[IC] The Hot Headed, Heavy Hitters, Have it Out (Fury vs Kanitah, Round 2)

[MelonHead]

Fury couldn’t help but cheat a little.

Kanitah finally committed to the roll he probably should have enacted before he lost a large chunk of his energy, and the moment he tried it Fury was ready. He momentarily released his hold around Kanitah’s neck, allowing his right arm to drag rather than grip, which when coupled with a move no ordinary human could pull off, using energy to suspend his upper body a short distance up into the air, gave Kanitah the freedom he wished to roll over. Fury also hoped to entangle his legs from Kanitah’s as he did this, though Kanitah may react quickly enough to try and clamp him down, he was at the disadvantage as Fury legs were on the inside of his own.

When Kanitah rolled he would find Fury’s arm was still loosely around his neck, and by tracking which direction he was rolling in Fury could easily adjust his flight to match his roll, waiting for that crucial moment when Kanitah inevitably turned his back on Fury. When he did that, the arm would suddenly grip with all Fury’s might as he released his low flight, falling down on the back of Kanitah with his arm hopefully conveniently already around his neck, in what should be an all too familiar situation to Kanitah, Fury’s left arm would position itself behind Kanitah’s head and the right hand would grip the bicep.

The rear blood choke was a favourite of Fury’s.

[LeeRoy]

It was perfect, Kanitah was about to roll over. Both of his legs had come free and Fury's weight was off of him.

Wait.

Fury's weight should be pulling towards the ground, but it's gone.

With a sudden and horrifying realization, Kanitah halted his roll like an early Warner Brothers cartoon character running towards a cliff, staring over his right shoulder at Fury. It was piteously evident what he was trying to do, and he wasn't going to have any part in it. Without Fury's weight on top of him there wasn't anything stopping him from doing this. Kanitah's legs kicked at an awkward angle towards the ground. Sending his weighty little body skidding across the ground away from the Fireen, escaping the attempt at Fury's grapple.

If Fury attempted to interrupt the slide, Kanitah was ready. As he shoved off, he raised both of his arms in front of him and bent them towards his face. In a boxer's guard, but parallel to the ground. If Fury tried to reinstate his choke hold, he would find an even more difficult to close gap between them.

Lastly, by shoving himself across the ground horizontally, it put both of his legs together and straight. Which would prevent Fury from catching them with his legs, disallowing him from spreading them out like a starfish across the ground.

[MelonHead]

Fury’s feet touched down as he righted himself, watching Kanitah launch himself across the ground and land about ten feet away. His eyes narrowed in minor annoyance at his foe’s speedy escape from an incredibly perilous situation; however Fury felt revitalised even in the brief contact they had shared. With stolen energy pulsing through his veins he felt comfortable that he could continue the fight with even greater pressure, and to that end he began to clench and unclench his right hand, causing a brief glowing blue light to emanate with each motion. Kanitah had to spend some time sorting himself out, which gave Fury the perfect opportunity to give him a taste of the Fireen’s real power.

Fury settled into something like a boxing stance with his left shoulder closer to Kanitah, his right hand continuing to flex as he built up energy in the palm of his hand and then condensed it, packing a huge volume of explosive potential into a small space. His teeth gritted at the effort, but it was a good pain.

[LeeRoy]

Skidding to a halt on the ground, the Hero of Pundambaya panted softly. A few beads of sweat staining his brow and running down past his eyes as he sat up. The hand of his foe was sparking with a murderous energy and Kanitah knew that all he could do was move away and keep running.

This was his fiercest foe, the strongest person he had ever fought.

The only foe he had faced that compared was the general of the invasion fleet, way back when he gained his fame. But he was a coward, and once the fight had begun, he showed no honor. No bravery in the face of possible defeat. The battle ensued and he lost because he was too afraid to begin.

Fury was something else.

Dead set on accomplishing whatever insane goal he set his mind on, Fury didn't let up. No matter what was thrown at him, no matter how much force Kanitah put into his foe, Fury didn't yield.

It was the most fear that Kanitah had ever felt, the first time he stood against Fury. On that wretched planet, where so much adversity emerged. Where Kanitah had to stop some random peons from sabotaging another man, saving the life of some weirdo whose name he never learned.

Now there was nobody.

It was just Fury and Kanitah.

The Hero and the Monster.

And Kanitah didn't know what to do.

The slide had torn his shirt up the back, exposing more of his scars and the metallic shine of the word engine, so he grabbed his shirt with one hand and tore it off. With only one eye open, Kanitah looked towards Fury. Putting his right hand back on the ground and raising his right leg so his foot was touching the ground. Shoving upwards and leaning his weight forward, standing back upright. Lazily lifting his hands back upwards into a similar stance to Fury's own. Knowing that whatever Fury was about to do with the energy in his right hand, it wasn't going to be good.

With a few deep breaths he spoke. "Why? Why do you do this?" The words would fall on deaf ears, of course, Fury's a madman. "Of all the things you could do with your power, why this mindless violence?" As the words left his mouth they raised in volume until he was shouting. "You're a psychopath, I get that, but what drives this senseless violence!?"

[MelonHead]

Fury’s hand clenched one final time and he kept his gauntleted hand balled into a fist, the energy causing the fingers to pulse as if something was trying to escape the knuckled prison. He looked dead at Kanitah as they faced each other again in one of those many natural pauses that tended to occur, when two opponent’s couldn’t kill each other quickly enough.

“Not mindless, little man.” Fury muttered, staring him down. “You don’t understand, you know nothing of me.” He told Kanitah, his eyes narrowing as he considered his possible replies. Fury wasn’t a stupid man, nor was he particularly brilliant, but the effect of the Void on his emotions drove him to a near constant rage which made clear thought difficult. Trying to formulate some sort of justification for his actions was both difficult and in Fury’s mind pointless, there was some truth to the assumption that he was a psychopath.

He looked at his left palm in front of his face for a moment, ever concentrating on the energy build up in his right so as to not release it by accident. He thought about his actions, what was he doing exactly?

“All my power? It’s not enough.”

“I need your power Kanitah, when I take it I’ll be strong enough.” He stopped talking abruptly, surprised that he had even addressed his foe by name, forgetting exactly when he had learned it, possibly when the smaller man announced himself or some-such in the past. Fury reached out his right hand and pointed at Kanitah, the energy still bubbling in his condensed fist.

“Get ready.” He muttered, walking forward.

[LeeRoy]

Brushing his beard with his thumb, Kanitah shuffled slowly to the right. "My power? Why do you need my power?" Nothing that Fury had said was right, he had even said Kanitah's name instead of an insult geared towards his age.

As he shuffled he began planning out his next move. That vicious glow in his hand was sure to be fatal, and Kanitah couldn't block it. Dodging it would be the only answer. But what was Fury going to do with it? He can project blasts of energy, or amplify the force of his punches with it. Like a swiss army knife of energy manipulation, instead of Kanitah's specific capabilities.

As he tried to plan out his next move, confusion still burned in his ears. Nothing made sense about what Fury had said. "And strong enough for what? What would my power give you that you don't already have?" With every step he took to the right, he made sure his guard was shifted to better protect his chest and head. Putting his arms between them just in case worse comes to worst.

The answer in his head burned hotter than the confusion.

His word of power draws from all sources of energy at a constant rate, what if Fury knows that? The panic of this realization sent scalding hot blood coursing through his veins.

If that was the case, there's only one solution.

[MelonHead]

Fury’s careful walk forward with the bubbling energy was almost comical, as if he were carrying something very fragile and had to pay incredibly close attention to avoid dropping it. Then again, this wasn’t too far from the truth.

Kanitah had shuffled to his right, but he hadn’t moved much further back, so ultimately the distance Fury had to walk across was negligible at best, at a slight angle to compensate for Kanitah’s movements. Kanitah still had questions, questions which tugged at Fury’s mind and tried to divert him from his concentration on the condensed energy. Maybe one or two seconds after beginning to move forward, he was only five feet away from Kanitah, almost within punching range, surely the smaller warrior had to do something or he was going to let Fury literally punch the condensed energy straight into him. Fury wasn’t sure anyone could survive that.

Why do you need my power?

Why do you need my power Fury?

Why do I need his power?

Remember why you need his power my Fury.

To kill… him. The skeletal face of Fury’s greatest foe flashed before his eyes, the energy burned hot and caused his gauntleted hand to glow blue with its intensity.

[LeeRoy]

With incredibly negligable distance between them, there wouldn't be any way that Kanitah would be able to outrun him if he backpedaled. Nor could he check that punch with an equal blow, he's had no time to reposition his rings. The one thing that he did have on his side is that Fury had adjusted himself to match his shuffle to the side. This put Fury slightly to Kanitah's left, and vice versa. Now, Kanitah didn't know if Fury was left handed or right handed. But Kanitah is left handed. It can be assumed, however, from Kanitah's perspective. That Fury is right handed, as he is charging that energy in his right hand.

With such short distance, and with no real way to escape. Kanitah readied himself. For when the blow came he was going to have to evade. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. The only way to really avoid it, however, was to get closer to it. In the mean time, however, stalling was about all he could do.

"You still haven't answered me. Why?"

[MelonHead]

“I have someone to kill.”

Fury darted forward, left arm raised and hand outstretched, aiming to grab Kanitah’s right shoulder to steady him. Regardless of the success of this move however Fury would have no choice but to release the pent up energy he had stored, following up with an underarm palm strike that would precede the sudden explosive force of his condensed energy blast escaping his control. The blast would arc out from his right palm, engulfing whatever lay in front of him, which if he had obtained his grab would almost certainly be Kanitah’s upper-torso. The grab was an important step in the attack though, should it succeed Fury could hold Kanitah still, ensuring he was not simply blasted back by the attack and that he could not dodge effectively, but would instead feel the full brunt of Fury’s devastating power.

[LeeRoy]

As honor made way to fear, Kanitah's face was rife with the shame of how he was thinking. Fury claimed that he had someone to kill. Before the battle resumed, Kanitah muttered these shameful words. "So do I."

As Fury darted forward, leaving almost zero room between the two, Kanitah too leaped into his foe. Turning his body towards Fury and evading his left hand grab by bending at the hip and leaning forwards. With his right foot leading inwards, he bent at the knee and shoved off the ground with his left leg. Putting every single pound of his weight and leaping ability into this move.

Kanitah plowed into Fury's body, between both of his arms and away from Fury's unleashed blast. Kanitah would slam shoulder first into Fury's body, using his powerful leg muscles to throw himself into Fury and put him to the ground. While grappling would put them back into the same situation as before, but with Kanitah on top this time around.

[MelonHead]

The sudden shock of his opponent blasting into him interrupted Fury’s movement, stopping him from releasing the energy as intended. He could hardly launch the beam as he was bowled over by an attack that was far more powerful than it should have been. Vaguely his energy senses picked up that the disproportionate momentum of Kanitah’s counter had come from the strange rings adorning his body, but the Fireen had little time to consider this as he flew off his feet and slammed onto his back, skidding across the earth. Energy was seeping from his hand in nauseating waves as his concentration dimmed, his body screaming out its discomfort as he considered the injury he had likely suffered. How was it possible that a shoulder barge had dented his armour and broke his ribs?

Fury’s eyes narrowed, the wounds feeding his power, the energy increasing tenfold as pain was ruthlessly squashed and packaged, sent directly to the front lines.

Kanitah was on top of him, he could tell that vaguely, but his right arm was still free and he had plenty of opportunity to defend himself. He threw a right handed hook and opened his fist, finally releasing the pent up energy blast at an up and left angle to obliterate anything on top of him. If anything stopped his hand he would release the blast in a circular ball instead and damn the consequences, likely injuring himself but still clearing a wide area around him.

[LeeRoy]

It had become a scramble for survival, a desperate battle to see who could kill the other faster. Although Fury was more powerful Kanitah had caught him off guard with the shoulder charge, and he would do it again! Using Fury's own body as a springboard, Kanitah pulled his elbow inwards and slammed it downwards. Sharply striking the ring enveloped flesh of his elbow into Fury's gut and lower ribcage, but not as an attack. Though that was an added bonus. No, this was to push Kanitah's upper body into a seated position on top of Fury's legs.

Yes, very awkward positioning of his own legs, he knows. It actually hurts like hell to have his right leg tucked underneath his left and then force his body to twist, but comfort isn't his goal. His goal is to survive, and survival is all Kanitah's good at.

As Fury brought that devastating punch up and around, Kanitah brought his own left arm around on a collision course. This was happening midway through his vertical shove, and in hardly a split second. The panic in Kanitah's eyes, the fear of what's the come, it made this entire situation seem like a terrifying dream state.

Screaming like some wounded beast, cornered and forced to fight for survival against a much larger best, Kanitah unleashed his last and best move to save his own life. Opening his hand and aiming to shove Fury's right hand into his own face or chest, depending on the resistance put up by the Fireen. The Pundambayan was going to try and use Fury's own vicious power against him, maybe losing his left hand in the process, but a left hand is replaceable.

A life isn't.

[MelonHead]

“You lose.”

Fury twisted his hand mid-movement, predicting that Kanitah would try a last ditch effort. What would have been a side on and definitely less lethal energy blast became something much more as he twisted his wrist so his palm was face up. With his palm now facing centre on towards his opponent, who was desperately grappling with him, the energy blast was going to hit his target from incredibly close range with the force he had originally wished.

Fury liked making the best out of a bad situation.

[LeeRoy]

Well. he was ready to lose a hand, and since his arm was already near Fury's. Kanitah forced his hand against the open palm of Fury's right hand, in an attempt to absorb the majority of the blast with his hand instead of his body. By 'forced his hand' I mean, he was open palm slapping into Fury's hand with every pound of force that he can manage. Regardless of whether or not it actually landed, it served the purpose of sparing Kanitah a hole through his face. As his hand matched the blast, Kanitah was blown away from Fury.

A dozen or so feet to the left Kanitah landed on his side, still facing Fury through some strange chance of fate. Not wanting to look at what might have been a stump of an arm, Kanitah flexed his fingers. Intense pain rushed up his arm and caused him to writhe slightly, but there was a bit of happiness. He still had his hand, though he might lose a finger to infection. Three of his fingers are definitely broken, and at least two of the bones in his palm.

Kanitah lay there, letting the pain tell him where he was hurt. Turned out that he had second degree superficial burns running up the entire left hand side of his torso, which was nice. Those are the ones that hurt the most, but are technically the least harmful.

Alive? Check.

In one piece? Check.

In pain? Big check.

It was really starting to wear on him, how much stronger than him Fury was.

[MelonHead]

Fury let loose his energy blast and sent Kanitah flying, though the man had chosen to sustain greater damage on his hand in order to spare the rest of his body. The decision was his to make, Fury supposed, rolling to his feet with a grimace. His body hurt all the more when he stood, the injuries he sustained catching up to him in one wave of discomfort. He staggered rightward, coughed and turned to face Kanitah in his location on the ground.

His armour was badly dented, an unfortunate by-product of his repeated encounters with Kanitah’s force-enhancing abilities. It was pressing into his side uncomfortably where his ribs were probably broken, but there wasn’t much he could do about that now. However, despite his energy blast Fury still felt as if he was running now with more energy than he had in the beginning of the fight. This was good news for the Fireen, who had developed a healthy respect for his opponent if only for the wallop his tackle had given him.

“If I had my damn sword I’d fuck you up.” Fury spat, for the first time in recent memory wishing he hadn’t been so damned arrogant about his new power and had just taken a weapon with him. He had a moment until Kanitah got himself together to recover himself, preferring to do it on his own feet, so he stood there until he had normalized his breathing. There were perhaps ten feet separating the fighters.

[LeeRoy]

If he weren't distracted with the pain filling his entirety as a living being, Kanitah would have shuddered at what the word "Fuck" translates to in his language. Though he was not in so much pain as to not have a witty retort to Fury's coment. "Yeah, well, if we were both armed this would have been much easier. Pundambayan side arms are hefty little tools with more than one purpose, aside from just killing. Unlike your swords." The word sword translated to something along the lines of; Archaic tool of bloodshed.

With his uninjured hand and a bit of shoving, Kanitah forced himself up into a seated position. Nothing more to do but wait and talk, if Fury decided to end him right now, there wouldn't be much he could do. Not yet at least. "If we were both armed, it wouldn't be a contest. I'm just an old guy with a backpack that gives me a boost of power. If I had all of the equipment that my daughter lugs around, well. It's kind of silly looking, but she's dangerous. Y'know?"

"Inheritor of one of the most powerful words, holder of an ancient Pundambayan artifact. Has her own customized word engine, it's much better than mine. A full suit of Extra-Vehicular Power Armor that enhances everything about her." Kanitah didn't really care about Fury right now, he was thinking about his daughter. Dying while thinking about your daughter is a good way to go, I'd say.

As the words left his mouth, tears began to flow down his face. "She grew up to be so different from me, y'know? Because I wasn't there for her. Because I was out here, dealing with freaks like you. Because it's a fun hobby." An old man cried that day, clenching his right knee tightly in his hand.

"Because I like being The Hero, because it's all I'm good at."

"I came out here to find her, and act like a good father for once. Instead of just The Hero."

"Instead, I found a Freak of Nature with a grudge against some Cocky Old Bastard." The more he spoke, the more it hurt. With a passive wave of his finger in Fury's general direction when the 'Freak of Nature' comment was spoken. "So now what? Where do we go from here?"

Trying with a bit of effort to stand up, it wasn't going to happen easily. "We can keep going, I'm ready to die here."

[MelonHead]

“Daughter, huh?” Fury didn’t say much while Kanitah poured his heart out over the situation, giving the man some space with what little honour remained behind the shell of Fury. If an outsider was somehow aware of the amount of willpower required to resist the Void’s hunger day in and day out they might see another side to Fury. It was truly a wonder he was not wholly consumed by violence.

“Freaks like me?” Fury stood there dumbstruck, though he’d always known deep down that the moment the Void had taken over his body and nestled itself within his ‘soul’ he wasn’t the same, he was only looking for justice, justice for a planet torn down and destroyed when it might have otherwise survived. Was he the bad guy then? He clenched his fists with a grimace.

You don’t have to explain yourself to this pathetic creature, end its life, tear its machine from its body and consume it all, you need it to destroy… him.

The Void egged him on with all its power, his muscles tensing as he fought to maintain control over his own body. The voice which emanated from Fury was not that multi-layered crescendo one usually expected from him… it was the man’s voice without the Void.

“You failed your daughter, Kanitah, and you know nothing of me as I know nothing of you.” Fury gritted his teeth. “You don’t know why I’m here, what I must do, you don’t even know my real name.” He almost looked down in disgrace. “You don’t understand that I’m doing the best I can with what I’ve been given, you just see the mask, what you call Fury.” He looked crestfallen. “My name is Manadar Rane, I am the last of the Fireen, and my planet Antire was destroyed. The creature known as Skallagrim took everyone I ever knew and loved and killed them all.

Fury’s eyes lit up with blue fire, raising his head as an overwhelming burst of energy emanated from him in one huge wave.

“I never got to meet my child Kanitah, at least you had the chance.” He clenched his right fist and stared at Kanitah, and if the man was ever going to fear Fury then truly that was the moment he would feel it.

“So, where do we go from here…” His voice had taken on that multi-layered ethereal quality it had usually as the Void reasserted itself after a ruthless internal battle. “There’s something inside of me that wants you dead Kanitah, nothing personal but I don’t think half measures are going to cut it this time.”

[LeeRoy]

There was a lot more to Fury than Kanitah had previously believed, maybe there was a bit of man behind the monster. There was more than a few kinds of pain running through him as he stood himself back up. Sliding his hands behind his back and cracking a few of his joints slowly. It was almost impossible to move his left arm the right way, and his right arm wasn't in pristine condition either. Looking like a bent old man with both hands behind his back, pressed up against his spine as though he were trying to hold himself up by counterbalancing himself with his hands. "Part of me wants you dead too, I'll admit. And for a moment, I almost let that side of me take hold."

With an audible crack, Kanitah's back popped as he straightened himself. Screaming belted from his mouth, Kanitah's left shoulder began to visibly bleed, presumably from the shattered collarbone on that side cutting through his skin. Both of his eyes tried to shut themselves, and his left eye yielded to the pain, his teeth ground against eachother and his words came through his teeth like venom from a cobra. "That side of me is weak, and we both know that I'm strong. I've stood against you twice."

Standing there, with both hands behind his back. Kanitah tried his best to force a grin. Letting his hands drop from behind his back. The metallic gauntlets of the word engine Mk.2 adorning his hands glinted in the sunlight. "But you know I can't let you win, I've got a daughter to find. Trust me, she's already out there looking for you. It's better for the both of us if I get off this planet alive."

Kanitah knew Fury would begin sensing it now.

When Kanitah slipped his hands behind his back, he put his hands into the metal gauntlet portions of the new Word Engine. The loud crack that came when his back popped was timed to cover the flipping of the switch at the base of the machine. The screaming was from the pain of the word engine beginning its violent process of rooting through his body and reinforcing what remained of his skeletal structure.

The Word Engine Mark 2 is online.

[MelonHead]

Fury’s keen energy senses were aware of what was going on in Kanitah’s body and he smiled at the thought. This was what he had come for, a real fight, no more half measures. The Fireen’s own energy was pulsating rapidly and fluxuating to an almost painful degree as he used the pain of his past to fuel the battle of his future. It was not an easy process, to ignite his Unbridled Fury, usually it happened as a result of catastrophic damage or inherent catastrophe. It had to be that way, if he tried to use it every time he fought eventually someone would get wise and outrun him, burning him out and leaving him vulnerable.

They hadn’t yet though, everyone wanted to fight him blow for blow, Fury had that effect on people.

“Come on then Kantitah, fight for your worthless life, who the hell cares anymore.” Fury yelled, though there was hardly any distance between them anyway. Fury was still cold, but that didn’t matter just then, there was a fight to be had. He charged, hoping that Kanitah was busy engaging his power, cringing as each step brought waves of pain from his broken ribs. As he reached him he leapt, forcing himself off the ground with his left foot, bending his right leg and launching himself straight at Kanitah with a vicious flying knee to the head or chest, depending on how he stood or reacted.

[LeeRoy]

It's always a terrible choice, deciding whether or not to move or just take the blow when activating the word engine. Because you can move, it just really hurts. Opting on what would be the less painful option, Kanitah stood stock still as Fury rushed him. Leaping towards him and slamming his knee directly into his face. What had previously been a cracked bone in his nose was now a fully broken and bloodied nose, Kanitah was sent sliding backwards, his feet remaining firmly planted on the ground as he slid. It was about three feet of distance, not too much, and well within Fury's reach.

Wires and iron infested his body from head to toe, a massive surge of light erupted from the machine and washed over him. Bathing him in a bright auburn light, adding another ring around every strike zone of his body. Machines caused his skin to ripple as they filled him, pushing his bones back into place and piercing through them with their cold mechanical insensitivity. Muscles were coated in sheets of metal that strengthened their resolve, bones were shoved aside or encased in metal. Some shards of bone that were too far pushed were simply crushed by the machine's tendrils.

It became impossible for him to scream as they made their way into his jawline and held it there for a moment. The one little cable that worms its way into his nose only made a bigger mess of his broken nose, knocking the bone out of place entirely. All of this was happening faster than Kanitah can throw a punch, the Word Engine Mark 2 is so much more aggressive than the previous.

The rings were in place, the machines were rooted through his body, and he was standing there. Just a few feet from Fury with his eyes closed and his breathing erratic. Sweat and blood dripped off of him in various places, tears streamed because of the pain. Even a little spittle flowed into his beard.

Man, the Engine makes me ugly. He thought as he stood there, composing himself.