ic Supreme Ultimate Competition: Bird is the Word-ic

[Kolohehonu]

GM

 

6 pm Friday March 10, 2017

Freedom City

 

Jann Fa-Re had been asked to enter. A recruiter had been trying to get people at Claremont to sign up. Jann had seen plenty of the many brightly colored stands that had appeared in Freedom and had advertised this "street fighting" event. It had been all over the news: it would be held across the United States, and the prizes were pretty amazing. The eight semi finalists would win ten grand, the four finalists would also get a million dollar car, and the winner? "A prize beyond imagination." It had pulled the attention of martial artists from across the world. Some of the best fighters in the world would be fighting in this. 

His official invitation had been delivered in class. The invitation had been surprisingly plain. A simple envelope which contained a simple card. A square card of Manila color. It had a yellow and green taegeuk symbol on it with the trigrams for fire on the top, water on the bottom, thunder on the left, and mountain on the right. The word "Supreme" was on the top and "Ultimate" was on the bottom. The opposite side had a street intersection and a time. 

 

When Jann arrived at the intersection his opponent had already arrived. A young man in his twenties wearing a simple karate gi. Another man stood nearby and a few drones hovered in the air, both seemingly to record the fight and dissuade spectators from getting too close.

 

"I'm Instructor Jacob Franz, it's a pleasure to meet you." The man said with a bow.

[olopi]

Was it even a question? A competition of martial prowess, one for the best of the best? It would’ve taken a lot for Jann to not go. This was exactly what he had been looking for. Fighting, showing off the arts, without having to worry about anything else. A great opportunity, not just for him to win, but also for him to find new opponents, new styles.

 

 

He had prepared accordingly. His usual workout routine had been pumped up, and he allocated more time to training the unarmed styles. He did not know about the exact rules of the event, but he figured that he would most likely have to rely on purely his skills. Hardly a problem.

 

 

When the time came, he arrived at the specified location. He wore a simple outfit, a plain white tank top and black sweatpants. Beneath, his armour, already plugged in. He did most likely not need it, but he would rather work at full strength than underestimate the competition. With his wings, feathers and almost claw-like fingers, he still stood out.

 

 

“It is an honour to meet you, instructor. I am Jann Fa-Re.”

 

 

Jann responded with a bow of his own, before entering a middle stance, taken from one of the first styles he had ever been taught.

Edited March 9, 2017 by olopi

[Kolohehonu]

GM

 

"Alright well these things are supposed to be on delay so we can make sure nothing unsavory appears on TV." The man in the suit said before turning his drones inwards. "This is a prime time fight after all. I'm Mr. Red by the way. So each event the competitors will be asked if they wish to use weapons. Both must agree." 

 

"No weapons." Frank said. 

 

"So no weapons Mr. Fa-Re." Mr. Red said with a half smile. Clearly he didn't think Jann would need them. "Alright cameras will be rolling in 3, 2, 1."

 

"Ladies and gentlemen enough of the amateur hour fights!" Boomed an announcer through the drones. "In this corner: he teaches karate in Freedom, can he fight 'sho do kan' JACOB FRANZ!" The announcer said. "And in the other corner, straight from the mysterious Aerie, this bird will flip you! JANN FA-RE, BIRD OF ARMS!"

 

Edited March 9, 2017 by Kolohehonu

[olopi]

No weapons, then. Jann wasn’t entirely happy with that, but he was skilled enough to do this regardless. He did not pay any real attention to the announcer, this was about one thing, and one thing only: the fight. He waited, let the announcer speak, all the while trying to judge his opponent. Karate, it was. Jann knew the style, of course. It was one of the most popular ones, and it had its strong parts.

 

But it was not one he had ever trained specifically. All his instructors were skilled in other styles. Perhaps he could also use this fight to parse out the style.

 

And then, he acted. Immediately, he changed his stance to the side, one more aggressive, and show forwards, using his wings to close the distance in less time than it took on foot. There, he launched a single straight punch as a feint, before taking a step to the side and attempting to get in a more direct swing onto Franz’s left arm.

[Kolohehonu]

GM

 

Franz had clearly fought people who were more than human. Which being in Freedom was not much of a surprise. He saw straight through the feint and then leaned just out of the way of the true strike. 

 

"Kiyah!" He shouted as he took a jab and a chop at Jann. But Jann's natural speed and agility let him edge out the karate teacher. Both had opened up feeling out their adversaries. 

[olopi]

An opponent that could keep up with him, good! Jann enjoyed the fact that Franz appeared to have some idea of what he was doing, at least. All the while, the avian used his sideways momentum to glance the blows off of his arm, taking no damage in the process. He was running on auto-pilot still, this fight had not yet reached the point of active interference.

 

There was one thing Jann knew about Karate. It was not a grappling style. Something he could, hopefully, use. Jann continued to move to his opponent’s side, then suddenly took a step in the opposite direction, and grabbed onto his offhand arm, before taking a jump upwards, trying to bring his opponent’s arm along, and twist it around said opponent’s neck, leading to an exotic chokehold.

 

That was, if he could get this all right. He too preferred strikes over holds, but it was the only way to improve his skills. And, if future opponents were watching, they would get deceived by it hopefully.

[Kolohehonu]

GM

 

Instructor Franz went with the grab. He let his body turn and spin as Jann pulled him. Then he gave his wrist a quick twist and swiftly chopped at Jann's wrist. Jann felt his hand reflexively release. As he looked down at his opponent he saw Franz swipe at him with a powerful kick. 

 

The blow would definitely have connected with a normal human, but Jann's extra grace saved him from a painful shot. The smile that had been on Franz's face was gone. It was a look of stern seriousness that looked back at Bird of Arms.

[olopi]

He proved to be a worthy opponent. So far, neither had managed to actually get a square strike in, with the instructor managing to keep up quite well. Internally, Jann was actually smiling just a bit, it was good to be involved in a serious but not dangerous show of strength. Externally, he kept up his rock-hard appearance, not moving any part of his face.

 

Each of his movements was calculated and perfectly executed, and even as the kick approached, Jann stepped backwards and deflected the leg with his now once again free hand. Fluent, effective, and quick. It continued, as suddenly he jumped upwards and away, gaining a bit of altitude, before swooping downwards, fists forward towards the face. And just before he made impact, he stopped. Stopped, landed into a roll, and coming out of his roll, directed a headbutt right towards the instructor’s midsection. All the while, one of his legs had bent upwards, attempting a scorpion kick at the same time.  

[Kolohehonu]

GM

 

The blows connected, but Franz seemed to be willing to take them,  he grabbed and locked down onto the young avian with a grunt and attempted to get him into a Judo hold.

 

"Teach Judo," the instructor grunted, "too!" He said as he grabbed onto the avian and proceeded to set his stance for a throw or slam of some kind. 

[olopi]

Jann followed along with the instructor’s movements, not resisting them at first, allowing himself to get pulled up into a more stable position, close to his opponent, and gain the advantage. It was a new revelation, one which slightly altered the situation once more, one which had to be taken into account.

 

Either way, Jann let himself get pulled up back onto his feet properly, before resisting the planned throw by all the sudden slipping away from below Franz’s grip. Slipping away, and reapplying the grip, but this time with the acting party being different. It was a simple grip, one he was used to, and one he could simply follow up into a variety of others.

 

Which he did. Before the instructor could properly react, Jann slipped around further, changing the grip further, now standing off to the instructor’s side once more, having a pretty good level of control over his potential movements, so long as this grip could remain up.

[Kolohehonu]

GM

 

Franz found himself caught and struggled against the grab before again turning and almost dislocated his shoulder. He took another step but Jann's strength held as he attempted to escape. 

 

The crowd swelled and roared as they saw the instructor caught. They'd come for a fight and it was finally coming their way. The two had done enough dancing about and the blows were really connecting now. 

[olopi]

The grip was solid, there was no easy escape, not without risking injury to the shoulder. Acceptable, but the grip was a simple one, one which did not do much. So Jann continued to hold onto the instructor’s arm, all the while moving a step closer. And before his opponent knew, Jann had slipped through between his legs, dragging the instructor’s arm after him, and grappling both legs with his own.

 

This not only softened up the instructor’s stance, it was also a grip he could hardly fight out of with his experience. Not one classically taught, one learned from one of Jann’s private instructors. One that allowed a lot of follow up, like, for example, an elbow to the back of the head. Strong enough to injure, but not strong enough to seriously hurt, hitting the part of the skull that was least likely to lead to permanent, yet still likely to lead to temporary, damage.

[Kolohehonu]

GM

 

The blow was solid and without the opportunity to evade Instructor Franz took the blow. He blinked hard at the pain, but he could not manage to find his way out of the grip. The blow too had dazed him and Franz was struggling to stay up. He gritted his teeth preparing for the next blow. 

[olopi]

Jann continued on with his assault, not stopping for even the fraction of a second. Now that his opponent had been weakened accordingly, he could go for harder strikes. Ones that were more effective. It wasn’t the best place for them, granted. They weren’t entirely harmless, especially not when performed against a concrete floor. But Jann could control his power. Put in enough to knock out the opponent, but also to avoid serious damage on him. Not the challenge he’d been looking for, but a small one irregardless.

 

“Good fight. I will contact you.”

 

And with that said, Jann went to work. His empty arm grabbed the instructor’s neck, before lifting him up across his head. Jann turned his head towards the camera, hopefully looking (somewhat) intimidating in the process, then dropped his opponent forwards, onto Jann’s right knee striking upwards into his ribcage.

 

That was enough. The instructor hit the concrete, and he would not be getting up any time soon. But unless Jann has seriously overestimated his opponent’s toughness, he would hopefully not suffer anything beyond a few bruises.

[Kolohehonu]

GM

 

Instructor Franz hit the floor and the counting began. "10, 9, 8, 7, 6,   5," form Mr. Red. Meanwhile the crowd had begun chanting: "Bird Of Arms! Bird of Arms!" 

 

"4! 3! 2! 1!" Red finished and there was a loud horn. Mr. Red stepped up and grabbed Jann's hand. 

 

"And the Winner is Jann Fa-Re! The BIRD OF ARRRRRRRMS!"

 

"Here's your invitation to the winner's party tonight. Fights start bright an early tomorrow so I don't recommend staying out too late." Mr. Red slipped Jann a small golden business card.

 

High Steaks Winner Party

[olopi]

Jann knew that in places like Freedom City, there were rules against people like him entering these kinds of places and parties. These so-called “adults” did not like people younger than them around, or want them to drink alcoholic drinks. Nothing Jann had ever understood. What was so bad about it? From what he’d gathered when sitting in the common room, it didn’t stop people, and it was only like this in America. Perhaps it would mean that this party would be an issue.

 

From what he’d learned, parties usually were. But they usually included a large array of tools, and were in spacious rooms, so everything Jann needed. He would attend, learn about his competition, and then retreat and prepare for the next fight.

 

He picked up the card, trying to see if there was any more writing on it. His expression was completely neutral, perhaps slightly stern, not showing any emotion whatsoever.