Match of the Millennium

Description: The north bracket for the season 2 competitors finds Henry Smithon-Powers, the Crimson Californian, facing off against the Texan with Aggression, Arisa Hawkins, in the Arena Mexico lucha stage. Did we decide to blow the entire special effects budget on a single back and forth between two competitors in a nail biter of a fight?! We sure did.

[ARISA]
"Man... lucha. Lucha!"

Despite her gregarious personality, Arisa Hawkins has been staying away from both other NFG and the media -- setting aside her rather candid post-event interview -- after the whole Zack Island thing. It was a lot for her to work through, considering. There was a point at which she considered, once more, just... bailing. Feeling out of place is one thing, but clones and angry gods(?) and the potential of starvation are another entirely.

But there were a few things that kept her going and motivated her. One is simply remembering her conversation with Chevy back on the Mermaid however long ago. Another is the old maxim that 'the best revenge is a life lived well.' And third... well, if she heads back to school, it's not like she's gonna get any more chances to tease Al, who would probably head back to whatever himbo-generating pastoral farm spawned him in Germany.

So here she is.

But actually BEING IN THE RING at Arena Mexico is a little overwhelming, all things considered. Being Texan, it's not like Arisa is unfamiliar with lucha; there was a little local show that she would sometimes catch in Austin, and every once in a while the wrestlers would come to her family's barbecue place afterwards for food, so she got to hear all sorts of fun stuff about it. Wrestling and/or lycra were never the half-oni teen's wheelhouse, so she never learned how to do it herself, but a personality like Arisa's can definitely appreciate the dramatic flair of the sport.

As she waits for Henry to arrive and both fighters to make their big lucha-style entrances, the Texan stares out at the audience wide-eyed and gawping. There's a LOT of seats in this place, after all. "Oh my god all the lucha girls back home are gonna FLIP when I tell them I was here!"

[HENRY]
Lucha. Well, of course the Californian boy wasn't unfamiliar with the sport, even if wrestling was never his thing except for the few grappling stunts his father made him learn. There just wasn't enough weapons in the mix for him.

Still, Henry is relieved to be back in civilization, and something with the air of home, even if it wasn't Los Angeles. He had his fill of weird monsters and vengeful goddesses to last him a lifetime. He almost backed out of the tournament altogether after the fight on top of the volcano that left him recouperating for a few days. But seeing himself in the rankings, well, it felt wrong to leave on that note. The question was, however, if his heart was still in the competition.

Seeing his opponent for this round waiting for him, he strides up her way. He's dressed casually today, white slacks, a crimson red tee, and his hair has been freshly dyed back to its signature electric blue. His sword and shield still bear the dings and dents of the trials on the island however, some repairs made, but the scars are still there to serve as a reminder of what he went through in that ordeal, and to remind the audience of it.

He fixes Arisa with a smile as he steps up next to her, shouldering his sword. "Gonna make some of your friends jealous?" He asks light heartedly, having caught her words to herself.

But before they make their entrance, while the have a moment, he thrusts out his hand. "Good luck, and let's try to have fun, yeah?"

[ARISA]
For reasons that no one can fully articulate -- a combination of bad luck, mathematics, or just plain old fate -- Arisa hadn't met Henry before this very point, now that the tournament is effectively coming to a close. She'd watched his fights, of course; that was just good tactics, after all, so she's aware in a general way of how he fights, but as one might expect, the selective editing of NFG productions does not give a lot in the way of first impressions oh him as a PERSON.

Blessedly, his introduction and offer a hand, which Arisa takes and shakes in return, strikes her as eminently reasonable and normal... a nice change after some of the more... extreme personalities she's encountered so far during all of this. "Lady luchadores back home in Austin," Arisa explains, grinning a little. "They're either gonna be super impressed or they're gonna be all 'whatever chica it's not even a big deal' about it."

Taking her hand back, she gives a little jaunty wave of the fingers on that hand, holding it up a second. "Nice to meet you, at any rate. I think one of the first action movies I ever saw as a kid had your mom in it... something where she was a space assassin or something? And they did that scene where she took out like two guys and then sniped a guy with a laser rifle in midair? Something. Sick as hell, and she did her own stunts, right?" A lot of arm motions being made as Arisa describes this scene, vague fighty gestures before pulling the trigger on a phantom gun. "Hopefully I'm thinking of the right actress. If not, pretend I didn't say any of that, haha."

There's a little fake bell backstage -- not the full on *clang clang* you get during the match, more like a signal to get in the ring. As she steps out, Arisa half turns to Henry and gives him a jaunty little salute. "Good luck to you too and god, yes," she adds, sounding relieved. "Having some fun out there would be a first for this tournament so far and I'm all about that."

Loud horn music plays as the two fighters have an opportunity to walk up and jump into their respective parts of the ring, announcers giving them properly lucha-like intros in the process that were ALMOST CERTAINLY written by promo-happy NFG staff. "INNNNN THE EAST CORNER, from Austin, Texas, it's the Gone Gun Girl, the Texan with Aggression, the Papercraft Punisher... ARISAAAAAAAAA... HAAAAWKINNNNNNNS!"

There is cheering, because audiences are polite that way, and an amused by overwhelmed Arisa starts blinking, smiling, and scanning the nearby audience.

And if Henry's paying attention, he may notice the point at which Arisa's sunny expression suddenly freezes and her complexion pales, because Arisa has just noticed, sitting in the third row on the north side of the arena, a tall, busty blonde wearing the very definition of a shit-eating grin, clapping heartily, seated next to a comparatively smaller Japanese man who is smiling a little less aggressively, but clapping all the same.

"Oh, god..." Arisa mutters.

Her PARENTS are IN the AUDIENCE.

[HENRY]
To be fair to Arisa, she's also meeting Henry at a good time in the tournament. He came in with a bit of a chip on his shoulder, getting the crap beaten out of him on Zack Island by a firebird has since dislodged it, leaving, well, this..

He grins in return. "Yeah, I can think of a few back home I could tease about this, too." He says, looking out into the arena. "Yeah, that was her. She made dad teach her how to do all that." Henry chuckles a little at the memories. "That was her trying not to be cast as the damsel in distress period." He shrugs, as if that's totally to be expected.

At the horns he's moving to his own corner, sliding between the ropes before he takes his shiled off his back and slips it on his arm. "INNNN THE WEST CORNER, from Hollywood, California, it's the Red Knight, the Crimson Californian, he does all his own stunts... HEEEEENRY POOOOOOWERS!" He winces. They forgot the first half of his last name. He was gonna hear about that one from his mom.

He follows Arisa's eyes into the audience however, clocking the couple she's looking at then back to Arisa. He can guess. People only have that sort of reaction to very certain people showing up. "Give 'em a show." He mouths silently as he flips his sword in his hand with a little flourish and a wink.

COMBATSYS: Henry has started a fight here.

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Henry            0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Arisa has joined the fight here.

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Henry            0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0            Arisa

With a breath, Henry settles into his fighting stance, waiting for Arisa's attention to be on him. It's impolite to strike a distracted opponent after all. But once it's clear she's ready for him, his expression turns serious and he's launching himself across the arena.

Doubtful this venue has seen much in the way of swordplay, but for the moment he simply wants to test Arisa's guard. There's no fancy flares of chi or bursts of energy to start off with, just a lunging thrust to see if he can slip his sword bast her guard for an early first strike.

COMBATSYS: Henry successfully hits Arisa with Quick Strike.

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Henry            0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0            Arisa

[ARISA]
Why are they heeeeeeeeeeere?! It's all Arisa can hear in her head, and with no disrespect meant to Henry, even his perfectly reasonable suggestion intended to snap her out of it a bit falls on deaf... uh, eyes. It's probably for the best the chivalrous stunt fighter waits a moment or two before attempting to get the fight started in earnest, because even when Arisa shakes it off enough to turn and look at him at a level where Henry would feel comfortable starting, the tip of his blade biting into Arisa's shoulder after a somewhat listless-feeling dodge is all the proof you need that she's probably not... completely there right now yet.

Stepping back with a hiss of pain, brows squinting shut, perhaps the physical shock of it all is what she needed to REALLY snap properly out of it. Lord knows she's basically been a joke this entire tournament, and her chances to be something other than a sideshow are slipping rapidly away from her. Presence of her family -- or more accurately the daunting presence of her mother, who's got a forceful enough personality for five parents, easy -- notwithstanding, it's now or never.

"Okay. That one's on me. Come on, come on." Hand going behind her, reaching for something, Arisa brings her hand back forward, holding a grappling hook on a length of cable-like line. There's a *CLANG* as the head of the hook hits the floor, the Texan playing the cable out in both hands before she starts swinging the hook part at high speed, squaring off with Henry.

"Feel like I should be making a 'not my first rodeo' joke," the Texan says with a faint grin, before whipping out an arm and hurling the grappling hook Henry-ward... but the goal isn't to snare him on the first pass. The ACTUAL goal is to slam the hook into his stomach for a disorienting gut punch before, with a flick of the wrist, adjusting the hook's trajectory so that it snags on whatever part of Henry she can get a grip on. If she does that, Arisa simply starts hauling him back toward her across the mat!

COMBATSYS: Henry blocks Arisa's Rodeo Dynamite EX.

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Henry            0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0            Arisa

[HAWKSLEY]
Sitting in the row behind Arisa's parents is a happy looking Hawksley Moore. He's swigging from a large plastic cup of beer and dressed in jeans and a black t-shirt with a picture of himself and Henry on the front. The words 'Hollywood Heat' are underneath the image in red lettering. Given that both lads are smiling in the photo and neither of them look particularly traumatised, it's likely it's taken from the publicity shoot they did prior to their trip to Zack Island, rather than during the tag-team tournament that was held there.

When he sees Henry enter the ring, Hawksley rises from his seat and lets out a loud whistle, placing a finger from each hand in his mouth to amplify the sound. "You've got this, fella!" He encourages his mentoree, before sitting his arse back down and resuming the drinking of what will no doubt be his first of many beers this evening.

Hollywood gets off to a grand start, striking the Texan's shoulder. The Irishman nods his head in appreciation and finds his free hand forming into a fist. It's hard for him to be in the charged atmosphere of the arena without wanting to get involved himself!

[HENRY]
"Well, it is my firt Lucha match. Haven't been to a rodeo either, unless you mean Rodeo Drive?" Henry quips back with a crooked smile that breaks his serious expression for just a moment. Not that anyone would call this proper Lucha, but at least he's trying to keep the mood light.

There's a flick of his gaze out into the crowd as a familiar accent reaches his ears, his eyes had been too focused on Arisa's parents to notice his mentor, and well, he seems glad for the presence.

His eyes snap back to his opponent as the grappling hook comes his way. It does manage to latch on to something, sadly, that's just his shield as he brings it up in time. Some of the hooks still get over the rim to bite into his arm, but it's hardly the pain a direct strike would have been. With a flip of his sword he knocks the tines off of his shield, breaking the connection as quick as it was made.

But if she wants him to come close, who is he to argue? He flips his sword around, crimson chi flashing down the blade to add a good two feet of reach onto the end of his blade as he launches himself forward.

Another quick burst of chi from his feet as he leaps in to close the distance speeds him up as he executes another thrusting maneuver, this time with the glimmering blade of energy rather than steel.

COMBATSYS: Arisa dodges Henry's Horse Courant.

[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Henry            0/-------/----===|===----\-------\0            Arisa

[ARISA]
This time, however, Arisa is prepared. One doesn't attack with a grappling hook without a plan for getting your weapon back without problems. If Henry had tried to cut the cable, for example, he'd have been pretty disappointed at how resilient it turned out to be, and as soon as the shield makes an appearance, the demon hunter's daughter knows that she's got to start preparing for whatever comes next. With a mighty yank, the hook's metal end makes a sudden reversal of direction back where it came with such speed it looks for a second like it might hit its user in the face, but at the last second the entire thing spirals inward, Arisa coiling the cable before stowing it right back where it came from... whatever demon hunter hammerspace it is she keeps that stuff in.

A savvy viewer will also note that as she's reaching back to stow the hook, her torso is actually starting to lean *forward*. Why? Because once she's clocked the nature of Henry's attack on his way in, she actually tucks and rolls *forward*, toward him rather than the other way around. This means that despite the reach of the extended chi blade, it passes narrowly but harmlessly overhead.

The ACTUAL sword presents a problem in terms of getting up from her lower position, so Arisa can't take proper advantage of the nature of her defense, and Henry manages to get in close, as he likely planned... but that might be to Arisa's benefit, too, as on her way up and to the side from his extended blade, one hand is suddenly holding a small, square-ish bottle of a light blue liquid, a cross-shaped stopper on the top. The arc of her arm's upward movement leaves a glittering trail of the blueish liquid in the air between the two fighters for just a moment... until it becomes apparent just what said liquid IS:

Holy water.

If Henry doesn't move backwards in a hurry, or otherwise put a stop to it, he's going to find out that you don't need to be a demon or ghost to find the white-blue fire that the water trail erupts into to be painful indeed!

COMBATSYS: Henry fails to interrupt Tequila Sunrise from Arisa with Crane Vigilant.

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Henry            0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0            Arisa

[HENRY]
IS there a nod of approval from the blue haired teen as Arisa dips under his attack. Yes. But it's better than the frustration he used to show at not being able to land a clean hit, instead he simply admires the acrobatic maneuver for what it was. "Ever think of doing stunt work?" He asks casually as he turns around once more to face his opponent. "I may know some people." He adds.

A vial of water. He's been around Chevy the hydromancer herself too much to discount what a vial of water can mean. He spins one his heal extending the hand of his shield arm out, his fingers a rigid blade. He's intending to strike right through the curtain of water with another energy blade, but as it bursts into flames he falters. His eyes go wide and the crimson energy peeters out before it has a chance to form.

For a flash of a moment there's panic on his face. Fire bad. No good. Too much of it. His arm ends up scorched in the flames before he can hop back, his breathing on the verge of panting as he stares at where the flames where. Though as they die down, so does his momentary flash of panic.

Maybe he's not as over that encounter on the top of the volcano as he thought. Still, a moment later he manages to school his features and regain his composure. He flips some blue hair out of his face with his burned hand and offers a bashful grin and a shrug to Arisa as if apologizing for his lapse there.

[ARISA]
The grin on Arisa's face is wolfish, but in truth, she's deeply relieved that whatever reprisal Henry had in mind, he was deterred from making. She's taken only one hit from the stunt-swordsman so far, and it wasn't even a particularly forceful attempt, but the Texan is well aware that if she KEEPS taking such blows from him, this fight's going to be over in a hurry. Luck is on her side in this moment, but it could easily turn around in a heartbeat.

Case in point, as Henry steps back to gather himself, Arisa doesn't immediately pounce, instead taking a moment to both catch and then slow her breathing, all things considered. "No," she says, in regards to the question about stunt work. "But it could be fun. Seems like it would be pretty hard work, learning how to do all that stuff without hurting yourself. Your parents musta..." A brief pause, barely a flicker, but it's there. "...trained you pretty hard."

But she can't sit there and wait, unfortunately. Arisa doesn't have the luxury of letting her opponents relax for even a second; keeping on the strict offensive is the best option. Don't give them time to think or muster up a reasonable defense. Crossing her arms, the Texan draws out... sheets of paper? But anyone who's seen her fight knows that a transformation is coming, and indeed, in the blink of an eye, the origami paper is folded into a pair of tessen -- 'iron' fans -- before Arisa ducks forward and attempts to... well smack Henry with them, three times in sequence. There's more than a papercut at stake here, too; if those fans connect, they've got as much force and weight as if they really WERE made of iron!

COMBATSYS: Arisa successfully hits Henry with Touten Jutsu - Shoukou.

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Henry            0/-------/=======|====---\-------\0            Arisa

[HENRY]
Henry can only nod his confirmation of his parent's hard training. Well.. his father's. His mother's training was less physical but hard in its own way. But it can still be seen in him recovering his demeanor in a few moments, keeping that panic from welling up and shoved down.

PErhaps he should have paid more attention to some of his competitors matches though, not that there was much opportunity to watch them trapped on the tropical island, but he arches his brow at the paper. OF course, he should have expected some sort of trick.
He attempts to step out of the way, more cruious than worried about the paper fans, but he doesn't quite manage to slip away, and catches the blow right no his shoulder. "Yeowch, that's some trick." He mutters, backing away and rolling his arm to get some feeling back into it.

"C'mon, get it togther." He mutters to himself. "You're off your game." After the little self pep talk, he's stepping in to close the distance once more, he adds a flourish to his blade as he swings in from the side, first seeming to go high, then flipping it about in his hand to go low, aiming to trip up Arisa's footwork and regain his own balance.

COMBATSYS: Arisa fails to counter Random Strike from Henry with Chouten Jutsu - Mitsuboshi EX.
- Power fail! -

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Henry            1/-------/=======|======-\-------\0            Arisa

[ARISA]
Henry isn't the only person who's gonna be trying to get themselves to pull it together, in a moment. Being able to land a few quick strikes with the origami fans is fine, but there was a second trick up Arisa's sleeve: hidden behind one of the fans, gripped between her fingers, was an ofuda: a sealing charm, inscribed with a warding incantation. As she pulls back from her assault on Henry, the Texan mutters a few syllables under her breath, the ofuda glowing slightly with pale blue-white light.

The PLAN had been, when he comes in for whatever followup would occur to him, that Henry would find his strikes intercepted by a sudden trio of shikigami, familiars called upon by onmyouji for all sorts of tasks. And in fact, as the high swing of the blade comes in, three shikigami DO appear, little glowing creatures of blue-white light in the hazy shape of birds.

That's when the sudden pivot in direction sweeps Arisa off her feet, breaking her concentration, the wisps vanishing as quickly as they came and, worse, the angle of Henry's strike making it so that what hits the mat first is the *back of Arisa's head*, rather than falling on her body.

To say that's painful is an understatement.

When the Texan gets up, she doesn't have a little one-liner to throw back about it, mostly because she's gritting her teeth against the pain and rubbing the back of her skull with her left hand, eyes squinting slightly.

[HENRY]
By its very nature as stunt choreography, Henry's fighting style has usually veered to the flashy and over the top. Afterall, its for amusing audiences and looking good on film rather than focused on technique and actual fights. But if there's one thing the NFG has taught him, it's to tighten up his attacks and sometimes simple is best.

He winces a little as Arisa hits the mat head first, and while that can't be completely painless, he's at least a little relieved that the floor of the wrestling arena has some padding to it to handle those pile drivers and suplex throws. He'd hate to ring someone's bell too hard. "Alright there?" He asks, not really expecting an answer.

But now isn't the time to let up either, even as Arisa is recovering he continues with his follow through.

Carrying forward the momentum of the sword swing, he allows the weight of the blade to give him a little extra spin, lashing out with a sneakered foot in a spinning roundhouse aimed right at the Texan's side, despite just inquiring to how she's feeling.

COMBATSYS: Arisa dodges Henry's Strong Kick.

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Henry            1/------=/=======|======-\-------\0            Arisa

[ARISA]
AUSTIN, TEXAS -- SEVEN YEARS AGO:

It's evening, and the kitchen is lit with multiple warm lights from various angle. On the heavy wood kitchen table, a pair of custom submachine guns has been thoroughly and completely disassembled... and one young woman with white-blonde hair is attempting to put them back together, piece by piece. Leaning against the counter a few feet away, drinking a beer from the bottle, is a bulky woman, watching all of this and saying nothing.

"Mama?" says the girl, slipping a pin into place and furrowing her brow as she tries to remember what comes next.

"What is it, sweetie?" the beer drinker asks in a husky alto.

A young Arisa picks up a spring, frowns at it, then puts it down and looks through the pieces for what she actually needs. Her question is asked without turning back to look at her mother. "What do I do if I don't, like... want to do this? The hunting stuff, I mean," she adds, picking up an L-shaped bar and the spring she had been holding before.

"Well," Beatrix Hawkins responds, leaning back a little farther and taking another swig of her beer. "That's up to you, kid. I hung it all up when we had you, after all," she adds with a shrug. "But I'll tell you this: whatever it is you decide to do, you give it 110%. I don't care if you sweep all that stuff off the table and--" A pause, then a grin. "Nah, you mess up my babies and I'll tan your hide for sure," the woman jokes. "But if you wake up tomorrow and go 'Mama, I wanna be a garbage collector' then you do it, but you be damn good at it. 'Cause you got it in you to be great at something. Maybe you dunno what yet. I sure don't. And maybe the thing you'll think it is won't be what it ends up being." One last swing of the beer, and Beatrix walks over to her daughter, clapping her on the shoulder with one hand and pointing at the next piece of the puzzle with the other. "But you'll find out if you put all you got into whatever you do."

NOW:

Someone asked if she was alright, and maybe it's the head injury, but Arisa grins that same wolfish grin her mother had just flashed in that snippet of memory floating through her head, fingers twitching like a sherrif about to duel the bad guy. "Never better, thanks for askin'."

One hundred and ten Texan percent.

A wrestling or boxing arena isn't terribly big, not by 'professional fighting' standards, where the abilities shown by most fighters can end up ranging around considerably more. As Henry's kick comes sweeping in at her side, Arisa tenses, then leaps OVER it, flipping toward the side of the ring, where she lands with astonishing balance *on* the top rope. Hands reach back, and come out holding her trademark SMGs, her mother's 'babies': one sporting a charm of blue topaz on the grip, the other with a yellow quart rose, both leveled at Henry. "And I'm just getting started."

She takes off at a run *along the top rope*, rounding the corners as she approaches them, opening fire at Henry the entire time. He's got to track her, avoid the bullets... Arisa's giving 110%. He's gonna have to match that!

COMBATSYS: Henry blocks Arisa's Blue Topaz and Yellow Rose.

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Henry            1/-----==/=======|=======\-------\0            Arisa

[HENRY]
"Seriously?!"

There's a moment of pure ghasted flabbers from Henry as Arisa pulls out a pair of guns. And he sometimes felt bad about using a real sword... "Texans.." He mutters, though its not witout some good natured humor to it at least. Time to put some of his quick swordwork into play.

He does manage to track Arisa as she runs, even more impressive much of the bullet spray doesn't seem to reach him. Some take a bite out of the aged, metal-studded hardwood of the targe on his arm, others spark off his blade. A few bullts manage to graze him, opening up scarlet lines, one across his cheek, another staining his tee a deeper shade of red, but none seem to strike where it matters. He moves his sword and shield with surprising alacrity and accuracy. He doesn't want to close in at the moment, not against guns.

So, with a flick of his wrist, his shield falls off his arm and he grips it by the edge before it has a chance to hit the floor. Still keeping his gaze locked on Arisa, he brings up his arm, the shield lighting up with his crimson chi before he sends it launching through the air in a glowing arc towards Arisa.

COMBATSYS: Henry successfully hits Arisa with Adder Glissant.

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Henry            1/---====/=======|=======\==-----\1            Arisa

[ARISA]
A shield seems like a useful thing when you're fighting against someone with a variety of projectile weapons at their disposal, and for Henry this is no exception, it would seem. By the time he's got a chance to throw his shield at her, Arisa is back on the floor of the mat and the guns she was holding are gone off into whatever holding space those go to.

There's no particular fancy attempt at evasion, which is perhaps what does Arisa wrong; she tries to simply turn so the thing flies by her entirely, but instead it clips her shoulder... which wouldn't normally be a problem, but the blow makes her turn in the direction of the shield's momentum, meaning she spins just enough so that it rakes across her upper back before (presumably) Captain America-ing back to its owner.

Gritting her teeth against the pain, and her momentum briefly blunted, the Texan doesn't leap back onto the offensive; instead, she squares off with Henry and tries to get ready for whatever it is that's coming next, which she imagines she will need to be fully ready for. "Admit it," she does say aloud, grinning, "this would all look pretty sweet in one of your parents' movies. Who do you think they'd get to play us?"

COMBATSYS: Arisa gains composure.

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Henry            1/---====/=======|=======\=------\1            Arisa

[HENRY]
"I dunno about you.." Henry says as he catches the shield out of the air, somehow slipping it back onto his arm with a flick of his wrist, a praticed and smooth maneuver. "But I'd only ever agree to it if I played myself." He adds with a grin.

But if she's not going to come after him, he's still going to come after her, and the chance to get a strike in without having to get around one incoming is just too much of an opportunity to pass up.

He steps in close, sword rising into the air as if he's going in for an overhead slash, but as he brings the sword down he also brings it in close, the blade intentionally seeming to miss Arisa, until the sword clangs against the surface of his shield on his arm, then with a scraping of metal on metal, he sends up a spray of crimson sparks between himself and Arisa, a glittering curtain that hopefully gives him some time to maneuver into his next attack while he can't quite be seen behind them.

COMBATSYS: Arisa blocks Henry's Hound Couchant.

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Henry            1/---====/=======|=======\==-----\1            Arisa

[ARISA]
"Haha. Well, I'm a woman of many talents," Arisa says in response to the idea that she'd play herself in the NFG movie adaptation. She doesn't have time to finish the sentence, however, as Henry wisely makes use of the lull in the fight to stay on the offensive. On the other hand, Arisa not having to abort her own attack to deal with it (or worse) means she can prepare a proper defense.

One hand whips around, holding a piece of blue paper, which she swiftly folds into a shape as Henry approaches, striking sword on shield. As the wave of sparks flies outward, Arisa throws whatever shape she folded down at the ground *toward* the sparks. Paper versus sparks doesn't seem to be a good plan... until it's revealed that the shape was a little origami penguin, which suddenly makes part of the ground between the two fighters freeze into a just under waist-high curtain of ice.

The sparks crash against the icy breakwall, cracking and splintering it, but in the process most of them are kept from striking Arisa herself. It's not a perfect defense; here and there, sparks crest the ice wall and strike Arisa, causing a hiss of pain.

It's also easy for the remaining sparks to hit her because while there's still an ice curtain to do it with, she places on hand on it and attempts to vault over the side and land a swift downward punch to Henry's shoulder in the process. "Acting's probably not one of 'em though!"

COMBATSYS: Henry dodges Arisa's Quick Strike.

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Henry            1/---====/=======|=======\==-----\1            Arisa

[HENRY]
"Is it acting if you're playing yourself though?" Henry has to ask. He does make little 'awww adorable' eyes at the penguin as it pops into existence for a moment, because let's be honest, penguins are just cute, even if they are made of paper.

Fortunately, the sparks seem to do their job, for when Arisa crests the mini ice wall to send a punch Henry's way he just isn't there anymore, the red of his shirt helping him blend in with the fizzling sparks. He's not far away through, as the sparks fade, a line of crimson flares to life off to Arisa's side, Henry's sword once more infused with his chi.

He swings the sword around him in a great glowing circle, energized blade cutting through the air with a slight whirr as it lives a scarlet after image in the air.

COMBATSYS: Henry successfully hits Arisa with Lion Rampant.

[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////                  ]
Henry            1/-======/=======|=======\======-\1            Arisa

[ARISA]
"If it's just me playing myself, what's the point of a movie?" Arisa says, kicking off the ground in a backflip that takes her up and over the final remnants of her icy defense, away from Henry this time. Landing in a crouch, she gets to her feet with a raised eyebrow. "I mean, I'm pretty great, but someone with a huge budget and a ton of Hollywood tech should be able to do better, right?!"

But then she's got Henry's sword to deal with, and she just isn't up to the task, apparently; an attempt to circle around the blow ends up skimming into its path instead, and now it's Arisa's turn for a line of red and a bit of torn shirt as the chi-enhanced blade hits home.

It's obvious to her that Henry is saving his strength for something big, and while she didn't want to be the first to tip her proverbial hand, the Texan isn't against doing it one bit. "None of that CG stuff, though," she says, teeth gritted against the pain, a flicker of movement as another ofuda appears in her hand, glowing purple-blue as she mutters under her breath, activating it.

With lightning speed, Arisa folds the sealing charm into a small, but easily noticeable shape: a bullet. Flicking it into the air with her thumb like a gambler flipping a coin, one arm comes straight out, holding Blue Topaz. When her voice rings out, it has an eerie echo-ing quality to it. "Let you who guide warriors descend here now!"

The bullet falls into the custom loading slot and without any further ceremony, Arisa fires it at Henry, the shot moving with unearthly speed to deliver the sealing curse as well as a nice hefty impact. "Kyu kyu nyo ritsu ryo!"

COMBATSYS: Arisa successfully hits Henry with Hybrid Jutsu - Tansei Overdrive.

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Henry            2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|===----\-------\0            Arisa

[HENRY]
"Technically, they're making one now." Henry says with a nod towards the cameras recording their match, "So.. yeah." He chuckles. But as the gun comes out again he jukes to the side, hoping to keep himself a moving target and hard to hit. It's almost a good plan, except the ring is definitely smaller than the other arenas he had to fight in til now, and as he reaches the rope, the shot takes him in the shoulder, almost spinning him around. He hisses as his arm feels like it's going numb, but luckily its his shield arm, no risk of dropping his sword quite at the moment.

But he doesn't let that stop him.

Instead he put a foot on one of the ropes and launches himself up to land with one foot on a post and another on one of the springier turnbuckles.

He's breathing heavily now, and perhaps he is holding back for something, or maybe he has some other purpose for not unleashing his more dramatic moves.

For a moment he crouches there like a gargoyle, rocking his shield arm to work feeling back into it, but maybe it being a little numb for this might be a good thing.

He springs off the post, twisting in mid air as he aims for Arisa not with his sword, but with his shield. Chi flares off te surface of the targe, spreading out like a pair of crimson wings as he falls towards her, the energy almost seeming to screech as it whips around him.

When he's finally in range, he swings that arm in a shield-bashing backhand, the energy exploding of the surface of the shield in a massive, somewhat uncontrolled, detonation.

COMBATSYS: Arisa parries Henry's #Griphon Segreant#!

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Henry            0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0            Arisa

[ARISA]
Arisa had said 'none of that CG stuff' and the followup that Henry makes to her own big dramatic not-quite-but-nearly last stand is proof that, in the world of pro fighters, you don't NEED any of that CG stuff. They provide their own.

The demon hunter's daughter can tell that the stunt-swordsman is giving more than his all in this, just as she was prepared to do mere moments ago. More than that, while she's no mountain sage or jutsu wunderkind, she can feel the building of spiritual energy as Henry prepares himself for his strike. Forget needing to go 110% because her parents are in the audience; there's a good chance she's gotta go 110% right now or get utterly KOed in this last overwhelming hit!

"Okay, girl," she mutters to herself, crossing her arms in front of her in an X-like shape, hands palm-in on either side of her head. "Do or die time."

With a flick of her hands, more ofuda appear between her fingers: three on one side, two on the other. "By the crest of Seimei!" Arisa shouts, a seeming non-sequitur, before thrusting her hand out and placing all five ofuda in midair like the points of a star, which becomes obvious as wavering lines of silver-blue connect the talismans to each other and a pentagram hovers into view... about a split second before Henry's shield slam -- and the blast wave of withering force that goes with it -- crashes into it.

For a moment the forces seem locked in tableau, but Arisa's jutsu is not even near strong enough to simply no-sell the culmination of Henry's efforts. The blast wave keeps advancing, but the mystical sealing wall keeping it at bay is cracking under the strain: as Henry's attack pushes onward, one by one, the ofuda making up the seal burn up to ash. Arisa is in a frenzy, sweat dripping from her brow as she attempts to replace the seals that burn up, but pretty soon that's a losing proposition too, unless she suddenly sports an extra pair of hands.

At the very last second, with an inarticulate yell, she whips out a rather large sheet of origami paper and folds a shape she's used before: a paper umbrella, which she pulls down to her side as if holding a spear, snapping the umbrella open and diving INTO the last vestiges of the blast wave.

What Henry will find emerging is the Texan leaping at him, the umbrella snapping shut so that it really is a sort of short spear she's wielding, traces of his own fiery attack mixing with Arisa's chi, both swirling off it like tendrils of flame, as she attempts to drive the final point home with what little reserves she has left.

[HAWKSLEY]
Both fighters are doing themselves proud in this bout. The action has been back and forth and it really looks like either of them could take the match. Hawksley's loyalty still lies firmly with Henry though.

He stands up to applaud and cheer as the Californian's shield strikes the Texan, knocking her off her feet, and again when the blue-haired boy hits the mark with his glowing scarlet sword. His protégé isn't having it all his own way though. Arisa strikes the stuntman in the shoulder and then puts on an impressive display of defence to fend off his follow up.

When the lass moves to leap on her opponent, the Irishman finds himself holding his breath and making a sign off the cross, as he wonders if Henry is able to handle her.

COMBATSYS: Arisa successfully hits Henry with Nanten Jutsu - Tobihi EX.

[                            \\  < >  //////////////                ]
Henry            0/-------/----<<<|======-\-------\0            Arisa

[HENRY]
Henry grunts as he presses his attack against the sudden barrier between himself and Arisa. But the energy can only last for so long, and the new maneuver seems to take its toll out of him.

He backs up a few steps as the crimson chi around him sputters then winks out, causing him to drop to one knee, an action that causes him to wince. Maybe it really was too soon to be pushing himself after being thuroughly trounced twice in a row on that volcano top.

He looks up as his opponent comes charging in with her origami spear, something in his gaze says he knows he's already done for. Still he makes the effort to move out of the way, but his leg doesn't want to cooperate and push him to standing. Instead he sort of lurches to the side, and ends up taking the spear to the shoulder that was already messed up from the massive gun shot of the previous attack.

He lets out a short grunt, and winces, but thats the only sign of pain he allows to show, but the arm seems to dangle uselessly at his side after the attack.

He begins to sway, but instead of giving into gravity and unconsciousness, he fights back for one more moment. Flipping his sword in his hand so the blade points backwards, he thrusts his fist forward, aiming to jab the pommel of his sword right into her solar plexus. He may be going out, but it seems he wants to still get in one good final blow.

If he connects or not, he falls back down to his knees again after the last ditch effort to fight back, the slumps to the side, rolling onto his back to stare up at the ceiling. "Sorry, dad. I think that's all I've got right now.."

COMBATSYS: Henry can no longer fight.

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

COMBATSYS: Arisa blocks Henry's Crushing Strike.

[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Arisa            1/-------/=======|

[ARISA]
Between marshaling everything she had to defend against Henry's intensely powerful attack, and then pushing herself to follow up herself right after, Arisa is feeling pretty drained herself in the end; after the umbrella-cum-spear strikes home, she stumbles backwards, bent forward at the waist just a little bit, heaving big breaths. The fact that he's got a reprisal of his own to deliver in the end isn't a *surprise*, but it does mean there's a strong note of at-the-last-second in the Texan's defense; she manages to get an arm in front of the pommel smash, but from the "Aaah!" and sudden hiss of breath, there's a good chance she just took it on the wrist or funny bone... whichever the case, it's clear that even this final shot on Henry's part hit with plenty of force.

For a moment Arisa stands there, umbrella abandoned as she clutches her injured arm with the opposite arm, but after a few moments of Henry not getting back up -- and his comment, probably unheard by the audience but noticed by her, Arisa slumps to folded knees, head hanging a bit, clearly exhausted by the effort of the fight... not to mention the injury, Henry having landed more than a few telling blows on her.

There's a brief moment where she can't help but let her eyes wander to a certain spot in the audience, and her grey eyes suddenly grow misty as she spies her mother, looking on like a mountain in arm-crossed satisfaction, her father clapping along exuberantly. She lets out a little choked-sounding laugh, not sure how to feel, before turning back to her opponent.

"If, ah... if your parents meant to teach you stuff that packs a punch but also looks cool as hell, I'm sure they're super proud of you right now," the Texan offers, inching forward (still on her knees) and offering a hand to be shaken, if Henry's of the mind. "You are the n--" A beat. "One of the nicest folks I've met in this whole thing, Henry. Thank you for a freakin' cool fight."

[HAWKSLEY]
Hollywood starts to struggle and it's not long before it's clear that Arisa is gonna be the one who goes through to the semi-final. Henry's body may be broken but his spirit certainly isn't. He's had a grand old season and Hawksley is excited to see what he will do next in his career.

Cheering loudly for both the Californian and the Texan fighters, the Cork cruiserweight makes his way down to the ring, in case his mentoree should need his support. He's mindful that unlike Arisa, the lad hasn't got his mammy and da here. Hawksley will be happy to supply Henry with all the hugs, booze and painkillers he needs to help ease the pain of his defeat.

Log created on 13:58:12 11/24/2024 by Arisa, and last modified on 05:12:59 12/04/2024.