Match of the Millennium

Description: A finnish Bear-Wrestler and the Young Messenger, face off in the streets of Canne to the dismay of one very distraught Café owner!

[TARMO]
This close to the Mediterranean, the effects of winter aren't anywhere near as strong. Sure, some people may consider it chilly enough to warrant a heavier jacket -- but still, there's no sight of snow, the sun shines bright, and many tourists are even seen moving around in t-shirts.

What is slightly more unusual, though, is seeing someone wearing a heavy, fur-lined field jacket... and apparently nothing else underneath it. Surely one would be able to avoid feeling hot without resorting to exposing a bare chest by wearing a lighter jacket in the first place, but apparently no one seems terribly willing to point that out to the enormous Finn settled by one of the street-side cafes, sipping on a glass of wine.

Tarmo's nose wrinkles visibly after that experimentary sip of the red liquid, considering the liquid there in the glass that seems small in his large hand. After a few moments of consideration, he looks to a waiter, and asks, "Do you have anything stronger?"

"S-sir," the waiter says, visibly on the concerned side. "That is the most alcoholic wine we have on the menu."

"Oh." Tarmo seems visibly disappointed. "...Then, do you have jägermeister?"

"...Sir, we're not that kind of restaurant."

"....Oh..."

[TSINGHUA]
A young boy, walking alone on the nightly streets of Canne. Holding a little note in his on which is a hastily written set of directions for his Neo-League match.

"Rue Louis Blanc." he mutters, looking for the street amongst the many alleys and cute cafe's alongside the streets. Unfortunately, he gets lost on the way. Arriving around 20 minutes late to the designated spot, as he sees the cameramen wait impatiently for his arrival. Bowing deeply, he apologizes to the staff profusely- looking around to see his opponent stationed comfortably on a nearby cafe terace. He hurridly approaches the bearded Fin, with a nervous jog, before going down in a similairly deep bow as before. "I am terribly sorry about my late arrival, mr. Karmala. I ask you to forgive me for my impudence. My name is Tao Tsinghua, a pleasure."

[TARMO]
"Huh, wha?" The Finn's eyes snap up towards the sudden voice appearing besides him -- leaving him staring with visible bemusement at the deeply-bowing chinese boy. "...Huh..." He lets out in a breath, before reaching his large hand out... and giving a tap to her shoulder. "You're okay, you're okay, it's not like we're in a hurry anywhere, you know?"

The Neo League staff may disagree with that.

And right after, he reaches to grab the wine bottle (yes, he ordered a whole bottle!) from the table, and... holds it out towards the yougn man. "Wine? It's a good year, I'm told."

[TSINGHUA]
Tsinghua holds both palms in front of him, denying the offer. "No, no. Thank you kindly for the offer, Mr. Karmala. But I am not allowed to drink yet, you see." The boy glances back towards the staff, impatiently waiting for the pair to start the brawl. "Uhm, the camera-people want us to start, sir. It would be a little rude to make them wait." He leans a little closer, now whispering. "Though truth be told, I'm not much looking forwards to this. You look very strong." Indeed, the envoy is obviously nervous for the match. His bouts with other large, muscled men lately have mostly ended in failure for poor Tsing. "But I do not have a choice in the matter, I'm afraid. Master's orders." the boy looks a little downtrodden for a moment, before he turns around and walks to his starting position.

COMBATSYS: Tsinghua has started a fight here on the left meter side.

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

[TARMO]
"No?" Tarmo looks mildly disappointed by the refusal of the offer -- but he's not going to be so brash as to try to push it on the boy regardless. "Eh... Guess it is what it is." The Finn quickly downs the rest of the wine in the glass in front of him, before he pushes himself up to standing... and standing at nearly two feet over Tsinghua, at that.

"No choice, huh?" Tarmo repeats, with a curious arch of his brow while he follows the chinese boy towards the space cleared for the two of them, rounding past him to get to the opposing end. "I personally think you shouldn't do too many things you don't like... ain't a healthy thing, you know? But if you do gotta do something no matter what anyway..." He spins to turn towards him, with a light bounce on his feet. "Try to make fun of it, eh? It's gonna be a learning experience, you know! I'll get you something to eat after this is all said and done no matter which way it goes, alright?"

COMBATSYS: Tarmo has joined the fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Tsinghua         0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0            Tarmo

[TSINGHUA]
"I appericiate the concern, and.." he seems to consider the offer, thinking about his schedule. "And that sounds nice, sir. I look forward to it." With those Tsinghua takes his walking stick, flourishing it like a fencer before raising the mahogany shaft next to his head, it's silver top pointing to Tarmo. He raises up one knee, and balances while his second arm is stuck out in front of him with an open palm. Observing the man's mannerisms to more efficiently target weak spots.

COMBATSYS: Tsinghua calculates his next move.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Tsinghua         0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0            Tarmo

[TARMO]
"That's better, that's way better!" Tarmo declares with a laugh, taking a few seconds stretch his arms up and to the sides, body leaning along with them. "Always going forward, right?" And with the final stretch, he leans his body forward slightly, knees bending and all. "So let's make it a good run!" ANd with that, he launches himself forward -- in wild sprint that sends the enormous man barreling straight towards Tsinghua, shoulder-first!

COMBATSYS: Tsinghua blocks Tarmo's Rynnakko.

[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Tsinghua         0/-------/=======|-------\-------\0            Tarmo

[TSINGHUA]
The boy partially twists out of the way, the shoulder ending up as a grazing hit past his own shoulder. He grunts in pain, before retaliating- He tries to take a hold of Tarmo's arm while he rushes by, before twisting it- pulling him closer and striking him in the stomach with his palm.
"I personally prefer to take a good look backwards before heading forwards, sir."

COMBATSYS: Tsinghua successfully hits Tarmo with Shou Tui.

[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Tsinghua         0/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0            Tarmo

[TARMO]
"Ooof!" The large finn grunts out with the collision of a palm against his stomach, actually doubling over slightly... only to end up flashing a wide grin down at Tsinghua himself. "Hey, hey, that's pretty good already! See, it ain't so bad!" He laughs out with the statement that's *much* too cheerful for someone who just got smacked in the gut. And even as that roarous rumble echoes out, he's leaning right back into motion to chase after Tsinghua-- large hand grasping at his shoulder, so that the larger, bearded man might continue pushing him back -- and towards a street-side rail fence!

COMBATSYS: Tsinghua auto-guards Tarmo's Strong Throw.

[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Tsinghua         0/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0            Tarmo

[TSINGHUA]
The boy intercepts the bear-wrestlers arm, pushing it to the side to disrupt his balance, before turning partially around to swiftly push his shoulder into Tarmo's chest, sending him stumbling backwards. After his well-timed reversal, he thrusts out the cane upwards as he crouches down, other arm outstretched away from the Fin in a low, evasive stance.

COMBATSYS: Tarmo blocks Tsinghua's Quick Strike.

[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////    ]
Tsinghua         1/------=/=======|===----\-------\0            Tarmo

[TARMO]
"Whoop!" Tarmo's large body is actually sent out stumbling with the twisting reversal of his own grab, bouncing along briefly on one foot in a somewhat comedic of a manner before he manages to bring himself facing the boy once more over -- just in time to strike his forearm against the incoming cane, thwapping against the thick, sleeve-covered limb with a blunt *thwap!* of a sound. "And here you were worried!"

With a grin accompanying those words, he quickly moves on in after him; this time turning to hoist his foot up and aiming it back down to stomp at one of the chinese boy's feet.

COMBATSYS: Tsinghua endures Tarmo's Light Kick.

[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////    ]
Tsinghua         1/------=/=======|====---\-------\0            Tarmo

[TSINGHUA]
Tsinghua turns around while still in his low position as he sticks out his other leg underneath Tarmo's stomp- buying time "Ah!" as he grabs a small pebble from the streets, before throwing it above him and subsequently jumping after it so that it's between him and the wrestler- the object now frozen in-mid air, and imbued with Chi as spectral roots grow out of it's surface. The boy erupts in a flurry of bicycle-kicks on the pebble, building up kinetic force on the object before releasing it towards Tarmo with a final, overhead slam of his cane. At near point- blank range and blinding speed it bullets towards the man, threatening to pierce into his torso!

COMBATSYS: Tsinghua successfully hits Tarmo with Dong Gen (Hu Qi).

[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////           ]
Tsinghua         0/-------/----===|=======\=------\1            Tarmo

[TARMO]
"Sorry!" Tarmo actually offers back over to Tsing after that stomp to the foot, as if though he had simply stepped on his toes by accident while walking down the street rather than... you know, him being actively in a fight with him. He has the sense, then, to jump back away from the other man before the coutner-attack comes--

Except, he did not quite expect the display that follows. "...Hey, hey, what the hell is that?" He asks with a confused series of blinks sent at the pebble brought up to be kicked...

And of course the answer he gets is a painful one. He doesn't even see it coming. The magically-charged bullet slams right in the center of his bared chest -- and while it doesn't, thankfully, pierce through him, it does send his massive body knocked back away. Smashing right into the terrace of the cafe he was just drinking at, crushing pieces of furniture and sending even more flying in the wake of him.

"Arrrghhh...." The man's voice groans out at the end of it all, while he's still laid down on his back. Head spinning even while he forces himself up to one knee with a growl of "Perkele..."

Once the Finn is back on his feet, he fixes his narrowed eyes on the chinese boy once more -- and sets off into a run. Arms held up in front of him, bull-charging through the terrace and, to the dismay of the cafe owners, knocking and destroying more of the furniture on his path to Tsinghuan. All the way up until he suddenly leaps up into the air, with arms outstretched to grab at the boy's shoulders. Apparently he's intending to slam him down onto the groudn with his own weight!

COMBATSYS: Tsinghua dodges Tarmo's Rynnakko-Hyppy.

[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Tsinghua         0/-------/----===|=======\-------\1            Tarmo

[TSINGHUA]
"Oh- I- I'm sorry!" said both to Tarmo and the distressed butler that was watching, looking heartbroken towards the shattered furniture. Tsinghua did not expect his attack to be so effective- but the messenger doesn't get time to celebrate as the Finn grasps for his shoulders. But the boy manages to react fast enough to roll away-and under the wrestler, leaving him to hit the ground without a boy to crush. He turns right around, swiping his cane alongside the twisting motion diagionally upwards towards the landing Tarmo- Aiming to hit him in the back.

COMBATSYS: Tarmo fails to interrupt Random Strike from Tsinghua with Moukari-Isku.

[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////                ]
Tsinghua         0/-------/--=====|=======\=------\1            Tarmo

[TARMO]
For being as large and heavy as he is, the Finn's quick to roll himself to a knee and back up. Right to facing Tsinghua, with his arms reaching out to grab at him. "Haha! I got you no-"

And his words get cut off by a cane socking him right in the face. If he hadn't turned so quickly to face his opponent he might have gotten just hit in the back and taken a somewhat less painful hit like that. Instead... well. "ARGH! PERKELE!" Groans the Finn, stumbling back with his hands grasping at his face from the sudden sting of cane-to-face.

[TSINGHUA]
"Are you- are you alright?" Very much contrary to the nature of a fight, Tsinghua worriedly stops to ask. Perhaps unintentionally humiliating depending on Tarmo's attitude. He takes a step back, giving the Fin an opportunity to recover. He however still does carefully watch the larger man's motions- his analytical mind looking for patterns to use against his opponent.

COMBATSYS: Tsinghua calculates his next move.

[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////                ]
Tsinghua         0/-------/--=====|=======\=------\1            Tarmo

[TARMO]
"Ahm'kay!" Tarmo's voice muffles past one of his hands, while the other... gives a thumb-up. For a guy that just got whacked straight in the face and *clearly* hurting, he's taking this whole fight thing surprisingly well, all things considered.

And so, the massive finn brings himself up to his full height all over again, to charge at the chinese boy. "You're doin' good, kid!" He calls to him, as if meaning to be encouraging(???)... even as his charge guides him to smack his body into him, to bowl him down and over onto the floor with his sheer mass alone.

COMBATSYS: Tsinghua blocks Tarmo's Medium Throw.

[          \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////                ]
Tsinghua         0/-------/--=====|=======\==-----\1            Tarmo

[TSINGHUA]
"Thank you." he respond earnestly, as he turns his side towards the charging finn. His cane braced in a sturdy guard supported with both hands- the larger body smashes into him, but is held off by the sturdy wood, only putting strain on Tsinghua's arms. Right away, he spins backwards, before throwing the staff towards Tarmo. It *freezes*, while the boy uses the suspended cane as a stepping-stone to leap over and behind Tarmo, crouching down while wrapping his hand around his other wrist, supporting his arm as he thrusts his elbow towards the wrestler- at the same time as breaking the effect on his cane, leaving it to spin towards the man as it threathens to /bop/ him on the head. A strike coming from two directions, and difficult to fully defend against.

COMBATSYS: Tsinghua successfully hits Tarmo with Yanchi Gun.

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////                  ]
Tsinghua         0/-------/=======|=======\===----\1            Tarmo

[TARMO]
"Eh?" Tarmo's visibly caught off-guard by what he might well be calling weird magic nonsense in his head. The man certainly didn't expect the much smaller boy to be leaping over *him*. He turns right along with him regardless, swinging his fist along with him. "Nice try!" He calls out in the middle of the turn--

Right before the cane smacks agains the back of his head.

"Bragh?! Wh-?!" His shocked question never comes out in full before Tsinghua's elbow proper slams into him. Wedged in between the dual-pronged attack, the giant stumbles momentarily in place.

"Guh-- you're..." The finn grumbles, almost seeming sour for a second... but in an instant, as his large hand thrusts out to grab at Tsinghua by, of all things, *his face*, a wild grin overtakes his expression instead. "You're really pumping me up!!!" THe growl comes, while he pushes himself in, to make for slamming the boy down to the ground by that hold on his head...

COMBATSYS: Tarmo knocks away Tsinghua with Hakkaa Paalle.

[                       \\\\\\\  < >  ///////////                   ]
Tsinghua         0/-------/=======|-------\-------\0            Tarmo

And down Tarmo brings Tsinghua -- all the way down until the back of the poor boy's head smacks into the curb of the street. But that incredibly tight grip around his head still persists, and the Finn hoists him up high again, just to smash him right down again. And up again -- this time, over his own head, swinging him around like a ragdoll and smashing his lower body into the street once, twice, before his grip releases to bounce him up into the air.

And as if that wasn't enough already, the Finn stomps forward, winding a fist behind himself and swinging it to slam a vicious punch right into the flying Tsing with enough force to launch him back through the air.

If he ends up flying into the porch of the cafe again, the owner is probably going to end up having a fit with the Neo League staff. Hope he has insurance, huh?

[TSINGHUA]
Tsinghua Might be nimble, but he is far from fragile. As the boy fails to protect himself, he gets tossed, whipped and smashed around like there's no tomorrow. Accompanied with a persisting "Wha-haaa.." he gets flung through a window, shattering with a loud *crash* And yes, it's the window of that exact same cafe again. The owner looking wide-eyed in shock as he starts to throw a fit.

"Owowowow." The boy tries to get up, but stumbles once as he whines in pain. Thankfully the shards of glass haven't pierced through his clothes and skin. After a delay, he finally manages to get on both legs. His cane is lost, but he starts to conjure up a new attack despite that. Entering a meditative position with palms put together. Channeling his Chi as a sphere of green, opaque roots surround. Rapidly growing and expanding, before all of that energy condenses itself in front of him. The sphere shrinking until it fits in the palm of his hand- right before he thrusts his hand out to launch the projectile towards Tarmo!

COMBATSYS: Tsinghua successfully hits Tarmo with Dong Gen (Xiru).

[                       \\\\\\\  < >  //////                        ]
Tsinghua         0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0            Tarmo

[TARMO]
"Heeheehee..." The Finn laughs in between coughs of pain on his own part. And possibly much to the cafe owner's dismay, he's stomping right towards Tsinghua now, through all that already-shattered furniture scattered around on the porch. "You've got a lot of 'sisu', kid... Most people go out after that."

It's not entirely clear if the jostling he got to his own head is resulting in him being less attentive now, or if he's just being too bold in spite of potentially seeing the channeling of chi. Whichever it is-- it costs him dearly.

Costs him in the form of him being left completely open when the ball of energy flies out through the window. He has just enough time to snap his eyes down to see it coming and mutter "Mitä vi-" before it collides with his broad chest.

"ARGH!!"

He doesn't quite get sent knocking over or flying back this time around -- but his feet do skid backwards along the ground, and after the orb dissipates, he does actually wobble backwards, as if he's about to simply slump over...

"RRRH!" Only for him to stomp his foot onto the ground to force his weight back forward -- and charge in towards the window. It's very possible that he's only keeping himself from falling over by keeping himself *moving*. ALl the way through the window, and right for Tsinghua -- both arms folded in front of him for both shielding, and to try to catch into the boy so he can push him up and over himself, send him flying through the air as he more or less comes bowling into him.

Though even if he manages that, his continued charge comes to an end, regardless, with him tripping over something and falling into the front counter of the cafe, smashing it into a million or so pieces under his limp, unconscious weight.

COMBATSYS: Tarmo can no longer fight.

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

COMBATSYS: Tsinghua dodges Tarmo's Improvised Throw.

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

[TSINGHUA]
Surprisingly, the Finn still barrels towards him after that. Before he gets to collide with the smaller boy, the messenger manages to dive out of the attack's trajectory. He hears a loud noise before looking back and now seeing the man collapsed on top of the shattered counter.

"I... won?" He exclaims, with surprise. Looking around to see the cameramen filming them through the shattered window while a distraught frenchmen sobs in the corner at the ruination of his Café. Tsinghua only now notices the sheer destruction after the adrenaline-filled fight, and he stumbles over to the owner in a deep bow. "I am so, so sorry about your establishment, sir. I will talk with my masters to see if we could reimburse you." the pompous frenchman nods, but angrily stompts towards Neo-League staff to start yelling at them. Meanwhile, the boy moves over to Tarmo's position. Crouching down next to him as he takes a look at the man's injuries. Nodding as he confirms that there is nothing major, and subsequently sitting cross-legged next to him, waiting for him to come by as he takes a small book out of a inner chest-pocket in his hanfu. Opening it halfway through as he starts to read.

COMBATSYS: Tsinghua has ended the fight here.

Log created on 18:10:18 02/24/2021 by Tsinghua, and last modified on 13:43:45 02/25/2021.