Match of the Millennium

Description: Kenzo Kuroiwa's opponent wasn't able to make it to the fight at the arcade and last minute replacement <s>Liza Eddow</s> Kunoichi Inazuma shows up to take the fight short notice. Some of the action spills outside of the ring as Kenzo struggles and fails to maintain his clean record of no collateral damage in his fights.

[KENZO]
In preparation for the match up against Frost, Kenzo had studied clip after clip of footage of Tamaki's fights. And even his own for moments when Tamaki transforms into him. Imagine Kenzo's surprise when there's a change in the fight card and he sees the name Liza Eddow pops up (though Kenzo would probably wager not as much as her father probably is).

There was no mention of her being one of the potential alternates and no actual footage of her (that his corporate overlords have cleared him to see) . So Kenzo has no choice but to go into this blind.

All Kenzo has to go on is her mentioning her own kusari-gama in that one passing conversation after the fight with Buck. He prepares for it to be battle to see who is better at each of the ranges the weapons cover.

The fight itself is to take place outside the arcade in the street. The street was blocked off by barriers with an interior barrier for the fight itself to take place within. There were too many hard to replace games in the arcade to risk even if Kenzo in particular didn't have a reputation for destruction of property or spectator endangerment in his fights.

[RAIZA]
==*== EARLIER ==*==

Liza was busy rearranging threaded pins on the New Fighting Generation Relationship Chart arranged on the coffee table of her long-stay hotel room when her cell phone rang. Apparently, no one had seen Tamaki for a few days after she had reportedly gotten into a drinking contest with Isamu, and the bake-danuki had failed to confirm her participation in the next match. There had been difficulty confirming any of the other substitutes, so she was next in line.

"Who would my opponent be?"

When the answer came, Liza leapt for excitement - accidentally spilling Dr Pepper on her 'ship chart.

"Oh no! I mean, thanks! Definitely! I'll be there!"

==*== EARLIER STILL ==*==

Brian Storm's smartphone was playing Twilight of the Thunder God nonstop until Lucky Chloe picked it up.

"Hiii! This is Brian's phone! Can I take a message?"

She frowned as the situation was explained and looked toward the hall from which the sounds of Brian showering while singing along to AC/DC's Thunderstruck could be heard.

"Oh, sorry. He can't make it. He has other plans! Byeee!"

Chloe scowled as she hung the phone up. No way was she letting that silly NFG ruin her date night.

==*== EVEN EARLIER ==*==

Liza fidgeted nervously as she and the check-in clerk for the long-stay waited for her card payment to be cleared. Finally, it dinged 'Approved,' and Liza let out a sigh of relief.

"There you go. Room two-oh-five; it's on the third floor. Just take that elevator," the clerk said, handing her the keycard along with her debit card and smiling politely. "Enjoy your stay at Maison Metro!"

"Thanks," Liza said before heading for the metal door and pushing the button. As she waited for the lift, she checked the confirmation email she'd received from the New Fighting Generation on her phone. She'd been approved as a backup substitute for Team Frost; as such, her expenses for the trip would be covered. Her fighting name was listed as 'Kunoichi Inazuma.' That would surely be enough to avoid her friend Daisuke finding out that she'd got the position in order to keep an eye on him.

==*== LATER, BUT STILL NOT YET ==*==

"They put my real name on the card?!"

Liza, wearing her black sleeveless turtleneck and hakama with a red oni half-mask over her face, stared in horror at the screens in the arcade announcing the upcoming fight between herself and Kenzo. Apparently, there had been a mix-up in the administration. Between that and the leak of Chevelle Beaumont's personal email address on the official NFG rundown, she was starting to wonder if these guys even knew what data protection was. Her eyes turned toward the sound of Speed Over Beethoven coming from one of the upper floors of the arcade and gripped her kama tightly.

No; she wouldn't let herself go there; no matter how anxious she was feeling, this was no time to fall back off the Dance Dance wagon.

"So, where is Kenzo, anyway?" she mused as she looked around for her opponent.

==*== FINALLY ==*==

There's a very quiet tap-tap-tapping up along the sidewalk as many light footfalls rapidly approach before Liza finally vaults the barricade and teeters to a stop, resting her hands on her knees and panting through her mask. Her kusarigama is wrapped around her waist by the chain, though she quickly starts unravelling it as she rights herself and turns to face Kenzo. Her mask may hide her mouth, but once can tell by her eyes that she's smiling.

"Ohayou, Kuroiwa-san! Sorry I'm late, I thought we were fighting inside! It's me, Kunoichi Inazuma!" she announces, as if everyone didn't already know who she really is. Closer inspection would reveal that her kusarigama isn't configured in a traditional fashion; rather, it has sickles at both ends, though even from a distance an astute observer would be able to note that even those aren't sharpened, but rather appear to be blunted to function like hooks. She holds both blunted kama at either side as the chain dangles between them. "Are you ready?!"

COMBATSYS: Kenzo has started a fight here.

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

COMBATSYS: Raiza has joined the fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Raiza            0/-------/-------|======-\-------\0            Kenzo

[KENZO]
When Liza introduces herself as Kunoichi Inazuma, he gives a serene nod that practically screams a sarcastic, 'Sure it is,' without actually verbalizing it. Even without NFG blowing up her spot, there was kusari-gama with the dual sickles that she let slip about at the dealership. It would be poor form to actually to give up the plausible deniability of not verbally outing her on TV.

"Inazuma-san. It's good to see you..." He pauses before raising his fan to cover his mouth then adding quietly and well below the volume that the camera microphones can pick up, "Again."

The war fan gets stowed away once more and replaced with his traditional kusari-gama bowing to both her and then the official.

"I'm as ready as I can be."

One could suppose that it was a good thing his fight camp involved training against a ninja considering his current opponent. When the official gives the signal to start, Kenzo immediately closes in on the other ninja to grab her by her waist before taking to the air. Upon reaching the apex, he tilts backwards until they're both upside down and proceeding to dive bomb the ground 'Inazuma's' head first.

COMBATSYS: Raiza blocks Kenzo's Izuna Drop.

[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Raiza            0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\1            Kenzo

[RAIZA]
As the match official signals the start of the battle between the two ninja, 'Kunoichi Inazuma' is looking a little flustered. She had wondered if Kenzo would recognize her if her plan to remain incognito hadn't been so thoroughly torpedoed, but having her identity revealed as a ninja who's expected to do traditional spy work in front of a fellow ninja is embarrassing, and as friendly as the gesture may be, she still feels a bit like she's being recognized as the girl who wet herself in gym class at a high school reunion or something.

"Arigato," she says with an awkward blush before tensing as she realizes that Kenzo is coming to give her... a hug? No, she's more than familiar enough with ninjutsu to recognize the technique. Her own clan has a variant of it, as does likely nearly every clan in Japan. It takes all of her willpower to not be distracted as she's picked up and carried up into the air by the sheer romance of being Izuna Dropped by a slightly older shinobi, but she manages it: just as she's going upside down, she sparks just a bit - not enough to cause lasting damage, but enough to trigger the slight loosening of grip needed for her to be able to slip loose of Kenzo's arms before she can be piledriven. Unfortunately for her, she does still hit the ground relatively hard, the back of her head smacking against it.

"Wow... that was so cool..." Raiza says almost breathlessly as she sits up and rubs a gloved hand against the base of her high ponytail. Rather than lingering on pleasure or pain, though, she quickly looses one of the kama of her kusarigama, hooking it around a shop sign overhead and using it as a fulcrum as she rises up into a short dash before swinging herself up and onto a nearby streetlight, wrapping a leg and arm around the arch of it and quickly bringing the other end of her weapon up into her grip. Then, reaching into a small and previously-inconspicuous satchel, she pulls out a large five-pointed metal star with a rubber disc in the middle. The streetlight flickers as electricity courses through the ninja star, and after a second, it's loosed, sent to fly toward the Metal Shinobi at speed!

COMBATSYS: Kenzo blocks Raiza's Lightning Shuriken.

[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Raiza            0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\1            Kenzo

[KENZO]
As the nin-gineer feels the spark and the loosening of his grip because of it, the look of disappointment appears on his face. Much like Kenzo, 'Kunoichi Inazuma' isn't a slouch in the speed department and she manages to slip away quickly even after the impact.

As 'Inazuma' takes to the street light to gain air superiority, Kenzo reaches into his pouch with one hand while temporarily stowing the chained weapon. The item he pulls out is a remote and after a moment of fiddling with it a machine appears that can be recognized as the drone that he piloted into the ring during the Rumble.

The kunoichi is not willing to leave Kenzo alone while he pilots the drone into position. An electrified shuriken is sent into his direction forcing the shinobi to swat it out of the air.

Kenzo leaps up into the air, grabbing on the landing skids as he pilots the drone higher into the air. He presses a button on the remote making the drone go into autopilot, sending it to the roof of the arcade. Meanwhile, he's swinging himself off of the drone to clip her with a kick as he flies by her and lands on a tree branch.

COMBATSYS: Raiza dodges Kenzo's Light Kick.

[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Raiza            0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\1            Kenzo

[RAIZA]
As soon as she's released the shuriken, Liza quickly releases her leg from around the lamppost and uses both hands to grab the horizontal upper part of the curved bar, then swings her legs up, grabs it, and pulls herself onto the top with monkey-like agility.

While she has made a deliberate move to the high ground, Liza has held no delusions that Kenzo would be unable to follow. He's a ninja, after all. /How/ he pursues her, though, is nevertheless a spectacle for the kunoichi, causing her brown eyes to go big and bright as she observes from her crouch atop the lamp.

"So... cool!!"

You said that already, Liza, but it does bear repeating. After all, this is her first time showing down (showdowning?) with a real tech ninja. Edo-ryuu are one of those real old-school ninja dojo. Like, literally, it's a school, and it's old, but more than that, they tend to look backward, rather than forward, for solutions. Their latest innovation was probably introducing a kusarigama with two blades, and that only barely even makes sense. Sure, they do actually have a fairly modern communications center hidden in a gas station near the entrance to the forest that the village is hidden within, but the village itself is totally off the grid, and you're not even supposed to know any of that.

Before the narrator can give away anymore of her clan's secrets and just before Kenzo can connect with his clipping kick, Liza quickly hooks one end of her kusarigama around the post under her feet and dives off of it. She keeps hold of the other end, dropping down like a pendulum before physics send her launching upward with the momentum at the other end of the swing. As she goes into a free jump, yanking the chain along with her, Liza starts to crackle in the air, almost seeming to hang suspended briefly. Electricity dances around her body as she seems to defy gravity - the daredevil maneuver perhaps leading one to question whether she's making a target of herself, or planning something?

"Hiii..."

Judging by the noise she's making, it's probably the latter. How she's planning to land is another matter.

COMBATSYS: Raiza crackles with electricity!

[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Raiza            0/-------/---====|=======\-------\1            Kenzo

[KENZO]
The fact that 'Inazuma' has moved out of the way of the fly by kick isn't that much of a surprise. The way she does is more of one to the male electric ninja. After he lands in the tree, he quickly spins around to watch her use her chain to Indiana Jones swing herself down and then back up into the air only suspend herself up in the air while her body crackles with energy.

Because, for whatever reason, his opponent has decided to play the floor is lava, Kenzo has no choice but to adjust his delivery method for using one of his gadgets. He takes a moment to send a charge into that infamous metal orb and then suddenly goes into motion once more. Normally, Kenzo would be content to drop the orb at his opponent's feet and let them deal with what happens. Kenzo launches himself from the tree, his path taking him above and past 'Inazuma' with said metal orb dropping down on the other electricity ninja. The orb will suddenly release an electrical burst just as Kenzo lands back down on the ground in the fighting area.

In addition, should the orb be knocked aside, the electricity burst should happen before it has a chance to get anywhere near the spectators. Kenzo doesn't want to deal with the PR nightmare and law suits that come with accidentally harming them.

COMBATSYS: Raiza interrupts Pulse Device from Kenzo with Empowered Thunderbird Blink EX.
*KNOCKED AWAY*

[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////           ]
Raiza            1/-------/=======|=======\===----\1            Kenzo

[RAIZA]
The gathering potential in Liza is visible in the lines of electrical energy coursing through her. The expression behind her mask is almost one of pain, eyes tightening shut as she struggles to contain and shape the chi to her purposes. For a relative novice, she has an inordinate talent for summoning lightning chi; controlling it, though, is another matter. She's not nearly as precise or calculated as her more experienced counterpart.

Nor is she especially subtle, as far as ninja go.

"SANDABADOBURRRINKU!"

As 'Inazuma' completes her technique, the energy that's been trying to force itself in every direction is closed off from all but one: directly toward Kenzo.

And then it's unleashed.

As if fired from a railgun, the female shinobi shoots straight up and backward toward her opponent, folded into pike position with the force and crashing through the orb being dropped upon her. The electricity from the device only adds more energy to the aura enveloping her as she collides back-first into the other ninja. Both ninja go speeding along Liza's course, smashing through one of the glass floor-length windows of the arcade's third level before the electrical buildup fully discharges into Kenzo and sends him flying even further into the building. Meanwhile, Kunoichi Inazuma tumbles to a stop, groaning and twitching on the ground from the aftermath of the pulse device - it seems she wasn't unharmed by it after all.

"I... might've overdone it a bit..." she murmurs as she rolls onto her bottom, brushing her fingers through her now truly-unruly ponytail and grimacing as she finds a bit of glass. "Are you okay, Kuroiwa-san??"

[KENZO]
Kenzo, gets sent flying right into the wall right next to a machine that has Lucky-Do on it. While yes, he's hurt (so very hurt), it pales in comparison to the level of annoyance at his perfect record of no property damage or spectator injuries due to him being involved being ruined. Hopefully, Ultratech's legal department will deal with that. In the meanwhile, Kenzo pulls himself out of the ninja-sized hole in the wall and then begins making his way over to 'Inazuma' with a trail of drywall dust behind him.

The only response the kunoichi will get is in the form of the tech-shinobi reaching for her ear and grabbing it. Should he manage that, he's dragging her by her ear down each flight of steps and out the door before getting to the barrier and shoving her back into the fighting area where the fight should actually be taking place. Even if he doesn't manage it, he's getting back into the ring himself.

COMBATSYS: Raiza blocks Kenzo's Quick Throw.

[          \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////           ]
Raiza            1/-----==/=======|=======\====---\1            Kenzo

[RAIZA]
==*== MEANWHILE ==*==

As the two ninja blow their way into the third floor, one of the owners who's watching on the screens in his office lets out a whoop and pumps his fists in the air.

"Yesss! Finally, some interior shots! Yeah, that's right! We got Lucky-Do! Queen of Fighters! Road Brawler Two! All the classics! Panorama it!"

A girl in a Hado Pizza uniform who's lounging on the sofa and having a slice behind him peers up at the screen and asks, "Didn't they just break a window and put a hole in the wall?"

The owner gives a dismissive wave of his hand. "That crap's covered by fighter insurance. I'll just bill the NFG if I have to. It's in the contract. This is basically free advertising!"

"But what if they break one of the machines and you can't get a replacement?" the pizza girl asks.

"Oh, we've got extras of every cabinet in the basement. Fights used to break out here all the time back in the good old days!" the owner says, sighing wistfully.

==*== BACK AT THE FIGHT ==*==

"Owww! What are you doing, Kuroiwa-san?!" Liza is demanding to know as the ninja starts dragging her down the first flight of stairs. She grips his hand, trying to get him to let go of her ear without damaging it as her butt repeatedly smacks into one step after another.

"Ow! Ow! Ow!"

Finally, about halfway to the second floor, she manages to pull her ear free. Then, she lashes out with both pommels of the hooks of her kusarigama as she rises, attempting to knock Kenzo up over the railing of the stairs. If she manages it, she'll follow up by trying to loop the chain around the other ninja to pull herself along after him so that she can close the distance, grab him around the midsection, and start spinning him headfirst down toward the arcade's collection of pinball machines.

Specifically, one of the Lightning Spangles tables.

"SAIKURONDORAIBA!" she would shout as she'd make the attempt at her own variant of the traditional ninja piledriver, electricity channelling directly into Kenzo as she'd do so!

COMBATSYS: Raiza successfully hits Kenzo with Cyclone Driver.

[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////                 ]
Raiza            0/-------/-======|=======\====---\1            Kenzo

[KENZO]
At this point, it's clear, much to the disappointment of the spectators outside (who are now causing a riot in an attempt to get back inside to watch the fight), that 'Inazuma' has an aversion to fighting in the area designated for fighting. It's made even more clear by the charged headfirst drive into the Lightning Spangles machine and he's pissed. He absolutely objects to having his body being used to destroy stuff that isn't his.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU HAVE AGAINST FIGHTING IN A RING THAT'S SET UP FOR THE SAFETY OF SPECTATORS AND TO PREVENT DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY!?!?!?"

After Kenzo manages to dig himself out of the pile, 'Inazuma' gets to be the first to be on the receiving end of one of his new attacks in an official fight. In a sudden burst of electicity Kenzo disappears only to reappear right behind her as he pulls his chain across her neck, presses his knee into her back and leans backwards as he uses the chain like an electrified garrote seeming to have pretty much given up on the idea of getting the fight back in the ring at this point.

COMBATSYS: Raiza dodges Kenzo's Shocking Ambush.

[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////                 ]
Raiza            0/-------/-======|====---\-------\0            Kenzo

[RAIZA]
Electrified metal balls go flying in every direction as the Spangles machine implodes under the weight of the two fighters smashing into it, causing arcadegoers to have to duck and dodge out of the way or be subjected to the peril of a pinball pelting. One of a pair of twins holding the hands of their mother nearby starts to laugh while the other bursts out crying. One particularly devoted Spangles fan turns in slow motion to see the destruction and falls to his knees, openly weeping. The electronic display beneath the artistically-realised visage of Jezebel Faiblesse flashes in bright orange letters: TILT

Most of the other people around are cheering, gasping, or taking pictures though.

"W-what do you mean? I thought we were scheduled to fight in the arcade?" Liza asks with bewildered concern in her expression, a moment before Kenzo abruptly disappears from view. Only through pure instinct does Kunoichi Inazuma take that moment to drop a fast-acting smoke bomb and leap to the safety of a speaker mounted on a pillar just before the stalking ninja can grab hold of her. As smoke starts to fill the area, annoying the hell out of the customers who are just trying to spend their tokens, an upside-down Liza calls out from the speaker: "If you wanted to go back outside you coulda just said so!"

The speaker, unable to support her weight, drops down to the ground with a crunch, forcing Liza to backflip away to safety again.

"Oops..."

Swinging her kusarigama, Liza hooks herself to a lighting fixture hanging over the next tier down and leaps over the second floor railing, Tarzan-ing herself into one of the token machines by mistake as the fixture comes loose and smashes into the floor. The token machine topples over, spilling tokens onto the tilework and inviting a pair of young boys to run over and start scooping up whatever loot they can.

"Excuse me!"

Liza says as she barges out of the entrance, the crowd parting in front of her as she flees the arcade's interior.

"Min'na gomen'nasai! We had a mix-up!" the kunoichi lies (nobody even threw a kick or punch!) as she vaults over the barricade and back into the designated fighting area, taking hold of one of her kusarigama's sickles and spinning the other over her head as she backpedals onto the pavement and awaits Kenzo joining her.

"Alright, I'm ready!" she calls out as electricity dances along the length of her chain, creating a sparkling blue light show around her head.

COMBATSYS: Raiza hums with electrical energy!

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////                 ]
Raiza            1/-----==/=======|====---\-------\0            Kenzo

[KENZO]
Kenzo on the other hand attempts to take a significantly less destructive route back to the ring. This, unfortunately for the more precision-minded ninja, ends up being a mistake as considering the crowd trying to get back in and regular arcade customers make travel a considerable slog. It was one of the reasons the ninja had wanted to keep the fight in the contained area away from the spectators.

The ninja tries to be polite at first, asking for people to clear the pathway so he can get back to the ring. He says to those around him, "Excuse me. Please let me through. I have to get back to the ring."

After catching a series of elbow jabs, accidental and otherwise, and overhearing one person making threats to do unsavory things to his mom while another threatens to actually kill him, Kenzo manages to get even more fed up than he already was. Kenzo's entire body glows before releasing crackles of electricity out from his body. Kenzo, ever in control of the energy within him, doesn't send out enough to actually harm anyone but enough to make stubbornly continuing to remain close to him to be an unpleasant experience.

Now that spectators are actually clearing space around him, his travel back to the fighting area becomes easier. At least until he puts both hands on the barrier to vault over it. Another spectator, only because he manages to slip the punch between two other spectators, lands a punch right on Kenzo's jaw. However, because those two spectators were in the way, the sucker punch doesn't have much in the way of physical impact. From a morale standpoint, however, the damage is significant. Kenzo doesn't make it back into the ring and just stands there, stunned and on the outside.

COMBATSYS: Kenzo takes no action.

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////                 ]
Raiza            1/-----==/=======|====---\-------\0            Kenzo

[RAIZA]
Kunoichi Inazuma continues whirling the chain as she waits for Kenzo to come out of the arcade. She can't really see what's going on very well at first, thanks to all of the smoke billowing into the arcade's interior. However, she does catch sight of the other ninja receiving an attack from one of the spectators. This flummoxes the female ninja, who would have been caught gaping at the sight if she weren't hidden behind the oni half-mask. Is this what Metro City is like? She doesn't remember crowds attacking the competitors at any of the matches she'd seen previously, and she'd been to the RUMBLE. Well, there was that one time that somebody threw a box of Lucky Charms into the ring that was actually filled with rocks. They must be really into it. Maybe they're fans of hers, somehow??

"Hey! Leave Kuroiwa-san be! I don't want the help!" she shouts, trying her best to sound friendly and mask the worry in her tone. She can sense that something is wrong, so she stops twirling her chain and instead steps closer before tossing one end of it underhand to the other ninja once the electricty has stopped channelling through it.

"Here, Kuroiwa-san! Grab the other end and I'll help you! We can finish the fight without anything else getting broken!" she offers hopefully, ready to help pull him closer if he needs it.

Of course, the play does leave her a bit open to retaliation, especially offering a conductive connection between herself and another electricity-channelling ninja, but that doesn't seem to faze Liza.

COMBATSYS: Raiza assists Kenzo.

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////                 ]
Raiza            1/-----==/=======|====---\-------\0            Kenzo

[KENZO]
Kenzo goes back into the ring after few moments without direct assistance from the chain. He does at the very least acknowledge the spirit with which the chain extention was given which is quite possibly the only reason he was getting back in instead of walking off.

The male ninja nods and then allows 'Inazuma' a moment to reel in her chain before restarting the fight.

Kenzo swings the chain at the kunoichi with no regard for placement or strategy. His grandfather is going to read him the riot act after the match gets broadcast in Japan. And possibly Nagase too.

COMBATSYS: Kenzo successfully hits Raiza with Fierce Strike.
Glancing Blow

[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////                 ]
Raiza            1/---====/=======|=====--\-------\0            Kenzo

[RAIZA]
Liza quickly draws her chain back to start whipping it overhead again once Kenzo is back in the fighting area. She gives a small nod of acknowledgement before swiftly sidestepping as the opposing chain whips in her direction. However, she's not quite quick enough to get completely free of the strike, and the weighted end smacks into the exposed side of her hip through the cutout in her hakama. She lets out a gasp and grunt of pain as she stumbles out of her dodge, then turns back to face Kenzo, her kusarigama electrifying once more as she starts to channel energy from the surroundings. Nearby phones reset and floodlights set up to illuminate the match flicker on and off as power surges from them to gather around the young lady-ninja. She starts to tilt the pattern of her spin, bringing the weapon to whirl vertically alongside her.

"Okay! Show me what you've got, and I'll show you what I've got!" Kunoichi Inazuma calls out.

COMBATSYS: Raiza crackles with electricity!

[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////                 ]
Raiza            1/-======/=======|=====--\-------\0            Kenzo

[KENZO]
Kenzo pulls the chain back in after delivering the glancing shot to her hip. He brings the weighted end into a spin as he slides into that familiar stance he's gone into so many times that it was as natural to him as breathing.

The problem with asking Kenzo to show what he's got post sucker punch is that the emotional well is dry. That's why all he can do is go through the motions.

"Why am I even here right now?"

He whips the weighted end for her ankle in an attempt to wrap it around it then yanking her foot from under her. Even while doing so, he keeps his arms wide open as if not only expecting immediate retaliation but welcoming it and leaving the head and torso open to attack.

COMBATSYS: Raiza blocks Kenzo's Weapon Trip.

[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////                 ]
Raiza            2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=====--\-------\0            Kenzo

[RAIZA]
Liza keeps spinning her crackling kama around at her side as the other ninja slings his kusarigama toward her ankle. She hasn't quite nailed down how to coordinate dodging and keep her weapon spinning simultaneously, so she decides, perhaps unwisely, to focus on the latter while neglecting the former. The weighted chain wraps around her tabi, then yanks her feet out from under her. It's all she can do to keep from flipping violently through the air, and she lands hard on her rear end.

"Oof!"

Keeping her own hook twirling above herself, she turns a confused expression toward Kenzo.

"Umm... you're supposed to be here to fight! And show how good your ninja style is! And to try and get points for you and for Team Metal!" she tries to answer his question as she curls her feet under herself and springs up onto them, adopting a low, wide-legged stance.

"Plus, you're from Justice, and I'm from Taiyo high! So this is like a school rivalry, too!"

Then, she looses the kusarigama at Kenzo, trying to hook the end of it around any limb or loose bit of clothing that she can target. If she does, she'll give a hard yank to try and reel him toward her as she spins away and up into a standing stance. If her maneuver succeeds, Kenzo should be drawn up next to her, the kusarigama's chain wrapped around both of them to hold them together.

"Of course, whenever I'm not very sure of myself I like to ask..."

With a swift grab for her bag, she would pull out a small cylindrical object and press a button on it, causing a metal rod to extend up... and then blossom out into the hood of a black umbrella, which she would hold in one hand while side-hugging the ninja with the other arm.

"What would Raijin-sama do?"

And at that moment, thunder would tear through the rapidly-darkening firmament above, before a single blue bolt would descend from the clouds as if drawn to the umbrella like a lightning rod before coursing into the two ninja, potentially sending both flying!

COMBATSYS: Raiza knocks away Kenzo with Empowered Spark of Romance EX.

[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///                           ]
Raiza            0/-------/---<<<<|=======\-------\1            Kenzo

[KENZO]
Earlier in the fight, some of those things would have mattered. Getting points for Team Metal, showing what his ninja style could do. It's easy to have a plan until you get put through a window or sucker punched by a spectator.

Of course the whole rival schools thing gets brought up and he finds it hard to care enough about that when he's going to school with Taiyo, Seijyun, Pacific graduates with a few Gorin graduates here and there. Sure they might give each other shit on occasion but it stops mattering when you are all in the same place.

As the chain starts to head his way, he tries to summon the part of him that gives enough of a damn to get out of the way. He doesn't find it and he gets reeled into a side-hug and then the lightning comes down. Though he is intense agony screaming from the pain. His combat specs and suit shut down from the intense heat. To date, this is the most pain he's ever been in since joining the NFG.

When the screams finally stop, there's a of silence before he speaks with voice hoarse from being ravaged by tortured screams, "The rival schools bullshit ceases to mean anything when you go to school with graduates from those other schools. And I'm finding it hard to care about points or the NFG in general when spectators feel like it's alright to hit me when I'm supposed to be fighting in the ring with an opponent in a sanctioned match. So why am I even here?"

Kenzo then releases himself from the side-hug to collapse into a physically and emotionally broken heap.

As for what happened to the spectator who got in the cheap shot on Kenzo, he's a half a block away, curled up on the ground as Ultratech security proceed to take turns kicking and stomping the guy. He's currently finding out that attacking Kenzo was not worth it.

COMBATSYS: Kenzo takes no action.

[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Raiza            0/-------/---<<<<|

COMBATSYS: Kenzo can no longer fight.

[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Raiza            0/-------/---<<<<|

[RAIZA]
In the aftermath of the thunderbolt, Liza would have been blasted clear of ground zero, almost certainly in a separate direction to Kenzo. Oddly, though, the lightning doesn't seem to otherwise affect her. Instead of separation, though, Liza's kusarigama has gotten caught on Kenzo's to cause them to get knocked away together. As Kenzo releases himself and collapses next to her, Liza sits up and scratches her head sheepishly. The high school ninja seems at an unusual loss for words.

As the match result is announced, Kunoichi Inazuma reaches into her bag of tricks one more time, this time pulling out a small scroll and depositing it in Kenzo's hand. If he takes a look at it at some point, he'll find out that it's a stylized ink painting of himself, signed 'Your fan, Raiza.'

She turns her eyes toward the arcade, considering joining the Dance Dance Revolutionaries on the upper floors of the building, but upon spotting Ultratech security in the area, she instead decides to hop the barricade and hitch a ride on the back of a passing trailer truck, quickly disappearing from the scene before they can get a better look at her.

COMBATSYS: Raiza takes no action.

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

COMBATSYS: Raiza has ended the fight here.

Log created on 10:57:56 10/09/2023 by Kenzo, and last modified on 11:45:02 10/12/2023.