Monday Morning, Week Two -Storyline-

[Tai Yang]

[This will, undoubtingly reflect all the students of Paragon. This is an open thread, as I'm expecting some retaliation, or perhaps some praise. Either way, the actions have been commited and followed Long Tai Yang's Storyline.]

“Tai Yang, School Captain.”

The white writing spread across the black background of the photocopy pages said it all, Tai Yang was promoting himself already as the school captain. The pages were turned on their side where the writing filled up top and bottom, no special glamour or pictures strewed within the sheet. Just the fact stated in black and white: literally. Students would find it difficult to ignore the entire poster’s spread throughout the school. Every set of lockers had at least eight each tabled to different lockers, all at a relative eye level. Each and every bulletin board had one posted in the top left corner, the bottom right, and somewhere near the middle. Each door had one posted on either side, and next to and inside the entrance to the bathrooms. Windows also displayed the self-proclaimed titled to those outside from the inside, and to those sitting in class they would find the posters in some of the most bizarre places imaginable: Taped to the ceiling tiles, to the back of desk chairs, on globes, and in the computer class all the screen savers were changed to the same picture, as was the background opening page to the web browsers.

In every isle of the library, behind book covers, even taped over the rules on how to conduct one while using the libraries facilities. Tai Yang posted quite a few of these, but his already forming group of minion’s posted the majority of them. Sure, they preferred to be called followers, but he preferred his terminology, and while controlling at least fifty percent of them by fear he wasn’t going to get back much lip. The rest that followed him had misguided view’s, believing they knew his plans and understood him. They were obviously wrong; as no one could decipher his mind, but the extra assistance was accepted, and so the posters were put in place well before class began on the faithful Monday, start of the second week of Paragon.

Standing firmly in the front lobby of Paragon Institute Tai Yang kept both hands deep within the pockets of his leather jacket. With his chin tucked down he stared at the main entrance to the school through his red lenses, his vision altered beautifully to match his bloodlust. Everything he saw was just a shade under the desired color of red, and it was in this world that people no longer held onto their different ethnic origins. He didn’t see white, black, brown, yellow or any of the multitudes of variations that followed, all he saw was meat to be ruled over and crushed.

Slowly students and teachers alike began to come in through the doors, some paying heed to the papers pasted in every window, mostly reading them to see what, if anything at all, was going on with the school. As they entered most tended to stare at Tai Yang while walking around him, avoiding direct eye contact as they peered at him without turning their heads. There was the occasional bystander who walked toward him, or on an indirect path, and while they tried to act tough they’d find their efforts in vain as the young Chinese-American beat them down all the same – all without removing his hands from his pockets. His feet acted solely on their own, striking down the meat of their legs as he kicked the inside of their thighs with his steel-toes, followed by more severe actions as they’d begin to kneel down. Black eye, bloody nose, split lip, any one of these would occur as he’d either knee them or slam their head into the tile with the back of his boot. Not once did he bother to move, just stood there as a follower would do as directed and carry them off to the nurse’s: Though, the main objective was to get them out of the way.

After a relatively eventless morning, no swarms of students crowding together chanting ‘Fight!’ And no teachers trying to discipline him, Tai Yang heard the bell signifying the beginning of first class. Ah, first class: Mr. Bryant’s Science class. There was no need to go to that class, as he had beaten down the substitutes that had come in to replace him after Tai Yang took over the student’s block for learning. Now it had become a spare for the duration of the next month, possibly longer should Mr. Bryant refuse to return, and no substitute choose to rise to the task of moulding their young minds. So that left him with another hour of freedom before he’d head to his next class and disrupt it like he always seemed to do. The teachers didn’t intimidate him, in retrospect he believed the opposite was true: He intimidated them. If one was to take the time to think about it this seemed very plausible, as he constantly acted without foreshadowing or hindsight, just reacting like a wild beast whom was constantly hunger, whose gullet knew no ends.

Turning away from the main doors he headed up the closest flight of stairs, going northbound, as he didn’t stop at the second floor, or the third. He continued to head even higher until he had broken through two locked doors and found himself on the roof. This being the first time on top the building he was claiming to be his he found it relatively peaceful. The view gave him a look over his kingdom, and from here he could see the school grounds that played host to a multitude of sport activities, as well as the breaks and lunches of a majority of the students. There was no doubt that he’d enjoy this two years of school here, provided the principle wasn’t just full of bull shit, but given how the first week went he found the information to be relatively true. At least so far.

[Magnus]

-Morning-

He had barely stepped through the front doors before someone called out his name. It was Michael, one of the few people Magnus didn’t trust among his unofficial gang. The boy seemed to be intent on getting the unofficial title as leader of their little rat pack. Oh the fun that Magnus would have when he got rid of this bunch. His thoughts were led back to the senior who was talking to him. He looked directly at one of the posters that Michael was ranting about. He tore down the nearest and saw what the fuzz was about. A rival to the school captaincy, at least he was out in the open and could be dealt with. He got another guy to follow Tai around. Magnus saw Tai a couple of times, each time he had to hold back so he wouldn't do something rushed. Beating him down would do no good there was no one to see it but a few random stragglers.

Soon the perfect opportunity rose to bite Magnus in the face. And a plan had instantly appeared. It had some flaws that he would have to sort out personally.

'I saw him go up on the roof.'

-We should strike now! With all of us against him, he won't stand a chance.-

"True. But I'll handle this one boys. What I want you to do is ..."

-Few minutes later-

Magnus had spend the few minutes preparing his plan. It was actually rather hard to come across the necessary stuff in this school. He had been slightly running around, so he was already warm and ready for the fight ahead. His bag was slung over his shoulder, it contained his books and other non-orthodox weapons. He had no plans to use it up on the roof, but plans could be changed if it was necessary.

He followed the same path that Tai had taken, naturally he didn't know this. But soon, signs of Tai's passing appeared, first a single broken door and Magnus continued. Then the second broken door frame and he could see daylight up at the end of the flight of stairs. He soon walked through the door frame and he stood bathed in sunlight. He took a quick glance around, it was a rather spartan roof. Nothing but the most necessary stuff up here. An air vent, a railing (couldn’t have those precious students falling down and dieing.) and a door. That was it. But a lone figure disturbed this man made building. No doubt that it was Tai, Magnus had seen his carnage at the assembly, and had memorized his looks.

The ’hero’ emerges...

"I assume you’re Long Tai Yang… You should really get a life with all these posters you’ve put up. A bit overkill on your social life.” He crumbled one of said posters and threw it aside. It landed somewhere on the roof before the wind carried it away. ”But thank you. It will be much easier to claim the title by tearing you a new one.”

Magnus threw his bag aside, some of its contents fell out, it was just books and a couple of pencils, nothing expensive nor rare. His hands covered with gloves that had a nice metal edge to it where the knuckles were. Maximum damage to his punches. He had borrowed them from one of his ’friends’. It would be a perfect counter to the steel-toed boots that he had seen him use at the assembly.

”All we need now is an audience for your broken body once I'm through with you…”

And the timing couldn’t have been better. A loud ringing noise began inside the school. And soon after the students would be walking out on the sports field in order. Probably the only time ever that these students would be in order. Magnus’ ’friends’ had pulled a couple of fire alarms. And unlike here, the students had been trained from Hircine to go outside and wait on the sports field when the fire alarm began. It would only be during these first weeks that such a trick would work, while some on the indoctrination from Hircine still was present in the minds of the students. Weeks from now, the students would probably have forgotten all about order and live by their own standards. That however, depended on whether Magnus succeeded in taking Tai down.

”Perfect.” He said with a small smile on his face.

[Tai Yang]

As he stood atop the building he brought his right leg straight up above his head, keeping his toes pointed horizontally before slowly bringing the straight leg down and resting it on the railing in front of him. Bending forward he stretched his muscles, working them out after handing out a few ass kicking’s to start the day. After twenty seconds of pushing his upper body into his knee he switched to his left leg, following the same routine before beginning another set of dynamic stretches. From forward stretches he turned his body over and went slowly walked his right foot out, going into the splits while keeping one leg on the railing. Given his claims he knew he’d be fighting quite a few people over then next few days, well, probably weeks, and so he’d need to be in top form no matter what. Just because people considered his actions to be that of a psycho didn’t mean he was insane…. Heh.

After finishing up with his stretches he leaned forward on the railing, enjoying the view of a blood red existence that flooded his mind with images of chaos and destruction. Joyfully his lips creped apart as he refused to hold back his smile. This school was ten times better then prison for getting into fights, and ten times better for not getting into trouble. Even if someone complained it was all under the school boards law to sit back and do nothing. Utterly perfect: Tai Yang had fallen in love with the system. As visions of what was to come flowed through his mind the shouting of his name stole his day dream from him, returning his mental being back to reality where he’d find his dreams to be reality much sooner then he could’ve hoped.

Turning around he looked the brute over, leaning back against the railing as he failed to let the smile drop from his face. He didn’t bother to interject as the guy began to talk, just kept on smiling, his eyes slowly beginning to burn brighter with the idea of a fight breaking out here and now. His sun glasses would do their job well to block the mans vision of where exactly he was looking, though that wasn’t so much a concern as to hold back the look of his bloodlust. When the bell rang and the students began to file out Tai Yang looked back over his shoulder, not quite turning around as he watched everyone head up to the soccer field.

”Your right, this is perfect.”

Ignoring the brute behind him Tai Yang turned around, bringing his hands up to his mouth as he made a simplistic megaphone with his hands.

“This Is Your School Captain! Up Here Moron’s! I, Long Tai Yang Have Been Challenged By A Brute For My Title, And You’re All Welcome To Watch Me Decimate Him!”

Turning back around he looked Magnus over, actually giving him another once over as he assessed the possibilities of the way he fought. Judging from the gloves he assumed that his opponent’s main weapons would be his fists, but whether it was primarily striking or with some grappling involved wasn’t quite sure. He doubted the large man kicked a lot, just didn’t seem likely as most large men tended to rely more on their hands then their feet. But, for knee’s that seemed like a certainty if he was caught. Assumingly he was a street fighter, but that was Tai Yang’s general assumption for most people when he first encounters them. However, that didn’t mean he believe that they were just capable of throwing punches and trying to wrestle, he taught himself everything he knew by fighting on the streets, which makes him a street fighter.

Stepping away from the railing he separates himself with a good ten feet from the edge before sliding his left foot toward, pointing it at Magnus as it slides out past the width of his shoulder. He brought his heel off the roofing tile as he turned his body to the side, extending his left arm out so it was inline with the top of his foot, his hand clenched in a fist with his knuckles turned over horizontally. Bringing his right arm up he held it in the same fist as his left but kept it back by his left bicep as he waited for the brute to attack.

“C’mon puggy, lets get this party started!”

[Magnus]

That shouting won't reach most of them, he's just wasting his breath.

From what Magnus had seen of Tai's fighting moves then it relied on the feet, and that explained why his toes were covered with metal. It would slow the foot down some, but the damage would be multiplied a couple of times. So, it was a definite no-no to be kicked by Tai. The counter was rather simple, to get in close so the kicks would be useless. The fact that Tai was a shrimp meant that body blows would force him to lean down or bend his knees unnaturally much. That would leave one place for him to make his blows count, the head. Or did he?

“Great, a sausage party.”

With that hint of a joke Magnus walked forward. His eyes directly at Tai and his guard up. Left arm around his solar plexus, guarding from any sudden strikes, a cup on his crotch to take away the chance of Tai being cheap, his right arm up high, all of the move around a little so they wouldn’t be stationary targets to grab. Both hands clenched in fists. When he was inside range, he would open with one of his two favorite opening attacks. A right jab for the face. His left foot was sliding forward during this move. That meant that they would, oddly enough, both have left foot front … Was Tai also left handed? No matter.

Once the right hand reached the left arm, Magnus' hand would open up and grab Tai's left wrist. If the grip succeeded, he would force it out toward Magnus. To disrupt the balance, if only by a little, Magnus' left hand would then bring in a fast straight punch for Tai's solar plexus. The metal at his knuckles would be enough to tear all air from Tai's lungs.

[Tai Yang]

If you took the time to carefully watch Tai Yang then you’d notice that in every fight he’s had at Paragon he’s used a different, self-taught stance. The purpose of which is to constantly keep his opponent guessing, the more they guess then the better chance that they’ll second-guess themselves. If they tried to collect data on him then their information would become null and void, only due to the fact that he was random in his pursuit of power. The fact that Magnus had watched him use his feet the day of the assembly only added to the speculation that he was expecting Tai Yang to use his feet more often then his fists. A crude misconception to say the least.

As the right fist came toward his face Tai yang twisted his fist around in a clockwise motion – from his perspective – from his wrist. As the hand changed direction Tai Yang’s now open hand would be on the outside of the arm, partially due to the fact that when acting on the instinct he reacted to the new target by pushing his arm outside slightly. As the beefy hand of Magnus went to close in around Tai Yang’s wrist he’d slap his hand inward, redirecting the arm in toward the owners body, though keeping it extended while doing so.

Pushing off his back foot Tai Yang would leap in with surprising speed, even for someone of his size, and aim to attack his opponent’s face. His weapon of choice was his left hand; having brought it across his torso while slapping the arm away he had an ample amount of time to close his hand back into a fist before swinging it back out. His fist would strike from underneath, pushing up on the bridge of the nose as his left side remained forward. He’d land with his left foot forward, a bit behind Magnus’ frame should he remain where he was. His landing would start with his left foot first, and before his right would find it’s way to the tile floor he’d bend his knee and push off again, this time sending a raised right elbow back toward his opponent’s right kidney. He had only brought his elbow up to shoulder height, and by using his forward momentum from the leap he’d be able to hand in a cushioned state before springing back at full force.

Should his duel attack work Tai Yang would push off his right foot and create a gap between the two men, escaping from his range by moving behind him before he could turn and react. There he’d ‘patiently’ wait for his opponent to turn around, this time with his right leg forward, his toes still pointing at his opponent. The difference would be his hands, his back hand was still in a fist, but his front was turned over in a knife-hand position standing vertically.

[Magnus]

[OOC: Sorry 'bout the delay. As this might appear that I have set things in stone, you can always use any counter you see fit any time along the way.]

Magnus' sense of touch would react faster than his eyes, so when Tai actually slapped Magnus' hand, he had a short feeling that the hand was still in his grasp due to the force that had been put on the hand. He didn't realize that Tai had actually avoided the grab. Though that didn't matter, he felt as if he was pulling Tai's arm closer to himself, only problem was that he met no resistance in the pull. That had him worried a bit, this worry didn't show it self though, as he confidently continued his original idea without thinking further about it.

It was first when Tai pushed off his back foot and came closer to Magnus that he realized that the wrist actually wasn't in his grip. But by then it was too late to use that to throw Tai off balance. By then, it was too late for Magnus to stop his punch completely, it could be redirected and it went up and in the way of Tai's back hand attack. The retaliation would be quick and efficient. Magnus' right arm went up quickly. His right forearm striking the elbow of Tai's left arm. Around this time, Magnus' left arm would by then have stopped and whip lash like movement of the wrist, and caught said wrist. Then Magnus would force Tai down on his back/head by putting pressure on the already overextended elbow joint, and if Tai didn't go down on his back. The elbow would be broken. Simple as that. And he would be surprised if it hadn't already been partly dislocated from being stopped midair and forced the other way of the rest of the body. Heck. It ought to be broken badly already. If that was so, Magnus would finish it with a swift punch for Tai's nose.

[Tai Yang]

[Sorry for the delay, I've been lazy.]

Magnus definitely had the reach advantage, and Tai Yang knew this, but he was also aware that once he got in close enough that his speed would completely diminish the reach advantage, making the fight his own. As his left elbow connected with his opponent’s right forearm he was still in the process of throwing his arm out, meaning his arm was still bent at a ninety-degree angle, his fist drawn back across his torso. Upon connection his shoulder stiffened up, and by pushing out with his arm he’d go into a clockwise spin away from his opponent. The grasp by his opponent’s left arm would find nothing but air, whereas Tai Yang’s right elbow would find an unknown target.

Tai Yang didn’t foresee the spin; rather it was a natural occurrence when the two bodies collided as they did. Magnus was providing enough force to block Tai Yang’s flying body, and in response he was throwing a good deal of his weight into the attack, as well as his arm strength. So, the spin occurred despite what either fighter had wanted, and a counter measure to the unforeseen was to regain his balance. To do this he brought up his right arm, keeping his arm bent inward to keep the speed of the spin up. The end result would be his elbow glancing off the back of his opponent’s head. It wasn’t meant to be an attack, it wasn’t even meant to strike, but it Magnus stayed where he was then he’d get a little tap on the noggin. Highly doubtful that it would do more then irritate the larger male, seeing as it wasn’t an intended attack and held very little power.

Tai Yang’s right foot would land first, his legs already spread out in a sort of lunge from before made it easy to account for the spin when looking back, but no matter how you looked at it Tai Yang’s right leg would be turned to the side, he’d land on the balls of his foot and go straight into a pivot as his bodies momentum turned him and brought his left foot down. Once more, he’d stay on the ball of his foot and continue the spin, this time pushing off with his own force and momentum, stepping back and around to ensure a proper distance between the two combatants. His hands would already be up from the counter-measure to the unexpected spin, and as such all he had to do was move them a bit in front to have a proper guard, obviously with his left leading.

“Hm, that was certainly not expected, It’s like we both fell down the same ladder and went back to the beginning.” Speaking directly to his opponent Tai Yang acted as though this was a game, everything already planned out with both men racing toward the fine square that claims the winner.

“C’mon brute.”

[Magnus]

Right arm did its job. Left arm failed to do the job. As Magnus forced his right arm forward to maximize the damage when he grabbed the attacking hand. He never grabbed the hand though, and he just forced his weight into making Tai spin even more. Little did Magnus know that as he leaned forward to put his superior weight into the attack, did he actually dodge an elbow coming behind his head. He felt a breeze against his hair and figured it was the wind, not even Tai would be able to react that fast. No possible way. Right?

Magnus spun around to face his opponent who also stopped his spin at the same time. The first round in this fight had been a tie. Magnus would make sure that the next wouldn’t. Tai had only been lucky. He clenched his fists and took the time to listen to Tai speak. Magnus didn’t care what Tai said, he didn’t care what anyone said. He felt nothing, thus he could be hurt or angered when people were idiots.

"You were just lucky kid."

Magnus was on the move. This time he went for his second favorite opening move. Favorite didn’t mean that he used them often, he just liked how they worked damage wise and they didn’t destroy his style. This time, the difference in reach would be even more to Magnus’ advantage. The attack was rather simple, but that was why Magnus liked it. Once within kicking range, Magnus’ right leg would swing out in a side kick and go for one of the weakest points on the leg. The side of the knee. The shin/ankle would by aimed at this spot. If Tai’s left leg was hit there, it would probably buckle to the side and leave the leg useless.

[Tai Yang]

“Lucky is the name of a brute without skill trying to survive.”

Already waiting with his heels off the ground Tai Yang watched the bigger man come in, and then the set up for his kick. Such a move was completely read-able to the Chinese-American, whom not only grew up watching movie after movie which always showed that same attack, but practiced doing and countering it in real life situations. Now was the time to put his smaller stature to its best use, and give his opponent a dead leg at the same time.

Pushing off his right leg Tai Yang’s left foot slid forward about six inches before he firmly planted the ball of his foot and brought his body and hips over. Twisting over he brought his right knee up into his chest while keeping his guard up to increase the speed of his spin and block any unexpected punches, though doubted that they’d come quick enough after such a powerful kick was thrown. Moving with the intent to cut Magnus’s attack off Tai Yang literally started his movements when his opponent started his kick, only being able to do so because he was able to read the set up. So when he kicked out his right heel toward his opponent’s upper portion of his thigh he’d be intercepting it when it was off the ground, rather then just lifting.

With the first portion of his block-and-counter plan completed he’d lean his body toward his opponent’s exposed torso, lifting and throwing out his right elbow while dropping his leg down. His feet placement would be between his opponent’s legs so that he was out in a horse-back-stance, only with his left leg more straightened and his right leg more bent. This first strike with his elbow would most likely just begin to push Magnus back after catching him off balance with the kick, and so to capitalize on this Tai Yang’s left hand would clasp around his right fist as he drew his elbow back. Springing off his left leg he’d do a single push charge back into his opponent’s torso, forcing his elbow out toward his opponent’s solar-plex with both his arm’s strength behind the strong point. Hopefully the blow would be strong enough to knock his opponent down, and if not that at least he’d continue to stagger back and find that it hurt like hell.

Should Magnus fall to the ground Tai Yang would back up a few steps, letting him return to his feet before continuing with the fight. His fighting style was based off speed and striking strength, as well as using his opponent’s momentum and weight against them. Thus said, he was fearless when attacking his opponent’s torso, not worried about the arms as they’d be needed for balance after the kick, and having struck out at such a tender muscle the brains first though would usually be ‘Pain’ and not how to fight back.

[Magnus]

A sidekick to the knee. One of the moves that is easiest to read if you’re just a semi competent fighter. With that said, why do Magnus consider that one of his favorite attacks? There were so many ways it could be turned against yourself or be nullified. The reason… A trap. Magnus had spend hours, if not days practicing this move and only because he had planned it would it be possible for him to do it, he didn’t have the necessary speed nor ability to do this by instinct… yet.

His kicking leg would bend, pulling his knee up toward his body, this move would cause Tai's leg to be pushing to the side by the knee. Tai's balance would be bad to say the least. Naturally, Magnus' favorite attack number two would also have a real attack involved, and that was a frontal kick with the already raised leg. With the way Tai's body was right now, Magnus quickly decided on his target from here, the still stationary leg Tai had, the left one. His kick would be aimed at the same area that his side kick had aimed at. (Naturally on the other leg)

[Tai Yang]

As Tai Yang’s right leg was pushed up in order to throw him off balance he continued to try and push down on it, an in his attempts would lift off the ground before pushing himself back and away. However, this safe and boring motion of events wasn’t quite the scene that would unfold, as the young Chinese-American had both hands ready in guard. Just because they were meant to block didn’t mean they couldn’t strike. Acting on instinct, and able to do so after so many brawls in the street, school yard, hall, cafeteria, library, apartment complexes, alley ways, Juvenile Detention facilities and… Well, you get the point, most every thing he did in close quarters was instinct. So, acting upon his instinct he snapped his right arm out from it’s raised position, doing so while lifting his body off the brutes knee and pushing himself back. By adding both weight and momentum he increased the power of the already strong strike and extended his fingertips while striking out with the blade of his hand at his opponent’s neck.

The strike would be at a downward angle, the speed drawn from his quick, and most likely unexpected rise, as well as the speed and unpredictability drawn from only striking from his elbow. That was the strength and quickness of his Kung fu, training the body to react at near inhuman speeds, and then complimenting that speed by striking without any extra muscle movement. Basically making his strikes invisible to the naked eye. Finding ways to incorporate body weight and momentum made the strikes strong, as did basic striking drills and repetitive practice.

After the simple, yet devastating attack Tai Yang would land not to far away, still within striking distance for both men, with his left leg leading. His shoulders and hips would be a bit more squared to his opponent, and his guard would still be up. Should he see the opportunity he’d go in for the kill, if the strike to the neck wasn’t enough.

[Magnus]

Sure. Tai might be fast. But so was Magnus. And if Tai assumed Magnus' defense was out having dinner while they were fighting, then he was wrong. Dead wrong. So when he counter Magnus' kick, by pushing down on it, and away, Magnus knew that something might come, and therefore, any arm within striking distance was a threat. At that time, only one limb could possibly attack him. And that was Tai's right arm. His right arm swung around and caught the attacking limb by the elbow, Tai's strike would be redirected away from Magnus' body. And his left hand was quick to grab this enemy limb by the wrist and not letting it go. Magnus' right arm was forcing his weight in on the Lucky brats right elbow.

His right leg, dropped suddenly and hit the ground, giving him even more weight, and Tai even less balance. Plus the boy had been up in an already shaky balance because of the height. But Magnus' actions against the right arm, sudden loss of balance, Magnus' leg behind Tai's, and Magnus' ruthlessness - would bring Tai to fall on his back with his head probably bouncing off the ground from the sheer force he was being sent into the ground with.