[IC] The Memory Remains (Sky Dancer Vs. Gonad)

[Doc Doctor]

Gonad stood in the middle of the bouncy castle, arms crossed. There was going to be a duel today, and he needed only to wait for his opponent to arrive. Small children and frightened parents fled in all directions, a party clown tripping over his own floppy shoes as he scrambled to escape the coming catastrophe.

Why a bouncy castle?

Why a birthday party?

Why not?

[Everett]

The Fae had been told that he needed to be more proactive with his efforts to get public exposure when it came to this fine realm and those that resided within it. So it was on a simple day that he had put out a challenge and had received a reply, which Sky didn't know was written by someone else. The coordinates that were given to him took him into a rural area the likes of which he had not seen, ever, but he understood what it was. An assembly of homesteads in a nice quiet neighborhood. Part of him didn't like the venue that his opponent had chosen, there was too much possibility for collateral damage and people to get hurt. He walked along the side walk of the neighborhood as he trudged toward the coordinates. He was wearing a simple synthetic silk vest, sleeveless in style, that was buttoned down the middle. Baggy pants of a matching fabric found themselves held up by a sash while leather thong sandals gripped tightly to his feet. All of the clothing, minus the sandals, was black with the foot wear being a normal brown color. Two small, six inch long, antlers protruded from his forehead up towards the sky and ended in three points, each one finding it's base planted firmly on the forehead just below the hair line above the eyes.

Short, curly, gold hair softly moved with the wind and jerked as his attention was pulled to the sound of screams. Sapphire blue hues immediately found themselves fixated upon the forms of fleeing civilians. If nothing else that must have been where his opponent was. He'd quickly reach the house and move around back to where the bouncy castle was, which seemed to be in the middle of celebration that had been interrupted. Gonad would notice that Sky only carried one piece of equipment at the moment. A six foot long spear with a golden colored head. The head had a main middle portion that was six inches long and flanked by smaller, outwardly curved, three inch long prongs. It looked something like a trident, but it wasn't. The shaft of the spear was blue with a golden butt at the opposite end of the spear head, serving both as counterweight and possible blunt weapon. He had the weapon propped against his shoulder at first, right hand gripping the shaft at the half way point, but quickly allowed the 1/3 of shaft length closest to the spear head to fall into the grip of his left hand while his right wrapped around 1/3 near the butt.

He approached the bouncy castle slowly.

"Did you have to ruin their celebration?" He asked, cautiously stepping into the bouncy castle while choosing to stay at the entrance since Gonad was in the center. The mans weight forced most of the air to the outsides of the bouncy house, which gave Sky a small height advantage over the barbarian-esque fighter. But that could change at any time with a change of position. He wasn't going to do anything until Gonad replied, attacked, or did both. At least he had solid footing, for the moment anyway.

[Doc Doctor]

@Everett

Gonad was unarmed and half naked, wearing only leather tassets and a pair of large, steel-toed yak hide boots, complete with iron soles. He remained where he was, looking up at his opponent, arms still crossed.

"BWAH! Come has honorable foe of Gonad! Found mighty fortress of rubber has Gonad to fight in! Fine experience will this be."

[Everett]

@Doc Doctor

Sky had remained in his elevated position upon the raised outer edge of the bouncy castle's floor. The first thing that he noticed, despite the fact that his opponent was incredibly heavy and covered in muscle, was that Gonad didn't have any weapons and very little armor to speak of. The Fae figured that this was just the mans fighting style. With that taken into account Sky's spear would disappear from his hands in a light puff of smoke that quickly disappeared. He'd stand straight up and stretch out his arms, figuring that he'd try fighting the massive man on his own terms and see how that went. Despite the rubbery surface and the fact that the weight would shift it at every movement Sky seemed to have little to no problem maintaining his footing.

"Lets try not to destroy it? I'm sure the children would like to use it when we're done." Sky then slid down the incline toward Gonad in order to start this little match off quickly. His right arm was pulled back while his left was brought to the front. When he got into striking distance of the giant man, which admittedly Gonad had a longer reach than Sky, the Fae would aim to deliver a strong punch straight for the barbarians nose. His fist traveled at a solid 200 mph and would hit with about 1,000 pounds of force. Sky also seemed to stop sliding as he made his attack.

[Doc Doctor]

@Everett

Gonad's bushy eyebrows furrowed in stern disapproval as his opponent gave up his weapon. This was dishonorable. An enemy giving himself a handicap, as though Gonad had not come prepared to lay his flesh and blood against steel?

What followed next was the perfect brutality of a barbarian scorned. Gonad remained where he was as Sky launched into his attack. Until the last moment that is. Right before the blow struck, he would drop his chin so that Sky's knuckles would instead smush into the dense bone of his forehead, easily snapping metacarpals and potentially spraining the blonde fighter's wrist. Gonad's skull was unyielding, and given his power to physically scale with any opponent he fought, the result of punching his mighty forehead would be the same as one human fighter slamming his fist into the thick bone plate of another.

The instant Sky's fist struck Gonad, the berserker would twist his upper body sharply to his right, bringing his left knee gusting up to collide against his enemy's right flank with expert timing and enough speed to match Sky at his best. Not even a supernatural barrier would stay the immanent power of Gonad. His was the realm of raw strength, honed to such a degree that the lack of weapons, armor, and offensive magic were negligable. As the blonde man's right arm and body would be devoted to the punch, his sensitive liver would be wide open for the ballistic knee, ribs creaking and skin bruising on impact. Needless to say, it would not feel very good.

After the brief exchange, were Sky to back off, Gonad would allow him to do so. If this occurred, Sky would be able to notice something unsettling. Gonad's arms were still folded. He had handicapped himself to match how Sky had relinquished his spear.

[Everett]

@Doc Doctor

Just because Sky had relinquished his spear didn't mean he was fighting at a handicap. Whether he was armed or not Sky was still an opponent that could deal out damage, hefty amounts of it. But it was clear from his first look at the Barbarian that raw strength wasn't going to cut it. But, needless to say, Sky wanted to see what his opponent had to offer. He also didn't like to fight someone that was unarmed with his spear, unless it was a particularly important matter such as a life or death fight. He had honor. He just didn't know that Gonad counted his fists in the same manner that Sky counted his spear. When his right fist pushed forth in that straight punch his opponent reacted by dipping his chin. The impact itself didn't do anything to Sky's arm. He could hit a lot stronger objects at a much faster speed and still not be harmed. He felt the bone underneath Gonad's skin and realized how dense they actually were. Sky figured that he wouldn't be able to out muscle the Yaksplitter instantly.

Gonad also counter attacked, which would be met with a response of course. It wasn't like Sky to be caught off guard. The thing about the ripped, toned, powerful muscles that Gonad was so proud of? They were loud. Every movement that they performed created a symphony of sound at frequencies that Sky could register. Not to mention his acute spacial awareness cued him in to what was happening the moment the tendons started to cause muscles to contract and create lift for the knee. There was also the fact that raw power radiated from Gonad, every part of him, which Sky could also read and feel in order to get a understand on how his opponent moved. Regardless the left hand that Sky had kept on defense swiftly moved into action. It lowered and reached to the right across Sky's form while his right arm was withdrawn. Due to Sky's elevation his hand at a lot less distance to travel than Gonad's knee, especially since Gonad didn't budge when the fist connected which meant Sky would stop sliding down toward him when knuckles met forehead.

Gonad would feel his knee impact the palm of Sky's left hand which, due to his footing, would force Sky to move to his right and slide along the rubber material that they both stood upon. He was sent away from Gonad, off to the Barbarians right, until he stopped just shy of the Bouncy Castles net-like wall. He flexed the fingers of his right hand while Sapphire hues studied his opponent. He shook his left hand and reached out to grip the net of the wall. He'd then channel his spiritual energy through his body, internally, so that it'd have no physical manifestation. The only way Gonad would be able to tell that Sky had summoned energy at all would be if he could sense it, otherwise it'd look like Sky grabbed the net for balance purposes. But his grip was soon relinquished and once again his footing was solidified.

"I know you have more." Sky was partially charged now from summoning his energy before, but still no physical signs of it would show.

He'd slide down toward Gonad once more. He allowed himself to slide slowly and cautiously across the rubber material with his fists balled and brought up once again. His head was hard, now it was time to see if his body was much the same. Once more when he was within striking distance, should Gonad not try and strike the Fae when he was within his striking range, Sky would deliver a straight left jab right for where his opponents liver would be. But this time Sky wasn't holding back. 15,400 pounds of force would be delivered at roughly 1000 miles per hour, his fist breaking the sound barrier and blasting them both with a shock wave that'd shake the Bouncy Castle. Hit or miss the left fist would be brought back immediately only for the right to follow at the same speed and with the same power as the left. The right fist would hook down low for the center of Gonad's abdomen, testing the mans core to see if the barbarians diaphragm was vulnerable. Much like with the left fist the right would be brought back to a defensive position the moment the attack ran its course.

[Doc Doctor]

@Everett

Despite Gonad's strength, he had tact to spare. His mercies were plentiful but measured. The first time around he had been testing his opponent's martial skill and providing him with an opportunity to take up arms. Again now Gonad would do so, but in a much more blatant manner.

As Sky approached for the second time, Gonad would unfold his burly arms, allowing them to hang at his sides. Sky would be able to feel it. A premonition, talismanic in its power. A creepy-crawly feeling that if he attempted to land a body shot, his face would be beaten five kinds of ugly before it met the floor of the bouncy castle.

If he could read body language with such skill, then Sky would certainly be able to tell that Gonad had been jabbed at more times by more dead men than there were fish in the sea. This was throwing a bottle of kerosene into a fire and expecting to put out the flames. Everything in the barbarian's lean, relaxed posture said, "How much morphine will it take to mercy kill this one at Hope Hospice?"

What occurred next would depend entirely upon whether or not Sky went through with his frontal assault.

[Everett]

@Doc Doctor

As Sky approached his baser instincts told him that his opponents attitude had changed. The very nature of the man who stood at the center of the bouncy castle shifted from a light hearted combat to that of someone with intent to inflict serious injury. Overall it was something that Sky expected, but not until much later. Being the perceptive being that he was the feeling he got when Gonad lowered his arms clued him in to the fact that his opponent was ready for the cautious frontal assault that Sky had intended to perform. So, with this in mind, Sky would have been ready for what Gonad was about to do. Premonitions were exactly what they seemed to be, a foreshadowing of coming events. Regardless it didn't change anything.

He'd slide down toward Gonad once more. He allowed himself to slide slowly and cautiously across the rubber material with his fists balled and brought up once again. His head was hard, now it was time to see if his body was much the same. Once more when he was within striking distance, should Gonad not try and strike the Fae when he was within his striking range, Sky would deliver a straight left jab right for where his opponents liver would be. But this time Sky wasn't holding back. 15,400 pounds of force would be delivered at roughly 1000 miles per hour, his fist breaking the sound barrier and blasting them both with a shock wave that'd shake the Bouncy Castle. Hit or miss the left fist would be brought back immediately only for the right to follow at the same speed and with the same power as the left. The right fist would hook down low for the center of Gonad's abdomen, testing the mans core to see if the barbarians diaphragm was vulnerable. Much like with the left fist the right would be brought back to a defensive position the moment the attack ran its course.

[Doc Doctor]

@Everett

Gonad would step back on his right foot as Sky jabbed, the punch barely grazing Gonad's flank. At the same time the barbarian's left hand would leave his side and swing up to soundly slap Sky in the side of the head as he cast his second punch. A pimp slap, yes, but one that would make a grizzly bear cry. Or cleanly knock a blonde man right the hell out.

Though Sky could read Gonad's muscles, it would seem that through sheer experience, Gonad could read Sky just as easily. Problem was, Gonad's attacks were now becoming more difficult to predict in time due to his reactionary, impulsive style. Being able to see a blow coming from a bad position is handy, but one would still be in a bad position.

[Everett]

@Doc Doctor

Perhaps the slight elevation wasn't going to give him any advantage at all. Considering the imposing stature of his opponent he figured such would be the case from the beginning but it didn't stop him from trying in the least. Not to mention, due to Gonads weight, it was kind of involuntary. Sky was just making the best of a bad situation. Now as for the chain of events that'd start as Sky, once again, initiated an exchange on the Barbarian. The left jab would find itself flying forth in a strike but a quick reaction would find it only grazing its target. The left fist returned to its defensive position as the right followed through with the previously established set of events, dropping low for a hook. Only this time, since his opponent shifted position, Sky would compensate. His form shifted forward a bit more so that the low slung right hook, aimed for the diaphragm, would be able to hopefully find its mark buried in his opponents flesh. Simultaneously the left arm that had been brought back, exchanging one fist for another in a snap.

It was thanks to the drawing back of the left fist, and the spacial awareness that he possessed, that made sure he did not receive the attempted pimp slap that Gonad had sought to deliver. It wasn't one singular aspect that attributed itself to Sky's ability to perceive his surroundings. It was sight, sound, smell, touch, taste, and a natural sense that acted like an unseen spiritual radar around him that comprised his Spacial Awareness. So as the left arm of the Barbarian came swinging around to deliver the slap Sky's left hand, which had already been brought back to its defensive position, would slide to the right at incredible speed while his head shifted to the left. Gonad's hand would slap against Sky's own right next to the Fae's right cheek and successfully stop the strike and try to push the offending limb away.

Hopefully the forward adjustment to his positioning as his opponent took a step back would allow Sky to land the low hook to the diaphragm as the pimp slap was blocked. He was also aware that his opponent could attempt to grab his left hand since it would have impacted the incoming left of Gonad, since a slap implies an open hand. He was ready for that eventuality. He also figured that, since the slap didn't work, his opponent would utilize his right arm, legs, head or body to try and pick up where the slap left off. All were eventualities that could come true and Sky sought to cross those bridges when they appeared before him.

[OOC: Sorry for taking so long. My motivations have been low due to not feeling too good lately.]

[Doc Doctor]

@Everett

Sky was quick to be sure, but he wouldn't have as much momentum in his block as the slap, and since he was reaching across himself to do it he'd also be at a disadvantage in positioning. He might end up breaking his wrist by attempting to stop the blow that way and wind up having his own left hand smack hit him in the temple, albeit with far less force than the direct slap would gave delivered. And without a doubt, Gonad would grab the man's hand if he could.

As for Sky's uppercut, it would strike the barbarian in the solar plexus, the shockwave shaking the bouncy castle and extracting a strained grunt from the barbarian, leaving a great bruise behind. It might have done more damage had Sky fully devoted himself to the attack rather than blocking at the same time, which would have forced him to shift his weight and compromise his overall power.

Sky would see then that Gonad had taken the hit on purpose, though. Such was the way of the berserker, to both give and take. Sky focused on both attacking and defending. Gonad only cared about walloping opponents as hard as possible. He didn't devote any attention at all whatsoever to defending unless it directly served the purpose of allowing him to wreak terrible and immediate violence. He had needed to close the gap while Sky was busy with offence. Gonad would attempt to take a heavy, deliberate right step forwards to firmly plant his boot between Sky's feet, officially entering close range. They would be nearly face to face. As he did so he'd swing his right fist up, drawing it waaaay back whilst his upper body twisted clockwise away from Sky, winding up to the utmost degree. The barbarian's monstrous physique shifted and rippled like the turmoil within the rapids of a river. If Sky could place his finger on it, a similar form would come to mind.



Yes. He would be perfectly correct in the assumption that there would be no pain. Anything living thing that was going to be struck as hard as the blow that Gonad was about to deliver wouldn't feel any more pain for the rest of its life. What occurred next would depend upon how Blondie reacted to the immensity of Gonad's wind-up.

[Everett]

@Doc Doctor

Sky wasn't as soft as Gonad had been thinking. He may not have possessed the same physique that Gonad did but one didn't always need to be a mountain of rippling, muscled, flesh in order to exert tremendous amounts of power when it came to close quarters combat. It was true that Sky had to divert his attention between both offense and defense since his opponent counter attacked but that still meant the strike planted itself firmly within the berserkers body. He'd get a sense of the condition of Gonad's form that went far beyond what the eye could see and the ears could hear. Sky needed to plant that fist upon the torso in order to get the best idea of what he was actually dealing with. It was all tense, firm, strong muscles that promised pain with the amount of power that they could exert. Unlike Gonad Sky's musculature was smaller, but it was densely corded muscle wound around a very durable skeleton. Sky could exert incredible force even with the slightest of movements which coupled with his natural ability to manipulate his internal energy.

Much like the principle of Kinetic Linking that boxers used to generate power at the ball of the foot and built it up over the course of their body to release it in a punch, Sky could draw kinetic force from the smallest movement and run it through his form so that it'd be amplified when it was released. So that strike that met the attempted 'bitch slap' would find itself met with equal, not lesser or greater, force. One would assume, if they could sense it, that guiding kinetic energy from one area of the body to another would lower the amount of said energy where it was pulled from. Normally they would be correct. But since Sky's body had now been spiritually charged, due to what he did earlier on the bouncy castle, he had an ample supply that wasn't going to run out anytime soon. Upon contact with the slap he felt his hand, bone and all, shake but a bruise wasn't much for him to worry about.

As for the attempted grab the left hand that had blocked would pull back slightly away from it, raise up to a minor degree, and exert tremendous force in a downward deflection in the form of a push. It merely held, what he felt, was an adequate amount of force to push the hand that attempted the grab away. At the same time the punch that had landed in Gonad's torso, more specifically the fist that had delivered the punch would be brought back to chamber at his right side as the barbarian took that deliberate and heavy step forward. Once more the bouncy house shifted around them, since air was being displaced all around them. It shifted first when the foot was lifted, even a little, off of the ground allowing some of the air to return to the point where the right foot had once been forcing it out. This, temporarily, would marginally level out the ground in the instant that it'd take Gonad to step forward.

The momentary level out was something that Sky took advantage of, shifting his weight backward so that he'd open up some distance between the two of them. It would be enough of a distance traveled that would put them at the same range they had been before the step forward was taken, Sky wanted Gonad to think he was uncomfortable with being so close. The pose the man took spoke of an over exaggerated punch, perhaps a haymaker, but would he allow himself to be telegraphed in such a way? Maybe, considering how he ate the punch earlier. Regardless, even on the unstable ground that was slanted toward Gonad, Sky seemed to have no problem rooting himself in place with his left foot forward and his right in the rear, knee bent to accommodate for the slope, once more his guard was up as it seemed he had planned to meet whatever it was that Gonad was planning.

[Doc Doctor]

@Everett

Gonad wasn't a trickster. He just improvised with style, assuming that raw, unchained muscle could be a style. There was a philosophy for it. To quickly beat an opponent, you needed only the power to conquer, and the means to efficiently deliver that power in such a way as assures victory. Gonad had the power, he had it in excess. Now to see if his opponent could escape the means by which said power was delivered. Sky had shifted his weight backwards and avoided Gonad's grasp, but he hadn't taken a step in retreat and Gonad's foot was placed between Sky's own stompers. Escape to the outside of the barbarian's reach would be difficult. Of course Sky might try to move back in, but Gonad was a grappler by nature, by essence. Getting closer was suicide without redemption or condition. Right now though, what mattered was Gonad's punch. It came slowly at first. Abdominals shifting and grinding as the upper body began its turn, the grisly fist starting to drift forwards like a satellite in orbit. Gonad's rear heel screwed into the rubbery turf as the satellite became a meteor, and then a comet. A blaze of hot glory streaking through the nether, piercing the air as a needle pierces silk. Gonad's face was contorted in a devil's grimace of toil, eyes slit to steaming vents and lips curling with passionate malediction. It was a wicked haymaker, all right, and aimed for Sky's jawline, on the left side. Needless to say Sky would be creamed if it hit, and that would be all folks. There was enough wallop to launch his body into several dozen cartwheels before the inert mass plowed through the bouncy castle and into the dirt hard enough for his head to dig a fifteen meter trench. It was so simple though. A big punch with a ton of wind-up.

But...

Was it too easy? Sky could predict the barbarian's body, but there was something missing. Something wrong. Gonad's punch wasn't just a punch, but Sky wouldn't be able to tell what, at least not right now. The closest image his mind would be able to come to approximating the barbarians entire action would be something akin to a...

a...

a...

[Everett]

@Doc Doctor

As previously stated the distance between Gonad and Sky didn't change, meaning that Gonads foot wasn't put between Sky's own. Sky had moved back, resetting the distance to what it had been before Gonad's forward step was taken. This meant that the Barbarian was going to have to extend a bit further than he originally intended in order to try and strike the fae. But, overall, things were never as simple as they seemed on the surface. The punch, itself, was so easily telegraphed that a child would have been able to move out of the way before it actually hit. But with the amount of power that Gonad could pack Sky knew that it wouldn't just be the power of the fist that he'd have to deal with. As it started to come forward, tearing through the atmosphere, Sky realized quickly that the punch would have a lot of other side effects associated with it. It wasn't just concussive force. There was going to be friction, heat, kinetic energy, compressed air, all things he could make of.

As the haymaker came forward Sky raised up his left hand, keeping it close to his body, with the palm facing Gonad. The right hand was stretched out behind him, preparing for what was about to come. Energy built up within the palm of his hand, the energy that had started to energize him a few posts ago, so that it gathered just beyond the skin in a floating white disk that was parallel to his hand but many sizes bigger. Gonad's fist wouldn't impact anything, not even that energy, since as the fist came forward Sky was pushed backward and away from the attack. It was like magnetism when two similar charges got close to one another they repelled. But, at the same time, the massive amounts of heat, kinetic force, and compressed air that accompanied the strike would find themselves absorbed into that energy shield.

Sky was promptly ejected from the bouncy castle, tearing through the rubber fabric of the sides that usually kept kids from falling out. But as Sky tore through something else would happen, a trap that Sky had been planning the entire time. Thanks to Gonad Sky gathered an abundant source of energy that would have normally taken the fae quite a while to build up, the whole time having to distract the barbarian with the fight at hand in order to try and keep his attention away from it. When did this trap begin? When sky had touched the wall of the bouncy castle after their first exchange. When the energy shield absorbed the thermal energy, kinetic energy, and the energy generated by the compressed air, it converted it all into spiritually energy that was then fed instantaneously into the bouncy castle and the energy that had saturated it. This mean a few things for Gonad.

The bouncy castle he was standing in released all of its air, deflating almost instantly while moving almost of its own accord to wrap around the barbarian many times like a cocoon. The energy did more than just move the bouncy castle, it also altered its properties. Sky had to trade blows with Gonad earlier in order to test the barbarians physical composition and see how much power he had. So that he could overcompensate since taking too many blows from Gonad was out of the question. So the energy that had been laced into the bouncy castle amplified the rubber nature of the structure itself so that as it wrapped around him Gonad wouldn't be able to rip it through his strength or energy alone. Raw force wouldn't tear apart the new bouncy prison that would be working to cocoon the barbarian.

Now for the last bit. The bouncy castle had removed all of its air, but this meant more than just simply deflating its structure so that it could be used to wrap around the barbarians body. This almost meant that the air within its walls was also removed, creating a vacuum that had no oxygen within it. While the bouncy castle quickly moved to constrict and completely cover Gonad all other traces of oxygen were removed as well so that while he was being cocooned he would not be able to breathe and no oxygen would get past the rubber construct as it moved to complete its task. Meaning that if Gonad didn't find a way out he was going to suffocate completely.

So where did this leave Sky? He had crashed through a house, but stopped himself with that right hand that had been extended behind his form acting as propulsion via expended energy to slow the speed at which he traveled. Luckily no one was home and he was still one acre away from his opponent and the bouncy castle that had done what it was intended to do. As long as Sky was on the outside he was making sure that the construct held. Meaning that as Gonad would be fighting from within to get out Sky would be fighting his efforts from the outside to keep him in. Should it succeed he didn't know if he was going to kill Gonad, perhaps let him fall unconscious and leave, he was trying to remember his orders on the matter.

[Doc Doctor]

@Everett

Perhaps raw force couldn't tear open the powered up rubber cocoon. But Gonad's force was far from raw. It was undiluted, yes, but also concentrated and imbued with the potential to scale with any challenge. Gonad wasn't just strong. He was STRONG. Strength was who he was, and it was his only true power. As Sky tried to contain Gonad, it could very well feel as if he were in front of a locomotive that was about to leave the station. A massive choo-choo that was slowly but steadily picking up speed, quickly gaining more inertia and mass. The barbarian was an absolute engine of muscle and will, to whom the notion of not meeting a challenge was as far and as alien as planet Yuggoth.

If Sky's energy was overwhelmed, then the rubber around Gonad's body would stretch taut as he flexed, the colors fading into a translucent white like when a pretty balloon is forced to the breaking point and the paint is spread too thin to see. For just a moment he would resemble a man made of taffy.

It was true that there did exist things that strength alone could simply not overcome. Gonad, however, was not something that had been taken into account when the abstract concept of the "immovable wall" had been created. The spiritual translation of the kinetic energy of their brief exchange infused with elasticity and sustained by another being? It could work on nearly anyone. Gonad, however...

His expression was the same as it had been before, obliviously stoic. It was the look of someone that didn't really know what all was going on, but still wanted to look as if they did. Gonad could pull it off nicely. In his spare time he would sometimes walk up to a group of chatting strangers and just stand there nodding sagely, as if he had an inkling of what they were talking about. Gonad knew that he was in a fight, but he probably had no clue about why a bouncy castle had been involved, or why said bouncy castle had just gotten all clingy. All he knew was that there was an obstacle in his way, and one that he was going to stretch apart and grab and tear in short order.

[Everett]

@Doc Doctor

Even though Sky had no direct knowledge of it, he suspected that his opponent had certain traits, Gonad scaled to meet his foe if such a person was stronger than him. It was clear that Sky wasn't stronger, when it came to physical capabilities, than Gonad. The only true leg up that he may have had over the Barbarian was that he could manipulate his own spiritual energy in ways similar to that of mages who could wield magic. So if Gonad's unique power held true then he wouldn't scale at all, unless it was to make himself weaker so that he'd be on equal footing with Sky. But even then what he was being assaulted by was much stronger than the one who had created it. And considering that Gonad wouldn't likely effectively scale up, since Gonad was naturally stronger than Sky, this meant that the attack he now faced would pose a considerable threat to overwhelm his natural physical potential.

Raw force is, simply, force that isn't diluted by anything else. Meaning that Undiluted force was the same as Raw force, something that Gonad had in spades. It may have been the bread and butter of his entire being, he may have been strength and power incarnate, but this was a trap that raw strength and undiluted force wasn't going to be able to get out of. And since Gonad was effectively sitting in a vacuum devoid of air the more he struggled to try and muscle his way out of the enveloping rubber bouncy house the quicker he'd bring himself to a point that he'd run out of air. Ignorance to ones situation was one thing. But a living body could not continue to live without oxygen. As Gonad flexed his body against the rubbery substance that was the bouncy house it'd flex and move, bending around every fibrous muscle that sought to subdue it.

Since Sky was on the outside he had absolute control over his spell. If any part of the bouncy house came close to breaking via being stretched beyond normal capacity he could alter its properties even more to allow it to stretch more and more. He even went as far as to pull material from other parts of the entire surface area of the bouncy castle in order to compensate. Gonads fingers wouldn't be enough to puncture the rubber either. Sky was monitoring the whole thing, watching the struggle ensue as Gonad did his damnedest to try and break the rubbery cage. It was a simple case of Sky matching Gonad's embodiment of strength with an embodiment of ingenuity, even though the fae would never call himself that.

He was also going off of what he knew. Gonad had no weapons, he merely brought himself and his strength to the fight, so Sky had crafted this specific trap to try and seal the Barbarians fate. This wasn't something one could brute force through, it was intended that way, if Gonad wanted out before he fully suffocated he was going to have to try some critical and imaginative thinking. It wasn't just an immovable wall Gonad faced, in fact it wasn't immovable or unbeatable to those that were equipped for it, but it was highly flexible to counter Gonads method of dealing with problems. But the rubbery cage forged from the bouncy house hugged everywhere it could. Sky sought to keep the Barbarian entangled until he fell unconscious, at which point he'd release it and walk away.

[Doc Doctor]

@Everett

Philosophies about the origins of strength and through which forms it presented itself, as well as the purity of said strength, had zero bearing on Gonad's power. His opponent was alive and well, and attempting to overpower him. This was what was taken into account. Strength cared not for politics. As pertaining to oxygen, it would take a minute for Gonad to wind down, and for combatants that could process supersonic motion, it might as well have been ten minutes. Gonad would need only seconds anyways, for what he was about to do.

Go berserk.

Sky would feel Gonad's struggles slowing for a moment, as if he were giving up. Or relaxing. Or giving his body a moment to prepare for the exertion it was about to unleash. Were this exchange to be likened to an arm wrestle, up until this point the two would have been roughly even. Now, however, the arm of Gonad would bear down in earnest. Sky could redistribute kinetic energy over his body to reduce the might of Gonad's lethal striking skill. A nullification of tact. Now Gonad was revealing the little tricks in his body as well. The thing that countered the absorption of force. Even more force, enough to marry like a wife and have babies with. A hairy, gnarled right hand would secure a grip upon a flap inside of the bouncy castle, and would begin peeling the trap away like a tortilla wrap, back in the way it had first folded in to expose and widen the entrance. Perhaps Sky could hold Gonad back for a little while were the barbarian simply trying to plow through, but now the brute had leverage.

[Everett]

@Doc Doctor

It wasn't like Sky didn't know what was going on within the rubber cocoon that had wrapped itself around Gonad. Not only could watch Gonad struggling under the surface of the rubber he could also feel his movements and sense the levels of power that Gonad had within him. It was true that the Barbarian had force in spades, beyond that really, but Sky had planned for the eventuality that he could get stronger. The harsh truth about the situation was that Gonad didn't have tools on hand to get out of the trap that Sky had planned out, meticulously, in the moments that their fight had occupied since its start. Even though he'd feel Gonad stop struggling as much within the trap he didn't think the Barbarian was done. If anything Sky had to commend him on how long he could hold his breath in a complete vacuum. There wasn't any moving fast in the position like this, since both weren't moving from their positions, and lack of oxygen was lack of oxygen.

He'd feel the increase in power as Gonad tapped deep into the reservoirs of his berserker roots and allowed the latent power within him to surge forth and fill his physical vessel to the very brim. It was a power up, giving Gonad more of that untapped physical output that he was soon hell bent on using, but it didn't seem to afford him any additional benefit other than allowing him to use more force. Perhaps it made him more resistant to effects like loss of consciousness and potential death, perhaps it allowed him to fight beyond usual parameters, but in the current situation it wasn't going to be enough. As it was stated before when the bouncy castle deflated and started to wrap around Gonad to trap him it did exactly as described 'wrap'. So him trying to reach for the flap that would have been the entrance would have been almost impossible. Since, at the moment, the entrance was wrapped around him dozens of times in efforts to constrict the much stronger gentleman and prevent him from moving. But this was the glorious thing about this particular trap. Gonad's strength would have to find against itself.

Since the rubber of the bouncy castle had 'wrapped' itself around Gonad that means that any attempt to pull on one section would find resistance in another. If Gonad did manage to find a grip somewhere it meant that when he pulled a different section or multiple would tighten against him and then snap the rubber back into place. So it was Gonad's own strength, along with Sky's machinations, that worked against him. His strength in one area would neutralize his strength in another so that he constantly nullified his own attempts to free himself. But that wasn't the only thing he'd find was troubling. It was also previously mentioned that Sky could move rubber from one area to another, in order to account for Gonad's attempts to burst out by overstretching one portion and make it burst. Essentially moving more material so that it could extend safely without breaking and allowing Gonad to get out. It was that same principle that found itself manipulating the rubber that Gonad tried to grab away from his hand, moving away from his fingers in order to prolong his stay within the trap.

The Fae saw where this was going though. If the berserker could stave off the effects of a vacuum through the use of the power up that he had activated then it was going to take far too long for the trap to effectively put him down. So Sky enacted his back up plan. While Gonad continued to struggle within the rubber, his body more than likely suffering from the effects of lack of oxygen regardless if the man could feel it, he'd summon his spear once again within his left hand and funnel some of the energy he was manipulating into it. It was gripped at about mid shaft with his arm stretched out to its appropriate side, elbow bent and pointed toward the ground with the curled fingers facing the sky. He'd quickly bring the spear up over his shoulder and adjusted his position to a crouching stand. He'd then rocket that Spear forward in a sonic javelin toss that'd cause the houses around him to literally shatter. A vapor ring manifested as the spear immediately hit mach 10, wood splinters from the houses around him flying in all directions as they disintegrated, the spear was on a mission as Gonad fought on the inside of his trap.

Now, what about the spear itself? Sky's strength wasn't enough to throw it at the speeds it reached, that was a manipulation of the spiritual energy. Remember that body blow that Sky had landed on the Barbarian earlier? It was attracted to that point, like a super magnet, accelerating the moment it left Sky's hand. The head of it was blazing with power, the edged focused to such a sharpness that not much could stand within its path. It wasn't even a 100th of a second between the time that Sky through it and the moment it'd hit. Since Gonad was stationary the target was easy to hit. Since it homed in on the point Sky landed the body blow? It was practically guaranteed to strike true. Meaning that Gonad would have a hole blown through him and the rubber that surrounded him, one that was about six inches in diameter, straight through his middle torso. But that wasn't he only effect that he had to worry about. Moving at high speed generated extreme heat, so there was a possibility of being disintegrated through the friction alone as it passed through the body, not to mention the trail of kinetic force that followed it. Something that sky scrapers would have a hard time withstanding.

The spear itself, once it penetrated Gonad and exited his body, disappeared. Sky had taken the blowback of the shock wave generated by the throw of his spear head on and was now a good fifty feet back from his original position, but he was still manipulating the rubber. It had been protected from the heat that the spear generated so it didn't disintegrate. But the force Gonad would feel in full force, it passed through the rubber as if it wasn't there since it and the attack itself had been generated from his own usage of spiritual power. It wasn't dulled in anyway. Sky hoped that getting rail gunned would put the Barbarian down. It wasn't that Sky didn't fight with his weapon from the beginning. He had just been looking for an opportune time to use it. Considering Gonad's mindset, the fact he couldn't sense energy or see it coming, it was almost a sure fire way to close out the fight. Whether Gonad died or not was to be determined, his will would dictated that, Sky just wanted to end this.

[Doc Doctor]

@Everett

The problem was, Gonad's berserk strength was a +1 over his adaptation to match power. As such, there was no possibility of the wrap stopping him. Furthermore the barbarian's grip was his greatest strength, and as such the wrap wouldn't even be able to slip from his grasp to snap back as he quickly peeled himself out. It wasn't a matter of whether or not Gonad could overpower the trap. He'd be out in a jiffy. It was a clever ruse all right, and could have worked on anybody. Anybody but Gonad. Overpowering things that weren't meant to be overpowered was his specialty. The proportions had never been on par to begin with. This wasn't an indeterminable contest where the result swayed endlessly with whomever was imposing their will at the time.

In trying to keep up a steady offence and defense at the same time, Sky was spreading his strengths out as he had when fisticuffing Gonad. Blocking and striking simultaniously, distributing himself. Gonad took on one task at a time, and with all of his might. Sky's butter was spread thin on toast, but Gonad's was a single chunk still in the fridge. He had simplicity on his side, in all of its unmediated glory. Not to say Sky had no chance of beating Gonad in a straight fight, but he was just working the wrong angles. A man has the power to kill a lion with a gun, but not beat it at arm wrestling. Not unless he has many men with him to help restrain said tiger, carry it into a lab, and then hook it up to an arm wrestling machine, but that was getting too technical. Sky had the advantages of reach and durability (his kinetic absorption) over Gonad, and without a doubt if he could pierce the barbarian's vitals with his spear, it could certainly bring the brute down. If he slashed at Gonad's naked arm with his weapon, it would cut tendon and muscle and render the limb useless, just as a blade would to a common creature of flesh and blood. He had the capacity to kill Gonad, but killing and overpowering were two vastly different beasts. He was trying to arm wrestle the metaphysical tiger, all by himself, whilst using his free hand to try stabbing at it. It wouldn't work well to expect both endeavors to succeed.

Sky's spear was fast all right, but when compared with the power scaling ability of Gonad, it might as well have been a normal throw launched against a mortal warrior. A skilled combatant could see it coming. As for Gonad perceiving it, he had an answer to that. He had complete control over the functions of his body. Blindsight, the ability to transmit senses other than sight through modules in his visual cortex. Many know the legends of old masters, who can fight with blindfolds on. Gonad could run rings around those chumps. The air pressure gradient of the oncoming spear was the biggest tell. At the last millisecond Gonad would do a peppermint twist to the right, and unless the spear could whirl on a dime it'd miss completely. Before Sky's next attack, Gonad would have probably pulled free from his restraints. He'd have unbound it from the inside, his great hands wadding up and disengaging the cocoon in short order, as one unfurls a hot tamale.

The air pressure from the spear was dangerous, yes, but one had to understand that at such speeds these combatants constantly submitted their bodies to such velocities. If a man got hurt just by waving his hand and having the air resistance and minute heat from said resistance around his hand damage him, what sort of fighter would be make? Gonad could throw punches at the near the speed of that spear, and it didn't hurt his fists none. Common sense dictated then that the rest of his body was suitably durable, in that the only effect that the conal shockwaves and heat would have is sending him flying, for as great as his strength was, he didn't have the physical weight to stay in place. At least, this was how Gonad's power was interpreted.

Were Gonad to finally get free, he'd take a big breath in through his nostrils, like a proud father standing outside in the morning wearing his bathrobe, inhaling the sweet scent of the world waking up. Gonad didn't fight for want of an ending, not since the days of his ambitious youth. He sought only more experience. In the eyes of a child, the world is new and brilliantly lit, and he gazes upon it with wonder. Every fresh battle for Gonad was one such experience, a bracing new adventure to enjoy. Opponents with powers that he had never before conceived or suspected. Such was his desire.

And were Gonad to free himself, he would gaze upon Sky as a child would. This one could block the mighty punches of Gonad with his bare hands, and turn his surroundings into lethal traps. He had MYSTERY powers! The barbarian's bottom jaw would tremble in awe.

[Everett]

It seemed that standing within the vacuum that had been created inside of the rubber wrap wasn't enough to put the big man down, which was the point of the trap itself. The wrap never did damage, it wasn't suppose too, it was only meant to hold him in place long enough for the Barbarian to fall unconscious so that Sky could go back to the Shin-Ra headquarters and find out what else he needed to do. It came after the spear was thrown, after he had already been blown back by the shock wave its break into Hyper-Sonic speed had made, that his metaphysical grip upon the rubber cocoon would release. Gonad would find that he'd have no resistant, what so even, at this point to get free. But, looking at the time table, Sky had thrown the spear as Gonad started to pry the thing open and get out. Meaning that his Spear would be meeting Gonad head on as soon as it would open, if not moments before. Gonad could clear keep up with the speed, but could be keep up with the unexpected?

In the world they both lived in it was hard to tell when something was homing and non-homing. The spear though, as previously mentioned, was attracted to the spot on Gonad that Sky had previously landed a blow. Meaning that even as Gonad instinctively peppermint turned away from the spear it would turn on that dime and continue it's course. The tip was brimming with spiritual energy, focusing its blade so that it'd nearly deconstruct matter as it touched it just as much it would usually cut it. Considering his strength Sky thought that Gonad had physical defense to match it, he didn't know the barbarian was susceptible to his spears normal head. As Sky watched everything unfold he thought, in the thousandth of a second this all played out, of whether Gonad would have the faculties to avoid the spear further. If he didn't it'd bore that hole straight through him, six inches wide, and disappear as it fully passed through his body.