becomehero | Week 2: Execution

Entry tags:

execution

Week 2: Execution

week 2:

execution

Sunday morning starts off quietly enough, almost peaceful after the events of the past few days. Today, the alarm on everyone's phone starts at 12 PM, with a reminder of the execution to take place at 1 PM at the stadium. Unlike the Saturday notifications, however, this is the only reminder you get. It appears that attendance is not mandatory this time.

Well. Not for all of you, anyway. One of you feels a compulsion to head to the stadium, heading straight inside and following the staff to ready themselves for what's to come. All others who arrive at the stadium, hero or civilian, are led to spectator seating.

As the clock strikes 1 PM, Hans walks into the arena. On the opposite end of the field, Hung steps out to greet them. As long as they both live, neither will able to leave the area, nor will any outsiders be able to enter.

You don't have to watch, of course. That's your choice. But with the event being broadcast all over the city, it may be hard to avoid. In-person or across town, everywhere is buzzing with gossip of the newly discovered villain about to face justice. Regardless of where you go or whether you choose to watch, the only thing to do now is wait.

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[ on the opposite side, hung doesn't look particularly thrilled about this. his floppy ears are pinned back into his hair, fur bristled, tension in every line of his body, as he makes his way into and across the outer boundary of the arena. the irony of cat versus dog doesn't escape him in this.

he doesn't think it's nearly as funny as hans does.

sparing only one glance around for the crowd spectating this, he takes a deep breath and looks at the setup. hans has already said his... greeting? his initial commentary, but everything is set up for martial arts, it looks like. there are actual weapons here.

this doesn't technically benefit hung in any way, but he does head over to his side of things like a normal goddamn person. ]

... well. No one's really ever said a dog was lucky, you know. Usually it's cats with their nine lives. [ weakly, as he grabs one of those strike shields used for martial arts training instead of an actual weapon, first. this is the closest thing to what he's used to - there are no actual shields on the field. ] But I don't want to die here.

Challenge accepted.

[It's too bad; he'd rather fight an opponent that was totally into it -- less fun when he has to coax all the survival instincts out like squeezing blood from a stone. Hans is much more used to killing people than he is to killing anything else, though the definition of people keeps expanding the longer they're stuck here; regardless, most fiends are less interesting.

So to say this is in some way his playground isn't entirely inaccurate.

But at least it looks like Hung has some awareness of what this arena is for and what the entire exercise is for: this isn't an execution, but a real fighting arena.]

Meow, there's all kinds o' superstitions about all kinds o' animals. Seems like every one has their share of luck in all kinds, too. [he eyes that shield, bouncing from one foot to the other in an odd stance that makes it hard to follow where he'll move next] Which makes us even. Ya better give me everything you got if dying's not yer aim.

[Without further fanfare, he leaps forward, aiming to see how fast his blades can get in under that shield.]

[ the problem with this strike shield is that it's bulky, and padded, and won't be offering him that much defense in the longrun. he prefers the weight of his actual shield - a real shield.

but he's still a fighter. he knows what to do in this arena. ]

I guess. But we already know how this is supposed to end. [ ( hung voice ) stop showboating

there is another problem, though: hung's style is all about strength, and hans' style is all about speed. while he does react to hans' attack, he doesn't expect it to be this fast. it startles him, and he can't get the shield in the way fast enough, which lets hans' attack land. but it also puts his opponent closer, and hung... doesn't back away from their proximity, instead swinging through the pain to bring down towards hans' face. ]

[Catte voice: It's not showboating it's called taunting. ☆

Ironically considering it's coming from the rogue-type instead of the tank-type, but DPS can totally tank too--

Even if they probably shouldn't, considering. Going up against someone heavily armored and probably as strong as a very compact and furry fortress... wouldn't be the first time, really, minus all the fur (Mora is going to kill him if she ever hears about this comparison).

Anyway, his first attack is to go for the shield hand, aiming for the tendons -- getting too greedy does allow the punch to land, a brief meargh along with the odd feeling of fur meets hair meets face before Hans goes rolling away like he's getting bounced in a cartoon or one of those anime they ended up with on Thursday?? The momentum means he has to recover before attacking again, bouncing up on his hands and then back on his feet, keeping to all fours and watchful.]

[ it's both!

there's now a gash through one of the compression sleeves he wears on his arms under his gloves, and it makes holding the strike shield awkward. but he doesn't pay too much attention to it, and it's hard to tell if he's ignoring it or just doesn't fully feel it at the moment.

instead he just lowers his center of gravity a little more, stance shifting to give him a stronger foundation, and then he pursues, pivoting his weight to swing his leg around to just straight up sweep into hans like he's trying to literally punt a cat. ]

[This furry has so many armor layers, good for him.

Scouting out vulnerable spots like this is going to be a pain, and probably literally, considering he's likely going to have to trade hit for hit -- Hans braces himself because Hung is just about as fast as a fiend, and definitely smarter, so there's really only the moment to curl himself up for the kick.

Instead of trying to squeeze in the moment for blocking -- futilely, considering the suddenly close quarters -- he goes ahead and throws a knife, aiming for the face but ideally for an eye.

Then he'll once again allow the momentum to punt him across the arena -- he's going to see about grabbing another knife because that's probably simpler at this point than retrieving that one.]

[ it's not great armor considering he is now freely bleeding from that gash. it's fine. don't worry about it, because he's clearly not!

he's not expecting the knife, though. in the way that he's expecting an attack, but not one like this, not one just shot at his face. ] Shit..!

[ it doesn't get him in the eye, at least. but it does make its mark in his face, all the more evident by the blossom of red in his orange fur and pale hair, and hung stumbles back with a pained snarl to cover the wound and his eye, and keep a little bit of that distance intact while hans goes to retrieve a new knife to replace this one. ]

[The real armor is how much fur he has, let's be real.

Both of them need time to regroup, really, and Hans only bothers to confirm through sound alone where his opponent is and whether his hit has landed -- he's prioritizing slinking over and securing the knife and only then does he take stock of the situation again.

His ribs are definitely not happy about that altercation, and there's a meow as he uses a sleeve to scrub at the blood on his face and nose from being hit -- but he still has plenty of endurance and he can see (theoretically, I always forget about his bangs it's fine) so that's the end of the break, folks.

His next attack is less aggressive, mostly aiming to circle around silently behind Hung while he's distracted to take a quick swipe at his calves.]

[ hans can theoretically see, and as hung removes his hand from his face, he's got the eye that he aimed for closed due to blood getting in it. now he can see, but only half as much. he hates this, actually. ]

Son of a... [ the blood in his eye stings, but he tries to blink through it before he realizes that hans is on the move again. his ears twitch up to follow the sound, and he twists, more nimble than his size tends to imply, half-dancing back from the knife and leaving only air behind.

but he doesn't hesitate. this is a fight to the death, and only one of them can come out alive. as much as he doesn't want to fight, he's not so naive as to think that there are words or an alternative. not after temenos tried the first week. not after nimona was given no choice last week.

so, hung lunges in and swings the strike shield to try and bowl hans over. ]

Mya-meow, I got a dancin' dog on my hands here.

[Hans says that while he's still behind Hung (or behind and a bit to the side, considering all the movement), sounding not-winded-enough for the exchanges so far and also delighted by the mess they're making and then goes silent again once he's confirmed the eye is whole but somewhat hampered; that means he can use more stealth going forward, even if it still comes with considerable risks.

Here and now, though, he's always got an eye on the shield -- which means that he can move into a position in Hung's blind spot when he starts to swing this time -- takes the risk of hopping onto the shield as it comes down, using Hung's momentum to keep him off-balance as he aims to swipe at his face again, an eye or an ear, there's room for margin of error here considering the lack of distance.]

Would you shut up - do you ever take anything seriously!?

[ the agitation rises, for someone that usually seems to at least keep his cool through most things. instead, his temper rears its head, as he tries to use the shield to at least get hans off of his feet and into a position for him to slug again. but hans is faster, and he can't see him clearly as his weight bears down on the shield suddenly.

with visible shock on his face, as he tries to stabilize himself between his own momentum and the abrupt inclusion of hans' own, there's a yelp of pain as he feels the knife rip into his ear, cutting across his scalp after the tear and sending white and orange bloody hair flying. instinct has him trying to rear back or just roll to get away from the cat that's scratched him. ]

Meeow. I'm takin' this plenty seriously, Hung. There ain't a point if it ain't a good fight.

[There's a joyful note to it that apparently pops up just from seeing his opponent get flustered, just from seeing blood and fur flying and things continue along this mess of a road to hell -- but that's always been Hans' life, a tightrope walk through darkness on quiet paws, chasing the stars to see if he can tread on them.

He is a creature, after all, that thrives on everything that a so-called hero shouldn't do.

Instead of backing off or trying for another immediate hit, he leaps off the shield to get behind Hung again, knowing that's where his balance is shifting -- lands on soft feet, keeping himself quiet after leaving his words in front and aiming his strike low and for the midsection. It's hard to know exactly where the right organs are on a species you haven't killed before, but usually the squishy parts are sort of where they should be.]

[ unlike hans, even when it comes to survival hung doesn't love this. he doesn't take joy in it. he wants to do the right thing, and if there can be a peaceful end instead of all of fighting and bloodshed - then, well, he'd be happier for it.

well. survival is the key part of this right now.

but the problem isn't hung's, this time, even as he has a knife in the gut when he realizes that hans is right there. instead of keeping the shredded strike shield, he lets it slide off his arm and gets a fistful of hans' shirt, to trap him there as he snarls. ]

You forgot something - I can pay you back twofold, Hans. [ he rears back his other hand and full out slugs him, having built up the kinetic energy that's been dished out on him and returning the favor for the past three hits that his opponent has landed. ]

Meeeow!

[He did not, in fact, forget.

But there's only so much you can prepare for something like this, that may pop up whenever the opponent would will it after any number of blows; he has to take that risk playing in close-quarters. So what Hans does do once again instead of putting all his time and energy into blocking is reach up--

To bury a hand in his hair, curling his fingers as something sprouts in the scant space and time between the words and the counter punch; there's not enough time for the hairball to fully materialize with its full volume and breadth, but there's just enough time for it to act as kind of a cushion -- it means that only one of Hans' knives breaks from the impact instead of both or a wrist.

There's a flinch when the whole knife basically explodes into shards -- there's going to be cuts from this, yay -- but his priority is going to be getting out of this hold.

While Hans gathers himself and tries to kick free because he literally is a cat that's been picked up in a particularly unruly manner -- what's left of the hairball (which is pretty well imploded from that, RIP) snakes out little tendrils of its fur to try and slow Hung down.]

[ now he has to build it all up again, but it's worth it as long as he doesn't take any lethal hits. he has remedies. he has people in the crowd that he has to get back to, and who he can count on.

he doesn't even react to the chance of knife shards in his glove, or the fact that there is a hairball in the way. instead, he grunts when hans lands a kick in the gut where he's just been stabbed, black shirt making it hard to see the blood, and is forced to let go between that and the tendrils.

just. shakes his arm? get off. ]

Hrmeow... Just as tough a skill as advertised...

[Well, now he's definitely winded, but Hans lets go as soon as is feasible and lets the arm shake also fling him a bit -- sometimes you are just the slinky getting batted by the dog around the arena, but so long as he can still move, it's all good.

He doesn't press his luck this time -- bounds back to the equipment area instead, because man they do not make these knives like they used to. To be fair, the shields aren't up to snuff either, so it's a pity they're both playing with the equivalent of ~~pet~~ toys considering what they're used to.

Along the way, he pops something into his mouth; it looks like... a cat treat? You're probably seeing things! It's fine.

Going to just circle back around even as the hairball is left stuck to Hung. The remnants will probably be easy to shake off, at least, once he squishes the rest of it. But before that: or rather, he's going to try and make it before the whole hairball is gone, Hans will move in again. Low, scuttling in some bizarre beetle-like way and going straight for the ankles.]

[ why can't you just be fucking NORMAL.

hung gets the hairball off, more bemused than anything else, before he's turning to see where the hell hans has gone this time. seeing him scuttling like some sort of horror flick gremlin monster, he decides to backtrack quickly out of his reach and finds himself bumping into one of the tables that have been set up with weapon options.

he turns his good eye to look at it. looks back at hans. and then he just grabs the table by the side with his un-knifed arm's hand and effortlessly lifts it up, ignoring the weapons on it as they slide down, and swings it around to bash hans with it. ]

[He has never been normal a day in his life and--]

Mya-meow?!

[--IS IT NORMAL TO TURN A TABLE INTO A BASHING-SLASH-SHIELD WEAPON?? HELP??

Well, it's valid, either way. There's a very satisfying whompaff sort of sound effect like when you're hitting a volleyball with a paddle or something, along with the yelp; absorbing this impact isn't quite as bad as dealing with the previous hit (hopefully nothing is as bad as that, ow), but it's still a solid smack.

That said, Hung is going to have to slow down or put the table down sometime -- but he'll probably notice that there is no cat going flying this time. Instead... well, there's hands around the table legs?? I guess??? There's no immediate attack from this bizarre table-cat hybrid because Hans is shaking off the tabling still, but a moment later he comes swinging out from there with his knives at his feet.

I guess foot-knives are happening, sure.]

[ why. why this.

hung doesn't seem to think bashing someone with a table is that strange, honestly, because it seems to be pretty damn effective at getting this cat man to stop attacking him for a few seconds. it's worth holding onto as an idea, then, as well as literally. holding. onto the table.

until he sees feet-knives. ] Why the -

[ he does let go of this particular table, if only to try and block this with his arms - he gets knives in his forearms for it, but, better than the more vital parts of himself.

it does also means he's dropping the table on top of hans, at least. ]

... Meowch.

[They can trade a really ridiculous trick for a really ridiculous trick!

Anyway, given Hans is on the underside of the table with legs, getting double-tabled could be worse, but he definitely gets his head smacked and then falls off the table-legs to the ground. He's managed to retrieve one knife from the Hung vs. foot-knives debacle by pulling it out at the scene, but at this point it is probably easier to retrieve a Hung-knife than roll off to find another.

All right, then, it's time to try slamming the table towards Hung as a distraction so he can go for the other forearm knife.]

[ hung is getting tired of this, literally and figuratively. he's all about strength and stamina, and so far he's still got enough of both, but he wants to just be done.

seeing hans try to slam the table, he brings up his foot and activates his power so that he can just punt it back at him with full force instead. this knife is his, now - he hisses through his bared teeth as he yanks the knife free from where it's imbedded in both glove and flesh, adjusting his grip so he's got it backhanded now.

fine. ]

[Hans is a speed-type assassin, but he's also no slouch when it comes to stamina or strength -- it's not great getting this many hits, though, that's just the price for going up against this type match-up. It could be worse, if you think about it; this still isn't nearly as bad as having a whole Saint added to the mix, powers or no.

Seeing the table coming at him at unusual speeds, he pulls another hairball out -- not quite literally, we are not balding the cat for this exercise -- to use as a cushion, bounding off of it to ward off the blow as much as possible. This hairball gets pretty much flattened and then flung to the other end of the arena with the table in some bizarre furry hell whirligig, but the BANG is a bit of an afterthought.

Hans watches the knife in Hung's paw, eyes lighting up beneath his bangs, a pleased glow.]

Can't say I've had many people challenge meow to a proper knife fight. Guess we'll see how it is, eh?

[He's definitely not moving as fast after all the blows and the succession of tabletop tennis, subtly favoring one leg in a way that would be difficult to notice except at close quarters -- but it looks like a number of the smaller cuts and scrapes he's gotten thus far have stopped bleeding already.

He stalks closer, bounding here and there to confuse his trajectory -- then leaps again. His aim is to bounce off Hung's head to get behind him this time.]

Edited 2023-10-08 20:07 (UTC)

Can't say it's my forte, but if you have one less knife because I've got it, then I think that's probably fine.

[ hung doesn't really love this. still, he'll do what he can, lowering his stance again to dig his heels in. wherever the table goes, he doesn't care and isn't going to pay much attention to it considering it's taken the hairball along with it, which is no longer his problem.

when hans begins his prowl, and then bounds along, he remains where he is. it makes hans come to him, even if he gets hit again. better than tiring himself out and trying to catch him by chasing him, and maybe it'll wear him down even more, being the one on the attack.

though, he does. get his head goddamn bounced on. because he's not expecting that. so i guess that happens, and while he oofs and gets pressed by the abrupt weight and momentum, his position means he doesn't go down. ]

Meow, you've got a lot of knives, though, haven't ya?

[Endurance contests, man -- he's not completely certain on exactly where that would fall out between him and Hung, but in terms of stamina spent they're probably about the same by now -- whether because Hans' style necessitates moving around a ridiculous amount or because Hung has been fighting with his fists and power so far.

But regardless, Hans is going to stick to his own style to the end; he believes in himself above all else, and he believes in the flow of his fights and everything he puts into them and bleeds out of them, and so this has been an even more conventional battle than the ones he had in the Howling Vilelands. But that's not really a bad thing.

Speaking of bleeding, once he gets behind Hung he goes straight for that knife still in his back; wrenching it out would mean he goes on the offensive again, not in a straight line this time but rather a whirl of hair and tail and flying knives, cutting his way in instead of using just his speed and stealth.]

[ hans does kind of make a good point, regarding the knives.

but he doesn't deign that with a response, save for the fact that he's getting one of them just yanked out of him unceremoniously. it's technically the opposite of what the goal is, but also not? because you're not really supposed to pull knives out of wounds before you're ready to treat them.

they kind of help keep the blood inside.

swearing in another, pained snarl, he tries to move to follow, thinking of his sparring with waai fu. his fights against reunion forces. the work that he's done, used to do. keep up. just try to keep up and be the one that's still standing at the end. there's no one here to defend but himself, this time.

he lets the hits land where he knows he can't block them, moving to try and intercept the ones that he can with the knife that he does still have actually on-hand. but he doesn't just sit back and take it, and also moves to hit him with both fists, even going so far as to rear back his head.

and headbutt him, using his forehead below his horn rather than aiming to gore him with it. ]

Week 2: Execution

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