SNF 2004.10 - Yamazaki vs Sakura

Description: The culprit is Ryuji, in the Dream Amusement Park, with a cup of soda. (Winner: Yamazaki)


Dream Amusement Park
   Fun for the entire family, provided you can tolerate the endless droning
of organ music. A popular attraction for the city, the Dream Amusement Park
embodies the typical vision of such a place. Roller coasters and ferris
wheels along with men dressed up in elaborate cartoon-character costumes
compete for the attention of visitors with souvenir peddlers and the beach,
which is towards the north, where a lengthy boardwalk stretches all the way
out onto the picturesque Sound Beach.

In a rare special event, this week's edition of the Saturday Night has split the
fighters up into four -separate- groups!  Taking place the same time, but simply
broadcast out of order to maximize the viewer's action intake!  A small fleet of
hastily-marked vans is parked outside the front gate, with three cameras crewed,
and special medical staff present.  Considering who's fighting tonight, it may
very well be needed!  The scene of the scheduled fight is a stage set aside for
performances and such -- not normally -fights-, but it's sure large enough for a
crew of people.  

As four emcees are required, naturally one of the less experienced emcees is
fielding this one.  Taking the stage, he motions the two fighters out -- "Ladies
and gentlemen, we have a special treat for you tonight!  It's a veritable David
and Goliath story as two of Southtown's citizens take on each other on a fight
to the finish!  In this corner, we have a second-year student at Taiyo High
School, flush with recent performances both in Seattle, USA at the Master
Championship, and more recently a match against Sagat here in Southtown: Sakura
Kasugano!"

Sakura walks out, waving nervously to the fanfare of the assembled crowd.  She's
optimistic, at least, smiling and hamming up the crowd -- it seems that the more
they cheer, the more confident she gets -- though really, up against her
opponent, she was admittedly -crazy- nervous before.  She takes the stage, tying
her headband firmly into place, then taking her spot in the center of the
ring...

COMBATSYS: Sakura has started a fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Sakura           0/-------/-------|

"And in the other corner!  Hailing out of Hong Kong, now living in Southtown..
he's a veritable unknown as of late, but Southtown residents know him well..
our own local lunatic...  Ryuji Yamazaki!"  The blonde-haired thug continued to
lean back against his corner throughout the announcement, sunglasses perched
atop his nose and lush white-fur coat draped across his shoulders.  First fight
back, may as well make it a memorable one.  As the announcement finished, he
pushed away from the corner, arms stretching out to push the stole from his
shoulders and drape it across the ring's corner.  The sunglasses were carefully
pulled from the bridge of the gangster's nose, folded carefully, and stowed
away.

    An eyebrow arched as Yamazaki took a good look at his opponent, then the
corners of his lips turned up into a slight grin as he started to stride out
towards the center of the ring, pulling his fingerless leather gloves tight
across his hands.  Before the fight /officially/ started, he just stood toe to
toe with the Taiyo student, and looked straight down.  "Hope you brought the
school nurse with ya, half-pint, 'cause I sure as hell ain't bandagin' ya up
afterwards."

COMBATSYS: Yamazaki has joined the fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Yamazaki         0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0           Sakura

If the two had met under similar conditions outside the ring, Sakura might find
a hasty retreat to be her preferred course of action.  Here, with the crowd
screaming her name -- face it, there's classmates in the crowd -- the Taiyo
student has little to fear!  Standing toe-to-toe with the tall Yamazaki, she
flashes a smug grin back up at him.  Her headband tossed about in the light
breeze, she shrugs her shoulders lightly: "We'll see, won't we?"  She probably
has a bunch more she could say, but ... eh, it's just not coming to the
schoolgirl right now.

The emcee steps in, separating the two and urging them back to their official
starting positions -- "Well, ladies and gentlemen, it looks like the scene's
set!  So without further ado --"  Raising his hand, he takes a position at the
edge of the ring.  Dropping his hand, he calls out: "FIGHT!"

Sakura didn't need any further reason to wait -- she'd slipped into her open
fighting  stance as soon as the face-off was over -- and as soon as the word is
given, she's launching into action!  Easily clearing the distance separating her
and Yamazaki, the fighting fangirl dashes into what seems to be an easily
telegraphed haymaker -- though the sudden flare of her skirt in mid-stride
betrays her true intention!  Torso pitching sharply to the side, she uses her
momentum to wheel her left foot around into a high overhead kick!  Well, it
might not be -quite- so high against the tall Yamazaki, but it's worth a shot!

COMBATSYS: Yamazaki blocks Sakura's Flower Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Yamazaki         0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0           Sakura

With the emcee's careful herding, Yamazaki let himself be guided back into his
corner.  It's an official fight, after all, gotta be proper about it.  While he
walked, his right hand dipped down into a vest pocket while the left went into
his pants pocket.  A small box was retrieved from the vest, a lighter from the
pants.  With a flick of his wrist, a cigarette's filter-end was lifted a bit
higher than its fellows, and that end went between Yamazaki's lips.  The rest of
the pack was carefully pocketed again, and the other hand flicked the starter,
putting flame to paper.  "Mmm, pre-fight smoke."  The cigarette settled into his
right hand as he leaned back into his corner.

"FIGHT!"  ...  well, that was quicker than he expected.  The cigarette went back
between his lips, dangling there as Ryuji pushed from his corner.  His left hand
slipped into its pocket; today was a right-hand fightin' day.  A thick cloud of
smoke was exhaled into the air before the schoolgirl across the way closed the
distance faster than he expected.  But, such is the way fights go.  His eyes
tracked the movement of the haymaker, and he shifted his back leg, steadying
it..  then everything moved.  It was a last-minute shift, a quick blur of
movement that brought a thickly-muscled arm between foot and face.  "Heh.
Pretty fast, squirt.  But you ain't seein nothin' yet."  The foot was pushed
away, and the right shoulder dropped down.  His arm looked almost lifeless for a
moment, the way it dangled, right before it snapped up in that same blur, the
back of a leather-clad hand cutting through the air for a smack across the
youngster's face.

COMBATSYS: Yamazaki successfully hits Sakura with Snake Tamer.
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////      ]
Yamazaki         0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0           Sakura

Smack!  That's what Sakura gets for rushing in, as the backhand whips out and
catches her straight on the jaw.  Knocking her back to the side, the blow
effectively -kills- all her forward momentum, spinning like a top to the side
from the sheer intensity of the blow.  Did it hurt?  Well, considering the first
vision of Sakura that doesn't involve a blur of motion has her kneeled on the
arena floor, one hand to the ground, one to her cheek -- yeah.  It hurt.  But
she isn't the type to stay down -- rather, she springs back to her feet, a
bright smile (and a red spot from the smack) revealed as she pulls back to her
fighting stance -- just before charging back in, dashing forth with a left-hand
version of the punch she'd opened with before - only -delivering- it this time,
and then following it up with a hard, leaping uppercut from her right, fist
blazing brightly with a blue glow. "SHOOOOOOOU-KEN!" she shouts, rushing into
the punch!

COMBATSYS: Yamazaki counters Shou'ou Ken from Sakura with Sadomazo.
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////           ]
Yamazaki         0/-------/---====|=======\-------\0           Sakura

The overextended right arm of Yamazaki returns to normal proportions again, and
he lifts the left from its pocket long enough to pull the leather glove tight
again.  Then, the left hand slides right back into pants pocket.  The over-tall
gangster doesn't advance while Sakura recovers; he just grins down at the
schoolgirl, the near-trademarked sadistic grin that curls his lips when he
starts to get into a fight.  And it's that very same attitude that brings him to
his next action; bracing his left foot again, leaning down, and waggling his
tongue right at Sakura while she starts to charge again.

Yes, that's right.  Waggling his tongue.  Fully extended, shaking head, flinging
dribble, the whole nine yards.  Mentally, he's preparing himself; and his right
arm cocks back while he braces his foot against the incoming charge.
Fist meets face, and while he's bracing himself, it's very nearly a train wreck;
that blazing fist smacks solid against his face....  ...  and he doesn't budge.
Instead, that cocked-back right arm erupts in gaseous flame, wisps of it running
from shoulder to fingertips, and extending past his knuckles as that fist is
thrown forward and driven solid right into Sakura's stomach.  Ryuji straightens
up after the punch, then tilts his head off to one side hard enough to crack his
neck before repeating the motion in the other direction.

The tongue-waggling isn't enough to sway Sakura from her course -- the fist
plunging into her stomach, of course, -is-.  Her assumption that her hits had
landed true are proven wrong as that blow knocks her back sharply, coughing up a
mixture of blood and saliva as she flies backwards from the attack.
Realistically, it's not as -hard- a punch as the blow delivered to her jaw scant
moments prior -- but the difference in target is enough to jolt some reality
into the Taiyo student.   She lands sprawled out on her back, the impact
silencing the students who were cheering for her mere moments prior -- though
even then, she's -still- not out for the count.  Dazed, sure, but far from out.
She tries to kip back to her feet, but it just -hurts- too much -- so she rolls
to her side, pushing herself to her feet a less fighterly fashion, panting
heavily from the heavy blows dealt her so early in a match. Turning her shoulder
towards Yamazaki, she adopts a more defensive stance: one forearm leading, her
right fist poised to strike.  Her eyes narrow and intense, her fists glowing
with a faint blue tinge, she stares back at Yamazaki -- apparently opting to
watch his movements, steadily pacing in a wide arc around the gangster, rather
than foolishly launch herself at him a third time.

COMBATSYS: Sakura focuses on her next action.
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////           ]
Yamazaki         0/-------/---====|=======\-------\0           Sakura

There's a slight look of satisfaction on the gangster's face; two punches, and
there's already blood involved.  Good, good.  His tongue makes a quick pass over
his lips before that same ugly grin slides back across Yamazaki's face again,
standing near rock-steady while he watches the slow circling of his smaller
opponent.  Now, if any, seems a rather opportune time for him to really rile up
the girl across the ring.
With the speed it attacked previous, Ryuji's right hand shoots over; with people
very nearly crammed up against the side of the ring, it's easy for him to snag a
soda from a bystander.  And just as quickly, he brings that same arm across his
body, hurling the half-empty refreshment across the ring.

COMBATSYS: Yamazaki successfully hits Sakura with Thrown Object.
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Yamazaki         0/-------/---====|=======\-------\1           Sakura

Sakura had been focusing intently on Yamazaki for any sign of movement --
despite his size, the man's quick.  Real quick -- and the Kasugano girl she's
gonna have to act accordingly.  She'd been instructed recently to focus on her
stance and balance -- in most fights prior, she'd been tremendously close to the
edge. Here, in order to react, she sees she's going to have to focus more on
delivering hard, clean hits -- but while she's in the middle of psyching herself
up about that, Yamazaki whips his hand back.  He's rearing up for a punch?  No
-- that soft drink comes flying through the air at her!  Sakura snaps her foot
up in an attempt to knock the drink aside, but instead she only manages to upend
the cup, its contents previously held in place by centrifugal force now
forcefully splashing into the schoolgirl's face, cold brown cola and ice cubes
slamming into her with all the speed Yamazaki had propelled them with.  Drenched
thusly, even Sakura can't stop from giggling a bit at how ridiculous she must
look -- though it only burns her determination further.  Whipping her hands
behind her for a moment, she summons forth a burst of swirling, crackling blue
energy.  Dashing a few yards to close in on Yamazaki, she stops short and slings
her hands forward, palms egging her own projectile on as she cries, "HADOUKEN!"
It may have been a joke attack, but Sakura's still serious about the fight!

COMBATSYS: Yamazaki blocks Sakura's Medium Hadouken.
[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////             ]
Yamazaki         0/-------/--=====|=======\=------\1           Sakura

There's a moment of time in which Yamazaki doesn't move, watching the graceful
arc of the cola flying through the air...  and when Sakura's foot fails to deter
the liquid; instead upending it and sending its caffienated goodness all over
her?  Yamazaki loses it.  He rears back, right hand pointing while high-pitched
cackling racks his body, almost bent-over backwards at the sight of the Shotokan
schoolgirl covering herself in Coke.  It's the stomp of feet that brings the
laughing madman back into reality again, just in time to see bright blue being
thrown right at his face.  Fabric-clad arms cross in an X in front of his head,
and the crackling energy surges through his arms...  and stops there.  "Hey, it
tingles!  Must mean it's working!"

Hey, even middle-aged gangsters are allowed to crack jokes about old TV
commercials.  Forearms a'cracklin' with fading energy, Yamazaki pushes off his
back heel, letting his hands be for a moment while a shiny wingtip shoe is
brought up; his entire body twists around as his leg lifts, and that looooong
leg extends as he tries to drive his shoe-heel into Sakura's chest.

COMBATSYS: Sakura dodges Yamazaki's Heavy Kick.
[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////             ]
Yamazaki         0/-------/--=====|=======\=------\1           Sakura

Once her Hadouken is dispelled against Yamazaki's defense, Sakura seems a bit
glad.  For one -- it means her attacks are -almost- punching through.  That may
not mean a whole heck of a lot, but she's curious to see how long she can play
this game.  The remark from Yamazaki is lost on the schoolgirl -- hell, was she
even -born- when those commercials were aired?  But the fact that he's launching
a kick at her isn't -- she leaps to the side, rolling into a tight tumble to
evade the maneuver.  She climbs back to her feet afterwards though, hands
clutches once more at her side, amassing a hasty burst of energy before slinging
it forward, planting her feet wide to brace herself for the recoil of the quick
fireball as she cries out, "HADOUKEN!"  

COMBATSYS: Yamazaki fails to reflect Small Hadouken from Sakura with Bai Gaeshi.
[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////               ]
Yamazaki         0/-------/-======|=======\==-----\1           Sakura

The gangster's body swings back around to a steady standing position as Sakura
tumbles underneath, and Yamazaki straightens back up again.  "Mn."  Again, a
twist of his head sounds an audible crack from his neck.  She's starting to get
springy.  Not something the overtall thug is particularly fond of.  An eyebrow
arches up as he watches the same movement that was just performed..  coming
again?  Suspicious eyes narrow for a moment, and his right hand snaps up just as
soon as the cry of 'HADOUKEN!' is heard.  The fireball is swept up in a wide
arch of purple flames...  and Yamazaki staggers back for a moment, right before
that same hand, and most of his arm, erupts in a mix of purple flame and
crackling energy.  That same arm is shaken back and forth a few times as the
energy disappates.  "Son of a bitch..."

Even before her Hadouken plows through Yamazaki's defense, Sakura's already
summoning forth energy for the next wave.  Focusing intently to ensure her blast
is guided to its target, a steadily growing nexus of blue energy centered upon
her still-outstretched palms.  When it does hit, she seems somewhat placated.
She -had- been working on her technique, figuring out ways to fortify the chi
maneuvers against casual dissolution.  It'd happened much too often lately, and
it was starting to get on her nerves, so between that and her more balanced
stances, she's glad last night's training session is starting to pay off -- even
if her stomach is still sore from that harrowing impact.  As Yamazaki is reeling
from the blast, Sakura continues to draw forth more energy -- though she
straightens, the energy paths forking into two as she draws her fists back to
the defensive stance seen just moments before.  Energy swirling about her, she
still finds time to smile back at Yamazaki.  Bouncing?  Hardly: her feet are
anchored securely to the ring floor at the moment.  

COMBATSYS: Sakura gathers her will.
[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////              ]
Yamazaki         0/-------/-======|=======\======-\1           Sakura

Smiling?  Oh, that was the straw that broke the friggin' camel's back.  As the
attempted redirection of the chi failed, Yamazaki's mood shifted rather quickly
from cocky to outright annoyed.  And when she smiles?  Ah, that's what he was
looking for.  The full shift into pissed-off mode.  The grin is gone from his
lips, replaced by a sneer, curled upper lip and all.  His right hand clenches,
knuckles cracking as fingers ball into a fist.  His knees bend just for a
moment, tensing before he pushes off the balls of his feet.  He's fast, for a
man his size; darting across the ring in a few long-legged strides.  The same
balled fist that flies at Sakura is a feint, though the punch goes full-force;
it's the following motion that Yamazaki really commits to.  He tries to tangle
his fingers into Sakura's hair, rather violently yanking her forward while he
rears his head back.  And should he get a good enough grip into her hair, he
lifts her right off the ground, head coming down at the apex of the lift to slam
forehead against forehead.  To add insult to injury, the brute's inner energies
manage to focus right at that collision point, creating a small chi-based
explosion right in Sakura's face.

COMBATSYS: Sakura blocks Yamazaki's Bomb Headbutt.
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////                 ]
Yamazaki         0/-------/=======|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2           Sakura

Still, Sakura smiles -- her luck was lousy at the beginning, but it's starting
to turn around for her now!  She's not familiar with Yamazaki at all, since he
hadn't made any tournament appearances that she's got footage of -- so really,
she doesn't know if enraging him like that was a good thing or a bad thing.
Truth be told, though, her rampant optimism has been doing her well in the past
few fights -- and it might just be paying off!  The self-styled Ansatsuken
fighter throws up her arms to block the punch -- sure, it hits, and it hits
-hard- upon those handguards, which are probably the only thing saving the girl
from a bone fracture.  Ryuji does manage to snare his fingers in the girl's
hair, but not enough to really gain purchase -- especially not since that
split-second contact acted as enough of a warning shot to the girl for her to
duck out of his reach, before springing to the side in tactical withdrawal.
It's not a clean escape, though, as Yamazaki still manages to headbutt the girl
in her left shoulder, the explosion of chi knocking the girl back a half-step.
Though it's not enough to derail her completely -- in fact, her left shoulder
being knocked aside just sends the blazing blue fist of her right arm rocketing
up into him all the faster.  The energies she'd been amassing swirl into a
tight, rippling envelope around her fist as she screams, "HYAAAAAAA!".  Her form
is blurred as the uppercut rips upwards -- and given the opportunity, she's more
than likely to churn around again, landing and following with a second uppercut,
then a third!

COMBATSYS: Yamazaki blocks Sakura's Midare Zakura.
[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////                 ]
Yamazaki         1/------=/=======|====---\-------\0           Sakura

There was a brief mutter of discontent that passed Yamazaki's lips as he lost
the tentative grasp that he almost had in the girl's hair, though the impact of
forehead against shoulder was enough to sedate the still-discontent thug.  He
braced his legs again, at the visual of blue energy crackling once again.  And
his arms came up in another X-cross when uppercuts come ripping at him.  His
feet skid back after the impact of the first, and his arms stay up for the
second, and the third, driving him back a good foot or two from his previous
position.  The fact that he even left himself open enough for the girl to get
off a move like this?  Absolutely ridiculous...  and the tingle running up his
arms after three steady uppercuts?  There's an audible growl behind the crossed
arms, and as the third uppercut subsides, Yamazaki brings the crossed arms
around as he attempts to simply double-hammerfist Sakura right underneath the
chin.  

COMBATSYS: Yamazaki successfully hits Sakura with Drill.
[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///                           ]
Yamazaki         0/-------/-----==|=======\===----\1           Sakura

As the hammerfist connects, Yamazaki is already moving with the forward
momentum, pushing off the balls of his feet and, quite literally, catching
Sakura by the face as her feet lift from the ground.  And it's that same
momentum, along with gravity, that bring Yamazaki down, along with his
unfortunate opponent, hand-first.  There's an audible cackle as he feels the
back of the schoolgirl's head slam into the ring, and still, the momentum
continues, dragging her a few feet across the canvas.  He stands up again, still
laughing quite maniacally as he lifts his right foot up, and drives one, two,
three solid shoeheels down into her gut.  Then, just to add insult to injury, a
swift kick in the ribs for good measure.

Her attacks raining against Yamazaki's iron defense, Sakura could very well
suffer a loss of optimism.  She'd poured so much of that borrowed energy into
the blows, and each punch jars her further.  It -hurts- punching someone that
hard, after all, especially when the whole of her body is going -into- such
forceful blows.  Buffeted back by the recoil of her final punch, she staggers
backwards, still jittery from her own strikes -- just in time to be absolutely
-pummeled- by the followups.  Slapped about, slammed into the ground, dragged
along, then brutally stomped upon -- yep.  Those same ribs had been buckling
under the assault, and that final swift kick broke loose the tenuous faultlines
that had only healed a month prior.  She'd held quiet through most, but that
last round of blows was enough to elicit a scream from the schoolgirl, whose
body rocks to the side from each successive blast.

.. And if you don't succeed, try, try again.  Even with her ribs as shattered
as they are, Sakura -still- has fight left in her.  It's hard to see her face as
she flips herself forward, landing hard on one foot, then the other -- but it
wouldn't be hard to imagine the -rage- that comes across from the way she
screams bloody murder in the process, the pain coursing throughout her entire
body.  It's pure adrenaline taking hold now, as she channels the bulk of her
remaining energy into a whirlwind of Converse All-Star damage, leaping into the
air as she targets her foot to slam repeatedly into Yamazaki's forehead.  She
screams, "SHUN-PUU-KYAKU!" at the top her lungs, elbows flung to the side to
propagate her momentum as she flies at her opponent.

COMBATSYS: Sakura has reached second wind!
[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///                           ]
Yamazaki         0/-------/-----==|=====--\-------\0           Sakura

COMBATSYS: Yamazaki fails to counter Shunpuu Kyaku from Sakura with Sadomazo.
[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///                           ]
Yamazaki         0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0           Sakura

After the rather sound thrashing that was just doled out, Yamazaki was rather
surprised to see the schoolgirl get back up again.  But, such is the way that
things go.  People pick themselves up, only to get put right back into the same
greasy smear they came from.  The sneer on Ryuji's face has been replaced by the
same eager grin that was there not too long ago; he felt the ribs crack, heard
the sound that rings like music in his ears.  His right hand is lifted up, even
beckoning Sakura to give it another go.  Again, the thug prepared himself.
Overconfidence took over, though, and he didn't even so much as bother to brace
his legs.  The whirling foot connected solid with the side of his face, sending
him stumbling back.  The sneer didn't come back, though; grin still spread wide
across his face.  "What, that all you're gonna throw at me?  C'mon, I'm not even
damn well tryin'!  HIT ME!"

Unlike earlier battles -- Sakura fully realizes that there's really only so much
further she can push herself.  Whenever she'd willfully surpassed her body's
limits, she'd been a walking zombie for the following day -- and with good
reason!  But even still, she can tell that there's only so much more she can do
this time -- such that when Ryuji takes the kicks to the face, and she lands at
a safe distance -- it's really only appropriate for her to follow through like
he asks!  Bruised, broken, and panting heavily, she still finds the time to
smile...  "Alright then..." she grins, once more whipping her hands back to
collect one more shot -- same as the first, little bit worse!  Interlaced into
this crackling nexus of energy is an odd element though -- streaks of bright
yellow-white light augment the cerulean blue sphere she's gathering.  It doesn't
seem to matter much, until she surges forward, ramming the basketball-sized
globe of light back at Yamazaki, per his request: "HADOUKEN!"

COMBATSYS: Yamazaki blocks Sakura's Medium Hadouken.
[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///                           ]
Yamazaki         0/-------/---====|======-\-------\0           Sakura

It was all too easy.  Ask, and ye shall receive.  The near-predictable cross of
arms is already prepared when Sakura comes charging forward.  And same as
before, the crackling of energy collides against crossed arms.  "I said hit me,
goddamnit!"  The arms uncross, and the blonde-dyed thug is still grinning.
"Can't figure it out?  Lemme give you a demonstration!"  Same as when the fight
started; the right arm drops down, hanging lifeless for a brief moment...  He
stalls a moment longer, shoulder tilting up to feint an upward strike before he
lets his arm drop down, momentum aiming the attack down at those already injured
ribs.

COMBATSYS: Yamazaki successfully hits Sakura with Snake Tamer.
[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  < >                                ]
Yamazaki         0/-------/-======|=======\==-----\1           Sakura

Sakura tries to get out of the way of the insanely fast attack, but it's just
too much for her -- sure, she thought she was fast enough, but alas, no!
Cracked once more with the blow from earlier, Sakura stumbles off to the side --
it's a hard hit, and she -did- scream from the blow -- but after that scream
subsides, she still forces herself to smile.  "I really am glad for the
opportunity to fight you tonight..." she notes -- just before launching herself
forward -yet- -again-.  She leaps at Yamazaki -- "Here I come!" -- though she
falls woefully short -- ducking into a low spin as she whirls her foot about
repeatedly in a ground-based version of her earlier shun-puu kyaku.  It looks
ridiculous, and in fact the move would be nigh impossible if not for the immense
energy suffusing her form, energizing every twisting motion of her body as it
spirals about towards Yamazaki.  Impressive to some -- most notably her flock of
fans in the crowd, who have been dutifully screaming her name ever since she
sprang back to her feet.  Not that she's able to -hear- any of them in her
adrenaline-infused state, of course...

COMBATSYS: Sakura can no longer fight.
COMBATSYS: Sakura has left the fight here.
[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Yamazaki         0/-------/-======|

COMBATSYS: Yamazaki blocks Sakura's Haru Ichiban.
[                    \\\\\\\\\\  <
Yamazaki         0/-------/=======|

There's a car pulling up through the audience, people parting to allow the black
auto to drive right up to the ring's edge.  By the time the Haru Ichiban has
been launched, said car has parked itself right there.  There was enough time,
however, for Yamazaki to prepare a defense.  Simply, he just crouched down and
allowed his abused arms to absorb the brunt of the blow.  It's right then that
Yamazaki aims one more well-timed punch into those already hurt ribs.  "Fight's
over, squirt.  Take a nap."  With that same extended arm, Ryuji reaches up,
plants his palm against the side of Sakura's face...  and just pushes her over.
After he stands, the crowd, save those vehemently supporting Sakura, erupt into
cheers.  Over the roar of finally seeing a winner, the emcee's
microphone-enhanced voice roars even louder, "AND THE WINNER!  SOUTHTOWN'S
OWN...  RYUUUUUUJI YAAAAMAAAZAKI!"  The mandatory bit of fanfare is given out, a
triumphant fist raised to the crowd...  and a swift kick delivered to injured
ribs, before Yamazaki climbs out of the ring, on the side the car has parked at.
At some point, the driver had climbed out of the car, standing dutifully nearby.
The door is opened for the gangster, who climbs in.  The driver reassumes his
position in his seat, and the white reverse lights flare.  The car, and
Yamazaki, both depart.

COMBATSYS: Yamazaki has ended the fight here.

Log created by Kobun, and last modified on 19:05:26 04/28/2005.