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[orangeoutlaw]

[it's night. Going on 12. Ace has been gone for about a week in the dungeons going deeper and deeper until he thought he would suffocate.

But even he can't stand the loneliness for that long. He'll stuff an envelop of money under Marco's door when he's sure the phoenix isn't there and then hurry on, wandering aimlessly through the streets, through one city then another.

There's a lot weighing on his mind but feel free to address him.]


Locked to Smoker:

[at 2 am he'll come into Smoker's room again. Quiet but not sneakng. Because screw everything, honestly]

Comments

[youfool]

Ace...he'd heard that name before.

Crap! That was the guy who announced, in public no less, plans for lawlessness. He had half a mind to spin kick the guy out of principle.

But there was something else at play, too. He spoke with a seriousness very unlike that announcement. Like a man changed. That got Ted curious, at least. Might as well see what it's about before the feet get flying. "Penny for your thoughts?"

[orangeoutlaw]

"Why do you want to know?" He doesn't trust this guy immediately. Why would anyone ask that unless they knew and cared about the person they were talking to? And not some random stranger?

[youfool]

He slightly shrugged. "Curiosity. You're not usual, which seems like a good thing. And everyone likes hearing about good things."

[orangeoutlaw]

"The hell do you mean by that?" He knows he's unusual in a lot of ways but he doesn't get what this guy is getting at. "And I don't have a good thing to tell you." Even if he did he wasn't sure if he would.

[youfool]

"I mean you seem like a bad man in a bad mood; there's something promising in that. Like you might be on the road to Damascus.

Do you have something true to tell me, at least? I'd settle for that."

[orangeoutlaw]

It pisses him off. Even if he's in the mood to be pissed off he's even moreso already.

"I don't know where Damascus is. Is that true enough?"

[youfool]

"True, but trite. I doubt it's ignorance of that fateful city that troubles you. It's something else; something you mean more. That's the interesting thing."

[orangeoutlaw]

"It's none of your business, so butt out." Honestly why is this guy so damn nosy. "I'm not here to satisfy your curiosity."

[youfool]

Ted understood privacy, naturally. A pirate appealing to that unspoken law was a titch hypocritical. "Mm, but you might, for all I know, be here to satisfy fate. You don't honestly believe people bump into each other for no reason? It's too prosaic." How to proceed...maybe go back to the beginning. He did, after all, still wanna clobber this guy.

"What say I beat it out of you? How does that sound?"

[orangeoutlaw]

"Is fate supposed to be you?" He snorts. It's hard to believe this guy-- other than that he's got some kind of angle. This much pressing it can't be mere curiosity so he wonders just what he wants.

He lifts his head, he's not really in for a fight-- not with this one anyway, though he will if this guy makes it necessary.

"Even if you could, I'd rather die than give you the satisfaction." After all he's done it already. The thought sends a chill prickling through him but he tries not to let it show.

[youfool]

He knows Ace is trying for gravitas, but Ted can't help but faintly smile at things. "Good God, man, I wouldn't take it so far. You deserve a beating, not a beheading." But then his heart didn't seem eager for either. Looks like all he was really interested in was talk, and that decreasingly. But Ted is practically never ready to believe in meaninglessness. He had to try and find out the reason for this encounter, no matter how evasive. If nothing else, because he's rapidly losing faith in the sanctimony of the attitude inherent in "none of your business." In a world like Genessia, where everyone's business was put on hold to interfere with a stranger's...well, the attitude's infectious.

"Don't be a snob. As if fate must be pompous. You know as well as I it comes from anything." How did he know? Spiritual impressions, that's all. He was rarely wrong about those. "Look, maybe you're right, and this means nothing, and there's no reason to bother about it. But if you're wrong, and it does, why refuse? What do you have to lose, except time spent wandering in the dark?"

[orangeoutlaw]

He snorts.

"If you want to try to give me a beating than come on." That pompous line really stung him. This guy's an asshole for sure. He cracks his knuckles. "I'll take you on. If not? Then shut up and get lost."

He's not interested in anything else from this guy. Even the dark was better.

[youfool]

That's better! Ace looked like he lost some gloom. Ted smiled in turn. "And here I thought you didn't want to satisfy." Ted removed one shirt, then another black-and-white vest underneath it, before replacing the layer. The goku uniform was worn in case of emergencies, and would be excessive in the case of normal pugilism. Ted didn't know Ace was a firebrand.

But he did know he really wanted to strike him. He took a breath, took a fighting stance, then burst into a series of front flips, ending with a final leap in the air, before aiming an axe kick on Ace's presumably thick skull. Martial arts, as he was taught, must be equally flashy and fierce.

[orangeoutlaw]

Flashy, but not bad. Ace likes the orange. A little too much lead in though, the flips maybe a way to distract him but wasting entirely too much energy-- still he can appreciate another guy's fighting style.

He blocks the kick with an arm just to see how much force the guy has got and then aims a hard punch for his midsection.

[youfool]

With the midair momentum and Ted's frequent exercise, he'd built up a good bit of leg strength. Not as built as Ace himself, but spry to compensate. Still, putting all his force into one strike left him vulnerable, leaving only his arms to block Ace's free hand. The force blew him back, sending him to the ground. Ted met it for a moment, before kipping up in style.

Know yourself, know your enemy, and other basic strategy crossed his mind as Ted recovered from the sting. Ted figured Ace had more raw power than him. But more speed? More finesse? Well, he'd been taught by the best, but only one way to find out. Ted edged nearer, then began a series of front kicks, again aimed at a jaw he longed to loosen. He ended the flurry with the most annoying trick he knew; a kind of boomerang kick. You shoot it out, then when it goes past their head, simply draw it back in again from behind. One for the delivery, one for the return. Vyers fooled him with that trick quite a bit.

[orangeoutlaw]

He has got a fair amount of force. Ace is impressed in spite of himself. As irritating as this guy is, he's got potential to at least make it to the Grand Line though the New World would crush him to a fine powder.

He takes the kicks, though for the most part, blocking here and there for show but letting some hit and knock his head to the side. It hurt but pain was nothing. And the guy even busted his lip.

He takes the kick in the delivery and catches it in the return, gripping hard and attempting to slam the guy against the wall behind them.

[youfool]

Ted was surprised at Ace's resilience, barely flinching even when he struck true. It seemed to give Ace enough reaction time to grip his ankle, then take him for a ride, literally putting his back to the wall. Ted winced as he made contact, trying to come to grips with his newfound is situation.

Hard surfaces made fights a lot more lethal, for one. On the other hand, think of the cool stunts! Ah, but he needed distance and momentum for that, resources the now very close quarters environment wouldn't provide. For now, he had to play defense, bringing one arm to guard his face, trying to twist and evade out of the way of oncoming blows.

[orangeoutlaw]

Ace isn't interested in hitting him. Instead he just drops him where he is and moves back; cracking his neck from side to side.

"Are you going to start, or what?" The bruises and blood are gone in little flickers of flame that he might or might not notice.

[youfool]

Ted smiled gamely as some of the pain in his back dulled. Nice of him to not press the advantage like that. He'd just have to whip up some flair in return. In a flash of motion, he placed one foot on the wall, then kicked off for a hammering elbow headed for Ace's shoulder.

[orangeoutlaw]

He stops the elbow with one hand and grabs his wrist, letting him fall where he will and hopefully on his feet.

"I've got too much muscle on my shoulder for that to work anyway. If you're going to elbow your opponent, go for the neck. Throat if you can. Throat, sternum or groin."

And he lets him go and moves back.

[youfool]

Breaking the guy's collarbone would be pretty severe, and not quite his intention. Hard for a guy to talk when he's in the hospital. Ted needed to get him more into this, if only from a sporting aspect. "Good to know." If he wanted Ace to cut loose, he'd just have to set an example. He backed up a few paces, held out his arms like a pin wheel, then spun at Ace, bring both heels to bear on where his elbow should've gone. He'd go full out offense, twirling in the air over and over again, with legs as graceful as butterflies and strong as tree trunks.

[orangeoutlaw]

Oh he sees now and ah shit. That hurts. Two heel drops in the right place and he can feel it sprain, maybe even fracture a little. He lets it be. Not even bothering to heal it for now since he deserves it for being pretentious.

He moves then, attempting to knee the guy in the stomach while at the same time throwing his weight behind a crosshook to his face.

[youfool]

Ted recovers from the windmill mule-kicks just long enough to catch the knee in his hands, cushioning the blow. But he never was great at multi-tasking, catching the hook full on the cheek, sprawling to the ground. But a truly beautiful fighter never mingles with the dirt, and Ted bounces back like an inflatable toy. Criminey he hits hard. But he couldn't focus on the pain when he was having, in a wild kind of way, this much fun.

Ted resolved to get more intimate, playing the part of an agile monkey. His strikes were light and prickly, never investing too much into any great swing. All because he wanted to be playful. He wished to treat every outstretched, rigid limb like a bar to swing on. He fought just irritatingly enough to try and get Ace to make an invested blow, just for the chance to steal his momentum and use it to spin him like a pinwheel.

[orangeoutlaw]

Crap but he was irritating. It was no good punching him. Ace could and probably break him if he wanted to but that was a cheap fight and not a good one. So he folds his arms and lets the guy do as he wants but at the same time, lets himself heat up. He wonders how far the guy is willing to go for second degree burns.

[youfool]

As Ted continued to pepper with blows, he yanked a hand back as it seemed to sizzle. What the--? Ted knew exercising raised your body temperature, but this was ridiculous! Oh well, at least his feet were protected with thick boots. He shot Ace a split-second, incredulous look. But there wasn't time to dwell on this. He was more of a leg man anyway. He prepared a singular strike: the perfect high kick. Vyers had worked on his flexibility a long time in preparation for such a moment. In an act of symbolism, Ted tried to break through that defensive posture, driving his foot straight towards the heavens, trying to break through his arms all the way to his chin.