Mistakes (open)

[Malix]

"Hey hey hey hey hey, babe, where do you think you're goin?"

...calls a voice behind Malix. Something in its tone suggests to her that something wasn't quite right here. She hesitates for a moment, and then adjusts her bag's shoulder strap resolutely and quickens her pace.

A pair of thuggish-looking students step away from the lockers up ahead and step into her path. "Whoa whoa whoa, babe. Let's not be rude!" calls the voice. New kids, he thinks, They got no idea what they're getting themselves into. They gotta learn...this place ain't for powderpuffs.

With her path ahead blocked, she has to stop and turn to face the speaker. Malix puts on her best diplomatic smile and turns around. "Hello, nice to meet you!" she says brightly.

The voice belongs to yet another thuggish student, though this one has a swagger in his step and a scar on his face. "Yeah yeah yeah, I got it, you love me. Now listen here: this is my hallway, y'see, and you don't seem to have a pass..." The guy circles Malix, eyeing her up and down unabashedly. Malix avoids his gaze, looking into the corners as if wishing to dive into a shadow and escape.

This was getting very uncomfortable, to say the least. "I wasn't aware the hall belonged to anybody..." she says gently.

The guy laughs abrasively. "Yeah, well, that's a real shame. You're uhh...gonna have to pay a toll, see?" The two lackeys elbow each other and chuckle knowlingly, and Malix's sketchometer goes through the roof.

"A toll huh...like what?" she asks. Playing along, buying time, any way possible. There had to be a way out of this...

"Hmm, a fresh thing like you...I guess I can let you off easy. One kiss babe, and you can go through. This time. NEXT time, I might be a little...harder to persuade..." Malix notices he's breathing a little heavier. For all his tough-guy act, he's still just some high-schooler...for all she knew, maybe he'd never even been kissed.

But that was not her problem. She just couldn't take it anymore; this was way nervewracking. She had to get out of there. "Umm...no thanks, I...I really have to get going or I'll be late t-"

*SMACK*

The guy had hauled off and smacked her in the face! "Excuse me? Did you hear what I said? This is my hall, so don't talk back or -"

*BAM!*

"Urrrrk..." grunts the student as his gut folds itself around Malix's precise palm strike. She doesn't move at all as the student slides off her arm onto the tiled floor, clutching his stomach. She has dropped into a fighting stance, and there's a burning in her eyes.

Then she lowers her arms, and looks at her gloved hands. She had really done it now...losing her cool like that. That slap had just sent her over the edge, but it wasn't a great excuse. She feels her cheek...the slapped area would be red for a while and might bruise, but did this petty victim of a cruel society really deserve punishment? Fighting was great for keeping fit, but what good could come of this?

A better person would have had more patience, Malix was sure of it.

But she had no time to mentally lash herself for that failure now...the guy was getting back up, and the two lackeys were cracking their knuckles. The bell rang overhead, but Malix was pretty sure none of them were going to make it to class this time...

What had she gotten herself into...

[ethan]

Moral Crest High didn't have a reason for being one of the most violent schools in the country for nothing. Here, fighting and violence were mere normalities accepted by even the teachers as everyday occurences. Not just anyone ended up here, though if you weren't able to defend yourself you were almost immediately rooted out and identified as fair game by the wonderful and friendly student faculty.

Ethan wandered aimlessly through the halls with nothing to do today. Although his honed senses missed nothing, he almost failed to acknowledge the conflict taking place in front of him, simply because he'd been desensitized to all the combat around him. But this looked a little different.

It was common for small gangs of bullies to single out individuals to harass, though this time they seemed to bag themselves a very pretty but helpless-looking girl. One of the thugs made an advance upon her, and then when she seemed to recoil, he decked her across the face. Shouting ensued from him when suddenly he flinched and fell to the ground, the girl standing over him. Suddenly, the look in her eyes changed; she didn't look so helpless now.

Standing behind a locker, Ethan merely watched as the other two boys moved in to attack. At the moment, he wouldn't bother to help. One thing he had been instructed in early on was that combat was a very solitary affair; you had only yourself to keep you alive. It wouldn't be his place to intervene. Besides, the girl looked like she could handle herself well enough, and she'd probably rather take care of them herself. Ethan wondered to himself if she'd be an interesting opponent to fight.

[Hunter Armitage]

(Those who ask, shall receive!)

Now, a better person.. Was there ever such a thing? Of course, possibly in the time of a man that easily just put things aside and doesn't bother with them.. Yeah, maybe. But all things aside, the day was in mid swing, and there were several things a foot. More than likely the careful calculations had to be done to make sure that everything had to be perfect today.

"Huh.."

The Cyberdeck beeped in his hand, as he continued to bring up a map of the school in his hand.

! PLEASE INSERT PASSWORD !

"Bite me, drek."

With that, he proceeded to type in a bypass code easily and quickly, almost at a blinding speed.

! ACCESS GRANTED !

A satisfied smirk crawled across Hunter's face, those red eyes staring down at his little contraption as a small map of the school appeared on the screen. Another easy job well done, for him anyway. This was the easy part.

'Time to see who's where today..'

More blips and beeps sounded as he wandered down the hall, as several colored dots appeared on the screen. Each dot representing the danger level of each student int the school regarding the record and heat signatures. It was an awkward contraption for others to understand, but for Hunter' decoding this was cake, as he wandered down the hall..

And d'ya know what he was lookin' for?

Blue dots passed..

Green dots passed..

A few girls passed..

Hunter sighed impatiently, this was starting to get on his nerves as he continued to walk down the hall, class was about to start, and that would mean that the school hallways would be empty soon enough, and this would cause even more boredom in the ha--

*BEEP BEEP BEEP*

Wait?

What's this?!

WHAT DID I FIND?! (I love Blockhead, xD)

Three red dots began to blink, as well as a light blue one. Hunter then proceeded to look up at the unfolding scene.

"Umm...no thanks, I...I really have to get going or I'll be late t-"

*SMACK*

"Excuse me? Did you hear what I said? This is my hall, so don't talk back or -"

*BAM!*

"Urrrrk..."

Hunter smirked, it seemed the job-- and the fun. Was already in session, the party was just beginning, as the two other lackeys would make an advance on the young lady. Now THIS was what Hunter was looking for. He moved forwards towards the fun.

He loved a good brawl.

Even as the bell rang overhead Hunter would make his move, and that was just a simple Mustang Kick to the first lackey and sending him flying into the other two and knocking them over like a bunch of dominos.

Hunter put his foot down dissapointed.

"That's it?! You drekheads are red, and you're not even worth my time!" He proceeded to mock and yell at them. Totally ignoring the young lady.. And the coward behind the locker, even HE was a green.

[Malix]

Malix settles into a fighting stance, and prepares to meet the slime head-on in an all-American brawl-in-the-hall grudge match. She is ready, she is prepared, she is confident. There are some people watching from the sides now...who they were or what their interests were in the match was unknown, but Malix is determined to give their eyes a feast.

But then, there's an impact. The lead thug tumbles over backwards into the two knuckle-cracking lackeys, and the three tumble to the floor in a heap. Another student, a male, had stepped in, and had caught the bully unawares with a well-placed kick. The student then proceeds to verbally berate the bully where he lies.

Malix just stands there, unmoving, and her face is an expressionless mask. What is this emotion I'm feeling? There must be something odd going on in her emotional center right now, because she cannot not grasp what it is that she's feeling; whatever it is, it's out of place.

What could it be...she goes down the list. Is she feeling gratitude for having been aided by a stranger? A little bit, but the feeling of misplaced emotion persists. How about relief over the improvement of odds and the removal of immediate pressure and risk? No, that's not it...what else could it be.

Then she gets it...

It's annoyance.

Malix is completely surprised with herself...what was she annoyed with.

..was it that this guy had butted in on her fight? That he had deprived her of the privelege of beating those goons to a bloody pulp herself?

Malix could scarcely believe it, but that's exactly what the feeling is. She clenches and unclenches a leather-gloved fist. Where had this bloodlust arisen from? She searches her soul and finds no answers. Such a thing is completely incongruous with the sort of person she had always thought she was, would always be, and that is someone opposed to violence for the sake of violence or as a means of achieving goals. So what the hell was going on?

Unable to deny her feelings but also unable to act on them because of her principles, she quivers in rage for a moment, then brings herself under control by brute mental force, until she is as cool as a cucumber in Canada. She adjusts her bag's shoulder strap as it is her habit to do, and spins on her heel and walks. Past the male student, past the bullies on the floor, ignoring the whole scene, and if unheeded, would keep walking all the way to class. There is nothing more for me here.

[ethan]

Well...that was certainly...unexpected. And in a little way, disappointing.

Ethan stood by, fascinated by the display of violence and Darwinistic survivalism about to be given by the red-headed girl when out of nowhere, another challenger appeared and took out the three lecherous buffoons with one kick.

Ethan wasn't impressed. It didn't look like a particularly powerful hit, it was just that these thugs were only pathetic little leeches. And then, the other boy started berating the fallen losers rather strangely. Red? Drekheads? Was he maybe a little drunk?

As for the girl, she looked uncertain of herself. Her face was calm and controlled, but in her eyes there seemed to be a mixed bag of emotions going through. Though he was no mind-reader, he'd learned through experience in dealing with people that you could glean much about what one was thinking by studying what lay in their eyes.

Some, like the mysterious Gabriel were able to hide what they felt, but others could be read rather simply by observing their gaze and the circumstances. Somehow, she faintly struck him as being dissatisfied with what went down.

Sure enough, she stiffly turned on her heel and briskly walked away down the hallway. He didn't know why, but Ethan found something uniquely compelling about her. He couldn't easily size her up the way he could most other people. The only other person he'd met who was like that had been Gabriel.

He wanted to fight her. Not because of anything personal against her, but because you could learn much about the nature of a person based on how they fought.

Ethan emerged from the locker he stood behind and followed her, ignoring the third student. He seemed pre-occupied with what he was doing, anyway. Though if he became a nuisance, Ethan would have to put him in his place.

He'd walk after her a little ways before finally saying, "Wait."

[Hunter Armitage]

Now that the fun with the three thugs was over, Hunter just decided to prove that he was on top of them, of course he didn't know the whole story. And since it was just three weak, little thugs. Well..

Yeah, they weren't that powerful, compared to Hunter's kick.

So what?

Knocking anybody down is a crowning achievement for anyone who enjoys getting into a fight, it was the whole point of having bloodlust. Especially for fighters and.. More or less, troubled children like Hunter. Of course, those brains came bigger than his muscles, so of course he would only pull something as jackass-tic, as that. Recklessness was what he does best.

And he would continue to taunt them in his own little way, even as the girl stepped off, he would catch a glance and ooh boy did she look pissed. He smirked to himself for a job well done as he slid his Cyberdeck out of his pocket, typing and searching until he found each of the students after using a special face identification device within the little machine and crossed thier names off a small list.

Now THAT was a way to get approval.

Now for the other girl..? Obviously, she was part of the scuffle, but now she was walking away, just like that.

His eyes narrowed but ears perked at a sudden phrase.

"Wait."

Now, there's something you don't see every day, as a hidden guy decides to poke his head out of some rock and into someone's business?..

The irony of the above statement.. Yeah. Very.

Regardless, Hunter proceeded to put the Cyberdeck and keep quiet for the time being as he stood off. The tone in the fellow's voice was that of questioning. Perhaps this was going to be a good looking way for the girl to move up the ladder on Hunter's list?..

And he didn't even know her.

Silently, he would wait to see what would happen.

[Malix]

"Wait," calls a voice.

Malix ALMOST doesn't turn around. Almost.

Her day had been interrupted enough as it was, and now she would be late for class, where she's still playing catch-up for transferring mid-semester. With her wits about her now, she supposes that it's just as well that some student had intervened, or she would be finding herself even more delayed. Malix takes her schoolwork seriously, believe it or not, and doesn't like to miss class.

But the key word above is *almost* because she turns around anyways. Why? Who knows... Maybe she figured that it made little difference now that she was already late. Maybe something in her gut told her it was the right decision. Maybe some small part of her believes in fate. Or maybe it was all just on a whim. Malix would be the last person to know at that moment, because in her typical mental whirlwind of thought and emotion, plucking out a specific strand of reasoning is more an art than a science.

That's Malix for you. Emotion is her compass, and logic she weilds as a shield.

Malix slows to a halt, and swaggers a little as she turns to face the voice. "Yes?" she asks shortly, but entirely pleasantly. She even manages a sweet little smile.

[ethan]

She smiled at him. He didn't return the gesture.

Even now, she looked like such a frail little thing. But he remembered what she'd looked like in the face of danger before and had been intrigued. All he had to do was say the right thing.

"I saw what happened earlier. You're a fighter. And I've longed for a real fight for a long time. Fight me."

He paused for a moment, thinking of what to say next.

"Do it... or I'll steal your purse." Now he smiled slightly.

Without warning, he lunged at her, clearing the small space between them before either of them could blink. Ethan would duck and sweep out his leg to trip and knock her down. If she dodged, he would sidestep to the right and deliver three quick punches while out of her line of perception. If the initial kick connected, he would twirl into a standing position and deliver a salvo of kicks at her while she was down.

[Hunter Armitage]

Well, this was a suprise. He didn't expect the girl to turn around right away. Especially after the way that Hunter had just brushed off those three morons for the time being, but still. He stood there, quietly listening on as he watched her oblige his simple wait, with a Hi and nothing more. But this fellow.. he looked like he wanted something more than attention.

"I saw what happened earlier. You're a fighter. And I've longed for a real fight for a long time. Fight me."

He watched on curiously, a fight? Obviously he was quite blunt about what he wanted to do and that was just asking for a simple fight. But by the looks of things, they were both lean.. It was easy to see that they both had speed matching-wise. This was going to be an interesting sight. Hunter then proceeded to cross his arms.

"Do it... or I'll steal your purse."

Raising a brow in surprise.. This kid had guts, and not to mention he was a full out dick. Even Hunter wouldn't go as far as stealing someone else's purse.. But there was fun! Right in front of his face!

He smiled, now wouldn't be the time to jump in..

Just yet.. He wanted to see what more this girl was capable of.

[Malix]

Malix is on the verge of replying to the challenge verbally when the guy simply takes to offensive without warning. She drops into a fighting stance as the attacker closes the distance between them at high speed.

The student's low sweeping kick comes at her fast, but between the approach time and the time spent ducking down, Malix has time to react by backstepping out of its range. The student doesn't stop there though, as he follows up by swinging in from the side with a series of lightning-fast punches.

Malix cannot respond quite in time and takes the first one across her cheek - the same spot where the thug had slapped her before. The blow rocks her head a bit and jars her. The pain of it is lessened somewhat because the area had already been numbed a little by that previous smack. The second punch she manages to get an arm up and sweeps its momentum to the side so that it glances off her shoulder, where its force is still felt.

By the third punch of the series she has a feel for where it's coming from, and sweeps her hand up, palm out, to snatch the opponent's wrist from underneath to deflect the blow upwards and outwards, and would grab ahold of it, keeping him in place for a split second with a contest of strength alone, and would bring up her dominant arm, her right, to deliver an intense fisted blow would take the opponent square in the gut.

If he evaded her grip she would advance low and aggressively into his dodge or retreat and deliver a one-two combo of a punch and palm strike to his midsection - the punch for pure gutpounding damage and the palm-strike for bone-jarring and knockback. In that scenario, her short stature would be an advantage, since his return blows would have to be angled downwards a bit thereby losing some force, while she had no such qualms.

[ethan]

Just as he knew it, she was certainly quick on her feet as well, avoiding his first kick and blocking two of his first three punches. On the third blow, she attempted to grab his wrist as he punched and hold him down, but Ethan swiftly snatched his arm out of her grasp, not falling into the counter easily.

He snapped it back in reverse to backfist her, but she dodged this as well, keeping low and delivering a one-two punch right at his mid-torso. Ethan took the first punch to the stomach, staggering back a little but holding his ground. Of course, he knew another hit was forthcoming.

He pivoted his body so that he was off to the side with his back to her outstretched open palm, then wrapped his arm around hers, pinning it to his back. Ethan would then mercilessly back-kick her twice in the forehead while she was trapped in his unorthodox hold. The third kick would be hard enough to slam her on her back onto the floor.

Although he slightly regretted being so rough on her, he was always absolutely ruthless in combat. This would be no ecxeption. And he wanted to see how she could handle herself.

[Hunter Armitage]

Hunter watched onwards curiously.. They were good. Oh so very good at what they were doing. It looked like this was going to be some sort of rough housing around the building. This wasn't going to end up fun at all though.. And that was the problem. There didn't seem to be much fun going on in this little fight of his.

But it was all just stepping and pushing, where was the action?! Where was the REAL fighting!? This was pansy stuff, as Hunter stood there discouraged. This didn't look funat all, a small disgruntled look appeared on Hunter's face, as the girl would retaliate to the boy's strikes. This wasn't fun, or interesting..

At least.. Not yet.

Hunter would smile, as he'd take the opportunity to approach slowly. Just slowly though, as the young man would throw his last attack. Slowly he'd come up from behind and throw another mustang kick to the fellow. There was nothing wrong with a little dirty fighting once in a while, and maybe that girl would be a little thankful about it too.

Maybe.. No promises on it.

But with the way that he was coming, it would send the blonde into the girl. But before Hunter would shove off with his kick he'd let out a small warning.

"Oi, move it!"

[ethan]

((OOC: This thread kind of died even though it was shaping into a good fight. Since Malix doesn't seem to be on lately, (or maybe it's just me) it can be us two fighting, Hunter. Post in it or don't, it's cool. But if you don't I'll just call it a tie so I can get some xp. ;D))

"Oi, move it!"

Ethan reacted to the verbal command on instinct, stopping his last kick to instead throw her in the way of whatever was coming at them both. Whether or not the girl got hit didn't matter to him, nor could he see anyway, as he rolled out of the way and into a crouching position, one knee on the floor. He stood to face the new adversary. It was the wierd guy in the trenchcoat. Apparently, he couldn't avoid staying out of this.

"Not such a smart move attacking me, friend."

Ethan would run up, fall and sweep the opponent's feet out under him with a horizontal kick. He would follow with a reverse roundhouse kick to the head. If the first kick connected and tripped him, Ethan would jump into a front flip and try to land on the new foe's face.

[Malix]

(OOC: Sorry, been out of commision for a few weeks, I'll post later on)

(OOC EDIT: I don't think I'll be back to roleplaying here for a while, so go ahead and count this as a draw. Though short-lived, it was a 1v1v1 fight so we each had 2 opponents, meaning 2 exp all around.)