Match of the Millennium

Description: Seeking out a fresh source of entertainment, vampire lord Demitri decides to enter the annual King of Fighter's tournament in disguise. But who would be willing to team up with an unknown fighter in such a prestigious event?

[AURORA]
"One... two... one... two..."

A chipper female voice drifts through the park as the sun slowly makes its way to the apex in the sky that signals the arrival of the noon hour. The relatively serene calm of the morning gives way to a bustle of activity as local residents flood the surrounding streets in search of lunch. No small number of them enter the park itself, armed with home-made meals and store-bought bento boxes. Soon the scattered benches are filled and several picnic blankets are laid out to stake claim to little slices of the green paradise hidden among the towering skyscrapers of the megatropolis.

Of these visitors to the park, one in particular stands out. A young woman in her late teenage years, judging by her appearance, the girl stands alone in a small section of grass off the main path. With the casual ease of an experienced athlete, she bends her body back and forth, cycling through a warm-up routine with cheerful enthusiasm. That alone isn't enough to garner the stares that she gets, however. It is likely her choice of attire and the bright splash of wild hot pink hair that draws attention her way.

Aurora is dressed like something out of a cosplay convention. A dark red halter top hugs her torso so tightly that it almost looks like a second skin. A very obvious heart-shaped hole creates a window to her cleavage and the bottom of the garment stops short only a few inches below her ample bosom leaving her midriff compeltely exposed. An equally tight set of black tights encompasses her legs, sporting its own heart-windows on various strategically chosen places designed to draw the eye. A pair of stark yellow gloves and boots off-set the darker colors of the main ensemble. A pair of white ribbons fastened closed with pink heart-shaped pins adorn her neck and upper arm and the same symbol is present on the left side of her face as well in the form of a rather bold tattoo.

Aurora's constant bending exercises only emphasize her charms, a fact she seems rather oblivious to. Rather than be annoyed by the blatant stares she receives, the girl seems to thrive on being in the spotlight, her expression one of amusement as she realises a crowd has started to form loosely around her. Perhaps she's some sort of exhibitionist?

[DEMITRI]
Suddenly running up to her is someone who seems to be around her age. A young tan skinned guy with spiky brown hair and an earnestly unsure look on his face. He wears a simple white karate gi and no shoes, suddenly walking up to her and bowing respectfully. "I, uh, I've heard of you! My name is Danny Maxwell, I'm a martial artist, and I was wondering if we could make a team together for the tournament!"

He looks up, his eyes wandering a bit before he suddenly ducks his head back down into the bow, clearing intimidated by her cosplay.

[AURORA]
Despite all of the oogling she's getting, it isn't one of the random park-goers that builds up the courage to approach her first. Aurora blinks as the young karateka rushes up to introduce himself, pausing midstretch with her body tilted to one side. She peers at him for a moment, her head tilted like an owl, then gives the man a brilliant smile.

"Oh hey! Nice to meet you, Danny!"

The teenager completes her stretch and then resumes her routine, bending the other direction. The motion does interesting things to her outfit, something that doesn't go unnoticed by the crowd. A few of the onlookers even shoot the young man a glare of envy, as if just being that close to such a cute girl were some sort of accomplishment.

"A tournament, huh? Hmm... oh! You must be talking about that King of Fighters thing, huh? Yeah I heard about that. Sounds like a blast but I didn't know anyone who would team up with a new-comer like me."

[DEMITRI]
"I'm pretty new too, but I have some talents! I think we could help each other and get famous!" Danny does a quick crouch, then suddenly backflips with enough momentum to send himself flying towards a tree behind him. He smashes his shin into it with enough force that the tree shakes, causing leaves to rain down around them.

When he lands, he walks back over to her, his leg clearly not broken like it would be in a normal person, then bows again. "I know I'm not the best, especially to someone as beautiful and talented as you, but I think I can do it! I've, uh..."

He clears his throat, straightening his back. "I've seen you training, and, I wouldn't mind helping someone like you!" he says almost like an earnest confession of something more than what he's actually saying.

[AURORA]
Aurora pauses in her routine to stare wide-eyed at the display of acrobatic martial prowess. When Danny comes wandering back over her way, she lets out an impressed 'ooooh' and claps, a response that is mirrored by several of the onlookers.

"Hey that was a pretty neat trick!"

The awkward confessional nature of the fighter's praise seems not to register for Aurora and she responds with another broad smile, her face full of plucky eagerness.

"Well, I can't really turn down an offer like that! I've only been doing this fighting thing for a couple months now but it's the most fun I've ever had! I keep getting surprised with all the crazy stuff people can do!"

She turns and makes a thrusting motion with her hands as if to unleash a ball of energy as a great many of the world's more well-known martial artists might do. Fortunately, no torrent of raw power explodes from her palms into the nearby crowd. Instead she makes a fwooshing sound like a child mimicking a super hero on TV. She follows this up by emulating several other famous attacks, adding her own sound effects to each one while narrating her experiences in a great long ramble.

"...and then he was like 'pow!' and I dodged like 'woah!'."

Seeming tiring of her pantomime, the girl suddenly turns to face Danny again, resting her fists on her hips with a fresh grin on her face.

"So yeah! A great big tournament is definately something I'm interested in. Hmm. I think we need more members though. Did you have anyone else in mind?"

[DEMITRI]
"I'm sure we can find someone, plenty of people want to be fighters! We'll be a team of new names and surprise everyone." Danny starts to rapidly throw punches with little effort. They don't seem to follow any particularly known style, but they're eeriely skilled. "

"We'll train each other, and spar every day. My old master taught me a lot. It's all about practical experience, disciplining your body!" He doesn't even try to mime throwing energy blasts, he just stares at his hands, then back to her. He's not the most imposing figure, he's just barely even taller than her. "We just have to visit all the martial arts hangouts, and we'll find someone!"

[AURORA]
"Yeah, I guess that works. There's bound to be someone still looking for a team, right?"

Aurora lifts her hands up in the air, linking her fingers together as she stretches one final time. Her eyes close and she emits a low grunt of effort, rising up onto her tip toes for a couple of seconds, then relaxes with a sigh.

"Alright, I'm all warmed up! I was going to go for a jog but I guess we can start looking around. C'mon!"

The girl turns and takes a few steps towards a seemingly random direction then pauses, as if she just remembered something. Turning back to Danny, she rubs the back of her neck sheepishly.

"So, um, I'm pretty new to this town. Where exactly should we go?"

[DEMITRI]
"That's a good question, I'm pretty new too! Maybe we should both split up and explore until we find something. Or maybe we could go to your place and make fliers!" Danny wonders, throwing at least a few ideas out there. "No matter what we do, I'm sure we'll get another team member."

[AURORA]
Aurora's bashful grin spreads a little and she lets out a nervous chuckle.

"Haha, well, I don't have a 'place' exactly. I just sort of... wander around and look for interesting things. I usually make enough money doing small local fights to pay for food but it'd take me years to earn enough to buy a house! Besides, I like traveling. There's so many strange things to see."

The girl looks thoughtful for a moment then punches a fist into the opposite palm energetically.

"Alright! I guess we can split up and just look around. I usually find my way to the local fighting places eventually. I'm sure I'll run across someone who's interested. I guess we can just meet back here every day at noon. I've been using this park as a sort of home base while checking out the town."

[DEMITRI]
"That sounds great! When the tournament starts, we'll be much stronger after so much sparring. We'll win for sure!" Danny says in his earnest tone, then spreads his arms out to her. "Ah, um, where I'm from we hug."

[AURORA]
"Oh? Oh! Hugs, right!"

Aurora doesn't seem the least bit suspicious about this random request for physical contact. If anything she seems to perk up at the idea, grinning as she steps over to engulf the karateka in her grip. This proves to be a Bad Idea (TM). Despite the utter lack of obvious muscles on her spritely body when the teenager squeezes her arms closed around Danny it's like being enclosed in a steel vice. She gleefully crushes the poor man against her chest, casually lifting him bodily the ground as she giggles with amusement. The death grip lasts only a few agonizing seconds, stopping short just before the sound of cracking bones started to fill the air.

"Yes! Hug Power at maximum! Now I'm all fired up!"

Aurora grins as she sets her new partner back on the ground and turns to gaze dramatically into the distance for a few moments. The wind almost seems as if to accomodate this cheesy moment by sending a quick breeze that flutters her brilliant hair making it wave like a neon flame.

"Alright! Good luck, Danny! See you tomorrow!"

Waving at him, the strange girl takes off towards the nearest park exit at a healthy jog, the crowd parting to let her pass.

[DEMITRI]
Danny's body proves shockingly sturdy, almost like he has virtually nothing but lean, even if small muscle. But he breathes once she releases him, showing all of the signs of humanity.
"Ah, oh, I'll see you!" he says, clearly lacking confidence in his words.

When she turns away, a sinister smile forms on his lips, and he simply watches her go.

Log created on 21:17:04 05/23/2019 by Aurora, and last modified on 22:33:40 05/23/2019.