Struggle Preliminaries: Max vs. Arthas (W: ARTHAS)

[Zephiris]

Match: Max vs. Arthas
Judges: Doogie, Ellie, Zephiris
Read here and here for battle information

Well, that went over well, Setzer thought to himself with a smirk, watching the vivid audience as the first match's contestants exited the arena. And that was only the first round.

"Now for the second match, Maxwell Tendas versus Arthas Kinohorin!"

[sumdood]

Max waited patiently as the first match drew to a close, the little blue balls strapped to his body in various places via small velcro straps. He felt ridiculous being covered in the little small spheres, not to mention they were scratchy and made him itch. He supposed though, it was all part of the game. If he wanted to play, he had to play by the rules.

Then he heard his name called alongside another name that he knew. So, Arthas was here as well, and he was his first opponent? That should make things interesting. Arthas was a good swordsman. Max was curious to see how that skill transferred over to a Struggle Bat.

He himself wasn't a stranger to fighting with swords, and so it wouldn't be as difficult for him to adjust as it might be for others. Couple that with his unrelenting ability to take a beating, and he would be able to stand up to Arthas likely stronger swordsmanship.

Max had to admit that he was nervous about not being able to use his water abilities. He was so used to doing it naturally that he'd have to consciously keep himself from using it. It would be difficult, but he was confident that he was up to the challenge.

So, the soldier strolled purposefully up onto the battle ring and took his position, Struggle Bat in hand, and waited for Arthas to join him. He was ready for his first win.....

[Deleted]

As Arthas heard his name called, he picked up his Struggle bat and walked out, flourishing it before resting it on his shoulder. These spheres all over his body were irritating, but he was too focused to care. As he walked out, he looked at his opponent and smiled, recognizing his opponent. He knew very little about his fighting style, honestly, but Arthas was ready to win. In fact, he expected himself to win, and had felt that the Struggle Hammer would be best for him to use, due to its defense capabilities.

Stopping about 6 feet in front of Max, he smiled and said, "Fancy meeting you here. And don't think that I'm going to go easy on you." The lack of his Force Card severed him from his magic, but he felt like a limb had been taken away from him. It would take all he knew to defeat his opponent. So, with a single spin, Arthas slid a foot back and held his Struggle bat pointing at the ground, in front of his face and torso. He placed another hand on the hilt and readied for the battle to start.

[sumdood]

"Fancy meeting you here. And don't think that I'm going to go easy on you." Arthas said, bringing a grin to Max's face. It appeared that he was prepared to make Max work to win. That was just as good, though. He'd prefer to earn it than have it practically handed to him.

He had never actually seen Arthas fight before, but he had talked to him. He had much more experience actually using a sword than Max did, and he had actually been taught everything by a Master in one-on-one training. What Max knew was what he'd learned in mass training sessions from the Dryden Army, and what he'd picked up himself from actual fights. He wasn't bad at all, on any level. He just didn't have all the finesse that someone trained like Arthas would have, although he somewhat made up for it by shere tenacity and toughness.

That meant, Max woul dhave to win by outsmarting his opponent. He quickly started going through different plans in his mind. Some, he put aside for later in the fight, others he discarded as useless. Finally, though, he came up with a good idea for an opening move. His grin widened just a little as he committed himself to the plan. That would make things interesting.

Max brought his struggle bat up in front of him, handle gripped in both hands, as Arthas took his own stance. They stood there for a few moments, and then Max suddenly lunged towards Arthas, striking out hard and fast and high, aiming straight for his opponent's face....

[Deleted]

With a swordsman's eye, Arthas saw Max swing up high and dropped to a knee, his sword going out to the side and the bat swinging over his head. He then pushed in the opposite direction of Max's swing and went back a safe distance away. As he went back into his stance, he lunged forward, intending to sweep Max's leg while his Struggle bat was still high. But, as a precaution, he had the shield part of his hilt aimed between him and Max, in case he was quick enough to block his attack.

[sumdood]

(OOC: sorry, but you did just what I wanted, Chris..... )

Max had been waiting and watching for Arthas to duck, and the moment he did, he reacted. He twisted his arm and wrist down, bringing the bat's momentum into a downward arc that reversed direction towards the top of his head. As he finished his attack, he stepped back and away from Arthas.

Max looked at Arthas with an amused grin on his face, rolling his bat from one hand to the other. "Having fun yet?" He asked, a small chuckle in his voice. He was quite proud of himself for that little bit of deception. It had let Arthas know he wasn't to be underestimated, and would likely make him much more cautious in the future. For now, though, he would give Arthas the offensive. He would sit back and be more defensive himself. That was what he'd been trained for, afterall......

[Deleted]

Arthas grunted in anger as he was hit in the ehad, but sighed as he realized no spheres had been knocked off hs body. His bat raised again, and he smiled back at Max. "I'm just getting started." he said, then put his right foot forward. He noted Max's change of stance, instead taking a more defensive style. Arthas smiled, and looked his opponent in the eye before lunging forward, twisting and swinging the bat hard towards Max's right side, whre a small cluster of orbs was.

[sumdood]

Max grinned at Arthas as the two of them backed up. Max could see the determination in his face. It wasn't difficult to tell that he didn't intend to hand the win over to Max. That was good, because otherwise it wouldn't be any fun, and that was the whole point of the Struggle.

Max was brought out of his brief thoughts when Arthas rushed him, bringing in a wide sweep to his right. He grunted and lifted his arms, letting the bat get a solid connection with his side. It hit hard, sending a brief shock of pain up his side and sending several of his orbs flying. He pushed it out of his mind, though, and brought his left hand over to grab the bat, and at the same time started unleashing a barrage of hits with his own bat, aiming for the orbs strapped to Arthas' body....

[Deleted]

With a quick spin, Arthas took the first few hits, but got his bat between Max and his body, managing to deflect the worst of the blows. However, this put him off balance, and he stumbled back, momentarily dizzy, but shook it off. His sword was raised in front of his body, and as he backed away from Max, he scooped up a few orbs he found and attached them to his body.

As he watched Max, he sought an opening. The distance between them was enough for him to react, but he would have to think fast to win.

[sumdood]

Max was satisfied with the hits he was getting in, knocking several of Arthas' orbs off his body. Then, the other managed to twist around and bring his own bat up to at least half-block Max's blows, and then twisted away. As he pulled out of Max's grip, the soldier gave a hard shove with his free hand, attempting to disrupt Arthas' balance even more than it already was.

Using the time bought by that little maneuver, he bent down and started scooping up extra orbs from the ground, sticking them to the velcro across his body. As he straightened, he saw Arthas doing the same with a couple of orbs closer to him. He grinned. This was a really fun match. He was starting to enjoy it. However, it seemed Arthas was a little unnerved by Max's fighting style, as he wasn't really fighting back too hard. He would have to help remedy that....

Without warning, Max lunged forward, striking out hard again, aiming straight for his opponent's middle.....

[Deleted]

((I will make the assumption you are swinging from the side towards his middle. Correct me if I'm wrong.))

As he watched Max swing at his middle, he jumped back out of range from the swing, and then hit a strong upward swing at the bottom of Max's hand. Even if Max could counter, Arthas would be able to m ove the bat up and block an attack. In all honesty, he was struggling gainst his opponent, but rather enjoying the fight.

So, as he thought quickly, he aimed a sweeping kick at the back of Max's leg, knowing that he would be too off balance to stay on his feet.

((I hope. >.<;)

[sumdood]

Max was caught off-guard as Arthas struck upward, knocking his bat high in the air, over his head though still in his hand. As he tried to swing his arm back around for another swing from the side, Arthas surprised him again and swiped his legs out from underneath him. The kick was solid and Max landed on his back hard, nearly knocking the wind from him. He grunted from the impact and instinctively struck out with his bat, trying to fend his opponent off until he could regain his feet.

He used the momentary distraction to scramble back to his feet and back away from Arthas. He'd gotten careless there, hadn't expected him to actually fight back at that. However, Max's little ploy had worked, and it seemed Arthas was really ready to begin. That was good, since there was no fun in an easy victory. A grin just spread across Max's face as he took up another defensive stance and waited for Arthas to attack again.....

(I take it Arthas isn't quite so good against someone who justs muscles his way through a fight? xD )

[Deleted]

((He likes to outsmart rather then outpower.))

A simple movement deflected the blow from the ground, but it gave Max enough time to get up. Arthas smiled, happy with his victory, then went back into his stance. He saw Max watching him intensly, and took a similar style, looking Max in the eye with a straight face.

I need to attack where he least expects it. Perhaps if I played his little game...

So, with a cry, he swung right at Max's chest, hoping for a block.

[sumdood]

Max watched Arthas carefully, beither of them willing to strike for several long moments. It gave Max pause. He had expected Arthas to press the attack, not give him a chance to recover and catch his breath. Sira knew that it would have definitely been to his advantage. Max found himself wondering what Arthas was playing at.

He soon found out when he rushed him, swinging at Max's chest. He wanted to play like Max did, obviously, so the soldier decided to let him. He deliberately stepped into the attack and leveled a hard thrust at Arthas' stomach, using the forward motion to put a little more power behind the attack. He grunted as the. Blow struck home against his chest. It definitely hurt, but it was nothing compared to what he'd felt before. He just continued on, striking out with a series of even more jabs, all aimed right at Arthas' stomach.....

[Deleted]

Arthas grunted as he got hit in the stomach, but barely felt the pain as he moved back and weaved away from each jab. As he finally saw Max stop, his sword went back up in front him, ready for another assault. "Well, quite impressive, Max." said Arthas, looking over his opponent. "I respect you for being such a formidable opponent, but I'm afraid..." With those words his sword moved, and he looked Max over once more, looking for a weakness.

"I can't let you beat me!" With those final words, he swung his Struggle Bat diagonal from above at Max.