omegafriends | 002

Entry tags:

002 | open-ish

Who: Itsuki, Parley (

distorts_space), open to other folks too
When: Sunday, August 10th (backdated)
Where: Myoudouin Dojo
What: The dojo has an exhibition today, and that means the heir is in combat. Combat can take some weird turns sometimes, though...

Every so often - maybe a couple times a month, sometimes more, sometimes less, it depends on how the Myoudouin patriarch is feeling - the Myoudouin Dojo opens its doors for a public exhibition match or several. Usually, these are arranged, but on occasion he'll take other folks that he knows are (or that claim to be) strong enough to let Itsuki give a good showing. Or remind her that she's not as strong as she wishes she were, in some cases, though that hasn't happened lately.

Today is one such day; there have been flyers posted around the city for several days now, as it's always a good spectacle to watch trained martial artists in their element. The main event is a spar; it's of course not the only event taking place today. Everyone has a role, from the lower-ranked students breaking boards and answering questions (and making sure nobody gets too close), to the higher-ranks demonstrating techniques, escapes, and general badassery. It's kind of an impromptu open house, which helps bolster enrollment rates aside from being a big to-do.

The fighters for the spar, though... that part may surprise folks. Not that Itsuki's fazed by that part; that's far from her mind, right now. The person she's facing today is someone she likes to think she can call a friend, and that means Itsuki needs to put on a good show, for more than just the crowd she already knows will assemble. Has assembled; it's only a few minutes to showtime at this point. She's left Potpourri asleep in her room, thankfully undiscovered thus far, so she only has one thing on her mind right now.

[[Itsuki is slated to spar with Parley; that fight has a particular ending, which mandates that Itsuki may or may not be back at its end. She'll be around to mingle before things start, though. And there's plenty of time for questions and commentary.]]

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But before she gets down to business, well... there are enough people here that she's walking around, seeing if there's anyone she knows, chatting to regulars, introducing herself to new people, and so on. She enjoys it, and with what's coming up later, it helps to show people that even if she can punch through things that are really meant to stay solid, she can turn that off and be personable too. The crowd seems a little bigger than usual, though that might have something to do with the Omegafriends growing in number lately, and thus attracting more would-be heroes (and the kinds of people that followed them) to Venture City.

Oh hey, you look friendly, or new, or familiar, or her age. You have an incoming dirty blonde coming to greet you.

Unfortunately for you, Itsuki, it's someone else coming to greet you this time.

"Well well well!" chimed the chief executive of Robotnik Co., Dr. Ivo Robotnik himself. "Here we have the young lady of the hour! You were quite impressive, Miss Mee-you-dwin!"

Something feels... off... about this guy. Still, he's rather important, so she can't take offense at her name being mangled. She's debating whether to even correct him on it; is he the type to be offended at that? Or maybe even the kind that nods his head and then ignores it anyway? Eh. Not her concern right now.

"I have one more performance to give, sir, but I'm glad you're enjoying the day so far. I still have a lot of training to do, though."

"Yes, yes, I imagine," he said. "But at the same time, I cannot imagine the dedication you must put into your craft!"

He puts his hands together, laughing a little. "I have to know, though... what motivates you, hm? Perhaps it's your brother's illness..."

"It's a lot of hard work. But I-"

Okay, hold the phone. That was not okay and she's scrambling to figure out what to say for a second. "I will admit that I strive to become the martial artist my brother cannot be, but I would thank you to treat that subject a little more delicately. It's something I keep close to my heart even now." She really doesn't care she's talking to someone important enough to renovate her house off the map, it just makes her mad.

"Oh my!" Robotnik replied. "I fear you misunderstand me! I became aware of your brother's illness, and it just broke my heart!"

He chuckled nervously.

"I thought perhaps your family might desire some help...?"

Yuri shouldn't be here. She really figures that, and yet somehow she is. Not that she's trying to draw attention to herself, even if her height or hair or general presence might do the opposite. Either way, she's off to a corner, trying to make herself seem as inconspicuous as possible.

Guess who's plopping down right next to her, as if nothing at all has happened over the past weeks!

"Itsuki's pretty amazing, huh."

Yuri almost looks a bit startled as Erika makes her presence known. She adjusts her glasses and tries her best not to look at the younger Cure, instead focusing ahead of her.

"Ah, yes. I suppose that she is."

Especially given that Yuri experienced that first hand, and not without some amount of resulting pain.

Parley finished a brief stretch routine, adjusted her gi slightly, and then stepped out in front of the crowd to face Itsuki. Her heart was beating like a drum, but her face showed nothing but easy confidence.

"I'll try not to make it end TOO quickly."

That was actually pretty mild trash talk for her, but as there was an audience that wasn't all fellow students, she felt she should at least make an effort to restrain herself.

Itsuki knows better than to go into a fight with any expectation other than things will happen and your life is on the line. Still, she can manage a grim smile. "I would appreciate that. With everyone watching, I want to put on a show they'll be excited to see."

She takes her position opposite Parley, and everything slides off her face except for the watchful expectation of someone who knows something is coming. She's in her element today, her gi fresh and crisp, and she's been pushing herself hard this week to get ready. She's going to give this her all, especially with someone she knows on the other end of the floor.

Parley settled into a similar stance, waiting for some movement on Itsuki's part. That single split second when all of her foe's mind of focused on the attack to bet everything on her first strike being able to hit faster. Hand to hand wasn't her method of choice, but she had put everything she had into learning it over the last few months, and had become a capable opponent.

Had she, now. That was, in part, why Itsuki was anticipating today as heavily as she was - this was why Parley was here to begin with. So part of her role was to assess how quickly the new student had integrated the dojo's teachings into her style. There was also the fact that she wanted to check and make sure Parley could defend herself; in her new role as Cure Sunshine, she had a feeling she wouldn't be around as often, and that meant Parley might have to defend herself - or, heaven forbid, the dojo - in a pinch until Itsuki could get back.

But more than anything else, she's in this for the thrill of challenging someone to a test of strength and will, and that motivates her to charge in first, leading with a severely-telegraphed high punch. Which she is hoping will be sidestepped, because she's wanting to follow with a sweep and see how well the girl recovers. Not that she expects any of this to go to plan, but it'd be nice.

Parley bobbed her head to the side so the first narrowly missed and stepped in towards Itsuki, shoving her hip into his center of balance while grabbing for his shoulder to pull him to the ground. The leg sweep took her off guard, but it's hard to sweep someone who is that close to you.

Ooh, good reaction. And she's right, that changes the whole flow - she's not going to get out of that one readily. She'll abandon the sweep and let herself be pulled down, catching herself most of the way down and spinning awkwardly to get back to her feet. Not a good start. Perhaps a new tactic's in order. She'll step close again, looking to take a short, hard shot. At Parley's side, she judges.

Parley parried the shot with one arm while trying to get one in with the other in one motion, aiming at Itsuki's stomach.

Yep, scary fast. She can turn that aside, though, barely. And that puts her right up in Parley's face for a second, before she smiles and hops back to give herself room to work with, following with a kick toward Parley's middle. Parley probably won't rush in, and that creates a unique set of problems for her to deal with.

Parley took an involuntary step backwards when he smiled, her heart skipping a beat. Her mind filled with confusing thoughts, she didn't react to the kick until the last moment, awkwardly throwing up a block and stumbling aside a step.

Parley grimaced at the bad defense, while blood rushed to her face. She angrily cleared her mind of weird thoughts and threw herself into her next attack, throwing a series of rapid punches at Itsuki's face, chest, and stomach. This wasn't looking much like aikido anymore.

But in the back of Parley's mind, something started to subtly change. Like a light turning on in a room you didn't know about until you saw the light in the cracks of the door.

Edited 2014-08-27 22:00 (UTC)

Off to one side, while everyone else was doing their thing, Parley was doing some warmup stretches and occasionally eyeing her competition. Sizing Itsuki up. That is absolutely why she keeps looking at Itsuki.

...ANYWAYS for the moment, she's not the center of attention and not doing anything super pressing, and she looks friendly enough! Go say hi!

"You look a little more prepared this time."

Shepard had dropped by half out of her general acclimation to the city and half to keep an eye on one or two people she recognized. Parley wasn't actually one of them, but she was someone Shepard had met before.

"What ar-"

OH. Right. At the Omegabase. So this was an Omegafriend. And she sure hadn't had a mask when they had met the first time.

"Ah...yes. Definitely more prepared."

Please don't reveal she's supposed to be a super hero.

Hey, Shepard's new in town, she wasn't born yesterday.

"Good. He looks pretty tough," she said, with the studiedly neutral tone of someone who's been practicing plausible deniability since college.

"What kind of martial arts are you doing here, anyway?" she asks, curious. Her knowledge of hand-to-hand combat is mostly practical, in the grab the other guy's arm and break his elbow sort of way.

Okay! Keepin' it vague. That'll work.

"It's aikido, though apparently with some changes from the normally taught version that are specific to the Myoudouin family."

"That's similar to judo, right?" Shepard asked. She's from the wrong navy to have spent a lot of time in Japan.

"Yeah. Lots of holds and throws and disarms."

She mimed a few punches, continuing. "I normally prefer a more aggressive style, but it's definitely an interesting change of pace."

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002 | open-ish

Mingling | Open

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The main event!

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Mingling beforehand

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