slayers_desire | Sparring with the Man of Steel

"Okay." It's hard, overcoming years of training to never ever hit anyone, but he's doing his best. Maybe if he psyches himself out?

Okay. She's a meteor mutant. Her powers are endangering others against her will and I need to stop her. It's the most appropriate scenario that comes to mind, and he repeats it to himself until he starts to slip into his Protector mindset.

He still has to think about what he's doing, but he's much more decisive this time when he comes in at her.

Definitely Clark accomplishes a better throw, and April is able to use her agility to land on her feet. Turning, she senses his Protector mindset.

And with a smile. Shifts into a more Vampiric form, with the red eyes and fangs. "Okay hero. This time, see how much strength and speed you can use, without appearing like you are using anything at all."

Clark was halfway expecting it, but it actually helps cement the Protector mentality in place when he sees the shift. He tends to associate not-quite-human appearances with potential threats, thanks to a few years of experience. It also helps him remember that he doesn't need to hold back as much as he would with a normal human.

"That's more like it." He doesn't like fighting - it's not fun for him or anything - but he's more confident in his movements and he doesn't hesitate for a moment.

"No holding back anymore. This time, concentrate on the Art of the Non-fulcrum Throw. This time, use little or no contact." She will actually counter him this time, and applies the slightest of touch on one of his pressure points on his back.

"Attack a weak spot. Withdraw."

He may not be used to the whole learning-martial-arts thing, but he's starting to see why so many people choose to take it up, even without powers. Already he can think of a dozen confrontations where knowing stuff like this could've saved him a lot of time and effort.

"No holding back," he agrees. He has no idea what his limits are, but he really wants to know. And he's good at following instructions when he wants to. And he does.

"I think that jitsu will be excellent for you. It is about yeilding to an opponent's force, instead of using force against force. It is immediate and effective action, without requiring much thought."

"This time when I rush you, find a way to unbalance me. And apply the slightest force to a pressure point here." She pointed to her neck.

Then gave a vampiric growl, before rushing him with the full force of the beast.

She didn't give him much warning, but then, he didn't really expect one. He wouldn't get one in real combat, after all.

His perceptions sharpen as she runs at him, giving him a clear bead on the spot she indicated a moment earlier. He already knows the amount of force needed to knock a human out from a tap to the forehead, and falls back on that same force directed a little lower. At the same time he jumps to the side just enough to (hopefully) be out of immediate reach, relying on her momentum to do some of the work for him.

And if she had been human, she would have been effectively down.

The force was enough to stagger her slightly, a good sign that he was learning. "Good maneuver, you protected your open area from attack."

"What other powers do you want to attempt to use?"

He's momentarily alarmed when he realizes just how hard he hit her, but she looks fine and even pleased, so he relaxes again. Still, this is one new skill he's not going to be telling his parents about until he's got it down pat.

He thinks, running through his mental list of powers. "Most of my other powers are more passive, like the hearing and x-ray vision. There's heat vision, but I don't use it on people directly. More like manipulating the environment - heating up guns so they get dropped, breaking overhead wires so things fall on people, that sort of thing."

"X-Ray vision could identify weak spots in a person body. And hearing definitely gives you an edge, to know when a battle is about to take place."

"I wonder if your heat vision would could be effective in a battle, by using to active a pressure point."

"Can you control the level of heat?" April stretches slightly, as preparing for another round with Clark.

Clark shrugs uneasily. "I'm not sure. I can control the form - either in bursts or in beams - but I've never had a way to measure the temperature. I can make toast without setting the bread on fire, and I can reheat coffee so a normal human can drink it without burning themselves. So maybe?" He's not entirely enthusiastic about trying it out just to see what happens.

"I do not burn." The one thing that differents her abilities from actual vampires. "There is a pressure point right on the spine that is quite effective."

"This time... dance the art with me. Find a moment to use your heat vision on that pressure point. See if you can do it."

"I think you can." Moving forward with a more controlled movement, April will use her jitsu combat this time. Hoping Clark will respond.

"Wh-whoa, wait. The spine's an awful big place and I'm not really up on my pressure points." Even though he's become more assured he isn't likely to accidentally hurt her, he doesn't know what he's looking for, and he doesn't even know how well this will work anyway. With his luck, he'll probably set her clothes on fire on the way.

April stops quickly. "Then I will show you where each pressure point is."

"It's not something my x-ray vision picks up," he agrees, a little relieved that she didn't decide to just let him wing it. "I can recognize bones and muscles and stuff, but I don't have the foggiest idea what pressure points look like." Though now he's wondering if maybe he should've paid more attention in Anatomy class.

"Nice to know that at least you just not catching a glipse of me without clothes." April teases. Then gets serious. "There are several types of pressure points - each is applied differently and each creates a different effect. We are going to concentrate on pain points to accomplish the goal to temporarily immobilize the target, or at the very least to distract them."

"Applying pressure to the collar bone from above will cause the subject to move downwards, whereas poking them upwards in the gap between the ear and neck will make their body want to move upwards." April places her fingers on the place on the collar bone she refers.

"Pressure to the shoulder causes that side of the body to move back. A jab to the abdomen in the middle of the stomach will cause some people to twist around." Her hands move down to his abdomen to the spot she is talking about. "There is also access to the solar plexus at the abdomen, which can easily knock all the air straight out of a victim, leaving them gasping for air and unable to move."

The only time Clark used his x-ray vision to check out girls, he was under the influence of red kryptonite, but he blushes a little anyway. He knows full well that his powers could be used for... purposes outside their intended function, but he's too honorable to do something like that when he's in his right mind.

He does pay attention to her lesson, but the fact that she's touching him so closely and so soon after making that joke, he's fairly certain he's not going to have a problem getting his heat vision to work.

On the plus side, he's pretty sure he's never going to forget where these pressure points are.

In April's head her honorable intentions are reminder her that despite hotness of Clark, he had not shown any interest, and mentioned another girl, and thus off limits.

Her beastial side would be similar to his red kryptonite side, and not care. Thus why she is avoiding using it too much.

"Now the one I want you to target is this one on the spine." She moves around him, to gently touch the pressure point on the bottom of his spine. "It is your best take the person down quickly pressure point, without any permanent damage."

Clark slips briefly into x-ray vision to look through himself and count the vertebrae for a reference point, just to make sure he hits the right spot. Of course, he has no idea if his Kryptonian body even has these same weak spots, or if his bulletproof skin would even allow them to be hit, but he doesn't expect having to fight anyone but powered humans so he's not really worried.

Not that he can use both x-ray and heat vision at the same time, but all he needs is a moment or two to assess the situation. Which he takes now, glancing over at her for a split-second to find the correlating spot on her own spine. "I think I've got it."

Stepping forward again, April positions her body into a defensive position. "Then we are ready to dance again."

"I will attempt to hit your pressure points too. To make it real." She paused. "Will it help for me to shift again?"

"It helps a bit," he admits apologetically. "Does that bother you? That I take you more seriously as a threat that way, that is."

"I do not expect you to see me as a threat. But at least you see my beast as one." April chuckles. She shifts.

It will be a temptation, to engage in battle again against him. With her senses so alert to his smell and his heartbeat. But this form is the best to act against him.

She moves in quickly. Moving with agility to balance working to strike at him, but also ready to defend against his attacks.

He knows he won't be able to try for the spinal pressure point until he can get behind her somehow, so he focuses more on trying to avoid or block the incoming blows. She's fast, a lot faster than most of his prior opponents, and he has to concentrate fully on what he's doing to keep her at bay.

Remembering what she said about pressure at the shoulder, he attempts a strike to turn her.

Wanting to fully test what Clark could do, April is using one of her abilities to an advantage. Her aura sense. The beauty of jitsu is that she is close enough she can almost predict what he is about to do.

The strike is caught, and she moves in while holding the striking arm. And nips at his neck. "Don't hold back."

Clark is startled to notice that he actually feels the not-quite-bite, in a way that makes the tiny hairs on the back of his neck stand up and scream DANGER! He reacts on blind instinct, throwing out the arm she's latched onto and following it up immediately with a full-force kick aimed at her stomach, with every intention of getting her away.

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