Ugly Americans (Open)

[Tae-Hyun Kim]

This is a pretty big city...

Of course, nowhere near the size of Seoul. But being completely new to the Stats and this city, the place felt enormous. Tae was an immigrant, but not a legal or willing one. He'd been dragged along by his grandfather, all due to his former principals' misconceptions and his bastard classmates who'd reported false things about him.

Still, it couldn't be helped. He supposed he had it coming to him.

Like now. If Tae hadn't involved himself, would he have been punched? Observe closely, a group of men surrounding a female, backed up against the wall. While it is indeed a cliche situation, and simply begs for the victim, the scum, and perhaps even the hero to be slapped. But Tae wasn't one to ignore such things...

"What have we here...?" Tae asked himself, and the others as he walked over. He then remembered that they probably didn't speak Korean, and tried to think of some quick English he'd learned on the plane. They stared at him, confused.

"What did he say?"

"I dunno, but it sounds offensive." Sadly, yes. Korean is rated one of the "harsher-sounding languages."

Oh, I got it. "Get out," Tae said with his accented voice, jerking his thumb over his shoulder.

"Madafacka, what'd you say?" The men left the woman behind, who promptly scurried away. Well, just great! Don't call the cops or anything, and warn them that a kid was going to be beaten up because he saved your ass! Americans were really grateful people.

"Nigga, I'mma fuck joo up." Without warning, Tae suddenly lashed out with his right leg at the first guy, spinning him around via a kick to the face. There was a grunt as he fell to the floor, gripping his mug. "You crossed the fucking line!"

Well, I don't know what that means, but it doesn't sound good. With a gasp, Tae suddenly fell forward, after being struck on the back with something long and hard (no homo). No. No pain. Must get up. But the blow came again, among other things that felt like shoes. His energy leaving him little by little, eventually, he just lay there and took it (no homo), knowing it had to be over soon, and that he could take it.

Americans are ugly...

[Tai Yang]

"PUSSIES!"

Derogatory, offensive, and a great way to capture a group's attention. It didn't matter what you were doing, if you thought someone was calling you a female genital, and thus inferior in a sense to the general population, then you'd look for the source of the voice.

Whomever was weilding the peice of lumber was the first to fall. Just like they struck from behind(Definately Homo) Tai Yang did the same, only with his bare hands(No Homo). Forcing his right forearm into the base of the wood-weilding-weakings neck he dropped the first kid easily. It wasn't hard with a rigid technique combined with momentum, and a blitz usually has alot of momentum.

His strike caused the backside assaliant to stumble forward, clearing Tae-Hyun's frame, to which the Captain of Paragon kneeled down and pressed his weight into the center of his upper back via his left hand, trying to catch the foreigner's attach.

"Stay down, it's time for the big boys to play."

Honestly, when he first saw the situation from across the street, he was amused at the thought of a middle schooler trying to take on a group of thugs. Honestly, he did so himself as a kid, but in a much different scenario, and with much different means. Little did he know that the foriegner wasn't actually in middle school. That's the stereotyping he got for having such a tiny frame.

By this time the rest of the 'gang' members had armed themselves. Whoopie. Like that'd prevent the Chinese-African-American from attacking. He bolted forward, his steel-toed boots pounding against the concrete as he closed the distance within a second. Fending off another peice of lumber he did so by blocking it with his forearm, pushing out on it before it's weilder even pulled it back. This was basically the twenty-foot rule in effect, only instead of guns they had melee weapons, and instead of a knife, Tai Yang had... Well, he had a preverse sense of pleasure from growing stronger.

Block, strike, move on. A simple plan, but effective when used in the correct context. He blocked whatever the immediate threat was, struck out towards the throat, groin, temple, armpit, or spine, then proceeded on to whatever the next threat is, either by moving closer to the target, or backing away a few steps to get sight.

Basic mentality when holding a weapon is to use it, so that's all he had to worry about. A shot across his back with a steel pipe, and a kick in the mid-section later left him winded and a bit sore, but the victor of this miniture brawl, in near record breaking time. Having nearly forgotten about the witness-turned-hero-turned-victim he pivoted back around to see if the middle(high) school boy was still there.

[Tae-Hyun Kim]

"PUSSIES!"

Something was yelled from across the street, and the beating promptly stopped. Hrm, was it their gang leader or something? Briefly, he stopped feigning pain. Seriously, even if he did have exceptional constitution, these guys were just... not very strong. Staying on the ground, he heard sounds around him, and grunts, as well as what sounded like cursing. Was someone taking the gang on by himself? He sighed, and stealthily got to his feet, observing the action.

What the-?

A boy probably not far from his age, taking on the gang? Tae couldn't help but be impressed as he watched the boy make quick work of the thugs. "Stay down, it's time for the big boys to play." Tae raised an eyebrow, trying to string the alien language together. Stay down so he can play? He shook his head. Nah, that had to be wrong. Before he was done pondering the case, the dark skinned boy had finished the gang off, and was now turning around to look at Tae.

Dusting himself off, Tae looked back at the kid. "Fuck you," he said with a smile.

That's how you show gratitude, right?

[Tai Yang]

"Fuck you."

Had he heard that right? Did this kid have some sort of mental issue like terrets syndrome of something? He wasn't twitching, and it was a simple two work combo, not exactly common amongst people with terrets.

Taking another look at the boy he came to realize that he was actually a few inches taller, and from the front looked more like a highschool body. American's were to fat, even amongst ethnical groups such as oriants. So, that meant that either this guy was extremely weak and never got out, or he was a foriegner. The later was probably more plossible of the two, and so that was what the American born minority lent towards.

"No, when someone saves your life you say Thank you. Got that? Thank. You."

Stepping over one of the thugs, doing so with an over exhaggerated step with his right leg, he stood up straight, as though he was puffing out his chest before he stiffened the collar of his leather jacket with a crisp flick of his wrists. Slipping both hands into his jacket pocket he actually seemed non-threatening as he played down his huge ego.

"When'd you arrive?"

[Tae-Hyun Kim]

((Well, I was hoping to start a fight, but I guess not... XD))

"No, when someone saves your life you say Thank you. Got that? Thank. You."

"Thank you," Tae repeated.

Well, he didn't really know what the kid had said, but he seemed to be correcting him. But if "Thank you" was a sign of gratitude, then what was "Fuck you?" He thought back to the time that gangster had said, "I'mm fuck you up." Oh. Well, that didn't sound very pleasant? Actually, didn't Tae just said that to Tai? He raised an eyebrow and shrugged, but realized Tai was still addressing him.

"When'd you arrive?"

"Chesohmnida (sorry)," he replied with a slight bow, thinking the kid wanted an apology. Well, sure. He deserved one. I mean, he saved Tae's ass and corrected him and all. But man, if Tae knew English, then he'd be hella confused as to how he knew Tae was an immigrant. Oh, but then he realized Tai probably didn't understand Korean, and fixed himself.

"Sorry," he replied in his awkward English.

[Tai Yang]

"Huh. You really don't understand me, do you?"

There were several things that stopped Tai Yang from randomly beating on a person, and interest was a double edged sword. Certainly when he found someone strong he took interest and would want to fight them, but this interest was different. He hadn't encountered someone who was alienated from the language of the country. This guy, whomever he was, was a complete outcast no matter what he do. It was interesting, in the same way that Tai Yang took pleasure in seeing other's pain. The utter confusion of those he spoke to, his severly broken english being used in unforiving situations. It really was funny.

"That ain't Chinese, and I don't think it's from the Japs either. I guess your Korean?" He took a few steps forward, pushing past personal barriers so that he could reach out and touch Tae-Hyun. "Can you fight? You know, Fight?" He slowly threw out his left hand, pushing it into Tae-Hyun's right shoulder before giving a friendly, crisp shove.

[Tae-Hyun Kim]

"Huh. You really don't understand me, do you?"

Well, no. He didn't. Tae looked blankly at the dark-skinned boy, who seemed to be thinking now. "That ain't Chinese, and I don't think it's from the Japs either. I guess your Korean?" Well, those words sounded familiar. In fact, he knew the languages he'd just mentioned. Not know them as in, he could speak them, but as in, he knew of them.

"Korea," Tae said, pointing to himself, and feeling kind of dumb. What, so you're the embodiment of Korean youth now? he asked himself in disapproval. But while Tai Yang found it funny, Tae didn't really feel anything. He supposed he'd been a pariah his life, and it just wasn't going to change here.

"Can you fight? You know, Fight?" Tai put his hand on Tae's right shoulder before giving a shove. He fell back a little, his Air Forces quickly catching him. In confusion, Tae became defensive.

"Ya! (Hey!)" he cried, putting his right hand up to push Tai's arm off to the side. "Hajima! (Stop!)"

[Tai Yang]

As Tae-Hyuns arm began to push his own away Tai Yang snapped his arm back, lowering it down to his side. There was an obvious language barrier, and he only saw one way around it. The best way to get to know someone is to fight. A one on one brawl with the intent of figuring someone out. Of course, this was mostly from old movies, where conflicting personalities became angry with one another, and pleasant personalities led to friendship. Classic wise-tales, but being a big fan of the old movies and their ways he honestly thought it could work.

"C'mon, follow me." He said, taking a step back and indicating a wave with his right hand, physically saying 'this way' to the foriegn youth. "It'll be fun, we'll get to know each other. It's like 'play-time', only not as serious." He waved a few more times then headed over to the large green garbage bin and climbed ontop. A jump later he was hanging off the end of a fire exit, pulling himself up before he proceeded to run up the stairs leading to the roof. Stopping a few stories up he leaned over the railing facing the street, yelling out to the foriegn youth.

"Hurry up, It'll be fun!"

[Tae-Hyun Kim]

"C'mon, follow me."

The boy stepped back and waved his arm, motioning for Tae to follow. Raising an eyebrow in confusion, he hesitated. He didn't know this kid at all. Was it safe to follow him? Still, he figured he could use an acquaintance or two, and complied. "It'll be fun, we'll get to know each other. It's like 'play-time', only not as serious." Tae didn't respond, because he didn't know what he was saying. He was sure Tai had already figured this out, and was confused as to why Tai continued to speak normally to Tae. Still, he appreciated it. It was a sign of equality.

Tae then watched in surprise as the dark skinned boy suddenly cleared a few flights of stairs, after jumping on top of a garbage bin. Whoah. He smirked as the kid called down to him. "Hurry up, It'll be fun!" Mimicking his acquaintance, Tae jumped on the garbage can and followed him up the stairs.

[Tai Yang]

Seeing, or rather hearing, the foriegner below, clanking as he ran up the emergency steps. After a few flights ahead he gained access to the roof a good few moments prior to the korean reaching the top. He moved his way towards the middle of the roof, removing his leather jacket along the way, tossing it off to the side. As he spun around the tossed his arms across his chest, swinging them widely back and forth. Stretching out his shoulders and upper back as he waited for Tae-Hyun to get ontop the roof.

"C'mon man, lights are scarce around this part. As soon as the sun starts to set it'll black out quicker then my asian ancestors."

Interlacing his fingers he brought his arms above his head, turning his hands inside out as he hyper-extended his elbows, stretching out his bicep and forearms. The looser he could get his muscles, they quicker he'd become. Unlocking his self-held grip he lifted his knee into his chest, pulling it tightly as he felt the weight of the steel installed in the toe of his boot.

'Hm. Should I take them off? This guy it's probably pretty limber, such a lithe frame mean's he'll probably be slippery. Uhm, I think I'll wait it out. If he's really that fast then I'm not training properly.'

Once Tae-Hyun was clearly on the roof, past the ledge, he slipped his right leg back, turning his body to the side as he brought his hands up. It wasn't his fighting stance, but it look more like that of the more widely known martial art 'Karate'. And with Karate, the basic assumption is that it's created for fighting - a half truth, if there is one.

Using both hands held in the fighting position he flicked out his fingers, pointing at the Foriegner, then himself, doing it several times before his hands reformed fists.

"Fight. Lets Fight. Sparring."

[Tae-Hyun Kim]

"C'mon man, lights are scarce around this part. As soon as the sun starts to set it'll black out quicker then my asian ancestors."

Tae climbed onto the roof, noting the nice scenery and lack of people. Why had he brought him up here? Tae watched with apprehension as he removed his jacket and turned to face him. This situation seemed oddly familiar, as if he'd watched it many times in movies. Tae kept his hands in his pockets as he walked slowly towards the boy, deliberately taking his time. Fighting aura filled the air, and Tae was unnerved slightly. Not even a few days in this blasted country, and I'm already fighting.

"Fight. Lets Fight. Sparring." The kid raised his fists, pointing at Tae and himself. He wants a fight? Intuition told him "No," since he didn't know much about this kid, other than that he'd taken out a squad of gangsters just now, but his pride told him otherwise. He wasn't backing down. With a shrug, Tae simply stood there, waiting for the boy to make the first move.

[Tai Yang]

With a wide smile spreading across his mixed facial features he stepped forward, breaking his stance as he moved forward past the central distances of safety. He moved in past eight feet, by-passing the regular distance for reaction time. He moved in closer, stepping past the six foot mark, making counters even harder to perform. Four feet, just nearly within reach with his longest limbs. Three feet away, not close enough, two feet away, that was the limit. If he reached out with his arm he'd be able to touch Tae-hyun, and was therefore both within striking distance, and what's known in some feilds at the intimate space of his opponent.

With no sudden actions he stepped back with his right foot, adding another half foot of distance between his front fist and his opponent. His back foot placed him into an extremely low stance, emphasizing the height difference between the two. For the most part he kept his body turned to the side, only bringing his right side forward enough to properly place his right hand under his left elbow, keeping it in a knife-hand position.

His right leg was hidden from sight from the station of his torso, but his foot was pivoted over at a 45degree angle away from the foreigner, his knee bent down low and spring loaded as he compacted a good deal of his weight on it. He seemed to over emphasize the lack of weight on his front leg, making it seem like his front foot was weightless, but the disposition was roughly 60/40 in terms of back to front. It allowed for easy transfer of weight and motion, but also provided a false sense of security towards how weak his strikes were going to be.

Pausing for half a second after he truly settled back into his stance he gave his opponent that short moment to put up any sort of involuntary guard. When it becomes clear that your about to face aggression the body usually puts up a sheild, whatever it's use to. After his settled half-second he sprung into action, and literally, his body sprung forth. He uncoiled off his right leg, stepped forward even further with his left as his weight transfered over from back to front, swapping the weight percentages as he pulled his right shoulder back, snapped out his left fist in a straight punch designated for the solar plexus of his opponent.

His punch was so straight forward that it showed little to no common signs you'd look for when receiving a punch. There was no shoulder motion, no twist of the arm, or pull back of the elbow. He struck out from the same position he placed it in, provided it with a healthy base of weight behind it, amplifying power and speed as the visually 'unseen' punch shot out.

[Tae-Hyun Kim]

((Wow, that's a very verbose post...))

Well, Tae wasn't some kind of Physics genius.

What the Hell is this?

But he knew how to fight, and that was all that mattered. In confusion, Tae watched as the boy performed a series of seemingly complicated maneuvers before throwing an insanely straightforward punch - no curves, no hidden agendas, just a fist at his (you guessed it!) solar plexus. But you know what? All Tae had to do was step to the side (off to Tai's right side), and the plan would be shattered. Add that to Tae's decision to send his right fist's knuckles into the boy's exposed armpit, and he had himself a nice counter.

[Tai Yang]

(Leaves no loop-holes that way. Besides that, how is walking forward, stopping, and stepping back into a fighting stance complicated? Just made it seem that way, I guess.)

In terms of reflexes, the human is able to react - in it's quickest form - in .11 seconds after it's eyes take in the optical image, then sends it to the suggestive limbs. To react from two and a half feet away was nearly impossible, but showed one of Tae-hyuns physical abilities. But in the speed game, Tai Yang was on the same path.

Pulling back his fist, reacting from his opponent's side step, he drew his elbow downward, allowing it to follow the same path it took to launch into the strike, which would intercept the elbow, either from infront of the of the knuckles, or just after, which would be pushing down on the wrist. Having covered the distance necessary, and since his opponent didn't seperate them any further, he brought his right hand into action.

Using the energy from pushing off his right leg he twisted his hips over, torquing his shoulders along with it as he snapped out his right hand that had been drawn back to his front shoulder. Stiffening his fingers he turned the area under his pinky leading to his wrist into a dense form of muscle and attacked the shoulder joint of his opponent's right arm. He wasn't quite striking up into the armpit, but it was an upward strike designated at the nerves and muscle fibres attaching the arm to his pectorals(Chest muscles).

[Tae-Hyun Kim]

((Sorry, been busy.))

Fast.

Tae certainly wasn't expecting that. The kid retracted his punch impossibly fast and proceeded to counter his attack with an attack of his own, elbowing Tae's incoming fist out of the way. Feeling the tinge of pain that told him to stop, he followed his instincts and retracted his fist up next to his face. He was lucky he did, but at the same time, unlucky. The boy had a clever plan to send his right hand into some weird spot on his body that caused him to hurt a shitload. Fire seared through his chest and arm as it connected, and reacting quickly, Tae shot his hand (which was already near the attacking hand) down and gripped Tai's wrist. Before he could register that he'd been grabbed, Tae would pull the boy in for a vicious headbutt and when and if that hit, Tae would shoot his right knee up into Tai's stomach.

[Tai Yang]

As his opponent grasped his arm and pulled him in closer Tai Yangs right leg, his back leg that was stretched out from his torquing motion and right hand strike, stepped to the side, counter-balancing the pull as he fought the force of the pull with his weight, stability, and in terms of this fight, greater strength. His stance had changed to that of a wide one, given the angle of his body, and his foot would probably be out past Tae-Hyuns left foot, in terms of distance.

As his body caught itself from the shortly drawn pull, his arm reacted fully in kind to the hold on his wrist. Since his hand was already extended out in the bladed position it set him up for the defensive move to follow. Twisting his hand and wrist in a clockwise motion, making sure to keep the rotation as small as possible, the back of his hand would come up and press against the bottom half of his opponent's forearm, against the outer bone. Pushing his arm out to the side and turning his body to his right he'd force his arm free, and assuming it worked like it was suppose to, turn his opponent's body away from him just enough to get sight of his back.

A shift of his weight and turn of his hips later and he'd have used his left hand to push the area of back right behind the shoulder, which would catch most people off balance and case them to take a few steps, if not stumble away. It would make a distance between the two, giving Tai Yang time to reset his stance.

[Tae-Hyun Kim]

Wait, wha-?

Okay, so Tai did a bunch of things, most of which Tae did not understand. But it was okay, he supposed. After Tai had done his seemingly complicated sequence of events, Tae would have stumbled back a few steps, confused; probably according to Tai's plan. But Tae supposed he was lucky Tai's moves didn't hurt. Was Tae just not paying attention, this kid was too fast, or what? He didn't know, but it kind of unnerved him. Well, thank God he hadn't been hurt.

With an expression of confusion, Tae raised his fists in front of him, waiting for Tai to go at him again.

[Tai Yang]

As Tae-Hyun took a few stumbling steps back his left foot glided over the surface of the roof, resuming the same low, long position that he originally started their skirmish with. His body was lowered, making his vitals that much harder to target, while providing him with the usual explosive spring in his step that would catch his opponent's off guard.

As his opponent caught himself and centered himself, raising his fists up, Tai Yang knew that look all to well. He was waiting to be attacked, this time he was ready for it, but the seed had been planted. He'd start second guessing himself. Possibly wondering if what just happened was out of pity or not. This was an advantage that technique had over natural ability. It became more of a mind-game, and when you panic you start losing control over you motor functions. In the end, that fear could take sixty percent of you motor functions, making you useless against the calmer individuals.

Slowly he pushed out with his back leg, pivoting over his front foot so that it was twisted over at a 45 degree angle. His stance became even wider as he raised up onto the balls of his feet. he lifted his hands from their stance in front of his body, bringing his right hand back, opened in a knife-hand position, in front of his left cheek. His left hand was left out in front, bent enough to provide full motion of the arm as it was left at shoulder height.

Pushing off his back foot he slid both feet across the concrete roof at the same time, snapping both hands out mere inches from their position before retracting them. This was a soft feint, he didn't move in close enough to strike, but the essence of the movement was their. It was also a technique of distortion, meant to confuse the opponent as to the true distance between them. Another quick slid and snap, and he was just outside his own kicking distance. With one more slid he'd be able to snap out his front arm in a jab, that's all it took.

Jerking his shoulder inward he snapped out his left in another fake, drawing attention towards his hand as he pushed off his right leg and drew his hips over to his left. Having pulled them back he was torqued over, using the pent up energy in a fluid motion as his hips spun the other way and he brought his left leg up. First came his knee as he lifted it up and oer at a 45 degree angle, pointing it at Tae-Hyuns stomach, then came his foot as he continued to torque his hips over and snapped out his steel-toed boot towards the right side of his opponent's stomach.

Normally, if he was bare foot, he'd pull his foot and toes back, striking with the top of his foot. But, since he was wearing his boots, he didn't need to.