Member
DisturbedSpec
Sylvan
Aku the Samurai
Damycles
Hitman
Majoraa
LG
Courtaud
Shin Ghost NoteRubick V Karin
Word Count: 3,028
EXP Gain: +4
Karin Kanzuki ‘listened’ to Mewtwo carefully. Sparring matches, hmm? It seemed that in her case they were putting the newcomers together. As far as she could tell both Karin and Rubick were untested in the eyes of the Seekers. Rubick is that…odd ‘wizard’ fellow with a penchant for copying attacks. Immediately, Karin felt confident. Anyone that had to literally steal someone else’s moves couldn’t be that strong. And Karin knew that no one could use Kanzuki-Ryu as efficiently as her. Still, she’d never fought a wizard before, so perhaps there could be some value in this exercise.
Karin approached Rubick and curtseyed. ”Mister Rubick, is it not? I am Karin Kanzuki, Mistress of the Kanzuki Zaibatsu. We shall be working together in this endeavor against Galeem, hmm? This may be a productive exercise.”
This “Mewtwo” fellow was certainly interesting in a multitude of ways. From using telepathy to communicate to the fact that his very existence implied that a “Mew one” existed as well made him such a delightful fellow to be around. At the mention of sparring matches, Rubick tilted his head with a quizzical look. Not at confusion that he’d be battling his teammates, because he had no such thoughts. Instead, he was wondering what skills he would learn from them. It would certainly expand his knowledge on his teammates’ capabilities.
Turning to Karin, Rubick bowed in response and replied, “Indeed, Mistress Kanzuki. I look forward to learning much about you.”
Karin smirked, running a gloved hand through her golden coils of hair. ”You will be knowing more about me as I show the Seekers how a true martial artist moves into battle.” Karin Kanzuki watched where the crowd was going.
”I believe we must travel further into the facility to do battle. I must admit I prefer the method of simply fighting where we happen to meet, but I suppose not everyone can be trusted to be decent in politeness.” She gestured for Rubick to follow her and began heading towards the Ark Mall and to the teleporting archways.
Rubick skipped along as he followed Karin towards the archways, wondering what the battlefield would look like. He hoped it would be fun and colorful, at least. Entering one of the archways, he soon found himself facing many more choices for an arena to do battle in. He browsed through the various portals available, looking for one that looked the most interesting to him. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much to go by, with only a vague symbol to determine the type of stage they’d find themselves in. “Hmmmm…. Perhaps… this one!” Rubick said, pointing his staff towards a portal with a peculiar-looking symbol. “This one pleases me.”
”Hmm. Well, I suppose it was only polite, though that symbol wouldn’t have been my first choice.” She said.
Entering the portal, Rubick found himself on a colorful metal platform, with 6 differently-colored orbs, each on their own pedestal. Just above were 3 more smaller platforms floating in the air. Looking over the edge, Rubick noticed that the floor he was standing on was actually floating in the air as well. “Hmm. Curious,” Rubick thought out loud.
Karin peered over the edge. ”Ohoho. I suppose there will be a ring out in this duel.” She smirked, confident in her ability to produce great knockback while keeping her footing steady. ”This may be a learning experience for you. Personally I wouldn’t have chosen you for my opponent, and it would have been more fair, perhaps, if you had a teammate on your side to even the score.” She mused smugly.
Rubick chuckled at Karin’s words as he walked over to another side of the arena, getting ready for combat. Clearly she had never faced a Magus before, which meant it was his duty to put her in her place. “Then by all means,” Rubick said as he twirled his staff in the air for a second before slamming it back onto the ground, making a loud crack noise. Then he pointed it at her before adding, “Face the Magus!” It was then that an announcer began to count down…
3…
2…
1…
GO!
Karin sliced her hands through the air as she settled into her stance across the arena, pleased to face a confident opponent. ”Ring out, or knock out. If you are ready, then let us begin!” With that, she dashed forward and to the side and prepared to avoid ranged attacks coming her way.
Rubick faked a yawn before flicking his staff upward, casting his Telekinesis spell. “Up!…” Rubick announced as Karin found herself propelled upward into the air, floating off the ground by some meters. ”Wh-what?!” Then Rubick moved her over to the side of the arena and continued on, “...and down!” as Rubick flicked his staff down, propelling her downward out of bounds. There was an explosion of light where Karin was dropped, and the announcer called the end of the match…
GAME!
“First blood? Already? I came here to be tested! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha,” Rubick said, enjoying his first easy win in a long time. Karin was then brought back to the arena via means unknown to Rubick, her body flashing white for a moment before the effect faded. “Hmmm… such fascinating energies!” Rubick thought out loud as he examined what had just occurred.
Needles to say, Karin was livid. Never before had she been so cheated, so tricked. ”I DEMAND a rematch!” She shouted through clenched teeth. ”Your magic is only effective against me because of the arbitrary rules of this- this ridiculous fighting arena! Such a magic throw wouldn’t even chip my fingernails in a real street fight!” She sat, trying to maintain her composure through her outrage. ”Even still! I can defeat you with the same rules now that I know your gimmick! Karin Kanzuki needs no handicaps!”
“A rematch? Very well, I accept this challenge,” Rubick answered, returning to his original spot during the beginning of the last match. “Fair warning, however: this next round will end all the same.”
”You would do well not to underestimate me, wizard.” Karin said, her heart ablaze with passion and indignity.
The announcer began to speak again.
3…
2…
1…
GO!
Karin dashed forward and immediately zipped upwards onto the floating platform, breaking line of sight with Rubick. Then she dropped into a defensive crouch, waiting to see how the Magus would respond.
Rubick’s eyes followed Karin as she headed up and sighed. This was the problem with having to battle anyone more than once: they learned more of your tricks with every duel. Still, that’s also what made such duels so entertaining. There was no challenge to winning the exact same way every time, after all.
Stepping backwards, Rubick pulled out his Blink Dagger and aimed at the middle platform above the others. In an instant, Rubick appeared to the spot he was aiming at with a poof-ing noise, leaving a cloud of dark blue particles behind which quickly dissipated. As soon as he had done so, he ran over to the other side and pointed his staff at the platform below, hoping to catch Karin with his Telekinesis again and send her plummeting down once more.
Karin scowled. This wizard was full of tricks. Some kind of teleport? He was above her now. She dove over to the side and dug her fingers around the edge of the platform, locking herself in. She felt like she had the strength to combat the wizard’s telekinesis and prevent herself from getting thrown off. And as far as she knew, nobody could do a special move forever. She was pulled up, legs over her head, but she held fast.
Rubick laughed at her attempts to stay grounded. “What is the matter, Karin Kanzuki?” Rubick taunted. “You’re going to have to do more than that to defeat the Grand Magus!” Rubick then began firing small bolts of green energy at Karin, laughing and swinging his staff with every bolt. They dealt little damage, but also had no drain on his reserves. Besides, his goal was to take his time with this duel and see what abilities Karin had to offer, as well as possibly use them for himself.
Karin was upside down, trying to hold onto the platform as several bolts began striking her sides. On the third bolt she grunted from the impact. She began kicking her legs, revealing the black gym tights she wore under her noblewoman’s outfit. Karin began cursing. ”You coward! You scoundrel! How dare you do this to me?! I’ll wear your eyeballs as earrings!” She tried pulling herself down and crawling to the underside of the platform to break line of sight.
As Rubick fired another bolt at Karin, he said, “Come now, did you really expect a duel between a warrior and a Magus to be fair? Truth be told, I’ve dealt with far worse back home during my routine walks!” Rubick was thoroughly enjoying this so far. Seeing Karin try so hard to get back down, though, Rubick decided that perhaps he should oblige this one time. “Now then… mind the drop!” Rubick said as he flipped the direction of his Telekinesis, forcing Karin to plummet towards the floor of the arena. The magic enveloping her would cushion the blow should she land on the ground, making it deal no damage. Still, the shockwave released would have a stunning effect, paralyzing her for about a second or two.
Rubick checked his energy reserves, and quickly calculated that he would have enough in the tank for at best a couple more casts of his Telekinesis, and maybe some seconds of continuous usage if he used his energy efficiently. He reckoned it would have to do, and jumped down onto the ground as well. “This battle has been quite entertaining, but I think it’s time I let you have some fun as well. How about it, Karin Kanzuki?” Rubick said, waving his left hand at Karin as if he was inviting her to attack.
Karin hopped back up onto her feet, fuming. Routine walks! ”If you were on a walk, you’d have no ring outs to hide behind!” She protested. She eyed his staff warily. ”Never go easy on a Kanzuki.” She took a step back and hopped back up onto the platform above her. Dashing across its surface to use it as cover, she dove from it, aiming at the ground in front of Rubick’s feet like a missile.
When Karin leapt up to the platform again, Rubick reached into his robes and grasped his Blink Dagger tightly. If there was anything he learned from his years of dueling experience and assassination attempts, it was that a Magus should never let an opponent get within melee range. But then, Rubick had an idea. He let his artifact go and removed his hand from his robes. This was a chance! Rubick had yet to see any of Karin’s Powers, and he so desperately wanted to see something exciting from her. It could be some fun ability to strike him with or befuddle his senses, anything! So he thought to himself: why not see how this played out? When Karin dove, Rubick launched a couple bolts of green energy from his staff while moving towards the center of the arena. That way, there would be more ground to cover should Karin try to go for a ring out win, and give Rubick more time to analyze her abilities should she choose to display them.
Karin was hit by one of the bolts as she dove, rolling to a step, she stayed crouched, spun, and shot her leg out like a spear as Rubick walked backwards. It connected with his knee and in a blink of an eye she was upon him as if to deliver a devastating strike. Instead she grabbed his arm, the arm he had reached into his cloak, and shook it around violently. ”What was that?! What were you about to do?! I said do not go easy on me! I’ll not be hearing any excuses from you after I destroy you!” Lifting his arm over her head she spun underneath it, causing Rubick to flip upside down and land hard on his back.
Rubick felt his breath painfully forced out of his lungs as he received the harsh blow from Karin. It seemed that Karin, like most fighters he had met, preferred to rely on their own skill and martial arts rather than make use of any Powers. This is why warriors are so troublesome, Rubick thought to himself. Always focusing on their codes of honor and training their bodies rather than toying with the natural laws of the world. Rubick raised his staff once more and began to cast Telekinesis once more. This time the target was himself, however, using it in an attempt to launch himself into the air and escape Karin’s grasp.
”Rest assured-” Karin said, a not undetectable amount of malice in her voice, ”I will not be making that mistake!” As Rubick launched himself up into the air, Karin joined him, hopping a clean ten feet into the air with ease. She checked his ascent with a palm thrust, and then brought her other hand down like an axe, content to chop him right back into the ground.
Rubick held his staff in front of him in an attempt to block the chop. Of course, his staff held, but it did not stop Karin from sending him back down. So that’s how it is, in the end, Rubick thought to himself again. How… disappointing. With more control of himself in midair, Rubick managed to land on his feet, then proceeded to run backward in an attempt to gain distance. At the same time, he pointed his staff at Karin once more, using his last of his energy reserves to cast his Telekinesis on her. Seeing as there was no more entertainment to be found here anyway, he intended to end the duel for good this time.
If there was one advantage Karin had for certain in this match, it was longevity. Rubick and Karin’s energy reserves were inverse- Rubick started fully stocked and spent it as he used his spells. Karin started at baseline and gained more bursts of power as the fight went on. As she landed and prepared for yet another grasp of telekinesis, energy coiled on the inside of her body. ”Ressenha!” She shouted. Flashing with power, she exploded upward like a rocket, pinwheeling at a slight forward angle. Her fist crashed into the platform above her and somewhat alarmingly, punched a hole into it. There she grabbed her hand into the concrete and held on tight. She learned from her second encounter with the telekinesis that he couldn’t do it forever. Eventually he would have to throw her, and then he couldn’t do it again for a short while. She glared at Rubick, her orange eyes wide, her legs curled upward defensively. She didn’t intend to be target practice again.
Rubick sighed. Karin truly was his worst matchup. She was smart, and had plenty more options to choose from compared to him, especially as he didn’t have access to his more offensive arcanery. Rubick released his grip on his staff, letting it fall to the ground with a short clatter. His energy reserves empty, there was little else he could do against a trained martial artist.
For a moment, a malevolent grin flashed across the suspended Kanzuki’s features. A younger Karin would have pounced on the wizard in that moment and relished in striking the final blow. But those times were behind her, now. Mostly. So instead she reigned herself in, the grin cooling into a condescending smile, and settled for a very mocking tone in her voice instead.
”Ohoho! Surrendering, are we?” She called out, still hanging from the floating platform. ”All out of tricks, hmm? Ohohoho!” Laughing loudly, she placed her other free hand palm outward by her mouth, as if she were sharing an embarrassing secret with a nearby invisible person. It wasn’t exactly easy on the eyes, and it was as boisterous as it was regal.
Rubick raised his hands as he shrugged. He wasn’t one to fall for such weak provocations. “Ahh yes, it’s truly a shame,” Rubick replied. “And a shame that you had none of your own. It’s made this whole experience so boring that I couldn’t help but let you win.”
Karin dropped from her perch, brushing some stone powder off her knuckles. ”Let me win, did you? Ohoho. I’m afraid not.” Undaunted, she dismisses the suggestion outright. After all, she said no excuses! ” This could have been a learning experience for you! But your arrogance blinds you to your weaknesses. I learned how to deal with a telekinetic. The only thing you learned is that you should stick to fighting our enemies one on one, on floating platforms! Perhaps we could invite them all back here and hope they show up! Send them an RSVP? Ohoho!” She gloated.
If Rubick had not been wearing a mask, Karin would see the half-annoyed, half-angry smile forming on his face. Magically recalling his staff to his hand, Rubick walked up to Karin and retorted, “Oh yes, mmhm hm ho ha ha ha ha! Perhaps I could give them a taste of the same 5-second defeat you suffered in the first duel. Truly a fine learning experience to be found there!”
Karin’s smile faltered briefly. A confident pout took its place. Closing her eyes, she flicked her golden coils over her shoulder. ”Hmph. Indeed it was. If I were you, Grand Magus, I would quit while I was ahead. Or rather, tied. Because the inevitable result of all your continued blathering is yet another rematch.” She said, setting her hands on her hips.
The two combatants would continue to bicker for some time, eventually quieting down to a harrumph from the both of them as they headed back to the main headquarters. It seemed the dynamic between them sparked a new rivalry, one that would not be extinguished for quite some time.
