Match of the Millennium

Description: The first-round Fightfest match between Tamaki and Chevy! There's slipping and sliding! There's more buckets than you can shake a pole at! There's a wet T-shirt! What's not to love?

[CHEVY]
The crowd was full of murmurs, random chatter, and the occasional bout of shouting or laughter. But then a lone figure begins to walk out to the center stage of the International Fighting Festival tournament platform... and all eyes fall onto the lone individual.

He is not young, fresh-faced, or particularly exuberant. He's just the announcer.

"Ladies and gentlemen! We have a treat for you here today -- a battle of wits, and a test of might, between the West and the East! For in this corner -- we have, representing the West... Miss Chevelle Beaumont, or as she prefers to be called: Chevy!"

A grand gesture is made to the west end of the festival grounds... and nothing happens. At least, not at first.

The announcer is... let's say... nonplussed. "... Ahem... Chevy Beaumont...!"

Silence -- though just when call #3 would be about to go out, a clatter of metal can be heard from one of the small tents. A moment later, a bucket of water pokes out from said tent. A moment after that, and out walks the aforementioned Ms Beaumont, carefully trying to weave her way -out- of the tent without upsetting the nearly-full buckets of water she has balanced upon a pole.

The red-faced American steps out to mixed peals of laughter and applause.

"Why don't you come on out here, Miss Beaumont?!"

Her first steps are nervous and shaky... but with each step, she seems to grow more and more sure of herself. The pole rides evenly across her shoulders as she picks up a good walking pace. And finally, she ekes out a smile and a casual wave to the crowd.

"Alright then! And next up, ladies and gentlemen... representing the East..."

Chevy takes her place on stage, the buckets of water swinging precariously back and forth. They look heavy -- but her easy, casual stance shows she's used to the weight of the water, if not the crushing weight of being in front of a crowd.

[TAMAKI]
"...Tamaki!" No surname, no alias - just Tamaki, because when she signed up she didn't give anything else.

Chevy may have taken her time to march onto the stage, buckets and poles in hand (or on shoulder, as the case may be) but Tamaki has apparently decided not to delay any longer than she already has.

She also has decided not to hide. Everybody here (well, everybody who looked at the roster) already knows she is a Darkstalker, and though the reactions she gets always vary she figures she can get away with it here. Curiosity wins out, and it's not like she means anybody any harm. Plus, she needs her tail.

So when she walks out, it's in a green sleeveless top, a brown skirt with a extremely fluffy ringed tail poking out from the back, a pair of rounded, furred ears closer to the top of her head than the side, and a grin. Also, a tokkuri over one shoulder. A big one.

The route she takes to the stage is a little indirect, though. She meanders over to look at the crowd first and only then drifts her way to the proper place, looking Chevy over thoughtfully. In fact, she walks right up to her and stands on tiptoes to look in the buckets. A few moments of that, and she gives a nod and another one of those grins, stepping back to her own side.

"Looks like we both brought a drink," she says, "but I think I'll stick to mine." She jiggles the tokkuri slung over her shoulder, the gourd sloshing faintly.

If she's in a combat stance at all, it doesn't show. She looks like she's just standing around.

[CHEVY]
Chevy... has not done as much research as she could have. If she were good at that sort of thing, she'd be in college right now. She knows Tamaki's name ... and she knows she's a darkstalker. That's about it.

Still, knowing that information and being 100% cool with that information are different things entirely. Seeing Tamaki for real, live and in person? That's enough to make Chevy's eyes widen up like saucers, to make her jaw hang open slackly. It's only when she notices the tokkuri swinging back and forth that she realizes -- much as Tamaki herself does -- that her opponent might be stronger than her 'energy' might suggest.

Chevy stiffens up as Tamaki comes closer to inspect her buckets, wrapping taped fingers tightly around the grip of her pole. She doesn't have anything to -say-, really -- just a sort of awkward stare.

Right up until Tamaki speaks.
At which point Chevy finally realizes the obvious: that she can speak.
And she lets out a relieved laugh, at that.

"Whew. Yeah! I wouldn't wanna drink from these though. It ain't, uh -- potable?" Her brow furrows at the word. Is that how you're supposed to use the word?

Remembering herself, she hastily blurts out: "Oh, hi, I'm Chevy. Nice to meet you!"

At any rate -- the announcer seems pleased that the introductions have been made. And he then grips the mic, working his way down from the stage...

Chevy lifts the pole, swinging it up over her head, and extending one bucket towards Tamaki -- a call to action! And then, -only- then.. does she remember her role in stoking the crowd.

"Alright, Southtown... hope you're ready for a tidal wave!"

And Chevy is now ready to FIGHT!

COMBATSYS: Chevy has started a fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Chevy            0/-------/-------|

[TAMAKI]
It would be pretty weird if Tamaki signed up for this and *couldn't* speak...

...but then again JD apparently managed it, so who even knows?

Tamaki seems to realize her presence is making Chevy a little uneasy, and while she doesn't precisely press the point she also doesn't go back quite as far as she could have afterwards. Still, aside from the tail and ears, Tamaki at least looks pretty human. More than the green goblin, anyway.

"Call me Tamaki," she says, after another long delay. "Everybody does." She glances back at the crowd again, then the announcer, who is starting to flee the stage for safer grounds. Only a few moments more...

"In that case I won't steal your water," she says. "But you and me - I think we could be friends!" Tamaki steps forward, around, giving Chevy a comradely slap on the shoulder at almost exactly the same time as the bell for the start of the match sounds.

It is not clear if she timed it that way on purpose, but either way, what starts out as a companionable slap turns into a gentle push, and then a firm one, as Tamaki tries to push Chevy stumbling forward. Which would be all well and good, except Tamaki has stuck out one of her feet for Chevy to trip on, possibly sending her tumbling to the ground with Tamaki's hand on her back.

COMBATSYS: Tamaki has joined the fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Tamaki           0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0            Chevy

COMBATSYS: Chevy blocks Tamaki's Everybody's Friend.

[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Tamaki           1/-------/=======|-------\-------\0            Chevy

[CHEVY]
It could very well be that Chevy is more unsettled by the crowd and the lights than anything the darkstalker herself may have done. The opportunity to query her for sure, though, passes as soon as Tamaki steps close.

Are they allowed to touch before the fight starts? Are they -supposed- to have fought already? Why -are- the lights so bright? A number of thoughts race through Chevy's head -- and then two things happen.

One -- the word "FIGHT!" from below.
Two -- the touch on her shoulder!

And Chevy makes the third action -- as she tilts the leading edge of her pole downward, shifting her weight forward in response. And then when she -- correctly -- guesses that the trickery is the forward prong of an attack, she's already got her massive counterweights in motion.

The palm, combined with the tripping kick, sends her stumbling forward.
But the spiraling of her pole allows her to steadily counterbalance the momentum...
"Whuuuh-uuhhh-oohh?!"
... allowing her pristine white high-tops to peddle forward clumsily while she pivots to face Tamaki yet again...
"... Friends?" she manages after a lump in her throat dissipates. "Maybe!"

Chevy swings her pole around for a full revolution -- but instead of readying for another strike, she swings it downward at Tamaki's leading ankle! "I mean, one good turn deserves another...!"

If she manages to connect the tip of her pole with Tamaki, she'd sharply twist the pole into a firm horizontal, aiming to leverage Tamaki's leg right out from under her! Turnabout is fair play, right? "Hnnh!"

COMBATSYS: Chevy successfully hits Tamaki with Corner Store.

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Tamaki           1/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0            Chevy

[TAMAKI]
This is certainly more people than Tamaki has ever revealed herself to before. She's *been* around big crowds! But she usually doesn't look like this in front of them. It's kind of fun, she thinks. Who knew she'd actually like the audience?

'One good turn deserves another?'

Tamaki isn't actually very good at English idioms and this one throws her for a moment. Also throwing her: the very literal pole applied to the side of her leg, down low near the ankle.

Tamaki starts to step over it, but Chevy is already rotating the staff by then, and the buckets impart a lot of momentum to the pole. She finds herself with one of her legs pulled out from under her and acquiesces to fate:

She falls down on her back with a heavy thump and decides not to get up.

After a moment where she seemed dazed, Tamaki laughs. "I deserved that!" she says, with more amusement than anything else. But she still doesn't get up, because one of the things that a practitioner of the way of the drunken fist can do - or at least the way she absorbed it from watching - is do everything from their back they can do on their feet.

Tamaki draws her legs up toward her stomach and then kicks out, lashing from the ground in a low kick with both heels. It's a powerful blow, and gives her enough momentum to roll sideways, tokkuri sloshing again as she shoves herself along the ground.

She still hasn't gotten up and has merely ended up on her back several feet further along the battle arena. Maybe she likes it down there.

COMBATSYS: Chevy counters Strong Kick from Tamaki with High Tide.

[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////    ]
Tamaki           1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0            Chevy

[CHEVY]
Chevelle is rotating the staff -- and she keeps spinning it around, even after twisting Tamaki down to the platform. She seems perplexed at first -- why would someone -want- to stay on the ground? But then she sees Tamaki pull her feet back -- and it starts to dawn on Chevy, as she opens her mouth in surprise.

It can be one of two things.
A kippup...
Or a drunken master -kick-.
Chevy clenches her teeth...
A spike of fear jolting her as either possibility could be possible.

The pole suddenly -stops- spinning, as she grounds the tip behind her. The water, still flowing in a perfect circle, sloshes out of the buckets in that same circular path. Chevy thrusts her hands sideways into the path of the water...

And rather than acting like -water-, the fluid turns into something more akin to a -gel-, melding around her hands. Chevy grits her teeth in concentration, as she sees the feet hurtling towards her...

And then, pivoting sideways, she drops back to one knee, sloshing the stilled water towards Tamaki, gripping her with giant watery 'hands!' It's with this enhanced grip that she's able to then heft the tanuki fighter up into the air, flip her around -- and then toss her at the ground face-first! Alley-oop!

Panting -- she finally unclenches her teeth, eyes widening at her feat.

And yet -- somehow -- she's more amazed at -Tamaki-.

"Hoooooo! Was... was that a -drunken master- kick?! Oh my g-- that's like... holy wow, that's like my favorite movie!"

[TAMAKI]
Of all the things Tamaki was expecting, being gripped by giant watery hands was pretty low on the list.

From her back, Tamaki can't clearly see all of what Chevy is doing. She hears movement; she sees the flicker of lights on the water as it 'spills' out of the buckets and then is gathered by Chevy. Then she's got her legs tucked up and she can't see much of Chevy at all -

And then she's thrown into the air! Tamaki spins in the air but does not manage to catch herself, landing in a faceplant that looks as painful as her back landing. Possibly more so, because while Tamaki is good at the belly flop that generally implies she's in control of it.

"It sure was!" For all that she is mostly talking into the floor, Tamaki still sounds in good cheer. It takes a *lot* to upset the jovial bake-danuki, apparently. She rolls again and this time does tuck and bound up to her feet, getting some distance from Chevy rather than trying to infight her quite as much.

She bows, though she's a little sway-ey now and it looks like she might tumble again when she does it. "I'm hardly a master, but I had the opportunity to learn. I can't say I watched the movie, though... And now look at me. Here in a tournament, with my tail out and all. "

Tamaki gives a sudden whirl, flicking her tail forward as she does. It's far too far away to actually touch Chevy, but a wave of chi drifts away from it, deceptively slow-moving - but it bursts into a flashy sphere on contact with anything, breaking apart into smaller balls like a firework.

"And look at you! Fresh with a bucket of water or two. I just hope you don't spill it all *too* early!"

COMBATSYS: Chevy parries Tamaki's Swaying Tail!

[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////    ]
Tamaki           1/-----==/=======|====---\-------\0            Chevy

[CHEVY]
It's tough keeping track of everything that's going on -- and indeed, if Chevy had -thought- about what she was doing, it's almost a certainty that she'd flub it up somehow. But a moment after her successful counterattack, she steps back and reaches back for her pole, sloshing some water into her bucket. A twirl positions a bucket to catch the other 'handful' of water as it falls. All of these things are just... motions she goes through with a dull-eyed stare, mouth gaping open with some measure of surprise.

"You've... never watched it? It's great stuff, I mean..." Blue eyes turn back to Tamaki as she swings the pole around in another quick half-circle, buckets whooshing past. She smiles, at that -- glad that her bake-danuki opponent is in such a good mood. It's contagious!

"... Okay, like, catch me up here..." starts Chevy, tilting her head to a side. She's just about to follow through, when her opponent suddenly whirls about, triggering the American into stepping backward with another quick turn of her pole. The wave of chi initially escapes her notice -- but Chevy crosses her eyes at the distortion of space.

She steps -towards- it.

And a moment later, the *CLANG* of a bucket announces that it's struck something! Water splashes out from the impact, drawing an anguished gasp from Chevy! "Uh!"

The pole begins to veer off-course from the impact. But Chevy steps forwards, compensating by hurling one end of the pole-bucket system at Tamaki's arm. If she can wrap the bucket around her shoulder and neck, she'd suddenly leverage it into bowling Tamaki over into a forward flip... "Hey, I can't spill it too -soon!-"

COMBATSYS: Chevy successfully hits Tamaki with Medium Throw EX.

[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////    ]
Tamaki           1/-----==/=======|=====--\-------\0            Chevy

[TAMAKI]
Hit a bucket, rather than her target. It could be worse... but it could be better for Tamaki, though she hardly seems dissuaded. The fight's hardly over, after all!

And she's enjoying herself. She expected to, but it's good to feel it for real. Even if she's mostly unpracticed, having learned more by watching than by doing, she's got enough skills to hold her own... mostly. Even if Chevy is probably beating her; she's taken a lot of falls.

Another one, now. Tamaki's swaying has gotten a little more pronounced even though she hasn't had anything to drink as she tries to weave out of the way of the staff-and-bucket. All she manages is to pop down at exactly the wrong time to let Chevy hook it past her; though it means the first strike misses, it puts her in optimal position to pull Tamaki forward.

Which she does. Tamaki tucks and turns it into a roll, but not a graceful one; she more tumbles than anything else, ending up on her back again, her tokkuri cradled - apparently the cork came out somewhere along the way. She takes a swig (still lying down) before recapping it, because waste not, want not.

"Well, I wouldn't *mind* seeing it," Tamaki says, before she flips backwards - onto her hands, then into a vaulting kick forward as she 'stands up' by the simple method of a two-footed jumping kick at Chevy. Does it count as a jump if you use your arms to throw yourself? It's more of a handspring, honestly, but she's more agile than her lightly padded frame suggests.

And as she does it, she's laughing. "Come on! Let's really let loose a little. Then you can show me what you want, afterwards." She means the movie, right?

COMBATSYS: Tamaki successfully hits Chevy with Rude Awakening.
-* WILD HIT! *-

[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////             ]
Tamaki           1/-======/=======|=======\===----\1            Chevy

[CHEVY]
For her first professional fight, Chevy is feeling pretty good about herself. Things are going well, for the most part, and the techniques had largely gone the way she'd wanted them to. And Tamaki is certainly turning out to be a chipper opponent, encouraging her to fight with more spirit! So Chevy's got a rather large smile on as she watches the drunken master get more drunk on the tokkuri's contents. It's a good fight so far!

She even seems impressed by the way Tamaki vaults back to her feet. A bit too impressed, really, for she isn't -quite- in the position she needs to be when Tamaki's feet start hurtling towards her. Unlike the last time, her response time is lacking -- and as such, the buckets are in the -completely- wrong orientation for dealing with it.

Tamaki kicks the bucket.
The bottom of one pail slams into her shin.
She raises her foot in alarm.
And Tamaki impacts her, jarring her foot back down.
She inadvertently rests her foot back on the side of the bucket.
Her foot then rolls off of it, jarring the bucket and pole sideways.
Which utterly decimates Chevy's balance -- even -worse- as Tamaki's kick is still driving her backward.

And then the -water- which splashes out from both buckets in the ensuing chaos just complicates everything, drenching Ms Beaumont as she flies backwards, utterly out of control. She hits the platform a few meters back, tumbling one end over the other, buckets *CLANG CLANG CLANG*ing as they crash down.

Both eyes screw shut, out of both pain and embarassment. A grunt escapes her as she pushes back to her feet -- albeit, with some delay, as her wrist slips out from under her even -then- from the soaked platform.

Tamaki's been a good opponent though.
Because it doesn't take long for Chevy to remember how -she- had acted.
She coughs out a laugh. "Yeah! Hahaha..." She grabs hold of her pole once more, lifting her feet to free itself from the floor, and starting to climb back to a squat. "Cuttin' loose sounds like a great plan!"

With both high-tops on the deck, she slams a foot down into a stomp. Water splashes upward -- and a quick sweep of her pole sweeps what little she can back into her buckets.

Leaping back to her feet with the aid of the spun momentum, she cries out, "Alright, let's gooooo!" But rather than try to use her staff for an -attack-, she uses it to ward off a potential counterattack as she steps in with an attempt to grab hold of Tamaki's arm -- and if she's able to grab hold, she'd work it into an armbar and pull the bake-danuki down to the ground!

COMBATSYS: Chevy successfully hits Tamaki with Mix-Up Throw.

[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Tamaki           1/-======/=======|=======\===----\1            Chevy

[TAMAKI]
Tamaki feels the impact of a successful kick as she vaults to her feet, still laughing, but she didn't expect - or predict - quite how successful it was going to be!

Water goes everywhere. A lot of it drenches Chevy. Some of it ends up splattered across Tamaki's legs, causing her to shake one of her sandaled legs and then the other, almost like she was dancing in place (it doesn't help much). The rest, across the floor of the battlefield. The combination is enough to get Tamaki to slow down - that, or she just doesn't want to hit Chevy while she's down!

And she's still willing to cut loose, which gets Tamaki's approval at least. "I'm glad to hear - !!" That was because she completely misjudged the incoming strike - because she thought it WAS a strike, that she was going to get that pole jabbed into her. But instead Chevy goes for an arm-bar, and Tamaki goes with it, landing on the wet surface.

"Ah, my clothes! ...aah, my tail!" That's going to take a while to dry off!

Tamaki manages to break the armbar before it's fully locked in, though not before she's downed. She scoots along the floor in a rather undignified manner before rolling to a seated position, then rises the rest of the way. "Let's!" she calls back, then twirls in place.

A sudden gust of wind wraps around her, hiding her from view for a few moments - and when it clears, Tamaki isn't there any more. Instead...

...there's Chevy??

This Chevy is a match for the first, except she doesn't have her pole with buckets, and she *does* have Tamaki's ears, if not her tail. They wiggle as she turns back to the real Chevy. "I thought I'd try it on for size," she says, "since you seemed so excited." She takes a step forward, then another. "Do you know what to do with yourself? Because I certainly don't!"

Chi forms in Tamaki-Chevy's hands, though it isn't water because she can't do that. Just shimmering energy, one ball on each hand. It seems to have the *momentum* like the buckets of water though as Tamaki rushes forward, spinning as she goes, reaching out both arms in a spinning cyclone -

- though after both arms get a chance to strike, Tamaki puts a foot wrong, and slips on the wet floor. Her foot slides right out from under her, and - already dizzy from spinning - Tamaki lands on her back in a picture-perfect cartoon slip and slide. As soon as she hits the ground, there's another burst of chi and wind, and Tamaki is just Tamaki again, not Chevy at all.

...she probably didn't mean to do that part.

COMBATSYS: Tamaki successfully hits Chevy with Art of Transformation - Mirror.

[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////                     ]
Tamaki           0/-------/----===|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2            Chevy

[CHEVY]
Chevy hops away from Tamaki, whirling her pole and buckets around for balance on the slippery surface. While she does spare some measure of sympathy towards Tamaki's now-damp clothes, they're... kind of evenly-matched on that battlefield, now.

At least, until the wind kicks up -- a motion to which Chevy fends off by raising her arm in front of her face and backing away a couple meters. Gritting her teeth against the stinging wind, she squints to catch sight of what's going on -- this whole 'chi' thing being somewhat strange to her still.

And then she sees... herself?! The American's jaw drops open, yet again. She's watched fights. She's seen people whip out amazing martial arts techniques. But on top of never having seen footage of herself in a fight like this before... she's never looked back at -her own face- before. Not like this!

"C-c'mon, that's..." Chevy looks back, aghast. For while Tamaki just looked like Tamaki, Chevy is now confronted with a mirror of her own fashion choices. While grateful that she'd opted to wear a grey sports bra beneath her now-translucent tank top, she's still ... completely flummoxed with the reality of -staring herself in the eye-.

Taking a wary step backwards, she twirls her pole into motion again -- as if finally noting the difference. "I mean, that's a neat trick, but you're missin' this..." But then Tamaki exercises the knowledge Chevy -doesn't- possess: chi.

Gulp. Unsure of what else to do as the doppleganger spirals towards her, Chevy throws her arms up again. The pole pins flat against her forearm, mooting its momentum advantage. And Tamaki's twin impacts serve to launch Chevy backwards!

"Aaaaah!"

She lands in a messy heap, buckets freed of their watery contents. Letting out strained laughter, she flicks water out of her hair. Using her pole for balance, she climbs to her feet -- "Ow, geez -- you're doing a better Chevy than I am! So let's change the tide on that!"

And then she strides forward, surging forward to take a wide swing at the back of Tamaki-Chevy's knees! A taller opponent makes for a wider contact surface, as she aims to knock her legs right out from under her!

And should she succeed, she would seek to then summon the tides -- all the water on the floor that she can manage -- into blasting a geyser upwards at the falling Tamaki-Chevy! At which point Chevy would grab hold of both Tamaki's arms, whirl her in a 270-degree arc, and hurl her off a distance! "Hnnnn-yaaaah!"

COMBATSYS: Tamaki fails to reflect Spout Toss from Chevy with Ponpoko Beat.

[                        \\\\\\  < >  /////////                     ]
Tamaki           0/-------/----===|>>>>>>>\-------\1            Chevy

[TAMAKI]
Fortunately for everybody, Tamaki copied Chevy well enough to match the sports bra. It really is like looking into a mirror...

...if your mirror was prone to making your reflection do whatever the hell it wanted instead of what you were doing, anyway.

Like take right now. Chevy isn't the one spinning, nor the one falling on her ass after slipping when she spun. That's all Tamaki. Chevy does get in while Tamaki is getting back up from her fall, though, and that's enough to seal the deal; already slightly off-balance, Tamaki finds her legs slipping out from under her again, stumbling forward, her disguise fully gone again - no more mirror effect here!

But she stumbles directly into the geyser.

Tamaki's instinctive reaction is... absolutely not the one anyone would expect from her. Rather than try to block it, or even get out of the way, she uses the flat of her hand to drum against her stomach - and not lightly; it makes a noise all out of proportion to the actual size of the blow, and makes her front (well, her chest mostly) jiggle in a rather eye-catching manner.

Of course, you'd be forgiven for missing that because it *also* causes rainbow-colored chi to erupt around her, bursting from her body in all directions. It may have been meant as a shield, but it didn't actually appear to have worked properly or formed quickly enough, because it mostly deflects the blast away from her torso in favor of sending it higher up.

Tamaki lets out a sound best transcribed as 'blrblrblrbl' as she takes a geyser to the face with enough force to launch her upward several feet. She is completely unable to resist as Chevy grabs her out of the air, sending her flying through a whirling throw to land in a tumbled heap.

Tamaki spits out a miniature fountain of water before she sits up again, dazed and bedraggled. But not out of it! Not quite. "Ahahaha! Nobody has ever done anything quite like that in any of the matches I have seen before!"

[CHEVY]
Chevy didn't know what to make of seeing Tamaki as herself. And she has even less idea what to make of Tamaki drumming her stomach in the midst of her geyser, like some weird and (potentially) more family-friendly rendition of Aphrodite's emergence from the sea.

"Okay, so what'n the heck was -that?- Hahaha..." she scoffs, covering her mouth with a free hand for some semblance of composure in the wake of Tamaki's flight. Covering her mouth also helps to hide the awestruck look she's got, so that she can more comfortably take in the recent vision of rainbow-colored chi. She'd seen plenty of that on TV and streams, but never experienced it in real life before now. And even after hurling Tamaki away, it still -stings-, kinda. Stepping back gingerly, she shakes her arms out to either side, hoping to banish that pins-and-needles sensation away. Slowly, she begins walking through the scattered puddles, waving an empty hand at the water and gently scooting it along the floor. "Huh? Well, you're telling -me!- I ain't never seen anyone copy bodies like that before. Super distracting!"

She sifts her fingers through her hair, flicking the excess water drops out of her face. "And flattering. I think!"

But the relaxing moment passes -- mustn't keep the crowd waiting! Chevy winks back, snapping and pointing an extended finger at Tamaki! "This ain't over yet though, Tamaki! Show me what you got left!" And with a sharp slam of her pole into the ground, the water gathered at her feet explodes into another geyser -- this one aimed at blasting Chevy forward! Turning herself into a human missile, she leans sideways into a body splash attack, hoping to wrap her torso around Tamaki's -- and pull her down into a water-splashed hold, in which she'd twist Tamaki's arm for a moment! But if that hits as planned, the water would linger, thickening into the consistency of mud as the American starts to roll free...

COMBATSYS: Tamaki dodges Chevy's Marsh Mud.

[                        \\\\\\  < >  ///////                       ]
Tamaki           0/-------/----===|=======\-------\1            Chevy

[TAMAKI]
"Ah, it's true! Imitation is the truest form of flattery, or that's what I've been told," Tamaki says, back in her own voice now. "Though the person I'm fondest of imitating is myself." She still *sounds* all right, despite all the battering she's taken, but there's not as much fight left in her as she'd probably like, and even another swig from her tokkuri isn't putting it all back into her.

Speaking of which, she has another swig from her tokkuri. Just to be on the safe side. More of a chug, if she's being honest about it.

She slings it back over her shoulder afterwards and takes a half-step backwards as Chevy prepares another strike. Or - this time a water-jet rocket! Tamaki laughs in delight as she sees another thing she hasn't seen before, but this time she doesn't brace against it and try to deflect it - she whirls, narrowly avoiding it. Chevy passes close enough that Tamaki's tail actually brushes against her side.

Tamaki doesn't use it to attack, though. Hit someone? With her (admittedly, slightly waterlogged right now) tail?? No, instead she follows up by completing the spin with a whirling kick at Chevy's rear, trying to propel her further on her waterjet-boosted rush and send her sprawling! The step-down from the kick sends Tamaki weaving, but that is probably on purpose given her style; she seems to be prepared for a counterattack.

COMBATSYS: Tamaki successfully hits Chevy with Medium Kick.

[                      \\\\\\\\  < >  //                            ]
Tamaki           0/-------/--=====|=======\===----\1            Chevy

[CHEVY]
Chevy had a day job. That job consisted of long hours cleaning up after hogs. If her pace slackened, if she started to drag her feet -- she'd just lose all momentum entirely. And that means retiring early for the day, and earning less pay. She's used to pushing herself harder, faster -- without admitting just how -tired- she truly was.

The girl might not look tired. But that doesn't mean she's not. And when she comes hurtling at Tamaki, pole held tightly against her back in that body splash -- it doesn't leave a whole lot of room for her to adjust, or recover. Tamaki's whirling kick lands point-blank in the keister, sending the American hurtling forward into a wild log-roll down the platform. The empty buckets clank-clank-clank as she rolls past, just barely drowning out her grunts of pain.

The audience feels the impact, with some audience members practically echoing the sounds in despair.

Even after Chevy rolls to a stop, it's some moments before she makes a movement -- and even then, it's to raise one end of her pail, as she struggles to raise herself back up. But, just as with her job, once she stops moving, it's that much tougher to break the inertia and rise again.

Grimacing through clenched teeth, she manages to pull herself up to a squat -- but once there, she pops back down into a seated lotus position.

And breaks into laughter.

"Okay, that was fun! But the only thing I wanna imitate right now is, uh... a panda bear, chewin on bamboo or somethin'." She pauses, turning that phrase over in her head as she sets her pole down in front of her.

"Or... taking a nice hot bath," she muses wistfully. "That was a great fight! Thank you for that, Tamaki!"

COMBATSYS: Chevy takes no action.

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

COMBATSYS: Chevy can no longer fight.

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

[TAMAKI]
Just like Chevy, Tamaki is pretending to be a lot better off than she is. Some days you play weaker than you are for the sympathy; other days you keep going no matter what, and - because she wants to see this tournament through - today is a second kind of day.

But it stops being that kind of day when Chevy goes flying, and decides to stay down instead of continuing the fight.

Tamaki walks - well, weaves, at this point, and it's not all a deliberate ploy to get hit less - toward Chevy, matches the laughter with her own - and then plops down next to her. "Good! Suits me fine. You did pretty well, anyway. I was glad to have had that match!" Chevy certainly managed to look slightly less ridiculous than Tamaki's occasionally comical and often painful-looking tumbles, anyway; Tamaki may have come out the victor, but she didn't look very dignified doing it.

"I'd buy you the bath, but I think they are included," she admits. "I want one, too. But no bamboo, it tastes like cardboard! So instead I'll buy you a drink, after. Or now, if you like!" She offers the tokkuri. (If Chevy does drink any of it, it has perfectly normal sake, if on the strong side. It's not magical or chi-imbued or anything.)

"Thank you. And who knows? Perhaps next time, you will beat me, instead!" Tamaki doesn't seem very concerned about this, but this is less out of an assurance that she'll win and more because, well, it doesn't bother her if she doesn't.

Log created on 17:51:31 04/12/2023 by Tamaki, and last modified on 05:28:53 04/15/2023.