Mort vs Zero

[MORT MACHIAVELLI]

Stepping into the arena, the bespectacled, dark-haired youth looked around with disinterest. He had come here to hone his skills, not to put on a performance for a bloodthirsty audience. Still, he needed experience, and this was the best place to go for experience. The Marine Captain stepped forth, stopping whilst still within his half of the circular arena. Behind him a large pair of metal gates shut, whilst ahead of him another pair of metal gates opened. In there, he knew, would be his opponent. Pretty soon they would come out and he would have to fight him. That was how these arena matches worked, after all. Taking a deep breath, the Marine Captain let out a sigh before taking his glasses, folding them, and putting them into a small case. Putting the case in his trouser pocket, he now pushed one foot forwards and raised his arms.

"When you're ready, fight me. I don't intend to hold back," he remarked to his opponent as they entered the arena. Though often wearing an expressionless face and a pair of disinterested eyes, right now there was a subtle excitement in his being. The chance to fight someone powerful. An actual challenge. It got his blood boiling. He narrowed his eyes, waiting for his opponent. As soon as they were ready, the match would begin. "I recommend you don't hold back either. I want to take you on at your full power," he told them. He'd be insulted if they chose anything less, even if they were far more powerful than he was. He wanted to fight on equal terms with this being. Being treated like a child was an insult he would not take lying down.

[ZERO STONE]

Shuffling in the streets was a common act of the Captain. He was relaxing, oblivious to the world around him until he meant someone who actually decided to challenge him. The distance between the two was about 10 meters. The man seemed to be quite skilled when it came to combat but so was Zero, trained his whole life to take life's. Now it came to battle, and he was prepared. Moving his hand over to the hilt of his blade, gripping it. His blade imbued with the already unnatural Seastone. This man was in for a treat.

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[MORT MACHIAVELLI]

He eyed the weapon his opponent carried warily. It was going to be difficult to fight this man without a weapon, he realized, but not impossible. The current distance between them was ten feet. Narrowing his gaze on the man, he stepped forwards. One of them was going to have to initiate the battle eventually, he knew. This man seemed to see no reason to do so, so Mort decided to take it upon himself to begin the match. Now beginning to stride towards Zero, the Marine Captain closed in. As he reduced the distance between their positions, Mort drew his right arm and moved in, making a motion as if to swing in with a hook punch from his right fist aimed for Zero's head. In actuality though, things were much different - As soon as he threw the punch, he pulled it back. A feint, intending to put his focus on the wrong place. Suddenly descending into a crouch to avoid a counterattack from the weapon, his right leg swung out with the intention of sweeping Zero off his feet.

This was going to be tricky, he knew. So long as his opponent carried that weapon, it was going to be difficult getting within a comfortable range. He was going to have to disarm him and maybe even take the weapon off of him if he wanted to fight effectively. For now, taking him off his feet would make him open to a better attack. He had to keep his eyes open, of course, for the possibility of a counterattack...

[ZERO STONE]

Now interested by the man's lack of weapons, he decided to have some fun with his opponent. The instant he began to punch, his blade unsheathed would attempt to slice of the clenched hand completely before the man had a chance pull it back for his feint, ultimately failing due to Zero's unnatural speed, and it was highly unlikely that the . Now the man's next assault is what caught young Zero off guard, the sweep connected with his legs, and with the force of the sweep being much powerful he used his momentum to complete a 'side' flip, as if his body moved counter-clockwise quickly. Once he landed, he then continued with an elegant barrage of thrusts in an attempt to pierce many holes in Mort.

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[MORT MACHIAVELLI]

Ordinarily, even feinting against a swordsman wasn't a guaranteed success. The speed with which he could draw his sword made it an incredibly risky maneuver. But Mort was well aware of that fact. As difficult as it could be to keep up with a swordsman, he already knew what kind of response he'd get. When you knew what your opponent was about to do, it was as if they had telegraphed their attacks to you completely. So when he performed the sweep for his opponent's legs, he'd dropped to the ground to do so - as a result, though it was a very close dodge - close enough that Mort felt the tip of the blade nick his forearm - he'd managed to avoid a deadly wound. And on the plus side, his sweep kick had been successful. Unfortunately, as he turned his body around and got back to his feet, Zero had already rolled himself back onto his feet. It had been a fruitless venture.

Now he thrusted forwards with his blade repeatedly, intending to hit Mort. but a thrusting attack, even at this range, was a very direct attack. In this wide open space and as an initial move, it seemed to be relying solely on the fact Mort possessed no weapon. Which worked well for Mort. Moving forwards, he sidestepped as one thrust came at him and escaped with a glancing cut along his side - nothing deep, but now his left hand moved to catch the wrist of the sword-wielding hand whilst his right hand moved up in a powerful hook, aiming to collide with the young man's face. He was fast, indeed, but he wasn't the only one who was fast.

[ZERO STONE]

The man he was fighting was a close-quarters specialist, he knew many things when it got up close and personal. The young pirate also had tricks of his own, he was known for pulling anything in a fight. As he was pulled in by the wrist as the man sent a punch towards Zero's face. The chances of him fully evading the attack were a no no. Instead he lowered his face so the punch would collide with nothing more then his forehead, ultimately destroying his fist and breaking every knuckle, while Zero shrugged of the pain with a grunt.With such a hindrance, it would create an opening for the warrior. With his blade, he would aim for a sword strike to the heart, a quick stab.

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[MORT MACHIAVELLI]

His fist collided forcefully with the man's forehead. He'd intended for the man's face, where it was weaker, but he'd decided that in lieu of dodging, he'd have to minimize the pain for himself. Mort's hand certainly felt sore from hitting a harder area, but he wasn't done for. His knuckles were probably bruised, but they weren't broken. He could still use his fist, if perhaps a little less so than the norm. Apparently he'd been hoping for worse damage, but Mort's grip on his wrist ensured that he wasn't going to use the pain to break free from Mort's hold. He grit his teeth a bit from the pain, but he was able to bear with it. With his opponent unable to attack him with his sword, rather than weaken his hand further, Mort decided on the next best route of attack - a kick. Bringing up his knee, he intended to slam it into the young Pirate's torso. Full force at close range, it would probably do a fair amount of damage.

"He's not an amateur, but so long as I have his sword arm by the wrist, his weapon is neutralized. That doesn't leave him with many options," he thought to himself, analyzing his opponent. The situation right now was favorable, but he couldn't get cocky. One opening and he'd lose the advantage he'd gained. Keeping his right arm up, even if he wasn't using it for attack right now, he'd be able to use it for defense. Weak wasn't the same as useless, after all.

[ZERO STONE]

Instead of hoping for the desired results, he had to stop any more assaults from continuing. Noticing after the great punch from is foe, it was time to get even closer. He took a step in closer in to create a scuffle between the two up close so full-arm blows were not possible. They were to closely engaged for full length blows such as a knee. Neutralizing most of the pain from the knee blow, and now there were no more punches for now due to the struggle. There was a space between his armpit and arm that held the wrist. With swift movement, he moved through that space. Now that his back was facing Mort's back, he kicked back vigorously, a kangaroo kick, towards the upper part of the foot. The upper part of the foot was not meant to bear much weight or support the body, it was also the place were most breaks of bones appear on the foot.

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[MORT MACHIAVELLI]

It wasn't difficult to imagine why the man was looking to break Mort's grip on his wrist as soon as possible. Without his sword he was at a disadvantage, whereas Mort kept a great advantage. In response to Mort's knee strike, the man closed in the distance in an attempt to somehow weaken the impact, but Mort maintained a critical eye. Surely the wind should have been knocked out of him from such a strike. But nevertheless, the man continued to press on, moving towards Mort's arm holding his wrist. Did he really expect to break the grip? Mort would be ready to take him down in a second if he tried. But it seemed the man was choosing a more... Unconventional method. Rather than attempt to strike at Mort's hand, he instead moved himself under Mort's arm, going beneath the armpit. But Mort wasn't one to slacken. As soon as the man was making his move, so too was Mort.

Attempting to go under Mort's arm would only seal the man's defeat, in Mort's eyes. Raising his arm that gripped Zero's arm, Mort turned his body around and brought his spare hand up, intending to force and twist the man's sword arm right around and behind his head. In such an awkward position his sword would remain useless and the man's only hope of escape would be dashed. With one arm behind the back of his head, he would lose any real hope of fighting back. His other arm would be unable to strike behind himself, and his legs would be the only other obvious method of attack. But Mort could already predict that, meaning he would be quick to defend against that. Unless he was hiding something or intended to break his own arm to escape, Mort didn't see him escaping from his clutch.