Match of the Millennium

Description: Meifeng and Chris meet for the semi final of Ristar. Only one wins and goes on.

[MEIFENG]
A lot has been said about London Bridge. Songs have been written. Movies have been filmed upon it. Wars have been fought over it. Southwark Bridge, to the west, may be prettier. Tower Bridge has a lot more tourist attractions to offer. But neither of those pale imitations is hosting a semifinal for the Rising Star 2022 tournament, which is something those two impostors are just going to have to deal with.

The midmorning sun blankets the concrete-and-masonry path in warmth as it rises over the aforementioned Tower Bridge. The western half is reserved for foot traffic and emergency vehicles, leaving the equivalent of five lanes of traffic for the Rising Star combatants to duke it out. Tension barriers on the north and south keep the audience at a safe distance from any errant fireballs of what-have-you.

Meifeng is glad to have her big yellow sunglasses. She's got sensitive eyes, after all, and the sun isn't doing them much favors. Overall, she's dressed somewhat fashionably in a black-and-white dress, styled similarly to a cheongsam, but made of a durable, thicker fabric. The tigress is preparing for the fight by rehearsing a long, well-practiced sequence of sweeping, flowing maneuvers in the pi gua zhang style. It's an atypical pick; Meifeng wants the people of Earth to know that not -every- darkstalker is as rough and undisciplined as the ones they may hear about on social media or television.

Her sequence ends with a raised knee, one palm outstretched, the other held close to the heart. She lets her breath out slowly, eyes casting through yellow lenses as she takes stock of her surroundings. She wonders silently: has her opponent arrived yet?

[CHRIS]
Chris was there, with some fans. His last opponent might have been being fashionably late, but it wasn't his style. Dressed in black bermuda shorts and a blue shirt, this 14 years old didn't look at the moment like he was ready to kick ass. In truth, he was.

When he realises it's basically time he leaves the fans to get in position. He looks at his opponent. It isn't the first darkstalker he has ever seen. Besides, in general, if they don't try to destroy a city or something, they don't bother him anyway.

Once in position, he can see she's practicing some moves. That was interesting. While he waits for the match to start, he doesn't greet her, but watches her respectfully.

[MEIFENG]
Old habits die hard, and officer school was especially hard for the rough-around-the-edges tigress. Meifeng always likes to see an opponent as punctual as she is. The tiger lady flashes a big, toothy grin at her opponent, waving to him in greeting. "Hellooooo!"

Meifeng ambles over to the center of their half of the bridge; upon arriving, she takes a gracious and formal bow.

"Greetings to you! I have heard a great many things about you. But today, I, Yao Meifeng, look forward to facing you myself." Bowing once more, she slides her right foot back, raising her left forearm perpendicular to the bridge, her right hand parallel to it at waist height. Not the pi gua zhang style from before, but instead its more serious cousin, bajiquan. Once she slips into this combat stance, she remains still, only her swishing tail and billowy sleeves showing any signs of motion.

"It is an honor to fight you here. I am looking forward to this fight!"

COMBATSYS: Chris has started a fight here.

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Chris            0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Meifeng has joined the fight here.

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Chris            0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0          Meifeng

[CHRIS]
When his opponent talks to him, Chris does answer back. "Hey!" he says with a wide smile. When she's close enough to bow, he bows back. Why not? It doesn't kill anyone to be nice, unless someone is trying to kill you.

He takes a deep breath before he speaks too. "Greetings, my young friend." The smile still wide. He looks happy to be here, happy to meet her. "I am sure we will both learn something out of this fight. Give me your BEST!"

He rolls his shoulders, does a couple of 'dance' moves, then he dashes toward her to shorten the distance between them. "The honor is mine I think." Then he jumps in the air for a diving kick toward her chest. At least that's the goal.

COMBATSYS: Meifeng blocks Chris' Diving Kick.

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Chris            0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0          Meifeng

[MEIFENG]
Meifeng finds herself smiling at the boy nearly half her age calling her a 'young friend.' It's an amusing thing to hear -- but the taller tigress takes it as a sign that there may be more to the boy than his external appearance lets on.

She smiles, as the fight adjudicators give the sign to proceed. And the crowd breaks into cheers as Chris leaps into the air! Lt Yao, for her part, thrusts her forearm and shoulder into the diving kick in lieu of his intended target. The impact shoves her backward a good foot or so, amidst the faint squeal of synthetic treads on pavestone.

"We shall share the honor, then," she comments good-naturedly. Shaking the numbness out of her left arm, she lunges forward, hoping to catch Chris with the point of her right elbow! Should she land that strike she would immediately unhinge her forearm, with an aim of tagging the speedy fighter with a backhand as well. "Hnnh!"

COMBATSYS: Chris interrupts Medium Punch from Meifeng with Reverse Anchor Kick.

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Chris            0/-------/----===|===----\-------\0          Meifeng

[CHRIS]
It was indeed weird for him to call her young friend, but he feels like she has a friendly young face, and he's usually mature for his age. So that happened.

As Meifeng locks his diving kick and goes backward, he uses that momentum to flip in the air and lands on his hands on the ground.

When the elbow come from his opponent, instead of protecting himself, he does a forward handstanding overhead kick to her head. Even then, he definitely feels the elbow when it hits him. He rolls back onto his feet and rubs the area. Already it looks like she is hitting harder than anything he received in his previous fight. Yet he's still smiling, at least for the moment.

[MEIFENG]
Meifeng's ears fold down defensively as Chris applies laces directly to her forehead. It hits hard enough that the tiger's spine compresses as she recoils backwards. "Mmf..." she comments, twisting aside as she seeks to rechannel some of that downward compression back into a stored potential.

"Interesting..." she notes, spinning about to square her shoulders with the more nimble fighter.

Tigers prefer to conserve their motion, and Meifeng is no different. Though in this case, it's because she is clasping her palms together. Taking a step back, she draws her palms apart -- and three orbs of qi energy appear in the space between those palms. While her energy orbs are normally a vibrant blue color, this time there are also splotches of angry crimson swirling about within them.

"You are quite the fast one," she states in a level tone. The friendliness from before has been set aside for the moment, as she suddenly transitions into a forward lunge, led by her right shoulder. Should she hit, she'd shift forward into a high snap kick, aimed at juggling her opponent into the air. The blue orbs, meanwhile, sweep around of their own accord: they seek to whirl around to ensnare Chris by the waist, potentially serving to limit the speedier fighter's motions.

COMBATSYS: Meifeng successfully hits Chris with Form Three - Rising Gale EX.

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Chris            0/-------/-======|===----\-------\0          Meifeng

[CHRIS]
Chris is indeed fast and enjoys it that way. But on this particular attack, he may have overestimated his dodge ability. Or he may have underestimated Meifeng's attack.

When the actual attack begins, he actually doesn't move quite fast enough to evade the shoulder coming at his body. He clearly feels it and it sets him up for the kick that comes next, sending him into the air. It gives enough time for the orbs to catch him and restrain his mobility. Ok, that girl was not having a bad day like the Tanuki before. Perhaps it was his turn to have a bad day. But he would fight until the end. If she wins, she will have definitely earned.

He gets back down on his feet. "Good one." He has to compliment her, even if his thoughts are different. Here we go again. He pushes them away and starts his own attack. He takes a step forward and then spins to do a backfist with his right hand. The orbs slows him down, but he still presses as he can.

COMBATSYS: Meifeng interrupts Medium Punch from Chris with Form Seven - Whistling Gust.

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Chris            1/------=/=======|===----\-------\0          Meifeng

[MEIFENG]
Lieutenant Yao had already started to lean forward with the intent on pressing her advantage, but Chris' quick reactions belay that execution slightly. As he takes a step forward, Meifeng steps sideways, putting some more distance between the two. When he spins for that backfist, though, Meifeng gives her orbs an abrupt nudge, while at the same time stepping forward with her prior plan -- a swift heel kick to the shin, enough to reduce the severity of Chris' strike to a graze across her upraised sleeve. With Chris's backfist parried away, she snaps her kicking leg up to deliver a second kick, before twisting to deliver a hopping back kick into his waist! Her orbs deliver mild shockwaves of qi to their target, before the blast sends them flying away -- and arcing back to Meifeng's side.

Landing low with her palms out to either side, Meifeng draws back to her full height, returning to her former stance. "Thank you. It is a pleasure to encounter someone as polite as you." ... Particularly after her last opponent.

[CHRIS]
The orbs slows him down enough, his backfist not as quick as he wanted. He connects but the kick to the shin connects as well and it is not pleasant to his leg. It's also set it up perfectly for the back kick into his waist, making him back up. The orbs with their shockwaves after that make him drop to one knee. His opposite hand touches down as well and he observes her. It's all he does for now. What he's been doing previously has been lackluster. Perhaps he didn't expect the expertise Meifeng has been showing so far.

His smile doesn't leave his face through all this. He's also having fun. Meifeng if she wins will definitely deserve it and he appreciates he has to make efforts for this one.

COMBATSYS: Chris focuses on his next action.

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Chris            1/------=/=======|===----\-------\0          Meifeng

[MEIFENG]
Meifeng's eyes widen slightly as her orbs come back to her, swirling into a parking orbit around her, about waist-level. She may be a 'young friend,' but she still sees herself as a wage-earning adult squaring off against a boy who, as far as she knows, may just be starting high school this year. And yet, she hastily reminds herself, this boy has made it through the same rounds she has, against challengers equally as fierce.

In short, the tide could change at any moment. And with that in mind -- she shifts stance, stepping forward and extending open palms rather than pointy elbows.

She advances slowly, smiling back at Chris to mask her sudden loss for words. And when she closes to two meters, she twists her leading palm downward, leaping into a quick pirouette. When she comes down, she aims to land with a scything toe kick from her right foot. Her motion would not stop there though; she seeks to continue twisting around to deliver a behind-the-back palm strike as a followup. Her orbs, for the moment, remain in a nearby holding pattern.

COMBATSYS: Chris instinctively blocks Meifeng's Light Kick.

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Chris            1/-----==/=======|===----\-------\0          Meifeng

[CHRIS]
Chris keeps his eyes on her as she prepares another attack. She also has a smile too. Perhaps she is enjoying it just as well.

When the attack happens. His arms get in the way of the kick at the last second. Like his body responds to it instead of consciously thinking about it. His other hand catches her arm just enough to stop the attack, but he does not keep it or pull on it. But as he releases it, he gets up quickly and spins to do a roundhouse kick aiming at her head, if he has his way. It was time to get back into this match, ignoring the bit of pain in his arm from the kick.

COMBATSYS: Meifeng blocks Chris' Medium Kick.

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Chris            1/-----==/=======|====---\-------\0          Meifeng

[MEIFENG]
Lt Yao smiles as both her kick and her followup strike are caught -- proof positive that her opponent can't be caught out just yet. But as soon as she strikes, she's quick to land her kicking foot. Counterbalancing with her tail, she brings her other knee high, swiveling around so that she can square her shoulders with Chris once more. And when the roundhouse kick comes for her head, two upraised arms absorb the brunt of the strike, keeping her ears safe. She hops backwards, redirecting the transferred kinetic force into a circular flow, which she sweeps around into upraised palms.

"Good, good..." she confirms with a smile. A pleasant fight with a pleasant pace.

One hand pinches shut, then sweeps forward. The orbs obey her unspoken command, sweeping around to a point behind Chris. She then hops forward into a rushing hip strike, aiming for Chris' center mass to disrupt him.

Though... the hit seems like it's a bit harder than intended -- and a painful spike of red aura surges into being at the point of impact.

Meifeng seems surprised at this, herself -- but bites back the emotion, hissing through bared teeth. Now close, she drops low -- and then uncoils sharply upwards in a leap. Her arms helicopter around; she aims to strike with the dense bones of her palm in a series of rising blows! At the same moment, her orbs would seek to slam against him from behind, trapping him between two opposed cyclones of concussive force!

COMBATSYS: Meifeng successfully hits Chris with Form Five - Howling Whirlwind EX.

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Chris            1/--=====/=======|===----\-------\0          Meifeng

[CHRIS]
Another blocked attack. As much as the previous fight was all Chris, this one is all Meifeng so far. His opponent is skilled and has been able to deal with him professionally. If he loses, then so be it.

He doesn't have time to think of anything else as he has to deal with another attack. He's aware when the orbs go behind him. He should have been able to dodge the hip attack from Meifeng. Perhaps he was expecting the orbs to attack first. Perhaps Meifeng was simply better than him, but again he isn't fast enough. He gets struck with her hips, and she gets another confirmation it hits hard, from the fraction of a second grimace on his face from the pain. It destabilizes him and he receives in full force the concussive blows of both Meifeng herself and orbs behind him. When he's able to. He falls to the ground. It looks like it may be over already. Is the 14 years old boy done for?

He isn't done yet. He stands back up, albeit slowly. But before he's fully back up, his eyes flash a purplish red for a fraction of a second. And then he launches himself with surprising speed toward his opponent, sliding forward with several palm strikes aimed at her body. If it hits, they feel stronger than anything he did before, and each one of them is accompanied by a burst of explosive chi. After doing several of them in a row, he finishes with a strong, straight punch. He leans into it to give it even more strength.

COMBATSYS: Chris successfully hits Meifeng with Chain Slide Burst.

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Chris            0/-------/------=|=======\-------\1          Meifeng

[MEIFENG]
Her attack complete, Meifeng lands a few meters away. Her azure orbs take a long, roundabout route back to her side, falling into an orbit around her left wrist.

Her face is a neutral mask, until she sees her opponent rise to his feet once more. Then, a placid smile of relief. With a brief nod of her head, she slips back into a bajiquan stance, her left forearm raised. She thinks she has more time to react -- but all of a sudden, Chris's palm is upon her. Her forearm blocks the first blow, but it is soon batted aside. Her orbs flatten out, acting as ablative shields to mitigate the second, but the explosive chi blasts a hole through the majority of that -- tinting the azure into a deep emerald green.

The following attacks to her abdomen drive Meifeng into a backpedal, but by the fifth hit, her pace falters and she starts to tip over. The last blow sees the tigress leaving the ground entirely, sending her flying into a wooden barricade, which explodes into a shower of scrap wood!

The audience backs away, voicing alarm -- thankfully no one was hurt! Meifeng groans in pain, brushing fingers through her hair -- a motion which sends a shiver of popping, crackling electricity through her. Indeed, as she stands up a moment later, her fur is poofed out from the static charge, particularly that of her tail.

Shaking her limbs and head free of that static shiver, she flexes her fingers and hands. "That was a surprise!" she calls out, over the din of the Thames currents. "But this is not over yet!"

None the worse for wear, she jogs back to close the distance to Chris. One hand is drawn to the side -- and from it, she funnels fresh new azure energy into her damaged orbs. Once she's closed the distance to about half, the orbs are hale as they were before -- and she leaps into the air, windmilling her arms overhead! She lands in a low crouch, flinging the orbs at Chris with concussive force!

COMBATSYS: Meifeng successfully hits Chris with Form Six - Blistering Torrent.
Grazing Hit

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Chris            0/-------/----===|=======\=------\1          Meifeng

[CHRIS]
Chris is not worried about hurting his opponent while doing his attack. At first, he doesn't even look worried, when he sends her into that wooden barricade. He looks like he loves it, licking his lips, a smirk forming.

It quickly changes into a frown when he regains his senses. Had he killed her or something? No, she's back on her feet, even talking. Another smile forms on his face. A tired smile, however. He's still damaged, that much is clear. His opponent, as things are currently is going to win. That's ok. You lose some and win some.

He prepares himself for what's coming. She doesn't really look hurt after all. That is an even bigger problem. Can his body give him the speed he needs again?

He observes her well and when she jumps in the air, he still observes her. He sees the moment when she sends the orbs at him. He's ready to get out of the way. At least his mind is, but his body is not. She gets hit by them. Not as hard as he had expected, but with his body already damaged, it takes its told even more. He gets sent a bit in the air, going backward, before landing on his back, but uses the momentum to roll back on his feet. However once on his feet, his legs are not 100% supporting him. He has to force himself to remain standing.

He needs time to think of what he's going to do again. He's aware that may cost him, but at this point, he can't just go in again. He instead focus on her, and thinks.

COMBATSYS: Chris focuses on his next action.

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Chris            0/-------/----===|=======\=------\1          Meifeng

[MEIFENG]
It really seems as if the Librarium has been insisting that its uniforms get shorter and shorter with each passing year. An argument can be made that it's increasing mobility, but it doesn't take long to shoot holes through that logic. Conversely, Meifeng's clothing has quite a bit more coverage than her usual outfit. Coupled with her fur coat, it'd be hard to see signs of damage in anything more than the way she carries herself -- some of which is mitigated by the vigorous flow of adrenaline Chris stirred up with this rapid palm-strike barrage.

The rest is the tiger's steadfast discipline -- the knowledge that if she lets herself show -signs- of weakness, she's much more likely to -feel- the weakness. Hence, throwing herself headlong into the fray once more. As Chris rises, she's only a few meters away -- and once the tiger lady realizes he won't be acting at the moment, she decides to strike and keep the pressure on!

She hops into the air - and comes crashing down with an overhead windmill strike from her palms! Should she land that blow, she'd continue driving forward, leaning into a rising shoulder strike! At this point, her orbs would have swept around behind Chris, such that they can slam into Chris from behind in response to any attack she delivers from the front...

Should she manage to land those blows, she'd continue to deliver one hard-hitting bajiquan blow after another! A hip strike, a forearm bash, an elbow slam... culminating in sandwiching the boy between a twin-palm strike and a trio of detonating orbs!

COMBATSYS: Chris fails to interrupt Unbound Form - Relentless Typhoon from Meifeng with Hunting Air.
- Power fail! -

[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Meifeng          0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Chris can no longer fight.

[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Meifeng          0/-------/-------|

[CHRIS]
Nothing seems to work for him today. Well, he did unleash something earlier. He felt different then, but that's something for another time to ponder. Now he is barely standing as it is, and Meifeng is about to strike again.

She hops into the air, and emit Chris sees his change right there. It will either turn this match or break-in. Way sooner than one may expect, he jumps too. The goal is to do a backflip anti-air kick. There is even supposed to be Chi involved, but his legs don't follow as he desires. He doesn't jump high enough. He doesn't even backflip all the way. In short, it's a fiasco. A 'fuck' comes out of his lips before the beatdown begins.

The first attack sends him back down hard and even makes him bounce. He knows already he's out of this fight but forces at best as he can for his body to take the further blows limply.
he shoulder make strikes make him wince and back up a few feet, landing on very shaky legs. It's a miracle he's still standing on that point. The orbs push him back to her so he's still in range and pain from all sides. It keeps going that way, those attacks looking like it's destroying the poor boy. Then, the end of this attack makes him fall to the ground very limply. Not on purpose, he's knocked out now and at the moment, looking like a mess.

It doesn't take long before Meifeng is declared the winner. A few medics come to look at Chris. His fans look worried, but there are also cheers for Meifeng, who got him fair and square.

[MEIFENG]
On the battlefield, enemies will stop at nothing to succeed. And Meifeng carries that mentality through in training scenarios: unbalancing the playfield, stacking the deck, and keeping relentless until the very end. Loss in training is just an opportunity for improvement -- a reminder that loss in battle carries a much steeper consequence.

This isn't a training fight. But the tigress' mentality is the same. Treat Chris the same as she would a fighter with twice the experience. For she can -feel- his potential, can -sense- the potential bubbling just below his boyish facade. She tasted that potential first hand during his palm strike barrage. And she expects that someone his size, with his quickness, would have found a way out of her overhead strike.

But then, unexpectedly, her attack hit its mark, paving the way for the rest to follow.

Meifeng draws in her breath, backing off to give the boy some space. The tigress raises an open hand to the crowd -- a calm, neutral greeting. And as the fight officials walk over to pass their accolades to her, she accepts them in good graces.

But she keeps passing glances over to Chris. To make sure the boy is tended to by the medics. To ensure he's all right.

She whispers, mostly to herself. Brimming with optimism for the future.

"We will fight again. I am sure of it."

COMBATSYS: Meifeng takes no action.

[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Meifeng          0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Meifeng has ended the fight here.

Log created on 18:19:28 06/01/2022 by Chris, and last modified on 17:05:19 06/02/2022.