Match of the Millennium

Description: While there might not be a lot of opportunities for a rugged mountain man to throw down with a school girl in day to day life, the Kanzuki Estate has allowed this unexpectedly spicey match to play out in high definition for your viewing pleasure.

[TARMO]
While this particular part of Southtown has been left depressingly dark for much longer than many would like in the wake of the Darkstalker Crisis, life is steadily edging back to 'normal'. And if anything is an indicator of it, then it would be the multitude of bright neon lights that illuminate the district even at such a late hour having been brought to life once more.

And there's not many places that are as brightly lit, then, than the streets just outside Neo*Geo Land. In particular, the crossroads between the towering building housing the massive arcade and the SNK office building seem to have nary a shadow in them -- though the fact that the space has been barricaded off and pedestrians are kept outside the barriers has plenty to do with that, too.

It's within this square, brightly lit arena where an entirely foreign figure stands. And even without other people standing next to him, the six foot and seven inch figure still stands clear as someone much larger than most people around these parts. It's not just his size that would make the bearded european stand out, though. It's his measure of dress. For whatever reason, he has insisted on wearing a thick, olive-green field jacket with a fur-lined collar hood in spite of the fact that, really, it's just not that cold anymore. Which may very well be a contributing factor to him having not only left the jacket unzipped, but... also foregone wearing anything *under* it, thus leaving the man's muscular, practically chiseled chest and abdomen on full display.

He waits patiently enough there, for the other fighter scheduled to arrive, seemingly not to mind the multitude of bemused stares from the spectators gathered along the barriers.. Slowly munching on a positively *massive* chinese meat bun that nearly dwarfs even his enormous bear paw of a hand. Mostly letting his eyes wander along the display of the arcade building towering over the arena.

"...Should've brought quarters..."

[RYUKO]
"You'd need a whole bucket of em to survive long here. These games are pretty much designed to siphon money out of poor unsuspecting kids with access to their parent's pockets."

The voice of a young woman responds to what was probably supposed to be a mutter from the large foreigner to himself. Considering all of the noise filling the area, both from the constant blare of chirpy arcade sounds wafting out of the NEO*GEO play room and the din of conversation from the gathered crowd awaiting their chance to spectate the upcoming match, the girl must have some pretty incredible hearing. That or she's standing right behind him.

Though tall for her ethnicity, the teenage girl that emerges into the open is dwarfed by the mountain of Finnish muscle. To add further contrast between the two contestants, her manner of dress seems to be quite the opposite of the bare chested wrestler. A dark blazer and skirt that looks like it might be some sort of preppy high school uniform clings to her frame snugly, accentuating her feminine silhouette without being obvious about it. While no doubt comfortable, it doesn't seem like the sort of attire one would wear to a fight.

However, it's hardly the most obvious or strange element to the student. Protruding from the girl's bob cut of raven locks, twin tear-drop shaped metal panels seem to be fixed to the sides of her head. Neon purple light blazes brightly from several LED panels along their surface giving the strange apparatuses a sort of cyberpunk-ish appearance. The twin antennae make soft whirring noises as they rotate forward slowly, dipping up and down in Tarmo's direction. All they need is tricorder sounds to make the image complete.

The other element that sticks out like a sore thumb is the massive metal sheath held in her right hand. Considering this is Japan, the subtle curve in the holster makes it fairly easy to guess that the weapon in her possession is a katana. Not exactly the sort of thing one expects to find people simply carrying around openly, especially not some high school punk.

Glancing up at the towering monument to masculine over-compensation, the student offers him a cocky grin. She doesn't seem the share the typical Japanese trait of being overly shy or stand-offish to outsiders, locking a lone amber eye onto his face without a shred of hesitation, the other hidden behind a curtain of stylish bangs combed over her face.

"I always preferred games that require a little more thought and planning, any ways. Hook me up with a good four-ex strategy game over that button mashing garbage any day."

[TARMO]
"Hmmm?"

The massive finn's voice may naturally come louder even when he intends it to, but still-- by all rights, the words indeed should not have been heard by anyone else, much less by someone from the crowds. This fact is enough to draw the foreigner's attention and curiousity both, sweeping his eyes over to the direction of the voice, to see Ryuko emerging from amidst the spectators.

He looks her over just as shamelessly. It's not a lecherous look mind you, no, it's one fueled by the curiousity brought on by the unexpected response, and further spurred on by her appearance. Outfit, weapon and head-antennae both. While he doesn't make any effort at all to hide his dubiousness about it all, he doesn't actually say anything about any of it... yet.

"That so?" He rumbles, needing to crane his neck quite a bit to maintain eye contact -- though after a moment, his gaze ends up shifting back over to the towering arcade again. "Still, I'm kinda, jealous. We didn't have aaaaaanythin' like this back home when I was a kid. ... Actually, no, there was one place in town, but it closed down before I was old enough to get my own pocket change... Shame."

Turning back to face his upcoming opponent, the Finn flashes a *wide*, toothy smile down to her again. "But nevermind that. Yo!" His free hand comes up in a mock-salute. "You probably figured it out already, but I'm Tarmo. Say..." Subtly, the mountain of a man leans over and down, slightly, and his hand turns to point a single finger in gesture at the metal holster in her hand. "That a real blade? You ain't gonna be whacking me with some wooden sword or something instead, are ya? They already got me all hyped up about fightin' a japanese swordfighter an' all."

[RYUKO]
Ryuko grins, letting out an amused snort. She's too young to have ever really experienced the arcade craze to begin with. That sort of thing went out of style a while ago. Unless you count the multitudes of pachinko parlors and gambling dens that seem to be found in every public space these days, in which case Japan might be the world's last great bastion for such things. The idea of being cooped up in some noisy narrow space full of sweaty nerds doesn't really appeal to the girl. Not that she isn't a big dork herself but she's always been more of a fan of getting her socializing done through healthier means - like hitting people over the head with wooden swords.

Ah, but today is a rare occasion! Today she gets to put the practice bokken down and take her precious into battle. Ryuko's hands goes to the hilt of her blade as the towering foreigner questions the authenticity of its deadly nature, stroking the supple leather grip with the exposed fingers protruding from her glove as if to soothe its wounded ego. It's been quite a while since she last got to wield the unique blade. Not since that time that the...

Ryuko's expression changes to one of confusion as her mind tries to dredge up a memory that doesn't seem to exist. She blinks, staring blankly at the large man for a few seconds as if in a daze. What was it she was trying to recall? Something about a fight and...

The girl grimaces and looks away, a hand going to the side of her temple as a sharp pain runs through her head. Damnit, it's been a long time since she hit a snag like this. After the accident it was fairly common, her memories a muddled mess thanks to the brain damage and the strain of trying to adapt to the computer in her head. Remembering things that should have been important to her - birthdays, friends, family - none of it seemed to exist, as if her mind was a hard drive that had been wiped clean. She hadn't taken it well. But, eventually, she started to fill up those holes with new memories and the pain slowly faded away until she stopped worrying about it completely.

Rubbing with irritation at her forehead, the girl doesn't seem to notice the way her head ornaments seem to shift in temperament. The bright neon glow from within seems to redouble in intensity as the fin-like apparatuses reorient themselves skywards, wiggling back and forth like a couple of antennae seeking a signal. Eventually, they seem to zero in on whatever they're looking for and the teenager's grimace quickly fades as she recovers her wits.

"Nrgh... sorry about, sudden headache. It happens sometimes."

Ryuko turns her head back up towards the huge man, running her free hand through her hair and exhaling her annoyance. He's treated to the brief sight of what lies hidden underneath those roguishly positioned bangs. A square metallic looking eye patch covers most of the girl's left socket, the faint hints of a wicked vertical scar peeking out from under the top and bottom edges. The girl's expression quickly morphs back into a lazy smirk and she returns the faux-salute by flopping her arm in the air at him in what is probably supposed to be a wave, wielding her apathy casually like only a teenager can.

"Ryuko. And don't worry, big guy. I'll be happy to show you just how sharp it is once we get this party started."

[TARMO]
"Hrm? Oi, little miss..." The Finn's eyes narrow when Ryuko's expression changes into the grimace. Even without the antennas protruding from her head going crazy. For all that he seemed to be eager to witness the girl's capacity for violence, he actually seems concerned by the sudden change. "You alright there? Do you need--"

He doesn't seem *entirely* convinced by the explanation that comes after, and the brief further proof he gets to see in the form of one eye - or lack thereof - being covered up underneath her hair just fills his expression with further suspicion.

But, still. There has to be a measure of respect to be given for wanting to just push past it anyway, so he all he offers then is, "...If you're sure."

The promise makes him light up again, however. The toothy grin returns, and he straightens up from his lean. "Alright-- Oh, right, just..." Realizing his hand is still occupied, he brings up the remains of the meat bun and... just shoves them wholesale into his open maw with an audible 'amf', and it takes only a few seconds for the entire thing to be swallowed down.

"Alright. I'm ready to see it then!" He declares with a single step taken back to create some initial distance to the schoolgirl, as he slams one enormous fist against the broad plane of his other hand's palm with an audible *THUMP*.

"Tarmo Karmala will be your opponent, now!"

COMBATSYS: Tarmo has started a fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Tarmo            0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Ryuko has joined the fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Ryuko            0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0            Tarmo

And the very instant Ryuko makes it clear she's ready for the fight, herself, and drawing for her blade -- the moutnainous finn makes his own sudden move, stomping in with a thunderous sound from his weight bursting forward. Apparently, Tarmo isn't intent on making the actual use of her treasured weapon to be an easy affair, for his enormous hands reach in to grab for the girl's own arms.

And if she can't either slip away from getting grabbed or wrest herself out of it afterwards, she'll find herself suddenly swung to the side while the Finn would spin himself around, swinging her along his own axis over and over and over again before finally letting go to send her plummeting through the air towards one of the sturdier barriers blocking off the roads.

Assuming she isn't able to stop him in his tracks, anyhow.

COMBATSYS: Tarmo successfully hits Ryuko with Moukariheitto.
-* CRITICAL HIT! *-

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

[RYUKO]
Ryuko quirks her brow at how quickly things shift from casual chatter to game time. Guess the big guy is eager to get to it. Rolling her shoulders to limber up, the girl strides a few paces out into the open arena and positions herself in front of the towering foreigner. She doesn't bother taking off her blazer, apparently unworried about the expensive looking jacket getting damaged in the upcoming scuffle.

The teenager's fighting stance proves to be unusual, keeping to the theme she has going. She takes up a loose posture, her feet spread apart at roughly shoulder width. Taking a deep breath, the girl slowly turns her left side towards her opponent and rests her left hand on the hilt of the blade; a southpaw, apparently. The weapon remains in its sheath, however, the scabbard held in her other hand at roughly the same level as her waist. The stance seems to bizarrely leave the student almost completely exposed, her back half turned to the danger and with no obvious means to defend herself quickly.

"Ready when you are, Tiny!"

Almost immediately she regrets signaling her readiness for the fight. As the mountainous warrior rushes at her, the teenager's eye narrows and she seems to focus intently on something. Or, she tries at least. Instead, another burst of pain explodes behind her eyes and she staggers backwards just as a pair of arms posing as tree trunks snap down to engulf her. Her flinch probably wasn't noticed by the foreigner and even if it was he might well have interpreted it as sudden panic. Either way, he doesn't slow down.

The crushing might of the huge man easily overpowers what strength the teenager might have to muster, even in she was in her top form. Around and around they spin, adding a pleasant touch of vertigo to the crippling migraine. Ryuko attempts to squirm free but she might as well be a worm wriggling on a hook at this point. Eventually, the carousel ride comes to an end and she's hurled like a sack of potatoes, rebounding with a dull thud against one of the heavy wooden barricades that forms the edge of the arena.

"F-fuck..."

It takes Ryuko a few seconds to shake off the haze of pain and disorientation. Shakily, she staggers to her feet, leaning heavily on her sheath for assistance in the process. A rush of confusion and worry floods through her mind as she tries to figure out precisely what went wrong. That had never happened before. Though she never really understood why she had such a natural affinity for fighting, she had always been able to call upon her inherent battle focus in times of need without any issue. Perhaps the implants are malfunctioning, messing with her head. That thought is thoroughly unpleasant and this problem couldn't have come at a worse time.

For a few brief moments, she considers just calling the fight off despite her disgust for the idea. If she really is suffering from some sort of mechanical issue in her brain of all places then pushing on blindly might cause who knows what kind of damage. Shifting her gaze back to Tarmo, the teen tries to focus again, directing her full attention towards the hulking man. Dutifully, the twin antennae pivot forward and apply their own senses to the indicated target, feeding a bring string of cursory data to her mind without any issues. Well, that's good enough for her.

"Nrgh... I've fought some roided out muscleheads before but you definitely take the cake."

She shifts back into her fighting stance again, shoulder turned outwards towards the danger as if inviting a second round with disaster. Ryuko grins, wiping a faint smudge of blood from the corner of her lip where her face hit the pavement. Been a while since she got belted that hard but fighting against the odds only makes the challenge all the more interesting. She doesn't bother trying to recall memories of previous battles that she might compare her current situation to - both to avoid triggering another headache and because all of her focus needs to be directed towards the present.

Concentrating on reaching deep inside to find her center, Ryuko's eye narrows once again. Instantly, the telltale tremor of humming power radiates out through her body like a warm familiar pulse. The girl's grin widens slightly, revealing a flash of teeth as her confidence surges. Okay, she can still do this. It's time to get back in the game.

There isn't any warning when Ryuko launches her attack. No flexing of her arms, no tensing of her legs, no obvious change in her expression that an experienced fighter might pick up on to prepare themselves. She seems to simply flow forward, changing from motionless concentration to a mad dash in the blink of an eye. The teenager darts forward at a dead run and her athleticism quickly makes itself known as she closes the gap between the two fighters almost instantly. Her weapon remains strangely holstered, even as she approaches the massive target, perhaps indicating that she plans to simply ram him and try to pit her strength against his bulk.

It isn't until the last moment that Ryuko's true intentions reveal themselves. Shifting her aim slightly to the side, the girl puts on a sudden burst of speed, practically leaping past the wrestler on his left side. The soft whisk of metal on metal and a blur of neon blue light is the only thing that betrays the movement of her blade. The attack itself happens in a blur of motion, a blinding flash that one might easily miss if they blinked at the wrong moment, as the sword lashes out at Tarmo's bare torso in a quick horizontal cut.

Ryuko skids past the target after delivering her strike, the blade held out to her side in an overly dramatic pose. Like some samurai in a cheesy old action flick, she doesn't bother to look behind her as she quickly slides the weapon back into its sheath, pausing when only a couple inches of the cold steel blade remain exposed. Then, with an exaggerated flourish, she presses it the rest of the way down, creating a soft click when the tsuba hits the top of the scabbard.

COMBATSYS: Tarmo endures Ryuko's Tenryuko Senjin EX.

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

[TARMO]
The finnish mountain himself is left spinning a few revolutions still even after sending the schoolgirl sailing through the air -- to the point that he has to stomp his foot down hard to stop his own momentum.

"Oh..."

The man's eyes narrow while he holds one hand up over his own brow, as if needing to shade them from the lights of the city blasting down upon them. "Sheesh. Did I overdo it afterall?" He mumbles, while watching the girl on the ground after her slam against the barricade. He *almost* looks worried.

But in the end, Ryuko doesn't disappoint. His face lights up with a wide grin all over again when she manages to bring herself all the way up to her feet.

"Hey, hey, that's the spirit!"

Simply overjoyed from the pure thrill of the fight, he doesn't seem to even notice any trouble the girl is having with her head, much less acknowledge them. For he's already stomping forward to approach her even while she's fully regaining her focus, head tipping to one side and then the other to stretch out his neck.

"Hey, hey, come on, now," he protests at her words -- even if he is still grinning. "Do I really seem like the kinda guy who'd pump whole buncha chemicals into him, eh? Inject some Muscle-Right-Away riiiight here?" HIs left arm lifts up and curls to flex out the bicep hidden beneath the sleeve of his jacket, enough to make the fabric visibly strain as he slaps his right hand atop it. "Swole muscles guaranteed! Just ignore the million side-effects an' all, eh?"

Still. His eyes practically glint when she readies herself all over again, and he hunches down slightly, too, as if preparing for an oncoming charge from her--

But it's not quite the direct charge he may have expected. And certainly not at such an immense speed. He did want to see the skills of a japanese swordfighter on display, afterlal, and he got it.

"Eh--?"

Still, he can't help the sensation of surprise when he realizes his eye can't quite track the momentum of the girl. And the result becomes clear in short order, too-- in the fabric of his jacket at his side splitting, and a trail of blood suddenly filling the air to trace the path the sword took.

However. Even if he could not follow her motion directly, he could at least predict where she was going to end up. And in spite of receiving such a wound that would immediately debilitate most men, he was already spinning himself around -- and refusing to stop from it now.

"Where you lookin'?!"

Another thunderous soudn of a stomping foot booms through the crossroads. And a quick peek back would reveal to Ryuko - given the devices in her head didn't already signal it to her without need for visual confirmation - that her opponent has already leaped into motion before even the tip of her sword had made it back to contact with her scabbard.

And that he's now barrelling straight for her, shoulder-first. It's not exactly an eloquent technique, no, but it does strike the worrying image of a speeding truck closing in.

COMBATSYS: Ryuko blocks Tarmo's Rynnakko.

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

[RYUKO]
"Who needs to look...?"

Ryuko doesn't bother turning around to face onrushing freight train of manly muscle bearing down her, committing fully to her attempt to look cool by sheathing her weapon in dramatic fashion. The apparatuses on her head, however, give the large man their full attention, swiveling rapidly back to point in his direction. It seems that whatever purpose they serve, acting as an extra set of eyes seems to be one of them.

"When you make as much noise as a herd of elephants!"

The girl flows into motion as Tarmo leaps, whipping around at what seems like the last possible moment. The heavy metal scabbard snaps up to form a crossbar in front of her and she braces both arms against the impact. Stopping the charging rhinoceros cold was never in the cards but the teenager's quick reflexes allows her to divert his momentum off at an angle, sliding sideways into a quick pirouette.

Unfortunately for Tarmo, his reckless attack has left him in a compromising position now. Quickly recognizing her opportunity, Ryuko grins and adjusts her momentum from the elusive block and flows with the spin into a lunge at the large man's back. Her blade whips out in a flash, another glowing blue contrail staining the air as she unleashes a massive slash at the broad target. This time the sword snaps out and returns to its sheath so fast that the click of it settling back into place can be heard almost before the sting of the cut is even felt.

COMBATSYS: Tarmo interrupts Tenryuko Kanzan EX from Ryuko with Moukari-Isku EX.

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

[TARMO]
"Haha!"

Tarmo, as it turns out, is *hardly* disappointed when his charging advance is halted by his opponent's guard. If anything, he seems very much satisfied by the realization that her guard isn't giving in, and the metal scabbard she wields in her hands now doesn't so much as creak under the considerable pressure.

"Stealth's not really my style anyway!"

The spin that carries her out of the defensive posture sends the bear of a man stumbling forward slightly with an audible "Whuup!" then. Indeed, his back has been left open, even if he is turning his head instinctively to try and track the highschool samurai. And spinning further in an effort to turn to face the blade swinging in head on. But it's too late, surely, he's about to get cut through--

But something's wrong. Her blade has *stopped*.

Yes, the dangerously sharp edge has sunken an inch or so into Tarmo's side, now, but why, then, did it not slash fully across his chest instead? Why isn't it moving at all now?

That would be, Ryuko will find, because of the the hand the size of her head wrapped around her forearm, seeming as thin as a twig within it's grip.

"Ow, ow..." Winces Tarmo, through grit teeth. But no, even that doesn't take away his excited smile. "I *did* ask to see how sharp it is, didn't I? Good show, too."

Sword arm still held in that dreadfully tight grip, her opponent's other hand suddenly surges forth to grab at her abdomen, and using both those points of contact, he leverages her weight down and over with his own lean -- forcing the sword to slip off of his flesh and her back to crash down onto the pavement with another thunderous sound. But this particular thunder comes now from her body rather than his feet.

[RYUKO]
To her credit, the high schooler manages not to panic when she realizes she's been caught. Her expression shifts to one of obvious anxiety, however, her cocky grin wavering slightly as beads of sweat appear on her forehead. She attempts, despite the futility of it, to pit her strength against his and wrest her arm free of the iron grip but the foreigner is having none of it.

"Shiiiii-!"

The crude expletive is cut short as all of the breath explodes out of her lungs upon contact with the pavement setting off what feels like the second bomb to detonate inside her chest today. Every bone in her body rattles and creaks in protest, her back going all but numb. Well, at least she can't feel it now. That's going to be one hell of a bruise in the morning.

As much as she'd prefer to lie flat on the ground and just take a breather the thought of being stomped on by the giant's massive feet is enough motivation to get her moving quickly despite the pain. Rolling to the side only a few moments after being cast down, Ryuko nimbly regains her feet, wheezing out a harsh cough at the effort.

"The show... nrgh... is just getting started, pal!"

Taking a deep breath, Ryuko's focus intensifies. To her, the world seems to slow down gradually until every thing is moving in slow motion. To everyone else, she would suddenly go still only to turn into a blur of motion a few moments later. Shifting into her ready stance, the girl's hand goes to the hilt of her blade. Time to really give the spectators something to be impressed about.

"Ougi!"

The first strike comes out in a flat arc, whipping across the wrestler's waist line. As before, the sword snaps back into its sheath in a single fluid motion as part of the attack, ready to be unleashed again. And so it is, a second cut striking upwards diagonally towards the broad bare chest of her hulking foe, then again in a similar diagonal cut at his ankles.

All of this happens in roughly the span of a heartbeat. Three shimmering arcs of blue light seem to explode into the foreigner at the same time as the impossibly fast assault defies the nature of time. And it doesn't stop there. A second set of slashes follows in the wake of the first, each cut repeating the pattern previously established - middle, high, low. And, just because she doesn't do thing's by half measures, yet /another/ barrage of deadly cuts lashes out in a third and final trio of strikes. With every swing, the girl's blade cuts with unnerving precision, each slash hitting exactly the same spot as the one that came before it to dig ever deeper furrows into his flesh. This slab of beef might be thicker than most but she /will/ carve through it with enough perseverance!

However, her ability to maintain the intense focus quickly hits its limits. Sucking in a deep breath, Ryuko unleashes one final cut, dashing past the man as she repeats her previous dramatic samurai slash. And again, she leaves her back turned to Tarmo, apparently confident in her ability to sense him coming or willing to sacrifice a bit of defense to look cool. Time snaps back to normal speeds as she finishes the final cut leaving the big man now sporting three fresh cuts and an opponent who somehow has managed to get behind him again - assuming he doesn't manage to find a way to interfere with her wild blitz.

"Mokozan!"

COMBATSYS: Tarmo endures Ryuko's Ougi - Mokozan.

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

[TARMO]
"Mmm, yeah?" Tarmo just *grins* at the cocky declaration Ryuko utters past her own hurt -- not that he isn't conscious of his own hurt, seeing as he *is* pressing his hand momentarily against the more recent cut she managed to inflict upon him. "Good. Would be shame if the climax came early, wouldn't it?"

He might end up regretting that particular statement within the next few seconds.

He's gotten enough of a bead on Ryuko's particular fighting style, at least, that he realizes when the strike is about to go. Instincts command him to reach to grab at her, first, but--

"--!!"

At the very last second, he realizes he's not going to be fast enough. And in a desperate shift of momentum, he forces his enormous frame to leaning back instead, just enough to narrowly avoid the first slash.

But not the rest.

Blood splatters across the air faster than his brain can even register he's getting cut, woodland camo -patterned pants and the olive field jacket both getting steadily shredded. Even in that instant of slow motion, he can barely understand what is happening, or how he could possibly hope to stop it.

And in the end, he doesn't even try to.

No, instead, the mountain suddenly pushes back in. The initial backing motion is used to turn him around, and when his foot stomps to carry him after her, he effectively ends up fearlessly stepping right into the final slash.

"Rrrr--!"

No banter this time. The giant simply charges right after the girl who, yet again, has left her back turned to him. And this time, he's intent on grabbing her down before she can even try to turn around.

And bring those gigantic hands grasping at her body from either side, and simply hoist her up off the ground, over his head, where she is fated to be spun around in his grip so her head is facing ahead rather than behind him, right before he leaps into the air. And when the vicious reality of gravity brings his immense weight plummeting down again, so does he swing her downwards too -- to drive her head-first into the street at terminal velocity.

"PERKELE!!!"

COMBATSYS: Ryuko auto-guards Tarmo's Ihmiskeihas.

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

[RYUKO]
This time, she does turn around to look, peering over her shoulder to give the bellowing titan a smug toothy grin as he abandons the idle chatter. Maybe next time he'll reconsider going shirtless to a sword fight. On the other hand, chicks dig scars, or so they say. She did him a favor, clearly.

While Tarmo might think he's got the girl all figured out, she decides to surprise him this time. No effort is made to avoid the crushing grip of the titan as his massive mitts snap closed around her waist. It's already become blindly obvious that she has no chance of beating him in a direct contest of strength and with his reckless abandonment of self preservation she hasn't had a good chance to try and out-maneuver him either. Which just leaves one option.

"Woa-hey!"

Ryuko's calm in momentarily disturbed as she's unceremoniously turned upside-down. A hand is thrust down, or up in the case of her inverted alignment, to try and keep the loose skirt from succumbing to gravity, but with one hand stuck holding onto her weapon she doesn't succeed in protecting her modesty much. Everyone in the audience, including the home viewers, get a nice quick flash of black lace that looks every bit as expensive and fancy as the rest of her attire.

However, the issue of her dignity seems small compared to the fact that the girl seems about to be planted head-first into the concrete like a tent spike. But, once again, Ryuko's bizarre powers over time come into play to make the impossible happen. A soft whine begins to emit from the twin machines on her head, the neon LEDs across their surface going from a faint glow to an eye-searing blaze of purple. The deadly downwards plummet slows from a plunge to a crawl to her senses, like everything is suddenly trapped in a thick coat of molasses.

Gritting her teeth with effort, Ryuko puts her hands on Tarmo's huge mitts and casually pries them off her waist, his barbarian strength reduced to nothing but a static fixture in those distorted moments in time. Now free from her restraint, the girl drops the last few inches to the ground, hitting on her shoulder and rolling off to the side in a controlled fall. Time snaps back to full speed moments later, leaving the wrestler to scream his warcry while swinging a pair of empty hands at the ground, no doubt in total confusion.

Pushing back to her feet, Ryuko closes her eye and casually smoothes out her skirt, her brow twitching wildly. She tries not to blush too hard at the thought of having flashed the entirety of the first world. At least she wore something dark today.

"Ugh, this is what I hate about grapplers. No respect for a girl's feelings."

It's a good thing they're already in a fight because after a stunt like that she isn't planning on letting this guy off easy. Gripping her blade and shifting into her sideways stance, Ryuko once more goes on the offensive. Her movements seem much more rapid that before, her footwork less fancy and more ruthlessly practical. She darts in only as far as necessary to get within striking range, unleashing a handful of quick probing cuts in an effort to try and draw the big man off to one side where she can potentially exploit and opening in his defense.

COMBATSYS: Tarmo blocks Ryuko's Random Strike.

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

[TARMO]
Tarmo's feet land on the groudn and the swing of his hands completes their motion to drive Ryuko's head into--

Hey, wait a second.

Why are his hands empty?

"Eh?" Tarmo even squeezes his fingers closed to his palms a few times over, as if uncertain if Ryuko did in fact slip free or just... who knows, turned invisible or something.

The complaint is what draws his attention from his own empty grip up to Ryuko herself, but even after that his eyes snap rapidly back and forth between her and his hands, in confusion. "How...?"

Instead of getting an answer to that question, he instead receives the wrath of a teenaged girl scorned. His worries on the particular logistics behind her escape from his attack are pushed away in favor of focusing on her oncoming assault. One quick retreating step back is made first in an effort to gain some distance, but in the end it does nothing to stop the first sharp poke from pinching at his bulging abs. "Guh!"

His arm slams out right after that first cut, however, inevitably resulting in another small cut forming along his arm as collateral when his palm sets into the handguard on the weapon, using that point of contact to shove the girl back before she can follow up with further strikes. "Off!"

There's no immediate counterattack from him, however. The initial over-excitement for the fight is starting to come back to bite him in the ass, as evidenced by sweat beading on his brow from exertion, and him letting out a heavier exhale he didn't even realize he was holding back. For just a moment, he just maintains a steady retreat, stomping footwork circling him about her in hopes of avoiding another destructive cut while he's busy resettling his breathing.

COMBATSYS: Tarmo gains composure.

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

[RYUKO]
In a strange twist of fate, the beef cake finds himself on the retreat as Ryuko continues to sting away at him like an irate wasp. While the stress of continuous fighting seems to have worn into the juggernauts defenses, the girl suffers proves to be in quite good shape considering how things started out. A non-stop barrage of harassing attacks presses in at Tarmo as he tries to dance away from the slicing blade, forcing him to fight for every brief moment of respite lest he earn himself another nick from the tip of the deadly katana.

"What's the matter, Tiny? You look like you're starting to slow down!"

The teenager practically snarls a grin at him, her previously friendly demeanor replaced with the fury of a slighted woman. It might be partly her fault for wearing a skirt to a fight but that isn't going stop her from taking his lack of consideration out of the big jerk's hide.

Shifting back and forth like a blur, Ryuko continues to press hard. She does her best to cut off the wrestler's escape as he tries to keep out of range, slashing wildly at his sides any time he tries to circle around, slowly forcing him to retreat until his back is literally against the wall. Seeing her chance to finally move in for a telling blow, as well as extract a bit of petty revenge, the teenager sudden shifts from feinting harassment to a full on assault.

Lunging directly forward, Ryuko's blade snaps out in a flash. Its target? The big foreigner's waist - or more precisely, the waist line of his cargo pants. Should the blade find its mark, Tarmo would suddenly find that his trousers lack the suspension necessary to remain snuggly attached to his hips as the fabric parts in surgical cut.

Seeing as the obvious and instinctive reaction to suddenly being de-pants is to try and cover oneself, the girl makes a second strike in anticipation of precisely this outcome. Leaping into the air, Ryuko spins as she brings the sheath of her sword, itself a heavy chunk of metal, up in a high overhead arc. The blunt piece of steel comes crashing down with the force of a sledgehammer, aiming to brain the big lug right on the dome as he struggles with the sudden wardrobe malfunction.

COMBATSYS: Tarmo Toughs Out Ryuko's Tenryuko Souken EX!

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

[TARMO]
"I'm-- hhaaahh-- fine--!" Claims the giant finn even while he continues his seemingly frantic retreat and defensive maneuvering. Sweating with exertion and nerves both while the girl he accidentally(?) made to flash her underthings to the worldwide audience zips around him like some comic book hero.

The lunge comes, and he puts up his guard-- but unfortunately, Ryuko's target is... lower, than he anticipated. At least it doesn't hurt...

Though he does find pretty quickly that he's getting his own share of embarrassment now, as his cargo pants fall down his tree trunk -sized, muscular legs, and even the boxers underneath are left to visible distress with a cut left halfway across them to result in them hanging perilously low along his adonis belt.

"Ah--"

The Finn spares a quick, vaguely concerned glance down--

And perhaps unexpectedly, that's all the thought he has to spare for his situation, for his eyes immediately snap back up to Ryuko as he leans in, sweeping one foot forward to forcefully tear the bundle of clothes pooled at his ankles apart to destroy the restraint they'd otherwise formed, and...

BONK.

The pillar of steel smacks square on the top of the giant's head with a loud, metallic sound echoing through the square. But rather than him jostling from the strike, he just...

He just grins at the teenager.

"Thought you said you weren't gonna whack me with a stick!"

The pants-tearing forward stomp carries him further in towards him while the top of his ridicilously thick skull slides along the length of the scabbard . No, apparently he doesn't have enough shame about his own body to care much about the clothing malfunction or the potential for 18+ rated flashing if he moves the wrong way with his underthings being left in their current state.

And with it all, a wound-back fist is launched forward in a devastating uppercut -- so strong that even if she intercepts it with her defenses rather than avoiding it outright, it's enough to launch her up into the air.

And when she is, the finnish juggernaut pounces right up into the air with her -- bringing his arms over her back to pull her in underneath him, so that when gravity brings both of them down, she'll squashed right underneath him with enough force to crack the asphalt of the street.

COMBATSYS: Tarmo successfully hits Ryuko with Ilmahyokkays EX.

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

[RYUKO]
Mistakes were made.

Perhaps it's the mindset of a teenager that betrays the girl as she expects her punitive measures to inflict the same sort of embarrassment on her opponent as he had on her. Alas, it seems Tarmo's willingness to bare his chest extends to the rest of his body. The ominous ripping noise of fabric proves to be the herald of her doom as the huge man casually destroys his own pants in favor of reaching out to intercept the airborne attacker.

"Aw, crap."

The lame response is all Ryuko has time for before the ham-sized fist slams into her gut like a runaway train. The terrible blow sends the student flying up into the air, her eye bulging wide with shock as she struggles to suck in a fresh breath with her battered diaphragm. No such mercy is allowed, however, as the hulking bully once more attempts to pile driver the slender girl into the pavement. This time there's no flare of time distorting nonsense to save her - looks like whatever witchcraft she employs on works when Ryuko can form a coherent thought that doesn't start with 'oh god why'.

The concrete is just as solid and hard as it has ever been, providing a thoroughly uncomfortable landing as several hundred pounds of Fin come crashing down atop her. Another harsh burst of air explodes from her mouth as what little wind she'd managed to suck in is violently expelled once again, along with what she's pretty sure was a few chunks of lung. Which sucks because she's pretty sure she needed those chunks. For you know, breathing and stuff.

Several long painful moments pass before functionality starts to return to her body and every single nerve ending in starts screaming at her all at once. Gritting her teeth, Ryuko calls on her focus to once again move with unnatural speed, almost appearing to teleport as she relocates to a place a few feet away. Still kneeling, the girl glares up at Tarmo as she heaves in several pained breaths, her expression a mixture of fury and determination. Losing isn't something that she does often and she's never taken it well, especially when it's a result of her own stupidity.

"That... all you got... Tiny? Ha ha ha...! Barely.... barely even felt it!"

Pushing to her feet, Ryuko seems to rally, drawing upon some deep inner reserves to get her moving again. The strain of operating at this heightened sense of focus was already starting to wear on her; one of the downsides of calling upon her strange gift, it always comes with a price. But the fatigue and pain isn't enough to overwhelm her resolve. Her parents always taught her to never give up, to fight until there's literally nothing left to give. She can still stand which means she can still fight.

Wiping a smear of fresh blood away from her nose with the back of her glove, Ryuko flashes another broad grin at her opponent as she settles back into her fighting stance. By now, he probably has come to realize that this rarely signals good things about to happen. This time is no different.

"Hi-Ougi!"

A nimbus of searing neon blue light explodes to life around Ryuko as she calls out, an aura of power flaring up around her like she's some kind of anime protagonist. The sword is drawn out and held aloft, the weapon exposed to view for more than a brief moment for the first time in the entire fight. The steel blade is darker than most katanas, the majority of its length composed of a dull almost iron-like gray. The sharpened edge, however, has been stained a dark crimson red which makes it stand out quite starkly. Even more bizarre are the multitude of small holes drilled into the tip of the sword which is itself unusual by being thicker near the end rather than the base.

"Ryujin no ken!"

The tip of the katana traces a slow and precise circle through the air as she swings it down towards her feet, the weapon almost seeming to skip through time leaving strange after-images behind it as it moves. When the sword finally completes its path and returns to the upright position the girl's aura seems to have seeped into it, the metal alight with its own azure glow.

The girl shifts her hold on the weapon to a two-handed grip, slowly lowering it down to rest at her side like a samurai of old preparing to engage in a duel. She locks her gaze on Tarmo's face, her lone eye narrowing as the moment of action comes upon them.

And then she's moving. As before, the swordsgirl's speed is utterly unreal, her body seeming to literally teleport as she vanishes from her current spot only to appear moments later directly in front of the towering wrestler. There's nothing for him to track as she moves, no streak of colors or blur of motion to follow. She's just /there/, her blade carving a neon arc into his left side.

"Metsu!"

Once more the girl just disappears, blazing aura and all outright vanishing from her perceptions. A heartbeat later she reappears once more, this time on the opposite flank. A second blazing slash comes at him from that direction before the girl frustratingly pops out of reality yet again.

"Ryu!"

The third and final burst of time distortion deposits the student in the air above and behind Tarmo, just out of his line of sight but close enough to be a threat. With a bellow of challenge, she drops to the ground and brings the searing tip of her weapon slashing in a brutal vertical cut from the top of his spine to the valley of his boxer-wearing behind.

"Haaa!"

COMBATSYS: Ryuko successfully hits Tarmo with Hi-Ougi - Ryujin no Ken - Metsuryuha.

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

[TARMO]
Tarmo at least has the decency to get himself up and off of Ryuko after the landing... though the fact that she does still have posession of a very-sharp weapon is a pretty good motivator for not staying in too close of a proximity for a very long time.

"That right?" The giant rumbles at the kneeling girl after her... apparent teleportation, him now used enough to the ridicilously-fast shenanigans to not be too fazed by it. "You don't seem to be doin' *too* good down there..." Nevermind that his body is already dripping red in quite a few places thanks to the multitude of slashes she has subjected him to.

That brief moment of confidence is quickly forced to be swallowed by him, too. He actually recoils backwards with the sudden bright flare of light surrounding the girl. One bloodied arm brought up to shield his eyes from being seared by the brightness of it alone, he can do little mor eat first but just stare and mutter, "Mitä hel--?"

He doesn't even get time to appreciate the vision of her sword for very long before she's putting it to use again. He does make out the sight of her preparing for the assault, but-- there's very little more he can manage *beyond* that.

He can't even see her anymore once she's launched into her momentum. Cut after cut seems to appear out of nowhere with a fresh spurt of blood sent arcing into the air, brought to a brutal apex with the cut down his back that does, finally, bring a roar of pain from the foreigner, stumbling forward while a spray of red arcs through the air briefly.

... The cut does also have the secondary effect of disecting both his jacket and what remains of his boxers. And finally, after all the abuse, both fall away from his figure, leaving behind a the vision of a mountain of muscle, painted red with his own blood and... uh. Well. The tv broadcast crew is forced to a very quick, panicked arrangement of a rather considerable amount of mosaic censoring. But such a thing is not provided to the live audience nor his opponent.

... And indeed, he doesn't seem to much care about that, either. THe only thing on his mind in that instant is to stop his nearly-fatal stumble with a forceful stamping of his foot against concrete down below, and turning around to facing Ryuko once more.

The fact that he is giving a girl well younger than him a bloodied vision of full-frontal nudity isn't something that even passes his mind, really, while his eyes glare at her, audibly panting from a combination of pain and exhaustion.

But neither of those is enoguh to stop him. Not quite yet. He may be just *barely* standing still, but as long as he does still stand, so too shall he maintain his offense on the girl.

One boot-clad foot stomps down right in front of her while her weapon is still left in it's wound-back rebound. One hand grabs for that sword hand, and the other goes for her torso again, to hoist her up with a guttural roar.

"RRRRRRAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!"

No eloquence there, not even any of the companiable banter. The bloodied barbarian only makes the push to impose his overwhelming physical strength on his opponent to throw her against the concrete wall of the NEO*GEO building itself.

COMBATSYS: Tarmo knocks away Ryuko with Medium Throw.

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

[RYUKO]
The assault had been a hail Mary, one latch ditch effort to try and bring the massive warrior down. As impressive as her display is, it ultimately fails at the task set before it leaving a furious and, um, naked barbarian rushing at her like a wild berserker.

Even more disastrously, unleashing that sort of nonsense was more than enough to overload the girl's already strained concentration. Ryuko's eye rolls up as the power floods out of her, her strength evaporating almost instantly. The blazing aura of dramatic chi gutters out like a candle flame leaving nothing but a weary and battered teenager left to face the wrath of the Fin.

Though she makes a meek attempt to pull away when he turns on her, Ryuko has little resistance to offer. Hoisted up as easily as a doll, she quickly finds herself once again being hurled through the air and slammed unpleasantly into a solid stone surface. She rebounds off the wall and hits the ground hard, making a strangled gasping sound as more of her ribs join their sisters in the 'almost definitely fractured' category.

And yet, as crazy as it might seem, she still tries to stand up. Shaken and bloodied, the girl slowly rolls over onto her stomach and pushes up to all fours. It takes an obvious effort to accomplish even that but through sheer stubborn willpower she slowly manages to put one foot underneath her which is soon followed by the other. One painful subjective eternity later, the girl manages to rise and carefully turns to face the brutish warrior.

Even that much effort nearly sends her back to the floor. Gritting her teeth, Ryuko tries to push past the pain and nausea and focus on what matters - that she can still keep fighting. Her hand returns to the hilt of her sword as she turns sideways, adopting her fighting stance one more time. Her legs shake wobbly for a few moments, threatening to give out from under her, requiring yet more Herculean efforts of will to keep standing.

Once she's got the whole 'don't fall over thing sorted', Ryuko turns her attention back to her opponent. Her gaze inevitably wanders southwards across the man's nude body, his lack of modesty even greater than she could have guessed.

"This... isn't that kind of show, Tiny."

Even battered and bloody as she is, the girl gives him a mocking grin. Unfortunately, she's pretty much all bravado at this point. Barely able to stand, much less swing her sword, she's all but asking to get smashed into paste. Unless, of course, she does something really really stupid - like reach out for that focus one last time...

COMBATSYS: Ryuko focuses on her next action.

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

COMBATSYS: Ryuko has reached second wind!

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

[TARMO]
"Hhaaaahhh.... haaaahhh..."

After that furious channeling of all the pain and energy, Tarmo seems to calm down again by some measure. And the side-effect of that is that all the exhaustion, all the pain and bloodloss starts hitting in again without the adrenaline making up for it.

... But even then. Even then, when he sees the japanese student force herself back up, on the last iotas of her strength... he smiles, faintly, with some subtle tone of approval.

"Hah... you're... the one who stripped me, little miss..." He points out in counter, flashing a bloodied, toothy grin right back at her while he stumbles his way along the street. All the way up until he's slumping against a light pole.

He watches her struggle. All the way until it becomes clear that she still has some fight left in her. Enough to make a defiant last stand, at least.

"YOu're... somethin' else though... Nnnhh..."

Steadily, he straightens himself against the pole, though he still needs to grip onto it with both hands in an apparent need for support.

"...Would be... an insult to... not put in everythin' I have left too... yeah...?"

His muscles visibly bulge and tense, along his shoulders and arms. The concrete underneath the lightpole cracks, and--

Wait. Surely he's not going to...?

"RRRRAAAAAAAGGGHHH!!!"

In a display of herculean strength packed into that enormous body, the barbaric, nude foreigner does, indeed, tear the whole damn thing off the street after some effort, dust and little pieces of concrete crumbling down along from it's base before he spins the newly-found polearm around in his hands once. Directing an utterly *maniacal* grin at Ryuko, now.

"Here I come."

The last vestiges of his strength pulled forth, he leaps into motion, two long, pouncing steps carrying him across the street after her -- and in the end, brings the massive weapon he tore out of the ground swinging for her in a wide horizontal sweep.

"URYAAAAAAAAAA!!"

COMBATSYS: Ryuko fails to interrupt Raskaat Tyokalut from Tarmo with Ougi - Kakushi Ken.

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

COMBATSYS: Ryuko can no longer fight.

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

[RYUKO]
Well that was... certainly not something she had in mind when concocting the potential scenarios for this foolish last stand. She had expected him to come rushing it at her again, looking to crush her like a beer can in those sausages he calls arms, or maybe just try to shoulder check her into the wall like a roided out hockey player.

Ryuko stares with a slack jaw as the hulking figure literally tears up a street lamp with his bare hands, wielding the twenty foot tall pole like the world's largest baseball bat. Gulp. Maybe it'd be better to just lay down and sit this one out after all. She had a pretty good run. He got some hits, she got some hits. Everyone got to see her panties. He's running around with his junk flapping in the wind. Good times.

Unfortunately, surrender isn't on the table any more. As the brute starts to bellow and swing, Ryuko's teeth snap together in another jaw-clenching grimace - more to keep from making an embarrassing terrified squeal than anything. Rushing forward, she does her best to try and close the gap, hoping to blitz into range to give him another clout on the head before he can build up enough momentum behind the swing to clobber her.

But, while her incredible willpower was sufficient to get her on her feet and ready to take one last swing, pushing her body into full motion proves to be disastrous. She's hardly taken two steps when one of the teen's legs gives out from under her. She stumbles and manages to recover but it's a pointless victory as even that small falter is enough to seal her fate.

Turning to glare at the incoming bludgeon with all of the contempt she can muster, Ryuko brings her sword up and braces as best she can. She might well not have bothered. The impact is enough to knock the kid clean off her feet, literally blasting her out of the expensive loafers she was wearing. Sailing backwards, she somehow manages to find the strength to tilt herself into the fall and land on her shoulders, tumbling ass over tea kettle for several feet before one of the barricades finally brings her to a halt.

No more getting back up this time. Ryuko slumps against the flat surface of the barrier, groaning as she sinks towards the ground. Almost dismissive, she presses a hand against her side, unsurprised to be met with almost blinding pain at the faintest touch.

Broken ribs, check. World-class migraine, check. Guarantee that everyone at Gedo will be talking about her underwear for the next three months, check. Good times ahead.

[TARMO]
As impressive as the effort of tearing up city infrastructure to be used as a weapon and then *succeeding* at using it as a weapon is, the barbarian from the northern wilds of Europe still finds himself wobbling and stumbling after the momentum of the enormous club's swing after Ryuko's been sent sailing off from the impact.

"Guh--!"

He's forced to let go of the weapon at the end of it to maintain his balance-- but even then, he's barely keeping himself up on his feet, and it takes a moment for him to properly track down the location of his opponent.

Once he has, he stares after her for all of two seconds before... he simply lets himself slump down onto the curb, himself, with a loud groan.

"Aaahhhh, hell..." The bloodied warrior groans out, lifting one knee up and draping a thick arm over it. "Hell of a workout you gave me, little miss..." A wince cuts him off when he shifts himself a particular way that brings a jolt of pain running from one of the wider wounds she managed to cut into him earlier.

Already, medical teams are on their way to attending both Ryuko and Tarmo... and bringing a towel to provide at least a measure of modesty to the latter, at that.

"...Maybe we both overdid it... just a little..."

COMBATSYS: Tarmo has ended the fight here.

Log created on 18:42:11 04/03/2021 by Ryuko, and last modified on 13:23:22 04/04/2021.