Match of the Millennium

Description: Honoka and Hayley have a Neo League battle after their mutual absences from the fighting ring!

[HONOKA INOUE]
It's been a while since Honoka Inoue has been in a fighting match!

The tournament she was last in... well, it didn't end great, and she vanished for a while. Not entirely, but from the fighting scene; she went back to college even though she hadn't really ever decided what to major in. She'd taken a semester without any violence.

But she couldn't stay away forever. Her fighting spirit wouldn't let her. And so she quietly signed up for the Neo League, again. Maybe it would be better if she gave it another shot?

And that's why Honoka is in Sunshine City.

It's nice and warm here, at least, not on the main beach but within sight of it, on a grassy spot that overlooks the sea. Honoka, who wore a black T-shirt (with a 'cute' skull on it), is a little warm already in the summer sun. Maybe she should have skipped the stockings? But then she wouldn't have the whole outfit!

She has been a little fidgety. Maybe it's nerves. It's been a while since she did this, after all, and there's already a number of people gathered here to watch.

[HAYLEY]
Honoka isn't the only one who has taken a break lately. Hayley reappeared for the King of Fighters, but her showing there was less than stellar. Afterwards, Hayley disappeared once again from the public eye, save for the occasional appearance in this dojo, or at that school. She may not have given up, but taking some time out of the spotlight must have seemed like a necessity.

But now, in the midst of the Neo League, Hayley has reappeared for a matchup with another relative rookie in Honoka Inoue.

"Hoy," it sounds more like an "o" sound than an "a." "Good to meet'cha. Don't take it too easy on me, even if it's been a bit, huh?" Hayley says, adjusting her headband. and shifting her footing a bit.

COMBATSYS: Honoka Inoue has started a fight here.

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Honoka Inoue     0/-------/------=|

COMBATSYS: Hayley has joined the fight here.

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Hayley           0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0     Honoka Inoue

[HONOKA INOUE]
Oh! There's her opponent. Honoka got so distracted with the crowd that she hadn't even seen her approahc. That's a bad habit to get into, but surely it's fine? It's not like they're having an unscheduled fight. There are bells and things.

Honoka gives a slight bow and a big smile in Hayley's direction as she speaks to her. "Will do! The same to you, of course... it's been a while but I'm definitely ready!" She'd like to think so, anyway.

She certainly starts off strong when the starter bell rings. Honoka doesn't wait around for Hayley to get the first blow in; she rushes forward, raising her knee to drive it into Hayley's gut and lift her off the ground before spinning around in a low spin kick. For all her diminuitive size (Hayley has at least a half foot of height on her) Honoka certainly packs a lot of strength in her body, and she's apparently decided going for the early lead is the way to go here.

That or she just got excited and swung at Hayley hard. One of the two.

COMBATSYS: Honoka Inoue successfully hits Hayley with Tropical Storm.

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Hayley           0/-------/----===|===----\-------\0     Honoka Inoue

[HAYLEY]
The knee collides with Hayley's abs with enough force to take her off the ground with the impact. Her eyes widening, Hayley is left wide open for the low spin kick that takes her feet right out from under her and sends the Aussie to the ground rump-first.

"Ow," Hayley mutters, her pride injured almost as much as her belly as she runs her hand under her shirt and gingerly works the muscle there. The breath is brief, however, before she's rolling back and sprining to her feet.

"Caught me off-guard a little there, heh," Hayley says, but not without a wince. Even so, she's back on the move, closing the gap and thrusting forward with both palms. Chi erupts from her hands as she strikes, a big blue burst threatening to smash into Honoka on impact.

COMBATSYS: Honoka Inoue blocks Hayley's Eucalyptus Bloom.

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Hayley           0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0     Honoka Inoue

[HONOKA INOUE]
Honoka looked like she was about to follow up her attack with a stomp while Hayley was down, but she recovered a little faster than she was expecting, and Honoka instead stomps her foot down hard on the dirt and grass of the path. She lets out a puff of air on impact, but turns it into a hop backwards.

Which is good, because it gives her a bit of space when Hayley rushes her with the chi blast. Honoka's hands are moving before she consciously realizes exactly how she's under attack, and she takes the burst of chi there rather than to her torso; a flicker of deep red chi does a bit to dampen the worst of the blue, and she lets out a startled yelp as the burst slides her back, kicking up dust.

Honoka snaps her foot up, hooking it around Hayley's ankle and trying to pull her toward Honoka. If she manages it, she catches the other woman and goes into a surprise suplex, falling backwards to land on her own back and trying to launch Hayley over her and to the side as she goes! "You did say you wanted a serious match! - Ha-a!"

COMBATSYS: Hayley blocks Honoka Inoue's Medium Throw.

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Hayley           0/-------/--=====|====---\-------\0     Honoka Inoue

[HAYLEY]
Hayley stays in the palm-thrusting position only a moment before stepping back, widening her stance move more into her low, Bajiquan-inspired positioning with her knees bent.

But in a moment, Honoka's swinging in and hooking Hayley's ankle, pulling her forward despite resistance. The Aussie goes airborne briefly into the suplex, flipping her over before she lands on her forearms and rolls out of it and into a sliding crouch.

But Hayley transitions out of it, closing the gap once more with a sweeping, downward backfist, wheeling her arm around on a pivot.

"Of course! Can't get better without a challenge!"

The downward backfist is openly the beggining, Hayley transitioning into an attempt to grab Honoka by the arm, pull her forward and twist, then strike out with her opposite elbow. If she connects well, Hayley takes advantage of the moment of daze to slam into Honoka with a hip-check, intending to bowl her over.

COMBATSYS: Honoka Inoue dodges Hayley's Magpie and Wombat ES.

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Hayley           0/-------/-======|====---\-------\0     Honoka Inoue

[HONOKA INOUE]
Though Honoka has to go down to do the suplex - it's the only way she can get enough momentum to fling Hayley backwards and over her - she is back on her feet surprisingly fast; a roll to the side and a kip up with a quick hop and she's ready to go again.

Short as she is, Honoka is well-positioned to duck. And she does, keeping her hand low - so low that Hayley has trouble grabbing it - as she pivots around the taller woman. She has a plan, though not necessarily a good one... "It's a good challenge! I'm glad we're having it!"

Hayley manages to lay hands on Honoka's sleeve, tugging the short sleeve momentarily as her fingers momentarily tangle in it rather than catch Honoka herself. Honoka manages to break the weak grip as she circles, ending around behind Hayley for the moment. Without getting hip-checked, even! She dodged a bullet there (metaphorically).

Behind Hayley, Honoka plants her hands on the other fighter's shoulders and leaps, as if preparing to leapfrog over her. Except... Honoka only gets about two thirds of the way up before she comes down, pushing her knees - and her entire body weight - forward into Hayley's shoulders, trying to bear her to the ground by weight and momentum and land on top!

COMBATSYS: Hayley interrupts Calf Branding from Honoka Inoue with Wombat's Crushing Blow EX.

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Hayley           1/-------/=======|=======\-------\1     Honoka Inoue

[HAYLEY]
Honoka moves behind Hayley suddenly, but the Australian seems poised to counterattack. Hands plant on Hayley's shoulders, but with a sudden countermove, Hayley thrusts backwards, slamming into Honoka with her (notably wide) backside to try and bowl her over.

The movement is sudden and powerful, Hayley's legs delivering remarkably force despite the limited wind-up and range to build up momentum. In a way, the blow is almost like a gunblast: sudden, powerful, and short.

[HONOKA INOUE]
It's rare that someone has the momentum and power to knock Honoka back when she tries that - though normally she has a bit more forward momentum than she has rather than relying on her (admittedly not that impressive) weight to do all the work.

But Hayley does it. Her explosive backwards drop... well, drops. Hayley ends up, just for a moment, sitting on Honoka's stomach while she's sprawled on her back, half-pinned and entirely out of breath.

She does manage to escape the pin with a twist, but she's not getting out unharmed. "Oww..." There's only so much she can do with Hayley on the ground; she seems to have the advantage there, so Honoka takes to the air, leaping away from Hayley and then back in a stomping, two-footed kick to smash her to the ground!

COMBATSYS: Hayley blocks Honoka Inoue's Diving Kick.

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Hayley           1/-----==/=======|=======\=------\1     Honoka Inoue

[HAYLEY]
For a few moments the two of them wind up in an awkward position with Hayley seated on Honoka for a pin, but the Australian doesn't seem invested in groundfighting either. When the pink-haired fighter goes for the escape, Hayley plants her hand and turns on it to get upgrihgt again. They separate only briefly, then the battle resumes anew.

Honoka's diving kick impacts with Hayley's cross-guard as the bluenette brings up both arms to intercept. When they connect, Hayley has to balance Honoka on her arms for a moment to keep from going down, but she manages, just barely, to hold her until Honoka breaks off--or starts to.

Grabbing at her leg, Hayley tries to take hold and flip Honoka off-balance, practically swinging to try and combine her strength with gravity to toss the other girl to the ground!

"You're really good!" Hayley slips in the compliment between heavy breaths.

COMBATSYS: Hayley successfully hits Honoka Inoue with Fast Throw.

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Hayley           1/----===/=======|=======\===----\1     Honoka Inoue

[HONOKA INOUE]
Honoka finds her descent arrested by slamming into Hayley's arms. It's a strain for Hayley to hold her up for even a few moments - Honoka came down pretty hard - but she still manages it for the few instants before Honoka can gather up herself and hop off.

Or that's the idea, anyway.

What actually happens is that, as her feet start to leave Hayley's arm, Hayley manages to snap one hand around her ankle. Honoka lets out a little 'yeep' of surprise as Hayley manhandles (womanhandles?) her, swinging her around once before tossing her aside.

Honoka manages to land on her feet, but just barely. She skids along the path as she hits the ground again, nearly stumbling but catching herself at the last moment, kicking up a cloud of dust. "Ah! - Nice one! But I'm not out yet!" She tenses her lower body, bracing against the skid - And then, suddenly, Honoka leaps forward, right at Hayley!

Chest-first.

Honoka doesn't brake before impact; she simply slams into Hayley, arcing her back slightly and using her upper torso like a battering ram to press through her defenses and simply slam right into Hayley, possibly even bowling her over!

COMBATSYS: Hayley blocks Honoka Inoue's Bear Crash.

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Hayley           1/--=====/=======|==-----\-------\0     Honoka Inoue

[HAYLEY]
Here Hayley expects a great number of things. Perhaps it'll be a straight punch, or maybe a kick. It could be that Honoka is going to headbutt her. All of these seem like viable tactics in that moment as Honoka closes the gap between them. What Hayley gets instead she did not expect at all, unorthodox as her own fighting style may be at times.

Hayley pulls her arms in close, pressing against the deceptive mass thrown at her despite Honoka's relatively unassuming height. It doesn't quite knock her over, but it does hit her forcefully enough to push her through the dust before she comes to a stop.

"Uh, wow!" Hayley says, "I wasn't expecting that one!"

Hayley slides her feet farther apart, assuming a piguaquan like stance with her arms extended away from her. From it, she steps forward, lashing out at Honoka with one, two, three whipping, sweeping strikes like the one before. From them, she tries to grab on and to pull Honoka into range of a a series of snap kicks toward an exposed side. Finally, Hayley draws back, gathering chi to thrust forward with another double-palm strike like before.

COMBATSYS: Hayley successfully hits Honoka Inoue with Magpie Swooping Season ES.

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Hayley           0/-------/-======|=======\-------\1     Honoka Inoue

[HONOKA INOUE]
Honoka had been about to follow up her original strike, if it can be called a strike, with another; perhaps an overhand strike, judging by the way she comes down from the landing, back still arched slightly but swinging forward and down as she starts to chop, redirecting her upper-body momentum downward - and not just her arm.

But she doesn't get very far before Hayley lashes out at her. "Aah!" Having unbalanced herself by her own momentum, Hayley's first blows jar her out of her assault, and she's a relatively easy target to be pulled forward, stumbling until she regains control of her movement.

She is slammed backwards by the chi blow, wavering for a moment - but she doesn't want to give up. She *can't* give up yet. Her soul burns with the desire to fight; her fist, too, begins to glow, a deep red that looks almost black around the edges (though how can anything glow black?)

Honoka clenches her gloved fist so hard it trembles, and the energy fades. Only for a moment, though - it's less faded and more compressed inward, as when she drives her fist forward in a powerful punch, there is a veritable *explosion* of deep scarlet chi - an explosion that blasts Honoka away, sending her flying backwards trailing energy like a small comet, if Honoka manages a solid connection. "Aaaah!"

COMBATSYS: Hayley blocks Honoka Inoue's Annihilation Stance.

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Hayley           1/-------/=======|=------\-------\0     Honoka Inoue

[HAYLEY]
Backstepping, Hayley resumes her defensive stance, drawing her fists up and close to her chest, one slightly before the other. There's a brief reprieve before Honoka is bearing down on her again, but that sinister glow of energy does not bode well.

Hayley's own arms glow with a faint blue-white as she brings up her guard, overlapping her forearms to take the supercharged bunch head on. Even through the block Hayley shudders, staggering backward and shaking the numbness from her arms.

"Wow!" Hayley says, "What was that? Was it some kind of special technique?"

Still shaking her arms, Hayley steps forward, planting one of her boots heavily on the ground. She snaps around with her other leg, kicking forward in a short, swift Taekwondo style kick right out toward Honoka while she recovers!

COMBATSYS: Honoka Inoue fails to counter Medium Kick from Hayley with Rolling Press.

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

COMBATSYS: Honoka Inoue can no longer fight.

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Hayley           1/-----==/=======|

[HONOKA INOUE]
"...yes? I mean, yes!"

Honoka doesn't know how to answer the question at first, but she realizes pretty quickly that it gives her a very easy out to actually giving the full, true answer (which is, essentially, that she doesn't know, it just happens sometimes). She covers it up: "What about your style? I don't recognize all of it! I saw the bajiquan..."

Honoka sees the kick coming and reacts quickly, without thinking; she's got it down to a reflex (or, more accurately, it was never anything *but* a reflex with her). She fully intends to yank that leg out of line, flip forward, and take Hayley down to the ground again.

But she misjudges. The kick is faster than she expects, and her hands go high; Hayley's foot snaps into the side of Honoka's leg, and Honoka stumbles, and then falls forward, landing on her front before bouncing up and flopping onto her back, dazed from the impact. You can practically see the stars in her eyes.

She'll be fine in a couple minutes (well, 'fine'; bruised but less dazed) but, at the moment, she's in no condition to keep fighting!

[HAYLEY]
Hayley seems a bit confused by the response. In any case, she can't focus on it for the exchange of blows that occurs in the next few seconds. Her foot impacts, Honoka's timing slightly off, and the pink-haired girl goes down.

"Oh, there's some baji, but also pigua, and a little--oh, are you okay?" Hayley moves, shifting a bit cautiously in case Honoka is, in fact, okay, and ready to spring back into a counterattack.

[HONOKA INOUE]
Honoka gives a very slow thumbs-up from where she lies on her back, breathing hard.

She does not, however, actually get up at any point.

Log created on 19:15:27 07/04/2020 by Honoka Inoue, and last modified on 13:42:30 07/06/2020.