people doin' thing y'know
Alice pulled at her collar, looked down, and shuffled her feet, although, she couldn’t hide the fact that she was grinning at Davis.
”You’re making it really tough for me, Davis, especially in front of all these people. Don’t you have any decency?” Davis did not smile back.
Perhaps you should have thought about that before bringing my reputation into this. I cannot refute such a challenge. He looked back at Lilly.
Rosetta, I can get it back. But you need to help me with this first. Davis was half whispering his words. When he was done, he started to walk towards Alice.
But are there any other conditions? Special rules? Or am I merely tasked with tying you up however I see fit? Davis sneered.
If you’re still serious about it, maybe we should go near the cabins. If I don't have to drag you so far, you won't have to wash too many grass stains out of your clothes. Alice sighed, and stood straight. When she wasn’t leaning on one leg or another, she was still shorter than Davis — but only by a little bit.
”Am I allowed to make rules? Okay! Here’s my rules. I’ll make it really easy for you guys too! On the count of three, we’re all going to play a game of tag. Or, you know what! I’ll count to three, and you and the dummy over there can just go ahead. Your objective will be to tag me only once, and I’ll go with you willingly.” Alice looked at Davis thoughtfully.
”I’ll give you guys one hour. If you can’t do it in that time, then I’ll tie you up and bring you back to my cabin. Sounds like a fair deal, right?” Alice grinned at Davis again, and placed both of her hands on her hips.
Davis looked over his shoulder at Lilly.
Doesn't sound like I can lose. His grin continued to widen.
So you'll take Lilly too then?. He slid one of his feet behind himself.
”We could start whenever you’re ready, but we could also start right now~.” Alice raised her open hand up and began a countdown, lowering a finger to match the next number she would say.
”Three…” Lilly wasn’t quite sure what was going on. For a little bit she simply stood, watched, and listened. She didn’t even know how to join in properly. She had been invited, yes, but still, she found herself a little confused. Two against one in a one hour game of Tag? It sounded unfair. As the countdown began, she tilted her head slightly, before looking towards Davis. Could he really help get Rosetta back? She would be fine playing unfairly in that case. Alice deserved it, too, for rejecting her proposition.
”We just have to get you once?” the translator spoke as her finger fell onto the play button,
”Okay.” As soon as Alice said three, Davis shot into action. The point of sliding his foot back was to make his sprint faster. When you start to run from a normal standing position, it takes more time for you to come up to full speed. This is why sprinters position themselves the way they do. It offers the fastest start. Davis wasn't quite in the perfect sprinting position, but it should have given him an advantage against his standing opponent. Not that Davis should need an advantage. One only needs to glance at the fastest times in any athletic sport to see that men are stronger runners than the fairer sex. However, that only pertained to peak athletes. Davis attempted to pass himself off as the ultimate runner earlier, and his sprint would have certainly convinced many of his claim. He grinned as he flung open his arms.Davis was going to attempt to bum rush Alice.
Alice frowned and looked at Davis. There wasn’t much distance between them, and he would easily cover that in the time she had allotted them. It was a little unfortunate, as she wouldn’t be able to make the example she had wanted to make, that she would now have to cheat if she didn’t want to immediately get tagged by Davis.
”...Two…” Alice quickly took a step to her right and pivoted the face what was previously her left. She leaned back, in such a way that should Davis continue his charge he would on barely encompass Alice in his grasp. Quickly, in less than half a second, she dropped to her back in a modified supine position, so that her hands were propping her back off the ground and her legs were directly in front of Davis. Her plan was to have Davis trip over her. She didn’t believe that it would constitute a tag if she was touched in such an indirect way, so she didn’t worry about immediately losing her game should she herself be the one touching the individual.
It was clear from the first moment the quote unquote skirmish began that Lilly didn’t exactly “belong” within it. From the word go both Davis and Alice had displayed that their skill levels far outweighed anything she could hope to achieve; not that that would stop her from trying. They had to win, because then she would get her bunny back! To that end, she simply walked. As Davis sprinted off and Alice attempted to trip him, she followed on behind Davis’s tracks, hoping to catch Alice on the ground before she could get back up.
You cu- As davis brought his leg forward, he caught his foot on Alice's leg. Due to his momentum, he was unable to stop, and without his leg, he would surely tumble forward. But of course, there were stories of Davis beating black belt champions. Surely it would be expected that he could tumble like a jujitsu master. Rather than trying to catch himself on his hands, possibly shattering his wrists, he put a his arm in front of himself and crooked his elbow. Like this, Davis could use his arm as a spring to absorb some of the shock from the fall, and spring into a harmless roll. At least that's what
should have happened. But it seemed that Davis was either out of practice, or did not expect the soft earth to “grab” his arm so suddenly.
Alice grimaced as she watched the scene unfurl from her position on the ground. Although everything appeared to be going as planned, she still appeared as if something went wrong. Resigning herself to her position on the ground until something new developed, she dejectedly murmured the last number.
“...One…” Davis’s head painfully collided with his arm, and instead of rolling, he collapsed onto his belly.
”Well then.” Davis pushed himself off the ground and pulled his knees under himself.
”Your reflexes are deserving of your title at least.” Davis turned around to face Alice. Everyone could see dirt was still stuck to his arm and knees. Despite her counting, he continued to speak.
” Lilly and I need to tag you, per your rules, but the others aren't necessarily excluded from the game.” Davis spread his arms and legs to act as a wall.
“Alright everyone! Hold down Alice parker so that one of us can tag her!” Davis let out a maniacal laugh as Alice finished her countdown. She was now between Davis and Lilly, with a whole group of potential ringers standing behind the hacker.
Alice pouted, and hoisted herself back to her feet with her arms as if she were some sort of human sized lever. She took a moment to appraise the situation, during which she took a headcount of the ultimates present. It was a little more than ten against one. She’d need create some distance between her and the rest of the ultimates. By the looks of it, she could either try to circle right again, around Davis, and make her way out of the Amphitheatre area. That would put her at risk of a diagonal interception from one of the ultimates and Davis, but it would require quick action from one of the individuals Davis just enlisted.
Alternatively, she could create a more direct route through some clever footwork and trickery. If she was able to distract Davis, and act quick enough, she could get behind him at no risk to herself and be well on her way out of the Amphitheatre by the time Davis regained his composure. After weighing the two options, it was no surprise that Alice decided that this would be the best course of action.
”I’m not the Ultimate Biomechanic, but I’m no foreigner to body language either, Davey.” Alice placed on hand on her hip and used the other to point at Davis.
”You’re totally only standing up to me to impress the other girls here! Your eyes tell the whole story, so don’t even try to deny it.”. Alice lowered her hand and took a step towards Davis. She glanced over her shoulder, to denote that she was aware of Lilly’s advance and also to draw attention to the Ultimate Hacker.
”Now that I think about it, that’s definitely why you asked Lilly to help you too. Frankly, I’m surprised. I didn’t think she was your type at all.” ”Did you figure it out, was it that obvious?” Davis avoided looking at anyone but Alice.
” I guess no one can accuse me of being the Ultimate Mastermind with a plot like that. What woman could respect a man who can't choose? Davis was was walking with his legs spread apart so that he could easily lunge in any direction. But for the moment he wasn't making any sudden movements.
”Or is it you who put on a show to draw me out? You're working pretty hard to keep my attention.” He grinned.
”You even want to keep me in your cabin. Hardly a good choice if you plan on killing me in three days. Everyone would know it was you.” Davis continued to talk and keep eye contact with Alice. He could have just been gloating, but there was the possibility that he was talking to distract Alice until Lilly was close enough to intercept her.
Davis’s slow approach was enough of a signal for Lilly to begin her own approach. She’d been taught to read subtle signs like this, and her nature as a Hacker first and foremost gave her the eagle-eyed perception necessary to act upon them. Before even halfway through huis rebuttal to the Assassin, she gave him a brief and curt nod, before taking off in a sprint towards her quarry. It was far from the speed her ally had displayed, nor was it anywhere near as dextrose as her foe, but it was enough. If Davis understood her correctly in turn, he would begin his own charge along with her, and together they would double team her, leaving no room for escape.
”Have… I’m… What?” Alice nonchalantly circled to her right again, in nearly the exact same motion as she did when Davis first charged at her. Instead of dropping to her back, Alice just leaped back this time. Honestly, she was a little upset by the strategy they were using yet again. She didn’t challenge him to a game of tag so she could just waltz around while Lilly and Davis threw themselves at her, she wanted to cross swords with the
Ultimate Conquest.
”I’m super appalled right now.” Alice kept an eye on Davis. She had one more maneuver until both of them were behind her, and then she would be gone.
”Aren’t you the Ultimate Conquest? You’re strategy should be infinite. Be a Trickster, do something clever. You’re boring the shit out of me right now.” But Davis hadn't really planned on just throwing himself at Alice again. In fact, he had planned on Alice dodging Lilly entirely. Or at least that's what his insufferable smirk must have been hinting at. Once Alice had committed to stepping away from Lilly, Davis attempted to intercept her movement with a hop. When he did so though, he had his arms raised over his head, and an end of his tie in each hand. The fifty-eight inch long tie made a sizable loop, and extended Davis's reach by about two feet. The look in his wild eyes told everyone that he was sure of his move.
”Conquest is mine!” Alice looked around, and settled her gaze on the sky. She frowned for a moment, and turned back to Davis. Although his efforts were valiant and he was adamant in his efforts, it seemed that he would not have his chance to tie up Alice today.
”Oh man. Playtime’s over. Listen, you can forget about that whole tie thing. I’ve got to go.” In a flash, she darted past him and out of the Amphitheatre, exemplifying a far greater speed than she had used before. She prided herself on being fast as a vital skill to being the Ultimate Assassin. Even if someone tried to follow suit, it would take someone with an
agility based talent to have any chance of catching up to her; and even then, the chances were growing slimmer and slimmer.
Banned
