Strolheim - [R2] Tm.Haggar vs Tm.Sagat

Description: Team Haggar doubles up the pressure on Sagat, leaving Sakura to fend for herself against all three! (Winners: Haggar, Seishirou, Taigen)



Mike Haggar strides into the arena, a white towel draped over one shoulder. Again, he's in his fighting gear - unispender, brown pants, and large orange-plated boots. Halfway to the center, he pauses, takes the towel, and dabs warm-up sweat from his forehead. Then he flings it to the side, into the crowd. Cracking his knuckles, the Fightin' Mayor makes the rest of the trip into the almost-center of the arena, and faces where his opponents will emerge.

The huge Muay Thai Master has arrived within the Exhibition yard of the castle. It was here he and Sakura won their round one bout against a team of three... and now it seems Sagat and Sakura must face yet another team of three in the second round. Does this bother the large man? Not one bit. Sagat enjoys a challenge, even though if one were to ask Sagat, this wouldn't be considered one. Sagat has made his way here, and he's already dressed for the occasion that is at hand. Wrappings around his forearms, wrists, shins and ankles. He's wearing a simple pair of shorts. They are crimson with a green stripes down the side. Sagat has beads of sweat on his bald head already... but is it a nervous sweat? Hardly... the man was training before coming here. Sagat makes his way to the designated starting area... and merely turns his head to the side to await the arrival of his student.

It's at about this time that Seishirou arrives. Silent and swift as usual, flickering into existence over behind Haggar. It's a familiar sight to those who'd seen the last fight. Of course.. the difference here is.. Seishirou is sporting a thin wrapping of bandages around one arm, extending from the fringe of his jacket's rolled up sleeves to underneath his gloves and around his fingers. It's unclear why. Despite this addition, he's waiting, hands in pockets.. as he looks over the Muay Thai Awesome.

"..." jeez. The camera /took away/ ten pounds when it focused on him.

Sakura enjoys a challenge too! She probably enjoys a lot more challenges than Sagat, though, simply because she just ain't as intimidating. Most people think they can take on a sixteen-year-old schoolgirl without trouble, after all -- and Sakura's here to prove 'em wrong yet again! Like her idol, she's wearing her long, ever-present headband. Like her current mentor, her outer extremities are taped up for maximum impact -- though she'd thankfully opted for her sailor-style school uniform, in blue and grey winter colors, instead of just the trunks. Might be a little embarassing fighting that way.

The Taiyo schoolgirl seems more than ready though, as she strides in with a bright smile and a cheerful wave to the many onlookers. "Yeah, I'm finally here! You can all sit back and enjoy the ownage!" She normally =doesn't= brag, but Seishirou's here -- and that's exactly who she's smirking back at. Twiddling her fingers, she waves back at Ryouhara. And... then she waves at Taigen. "... Been a while, but I won't be going easy on you, this time!" She then turns her attention to Haggar, cracking her knuckles. No trash talk for the Metro City Mayor she's yet to meet, though.

The thought of the upcomming fight has probably been the one fight Taigen has waited her whole fighting career for. She never expected to be fighting so many high profile fighters, but when she found that she is going to be fighting the team of the master of Muay Thai and Sakura, Taigen hasn't gotten much sleep due spending long hours training by herself when not training her with teacher and partner. She still knows she is still a weak link and she is going to have to come up big on this one if they are going to advance further. She steps out wearing a Cavaliers jersey and some cargo shorts that have seen their better days as well as a pair of fingerless gloves. She trudges out barefoot with a look of total concentration when she stops behind Haggar and on the opposite side of Seishirou. A respectful nod is given to both Sagat and Sakura before the youn woman slips into her fighting stance with hands raised and one leg slightly cocked at the knee while most of her weight is put on the other leg. "If you go easy on me I will make you pay this time, Sakura..." she whispers in reply then inhales deeply, no more words from her.

Mike Haggar places his left hand on his right wrist, twisting his hand this way and that. He actually has to tilt his head back a bit to regard Sagat in the eye. "Sagat." He nods once, in respect to the other rather famous fighter. And again, as is his custom, he looks over each shoulder to regard his students with affirming nods.
Then the wrestler drops right into his stance, snapping an underhand blow out at Sagat's chest with a grunt.

COMBATSYS: Sagat blocks Haggar's Strong Punch.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Haggar           0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0            Sagat
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Seishirou        0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0           Sakura
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/-------|


The huge Muay Thai God nods his head to greet his student, but says nothing. The man turns his head to regard the fighters that have gathered to take on him and his student. His single eye looks at each one in turn. A quick studying glance from fighter to fighter... judging... calculating... deciding. Haggar nods to Sagat out of respect, and Sagat returns the nod. Then... the fight is on. Haggar comes at him, swinging one of his massive limbs at him. Sagat raises his arms up to block and deflect the blow. Sagat grunts, "No." And pushes past Haggar. Sagat's long legs quickly push his bulk away from Haggar and towards Haggar's 'students'. Sagat rushes towards one of the two, specifically Seishirou. It doesn't take long for Sagat to reach him, and when he does several quick punches are released right before a crushing swing of the man's right knee careens towards his midsection.

COMBATSYS: Seishirou parries Sagat's Medium Kick!

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Haggar           0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0            Sagat
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Seishirou        0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0           Sakura
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/-------|


Crap.

Ryouhara does not exactly want to be the victim of that much fist at once. Therefore, he has some options. Get out of the way. Get out of the way. Or, maybe, get out of the way. Of these, there is one true option.

Get out of the way for a little bit, then move into position.

Eyes widening as he breaches the massive punches by centimeters, the ninja slips from side to side, weaving in and out of attack.. before the knee comes up. .. Something Seishirou doesn't have the ability to immediately move out of the way of. Therefore, Seishirou does the only thing he can do: Brace his hands against the attack, release wires at the point of contact, and then throw himself to the side with the momentum of it. Attempting to wrap wires around the man's leg and pull him off-balance and hopefully onto his back with the force of the blow.

Sakura smiles back at Sagat. No need for words -- they'd already discussed their strategy beforehand, after all! And Haggar seems to be doing his best to disrupt said strategy by attacking Sagat first. "Hey, big guy! Hate to break it to ya..." she calls out -- but by that point, she's already well on her way to running towards executing the maneuver she's had in mind. Still a broad grin on her face, she balls her fist up, then fires a rapid uppercut towards the mayor's ribcage, springing off the ground to give the move even more momentum. "SHOOOOOOOU'OOOOOOU KEN!" she shouts, just in case he didn't get the point -- =she's= his opponent now.

Taigen eyes narrow some as she sees things start to unfold before her. Fine, if they want to play that way Taigen is going to play the part as the annoyance much like she did last fight. "Hey Sakura! I said don't take me lightly!" she calls out and then gets a few steps running before launching herself into the air above Sakura then corkscrews to start going downward at the schoolgirl's backside with a foot outstretched that is crackling with an electric charge. Well if the plan for Sakura was to rile the other woman up it certainly seemed to have worked.

COMBATSYS: Haggar blocks Sakura's Shou'ou Ken.

[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Haggar           0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0            Sagat
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Seishirou        0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0           Sakura
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/-------|


Mike Haggar almost turns to follow Sagat as he bounds after Seishirou - however, he is now otherwise indisposed. He turns back as Sakura attacks, crossing his arms in front of him and taking the punch to his beef. He frowns, but is notably relieved when a glance at Seishirou reveals that he seems to have completely avoided Sagat's attack. Hopefully he'll be alright for now - thinking to get this over with quickly, Haggar grabs for Sakura, seeking to bring their heads together repeatedly and possibly violently.

COMBATSYS: Seishirou successfully hits Sagat with Leafwalking EX.

[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Haggar           0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0            Sagat
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Seishirou        0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0           Sakura
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/-------|


Having past by Haggar and targetted Seishirou instead, Sagat is only mildly annoyed that damage from his crushing knee was avoided in such a way. And to add to the big Muay Thai Kickboxer's annoyance, the little man has managed to pull him off balance. Sagat hits the gr\ound, but quickly rolls and leaps back up onto his feet. A quick brush off his shoulder to rub a little soreness out before the Muay Thai Fighter continues his attack. Sagat pulls his arms back and narrows his eye... and before he launches the assault... catches sight that his student is being double teamed, "No." he states again... and shifts his wait. Chi begins to be focused near the man's forearms. The flaming chi erupts around the man's wrists and Sagat growls out, "Tiger" and throws his arms infront of him. When his wrists collide a crescent of flaming orange chi rockets through the air towards Taigen, "Shot!"

Landing roughly, the ninja pants. Looks like that was halfway effective. But Seishirou notices these two seem to have a better command of tactics than the first. It'd make sense, given this is round two. But.. his best option now and literally the only one, is to keep Massive over there occupied. He's pretty big.. so this might work.

One hand glows a milky white.

Then Seishirou disappears.

He doesn't say anything to get Sagat's attention. No yell, no whistle, no witty retort. Because the fact is.. as Seishirou attempts to fly low and past Sagat's body, and get that hand on his leg. If that hand lands... it'll place a chi seal in the shape of his family crest on Sagat's leg. It will glow red, then white, as it colelcts heat chi in attempt to pierce Sagat's aura. Then it will explode.

COMBATSYS: Taigen successfully hits Sakura with Spiral Flying Kick.

[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Haggar           0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0            Sagat
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////    ]
Seishirou        0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0           Sakura
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/------=|


COMBATSYS: Sakura dodges Haggar's Repeated Headbutts.

[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Haggar           0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0            Sagat
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////    ]
Seishirou        0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0           Sakura
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/------=|


"I'm not! It's just--" Sakura shouts back to Taigen after her uppercut lands nothing but Haggarguard -- but she's cut off by the fact that Taigen's feet is already slamming into her. Still sparking with electricity, she picks herself up off the ground, only =narrowly= swinging her head back out of Haggar's reach. Hopping back, her hands snapping to her side, Kasugano quietly notes that Sagat is addressing both Seishirou and the girl who attacked her, in a reactive, yet characteristically tacit fashion -- all according to plan. Just the same, she shouts, "Sorry!" back to Taigen, her hands crackling with a little energy of their own, her headband tossed up from the sudden wind kicked up by it. Rather than electricity, though, it's a lukewarm bloom of chi -- nothing fancy, just a mailbox-sized orb of swirling concussive force that Sakura's all too eager to shove out towards Haggar. "HADOOOOOOOOOUKEN!"

COMBATSYS: Taigen dodges Sagat's Tiger Shot.

[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Haggar           0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0            Sagat
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Seishirou        0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0           Sakura
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/------=|


Landing the hit solidly, Taigen pushes off Sakura's back to flip in the air and land back in her fighting stance. She doesn't stay in that spot very long as she has earned the wrath of Sagat. She seems to say 'oh fuck' quietly to herself as she dives to the side to avoid the energy blast and comes out of the roll up on one knee. "Okay big guy. Maybe I will learn something going up against you." she says getting back to her feet. She then probably doesn't do the smartest thing. She starts to advance on Sagat, but instead swings on her foot and around when she is in range of Sakura again, intentionally swinging over the girl's head in a feint and kicks up her other leg to slam into the back of Sakura's head as she falls and balances herself on one hand for a moment while she lets her momentum carry her in a circle then comes back up on her feet.

COMBATSYS: Haggar blocks Sakura's Medium Hadouken.

[      \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Haggar           0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0            Sagat
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Seishirou        0/-------/------=|===----\-------\0           Sakura
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/------=|


Mike Haggar's grab attempt falls just short, and he is likewise nearly taken off balance. He manages to pull his arms up again, turning slightly to take the energy on his non-strapped shoulder. Even so, he's sent stumbling away. Part is the force of the projectile, part is himself putting some distance between him and Sakura to put himself in line with his proper target - Sagat. Haggar explodes into motion, running up behind the Muay Thai fighter, jumping up to plant his hands on the back of his head, and seeking to drive his face to the ground in a classic bulldog maneuver.

COMBATSYS: Sagat blocks Seishirou's Ryuuouin.

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////       ]
Haggar           0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0            Sagat
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Seishirou        0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0           Sakura
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/------=|


COMBATSYS: Sagat blocks Haggar's Quick Throw.

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Haggar           0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0            Sagat
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Seishirou        0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0           Sakura
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/------=|


As soon as the Chi eruption bursts from his arms, Sagat turns back towards his previous opponent, the Ninja. Sagat doesn't see his Tiger Shot miss its target... oh no. The Muay Thai God fully expected his blast to slam into the other combatant and pretty much show Taigen who she should really be facing. When sagat turns around, he realises he does here a scream... or the thud of a body against the floor when his shot should have collided with its target. A mental note is made. Sagat turns just in time to see the Ninja right near him. Quickly moving his leg to deflect whatever Seishirou was planning. He quickly spins around on his heel to catch the Ninja going by him... he attempts to take Seishirou's head off by swining his massive tree trunk for a leg at the other man's head. Of course while doing this.. Sagat manages to see the Fighting Mayor coming at him and well.. his kick is kind of messed up by his need to duck and cover his body. The Mayor collides slightly against Sagat, but the Bulldog manuever is not successful.

COMBATSYS: Seishirou parries Sagat's Medium Kick!

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Haggar           0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0            Sagat
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Seishirou        0/-------/----===|===----\-------\0           Sakura
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/------=|


It doesn't take an analytical master to know that what Sagat was carrying was DANGEROUS. The weight of that leg alone.. it probably would take his head off. On top of it, the speed of the assault was .. truly impressive. Ryouhara would have to perform at 110% to prevent getting trashed in this fight. Therefore.. there was only one effective option here.

The powerful (but amazingly, aborted) kick slams through at least one bundle of bamboo in an explosion of smoke before being redirected off of Seishirou's guard. Using that bamboo as a buffer to slow the speed of the leg assault, Seishirou managed to soak just enough of it off of that bundle to be able to redirect it away from him, the weight needed from Seishirou to do so pushing him back, despite none of the force actually landing on him.

.. Leaving only a real bomb underneath the mighty giant. Casting it underneath him as he moved back, Seishirou places it in an area where the blast will harm Sagat more than anyone else. Let's see how Sagat deals with it.

COMBATSYS: Sakura blocks Taigen's Light Kick.

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Haggar           0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0            Sagat
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////      ]
Seishirou        0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0           Sakura
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/------=|


Sakura's attention seems to keep being called back to Taigen. Call it annoying, or distractionary measures, or what have you -- the point is, the Ansatsuken disciple finds it a bit difficult to ignore. Raising a forearm to block the first kick, she senses it's not =quite= over, and lowers the guard slightly to take the brunt of Taigen's attack, stumbling just a bit in the process. But the distraction isn't going to swerve her from her strategy! "I'll deal with you in a bit!" she shouts, batting Taigen away with her hand before swinging it back into her side, fingertips splayed over a swirling core of chi. She was given a mission, and she's going to see it through to completion! Sure, it might be a bit cheesy, but the people on the receiving end should have a lot more to complain about than the repetition. Like, say, the PAIN. "HADOOOOOOUKEN!" she shouts, thrusting her palms at Haggar for another meaty fireball!

If Sakura is going to keep turning her back to Taigen, then the older woman has no problems taking shots at the schoolgirl when she is exposed. She smirks some and drops back down to balance on her hands then lashes her legs around to wrap them around Sakura at knee level. "Well if you insist. I am not going away though." she tells Sakura before rolling to the side and attempting to pull Sakura's legs out from under her and sending her to sprawl face first in the ground.

COMBATSYS: Haggar dodges Sakura's Medium Hadouken.

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Haggar           0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0            Sagat
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////       ]
Seishirou        0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0           Sakura
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/------=|


Mike Haggar doesn't quite get purchase on Sagat's sexily bald head, and he briefly wonders if the man waxes before his momentum carries him past. Sakura's Hadouken, coming from a bit more of a distance this time, is dodged by the mayor dropping to the ground and rolling to the side. Mike mutters under his breath about Sakura keeping on him, even as he shoots back up out of the roll at Sagat, snapping both feet out at him. He hopes to land his dropkick in the chest or shoulder area, someplace where he can spring back off and away.
There is a bomb there, after all.

COMBATSYS: Sagat blocks Seishirou's Random Weapon EX.

[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////           ]
Haggar           0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0            Sagat
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////       ]
Seishirou        0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0           Sakura
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/------=|


COMBATSYS: Sagat just-defends Haggar's Drop Kick!

[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Haggar           0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0            Sagat
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////       ]
Seishirou        0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0           Sakura
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/------=|


And... Again. The large Muay Thai Fighter's massive leg is blocked and damage avoided by the ninja. Sagat is still mildly annoyed by this. People usually collapse under the might of one of his kicks... and this... this person who Sagat has never heard of is block and parrying his kicks. And then the Ninja leaves a bomb for him? No no. Sagat covers himself and leaps into the air. The blast knocking him back a bit, but not doing much else. Then there's the Fighting Mayor. Sagat knew he was still around and managed to keep his upper torso tensed and ready to absorb whatever hit him. As soon as Sagat feels the other mans feet up against him he lashes out, blocks and deflects the blow. He uses the momentum caused by the kick to propel him towards the ninja once again. He's running towards Seishirou and leaps into the air, "TIGER!" he shouts and pulls his legs up under him. He rockets towards the ninja, knee first, "CRUSH!"

COMBATSYS: Seishirou counters Tiger Crush from Sagat with Kawarimi.

[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////          ]
Haggar           0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0            Sagat
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////       ]
Seishirou        0/-------/--=====|====---\-------\0           Sakura
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/------=|


That wasn't effective at all. That was one of his strongest formulations, too. That's a problem. A serious problem. And then Sagat presents him with another problem. A fast moving, ruin-ninja-face kind of a problem. And.. Seishirou knew that Sagat was getting hip to his maneuvers. He had to make sure this didn't land.

It lands.

And when Seishirou's face is utterly HUMILIATED, knocking the ninja clear into the ground, sending him skidding into the ground... he evaporates. Into a full suit of Krauser-style armor, with a MASSIVE DENT in the faceplate.

While the ninja himself gasps for breath a little ways away from the giant. THat was close.

COMBATSYS: Sakura blocks Taigen's Leg-Scissor Sweep.

[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////          ]
Haggar           0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0            Sagat
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Seishirou        0/-------/--=====|=====--\-------\0           Sakura
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/------=|


Yeah... Taigen's starting to get on Sakura's nerves. But still -- she's tough! She can take it! When Taigen tries to snare her legs, the fighting fangirl is =almost= quick enough to get out of the way -- but one leg still gets snared by the move. Wincing, Sakura jerks her leg out of Taigen's grasp, eyeing her for a moment as if considering attacking further. "Taigen! Why don't you go for Sagat?! He's tons easier to hit!" This is all about the fight, not giving in to annoyances! Which is why Sakura breaks loose, dashing over to Haggar. And, not even =bothering= with the normal distractionary technique, Sakura takes flight, swinging overhead in a high arc and flashing a wonderful view of the blue gym shorts beneath to Haggar's blindside, just before her foot comes crashing down onto his shoulder. "HRIII-HAAAA!"

Taigen smirks some and shakes her head. It seems that her and the school girl think on different levels here when it comes to fighting. The other woman just gives Sakura chase while rubbing her hands together and smirking some. She keeps up her assault to keep chipping away at the girl's nerves and see just how much it takes to get her to crack. "I think the boys have him busy, Sakura." she says then claps her hands and thrusts them out palms forward right against the back of Sakura while giving forth another electric shock if she connects. "So how about losing to me fair and square this time."

COMBATSYS: Sakura successfully hits Haggar with Flower Kick.
- Power hit! -

[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////          ]
Haggar           0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0            Sagat
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////          ]
Seishirou        0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0           Sakura
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/------=|


Mike Haggar gets a bit further away from Sagat than he had hoped to, having been all but flung away by the other force of huge in the arena (while Sagat's huge is lesser at base, it does have 60% more knee.). He flips in the air to land in a kneel, dust flying up in a wake as he slides to a quick stop. However, he doesn't see the oncoming schoolgirl, he stands up /into/ the blow, which drives him back down to a knee, forcing Haggar to use a hand for balance. He growls out, getting angry now, "Stay out of this, before you bite off more than you can chew." Assumedly, he's directing this at Sakura, forcing some uncustomary gruffness into his voice. Then, Haggar is up again. If Sagat's going to keep his focus off of him, eventually he'll catch him totally open. The wrestler jumps at the God of Muay Thai, again from behind, seeking to trap Sagat's neck with his ankles, spin around, and tug him down to the floor with his momentum.

COMBATSYS: Sagat blocks Haggar's Spinning Leg Takedown.

[          \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////             ]
Haggar           0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0            Sagat
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////          ]
Seishirou        0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0           Sakura
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/------=|


Sagat hits the ground, not having done damage to the swift ninja... again. The big Muay Thai God continues to remain annoyed. Is he angered? Maybe slightly, but it's nothing that's consuming him. It's annoyance at this little bug of a man avoiding taking the beating that is supposed to be given to him. That display that the ninja gave... well... it demands annoyance. But he doesn't just stand there... he moves towards Seishirou. However.. after the first step, Haggar's massive-self gets in his way. The big Muay Thai Fighter is a bit too nimble for Haggar to bring down in the manner he wanted to bring him down. However, damage is done when limbs become entangled and Sagat trips up a bit. He stumbles forward some more, attempting to get away from Haggar as well as get close enough to Sei to launch another attack... but his momentum has been slowed considerably. So the Muay Thai God raises his arms back behind him, gathers some chi energy, and thrusts his arms infront of him, "TIGER!" Another firey crescent wave is launched... this time at Seishirou.

COMBATSYS: Seishirou dodges Sagat's Tiger Shot.

[          \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////             ]
Haggar           0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0            Sagat
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////          ]
Seishirou        0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0           Sakura
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/------=|


Close. Too close.

It's only by pure intuition, knowledge of probabilities, mathematics, and 'guts' that Seishirou evades the maneuver--though it might not look it. Because he simply shuts his eyes and flickers just to the left, evading the attack by such a close margin so as to feel the hairs on his arm closest to the shot stand on end with the great power.

Fortunately for the Ryouhara ninja, it was not close enough. But right now, the ninja isn't concerned with fortune. Instead, he braces himself. Settling carefully into a pose. And looks at the fight. Watching /every move Sagat makes/.

COMBATSYS: Seishirou focuses on his next action.

[          \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////             ]
Haggar           0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0            Sagat
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////          ]
Seishirou        0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0           Sakura
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/------=|


COMBATSYS: Sakura dodges Taigen's Rib Buster.

[          \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////             ]
Haggar           0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0            Sagat
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////          ]
Seishirou        0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0           Sakura
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/------=|


"Well, duh!" If Taigen's going to keep announcing her presence like that, when she's supposedly 'sneaking up' on her, Sakura's going to have some sort of clue where she is! Even if she =is= working on sensing people's locations innately, it's hardly cheating to use her ears, after all. Grinning, she sidesteps and pivots away from Taigen's charge, letting the elder girl jump out in front of her. Since Taigen keeps calling forth her attention, though, it's only fair that Sakura finally relent and attack her... right? "Okay, you =both= asked for it!" she shouts back, passing Taigen a smirk of her own. Why, you ask? Because Sakura is =then= going to charge forward -- one, two, three, FOUR powerful strides towards her -- and then =leap= into the air towards Haggar! It just so happens that the Ansatsuken prodigy positioned Taigen right in the middle -- and when she twists into a somersault, she's going to drive two fists down, slamming at the back of her head. "Yuu--ttaaa!" Her leap would carry her further towards the Metro City mayor, somersaulting towards him to land a similar blow to him as well.

COMBATSYS: Taigen dodges Sakura's Sakura Otoshi.

[          \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////             ]
Haggar           0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0            Sagat
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////          ]
Seishirou        0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0           Sakura
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/------=|


Taigen grins slyly as she keeps focused on her target. Sakura might only being half paying attention to her, but Taigen is taking her time to watch the other woman's movements and she dives forward at the last moment to let Sakura's fist hit soft ground instead of a hard head. She hmphs and spins around to watch Sakura resume her attack on Haggar. Maybe now Taigen is the one that is getting annoyed. She persues eventually and just ends up grabbing Sakura by the trailing tails of her head band in an attempt to pull her close to lock an arm around her neck then drops to one knee while pulling Sakura backwards to slam the schoolgirl's back across her other knee.

COMBATSYS: Haggar blocks Sakura's Sakura Otoshi.

[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////             ]
Haggar           0/-------/-======|======-\-------\0            Sagat
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////          ]
Seishirou        0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\0           Sakura
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/------=|


Mike Haggar doesn't quite make it past Sagat, and his grapple ends up looking more like a kick. He lands rather roughly, but pleased at the fact that his students are managing to completely keep from taking any damage. If they keep like that, this match is a shoe-in... also, schoolgirl. Haggar lifts his arms up again, leaning back so that Sakura's fist meets the point where his arms cross, and as a result he takes very little damage, again. "I said back off!" The Mayor takes a rather large step back, spinning back around to Sagat. The Mayor once again jumps up, heading behind him, this time locking his arms around the big man's head in a sleeper hold - more to try to keep Sagat from going after Seishirou (fruitlessly) again than anything else.

COMBATSYS: Sagat blocks Haggar's Quick Throw.

[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////               ]
Haggar           0/-------/-======|=======\-------\0            Sagat
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////          ]
Seishirou        0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\0           Sakura
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/------=|


*WHOOSH*

The firey crescent wave... again is unable to strike its intended target. The Muay Thai legend is certainly having the worst of luck during this bout. Unable to strike Taigen... haven't once landed a damaging blow against the ninja... and all the while the Fighting Mayor just won't get off of his back. Sagat is getting more annoyed by the second. And his annoyance finally turns into anger when the Mayor... continueing to be his annoying self, wraps himself around his head. Sagat quickly raises his mits and forces his head free of the hold before too much damage is done. Sagat's legs bend to allow him to pull his head down, "NO!" Sagat shouts, "TIGER!" shouts the angered Muay Thai God. His massive legs ripple as the muscles flex and send the huge man upwards. A fist is raised up and Sagat goes airborne, "UPPERRRRCUT!" Finally, Sagat's attention is turned to Haggar.

And, now, Ryouhara is left alone.

As he finishes assessing the battlefield.

The Muay Thai Master is strong. Mightily so. Seishirou hasn't been able to land a solid blow on him since he started--attacks with a physical component are not effective. Energy attacks seem good. As do unbalancing techniques. That uppercut seems to be powered by rage. It'd be significant if it landed on the Mayor. Right now, Taigen appears to have the other girl in order... Sagat is the greater threat here.

That's about when Seishirou performs several hand seals in front of him, and braces both hands in front of his moth, as if holding a blowgun. He gathers heat chi into his belly. "Katon... GOUKAKYUU NO JUTSU!" He purses his lips and breathes out. Suddenly, with a /sniper's precision/, a molten stream of fire, no wider than the blast from a firehose, erupts from the space between his hands. It's chi, through and through, and one of Seishirou's most powerful techniques. He has to guide it and keep it shaped with his chi, but he intends to blast Sagat with that rail of fire, in his side and in his back, hoping to brute-force on a particular point in the man's aura. It won't push him far. And unless Sagat or Haggaer does something Seishirou didn't calculate for, the stream is too thin to hit him.

COMBATSYS: Sakura dodges Taigen's Strong Throw.

[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////                ]
Haggar           0/-------/-======|=======\-------\0            Sagat
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////          ]
Seishirou        0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\0           Sakura
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/------=|


"As much as I'd =like= to, Taigen..." In the midst of her attack on Haggar, Kasugano finds her headband about to be snagged by Taigen. She snaps her forearm back, jerking the long tails of fabric out of her reach. "... look around! This ain't an even fight!" Three on two, even! And she's just trying to help get rid of -one- of them. Though, admittedly, she halts her attack once she realizes Sagat's joined the fray -- and jogs away from Taigen, keeping her distance while her hands cup by her sides. Her skirt ruffling in the breeze as she dashes about, she suddenly slams on the brakes with a loud squeal of sneaker sole, as she turns on Haggar. Waiting the few remaining split seconds for Sagat to get out of the way, she then thrusts her palms forward, loosing the super-sized fireball at Haggar: "HADOOOOOOOUKEN!"

Taigen takes a moment to reassess the situation then rolls her shoulders in a shrug at Sakura. "Sometimes things aren't fair. I am sure they paired us up like they did for a reason." Logic in that thought...well...just a little maybe. She then starts her assault on the school girl anew. She dashes forward and then slings a leg back far then leans into the air to bring the knee around to slam into Sakura's face.

COMBATSYS: Haggar blocks Sakura's Large Hadouken.

[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////                ]
Haggar           0/-------/=======|=======\-------\0            Sagat
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Seishirou        0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\1           Sakura
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/------=|


COMBATSYS: Haggar counters Tiger Uppercut from Sagat with Power Swing.

[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////                        ]
Haggar           0/-------/-======|=======\===----\1            Sagat
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Seishirou        0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\1           Sakura
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/------=|


COMBATSYS: Seishirou successfully hits Sagat with Katon Goukakyuu no Jutsu.
- Power hit! -

[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /                             ]
Haggar           0/-------/-======|=======\=====--\1            Sagat
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Seishirou        0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\1           Sakura
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/------=|


Mike Haggar skips a step away as Sagat breaks out of his hold. He grins to himself, as he feels Sagat starting to get SUPER PISSED. Always works - if someone's ignoring you, just start being as annoying as you can manage. As Sagat's arm comes flying up for his face, Haggar's arm sweeps over, his fist closing on Sagat's fist - time slows to a near stop for a moment, as a sort of blue light flashes around the contact point - and we're off again, Haggar using Sagat's momentum against him to pull him off his feet, turning a tight circle-and-a-half to whip Sagat around (and into Sei's flame line, for the record), and then releases, hurling the taller fighter away behind him. After the release, he sees Sakura's King Size fireball heading for him - in a word, the wrestler ducks and covers, the chi blast driving him back and making a somewhat nasty burn on his shoulder.

Sagat's signature move. It has floored many people. Added anger behind the attack.. could have knocked Haggar's teeth out. That's if it had hit. Sagat hasn't had the most luck in this bout, and there's probably reasons behind it. Ever since his initial loss to Ryu years back, Sagat has had a string of misfortunes. Misfortunes that began with and include losing his title as the Emporer of Muay Thai. Though he still deserves the title, this fight certainly did not help to keep that opinion strong. The Tiger Uppercut was meant to KO Haggar... so Sagat could focus on the ninja.. instead it is going to lead to his downfall. Haggar skillfully and expertly counters the Muay Thai God's signature move. Sagat is slammed against the ground, and also blasted by the Ninja's flaming stream. No person should be able to stand up after that punishment... and Sagat himself shouldn't be getting up. But the bloodied and battered kickboxer stands.. his wrappings, his shorts slightly charred. Sagat glares a one eyed, bloodshot glare at the Fighting Mayor. A smirk appears on his face... which slowly fades into a scowl. Sagat grits his teeth, "No." He states again... as if denying his defeat. Sagat steps forward, "No." again... pushing his bulk forward... faster and faster towards Haggar, "NO! TIGER-" Sagat growls as he rushes towards Haggar... all the energy.. all the power he can muscle out of his legs, "GEEENNNOOOOCIIIIDE!" he screams as if he needs to shout it in order to coax his own body into performing his ultimate technique. After the series of punches and uppercuts... Sagat... will probably just flop down.. nothing left in him and his own words and his own determination isn't enough to coerce a beaten and worn body to move.

COMBATSYS: Sagat can no longer fight.

[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Haggar           0/-------/-======|=======\-------\1           Sakura
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Seishirou        0/-------/-----==|
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/------=|


Arching an eyebrow, Seishirou stands as Sagat launches his massive assault of moves. "... Terrifying ..." Just short of awed by the series of blows, Seishirou has nothing more to do than to watch the result. This could get ugly.

Even so. He's still thinking, keeping the overall fight in mind. Preparing. .. Another expected result.

COMBATSYS: Seishirou focuses on his next action.

[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Haggar           0/-------/-======|=======\-------\1           Sakura
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Seishirou        0/-------/-----==|
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/------=|


COMBATSYS: Sakura blocks Taigen's Rising Knee.

[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////             ]
Haggar           0/-------/-======|=======\=------\1           Sakura
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Seishirou        0/-------/-----==|
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/------=|


As much as Sakura had been counting on Sagat to pull through this match like he did the last... well, it doesn't quite seem like that'll be happening. Especially after her fireball sizzles into the mayor's meaty back, and she begins to realize... when he meant she shouldn't 'bite off more than she could chew?' She fears it's gonna come biting back ANY MINUTE NOW. "Uhh... sorry! I was just kidding about all that, really!" Obviously, she's =not=, but a little change in strategy might be good for the girl -- especially as Sagat seems to be drawing his last breath to fire off an anything-goes final attack. Let the big men fight for now! Besides, Taigen and Seishirou are both taking the opportunity to train their barrels on her -- giving her -plenty- to worry about instead. Though, luckily, Seishirou's barrel takes longer to train. (... Don't ask, Sakura's up way past her bedtime.)

"Maybe =now's= the time, huh?" Taigen's rushing knee is met by the Ansatsuken prodigy's shoulder and forearm, rather than any choice location like her face. It's so close that she can feel the heat from the move -- but it's not long before Sakura snapping her own knee up towards Taigen's face. Pain for her -- a blue blur of fanservice for everyone else! "CHERRY BLOSSOM KNEEEEE!" Obviously, she's taking a page from the Muay Thai books for this one!

COMBATSYS: Sakura successfully hits Taigen with Medium Kick.

[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////             ]
Haggar           0/-------/-======|=======\=------\1           Sakura
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Seishirou        0/-------/-----==|
[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/--=====|


This is what Taigen has been waiting for, a bit of a rematch and finally some attention in a fight. Sure her non marquee name has made many underestimate her. Maybe if she makes it through this one standing she will finally start to show she isn't a slouch. Sakura's recovery from the knee is quicker than Taigen, leaving the latter little time to set up a proper defense or get out of the way. The knee connects hard on the older woman's jaw and she staggers back several steps. She grins widely and removes the gloves before flexing her fingers. "That's right. Hit me with all you got." she tells the girl then moves back in to feint a punch then spins on her foot to turn sideways and coil a leg tight against her and thrusting it out quickly at the schoolgirl.

COMBATSYS: Sagat successfully hits Haggar with Tiger Genocide.

[                        \\\\\\  < >  /////////////////             ]
Haggar           1/---====/=======|=======\=------\1           Sakura
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Seishirou        0/-------/-----==|
[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/--=====|


Haggar breathes for a moment after his throw, hanging in the position for a while - the audience loves that stuff. As Sagat starts to get back up, Haggar shifts his weight back a bit, starting to lift his arms up, almost locking the block in before Sagat makes it to him.
Almost being the operative word.
Sagat's first punch catches Haggar full in the face, opening a cut just under his eye - and then the repeated blows shatter his half-assed block, raining into his body and ultimately hurling the wrestler, bruised, bloody, and with a cracked rib or two, away to roll on the ground, finishing with Mike on his back. With a ragged groan, however, he still manages to pull himself to a sitting position, blood running down his face in a few places, one eye somewhat swollen. He sits there for now, watching his students now out of his one proper eye. And taking a moment to breathe for God's sake.

COMBATSYS: Haggar takes a breather.

[                    \\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////             ]
Haggar           1/---====/=======|=======\=------\1           Sakura
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Seishirou        0/-------/-----==|
[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/--=====|


After the comination of strikes, Sagat does hit the ground. A pained and tired look is upon his weathered face. The Muay Thai God has been defeated... when he was so confident that he would triumph. Time to assess... time to remember... time to figure out how he was bested. And work to fix it. Sagat lays there on the ground, back up toward the sky. This is a position he is not used to. Certainly not one he wants to get used to. Sagat grunts and simply tries to move off the arena... to let those who are able to fight... continue to do so. The 'Teacher' will quietly watch his 'student' perform.

Hrmph. Watching Haggar fall back for now, Seishirou realizes, at this point, that this fight, barring a miracle, is likely over, given Sakura's previous performance against him. He's almost tempted to not interfere and allow the solo fight to continue, given his position and Haggar's.

But now.. is not that time.

Assessing that fight... the decision comes in an instant, and his assault comes an instant later, him flickering out of existence, and attempting to break range with Sakura before she even has a chance to hit Taigen as 'hard as she can.' His assault? It takes a simple form. A smash kick, enhanced with his chi on an internal level and added momentum to accelerate what would normally be just a simple ninja kick into something that could probably put a decent smash into concrete.

COMBATSYS: Sakura blocks Taigen's Thrust Kick.

[                    \\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////              ]
Haggar           1/---====/=======|=======\==-----\1           Sakura
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Seishirou        0/-------/-----==|
[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/--=====|


COMBATSYS: Sakura dodges Seishirou's Strong Kick.

[                    \\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////              ]
Haggar           1/---====/=======|=======\==-----\1           Sakura
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Seishirou        0/-------/-----==|
[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/--=====|


Sakura surveys the three remaining fighters, realizing, with some measure of confidence, that her minutes in the fight are numbered. Three on two wasn't the best odds, but three on one is a lot worse. But she's still counting on her own determination and training to pull her through this. She keeps her knee high as Taigen whips back around, catching the blow full on her thigh and staggering back. "I'm not giving up yet, Taigen! But... s'cuse me for just one more moment! Somethin' I gotta finish..." And then... uh-oh. She'd been dreading this moment ever since she =last= fought Ryouhara -- the dreaded ninja attacks! He'd been untouchable all fight, and now he's aiming for =her?= Oh shi--

And with a leap of faith, Sakura takes to the skies, letting Seishirou's foot slam right into concrete just as it was planned. "Sorry, guys! I'm on a mission!" she shouts back, cupping her hands by her side even while she's in midair, unintentionally ensuring the entire audience knows she's wearing gym shorts, clearly indicated by the white stripe on the side, as her skirt flutters up for her landing.

"SHINKUUUUUUUU---" And as soon as her blue sneakers hit ground, she hurls her hands forward, unleashing a swirling vortex of blue and white chi. Her headband is drawn forward by the sudden vacuum in air as the fireball rushes forward at the stooped-over Haggar, aimed to knock him completely out of the fight! "HADOOOOOOOOOOOOUKEEEEN!"

Taigen rolls her eyes, but I guess the fireball is her teacher's problem at this point and not hers. "Okay, moment's up!" she calls to Sakura then dashes to the school girl again then jumps forward to handspring forward and then try to wrap her legs around Sakura's neck. She pushes up off the ground to swing her torso upwards then she swings backwards fast and tries to use her momentum to fling Sakura forward and drive her head first into the ground.

COMBATSYS: Haggar blocks Sakura's Shinkuu Hadouken.

[                         \\\\\  < >  ///////////////               ]
Haggar           1/-======/=======|==-----\-------\0           Sakura
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Seishirou        0/-------/-----==|
[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/--=====|


Mike Haggar groans inwardly - he certainly /sees/ the Shinkuu Hadoken coming, but he can't do much more than stand up, cross his arms, and take the blow. Also, he falls down afterward, a few more burns opened up, bleeding just a bit more, and about 20 feet back from where he was.

COMBATSYS: Haggar takes no action.

[                       \\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////               ]
Haggar           1/-======/=======|==-----\-------\0           Sakura
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Seishirou        0/-------/-----==|
[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/--=====|


COMBATSYS: Haggar has reached second wind!

[                       \\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////               ]
Haggar           1/-======/=======|==-----\-------\0           Sakura
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Seishirou        0/-------/-----==|
[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/--=====|


Mike Haggar then sits back up, groaning and still watching.

Slamming into (and almost getting stuck in) concrete, Seishirou finds his assault stopped. Damn. But it takes a little more than that fireball, Seishirou realizes, to put Haggar down. But still. Thankfully. Because, it'd take too long to get over there. But right now.. he just pitches over, twisting his foot to dislodge it. At this point and time frame, the only thing he can do is take careful aim.. and try and disrupt Sakura's attempt to stop Taigen from her attack with a single thrown kunai.

COMBATSYS: Taigen successfully hits Sakura with Quick Throw.

[                       \\\\\\\  < >  /////////////                 ]
Haggar           1/-======/=======|====---\-------\0           Sakura
[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Seishirou        0/-------/-----==|
[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/--=====|


COMBATSYS: Seishirou successfully hits Sakura with Kunai Flight.

[                       \\\\\\\  < >  /////////                     ]
Haggar           1/-======/=======|======-\-------\0           Sakura
[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Seishirou        0/-------/---====|
[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/--=====|


Sakura won't be attempting to -stop- Taigen's attack -- in fact, once she sees Haggar get knocked down by her fireball, and then miraculously =get back up=... well. Honestly? She's kinda demoralized now. But that's no reason for her skills to go to heck in a Ryu lunchbox.

Nope! But the kunai flying into her shoulder with a spurt of blood, followed immediately afterwards by the Frankensteiner delivered by Taigen sure is! Kasugano had already been turning towards Taigen when it happened, but that knife totally disrupted her train of thought. And... well. She tucks her head in so she doesn't completely eat concrete, but it still hurts like crazy. But... well. Suffice to say, Taigen now has Sakura's =full= attention.

She might not like the Ansatsuken prodigy when she's angry though.

Kipping back to her feet, she then turns on Taigen -- "Hey, Taigen! You've been asking for it all fight -- HERE IT IS!" And then Sakura STORMS on her, her entire body glowing blue from the effort of running forward, driving an uppercut at her nimble opponent's ribcage: "SHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO'OOOOOU KEN!"

COMBATSYS: Sakura successfully hits Taigen with Shou'ou Ken EX.

[                       \\\\\\\  < >  /////////                     ]
Haggar           1/-======/=======|=======\-------\0           Sakura
[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Seishirou        0/-------/---====|
[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           1/------=/=======|


Taigen stands up after delivering her throw then then flips backwards to put some distance between the two. She rolls her shoulders to try to keep her muscles lax and remain limber. Not limber enough as she does get impacted hard in the ribs and knocking the air out of her pretty hard as it lifts her up and sends her tumbling and leaves her sprawled on her back. She sits up slowly after awhile and then climbs to her feet while breathing heavily. "Nice shot..." she manages to say between deep breathes and then clenches her right hand tightly into a fist and it starts to crackle with electricity. She would normally say something in retort or make a remark, but instead she just charges right in at at Sakura. Her attack may not be an uppercut, but instead a rather powerful forward thrust aimed right at the center of her chest.

Mike Haggar keeps watching, going back to that breathing thing after having been hit with too much Hadoken. He frowns as Taigen takes that hit somewhat harshly, mentally taking notes. And breathing, let's not forget that breathing.

COMBATSYS: Haggar takes a breather.

[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////                     ]
Haggar           1/-======/=======|=======\-------\0           Sakura
[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Seishirou        0/-------/---====|
[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/------=|


Carefuly moving into position over between Haggar and Sakura--Haggar might actually stay conscious this match--Seishirou takes up a support position this time, waiting for an opening.

COMBATSYS: Seishirou focuses on his next action.

[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////                     ]
Haggar           1/-======/=======|=======\-------\0           Sakura
[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Seishirou        0/-------/---====|
[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/------=|


COMBATSYS: Sakura dodges Taigen's Heart Punch.

[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////                     ]
Haggar           1/-======/=======|=======\-------\0           Sakura
[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Seishirou        0/-------/---====|
[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/------=|


Could this really look any more grim for the Muay Thai team? Well... if Sakura started trying to switch her style completely to Muay Thai: probably! But luckily she has no intention of doing that. Though, even as badly as she got smacked around by that last wrestling move, Sakura's still got a lot of fight left in her -- which should be obvious from the way she narrowly evades certain doom by diving to the side, rolling into a tumble to get away from the viciously fast Heart Punch. "Nice try!" she shouts back to Taigen -- but by this point, Sakura's finding herself to be running out of options. Specifically, the ninja-boy.

If she were a 'bad guy,' she'd be taking a hostage.

Right now, that's the best option. While Taigen's recovering, Kasugano jumps right back to her feet, lashing one arm around the girl's neck in an attempt to get a firm armlock around her, putting the hurt on before Seishirou can squeeze off a shot to fire. Let's see how good his aim is!

COMBATSYS: Sakura successfully hits Taigen with Sakura Strangle.

[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////                      ]
Haggar           1/-======/=======|=======\=------\1           Sakura
[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Seishirou        0/-------/---====|
[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/----===|


Taigen may not be fairing too well against the other femme fighter, but she doesn't seem to be too good of a hostage since she is doing well at squirming and making it hard for Sakura to keep that hold locked on her too long. In the end the younger woman chops her hard in the back when letting go and sends the other woman stumbling forward. She is rushing things too much, Taigen knows it, but right now it seems to be a show between the two women involved in this fight and Taigen at least wants to make a decent showing before she gets taken down. She spins about to grasp at Sakura....more importantly the top of her fuku to pull it up over the girl's head and hopefully serve as a distraction so Taigen can land three quick blows to Sakura's stomach.

Mike Haggar would, in most situations, probably go find some oil barrels in gang territory, beat them up, and take the delicious turkey, or perhaps gum that was stored inside. He'd eat these delicious foods and feel almost immediately better. Maybe he'd find a watch that was stolen, or some gold bars, or possibly a katana. However, there are no barrels here, so Haggar just catches his breath and lets his students get some more fighting experience.

COMBATSYS: Haggar takes a breather.

[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////                      ]
Haggar           1/-======/=======|=======\=------\1           Sakura
[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Seishirou        0/-------/---====|
[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/----===|


He's almost motionless now, save a quick glance back at the Mayor. It's kind of strange for him to be so still, but given that Taigen was held in place to cut off Seishirou's angle of approach, it would seem accurate. The ninja even stuffs his hands in his pockets, to signify the fact that he's tied up. Sorta. Kinda. Heh.

He just had to wait a moment more. Taigen was currently inbetween him and Sakura, which might be the reason why he's not too intent on attacking straight up, at the moment.

COMBATSYS: Seishirou focuses on his next action.

[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////                      ]
Haggar           1/-======/=======|=======\=------\1           Sakura
[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Seishirou        0/-------/---====|
[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/----===|


COMBATSYS: Sakura dodges Taigen's Tri-Punch.

[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////                      ]
Haggar           1/-======/=======|=======\=------\1           Sakura
[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Seishirou        0/-------/---====|
[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/----===|


Last Sakura checked, this wasn't Strip Fighter -- nor was it Ghetto Fighter. Somehow she's somehow managed to cheat the fates before, and it looks like her odd luck is going to continue, as somehow she rocks her upper torso out of the way, Taigen's hand whiffing narrowly past her. "Hey now! I think the fans see enough of me as it is!" And really, Taigen should be ready for what happens -- for as much as she'd coiled back, she's uncoils into an all-or-nothing blast, aiming to feed Taigen a knuckle sandwich for her trouble! "CHERRY FIST!!!"

COMBATSYS: Taigen dodges Sakura's Fierce Punch.

[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////                      ]
Haggar           1/-======/=======|=======\=------\1           Sakura
[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Seishirou        0/-------/---====|
[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/----===|


Maybe it is the bad move names that is causing Taigen to miss a step and keep getting pounded. That is Sakura's true power! Well, not this time at least. The kickboxer manages to lean to the side to let the fist whiff by quickly and she smirks some while hopping back and giving a faint shake of her head. "Fine, want to be silly? You got it." she mutters and them does something of a mock up of Sakura's Flower kick as she swings her leg up and around and arching it at a downward angle at Sakura. Of course, she doesn't have the power of the panty shot.

Mike Haggar gets up now, feeling much less owned. He puts a hand up to his shoulder, wheeling his arm and tilting his neck left and right. Looks like something may happen soon.

COMBATSYS: Haggar focuses on his next action.

[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////                      ]
Haggar           1/-======/=======|=======\=------\1           Sakura
[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Seishirou        0/-------/---====|
[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/----===|


"I'll give her one thing. She's pretty tough."

Hm. Looks like Haggar's better now. Which makes Seishirou's need to be standing in the way of him and Sakura moot now.

The Seishirou who's hands are in his pockets has been just a little too still after that last look. A little too motionless. He's barely even breathing. That's because it's not Seishirou.

"She still doesn't know when to give up, though."

The second is spoken from behind Sakura. Around and over a kunai stab square in the back. It's not aimed for any critical areas, but .. Sakura's proving to be a little problematic, in this area. If he can't throw a kunai at her.. a more point blank approach is appropriate.

COMBATSYS: Sakura blocks Taigen's Light Kick.

[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////                       ]
Haggar           1/-======/=======|=======\==-----\1           Sakura
[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Seishirou        0/-------/---====|
[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/----===|


COMBATSYS: Sakura endures Seishirou's Improvised Tactics.

[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///                           ]
Haggar           1/-======/=======|=======\====---\1           Sakura
[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Seishirou        0/-------/-======|
[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/----===|


After she misses her punch, Sakura hops back and raises an eyebrow at Taigen's attack, calmly raising her forearm to deflect the attack away. "Girl, you got it all wrong!" she snaps back with a cocky smirk. And then she takes a step back to notice Seishirou and Haggar still seem to be moping around by themselves. "Hey, you losers! I thought we were in a FIGHT! A girl could start to get BORED over here!" And just as she says that, here comes Seishirou from behind! Somehow ... she'd gotten the sense that he was about to do something there, and... while she may not be quick enough to get the knife out of her side, or stop the blood from spurting out, or stop from SCREAMING ...

... she'd been ready to strike since the moment she started shouting. It'd been WAY too long since Seishirou made his move, after all. And Sakura, well aside from being at point-blank range, Sakura has a move with his name ALL over it. "HADOOOOOUKEN!"

COMBATSYS: Sakura successfully hits Seishirou with Medium Hadouken EX.
- Power hit! -

[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///                           ]
Haggar           1/-======/=======|=======\-------\0           Sakura
[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Seishirou        1/-----==/=======|
[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/----===|


It seems like frustration has just boiled over for Taigen. Sakura is fighting her hard again and it is starting to seem Taigen just isn't a match for her still. "Time to go for broke. Hey Haggar!" she calls out as she just reaches to grasp the back of Sakura's shirt then swings the girl hard in an attempt to pick her up and use her momentum to fling the schoolgirl right at Haggar. "One Sakura special coming up....I think!"

COMBATSYS: Sakura dodges Taigen's Random Weapon.

[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///                           ]
Haggar           1/-======/=======|=======\-------\0           Sakura
[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Seishirou        1/-----==/=======|
[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/----===|


Mike Haggar smirks as Taigen yells, setting up into his stance to do /something/... but that doesn't quite go, as Sakura seems to manage to slip out of Taigen's grasp. In that case, Haggar sprints forward, running right for Sakura. "You two... are taking just a bit too much time." Some kind of red light surrounds him as his hand stabs out toward Sakura's forehead once he comes in range.

"Kuh!"

Seishirou skids back from Sakura's Hadouken assault, harming him fairly handily. He grips his midsection as the momentum dies off from the assault, allowing him to quickly assess the remainder of the fight. Heh. Don't blame him, he was busy guarding you! And, at that? He moves again.

This time it's not anything fancy. Just an abnormally fast attempt to grab Sakura's wrist, in one hand. From behind or before, whichever side is facing Seishirou by the time he gets there. His other hand? In his pocket. He doesn't have much worry about guard, with the problems Sakura's got right now. "... Little better. But today isn't your day, Kasugano." The actual object of the move--despite the healthy twisting motion he'd put on that arm? Doesn't have much to do with damage. It's just to delay her just long enough for Haggar and Taigen to finish this off, using his own speed to hinder her.

But.. maybe she's just good enough to break away. Or evade.

COMBATSYS: Haggar successfully hits Sakura with Giant Swing.

[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >                                ]
Haggar           0/-------/----===|=======\======-\1           Sakura
[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Seishirou        1/-----==/=======|
[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/----===|


COMBATSYS: Sakura endures Seishirou's Quick Throw.

[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >                                ]
Haggar           0/-------/----===|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2           Sakura
[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Seishirou        1/----===/=======|
[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/----===|


Mike Haggar's hand collides solidly with Sakura's forehead, knocking her back into Sei's grasp. While he's putting her in the hold, Haggar bends down and picks up Sakura's legs, prompting the ninja to let go. Politely averting his eyes from any fanservice that may occur, Haggar begins to spin, lifting Sakura up off the ground, and eventually letting go and hurling her away.

Today certainly -isn't- Kasugano's day -- but she's not going down without a fight! She'd considered it, surely --- especially after seeing Haggar get back up and pant like a dog for a while, and then to see Seishirou sitting around doing nothing while she and Taigen traded shots. So that even when Taigen reaches =again= for Sakura's shirt -- "Darn, Taigen, I ain't that kinda girl!" -- and she leaps back away from it, well... Seishirou's there to grab her arm and hold her, so that Haggar can slam his forehead into her -- if it weren't for those meddling kids!

See... normally one would just =roll= with the attack. But with a downright =impish= gleam in her eye, Sakura played a card just then. Not a very =good= one, but one nonetheless -- for while it may have been a bit hard to notice, she'd grabbed for Seishirou's arm. And tried to =keep= him from letting go. "You're comin' WITH ME!" she hollers -- but whether she'll actually survive the throw is another matter entirely!

COMBATSYS: Sakura has reached second wind!

[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///                           ]
Haggar           0/-------/----===|=======\=------\1           Sakura
[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Seishirou        1/----===/=======|
[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/----===|


COMBATSYS: Sakura successfully hits Seishirou with Quick Throw.

[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///                           ]
Haggar           0/-------/----===|=======\==-----\1           Sakura
[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Seishirou        1/-======/=======|
[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/----===|


Well for a good portion of the fight it was Taigen getting in Sei's way, but in this case it is almost the opposite. Not like the ninja had much of a choice since it was Sakura that was hurling him. She isn't even sure if either Sakura and or Seishirou are going to get up after the way Haggar tossed them like a rainbow. Instead she takes this time to just keep an eye on where the pair lands and prepares to see who rises, if either.

COMBATSYS: Taigen focuses on her next action.

[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///                           ]
Haggar           0/-------/----===|=======\==-----\1           Sakura
[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Seishirou        1/-======/=======|
[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/----===|


Mike Haggar frowns as Sakura gets all tricky, taking Seishirou with her for the ride. But, since a lot of the hurt of Giant Swing comes from the initial hit, it couldn't've been /too/ bad for the ninja. But as he can't really tell right now if Sakura's getting back up, he takes a step back and rubs his still-sore shoulder. The one he's taken about three Hadokens on now.

COMBATSYS: Haggar takes a breather.

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///                           ]
Haggar           0/-------/----===|=======\==-----\1           Sakura
[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Seishirou        1/-======/=======|
[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/----===|


"Hey, what the--?!"

While Seishirou sees this attack coming he can't .. /quite/ break the hold in time. What follows next sorta resembles the Star Ball the Kawarimi he left earlier poofed into; a big following blue, white, red and green ball of schoolgirl ninja. "Hey-- AHH .. ARGH!!" Oh, Seishirou is not too happy now. That was too inventive. Too inventive. Unfortunately, as the pair sails into the pile of armor of the first Kawarimi, Seishirou's decided he's had enough of that. What ends up happening? ... Seishirou is probably going to try and get his legs between him and Sakura and flick her off him.

She's tenacious.

COMBATSYS: Seishirou successfully hits Sakura with Medium Throw.

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >                                ]
Haggar           0/-------/----===|=======\====---\1           Sakura
[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Seishirou        1/=======/=======|
[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/----===|


Aaaaand... well, Sakura's going to be milking that grab for as much as it's worth, shaking the ninja furiously. Good thing he's not an infant! Once the pair flies into the pile of armor, sending it crashing to the exhibition yard floor with a clamor, she finds her stomach filled with Seishirou's feet -- and is practically kicked off him, landing... pretty poorly and rolling around a bit. Granted, she could have landed a LOT worse. But after that throw... she's now nowhere near Taigen =or= Haggar. And Seishirou... yeah. Seishirou. "You'd probably block whatever I threw at ya..." she admits, shaking her head. So instead, she points at Haggar, unsteadily slumping forward as she climbs back to her feet. "I'm... still not done yet..." she says, with a sleepy half-smirk.

Orr.... Maybe she is, as she slumps forward, collapsing to her knees.

COMBATSYS: Sakura takes no action.

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Haggar           0/-------/----===|
[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Seishirou        1/=======/=======|
[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/----===|


COMBATSYS: Sakura can no longer fight.

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Haggar           0/-------/----===|
[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Seishirou        1/=======/=======|
[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Taigen           0/-------/----===|


Taigen rubs at her jaw that is still sore from the knee from earlier and her brows raise as Sakura finally goes down. Well not the way she had seen things ended with Sakura being the last one standing on her side and then no one on her side getting KO'ed this time around. She grins and fist pumps a few time. Thankfully for Seishirou he doesn't get the death grip hug. Instead Taigen walks out cheering herself and leaving the big man and the ninja to celebrate their own way as she goes to get sloshed again.

COMBATSYS: Taigen has left the fight here.

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Haggar           0/-------/----===|
[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Seishirou        1/=======/=======|


Getting up slowly and more than a little rawly, the ninja rubs the back of his head as Sakura just kinda.. flops over. ".. Heh. She improved a little." That's his only comment as his teammates go through the motions. Him? He just disappears. No need to get the doctors this time. He'll let Sakura recover for herself. That's the only way it can be.

Sakura flops over. But she's got the most content smile on her face, knowing she still, beyond it all, tried her best.

Log created by Seishirou, and last modified on 04:51:51 06/18/2005.