Match of the Millennium

Description: In the semi-final round of Neo-League Season 6, Olivia Ribeiro and Katashi Tairyu, having respectively beaten Aranha and Kongou in the quarterfinals, face off in a steamy showdown in a Japanese bathhouse.

[OLIVIA]
==*== BEFORE THE MATCH ==*==

The linoleum acoustics of the tiled walls put the 'public' in public bathroom. Despite the visual privacy of a locked stall, there is no hiding the sound of retching, nor the horrible noises to follow. Fortunately, there is no one around to bear witness to the wholesale clearance of Olivia Ribeiro's stomach but you, dear reader.

After a couple of minutes, the toilet flushes, and the flushed brunette emerges in her coutume du jour, breathing heavily. She makes her way to the sink and washes her face with her hands.

Still breathing hard, Olivia lifts her hazel-brown eyes to the mirror. As the redness fades in her features, her normally warm beige skin appears slightly pale, the natural darkness under her eyes deepened. Reaching into a handbag sat by the sink, she takes out a bottle of pills, rattles two out into her hand, and pops the pair before swallowing them. She washes the bit of green out of the sink, then fixes her makeup with a few light touches.

Finally, she steps back from the sink, closes her eyes, and stretches her wing-clad arms out to either side, taking a deep breath...

...then, starting with a twitch of her hips, she starts to dance the Macarena.

The door is suddenly struck with a series of knocks before bursting open.

"On in five!" a Neo-League flunkie shouts as Olivia lets out a cry of self-conscious surprise.

"Obrigada!" she calls with a nervous laugh as the Neo-League employee disappears.

==*== ALSO BEFORE THE MATCH ==*==

[TAIRYU]
Thankfully the trip for the other fighter in the match was a significantly shorter one from the quarterfinals round. Still, there's likely plenty cussing out involved of the organizers over making the fighters basically jump all over the globe even for these bouts. And with so little time in between them, too!

The trip from Sydney didn't at least take that long, under the hurrying of the organizers, and Tairyu at least is welcoming the much more familiar setting of Japan once again.

Though he isnt entirely jazzed about the venue he's been brought to for the fight now. The sumo ring set up in the male's side of the bath house is convenient, sure, but with the baths surrounding it still running... the air's rather uncomfortably hot and humid. The kind that doesn't go well with a lot of clothes. Including Tairyu's trademark enssemble.

As a concession, the businessman(?) has already rid himself of his jacket... though while he's waiting on the stage, he's coming to the conclusion that he really does need to work open even more buttons on his red shirt than typical.

"Of all the things..." he mutters underneath his breath, giving one of the cameramen a bit of a stinkeye while he pops open another button and lets the shirt be tugged further open -- enough that some inking becomes visible along the fronts of his shoulders. It's not as easy to make out from afar with the shirt still more or less partly concealing them, but a sharp eye may make out the intricate inkwork of spiraling flames over background work of equally intricate, geometric shapes of grey and brown.

[OLIVIA]
The trip from Sydney isn't too long, but the trip from Stonehenge, on the other hand, is a doozy. Especially when you're suffering from a severe, ongoing allergic reaction to your own chi! Fortunately, it's nothing that a Coca-Cola or five can't sort out...!

As Tairyu, the Neo-League officials, and the fans at home await the arrival of his opponent, a soothing bossa nova starts playing over the sound system, and from the steamy bathing area emerges the sultry silhouette of a young woman with a bird head on their crown and wings attached to her arms - the signature and by-now-expected aesthetic of Tairyu's opponent-to-be. When she steps out of the steam and into view of the cameras (and Tairyu), though, it becomes apparent that she's taken on a slightly different aesthetic from her typical carnaval fare.

Atop her head, where one might normally expect to see a feathered headdress with a festive bird's face in front, today, she's wearing a headpiece of rubber - yellow rubber, with an orange bill and cartoon eyes. On her body, she wears a matching yellow bikini with a faux-rubber aesthetic in place of what would normally be a feathered top and skirt, and instead of sandals, she wears a pair of orange high-heel boots that manage to somehow straddle the paradox of 'sexy wellies' remarkably well. The rubbery yellow wings strapped to her wrists look as though they could double as flotation devices in an emergency.

"Ola!" Olivia calls out with a dip of her knees, raising a hand (and attached wing) in greeting. She appears in her usual good spirits, smiling brightly as she struts out into the tiled sumo ring. Hot and humid, it would appear, are Olivia's natural element; if anything, she appears invigorated, on top of being dressed for the occasion.

"Oh... do you need time to change into your bathing suit, Senhor Katashi?" she asks, tilting her head and putting the tip of her wings up to her lips as she takes her place at the end of the sumo ring and lifts up onto her right leg, bending her left at the knee - a stance made slightly more ridiculous in rubber boots rather than sandals, but one she appears confident in.

[TAIRYU]
"Uh."

Tairyu finds himself staring at the woman appearing through the faint haze of the steam. Or more accurately, at the headpiece the woman is wearing.

It's... a rubber duck? Good heavens. Apparently this is enough to let Tairyu's typical show of stoicism fade away, too, just enough for his lower jaw to slacken and bring his mouth hanging open-wards.

"Huh?" The question regartding a bathing suit yanks the japanese man right out from the momentarily-stunned state, and he shakes his head. "N-.. no, it's fine," he insists, even while he works open the last button of his shirt, and tugs the bottom of it out from underneath his slacks, to let it hang loosely along his sides to frame his shockingly well-cut ripples of his abs and pectorals. Yes, it's still hot, but--

"I didn't come here for a bath, unfortunately."

The man's feet scuff along the floor left slightly slippery from the humidity in the air, and his hands curl up into fists, presuming the unorthodox upright stance while one fist points downwards to the opposing foot and the other is held upwards at chin-level.

"That outfit won't be getting in the way either, I would hope, Ribeiro-san."

COMBATSYS: Tairyu has started a fight here.

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

[OLIVIA]
With Tairyu's response to her question given, Olivia herself seems to take a moment, eyes lingering on the legitimate businessman's abs as he undoes the bottom=most button. It's pretty steamy in here, after all, isn't it? Not that a teenage girl would be distracted by that kind of thing! She raises a wing subconsciously to fan herself before quickly stopping and tucking her wings back as she realises that the focus has shifted back to her.

"Eh? Do you think it would get in the way?" she asks, looking down at herself as her winged arms fold behind her back. It's hard to tell if she's being coy or genuinely shy - she hasn't seemed to be especially shy in her previous matches, after all.

"Quero dizer - claro que nao!"
(Subtitles: 'I mean - of course not!)

Putting a determined look on her face, Olivia lifts her rubber ducky wings to either side of her, elevating her left knee and shifting so that the side of her shapely left leg is facing toward the enterpreneurial Japanese gentleman.

"Don't worry, nada will get in the way - except me, getting in your way! Of winning the tournament, that is!"

There's something slightly off about the way that the Brazilian battle-bird is carrying herself, to those who may have seen her in action previously. After all, she hasn't mentioned coupons or Restaurante Ribeiro once. It could just be the heat, of course - that might explain the slight flush in her face.

"Pronto! Come at me, meu rei!" Olivia invites Tairyu with as fierce an expression as a rubber ducky girl can muster, giving a shake of her tailfeather (though a literal version of such is absent from her present costume) before beckoning with one wing.

COMBATSYS: Olivia has joined the fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Olivia           0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0           Tairyu

[TAIRYU]
Either the Legitimate Businessman is perfectly fine with more or less getting checked out, or... he's utterly oblivious to such a thing. There's no reaction over it, at least!

And though Tairyu may not be entirely familiar with Olivia, herself, he does seem to catch on to something being... off, regardless. By the time she's settled into her stance, his brow's cocking upwards slightly while he considers the woman in... a rubber ducky suit.

Something he has to make a mental double-take over all over again.

"Very well," Tairyu's voice rumbles, inevitably, and one foot winds back subtly while strength coils up within his legs. "Then-- Be ready to meet me with your dying might!"

The coiled-up foot launches him into motion, practically sliding across the slippery stage as far as the naked eye is concerned -- and with his body lowered down to the point where his wound-up fist almost seems to reach the floor itself before he bounces up again, to drive a vicious, rising uppercut for the bird-lady's chin!

COMBATSYS: Tairyu successfully hits Olivia with Rising Claw.
- Power hit! -

[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Olivia           0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0           Tairyu

[OLIVIA]
The speed with which Tairyu slides across the floor toward her seems astonishing to Olivia. Her heart pounds faster as his rush opens up the match. What is this feeling? Is it the thrill of adrenalin pumping through her veins, harder than usual? Is it the sultry heat of the bathhouse? A sudden awareness of how exposed she feels without her usual feathered frills to protect her modesty?

Is it the sixth can of Coca-Cola she downed in the timeskip between the earlier bathroom segment and her arrival in the sumo ring?

Still, Olivia knows what to do in this situation - this isn't her first time fighting in the men's side of a bathhouse, after all.

Actually, it is, isn't it?

The gravitas of the whole situation hits Olivia at just about the same time that she's about to snap her wing up to catch the rising punch being drilled toward her reddening face, and as it slips past her guard, it manages to catch her full force right on the chin.

"Ai!"

The bathtub bird-themed battle-babe is launched right up into the ceiling, the rubber duck head on top of her crown cushioning her head as it impacts, but still drawing a hard flinch before she drops back down to the ground, backside impacting hard on the wet tile.

"Nossa," she groans, her right hand rubbing her jaw as her left props her up into a seated position. The squashed rubber duck hat regains its rounded shape with a puckering *POP* sound.

Shaking her head to disperse the imaginary flock of rubber ducklings circling around it, Olivia kips back up to her feet, flapping her wings a couple of times to keep her balance on the slightly slippery surface of the floor as she resumes her one-legged crane stance.

"Belleza! Voce e muito forte!"
(Subtitles: 'Cool! You're pretty strong!')

The Brazilian bird-girl seems to sway forward, but it becomes apparent as she does that it's not clumsiness, but an attack; she launches forward with a rising kick with her elevated foot toward Tairyu's chest.

"Combo numero sete!" she calls out as she spins forward, following up with a low back kick with the rubbery heel of her right boot aimed at Tairyu's shin, continuing immediately with a back-fist (or back-wing?) strike aimed at Tairyu's midsection. Finishing the three-sixty spin, she swings her left boot up, extending her bare leg provocatively high as she aims a toe kick at Tairyu's own chin in retaliation for the punishment hers received seconds before.

Holding the pose as she delivers the final kick, she brings her left wing up in a mock-salute, shouting giddily, "Extra Spicy!" before turning her eyes to the nearest camera and winking, smiling in spite of the bruise forming on her jawline.

COMBATSYS: Tairyu counters Combo #7 - Golpes de Pe e Pulso ES from Olivia with Dragon's Tail.

[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Olivia           1/----===/=======|=====--\-------\0           Tairyu

[TAIRYU]
For as much momentum as there was in the powerful uppercut, Tairyu's surprisingly quick to snap himself right back the instant after his knuckles connect with Olivia's chin.

Of course, his efforts at regaining his posture and distance to his opponent *is* helped by the fact that she's launched right into the air by the hit.

While she's recovering, he does have to take a second or so to wipe his hand along his brow. Damn. The humidity's bringing the perspiration out much more easily, too, and the muscular businessman's skin is starting to glisten at his brow, and over his firm chest and rippling abs--

Ahem.

None of it seems to get to him enough to take his focus away from the brazilian teenager in her ridicilous uniform, however. She'll find out the hard way, no less, when she comes in with that initial rising kick--

And Tairyu's immediately stepping aside, with one hand slamming into the girl's thigh and tugging on to not just deflect the kick, but to pull her right past him. THe sidestep continues with a spinning turn, timed with the forced stumble of hers past him to carry a wide, spinning kick that winds up smacking right into her back.

"Hnnh--!"

...And the instant his leg does collide with her, the fabric of his pants leg along that invading shin suddenly *burns off* in a burst of bright red chi. Such it is that the edge of the left-over sleeve at his knee still visibly holds a bit of embers to it when he sweeps back away from the kick and slides a few paces away from his opponent, hissing in a brief fit of pain past grit-together teeth.

[OLIVIA]
With Tairyu distracted by the Brazilian teenager in the ridiculous uniform, Olivia hopes to get her shot in -

Oh, wait, that Brazilian teenager is Olivia.

'Combo numero - ai!!'

The Extra Spicy Thighs combo turns out to be largely a matter of Olivia's head-canon as it's interrupted by Tairyu's hand tugging on her thigh before she can reveal the Extra Spicy flavour. Instead, it's Tairyu's leg packing the heat, leaving a sizzling mark on the back of Olivia's bikini top as the punishing counter-kick drives her down to her knees.

The plucky duck's face pulls into a pained expression as she seems to struggle already to bring herself back to her feet. Or, well, foot. With a high-pitched grunt of effort, she forces her body back upright, perching on her right foot as she swivels around to face Tairyu. The pained expression fades into a determined one as she focuses in on her Neo-League rival, wings held low behind her in a manner that resembles those of an actual duck.

At this rate, it could be a short match. And with that in mind, there's only one thing that Olivia can - no, /must/ - do.

Suddenly, she's smiling brightly - and strangely, an upbeat samba starts to play from somewhere in the bathhouse. Olivia's hips sway back and forth as she begins to shimmy and dance to the music.

"Muito quente!!!"
(Subtitles: Very hot!)

"Just like the Tuesday Night Special at Restaurante Ribeiro right now!"

Olivia seems to hesitate for a moment, stalling with another smile for the camera, wings outstretched at her sides -

"Half price casquinha de siri!"
(Subtitles: 'Stuffed Blue Crab Shells')

==*== RESTAURANTE RIBEIRO, SALVADOR DE BAHIA, BRAZIL, 12 TIME ZONES EARLIER ==*==

The morning sun filters into the restaurant as a middle-aged man in a moustache leans against the bar and watches the ongoing fight on a cheap, old television hanging in the corner.

"Adriana!" the man shouts to the open kitchen door in the back with a vaguely irritated expression, before adding in Brazilian Portuguese: "(We need to order a batch of blue crabs, immediately!)"

==*== JAPANESE BATHHOUSE, NEO-LEAGUE SEMIFINALS ==*==

"Aaand..."

Olivia adds as she spins on both feet, coming out of the twirl with her stance swapped so that her right leg is raised tantalizingly, tilting her head back, crossing her arms behind it and fluttering her eyelashes coyly (definitely coyly this time) at the camera. As it zooms in on her face and the music builds to a dramatic percussion crescendo before stopping, she pauses for a moment before saying:

"Lobster tails stuffed with mushrooms and shrimp with mornay sauce!"

==*== RESTAURANTE RIBEIRO, SALVADOR DE BAHIA, BRAZIL, 12 TIME ZONES EARLIER ==*==

"(...and lobster, and mushrooms,)" Joao calls back, slumping against the bar as he jots the order down on a notepad.

"(And look up a recipe for Mornay sauce!)"

==*== JAPANESE BATHHOUSE, NEO-LEAGUE SEMIFINALS ==*==

Olivia holds the pose for a moment for the cameras before abruptly straightening up as she feels her posture placing a nearly-unfortunate amount of strain on her recently-crisped bikini top, holding her wings at her sides as seeming to squirm awkwardly in an effort to keep the garment from producing a wardrobe mishap that isn't quite obvious.

COMBATSYS: Olivia takes a moment to appeal to the audience!

[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Olivia           1/=======/=======|=====--\-------\0           Tairyu

[TAIRYU]
As if expecting his leg to burst into flames again, Tairyu actually stomps his foot down against the floor a few times over as if trying to snuff out some errant ember from a campfire.

Thankfully, that does not seem to come to pass, so he can put his full focus on Olivia herself. Body adjusting back to that upright stance, fists curled in tight, and eyes narrowing on the girl in watching for her impending retaliation--

Which takes the form of a dance?

"... Uh."

A... marketing dance, no less?!

Tairyu is, to put it mildly, baffled by this display, in the middle of everything. If it's a tactic meant to confuse it's target, then it is doing a fantastic job, what with the fighter finding himself unable to do but just... watch, and witness this bizarre event unfold.

He doesn't even come charging in for her once she's finished-- instead giving a vaguely concerned look while she's reaching up behind herself. "...Um. Do you... need a moment?"

After this question, however, he gives his head a shake. No, focus, damnit! The look of confusion and concern alike is set aside, in favor of sharpening the gaze from his green eyes - so bright they seem to nearly glow within the steam - and his feet shift slowly along the floor to stalk along the perimeter of his opponent.

COMBATSYS: Tairyu focuses on his next action.

[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Olivia           1/=======/=======|=====--\-------\0           Tairyu

[OLIVIA]
With the conclusion of her marketing break, Olivia focuses intently on trying to subtly assure herself that the back of her bikini top isn't in danger of disintegration. Her tongue slips subconciously between her lips as she fidgets behind her back until something clicks. She brings her wings around to her front, seems to test something in a hidden manner that causes her upper body to bounce slightly, and finally smiles.

"Eh?" she asks, hazel-brown eyes widening at Tairyu's question. As her focus returns to her open-shirted opponent, she smiles, looking slightly flustered.

"Ah, nao! Tudo bem!" she assures with a wing-salute, the motion causing a shudder to run through her that confirms her assurances.
(Subtitles: Oh, no! All good!)

As her eyes lock with Tairyu's, though, the bird-battler's demeanour starts to shift. Her wings rise back up to flank her duck cap, and her body starts to turn slowly, tracking Tairyu's movement through the steamy mist. In spite of her single-legged stance, she manages to keep her balance while slowly rotating on the front of her boot's sole. It's almost certainly a taxing effort to spin so delicately with all of her weight balanced on a single point of one foot, but it's clear how much of Olivia's training has gone into mastering her stance such that she can maintain her own laser focus on Tairyu while making such tricky and onerous maneuvering appear facile and graceful.

And also pretty derpy, given that she looks like a rubber duck pirouetting like a crane in slow motion.

COMBATSYS: Olivia focuses on her next action.

[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Olivia           1/=======/=======|=====--\-------\0           Tairyu

[TAIRYU]
"Is that so?" Tairyu doesn't seem entirely convinced, but the assurance is enough to at least ward off any further questioning.

... But maybe he's very much tempted to ask if the brazilian has everything quite alright with what he gets to see after the fact. He stares dubiously at her for a few seconds, before he decides, finally, that he's had just about enough, and kicks at the floor to set himself to approaching the woman. Rapid footwork carries him quickly across the ring set within the large room, and his right fist rears far back for a vicious punch--

Only for him to suddenly stop. Tairyu's eyes snap wider open in the instant before that punch is launched, and he forcefully leans his weight back and kicks one foot to the ground to force himself to not just skidding to a stop but bouncing back, too.

But rather than leaving it all to just that sudden, last-second retreat, he brings his left hand sweeping up from his side -- and with it, comes a trail of glowing-blue flames spiraling around his arm before it all bursts forth in a wave of flames left behind in his wake to advance on the bird-suited girl.

COMBATSYS: Olivia blocks Tairyu's Dragon's Breath.
CSYS: This exciting moment brought to you by Restaurante Ribeiro's New Stuffed Lobster Tail With Mornay Sauce!!

[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Olivia           2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\-------\0           Tairyu

[OLIVIA]
As the waves of flame rush toward her, Olivia's eyes start to widen. Biting back the urge to panic, though, she sucks in a swift breath through her nostrils, then whips both of her arms up in front of herself, placing the crossed yellow rubber wings in the course of the encroaching blaze. As the burning flame washes over her defenses, it licks at the skin of her tummy where it manages to get around the rubber guards.

Olivia giggles reflexively, until the pain sets in. "Ai!"

Flinching, Olivia swings her wings apart, flapping to extinguish the last flames clinging to the rubber accoutrements. She can feel the sweat starting to - actually, is that sweat she's feeling, or just the humidity of the room? It's probably a good helping of both. In any case, she's feeling especially wet -

Abruptly, she raises her eyes up to level on Tairyu, a sharp look coming into them.

"Vamos," she mutters under her breath, before suddenly bursting forth, propelled forward by a gust of wind that can't possibly have snuck into the mens' bath chamber by natural means as she lifts off from her lone supporting leg.

"Combo numero oito!"

As she flies into Tairyu's vicinity, she's already whirling around to snap her right foot toward his knee before immediately snapping it into a roundhouse aimed toward Tairyu's head. In the next moment, she'll shift onto her right foot, aiming to bring her left leg up into a second roundhouse to Tairyu's head from the opposite side while he's reeling from the first. The hope is to bring him down to the ground and set him up for the follow-up, wherein she leaps into the air, performing a full vertical forward flip before bringing her legs up into the splits and dropping her left thigh across his head or neck based upon target availability.

If she manages that, she'll already be holding a salute by the time she lands =

"Extra Spicy!"

- before winking for the cameras, holding the pose for a moment.

COMBATSYS: Olivia successfully hits Tairyu with Combo #8 - Variedade de Pontapes ES.
-**- LUNATIC HIT!! -**-

[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Olivia           1/-------/<<<<<<<|=======\==-----\1           Tairyu

[TAIRYU]
After getting brought back to skidding on the ground, Tairyu gives a quick wave to his hand, as if he actually needs to ensure the flames that were channeled from within get fully put out.

And by the time he's done with that-- he already finds the woman in the rubber duck suit right up in his grill.

"Ah--"

There's no time to react. For all the bizarre posturing Tairyu had just witnessed, he learns quickly that there's an actual threat hidden there behind it all, too. The evidence of it comes first in the violent snap of a foot to his knee with enough force to buckle him down, and then a foot sweeping through the air right after with such speed that while his eyes and senses can keep up, his arms can't. neither one comes up quickly enough to stop the brazilian's foot from smacking square into the side of the man's skull.

"Ghh--!"

He feels like his whole body just got jostled. One foot already leaves the floor, only for his body to be boucned right back the other way by the violent smack to the opposing side of his head. Pain rings out in his head, takes over all other senses. It sends his entire weight to the side, damn near falling over wholesale before he catches himself with a stomp to the ground-- but then, it's already too late. His body already leaned over, the thigh coming down from above slams right to the back of his head, and sends the japanese man's body slamming down to the floor with a little bounce.

He's left laying there, seemingly motionless while Olivia lets loose with the catchphrase and pose.

Only to, then, in a sudden snap of motion, press his palms to the floor to push himself upwards, turning over in the same instant and snapping a foot into the back of Olivia's shin before he's fully brought himself up from the prone position.

COMBATSYS: Olivia fails to counter Light Kick from Tairyu with Combo #5 - Surra de Bunda ES.

[                     \\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Olivia           0/-------/---====|=======\===----\1           Tairyu

[OLIVIA]
As the successful aggressor in the exchange, Olivia is quick to press her palms to the ground and scissor her legs together to get herself out of the splits and onto her feet. Noting that her opponent is still on the ground, she gets a sly look on her face, turning around so that her back is to the legitimate businessman. Dropping down onto her palms again, keeping her hips elevated, she gives a quick bounce - or is it meant to be a pushup?

However, whatever her intended plan of action was, it's cut short when Tairyu's foot lashes out to smash into the back of her shin just as she's about to lift it off of the ground. As a result, she looks her balance, dropping down and forward so that her chin crashes into the linoleum while her tail end remains elevated in the air behind her.

"Nnngh..."

[TAIRYU]
The quick blow to the shin turns out to be an useful springing board for getting Tairyu upright even quicker, then. Though even after he's been brought up to his feet, he finds himself needing to clutch the side of his head with a wince of pain. It's been a while since he's been juggled like that, and there may well even be a hint of red dripping through the roots of his hair there.

"You set up quite the trick there..." Tairyu rumbles -- but even with that much compliment to spare, he still comes stomping towards the down-fallen brazilian. Stepping right aroudn her, so he can reach down and grasp her by one of her 'wings' and pull her up from the floor...

Only to wind one fist far back with a crouching lean in his posture -- and send it barreling up in a powerful uppercut meant to send her up into the air once again!

COMBATSYS: Tairyu successfully hits Olivia with Dragon's Flight ES.

[                                < >  /////////////////////         ]
Olivia           1/---====/=======|===----\-------\0           Tairyu

Tairyu himself comes rising up into the air, too, when his fist collides with Olivia, from the springpoint of his feet kicking him up far into the air. While still suspended in mid-air with her, he suddenly seizes her with a shockingly-firm grip by her sides--

"D'RYAAAH!"

Body weight leaned in through the leap into a somersault, he spins through the air along with the brazilian -- only to let go at the end of one particular downward revolution that sees him swinging her down, too, and spiking her body down into the floor with nearly floor-cracking force before he, himself, is brought down again by gravity after her.

[OLIVIA]
Olivia is just starting to pull herself together, her elbows up underneath her and pushing her up onto her knees, when she feels the forceful hand grab hold of her arm and pull her around to face the man with whom she has been fated to do battle. Still dazed from the collision with the ground before, she gazes glassily into Tairyu's eyes.

'You set up quite the trick there...'

Olivia's eyes widen a little, face reddening. Something is stirring inside of her - namely, a cocktail of powerful allergy medication, the strange infection they're meant to suppress, and somewhere between one and two litres of Coca-Cola, all marinated over a day-long plane trip, simmered in the heat of the bathhouse and shaken by repeated knocks to the noggin.

It surely can't be blamed on the girl if she finds herself a little confused about the nature of the upstanding member of the bourgeoisie's intentions as he pulls her up and -

*WHAM*

Sensation fades from Olivia's body as the uppercut blow sends her ceilingward, weightlessly soaring into the air. The blissful release from the prison of tactile function leaves her feeling rather better than she did when she could still feel her face.

"Nghh..."

Her eyes remain wide as Tairyu follows her up into the air, staring senselessly at him. Where perhaps it would serve better to tense in response to the honourable club owner's firm grip on her bare sides, she instead relaxes. Surely she is safe now that she's in his ha-

*whistle*

*WHUMP*

*squeak*

Just as quickly and emphatically as she rose up at Tairyu's bidding, Olivia falls, crashing into the tiled sumo ring with linoleum-smashing force on her back before her head follows suit - fortunately cushioned slightly by the rubber ducky head ornament that she's been wearing, but now spins inverted away across the slick floor like a yellow turtle shell subjected to a plumber's errant kick.

"Nnnngh...."

As Tairyu descends above her, in Olivia's mind's eye, so too does a rain of rose petals. She thinks that she may have seen this movie on TV late at night once. As the cascade starts to land on the tile around her, she turns her head to one side to watch them.

"Belo..." she murmurs as she watches the petals fall to the ground and splatter lightly against the cracked linoleum.

Splatter?

Olivia doesn't have time to consider the nature of what's going on. In some distant part of her brain, she can hear a voice trying to tell her to 'Vamos,' because if she doesn't act now, she'll miss her chance.

As the slow return of feeling causes her head to start to pound, the Brazilian bathtime battle-bird pushes herself up onto her hands and knees. She lifts her eyes up toward Tairyu.

Somehow, she knows...

She has to give him everything she has.

Focusing inward, she gathers her spiritual energy.

Not that weird plant-based energy that's been giving her a yucky tummy for the last twenty four hours - the swirling, breezy wind chi that comes naturally to her command.

The sudden gust of wind that comes forth blows her from below like a miniature tornado, suddenly blasting her into the air with what little she has left in reserve.

And then, reaching the apex of her journey, she stretches her wings out to either side, then starts to plummet back down to the ground, descending toward Tairyu in a graceless swan dive with limbs akimbo, attempting to fall on him with the most literal of intentions.

And then, whether or not she manages to land on him, she will almost certainly slip into the inky abyss of unconsciousnes within moments...

COMBATSYS: Olivia can no longer fight.

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

COMBATSYS: Tairyu dodges Olivia's Especial da Casa - Cometa Vermelho.

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

[TAIRYU]
Tairyu may not see the rose petals that Olivia witnesses in her vision while he descends down by her in a smooth landing, but he can tell *something* is off. Well, beyond the obvious effects of the viscious assault he subjected her to just now. Since the moment she stepped into the ring, he could get an inkling of it, but now...

Now there's visible concern over it. Vague recognition, almost, in the eyes that look down to the woman struggling to get herself back up.

"Ribeiro-san..." He breathes out, with a purse of his lips. "You..."

Concerned as he might be, he still finds himself reflexively stepping back when she abruptly launches herself into the air. The japanese businessman's eyes drawing up to track the bird-woman's trial through the air, and--

The dive.

"Oh shi-"

A hurried step to the side isn't enough, so Tairyu resorts to outright tossing himself to the side at the last second, and further gaining some precious distance away from the belly-flopping woman with a short roll along the ground -- managing to slip JUST past her before she hits the ground... and thus ends up lacking his body to cushion the fall.

Brought up from the roll, Tairyu is left to be propped up on one knee and hand, with several audible breaths needed to steady himself while he watches Olivia's prone form. WAits for a few seconds to see if she's about to spring up again--

And when she doesn't, he squints his eyes shut with a grunt. For some reason, the end result here doesn't feel good. Despite the triumphant graphics in the broadcast declaring his victory, he finds himself just... staying there, kneeled down. Watching the League medics move in and pull Olivia to a gurney and cart her away, and left there for a moment even after she's been brought away.

"...Damnit."

== FEW MINUTES LATER, PRIVATE CHANGING ROOM ==

"Olivia Ribeiro, yes-- she's probably still getting handled by the medics at the venue, but she's probably going to either be released or moved to a hospital in a few minutes, depending."

The words are spoken into a cellphone by the Questionably-Legitimate Businessman sat down on a bench in the backstage room left for him, holding the device up to his ear with one hand while the other works to shedding his clothes away from his heavily-tattooed figure in preparation for getting himself showered after the fight in the humid room lined with the baths.

"No-- no, keep it anonymous. Just tell her a spectator or something was concerned for her well-being and wanted to make sure she gets the kind of medical attention she needs. ... No. No, I think... There was something going on with her even before she got there. Do what you can for her, and to figure that out."

"And..."

Slowly, his free hand draws along his bare leg, reaching all the way down to the burnt marks left behind by the uncontrolled, unfamiliar crimson flames that coated his leg for an instant during the fight, his face twisting into a frown over the sight and memory of it.

"... I'll pay extra if you can sneak me the diagnosis."

COMBATSYS: Tairyu takes no action.

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

COMBATSYS: Tairyu has ended the fight here.


[OLIVIA]
==*== NEO-LEAGUE MEDICAL SITE ==*==

Meanwhile, as the medical staff mill about the white sheets she's lying on and underneath, the Brazilian teenager's body rocks as a sneeze runs through it, her beige skin seeming to pale momentarily as the green-tinged veins beneath become visible. As the strange reaction worsens, it builds to a cough - crescendoing as flecks of red petals are driven out of her mouth, settling on her face and the sheets as someone puts a plastic mask over her lower face...

Log created on 10:51:52 03/16/2021 by Olivia, and last modified on 11:25:15 03/17/2021.