Match of the Millennium

Description: In case things didn't seem serious enough, we've got Kuroki Inei of Justice High facing off against Amano Ayaki of Gedo! A former student of Justice himself, Ayaki was transferred to Gedo due to interpersonal problems - so he might have a real chip on his shoulder when it comes to this match! Meanwhile, the pressure will be on for Inei prove the pride of Justice's super-elite students is well-placed against one of their previous pupils with what we're told are some spooky special powers!

[AYAKI]
Ayaki turns up the volume on his podcast, trying to drown out the sound of his heart thumping in his chest. He can't believe that the time has actually come for him to take part in a fight. Of course he's been in them before, most notably the one that got him kicked out of Justice. This time though, it's the real deal. This time it's an official match with an audience, both in person and on streaming.

Adding to the other sounds is the grumbling and rumbling from Ayaki's stomach. He hasn't been able to face eating all day. The last thing he consumed other than coffee and water was some noodles around twenty hours ago. Maybe this was a mistake. What if he passes out during his performance? Oh well, too late now.

He buries his face in the soft fabric of his black hoody, finding it a comforting hiding place from what's ahead. His opponent today is a boy from Justice. Surely that has been planned. He's seen enough of the New Fighting Generation and other fighting competitions to know that the organisers want to maximise the drama.

Touching the screen on his phone, Ayaki switches out the podcast for a song - Panic Prone by Chevelle. He turns the volume to the max, ignoring the protest of pain from his ears. As he makes his way to the stage he keeps it playing, letting his head drop and pulling his hood up to avoid eye contact with the crowd as much as possible.

Only when he's on the strange stage, does Ayaki finally lift his head and look out at the festival goers who've gathered to see his battle with Inei. There's so many of them. If two Southtown schoolboys can draw such an audience, how wild will it be for the real stars?

The song comes to an end, leaving Ayaki with silence. He slowly pulls out his earbuds and it's then he hears the roars from the excited fighting fans. Some of them even have signs with his name or Gedo written on them. The weight of the responsibility of representing his school pushes down on him. Is it too late to change his mind and make a run for it? Probably.

Ayaki closes his deep blue eyes and focuses on his breathing. He's going to have to find something inside himself to get through this. His digs his fingernails into the palms of his hands, leaving crescent marks on his flesh. When he opens his eyes again there's a red glow to them. Perhaps it's the lights or perhaps it's something else.

Ayaki starts to bounce backwards and forwards like a toddler at a tea party, making the most of the environment that's been given to he and his fellow Rivals to play in. As his confidence grows, he rises higher and higher in the air. Soon his fear is replaced by a feeling of fun. This actually feels pretty amazing! He starts to laugh, throwing back his head and looking up towards the sunny Southtown sky.

[INEI]
Well, it is a festival. And all festivals have food vendors. Inei must not have the same trepidation or anxiety as he chews on a dango as he weaves his way through the crowd, the bright orange of his uniform jacket like a beacon in the crowd, except for the other dots of orange about from his classmates come to cheer him on.

He pulls another dango off the skewer he holds in his hand, chewing thoughtfully as he approaches the arena, though when it comes into sight his eyes narrow and as he glances it over critically.

The hell? What was this? A fighting ring for eight-year-olds?

Oh well, he had known he was going to wind up in some strange situations once the NFG got rolling and this might as well be good practice. But it really did ruin his preferred aesthetic. Plucking free the last of the dango with his teeth he discards the skewer in a nearby trash can and steps towards the arena, seeing his opponent to be already present and thoroughly enjoying himself as he bounced around. Inei just pressed his lips into a thin line at the display.

Despite one of the sleeves of his Justice High uniform being rolled up and pinned in place just below his shoulder, he doesn't have much issue keeping his balance on the bouncy foam. He's had his whole life to practice after all.

"So, you're the guy I'm going to fight." He says, it's not a question. His icy blue eyes fix on Ayaki, then narrow a little. "You seem familiar." He stand still as he watches Ayaki, subtly adjusting his footing to keep his balance as the shocks from the Gedo boy's bouncing reaches him across the mat.

From somewhere in the audience a girl in an orange Justice blazer shouts, "Go, Spooky-kun! Beat him up!" And his serious expression falls into something a bit more, well, exasperated, mostly at the nickname. "I told them not to call me that." He mutters, soft enough for only the two in the ring to hear.

[AYAKI]
It's the orange Ayaki sees first. His eyes are immediately drawn to it as Inei makes his way through the crowd. He'd had to wear this same uniform for most of his first year of high school. It'd been somewhat of a relief when he found out Gedo had no set items of clothing.

The silver-haired boy seems confident and somewhat familiar. Ayaki recognises him as someone who'd been in the same year as him during his time at Justice. They'd not been friends but there hadn't been any bad blood between them either. When the girl calls out "Go, Spooky-kun! Beat him up!" more details come back to him and suddenly he knows exactly who his opponent is. This is going to be interesting.

"Yeah, I used to go to Justice, for my sins." Ayaki responds to Inei light-heartedly. "Although I suppose it's more accurate to say I stopped going to Justice for my sins, and yeah, I'm the guy you're gonna fight."

He stops bouncing and takes a step closer to Inei. "I'll give you a top tip. The more you ask someone not to call you something, the more likely they are to do so. They probably know it gets under your skin. As far as nicknames go though, I've heard a lot worse."

COMBATSYS: Inei has started a fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Inei             0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Ayaki has joined the fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Inei             0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0            Ayaki

[INEI]
"Oh yes, the one that got expelled." Inei says slowly. It's not toned as a critique, or even negatively. Just a statement of fact as the memory of his former classmate is pulled up in his head. "You're lucky. Second year math at Justice is a pain." He continues, rolling his one good shoulder.

"I'll keep it in mind." He says levelly at the offered tip. "Though I fear there's little I can do about it now." There's little inflection to his voice, if anything he sounds bored, or maybe tired. It's no fault on Ayaki though, if he remembers Inei he'd remember the silver haired teen always talks like that. He unbuttons the orange uniform jacket, freeing up some mobility and revealing the black shirt underneath before he assumes his fighting stance, spreading his legs beneath him and bringing his hand up in front of him, open with the palm facing his and his fingers pointed upwards. "When you're ready."

And indeed, he waits until Ayaki seems ready to begin their bout, taking a few circling steps to the side, moving almost as if he's waltzing with an invisible partner, slow, steady, and fluid.

Then he's moving inwards towards Ayaki, ready to test him with the first exchange. His feet barely leave the mat, almost seeming to glide along its surface as he rolls his hand about in the air, blue-black energy streaming off of his finger tips as he strikes out with his palm aimed for Ayaki's core, likely to give his defenses an early test.

COMBATSYS: Ayaki blocks Inei's Medium Punch.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Inei             0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0            Ayaki

[AYAKI]
Ayaki isn't surprised that Inei recalls the story of him being kicked out of school. He was the number one subject of gossip amongst the students of Southtown for a short time. "Second year math isn't much fun anywhere I suspect." He says with a shrug.

He watches as Inei removes his jacket and briefly considers taking off his black hoody. He decides against it for now though, seeing it as a layer of armour between himself and what's to come in the combat, despite it only being made of thin cotton. Nodding his head, Ayaki says with a lot more confidence than he actually feels. "I'm ready."

Looking down at his hands, a pair of blades appear in them. The one in his left hand is azure blue, whilst the one in his right is crimson red. As Inei moves towards him, the black-haired boy lifts his left arm, using the blue blade as a shield. The impact of it connecting with Inei's energy means Ayaki needs to push his feet firmly in the ground in order to stay stable. Keeping the blue blade in place for protection, he raises the red blade above his head before swinging it down recklessly towards the Justice fighter. The blade begins to glow crimson and then erupts like wildfire, sending an arc of blazing psychic energy crashing into the floor of the stage. The air vibrates from the perceived heat of the strike, and embers appear to flicker across the ring.

Should Ayaki be able to strike him, Inei will be thrown backward by the raw psychic power.

COMBATSYS: Inei blocks Ayaki's Crimson Blaze.

[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////    ]
Inei             0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0            Ayaki

[INEI]
Inei brings his arm up as the crimson energy comes rushing at him, except, it's not the arm he has. A skeletal looking arm formed of his blue-black chi appears where his other arm should be, taking the brunt of the attack, his feet sliding across the mat in a sideways spin to break the inertia of the blow.

He flexes his phantom fingers, which still click and clack like actual bone as he does so, his eyes glowing softly as he maintains the construct.

"There's the spooky arm!" Calls out the same voice in the crowd that dubbed him Spooky-kun and he gives a long suffering sigh, his eyes focusing on Ayaki as if to silently say, 'See what I have to put up with?'

He doesn't hesitate too long though, they are in the middle of a fight after all. His phantom fingers seem to grip at the air, distorting it like he's tugging on a sheet until a tear forms.

Another hand appears from inside the rip, grabbing the edge and pulling a hooded head through, only a grinning mouth visible which falls open, a beam of his strangely tinted chi shooting across the arena, a sound like nails on a chalkboard filling the area as it blasts towards Ayaki.

The rip shuts after the beam is fired, it and it's phantom occupant simply winking out as if they were never there.

COMBATSYS: Ayaki parries Inei's Soul Evocation!

[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////    ]
Inei             0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0            Ayaki

[AYAKI]
Ayaki has heard rumours about this phantom arm. Seeing it in the flesh (or not flesh) however is something quite different. "Wow!" He finds himself gasping, his blue eyes growing wide in wonder. "That's so cool."

Tilting his head towards Inei, Ayaki watches as the Justice student flexes the fingers. He also notes the glowing. Fascinating, his own eyes glow too. Maybe he should have got to know this boy better when they were schoolmates.

Nodding his head in sympathy for Inei, when he bemoans being the object of the shouting girl's attention, he realises that the silver-haired lad is not the only one causing something of a stir. Apparently when a schoolboy shows up, summons glowing blades out of nowhere and then proceeds to produce psychic wildfire, it's something of a shocking sight. "It's true!" Someone at the front of the crowd loudly stage whispers. "I'd heard he attacked that boy with glowing blades."

The spectacle only gets weirder when the hooded head shows up, along with its horror movie mouth. Nothing good is gonna come from there! As soon as the energy sets off on its journey, Ayaki is on the move. He's so fast that before it can reach him, he's already moved past it, seemingly vanishing into thin air.

"Where did he go?" Someone shouts. They don't have to wait long for an answer because the Gedo guy appears again, this time behind Inei. Ayaki holds his blue blade in an outstretched stance, whilst wind begins to stir around his body. It feels like ice and then, if it connects, like a sharp cut.

Whether it hits or not the only sign of the attack's path is a shimmering blue afterimage, like a ghost that has made a fleeting appearance.

COMBATSYS: Ayaki successfully hits Inei with Blue Oni Phantom Slash EX.

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////    ]
Inei             0/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0            Ayaki

[INEI]
Inei squints as Ayaki vanishes, his eys scanning the arena for any trace of him. The cold is a warning but not enough of one. He moves to shift out of the way, but his feet don't carry him quick enough and the ghostly psy blade cute into him.

He doesn't seem overly perturbed by the display though, if anyone is used to ghostly images and icy chills it's the guy that likes to play with spirits. Still, he hisses as he pulls back, his phantom hand going over the spot where the blade struck him, and for the first time in the fight a flitting hint of a smile. Or maybe it's just the way the shadows play on his face making it look like one.

He swings the phantom arm behind him, then lashes out with it once more, the thing extending like a chain, multiple joints appearing down the length as it whips towards Ayaki, the finger bent in like the claws of a grappling hook as he attempts to coil up the Gedo student in phantom boney chains.

COMBATSYS: Inei successfully hits Ayaki with Guilty Break.

[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Inei             1/-------/=======|=======\-------\1            Ayaki

[AYAKI]
Ayaki feels the psychic blade penetrate Inei and his blue eyes flash red in response. He's been fretting about this fight for days, but now he's here and caught up in the combat, it feels truly exhilarating. The most exciting thing about it is he feels like he can fully be himself without someone punishing him for it. Gedo are actually encouraging him to give it his all and attack his opponents with everything he has.

If the smile on Inei's face is anything to go by then he's having fun too. Ayaki is glad of this. A dance is far more fun when it's shared with a partner. When the phantom arm launches towards him, Ayaki feels a flash of terror. He tries to bring both blades up to block its progress but the thing is too fast, latching on to the lad and wrapping around his limbs.

Ayaki starts to wiggle, willing himself to break free of his prison. His body is not obeying and it's only when he engages his mind in his escape that it pays off. Letting out a loud roar of relief as he realises he's free, Ayaki brings both blades up and thrusts them out towards Inei's neck. Rather than trying to slice with them though, he uses them to push together, attempting to restrict the spooky boy's air flow.

[AMANE]
"Oh, how colorful."

One would imagine at a festival for pro fighters, you'd encounter all kinds and shapes. After all, on stage right now, you've got a guy with hot and cold running knives and another with a uniform jacket full of horror films. Still, not to take away from the spectacle and kineticism of the current fight, but the owner of the voice that oh-so-casually said 'how colorful' is, uh...

Purple-pink hair, almost antique-feeling Japanese clothing cut in a provocative style in colors to match, and an inexplicably floating hire scarf tracing a gauzy arc over his head... that's a new one for most people.

Amane Nishiki (for it is he) is not the focus of the audience, however, other than perhaps an occasional glance or annoyed grunt as his panoply walks in front of someone, blocking their view. The pyrotechnics going on in the ring -- somber in expression and color compared to the Fyre Festival-meme ball pit energy of the ring itself -- are of far more interest.

As Inei's spectral arm sails across the space in search of Ayaki's tender flesh, the Uzume makes a little 'hmm hmm hmm' noise in the back of his throat, tapping a closed fan held in one hand against his cheek. "Intriguing. Most intruiging."

COMBATSYS: Inei fails to reflect Crushing Strike from Ayaki with Desperate Horror.

[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Inei             0/-------/---====|=======\-------\1            Ayaki

[INEI]
The phantom arm isn't the all of the borrowed shikigami he's utilizing. As Ayaki comes towards him with his blades for a moment it looks like his own skeleton is ripping free of him and growing, except the bones are the same blue-black as the arm.

Ribs form around his torso, and a phantom skull for a moment covers his face.

The jaw of the skull drops open, a vortex of inhalation trying to strip all the energy from Ayaki's attack and pull it in to the void.

He can't quite pull enough off in time, and the blades strike home, his skeletal armor shattering into motes of chi that vanish like fading will-o-wisps as he stumbles back.

"I knew I should have stayed in bed today." He mutters. "Serves me right for ignoring the omikuji."

He flips some of his silver hair out of his face with his material hand, eyeing Ayaki. "You're pretty good. Justice lost out losing you." Weirdly, the compliment has no more warmth behind it than his earlier complaints had annoyance. Just another statement of fact.

[AYAKI]
Ayaki catches sight of the colourful character in the crowd. "He looks amazing." He murmurs to Inei. Which may sound funny coming from someone who dresses exclusively in black.

Sadly the Gedo schoolboy can't focus on the strikingly dressed fella for long though, since he's got a tricky customer to deal with. "What in the hell?" Ayaki says, staring as Inei's skeleton seems to shapeshift. "They should make a horror movie about you." He remarks, truthfully not meaning to be rude. It just seems dumb to him that someone hasn't thought to do so.

Whatever spooktacular display Inei is putting on though, it thankfully fails to thwart Ayaki's psychic blades. As the skeletal armour shatters around the silver-haired student, Ayaki watches the wisps as they float on by. "Beautiful." He remarks.

"For the record, I'm really glad you didn't stay in bed. You're really fun to play with. I mean, fight." Ayaki laughs, bouncing back against the padded sides of the stage. "You can see why my tongue slipped with all this going on."

The compliment is welcomed and brings a smile to the black-haired boy's face. "Thanks. Maybe if I'd saved it for the ring instead of the schoolyard, then Justice would have been more lenient." He shrugs, willing to accept the hand he's been dealt. "Instead they've got me attacking another one of their students."

There's a mischievous grin on his face as he speaks and he grips his red blade tightly in his right hand. He starts to swing it towards Inei in a reckless and frenzied overhead slash. As the momentum builds, it sends ripples of psychic energy across the floor of the fighting space, climaxing as Ayaki brings the blade down with a thunderous roar that will release a chaotic red explosion if it impacts.

COMBATSYS: Inei blocks Ayaki's Red Oni Frenzied Slash.

[                      \\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////           ]
Inei             0/-------/-======|=======\-------\1            Ayaki

[INEI]
Inei doesn't look in the direction Ayaki does as he compliments the individual in the crowd. Perhaps he things the other Southtown teen is just trying to distract him. Not that he'd be much to judge the colorful attire, outside his uniform he has a habit of wearing all blacks and dark grays himself. Him and Ayaki would make quite a pair out on the town.

Having lost his phantom arm, when he lost his hold on the shikigami it belonged to, he once more resettles his stance, having to adjust for being slightly unbalanced on the bouncy floor.

"Their loss." He says with a one-shouldered shrug. But despite being on his back foot so far, he's not about to give up. As the attack comes his way he raises his hand, chi streaming off of it as he bats away the worst of the attack, sliding his back foot forwards to close the distance with his opponent.

He snaps his hand around, aiming at Ayaki's chest, the trades which foot is forward once more, drawing a blue-black semi-circle on the mat as he brings his back foot around in a low sweep aimed at the other teen's ankles, trying to keep him off balance for now and regain some ground.

COMBATSYS: Ayaki blocks Inei's Charged Combo.

[                     \\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////             ]
Inei             0/-------/-======|=======\==-----\1            Ayaki

[AYAKI]
Both boys are doing a brilliant job at keeping their balance, considering the fact they're fighting on something akin to a bouncy castle! Then there's all the balls to consider. One awkward step on those and either of them could go flying without their opponent being the cause.

"That's kind of you to say." Ayaki responds to Inei, bowing his head. "On the plus side, Gedo doesn't have quite as high expectations of their students, so the pressure is off somewhat."

The Justice pupil deals admirably with the intensity that is sent his way, allowing Ayaki's respect for him to raise even further. As Inei follows up by attempting a blow to the Gedo guy's chest, Ayaki finds himself struck with force. He staggers back but with some fancy footwork manages to stay clear of being swept off his feet!

Settling into a wide stance, Ayaki presses his blue blade into the stage floor. Immediately, a wave of freezing energy starts to spread outwards, encasing the whole area in a crystalline prison of psychic ice that threatens to trap Inei and stop him from being able to move.

Raising his red blade high above his head, Ayaki lets out a furious war cry as his weapon starts to glow a vivid crimson, which intensifies into a blinding psychic inferno.

Bringing his blade down hard, Ayaki's eyes flash red as he shatters the frozen ring, causing an eruption of psychic demonic blue ice and roaring red flames to engulf everything around the two fighters.

Amidst all this chaos, Inei will be able to see a spectral vision of an Oni, its burning eyes filled with a combination of cold wisdom and unrelenting rage.

COMBATSYS: Inei fails to reflect Twin Oni, Hell's Rise from Ayaki with Grim Malice.

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

COMBATSYS: Inei can no longer fight.

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

[INEI]
Inei frowns and looks around as the ice begins to form all around him, then towards the crimson blade in Ayaki's hand.

There's really nothing to be done for it. There's little place to get out of the way, and he's too close to his last legs to even try to mitigate the incoming strike to any degree.

He hisses softly under his breath, the skeletal phantom arm reappearing in a moment. He splays the boney fingers across his face, the phantom skull once more rising to the surface, a paler imitation of his previous attempt at this particular tactic.

The mandible of the skull falls open, once more revealing the energy sucking void, that begins to pull at the ice and flame around him, trying to extinguish it in its dark chasm.

But it once more proves futile, or he's just not quick enough. Either way, the flames strike him before he can strip them away and he flies back to the edge of the arena, his shikigami once more dissipating into motes as he hits the mat.

PArt of his uniform smokes, while crystals of ice cling to it in other parts and he just lays on the mat among the colorful balls, still.

Breathing of course, but probably out of it for the moment.

[AYAKI]
All hell is breaking loose on the bouncy castle! There's ice, there's fire, there's balls rolling all over. Ayaki blinks his now blue again eyes, seeming surprised that it was him who made that sound and caused all the craziness. There's a glimmer of concern on his boyish face when he realises what a bad way Inei is in.

Not that the Justice student is done just yet. Here comes the horror movie again with the return of the arm and skull. In a desperate bid to extinguish the environmental illusions that are occurring all around him, Inei does his utmost to hold back the force. It's not to be however. As the silver-haired student falls to the floor, Ayaki waits with bated breath to see if he will rise again.

It seems like an eternity before the referee calls the match in favour of the Gedo contestant. Once she has, Ayaki crouches down beside the other boy, just to make sure he is in fact breathing. Satisfied he's survived, Ayaki stands up again and raises his arms in the air shyly, both enjoying and slightly bashful of his victory.

[AMANE]
As the battle ends, the extravagantly dressed man in the crowd chuckles to himself, opening the fan in his hand and holding it in front of his face so that it covers his expression below the eyes. A brief but intense battle! Blazing light and inky shadow flying back and forth with fervor and abandon.

"Yes," Amane mutters, into the fan, inaudible to anyone not standing right next to him. "What a creative spark this has lit! And, as well... hmm hmm hmm."

Despite the crowd, the dancer makes -- prances, almost -- his way forward toward the fighting stage itself, in a way that seems to defy reality. He could not be seen pushing or shoving in any conceivable way, *and yet* not a single body between him and the ring looks like it has any way of impeding his advance; it truly as if the throng of onlookers is a river flowing around him, Amane's face heedless of their existence, his gaze singularly focused on Ayaki and Inei.

"Appare!" Amane says, aloud, reaching the edge of the ring. "Well done to all. What a treat that was to watch. You are all with this... ah, 'New Fighting Generation', yes yes?" he asks, in a voice melodious and perhaps incongruously deep compared to his androgynous appearance. "How splendid." He looks to Inei and continues to speak, regardless of whether or not it appears that the young Justice student can hear him or not. "You especially, Kuroki-kun. What a feast for the senses, your style is. The juxtaposition of life and death, the warmth of human fragility and the unbending chill reach of the grave... ah! Chiaroscuro in human form. It inspires one, that it does. I will be watching your career with great... interest."

A pause of silence, and then Amane claps his hands together smiling coyly. "Well then! I shall leave you lads to your post-match social engagements."

And with that, and a swirl of his brightly-colored clothing, the Dance God exits the scene for whatever else strikes his apparent fancy.

Log created on 17:30:44 03/05/2025 by Ayaki, and last modified on 14:14:15 03/08/2025.