4633/The Strength of a Warrior's Fist lay in their Heart.

The Strength of a Warrior's Fist lay in their Heart.
Date of Scene:	03 October 2016
Location:	Njorun Station - Ring of Philosophy
Synopsis:	Fist Fly and Friendship forms in this fast, furious fusillade of fisticuffs.
Cast of Characters:	Yang Xiao Long, 737, 910

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Yang Xiao Long has posed:
    Yang Xiao Long, brawler, Huntress in training, Berserker, Sunshine, Sweetheart, Blondie.

    She has many names, but most people that get on her bad side, call her Sir. Vivio's not one of these people, but the blonde brawler's heard a lot about the young fighter's prowess, and her recent defeat by Mitsu Mirage has stoked a burning flame deep in Yang's soul, a flame that demands she get stronger, find ways to defeat these 'Mage' people so she doesn't let her City or her Friends down at the worst possible moment.

    So here she is, standing in the middle of a large, white flagstone arena, a virtual crowd surrounding it on three sides and a large pavillion on the fourth, where the entrance to the Ring resides. It's a recreation of the World Martial Arts Tournament ring, something Yang's only heard about, but now she can at least experience it in part.

    Yang is stood at the far side of the 'Ring' from the entry way, Ember Celica deployed to cover her forearms. She even shifts her wrists, unlocking the slide mechanisms and in a deft motion, pulls a pair of chain-linked shell lengths from the ammo pouch on her back, flings them up and slams her arms into them, locking them into place with a resounding CHA-CLUNK of the slide ramming back into place, loading the first shell into position.

Vivio Takamachi (737) has posed:
    Some of those names could also apply to the new fighter entering the arena! Though she tends to favour her name, Vivio Takamachi. Or Vivi, for those who like to use nicknames.

    The deceptively young-adult looking woman pauses as she enters, looking around at the current format of the Ring, "This brings back memories!" The floating plush bunny beside her nods in agreement. While Vivio is in her adult mode, she's not yet manifested her Barrier Jacket. Instead she wears a stylish white dress, black leather boots and topped off with a military-style jacket, complete with brass buttons decorated with alternative circular and triangular spell circles.

    Spotting what looks like her opponent for today, Vivio grins in anticipation of the coming fight, and resulting friendship. Because friendship through conflict is inevitable as far as Vivio is concerned! Vivio walks up the other blonde, stopping and give a quick wave in greeting, "You must be Yang? I'm Vivio Takamachi. It's nice to meet you!" The plush bunny floats forward towards Yang to take a closer look, pointed arm tapping its soft chin as it appears to examine her. Vivio just grins in amusement as she says, "And that's Chris. Don't mind him!"

Yang Xiao Long has posed:
    Yang grins a bit, "Hey Vivio. Nice t'finally meetchya in the flesh!" she offers. She's got this intense energy around her, but is genuinely friendly as well. She offers her right hand out to shake, part of the gauntlet retracting to allow the gesture, though the weapon doesn't fully collapse. A new feature, perhaps. "Hey to you too, Chris. You her battle buddy?" she asks the floating rabbit thing. "Conflict Comrade, Punching Partner." she reels off a few more alliterations, before chuckling good naturedly. "Anyway, you sure you're gonna fight in that?" she asks, gesturing to the dress.

    Yang herself is wearing her hunting outfit, mismatched orange socks coming from heavy boots, short-shorts with a butt-cape, and a tank-top covered with a shoulder jacket, which only /just/ covers her bust.

Vivio Takamachi (737) has posed:
    Vivio goes to shake Yang's hand, also explaining, "Chris is my Device. Most Mages have one. They help us to better focus our magic! Plus they have other uses, depending on what type of Device they are." Chris nods sagely in agreement.

    At the mention of her atire, Vivio giggles, "Nope! It just seems weird to walk around HQ in my Barrier Jacket!" Vivio turns her head to her partner, "Chris, let's get ready."

    The plush bunny nods and flies back to its master, floating beside her. A sphere of irridescent light forms around Vivio, mostly hiding her from view as her clothes vanish to be replaced by her Barrier Jacket. The light disperses with a soft burst of wind, Vivio throwing a few air punches and kicks to warm up. Beside her, Chris mimics her actions in perfect synch, to those who can spot such things.

    Finally Vivio settles, tapping the tips of her boot against the floor as she smiles at Yang, "Ready when you are!"

Ruby Rose (910) has posed:
Ruby has been busy. Stupidly, stupidly busy. Between keeping up on classes, homework and keeping a minor tab at the alternate universe stuff, spare time is not something she's had in abundance. Even still though, the few spare bits she did have she did spend with friends and special interests. Yang sparring counted as one such special interest. Her sister's combat prowess is something to behold and even after watching countless matches, it was hardly ever boring.

Of interest in particular was seeing how the abilities of her and her friends stack up against the strangers from the multiverse. She suspected they'd fare just fine, but actual confirmation is nice. With that in mind, Ruby makes her way down towards the Multiverse sparring ring, silently amazed at just how tech the facility is. Upon reaching the correct ring, Ruby waves towards Yang and her combatant, finding a nice place on a far wall to stay out of the way.

"S-sorry that I'm late! Go get em Yang!"

Yang Xiao Long has posed:
    Yang watches the transformation, and brings her arms up defensively, her lips parting in a predatory grin. "Now we're talkin', lets get this show on the road!"

    When Ruby enters, Yang pauses to toss a wave her way. "Hey Sis!" she shouts, then resumes getting set for fighting Vivio. She decides to take the first swing, lunging forward with a haymaker right swing to open up.

Vivio Takamachi (737) has posed:
    Vivio turns her head to look as someone calls out from the stands. Yang's sister, huh? That's sweet~ Vivio looks back at Yang and grins, "Good luck. And have fun!"

    Vivio takes up a combat stance to begin, her vivid red and green eyes focused on her opponent. Watching. Studying. She sees Yang come in to attack from the left. Vivio raises her left arm, intercepting to swing. There's a small flash of light on contact as Vivio's defensive magics soften the blow, though not entirely. It's a mild pain, familiar, but easy enough to push aside.

    Moving forward to close the distance to her enemy once more, Vivio launches a swift right hook, then quickly follows it up with a slower, strong left. Vivio's movements are quick, but don't have a lot of strength behind them yet.

Yang Xiao Long has posed:
    Yang's swing is brought up short. She was expecting it, but the speed of retaliation catches her off guard still.

    Vivio's right hook catches her in the side, stopped mostly by the bright orange-yellow flare of her Aura, staggering her into the path of the left sweep, which she manages to backflip away from. "Not bad." she compliments, still grinning.

    She then lunges again, this time firing her gauntlets behind her to boost her speed, and transitioning into a punch flurry, punctuated each swing by another shotgun blast of kinetic force, amplifying each strike... but she's slower with each punch, having to use the recoil to reload the next shell.

Vivio Takamachi (737) has posed:
    Fighting speedy opponents is something Vivio has some experience with...

    Yes. Some experience.

    So it's not too hard for Vivio to keep up with Yang's speed bursts, being a little speedy herself. Each punch of Yang's flurry is met either by another block and magical flash, or Vivio dodging outright. This goes on for what seems like an eternity in fighting time, before Yang manages to get a punch through Vivio's defenses. The force enhanced blow strikes Vivio in the chest, sending her skidding back on her boots a short distance.

    Vivio takes a deep breath as she recovers from the blow, then asks in wonderment, "Do you have /guns/ in your gauntlets?" Vivio doesn't recall seeing any projectiles... But then that might have just been some kind of melee mode. So Vivio decides to test the capabilities of her opponent's weapons!

    A triangular spell circle appears on the ground beneath Vivio. She raises her hand to point towards Yang, an orb of irridescent light growing just beyond her finger, "Sonic Shooter... Fire!" The light bursts forward into a bolt of energy that streaks towards Yang, exploding against whatever it comes in contact with in a brilliant flash of multi-coloured light.

Yang Xiao Long has posed:
    Yang grins a bit when she finally gets a solid hit. She pumps her arm back, and racks in the next shell, these ones are a different colour than the last. "Yep, Dual Range Shot Gauntlets. Built 'em myself from a pair my Dad gave me." she replies, then shifts her stance as the magic bullets start raining down.

    The blonde brawler starts punching out at the incoming bullets, intercepting some of them with explosive bolts of her own. Her own defense is far from perfect, and she's soon engulfed in the explosive flashes, obscured by smoke.

    Someone may be forgiven for thinking it's over when nothing else happens for a few moments, but then the dust and smoke EXPLODES outwards in a corona of orange flame. She then surges forwards, far faster than before, and leaps up into the air to slam her fist down into the ground, causing it ripple out in a localized quake.

Vivio Takamachi (737) has posed:
    Vivio nods approvingly as Yang intercepts the fired bolts of magic with her own shots. Not something you typically see, as it requires a fair bit of skill. Still, one of Vivio's shots does manage to get through and hit its target. Vivio lowers her hand to watch...

    And then suddenly, orange! Vivio blinks as Yang bursts towards her, unleashing a blast into the ground beside her. Vivio is thrown away by the subsequent explosive quake, bouncing across the ground a couple of times. She manages to plant a hand against the ground, flipping herself around and up to land on her feet, skidding the remaining distance to a stop.

    Vivio grins at the impressive use of... Magic? Energy? She's not entirely sure what it is Yang is using. But it's an awful lot like the kind of thing Vivio does herself!

    Shifting into another stance, Vivio grins at Yang, "Time to step things up, huh?" Vivio eyes her opponent closely, shifting her foot every so slightly... Vivio vanishes through the use of her Jet Step, an incredible burst of speed.

    Reappearing behind Yang, a magic glow forms around Vivio's leg, "Revolver..." She brings her leg up in a roundhouse kick, "Spike!" The magic-infused strike is powerful, enough to send the firery fighter flying across the arena if she can't stop it.

Yang Xiao Long has posed:
    Yang stands back up after the Quake Strike, her hair blazing as if it were on fire. She's got that grin still, but it's a bit nastier looking, more predatory. Ruby would know it well. "I think we're done warming up, yeah." she replies, before Vivio just vanishes.

    Now, anyone who doesn't have Ruby Rose as their little sister might be caught completely off guard by this. Yang happens to have said little sister, and it was a favorite tactic when they used to play-fight and spar when they were younger. Use speed, get behind your opponent and go for a finishing shot, try to take them out in one blow.

    Yang knows this trick, and instead of turning, she just hurls herself backwards, firing her gauntlets into the ground at an angle to add impetus into the motion. She's aiming to tackle Vivio bodily, using her Semblance enhanced Dust shots to get the speed needed to beat that kick... though it's uncontrolled so she's going to take about as much damage from the hit herself.

Vivio Takamachi (737) has posed:
    Well, that's one way to counter Vivio's move. As a result, Vivio gets a whole lotta Yang smashed into her, a surprised yelp escaping as she is tackled.

    Knocked to the ground, Vivio rolls backwards onto one knee so she is upright once more. She places her hand against the ground, "Sonic Shooter..." Another repeat of her previous attack? Not exactly~ "... Assault Shift!" A dozen orbs of magic appear in the air around Vivio... But they don't do anything.

    Vivio jumps up from her position, lunging forward quickly towards her opponent. She goes in for a right hook-no wait, it's a faint! With some fancy footwork, plus a little magic help, Vivio alters her movement, spinning around Yang's side and trying to grab hold of the brawler's arm. If successful, she spins the other blonde around and actually /tosses/ her towards the collection of orbs. At which point Vivio calls out, "Fire!"

    The orbs all unleash their devestating magic at once, blasting Yang at potentially point blank range.

Yang Xiao Long has posed:
    Yang is quick to get back up, kipping up with a hand on the ground, which leaves a CRATER behind and a defined handprint. She spins in the air and lands in a half-crouch... that is, until Vivio comes lunging in.

    The feint works, Yang's arm comes up to block the strike, while the other ratchets back to come into the Mage's gut... but then she's grabbed, and pitched on a one-way flight into PAIN TOWN, population Blondie.

    She curls up, doing what she can to defend against the omni-directional attack, sailing through it and landing in a heap afterward. She slowly gets back to her feet, a trickle of blood running down from the corner of her mouth, before those lips peel back into a feral grimace.

    Lilac eyes--- no, they're different. Baleful red, looking like the burning eyes of a demon to accompany the flames that now lick along her entire form, flickering and lapping across her body.

    She lifts both arms, and slams her fists together, causing another explosion. This one is enough to reach the virtual stands, washing a brief flash of searing heat and a buffet of wind, before she in turn vanishes... though the method is quite obvious as the arena floor explodes into debris where she kicked off from. Is she doing the same thing again? Not quite. She's leapt into the air, but instead of coming straight down, she fires a three shot volley of explosive shells, the formerly small bolts now the size of grapefruit, exploding with much more force than before... but it's a cover, as the blonde berserker rapidly descends, her gauntlet burning as if aflame, before she slams into the ground again. The ripple is directed this time, causing jagged spikes of the arena to erupt in a cone from Yang's impact point to the arena wall.

Vivio Takamachi (737) has posed:
    If this were an anime, Vivio would be sweatdropping at this point. She just watches with an amused smirk as Yang appears to power up again. Well, that's a good thing really. Vivio'd hate to think her opponent wasn't trying her best!

    Vivio shifts into a defensive stance to prepare, watching as the three shots shoot towards her. She raises her hand, the circular spell circle appearing beyond it, "Round Shield!" The shots impact the shield, causing it to glow as it deflects the power of the attack away from its user. However the shots serve their purpose, distracting Vivio long enough for Yang to come in with the real attack.

    The ground beneath the Mage errupts upwards in an array of spikes, ripping into her Barrier Jacket and sending her flying. Vivio comes down again, unceremoniously crashing into the ground with a puff of dust...

    "Owwwwwehehehe~" Vivio slowly climbs to her feet, feeling quite sore over most of her body. Parts of her Barrier Jacket are shreded, revealing the cuts and red welts beneath. Stumbling a bit before she finds her footing, Vivio smirks at Yang, "Not bad..."

    Vivio stands straight again, "Now then," She holds her hand out towards Yang, "let's see how you can take it!" A circular spell circle appears beneath Vivio, an orb of irridescent light blink into existance in her palm as she starts, "Divine..." She then flicks her wrist, the orb sent flying towards Yang...

    But it doesn't reach her, instead splitting up into three different orbs that take up equidistance positions around Yang, each at the point of the triangular spell circle that now appears beneath Yang. But before Yang can realise the potential trouble she's in, Vivio's other hand raises as she calls, "Hoop Bind!" Rings of light appear around Yang, before rapidly shrinking to trap her in place. The binds likely wouldn't last long against Yang, but perhaps long enough for Vivio to finish~

    Speaking off, Vivio darts forward pulling her fist back. She then swings, but not for Yang, but rather the first orb of light floating around her. Vivio cries out, "BUSTER!" Her fist impacts the orb and then Vivio vanishes with another Jet Step. She appears once more behind the second orb which she swings at, again crying, "BUSTER!" Another Jet Step takes her behind the final orb, which she strikes with a third echo of "BUSTER!"

    The three orbs unleash their blinding shotgun burst of light and energy at Yang in the center to strike thrice with one of Vivio's more powerful attacks.

    Vivio herself reappears in her starting position, breathing heavily and looking pretty strained by that last attack.

Yang Xiao Long has posed:
    Yang is panting, her Aura flickering and unstable. She's at her most powerful, when she's about to fall, but she's not nearly at the same level as when she fought Mitsu... what's different here, why can't I push past that barrier?

    Her thoughts are interrupted as Vivio gets back up, and performs her attack. Yang ratchets her arm back to punch the energy bolt away... but she's so focussed on it, then when it splits, she's caught off guard, and then bound.

    The binds don't last too long to the Semblance empowered brawler.... but she can't break free fast enough to clear the blast zone. Instead she brings her arms up to brace and weather the attack. Rainbow beams intersect the brawler's form, obscuring her entirely. Once the beams cease, the brawler is still standing, smoke rising from her body, her clothes ragged and broken, Ember Celica showing cracks along its frame.

    She isn't moving, until she does. Her arms drop to her sides, then she falls to her knees, before flopping forwards over onto her front, a flicker of light crosses over her body, showing her Aura finally failing.

Vivio Takamachi (737) has posed:
    Vivio lets out the deep breath she had been holding as she sees Yang collapse, signalling the end of the match.

    Now that it's over, Vivio feels the tiredness wash over her. She slowly walks over to where Yang has fallen, dropping down to her knees. She reaches out to pat the other blonde on the back, saying, "Good match!" Of course neither of them are really injured, due to the Ring's effects. But still, it's really tiring!

    Vivio briefly glows with light, parts of her form washing away into nothing as she releases her Adult form, transforming back to her usual child self. She pats Yang some more.

Yang Xiao Long has posed:
    The Ring revitalizes the brawler after the match officially ends, and she rolls over onto her back, chuckling softly. "Definitely no match for you guys." she remarks, looking over with a bit of confusion at Kid!Vivio. "Uh... hey, where'd Vivio go?" she asks.

    Yang can be a tiny bit slow at times.

Vivio Takamachi (737) has posed:
    Vivio giggles, "That's me! Fifth grade elementary student of the Saint Hilde Academy of Magic, Vivio Takamachi, at your service!" Chris floats down to sit on Vivio's head as she beams at Yang. Yup, this would definitely require some explanation!

Yang Xiao Long has posed:
    Yang blinks, then nods a little. "Uuuuuh, okay then." she says kinda dumbly.

Ruby Rose (910) has posed:
Well that was...a thing. The battle is fast and furious as Ruby expected but even though Yang got in a good number of clean hits, Vivio got in more. The last attack in particular made Ruby wince, as there didn't seem to be a good way to dodge it. As soon as the smoke literally cleared, she started to say something to Yang, but just as she did, the ring itself appeared to heal the combatants.

She exhales a sigh of relief. Walking around with no Aura was a dangerous prospect. Not that she was worried out here or anything, but still, you never knew. Ruby smirks towards Yang as she steps in close, leaning over her and offering Yang a hand up if she needed it.

"Well you could look at it this way. I think with the Multiverse around, you are never going to be hurting for sparring partners."

Yang Xiao Long has posed:
    Yang takes the hand, and hauls herself up with Ruby's help. "Yeah, I guess you're right." she remarks, then looks back to Vivio... "Might need an explanation... Ice cream?"

Vivio Takamachi (737) has posed:
    Vivio stands up as well, brushing off her knees before her attention is drawn by the suggestion. She quickly raises her hand up in exclamation, saying, "Icecream is a great idea!" Vivio starts to skip out of the arena, saying melodically, "Icecream~ Icecream~ Icecream~"