See No Evil, Smell No Evil (Sabbo)

Ooc: Sorry for the shortness of this post, but I couldn't think of much else.

Bic:

Strong winds blew a twirling volley of snow flurries across the mountains. A few moments before, there was nothing but a prominent cold sheet of snow tearing across the peaks. The breeze was dying down now, although still keeping its power. It was an exciting snowstorm while it lasted, but it was time for it to calm down.

A single figure sauntered merrily through the frigid hills, a slight smile frozen on his lips. To the normal naked eye, he would have been nigh invisible. His skin was as white as the snow and his clothes had no color. Around his neck he wore a gray tie which flapped wildly in the wind. He was happy, if only for the fact it was freezing cold out. He loved the cold. Something about it... invigorated him.

There was supposedly a village up in these mountains, but he hadn't seen it yet. He'd never been to this place before. He'd visited so many worlds, but this was the first time he'd been to this particular one. Ordinarily that wouldn't' have been such a big deal, but he could sense something quite interesting was about to happen. Because he felt that way, he continued walking straight forward. He didn't want to deviate from his aimless path; if he did, he might lose this very bizarre vibe he was feeling. He couldn't tell if today was a good day, or a bad day, but at least it wouldn't be a boring day.

OoC: I was just about to post this before the final server crash of the old ZU server. But then I ran out of time. Good thing I save my work.

BiC: By chance, Tatek had ran into a childhood friend during his journey to the west. Xu Roen had been studying the caverns of the Sitatushita mountain range, the highest known place in the world. While Roen was skeptical of the stories locals told of the area's mystical nature, Tatek had come to see for himself what the "Imperial Gate of Heaven" really was because unlike his friend, the anti-mage actually believed that gods exist.

One day, while Roen stayed in the locals' village as it sheltered him from the blizzard which had started the previous night, Tatek took the opportunity to see for himself whether the mountain truly was a gate to heaven. Taking with him only his clothes, and a few berries should he become hungry, Tatek began his trek to the highest peak.

---

Early in the afternoon, as the blizzard slowed and a few brave creatures came out to find food, Tatek sensed something. A magical presence unfamiliar to him could be seen a short distance down the mountain, intriguing the anti-mage. Jumping down to the magic in a few short leaps, he saw a man bathed in a white glow. Sliding down the rest of the way, Tatek landed a short distance in front of him and took a low fighting stance.

"Si dao ni de, mo shu jya," Tatek stated plainly.

OoC: The last line translates approximately to "Your death comes, magician."

Though the wind was strong, thundering loudly past his ears, he could still hear the shuffling of feet through the snow behind him. He glanced over his shoulder at the individual as he spoke. He didn't recognize the language. It sounded a lot like some of the Asian languages on planet Earth, but he never bothered learning any of that stuff. Why try to speak like someone when you could simply speak directly to their mind?

Alien focused his thoughts, zeroing in on the stranger's mind. He just wanted to know what he had said. He waited a couple seconds, tampering with the odd man's mind waves, but he got no response. He was either really stupid, or could block out any mental intrusions. That made things frustratingly complicated. There would be no way for him to tell what this man wanted, much less ascertain his true nature.

Alien turned his body in a full circle, facing the imposer directly. It was now that he noticed the fellow had no eyes. That was bizarre, though it was possible it was a very normal feature of people in this world. He'd seen weirder things. He cleared his throat so he could speak clearly, “Me no speak Chinese!”

The stranger said something else in his language, but Alien didn't even bother paying attention. It was no use. He would simply have to kill this individual. But lo! His fists were raised, they had been that way since he first stumbled across him. The man wanted to fight. Alien, being the gentleman that he was, would happily oblige with his request.

The pale figure steadied his stance, Roman Scissor raised at his side. There was a slight twinkle in his eye, as there almost always was before a fight. The wind seemed to die down just for the two of them, settling the moment so they could both be clearly heard. Alien wasn't sure if the man could understand him or not, but hopefully the meaning of his words would still carry through on a spiritual level. He parted his lips in a sickly grin, crooked teeth gritting together slightly. He asked the question he always asked, “Do you want to die?”

OoC: Tatek stood in front of Alien, but whatever. :/

BiC: The white man certainly wasn't the most talkative person Tatek had ever fought, but he certainly talked more than one needs to in a fight. After saying some gibberish language, the Zhonguen replied even though he was almost certain the magician couldn't understand. "Meiyou shuohua; weiyi douzheng."

Tatek repositioned himself to make it more obvious he wanted to fight by pulling down his hood and taking a defensive stance, with his hands protecting his face. He saw his foe prepare to fight also.

Finally, Tatek thought, Now, let's see... Judging by his stance, it seems that he wields knuckles of some sort. I need to be careful of that side.

The white man said one last thing, giving Tatek the feeling it was something he said every time he got in a fight. Ignoring the meaningless words, Tatek kicked things off by blasting his qi into the ground in front of his foe to create a distracting explosion of snow, then jumped at their right side, aiming to disable the man's weaponless arm as soon as possible.

OoC: The bit near the start says "Don't talk; just fight."

Ooc: *shrug* I read it as behind.

Bic:

The blast of snow shot up into Alien's eyes, but it had little effect on him. It wasn't much difference than the snow that had been attacking the mountain face an hour earlier. It was the means by which the mountain-man caused the explosion that caught Alien's interest: Did he posses some sort of magical abilities? Regardless, he had an act to put on. Alien recoiled dramatically, pretending gravel from the blast had lodged itself painfully in his eye.

Carefully watching his enemy with one eye, he waited for the perfect moment to defend himself. He was clearly aiming for Alien's unguarded arm, which was a smart move. Stalling until he was mere feet from his side, he discarded the crybaby act and jumped back, swiveling his left arm toward his target. His Scissor caught the light as it sung through the air, sharp tip hungry for flesh.

He was hoping this fool was faster than the ordinary human being. If he wasn't, Alien may have already won the battle.

Caught off-guard by the clear overreaction and quick recovery, Tatek barely had time to jump above man, and even then the blind man still got a deep cut on his right leg - the leg he jumped off - by his foe's weapon because he underestimated its length. At least now he knew what the size & shape of the thing was. Useful information to have. Forming a Bandage of Qi around his leg, Tatek considered his options.

He's unaffected by the snow, so blasting it again won't work... and he seems quite capable of protecting what looks to be his unguarded side.

The anti-mage glanced at his healing leg for a moment. ...Perhaps I should wait for him. Caution is key, and reaction often the best action. Tatek resumed his earlier fighting stance, standing in a half-crouch with his left and weaker arm facing toward his opponent, right arm by his side.

Alien really wanted to taunt the man now, despite his strike only being his first hit, but the fact that the eyeless freak couldn't understand him would make any attempts at mockery fall on deaf ears. The idea that his telepathy was also useless was just as frustrating; in that past that had always eliminated the language barrier.

He eyed the wound he inflicted on the man. Apparently, he had some sort of spell to heal his recently acquired gash. It was steadily fixing itself, ignoring Alien's twenty-four hour heal rule. It was apparently of mystical or technological influence, as any natural form of healing would have been useless.

The white enigma shifted his stance, lowering his scissor carefully to his side. Studying for any implications of abrupt movement with one eye, his other eye did all the work. A flash of light lit up the battleground, a hot burst of orange flame flickering from his right iris. Like a jet stream, the hot blast of fire soared directly for Mr. Chinese.

Again, another taunt would have been wonderful, but Alien had to hold it back. No sense on talking to someone who didn't understand you. That also begged the question: How would this man beg for death? Surely if he did so in his own language, Alien would still be able to get the picture. One way or another, this battle would be won.

Finally, magic. Tatek enjoyed it when his foes resorted to magic, as it makes victory all the sweeter when they suffer the humiliating lack of real power. To Tatek, magic is an evil that must be purged, and when the magicians realize they cannot escape the anti-mage's noble goal, it reminds Tatek that he is one step closer to his goal.

As the red magic - likely fire - reached Tatek, he simply brushed it aside and watched it quickly dissipate into nothing; it would take much more than that to have any real effect. Wishing to goad the white man into using more magic, the anti-mage quickly expanded and retracted a field of qi around his feet, pushing the snow nearby in all directions away from him. Doing his best to feign anger, Tatek continued to watch his foe for any signs of danger.

What next, magician?

Alien held his posture even after the flames had dissipated. His look of anticipation slowly faded to one of disappointment. The only thing his Fire Vision managed to do was melt snow. The stranger stood without a scratch, not even his clothes singed. Now how could that be possible? By all logical sense it didn't seem feasible. Either this fellow was immune to flame or he'd generated some sort of forcefield just before the attack hit him. Either way, it left one of his most useful techniques suddenly useless.

Again he wanted to add his two cents on the matter, but there was no point speaking to someone who couldn't understand him. A mere snide remark was all his was asking for, but... there would be no reason for it without the satisfyingly annoyed responses from his enemy. How frustrating.

New plan. Alien whipped his free hand to his back and yanked out Dragomir. He firmly grasped the handle of the pistol, thrusting the muzzle in his opponent's direction. His lips curved upward in a partial smile as his index finger repeatedly barraged the trigger. Boom boom boom. How many holes could this fellow take before crying out for death?

Bop bop bop. The strange tiny cannon-like weapon the white man held had fired numerous magical projectiles at Tatek, all of which hit him and popped into nothing as if they were bubbles. Tatek looked down at where he was "hit", looked up at his foe, and smiled. It is time, he thought, this magician will learn his folly. The anti-mage once again jumped at his foe's right side, this time covering his arm in a Shield of Qi. This time however, he was prepared for the length of his foe's weapon.

As the white man's left hand swung when he came to defend himself, Tatek grabbed his forearm and threw him into the mountainside. Admittedly there was more snow there than rock, but for now it was the intent which mattered most.

---

Xu Roen was looking outside the window of the house a family had let him stay in during his research period up in these mountains. <The blizzard seems to have died down,> he told the family as they prepared the afternoon meal. <Do you think the trail will be safe?>

Talking in Okokuen just as Roen was, a man - one of the uncles - replied, <Hmm... I'm not sure, but I hope so. Your friend left rather early.>

<I wasn't worrying about Tatek; he can take care of himself.> Roen laughed, <I was more worried about whether I'd be able to get into any of my research sites.>

<...I see.> The man didn't seem to believe that a blind man could be particularly competent at anything. <Well, you should be fine; it doesn't seem like the blizzard will come back today.>

<That's good to know. I guess I should take my leave then,> Roen said as he picked up his staff and pack. <Thank you for your hospitality these past weeks; I expect today will be my last day here on this mountain.> Roen bowed and took his leave.

OoC: Just like Zhonguen is equivalent to Chinese, Okokuen is equivalent to Japanese.

Edited the start to be longer and make a bit more sense.

No effect? Impossible! He hit him at least three times, if not more. He saw it perfectly this time: no forcefields, no quick movements, his body simply wasn't damaged by the bullets. How could he still be standing, much less completely unscathed? It simply didn't make sense.

He tried to think of a logical explanation as to why his attacks seemed needless, but no idea came to him. As for an illogical explanation, there could have been many things at work. The only thing that came immediately to mind was that this fellow was invincible, which instilled an exciting thought deep within Alien's mind. But no, Lucifer had drawn blood. The man was bleeding from his right leg, although it was well on its way to being healed. What else could it be?

He was immune to fire and immune to psychic energies. Would that include any other types of energies? If that were the case, he could rule out using his Energy Breath. Although nothing could stop the Lightning Bomb, he wouldn't dare risk such a devastating attack at this altitude anyway. He would probably take the entire mountain down with him.

As Alien pondered these things, the stranger moved in for his second attack. He went for the same move he attempted before. Immediately Alien realized his enemy had something up his sleeve. The warrior he faced didn't seem like the foolish type to use the same attack twice in a row without reason. To test his theory, Alien responded with the same countermeasure he used before. As he expected, he'd learned to avoid his blade.

Alien felt himself collide with the cliff side, though very little pain was felt. There was too much snow blanketing his fall that it almost felt like jumping into a bed of feathers than anything, only without the itching and sneezing. To a normal man, the icy embrace would have been painful, but Alien wasn't an ordinary man, much less a man at all.

Putting on a charade, Alien groaned from within his icy casket. It was a well executed maneuver, no doubt, but still an almost useless effort. He still managed to cut his left arm on a jutting rock, but it was hardly worth noticing.

Feeling the cliff wall with his free hand, he dug his nails into its surface. He stared into the stranger's lidless face, carefully drawing upon his own power. The mountain vibrated slightly just before three massive pillars of stone exploded from the rockface, barreling directly for Alien's target. Surely if he was immune to physical matter, there wouldn't be much hope. Still... it would be an intriguing battle.

OoC: Sorry about not being as quick as my other posts. 'Been distracted by me nearly finishing Persona 3.

BiC: The white man hit the snow and groaned feebly in a way that meant Tatek couldn't tell whether the man was as feeble as he sounded. But since Tatek didn't really care much for the feelings of magicians, it meant little.

Something caught his mind's eye though. The anti-mage watched his foe release magic into the mountain in what looked to be a very controlled way... Watching straight lines bury themselves deep into the rock, Tatek braced himself; brown-tinted energy was usually a clear sign of geomancy. Facing the attack head-on, the anti-mage was able to slam his hands into two of the three pillars of earth which blasted from the mountain, nulling the magic within them and stopping them in their tracks. The third, however, he had tried to brace himself for but was unable to predict its speed; Tatek got knocked fairly hard in the stomach, pushing him backwards into a lifeless tree.

Sure the third pillar lost its magic from hitting the anti-mage, but it still hurt like hell for how much it did move.

---

The mountain rumbled. Hoping his final research site hadn't caved in, Roen quickened his pace, and clearing the way by extending his qi into his gun and beyond then swinging it around, pushing snow out of the way and compacting the rest enough to walk on.

<That didn't feel like a normal earthquake. Too quick.>

The staff-wielder rushed onward, hoping Tatek had nothing to do with it.

So another attack was blocked. Alien was starting to understand a bit more about this boy. When he launched the stone pillars he seemed to be able to stop them on contact. The first two he caught with his hands, but the third he wasn't able to stop so easily. It hit him, but even his control over that particular pillar was also stopped on contact. Now it made perfect sense. Somehow, through ways Alien couldn't quite figure out, this guy had the ability to nullify spiritual energies. It would explain why none of his attacks seemed to be working on him. What a selfish ability: The power to wield a mystic power while canceling any energies directed toward the user. He liked its hypocritical nature.

Alien performed a quick jump, landing with each foot on two of the pillars he had generated. He spat into his fingers, rubbing it on the cut on his arm. As the wound healed, he watched his opponent struggle to his feet. Although the pillar was stopped, it still dealt a hefty blow. He had one more theory he wanted to test. If he was right, then he would be ready to fight this guy without the pain of his powers feeling useless.

He pointed toward the tree behind his enemy with his right hand. Quickly yanking his arm upward, the plant violently tore itself from the mountainside and flew high up in the air before freezing in place. A powerful downward swipe brought the tree down hard from above, directly aimed for the warrior below him. Just before the tree reached him, he released his hold from the vegetable and watched pleasantly as a wave of snow jumped high into the air.

Tatek rose to his feet while the white man jumped onto two of the pillars of rock. The anti-mage watched as his foe held out his arm, extending his magic into the tree Tatek had hit just moments ago. Watching carefully, Tatek saw the man raise his arm, and with it uprooting the tree high into the air with ease. Just as quickly as he had raised the tree though, the magician threw down his hand and with it, the lifeless plant.

Although it mildly surprised the anti-mage, the magician's hold on the tree ceased just as Tatek raised his hands to defend himself, snapping the tree in two, with each half he assumed to have landed to his sides - as Tatek could neither see the plant due to it being dead and thus having no qi, nor feel the splash of snow which was created as it hit the ground, due to his Qi-Equilibrium.

---

Roen was a bit confused. The direction he had felt the tremor from earlier now had another surprise waiting - a large yet dead-looking tree hovering in mid-air, then falling quicker than gravity should let it. Knowing that Tatek's telekinesis did not extend that far into the air for such a large object, Roen could only come to one conclusion: A magician was behind the feat.

Oath-sworn to seek the death of all magic-users whenever possible, the Zhonguen sighed and changed his course. <I guess I just hope for too much sometimes...>

OoC: I didn't particularly like this post... Maybe I'll edit it later. Don't worry though, I won't change any important details.

Alien's expression quickly deteriorated to one of disappointment when he saw the tree hadn't hit. The man had gone through an effort to deflect it, though, so his theory that blunt damage would still hurt him held true. “Alright then.” He decided, lips curling in a partial smirk.

Pointing to his sides, off to the edges of the mountain, Alien swiftly moved his free arm to point at his attacker. Over and over again he did this, each time bringing powerful boulders along with it. Using his telekinesis, he'd hurl rock after rock at his enemy, each stone roughly the size of the man's torso.

Hopefully he'd hit him a few times. There would be no hope for victory if he couldn't damage him to the breaking point, of course once he reached that point... that was usually when he'd win.

Tatek saw the white man extend his magic to both sides, similar to what he had done with the tree shortly before. Repeatedly doing this, the man gave little indication of what he was throwing though, so all the anti-mage could do was brace himself.

Unsurprisingly, getting hit by large rocks still hurt, even though Tatek had covered himself entirely with his Qi Armor. By the time the barrage had stopped, the blind man was exhausted and crouching on the ground to recover as much as he could naturally; qi bandages could only heal so much, after all, and healing his entire body would take too much effort at the moment, considering his situation.

---

Roen saw boulders being thrown by an invisible force as he descended the mountain. Suspecting magic, he followed them at a distance. When he saw the target was his friend, he looked around to find the magician nearby, moving his arms around to direct the rocks. If it weren't for the moving arms, Roen suspected that he wouldn't have been able to see the white-skinned, white-clothed man at all against the snow considering how far away he was.

"Mo shu jya, xin de diren zher!" Roen yelled at the white man as he approached.

"Great, another Chinese guy," the man said, barely audible to Roen. While one word was completely unknown to him, the rest of the sentence were words the Zhonguen recognized as Angolndine in origin.

"What is an Angolndine like you doing so far from Angol?" Roen asked, trying to match the man's language, "and are you prepared to die, magician?"

Alien halted his barrage, detecting another individual on the mountainside. The subtle, but blatant sensation of the immediate area being occupied by a third presence was something he could detect in the very air. The movement of feet down the rock and snow. He turned toward the source just as it came into view.

The man spouted out something in that same language the first intruder had babbled through. Alien rolled his eyes. “Great, another Chinese guy!”

"What is an Angolndine like you doing so far from Angol?" The newcomer called out, two of the words not meaning much of anything to Alien. Still, someone who spoke English! The accent was something to get used to, but finally someone he could have a reasonable conversation with. "… and are you prepared to die, magician?" This new stranger was apparently just as hostile as the other. So much for reasonable conversation, small talk was a hassle anyway.

“Ah, a civilized individual eager for violence!” As if he'd suddenly forgotten he were in the middle of a battle zone, Alien leaped off his spot atop the mountain, landing in the snow in front of the intruder. He picked up speed, jogging up to the stranger as if he were an old friend.

“So what's your name, sir?” The pale man asked, coming to a complete halt roughly twenty feet in front of his second challenger. Before waiting for an answer, he briefly attempted to probe his mind for information. It came as no surprise he couldn't do it. He suspected as much. It seemed all the people in the world were immune to his abilities, at least directly. Still, it was little of an issue. He was still a master at melee combat, but now he had two enemies.

"Exchanging names is a nicety magicians do not deserve; prepare to die." Roen charged his gùn with qi and approached his foe while swinging his weapon to kick up the snow out of his way. When he got close, he jumped away and swung his gùn toward the man's stomach, using the 5 foot advantage his weapon had as a way to keep his distance while still in range.

"Qilai Tatek; ni hui zhandou." Roen told Tatek to keep fighting. Hearing this, the anti-mage wearily got up and saw his friend using a qi-charged gùn to fight the white man. With renewed vigor, Tatek ran towards them and tried to aim at his foe's left shoulder while he was distracted.

Two against one? I might even be able to eat lunch today, Tatek said, glancing at the mid-morning sun.

Alien blocked the newcomer's attacks without much difficulty. Each strike was easily deflected by the scissor mounted on his left arm. His speed was far greater than his adversary, but he knew it wouldn't be this easy for long.

Backup came from behind. Alien heard his enemy's movement, his naturally attuned ears easily focusing in on the footsteps, signaling the exact location of each one. With swift grace, he jumped to the right to avoid the sneak attack.

As Alien dodged, the staff wielder moved to intercept. Alien feigned a defense with his left arm, instead using the opportunity to aim his scissor on the staff-wielder's right leg. The bladed tip launched from the weapon and stabbed clean through his upper thigh, latching on to the other side of his leg.

Alien's neck swiveled, his eyes locking on the other interloper. A taught swing of his torso brought the Roman scissor around in a sharp arc. Hook still attached to the staff-wielder's leg, he used his inhuman strength to fling the man directly toward his ally, grappling hook cutting free from the man's leg and returning to the metal tube encasing Alien's left arm. Blood splattered on his clean robes.

Ooc: I hope I didn't power play too much here, though I probably did. xP Feel free to return the flavor.

<Gah! What the heck?> Roen spoke in Zhonguen out of instinct. <That thing shoots?>

"You're going to regret that, magician," he said in his foe's tongue as he placed a Bandage of Qi around his new wound. Noticing that the man's legs were unguarded, Roen sweeped his weapon at them, only to see the white man jump away.

By this point, Tatek had already gotten up and was again jumping at their enemy - a potential bruise the size of his friend meant nothing to the anti-mage. Getting a clean kick to the white man as he jumped away was a rare chance he couldn't pass up... although it didn't end up being as "clean" as he'd have liked, a hit was still a hit when it came to the speedy.

Using his gùn to vault himself up, Roen leaped over both Tatek and the white man, swinging the weapon backward as he landed. Barely missing their foe, Roen turned and leant forward to punch the man while Tatek had caught the staff and pulled it towards him, speeding Roen's attack considerably. With Tatek punching with his free hand at the same time, they were able to knock the white man to the ground a few feet away.

OoC: So yeah. That's my brand of powerplaying.