Match of the Millennium

Description: After meeting in a little game of parkour style tag not too long ago, Rashid and Aranha meet again this time in a competitive match for Neo League. The action is fast paced and hard hitting as the Pao Pao Cafe is treated to some of the most creative styles of fighting around.

[ARANHA]
The Pao Pao cafe was quickly getting packed. Between the Taiyo students congregating after school and fight enthusiasts (there may be some demographic overlap) there was hardly a seat left unfilled. Richard Meyer invited both Keith 'Aranha' Mason and Rashid to the Pao Pao cafe compete in a Neo League match for two reasons. First, having a fight in the restaurant would put butts in seats and second, Aranha was a capoeirista and Meyer wanted to see the art be promoted and flourish even if Aranha's particular twist wasn't exactly the most traditional

The introduction comes up on the sound system. "Hailing from Metro City, Standing at 165 centimeters and weighing in at 75 kilograms, the Dancing Spider, Uhhhhhh raaaaaaahn yaaaaaaaaaaa!!!"

Aranha steps up to the space cleared aside for fighting and waits for his opponent to be announced while he adjusts his shades.

[RASHID]
Meyer has never been shy about bringing fights to the Pao Pao Cafe. The damages tend to be evened out by the extra money made for all the people coming to see a good battle. That and he isn't dumb. He knows how to set things up to give fighters plenty of room without risking breaking too many tables and other things. It is also not just Meyer who is interested in seeing Aranha fight.

Ever since their meeting in Florida awhile back Rashid was intrigued by Aranha and wanted to test his skills out against the capoeirista. It is probably the closets thing to his own fight style he can think of.

It feels so much has happened since that day where they were playing parkour style tag. The battle with Tremor. Having to flee from the strange fighter known as Lotus. Even his battle with Andy feels like it has been awhile. Despite everything that has happened he has a big smile on his face as he stops the announcer and he leaps forward.

"I am Rashid of the turbulent wind!" He declares as he comes out of a flip and lands on a single foot as he strikes a bit of a pose. This is a fight where he can have fun and damned if he isn't. Even Azam gave little protest and instead the big man is sitting among the crowd enjoying some tea. "It is good to see you again. Are you ready?"

[ARANHA]
The Dancing Spider's lips curl into a grin as flips into the ring. Rashid is as much of a performer now as he was then which would make for an incredible fight as long as both parties held up their part of the deal. With the exception of taking on Rochelle for the league, Aranha had been laying low, dealing with both the literal and figurative fallout from when Heihachi had attacked Bastion Village while his little sister had stepped into the limelight as a fighter.

The cameras move into position and he nods to Rashid in response to his question. "I stay ready so I don't have to get ready."

He kneels down to touch the ground and then balances his body on his elbow as he tilts so his head barely touches the ground in the direction of the instruments. Even if this wasn't a capoeira roda per se, he still wanted to give respect to the bateria.

He then stands up and that is when official starts the fight. Aranha comes out of the gate, launching himself at Rashid as he delivers a blue chi wreathed roundhouse followed by a likewise chi engulfed jumping roundhouse to the head, and turning around for just an instant to perform a backflip that drives a final chi-enhanced kick downwards into the top of Rashid's head.

COMBATSYS: Aranha has started a fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Aranha           0/-------/-======|

COMBATSYS: Rashid has joined the fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Aranha           0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0           Rashid

COMBATSYS: Aranha successfully hits Rashid with Aggressive Dance.
- Power hit! -

[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Aranha           1/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0           Rashid

[RASHID]
Rashid just gives a thumbs up and he crouches a little. His own movements a bit of a dance as if he was inspired by the likes of Aranha and Meyer in some ways in the hodge podge of martial arts he uses. "I always try to be ready! Let us have a good fight then!"

And he thinks he is ready for what is to come at him. He is only somewhat familiar with Aranha's movements due to their little match of tag not long ago. That doesn't fully prepare him for a fight against the dancing spider at all. He looks to bring an arm up to absorb the blow of the roundhouse, but the force breaks through his defenses and the second and third kicks land solidly and drive Rashid to the ground where he kisses floor for a moment.

He pushes off the floor with his hands into a backward roll as he comes out of it with a bit of a midair twirl. He looks like he is delivering a kick, but he isn't near enough to hit Aranha with it. Now that gathering of wind that forms into a small dust devil heading right for Aranha? That is a different story

COMBATSYS: Aranha interrupts Whirlwind Shot from Rashid with Bad Beat ES.

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////          ]
Aranha           1/---====/=======|======-\-------\0           Rashid

[ARANHA]
So far, Aranha is utilizing traditional, if unusually aggressive capoeira to go on the offensive and it looks as though the Dancing Spider intends to continue the trend. As he watches Rashid press himself into a backward roll. Not wanting to let Rashid to get a moment to breathe, Aranha hops forward to continue to apply pressure.

Aranha couldn't possibly know what would come next, he didn't have a chance to do enough homework besides the parkour chase tag session they had. He steps forward into a partially formed whirlwind slashing at his body just as his elbow connects with Rashid's jaw. His other elbow slashes at Rashid's cheek bone. He doesn't let up until after he drops down low and grabs the back of Rashid's knees and drives his shoulder into his thighs, depositing the other parkour fighter down to the ground on his back.

With the take down delivered, Aranha steps back. He isn't trying to engage in a grapple war. It's not his wheelhouse.

[RASHID]
It seems Aranha is moving to keep Rashid off his game and it is working. He hasn't even landed on the ground when he finds his opponent around close and he has little time to do much of anything when that elbow slams into his jaw and makes him see stars followed up by the other elbow to his cheek. He is taken down and lays there for a moment trying to collect his thoughts.

Azam starts to get up as if he is ready to go collect Rashid, but a hand comes up. Rashid waves a bit as he starts to get up. "Just a bit of a bump is all. I'm fine." he assures his bodyguard who settles back down. He rubs his jaw then cheek as he lets the fuzziness in his vision fade.

"Fast and hard hitting. Just like Andy Bogard in that respect." He will have to start making some adjustments here and figure out his next move. Or maybe he just hesitates a moment to throw Aranha off before he surges forward. He hops upwards and it almost looks like his foot lands on the air itself to launch him upwards even more as he flips about. He comes downwards and at the last moment seems to pause and change direction as instead of a downward angle he seems to land on air again and launch himself forward to deliver a kick right into th e chest of Aranha.

COMBATSYS: Aranha blocks Rashid's Eagle Spike.

[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////           ]
Aranha           1/--=====/=======|======-\-------\0           Rashid

[ARANHA]
Up until this point, Aranha had been operating off of some assumptions. If Rashid was at a parkour event he was going to be fast and he was going to try to operate at his ideal range similar to himself. It was because of that, Aranha he had to ask himself how he would deal with someone who fights with a similar level of physicality to himself. The answer he came up with was smother him and don't let him get a chance to breathe or even think just in case he was of a similar mindset to himself as well.

As Rashid, compliments him, he can feel a bit of smugness from his pocketed necklace at the mention of Andy Bogard. Aranha, himself, is kept blissfully in the dark. Most of the time he's kept in the dark unless it's one of those need to know things and Aranha doesn't need to know right now.

When Rashid hops on the air, this goes into an area where Aranha no longer assuming things. He knew that Rashid was capable of performing physics defying air hops. It was how he met Rashid in the first place. Upon seeing Rashid launch himself at Aranha, the capoeirista takes on a response that's a hybrid of capoeira and parkour. He takes the impact on his shoulder spinning with the impact to take some force off of it as well as letting him convert the force into a parkour roll coming out of it in a crouched position where he is turned away from Rashid and a leg extended. He then turns, sweeping his leg around to turn to face Rashid and kicking it upward with a kick that is just slightly too short to connect before following up with a second kick will connect to his body. Both kicks done while balanced on one hand until his feet hit the ground.

COMBATSYS: Rashid dodges Aranha's Medium Kick.

[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////           ]
Aranha           1/---====/=======|======-\-------\0           Rashid

[RASHID]
He foot connects, but he is quick to push off and flip away when it looks like he isn't landing a solid hit. Better for him to take a moment to rethink things before going all in and pressing the attack while close in. It pays off because it gives him time to regain his footing and move quickly in response to the counter attack.

The kicks come in quickly, but they hit nothing but air this time around. Rashid is to take a few steps back and fall into a backwards roll before going into a handstand. He does a bit of showing off despite know now is perhaps not the best time for it and he goes back into a forward roll back right towards Aranha.

He is still a bit of a fair distance away though when he explodes out of it. A low dropkick looking to take out the legs of the dancing spider.

COMBATSYS: Aranha parries Rashid's Nail Assault!

[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Aranha           1/--=====/=======|=====--\-------\0           Rashid

[ARANHA]
Aranha had to respect the reaction ability required to not only pull that off but to pull it off with style the way Rashid does. The S-Dobrado connects with nothing but air and before the capoeirista knows it, the other traceur is launching at him feet first at his legs. Capoeiristas /hate/ getting their legs atacked but that type of thing is par for the course and so he takes it stride.

As Aranha watches the attack come in, the capoeirista leaps up and over the drop kick landing in a handstand of his own and attempts to deliver a rapid fire series of snap kicks down on Rashid's head and body before he can get himself out of the prone position.

The spectators are eating up the acrobatic display of the two men. There are some meals that get cold from the audience paying more attention to the fight than their own food.

COMBATSYS: Rashid blocks Aranha's Inverted Flurry EX.

[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////             ]
Aranha           1/=======/=======|=====--\-------\0           Rashid

[RASHID]
It seems the beating Rashid took earlier on helped him get a bit more focused on the task at hand. Where things were seeming to move more in slow motion for him now he is finding it a bit easier to watch the incoming kicks and react to them more properly.

In this case it is moving and weaving to bring up a forearm here or leaping to block with his leg as each strike doesn't find its mark this time. Rashid lets out a bit of a sigh of relief as he hops back on one foot. "You really know how to keep someone guessing. I am glad we got to fight tonight. It has been a learning experience."

He remains at a distance, his gaze locked on to Aranha as he almost seems to zone out in a way. Only Aranha seems to be there to him right now as he sways and moves his feet, but he doesn't attack just yet.

COMBATSYS: Rashid enters a meditative state.

[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////          ]
Aranha           1/=======/=======|=======\-------\0           Rashid

[ARANHA]
Aranha tilts out of his handstand. Though they didn't connect, it achieved the objective he was going for. Keep applying the pressure and don't let him get too much time to Athink. Even still, the Dancing Spider had to regard things with a bit of caution. One well placed hit could spin things out of control and he could be put on the back foot.

Aranha responds with a smile of his own. "I try to be as unpredictable as possible. It's hard to defend when you don't know what's coming or when it's coming."


ashid then does something that Aranha didn't see coming. He backs up and doesn't attack him. As he watches Rashid zone out, Aranha raises an eyebrow but decides on continuing the campaign of pressuring Rashid in order to create more openings and he steps forward delivering a simple side kick to the chest. It's time for him to gather more information.

COMBATSYS: Aranha successfully hits Rashid with Thrust Kick.
Glancing Blow

[      \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Aranha           2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\-------\1           Rashid

[RASHID]
It is hard to tell what Rashid is up to, but he seems ready for when Aranha comes in. His body already moving as that kick comes at him though it does connect somewhat. Perhaps not as hard as he wanted, but there is the feel of actual impact as Rashid leaps away.

"Ahh! Sorry about that! Was getting a bit carried away." he says with a bit of a grin. "Won't happen again." Hard to tell if he is bluffing on what he may have been up to, but he does look to not be zoning out like he was moments before. In fact he is moving to right towards the dancing spider once more and he leaps up and forward.

As he does so he begins to spin. Much like he was a top of some sort he kicks up wind that surrounds him and he looks to slam right into Aranha and knock him away.

COMBATSYS: Aranha dodges Rashid's Spinning Mixer.

[      \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////             ]
Aranha           2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\=------\1           Rashid

[ARANHA]
Aranha connects but even if it wasn't at the ideal amount of force applied Aranha got what he wanted out of the deal. Information. As Rashid lands on the ground, Aranha shuffle steps to cut down on the amount of real estate Rashid has available to him. This actually turns out to be a mistake though not quite a catastrophic one. Just as he gets into position to apply more pressure, Rashid forces the capoeirista to retreat with his spin. The kicked up wind as well as the spinning martial artist himself touch nothing but air as the capoeirista performs a back handspring followed by a back tuck to get away.

When he lands, the capoeirista moves back in with more speed than he had shown all fight as he suddenly closes the distance that he put in between them to get away from Rashid before. He spins around delivering a wheel kick in the hopes of connecting his heel with Rashid's jaw.

COMBATSYS: Aranha successfully hits Rashid with Fierce Kick.
Grazing Hit

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////                ]
Aranha           2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\==-----\1           Rashid

[RASHID]
There is prehaps more bobbing and weaving when Rashid should be looking at deflecting and looking for a good counter attack. It is not that he is slow, but it seems that he is just a bit off on his timing and once again even if Aranha doesn't land a solid strike, it hits hard enough to smack the already hurting jaw and make Rashid stagger back and take a moment to try and figure things out again.

"Hmm...." He hasn't had much luck from range or coming at Aranha. Not a single solid hit he can count so far. Even if he is doing well he can't keep up this pace forever.

With a deep breath he he gives another twirl and surges forward. Already the wind gathering around him forming something of a large tornado that starts to pick up smaller items not being held down as he becomes one with that tornado. A whirling dervish of handstrikes along with the tornado looking to carry Aranha up and away if he gets caught up in it.

COMBATSYS: Rashid successfully hits Aranha with Ysaar Mixer.

[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////                 ]
Aranha           2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|==-----\-------\0           Rashid

[ARANHA]
And when Rashid finally does connect, he connects in a spectacular fashion. Aranha doesn't quite get away from the veritable storm of slaps and whirlwind of chi practically throws the capoeirista into the air and when it's all over, drops the him down to the ground.

As Aranha rises to back to his feet with a groan. Meanwhile, the Majigen Series prize that he had forced upon him, slowly works on his body to undo the damage done to him by Rashid. He takes a deep breath and then he moves back into kicking range and throws his entire body into a roundhouse kick towards the head.

COMBATSYS: Aranha successfully hits Rashid with Face Down.
- Power hit! -

[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////                         ]
Aranha           0/-------/<<<<<<<|======-\-------\0           Rashid

Upon connecting with that initial kick, Aranha reaches out for Rashid's shoulder and pulls him closer so he can hook his foot behind the other traceur's neck and then suddenly drops his body weight downwards yanking him face first to the ground.

With that, Aranha steps away and takes a deep breath.

[RASHID]
What sound does a concussion make? Rashid just made it. He seemed to think he had it all telegraphed, but when he went to move it is almost like his body wasn't moving at the same pace as his brain. They are probably on the same level again after the kick rocked him that hard. He would have fallen over if not for him being grabbed by Aranha. Then he is helped to the ground in a rather violent manner as his face meets ground with enough force the floor gets damaged from the impact.

And Rashid lays there for a few long moments. People look as if they are about to congratulate Aranha on a job well done, but somehow the Arab starts to find energy to move. His nose looks broken and his face isn't looking too handsome right now as blood drips from both nose and mouth and and onto the floor as he gets on all fours. He sways and he slowly gets to his feet somehow. Azam is standing again, but seems to be holding back on rushing in to stop this fight.

He doesn't seem to have energy to do much more than stand and do a simple gesture as he raises a hand and motions for Aranha to come at him.

COMBATSYS: Rashid gains composure.

[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////                     ]
Aranha           0/-------/<<<<<<<|=====--\-------\0           Rashid

[ARANHA]
Those who were going to congratulate Aranha are immediately waved off by the capoeirista. He knows that Rashid's not done yet. He's always has had a feel for how much damage he needs to dish out before an opponent stays down.

Aranha knows that pushing himself to his maximum capability had come with a price and he knows he's about to pay it. He runs up to Rashid and with what little energy he has left in the tank and delivers a drop kick to the chest before dropping into a three point stance breathing heavily.

COMBATSYS: Rashid blocks Aranha's Strong Kick.

[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////                       ]
Aranha           1/------=/=======|======-\-------\0           Rashid

[RASHID]
Rashid is running on fumes. If anything it is hard to tell if he is even really there up in the head right now. Yet he remains standing and while the sway isn't with the same swagger he started the fight with he is still moving from foot to foot looking ready to strike or be on the move.

Then Aranha comes in and looks to deliver that dropkick. Rashid doesn't seem to have the ability to really move right now so he does what he can and brings his arms up to take on the brunt of it. The impact is still enough to knock him back, but he recovers with a quick kip-up and looks to capitalize on a hopeful element of surprise.

He twirls again, a quick forward movement as the wind picks up and he gives two more quick handstrikes right at Aranha's chest then jaw.

COMBATSYS: Rashid successfully hits Aranha with Dash Spinning Mixer.

[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////                         ]
Aranha           1/------=/=======|=======\=------\1           Rashid

[ARANHA]
Element of surprise? Not quite. It is more about how Aranha pushed himself too hard, too quickly and wasn't able to recover enough to get out of the way. Battered by both the wind and the pair of hand strikes, the capoeirista is taken off of his feet and sent into a roll backwards.

Not wanting to lose too much ground, Aranha takes advantage of both his paricular set of skills and the unique features of this particular location. He leaps up into the air and grabs the bar near the ceiling before swinging off of it and launching himself feet first towards Rashid and then, if uninterrupted, rolling away from him.

COMBATSYS: Aranha successfully hits Rashid with Sky's the Limit.
Grazing Hit

[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///                           ]
Aranha           1/----===/=======|=======\==-----\1           Rashid

[RASHID]
He is looking out of it, but there are ways to tell Rashid are still coherent. Even after landing those strikes he comes to a halt and get in a more defensive stance. Even so he has taken enough hits his vision isn't the best and reflexes perhaps off too. That strike comes in and while not the most dangerous of looking strikes in terms of the speed Aranha comes in it is good enough to slam into the chest of Rashid who goes tumbling away.

Breathing heavily he struggles to his feet. His body wracked with pain and his face such a mess he really can't find himself the energy to speak let alone endure the pain. Instead he uses his energy to give another spin and summon what every oomph he has left into one final attack.

It is a large gust of almost tornado like energy again. This time he falls over with no more energy left in him, but the tornado carries forward right towards Aranha who may have done well to quickly roll away.

COMBATSYS: Rashid can no longer fight.

[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Aranha           1/----===/=======|

COMBATSYS: Aranha parries Rashid's Ysaar!

[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Aranha           1/---====/=======|

[ARANHA]
As Rashid struggles to his feet, Aranha gets ready to respond by angling around the attack and move to get around or disrupt it. Wind begins to form and Aranha moves in to deliver a pair of palm shoves to his side with the aim of disrupting his balance and thus his whirlwind before it can fully without hurting him.

As Rashid hits the ground, he turns towards his fallen opponent and nods.

"Good fight. We're gonna have to do this again some time."

COMBATSYS: Aranha has ended the fight here.

Log created on 17:33:14 06/12/2018 by Rashid, and last modified on 20:15:13 06/13/2018.