Description: While the childlike killer has been featured in more than a couple of sanctioned matches in her lifetime, she is still a relative unknown to the world of fighting. Still, wise promoters know that her matches are oftentimes filled with way more bleeding than a kid's rating will allow. Time to go whole hog. The enigmatic diamond dust has to seek out her match in the sexy, seedy "My Alibi" nightclub, set way out of the way in the bad part of Southtown. It's the kind of place that an adult really shouldn't be at, let alone someone Kula's age (is she actually of legal age to be in there?!) Her match is the self-professed God of Battle, Shenwoo, in what's destined to be a good old fashioned barfight. The club's giving out two dollar Merchant's Wives for the occasion. And a dollar for jello body shots. Jeez, that's like, practically giving it away! [Winner: Shenwoo]
My Alibi, despite it's proximity to a high school, is no place for the young or the decent folks of southtown. Fortunately, none of them are here tonight!
Save for the young Kula... She's probably fairly decent too, but the promoters didn't worry about that when they slapped this card on the bill.
The air pulses with the beat of one club remix or another, the music is loud and the drinks are cheap. People undulate and writhe on the dance floor, try to yell their orders and conversations near and around the bar, and just generally try to have a good time while they wait or ignore the night's promised entertainment. The dance floor is a little more crowded than usual, much of the room taken up by a boxing ring that has been surrounded by a slap-dash cage, chainlink fencing that stretches fifteen feet into the air but with only sandbags and cement buckets anchoring the fence posts in place. Someone thought of the safety of the audience, but they didn't think much of it! The flimsy cage rocks and wavers as people bump or crash against the fence, shaking it and hollaring all manner of things to the people inside.
The volume drops some marginal level and the house DJ lets it be known that the time for the brawl has come. He belts it out with enthusiasm and gusto that's just a bit too much over the top.
"ALRIGHT YOU BUNCH OF DRUNKS AND IDIOTS, IT'S TIME TO WATCH SOME MOTHERFUCKERS BEAT THE PISS OUT OF EACHOTHEEEEEER!!!!1!"
A ruckous cheer fills the air, drowning the music out for just a moment and the crowd shows their love by pitching things at and over the cage, Stools and seats clatter against the chainlink barrier while beer bottles and cups go sailing over the top and bounce or smash upon the floor of and surrounding the boxing ring. It is made clear that no introductions will be offered when the music is cranked back up to levels that promise hearing damage.
In one corner is a man that... well, he looks right at home! Black pants with pointless belts strapped here and there, spiked hair and a dog collar around his neck, a open shirt that reveals more muscles than anyone has any right to have! This is Shenwoo, the mad boxer of Shanghai, God of Battle.
He tips a thick, large bottle up to his lips, canting his head back as he drains the last of the brown fluid there in in several gulps before he sends the bottle hurtling out of the ring and over the fence with a careless toss. Wiping his mouth, he then pounds his fist into a open palm, eyes alight with anticipation and a but hazey for the drink. He doesn't seem too worried, concerned, or otherwise aware at all that maybe his opponent is a young girl and maybe she should not be here!
COMBATSYS: Shenwoo has started a fight here.
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Shenwoo 0/-------/------=|
If her handlers viewed participation in these organized fight venues as some kind of extention of her two years of in-lab training, it's beyond Kula's wildest dreams what /this/ situation is supposed to reinforce or prepare her for. Perhaps it's to help operate without the benefit of functioning ears? Because that seems to be what the entire establishment was built around.
There almost wasn't even a fight to begin with. Things are running late by the time Shenwoo and his young opponent find themselves penned into the makeshift 'arena' cage.
The whole event got started out on the wrong foot when his young opponent couldn't even get in the door. Hopping out a van full of tracking and recording equipment a block away, she had cut to the front of the line by slipping in front of one lady who had her back turned at just the opportune minute. And of course, since no one told the bouncer anything, she was told to get lost!
Well. That was fine with her. Five minutes later, she was knocking on the back of the van, asking to go back home because the rude guy at the door told her to scram! Of course, this isn't acceptable to her handlers and the next objective she is given is to get into the match by any means necessary that doesn't involve hurting anyone besides her scheduled opponent!
Back out she goes for round two of her homework assignment. The roof becomes her point of access. Even a narrow vent is wide enough for the lithe figure to slip through once she's broken the grate by freezing the metal to the shattering point.
Sixty seconds later, she's on the dance floor. Given the crowded atmosphere, flashing lights, and intoxicated clientele, no one really pays attention to the thin girl weaving through the crowd with ease. The cage, at least, is easy enough to spot, though the closer she gets to it, the more densely packed the clubbers become. Soon, even she can't find her way through.
Not to be deterred from her assignment, she takes to climbing up atop the shoulders of the tallest dude in her vicinity. Given the beat, rhythm, and overall atmosphere of the low rent district nightclub, no one seems to think this is weird in the slightest!
A step atop another head, a skip against the back of another, and Kula flips down into the cage across from Shenwoo. That seems to be all the DJ was waiting for. The music is lowered for one fleeting moment, the announcement made, and then the deafening sound resumes.
A glass bottle explodes at her feet as she closes her eyes for a fleeting moment - a flash of white is lost amid the already pulsing strobe lights as she awakens to her combat potential, her skyblue mane of hair blending in with half a dozen other girls and a few guys already in the club.
What none of the rest can claim, however, is the slow swirl of snowflakes drifting about her figure as she gazes across at Shenwoo with calm, crimson eyes. Her arms are at her sides, fingers stretching beneath thick, yellow gloves.
No greeting is offered. No stance is assumed. A roar of excitement is heard briefly before being drown out by another surge of a new, head-throbbing beat. Hopefully she knows what she's getting into being locked in a cage with the renown God of Battle!
COMBATSYS: Kula has joined the fight here.
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Shenwoo 0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0 Kula
COMBATSYS: Kula takes no action.
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Shenwoo 0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0 Kula
I wish, dearly that Shenwoo had something to say now, some quip or remark, maybe even the where withall to question the strange, little transformation that Kula had gone through. He will be thankful for it when things get close and dirty however, so many bodies in such a space had driven the heat up several degrees. Beads of sweat alread began to form on the boxer's brow and torso.
No, he has nothing to offer in way of conversation. He simply grinds the fist into it's open palm and repeats the process in a mirrored sort of way. His attention drops down to Kula's boots and lifts upwards in a rough and quick appraisal. Thankfully, Shenwoo is not the sort to catcall a teenage girl. Unimpressed, Shen's nostrils flare with a snorted breath, his lips crooking in a derisive smirk. Kula is written off, she's a girl. No meat to her at all, sure, she can do a bit of moon prism makeup with the hair or something but this is a fight, not a cosmetology contest.
"Alright," he utters, voice raised in a harsh growl, "LETS GO!" it pitches into a bellow as he reels back, booted feet planted as his body twists away like the firing pin of a revolver cocking into place. A fist, clenched tight, knuckles bulging, is brought back by his ear as he allows something to well up inside of him, something hot and wild. There is a snap, a shift in the air preassure and then Shenwoo is hurtling towards her. Not a run, not a leap, he seems to be drawn along behind his fist. The rest of his body becoming something of a afterthought as a face-seeking fist-missile of a punch crashes towards Kula!
COMBATSYS: Shenwoo successfully hits Kula with Gekiken.
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Shenwoo 0/-------/----===|=====--\-------\0 Kula
As with all of her other tests, the array of scientists, researchers, and lab workers all dedicated to evaluating their long term experiment's success leave the girl to figure out her opponent's techniques on the fly. Certainly they have abundant files on the opponents she's been going up against - she's not facing off unknown rookies fresh to the fighting circuits afterall. Yet, for all their resources, their living weapon is never provided with any briefing or targeted preparation. Afterall, she has to be prepared for anything in the wild. And, besides, the scientists are always curious to see how her in-fight combat analytics are doing.
Unfortunately for the fragile seeming Snow Doll, this usually means she gets to start evaluating what she's up against with a fierce punch to the face. Like the one that hits her right now. It's not that she's standing idle as the God of Battle makes good on his directive to get this show going. Both arms snap up, legs bending at the knees, the girl bracing for impact.
Combat algorithms immediately identify the extreme speed with which he moves. His posture, the directness of his attack, all of it points to someone with an almost reckless drive to be in the heat of the battle in an instant - no holding back.
The aspect that is impossible to evaluate until a violent exchange of kinetic force has taken place, however, is just how much power is behind that charge. With most martial artists, the trade between striking speed and striking force is a necessary concequence of human limitations.
Shenwoo exhibits no such limitation as his hand smashes clean through Kula's raised guard, her hands forced apart, his fist colliding with his opponent's face in what seems like will be a very swift, violent fight, if this is any indicator!
The shoddy construction of the cage is put to the test as Kula smashes back against it, a pained gasp escaping her lips as a small spray of bloody spittle is spat forth. The fence itself smacks hard against the crowd packed against it and it certainly would have collapsed were it not for the reinforcement of tightly packed human bodies gyrating, cheering, and dancing their brains out.
Crimson eyes widen, fight routines spinning up on high alert as the true threat potential of Shenwoo is instantly acknowledged. Sliding back down to her feet, she lifts her left hand to wipe across her mouth, leaving a trickle of frozen blood against her porcelain features. Not one given to holding back in the first place, there can be no doubt that she must take everything she has to the fight against this man. But first - perhaps a change in conditions.
A swirl of white, liquified energy bursts up around the featherweight as she takes to the air. If he has dismissed her as not a threat, the reckless brawler might find himself left open for a split second too long as Kula flips over him encased in a huge sphere of energy. A sweep of her arm gathers up all that stray power before she spin kicks it back down toward him -
A tactical bomb of frozen death descends upon Shenwoo in that instant, solidfying into a shard-laden fragile network of ice crystals... The point of impact would be the center of the tight confines before it would detonate, sending sharp tipped spikes, razor edged fragments, and an abundance of crippling cold, freezing energy out in a radius.
Even if the God of Battle escapes the impact, the cage itself will not, as the fence, and even the first row of the audience find themselves blanketed in ice. While not painful at that point, it's certainly shocking, and the surprise of it all starts an immediate panic outside of the cage... in a over-the-max capacity dance floor.
Way to go, Kula.
COMBATSYS: Kula successfully hits Shenwoo with Diamond Shoot.
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Shenwoo 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 Kula
That's it, one punch. Who the hell put that stick figure in the same bracket as him?
Shenwoo is all but dusting off his hands when Kula gets her feet back under her. Sure she has tricks but there are few that can trump a good, hard pop in the face! Fortunately enough though, Kula manages to find one of those tricky trumps and dumps it out like it's chocolate syrup and Shenwoo's a big, tall, glass of milk; a lot of it. He stands his ground when she bounds up from the dance floor and goes sailing overhead, eyes follow her, head cranes around, his weigfht shifts as he turns to keep her in his sights. All it does is make sure he sees what's coming next. "Aw, mother f-!" She's tricky, another friggen tricky one!
His weight rocks back and he plants his heels, his arms lifting to try and throw up some kind of defense in the face of her arctic nuke of a soul bomb. Maybe that's a over-statement but when you're carpet bombed by a sudden blizzard, you don't think lightly of it! Of course, Shenwoo's guard does him as much good as it would have against a avalanche. Shards and slips of ice whip past and over him, the eruption bowling him over and sending him tumbling into the four ropes that had Kula had sailed over, twice, just a moment ago.
Snow blasted, Shenwoo is left a bit strung out for the moment, glazed against the ropes by a fine sheen of ice that is doing well to hold back the bleeding from the grab bag of lacerations that riddle his physique. It all cracks and shifts as he moves, flaking and falling away from himself and the ropes, or crunching underfoot when he hauls himself to his feet. It fits him with a bitter chill, the type that inches through the layers of muscle and creeps towards his bones. For a moment, he regrets not buttoning his shirt... and not having worn a set of thermal underwear.
People scream and scatter beyond the cage. The ring and cage might have halted anything lethal from rattling through but it's exactly the cold kind of slap that's liable to make people reconsider attendence. Still, not everyone's spirits are so easily dampend. For evey two that swarm the exits or leave the floor, another takes their place. It thins the crowd but that just means folks get some elbow room!
"G'got me fighting a fffriggen ice m'machine." chatters Shenwoo as he hauls himself to his feet, strugling with numb lips as he lurches forward, his footing less than ideal as he tries to rush down Kula once more, the brawler nearly spent sprawling as he charges her, a handf going down to the mat to keep him upright as he closes... and kind of just tries to slug her in the gut! A shoulder dipping as he chambers a fist down by his hip, it fires off low, a stiff thrust aimed at her middle.
COMBATSYS: Kula fails to interrupt Medium Punch from Shenwoo with Behind Slash.
- Power fail! -
-@- Dazing Hit! -@-
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Shenwoo 1/-------/=======|=======\=------\1 Kula
Landing seconds after the icy detonation, feet crunching against the thin layer of frozen crust left on the dance floor, Shenwoo's smaller regards him with the same impassive look she gave him when she first arrived. Emotionally, she feels nothing about the man. He looks strong... and he hits even stronger than he looks. He seems to enjoy the prospect of battle given the fierce, driven speed he has brought to the match. And his fists should be registered as lethal weapons.
But the pixie fighter is here because she has to be. Getting punched, kicked, and smacked around in these grueling trials of skill are just part of her life. But it isn't her opinions of him that he should be concerned about anyway. It's the entire libraries worth of combat routines that have been conditioned into the young experiment's mind that are on display here, and that frozen explosion she just used is one of many such weapons at her disposal. If only her routines could decipher his style... It seems like he just charges and punches? There must be more to it than that, right?!
A flicker of emotion registers on the girl's face as the cacophany outside of the cage escalates. She doesn't have any feelings about the people outside either. Maybe this kind of experience is exactly what they're looking for in spectating a violent fight in a packed nightclub? She wouldn't have the slightest idea.
The God of Battle breaks free of his own issues as he charges the girl again, feet slipping a little over the ice... changing the environment to her advantage was certainly part of her plan from the beginning. He will either have to adjust or be crushed.
Her left hand slips forward, fingers splayed as a mirror of shimmering, translucent ice appears between them. Wherever he intends to strike, she intends to stop it cold. Her right hand slams out, exercising her control over the frozen element coasting the floor by ripping a large segement of it up out off the floor in the form of a shard. If he's worried about tricky attacks, this indirect assault from the now speeding spike of ice is definitely going to the bill!
With the perfect plan of stopping his punch and stabbing him in the back, she can't help but feel a tinge of grim satisfaction...
What she hadn't anticipated was his stumble, the bare knuckle boxer going down to one hand, his other fist slaming for her stomach. That trajectory doesn't align with her incoming ice spike in the slightest!
Red eyes widen at her own attack surging toward her, causing the girl to life her mirror slightly to counter it. The moment of uncertainty is all it takes, Shenwoo's own fist slipping in beneath the frozen barrier to smash into her unprotected abdomen! The ice mirror shatters from the proximity of the imapct and the disruption of her concentration. If his powerful fist wasn't bad enough, the spike that smashes against her combat leather armor jacket only makes matters worse as the girl's gloved hands go to her stomach, mouth gape as her complexion loses what little color it even had to begin with.
With ice spilling down around her from the failed defense and attack, it becomes abundantly clear that she is out of it for a moment, just trying to convince her diaphragm that it's okay to take in oxygen again. Legs wobble as the Ice Shaper drops to her knees. The crowd goes wild, packing back in tightly now that it seems safe to do so, everyone jockeying for the best viewing angle through cage.
Another change comes over the girl as well, however. A flash in her eyes, a grit of her teeth as blood seeps between them. There's a hint of resolve there that wasn't present at the start. Suddenly she seems a /lot/ more intersted in taking the fight to the Punch Master.
Style?
Shenwoo punches things. Sometimes he'll kick them, or even headbutt them! Mostly though, mostly, Shenwoo punches things. At the end of each arm sits a hammer, a meaty, boney hammer that's been made to look like a hand by virtue of five fingers and a thumb sprouting from each. But don't let this collection of phalanges, metacarpals, and carpals fool you. These are hammers and everything else in the world is a nail.
Dumb, drunken luck saved Shenwoo from a sharp pain in the ass, or more likely, the back. It allowed him to slip in that good knock at the door of her bread basket. It wouldn't allow him much else. He doesn't waste time.
"C'mon, is this all you've got?!" Shenwoo jeers with heady malice, his features fastend with a wolfish grin, a smile that shows more teeth than mirth. "Don't think I'm going to let you off easy because you're a girl! If you're dumb enough to get into a fight with me, you deserve everything I'll dish out!" he continues to prattle, jaw jacking just a moment to fill time before he sets upon her once more. There is no grace nor finesse to what follows, he just hurls himself at her, a good old bum rush as he tries to send her ont her back where he can mount up, a knee to either side of her stomache as he towered over her and brought those fists around and set them to work.
Were she so unfortunate to find herself beneath the mad bull of Shanghai, she would find her head in the path of those swinging, meaty fists. His shoulder rolling, hios body swaying as his left came barreling down to crash against the side of her face. The right shoulder would come sweeping in after it, hauling the right hand along to treat the other side of her face to the same, tender(izing) treatment. Left then right, left then right, left then right. He would hammer away with as many rolling punches as she would let him get away with.
COMBATSYS: Kula blocks Shenwoo's Saikouhou-Geki.
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Shenwoo 0/-------/=======|=======\==-----\1 Kula
On her knees, Kula looks up into the taunting smirk of the bare knuckle boxer with a hint of wide-eyed surprise. Never, in all her short, young life, had anyone ever called her ability into question. Sure, the labrats would push her to try harder, to strike more fiercely, or to push her limits of chi manipulation then refine it into a dangerous weapon. But to actually be mocked for not being strong enough to face another is literally a first time experience for her. Still a bit punch sick from the last special delivery, she can't even utter a word even though her mouth moves as if to speak.
He thinks she's weak? Was not her earlier display enough to wow him? Sure, she just slipped up there, and she's still paying the price for it, but... but is there really any doubt of what she COULD do? Teeth grit, a bit more blood straining through onto her chin where it freezes solid upon contact with her skin. Suddenly she has an opinion about this man afterall. She doesn't like him one bit!
The dazed Ice Princess is just pushing herself up from her knees when he charges. Her right hand lowers, fist clenched, her left shoulder pivoting forward as if she intends to clash with his next strike, meeting force with force-
Back in the van, monitors are flashing and her watchers are shaking their heads, making notes about needing to train her to be more resistant to taunting and provocation. She needs to stay cool headed for her passive combat algorithms to work at maximum efficiency!
The collision of bodies is not what she expected, however, as she finds herself thudding on her back against the floor. She's quick enough to keep her arms free of the pin, however, raising them over her head as the street brawler settles into a controlling position. These are the kinds of situations that will abolutely end fights decisively and even she consciously knows the danger she's in now. Her hand moves to intersect his first swing, deflecting it enough to result in a glancing hit to her cheek that knocks her head in the opposite direction.
Another strike is barely blocked by the back of a gloved fist, driving her own hand into her face. There's no question that with each marginal defense, she's just delaying the inevitable. She can't beat him in a contest of raw, physical power, and as her vision starts blurring from the abuse she's taking, she knows she has to act now. The ferocity Shenwoo exhibits has her survival instincts going haywire. This was no training exercise, all her combat routines began calculating, this was mortal peril!
"I am not dumb!!"
The instant he draws his fist hand back from the last weakly blocked shot to her face, Kula slams both her hands against the now damp, ice slicked floor. The swirl of freezing chi coursing along her arms is arctic cool at this range, but she has a lot more in mind than chilling Shenwoo off a bit as, from the floor just beyond her head, a spire of sharp, jagged ice lunges up at an angle, targeting the God of Battle's chest with a piercing, deadly blow!
COMBATSYS: Shenwoo stops Diamond Edge from Kula with Tamaken.
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Shenwoo 0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0 Kula
The mad brawlers fists thump, thump, thump away at Kula's guard as he attempts to press his advantage of size and weight on her. She ha spent too long catching her breath, this was it. He was just going to hammer away at her until she was flush with the floor. Her handlers or whatever would have to come around and pry her out with a crow bar! That was the plan, at least.
It got a little blurry when she clapped her hands to the ground at her sides. He barked a laugh, levering in to give the next blow just that much more pepper behind it. "THEN FIGHT LIKE YOU'VE GOT A PAIR!" he retorts... A pair of what?! What does that have to do with her not being dumb?! The small collective of braincells floating around in Shenwoo's brain fired up, neurons talking to neurons and wondering why she would drop her guard. He catches sight of the light, he can feel the temperature plummet. She's being tricky again! "Cut that shit out!" he demands, how dare she fight with her full capabilities. Why can't she just try and punch him stupid like he's doing?!
Ice gathers above her head, his eyes leave her, the blonde slashes of his brow knitting together. Braincells hold congress. Maybe he should avoid this?
He rocks back, weight some how shifting from his knees and down to his heels as he hoists himself up, right hand sweeping around towards his left shoulder, the gloved hand gleaming with light born of raw, untapped ki, unrefined or honed, it is the wild, primal force that makes the mad brawler who he is. A point forms and ice lances towards him, the hand sweeps out, the gleaming aura that wreaths his hand allowing him to simply smash the backhanded stroke through the pillar of ice, shattering it with a sweeping blow that would leave Kula in for a biut of a cold shower.
Still, it got him off of her and his mind, in whatever state it may be in, is momentarily distracted.
Hands pressed against the floor, the smaller fighter watches every move Shenwoo makes. From lunging back in time to avoid being skewered, to drawing energy to the forefront, a visible manifestation of the chi that undoubtedly courses through his powerful body. She'd never seen anyone just out and out backfist one of her attacks before. A normal hand, without the protective sheath he manifested, would at best come away bruised and scrapped, at worst broken and lacerated by contact with the thousands of razor tipped spikes covering its frozen surface.
Instead, the ice is shattered, pouring right back down over the one who shaped it like so much discarded debris. Wincing, Kula shuffles out from her prone position, boot-clad feet slipping beneath her as she rises back up, crystals of defeated technique spilling from her to scatter along the floor in the process. Wounded and winded, she's at least up and fighting again.
Hands clenched at her sides, mouth twisted in a petulant scowl, she stomps her right foot, sending more shattered ice skating across the floor.
"I already have a pair!!" she exclaims.
While her voice isn't really loud enough to be heard by the jeering and cheering crowd, her handlers sure picked it up, causing a whole utility van worth of researchers to palm their faces in silence. They... might need to broaden the girl's education if she's going to be going out like this!
Kula, of course, has no idea what she's talking about. But it sounded like a valid retort to whatever it was Shenwoo was yelling about. And as if to back up her point with raw power, she stomps her foot down again. Only this time she accompanies the movement with an upward seep of her hand. The ice that went sliding and was starting to melt snaps back then, answering her call as she pulls from the broken bits of her last technique as well as the previous attacks, and draws them into a weapon of singular purpose and intent-
Jamming her hand forward, leaning into the strike, Kula reshapes the ice in an instant, three long, sharp prongs as sharp as any spear lance outward for him. If he's not careful, he might just find himself skewered to the same fence Kula keeps getting smacked into!
COMBATSYS: Shenwoo blocks Kula's Critical Ice.
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Shenwoo 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\0 Kula
With the raw, unhoned power inside of him, Shenwoo can do many things that your normal man would be butchered in the attempt of. This has all just cemented his idiocy on the path of punching first and asking questions if he can remember to.
It doesn't occur to Shenwoo that he should double check his banter. She has engaged him on exactly his level and he is all too happy to have dragged her down so that he can try and beat her with his experience. "Then prove it, string-bean!" barks Shen Woo in reply. She does. She likely didn't need the barbed encouragement but Shenwoo just likes to heap the pile high. Water raises up and refreezes, coalescing into her long, javelins of ice. He does not like the thought of taking on any of the three of them but they stand between himself and her. Were he in posession of a few more braincells, he might have though to simply circumvent the lances of ice but his path has always been straight forward. They come on and he digs in, fist balled and readied.
He brings his arms in, elbows tucked tight as he presses forward into the volley, one jagged shaft rips by, racking across his upper arm and shoulder, shredding through his silken shirt in a very expensive manner. He sways in the opposite direction for the next, this one drives past at a lower altitude, nearly disembowling him in the process, gouges are torn into the rock hard field of his abdominals. The third and last streaks in hard, they could have all had him stuck to the fence like a insect pinned to a collectors cork board. He dips, a forarm lifted to divert the path just enough. Another eruption of searing pain as more of his blood is loosed. It pours from him, streaming from their initial exchange. He should be wearing down, he should be slowing... But his eyes just grow more wild, his smile more broad, a knife-slash across his lips as he charges in at her, heady and wreckless. He bounds up, closing what little distance between them in a shallow hop, a leg snapping out to drive his heel into... into... Anything really. He's becoming less and less picky. Just as long as it hurts!
COMBATSYS: Kula dodges Shenwoo's Heavy Kick.
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Shenwoo 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\0 Kula
His defenses prove solid against the tri-tipped spears of ice she sent his way. Some cuts and scrapes were picked up, of course, but his capacity to fight, and thus sass, were barely impacted. Even as Shenwoo bats aside the last of the attack, Kula releases the ice from her will, allowing it to fall to the floor like so much shaved ice - slick and wet, but only dangerous if you slip!
The confines of the cage are tight but the event organizers wanted it this way. This isn't track and field and no one in the build wants to see a whole lot of running around. The cries, shouts, cries of dismay or cheers of encouragement are all based on the premise of this being a raw, close quarters, violent match. While Kula personally cares nothing for the sentiments of the audience, she is still going to give them what they want if her techniques manage to conect!
The crushingly strong heel is slipped around the instant he lands and lunges his leg out. Being a small, skinny target can have its advantages, allowing her to slip into the space between his leg and the confines of the fence without getting stuck in the slightest.
"It seems you like..." She reaches out, her left hand going for his adjacent upper arm, seeking to secure a tight grip with her gloved fingers. The contact would be painfully cold to the touch - the sort of contact that can freeze flesh solid. She's already trying to pull him forward off balance, using the momentum of his missed kick against him if possible.
"-making way too much noise!"
Her right hand is going for Shenwoo's face, attempting to clamp down over his mouth and noise before attempting to finish pulling him forward to the ground. That brief moment of contact could be the most dangerous, however... because if the girl does get her hand over his mouth, she'll leave a patch of ice there that could well seal it shut and, if he is particularly unfortunate, block his nose off as well with a thick, brutally strong layer of frozen matter.
How long can he hold his breath?
COMBATSYS: Shenwoo fully avoids Kula's Power Throw.
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Shenwoo 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\0 Kula
Well, he was getting her to chatter on a little at least.
With her deft dip out of the way, Shenwoo all but smashes against the fence, just able to plant a foot to the ground as and not lose it against the slick surface of the dance floor. He turns a shoulder to the fence, the metal webbing arttling and bowing outwards, thratening to come loose of it's anchorings before he can push himself away from the barricade and the multitude of remaining watchers as they rattle and wail on the other side of the fence. The collision likely sent someone sprawling, or at least stumbling back into the sardine can that was the ring's proximity!
He is all but the perfect target for her grapple, teeth clenching and body going ridgid when she claps a hand down on his arm. The cold shocks through him, he jerks away... and falls fright on his ass, feet flying out from beneath him as his tailbone smashes against the wet, unforgiving ground. He looses a plaintive bark, unaware of the fate that he had just saved himself from. All he knows is that this entire area is a slipping hazard and it's al her fault!
Well, there's some of his blood here, there and a bit over there as well, but that's not important!
Scrambling, Shenwoo all but claws to his feet as he raises once more. Not even willing to give her a second to breath... or laugh at the wet-assed brawler. "Got a problem with that, then do something to shut me up, skinny-jeans!" he retorts... poorly, a hand lashing out to latch upon her throat with a horrid, vice-like grip. "Otherwise, you just keep kicking! I'm starting to have fun and you arn't going to wuss out and ruin it for me! It's breif, just a tight, air-way constricting squeeze if he can manage it. After that, he just lets her go, a unceremonious drop onto her kiester!
COMBATSYS: Kula blocks Shenwoo's Kyakuten Touchi.
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Shenwoo 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Kula
Given the slurry of ice Kula has put to use in attacking the street boxer, the dance floor beneath their feet has become more slushy than tile. And of course, it doesn't seem to phase his shorter, ice weaving opponent in the slightest, who seems perfectly at home amid the frozen mess of her making.
He pulls away in time to avoid lasting harm, her fingers left extended where she had been reaching, even if it makes taking another fall. The look of intensity on his young opponent's face slacks for just a moment, mouth curling at the first hint of amusement at this exchange finally showing. "Stay off the ice, you need more practice," she notes, voice raised just loud enough to be audible. Her gloating can't last though. He isn't going to give her time.
Back on his feet, his hand snaps out with the same brutal speed that he can strike with. Arms come up, Kula going back on the defensive, her back against the fence with no where else for her to go. But rather than trying to brace against a strike, his grip snakes right past her guard to secure a hold on her delicate seeming neck. Pulled up off her feet, her hands come up to pull at his arms at first, mouth forced open as she finds herself painfully denied the opportunity to breath. But even a cursory attempt at prying free of the man's incredible strength makes it clear that isn't going to be an option-
Another avenue is taken, fingers slipping from his arm to his hand. It might take a moment to register, but he would definitely feel it. That cold, wet feeling beneath his fingers, as a collar of pure ice forms around the girl's neck, protecting her from a significant amount of the intended harm. It still isnt' opening her passage way to breath however. If she'd like that privilege restored, she's going to have to earn it.
His arm is longer than hers or she'd probably be swinging for his face right about now. It isn't a conscious choice, but she does comply with the request - she attempts to kick free. Drawing her legs up, bending them until her knees are against her chest, Kula slams her feet out, small spikes of ice surging beneath her heels as she attempts to jam them into the Boxer from Shanghai's sternum with lacerating force!
COMBATSYS: Kula successfully hits Shenwoo with Medium Kick.
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Shenwoo 1/------=/=======|=======\-------\1 Kula
Keeping her at arms length saves Shenwoo not at all!
With her feet rearing up and freezing over, Shenwoo thought himself rather clever to try and turn aside and rob her of her intended target. Sure, he would take a bit of a scratch but he'd still have her by the throat and he would be crushing through hre frozen grogget soon enough!What he neglected to realize, as he turned away from the kick, shoulders shifting as his torso twisted away, was that he still had ahold of the ice sprite. Frozen cleets sunk into his chest in a painful stomp that did indeed earn her her fredom, hand loosing from the collar that kept him from squeezing her windpipe shut. He staggered away, hand clapping to his bleeding chest as the blood began to run down his chest and sweep over the first swell of his abdominal muscles, bloody rivulets would soon find the slight contours between each muscle bunch. the path of least resistence.
While they may have been spikes, Kula may as well have crafted a set of spurrs. Driving them into him only causing him to pick up the pace of the fight by that much more. She would have a moment to catch herself while Shenwoo seemed to reel from the strike, feet planted as his body coiled away from her, surely to protect his wounded chest... But that wouldn't explain the sudden preassure in the air, the heat. There was a snap and it became clear. Like his opening gambit, Shenwoo had taken a moment to martial whatever forces raged within him. He took them and channeled it all from his heart and along the length of his arm until it pooled within the hammer of his fist, a crimson light that bled away like mist from dry ice.
"Practice this!" he replied without really thinking about it... and let fly.
The space between was already short but he came on like a freight train going balls to the wall none the less. It was like his fist had been shot out of a cannon and everything else was just along for the ride. He rocketed towards her, slush, ice, and water kicking up in a faint spray as his toes dragged across the ground!
It might hurt.
COMBATSYS: Kula blocks Shenwoo's Zetsu! Gekiken.
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Shenwoo 0/-------/------=|=======\==-----\1 Kula
By now, her combat algorithms have learned to take anything vaguely resembling a punch from the young man as being nothing less than weapons of mass destruction. Unlike before, where Kula lifted a lazy guard, expecting it to keep the strikes of the man known as Shenwoo at bay only to get punched in the face, she seems to know much better.
Another silent concentration has ice surging up over her boots. Her solid footing on the frozen surface won't be enough alone to keep her from getting blasted away... And then there's the lift of her right hand, the draw of more frozen material answering her call, forming a thick, shimmering wall of nearly opaque ice, the most solid barrier the girl has created thus far - she's holding nothing back in light of the threat his attacks represent.
Both hands slam out, reinforcing the wall as his super charged fist rockets into the small wall of ice - six solid inches of unyielding super-cooled water comes between the God of Battle and his intended target and, in the end, it still isn't even enough.
Rather than exploding as crystals, the ice is just flat out vaporized, going from solid to mist in an explosion of forces on a whole new scale. But the miniscule delay the impact of fist to face just enough for Kula's hands to catch his hand, fingers cupping over it as she uses every last shread of strength she has to avoid getting blasted away!
It's still not entirely enough, arms flailing as her guard is shattered - but it's enough to keep her from getting struck as she slams back against the cage again, rocking it free of its sandbags and sending it toppling over the audience only for them to shove it back up and pushing it inward.
Kula rolls off the cage edge as it starts to collapse toward the middle. Things are really going to hell in there, and it won't be long before the whole thing comes topping down. "Was that..."
She hugs her arms around herself, leaning forward as if intending to curl into a ball. "The extent of your power?"
Another surge of bitter cold washes up over the girl before suddenly, every stray scrap of melting ice, solid crystals, and pooling water is suddenly drawn over the young fighter, encasing young Diamond in an opaque shell of blue, frigid ice.
Before it explodes outward in another display of dangerous energy in extremely close proximity. Rather than bladed shards, at least, Shenwoo is more in danger of being encased in a layer of thick, painfully cold perma-frost!
COMBATSYS: Shenwoo blocks Kula's Diamond Shell.
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Shenwoo 0/-------/----===|===----\-------\0 Kula
It left his hand throbbing, aching. Bones should be broken, shattered, just a hand full of meat that was holding hunks of bone in the vague shape of a hand. It wasn't though. It just hurt. It hurt wonderfully, throbbing, sharp, the leather had split over his kunckles and some skin had been torn, more blood. Her'd start feeling it sooner or later but for now, all he felt was good. A sort of terrible jubilation as he staggered to catch himself. He wanted to do it again... but that was impossible. Even his tank was running low, his body aching and sore, numb, slow. His mouth gaped in a smile as he heaved and pulled at his breaths, chest swelling and deflating as he pressed on.
He's vaguely aware of the cage, sandbags and cement-filled buckets no longer able to anchor it down. All because someone didn't want holes in their floor! Well, the cleaning bill after this will teach them... And for once, it really isn't Shenwoo's fault! Kula's the one leaving everything looking like a slurpee machine exploded... Only something was happening to it now.
Drunken, giddy, Shenwoo wavers as he watches the slush and water zip away from underfoot as it passed him by. "Wuh?" he grunts, brows quirking curiously as he follows one mobile puddle to it's destination.
When he finds it, his shoulders sag, "Aw, sonuva-" There is ice, there is cold. So much of it, so very goddamned much of it. He hunkers down, nearly going prone as he bows before the surge, hands laid flat on the tiles as the deep freeze rolls over him.It's enough to minimize his exposure, his surface area limited by the hunching stoop but the cold still eats into him, it's fingers digging deep into his limbs, his muscles and sapping them of the strength... or, at least they try to.
When the arctic blast subsides, there is a lump not far before Kula, a short, stout lump of ice and snow and... well, it's mostly Shenwoo in there.
The mound shifts, the candy-coated shell cracks and fissures until it falls away in a great, snapping sound. Shen looms out, arms hanging limp at his sides as his shpulders rise and fall. "WH'wazzat you said?" he slurs, worn and cold, he stiffens his jaw and speaks through his teeth to fight the stuttering chatter. "Full extent? Hardly!" he answers ewith a grin, "You bet your scrawney ass it wasn't... I, I coulkd do this all day!"
And just to try and prove he could, he comes in, those limp arms joinging at the hands, fingers interweaving the two fists into one as he brings them about, a twinned fist that swings up towards Kula's jaw with all the gentle finesse of a sledge hammer!
COMBATSYS: Kula dodges Shenwoo's Fukuko-Geki.
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Shenwoo 0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0 Kula
As Kula rises up out of her detonated cocoon of ice and chi, it's beyond any doubt that she's on the verge of collapse herself. The sky blue hair resting over her shoulders has started to become a damp, strawberry blonde in places around the fringes, and much of that frigid temperature that surrounded her has begun to wane. This has proven to be her longest match against a talented fighter to date and the toll it is begining to take on her ability to fling relentless levels of chi is growing increasingly noticeable.
She exhales, panting for breath, looking at her handiwork - the frozen mound where Shenwoo once stood is the last remnants of all her icy attacks. The rest has melted away, pooling along the surface. A few cautious steps forward are taken as the fence crashes down behind her. People start spilling into the cage a little but even the rabid fight fans and dance enthusiasts know better than to get TOO close to the fighters. Still, things are definitely starting to get cramped and the remaining cage sides are looking increasingly unsturdy as the one supporting side is gone.
At least she's finished with him, she thinks to herself. Maybe she can get a reward for good behavior. She's too tired to smile, but she thinks it all the same, just about to radio back to her handlers with her ear communicator when something stirs. Crimson eyes shift back to the mound as it begins to shift, crack, and finally fall away as her opponent stands up in spite all expectations to the contrary.
And then he moves to demonstrate that she hasn't seen all he can do by both word and deed. "Hey!" she retorts, looking a touch offended even if she isn't sure why. What does her ass have to do with anything! Gritting her teeth, his opponent surges forward in time with him. There's no were to run, no where to go. The next solid hit could very well determine it.
"I don't have all day-" She springs into the air in the path of his two handed power blow, twisting just out of its trajectory with an incredibly graceful airborn pirouette. Her leg swings out, another trail of that freezing white energy. No ice is formed this time, she's running out of the strength for that, but she does attempt to drive the kicks into the side of his head and maybe shut his mouth at last.
If the God of Battle isn't ready, he might just get caught off guard by a bit of icy ballet!
COMBATSYS: Kula successfully hits Shenwoo with Ray Spin.
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Shenwoo 0/-------/--=====|====---\-------\0 Kula
"If you're pressed for time, stand still and I'll lay you out!" Shenwoo offers helpfully as he staggers forward, the errent swing carried much of his weight with it. With nothing to throw it into, he was left poorly balanced, lurching forward and scrambling to keep his feet beneath him!
He tries to react in kind, attempting to stoop below the sweeping leg only to find himself still too poorly footed to manage. A foot slips, a pirouette-flug foot sweeps around and very nearly puts the lights out in Hotel Shen Woo.
As things were, they went rather dim! The world swims around him and Shen teeters this way and that before the ground invites him to pay it a visit. His body keels over and just -drops-. The club owner is almost rid of the whole thing, Kula is almost able to clean her hands of him. So close, so damned close!
With a groan, Shen stumbles to his feet, levering himself up until he can get a knee beneath him. What follows is a lurch that has him quick stepping to keep his footing. It's all still so shakey and hazey. More punch drunk than drunk by now, Shenwoo cackles, the mad boxer baying his enjoyment as soon as he spots Kula once more. He lunges, just hurling himself at her, a arm flung around in a wilde, sweeping blow as he tries to rattle her just one more time!
COMBATSYS: Shenwoo knocks away Kula with Strong Punch.
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Shenwoo 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\1 Kula
Her kick delivered, Kula spins down to the ground, landing on the toes of her left foot and finishing the twirl to come around facing Shenwoo again. After all she's put him through, she's beyond certain that he's going to be down for the count after that. Breathing in, she exhales deeply as more of the ice in her hair melts away, leaving damp locks framing her face or resting against her shoulders, a byproduct of her strange, genetically engineered chi manipulation.
But she hasn't released her power completely yet, exhausted as she might be. She has to be absolutely certain. Crimson eyes stay focused on Shenwoo as he slowly pulls himself up again, a faint smile crossing her lips. So then, it continues. This brawl isn't finished between them. To her left, another wall of the cage topples inward. Things are getting even more hectic, as those closest to the fight are trying to back away as to not be caught up in the fighter's techniques, and those behind them pushing forward to get a better view of the anticipated final clash.
This time Kula has no where to go though. With the fence on her right, and the crowd packing in on her left, the girl tries to lunge backward to escape the sweeping slam of the brawler's powerful arm, only to back into another patron who has now /definitely/ gotten too close to the battle. The punch does more more than rattle the girl as an explosion of chilled precipitation explodes outward from the imapct and the featherweight is slammed against the crowd, pushing several of them back a few feet in the process.
The girl starts to slump forward, now-violet eyes starting to close as the last of the energy melts out of her hair. But she never gets a chance to flop to the floor. Seconds later, she vanishes into the crowd as the bustling, non-stop churning action continues unabated by the explosive finish to the fight. As far as the God of Battle is concerned, she's no where to be found!
It will be sometime before her handlers make their way into the venue and find their precious little project slumped over at the bar, head resting on her right arm, empty glasses surrounding young Diamond's unconscious form. The NESTS researchers glance at each other and shrug as they grab the girl by her arms and carry her out. Yet another successful field experiment complete!
COMBATSYS: Kula takes no action.
[ \\\\\\ <
Shenwoo 0/-------/-======|
COMBATSYS: Kula can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\ <
Shenwoo 0/-------/-======|
Wasn't done, fight's not finished, she's still standing!
Shenwoo reels his arm back and lets fly again, bleary eyed and freezing, the fist goes errant and whips across the jaw of the patron that had tresspassed too close to the fight. The mad brawler brings himself back around to try and have another go only to find her well and entirely gone! When no more ice hocus pocus comes flinging in from the crowd, Shenwoo allows himself to accept that she's either being trampled to death beneath the throng of club goers or that she is just well and truely gone. The music, yet thunderous, lowers for just a moment as the DJ draws the micraphone to his lips and howls
"YOU SEE THAT, DID YOU SEE THAT?!? NEARLY TORE THE PLACE DOWN, SUCKERS!" barks the man in the booth even as SNF personel shoulder and shove their way through, "NOW, THE WINNER, AND ONE BEAT UP MOTHER FUCKER; SHENWOOOOOO!"
There is a cheer, it's not a bad one at all. Shenwoo's fist rocket skywards of their own accord as he bathes in the noise. He thinks, for just a moment, that he is being lifted onto their shoulders and is being carried about in victory.
He is actually being wrangled onto a gurney so that he can be treated for multiple lacerations, puncture wounds, and a little bit of hypothermia.
The DJ grandstands for a few more moments, and then the music cranks up once more. The fight may have ground down to the hard-fought finish, but there's no way anyone here is leaving until the sun comes up.
Log created on 13:21:43 12/21/2014 by Kula, and last modified on 00:00:56 12/22/2014.