2006 TOA R4: psiko v. Alucard (finals)

[LocoColt04]

I intend to start the round within the week.

I would like a word with each of the competitors (yes, right here, in this thread) before we begin. I have debated with myself long and hard over whether I should write the introductory post for the two of you, or whether I should leave it open and allow whichever one of you gets here first to start it. If I write it, I would like permission to use both of your characters. Not for anything important, mind you, but just to set up the round and place you in exact spots within the environment... and perhaps a little action prior to the round as well.

I have ideas, but YOU are the stars of the tournament, not me. I'd like your opinions on whether you would like to write the introduction yourselves, or allow me to lead your characters directly into the fight. It would, in essence, remove any need for an "introduction" post of your own. The three of us could sit down and work together on a post, so that anything you feel needs to be said about your character is included in the single introduction.

Or, all the same, you could each do your own, and whoever posts first sets the scenery.

Let me know, right here, in this thread, within the next 48 hours, please.

I will not be closing this, but the round will not actually start until we have come to some sort of mutual agreement with one another.

[Bryan]

I'm 100% cool with you using my character for an intro. Actually, I'm quite fond of the idea to be honest with you. It makes the intro more "personal", if you will. So like I said, I'm all about the idea of just giving you control of my character for the intro post. It'd be a suprise. Bryan likes suprises.

[Psiko]

Go right ahead, my good man. I'm all up for it. Your writing is good, and we're too much alike sometimes that it is scary. I have a feeling it'll likely end up similar to what I'd have planned on myself. =P

[LocoColt04]

Well then... if at all possible, if you're both awake enough, is there any chance you can get online tonight around 1am Central? I should be getting home from work around then. I'll hop on xfire and wait for you guys, but if both of you don't show, then we'll look at sometime tomorrow afternoon then. I think if we all collaborate on the post, it will be a much nicer piece of literature than if I just whip up something myself. And... if I can't get in touch with both of you at the same time, then the post will still be up soon, either way.



edit:
It's almost entirely done; just needs to be typed up now.
Sorry, once again, for the delay. Silly life, getting in the way.

[LocoColt04]

Here we go. I've had this written for a couple days now, but I'm just now getting the opportunity to type it all up. You officially have ONE MONTH to post, but you will have until the thread is actually closed to continue posting, rather than the usual "if you post after the deadline it doesn't count" business we usually go by. In other words, if I don't get around to closing this on the 25th of October, take advantage of it. It will not, however, be closed any time before then.

(And yes, before anyone asks, I have full permission from both participants to use their characters.)




It had been a stormy month.

Ambitious competitors had been plagued with poor weather, and the upcoming weekend was no more appealing. The summer heat was dissipating, and the evenings were accompanied by a scathing chill. The mornings were calm, tepid, and often damp. The hosts were worn from the brawls in the manor between rounds. Security was ragged. Change was upon the tournament.

It had been two weeks since the previous round, in which both of the finalists' opponents mysteriously vanished without a trace. Was there a conspiracy at hand? Nervousness held partial responsibility for the outbreaks. Despite the ruckus about the manor, Ryang remained calm in his quarters, continuing to recover from the illness that previously ailed him. Kana, too, remained inconspicuous for much of the time off, only wandering about for his meals. All but the final two competitors were expelled from the house area that night.

The night was calm and cloudy, very much like the first night of the tournament. No hustle. No bustle. The manor remained as calm as the night sky. Only the faint sounds of two brave fighters alone in their rooms could be heard, each anxiously awaiting their next and final battle.

A knock on the door. Simultaneously, each man arose from his bed and answered the call of the night. Each was led from his room down opposite halls to the flights of stairs on either side of the courtyard. Each caught a glimpse of the other. Muscles tensed. Neither had a weapon. The men were brought into the courtyard, where each had commenced victorious battles. Undefeated. One's streak would end.

A single guard, armed with a bokken, stood to the left of Ryang. Another, with a pair of daggers, stood to the left of Kana. The fighters faced one another, mere inches away, awaiting the bellowing call from above. Silence. The air remained still. Only the sounds of breathing could now be heard. Midnight was approaching; a long night loomed ahead.

Ten minutes went by, but still, the silence remained.

The guard with the bokken hacked violently at Ryang's legs, knocking them out from beneath him. Without hesitation, Kana leapt into the man, lodging his foot firmly beneath the guard's ribcage, knocking the air from his lungs. As the two slid across the stone ground, the second guard dove forward, slicing at Kana's left arm, drawing blood. Angered, Ryang punched the guard in the face, crushing his nose. Kana rose to his feet quickly, striking at a pressure point in the guard's right elbow, forcing him to drop a sai. As Kana stooped to pick it up, the other guard lifted his bokken and landed a blow on Kana's lower back. Kana fell to the ground, but Ryang managed to fend off a blow aimed for his head. A sai slashed across Ryang's midsection. Kana grabbed the ankles of the sai-wielding guard and lifted with all his might as he arose once more. As the guard fell into the fountain, the focus shifted to the man with the bokken. Kana and Ryang rushed him, lifting him by his arms and running him into the tree in the northeast corner of the courtyard, knocking him unconscious.

As the two shifted to focus on the man in the fountain, a lantern was lit in the balcony, and a familiar voice boomed from above.

"HALT!"

The spectator above made himself known as his voice echoed across the courtyard. The fighters stopped immediately, looking upward to to balcony.

Kana screamed with frustration. "What is the meaning of this?!"

Ryang joined in. "Have you brought us here only to kill us? Is this what you have done with all the other competitors?"

"Relax. I do not know why Akai or Masashi left the grounds two weeks prior. The others were sent home earlier this evening, unharmed, to assure you each receive a full night's rest. A man without honor is a man who would allow his comrades to die disgracefully at the hands of an assassin. Though neither of your lives were truly at risk tonight, it pleases me to see that you are both with honor. You may return to your quarters. You fight at daybreak."

---

Bruised and bandaged, but otherwise unharmed, the fighters were awakened as the sun crept over the horizon. Each gathered his equipment and made his way into the courtyard, Kana from the east, and Ryang from the west. The tiles were moist, and the fog was thick. The fog would slowly dissipate as the sun rose in the sky, but there was no guarantee the fight would last long enough for such a favorable thing to happen.

The men looked at one another, approaching the fountain in the center of the courtyard. Smiles were exchanged as the voice from above bellowed a welcome sound: "BEGIN!" Ryang and Kana bowed to one another, and readied their weapons.

[Psiko]

The pain is gone. After a "free round", Ryang has had time to get completely heathly for the first time since the beginning of this tournament. His naginata feels good in his hands. Now is the time for him to showcase his complete range of skill. Now is the time to win this tournament and discover the name of his father's murderer.

Revenge is so close he can taste it.

There is only one man standing between him and his vengeance. Kana seems like an honorable man. After all, just yesterday he assisted him in dealing with the two guards. That right there won his respect. Now, in the center of the courtyard for the final time, Ryang stands face to face with Kana.

BEGIN!

Ryang bows to his opponent and readies his naginata. The time has come. There is no time to waste, Ryang decides to press the attack early on. Ryang twirls his weapon in his hand once before thrusting it at Kana's chest. Knowing the likelihood of it being avoided, Ryang prepares to deflect the counterattack that Kana is certain to send his way in return.

[Bryan]

The day before had seemed like a blur to Kana. He did not think ill of those in charge of the tournament for the "test", rather believed it to simply be another form of discipline. His mind was more focused on the man that had fought along side of him. The way he moved, the fire in his eyes...something was fueling Ryang other than competition. Kana could feel it.

Sleep did not come easy the night before. Kana had stayed awake listening to the breeze rustling leaves on the trees just outside of his room. Just as he fell asleep, it seemed as though he was awakened. Had it been minutes since he fell asleep? The guards seemed much more friendly. This was probably because the tournament was coming to a close and they were more than likely anxious to return to their every day lives.

They waited patiently as Kana pulled his long black hair back into a pony tail, letting his long bangs hang down in the front. He stretched for a moment and then picked up the Kikuichi-monji. Kana was still wearing the attire from the last battle, remaining shirtless for more fluid movements. Pausing for a moment, he held his katana to his heart, closing his eyes for a moment.

"Okita. I have come this far. I will do everything in my power to make you proud. Your teachings will have not gone in vain." Kana whispered.

Glancing down at his bedding, Kana noticed blood stains by where his head had been resting when he had finally fallen asleep. Before wonder could come to surface, he felt a sharp pain in the middle of his chest and a rising feeling to the back of his throat. He quickly covered his mouth, coughing violently enough for the guards to rush to him. Losing his balance in the heavy coughing, one of the guards quickly helped him up.

Kana closed his eyes and swallowed back the feeling of needles and pulled his hand away from his mouth. There was blood covering his fingers and palm. What was happening? Everything had happened so fast in the past 24 hours. It could have been from numerous things. Kana stared at his hand, breathing short and fast breaths through his nose while the guard still held him in place.

"I-I'm fine. It must be from the attack last night." he said in as soothing of a voice as possible.

One of the guards handed Kana a cloth so he could clean his hand and mouth. As he was doing this, a series of past visions flashed in his head of Okita sick in bed and coughing...blood. Kana closed his eyes for a moment, realizing what had caused the coughing of blood and blood on his bedding. He had spent so much time with Okita that he had developed what had taken his late master to the grave. In Kana's case, it was progressing quickly.

Kana looked at the guard who had given him the cloth and forced a warm smile.

"Thank you" he said.

He reached into a bag of his belongings and handed the guard a small satin cloth which appeared to be brand new. The guard nodded and Kana smiled. They then began towards the door and into the hallway. A mixture of the sharp pain he had experienced just minutes ago and heavy sorrow raised itself to the back of Kana's throat. His eyes began to fill with tears from the physical and emotional pain.

Kana and the two guards stepped outside. There was a suprising amount of fog out this morning. Kana was usually very observant of nature for he had not seen much of it growing up, however, today was different. A million thoughts were rushing through his head as the guards left his side and the tears continued to build up in his eyes.

Between the fog and tears, he managed to make out the blurry figure in front of him enough to know that it was Ryang, the man who had fought along side him before. Kana forced a shakey smile and a brief bow to his opponent. For a brief second, Kana closed his eyes and single tears came running down from each eye. He knew that showing weakness in battle could cost him, but the fog would cover it for now.

Before he could open his eyes, he heard the movement of feet in front of him. He quickly opened his eyes to see the naginata being thrust at his chest. In an instant, Kana unsheathed his katana, grabbing the handle with both hands bringing it upward and meeting with the naginata, taking the split second opening to side step to his left.

During the side step, Kana lunged back in at his opponent with his katana in a slicing motion, piercing through the fog at Ryang's legs. He stayed as low to the ground as possible, making sure to keep his head down to avoid any careless openings.

[Psiko]

Even in the thick fog Ryang can tell that Kana is not himself today. His eyes are tearful and with a brief glance Ryang is able to sense his level of agony. Ryang can sympathize, after all hadn't he fought the first two rounds while in immense discomfort from the poison? He knows what it is like to have pain shooting through every limb of your body as you try to focus on what your opponent is doing. Survival becomes the sole objective as you become incapable of mounting any sort of effective offensive.

But this is a tournament. Ryang is here to win, not to fight fair. He needs to win to be able to learn the identity of his father's murderer. Nothing else matters.

Kana deflects the attack with his katana and steps to his left in the process. Ryang expected this attack to be avoided. Even in the thick fog Ryang is able to anticipate the counter with a decent amount of accuracy. He uses the pole end of the naginata to help him leap over the slashing of the sword, bringing the polearm around in a sweeping blow while in midair. The weapon passes harmlessly through the fog due to Kana's intelligent tactic of staying low to the ground during his attack; however, the momentum from swinging the naginata sends Ryang spinning wildly.

He lands on the ground with his back to Kana. It only takes him a moment to gain his bearings, but he doesn't want to risk getting caught off-guard. He quickly moves to his left and spins around as he does so, swinging the naginata high in a blind attempt to catch Kana at an opportune moment.

[LocoColt04]

I... don't even know what to say.

Kind of anti-climactic. This was the finals round that everyone was looking forward to -- the two of you moreso than anyone else. I even gave the thread a whole extra week in hopes that some posts would magically appear.

I'll have to talk to Spike. I'll be horribly blunt here and say that I personally feel Alucard has the victory on his intro post alone, but at the same time, Psiko did manage two posts, however uncharacteristically short they may have been -- good posts, at that. I just feel there's more to be learned from Alucard's post. Interesting plot twists, if you will. I'm not sure yet. I'll have to think about it, and collect Spike's thoughts as well, of course.

I know you guys both got swamped in life outside of the internet all of a sudden, but man, it couldn't have come at a worse time.

[LocoColt04]

Yeah. Okay.

Both of you completely deserve to be champions based on your posts prior to this round, but due to unfortunate circumstances that kept the two of you from posting in the finals, it would be unfair to all the other participants who wrote their asses off and lost for us to actually crown one of you as a champion.

Therefore, there will be no Champion of Arms this year.

No one wins. The end.

I understand that life happens. That's how life works. But for the sake of the tournament, there's no champion here. It sucks, but better luck next time. Hopefully the two of you, should you choose to participate, won't get thrown for a loop with such drastic events in your respective lives.

...and that draws this tournament to a close, I guess.