Rhetoric
Paragons
Olivia Cooper
Trouble... it's what Jersey does best.
Posts: 128
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Post by Rhetoric on Apr 17, 2010 18:26:19 GMT -5
"Alright, just hold your horses there, Mr. Horsey holder." Liv couldn't help but laugh at the suddenly concerned look on The Idiot's face. "Big, rude, and conceited isn't my type. I have a strict 'no jackasses' rule. I have a plan."
Not just a plan, but a rather brilliant one, if she did say so herself. So far they had played along with Coffee's rules and so far the only one to benefit from that was Coffee. It was time to show the wascally wabbit what she was really capable of. Coffee had hauled tail to the beach... well, Liv could work with that.
Liv grinned and listened to the woods around her. Aside from her flock kicking up a racket, she could hear the soft rustle of an animal's approach, heavy feet crunching through the leaves. I hope you know what you're doing, Livi. Cuil fluttered over her head, circling her once before dropping to her shoulder. They nearly ate me sisteregg.
"You've done well, Cuil," Liv gave his chest feathers a reassuring stroke. "Brave, little thing." Leaves crunched and several squirrels hopped through the bush, dragging a filthy, dirt-smeared tank top along behind them. "Excellent timing, me amigos!" She sent The Idiot a nasty look as she unbuckled her vest. "Uh...You mind, dude? Turn around." Liv yanked the top back down over her head before she slipped her vest back on.
"How do you feel about a little bait and switch?" Liv grabbed The Idiot's t-shirt and started kicking up some of the dead undergrowth, digging in with her heels. The trees here were close together, the brush high. If they were clever, they would be able to outsmart the furry, little bastard. The trick was getting Coffee back to this spot on their terms so that The Idiot could put those swashbuckling skills to some use. Liv pulled her useless lariat over her shoulder, undoing the knot and letting the cut bit of rope fall slack to the ground. She told him what needed doing and with a cheeky smile, backed toward the sand. "If this doesn't work, it's your turn to come up with an idea."
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Post by Coffee on Apr 17, 2010 19:27:23 GMT -5
Coffee used his dagger to drive the squirrels away and then crouched behind a hobby horse on the beach and laughed. The kits were working together as a team and in that had discovered strength. Their strategies were creative, if not well executed, and he was sure their execution would improve. Now all they needed was some encouragement and a little guidance. That would be the hard part. The rabbit was a trained gladiator whose two goals had always been to entertain and to kill. He had little experience teaching. So far he had been relying on the fight itself to teach the students. Now he needed something more. That and the squirrels had returned. Perhaps the kits were too creative, yelping as a squirrel bit his arm.
Sighing, he stayed on the beach. He could not really have left. There were no mirrors nearby except the throwing mirrors in his bag and the squirrels kept him from reaching into it quite effectively. They also tied up his left paw, as he had to use his dagger to fend them off. Sword outstretched Coffee waited for the kits to come, and practiced fencing footwork in the sand. Two paces left, a right foot back, and then a pirouette and a lunge forward. He grunted out to the kits. "Look. Sword good. See. Fight good." He then demonstrated two different attacks and for each an effective counter strategy. "Think, think. Change little. Big surprise," he grunted. With their creativity he was sure the kits could come up with something. He would also pull back a little, using intermediate fencing techniques instead of his top stuff. The kits would learn, and he was sure that they would surpass his expectations yet again.
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Rhetoric
Paragons
Olivia Cooper
Trouble... it's what Jersey does best.
Posts: 128
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Post by Rhetoric on Apr 17, 2010 20:05:51 GMT -5
Liv wiggled her toes, getting a feel for the sand beneath her feet. Behind her was a trap, set and waiting. Above her, the sparrows kept a watchful eye. And ahead of her... Liv's eyes were glued to the little red wagon at the water's edge, the one that Coffee had used to carry his weapons. With a last look into the darkness of the trees, Liv allowed a cocky smirk to settle over her face before she bolted for the wagon.
"Come on, ninja bunny!" she shouted. Liv kicked up a spray of sand as she jumped up onto the first hobby horse. She landed on her toes for a split second before she made a leap toward the next one. "Come get it!"
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Post by Coffee on Apr 17, 2010 20:30:00 GMT -5
Coffee watched Liv with wary eyes. He knew better than to jump after her. He would wait. She would come back or the boy would strike. He waited until she was far along the beach before realizing that she was headed right toward the weapons wagon. There she could pick from a delicious smorgasbord of weapons. The rabbit had to get there first. But he did not have a mirror close enough to the wagon to allow him to do so, and it was too far to get there in time on foot. This would make the fight more interesting, and he had to admit there was a lesson there. The lesson to not accept restraints merely because they were imposed.
This also would even the playing field some and he wanted to see what would happen. She had tricked him fair and square, so he would not rob her of it no matter how tempted he was to jump into a mirror and appear in the forest, where the boy was now alone and might be subject to an ambush. On the other hand, given the tactical thinking the kits had shown, they might be expecting him to use the opportunity to attack the boy, and could have an ambush there for him. Or the boy might be trying to sneak up on him now.
Moving carefully farther up the beach, Coffee positioned himself close enough to the trees to make a beeline for the forest, but far enough away from the duck blind, where the boy had last been seen, that he hoped he would not be running straight into the student's waiting arms. Teach hard, he thought, tempted to just use his mirrors to disappear into the forest and maybe even ambush the boy. The only thing that was going right now, was that he had finally driven the squirrels off. The birds, however, were still pestering him to no end.
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Rhetoric
Paragons
Olivia Cooper
Trouble... it's what Jersey does best.
Posts: 128
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Post by Rhetoric on Apr 17, 2010 21:39:48 GMT -5
Liv made it to the abandoned wagon without incident. See? Coffee knows not to go running after an enemy like a puppy just let off the leash. Still, in this case Coffee's superior warrior training worked in Liv's favor. While he was hiding, she was arming up.
Arming up with weapons she had no idea how to use.
"Oh, this is such a bad idea," she mumbled to herself, grinning all the while. She slung the quiver, packed full of arrows, over her shoulder and took up the bow. If she managed to get out of this alive and without shooting The Idiot with a wayward arrow it would be a miracle. "Come on, Coffee! What are the X-Men gonna think about you hiding from a girl?"
He's hiding up yonder, Livi. One of the flock dipped above her head, giving Liv the information before winging in the indicated direction. Liv grinned up at the little spy as she unstrung the bow and wrapped the cord around her arm.
With a deep breath, Liv pulled her hair back into a ponytail and started walking up the beach. She had a bunny to find and punt.
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-RAM-
New Mutants
Jaxon Chande
Posts: 91
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Post by -RAM- on Apr 21, 2010 14:17:47 GMT -5
Jax was frankly fed up now. The excitement had gone out- the bunny was frankly just unreal. How the hell could he still go super-ninja on them when two of his senses were practically cut off? It just didn't make sense! Jax growled- he was now up a tree, wearing nada but his vest on his torso, eyeing the bunny struggling with the birds down on the ground below. Screw you staff bunny. There's a thin line between when exciting becomes dragging and annoying. You've crossed that line, and now I just want this stupid thing over and done with. Jax sighed, with a quick glance looking at Liv's whereabouts.
He thought he caught a glimpse of her, but impatience was getting to him, and he didn't bother to look twice. With one leap, wild like a hunter and predator, he landed down centimeters away from the staff bunny, his lips spread out into a brilliant grin, showing off his perfect white teeth. "You're pissing me off now." he claimed- not really giving a shit that the bunny was supposedly staff. Jax's sword slashed towards the bunny's chest- and he made sure that he hit the bunny. He wasn't going to give the bunny a chance to escape- and his strike and almost been a blur. Frustration forced Jax to go faster than he was normally capeable of.
"I think I can probably get away with a tag or two more, right?" Jax could hear the sarcastic amusement in his own voice, but he was tired of playing tag with the bunny. This bunny was just unreal- back home, Jax would've had two bunnies over a fire by now, watching the guys cook and eat 'em. Jax's sword slashed towards the helpless bunny twice more, as he tried to avoid hurting any of the birds who were his allies at the moment.
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Rhetoric
Paragons
Olivia Cooper
Trouble... it's what Jersey does best.
Posts: 128
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Post by Rhetoric on Apr 21, 2010 16:00:20 GMT -5
Okie, that's one way to do it. Liv drew up short when she saw The Idiot drop out of the tree like a demented jungle cat. That wasn't part of the plan... not that their plans had amounted to much. Coffee was unreal and out of control, and Liv was just pissed off enough to stand by and let The Idiot play at being a musketeer without reprimanding him for it. Besides, he was kicking Coffee's ass.
Far from being sympathetic, Liv smirked and dropped the bowstring that had been wound snuggly up her arm into her palm. Longbow abandoned in the sand, Liv darted forward, joining the fray with a rather accurate slide tackle, knocking his little rabbit feet off the ground. She wasn't as handy with a weapon as The Idiot was, but she had her own style of getting things done that was usually pretty effective. So long as her partner was going to cause a ruckus, she might as well take advantage of the situation.
Liv scrambled out of the mess as fast as she had scrambled in and yanked hard on the bowstring still fisted in her hand. The other end was securely fastened around Coffee's back paw and the slipknot tightened with an aggressive zip! "Let's see you cut through that!" Liv crowed and grinned broadly. The bowstring wasn't rope, but synthetic wire and it would take Coffee ages to saw his way through. Liv wound the wire around one of the arrows before plunging it into the ground and stomping it down. Coffee was stuck like a dog on a lead and Liv looked up at The Idiot, arms crossed. "I've never hogtied a rabbit before, bro. Let's just end this. I'm bored with you." She nudged him playfully, momentarily forgetting that she hated his guts in celebration of their victory over Coffee. "Sorry, Coffee! Sucks to be yoooooooooou!"
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Post by Coffee on Apr 21, 2010 19:05:11 GMT -5
The birds in his eyes and chirping filling his ears, Coffee did not realize the boy was upon him until the student dropped out of the trees and he was hit full in the chest with a sword. Two easy points for the boy. Turning rapidly, the rabbit tried to perry the next blow but it landed as well, striking him in the side. Another point for his opponent. Catching his breath and his footing, the little rabbit retreated a few paces, and then drove off the next stroke of his enemy. Had he faced the boy alone he likely could have recovered in the ensuing sword fight, but he didn't. Liv's slide tackle took him down before he had time to react.
Wolves, Coffee thought with a curse, and then a laugh. This attack was well done, both in planning and execution. They were learning and he was at once proud of them and momentarily panicked for himself. The sharp pull on his leg of the chord brought a defeated, undignified whine from his lips. He raised his sword to stop yet another blow from the boy. However, all was not lost. Some of the birds, trying to get out of the way of the swords, had cleared his line of vision and Coffee could clearly see Liv spike an arrow in the ground, and the glint of the sunlight off of the chord. He made one futile whack at the chord with his dagger. It was too strong. But the arrow was made of weaker stuff. Risking a hop in its direction, he let his new leash go slack as he hopped over to the arrow and quickly slashed it.
Freed the rabbit spun into mid air and with a combination kick attacked the girl. At the same time defended his back with his dagger and slashed at her side with his sword. He had no chance of regaining all the points he had just lost to the boy, but hoped to strike at least once before the birds returned. Still, the rabbit was tired. This was a much bigger field than most of his gladiatorial fights and he had trained as hard since coming to the school as he did at home. His leap wasn't quite far enough to reach Liv. Instead he came down to the ground shy of Liv and barely kept his balance. His sword also came up short, striking only empty air.
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Rhetoric
Paragons
Olivia Cooper
Trouble... it's what Jersey does best.
Posts: 128
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Post by Rhetoric on Apr 22, 2010 2:01:00 GMT -5
"No! Bad, Coffee!" Liv shook a stern finger at the rabbit and stomped down on the longbow staff she had abandoned earlier. The bowed wood shot up under Coffee and smacked him cleanly in the tail and knocked him ass over kettle. With a smirk Liv pounced. The wire lead was still hanging off Coffee's leg and as she knelt on his back, she wound the wire around his other paw. "Don't you dare bite me, dude. I will bite you back."
You mess with bull, you get the horns! Liv grinned and played a drum roll over the back of Coffee's miniature vest, wracking up the points they needed to end the game. That was why her sticks were ideal for her. She was Buddy Rich fast and Liv could use that to her advantage if someone was pissing her off. One good whack was usually enough to get her point across, and in this case... she just wanted the game to be over.
Twirling the sticks over the backs of her hands Liv rolled back to her feet and poked Coffee's nose with the tip of her Vic Firth. "Game over, Staff Bunny." She flipped her ponytail over her shoulder and quirked an eyebrow at the idiot. "I hereby declare this partnership dissolved. Begone."
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-RAM-
New Mutants
Jaxon Chande
Posts: 91
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Post by -RAM- on Apr 22, 2010 12:59:02 GMT -5
Jax smirked, looking up at Liv, not being able to help but laugh at the sight of staff bunny turned drum bunny. "Begone?" Jax scoffed out a laugh, his hair falling into his eyes. "Ya really think you're gonna get rid of me after all that?" Jax asked, indicating towards the bunny with his eyes, cocking an eyebrow at Liv. "You got another think coming chicka." Jax took a step closer to Liv and the bunny, his sword slashing down to the back of the bunny's vest, and his smirk transformed itself into a victorious grin. "I wanted the last hit." he stated simply, winking at Doc Doo Little and retreating.
He moved over to the hedge where his shirt lay and grabbed it, starting to walk in the direction of the mansion. "Nice team work Doo Little." he yelled, scrunching up his shirt in his hand, walking away with a smirk on his face.
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Post by Coffee on Apr 22, 2010 20:38:44 GMT -5
Bite, Coffee grunted. I no bite. The rules of the game had clearly been hits on the vests. The rabbit had his sense of honor and would not cheat. He took the beats on his vest with stoicism. Part of him was quite embarrassed at losing. These were still just children and had he kept his training up properly these last few months he should have defeated them easily. He still could have had he not decided against using mirrors on the beach. The other part of him was happy. The kits had learned to work together, and he guessed that Liv had learned something about her power. Her animals were a much stronger weapon than many of the seemingly more powerful students could draw upon.
Good, good. He grunted with a laugh. Kit learn team. Kit learn waiting, he said referring to patience. What all learn? he asked Liv, as the boy had walked away, to see what she had taken away from the experience. As for himself Coffee had learned two important things. First, he needed to train harder because he was not as safe as he thought he was. Secondly, he realized that he relied too much on his mirrors. In the real world he was not going to have mirrors stashed everywhere to jump into. And here on the beach Liv's squirrels and birds had made it so he could not get to his throwing mirrors easily even if he had wanted to.
Of course in a real fight he just would have killed them. He doubted she had an unlimited supply of birds and squirrels were generally cowards. For a game killing them seemed cruel, plus it would only make him enemies in his own forest. In a real fight, or for that matter at home in the gladiatorial ring, he would have killed the boy or Liv as soon as they started to become a problem instead of an entertainment. With a little more force and without the vests, his early blows would have accomplished it before the game even got to the point where he was worn out and vulnerable. This gave him some comfort when it came to his training, but not much. The fact was he still should not have lost unless he had wanted to lose.
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Post by Emma Frost on Apr 22, 2010 22:39:42 GMT -5
Emma was waiting for Perigee to decide on tea, and yet she could not help herself as she noticed the mind of RAM as he was walking back to the mansion. Ever the multi-tasker she allowed herself a cursory glance into the minds of the Alien Rabbitman and the two students she had taken into her care and been entrusted with. Unpleased with what she gleaned she dug deeper into what had been occurring thereafter did she decided to make her presence known and assert her authority.
~* RAM, Rhetoric, and Coffee please do not be alarmed, it is I, Ms. Frost. The voice of the Headmistress they all heard in their heads. She smiled most sincerely at Perigee, the look on Emma's face never giving any clue she was having another conversation all together. Thank you all for your attention. First off, RAM, I would like you to assist Coffee in dismantling his training arena. He was kind enough to set it up and you took full advantage of the opportunity to train, so it is only fair that you help him clean up. Secondly Rhetoric, I would ordinarily make the same request of you, but presently I find another need for you and your gift. I urge you to get dressed as you run post haste to the front of the school, Colossus is boarding a van full of students in the garage, and you should accompany them. As for you Coffee, when your training area is completely dismantled and the components stored you will join me in my office. Thank you all and carry on. *~
Only then, after she was done with the trio lakeside, did she return to speaking to Perigee. "Now, about that tea?" she asked as her mind sought out two of her fellow X-Men for a bit of further mental discourse. ~* Piotr, one more will be joining you. I anticipated her being indispose for a bit longer than she was, please hold the van for a moment if you will. She will be the sweaty, running, girl, trying to put her clothes back on over a filthy body, with a small flock of sparrows following her no doubt. *~ And then the other... ~* Rogue. Your presence will be required in my office shortly, please finish whatever that is you call yourself doing and join us. Yes, I did say us. It is in regard to your 'charge'. *~
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