Description: Metro City Arcade is, like much of Metro City, big and bustling but losing some steam. As part of the Metro City benefit, a lone schoolgirl--Sakura Kasugano--has been contracted to provide some entertainment, excitement, and advertising on behalf of the place. The opposition for her fight? A mysterious, shadowy fighter named Munin. How will their philosophies and styles clash? (Winner: Sakura)
It's supposed to be a ruse--a made-up storyline to make the fight more entertaining, to provide a bit of context to the fight, so that it isn't just two random people going up against one another. But, you know... Sakura actually got here early. With a pocket full of tokens. And so for the last several hours she's been playing--and mostly beating--all comers at her favorite fighting games. Deep in the huge arcade, she's completely lost track of time, but she's audible from quite a distance away.
"Take -that-! Ha -HA!- Pay up, sucka!!"
"You? Challenge me? You're ten--no, fifteen--years too early to beat -me-!"
"Sure, I'll use Russia Bear. Let's -do this-."
Suddenly, over the PA, a spit-crackle-whine, and then a slightly exapserated voice. "Sakura Kasugano, to the bumper cars. Sakura Kasugano, to the bumper cars." Pause.
"-Now-, please, Miss Kasugano."
Suddenly Sakura realizes all her opponents are staring at her. "Eh-heh," she grins, rubbing the back of her head with her right hand.
"Well guys, it's been fun, but I got some work to do!" And she casually strolls out of the fighting game corner, dropping off her remaining tokens in the hands of a young kid in a red shirt, and then dashing off to the bumper cars.
Arriving at a dead run, she doesn't even notice the crowds in the makeshift stands, leaping over the barrier and skidding to a halt, flailing about comically and only semi-seriously, then looking around.
"... uh, hey, I'm here? Where's my opponent?"
(This whole thing is ridiculous...) Munin thinks to herself, leaning against a wall in a slightly darkened area of the arena. It has been made so deliberately by the managers at her request. Would make more sense to just have Sakura show up, fight, and be done with it. (Then again, guess there's a reason i dont bother with running a buisness....). She just smirks and shakes her head as she checks her watch idly.
Not long after, Sakura shows herself at last, vaulting the barrier, and skidding to a halt. When she asks where her opponent is, Munin straightens up and smiles, her violet-glowing eyes more pronounced and manacing in the lower light, and steps forwards "I'm your huckleberry". Wisps of shadowy chi drift off her shoulders as she tightens her gloves "Let me know when you've caught your breath".
Sakura, herself, doesn't really care about the setup of the fight. It's not meaningless to her but it doesn't bother her, either. Hell, she got to spend several hours doing something she loves--for free! Normally she has to -pay- for that privilege. So she's all grins when Munin comes out, even if the other girl looks a little put out by the setup.
Raising her hands, Sakura tightens her own fighting gloves--it seems almost ritualistic with her, really, the way she tightens the left, then the right, then settles her headband--and kicks her right toe against the bumper car arena floor. A quick, sharp nod to herself, and she raises clear brown eyes to her opponent.
Then her fists come up, tightened carefully into the striking implements they are, and Sakura nods, again. Gazing past her upraised fists, already starting to bounce back and forth on the balls of her feet, for agility and quickness, she says, in a clear voice, audible to all, "I'm ready." And she certainly seems so.
COMBATSYS: Sakura has started a fight here.
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Sakura 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Munin has joined the fight here.
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Sakura 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Munin
As Munin gives a nod in return to Sakura on her readied status, the shadowy chi drifting off her body seems to thicken a bit, making the shadows on her body seem to shift on their own in strange ways "Very well, then. Let's make this interesting......"
For a moment--a really long one--nothing happens. Well, nothing appreciable. There's definite eye contact going on, Sakura focusing her gaze on Munin's. There's an element of challenge, but also an element of searching... and then the moment is broken and Sakura is moving forward. Her steps are fluid, unhesitating but careful, stance kept wide for balance. Moving forward but not rushing in recklessly, trying to take a more measured approach to the fight.
Measured, that is, until she finally attacks--which comes not too long into the fight. Measured but not too much so. Sakura feints a left jab, two left jabs, cutting them just wide of Munin's body--close enough to maybe hit, but not fully on target, at least the second jab isn't.
That's a ruse of sorts--if she hits, great, but what she really wants to do is lead Munin's guard off-center, so she can step in and swing for Munin's chest with a pointy, folded right elbow, putting a little extra swivel into her upper body.
COMBATSYS: Munin blocks Sakura's Aggressive Strike.
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Sakura 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Munin
Eyeing Sakuras legs with peripheral vision, Munin is tipped off as to when Sakura moves in with real intent. She keeps her guard up, the jabs deflected mostly harmlessly. Wary of overcomitting to defense to such lighter strikes, when the elbow comes in, she has time to bring her hands back to catch it with a grunt of pain. It IS an elbow point, and it does have momentum, after all!
Keeping her guard tight, Munin keeps it simple, lashing out with a trio of punches followed by a kick aimed at Sakuras midsection!
COMBATSYS: Sakura dodges Munin's Combo Grapple.
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Sakura 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Munin
Sakura tunes out the crowd--supporters and detractors alike. Sometimes she can't help it--she feeds off the crowd in her best moments--but right now she's trying to fight more like her idol. Fighting like Ryu means focusing. Tuning out the crowd. Limiting her universe to only her and her opponent.
Sakura defends against each punch in the combination with a minimum of movement, slipping each one with a surprising amount of grace; the third punch she has to twist and deflect, putting a forearm up just past the punch and sending it off course with a deflection that isn't enough to stop Munin from the last kick--which Sakura jumps over, using a back jump to clear the kick.
Landing, she immediately backs up another half-step, needing just a bit of time to concentrate--and where Munin has shadowy chi, Sakura has a blue-tinged white chi, crackling and spitting as it builds in her hands, held at the level of her stomach, forcing them apart to where it looks like she's holding a beach ball of pure energy.
As she pushes her hands forward and out, unleashing the bolt of energy, she calls out in a clear, almsot defiant voice, "Haaaaaaa---douken!"
COMBATSYS: Sakura successfully hits Munin with Medium Hadouken.
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Sakura 0/-------/------=|===----\-------\0 Munin
"Haaaaaaa---douken!". Uh oh. Munin did her homework on her opponent, just in case. She knows what that means. She tries to quickly lean sideways out of the way of the projectile as the chi flies past, but just doesn't make it, and the crowd cheers as the angled impact sends Munin flying sideways, rolling to her feet a few feet away!
The crowd is ignored as irrellevent, ultimately, as Munin eyes Sakura as she stands, and with a blur of motion, she suddenly splits into two identical copies, one going left and coming in with a kick to the face, the other right with a low punch to the gut!
Hit or miss, the chi image vanishes once the move is completed.
COMBATSYS: Munin successfully hits Sakura with Mirror Image.
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Sakura 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Munin
Now that--that's something pretty new. Sakura's caught off-guard by the split. Not sure which to defend against, she hesitates for just a second too long, and that proves to be her downfall--as she takes the kick to the face, reeling back from it with a grunt of pain. That rung her bell a little; she shakes her head, clearing out the cobwebs that just formed, and slaps her cheeks with her hands briefly.
Snap out of it, girl! she tells herself, and with one final shake of the head she returns to the fight. A good strike, tricky and powerful. She's going to have to be even -more- careful with this one. The Ansatsuken Prodigy considers her options without realizing she is, running through a miniature set of scenarios in a process of elimination, and makes her decision--again without being really conscious of it.
Suddenly, she leaps, drawing her fists into the air above her and kicking her legs out in front of her--and when she comes down, she's coming down straight for Munin, those doubled fists intended to be brought down straight onto Munin's head.
COMBATSYS: Munin counters Sakura Otoshi from Sakura with Shadow Strike.
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Sakura 0/-------/-<<<<<<|======-\-------\0 Munin
With the hit to Sakuras head successful, Munin estimates that more than likely A) she'll be more aggressive in an attempt to regain momentum, and B) after a hit to the head like that, potentially be that much more off-balance.
Sakura doesn't disappoint her.
'A' is at LEAST true as Sakura takes to the air, bringing her fists down like that. As she leaps, Munin moves in underneath her in a low horse stance of sorts, a burst of dark violet chi firing from her open palm at the girls midsection (or lower. she doesn't really aim other than 'at her opponent'), before coming up in a ready position behind the young shotokan fighter!
Sakura is now behind. She recognizes this at an elemental, instinctive level--she isn't an experienced fighter but she can feel the flow of the fight turning. There are many decisions to be made, in the heat of the fight, tens of questions to be asked and answered within the space of a second. Does she continue to be the aggressor? Does she hold back and make her opponent come to her? How to handle this?
Sakura lands, tumbling once, and pops back up, frowning slightly. She re-locates Munin immediately, her eyes narrowing in concentration.
But she doesn't attack--instead she starts drawing on her power. Energy surges around her, rippling up around her in a blue aura, a cyclonic gust of wind ruffling her skirt as she settles down into a lower, steadier stance.
COMBATSYS: Sakura taps into her inner strength!
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Sakura 1/-----<</<<<<<<<|======-\-------\0 Munin
There is an 'oooohhhh' from the crowed as Sakura begins focusing and becoming surrounded by particle and wind effects. Her opponent, however, is more concerned than intrigued. After all, it can't be a good sign of what's to come!
In an attempt to take advantage of Sakura's immobility, Munin moves in hard and fast, a small spike of chi forming in her palm that she jabs towards her opponent in a fierce palm strike! Following this, she plans and sends a roundhouse kick at Sakuras head!
COMBATSYS: Munin blitzes into action and acts again!
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Sakura 1/-----<</<<<<<<<|=====--\-------\0 Munin
COMBATSYS: Sakura blocks Munin's Shadow Spike.
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Sakura 1/--<<<<</<<<<<<<|====---\-------\0 Munin
COMBATSYS: Sakura interrupts Fierce Kick from Munin with Shinkuu Hadouken.
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Sakura 0/-------/-----==|=======\==-----\1 Munin
In a moment, the flow of the fight speeds up. Sakura has to make a lot -more- decisions, and she has no time to really consider them. She has to act on instinct. That spike of chi is absorbed by her aura--at least partially--though some of it gets through. Trying to kick her in the head -again-... well, that's just un-neighborly. It'a a strong kick, but Sakura doesn't move--she brings her arms together and swings them, absorbing the shock of the blow on her forearms. Still pretty powerful, but not the brain-jarring hit that Munin might've expected.
Even as she swings her hands, they're glowing, sheathed from fingertips to elbows in that blue-tinged white, and after deflecting the kick, Sakura's arms don't stop moving. They describe a quick circle, the power building with each degree her arms travel, and by the time she's pulled them back to position that power is at a screaming high.
It gets unleashed all at once, a thunderous, explosive wall of chi as tall as Sakura being launched straight into Munin's body, accompanied not by a shout of any words but a shout of no words, a yell that perfectly expresses Sakura's highly charged emotions.
The words going through Munins mind as the impact of Sakuras Shinkuu Hadouken can be more than likely easily predicted as she is sent flying by the large burst of chi, landing hard, bouncing once, and rolling to a stop. Of course the crowd loves this, fans or nonfans alike. That had to hurt!
It did. A lot!
Not enough to put the shadowy fighter down, though, as she slowly gets to her feet, fixing her glowing violet eyes on the schoolgirl.
Wiping a small trickle of red from the corner of her mouth, Munin blurs back in, coming in with a palm strike aimed at Sakuras shoulder, in an attempt to knock her off balance!
COMBATSYS: Sakura dodges Munin's Aggressive Strike.
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Sakura 0/-------/-----==|=======\==-----\1 Munin
Sakura slips the strike, fading back a half-step and dropping low to go underneath the palm. She doesn't mind a close-in game like this--it's not as though Sakura has a whole lot of reach available to her other than her legs--but she can't maintain a position like -this-, with Munin literally dominating her stance.
Her movement is quick, another half-step back so she can straighten up--and in the same moment, she throws a quick one-two combination. It isn't the standard left jab-right cross--it's a left jab, sure, aimed upwards from Sakura's still-crouched position--but the right is a sharp uppercut, meant to blow Munin back and give Sakura some space.
For the first time in the fight, Sakura grins. It is a confident grin, but it says more about how much Sakura is enjoying the contest of wills than it does about what she thinks about her chances of winning. In that, at least, she is exactly emulating her idol.
COMBATSYS: Munin blocks Sakura's Medium Punch.
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Sakura 0/-------/----===|=======\==-----\1 Munin
As before, the jab is stopped effortlessly, but again, Munin is almost taken off guard by the second hits ferocity! She gets her hands crossed, one behind the other, just in time to stop the strike, but her wince in doing so shows that it wasn't without some effect!
Without hesitating, a counter-attack commences! With a tug on Sakuras arm to hopefully pull her off balance slightly, a punch is sent with the other hand at her chin, followed by a kick to the ankle, and finally using the pulled arm to try to twist into an overhead throw!
COMBATSYS: Sakura blocks Munin's Combo Grapple.
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Sakura 0/-------/---====|=======\===----\1 Munin
It's definitely getting on to that point in the fight where things are getting serious. Sakura gauges Munin's oncoming attack, and lets herself get tugged--but she keeps her other arm up, deflecting the punch. The kick is met with an upraised leg, short-cutting the motion to rob it of some of its power--and as for the overhead throw, Sakura springs with it, flipping around in midair. The landing's a little harsh, but better than landing on her back.
A quick twist draws her out of Munin's grasp, and Sakura again fades back a half step. Again, her hands are drawn to her stomach.
Again, power builds, and builds--more swiftly, this time.
The sequence is already familiar, to the audience and probably to Munin--but Sakura has to play to her strengths. She has to use what she's been given. Once again, a wordless yell, as she throws another hadouken--this one almost as big as she is, but less densely packed than the blast she hit Munin with previously. But her movements, the sequence, is getting smoother, with less hesitation--even a fight is training.
COMBATSYS: Munin endures Sakura's Large Hadouken EX.
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Sakura 0/-------/----===|=======\=====--\1 Munin
Indeed, Sakuras actions are read and known by all. In an attempt to hopefully end this, Munin decides at that moment to do something UNexpected!
With her arms raised to brace herself against the impact, she pushes through the larger fireball in a charge, accompanyed by a warcry! Once through, she flings a burst of shadowy chi in her own style of projectile, though she is breathing very hard afterwards... a clear sign that Sakuras attacks are really starting to take their toll.
The crowd is really cheering at this point, though more just in favor of the general battle than for either fighter. To most, just seeing such nifty displays of combat prowess, live non-the-less, is really cool all it's own!
COMBATSYS: Sakura dodges Munin's Shadow Wave.
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Sakura 0/-------/----===|=======\=====--\1 Munin
Sakura skitters back quickly, taking three quick hops back to get enough distance to get around the shadowy chi--which she does with a quick reversal of momentum and inertia on the last hop, suddenly lunging forward and to her right, throwing herself into a makeshift handspring tumble. She's not really an acrobat, but she's watched some acrobats do their work and she's inspired to throw that little extra flare into it.
Plus it lets her change her momentum, flipping towards Munin once more, landing on her feet and converting her momentum instantly. That conversion lets her lunge forward, her legs bent, and as she steps in close to Munin, she pushes off with her legs, twisting her body to the left as she goes.
That brings her right fist up in a swinging uppercut, timed to land just as Sakura's feet would be reaching full extension--and pushing Sakura up off the ground, her body turned to her left, body reaching full extension of the uppercut as she rises.
COMBATSYS: Munin fails to counter Shou'ou Ken from Sakura with Double Vision.
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Sakura 0/-------/----===|
COMBATSYS: Munin can no longer fight.
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Sakura 0/-------/----===|
After her prior charging attack, Munin is just reaching a level of exhaustion that can't keep up. She is therefore woefully unprepared for Sakura to go on the offensive herself so fast. She tries to react, starting to move out of the way, but whatever she had in mind fails as the uppercut connects her chin, sending her down for the count. While not unconscious, she is DEFINATELY knocked silly, and in no shape to continue fighting!
Sakura's fist connects clean, and flashbulbs go off just at the moment, capturing a really picturesque moment of Sakura going up for her punch and Munin's head snapping back. The schoolgirl's arc takes her just past Munin's body; she lands and whips around, only to see--no Munin. Huh.
She looks down, sees her foe downed--and blinks. "I won? I mean--I won!"
Sakura jumps up and down, throwing the vs for victory. "YEEEEEEEEAH!"
On a whim, she starts dancing--sliding back and forth on one foot then the other. It's... a really silly dance, but that gets captured on phone cameras everywhere, and it'll be up on YouTube in about 30 seconds. It might become her most famous gesture.
Of course, the crowd is going nuts--that picture finish definitely earned Sakura some fans. And Munin earned several of her own, too. The PA crackles, and the announcer comes on to announce Sakura as the winner.
Above the roar of the crowd, though, Sakura walks over to Munin and, with a grin, offers her a hand up. "Hey. That was a -great- fight. You're really good!" That Sakura was better in the final moments doesn't even cross her mind to say--it's not the outcome of the fight that made it a great fight. It was every moment leading up to it.
COMBATSYS: Sakura has ended the fight here.
Munin is just coming back to her senses and looking up when Sakura offers the hand up. Taking it, she lets Sakura help her up, giving it a firm shake "Indeed. You"
Munin is just coming back to her senses and looking up when Sakura offers the hand up. Taking it, she lets Sakura help her up, giving it a firm shake "Indeed, and likewise. You're a hard one to pin down when you get going". She eyes the crowd, letting the room slowly stop spinning in her vision. Just cause she's conscious doesn't mean that wasn't a really good knock to the noggin!
Peering back to Sakura, she gives a smirk "Either way, at least they seem to be enjoying themselves watching it. In this case that's what counts really".
A little laugh, and Sakura nods. "I guess so. At least for them. I'm trying to be a little more..." She pauses, searching for the words.
"... spiritual, about it. I don't think that's the right word. I'm searching for... what the fight means. While I'm fighting. It's tough. And it's tough to explain. But I think I learned something here, today, and that's all I can ask for," she says. Further conversation is pre-empted by officials coming out to perform the closing ceremonies--awarding Sakura the win, and medics coming out to check on Munin.
In the meantime, the crowd is filtering out, having seen the show--some of them fingering tokens for the games, others just wanting to get home without getting mugged.
Sakura reaches a hand into her pocket and finds some tokens she forgot about, then grins. Waving to Munin, she turns and hops the barrier wall, heading back into the arcade. She is absolutely, positively, 200% sure that there are some punk asses that need schooling in the 'cade.
Log created on 22:04:47 11/08/2014 by Sakura, and last modified on 17:04:05 11/09/2014.