In a Clothing Store No Less... [Grodd, Nickel, R, NDE]

[Beast]

Thread Title: In a Clothing Store No Less...
Participants: Grodd, Nickel Haida
World: Human World
Death Setting: Non Death Enabled
Rating: R
Location: In the Karakura Shopping Mall lies a single decent clothing store owned by a subdivision of Uzaki Enterprises. Clothe Me Softly sports some of the most comfortable fashions on the market as well as very trendy and affordable clothing. This store has two floors each sporting dozens of clothing racks as well as a small jewelry department with fine glass cases. Towards the front of the store leading into the mall, on both floors, sits a pair of registers each staffed by a cashier. At the time of day that the battle occurs, there are nearly no customers present besides Nickel and Grodd.
Special Conditions: None
Circumstances: While doing some shopping in her free time, Nickel is surprised to see a nearly naked man muscle his way through a wall in the store. She's the only one who can see him, and his rude and aggressive behavior is sure to strike up a fight, as it usually does.

[Beast]

The air of the Land of the Living was always more pleasant to breathe for Grodd. Yeah, the reiatsu soaked air of the Seireitei was revitalizing and nourishing, but it just didn't feel real to the Shinigami. He had always felt at home in the Land of the Living, as if long lost memories were calling out from his soul onto the tip of his tongue where they could not be reached, only tasted. The feelings were bittersweet, a murky mixture of fond memories and painful ones. Regardless, they were all he had of his past. That and his name and memories of his Savior, of course.

And the cursed Zookeeper... The man who had given him the name Grodd and caged him like an animal. The Zookeeper was still out there in the worlds, somewhere. With his mysterious ability to change his form, the Zookeeper could be in Las Noches hidden as an Arrancar, in the Land of the Living as a human, or even the Soul Society again as a Shinigami. If Grodd didn't continue his search for clues, he'd never find any ways of tracking down his arch enemy. So again, during one of his days off he came down to Karakura to look for clues.

His searching brought him to the Karakura shopping mall on a whim, just wandering randomly. His mind elsewhere, he walked into a door and became fully aware of the obstacle in his path. Drawing his fist back, he punched the metal in anger, bruising his fist but breaking the hinges and opening a path into the store. He found himself behind the dressing rooms in the employee only areas, with some surprised workers examining the door that had embedded itself in the far wall.

The Shinigami entered the main store unseen, not because he was sneaking around but mostly because no one around seemed to be able to see his kind. He was bored by all the clothes, perhaps even offended that humans had entire rooms full of the unnecessary objects. He was currently wearing his loincloth, but no other pieces of fabric adorned his muscular body. After pushing aside some clothing racks and having them topple to the floor, he began to wander through the rest of the store looking for anything that might occupy his attention more than this boring department store did.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Stats/Skills}
Strength - [100 x1.25 (125)] Points

Speed - [100] Points

Spiritual Pressure - [80 x.75 (60)] Points

Reiatsu Strength - [50 x1.25 (63)] Points

Light Aura - [35] Points

Dark Aura - [65] Points

Instinct - [100 x.75 (75)] Points

Senses - [50] Points

Energy sensory - [0 x1.25 (0)] Points

Healing Expertise - [0] Points


Total SP: [480] Points


Abilities



[Boxing] {1}

[Hakuda] {1}

[Pain Tolerance] {1}

[Strength of Will] {1}

[Cold Tolerance] {1}

Damage Recovery] {1}

[Mental Incantation] {1}

[Nickel Haida]

It was, as most were for Haida, an unlucky day. First, she had forgotten her wallet at home, and was forced to use her emergency credit card, then later on during the day, half-way through her errands, her card had been declined even though it was far from over its limit. Deciding not to fuss with the fiasco that would be an afternoon on the phone trying to get that settled, she decided to go window shopping instead. This included where she was now, which was a new clothing store that showed up about a month ago. 'Clothe Me Softly' wasn't the name she would have chosen, but they were still a pretty good shop nonetheless. That was until a spitting image of Tarzan came waltzing out of the back door.

Haida had to rub her eyes, as she didn't believe what she was seeing at first. Not only was this man so proudly walking around with his body on display, but everyone else was ignoring him, not as if he was common place, but rather as if he was never there in the first place. It took her a moment, but when she realized what was going on, Haida gave out an annoyed internal groan, knowing she'd have to do something about it. Reluctantly leaving the items she was browsing, Haida cleared her throat as she walked up to Grodd, trying to get his attention. "Hey! Over here!" She motioned at him in a hushed tone, trying to get Grodd in a less populated area. "I know most other's can't really see you and shit, but for those of us who can, could you please have some modesty and cover up!?"

[Beast]

Something drew close to the Shinigami and tried to get someone's attention. Grodd looked behind him to see who she could be talking to, but didn't see anyone. He was about to shrug and move on, but Haida continued to talk to the open air. "I know most other's can't really see you and shit, but for those of us who can, could you please have some modesty and cover up!?" If he could have growled or snarled he would have, but lacking the ability to do that he simply frowned and flipped the annoying girl off. It was his go to hand sign that tended to anger people to the point of them leaving. But, since she could see him she had some sort of spiritual understanding so she was probably tough enough to handle what came next.

Mentally preparing the incantation that he couldn't physically say, out of his extended middle finger emerged a blast of air. The first Hado was weak in power, but if it struck Haida as he aimed it would feel like a slightly above average man punched her in the middle of her chest and pushed her back. He then began to use his own personal sign language at her. He curled his left index finger into a hook shape, touched it to his chest, then pushed his right palm out in front of him before sweeping it to the right. If Haida had been still dealing with the Sho she might miss his signs, but even if she did see them it was doubtful that she'd get anything out of them. To most people his sign language looked like gibberish or some sort of insanity.

Remaining Reiatsu: 575/600 (-25 Sho)

[Nickel Haida]

Haida had trouble getting a read on Grodd. Not only was she unfamiliar with the spiritual world and its inhabitants in general, but also she had never come across a man who was so bestial in nature. She noticed the similarities between the loincloth Grodd had adorned and that of a Shinigami's, but considering the only one she met was a lot less aggressive than this, she wasn't sure what to make of him. This, however, did not stop her paranoia that years growing up in the slums of Bogota created. So when Grodd pulled up his hand to flip her off, Haida had assumed he was going to pull out a weapon, being able to avoid the threat of his Sho without fully understanding what it was.

As the air scraped by her shoulder, Haida looked behind her at where the Sho had landed. A fairly decently sized dent was in the drywall from Grodd's technique, giving Haida cause for alarm. Focusing her attention back on Grodd, her position shifted and tensed up, unsure of what to do as her opponent's hands moved in front of him. It seemed random at first, but considering what Grodd could do with one finger Haida didn't want to give Grodd the chance to show her what he could do with two hands. -You know what; fuck this.- She thought, dropping her defensive stance and sliding in as she aimed a strike with her elbow at his nose.

[Beast]

The girl was cautious and suspicious of Grodd, which was good for her well being. She managed to barely avoid the Kidou, despite having no knowledge of the arts. She had expected a nearly naked man to pull a weapon out of somewhere, which lead to her defensive stance and the Sho hitting the wall instead of her. One might almost say that she had a spot of good luck to avoid the spell. However, her good luck ran out as she went on the offensive and aimed an elbow strike at Grodd's nose. Standing at nearly a foot taller than her, Grodd's nose would just barely be reachable by her elbow, due only to the fact that he was hunched as usual instead of standing at his full height.

To reach up so high would put Haida in an awkward position, as well as lose a lot of power in the elbow strike. But that didn't matter, as Grodd wasn't about to block it, dodge it, or even care about it. His fighting style was mostly reactionary, and he didn't care if he took a punch if he got to deliver a more powerful one. And deliver a powerful punch he did. As Haida's arm came up, Grodd's fist reeled back and shot upwards, aiming for her chin just moments after his face would be hit. He was stronger and faster than the fullbringer, leading to the potential for a knock out punch. Haida was probably tough enough to survive more than one hit, but did she really want to keep going when so outmatched?

[Nickel Haida]

If this were a fight against a normal, living human, Haida wouldn't have been so blatantly reckless. Normally she wouldn't have taken on Grodd, the behemoth of a man that he was, to begin with, but something had kept her in this fight. First, it had been the hollow that Jak came in and destroyed for her. Then, Irene had stopped those muggers on impulse alone. If Haida really wanted to get stronger, she couldn't just expect someone to save her every time she was in trouble, even when she was in over her head. 

This being said, there was no way she could even soften the blow that came from his uppercut. Her small momentary victory as she hit his nose was quickly taken away as she felt knuckles impact against her chin. Her whole body was lifted off the ground from Grodd's brute strength and she was sent flying backward. Unfortunately, an employee was pushing a clothing rack to the back of the store when Haida was hit and it just happened to be in her way when she was sent back, her flung frame knocked it over and for a moment she was tangled up inside of the outfits it carried.

This was probably the best time for her to just lie there and accept defeat, as Grodd would probably assume she was either knocked out or didn't have any fight left in her, but as the metallic taste of blood swirled onto her tongue, Haida shambled to her feet, pulling off the clothes that were previously on the rack below her. "I don't... I don't know what you're beef is pal, but I ain't stopping until I can best you!" She declared, probably seeming a little less than stable as she proclaimed this to the open air. It didn't matter, however, as Haida didn't wait to realize how embarrassing this must have been. Running at Grodd with her fist raised, she hoped to trick him. Just as she drew near, Haida dropped to a slide in the gap in Grodd's stance, aiming her primed punch for his weak spot below the belt.

[Beast]

Grodd's fist connected and sent the girl flying backwards into a clothing rack. A small smug smile crossed his face as he thought he had knocked out the annoyance in one blow, but the feeling was fleeting and nearly immediately gone. A single drop of blood dripped from his nose, slid down his lip, and touched his tongue. The taste of his own blood sent him reeling backwards, and he staggered and barely remained standing. While Haida was busy trying to untangle herself from the clothes, Grodd grabbed at his head for a moment while a single voice echoed in the dark recesses of his mind. A voice that the Shinigami had tried to block out and ignore for years, and had succeeded in doing so for quite some time.

"BLOOOD!"

Shaking his head and clearing his thoughts as best he could, Grodd regained his composure only to see Haida emerging from the tangled mess and getting ready to charge him again. Her fist was raised high, so the Shinigami put one hand up towards his chest to guard from a high blow while preparing the other hand for a counter punch. Grodd realized the feint too late, however, leading to him hitting air and having his testicles struck by a punch that had a fair force behind it. Doubling over for a moment, despite his pain tolerance and strength of will, the voice came back to haunt the Shinigami.

"Tear her limb from limb, and baaaattthhheeee in the glorious blood! Drink of it and eat of her!"

Despite his resistance, the pain and the taste of his own blood got him kicked into a frenzy. As soon as Haida came out of her slide, she'd find Grodd right in her face having moved impossibly fast. The Shinigami flash step technique was often used for evasion, but it could very easily force a confrontation as well. The gorilla of a man's right arm shot out to try to grab the girl by the throat and lift her up into the air effortlessly, while holding on just tight enough to constrict her breathing and make it unpleasant to try to gulp in air. Having no other way to communicate, Grodd simply held up his left hand's middle finger and flung Haida at a sturdy wall on the edge of the store. Maybe that would satisfy his blood lust. Probably not... but hopefully...

Remaining Reiatsu: 525/600 (-50 Shunpo)

[Nickel Haida]

Haida couldn't have known, but going for a dirty shot like that was a bigger mistake than getting up in the first place, but her mistake wasn't realized until after Grodd's fingers hand found themselves wrapped around her neck. One desperate gasp for air was made until it was clear that Grodd wasn't going to let that happen. She clawed at his vice-grip all the way up until she was flung into the drywall, her weight combined with Grodd's immense strength had caused it to leave a large, body-sized dent. Haida slid to the ground, and as nasty as that hit was, she was still conscious for at least another punch, and she wasn't going to back down from her big words now.

Using the wall for support, Haida clambered up to a standing stance, but unlike Grodd who had only minor injuries, Haida looked like she could collapse at any moment. The only thing that kept her standing at this point was the will to show the world- or at least this beast of a man- what she was made of when she went down, and the only thing that kept the bystanders from stepping in on this chaotic, seemingly one-sided exchange was the fact that Haida was lifted off her feet without any foreseeable cause. Most of the people around were captivated by the display, even if they had no idea what was going on, unfortunate for Haida that no one was trying to stop her.

-No more feints, no more pulled punches, that's not working, I have to do something, I gotta... I gotta do.. something- Her thoughts raced as her legs moved on their own whim. Haida ran back to the aisle that Grodd stood, his menacing stance having something a touch more bloodthirsty, yet Haida had only seen that look in his eyes for only a second before she reached out her arms and clutched the two tall metal racks to her side that lined the aisle and with one last noise of determination she pulled them down towards Grodd, the last bit of her strength put into that act of aggression. With the last of her energy spent, she fell to the ground.

With the last of her energy spent, she fell to the ground. The impact from the fall knocked the wind out of her and she gasped for air and when her breathing had returned it was weak and shaky. She looked at the ceiling of Clothe Me Softly, and despite the immense pain she was in, Haida forced a smile. She probably lost, and considering her opponent's temperament, she was probably going to have the shit beat out of her even after passing out, but beyond that? She fought back. She finally did something against what the universe threw at her, and for someone that the universe constantly did so with> That felt like winning to her as her eyes closed and her mind quickly faded to consciousness.

[Beast]

After flinging Haida to the wall in rage, the Shinigami attempted to wrest control of his mind back from The Beast Within who had started to pour violent thoughts into his head. Thoughts of blood, of rage, of murder. He fought and managed to pull himself back to his senses, the red tinge of bloodlust in his vision starting to fade. As he stumbled around trying to fully purge his head of thoughts, Haida gathered up the last of her strength to rush at Grodd and attempt to hurt him before she collapsed. The racks started to fall, leading to the gasp of the crowd that had started to gather. They were unsure of what Haida was fighting, but it was very interesting for them.

If Grodd hadn't been a Shinigami, the rack attack could have brutally effective. However, this Shinigami in particular had been taught Kidou in the Academy, and was able to mentally cast a weaker version of them on command if need be. He had to learn Incantation Rejection because he was mute, which helped him in this situation. Twin orange ropes emerged from his hands, grabbing the racks and holding them up in the air. If this had been a spiritual attack of some sort, the Bakudo Horin would most likely have been far too weak to hold it up without the Incantation, but metal racks were of no problem to Grodd.

Haida collapsed, exhausted and wounded from fighting the monster of a man. Just to add more injury to her injury, Grodd dropped the racks on her as he made his way out of the store. He hadn't found any clues as to the whereabouts of the Zookeeper here, just an exercise that had gotten his heart rate up significantly. He was worried by the appearance of the beast in his mind. It had stayed silent for so long, why would it choose now to get so worked up over an insignificant human with bad luck in picking fights? On his way out, he thought he saw a glimpse of a small golden monkey shaking its head in the corner of the store. When he had turned his head, the animal was gone.

Strange...

---

Thanks for the fun fight! Hope the CTP helps you and the practice PvPing helped as well!

[Nickel Haida]

After the rack fell on her and the dust settled, the bystander effect seemed to have faded, as a few of the onlookers rushed to help her. One of them called 911, the other had pulled her out of the wreckage. It seems that, at least while unconscious, her Osen yielded, possibly saving the misfortune for when she could feel it. Haida was rushed to the hospital, admitted for bruising, flesh wounds, and some minor internal damage, but nothing that was terribly long term. When she was in her hospital bed, she looked at her various wounds and couldn't help but chuckle. "Surprised I'm alive, with only this as my damage." She noted, giving herself a bit of credit for enduring as long as she did.

When Haida was about to close her eyes, she heard her phone's familiar chime. "Whose calling me now? The only person I've got listed as my emergency contact is.. oh no-" She sighed. "Uncle Kiddi's never gonna let me hear the end of this." She noted, making a pained noise as she moved to pick up her phone. A cranky, yet concerned voice came blaring through the phone. "Are you alright!? How could you get hurt like this! You know how your luck goes with these things! W-who were you even fighting? I have half a mind to fly all the way over there and teach you a lesson if you weren't already banged up! Don't even think of paying that medical bill either, I've already taken care of it, but next time you get hurt like you're gonna have more than a stern talking to from me you youngin'!" Her uncle rambled on, obviously worried for her but at the same time furious she was so reckless with her wellbeing.

---

I had tons of fun with this! Thanks for fighting with me, I hope they get a rematch some day when Haida can actually defend herself against this sorta stuff. 

[Kyomei Kuchiki]

Another mod can contest this of course, but it's just counting paragraphs.

14 Paragraphs + winning for Grodd = 240 CTP

13 paragraphs for Haida = 130 CTP

[Amagai Kuchiki]

Obviously not contesting this, but in the future, just report it and wait. Trying to keep things standardized around here