reallyaduck | (no subject)

"I know you, Trowa. I know what you're thinking half the time, and it's a good thing I do, 'cause it's not like you ever god damn say anything!"

It's amazing how Trowa can, impassively, convey if you say so without ever shifting a facial muscle.

What he actually says, however, is: "You're welcome to draw conclusions."

Duo proceeds to draw his own conclusions, and punctuates them by trying to punch Trowa in the face.

- OKAY THINGS ARE GETTING OUT OF HAND.

Duck flinches away and then dives for Duo's arms, trying to pull him back from Trowa. "Duo, you don't really mean - I know you don't feel that way really - Trowa didn't mean what you said, I know it!"

Duck's ability to pull Duo away does not remotely rival Duo's ability to throw a good punch.

For an instant--

No.

Trowa's eyes widen slightly -- lashing out at a friend, Duo? really? -- and if he could dodge, he doesn't try; the strike connects.

"Duck, leggo!" He tries to pull away from the flailing girl without just giving her a shove.

Trowa's head snapped to the side -- he knows how to roll with a blow -- and he's turned a little away, and

(time to alter tactics)

Oh hey there's the sucker punch.

(If it hit hard enough, Duo might be jolted free of Duck! You're welcome, Duo.)

Duo staggers back a step, which does yank him away from Duck. For now, anyway. He doesn't bother with any more posturing, and immediately lets loose with a kick at Trowa's knee.

Duck's a civilian: an encumbrance, and a complicating factor. Staying clear of her is the sensible tactic. (For now, anyway.)

Trowa twists and moves in, to catch the kick on his thigh -- it'll bruise that way, but no worse -- and to grab at Duo's arm while he's on one foot.

Ideally, he'll manage a throw; if not, elbow strikes are always nice in close.

And Duo's face is at a nice convenient elbow height!

Duck's gaze jerks back and forth from one to the other, growing more distraught and frightened every second.

"Stop it, qw-stop it, stop it!"

Holding onto Duo didn't seem to work; she can't think of anything else to do besides fling herself bodily between the two combatants, heedless of the risk of catching a stray punch.

"I know you don't want to hurt each other, I know it!"

Two hands reach out simultaneously to push Duck to the side. They aren't gentle, but they obviously aren't trying to hurt her.

Duo takes Trowa's elbow high on the cheek, but he doesn't back off. Trowa's longer reach is no advantage when Duo is in this close.

It's true.

On the other hand, most of Trowa's fighting skills were learned when he was a kid, without the advantage of longer reach on anybody.

What this means: dirty tactics all around!

Trowa's not trying to hurt Duck, but Duo is a different matter.

Duck stumbles backwards, her heart beating fast.

She's never seen people fight like this. They're moving so fast, and hitting so hard, and someone is totally really gonna get hurt if she doesn't do something - but what can she do?

Trowa's latest hit drives Duo back far enough for him to circle warily around, looking for an opening.

There's a bloody cut above his eyebrow, and he spares a second to wipe at it with one hand.

It's...red. He blinks.

Something's wrong. This is wrong. Duo's fighting stance falters a little, his fists unclench.

Somewhere someone is watching. Somewhere a voice rambles to its owner in amusement. That no one else is there to hear it is not something to be worried about, or even something to be taken as a sign of insanity. Everyone talks to themselves from time to time, after all!

"Two fast friends fighting one another? The tragedy. The horror." Oddly, despite the words, the voice sounds nothing less than delighted. "But the poor little duck, what can she do? She isn't a hero. The fighting friends barely notice even her most fervent efforts to intervene."

"If only someone else were there to help. If only... it were Princess Tutu!"

Duck has just enough time to dive behind a tree before she's engulfed in shining yellow light.

(Fortunately, Trowa and Duo are both too busy fighting to pay any attention! Right? Right?)

CUE MAGICAL GIRL ANIMATION TRANSFORMATION SEQUENCE.

Fakir has dragged Mytho to a private lesson with Mr. Cat. Even Mytho couldn't get in trouble there, Fakir thinks. Fakir might as well go to the woods and brood.

Unfortunately (due to the demands of narrative convenience) the particular stand of trees Fakir chooses is already occupied. There are those boys, moving in a blur of elbows and knuckles and knees. One of them might be bleeding. It's hard to tell in the shadows.

Fakir informs himself firmly that he does not feel sick. They're just fighting, that's all. Warriors fight.

Warriors in stories don't fight like that.

I don't know how to fight like that.

Fortunately, at this juncture, Princess Tutu starts glimmering like a medium-sized and extremely irritating lantern. Fakir can be annoyed at her instead of ... whatever he was feeling before.

Duo's distracted.

Good.

If there's any other reaction, any inner faltering, it doesn't show. Duo's left an opening, carelessly, and Trowa takes it.

Duo's attention snaps back to Trowa, but not in time. Trowa's kick takes him right in the chest and drives him back. All his breath leaves in a whoosh.

So much for his impassioned speech about friendship, anyway.

Duck?

Sorry, Duo - Duck is temporarily out of commission.

Which doesn't mean that there is no help to be had.

"Please," says a voice that doesn't really sound much like Duck's at all - "Stop!"

When Duck flings herself between the combatants, she gets battered away.

When Princess Tutu leaps between the combatants, on the other hand, she has magical ballet powers to back her up - not to mention some nifty hard-core battle fans.

"You must stop this fighting!" says Princess Tutu, her voice ringing sorrowful and musical in the air. "Do you really wish to harm a friend who cares for you?"

(No)

Yes.

The ballerina is between them; Trowa springs back enough to circle, watching for an opening.

WTF, says Duo's face.

The rest of him doesn't say anything but wheezing, sadly. He should have known. That's Duck, all right. And likely, her magic that she was so worried about giving up.

What is she doing?

Tutu lifts her arms and pirouettes, and vines spring out under her feet, spreading until a thicket of green separates Trowa from Duo. Tutu keeps turning, en pointe, lifted atop the vines as they grow, until she stands about a head above Duo and Trowa.

"You don't need to express your feelings in violence and pain!"

She snaps the fans up in a graceful movement, and they vanish. Her arms rise further; her left hand and right twirl around each other over her head, before she extends them down in an imploring motion, one to Duo and one to Trowa.

"Instead - please, dance with me!"

Duo continues to stare.

She is a magical girl.

He is trapped in a shōjo anime.

What the hell kind of fight strategy is that.