Ryouta walked into the 2nd Squad Training Dummy Room. It was empty, but he had a feeling that parts of the “wall” were actually closets. He approached the only person in the room, a fit athletic woman that bore a distinct resemblance to Lara Croft. “Can I use one of the dummies to practice Koshijutsu?”

She turned to face him. “Sure.” She walked up to one of the walls, and sure enough, it was a closet. She reached inside and pulled out a wooden dummy. It had joints everywhere a human would, and its vulnerable points were marked clearly for Koshijutsu practice. She hung it from the ceiling, then secured the bottom of it to the floor, so it hung fairly stationary, but still had some wiggle room. “Knock yourself out.” She left.

Weird lady, thought Ryouta. Then he faced the dummy. “Okey-doke, then, here goes.” He ran forward and gave it a healthy whack with his knuckles where the clavicle was marked. “Umm…surely this can’t be what the author was suggesting.”

“No, it’s not.” Ryouta turned to see the same woman from before. “Glad to see you noticed. It needs this.” She crossed the room and placed something in the dummy’s mouth, then undid the fastenings that secured it to the floor. “Now it’s ready. As I said before, knock yourself out.” She left.

Ryouta looked at the dummy with a bemused expression on his face. It was just lying there. Then, the dummy sat up, and stood. “A mod soul? Huh.” The dummy nodded. “All right, let’s get to it!” Ryouta threw himself at the dummy, and aimed a kick at its ribs. The dummy moved with surprising speed, and knocked him aside with one of its arms. Ryouta righted himself in midair, and slid across the ground until he came to a halt. “Huh. So I bet you’re a mod soul that increases leg and arm strength.” The dummy nodded again, and then launched itself at him leading with a spinning kick of its own.

Ryouta responded by rotating his body, reaching out, and grabbing the leg and throwing it into the wall. As it turned to face him, he flash stepped and drove his elbow into where its ribs would be. The dummy shrugged him off and held up a finger. Huh? Then it launched itself at him again, this time throwing punches left and right. Ryouta blocked them all with a proficiency that surprised him- then he realized it was easier to block the dummy’s attacks because its joints and “muscles” were easier to read than those of an actual soul.

As the dummy threw a punch at his throat, Ryouta sidestepped and punched it in the septum space. The dummy fell back, and then held up two fingers. “Oh, I get it. Two hits.” The dummy nodded a third time. It attacked with greater complexity and skill now, throwing punches and interspersing its attacks with several roundhouse kicks. Ryouta flash stepped to dodge the first barrage, and then used his fists to deflect the blows of the next rain of attacks.

Ryouta grabbed one of the arms of the dummy and lifted up hard. As the dummy went up, it kicked Ryouta in the chest. He fell back, but changed it into a flip; at the end of the flip, he pushed off the ground and drove a fist into where the dummy’s solar plexus would be. It hit the wall hard and stood back up. It held up three fingers.

Ryouta panted. This was fun.

ooc: fighting skill for this thread plz thanks

Approved +1 for fighting skill

Ryouta threw himself at the dummy as he aimed a couple of kicks at it. The dummy dodged each kick and came back with a powerful punch that caught Ryouta in the stomach, sending him crashing into the wall behind him. It seemed every time he landed a hit on the dummy, it got stronger. That’s a good training dummy…he thought. All right, let’s see how well it can keep up with Shunpo.

Ryouta flash stepped behind it and aimed a kick at the back of its skull. The kick landed and the dummy flew forward several feet, bounced a couple of times, and then got back to its feet. It held up four fingers. Then it seemed to chuckle. It bent its elbows so its hands were on its hips, and then seemed to grasp something and lift up. It was opening up a compartment. An extra set of arms came out from its torso. “That’s not fair- nobody has four arms!” The dummy shrugged as if to say, ‘oh well.’

Whatever. Ryouta launched himself at the dummy and aimed a powerful kick at its side. It raised two arms and blocked the attack easily, and then responded with an equally powerful punch to the stomach. Oomph! Ryouta was thrown backward into a wall, which shook under the impact. As he got up, he saw the dummy coming at him again, this time with the other pair of fists. Ryouta flash stepped to avoid the attack; the dummy’s fists penetrated the wall. He flash stepped again, this time right behind the dummy and brought his leg down in attempt to hit its shoulder. The dummy reached up and grabbed his leg. Ryouta twisted and tried to kick with his other leg, but the dummy caught that leg as well. Ryouta was now hanging upside down held by his legs. He smiled- it had gone just as planned. He punched out as hard as he could, right where the dummy’s solar plexus was. It fell back, dropping his legs as it did so.

Ryouta flash stepped behind it and kicked it, sending it end over end into the opposite wall. It got up and seemed to laugh. It held up five fingers. Then, it turned and opened up a section of wall, another hidden closet. It went inside, and then came out bearing four mahogany katanas. Ryouta groaned, but drew his own two ninjato. “Bring it!” He flash stepped toward it and stabbed out with his right ninjato. The dummy whirled with impossible speed and kicked him in the chest- Ryouta went flying backwards and crashed into the wall. He heard it splinter a little behind him. Damn, that hurt.

He blinked as he saw the dummy advancing toward him. It had all four katanas held out, but its wrists were rotating and spinning all four blades in a circle (think General Grievous). “That’s not fair either; no one can do that!” This time the dummy didn’t even acknowledge him; it just continued walking toward him. Ryouta watched the spinning blades- he willed his mind to slow them. They seemed to slow, little by little- there! There was an opening! Ryouta stabbed out with his ninjato and the four blades caught on that one point. He smirked, and then drove the point of his other ninjato into the dummy’s chest. “I win.”

It nodded. Then, it approached the hidden closet again and brought out a second dummy, which it presumably placed a mod soul into. As this second dummy stood and obtained four wooden katanas, Ryouta whistled under his breath. This next fight would be tough.

ooc: also for fighting skill

+2 fighting skill

“A flash of lightning, the sound of drops, falling among the bamboos. Raikou Arashi.” Ryouta’s blades became hook swords. He smiled- Raikou Arashi was right. Fighting…could be an enjoyable activity…at least when the stakes were low, like now. He yearned to throw himself at the dummies and let the adrenaline flow, let his instincts take over, let Raikou Arashi take over, and to feel the full wild fury that a lion felt. But he knew doing that would mean quick defeat. So instead, he stood on his toes, ready to counter any attack either dummy made.

The first dummy looked at the second one (will hereby be referred to as Dummy#1 and Dummy#2) and nodded. Dummy#2 launched itself at Ryouta, two wooden katanas coming in at his right side and two coming in as an overhead strike. Ryouta brought both his blades to bear, one vertical to block the side cuts, and the other held horizontally to block the overhead strikes.

With him in this position, Dummy#1 attacked, stabbing all four blades at Ryouta. Ryouta was forced to flash step to his left to avoid the attack; he appeared to the left and behind of Dummy#1 where he swung his hook swords with expert precision and severed the elbow joints of its two left arms. Dummy#1 turned and stabbed at him with both of its blades, but Ryouta whirled and twisted his left blade, bringing the two katanas together with the hook and locking them together. He slashed with his right blade and severed the other two arms at the shoulder joints.

Since it was now armless, Ryouta dubbed Dummy#1 no longer a threat, and flash stepped to engage Dummy#2 in combat. Dummy#2 began a complex series of cuts and stabs with its four blades, driving Ryouta back as he desperately tried to see an opening in its onslaught. This one was a lot more brutal than the other dummy seemed to be, its chops were more ragged, but they were definitely stronger, strong enough to break a bone with a good hit.

“Mendokuse…” Ryouta complained as he parried each of the strong blows. He attempted to try the same twisting motion that had locked Dummy#1’s blades together, but apparently he would have to be more original- Dummy#2 twisted with him and countered with a couple of powerful but inaccurate slashes which Ryouta dodged with casual ease. Then he flash stepped behind it and snagged its top left and right wrists with a hook apiece, severing them at those points.

As Dummy#2 whirled, Ryouta uttered, “Hado no Ichi: Sho!” As his kido shoved the dummy back, he flash stepped directly at it. Dummy#2 stabbed at him with both swords. He brought the blades together by smacking them on their outside edges with his own blades, and then locked them with his hooks. Quick as a flash, he severed Dummy#2’s other two elbows. “I win.”

Dummy#2 nodded, then walked over to its lost parts and reattached them. Ryouta turned to see Dummy#1 had done the same. A third dummy had walked into the room- it was large, had a chest like a barrel, and instead of four katanas held two dirks in its two hands. It stood crouched, like an assassin. This next fight would be interesting…

+1 for Fighting skill

Ryouta prepared to take on the dummies once more. He examined each one closely through his half-lidded eyes. Dummy#1 was a pretty well-rounded fighter; it didn’t stand out in any way. Dummy#2 was pretty much a carbon copy of Dummy#1, except it was a lot stronger, and made more powerful, though more inaccurate cuts. Dummy#3 he had note yet fought, but he was sure it was more of a precision type dummy based on its weapons. Strangely enough, it had horizontal stripes painted down its arms. He was also sure that it would be fast.

Ryouta set his feet and raised his hook swords. A feral smile grew on his face, and he was sure that it was not just from him- Raikou Arashi had joined him in spirit for this fight. Dummy#2 came at him with all four blades in one powerful side cut. Ryouta flash stepped to avoid the strike, but then sensed Dummy#3 behind him. It *was* fast! Dummy#3 slashed at his Achilles with its wooden dirks. Ryouta jumped and whirled, kicking it in the face.

As he did this, Dummy#1 came at him with all four swords swinging in outward from a single point. Ryouta jumped backward and landed on Dummy#3’s head; he used Dummy#3’s head as a footstool, and then leaped at Dummy#1 before he could bring his four swords back to bear. “Shuurai.” Both his swords glowed electric yellow; he brought them down with devastating effect, slicing off all four of Dummy #1’s arms in one fluid movement. His initial jump was precise enough for him to land on Dummy#1’s head, and leap from there at Dummy#2, whom he discharged his electric blast at.

Dummy#2 jumped out of the way and whirled its entire body like a top, essentially becoming a maelstrom of twirling wooden blades. The blades it spun were always evenly spaced and placed at four different heights; however each blade went up and down with perfect synchronization, and so it was a considerably difficult technique to bypass.

Ryouta knew he had no time to consider at the moment, so instead, he flash stepped behind Dummy#3 and cut its head off with his Zanpakuto so he could focus on Dummy#2 to the exclusion of all else. For good measure, he also severed its two arms.

He finally turned to face the last dummy, which was still whirling around like a miniature tornado. Ryouta was fairly certain that he could probably just use Inadzuma or perhaps Shakkaho to obliterate it, but the point of the exercise was to improve fighting ability, so he decided that he would take it out the “normal way.” Ryouta let his reiatsu increase to the max.

“…Here I come!” He launched himself at the spinning blades, blocking two of them with one blade, and the other two with his other blade. Quickly, he twisted and wrapped his legs around its “neck” and began to squeeze. The dummy tried desperately to try to break Ryouta’s iron guard on its own two blades, but Ryouta’s strength held. He threw his weight back and fell to the floor with the dummy. Then, he cracked its neck with his legs with a sort of twisting and jerking motion. “All right…that was pretty awesome.” Ryouta said to himself.

+2 Fighting skill ^^

ooc: k, so I recently saw the new transformers movie so this is going to seem stupid- but bear with me please

The dummies that Ryouta had just disassembled reassembled themselves as they had done before. Then they re-entered the closet and brought out several more dummies. One of them gestured at him to take the fight outside. Ryouta shrugged and followed the dummies. Once they were all outside, Ryouta asked, “So, what now? I gotta fight all of ya?”

The dummies didn’t respond, rather, they ignored him and began piling on top of each other, unlatching joints and placing them elsewhere, opening up compartments and expanding until…a twenty foot tall behemoth with a sword to match. It brought it up high and then swung it down with unexpected speed.

Caught off guard, Ryouta was forced to block the massive (wooden) sword with both his Zanpakuto- he felt his entire body vibrate. Every bone in his body went numb, like they’d turned to mush. Looking down, he saw that the ground under him had cracked around him. Damn, this was going to be a tough fight.

Ryouta pointed his right sword at the giant dummy. “That’ll be the last time ya land a hit!” he vowed. Ryouta flash stepped behind the dummy’s head and slashed at it. His blades bounced off it and only left a couple of scratches. The giant dummy whirled around and swung its massive sword at Ryouta; Ryouta flash stepped to avoid the rapidly approaching sword and appeared on the dummy’s right shoulder.

“Shuurai!” Ryouta swung down at the shoulder with his left blade. It was charged with yellow reiatsu and cut a deep gash in the giant dummy’s shoulder. Ryouta saw the dummy’s free hand coming at him and jumped off the shoulder. As the dummy’s hand missed and crashed into its shoulder, Ryouta twisted in midair and shouted, “Todoroke!” He sent a blast of solidified air at its head in an attempt to get it to fall over onto its back.

The giant dummy tipped a little but otherwise didn’t exhibit any favorable motion; it sprung back and brought its blade down at him. Ryouta flash stepped high above to gain some time to think. Its size was its greatest defense- that and the fact that it didn’t seem to be able to feel pain. He would have to slice the thing up until it could no longer fight.

Now that he had a plan, Ryouta flash stepped back down to its right shoulder. Its massive left hand came up to smack at him; Ryouta was forced to flash step again, this time appearing right in front of its face. “Hado no Sanjusan: Sokatsui!” The blast of blue fire hit the dummy hard and it stumbled backward- that was all the time Ryouta needed. “Shuurai!” He charged both his blades and slashed at its right shoulder, completely shearing through and cutting off its right arm. The arm fell to the ground heavily, sword and all.

For good measure, Ryouta repeated the process on the now defenseless giant’s left arm and both legs. “Sometimes bigger isn’t better,” he told the defeated dummy.

lol new transformers movie it pretty good so +1.5 fighting skill