Fifteenth Unused Utility Belt | Video

[hellofist]

[Private to Loki]
Have something of yours. Come to CTS, will give it back.

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[silver_tongue]

[There is no reply from Loki, and it is at least fifteen minutes before he comes sauntering down the hall toward the door to the CTS. Apparently princes of Asgard take the idea of "fashionably late" seriously. He is wearing his normal smirk, and his eyes are cold.]

I am surprised by you, Cassandra - you seemed so intent upon limiting my power, and yet now you release my weapons back into my care. But then... I shall not question your judgment.

[He holds out his hand.]

I had six knives and a short sword.

[hellofist]

[She doesn't have any of it on her, though. On her is just her batsuit, the cowl hanging from her utility belt because she doesn't need it now. She isn't sure if he'll want to spar with her, but she expects if that does come to that it's possible he'll try to kill her. She knows he won't be able to with his abilities still restricted, but a little extra protection can't hurt.

His things are all sitting inside the CTS, so she waves through the door at the collection of knives and the sword.]

Not giving for good. Can use in there.

[silver_tongue]

[He gives her a supremely haughty look. It's a look from a prince to a subject, and it communicates the utter certainty that he is better than her, stronger, smarter, more worthy of praise. Nothing could prove to Loki that Cassandra holds more power than he does, even if for the moment she is in control of his strength. The balance of power is tipped toward him by divine right, after all.]

Ah, I see. You hope to train me, like a dog. To keep me content by letting me play with my weapons where they are as harmless as toys. To control when I am strong and to make me believe that sometimes is enough.

[He gestures toward the inside of the room.]

Fair enough, then. We shall play with these weapons, you and I. Wear your cowl, Cassandra, and I shall fight you as a hero would do.

[It's bold to challenge her, he knows, when he's got no magic and when she has the power to take more from him if he hurts her. But his aim isn't to hurt her: it's just to watch her as she hurts him.]

[hellofist]

[It's very hard not to roll her eyes at the waves of I'm better than you that are coming off him, but somehow Cass manages.

Until he talks, anyway.]

Not about training. You don't have to... go in, Loki. It's just... an option.

[silver_tongue]

[But she's already challenged him, as far as he's concerned. His manic energy is visible under his calm exterior: he practically vibrates with it. His eyes sweep the inside of the CTS and then lock back on her face.]

Oh, no. You have given me my weapons once again. I intend to use them. Come, join me and give me someone to use them on.

[hellofist]

[She watches him for a long moment before stepping into the CTS ahead of him. There's a thousand ways this could go wrong and only a handful of good outcomes, but she might as well try. At least this way, he'll see what he's up against. It won't hurt, might help, so why not?

She leaves the weapons on the floor, though. She won't need them.]

[silver_tongue]

[He follows her in and shuts the door, looking around him at the large room. He's never been here before, as an inmate. But he's heard about it. As he watches a holographic setting appears around them: a heavily-wooded forest, the hard ground covered in pine needles and a dusting of snow. The light is dimmer than under the fluorescent lights that shone down before, but it is not hard to see. It looks very real.

He picks up the knives and clips four of them onto the insides of his sleeves, two on each side. The other two knives and the dagger go into his belt. His cold smile is a cocky challenge.]

Will you defend yourself with only your hands and feet?

[He shrugs. Then he throws a knife straight at her. The movement is so quick that most humans would not even have seen it. The knife does not move as quickly as it would if his strength had not been restricted, but his aim is true and the force is still deadly.]

[OOC: By the way, I just looked at the Setting page and it looks like you can't get more than bumps and bruises in the CTS, but I'm not sure if that holds true if you're using real weapons.]

[hellofist]

[He might be fast, but she's faster. She can dodge bullets based on where body language tells her the gunman is going to shoot, so him throwing a knife at her is telegraphed so clearly he might as well just tell her he's going to try. She leans out of the way and listens for the smack of the knife hitting the wall behind her, but there's no cocky grin to follow it up. This isn't the time for egos and gloating.]

Don't worry about me. Will be fine.

(ooc: she'll probably be able to avoid any stabby attacks so we should be fine, but if it does happen to come up I can ask the mods <3)

[silver_tongue]

[The thrown knife passes right into a tree, making the hard-light image fizzle away for a moment before reappearing. The knife is nowhere to be seen, but Loki isn't looking for it. Cassandra's speed impresses him: he's never seen a mortal move quickly enough to counter him. It must be that body language reading.

He hefts another knife in his hand, slowly enough so that it's clear he's not about to attack.]

Don't tell me you plan only to dodge my blows? You must try to attack me in turn.

[hellofist]

[She doesn't have to do anything and raising to his bait isn't something that will help the situation, so she just shrugs ineffectually and waits for his next move.]

Do you want that? Me hitting you?

[silver_tongue]

[He leers at her. A cold wind seems to be rustling the topmost branches of the trees around them; a light mist of snow falls from their shivering needles.]

I would not have invited it if I didn't want you to try. Come, Cassandra, show me why I should respect you.

[hellofist]

[As she watches him, leaves begin to fall along with the snow, one or two fluttering down. He says respect though and that is what sets her moving forward, hands out to show she isn't intending to attack even though he's pushing for that. Once she's in front of him, she reaches for his belt and claims one of the knives.]

See the leaf?

[There's only one in the air now, far on the other side of the chamber. Before he has time to answer she turns and throws, form precise and aim true. The knife passes through the very center of the leaf and gets lost just like the knife he threw because like him, she isn't wasting time to go retrieve it.]

[silver_tongue]

[Loki graciously holds his arms away from his sides so that she may take one of his knives without fear of him grabbing her. But he's still smiling that nasty smile, as if he's just waiting for the right moment to do something wicked.

He turns his head to look at the leaf obediently: he doesn't really expect her to attack him with a knife when she's so close to him. That would probably be breaking some kind of rule about Warden conduct. And anyway, she may not have the luxury of fighting face-to-face and with honor the way an Asgardian soldier should (no one her size has that option), but she does give off the unmistakable aura of nobility. She'll fight dirty, yes, but she won't break the rules of decency. Not for him.

The precision of her throw is, however, very much unexpected.]

Impressive.

[He holds out another knife, the hilt toward her.]

But that trick took speed, not strength. Test your strength now.

[hellofist]

[She takes the knife and turns it over in her hands, trying to decide the best way to show her strength to him.]

Train in here... because I break gym stuff. Too powerful, for punching bags. Split them in half, or just... break the chain, from hitting too hard.

Can kill in one hit. [She's not bragging, she's just telling the truth.] Your body is... stronger, than human's. Can take harder hits.

If I hit you, what stops you... from telling people, I abused you? Hurt you out of spite?

[She shrugs and reaches out, putting the knife back in the holder on his belt.]

Can show strength in gym. Nothing to break, here.

[silver_tongue]

[He takes a step back, covering his belt with one hand to stop her from replacing the knife.]

You must show me. You have given me no reason to appreciate your great power - for the moment, you are all talk. And believe me, with that clumsy tongue you could do little worse for yourself than talk.

[He stands with his arms at his side, feet slightly apart, well-planted.]

And I do not believe you could hit me, anyway.

[hellofist]

[She knows that regardless of if she ever actually attacks him or not, he'll still lie. He already has, he's already accused her of hurting him, so it would be stupid to assume he'd keep that to himself.

He wants a display of power, so she gives him one. The only warning something is going to happen is the slight bending of her knees before she's in the air and her leg is lashing out, a solid kick aimed for his chest with just enough force in it to wind him, knock him back maybe, but not enough to break any bones.]

[silver_tongue]

[The speed and suddenness of her attack is no less than awe-inspiring. As Loki stumbles backwards several steps with a soft gasp, he doubts that even Sif could have evaded that one. The wind feels half knocked out of him.

He steadies himself, planting his feet shoulder-width apart to stop his stumbling. He touches his chest with a couple of fingertips. That kick might even leave a bruise, as he's without his armor. He's never seen a mortal human with such strength. He looks at her, calculating.]

I've seen worse.

[That's some high praise right there, Cass.]

You were something of a fighter in your own world, were you not?

[He whips around and, with speed that could create its own slipstream, hurls three knives at the wall in quick succession. They're just visible through the holographic foliage, sticking straight outwards. Then he takes his shortsword and throws that too. He needs to add a certain spin to it, as it is not meant to be thrown and is not aerodynamic. But it hits where he wants it to, high up on the wall about five feet above the throwing knives.]

Climb the knives and retrieve the sword.

[This was a drill they used to do as children. He'd mastered it eventually, but pulling knives out of rock had been extremely difficult for him as a child. He hadn't had the strength.]

[hellofist]

[The words are barely out of his mouth before she's off, his intent obvious even before he's finished throwing the sword. This is good, it's a way to show off and honestly, this kind of thing is just fun for her.

She runs up the wall and ignores the first two knives completely, only using the top one for a hand hold once she's run out of momentum. She pulls herself the rest of the way up and leaps for the sword, gets her hand around the hilt of it and plants her feet against the wall. With a hard tug, it comes free and she does a backflip off the wall, twisting in the air so that when she lands, she's facing Loki.

Sword in hand, she leaves the knives where they are and walks back to him.]

[silver_tongue]

[He watches this feat, much more impressed than he'd like to admit. She moves like some sort of mountain goat, or like the ratatosks of his own home in Asgard. And she's strong enough to pull a sword from solid wall. It had punctured deep, too. He looks down upon the small, mortal powerhouse with the sword in her hands.]

Close your eyes and throw the sword. Let it hit the same spot that I hit.

[hellofist]

[She doesn't turn. She remembers where the knives are, she can see the whole thing in her head still, so there's no need to double check. Instead she keeps her eyes on him until she spins and releases the sword, her form almost identical to his.

It should look the same, she learned it from him the moment he did it. The sword strikes in the same spot, nearly at the same angle, and when she faces him again she just waits, curious if he'll have more tests for her or not.]

[silver_tongue]

[If she was Asgardian, she'd have been a shieldmaiden. She'd have been better than Sif, better than the warriors. He'd probably have hated her there, too. He watches her performance closely. He's noticing a pattern.]

Stay where you are.

[He turns and heads through the forest, only about twenty feet, but behind several trees. She cannot see his face or body except in the slightest shadows.]

Catch my knife.

[He counts slowly to seven in his head. Then he throws the knife hard, straight at her. It zips straight through the hard-light trees, which burst out of existence in its wake. It aims straight for Cassandra's chest.]

[hellofist]

[The shadows make it harder, but not impossible. She sees his plan as he stalks off, is ready long before he tells her what he wants. It's impressive, the way he moves so fast, it's something she wishes he could use to spar with her instead of trying to kill her, but he seems pretty set on her death.

He throws and she sidesteps, plucks the knife from the air easily and flips it over and over in her hand as she makes her way over to him. Maybe she should say something, but she doesn't want to yet. If she speaks she'll probably say the wrong thing, mess up whatever little bit of progress they might be making. If he didn't already know, she'd cut her hand open to show him she doesn't feel pain either, but he does know. It'd be a waste of time to do that and besides, Merlin would probably get that pinched look his face gets when he worries about her.

When she reaches Loki, she reaches out to put the knife back in the holder on his belt like she had tried to do before, only to have him block her.]

[silver_tongue]

[He steps back from her, hand once again over his belt.]

Now, try to hit me. If you do, Cassandra, you will not hurt me. I am protected by more than just armor.

[hellofist]

[She frowns now, not entirely pleased they're back to that.]

Already hit you. Think you'll learn... something new, this time?

[silver_tongue]

I will if you use that sword.

[He gives her a cool, calculated smile.]

Do you not wish to gain my trust? How can I trust one who turns a deaf ear to my wishes?

[hellofist]

[Does it count as manipulation if you recognize that someone is trying to talk you into doing something and you make the decision to do it anyway? She isn't sure, but she's also not sure she wants to hit him again just because he wants her to again.]

Hit you where? You tell me... how, where, with what, maybe I will.

[silver_tongue]

Throw the sword. Aim for my head.

[He says this with a slightly mad smile, though compared to how mad his mindset can become he is very calm and collected right now. This is all an experiment.]

[hellofist]

[He is fast, but this is a very stupid idea. A mistake here would mean killing her inmate and she doesn't really want to have to deal with the fallout of that along with the crushing guilt that would come with murdering even Loki.]

Pointless demonstration. I won't- use full force, full speed. Will make sure... you catch it.

[silver_tongue]

That will not do at all, and you know it. If I am expecting an attack at full force, I may be unable to dodge an attack just a fraction of a moment slower. No. Aim true, throw with all of your strength. And we shall see what sort of warrior you are.

[He's standing tall, with his arms crossed. He won't take "no" for an answer, clearly. And he'll probably fly into a temper if she walks away.]