Big Burly Brawl (Kaie)

[Deleted]

Jump City was oddly peaceful today. Gideon Hart was greatly confused. This NEVER happened! Not a robbery, mugging or any sort of bizarre super natural incident all day! Gideon had been walking around Jump looking for some action all day, but nothing was coming up. Not a damn thing. He was beginning to get very frustrated. At this rate, if he wanted to get his fix of fighting as Calibur, he'd have to stir up some trouble himself. And that was always annoying. And Risky! He'd have to pick a nice place to vandalize where heroes or at the very least law enforcement could see, he probably had to think up some speech so he could rant about things AND he ran more of a risk of getting arrested! What a drag...it was always so much easier to just crash some common criminal's party and wait for a hero to show up to challenge.

The man looked up and around at his surroundings and saw something! Well, someone, actually. Up ahead down the road was an absolute MOUNTAIN of a girl. She had to be at least 10 feet tall! Gideon had heard of this girl before, one of the few heroes without a secret identity....because how in the hell was she gonna keep it? Things were looking up!

Gideon ducked into the nearest alley, cleared his mind and summoned his armor onto him. With a *snap* his sword also appeared in his hands. The Knight probably looked a little goofy as he booked it out of the alleyway and down the street toward the girl...not that he particularly cared what people thought.

"HEY, PIGTAILS!" he shouted, going for the...less obvious of the girl's features to get her attention. No need to be rude, now. "I challenge you to a fight; right here, right now!"

Calibur closed the distance between the two pretty quickly and stopped a few feet from her to catch his breath.

"Please?"

Might as well be polite about it, he figured.

[Gaunt]

Jump City was oddly peaceful, and Kaie Leary was greatly relieved. Between school and heroing, it wasn't too often she got a day to herself anymore. Days off were a precious resource, and she intended to make the most of it. There was a new DVD of classic Wrestlemanias out, and she intended to get her giant little mitts on it. Maybe she could show Vincent later, he needed to learn about the finer points of American culture.

Her train of thought was rudely derailed by someone shouting behind her. The giant turned, and was baffled to see a knight in full armor running after her. Was there another refugee from Vincent's time? What even were the odds of that? She knelt down to get a closer look, but her expression instantly turned sour when he shouted out his challenge. "Really? I jus got a day off, an ye wanna challenge me TODAY?" She groaned, standing back up. Just her luck! Months of patrols and no real fights, but she finally gets some time off and some chump wants a piece of her.

The "please" really threw her off. She wasn't expecting any sort of pleading to be part of the challenge. Maybe this guy wasn't all right in the head. "Look, heroes are supposed ta fight when they gotta, or for trainin and stuff. I ain't gonna fight ye in a busy street cause ye asked. Maybe somewhere where nobody gonna get hurt, but not here." Hopefully that would discourage him. It wasn't like he could magic them away to a safe place, right?

[Deleted]

"Yes, I challenge you TODAY!" Calibur responded, not understanding the question. He thought he had made the 'RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW' part of his challenge abundantly clear.

Apparently not.

Kaie voiced her displeasure with the current battlefield. Calibur looked around and realized, oh yeah, there were civilians around. He'd forgotten. Oops. Normally when he engaged someone in a battle, the only 'normal' people around were the police. And even then, they usually showed up after he had done his business or weren't all that big of a factor. Calibur agreed with Kaie's sentiment. He didn't want anyone that wasn't him or his opponent to get hurt...

"Very well, then! I suppose a change of locale would be a good idea. Name your arena of choice and we will fight there instead!"

The knight stood in front of the giant heroine, hands atop the hilt of his sword, with it's point touching the concrete. He was waiting for an answer. Clearly, Calibur wasn't getting what Kaie was putting out. But hey, at least he was being accommodating? Politeness got you a long way.

[Gaunt]

Kaie leaned her head back, groaning loudly. He still wasn't getting it. Why couldn't this happen when she was on patrol? At least then she'd be in a fighting mood. Right now, she was in a "chilling out and not dueling with nutcases in armor" mood. Normally she'd be all about that sort of thing, but today was Kaie Day, dammit! "Ye couldna do that ANY of the times I been on patrol?" Her patrols would have even offered more convenient spots, away from people. This was inconvenient on all sorts of levels.

He was still pretty insistent, demanding that she name her arena. Kaie thought, considering telling him to come back when she was on patrol. Unfortunately, that wasn't a real option. What if he ended up being the diversion that let a criminal get away? That would be pretty awful, and she couldn't allow it. "Fine, the beach. No many people there this time o' year." The sand should help soften his falls, if it came down to it. She didn't want to squish him into the pavement.

Kaie turned, starting to lead the way to the beach. He seemed honorable enough, this nutter probably wouldn't stab her in the back. At least she wasn't in her new cheer uniform, it woulda sucked if that had gotten damaged. She'd just gotten it, she couldn't afford to risk it. "Les get this o'er with."

[Deleted]

"All right then, the beach it is," Calibur said. He sounded quite pleased, in stark contrast to Kaie's annoyance. The two must have been quite the sight as they made their way to the new battleground; the man in full armor and the giant teenager. Calibur didn't care, he was aware of how silly he could look sometimes. He assumed Kaie also knew that.

The Knight had his doubts about the beach as an arena. Walking and, by extension, running could be a bit difficult on sand. Especially if you were wearing heavy armor like he was. But he figured, it wasn't like that wasn't a factor to his opponent, either. It was a bit of an equalizer, actually. It'd be easier for him to get a solid defense going if he could sink his feet into the sand a little. And the sand would probably impede some of the speed advantage the girl had over him, with legs that big.

"Yes...this will do nicely. Good choice!" he said as he surveyed the empty beach. Again, he sounded pretty jolly. "Before we begin, would you mind if I asked your name?"

Calibur began stretching as he waited for Kaie's answer. Didn't want to pull something during the fight. Bruises, bleeding and broken bones? Those were fine, but pulling a muscle? Unthinkable. His sword was stuck in the ground, hilt sticking up. Maybe the sand could be useful, after all.

Secretly, Gideon hoped this fight wouldn't disturb any crabs or turtles or anything. Even though they'd probably all migrated for winter or something.

[Gaunt]

Oh, X'hal gremplork it. He was actually going through with this! Kaie tried to keep her cool, heroes weren't supposed to be grumpypantses, but she was fuming under the surface. And now she'd made the detour longer by directing them to the beach. Why oh why hadn't she just said no? Then it would have been over with, but no, she had to agree to it. A hero couldn't really go back on a promise, so she was stuck now.

His relentless cheer wasn't helping her mood any. How dare he be so happy when she was this mad? Was he just the worst at recognizing emotions or was Kaie hiding it really well? She'd never been good at concealing her thoughts, he was probably just really oblivious. And rather than being discouraged, he approved of her choice of locale. It was enough to drive her nuts!

And on top of it all, he didn't even know her name. She was just getting used to being a local celebrity, and here was some villain challenging her without the decency of having heard of her. It was enough to make her big blood boil. "Me name's Rumble, I'm a Titan. What ye wantin ta fight me for if ye don' even know who I am?" Kaie did her best to make her face say "What the hell is wrong with you?" Maybe he'd start getting the point and back out.

Okay, maybe he had one good idea. Kaie mirrored his stretching out, kicking up a bit of sand with her movements. She didn't necessarily have to move that hard, but anything that might psych him out would help. The giantess took a fighting stance, eying the sword. That could be a little troublesome. Her body was dense enough that she wasn't worried too much about serious cuts, but Ma would be FURIOUS if she tore up her outfit. Giant clothes were expensive, and Ma didn't like the idea of Kaie walking around showing more skin than was strictly necessary.

[Deleted]

"RUMBLE! There we go! Sorry, I'd seen ya before on the news, but couldn't place name to face," Calibur said, slapping his helmet in a sort of 'I'm a dolt!' gesture. The helmet clanged loudly, like a pot that had been hit with a big wooden spoon. "I want to fight you because you'll be a challenge. You're big and strong and a Titan to boot. I want to see how strong I am compared to you. And hey! You can think of this as practice for any future ne'er do wells you need to layeth the smackdown on because they're...I don't know, stealing cats from old ladies or jaywalking on the way to burn down an orphanage. Something despicable like that."

The knight shrugged, deciding to let Kaie come up with her own motivation. He finished up his own stretching, happy to see Rumble reciprocating. Maybe he could win her over to getting into this little sparring session yet! Emphasis on maybe.

Not too long after, the knight felt as if he had stretched out enough and was all limbered up, ready to go. He retrieved his sword from the sand and dusted it off, before the blade seemed to melt into liquid metal and then reform as a big, sturdy Scottish Claymore. With a strong grip on the heavy blade's hilt, Calibur assumed a defensive stance and shouted over to Kaie:

"Alright! Since I've bothered ya so badly, I'll let you have the first strike! C'mon, Rumble! Come on and deck me if you think you're tough enough!"

The gauntlet had now truly been thrown.

[Gaunt]

Okay, the flattery was helping a little. Kaie liked being reminded that she was a badass hero, and he was making some decent points. Maybe this would be alright. She did enjoy the fighting side of heroing, after all. It was the funnest part by far. But that didn't take care of all her concerns. First was the problem of that sword. She didn't like getting cut, and she didn't like ruining a perfectly good set of clothes. Both were a possibility here.

The other problem was the size difference. Sure, that might not matter, but she had to be careful. Even with his armor, Kaie was strong enough to crumple steel like paper. She couldn't risk killing the guy, no matter how annoying he was. Either he was insanely overconfident, or he had some sort of power she didn't know about. "Ye sure ye want me ta hit ya hard? I can lift a bus, I might crush you." The giant held back, not wanting to make the first move. It was his idea, he might as well start them off.

"Look, you can start. Just be careful wi' that sword, giant clothes are expensive. I don' want all this gettin cut up." There, a bit more discouragement. This was pretty much his last chance to change his mind, but she only half hoped he took it by now.

[Deleted]

"Well, then it's a good thing I'm not a bus, then!" Calibur replied to Rumble's warning. He was joking, of course. But only a little bit. "If I was afraid of getting hurt in fights, I would've given this thing up a while ago...or moved to another city. I'll be fine. Try not to hold back too much, okay? Cuz I sure won't! Except for the clothes thing, though. I'll do my best on that."

So, the Knight would get the first shot against the Giant. Calibur stood there, watching Kaie, sizing her up, planning his first move. How was he gonna even begin an offensive against such a huge target? Well, the obvious answer was "Hit hard and hit often" but how was he gonna do THAT? The Fang of Agilulf presented so many options. He hadn't really gotten creative with it yet...but maybe now was the time to get those creative juices flowing.

Calibur tightened his grip on the sword's hilt as the claymore blade melted again and began to reshape and reform, growing bigger and bigger. Eventually, Calibur was holding something that looked more like a ripped off helicopter propeller or a spiky haired JPRG character's sword than a weapon that should actually be used by a normal human. Somehow, Calibur was able to hold and lift this giant sheet of metal, hoisting it onto his shoulder.

With a cocky sounding chuckle and a crack of his neck, Calibur rushed forward at Rumble. He came to a stop a good few feet away from her, swinging the sword off of his shoulder blunt side first and aimed at the giant's midsection.

To a random onlooker, this whole situation probably looked pretty ridiculous. And it was.

[Gaunt]

Kaie groaned. And people said she sucked at banter! This guy's lines were so corny they made Silver-age stuff look like comedy gold. Or maybe she was just grumpy, but either way she was having none of it. The sooner she shut this putz up, the better. Kaie brought her dukes up, staring him down. Okay, so he had a shapeshifting anime sword, but she'd learned a thing or two about Giant Kombat from that snake guy. She could take him.

Okay, she had seriously underestimated that one. Kaie stumbled back, letting out a wheezing breath. She had actually felt that! She shook her head to clear it, readying for the next attack. She knew now he was stronger than he looked, but just because he could dish it out didn't mean he could take it. She'd have to be seriously careful with him, one wrong move and she might crush the poor bastard.

Kaie rubbed her stomach, grimacing. That might even leave a bruise. She'd have to be careful next time. This guy packed a wallop, but he didn't seem to have superspeed and that weapon telegraphed all over the place. She wouldn't let it hit a soft target next time. It might bruise, but giant bones were strong enough not to break from a little hit like that. Kaie clenched a fist, ready to punch right into the flat of the blade next time it came for her. Maybe if she could break his sword he'd back down.

[Deleted]

To Calibur's surprise, Kaie seemed to yield to his strike. Not that anyone could see it through his helmet. He'd expected to be able to hurt the big girl with his big buster sword, but he hadn't quite expected her to stumble back and be winded from it. Maybe she wasn't as tough as she claimed? Maybe he was stronger than he realized? Either way, Calibur felt like his odds were pretty good for this fight. Or at least better than he'd originally thought. Still, he'd better not underestimate Rumble. That'd get him nowhere.

Rumble was back on her feet, ready for his next move. Calibur stood ready, planning his own next move. Now that she'd seen what she was up against, a simple up front attack like that one wouldn't cut it. She had a huge strength advantage over him, so brute force would not be the best way to win this attack. Even though he wasn't too fond of it, Calibur figured he'd have to be a lot more sneaky and devious to come out on top. Or, at the very least quicker.

The Fang of Agilulf shrunk from the ridiculously over the top size it was currently at to a much more manageable (and plausible) longsword. Calibur took a step back before charging forward at Rumble, yelling a battlecry. But, just as he was in range to deliver another blunt strike to Kaie's sizable midsection, Calibur ducked and rolled behind her. Still in a crouching position, he aimed another blunt swing at the back of the girl's knee.

Sneaky? Yes. Effective? Well, that remained to be seen.

[Gaunt]

This guy seemed bound and determined to make things difficult for her. Just as Kaie was getting ready to break that big sword of his, he made it smaller. She wasn't so sure about hitting a smaller target like that, precision had never been her best attribute. But she had to try. Anything to end this before she ended up squishing him. She'd gone fifteen years so far with no squishings, she wasn't going to break that perfect record now.

Kaie took a swing at the sword, but then it wasn't there anymore. Neither was he, for that matter. Where was he? She looked around, then she felt something smacking against the back of her knee. This time, it was different. The buster sword had had the mass to shift her a bit, but this thing was a toothpick by comparison. It was more an annoyance than anything. Kaie kept her footing, grumbling. She had to be careful about turning, he was like, right there. She might step on him. So instead, Kaie raised her foot and stomped in front of her, where she could see he wasn't. It was enough to kick up a massive cloud of sand, and maybe even enough to knock him off his feet.

[Deleted]

The sword made impact with Rumble with a loud THWACKing noise. Calibur felt pretty good about that attack from the sound it made...but that was the only sound. Barely a grunt or anything from Kaie. That was a bad sign. In a vain effort to try and do some damage, the Knight swung the sword a few more times, only to be blinded by a big cloud of sand and dust. Well, not ACTUALLY blinded, the helmet kept all of the sand out of his eyes but damned if he couldn't see anything.

Using her environment and her size to her advantage. Only HE was inconvenienced by the sand cloud. To Rumble it was no issue at all. If Calibur didn't know any better, he'd say this brawny teenage girl was a tactical genius. But he had his own advantage. Sure, he couldn't see out of the cloud...but she'd have a tough time looking in.

Calibur just now came to the realization of the scale of this fight. If what normal people called a big sword was doing nothing to this girl, he'd have to stick with the ridiculous and oversized weapons the Fang and his imagination allowed him to brandish if he wanted to win. Hopefully hidden by the sand, the sword reformed to its earlier anime-ish proportions. And then he waited. If he made an irresponsible move, he'd pay for it a whole lot more than she would if she did so. Plus, wasn't like he could do anything with this cloud in the way anyways.

You never climbed a mountain without a plan and you definitely never fight one without a plan, either. So that's what he was doing: biding and planning.

[Gaunt]

Alright, that had bought her some time. The repeated ineffectual slaps at her leg had been kinda funny, but really they'd been more annoying. Kaie was glad to be rid of them. But now, she had a different problem. The ground below her was masked in a haze of sand, she couldn't tell where this chump was. If she moved, she'd run the risk of stepping on him. Kaie paused for a moment, considering her options. If she waited for the sand to dissipate, she'd still be standing there when he could see again, leaving her open to attack. If she tried to attack, she'd risk squishing him. That didn't leave a lot she could do.

Then, an idea struck her. Kaie clapped her hands with all of her strength, making a thunderous noise and sending out a shockwave that blasted the sand away. It was a hell of a wind, strong enough to knock an unprepared human off their feet, and enough to at least stagger most hit by it. She turned to face him, hoping that would buy her enough time to prepare for whatever came next. Maybe she'd get a chance to smash his sword this time!