Match of the Millennium

Description: With the recent release of Cross Tag, RWBY has been identified as a potential fighting game to integrate. While we sort out whether or not we will allow certain Astral Finishes on certain characters, it's important to see if it is reasonable to include the theme. Taking place at just your regular high school, Natsu and May Lee must adopt their favorite RWBY persona, and carry out their wildest dreams of RWBY! Don't forget to check your Kawaii stat!

[MAY LEE]
Festivals! Cosplay! Charity fundraising!

While Japan has its share of conventions, cosplay, and fundraisers, today's event brings all three together in one convenient place. In particular, this festival hopes to mend some of the fences between Japan and the UN following the Gear Conflict several months prior by...celebrating international cooperation and influence! Particularly? The influence of Japanese animation on foreign cartoons, and vice versa! Young people from all over are invited to come in costume to take part in event, raise funds, and generally have a good time regardless of their fandom preferences and bitter rivalries. Even some of the creators themselves are here peddling goodies and promoting their media properties.

And as part of all this, SOMEONE has arranged a competitive fighting event--after all, what is Southtown known for if not being a hub for fighters of all stripes!

And speaking of all stripes, "May" Lee Jinju has arrived to participate. Or maybe she arrived to cosplay, and has been conscripted to participate. In any case, she's decked out as one Ruby Rose--partly for the similarity in looks and attitude, but quite possibly just as much for May Lee's tendency toward flowing red fashion accessories. She's clad in in a black and red dressed with big, clompy boots, and red prop scythe that's bigger than she is. All in all, it's a surprisingly good costume...but then again this is someone who jumps around as a tokusatsu hero sometimes.

"Huh?" May Lee says, shuffling her feet. "What about a fighting exhibition? I was honestly looking for the merchandise booth..."

[NATSU]
Natsu is a tall, athletic young woman. With her strong, reliable personality, and passion for sports, as well as her empathy for her underlcassmen, she makes a lot of other girls very confused about their orientation. However, after being roped into participating in a fighting tournament for charity, there's no denying she is undoubtedly female with the outfit that was picked out for her.

Natsu is not, by any stretch of the imagination, flat. No baggy sweatshirts can conceal that fact. And a breastplate thing open at the top and sides >definitely< doesn't conceal that. Any schoolgirls who thought Natsu was actually a guy somehow may have had their hearts broken when Natsu appeared in a costume modelled after Pyrrha Nikos, but she has just as likely made dozens of others swoon.

For Natsu's part, she thinks the costume is confusing and terrible and wishes she could have cosplayed that Ren guy instead. His outfit was way more practical. At least the character apparently uses fire or something? Maybe? ...Natsu really doesn't know. Anime isn't something she watches a lot of, and foreign anime even less. But it's all for a good cause!

She's at whatever the fighting arena is, stretching out, trying to ignore the red wig and ponytail that makes her head feel heavier than it should, and waiting for this to start.

[MAY LEE]
For better or worse, May "Ruby Rose" Lee gets pushed through the crowd eventually she winds up in one of the athletics field, which is presently decorated by paper mache and cardboard constructs painted to look like the black-furred, white-masked creatures of Grimm common to the series. While not high quality SFX by any means, they seem to be well-made decorations with a lot of spirit. ...mostly. A few seem a little hastily constructed with exposed seams and the like.

But May Lee finds herself brushing her hair back and taking everything in. "Aww, darn. So I guess I have to fight someone?" She turns toward a nearby student, who whispers into her ear. "What?! It's for a charity? In that case--"

May Lee tugs her cape, fluffing it out so it blows dramatically in the breeze from...somewhere.

"I, May Lee, Hero of Justi--hrrk," May Lee catches herself, "That is to say, 'I, Ruby Rose, he--huntsman of j--Beacon, can never turn away from people in need! I'll fight all comers!"

COMBATSYS: May Lee has started a fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
May Lee          0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Natsu has joined the fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
May Lee          0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0            Natsu

[NATSU]
As Natsu faces her challenger, she sighs, picking up her shield and spear and feeling incredibly awkward with them. "And I, uhh... ...Fire Nickles, will also face you. To show our school's strength." She turns to a friend off the side and asks, "It's a school, right?" She really doesn't know anything about the character. She just knows that she's probably not going to be able to do as much jumping around as she's used to, and is going to have to improvise fighting arts with unfamiliar weapons.

"...Have... At you?" she tries uncertaintly. This is so, so awkward.

[MAY LEE]
"Ha ha!" "Ruby" Lee laughs...overly dramatically. "Good one, Pyrrha! But don't worry, today's demonstration will be SUPER AWESOME!" She hooks her scythe over a nearby handrail, letting it hand there. "Because we'll show off our skills at--hand-to-hand combat!"

May Lee leans in and stage-whispers, just a little too loudly. "Your weapons are just props too, right? I mean, I didn't know I'd -actually- be fighting today, not that uh--a scythe is super safe for a spar in any case..."

She leaps back, landing in a slide as her scarf billows behind her. "So let's do our best, Pyrrha!" And with that, "Ruby" launches herself forward, throwing a strong right hook toward "Pyrrha."

"Take this!"

COMBATSYS: Natsu blocks May Lee's Medium Punch.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
May Lee          0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0            Natsu

[NATSU]
Natsu is not in the drama club. Acting is not her forte. She responds simply, "...Yes. Of course, uh, Ruby Rose-san." Why couldn't this have been a volleyball tournament!? When the attack comes, she raises her shield to block the blow. She doesn't know if it's a prop or the real thing, but it seems to take the hit well enough, even if it makes her arm hurt as a result. Then she swings her spear, trying to hit 'Ruby' in the side with the blunt part instead of, like, impaling her. What a long, strange trip it's been to bring her to this point in her life: LARPing.

COMBATSYS: May Lee blocks Natsu's Aggressive Strike.

[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
May Lee          0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0            Natsu

[MAY LEE]
"Ow!" May Lee says, drawing back her fist. Did it actually hurt, or is he playing the part? She did just punch a shield. Before she can meditate on it further, however, the spear is swung around toward her head and she has to raise up an arm to block it. The spear thumps heavily against her guard, but May Lee tries to wrap her hand around it from behind to hold on and grapple with Natsu.

If she does, she pulls her in and lifts her leg up, trying to plant a heavy boot into Natsu's chest to kick her back and away.

"Gosh, I hope I can keep up, Pyrrha!" May Lee says, putting on the character voice again. She does it pretty well, at least.

COMBATSYS: May Lee successfully hits Natsu with May Lee Break!.

[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////      ]
May Lee          0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0            Natsu

[NATSU]
The breatplate! It does nothing against 'Ruby's kick! Natsu is stumbles backwards, feeling the sharp pain in her torso, but quickly returns fire (but not at May Lee's chest. Just striking there back and forth would completely change the nature of this performance) by lunging at her opponent and trying to grab her by the collarbone and then hurl her to ground, using her weight and momentum to add to the force of the throw!

She doesn't even bother trying to act while she does this. She's too focused on the fight to spend time on bad acting!

COMBATSYS: Natsu successfully hits May Lee with Bulldog.

[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////       ]
May Lee          0/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0            Natsu

[MAY LEE]
May Lee ducks down as Natsu closes in, but she doesn't move quite enough to escape her. Caught by the collar, the Korean is flipped into a full-body throw that sends her, scarf trailing behind her, hard against the grounds of the athletic field. She impacts with a thump, rolling into a tumble before climbing back to her feet.

"That's more like it!" She says, "I didn't expect anything less from you--" May Lee winces, rubbing her shoulder. "--Pyrrha! But don't count me out yet! I want to see your full strength! Show me what you can do!" But not one to just wait, "Ruby" launches forward into a powerful leap. "Crescent Rose---" the Korean cosplayer turns, pivoting into a spin as her cloak trails behind her. "Kiiiiick!"

"Ruby" does a complete arc, her spin kick aimed for Natsu's shoulders.

COMBATSYS: May Lee issues a challenge!!

[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////       ]
May Lee          0/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0            Natsu

COMBATSYS: Natsu blocks May Lee's May Lee Kick!.

[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
May Lee          1/-------/=======|======-\-------\0            Natsu

[NATSU]
'Full strength', huh? As Natsu/Pyrrha blocks the kick with her shield, her arm even more sore from the jarring impact, she decides to improvise a little. She leaps up into the air and hurls the shield down like she would a volleyball. Except, you know, you can't really spike a shield. It's probably not going to be as effective as usual, but if it hits, it might hurt way more due to being made of metal. And having an edge.

"Pyrrha Shield Throw!" she calls out. That is probably not something the character says, but TOO BAD OKAY.

COMBATSYS: May Lee blocks Natsu's Tokkun Spike.

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////          ]
May Lee          1/---====/=======|=======\-------\1            Natsu

[MAY LEE]
As May Lee withdraws from the kick she shifts her footing to go form an acrobatic, dynamic sort of stance to a wide-legged grounded one. Her heels grind against the grass of the field as she shifts her weight from one to the other, adjusting her position.

And then the shield comes, "Ruby" puts up both arms to block, catching the shield against her forearms with a heavy clang. The shield rebounds off, but "Ruby" is left rubbing her arms in the aftermath.

"Yowch," May Lee says, "N-nice shot, Pyrrha!" The Korean dashes in, kicking low, with a sweep toward Natsu's legs, then pivoting into a spin with a middle kick for a second follow-up. As she does, she keeps her distance, slightly, kicking out testily with a "shooting" style that, if Natsu is familiar, is clearly taekwondo. Does Ruby use taekwondo? Almost certainly not.

"But how about this?!" At least she's as an enthusiastic as the red protagonist.

COMBATSYS: Natsu interrupts Change-Up Kick from May Lee with Knock It Off!.

[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////             ]
May Lee          1/=======/=======|=======\==-----\1            Natsu

[NATSU]
As 'Ruby' comes swirling in with kicks at different levels, 'Pyrrha' uses her superior height and reach advantage to endure a kick directly to her leg, grab at May, and attempt to deliver a series of powerful slaps, followed by a smack to hurl her away! "Are you not amused!?" she calls out. Pyrrha has gold armor, a spear, and a shield. She must be a gladiator or something, right? Yeah, that makes the most sense.

So she's going to smack her opponent around like a Roman Emperor way out of his (or her) depth!

[MAY LEE]
"Ruby" lets out a startled gasp as she's suddenly intercepted, grabbed out of the air, and viciously slapped several times before being tossed away. The final slap sends her reeling, the young taekwon staggering backward before falling flat on her butt. She sits there for a moment, one-eye closed as she dabs gingerly at her cheek.

"Ow, ow, ow," she mutters under her breath. It does not take her long to climb back to her feet and dust herself off, however, and then she's ready to go again.

"You're not---really familiar with this, huh?" she says quietly to Natsu, leaning forward and holding a hand in front of her mouth to keep nosy lip-readers for seeing it. "I mean, I saw that movie too, but--y'know!"

She springs back into action again in an instant, dropping right back into character.

"I can't give up that easily! I have to be the best Huntress I can be!" And as May Lee speaks, she hops forward toward Natsu---only to land in a slide, zipping in close like a baseball player with a low sliding kick.

COMBATSYS: Natsu blocks May Lee's Dinosaur's Footprint.

[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////               ]
May Lee          2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\===----\1            Natsu

[NATSU]
Natsu whispers back, "I know >nothing< about any of this." Natsu kneels down to take the sliding kick to her shin and be in position to strike back, with a sliding attack of her own, diving in to try to smack May in the knees to knock her off her feet. "Admirable! Then I can't do anything but my best in return!" Is that something the character would say? She doesn't know. It's honestly kind of stressing her out trying to pretend to be a character she knows nothing about. It's like... Roleplaying a character one is unfamiliar with is... In some way... Really... Difficult...?

COMBATSYS: May Lee counters Sliding Receive from Natsu with HENSHIN!.

[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
May Lee          1/----<<</<<<<<<<|=======\======-\1            Natsu

[MAY LEE]
"Erk," May Lee gulps, still in a stage-whisper. "That's, uh, rough...how did you get roped into this anyway? S-sorry." But before May Lee can speak further, Natsu is moving in with a low kick to repay May Lee for the slide kick moment's ago.

But May Lee curls back onto one leg, raising her forward leg into a defensive block. Natsu's kick connects with her calf, but even as it does May Lee presses to the side, redirecting the kick---

---and then shifting into a full-bodied flying punch that carries so much momentum that May Lee threatens to crash through Natsu in its wake, with May Lee letting it carry her past her opponent into a sliding landing. She pivots on her feet as she slides, her scarf billowing out behind her once more.

"That's the spirit!" May Lee's voice rises again with confidence. "Just give it your best shot, because that's what it's all about!"

[NATSU]
Ow. Combined with unfamiliar weaponry, and all the lame acting attempts, Natsu is just really off her game. She grabs her spear and spins it to try to play off the pain from getting whalloped by May, and discovers it, like... Changes shape? Or something? It extends at least. She jumps back and swings the longer weapon at 'Ruby', in an attempt to get some distance.

She is hurting sufficiently that she feels the end of the fight may soon be approaching if she doesn't get in some good hits. She can't afford to keep being awkward and off-balance like this!

"Friends volunteered me." she mutters as her spear whips through the air.

COMBATSYS: May Lee dodges Natsu's Light Random Weapon.

[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
May Lee          1/----<<</<<<<<<<|=======\======-\1            Natsu

[MAY LEE]
"Well then!" May Lee says, trying her best to keep in character. Perhaps the superhero routine she normally plays gives her plenty of practice. When Natsu shifts the spear, she sucks in a breath and bites her tongue. "W-well then, I see that your weapon changes!" A pause. "As it should, I mean!" Nice save there, May Lee.

The spear whips through the air and May Lee ducks, going low as the spear whizzes past her head.

"But I've still got a few tricks of my own, even without my Crescent Rose!" Perhaps it's unfair that May Lee didn't even try to use her props, but then again, maybe she was a little worried she'd break them. In any case... May Lee swings with an overhead chop, aiming down to try and stagger Natsu. If she succeeds, she backflips away dramatically, landing in a readied pose. From there, she leaps into a the most dramatic flying kick possible, all the while her scarf billowing behind her!

COMBATSYS: May Lee successfully hits Natsu with The End! EX+.

[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////                         ]
May Lee          0/-------/-----==|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2            Natsu

[NATSU]
May's flying kick comes in too quickly for Natsu to block it with her shield--Wait, didn't she throw that or something? Either way, she gets kicked hard and hurled across the fighting area to land hard. For a moment, it seems like that ended the fight, but as the smoke clears (yes, smoke, it was a really strong kick), Natsu is still upright, even if kneeling and trying to shield her head with her forearms, which are scuffed to heck.

"Okay... It's my turn now!" abandoning all pretense of being Pyrrha, she simply allows her competitive drive to take over and leaps up into the air. She hurls her spear overhead with both hands, as though 'spiking' it. It flies forth like a fiery javelin. And is accompanied by dozens of other fiery Chi-echoes of the spear!

COMBATSYS: May Lee blocks Natsu's Thousand Spikes.

[                      \\\\\\\\  < >  /////                         ]
May Lee          0/-------/-======|>>>>---\-------\0            Natsu

[MAY LEE]
May Lee is posed dramatically after the dynamic kick, her Ruby scarf billowing behind her like the protagonist of some anime's opening. For better or worse, this looks seems to work for the young woman.

But when Natsu rises from the attack, it becomes apparent than the fight is far from over with. Instead, May Lee is met with a a spear, then a flurry of spears raining down from above. She evades a few, but there's too many. Her arms are raised to guard, but the spear crashes against her guard and sends her reeling back. Several more spears follow and hammer against the Korean's defense like waves beating against the shore.

And by the time it's done, a battered and bruised May Lee is shaking her arms from the soreness. Scrapes down her forearms have shredded most of her costume there, not to mention the damage to her arms as well. "Ow, ow, ow," May mutters. "That was an impressive assault!" she says, clearing her throat. "But here I'm not out yet! Shining! Thunder!!" May Lee charges with electrical chi, launching forward into a bounding leap as she throws an electrified punch.

"Oh, shoot, I broke character!"

COMBATSYS: May Lee successfully hits Natsu with Shining Thunder Blow.

[                    \\\\\\\\\\  < >                                ]
May Lee          0/-------/=======|>>>>>>>\-------\0            Natsu

[NATSU]
Does Ruby not use lightning? Natsu doesn't know! She doesn't even know if Pyrrha uses fire or not! The name sounds fiery. So she isn't worried too much about how in-character it is when she gets electrocuted. Spasming and collapsing in a smoking heap, it seems that May has landed the final blow. But Natsu struggles back to her feet, to try to get off one last attack.

From her spot on the ground she lashes out with a mule kick, trying to launch her opponent into the air, then leaping up after her, still crackling with latent sparks of electrical chi, to unleash a furious barrage of attacks in midair, culminating with a heel kick to try to knock May back to the ground. She doesn't have the energy to try to figure out if this is something Pyrrha would do. All she can do is hope to put on a good enough show to make people feel their donations to this charity fight thing are justified!

COMBATSYS: Natsu can no longer fight.

[                    \\\\\\\\\\  <
May Lee          0/-------/=======|

COMBATSYS: May Lee just-defends Natsu's Rival Launcher!

[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  <
May Lee          0/-------/=======|

[MAY LEE]
May Lee's costume may have taken some damage, but the billowing flap of her cloak certainly makes many of her moves seem flashy and dynamic. She's still standing there posed dramatically, in fact, when Natsu goes for a final mule kick.

When the kick comes, May Lee curls her leg defensively, feet meeting calf and launching her into the air. The two of them soar, furious attacks met with rapid defense as May Lee moves to block, parry, or otherwise intercept each of the blows. When the heel kick crashes down, she blocks with a high cross-guard, the impact knocking her down into a spiral toward the ground.

But the Korean recovers, landing on her knees with a shuddering impact that leaves her breathing heavily even if she's avoided the worst of the damage.

"G-great work, Pyrrha!" "Ruby" compliments. "That's what being a Huntress is all about!"

May Lee stage whispers. "Are you all right? I'll be happy to help you to the first-aid station if you need a hand...think I'm gonna need to go there myself." May Lee says, rubbing her bruised forearms.

Log created on 17:51:32 11/14/2018 by May Lee, and last modified on 21:45:42 11/30/2018.