Description: It's called the Black Lotus. One of the most discerning nightclubs on the sea today, the Illustrious and its award-winning mostly-female staff, "Sheer Brilliance," are on call to provide whatever you need, whenever you need it, at any time. It can be a little hard to get away from the excessive but cavalier and seductive friendliness of the wait staff, but in the Black Lotus, it's almost too easy to get lost period. In the midst of the pulsing neon lights, a small battle's been arranged between two women not at all unfamiliar with the underground mentality; TABITHA COREN and RINA REILLY, both of whom have history on the mean streets of Metro City. Only time will tell if either has anything to teach the other about living life on the edge.
Rhythmic, pounding bass fills The Black Lotus as the Illustrious sails along the evening sea, ever on course toward Zack Island. Dimly lit other than the pulsating of neon lights, the club's atmosphere resonates with the patrons who prefer a darker, edgier, more 'underground' feel. If there's a criminal element on board the Illustrious, they can probably be found here, lurking in the smoky shadows of the establishment and being waited on by the cruise liner's staff.
Which would likely explain why Rina O'Reilly is here, even if she weren't scheduled for a fighting match. The delinquent youth is dressed in a dark blue tank top and black skating shorts, along with a navy blue baseball cap and her usual protective skating gear. And of course, as nearly always, she's got on a pair of rollerblades, even out on the sea.
She's currently taking advantage of the fact that the ship is in international waters by enjoying a pina colada at the bar before the fight starts.
"Hey! 'Rocket,' right? You're on in less than five!" one of the staff members helpfully informs the girl, who swivels around on her stool when her nickname is called.
"Oh, yeah! I'm ready! Let's do this!" the cyan-haired skater says, sucking down the last of her drink way too fast and setting it down on the bartop before sliding toward the section of the floor that's been prepared for the upcoming fight. She's a little wobbly on her skates, though whether that's a case of land legs or because that drink wasn't the first she's had is debatable.
"Alright! Who's the sucker that's ready to blast off? The Queen of Blades is in the house and ready to funk somebody up!"
Maybe it's not /that/ debatable.
Darkened except for flashing lights, full of people and noise, the Black Lotus is both familiar and novel to Tabitha.
Familiar, because she's been in nightclubs before. She's not legal to drink in Metro City, but a lot of places are willing to overlook her age to let her fight - those places that care at all, anyway, as some of the places Tabitha's been don't really care that much for the law.
Unfamiliar, because this is a whole new level of luxury. Tabitha has done fighting in bars and dance halls, but they were in the poorer parts of Metro City. Even if the Black Lotus is lit like them, it's not them; it's on a gigantic cruise liner with friendly, attractive staff. Some of them were in swimsuits, because there's a whole Sheer Brilliance collection.
Tabitha is pretty sure one of the girls hit on her while she was waiting. She has no idea what to think about that.
When Rocket slides, skates, or lurches her way to the stage, which has been cleared to allow for a combat (if with a slightly less-than-square ring), Tabitha is already there. She apparently got there early, and is crouched down, talking with someone who might be a fan and might just be bored. She straightens, tugging her fingerless gloves absent-mindedly as Rocket approaches.
"You might have to work for that," Tabitha says, lacing her fingers together and stretching them out. "Queen of Blades? That sounds like someone into knives."
COMBATSYS: Tabitha has started a fight here.
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Tabitha 0/-------/-------|
By the time that Tabitha rises to greet her, Rocket is already in a fighting stance and throwing quick punches at the air to limber up, bobbing on her wheels as she listens to the music coming from all around.
"Aw yeah, untz, untz, untz, untz~"
The blonde boxer's remark comes in the midst of Rocket's grooving, causing the skater to cease in letting loose and lower her hands into a defensive position.
"Pffft, I don't need a knife! I have better tricks up my sleeve! I mean, uhh, figuratively speaking, 'cause I don't have sleeves." She scowls. "Anyways, I didn't make it up! And it's about the only kinds of blades I need... roller blades!"
The female DJ's voice comes over the club's sound system as the lights over the stage begin to pulse brightly. "Ladies and gentlemen! The Black Lotus and the Sheer Brilliance crew welcome you to tonight's PFW attraction: Rina O'Reilly versus Tabitha Coren! Are you ready, ladies?"
Rocket signals her readiness by pumping a fist in the air before dropping back into her fighting stance.
"Then let's go! Three... two... one... FIGHT!"
As soon as the countdown ends, Rocket starts skating toward Tabitha. "I'll show you why they call me the Queen of Blades!" she yells before diving forward onto her hands and half-flipping forward. As she does, she curls her legs around before swinging them out in a windmill fashion, the wheels of her skates sparking with burning blue energy as she aims them at Tabitha's upper body.
"ORBIT BREAKER!"
COMBATSYS: Rocket has joined the fight here.
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Rocket 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Tabitha
COMBATSYS: Tabitha dodges Rocket's Orbit Breaker.
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Rocket 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Tabitha
It's strawberry blonde, dammit! Shading toward coppery-red. Tabitha's hair is pretty much the only part of her appearance she spends time on; she gets irritated when people call her blonde.
Tabitha doesn't limber up beyond stretching a little more, crossing one arm across her body and catching it in her opposite elbow, then switching arms. Maybe she did when Rocket wasn't looking, but she drops into a loose-looking boxing stance when Rocket lowers her own hands. She gives an almost laconic wave with one hand toward the DJ when asked if she's ready, turns it into a wave and grin at the crowd, and then returns to her original stance.
Oh yeah, Tabitha thinks, someone's been drinking. (She hasn't. She's waiting until afterwards.) "Come on then," she says, with a bit of a grin. She's expecting another win - and hoping for it. Maybe it'll show that she's good enough to put some of her plans into action. "Though how you're going to stay stable on those things, I have no idea."
Rocket rockets in. Tabitha keeps it simple early on; her style is almost strictly orthodox boxing in the first few moments of the match. She slips sideways, changing the angle of the fight as she tilts her upper body in that direction, letting the radiantly sparking skates whip right past her.
She expects Rocket to keep moving in the direction she's thrown her feet, and so Tabitha continues the slip, trying to get to Rocket's side or even behind her if she moves faster than Tabitha expects. She tries a fast jab with her left hand as she does, taking a second step to keep moving out of Rocket's field of view and leveling another one. Rocket is extremely high-energy; Tabitha is being a bit more patient with her strikes.
COMBATSYS: Rocket blocks Tabitha's Blindside Step.
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Rocket 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Tabitha
Despite whatever state of inebriation she may be in, Rocket is able to execute the inverted kick with apparently practiced ease, though perhaps a little too much aggression. When the first retaliatory strike comes in toward her side, she raises one hand off of the floor, bringing her elbow pad up to intercept it. The impact sends her keeling away from Tabitha, and she quickly rounds off back onto her skates, bringing her other gloved hand up to catch the second punch.
"Ow!"
Sliding away and shaking her hand out, Rocket lets out a growl, then clenches the same hand into a fist. Skating back in toward her opponent, she ducks down, aiming a drive-by punch toward the other girl's midsection.
COMBATSYS: Tabitha dodges Rocket's Medium Punch.
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Rocket 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Tabitha
Tabitha's stance remains almost relaxed in some ways. Not /mentally/ relaxed; she's taking Rocket seriously and it shows in the way she watches the skater. But physically, a little; Tabitha doesn't move around much beyond what she has to.
Part of this is the limited room to move. The stage isn't huge, and Rocket skating around on it takes up a lot of room; Tabitha is pretty sure Rocket would be much happier with more room and is honestly kind of glad that she might get crowded later on. But part of this is because she's conserving her energy at first.
That isn't to say that Tabitha is entirely immobile. She's not; she doesn't just weave around this punch but actually takes a long step to avoid getting socked in the stomach, lowering her hands as if prepared to block (though she ends up not needing to).
"Is skating really a martial art?" Tabitha asks, drawing her right fist back near her chest as if preparing to punch with it. She holds it there for several long seconds, building power -
Tabitha suddenly takes one sudden step forward and drives her right fist forward, putting all the strength in her arm behind it. Impact causes an almost visible shockwave of air to radiate from it, a demonstration of the sheer /power/ of that impact as she strikes, nearly unstoppably. "Haaa!"
COMBATSYS: Rocket endures Tabitha's Impact Knuckle.
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Rocket 0/-------/--=====|=------\-------\0 Tabitha
Rocket swings around as she flies past Tabitha, catching nothing but air with her fist. Gliding backward for a few feet before powersliding to a stop, she sends a green-eyed glare toward the boxer. Spouting off angrily as Tabitha draws back her fist, she clenches her own hands. "Skating is totally a legit fighting style! The Man might be able to keep us out of the Olympics, but he can't keep me from kicking your - hey, what are you -"
And then, all of a sudden, that powerful punch hammers forward. Rocket's body tenses reflexively a moment before the blow smashes into her mid-section. The skater's face contorts as she seems to crumple a little, sliding back on her wheels. Then, with another sudden shift of expression, the intensity returning to her gaze as she throws herself toward Tabitha.
"Didn't even feel it!" she lies boisterously as she clasps her hands together and drives a charging elbow toward Tabitha's gut. "AFTERBURNER!" If she can connect, she'll transition by pressing her shoulder into the other girl's body and attempting to throw her over her shoulder before following up with a flamethrower-like blast of blue energy from both hands.
COMBATSYS: Rocket successfully hits Tabitha with Afterburner.
- Power hit! -
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Rocket 0/-------/-======|====---\-------\0 Tabitha
That's a bit more of a reaction than Tabitha expected. She supposes Rocket is sensitive about it, though it may be also because she's slightly drunk.
"I haven't lost an official match in a while," Tabitha says, grinning wide enough to show teeth. "But let's give them a show, shall we?"
Of course, Rocket is on the move again - and faster than before. Tabitha isn't sure if she was inspired by getting smacked like that or if she's just starting to get into the swing of things, but it doesn't really matter. Tabitha blocks the impact of the blow all right, but she wasn't expected to be lifted afterwards, and there's absolutely nothing she can do when the blast of chi comes in. It impacts. Several instants later, so does Tabitha... with the floor.
Getting back to her feet, Tabitha shakes her head once, then twice, sharply, to clear it. Better, she thinks to herself, then glances out at the crowd. It's hard for her to make out details; she's dazzled by the lights and the dark nightclub, so she doesn't even try.
"Not good /enough/!"
Tabitha steps forward. Where before she was a little slower and sedate with her attacks, preferring one or two painful hits instead of a flurry of light ones, this time she actually opens up a little more; she lets out a two-handed jabbing flurry for several hits, then two with just her left hand, and then a right cross. It's not her most painful series, but there's enough of it that it's actually pretty hard to completely avoid!
COMBATSYS: Rocket blocks Tabitha's Rapid Combo.
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Rocket 0/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Tabitha
The chi blast from her palms causes Rocket to drift backward slightly from Tabitha's fallen on her skates and creating some separation on the stage. By the time that Tabitha comes at her again, her hands are back up in front of her, ready to defend. Her eyes are more focused, her breathing faster and more steady as she bounces on her skates.
The first jab manages to catch her across the chin, but she keeps her hands up and the flurry of strikes smack into her hands repeatedly as she shifts them quickly to catch and deflect them. When the cross comes through, she barely manages to push it aside, bending out of the way and getting clipped on the shoulder in spite of her effort. Feeling her balance starting to slip, she throws herself back forward, trying to grab onto Tabitha's shoulders and pull herself up onto them. Should she succeed in applying the leg scissors, she'll aim a couple of quick punches at Tabitha's head before throwing herself backward and hopefully taking the other girl down to the ground with her.
COMBATSYS: Rocket successfully hits Tabitha with Rocket Rana.
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Rocket 0/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Tabitha
Tabitha starts to slow down after a few swings. Not because she's tiring out (she's not, and in fact had hit her stride that would have let her keep going for a while) but because she wants to pay more attention to defense. She has her hands up to block, in fact...
...but Tabitha is just not as good at blocking throws. Her boxing style isn't really able to deal with them as well as she'd like yet, and so when Rocket gets onto her shoulders, there's nothing she can do about it except try to withstand the occasional punches. Tabitha has spent most of her fighting career getting hit in the face, so that's a whole lot less threatening than being rolled onto the ground!
From her back, there's not a lot Tabitha can do. She rolls to the side, realizes she's dangerously close to the edge of the stage and simply pulls herself up to her feet where she is; she's definitely showing her injuries a little better now, and spends a moment wiping blood from a split lip off her face.
"Nice punch," she says, holding up her hands in the defensive stance again. She seems to be ta king it a little easier; Tabitha fires a probing strike rather than a sustained series, trying to keep Rocket out rather than get grabbed and thrown around again - she doesn't like that part!
COMBATSYS: Rocket just-defends Tabitha's Medium Punch!
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Rocket 0/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Tabitha
Rolling up to her skates again after the takedown, Rocket reaches up with both hands, tucking one thumb under the band of her ballcap and grabbing the bill with the other hand in order to adjust it from the angle it's taken during the tumble to a straighter one.
"Thanks! You punch pretty good, too!" she chirps. It may seem like a backhanded compliment for a practitioner of a style based primarily on punching, but it's not intended as such. The aggravation from moments before seems to have been all but forgotten by the skater. When the next punch comes in, she brings one of her elbow pads up, the probing blow deflecting off of it and sending her rolling backward in a controlled line.
"I'll show you what I can really do!"
Holding her hands at her sides and bending at the knees, she focuses her energy into her palms, which begin to glow with blue energy before she springs into the air. Bringing her hands together, she fires a fast-moving bolt of blue chi toward the other fighter.
"Rocket shot!"
The backlash from the energy bolt sends her flying further away, threatening to take her over the edge of the stage.
COMBATSYS: Tabitha fails to reflect Rocket Shot from Rocket with Icebow Knuckle.
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Rocket 1/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0 Tabitha
Tabitha accepts the compliment with good grace, relatively speaking: a nod and a slightly broader grin. Tabitha wants to be respected for her ability - and it appears that, this time at least, she is.
Taking advantage of the distance, Tabitha shakes her hands out a little before putting them back in a guard - she's not likely to be thrown from all the way over there! And in fact she is not, because Rocket decides to keep her distance too, something the bare-knuckled boxer is honestly pretty glad about.
She's less glad about the bolt of energy being built up. Tabitha knows what that is, and is less than pleased. For a long time, she didn't have much defense against something like that, short of trying to get out of the way; her own attempts at throwing energy were poor and tended to fizzle out, when she could even do them at all, which was rare.
But this time she's at least a little prepared. Tabitha balls up her fist as hard as she can, squeezing. A ripple of multicoloured light surrounds her fist, like a captive aurora - and chi swirls around it several inches out, with a dead spot in between.
"ICEBOW KNUCKLE!"
Tabitha simply punches the bolt of energy coming at her. Or that's the idea; the energy swirls around the halo, being caught at the outside of the icebow - but Tabitha can't hold it, and it explodes in her hand, a shockwave of energy that makes her stagger backwards, shaking her hand out painfully and cursing under her breath.
As Tabitha attempts to punch the ball of energy back at her - or, to Rocket's perception, stops the fireball dead with her fist - the skater's eyes go wide. "Holy shit, that's coo-wahhh!" she exclaims before tumbling off of the edge of the stage, having completely failed to account for it as she continued to skate backwards. "Son of a bitch!"
Pushing herself up off of the floor, she grabs onto the edge of the stage and starts running along the side of it on her skates. Swinging herself onto the stage as she nears Tabitha, she slides along the ground toward the boxer on her hip, one leg extended wheels first in an attempting to kick the boxer's legs out from under her.
COMBATSYS: Tabitha blocks Rocket's Light Kick.
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Rocket 1/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Tabitha
Sadly, Tabitha didn't manage to do what she wanted with the incoming chi. But baby steps!
She can't call it cool because of her failure. Instead she almost comments on Rocket's inability to stay in the ring (or whatever; the stage, she supposes) but elects not to, just this once. She'd better keep on coming.
The crowd is certainly excited by now; Tabitha can't see them clearly but she can hear them... and she can feel them. She doesn't play to the crowd like some fighters - she goes for skill and talent more than charismatic appeal - but that doesn't mean there's not a certain energy to it. If she couldn't feel it, she wouldn't fight publically at all; she'd beat up people in backstage matches and random challenges.
Tabitha suddenly grins. She is used to people trying to come in at her legs; she crouches, catching the wheels of the incoming foot with her leading hand and pushing them sharply away from her. This is more to push Rocket off balance than away from her - because Tabitha rises up immediately thereafter, her fist raised in an uppercut with sufficient force that she actually leaps from the ground, just for a moment!
COMBATSYS: Rocket blocks Tabitha's Bound Upper.
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Rocket 1/-----==/=======|=======\-------\0 Tabitha
When the raised leg is knocked to the side, Rocket shoves both hands against the stage to arrest her momentum. An assumption that the boxer might not be ready for a low attack like that kick proves ill-founded, and the skater has to rock backward and bring her knees up to catch the uppercut before she's punished hard for her false assumption. The impact of the uppercut rocks Rocket backward as it strikes her kneepads, sending her head over heels.
"F***in' ow!" she shouts as she gets her wheels back under her and rubs her knees before pressing her skates against the stage's surface and kicking off toward Tabitha again. She's a little shaky on her skates as the impact of the fight is starting to wear on her, but she manages to stay on course as she loads back a punch and launches herself into the air.
"Super Rocket Punch!" she shouts, telegraphing the attack even further as she spirals down toward Tabitha, fist descending toward the boxer's head.
(There's nothing really that super about the punch, despite what the tipsy skater may believe.)
COMBATSYS: Tabitha blocks Rocket's Strong Punch.
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Rocket 1/-----==/=======|=======\-------\0 Tabitha
It may not be super, but it's still not exactly weak. Tabitha is on firmer ground when dealing with punches, though - she has a lot more experience judging how powerful they are, and she just generally knows what she's doing.
"Wanna give up?" Tabitha asks, though the lopsided grin suggests that she knows perfectly well the answer is 'no' and is not expecting anything but - it's just her being a smart-ass. She is ready for the blow and brings up one hand to deflect it, taking the impact on her lower arm instead of her face - she's used to being the shorter one in a fight and thus dealing with attacks coming in high, and with Rocket's skates on, she's more prone to do that when she's not kicking.
Tabitha's own assault is simple, straightforward. She puts her entire body into the motion, pivoting her core swinging her arm at an angle to go for a body shot - not a straight punch, delivered with her stronger rear hand. Her body tenses as she does it, slamming it even harder at the last moment. It is at least not aimed to throw Rocket off the stage this time!
COMBATSYS: Rocket dodges Tabitha's Hook Punch.
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Rocket 1/-----==/=======|=======\-------\0 Tabitha
Landing almost gracefully on her skates after the falling punch, Rocket narrows her eyes in response to the question from the boxer. It may be a fairly obvious taunt, maybe even an attempt to bait her, but it certainly seems to rile Rina O'Reilly up.
"No thanks!" she yells as she sucks in her gut and shoves herself back, barely bending at the waist enough to keep the punch from slamming into her. "If I wasn't ready to get my ass kicked, I wouldn't have started fighting in the first place! Bring it on!"
Rushing in with her palms open and beginning to glow again, Rocket draws back one hand before sending it toward Tabitha's midsection in an open-handed palm strike, then follows up the initial attack with two more rapid attacks, alternating hands with each one. The third attack is accompanied by an outburst of burning energy on impact, the backlash of the chi driving the girl back the way she came as it's released.
COMBATSYS: Rocket successfully hits Tabitha with Triple Thrust Combo.
- Power hit! -
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Rocket 1/----===/=======|=======\=------\1 Tabitha
"Good strategy," Tabitha says, and it is momentarily difficult to tell if /she/ is being sarcastic or flippant.
All this chi, though, is starting to take its toll on Tabitha. She's tough - and she's tough enough to take the energy blasts, too. It just leaves her a little less experienced with how to fight back against it. Tabitha is doing... /okay/ until that last one emits the blast of energy, which hits her in the stomach like a battering ram.
Rocket goes flying from launching the blast. Tabitha goes flying from being hit by it; she arcs backwards, slamming into the wall at the side of the stage and sliding down it. Despite the fact that she's visibly battered and bruised (her lip is still bleeding a little) this seems to energize Tabitha more than anything else.
From all the way across the stage, Tabitha tenses. She's barely visible from the crowd on the side she's on, so there's some murmuring from people who can't see her who wonder if she's running away - but then Tabitha rockets out at top speed. She's moving so fast she's almost a blur, driving a fist in front of her in a mighty (or at least mightily fast) running punch!
COMBATSYS: Rocket endures Tabitha's Blue Streak.
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Rocket 1/-======/=======|=======\=------\1 Tabitha
The force with which Tabitha is blasted back seems to surprise even Rina herself. Latching onto a curtain to stop her rearward flight, she pulls herself to a halt, then edges slowly toward the side of the stage, her wheels clicking on it as she moves. Tentatively, she calls out: "Hey, are you okay - whoa!"
And then, like a blur, Tabitha answers by flying toward Rocket fist first. Thinking as fast as she can in her somewhat drunken state, she leans forward, skates igniting with blue chi, and prepares to intercept the incoming blow -
With her face?
Tabitha's fist smacks Rocket squarely in the eye, hard enough that it's sure to soon be swollen. Somehow, though, while her head does jerk back a little from the impact, Rocket manages to stand her ground. And then, with a cry, she retaliates. Attempting to wrap her arms around Tabitha's waist, she'll spin around if she can manage to lift the other girl off the floor before bodyslamming her to the ground. If she succeeds, she'll follow up the slam by throwing herself up into the air above the stage, her skates creating a blue wheel of energy trails as she flips through it, gathering chi energy before throwing it down toward Tabitha, then chasing it with her own body, attempting to land rear-first on the other girl's stomach.
COMBATSYS: Rocket successfully hits Tabitha with Blast Off.
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > // ]
Rocket 0/-------/-----<<|=======\=====--\1 Tabitha
That woman is crazy.
Well, not actually crazy, but most people do not try to take Tabitha's punches with their face; that's reserved for a very few people, of which Rocket is now one. It's a hard enough hit that Tabitha is actually surprised that not only is she still up, she's completely mobile, trying to lift her up -
Tabitha weaves backwards, but not far enough. She goes up and then is slammed down onto her back, hard enough that the stage (which was not /really/ built to handle fights on it) crunches a little bit. Tabitha starts to lever herself up from the impact point, but only gets about halfway before, well... Rocket lands on her. Along with an energy wheel.
Tabitha's breath whooshes out of her as Rocket lands, rear-first, on her stomach. That not only hurt; it was a hell of an impact, enough to knock the air out of her. Tabitha's reaction is to practically throw Rocket off her, rolling her aside; her entire body tenses, locked in place.
Suddenly, Tabitha moves.
Her previous attack of this sort involved a momentary pause and then a rush of power and force. This one involves her holding her entire body still for a moment before /slamming/ her fist at Rocket, aimed downward at Rocket before she can rise (hopefully). If she hits Rocket, the shockwave is sufficient to blow hair and hats in the first row of the audience; if she misses, Tabitha literally leaves a hole in the raised stage floor, though the underlayer that makes up the actual room is fine.
And then she starts to sag, as if that attack took everything out of her. Tabitha forces herself to try and rise, but it's clearly awkward and difficult; can she manage it?
COMBATSYS: Tabitha has reached second wind!
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Rocket 0/-------/-----<<|=------\-------\0 Tabitha
COMBATSYS: Rocket just-defends Tabitha's Final Impact!
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Rocket 0/-------/-----<<|=------\-------\0 Tabitha
Rocket herself lies breathless on the stage after being thrown off of Tabitha. The flying slam and blast combination was a huge exertion on the already-hurting young fighter's frame. It's okay, she thinks. She has a minute. There's no way that Tabitha is getting up after -
And then, suddenly, the boxer is looming over her. The girl only has time to yelp before the fist descends.
Dust and debris are thrown up from the stage as it shatters, Rocket completely disappearing from the audience's view into the space below it. Many gasp, others cheer, some simply stare as it seems that the girl is just... gone.
What they don't see is the trembling form of Rocket curled into a ball on her back, limbs bent and elbow pads and knee pads joined together, hands clutching her cap as she hides her face protectively behind her knees... but somehow, miraculously unbroken, as the protective gear (and the stage) absorbed almost all of the impact.
Peeking out from between her knees up toward Tabitha, Rocket blinks a couple of times. Then, she rolls over onto her hands and knees, and starts pushing herself up to her feet. Doubling over and forcing herself to concentrate, she starts to gather energy in each of her hands, facing away from Tabitha, perhaps to try and hide the fact that she's accumulating chi.
"Rocket..."
And then she suddenly brings her hands together, much like she did before, but this time, the blast is aimed at the deck below her.
"THRUSTER REVERSE!"
The blast launches her much like her namesake, sending her flying up and backward at high speed toward Tabitha as she attempts to catch the boxer off-guard.
COMBATSYS: Tabitha blocks Rocket's Reverse Thruster.
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Rocket 0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0 Tabitha
Tabitha did not mean to pound the stage quite that badly. She'll feel bad about it... later.
Right now Tabitha is struggling to remain upright. She's concious but it's a fight to keep going; she's out of breath and very sore when she rises from her knuckle-in-the-stage position, sweat beading on her brow as she moves. She doesn't have the time to worry about something as simple as wood.
Rocket almost manages to catch her off guard. She would have if Tabitha hadn't seen Rocket rise and was expecting something - perhaps not something with quite that much vigor, but 'something' nonetheless. Rocket uses her chi to launch herself at Tabitha... and Tabitha is ready for it.
Crossing her arms in an X, Tabitha absorbs the impact of Rocket's thruster-assisted jump. She can't do it without recoil; Tabitha slides several feet across the still-intact part of the stage, her face reddening as she strains. but amazingly, she manages it.
She also manages the follow-up punch some moments later, aimed solidly at Rocket's gut to try to take her out before she can recover. Tabitha is on her last legs, and she assumes if /she/ is, a lightweight-looking kid definitely is. ('Kid'; she's only a year older.)
COMBATSYS: Rocket blocks Tabitha's Medium Punch.
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Rocket 0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0 Tabitha
Her bodily barrage braced against by Tabitha, Rocket drops to the stage floor on her knees, panting for breath. She's been going hard all fight, and it's starting to become clear that the girl's energy isn't quite limitless. Her eye is blackening and swelling shut, but she manages to notice Tabitha's approach.
She may be a lightweight, but Rocket is tenacious. At the last moment, she gets an arm up, catching the punch on her forearm with a painful-sounding thump. Gritting her teeth, Rocket pulls her feet up under herself, trying to grab onto Tabitha's shirt to steady herself. Then, pushing upward head-first, she attempts to use both hands to lift Tabitha over her shoulders and drop her into the hole in the stage floor behind her.
"RAAHH!"
COMBATSYS: Rocket successfully hits Tabitha with Shuttle Separation.
[ \\\\\\\ < > // ]
Rocket 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 Tabitha
Tabitha's energy isn't limitless either - but she's very good at pacing herself, while Rocket seems more like the type that goes like crazy until she finally fades. Which is definitely starting to happen, by Tabitha's estimation.
Despite that, Tabitha can't come through the attacks perfectly. Rocket yanks at her shirt, which is loose enough to be useful for such a thing; it pulls Tabitha off-balance for long enough for Rocket to lift her (however momentary the lift might be) and drop her in the hole.
But Tabitha comes /out/ of the hole - dusty, covered in stuff she really doesn't want to know about. She used the cover granted from the edge and the fact that Rocket was looking away from her, having dropped her over her shoulders, to mask her momentarily pause to tense her body; she comes out surprisingly fast for someone who wasn't watching her, leading with a fist and clearly on the edge of endurance. "Raaaah!"
COMBATSYS: Tabitha successfully hits Rocket with Impact Knuckle.
[ \ < > / ]
Rocket 0/-------/--=====|=====--\-------\0 Tabitha
After dumping Tabitha into the hole in the stage, Rocket's fuel seems to just run dry. Her limbs are bruised and aching from the repeated blows, she can practically only see out of one eye, and whatever liquor might've been imbibed before the show has certainly worn off by this point. She teeters on her wheels as she leans forward and rests her hands on her knees, panting hard. Then that sound comes from below and behind her, and she turns around - just in time to catch Tabitha's fist right to her face.
The blow spins the skater around, cleaning her proverbial clock. Dazed, she turns back toward Tabitha, holding out her arms as if about to retaliate... and then just collapses toward the boxer. She's clearly out for the count, but may push the other girl with her into the hole in the stage as she goes down.
COMBATSYS: Rocket can no longer fight.
[ \ <
Tabitha 0/-------/--=====|
COMBATSYS: Tabitha dodges Rocket's Quick Throw.
[ \ <
Tabitha 0/-------/--=====|
Almost out herself - dazed, battered, breathing like her lungs were a bellows - Tabitha manages to find one last burst of energy. She doesn't use it to continue to beat on Rocket, though - oh no.
She simply lurches (sways or slips is /way/ too technical for what she manages to do at this point) away from the grip. She feels Rocket's pushing fingers run over her arm, but not solidly enough to do more than push her slightly off balance; she remains upright and out of the hole.
Tabitha just stands there for a few moments, hands on her knees and breathing hard. But eventually - about twenty seconds later - she raises one fist in victory, turning back toward the crowd to do it.
COMBATSYS: Tabitha has ended the fight here.
Log created on 16:05:56 02/04/2015 by Tabitha, and last modified on 01:20:09 02/05/2015.