Timestamp: 40 Tessera (Autumn), 81379 Character: http://shadowlack.com/persona.php?id=710Matt</a> Location: In a dorm somewhere surronded by Menlo gear. Matt knocked on the dorm of this new club he had discovered, he had found their flyer down in the halls of this Menlo club and since he had recently changed his Major to that he saw it as a great way to practice and actually learn something useful. He was a little bit pensive about this since it was he second match only, he had one his first but it was purely because they were both utter novices and he just happened to be extremely vicious. He loved the fighting side of it, since he was prone to having animal blood list instincts more than the average dragon thanks to is weredragon condition. So he saw this as a great outlet for it with no one getting hurt ish, plus it was great fun too. He was overly proud of his suit which incorporated his favourite fighting style, it was basically a suit of his werewolf form with loads of metal and such. He didnÂ’t bother with to many fancy stuff but he had hard wired a few tricks into it. Well so he thought, he had never come up against a veteran yet or anyone with skill for that matter. This would be his chance to test out his skills. <span style='width:100%;font-weight:bold; font-size:10px'>Out of Character</span> <table class='ooc'><tr><td>Erm yeah best i could do :P</td></tr></table>
<span style='width:100%;font-weight:bold; font-size:10px'>Out of Character</span> <table class='ooc'><tr><td>Tis fine. ^^</td></tr></table> Syray threw a spare wire across the room, in a vain atempt to throw a manacing temper tantrum. The wire fell harmlessly to the floor, agrivating him even further. He took a deep breath and looked back down at the generator at his feet. It would do. He had gotten the model for cheap because of its rundown condition. It had been a chalenge to fix it up, but well worth the investment. He was currently renting a dorm in the building, but only temporarily. He had started up a 'club' for Menlo players, offering to give them private lessons on the game. He did not wan the students of Janardan to know where he lived, only bad things could come of it, so he rented the room for the time being. It was cramped, compared to what he was used to. All his equiptment was strewn across the floor as if a giant computer had barfed out its guts into his room. He sighed and ploped down on the bed. Shortly after, the sound of knocking reached his ears. He sat there a moment, contemplating whether or not he really wanted to do this. With a reluctant groan he picked his way through the clutter to the door and dragged it open, knocking over a large peice of equiptment as he did. "Can I help you?" He asked in his low monotone.
Matt nearly stammered when he saw the slightly rugged looking Anubi who seemed to be in a slightly far from sociable mood. Yet he had seen worse and forced back the stupid stammer of nervousness. "Yeah I'm here for the Menlo Lessons and club... thing." He said slightly pensively though, he had started having horrible thoughts that he had got the room and he was talking to some random arden who had absolutely no idea what he was on about. He had done that once before with a dance lesson, he had been so embarrassed he had never showed up to the real thing and had never showed up ever again. Yet his eyes flickered to the side and absorbed the image of a room with no floor, instead it had cables and wires scattered across it with odd machine parts and a strange machine that seemed to hum with electricity. It all looked great for someone who took a big interested in Machine and Menlo.
Syray tried a smile, but it felt awquard so he quickly wiped it away. He shoved the door forcefully open the rest of the way and gestured crudely for Matt to enter. "You are, are you? Well...come in and...lets get on with this." He looked the younger pendragon over with a judging eye. He noticed Matt's attention towards the machines strewn across the floor and tried his weak smile once more, getting a little more out of it this time. "I see you have an interest in machina...good." His voice trailed off. The Menlo students he had who only had an interest in the fighting part greatly agrivated him. He insisted they knew how to basicaly code a card and suit before he would let them actualy go into the Menlo world. This made him unpopular, sot it was understandable why he apreciated the students who even took a mild interest in the actual machina part of the game. He kicked a nearby spare part with his heel, knocking it over and exposing a large burnt hole in the side. Syray flicked his head away from it and looked back at Matt expectantly.
Matt looked at the Anubian curiously, he seemed very awkward with the whole situation, like he was one of these people that thought teaching was a good idea but dealing with kids was just an inconvenience of the profession. Matt couldnÂ’t understand what drove this type of people to teach but he wasnÂ’t going to complain, he was well on is way to becoming a bit of a Menlo Junky. "Yeah IÂ’m Matt by the way" he said offering his hand out, something that matt always liked to do ever since he met this girl in the courtyard who seemed to do it to everyone. "IÂ’ve brought my card and my MCC CA-257 http://www.vainokodas.com/PirateferretSite/MenloWeb/Menlo.htmheadset</a>" he said in a very confidant way, he thought he had come quite prepared and was especially happy with his headset, although he was saving up for a MCC P57. By saving up for he meant stealing or scavenging, Matt wasnÂ’t the sort who paid for many things unless their was no other way. He did it out of habit sometimes purple because he used to do it for survival so often but now it was just something he did. Yet he was actually looking for a job, Jade was having a positive effect on him.
Syray nodded, acknowledging Matt's name. He eyed the offered paw for a moment, contemplating the necessity of this ritual of greeting. Finally he decided there was no harm and offered paw of his own, shaking once before withdrawing. "Syray." he said contemptuously. He closed the door of the room, letting a few pieces of equipment fall back to the floor after being smashed up against the wall. All of the equipment was not necessary, but he felt more at home this way. Syray nodded, not catching up on the apparent excited-ness of his pupil. "Good, good. Nice model." he murmured to himself, picking through some wires and throwing them aside decidedly. He stood up strait and faced Matt, his tail flame flickering. After reaching some good conclusion in his mind, he turned back to his ramshackle generator. "So what do you hope to get out of this...class?" He asked, trying to stuff a plug into one of the outlets. "What is your strategy? Do you like speed? Power? Or are you working on defense?"
Matt shock the ardens hand and tried to remember the name, he was quite happy with the fact that he didnÂ’t have to call him Sir or anything overly formal. He hated that kind of ass kissing where it was all Sir this and yes Ma'am, they made it sound like they were better than you. The Matt actually decided to think about why he was here, he was more here for the experience yet he had a few preferences about his fighting. "Well I wanted to get more fighting experience, like to help me understand the tactics better. Like what works well against what and how to adapt in a fight, and I prefer speed over power but I'm not sure how my defence is." He said starting off more confidant yet becoming more thoughtful as he spoke more. He still needed to fight much more, he was fairly sure to improve he needed to practice as much as possible. In class however most of what they did was theory and he wasnÂ’t the most academic person, he didnÂ’t learn well from just books or some teacher droning on. He wanted combat experience, something witch he could actually see. The only thing class had taught him was how to code a card.
Syray nodded, trying to think of the best plan of action for his lesson. Clean slates were always harder to work with. They didnt know what they liked or what they didnt, so he had to be all over the place with his teachings, and that agrivated him. It was always better for him to know what the student was good at and what they liked, and build from that. At least Matt had a general idea of what he wanted to learn. That made Syray's job slightly easier. "Alright, we will go with speed as your strength. You dont really need to worry about your defence too much, unless you are always being hit. But you like speed...speed is good...helps you avoid being hit without having to learn too many defencive techniques...Also keeps the other player on their toes." Syray rattled on. It was surprising even to him how much he could say about even one tiny thing of Menlo. He never said much of anything otherwise. "Experience hm? Then lets get started." Syray decided it was best to talk more while inside the game. He dragged a strange looking device out from a pile, adjusted it slightly, then plugged a wire hanging off it into the mangled generator. He pulled a rather ordinary card from his pocket and slid it into a slot on the device. "Plug yourself in. I will be waiting for you." He said simply, gesturing towards his generator. He sat down on the floor, lifting the device to his mechanical eye and clicking it into place over his good eye. He was gone.
Matt nodded at SyrayÂ’s words thoughtfully, he was happy to see the man had the same idea as him. If you moved fast enough you didnÂ’t need to bother with defence or anything., he also liked the idea that a strong offence was a good defence. Matt watched the man plug himself through his eye piece it was all quite fascinated, like he had built his helmet into his face. However matt picked up his army style headset from out of his back pack and plugged the cord in. He slipped the thing comfortably over his head and pressed the load system. He felt his brain dive into the digital world with a familiar dark numb feeling that seemed to cut off his feelings. Then with a sudden pop he began to feel the digital confines of his suit and the world around him.
As Syray waited he checked over his suit, the Black Samurai. It was his favorite card that he had modified slightly to be less of a threat for his students. Though the suit was not really that much of a killing machine, but it looked menacing. His forehead was covered in large scaled plates, and a visor across his eyes. The top section was large and bulky with long metal plates that came up from the sides, split to allow passage for his arms, and then curling slightly in, ending with a flourish around his bulky neck. His arms were in only one section, unable to bend, save for at the shoulder. They each sported a long black blade that skirted the ground. The midsection and lower half were much smaller, nothing more than metal shells with small spines at the feet. The generator Syray had chosen was one that he used mainly to aggravate others. It was a Sagar Sea setting, where every move was muted into being slow. It would aggravate Syray as well if he did not get so much amusement from the frustration of others. Syray’s heavy suit soon sunk to the bottom. He watched Matt appear in the sea not far from him and he turned on his in-suit communicator. “You ready?" He asked.
Matt felt out his suit, this was only the second time he had got to use it yet he always felt incredible comfortable inside it. It was designed to be just like his were wolf form. It was designed around his werewolf which he felt most comfortable in, he loved to fight with his hands as his weapons. It felt so natural to him and it meant he had about a hundred different attack variations. The suit is was Midnight blue and follows the shape of a lean but muscular Pendragon, the armour is made up of lots of plats that interlinking together makings medium strength armour and medium flexibility. Its main weapons are its large retractable claws on his hands that he uses with excellent proficiently. Also he has a large elbow spike on each arm that its just as sharp as his claws. His has also small spikes going down the length of his tail and a large spiked ball at the end of his tail which is quite obvious in its uses. His legs have the same amount of armour on them but are they the most modded part of his suit. On the underside of his feet he has steel skates that he can put into action in an instant to zoom along at massive speeds. On his legs he also has hydraulics built in so when he needs to he can jump massive distances into the air and rebound of walls. As well as being midnight blue it also has tribal patterns of ice blue around in the left chest area and his right leg. They all however look so ethereal and strange under the pale blue light of the sea. He sank swiftly to the floor yet not before the black sword machine of Syray. Matt was somewhat waving his hands back and forth in front of his face and watching with a massive grin as he tried to pick up his speed. Since he didnÂ’t have the armour to withstand a major attack he needed his agility bonus. After some fun playing around he managed to get it up to around normally speed. More or less anyway. "Yeah IÂ’m ready, whatÂ’s first boss" He said eager to get this fight moving, he was jumping with adrenalin.
Syray rolled his eyes as Matt waved his arms around for no aparent reason. His student's voice reached him across the com link. He groaned at the use of 'boss'. He thought to himself for a moment before answering. "Alright, Matt," he said, "The reason I have chosen this generator for our lesson is so that you can see all of our movements in slowmotion and get a better understanding of cause and effect of your movements and those of your oponent, and all the stuff..." It was of course a lie, Syray had chosen the generator for his own amusement, and if it happened to help his students learn as well, it was two birds with one stone. "First, we will focus on your strength, which you say is speed. You should try and develop some basic attack combinations and things. So just come at me and we will go from there." Syray trailed off. This teaching thing was harder than he remembered.
Matt flecked his paws as he looked at his teacher, he seemed to hate his job or maybe just kids. Either that or he didnÂ’t like stupid inferior people, it wasnÂ’t the greatest grounds to start a career with children but he wasnÂ’t complaining. This guy looked like the type who didnÂ’t put much effort into his ass kicking but could probably do it with one punch. Matt breathed in deeply as he tried to get himself worked up into his adrenalin zone. He flexed his paws again and his four claws suddenly exposed themselves from his hand. He bent his knees slightly and got into his attack position, then kicking off with a boost from his skates which shot him forward, yet still slowish since the water got in the way. His skates imidetly folded back into his feet as soon as he came into hitting distance. He flourished several paw swipes with his claws aimed at the mans chest, left and right, alternating between the two and occasionally flinging his tail mace towards the arden in his armour. Trying to go as fast as his water would allow him yet also not trying to be reckless with his moves.
Syray's lips curled into wry smile, anticipating the match. Syray raised his two long bladed arms, and poised himself, tence and ready for the attack. He did his best not to tence up too much, he did not want this to be a slaughter. However he could not help but feel a slight joy at simply being in a battle, no matter how one sided it was. As Matt aproached him, Syray braced himself. The attacks came at him slowly, but he could only react just as slow. Syray's suit moved and bent, blocking as many swipes as he could and weaving to avoid what he could of the rest. Still, a few met his metal, and he felt the impact. He braced a foot behind him, waiting for the right moment. Then a good punch came. He went with the momentum of his inward block, spinning on his braced foot. He wheeled around to Matt's side and planted an elbow behind him, continuing with the spin and planting his opposite foot, to turn back around towards his pupil. He lifted a blade, more out of habit than anything, for any unanticipated attack. "You have more muscle than I first thought. That is good, deceptive. But remember to use the space around you! We are not rock-em scok-em robots!" Syray said.
Matt flexed his arms again as he span around yet just after the elbow shunted him in the back. He was enjoying this immensely and couldnÂ’t help btu lose him self in the battle yet he didnÂ’t fail to register the complement. It was partially because he worked out regular yet despite his best efforts couldnÂ’t put much weight on. He was lean and muscled yet he doubt he would ever have the figured of some Jemdrull player. His other muscle was due to the fact he was a weredragon which meant he had a slight muscle advantage other some people, not much though. He accepted the fact he was being a ridged in his movement and tried to loosen things up. This time with a powerful burst of hydraulics he shot himself forward with both his claw arms out stretched yet before he reached the arden he dug his claws into the ground. He immediately went into a handstand position and then pushed upwards going into a somersault over the ardens head. He slashed downwards at him all the while then landed with a soft thud that shot sand and mud into the watery air. As soon as he was upright he was launching off into another combo of claw swipes, his normal Menlo teacher had told him that to keep your opponent surprised gave you an edge. For a moment he even thought he could win but with another look at those blades gave chased away that idea.
Syray was surprised at his student's imediate adjustment. Normaly, his students would be stubborn and continue on with what they were doing, until it became aparent that they had no choice but to take his advice. Syray tilted his head up, watching Matt swing over his head. Syray stepped forward to avoid the downward slash. He spun slowly around, not expecting the barage of attacks that awaited him. He was able to block in time, but he was caught off guard and took a blow to the side. Syray stumbled back and allowed himself to fall to his knees, in among the stirred up mud. He swung a spined foot out towards Matt's legs, swinging it around and using the momentum and one of his arms to help himself back to his feet with a groan. He then swiped the other long bladed arm towards Matt's head. Using the attack as a short time delay to get his balance once more.
Matt grinned broadly inside his helmet when he saw his teacher go down with one of hsi blows. His head was swimming with pride that he had actually made his teacher stumble. He was reviling in the moment so much that he didnÂ’t see the blows until a bit to late. He hoped over the trip kick quite nimbly yet didnÂ’t see the slow motion sword coming down to his head. He managed to pull him self to the side but the flat of the sword still smacked him along the side of his face. It scraped all along down hsi helmet making that scratching sound that pierced the ears as it ran around inside the metal helmet. He stumbled backwards and fell down to one knee, digging his claws into the ground for extra support yet kept the other free just in case. "ouch...." he mumbled into his microphone with out noticing. He may not enjoy the pain that much but he was thankful that their was some in Menlo, it gave people that slight fear of being hurt that stopped it from just being a slugging match. He looked up as his opponent to see his next move.
Syray was ready to let another swing go when he heard the 'ouch' across the com. He paused a bit aways from his student and let his arms fall to his sides. He had gotten a little carried away. He did not blame himself, his students should know what they are getting into. Besides, there is not physical injury in Menlo. Syray walked up to Matt slowly. "Just because someone is down, does not mean they are out." He said in his monotone. "Your opponent is always dangerous, no matter where they are." He did not feel sorry for Matt, so he did not feel obligated to apologize. Syray was silent for a moment. He thought of saying something comforting, but thought better. He was never one with words, why start now? Instead he asked, "Do you wish to continue? We can take a break and repair your helmet..."
Matt groaned and stood up, he personally was a little bit surprised Syray stopped the fight, he was expecting another attack which is why he had put some distance between them to get a breather. He steadied himself once he was fully up and taped his helmet and shook his head to make sure it was on ok. "No its just a scratch, you just got a fair hit in their that caught me off guard, thatÂ’s all." He said as he jumped back a bit to put about a meter distance between them. He didnÂ’t like those swords yet he had decided for another smart plan. He had noticed that Syray's arms didnÂ’t seem to be overly flexible and it seemed he could only swing them at different angles. Matt crouched into his low fighting stance again and then kicked the fight up again since his opponent looked ready and seemed to be more than ok. His first moved was to take a massive stride to the side then with all the speed he could muster he drove forward with some combo variations. This time however he stayed up close and personal, his weapons were small compared to the massive swords so he had more flexibility. He tired to use lots of small slashes and keep them mainly directed at the central body were the two big swords would find it harder to defend. Or so he thought. He was also trying to bite occasionally with his steel tell that where fixed into the suits muzzle. He didnÂ’t want a nasty head but from Syray to finish him so he made him fully aware that he would bite anything coming close.
Syray was glad Matt had decided to continue the match. He was much to worked up to abandon it now. "Good then," he said to himself. He had little time to dwell on his releif before Matt was upon him. He took a couple steps back at first, to try and allow himself room to attack but Matt kept right on top of him. Syray could not decide whether or not he was glad his pupil had discovered his suit's main weakenss or angered at the constant barage of attacks at his chest. He did his best to defened what he could but found it increasingly dificult as he struggled to get full breaths of air. Finally he gave up hope trying to recover himself in this situation. He tried a last swipe at Matt's legs before crouching down and nimbly hopping up and away from his opponent. Syray crossed the two blades across each other as he went in the air and landed on the ground a little ways away. When the blades were crossed he could more easily defend his torso and inflict damage should his pupil try the tactic again. "Good, you found my weakness, and used it. Very impressive" he said.
