Takes Place In: Yuki-Onna, after official ending.
Idea Created By: Vizord
General Theme: Action, Fight, Crossover (Ghost In The Shell)
Central Characters: Mato "Stella" Kusanagi, Tabitha "Mishka" Wilkes
"So I hear you're the one that taught Tobias how to fight." Stella watched Tabitha's martial arts students spar while kneeling beside the T-Ghoul sensei herself. "Unarmed, I mean."
"Sure did. Taught him the basic framework of his current style. Alice's bodyguard from Umbrella, Malcolm, also taught him a technique called Gun Kata at the same time." Tabitha explained, still watching her students. They were her youth class, none of them were older than fifteen. "He combined and modified them both, creating his style as it is today."
"I'm curious about where you learned all your techniques." Stella continued. "I've never seen these maneuvers, to be honest. It's quite similar to SCARS, the style used by the Navy SEAL's."
"Scientific Combat Reactionary System." Tabitha knew about that style. "Well, my father was the one that taught me how to fight. The technique is called CQC, or Close Quarters Combat. It's designed for control, restraints and non-lethal takedowns."
"I've noticed it also has a number of pins and throws too." Stella's upper lip moved in a smirk as the two sparring girls did just that: One escaped a pin, then countered by throwing the other over her back to land on the mat.
"Hold! Match over!" Tabitha stood up, causing both girls to stop fighting and listen to their Sensei. "Excellent counter, Kelly. Vicky, are you alright?"
"Yes, Sensei!" The downed girl quickly got to her feet, showing no signs of strain or injury.
"Alright, check in with Hinami, make sure to get some ice for the bruises. Class is almost finished, so I'll see you next week. Take care everyone." Tabitha could tell that under the girl's uniform she'd gotten a few bruises, so she'd be aching a bit without some ice.
As the boys and girls filed out of the dojo, Stella stood up and approached Tabitha from the side, waiting for the chat with her wife, Hinami, to finish.
"Stella, I heard from Motoko a while ago that you're the pointwoman for Section 9 back in Japan. I take it you have martial arts training?" Tabitha asked after talking with Hinami about the match's losing girl.
"Mixed styles, I was in a trophy family as a kid, until I got a major injury." Stella explained, then noticed the smirk. "Before becoming a cyborg. I got into a fight at school with my brother, he broke my right femur, beating me with a chair."
"Well, that's a shame. So, I sense competitions were a thing you had to do... and obviously win them."
"Exactly." Stella nodded, already aware of what Tabitha was inching the conversation towards. "I take it you're interested in sparring with me?"
"It's tempting, yes." Tabitha smirked, knowing she'd been caught. "See, I had a thought recently. Who would win in a fight: A Ghoul... or a cyborg? Obviously Kagune and weapons aren't allowed, totally even playing field."
"That's actually an interesting question." Stella's curiosity was piqued. Sure, her limbs, jaw and shoulders were reinforced by Titanium-alloy, but that wasn't much considering Ghouls could regenerate, plus certain things couldn't harm them, such as blades or bullets not made of Quinque Steel, which of course she lacked herself. "I'm leaning towards the Ghoul, honestly. A2 armoured cyborg bodies aren't made of Quinque Steel, and mine are all Titanium based alloy. Besides, you can regenerate, I can't."
"But you're armoured, with a cyberbrain too. I'm leaning towards the cyborg, 'cause you can take the hits, plus process things faster." Tabitha held up her hands with a small smile. "C'mon, it won't kill us. One match, that's all I'm asking."
[She's not asking for much, Stella.] Motoko's voice came through Stella's cyberbrain, sounding rather interested in the matchup. [What harm would there be in one match?]
[A rematch, perhaps?] Stella replied sassily, but returned her attention back to Tabitha. "Gimme a bit to think about it, okay? I mean... It's Monday and well, y'know..." Stella didn't need to finish the sentence. Darkwood aired on Monday's and it wasn't exactly a secret she was a huge fangirl.
"Okay, I can wait a day. You know where to find me." Tabitha smiled and patted Stella's shoulder as they left the dojo.
"I would pay money to see a match like this." Tobias chuckled quietly to Motoko while the rest of his family joined the gathered onlookers in the BSAA training hall, where Tabitha and Stella would be sparring each other - recorded for Darkwood's next episode of course - in the boxing ring that was used for unarmed training.
"Well... I would too... but this is my wife, after all." Motoko smiled slightly. "Who do you think will win?"
"My money'd go on Stella." Tobias smiled as he glanced over at Motoko for a brief moment. "Yuuki wasn't the only one of us that saw your movie."
Motoko laughed slightly at the revelation, but said nothing as Yuuki and Rachael explained the match rules to Stella and Tabitha before stepping out of the ring and joined their mother.
"Alright! One round only! Stella and Mishka, on my signal!" Tobias called out over the chattering onlookers. He held up his hand for a moment, then in an even louder voice, gave the signal by lowering his hand very suddenly. "GO!"
Stella already knew that Tabitha's CQC was a defensive martial art, so she quickly checked Tabitha's stance for an opening; it was a slightly widened stance, with her hands open and held around chest height. Stable, simple and effective.
But, that didn't matter. She was already on the move, letting her muscle memory take over now that she was done with the analytic part. She opened up with a cross punch, which Tabitha easily diverted aside with one hand, but went with an elbow jab with the same arm, drastically shortening the gap between them to prepare for her other hand's incoming palm strike to Tabitha's stomach.
With a twist of her torso, Tabitha gripped Stella's arm above the elbow and her free hand's wrist, using the momentum of her turn to widen her stance and flip Stella over her back, landing with a thump but was quickly recovered.
Stella recognized that throw as the one that ended the match between her two students the day before. But, she didn't have time to reminisce, because Tabitha was already throwing several jabs and hooks, which were all blocked, but the sudden kick to the back of her shin disrupted her stance for just a moment and it was quickly followed up by an incoming high sidekick.
On instinct, and with a brazen ducking-dodge, Stella evaded right under the incoming kick, but didn't realize that it was only part of the maneuver until Tabitha's raised leg hooked around the back of her neck and dragged her down to the mat again.
Rolling away was her first instinct, but knowing that wasn't as viable as it seemed, she realized that this wasn't even a pin like it looked. It was a throw that ended in a hold. She could still escape it if she...
With a sudden heave, Tabitha couldn't complete the hold as Stella lifted her legs and flipped herself upright, already swinging her leg around for a roundhouse kick. She blocked the kick with her arm, then evaded another cross punch, tossing a jab to disrupt Stella's chain, and went for an arm pin.
Stella somehow saw the arm pin coming, and brought her elbow back and rammed it into Tabitha's ribs, disrupting the pin at the same time as she hooked her foot behind Tabitha's ankle and swept the leg forward, ducking low when she sensed a kick coming from her blind side, and used the momentum to roll out of the way, putting some distance between them for a moment to reassess her efforts.
CQC seemed to have strictly defensive maneuvers, so when Tabitha went on the offense, it was to try and open up a window for a maneuver. But, her own mixed martial arts were all for the offense in comparison. Polar opposite tactics. This was nearly a stalemate.
Tabitha already had the opportunity she needed, but Stella's Muai Thai stance unconsciously protected her major weak point, the Prosthetic Blind Spot, located under the sides of her jaw, near the jugular. She couldn't get the Blind Spot exposed long enough to get a punch in.
Tobias and Motoko were watching the brief moment of staring with keen eyes. They both could tell what was going through the minds of their respective counterparts.
"Stella can't counter such a defensive technique, she's running out of ideas." Motoko could see it in Stella's stoic expression, even if nobody else could.
"Mishka's trying to find an opening; I know she's trying to target Stella's PBS, but that Muai Thai stance she's using is doing her serious justice in protecting it." Tobias also knew Tabitha's hidden intentions through the veil of concentration covering her face.
"How do you know about the Prosthetic Blind Spot?" Motoko was curious, since Tobias wasn't - and obviously was completely unable to be - cyberized at all.
"Half of my team, the BSAA Alpha Team, are cyborgs, two of them were sparring here one time and knocked each other out with simultaneous hits under the other's jaw. All their other strikes had minimal effect."
The match continued in a near-stalemate for several more minutes, and once again, Stella and Tabitha briefly stared each other down to evaluate tactics and take a second to catch their breath. But it didn't last long, they were quickly back at it, punching, kicking, blocking and dodging at a rapid pace until Tabitha ducked under one of Stella's wide punches, exposing her Blind Spot.
Without even a hint of hesitation, Tabitha launched into a rising uppercut, nailing Stella right in the jaw and knocking her out before she'd even landed on her back with a thud.
"That's it! Match over!" Tobias called loudly, watching the intensity of Tabitha's glowing yellow eyes recede back to normal levels. "Tabitha wins!"
Of course, being the winner meant nothing to Tabitha while Stella was still on the mat, so she knelt down as Stella groaned and opened her eyes.
"What the hell was that? How did you knock me out in one punch?" Stella accepted Tabitha's hand to stand up, still recovering from the hit to her PBS.
"It's called the Prosthetic Blind Spot. If struck on either side below the jaw, it forces a short state of unconsciousness to protect your cyberbrain. All cyberbrains have this, even mine." Motoko came over to them as the cheering died down. "To be completely honest, Batou should've told you the story of his case about Pavlo Zaitsev... But I can tell he didn't." Motoko smiled as Stella and Tabitha shook hands.
"That was actually a lot of fun, Tabitha." Stella's lip curled in her usual partial smile, and Tabitha laughed slightly.
"Call me Mishka, everybody does." Tabitha nodded. "Or Sensei, that works too."
"I think you'd make a great Drill Sergeant, honestly. Gotta whip those kids into shape, right?" Stella laughed too, finding the Russian nickname much more fitting than calling her Sensei.