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Waking the Dead 2.0 || May 18, 2063 || The Mandatory Hot Springs Episode
[The skies are clear, the air is cool, and overall? Conditions are perfect for spending the entire afternoon and maybe even the entire night at the hot springs within Seigi. It's open to Zangyaku operatives and their families, along with any of their guests.
Oh, they're also communal. Surely no one minds? It's just skin, after all.
You're allowed to smoke, drink and eat while you're chilling out in the pools. You can also play cards, have a round (or several) of ping pong, flop around... anything goes, as long as you don't kill anybody!]
OOC Notes:
+ Make your own threads, plot out your own shenanigans and whatever else. Just remember: War Hounds and the rest were probably invited there after lunch, and are more than welcome to spend the rest of the day there. Y'all might want to specify the time. :3
+ NPCs are available on call beyond the threads I set up in here (if I end up setting some up, anyway)! Lemme know if you have questions.
PoPP? I approve XD
I meant to do that! [Then, muttering under his breath, no you didn't no you didn't.
Of course Brig catches up to it. This rally has now been going for five minutes, and it's not like either of them are holding back. It's a classic "unstoppable force meets immovable object" match.
The twist in that statement is that it's actually Brig that's the unstoppable force. Taning, trying to find his offense, was forced into several near-misses. When he settled on a defensive game, however, he found that as fast and strong Brig was, he can manage to keep up with him, spending less energy than the big guy, who just doesn't seem to run out.
Damn, this is fun.
Hey Brig, how about let's let this rally decide the match?
[A very lopsided grin appears on his face, because he has just realized Read Matrices is still on.]
Dibaaaaa? Popp(y)! Opium for you, Taning. haha
He is however, not a sly dog like his fellow blademate, so he won't take advantage of the offer.
He lets Taning return the ball before he answers with a simple -- ] G.
[ And with great control and power, lashes out at the pingpong ball at full force straight at Taning. ]
[ Eidetic Memory + Prince of Tennis + Youtube + Autonomic Control + Uncanny Dexterity + a point of Willpower ]
[[ Hadoukyū (波動球) ]]
[ He knows Taning can return this, which is only fair, but the force and speed will likely take him off-balance, and, along with the fact that the ball is going directly at Taning, keep him from getting into proper position to make a good enough swing to generate great enough topspin or backspin to execute a finisher ]
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The moment he saw Brig move into position, he knew it was going to be a power hit. He lowered his paddle as if he was headed off-balance, but the hilt is actually where the hilt of his sword would be. He sees the ball approach him head-on. Excellent.
Swift like the wind. Fu.
The ball is suddenly on the other side of the table. Only Brig's prodigious reflexes allowed him to get it, sending it back with a reflexive smack that was almost as powerful as his previous hit.
Silent like the forest. Rin.
Taning hits a drop shot totally devoid of spin. It floats over the net slowly, deceptively close. When Brig gets to it, it hits the edge of his paddle, sending it high.
Invade like fire. Ka.
Taning hits the strongest shot he's hit tonight, mirroring Brig's Hadoukyuu. Of course Brig is able to return it, and a wild rally ensues. He notes Brig trying to probe his style, trying to determine his next move.
Formless like the shadows. In.
Taning sends off several conflicting signals. Is a drop coming? A slice? A topspin-heavy cross? Taning's arm blurs, making it almost impossible to determine. Brig's response is to step up his attack, hitting faster and heavier shots with each swing.
Immovable like the mountain. Zan.
Taning's defense is perfect. He knows he cannot take Brig on force-on-force, so he gives him spin-heavy shots that make him check his own power lest the ball go awry. The pace becomes deceptively easy. Good.
Strike like lightning. Rai.
Taning takes the momentary ease of pace to flip the paddle into a penhold, the only grip that would suit this sort of shot. He takes a slow ball and runs it along the entire length of the paddle, giving it an additional flick at the apex of the roll. It hits the center of the table... and jumps sharply to the right.
Catch it, Brig! I don't want this rally to end!]
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Brigade lunges toward the direction the ball took, using the table as further leverage for pushing off with both legs and his hand, reaching the ball just in time to perform an overhead smash from the slightly angled position. He's got one chance at this. It won't end in him folding. Taning would be disappointed in him if it did. ]
[ Eidetic Memory + Prince of Tennis + Youtube + Autonomic Control + Uncanny Dexterity + a point of Willpower (again. cause damn straight he really needs it at this moment) ]
[[ TWIST SMASH ]]
[ As the powerful smash meets the pingpong ball, the ball races at incredible speed onto the table, bounces off it... and flies in the direction away from the side of the table Taning is closest to. Taning will get that, he's sure to as long as he breaks into his top sprint, but it'll give Brigade just enough time to reach for the table and push himself with the force of his free hand onto the ground without a crash
[ Judo •• - Ukemi ], and perform a kip up with his shoulders back onto his feet, just in time to return the ball Taning has sent back, and once again continue their already awe-inspiring rally ]
You are crazy amazing, you know that? [ Brigade's laughing. This was way too much fun. Miscalculated. No more shots straight at him. Better to keep it away and capitalize on what I'm strong at.
Brigade proceeds to return the ball on the side line of the table with powerful returns, on the further side opposite of wherever Taning is. He can't out-finesse the Iaidoka, but he can do his best to tire him out, and use the same control strategy against him. He's pushing the ball just outside of Taning's reach where he can't perform anything too fancy. Forcing him to run back and forth just to return the ball in a semblance of the direction Brig wants.
With every return, Brigade applies less force and more calculated spins to the ball, overriding the spins Taning has applied, so as to prevent him, even just slightly, from gaining control.
Slowly, Brigade's sidesteps grow smaller and smaller, until he's relatively just standing in the same place, taking short sidesteps from side to side, and keeping Taning running from one end of the table to the other, chasing after returns landing as close to the side line as possible. ]
[[ Incomplete Tezuka Zone ]]
[ It's not about winning anymore. It's about pushing the other to get better. He can't get through Taning's defense. He really will have to tire him out until he makes a mistake. C'mon, Taning, break this make-shift control I have. I know you can. ]
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But it's time to end this. He's getting tired, and if this doesn't work, he's going to lose. One way or another, it's time.
He's seen the pattern: Brig is pushing him side to side such that he doesn't even need to work. Clever use of spin, really. But spin works both ways.
As Brig hit a shot to the left whose spin would mean that it returns to his central position when hit back, Taning calculated a certain spin and angle that he needed to hit the ball at, and...
He sliced the ball in the same direction it was already spinning, making the ball hit, with extreme backspin, the table at an almost-parallel. He saw Brig expecting it to bound back to his position.
Now we see if it works...
The ball landed, bounced backward for a split-second, then, pulled by the extreme spin, bounced backward again less than a half a second after.]
Yeah!
[And after shouting that, he promptly sat against one of the table legs and made to go to sleep.]
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He walks up to where Taning is and chuckles at his exhausted blademate. ] Good job, Taning. [ He contemplates picking his blademate up and finding him a hammock, but opts first to sit and smoke beside his seemingly passed out blademate. If he hear's snoring, then he'll carry his blademate somewhere more comfortable. He's pretty content to just sit there and bask in the aftermath of a well-fought competition. ]
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He shakily steals a smoke from Brig's pack and lights it. Victory smoke, yes.]
Truth or dare, Brigade.
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Can't think of one! Guess I gotta hang on to this one for a while, heh.
[And then he gets up, stumbles over to an empty pool, manages to not flop in, rests his head on his arms on a ledge, and falls asleep.]