[FIN] Nut Up Or Shut Up [Mort vs Hel]

[medigel]

Time to do this. Time to actually start fighting when, for once, his life didn't depend on it. Nope, this time it was for the regaining of pride, to rekindle that fire inside even the undead had - well, if they looked for it.

It might've been longer before Mort made that fateful comment on Groanspring to meet him in the gym, but after his encounters with Eris and "Rudolph", well . . . That got sped up rather quickly. His abysmal battling during the Christmas/Insanity invasion also did a number on his already rather low ego, and once Hel's blunt comments were finally registered in his buzzing brain, the zomboil decided it was time to get physical.

He couldn't continue apologizing for himself. He'd been at the academy long enough to know that eventually he'd be left behind if he didn't pick up the pace.

Still, even as Mort leaned against one of the walls within the gym, watching the pool, he felt a bit nervous. Hel sounded like the type of ghoul who could probably kick his a** in two seconds flat, and perhaps the type to get annoyed if he asked to go easy at first . . .  

[Lucyal]

Hel was rather excited, then again, she was always excited to battle.

But as she made her way to the gym, and actually took a moment to think about it…this would be a first for spending time with Mort that wasn’t just a passing glance! She went back and forth with him so many times on GroanSpring, it felt like she had known him for a while…but in reality she hardly spent any time with him outside of the interwebs! Hmm..the poor zomboil seemed to be in need of some encouragement as well. She’d see what she could do!

The door to the gym swung open, and in marched the two toned valkrye, her gaze sweeping around the gym until they landed on the undead boil. Her lips pulled into a wide grin, and she moved over to him, offering him a dark hand. “Ah, Mort!” She greeted, “It is a pleasure to finally meet you outside of the interwebs and officially!”  

[medigel]

Standing before him, Hel was . . . well, it was a lot different than simply looking at pictures on the inter web. ovo In real life it was harder to look away from the fact that she was, er, two-toned. He didn't mean to, but Mort somewhat stared owlishly at her as they shook hands. "Hai hai, is good t-to see in flesh yes."

. . . It was also easy to forget he was more eloquent sounding when his fingers did the talking.

"Not sure where is best place for fight . . . First time n' here s-since Haunted House." In which the gym had been converted into a makeshift hospital and he had nearly fallen fully apart in the literal sense. "S-So, um . . . lead to good place?" She just seemed like the sort of ghoul who would already know her way around the place.  

[Lucyal]

Hel shook his hand firmly, grinning all the while, and then placed her hands on her hips as she looked him over. Lucky for Mort, she didn’t seem to mind the owlish stare, or the fact he didn’t sound as eloquent as he did on GroanSpring. The interwebs made her seem educated…but she really wasn’t. Not that she’d admit that. She was only able to find a lot of those fancy words because she used Gruegle, the online dictionary, and the online thesaurus.

“Ah, anywhere in the gym is good…but I do have a preference, heh.” Hel spun on her heel, and then waved back at Mort. She'd be more than happy to break Mort into the gym. “This way friend, I’ll take you to the outdoor arena!” The reaper then started to march in its direction. “…Say there, Mort…you spoke about your dreams being in trouble…might I inquire as to why?”  

[medigel]

Outdoor arena? Curious, he tailed after at his own pace, trying his best to crack knuckles. Last time he displaced a finger bone; this time, he didn't even manage it at all. "Was having same 'mare a-again," he explained as they walked. "N'ly, s-some guy snuck in, messed with 'mare . . . Lotta fire, name callin'." Host of other stuff he didn't want to go into.

Mort's fist tightened instinctively, and a joint cracked. "G-Gave bloody nose. Want find s-somtime, fight n' gym. But need practice."  

[Lucyal]

The reaper glanced behind her as Mort spoke, her brows furrowing.

“Some…boil snuck into your dreams…er…nightmares?” Woah. Someone like Xiu…? A frown pulled at her lips now as she opened the door that lead to the outside arena, and held it open for the zomboil. She was vaguely aware that undead did not have a fondness for fire…

“…You gave him a bloody nose, or he gave you one?” She asked, attempting to clarify, and then nodded her head, grinning widely now. “If it is practice you want, it is practice you will get, friend!” As Mort passed, she reached to give him a hearty, encouraging clap on the shoulder. “I will train you!”  

[medigel]

"He got bloody nose. Called'm 'Rudolph'." The zomboil grinned as his shoulder was clasped, still quite proud of the moment. Still, the smile faltered as he saw the structure where they would be taking their spar to, huge and circular and, well, open. He probably should've gotten the message when Hel said it was the outdoor arena, but with the stands encircling the open area like that . . . Gulp. Good thing nobody seemed to be using it at the time.

For a moment he wavered on the decision to ask the valkyrie to ease up on him in the beginning, beginning to strain the stitches on his lips as he formed the word. And then Mort chickened out, because that would seemed lame after the bloody nose comment.

And apparently ever since he met Eris, he had to be "cool".

"Um . . . s-so how start?" he asked, positioning himself what he felt was a comfortable distance across from the valkyrie. The snow that had accumulated during the Christmastival disaster was gone now, but the ground was still quite cold; he could feel it between his thin shoes.  

[Lucyal]

Hel seemed awfully impressed when Mort said that. She grinned widely at him as she walked by him, further out into the open area. “That is very good, friend, I'm proud of you!” Oh that Hel, encouraging violence.

She took her spot a bit away from the zomboil, flaring her wings out and stretching them before they fluttered against her back. She seemed to misinterpret his wavering for training nervousness. “No need to be worried, friend!” She assured, holding her hand out as she summoned her spear, and no, she wasn’t about to cap her FEAR. “Just one step at a time…first…you start when the moment is right…” Hel crouched, and held her spear out in front of her, pointing it at Mort.  

[Lucyal]

Hel held that position for a good long moment, just staring Mort down, before she lunged at him.

The ghoul did seem to be in a bit of a forgiving mood…for she didn’t use her spear…yet. As she lunged at him, the ghoul sharply spun on a heel, and delivered a kick to his side. She leapt a way then to put some distance between them, and waited to see what Mort would do, to see what she was working with.

HP: 40/40
DMG: 3  

[medigel]

When Mort got the kick, it was like he went hurrrrrrrr. There was a bit of flailing, and it was by chance that he even briefly grasped the leg and delivered a minor shock - almost equivalent to static shock really, nothing super strong. The valkyrie was out of range before he could do much else.

He had, after all, been expecting to be skewered by her weapon first. Hence the s;dfjlskdfdlkshfsdhurrrrr.

Though had Mort known about Hel's ability to kick balls, he wouldn't have complained at the direction of her feet this round.

"Mrrr . . ." The zomboil straightened himself before he could fall over, attempting to take a "stance" - and by stance, he meant get into a fisticuffs pose with both fists out and somewhat wavering.

HP: 27
Damage: 1  

[Lucyal]

Hel felt a spasm in her leg from the shock, and furrowed her brows. Well, that was odd, and it had never happened before! As she landed a bit away, she kept a keen eye on the boil, noting his pose.

She…wasn’t impressed.

The reaper straightened, and then frowned. “…You do not look very confident friend…and that is a very typical, predictable stance…” Hel marched over to Mort then, and not with the intention to swat him…yet. “First…spread your feet out a bit more…” A steel plated toe nudged at one of his shoes. “When you are in a position like this, make sure you’re steady! Now, keep you’re footing!” It was the only warning he got as Hel brought her leg up to strike him in the side again.

“Counter attack, counter attack!”

HP: 39/40
DMG: 2  

[medigel]

Okay, footing . . . footing . . . Mort copied her stance with the aid of a metal toe, though he kept his fists up just in case. It felt weird, splaying the legs out like that - or maybe he was too used to keep them together, since when was the last time he had done anything beyond a shuffle or, at fastest, a brisk walk?

There went Hel's kick again! True to her words the stance helped steady him against the force, but he still felt as though too much more pressure on that leg might make it collapse. A quick zap went her way as he aimed a fist at the offending limb again; while his hand did not connect since he swerved it away too early, it was close enough to deliver another, slightly better, shock).

Leg now tingling, the zomboil shifted so that he was in the same stance, only sideways, his yet-hit leg closer to Hel and with more weight. "L-Like this?"

HP: 25
Damage: 2

Lucyal

 

[Lucyal]

Hel’s leg spazzed again, and her brows furrowed lightly. Seriously, what was that? Was Mort doing that?

The valkyrie seemed a bit more impressed with his stance now as she shook her leg out a bit. “Oooh! You are a quick learner!” She cooed encouragingly. “Getting better, but you still have a long way to go! Now, block this!” She cried, spinning on her heel as she brought her other leg out to take a swipe at him. Hopefully, maybe, the zomboil had some natural reflexes he could rely on to block this kick? Or hopefully he’d know to bring his arm up quick enough to stop it.

HP: 37/40
DMG: 0 (snake eyes, whaaaaat?)  

[medigel]

Third time was apparently the charm, as this time Mort managed to keep himself grounded as Hel's heel went straight for him. It was indeed instinctual the way he blocked the kick, both hands coming out to grab it before it could land this time.

It took him a second to register he was holding a ghoul's leg. Like skin and all.

Normally he would have let it go gingerly and go sldkfjlsdkflskdflkd. In battle? In battle, Mort simply grinned at her. "Lotta nice muscle," he complimented, cold hands suddenly grasping said leg tight.

This time Hel would probably be able to see the charge of electricity sparking from his arms as the current was channeled through his hands and right up the reaper's leg. Pleased with his progress, he let go, twitching from the attack himself.

HP: 25
Damage: 5  

[Lucyal]

The reaper was immensely pleased to say the least. How excellent! She had some good natural skills to hone in the zomboil.

The reaper grinned back. “Why thank you, friend!” She replied cheekily, and was about to try and pull her leg away when she actually saw the charge this time. The reaper yelped as the shock traveled all the way up her leg this time, stronger than the previous ones, and even felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on their ends. Hel leapt back away from Mort once he released, and shook out her leg, staring down at it before looking back at him, her lips curling into a smirk. “Quite the nice ability you have there…”

Okay, she wasn’t going to keep putting herself out like that, especially since Mort seemed to be a quick study. The ghoul twirled her spear once more before she pulled it back, and took a swing at him. “These are all excellent foundation skills for you to build upon!”

HP: 32/40
DMG: 3