Description: A lonely train station on the way between Southtown and neighboring Chichibu will provide the ambiance for this battle! Train traffic will be heading throughout the station at regular three-minute intervals -- some engines will stop, others will keep blazing through regardless. The point is, hearing may be difficult, but -seeing- won't be -- and Alice might find a familiar face!
Scene: The camera rides in low along the outside of a train, just high enough to avoid grazing the tracks racing past while in the distance, the train station is pulling into view around a corner with a crowd gathered out on the platform.
A classic shot, except for the fact that there is no churning wheels or plume of black smoke coming from this engine, instead it is the blazing fast speed and graceful curves of the shinkansen, and the platform is not that of a small Western American town, but the concrete and glass of a modern travel center.
As the doors open, bodies surge out with the practiced nonchalance of regular commuters. Men in business suits ducking off to cabs or transferring to some of the smaller lines that visit other platforms.
And standing out from all of that is Pepper Green, following up her "debut" success in the previous round of the Rumble in the Streets. Once more graced with the high-tech FitBit that stands in such contrast against the low-key look, with her auburn hair pulled into very basic braids that match the country look of her wool-lined jacket, flannel shirt, worn jeans, and cowboy boots.
Moving with an laid-back ease, she steps off the train onto the platform and pulls her phone out of her pocket to double check the information provided. There are plenty of stations between Southtown and Chichibu, and it would be a real pain if she'd gotten the wrong one.
Apparently it's the right one, because there's a slightly cleared area of space. Slightly, because there's not enough room in this station for any more than that.
Alice Nakata is in the space; she is wearing her hat backwards and her Hitbit attached to the band, since she's supposed to wear it on her forehead and didn't have anything else to do with it. She has just signed an autograph for a businessman with a big smile, as he's the first person to ask for one today - sometimes Alice isn't as famous as she wishes she was. It's loud and crowded here, so she hasn't been able to hold much of a conversation with anyone.
Nor does she manage to say much to Pepper. This is probably at least partially because she missed the younger girl getting off the train, though her attention is drawn when a path forms through the crowd as Hitbit-app users spot the second person and start to clear out of the way. At least a little. It's crowded, everywhere except that little empty space.
When her attention is drawn, though, she waves. She starts to say something else, but a train going through without stopping drowns her out. Alice makes a face and tries again once it's passed: "Hey!"
As the cry finally manages to overcome the noise of the train station, Pepper looks up and starts to clear the relatively open space between her and Alice. Despite the fact that it's only a few steps to travel through online searches between the new Lightning Spangles and Pepper Green, for the most part that's been left quiet. Part of that is because the girl who broke pavement with a Gedo bully in her previous match has shown none of the mannerisms of the famous cowgirl, but more importantly it's been left out of professional broadcasts (thanks to some Disney influences).
And so, despite the fact that the Red Rookie and Red Pro title holders are now standing face to face, it would be easy enough to assume it was an experienced high level fighter against a relative unknown.
An unknown that, despite nearly matching up to Alice in height, is quite obviously (without all the makeup and ceremony of Lightning Spangles) a few years younger than the more... excitingly dressed blonde.
"Hope I'm not late," Pepper finally pipes in, her voice clearly marked with a country twang.
And on that note, Alice is surprised they put her up against a kid. She's not sure if she should tone it down or just play for the audience, because this is the kind of thing you think about when you're Alice Nakata.
"Nope!" Alice says, brightly. "I'm early. I got bored so I got on an early train." Which mostly resulted in her being bored here instead of there, but them's the breaks. At least here she got to meet a fan or two, which makes it a net positive in her book.
She sticks out a hand. It's not that she's not taking Pepper seriously; it's that she doesn't take much of this seriously at all, or doesn't appear to a lot of the time. Either way, she shakes it if Pepper returns the favour, then takes a step back, adjusting her hat.
"I think we should get ready and give them a proper show. What do you guys think?" That Alice pitched louder, toward the crowd. She's grinning as she hears their response.
An important aspect of every fight is trying to complete research on your competitors. In Pepper's case, it also has the added advantage of providing new insight into more than just countering your opponent, sometimes you need to put in some effort into being your opponent.
For a moment, every aspect of Pepper's body language begins to change as she goes from young Oklahoma girl and suddenly shifts not to Alice's mannerisms, but those of Terry Bogard himself. It's not even some half-hearted attempt, there is something about small mannerisms that exist where they previously did not that would practically suggest the Wolf of Southtown himself was reaching out to shake Alice's hand.
"I'm not pulling any punches," Peppers remarks, her accent seeming to have vanished for that one moment before she steps away. Even as she reaches up to adjust the FitBit on her head, it's as if she were adjusting some invisible cap.
And then, as she settles into a fighting posture, Pepper flows through a perfect imitation stance before it fades away into a similar, simple fighting position. Perhaps it was all just imaginary.
COMBATSYS: Pepper has started a fight here.
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Pepper 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Pepper activates her HitBit(tm) livestreaming suite!
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Pepper [E] 0/-------/-------|
Alice squints. For an instant she's not sure if she's being mocked - but she shakes the hand firmly anyway before she takes a step back. "Well then," she says, not sure if she should be pleased or not. "Neither will I!"
She does, at least, wait for the signal, somebody soundboarding a bell, loudly - though the signal is almost lost in the announcement for the next train, not yet here but getting close. Alice doesn't let /that/ stop her, though; she's almost immediately in action.
Seeing as Pepper is right there, and Alice said she wasn't going to hold back, she launches herself forward almost immediately. Her foot snaps upward as she kicks, then uses the leverage to actually leap off the ground and guide herself above Pepper; she delivers a second kick as she drops behind the other girl, a /backwards/ kick that doesn't hit as hard but might send Pepper staggering away from her for a step or two. "Ready or not..."
"...HERE I AM!"
COMBATSYS: Alice Nakata has joined the fight here.
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Alice Nakata 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 [E] Pepper
COMBATSYS: Alice Nakata activates her HitBit(tm) livestreaming suite!
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Alice Nakata [E] 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 [E] Pepper
COMBATSYS: Alice Nakata successfully hits Pepper with High Heel.
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Alice Nakata [E] 0/-------/------=|===----\-------\0 [E] Pepper
After Pepper settles into her fighting stance, there's an actual moment where confusion spreads across her face. Over the years, Pepper has spent a great deal of time figuring out how to do what other people do, and through this she's also managed to learn a great deal about herself. Something isn't quite right with her body.
Unfortunately, allowing yourself to be distracted is a serious problem in a fight, and with all of the sounds of the train station muffling out the bell combining with her own distraction, Pepper is left standing somewhat dumbfounded as Alice starts the fight off without hesitation. With mere instinct to guide her, Pepper tries to throw herself out of the way, but her body simply isn't moving the way she expects it to, and faced with a skilled opponent on the offensive, it all ends with Pepper taking the hit from Alice and stumbling forward awkwardly.
Just like her first fight (as those who watched that rough bit of street brutality play out would recognize), she's gotten off the gate slow and taken an early hit. If everything continues like this, they're going to need to clean up some blood... and replace part of the platform.
Regardless of whatever's going on with her body, clearly the best way to handle it is to just get right into it. Turning around to face Alice, Pepper launches herself forward at the older girl and thrusts out her hand as a smark of blue chi starts to erupt around her knuckles, seeming to thrust her forward even more violently before dying in an incomplete sputter after doing little more than providing thrust.
COMBATSYS: Alice Nakata auto-guards Pepper's Breaking Down Walls.
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Alice Nakata [E] 0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0 [E] Pepper
Alice did not watch Pepper's last fight. She hasn't watched /any/ of Pepper's fights, in fact - including the one(s) she's done as Lightning Spangles Jr. She's fighting blind, but it doesn't seem to bother her very much; Alice tends to roll with the battle rather than letting her preconceptions get in the way.
Though right now she's underestimating Pepper, which may be a bit of a mistake. Sure, it's working... for now.
But this move... this move Alice knows. She practiced it herself, a little differently, and she grins to see it. Maybe that wasn't mocking before, either. She moves with the impact, letting it push her back as her own hand flickers into light, stepping up onto a bench that has been thoughtfully cleared for a little extra height and distance. She wouldn't have made it as far as she did without the little boost.
"Not bad," she says, "to start." She doesn't immediately show off her own, though; she crouches (though without getting off the bench, so she's still actually at about midheight) and kicks, a solid if not technically taxing blow.
COMBATSYS: Alice Nakata successfully hits Pepper with Medium Kick.
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Alice Nakata [E] 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 [E] Pepper
By this point, Pepper is fairly certain something has gone off with the HitBit for her to be moving like this. It's not that it's making her worse so much as it is making her different. She doesn't quite know how to react to the way her body moves. It's all out of balance. When she moves, she seems to be overreaching.
If she'd known things would be like this, she would have practiced more. Instead she's on the spot, and as Alice takes a swing, she attempts to throw up a forearm to intercept. Unfortunately, her arm moves too far, Alice's foot just glancing against it before taking her clean in the torso, knocking her back.
Okay, new solution: If the body is going to move too much, the only solution is to attempt to move through your opponent. As she recovers, Pepper lunges back forward and launches into whirlwind sweep with her other leg, aiming to scythe right through Alice's midsection (only without the actual cutting and blood everywhere).
COMBATSYS: Alice Nakata interrupts Heavy Kick from Pepper with Rising Drill.
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Alice Nakata [E] 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\0 [E] Pepper
Alice, on the other hand, seems... pretty much the same as she always does. Sometimes it takes her a few moments to amp up the pressure because she tends to move around a lot and reposition herself based on her opponent, and Pepper hasn't had much time to act yet.
She certainly doesn't seem to be hampered under any difficulties, though... huh.
Alice doesn't rise all the way, remaining crouched. Pepper might be nearly as tall as her normally, but while standing on the bench, Alice towers over the younger fighter - but while the high ground is useful, she doesn't actually want to be so high she's over the other girl. The crouch makes it look like she's a good target for the scything kick, and honestly she probably is.
Unfortunately, it also means that Alice is coiled and ready to spring at a moment's notice. Which she does.
At the kick, Alice throws herself off the bench, almost horizontally toward Pepper. It's less rising than it ordinarily is, more like something Cammy might pull off. The kick slams into her legs, but Alice is already in motion and it's not enough to divert her; her hand slams against the bench's back as she throws herself at Pepper in a drilling kick, only ending it when she threatens to hit the ground and decides she'd rather land on her feet! "Come on!" she yells, but it's not meant to be insulting; Alice tells /everybody/ to do that.
Alright, this really isn't going well for Pepper, now. Another brutal hit sends her reeling back as her assault is completely overwhelmed by superior offenses. She hasn't found any way to break through the wall that's been put up, either.
All of this suggests to Pepper, as she's pushing herself back up to her feet, looking rather unsteady, that she might be better off if she were to make a substantial change in tactics. For a moment, she simply begins what appears to be a careful circle to try for a new angle, or possibly hunting for an opening in Alice's defenses.
Then she leaps behind Alice. No, it wasn't even the blonde Bogard fan that was her target (at least initially), it was her prior strategic positioning. Pepper, with an almost effortlessness, hauls the very bench that Alice had been using just moments ago up from the ground. As she holds it above her head, her hands flare with energy, sending a surge of burning chi roiling over the bench as she flings it full force at the older girl.
COMBATSYS: Alice Nakata auto-guards Pepper's Large Thrown Object.
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Alice Nakata [E] 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\0 [E] Pepper
Alice rises, turning. She's light on her feet, practically bouncing on them like she has a wellspring of energy. Which she pretty much does; if she's anything when she fights, 'energetic' is the proper word for it.
Of course, 'energetic' doesn't always help you when you have a giant bench being thrown at you. "HOW DID YOU EVEN PICK THAT UUUUUP," she practically wails, as she launches herself into the air.
Alice realizes she's not going to make it over the bench while rising, and so she doesn't even try. She comes down /on/ the bench, riding it like a snowboard, her feet crackling with chi as she turns what is normally an energetic, driving kick into just keeping her toes safe. She sticks her arms out, balancing, as it slides, slides...
Fortunately, it doesn't go over the edge of the tracks; it comes to a stop first. Alice steps off the now-stopped bench, rushing toward Pepper; she throws herself into something like a baseball slide as she goes, the last bits of chi sparkling around her as she rasps them off on the floor of the station.
Whee! she thinks. This /is/ fun.
COMBATSYS: Alice Nakata successfully hits Pepper with Change-Up Kick.
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Alice Nakata [E] 0/-------/--=====|=======\==-----\1 [E] Pepper
Not a good sign of things to come. Still, Pepper does all that she can to try to keep going, attempting to throw herself out of the way of yet another vicious kick only to find herself still too slow to do anything against this impenetrable defense. At this point in the match, things really aren't going very well.
Which is not to say that Pepper Green has decided to thrown in the towel. Despite being brought to her knees again, she props herself up with one hand and then slowly rises back up to her feet. Careful consideration examines the surroundings, and finally settle in on a single solution that might fix this.
See how far off the platform this fight can go.
Throwing aside every last bit of sense about risking the train yard, Pepper takes in a deep breath and then suddenly explodes outward with an aura of swirling blue and white energy covering her entire body, then drawing back along her body, exposing all except her arms and legs.
And then she charges.
Lacking any sense of hesitation or self-preservation at this point, Pepper launches into a furious assault, starting off with a quick series of body shots from every limb, from every direction, working over Alice until an opportunity arises to snare her in a bullrush tackle, charging straight for the precariously positions bench as she aims to plow straight through it with Alice.
And right over the safety yellow lines.
COMBATSYS: Alice Nakata parries Pepper's Heart Of A Champion!!
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Alice Nakata [E] 1/-------/=======|=------\-------\0 [E] Pepper
Alice's flippant manner disguises what is undoubtably real, honest talent and potential. She looks like a joke, someone trying to mimic a far better fighter's skills with a style that doesn't quite suit it; Terry is not into taekwondo, but Alice rarely uses her hands for anything except throwing the occasional projectile.
She's not. She's inexperienced, but she really is managing to meld those apparently incompatible styles into a unified whole, and she has the /it/ that makes a fighter. If only she'd buckle down and apply herself!
Alice does not handle the headlong rush easily. But she can tell what Pepper is doing as she does it, and her eyes widen. She can't go out over the train tracks! That's /crazy/! She's pretty sure one came by not that long ago but she's so turned around and confused that she has no idea when the next one's coming.
And so, when Pepper throws herself at Alice, Alice accepts it. It's just a catch - which moves Alice back too, sliding her towards that dangerous line but not over it - and then she uses Pepper's momentum against her, hefting her slightly before tossing her into the air!
Alice follows, throwing herself upward, but she flips while she does it so that her feet contact Pepper while she's nearly upside down, spinning like a top - or a drill. She yells as she does, wordless. Following a ballistic arc, Alice goes up, up - and then starts to go down, trying to keep kicking Pepper en route if she hasn't squirmed free by now, driving her back toward the center of the platform.
With Alice landing on top.
In a falling kick.
COMBATSYS: Alice Nakata successfully hits Pepper with Buster Drill EX.
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Alice Nakata [E] 0/-------/-------|=====--\-------\0 [E] Pepper
There's not really much of anything that Pepper can manage at this point. So much effort has been put into just trying to connect, to land any sort of hit. When that final push comes up short, there's nothing left for Pepper to do. She's been dragged up with Alice with every one of hit strikes all but ignored. What options are even left? How can she hope to get out of this situation still standing?
She can't.
Despite an effort to soften the landing with a roll, she can't even manage that with the force Alice uses to blast her into the ground. It's a nasty hit, and with Alice following the entire way, it's just plain too much for the rookie.
There's a small surge of motion, as Pepper's HitBit seems to react to the impact, giving the girl a moment of energy... but it doesn't overcome just how much damage she's taken, and Pepper lays there, too out of it to even for the attempt.
COMBATSYS: Pepper takes no action.
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Alice Nakata [E] 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Pepper can no longer fight.
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Alice Nakata [E] 0/-------/-------|
Alice lands.
She feels bad for hitting Pepper quite that hard, but not too bad; she knew what she was getting into when she signed up for the HitBit fights, and Alice /really/ wanted to avoid going over the train. Which was a good idea, because one goes by, pulling in to a stop.
Alice looks around as she waits, offering Pepper a hand up. "Hey, you okay?" Which is all well and good, except Alice catches sight of someone in the crowd. He's been there the whole time; Alice actually saw him when she was waiting for Pepper, too. Which wouldn't be too unexpected (wouldn't you stay for a free live match?) except he's pretty much staring at her, hand in his pocket.
Creep, Alice thinks. But he looks vaguely familiar... she won't manage to place him until she's already heading back. But this time she has something to bitch about to the officials.
"I think maybe I shouldn't have thrown that bench so I'd have a place to sit while I wait for the train back," Pepper manages with a touch of humor, her initial accent back in full swing as she takes Alice's hand and gets back up to her feet with some difficulty.
Downsides: She got beat to crap and didn't manage to land a single hit.
Upsides: She got an opportunity to watch a new fighting style up close, and if there were people considering digging into her background after that first match, she can probably manage to keep some measure of privacy after that embarassment.
Log created on 17:53:00 02/01/2016 by Alice Nakata, and last modified on 00:09:04 02/04/2016.