Match of the Millennium

Description: While visiting the Youth Fighting Center, Gedo High's Masami runs afoul of the dastardly thief Malin! With his property stolen, and offered a single opportunity to get it back, how will our humble hero fare against the hot-headed pride of a girl from Taiyo High?

[MALIN]
Southtown Young Fighters. A place to be. A place to fight. A place to train. A place to belong. Where the talented show of and get better and strive to earn that spot in the great floodlights of the world. A place where students from all over Southtown's high schools to pit against each other, to settle scores, be rivals, and grow to the next generation of combatants and heroes and villains.

It's also a great place for a totally legit student from Taiyo High to hang out and be a part of all the other students. Even if she is secretly-not-secretly a secret agent from a mysterious organization that no one knows about and is just infiltrating Taiyo High for clandestine reasons, the Institute has a place for her.

There, dressed in the simple and standard Taiyo Uniform, modified only by the addition of sneakers and a red bandanna, is a blonde girl simply lounging in the lobby and playing with a yo-yo. Reclined on the back of a couch lobby, rather than sitting or even lounging on the seat proper, Malin uses the slightly higher height to accomidate her yo-yo's string. She doesn't look bored, because she isn't, but she does look like a cat that's just about to push a glass of milk off a table. Her eyes are careful on the door, and careful in consideration. After all, it's been so long since she got to show off by showing up a gang of Southtown Syndicate goons. Even if most of that showing up was done by the big soldier guy that Malin ran the gang into. She likes to consider that just an elaborate martial art of its own.

And now she waits, and watches, wondering when someone, anyone will show up with enough curiousness about themselves to be of interest and fun.

[MASAMI]
Masami isn't so much looking for a face to punch as checking the place out, purely out of curiosity. And he kind of looks it, too. There's a curious look on his face, and he's looking around at the place as he enters. And he enters the place slowly, as if he doesn't want to miss anything. Or he's looking for all the hidden places that someone could be hiding, one of the two.

He's wearing a Gedo uniform, which might or might not be contrary to the care with which he seems to enter the place. If one were assessing him as a fighter? At a glance, he might look like he's a bit more leg-based as a fighter, given his legs are more muscular than the rest of him. It's not freakishly so, but it's noticeable. He also wears his wavy black hair long, pulled back in a ponytail.

[MALIN]
A strange young man approaches! One in a Gedo High outfit. A different school. Malin considers, thinks, looks down at herself to make certain that she doesn't go to Gedo already, and claps her Yo-Yo back into hand. A flick of the wrist and a vault off the back of the couch leaves her standing and somehow without yo-yo in hand anymore. She straightens the Taiyo branded sweatervest she wears and unruffles the pleated skirt. A pretty boy from another school, and if they're here in the Institute, probably a fighter or fighter adjacent. Something to consider.

Even better, Malin thinks as she cleverly darts behind this strange new boy in order to spy on him from behind planter and bookshelf and couch as she feels the need to zip about, is that that Gedo uniform is a Gedo uniform. They have a reputation. They have an interesting one. And while Malin's "orders" had her at Taiyo, she knows that a student from a tough, gang busting school like Gedo would be definitely greatly and super interesting.

Also the pony tail is cute.

So she trails, and follows, and bides what little time her very short amount of patience allows her to bide. But in the end, her needs win out and she slinks up as swiftly as possible with one terrible goal in mind: To steal the hair tie keeping Masami's ponytail together.

[MASAMI]
Masami doesn't seem to have noticed Malin just yet -- he's too busy taking in the rest of the building for that. But there is perhaps an indication of awareness, since he's suddenly a little more tense than he was before. So maybe he's not completely hopeless. But the upshot of this is that he has no idea that his poor, innocent ponytail holder is being targeted by nefarious forces.

The ponytail holder is a simple, thin black fabric-covered elastic deal. So pulling it is going to pull his head back, and likely take a few hairs out with it. "Ow! Hey!" he complains. The majority of the hair is preserved the fate of being yanked out of his head, though, but spills free from the ponytail in a cascade. And at the same time he turns quickly, aiming to try to catch whoever abused his poor hair!

Though the quick 180 turn has the effect of making his hair fan out around him briefly, and since he really does take good care of his hair, it catches the light and almost seems to ~sparkle~ as he spins around!

[MALIN]
A ponytail tie: the tragic victim of a young woman's hubris. Snatched in the prime of its life to be pulled away from its duties. Tragically taken and pulled free with naught but a few strands of its charge left bound in it's coiled grip.

And in the end, as that hair cascades, fans into a glorious shimmer and weight and shine, the little hair tie finds it was in deed the villain of the piece all along. A greedy thing that kept beauty from the world. In that way, Malin is a hero to all within the lobby of a youth fitness and fighting facility in a single city in Japan. But all great heroes start from humble beginnings, the great Malin would gladly accept this as hers.

Malin blinks, still and still holding the hair tie in her hands. Normally she would have escaped and show up elsewhere, up the spiral staircase perhaps, but now she's just sort of standing there and staring a little. She would have said something quippy, or talked about how awesome she was for her deft hands and defter feet. But now she's just sort of silent.

She looks the pretty boy, now upgraded to mayhaps beautiful boy, and then down and back and down again. Finally, the wheels in her brain settle on a response. One with a smirk and a forced bit of five foot bravado, "So, Gedo, huh?"

Internally, Malin winces.

[MASAMI]
It's an awkward few moments there, Malin standing there with the offending hair tie in-hand, Masami sort of low-key glaring at her over having yoinked it out of his hair. It's less that his wavy hair is kind of all over the place now and more that his hair got pulled. Mind, he's not really upset or angry much about that. Still. A bit sore.

And there's the conversation starter! Such as it is. He nods. "That's right." Pause, and he looks her over briefly. "...Taiyo?" he asks in response. Yeah, that got drilled into him pretty quickly, that he was supposed to recognize the Rival Schools, in Southtown and in the rest of the world too.

Though if there's bravado in Malin's tone, so is there in Masami's. The way he carries himself is less 'young tough' however, and more 'rich kid'. He's even holding his nose in the air a little bit, as if he expects to have something nitpicky and ultimately pointless to judge her about in short order. Though it's also worth noting that his voice and tone are fairly even, so he's not getting judgy right at this moment.

[MALIN]
Words. Words and reality bring Malin back to her senses. And now, she steps back on squeaking sneaker to get back and away. A skipping hop that has her twirling the hairtie like a trophy around an upraised fingertip. "Duh, what does it look like I'm from, Justice?" she teases, reading the room. She detects the hint of haughty and calls out the premiere school in the area for the kinds of people that read like Masami reads.

"I thought Gedo was for all the tough kids and gang punks," she says, taking long stepping strides back and forth all while spinning the hair tie about. "Or, maybe the kind of toughs that pick on the gang punks." The add on comes with a wink and a bit of her tongue sticking out. She's seen what Gedo students get up to, she doesn't have a lot to do at night after school with no where to go by the "secret organization headquarters". So she's spotted a number of their students handling things the way she likes them to be handled.

"Did you steal daddy's car?" she asks, and the tone of her voice sounds a great deal less than taunting and a little more like she truly does hope that Masami stole a nice car. Even as she poses by perching up on the back of one of the lobby seats to tease the high brow pretty boy.

[MASAMI]
Masami shrugs to the 'duh', returning, "Taiyo, Justice... one school is about the same as any other." Though the tone indicates he may be kidding there, at least partly. Since there's a certain amount of 'my school yay, your school boo' that's kind of expected. Possibly required. If Daigo heard him say that, Masami might find himself the recipient of a knuckle sandwich!

Though a series of question indicating his status as 'a punk' come then, and he tilts his head. Which of course, sets that hair to waving about a little. "I take it I don't have the 'punk from the wrong side of the tracks' feel that most of the students from Gedo have?" he guesses. "I've heard that before. Money spoils one, it's even worse when one is born into it." As for stealing a car? "I did, some time ago. Got into fights, spent frivolously, brought illegal things when I could get away with it, and generally made rather a nuisance of myself." He doesn't talk like he's proud of it though.

In fact he also doesn't seem to mind that she's sitting up higher than he. Masami just sort of tilts his head up to meet her gaze. She has the high ground! And he doesn't care!

[MALIN]
Malin has the high ground, but with her slight build the high ground isn't exactly great and towering. After all, it's the back of a chair. She spins and spins the hair tie as the pretty boy speaks about his crimes, laying bare the darkness of his soul and the ink that makes up a terrifying rap sheet.

Malin grins, Malin smirks, Malin laughs enough to fall over the back of the chair, disappearing on the far side. She pops back up again and takes a graceful scamper back over the chair back and sprightly landing on the ground. Somewhere between her disappearance and chair vault, she acquired her yo-yo and has already begun twirling it in a lazy round-the-world.

"You spent money frivolously!" she says, overdramatizing her voice and lolling her head in mock anguish. "Say it isn't so!" The words punctuate with a snap return of the yo-yo to slap into the palm of her hand.

"Well, good thing Malin is here to show you what a real thief is capable of," she says, leaning toward Masami with a taunting little snicker.

[MASAMI]
It's actually worse than Masami makes it out to be. He IS in Gedo, after all. One doesn't end up in Gedo for simple jaywalking, after all. But he also doesn't see a problem with making light of it. Since, well... it's kind of funny how much of a brat he used to be. Or at least, he thinks so. His parents sure didn't.

As she falls over the back of her chair, though, Masami reacts with first surprise, and then concern. When she disappears, he steps forward, as if to assist her. And he looks relieved when she reappears, giving a small sigh of relief. The overdramatized voice gets a chuckle. "I know, so horrible, wasn't it?" he agrees to the 'horribleness' of spending frivolously.

And then... he blinks, as if confused. "A 'real thief'?" he echoes. "Oh, I'm no thief. Just an insufferable brat," he notes, with a chuckle.

[MALIN]
Well this kid is no fun. Malin pouts and hops back and away from Masami. "You are pretty insufferable," she judges, shrugging. "And yeah, you're no thief. I took this from you and you wouldn't have noticed if you hadn't tangled it up in your floofy ponytail." She rolls her eyes, twisting things in her own way to try to make her stalling and stammering at his pretty face somehow his fault.

Well, more than his having a pretty face is his fault.

Now Malin tries to think of something, and she's still twirling the hair tie around her finger. She quirks a frown. "You're not even going to be upset I ruined your girly hair?" she asks. "I mean. Really?"

[MASAMI]
That part , about his 'floofy hair', gets a tilt of Masami's head. "Well... I do take care of my hair. I'm rather proud of it," he notes. Not stupidly so, otherwise he'd probably be swinging at her right about now. He does seem a bit confused though, at the sudden shift of attitude. It doesn't even occur to him that this might be a rather literal manifestation of 'pigtail syndrome'.

Then it goes from 'floofy' to 'girly', and he frowns. "Is there something wrong with me keeping my hair like this?" Now he's starting to get a little huffy. Though it's still diluted with confusion. "It doesn't break the Gedo dress code." Weirdly enough. "And I don't think there IS a dress code for outside the school except 'don't show your bits'."

[MALIN]
A good offense is always a great way to be defensive. Sure, she might find the pretty boy pretty, his hair is great and she's only a little jealous of it, but Malin is more interested in pushing and keeping the Gedo boy on his toes. She wants to see him rattled, or to at least find some point of pride to poke at.

She starts to play with the yo-yo again, down and up in turn and time. "I guess it isn't," she says, shrugging, "I don't know Gedo's uniform stuff. But every Gedo kid I've seen is usually all 'grrr grr, I'm a bad ass'. Which, since you're pretty, must mean you got to be really bad ass. Am I right?" Malin asks.

"And you're in here," she continues, "Which mean you've got to be a fighter. Which means you're the kind of pretty boy that needs showing up since that proves anyone who shows you up is a bigger badass around here."

Such logical salvos are launched toward Masami, and all finished up with a simple taunt of, "Or, at least you better be if you want your scrunchie back."

[MASAMI]
If 'utterly baffled' counts as 'rattled', Malin has indeed succeeded. He blinks at her again, as if he doesn't quite know what to do with her. As for him being a badass? He shrugs a bit. "I don't know. I just don't care what other people think about me. I have more important things to think about." As for being in here because he's a fighter? "I'm in here because I was pointed here a while back, and I was curious about the place, actually."

And then suddenly... it becomes clearer what she's wanting. Masami's expression moves from confusion to a kind of... resigned understanding. "...Oh. Oh, I see. Well, if you do want to fight, I can do that," he offers. "I can't promise you I'll win, but I will spar with you, if that's what you're looking for."

[MALIN]
Malin considers. She thinks. She ponders and she hits upon the very thing that she wants when Masami is so kind to offer it up. Malin stops the spinning of the hair tie. She makes an overacting shrug to the whole suggestion. "Sure, yeah, sure, let's spar. If you win you can have your hair tie back."

"But if you lose, you," she hums and thinks on the matter, "You'll have to owe me a favor sometime in the future. Nothing big, but you'll owe." She has a confident grin, mostly because she has no idea what she actually would want to ask for.

However Masami answers, Malin's already strolling toward the spiral staircase while she twirls her yo-yo around and around. She just seems to expect him to follow along.

[MASAMI]
Perhaps surprisingly, Masami agrees to these terms, without a whole lot of thought or preamble. The risk/reward isn't really in his favor... but it's an interesting proposition, either way. He's most likely going to lose, but he has more than one ponytail holder to his name. He might even have another one in a pocket somewhere. If not, certainly back at his room in the Gedo dorms. So he can afford to lose it. But this is interesting.

Oh, and he's also reminded of something. So as he follows Malin up the staircase, he notes, "Oh, yes... pardon me. I know it's a bit strange, but I do like to know the name of the person I'm about to be eating the knuckles of." He does have a bit of a teasing note to his voice. And just so it's fair, he offers, "My name is Masami Nakamichi."

[MALIN]
Up the stair and round to the gym. A place where other high schoolers are training and practicing. But there's more than enough room for a pair of fighters to take a swing at one another. "I already told you my name," she tells him. "I'm Malin. I think you can remember that. But if you need me to make certain you never forget it. . ."

Malin stretches the hair tie over her hand and around her wrist. She turns on heel to face Masami, a flip of her yo-yo down and up and walks the dog. "I'll just have to do that, Masami."

COMBATSYS: Malin has started a fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Malin            0/-------/-------|

[MASAMI]
"Pleased to meet you, Malin," Masami replies, and takes a place a respectable distance away from where she's set herself up. though at the reminder that she HAD told him her name, he notes, "Ah, so you did. Apologies, you're a rather confusing sort." So that's how he denotes being off-balance, by completely forgetting people's names?

He chuckles, though, as she notes she'll make sure he doesn't forget. "Tattoo'd on the inside of my skull, hm? Most likely." He hopes he can at least give her a decent fight. Someone doesn't go around poking people to fight unless they're either very good or overconfident. And of late, Masami's been seeing that most are the latter.

COMBATSYS: Masami has joined the fight here on the right meter side.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Malin            0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0           Masami

[MALIN]
The yo-yo goes down and back up. Then it's gone as quickly as it was traveling. Malin starts to bop and bob back and forth on her sneakers. She starts to grin. A dramatic point Masami-ward and the girl proudly declares, "It's time for you to learn the intense justice of Malin-Style!"

The girl proves fast, quite fast. She slips to the side, rolls on her heel, and she lashes with a flick of wrist toward Masami. That yo-yo is back. And it snaps clean from the string it was attached to. As the yo-yo gets close in, a series of metal blades snap out as the toy turns into a buzz saw cutting for Masami's midsection.

COMBATSYS: Masami blocks Malin's Onigumo.

[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Malin            0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0           Masami

[MASAMI]
Honestly, Masami thought this would be just a spar. Just a couple of people half-heartedly throwing punches at each other to try to hone a certain technique. Learn to punch a certain way, confirm a hit technique -- that sort of thing. You know, a NORMAL spar between people who aren't trying to kill each other.

And then the buzzsaw comes out!

Masami's eyes widen -- that was the last thing he expected. His arms fold at his midsection rather more on instinct than out of any real trained move. Of course... it's a freaking BUZZSAW, there isn't going to be much he can do to really mitigate much of that, as it utterly SHREDS his sleeves -- and doesn't do the skin underneath much better. But at least it tears into his arms instead of his torso. There's slightly more important stuff in there than in his arms, even if it'd still suck to lose those too.

Right now he just wants to try to get in a kick edgeways, he's not concerned with doing anything flashy. So he just makes a short hop forward and kicks up at her shoulder -- he's still following sparring rules, so no hits to the head.

COMBATSYS: Masami successfully hits Malin with Light Kick.

[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Malin            0/-------/----===|=------\-------\0           Masami

[MALIN]
"Normal". It's a curious word. One that doesn't fit within the purview of Malin. There's no reason to do things "normally" because there's no reason to be normal when that's dull and unimpressive. How could she impress anyone by just being the way everyone else is? She's an agent of a secret organization that infiltrates high schools and attends classes and makes friends and does all sorts of things that are just normal. There's plenty of normal in the world and Malin wants to let the world know there isn't anything so dull as normal.

She's still smirking, self amused and satisfied that she's put the fancy boy from the tough guy school off his game. So confident is she that she isn't even paying a great deal of attention when the kick comes. "Crud," she mutters as the kick comes in. A thump to her shoulder, she never had a chance to pay attention to get whomped.

She skips to the side, sneakers squeaking on the floor. "Oh, that's how it is?" she scoffs, hands on her hips as if she didn't just throw a bladed yo-yo at Masami. "Fine, let's do this!"

Malin skips forward. Slinking, lowering herself, and twisting into an offset back handspring. A strange, sweeping kick that comes from an oddball direction, the half-breakdance move that has Malin kicking herself away from the boy to put space and distance between the two.

COMBATSYS: Masami dodges Malin's Random Strike.

[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Malin            0/-------/----===|=------\-------\0           Masami

[MASAMI]
To be fair, it wasn't MUCH of a kick. Just a quick one in a moment of what he felt might have been Malin being off her own guard because she'd managed to mangle him a little bit. But well, now that he knows not to expect typical sparring behavior, he's ready for the weird, offset kick. Though that said, it's purely out of sheer luck that he manages to avoid it in the first place, by jumping over it and to the side. And it looks about as clumsy of a dodge as it was.

THAT said, there might be a reason that he saw that particular move coming. Because it's almost similar to one he's able to do. One he does now, in fact. "Says the one who was looking to mangle my torso with a bladed yo-yo?" he counters, to her verbal quip. His voice is still calm, and despite the bleeding forearms, he still does seem rather calm. Though that changes quickly, as he dives forward, trying to close the distance.

Mind, he's not trying to leap on her, no... he dives to the floor, then pulls into a spinning not-quite handstand -- because it's on his elbows -- with his legs stretched out like helicopter blades! Possibly unlikely, or at least uncomfortable, for a male to pull off normally.

COMBATSYS: Malin blocks Masami's Gold Digger.

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Malin            0/-------/---====|=------\-------\0           Masami

[MALIN]
A lovely pinwheeling spin kick. And one that Malin is close and ready enough for when it comes in. "So, you dancing too?" she asks with a playful laughing lilt to her voice. Her arms come up, tap-tap blocking and tumbling with the force of the blow. A cartwheel away and a handspring to her sneakers. She skips from sneaker to sneaker, back and forth, finding her right footing.

"I will have you know that Malin style is as good a combat technique as any out there!" she speaks with the firm confidence of the defensive. "What fancy school did you go to?" she scoffs, taking a short skip and a hop up into the air.

A tumble in the air, and then somehow, out of nowhere, she rotates and rockets down to the ground. There, she bursts forward with a spinning leg kick. Subtly, a light 'thwick' sounds as a short blade unfolds from her sneaker's heel. The yo-yo was a blade, and now the girl herself is a spinning top of kicky, bladed death!

COMBATSYS: Masami blocks Malin's Suzume Bachi Kuuchuu EX.

[      \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////    ]
Malin            0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0           Masami

[MASAMI]
"It's an excellent way to exercise," Masami notes, to the mention of him 'dancing'. As for what 'fancy school'? "I learned to fight at Gedo," he replies. He's not all that upset; her taunts aren't making him angry. Ultimately he seems over forgiving of people yelling at him.

Suddenly Malin comes spinning at him, low to the ground. That would spell certain death for his legs, most likely -- he's heard that 'thwick' sound, and knows it's probably not good. So he... drops down, meeting the spinning kick with his crossed arms again. They're already pretty mangled as is...

But this somehow doesn't... quite seem to damage them as much as a spining blade of death ought to. Which might have something to do with the yellow-gold aura that shines around his arms as he uses them to meet that blade again. Though he does wince visibly -- it didn't completely protect him from the looks of it, and still did some more damage. New wounds have opened up on his arms in response.

Though since she's on the ground, Masami thinks, perhaps an attack from above would work better. So as soon as he can do this without getting bladed in his nethers, he stands, his forward foot glowing with that same yellow-gold aura. With a cry of effort that seems like it came from a much less calm person than Masami has been up until this point, he rotates that front leg in a complete circle, looking to bring the shin down on Malin from overhead.

It's notable that this is not just an overhead axe kick -- unless it manages to get interrupted, whether Malin's still there or not, he's slamming that leg down hard enough that he's going to end up in the splits on the ground, briefly. He's using the full force of his weight, as well as the full-circle rotation of his entire leg.

COMBATSYS: Masami successfully hits Malin with Billionaire.
Grazing Hit

[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Malin            0/-------/-======|===----\-------\0           Masami

[MALIN]
"So you do have something special about you," Malin says as her slashing strikes surprise her in how the shining glow of his aura protected him from the cutting damage of her retracting blade kick. She falls back to the ground and once more starts her bopping back and forth stance.

"That's pretty cool," she tells Masami, grinning wide and pleased to see that the boy seems to at least be trying a little bit. "So, what sorts of things you do with tricks like that?" she asks him, kicking back and reading the situation to dance away from the flying kick.

That choice doesn't go so well for the girl. The kick crushes down at her. And while it fails to crack her to the earth, it catches her shoulder enough to make her squeal and scamper away like a wounded squirrel, repeating, "ow owowowowow!"

Teeth grit, Malin huffs and puffs. She looks this way and that and her grin turns sneaky. She runs away. A quick dash, darting to the side. A leap to the wall, a kick off the wall. "Hey, catch this!" she calls out with a giggle. Sprightly and sprung against the wall, Malin huffs her weight into a standing punching bag. The dummy shaped like a big man's upper body hurtles toward Masami with surprising speed given the size of the girl.

As she lands, she calls out to him, "Malin Style!"

COMBATSYS: Masami overcomes Large Thrown Object from Malin with Price Tag.
- Power hit! -

[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////      ]
Malin            0/-------/-======|===----\-------\0           Masami

COMBATSYS: Masami successfully hits Malin with Price Tag.

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////      ]
Malin            0/-------/=======|====---\-------\0           Masami

[MASAMI]
Masami's actually concerned when Malin goes hopping away shrieking like that. He waits to answer the rest of what she's said, until he's sure she's all right. Thankfully she seems reasonably all right. And he sighs a bit, relieved, when she goes back to normal. So he answers, "It's just chi, nothing special." Then suddenly there's a flying dummy. And for once it's not him! His eyes go wide -- it's always the last thing he'd expect from this one.

Masami reacts quickly, jumping up into the air. But it's not QUITE high enough or fast enough to get him out of the way. She's much too quick. Then... he does something strange. He turns in the air, his legs glowing with that yellow-gold aura again, and seems to almost hover for a moment. It still doesn't have the height to get him out of danger, though, since he doesn't rise into the air. He just... doesn't fall immediately.

But then he points his foot's knife-edge down, aiming it towards the dummy... and also towards Malin. But nobody can just shoot their body downwards mid-jump, with nothing to push off of right?

...Actually no, apparently Masami can.

Trailing both golden chi and an explosive battle cry, his body takes exactly the trajectory he aimed hs foot in, the dummy/sandbag ends up being little barrier to his chi-backed flying kick.

[MALIN]
Bang.

Malin takes training dummy and flying kick all in one. Hurtling back, cracking against the wall, head snapping, coughing, the wind gushing from her lungs. That was, in short, a very very good kick. She drops to the ground, hands and knees. A sputter and a shake. A groan as she rubs her belly, feeling the throbbing in her ribs. Standing up, she shakes herself off and puts her focus onto her opponent.

"So you think everyone's just trash then?" Malin asks, adjusting stray blonde hair back under her kerchief. "If you're so 'not special'."

Malin darts forward. She skips up into the air. A sharp lift that sees her pathed right toward Masami's shoulders. To land and tie up his head in neck in her legs before a sharp turning and twisting head scissor takedown.

COMBATSYS: Malin successfully hits Masami with Armed Combo.

[          \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Malin            1/-------/=======|======-\-------\0           Masami

[MASAMI]
And here again, Masami seems concerned about Malin, at her reaction to his kick. Might be a little weird, honestly, to see someone explode with violence and then be concerned about its consequences afterwards. Though her question actually gets a wide-eyed, confused look. "What? No. Why would I thi--?"

And then he suddenly has a Malin to the face. He tries to dodge out of the way, but he's not quite fast enough, and ends up eating floor, her legs still wrapped around his neck. There isn't a whole lot he can do from there.

Except finish his sentence. Barely. Because it's hard to breathe with legs wrapped around his neck.

"Why... would I think... everyone else is trash...?" he manages. "Do you know... how many other people... fight with chi?" It's true. Aside from the magic/demon/undead/Gear/god/any combination of those and more, most of the reason a fighter is a fighter... is the use of chi.

COMBATSYS: Masami gains composure.

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Malin            1/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0           Masami

[MALIN]
Most of the reason a fighter is a fighter is chi? The idea sticks deep in Malin's pride. Unspoken, presented in his words 'How many other people fight with chi?' as though this pretty boy's specialness was naught simply because he wasn't as special as he might want to be. He's probably judging her, doubting her, because now he's not even trying, he's just biding time.

Malin fumes. She feels the heat of her pride prick at her heart. From her position, she flicks her wrist to deploy a set of three claws along the back of her hand. Not natural, simply a hidden weapon she's kept secreted on her person on a just-in-case basis.

The girl pushes down against Masami's shoulders, vaults from him. And in the air, she spirals inverted before coming back down with a slash toward Masami's back with a cry of wounded pride "You aren't as humble as you think you are!"

COMBATSYS: Malin successfully hits Masami with Random Weapon.
- Power hit! -

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Malin            0/-------/=======|=======\-------\0           Masami

[MASAMI]
That's not completely what Masami meant, honestly, but... well, Malin's kind of got him right where she wants him, having just as much verbally maneuvered him into a disadvantageous position as she's got the physical advantage with her superior speed. There's nothing really he can say without digging the hole deeper. Besides that, she's mad now -- she doesn't want an explanation, but a way to vent her anger.

As such, he doesn't respond. Doesn't get up. He turns to meet the claw... but doesn't block. He lets the claw rip into him, a grunt and a grimace as it tears open even more steadily-bleeding wounds. He's bleeding pretty bad now, and... he doesn't seem to care. At this point he might just be too mangled to really do much else. But she's looking for a punching bag now, a way to vent her frustration. So that's what he's going to give her. Punching bags don't fight back.

COMBATSYS: Masami gains composure.

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Malin            0/-------/=======|=======\-------\0           Masami

[MALIN]
An easy slash. Too easy a slash. Malin handstands, looking at the boy and his simple standing and taking it. She pops herself away and back to her feet. Quickly, she's spun back around and with another flick of her wrist looks just the picture of unarmed and wholesome as she can with her hair skewed and bandanna tied off-kilter.

"Gah! Now you're not even going to fight me? Are you that badass Mr. Gedo High that you can't even fight some lowly street. . ." Malin clicks her tongue, "Taiyo high student?" She snorts, she kicks the ground like an angry little chicken, and she begins to hop from foot to foot.

"If you're just going to give up, get out, because Malin doesn't take handouts from snooty, arrogant rich kids who think they're too good to try."

COMBATSYS: Malin focuses on her next action.

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Malin            0/-------/=======|=======\-------\0           Masami

[MASAMI]
"All right then. I give," Masami replies as he stands, brushing some dirt from his sleeve. His voice is calm, and he faces Malin squarely. "Nothing I've said or done has in any way been me saying or acting better than anyone else here," he points out. "Just the opposite, in fact -- I have gone out of my way to try to make it clear that I -didn't- feel as though I was better than you, or anyone else. You merely have me filed away quite firmly in a specific little niche in your mind, and nothing short of a front-loader is going to move it, no matter how much evidence you have to the contrary."

He pauses, to straighten his sleeve -- well, what's left of it, anyway. "Now, if you want a target on which to vent your anger at the people you view as being 'snooty and spoiled', there are plenty of punching bags in here," he continues, his voice still as calm as it was. If he's noticed any sort of verbal faux pas she might have made, or might have been about to make, he says nothing of it. "If you feel they're not durable enough, I will gladly let you keep hitting me in place of 'The Man'." This said, he folds his hands in front of him and faces her expectantly, waiting on her decision.

COMBATSYS: Masami gains composure.

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Malin            0/-------/=======|=======\-------\0           Masami

[MALIN]
Malin's eye twitches. She flicks a yo-yo, hidden away as many others. The toy zips down and up and down again. Malin hunches what little height and size she has. Her looks cold and drawn. The toppled punching bag lay a tragic victim of the scuffle. And it's with that posture that she hears out words that do nothing to help Masami's case for himself. When he's done talking, Malin just has wounded, bitter words for the Gedo High boy.

"Talk is cheap."

The yo-yo flips blades from the interior, the blades stay out as the yo-yo goes down. The blades slick away when the yo-yo claps into the palm of her hand. Down, blades, up, blades away. Malin catches the yo-yo and loses her hunch, she starts to just walk toward the spiral stair where the old sliding pole for the fire fighters once stood. "You think it's chi that makes a fighter. But it isn't. It's not chi. It's not fancy schools. It's spirit. That's what makes a fighter. So maybe you shouldn't be here. This place isn't for you."

COMBATSYS: Malin has left the fight here.

                                  >  /////////////////////////     ]
                                  |=======\-------\0           Masami

[MASAMI]
"Perhaps not," Masami replies. He pauses then, reaching into a pocket to retrieve something...

Another ponytail holder.

This he reaches up to quickly wind into his hair as he takes in breath, as if he's about to say something. He pauses then, mouth slightly open... and then just breathes out. "...No, you're right. Talk is cheap," he agrees quietly. Without another word, he heads for the door. Though he does pause, to note, "Do have a good rest of the day, nonetheless." And then he leaves via the door he came in.

Leaving Malin with the ponytail holder thieved at the beginning of all this.

COMBATSYS: Masami has ended the fight here.

Log created on 22:02:12 06/01/2019 by Malin, and last modified on 02:40:34 06/05/2019.