Underground Training Facility <UTF>

One might think something like this could not exist but they'd be wrong after seeing this place. This place is located directing under the shop and somehow is located under any sewer lines that one might expect to find. It's a very deep cavern covered by a realistic sky colored ceiling that always seems to be day with no visiable lighting source. How he does this is beyond anyone's comprehension. The land itself looks to far reaching mountainous desert with a few plains. Here you will find many items meant to imspire you, such as a tree to revitalize you (it's dead) and a spring to hydrate you (It's drying up). This is where Urahara trains individuals without worrying about property damage. The trap door to the training area also has a piece of paper with disclaimer written so small, it would need a magnifying glass to read.

Urahara's training facility is currently in use. The manager has been generous enough to allow his new part-timers to use the spacious underground area whenever they have some free time. Better than trying to exercise one's power out in the city itself and drawing undue attention, anyway.

Of course, with no real opponent to challenge himself against, Chad is left with really only one method of training: A pure endurance run. He's been standing in one spot, firing off blast after blast for as long as he can before his strength gives out. It is evident by the lengthy scortch marks in the ground starting from where he is standing. The blasts are smaller than his usual fare, but it's enough to tire him out. Currently he's catching a breather.

There is the sound of footsteps descending the stairs, and a loud, irritated voice, complaining, "What the hell kind of ladder is this! It's a MILE LONG. If Hat-n-Clogs ain't down here I'm gonna throw him into next Tuesday!" On and on this goes, as Tatsuki Arisawa descends the ladder, facing the wall because she has already had quite enough of looking down. Finally, however, her feet find solid ground, and she steps off and -- stares.

"What the /hell,/" she announces.

Chad's ears perk as he hears Tatsuki's descent when she's about half-way down. He turns and blinks in surprise, he honestly was not expecting her to just walk in on this place. He's at a bit of a loss, not knowing how he should introduce Tatsuki to this place.

Shrugging, he dismisses his armor, and heads over to the base of the ladder. "Arisawa.." He starts. "..what are you doing here?"

Tatsuki Arisawa squints at Chad, replying, "I'm lookin' for Hat-n-Clogs, he owes me some training. Or said he did, anyway." She shrugs. "I haven't been able to track him down since he said so, though...what the heck are you doing down here, anyway, Chad?"

You say, "Hmmm..." Chad thinks. "I haven't even seen Mr. Urahara lately. He's been away visiting some of the other worlds out there, I think." More than likely he's out slacking off, but Chad omits that lingering thought.

He seems to fidgit a bit as Tatsuki presses his own presence down here. "Well, Urahara lets me train down here since I help out around his shop. I can mostly only do endurance training though." He glances back at the false horizon the room has. "It's wide and spacious, and I don't have to worry about damaging anything down here.""

Tatsuki Arisawa nods, having completely failed to put two and two together. "Yeah, those muscles of yours must cause lots of damage if you start cutting loose." She walks a bit further in, observing the scorch marks, and comments, "Though I'm beginning to think you weren't talking about just punching things a lot, were you?"

Chad pauses, about to instinctively deny the existance of his powers, but he remembers that Tatsuki is well aware by this point. Though she may not be all that clear on their effects, the only time he recalls using them in front of her was when that Homunculus attacked.

"Mm.. yeah, something like that." He says, appearing almost embarrassed. "It really doesn't have much to do with my muscles, but can be pretty tiring anyway." Flexing his right arm a bit, his armor re-appears.

Tatsuki grunts, looking at the armor thoughtfully. "Jeeze," she says. "Big. Wouldn't want to mess with that." She takes a step back, and muses, "So what's it /do/? I've seen a bunch of whacko powers, but I can't figure what good armor on /one/ arm would do..."

"Hmmm, well.. it's pretty strong. Almost nothing seems to be able to pierce it. It seems to greatly improve the physical strength in my arm as well..." As if it wasn't strong enough unpowered. "And also..."

Taking a few steps forward, so Tatsuki is a few feet behind him, Chad clenches his fist. Storing some energy in his fist, like he was trained to do, he focuses it, and finally punches forward, releasing a moderately sized blast which shoots off into the distance of the training area. If it impacts on anything, it isn't seen.
"I thought it weird at first. It seems like something out of one of those Shounen Fighting Manga Keigo is always reading."

Tatsuki Arisawa arches an eyebrow, humming at Chad's summary. Gosh, how much can he lift with that thing? Scary thought. "So you have Shootfist. Neat. Yeah, pretty similar to that stuff." She paces out a little, checking out the scorchmarks. "You're lucky, y'know. I know enough to get myself in trouble, and not enough power to get myself out. It's pretty irritating, especially when Ichigo finally starts recognizing me again /just/ long enough to tell me to piss off."

Chad remains silent as Tatsuki speaks, only nodding when she finishes. "I think... Ichigo just wants to make sure you don't get hurt. He's just doesn't have the best way to say it. But I can see how you would be frustrated. You don't seem like the sort of person who would let someone else shield them." Chad certainly wouldn't want to be told by Ichigo to go 'piss off'.

Cough.

"If I'm lucky, well..." He falls silent again, thinking for a moment, staring at his hand. "I don't know where this power is going to lead me. Once it almost got me killed. Sometimes having a certain amount of power makes you think you can handle anything, which just gives you a whole new weakness. But I have no regrets." Chad clenches his fist. "Anyway, I couldn't even explain how I got this power. My inexperience has nearly cost me more than once. I imagine if you had power like this you'd be much more effective than me."

Tatsuki shrugs. "I hear it's from hanging out with Ichigo too much, actually." She gives a faint snort. "Figures, I knew Bristles was trouble. Anyway, maybe I could, maybe I couldn't. I'm a martial artist. Hitting harder is somethin' I can do; if I started shooting lightning from my hair, that's somethin' else entirely."

Chad nods "That's what we thought. But it doesn't explain why only myself and Inoue were affected, so there might be something else involved." Chad's thought about this a number of times, and he hasn't been able to think of anything else that could have caused it.

"You have training to be a fighter." Chad replies. "I taught myself a lot of things when I was younger, but I only relied on my natural strength. I don't have much in the way of technique." Chad folds his arms. "If I did, I might be more effective. But otherwise all I a have are those... Shootfists, as you called them."

Tatsuki Arisawa shrugs. "You're a decent brawler, at least, and you're built like a gorilla. That means a lot; you don't need as much skill when you can hit like a truck. Anyway, you're trainin', that's what's important. Wish I could; I don't even have anything to train, yet."

Chad remains silent when Tatsuki offers her compliments. Abuelo taught him to be modest, after all. But he does speak up when Tatsuki finishes speaking, with surprising volume. "Don't say that!" He replies. "Arisawa, your skill as a Martial Artist is something to be proud of. If there were no spiritual powers involved you could easily take any one of us. We can't just grant you the same power we have, no. But that doesn't mean you should put yourself down either. I know Ichigo is stubborn, but someday you'll show you are still at his level." Chad really dislikes people belittling their own achievements, it seems.

Tatsuki Arisawa...smirks, and stretches at the "sky" painted on the ceiling. "Oh, I know I'm strong. I took a Nationals finalist on with a broken arm, Chad, I know I can take care of myself." She shrugs. "I just don't have anything /else/ special. Second rank blackbelt doesn't help me a whole lot against these monsters, Chad, when they can hit me once and then I can't move. At least I can still pound any humans who start getting sassy."

You say, "I know that..." Chad says, sheepishly, thinking he probably jumped the gun a bit. "But still, don't start thinking you'll never be able to do anything. There's nothing worse than feeling useless when you have people you want to help."

He sighs. "I'd help you more if I could, but I don't think there's anything else I could do.""

Tatsuki Arisawa hmph. "Don't I know that. Startin' to piss me off. But at least I know what I'm up against, so I know what to train for - even if I don't have any fancy powers like you guys do."

Tatsuki then spins on her heels to regard Chad, looking him up and down. "Well, we could try to practice against each other, if you want," she says, with that old confident grin.

"Mmm... are you sure that would be a good idea?" Chad seems kind of worried that they'd BOTH get hurt. "If I'm using my power that would make things a bit unfair to you.. but if I'm not then there's not much point." And she'd totally wipe the floor with him in that situation too. "I can keep it leveled in a non-lethal way, but it still would be a bit different than what you're used to fighting."

Tatsuki Arisawa snorts. "Look, man, I'm trying to learn how to fight these things so I don't get myself /killed/ if I have to fight one without backup. You know how they work, don't you? If I can't at least do that much, I'm as good as eaten." She shrugs, and begins to stretch. "Training against folks with skills like yours is just a step to helping me surive, right?"

"Oh, right..." Chad pauses again, thinking it over. "I suppose not sparring with you wouldn't be much different than Ichigo telling you to let him handle things. Alright. But let me know when you want to stop. Sometimes in the heat of things the power in my arm can flare up even if I don't want it to."

Clenching his fist, Chad gets into a battle-ready position. Or, as good as a position as he has, anyway. When you're as big as Chad is it's difficult not to have a few holes in your stance.

Tatsuki smirks, dropping into a stance more trained. Chad's is pure brawler, she notes, and full of holes, but the question is, will it matter? She's heard rumors of this guy getting hit by cars and winning. She charges in, shouting, "Here I come!" She covers the distance between them easily, then setting her foot and spinning a kick in the direction of Sado's torso, a simple opening attack to try and see how fast his reactions are.

Tatsuki Arisawa hits Yasutora Sado with her Opening Volley jab.

Chad doesn't seem to move to block Tatsuki's kick. Or rather, he can't move in time. Her foot collides with the giant's torso, but it doesn't do much to move him. In fact, if not for the stinging pain he briefly felt one would think it wasn't affected at all.

But while he couldn't move to block in time, his hand does quickly grab her ankle. Trying something fairly unorthodox, and to see just how nimble Tatsuki can be in a pinch, Chad tries to flip her into the air which could result in a nasty landing if she's not quick enough.

You hit Tatsuki Arisawa with your Flip jab.

"Wha!" Tatsuki barks, as she's grabbed in mid kick and flung into the air. The surprise is short, but long enough that she can't fully recover until she smashes into the ground. "Ugh. Faster than I thought you'd be, Chad," Tatsuki says, dragging herself back to her feet. "So I won't take you lightly!" She runs in again, and this time throws a volley of punches to various outstanding weakspots, trying to draw Chad's hands away from protecting his torso, so Tatsuki can land a punishing blow to his solar plexus.

Tatsuki Arisawa misses Yasutora Sado with her Flurry attack.

Chad moves his armored arm up to block Tatsuki's blows, as she clearly underestimates just how tough his armor is. He's able to block her blows easily since the impact is hardly felt at all. "I've managed to work on my speed, to a point." He replies. When his only major loss to date has been due to not being able to hit his opponent, it wouldn't take a genius to decide where to begin improvement.

As Chad blocks the final blow, he delivers one of his own. A quick punch to the stomach. He holds back, though, and it should feel that way. Chad still seems to have a bit of a problem fighting a girl directly. Spar or no.

You miss Tatsuki Arisawa with your Gut Punch feint.

Tatsuki is used to people like this. She makes a habit of sending them into orbit. "Hey, c'mon!" Tatsuki says, easily bouncing away from the punch and countering with a split-kick right at the bottom of Sado's jaw. "No holding back, or I'll clobber ya, super arm or no!"

Tatsuki Arisawa misses Yasutora Sado with her Breaka You Face jab.

Perhaps Tatsuki underestimated Chad's height advantage. Leaning his neck back slightly allows him to dodge her kick. "Well, if you insist..."

He's still not going to go for her face, though. That's just dirty. He does, however, open-palm strike her around the shoulder. Should be with enough force to send her back a few feet, at least, and dislocate her shoulder at worst.

You hit Tatsuki Arisawa with your Head and Shoulders jab.

WOW okay! Tatsuki is smashed backward; she brings her arm up to block the attack, so her shoulder remains properly situated within its socket, but her feet aren't actually on the ground at the moment. She should fix that.

She flips around for traction, stopping a short distance away. But she's grinning, and it's actually eerily similar to Ichigo's confident look. "That's the stuff! I can't get any better if nobody fights me like they mean it! Now here I come!" And come she does again, this time sliding in for an elbow strike that hopefully will get past Chad's impenetrable arm and into his body, so Tatsuki can get this fight back on equal footing.

Tatsuki Arisawa hits Yasutora Sado with her Elbow Blow attack.

Tatsuki's elbow connects, alright. A brief grunt escapes the giant, but much like her previous blow it seems to do little to slow him down. That's the trouble with Chad, he hardly shows ANY visible signs of being worn down until he actually falls.

He decides to counter this attack the same way as he last one that connected, by grabbing her by the arms and tossing her into the air again. He figures that works better than straight-out punching.

You hit Tatsuki Arisawa with your Flip Mk II jab.

Another flip! This is getting annoying. Tatsuki lands with a THMP on the hard ground again, but again, she's in motion again quickly. She knows Chad's a tank. That's half of why she wanted to fight him - even without the spirit power difference, Tatsuki knows someone with his physical skills would be a tough fight. So she doesn't have to feel bad if she gets whipped! It is win-win.

This time, she goes low, dropping and throwing a sweep at Chad's legs, hoping she can get enough leverage to at least /hurt/ him, even if those tree trunks of his don't actually buckle and all.

Tatsuki Arisawa misses Yasutora Sado with her Sweep! attack.

Tatsuki's guess seems spot-on, when her leg collides with Chad's they don't move an inch. He seems to now be in the perfect position to boot her rather hard, however Chad does not use kicks. He fights with his arms only.

So considering that Tatsuki is in an unfavorable position for punching, Chad instead brings his fist back, and punches forward, releasing a very small blast of spiritual power. Low damaging, but it should knock Tatsuki back a few feet, at least.

You get a glancing blow on Tatsuki Arisawa with your Weak Spirit Blast feint.

Tatsuki looks up, just in time to see the fist swing down. The blast knocks her down and back aways, creating a small furrow in the ground. "Eesh!" she says. "Thing hits hard...but that one was weak, wasn't it? I could tell. 'course, I can't blame ya for holding back with something that strong..." She reclaims her feet, shakes her head free of the dizziness. "Still, I won't give up! Here we go!" And she's coming again, another flurry of punches to try and tear through Chad's arm. However, this time she's leaning a little toward the side with the unarmored arm; Tatsuki has at least learned that Chad's armoring is not something she wants to mess with.

Tatsuki Arisawa misses Yasutora Sado with her Flurry The Second attack.

More punches, Chad tucks back to try to circle around Tatsuki. He's showing some uncommon speed and agility tonight. Must be luck.

"Actually I'm a bit winded from using those blasts so much earier. I can't really manage one much more powerful than that right now." Which is sort of true. He IS a bit tired from earlier, but if he really had to, he COULD manage a few big ones. The thing is, this is just a spar, and it would take a life or death situation to force a more powerful blast out of him right now.

Weaving his way behind Tatsuki, Chad delivers another punch from behind, trying to hit her in her upper back.

You get a glancing blow on Tatsuki Arisawa with your Backside Blow jab.

Tatsuki smirks, despite the fact that her face is currently in the dirt. "Well, either way, it's good to know what I'm up against," she replies, and then spins back up, her feet whirling as she flips back to her feet, and then lunges in with a few more kicks to try and pressure Chad's defense. This is pathetic, is she slow? Is that wound slowing her down this much...?

Tatsuki Arisawa hits Yasutora Sado with her Kickies! attack.

Tatsuki lands another blow, this time Chad is forced to staggar back a few steps. His defense remains solid, however, and he moves in again for another blow. This time another blow to the stomach, albiet with his unarmored hand.

Chad is still somewhat torn on this, internally. The rational part of him is aware that Tatsuki is a competant fighter, and doing this will ultimately help her. But another, perhaps more immature, part of him is essnetially going 'omg ur fightnig a gurl! u dont fight gurls!' so that's making things a bit difficult, and keeping him from really getting into it.

You miss Tatsuki Arisawa with your Gut Punch Number Two feint.

The fact that his defense is proving nearly impenetrable is becoming somewhat apparent to Tatsuki. She's not USED to fighting people with this much mass. The last time she did was in Nationals at the final, and even then that girl wasn't anywhere near Chad's stature. It's hardly surprising he's giving her a hard time, arm or no arm. She's giving it her all, though, and she seems to be enjoying herself - that's what's important, right? Either way, she manages to avoid this attack, stepping back just enough to evade the blow, and then, in a fit of agility that might just be a bit above the norm, leaps up, rebounds off of Chad's extended arm, and uses the extra force from the springboard to bring her foot around to smash into the side of Chad's head.

Tatsuki Arisawa hits Yasutora Sado with her Highly Improbable Springboard Technique attack.

Highly improbable or not, it is highly effective. Chad is sent reeling for a moment, his head spinning under the force of the attack. Tatsuki sure can manage a lot of power for someone of such small stature. Then again, that's what skill is all about.

Not about to be daunted just yet, Chad decides to turn the tables a bit, finally employing a blow to the head. To the side of the head, rather, so he can repay the favor. The blow is more of a backhand, but he tries to hit her firmly on the side of the head, this is also to throw her off balance.

You hit Tatsuki Arisawa with your Head Banging jab.

Whack! Tatsuki's head snaps the side from the force of the blow, and she staggers, her vision swimming for a moment. WOW. That one hurt a lot, actually. But after a few moments of staggering, she's back in gear. "That's..." she stammers, "That's more like it! C'mon!" It's about time to end it, that she knows. She can't win this, but she can at least keep going for a bit longer! Which is why she streaks in again with fists aimed at the torso, trying to find a hole somewhere that she can exploit.

Tatsuki Arisawa hits Yasutora Sado with her Hammerblow attack.

Chad is struck square in his stomach. Another grunt escapes the giant, but it still doesn't seem to stop him. It only forces him to idle for a moment to catch his breath. Seeing that Tatsuki appears to be more than ready to put all the cards on the table, Chad decides to do the same, and musters the energy for one more spiritual blast. A bit more powerful than the last one, but certainly not lethal by any extent of the imagination.

You hit Tatsuki Arisawa with your Big Spiritual Blast attack.

WHUD. A blast to the chest, and Tatsuki rolls away, landing hard on her back. "Wow!" Tatsuki says, dragging herself up again. At least she's dedicated... "Not bad!" she adds, and then it's motion again, blurring forward to kick at Chad some more. "I can't do that, but take some o' THIS!" Kick kick! She likes to kick things.

Tatsuki Arisawa hits Yasutora Sado with her Kicking Is Fun And Recommended For Children Ages Ten And Up attack.

Wham! Another swift kick. Even Chad's tank-like body is starting to bruise under all of this. Still, he's not going to back down at this point. Tatsuki clearly wants to be serious, so he'll have to at least show her the same spirit she's showing him.

With his armored hand he grabs her by the foot she just kicked her with (once more) but this time, instead of throwing her into the air, he lifts her up and slams her back down into the ground. Ouch.

You get a glancing blow on Tatsuki Arisawa with your Bodyslam ala Chad attack.

WHAM!! Tatsuki slams into the ground, and groans a little. "OK," she says. "I think that's enough for today. I wanna be able to walk home."
Pause, still lying there.

"Thanks. You didn't say it, but your moves made it obvious you were uncomfortable. Thanks for doing this for me anyway."

Chad's about to prepare himself for another strike, but stops when Tatsuki gives the signal. His armor evaporates into the air. He may not be as nearly beaten up as Tatsuki is, but he IS injured.

He offers his hand to help Tatsuki up. "I admit, I didn't like the idea of fighting you like that. It didn't seem fair. But I guess what really wouldn't have been fair was if I didn't give you a chance at all. Spiritual powers or not, you hit pretty hard."

And when the walking tank admits you hit hard, then it's gotta count for something.

Tatsuki Arisawa laughs, her voice tired - not emotionally, just from pure physical exertion. "I'm not on your level anymore. I...know that, much as I hate it. But if I don't try, don't fight my hardest to get back up there..." She shakes her head, hair getting dirty against the earth. "I couldn't live with myself. So..."

She reaches up, accepting Sado's hand up, and grins. "Thanks, Chad." 

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