WE NEED TO FIGHT NOW RIGHT NOW

Poppy

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@"Emy"

[ Lei Feng ]

Don't expect to improve overnight was what Paschalis told Lei, and Lei repeated those words to himself over and over again but it was fucking hell to internalize.

He was only just grasping the basic moves.

Why was his life like this? Lei was seventeen freaking years old. According to the scroll, even eleven year old Saviors would be able to grasp the forms in two months. Lei had been working at this for weeks and he was only half way done. Lei picked up his photocopied version of the scroll and checked his next move to practice.

This one was called the water whip. Sounded easy enough.

Lei was at a field outside the High School dormitory. He placed a basin full of water a few meters in front of him and began to work. He managed to get the water to start dancing upward, but — now what? He swiped his hand forward.

The water sprinkled all over the grass.

"FUCK," Lei said eloquently. "SHIT."

He raised his hand. He raised his hand again. But it was no use. He accidentally watered the field and he was so angry. He bumped into a passerby and shoved them away. "Can't you see I'm training here, asshole!? I should kick your ass for interrupting me!"
 

Emy

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Elias Florencio Almeida Ventura

Taking a deep whiff of the air, Elias came to the conclusion that today would be an excellent day. It just had the right smell to it. Not too much humidity, nor too much aridity. Temperate climates really were the best and he only felt vaguely bad that Brisbane couldn't be like this all the time. He did have to think, though, that after about three months of being on the island, he was sort of missing the constant humidity. It was kind of like growing up with a coat of oil on your skin, and then suddenly having it all stripped away.

But that was completely fine because now he could fight as many people as he wanted to and people couldn't even get angry at him for it since he was physically unable to actually hurt anybody. Even if his powers were a joke, Elias was fine with it as long as he could keep this amazing opportunity.

Keeping true to nature, the young man had made his way to the fields, where he knew some of the school's more fighting oriented students practiced at. Because of the time of year he had joined the school, he had been mostly stuck with cramming for placement exams for the following semester but now he was done. Sitting in the library was one of the most awful things ever and now Elias was more than ready to get some real exercise in for once.

Luckily for him, there was somebody already down there on the green. It looked like there was a somewhat girly looking boy -oh wait. Pot calling kettle black- with a container of water. Maybe he was a water manipulator. Or maybe he was doing... something. Something. But in any case, Elias was so thrilled to see another person that he all but ran to his side, with a challenge ready on his lips-

-Only to be met with a different sort of challenge as the two young men bumped into each other.

For a moment, Elias was utterly perplexed because, well. He was used to being on the other side of these things. But this was fine, too! He recovered quickly with a bright smile. "That would be great!" he crowed. "Sorry about interrupting, I'm Elias by the way, could we get started now, then?"

"I haven't fought anybody in months," he added, with a tone of desperation.
 

Poppy

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At that moment, Lei realized two things: first, was that the guy he bumped into was way, way taller than him. Second, was that... he had no combat skills to speak of. His classmates were martial artists and international super spies. Lei was a small dude that accidentally watered grass. He didn't know how to fight.

This guy could be a master black belt.

God, he was going to get so fucked.

(Why did he challenge people to fights, anyway? That was such a bad response to everything! Why can't he just say please and thank you like a normal person!?)

Lei backed away. "Wait... I-I didn't mean it. What the hell, you were in my way so I uh — I know karate! I can take you, I'm warning you now so you can run away!"
 

Emy

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Elias Florencio Almeida Ventura

"Oh do you!" Elias took that comment cheerfully at face value, having absolutely no reason to disbelieve the other student's word. Not to mention, that guy with the pale colored hair certainly looked Asian enough to be a master of kung fu. "That just makes it better! It's actually safer to fight people who have an idea of what they're doing because amateurs tend to do lots of things that they don't know are dangerous due to lack of experience."

He liked to think that he wasn't really an amateur, because even if nobody had formally trained him, Elias did know a lot of stuff that he shouldn't do and shouldn't ever try to do (again).

"So how long have you been training? Are you a black belt? Everybody I meet seems to be one these days, it's kind of strange! I think I'd rather fight somebody normal for a change, though," Elias said after a careful thought. "I mean, professionals are fine and all but you can just learn so much from good old, cobbled together, street stuff. No offense or anything, and I mean that!"
 

Poppy

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He was — he was supposed to be intimidated!! That was usually how it went! Lei used Hollywood stereotypes to scare away potential bullies because "Chinese dude with white hair that grew up in the mountains" was intimidating enough for most people. He could remember one dude that claimed Lei was related to the guy that trained Batman.

But now, instead of the guy backing away, he was excited at the prospect of fighting a Karate master? That was fucked up. Lei was going to get so fucked up.

He gulped.

He didn't want to look like an idiot in front of the guy and claim he wasn't a Karate master. Worse, run away. That would just be a disservice to all the Chinese people in the Academy.

"You won't be able to stand a chance!" Lei declared as he buried himself deeper into this hole. "Come — come at me, bro."
 

Emy

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Elias Florencio Almeida Ventura

"Sure thing!" Completely unaware of his opponent's nervousness, Elias had begun to get into stance. That was when he remembered that he should probably put on his gloves. Maybe. For some reason, his powers liked to count simple cloth gloves as "weapons," so there was an incredibly good chance that this guy would feel his punches as... being hit by pillow feathers. At worst. That would make things incredibly unfair for Elias but maybe if he kept it that way, they could become friends via the standard of punching each other in the face.

"Oh, yeah, do you want this to be really fair or really unfair?" He asked idly, as a matter of politeness. "Because I'm good with either but it's entirely up to you." Let it be known that Elias was capable of learning his lessons. His godmother had taught him well.
 

Poppy

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The guy actually seemed pretty nice, but that was usually how they lured their victims into complacency, wasn't it?

Lei wasn't going to fall for it! Do you want a knuckle sandwich? Do you want to smell my finger? Do you want this to be really fair or really unfair? He obviously wanted it to be unfair for him, but he probably meant unfair for Lei. Lei got into a "fighting stance" with his feet spread and his elbows up.

"O-obviously we're fighting fair. Come on."
 

Emy

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Elias Florencio Almeida Ventura

"Oh good!" A wide, relieved smile appeared on his face. It was always nice to know that the other guy would be just as likely to walk out of this with an equal number of bruises. Fair fights were great but a lot of people didn't like to fight fair anymore these days. It was like they were allergic to it or something.

Unlike the other boy, Elias didn't bother to get into any sort of stance at all. The fact that his opponent had even done that, that was just like an invitation to start whenever. Which, Elias had decided, was the moment that he had stopped talking and sprinted forward, aiming a punch at the other boy's face.
 

Poppy

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The punch connected square on his nose.

Predictably, it sent Lei crashing on his ass. Both his ass and his face began to rung in pain. He couldn't move. Everything hurt way too much. Is this what actual real life fights felt like? Because this is terrible. He covered his face with his hands. He wasn't... crying or anything. It was because the douchebag punched him near the eyes.

All right, maybe he was crying a little. The great kung-fu master Lei Feng curled into a ball and cried and shook a little. "Please don't punch me again."
 

Emy

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Elias Florencio Almeida Ventura

He felt his fist connect with with flesh, which was completely normal and set off a surge of adrenaline. It had just been so long since he had been able to do things like this. It was almost homey feeling, Elias thought. And that was the exact moment when he started to think that oh, Starlight Academy was a home, too.

And then there was air. What. He just beat up an Asian in record time -that wasn't supposed to happen so soon! WHAT. It was just one little punch! Just a tap on the nose! As the other boy fell back, everything seemed to go in slow motion. Elias stared at him, then at his own fist, and then at the fact that why is the ground was getting taller?

The Asian kid fell on his rear and Elias, so stunned by how cheated his victory felt, plopped down next to him. Face, meet island. Island, meet face. They were really off to a rough start but nobody needed to go to the hospital yet so everything would probably be okay.

Feeling annoyed and inexplicably wiser than he had been fifteen seconds ago, Elias sat up and regarded his opponent solemnly. He was crying. A part of Elias thought that was hilarious. A part of him also felt pretty shoddy. The two parts reconciled when he put on his gloves and promptly socked the kid again in the face, despite his protests. The process was almost thoughtless, which was probably a good thing, Elias thought right after. Higher rate of actually doing something.

He squinted at the boy's face. "Okay, did that one do anything? I have no idea how to make this healing thing work. Please say yes."