Description: A high-flying, high-mobility aerial battle--will Nyotengu's wings give her the edge over the roaring flames of the Kusanagi? (Winner: Nyotengu)
It has been centuries since Nyotengu has participated in a sanctioned fight, and part of her is eager for the experience; it is, apparently, one of the rare places that the truly inhuman creatures of this world can simply behave as they will, and use their power to the greatest extent possible. In this place, at least, it's no sin to be mighty.
Accordingly, she seems downright ecstatic as she rides the elaborate pulley system up to the tremendous pillar; this seems almost /too/ wasteful, Nyotengu reflects as she glances to the stair-like pillars. It's wonderful! Truly a marvel of the speed of engineering -- and the wastefulness -- of this modern era.
Clad in her most traditional clothing -- a beautiful yet showy oiran's kimono -- Nyotengu takes up her place at one end of the pillar, licking her lips in anticipation. With a great, forceful footfall, she stomps her position into the pillar, marking her passing with tremendous force.
Halfway down the pillar, something starts to beep.
For all that Kyo is less than twenty-five years old, it's been a while since he'd participated in a sanctioned fight, himself. After all... he's lazy. But the possibilities of this one interested him and so he signed up. Why not? Yuki's studying anyways, and he can't be arsed to do that.
Kyo rides the pulley system up, and when he mounts the top of the pillar, he looks... well... a little less bored. After all, he's fighting up atop a huge pillar, that's... kinda neat. When he spots Nyotengu he hrms to himself. Looking around himself at the field, he has to admit... Nyotengu might have an advantage here.
But it's a challenge, he guesses. Looking across at the creature he's to fight, he notes the wings and quirks an eyebrow. "Hey, those for real?" he inquires, casually, as he tightens his fighting gloves on. He's no stranger to high-flying combat, himself. This...
Kyo grins. This actually ought to be fun.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Nyotengu asks, a smile on her face as she looks Kyo over. What a charming young man... he seems somehow -- antique. Perhaps even familiar. That gives the lady tengu pause; her gaze sweeps over him a second time, trying to discern what it is about him that seems so old -- because it's sure not the youth himself.
She doesn't have time to inquire, though -- because as soon as she thinks of it, there's a much louder beep. This one, audible from the top. The pillars crack with the first explosion, and are thrown skyward with the second... it looks like it's go time!
Nyotengu takes to this high-flying situation immediately; taking the explosion as the signal to start that it is, she goes into a series of low, gliding hops from shrapnel piece to shrapnel piece, making her way to Kyo and smashing her fists toward his face rather unceremoniously. For how elegant she /looks/, she sure fights with an awfully stiff style...
COMBATSYS: Nyotengu has started a fight here.
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Nyotengu 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Kyo has joined the fight here.
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Kyo 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Nyotengu
COMBATSYS: Kyo blocks Nyotengu's Hana Kagura.
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Kyo 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Nyotengu
Kyo doesn't have much time to react. But he has enough time to note that, whether the wings are 'real' or not, Nyotengu is moving like someone who can fly. That is... interesting and probably should be a bit worrisome to the young Kusanagi, who, as far as he knows, is not possessed of that ability. But he doesn't have time to worry--he's got a pair of fists headed for his face. He covers up, letting Nyotengu's fists bounce off his guarded forearms, then, as his pillar is thrown upwards, leaps himself.
"Looks like they are," he comments, flipping once in midair, planting his feet against a chunk of pillar, then pushing off towards Nyotengu. His fancy martial arts aren't going to be a ton of help here--they're meant for grounded combat--but he's got innate talent.. and power.
And that power surges, coming to the forefront as he attempts to strike Nyotengu in passing--with a fist that's suddenly got some all-too-real fire on it.
COMBATSYS: Nyotengu blocks Kyo's Ge Shiki - Tora Fuse.
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Kyo 0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0 Nyotengu
Nyotengu meets that flaming fist with an arm of her own -- her movements are quick and sharp, and save her from a faceful of the flames of the Kusanagi. It's then that she realizes why the young man is so familiar -- that lineage dates back an impossibly long time... In spite of herself, she smiles. The old ways are still alive and well, it looks like.
Giving immediate pursuit as Kyo passes her by, Nyotengu continues her longer, slower leaps, assisted by those wings. They might just be helping her glide from chunk to chunk... but something subtle about their movements indicates they're likely very real indeed. "Favour me with your name, boy," she says -- her tone is demanding, despite the gentleness of the words themselves.
As she closes the gap between herself and the Kusanagi scion, Nyotengu attempts to snag him with one arm, wrapping it squarely around him and pulling him in; her purple eyes meeting his, she licks her lips and declares, "I love the vigor of youth..." She then favors him with a wink -- before hopefully tossing him down toward a much lower chunk of pillar.
COMBATSYS: Kyo blocks Nyotengu's Power Throw.
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Kyo 0/-------/----===|=======\-------\1 Nyotengu
His name? That'll take a moment. Nyotengu is able to snag him and hurl him, but he maintains at least some control. His landing is hard, but not uncontrolled, and the heavy impact doesn't adversely affect him -too- much. Landing, he grunts. "My name? Sure. Kyo Kusanagi. Don't forget it," he says, with a totally cocky grin, "you'll probably be hearing it again..." Considering his attack angles and options, he doesn't take too long to spring forward--hurling himself towards Nyotengu.
His is an artful lunge, leading what appears to be arms-first--but just before he reaches Nyotengu, he flips over, tucking into a ball. When he comes out of the flip?
He's leading with a heel that's suddenly slicing through the air for the tengu's shoulder.
The impact would carry her downwards, and it would let Kyo gain some momentum for another push-off to take him to another chunk. He wants to get his fire into the mix more, of course, but he'll have to figure out -how-...
COMBATSYS: Nyotengu counters Medium Kick from Kyo with Shishi Odohshi.
- Power hit! -
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Kyo 1/-------/=======|=======\====---\1 Nyotengu
As Kyo hastily works his way back up toward Nyotengu for that powerful aerial kick, Nyotengu seems entirely ready for it; perhaps she has the measure of him after something as simple as a name? Is that it?
Grabbing out at that leg, Nyotengu whirls her own body around using it as a fulcrum; her legs swing up to meet Kyo's head, their positions now upside-down relative to one another in the air. She drives her knee for his face once with tremendous force, then whirls her body around /again/, this time dragging Kyo with her rather than just using him as a pivot point -- and ultimately hurling him right back down again.
Following him for half of the way before stopping on a particularly large chunk of rock, Nyotengu decides that now would be a great time to make yet /another/ demand. "Show me the fire of your ancestors!" she calls down toward him; against any opponent, this might be dismissed as particularly flowery language, but aimed at Kyo...
Taking a long, slow breath, Nyotengu does her best to move back into her stance, ready for the next strike from the heir to the Kusanagi clan legacy.
Someday Kyo will learn that being cocky doesn't get him anything but pain. But maybe today isn't that day. The lesson is taken well to heart, though--it would be hard not to, with the emphatic point Nyotengu just made. He doesn't just hit a chunk of pillar--he hits a -sharp- chunk of pillar, and the impact is enough to make him gasp.
He wrenches himself off of it--no penetration--but there's a sharp ache in his chest that isn't going to go away anytime soon. Of course, he can fight through it--he's no wuss--but the reminder will be there for a while. The pain, however, is a motivator.
And right now he's motivated to do two things. One is to pay Nyotengu back. The other is to stay the -hell- away from her for a moment. So he calls upon the fire that's his birthright, energy flowing to his hands.. and then bursting out of them in a vaguely snake-shaped projectile that he hurls for Nyotengu. Center mass, just like he'd been taught.
COMBATSYS: Kyo successfully hits Nyotengu with 108 Shiki - Yami Barai.
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Kyo 1/-----==/=======|=======\=======\1 Nyotengu
The snaking projectile catches Nyotengu off guard -- even if she'd been expecting the bloodline's flames, she hadn't quite exxpected /that/. After his first energy-filled assault, she'd assumed him to be more of an infighter -- and that mistake costs her dearly. The flames hit her squarely in the midsection, and graze off of her wings as well; she sags a little, and nearly falls right off of the chunk of rock she'd been standing on.
She's not yet struggling -- but she /is/ starting to hurt, and accordingly, her offense becomes a touch less explosive than it had been. Gliding down toward Kyo, she decides to aggress rather than let him push her back with the long-distance attack like, perhaps, he'd been hoping to.
Her current maneuver is achingly direct and simple; as she glides down, she sticks a single foot out, aiming it right for Kyo's head with little ceremony. The offense seems almost effortless; perhaps she's not eager to try very hard from such a disadvantaged tactical position.
COMBATSYS: Kyo counters Light Kick from Nyotengu with Ge Shiki - Ryuu Iri EX.
*KNOCKED AWAY*
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Kyo 1/----===/=======|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Nyotengu
This fight is as much a test of balance as it is a test of the fighters. For this moment, Kyo finds that balance. He meets Nyotengu's incoming kick fearlessly--and at the last moment, he sweeps his left hand up and out, snatching her foot right behind the ankle.
"Not this time," he growls, under his breath, and then he's yanking Nyotengu down--pulling her to his level. As he's doing that? He's winding up his right fist, and that trademark fire bursts into effect again, the sound rather like the sound of a gas-flame burner being lit.
As soon as his target is in position--he attacks. The yank down and the punch occur nearly simultaneously, Kyo's fist brought around in a flaming arc to plow right into Nyotengu's midsection. That fire bursts like an explosion, to hurl Nyotengu away, and Kyo? He gives it half a second before leaping to follow.
Grabbed out of her maneuver and ceremoniously punched in the gut, Nyotengu feels her eyes roll back into her head in agony; the youth of today seem to still have 'it,' at least, that unknowable 'something' that makes a fighter truly excellent. She reels back from the blow, considering her choices here carefully. She /could/ move to end this now... but there's a substantial risk involved in doing so, especially while she's groggy from that nasty punch.
Best to probe his defenses for just a little bit longer, she thinks to herself -- then, perhaps, she can decide on a way to approach this situation with a little more... finality. Stance dropping low, she favours Kyo with no more words -- a sign of great respect, from a tengu who can normally be so chatty.
With a forceful stomp in that shatters the chunk of pillar that both fighters currently call home, Nyotengu swings a single high-speed fist out with force enough to knock over a grand, tall tree as the pair start to fall yet again. They're starting to get a little uncomfortably close to the ground... or at least, close enough that they should worry about it.
COMBATSYS: Kyo instinctively blocks Nyotengu's Strong Punch.
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Kyo 1/--=====/=======|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Nyotengu
That Nyotengu can still summon that kind of speed after taking the kind of hit he just gave her is astounding. Kyo's instincts--that wealth of natural talent that he's relied on for so long to fill the gaps in his technique--serves him well here. A combination of a twist and a deflection block leaves him grazed by hypersonic-seeming punch. He probably ought to worry about the ground--but instead he's worrying about his opponent.
Well, maybe he's worrying about both. Nyotengu has her wings to help her out--Kyo only has techniques. Like the one he calls his Haze Wheel--a set of three flying kicks that will help him gain some altitude, but won't do the same for Nyotengu.
The last kick won't, at least, a dropping heel kick that's very similar to the attack he used just moments ago. The resilience of youth--he doesn't remember that she just took his face off for it earlier.
COMBATSYS: Nyotengu counters 101 Shiki - Oboro Guruma from Kyo with Ara Habaki.
*KNOCKED AWAY*
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Kyo 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|>>>>>>>\-------\1 Nyotengu
Just as before, when Kyo presents Nyotengu with a foot, she is all too happy to receive it. Leaping up just slightly to meet the incoming kick, she rips it out of the air, knowing exactly how painful the Kusanagi clan's arts will be if she lets them actually connect with her. Once she has his foot well in hand, she rushes forward, moving clean off their makeshift platform.
What follows is nothing quite so much as swinging Kyo's body around like a rag doll; she whirls him around from side to side like a gymnastics ribbon, a broad smile on her face as she does so. When she finally grows bored of her apparent new toy, she finishes by hurling him straight down toward the ground with as much force as her impossibly old form can muster.
Gliding to a chunk of a different pillar entirely, she looks down at him with a broad smile, saying nothing. Her tongue slides over her lips again, as her eagerness to see how he handles this shift in his fortunes builds to a fever pitch.
He didn't remember. And he paid. The impact is... it's horrendous. When he impacts, it's very picturesque--he impacts, then, as he rebounds, gasps, a gout of blood flying from his mouth. His eyes are blank momentarily... but then they clear.
He's... well, he's probably out. But not yet. He's too stubborn... and if his body is broken and battered and won't take him back up into the air to confront Nyotengu one more time, well... honestly? It doesn't -have- to. Because Kyo is the heir to the Kusanagi bloodline, and that bloodline... is fire. He rises to his feet, laughing a little brokenly, for a moment... and then his voice dies. What he can't say with words? He says with a gout of fire. It roars, it snaps, it hisses... it reaches up for Nyotengu like a rising serpent, Kyo's ultimate expression of his power. A draining act, by a man who is already drained, a sheet of flame so powerful it'll vaporize some of those chunks of rubble outright.
COMBATSYS: Kyo can no longer fight.
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Nyotengu 1/-------/<<<<<<<|
COMBATSYS: Kyo knocks away Nyotengu with Ura 108 Shiki - Orochinagi EX+.
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Nyotengu 1/--<<<<</<<<<<<<|
Nyotengu claims victory this day, as Kyo musters the very last of his strength -- but it costs her. The power of the young man rips out toward her, the immense flame biting into her whole body, wreathing her in fire. She does her best to see through it -- but being able to see the power one's enemy is bringing to bear, in all its splendor, isn't quite the same as being able to do anything about it. She screams the whole time, crumpling under the energy of the world...
... but ultimately, when the flames pass, she's still standing and Kyo is running out of energy. She begins to flee, running up the raining rubble at a pace the wounded Kyo will likely be unable to match; unless he were to /drastically/ rally in the next few seconds, somehow, he's practically guaranteed to touch the ground first.
Nyotengu gives him no more teasing, no more words at all; she has had /quite/ enough of the Kusanagi scion for one evening.
And that's it. Kyo sinks to his knees, exhausted. He's... had enough. It was a good fight but he'll only recognize that later. Right now... he's got nothing. Officials hurry out to drag Kyo away from falling debris--it wouldn't do them good to have a star player crushed by a chunk of falling pillar...
Log created on 19:24:03 12/15/2014 by Kyo, and last modified on 12:43:18 12/17/2014.