Match of the Millennium

Description: In the heart of Shibuya, the calamitous chef Amandine fights against the mysterious masked hero Blazing Panther (spoilers: it's Daisuke) in the second round of 2022 edition of the Rising Star Tournament!

[DAISUKE]
While it's a bit unfortunate for the car-bound commuters in Shibuya that they are made to alter their typical routes for the next two hours or so, the somewhat-famous crossroads just in front of the train station in Shibuya do make for a picturesque arena for an event like this. The street along one direction has bene closed off for several blocks now, even-- to make plenty room for the two fighters called on to engage in combat here, in case of an event where the fight will end up turning into a very mobile one. Various shops and a couple restaurants can be seen within this same street, too; one can hope their owners have gathered premium insurance for today, just in case, since there's no real barricades to within them asides from the glass pane of the windows.

The setup of the fighters might be a bit of an odd one, though. Or namely, the other fighter here is. A repeat contender from the Rising Star tournament of last year, who somewhat infamously forfeited in the semifinals, and never gave up the real identity behind a pseudonym.

And his entrance is a bit of an odd one, too. From a rooftop nearby, a figure jumps over the edge -- a long streak of red color in the form of a scarf fluttering a trail behind him in the dangerous fall towards the street.

But rather than splatting on the ground and turning into a red paste, flame-like bursts of cyan-colored energy explode underneath the feet of the leather jacket -clad, red-haired figure, halting his momentum just two feet above the curb before letting gravity take control again to allow for a much more graceful landing. And there, one gloved hand tugs lightly at the red half-face mask draped around his lower face to make sure it's secured there.

Masked Hero: Blazing Panther has arrived.

[AMANDINE]
EARLIER:

"Blazing. Panther." Amandine seemed confused at the idea.

"Blazing. PANTHER." She rolled the name around in her mouth a little bit differently.

"BLAZING. Panther." And she used a third style.

"BLAZING PANTHER." Amandine's voice rised in incredulity. "What, is he like, a WRESTLER? A SUPERHERO? OH MY GOD." The tiny terror, standing at not even five feet, folded her arms. "This is why I don't sign up for these things. I DEMAND--"

NOW

Regardless of any demands, Amandine is here, now, and she doesn't seem happy about it. When Dai--Blazing Panther, makes his dramatic entrance, she stomps a black, high-heeled boot in defiance.

"Where is the BLAZE? Where is the PANTHER?" Amandine folds her arms. "You should AT LEAST have little CAT EARS! I feel CHEATED!" She stomps her foot again. Did the street just rumble a little?

"Ugh, FINE, anyway. Let's get this thing started." Amandine slides her fingers into her massive mane of coal hair and throws it back behind her. It would seem noble, lofty, even, if her height did not telegraph "basement" more than anything else.

[DAISUKE]
"...Eh?!" The shock of Blazing Panther at this sudden, very loud protest from the opponent that had been waiting for him is such that one might even end up seeing a physical '?!" appear up above his head for two seconds

"I-- I'm sorry? I guess???" Why is he apologizing so suddenly over this, too, of all things?!

Okay, no, get your heads on straight. Blazing Panther thusly slaps his hands lightly against his cloth-covered cheeks in some ritual meant to refocus himself, before he takes up a more upright stance. "I might not have cat ears or tail or anything, but, I will do my best to blaze brightly for you, Karnstein-san!" He makes this declaration with all due bombastic sincerity, too, despite potentially not realizing how it could very easily be misunderstood or taken out of context in the most embarrassing manners. Still, he stomps one foot forward while the other slides back, while thrusting his hand up in front of him with two fingers pointed upwards in a suspiciously ninja-like gesture. Complete with his crimson scarf raised up to fluttering in the air behind him -- SOMEHOW, despite there being absolutely no wind blowing through the street right now.

COMBATSYS: Daisuke has started a fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Daisuke          0/-------/-------|

[AMANDINE]
"You'd BETTER be!" Amandine continues. "This is FALSE advertising! I was expecting, you know, something like one of those LUCHA g--"

Amandine blinks several times at Blazing Panther's response. Her cheeks slowly redden. "W-well, y-you'd BETTER!" She harumphs, smoothing out her dress and fixing her hair. When he assumes a fighting posture, Amandine takes hold of the thick, almost ship-grade chain around her waist and yanks it, pullling a massive, cast iron cauldron forward into position. The cauldron rolls onto the field with a cacophonous crash--before getting stuck between two nearby traffic stop posts. Amandine gives it several other tugs.

"UGH, forget it. Let's go ahead and start, BLAZING," more softly, "panther."

Amandine reels back and throws a punch with a tiny fist.

COMBATSYS: Amandine has joined the fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Amandine         0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0          Daisuke

COMBATSYS: Daisuke blocks Amandine's Medium Strike.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Amandine         0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0          Daisuke

[DAISUKE]
"Lucha-what...?" Cue a hefty sweatdrop from Blazing Panther. Truly, he is growing progressively more confused by the entire presence of this small woman. And even more so when she gets red and harumphs like that over his own words. "U-uhm, is everything alright...? Well, we ca-"

And then the purpose behind the chain wrapped around her waist becomes clear. He'd assumed it was supposed to be some kind of eccentric belt more than anything else. But instead, she pulls on it and yanks a massive cauldron over like it was absolutely nothing. Behind the bandanna-like mask, the red-haired boy's jaw goes slack from the sight.

"... Wait, why are you saying the second part all quiet?!"

His own complaints are probably put aside pretty quickly though. The moment Amandine makes the first move, Blazing Panther is immediately reeling into a defensive posture, half-expecting that massive cauldron to come flying at him. *Thankfully* it is the much smaller fist instead. And just for a split second the redhead might actually expect to find it just bouncing harmlessly off of the arm he's brought up to brace himself--

"Gh?!"

But he actually skids back.

"W-what's with that...?" He mumbles underneath the mask, as he bounces himself further back purposefully. And that tone in his voice changes to a much more upbeat one when he suddenly declares instead, "You're pretty strong, huh? That's pretty cool! Alright!"

Once he's landed from his backward pounce, he leans right back forward once more, with his legs bending down like they were meant to be makeshift springs. "Lets go!"

An explosion at his feet launches him at Amandine! And in the air, energy gathers in front of him in a dome-like shape -- like a flaming shield set ahead of him. Though perhaps not so much to protect him as it is to turn himself into a massive projectile - or wrecking ball - set to bowl into the short lady.

COMBATSYS: Amandine just-defends Daisuke's Blazing Slam!

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Amandine         0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0          Daisuke

[AMANDINE]
"Well how am I SUPPOSED to say it?!" Amandine rebuts, hands on her hips again. She gives the cookpot another sharp tug by its chain, but it still holds firm. Before she can continue, however, Blazing Panther assails her with-- a compliment?!

"Ohhh ho ho! Of course I'm strong!" The tiny terror laughs arrogantly. She's in the process of trying to pull her pot again when her opponent is suddenly running her down, charging in with a empowered tackled aimed right at her.

"Oh, charging in head first, huh?! Well, I'll just--" she's mid-sentence when she gives Tantalus another pull and the pot comes crashing in, landing in between them and acting as a barrier before getting launched over Amandine's head by the tackle.

"Hey, that's my--I MEAN." She clears her throat. "My PATENTED defense TECHNIQUE! Yes! Aren't you IMPRESSED?!"

But even as Amandine makes her declaration, she looks a bit--ill. Perhaps clearing her throat like that dislodged something? She raises a hand to her mouth, briefly, and then.

"Urrrp," the tiny chef belches out a fireball back toward Daisuke. "Ah, excuse me."

COMBATSYS: Amandine successfully hits Daisuke with Aperitif.
- Power hit! -

[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Amandine         0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0          Daisuke

[DAISUKE]
"With equal weight, obv- ah, it doesnt matter..." He gives up that easily on that matter?!

Well, anyway.

The massive fireball that Blazing Panther has effectively turned himself into... well, *blazes* straight across the street with worrying speed at Amandine, about to slam into her, and--

*CLANG*

"Wha-?!"

Had the young man not formed the forcefield in front of him, he probably would have had a very unhealthy collision with the cauldron himself. But as things stand, the collision of the forcefield against it does stop him, too, before it breaks apart and sends the cauldron flying well over Amandine's head and past her, leaving Blazing Panther landing down just a few feet in front of her and... just kind of boggling at the sight. "How did you even... I... I guess I am...?"

He might actually be just abhout to ask if shes alright, too. She looks a bit sick, afterall! But--

She belches a fireball out. Straight at him.

And he is way too close to even have a hope to avoid it.

"GAAAAAAAH?!"

The orb of flame damn near envelops the redhead's upper body entirely as he's sent flipping back through the air, several meters back away from Amandine. He even ends up rolling along the ground for a good while -- partly as a further effect of the recoil, and evne more as a deliberate motion made to douse himself off. It all leads him to slumping against the wall of a nearby building, just underneath the window of a korean bbq restaurant.

"...hhhhh."

And now Blazing Panther is not well. He's clutching at his head even after he's pushed himself up to one knee.

See, what's not obvious to his opponent, the people watching nearby or any of the cameras recording this, that the boy behind the mask - Daisuke Kubo - has issues with the psychic senses he developed. And that hefty hit of flames made wit *worse*. Empathic feedback floods into him from all around him, from people across four whole blocks. It's an overflow of stimualtion, and it's... not pleasant.

"Nnnhhh... Shut it off, shut it off..." He usually tries to just ignore it all. Zone it out first and then make it silence altogether.

But maybe that's been the wrong move to make all this time. The fingers of his hand press tighter against his skull for a moment as he deliberately opens up the floodgates -- and then tightens it. Directs it.

"... I see now."

Blazing Panther's other boot stomps heavily onto the curb with his proper rise up to his feet. Wobbly at first, but steadying rapidly. And his eyes, clenched shut at first from the pain, snap open wide -- glowing a brilliant green, and staring straight at Amandine.

COMBATSYS: Daisuke calculates his next move.

[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Amandine         0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0          Daisuke

[AMANDINE]
"I SAID EXCUSE ME!" Amandine immediately interjects, as though this should be enough to keep Daisuke from being laid out. She watches him for a moment, as if she's trying to discern something. She narrows her eyes kind of like when she inspects of a cut of petite sirloin.

"Shut WHAT off? Stop saying WEIRD THIN--wait." Amandine blinks, then turns and looks over her shoulder. "What do you see -- STOP STARING! RUDE!"

Amandine, in truth, seems more panicked than anything as she whips the chain with a heavy thump then pulls the cauldron around, swinging it in a wide arc like a flail, despite its size and weight.

"Don't pull anything FUNNY I'm a CLASSY lady!"

COMBATSYS: Amandine successfully hits Daisuke with Mix Stir Beat.

[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////                ]
Amandine         0/-------/----===|=======\=------\1          Daisuke

[DAISUKE]
"...Do you get the wring idea about everything?!" Complains Blazing Panther ...

Right before he gets whacked by the swinging cauldron with an outright comedic "BWAGH!" slipping out from his throat before he's sent flying like a flailing ragdoll, crashing against a light pole before his motion is finally arrested and he flomps down onto the curb.

He doesn't stay there for much longer than last time, even though that hit REALLY HURT, clearly. Hell, there's even blood dripping down from his scalp and painting one side of what is exposed of his face red, seeping into the bandanna-like mask. At least his hair and the mask both are red so maybe it's not as obvious, hopefully...?

"Ghhah-- Heavy..." He groans out in pain while he rolls himself over, and as if out of some strange push of defiance alone more than anything else, launches himself right back to his feet and running towards Amandine in one move. He's definitely hurting, but-- is he trying to catch his way to the woman while the chain-attached cauldron is left in the rebound of the swing? Maybe. Or maybe he isn't thinking at all and is just desperately trying to get a hit in.

"Hhhaaah--!!" And that comes, when his foot stomps down just before Amandine, using that to pivot himself around to send an energy-coated fist in a hook for the short woman's ribs.

...Which might require aiming down a bit lower than he is used to, let's be honest here.

COMBATSYS: Daisuke successfully hits Amandine with Medium Punch.
- Power hit! -

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////                ]
Amandine         0/-------/---====|=======\=------\1          Daisuke

[AMANDINE]
"NO!" Amandine says, "I am VERY PERCEPTIVE!" She is not very perceptive.

Amandine steps down the street with a steady clack-clack of her heels as she reels in the chain, shifts her grip on it, and then swings it back around behind her. "You know, I was REALLY expecting more FIRE, since, you know." She gestures vaguely. "I mean, BESIDES the big energy thing you did. Was that the BLAZE?" She squints. "It's not some kind of dru--"

"HORF." Daisuke is on her suddenly and slamming her in the ribs. Amandine leans forward, but despite her diminutive frame, hitting the woman is a bit like punching a sandbag. She FEELS much more solid than she looks.

"OKAY," Amandine says, "That was better, but I want to see more BLAZE! More PIZAZZ! I mean," Amandine lifts her head. "Not that I think the mask is COOL or anything."

And suddenly she is reaching forward for Daisuke's waist, attempting to wrap her arms around it and lift him before before slamming him back down with an explosion of chi. If she succeeds, she steps up afterward with a haughty "Oh ho ho ho."

COMBATSYS: Daisuke dodges Amandine's Daily Special.

[      \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////                ]
Amandine         0/-------/---====|=======\=------\1          Daisuke

[DAISUKE]
A "?!" pops up above Daisuke's head again when his fist makes contact. Sure, the punch didn't seem to have been completely useless or anything, but--

"Just what kind of abs do you have?!"

The instant the tiny cook lifts her head-- wait, he's already kicking himself back away before her arms even properly begin their reaching motion? The jump back deftly brings him just out of reach of her grab, thus.

"The blaze of a man..." The declaration comes with his arm sweeping up, prrsenting an open palm with a mass of gathering energy upon it at her.

"...Is about more than just flames!" The arm sweeps further up, pointing the palm skywards while the energy spreads further out, crackling in electricity-like currents along his body first before wreathing about him like an aura one would see on some manga character. With it comes smaller orbs of energy forming in the air above him-- like portals.

And every single one of those 'portals' launches multiple energy bolts at Amandine in quick succession, like the street she was standing on was suddenly subjected to concentrated machine gun fire.

COMBATSYS: Amandine barely endures Daisuke's Soul Arrow Storm.

[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////                ]
Amandine         1/-------/=======|=------\-------\0          Daisuke

[AMANDINE]
"Reinforced corset!!" Amandine announces, proudly.

"Wait, SHIT. CUT THAT FROM THE TAPE! CUT IT!!!"

Amandine is unable to finish her rant before Blazing Panther is making a proclamation of his own. "Wait," she says, blinking as portals begin to appear. "Wait. I DON'T LIKE THIS!"

A shower of energy arrows rain down upon Amandine with gatling pace, peppering her as she peppers the air with an assortment of vulgarities severe enough to get the section of tape muted. When the tide subsides, she's left smoking and disheveled, exhaling deeply.

"OW. What the SHIT." Amandine's chi starts to pour off her, blood red and with similar viscously as it pours out of her aura and drips to the ground. She heaves in and out, her chest--or lack thereof--rising and failing.

"OK!" No more miss NICE Karnstein!" She snaps the chain of Tantalus taut, that blood-red chi pouring down along the chains as she starts to wind up, swinging the cauldron in an orbit around her head to build up momentum.

"How about THIS?!" She slams it down, once, snaps the chain to bring it back into the air, then slams down again with an eruption of that fiery, bloody chi.

COMBATSYS: Amandine successfully hits Daisuke with Get Out of My Kitchen.
Glancing Blow

[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Amandine         0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0          Daisuke

[DAISUKE]
Once the final bolt has fallen down, and the street has been left smoking from the heated-up adphalt and all, Blazing Panther actually looks... vaguely apologetic.

"...I'm sorty, was that too mu-"

That was *going* to be a genuine apology.

But then she bursts up with terrifyingly crimson chi, and the redhaired boy *squeaks* with a sudden pang of undiluted instinctive fear.

And by the time the chi-coated Tantalus is coming down towards him like a fiery meteor, he gives his response to her (probablt rhetorical) question in a very tiny voice, "I dont think I like this..."
Another squeak comes when he leaps his body out of the way, just narrowly avoiding being squashed by the cauldron itself. But not so much the explosion that comes with the impact. With a terrified "UWAAAAH?!" the boy is launched from his leap to flip through the air while blood-red chi singes at his clothes and burns the skin underneath.

His renewed landing comes first with a painful landing on his back and a bounce off the ground. On the second hit with the curb, he manages to roll himself over and use the momentum to spring himself up and running again.

Energy crackles dangerously around the boy, and one of his eyes glows with such intensity as to create an illusion of a blue-green flame coming out of the eye socket.

An unstable column of energy blasts from thr palm of his right hand as he approaches-- unstable and spiking every which way. Grasping onto it like it was some kind of physical weapon, he makes his final stomp towards Amandone, and with a hot-blooded roar of "RAAAAAH!" he swings it in a wide horizontal arc like a flaming sword.

COMBATSYS: Daisuke successfully hits Amandine with Blazing Slash.

[                    \\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////                     ]
Amandine         1/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0          Daisuke

[AMANDINE]
Amandine does not hear the apology over the walking cacophony that is the team of Amandine and her loyal (?) pot. Instead, the miniature menace huffs heavily after the second slam, Tantalus embedded in the sidewalk but no worse for the wear.

"Are you READY to GIVE UP? I'll accept your SURRENDER gracef--"

"Wait, what the HELL when did you get a SWORD?! Don't SHA--"

Amandine goes flying into a nearby car, setting off the alarm as she breaks through the windshield, leaving an Amandine-sized hole with her skirts and legs sticking out. For several moments, she lays there. Is it a KO? Is she taking a break?

%"RAAAARGH!" Amandine pulls herself up from the car, nearly flipping the compact over when she climbs over the hood.

"What was THAT? You want to APOLOGIZE? WELL!" Amandine snaps the chain like a whip, and Tantalus' top pops open on a hinge. Suddenly, she's charging at Blazing Panther, her tall heels clattering as she does. It's a bit comical, really, because she's not especially fast with her short legs and big dress, but--

It becomes a little less so when she tries to spear him like a bulldozer, lift the fighter up, and hurl him into the pot. If he hits, the lid SLAMS closed afterward, Tantalus surging with chi and getting uncomfortably hot.

COMBATSYS: Amandine successfully hits Daisuke with Cooking by the Book.

[                    \\\\\\\\\\  < >                                ]
Amandine         0/-------/------=|=======\===----\1          Daisuke

Fortunately (?), Amandine does not let her beleagured opponent stay in the pot for very long. In only a moment, she is soon wrapping her arms around the pot and lifting it up off the ground. In different circumstances, it would be a bit comical to see the small psychopath pick the cauldron up and tilt it toward herself, attempting to dump the contents into her gullet for a taste of the "soup."

As soon as she gets a good gulp, however, she makes a face and sticks out her tongue.

"BLECH! AWFUL! It's still RAW!" She slams it back down, and in doing so, knocks the whole thing over and dumps Daisuke back out onto the ground.

"...oops."

[DAISUKE]
The Blazing Panther is left panting there in the wake of the 'sword' slash. The young man is clearly no swordsman, but... there is *something* besides just that strange energy of his that is helping compensate, in the moment to moment. But what? Whatever it is, just that effort - especially after being beaten up so thoroughly in the runup prior - has clearly worked him through severely. Covered in sweat and blood both.

Breathing as heavily as he is, he stares uncertainly at the car the tiny terror has been smashed into. Is it over?

Nope. It is not. Behind the mask, Daisuke's jaw vaults again at the sight, before muttering something along the lines of, "What's with you...?"

Maybe it's the sheer shock of the sight, or all the injury and exhaustion-- or maybe all of it, that leads to him unfortunately finding that his feet don't quite move underneath him the way they are supposed to. He tries to jump to the side away from the miniature bulldozer, but instead of his foot kicking into the ground to launch him, it ends up merely pushing ineffectively down.

And that's an awful, horrible mistake.

"GAH?!"

Up he goes, and before he even realizes what has fully happened, he's in the pot. There may or may not be some incomprehensible banging echoing from within the pot, before it just... stops.

Hopefully he is too lacking in proper consciousness at the time to realize what's happening, too, when Amandine simply tips the pot over to feed from within.

With the pot discarded so carelessly, the redhead just kind of... slumps onto the street like an undercook slab of meat. Soaked through in... whatever it was that was stewing inside with him, probably scalded unhealthily in several places. He just lays there, still enough that onlookers could be forgiven for mistaking him for a corpse.

"....Hhh."

But then there's another crackle of energy. It comes in time with one hand twitching, digging his fingertips against the asphalt. More lines arc in worrying currents over and through him, before he suddenly bursts up with an explosion of energy underneath him. An instant to bring him back up on his feet and sprinting at Amandine, eyes glowing bright enough to make it impossible to actually *see* them past the burst of energy within them.

"N-not... d-d...!" Is it just defiance that's pushing him going? It might very well be the pressure and pain from the energy overloading him that's the only thing keeping him even awake right now.

More energy bursts from within both of his palms, and his fingers curl in to grasp at something. It's not quite like the crude burst of energy he hit her last time, though. It takes proper shape, this time-- more refined, if transclucent shapes of curved swords wielded in both his hands.

"Hhhaaaa--!!"

And what comes is a whirlwind of desperately-swung slashes, one after the other, at the Dreadful Chef. His body stumbles a bit with each, but there's no pause in them. Keeping him moving forward, to pressure the woman. Like he'd be risking falling over if he stopped doing *that*.

Eventually, the swords do fizzle out of existence, regardless of how well they might find their mark, and...

The Blazing Panther stumbles forward, swaying dangerously. About to fall...

COMBATSYS: Daisuke can no longer fight.

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

COMBATSYS: Daisuke successfully hits Amandine with Blazing Blade Flurry.

[                                <
Amandine         0/-------/=======|

[AMANDINE]
For a moment, Amandine is very smug. Insufferably smug, one might say, as she puts her hands on her hips and laughs like the awful noblewoman she is.

"Well if you can't take the HEAT, stay out of the KITCHEN as they say! OH HO HO HO--"

Amandine turns as she throws her hair back behind her, her fancy dress muddied and with stains of blood and pieces of glass, fiberglass, and oil in it. As she turns, Daisuke has already rose up, forming swords in both hands and moving to engage. Her eyes widen.

"OH F--"

Fabric tears as the swords bite into her, the devilish dwarf taking a whirlwind of slashes before she staggers to a stop. She stands there, for a moment, after Daisuke collapses, her knees wobbly but still holding her up.

"Heh, heh. Is that all? Well, I guess this just goes to show that I'm tougher than you th--"

Amandine immediately faceplants, straight down, onto the pavement. She does not get up.

And within a moment, medical staff is rushing onto the stage, heading toward Amandine and...right past her, to tend to Daisuke. One manages to step on her back in passing.

"God damn it." Amandine says into the ground. "You guys could help a LADY too you know."

Her complaints go rightfully ignored as the burn ointment comes out.

COMBATSYS: Amandine takes no action.


COMBATSYS: Amandine can no longer fight.

Log created on 15:46:30 05/15/2022 by Daisuke, and last modified on 10:44:09 05/22/2022.