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Post by Lepa on Jan 24, 2018 15:46:01 GMT -8
Viveka had been traveling for at least a year or so now - perhaps even more, she had lost track - but was still learning her way around the bustling metropolis called Aster City. Everything was so tightly packed together though, and combined with loud sounds and flashing lights assaulting her senses at all times of the day, the whole place just... gave her a headache. It wasn't helped by the fact that city people were generally impatient folk who wouldn't hesitate to trample you if it shaved a minute off of their commute. Not to mention all of the humans (and even non-humans) with superpowers roaming around; she had heard the stories of heroes and villains clashing with each other, causing all sorts of danger and damage... Honestly, just living here seemed like a chore.
The park was Aster City's saving grace.
The winding, lush greenery was a welcome change of pace from the grey, artificial landscape. It was Viveka's oasis in the middle of the concrete jungle, where she felt most at home. Granted, there were more people here than where she had lived, but she didn't mind - they, too, were here for relief from the city. The air smelled a bit cleaner and she could at least hear herself think.
"...Haah." She exhaled.
Viveka was sitting on the ground, her back against an old tree. She opened her eyes, glancing at the scene around her, curious to see how residents enjoyed their time here. Her eye was drawn to a small crowd in the distance, gathered around some sort of man in bright red, just off of the sidewalk. Perhaps it was a performer of some sort, she thought, before her gaze trailed elsewhere. Out in the field, she saw a woman sprawled out in the grass, apparently enjoying the sun. Vivi blinked as the woman sat up for a moment. Were those... rabbit ears on her head? It was difficult to tell from such a distance; the woman's hair seemed to be white, so as far as she knew, it could've just been an odd hairstyle made to look like rabbit ears. The form seemed to blur together, though... Maybe she was just seeing things.
Vivi shook her head and continued to idly glance about. She noticed another girl - maybe not much younger than her - with a crown of blue flowers, not too far off from where Vivi sat. The flower crowned girl looked around consciously, as if she feared being caught for some sort of crime. Vivi adjusted herself, sitting up. Was this girl up to no good? Vivi looked away to avoid suspicion, but continued to spy from the corner of her eye.
Sure that she wasn’t being observed, the girl with the crown sighed with relief. Her visible tension eased slightly as she flipped open a small book. Her hands began to tremble.
"Um..." She started timidly, glancing down at the words. "Ha...! I am-" The girl stopped. Her words began loud and strong, but she cut herself off and quickly hung her head in embarrassment. She sighed, looked around again, and saw no one was watching. The girl cleared her throat and adjusted her posture, clenching a fist with renewed determination. "Ha...! Hahaha! I am the princess of an empire!" She cried out as she swiped her hand out dramatically, her light jacket flowing behind her. "The power I wield is greater than you could ever imagine!" Her pose was arrogant and overexaggerated. "Hmph...! What fool dares to challenge me?!"
Great, Vivi thought. She couldn't even get a moment's peace before some (probably superpowered) weirdo showed up. Rolling her eyes, she began to get up, already planning her maneuvers to take down this girl, but-
"...Awwgh." The girl with the flower crown whined, her volume suddenly dropping back down to normal. Vivi stopped. "That sounded... really stupid." She sighed with a frown. No kidding, Vivi thought. "I don't know how he does it! When my brother says stuff like that, it sounds really cool, but..." She pressed a palm to her forehead, her body shaking slightly as she laughed at herself, embarrassed. "Maybe I'll never be as cool as him..." The girl flipped through her book again, giving it a half-hearted, cursory glance before clapping it shut. Again, she looked around.
"...Hm." Viveka grunted to herself, avoiding eye contact with her. Perhaps she was harmless, after all. "Maybe her brother is an actor or something..." Her brow furrowed. "Or maybe he's an actual supervillain..." She rubbed at her chin in consideration. A moment passed before she shook her head. She was just speculating; Vivi knew nothing about this girl or her family. As far as she knew, she had just come to the park to practice some lines of fictional dialogue, and Vivi had to admit: she did the same when she was small. She imagined other kids did, too, and the thought brought a rare smile to Vivi's face. At least the girl with the flower crown had the courage to say such silly things out in a public space.
Vivi looked back at her to see what she was doing, and noted that the girl had since hunched herself over an effort to avoid being noticed. It seemed the weight of her embarrassment began to take hold of her.
"A-ah..." She stammered, tightly hugging her book. "At least... no one heard that."
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Post by The Izzack on Jan 24, 2018 15:55:16 GMT -8
"Yeah, it'd be pretty awkward if someone were to eavesdrop on you while you were plotting your dastardly actions!" Daniel said, popping out of a nearby bush. Finally, after waiting in there, all cramped up and what not for what felt like hours, he found the perfect time to jump out. and you doubted me." he thought triumphantly, reveling in his own victory against...himself.
The very next moment, however, he focused once more on the lady in front of him. He puffed out his chest, and he made sure his voice was just positively booming. "Foul villain! Consider yourself to be of most accursed luck, for today you have met your fate! You have indeed been challenged! By the one and only DA-ach, leg cramp!" Daniel stumbled slightly as he walked towards the woman. "What terrible spell have you cast upon me, witch!? This shall not stand! I demand a fight! To regain my honor, sapped treacherously by your wicked ways!" Sure, it wasn't the most magnificent segue into a fight, but maybe it would work. The woman had no reason to fight, and she most assuredly wasn't an evil witch, and everything about her told him that she was a runner, not a fighter...but maybe it could work
Didn't make much sense to not try something simply because it was a completely stupid idea.
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Post by Lepa on Jan 24, 2018 16:32:05 GMT -8
"Eek!" The girl in the flower crown squeaked as she stumbled backwards, her hand pressing at a tree as she caught herself against it. She clutched the book to her chest with her other hand, eyes wide and blinking at Daniel's sudden appearance. "I... u-uh..." She gulped. "I'm not... really a witch..." She frowned, glancing over the small man that appeared before him. He looked shorter than her, but... his thick build seemed nothing to scoff at. She gulped again, and for a second, she caught herself gawking at his muscles. The girl shook her head as if out of a daze, clasping a hand over her mouth as she averted her eyes. Clearly, the blades of grass beneath her shoes were a much more interesting subject than the intimidating form before her, but whether or not she'd be able to convince him otherwise was another question.
Viveka sprung to her feet up as quickly as Daniel had appeared. Where the hell had he come from? Was he playing along with her little show? That would've been Vivi's first guess if it weren't for the fact that the girl seemed legitimately scared. Perhaps he was just some hooligan looking to goof off, but... Vivi frowned, stepping away from the tree she stood under, no longer concerned about hiding her form. He could have been a harmless idiot, but he also could have been a disgusting creep; Vivi had had her own fair share of encounters with the latter. It was only an assumption though, and she couldn't act upon that. She shook her head, clenching a fist in irritation. Instead, she would be ready; watching, waiting and hoping that she was wrong, praying that this bush sneaking muscle goblin didn't lay a finger on this girl.
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Post by The Izzack on Jan 24, 2018 16:40:46 GMT -8
Daniel frowned, watching this awkward girl intently. "I'm watching you intently, awkward girl!" he said, giving credence to the text written before.
"Something tells me that you, while you seem very pathetic, and not one for a fight at all, and certainly not a witch, with no evidence that can be found to the contrary to any of that...wait, what was I talking about? Whatever! Anyway! I think I know just the thing to get your confidence up, because, honestly, I was listening to your performance, and it is much too rigid. You just don't feel it like you should! Daniel raised a clenched fist to his chest, as if to emphasize his words. "What is this wonderthing that I have, that will boost your confidence, and curse people with gusto? Simple! It's a fight!" Daniel dropped into a ready stance at that, almost as if expecting the fight to begin as soon as he suggested it.
"So! Come on at me! Show me what ya got! Fair warning, I'm a little grabby when it comes to pretty girls!" he taunted with a flirtatious wink.
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Post by Lepa on Jan 24, 2018 17:09:58 GMT -8
"Ah... Aaaah..." Her face fell at being called pathetic, but quickly pinkened at the words "pretty girl." It was flattering, yes, but... she wasn't sure what he wanted. Apparently he wanted some sort of fight? The girl bit her lip, shaking her head again. Sure, she had been working on trying to learn magic; his witch statement about her wasn't too inaccurate, but... the most she could manage was maybe a minor runny nose spell. Other than that, she couldn't fight in any form, period. Instead, the girl slowly slid the small book into her messenger bag, keeping an eye on Daniel all the while, before trying to edge away from him. "I... I have to go!" She yelped as she turned heel, running off coincidentally in Viveka's direction.
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Post by The Izzack on Jan 24, 2018 17:21:18 GMT -8
"...Aw come on, now!" Daniel shouted in mock annoyance as he watched the girl run away. "That just won't do, witch lady! Not at all!" he continued, more to himself than anything else as he sprinted to catch up to her. Rather quickly, he overtook her, and slid to a stop right in her path.
"Look, I can tell that you got no experience in this kinda thing. Well, luckily enough for me, I'm well experienced in giving people their first time." whether he meant the phrase as an innuendo or not was not clear, and his face was no easy indication either way. "Sooner or later, ya gotta fight. It's the way of the world. 'Sooner or later, ya gotta fight.' That's the rule, written right on one of 'em mountain tops that gurus love.
Point is, we gotta fight, there's no way outta it!" he paused briefly, as if contemplating something. "You look kinda nerdy. Think of this like...like the first boss fight, in a video game! You don't gotta beat me,
mostly because you can't. It's more important that you try than you win, right? So, let's go! You just stay there, and I'm gonna make a move. You can duck or whatever, just don't freeze up, alright? Grazing blows are fine, but I wouldn't wanna bruise that cute face o' yours!"
With That, Daniel began his offensive, starting off with a well telegraphed, straight hook right towards the lady.
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Post by Lepa on Jan 24, 2018 18:18:14 GMT -8
Just don't freeze up, he said. Boy, it sure was funny that the girl's body refused to listen and did the exact opposite. Her legs were weak and she could feel them tremble, yet they were stiffly locked into place. She stared at Daniel like a deer in headlights; she could tell he was serious and knew she had to move. Even though his comical winding up was almost in slow motion, she still panicked, wanting to do something, anything, just to get out of the way. The girl couldn't though, so she struggled to do the next best thing: reflexively clutching her messenger bag up in front of her face, scrunching herself up behind it and bracing for impact.
She waited, but... the strike never came.
Or, well, it did, but it came in the form of a soft thud in front of her. Surprised, the girl cracked open an eye, peeking over her bag.
Viveka stood in front of the girl, her own arm locked around Daniel's, holding his punch in place. She glared. "If she doesn't want to fight, then she doesn't want to fight." Vivi rolled her eyes. "How dense are you?" She growled, her grip still tight on Daniel's arm. She was a bit surprised at the thickness of it, but it was more reason for her to clench it much more tightly. It only served to increase the intensity of her sneering look.
"When I release your arm," she started, "You will leave her alone." She paused. "Understand?" Her scowl was fixated on Daniel's face, waiting for an answer.
The girl with the flower crown backed away, stunned by the stark contrast in personality between the two. She was thankful for the help, but... honestly, this woman seemed much more frightening to her than the strange little muscleman.
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Post by The Izzack on Jan 24, 2018 18:27:43 GMT -8
"How dense am I? "How dense am I!? Pretty dense, truth be told. Name's Daniel, how's it goin' miss handsey?" Daniel smiled easily, seeming almost happier now that someone had physically restrained him. "Gotta say, though, asking me if I understand something right after calling me dense? You're just setting yourself up for a joke there, Ms. Groper. I mean, come on! We both know that you're just holding onto my arm so that you can continue to feel the amazing strength of the one and only Daniel Collins! It's like you want me to not acknowledge what you're saying!" as if to punctuate his point, Daniel flexed hard, letting this newcomer feel the extent of the muscle in his arm alone.
"Tell you what, weird molester lady. How about, instead of me fighting people who "don't want to fight" as you put it, doubtable, to say the least. Everybody wants ta fight. But instead of fighting her, how about I fight you? Give you a full display of what these muscles can do, eh? Something tells me that you'd like that." Daniel's eyebrows wiggled quite vigorously as he gave his offer to this strange woman. Far as he saw it, either she willingly fought him, or he forced the matter. Either way, it would be more interesting than fighting some scared child.
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Post by Lepa on Jan 24, 2018 19:07:38 GMT -8
"Wh... What?!" Vivi's scowl deepened as her face reddened slightly. He was the one harassing this girl, but he had the gall to accuse her of doing the same?! "You're the one being a nuisance..." Vivi grunted as the man flexed in her grip, his muscles clearly tense with power. Her face faltered for just a moment; It was definitely more strength than she expected...
"How about I fight you? Give you a full display of what these muscles can do, eh? Something tells me that you'd like that."
At this point, the girl with the flower crown had moved away, but continued to watch from a safe distance. This dispute was about her, after all, and she couldn't help but feel it'd be rude of her to just... leave in the middle of it.
"...Tch. You think you're some hotshot, huh?" Vivi's brow twitched in anger. This guy was one of those guys, huh. "I'm not interested in idiots like you," she hissed through grit teeth, her tone prickling with anger. "...but." Vivi released Daniel's arm, distancing herself back a few paces. "If it's to protect her from you... Then... fine." She spread her feet on the ground, bending her knees slightly and raising her hands up in a martial stance.
"...I'll fight you."
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Post by The Izzack on Jan 24, 2018 19:15:04 GMT -8
At Vivi's agreement, Daniel let out a loud gasp. "You'll fight me? This must be the best day of my life! Times like this, I'm mighty glad that I'm so amazing! It means I get the best fights!" With a little twirl, Daniel took a few steps back from the woman himself. He seemed to limber up a bit before falling into his stance, if it could be called that. Feet spread apart, arms wide, shoulders slouched, it seemed more like a primitive man getting ready to fight than any kind of careful brawler preparing himself.
"Alright then, bubsy! Let's see what you can do!" he shouted as he made his first move. He swung heavily with one fist, letting the momentum carry him into a small hop, with a little extra air granted by his powers, and followed up with a spinning kick. Not something supposed to land, per se, but something meant to test defences, and give an air of unpredictability.
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Post by Lepa on Jan 24, 2018 19:37:35 GMT -8
"Ksh...!" Vivi braced herself as Daniel somersaulted forward at her. She hopped backwards at the last moment, watching his kick land in the grass. Immediately after, she lunged at his leg, curling both of her own legs around his in an effort to lock Daniel's leg in place. If he was as strong as a single arm of his let on, then Vivi would have to end this as cleanly and quickly as possible. If she estimated correctly, she may not have had the same strength as him, but she could at least try to shut down his movement. At the very least, she didn't want to deal with any more of those aerial attacks; she hoped going for one of his legs would keep him grounded.
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Post by The Izzack on Jan 24, 2018 19:43:06 GMT -8
"Oh my! Someone's feelin' frisky!" Daniel said in surprise, feigned or real, as Vivi brought him to the ground surprisingly effectively. First the arm, now this! This fight had promise!
"Much as I'm sure you like groping poor ol' Daniel here, I'm pretty! Sure! I! Can! Get! Free!" Daniel shouted, grunting heavily between words as he began to lift himself up with his hands, then drop back to the ground. As he did the worm, he twisted and turned in strange ways, trying to wrench himself free of Vivi's grip, while also grabbing out, trying to somehow reverse this hold. "Now! This! Is! A! Fight!" he said through teeth clenched hard with focus.
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Post by Lepa on Jan 24, 2018 19:53:56 GMT -8
"Gh...!" Viveka growled. "That's not...! I'm not...!" She started to protest, but shut herself up. Getting mad would just distract her and she needed to focus. Maybe it was one of his tactics, she thought briefly, before finding herself lifted off the ground. "Wh... What the...?!" As Daniel wriggled across the ground with his smooth dance moves, Viveka hit the ground with a hard thud, once, twice, and almost a third time if she hadn't let go. She lay on the ground, catching her breath before sitting up again. "What the hell was that...?!" She couldn't help but grunt out loud as she began to return to her feet.
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Post by The Izzack on Jan 24, 2018 19:58:32 GMT -8
"That," Daniel said, doing one last worm to launch himself back to his feet, "was the worm. A staple in dancing technology, as well as fighting. I thought someone of your caliber would be well versed." he taunted before lunging at her. "Now it's my time to get grabby!" he shouted, going in for a bear hug on the smaller woman. A move that would certainly put her at his mercy if he could land it, and if she didn't just 'cool moves' her way out of that...or counter it. Turns out, it was less amazing than he thought.
No matter, it was too late to change his strategy now.
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Post by Lepa on Jan 24, 2018 20:14:56 GMT -8
As the man's burly arms clamped around her waist like a vicegrip, Vivi let out... not quite a cry or a yelp, but something more of a surprised squawk, what with how tightly he held her. "Ksh... Kshh...!" She hissed, squirming about in his grip. Damn, he was strong. She took care not to flail, however; as much as she desired to, she knew all it would do was waste energy. There was also a chance that she could've thrashed into an easier position for Daniel to tighten his hold, and that would have been... bad.
Instead, she continued to squirm and wiggle, sucking in her chest just enough to slide downwards, just out of Daniel's grasp. She shimmied around his torso, ending up on his back, where she wrapped one arm around his neck and another on his head. She had applied a sleeper hold to him, wrapping her legs around his torso for extra security. It was definitely one of the simpler moves to use, but it was a reliable move that served her well. The simplicity of it made it a versatile hold that worked on all sorts of other opponents in the past, and this time being no exception.
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