Punching People (Sara, Spectators... Interveners?)

[Sara Quinn]

Sara continued to stumble away. She had caught her balance a few steps back, but continued to emphasize her point. To get him to attack her she needed to look weak, and appear to be easily beatable. Her ears strained, searching for signs of pursuit. She couldn't keep this up much longer, any more and he would have to realize that she was faking. Then, thankfully, she saw him approaching out of the corner of her eye. He was coming at her side? Was he an idiot? She had expected him to come from behind, attacking her perfecting good open back. Well that was fine. Easier for her. She watched him come up beside her, his left hand coming up to slam into her side.

And then the idea came to her...

She flinched away from his attack, not dodging it, just moving and changing positions. She turned her body so her head was closer to him and the punch wasn't for her ribs. She took the punch in the stomach, her hands going up to grab his wrist. It hurt. She coughed out. He had hit her hard, and she had taken the full brunt of the attack. But it would be worth it if he would help her.

She looked up at him, her hands clasped around his wrist. Her face contorted in pain. She whispered up at him, loud enough that he would hear her. She said it simply, kept it easy. "Attack the pillar with me."

With that out, and barely a hitch in their fight, she leg go of his wrist and her two hands flew forward to grab into his sides, her fingers digging into his flesh between his ribs. If he refused, she would push her fingers in harder, twisting them. Mathew had used this attack on her once, and she had been dying to try it out. Well now was her chance. Unless of course, he agreed, in which case... they would work with that when it happened. Her gaze stayed on his face, and she smiled up at him through the pain in her stomach.

[Adrian]

The girl took the punch, not where he intended, but she still took it directly. As she was punched, her hand went to grasp his wrist, whereupon, much to the boy's surprise, she spoke to him. It was a quiet whisper, he doubted anyone else heard it but them. Or at least, he hoped so, considering what the ramifications of his acceptance would be.

Oh well, gotta live sometime.

Adrian nodded, ever so subtly, hoping she'd notice his acceptance. She then reached out and dug her fingers into his sides, causing the boy to grit his teeth. It hurt, for sure, his corded muscles not quite enough to protect him entirely from harm. His arms went to her shoulders, apparently in an attempt to push her off, but he clearly did not put all of his strength into it, otherwise Sara would be much more likely to have been pulled off. As he pushed, his eyes skirted about, apparently looking for an exit, or some way to get out of the situation. In truth, however, he was ensuring he knew the exact location of the pillar. Seeing him off to his left, Adrian would, to the outside opinion, change his attempt from pushing off to pulling in, locking Sara into a basic illegal boxing clinch, pulling her head closer to his so they could speak unheard.

"When I break this hold, I'll punch you to my left, your right. Right cross. Take the punch and I'll chase you... then you knock me further...when we get in position, we'll attack."

Adrian whispered, as quickly and quietly as he could. All the while, he did most of the work, working back and forth in the clinch as if he were struggling to get her off of him.

"And go!"

Adrian finally broke the clinch and shoved Sara back, this time using more of his strength. Sara would be unaware to this, truthfully, and likely would break her grip. He would then cock his right arm back quickly before firing it out for her chin in a right cross.

He hoped the girl understood the gist of what was happening, and would fake the punch well enough to sell it to the crowd, and more importantly, the Jester.

[Damien Kross, Jester]

I would hear nothing of the girl whispering 'attack the pillar with me.' Seeing her speak something so hushed however, interested me. Trash talk perhaps? Ooo, I love trash talk. I gotta hear some of this.

The Orchestra, my Qi, allowed me to bend sound waves. With my Qi activated, the sound waves they emitted would flow straight to my ears, allowing me to hear everything they said, unless it be in the most muted of whispers.

"When I break this hold, I'll punch you to my left, your right. Right cross. Take the punch and I'll chase you... then you knock me further...when we get in position, we'll attack."

What the-

OoOo, Damien, this isn't good.

No, it isn't. But, I know something they don't.

What's that?

They think I have no idea what's happening. Be prepared to switch. I might let you have these two.

*Gasp* Thank you Damien. I'm *sniff* honored.

[Sara Quinn]

She watched him, his fist digging into her stomach, as she saw him nod. It was brief and she wondered for a second if she had even seen it, or if he she was just hoping. She saw his face contort as her fingers pushed into his sides, but she wasn't about to let up, not yet at least, when there was a chance he could be playing her. She felt his arms on her shoulders, pushing her away, but again, she wasn't going to let go. Not until they had some sort of plan, and she had a clear confirmation that he was in. And then he pulled her towards him, surprising her.

"When I break this hold, I'll punch you to my left, your right. Right cross. Take the punch and I'll chase you... then you knock me further...when we get in position, we'll attack."

Oh. Well now she got it. She started to move with him, as he played the hold he had on her, making it look like a real fight. This could work. They just needed to work together. And god forbid he was two-timing her. She would break him. Definitely. Especially if it got them in shit. They were about to attack a pillar, there was no way in hell she was going to go for this and let him back out last second, and walk away.

"And go!"

Her thoughts were cut short as she was shoved away from him, her hands ripped from his sides. He had used quite a bit of force, and it surprised her. He was strong. But that was good considering what they were doing. She saw the punch coming for her, and braced herself. This would hurt, even if she wasn't going to take it full on. Just as it connected with her chin, she threw her head back, moving with the punch, letting it keep contact, but not the full brunt of it.

She needed to get closer to the pillar, needed to make it so they could attack. So she threw her body backwards, landing on the ground on her back, her face scrunched in apparent pain from his punch. As soon as her body hit the ground, her two hands pressed against the ground above her head, palms down and she flipped her legs up. She somersaulted back, landing neatly on her two feet, crouched on the ground. Using the force of her landing and her arms to push herself up into a standing position, she took another few quick steps back, not looking behind her, her gaze constantly on him.

She assumed Kross was directly behind her, but she was unsure how far. One more step back, and she dropped into a defensive crouch, her knees slightly bent, upper body tilted forward, hands in front of her. Any further and it would be obvious something was up. She just really didn't like the idea of the pillar being at her open back. She had to force herself not to turn around. So she kept her gaze focused on him, waiting to see what he did next.

[Adrian]

She sold the hit pretty well, Adrian had to admit. It looked and felt, and hell, even sounded believable. Unbeknownst to Adrian, the Jester had already figured out what was going on, however, which would make what was to come even harder.

Sara stumbled off to the side, and turned to face him, ready for his attack. As she stumbled, however, Adrian positioned himself so that Sara blocked his view of Jester and vice versa. Thus, when Adrian began to run at Sara, she would see him quickly point down with both index fingers and mouth the word 'duck' silently, and Jester, hopefully, would not.

All that was left would be for Sara to understand and react in time. If so, then this plan still might have had a chance to succeed...

[Sara Quinn]

Sara crouched, and watched him come at her. She waited for some sort of signal, or sign for what he wanted her to do. He seemed to have positioned himself in a specific direction. She assumed this was the direction in which the pillar was. She felt a shiver run through her. This was so... Exciting.

As he ran at her, a movement of his hand caught her eye. Her eyes moved back to his face to see him mouth something at her. She thought she knew what it was, but wasn't 100% sure. But she would do what she thought he said. Whether it was right or not, it couldn't hurt.

When he got close enough, Sara dropped backwards to the ground, landing on her back, and then rolled onto her stomach, pushing her self onto all fours, so she could see the pillar and what the guy did, and gain her feet when he was out of the way.

[Adrian]

Right on target, Sara dropped to the ground, and rolled back to get on all fours.

Even better. I apologize if you're not ready for this one.

As Adrian ran and the girl dropped, as soon as she got onto her hands and knees, Adrian would jump up and plant a single foot onto the small of her back, where her knees would be bunched up underneath her and therefore less likely to cause any significant pain if she wasn't ready for him to do that (and she likely wasn't.)

Using the girl as a springboard, Adrian would leap towards Jester, left fist cocked back, hoping to surprise the Pillar with a hard sucker-punch and put him out of the fight early. And if not? Well, at least the girl would have his back... he hoped.

[Damien Kross, Jester]

Aaaaaand... switch!!

There you go Jester, you're in charge now.

Hehehehe... Okay, let's see what they've got.

The rich kid decided for a head-on approach, trying to exploit the element of surprise- which he thought he had. By using the makeshift springboard, he would find himself launching an aerial attack, normally something that would be quite effective. However, my Qi allowed me to know of their plan early, so I was ready for this.

As he neared, I would push myself off from the locker I was leaning against and whilst sidestepping his punch, place my left hand against the side of his head and push him into the lockers. The momentum gained from being in the air, and the lack of control also granted from that situation, not to mention the distance from the lockers, would create a nearly inescapable situation.

Now, I would give myself a few extra feet of distance and wait, assuming my Hapkido stance.

"Sneaky, but not quite sneaky enough. Might I suggest you take up sign language?" I cooed, giving them a cocky grin.

They want to take on a Pillar? Let them.

OOC- Sara, what was your dex at the start of this thread? It's only hit 40 recently to my knowledge.

[Sara Quinn]

((OOC - Hm... Well, the only change to my stats since this thread is in Dex, and it's increased two, so I'm going to say 38 *double checks Thread History* Yup... 38 ... sorry ^_^" ))

Sara pushed herself onto her hands and knees and then her back exploded in pain and she was pushed downwards again. She managed to keep her self upright, her knees digging into the ground, giving only slightly under the weight of him using her like a springboard. She glared through the pain to see Adrian leaping over her towards Jester. She immediately pushed herself to her feet, ignoring the pain in her back to follow behind him.

Sara noticed the pillar push off the locker and sidestep. She adjusted her course and closed the distance. The blond guy was fucked, no doubt about it, hes was taking a hit. So she otherwise ignored what happened to him, assuming that if she could land a hit, she could help him, even if it was just a little. He could handle himself though, so as long as he wasn't down for good, it was no concern of hers.

She finished closing the distance, hoping he was distracted by the guy enough that she could attack. Her momentum was carrying her forward, and she really had no chance to plan an attack, so went for a simple punch, hoping to use the lockers behind him as he had with the blond.

She pulled her left fist back, holding and locking it into place. She wouldn't throw it out at him, instead she would use the momentum of her moving body to strengthen the attack. She moved to the pillars right side, and continued to move. If it was going to work, she would be right up beside him when her fist would slam into him at chest height. To help stop herself, she would push off against the locker with her right hand and immediately spin off the side before he could catch her in a counter, stopping a few feet away facing him, body crouched defensively.

[Damien Kross, Jester]

There would be no counterattack- no retaliation- a simple duck down to one knee, and a push off with my right foot to propel myself across the floor, my shoes screeching as they dragged across the tile. Her punch was surprisingly fast- the power behind it would be unknown, since thankfully, I wouldn't get to feel its sting. I could tell though, there was a significant power difference between them.

But, there was also a power difference between us.

I would bring myself to stand, brush a strand of hair behind my ears, and give her a smirk.

"Well, someone's feeling aggressive today." I mocked her. "I guess I just have this effect on girls... I bring out the worst in them." I giggled, then resumed my Hapkido stance, waiting for another strike.

[Adrian]

The pillar would move, leaving Adrian to go flying into the lockers. This was gonna hurt, he had no doubt about it, but he would be able to minimize the damage.

With Jester out of the way, Adrian simply turn himself to the right while in the air. He couldn't change direction, of course, but he would slam into the locker door with his much more bulky left shoulder, tucking his chin into his chest to keep the backlash from slamming his head into the locker as well. The locker would dent inwards as his shoulder hit it, and Adrian would slump to the floor, faking an injury.

Yeah, it hurt a little, but he needed Jester to think it hurt alot. Fact is, Adrian was a lot weaker than most everyone else at school. He needed people to keep thinking that.

At the moment, Adrian hated to admit it, but Sara was more fitted to go into actual battle with the Pillar. Adrian, for the moment, would bide his time, leaning against the lockers pretending to be more hurt than he really was. Jester might be able to hear things he shouldn't, but he couldn't know what Adrian didn't say.

[Sara Quinn]

Sara was shocked when he ducked, her attack completely missing him. She felt a shiver of concern course through her and she tried to pull out of the attack, afraid he would counter. She opened her fist, and threw both hands in front of her, bracing them on the locker and threw her body to the side, away from him, trying to keep her distance from him. She landed crouched, her gaze on him, a few feet away. Her eyes flitted over to the blond guy. He was slumped on the ground, and he looked hurt. Shit... He better get his ass back up soon, there was no way she was going to take the pillar on alone with any chance of winning.

"Well, someone's feeling aggressive today...I guess I just have this effect on girls... I bring out the worst in them." Yes~She was probably all talk, but hell if she wasn't going to atleast try.

She smiled, her gaze returning to him, a small chuckle coming from her. He thought he was funny did he? "You haven't seen anything yet~"

She ran at him, hoping he hadn't seen her first attack on the blond. She would get within a few feet of him, drawing her fist back as though she was going to aim a punch to him. At the last second, she spun her body back to the right. She would now be facing the same way he was, standing next to him, shoulder to shoulder so to speak, and drop to her right knee, her left leg swinging out to kick into the back of his knees.

[Damien Kross, Jester]

Sigh... Repeated tactics are no fun, hm Jester?

Well, normally if something works once, it's bound to work again... Unless you're dumb enough to do it in the same five minutes...

Her taunt of bringing more than I had seen was empty- you don't intimidate someone then do a repeat performance... It's unprofessional. Nevertheless, the show must go on. By the time her body spun into motion and tipped me off it was the same attack, I had to think of a move that could protect me from the coming sweep, or, protect me if it were an unforseen move.

A backflip was the solution- one that would vault me over her legsweep and prepare me for a counterattack upon landing. Once my feet would touch the ground, since my opponent would be dropped to one knee, I would put into use one of the specialties of Hapkido- grapples.

My arm would shoot out around her neck, restraining it in a simple sleeper hold. My right leg would cross my body, knee to the left, pressing down her leg that was bent from her sweep.

If successful, Adrian's assistance would most likely be required to undo my hold, since Miss Quinn didn't seem like much of anything, at least to a seasoned fighter like myself.

Egotistical bastard...

[Adrian]

Adrian's assistance would be required, and Adrian's assistance would be given. But most likely sooner than the Jester would expect.

His peripheral vision had been watching the fight since he fell into the lockers, and knew, as Sara began to spin, that it was time to strike. Jester would have to move to evade her attack, as Adrian knew from personal experience, and would be much more susceptible to attack in the period. So as Sarah spun, Adrian rushed, and much to his delight, Jester took the worst possible route of mobility - he took to the air.

As he came down from his backflip, Adrian would collide bodily into him. Adrian may not have been strong enough to knock the Jester over when he was standing, but not long after he landed from a jump, most people would be off-balance, and it only would take a minimal effort, and Adrian gave it much more than that. Jester would fall to the ground, and Adrian would be right on top of him, coming down to his knees as Jester landed on his back and sending a quick hard set of hooks, first right and then left, into his face. The way they fell, Adrian would off to the right side of the Jester, and thus was wary of counter-attacks during his own punches.

If the punches were successful, Adrian would back up and allow Sara to attack. Once again, not out of any kind of deference, but knowledge: If Sara was as strong as she seemed to be in their prior battle, he knew she could cause more damage than he could.

[Damien Kross, Jester]

His plan was a most well calculated one- showing me that beneath this rich snob's appearance, there was someting worthwhile. Just proved to me that he did need to be made an example of.

I would land hard on my back, but quickly, my right leg would snap up, meant to collide with Adrian's face as soon as his first punch hit home. Sure, I'd take a lil bit of pain myself, but dress shoe against jaw would probably hurt a lot more than what he did to me.

With Adrian out of the way, and unless Quinn decided to join in, I would roll away from Adrian and jump to my feetm ready to fight. However, if Miss Quinn decided to itnerfere, from my back, my two feet would be ready to retaliate. It was all her call.