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| "GET ON WITH IT ALREADY!" |
Act 2, Chapter 11: The Tower, Part
6
It's been about four hours since the test started, and about three since Jonah last saw Maria. His natural pessimism made him only assume the worst for her. She might have had two cards, but she was wounded and in a very poor mood, meaning that she would possibly lose the fights and be forced to leave. So he just quietly continued on his own as he ascended the tower. The tower itself was not in the best of conditions, it might have been a work in progress and it might have been in a usable state, with power and sections that actually functions.. But there was a part where the floor caved in and he was forced to ascend a ladder on the outside of the building.
This ladder was pretty damn tall, especially for Jonah. The most climbing he's ever done was either in basic training, or just climbing up and down to sweep some leaves out of the gutter of his parent's house. This one was just a series of metal rungs bolted into a concrete wall extending nearly 300 feet in the air, and going for nearly another 100. He assumed this wasn't the only pathway, as there were about 40 other people left in the building and he hasn't come across one just yet. But still, his knuckles were white and his his legs were tired of lifting his own weight.
“I didn't think I was this heavy.” He muttered to himself as he kept climbing, stopping to look up at an open window with a small rope dangling from it. “...Well there's an answer.” He smiled, climbing sluggishly as he reached up to grab the rope, leaning over to get both hands onto it before he could climb in the window. He could take this ladder all the way to the top if he wanted to, but he still was technically carrying 0 cards on him, and he didn't want to rely on a wounded insane lady to get to the top and sail on her coattails just to win.
He leaped to that rope and began to dangle, he would of slipped and fell to his potential death if there weren't knots tied incrementally every 6 inches or so to stop his hands from gripping, but the twine of the rope dug into his hands, burning them slightly as he huffed and slowly pulled himself along the 10 feet of bundles. He grabbed firmly onto the solid window, grabbing hard against it and slowly pulling himself in just to fall into a heap on the ground. He slowly sat up and rubbed his hands as he looked around. The sun shined from the afternoon light and scatted out into the room, but the windows were boarded off on this floor. This made the rest of the room dark, and since his eyes were adjusted to the light he couldn't see more than a couple of feet in front of him.
He stood up, dusting himself off and slowly walking along the dark room, hands pushing out in front of him as he struggled to figure out where he was going. His feet sifted on the ground because he didn't want to step on a nail... or two nails, or one hundred thousand nails. Well... Who makes a floor out of that many nails? Crazy ass spectrum might. He calmly slid his hands into his pockets as he slowly opened the door as he realized his legs were starting to hurt. Typically, 800 feet of building doesn't sound like it'd be that tall, you could probably run the length of the building in under 15 seconds if you happened to run pretty fast.. But the problem is they're on the inside of the building.
He didn't have a floor plan or blueprint to his building, every floor, one of the main staircases is blocked off and you're forced to traverse the building to find the next staircase, while there are about 40 other people all gunning for position and hoping to get to the top with at least 1 card minimum. Jonah knew that since he didn't have a card, it would mean he would be demoted instead of actually getting a promotion. He needed someone to fight, and he needed to find them relatively quickly. Jonah felt sore, his knuckles and fingers throbbed from the rusted metal of the ladder running up the side of the building, his legs hurt from all the running and climbing, and the emotional duress from the fight Maria had a couple of hours back was wearing on his mind.
He didn't really like speaking up to his teammates, they tend to get along pretty well and he likes to consider himself along for the ride. He sat back and rode things through, but for once, the weight was squarely on his shoulders and he's never felt the pressure like it is now. He's felt the hair on his back constantly stand up, his pulse can't even get anywhere near his usual heart rate... In the back of his head, he felt like he was going to blow it. Caleb's training, outside of physical conditioning has been pretty shit, in his opinion. He made Jonah do things like carry him piggyback up a hill, tugging him around in red wagons, and making him cross blacktops while shirtless and on his bare hands... He still kind of resents him for that last bit.
Jonah stopped mid thought, closing his eyes and calmly tried to assess if he could head any nearby sounds. The building was pretty poorly insulated, some of the torn off drywall showed there was no fiberglass, or foam.. or anything. It was pretty cold on the skin, if he wasn't wearing his combat outfit he'd pretty much feel the constant draft of high altitude winds seeping through windows and walls. He heard the familiar sound of clanging, the sharp ringing of metal striking another piece of metal. Since he was in the middle of combat test and not a smithy or a car factory, he could only assume there was a fight nearby.
The sound came from above him, so he started to break into a dash, smashing through doors with a pulse powered shoulder tackle because he actually thought to use it unlike someone else we saw earlier in that day who was stupid. Minutes passed and he finally found the stairwell, popping it open and quickly grabbing onto the rail to stop himself from running full tilt.. He took a deep breath to calm down, when he felt an eerie creaking. “DAMNIT!” He shouted as he felt the supports to the modified staircase buckle underneath of him, metal beginning to twist and bend and fall off, warping the stairs as it slowly began to pull itself off the supports and threaten to collapse 400 feet to the ground with Jonah standing atop it.
It's been about four hours since the test started, and about three since Jonah last saw Maria. His natural pessimism made him only assume the worst for her. She might have had two cards, but she was wounded and in a very poor mood, meaning that she would possibly lose the fights and be forced to leave. So he just quietly continued on his own as he ascended the tower. The tower itself was not in the best of conditions, it might have been a work in progress and it might have been in a usable state, with power and sections that actually functions.. But there was a part where the floor caved in and he was forced to ascend a ladder on the outside of the building.
This ladder was pretty damn tall, especially for Jonah. The most climbing he's ever done was either in basic training, or just climbing up and down to sweep some leaves out of the gutter of his parent's house. This one was just a series of metal rungs bolted into a concrete wall extending nearly 300 feet in the air, and going for nearly another 100. He assumed this wasn't the only pathway, as there were about 40 other people left in the building and he hasn't come across one just yet. But still, his knuckles were white and his his legs were tired of lifting his own weight.
“I didn't think I was this heavy.” He muttered to himself as he kept climbing, stopping to look up at an open window with a small rope dangling from it. “...Well there's an answer.” He smiled, climbing sluggishly as he reached up to grab the rope, leaning over to get both hands onto it before he could climb in the window. He could take this ladder all the way to the top if he wanted to, but he still was technically carrying 0 cards on him, and he didn't want to rely on a wounded insane lady to get to the top and sail on her coattails just to win.
He leaped to that rope and began to dangle, he would of slipped and fell to his potential death if there weren't knots tied incrementally every 6 inches or so to stop his hands from gripping, but the twine of the rope dug into his hands, burning them slightly as he huffed and slowly pulled himself along the 10 feet of bundles. He grabbed firmly onto the solid window, grabbing hard against it and slowly pulling himself in just to fall into a heap on the ground. He slowly sat up and rubbed his hands as he looked around. The sun shined from the afternoon light and scatted out into the room, but the windows were boarded off on this floor. This made the rest of the room dark, and since his eyes were adjusted to the light he couldn't see more than a couple of feet in front of him.
He stood up, dusting himself off and slowly walking along the dark room, hands pushing out in front of him as he struggled to figure out where he was going. His feet sifted on the ground because he didn't want to step on a nail... or two nails, or one hundred thousand nails. Well... Who makes a floor out of that many nails? Crazy ass spectrum might. He calmly slid his hands into his pockets as he slowly opened the door as he realized his legs were starting to hurt. Typically, 800 feet of building doesn't sound like it'd be that tall, you could probably run the length of the building in under 15 seconds if you happened to run pretty fast.. But the problem is they're on the inside of the building.
He didn't have a floor plan or blueprint to his building, every floor, one of the main staircases is blocked off and you're forced to traverse the building to find the next staircase, while there are about 40 other people all gunning for position and hoping to get to the top with at least 1 card minimum. Jonah knew that since he didn't have a card, it would mean he would be demoted instead of actually getting a promotion. He needed someone to fight, and he needed to find them relatively quickly. Jonah felt sore, his knuckles and fingers throbbed from the rusted metal of the ladder running up the side of the building, his legs hurt from all the running and climbing, and the emotional duress from the fight Maria had a couple of hours back was wearing on his mind.
He didn't really like speaking up to his teammates, they tend to get along pretty well and he likes to consider himself along for the ride. He sat back and rode things through, but for once, the weight was squarely on his shoulders and he's never felt the pressure like it is now. He's felt the hair on his back constantly stand up, his pulse can't even get anywhere near his usual heart rate... In the back of his head, he felt like he was going to blow it. Caleb's training, outside of physical conditioning has been pretty shit, in his opinion. He made Jonah do things like carry him piggyback up a hill, tugging him around in red wagons, and making him cross blacktops while shirtless and on his bare hands... He still kind of resents him for that last bit.
Jonah stopped mid thought, closing his eyes and calmly tried to assess if he could head any nearby sounds. The building was pretty poorly insulated, some of the torn off drywall showed there was no fiberglass, or foam.. or anything. It was pretty cold on the skin, if he wasn't wearing his combat outfit he'd pretty much feel the constant draft of high altitude winds seeping through windows and walls. He heard the familiar sound of clanging, the sharp ringing of metal striking another piece of metal. Since he was in the middle of combat test and not a smithy or a car factory, he could only assume there was a fight nearby.
The sound came from above him, so he started to break into a dash, smashing through doors with a pulse powered shoulder tackle because he actually thought to use it unlike someone else we saw earlier in that day who was stupid. Minutes passed and he finally found the stairwell, popping it open and quickly grabbing onto the rail to stop himself from running full tilt.. He took a deep breath to calm down, when he felt an eerie creaking. “DAMNIT!” He shouted as he felt the supports to the modified staircase buckle underneath of him, metal beginning to twist and bend and fall off, warping the stairs as it slowly began to pull itself off the supports and threaten to collapse 400 feet to the ground with Jonah standing atop it.
Jonah made a break for it, running up
the stairs as each stair changed underneath him, making his footing
unsteady as he them slammed hard through the door, the stairs
crumbling down just behind him and falling off as he spilled through
the door frame, sliding a couple of feet on his chest as he took a
deep breath. “...Apparently someone didn't build this building up
to code.” He said, sitting back against the wall before closing the
door and taking a couple of deep breaths. He decided he should catch
his breath just a bit before continuing, just in case he has to fight
very soon, he shouldn't be out of breath.
This floor was strange, it was just the metal girders holding up the floors both above and below it. The outside was just bare, leading into the somewhat orange hue of the sun as it slowly slips down the horizon. He felt the wind gusting through the building to make it whistle at various pitches to match the speed. He checked his flanks, noticing that there were 4 different concrete pillars on each corner of the building. Each corner of the building holding a staircase. He could only guess that maybe one or two are still functional and actually not blocked off or completely un-viable to climb.
He checked his arm's indicator, checking the time to be roughly 3 hours before the end of the test, which he has guessed to be from noon to 8 PM as the overall timespan. He's been pacing himself, but it was pretty clear he needed to start getting a move on. He grabbed the pack strapped to his back and rested it in his lap, pulling the zipper open and reaching into the bag to pull out a sandwich, sealed in a plastic bag. It was a simple chicken salad with thousand island as a sauce to change the flavor, along with it he also had a plastic bottle of water. He avoided putting the bottle in the sun so he didn't have weird chemicals seep into the water. He knew this was probably just purified tap water... but you can't always bring the tap with you as you travel.. So he might at least consider this his last break before making the final break for the top of the tower.
“If that was your attempt at stealth, I'm afraid of what you sound like when you're loud.” A female voice rung behind him, it was unfamiliar sounding and he was in the middle of eating a sandwich. She approached from the side, his mouth full of food as he looked at her. She was wearing the standard combat outfit, but it was adorned by a red mantle wrapped and hooked around her neck to give it a raised collar, raised enough so he couldn't really see her mouth as she spoke. “...Did I interrupt something?” She asked, Jonah just finishing the sandwich quickly and standing up to face her. She had a short bob cut of brown hair framing her face, with green eyes. On her back was a fairly large scythe, a weird choice for a weapon user.
“Just... was on break.” He replied, drinking some of his water before capping it off and putting it back into his bag, slowly sliding his short sword from his belt, shield still attached to his left arm. She slowly unhooked the scythe from her back with a strap, spinning it once and holding it beside her. “Oh, my apologizes.” She half apologized, Jonah just sighing and crossing his arms over one another. “Did you want something...?” He asked her, she just smiled and reached down into one of her pockets to pull our 6 different cards. “I'll keep this simple, don't worry.” She said, Jonah cocking a brow out of curiosity as she explained.
“I was going to challenge you to a fight... but you may call me a gambler of sorts.” She said, smacking the handle of her scythe into the ground, showing the curved blade to have the number 21 etched onto the side. “Call me... 'Lady Luck.' ” She said with a sly smirk, Jonah just keeping his arms crossed as he lightly tilted his head to one side. “Don't tell me you are trying to have a gimmick...” Jonah asked incredulously. The girl just frowned, smacking the snath of the blade into the ground a couple of times.
This floor was strange, it was just the metal girders holding up the floors both above and below it. The outside was just bare, leading into the somewhat orange hue of the sun as it slowly slips down the horizon. He felt the wind gusting through the building to make it whistle at various pitches to match the speed. He checked his flanks, noticing that there were 4 different concrete pillars on each corner of the building. Each corner of the building holding a staircase. He could only guess that maybe one or two are still functional and actually not blocked off or completely un-viable to climb.
He checked his arm's indicator, checking the time to be roughly 3 hours before the end of the test, which he has guessed to be from noon to 8 PM as the overall timespan. He's been pacing himself, but it was pretty clear he needed to start getting a move on. He grabbed the pack strapped to his back and rested it in his lap, pulling the zipper open and reaching into the bag to pull out a sandwich, sealed in a plastic bag. It was a simple chicken salad with thousand island as a sauce to change the flavor, along with it he also had a plastic bottle of water. He avoided putting the bottle in the sun so he didn't have weird chemicals seep into the water. He knew this was probably just purified tap water... but you can't always bring the tap with you as you travel.. So he might at least consider this his last break before making the final break for the top of the tower.
“If that was your attempt at stealth, I'm afraid of what you sound like when you're loud.” A female voice rung behind him, it was unfamiliar sounding and he was in the middle of eating a sandwich. She approached from the side, his mouth full of food as he looked at her. She was wearing the standard combat outfit, but it was adorned by a red mantle wrapped and hooked around her neck to give it a raised collar, raised enough so he couldn't really see her mouth as she spoke. “...Did I interrupt something?” She asked, Jonah just finishing the sandwich quickly and standing up to face her. She had a short bob cut of brown hair framing her face, with green eyes. On her back was a fairly large scythe, a weird choice for a weapon user.
“Just... was on break.” He replied, drinking some of his water before capping it off and putting it back into his bag, slowly sliding his short sword from his belt, shield still attached to his left arm. She slowly unhooked the scythe from her back with a strap, spinning it once and holding it beside her. “Oh, my apologizes.” She half apologized, Jonah just sighing and crossing his arms over one another. “Did you want something...?” He asked her, she just smiled and reached down into one of her pockets to pull our 6 different cards. “I'll keep this simple, don't worry.” She said, Jonah cocking a brow out of curiosity as she explained.
“I was going to challenge you to a fight... but you may call me a gambler of sorts.” She said, smacking the handle of her scythe into the ground, showing the curved blade to have the number 21 etched onto the side. “Call me... 'Lady Luck.' ” She said with a sly smirk, Jonah just keeping his arms crossed as he lightly tilted his head to one side. “Don't tell me you are trying to have a gimmick...” Jonah asked incredulously. The girl just frowned, smacking the snath of the blade into the ground a couple of times.
”Uhh... Gimmick?” She asked, Jonah
just lightly planted his head against his forehead to pinch his brow.
“A moniker, a character, a nickname... stupid bullshit only people
in comics do.” He half complained at her, she just softly tilted
the scythe and frowned at the insults.
“...Hey, I earned that name legitimately! I consider myself to be really really lucky!” She argued at him, but he just kind of glared at her. “You could have always just gotten the name from a friend at a sleepover.” He joked at her expense, but she just sighed a bit. “...You live for this, don't you?” She said with a sigh, spinning her blade a couple of times, as Jonah noticed that underneath one of her eyes was a black spade, the symbol usually on a suit of playing cards. “I'm just pushing your buttons, really.” He replied, he thought it was stupid, but well... People be crazy, he has his own weird traits, just he happens to keep his cards to his chest... That pun was unintended.
“Well back to my original statement.” She said, trying to play it off coolly. “I would like to partake in a wager... Take a risk for a greater reward, a greater promotion and a greater chance to become a hero...” She stated emphatically, spinning her blade in her arms a couple of times to show a play of dexterity. “But I will warn you for playing against my game of chance and skill.. The house always has an edge.” She said, pointing the blade in a way to make the sun glimmer off of it. Jonah just paused, rubbing his chin some as she explained. “...Do all of your team have the playing card gimmick tattooed on their faces?” He asked, but she just gripped her blade in frustration.
“OH SHUT UP WITH THE GIMMICKS! ARE YOU GOING TO WAGER SOME CARDS OR NOT!?” She shouted, pointing the blade in frustration at him. “Woah woah... Calm down.” He stated, hands in front of him to get her to point the scythe down. “I uhh... Don't have any cards.” Jonah added, she slowly smirked, tucking away some of the cards before pulling out just two. “I guess you could say I feel both confident, yet take pity on you.” She said, pretending she just didn't lose her shit about 10 seconds before this. “I'll wager two cards against your zero... Let's see if you can take your meal ticket from the hands of fate herself!” She said, brandishing her blade, choking up on the grip and posing in front of him.
“...Uhh... Before that, have you seen a my friend? Short.. Very grumpy.. Red hair.. says 'fuck' a lot.. Anything at all?” He asked as she scanned both cards to be up for contention. She quietly pondered with a vocal 'Hmmm.' before spinning her scythe one last time. “No clue! Fight time! Now!” She said, leaping into the air to slash at him, but he quickly rolled to one side, gripping firmly onto his blade and pointing his shield almost instinctively to block a strike, the blade of the scythe bouncing away from him and over his head. She slid her hands down the blade, spinning with impressive speed to strike again, Jonah kept the block up, but realized the scythe was hooking behind him, the range was suddenly different and he didn't even notice, the blade bouncing away with pulse but also slid him back a couple of feet, making him roll as the girl choked her hands up the blade, diving forward to give a series of quick blows, Jonah being completely unprepared for any of them as he held his shield to his chest, his pulse was strong enough to hold them off, but his arm was already feeling heavier as his strength faded.
He stood back on his feet, dodging a couple of her swings, swinging his arm to realize he met no resistance, only air... It was like each swing was at a different distance, he couldn't even gauge how far away she was with her hits. When he was training with Caleb, he was taught about the concept of 'Zones Of Control.' The range of the user involving both their range of motion along with the range of their weapon. He learned about the traveling speed of the weapon getting faster the farther out, yet also requiring more effort. The best way to counter a long range fighter was to get closer to them, stopping the slower moving motion near the arms and making any strikes against him less powerful.
But every time he got closer, she changed the grip on her blade, making her swings faster, more concise, and harder to block. She was pretty good for her fairly low rank, she had quite a good reason why she was able to collect those cards... It wasn't power, or cheating... it was skill. Skill and unpredictability. He couldn't fight her up close, his blade was only about 16 inches in length and she probably had him beat in the agility apartment, that blade must've been made from some kind light alloy, letting her swing it so fast.. The good thing about her light and quick frame was the lack of power.. The speed of the scythe might have been scary, but he's been hit several times by it, his Pulse was still fairly steady, if a bit drained from the direct strikes.
He leapt up, doing a handspring and landing behind him in a low stance, gesturing for her to come after him. She responded with another charge, which he watched her arms specifically. 'From the top and to the right...' he thought to himself as he dipped below the strike, curling his hand to back with his elbow, smashing his shield straight into her knee. Sadly she didn't expect the blow, making the blow of steel cracking hard into the bone of her knee with an echoing thud. She felt the power fail from her legs as she stumbled onto her face, weapon smacking onto the ground with a ring as it bounces away from her. She got on all fours, looking back at him as she sputtered.
“That was a dirty trick yo-” She was cut off, as Jonah charged at the now weaponless girl. He leapt into the air, before smashing his boot into the back of her head. He charged his Pulse, drilling her face into the ground with a sick thud, the concrete cracking against her face was she was instantly rendered unconscious from the kick. Her arm indicator rang out that the fight was over. He sighed, lifting his foot off the back of her head, a tinge of guilt in his heart for using such a pragmatic move on someone... But a win was a win. He reached down, grabbing her shoulder and slowly rolled her onto her back. Blood was leaking from her nose as it was clearly broken, luckily, her teeth weren't busted and it appeared her face wasn't swelling up too bad... He managed to avoid giving her a major injury. He took the two cards from her pocket, scanning both of them as it accepted his victory from her wager.
He looked at her one last time, sighing as he sat down his second bottle of water from his bag beside her, hoping to help her out when she wakes up. He slowly approached the side of the building, looking at the sunset last time as he took a deep breath to calm his nerves and look at the sun one last time before he ventured off. A gust of wind blowing his jacket and long blonde hair as he stumbled back just a bit, the wind being stronger than he expected. He stuffed his hands into his pockets as he turned to approach one of the staircases with a completely not-fucking-destroyed set of stairs as he prepared to continue his ascension to the top. “Hopefully that's the last nutcase I have to deal with...” He muttered to himself, as he began to make his way up along the staircase and hopefully be combat free on his way to the top.
“...Hey, I earned that name legitimately! I consider myself to be really really lucky!” She argued at him, but he just kind of glared at her. “You could have always just gotten the name from a friend at a sleepover.” He joked at her expense, but she just sighed a bit. “...You live for this, don't you?” She said with a sigh, spinning her blade a couple of times, as Jonah noticed that underneath one of her eyes was a black spade, the symbol usually on a suit of playing cards. “I'm just pushing your buttons, really.” He replied, he thought it was stupid, but well... People be crazy, he has his own weird traits, just he happens to keep his cards to his chest... That pun was unintended.
“Well back to my original statement.” She said, trying to play it off coolly. “I would like to partake in a wager... Take a risk for a greater reward, a greater promotion and a greater chance to become a hero...” She stated emphatically, spinning her blade in her arms a couple of times to show a play of dexterity. “But I will warn you for playing against my game of chance and skill.. The house always has an edge.” She said, pointing the blade in a way to make the sun glimmer off of it. Jonah just paused, rubbing his chin some as she explained. “...Do all of your team have the playing card gimmick tattooed on their faces?” He asked, but she just gripped her blade in frustration.
“OH SHUT UP WITH THE GIMMICKS! ARE YOU GOING TO WAGER SOME CARDS OR NOT!?” She shouted, pointing the blade in frustration at him. “Woah woah... Calm down.” He stated, hands in front of him to get her to point the scythe down. “I uhh... Don't have any cards.” Jonah added, she slowly smirked, tucking away some of the cards before pulling out just two. “I guess you could say I feel both confident, yet take pity on you.” She said, pretending she just didn't lose her shit about 10 seconds before this. “I'll wager two cards against your zero... Let's see if you can take your meal ticket from the hands of fate herself!” She said, brandishing her blade, choking up on the grip and posing in front of him.
“...Uhh... Before that, have you seen a my friend? Short.. Very grumpy.. Red hair.. says 'fuck' a lot.. Anything at all?” He asked as she scanned both cards to be up for contention. She quietly pondered with a vocal 'Hmmm.' before spinning her scythe one last time. “No clue! Fight time! Now!” She said, leaping into the air to slash at him, but he quickly rolled to one side, gripping firmly onto his blade and pointing his shield almost instinctively to block a strike, the blade of the scythe bouncing away from him and over his head. She slid her hands down the blade, spinning with impressive speed to strike again, Jonah kept the block up, but realized the scythe was hooking behind him, the range was suddenly different and he didn't even notice, the blade bouncing away with pulse but also slid him back a couple of feet, making him roll as the girl choked her hands up the blade, diving forward to give a series of quick blows, Jonah being completely unprepared for any of them as he held his shield to his chest, his pulse was strong enough to hold them off, but his arm was already feeling heavier as his strength faded.
He stood back on his feet, dodging a couple of her swings, swinging his arm to realize he met no resistance, only air... It was like each swing was at a different distance, he couldn't even gauge how far away she was with her hits. When he was training with Caleb, he was taught about the concept of 'Zones Of Control.' The range of the user involving both their range of motion along with the range of their weapon. He learned about the traveling speed of the weapon getting faster the farther out, yet also requiring more effort. The best way to counter a long range fighter was to get closer to them, stopping the slower moving motion near the arms and making any strikes against him less powerful.
But every time he got closer, she changed the grip on her blade, making her swings faster, more concise, and harder to block. She was pretty good for her fairly low rank, she had quite a good reason why she was able to collect those cards... It wasn't power, or cheating... it was skill. Skill and unpredictability. He couldn't fight her up close, his blade was only about 16 inches in length and she probably had him beat in the agility apartment, that blade must've been made from some kind light alloy, letting her swing it so fast.. The good thing about her light and quick frame was the lack of power.. The speed of the scythe might have been scary, but he's been hit several times by it, his Pulse was still fairly steady, if a bit drained from the direct strikes.
He leapt up, doing a handspring and landing behind him in a low stance, gesturing for her to come after him. She responded with another charge, which he watched her arms specifically. 'From the top and to the right...' he thought to himself as he dipped below the strike, curling his hand to back with his elbow, smashing his shield straight into her knee. Sadly she didn't expect the blow, making the blow of steel cracking hard into the bone of her knee with an echoing thud. She felt the power fail from her legs as she stumbled onto her face, weapon smacking onto the ground with a ring as it bounces away from her. She got on all fours, looking back at him as she sputtered.
“That was a dirty trick yo-” She was cut off, as Jonah charged at the now weaponless girl. He leapt into the air, before smashing his boot into the back of her head. He charged his Pulse, drilling her face into the ground with a sick thud, the concrete cracking against her face was she was instantly rendered unconscious from the kick. Her arm indicator rang out that the fight was over. He sighed, lifting his foot off the back of her head, a tinge of guilt in his heart for using such a pragmatic move on someone... But a win was a win. He reached down, grabbing her shoulder and slowly rolled her onto her back. Blood was leaking from her nose as it was clearly broken, luckily, her teeth weren't busted and it appeared her face wasn't swelling up too bad... He managed to avoid giving her a major injury. He took the two cards from her pocket, scanning both of them as it accepted his victory from her wager.
He looked at her one last time, sighing as he sat down his second bottle of water from his bag beside her, hoping to help her out when she wakes up. He slowly approached the side of the building, looking at the sunset last time as he took a deep breath to calm his nerves and look at the sun one last time before he ventured off. A gust of wind blowing his jacket and long blonde hair as he stumbled back just a bit, the wind being stronger than he expected. He stuffed his hands into his pockets as he turned to approach one of the staircases with a completely not-fucking-destroyed set of stairs as he prepared to continue his ascension to the top. “Hopefully that's the last nutcase I have to deal with...” He muttered to himself, as he began to make his way up along the staircase and hopefully be combat free on his way to the top.
Jonah pushed the final door open onto
the rooftop of the building just as the sun sank below the sunset,
roughly 15 minutes before the test was actually over and came across
quite the scene. About 15 or so students sitting and having a
conversations with each other as they either sat on a helipad, near a
medical or mess tent, or standing to discuss things with each other.
His eyes scanned the area as he tried to check for familiar faces...
He slowly walked forward, descending down a staircase while keeping
his hands to himself so his key cards didn't spill out due to some
unfortunate theft or accident. Crossing between a couple of vent fans
as he noticed the familiar group of people sitting together at the
food tent together, sitting at a bench and eating in silence.
He broke into a soft jog, running at them as a member of Spectrum got in this way. “Your card count, sir?” He said, Jonah's running suddenly stopping as he hastily dug through his pockets, pulling out the two cards from his pocket and handing it to him. He grabbed them both, scanning them with a small scanning gun in his hand, both of them caused the LED screen to flash a green color, confirming both of them as legitimate. He smiled softly at him, patting him on the shoulder. “Good job, kid.” He said in congratulations, Jonah just smiles and nodded his head at him as he turned to walk off, wanting to scan other students cards. He walked up to the bench and finally sat down in front of all of his 6 other teammates.
They weren't in the best of shape, Lily had a huge bruise on the side of her head and a surprisingly pensive look on her face. She was quietly poking at a piece of steak on a plate with her plastic fork, barely noticing Jonah's existence. Morgan looked pretty cut up, but she had kind of a grin on her face... But oddly, her typical companion Erika was sitting on the opposite side of the table, looking away from her. Maria wasn't even there, Florence wasn't sitting at the table at all, he was actually sitting just outside of the tent now that Jonah thought about it. Robin looked like her typical bravado was completely eradicated, the only person who had a semblance of life in them was Caleb.
“Uh...” Jonah asked as he stared at everyone, the silence was uncomfortable and he felt like he was nearly choking on it. “Welcome back, champ.” Caleb said, patting Jonah once on the back as he looked down at his shorter teammate. “How many cards did you win?” He asked, Jonah lifted two fingers up into the air to point them at him. “Either you won two cards, or you're telling me to fuck off. I'm assuming the latter!” He said with a grin, patting one more time before going back to carve into his steak. “Thanks, man... Why is everyone so quiet?” He asked, kind of alluding to the awkward silence. “I assume everyone had a rough day.. I suggest you give them space.” Morgan added, looking at Lily mostly.
Erika slowly scooted her trey from the table, her food was finished and she had no incentive to stay. “Look... Let's talk when we get back to the dorm, okay?” Erika stated, slowly leaving the tent after dumping her empty tray into a nearby bin to dispose of it. “Okayyyy...” Jonah muttered to her turning back to the remaining people at the table. “Actually, I'm not hungry.” Lily said, standing up and leaving just after her. Jonah noticed she didn't even take a single bite into her steak, she was just gently poking it with the fork while she tried to slice into it with her knife.
“Did you run into any opposition?” Caleb asked Jonah, noting that Jonah didn't really have any bad wounds on him or anything. “I fought someone.. caught them off guard and managed to win back 2 cards... Maria had two cards, but I had no idea what happened to her.” Jonah replied, Caleb nodding some as he finished his last bite of the steak, but was not intending to leave the table just yet. “After Maria beat Lily and took our card, me and her won 1 fight a piece and managed to get enough cards for us to pass.” He said with a smile, pointing a thumb at himself with quite a bit of pride behind it.” Jonah sighed some, leaning back to check if Lily was standing outside of the tent, but she was nowhere in sight. He leaned back and sighed softly as he scooted the table up to look back at Caleb. “That's good.” Jonah mentioned, before Robin interjected. “Me and Morgan cleaned up shop, we managed to get 2 cards as well.” She said with a smile, Morgan reaching up for a high five, only to get met with Robin's confused stare. “Uhh... Did you want me to give you money?” She asked, before Morgan angrily grabbed Robin's wrist to force her into a non-consensual high five.
“Erika did just fine with Florence, but she's mad at me.” Morgan added, Jonah sighing some as he felt a oddly thick air on his shoulders, like a lot of things were either going wrong, or about to go wrong. “And Maria is...?” He asked, Morgan shaking his head some. “I haven't seen her, haven't heard from her... Nothing at all.” She added, Jonah frowning a bit as he rested his chin against his hand. “I hope she's okay.” He replied, as they both watched the students file out of the tent, them following suit as they noticed that Chancellor Lakewood was standing just on the very edge of the helipad, roughly 10 feet higher than the roof's floor level. “All students, Attention!” She said with a Drill Sargent esque tone.
All the students broke out with a run into a line, standing shoulder to shoulder in a grid a bit smaller than it was before. “I've gotten reports from our instructors that every single student has been accounted for. Every single person not standing before me has been returned back to the academy for either treatment, or prosecution.” She stated, softly tapping the bottom of her cane on the helipad. “Unfortunately we've had some unsavory folk that have caused a couple of incidents, and all people involved have been removed for questioning.” She said, softly spinning the cane and catching it in her hands. “This officially draws our test to a close, you will be sent home, processed and will be handled accordingly. The helicopters have a max limit of 8, not counting the pilots, I highly suggest that everyone be patient.” She said, as a helicopter descended just behind her, slowly slowing it's rotors to a stop.
She slightly lifted her long skirt to ascend up the stairs into the helicopter to take a seat for herself. Some of the students slowly approached the copter and climbed inside, before taking off. The rest of the students restlessly padding atop the roof, Jonah sitting against the ledge as Lily went to sit beside him, watching the other Slayers wait for the next helicopter to approach. “I just.. wish I did my job to the point I didn't feel this way.” Lily said with a half sigh, Jonah leaning back on his hands as he looked at her, her head down, with her short blonde hair draping over her eyes.
“Don't act like that...” He said, cautiously reaching his hand to softly place it on her shoulder, hoping to the maker that he doesn't slap him in the face. “You're smart, you're good at magic.. You are pretty Wolf, I lost to Maria..” She complained, but Jonah just lightly shook her shoulder with his grip, the next helicopter landing as more students filed on to leave. “I just.. Can't do this.” She said, softly gripping her head and squeezing to hope that the stress can settle by grabbing it.
Jonah stood up, putting his hands in his pockets as he looked down at her. “Well I don't care about that... Fights between people are just matters of pride.. They don't matter.” Jonah complained, the next helicopter taking off and causing another gust of wind. The next helicopter landed as Lily stood up, putting her hands into the pocket of her coat and leaving Jonah behind to sit there, waiting to leave for himself.
He broke into a soft jog, running at them as a member of Spectrum got in this way. “Your card count, sir?” He said, Jonah's running suddenly stopping as he hastily dug through his pockets, pulling out the two cards from his pocket and handing it to him. He grabbed them both, scanning them with a small scanning gun in his hand, both of them caused the LED screen to flash a green color, confirming both of them as legitimate. He smiled softly at him, patting him on the shoulder. “Good job, kid.” He said in congratulations, Jonah just smiles and nodded his head at him as he turned to walk off, wanting to scan other students cards. He walked up to the bench and finally sat down in front of all of his 6 other teammates.
They weren't in the best of shape, Lily had a huge bruise on the side of her head and a surprisingly pensive look on her face. She was quietly poking at a piece of steak on a plate with her plastic fork, barely noticing Jonah's existence. Morgan looked pretty cut up, but she had kind of a grin on her face... But oddly, her typical companion Erika was sitting on the opposite side of the table, looking away from her. Maria wasn't even there, Florence wasn't sitting at the table at all, he was actually sitting just outside of the tent now that Jonah thought about it. Robin looked like her typical bravado was completely eradicated, the only person who had a semblance of life in them was Caleb.
“Uh...” Jonah asked as he stared at everyone, the silence was uncomfortable and he felt like he was nearly choking on it. “Welcome back, champ.” Caleb said, patting Jonah once on the back as he looked down at his shorter teammate. “How many cards did you win?” He asked, Jonah lifted two fingers up into the air to point them at him. “Either you won two cards, or you're telling me to fuck off. I'm assuming the latter!” He said with a grin, patting one more time before going back to carve into his steak. “Thanks, man... Why is everyone so quiet?” He asked, kind of alluding to the awkward silence. “I assume everyone had a rough day.. I suggest you give them space.” Morgan added, looking at Lily mostly.
Erika slowly scooted her trey from the table, her food was finished and she had no incentive to stay. “Look... Let's talk when we get back to the dorm, okay?” Erika stated, slowly leaving the tent after dumping her empty tray into a nearby bin to dispose of it. “Okayyyy...” Jonah muttered to her turning back to the remaining people at the table. “Actually, I'm not hungry.” Lily said, standing up and leaving just after her. Jonah noticed she didn't even take a single bite into her steak, she was just gently poking it with the fork while she tried to slice into it with her knife.
“Did you run into any opposition?” Caleb asked Jonah, noting that Jonah didn't really have any bad wounds on him or anything. “I fought someone.. caught them off guard and managed to win back 2 cards... Maria had two cards, but I had no idea what happened to her.” Jonah replied, Caleb nodding some as he finished his last bite of the steak, but was not intending to leave the table just yet. “After Maria beat Lily and took our card, me and her won 1 fight a piece and managed to get enough cards for us to pass.” He said with a smile, pointing a thumb at himself with quite a bit of pride behind it.” Jonah sighed some, leaning back to check if Lily was standing outside of the tent, but she was nowhere in sight. He leaned back and sighed softly as he scooted the table up to look back at Caleb. “That's good.” Jonah mentioned, before Robin interjected. “Me and Morgan cleaned up shop, we managed to get 2 cards as well.” She said with a smile, Morgan reaching up for a high five, only to get met with Robin's confused stare. “Uhh... Did you want me to give you money?” She asked, before Morgan angrily grabbed Robin's wrist to force her into a non-consensual high five.
“Erika did just fine with Florence, but she's mad at me.” Morgan added, Jonah sighing some as he felt a oddly thick air on his shoulders, like a lot of things were either going wrong, or about to go wrong. “And Maria is...?” He asked, Morgan shaking his head some. “I haven't seen her, haven't heard from her... Nothing at all.” She added, Jonah frowning a bit as he rested his chin against his hand. “I hope she's okay.” He replied, as they both watched the students file out of the tent, them following suit as they noticed that Chancellor Lakewood was standing just on the very edge of the helipad, roughly 10 feet higher than the roof's floor level. “All students, Attention!” She said with a Drill Sargent esque tone.
All the students broke out with a run into a line, standing shoulder to shoulder in a grid a bit smaller than it was before. “I've gotten reports from our instructors that every single student has been accounted for. Every single person not standing before me has been returned back to the academy for either treatment, or prosecution.” She stated, softly tapping the bottom of her cane on the helipad. “Unfortunately we've had some unsavory folk that have caused a couple of incidents, and all people involved have been removed for questioning.” She said, softly spinning the cane and catching it in her hands. “This officially draws our test to a close, you will be sent home, processed and will be handled accordingly. The helicopters have a max limit of 8, not counting the pilots, I highly suggest that everyone be patient.” She said, as a helicopter descended just behind her, slowly slowing it's rotors to a stop.
She slightly lifted her long skirt to ascend up the stairs into the helicopter to take a seat for herself. Some of the students slowly approached the copter and climbed inside, before taking off. The rest of the students restlessly padding atop the roof, Jonah sitting against the ledge as Lily went to sit beside him, watching the other Slayers wait for the next helicopter to approach. “I just.. wish I did my job to the point I didn't feel this way.” Lily said with a half sigh, Jonah leaning back on his hands as he looked at her, her head down, with her short blonde hair draping over her eyes.
“Don't act like that...” He said, cautiously reaching his hand to softly place it on her shoulder, hoping to the maker that he doesn't slap him in the face. “You're smart, you're good at magic.. You are pretty Wolf, I lost to Maria..” She complained, but Jonah just lightly shook her shoulder with his grip, the next helicopter landing as more students filed on to leave. “I just.. Can't do this.” She said, softly gripping her head and squeezing to hope that the stress can settle by grabbing it.
Jonah stood up, putting his hands in his pockets as he looked down at her. “Well I don't care about that... Fights between people are just matters of pride.. They don't matter.” Jonah complained, the next helicopter taking off and causing another gust of wind. The next helicopter landed as Lily stood up, putting her hands into the pocket of her coat and leaving Jonah behind to sit there, waiting to leave for himself.
