Everyday&#39;s Great

Are you sure either of you two is tough enough to take me?

[ She drops to the ground in a whirl of black cloak/jacket, which wraps around her then whips out almost like wings. ]

So, how do you want to do this?

From:

[Oh wow, that was cool. And for a moment, Yosuke thinks there's a chance they might not win.

But oh well. That's why it's training, right?]

You're the one who said loosers. Trying to back out of fighting us both?

From:

[ Souji has seen what she is. Well, haven't seen what she's capable of, but there are enough hints to suggest she's quite the force. ]

This should be a competition on technique.

[ He considered cracking wise about a cooking competition but Shana didn't look like she was in a mood to be the butt of Souji's jokes. ]

From:

[ Shana shifts slightly, almost imperceptibly, but the killing aura coming off her now is intense, and she watches them both, not lashing out, just waiting for their "kill" ]

Agreed. Ready when you are!

From:

[For the first time in a while, Yosuke finds himself wishing that he had gotten back his Persona, feeling almost naked without it when faced with the aura Shana is putting off. It's almost frightening - and if he hadn't been so fresh off of their final battle in the TV world, it might have been the scariest thing in his life.

At least it won't be the first time he's humiliated. Hiding his insecurity behind bravado - business as usual - Yosuke takes himself a fighting stance]

Alright Partner, call the shots. Just like old times.

From:

[ Technique. Right. Where is that technique? He has some of it, but hey Souji's kind of dumb in this regard. Shana is itching for a fight; Souji can see it--feel it even--and he couldn't back down from a challenge like that. ]

[ Suddenly Souji takes a quick step forward, pivoting his body and roundhouse-kicking fiercely towards Shana in the chest. ]

From:

[ Shana drops low, her body moving into a crouch and she lashes out at Souji's planted leg with a sweep as he roundhouses high at her. Clearly playing the advantage of her shortness here. She's a small, fast target, flame haze body making an already physically fit person a brutal close-in combatant. ]

Good.

From:

[Outmatched, exhausted but too proud for his own good, Yosuke charges in after his Partner, using the other boy's slightly larger frame as a mask for his own movements. Suddenly he springs into a leap, spinning in midair as he soars over both his partner's and Shana's head, landing behind her. He doesn't land as cleanly as he'd like - especially after doing it so many times today - but it's cleanly enough to try and spring from his crouched position to try and tackle Shana. It's not pretty, but getting her off her feet seems the best idea.]

From:

[ Souji is swept and is knocked over, falling onto his side. He however anticipated the attack to his leg, figuring he'd leave himself easily open for such an attack. He rolls immediately when he hits the ground away from Shana and the pouncing Yosuke, recoils and springs onto his feet again. ]

From:

[ Crouched down, shana is hammered by the tackle, but she drives a brutal elbow towards the side of Yosuke's head as he wraps her up in a tackle, her left hand shooting out to catch her as she falls, trying to twist out of his grasp if the elbow smash stuns him, her hair whirling around her almost as much as her cloak. She hits like a hammer, by the way ]

From:

[Ow. Yosuke's head is ringing, but he has one distinct advantage in this fight - he's not that far removed from getting beaten around by a half crazed goddess. He could keep his grip, but instead chooses to let her go, hoping he's provided enough of a distraction for Souji to get in a good hit]

From:

[ Aaaaaaaaand what a hit he's going to try to unleash onto Shana, suddenly right next to the two of them. He swings his elbow and the back of his forearm fast and tight en route to the back of Shana's head followed by a fist toward Shana's gut a half-second behind. ]

From:

[ Shana is hammered by the two strikes, bending double as the fist to the cut behinds her over, but she doesn't cry out, just hissing in pain as she forms her right hand into a ridgehand, driving it like a spike for Souji's voicebox, another attempt at a stunning blow. She's going for quick takedowns here, even as she bears with the pain of the blows that have already smashed into her. ]

From:

[Yosuke takes a second to get to his feet, shaking the cobwebs out from his head. Damn, she hits like a mack truck. Still, he can't leave his partner to fend for himself, so he runs in again, going for a baseball slide into Shana's ankle. At the very least, even if she dodges he might make some space for them to recover]

From:

[ There's brawling, and then there's trained hand to hand combat. Souji and his friends are familiar with brawling. Suckerpunches, feints, throwing your entire body behind a swing and the like. So the congratulatory pleasures he gets from scoring both successful hits on Shana diminishes when she hardly flinches but just takes the hits, already moving to another attack.

And that's when he sees it all in one moment, one happening split-second right after each other. He sees Shana's hand come flying below his face, registers it as an awkwardly-aimed slap, realizes that the form is too deliberate and is gunning for his neck! His posture is too committed onto and over Shana's small frame and because of the over-extending nature of someone with little knowledge of professional combat, and it happens too fast for him to make any kind of defensive posture.

Souji gets hit square in the larynx. He stumbles back and raises an arm in front in a defensive posture but it's obvious that he's dazed. He also can't breathe. Or at least he's not sure if he's breathing. And of course the pain, but that's secondary to the dazed and not-breathing thing. ]

From:

[ Shana allows herself a moment of smirking before Yosuke plows into her ankle, forcing her to fall and roll with it so she doesn't end up with a broken ankle, rolling away in a mass of black hair and cloak before standing like a little inky ball of destruction, her blood up with Souji being dazed, and she begins limping towards Yosuke purposefully, her hands making fists, livid bruises forming all over her from the thrashing she has taken. ]

I.... think I need to teach you two about how to feel your opponent's "kill". [ She closes on Yosuke, unleashing a ferocious snap-kick at his right knee, trying to put him down with a painful strike. ]

From:

[Yosuke makes his way to his feet, but the situation's not good. With his Persona, he might be able to turn the tables - to at least keep them in it longer. Without it - and without any real hand to hand experience - he knows he's just on a countdown to defeat.

She's closing in - he needs to do something, needs to act - but his body's tired. His showboating acrobatics backfire in a big way - his body is just too heavy to get out of the way in time, despite every instinct in his head screaming at him to move. The kick connects and to his credit he doesn't scream in pain, but suddenly his leg can't support his weight and he goes toppling down.

Ow.]

From:

[ What happened to friendly spar? What was Shana talking about feeling the opponent's "kill"? He comes out of his reverie as he sees Yosuke placidly while he gets kicked in the knee and falling over. His neck aches horribly but at least he can breathe. He thinks. At least he doesn't feel like he's suffocating. It hurt, but Souji's been practically ripped asunder by an angry goddess. This pain is marginal.

Besides, if Shana does that again and somehow crushes his windpipe, he'll come back tomorrow.

He advances toward Shana again and punches--this time jabbing, keeping his torso mostly prone gunning for the little girl's chest. Souji doesn't approach recklessly this time, either. Getting within grabbing range of Shana was nearly lethal, so he takes advantage of his longer reach. ]

From:

[ Shana counters with a clearing forearm block, trying to sweep the Jab aside, and follows up with a reverse punch at his stomach. Nothing as close to as brutal as her two previous strikes, with Yosuke down she has more time to react, and thus to instruct. ]

You have to understand what your opponent is going to do, and stop it with your own "kill"! Read my movements or I'm going to beat you both senseless! mou!

From:

[He tries to get back to his feet, but no good - that leg won't be ready to support weight for a little while. He could try and keep at it one legged, but he knows when he's lost.

What he doesn't know is what in the blue hell Shana is talking about.]

Isn't this a spar? Why the hell do you keep saying kill?! Make sense!

From:

[ His punch deflected, Souji tightens his abs, taking the punch to his gut. Surely if Shana can weather his hits he can weather hers, right? Right. Well, at least in Souji's head. Shana's punches are powerful for someone so little and he regretted instantly not deflecting it. But all according to plan as his free arm snatches Shana's wrist from the outside, trying to pull her towards him and kicking his leg out to try to hook Shana's and knock her over. ]

From:

[ Thump! Shana goes down face first into the dirt. But... that maybe wasn't the best idea Souji ever had, as her hand grabs Souji's back, and she levers herself halfway up. Because when you're short and down.... your groin is right at fist level. And she launches a kneeling haymaker right at it. ]

From:

[The bright side? It looks like she isn't trying to actually kill either of them.

The downside? She may be trying to kill Souji's chance of ever having kids, ever. Ouch. He can't be too mad - it's not like he doesn't know any other unethical nut kickers who wear green jackets and overreact to DVD's - but if he'd known they could play dirty, things might've gone differently.

Still. Ow. That's gonna such, Souji]

From:

[ Souji saw it alllll happen in slow motion, his face actually twisting into a horror-stricken one. His body isn't nearly as fast as Yosuke's and especially not Shana's... Shana's fist, Souji's crotch, they made a date. Souji stumbles back several steps. He's standing, still, but he's really, really not in a good place with that blow, not even noticing Shana or Yosuke there. He's in his own horrific little world of pain and more pain. ]

From: