Tally-ho

[Akito]

“Ahhh, how unfortunate…I don’t really want to do this,” Alexis sighed, a little uncomfortable with his current predicament. It’s as if some unseen, but very awesome, force had posted up a request for him to fight another and he was forced to oblige…maybe it was just his imagination. Yes, it was definitely your imagination. Wait, what? Are these my thoughts or- Shut up and fight.

Anyway. They stood on one of the many pathways of the floating city of Bevelle; surprisingly, it was empty save for the two of them. Its halls, its altars to Yevon; everything was as desolate as the blue skies in which he perched, save for a sorcerer and a spider. Sighing once more for good measure, Alexis promptly raised and flipped open his suitcase, pulling out from it a simple but effective weapon of choice; a hand gun. It would be great of things are settled with just this, he thought wishfully. He had never enjoyed fighting. With a muttered “Sorry,” Alexis fired, two shots, each at Iznan’s body. He had lived several thousand years, he had learnt many things in that time. The chances of killing were multiplied several times with two shots as well as aiming for the largest and most easily hit chest (Instead of the head as several fools would swear by).

[lysander]

[wow. these two are hardly suited for each other.]

To be completely frank, the events that had transpired between being where he was and getting to Bevelle would be impossible to explain. Though long, arduous, and full of hardship, no wordsmith in all of the words could possibly define and follow the epic tale. And thus another of the many famous tales of Iznan the Trickster was lost to the annals of history. But perhaps, for everyone who hates to read all that boring stuff, he'd leave behind a worthy fight for them to get their hands on. After all... If Iznan had a heart, and that heart held love, it only held love for the glory of battle.

He stood before the man before him, smirking his everpresent, infinitely immortal smirk. He was stretching himself out, yawning as if he'd just woken up, getting ready for the battle ahead when he looked down to notice that the other was aiming a gun at him. A look of surprise alighted upon his face and as the first shot was fired his body jerked backward, falling under the path of the second. There were a few strange things about this that might be noticed in a split second. Iznan had jerked back before the shot had been fired, only by a small fraction of a second. Iznan wasn't sprawled across the ground like a regular gunshot victim. His feet were still planted on the ground, leading up to his knees, and only after his kneecaps did his body bend backwards (matrix-esque anyone?).

But even if Alexis had time to notice this, Iznan was already up, standing where he was originally before the other could do anything about it. "No need to be sorry, buddy. You'd have to actually hit me, for me to want an apology."

[/b] He went about loosening muscles and limbering up as he had before Alexis had produced the gun. "But damn man, you really had be going for a second. Makes you wonder. If a bullet can't hit me, what hope do you have?" Deciding he'd relaxed sufficiently, he took up a lazy fighting stance.[/size][/blockquote]

[Akito]

Alexis smiled and replied curtly, "You're definitely right," There was no use hiding it. Assassins were a sorcerer's bane, striking them down before they could utter a word of the spell they intended. You did not need a city leveling ball of fire to kill one man when a sharp object through the neck will do. Alexis would've normally avoided a fight such as this, but alas, we play with the cards we are dealt.

Iznan's movements were not unknown to the sorcerer, for someone of his calibre, such mistakes were not afforded. They say to see a technique once is to defeat it the second; hoping this held true for him once more, Alexis fired off several more shots, but this time with careful placement and in rapid succession. The chest, the legs and just to Iznan's left and right; these were the locations Alexis now fired continuously at; sure, he would soon run out of his current clip but it would be a worthy sacrifice to probe the extent of this man's reflexes.

Of course, as he did this, Aleixs shuffled himself closer to the edge of the pathway (about two car's width) in which they both stood. To either side of them was a sheer fall that none could hope to survive. The clouds overhead were tranquil, passing by calmly despite the situation of the two combatants.

[lysander]

Iznan shrugged at Alexis's polite, yet short rebuttal. "I usually am." It was somewhat of a disappointment that Alexis wasn't getting as angry as some others might have gotten, but from one possibility to another, Iznan didn't mind a whole lot. He did know now, however, that this guy was not a fool who would easily get angry and come charging at him. If this fight were a game of Jenga, Iznan sure was losing right now. Alexis had found his speed, and was probing it for weakness at that very moment, while Iznan had only come up with a few immobile blocks. The fact that he wasn't an idiot didn't make the fight any easier.

As the successive gun shots were fired Iznan found his body running on automatic. Pushing upwards into the air, he seemed to cartwheel over them in a blurry wave of color that was gone in seconds. Definitely as fast as bullets. He landed in a crouch But the glint of metal was now held in his hands. Who knows when it had happened, but between his fingers he held several short silver blades. They were daggers missing handles, and he held them with a casual care. An expert flick of the wrist sent them flying from his position. One at Alexis's feet, one at Alexis's chest, and two to either side of him. It was essentially the same tactic reflected. "You're bangin' your head against a brick wall with that gun of yours."

[/color][/size][/blockquote]

[lysander]

[Bump. I think I'm good to continue. Do you want to sporadically keep going?]

[Akito]

Too perfect. Why did Alexis shoot in that particular order? It was clear he was trying to get Iznan to react a specific way, by cornering him and elimanating other choices as well as making that particular choice more obvious. He wanted Iznan to jump and jump the spider did. What he found waiting for him in midair were five magic circles surrounded him and promptly fired the very brief, very easily missed (If Alexis were a lesser man) moment he begun the motion to jump. Each of the blue lasers fired were about half a metre in diameter and traveled at a furious pace (Nowhere near Iznan's, but fast). What made these so much different to the bullets Alexis tried before? Why, Iznan was now in mid-air 'cartwheeling'. One did not dodge effectively, or rather at all, in mid-air.

((OOC: Because of this, Iznan wasn't able to land and throw those daggers, yeah? So I don't need to react to them. Well, until you post again, that is.))

[lysander]

((OOC: Sounds good.))

[TIME PARADOX: Battle Rewind]

Alexis's plan was crafty. Iznan had to give him that. It was just as his toes were planting against the ground, about to kick off that realized the elegant mage's plan. Apparently Alexis expected that Iznan's midair status would hinder his evasion; if Iznan were any other sort of fighter, the suitcase wielding magician would be right. Unfortunately, Iznan was many things. Flexible, capable, clever, and fast. These were the tools at his disposal; these were the tools of his survival.

The circles appeared in a ring around him less than moments after he had made this realization. At the peak of motion, directly above the bullets for a fraction of a blink. His feet in the air above him, his hair dangling. Time slowed just long enough for the camera to angle itself just so, that the bullets passed, while above Iznan's floating form watched the magic circles, eyes widening.

It was more of an instinct than anything when Iznan twisted his torso up towards his feet (which were carrying most of his weight at that moment). The lasers below him were soon moved to action, blasting a circle of death and destruction beneath him. He continued his rolling motion just barely clearing the magic circle that had been right in front of him. The back of his jacket however, suffered quite the burn.

He landed in a crouch, standing up and flipping his hair to the side. "Alright. So now the fight starts?"

[/color] Between his fingers, several short silver blades glimmered.[/size][/blockquote]

[Akito]

"Please be gentle with me," Alexis smiled. Having used the time it took for Iznan to evade and the little dialogue exchanged between them to reload his handgun, Alexis continued firing, futile though it seemed. He aimed specifically for the bulk of Iznan's body. As he did this, Alexis continued to put distance between him and the spider until he was practically standing on the railing of the pathway, balancing himself with ease.

He had learned the full extent of the spider's agility, having seen it in action sufficient enough times. It was, as expected, formidable. In purest convention, none of his attacks would hit Iznan. In purest convention.

[You. Forever King. Nao.]

[lysander]

Iznan smirked. "I'll give it a try, but you'll have to forgive me..."

[/color] His feet kicked forward from a flat-footed position, accelerating towards the edge of the walkway. Bullets flew cut the air around him, his body seeming to flicker as he twisted and turned around them. His momentum suddenly whipped to the side, three meters from Alexis, cartwheeling to the side on one hand. Three blades shot out of his sleeve, two aimed at Alexis's stomach, while a third, sent a half-second later shot towards one of Alexis's feet. He was somewhat careful to draw too near to the railing. "I'm not known for my tender qualities."[/color]

He landed, observant and ready to move, waiting for Alexis's next move while keeping his environment visible.[/size][/blockquote]

[Akito]

Alexis swung with his suit case to disperse the two blades thrown to his stomach, hitting them back in Iznan's general direction though there would be no complaints if such a half arsed return didn't send the blades anywhere close. In doing this, however, he failed to see the one thrown at his feet. Fortunately, his Aegis shield would take care if that, sending back the blade from where Iznan had originally thrown it in a violent recoil. This last moment seemed to have put him off balance on the railing and he fell backwards off the railing surprisingly quickly, though not before shooting one or two more bullets in Iznan's direction as a parting gift. It seemed it might end here...

No more than a few seconds later, wherever Iznan now stood, there would be a large cylinder of azure laser coming at him from below, tearing apart the materials of the pathway like it was wet tissue. It would be sudden and it would be, hopefully, be unexpected, catching Iznan off-guard if that was possible of the rather warrior like spider. The skywards blast of Destruction Energy would move, ever slowly perhaps, to follow Iznan in whichever direction he may have somehow evaded.

What really happened? It's simple really, Alexis made himself fall over the railing, only to catch himself elegantly and silently on his own floating suit case (Falling on his hands as opposed his feet to minimize the sound and maximize his balance by gripping onto the sides). He was a sorcerer, witches may have their brooms, while he relied on his suitcase. Standing on his hands upon it, he positioned himself directly below Iznan and unleashed a torrent of Destruction energy from his feet with a powerful kick. It was the craftiness of an old man against the vigours of youth.