Tournament Finals: Nameless
In front of you stands your opponent, the masked fighter known as Nameless. The audience is excited and louder than ever. Two mysterious masked contestants – one of which has admitted to be Zhang Jue’s disciple and has received a challenge from the previous champion, while the other has exhibited a style of martial arts no one has ever seen in near flawless victories all through the tournament – it is no surprise that the final match would draw a larger crowd than usual.
After the both of you bow to each other, you spot the Abbot of Shaolin observing the match from his seat. You should probably try to win this one. Right before the match, Master Qi had made his customary appearance and happily informed you that both he and Abbot Fangzhang had decided to pool their money and bet on you for the grand finale. Something about showing those foreign devils what for, he’d said.
As the fight begins, you try to recall everything you know about your opponent.
The fighter is a she, under that disguise. She is likely affiliated with the other two masked fighters in the tournament, Faceless and Shapeless. Qilin has told you that her moves hail from a form of martial arts practised by a Zoroastrian fire cult – it is likely they all belong to the same organization. She is highly skilled, almost as good as Yifang. Both Qilin and Cao’er think Nameless is at least as fast as you are, though not nearly as strong.
She makes the first move, darting in to deliver a blow to your solar plexus. You parry her attack and throw your foot upwards in a kick that she dodges gracefully. Nameless steps back, her expression inscrutable behind that tiger mask. With a slight, mocking shrug, as if that exchange disappointed her, she dives back in again with a flurry of punches and kicks. You retaliate with the same, the both of you moving around the stage in a flowing dance of attack and counter-attack. She matches your speed with ease, finding more than enough time to give a reply for whatever you can throw at her. Your superior strength will be of no use if you cannot find a way to pin her down.
As the exchange of moves continues, you realize that she is steadily increasing her focus on your left side, where your defense is poorer thanks to your injured arm. A quick feint to your left causes you to overextend yourself, compensating too much for your injury. Nameless is quick to capitalize on the chance that she has created. Two solid blows land in the middle of your chest, forcing you back.
Instead of pursuing you, your masked opponent puts her hands on her hips and shakes her head wordlessly. The crowd cheers at this reversal; Man Tiger Pig is getting a taste of his own medicine and they are enjoying the show.
You scratch your head and nod vigorously in response, acknowledging that you have to do better. Taking a stance, this time you go on the attack. Cao’er had told you about a little quirk that Nameless seems to exhibit. She will always favour evading to her right, attempting to keep to her opponent’s left. Taking careful, measured strikes, you wait for your chance.
Even as Nameless takes a quick step to her right, narrowly dodging your straight kick, you have already predicted her course and begun your follow-up. A single elbow strike is all you can manage with your left arm, but it is enough to force her to block. Your attack crashes against her forearms, causing her to give out a single yelp of pain. Being the scoundrel that you are, you ignore a damsel’s cry of distress and act to compound said distress by lashing out with the back of your fist. Your blow breaks her guard, forcing Nameless to back off in a hurry.
This time, it is your turn to play to the audience. You wag a finger at her, sending the crowd wild.
Nameless raises her hands and claps it thrice slowly and sarcastically in response. Then, she rushes in to continue the fight.
After a series of blows, again you lure her into dodging right. As you launch your counter, you realize that you have been tricked. She is ready for you this time. Her leg snaps up swiftly in a powerful crescent kick. Cursing your carelessness, you redirect your efforts into defense just in time to grab her foot, stopping it from landing right in your flank.
You pull at the foot, trying to drag her towards you, but with a quick wiggle she frees her foot from the boot and hops away, leaving you with a piece of empty footwear in your hand. Before you can drop it, however, her other boot comes sailing towards you, smacking you right in the pig’s snout.
The crowd seems to really like that one, judging by their guffaws.
Nameless skips from bare foot to bare foot before settling into a stance and beckoning at you, daring you to make the next move.
You oblige.
The dance continues, as both of you circle around the stage without managing to get a firm upper hand on the other. Nameless is quick enough to evade your blows and skilled enough to prevent you from drawing your sword. On the other hand, her attacks aren’t powerful enough that you are unable to block them, unlike Guo Fu’s hammer-like punches. She is using her neigong to augment her strikes – with every hit you can feel a mild burning sensation where her fists and kicks land, but your own qi swallows up the effect quickly enough for it not to matter.
More worryingly, she seems to be getting faster and faster with every exchange, as if she is testing her own speed against yours. You are not sure if you will be able to keep up at this rate; Nameless could very likely end up being quicker than you are. It looks like she has been holding back throughout the competition... You have no choice.
Taking a deep breath, you exert your qinggong. Your steps become lighter and faster; your sudden burst of speed catches your masked opponent off guard as you manage to get behind her.
At this range and angle, even a lightly executed Chuzhan Fist should be enough to hit her. You drive a straight punch right towards her back.
She turns, surprised.
Then, she – somehow – somersaults backwards from her disadvantageous position before your fist hits home. As she lands, she immediately runs at you, faster than she has ever moved before.
It’ll be a feint. If you throw an attack at her right now, she will evade it and counter – she is ready for it. You settle backwards into a defensive stance.
It does you no good.
Nameless’s visage blurs as she darts to the side right before she gets into range, faster than your eyes can follow. This is a speed you cannot match. You try to turn your head to track her, something about her technique seeming extremely familiar to you.
That’s right.
There's no mistaking it.
Yinglang Step.
You know enough of the technique to prepare a counter attack, but the masked fighter has already flanked you with incredible speed, her palm hitting just under your ribcage. She unleashes her qi with that strike. The burning is intense. It is as if the churning, murky sea of oil that is your own qi was just lit up by a match. A searing conflagration scorches your body from within for just a brief second before your internal energy swallows it up, smothering it in darkness.
It looks like Nameless was expecting you to fall with that attack… her follow-up comes a split second too slow, as does your counter, from the unexpected strength of her neigong. The both of you evade the mutual attacks by a hair’s breadth.
Her uppercut catches the chin of the pig, tearing it off.
Your Shouwang Claws hooks the cheek of the tiger, ripping it off.
The paper-and-cloth masks flutter to the ground of the stage as the crowd holds their breath.
Your first thought is that you should have thought of that. A mask underneath a mask. Nameless is wearing an ornate, white porcelain mask that covers the top of her face, her straight black hair having come untied thanks to the force of your attack. Stylized fire is painted across the surface of the mask. Even with her face covered, however, you can tell that she is likely a peerless beauty.
A beauty that is decidedly not Persian, whose people you have seen before during your time in the court. Instead…
The corners of her lips twist upwards in a taunting smile full of mockery as she hops backwards, putting some more distance between the both of you. The match is still on, even if the both of you are now unmasked. Well, you more so than she is…
***
A. You have no hope of matching her speed – and having a chance of winning – without going all out and using Yuanshi Hundun in combination with the Kuanglang Step. If that is what you need to do to achieve victory, so be it.
B. You hold back on using your neigong; Nameless is not Guo Fu, and you could just as easily kill her or injure her too severely if you lose control at an inopportune moment. You will try to win without it.
***
1. If she is who you think she is… you attempt to engage Nameless in conversation. Perhaps it will distract her. Or perhaps it will distract you. Still, you need to know for sure.
2. You would rather focus on the fight instead. You can always talk to her afterwards, right?
Keep in mind that the ridiculous terms that BJ has set on us are a double-edged sword if we're victorious, and he's the one who loses. We can use this self-righteousness against him, but we need to prepare by studying up on our opponent as much as possible.
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