he wasn't too incompetent. His attacks were varied and he was making a conscious effort to force her backwards, trying to attack from different angles and heights to fluster her or put her on the backfoot. It wasn't by any means a bad strategy, it was just an ineffective one. An all out assault would indeed leave many novice swordsmen hunkering down and likely losing their blade, but Tetsuko was no novice. With each tendril that came at her, she was cut it down, pivoting and twisting her hands and arms to react with speed and precision to the relatively straightforward attacks. Although there was variety, each individual strike was fairly simple, slice through it and turn to the next. Even the attempts at binding weren't hard to address, simply sprouting those blades again would let her continue on without any sign of slowing.
It was becoming hard not to be reckless and self-assured at this point, as although her opponent's Quirk seemed to be very versatile and dangerous, Tetsuko had to see it being used at such a level that it could truly put her on the ropes. His insistence on expending further energy to keep her out of melee range only further proved to her that it was his weakest distance, so her goal did not change no matter how many tendrils he launched her way. Overall, it was looking to be a simple task, cut through the shadow and then cut through him. Or, perhaps, just give him a bruise or two, it would really depend on how frustrated Tetsuko got with the ceaseless constructs thrown her way. Ultimately, he had little choice but to accept her approach, and Tetsuko had to see how he'd deal with it.
Once in range, her sword was raised at the beginning of a strong offensive attack, in a stance commonly used in real kenjutsu. One that loaned itself to quick and deadly strikes, yet that also allowed the wielder to quickly flow into other attacks, and perform deceptive countercuts following a baited defence. A sword's balance was one if its greatest advantages, in that regard. In the hands of skilled wielder 'deflection' merely provided it more momentum. That was exactly the advantage that Tetsuko aimed to use, and succeeded. She hadn't 'expected' the deflection, so to speak, but had merely the instinct and skill to recognize it was coming. It wasn't a conclusion she'd come to, it was a certainty she'd felt. Flowing from the deflection, the bottom of her hilt found itself punching into the boy's torso, aimed right at his ribs and prompting a swift and panicked counterattack. Even now, he was trying to force her back, it seemed.
Left in an awkward position by her hilt strike, the best Tetsuko could do was give in to the boy's desires for a moment and fade back, bringing up the hilt of her sword and pointing the blade downward as she pivoted in response to his counterattack, flowing right from her hit to her next move, wasting no time even after the point of contact. With simple twist of her hips and tilt of her blade, she severed the pillar in twain as it shot towards, practically letting it cut itself on her honed blade. Like tatami once again. The downside to this quick response was that she'd left Alex the chance to follow up his counterattack, and he did so in a rather efficient manner, a construct of shadow savagely cutting toward her leg. With instinct less honed than before, iron would sprout from her shin, a band of it quickly wrapping around her leg, but not quickly enough. The rudimentary armor prevented any crippling damage, but the force was still transferred, knocking Tetsuko's leg out from under her and forcing her to drop to a knee, planting her sword in the ground to prevent herself from falling completely.
Pain shot up her leg, her teeth grit down as the discoloration of bruising set in. It wasn't going to be a lasting wound, but it was a troublesome one. It would make her footwork a lot more painful than it needed to be. Fortunately, she wasn't the only one feeling the pain, judging by her opponents rapid scampering away and previous evident pain making clear his panic and injury. With the progress she was making, Tetsuko wasn't about to back down now. Getting to her feet again, she raised her blade against Alex's next slew of attacks, handling them with the same level of skill as before. Though he was aiming to be a bit trickier this time around, his attempts to inhibit her movement wouldn't see her on the backfoot for long.
"You've stopped talking so much..." Tetsuko observed as she cut down some of the tendrils, stepping forward to approach as best she could. With all the feints and aims to cripple her, she was growing exhausted at dealing with them, and occasionally one was imperfectly cut, resulting in bruising and slight setbacks, but she wouldn't let them go on for much longer.
"That's not a complaint."
With a powerful crossways slash, she'd cut down what tendrils were near her, before pulling the blade back and bringing her other hand to the spine of the blade. Iron flowed out, extending along and binding into the blade, growing the length of its hilt and blade, adding from her reserves to increase the weapon's size to that of a nodachi. She hadn't been forced to use much iron yet this fight, letting her readily create the 3 shaku weapon she now wielded in both hands.
Darting forward, a wide swipe of the blade would aim to cut down several tendrils at once, a strategy she'd continue to utilize on her approach. By focusing on eliminating them in a single swing, she could hopefully reduce the effectiveness of her opponents apparent 'more is better' approach to offense. If her previous blade had been a brush, this new, longer sword was broom, sweeping but calculated movements making use of its mass and length to slice apart what ever was in her way as she approached. Yet, even then, that wasn't all she planned on utilizing.
There's so much iron to use... I mustn't waste it.
In her spar with Junko, Tetsuko had learned that a blade could only take her so far. That occasionally she'd find herself up against an opponent who might wield a weapon that countered it, or simply possessed more skill than her. Although that opponent wasn't Alex, the lesson was still applicable here. Borrowing from one of the teacher's techniques, as Tetsuko continued to try and cover the distance between her and Alex, long and flexible bands of iron would sprout from her shoulders, a shape not unlike that of tape, only with a metallic twist. These bands of iron would shoot out towards Alex, aiming to arc at him from either side and grapple his arms. If successful, they'd try and pull him in closer to the advancing Tetsuko. Even if they were unsuccessful, however, Tetsuko hoped they would divert his attention, forcing him to do more than just sit back and focus on letting his Quirk do all the work.
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 12, 2018 19:00:44 GMT -4
Wrist. Elbow. Ankle. Knee. Shoulder.
If he could take out the joints, he could stop the advance. If he could stop the advance, he won the fight. It really was as simple as that, in theory. The issue with that whole strategy, though, was putting it into practice while searing pains were still shooting through the boy’s body. Once distance was created again, pride went out the window in favor of winning. It looked like he was running away from her, starting and maintaining a steady backpedal and even breaking out into a sprint when he was getting close to the edge to reposition himself physically.
Tetsuko had materialized more metal from her body and lengthened the blade she held considerably. That increased her effective range and allowed her to cut down multiple constructs at once… The swordswoman was good, and if they continued at their current pace she would overwhelm him eventually. So, the solution was simple. If he couldn’t win by attacking the golem, he would have to win by doing something else. His thoughts, however, were interrupted by what looked to be metal tape that sprung out from the girl’s body and lurched towards him at an exceptional speed.
His reaction time was excellent, but he had assumed that the girl was simply incapable of ranged attack so was not prepared for this at all. He managed to reactively pull up a shadow on his right side for the tape to wrap around and lose its momentum… but the left side got his arm and yanked hard before he could call back some shadow to rip it off of his skin. The downside to this, of course, was the incident distracted him enough that the assault on the sword girl was… uh, not nearly as effective as before. The constructs stopped following her movements when attention was lost, and while they didn’t stop to do nothing they just went with whatever motion they were doing before because they were not being directly controlled anymore. This resulted in the girl covering much more ground than was comfortable, and left the delinquent in another piss poor situation. His left arm felt like some maniac just tried to yank it out of its socket, because that’s exactly what had happened. The arm had very clear red areas where the metal tape had latched onto his body and was even bleeding slightly due to the force of the pull and the violent way that the delinquent had essentially been forced to pry the tape off of him using force. The act of ripping the tape off of himself would have the same ill effects on the arm that physically ripping up the metal tape would have -- digging it in much more heavily in the moments before enough force was applied to actually break it and free the arm.
He was backed towards the corner of the ring, and needed to go right in order to create more distance. He knew that, and so did Tetsuko. That was the only way he could dodge, but he needed some way to fuck up the girl’s ability to pursue. Something that was a bit more effective than merely throwing a bunch of constructs out there, and the boy finally developed a plan. It was another desperate maneuver, but the American never really had a problem playing a risky game and switching tacts if his initial plan wasn’t working. He wasn’t afraid to look like an idiot if it meant that he still had the chance to win.
His attack would be built up with two thicker tendrils with the full versatility of his quirk behind them alongside some trickery. The first tendril would appear to be a thicker and larger variety than the others, but it was largely just a visual trick to draw attention and save energy. If the girl looked closely, she would be able to tell that it was puffed up with air and was a hollow construct. It would move quickly towards the girl, though, and right before it hit the range of that blade the consistency of the material would change entirely and essentially create a jet of slime that could not really be swatted away with a blade directed right in the eyes. It was not one singular construct anymore, but many smaller ones joined together that could easily be wiped off with Tetsuko’s hands… but that would also leave her wide open for the real attack.
The real attack, with most of his energy and attention going towards it, would be from shadow matter that would run like liquid in a wide arc around the girl in hopes of being stealthy before materializing into a thick tendril that would do the exact same knee-chopping trick as earlier to begin with, but then would dissolve into what amounted to a sticky and slippery goo that the delinquent hoped would make it difficult for the girl to keep her balance if the knee strike didn’t knock her down, or regain her balance if it did. In addition to this, the delinquent tossed a visually large piece of shadow up that was essentially just a large piece of thin plastic that would hopefully catch the girl’s attention while the American himself dove down to the ground and did a somersault by rolling forward to make himself as small a target as possible while his constructs did all the work before popping back up as quickly as he could manage and sprinting away once more as he turned his red gaze back to direct the constructs as necessary and follow up if the plan actually worked.
If he was able to create the distance again, his strategy would change to that of wearing down the girl. He would intentionally do joint locks that she would break out of to force her to use her quirk to break out of them. The ground would be slick with goo and gunk in order to slow progress as much as possible, and attacks would be aimed at the face continuously in order to disorient and exhaust. It wasn’t his preferred method of fighting by any stretch of the imagination, but it was the only one that really gave him a chance of pulling this one out. His own body temperature was starting to noticeably lower as things started to get just a little bit harder now that the initial surge of energy was gone. He was using a lot of constructs, and couldn’t have maintained that previous breakneck pace forever. Wearing down an opponent, though, that drained a lot less energy because the amount of material needed to play the stamina and deflection game was much lower than the all-out assault that he was trying earlier.
|
|
802 Posts
1 EP
EXP
Total
17 Years
Female
"Steelheart"
Student-Rank Quirk:
|
Post by Tetsuko Shindou on Oct 18, 2018 8:55:46 GMT -4
The discoloration of the bruise on Tetsuko’s leg would slowly fade as she fended off Alex’s attempts to cripple her, finding herself undeterred but not undamaged by the offensive. Her joints were beginning to ache, Elise’s blessing only taking her so far, and unable to affect wounds beyond those skin-deep afflictions. Closing the distance would continue to remain her primary goal, only this time, the Shindou girl had no intention of letting Alex get away again. If he could wittle her down from a distance, it would be a shameful loss; She needed to finish things the next time she got in range. For that, she needed a stronger cutting edge, something the nodachi provided. It wasn’t quite as nimble as a katana or other shorter blade, but it would likely be sufficient against her opponent, given how flustered she hoped to make him in close quarters. Additionally, it provided her with much needed reach, and enough momentum to eviscerate any constructs that came her way, making it all the more difficult for the shadow wielder to stop this swordswoman’s approach. It was a fundamental principle of Jikishinkage-ryuu that one always remain firm and unyielding in their approach, characterised by the style’s uniquely grounded footwork. Knocking a master of the style off balance or trying to make them stagger and relent was considerably more difficult than it would be for most other styles, and although Tetsuko certainly wasn’t a master, her skill was just enough to find herself responding with acuity and capability to the attacks thrown her way. Her defence became even more effective once she managed to distract the shadow wielder with her metallic ‘tape’. It wasn’t the most effective construct considering the material used, it was more than enough to be a cause for concern for Alexander Derraine. One of the metal bands was deflected and promptly retracted, metal shed as it retreated back into Tetsuko’s skin, while the other managed to get a good grasp and pull on the boy before doing the same. Meanwhile, Tetsuko found herself blazing through the constructs with even greater ease, slicing and dicing as though they were nothing more than vines in her path, waiting to be cut down and posing little threat to the swordswoman. It was as she’d thought, fighters like the shadow wielder, who found themselves relying on range and tricky tactics, were best dealt with by flustering and surprising them, by forcing them to leave the comfort of their fortifications. The metal tape had done its job too, wounding the boy’s arm to a small degree and even drawing blood. ’That reminds me… I’ll have to avoid cutting him open.’ Tetsuko thought to herself, dismissing the possibility of poor form even against an opponent like Alex. A few, superficial cuts were fair game in a spar, but bringing down the full force of the blade was not quite the best idea. In spite of what her metal tape had done, however, Tetsuko knew it wouldn’t mean much as long as he could keep attacking with those shadows of his. She wasn’t exactly fearful of a punch from the boy who dwelled and hid in the shadowy corners, after all. As the ironblooded girl neared, her eyes remained fixated on Alex, both of them being well aware of the fact that he had to move, and fast, if he wanted to keep that precious range advantage of his. After last time, it was only natural that Tetsuko expected he would grow more desperate to evade her. A swordsman who’d been cut was the most cautious, an adage she held true. A large tendril approached, drawing her attention by instinct. Tetsuko was always the kind to approach things directly, and immediately sought to take care of it. Her eyes fixed keenly upon it, she held her blade in a high guard, firm and ready for if it went for her arms or head. Iron began to sprout from her shins too, thin metal strips along the side of either. She was well aware by now that he wanted to cripple her movement, and given the brutal attack to her legs before, she knew she couldn’t let herself take on of this hits head-on. However, as the tendril shot toward her, it became clear it was aiming to wound neither her head nor legs. The whole thing was full of air, something Tetsuko did not realise until it was too late. As a jet of shadowy slime was shot her way, she raised her blade into a position where the edge was pointed upward, her hands toward her back shoulder and the blade guarding her face. Kasumi no kamae, as effective a stance as it was, could not cut something as fluid as slime, and Tetsuko’s eyes were covered. From this stance, she quickly wiped off the slime, keeping her guard raised as she anticipated a follow-up attack! Her eyes darted around in search for Alex’s attack, but the wide arc he’d taken meant she spotted far too late to dodge or cut it down. Instead, she relied on the iron in her shins, single iron bars pulled through that then expanded and flattened into makeshift leg guards that jutted up to cover her knees just as the savage chop struck her legs. It was a hasty defence, not nearly effective enough. Tetsuko felt her weight fall forward as she lost her footing, having to shove her blade into the ground to try prop herself as she pulled herself forward to maintain some level of balance. Pain shot up through her legs, but stopping wasn’t an option. In spite of her exhaustion, she knew that losing ground wasn’t an option. Iron was drawn out of the soles of her feet, forming into spurs that let her step forward and maintain a solid grip on the ground below, cutting into it and the slippery goo, these climbing spurs letting her press forward toward Alex, looking more determined than ever. A practical sheet of shadow was tossed up, Tetsuko took no chances dealing with it. Holding her blade in one hand, she raised it to slice, while the other made sure that Alex didn’t get off easy with this. Three small iron spikes formed in the gaps between each of her fingers, bo shuriken they were called, blunt in this case. These small spikes were thrown at Alex as he rolled away, a blind toss aiming only to stagger and and Tetsuko cut the sheet overhead. Pressing forward, Tetsuko would find that Alex had gained a small distance, but it wasn’t much. She was getting closer, there was only one thing she could do now to finally finish it. The Shindou girl knew she had to take him down in a single moment, the same moment she got close enough. For that, her sword style would prove handy. As more tendrils came her way, Tetsuko held her blade out in front, point facing Alex as she continued forward. The armor on her legs was bolstered, and duplicates made on her arm. She was pushing how much iron she could use, her skin becoming pale and her breathing growing unsteady, but she remained firm in her intent, uttering quietly under her breath the essence of a powerful skill. ”Ten’i Muhou”
天衣無縫 Her breath began to become irregular, and she charged forth with even more vigour. As tendrils came in, she’d move her blade to cut them down, pivoting it in efficient moves that required little actual movement. It was like she was trying to shroud herself in a cloak of nullification, her blade the needle that sewed it. When the tendrils went for her limbs, smaller blades would sprout from her guards, as the girl employed the essence of a technique designed to punch through defences like Alex’s. With utmost intent, Tetsuko would charge forward like this, her spurs keeping her feet stable, as she did her best not to stop for anything. If he dared to let her get close, Tetsuko would thrust her blade forth toward his solar plexus with all her might, making sure to blunt the edge first with her control of the iron. Chances were, she’d have more to deal with, not that she’d let it stop her from getting close enough to show him the might of Jikishinkage-ryuu. |
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 18, 2018 22:31:59 GMT -4
The armor covering the Shindo girl’s legs and arms made it damn near impossible to get a decent hit in the joints that was enough to slow her down. She was responding to the attempted grabs near instantaneously and was making up the lost ground in a way that simply was not sustainable. She was moving faster and had caught up to the tricks that the delinquent had thrown at her, and if this continued for too much longer she was going to close the gap and get in melee range. The second she got in melee range, Alex was fucked. He had used some variation of the same trick two times and was not going to bank on a third. He needed to do something drastic, and he needed to do it quickly.
The swordswoman had amped up the effort she was putting out with her quirk drastically, and if she could pull this off for too long… Alex was fucked, put simply. If her quirk at the basic level was this armor and this was not a pushing of her limits, he would be outlasted. He had expended a lot of his stamina into attacking from so many different angles and manipulating the density and composition of his quirk so often and in such vast quantities. If the girl had not begun tapping into her actual stamina reserve yet and was just fucking with him, he was done for. If this was a last ditch effort to end the match quickly, though, he could still outlast her. He could still win, if he kept his cool and didn’t panic.
A barrier rose up as one of the grab attempts failed onto Tetsuko, rising very quickly to about knee height and having the strength of concrete. This coincided with all tendril attacks on the swordswoman ceasing completely as the ground around the girl became stained with the same slippery goo as before. As for the delinquent himself, he erected what amounted to be a full defensive wall that had the strength of plastic, not even wood, that negated the girl’s ability to see him for the moment and for the next few seconds at the very least as she navigated the trip attempt and realized that she was no longer being attacked and could move freely once more… aside from the slime, but the girl had used her quirk to negate the slippery effect of those before. It wouldn’t slow her down for more than a few extra seconds at most unless he got lucky and she actually slipped.
”I hope you’re ready for this attack!” he yelled out, completely and utterly bluffing before he started sprinting to the farthest point in the arena from Tetsuko. The first few steps would be hidden by the defensive structure, but if things worked out the swordswoman would be advancing to the wrong position until it was too late. As soon as the boy ran ten meters away from his shadow constructs, they dissipated immediately. As he ran, though, he created more of that slippery goo from the shadows he encountered and moved them behind him in order to impede progress but not daring to look behind him. Alex needed distance, and if he had to resort to trickery and flat out running away from his opponent in order to create that distance he was going to do that. As the quick movement commenced, shooting pains reappeared in the area of the delinquent’s ribs and shot through his entire torso. Still, he continued forward because the thought of conceding due to pain was simply alien to him.
Honor was great and all, but winning was more important than saving face. The fact of the matter was, if he could squeak a win out from something like this by playing dirty and ‘cowardly’, then so be it. A loser flinging insults was, at the end of the day, just a loser flinging insults because they lost. Even if the girl sprinted forward, she would have just gotten in position to slice through the barrier before the American was off to the races, and he would not even think of stopping until he hit the far end of the arena. His strategy was still exceptionally simple, tire the girl out and wait until she was exhausted to go on the offensive when she was exhausted. He was using energy, sure, but he figured it took more energy to rip iron out of your body and cover yourself with it than the delinquent himself had expended. He was tiring, sure, and could not continue on indefinitely at this pace. But he still had a couple of good minutes in him left, and gambled that the Tetsuko Shindo girl did not.
As he reached the far end of the arena, the delinquent did a little hop and stopped his momentum in a double foot slide and turned around the second he was physically able to in order to rip the shadows around him and prepare for what was likely going to be the final stretch of this fight. He didn’t really have any ideas he hadn’t used already, so this would just end when he was smashed in with that sword or he managed to stall for long enough for the Shindo girl to get exhausted enough to leave openings where none existed before.
She was good. Very good. The best weapon user he had ever faced off against, easily. She fell for every trick he had used on her thus far, however, so he could pull a victory off if he thought of something really clever. Something really clever that would finally put an end to this and provide him enough space to do a finishing blow on a space where the armor did not cover. Yeah, that’s what he needed to do, or just keep resetting the fight until one of them dropped from exhaustion. Either or, really, as long as it gave him the best chance of winning. As he ripped matter from the shadows around him, his breath briefly turned visible as his body temperature had lowered to the point where it was noticeable. This needed to end soon.
|
|
802 Posts
1 EP
EXP
Total
17 Years
Female
"Steelheart"
Student-Rank Quirk:
|
Post by Tetsuko Shindou on Oct 20, 2018 8:37:05 GMT -4
The long blade and armor were putting Tetsuko into the upper bands of her maximum iron usage and incurring the beginnings of negative effects, but it was certainly worth the materials used. Alexander wasn't getting a cheap shot in if she could help out, he wasn't going to use his shadows to whittle her down from the safety of his range. Tetsuko Shindou knew that she had to got closer as soon as possible, while maintaining a position with which she could cut Alex down. The fact of the matter was that she was approaching her own limit very quickly, her body having been already worn down by the earlier fight. This was quickly becoming a battle of attrition with all of Alex's dodging and distance creation, and if it ended up that way Tetsuko was certain she'd fall first, even if her opponent did look to be getting a bit chilly.
Simply put, she had to get close and finish this before it became about who collapsed from exhaustion first. That wasn't going to be easy with the trickster that her shadow wielding opponent was, though Tetsuko was starting to adapt to all his little tricks. She herself was playing a trick too, trying not to give away how exhausted she was becoming, paying close attention to keeping her breathing regular, as difficult as that was. The growing paleness of her skin was also hard to hide, but she hoped it wasn't the kind of thing someone would notice in the heat of battle. Neither of them really knew who was going to fall first, which meant neither of them could take that risk. They were caught within their own opposing methods of victory. For Tetsuko, it meant closing the distance and engaging Alex at her optimal distance, where the fight would become much more one-sided. For Alex, he needed to keep that from happening, to herd Tetsuko around the arena until the overwrought samurai lost the strength to stand.
A barrier rose up at her knees, forcing her to halt her momentum as she vaulted over it. Luckily no tendrils had struck her way midair, as the boy seemed more focused on his own defense. Was he going to simply hunker down? No, the moment Tetsuko realized she couldn't see the young lad, she came to conclude there was another reason for this barrier; to hide him. Was he going to perform an attack that required some kind of telegraphing windup? The attacks had stopped too, her movements entirely unhindered, and it became clear something was up. Another trick for the trickster, it seemed, though Tetsuko continued on, keeping focused and fully aware that losing ground wasn't an option, even if it meant running headlong into a dangerous attack.
Alex called out that he was preparing some attack, but Tetsuko wasn't at all convinced or dissuaded. "Fool me once," she thought. Yet, at the same time, the possibility of a double bluff was not one she could ignore. Tetsu kept her blade in a defensive position, slicing apart the thin shadow as she approached, presuming to find some kind of trick awaiting her before she could attack Alex directly... And surely enough, he was already running off, having created some distance with this little tactic of his. This was becoming rather frustrating, Tetsuko tiring herself by just chasing Alex around the whole damn arena. Her head was starting to grow light from sheer exhaustion and a growing need for more iron, but she pressed on. Losing this battle just because she was too weak to keep going was not a noble victory at all.
Continuing her chase with a growing fatigue, Tetsuko's running was becoming less refined, relying more and more on her spurs to keep from stumbling too much in the presence of that shadowy goo. The Shindou girl lamented her own lack of range, and how her sparring partner was escaping from her grasp. If she ever found herself against a villain again, would they too simply be able to evade justice just by running away and sapping her energy? Gritting her teeth, Tetsuko's legs pounded, every few moments she'd become lightheaded from how far she was pushing herself, how much she had already lost from these back-to-back fights. Though even then, it was Alex who'd been the greater when it came to reducing her stamina.
As Alex reached the far end of the arena, he made his last stand. He'd run all he could, and Tetsuko would make sure he didn't have anywhere else to run to. She'd made up her mind at this point, that no matter what trick he threw at her, she wouldn't stop her current momentum. Her body reaching its utmost limit, she bolted forth with her blade held in a central position, ready to attack at the first chance that she got. One good strike from this skilled swordswoman would be enough, that was what she was banking on. One good and decent hit, with all her strength behind it, with all the weight and hardness of the steel behind it, with all her pride behind it. With the pride of Jikishinkage-ryuu, and its superior technique!
Without any sign of stopping, Tetsuko charged Alexander. Skill would decide this fight, this single moment would decide this fight. If Tetsuko didn't land this swing, she doubted she had much left in her. Whatever shadowy constructs were sent her way, Tetsuko would either trust her armor to take the full impact or cut them with her blade. Her expression was coloured with determination, pain and effort, all in equal measure. The former only brought her closer to the brink, thanks to her body's overactive healing prompting her to lose more stamina as the bruises faded. But she continued forward, raising her blade as her eyes set a steely gaze on Alex, and she delivered a battlecry as she went in for her final strike. This cry was something she'd grown fond of, that invigorated her for that final push if she ever needed it.
"RAIKOU!"
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 20, 2018 14:30:59 GMT -4
Ah, fuck. This was even worse than he expected. He expected at least a little bit of reprieve from an attack with sprinting to the edge of the arena, but either he had slowed down or she had sped up since the last time this happened. His body temperature was lowered to the point where he could definitely feel it and his extremities started to go numb just a little and he was definitely breathing heavily. He might be able to go off running again, but there was a good chance he would just fall down along the way. He needed something else, some different way of doing things. Some other strategy to get him out of this predicament. Winning seemed out of the question at this point, but simply not losing was still the goal that he would strive to reach because if he could tire out a vastly more skilled opponent without taking enough damage to be rendered useless… well, that was a start.
He couldn’t slow her down. Every strike was just absorbed by the damn armor or deflected by the sword that moved faster than his shadows could once the distance was closed, and she was advancing quickly… too quickly. He couldn’t leave. He couldn’t run again, not from a standing start. The Shindo girl was already in motion and would cut him down. He also didn’t have enough shadow around him to form the type of block that he would need to do to guard himself against a feint that he assume was coming. The American had his shadow cut down construct by construct, and he had underestimated the girl’s ability to close so he did not have an awful lot of matter left. He could rip more, sure, but the quick location change made it so that he would have to visually search for shadow and the swordswoman was so close he didn’t dare. If she lunged forward with a change in speed and he was looking away, this was over and done with. He would lose instantly because he doubted very much he could take a direct hit from that sword and still be standing.
The girl’s strength was fading, though, as her running became more and more disjointed as energy was sapped from her limbs. The wooden barrier was directly behind the delinquent as he backed up into it instinctively as the swordswoman approached, when the boy suddenly had an idea. It was risky, sure, and he truly had no idea if it would work… but it was better than trying to dodge or block an attack when he already knew a normal strike was extremely difficult to block and a feint was damn near impossible from this girl. He still might get hit, but the girl’s reaction time would have to be sublime and if this worked even for a couple of seconds he was off to the races again for what was probably the last time. As the girl approached, the boy coalesced the matter from his own shadow and made a tendril low to the ground that was hopefully hidden behind his leg to be ready at a moment’s notice. He put all of the remaining shadow matter he had into it in order to make it strong enough to break a cinder block. He would need all of the momentum he could get, and he made sure he did as the tendril wrapped around his right leg in preparation for what was to come. The timing on this had to be pretty perfect. Too early, and the swordswoman would have time to redirect her blade and catch him on the way out. Too late, and he would already be done for due to already suffering a direct hit that would likely break his concentration and dissipate the tendril anyway when he was this tired.
When the Shindo girl closed in, the delinquent crossed his arms in front of his chest anticipating a straight stab while the tendril grabbed him and knocked him down to the ground in an instant. He couldn’t move his body fast enough to dodge that blade, but it was very possible that his quirk might succeed where his body failed. If the tendril was not eliminated instantly, it would drop the delinquent to his side to neatly avoid slamming his back against the wooden barrier behind him and then shove him as fast as possible to the side in order to create as much distance as possible. If he had not had a direct hit on him at this point, immediately after the forceful shove that sent him skidding across the field he would attempt to dissolve the tendril before it was cut down and redirect it to a cone attack that had the strength to crack wood aimed at the girl’s shins in the hopes of knocking her off balance. In the hopes of slowing her pace. In the hopes of ending this before she came over to him and just beat him to death with that sword.
He didn’t really have a plan for getting back up, and the breath that he started to exhale was completely visible due to the drop in body temperature he had experienced by this point. If he was not taken out at this point, any move towards him by the Shindo girl would be met with the delinquent ripping his own shadow and blasting the area in front of him again with a cone attack in a desperate attempt to stop her from closing the gap. His skin felt clammy and cold, and his joints felt like they had ice around them that would prevent them from moving around smoothly like normal. There was no way in hell he could get up before she lumbered over to his position, anyway, so this was his last-ditch effort to not lose. This was it. If his shadow was cut down before he could dissipate it, there would be a longer and noticeable pause as he had to rip the matter from his own shadow and use the same cone attack and struggling to do it with how tired he was before the swordswoman would have time to close in.
|
|
802 Posts
1 EP
EXP
Total
17 Years
Female
"Steelheart"
Student-Rank Quirk:
|
Post by Tetsuko Shindou on Oct 21, 2018 4:02:23 GMT -4
It was a final and decisive chase to the conclusion of the fight as they drew out what remaining strength they had left. It was ultimately a battle of time, with Alex attempting to extend his and Tetsuko trying to cut it short. A blade that sliced through time itself was a powerful thing, and was the very tool that Tetsuko needed to use to finish this. Alex wasn't running anymore, he'd exhausted that strategy til its end, leaving no choice but a final stand. The Shindou girl was becoming desperate herself, evident by her powerful and ceaseless charge forward. She was no longer sure if she'd be able to stand once this fight was concluded, not without some iron supplements to have her body properly transporting oxygen once again. Whether she stood at the end, however, was not relevant. Whether her opponent did was another story entirely. It seemed her and Alex's goals were conflicting once again. She desired a victory, he needed simply not to lose.
A hard fought conflict against this annoyingly tricky opponent would become a stain on Tetsuko's skills if she couldn't ultimately defeat him. Every muscle was beginning to ache with each movement she made, every cut and every block telling her to stop pushing herself so far. By this point, her body's protests could not stop her, however, not until she had used her last few chances to win this thing. Cutting down the shadows itself, Tetsuko's mind went back to the time she'd fought alongside Kenshin, about how they'd pushed themselves too far and allowed a dangerous man to escape their grasp. Though this wasn't then, Tetsuko knew, that she needed to show herself she wouldn't let that happen again. A successful retreat by the enemy was not a victory in the eyes of Heroics, so Tetsuko decided that this spar would show if she really was capable of achieving that victory. As the shadows began to dwindle, Tetsuko's grip on her blade tightened, as though she was afraid it might slip right from her hands.
And if that happened, so too would her chance at winning slip away. The downside to Tetsuko's determination and desperation was that with her strength was fading too, the possibility of a solid hit relying almost entirely on the power of the metal in her hands. A metal that was quickly growing weaker as she struggled to maintain it, one that wasn't going to stand up against too many more hits. Even smashing it against Alex was likely to break the blade at this point. Her options were becoming more and more limited, Tetsuko needed to slice through the obstacles before her and find the solution that would let her weapon strike true. A dodge from the boy wasn't going to deter her as much, as long as she could recover and follow up, but a good block would leave her at a disadvantage. Luckily, his shadow matter didn't seem to quite be able to reach that consistency, and he was quickly running out of tricks. Whatever he did have left to pull, Tetsuko knew she had to follow along with it, let her blade become a leaf in the river. Flowing with the course of things until it reached its destined point, bleeding into his own reflexes as best she could to make sure that no matter what he did, she would succeed!
The decisive moment came, Tetsuko reading her blade by pulling it around and having it point backwards with the edge facing downward, angled slightly toward her own back. A good stance from which to employ a variety of different techniques, as it hid the blade's length and masked the intentions of the wielder. As Alex raised his guard, Tetsuko rapidly unleashed her blade in a straight slash at his lower body, when he'd narrowly avoid with the help of his shadowy tendrils yanking him away from her blade! With a fury to every swing, Tetsuko quickly lashed the blade back in a sweeping cut that aimed to sever the tendril pulling him along, quickly following up into a downward swing with her blade at the dragged boy. If she had been successful in striking him, the brittle blade would break off towards the hilt. If not, it would slam against the ground or wooden barrier, breaking all the same and presumably leaving Tetsuko without a blade to wield.
Only, she was the blade herself.
If Alex had not been struck successfully at this point, the nearly collapsed Tetsuko would find herself stumbling forward as the cone attack collided against her iron shinguards, her legs barely letting her carry forward at this point. With all the vigor and determination of someone on their very last wind, Tetsuko charged forward towards Alexander, only a small distance away from her. As starved for iron as she was, Tetsuko re-absorbed her armor, abandoning the defense for one last weapon to launch Alex's way. In her right hand, a small blunt blade was formed, thin but hard, like a baton crossed with a knife. The hachiwari, the helm splitter, her last effort. As the cone attack blasted forth, the Shindou girl had no choice but to charge through it, the last of her iron trying to protect her but still taking so much force to an already exhausted form. A few more steps and she would fall, and yet... The girl felt so calm. So firm in her intent.
So immovable at her core.
She didn't know yet what this was, but all she knew was she had one more attack. A few steps more would only cause her to collapse, so instead, she leaped at Alex, bringing her hachiwari up and swinging it down with her last ounces of strength, her face colored not just by determination, but by certainty. Her intent did not waver, even if she knew that after this strike there would be nothing left of her strength. A miss would mean defeat, as she wouldn't even have the strength to stand after pushing herself so unnecessarily far.
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 21, 2018 5:01:06 GMT -4
His escape plan didn’t go quite as intended. In fact, it barely worked at all.
First off, the Shindo girl cut through the tendril that shoved him along quicker than he anticipated. Second, she managed a glancing blow that managed to strike exactly where his rib was injured earlier on the way out despite the fact that momentum from the fling did carry the delinquent a small distance away. The hit on the already injured body part caused a sharp exhale of pain and made the boy’s eyes water, but this wasn’t quite over just yet. The sound of the brittle iron breaking caught him off guard, and caused a renewed surge of adrenalin to course through his veins if only for the moment as he realized how close he was to stealing this one away. During this surge of pain and adrenalin, however, he managed to rip matter from the girl’s shadow and pull it close. That would come in handy later. He wasn’t sure how, but essentially doubling his available shadow was a great fucking thing to have at the moment since absolutely nothing seemed to be going his way.
As he fired off his cone attack of darkness in a last ditch effort, the swordswoman created a dagger in her right hand and kept moving towards him. One of the greatest parts of his own quirk was the fact that he didn’t have to move an inch to use it, so his body was left to do whatever the fuck. He was slightly taller than the Shindo girl, and her arms were not freakishly long. That meant that as he fired off the cone attack he was pulling his knees up to his chest in preparation to kick forward as a last ditch effort to end this. He did, fortunately, have one trick left. He didn’t care if the kick with both feet didn’t do any damage, but he did care that it stopped the attack. To aid in this effort, he used the girl’s own shadow against her in order to form what amounted to armor on his legs that had the consistency of wood that would hopefully take the brunt of the attack. Using his quirk in this way at his skill level meant that he couldn’t do anything offensive with his quirk or create anything more than just the armor, but at this point that didn’t matter. The armor, while normally would look like something out of a medieval fantasy video game were much more like the bare bones and rough shadow that looked very basic and uninspiring. His energy was depleted to the point where his customary pride in showing off his control over his quirk was nonexistent and he wasted no effort or thought into things that didn’t help him win.
The pain in his ribs was absolutely excruciating at this point, and he would only be able to keep up the armor for a few seconds anyway. After this kick, he wouldn’t be able to physically reposition himself for any counter attack. After this kick, he might be able to use his quirk at the risk of actually passing out, but likely only once for any real attack. When the Shindo girl leaped forward with that knife, the delinquent kicked both feet forward in an effort to hit her at center mass and intercept the attack before it ended the match. He was banking on the fact that his legs were longer than her arms to be his saving grace here, and if he missed the knife he would hopefully at least stop the girl’s momentum in the process and limit her ability to beat the hell out of him.
If he could stall for just a little bit longer, he had a chance. The girl’s blade broke apart when she had the chance to deal the finishing blow before, so she was on her last legs. He needed to finish strong and at least match this enemy blow for blow until she fell down from exhaustion. She was good, the best weapon wielder that he had ever faced by a country mile. But the fact of the matter was, he knew for a fact that if Rin was in this fight instead of him that she would’ve won by now. The gap between them was infuriating, because it seemed almost insurmountable. This girl was a teenager, and with her skill with that quirk very likely a U.A. student. Which meant that she was an unranked U.A. student since he had never heard of any Tetsuko Shindo before.
An unranked student, beating him? No. Not in this lifetime. As the kick went out, the American finally got his own shadow ripped once more and used that to armor up his upper body as well as he rolled forward with the momentum of the kick in order to get his torso up to throw out a forearm strike to follow up the kick if the kick did not knock the Shindo girl away. If the kick did, he would just swing at air and fall flat on his side afterwards due to putting all of his remaining energy into that attack. The shadow armor would dissipate the instant his side hit the ground, his focus broken due to landing on his injured rib and the new explosion of pain shooting through his body.
If the forearm attack managed to go through, he would pull back his right hand for a follow up punch and fall over to the other side due to the sloppiness of the movement and the momentum unbalancing him. A left jab with next to no force behind it would fire out as he fell, desperately trying to attack but lacking the physical ability to do so at that point. Same as before, the instant he fell to his side it would aggravate his injured rib and though the pain would be lesser than the last option it would still cause a lapse in concentration and dissipate the armor that protected him.
|
|
802 Posts
1 EP
EXP
Total
17 Years
Female
"Steelheart"
Student-Rank Quirk:
|
Post by Tetsuko Shindou on Oct 21, 2018 7:33:27 GMT -4
Her blade went through, managing to strike at the same point her hilt had slammed into before, not that the Shindou girl noticed at first. It wasn't until she realised her glancing blow had caused so much pain that she concluded it must have been the same point she'd struck before. It put the Shindou girl one step closer to defeating him, but it still wasn't enough. As though the pain had only upped the dosage of adrenaline, Alexander Derraine was continuing on, his advantage in stamina used making his victory ever closer to being entirely assured. Not to mention the fact that Tetsuko's broken blade meant there was even more iron she couldn't withdraw into herself and use again, reducing the available resource she had to almost nothing. It was a very good thing that she had ways of restoring that iron via various forms of supplements, else Tetsuko was going to have some trouble getting home after this exhausting fight. Well, she already was going to...
They were both down to last ditch efforts by this point, Alexander using his remaining shadow to armour himself, and Tetsuko using her remaining iron to create the hachiwari she wielded. Though it was often called a helm splitter, Tetsuko didn't quite know if it could break through Alex's shadows, not that she had much choice but to try. Alex was pulling back his knees, evidently preparing to take her in close combat, after all. with whatever moves might create distance between them. It went to show just how desperate Alex was becoming, if he truly wished to take on Tetsuko despite the blade still in her hand. At least it made evident that Tetsuko would indeed get her last chance here, her final opportunity to claim victory and say she could take on Quirks like his with nothing more than trusty blade and sturdy armor; something that would let her say that skill really was the deciding factor, against things like raw strength. His armor looked basic and simple, but Tetsuko's blade felt capable as ever as she gripped it, and without hesitation she placed her faith in it. Trusting people was not something Tetsuko was particularly good at. Trusting her blade, however? Well that she could do, and that she would do.
The Shindou girl was certainly on a timer at this point, every second she continued fighting was a second closer to simply collapsing from fatigue. If she didn't end things here, if she let Alex get more distance or force her backward, it was over. He'd have won with his kiting tactics, Tetsuko would have lost to a man who'd retreated from her. That wasn't really something she could just let happen. As she leapt wildly towards the shadow wielder, he kicked his legs out toward her, though his lack of technique was something the Shindou girl could readily exploit. Attempting to twist in the air, Tetsuko would throw the shoulder of the arm wielding her hachiwara forward, her other side tilting backward as she tried to throw her free arm around Alex's legs, so even as they hit her side she could stay holding on, keeping her close enough to strike, or at least she hoped.
His legs were, of course, longer than her arms, but this tilt and the length of her knife still meant Tetsuko was in range for the finish of this fight. With such intent and determination, she swore to - at the very least - end this with honour. To say she could push through every disadvantage Alexander exploited, to bypass every cheap trick he used, to make his powerful advantages null with nothing but her pure skill. If she could do that, no matter how Tetsuko walked away from this fight, she could do it with her head held high in pride, with her faith in her blade confirmed.
As the seconds wound down in seemingly slow motion, Alex armoured up his torso, perhaps to prevent Tetsuko from striking at his ribs again. Fortunately, Tetsuko already had plans to strike the boy's jaw, the only way she could ensure she'd put him out of the fight, though likely not knocking him unconscious, but smacking the rest of the fight out of him. As a forearm flew at her face, Tetsuko didn't have any reason to attempt to dodge it, not when it meant her own attack would miss. She swung her hachiwari at Alex's face as he swung his forearm at hers, that arm striking her cleanly and forcing out any remaining fight she had left in her as she touched down, a spell of lightheadedness washing over her immediately as she fell backwards.
Alex's sloppy punch was dodged by Tetsuko, in a way. Certainly not intentionally. She was already falling backwards, her knees becoming weak as she slipped onto her back, falling in time with Alex. Her entire body was aching from the exertion and strain, though her face has the most unique pain where Alex had swung his forearm into it. Tetsuko Shindou didn't even bother trying to stand up again, knowing her body wouldn't let her do so just yet. She didn't even know if she'd struck Alex at that point, if she'd managed to bring this match to something other than a total loss for herself... Though, she supposed she'd learn soon enough. They couldn't lie on the ground forever, after all.
|
|
