Round 3, Fight 11: Neo Scotland vs. Neo Hong Kong

[Cardi Doorl]

THIRD GUNDAM FIGHT
ROUND 3, FIGHT 11
NEO SCOTLAND vs. NEO HONG KONG

- Madison Square Neo-Garden -

December 12th

The Gundam Fight returned to Madison Square Neo-Garden, where the first match of the finals was fought. Today, just as on that day, the venue overflowed with spectators. Whoever owned the place would never have to work again.

The arena was, again, enormous, being a mockup of a boxing ring, with a forcefield sizing in at a cubic kilometer and a half, protecting the audience from the power of the clashing Gundams.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I hope you're ready for excitement this evening!" boomed the cheerful announcer's voice, "Tonight's matchup pits some of the most gripping opponents in the finals!

"In one corner, we have the Claymore Gundam, piloted by Neo Scotland's Alexander MacAlpin."

The audience roared. The excitement was so palpable, so visceral, that they were going crazy to see either fighter, whether they were rooting for it or not.

"His opponent will be the Gun-fu Gundam, piloted by Neo Hong Kong's Ning-qiu Ouyang!"

The crowd's wild adulation didn't change - at least not in sheer volume - at all. They were expecting a hell of a fight between these two.

"Will MacAlpin bring honor to Neo Scotland, or will Neo Hong Kong's fighter put an end to her losing streak tonight? Either way, I can't wait to see how this one plays out!"

[Ascension]

Alexander gripped the beam musket tightly as he entered the arena. It was a relatively small ring, with nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. Moira thought that he would finally have a chance to actually hit something with the beam musket. He thought he was going to be picked apart by his opponent's much more accurate and much faster-firing pistols. It was a miracle that the Gundam had been able to be repaired fully from his last encounter with ranged weapons. He certainly wished this could be a good old fashioned physical fight.

The near-loss against the English sow still stung too deeply for him to consign himself to defeat, though. He certainly wasn't planning on going down without a fight. There was always a chance, however slim... and so far Hong Kong's fighter certainly wasn't having the best of luck in the finals.

"Ah'm ready..." he rumbled, his stony face not showing an ounce of concern.

[Ziryab]

Losing streak my ass! Ning glowered inside her cockpit at the announcer. Taking away any earlier mirth she had at the sight of the Claymore Gundam's beam musket.

In a ring this small with no cover and probably such a slow reload time like an actual musket... against her beam pistols? Wholly laughable.

Much like a boxer before a fight, Ning's Gun Fu Gundam stuck to a corner of a the mock ring. It's arms draped atop the beam ropes and its back to the turnbuckle generator as it waited for the start of the match.

"Ah'm ready," went the rumble of her opponent's voice. Sounding like a rockslide to her ears.

The GunFu Gundam shot up into the air and landed almost in the center of the ring. A flurry of exhibitionary kickboxing moves of kicks, punches, elbows and knees went into the air as the mobile fighter's body twisted and turned. Next it began to bounce on its feet, juking, ducking and dodging left and right before letting loose a blinding storm of combo punches.

With a swift toss of her hips to one side, the handle of her beam jian flew into the air. Twirling it her right hand like a baton before holding it behind her back.

Her left hand pointed at Alexander in his Gundam before making a thumbs down gesture.

"Ready"

[Ascension]

Alexander shut off his comm link with his support team.

"Moira's going to kill me..." he muttered.

Then he tossed the beam musket aside.

"Yer little display thar is impressive," he said on a private communications line with Ning, "thut Ah wull admit. If'n ye wanted, ye could run aroon' th' ring takin' pot shots at me with yer pistols an' Ah prolly wouldn't stan' a chance o' catchin' ye... but Ah know ye're an actress, an' Ah know an easy victory like that... well, it wouldn't look very impressive. What say ye to th' idea o' havin' a proper fight here? Sword agin sword. A fight worth watchin'. A fight worth cheerin' about."

Alexander... and his Gundam... reached for his heat claymore, his fingers tightening around its grip. If he was playing his cards right, he'd be needing it in a few seconds.

[Ziryab]

"Uhhh..." she looked to the mini-panel to her left displaying her crew. All they could do is shrug their shoulders in confusion as well.

It was easy enough to understand what the Neo Scott wanted. Tossing aside his comically looking musket and pulling out a two-handed heat sword. But...

What did he even say? Ning rewound the message again.

"Told ya we should have bought that translator from Neo England," one of the crew men turned to another.

Finally the Gun Fu Gundam, still in its earlier pose, rotated its left wrist. Giving Alexander the thumbs up for his suggestion.

Just in case..., Ning told herself, deciding not to toss away her own pistols just in case.

But until then..., the arms of the Gun Fu Gundam switched positions. A closed, left fist rested at the small of its back while the right arm, beam jian in hand, pointed towards the Claymore Gundam.

"You seem like a nice enough man," Ning finally replied. "Surely you were raised to never disappoint a lady as well," her Gundam began to stalk around the ring. Only its right side shown to Alexander as the beam jian pointed towards its head. Its beam unignited.

"Let us hope that two-handed toothpick of yours can stand up to a beam blade, hmm," she grinned viciously.

[Ascension]

((Actually I'm using the one-handed basket-hilted claymore at the moment. The two-hander is the beam claymore I use in Fury Mode. It's a BFS, my finishing technique, and super-special awesome. My current sword is just... pretty average, really.))

"Th' engineers o' Neo-Scotland may be thrifty, but they aren't foolish! Ah would be willin' t' match this blade with any sword in th' entarh tournament! Th' real question is... Kin ye stan' oop t' me?"

Alexander drew his sword, its heated blade glowing red-hot. With a war-cry, he charged towards the Gun-Fu Gundam.

[Ziryab]

((Ah. Thanks for the clarification. At least it's in fury mode. Would've been saddened if he didn't have the expected two-hander. =p))

The tip of Ning's rose pink eased its way across her lips at the glow of Alexander's heat claymore.

Bending her arm at the elbow the hilt of her beam jian retreated almost to her shoulder. While the Claymore Gundam charged the Gun Fu Gundam began to bend at the knees. Squatting until its head was chest high to its opponent.

Right side of her body facing Alexander, Ning's right foot scooted forward followed by the weight of her body and finally her arm thrusted forward. The blade of her beam jian igniting at the last second as she aimed at the Claymore Gundam's heart.

Undoubtedly, any astute fans of Ning or wuxia movies she had a part in would easily recognize her opening move. In fact, Ning would perform the very same moves if Alexander was alert enough to avoid being skewered.

Though her foe, in the film, had barely dodged the thrust it would be followed up. A flick of her wrist to one side to try and catch the dodging opponent. A turn of the wrist so the blade's edges were vertical as he made an upward stroke. Then a fierce diagonal downard stroke. Her right arm colliding with the left side of her waist as she exposed her right shoulder to which she would immediately use for a shoulder charge.

Problem is, would Alexander recognize and understand what was coming?

((Just broadcasting a few of her moves ahead of time. Consider it sort of like the numerous punches and kicks thrown only to have them blocked, parried and/or dodged with her shoulder rush being the end of her attack.))

[Ascension]

Alexander was not a student of film, nor was he trained in the same style of combat Ning was accustomed to. He reacted to the incoming thrust according to his training... with his shield. The targe took the hit and the Claymore shuddered from the impact. Immediately the beam started burning through the thin shield.

*Oh crap,* Alexander thought, *forgot about the beam.*

The valiant little shield would hold for at least a few seconds more, and hopefully that would be all he would need to get the Gun-Fu Gundam off of him. He aimed a low horizontal slash at his opponent's legs, hoping to encourage Ning to back off.

[Ziryab]

"Not very brave are you?" Ning condescended towards him as her beam jian impacted his shield. Her arm forced to bend at the elbow before straightening again. Pushing as she decided to just skewer the targe for her own amusement rather than try and kick it aside.

Ahn ah an, she watched the Claymore Gundam's sword arm move. Her view barely obstructed by the chest size shield as the sword arm aimed low for her legs.

Immediately the blade of the Gun Fu Gundam's beam jian deactivated as it was piercing the shield, allowing Ning the chance to jump without having to relinquish her weapon. Jumping in place her knees tucked in tightly to her body, reaching as far as her chest while her hands shot into the air. Easily she was managed to avoid having her legs taken from her and on the way down her beam jian ignited again as she brought her right arm down in an overhead slash.

[Ascension]

((Oh, I am so sorry, I have NO IDEA how I missed seeing this post!))

*She certainly has the advantage in maneuverability...* Alexander, master of the obvious, thought to himself as the Gun-Fu Gundam literally jumped over his blade, *...but she can't fly... and what goes up...*

He raised his heat claymore just in time to intercept the beam jian arcing downwards towards his head. At the same time he lashed outwards in front of himself with his left arm, hoping to skewer his opponent with the damaged targe's still intact heat spike as she fell back towards earth.

"To th' contrary, lass, ah meet mah problems head on... ye leap outta th' way like a jumpin' bean. Which one seems t' be th' coward here?"

[Ziryab]

((Bah, don't worry. Figured you were tossed against a wall and beaten up by pre-Thanksgiving exams.))

"And yet--" Ning began to reply as she came down. Her feet violently thrusting forward to slam into the Claymore Gundam's targe. Barely spaced apart wide enough as they were aimed near the center. The inside of her heels uncanninly close to the targe's heatspike.

The jolt of pain at her feet reflexively caused her to kick in the thrusters in the Gun Fu Gundam's feet, aiding to her intended manuevar to simply rebound off the targe. With the use of her thrusters she rebounding herself backwards and back into the air. Further away from Alexander than she had intended.

"Yet you hide behind a shield!" turning on the rest of her mobile fighter's thrusters as she somersaulted even further backwards towards a corner of the ring. Landing atop one of the giant turnbuckles that created the ring's protective beam ropes.

Metal scratched against metal as her Gundam mimicked her. Rubbing one foot against another then observing the minor melting damage dealt there.

"And if you see no wrong in your shield then surely there is no wrong in my dodging." The Gun Fu Gundam immediately dove forward at the Claymore, landing into a roll just spaces ahead of it as Ning intended to slash at her opponent's legs right at his ankles once she stopped.

[Ascension]

The Gun-Fu's speed and maneuverabilty was making Alexander look like a fool, and he was fully aware of it. As his opponent somersaulted backwards off of his shield and onto the turnbuckle, he realized that he might have to engage Fury Mode soon. He would try to hold out as long as he could before resorting to that. The high-output mode put a great deal of stress on the Gundam's frame, and he had quite frankly been overusing it in the tournament's early fights.

As the Gun-Fu rolled towards him again, he anticipated a low blow, so he dropped into a crouch, holding his targe in front of the Gundam with his left knee bracing it, the right leg back out of the way, leaving his right arm free to swing the heat claymore.

"Thar's a difference 'tween a man who kin take a punch t' th' jaw and a man who moves his head outta th' way!"

[Ziryab]

Coming out of her roll and on both her knees, Ning quickly reset her sights on Alexander's sword arm. Quickly she bypassed the targe before her. Leaving her beam jian unignited until the hand of her diagonal upwards swing flew passed it, finally activating the emerald green blade to intercept an incoming strike.

"And you believe that difference to be?" Her voice strained under the force of Alexander's sword arm. Barely able to intercept in his swing in time as he immediately countered her attack the moment she dived forward. She held out her free hand, wanting to aid her arm blocking the heat sword but desiring not to leave herself open due to the spike on the shield.

In the few seconds it took to decide her free hand went to her jian holding wrist to support it while slipped on leg out from under her to weakly kick the side of the targe lest her opponent tried to skewer her again.

[Ascension]

((This time I was getting tossed against the wall by exams... ))

"Th' difference 'tween a man and a mouse!" Alexander roared.

Maintaining pressure on the Gun-Fu's jian, he attempted to rise from his crouched position. He was thrown slightly off balance by the weak kick to his shield, but he did manage to bring his right leg forward a bit. He still wasn't standing upright, but his position shifted to fully static crouch to one that left him the ability to maneuver.

((The position I want him in is surprisingly hard to describe. I could do an MSIA reenactment like CHASER did if you'd like. If I use my FA Gundam It'll even have removable armor for Suuuuuupaaaaaaaaa Mode! Whee!))

[Ziryab]

((Ah, what the hey! I wouldn't mind seeing another diorama at all. ))

No no no, Ning clinched her teeth even tighter as she was being pressed down upon. If Alexander could manage to stand, she shook her head. She wouldn't let him have that much of an upper hand on her.

"That's all fine and dandy," she strained from the pressure the Claymore Gundam was placing on her. "But I am no man!"

The Gun-Fu free leg began to lift upwards until its knee was parallel to its head. Quickly it angled until the bottom of it's foot pointed at the Claymore Gundam's sword arm and moved it as close as she could.

"And if that means I'm a mouse then--Squeak squeak!" remarking before turning on the thrusters in her Gundam's foot.

[Ascension]

((And as I enter Finals Week I'm becoming very well acquainted with that wall I'm being beaten against... Sorry about the continued delays...))

The foot thrusters really didn't do a substantial amount of damage to the Claymore Gundam's heavy armor, but the sudden burning sensation caught Alexander off guard. He flinched. His locked right arm faltered. The beam jian began to gain the advantage in the battle of the blades.

Alexander grimaced, thinking, *This cannae be good...*

He made a lunging grab with his left hand, trying to grab hold of the Gun-Fu's free leg. Leaving Ning with even one appendage unaccounted for was too dangerous to be excused.

[Ziryab]

Uh-oh, Ning realized too late. Distracted by the respite she find from Alexanders sword arm. She tried to pull back her leg as Alexander grasped for it. Managing to take hold of her leg by the ankle.

Though glaring at her opponent's offending hand, Ning ignored his grasp for the moment as she gained leverage against his heat claymore, meanwhile abensentmindely letting her ankle twist and jerk in his grip. A sidelong glance given to the scene as she tried to tap his wrist with her toe. If she could angle her foot fast enough she could just ignite her thrusters right against his wrist if not in the palm of his hand.

[Ascension]

Good, he had the leg, although Ning was struggling. Now all he needed was a distraction...

"Mine five! Front t'wards enemy! Command detonate!"

Claymore mine #5, positioned more or less in the center of his torso on his bandolier, sent a blast of shrapnel in the Gun-Fu's direction. As soon as it had fired, Alexander disengaged his blade and quickly swung his heat claymore at the Gun-Fu's leg, aiming for a point fairly near the point at which he gripped it, but not so near that he would risk slashing his own hand.

[Ziryab]

"And you... and you call yourself a man," Ning hissed between hungry gulps of breath.

"Pah!" She back her closer to beam turnbuckle as the Claymore Gundam still loomed in the rings center. The Gun Fu Gundam was just now coming out of its curled position as it reached for the turnbuckle.

Ning continued to deeply inhale the air inside her cockpit. Not just trying to normalize herself from the blow she felt in her chest--the exploding landmine attached to her opponent's bandolier--but also the continued sting that traveled down her leg starting just above her ankle.

"Hiding behind a shield now defending yourself with mines?" she huffed. "Seems I'm the one fighting more like a real man in this swordfight than you," she mocked with an accusing finger pointed at him as she tried not to blind herself with the pain she was feeling.

Almost naturally her body had recoiled from the explosion that had detonated on her Gundam's chest. So close to her cockpit that even now her ears were still ringing. Without effort she slimply rolled backwards in a ball as a result which if she thought about it seemed odd at first until seconds later pain shot throughout her entire foot, throwing her body into a roll towards the ring's corner. Taking a moment to look down then back at Alexander she understood that Scott had deftly removed her foot with a cut from his sword. Bad enough Michael put so much torture on her ankle but at least he was remotely kind enough to not lob the blasted thing off.

"At this rate I think that little boy of an Irishman is more of a man than you," she managed a laugh.

[Ascension]

"Whil' Ah admit that insalt stings," Alexander said in a playful tone as his Gundam rose to its full height and began to stride slowly in the fallen Gun-Fu's direction, "Ah must say Ah've heard wairse froom me ahn crew. Is this th' fury of a woman scorned? If'n it be, Ah moost say Ah think Hell really has th' advantage."

Alexander came to a halt in the corner of the ring, standing somewhat arrogantly over his prone opponent.

"Ya see, Miss Ning, the prollim is this. In mah last fight Ah fought with honor... and it got me head knocked off with a stick. This time aroon', Ah've decided that it's wairth th' loss o' some of me pairsonal honor t' presairve me national honor. If'n th' only way t' ensure Neo-Scotland's triumph is to fight a wee bit dirty ever now an' again..."

Alexander lifted his heat claymore high, ready to bring it down in a "killing" blow to the Gun-Fu's head.

"So be it!" he shouted, and the blade scythed downwards.