4857/One-Two Knockout

One-Two Knockout
Date of Scene:	24 January 2021
Location:	Fogwell's Gym
Synopsis:	Katsumi drags Nessa out to try to learn what triggers her bizarre powers. In the process, a lot of things get pulverized.
Cast of Characters:	Katsumi Oshiro, Nessa Donovan

---

Katsumi Oshiro has posed:
Katsumi Oshiro has taken a day to get herself situated and try to calm down. During that time, she's done very, very little. She's woken up, sheepishly made herself presentable, existed as a lump without processing much, ate a little, and ultimately went back to sleep. It's not a physical exhaustion afflicting her, but a mental one.

Today, however, bright and early, Katsumi is on her feet and getting dressed in layers. And then she'd bounded over to Nessa's bedroom door to knock on it and try to rouse the blonde - assuming she didn't wake up before her! Prods, pokes, and tugs to get her moving, all excited smiles and eager looks. Katsumi has a list, and she wants to test some things out.

Fastforward to the sidewalk, and the duo have made their way to the front of Fogwell's Gym. She's been here a few times; isolated training, teaching She-Hulk how to ref'. But it has a ring, and it looks as down and out as can be. Which is perfect.

"If I'm gonna get a handle on these powers," Katsumi explains, "I've gotta figure out what triggers it. I can knock out a lot've possibilities right here, I bet! People booing me, being in a fight, even a hard one - if these b****es can manage that - getting hit? I can let my guard drop a second. We'll get this figured out, and I promise I'll go easy on whoever I find!"

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"You sure this is a good idea?"

Nessa yawns. While she's happy to have been dragged along, it doesn't change the fact that she's not-so-happy to be awake today. "Just be super careful, okay? My magic isn't going to be particularly useful to help you or anyone else if things go wrong. Starting to think I need to broaden my magical horizons a bit." She looks towards the gym. "I can do the cheering if you want. Although I doubt that's what triggers it. You seem to be more used to the boos."

Katsumi Oshiro has posed:
Katsumi Oshiro shakes her head, bangs abounce about her face. "No! Has to be boos! I was getting booed really hard when I kicked Sindie out've the ring! I need to get boos again! And people have to mean it!"

Katsumi grabs the handle of the door.

"Don't worry. I can work a crowd." She flashes a pretty smile, then darts inside.

As luck would have it, there are a number of people training here today. And given it's this early in the morning, these would be the individuals who have chosen to make boxing their life's work; to really make the effort to go the distance. Hard work and dedication is what they're hoping will elevate them from the slums of Hell's Kitchen to the bright lights of Las Vegas, to make their lives worth looking up to.

"'SUP, B****ES!"

Katsumi doesn't do subtle. Every head has turned in her direction.

"I'm from the competing gym across town, the," she mumbles this part, because she has no idea who or what Fogwell's might have beef with, "and we /KNOW/ you guys can't fight worth s***! So I'm just gonna save you all the trouble and kick the ass of whoever your top dog is! Let the rest of you worthless never-will-be's retire and learn to f***ing code or something!"

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Nessa's gloved hand nearly goes to her forehead at the very unsubtle approach Katsumi uses. "Well, that's one way to make an entrance," she mutters. While she follows Kat inside, she does her best to just casually look for a spot where she can watch near the ring and /not/ look awkwardly obtrusive. "I'm just gonna, uh, watch over here. Maybe I'll yell something mean or something."

She's doing her best to try and not get too close to those in the gym, for their sake. Thankfully, the turtleneck clad blonde looks weird enough that she's pretty sure she'll be able to watch without getting harassed.

Katsumi Oshiro has posed:
Nessa need not worry. Katsumi has already gotten all the heat. More than a few people are yelling at her already.

"Who wants it?! Who wants to get knocked the Hell out?!," Katsumi spurs. Her left fist props to her hip, cocky smirk playing on her lips. She tugs the strings, they dance. People aren't all that complicated.

A clear, female voice cuts through the crowd: "I'll set this fool straight." A dark-skinned woman of clear and obvious athletic prowess steps forward, earning cheers of encouragement from the crowd. She doesn't have to say anything. She just thrusts her fists to either side, and someone is already slipping her purple boxing gloves over her fists to secure them.

Oh, that's right. Boxing gloves. Katsumi doesn't have those. "Uh.." Her eyes shift briefly to Nessa, and she quickly realizes she wouldn't have any on her. So she looks ahead again and clears her throat. "Um, yeah, if I'm gonna beat you senseless, I demand to do it in your own gym's gloves!"

The woman raises an eyebrow. "You didn't bring gloves?"

Katsumi eyeshifts again. "...no."

With a roll of her eyes, the dark-skinned woman turns to climb into the ring. "Someone get this idiot gloves so I can knock her teeth in!"

Katsumi uptilts her chin, haughty. Then looks over her shoulder to flash Nessa a radiant smile and double thumbsup. "Eee~"

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"Ugh, this is such a bad idea," Nessa says, though she keeps that mostly to herself. Leaning against a supporting concrete pillar, she offers an unconvincing smile that screams of 'please don't get paralyzed in there'. But Katsumi's the professional. She's not even entirely sure if she knows how to box.

She takes a quick glance around at the occupants of the gym. Mostly because she's not entirely sure that they won't try and jump Kat at the end... especially if she wins. She's sizing up her own potential opponents if things go tits up.

Katsumi Oshiro has posed:
This is a boxing gym. Everyone present is a scrapper of varying skill level. And every one of them currently hates Katsumi. Moreover, Nessa would be displeased to know Katsumi knows only the first thing about boxing: you punch someone.

While they fetch gloves for her, the Punk Princess sheds her outer layer of clothing and tosses it to Nessa. Elastic pink hairtie is retrieved from her pocket, and she tames her blueblack mane into a sporty ponytail. Now left in her hot pink workout attire - a stark contrast to the menace she was projecting moments ago - she juts her fists out to let the people she'd just insulted fasten bubblegum pink boxing gloves onto her hands. They thought they were going to insult her with that. Instead, once on, Katsumi thumps her padded fists together and smiles at Nessa. "How cute are these!?"

She throws a couple poppy, unrefined jabs in the air, then turns to climb into the ring.

The woman already waiting impatiently in the corner has an eyebrow that just won't lower.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Nessa, as dutiful ring assistant, catches the garment in the air and folds it over one of her arms to hold onto it. The boxing gloves are eyed. "Sure, they're cute for implements of pain and destruction," she notes with amusement, but then lowers her tone as she looks back into the ring.

"You absolutely sure about this?"

Katsumi Oshiro has posed:
Finally, once in the ring, the two females are squaring off. That is, the dark-skinned woman is approaching the middle of the ring. Katsumi, however, is pacing around the ring's perimeter, arms raised, smug smirk back on her lips. "If this is the best you losers got, you should be thanking me already!," she taunts.

The boos are rolling in.

"Hey! Are we doing this or what!?," demands her opponent.

Katsumi moves back into her corner and hops up onto the middle ropes, arms spread to either side. "Do me a favor and bet all your money on her! I'm lookin' to score a huge-ass bankroll off you chumps!"

More booing.

"Get over here and fight already!"

Katsumi hops down from the turnbuckle and moves to the ropes closest to Nessa. To her, she gives a sweet smile. "Uh, yeah. Stop worrying so much. She's a /boxer/, sweetie! She does like one-third of the stuff I do." Her gloved hands lift to flap sarcastically, "OoOoOoh, so scary."

Finally turning, Katsumi makes her way to the center of the ring where her opponent waits with twitching eye. "Okay, let's go."

And in that instant, the dark-skinned woman fires a lightning-fast punch that slams into Katsumi's cheek. The sound of the impact is like a frying pan whacking into a side of ham, causing the crowd to go silent. Katsumi is sent into a full spin on her feet before dropping to the mat on her back. There she lies, limbs splayed, eyes shut, lips faintly parted, unmoving but for the rise and fall of her chest.

And the crowd goes wild.

Laughing, the dark-skinned woman waves a gloved hand in front of her neck, as if signaling to 'cut the music'. "Someone get this idiot the smelling salts, she's out."

Nessa Donovan has posed:
But Katsumi's a wrestler, and from what Nessa knows, wrestling is all about the art of performance. Clearly this is her getting ready to surprise her opponent. Right? She keeps a careful eye on the situation, though she creeps in the direction of where Kat's fallen. /Just/ in case. "I don't think it's the boos," she says, this time loud enough in case the Japanese woman can actually hear her.

Crossing her fingers is a bit hard in gloved hands.

Katsumi Oshiro has posed:
Oh, Katsumi can't hear her. Her expression is placid, her limbs limp. That is one KO'ed Oshiro.

"Hey, you," says the dark-skinned woman as she approaches. "You came with her, right? Let's get you a plastic bag so you can pick up this piece of crap and go."

Laughter rises from the crowd, clearly enjoying the catharsis of seeing the big talker having been so handily decimated. One individual climbs into the ring and leans over to begin removing the gloves from her hands, raising one limp arm to extract the glove before letting it flop to the mat and lifting the other.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Nessa winces. okay, so it's not an act. Well, that means she'll likely have to drag Katsumi back or find some way to wake her up. She glances to the woman at the mention of the plastic bag, a frown coming to her lips. "She's unconcious, you don't have to insult her when she can't hear you. Kinda pointless, that."

She glances around the room, doing her best to recall any boxing movie she's seen before. How do they wake people up? "Uh, there a bucket of water somewhere around here?"

Katsumi Oshiro has posed:
The dark-skinned woman rolls her eyes with a scoff, and goes back to yucking it up with the other boxers. Gloved high-fives are a thing, apparently. There are a few points to the unconscious Katsumi, followed by peals of laughter.

Once the gloves have been retrieved, that individual scurries away. Another one approaches with a pouch. "No water. It's freezing out," he says. The pouch is brought close to Katsumi's face - and suddenly, she's awake and squirming, attempting to get away from said pouch. "Smelling salts," he explains, then rushes away.

The offending chemical odor now gone, Katsumi rolls over onto her chest. Still very dazed, she hooks her arms over the edge of the ring to drag herself out, and likely ultimately fall out. "That didn't.. go so well.. huh..?"

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Gloved hands and arms are there to help Katsumi once she's out of the ring. "I think that was pretty foolish," Nessa notes. "But I'd say it went rather well. You've determined that these aren't the conditions that do... well, whatever it is you do. You've made progress, even with a failure. You wanna get out of here before they all start making fun of you again?" She offers forth the garment she'd been holding.

Katsumi Oshiro has posed:
Katsumi Oshiro is almost, but not quite, dead weight. But she's trying to find her footing again, leaning heavily on Nessa. "They made fun of me?," asks Katsumi, as if surprised. "Jerks..." Nevermind the sass she was dropping just before. "Let's get out of here."

"Byyyeee!," rises a taunting chorus as the two make their exit.

Katsumi tugs the hoodie over her head again, sulky. "It was a lucky hit," she excuses. Her right hand lifts to gently touch the struck, scuffed cheek. "But no. Booing wasn't it. Fighting. Getting hit, obviously. I can mark those off. Ugh.."

She suddenly focuses on Nessa and pounces at her without warning. That is, her arms loop her neck and she swings her legs into the air, attempting to force her to catch her in a cradle.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
There are few people regularly in Nessa's bubble of personal space. Regardless of the fact that Kat is one of them, she's still entirely unused to sudden acts of surprise proximity. So there's briefly a deer-in-headlights look from Nessa before she does her best to attempt to Katsumi before she falls.

She's barely able to keep both of them upright, so thankfully neither of them end up face-first on the pavement. There's a bit of a yelp fom her in the process.

Katsumi Oshiro has posed:
Katsumi Oshiro had every faith in Nessa's ability to catch and support her. She was also very recently unconscious. These two things may be connected.

But even with Nessa's struggling, Katsumi snugs into the girl's shoulder. It's a brief moment of whimsical affection before she's looking around. They're getting some odd looks by pedestrians, but she's unfazed by that. "Don't feel any different... being carried probably isn't it, either." She digs a hotel review card from her pocket, revealing her list of possible triggers.

"Fight an opponent with blonde hair and-or blue eyes. That chick didn't have either. Where'm I gonna find-"

Katsumi pauses, staring at Nessa's blue eyes. Then glancing to her blonde hair.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Nessa's not amused by the little leap-and-catch, but she seriously doesn't look amused when Katsumi mentions a blonde opponent. "Oh no you don't. I don't know the first thing about fighting unless it's me using some kind of magic. I couldn't even be useful pretending to fight. Even if I knew how, I wouldn't for the life of me want to hurt you at all."

That does seem to hit close to home by the tone of her voice. Not hurting Katsumi seems to be something seriously on her mind.

Katsumi Oshiro has posed:
Katsumi Oshiro gives a theatric, "Ugghh," and flops her head back. Only she suddenly lifts the head again and brings it closer to steal a quick, affectionate kiss to her cheek. "How can someone be so frustrating and at the same time make me feel better? /That's/ your magic power." The arms squeeze around Nessa's neck, fortunately without superhuman strength; it's just a warm, appreciative hug. She's not had anyone genuinely worry about her in a long, long time.

Then she's squirming, attempting to get her feet beneath herself again. "Guess I'll hit up a street fighting pit or something. Pick an opponent based on her looks. People are gonna think I'm a serial killer or something." At least she seems to be bouncing back from the hit she took earlier.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"I never should have suggested the fighting pit," Nessa groans, that frown staying permanently installed on her features. "Now I'm /always/ going to worry. If you're out doing somthing to practice, you're in danger. Every time you're around me, that's danger too."

She rubs at her face a bit with a gloved hand. "I mean, people do some strange things in New York. You'll probably just fit right in if you find the right crowd to hang out with."

Katsumi Oshiro has posed:
Katsumi Oshiro giggles brightly at Nessa's frustrations. "You knew my life's dangerous when you first got the hots for me!," she teases, complete with sidelong hipbump. "And your life isn't exactly safe, either! Saving the city and all that. You still haven't told me that story!"

All it took was that moment of genuine care from Nessa to put Katsumi in a good mood again; that's how much that means to her. And now, both of her arms are hugging onto Nessa's nearest arm affectionately. "You won't hurt me. I trust you. And I know that because not hurting me matters that much to you."

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"No, I just get turned into a bunny and almost eaten. That's also incredibly less likely to happen as a daily occurence." Nessa pauses for a long moment before she turns her gaze to the other woman. "I don't know that you /should/ trust me. I've spent a hell of a lot of time trying to make sure people around me are safe, and I've honestly only had one real effective way to keep people safe from me."

It's very obvious by this point that she's been /thinking/ about this stuff.

Katsumi Oshiro has posed:
Katsumi Oshiro's smile dims, and her arms loosen on Nessa's. "I'm safe," she insists. "See this?" Her head tilts to indicate the arm. "That's safe. If I kiss you, I'm not gonna die. Right?"

The arm is gradually released, and Katsumi turns to face her fully. The smile has vanished into a small, concerned frown. "What's wrong?"

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"Maybe you won't die, but I don't like causing pain to people I care about," Nessa lets out a small huff of air. "I don't know how to control all of it. I've always just not let people get close and I feel like the /second/ I do something wrong it's going to remind me exactly why I don't let people get close."

There's a small shrug of her shoulders. "You're so confident that things will be fine and I'm /not/."

Katsumi Oshiro has posed:
Katsumi Oshiro shrinks back a little from Nessa's evident resolve. Her arms lift, setting her forearms against her chest. "But- but I said it's okay to wait. That you're worth it. And you're you, you're- you're math class, of course you'll get a handle on it..."

Katsumi has found herself in a strange position, feeling like she's pleading to keep something from being taken away. Things seemed to be going well, last she knew! Weren't they happy?

"Nessa, w-..." The creeping nervousness becomes more evident in her voice. It's starting to sound more like dread. "..what do you want to do?"

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"I'm not used to any of this. I'm barely used to letting anyone close, mentally or physically. And you're /so/ excited to do it. But you make it seem like it's so easy to just /fix/. I've been trying to get to this point for years. I've been making good progress recently, but it's just..." Nessa sighs, shaking her head a bit.

"I'm going to hurt you, it's not just something I can avoid. I hate it. This is exactly why I've tried not to be close to people."

Katsumi Oshiro has posed:
"You're gonna hurt me if you push me away," Katsumi says quietly. "I'd rather get chilly than... that. I'd rather the most we ever do is hug you in grandma-clothes, or bundled up like the kid brother in Christmas Story. I'm not... ***dammit, Nessa, the f*** do you think this is!?" Katsumi takes a step closer, expression turning cross. "You think the only reason I wanna be close to you is the chance at getting laid!? I can hit up any internet forum and be like, 'Hey, hi, here's a clip of me wrestling, who wants some', and have my pick of the whole f***ing seaboard! I want to be with you because it's /you/!"

She leans back, sullen. "And screw you for making me say that."

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Nessa winces, shaking her head a bit. "I didn't mean it like that, Kat. It's not..." There's a long sigh again. "I kept people at a distance because it was safer. Safer for them, safer for me. I knew that at some point if I let people get emotionally close it'd be just as hard to deal with. You avoid connecting with people so that you won't make things complicated. That's just what you do in my shoes."

Nessa takes a moment to shut her eyes. "There's a lot more to touch than getting laid. And I don't think you get the seriousness of this. It's not just 'getting chilly'. It's people potentially losing a limb. Heaven forbid it be something other than a limb, either."

Katsumi Oshiro has posed:
Katsumi Oshiro stares at her in silence for a few long, hard seconds. The magenta gaze drops to her feet. When she speaks again, her voice is defeated - not deadened and monotone, but crushed, as if the words aren't getting enough air. "Are you giving up...? Is that it? Is that... are we...?"

Nessa Donovan has posed:
There's another frown from Nessa. "I'm not asking you to up and leave or anything, or to not care. You've always been important to me regardless of anything. I just know that... there have been very few people I've ever not had to worry about hurting. It's different when I'm the only one risking anything. When I'm the one who could be hurt. I'd trade that any day."

She rubs her face. "I'm not sure what to say, honestly, because I've never been in this position. People don't get close. I made myself so vulnerable in all of this in an attempt to be alright with letting people close. You're /too/ close. I'm not just normal. You said you'd wait. That's incredibly important to me. But it's not fair of me to make you wait for something that I don't know if or when it's coming. I'm not going anywhere, Kat, I'm not going away or anything."

Katsumi Oshiro has posed:
The damage seems to be done, as Katsumi recedes more and more into herself. Whatever Nessa's intention or meaning, she's hearing it as rejection. Her right hand lifts to rub a palm beneath her eye as discreetly as possible. But at a point, she bristles and raises her index finger. "Don't you /dare/ say you're doing this for me. I made my choice. This is about /you/, and what /you/ want." Still with finger aloft, she swallows hard. Her voice has developed a shake. "If being touched matters that much to you, f-fine. Whatever. Enjoy being with a guy who doesn't appreciate what he has, or'll ever see you the way I did."

She steps back from her again, turning aside now to press both palms against her eyes. There's another sniff to break the silence before she adds, "I'll get my things later. I- I need to keep testing."

Without removing her hands from her eyes, Katsumi curtly turns away. Only after her back is turned to Nessa does she lower her hands again, intent on hurriedly walking away.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"Fuck. I never said for you to leave, Kat," Nessa says, taking a step towards her as she moves away. "I know saying 'I'm not like the other girls' is a dumb way of phrasing it, but I'm just /not/. There's a lot wrapped up in all of this. And I do care, I do." She frowns. "Luci's important. Not just because of the fact that I don't hurt him if I touch him. The only one I risk in that situation is /me/. And I'm okay with that."

There's frustration in her tone. "I'm not good at any of this. What I mean is, don't leave. I don't just /not care/. This is just something entirely different and I'm terrified."

Katsumi Oshiro has posed:
Katsumi Oshiro is halted by Nessa's continued approach. She stomps a foot in frustration before turning to her again; as she may have suspected, it's immediately obvious Katsumi's begun crying. Her eyes are cloudy, misting, and she swats at the occasional, errant tear with the back of a hand.

"Just stop, okay?," she pleads. "You're not the only one terrified. I can't do this.. this back'n forth thing! And I'm not okay with being your silver ***damn trophy! Maybe it's all someone like me deserves, but I can't live like that. I'd rather be alone than know I'm not enough."

The pawing against her face becomes more frequent.

"Just say what you want and mean it. And stop yanking me around. You stopped me. Here I am. This is your chance. Make the call."

Nessa Donovan has posed:
There's still more frustration in Nessa's tone. "There isn't a /back and forth/. You don't just stop caring about people miraculously overnight. Don't make this like you're not good enough. This has never had anything to do with 'being enough'. If you're just going to stop caring about me simply because I'm putting brakes on something that I don't know about yet from going too damn fast, then maybe you didn't care in the way I thought you did. Or maybe you thought you did."

She makes no more attempt at bridging the distance, instead folding her arms over her chest. It's a defensive gesture. "I'm serious about helping you. I'm serious about caring. That's what I mean. I want you to not just walk away from me because I don't know how to deal with this situation. It's an entirely different situation than with someone like Lucifer. Maybe I'm not good at explaining myself. I don't know how to."

Katsumi Oshiro has posed:
"No, you ass! I'm not going to stop caring about you! That's why this hurts! You, rejecting me, /hurts/!," Katsumi snaps. "That's why I'm having a f***ing breakdown in the middle of the sidewalk in a foreign country! Because-..."

Her voice catches. She swallows.

"Because I thought I knew where we stood. I thought this made sense. I thought you wanted the same thing I did."

She seems to suddenly realize a number of people are now staring. Her eyes widen, and she at first winces back. She did just admit she was having a breakdown in public. But she soon barks at the bystanders, "The F*** you looking at!?" Some of them hurriedly resume moving.

Humiliated and hurt, Katsumi shakes her head quickly. "I can't do this. I have to- I-..." All the memories of the time they spent together comes flooding back. From taking Nessa shopping, to Nessa comforting her when she was outed from her team. "..just leave me alone," she concludes, her voice thin and weak. "P-please."

Head ducking, Katsumi turns to leave again - this time at a jog.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"Kat, /please/. It's not as if this doesn't mean anything, I just..." Nessa sounds frustrated, but she doesn't pursue. "Fine. It's nice to know exactly what you want. It's nice to know that I don't mean a damn thing unless you get things exactly how you want. The second I try to figure things out with something that happened incredibly fast and you decide that it's nothing. You said you'd wait. I'm seeing just how much that means."

Maybe she's just noticing the stares, so she self-conciously scrubs a hand over her eyes.