4 ★ [video] [fight club 2: electric boogaloo]

[darkinferno]

[Hey, Retrospec. Have you gotten tired of seeing this face yet? Dante doesn't look too excited to be on camera, but once he's sure it's recording and isn't going to fall over, he'll take a step back and begin.]

Hey, guys. I'm pretty sure most of you probably know who I am, but for anybody that doesn't yet, the name's Dante.

By this point everyone's probably got the gist of what happened last month: monsters throughout the entire city. They showed up at the end of the convention in July and didn't disappear until we managed to fix all this unreality stuff near the end of August. It didn't matter whether you were part of the network or not, if you were young or old, if you knew how to defend yourself or not--all those monsters went after whoever looked like a good target.

This isn't the first time we've had to fight like that. Anyone who was here in May can tell you; we were all shrunk down to six inches tall and a lot of us had to defend ourselves from rats or spiders or other bugs that decided to investigate us. It's probably not the last time we'll have to fight like that.

Back in June we started weekly training sessions, practices where anybody can try out different weapons and learn how to fight. After this past month, I'd say we need it now more than ever.

If you just got access to Retrospec this month, come and check it out. You're going to get these flashes of memory whether or not you're trying to trigger them, and if you knew how to fight, it can be dangerous to remember in the wrong moment. Even if you didn't know how to fight before, we can teach you how to defend yourself so that if something like this happens again...

[He trails off before shaking his head.]

Anyways, practices are Sundays from 6pm to midnight at Utsuki Dojo in Tisse. If you've got any questions, let me know.

[Dante reaches forward to turn off the camera, but pauses before looking back.]

I mean it. The stuff that happened last month... if there's anything we can do to keep something like that from happening in the future, I want to do it. Even if that's just making sure that more people know how to protect themselves.

That's it.


[[ooc: with an accompanying log for fight practices here! As always feel free to use both this and the log as an all-purpose mingle; threadjack as desired, it's all good.]]

Comments

[voice because he can't aim a video very well]

[blessmefather]

This sounds like an excellent idea.

I just experienced my first... memory. [ Ugh. He hates to call it that still. ] And it seems the man on the other end was a capable fighter. I'd like to take your advice and attempt to trigger related memories in a safe environment.

Thing is, I'm blind. The only reason I know anything about fighting is because of the classes I took before I lost my sight and a trusted friend who was willing to teach me techniques in private in case I was ever attacked.

[matchbreaker]

I take it that friend isn't on Retrospec? Or can you call them for it?

[ Surprise, it's a different voice. Still, a blind man getting in on this? Maybe she finally should, even if she didn't get much last month. Something was up with that woman in her memories, maybe she just needs to find the right way to fight. ]

[blessmefather]

He does have Retrospec and I can continue practice with him of course. I was thinking it would be good to at least speak with others familiar with different styles of fighting. If the man in the memories practiced something other than karate like my friend does or if he fought someone with a similar technique to someone involved in this practice it might help jog memories more effectively.

That and maybe someone involved simply has some clever ideas for a person who can't see.

[matchbreaker]

[ . . . Huh. That's a fair point, honestly. Elda hums a little and nods to herself. ]

I'm not involved in organizing, but I'll be a first time attender too. Can't say I have any brilliant ideas, but I don't know what memories I need to jog for my woman either.

[voice for obvious reasons]

[darkinferno]

[Dante frowns. On the one hand, this doesn't sound like a great idea, but on the other...]

That's not a problem. We can set up an area to work in that'll be separate from everything else.

[He'll have to think about it, but that shouldn't be an issue. Maybe some sort of alarm that would go off if they got too close to the edge of the field...? He's got time to figure it out.]

The other me... I've got a memory of jumping off a skyscraper somewhere and catching a weapon being thrown at me. Blindfolded.

If he can do that, we can figure out how to do this.

[blessmefather]

[ Matt expects hesitation. That was why it was his best friend who taught him. Nobody wanted to be the one to hit the blind guy. On one hand, completely understandable and all out of caring and concern. On the other hand? Well, Matt's same friend was one of the only people to ever hear just how frustrating it was to be treated too gently. ]

Impressive memory. Maybe you can teach me how to do that. [ He's joking. He's not getting his hopes up very high let alone skyscraper high. ]

I'll go to the dojo to observe the others participating and see what their thoughts are. And I guess I'll meet you and we can try... something small to start with.

[darkinferno]

[There's a slight rush of air as Dante gives a voiceless chuckle, a hint of his usual smugness coloring his voice as he responds.] I'm pretty sure that wouldn't go very well, considering I don't know how I'm doing it in the first place.

We'll start small and go from there.

video;

[keystaff]

[She's definitely new. And young. Which is probably part of the reason why....]

Um. Dante-san, I'd be...completely new to this. But if that's okay. And if I can figure my brother letting me come. I'd like to. I heard about the shrinking thing. But this seems like a good idea. So, if it's alright, I want to check with you. And my brother. Though I'm not sure he would let me stay out that late with school the next day.

voice

[darkinferno]

[She also sounds super young? Dante frowns at this--on the one hand, he's not so sure about outfitting little kids with weapons. That's a line and Dante's not entirely sure he's ready to cross that. But at the same time, he thinks back to Ritsu and how he'd had to fight too...]

All right, first things first: who's your brother? Is he on the network?

If he isn't, it probably isn't a very good idea, even though it'd still be a good idea to learn how to protect yourself. Brothers ask questions when their sisters are going to secret club meetings with people they don't know. If he starts poking around asking questions, we're at risk of getting shut down.

[keystaff]

Ah, no....he isn't. At least not that I've seen. Or heard.

But I guess you're right. I wouldn't want to get the rest of you in trouble or anything if he did come asking around about it or something.

[She wasn't sure, which is why she had asked in the first place yet. Before just immediately assuming it would work out, if she talked to her brother about the idea. And well. Given how he all but immediately steps in whenever she might get hurt or something, it's. Probably not the sort of thing he'd agree to, that would go down well.]

[vitis]

Is there an entry fee, or?

[ look apparently he doesn't think it's a stupid question. ]

[darkinferno]

[Dante's not judging! How's he supposed to know if he doesn't ask?]

No entry fee. Just show up and don't steal the practice equipment.

[vitis]

Oh.

[ that's pretty nice? really nice. unexpectedly so. ]

Haha, I'll do my best not to try not to... Thanks!

video

[godshand]

How regulated are these training sessions? Any tutors?

video

[darkinferno]

Depends on what you mean by "regulated." Tatsuo teaches lessons at the dojo, but it's kind of hard to find actual teachers for something like this.

[He lifts his hand, summoning the familiar wing-shaped sword to it in a swirl of shadows.]

Most of the people offering to help teach have been training for a while though. I've been training with this for about six months now, and those memories... it's like muscle-memory. You remember how to fight and your body remembers the movements that went along with it.

video

[godshand]

Questionably legal, but I'll take it.

[Her eyes widen a fraction at the summoning of the sword, and pointing, she adds:] And I'm hoping there's someone on hand to help if someone triggers some sort of...

[Handwave.] Magical fireball, or something. I'll stop by. Only to watch, for now. I want to see how you operate.

[mercurio]

am i allowed to bring the (g*n)
or should i straight up just go for the fighting...

[darkinferno]

no, no guns, there's no shooting range

we're working on that

[mercurio]

i'll bring my sunniest disposition then

video

[imaginex]

You... really think it's going to happen no matter what?

[Sakura appears apprehensive, and for good reason. Moving halfway across the world only to get stuck in a city that was two shakes away from Armageddon is concerning.]

I mean, I'm not-- I never really tried much of anything in high school.

voice

[darkinferno]

Maybe not this month. Maybe not next month, either. But I'm willing to bet it'll happen sooner or later.

Things keep happening here, whether we want them to or not. The only thing we can really do is try and stay ahead of the game so they can't take us by surprise.

It's okay if you don't know how to do anything. We'll start small. If you don't want to learn anything beyond basic self-defense, that's fine too.

[imaginex]

Yes... of course you're right. It makes sense preparing for the worst. It's just... It's my first time on my own and I didn't think I'd--

[Mm, but she's rambling, and quickly changes gears with a small nod]

I'll give it some thought, though -- about anything besides self-defense, I mean. But the basics are a good place to start! So long as no one minds teaching me.

[negativism]

Considering both memories I've triggered so far have happened during sparring, probably wouldn't be a bad idea to at least check this out. Depending on what kind of fighting we're talking about, I can help with it as well, I'm already trained.

[darkinferno]

that'd be great, we can always use more people teaching

what type of fighting are you trained in?

[negativism]

Did taekwondo for a few years growing up. Outside that, day job is a bodyguard among other things, so self-defense maneuvers and takedowns are there too.