Match of the Millennium

Description: Rising Star! It's a clash of disciples, as Daisy Mallone takes on Sakura Kasugano in an all-karate showdown! Which is stronger--the Assassin's Fist or the School of Unrestrained Strength??

[SAKURA]
Rising Star!!! Sakura and Karin have been frenemies for a while--although Sakura would contend that she and Karin are friendly rivals at most, because really, the idea of being 'enemies' just isn't really in Sakura's vocabulary for people that aren't, you know. Rugal, Geese, Vega... the actual baddies. Karin is just sometimes a little on her high horse!

And Sakura still beat her in that hot dog eating contest... even if she did have to borrow (and ruin, and replace) Kei's backpack afterwards. So, Sakura's been looking forward to this, really, because she's the kind of girl who just... loves fighting new people. It doesn't have to be a new fighting style she's never encountered before--everyone has their own interpretations of a fighting style, and how to fight, and it's that complex interaction that makes a fighter what they are.

The Kanzuki Excellence Center is what it is, and that's why even in the lobby, sparring matches often break out--displays for guests, or even just a spot of impromptu practice, or in this case--a first-round Rising Star tourney fight. Cameras and their operators are set up, of course, professionals with long experience in filming the kind of free-roaming, unrestricted fights that can break out around people like Sakura, and so the Ansatsuken Angel strolls into the unconventional arena ready to fight. She's got the headband, of course, knotted off to trail behind her, but instead of her typical fighting outfit, she's gone for a casual look--a pink and white t-shirt with a cartoony, super-deformed version of Ryu, mid-Hadouken, on front, and a matching image on back, as if Ryu were throwing the classic, well-known attack from Sakura's chest. The hem of the shirt doesn't quite overlap the dark blue jeans she's wearing--a sturdy black leather belt strapping them to her hips, the fabric stretchy enough to accomodate any and all kicking she might do. The classic red Converse and fingerless, padded gloves complete the ensemble, as usual, and Sakura waves to the camerafolk and spectators as she moves to the cleared out area in front of the reception. She looks ready, flexing her fingers in and out of fists, bouncing on the balls of her feet, limbering up with a few punches and kicks.

[DAISY]
A thick background din of idle conversation blankets the impressive facility as people gather for yet another spectacle to be held within the Kanzuki Estate's halls. Though there are no fixed schedules for such matches, once a time has been agreed upon between two contestants word tends to spread quickly. As such even the massive open space afforded to such duels quickly grows cramped as spectators and officials alike move in to prepare for the debut. Soon enough only the cordoned off area meant for the fighters to duke it out is able to be easily traversed forcing any late comers to try and squirm their way through the crowds or turn their attention to the broadcast in order to get a good view.

"E-excuse me! Um, can I get through, please? Pardon--aah! Sorry!"

Rising above the buzz of noise, a particular voice manages to make itself heard distinctly from the far side of the room as a lone figure tries to push through the milling crowd. A steady stream of apologies and polite requests to pass slowly makes its way closer, the voice growing more distinct as it approaches, like the theme song of Jaws steadily increasing in tempo as it cuts through the waters towards unsuspecting victims. Eventually, the mysterious commotion reaches the edge of the arena, tumbling unceremoniously into the ring with a girlish squeak of surprise.

Daisy's arms flail wildly as the dense molasses she had been fighting against suddenly vanishes leaving her pushing hard on empty air. She attempts to correct for this miscalculation but with her feet still tangled in the crowd behind her the woman finds herself crashing like a felled tree onto the floor. A synchronized wince explodes from the crowd as she colossally faceplants straight into the polished floor.

"I'm... okay...!"

Despite what must have been a thoroughly unpleasant impact, Daisy pushes herself back into a seated position on her knees only a few moments later. A hand goes up to tenderly touch her nose, earning her a wince but not the sort of pain that would indicate its broken. Well, not the most impressive way to introduce herself but she's still good for action! Pushing back to her feet, the young woman glances around and quickly zeroes in on the only other person who looks dressed for a fight.

"Oh! Hello! Nice to meet you!"

Speaking in English, Daisy gives her teenage opponent a bright smile and an energetic wave. Facing her clearly now, Sakura has a chance to get a look at what she'll be up against. Almost everything about this woman screams foreigner. From the way she towers over most of the natives to her dazzling blonde hair, Daisy looks like what most people probably envision when they think of an American woman. Only her attire seems suitable for the venue. She wears a karate gi of an orangish-red color, similar to the fighting outfit one might find at any dojo, save that the sleeves appear to have been unceremoniously ripped off at one point leaving bits of ragged cloth in their place. Of particular note as well is the fact that she seems to be wearing no undershirt beneath the gi, a fact made obvious by the ample amount of cleavage on display.

Similar to her sleeves, the pant legs of what used to be a respectable uniform have been shorn off almost at the joint turning the loose lower half of the traditional fighting garment into a pair of make-shift daisy dukes. Daisy's hands and feet are wrapped up in cloth or tape like an MMA fighter with an extra layer of padding on her fists in the form of thick black padded fingerless gloves. Bringing the strange ensemble together is the final element, a simple but recognizable belt of black cloth fastened tightly about her narrow waist. If the several golden bars stitched into its side are any indication, she's quite the advanced fighter.

Shifting effortlessly back into practiced, if heavily accented, Japanese, Daisy flashes a toothy grin at the young student and pads over to the center of the arena.

"Sorry it took me so long! I accidentally left my phone at the office and they had to send someone to the dojo to find me."

She crosses her arms beneath her chest and shrugs, which does things to bosom which seems almost intentionally designed to draw every eye that direction.

"Except I wasn't at the dojo, I was out getting a milkshake with Ryo onii-san and we went to the beach to do some exercise for most of the morning. Then after THAT I was feeling hungry so I went to my favorite burger joint - by the way have you tried a teriyaki burger before? They're sooo good!"

Daisy clasps her hands together and rests her head against them as if remembering a delightful dream. She lets out a wistful sigh before diving right back into the deluge of useless information.

"But, um, so then I went back to the dojo. But by then my co-worker had already gone back to the office so I had to go THERE and get my phone and then I saw the message and, GOSH, there's so many people here! I had to fight my way through the crowd and, well, here I am!"

[SAKURA]
Sakura weathers the storm of babble with a pleasant smile. Hey, there's nothing worong with being airheaded. Some of Sakura's best friends are like helium balloons! In any case, she can sympathize, it's not like she's always been the most prompt or put-together fighter that's ever been around. "Well, I'm glad you're here!" she says, when she can finally get a word in--she doesn't look like she's in a hurry, anyways. Tournament or not, Sakura is pretty laid-back.

Still, and all, there _is_ a crowd, and kinda like... she doesn't want to make them wait more? So when Daisy finally winds down a bit, Sakura grins, and raises her hands into fists. It isn't menacing, somehow, just an indication of her readiness as she adopts a karate-based stance, leading with her left side, up on the balls of her feet slightly. Ready to go, that's Sakura, like flipping a switch.

"And, now that you're here," she says, with a smile, "I guess we'd better get started, hmm?" She abandons the pose, briefly, to spin around on the ball of one foot, open hands gesturing at all the folks and the cameras, before returning to her pose.

"After all, we've got a show to put on!" She doesn't _move_ from her spot, but there is a definite sense of movement, of forward progress, of kinetic energy just barely restrained by Sakura herself--just something inside her that needs to be expressed. And express it she does, as a sudden wind cyclones up around her--ruffling her clothing, accompanied with an almost buzzing sound as visible, light-blue blades of energy flare up from around her feet, licking and whipping briefly.

COMBATSYS: Sakura has started a fight here.

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Sakura           0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Daisy has joined the fight here.

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Sakura           0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0            Daisy

COMBATSYS: Sakura taps into her inner strength!

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Sakura           0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0            Daisy

[DAISY]
Airheaded. A few short years ago and Daisy would have twisted anyone into a pretzel who dared to associate her light hair color with the common trope of lacking intelligence. She had one of the sharpest minds in all of Interpol. In the span of only a couple years she had proven herself to be one of the most promising agents on the force and a danger to any criminal who would dare flaunt the law. Now, one mental breakdown later, and things are quite different. Pretty crazy how far a shooting star can fall but this might be her chance to pull herself together and rise again!

Daisy reacts to the quick shift in topics with a surprised blink, the gears in her head almost audibly grinding as she stares at Sakura for several seconds. Once the hampsters manage to get back on the treadmill the woman quickly joins her opponent in getting hyped up for the match.

"Oh, YES! Let's have fun, OKAY?"

While the teenager stokes up the crowd and starts to gather her focus, Daisy goes through a few warm up stretches. Once again, her manner of attire starts to draw attention as the agent proves precisely how flexible she is. Judging by the innocent smile on her face and the way she happily hums while stretching it seems unlikely that she's even aware of the fact that she's putting on an entirely different kind of show. Fortunately, it doesn't last more than a dozen seconds or so as the blonde goes through her routine lightning fast.

Now thoroughly limbered up, Daisy adopts her own fighting posture. Though it appears fairly generic at first, one arm lifted high and another held low, anyone who has encountered a practitioner of Kyokugenryu will likely spot the similarities in her pose. The agent wiggles her fingers a few times to loosen them up, then lets them hang slightly loose like a pair of claws protruding from her padding gloves.

"OKAY! Let's get this PARTY started!"

Seeming to shift back and forth between English and Japanese at random, Daisy's eyes narrow slightly as she puts on her game face. She squares off with Sakura, seeming to take a few moments to analyze her stance. Then she just randomly lunges forward, her fist drawing back for a powerful but extremely obvious attack.

"Yaaa!"

COMBATSYS: Sakura blocks Daisy's Strong Punch.

[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Sakura           0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0            Daisy

[SAKURA]
Daisy might... act flighty, might be a bit awkward or whatever, but Sakura knows, almost immediately, that this isn't going to be a cakewalk--not that she was expecting it to be, or desiring one, anyways. One disadvantage to tapping into the power of the self is that it... roots her, a little bit; she can't just switch her thoughts away from that internal focus like a switch. Daisy's punch crashes into Sakura's upraised arms and forces her back a step or two; even prepared, the punch stings, although Sakura is disciplined enough not to shake her arms out as she releases that inner focus to get back to the outside world, such as it is.

"That's quite a punch!" she remarks, sounding pleased, as she lengthens that step back by another one, then another half-step, putting her weight on her left leg as she swivels around, raising her right leg and cocking it briefly before snapping it out in a sort of half-roundhouse kick--she doesn't put enough rotation into it that she would spin all the way around, but it isn't a thrusting kick by any means.

Sakura thrusts her arms out to maintain balance, keeping her right arm up and in front of her as at least some attempt at maintaining a defense.

COMBATSYS: Daisy just-defends Sakura's Medium Kick!

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Sakura           0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0            Daisy

[DAISY]
Unfortunately, most of Daisy's antics aren't actually an act. Her psyche took a pretty nasty beating after having so much responsibility loaded onto her shoulders only to stumble over the most vile and unexpected of tripping hazard - bureaucracy. Even now, the thought of endless piles of paperwork is enough to make her shiver. In the aftermath of recovering from that ordeal, she may have slightly over-exaggerated her mental deterioration in order to avoid being placed into a position of excessive responsibility again, but a lot of her apparent loss in competence is deeply rooted in that crushing blow to her ego.

On the other hand, even if she is a bit scatter-brained these days, she is one of the few people who managed to impress Takuma enough to earn a place at his dojo. The flashes of competence that manage to bubble their way to the surface are a stark reminder that there is a dangerous and cunning mind behind all of that platinum blonde.

Sakura gets her first encounter with this side of Daisy as the seemingly wild punch manages to take advantage of her brief intense focus, delivering a strike that would likely have been easily countered had it come during a standard exchange of blows.

"Oh, THANK YOU! I've been training a lot with Ryo onii-san lately! He hits MUCH harder than I do!"

The brief retreat to give herself room to deliver a spinning side kick at Daisy's flank is foiled as her opponent proves to be either extremely lucky or more on the ball than she appears. Pushing ahead aggressively, Daisy lunges forward just as the teenager tries to make space. As a result, her kick finds no leverage with which to deliver its kinetic impact, instead slapping ineffectively against the agent's upper arm after only a couple of inches.

Pushing her brief moment of advantage, Daisy continues to barrel forward. Her body turns sideways just before impact as she attempts to shoulder check the smaller girl like a hockey player, driving the entirety of her mass towards Sakura like a hammer.

It would be an impressive display, were it not for the fact that the entire thing seems to play out like an accident. Daisy's eyes widen as she stumbles from the recoil of blocking the kick, her arms going out to her sides to try and regain her balance. She twists around mid-step, the wild shoulder charge instead turning into a desperate attempt to try and keep from falling over as she plows right towards the unfortunate student.

"Waah!"

COMBATSYS: Sakura dodges Daisy's Hasai Yama Desu!.

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Sakura           0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0            Daisy

[SAKURA]
It's pretty impressive all the same, though Sakura is nimble enough on her feet to skip first backwards and then to her left, wheeling around to face her opponent as she stumbles past. Now, a more unscrupulous fighter might attack while Daisy's unbalanced--and in other circumstances, Sakura would be hard-pressed to say she wouldn't--but this is a tournament fight. This is a show. And Sakura is not doing a heel turn today. Karin has definitely not paid her enough for that. So she waits, just a fraction of a moment, for Daisy to recover before she's on her. Now, Ansatsuken and Kyokugenryuu aren't _rivals_, per se, but there is a sort of natural rivalry between the two as similar fighting styles.

Surely Daisy will recognize at least the origins of Sakura's attack, as she winds up briefly before jumping forward, spinning into a whirling kick, leaping through an arc, right leg extended out as the impact surface for Sakura's version of the 'Hurricane Kick', though she calls hers the Shunpuu Kyaku, having not quite mastered (and, in truth, not having actually tried to master) the ability to hold herself level across a length of distance while spinning.

At least she's perfected the technique, as it stands; her early days were, well, lots of stumbling, botching the landing, landing turned away from her target, things like that. Now she's able to maintain proper orientation to her opponent when she lands.

COMBATSYS: Daisy dodges Sakura's Shunpuu Kyaku.

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Sakura           0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0            Daisy

[DAISY]
Without a soft body to act as a backstop to her wild stumble, Daisy ends up flailing her way forward several steps while attempting to recover her balance. The effort looks comically inept, clearly not the graceful movement of someone experienced enough to be competing in a professional tournament, and certainly not one would expect from a student of Takuma! Yet, for all her foolishness, the blonde's stumbling about proves to be her saving grace.

Even with the brief moment of good sportsmanship offered to her by the plucky teenager, by the time Sakura is windmilling her way towards Daisy the woman still hasn't managed to control her fall. She stands on one leg, teetering on the precipice of recovering her balance or once more eating the floor. In a stroke of mixed fortune, the agent finally succumbs to the inevitable and tumbles to the floor to land in an undignified heap. The lucky part is that she manages to fall over just in time to avoid getting brained by the spinning kick, tumbling beneath Sakura's pinwheeling attack.

"Waah!"

Another girlish squeal of panic escapes as Daisy rolls to the side to avoid being used as a door mat when her opponent descends from her brief parabolic flight. She continues to roll, twisting sideways across the arena like a log rolling downhill until she hits the legs of the spectators packed around the edges. Having no further room to retreat, Daisy kips up to her feet and spins in place to face her opponent once more with a wide smile on her face.

"WOW! You're just like that wandering homeless man that shows up on TV sometimes! VERY NICE!"

Daisy grins as she casually compares Ryu to a random bum, giving Sakura an enthusiastic thumbs up. That was probably supposed to be a compliment. Then again, riling up your opponent with words is a time-honored way to make them fight more sloppy. It's difficult to tell if she's being rude or just ditzy.

"Now, my turn to show off what I know!"

Regardless, Daisy shifts back to her fighting stance and prepares her own offensive in return. Throwing her arms out wide as if to embrace someone in a big hug, she takes a deep breath and focuses her intent into her outstretched hands. Twin orbs of shimmering orange chi flare to life in her palms, blazing away like tiny stars. The blonde makes a clapping motion, slapping the pair of sizzling spheres together. The two small sparks merge together into a single blazing sun as it erupts from her hands and blasts across the small arena in a display of one of the most iconic attacks from her school.

"Ko-ou Ken!"

COMBATSYS: Sakura blocks Daisy's Ko-ou Ken Desu!.

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Sakura           0/-------/=======|=------\-------\0            Daisy

[SAKURA]
Sakura braces herself--not physically, per se, although when she realizes what Daisy is doing, she certainly brings her arms up in a guarding position--but spiritually. She recognizes the attack, of course; she's studied footage of the Kyokugenryuu fighters before. Maybe not Daisy though, but it's no surprise that she would know one of the iconic attacks from Kyokugenryuu. That energy aplashes across Sakura's arms, forcing her back again, though Sakura's own chi helps her minimize the damage as much as she can.

The audience oohs and aahs--one might think that the flashy spark shows are all too commonoplace for people to enjoy them anymore, but there's a mystique about the use of chi that persists, even today. Anyone can be taught to punch, kick, block, throw. Anyone. But many seem to feel like those who can really touch that life energy are rarer, and the cultivation of such skills is absolutely a thing that people are impressed by.

Sakura whips her arms out and back, with a short kiai, dissipating the remaining wisps of energy, and immediately begins making up the distance created by the impact of that power, coming in to throw a couple of quick left jabs before following up with a right straight--a boxing combination, but executed in that karate manner, her body marshaled to discipline in economy of motion, weight centered, not forward.

COMBATSYS: Daisy counters Medium Punch from Sakura with Stupid Luck.

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Sakura           1/-----<</<<<<<<<|=====--\-------\0            Daisy

[DAISY]
The ease with which Sakura manages to disperse the energy of the crackling orb is quite impressive. Clearly she's had a lot of practice dealing with such attacks despite her young age. And, considering Takuma's standards for excellence, a blast of that caliber is nothing to sneeze at.

"Oooh! You're pretty good, kid!"

Flashing another grin, Daisy gives the teenager another thumbs up. It's always nice to see the next generation apply themselves to something! When she was Sakura's age, she'd already joined the Kyokugenryu dojo and started to make a name for herself. Most of the applicants got turned away and of those who were allowed to stay very few managed to reach the point of being able to throw their chi around in any meaningful fashion. Even being able to manifest one's own spirit to properly defend against it is a pretty solid accomplishment.

As the impressive young woman dispels the last of her attack and comes rushing in, Daisy drop back into her combat stance, preparing to fend off whatever martial tricks her opponent might have in store. Thus far Sakura's attacks haven't been too difficult to deal with but after that display the agent is expecting a lot more interesting things to be hidden up the girl's sleeves. It's best to keep your ace hidden until its time to put the cards on the table, after all!

It's right about that time, as she's settling in for another exchange of blows, that Daisy notices that all that rolling about on the floor managed to get some dust up her nose. The woman's face contorts into a strange expression as the familiar tickle starts to build up, surprise and panic warring for dominance. She holds up one hand towards the on-rushing teenager, trying to warn her that something is wrong but it's far too late.

"Ah...! Ah...! Achoo?!"

Sakura's quick probing jabs find no purchase as her opponent seems once more graced by absurd coincidental providence. As Daisy reels from the impending nasal explosion, she turns sideways exposing a more slender profile that sees both of the quick lefts miss her by the breadth of a hair as she contorts involuntarily. When the great sneeze finally comes, it is synchronized with the girl's final strike. Once more her punch narrowly misses the target as Daisy's head snaps forward suddenly, brushing past the older woman's face so close that she can feel the soft brush of her golden hair for a brief moment.

And then Daisy's forehead smashes into her face. Luckily, for her this time, the blonde managed to cover her nose in time so the poor girl isn't subjected to the disgusting indignity of being sprayed with snot. However, whatever cosmic forces watch over this strange woman managed to align her unexpected dilemma so that the quick snap of her head when she sneezed came just at the right moment to clobber her opponent in one of the most picture perfect headbutts imaginable.

Daisy squeals as she recoils from the impact, more surprised than hurt in the exchange. In fact, she seems to have gotten away from the clash scott free save for a small red spot on her forehead which she rubs at with far more worry than it warrants.

"Ow ow ow..."

Only seeming to remember the other unfortunate person caught up in this accident after a few seconds, the blonde blinks and then slaps her cheeks in sudden embarassment as she turns to stare at Sakura in horror.

"Oh my GOSH! Are you okay?!"

[SAKURA]
Only the timeliest of headflicks saves Sakura from a crushed nose. Unfortunately, in return, Daisy's forehead smashes against Sakura's cheekbone--and while that's stronger than the nose, the tradeoff is, that impact rings even more in her head as she staggers back, gasping in pain, seeing stars for a brief moment. It's at least three steps before she rights herself, shaking her head briefly to clear the cobwebs. She knew she was in for a fight, but so far she's the one who's fighting--for her life, or at least, to keep her place in the tournament.

Sakura slaps her cheeks, overlaying more sharp sensation over the spreading ache of a bruise, but that isn't pain exactly, it's more like a wakeup call.

As if she's saying to herself, get it TOGETHER, Sakura, you are better than this. Show me what you're capable of! Another shake of the head, and the fists come up again, Sakura's eyes narrowing in concentration. She doesn't just rush in headlong, as she once might have--but she doesn't think she can afford to be passive, and anyways, that really isn't her style. She can only be patient for so long. It's the one thing about her that's the least like Ryu, in terms of how they approach a fight. Ryu is calm, analytical, and Sakura is... not, nor is she trying to be.

Once she decides on a course of action, she executes, however, and in that way she _is_ like her idol, as she draws her palms together, in front of her, a blue-tinged ball of white energy forming between her hands, swelling to the size of a basketball, roughly, before she thrusts her paired hands forward, unleashing that bolt of blue-white energy with her voice thundering out its name, as a way of focusing that chi further. "HADOUKEN!!" The cry itself seems to be the launcher, sending the mass of energy towards Daisy.

COMBATSYS: Daisy dodges Sakura's Hadouken.

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Sakura           1/----<<</<<<<<<<|=====--\-------\0            Daisy

[DAISY]
Apparently, Sakura is fine. So fine that she doesn't bother to respond to Daisy's query about her health after that unfortunate embarassment to professional fighting. Instead, she decides to use those precious moments bought while the older woman fusses over her state of being to recenter her focus and direct whatever anger or shame might be boiling inside that teenage heart of hers into a blast of glowing energy.

Even a clueless blonde like Daisy seems to be aware of the destructive potential of the world's most famous fireball. Immediately abandoning her altruism, the agent hurls herself to the floor as the searing cerulean projectile explodes at her like a cannonball, covering her head with both hands as if she expects the thing to detonate like a grenade.

Fortunately, no such explosion occurs, though the tight quarters and lack of protective shields around the edge of the arena does mean someone /else/ gets a facefull of hadouken. There's a dull thump as the fireball slams into the onlookers lining the ring and a handful of people let out surprised grunts as the unfortunate individual is smashed backwards into the throng. There's a few moments of quiet murmuring while everyone stares at the poor sod who just got clobbered but eventually a shaky voice can be heard calling out from somewhere on the floor.

"Woo, I just got fireballed by Sakura!"

A cheer goes up among the crowd as if some lucky schmuck just caught a home run baseball in the stands. Well, as long as their happy.

Upon realizing that a bomb hasn't gone off in the room, Daisy pushes back to her feet and hops back into her stance, smiling like a cat who just got the cream. Not getting her face smashed in by spiritual bullets makes her a happy person! However, as she suspected, this girl isn't someone to be underestimated if she can mimic the signature technique of one of the strongest fighters in the world!

Pacing slowly around her teenage opponent for a few moments, Daisy ponders the best way to re-engage in fisticuffs now that they've both exchanged artillery shots and gotten the measure of each other's strength. Of course, there's only one proper solution for a Kyokugenryu student to apply to this situation - wanton and reckless aggression!

Letting out a soft kiai as she lunges into the fray once more, Daisy rushes straight at Sakura. The distance between them closes rapidly as the blonde seems to abandon defense for raw offensive power. Her fingers close into a pair of tight fists as she draws close, delivering a pair of quick but stout straight punches at the girl's midsection to try and drive her onto the defensive.

COMBATSYS: Sakura interrupts Aggressive Strike from Daisy with Hadoushou EX.

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Sakura           1/--<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\-------\1            Daisy

[SAKURA]
Sakura isn't mimicing anyone, anymore; she's developed into her own fighter, with her own skillset, and even more than that, she's developed her own attacks, not just variants on the canonical techniques of the Ansatsuken. And now she's prepared to display one of those now. The built-up chi doesn't dissipate from her hands, not entirely, as Daisy avoids the hadouken--and the onlooker does not. She'll apologize later, there's no time now.

The held energy isn't visible, but anyone with a keen sense of it will understand that Sakura hasn't completely let go of it all, but the purpose isn't immediately clear until Daisy comes in with the pair of punches. The Ansatsu Flower has to take one of those punches to deliver her counterattack, and it twists her head around--but she maintains her focus and poise enough to slam her open palms into Daisy's midsection, unleashing a sharp kiai as that chi flares to life around her palms. Maybe Daisy was expecting a grenade-like explosion in the last moments, but here it is now, the sound rather _like_ a thunderclap as all that chi--and that kinetic energy--is unleashed in that explosive double palm strike right to Daisy's torso, the release blowing Sakura's short, messy hair backwards as if in a stiff breeze for a moment.

The red Converse-wearing girl uses the attack as a disengagement point, backstepping a couple of steps to be out of _too_ easy reach, although she's not going far.

[DAISY]
The satisfying thump of impact rings out in the arena as fists collide with their targets. Daisy's punch lands a solid blow against her young opponent's head but the shot proves to be a strategic sacrifice by the teenager to get her own powerful shot in. The palm strike slams home into the foreigner's midsection and it quickly becomes apparent that she got the short end of the stick in their brief exchange.

"Bwuh?!"

Daisy recoils from the explosive gut punch like she just got hit in the stomach with a cannonball at point blank. The blast lifts the woman clear off her feet and sends sails backwards a good distance before landing on her duff. She lets out a girlish squeak as she bounces on the hard floor a couple of times before finally skidding to a halt.

"W-WOW!"

Daisy grins up at Sakura from her position on the floor, not even bothering to stand up immediately. She rubs the back of her neck sheepishly as if embarrassed to have been caught off guard so thoroughly.

"Been a while since anyone besides Ryo onii-chan hit me that hard! Hehehe!"

Rolling onto her back for leverage, the cop kips to her feet with ease. For all her scatterbrained demeanor and clumsiness she seems to be pretty agile when she wants to be. Daisy rolls her shoulders and flicks her hands a couple of times as if to shake off any lingering pain or distraction before settling back into her fighting stance. Despite the powerful shot to her abs she doesn't seem too terribly affected by it. Obviously she doesn't skimp out on the crunches.

"OKAY! Let's go!"

Displaying what appears to be a complete disregard for the lesson she might have learned in her last attempt, the Kyokugenryu student comes at Sakura once again. But after only a couple of steps, she crouches briefly and leaps bodily into the air, hurling herself like a lawn dart at the student. One of the cop's long legs snaps out as she crashes back down towards the ground, driving a powerful thrusting kick towards Sakura's upper body. Perhaps using her reach advantage will let her close the gap a little more safely this time!

COMBATSYS: Sakura dodges Daisy's Diving Kick.

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Sakura           1/--<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\=------\1            Daisy

[SAKURA]
Daisy does get that approach, although without contacting Sakura with that foot. The younger fighter side and backsteps, ceding ground to the Kyokugen stylist, although she can't quite get back far enough to not have Daisy in her face, such as it is. "Whoa!" cries Sakura, involuntarily, having the time for exactly one backstep before Daisy's _right there_, and her reaction is as much reflex as it is considered, as she throws a quick knee-to-low kick combination, as much as to try to keep Daisy occupied as to actually hit her, to give her some room to back off a little more, get back to an optimal range for herself.

Admittedly that optimal range isn't that far from where she is now--she isn't blessed with long limbs. Against a lot of fighters she has to be a step or two into their range to be at her range, but she's worked with it this long--the only way she wouldn't have to is by going with NESTS or some organization like that, and... well, she'd rather not.

Killer extendo-limbs _sound_ cool and she's definitely read a manga or three with exactly that kind of thing (and who _hasn't_ watched Inspector Gadget??) but the risks... she'd just as soon go to Dhalsim and study the secrets of Kabaddi under him for a few years. But that isn't really her style either, and anyways, she's too... worldly for that. The life of an ascetic isn't for her, even if Ryu could probably hack it.

COMBATSYS: Daisy blocks Sakura's Light Kick.

[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Sakura           1/--<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\=------\1            Daisy

[DAISY]
Exploiting her reach isn't the primary focus of Daisy's martial technique style. Like most Kyokugenryu fighters, she's all about in-fighting, getting up close and personal where bursts of explosive strength can have their most devastating effect. But having the extra distance to use never hurts as an option!

In this case, it forces her opponent to retreat and allow her to close the distance without suffering another brutal counter strike. Now that she's right where she wants to be it's time to get some work done.

The reflexive strike at her midsection is caught on the agent's hip as she turns into the blow, deflecting most of its force. The kick is likewise intercepted by a swift shift of the woman's forward leg as she steps aggressively forward, attempting to drive her smaller opponent even further back to avoid being tangled up.

"Hya!"

Belting out a high-pitched shout of challenge, Daisy pivots into the forward momentum of her lunge. Another seemingly wild and reckless punch comes crashing in towards Sakura's head, the fist drawing back for a few moments as her attacker puts her full weight behind the strike.

For a black belt, the strike seems to lack the sort of finesse one would expect of someone supposedly fighting at her level. There's an obvious element of skill behind the punch but it seems almost comically telegraphed as if Daisy is trying to make it obvious what she's going to do. Arrogance? Pity? Some sort of ruse? Whatever her reasons, the attack is definitely not up to par. That being said, the American has proven that she hits pretty hard and will probably belt her across the room if she's foolish enough not to do something about that incoming knuckle sandwich.

COMBATSYS: Sakura blocks Daisy's Fierce Punch.

[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Sakura           1/-<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\=------\1            Daisy

[SAKURA]
Sakura does stand her ground, but she doesn't just take the strike; rather, she leans into it, thrusting her arms forward, resisting the force behind the punch, meeting it, turning much of it aside. She probably could have dodged it, all things considered, but Sakura needs to toughen herself up--and there are training ways to do that, but also just taking punches to toughen oneself up helps, because other things don't hit back.

Actually, it's probably a training philosophy that would be right at home in the Kyokugen school, come to think of it, though Sakura hasn't really delved into their philosophy in depth. But, hey, Daisy wants to stay in close, that's fine--Sakura is an in-fighter by nature, although maybe of a different stripe than what a boxer would call an in-fighter. This time, she doesn't let the impact rock her backwards; she does sink backwards a bit, but instead of transferring that momentum to her legs and mitigating it, she uses it to wind up her next attack--and it'll look really familiar to Daisy, as Sakura winds herself up for another Shunpuu Kyaku.

However, this time, an aura of energy flares around her kicking foot, as she drives herself up and forward in a somewhat abbreviated arc, and instead of just going through the spinning kick, she tags another kick onto the end, a spinning side kick that translates all that spinning motion into that final thrust.

COMBATSYS: Daisy blocks Sakura's EX Shunpuu Kyaku.

[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////           ]
Sakura           1/-----<</<<<<<<<|=======\===----\1            Daisy

[DAISY]
Getting pummeled over and over is precisely how things are done back at the dojo! Master Takuma's training regimes are some of the most punishing and absurd in the entire world. The 'run 500 laps around the dojo every morning' kind of absurd. Which is generally why he doesn't have a lot of students and why those who do survive his brutal standards tend to be pretty strong. Daisy doesn't come across as being that sort of crazy bad ass but who knows what monster lurks behind that innocent smile?

Regardless, the massive punch lands home on a defensive block with a solid thud. This time Daisy is far quicker to recover from her reckless attack, seeming to have learned to be wary for her opponent's ability to unleash unexpected bursts of power. Her caution proves well founded as the student launches into another hurricane of brutal kicks.

Daisy's hands snap up to intercept the onslaught, catching each blow on her forearms with alternating blocks. The chi-bolstered strikes are dangerous enough to rattle her bones with every impact and her face contorts into a grimace as she weathers the storm.

"Ach!"The final thrusting kick, meant to be a pile driver that sends her flying, instead finds no purchase as the cop once more takes the initiative. Pivoting to the side, she manages to avoid being ejected out of the teenager's personal space and instead steps in close once again at her flank. This time instead of using her fists, one of Daisy's feet draws back as she once more prepares to deliver one of the most obvious kicks in the world, winding up like a football player preparing to punt.

However, instead of simply being another mundane attack, a shimmering spark of power blossoms to life around the agent's foot as she draws it back. For a couple of long drawn out seconds the energy continues to build, the glowing mote steadily growing into a miniature star. A stiff wind starts to swirl around the two fighters, a quick but angry maelstrom swirling around the vacuum created by Daisy's intake of power.

"Sorry about this!"

Delivering her apologies for the pain she is likely about to inflict, Daisy flashes a grin and drops the hammer. Her foot swings forward into a simple but harsh low kick at Sakura's leg. It's nothing fancy, just your bog standard karate attack - right up until it makes contact. The impact of the kick rocks the entire room like a miniature earthquake as all of the collected chi detonates in a localized explosion. The blast is viscous enough to send a shockwave through the crowd, ruffling jackets and skirts, sending loose hats flying in all directions, and rattling the fancy artwork on the walls.

That or it fizzles out in the most anti-climatic way possible if it fails to land, leaving Daisy spinning around in place as her momentum carries her wild kick all the way through.

COMBATSYS: Daisy successfully hits Sakura with Kirei Happaryuu Kyaku Desu!.

[                     \\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////           ]
Sakura           1/-======/=======|==-----\-------\0            Daisy

[SAKURA]
"Hu-WAGH!!" is the extremely articulate, reasoned response from Sakura as that earthquake kick _explodes_ into her; the warning tell she gets from the wind that bursts up doesn't, at all, give her enough time to prepare. Even as she reacts, trying to move backwards, that kick slams into her and sends her _flying_, in that classic pose, hands outstretched. But she doesn't fly off too far, really, before she manages to tuck and roll, landing on her feet. She isn't feeling it, entirely, yet--the thunderous impact behind that kick--thanks to the adrenaline that just got shot through her body. It'll only be a short boost, but it might be enough to pay back in kind, as Sakura takes all that kinetic energy she's traveling with and uses it to push off the flooring, lunging right back at Daisy.

As she goes, that familiar blue-white energy is _crackling_ around her hands, and in fact, Sakura unleashes it while she's still moving, throwing a large Hadouken--maybe just about as wide around as her torso is--thick and dense with energy. Should that impact, well, she'll follow up with a low-altitude hurricane kick--the kind that she doesn't normally perform--to push Daisy back further and keep her off her feet, to finish up with a jumping uppercut, this one powered not with blue chi, but a sakura-pink flare of energy that surroundes the uppercutting fist...

... if the hadouken opens Daisy's guard, that is.

COMBATSYS: Sakura successfully hits Daisy with Sakura Arashi EX.

[                     \\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////                   ]
Sakura           0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\1            Daisy

[DAISY]
Feeling the thunderous crash of her wild attack actually land is almost as surprising to Daisy as it is to the unfortunate victim. She recoils from the blast and staggers backwards, spinning around in the opposite direction with arms a-flailing.

"Wawawah!"A look of relief overtakes the woman's expression after a few moments as she manages to successfully regain her balance and avoid another embarrassing flop onto her face. Glancing up, Daisy finds one of the various cameras arrayed around the arena directly in front of her. Flashing a big grin, she strikes a victorious pose, giving the lens a thumbs up while resting her other hand on her hip.

"You see that, onii-san? It finally work-!"

A sudden ominous blue glow from behind cuts the ditzy cop's boast short. Her eyes widen in slow realization of the danger, clearly not having expected the teen to bounce back from a blow like that. Whirling around to face the oncoming freight train of chi, Daisy has enough time to let out a squeak of terror at the sheer size of the blast before it slams into her.

A little voice in the back of her head attempts to suggest that moving out of the way would be a good idea. Daisy finds herself in complete agreement with this strange little voice and sends out the order to all other parts of herself that may have suddenly gained sentience to engage in emergency maneuvers. Unfortunately, there isn't any time to perform an impressive and skillful panicked dive out of the way this time and she gets torpedoed dead on.

Sakura's whirlwind follow up to the initial impact juggles the hapless blonde like a hackey sack. Daisy lets out a series high-pitched squeaks as she's bounced about on a flurry of kicks, sounding more like a doggy chew toy than a person. The impact of the shimmering uppercut, however, earns a more satisfying cry of pain from the older woman as she's sent rocketing up into the air one final time, spinning and sparking like a bottle rocket.

Wait, sparks?

The answer to the reason for this unusual phenomenon becomes apparent as Daisy hits the apex of her upwards momentum. Flopping tail over tea kettle, her apparent uncontrolled spin proves to be something she can use to her own advantage. Both of the woman's palms are pressed flat together, a searing aura of crackling orange power flickering around them. As her fall turns her upside down and allows her to face Sakura again, the blonde throws her arms wide stretching the blazing orange glow into a massive crescent of destructive power.

"Haoh Shou Kou Ken!"

Now it's Sakura's turn to be in the way of an absurdly oversized blast of chi as the miniature comet explodes down at her from above. The blast also has the benefit giving Daisy an extra boost of momentum towards the ground allowing her to regain control of her fall. She lands in a crouch nearby instead of crashing square onto her noggin', this time making sure to keep an eye on her opponent incase this isn't enough to finally put her down!

COMBATSYS: Daisy successfully hits Sakura with Haoh Shou Kou Ken Desu!.

[                          \\\\  < >  ///////////                   ]
Sakura           0/-------/-======|====---\-------\0            Daisy

[SAKURA]
Even for someone with as much energy as Sakura, whose friends have compared her to one of those bouncy superballs that were the rage when toys were capable of attaining dangerous levels of kinetic energy with less effort that now, throwing her strongest attack on the heels of having _taken_ a major blow is tough, and with that spike of adrenaline peaking at the uppercut and already starting to fall away, she needs a second to find her balance--something that isn't normally true--but that one second is what costs her.

That one second compounds, in pain, as she jerks backwards, but only gets halfway off her feet before that wall of chi slams into her. At the angle it hits, it doesn't blow her away directly--no, it smashes her into the flooring, making her bounce up and backwards, arcing over in a way that's almost absurdly graceful, for what just happened. However... however.

The flip gives her just enough time to get her wits about her and land on her feet, though the impact of it jolts through her, and she staggers forward. Really, what set her apart from other, similar fighters like her, was her instinctive command of the life energy flowing through her, through the Earth, through the world and the people in it. It's something she grasped on a level deeper than practice. So it should be no surprise that, in a time of extremis, she reaches for it--concentrating that power in her hands again. The ball is slightly more compressed this time than before, but just as solid--if not more so--as she hurls it forward... no shout, just that forward half-step to launch the crackling projectile of white-cored chi, and then a stumble down to one knee.

COMBATSYS: Sakura has reached second wind!

[                       \\\\\\\  < >  ///////////                   ]
Sakura           0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0            Daisy

COMBATSYS: Sakura successfully hits Daisy with Shinkuu Hadouken.

[                       \\\\\\\  < >  /////                         ]
Sakura           0/-------/------=|=======\-------\1            Daisy

[DAISY]
Well, the spectators have certainly gotten themselves quite the show. Though things started out fairly mundane, it seems this battle has largely devolved into a slug fest. Both ladies dig deep and pull out the big guns, blasting each other with shimmering waves of raw chi in an exchange that barely gives anyone time to blink.

Though she was actually prepared this time, it seems it wasn't quite enough to avoid the return volley. Attempting to weave sideways, the buxom blonde fails to properly judge the speed of the projectile and the ferocious hadouken crashes into her shoulder with its full might. The blow is strong enough to send Daisy spinning around like a top before she collapses to the floor in an undignified heap, letting out another surprised squeak.

For several seconds, it seems as if the fight might be over. The foreigner remains on the ground, staring blankly up at the ceiling with a daze expression. But she seems to find some final burst of vigor, shaking her head wildly to throw off her stupor before bouncing back to her feet. She pauses, one hand gripping her shoulder and grimaces, but quickly replaces it with a bright smile.

"Haha! That was a pretty good shot, kid! This has been a really interesting match. But ol Daisy isn't done yet!"

Taking a deep breath, Daisy shifts into her combat stance and lets out a slow exhale. Steady the mind, steady the body, steady the soul. Things are looking hairy but the fight isn't over yet! With a little focus and perseverance she can pull through! Takuma would expect nothing less of his student than to fight to the bitter end!

Judging by how much it pains her just to assume that stance, the bitter end might be closer than she'd prefer. But she's got at least enough oomph left for one final attack. Steeling herself for the effort of her next move, Daisy grins and darts forward. As usual, her approach lacks subtlety. The woman rushes in like a heat-seeking missile that's locked onto its target; no maneuvering, no feints, just raw intent.

Once more the Kyokugenryu veteran proves that she's not as simple as she seems. Instead of diving straight into her opponent with another big obvious attack, Daisy suddenly drops into a low crouch at the last second. Sliding the last few inches towards her target, the woman spins as she leaps into the air. A brilliant flash of orange chi erupts from her rear fist as she whips it up in a diagonal backhanded strike, delivering perhaps the strangest version of ye olde uppercut yet.

COMBATSYS: Daisy can no longer fight.

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

COMBATSYS: Sakura dodges Daisy's Kohou Desu!.

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

[SAKURA]
Sakura has been pushed to her limits. That's not surprising--for all her experience, really, she knows she's just on the first few steps of the longest road ever, a road that her idol continues to walk, ever ahead of her. But that's one of the things that drew her in most about street fighting, about a contest of wills like this. It's not just the physicality of it, or the competitiveness. Sakura has always been interested in competing in all aorts of things--eating contests, video game tournaments, kickball, you name it. But nothing has consistently pushed her to that edge, pushed her in what she can do and what she has to do, like fighting.

The seconds it takes for Daisy to rise after taking the Shinkuu Hadouken are desperately precious to Sakura, too--letting her focus past the pain, past the burning of labored breath, to rise back up. Her stance is as wobbly as Daisy's, and her avoidance of that impressive final attempt to claim the match is as much luck as it is instinct and training; the backhand misses Sakura by mere centimeters, sending her clothes and her hair ruffling as she staggers backwards, eyes wide at the narrow miss.

"W--whoa!!" she cries, involuntarily, as Daisy performs that variant, and it seems to shake her to life somewhat, as she finds her feet just afterwards, hands still up. All that can't erase the fatigue or the aches entirely though, and observers will see the induced flaws in her stance as she mentally works past 'fighting is happening' to 'Oh, I won the match', and instead of cheering exuberantly, or dancing, she simply punches upwards with her right hand, in acknowledgement of it, before she walks over to Daisy.

"That was an amazing fight," she says, smiling. "Kyokugen is everything I'd heard it was," she continues, as she offers a hand to the policewoman.

COMBATSYS: Sakura takes no action.

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

[DAISY]
Failing to land the blow proves to be the final straw for Daisy's endurance. Perhaps the positive reinforcement of giving as good as she got might have bolstered her resolve a little more and given her just enough of a boost to stay in the game. Alas, her opponent is a bit too quick and the wild swinging uppercut sees the cop once more spinning about with her own momentum. This time she's too exhausted to make the necessary corrections in time and instead goes flying forward onto her face yet again.

This time Daisy seems more content to keep hugging the ground. She lets out a soft groan as the fresh new pains of faceplanting overwhelm her desire to stand. Perhaps if this were a life or death situation, she'd have more motivation. But as her first public match in several years, she's thinking that was a pretty good showing. Ryo had complimented her many times over the past few months on her progress to regaining the spark that she once had. Considering how easily she seemed to get into the flow of the fight this time, he's sure to be proud. That's enough for Daisy.

Hearing the voice of her young opponent, Daisy flops over onto her back. She offers the girl a thumbs up and one of her best smiles, responding to her praise in kind.

"OH YES! I had a lot of fun!"

Daisy kips up to her feet so as to look a little less like an abused doormat. Dusting herself off, she accepts the offered hand and shakes it vigorously. Apparently she bounces back from getting pummeled quickly.

"You're pretty good for someone so young! You should meet Takuma-sensei. I bet he'd love to spar with you!"

[SAKURA]
Sakura eh-hehs as Daisy pops up and mentions Takuma. Now HIM she's heard about. "I don't know about that... but maybe!" It would certainly be educating... if brief, likely. That is an absolute beast of a man, certainly at least as powerful as Ryu, with even more experience, and as a teacher to boot.

After a moment, she bows, deeply and respectfully, to Daisy. "You're a heck of a fighter, Daisy Mallone," she says--at least she remembers her name, although she wouldn't've been so presumptous as to talk too familiarly to her during their first fight. Sakura winces, as the adrenaline _finally_ finishes crashing, and she shivers as the aches and pains wash up like flotsman onto the shore.

"Ehehe... I think I need a banana and a nap." Maybe three bananas--potassium, ho! And definitely the nap.

"Thank you for an illuminating, exciting fight," she repeats, bowing again.

[DAISY]
Daisy grins at the description of her martial arts instructor. Beast would definitely be the word a lot of people would chose to use for Takuma, though probably not for the reasons the girl is thinking. While his personal fighting prowess is well known, his treatment of would-be students is probably even more so. Many are surprised that the dojo even manages to continue existing considering how few patrons manage to make it through the interview process.

"YEP! Takuma-sensei is a pretty impressive man. Very strict! Very demanding! But lots of fun, once you get to know him!"

Returning the bow to the student in kind gives Sakura an eyefull of cleavage. Apparently Takuma's rigorous standards don't apply to modest uniforms. Or maybe it's just Daisy's American aesthetic. Either way, the blonde seems not to notice or care how little it would take for her to suffer a wardrobe malfunction while wearing what is essentially a glorified bath robe.

"Same to you, Sakura-chan!"

Clearly, Daisy doesn't put a lot of stock in the 'being overly familiar' aspect of Japanese culture. Unlike the teenager, however, she doesn't seem particularly tuckered out by the fight, being either tougher than she looks or too dense to notice. The talk of food, however, does pique her interest and she nods enthusiastically.

"YES! I think I'm going to reward myself with a milkshake. Sadly, no time for naps! Duty calls! Always more work to do!"

COMBATSYS: Sakura has ended the fight here.

Log created on 16:00:43 03/28/2021 by Sakura, and last modified on 21:32:13 04/01/2021.