8305/Slayer vs Shadowcat

Slayer vs Shadowcat
Date of Scene:	13 July 2019
Location:	Backyard - Xavier's Mansion
Synopsis:	Buffy and Kitty get together to have a sparring session, after which they each find out a bit about the other's history.
Cast of Characters:	Shadowcat, Buffy Summers

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Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty had earlier met Buffy and learned she was the cousin of Scott and Alex Summers. After some comments from Logan, the pair had set a date to get together and work out and do a little sparring. With the weather today being nicer, and Kitty not sure if it was alright to take Buffy down to the X-men's base, she'd led Buffy out to a spot in the backyard. There were some refreshments set nearby, including cold water and sweet tea, and some fruit and sandwiches. Because sparring is hungry work!

Kitty is wearing a pair of spandex shorts and a workout top, both of which are tight enough to not make for an easy hand hold, and probably part of why they were chosen. She has her hair pulled back into a tighter ponytail than normal. "So, you don't have mutant powers? But you're enhanced compared to other people? How did that work exactly?" Kitty asks, picking up on questions that lingered for her after that first meeting.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers was happy to meet up with Kitty again, having found her quite friendly and charming, and of course she was always eager to hone her skills with someone else. She had arrived in the backyard bright and early, dressed in her wine coloured yoga pants and a simple white tank top. Practical runners finish off her look. Spying a Kitty she smiles and nods to her, walking towards her.

"Heya Kitty, good to see you again." she shrugs, "Guess that's about right. I'm no mutant but I have my own set of powers. You know, super strength, speed, healing, agility. a Standard slayer stuff." she peers thoughtfully at Kitty. "How about you? What kinda tricks do you have up your sleeve?"

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty gives a soft grin after hearing that, and looks impressed. "Oh, nothing like those. I'm normal speed and strength and get hurt like anyone else. So, definitely please pull your punches," she asks. "I do have a mutant power though. I can go intangible. So, I can use it to let a punch, or a bullet or a sword, pass right through me," she says.

Kitty smiles and gives a little shrug. "It's not flight and being able to lift a semi over my head. But it is far more useful than a lot of people imagine it is," she says. Kitty goes over and gets a sip of water. As she does, a little purple thing can be seen leaving the roof of the school. Which as it gets nearer is easy to identify as a small purple dragon with yellow eyes. He flies over to land on the blanket with the food. "Buffy, you met Lockheed already? I don't recall if he was with me in the kitchen?" she asks, motioning to the cat-sized purple dragon. She sets out some cheesy poofs for him which he begins gobbling down.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers arches a brow, "Really? You mean you can pass through walls and stuff? Ohhh, yeah, I remember how you came through the ceiling the first time we met.." she chuckles, "Well that's a pretty handy power.."

She too, walks over to the table to grab a bottle of cool water, sipping down some quietly as she ponders how she might tackle someone who could walk right through her.

And then a tiny purple dragon flies towards them and she narrows her eyes, pondering if this is some sort of tiny demon or perhaps the imp that was causing trouble at the magic box.

But he seems to be pretty friendly with Kitty and is hopefully quite harmless. "Wow, pet baby dragon? Cute." she grins but knows better than to attempt to pet the little critter. "I've never seen one before, didn't even know dragons existed but I've seen so many crazy things in my life that there's not much left that can really surprise me."

Shadowcat has posed:
"He's friendly," Kitty says, and as Buffy comes over the dragon will trot over to her and examine her before giving her leg a nudge with this head. "He's actually not from Earth. We met on another planet. He saved my life twice, once in space and once here after he stowed away on our ship back to Earth. And we've been best buddies ever since," Kitty says, reaching down to rub his head near where the horns stick out of it.

"You should see it when he breathes fire. Totally awesome," Kitty says witha warm laugh. She sets down her water then and begins stretching, going through a routine as rigorous as you might expect from a professional athlete. Kitty mentioned that physically she was a normal human, but it's easy to tell in her attire that she works out enough to maintain a very athletic looking tone.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers leans down to pet the dragon gently on the head and smiles as he nudges her leg. "Hey there, cutie..Aren't you a good dragon?" When Kitty explains how she acquired him, she arches a surprised brow. "Wow, you actually went into space? On a spaceship? That's awesome..I wonder what that's like..? I mean, what were you doing out there, on another planet?"

Shes starting to realize that this school has some amazing resources and probably many more secrets as well.

But for now, Buffy follows Kitty's lead, doing some stretches and warmups of her own. Her own body is quite lean and well toned as well, and it's obvious that she too, seems to live a very active and well-disciplined physical life.

Shadowcat has posed:
As they stretch, Kitty says, "Well, parts of it are cool. Other parts, kind of scary. You heard of Thor's fiance, the noble from the Shi'ar Empire? That's how we got into space, and who I was with when I met Lockheed." She stands up, dusting grass off her legs and backside now that she's done stretching.

"Ok, want to go with just some normal sparring first? Just pure skill, no powers. Though, you know, you can still be super fast and all. Just please don't cave my chest in," she says, peeking down at herself. "I finally started to have the girls fill out in the last few years, I don't want them sunken in now!" she says, laughing warmly.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers smiles, "No worries, if I used my full strength I might really hurt you, I'm good with pulling punches a little. But it looks like you can probably hold your own skill wise, heck, we might even be evenly matched." she certainly doesn't want to underestimate an X-man, especially when she's seen what Logan is capable of.

And with that decided, Buffy sinks down into a defensive stance, hands up at the ready. "Ready when you are!"

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde takes a ready stance as well. Her fighting style probably has elements of what Logan does in it, though he's likely adapted the style for his own fighting with claws as he does. Kitty circles Buffy a little bit, seeing how the other young woman moves. The wind stirs, rustling the trees overhead that are casting some welcome shade down on the pair. No one but birds and nature to observe as the two women set to it. Kitty circles a bit more, feinting once before stepping forward to throw a jab towards Buffy's shoulder.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers smiles, noting some similarity in her fighting style with Logan's, with some differences as well. As for herself, Buffy moves light on her feet, using a mixture of many fighting styles, some of which may seem familiar.

She doesn't fall for the feint but does bring up her arm to block the jab, stepping forwards and to the side, twisting her blocking arm to attempt to grab Kitty's jabbing hand and twist it to the side while at the same time she attempts to sweep her foot off the ground to hopefully throw her off balance.

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty's jab is blocked aside, and as Buffy moves to give herself a chance to get ahold of Kitty's hand in the lock, Kitty moves as well, helping pull her arm back as she twists a bit to slip free of the grip before it can be applied.

The foot that comes swinging across manages to sweep Kitty's foot, enough to cause a stumble though Kitty is already retreating, opening up space between them. The stumble speeds up her retreat and she catches her balance, giving a nod of respect as Buffy created the moment of instability for her. Kitty moves again, light on her feet as she faces the blond-haired girl.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers steps back, quite surprised and impressed with the other girl's skill and speed. "Mmm not bad, not bad." she quips with a smile.

She begins to slowly circling the other girl, looking for an opening, and then she darts firsts and to the side, sending a couple of fast jabs at her face, followed by a good strong side kick aimed at her mid section.

Shadowcat has posed:
Though Kitty has experience facing opponents who are faster and stronger, it is still difficult to overcome. Her technique helps Kitty block some of the jabs and dodge others. But the kick that follows them up is just too quick for her to block conventionally. It hits her in the side, knocking her to the side a step before she regains her balance.

"Nice one," Kitty says, voice bright as if embracing the challenge rather than being upset she got hit. "Wow, you /are/ fast," she says, switching into a more defensive posture to try to help negate some of Buffy's speed. She's going to have to just try to hold on and wait for an opening she can exploit.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers nods, turning around to face her once more, "Well I am the Slayer after all." she smiles, "But I suppose it gives me a bit of an edge. Feel free to use your phasing ability if needed. It's always good to learn to adapt one's style to face any challenge."

She circles Kit some more, impressed by her shifting stance. This girl seems young but she clearly possesses experience beyond her years.

She darts in quickly again, this time attacking with a side kick aimed at her chest, followed by a spinning foot sweep, attempting to knock her off her feet should the first strike miss.

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty replies, "Let me go a little bit longer before I start phasing. It's good to practice as if I might not be able to." It might not make a lot of sense to Buffy why she'd need to practice that. But then Kitty has been trapped in enough psychic mindscapes, and faced Sentinel power nullifiers, that she has had times she had to rely on mundane skills.

Kitty backs away as the attacks come in, avoiding the chest and making Buffy have to come forward further to try the foot sweep. The sweep catches one of Kitty's feet and knocks her off balance enough that there's an opening for Buffy to be able to take Kitty the rest of the way to the ground.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers arches a brow, "Oh yeah? That's interesting." that's a potential weakness to exploit right there. She keeps this thought to herself as she finishes the sweep with a second low footsweep, attempting to bring her all he way to the ground.

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty lets out an oomph as she hits the ground, Buffy having taken her down successfully. She kicks with her legs, using the momentum to flip her body back up while getting her feet under her to quickly jump back up to a standing position. "Nice!" Kitty exclaims with a grin.

She circles around Buffy again then, feigning a kick but then backing away. She leaves an opening, one that she hopes will lure Buffy into moving forward on the attack, though it's a trap to try to use Buffy's own speed against her.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers grins and nods, although she's quite impressed by Kitty's speed at jumping back to her feet.

"You're not so bad yourself." she watches Kitty's movements as she circles around her, catching the feint and ignoring it. When she leaves an opening however, Buffy takes the offensive, never liking to take defence if she can help it. She advances upon her opponent, attacking with a series of fast jabs at her face.

Shadowcat has posed:
Knowing how fast Buffy is, Kitty anticipates for the moment Buffy commits that speed to moving forward, and then lunges forward to meet Buffy as well sooner than the Slayer had intended. Hopefully.

Kitty rolls her head, letting one of the jabs land on her cheek as the price for the move, but lessening the impact somewhat. Meanwhile her hands come together in front of her as Kitty will try to do a hard two handed push against Buffy's torso. Essentially a throw backwards as Kitty tries to take the Slayer's momentum forward and let it rebound off Kitty's arms as she tries to shove the other girl back.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers is perhaps a little too confident in her strikes, grinning as one of her jabs land. But she is not prepared for when Kitty shoves her back. She stumbles a little, nearly losing her balance, but rolls easily into a couple of back hand springs, sticking out her legs to attempt to kick Kitty if she gets too close.

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty was just starting forward to follow up the attack when she sees the foot swinging up towards her face. She lets out a very un-fighterlike, "Eep!" and arches back as the foot brushes past her chin and nose close enough she can feel the breeze of their passing.

Kitty rights herself to a better posture and grins, rubbing her nose. "Wow, that would have laid me out if it had landed," she says, thinking of taking the kick under the chin as she almost did.

She backs up a bit, bouncing for a moment to limber her legs back up. "Ok, going to start phasing now," she says.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers flips back to standing on her feet and smirks, "Sounds good. Let's see what you're really made of!" she stretches her arms, cracking her knuckles before dropping back into a slightly offensive stance and continues to circle her.

They continue to exchange blows, although from here on, it's quite a bit harder to lay a hit on Kitty as she pulls some well timed phases, causing Buffy to stumble through a couple of times although she manages to catch herself from falling most times.

She does manages to land some well timed strikes, luring Kitty into a couple feints here and there although it looks like Kitty has a bit of an edge when she adds phasing to the mix. At least it's a learning opportunity for the Slayer, and at the end she bows respectfully to her opponent, even managing to breathe lightly at the end.

"Well done miss Pryde. It was an honor to spar with you. I guess I underestimated your abilities but you are a truly formidable fighter. Care for a break? That food looks pretty inviting."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde ends up breathing hard too. She has a few sore spots but nothing that won't be better soon. Especially with Josh Foley around to heal any injuries. Where Kitty managed to land shots, Buffy probably doesn't even have a sore spot, the woman so much more resilient, and Kitty trying to pull her punches as well.

Kitty grins over to Buffy, her expression showing a measure of respect has definitely been gained. Kitty has noticed the level of skill in Buffy's fighting. Kitty's own ninjutsu training has been supplemented a lot recently. Even Logan has yet to pick up on her use of techniques from the League of Assassins, and the adaptations added by their most famous trainee.

"Whew, great workout," she says, rubbing at her shoulder where Buffy landed her last punch. She motions over towards the table, moving over to grab a drink of water. "So have you been training with someone in particular, or is your fighting skill part of your enhancements?" Kitty inquires.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers smiles and nods, grabbing her water bottle and taking a long sip before she talks again. "Well, my watcher had been training with me for about four years now. However, I suppose I do have a bit of an edge as I've retained the memories and innate skills of every single slayer that came before me, since the first one triggered some 2000 years ago."

Buffy shrugs as she peers at the food in the table. "It's a little freaky, a lot of the time it feels more instinctive than anything else. Toss me any ancient traditional weapon and I'm an instant professional. But hand me a modern weapon and I know about as much of it as anyone on the street. How about you? Your fighting skills are quite impressive. You must have been training for a very long time.."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty picks up one of the sandwiches. Roast beef with a spicy mustard, cheese and pickles. She takes a bite, chewing thoughtfully as she listens to Buffy's explanation. "Wow. That's a lot of experience to be able to draw from," she says. "So do you like, channel them one by one? And do you remember everything else when you do?" she asks.

Kitty washes down her next bite with a sip of iced tea from one of the bottles she opens up. "And thanks. Yes, been at this for over seven years now, I guess?" she says, pausing to add that in her head and nodding at the total. "I sort of learned a lot from this ancient ninja sorcerer. Though, it was more of a brain-washing situation than a mentor. Logan saved me and in breaking his hold on me I lost a lot of it. He helped train me back up, and the two of us together were able to defeat him in the end," Kitty says. "I was 15 at the time, so I've had a lot of time to build on top of it, since."

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers nods and sighs. "Yeah, it really is. Sometimes it can be overwhelming as I feel like I am experiencing their lives as well as their deaths. But thankfully, most of the time I can filter out most of those thoughts. As for skills, it's kinda like I can draw upon them as needed and I'd I really need to focus on them. Mostly it's just raw innate ability coming up when I need them the most. I guess it's kinda hard to explain and a bit freaky..

With a shrug, she reaches for a simple ham and cheese sandwich, just realizing now how very hungry she is after all that fighting.
Shehe drinks the rest of her water and reaches for a glass of cold iced tea as she listens to her strict. "Wow magical sorcerer? That's intense." she grins at mention of Logan. "Yeah, he's pretty badass. I did recognize a lot of his style in your moves. Guess you two must be pretty close huh."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty gives a nod of her head while she's dealing with the next bite of sandwich. Once she's swallowed, she says, "Known him the whole time I was at the school. Yes, he's kind of a gruff mentor figure. We've been through a lot. And a three letter word like 'lot' really can't begin to express how much," she says, chuckling and shaking her head as if not believing it herself.

"You always know where you stand with him. He's not going to sugar coat things to spare you. It's a kind of... honest unconditional love that's kind of rare to find, you know?" Kitty asks. "So how'd you two meet again?" she asks. "Killing something I'm guessing. I mean, Slayer. Logan. It kind of fits."

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers nods thoughtfully, falling silent for several moments. "Yeah, he sure is a great guy..." she seems lost in her thoughts, distracted about something for a moment before she glances back and smiles at Kitty. "Oh..How did we meet? Well, yeah, he saw me being stalked by vamps, decided he'd play hero and save the seeming damsel in distress." she chuckles, "Then we kept bumping into each other after that, we did some soaring and some talking and realized that he knew my cousins, the summers bothers. So he offered to drive me up here to meet them.."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty grins. "Well, I had no idea who Scott and Alex's other family were, or that they were unusual like us in any sense. So glad that you guys stumbled into each other and you were brought by." Kitty finishes off her sandwich and gives a contented sigh.

The women talk longer, just chitchatting, and perhaps getting back to some training as Kitty asks Buffy about some moves she did and asks if she would demonstrate them for her. Eventually the day moves on and it's time to part. Kitty gathers up the remaining food and drinks as they can make plans to meet up another time.