The 1st Night

[Donovan Siroaki]

Zeke's head on attack was a bit of a surprise, but it aided Donovan's strategy more than it hindered. At this point the spear was little more than a distraction and served it's purpose as Zeke brush easily disarmed him, but Zeke jumping at him made Donovan's surprise all that much better.

Turning his shield around so that the concave side was now facing Zeke, Donovan grinned as the stockpile of cards he had stored in it came to life and formed a colossal fist that was now directed at the airborne painter.

[Zeke Omoihake]

His eyes widened in shock as the fist of clubs and diamonds and other shapes barreled towards Zeke. While he was able to soften some of the impact as the fist landed right where his feet were aiming the sheer force was more than his light frame could handle, sending Zeke careening off in the air.

Yet his plan was not totally ruined. He had expected Don to have an ace or two up his sleeve, and keeping his wits about him he brought the distant image behind him to life. Donovan had no more than a moment's chance to enjoy his clever strike before a cannon burst from Zeke's simple drawing with only a spark heading into the chamber. Zeke couldn't help but grin at his own setup as a large rubber ball fired towards Don as his only solid defense was in the worst place.

[Donovan Siroaki]

An apt warrior could have dodged the rubber projectile with a quick step to either side, but sadly, Donovan was not said warrior. As the ball careened towards him, he could do nothing but look on and a mutter a quick expletive as Zeke attack was but a second or so from meeting it's mark. Thankfully though, Donovan's cards were connected to his imagination, allowing for a kind of mentally reflexive use of his ability. His body stood stunned by the sudden turn of events, but his mind raced with ideas. "If only I had enough time to deflect it," he thought, and with that notion, the cards that made up the fist retracted and formed a almost elastic covering over the concave opening of his shield.

The ball collided with amazing force, but the trampoline-like cover was able to deflect a decent amount of the trauma away from Don's body, but of course, for every action comes an equal or opposite reaction. As the force was absorbed by his defense, it also sent him flying back when it bounced off, causing him to drop his shield and do several tumbling rolls, ending with him rear-end first on the hard soil.

"*cough* *cough* Damn you, Newton..."

Donovan needed time to get himself ready and couldn't let Zeke get another strike off immediately. Directing his intent on his shield once again, he turned the cards into several grouping of clumped balls and spread them out hazardously on the straightaway from Don to Zeke. As he did this he pulled another deck from his belt and hoped hoped that Zeke didn't have anything big ready, a his defense at the moment would only provide a slight delay.

[Zeke Omoihake]

Zeke pouted a bit seeing his attack only land with half power against Don. He got up quickly in an effort to get the advantage but came to a standstill upon seeing the many spheres laid out before him. Feeling gun shy from the last time one of Donovan's objects shapeshifted on him he took no chances on trying to merely run through or around them.

His brush flew quickly around behind Zeke, creating a flat panel that Zeke jumped directly over. The object materialized as he landed on it, making a spring board that propelled Zeke up and over the balls, his brush travelling only slightly behind him as he flew towards Donovan. Zeke spun around in a smooth motion to bring his legs outward in another drop kick, showing the thick inky energy that seemed to be hanging onto his shoes soles.

[Donovan Siroaki]

Crap! I keep forgetting that he can make anything with his brush. Trying to pin him down is pointless from a far, I gotta get in close, and his aerial assault should place him just in arms reach if i can dodge this just right.

Executing a moderately sloppy dodge roll, Donovan manages to nearly dodge Zeke bombarding kick and ends up but a few feet away from him. Recovering fairly well from his dodge and landing up right, Donovan quickly charges back at Zeke. As he charged, one could notice that the ball bearing mines he had created earlier fell apart into their separate cards, as Donovan was now concentrating on the cards in his belt, causing them to spring to life and cover his forearms like gauntlets. With this, Donovan began swinging at Zeke with hooks, straights and uppercuts, all while causing the cards on his arm to trail the blows with whipping strikes.

[Zeke Omoihake]

While Zeke missed with his strike he never the less brought the material on his soles to existance. There was a theory he had developed and wanted to try it out. After all, wasn't that the whole point of sparring if not to try completely stupid ideas that would get you killed anywhere else?

As Donovan charged forward with the menacing gauntlets, Zeke did his best to dodge and parry with his legs. The metal plating he'd afixed to the bottoms of his shoes offered a good deal of protection against the lashing extensions Donovan created, though more than a few managed to sneak past and snap at his chest and thighs. The sting made Zeke cring and he had to concentrate intensly to keep the metal active while his brush and body stayed on the defensive. Almost... Almost.

At last one of Donovan's straights left his body overextended just enough for Zeke to roll behind to his exposed flank. NOW! Zeke clutched his leg close to his chest to perform a back kick. In the same instant he tried to release the steel plates on his foot, but only enough to revert the material to the black energy he'd brought out from the brush. But a combination of fatique, injuries and the sheer mental strain of the new process proved too much for Zeke.

Instead the energy broke in an erratic spray, travelling only a couple feet before vanishing as Zeke's eyes rolled up into his head and he collapsed to the ground in a complete daze.

[Kouji - Hikari no Shiro Okami]

Kouji watched the battle with interest, but when Zeke fainted, his over-responsible side kicked into gear. He rushed to the injured man's side, doing a complete check of his vitals to make sure that it was just exhaustion tht had caused him to collapse.

[Donovan Siroaki]

Zeke's collapse took a second to process in Don's adrenaline charged mind. Upon his realization, he rushed forward to Zeke's side, shoving Kouji away in the process.

Zeke's complexion was pale, his eyes moderately blood shot, but his pulse, thought beating fast, was stable. Putting his hand under Zeke's head, he raised it slightly off the ground and tapped Zeke lightly on the face with his other hand.

"Come on, buddy, shake it off," Don said softly, hoping Zeke would come to.

[Zeke Omoihake]

It was a couple minutes before Zeke regained consciousness. Blinking a few times, he stared bleary-eyed towards Don, not sure for a moment what exactly had happened. Yet the pulsing headache that surged through his head was enough for him to recall what had sent him down and out.

"Ugh, man. Note to self, next time I'm going to do that under less hectic circumstances. Ah well, can't blame a guy for trying?" He managed a goofy grin at his two worried companions and started thinking more about what had gone wrong in his experiment, neverminding the fact that neither of them knew what in the world he was talking about.