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Post by MARK I on Sept 2, 2018 14:45:05 GMT -5
Johnathan awoke one morning to the sound of his rustic, old alarm clock. It was not digital, it was not capsule corp. It was trinket from a simpler time. Reaching over across the smelly, warped mat he had laid out on the floor to twist the nob which set it off, he managed to knock it over, and further away from himself.
"God damint..." He said in a hushed tone as he groaned himself awake. The pain of last night's escapades still fresh.
It was the morning of the national qualifiers for the worlds martial arts tournament. Johnathan sat up and began to slowly rub his forehead, it was pounding. A man from the bar he worked at had decided to test his luck by smashing a bottle over Johnny's head. The bottle shattered in three places but so did the man when Johnny was done. His friends, they took a little longer.
Johnny was a fighter through and through. A boxer of the Western style, the old style. He did know a few kicks here and there and he could wrestle, did 4 years of it in high school, he was good at wrestling, even going as far as taking 2nd place in state a couple of years in a row. But his heart was not into wrestling or into the fancy kicks and flips some people like to do. Boxing was his passion, it was his first love. It would be his last love. Not that love meant much to Johnny. He just did not "Get girls" Not in the usual way. He did not know how to talk to them or how to act around them. Though he would never admit it he would get nervous whenever he felt like it was time to talk to a women and since fitness was all he knew he would talk at length about himself and his arms, especially his arms. He liked his arms. Relationships always scared him, but oddly he was fine with rejection. When ever a women would reject him he would feel comfortable about them, it was like his brain stopped worrying about them. There were worse things though. Useless fights, and having to scuffle with drunken strangers. Those were always the worse. Those nights were bad. Last night was one such night. Jonathan was a bartender and while at work one night he managed to strike up a conversation with a pretty young lady that had caught his eye, or perhaps he had caught hers?He had not seen her earlier, which was odd. He made it a point to eye all the different women that would come in and out of the establishment. He liked to see who they were with and make sure they were safe. Of course when he found out that she had just been mad at her boy friend and decided to make him jealous by talking to a bigger man, that man being Johnny, he had wished he never met her. It was not the first time Johnny would have to toss a couple of guys out of the bar but it was one of the most inconvenient time.
Pa pop, the local owner even had to get involved once the police showed up and the medics in tow. Apparently Johnny had landed a straight cross so hard into the mans chest that his clavicle has splintered and caused the man to almost have a stroke. With a couple of nights in jail riding on the line and now legal fees Johnny was lucky to only get suspended for the time being. It was fine. He still made his tips that night and he had plans anyways. He just wished his head didn't hurt so bad.
************
By the time he got up and started to pack his sleeping bag the train had already .begun to arrive. Taking a sip of his protein shake he had prepped the night before he was ready for the long ride to center city. He stopped for a moment to take one last look at the station. If he wins or even if he places this would be the last time he would see this place ever again. He could use the prize money to buy a house, maybe go to school, or perhaps start his own gym. He was not sure what he would do with it honestly and it did not really matter. He was not doing it for the money anyways. He just wanted to test himself. He wanted to see how far he could go in a tournament like this.
The nalegenes and carabiners on the sides of his pack clanked together as he got on the bus. Finding an isolated seat in the corner was not hard to do on the 323 am bus to center city. There was one other man on the bus but he was a smelly bum probably a guy down on his luck. Maybe he'd lost his job to the machines which now ran and worked in so many sectors. Johnny was the same. He worked a job before, lost it to an android. Johnny did not like to dwell in the past. He did not like to think of his old job, or his old life. He would leave it behind today, along with everyone else who ever doubted him. As he reached into his pack he pulled out a few of his only belongings. A tube of paste and an electric solar powered brush. It was pink. He watched the train as it ascended in its height and began to pick up speed. He started at the building in the distance as they began to grow closer as he used the window to reflect a visage of his face. Within a few hours he would arrive the center city spaceport. From there he would board a cabin cruiser and take off to shutter island where this tourney was to be held.
His left hand was starting to shake. He gripped on to it tightly with his other. He was starting to get the jitters. It happened all of the time before a fight. He never thought to much of it. Only that it meant had something to look forward to. Unable to contain the excitement he started wrap his arms and begin his workout routines. for about 15mins he bobbed and weaved, followed by 15mins of jabs, just jabs. Then he would shadow box for another fifteen, and then run a series of pushups, sit up, and squats. It was his warm up of course. Not enough to make him sore but enough for him to feel it and enough for the anxiety to give way to comfort and confidence. He was always calm in a fight. His body just knew what to do. He himself barely did any of the thinking, years of training and daydreaming had given way to an automatic system or style of his. Though he was actually better off doing mixed martial arts, throwing in the kicks and the slams, the grabs, and the athleticism. He preferred boxing still. To him it was not about winning. It was about the rush and boxing was the sweet yet simple. Pure yet brutal science that he knew more than anything else. Whenever he fought a man. He could feel his soul. He knew what to say to him, how to move around him how to brace himself and time his weaves or his bobs to minimize the damage. Johnny was a much faster man then you would expect for his size and build. He could also take a hit and he was hard to tire out. fighting was his muse. It was his one love and if it were up to him it would be his only love. His first and his last.
W.C: 1314/ Total- 1315/ Post #1
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Post by MARK I on Sept 2, 2018 15:20:02 GMT -5
Hours later the train had finally arrived at his destination. At this point it had become so cramped with people, women, children, and animal hybrids of all kinds. One barely had space to breath. He walked along the lines of the concession stands and stopped to order an extra large turkey leg, extra butter, and picked up half a loath of garlic bread. He turned around to the stares of an angry bird person directly behind him. The man was 7ft tall with large combed feathers tucked into his sides. The creature glared at Jonathan with a murderous intent as it watched him take his first bite out of the buttery leg.
"Hey" Jonathan said, with a mouth full of turkey meat. "I didn't kill him. I'm just making sure he doesn't go to waste. The man spoke up in with a surprising degree of cultured tones and proper enunciation "It is because of people like you that the cycle continues. You are the demand and that is why he supplies." Has he spoke Johnny could now see his that his was sporting the torso and legs of a tall well framed man yet still had the talons on his feet of a massive bird of prey.
"Yea whatever, hey look the corn is over there at concession six" Johnathan spoke as he took another bite of his leg. As he began to walk away he could feel the eyes of the other man on him the entire time. He did not make it twenty or so feet before hearing the sounds of the concession stand being crushed and the owner pleading for someone to help.
John turned to get a look and the avian creature was now standing over the owner threatening him in some language he did not understand nor care to. Looking back towards the arena and at his watch he realized that he only had about an hour left to register. The arena was about 40 mins away. He stood for a moment, not wanting to risk missing out. He had been waiting for this tournament for years now. He cursed under his breath as he dropped his bag and started to make his way over to the two man.
"Hey hey hey! Bird man! You can't be messing up people shops man what's your deal?!" Again the large man turned around to face johnny with the same look from earlier. "And how would you feel if I set up a stand that served and feed your own evolutionary cousins, say chimps or perhaps baboons!?" Take another look at John the creature chuckle to himself. "Though I suppose in the presence of current company those creatures mentioned may be a little closer to home, ayy"
"Look buddy I don't know about all of that. I don't even have any cousins but if I did i am pretty sure they wouldn't be monkeys. What I do know is that this guys has a respectable business model and he's not doing nothin wrong, right sir!" As John spoke he his mouth started to water. He was starving but he had the distinct impression that this man would not appreciate him eating in front of him. And as usually happened he only seemed to be making the situation worse.
"Good sir, I am done speaking with a neanderthal such as yourself. Please excuse us while I punish this man for his crimes." A crowd now started to gather around them, fighters, families, and fight fans from all walks of life started to box the three men in. "Crime?!" Johnathan could not resist as he took another bite. The turkey leg. "Have you tried these?! Buddy if this is a crime then lock us all away. Matter of fact here. Have mine. I'll get another one." It worked like a dream. Though he did not mean to make matters worse he realized what he was doing midway through his sentence and decided it would be better to that the the bird man focus on him than anyone else. What followed was less than ideal.
A screech pierced his ears from above. Looking upwards he was greeting to the sights of three more bird people circling him in the air. He raised his hands to defend himself and ended up losing his turkey leg in the process "NOOooooo!!!" Johnathan cried out "That had extra of the special butter sauce on it! You monsters!" He yelled as he pointed a finger towards the bird people.
A swift kick and several slaps from two three maybe all four of the birds fell over him like rain. Each attack stinging him like getting pelted with sharp crushed ice cubes. Not wanting to actually hurt or make a scene he extended his arms, like a bird, and began to ran through the crowd making the sounds of a peacock in heat. As he ran he made sure to circle the area, picking up a fresh turkey leg and stuffing it into his mouth, throwing the zeni and a tip towards the owner. "Cawwwww!!" John cried out as he ran through a crowd of confused patrons while being chased by a squadron of birds of prey over head. Not really knowing that to do he bolted towards the carnival area nearby as talons were flying and missing the top of his head by narrow margins "Hey! watch the hair! Excuse me, watch out! Wooh!" Despite moving with a surprising amount of speed, darting from ride to ride he was not hard to find, specifically not from a birds eye view. Spotting the local fun house mirror ride he rushed past the gate keeper and into the ride, hoping to lose them in the maze of confusing mirrors.
W.C 962/ Total- 2277/ Post: #2
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Post by MARK I on Sept 2, 2018 17:40:21 GMT -5
The fun house of mirrors, as it turns out, is a terrible place to run around in. He did not get far before smashing head first into a silly shaped glass the image of one of the bird people. That very same moment the bird man was on him. Failing towards him with razor sharp talons that ripped through his shirt, leaving three deep stinging claw marks over his left pectoral. The sting would follow him now for the next week. "Alright, that's it. Here's Johnny!" He yelled, turning to fight his new opponent. It was not the same bird man from earlier but a different one. This one was shorter. It was a black feathered Hooligan that sought to do him harm. Johnny shot forward with a flash of kicks into the air to cover some of the ground in between them. He noticed that these creatures had unusually long limbs So he tried to make up for that. As he moved in the creature side stepped his attack and moved into obscurity hiding behind one of the mirrors it would seem. Using some kind of magic the bird man was able to phase through one of the mirrors and into them so that when he did appear he showed up in each and every one of the mirrors.
"...This will not end well" John thought to himself. "Ok now. Hold on. If you get to do magic then i should be able to.." He didn't get to finish his statement as the monster lunged out at him, slashing and thrashing everything in its vicinity. With the pain of its claws still fresh in his mind Johnny Stepped in and rapidly delivered a series of upper cuts starting at the creatures body and working his way up into its beak. The monster crashed against the ground, shattering into a thousand glass shards as he did along with one of the mirrors on the wall.
"Ohh come on!" Two came at him this time, attacking from different angles. Lowering into a crouch he jumped high into the air, hurdling them as he did so to get behind one of them. He raised one leg upon landing, faking a kick, as the creature went to dodge he did a slight jump into the air and landed a super man punch, aiming in the direction the creature was going to be with enough force to force the illusion backwards into the other one. they both shattered upon impact.
Glass shards now littered the floor making it difficult to move and fight. John was about to turn and run deeper into the maze to avoid landing or stepping on the glass to avoid stepping or accidentally landing on them before he heard the laughter coming from the reflections. "No, that is what he wants me to do. He thought to himself."
Quickly he threw his fist backwards, crashing it against the mirror behind him, shattering it instantly. Glass shards now embedded into his hands. The monster now hissed in anger as it was discovered. With that confirmation John jumped to the other side of the room, extending his leg in flight to land a straight kick towards another one of the mirrors. Two more of the creatures emerged to challenge him and as they did he ducked one of their attacks, picking up a large piece of shard from the ground he threw it right at the only mirror that had yet to produce a copy. Upon striking it both copies shattered into dust and the real Bird man could be heard complaining that his plan had worked.
Furious now it emerged from the glass and jumped right into him. It latched onto john and buried its claws into his shoulders, further ripping his shirt as it did until he eventually ripped it off completely. Jumping high into the air John made sure to land flat on his back where the creature was latched to. It reeled in pain as it realized what was happening and standing over it he crouch onto it and landed two swift punches to its head. Knocking it out cold.
W.C 692/ Total: 2969/ Post #3
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Post by MARK I on Sept 2, 2018 22:34:27 GMT -5
As John began to make his way through the fun house he heard the nearby screams of a women. He rushed to her aid except... He could not figure out the maze. A left turn a right turn and before he knew it he accidentally smashed into another glass frame by mistake. "God damn it"
***************************************************** Ms. Fonteyn. Rushed to grab her little girl and move out of the way of the giant bird that had someone managed to make his way in here, other children and there parents were freaking out as well.
"Shut up, just shut up you brats!" The bird started to yell. "I am not here for any of you?! Just move out of my way now!"
"What is your problem bird brain! You move! Can't you see there are families here trying to enjoy the FUN house?!" She yelled directly at him, unnerving, unwavering in her resolve. "We didn't come in to the petting zoo now shoe shoe! get out of here!"
As she spoke some of the other parents began to slowly creep away with their children in tow. "Why you little Bitch! How dare you I am the great Malc..." As the bird man spoke Ms. Fonteyn had reached into her purse and produce forth a compact, industrial strength stun laser cannon, a little device she put together in case something crazy were to happen at this martial arts tournament, not that anything crazy ever happens in things like this... She quickly aimed her gun dead center and began to fire when all of a sudden "Heres Johnny!!" A man suddenly bolted from out of nowhere, bear hugging the Bird man in a tight inescapable grip of terrible death! "What let me go?!" "Now you listen here you big brown bird I am gon..." "ZWAAAAAAAAPPP!!!!!" A bolt of electric energy ignited the big yellow/ brownish bird man, and the large stranger. it lit up the whole room as the light reflected and refracted off of every surface.
The two men convulsed and rocked back and forth violently, slamming into several of the mirrors nearby, shattering everything in there path. A little three year old girl put on some sunglasses she had found on the floor, far to big for her head but she did it anyways and then made a finger gun using both her hands and motioned as if she was the one doing the shooting.
W.C- 403/Total- 3372 Post: # 4
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Post by MARK I on Sept 2, 2018 23:12:10 GMT -5
John emerged from the Fun house with shards of glass protruding from his arms and back. On top of that he was pretty sure that lady back there had a lighting cannon. That was probably something he should deal with but for now he just wanted to finish what he had started or did he start it? Sometimes he did not even know why or how he got himself into these situations. It was a running theme apparently in his life. People just seemed to like hitting him, a lot, so he learned to roll with the punches very early on in his life.
As he stepped outside he looked up into the sky and saw the same black feathered bird man from earlier and another one. "Oh boy" He got in his stance as they descended on his location, each one landing at different flanks.
"Well well. I am quite impressed. You seemed to have dealt with both of my compatriots. Impressive mr??" "John" "Ahh yes, excellent" The man said in a condescending manner. "Well John you must be here for the martial arts tournament yes?"
"Yea, well maybe I am. What Of it?" The bird men began to laugh now at him, scoffing as they did so. "My dear John. You just told us that you were? No need to play games. haha. Anyways. I simply came down here to apologize to you. I acted out of rage earlier. That was not your fault. Please accept my apology and remain here another mintue while I get you something yes?"
"Look buddy, I got places I need to be. So are we gonna do this or what?" As he spoke the bird man looked surprised. "So You will be refusing my apology then? How rude." "Buddy listen I don't need an apology I need you to move and I need you to stop trashing peoples taco or burrito stands or whatever. Now I happen to like my tacos and I will be damned it I am gonna let another one of you bi..."
The man raised his hand. "I understand John. I do. Tell me have you registered for the tournament yet?" "No, and thats why you gotta get out of my way. I still got like 35 mins and I gotta make it or else I won't be able to."
The bird men started to laugh again. Their stupid bird laughs. "Well yes of course my man. We shall meet again. haha" They waved him off as they took flight back into the air.
John could not believe the day he was having as he started to walk he began pulling glass out of his arms and shoulders, blood now running freely from them as people began to stare at him.
"I am fine I'm fine don't worry abou...ouch!" "You know you should see a doctor for that" The voice of a young girl spoke from behind him. He turned around to see who it had been but nothing, looking down as he felt a tug of his shirt he noticed a young girl, wearing ridiculously dark sunglasses that were to big for her head. She sucked on a lollipop as she spoke. The girl was wearing colorful bright pink and blue shoes, she had on some cargo shorts that were in navy blue camo style and a large, black capsule corp shirt.
"Listen little girl. I don..." "Suzail" The little girl interrupted. "My name is Suzail Fonteyn and I am not little. I wam actually the awerage height and wait for mawh age... I have problem speaking though."
"Suzie!" A women cried out to the little girl, tucking something away into her purse. "Hey wait a minitue, lady you shot me!"
"Well actually sir I shot the bird brain, you were just dumb enough to hold on to him" Suzie began to laugh. it was an innocent laugh, the kind of laugh only a child could make.
"Wha, I.. Wait" "Hehehehehehehe" They both laughed in unison now.
"You should see a Doctor about these glass shards ohh and also Sorry about the stun cannon." "Lady?!" John fired back. "Why on Kami's green earth ("it is acwually mostly bluee") do you have a stun cannon"
Ms. Fonteyn raised her purse and pressed it against John's chest now as she spoke. "For guys who don't move out of my way. Do you understand? We've got ten minutes to get to the arena and I don't want to miss the fights"
"Ten minutes?" "Wets go mommy" The little Suzail said as she popped open a capsule which contained in it a small vehicle for them to fly in.
" TEN MINUTES?!?!?!" John bolted and began to run as fast as he good. "Those damn birds!" W.C 795/ Total- 4167/ Post#5
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Post by MARK I on Sept 2, 2018 23:43:15 GMT -5
John was never much of a runner. At least he did not think so. His legs were not meant for running. It was more trouble then it was typically worth but today things were a little different. As he ran he could feel the shards still in his back and legs shaking withing him. It stung like fucking hell but despite this he continued to push onward. He would have time to complain about these things later, once he got himself registered.
The running was not as much of an issue. Despite his hatred of running he could blast through land like it was nothing but the problem was all the people in their lines and in there confused masses. He had a lot of trouble with them doing that. So he did what any sensible person would do. He started to jump over everyone. Reaching a long stretch of road he finally began to peel away from the crowd faster then most people could believe. He had five minutes left to cover a distance of about 2 miles. He should have registered first. instead of standing in that turkey line for an hour. He just couldn't help himself sometimes.
As he began to make some good headway the screech of a large bird over head came down on him. A large, powerful looking red beaked and red tailed bird man swooped down and struck him from behind, knocking him over, cauasing him to roll into oncoming traffic. Thinking quickly he tucked his knees in and rolled over just in time to avoid becoming pavement paste.
"You have got to be kidding me." A wave of pain shot through his arm as some of the glass managed to embed itself deeper into his arms, he must have missed a couple. The bird that was now stalking him was the largest of them all. This one did not seem to talk, unlike his "Polite, black feathered friend who would not stop talking. John was pissed now. More pissed than he had been in a long time but he was stuck. He had four mintues to get to the arena and register but he could not ignore this bird man. As the bird swooped wide over head it kept its eyes trained onto him. It seemed to be in no hurry to engaged him. It seemed to be taking its time.
"Damn it! I swear when I get out of this I am going to round up every turkey and eat as many as I possibly can!" He yelled to the bird man. That seemed to work as it hung a swift left and began to arch downward towards him.
"Yes yes come to Johnny!" As he braced himself to jump and grab onto the bird man it suddenly phased out of view about 20ft from him and before he knew it a force of pain and kenitic energy shot into his stomach and pushed him off of his feet and backwards about 15ft.
The bird man suddenly, and in the span of one second, speed up faster then he could track with his eyes and then slammed into him, hard! So hard that it knocked him out of breath and over on to his back rolling over a a couple of yards Johnny found himself struggling to get up, to think, to do anything really.
"Aww fuck" He heaved, struggling to catch his breath. "This will not end well." Struggling to get back on to his feet he saw the red beaked bird man coming around for another pass. No knowing how to give up John began to time his next move and as the bird started to pick up speed it finally reached the twenty feet mark and.... BWAAAAMMMMMM!!!!
A light green, box shaped hover vehicle slammed into the Bird man suddenly, jerking its head sideways onto it's wind shield, feathers flew in every direction as the hover car continued to push forward eventually coming to a stop about ten yards away.
John ran as fast as he could to the scene arriving to the bird mans position as he was sprawled out over the floor, wings and one bent leg twitching. John quickly got to his knees and began to check for a pulse.
"He'll be fine. Get in the car" Ms. Fonteyn said as she injected the bird with a quarter of a syringe full of some strange green serum and then pulling it out did the same to John.
"Oww! hey" "Ohh shut up and get in the car. This will help. Do you want to be late?"
Saying nothing more and taking her word for it he jumped into the Vehicle. He was greeted by the smile of Little three year old Suzie as he entered. "Hwello Johnny" "Hiiii Suzie". Instantly the tiny vehicle began to speed off. Covering a distance of 2 miles within a couple of minutes.
"We're here. You're welcome!" Ms. Fonteyn said with a cheerful grin! "Nothing like teaching a no good bird not to fly around in traffic aye? Now. Who wants turkey!!!" W.C/ 852/ Total- 5019. Post#6
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