Description: Mount Haruna - a hot-spot for illegal car races. Charged with fighting at the top of the mountain's roads, Lee Chaolan and Ryu are set to cross fists... at least, thankfully, without having to dodge any traffic. Their primary audience, a number of shady people whom all have converged with their black sedans. Is there something more to this arrangement for these two than there appears...?
"So I said to her, well if you aren't, do you mind if I borrow your robot?"
An uproar of laughter erupts from the band of well-dressed men. The collection of black sedans was set up right at the top of Mount Haruna. Normally the site of SUPER ILLEGAL ROAD RACING, right now it looked like the hang out of a bunch of teenagers trapped in the bodies of middle-aged men. The japanese men were holding bottles of Stella Artois and cheap floozies, taking draws of their cigarettes as they just hung around this one guy. The presence of tattoos snaking from their wrists and necks might hint at their true origins. But one guy amongst them... didn't have it.
And that man had just finished his story.
"Haha! Oh! Excellent!~" Lee Chaolan exclaims, holding a high-ball glass, half-full (or maybe half-empty). He was dressed in his 'battle gear' of a violet-blue vest and leather pants, with a set of gloves with it. The man flips his silver hair as he gestures the glass to the mysterious men. "Seriously though. It's a real treat to see you guys around here. And what was that, the quadrotor drones? Sure, I can see you guys get hooked up. You know I'm good for you, right?" He gives a toast to the -terrified- HitBit crew nearby.
And then, the alarm on his phone goes off.
"Oh dear, it looks like our fights gonna start soon" Lee Chaolan idles, checking his phone and turning off the alarm. Immediately, he strides to the HitBit technicians, and they begin to set up his headband, wristbands, and anklebands. "You know my opponent, right?" He calls out to the others. "Ryu something or other. I don't even think he has a last name, poor sap. I don't think any of my opponents have last names come to think of it." He takes a sip of his glass. "Baiken, and Ryu. What is with World Masters not having last names? Anyways, the guy is homeless or something. Doesn't even have his own phone, so we gave him a lender. He beat Sagat or something, and is a 'World Warrior.' Whatever, he is supposed to be good, even though he has a 'minimalist living.' Hey, Yam- I mean, 'Big Brother.' Lee Chaolan gives a coy wink to one of the strange men, who was missing two fingers.
"I bet you 500,000 that he doesn't even show up in -shoes-"
How many bookies worth their salt would ever accept that as a fair wager...?
The trip up Mount Haruna is... well, it's not that long or arduous for him on (bare)foot. The various cars that pass by - some a little faster than others - hardly seem to register to the wandering martial artist as he trods along dirt, grass, and occasionally a step into proper asphalt.
His feet speak of a certain aimlessness, but his eyes... they seem focused on something further than the horizon in which all clarity of sight eventually disappears.
The man who walks up the infamous street racing route, the fighter who travels another road, seems content to simply go where he may, and is most certainly not influenced by the return of that horrid ringtone that marks the tournament organizers' belief in getting messages across over trusting much of anything to fall onto place on their own.
It likely helps, as that is exactly what is going on, his one otherwise unoccupied hand holding it up as he starts to round the corner towards the sounds of jovial chatter and at least one person going 'where is he, he's almost late,' or something like 'does this man know that taxis exist? Is he just going to walk all the way up here?'
Unfettered by what is effectively talking behind his metaphorical back, Ryu walks into view with the same oxymoronic balance between subdued stride and an unmissable air - for what little way his body language tends to draw much to him as he goes, he is largely impossible to miss. (In this singular instance, it is the ringtone's fault.)
%Yam- we mean, 'Big Brother,' doesn't even have to look at Ryu to drop 500,000 in bills with an incomprehensible grumble. A witty retort might be in the works, after another drink.
"So, this is the place," Ryu seems to say to himself as one of the HitBit techs wisely snatches the phone to turn the alarm of poor humor off, the stoic acknowledgement of his arrival being disturbed - again! - by the pit crew-like efficiency in which the measuring equipment is all slapped on him.
His opponent, then - they must be here. He lowers his travel bag to the ground as he crosses the distance between the road down and the lot in which everyone is gathered. To the naked eye, picking out a fighter might be finding a needle in a haystack.
For Ryu, to see and discover one who fights is hardly the issue. Especially one who seems, by many measureable accounts...
Excellent.
As Ryu has that thought, Lee Chaolan was giving him a thumbs up.
Collecting up the money, Lee Chaolan laughs out loud. "Ha ha ha! Oh my, oh my, this is incredible!~" He tucks the 500,000 yen into one of the technicians pockets, as they finish up the last touches in setting up him. He knew all too well about his opponent, though his carefree additude wouldn't reflect it. Rolling his glass a bit, he blinks idly, as his opponent also gets set up. He stays silent as Ryu is getting hooked in, a smile on his lips. It is only after Ryu gets the final calibrations finishes does he finally speak again.
"So. Ryu."
"Ryu... Ansatsuken?"
The other men in the sedans erupt in laughter. Lee mimes a gasp of shock, covering his mouth with his fingers. "Oh, oh!~ I am so sorry! I must have heard wrong." He cleans out his ear with his pinky, still holding the glass. "Well, Ryu, I can't for the life of me remember you last name." He takes a drink, finishing off his glass as he enters the clearing of the fight, the 'start' of the illegal racing course. Taking his position in the center, he gestures the empty glass to his opponent.
"What is your last name again?"
Ryu's facial expression proves hard to read in comparison to the outwardly care-free air that Lee casts. There's not much in the ways of... laughs, or smiles, or much of anything other than a certain readiness - maybe better described as an anticipation. A man that seems so far removed from the frivolous pleasures of society that his austerity applies to so many faculties of human existence.
"Yes," he replies simply, somehow cut off even with that simple syllable from the erupting laughter - he doesn't appear offended, at the very least. Given turbulent events in recent fights, one may wonder just how much reflection has shone certain lights deeper and darker into the hows and whys of fighting, and how hard one pushes oneself to secure what may be considered an end. Quandaries that probably would not be much in the way of conversation material among the gathered.
With the gesture of an empty glass, Ryu walks sideways to an unoccupied parking spot, bare feet pressing against hard asphalt that is neither of the temperature nor consistency that tends to be friendly to human flesh.
"My last name?" He lifts his head to this question. A moment passes, a question for the ages having been put forth at his metaphorical feet that are also probably without shoes.
"I'm... fine with just 'Ryu.'" He might have misunderstood the question, given the confidence in which his arms move to their ready stance at either side, starting to rise and fall by the flexing of his feet to punctuate the statement.
A technician runs up and adjusts his HitBit headband again. The first time around with Duke it was slightly askew, something the higher-ups were not happy with. It's difficult for them to align it just right atop the trademark headband that flutters under the passing breeze.
Next time they might ask him to take the one he usually wears off, but that's neither here or there.
"Just Ryu."
Lee Chaolan flashes the strange men in the sedan a playful glance. They were stifling their laughter, like this was a bunch of teenagers pranking the new guy. Lee Chaolan coyly tosses the glass at the asphalt, letting it shatter into pieces before him. "Well then, Just Ryu, You can call me Lee Chaolan. With those formalities out of the way... oh, hang on a second, Just Ryu." Amongst the snickers of the strange men, Lee Chaolan gives a salute towards the sedan.
"Hey, give me a cold one, will you 'Little Brother?"
One of the younger-looking gangster slides off the sedan, and heads to the trunk. Reaching in, he pulls out another bottle of Stella Artois. Popping the cap, he tosses it across the blacktop towards Lee Chaolan. Half the bottle manages to splash out, spilling across the parking lot as Lee deftly catches it. Taking a swig, he gasps in delight. "Ah! Excellent~" He sighs, as he turns towards Ryu.
And slowly, he falls into his fighting stance.
His stance falls wide, falling on his back foot. Leaning back, he keeps one hand forward, one hand back. Keeping the beer on the one hand back, he takes another swig. Smacking his lips, he turns back to his opponent, his eyes gleaming. "So, Just Ryu~" He coos, giving his opponent a wink as the call for the fight to begin is made. He beckons the World Warrior with two fingers.
"C'Mon~"
COMBATSYS: Lee Chaolan has started a fight here.
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Lee Chaolan 0/-------/-======|
COMBATSYS: Ryu has wandered into the fight here.
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Ryu 0/-------/-------|======-\-------\0 Lee Chaolan
"Just... Ryu is fine," and it is apparent that this man, this great martial artist of incredible renown for his explosive entry into the limelight by defeating Sagat for the title of World Warrior...
Has not spent much time honing himself in the way of wordplay, nor been subject to the idea of ridicule by a large group of one's peers. Feelings of being outnumbered, of being that shameful stake that sticks out which must be pounded to the ground, going by that old saying in the local culture. Out of his element, they might say, except for the one common ground in which his wanders have taken him.
The element of the fight itself, as is oft said and will continue to be said, is that moment he appears to approach something that could be construed as comfort. The ease in which one goes from awkward, brief greetings into the exchange of blows...
On the heels of two battles with troubling events and outcomes - some subtle, some... not - some may call into question the ease in which he hurls himself forward into his next challenge. It seems he answers the beckoning the very moment it even happens. By Ryu terms, this is swift, even for him. Has he been goaded by the teasing, to allow aggression to guide the initial blow as he moves into a straight left punch aimed high? That it is a straight left punch, solid in form with the understated but important leanings and movements to maximize the reach of such a punch is not without question.
That his eyes still appear as focused as ever, his facial expression unchanging without even the subtle tells one might read to speak of this... it may simply be an isolated curiosity of data points that this tournament will have no shortage of to share.
A detail that, by external factors, may be let slide in the bigger picture.
COMBATSYS: Lee Chaolan dodges Ryu's Medium Punch.
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Ryu 0/-------/-------|======-\-------\0 Lee Chaolan
It was a mental game.
Lee Chaolan had actually been worried about Ryu, the World Warrior being well-renowned for his skill... and his unbreakable iron will. Already, he could see that stoic presence. As Ryu answers his beckoning, Lee Chaolan locks his eyes on Ryu. He was waiting... waiting... and then, the first move is made.
And the second one comes shortly after.
The left punch comes, and Lee Chaolan suddenly breaks from the attack. Ducking low, he slips directly underneath the punch, the blow whistling through his hair. That was too close. Even with Lee waiting for it, he only barely evaded it. The skill of Ryu was well worthy of a World Warrior by the simplest of moves. Dipping low, Lee Chaolan hurls out a low kick, swinging it hard for Ryu's ankle... and stopping it short, before it even makes contact. Pivoting off it, he suddenly pushes off it, circling and leaping back to create a brief burst of distance.
"Sure thing, Just Ryu~"
The teasing tone is followed by a crash as Lee Chaolan hurls the bottle right by Ryu's feet. Another burst of broken glass comes, spreading the shards around. For the man that is barefoot, broken glass was nothing to the torn shards of stone and root that one encounters when traveling. Ryu's soles had to be hard as leather. But the fact was that there was broken glass all around now... and Lee Chaolan had shoes on. Ryu didn't. He had to be more careful with his footwork now. Already, the martial artist was exploding into the air, taking flight as he bounds straight back at his opponent as he reverses his suddenly seperation.
A flying kick straight for his torso.
COMBATSYS: Ryu endures Lee Chaolan's Silver Slash!
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Ryu 0/-------/----===|=======\-------\0 Lee Chaolan
Some have said that the match that is happening now is the match that should've happened for the Phoenix Championship Series. That this arrangement is at last happening is exciting! Lee Chaolan is a proven martial arts master whose teasing nature entertains and entices alike - in some ways, probably a lot like a certain associate of Ryu's who will for the moment go nameless.
Some of the audience present, given their character, may not quite have come to grips with just how great a privilege this is even beyond having money and connections to get this close to watch these two masterful warriors at last meet in an officially competitive capacity!
To Ryu, this is another fight. It should be another fight. The singular nature does not diminish this in comparison to other singular encounters - each and every battle has something to teach, something to learn, something to help one another grow ever stronger towards perfection...
And yet, though they do not manifest within his mind as words, something... nags.
What is more important when getting the most out of a fight? Ryu has encountered several already who acted as though their battle against him could be their very last. His ghastly bout with Duke, against an opponent on a magnitude he had never thought possible, was not a singular instance that would be so easily brushed aside.
It was a mental conundrum.
Ryu seems to take in the low movement of Lee's ankle prior to their movement back as a cue to draw his legs further apart, bringing his arm back as Lee cheerfully reaffirms the matter of the naming issue's resolution, his face tightening ever so slightly while glass shards brush against his ankle.
The opponents he faced in recent times were willing to push themselves beyond physical limitations... to deadly ends. That he steels himself for the flying kick may subtly reflect on this lingering hang-up that has no easy answers. It should seem that he is slow on the defense when the flying kick strikes square on, to a flash of blue at the point of impact.
Ryu holds his posture, teeth grit that much more tightly, as he shifts the back leg forward moments after the point of impact - this wasn't a defensive posture he was slow to correct.
A second straight punch, similar to the first, streaks outward with such ferocity that it tears the air an inky black between the fist's initial point of readying and the intended point of impact, a sharp kiai capping off the stance and maneuver of grit in the face of a flying kick that could have crumpled him in two, seemingly intent to catch him before Lee could catch himself in the follow-through of the aerial strike.
COMBATSYS: Lee Chaolan blocks Ryu's Fierce Punch.
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Ryu 0/-------/----===|=======\-------\0 Lee Chaolan
He was actually going to just take it?
"Hmmm... this might be a problem." Lee Chaolan begins as his flying kick comes hurtling in to a man who was not backing down to a full forced Mishima-Style jump kick. Lee Chaolan was no Duke; while he took martial arts with the same seriousness and severity of the rest of his family, he was not willing to kill and crush Ryu under the sheer power. No, this was a battle between two experts in their arts. This like a game of chess, or a polite debate.
In this case, Ryu was making his counterpoint with punching.
The punch lands, there is no doubt to that. Lee Chaolan had no room to evade as he hurls himself right in the path of the punch. What he could do, at least, was mitigate. The block comes with bone shattering force right into the full forearm of Lee Chaolan. There is a crunch as he staves off the blow, his impact stopping his momentum right on that bone. A hairline fracture was there now, he could feel it. As Lee Chaolan lands on his feet, the glass crunching underfoot, he actually looked surprised.
"Impressive, Just Ryu!"
The response comes easily as Lee Chaolan hurls out his right leg, aiming it squarely into Ryu's gut. Like the low kick before, however, aimed at Ryu's ankle, this was almost a full feint. It would land with no impact, no force. Lee Chaolan would simply use it as a pivot, to step up into Ryu, up to his shoulders. His other leg would come then, and Lee Chaolan would simply hook his leg around Ryu's neck, and rip him down to the ground.
Down to the broken glass on the concrete.
COMBATSYS: Ryu parries Lee Chaolan's Mist Trap!
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Ryu 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\1 Lee Chaolan
For what strange things may yet weigh on his soul, it would seem his mind's eye remains firmly upon his opponent and their movements - Lee doesn't give him much time to give a vocal response to the compliment.
His chest tightens up at the light tap of Lee's foot up against his gut, the closest forearm moving to intercept the hook.
It shudders under the inertia of Lee's catching leg, another split-second flash of blue upon contact. His hand flinches wider - it is a maneuver that only just meets the success of Ryu's own intent, fighting against the movement Lee's motions coax. If he held his ground like this for any longer, where Lee's leg takes hold wouldn't have mattered - he'd have met the pavement and the shards of glass that have a front row seat to the action.
He's in the process of being hurled over when he lashes out with a leg and a small hop forward, but what comes out of his mouth next will have to suffice in place of 'thank you,' or 'you're not so bad yourself,' through simply giving it his all.
"TATSUMAKI," comes the announcing shout, "SENPUUKYAKU!" Each syllable maintains the same strength of force as the first shout, swinging a leg outward in a counter-clockwise rotation from Lee's point of view, hovering just above the very ground in the forward spinning motion to catch the Mishima-influenced martial artist between the rotating flurry.
COMBATSYS: Lee Chaolan auto-guards Ryu's Tatsumaki Senpuu Kyaku EX.
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Ryu 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\1 Lee Chaolan
It was a flawless reaction.
Ryu was hooked, but there was no force to be unleashed; Ryu had negated that easily. As the fighter is hurled over, the Dragon of Ansatsuken goes with the impact, rolling and flipping with it like water. The reaction is so fluid, so flawless, that it was nearly an instant before Ryu was back to him. The jump kick into a fiercesome counter punch into a mist trap into this, the Tatsumaki Senpuu Kyaku. It was an incredible blur, and now, Ryu was spinning his leg into a brutal spinning kick. Lee Chaolan was in no position to dodge as he lands on his knee, and rises up.
And like it was rehearsed, Lee Chaolan responds flawlessly in kind.
The strange tattoed men from the strange black sedans fall silent as they watch the two fighters enter sheer harmony. Where Ryu had responded to the trap with offensive precision, Lee Chaolan met it with defensive precision. Lee Chaolan rises up to the first kick, both forearms braced, as he catches the first kick. Not to stop it, no. BUt to carefully shift the momentum of the impact down his own body, to his feet. Twisting at the hips, Lee bends back as he rotates his forearms, letting the leg rips over him once as he steps back. The second kick comes in again, and Lee Chaolan repeats the same gesture; catch, transfer, step, under. The third kick however, is where perfection grazes failure; the final kick comes, and Lee Chaolan could feel his knees buckling. If he had reacted like Ryu did, he might have been able to hurl out a counterattack with the same speed. Instead, Lee Chaolan is forced to not simply duck under, but roll away, his shoulder hitting the glass shards upon the ground, digging into his leather vest.
There is a smattering of applause as Lee Chaolan rises up, no worse for where.
"Hm. Excellent, Ryu." The martial artist states firmly. It seems that the teasing for 'Just RYu' did not apply anymore. With some distance away, Lee Chaolan adjusts his footing, leaning back as he once again falls into the same stance he opened with; the Hitman stance. Stance wide, with most of his weight on the back foot, he extends his hand out again. With a subtle gesture, he motions at his opponent to approach once again, a careful, delicate dance between two incredible technicians.
"C'mon~"
COMBATSYS: Lee Chaolan gathers his will.
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Ryu 0/-------/---====|=======\====---\1 Lee Chaolan
Even seeing Ryu land from rapid spins that would disorient anyone looking no less unbalanced for the wear is, in itself, an excellent finish to an exchange of two men that appear equally matched. The applause given by the entertained fall as quiet as light rain to Ryu's ears, already returning to the ready stance as Lee slips free, moving into that gesture that says, 'come at me.'
It is a far cry from the sheer savagery he had already been subject to, though something... seems to linger. He can't put a finger on it, as all fingers are currently occupied in being balled up into fists. That any sort of distraction can or should pop up now when the two move in such ways that show the heights of their technical prowess and physical conditioning...
The readouts would say to those at home that Ryu is performing just fine even after the explosive finish with the man named Duke - maybe even better than ever, as though the experience reinvigorated him, some armchair psychologists may say off the sheer reported numbers.
In the now, the present, the here, among the physically perceptible, he simply nods once, but this nod may in itself be one word too many for what ever needs to be said.
Drawing his hands back into the familiar emptiness they grasp around, he vents away the worldly, the things that already are... and instead focuses power through that point of nothing, air uncomfortably pressed through the cracks of his fingers with the gathering of the unmistakable blue illumination of the famed manifestation of chi he commands.
"HADOUKEN!" He calls, thrusting his palms forward to let it fly towards Lee. In absence of any sort of beckoning gesture to come nearer, to tease, or to intimidate, instead he chooses to instead challenge Lee against his own comfort zone, that middle range where fighters are just out of arm's reach of one another, as the spherical chi ball draws ever nearer.
COMBATSYS: Lee Chaolan blocks Ryu's Hadouken.
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Ryu 0/-------/--=====|=======\=====--\1 Lee Chaolan
Oh, right, projectile fireballs.
Lee Chaolan realizes that Ryu must have come from a stock different from his peers, as he suddenly draws upon his signature fireball. The expression from Lee was a smirk, and a knowing nod back to him. Immediately, he shifts forward out of his stance, as the fireball is unleashed. Arms crossed, he moves into the flame, letting his arms drive deep into them. And just short of his chest, he tears his arms apart from the fireball, letting the flames tear along his limbs as he breaks free. He had faced down the dangerous fireball.
ANd now, he had to get OVER there to face him.
Lee Chaolan shakes out his arms, letting the last remains of the blue flames to dissapate around him. Adjusting his footing, he shifts out of his hitman stance fully, the man not taking the bait. And that was a bait he wouldn't be taking again, it seemed. Lee Chaolan makes his approach, moving with a steady defensive approach, one that would give Ryu plenty of time to adjust. He draws back his leg, and unleashes a quick pair of roundhouse kicks. And if Ryu didn't do anything to stop him? He would then keeping kicking.
And kicking.
A-and kicking.
Lee Chaolan unleashes a steady, unrelenting string of kicks high, low, and middle. A chain of infinite kicks, in fact, at a reasonable, reliable pace. They weren't fast, they weren't powerful. But the fact was, they weren't stopping.
Until Ryu MADE them stop.
COMBATSYS: Ryu interrupts Infinite Rave from Lee Chaolan with Shoryuken EX.
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Ryu 0/-------/=======|=======\=======\1 Lee Chaolan
Between acts of measured precision and decisive action, the exchanges go back to a milder overall pitch. Ryu draws back in anticipation for Lee's approach the moment he sees the Hadouken's form warp and dissipate against their defense. Lee's approach is measured enough that he may yet decide to throw another, but instead, he expresses patience. The pace of the battle swung back towards him, for that moment. He stands ready to react, to patiently pick out that key moment to strike, move, or both.
Ryu's patience proves both generous, and nearly his own undoing when Lee comes in kicking. Both roundhouse kicks are met with the appropriately timed and angled defenses. The follow-up keeps him on his toes... and on his feet, moving backwards with every blow.
It doesn't stop.
He is on a steady course back towards the tattooed gentlemen, losing ground as Lee moves back towards their own comfort zone, pushing their own relentless offense at a measured pace that seems to tease a break. It's like a one-sided conversation where one thinks there's about to be an opening to speak.
No such opportunity comes. There's much to admire about the pacing Lee puts forth - rapid enough that there is actual attacking force, but paced that one could see him be able to do this for as long as they wished without immediate risk of running out of wind.
Is this intimidation that Ryu might be facing? He lets it go on for longer than most might before fully disengaging from that range to catch one's breath or otherwise be tripped up... his defenses are slowly being worn down, and yet, he hasn't acted?
He was simply waiting for an opening, for a time that a kick goes just high enough for him to bend into a crouch and tighten up his fist, halting his backwards movement as though to risk colliding bodily into Lee...
The real threat is the other way around, as he thrusts the fist of a battered arm vertically into the air, into the space that Lee's body currently occupies, the strength of the very attack carrying him up to the sky with but a simple cry that could be heard further down the mountain with unmistakable clarity.
"SHOOOORYUKEN...!"
The Infinite Kicks are broken.
The rising uppercut comes with staggering force, breaking the infinite chain ice cold. Lee Chaolan rises up in the air, the thin fractures on his jaw spiderwebbing through, before collapsing down again in agony. The smile was off his face, and the shards of glass embed in his back. His arms cut up slightly by the glass, he rises back up, wiping the blood from his chin and lip. He quickly flashes a thumbs up at Ryu, giving him a wink.
BUt this time, he has nothing to say.
Lee Chaolan surges back with a forward kick, aimed squarely into Ryu's center. A defiant opening move, which quickly chains into a second kick that... falls short into a step at Ryu's side. Almost naturally, he pivots into a backfist to the chin to stun, and commits to his offensive string now, no feints. Taking to the air he unleashes a ripping snap kick, rising up. And should he even make it that far, he would finish the assault by attempting to wrap Ryu in his legs by his neck, and slam him straight to the ground.
Lee Chaolan was escalating this, it seemed.
COMBATSYS: Lee Chaolan successfully hits Ryu with Mercury Drive.
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Ryu 1/----<<</<<<<<<<|======-\-------\0 Lee Chaolan
Ryu touches back down upon terra firma upright, withdrawing back towards that famous ready stance of his. To all gathered, he doesn't appear too winded for the wear even after the endless series of kicks that he nearly allowed to be exactly as it is called.
Through the Infinite Kicks, Ryu may have ultimately betrayed what weaknesses there are in his defensive postures simply by having previously allowed Lee plenty of breathing room to attack, and keep attacking. High, low, center, there's no short amount of test samples to work with in working out the next maneuver.
That the forward kick slips through Ryu's guard is not by a mistake on the Ansatsuken fighter's end - it is entirely in Lee's credit to his ability to make a dedicated strike count, and Ryu is sent staggering back - that backfist follow-up ensures he can't regroup himself before he's battered from up high, caught in the leg by the neck, and introduced to the asphalt he walks upon.
The asphalt cracks around his head's impact, forming spider-like patterns as Ryu rolls to face the open air and, presumably, the direction Lee might be after the fact.
His nose has been scraped open from the end point of the combination attack. His headband - both of them, the regular one that flaps in a breeze even when there is an apparent lack, and the somewhat oddly fit HitBit camera device - obscures what bruising or wouding might have happened above his brow.
What is briefly blurry focuses to a sharp point. The finer colors of the sky, the contours of a caterpillar's bite into a leaf, the grains of soil, sand... all secondary to the outline in his vision that Lee Chaolan casts, and his eyes narrow an immeasurably small amount beyond the descriptor that it is somehow noticeable.
Something churns ever deeper within him. He is injured. If Lee could put in another series of blows of that magnitude, he might clinch it. Some of the tattooed guys are already making interesting calls with one another over how many hits it'll take.
And yet, Ryu hardly seems that much slower for it, but is he standing to escalate in turn, to be coaxed to greater abandon, to a violent climax showing the best the both of them have to offer?
Moving back into striking range - assuming Lee hadn't already been working towards staying there - Ryu seems to almost glide against the parking lot ground, drawing back his right arm up high mere moments before he's set to thrust it forward...
And downward. In this single, smooth motion, he swings in such a way that it has a small break in its force to strike twice - once on the approach, once on the descent of that overhead punch.
COMBATSYS: Ryu successfully hits Lee Chaolan with Sakotsu Wari.
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Ryu 1/----<<</<<<<<<<|======-\-------\0 Lee Chaolan
Dangerously close.
Things were getting down to the wire between Ryu and Lee Chaolan. Ryu seemed to have found his groove, his rhythm to keep him steady, to push him over the top. After Lee Chaolan blitzes in with his staggering combination, he lands with a bounce, and quickly rises back up. And there, he takes a breather to quickly brush the sweat from his brow. "I must say, Ryu, it was a shame you didn't face me in the Phoenix Tournament! Let me formally extend an invitation to face me for my belt!" He gives a wink, and a toying point of his finger.
"You are clearly up to the challenge!"
As Ryu rises back up, he quickly falls back into his defensive stance. This was not teasing. This was dead serious. As the men place their bets, Lee Chaolan makes a note to stay out of this round of gambling. Already, the skilled fighter was rushing in. Lee could sense his power, as he hurls that crushing blow in. Lee Chaolan wasn't going to try to guard against that. He attempts to side step the assault......
And he only manages to evade the second punch, properly.
The first hit slams into his shoulder hard, dropping Lee Chaolan nearly to his knees. The second blow from the same punch comes in, and only manages to graze the martial artist as he just rolls out of the assault. He arm was in agony, searing in pain. He was hurting, and his opponent... his opponent still had an edge on him. He could feel that Ryu was starting to make his final assault up. And Lee Chaolan could only rely on his speed against his opponent's speed. And frankly?
Lee Chaolan was slowing down.
Sweat continues on his brow as Lee Chaolan suddenly rushes back in, rising from his roll. He was coming in from the sides now, trying to circle. Throwing out a pair of punches, both fall short as he slips in a low kick... that aims to stop short at the ankle, and let Lee Chaolan continue his pivot. Should he manage to resposition himself behind Ryu, he would then attempt to take Ryu's right arm with him, and wrench it hard behind him. And from that position? Lee Chaolan would simply force Ryu face down to the ground by the leverage of his arm...
And stomp on the back of his neck, three times.
COMBATSYS: Ryu dodges Lee Chaolan's Lee Harassment.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Ryu 1/----<<</<<<<<<<|=======\-------\0 Lee Chaolan
Outside of the intricacies of their movements and overall technique, it's not hard to picture the likes of Lee mentally and verbally running circles around the simpler, more straightforward character of Ryu, whom responds to the invitation wordle--
"Another round, then," Ryu says, even in inflection and oddly devoid of stress... well, strike that instance of 'wordless' above, those are words. He takes it as an acknowledgement and invitation to another battle, "but to ask for another match while we're still fighting..."
Did he just crack a smile? Maybe it is relief, reassurance that he is not fighting another opponent who seems bent on some level of seeking, or at least being accepting, of some sort of finality.
The timing of such an offer may prove more dangerous to his focus than any number of feints or other smokescreens one may yet have, but taken in with his recent trials and tribulations... that may well be all he needs to cast aside what worries and doubts want to claw away at a mind that would empty all else other than the rote instinct and routine instilled upon him.
Lee moves in, and Ryu holds fast against the too-short punches. His foot doesn't move back when the low kick starts to come in. He doesn't manage to stop Lee from moving in behind him - he's still quick even as he grows more tired - and hands lay upon Ryu's large, muscled arm...
...That swings outward as Ryu swiftly turns to face Lee, moving to shove him off and simultaneously take a short hop backwards within moments of his control of his arm nearly being taken from him, a loud grunt his succinct word on the effort involved to pull himself free at the last moment.
The small hop back seems more a force of habit than full intent of his next movement against Lee, stepping back into grabbing range to take him by his top and then roll onto his back against the ground, moving to hurl Lee behind him with help from one of his own legs to heft and direct Lee above and over him.
COMBATSYS: Ryu successfully hits Lee Chaolan with Tomoe Nage.
- Power hit! -
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Ryu 1/--<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\-------\0 Lee Chaolan
Another round.
It was not final. That was the ultimate truth of being a top tier fighter. Even the greatest fighter in the world can leave his throne, only to take it a mere week later. That was the truth of growing, evolving, and transforming as a fighter. Lee Chaolan could lose this fight, and he would make sure to thank Ryu for the fantastic fight. ANd of course, send him a parting gift, as thanks.
A pair of sneakers.
As he dives in hard to the flank, Ryu quickly negates the feint, and meets his assault with careful finesse. As Lee makes a grab at his arm, the fighter shoves back, and reserve the control almost immediately. The man is hurls up, over, and away, slamming hard on the concrete. He rolls three times, before coming up on his hips at repose, wiping the fresh blood from his mouth.
"It's a date~"
Lee Chaolan rises up, returning to an off-centered stand at first. He needed a second to recenter himself. He was... he was getting mauled. His body was bleeding badly, the broken glass dug deep into his skin. But Lee Chaolan had a look in his eyes. A look of anger, of sheer insult. Lee Chaolan felt... cheated now. He wanted to keep his cool. He wanted to keep his temper. But with a shout, "KIAI!" He'll unleash a roundhouse kick straight for Ryu's neck. Not to smash through it properly, though. He'll hook the leg around Ryu's neck once again, and smash him face down into the broken glass.
Actually, he'll add in a stomp on the neck for good luck.
COMBATSYS: Ryu just-defends Lee Chaolan's Scatter Kick!
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Ryu 1/--=====/=======|=======\-------\1 Lee Chaolan
The wandering warrior rises up from the ground upon the release of Lee, hanging back to watch Lee's movements. Shifting back to the passive, he notes the wiping of blood, the unsteady stance they first take as Ryu takes in another breath - as though showing a moment of weakness, for the body to remind the masterful student that oxygen is a necessity.
It is also restraint.
The excitement bubbles as both draw nearer and nearer their limits. There's that touch of adrenaline that the HitBit fans will take note of. His lips press together a bit tighter, lacking vocal return to the declaration of a date.
The anger.
Lee Chaolan comes in with that roundhouse kick as fierce as any he's thrown before tonight, and Ryu doesn't manage to duck underneath it in time. It catches his throat again, as he has attempted a number of times. Just as how Lee might have inadvertedly capitalized upon Ryu staying on the defensive for so long...
Ryu takes advantage of the maneuver itself to throw himself forward with it into a somersault, breaking himself free of both a rough landing on one's face and putting him just out of reach of any follow-up kick that Lee might have chanced regardless.
The street fighter takes little time to rest on his laurels beyond registering the shock of rolling across an uneven patch of cracked asphalt at the speed he did, narrowing his eyes back into focus to face Lee one more time.
The suspense over by the spectators begin to boil towards a climax, and silence falls among them once again as Ryu draws his hands back to once again form a sphere over nothing.
"Shinkuu," he utters, emptying himself of everything he can in the moment. All there is, is the space between his hands for the power to gather - a vacuum in which the energy of the world rushes to fill, Ryu channeling it into a greater blue form that fills the entire space of his hands, and then some.
Were a fighter more inclined to material wants, the invitation to go for the championship belt and its rewards would be enough to coax one to slow down, to wind down slowly, maybe keep a trump up their sleeve for the inevitable rematch that might yet have a better payout.
Ryu is not this kind of fighter, putting it all as he would any other in this critical moment between them...
% t"HADOUUUKEN!!" His voice goes hoarse over the words as fatigue begins to set in, the spiraling ball of energy thrust forth from his hands to corkscrew along towards Lee and drill into them.
COMBATSYS: Lee Chaolan parries Ryu's Shinkuu Hadouken!
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Ryu 1/-------/<<<<<<<|=======\=------\1 Lee Chaolan
What made Lee Chaolan different from all the vengeful fighters?
What made him stand out from his family, from Heihachi and Kazuya. From Duke, who's anger had shattered buildings. Lee Chaolan hurls out the kick to the neck, and was already unleashing the full fury out into Ryu. It was anger, raw hot anger. The difference was?
Lee Chaolan's anger faded the moment Ryu breaks free of his kick.
It was only a flash, and gone like a flash. Lee Chaolan's heart rate was settling down. Vigor was pouring through him, as he fights off the raw glimmers of fatigue. Recovering from the aggressive attack, he was on both feet, staring down Ryu as he advances steadily.
Another Hadouken.
This blast, however, was much stronger than the one before. Already, the energy was building into a cascade, a staggering blast firing straight for the fighter. And yet, he wasn't slowing down. He was running faster and faster, blazing ahead with crackneck speed. The flaming blast of energy spirals forward as Lee Chaolan suddenly blazes forward himself.
And Lee Chaolan was at his shoulder.
The edges of blue flames trail off the edge of his pants and arms. He could have just dodged. But he did more than just dodge. He slipped right on the edge of the fire, just against the tip of the chi blast. Hurling himself right by Ryu, he doesn't hesitate. Immediately throwing back his momentum, he unleashes a rapidfire chain of kicks low to high at Ryu, before the chi blast even had the chance to burn itself out. Whether those kicks landed cleanly or not, it did not matter to Lee Chaolan. He only unleashes a howl as he unleashes the final kick as he spins around.
And finishes with a roundhouse kick to the face.
COMBATSYS: Ryu fails to interrupt Acid Storm EX from Lee Chaolan with Shinkuu Tatsumaki Senpuu Kyaku.
[ \\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Ryu 0/-------/----<<<|=======\===----\1 Lee Chaolan
Lee's on him before he can even fully acknowledge that he powered just past the Shinkuu Hadouken, and Ryu steps back far too short to get away from Lee's bold, decisive charge.
Ryu clenches his fist tightly as he inwardly ponders, thinking he knows what will be to come next - what Lee seems to favor offensively, the way he moves in, he reaches deep into himself. He long used the embracing of nothingness, creating a vacuum to give strength.
Could he do so in another way?
"Shinkuu," he murmurs aloud within the narrow span of time between Lee's approach and initial attack.
"TATSUMAKI SENPUU KYAK!" He shouts lifting his leg to spin, spin, spin in that familiar gesture, except... he hovers in place, the air underneath him displacing itself under a glow of blue chi. He misses the initial low kick.
There are not many clashes between the two kicking movements, but each one impacts violently to the ears, thunderous impacts between them...
But it is an untested attempt under fire, and Ryu soon loses his lift... and it is Lee who gets the last say, with that one last roundhouse kick to the face.
With a loud shout of pain, Ryu corkscrew across the air a further ways down towards the road proper, bouncing twice before coming to a stop face-down.
The martial artist shakily works to a crouch, foregoing the use of the railing right behind him for support - a now bloodied face with a puffy cheek looking up through to Lee. One hand rests against the ground. The other remains clenched.
Lee Chaolan was legitimately impressed.
Ryu was pure power. He was pure skill. And Lee Chaolan wanted to fight him again. Win? Lose? Draw? He wanted to face this man again. To spar, to study, to learn.
If he had shoes, he might have trounced Lee.
The man's cry only drives Lee Chaolan to drive his kicks harder. As Ryu lifts up in the air, he struggles, battles to keep Ryu down. As the final roundhouse kick comes, the kick comes from Ryu. Both kicks come in unison. Lee's blow lands squarely in. And Ryu's... is less an inch away.
Lee barely came out ahead.
Knocking Ryu away, Lee Chaolan runs his fingers through his silver hair, breathing hard. He limps to the side a moment, before regaining his footing again. Ryu was... Ryu wasn't getting up, was he. As he barely stands, he approaches Ryu carefully, silver energy beginning to spiral around him as he draws back a punch. "Next round, Ryu?" He states with a friendly tone. "You pick the location. We'll battle over the belt. Until then?" He was over Ryu for only a spit-second, as he suddenly snaps out with an unwound punch with precise, overwhelming power.
Aimed squarely to knock Ryu out, and nothing more.
COMBATSYS: Lee Chaolan successfully hits Ryu with Death Touch.
[ < > ///////// ]
Ryu 1/-------/=======|=------\-------\0 Lee Chaolan
A scene flashes before Ryu's eyes as standing up straight proves difficult. The way that Lee strides, the way the grass feels under one of his feet... the shadow cast by one of the nearby cars parked just a ways off to the side. The lighting and angle that gives Lee a little extra height as an illusion while they approach.
It wasn't that long ago, approached by a celebrated champion after many battles through powerful opponents, each of whom put him through the wringer in various ways. So very few yet put him at the brink like... this one.
The encounter with Duke rings ever nearer, and the one with Baiken not that further back from them. The reckless abandon. Who or what decides when a fight's over? The way Lee approaches, there's a clear shot between Ryu's balled-up fist and the man's torso.
The resemblance between this scenario and the one before that earned Ryu his title of the World Warrior, down to almost the finest detail outside of the body language ultimately unique to Lee.
Wordlessly, Ryu raises his fist. To the outside, it appears a feeble (by his standards, it's still well-positioned) attempt to defend himself from the oncoming punch. His eyes are no longer upon Lee - the words and their meaning read clear, although there is a distortion to them from disorientation.
The fist clenches tighter...
Within the half of a split second between that and impact, his fingers start to part. The single punch connects against his face without being held back by the raised hand - he sees nothing more, his eyes shut tight as he is struck to the railing and slumped over onto his back, one hand resting atop his chest.
COMBATSYS: Ryu takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\ <
Lee Chaolan 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Ryu can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\ <
Lee Chaolan 0/-------/------=|
One Punch Man.
Lee Chaolan recoils his fist as the blow lands true. It was normally an 'executing' blow, but frankly, Lee had no intention to kill Ryu. Why tarnish a work of martial art? In fact, Lee Chaolan rubs his wrist, in pain. Holding back did far more damage than good. "Good night, sweet prince." He murmurs. He turns back to the HitBit team, and claps his hands together. He gasps in pain, and shakes his hand. He gasps again in pain. Sheepishly, he shrugs as the men by the cars start to howl in laughter. He winks at them, before looking back to the HitBit team.
"So when is his next fight?"
"Well, uh, with the HitBit tournament, sir?" A technician pipes up. Meanwhile, the medical team rushes on the scene. A team of nurses quickly reaches Ryu to take care of him, while a pair of the most talented doctors in Japan immediately come to Lee Chaolan. The executive clears his throat, and looks at the men. Swiftly, the team of nurses hurries to Lee, while the pair of experience doctors begin their work on Ryu. As the nurses quickly giggle and work on Lee, the executive gestures at the technician. "Yes, yes. Who is he fighting next? I absolutely must watch now." The technician coughs, and shakes his head. "Well, he's eliminated now. ONe draw, one loss." Lee doesn't miss a beat when he responds in a flat tone.
"I'm changing the rules then."
Lee Chaolan then throws a bunch of money in the air.
STorming towards the equipment, the nurses tut tut as they try and put his arm in a sling. His free hand swings around as his vision comes to life. "We'll have exhibition matches now. Hang on." He mimes a rainbow before him. "Ex-HitBit-ions. Oh! Genius!~" Lee Chaolan gets a far away look, as sparkles fill his eyes. "Ex-HitBit-ions! Quickly! Get Kuma on the phone!" The technician look around. "K-kuma? You mean-" Lee Chaolan sighs. "Yes, he is a majority shareholder of the HitBit corporation. I can't make any sweeping changes like that without his approval first." The technicians look like they were slapped in the face with a trout.
"But... bear... I..."
Lee Chaolan meanwhile takes over the drone operator's position, and prepares to land it right by the strange men. Looks like in spite of his injuries, he would be making sure to help his buddies in their racing. "I'll let you handle the important details. I have a vision now! And that vision is.... Ex-HitBit-Ions! Also call Disney. Lets see if we can't get the new Lightning Spangles in this as well. You understand?" He looks at a random technician, who was not Frank. Lee Chaolan was smiling. The technician sputters a moment, and then just nods his head.
And Lee Chaolan flashes a thumbs up at the technician.
"Excellent~"
Log created on 19:53:41 01/31/2016 by Ryu, and last modified on 11:46:37 02/04/2016.