[VS] Fishbowl Fist Fight!

[Vio]

With a grin upon his lips as always, a man of imposing stature strolled down the stone pier that projected into an open, tranquil lake of comparatively small size, but noticeable depth. A still field of deepest blue abyss whose bottom was not immediately visible, encircled perfectly by sheer cliffs of smooth, glossy rock of the most marvelous technicolour iridescence. Nature’s wonder, broken only by the stone walkway that jutted outwards from a manmade gateway to about a third of the way to the other side.

Hector straightened up as he neared the pier’s end, taking a deep breath of some of the freshest air he’d ever had the courtesy of filling his lungs with. The sun was ablaze — a ball of fierce yellow like the flames of a furnace breaching the lip of this enclosed pond, invigorating the colours of the walls which reflected upon the crystalline surface of the water. He didn’t exhale. Rather, the goliath of a man let out a whimsical laugh to the heavens as he pulled his shield from his back.

^{“This is a great place relax,” Mister Wayland chuckled:
“But… That’s really not why we’re here, is it, ay!”}

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Wayland Hector (4c516d)

[SnowDog]

It was hard to deny the Giant man, this place certainly was scenic. It was easy on the eyes during their approach to the pier and Marina tried to take it all in as she followed Hector towards the pier. She had entered the town looking for a sparring partner so she could keep her skills fresh, strung together, straw dummies could only keep her going for so long. Unfortunately no one was all too thrilled about wanting to try their hand at fighting against a fishman, given their natural strength. That was until she had bumped into Hector.

“No, it’s not.” She responded with a quick chuckle of her own, “I hope we don’t mess this place up too bad, it’s a real pretty locale.” As Hector readied his shield, the fishwoman took a moment to get some last minute stretching in before planting her feet and taking up her Karujitsu stance. She had never faced a giant before so this was certain going to get really interesting real fast. Let’s see if she was strong enough to at least push him back... “Alright, big guy, you ready?!”

After a quick moment of waiting, Marina charged forward towards the giant and leapt up into the air a few meters just in front of him. She offered Hector quite enough room to raise his shield and defend himself, but Marina was counting on this to happen. She just needed to see if she could budge him at all. Reeling her palm back, the piranha girl readied her Fin Palm Strike and aimed for his chest.

[Vio]

Hector’s smile grew wider.

“Ready? Always! Weihehehei!” It took little more time for his opponent to make the first move, rushing to meet him at melee range with what he could only assume was a devastating aerial strike. But that was the point of this, wasn’t it? He wasn’t about to allow her to score a direct hit. More importantly, he wanted to test her mettle against his metal, and now was the time. Raising his trusted shield, Obrońca, he shifted his heel into a ready stance as the blow came in.

The palm of a six-and-a-half foot Fishwoman struck true against the iron octagon wielded by the near twelve foot quarter-blood — enough immediate force to send a shock wave resonating through the metal and down the man’s arm. He strained. This was quite the blow. However, Hector wasn’t about to budge despite the girl’s strength nigh on matching his own brute force. Against all odds, he remained. An impervious wall to the assault she had delivered, but even he had to admit.

“Not bad! Now it’s my turn,” he yelled with gusto, flicking the shield in an attempt to throw Marina off and leave her airborne. His other arm raised high, ready to deliver a powerful downward strike to the Piranha person.

^{“Powalić!”}

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SPOILER: Click to show

{Powalić}
_{Leaping towards a target, preferably an airborne one, Hector raises an arm and delivers a powerful overarm strike to the intended target, launching them into the ground with speed and force. Though he usually targets opponents, this technique can also be used on thrown objects to bat them off course, though it typically won’t work on speeding projectiles such as arrows or bullets — he’s not fast enough to achieve such an effect.}

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Wayland Hector (4c516d)

[SnowDog]

Well she managed to at least predict him bringing up shield. When her palm connected with the metal she could practically feel resulting force travel through to the giant man. She flashed a quick toothy grin as she watched him give her no quarter, holding himself and not letting her gain even an inch of movement from her attacks. ”He doesn’t mess around!” the piranha girl thought shortly before she noticed his massive free hand raise up. Her smile quickly disappeared from her face as using his other hand to attack was something she somehow did not anticipate for. She was still in the air and couldn’t freely move away, an absolute sitting duck! “Oh crap!” She blurted out seconds before bringing her arms up and crossing them over her upper body to at least try and protect herself from Hector’s Powalić technique.

The moment of impact came crashing down on her like a rogue wave, his giant’s strength carrying on through her similarly to how her strike did on him, albeit she didn’t have the luxury of some ironclad protection. She didn’t even have time to react to being struck by his fist before she was violently thrown into the ground below, the stone walkway cracking beneath her upon impact. Marina quickly took a gasp as she almost felt all the wind escape her after that, somewhat sluggishly rolling away from Hector’s position to try and get back up on her feet.

“Not bad yourself!” she responded back, finally back up on her feet and wiping away at some saliva around her mouth that managed to spew out, “Let’s try and keep that intensity for the entire thing!” Kicking off from where she stood, Marina kept low as she tried to rush at Hector’s leg, attempting to try and grapple him and see if she could toss him around a bit.

”Gotta avoid leaping again...”

[Vio]

The blow had landed cleanly, knocking the Gyojin down into the stone pier with ease. However, she had at least managed to offer up a rudimentary defence, likely minimising the impact as best she could. Hector remained stationary, smiling and waiting for the woman to resume a fighting stance. There was no fun in beating someone who was already down, least of all in this situation.

Marina’s words only served to widen that smile.

^{“That’s the spirit,” Mister Wayland cried:
“Rzut… Tarczą!”}

Matching the Piranha’s engagement with one of his own, the goliath made use of the distance between them to spin on the spot, releasing the massive iron shield from his grasp at the climax of the second rotation to send it rolling forth like some sort of wheel. Disarming himself as an opponent rushed forth might have seemed a terrible idea to many, but Hector wanted to provide a suitable challenge. Besides, they were surrounded by his opponent’s element — he needed to make the most of his own while he could. He had no intentions of dodging this. A contest of strength between Full-blooded Fishman and Giant Descendant!

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SPOILER: Click to show

{Rzut Tarczą}
<sub>Grabbing his shield, Hector spins and tosses it towards his opponents like an enormous discus, which plows through enemies before looping back around towards him. Alternatively, Hector can roll the shield across the ground instead, though the attack has much the same effect.

Hector is using the latter version.</sub>

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Wayland Hector (4c516d)

[SnowDog]

So he threw his shield again, and the distance between her and him was closing in faster with each passing second. The piranha girl now understood the weight and durability of that shield now, which helped her to weigh her options. She still wanted to try and throw him down, so attempting to halt or throw the shield back at him would stop her dead in her tracks. She didn’t have time to fling a water shot at it to try and slow it down. It was time to get creative and hope another gamble pays off for her. As the spinning shield closed in, Marina shifted her weight to her left foot, her momentum carrying her as she tried to spin about on the small pier. Turning clockwise, she quickly threw her left arm forward into the face of the shield.

“Fin Palm Strike!” She roared out, attempting to shoot the shield away off the side of the pier as she continued rotating around along the pier. Unfortunately a maneuver like that threw her balance off and caused her to stumble forward slightly. Having lost that speed also meant she lost the previous momentum she had prior to trying to boot the shield away. She couldn’t let this hinder her, she had to press on or risk being thrown about again.

“C’mon, big guy! I’m gonna bring you down!” Marina couldn’t tell if such a boast was a taunt directed at Hector or some kind of self-spoken motivation she needed for herself as she attempted to close the gap, reaching out to get her arms wrapped around his leg for her next move.

[Vio]

Slam! Wayland Hector watched in surprise as his opponent momentarily redirected her strength against the shield, exploiting the absence of his secure grip as she slammed her palm into its face. It was a clever move; Gyojin strength knocked the rolling disk off course and caused it to clatter to the ground just a few metres further, serving two purposes. For one, he was now without a shield so long as they remained in their current positions. Second, and unbeknownst to Marina, the second half of his technique had been nullified.

The quarter-blood cracked a smile.

“You can certainly try, kid!” Hector replied, bracing himself for her next move. The Fishwoman had sacrificed a swift approach to knock away his shield, but came at him nonetheless. Tenacity in a combatant was something he could certainly admire, though. Wills unbending, the two were close to meeting head on. But Marina had a plan; one that he needed to find a way to avoid as she ducked down and aimed to grapple him by the leg. Unfortunately, she was lither — swifter than he. Reinforcing his stance with raw muscle, he braced himself in order to try and not be flipped or tripped, but how well it would go he did not know.

“I won’t topple that easily!” Raising his arm, he went to swipe and swat her away, but he wasn’t so sure that alone would be able to dislodge her and stop her from her ploy…

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SPOILER: Click to show

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Wayland Hector (4c516d)

[SnowDog]

There was a brief moment of panic as Marina watched the quarter blood raise his arm at her approach. Despite knocking away the aegis, all that muscle was going to act as his new shield against her assault. The gap was closing and at this range it was hit first or be hit. Then, in a sudden flash of inspiration, Marina taught up a new tactic to her approach, and Hector just provided her the means to carry it out! Having lost most of her initial speed in the last attack, she halted her charge and planted her feet the best she could along the pier they were both on, raising her hands high to catch Hector’s swinging arm.

”This better not turn me to fish paste!” She internalized as the quarterblood’s massive fist was about to strike. Utilizing her fishman strength, she was able to catch Hector’s arm with more ease than she was expecting, however the momentum and weight still drove her feet deep into the rocky pier beneath her. She gritted her teeth under the weight but she wasn’t going to let him throw her away. Soon that snarling grit turned to a satisfying sneer, her brows furrowing as she had Hector right where she wanted.

“I told you I was gonna bring you down!” She roared almost triumphantly at the giant man, “And you just gave me the means to do it!” She shifted her grip holding out his fist, wrapping her arms around his forearm to provide herself a better hold on him for this next maneuver. Heading back with all her might, she attempted throw him by the arm up and over her shoulders in a similar manner as one would try to suplex a normal sized individual. The piranha girl had strength, but hopefully it was enough to hoist a quarter-giant out of his position.

[Vio]

“Heh!?” Arm caught, Wayland Hector vocalised both his surprise and his excitement, grunting through gritted teeth and grinning lips as he felt his own muscular might meet its unusual match. If his arm were glowing steel fresh from the furnace, then Marina’s grip were hammer and tongs, shaping the metal as she saw fit. There was no denying it. This was the strength of the Gyojin, all the more entertaining as she wasn’t yet in her element.

“That’s more like it, lass!” the blacksmith bellowed enthusiastically as he felt his balance start to falter. She might have been smaller than he was, but that had given her the advantage, her entire form acting as a fulcrum as her movements controlled his own. He tried to resist the flow, but felt himself failing as his toes left the pier. Within the second, his body was airborne, laughing all the way as he arced overhead and was brought down like a hammer to the anvil.

Weight shifted.

Hm! It’s time to make things more interesting! Mister Wayland smiled, inhaling deeply as his body contorted, doing everything in his power to steer himself to a favoured side — his opponent’s favoured side. Now let’s see what a Fishman can do underwater! Beaming wildly at the prospect of a difficult brawl, what had been an even duel was about to sway itself heavily into Marina’s natural playing field.

Splash! Five hundred pounds of man and muscle struck the crystal blue of the lake, spraying squall in all directions like a cannonball striking the ocean’s surface. The water was warm, clear, deep; the perfect field against which to test the abilities of the aquatic. Even as he sank some two dozen feet down, he couldn’t help but feel refreshed at the prospect of what was to come. A disadvantage? No such beast! This was an ideal challenge — an exhilarating opportunity. Feet kicked down, stalling his descent as he looked up to the shimmering surface.

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SPOILER: Click to show

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Wayland Hector | #4c516d

[SnowDog]

"Holy hell, that worked!" The piranha girl thought with a massive toothy grin stretched across her face as she watched the water ripple as Hector plummeted into the pond. There wasn't time to gawk at the sight, she had to act fast, lest he rises up from the water like a mighty leviathan. Marina took a couple of steps back along the pier before running forward and diving into the agitated waters. This was her element, home-field advantage! She just had to maintain the momentum.

Once in the pond, Marina immediately located the giant, unmissable shape of Hector staring back up at her. Kicking her finned feet almost rhythmically, the piranha fish-woman bolted towards the half-breed readying her next technique. She clasped her hands together and raised her arms overhead before closing the distance further and bringing her fists down like a hammer-strike upon Hector, her movements flowing unrestrictedly within the water.

[Vio]

Marina had wasted no time in diving into the waters. If it weren’t for being submerged, Wayland Hector would have laughed — the deep bellowing laugh of a man thrilled to be on the underdog’s side. But laugh he could not, though lips curled into a smile all the same. Legs continued to work, though hardly was it a dash to meet his opponent head on. Within mere seconds it was clear to him just how heavily outmatched he was below the water’s surface.

Where the Giant quarter-blood barely ascended half his height, the pureblood Piranha woman swam the same length several times over. The superiority of the Gyojin race was on full display — denizens of the deep who would not be stayed by mere liquid. This was no longer a clash of strength bestowed from bloodline, but a test of mettle for the blacksmith whose one advantage had been stolen away and given perhaps thrice over to Marina. The test came sooner than anticipated, but even the water’s drag failed to stall Hector’s response as he primed his guard against the incoming blow.

Thwomp! Water muffled the sound in his ears as woven fists crashed into crossed arms. Teeth gritted, holding onto that enormous lungful of air he had taken before the plunge. Not just his arms, but his entire form felt the impact of Marina’s attack pass through, near enough as if the water itself was striving to become a part of the action. And who could blame it? Hector’s disadvantage was, all the same, an excellent vantage! By no means did he feel helpless, as proven by what followed.

Somehow enduring the blow, the goliath’s arms reached forth in an attempt to grapple the Gyojin, making the most of her extended arms to try and inhibit her movements — to inhibit her strength. The good graces of the water were only there to those who remained fluid and moving; stagnation would herald nothing. And yet, though the metalworker had been flung into the water, his blazing spirit was far from quenched!

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SPOILER: Click to show

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Wayland Hector | #4c516d