Let the Good Times Roll (paulsimonwasbetter)

[Mr Phoenix]

He stood there, like a rock, looking out over the pale scenery know as a battle arena, a hole used to show up other fools who had foolish notions about foolish things done by other fools. For that fact, how many fools could fill up an area with foolish fools? Well, what foolish cause was left there if there was but one fool left to fight for it. Yes? Oh well with that line of reasoning and tact, for in the end it matter not a scratch or for any fact at all. To ramblings and other such things, yes, that is indeed what was going in the enigma that was Zhao Yun’s mind. A trap with no beginning or defined end.

However, yet, as he watched, he knew that soon enough a challenger would be coming to meet him, it was bound to happen. For you see, he had his agent plan this duel in advance, of course, as to whom this agent was, Zhao Yun was unsure, for he never gave a name, nor was a name asked, as it was not freely given, it would seem rude to ask for the name to begin with. Or at least, with any context of that sort of engagement it would not be, for he had simply offered to deliver Zhao Yun out of his boredom, like any good and true friend would… or agent.

And as he spun his spear in hand, he moved to the center of the pit, roaming his eyes around to see if any such man would be coming to declare his motives to the youngish warrior.. He isn’t THAT old after old, not like when he and Zhang He would get in a fight in that battle, you know, the one in which he is an old man and needs to get saved? Yeah that one, he was old there. Yes he was! I swear he was… Shut up! Stop arguing with me if you have no idea what I am talking about.

>.>

MOVING ON!

[Lyle]

Zhou Yu calmly walked into the arena; his opponent was waiting for him. Yu wondered if the warrior had been thinking about what the two were about to go through. He wondered if there was dread in his eyes or dissatisfaction looming. It could go either way, Zhou Yu was not so much a warrior as he was a diplomat, and even in that right he was more suited to be leading men in battle. Foremost though, most men who now lived with the sword one grew up with it, or at least by it; the youngish warrior luckily had and even brought the very same sword with him today. It was almost featureless and simply possessed a beautiful shine as though it had been cleaned. Its weight was carefully balanced and its handle was firmly attached to the part which made it a weapon. All was well, one could say with little elegance.

Zhou Yu nodded to his opponent and did not give him the grace of words, for he knew nothing other than the man that what he was staring at. He held a powerful looking weapon and was covered in fine armour; in other words the man fit the part better than Yu himself. Despite that little hint of fear Yu didn't show it and drew his blade quickly, letting it rest just before him. Carefully he brought his sword hand and arm (the right) up and made it so his blade was pointing directly at his opponent. He assumed stance, bending his knees slightly and turning his body so his sword further met the distance between him and his opponent.

Off to it.

A loud soundtrack began to play in the background, it only helped to relax the two who the crowd now finally centered on.



"...Let the good times roll
Let them knock you around
Let the good times roll
Let them make you a clown"

[Mr Phoenix]

Yun watched the man before him, dressed in all regale and pompous styled, like that of a rich merchant or a noble. Someone who was used to such things that dealt with money and those gains, or perhaps someone used to sending men to battle, but not himself. Yun had dealt with many of the creatures of the dark before, he was used to their kind, their types. He didn’t think less of them, not much, for he knew they were the types that financed wars, that allowed the virtues and vices to rage war, for men, both of Justice and Tyranny rule in one form or another, it was something he was used, though he was not sure it was something he could or would ever get used to, he was simply not sure he wanted to after all. How better was it to be a warrior, and be loved, than be a money man, and be loathed?

Yet, as he watched the man, he drew a sword, pointing it at Yun. The line of peace had been broken and pushed aside, for a small battle would take place here, much like the one off in the distanced, played against He Jin and Dong Zhou. How different would the outcome be here, and who here could be claimed to be more noble in fashion and in heart. Of course, Zhao Yun should never consider himself a judge of such things, for he was only a man, and not a god. Let them deal with such folly things as deciding what was in a man’s heart and soul.

Zhao Yun acted now, spinning his weapon in front of himself, each hand twisting to gasp the spear as it came around. It was fast, and he soon whipped it around his body, spinning it, in some cases, on his back, as he flipped it around. His left hand finally grasped it, and the point of it was aimed at the man across from him. The back of the weapon, was point behind Yun, sticking out that way. The weapon made no move towards the opponent or the like, it simply sat there, waiting to move foreword to form a deadly strike.

While Yun would have liked to give the man a chance, he knew that he would have to act first, to allow the man the chance to defend himself, and watch Yun’s movements. Yun, in turn, would need to be aware of the counter attack that would most certainly be coming towards his own heart and head. And as he started off, his feet seemed to float in the air for the span of a few seconds as he drew his spear into his right hand.

However, it did not stay in that hand long, for he was pulling on it with his left, so that when he released his right hand, it whipped out, like that of a bat striking for a ball, it ripped through the air, creating the sound of a crack like that of a whip. He had let his left hand open a little so that the weapon would swing foreword as it would swing towards the man. He would either have to jump back, and then try to dodge the spear tip, or duck. As ducking seemed the most likely, Zhao Yun brought his foot up, so that it would kick just where the other man would be if he did choose to do so.

[Lyle]

Zhao Yun barreled down toward Zhou Yu and both warriors began, ready to set in a fine placed move of their own to start the whole shebang off. His moves were deadly fast and certain, like this was but some thing he'd done many times and became accustomed to with. Yet his pressure and his steps all seemed like they didn't care if this was to be the final or first of many moves. A true warrior, the slightly more observant opponent noted before setting forth.

Yu understood that he was not a great warrior and couldn't complicate this fight with a series of flashy moves that would prove him more an annoyance and lead him to a certain dismemberment. He was however quick as he moved forward a few steps in a nervous manner. Thankfully his hands were steady as he grasped his double edged blade with his right and placed his left on the flat, top side of the blade. Zhao Yun cranked back and then shot his spear forth but Zhou Yu was ready with an obvious defense. The blades connected as the general absorbed the enemy's first devastating blow. Soft boots dug deep into the ground and Zhou Yu groaned to keep his footing.

He was not done however as he let up on his left hand, allowing his blade to angle and Yun's plade to travel up the sword momentarily. Now was his chance, with his body facing his opponent's strike he bent his knees further and rammed his opponent with his right shoulder. Ah, but he was wise not to finish here, his opponent was built tall and strong, so Zhou Yu knew he'd have to further pummel the man down if he ever hoped to kill him. If his opponent pushed back, Yu would then turn his sword and use the hilt to put his brand on the mans face. If he fell back Yu would fall with him, and take on the offense by allowing his sword to swing all the way through instead of just grazing the mans face with its hilt.

[Mr Phoenix]

The foot connected, the boot traveled into the other man’s chest, and the impact would have hurt, at least for a kick to the chest. But as for anything else, it was something that would be easily brushed off. And the other man was already reacting, like that of a well trained warrior getting ready to make a push that had been long off in the making. Yet Yun was intrigued by the way the other man would go about trying to win this duel, with what seemed like brute force instead of cunning and tact that Yun was expecting.

The man attempted to ram him with his shoulder, which seemed more than a little confusing, and while trying to close the distance held it’s own privileges, Yun’s spear was still between them. And as such, all it took was Yun to bring the wooden handle up to block anything the merchant was trying to accomplish, any blow that would have landed across at Yun’s face would be knocked away. It was a small trap to try and lure Yun into, of that he was sure, but as to the exact nature of such a ploy, Yun could not gather. Of course, such men breed themselves for such things and perhaps he thought that the warrior in Yun would try something a little more brutish and unplanned.

With the attack that would have rammed him in the shoulder blocked, Yun was able to counter attack on his own. He brought the end of his spear around, the blunt end, whipping it towards the other man, before pulling it back, and using the pointy end once again on him. However, before he brought it close to the other man, he dropped his hands back, so that the point would drop just in front of the merchant. He then pushed it forewords, to where the man was now standing. He had already altered his foot steps, though, so that it would take him to the left of the man.

[Lyle]

Zhou Yu was somewhat surprised as his attempt at sending his opponent back from whence he came. With ease Zhao Yun had quickly contemplated and reacted, even his face seemed to say, is that all you go. Yu became angered and turned his body quickly while swing his sword down full circle, attempting at keeping both his balance and his opposite away.

Unlucky for him, Zhao Yun's spear was already again moving forward and its end countered his attack, though he it seemed did not want to make anything more of of what was a small hole in Yu's defense. Was this a showing of weakness? Was this warrior going to do this all match, provide some leeway? All of it was strange to Yu, who scowled for he was decisive man. In an age of men who would rather parry a tiger, he would take it by the neck and then draw the very color from it. His opponent appeared powerful and rich in character, it would too fade however as this engagement went back and forth-

A surprise cut Yu's thinking off as his opponent began to set the bar higher, his attack was drawn out and during that time Yu was only keen on regaining his footing, despite his previous decisive motives. Bah, this is what happens when a forward warrior meets a man who is not only forward, but careful. With a swipe came the spear and Zhou Yu realized that he was now being spread further away from his opponent, and his weapons reach was not capable of returning such fire. His options were clear: retreat and lose more footing or stay and parry, possibly even move in on the man. What was also clear was that that spears tip was going to mess him up good.

Zhou Yu shouted a "hah" and rushed and then leaped forward to "flank" the attack, his torso turned so as to keep steady with his opponent and during the same instance his right arm came swaying from his right where it had previously been allowed to extend. Effectively, there was going to be some pain coming here, his opponent had his spear out and near his side, it certainly wouldn't hit him, but the fact that it was now not before him could only provide the agile Zhao Yun with a finishing move. For this he extended his left arm and brought it near the pole of the ranged weapon. A buffer, one could say. His sword was still short however and he only managed to throw his weight around with this move.

Quickly though a small fire would build and with his feet finding the ground he would allow his slash to continue further diagonally. His feet would peddle forward and set up for what would be a powerful blow. With the rebound of his previous move he'd bring the weapon up from waste level and attempt at nicking his opponent by slashing towards his own right and taking the man's side out. The move was quick and destructive in all, but it would further bring the two closer, something more important than a nick or two. Yu this made sure to keep his body hunched over a bit too, knowing that his opponent's spear would be a quick deterrent to his actions.

In the background, the song changed..

"Happy Jack wasn't old, but he was a man.
He lived in the sand at the Isle of Man.
The kids would all sing, he would take the wrong key,
So they rode on his head in their furry donkey."

[Mr Phoenix]

Zhao Yun watched as the other man maneuvered through the weapon with little difficulty, spinning off to the side. Yun was amused by it all, and his smirk said distinctively that that was the case indeed. They other man seemed more inclined to try and shorten the reach that Yun had, yet he seemingly was try to do it by dodging his spear, which, Yun supposed, was one of the many ways to indeed do it. However, he noted the man had now moved out of his line of fire and he would need another tactic to be able to pierce through the merchant’s defenses.

So the man had rushed and moved foreword with his attack, a futile attempt to close the distance between himself and Yun. Then again, with him using a sword and Yun a spear, it was really his only choice to try and move in on the man. Yet Yun worried how much of this was just a game, and the rest was him being just plain desperate to end this fight as quickly as possible. And as he watched the blade grow closer, he brought his weapon around, so that it moved away from the other man, but once again spinning around his body. The blade of the other man missed him by a hand span, but he had timed it so that it would indeed strike an area that was vacant of life.

So what now could he do to throw this man off his present course of action, for it seemed that this was how the two were going to continue going at it. One man attacks, one simply moves out of the way. How would one effectively stop the other from something such as this and end the conflict. It seemed that there was always a way out of the present course of action, some way to simply move to the side when his spear was launched or a sword was thrust. Which would mean that this duel could therefore gone of for ages. Something that neither man could truly afford, or would want to afford at the very least.

As such, Yun launched into his own attack, for his momentum was already carrying with the spear that he had swung around his body. He would smash it against the head of the man if he tried to move. A same basic plan of attack that he had been using before, however, before he could enact it, he knew that the man would simply move around it in some fashion, as he always did, and any sane person would do.

So as it came down towards the other man, Yun once again reversed it’s direction so that the blunt end of the weapon would come from below his hip, and hit the other man’s exposed sword arm. At the same time, he drew himself towards the other man, baring his shoulder so that it would hit him in the face, as he was hoping to at least throw him off a little, push him back so to speak, for he was already pivoting his foot to move one way or another, to either drive the point home, or to pull back should he need to. For he would try to push the other man’s sword arm, up and over his head.

Now to change the music to something completely different

“Abandon Me ,
A Horror Scene,
A Time Storm,
A Pileup,

Exterminated,
Calculated,
Ricocheted,
Smart Bullet”

[Lyle]

It seemed Zhao Yun had the man figured out, but Zhou Yu was still building his file own file. His opponent was masterful clearly, it seemed that Zhao Yun was to be the bull, but it seemed that this bull could also fly. It was an elegant art that he'd obviously mastered early on in his young life. All in all it was making things interesting, and Zhou Yu was slowly losing his foot hold in the battle because of it. Well, it'd only been ten seconds since they'd started fighting, right? Damn, maybe a little less.

The man twirled like a pretty little ballerina (and oh he was a pretty boy) and Zhou Yu felt like there would be nothing that would ever phase this man. Quietly he reviewed a battle he was once in. There was a large hill that he had to conquer; his enemy was of course deep within their defenses. It had taken all day and all his men he'd sent up the hill had died and all else appeared grim on the field. Finally, Yu retreated, leaving a small general to guard his rear. His opponent, having won, took to the field and prepared to crush his opponents with the momentum of the hill... he lead his men gallantly to their deaths, in his own respect.

After Zhou Yu had taken the hill he burned the camp at the top and cursed it. Never would man stare down and feel a rush again from that beacon.

Zhao Yun turned, falling into a rhythm. His attack worked effectively, but because of Zhou Yu's lowered body, it proved to be somewhat ineffective, never the less, Zhou Yu didn't want to move his arm now. Even still, he kept on moving towards his enemy and at the sight of his opponent now finally coming down from his high to shoulder him, reached out with his free hand and pushed back with all his might. Throughout the experience he had recoiled his sword arm so it was cocked up tight at his side tight and was still somewhat afraid to move it. But it was ready, and if it need to be, it would stab the shit out of his opponent, who though may be a stronger and more mastered warrior, but... but fuck that and fuck him!

Zhou Yu drew his sword forward, to the dismay of his nervous system and prepared to stab the warrior, it wasn't a hugely powerful attack, it even wasn't stable. It was just open, hell, he' been spinning and shimming here and there.

Good luck, swallowed the crowd.

The track paused as records were exchanged..

"Pump up the jam
Pump it up
While your feet are stompin'
And the jam is pumpin'
Look at here the crowd is jumpin'
Pump it up a little more"

[Lyle]

Zhou Yu leaves with a broken arm, Zhao Yun stays without his life.


Well that was fun.