BB T2 R1 - [Jude vs. Maxime vs. Nyla]

[OoC: Excited to throw down with y'all. GLHF! (Also, @aether if we could get a rough layout of where the objects/characters are standing in the room, that'd be nice but not required.)]

"Aaaaand from doooor number one, a man who... are we sure that's a man? That's one hell of a pretty boy... Juuuuuuude Liaaaaaang!"

Moments earlier, Jude had walked down a dimly lit hallway, led by a woman donning a white coat. Jude had changed in the locker room earlier, and was now wearing securely tied green MMA shorts and a soft white robe. He would have worn gloves and shoes as well, but the rules stipulated that hands and feet must be bare. This was highly annoying to Jude. If they were going to enforce a rule like that, they should have at least turned up the temperature in the place.

The doors opened, and the announcer called the names. Jude paid no attention to the announcer's jibes, and instead made a few observations in succession: 1. There was a sizable and rowdy crowd, which was expected, but not to this degree. They would be a psychological factor to consider; 2. A surprise challenger named Nyla Graves was in this fight, giving the showdown another psychological angle; and 3. The whole room was modeled after a typical home, except that everything was made out of Legos. 

"Legos...Legos. Are you f**king s***ting me," Jude muttered through gritted teeth. He was internally screaming, but his only outward motion was to slip off his robe and toss it behind him. First the cold, and now this farce. Jude could still vividly recall the time he had stepped on a misplaced Lego block when he was in the third grade. The phantom pain nipped at his feet as if to remind him of the consequences. Still inwardly screaming, Jude would walk to the couch and pick at the smaller blocks, seeing if he could detach 10-15 of them and store them in his pocket. This was harder than it looked because the small blocks were always the hardest to pry apart.

While taking on this herculean effort, Jude would look over at the other two competitors. Both were female and considerably shorter than Jude. The green-haired one had a sturdy frame and looked a little too happy to be here. The other girl was a veritable stick. She looked like she hadn't slept in days, which was concerning. Honestly, Jude wasn't sure if he wanted to fight either of these foes. He could, however, begin with a little personality test.

Jude would reach up with his free hand and wave while smiling. Then he would yell over the crowd, "Hi there! I'm Jude, nice to meet you." He would laugh awkwardly to mask his sneaky hand and throbbing feet. Hopefully the girls wouldn't wonder why that other hand kept moving around behind his back, or why he looked like he was about to cry.

[Stats locked: STR: 10 | DEX: 10 | CON: 9 | WIS: 15 | INT: 25]

Glancing over at Nyla briefly, Jude would ensure that she wasn't doing anything that necessitated a response. Then, he'd snap to look at Maxime, who had began running to the center of the room. Clearly, Jude's greeting hadn't worked out so well, so he would abandon that route. This was a tournament for fighting, after all, not one for speed dating. Although, he did feel a twinge of disappointment that the girl hadn't given a proper salutation. She must have really been raring for this fight to get going. Good thing he was interested in seeing what new things this opponent might show him.

//Fight stuff below//

Jude would remain at his position while Maxime picked up the Lego chair, choosing to analyze his opponent while his brain didn't need to multitask yet. Jude's facial expression would go slack as he focused his mental capacities. This green-haired girl was close to Jude in running speed, and she looked like she was in decent shape. She also picked up the chair with relative ease, signalling either above average strength or lightness of the chair. Jude had estimated the chair to weigh 25-30 lbs based on the weight of the few small blocks in his hand from earlier. However, it seemed that the chair was probably under 20 lbs, due to the nature of Maxime's interaction with it.

By the time that Jude had thought this through, Maxime was already on the couch and closing in. Jude would take a step back reflexively, then stop there. It was unnecessary to move far when he'd have enough time to avoid the large arc of the swinging attack, anyways. Once Maxime's feet left the couch, Jude would take a step diagonally right and forward, out of the vertical trajectory of the chair. Hopefully it wouldn't diverge from this path. [OoC: I'm imagining Maxime as running from the left side of the couch to the right, meaning that the wall is to Jude's left/Maxime's right. I can def edit if you're thinking of a different setup.] If the chair made contact with the floor, it would split off into a few large pieces and many small blocks, creating an even more annoying area to walk on.

As Maxime's attack was in its last phase, Jude would attempt a leading right punch to Maxime's head, following up with a right side kick to her lower left leg if the punch went smoothly. Jude would have usually gone for the knee, but this girl didn't seem like she deserved such brutality. He also wanted to keep his distance for now because he had the reach advantage, and because he assumed that she wouldn't just let him have free hits.

Besides, Jude might only fluster himself if it came to a grappling situation. *cue blush*


//STR: 10 | DEX: 10 | CON: 9 | WIS: 15 | INT: 25

So, the girl had gone the unexpected route and rolled forward into the block-studded ground where the chair had made contact. Jude's eyes widened as he quickly reevaluated this opponent. She clearly had no issues with taking risks. Perhaps he should have deduced that from the fire in her eyes, since the very beginning.

Now that Maxime was farther away, she had more time to respond to Jude's attack, and dodged the punch. His right side kick [OoC: meant a straight one vs. a roundhouse, but it's all good] would be jammed by Maxime's advance, making contact around her waist instead of the intended leg, and doing less damage than it would have at full extension. Because Jude was caught on one leg, Maxime was able to push him off balance. Jude fell backwards, his back colliding with the side of the couch and his bottom with the ground. He winced. His bottom would probably have a red lego-patterned welt for a while.

Then, Jude felt a tingling sensation from his nether regions. This was strange given that he was never a masochist. This wasn't physical attraction, no. Horrifyingly enough, it was the instinctual warning of bad things happening to his family jewels--Maxime was poised to stomp out his future children. All semblance of reluctance or hesitation towards this girl disappeared in an instant. This was now a matter of life and death.

Jude would twist to the left and contract his body as the foot came down, prioritizing a close avoidance of the stomp. He would then wrap his legs around Maxime's stomping leg, making sure to force his knees inwards. With Maxime's leg trapped for the time being, Jude would attempt a series of punches with one hand to her thigh, where there were plenty of nerves to hit. Jude's other hand would stay on the leg, ready to defend. Jude's goal was less to destroy the leg, but more to draw out a disorganized response from the belligerent girl. He was worried about suddenly getting punched in the head, but he rationalized that any punch worth being worried about would need considerable windup.


//STR: 10 | DEX: 10 | CON: 9 | WIS: 15 | INT: 25

[OoC: Assuming stomping leg/thigh being hit at the beginning is the right leg, since direction matters more now.]

As expected, the green-haired girl made immediate actions to discourage Jude from punching her thigh. Jude did stop hitting her leg to protect his head with both hands, but once he realized that Maxime wasn't trying to hit him up top, he would relax that upper defense. Now, she was basically right on top of him after leaning forward to put her forearms on his shoulders. Jude would feel her attempting to pull the trapped leg free.

This situation was far from perfect, but the opening was one that Jude welcomed. He would alter the tension and balance of both bodies through performing several moves within milliseconds of each other: 1. Tuck his head under the girl's arm to his left, then lie down on the ground in that direction (the couch was behind him, so he couldn't go backwards). This would cause Maxime to lean forward, since she was placing any weight on Jude's now missing shoulders; 2. Relax his legs to release Maxime's leg, allowing it to freely and quickly shoot upwards; and 3. Kick the front ankle of Maxime's other leg with his right foot. This was an attempt to hit her leg out behind her in order to displace her only remaining point of balance.

If Jude was successful, Maxime would fall forward towards the floor, perhaps catching herself on the sofa. Jude would take this chance to get off the ground and behind/on top of the girl. He would then wrap his right arm around her neck in an attempt to choke her.

If Jude didn't manage to get Maxime on the ground or even close, he would take the figurative fire escape and roll to the left. This would take him away from the wall and out of immediate danger. Of course, he wouldn't roll if he had to take a heavy hit in the process.

Jude had misjudged the pressure of the girl's forearms on his neck, and so he failed to bring her to the ground completely. He was lucky that she hadn't bashed his head in for that rookie mistake. As Jude moved to roll and escape, he saw Maxime leaning in while throwing a punch at his face. However, he had started moving as soon as she removed her arms from his shoulders, allowing him to already have his head out of range in time. But as Jude rolled, he felt the sting of the girl's punch on the edge of his upper arm, where it had struck a grazing blow.

Jude would stand up, rubbing his arm and shaking it out to regain feeling. At this point, he and Maxime were about 10 feet apart. Jude had two choices: keep a safe distance, or get in close and smother his opponent. Before he could decide, he would notice Maxime wind up and then hurl a baton-sized section of the chair at him. Fortunately his reaction time was sufficient for him to sidestep the makeshift projectile.

Back to the decision--Jude knew that this girl liked to play it fast and loose, so he'd have the best odds by baiting her out of position. He would edge close to her and ensure that she didn't get too far away from the arena wall. Assuming he would get in position safely, Jude would throw a feint left straight punch at Maxime's right ear. Jude wouldn't use his arm muscles, but instead a quick forward step to make his left hand dart out as if it were punching, when it would really bounce back towards him.

Based on the green-haired girl's past patterns, she would avoid the feint and counterattack. So, then Jude would launch his actual attack, which would be a right hook to the closest vulnerable point. If she didn't rush in as expected, Jude would abort the right hook and remain at distance to answer whatever Maxime did next.