tampered | (no subject)

(no subject)

When; Dec 20, early night
Rating; Descriptions of fighting
Characters; Cloud

elevatorwarrior
Summary; Reno challenged Cloud to a serious fighting match, in retribution for cutting off his head during the zombie plot.
Log;

Walking up and down the length of the sparring grounds, Reno worked some of his joints loose while waiting for Cloud to show up. He wasn't afraid of what would happen, should either he fail or Cloud lose. Consequences in the City were not as strict as in the real world, and he had already died once, right? This was his chance to prove he could fight Cloud on a serious life or death struggle and come out the winner.

It wasn't a matter of pride, though there was that aspect to it... it was more of what he was that drove him. Before, he'd always tried to avoid fights with Cloud, giving a convenient excuse or running away before it got really serious, but not today.

Closing his eyes briefly, he tried to get in tune with his body, preparing for battle.

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It took him a few minutes to get to the sparring fields. Cloud brought his motorcycle to a stop and opened the weapon's chamber, taking out his fully assembled Tsurugi. He yanked his goggles down swinging his sword over his shoulder and walked out to where Reno was running through some stretches, stopping just out of reach of the redhead.

"Any ground rules?"

Did he want to do this? No, but he had a feeling that this was deeper than from that last curse.

Reno stopped his preparations and turned toward Cloud, pulling the EMR from his pocket and snapping it out to its full length. "None at all, Cloud. No 'first blood', no yield, no running. Just like the other day... got that?"

Cloud almost figured he would say that. Sighing to himself, he brought his sword down from his shoulder, bracing himself and waited. He wasn't going to attack first, and he wasn't going to go full out. He wasn't sure but Turks weren't made to be as strong as a SOLDIER. And no matter how he claims of not being one, Cloud still had the strength and speed on one.

Studying Cloud for a long moment, Reno frowned and shook his head. "Come on, you got to be kidding me." He wasn't pleased, not by a long shot. This was a fight, and Cloud should respect that. "Don't fucking toy with me, Cloud. I'm not here for play time." Hitting the on button on his EMR, Reno dashed at Cloud in a feint, seeing what he would do.

Cloud didn't care if Reno thought it was a fight or not.He was sure that anything he did would probably hurt the redhead beyond repair and Cloud didn't think he could stomach that after what had happened earlier that week. As Reno rushed him, Cloud dodged to the side, taking a lazy swipe at him with the flat of his blade.

That irritated the Turk even further... insult to injury. It was unbearable.
Dodging the swipe was kid's play to Reno, dancing away from the Hero to face him across the grounds. Bright lightning crackled along the EMR, charging up for a lightning attack.

Did Cloud think he was going to break at a touch?

Raising the EMR, he sent the attack blazing across the ground.

He wasn't trying to insult Reno. Cloud just wasn't in the mood to fight someone, especially someone he'd killed during a curse induced madness. He just wanted to crawl somewhere and get sloshed. The sparking EMR drew his attention back to Reno and he made a face, tensing. When th blast hit the ground, he jumped, slashing his sword down as he dropped down towards Reno.

Having only a second to see the sword coming down on him, he tried to dodge, but was a little bit too late, the very tip catching him in the forehead and causing blood to drip down his face. The EMR flew out for balance and to deliver another charge of lightning.

"Fight like a fucking man, Cloud! No wonder you got to have people backing you up, you couldn't protect a cat from a dog!"

Cloud hissed at the shock of lightning, landing badly and twisting himself to the balls of his feet before he fell over. Wouldn't that make a funny picture, him falling over and stabbing himself with his sword? He shook his head, making a low growl under his breath at Reno's words. They hurt a little, but he wasn't going to let it bother him.

"Does your mouth always run off without your brain?"

"I meant it. You fight like a schoolgirl, hell, I knew schoolgirls that could fight better." Reno sneered, taunting the man, now that he found the right track of insult. "You're actually really weak, aren't you?"
Taking a few running steps, he jumped into the air, EMR crackling, aiming a kick for Cloud's face.

"I am not weak," Cloud replied, his mouth twisting and his eyes narrowing. Yet even as he denied it, he could hear the little voice saying that he was, that he was nothing more than a failure. Growling again, he blocked Reno's kick with his off-hand, sliding in the snow and swung his sword around towards the Turk's side.

Reno didn't see it in time, trying to twist out of the way, even without anything to use for friction, just a little too late. More blood oozed out of the fresh cut, but Reno wasn't going to quit, even if it slowed him down a little. "Then fight me, damn it! Prove that you aren't just some country bumpkin swinging a sword around!"
Another burst of electricity sailed out from the end of the EMR, followed by Reno launching himself at Cloud for a close contact assault.

Cloud wasn't aware it annoyed him to be called a country bumpkin. He didn't know it was a sore spot since he was from the country and still lapsed into the accent from his home town. Yet the way Reno phrased it had him unconsciously tighten his grip on his sword. He staggered back from the charge, shaking his head to clear the fuzziness from his ears. When Reno, hit him, Cloud had to let go of his sword to try forcing him back.

This was his chance! Reno went all out, lashing out at Cloud now that he was off balance, kicking for the torso to put Cloud out of commission for a moment. That cut in his side and forehead was slowing him down a lot, though... he could feel the sluggish response.

Something cracked. Cloud heard and felt it give and tasted a salty rust flavor in his mouth. He brought his arms down to protect his sides from more blows, lowering his head and attempting to butt Reno with his head. It was thick enough to use as a battering ram.

Reno pushed Cloud's head down so he only got him in the leg, in the process slamming the EMR into Cloud's side. "Weiner!"
That was completely immature, but he was getting irritated... it was too easy. Too easy! Cloud must be nuts or something. Reno wasn't going to go easy on him...

Some of those lessons had to be worth something. Head down, and his one arm feeling oddly numb now, Cloud growled, wrapped his left hand around Reno's knee and and pushed.

"Asshole."

The turk went down, feeling his knee give out (rather painfully might he add) and wound up falling flat on his ass. He scrambled to get back up, slipping once or twice, but getting to his feet and favoring that leg. He was battered and bruised, but he could still go on.

"Who is the asshole, here, Cloud? You won't even give me the goddamned respect you do in a serious fight! Stop holding back."

"You want to die that badly?"

Cloud grabbed his sword, his eyes glowing and his face set with a snarl. He hurt, he couldn't feel his right hand - his sword hand! - and there was an odd whistling sound in his chest. His Sword too felt like it weighed a lot more than it should, putting more pain in his side. Anger pushed him past the pain and he threw himself into an attack, his sword a blur.

Reno stood ready, defensive posture and EMR up in a block, ready to take on Cloud's attack. What he didn't quite realize was what attack it was... it had been a while since he had last fought Cloud. His EMR was charged, ready for the clash.

What he hadn't counted on was the speed... something ripped up Reno's front, and it took him a second to realize that it was Cloud's sword... another second past and there was another one, faster than Reno could react to. Then Reno realized what was going on... and felt the first real twinge of fear since starting this fight. Cloud was limit breaking, using that deadly attack called Omnislash.

In panic, he slammed his EMR to the ground in a wide burst electrical attack... but they kept coming, slash after slash until it felt numb and his vision became strangely detached.

Edited 2008-12-22 02:32 (UTC)

He gritted his teeth against how each blow made his elbow scream. He forced his ribs to expand as he breathed, feeling something stab him. He just wanted to down Reno, and stop him from moving. He could heal them both up after wards, tell the redhead what a stupid thing this whole idea was, and let it rest.

But his movements slowed and he came to a stop, panting against the harsh chill of the air and shivering as a few snowflakes touched his over-heated skin. Cloud swayed for a moment, and planted his sword into the frozen ground, using it to keep standing, the pain coming back ten-fold.

That was it then, Reno watched Cloud come to a stop in surreal slow motion... he was finished. A stab of regret surfaced underneath the numb and the pain he was feeling. He just couldn't stand up to Cloud after all... but at least he had tried. He looked up at the other man, blood pouring from his wounds, and fell to the ground.

Cloud coughed, turning his head and tried sucking a breath. Something tasting like rust and fire settled in his lung and he rubbed at the spot, hanging his head. It wasn't working right and he noticed dimly that he couldn't feel a materia near him. He let go of his sword and collapsed down ward, fingers pressing against his ribs and his injured arm pulled in tight against his side.

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