Match of the Millennium

Description: After her battle with Nakoruru, Baiken was desperate to prove herself - not just to the masters of Mortal Kombat, but to herself. Setting herself up on the bloody beach, still injured, Baiken chose to take on any comers. Eventually, one came: Julia Chang, who had not had a match of her own and was looking for a challenge. Kombat ensued...

[BAIKEN]
Baiken had a bad week.

She had her fight, earlier, and she lost. She'd been on the verge of being sacrificed by Nakoruru - someone on, theoretically, her own side - to... what? She didn't know. And she hadn't been able to stop it; only the interference of a man she didn't know had caused Nakoruru to decide not to follow through, to her let her live.

So she'd been hurt, and she'd been angry. Angry at herself for failure, at Kenshi for not explaining himself, at Nakoruru for barely explaining /herself/. It just hadn't gone well at all. But she had survived, and she'd recovered. Mostly.

Baiken still doesn't look in great shape. She has a scrap of cloth wrapped around her head and covering her empty eye socket to serve as a bandage; it covers the healing falcon talon wounds and the slash in her cheek both (covering the eye socket was unnecessary, but she had no reason to /not/ tie the cloth over it). Her robe is more ragged and slightly bloodier than the last time she showed up anywhere, she still has bruises across her legs when they're visible, though she heals fast.

And, of course, she only has one arm, with the other sleeve hanging loose. But that's normal.

Baiken has since practically taken over this battlefield. She rang the gong as a challenge to anyone who could hear it. It's practically a dare. She wants to fight, and she doesn't much care who shows up. Anyone who's brave enough will do.

On this island, you'd better be brave.

[JULIA]
Ever since this whole tournament started, Julia had been finding herself in a world like no other. She'd been challenged to a battle in what was literally a field of death, that is a bed of spikes at the bottom of a pit with numerous bodies (or body parts) where the slightest mistake could lead to disaster. Unfortunately, that did happen to Julia just after she was defeated by her opponent. Fortunately, she was able to patch up her injury, but it left her unable to fight for awhile.

By the power of the spirits, her arm healed and she was free to explore this mysterious place once again. However, the thought of fighting for life or death didn't seem right to Julia. Which was why she was wary in where she went in hopes of avoiding being challenged when she wasn't up for a challenge. Instead, she'd kept to herself, exploring the island and doing a bit of archaeology in hopes of finding clues to the true meaning of this island. Also, she had a belief that the island had something to do with the possible further destruction of the environment, which she hoped wasn't true.

While out on one of her walks, Julia hears the gong very close by, and she stops in her tracks, wondering what is going on here. She takes off quickly, rushing towards where the sound of the gong came from, and almost immediately upon arriving, she stops, spotting the mysterious red-haired woman, who has only one eye apparently. As well as one arm. The look on her face indicates that she's definitely not in a good mood, and Julia isn't in the best of moods either, considering her first match was a failure and she's gotten nowhere in her search for answers. Nevertheless, Julia speaks respectfully as she asks, "You wish to challenge me? Did you even know I was here?"

[BAIKEN]
It's hard to tell if Baiken actually has one eye or has just bandaged over one of them right now, if you haven't seen her before. The arm is clear enough, though; she's clearly had some injuries in her past.

When Julia arrives, Baiken is facing away from Julia. She partially turns, looking at her out of the corner of her visible eye. Her lips curl up slightly. It's not quite a smile, or maybe it's just a very unpleasant smile. Baiken doesn't seem like the kind of person to grin very much.

"You'll do," she says. "I didn't. But I didn't need to, did I?"

Baiken finishes turning so she's facing Julia properly. She rests her hand near her katana's hilt, a sparkle of gemstone barely visible under her hand. It's dark, whatever colour it is - very dark. "You're a competitor," she says, in such a way that it isn't really a question. "By the rules of this place, if we're paying attention to them, I can challenge whoever I want."

She still isn't really smiling. Her hand rests more firmly on the hilt itself. "My name is Baiken. I challenge you to Kombat." Nothing else - but does there need to be? She watches Julia for her response, without blinking.

[JULIA]
This woman is definitely not the type of person you want to try to make friends with or meet in an alleyway. Not that it bothers Julia visibly. She looks to Baiken, not seeming the least bit fazed by her appearance, and nods a little in acknowledgement to what is being said. "My name is Julia. Julia Chang." She kneels down briefly and closes her eyes as if praying for a moment, although she's communicating with Earth's spirits. Then she stands up again and looks to Baiken. "If you wish to challenge me to Kombat, then I shall accept your challenge."

Meanwhile, inside Julia's mind, the spirits are gathering within her to protect her and guide her. She believes in them, as they have always protected her, and she will not be swayed by this mysterious woman in the least bit. Even if Julia is bare-handed while Baiken is wielding a katana, it means nothing to Julia. "May the best fighter win," Julia says as she gets into her fighting stance. "Let us fight with honor!"

COMBATSYS: Julia has started a fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Julia            0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Baiken has joined the fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Julia            0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0           Baiken

[BAIKEN]
Baiken doesn't interrupt Julia's prayer, or meditation, or whatever it is. She does give a very slight, satisfied nod when Kombat is accepted. "Good," she says. She has another chance. Sore as she is, she's not going to turn down the opportunity.

And then Baiken waits. She doesn't immediately take the offensive, even though it's often her strategy to do so. She doesn't know Julia at all, and she wants to see what she's dealing with before she strikes hard.

She keeps the katana in its scabbard, at least, so Julia can fight her bare-handed - at least at first. But when Kombat starts, the garnet disc set in the pommel glitters. It's so dark it looks almost black most of the time, but the faint internal light reveals its true colour as battle is joined.

COMBATSYS: Baiken equips a warm Garnet Soul Shard.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Julia            0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0       [E] Baiken

COMBATSYS: Julia equips a glimmering Light Green Soul Shard.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Julia [E]        0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0       [E] Baiken

[JULIA]
Meanwhile, as Julia assumes her fighting stance, there's a small light green gem attached to her left glove. It seems simple enough, but then it starts to glow as Julia seems to tune into her fighting mindset. She looks to the sky and touches her pendant worn around her neck before she looks to Baiken once again. "I am ready when you are, so let us begin!"

Julia advances on Baiken, keeping an eye on her completely as she remains steadfast with her watch. She takes a few deep breaths as if attempting to warm herself up further before attempting to go in fast with a swift elbow strike, aimed around the stomach area of Baiken.

COMBATSYS: Julia successfully hits Baiken with Jab Punch.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Julia [E]        0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0       [E] Baiken

[BAIKEN]
Green. Well, at the very least that means Baiken won't be killing anyone today. That's fine; Julia doesn't strike her as the kind of person that fits her better-off-dead criteria.

Baiken lets Julia advance on her, shifting her feet in the sand for better positioning as she does. At the last moment, she starts to move, stepping sideways, but her old injuries betray her; her legs are stiff and she hasn't warmed up to the fight yet.

Julia's punch is fast enough to catch Baiken on her stomach, though slightly to the left. She hisses through her teeth, a moment's sound of pain, but she's still moving even through the ache from having bruises punched. Her foot snaps down, and a green block of chi appears near the ground; she stomps on it, flipping the far end of it upward and sending a cascade of pink chi into the air. If Julia isn't fast, she's going to go up with it, launched by the sudden eruption of chi!

The green panel fades afterwards. Nothing but energy.

COMBATSYS: Baiken successfully hits Julia with Tatami Gaeshi.

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Julia [E]        0/-------/----===|===----\-------\0       [E] Baiken

[JULIA]
Julia gets up and nothing slows her down... except maybe hitting the ground a bit hard. Because Julia suspects Baiken's trying something funny (if you will) and she attempts to protect herself, but it's no good. She goes up into the air then comes down landing hard on her stomach and yelling out as she does so. Being hit in the stomach is quite painful, regardless of how it happens or why. Thankfully, Julia's old injury spot, while still a bit tender, is not part of the landing impact.

"It appears I underestimated," Julia comments. "I shall have to be more careful." She steps towards Baiken with more caution than before, and then attempts to spin around in place while delivering a roundhouse kick at the same time.

COMBATSYS: Baiken blocks Julia's Medium Kick.

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Julia [E]        0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0       [E] Baiken

[BAIKEN]
"If you thought this was going to be /easy/," Baiken growls, "yes, you were wrong."

Baiken catches the kick with her open hand. It's hard enough that she feels the impact, pushing her back a step as she absorbs the impact of Julia's body, but she's prevented it from hitting her solidly without that defense at least.

"Come on." Baiken lets go of Julia's foot, pushing back slightly to clear a little bit of room. "Come /on/! You accepted Kombat. Show me what you actually have. If this is all of it you're not going to manage anything." She remembers her own loss, everything Nakoruru told her...

"So fight with all your strength!"

Baiken lashes out. She still hasn't drawn her sword - it sits in its scabbard - but she can fight perfectly well without it, apparently. She reaches for Julia, trying to grab her by the shoulder, the upper arm - and if she manages it, she twists her body, whipping Julia around and throwing her the length of the arena to roll to a stop in the sand.

COMBATSYS: Julia blocks Baiken's Medium Throw.

[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Julia [E]        0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0       [E] Baiken

[JULIA]
As Baiken grabs for Julia, she tenses herself and plants her feet in the sand firmly, refusing to budge that easily. "If you wish to see what I am truly capable of, then I shall oblige you! A true warrior's fighting spirit can only be unleashed when it is not held back!" She pushes Baiken away and then narrows her eyes. "The spirits within me shall guide me!" She takes a deep breath and blows it out, and a strange aura seems to form around Julia's body, although it's not because of the gem but because of her spiritual belief it seems.

"Even if I lose, the spirits shall still be with me!" She steps towards Baiken and attempts to deliver a fierce palm strike to her. As she strikes at Baiken, a glow of power can be seen as she comes in. It's almost like the spirits that Julia speaks of are real.

COMBATSYS: Baiken dodges Julia's Palm Explosion.

[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Julia [E]        0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0       [E] Baiken

[BAIKEN]
For all her fighting prowess, Baiken isn't actually very big. Julia, short as she is, is probably no lighter than Baiken.

As a result it's quite possible to push her around. Baiken seems appreciative when Julia manages to repel her grab, recentering herself after the shove away from the other fighter. Good, she thinks to herself. This isn't going to be as much of a pushover as she was afraid of.

But that doesn't mean that Baiken is going to go easy on Julia. 'Going easy' on someone is kind of the antithesis of the spirit of Kombat, after all.

"Heh. Trust in spirits if you will. /I/ trust in skill!" Baiken jerks suddenly to the side, guiding herself around Julia about a quarter arc in a single fast motion. The palm blast is close enough that it rustles Baiken's empty sleeve, blowing it backwards and causing it to snap like a flag; if she had had an arm there, it probably would have been hit.

Suddenly, Baiken leaps. She jumps over Julia, flipping - and as she takes to the air, Baiken /does/ draw her sword, lashing out at Julia from almost straight overhead with a single slash. She lands some distance past her, whirling to reorient after her bounding attack, sword still in hand.

COMBATSYS: Baiken successfully hits Julia with Ouren.

[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Julia [E]        1/------=/=======|=======\-------\0       [E] Baiken

[JULIA]
A single slash is more than enough to cause a bit of pain for Julia as she suddenly finds herself in a bit of pain, before staggering forwards and dropping to one knee, attempting to catch her breath as the pain surges through her body. She grits her teeth and tries not to cry out, but it's not easy as it might seem. A whimper escapes from her mouth as she tries to keep from passing out due to the pain. In fact, Baiken might think she has Julia stunned for the time being. That is, until she lands, and that's when Julia attempts to attack suddenly.

With no warning or anything like that, Julia suddenly gets up and attempts to go forth with both fists, attempting to strike Baiken harder than before. There is that glow like before also, indicating that there's some kind of spiritual effect within it as well.

COMBATSYS: Baiken dodges Julia's Heaven Cannon.

[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Julia [E]        0/-------/------=|=======\-------\0       [E] Baiken

[BAIKEN]
The whirling leap is useful for getting some distance between the pair, as Baiken uses it as an excuse to end up beyond Julia. She's watching for the other woman to pull something.

And 'something' she does. Baiken can feel the spiritual pressure emanating from the woman, though she doesn't recognize exactly what it is. She doesn't need to to be able to avoid it; she uses the flat of her blade to force away Julia's fists, parrying with stinging but not really damaging deflections. Baiken winces as she strains from one of her old injuries, which is starting to slow her down a little more - but not enough, yet.

"More," she snaps, following up the rapid parrying with a sweeping strike of her blade - not incredibly damaging, but surprisingly fast as it flicks out toward Julia's shoulder. "Come on! I want to see what you've got."

COMBATSYS: Julia just-defends Baiken's Medium Strike!

[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Julia [E]        0/-------/------=|=======\-------\1       [E] Baiken

[JULIA]
The spirits are protecting Julia apparently, as she manages to deflect the blade strike away flawlessly without any effort whatsoever. To make matters more interesting, she didn't even break the slightest hint of a sweat. A slight smile forms as Julia looks up and says, "Thank you, spirits." But then she looks to Baiken and says, "If you wish to see what I can do, then I will not deny you!" She would rush in towards Baiken, but her injuries make it hard to run. Instead, she's stepping towards Baiken as usual, and then attempts to grab her from behind.

If she's successful, Julia will demonstrate just how flexible she is as she delivers a fisherman's suplex. To some it would look like she's doing a simple backbend, but this isn't yoga we're doing here. This is an attempt to show Baiken what Julia is truly capable of.

COMBATSYS: Julia successfully hits Baiken with Medium Throw.

[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Julia [E]        0/-------/-----==|=======\=------\1       [E] Baiken

[BAIKEN]
Baiken is, as the fight progresses, starting to show her fatigue. She's still sore from her last fight, against Nakoruru; that took a lot out of her, and she can't give one hundred percent to this one.

She's sure as hell going to try, though.

Baiken is not fast enough to get away from Julia's grab to set up her suplex. She tries, but Julia manages to catch her, pulling her up and over with a slam. She rolls away from the woman to avoid any follow-ups, hopefully, picking herself up when she's about ten feet away and brushing sand off her front, the sword back in its scabbard where it belongs. She's breathing a little harder. She felt that one.

"Good start," she says, before shaking her empty sleeve. ...It /was/ empty, right?

Because it isn't now. There's a clink of chain, and a boxy 'hand' on a chain drops out of it, not quite scraping the sand but only hanging about an inch off it. She uses her real hand to literally throw the chain weapon at - past - Julia, yanking hard to pull it back in and digging the blunt 'fingers' of the claw into Julia's shoulder, dragging her closer to the one-eyed samurai!

COMBATSYS: Baiken successfully hits Julia with Kabari.

[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Julia [E]        0/-------/--=====|=======\====---\1       [E] Baiken

[JULIA]
Julia is caught and brought in to Baiken. She struggles as best as she can, knowing that she's extremely weakened, but doesn't want to give up that easily either. She grunts and attempts to break free, ignoring the pain in her shoulder. In an effort to break free, Julia summons forth the power of the spirits again and attempts to deliver a swift punch.

The punch is intended to get her free from Baiken's grip, but also intended to deliver a bit of extra pain to this woman as well to indicate what happens when you mess with Julia.

COMBATSYS: Baiken interrupts Medium Punch from Julia with Tetsuzansen.

[                           \\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Julia [E]        1/----===/=======|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\1       [E] Baiken

[BAIKEN]
Baiken uses a surprising amount of arm strength for someone built like her (and also, of course, only using one arm) to pull Julia closer to her. She /is/ grinning now - but it's not a nice grin. She tends to look cruel when she's getting ready for something. Today is one of those times.

The fist comes for Baiken, but Baiken has already begun her attack. Letting go of her chain arm, the chain goes slack, jingling, as she reaches for her sword. With a single motion, Baiken draws it, an upward slash that rises from about hip level to higher than her head. It's not going to bisect Julia, but it's certainly going to leave a deep slash.

It also keeps the fist from really hitting Baiken with much force. She feels it touch her shoulder, but it doesn't stop her stroke. It does start the bruise aching again, though. "Gah," she half-says, half-gasps.

[JULIA]
Julia is hit hard by the slash and goes staggering a little before she drops to her knees and she struggles to keep herself from falling down, but it's no use. The injuries are too severe, and she can't help it. She drops flat onto her stomach, closing her eyes quickly as she loses consciousness, facing a total defeat at the hands of this mysterious swordswoman known only as Baiken...

COMBATSYS: Julia takes no action.

[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Baiken [E]       1/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|

COMBATSYS: Julia can no longer fight.

[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Baiken [E]       1/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|

[BAIKEN]
Baiken lowers her bloody sword. She uses it to tap, gently, at Julia's shoulder as she lies there. She's breathing hard; she's pushed herself hard too soon after her last fight, and really needs to find a place to rest sooner rather than later.

"I claim Kombat victory," she says. "You'll thank me when you don't end up dead later on."

Wiping her sword clean on a scrap of cloth, Baiken slams it back into her scabbard and starts to walk off. She does not bother to check on Julia beyond what she already has: she'll be fine, or at least as 'fine' as anyone on this godforsaken island is.

Probably.

Log created on 17:00:37 10/12/2016 by Baiken, and last modified on 01:29:32 10/13/2016.