Moxie

Like its sister concept, Tough Breaker (which will come up a lot on this site since the two share a lot of DNA), Hi-Striker draws inspiration from many Shounen Battle series tropes. Powerful Friendships, Turning Face After Defeat, Beefed Up Young Guys and of course, the big one that everyone knows and loves; The Fighting Spirit. An aura that burns so hot and so bright, it makes you 10x stronger than the average person.

In Tough Breaker, it's called Vigor.

In Hi-Striker, we call it Moxie.

And unlike it's cousin from a few towns over, I'm willing to say a little bit about Moxie's origins.

A long time ago, before the modern age, there were stories and hushed whispers about clans of Clowns with mighty supernatural powers who would travel the world, keeping the peace and wowing audiences with death defying feats of strength and will. These Clowns were known as Carnies, and just as soon as they arrived, they disappeared without a trace.

Why exactly? It's unknown. Some said they left as to hide their powers from those who might seek to exploit them. Others said that some Carnies went rogue, going into buisness for themselves as solo acts. And yet some believed that they're still among us, hiding in plain sight and living within secret societies away from the prying eyes of the Marks, those without this energy.

In any case, it all became nothing but forgotten memories and fairy tale fables by the 20th century, completely forgotten about by the start of the second World War.

But A Fighting Spirit Never Dies!

Now, let's talk about the Rings System.

Rings

The way Moxie works is that the user must ascend through various 'Rings' that represent power or mastery of Moxie. There are three 'main' Stages that user can go through. Starting with...

Ring 0 - Mark

Technically not a Ring, but it's where everyone begins. This is a Clown at their most natural. You have the capabilities and promise as any other average Joe or Joan Q. Public.

But everyone has the ability to get stronger. Put in the work on your performance, and you might find yourself in...

Ring 1 - Pre-Show

The lights have come on and the Moxie has begun to flow! Now you're capable of drawing your energy fourth, along with gaining a general buff!

But just because you got the Moxie going doesn't mean you're all that and a bag of chips juuuuuuuust yet. You still gotta work on your act! Keep at it long enough and before you know it...

Ring 2 - Showtime!

It's Showtime! Your Mark days are long gone, because now you're a full blown Carnie with an Act! Act referring to your abilities, of course!

As an example, Ace has spent the last few years of his life training as a boxer. So as such, his Acts are based around the sweet science.

Enhanced speed, precise striking, lighting hydrogen particles in the air for explosive hits, you get the idea. Your Act is based around you as a Clown and your expertise!

And as you might expect, there's something of a limit on how many Acts one can be capable of. Typically three, but some have such mastery that they can go beyond this limit. One such Clown being Angel Cortez, who's mastery of Moxie rivals that of a small God. But it's a given that you REALLY have to be an all around master, as pushing yourself too much too early could have it's consequences.

Again, Cortez has spent much of his life to learning Moxie and perfecting himself as a person. And it's guaranteed that you'll never have the amount of experience he has.

But thankfully you don't need to have a lifetime of experience to take your Acts 'further beyond', if you catch my drift.

If your Acts and spirit is true and honorable, you could find yourself in...

Ring 3 - The Spotlight & The Shine

The Spotlight! The ultimate state of being that very few have ever reached! A full blown Surge of power, it's essentially a super form.

And I do mean only a few have ever reached this state. As I said before, the Spotlight will only ever glow upon those with the most noble heart and spirits. You have to have no evil or vanity to your person.

For example, Cortez. He might be one of the few great Moxie masters left in the world with a noble heart, but even he can't get the Spotlight. So what keeps him from getting it? His vanity.

Guy likes to look pretty, even if it's a detriment to his character sometimes. He's not ashamed to admit it. He's still plenty powerful even without the Spotlight.

But there is a lesser state that most can make use of. The Shine.

Even more brief than the Spotlight, The Shine is typically used for a last desperation attack/boost and tends to leave the Carnie gassed afterwards. It's not much, but it can be a lifesaver.

EXTRA - Imprinting

This one kind of goes without saying, but I'd feel like I'm resting on my laurels if I didn't mention this.

Moxie isn't just something that can be used in conjuntion with physicality, as plenty of Carnies have had Acts that use a weapon, whether it be a blade, polearm or other tool.

Those who use a weapon typically Imprint their Moxie onto their tool of choice to act as an extension of their person. This has benefits such as allowing them to generate more energy, specialty attacks and manuvers, you get the idea.

Ok, let's address a potential elephant in the room. One that's more noticable if you've read the Vigor page for Tough Breaker especially.

Moxie is just Vigor again, with some looser rules. I'm not gonna pretend that it's not anything else because that'd be stupid.

I'll be blunt here: It's HARD to come up with a decent power system. For the longest time both TB and HS were just gonna have some basic as 'Oh It's Just Ki Again' bullshit since both stories are pretty schlocky and self-indulgent as is. But I decided to try SOMETHING original and managed to fumble onto Vigor and it's more personalized nature.

I TRIED to come up with something new for Hi-Striker, but that was proving to be a non-starter. So fuck it. I'll just edit it ever so slightly with looser rules and circus-themed verbiage. And I did feel bad about it a little bit.

But then I remembered my Ace in the hole: The secret kayfabe lore of Hi-Striker!

This is literally Kidd's comic, so naturally he'd pull ideas from his own life experiences! And seeing as he's a Vigor user, of course he'd base Moxie off Vigor!

NOW THAT'S BEING CREATIVELY LAZY!!

But Hi-Striker does have something that Tough Breaker doesn't have: A SUB-System.

The Emotional Core

True strength isn't just physicality. It's also one of mental fortitude.

You can do well with Moxie alone. But for one to be truly strong, you must be one with your emotions. Only after having felt the highest of highs and the lowest of lows will you truly understand true strength.

This all boils down to basically being able to weaponize your emotions as an extra battle aura.

For Example.

Being an assassin from a cursed lineage and a generally imposing statue at 8'3", Max thrives off of negative emotions. Spreading fear, chaos, panic and of course; Death.

Getting off on this, Maximilian can use his emotional aura to corrupt the minds of those weaker around him into doing his bidding, gain additional strength from their woe and even make them embrace their impending doom.

And on the othe side of the coin, let's say you're a happy-go-lucky sort of Clown like Lu-Lu! Always happy, cheerful and willing to help your friends whenever they made need it! You can generate a healing aura or pass on some of your Moxie to boost your friends from your happiness!

If this seems like Haki from One Piece, I can guarantee you that it's NOT intentional. Besides, I'm not gonna do an asspull and drop the Emotion Core as a concept half way through. It's something that'll be mentioned at the front.

I uh. Don't know how to end this page. So...Yeah.