A Matter of Bitchdom (Closed)

[Empoleon_Blownaparte]

It was a rainy day in the Foreverfall Forest. It was 3:00 PM exactly and a certain second year bear Faunus was waiting by the trunk of the tallest tree in the forest, a common place for him to plan duels, whether people take them or not...

He looked up at the sky impatiently "Why'd it have to rain today?.... At least it's dramatic...." he thought aloud in a bored manner "Good thing he, for some reason, can't use dust, otherwise I'd be screwed if he brought out some electric or ice dust..." he continued, remembering why he was there exactly "I can't believe he said I'd be his bitch... Why would he even hear of me in the first place?.... Am I really that infamous at Beacon?... I mean, I'm not the best huntsman ever, but.... It's my teammates that suck, I'm just brought down with them...."

[Yahtzee]

Lance walked quietly through the forest, his footsteps calm and confident as he sipped from his bottle of whiskey. He'd been challenged to a duel and the man had outright refused to drink with Lance, which, by all accounts, was like slapping him in the face. As he continued along, he quietly slipped on his gauntlets, adjusting the straps and flexing the finger-joints to be sure they weren't stiff.

Lance hadn't brought along his light body armor, opting instead for his standard attire, save for his steel-toed boots. He'd seen the kid - He wasn't impressive, despite his obvious Faunus features.

"Too bad it's raining today. Wouldn't want the poor chump to slip, after all," he said, holding a gauntlet'd hand out to catch some rain. His shirt and shorts were already getting soaked, but he didn't mind all that much. Rain never really bothered him - In fact, he often found the soothing rhythm of the rain hitting the ground to be quite relaxing. The nights that it rained were the nights when Lance got his best sleep.

He neared the large tree, and as he did so, he called out.

"'Ey! Bear boy! You ready to do this, or what? My fists've been itching all day!"

He waited a bit for dramatic effect, and then slowly entered the clearing, eyed the kid, and immediately jumped into a combat stance. He put his fists out in front of him and his lined his legs up to provide stability and balance. Boy, it was good he'd learned how to fight when he was young. He held out a fist and gestured with his fingers.

"Come and get it, boyo."

[Empoleon_Blownaparte]

Pete silently glared at Lance with his brown-turned black eyes, as his opponent finished his extremely short pre-fight dialogue. He then seemingly disappeared into thin air, but turns out he just dashed right behind Lance before attempting to sweep at his legs at a near-invisible speed "Do not fuck with a pissed off bear, my friend!"

[Yahtzee]

Lance smirked.

"But you're so god-damned fluffy!" he said enthusiastically.

The moment the bear-kid disappeared from view, Lance jumped into the air, dust rising from the ground with the force. He spun in the air, taking only a few moments to look for and spot Pete before redirecting his momentum and sending himself careening downward toward him foot-first, a steel-toed boot aimed directly downward.

After the impact, Lance somersaulted out of the way, hopping backward to gain his footing again with two raised fists. He feigned a right-handed jab, then let loose his true attack: A powerful right-footed kick aimed at Pete's gut, spearheaded by a collection of kinetic energy that would send the air out of his lungs. He followed this kick up with a backwards spin-kick, aiming to get the heel of his left foot into the kid's left shoulder. He was sure to lessen the impact on this one, since a full-powered kick probably would've shattered his collarbone.

After this, Lance executed a backflip to escape whatever Pete may have had planned for him, driving a heel into the dirt floor with incredible might before redirecting the momentum to front-kick him right between his legs. As his dad had always told him: In a street fight, you never play fair. Although, in this case, Lance was sure to lessen the impact for this as well.

"Havin' fun yet, kiddo? I'm just gettin' warmed up!"

[Empoleon_Blownaparte]

Pete quickly sidestepped the first blow and was about to hit his opponent back before he somersaulted away, he tried to block his opponent's next move, but the feint worked and all the air left his lungs as the blow connected. The next blow hit it's mark as he was distracted catching his breath, in response he gave a quiet, yet bestial snarl of pain. As his opponent once again dodged a non-existent blow and charged his own attack Pete regained his breath "This is barely a third of my full power..." he quickly muttered before once again disappeared behind his foe, aiming a powerful left-handed punch to his foe's hip. "...And I could still school you on your best day!!"

[Yahtzee]

As Pete disappeared, Lance tried to dodge out of the way, but ended up taking the hit to his tailbone. The shock sent him flying into the mud a few feet away, but he got up quickly.

"Oooohohoho. This is my FAVORITE shirt, kiddo. Big mistake," he snarled.

Lance had been avoiding the use of his gauntlets until now, but he was PO'd, and the kid could obviously take a hit. With anger fueling his action, Lance sent himself careening toward Pete with speed that matched or quite possibly even exceeded Pete's own, aiming a waylay punch aimed at his stomach with force that would've dented a tree trunk. He followed this up with a full-force front kick aimed at Pete's chest, and then, almost out of nowhere, he raised a fist and slammed it into the ground with extreme force.

Lance could almost see the force of the impact. And where he saw it, he amplified it, forcing it outward in all directions and turning it into a kinetic shockwave with just enough power to knock Pete back with the force of a suckerpunch. Even the rain was subject to the blast, forming a wide arc around and above Lance.

With that, Lance began to get serious.

"Get ready to experience what a lifetime of combat practice and three years of Semblance training can teach ya', Petie."

Focusing on himself and his body, he made a punching motion. Kinetic force sprung forward with an almost fistlike form, aimed at Pete's chest. Lance adopted his boxing position and immediately let loose a one-two jab combo, aiming the first blast at Pete's forehead and the second at his gut. After this, Lance took the chance and immediately rushed him, jumping into the air and letting loose a double front kick, then redirecting his momentum to execute a backflip and land a few feet back from where he'd attacked Pete just a second ago.

[Empoleon_Blownaparte]

Pete smiled smugly as his foe got up, but was caught off-guard by his sudden boost of speed, taking the blow to the stomache, causing him to sound out something between a violent growl and a dry heave, he was too busy doing that to even see the second blow coming. As the third blow hit him, he once again sounded out a strange growling dry heave. As soon as the last blow hit him, he had already collapsed, barely still conscious. The final attack hit it's mark and actually made him throw up this time, he just barely turned his body in time to keep it from going back down a drowning him... "....No..... He said pathetically, between coughs "I.... Can't lose.... I need.... To win.... he said weakly...

[Yahtzee]

Lance smirked. Combat was an asset he could never get enough of, and it gave him an adrenaline rush like no other.

Which explains his next choice of words.

"One down, one to go. I've heard about your 'demon' friend, Petie. Plenty of ruckus raised about Moraton, how your eyes changed color and you pretty much went batshit crazy. Taken to calling him Fluffy, right?" he said, an eyebrow cocked ever so slightly.

"Pretty bitchy name, if you ask me. Like something you'd name a stuffed animal." Lance went to the fallen boy, leaning down on one knee. He got in close and whispered into Pete's ear.

"So why don't you prove me wrong. We'll see if you can handle something a bit more intense, eh?"

With that, Lance stood, holding out a hand and focusing on a nearby tree. It was approximately 3 feet thick, pretty tall. Lance extended an open hand, and slowly but surely  built  up pressure around the base of the trunk, squeezing his hand to symbolize it. Then, suddenly, the trunk snapped, splinters of wood flying outward. Lance threw his hand down toward Pete and sent the tree into a fall directly at him. He stepped back a few feet and waited, arms crossed.

"Let's see if those rumors hold up, kiddo."

[Empoleon_Blownaparte]

Pete groaned, not in pain, but in a defeated, "Of course" manner as Lance mentioned a "Demon friend"  "....So that's why you're here, huh?.... Fine... You want him?...." Pete said, using the last of his strength in an attempt to limply stand up, he looked up to look Lance straight in the eyes with a week smile "You... Have no idea..... Who you're messing with...." he said before closing his eyes, the falling tree closing in on him. As soon as he opened his eyes again, his eyes were suddenly near-all black with red pupils, he smiled as he looked up again and held the tree up with one hand before merely pushing it to the side "Hey there, nice to meet'ch-" He started to say before suddenly going into a coughing fit "Ugh, you know what? Screw that voice, Pete, I'm gonna talk in our regular voice... I"m not even sure if you can hear me.... That shit is murder on our throat.... Scare tactics be damned... I mean, who'd be scared of us, demon voice or not?.... I'm not even a demon, I'm closer to a tulpa than anything.... Anyways, what were we doing?... Oh yeah, fighting.... Hey, I'm Rage or Fluffy or whatever the hell I am.... It was Pete's idea to call me that.... Although... When he first made me, he did bring up the name "Kuja" before settling on the cliched bullshit... So that's as much my name as Rage or Fluffy...." he said, getting sidetracked and clearly not interested in anything going on at this point...

[Yahtzee]

Hearing Fluffy/Rage/Whatever's name for the first time sent a spike of adrenaline through Lance's body. The urge to prove himself to the new acquaintance overwhelmed him, and every word after "Screw that voice" went in one ear and out the other.

His arms almost moved on their own, pushing outward in front of Lance with intense force. A kinetic blast issued forth, billowing toward Fluffy with incredible speed. Lance laughed a little bit, hopping backward a bit to give himself some leeway.

"Y'know, after I wipe the forest floor with your ass, I think this could be the start of a beautiful friendship," he said, moving forward to get in a powerful spin-kick that was aimed at the demon's neck, then executed a near-instantaneous followup side kick at his gut, quickly moving his body into a horizontal position that allowed him to pour most of his strength into it.

Lance ducked, aiming a "shuto", otherwise known as a karate chop, directly at Fluffy's windpipe. Kinetic force aided him, pouring all of the power into a single point that would likely choke him up for a few precious seconds. He aimed a roundhouse kick at the demon's right calf, aiming to sweep his leg from under him. Following that, Lance would aim an open-palm strike directly at his ribcage, aiming an extreme amount of kinetic force toward him that would blast him backward. (or, should the previous legsweep succeed, make him the center of a relatively small blast crater on the ground)

[Empoleon_Blownaparte]

"Y'know what? Let's just go with Kuja for now...." He said casually as he took the blows like a window would take a confused fly "Okay.... Ow.... Second of all:" he said before blocking the powerful kick with his bare hand and bending over backwards to dodge the chop "You're not very fast, are ya, chief?" he said before stepping back to dodge the roundhouse kick, then sidestepping the palm strike, grabbing his foe's wrist with way more force than a person his size should be able to exert "You done?"

[Yahtzee]

"Faster than ya' think. You're clearly not very bright, are ya'?" he said, grinning and extending his left index finger toward Kuja's chest.

"I can do a lot more than you give me credit for."

He aimed a straighforward poke, light and almost gentle, directly in the center of Kuja's ribcage. It would seem genuinely harmless at first, but Lance would maintain the same sinister grin throughout the entire slow, deliberate motion.

The force of the poke, though faint and very limited, was visible to Lance. He pictured it, felt it, and immediately amplified it over and over until it became a cone-shaped funnel of kinetic energy that would blast the chest clean out of a normal human being. Lance didn't care about the result, however. He quickly wrenched his hand from Kuja's grip and practically flew into the air, the force making shoe-shaped indents in the ground. He redirected his momentum and aimed his body straight forward, though he flew backwards toward a tree and remained there, his entire body facing horizontally, before getting low and bunching his muscles.

With that, Lance pushed off. The force of the jump cracked the tree trunk, but sent Lance, who adopted a Superman-esque pose, directly at Kuja, a fist outstretched and the other bunched up and ready to swing.

Lance hadn't had to fight an opponent like Kuja for a very, very long time. He was similar in strength and stature to Lance's own father, whom by Lance's standards was the only opponent in the world that stood a chance at winning against him. To be matched up against one such as Kuja was not only exciting, it was exhilarating. Finally, for once, Lance no longer had to hold back. The old disciplines and Semblance training came flowing back into his mind, allowing his body to react much as it did when he had fought his father. His mind went into overdrive, and all of his senses were at peak performance.

So, when Lance neared Kuja, he was fully prepared with a surprise attack. He spin vertically in midair, outstretching one steel-toed-boot-clad foot to aim a powerful vertical kick directly at his assailant's chin, then landed as close as he could possibly get and threw one, two, three, four punches in rapid succession, aimed independently at Kuja's chest, windpipe, forehead, and left shoulder.

Following this, Lance jumped backward, keeping himself suspended briefly in midair as he sent a quartet of kinetic blasts at Kuja's relative location before landing in a crouched position on the muddied forest floor.

"I was only just getting started, bud!" he yelled ecstatically.

[Empoleon_Blownaparte]

Kuja smirked as Lance raised his finger, but as soon as the super-charged poke reached his body he was knocked back into the same giant tree that marked their duel's location "Ooooww.... That wasn't nice....." he said before quickly recovering and standing upright as if it didn't happen at all "Gonna have to try harder than tha-" he said before disappearing once more in response to Lance's kick, which had only just barely missed him "Than that." he finished before dodging the first three punches and just taking the fourth one, it hurt alot more than he expected, but that didn't slow him down much as he dodged out of the way of the subsequent storm of kinetic blasts, almost dancing out the way of each hit "Y'know, I'm having more fun here than during my first time in the sun. That bitch, Misaki, may have taken my thunder than, but now... Oh wow, I can see why you quote-unquote "Real" people seem to like it so much..." he said wistfully, almost as if he was looking out at a beautiful view, rather than in the middle of a duel with a man far superior to his other half...

[Yahtzee]

"Now, now. No need to call anybody names. I'm sure this Misaki girl is a fine girl," Lance said, cocking his head to the side as he contemplated his next moves.

The entity, whatever it may have been, seemed to be supernaturally strong - Clearly, this thing was neither human, nor Pete. At first, Lance had figured it was simply a fragmented personality. A figment of Pete's imagination. That was clearly a mistake.

Lance reached into his pocket and proceeded to down the entire bottle of whiskey, wiping his mouth on the fabric that stuck out from beneath his gauntlets.

"You're not too shabby yourself. I daresay you're the most fun of anyone I've ever fought," he said, giving a one-sided smile, "But, as they say, let's not dwell on the pleasantries. I came here for a fight, and you've yet to even raise a hand back. Don't think I'm so fragile, bucko. That point-blank poke was what my father used to train me in the use of my Semblance. Pain is almost as numb to me as alcohol is."

With that, Lance pushed off from the ground, aiming an uppercut with his right hand, spearheaded with a mass of kinetic energy. Lance quickly redirected himself backwards to avoid retaliation, and then quickly redirected again to go back with a powerful side-kick, followed by a downwards slam of kinetic energy that Lance symbolized with a slam of his fist toward the ground. The energy came from above Kuja and would likely knock him down if it hit.

Lance aimed a horizontal blast at Kuja's right side, symbolized by a movement of Lance's left hand, and then a backwards blast at Kuja's back that was symbolized by a backwards elbow movement. Following this, regardless of the success of the backwards blast, Lance would aim a direct-contact, full-strength blast of kinetic energy, following up by a direct suckerpunch, directly at Kuja's gut.

"Let's get this shit started, demon-guy!"

[Empoleon_Blownaparte]

Kuja smirked and shook his head as Lance made his assumption of Misaki. He proceeded to not dodge any of the hits thrown at him until the last one where he grabbed Lance's wrist and near-effortlessly slammed him into the ground behind him "You want me to get serious, huh?" he said, the hits he took barely seeming to faze him besides a couple of bruises "Then let's get serious." He said before throwing Lance away, disappearing once again and reappearing with his other half's signature blunt sword that was longer than their body was tall....

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