Match of the Millennium

Description: In the arena of the Southtown Young Fighter's Institute, Mr. Hoon faces off against the Boxing Angel, Juliet! Can Justice triumph over divinity, and will anyone actually tell Juliet that his name isn't Mr. Hoon?

[JAE HOON]
Well, Jae Hoon certainly has been eager, hasn't he? Signing up for the Neo League just short of moving to Southtown and all. He likes to fight, and what an opportunity to do so! Talk about obsessed.

Can you really blame him, though, when this is his passion?

As he stands in the locker room space, having shed his casual clothes in favour of his gi, the Korean teen stands at the sink, brown orbs intently staring at his reflection. There's an excitable yet determined grin stretching wide over his face. A vocalised pep talk isn't needed, but he's certainly reminding himself to bring his father and their dojang pride today.

After all, there's supposed to be cameras, right?

Probably why he had taken initiative on finding a proper officiator for the match, as well as a set of proper judges. This event is absolutely serious, in this young ward's mind, so everything up until this point needs to follow a structure. To him, this has to be as professional as possible, because that's just how this kid rolls.

Anyways. Enough about Jae's oddities. Off to the races, we go!

With the locker room being in the same vicinity of the building as one of the gyms, it's a short distance to pad across to his destination. When he arrives, he stands off to the side to await his announcement while also taking in the surrounding sights.

The space is somewhat humble in size, and actually kind of reminds Jae Hoon of a scene right out of Rocky - just without all the flashy draperies and flailing fans. Along the outskirts of the ring itself are various camera crews, and if one looks up into the stands they'll find the odd cameraman standing with a tripod, preparing to publicly film the fight. More towards the middle is a table set out with chairs for the judges, some of which are already settled in and chatting among themselves. There's a small number of attendees filling the seated area that envelopes the center ring, with an opening on the opposite side of where he stands. A guess is that should be where his opponent would be coming through.

Even if the lithe fighter can't see anyone standing there yet, he's thriving. Naturally, he's experiencing pre-fight jitters, but he's bouncing on the balls of his feets to shake up the nerves and get the blood pumping to his legs. Padded hands smack his cheeks before he gives his head a light shake.

No sense getting the heebie jeebies now! This is the kind of thing he lives for!

[JULIET]
Juliet's debut into the Neo League had been... well, pretty awesome, really. She hadn't expected to win against Aranha, but she'd pushed the man hard. It had come down right to the wire, and whilst she walked away with a loss, it was the kind of loss she was proud to tuck under her belt. Amongst the spectators watching the arena, Jae might just notice three people who are watching with more intensity than the others. An older woman in a tracksuit, a portly, balding man with rose-coloured glasses and a purple shirt, and a woman with the most obnoxious fake tan and blonde hair with, excessive, bangs. Where Juliet had her trainer in her corner last time, this time, she'd requested that they hang back. She's got this.

"MISTER. HOON."

The girl's voice fills the space as she descends into the ring. She lands on the balls of her feet, and one glove raises to indicate her opponent. She's already bobbing, weaving. A bright smile pulls on her lips. Jae might be dealing with nerves, but there's no sign at all that the diminutive girl has any understanding of what 'nerves' even mean. If she has even the slightest hesitation about stepping into the ring with a man who outsizes her by over a foot, there's no sign of it whatsoever.

"Glad you could join me this evening!" She exclaims, "But if you think you'll be walking out of here with that pretty blue 'do unmussed, you're in for a shock! Just because I admire your family, don't think for a moment I'll be going easy on you. Tonight, it's a clash of your Justice... against the Heavens themselves!"

The girl fairly radiates confidence in her elaborate costume. The funny thing is, she isn't confident she'll win. She tends to assume that against most experienced fighters, she will in fact lose. But she's confident that whether she wins, loses or draws... she'll be coming away from this one step closer to mastering her own style, and therefore one step closer to her ultimate victory.

[JAE HOON]
His last name isn't Hoon, dangit!

This "Mister Hoon" nonsense is... hopefully going to end today, Jae prays.

His opponent is considerably smaller than the teen expects, but it matters not. Size isn't important. What reigns supreme is skill. It is abundantly clear Juliet is just as eager for this match as he is. She's not even nervous, to boot! Or, if she is, she's not one to put it on display. A breath is forced from his lungs, pushing away all the remaining nerves, and then he descends towards the ring.

Out of the corner of his eye, the judges can be seen completely settled in now, with the officiator padding up to meet the fighters midway. The Korean boy will beat him to their joint destination, which is fine because it gives him a moment to catch a conversation with his opponent.

"It is a privilege to meet such a dedicated fighter of justice," Jae Hoon responds in kind as he slips through the bars onto the padded ring itself. Dark irises glint with expectation and excitement as he stands a full foot before her. His upper body then halves into a respectful bow. "In fighting you today, I shall bring my family honour. Don't think I will go easy on you!"

To the small crowd, the officiator announces the opponents names with arms spread wide before turning on them. Two arms settle into one as it stretches out between them, a signal for Jae Hoon to crouch into a proper fighting stance. His breath is slow, calm... steady.

He's ready.

A beat of a pause as the officiator glances between them...

"And, begin!"

And then, Jae Hoon moves. He's in Juliet's personal space within a few paces, though at the last second his feet hop back a step. The movement is quick as he advances forward once more, his front leg tipping up into a kick meant to aim high, but... well, Juliet is small, so he figures it'll probably hit her head, should it land it's mark.

COMBATSYS: Jae Hoon has started a fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Jae Hoon         0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Juliet has joined the fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Jae Hoon         0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0           Juliet

COMBATSYS: Juliet blocks Jae Hoon's Hishou Kyaku.

[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Jae Hoon         0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0           Juliet

[JULIET]
The nonsense probably isn't going to end if he doesn't correct her! But as he squares up to the girl and offers his pleasant response, she returns it with a smile and a nod, her guard raised long before the referee says to begin. She'd obviously been expecting kicks, though, and her small stature works somewhat to her advantage as he aims for a blow to her head. Her arms both raise to catch the leg and take the blow across her forearms, dispersing the worst of the damage.

It might be surprising that she stands quite so strong against the kick, but Juliet is a boxer through and through. Weathering the blow comes naturally to her, and her bright red eyes sparkle. "I don't know about fighting for justice." She says, "But boxing is all about honest competition. I'm not one to rely on fancy tricks!" Is that a comment about the feinting movement that Jae had deployed in his opening gambit?

Whether it is or not, she doesn't give him much time to object - she comes in quick with her rebuttal. A swinging right fist aims to connect with Jae's midsection, and the girl is already dancing back to open the space between them up once more, still working to get an accurate gauge on her opponent's style and playing it fairly cagey this early in the match.

COMBATSYS: Jae Hoon blocks Juliet's Sacred Check.

[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Jae Hoon         0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0           Juliet

[JAE HOON]
Yes, yes, he'll get around to correcting her. But first... fight!

The swift movement of the kick is stopped short by rather sturdy forearms, which surprise him. It's clear that, while he isn't underestimating his opponent, that she can probably stand her ground, if she's able to deflect so easily. Swinging his leg back, the lithe fighter repositions himself with fists raised, brown irises peering through the open space between them.

"I haven't the honour of fighting many boxers," he tells Juliet. "So, you will have to demonstrate."

And demonstrate, she does.

Flying fists are expected now, with this exchange, and so Jae shifts to accommodate the incoming blow. In that, his left hand flips over right, palm open, to deflect the attack. It stings the center of his hand a little, even twinges the wrist, but it's simple enough to ignore and easy to recover from while his opponent creates distance between them.

"Hm. A close call, I'll give you that! But can you stop this?" In order to close in on her, Jae Hoon bends at the knee to create momentum that launches him into the air. He's flying in her direction, front leg ahead once more, as it comes down in a crescendo. "Hangetsu Zan!" The kick, which is aiming the top of her head, will ignite with a flaming heat bursting from the tips of his toes, all the way up to his shin, and subsequently might burn Juliet on his way down into a full-on splits.

COMBATSYS: Jae Hoon successfully hits Juliet with Hangetsu Zan.

[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////          ]
Jae Hoon         0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\0           Juliet

[JULIET]
The answer, it seems, is no.

Already moving back, Juliet attempts to continue the motion, but she's too slow. The burning kick connects solidly with her and the girl grunts as she is knocked clean off her feet, rolling across the arena with fire still stubbornly clinging to her body. Stop drop and roll only helps so much when dealing with chi. Still, it'll take more than that to keep Juliet down for long. She is soon back up and on her feet, cracking her neck as she eyes Jae.

It isn't the first time she's taken a hit like that. Kicks laden with energy seem to be a particular weakness in her style. She's going to need to work on that. Still. If the problem is that she's getting kicked in the head all the time, there seems to be an obvious way to try and make that a less palatable option.

"Well, that's what this is all about, isn't it?" She asks, "Showin' the world what we've got!"

And quite suddenly the girl is springing into the air. People seem to think that boxers have weak legs, but that's clearly not the case with Juliet. She might not use them for kicking, but the girl leaps so high into the air it would be easy to believe that those wings on her costume are functional, before she descends down on Jae with her powerful right hook leading the way.

"HYAAAH!"

No energy to go with her punch, but she aims to do to him what he just did to her; drive her skull down into the top of his skull with as much force as she can muster and put him down on the mat.

COMBATSYS: Jae Hoon interrupts Angelic Overhead EX from Juliet with Hien Zan EX.
-* CRITICAL HIT! *-

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////                ]
Jae Hoon         0/-------/----===|=======\===----\1           Juliet

[JAE HOON]
Seems they both got some spring in their steps. Heh. Get it?

Anyway, Jae is agreement with Juliet, in that this is the moment to truly show what they are made of. What he's made of, simultaneous to his goal of honouring the Kim family name. As such, the determination to shine in everything he does here is at the forefront. He steps back, allowing her a second of recovery from the heat, though it may serve to be his detriment later. Who knows?

Eyes are glued to his opponent who leaps into the air, aiming a tightly balled fist in his direction. Thinking quick, he swivels so that he may bend once more to meet her partway through the air. The kick he thrusts out is well above his head, and of course, it's burning hot again. The side of his foot collides with Juliet's right hook, batting it out of the way. A hit as powerful as she intended probably meant to really hurt, and it did, but only a little at the ankle instead of where it could have landed.

The lithe fighter circles in the air, descending to the ground and landing with a slight stumble on the padded ring. A grin flashes up at his opponent, because yes - he's loving this.

Oh, is he ever.

"You're quick!"

[JULIET]
Juliet is loving it a bit less. Winding up swatted out of the air by a second one of those burning kicks somewhat puts an end to the idea that she could use that as a viable tactic for dealing with the problem. She hits the ground hard, and for the second time she has to roll to get back up to her feet. Two solid blows and she's already starting to feel the familiar ache which implies she is not going to have many more opportunities to make her mark.

She takes a deep breath as she centres herself. She'd had similar problems trying to break through Aranha's superior zoning game in the beginning. All she needs to do is find the right moment to strike, right? It's as simple as that. But nothing is coming to her in this moment. She can see that she's not making any kind of real impact on Jae. She needs to do better.

The banter is gone. She steadies her feet beneath herself, no longer bouncing from foot to foot but instead standing solidly on the ground. Her gaze meets his, ferocious in its intensity, and she raises her gloved fist towards him, beckoning.

In that moment, it might be easy to forget that Juliet isn't even five feet tall. An ominous silence falls over the arena. She's not laughing any more. There's a tension in the air so palpable that it seems almost to crackle off the skin of the two fighters. The modest crowd spellbound by the tableau; the only noise the steady drip-drip-drop of the girl's blood, trickling slowly from the corner of her mouth, not that she seems to have noticed.

COMBATSYS: Juliet focuses on her next action.

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////                ]
Jae Hoon         0/-------/----===|=======\===----\1           Juliet

[JAE HOON]
Hm. It dawns on him that Juliet is starting to take this a little more seriously.

All right. Jae Hoon can get on board with that.

Inhaling a slow, deep breath, the Korean fighter takes a second to collect himself. The friendly smile shifts into something concentrated, brows creasing the mid-part of his forehead, pinching the skin there. Fists raising, he falls back into his defensive stance, but this time, it is less jovial. It is rigid, yet fluid.

Surrounded by calculated silence, Jae is beckoned, but he doesn't move at first as he analyzes the potentials here. As it stands, he has nothing to attack his opponent from a distance, so he's going to have to advance himself into her space. There's a few ways he can do this, but there's one move he really wants to demonstrate to the viewers. It is one he is known for back home, and so, he must use it here.

Stepping towards Juliet, he lamely dips left and right until he's close enough. As he nears, the trickle of blood catches his attention. This movement could harm her quite deeply, or it could not. It's all up to chance, and whatever Juliet chooses to do.

And then, in rapid succession comes a slew of side kicks. An onslaught, really. These kicks are meant to hit various areas of Juliet's midsection, over, over, and over again, aiming to send her further back towards the edge of the ring and away from him.

COMBATSYS: Juliet blocks Jae Hoon's Shakka Shuu ES.

[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////                  ]
Jae Hoon         0/-------/----===|=======\=====--\1           Juliet

[JULIET]
Juliet stands firm. Just as she had when the first kick came at her, only this time, she takes it all. The kicks smash into her over and over again, but she refuses to give even an inch of ground. She doesn't say a word, either. She's not even breathing. The onslaught batters at her guard, and the girl's eyes haven't left his the entire time he has advanced and assailed her. She isn't even looking at his feet. She doesn't need to. Staring into his eyes seems to be enough for her as she shifts her arms back against his assault.

Her whole body is glowing, now. A subtle outline of pure white energy surrounding her. It might be easy to mistake for a trick of the stage lighting at first, but no. As his set of kicks wanes, she pauses only to spit a glob of bloody saliva to the side, and then she's stepping forwards.

Her fist lashes out, leaving a blinding trail of sparkling white light in its wake as she aims to HAMMER into Jae's jaw with a shocking amount of force. If the blow connects cleanly, there'll be a small explosion of brilliant energy right at the side of his face, and the ringing in his ears will be joined by the sound of a singing choir of angels. The girl still standing firm... and still glowing - if anything, the intensity of that light seems to be building within her, where it has previously diminished so quickly. She can hold on to this, can't she? Not for long... but it doesn't need to be for long...

"Just need, one, miracle..."

COMBATSYS: Juliet successfully hits Jae Hoon with Heavenly Cross EX.

[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////                   ]
Jae Hoon         0/-------/-======|>>>>>>>\>>>>>--\1           Juliet

[JAE HOON]
The intensity is fierce. Their eyes are locked all through the onslaught of kicks, and when they're done, he settles back on his feet... only to be blinded.

Or, something like that, anyway.

Juliet is glowing bright, serving as some sort of beacon that has him squinting in order to see through the rays. In fact, young Jae Hoon can barely see her, with just how bright the brilliant she shines. Whatever ability this is, it is working to disarm him, even if it's slightly.

It isn't until the last moment that he can see a shift of movement coming toward his face. His arms are moving in an attempt to block the incoming blow, but they fail him as a fist /pounds/ into his jaw. Sparkles of white energy scatter before his eyes in the moments before he squeezes them shut, and his ears feel as though they are going to burst when they're filled with angel song. Immediately upon impact, a headache floods across his temple, and he stumbles back and away from Juliet's personal bubble from the force of the hit. Ouch!

A sleeve is brushed against his face from where his thumb touches his chin. Then, a smile creeps its way back onto his handsome features, brown eyes set back on his opponent. "Nice punch." At the same time, he sinks back into a fighter's stance, lithe form advancing forward once again. "Looks like it's time to get serious!"

As Jae Hoon shouts this, his leg comes up once again to launch a rather powerful kick toward the smaller girl's glowing abdomen.

COMBATSYS: Juliet fails to interrupt Strong Kick from Jae Hoon with Miracle Uppercut.
- Power fail! -

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Jae Hoon         1/-------/=======|

COMBATSYS: Juliet can no longer fight.

[JULIET]
For all the world, it looks like Juliet just decides to drop her guard. This might even be a case where the Neo League judges have to look into whether she's deliberately throwing the match. The truth of the matter is different, of course. In Juliet's mind, she's in the zone. She's feeling out the contours of the fight. And she thinks she's found her moment.

People who have watched her fight many times know what is coming, no doubt. The intensity of the light surrounding her glows brighter, concentrating in her fists -- only, she'd tried to force it this time. She'd grown frustrated with her inability to land a solid hit so she'd focused on Jae with all her might, and it had worked - briefly.

And it is when he's midway towards her with his leg extended that her ability to hold on to that 'miracle moment' just... falters.

The light flickers away from her like a dying, sputtering candleflame, and then it is gone, leaving her in darkness. The girl has enough time to realise that she's dropped her guard but, now, has neither the space to raise it again, and the moment to strike is gone, slipped through her fingers as though she were trying to hold on tight with the boxing gloves that suddenly feel clumsy about her fingers.

And then the kick slams home into her gut, and the girl is knocked down for a third time.

This time, she does not get up.

The aim is true, as is seen by the spectators, but to Jae Hoon, it feels like time has slowed. A slow-motion capture of his foot going towards his opponent is captured in his eyes, when in reality the movement is happening in a matter of seconds. There definitely is the anticipation of his foot as it ascends to make contact with Juliet's body, but maybe it's the glowing light that makes it a little challenging to catch sight of exactly where he's about to hit...

.. Until that brilliant glow is suddenly gone.

Then, in real time, Jae becomes witness to the sheer might of his own attack as it collides with the much smaller form of his opponent.

Brute force is what knocks her down. Ringing bells and hollering from the officiator signals the end of the fight, which is followed up by a surprisingly energetic cheer from the meagre crowd. The cameras are whirling about, probably catching every intimate moment of this encounter. The public likely is quite thrilled, the judges certainly entranced by what they've seen today.

Where most fighters wouldn't really approach the opposition, the Korean boy barely taps his foot down on the floor before he's crouched over her form to inspect her of any great damages. It appears that his blow took out her consciousness, which... is unfortunate.

Why?

Because Jae Hoon very quickly realises he forgot to inform Juliet of his correct last name! Dammit.

A facepalm hits him square on the eyes. Well, here's hoping he'll get another chance to do so. For now, as he's escorted away from the ring so that Juliet could receive proper care, I guess he shall remain as Mr. Hoon.

Log created on 14:51:34 04/26/2021 by Juliet, and last modified on 22:23:09 04/27/2021.