Motoko Brigade Championship First Round: Grey Fox vs. Paradox

[Balmung Misaki III]

Within the confines of the small traditional dojo, sat a white haired man in the seiza-position, with his back to those whom entered the practice room. The walls were covered by various scrolls and ancient art depicting famous warriors of the Shinmei-ryu school.

Planting his knuckles firmly on the ground to his right, the white haired man turned himself around and pulled himself closer to the ancient katana's that had been at his back.

"Brothers, we come today in to learn more about ourselves then we could possibly learn through practice. And that is through the art of battle." the white haired man said as he pushed a pair of round glasses closer too his azure-blue eyes.

"Jin-san, you are a dedicated and headstrong disciple of shinmei-ryu. I hope you can discover even more of yourself through this battle." he said with a respect bow in Jin's direction. Sitting back up, he turned too Posha Sain-Armor. "Posha-san, you are a very experienced warrior and I hope that in joining us for this battle, you find what you seek." he finished as he bowed respectfully to her.

Standing up, the Sensei raised his right hand, "FIGHT WITH HONOR!!" he cried before bringing his hand down. "BEGIN!"

[Paradox]

A faint, condescending smile was worn upon the visage of the woman who stood before the young mortal warrior, her lips curled in a sardonic expression, whilst eyes like verdant emerald fields of the land she had come from shimmer and glitter with an inherent chaotic madness, tightly wound into a controlled form. Sadism danced in her aura, like flickering will-o-wisps caught in an illusory dream, and a shift of her torso to facilitate comfort caused cornsilk-hued hair to dance around the ivory perfection of her bared shoulders. She was garbed in a an open-front top that appeared to be made of a silken material, short of sleeve, with well made green dyed leather gloves adorning her hands up to where her arm was jointed near the elbow. She wore leather pants that fit her form exactly, and perhaps a little more snug, but the supple material seemed to allow her perfect freedom of movement. Similarly, retaining the color scheme, her boots were a forest green and ran up to the knee. A cloak covered her back to the ankle, and came partially about her front, but was open in such a way as to leave her shoulder bared, with a gilded chain holding the front together so it sat comfortably upon her person.


A single hair fell from place, which prompted her to blow it gently to the side in a distantly bored motion. A blade, a katana it would seem, in form, was at her side, the hilt in the downward-position such as to be prepared for war. Said hilt was made of bone, adorned with emeralds, and in an ornate, ancient sheath, battered with time yet still as beautiful as the sunrise over the blessed lands of the kingdom of Japan in a time period from long ago. Red and gold it was, different from her own personal colors, but it was easy to tell it was kept for a more sentimental purpose if such a sadistic creature had sentiments. The woman's thighs tensed slightly as she shifted, the leather of her pants making a very slight shifting sound, a creak mayhaps, that such material is wont to make when it moves despite its excellent craftsmanship. Curiously, the woman's chest does not rise or fall, betraying the fact she has no breath. She is no natural thing, this woman. And as she draws her blade, her well-manicured, sharpened nails, painted a deep green with black and gold flecks, seem to sparkle of their own accord, and the sacred blade is beheld; the metal tinged green and made from who in this world knows what material, it is immediately and highly apparent she is not only prepared to fight. She is prepared to kill.


"Before this day ends, you will scream my name in agony and ecstasy, little man. And then, I will make you like me..before I tear out your heart and you become a devil, crying tears of blood."


The woman's cloak drops immediately, and becomes simple shreds of material, dissipating, an illusion, formed of Chimerstry. Her flesh takes on an almost metallic hue, and the musculature of her supple but waifish body tenses and grows every so slightly, signifying the beginning of her meticulous preparations; Fortitude and Celerity have been activated, and are prepared to be used..but she seems to do nothing else; she is waiting on her opponent to posture, to bare part of HIS soul in his eyes and his stance. Is that not the way of Samurai?

[Grey Fox]

Jin stood at the other end of the Dojo.
He was wearing a hakama and gi in indigo blue patterned with a white diamond kamon made up of four small white diamonds. his hair was tied back and fell just a little past his shoulder where they were tied into a small pony tail.
Staring through his wire rimmed glasses in an attempt to observe what he could of her. She looked like a balanced fighter overall, and her last sentence implied that she wouldn't hold back, no matter what the case.
'Her reputation in this area is well known. And this sense of power from her, is perhaps closer to that of Kariya Kagetoki in his prime. Though it's a less subtle power."

He shifted his weight to his left leg as he slowly drew the katana from his daisho. It's tsuba featured a small bolt of lighting and two eyes, and the handle was bound in blue cloth, overall the blade was simple and un-impressive, but still the embodiment of his warrior soul.
Slowly he cut a circle in the ground around him, carefully making certain that it's radius was equal to the best reach of his katana, and ensuring he was perfectly centered in it the whole time. raising his katana again he brought it down to leave a line dividing the circle into two equal halves with a stretched 'S' shape dividing them.

'In order to win victory here, i must achieve the level of mujshin kenjutsu my master had achieved and grasp the techniques i had only studied in theory. Shinmei will also have to be the foil for my mujushin kenjutsu.'

Carefully and slowly he moved his katana down to his side, it's tip resting inside the circled indentation.

"I will not die. Even if you take my heart I will not bow to you, nor any lord. I shalll protect my honor." was all that he said.

[Paradox]

The woman with the expressive, but hateful green eyes said nothing. In a sense, her very presence seemed artificial by nature, as if perhaps it was forced..yet at the same time it seemed very real. Her eyes were calm, but stormy as they regarded him and her slightly pointed ears took in his words. Honor, hmm. Well, she had her own form of honor, but it was most likely not the same as his. A brush of her fingers across that stray hair once again having fallen over her face is the only movement she makes, her eyes on her prize. Her gaze delves into his own, but she uses no other capabilities; not yet. She would keep this simple until she knew his full capability. There was no need to go explosively into things without learning her opponent.


She had heard his name, though he was still mortal. He had to breathe. He had to depend on his lifeblood, on things that would not debilitate her. But how could she ever lose? No, there was nothing for her to fear. She WAS fear. As her body grew taut with the strain on her muscles from the powerful vampiric arts flowing through her, she reduces the rank being used, deciding. Posha's foot shifts ever so slightly, and she springs in a forward motion, towards the opponent directly. Her first stroke is a feint, a direct thrust straight ahead towards the man's middle torso, at the center of the abdomen, the katana held one-handed. Her other hand is empty at this time. The style she's using seems like no style at all; almost as if she's moving without actual form to try and unbalance the discipline he seems to display. Crimson-dusted lips, lush and beautiful, remain curved in that daming smile..the smile of a temptress, and a devil..in heart, if not in flesh.

The movement itself is easily faster than that of any normal mortal; but she is depending on him not being so normal. She only uses the first rank of her Celerity she activated, increasing her somewhat unnatural speed by about twenty percent. She is not a whirling blur, not yet..but there is a swift grace in her motions that betrays her supernatural being..it is as if one is fighting a force of nature, or a spirit from an ancient land..every bit of her is soft, silken gentility despite her destructive nature. A hardened woman with a softness many would kill to hold.

[Grey Fox]

Jin stood firm as the woman charged him. He wouldn't move until he could reach her perfectly. She came fast, but it wasn't a problem, Mujushin kenjustsu was a lightning fast style by default, disarming or decapitating enemies, and not being seen drawing the blade was common and exchanges between two students were fast paced and powerful.

He saw the blade come towards him and stayed till, feet a bit more than shoulder length apart, Katana held casually in the right hand, tip resting on the edge of the circle. He leaned low to the right shooting his left arm to grab at her wrist to attempt a disarmament and ran the katana along the circle, only a little faster than her, to meet with the her foremost shin. He rose the katana to a few fast slashes across the chest. His feet were rooted in place, ensuring that the circles radius was always a marker of his reach.

A sharp burst of wind rose from beneath Posha's feet, to her past the circle again. It was still a strong wind, but it wasn't strong enough.
Kariya had been able to throw mugen at least 10 feet with that technique, and Jin had seen his master break swords with that wind. Jin's could barely go beyond the reach of his weapon with an opponent who looked a few Kilo's lighter than mugen.
'I'm strong enough to use this to it's fullest. I have to keep my feet in position here and i have to complete the new technique. and only by testing out my theory in battle.'

[Paradox]

It was an interesting thing, truly it was. Forward motion met with a shift, just as she'd planned. She understood then that his movements were quick, if just a hair predictable. That was the bane of anyone using any actual style. Though Posha was not familiar with the man's specific style, that is what her observations were for. It was time to act. She appeared to do nothing when her wrist was gripped, but her skin had hardened due to Fortitude. Disarming her wasn't just a question of pressure points or twisting her hand or wrist. It would be like twisting metal. Centuries of battle experience told her that if you negate flow in motion, you could disrupt an entire style's attack forms. Flesh would discharge blood onto the man's lower garments; not because of his attack, but because of Posha's defense. Lightning quick reactions due to Celerity, even by other arts, were permitted, and this was no exception. A single muscular action; a single movement of blood, and shape of bone, and as the man's blade came up, against the perfect beauty of her skin under leather, the pants themselves would be revealed to be more illusory creation. The illusion was perfect. A minor application of Fortitude, mentioned earlier, reduces damage from outside, making the single blow to her shin almost meaningless; but that was not all.


The blood had come from her legbone reshaping itself within her body and splitting outward; as the blade had come up, and made contact with her shin, bone spires pierced quickly out of her skin to form a type of cage-shield of reformed bone to intercept the movement from leg to upper body, which should, by logical accounts, negate the upward motion already in flow, seeing as the weapon would have to come from a downward angle then continue upward to complete the motion he was attempting to perform. Immediate reaction like this was due to a gift of hers: Auspex: Mirror Reflex which was passively on for her. Immediately, assuming this was the case, similar bone spires would pierce from the opposing side, above, and below, to make a cage of ivory white, the intent to entirely surround and hold the blade inert, or at the very least, block a reverse motion to move away and attempt a counter-cut due to motion being plausibly negated, thus rendering it unable to move. The bone cage's 'bars' would be tightly packed enough to make maneuvering the blade inside near impossible other than to pull away straight upward, and retreat in a defensive motion without incurring some kind of retaliatory movement. There is no pain in her eyes from this. The vampire is used to it. This was Vicissitude: Bonecraft.


Bonecraft was a lovely ability. Interestingly, in the instant one would take to notice, similar bone spires shot from her wrist in an attempt to contain and hold his wrist tightly to hers. This would bind Jin and Posha together firmly, her bones like metal in their density and strength reinforced with her dark blood. In any event, if the interruption and containment of the blade specifically performs its mark, it means that the chest-strikes would be rendered nil, as they would not happen due to the blade being held, whether the motion was from the right or left. If indeed wind rose even after such a chain of events, Posha would with a telekinetic force that forms a buffer under her body from the ankles upward; a wall of force if you will. This was Movement of the Mind, Thaumaturgy. Vampiric magic. When wind meets an obstacle, it must go around it. If there is a possibility of wind slipping past it and shifting, it would do so, but with a bubble of invisible force, that was impossible. The buffer would exist only as long as the wind did, serving to create a negation field. Only her feet would feel the wind while her bubble held the rest of her in place. The hold he had on her wrist would not be able to be removed should her bone-grip work as well, assuming he'd kept it after the disarm attempt, as the bone coming from her body came at the same speed of movement as her entire body; by force of will.

"You react well. I'll praise you for making me have to actually use that power. But it's only beginning. My body alone is a living weapon. I am never without one as long as I have life"

[Grey Fox]

"Magic? What kind of power is this?"
Jin drew upon the thoughts of the mujusin masters and selected the techniques that would serve him best.
His sword disappeared and his entire body glowed with a warm inner light.
In a flash his hands had phased clean through hers and were driving his sword straight up at her chin trying to drive her back again with a stab. He then followed up with a shinmei technique.
"Zanmaken Ni-no-Tachi ("Demon-Cleaving-Sword Second-Cut") This technique would strike a demonic spirit or imminent threat without touching anything before or behind it. it was perfect for the situation.

Jin sheathed his sword and held both hand together palm to palm.
"A new power." He whispered as the weapons on the far wall behind him splintered and the swords, spears and knives on display flew forwards each time he thrust his hands, each blade disappearing as his had done as they span ,pararel to the ground, towards Posha, Jin ducking and weaving his upper body to avoid the weapons and he continually moved his hands to guide them with a similar but new wind technique. his feet, were still rooted in place, and a small part of the ground buckled beneath his feet behind, the mini crater complimented the one left by the last wind blast, to leave two dots in the positions needed to carve the Yin and Yang, one under each of Jin's feet.

[Paradox]

Intangibility? Interesting..but it was nothing that she had not seen before. She had been playing nice thus far, and hadn't been using any advance techniques, choosing to test her opponent's capability and fighting style by direct physical observation. Posha was reactive, And the young man was about to find out that this 1300 year old woman..at least in flesh..not only had the capability to master defense of such techniques, but that she knew a warrior's true creed. To defeat an opponent, one must make them fight on your terms. Eyes like emerald shards flick down to observe as the man's blade comes upward. Since it was stated that he had in some way passed through her, and he was also making a physical move against her, it was safe to assume that he could shift his tangibility and intangibility at will, or at least close to it.


In response, the woman bends backward, rather than retreat. Posha had observed earlier that the man seemed to like his speed. Much like herself, he used his movement to his advantage, though she had not gleaned the precise name or specifics of his technique However, she understood that wind was used in one attack, which gave more credence to a speed-based style. She didn't know if it was a chaotic speed or a precision speed as of yet, but she was observing. The cage of bones on her shin and the one on her wrist retracted back into her flesh. By fusing her spine into a more stretchy form, causing the plates to shift, and the sides to split further apart without extending her height due to the precision of her art, Posha bends herself entirely in half nearabouts, avoiding the upward thrust. Due to the previously mentioned Mirror Reflex, Posha had moments of reflexive insight, allowing her to react near instantly to her opponent's physical moves with moves of her own; Mirror Reflex was a technique of Auspex; a Vampiric Discipline that gave one psychic insights, the power to perceive things that normal senses could not, and other such nuances beyond the basic five senses. In retrospect, the power gave her foresight on both a mental and physical level at her rank of capability. The truth was, as long as Jin was using a weapon to attack her, there was no hope.


The countermeasure to the upward thrust, nigh instantaneous, was her ribcage sprouting curving spikes of bone that shot out towards the opponent immediately. These long spikes measured around a meter and a half in length and moved at a rapid speed; spires still attached to her person. The shaping of her bones with Vicissitude mentally did not seem to debilitate her in any way. This was just her reaction. Should the opponent manage to jump back even despite the reactive spikes, she would take that time to readjust her position, her spine refitting immediately, without her even doing much more than thinking about it, accompanied by the sickening sound of popping and snapping as calcium interlocking plates moved in ways they were never meant to by God. But God..he was not here, was He? Were the attack to go on, in other words, were her spikes to be deigned a failed tactic, and not have contacted her opponent before his movement backward occured, her response to both the the Zanmaken and the flying weapons would be to use the first high-rank power of this fight; Obtenebration - Tenebrous Form. With the power of that discipline subcategory, Posha takes a form of living darkness. In this form, Posha would normally only be subject to attacks from elemental fire, sunlight, and actual magic. Being as the Zanmaken is not magic, but Ch'i, Posha has no need to fear it. Such attacks, and such weapons as were to be released in her direction should Jin's attack form continue, would pass harmlessly through her as a shadow passes through solid matter.


Upon the end of such an attack as no such attack can continue infinitely, Posha would, should this course of action even have occured, make an active movement. This time, she would spend Glamour, not Blood, and invoke a Faerie power. However, Posha would touch herself as she reformed, and use Watchtowers - Athar - Athar Nadur upon herself. Since the enemy appears to use air based maneuvers, This seems prudent. Athar Nadur causes Posha to take 50% more damage from fire-elemental attacks; regrettable. However, air-elemental attacks, including lightning and electrical attacks, which were a subdivision of air more so than heat, would be reduced upon her person by 50% in damage, effect, and capability. The smile upon those painted lips again showed superiority and a condescending mein. The woman was beginning to do more than play around, and it was visibly so. And to think, that entire time, she moved not one inch back and didn't hesitate a moment to move. Control the opponent, and you control the battle. And her powers were all about control. She had just begun to play cat and mouse.

[Grey Fox]

Jin observed as the scene unfolded, his attack ,as predicted, negated and her position unflinching. As he saw the grotesque spires extending towards him he reversed the grip of blade and wove it in a series of not truly fast, but fast enough angles to dice the surprising threat chunks at a time, leaning farther backwards as they extended. Eventually the attack ceased and rather than regaining his balance and leaving an opening, Jin back-stepped out of the circle, content that the insignia would last and that his own range was suitable to be judged by eye alone.

She was smiled at him, taunting him. Jin decided that footwork and speed would serve him best and in order to win he would have to overload her defense one way or another, and standing in place trading blows would end in her favor.
He instead settled for a tactic that admittedly felt cheap, but nonetheless, anything around you in a battle is terrain, and using terrain to your advantage was a principle of any professional.

Jin strafed around her, as quickly as was permitted without actually breaking into a run. He stopped in order to position himself between Posha and Balmung, sheathing his weapon and assuming the kiza-position as opposed to Balmungs earlier seiza.
Extending an open palm towards Posha, his head inclined in a half-bow and spoke.
"You possess excellent body control, abnormal abilities and are clearly willing to play me at my own game."
"However..." he said, retracting his hand to push his glasses closer to his face.
"You needn't hold back. If you want to play a game, I'll take you on in Shogi, however this is a battle that cannot go on indefinitely, a long fight is drawn out and devolves to a squabble, a true fight, is concluded swiftly."

[Paradox]

"A true fight..? You look at fighting then, from your point of view. To me, a true fight is a dance that can go on for ages without stopping. When one does not have to worry about aging, eating, or breathing, a true fight is a test most humans can't stand up and account for. Still. I guess I should expect that. Alright then. Are you sure you want to do this seriously? That would mean I'd have to use my advanced capabilities. I admire you keep your patience despite all this. And I will admit you are a capable warrior. But there are mysteries I haven't revealed yet. Normally I don't let my enemy decide for me. But I'll make an exception."

The ivory spires that Posha had extended had, to some degree been cut away. They seem to grow again of their own volition, her blood becoming calcium, becoming bone, and reassimilating into her flesh once more as she resumes an upright position. Not a hair out of place, just about. Still, it was obvious that whatever pool of energy she draws on, she was using some of it up. It wasn't infinite, at least that one could tell. But without having to breathe, it was hard to tell if she was straining or weakened. The woman lifts a hand, showing it to the warrior, with a distant smile.

"I wasn't going to reveal this secret. I was going to save it, because I didn't want to reveal everything at once. I was going to save this for the championship match, providing I got there. But..you've asked me to be at my best. So I can't, in honor refuse. Prepare yourself. I'll get rid of this body."

Posha sighs..and shoves her hand deep inside of her body, a look of pain forming on her face as she digs around inside her flesh...and from within, she draws what looks like a large, sparkling, emerald green marble. The marble is held out..before the woman's hand slowly turns to the side..letting it fall downward, to clatter on the ground. Posha sinks to her knees then..laughing softly..and her body ruptures, splattering everywhere, but not blood and gore flies from what was her flesh; no, clear, pure water, everywhere. It splashes against the walls, Jin himself, everything within a ten meter radius. If Jin chose to dodge the splash, he was welcome to, but there was no hostility in the action. The water is harmless. A faint burst o