Description: A Saturday Night Fight thing. Iori punks Tora and Acacia. There's lots of fire in it. (Winner: Iori)
COMBATSYS: Tora has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
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Acacia 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Iori
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Tora 0/-------/-------|
Iori saunters into the arena, rolling his eyes. Howard's got to be out of his mind -- first teaming him up with a punch-drunk berserker against the Psycho Powered dictator... and now he finds himself up against two kids. Ah well. "... I can think of worse things to do on a Friday night," he grumbles to himself, cracking his knuckles as the center stage lights go on, and the announcer goes into his schpiel. The details... don't concern him. They never do. He's just here for one reason... to get a good fight out of whoever he happens to be fighting. "C'mon, you two, I don't have all night," he booms, glaring at his opponents, likely to be emerging from the opposite entranceway any moment now.
Well, it's certainly been a little bit since he's been in a public fight, yet oddly enough there's still a couple people who cheer for him. Yeah, over there. No, no, over there. Yeah, in the corner. With a big grin, Tora strolls onto the stage, lacking his normally present orange jacket, instead wearing just a plain white shirt. "Hey, hey, ugly! You're gonna have plenty of time, once we get you laid out on a stretcher!" Yep, there's no small amount of confidence here. He only pauses once to glance back, checking for his designated partner in violence.
Acacia's footsteps echo faintly against the slate tiles of the arena, as she enters, behind Tora. Acacia, at least, is wearing a jacket - though it's one of faded blue denim, instead of eye-watering orange. As she steps in, Acacia glances at her partner. "Really," she says, a touch of scepticism edging into her tone. Shaking her head, she breathes a sigh. "You lead, Uzaruto."
"I'm sure," Acacia adds, with a touch of irony, "you're better in coordinating multi-person combat..."
Iori smirks at his first opponent's retort. "Confidence works best when you have the skill to back it up." His crimson eyes drift from Tora, as he turns his head to regard the other. He's not terribly familiar with either one, but perhaps that will make things more interesting for him. The announcer shouts "FIGHT!"... and it's only at that time that Iori slouches forward, almost lazily dragging his hand across himself. It seems like a colossally bored gesture, except for the fact that he'd loosed a small orchid of flame, which now happens to be rumbling across the arena towards Tora. ... Only because Tora happened to make the first shout.
COMBATSYS: Tora dodges Iori's Yami Barai.
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Acacia 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Iori
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Tora 0/-------/-------|
Tora looks to Acacia, and shrugs at her comment. "Eh, sure. Let's see what he's got, first. Maybe you should hang back a sec, look for a good shot." At that point, Tora looks back to Iori, cracking his knuckles as he steps forward to face the .. you know, it's much harder to think of that leg thing as dorky when he's standing there looking mean at you. It really is. It's kinda creepy at this point, in fact. Thus are the thoughts going through Tora's head as he stares at the strap between Iori's knees, up until the moment he realizes there's this flame thing flying towards him. Looking startled for a moment, Tora starts to take a step to the side, but clearly doesn't move quickly enough.
However, just as the fire is about to reach him, he poofs in a cloud of white smoke, reappearing in another cloud several feet away, but no closer to Iori. In response, Tora flings a single kunai towards Iori, this trailing a small paper tag, with some obscure kanji written on it. Whether it hits Iori, or if it ends up hitting the ring, it will explode on impact.
A touch of annoyance flickers behind Acacia's eyes. Under her breath, she mutters, "Flame. Why is it always flame?"
With all the elements in this world, you'd think people'd show more variety in their chi. But it seems like everyone and their brother shoots flame. Of course, Iori has particularly powerful flame...
Acacia narrows her eyes, as Tora vanishes. She doesn't seem particularly surprised by the ninja's evasion trick - it seems like she's seen it before. Instead, Acacia merely nods, once, in acknowledgement, to Tora's advice.
The soles of Acacia's combat boots scrape across the arena floor as she shifts into a basic stance. Feet spread, knees bent. Arms raised, elbows bent. A simple guard position, nothing fancy.
For an instant, she regards the solitary figure on the other side of the ring. Iori Yagami. Acacia's heard of him, of course, and she knows this isn't going to be easy - despite what Tora may think. But she knows what Tora's capable of, too. So maybe this isn't an entirely hopeless endeavour.
Besides, Acacia's not the sort to back down from any challenge.
COMBATSYS: Acacia focuses on her next action.
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Acacia 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Iori
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Tora 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Iori dodges Tora's Charged Kunai.
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Acacia 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Iori
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Tora 0/-------/-------|
Everyone else sticks with blue or crimson -- but it takes an Orochi to harness the purple, because purple's just that more badass. Iori's crimson eyes reflect the flash of light from Tora's explosion -- but he doesn't wait around to see exactly what's going to happen. As soon as Tora reappears, Yagami is already on the move -- though he was heading towards the cloud, admittedly, figuring - wrongly - on Tora having used it to disguise a forward charge. The point of the kunai sticks into the arena floor, igniting its charge -- but by that point, Iori's figured out where his ninja opponent is. And he's leaping towards him, dragging a furious gout of purple flames in a wide overhead arc as he roars. "OOOOOOOOOORGH!" ... Yeah, you may point and laugh, but let's see how =you= deal with ripping flame out of your hands like it was an internal organ.
COMBATSYS: Tora dodges Iori's Tsumagushi.
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Acacia 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Iori
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Tora 0/-------/-------|
Just as Iori is moving out of the way of the thrown explosive, Tora is preparing to take a different tack. While the wisdom in fighting in the manner of a stronger and possibly more skilled opponent is debatable, it's the option he has. Before Iori closes with him, Tora spreads his arms, and wisps of orange flame begin to spread over his hands. At the last moment, once his hands and arms are completely covered in the thin orange chi flames, Tora does a quick diving roll to the side, coming up behind Iori with a burning roundhouse punch, aimed towards a kidney.
And as Tora rolls, striking at Iori from behind...Acacia makes her own attack.
With a resounding impact, Acacia slams a combat boot into the ground, a spiderweb of cracks marring the tiles. Launching herself upward with that force, the girl rises to meet Iori - arcing high into the air, above the Orochi fighter. Twisting in mid-air, one fist clenched, she delivers a powerful descending punch to Iori, at almost the same instant as Tora's blow...aiming to slam him clean into the arena floor.
COMBATSYS: Iori blocks Tora's Burning Hand.
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Acacia 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Iori
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Tora 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Iori dodges Acacia's Bonebreaker.
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Acacia 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Iori
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Tora 0/-------/-------|
As he comes descending towards Tora, Iori smirks wryly. He did have a lot of ground to cover, so it really should have been expected that the quick boy would get out of his way. He's fully intent on blasting Tora for it, but that's when Acacia jumps into the thick of the action -- forcing Iori to swivel himself out of the way of her downward blow with just inches to spare. Unfortunately, the close evasion also places him in the path of Tora's blow -- which he meets with his black-sheathed shoulder, gritting his teeth slightly from the heat of the flames. "So you want to play with -fire-, do you?" he asks, taking careful note of how close the two are to him -- and then leaps into the air, spinning like a tornado and blasting forth a twin spiral of flame. "THEN =BURN!="
COMBATSYS: Acacia fails to counter Oniyaki from Iori with Unyielding Stance.
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Acacia 0/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Iori
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Tora 0/-------/-------|
Acacia's eyes widen, as the firestorm erupts from Iori. This close, there's little she can do...as she lands, boots slamming into the ground, she spins to face the Orochi fighter, bringing her arms across her front...
...But it isn't fast enough. The flames scorch into Acacia. She doesn't fall, but she slides back, her boot soles scraping across the ground. When she comes to a halt, faint wisps of smoke rise from her body. For a heartbeat or two, she remains still, her lean frame hunched over, arms crossed in a block. Then she twitches, and collapses on one knee.
Acacia grits her teeth, breath hissing through her clenched teeth. She's never been good at resisting chi attacks. But...
"Good God," she mumbles, "that -hurt-."
COMBATSYS: Tora dodges Iori's Oniyaki.
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Acacia 0/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Iori
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Tora 0/-------/-------|
Kicking backwards as he realizes Iori's in the process of producing a great deal of pain, Tora decides he's not interested in having any of it. Slipping out of the way -- barely, mind, just barely -- with his leap, Tora lands in a combat crouch a couple meters away. Pausing to glance at Acacia, he winces. "Hey, hey, back up. I'll hold 'em off, try to nail 'im careful, okay?" This is half-said, half-shouted. He doesn't have time to clearly lay out a battleplan; Iori's still looking scary.
Without further delay, Tora launches himself forward again, doing a mid-air flip conversion to a snap kick, aiming his not terribly impressive foot for Iori's jaw. The blow itself is fast, and not terribly hard, but it has an added burst of orange chi flame that envelopes the foot and leg just before impact.
COMBATSYS: Iori endures Tora's Light Kick.
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Acacia 0/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0 Iori
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Tora 0/-------/-------|
Ah, now that was satisfying. Iori lands back on one foot, a sardonic grin playing across his features as he lands. "Aww, you ran away." he deadpans, apparently not giving too much thought to Acacia, who didn't run away. Maybe he's counting her out a bit too early, but then again, he really seems more interested in putting Tora down first. And Tora... well, seems to be rushing his fate a bit, as well. Smirking, he rises to his full height as Tora comes back, even pointing to his jaw for an instant before that foot smacks into it. Why? Because as soon as Tora does so, Iori's hand is already in a convenient position to grab the extended leg, pivot ninety degrees to the side, and then use Tora's forward momentum against him. Specifically, Iori plans to sling Tora towards the arena floor -- headfirst. "Flames aren't everything, though."
"Nngh," Acacia grimaces. That bloody hurt, it did. She doesn't reply to Tora's suggestion. Acacia's not really listening right now. Wincing, Acacia tries to pull herself together. A little rivulet of blood trickles down from the corner of her mouth; she wipes it away with her jacket sleeve, smearing the back of her hand.
Then, she focuses her attention back on Iori. Through the haze of pain, she sees him reach out for Tora's leg, making his bid to painfully ground the ninja. With a faint snarl, Acacia pushes the pain to the back of her mind...and spurs herself into motion.
Acacia's combat boots pound the arena floor as she crosses the distance seperating her from Iori, a stacatto of rapid impacts. Regardless of his success in attacking Tora, the move leaves him with one arm extended. And it's that arm Acacia reaches for, as she skids past, using her momentum to wrench it in a way limbs aren't meant to be bent.
COMBATSYS: Iori successfully hits Tora with Medium Throw.
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Acacia 0/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0 Iori
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Tora 0/-------/--=====|
Finding himself grabbed and locale shifted, Tora tries to quickly redivert some momentum to regain some control of his situation, even held as he is by Yagami. This, however, meets no results, and he finds himself slammed into the floor. Still, Tora's head is a hard one -- in more ways than one -- and he quickly turns the painful landing into a tumble, getting back a combat stance in short order, only needing a short moment to refocus his eyes. Moving quickly, Tora runs to put himself on the other side of Iori from Acacia, to lessen the chance of interfering with whatever she's doing. Starting what almost looks to be a leap, then twisting to the side, Tora throws a hard roundhouse kick at Iori, aiming to throw him off balance. As before, the kick is accompanied by a burst of orange flame, even brighter and more intense than before.
COMBATSYS: Iori blocks Acacia's Negative Torque.
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Acacia 1/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Iori
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Tora 0/-------/--=====|
COMBATSYS: Iori blocks Tora's Blazing Path.
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Acacia 1/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Iori
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Tora 0/-------/-======|
Since Iori had his back to Acacia at the time she chose to grab for his arm, it's a simple matter for Iori to step forward -- hinging his elbow and mitigating her attempt at a throw to the point that, when she rushes past, the tugged joint cracks into place with a loud pop. Just like cracking knuckles on a larger scale, really -- and he jerks his hand free afterwards. "... Thanks. I'd been trying to do that for the past few hours." But, by the time he's finished, he's already turning his head in search for his other attacker -- and at that point, he's starting to grow a bit weary from all these fiery attacks. Yagami once more meets the blow with his shoulder and triceps into it, smirking as the flames lick dangerously close to his face. Off-balance? You'd be surprised with a subtle shift of his feet can do. Though, by this point, he's really just wanting to land a more solid blow on Tora. As such, he continues his rotation, swinging his fist around in a vicious hook aimed at knocking the boy to the ground. "GRRAAAAAAOOOU!" he shouts... if for nothing more than the dramatic effect of his more massive frame hauling off into the boy.
COMBATSYS: Iori successfully hits Tora with Medium Punch.
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Acacia 1/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 Iori
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Tora 1/-----==/=======|
Megumi leaves the arena through the large main entrance.
Well, Tora's plan -had- been to follow up that kick with a punch, but as he's recovering from the kick, there's the slight issue of the huge freaking fist coming his way. He makes the effort to position himself to deal with it proper, but he doesn't move quite fast enough. Belted thusly, Tora doesn't get knocked into the ground, just backwards, staggering for a moment. Shaking his head again to clear the dizziness, Tora decides to take a few careful steps back, staying in a defensive position as he watches Iori warily.
COMBATSYS: Tora focuses on his next action.
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Acacia 1/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 Iori
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Tora 1/-----==/=======|
Acacia's eyes widen, fractionally, as her attack completely fails to phase Iori. Hell, he even jokes about it. He's good, almost frighteningly so. She thought Tora was impressive...but this guy, well, he doesn't seem human.
Rushing past Iori, Acacia bleeds off the momentum from her unsuccessful charge and comes to a stop. She looks back, just in time to see Iori land a powerful right hook on her partner.
The girl watches, as Tora recovers. He doesn't look like he's doing much better than she is. Acacia frowns. Well, then.
While Tora and Iori have been flaming around the entire fight, Acacia's not manifested any chi of her own. That's about to change, though.
A low, almost subsonic hum fills the air around Acacia. It's the kind of sound you feel more than hear, in your bones.
There's no energy crackling around Acacia's fist. No glowing light, nothing like that. Instead, there's a faint, barely perceptable shimmer in the air. And if you look closely, her hand isn't stationary. The motion's subtle, but it's there. It's trembling...no...vibrating. Many, many times a second.
Silently, Acacia turns her head to make eye contact with Tora. She stares at the ninja - then nods. Once.
COMBATSYS: Acacia focuses on her next action.
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Acacia 1/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 Iori
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Tora 1/-----==/=======|
Aww, it's so cute. "Boy and girl, fighting together. I'm touched." Bracing his wrist with his left hand, Iori looses a low chuckle as the two fighters seem to have completely broken off their assault for the moment. A burst of violet flame blooms into existence upon his palm while he glances between the two fighters, he starts off, low: "Decisions, decisions... " He'd been focusing his attentions upon Tora for the most part, but he turns sharply on the one who seems to be having more trouble standing still. Casting the snarl of flames at the ground, he watches it roll towards the girl, growing larger as it devours the random debris kicked up from the earlier explosion, before smacking into Acacia. Unless she gets out of the way, of course - but Iori takes another few steps back in an attempt to keep both of the two in his visual range, for whatever team-up attack they might have in mind.
COMBATSYS: Iori successfully hits Acacia with Yami Barai.
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Acacia 1/-======/=======|=======\=------\1 Iori
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Tora 1/-----==/=======|
Acacia vanishes from sight, completely consumed by the Orochi-tainted fire. As the blaze fades, Acacia returns to view. Still standing, but...clearly not unharmed. Her hair is in disarray, even more than it typically is. Fresh blood trickles down her jaw, flowing from her mouth. She twitches, once, twice, swaying on her feet, the singed ends of her woolen scarf trailing, her jacket smouldering...
...But she still stands. And then her expression darkens, shifting from one of pain to cold, unyielding resolve. Acacia's hand still shimmers with, the chi-vibration growing in intensity. "Touching, yes," she murmurs, her voice strangely distant.
And then she explodes forward like a runner from the starting blocks, bursting into sudden motion. A headalong charge, a frontal attack, almost foolishly reckless in its directness. As she closes the distance, she launches herself into the air, coming down towards Iori.
Or...not. She doesn't hit him. She falls short, slamming into the earth a full metre before him, even if he doesn't bother to dodge. Acacia's fist makes contact with the arena floor...
...and cracks it. Debris fountains into the air, as a dish-shaped crater forms around Acacia, a concussive wave reaching out around the girl.
Tora watching what Acacia does with a bit of a frown, Tora decides to take a couple more steps back, shifting to keep at a different angle from Iori than Acacia. Drawing three kunai with each hand, Tora takes the simple expedient of launching a tight spread of blades at Iori, to keep him busy while Acacia works her little trick. While he was quite confident -- bordering on arrogant -- earlier, Tora's expression shows his concern now. This is going to be a hard fight to get through, much less win.
COMBATSYS: Iori dodges Tora's Large Thrown Object.
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Acacia 0/-------/-======|=======\=------\1 Iori
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Tora 1/-----==/=======|
COMBATSYS: Iori blocks Acacia's Irresistible Force.
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Acacia 0/-------/-======|=======\==-----\1 Iori
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Tora 1/-----==/=======|
His gaze darting between the two fighters, Iori coldly assesses the situation, the smirk upon his face diminishing. He'd seen some of the things Tora has thrown out, and while he wasn't terribly impressed -- the fact that the boy knew some fire techniques and ninja-ey stuff meant anything was possible. And that, whatever was flying his way would probably not be good. He decides he'd rather take his chances with Acacia, and thus darts off towards her, the tight arc of blades whistling through the air in his wake, embedding once more into the arena floor behind him. Chuckling, he then is presented with the view of Acacia plowing into the ground -there's that smirk again. Throwing his arms in front of his face, leading with the left shoulder, he charges into the blast, dropping to one knee at the intensity of it. It really should have hurt a lot more, he realizes, but ... well. His main goal, though, is to just get close enough to pound the girl once more. So that's what he has in mind when he rushes back to his feet, roaring viciously as he launches a left cross at Acacia, following up with a hard right uppercut -- and if both of those are successful, he'd still have enough raging momentum to carry him into the air, crashing both fists in an overhead axehandle down onto her head.
COMBATSYS: Acacia blocks Iori's Aoi Hana.
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Acacia 1/-------/=======|=======\===----\1 Iori
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Tora 1/-----==/=======|
And indeed, the sequence goes much like Iori plans. His first two strikes connect, cleanly, Acacia's head snapping to the side, then up, as the blows hit home...
...but then, as Iori launches his final move of the combo, the girl reacts. Thrusting one arm out, she neatly intercepts the axehandle, catching Iori's fists on her rigid forearm. The sheer force of the attack drives her to her knees. But she doesn't go down.
Behind her wild fringe of silver hair, Acacia's eyes narrow into slits.
Then she erupts upward, like an uncoiling spring, releasing her energy into Iori's body - flying towards him like a human missile, driving an elbow towards his gut.
As soon as Iori turns his attention towards Acacia, Tora begins to move. Sprinting around to get behind him, Tora moves silently, and he hopes unnoticed. Forming his fingers into a ring as he slips behind Iori and just to the side, Tora murmurs 'Boo' in a low voice, hoping to distract Iori as Acacia makes her own move. Ducking at this point, Tora aims the circle formed by his hands towards where he hopes Iori's face will be.. and a gout of flame bursts forth, the orange chi lashing out like a mishapen lance.
COMBATSYS: Iori blocks Acacia's Mass Driver.
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Acacia 1/-------/=======|=======\===----\1 Iori
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Tora 0/-------/-----==|
COMBATSYS: Iori blocks Tora's Flame's Fury.
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Acacia 1/-------/=======|=======\===----\1 Iori
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Tora 0/-------/-----==|
Iori senses that maybe, just maybe, Acacia might not -want- to take the last hit of his combo. Maybe she'd back off and do... exactly what she did. He's not taking any chances, though. Yagami actually seems mildly surprised at her defense, considering the viciousness of the attacks preceding it. But it doesn't show in any form other than a raised eyebrow -- at least, not before Acacia starts her attack.
That, and it's kind of hard to ignore Tora, especially with the call to his attention. Clenching both fists together, Iori seemingly -explodes- with purple flame, his limbs immersed in a sudden rage as he's assaulted from both directions -- though it's not just for show. The amethyst conflagration swallows the flaming lance whole, whittling it to the point where only a few embers rain down into his shoulder. He's still facing Acacia, though, and it's with a firm forearm that he halts her attack, stopping it dead. "Nice try." he comments wryly. But his followup response isn't verbal -- but rather a hard, two-fisted hammerblow targeted to smash -through- her guard and smash her full in the abdomen with a rib-cracking blow. The followthrough, should he be granted one, would have him twisting around to sneer at Tora, in an attempt to ward off any imminent sneak attacks.
COMBATSYS: Acacia blocks Iori's Fierce Punch.
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Acacia 1/-----==/=======|=======\====---\1 Iori
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Tora 0/-------/-----==|
Oh, Iori gets the chance to turn round. The blow does indeed crash through Acacia's guard, forcing her blocking arm aside, impacting heavily into her midsection. It sends her fully off her feet, spilling her to the ground...
Except...except there's no sound of cracking ribs. Oh, it hurts Acacia, alright. But it doesn't seem to have hurt her as much as it -should- have. As she hits the ground, she rolls, bleeding off the momentum. Then she rises, staring daggers at Iori, gaze boring into his turned back.
She's weakened, battered, bleeding - but she's not quite down yet. Somehow, Acacia manages to find enough strength to move her injured body. While his attention's focused on Tora, she moves. Sweeping a leg out, she aims to take the Orochi fighter at the knees, from behind. And if he hits the ground, she'll take the opportunity to pounce and pound him. Repeatedly.
Astonishment. Pure astonishment. The -last- thing Tora expected was for Iori to simply shrug off his attack.. While he didn't have any illusions that it was unbeatable, he definitely didn't expect it to get brushed aside like that. For a short moment, he just .. stares. Iori knocks Acacia around, then turns to look at him, and Tora finds that he's only now really understanding the difference between where he is and where some of the top fighters are. So for that moment, he just looks up at Iori with what is clearly a bit of fear.. Then he snaps out of it. Taking on a determined expression, he simply balls up one fist, and aims a flame-enshrouded uppercut towards Iori's jaw.
COMBATSYS: Iori blocks Acacia's Fulcrum Shift.
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Acacia 1/-----==/=======|=======\====---\1 Iori
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Tora 0/-------/-----==|
COMBATSYS: Iori blocks Tora's Medium Punch.
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Acacia 1/-----==/=======|=======\=====--\1 Iori
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Tora 0/-------/-----==|
Oh, now this is funny. At least Yagami thinks it's funny to see that look upon Tora's face as the realization of his true strength hits home. It starts as a low rumble, but even while Acacia charges him -- Yagami doesn't even look back. He does hit the ground, it's just way before Acacia herself has done anything -- laughing even louder as her approach stops dead at his back. His laugh only grows in volume as he rises back to his feet, raising his arm parallel with the arena floor to catch the uppercut, knocking Tora's blow aside before it can land its target. "Having second thoughts, are we?!" he chortles, before... simply taking a few steps backwards. Tora at his right, Acacia at his left, he backpedals just enough so that they're both in his view. "I didn't strike a nerve or anything, did I?" Another chuckle escapes him, before his jaw sets, lips pressing into a tight smirk as he beckons for the two to come back at him in another pass.
COMBATSYS: Iori focuses on his next action.
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Acacia 1/-----==/=======|=======\=====--\1 Iori
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Tora 0/-------/-----==|
Breathing heavily, Acacia takes a step back, herself, and regards Iori warily. After a moment or two, she regains her composure, pulling herself back into some semblance of her usual demeanour. Drawing a ragged breath, she looks Iori in the eye. When she speaks, her voice is soft, level, betraying no emotion.
"You're strong. Better than us. I admit that. But..."
Her gaze flickers to Tora, briefly, before returning to Iori. Inhaling again, exhaling, Acacia clenches a fist, and tenses.
"...I do not concede."
As the last words leave her mouth, a quiet whisper from her lips, Acacia throws herself forward. One step. Two. Three. Her hand flashes up, closed in the tightest, most narrow fist she can manage. Lightning-quick, she powers it on a straight line towards Iori, with the full force of her weight behind it. Knuckles heading towards his throat.
While he was shaken at the realization of the disparity, Tora is in control of himself again. When his punch doesn't have any useful effect, he backs off, pulling out two blades this time. Glancing over to Acacia, he watches what she's doing for a moment, then as she lunges, he throws the blades as a close pair, aimed to hopefully catch him at the shoulder, to impair at least one arm, if possible.
COMBATSYS: Tora successfully hits Iori with Thrown Object.
-* CRITICAL HIT! *-
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Acacia 1/-----==/=======|=======\======-\1 Iori
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Tora 0/-------/-----==|
COMBATSYS: Iori blocks Acacia's Icon of Stone.
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Acacia 1/----===/=======|=======\======-\1 Iori
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Tora 0/-------/-----==|
Iori's a bit sure of himself, isn't he? Sure enough, when Acacia comes tearing towards him, Iori meets her charge, practically shrugging the smaller girl aside with his shoulder as he strides towards Tora. He'd glanced away from the boy for a moment, though, which is probably what allows the two quickly-hurled blades to slam into his other shoulder. It's enough to cause him to stagger backwards for a moment, grasping the blades tightly and yanking them out of the shoulder with a red spray of Orochi-tainted blood. Wordlessly, he growls, ducking low and launching into a rapid sprint, the blades tossing aside with a clamor, his long red bangs fluttering from the sheer =speed= at which he rushes at Tora. It doesn't seem like much, really, when he comes up at him with a simple uppercut.
COMBATSYS: Tora parries Iori's Ya Otome!
[ \\ < > //////// ]
Acacia 1/----===/=======|===----\-------\0 Iori
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Tora 0/-------/----===|
There's a mixed reaction in Tora's head when he sees the blades strike home, and more accurately than he'd hoped. One is elation; he got it right. The other is fear. He's gonna be -pissed-. And surely enough, there he comes, running after Tora, looking to spill some blood. This time, however, Tora is shifting into a defensive stance, and actually has a plan in mind. All he needs is.. yes, that. When Iori comes in with the first uppercut, Tora slips to the side, slamming both of his hands upwards at Iori's elbow, flame spreading as he tries to grab ahold of Iori, and fling him to the stony floor.
Meanwhile, Acacia just hangs back, and lets Tora do his thing. She doesn't seem as rattled by Iori's reactions as Tora. Or maybe she's just too far gone to care. It's hard to tell. Acacia's barely on her feet, swaying on unsteady legs. She stumbles back from the fight, watching as Iori mixes it up with Tora. Waiting. Looking for an opening.
COMBATSYS: Acacia focuses on her next action.
[ \\ < > //////// ]
Acacia 1/----===/=======|===----\-------\0 Iori
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Tora 0/-------/----===|
COMBATSYS: Iori blocks Tora's Quick Throw EX.
[ \\ < > /////// ]
Acacia 1/----===/=======|===----\-------\0 Iori
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Tora 0/-------/----===|
Iori'd had more in store for Tora. Really he did. It's just that when someone sidesteps as quickly as Tora did, deftly evading his charge like a matador might a raging bull, it tends to be a little frustrating. Unfortunately for Tora, the 'bull' analogy is a bit too apt: Iori's mass doesn't really lend to him being thrown around like a sack of potatoes. Indeed, when Tora makes a grab, Iori just shoves himself backwards, retreating back and crouching to grab for those blood-soaked knives he'd tossed out of himself. Tora's defense rattled him a bit, to the point that he's thinking twice about tangling, now. Iori makes a quick 180-degree spin, hurling the blade at Acacia without the luxury of aiming fully -- but once the knife is tumbling end-over-end towards the girl, Iori seems sufficiently placated to turn back around, wiping the blood from his shoulder as he takes a more defensive posture against Tora. "Impressive," he rumbles sincerely, in response to the quick moves, hands moving to fend off the inevitable next round of attacks.
COMBATSYS: Acacia catches Thrown Object from Iori with Unyielding Stance.
[ \ < > /////// ]
Acacia 1/----===/=======|===----\-------\0 Iori
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Tora 0/-------/----===|
Acacia doesn't flinch, doesn't even blink, as Iori throws one of Tora's bloody kunais at her. She doesn't even look particularly concerned. She simply stands her ground. And then, in a sudden, fluid motion, she snakes an arm out - catching the blade between her fingers, less than half an inch from her face. She smiles, then, a genuine expression of amusement, despite the pain.
To Iori, she murmurs, "He is, isn't he?"
Left with vague surprise that Iori broke off from fighting him to go pick on Acacia some more, he shrugs. "Glad I could show ya somethin'. Never fought anyone like you before, myself." For the moment, he decides to not press the matter, letting Acacia and Iori do what they like. He needs to prepare for what comes next.
COMBATSYS: Tora focuses on his next action.
[ \\ < > /////// ]
Acacia 1/----===/=======|===----\-------\0 Iori
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Tora 0/-------/----===|
Iori chuckles... but it's not with the same confidence he had before. It's only because this is fight is coming much closer to the wire than he'd intended it to be. He's not severely -wounded-, but the numerous blocks are taking their toll on the man ... to the point that he'd really, -really- like to see an end to it soon. Which is why, at least at this moment, Iori keeps his attention on Tora for the time, and in an attempt to disrupt any concentrated efforts at attack, summons an orchid blossom of flame into existence and hurls it at Tora. Acacia? He's still considering her a threat, but Tora's more deserving of the pain he's pouring into -this- attack -- evidenced by the anguished roar loosed in the process.
COMBATSYS: Iori successfully hits Tora with Yami Barai.
[ \\ < > ////// ]
Acacia 1/----===/=======|=====--\-------\0 Iori
[ \\\\\\\ <
Tora 1/-----==/=======|
It's that damned fireball again. As before, Tora moves to get out of the way, but this time.. this time he doesn't move nearly fast enough. He gets pegged in the side with the moving flame, and .. well, he screams. Loudly, although he cuts it off quickly. That crap -hurt-. Hurt bad, from the sound of it. It takes him a moment to pull himself back to his feet, and even then he's wobbling a bit. Not just because he's off balance.. But for anyone watching closely enough, his outline seems to shimmer a little. This is only for a moment, so it's not clear what causes that effect. The orange chi flame that's been on his hands and arms for a while vanishes, and Tora takes a moment before taking the next step.
Several clouds of white chi-smoke appear around Tora, and for a brief moment, there's .. well, a lot of Tora. The number is hard to count, as they're only present for a few moments, but it's at least a dozen. Just as quickly as they appeared, they vanish.. but not before each has thrown a collection of blades at Iori.
Acacia's seen Tora's tricks before. But she hasn't seen -this- one. At least, not in this scale. That's...that's a lot of Tora. An awful lot of Tora. Acacia's eyes widen, momentarily, in surprise. But she recovers, quickly, the ghost of a smile remaining on her face. Glancing at the kunai in her hand, the one she snatched from the air a moment ago...
...she shrugs. What the hell. With a flick of the wrist, Acacia winds up and throws it. She hurls it more like a blunt object. Like a rock, not a blade. Clearly, she isn't an expert in ninja weaponry. But with the -speed- at which she slings it, well. Can you say 'fastball'?
COMBATSYS: Iori blocks Tora's Kage Bunshin Kunai Surprise.
[ \\ < > //// ]
Acacia 1/----===/=======|======-\-------\0 Iori
[ \\\\\\\\ <
Tora 0/-------/-----==|
COMBATSYS: Iori blocks Acacia's Thrown Object.
[ \\ < > //// ]
Acacia 1/-----==/=======|======-\-------\0 Iori
[ \\\\\\\\ <
Tora 0/-------/-----==|
And... with all those ninjas splitting up and flinging blades at Iori, =somehow= he's still able to knock a good deal of them away with his arms, while absorbing damage from the rest. Somehow... even with a few of the knife-points sticking out of him, he still seems to be backing up towards Acacia. When she throws the blade -- well, Iori's turning by that point, knocking it out of the sky. Why is he able to do this? Because he's now close enough to lunge into a riotously fast punch, aimed at slamming his knuckles into the girl's face so fast she might think falling asleep is a darn good idea. "Bedtime!" ... As for the other, well. He'll handle him in a moment. Annoyances are priority #1.
COMBATSYS: Acacia fails to counter Jab Punch from Iori with Immovable Object.
[ \\\\\\\\ < > //// ]
Tora 0/-------/-----==|======-\-------\0 Iori
COMBATSYS: Acacia can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\ < > //// ]
Tora 0/-------/-----==|======-\-------\0 Iori
"Wh---" Acacia doesn't quite manage to finish her protest. Being caught by a rapidly moving Iori will do that to a girl. To her credit, she does try to react, her body flowing instinctively into her favourite defensive counter...but she doesn't get there.
With a painfully loud crack, Iori's blow lands home. Acacia's neck snaps round like a gunshot, the force flinging her clear off her feet and sending her flying. She hits the arena floor, spinning like a rag doll, dropping like a puppet with its strings cut.
"---ngh," Acacia mumbles, incoherently, as she lies in a crumpled heap, fading into blissful unconsciousness
Seeing Acacia get put down, Tora realizes he can't play around any longer. He's got to put what he has into this, and there's just not much time left to do it in. Running forward, Tora draws back his fist as if for a punch, heading straight for Iori, for all the world making a suicide run to get another hit in, for whatever that might be worth. Of course, what he's hoping is that Iori won't notice the silent appearance of another Tora behind him, in another odorless cloud of chi smoke, making an elbow-drop at Iori's back.
COMBATSYS: Iori blocks Tora's Medium Punch.
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > /// ]
Tora 0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\0 Iori
Well, that was cathartic. Iori's smirk returns as he pivots back around, letting the satisfying thump of Acacia hitting the floor resound in his ears as he turns back to Tora. Or so he thinks. Narrowing his eyes, he pivots sharply back forty degrees, flinging his right arm up to deflect the blow aside -- though from the obvious speed with which the move was interrupted, he's still staggering a bit from the blow. "Tricky little =maggot!=" he spits, practically =frothing= with anger at the sneak attack. Well... since he liked it so much the last time, Iori grins. Two Toras, two targets. One's as good as the other, so Iori hurls his sharp talons towards the one who tried to ram him in the back...
COMBATSYS: Iori successfully hits Tora with Saka Sakahagi.
[ \\\\ < > // ]
Tora 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\1 Iori
... plunges them into his stomach, and then slams his shoulder into him. Whipping Tora around sharply, Yagami then gives the boy a sharp uppercut, carving four parallel, bloody slashes as he extricates his hand, turning his back on the boy in the process. And once that's done, he slams his back into the ninja, adding injury to insult. "Too slow!"
And in discoveries of new and surprising forms of pain, Tora learns what it's like to get stabbed, slashed, and otherwise cut up. Training sessions with Seishirou aside, this isn't something he's familiar with, and there's distinct difference between clean kunai slashes and the claws Iori is using. Once he's caught up in the moment, there isn't much he can do, so Iori does his thing..
And instead, the other Tora completes his run, throwing his punch towards Iori's presented face, before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.
COMBATSYS: Tora has reached second wind!
[ \\\\ < > // ]
Tora 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\1 Iori
COMBATSYS: Iori dodges Tora's Medium Punch.
[ \\\\ < > // ]
Tora 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\1 Iori
Leona has disconnected.
Iori, quite simply, =ducks=, the fist likely passing just inches over his head. He wasn't of the mood to try blocking something that he can so evade outright, even if it does break from the way he'd prefer to deal with such things. At the moment, though? He'd been almost =positive= that would be all it would take to finish the boy off, but apparently not. But... just the same, he'd rather not spend too much more energy on the boy if he can help it. Turning on the one Tora still standing, he swings his arm overhead, a raking, diagonal slash of his talons obviously intended to draw just a bit more blood - but rather than let that be the be-all, end-all of the fight, Iori quickly reverses the direction of his arm, reeling back with a vicious backfist. And if that weren't enough -- then maybe the straight, plain-jane left hook that follows it will suffice in knocking the boy down for good. "UUUURRYA! OOOOOH! UUUURYAAAAAAAAH!"
COMBATSYS: Iori successfully hits Tora with Light Kick.
[ \ < > / ]
Tora 1/------=/=======|=======\=------\1 Iori
Once again, Tora tries to get out of the way of Yagami's strikes, and doesn't quite manage to move quickly enough. Cut, battered, and really not looking so hot at this point -- orange and red don't mix, and there's plenty of the latter on his pants -- but Tora isn't quite ready to give it up yet. Even as he's getting knocked around, he looks up to Iori and manages a bit of a smile. Another trick left.
Iori might or might not notice the shadows above him, but even then there won't be much time. Two more of Tora have appeared just over him, and one is bringing down a foot at Iori's head, and the other is swinging a kick around towards Iori's back, and neither of them are light taps.
COMBATSYS: Tora can no longer fight.
> / ]
|=======\=------\1 Iori
COMBATSYS: Iori dodges Tora's Kage Bunshin no Jutsu.
> / ]
|=======\=------\1 Iori
When hell's coming down from behind and above -- the best place to run is straight =forward=. He gives the 'real' Tora a quick shove, while being quick to get the heck out of dodge -- not even spending the time to glance back to see what caused his hackles to raise so. When instinct gives a warning, it's often best to heed it and think of the consequences later. ... Served him well in that instance, at any rate. He whips around once more, panting heavily in the process... but it seems that it's over. Leaning forward on one knee, Iori smiles. As much as it was a kick in the ass, he still likes a good fight -- though he won't admit how close he was to possibly losing. "... Not bad, kid... but not good enough."
COMBATSYS: Iori has ended the fight here.
Log created by Tora, and last modified on 18:40:06 05/03/2005.