[m]Drink the Drink, Tag: Open

[Zaxton Books]

The air was pretty thin this high up. It would be difficult to use any meta-skills here. Or, really, to do any sort of physical activity.

That did not stop Whisky, who had been training here for a good half hour, running through his forms. The lack of oxygen added resistance to every movement, a special sort of training he could get no where else but here.

Gaea Cliff. He paused in his movements, to remove his canteen from the thigh holster it rested in. The water inside, faintly carbonated, was cut to 10% Alcohol by volume, with the addition of a quarter-fill of Vodka. At this altitude, alcohols such as ethanol broke down in the body as easily as sugars, providing energy. Energy the body screamed for.

He tucked the bottle back, and sat down on a rock, producing some jerky from his pocket to chew. He had the high ground, here. If anyone was coming over ground... he'd probably spot them.

[yaypenguins]

Ishimaru Masaki arrived on the scene. He had done this sort of thing before, so he knew his target would mostly likely not pay. Nonetheless, his orders had been to approach him first and demand payment. This sort of mission was a bit distasteful to Ishimaru, but, as he saw it, the target wouldn't be a target if they had payed in the first place.

He began to approach Whiskey from a lower area that formed a gradual slope up to Whiskey's location. Ishimaru's dark green cloak covered his face and most of his body, but an expert in body language would be able to tell he had no air problems. His meta-skill was a bit slower under these conditions, but it still worked well enough to provide him with plenty of oxygen.

The ends of his cloak fluttered lightly in the breeze as Ishimaru stopped to look up at Whiskey. Though he was still somewhat far away, he spoke softly. The breeze would carry his voice for him.

"I assume you know why I am here."

[Zaxton Books]

"Yes. I do."

With a faint smirk, and his back still to the approaching assassin, the fighter stood. "You're after this, right?"

He held up a large, shimmering stone. The Thousand Facet Diamond. "... Too bad you're not going to get it. Here though, let me give you a fair chance..."

He tucked it into a pocket on his sweater-vest, a mesh pocket on the front, where it could be easily seen, if the other circled around. "... Come and get it."

The enemy will attack from the back, perhaps the left. The appropriate stance is Sharona-Style Inverse Koi...

He kept his feet together, arms folded gently behind him, in the small of his pack.

[yaypenguins]

"Then it's business as usual."

The assassin's cloak flew upwards as both arms flung an array of kunai towards his opponent. They spread out as they flew, heading above and to both sides, as well as towards their target.

[yaypenguins]

Ishimaru pulled his arms back, presumably to reach for more knives. As he did so, thin steel wires tugged on the kunai that had been thrown to the sides and above. They turned towards each other and Whiskey would soon be either bound tight or cut to shreds if he didn't move.

Never one to rely on a single tactic, the assassin drew a handful of dangerous looking foot tacks and scattered them around the area Whiskey was standing in.

[Zaxton Books]

((I love how my last post just vanished.... anyway.))

Whisky was up in the air as the weapons sailed again, avoiding the entangling cuts. Of course, a jump of such height couldn't be relied upon to accurately land, could it?

No. But the steel plates on the back of his gloves were enough to render the tacks inconsequental as he landed in a sort of inverted-hand-handstand.

"Well... I commend you for your relentlessness. However... your technique leaves much to be desired."

He lifted one of these hands and punched the ground. The rock beneath trembled, and the tacks were scattered much farther apart than they had been before. He flipped to his feet, smirking.

"And just think... That was one hand."

[yaypenguins]

Ishimaru watched the the maneuver with a blank face, but inside, his mind was already working it into his opponent's profile.

He's quick, agile, and incredibly strong...Obviously a close-range type though he might have a few unrevealed long-range attacks. I have the advantage now, but if I can't get a hit there's not point in staying so far away.

Once again, he reached into one of his weapon pouches, this time drawing out three small gray balls. He scattered them around Whiskey's location, where they exploded in a large smoke cloud soon after impact. Closing his eyes, Ishimaru "felt" his target's location and jumped into the smoke to aim a flying spin kick at the right side of Whiskey's head.

[Zaxton Books]

The kick found not the head, nor the back of the glove, but the simple palm, which closed around the ankle like a vice. Just as quickly, he brought an elbow strike to bear against where the knee, he figured, should have been.

Clayton-Style Zaxton Police Counter-kick. Hmm. Ninja. This could be problematic. I might have to pull in... hmm. No reason why I couldn't use that move.

[yaypenguins]

In an incredible display of athletic abillity, Ishimaru bent his leg and pulled himself in, arching his back to avoid Whiskey's elbow. As he did so he flicked a small red ball, almost 1 inch in diameter towards his opponent's torso. On impact it would burst into flame in an explosion about the size of the average Fira. Eyes still closed, he braced himself for the explosion.

[Zaxton Books]

The blast occured a split second before Whisky himself tried to jump skyward, and despite the burns suffered, he was blown further than he could have jumped normally.

[yaypenguins]

Though he wasn't in its center, Ishimaru was still very near the explosion and was unable to avoid a few burns of his own. Getting up, he quickly asertained his opponent's location and applied a healng balm to his burns. It wasn't particilarly powerful but it would be enough to ease the pain.

[Zaxton Books]

Whisky did a little flip in the air. Before he landed, he noticed, on another ridge not too far away, a child (assuming human, but perhaps a moogle adult), seemingly alone, wearing a heavy brown cloak that hid most of their features.

When he landed, he pushed it out of mind, focusing himself. Certainly the burns he'd suffered were causing him a measure of pain... but he masked it perfectly.

Then, his hands caught fire.

"So it seems you were trained well... in the ninja arts. I often wonder... no, never mind. I'll show rather than tell."

The child, under the cloak, seemed to give the impression of amusement, and moved up onto a higher rock to watch the fight.

[yaypenguins]

Ishimaru noted the child's arrival, then returned to watching his opponent.

That's new. Looks like he's finally going to attack now. I should get ready.

Blood began to slowly drip from a burn on Ishimaru's right shin. Apparantly it had been worse than it looked. Ignoring it, the ninja prepared himself for his opponent's attack.

[Zaxton Books]

"Cruset Style..." the fighter mumbled, before moving with such speed he seemed, for an instant, to vanish. He appeared again upside-down, slowing in mid-flip behind and to the left of Ishimaru. "INVERSE WHIRLWIND!"
His path of attack brought him in a spiral of punches back around to the front of the ninja.

[yaypenguins]

Being unable to dodge the attack in time, Ishimaru instead spun his body clockwise, causing most of the punches' power to be sent into the spin instead. Then, twisting his body, he turned the momentum into a deadly handspring kick.

He's fast. I'll have to be more careful. Even with the spin, that hurt.