[ Bruce is all readiness, nerves strung tight, prepared to act. His plan is Batlike. She comes down on him, inspecting the shadows, and he drops the flash pellet, silver nitrate bursting bright pinwheels, his own eyes closed against it, so that he has time to get her in a hold.
It's not what happens. She's adjusted in response to her challenger - adjusted to the fact that it's Bruce that she's fighting - and when she comes down she's on the attack. Then it's Bruce that has to adapt. He's impressed by that, impressed by her pragmatism and agility impresed by her nerve.
His hand closes tight around the pellet so as not to accidentally drop it, forearm crossing over his chest so that the impact is absorbed evenly by bone and muscle. His feet slip on the dry, sandlike dust between the two trees, and Bruce doesn't resist it, letting the movement give him time to adjust. He knows she has to land, that the fact that he stays on his feet means she can only spring back from the resistance of his body through the fork in the tree or follow through and leapfrog over his back, and Bruce jams the blade of his gatling into the tree trunk, using its inherent ability to support his dynamic weight in order to throw himself into a kick of his own. The trigger on the gun releases the catch on the line, giving him room to continue to move without releasing the device.
If she springs back, he's already attacking; anything else and he gains himself time and space to prepare his next attack. ]
no subject
It's not what happens. She's adjusted in response to her challenger - adjusted to the fact that it's Bruce that she's fighting - and when she comes down she's on the attack. Then it's Bruce that has to adapt. He's impressed by that, impressed by her pragmatism and agility impresed by her nerve.
His hand closes tight around the pellet so as not to accidentally drop it, forearm crossing over his chest so that the impact is absorbed evenly by bone and muscle. His feet slip on the dry, sandlike dust between the two trees, and Bruce doesn't resist it, letting the movement give him time to adjust. He knows she has to land, that the fact that he stays on his feet means she can only spring back from the resistance of his body through the fork in the tree or follow through and leapfrog over his back, and Bruce jams the blade of his gatling into the tree trunk, using its inherent ability to support his dynamic weight in order to throw himself into a kick of his own. The trigger on the gun releases the catch on the line, giving him room to continue to move without releasing the device.
If she springs back, he's already attacking; anything else and he gains himself time and space to prepare his next attack. ]