[IC] [RANKED] DJ vs Skallagrim - East versus West

[Skallagrim]

He missed. Somehow, the man avoided a blow that was launched from almost point blank range. An was stunned then angry then realized that while the punched missed his body did not. Jackrabbit had stepped left and angled his body right, had he stepped right and angled right An would have missed completely but as it was Johnny had stepped into the path of An’s body. And while he missed with his fist, the momentum of his body continued, causing his shoulder and back to strike the man already under immense strain.

As they made contact An, tired of it all simply by touch removed the gravity that held Jackrabbit, not from the area mind you, it was still two full earth gravities around them, Johnny was now simply weightless. Much like An had been when he kicked him into the ceiling. The momentum of An’s body on the now weightless Johnny would send him flying backwards and away from An, who promptly hit the ground with a thud. With not gravity to hold him, and being airborne Johnny would have to find a hold somewhere across the dance floor.

Looking at the man who he just sent flying away from him in an oblique angle. An grimaced. All right, he would have to fight differently, since the man, even under such a strain was able to move and avoid An’s blows. That was fine, An would turn to his powers then, use them instead of his fists. Gravity was a terrible bitch, and right now, her master was angry.

Standing, An reacquired the gravity field he had released a few moments earlier, it was at 2gs. It would be a start, but in the end, the now weightless man was going to have to deal with gravity used against him in all its facets. For now, Jackrabbit would have to flounder with no gravity.

[DJAtomika]

For a brief moment he felt relief.

He was confused and lost his concentration. The Crash he was building dissipated as he was sent flying to the side, as if he were attached to a wire.

With no time to think, and a wall fast approaching him, he quickly flipped about in mid air and landed feet first on the window that greeted him. The glass cracked and warped, but held under the force.

He straightened out, and almost immediately wobbled and flailed about as he began floating away from the window and wall.

Then he realised that he was weightless, much like An had been. Full-blown relief tore through him as he took a few deep breaths to fill his strained lungs with much-needed air. His chest and body felt much, much lighter than from earlier, and now he was apparently without weight.

To his advantage, of course. Fighting in Basin sometimes meant fighting underwater. After all, his home city was under a vast lake. Leaks were commonplace.

And he had another advantage now: with his air manipulation, he could effectively boost himself around with his feet. Like a fire warrior he'd fought once, a real rocker from the Iron Plains. That man had flown around their battlefield, jets of fire blasting from his feet as he rained hellfire and brimstone down on his head. Not a fun fight, he'd barely survived that one.

Proved the old adage, it did, that there was someone out there in the world that was always better than you. Perhaps Johnny had found that person, today.

He righted himself as he drifted slowly away from the wall, finally seeing the right way up as he angled his legs forward as if he were skidding to a stop in a cartoon. He channeled his power to blow air out from the soles of his feet, just enough counter-momentum to stop him in the air.

Okay, now, to get back at An. With this increased mobility, he'd have a fun ol' time trying to beat this challenge. Johnny didn't know how long his opponent would let him cavort around like this and return to crushing him, so he'd have to take advantage of every second.

Gathering air pockets under his feet, he blew them and rocketed towards the ceiling, whereupon he caught himself with his hands, bracing himself against the top of the ballrom as he flipped around to get his feet on a flat surface. Then he repeated the process, aiming himself downward as he flipped around in midair and met the floor with his feet.

Planted on terra firma for now, Johnny used his air magic, not the friction of his feet on the ground, to run forward, popping tiny bubbles under each step to emulate a run even as he lifted an inch or two off the ground from how he was weightless. Once he got within kicking range, he used a bubble to lift himself up into the air, akin to a jump. He twisted to the left, spinning round to enact a reverse roundhouse kick, swift in its execution.

Which was a feint, actually. He didn't kick so as much as cock his leg and swung it out in imitation of a kick that wouldn't connect.

His foorward and upward momentum took him up past An's face and head, directly above him. His spin kept going, since he wasn't affected by gravity, and as he came around to face An's head and back, he threw his body forward, sending him into a front (back?) flip. As he flipped forward, he popped a bubble of air to stop his forward and upward movement, then waited the split second until his spin was almost finished.

He was now completely upside down, craning his neck upward to peer at An who was below him. His feet directly above him, his spin was almost finished.

He braced himself, bending his legs as he gathered air under his feet.

Then he detonated his air bubbles, completing his flip in the blink of an eye even as he rocketed back down, both his heels headed straight for An's shoulders.

[Skallagrim]

2.5 gravities surrounded An as he moved quickly towards the man he had knocked away. Every step he took was one where he observed what would happen to Johnny based on the sudden reversal of gravity. The effects of gravity on the intracranial and cardiovascular system must be taken into account whenever a change in the hemodynamic flow occurs. To be certain many humans have entered space from an earth-normal gravity to weightlessness, as well as fighter pilots pulling extreme g-maneuvers whilst in combat. These people had one thing that Johnny didn’t have, pressurized suits to help continue a regular and normal flow of blood to all vital organs, and Johnny had an extreme change in gravity which would affect his hemodynamic flow.

Thus far, Johnny had proven to be unbeatable, resisting the effects of gravity, managing to fight with skill even when weighing in at three times his normal weight with strength that An would not have believed a 166lb. man possessed. That was in the past. Now science would do to Johnny what An’s fist had been unable to do, it would stop Johnny. No if’s, no but’s, it simply would. While Johnny had been fighting under the stress of three-gravities, it was taking a physiological toll on his body, conforming to the strain of the increased weight. Each move Johnny did, every dodge, every stomp, every action simply added to the event that would either kill him or place him into unconsciousness. Science was unforgiving that way.

Under the strain of even normal gravity, blood tends to pool at the feet, requiring the heart to pull the blood up through it, to circulate through the body filling organs and the brain with the precious fluid. Under three gravities the heart had to work three times as hard, each beat drawing blood as best as it could to send it where needed. Johnny’s heart had to work under such a strain without the aid of a pressurized suit. Johnny’s heart struggled to allow him to move, and to react by keeping as constant a hemodynamic flow as possible. To draw the blood that pooled at his feet and lower legs.

With the immediate shift from three-gravities to zero gravity, there would be sudden changes in fluid pressure due to the shift in gravity. This fluid shift would affect Johnny’s intracranial pressure, his cerebral hemodynamics, his vision as well as the heart’s ability to regulate his blood pressure. Most kids know that when they are on a tilt-whirl they spin at three-gravities, pressed against the padded backing laughing, struggling not to vomit and excitedly looking for the minute they can step from their standing chair. When these kids finally do step away the blood that pooled at their feet goes rushing up and into their brains, in some cases causing them to get headaches, experience sever dizziness or even faint. Do these effects happen to all? To some degree they do. Most people feel a few moments of unsteadiness then recover as their body is quickly adjusting to their normal weight. Not a problem as the effects usually last no more than a minute.

However, the increased intracranial pressure Johnny would experience occurred because of an excess amount of fluid, in this case blood. The change from three gravities to zero would shoot the blood from his legs up and through his heart. Of course the heart would attempt to regulate the pressure, but since it had been under such high pressure, the heart would not be able to regulate the flow. It was this sudden rush of blood, that would be Johnny’s enemy as any strained arteries might rupture, causing him to bleed internally. Or worse rupture in the brain as the increase of fluid flooded his head, perhaps causing an aneurysm. As the pressure of the fluid increases, the ventricles enlarge and Johnny’s brain would press against his skull, damaging the brain tissue as well as affecting other organs that perform important functions. Like the ear canal which provides equilibrium, and the optic nerves which provided sight to Johnny. More importantly, the sudden increase of fluid in his skull would give Johnny that dizziness and unless he managed to pressurize himself, which seemed highly unlikely, as he had not done so previously, would render him unconscious.

That would be all An needed, once Johnny went out, he would simply break his neck. Quick, efficient and painless, at least An hoped it would go that way. Of course knowing how Johnny managed to escape the effects of prior gravitational effects, An wasn’t going to hold his breath until he heard the slight pop of the skull being removed from the spinal column.