Nightshift 31: Main Hallway, 1-Center

[wishescankill]

[from here]Anya finally arrived at her destination - front of the Sun Room, where Kimbley had said he'd meet her. She hadn't planned on being here first, but she couldn't help it if she was motivated and liked to take initiative, could she

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[crimson_handed]

((Coming from here.))

Kimbley appeared in the hallway outside the Sun Room, unarmed and expression blank. He didn't know what this woman looked like, but from the various expressions and postures of the quickly-passing-by people around here, he made a quick guess as to which one it might be. Maybe the woman with the irritated and bored expression, leaning against the wall with a sword next to her?

He kept his distance, stopping a few feet away from her, and appraised her silently for a moment before speaking.

"I'm here. What's so urgent?"

[wishescankill]

Anya rolled her eyes at the man. "If I had a watch, I would look at it irritably to convey my displeasure at having to wait so long," she snapped.

She picked up her sword, holding it casually by her side. She kept the beam of her flashlight pointed at his chest instead of his face, because people around here didn't seem to like having light in their eyes and she didn't want to annoy him unduly before she could kill him.

"Mr. Kimbley, I have a message from a woman calling herself Lust. Which is a silly name, really. I mean, she seems to think she actually is one of the seven deadly sins!" While keeping up this prattle, Anya took a few innocent steps towards Kimbley, until he was in sword-swinging distance. "But that's pretty insane, right? Demons, sure, they exist. I should know, right? And gods and devils and those weird little mushrooms that look like a penis. But anthropomorphic personifications? Those are a bit iffy."

[crimson_handed]

He could have given her the reason why he was late, but why should he have to validate himself? He was late, nobody was dead, nothing had altered forever just because of it. Probably. She didn't seem to upset, just annoyed.

But when she mentioned that there was a message from Lust, Kimbley's muscles tightened just a bit. None of the homunculi had any love for humans, and while he hadn't run into this one alone and personally, she clearly knew about him. And the way this girl was holding her sword, moving closer to him almost too innocently as she rambled on about demons and what just couldn't possibly be true, there was a sudden doubt that this message was anything remotely peaceful.

The other freaks should have been thanking him. He got rid of Greed for them, for fuck's sake.

"Maybe where you come from. Do you have a point?" he asked, matching her step for step (only backwards).

[wishescankill]

Anya laughed. "Oh boy, you just stumbled into a really terrible pun, mister," she warned him.

She could make a terrible pun about points and swords and how he was about to end up skewered, but she decided not to, opting to take a swing at him instead.

Though he had backed up, she could cross the distance between them easily. A lot of her power seemed to have been taken away, but she was still significantly faster than the average human, and stronger too. As she moved, she allowed herself to slip into demon form, before bringing her sword down as hard and fast as she could - aiming diagonally for the place where his neck met his shoulder.

[crimson_handed]

Hysterical.

Kimbley shot back as soon as she moved toward him, her sword coming up and then back down. She was going to try and bisect him diagonally - oh, come on, couldn't she do better than that? He bent backwards to avoid the initial strike and shoved himself away, feet scrambling back to make sure he didn't pitch onto his ass like an idiot. He landed slightly tilted, one hand holding him up off the floor, and smirked at her.

She was as hideous as the rest of them.

"They can't even do their own work any more," he muttered to himself as he prepared to spring away from the next attack.

[wishescankill]

Anya wasn't really in the mood for quips and funny banter-while-we-fight antics. She was having a... what was it? Deja vu. "Guess they're just not as good as me," she snapped anyway. She didn't know who 'they' were, but whatever.

Her reflexes were good enough that she could almost move with him when he went backwards - but she wasn't that quick. Not anymore. Apparently. Thank you, hell dimension.

As the sword finished its arc towards the ground, she swung it again, upwards this time, towards Kimbley's back. She twirled with it as it swung, trying to keep herself moving so it would be harder for Kimbley to attack her.

[crimson_handed]

At least she knew better than to stand back and taunt, or try to be honorable, or whatever bullshit most people pulled in a fight. In a way, it reminded him of his last battle. All dodging and trying to keep out of harm's way until he could find an opening.

Damn this place's refusal to let him rearrange bodies at will.

Instead of dodging backwards, Kimbley hit the ground, effectively avoiding her blade's upward arc. Then he shot forward in an attempt to smash into her and either knock her down or off-balance. Of course, her sword was still an extremely viable threat; if he missed, she could bring it back and sever his arm from his shoulder. She might do that accidentally, anyway.

Still, if he could get even one brief instant, he could land a punch against that deformed face of hers.

[wishescankill]

Anya stopped the sword's motion as soon as she realized it wasn't going to hit Kimbley. But she wasn't ready for him to lunge at her like that.

The force of his impact sent the sword flying - it hit the wall several feet away and clattered to the ground. Luckily for her, she managed to not fall down, partially thanks to grabbing on to the front of Kimbley's shirt. While she was still reeling, she tried to push him away from her, hoping to get a little distance so she could find her footing and maybe get her sword back.

[crimson_handed]

Perfect. She may not have hit the ground, but she was unarmed. Even as she shoved him, Kimbley knew he'd gained a powerful advantage - and he had never been adverse to hitting girls.

He leaned away with her shove, keeping it on his terms, and immediately grabbed the front of her own shirt. His free hand went back before flying forward, fisted and aimed for her jaw. A hard blow could set her off-balance even more than before, and if it stunned her, he could deliver several more hits. If not, then they'd just wind up fistfighting. Not his preferred manner of battle, but so long as she didn't get that sword back, he didn't really give a flying fuck.

[wishescankill]

Anya was still a little off balance. She tried to block his fist, but it soon became apparent that it would be easier to just take the hit. She moved her head with the blow, rather than trying to avoid it, lessening the impact as much as she could.

Yeah, she'd taken worse. Well, she'd taken worse from rocks. This guy had a hard hand!

The vengeance demon's head whipped back as soon as his fist had landed, and she let go of his shirt, swinging one fist around in a wide roundhouse towards his face while simultaneously aiming the other fist at his gut.

[crimson_handed]

Even when she let go, he didn't. Kimbley refused to relinquish his grip on her shirt and saw her hands come flying at him, one at the head and one at the stomach. In the few split seconds before she struck, he considered whether he should let go or take one of the hits; if he shoved her, she would almost certainly fall, but then she might get her weapon back. But if she struck him harder than he was anticipating ...

Oh, for fuck's sake, he'd taken a hit from Greed here and survived. Some bitch wasn't going to bother him.

Kimbley ducked his head down and took the blow to the stomach with a grunt of pain, but still didn't release her. Once the woman's fist had passed over his head, he returned the favor with his own punch to her stomach, fast and hard. She could beat on him all she liked - he wasn't letting her get back to that sword.

[wishescankill]

Anya felt a small surge of triumph as her fist connected with Kimbley's gut, but it was gone as soon as he hit her again.

She winced as his fist connected, and doubled over it as if in pain, even whimpering slightly to sell the notion that he had hurt her badly. As soon as she was bent over, she summoned every ounce of demonic strength she had and plowed her shoulder into his chest, hoping to knock him down or at least make him let go of her shirt.

[crimson_handed]

Her shoulder struck, and Kimbley wasn't quite expecting that much strength. His fingers still clenched tightly in her shirt, he staggered back, dragging her with him. For a few seconds he was winded, his chest throbbing with pain. He nearly fell, given the force of her shove and the fact that he was dragging her with him, but his free hand lashed out and caught the wall, fingers dragging along it as he struggled to regain balance.

Somehow, he didn't fall. But he was unsteady after that, one of his ankles struck with a sharp pain because of how fast he'd forced his feet back in order to stay upright. He tried not to pause or give her even the slightest opportunity, but even as his hand curled back into a fist and went for her face, he knew he'd waited just a little too long.

[wishescankill]

She'd been prepared for the possibility that he could drag her with him, so her balance wasn't as compromised as it might have been.

Though he was still holding on to her shirt, she pulled back as far as she could, avoiding his punch while simultaneously hooking one of her legs around the back of his. She yanked that leg back, hoping to pull his feet out from under him.

[crimson_handed]

Yes, his leg came out from under him, and Kimbley plunged to the floor on his back, teeth grinding together in irritation. Still, he wasn't letting go (he never would, not until she broke his goddamn fingers), and as he pitched back, he dragged her with him. And even though his first punch may have missed, this one wouldn't.

Using both of their momentums, Kimbley yanked her forward - straight onto his fist again.

[wishescankill]

Anya almost cried out as she felt his fist slam into her nose; but she managed to turn it into a snarl. She was damned if she'd let this guy get any sounds of pain from her.

Damn it! Now she was bleeding. Only a little nosebleed, but still. She'd wanted to draw first blood!

With one hand, she reached towards Kimbley's face, aiming her thumb at his eyes. With the other, she grabbed his wrist, the one attached to the hand still holding her shirt, and tried to snap it backwards as hard as she could. If she could just get away for a second...